What Baseball Can Teach Us About Life

With all the excitement of the playoffs and the World Series (which, thanks to the success of the San Francisco Giants, we get to experience directly here in the Bay Area), I’ve been thinking about, watching, and appreciating the great game baseball a lot these past few weeks. As someone who spent eighteen years of my life (from the age of seven until the age of twenty five) playing organized baseball and who has been a huge fan all my life, the game has taught me a great deal.

Whether you’ve played (or still play) baseball yourself, watch it as a fan, or even if you don’t particularly like it, understand it, care about it, or think it’s boring (which I know some people do), the game of baseball can teach us so many important things about life.

Lessons in Teamwork from the SF Giants

I have been so excited and inspired by this year’s baseball post-season and the big World Series victory by the San Francisco Giants. As a Bay Area native, a lifelong baseball fan, and someone who has been fortunate enough to have the Giants as a client this year, of course I was rooting for them with passion.

The fact that the Giants had not won a World Series since moving from New York to San Francisco (in 1958) and that we haven’t had a major sport championship here in the Bay Area since the 49ers won the Super Bowl in 1994, made it that much more exciting and meaningful.

But, the biggest reason I’ve so excited and inspired this year is because of this incredible San Francisco Giants TEAM. I’ve probably followed this season and this team as closely as any other sports team or season in my entire life – and, for me, that’s saying a lot. With their great young pitching staff, cast of interesting and unique characters, and lack of huge superstars and egos, I liked them a lot, right from the start of the season – and began to fall in love with them as the season went on. It wasn’t simply because they won games, which they did (although not excessively or even impressively at times); it was how they won their games and, more important, how they played the game and worked as a team that impressed me most.

How to Move Through Your Fear

Fear is something that we all experience, especially on our journey toward deeper authenticity, fulfillment, and success in life. Being who we really are, expressing ourselves boldly, and going for what we want in life can cause a great deal of fear in us.

I get scared all the time - especially when I’m taking risks, doing new things, and putting myself out there. When I was younger I thought there was something really wrong with me because I would get so nervous - in sports, in school, in social settings, and more. I now understand that everyone else experiences their own version of the same basic fears I have (being judged, making mistakes, looking bad, failing, disappointing others, and more). It’s just part of being human.

Step Out of Your Box

One of our greatest sources of authentic power in life comes from our willingness and ability to act - especially in the face of obstacles and fear. To be truly successful and fulfilled, we must challenge ourselves to take bold and courageous actions and to go for what we want. Legendary author Ray Bradbury said, “First you jump off the cliff and then you build your wings on the way down.”

In the summer of 1998 I was in the midst of a major life transition. I’d blown out my pitching arm a little over a year earlier and had gotten released by the Kansas City Royals that March. I was home in Oakland, CA collecting workers comp insurance (and not working), recovering from simultaneous elbow and shoulder surgery that I’d had at the start of that summer, reeling from what was sure to be the end of my dream of becoming a Major League baseball player (even after my arm rehab was completed), and trying to figure out what to do with the rest of my life.

How to Have a Great Thanksgiving

With Thanksgiving upon us, I’ve been thinking about my own love/hate relationship to this great holiday. It can be a wonderful celebration of gratitude, appreciation, and family connection. Unfortunately, Thanksgiving also tends to be about feeling obligated to spend time with the people we’re “supposed” to, eating too much food and feeling guilty about it, and pretending to be grateful when we’re actually annoyed and stressed out.

What if we could make this Thanksgiving less stressful, more fun, and actually be able to enjoy ourselves, appreciate our family and friends (even the ones who drive us nuts), and focus on what we’re grateful for in a genuine way?

When You Fall Down, Get Back Up

Have you ever seen a small child learn how to walk? If you have, you know what a remarkable experience it is. I’d heard about this, but had never witnessed it first hand until Samantha, our (almost) five year old, took her first real steps when she was just over a year. She and I were playing in our family room one night and although she’d taken a step or two here and there, and could get around okay while holding onto an adult or a piece of furniture, she hadn’t really “walked” yet.

That night I was holding her hands and pulling her across the room with me, as she took some steps. I decided to let go to see what would happen. I did and she took a step or two and then fell down, face first, on the soft carpet. She was fine. She looked up at me and although she couldn’t speak, she made it very clear that she wanted me to pick her up so she could try again. I did and this time when I let go she took about four or five real steps and then fell down. I screamed, “You did it!”, started clapping wildly, and yelling for my wife Michelle to come into the room.

Hysterectomy Options – Alternatives To Hysterectomy

By the time they reach age 60, about 1/3 of American women would have had some form of pelvic disorder at some point in their lives. Of these women, over 20 million have elected to have their uterus removed through hysterectomy to relieve themselves of pelvic disorder symptoms.

If you are currently suffering from painful menstrual cramps with excessive bleeding or you were diagnosed with fibroids in your uterus or are suffering from endometriosis, you should know that there are now options to hysterectomy.

Uterine Fibroids

Uterine fibroids are tumors usually found on the smooth muscles of the uterus. Though most of the time found to be benign, these tumors cause pelvic pain and heavy menstrual bleeding. In worst cases, it could lead to infertility. The cause of uterine fibroids remains a mystery but they are known to be the major contributor to the big number of hysterectomies in any given year.

A Second Look at Hysterectomy

About a year ago, Diane used to complain that she was always suffering from unbearable cramps and heavy periods. When she finally had herself checked she found out there was something wrong with her uterus and bladder, which explains the abdominal discomfort she was always feeling. The prognosis was promising but her doctor told her she needed a hysterectomy.

Aside from a heavy period and menstrual discomfort, indications that necessitate hysterectomy are uterine fibroids, severe vaginal bleeding, uterine prolapse, endometriosis, chronic pelvic pain and uterine or cervical cancer.

Scared of surgeries, Diane sought a second opinion. Unfortunately the second opinion she got did not give a different recommendation, but the second doctor did offer a better and less invasive procedure than the typical hysterectomy. It was laparoscopic hysterectomy.

Hysterectomy 101

Hysterectomy is the most common non-obstetrical surgical procedure done in the United States wherein a woman’s uterus or womb is removed.

What necessitates a hysterectomy?

Several medical conditions necessitate hysterectomy, the most common of which are the presence of uterine fibroids, severe pelvic pain, heavy menstrual bleeding, endometriosis, pelvic relaxation and uterine prolapse.

Uterine fibroids or uterine leiomyomata are the number one reason hysterectomy is performed. Although benign growths in the uterine lining, uterine fibroids are often associated with heavy bleeding and a lot of other menstrual discomfort experienced by women who elect to have a hysterectomy.

Living A Healthy Lifestyle Post-Hysterectomy

These days, the level of stress and pollution in our midst necessitates living a healthy lifestyle just to keep up, what more if you just had a major surgery like hysterectomy.

Post-hysterectomy, health concerns such as weight gain, irritability and not being able to sleep well might suddenly become an issue.

Fortunately, a regular regimen of exercise and proper diet can help you control your weight, de-stress and protect you from diseases often associated with weight gain and poor nourishment.

More importantly, if you have been identified as a candidate for hysterectomy, you should seriously consider living a healthy lifestyle as part of your pre-surgery preparations.

Human Anatomy – Appendix

Just where the large intestine and the small intestine meet, in the lower right part of the belly, is a four-inch, finger-like organ called the appendix.

No one knows exactly what this organ is for. Healthy lifestyle pros believe that the appendix serves as a depot for good bacteria, helping digestive organs recover from diarrhea and similar conditions. Still others say the appendix is an organ rendered unimportant by evolution.

Truly living up to its name, the appendix can be surgically removed without impairing the body’s overall health.

Appendix conditions and diseases

When inflamed or infected, the appendix is said to be suffering from appendicitis. An inflamed or infected appendix can readily burst, the effect of which is profound pain in the abdomen, accompanied by vomiting and nausea. The cause of appendicitis is largely unknown though.

Celebrity Tattle Treats – Celebrities With Diabetes

Hollywood celebrities are the modern demigods of our time. They have this inexplicable influence over people and practically anything albeit a statement or a product they are endorsing. We praise, idolize and try to be like them in many ways. These “stars” are the moving perfection and art altogether and much as we enjoy seeing their talents, we also relish on the juicy gossip and the drama behind their glamor.

An actor’s health condition always makes it to the tabloid headline. Among the top health issues attached to the Hollywood lifestyle includes either excessive eating or not eating anything at all. What most of you are not aware of is that there is one hardly noticed health condition that most of our celebs are battling with.

Stones In Your Kidneys

Kidney stones have been afflicting humans since the time of the Egyptian pharaohs. They have been found in a 7,000-year-old mummy. Kidney stones are the most painful of the urologic disorders and one of the most common diseases of the urinary tract. Patients who complain of kidney stone problems to their doctor number in millions every year. Hundreds of thousands, on the other hand, are sent to the emergency rooms. More men than women tend to get affected.

Most of the time kidney stones pass out of the body without medical intervention. There are also nonsurgical techniques available for stones that cause lasting symptoms or other complications. The many factors that affect stone formation have been the focus of many studies to better understand this disease.