Ray's business is marketing, promotion and sales. This message is about how you will survive in this age, when many will not. It is a personal story about how Ray learned the most important marketing lesson. And that is the "Life of Your Business" depends on the "Business of Your Life". |
It IS What's Next!
Something happened
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| Ray. |
Once upon a time "something happened".
No, not a fairy tale. Instead, a "life changing adventure."
And then ... I was given a 2nd chance ... and survival happened.
Oh, I’ve had a few adventures. I’ve "enjoyed" lunch with head hunters in Papua New Guinea. And dinner with a true witch doctor on the Napa River in Ecuador. I’ve been hunting with the Pigmy’s in the central Congo.
I've ridden my Harley coast-to-coast, from California to Florida, in 46 non-stop hours. On a camping trip in Alaska I got caught between a 5' mother brown bear and her two cubs. She was NOT happy. In Kenya the only thing between me, a mother elephant and her young, was a giant banyan tree.
During a visit to the Great Barrier Reef, off the coast of eastern Australia, I swam with a pair of 7' Manta Rays.
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| Ray, sitting on the plane at the crash site ... in Venezuela, close to Angel Falls -- the tallest waterfall in the world . |
Oh ... and then there was the plane crash. Yes, I’ve been in a plane crash!
So, I’ve had a few adventures. And survived every one of 'em.
Still, nothing - absolutely NOTHING - prepared me for what happened next. For what changed my life upside down, inside out and backwards.
It's been 5 years since I’ve had a physical. So, it’s time to get a check-up. You know what I mean ... one of those where the doctor touches you in places you didn't know you had.
I’m healthy. Active. A type "A" person. I don’t get sick. Still, it’s time for a physical. I go ... all is well ... EXCEPT ... the blood test is odd. I don’t believe it - neither does the doc.
So, he does it again. With the same funny results ... I’m anemic. I don’t know what that means ... except Doc #1 sends me to Doc #2.
This time the biopsy report says I’ve got MDS ... the 5th stage version. Which means -- I’ve got Leukemia! I've got Cancer of the blood. C A N C E R. Yes, that most interesting word ... Cancer.
* I feel great ... and "suddenly" ... I’ve got Leukemia
* I don’t drink ... I don’t touch any booze
* I quit my pipe smoking nearly 3 decades ago and don’t use any tobacco products
* I eat no red meat - no beef, no pork, no lamb. And I never add salt to anything I eat
* Not only have I never inhaled - I’ve never even puffed!
* Plus, I watch the fat and took off 22 lbs
* I’ve exercised 30-40 minutes a day, an average of 4-5 days a week ... for 35+ years
... and still I get Leukemia ... CANCER of the blood.
Something happened . . . Leukemia happened.
And . . . it is a gift.
If you know me you know I love riding my Harley. Here is a headline from one of their 100th Anniversary ads;
"Breathing is Automatic. Living Takes Some Effort."
Well, I decide it’s time I really begin to live. Now that I have Leukemia - I’m going to make a real effort to live.
So, "yes", Leukemia is a gift. And I'm going to share this gift with you. Oh, not the Leukemia part. The other part.
The part that taught me several important things about life. Several life changing survival facts. F A C T S. Yes, facts. Not theory. Facts. Not philosophy. Facts That's what I'm going to share with you. So . . . Something Happened. An adventure happened. A life adventure happened. And I survived.