Medical cannabis in Utah

I haven't written in this blog since 2015 and it just so happens that the same topic that I wrote about last time is what brought me back to my blog. 

I wasn't planning on responding or commenting on any of the negative criticism or attacks that we expected to have after the press conference last Thursday. However, I am going to write this blog because what I've seen in multiple forums about the press conference is absolutely disgusting. When people are acting as civil adults, we can have an educated conversation about what happened, what was accomplished and what is planning on being accomplished VERY SOON by having this coalition. On the other hand, when people jump to conclusions because they don't know what's happening, make assumptions, and they start treating each other with such disrespect, there is no possibility of understanding one another. Hence the reason this Coalition was formed in the first place. The tactics that have been used to push the bills for cannabis in Utah thus far have been nothing but bullying, hatred, fear, and negativity. There has been nothing positive that I've seen or participated in up until 8/23/18. There were people from all different backgrounds with completely different views on cannabis as was clearly  evidenced by the comments that were made at the press conference. The purpose wasn't to join together a bunch of people that agree with each other and form a coalition because that would be nonsense. The purpose was to get people from every perspective to come together to educate one another and learn from each other so that there can be a real solution and not another Band-Aid as has been done in so many other states already. you can sit there and say that you've tried that tactic in the past, but their ears were not open until now. They were set in their ways and you were set in your ways and that is not how progress is made.

We have lived as criminals hiding in the shadows in a state where it's illegal. We have lived the experience of getting arrested and having Child Protective Services trying to take our children away for using a medicine that helps better than anything else available without all the side effects. We know what that feels like better than most people because we've lived it. Then we came to Colorado and we thought we finally had our freedom. Granted, it is much better than living in an illegal state, it doesn't mean that it's actually free to consume cannabis as it should be.

It has been legal in Colorado for years, even more than a decade for medicinal cannabis. Yet we still can't go to a doctor on a regular basis and have them document the progress made as a result of using cannabis versus other medicines because the medical professionals here practice traditional medicine as much as they do anywhere else because they haven't had anyone trying to educate them about cannabis. There is a handful of them that do and they are preoccupied with getting medical cards for those that need it and so we get to see them once a year in order to renew her medical card. That is not the type of medical service that one expects from the medical professions. Patients still have to be concerned every time they get in the car because if they get pulled over and the police find out that they have a medical cannabis card then they can just as easily find a bogus claim to arrest them and then do a drug test and see that there's THC in their blood since it stays there for much longer than the effects of THC stay, and then have child protective services come after them. We have spoken personally with multiple families who have been ripped apart in states where it's legal even when they hold a medical cannabis card because of one CPS worker that doesn't understand. Would that happen with any other medication? Everybody knows the answer to that. Patients still can't take their necessary medication across any state line without fear of being arrested for being Federal criminals because everything that's been done in the country thus far, as helpful as it has been in those States, has been like putting many Band-Aids on a very serious condition. 

Doing what has been done in other states is not the solution. Until we can bring everyone to the table for a real resolution that can stand as the standard and example for the nation to follow, these problems will never be resolved. Until we can educate the medical professionals of the benefits of medical cannabis and educate the law enforcement agencies, these problems will not go away. Not even if you leave your career, your friends, your family, and everything you've known your entire life to live  in Colorado or any other legal state. I think I'm a pretty credible Source, being that we have experienced that very thing.

If the people trolling online would sit back and look at what was actually accomplished yesterday, they would see how amazing it was. Look at the people and organizations who stood up there and publicly announced that cannabis has medical benefits. Think about that for a minute and then think about if that was possible 6 months ago using the tactics of fear and Division and ostracizing them from the conversation.

For those of you that know my wife personally and have seen her undying dedication to helping patients that need access to medical cannabis, not only in Utah but around the whole entire world, you should be ashamed of yourself for some of the comments that you've made. For those of you that don't know her and are making ridiculously absurd comparisons and accusations, you should think before you speak. We have not gained one penny for any of the advocacy that we have ever done. We have never asked for money for any of the advocacy that we have done. We have never expected money for advocating nor will we ever expect money for advocating. We are not a self-serving entity looking to get rich. We are a family with a medical cannabis refugee  who has struggled more than I ever imagined struggling in life to try to make a new life in a place where we knew nobody and we have seen problems that I never even knew existed before these experiences. For those of you that have genuine questions and are looking to understand, we appreciate you and we will try to have a conversation with each one of you because that's what the Coalition is about.

The fact that anyone would be surprised that we, as active members of the LDS church, would side with our prophet and other leaders of the church, is appalling... ESPECIALLY WHEN THE STATEMENT THEY MADE WAS THAT THEY AREN'T OPPOSED TO MEDICAL CANNABIS! What purpose would we have to be members of a church and go serve every week and throughout each week, and pay tithing, and all the other things that pertain to the church, if we aren't willing to follow what we believe to be Revelation from God as given through the prophet? My wife has said from the very beginning of using cannabis, in fact since before she started using cannabis, that if she were to lose her temple recommend over this then she would rather be dead. This is not new. Her faith is stronger than the bands of death.

We are not trying to obligate anyone to believe as we do. You have every right to believe as you please. We also do. Enedina and I have never supported proposition 2. Her statement was nothing new. She said the same things at that press conference that I've heard her say to those that are running the proposition multiple times. They are the same things that we told those same people when we were pushing for sb73 three years ago. We have always believed the only solution that would create real, positive change was to bring everyone to the table (even those we don't agree with) and educate each other.  Because, believe it or not, one side may know something of truth that the other doesn’t, and their concerns are valid even if some of the things they say aren't in agreement with our view.  All voices should work together to develop a solution. Our position has not changed one bit. We have always been medical cannabis advocates who believe in getting the best possible medicine as soon as possible to all those patients who would benefit from it. Sitting at a table with people who disagree with us does not change that. Passing a bill in Utah would fail within a couple of years, at least, if it was passed without getting at least some support from law enforcement and medical professionals. The same thing would happen that happened to the last initiative which was passed in Utah about asset forfeiture protection. It would be ignored, worked around, or repealed. The fact that anybody would be upset that all of these organizations have agreed to have a civil conversation and work together to find a real solution that works for both patients and all the other organizations confuses me beyond all reason. 

To all those who have the right intention and have put many hours and dollars into the Band-Aid solution that has been presented over the past couple of years, I'm sorry but the real solution is not a Band-Aid. The real solution is what is happening now, that wasn't possible even in the recent past until after all of the work that has been going on to coordinate all of these different groups and has not been publicized until now.

Now is the time to put away our grudges and find a real solution. Now is the time to come together. Now is the time to make a change!

Why Medical Marijuana?

I'm sure if you're reading this blog, you undoubtedly already know about how we're fighting to legalize medical marijuana in Utah right now. Just in case you don't, here are a few different stories:

http://www.sltrib.com/news/3355596-155/utah-mom-with-chronic-pain-hopes

http://libertasutah.org/interview/wheelchair-bound-utah-mother-in-chronic-pain-convicted-for-using-medical-cannabis/

http://kutv.com/news/local/lds-mom-pushes-for-legalization-of-miracle-drug-medical-marijuana

https://ksl.com/?sid=37786010&nid=148&fm=most_popular&s_cid=article_popular-4

There are more but I don't want to take the time to post all of them. I think you'll get the gist of it from these...

Anyways, the reason I'm writing this blog isn't to re-tell the story. My wife did that WAY better than I could do on her own blog in 3 separate posts:

http://edsmama.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-betrayal-of-legal-and-medical.html

http://edsmama.blogspot.com/2015/12/the-tale-of-exile-and-time-for-change.html

http://edsmama.blogspot.com/2015/12/braveheart.html

So now that the story is all out there, let me tell you a little bit about some of the responses we've gotten.

For the most part, people have poured out love and support. I can't tell you how much it is appreciated. The situation we're in is more than I ever thought I could bare but somehow, we're getting through it and the love and support of others is a HUGE part of that. There is however, many people that oppose the medical cannabis legalization. Here are some of the most common arguments I've heard from different people:

*If we legalize medical then the next step will be recreational legalization and then the next thing we know, the entirety of society will be lazy and unproductive.

*There are better options than marijuana for any condition

*Marijuana has no medicinal use

*Marijuana legalization will lead to more crime

*The law is the law so now you have to deal with the consequences

*The FDA hasn't approved it and so we can't trust that it's understood enough to legalize it

*We need to do more studies on it before we can be sure it's safe

There are other arguments that I've been told but those are the most common things I've been hearing. Now I'm going to respond to these things one at a time.

*If we legalize medical then the next step will be recreational legalization and then the next thing we know, the entirety of society will be lazy and unproductive.
Ok, so you're worried that people won't work if they use cannabis? I'd bet everything I've ever owned that every single person in America knows multiple HIGHLY successful and productive business owners/citizens that use cannabis either as medicine, or on a recreational basis. The reason you aren't aware of this in many cases is because people feel they need to hide it because it's illegal. Now, I understand that if you're using it recreationally and not to treat something, you're going to get "high" and you might want to sit on a couch and do nothing but relax. This can happen. I know it because I was a pothead when I was younger. Here's the thing though, IT GOES AWAY once the high goes away! The day after a long night of drinking alcohol is MUCH harder to function than a night of cannabis. I mean, I have experienced both. Before I got baptized into the LDS church and served a 2 year mission, I had lived as an alcoholic and a pothead.


*There are better options than marijuana for any condition
In some cases, this has got to be true. Cannabis is not a cure all for everything so obviously, there are plenty of patients that need other drugs to treat their symptoms. This however, is probably the most ridiculous thing you can say (other than the next argument I'm going to refute) to someone that has tried EVERYTHING the medical world could offer. We have literally seen doctors from coast to coast this past year and we've seen the top doctors on Ehlers Danlos Syndrome and we've tried EVERYTHING that anybody has ever suggested with bad results. Either they didn't work, or they treated the symptom and created new symptoms that were even worse, or at best, they would have minimal positive effects on the symptoms. So for someone that says there are better options to someone that has tried every idea we've ever heard and never had better results than those with cannabis; I have one question for you: Do you know of something that nobody else on earth is aware of?


*Marijuana has no medicinal use
Uhmmmm....are you serious? I don't know if I should even address this one. Just come watch the miracle plant work...I mean, come hang out for like, 10 minutes and then tell me it has no medicinal use.


*Marijuana legalization will lead to more crime
Aside from the fact that this argument is entirely asinine and our country should have learned (with alcohol prohibition) that prohibition never lowers crime and in fact RAISES crime rates, take a look at some statistics from Colorado since it was legalized:

Pretty much, that argument has zero basis in fact and is entirely based on fear mongering tactics. That is all I will say about that...

*The law is the law so now you have to deal with the consequences
This is absolutely true. We were fully aware of the fact that we were doing something against the law. The risks were to either break the law, leave everything and everyone we know including my career in Utah, or to let my wife die. Those were the only options we had. Considering all things, we figured staying in the closet about the medicine was the best option so that we didn't have to take our kids away from everything they know and still have their mother around. So yes, the law is the law and there are consequences to breaking it. Does that make the law right? Were the laws in Nazi Germany right just because they were law? Were the slavery laws in the USA right just because they were law? How about the founding fathers of our country that committed treason every single day by fighting for freedom? Were the founding fathers wrong to fight for independence because of the british law? Now I realize that cannabis isn't the same thing as a countries independence. But for the individual that needs it to survive or improve their quality of life, it is probably more important than the independence that our founding fathers righteously fought for. Civil disobedience is absolutely necessary to right the wrongs put on us by a faulty government. In fact, here is the first part of the declaration of independence:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security (emphasis added)

Ok, so if the declaration of independence specifically says that it is not only our RIGHT, but rather, our DUTY to throw off such government, then what better way can you suggest to do so, other than peaceful, civil disobedience. Should we become violent and fight the government? Would that be better? Isn't that even worse? We'd be killing and beating people. Isn't that ALSO against the law? I think Ghandi and Jesus Christ did it best. Peaceful, civil disobedience is the best option in my opinion. Here is my favorite quote from Ghandi: “They may torture my body, break my bones, even kill me. Then they will have my dead body, but not my obedience.” I stand with Ghandi. I stand with Jesus Christ. I stand for freedom. I believe that the preservation of life is a God-given inalienable right. For my wife, cannabis is what provides that preservation of life. Any questions?

*The FDA hasn't approved it and so we can't trust that it's understood enough to legalize it
Ok, we tried everything the FDA approved that was offered to us. Nothing worked. In fact, it almost always made the situation even worse and it usually resulted in another ambulance and ER visit because the FDA approved drugs are approved for the profit of big pharma and not for the patient that needs it. Plus, if the FDA gets involved, it would have to be changed and converted into something that would be less effective and more dangerous. Guaran freakin teed. Did God make a mistake? He created it. Do we trust the FDA more than God? There are some things in nature that can cause problems. Cannabis isn't one of those things. It has never, in the history of mankind, killed a human. It is physically impossible (unless it's broken down into concentrates that are actually dangerous). In it's natural form, it is the safest drug you'll ever try. I'm not a doctor. Although, I have talked about cannabis with many highly esteemed doctors (a geneticist, a neurologist, an ER doctor, a pain clinic doctor, and a couple different pharmacists) and I've never heard anything other than how safe marijuana is and that they don't understand why they can't recommend it to people.


*We need to do more studies on it before we can be sure it's safe
If you were dying or suffering, would you want to wait for more studies on something that you know for a fact is helpful? WE DON'T WANT STUDIES! WE WANT ACCESS TO A PLANT THAT CAN BE GROWN IN OUR BACKYARD! Why do we need studies? Or maybe the better question is why do we need studies BEFORE people are given access to it? It's already clearly documented that it isn't dangerous, especially compared to other drugs. So if you want more studies then go for it. In the meantime, let people who need it use it and you can study it out the rest of your life if you want.


These are the most common arguments I've heard. There are others but they just get more non-sensical as the list goes on. Marijuana propaganda has been pushed on the public for FAR too long. The DARE program taught very little true facts about it and that's the education the majority of the public have had unless they take a personal interest to find out more. It is all fear mongering, propaganda BS and it has no place in a decent education. Sadly, the public have been fooled for almost a century. In the 1800's the documentation about cannabis was honest medical documentation. Then about the time of the Mexican revolution when there were a lot of refugees coming across the border with their "Mexican loco weed", all of a sudden the medical papers turned. All of a sudden it was describing something that was so far from the truth that it was preposterous and it eventually lead to the film Reefer Madness that then perpetuated the lies and lead to an entire society of people that knew next to nothing about the reality of cannabis. Am I suggesting that the propaganda started from racism in the early 1900's? Yes. Yes I am. That is where the term "weed" started. That is where the word "marijuana" started. Maria and Juana. Marijuana. They were words created to induce fear of "the crazy Mexican refugees and their loco weed". Nothing more. Based on the "education" after that, you wouldn't even know they were referring to the same drug as cannabis. It was taught that the "loco weed" would make you crazy and have superhuman strength. If you've had ANY experience at all with the plant, you'd know that it couldn't be further from the truth. And reefer madness? Have you seen it? It's actually so ridiculous it's comical. The sad thing is, a lot of those same fears have survived into modern society. The public needs to be re-educated and I am determined to do everything in my power to make it happen. People believed for a really long time that the earth was flat. It was believed by society at large. And it was a lie. So is the propaganda that you've been fed your whole life. Cannabis shouldn't be seen as a recreational drug that can possibly have medicinal benefits. It should be seen as it really is...a GOD GIVEN MEDICINE that, just like anything in your medicine cabinet, can also be used incorrectly and abused. The difference is, when cannabis is abused, it doesn't kill you.

If ignorance is bliss, then wipe the smile off my face!

In high school my favorite band was Rage Against The Machine. There is a line in a song called "Settle For Nothing" that says "If ignorance is bliss, then wipe the smile off my face". I thought I understood this line when I was younger. What I didn't know, was that I was destined to learn the hard way that the system has some SERIOUS flaws that need to be changed. There has been some propaganda that has infiltrated multiple generations and been ingrained so deeply that it's near impossible to reverse. I'm meeting with someone today to hopefully get started on a path that will lead to a career of trying to re-educate the public on this issue.  I'll get back to that later in this post. First, I think I need to explain what lead to my new perspective. I'm going to more or less summarize a really long story.

 

Most of you reading this know our story either from our blogs, or from American Ninja Warrior. If not, here is the short version: My wife suffers from Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. She has a form that doctors still haven't classified because it's a freak form. For her, it has affected just about every joint in her body, her digestive system, her nervous system (which controls blood pressure, how medicines are released, etc....) and caused serious chronic pain. It is a terrible, terrible thing to witness and even worse for her to have to experience. Due to the dysautonomia (the nervous system problems) and the digestive system problems, she literally can't process any of the pain meds correctly without causing other, even worse, side effects...which leads to more meds to counter the side effects...and the list of meds just gets longer and longer. Living like that destroys peoples health and unfortunately, it is the way the system is designed and it is the reality many people live in.

 

We trusted the medical system. We turned to it, as most people do, when she started experiencing health issues. She tried EVERYTHING they had to offer. We know they were well intentioned. They save lives every day and we appreciate them. However, they can't legally recommend something that is against the law. They have to stay in the parameters of the laws and the system that they work in. Here is the problem; After everything legal was offered, my wife had found ZERO relief from the pain unless she wanted to be drugged out and addicted to opioids, lose her mental capacity, and be as useful as if she were comatose. That was the solution the medical community could legally offer. Here is the other problem, she tried all the options other than opioids because she didn't want to be drugged out and they caused more problems than they helped! For example, the last pill the pain clinic could offer was tramadol. Here was the result of using tramadol; unconscious and vomiting in the back of the van while having a drug induced seizure...all in front of our 2 little angel babies. That lead to ANOTHER emergency room visit that lasted all day and they loaded her on opioids (in an IV) to stop the situation from being life threatening. Then she couldn't even pronounce a single word because she was too high. Come to find out that her autonomic nervous system doesn't let the drug be released slowly like it's supposed to work. Instead, it all gets released at once, and causes seizures. Not much of a solution right? Multiple doctors had suggested that we move to neighboring Colorado because cannabis is a safe, possible solution to combat some of the pain and many other symptoms.

 

So what does any competent person do in this situation? The options for her were to either be loaded on opioids and high all the time, which would make it impossible to be the mother that she wants to be, or to die, or to leave everything we have built our lives around (my career, our families, our friends, our support system) and move to a place where cannabis is legal but we don't know anybody, or to defy an unjust law that doesn't allow someone to self medicate on a God-given plant that actually works and doesn't have negative side effects. Considering all these factors, after much prayer and consideration, we decided that the least risk was to stay in Utah and to break the law.

If you want to read into a lot more details, you need to read my wifes blog post about it. The continuation of that story will be in a new blog post today (12/14/15). I HIGHLY suggest you read her posts. She has a gift for telling her story.

Anyways, this is what lead to her use of cannabis in the first place. a LOT of experience as a medical guinnea pig and nothing working.

Fast forward to October 1st, 2015. We had created a large amount of credit card debt due to all the extra expenses and we were drowning in it, financially. We had put our house up for sale to try and use the equity to pay off our debts and get into a smaller house. On October 1st, we got a call from our realtor that there was someone that wanted to look at the house but the only time they could do it was a half hour later. We went into crazy cleaning mode and Enedina was having a bad day so she had to get herself ready enough to get out of the house in a hurry. Being as responsible as we could be in the situation, we decided to pack up all the cannabis and paraphernalia so that the buyers didn't see it. By the time we got in the van, my wife was clearly in a LOT of pain and her neck was popping in ways that shouldn't ever happen to a living human being. I went up the road to take my daughters with me into a chryotherapy session with me so that Enedina could use some of the life saving medicine in the parking lot by herself. After I got  done, I took the girls back out to the van and saw that Enedina was doing MUCH better. The windows were all rolled down to air out the smell but it obviously still smelled like marijuana. Not enough time had passed yet so we decided to go across the street to get a few groceries at Wal-Mart before heading home. Enedina wasn't feeling good enough to go inside so I decided to not park in the handicapped parking. (I don't feel that it's morally right to abuse that privilege since I'm not handicapped) So I went to the regular parking space and while I was getting out, this guy walks past the van. No big deal. Elena didn't want to leave Enedina alone though because she always tries to distract her when she's in pain. She's such a freaking sweetheart! So I got Eva out and we went in to the store. The guy that had walked past our van was looking at me in such a way that it made me feel a little uncomfortable but I wasn't really sure why. Then I forgot what I was in the store to get. After trying to remember for a few minutes (longer than I am usually in the store) I called Enedina. Instead of telling me what to get, she told me that she was talking to the police and to get out there asap. I have always believed very strongly that honesty is the best policy so I was determined to not try and hide the truth. Enedina was of the same mindset.

So I go out there and start talking to one of the cops. I could see that Enedina was crying hysterically but I didn't want to make the cops mad so I just kept talking to the one while his partner interrogated my wife. I explained the whole situation and he seemed super sympathetic about the situation but said that they were obligated to do something because of the law that they have to enforce. Totally understandable. We knew all along that we were risking the legal consequences of marijuana possession as long as we were in Utah so I accepted that and was totally willing to accept responsibility for it. Then they threw the GIANT curveball at us that changed our lives forever..

They had told us that the witness said that he SAW my wife smoking in the van with our daughter in the backseat (it was a total lie and I'll explain in a minute). Because of that, they were also citing her for child endangerment...which meant CPS was going to be involved. This was something we hadn't anticipated. Of ALL things....child endangerment? Are you freaking kidding me?! THE ONLY REASON SHE EVEN USES IT IS TO SURVIVE SO SHE CAN BE THEIR MOM!!!! Otherwise, she wouldn't even have the will to live! The irony of the charge was mind-blowing!..especially since it was based on a lie.

Like I said before, the cop had told us that the witness had "seen" her smoking with the child in the van. That is also what the cop wrote in his police report. Here is the problem with that. First of all, SHE WASN'T USING IT WITH THE CHILD IN THE VEHICLE! Secondly, the actual witness statement says that he only SMELLED the marijuana. He saw nothing, which makes sense since there was nothing to see. She had used it in the vehicle alone in the parking lot across the street....so it smelled. The witness had told the truth as he experienced it. I don't agree with calling the cops because of marijuana, especially in a van that is obviously for a handicapped person, but that isn't the point. The witness had told a true statement. The cop had ASSUMED that she had used it in the presence of our child and then lied and said that the witness had seen it, which was the probable cause. This assumption and LIE was the whole reason that CPS got involved. One "little" false detail on a police report changed our lives forever.

That night, I started having a VERY strong feeling (I believe it was from God) that we needed to get the girls and our necessities and get out of the state asap. So we packed up and left in a hurry. We went straight to Colorado because the cops had confiscated all of her medicine and she was having a MUCH harder time without it. By the grace of God, we had a friend that found out about the situation and brought over an eighth of cannabis just to get us all to Colorado alive. It was just a precaution, and it literally saved Enedinas life about an hour outside of Colorado. We were driving and things started slipping in her neck. Then muscles started spasming. I pulled over and got the girls out. Enedina used the emergency cannabis and within seconds, she could breathe normally again and her neck wasn't creating more pain and stress. Another miracle. I'll probably write multiple posts in the future about the sever misconceptions about marijuana but for now let it suffice to say that cannabis is probably the safest drug (legal or not) on the planet. I can overdose really easily from just about ANYTHING in anybody's medicine cabinet. It is literally impossible to overdose from smoking marijuana. The worst that could happen is you'd fall asleep and wake up maybe feeling like your brain is going slow for a few hours. That's it...worst case scenario. I know because I used to be a "pothead" and I experienced that a couple times.

So we get to Colorado and immediately start searching for a house. We're living in hotels and getting further and further in debt. It's not cheap to stay on the road for that long with a family of four. It also gets old really fast. We found a house pretty quick but we still had to sell our house in Utah. After  2 months, it was finally sold but the toll it took on Enedina to be on the road that long is something we'll never get back. We were able to pay off the debt with the equity of our house which was another miracle, but it took a lot of heartache to do it.

We had wanted our children to stay in South Weber. I wanted to grow old in South Weber. Enedina always says that she finally found a place she can call home and felt comfortable dying in South Weber. I grew up in South Weber. It is my home. All of my family is here. Enedinas family is here. We have a ton of friends here. We don't know anyone in Fruita Colorado. The places where we do know people were all too expensive to live in or it was too far from home. We wanted to stay close so we could visit family and have them visit us. Fruita seemed like the perfect place.

Now fast forward to December 10th. The day of court. The day we have been dreading for months of running from the state of Utah. We had no idea what was going to happen. We had hired a very good defense attorney and he was trying to work a miracle for us but up to this point, had been unsuccessful so far. Then the next miracle happened...He convinced the prosecutor to drop the child endangerment charge to a possession charge in a plea deal! Normally, we wouldn't be so excited to plead guilty of marijuana possession but in this case, it was so exciting! Plus, we could accept it because it was actually true...
We still had to present the deal to the judge and pray for his sympathy so it wasn't over. Then the time came. Enedina was up there with our attorney and they presented the plea deal. The judge asked Enedina if there was anything she wanted to say. She said yes but she couldn't hardily talk. She obviously didn't have any cannabis with her at court and it had been a while. Luckily, our attorney had seen me relocate her collar bone and pushed in the right place and the judge saw and heard it pop into place. Then she could talk. She said the most beautiful statement that I really want to get a copy of for our own purposes. It even made the judge emotional. In fact, afterwards, even the assistant of the prosecutor went up to her and gave her a hug. It was seriously a beautiful moment. She testified in court about the law being unjust and about the efficacy of cannabis. She said it from a place of love. It was beautiful! If I can get a copy of the recording, we'll share it.

This whole situation lead to us being in a perfect scenario to be the "face" of medical marijuana in Utah. I got in contact with the founder of The Drug Policy Project of Utah and she seems really enthusiastic about our story. There is a new advocacy group forming that we may end up playing a big part of could very well lead to a career as a lobbyist and potentially even a politician. We're at the beginning of the path so who knows how far it'll go, but the possibility is there. It is something I NEVER anticipated!

We have had trial after trial but in all of this, God has been there to strengthen and support us. We have felt his love and guidance in all of this and we will continue to follow the Spirit, wherever that may take us. I know that God is in everything and I thank Him every day for preserving our family.

 

 



Why and HOW we need help!

I'm in a very unique position that is full of both difficulties and blessings. If you're reading this, then you probably already know that my wife suffers from an extremely rare form of Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. It has caused her health to decline steadily for the past 2 1/2 years. We kept on thinking that it couldn't get worse but then lo and behold, it would...and still does get worse.
The most common symptom of EDS (Ehlers Danlos Syndrome) is joints subluxing and dislocating. Enedinas joints have slowly gotten weaker and it's moved from one joint to the next to the point of where it is now...where just about EVERY joint in her body will slip in and out on a regular basis, causing her a lot of pain, and dramatically limiting the activities that she would do otherwise. As a result of all of this, I have had a lot of extra responsibility placed upon my shoulders.
Any caregiver can tell you that taking care of another adult human being is a daunting task. At first I assumed that it was going to be a temporary thing and that after it was over, we'd resume life as normal. Then the realization came that it wasn't likely going away. Then we FINALLY got a diagnosis of Ehlers Danlos Syndrome with the prognosis being "there is nothing we can do except treat symptoms". Much to our chagrin, her particular situation wouldn't let her treat the symptoms in the way in which the doctors thought was best. Pain meds caused serious digestive issues. The physical therapist and occupational therapist both ended every session in tears because everything they tried to do caused different joints to dislocate so it caused more damage than good. No surgeon will touch her because they're afraid that it'll make things even worse and accomplish no good. We tried as many natural options as we had ever heard of. Some of those things help but not enough to stop the condition from worsening. Although, the majority of things that actually help are homeopathic/natural solutions...
Anyways, the point is, we ran out of options. I had resorted to doing as much work as possible from home (thinking it was temporary) because the harsh reality is, the world didn't stop turning just because we have serious issues going on. Once we realized that it wasn't temporary, I started doing everything I could think of to make enough money to not go into more debt. I tried continuing my insurance career as much as possible from home. I became a beachbody coach and started my own business from home to try and supplement the insurance income. Sadly, I didn't do as well as I had hoped. I'm not giving up on either of those things. I absolutely LOVE beachbody programs and products and I want to help others in the way that I was helped. I spent way too much time and effort becoming a CIC designated insurance agent to just give it up. Our credit debt grew steadily. My income started getting smaller because I have less time. I have received a LOT of help from many generous people and especially from my parents. However, one of the greatest opportunities (and hopefully the solution to my financial problems) I've ever had came along this year...motivational speaking.

When I got on American Ninja Warrior, I had no idea the impact that our story would have on people. I wanted to see how I could do and my wife wanted to see it as bad as me! So I did what I had to do to get on the course. Then after everything happened and they did the whole story on us, I had an out-pouring of love and appreciation from people all over the world!
It was one of the most surreal experiences I've ever had. It was, and is, incredible! Then the biggest surprise came...I got a call from someone asking if I'd be willing to speak for money to a convention of accountants! When I was a kid, I always thought that motivational speakers had the coolest job in the world but I hadn't ever considered it a possibility for myself. Then all of a sudden, it was a reality! What?! It was like being transported to an alternate reality where people wanted to hear about our life! haha.
When I hung up the phone, the idea started building in my head that I could make this a permanent career. I realized that I could potentially make enough money to pay the bills and still have time to take care of my family. I realized that if I wanted to make an impact on the world, my job would actually BE about making an impact! I realized that my dream of one day writing a book could realistically happen if I were to be successful as a speaker.  I realized that it was almost too good to be true and I couldn't believe that I had never thought of it before!
I REALLY enjoy talking to large groups of people and I want to make this my career. My wife and I have come up with a pretty good format to share our story together. We both want to help people in any way we can. If our story can make a difference, we want to share it!
This is where I need help though. To get started, I need to get referred to different events and businesses that we could speak at. If you have any knowledge that might help us get started and are willing to share it with us, could you please contact me? Also, and especially, if you know of any events coordinators or businesses that are looking for speakers, could you refer me to them? I have decided that I will take 10% of any money I make at an event or business and give it to the person who referred me. I seriously hope that this becomes my permanent career. I have a million reasons why but I think I've shared the most important reasons of all. I want to make a difference in the world and I need a career that pays the bills and allows me the time freedom to care for my wife and 2 daughters who all have EDS. ANY HELP WILL BE APPRECIATED!!!!!!! Thank you!

How personal development led me to American Ninja Warrior

Being a beachbody coach has literally changed my life for the better in almost every way! 
It is pretty easy to see how I used beachbody programs to change my body in my before/after pic.Take a look...

It's easy to quantify. I lost 35 pounds...I gained muscle...blah blah blah.
What you can't see or quantify though, is what happened mentally. There are a lot of side effects of getting in physical shape (more confidence, etc...) but that isn't what I'm going to write about.

What I want to focus on right now is one of the 3 "vital behaviors" of a successful beachbody coach. The 3 vital behaviors are as follows: 1. be a product of the product.  2. read at least 15 minutes of personal development every day.   3. invite, invite, invite
The second vital behavior is what I'm talking about: Personal development
Personal development, or self help, is probably the most life changing habit you can start doing (outside of religious and spiritual changes). It doesn't seem like 15 minutes a day could really make that much of a difference but I'm going to try to explain how it worked for me.

When I became a coach, I kind of resisted the personal development thing because I didn't think I had time for it. Then I discovered audible. I started listening to personal development books every time I was driving or exercising. I fell in love with it! I didn't notice any immediate changes other than just proactively thinking about how I can improve myself. After a few weeks my entire thought process started to change.

The way I responded to issues improved. Instead of feeling like a victim, a thing to be acted upon...I started taking responsibility for my situation. I started being a thing to act instead of a thing to be acted upon. That made ALL the difference in the world!

My life stopped being something to just "accept it for how it is", and instead it became something I wanted to design. A life by design...what a novel idea! haha! In my head, my dreams stopped existing as dreams and transformed into possibilities...things to work towards, not just things to think about.

Before reading personal development daily, I had already started the process of taking my physical health back but my mental health still needed work. The physical part had a DIRECT impact on the mental, but there was still more that needed to be done for the mental side.

Once these things started happening, I was watching American Ninja Warrior, and I thought it looked really fun. I mentioned it to my wife and she said "why don't you do it?". Almost immediately, a new dream emerged...only this time, it was not just a dream, it was a possibility! So I started training for it. I chose the program (P90X2) that I thought was best suited towards what a ninja would need. Then I built a salmon ladder and a few other obstacles in my garage. I started rock climbing. Then I got Insanity Max:30 because I figured I'd need to be able to push my muscles while my heart was racing.

About the time I got started on Insanity Max:30, I met Karson Voiles. He had been on the show the last few years and he had an AWESOME ninja obstacle course in his backyard. We met up at the climbing gym and he invited me to go to his backyard course. I was ECSTATIC!

I went over to his house and within about 30 seconds of trying it out, thought to myself "I think I may have gotten in over my head!". LOL. The ninja obstacles were SO much more difficult than I had imagined! Only now, as a result of the mental change that occurred due to reading personal development, I saw it as a challenge instead of a defeat. I went back. Then I went back again. Soon enough, the obstacles became easier. My confidence grew.

Then I didn't get the call from American Ninja Warrior. I was pretty bummed out, not gonna lie. My wife wouldn't accept that though. She said "We've both sacrificed too much for you to NOT go to the walk on line". I hadn't planned on the walk on line because of her health situation. She insisted though, so I agreed and took my chances.

I met SO many awesome people in the walk on line. It was an incredible experience. I'll probably write a whole blog post just about that but not right now.

Anyways, so I was #13 in the line. I thought for sure that I'd get on the course. The night of the competition, they didn't let as many walk ons run in the beginning...so I started to fear I wouldn't get on. Then, when they normally let more walk ons run, they only let 3 more. It started looking like I wasn't going to get on. I was devastated. My wife and I had put SO Much into this, including the 9 days I had been in the walk on line. Then after all the regular competitors had run, they let a few more walk ons on the course. They stopped at #12. I just about lost it at that point.

I went to talk to one of the guys in casting and I basically BEGGED him to let me run. I explained how much my wife had to go through just to get there on the off chance that I might get on the course. It was a LOT! Maybe she'll write about it...
So after explaining all this to him, he told me to hang on a minute. Then he came running back waving at me to go towards him! I don't know that I've ever been more relieved! He told me that they were going to let me run!!!! Oh man! It was so exciting! Here is my run:

It was literally the MOST adrenaline I have EVER felt! I have jumped out of airplanes. I have jumped giant jumps on my BMX bike and spun and tailwhipped, and done all sorts of things on my bike. I've gone down some VERY large handrails on my bike. I have jumped off of really high cliffs. I have done all sorts of things that get your adrenaline pumping. Nothing compares to how much adrenaline I felt at ANW!

It was such an awesome experience! I hope this isn't the only year I'm able to do it. I'm hoping that I'll be able to go back next year but if not, I'll keep reading personal development because I KNOW it'll lead to even MORE great experiences!

If you're ready to make changes and you want me to help you, you can find my contact info here: www.ninjastanger.com

There Is Enough To Go Around!

In just about all areas of the world, everyone thinks they have to approach life with a "dog eat dog" attitude. In school and sports as a child, everything seemed to be designed to teach us to do whatever we had to do to reach the top. There is NOTHING wrong with being willing to make personal sacrifices and follow your determination to reach a goal, that isn't what I'm referring to. The problem isn't in ambition, it's in the misinterpretation of the phrase "whatever it takes". I'm talking about the attitude that drives people to betray others and beat others down in an effort to elevate themselves. There are people that don't follow this mentality and I have nothing but respect for them. Sadly though, the "dog eat dog" attitude is way more common than the alternative.

I'd bet that almost everyone has been involved in a situation where they were faced with the dilemma "do I betray my friend/family/colleague or talk behind their back so that I can be seen as better than them or get a promotion, OR should I try to help them get the same thing I'm trying to get(at the risk of not getting it yourself).". If you haven't had to ever make this decision then you most certainly were on  the other end at some point. Here's the thing though...are there REALLY only 2 options? Is it really this or that. Me or them? Does one corporation have to put another one out of business in order to make a profit? Does one person have to betray a friend in order to climb the corporate ladder? Why is it that this is so common?

There is a certain mentality that I have come to love and try to incorporate into my everyday life. I don't know what it's called but I'm going to explain it here.

The first place I found this mentality is in the gospel of Jesus Christ. According to the scriptures, the only way to reach exaltation is by helping and serving others. Take a look at this response of Jesus to a question he was asked in Matthew 22:36-40:

36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

 37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

 38 This is the first and great commandment.

 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

What does it mean to "love thy neighbour as thyself"? It most definitely doesn't include betrayal or talking behind ones back. It doesn't entail trying to make others look bad to elevate yourself. In fact, in Matthew 23:12 it says this:

12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

In other words, if you try to build yourself and ignore helping others, you will be abased. What does abased mean? Here is what Merriam Webster says about it:

Definition of ABASE

transitive verb

archaic :  to lower physically

:  to lower in rank, office, prestige, or esteem 

However, if you humble yourself (humility: the quality or state of not thinking you are better than other people : the quality or state of being humble), you will be exalted (raised to a higher level). I'm not suggesting that this should be your motivation because that seems a bit counter effective, but the reality is that in order to raise your spiritual level, you do so by following the golden rule...by loving your neighbor as you love yourself. In other words, you build up others. Provide value for others and your quality of life will be improved. 

The second place I found this mentality is in a true network marketing company. The ONLY way to build a successful multi level marketing business is to help others succeed. It is literally the OPPOSITE of the corporate structure. Instead of trying to get ahead of others and "beating" them to the top, you try to help them succeed and get to the "top", and by so doing, create a great residual income for yourself. The best part about this is that you can't blame anyone else for success or failure in this industry. If you succeed, you did so by helping a lot of people. If you don't succeed, it's because you didn't help enough people. It's ALL ABOUT PROVIDING VALUE TO OTHERS! If I sign someone up under me in my business and they are more successful than me, it makes me happy! I want their business to be successful because it helps me be successful. It's like the business version of the gospel principles I already discussed! Anybody that tries to do it by tearing others down or following the typical corporate attitude, will undoubtedly fail and give up at some point, and then say that the MLM business model doesn't work because they tried it...but they tried it with the wrong attitude!

The third placed I've found this mentality is in the Ninja Warrior community (by that I mean people that train for the American Ninja Warrior type courses). I think this is why I'm so drawn towards it. It's not about beating other people in the competition. It's about beating the course! Everyone shares their tips and strategies with each other because it's like they are all on the same team and not opponents. The opponent is the obstacles, not the people. There is nothing but love and support that I've seen from the Ninja Community. It is ALL about building others and helping others succeed. 

Have you ever heard the term "Givers Gain"? Or perhaps you've heard about karma. The energy you put out in the world comes back to you ten fold. Don't believe it? Try it out for a week and see how the world changes! Spend a week focused on how you can help and serve others and your whole world and perspective will change. I promise you that! If you want to know the secret to happiness, you've found it. In voluntary service to others, you'll find yourself and helping create value in others lives, you'll find happiness!

Someday Never Comes!

I was driving and I listened to this song by Creedence Clearwater Revival for the thousandth time, but for the first time I listened to what the lyrics were actually saying. My wife was with me and she started crying. I'm hoping that others can learn from our mistakes. I know I have and I intend to make every moment count for the rest of my life! Here are the lyrics:

First thing I remember was asking papa, why,
For there were many things I didn't know.
And daddy always smiled and took me by the hand,
Saying, someday you'll understand.

[Chorus]
Well, I'm here to tell you now, each and every mother's son,
That you better learn it fast, you better learn it young,
'Cause someday never comes.

Well, time and tears went by and I collected dust.
For there were many things I didn't know.
When daddy went away, he said, try to be a man,
And someday you'll understand.

Well, I'm here to tell you now, each and every mother's son,
That you better learn it fast, you better learn it young,
'Cause someday never comes.

And then one day in April, I wasn't even there,
For there were many things I didn't know.
A son was born to me. Mama held his hand,
Sayin' someday you'll understand.

Well, I'm here to tell you now, each and every mother's son,
That you better learn it fast, you better learn it young,
'Cause someday never comes
Ooo someday never comes.

Think it was September, the year I went away,
For there were many things I didn't know.
And still I see him standing, tryin' to be a man,
I said, someday you'll understand.

Well, I'm here to tell you now, each and every mother's son,
That you better learn it fast, you better learn it young,
'Cause someday never comes
Ooo someday never comes.

Now let me explain why this hit us so hard.  We got married in 2010 and we had a lot of plans to do really fun things. We wanted to travel the world. We wanted to skydive together, scuba dive together, go climbing, hiking, swimming, dancing, etc. We were able to do some of that. We went hiking once or twice and swimming about as much. We always said that "someday" we'd get to those things. When we have money we'll start living our lives how we want...This is what we told ourselves. Or, when our kids are grown up, then we'll start doing those types of things. Seemed like pretty logical reasoning at the time. 

3 years passed and we were still basically living exactly as we were when we got married, except now we had a 2 year old and a newborn baby. We still wanted to do all those things but "someday" was still some day in the future. 

Then my wife got sick. By the time we had processed the fact that it wasn't going away, it had already progressed to a point that she was UNABLE to do a lot of those things. Her joints don't let her do anything high impact so skydiving is out of the question. It doesn't even have to be high impact....dancing and hiking are out of the question too because her joints will dislocate too easily.  Disautonomia (her nervous system disorder) doesn't allow her to get into water unless it's the perfect temperature. Ehlers Danlos Syndrome has also affected her digestive system so she can't even enjoy her favorite foods anymore without getting super sick!

All of a sudden, "someday" became never. We procrastinated too long. We thought we had plenty of time and that maybe in our forties or fifties, we'd be able to enjoy that type of life once money wasn't such an obstacle. There was no way of knowing that she had a genetic condition that would show it's ugly face at the age of 25. 

You never know what is coming in life. You can plan and hopefully your plans go through good! Unfortunately though, life usually throws curveballs at you that you don't expect and then you have to adjust your plans. 

Nobody thinks it'll happen to them. We didn't. It does happen though. The good news is that you can STILL be happy! You find new things to enjoy. You begin to enjoy the small things. You learn to appreciate things that you always took for granted. It's exhilarating! I wish it didn't take that hard of an experience to teach me that lesson though. 

That is my desire. I want others to enjoy their lives to their full capacity. Don't wait for "someday" to pursue your dreams or the lifestyle you want to live! Make TODAY that day! If you wait for someday, someday will never come! 

My wife and I have every excuse in the book to not pursue our dreams now. We've learned though, that we would regret settling for mediocre. This is why I'm dreaming big. This is why I'm willing to go stand in line for a week this April without a guarantee, but for a chance at running the course at American Ninja Warrior! I have no idea what will happen between now and next year. If I want to run the course and I'm physically able now, I have to seize the day and GO FOR IT! If I fail, SO WHAT! If I try and I fail, I won't regret it. If I fail to try, I will regret it. 

PURSUE YOUR DREAMS! Take your life back! Want to get in shape? START TODAY! Want to go on vacation? Start saving NOW! Want to have a family? Start now! Someday never comes! Today is all you have. Watch this video below RIGHT NOW! Carpe Diem!

What is Beachbody on Demand?

Have you ever wanted to stream your workouts directly to your computer or tablet? How about getting discounts on Beachbody  workouts or Shakeology? Or trying new workouts before you buy them on DVD?
There's a way to get exclusive insider access to these amazing benefits, and more. It's called the Team Beachbody  Club!
That's right. Team Beachbody Club allows you unlimited streaming access to hundreds of workouts in the digital library. That means you can stream many of the most popular Beachbody workouts—like P90X and INSANITY—right to your laptop, tablet, or mobile device—anywhere you have an Internet connection. Now you can choose your favorite trainer or type of workout, and take your workouts anywhere—to the gym, a friend's house, or on vacation! How awesome is that?
You also get a personalized meal planner to help you nail your nutrition, plus a 10% discount on purchases, from new DVD workout programs to fitness apparel—even Shakeology!

What I love about Team Beachbody Club is that you can even get insider "sneak peeks" to new workouts that aren't in the on demand library, so you can try them before you decide to buy the DVDs. It's so cool!

I really think you're going to love all the incredible benefits of Team Beachbody Club. You'll get to participate in live chats with celebrity trainers, make new friends on the Message Boards, and get fitness and nutrition advice from Beachbody's top experts!

Maybe you don't have the equipment to do some of the workouts but you have a gym membership. Well now you can get the BEST OF BOTH WORLDS! You can go to the gym and you can use the well thought out exercise plans of your favorite trainers at the gym!

Maybe you have gotten a gym membership but you don't know what to do once you go there. I know that happened to me. It's pretty intimidating when you go to a gym and you don't even know where to begin because you are just starting and can't afford a personal trainer. Now you can basically get a variety of the world's BEST trainers ANYWHERE you want!

Here is a list of the different programs that you have UNLIMITED access too:

 P90X

 P90X2

 P90X3

 Insanity

TurboFire

Brazil Butt Lift

Ten Minute Trainer

ChaLEAN Extreme

Insanity: The Asylum Vol 1

Tony One-on-One (vol 1)

Hip Hop Abs
 

The part that I'm most excited about, is the club membership challenge pack! A challenge pack is usually one program plus one months worth of shakeology. So for anyone that wants to get shakeology, for another $10, they get 90 days of the club membership that includes everything I've already listed here! It's seriously a RIDICULOUS good deal! Click here to get the challenge pack!

       

To sign up for the club membership, just stop by the Team Beachbody website. Or contact me directly and I'll walk you through it, and answer any questions you might have.

The Greatest Lesson I've Ever Learned

This is a subject of which I have become EXTREMELY passionate about. I don't mean for this to be chastising anyone and I don't mean for it to be judgemental at all. I am writing this because it is an extremely valuable lesson that I've learned through watching my wife go through daily torture due to a health condition that she had absolutely zero control over or knowledge about beforehand. I feel like I have learned an amazing thing and I wish it hadn't taken what it did in order for me to learn it. I'm hoping that my wife's experiences can teach others as it has me. I hope that in sharing this, I can help at least one person to appreciate the small things just a little bit more. As I'm writing this, I'm holding back tears because I'm writing about something so difficult and at this moment, the song that we played at our wedding for our "First Dance" came on the radio. At that time, we had no idea what the Lord had in store for our lives. We were two carefree newly weds who thought we had multiple decades ahead of us before we encountered any type of major health issues. These things can happen to anyone at anytime. Because of that, I think it's of crucial importance for everyone to learn to appreciate what they have, even if what they have is limited to the ability to breathe.
I want you to imagine for a moment...What if one day you lost the ability to do all the things you love? How would you feel? This can happen in a single moment. One poor decision while driving (either by you or someone that hits you), or in a less common example, one morning you're perfectly fine, and then the next day you wake up with bacterial meningitis or some other disease that completely changes your life. Do you think that you would see walking as a blessing to others if it were taken from you? There are thousands of health conditions that can cause you to lose different functions of your body. Do you think you would wish that you had taken more time to appreciate these things while you had them? What about sight, hearing, taste, touch. What about the simplest of all bodily functions...breathing?

Side note: Here is a quote from my favorite roman emperor Marcus Aurelius. I found out yesterday that I'm related to him (among other super famous historical figures)! Yeah I was excited to find out...

 

 

Enedina has had different things taken from her one by one. I'm not going to go through every step in this blog, but I want to share a little so that you understand the situation. She was a stay at home mom and she loved it! Her whole life, she had hoped to be a stay at home mom with a lot of kids. She experienced that with Elena, and then for a few months with Eva. Then one day she started having these dizzy spells that made me start working from home so I could help to avoid her carrying Eva and dropping her during a dizzy spell. Next her joints started subluxing. That progressed really quickly. Then she started having these muscle spasms. There were a few times that we had to call the ambulance because she almost died from the spasms blocking her airways. In those moments, there was nothing I have ever wanted more than for her to be able to breathe. I'm sure she'd agree...Anyways, so at this point she had gotten to a point where she basically had to give up all of her favorite activities (yoga, running, etc.). Then the digestive issues started. The few things that were her absolute FAVORITES were sushi and chocolate. All of a sudden she couldn't eat rice or chocolate...so there goes that. Since then, we've found a way for her to be able to eat sushi and not get sick so we're grateful to have that back.
My point in saying all of that is this; Just about all of her favorite things to do have been taken from her because of Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. She has gone through ups and downs in the process but she has learned to find happiness in the midst of losing all of these things. How? Well, the small things bring great pleasure.
Every day she wakes up is a blessing. Every breath she can breathe is a blessing. Every sensation and every experience is a blessing! Every moment she can spend with our daughters is a moment that we never want to lose!
I use her as an example because it is through her experiences that I have learned these important lessons.
We need to stop taking the AMAZING gift of an able body for granted and start treating ourselves with the respect that our bodies deserve. It is the greatest machine in existence. Why do we take care of our cars that might be worth $15,000 and yet we treat our bodies that are priceless, like crap? I did it for years and years and I didn't even realize it! If I had a Mercedes Benz, I'd be taking that car in to get the best fuel available and the best parts I could at every opportunity from the best mechanic I could find regardless of price. How much is that worth? Maybe $40,000? Can I even put a number on the value of an able body? How much would you pay to get an able body back if you lost it?
This is my point, we have the most amazing machine in existence that we literally live in, and we feed it crap, sit on our butts and don't exercise, and we let it get to a point where it can't even function correctly because we've neglected it for so long! WHY! Why did it take the most difficult experience of my life and watching my wife go through the most difficult experience I've ever witnessed for me to learn this?
I can go to a store and jump out of my car, run in and just get what I need and run out! Have you ever considered how easy that is compared to what handicapped people have to do? I can SEE what I'm looking for. How much value do you think a blind person would put on sight? I'd bet it's higher than the value of any car or other machine built by man.
If it were possible, we'd give up everything we have for my wife to get an "iron man suit" that would be a fake imitation of a repair for the body that we all take for granted. EVERYTHING WE HAVE! The value of health is far more precious than the mind can conceive. Problem is, you don't realize it until it's gone. I feel blessed that I didn't have to lose my health to learn to appreciate it. I wish I had learned it some other way though, because it's really hard to watch the woman I love go through the loss of body she has.
I think more than anything, this is why I love the new path that I've chosen. It is a different lifestyle. It's the second best change I've ever made in my life and it actually should have been part of the best change I ever made, I just didn't realize it. My explanation for that is found here.
I have basically devoted myself to helping others to learn these lessons without the terribly difficult experiences that it took for me to learn them. I'm devoted to helping others learn and then DO something about it!

PLEASE contact me if any of this inspires you to make a change. Maybe you aren't ready for change yet. If you even so much as have a DESIRE to make your life better, get ahold of me and I'll do anything in my power to help you, or if I can't, I will try to connect you with someone that can! I have found tremendous joy in helping others and I look for every opportunity I have available so don't be shy!

What is a pyramid scheme and what ISN'T?

Everybody knows that pyramid schemes need to be avoided. Everybody thinks they know what a pyramid scheme is as well. Here's the problem, most people don't actually understand what a pyramid scheme is! I did a quick google search to see how pyramid scheme is defined. The first thing that pulled up was a yahoo definition. Here it is:

1. pyramid scheme

                *n.noun

      1. A fraudulent moneymaking scheme in which early participants are paid of  money received from later recruits, with the final recruits putting money in and getting nothing back



Here is how the SEC (US securities and exchange commission) defines it on their website:

Pyramid Schemes

In the classic "pyramid" scheme, participants attempt to make money solely by recruiting new participants into the program. The hallmark of these schemes is the promise of sky-high returns in a short period of time for doing nothing other than handing over your money and getting others to do the same.
The fraudsters behind a pyramid scheme may go to great lengths to make the program look like a legitimate multi-level marketing program. But despite their claims to have legitimate products or services to sell, these fraudsters simply use money coming in from new recruits to pay off early stage investors. But eventually the pyramid will collapse. At some point the schemes get too big, the promoter cannot raise enough money from new investors to pay earlier investors, and many people lose their money.

There is another AWESOME article that the SEC put on their site and you can see the whole article here. I recommend EVERYBODY that is interested in any MLM read it. Here is just a small part of it and I'm going to highlight the part that I want to emphasize:

In an MLM program, you typically get paid for products or services that you and the distributors in your "downline" (i.e., participants you recruit and their recruits) sell to others. However, SOME MLM programs are actually pyramid schemes -- a type of fraud in which participants profit almost EXCLUSIVELY through recruiting other people to participate in the program.

In other words, it's possible for a pyramid scheme to masquerade as an MLM but that does NOT mean that all MLM's are pyramid schemes!
So how do you know the difference? Here's the biggest red flag: Are the distributors actually selling something of value? If so, is the commission generated just a PERCENTAGE and not more than the actual cost of the product of the retail sale? If you can answer yes to both of those, then chances are, it's a legitimate business. If you answer no to either, then you better take a serious look at it before joining. If anyone tells you that you can make a lucrative income by EXCLUSIVELY recruiting other people who recruit other people who recruit other people etc...then you're listening to a pyramid scheme. Here's why: There is a bunch of people transferring money but NOBODY is transferring any product. It's unsustainable because there isn't any actual sale happening!
Now I want to demonstrate how an MLM can be a totally legitimate business model and I'm going to use Beachbody as my example.
With beachbody, they sell an actual product. No money is made whatsoever unless a product is sold. I could sign up 15 million coaches and never make a penny unless at least some of those coaches (including me) are selling exercise programs and health supplements. In fact, I have some coaches on my team that I make $0 on ever. They signed up to get the coach discount with no intention of selling to anyone and then stopped ordering any products. Guess what happened? The instant they stopped buying products, I get nothing from them being a coach.
However, if I sign up a coach and they either buy products or sell products of beachbody, THEN I make money. I don't actually make commission from it, it's all through team volume points that I'm not going to get into in this blog because it will just confuse anyone that isn't familiar with MLM compensation plans. I only make commissions from my own personal customers.
In other words, signing up coaches CAN build an income for me but ONLY if they are selling products and signing up other coaches who are selling products. Do you see the difference? Sale of products=money generated. Recruiting coaches=no money generated unless there is a sale of products.

There are 2 ways to sign up as a coach.
      1. You can JUST sign on as a coach for $40. With that $40, you get a bunch of info about "coach basics" you get 3 different websites of your own (for team beachbody, shakeology, and the ultimate reset), and you get a healthy eating cookbook. So yes, there is a fee to become a coach but you actually get something for the fee...it's not just a fee for nothing. 
      2. You can get that $40 fee waived completely by buying a challenge pack! So for example, the brand new challenge pack called the "club challenge pack" costs $140. With that, you get one month of shakeology (normally $130 for a bag) and 90 days of a club membership that gives you a TON of good benefits, not the least of which being a LIBRARY of AMAZING exercise programs that you can stream on any device that has the internet. The price is $140 regardless of if you become a coach or not. However, if you buy a challenge pack, and you want to become a coach, then the $40 fee is waived!

In Both cases, you pay money but you actually GET SOMETHING. This is the best example I can give because it's the company that I'm most familiar with. There are so many good MLM companies out there though. There are sketchy ones. There are some that I've encountered that I don't want to touch with a ten foot pole. There are a lot of really good ones though that sell a lot of great products. I've talked to some other MLM companies and if I weren't already doing beachbody, I'd probably have signed up with them. We use products from multiple MLM companies and love them. Once properly understood, the issue isn't with the MLM business model; it's with the minority of "MLM" companies that are actually illegal pyramid schemes. I put that in quotations because a pyramid scheme is NOT an MLM. It is a sketchy illegal imitation of an MLM. I'm going to write another post in the future about why I think network marketing (MLM) is the greatest business model but this post has gotten long enough.
If you have any questions or comments, please comment on this post! If you want to know more about the business opportunity that is available with beachbody, check out my website or either comment here or reach me on facebook. I look forward to talking with you!

-Mike Stanger