THE BENCH:Most personal and honest article since I began nearly 2 years ago
THE BENCH has , for those that follow me, been part of a story line that began when my parents having truly very little money but knew what was important to their children, invested in this amazing, hardcore bench as a gift to me when I graduated Pharmacy School at Duquesne University in 1978. They knew how much I loved my daily workouts, how I never needed anyone to push me, I was the hardest trainer on myself and they knew that this BENCH, THE BENCH would allow what my passion was to be part of my daily life.
This passion as some do never faded for me instead it grew and evolved to have a deeper meaning. Being fit, allowed me to push myself , create a deep discipline for all I did and to mentally and physically compete in the work environment when others could not.I learned great health, a healthy body and the self confidence that was inside came from the discipline of the BENCH. As time progressed and I had children, the BENCH morphed again to understanding that this discipline , this life style allowed me to show my family my passion and my commitment to health was a commitment to them so we could do more together, ride horses in the ocean in the Cayman Islands, swim and body surf in the waves of Cancun, walk and hike in Sedona and the Grand Canyon time and time again, plus learn to surf in San Diego in my 60's. get my black belt at 60( 7 years of hard work) and have my daughters and my wife there to see that accomplishment, be able to put my grandson on my shoulders and walk the ZOO and more, these are living the best life , because we made memories together and this past week end being at our daughters parent week end and not missing one moment of time, all because I used the BENCH lesson's to know the why.
I preach about being a great leader, I preach about and mentor about lessons learned from the BENCH, but the biggest leader you can be is to be one for your family, show them by example what matters, how to live a great life, laugh, help others, relax and enjoy the moments you have, I will always say, FAMILY FIRST, stand by that and promise if you do this you will have wealth of a kind that dwarf's other things in life. When your son or your daughter sees you, smiles and just hugs you because, they just admire, love and care, you have achieved success and you are , yes a LEADER. Never forget the BENCH, not pretty, not shiny, not new, BUT it has given years of support, support that allows what you are to bet there for others. BE THE BENCH for your family, BE THE BENCH for those that need you.