Aging Is Optional Radio

And to that point I think you’ll learn why I’m really excited to welcome Joey Walker to Aging Is Optional Radio. https://disarmanddisable.com/about/ Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/agingisoptionalradio. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On Episode 6 I talked about the importance of Mentors and today I’d like to welcome one of my mentors Steve Little to Aging Is Optional Radio. ----------------------------------------------------------------- No matter your age if you're thinking about your financial future. That's good. If you're not thinking about your debt. That can be bad. But the hardest part is figuring out where to start and how to track your progress, right? That's what I struggled with for years until I found the solution. So I created a special book called “Living The Debt Free Lifestyle” to help you get on the right track. Interested? Go to crushthatdebt.net and download my free ebook now and learn how to crush all your debt faster than you ever dreamed possible. You can find the link in the show notes and on all of my social media accounts. That’s crushthatdebt.net for my free ebook “Living The Debt Free Lifestyle”. Thanks again for joining me on Aging Is Optional Radio. I hope you found some value in this episode. That’s really my goal. You can find the podcast on iTunes and I’d really appreciate it if you would subscribe and give it a rating and I love reading your comments! You can also find it on all of the podcast platforms. If you like what you hear please be sure to share the podcast with your friends and on social media. You can also reach me directly at mark@agingisoptionalradio.com if you have any questions or want to suggest any topics. Until next time, Thanks, everybody! Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/agingisoptionalradio. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello, everybody! On Thursday night, I got to go trick-or-treating with Shannon and Piper. It was amazing. She's five years old and loves Halloween almost as much as her mom does we all dressed up as Olaf from Frozen? It was really cold and Dallas. So we were nice and warm in our costumes. We got lots of attention from the other trick or treaters in the families. Halloween has always been my wife's favorite holiday. We’ve dressed Up in costumes in Orange County California, Las Vegas, Chicago, New Orleans, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and now Dallas. We've almost always had a great time. This is a difficult topic for me to talk about publicly. But I feel that if I can help someone with my story I should do it. That's really what Aging Is Optional Radio is all about. Exactly 10 years ago this past Halloween our night didn't end so well. It was actually a night that dramatically Change the course of Our Lives. Shannon had plans for us to go out. She even had multiple costumes picked out. She was going to come home from work, and we were going to dress up and go out. She usually got off of work around 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. So I decided to use my free day and go out in Newport Beach and watch the USC versus Oregon football game and then meet her at home after. What actually happened is I don't really remember all the details, but I know I drove home from Newport Beach in a drunk blackout. I'm pretty sure I stumbled past her as she sat in our living room waiting for me for God knows how long and I probably passed out in our bed. This wasn't the first time this had happened. It happened many times over the last few months. At some point the next morning November 1st 2009. I came to and walked out into our family room. There was Shannon sitting in her work clothes from the night before she hadn't even gone to bed. I couldn't say a thing. I was caught it was over. I'll never forget the look of disappointment, even disgust on her face. More than that, I'll never forget what she said to me. “You obviously love what you're doing more than you do me, and I love you too much to watch you do it. So I'm leaving you.” As she walked out the door. I thought I would never see her again. But love was the most important word that I had heard. Love is the most powerful force in the universe. She saved my life with those words. I'm convinced that God sent Shannon to save me. Have you ever been confronted by a spouse or a family member or a friend about your drinking? I was 48 years old at the time and had been drinking for over 32 years. I'm not going to go into all the gory details about my drinking career here, maybe on another episode. Over our time together, my drinking had gotten progressively worse. I had already ruined one marriage of 16 years to a wonderful woman and a great mom to our two daughters and I was on my way to ruining another one in very short order. This time Shannon and I had been married for only six months and we'd been together for about four years. If you have ever struggled with any kind of addiction, especially alcohol. I hope my story helps you or someone you love. I don't know about you, but I can remember my first drink of alcohol, I was about 16 years old and it was at a party at a friend's house. I don't really remember what it tasted like but I do remember how it made me feel it made me feel. Like a part of the group, the cool crowd, you know, the cheerleaders and the athletes. Ever since that time in high school I've been chasing that feeling. Largely unsuccessfully. All through college and my fraternity and after in my professional life. The chase was always on. I have been in professional sales for all of my life and I get paid to entertain clients. That day when Shannon left me. I knew it was over. She gave me the consequences I needed to ask for help. Everyone is different. In AA we call it hitting bottom. Some people get a DUI or a car crash, some get admitted to the hospital for physical issues, others...

Aging Is Optional Radio Episode 14 features Entrepreneur, author, musician singer/songwriter and most of all my good friend Tim Darnell. Learn about Tim's back story, his upbringing in the church, when he personally accepted Jesus Christ into his life, how his faith guides him and how he helps others. You can find Tm on his website http://darnellfinancial.com/ as well as on Facebook - Tim Darnell of Allen, TX. Thanks again for joining me on Aging Is Optional Radio. I hope you found some value in this episode. That’s really my goal. You can find the podcast on iTunes and I’d really appreciate it if you would subscribe and give it a rating and I love receiving comments! You can also find it in the Google Play Store, on TuneIn Radio, on Stitcher, The Podcast App, PocketCasts, CastBox, Deezer and Pippa. And I’ll be adding more channels in the future including YouTube. I’m also excited to announce that you’ll be able to find us on SubscribeStar where you can support the podcast. If you like what you hear please be sure to share the podcast with your friends and on social media. You can also reach me directly at mark@agingisoptionalradio.com if you have any questions or want to suggest any topics. Until next time, Thanks, everybody! Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/agingisoptionalradio. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Aging Is Optional Radio Episode 13 features Luxury Travel/Food Blogger and creator of Adventures Of Empty Nesters, my great friend Suzanne Stavert. Learn about Suzanne's background and the story of how she was able to share her passion, build an audience and ultimately travel the world representing destinations, brands and travel companies. It really is an amazing story. Suzanne's website is https://www.adventuresofemptynesters.com/ and she can also be found on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook @suzannestavert. Thanks again for joining me on Aging Is Optional Radio. I hope you found some value in this episode. That’s really my goal. You can find the podcast on iTunes and I’d really appreciate it if you would subscribe and give it a rating and I love receiving comments! You can also find it in the Google Play Store, on TuneIn Radio, on Stitcher, The Podcast App, PocketCasts, CastBox and Pippa. And I’ll be adding more channels in the future including YouTube. If you like what you hear please be sure to share the podcast with your friends and on social media. You can also reach me directly at mark@agingisoptionalradio.com if you have any questions, want to suggest any topics or if you want to be interviewed or to interview me. Until next time, Thanks, everybody! Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/agingisoptionalradio. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We celebrated father's day recently and I got to thinking about second chances and fatherhood. On September 18, 2014 Piper was born at Prentice Women's hospital in downtown Chicago. Shannon had a C-Section and Piper spend a couple nights in the NIC Unit. I'll never forget our relief when she was able to spend more time with us in our room and eventually overnight. There's actually a picture that the photographer took of me holding Piper looking down at this helpless perfect baby. I get emotional every time I look at it and think about it. I want to love her and protect her. I want to be the best father I can be for her. I want my wife to be proud of me. I want to be an example to other fathers. I especially want to be an example to fathers my age, Baby Boomers who might be getting a second chance at fatherhood. Even an example for hands-on grandparents who have young children living with them in their homes now. I remember thinking at the time we found out Shannon was pregnant with Piper, being a Baby Boomer, was I too old? Will I have the energy to keep up with her? Would we be able to afford to raise her wherever we lived, let alone pay for college? How would raising Piper affect my relationship with my daughters Molly and Riley her half sisters? I did the best that I could 26 years ago. I was a different man back then. I love them, but looking back, I know that I wasn't always the best father to them. I wasn't always there for them. I loved them when they were young, and as they were growing up, and I love them deeply today, but I was selfish back then. I wasn't always physically and emotionally present for them. Would I be able to learn from the past? Would I be the father to Piper that God and Molly and Riley always wanted me to be? When the doctors told us the Piper would have to spend the night in the NIC Unit I knew it was serious. I prayed that she would come through it okay. I was there for Shannon and I knew I would be there for Piper no matter what! I always come back to the picture of us together. It's a stark black and white photo and there is an energy to it. The sunlight flowing through the window behind us. Holding this tiny helpless girl, this little baby in my hands.I knew I was going to be the best father I could be for her! Last Father's Day in church the pastor's sermon was titled how to become a strong family the call of fatherhood and he quoted Philippians chapter three thirteen but one thing I do forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead that's something I've learned through my experience and I try to practice every day I can't do anything about the past how I was as a father I can't dwell on it but I can learn from it I don't have to be perfect but I can't make progress every week come with Piper Thursday and Friday evenings after Shannon goes to work and when I finish my work day I mostly whether all day Saturdays and Sundays every day I try to be present for Piper there's so much to do here in Dallas we are always doing an activity of some kind we go to the parks into our pool we go to the movies go to soccer practice in our games we go to the farmers markets in minor league baseball games we go to museums one of her favorite things to do is go to an indoor trampoline park called urban air this place is huge she really has fun there wall climbing and doing obstacle courses bouncing all over the building diving into the ball pet jousting with other kids on the balance beam she's gotten so much confidence and strength from going there over the last few months she's really fearless and I'm so proud of her on Sundays I take her to Sunday school at our church and I pick her up after I get done going to service we pick up Graham after that at home and take her to church and then Piper and I have a tea party at Starbucks it's our special time together on Sundays we really love it she's a very social girl much like Malian Riley I see a lot of them in her everyone at our school...

Hello everybody! I'm sorry it's been awhile since I last publishing episode. I started working for a great company in the trade show industry which I worked in for about the last eighteen years. The people I work with are amazing and the support I've received has been more than I could ever ask for. I'm truly grateful! I've also had the opportunity to travel back to our corporate office in Chicago twice since starting in the training spend so great each training trip spent about a week long. And one other thing, we also moved from Plano Texas to McKinney Texas which is, you know, a pretty short distance but it was a long process for us to get settled into our new home. We love our new home and we're grateful to be here for the long term. Now that things are settling down I should be able to get back to of solid rhythm of publishing my podcast on a more regular basis. I have some really exciting ideas I'd like to discuss, I'm also going to be interviewing some amazing thought leaders on the topic of aging in the near future. Well let's get started on this episode! Back in 1985 I had just finished college and you know I'd been working a little bit and I'd been planning a trip to Europe with one of my friends Tommy. We were going to be in Europe for a total of about six weeks and we were really excited about it! We were going to go to England and Belgium then Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Italy, Greece and back to England and then home. Germany was by far my favorite! I just love that country! I got a chance to visit my dad's birth place which was in Frankfort. We went to Munich and explored this beautiful city and the Hofbrauhaus Munchen. It was something that was just beyond my imagination! It was so huge! We took a trip out to Dachau one of the concentration camps. We got to see the horrible conditions and the stories of the people of the Holocaust. It was really something that touched my heart and I'll never forget it. We also took a trip down the Rhine river and I'll never forget the castle's plucked up right up in the hill sides these beautiful amazing castles as the river meanders through that part of the country we stayed in route to shine on the Rhine in you know visited with some of the local spots we went to Baden Baden and stayed there for a couple nights and got to experience the Roman Irish bass which is really unique I'm so much history in Berlin we stayed on the west side and we toured all around the city we also went to the Brandenburg gate which is a very very famous location and at that time Ronald Reagan was early in his second term there is a lot of tension between the US and Russia at that time so there was a real global feeling that something might happen remember Reagan's famous speech in nineteen eighty seven Mr Gorbachev tear down that wall I think I'm saying it correctly as part of our experience in nineteen eighty five in Berlin we visited the wall and we actually went through a checkpoint Charlie which is the most famous location I think for tourists %HESITATION certainly to to go through from east to west and west to east there armed guards they were carrying machine grinds it was really intimidating they made us by a certain amount of east German marks as soon as we walked across the border and so we were in the cities per lan and the contrast couldn't have been more stark West Berlin was lively and bright and beautiful and fine in East Berlin was dark and grey and really kind of depressing we went and did some touristy things we went to their tomb of the Unknown Soldier and a little bit of sightseeing and %HESITATION towards the end of our time there we decide to stop off at a cafe right near the square and I remember sitting down with my friend Tommy and %HESITATION this person that was sitting nearest leaned over and he asked to see if we were Americans and he didn't spank you English very well and we didn't speak German but we're somehow able to communicate with our new friend...

Hello everybody! I remember the first time I rode in an Uber. It was in San Diego late summer two thousand fourteen. I had flown in from Chicago to a network marketing training event. there were thousands of people in town, it was really amazing! The weather was incredible and I took a shuttle from the airport to the hotel and literally walked everywhere. There are all of our friends in the company were all over town, and we got together and made our way to the event and to all the training sessions and it's just a really exciting time to be in San Diego. I remember my friend Patty who was there from Chicago as well made a suggestion for dinner one night she said “let's go get Ramen” and I said “that sounds awesome I know the perfect spot it's called Underbelly and it's over in Little Italy” which generally make a lot of sense but I'll tell you that place is amazing! I'll link it in the show notes in case you ever want to check it out. Anyway, I met up with Patty at our hotel in she said let's take an Uber. I'm like, really? they've got Uber down here? and she said yeah let's do it so we got picked up by an Uber and talked to the driver on our way over to our dinner and actually walked around afterwards and walk back to our hotel because you're pretty close. It was kind of a neat experience to be in the car with Uber driver to pick his brain about why he was driving, what attracted him to it, what he liked about it, if you had another job or business, if he was in school. We asked him a bunch of questions. It was actually a really nice conversation even though is a short drive and I remember distinctly thinking this is a really cool deal for someone. When I got back to Chicago, we lived in an amazing place right off Michigan Avenue and we're very close to all of the bus lines and the “L” and we could take taxis anywhere, but I made a decision at that point if I was going to take a taxi I was gonna take an Uber. I would rather take an Uber and support somebody who was a small business owner, that was really the way I looked at it, I wanted to support this person's business rather than put my money into a taxi driver. now I have all kinds of issues with taxi drivers given that I've lived in a city like Chicago and I've traveled a ton, so to get somebody that was a small business owner and his own car and to see what kind of experience I would have was really pretty cool. So I really really love supporting Uber drivers going back to my days in Chicago and I also travel a lot for business at the time and I was able to support Uber drivers literally all over the country in my travels. One of my favorite stories was in Chicago, I was riding with this gentleman, he was probably in his mid sixties I'm guessing. He was definitely retired. He had on a Vietnam Vet baseball cap and I was really interested in his story. We were in the car for about ten minutes so I asked him how we like driving for Uber and he said “no I like it, I enjoy it, I get a lot of variety out of it.” I go “what's your favorite part about it” he said, “well I'll tell ya, if I stayed at home with my wife and watch the news all day long and that's all we did, I'd probably kill her!” and I had to laugh! I mean, it was hysterical, but he was serious! This gave him an opportunity to get out of the house and interact with people and also have quality time with his wife when they were together. So he had a really good reason for it, he just told the story in a funny way. I was on business in San Francisco at one point this last year and I remember sitting in an Uber with a gentlemen and looking at its profile and it showed that he had twenty thousand rides and I was so impressed by that that Uber started in San Francisco so it made sense that the earliest adopters of being drivers was in San Francisco but he'd only been driving for about five years any amassed twenty thousand rides over that time says pretty amazing I was really impressed with that any clearly...

Hello everybody! About a week or so ago Facebook was kind enough to let me know that I was “celebrating” my 12 year Faceversary. I opened my Facebook account in early March 2007. It was the first social media platform I joined. I could have joined My Space but for some reason I picked Facebook. Maybe it was the creepy rumors about My Space at the time. Who knew that 12 years later Facebook would become creepy in its own right, but that’s probably a topic for another podcast. It’s hard to believe it’s been that long when I think about it, but I could have sworn I have been on it longer. I kind of think of social media years like dog years. Where does the time go? If I want to find out where the time went I can usually find what happened on Facebook or most recently Twitter and Instagram. How long have you been on social media? What was the first social media platform you joined? Was it My Space or Facebook? How long have you been on Social Media? Where do you spend most of your time? Since back in 2007 I’ve actually enjoyed social media quite a bit and even learned a few things from it. I actually launched my first podcast in the summer of 2016. It’s called the “How Social Are You Podcast”. My goal was to ask the question “are we more or less social because of social media”. Like most people I got on Facebook because my family and friends from High School and College were on it. It was like a big high school cafeteria with even more people from outside my school mixed in. I wanted to keep in touch with them and share what was happening in my life with them. Is that why you joined Social Media? The more I used Facebook the more I realized that I was getting sucked into it and it was consuming way too much of my time. I have to admit that whether it’s Facebook, Instagram or now Twitter I have a tendency to spend more time than I probably should. I learned that it helps to have boundaries for Social Media use. Also to have filters on the information I’m consuming on Social Media. All of the major platforms give you the ability to block or mute topics or information you don’t want to see. On Facebook I have certain “friends” who I don’t see their posts. I’m still friends with them but I have unfollowed them for a variety of reasons. It could be political or just the “energy” they put out on the platform. I like my facebook feed to be positive and uplifting and for the most part if is. Do you do the same? How do you deal with topics you aren’t interested in or energy you don’t want to receive? I use Twitter as more of an information source even though I do follow some people who I’m friends with. I have created “Lists” of people who I don’t even follow but I view them as subject matter experts on topics I’m interested in like USC Football or Politics or Healthy Aging. I mainly use Instagram as a vision board of beautiful images and places I plan to visit, as well as inspirational quotes. Instagram is also the place where I’m able to follow my daughters, Molly & Riley as well as my sister and my nieces and nephew there. Piper also has a page that I maintain for her although I haven’t really added much to it over the last few years but I do tag her in every photo I post of her on my account @mlindheimer Instagram is really more of a place for Millenials and Gen Z anyway. Are you on more than one Social Media platform? Do you have different uses for them like I do? The more I got involved with Social Media, I’m a partner in a travel influencer account called @LuxuryWorldTraveler, the more I started to realize that people were becoming more connected to their phones than to the people around them. I was guilty of this too. A few years ago my wife was working in a restaurant in Santa Monica near the Pier and 3rd Street Promenade and she used to comment that she’d walk up to many of her tables to greet them and would have to wait for them to look up because they were so busy taking the right selfie, scrolling Instagram or...

Hey Everybody! I wanted to honestly thank you for subscribing to Aging Is Optional Radio. Over the last six weeks since the launch of this podcast I have published eight episodes that have resulted in over 300 downloads and a global audience spanning from the united States, to Canada, Australia, France and Japan which is really exciting because I’m just getting started. I am so grateful that you are listening, that you are hopefully receiving value from the topic’s I’m discussing and that you’ll continue to participate in our community as we grow. So let’s get started. Have you ever had a near death experience? Have you ever felt like you cheated death or just “got lucky”? Back when I was around 16 or 17 years old my friend Jeff and I were driving up to Big Bear, a ski resort town in Southern California near Los Angeles, to go skiing for the weekend. Jeff’s family had a vacation house up there. I was really excited because it was going to be the first time I had ever gone skiing. We had Jeff’s car all packed up with clothes and food and assorted beverages. Hey! We were in High School! We took the back road which if you know this road, it’s really steep and winding but it gets you there faster. Anyway as we drove up the mountain we were listening to music and talking and it was getting colder and colder and a light snow had started to fall. The snow on the ground and in the trees looked beautiful. It had started to get dark and the road was pretty windy. All of a sudden we go into a downhill right hand turn. At that moment we hit a patch of black ice in the road and the car skidded across the road into oncoming traffic and off the side of the road and down a cliff. There was no guardrail so the car flipped side over side several times. We were flying around inside the car with all of our stuff for the weekend. All of a sudden we just stopped. We had hit a tree about a 150 feet down the mountain. We both were yelling, asking if each other if we were okay and miraculously we were! I had hit the windshield and jammed my shoulder. I don’t remember exactly what happened to Jeff but he was worse off than I was. We were able to grab some of our stuff so we would be warm in the snow. We tossed the beverages we could find out of the car. The car was totaled. And made our way up the hill to the road. Almost at that very moment a snow plow that was heading up the mountain came driving up. Crazy timing right? The driver seeing two teenage boys on the side of the road in the snow on a mountain road knew something was wrong so he pulled over. We told him what happened and he said that this was a dangerous spot where we went off the road. A year or so earlier a woman driving a car hit the same spot and went off the road and ended up losing both her legs due to her injuries. Around the same time a family of four went off in the same spot and they all died. How lucky could we be? If not for that tree would likely would have died. It really made no sense that there wasn’t guardrail there to protect people driving that part of the road. The tow truck driver took us to meet the Highway Patrol at a rest stop so he could take us down the mountain to get medical care and meet our parents. He also told us about accidents that had happened in that very spot. I’ve thought of that accident many times throughout the years. For four summers during college I worked at a Tennis Ranch in Big Bear and I drove that same road every other weekend up and down the mountain. Every time I drove past that spot my hands got sweaty and my grip got tighter. I had a physical reaction at the memory and being so close to the place where I nearly died. Have you ever had an experience like this? I’ve actually come to believe that there really are no coincidences. None. Everything happens for a reason and there is a larger plan in play. I believe that there is a force, a power, an energy, a higher power or God if you will, that is bigger than me that controls...

Let’s talk about music! What has music got to do with aging? I don’t know about you but I love music! I’ve been a fan of music, especially live music my entire life. Do you enjoy music? What genre do you love? Who’s your favorite band? Do you have a particular song that reminds you of an event or time in your life? Your first dance? Your first kiss? It all started for me in middle school when I joined the band. Yes I was a band geek and I still am at heart. Somehow I decided I wanted to play drums. I’m sure this drove my parents crazy but they supported me anyway. I took lessons and even bought and drum kit. All throughout High School in the mid to late 70’s (remember I’m a Baby Boomer) I was fortunate enough to be friends with the best musicians in our High School band. In fact two of my best friends from that era, Sal who plays saxophone and all woodwind instruments and Alex who plays trombone, are living their dreams as professional musicians to this day. They also teach music! They are enormously talented but work really hard at it too! I have incredible respect for them and anyone who makes music their profession. Now what was actually cool is that our High School marching band was one of the best in the state of California at the time. We regularly competed in parades where we were judged against other bands from all over and we did really well often winning the competitions. We performed at the halftime shows on the field during our football games. We even marched in the Rose Parade in 1979! Not only was I able to play in the Marching Band but I was able to learn many different types of percussion and was able to participate in the Orchestra, the jazz band and the pep band which allowed me to learn to play many different styles of music. Looking back on it it was pretty amazing growing up playing music live in front of so many different audiences. Can you relate? Did you play an instrument growing up? What was your experience with music either playing or being in the audience? My friends Alex and Sal and I also traveled to Los Angeles and Hollywood to see live jazz played by some of the greatest performers of our time. My favorites were the jazz drummers Buddy Rich and Louie Bellson. They were amazing showmen! Back then we also got to see amazing jazz bands playing at Disneyland too! Around that time in high school I also fell in love (thanks to Alex) with progressive rock music - Emerson Lake & Palmer, Yes, Pink Floyd, Genesis, Supertramp, Jethro Tull, Kansas. The list goes on. I loved the sophistication of the music. It was almost orchestral! I was always playing their albums and trying to play along with their music on my drum kit. What type of music did you love growing up? Rock? Heavy Metal? Pop? Country? Jazz? Did you have a favorite band? With so much musical influence in my life I knew I wanted to see all of these great bands and musicians play music as much as possible and as often as I could. Living Southern California there were so many venues to see live music between Orange County, Los Angeles and Hollywood. But how could I afford to see all the live music I wanted, the bands that I loved? Concert tickets were costly and I didn’t really have a job back then. I also wondered if I would be considered cool, part of the in crowd, if I didn’t go to these concerts with my friends. How would I feel if my friends went to the concerts and I didn’t get to go too? I still remember asking my parents if I could go see KISS in concert when I was around 14 or 15 years old and they said no. I still have a resentment toward them to this day for that even though I’ve seen KISS a few times since. I think that denial fueled my fire to never miss a concert that I wanted to see again! Somehow, I don’t really remember how, I met a scalper who had connections to the boxoffice at The Forum where The Lakers and Kings played their games. The Forum was also the arena where all of the biggest bands on tour would play. Once...

Hey Everybody! I’m fighting a bit of a cold but I think we’re going to get through this. My commitment to you is to publish at least one episode per week and so far I’m on track. This will be the 6th episode in 6 weeks. So let’s do this! Have you ever had a mentor? Have you ever needed at mentor? Particularly as an adult. Someone you looked up to who you could turn to to help you make decisions or teach you something you were trying to learn? For some people it might be their dad or mom or a teacher or a sports coach. What is a mentor? Webster's Dictionary defines Mentor as an experienced and trusted adviser. Synonyms - adviser, guide, confidant, confidante, counselor, consultant, therapist. Thinking back to my college days that was the first time I ever had someone I would call a mentor. His name was Jim and he was my big brother in our Fraternity, Sigma Chi. I joined Sigma Chi back in the early 1980 at Cal State University Long Beach. At the time I really didn’t know anyone at school except my roommate. It was time to meet new people and build some lasting friendships. They had something called Rush Week where you could go from fraternity house to fraternity house to meet the men and get a feeling for each one on campus. Most of the Rush Week Events were parties and there were lots of coeds there as well. At least that’s how I remembered it. As you go through the week you’re supposed to narrow down your choices on the fraternity you want to join based on whatever criteria you decide but you also hope that the one you want picks you as well. Sigma Chi was always my first choice. Ultimately I received a bid from Sigma Chi and I couldn’t have been happier. Each pledge class has a trainer who takes you through the process of working as a team, learning about the fraternity and becoming a contributing Active member. Back then there was some physical stress involved but I wouldn’t call the hazing life threatening. Our pledge trainer really looked out for us and our safety. He understood the purpose. In the beginning each pledge is assigned a Big Brother who coaches him individually through the process based on his, the big brother’s, experience. He’s there to answer questions and make sure you’re making progress to become a contributing member of the fraternity. Jim was my Big Brother and he became a mentor to me and a close friend throughout college and for some time after. I really trusted him which is a huge deal in a mentor / mentee relationship. You may know the saying, “when the student is ready, the teacher appears.” He was the perfect Mentor for me at that time in my life. For about the last ten years, each time I have been in a position where I needed help and guidance the right person has appeared. I just had to be willing and open to it. But that wasn’t always the case. There was a long period of time from after college until about 10 years ago where I guess I really felt like I didn’t need a mentor. At least I wasn’t actively seeking one out. Which is strange because I knew the value of those relationships. Have you ever felt that way? Like you had it all figured out? I was going through life, raising our daughters Molly & Riley with my first wife, working and doing the family thing. We were having fun, not a lot of worries during that time. At least that’s what I thought while I was going through it. We were more of a team during many of those early years. But at some point something had begun to change in me. I became less of a team player. This was the tipping point in my life. I was having the most financial success in my life. I was traveling all the time for business. Life was really good, or so I thought. In retrospect I had really become incredibly selfish and my ego got the best of me. I sometimes joke that “I’m not much but I’m all I think about” but it's true! I started to believe that my success was because of me and I was responsible. Around 2008 - 2009 when the housing market crashed. The...

So I was thinking about a time when we were living in Chicago back in 2012 in a high rise apartment on the 40th floor. A beautiful location right on the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. We had spectacular views of the Navy Pier, Michigan Avenue and the lake. We didn’t have cars so we walked everywhere. We were able to explore the city from the ground level, step by step. It was just my wife and I and our two Chihuahua’s Winston & Brooklyn. This was before Piper came along. We were packed into in about 700 square feet. We didn’t even have a door to our bedroom. But we loved it! It was around the time of the 2012 election and I was deeply into “Election News”. I was consuming a lot of information on TV, radio and the internet. I’ll admit something, I’ve always been kind of a political junkie. I’m a lifelong Republican and the information was so available because of the internet and social media I was completely over consuming. Honestly, I knew Democrats, especially in Chicago, who were just as obsessed as I was. I think it was really the first Internet/Social Media election of consequence. Honestly, the whole election was stressing me out. Our place was really small but thankfully chihuahua’s don’t take up much space. Anyway, I don’t even remember why but Brooklyn pissed me off really badly. She might have peed on the carpet for like the 40th time. I was IRATE! I chased her around the apartment with one of those swifter things that you use to mop the floor with. She ran under our bed so fast I couldn’t reach her. I was seeing red and I think if I had caught her I’m not sure what I would have done to her. My wife finally asked me to leave the apartment and take a breather Once I had a chance to calm down and think about what I had done I realized that my reaction to the situation was way out of perspective. I’m not prone to anger or outbursts. I did owe Brooklyn and apology and promptly gave it to her. In retrospect, I was sure it was stress related. I really wanted to get a handle on what happened. Why was I so stressed out? We lived in an amazing location, in the best city in the country, work was going well, we were really happy. I had to take stock of what was going on in my life and I knew I needed to make changes. I realized that I had gotten sucked into all of the drama of the election. I wanted the outcome that I wanted and I was sure it would happen. The information I was consuming confirmed my bias. But I still had doubts and this worried me. I was borderline obsessed with a future outcome I had no control over. I was spending way too much time, consuming information and the emotional swings were dramatic. It was taking its toll on my psyche and my overall health. I wasn’t sleeping well, I wasn’t eating right, I was wound way too tight. Can you relate? Have you ever felt this way? The incident with Brooklyn was the tipping point for me. Who gets that mad at an 8-pound dog? And to this day she’s still the nicest dog we’ve ever owned. I knew I needed to look at the source of my stress. For me, it was “The News” and all the other sources available. This was at the beginning of when Social Media had become a factor in elections. Also, blogs were churning out tons of information. Talk radio was a constant drumbeat. When I sat back and looked at it, all of it was causing me stress! It was time for a digital dismount. I needed to cut out 90% of what I was consuming. I stopped watching The News because it was all so negative anyway. Some might call it “Fake News” today, I know I do. I believe it was and is designed to upset me, us, no matter what “side” we’re on. It really doesn’t matter if you watch CNN, MSNBC or Fox News they are all trying to do the same thing. They want an emotional reaction from you. That hasn’t changed since 2012 when I made the decision, it’s actually gotten worse. So I deleted my bookmarks of the blog sites I was following. I stopped listening to Talk Radio and started listening to Books On...

A couple years ago we were living back in LA and I was getting ready for my annual checkup. I try to be consistent in getting the annual checkup and all the blood work and certainly given my age the colonoscopy which is probably a topic for another episode but I digress. As I’m walking out the door to the appointment my wife says from the other room “make sure you get your hearing checked”. I’m like, “excuse me?” She says, a little louder this time “make sure you get your hearing checked”. Now, at this point, we’d been together for more than a decade so she knows me and my shortcomings pretty well. At this point, I’m about 55 years old. She’d always given me a hard time for my “selective hearing” but even I was noticing that I had to have the TV volume up really high in order to hear all the dialog. When we went to concerts I made it a point to wear ear plugs because my ears would ring for many hours after the show, sometimes into the next day. Also I was having a hard time hearing in restaurants with all of the background noise and I was in sales and entertained a fair bit. It’s challenging when you have to say “excuse me?” or “can you please repeat that” or even worse just act like you’re hearing what people are saying when you’re only hearing part of the conversation. Sound familiar? Can you relate to any of this? Anyway I reluctantly agreed to ask the Dr to check my hearing. At the appointment, they asked all the usual questions and did all the usual tests but when the time came for the hearing test they had to get this special machine called an Audiometer. You put these little headphones on and they checked my ability to hear sound intensity and tone. The Nurse said the test showed that I definitely had hearing loss and that he would recommend that I visit an Audiologist. I was referred to an Audiologist in our town by a friend but you can find one by a simple google search. You can also check reviews that way but I went with the personal referral. You would be surprised how many people you know, have an audiologist. I met with Strawberry shortly after and she put me through the whole process from beginning to end. She put me in this little soundproofed room with headphones on and gave me an Advanced Hearing Screening. It only takes a few minutes and gave me a baseline to how I was hearing. Strawberry showed me an audiogram that displayed my left and right ear. I learned that most people can hear the words people are saying to them, but miss certain syllables that can mix up the words. It’s the frequencies that I don’t hear that’s causing the problem. I wanted to be present for my wife's and family. It's hard to focus and contribute when you can't hear half of what's being said. I didn't really know anything about hearing loss. I Just thought it was something that happens without age. I was really being selfish and vain of me. It didn't want to wear hearing aids! What would people think of me? What would they say behind my back? Would they judge me? I thought it was just one of the challenges with aging. Stubbornly thought I don't have to accept my hearing loss. My quality of life and those around me were affected. I had to be willing to ask for help. My wife asked me to seriously get my hearing checked. She’s been there with me through a lot. When she asks me to make a change I should listen. She has helped me immensely through our life together to improve as a man a father and a husband. Experience at the audiologist was not as bad as I thought. I had a 30-day trial to see if the hearing aids would work for me. I was able to visit the audiologist once a week to fine-tune the hearing aids. We actually tried a couple different size cones that go inside the ear to make sure the fit was proper and the quality of sound was good. Also tried a Bluetooth type of device that enabled the hearing aids to hear the phone but that didn't really work so we didn't go with that. The audiologist in the hearing aids were not...

We recently went to The State Fair Of Texas and It is BIG! We got there at 2:30 and left at 7:30. We had a great time! Horses, goats, pigs, sheep. Piper lead the pee wee rodeo parade. We ate plenty of fair food, had In & Out on the way home. Piper was out in the car and my wife was out by 9:00. I’d been eating healthy leading up to that day and the next day felt like doo doo Piper is 4 years old and I’m 57 years old and I’m with her 4 days a week and she is High energy! I really want to keep up with her, Keep her entertained, Keep her active. I want to actively participate in her activities. To create memories with her. At the end of the day if I’m not eating right I’m exhausted, she’s spent too much time watching TV or tablet. I’m more tired than she is! When this happens I feel like I’m a bad dad. I’m letting her down, letting technology entertain her. I’m not teaching her how to enjoy outdoors, sports and I’ve failed to create memories. I stress eat late at night, I gain weight quickly and lack energy. My sleep isn’t quality so I suffer the next day. I finally got tired of feeling exhausted and letting Piper entertain herself. I know what to do with my diet, exercise, water consumption and sleep. I know that food = fuel. A healthy Diet = Energy. My plan is to consume a healthy protein shake at least one meal per day, usually for breakfast. To have a healthy lean protein meals for lunch and or dinner. To exercise at least 30 minutes per day, preferably resistance training. To drink at least 90 oz of water every day. Remove processed foods from my diet. Avoid potatoes, rice and pasta, substitute veggies. I don’t drink soft drinks or coffee I do drink unsweetened tea I’ve been Uber driving and it is time-consuming. Making time for exercise is difficult. But I’m Putting my family first! I have been able to improve my energy through careful attention to diet, at least 7 hours sleep per night. I have much more energy for Piper and for my business. A side benefit is I have better focus and endurance. My suggestion to you is to check your energy every day. Ask yourself are you able to. Get up and move. Remove processed foods from your diet. Eat more lean protein. Drink more water and Reduce soft drinks and alcohol. You’ll be surprised how good you feel and how much energy you have. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/agingisoptionalradio. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One of the great things about living in the Dallas area are all of the events, festivals and activities during the summer. That’s right, we live in Dallas now. Piper and I went to the Watermelon Festival at the Dallas Farmers Market today. She loved it! She got to pet the farm animals and feed them. She was amazed by the beautiful farm fresh produce. We tried 3 or 4 different kinds of watermelon as we strolled along the vendor stalls. but her favorite was undoubtedly the watermelon cookie she found. She even shared her last bite with me. We really had a great time and can’t wait to take grandma when it gets a little cooler. I should probably bring you up to date since my first episode. I’m going to share what’s going on with me and my family. Life does happen and Aging Is Optional Radio is meant to document my journey Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/agingisoptionalradio. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What is Aging Is Optional? It’s a manifesto - just listen to the intro of my podcast. It’s a mantra.It’s a mindset. It’s a lifestyle. It’s nutrition, exercise, supplementation, meditation, financial planning, travel, etc.. It’s the guests - subject matter experts, thought leaders, friends maybe even some of my relatives. My goal, my hope is to document my journey as I apply Aging Is Optional in my daily life, what I have learned, and the progress and/or setbacks I may have along the way. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/agingisoptionalradio. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.