4 Heart Attacks

In July 2011, I received a phone call at work from my wife, telling me that my dad had a heart attack. I instantly left work and sped faster through the streets of Orem than is legally allowed...by a long shot. I picked up Lola (who was about a week and a half out from delivering our son, Ethan) and we sped up to the IHC hospital in Murray. When we arrived, we received word that my dad was doing okay. The doctors said it was a minor heart attack, thankfully. However, I don't ever consider any heart attack as being "minor"...it's a life-sustaining organ! We were able to see my dad a short time later and he looked terrible. He was weak, and seemed much older than he really was. A short time later, he had a non-invasive surgery done to put in three heart stints and later two more, with a grand total of five heart stints. He's been doing well every since.
Now, my dad is not the first in his family line to suffer from a heart attack. My uncle had a bad heart attack a couple years back which resulted in heart stints and being on disability because he cannot do the heavy lifting and hard labor he used to do. My grandfather (we called him "Pappy") died of a heart attack when I was in the fourth grade, and heart stint surgery was made available to the public a year or two later. This surgery could have helped him live longer. My grandfather also had a brother who died of a heart attack.

With all of this strong family history, and having my dad's genes to boot, I was feeling legitimate anxiety sometime during the holiday season. I know, I know...great time to be worried about what I eat! But I believe I am the provider and protector of my family. If I am not around to provide and protect them, I don't really trust anyone else to do it for me. My wife is my best friend, and I know that I am hers. We share a wonderful spiritual, deep connect that I cherish. As for my little buddy Ethan, my love for him is a very close second to what I have for my wife. I can't stand the thought of him losing his dad too early in life. Now, I think I am relatively healthy. I try to run 5-6 times a week, I work at a running specialty store as a second job, and I try to eat as healthy as I can...but I can polish off a whole domino's pizza if I want to and sometimes I want to! My biggest fear is twenty years down the road, developing a sedentary lifestyle, putting my health in the backseat, and having a major health crisis which will serve as my wake-up call.

I feel like that it happens that way all too often.

I am actually sitting here right now with The Biggest Loser playing in the background. They keep talking about the "obesity epidemic" that is plaguing the United States. As hard as the contestants work and as much as they emphasize exercise, I think a little more talk about nutrition would probably help. I've watched documentaries about nutrition, very good documentaries, leaving me with a better direction on what to do to better my health habits. "Forks Over Knives" and "Hungry for Change" are the two that I've watched so far.

Lap-band surgeries, Liposuction, tummy tucks, I'm pretty sure none of those matter if you're not willing to eat well enough. And it's hard. There are cheap fast-food restaurants everywhere, candy, and companies willing to deceive you into buying their dieting products that do not work. It's not easy.

Where do I stand amidst all this? I'm going to eat healthier, in every true sense, in order to be my family history of heart attacks. I will help my family too.

--Ryan

Books & Standards

My wife and I have good friends whom attended Southern Utah University the same time we did and who were also in the same congregation we were when we first got married. Since then, we've all moved to Orem for job relocation reasons and so we like to hang out as couples from time to time.
We were having dinner one night and my friend, I'll call him Piano Man, started telling me about this fictional book called World War Z. It follows a journalist's records about "the human experience" that took place during a zombie apocalypse. Piano Man's description of it captivated me so much that I think about reading it for another month. I didn't investigate it further, because I assumed that the content of the book would be fairly clean because of the nature of my friend.
Disclaimer: I am the type to watch PG-13 movies, not so much rated R. I do watch movies where the content isn't the most edifying, but there is a point when the content or language is stronger than I care for.
If you want a book that will give you nightmares, World War Z is for you! It has been 3 weeks since I stopped reading it and I'll still imagine Zombies traipsing across the parking lot, slowly coming towards me. Just imagine a mob of undead, decaying beings with perhaps their limbs missing, they might even be crawling (as you can only kill them by decapitation or blowing their brains out), and you see these creatures slowly making their way towards you through a big picture window at a restaurant you're eating at. Now imagine one of them reaching through said window and grabbing your significant other with every intention of eating them. Even if that loved one gets away with only a bite mark, they will be infected and will eventually turn I to a zombie anyway.
These are the thoughts that creep up when I'm not thinking about anything else!
I was only able to read the first 100 pages of this book because I didn't like how I felt after I would finish a chapter. Granted, the book is written from a post-war standpoint, and the accounts are narratives from victims of different classes and professions, which means I knew how it would end from the get go. I am a practicing Christian, and one of my leaders once told me that if I ever doubted if something was from God or not, I should ask myself "does it edify? Nope. Then it isn't from God."
Now I don't mean to sound self-righteous, I just try to not watch, read, or participate in anything that could be considered less than "edifying".
All in all, I can't do the zombie thing! What are some things you try to avoid because they make you feel less than comfortable?

--Ryan

Impacted by Aurora, Colorado Incident

I woke up early this morning to take my American-made car into the mechanic to have the transmission looked at when I had three alerts on my phone from the Associated Press:

"12 confirmed dead in shooting at movie theater in Aurora, CO"

Upon reading the story more and finding out the facts, I was deeply effected by the whole incident. Over 50 people wounded. A 12-year-old killed. A 3-month-old was even shot. Evidently the man responsible, a 24-year-old Med school dropout named James Holmes, came through the emergency exit with a gas mask on during the premiere of "The Dark Knight Rises". He proceeded to throw tear gas on the ground, and began firing into the crowd, shooting those that were trying to exit. He shot sons, daughters, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters. Families at an innocent opening of a much-awaited film. The film was scheduled to have a red carpet premiere in Paris, France but was cancelled when Warner Bros heard about the incident. Evidently, all of the main actors were to be there.Perhaps they didn't want a copycat incident.

I had the opportunity of going to Colorado this past fall for a recruiting trip for SUU. While I was there, I met with high school counselors, bright-eyed students, and parents as well. I was able to see the beauty of Colorado, and drove with a little reluctance to Columbine High School to visit prospective students there. I even drove past this same movie theater to get to a high school. Not that I have any family in Colorado, but this incident hit close to home for me, as I got to know some of the people there and experienced the culture.

What's going on humanity? There are so many great qualities that you possess! Was this man influenced by the violence in movies or video games? Was he genuinely unwell, depressed, sad?

 While the motives behind this horrific incident are still unclear, I can't help but wonder why this individual felt the need to involve innocent people. I know that all the answers I want will not come in this life, but I still sometimes while things like this are permitted to happen. My faith remains intact though.

Divided Parties

As I drove from Cedar City on Sunday night, listening to a podcast and enjoying some "thought time" to myself, I spoke out loud to God about why there needed to be a two-party system. "The only thing that comes out of it are your children being divided among themselves." I haven't identified with a party since I moved out of my house and realized that my parents weren't always right in their views. Actually, in order to become "better informed" and because I tire of the top 40 stations on the radio, I started listening to NPR. When I told my dad that I started listening to this station, he said "You listen to that Socialist crap?!" Yep. Staunch Republican. I do not fault him for it though.

I consider myself an idealist. What does that mean? It means that I believe that the two-party system is broken, but there isn't anything better available for the moment so I try my best to be a good citizen by attending caucus meetings, voting in local elections, and studying the issues so that I can vote come November for that candidate that I perceive to be "better." Some may say that I am naive in this approach and frankly, I don't care. They all have their opinions as well and I am not about to say that something is wrong with how they view issues.

Now, back to my experience while traveling Sunday night. I stopped in a little town called Meadow at one of the two gas stations that I hear are owned by the same person. As I was lightening my load, I had a thought come to my mind. Call it coincidence or what you may, but I call it inspiration. There is a scripture in The Book of Mormon in 2 Nephi 2:11:

"For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my first-born in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad...."

My interpretation? There needs to be two opposing sides in this lifetime. If not so, we wouldn't appreciate those good things. In this instance, the "good thing" is peace between differing opinions, or peace in general. With people using social media as a way to share their opinions and thoughts, others unabashedly will respond with ugly, nasty statements. Unfortunately they view these ways to post EVERYTHING and not good information.

These thoughts brought me peace concerning the two-party system. Although I don't agree with it, it is necessary for the time being. As for the candidates running for President, I hope to vote for one that will do the greatest good for everyone.

--Ryan