Kevin W. McCarthy

Embrace Life

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All I can say is, "Wow!" 

Thank you Sussex Roads Partnership for sharing this message of seat belt use safety.  This adds a whole new meaning to buckle up, family love, and the guardian angel nature of seat belts.  

What's Your Valentines Day Advice?

What's your greatest advice for keeping your marriage together?  Let me hear from you on this one!  With Valentines Day fast approaching, it would be great to gather some insights - serious and humorous alike.

The "best advice" I ever got was from a man married for 39 years.  I was in college at the time and his daughter was a dear friend of mine. As he drank his morning coffee, I asked, "Mr. Collier, to what do you attribute the longevity of your marriage to Mrs. Collier?"

Immediately he answered, "Early in our marriage we came to an agreement that I would make all the big decisions in our marriage and my bride would handle all the small decisions.  Amazingly, in 39 years of marriage there has been nothing but small decisions."

I can remember laughing as he shared that advice.  After over 25 years of marriage to my bride, I fully appreciate his humorous wisdom even more.  If only I had listened better...

Be On-Purpose!
Kevin

PS: Photo is the McCarthy Family:  Charles, Judith, Anne, and Kevin

Are You In A Critical Condition?

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Looking around it can get pretty discouraging.  Honest skepticism and discernment is always at a premium, yet as of late with bad news abounding, I find myself (and others) falling prey to being hypercritical and running into a negative streak.  The effect is compounding and self-fulfilling.  

Today's On-Purpose^® Minute offers some hope and a couple suggestions for turning your critical condition into a healthy state of being.  It isn't easy, but it outshines the alternative.

Click here to subscribe to The On-Purpose Minute.  One is published every Tuesday morning.

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How Is Your 2020 Foresight?

A new year brings a rebirth of possibilities.   What then does a new decade bring?  Let's look ahead to 2020 to plan what can be.  Too often I find myself looking a day, a week, or even a few months, but too rarely ten years ahead.  The calendar change to 2010 offers a natural opportunity to peer into the future and plan what could be.  

New Year's Resolution Weight Loss Solution

As the New Year / Decade approaches, like many you're probably pondering this fresh start with an eye toward the bathroom scale and losing those accumulated excess pounds.  I called this condition "my fat suit" - an extra layer of Kevin over the top of my inner athlete.  

Weight loss for many of us is a place in our lives where we're out of control by some fraction or even into integers of complexity.  Refusing to be resigned to the extra pounds is one thing; raising the bar on what it is costing you is another.  Awareness and goal setting are important, but a system makes all the difference for success.

A Weighty Conversation is a short presentation I put together for my wife's health coaching practice.  Please invest the 3 minutes to watch and consider all you have to gain by losing weight.

Judith offers an affordable solution to help you keep your New Year's Resolution to lose that 10, 20, 30 pounds or more... and keep off the weight.  She heads a small and dedicated team of health coaches, who come alongside of you, so you can experience weight loss success using the Take Shape For Life system.  For most people, this approach is cost neutral relative to your current food intake and the coaching is free.

Judith is offering free 25 minute consultations.  Call her at 407.927.1642 or drop me an email via this blog and I'll forward it to her.  I lost 50 pounds on this program so I endorse it fully.

So as the Waterford Crystal Ball in Times Square begins to fall, be sure to have your plans in place for a truly healthy New Year in 2010.

Be On-Purpose!

Kevin

PS: The music is from Dan Lewis, a musician friend in the Hendersonville, NC area.

How Would You React?

My daughter, Anne, is a 16-year-old competitive soccer player.  She serves as a junior captain of her Trinity Prep high school soccer team as well as a player on the Football Club of America (Kumba Soccer) located here in Orlando.  Her Kumba team was having a car wash fund raiser in late September.  An accident occurred where one teammate's foot slipped off the brakes and the car pinned another teammate against a wall.  Bree McMahon's legs were crushed.  Anne was one of many who sprang into action.  She called 911 and provided a towel for Bree's head as she lay on the ground awaiting the arrival of paramedics. 

Initially, we anticipated broken legs and damage to Bree's knees.  The severity of the accident came to light a few hours later when Anne's text from the hospital said, "Bree's legs might have to be amputated because the blood vessels were crushed."  Judith and I immediately headed to the hospital to be and pray with the girls. 

Jenna Bush Hager (George and Laura Bush's daughter) of The Today Show did a feature on Bree.  The clip below tells the story.  You'll also get to see and hear a brief comment from Anne from behind Bree's hospital bed. 

Bree and Chelsea (the driver involved in the freak accident) are young Christian girls whose faith is serving them both well in terms of forgiveness given and received.  The character of both young ladies is remarkable.

If it were your legs crushed that day, how would you respond?  My hope would be that I would have grace and understanding like Bree.

What Anchors Your Health?

If you don't know your purpose for being then you are missing out on life... literally.  As you ponder your New Year's Resolutions consider not just what, but why for each of them.

In November, Florida Hospital launched a campaign called Healthy 100.  Their web site headline says,"Have you ever thought that you could live to be 100 years old? How about being 100 years old and still doing the things you love? It may sound unbelievable, but at Florida Hospital, we are on a mission to help you do just that. Through support and education, we want to help you kick-start your journey to living a healthier, happier life."

Imagine living to be a healthy 100 year old!

Cover via Amazon

At the launch event (I attended), Dan Buettner, the author of The Blue Zones, engaged us with his case studies and keys to vitality and longevity which are: Right Outlook, Move Naturally, Eat Wisely, Right Tribe.  Afterward, I spoke with Dan about my work with purpose which falls into the Right Outlook category.  He said to me, "Purpose is the anchor to health, yet it remains the most under celebrated aspect.  Research shows that having a purpose in life adds six to seven years of longevity."

In an article Dan wrote in 2008 for AARP, Dan provides this source, “People who feel their life is part of a larger plan and are guided by their spiritual values have stronger immune systems, lower blood pressure, a lower risk of heart attack and cancer, and heal faster and live longer,” says Harold G. Koenig, M.D., professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Duke University Medical Center, who has studied the phenomenon broadly.

EXTRA: Watch Dan Buettner's interview with Martha Stewart in the first link.

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Is It Fair To Profit Off Of A Sick Person?

My jaw dropped in stunned amazement as I heard Florida Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz make the following statement on the November 22, ABC News broadcast of This Week With George Stephanopoulos. The following quotation from Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz's comments can be found in context at this link in the show transcript.

"I hope we can all agree that we have to get rid of the profit-driven, insurance company-driven health insurance system that we have, where it's insurance company bureaucrats, Senator Coburn, that are getting in between patients and their doctors.

"To suggest that this (health care reform) bill will put government in between patients and their doctors is really disingenuous..."

The reason her comments are important is that they reflect what I consider to be the crux of so much of the debate in the US over health care reform, different points of view, and the failure to address core strategies in policy.  This is a classic case of arguing sentiment over underlying values and structure.  Read between the lines of what she is saying here about free enterprise, economics, and so forth.  Ask yourself if this represents health care reform or a reflection of an underlying philosophy.  

Please offer your comments.

Be On-Purpose!

Kevin

How Many Friends Do You Have?

Despite social media and digital interconnections, the number of our close confidants has dropped.  We're becoming lonelier as a society.   When no one really knows us, we can be alone in a crowd.  When we have friends, we can be apart from people, but not alone.

Today's On-Purpose^® Minute invites you to take a hard look around and see who is truly there standing with you.  Are you at risk of being off purpose?

Read a summary of the research here.

Click here to receive an email when I post new On-Purpose Minutes.

Are You Thankful For Your Trials?

Thanksgiving in the United States is a time of reflection on our many blessings.   Has 2009 been a challenging year thus far and are your prospects... well, let's not go there for now.  So in these times, what can we be thankful for in the midst of the suffering?

In today's On-Purpose^® Minute, let's explore a few reasons why trials are reason enough for being thankful.

PLEASE listen to this remarkable (link is here) message by my friend, Scott Alexander.  Are you finding the gold nuggets in the mine of suffering?  Scott's message was given at Willow Creek Church in Winter Springs, FL.   Steve Brown of Key Life Ministries chimes in as well after Scott's message. If you've never heard Steve, then you are in for a double treat.

Be On-Purpose!

Kevin