Health, Wealth and Happiness

baby wants to jetski       She MAY actually want A jetski.  She mentions it, under her breath sometimes, then out loud during certain moods.  She has this picture.  When she was about 15, they had jetskis (two of them) lined up outside the house.  As you may have figured out, they lived on the water…….in Hawaii.

She has expensive dreams.  But that’s good.  Got to have a why.  You want to know the other one?

Baby wants a BMW 3 series.  Red, with a little blueish in it.  Or Metallic Gray, or Silver.  (Not purple, not maroon.)  I want her to have one.  I could see myself in a new car, but I don’t have a clear picture yet.  No car for Ricky!  She can’t either until she gets this color thing right.

I don’t think you can really start a journey and have a plan, if you don’t know where you are going.  We are going to the jetski store…in the future.  I can see us on the darn things.  Bouncing as we catch the waves.  Catching air.    THAT’S how I roll.

Salt water spraying, in our eyes, getting some sun.

I just kinda sneak into her dreams, because I can.

Otherwise the long hours working at home can be tedious.  The turn downs, the idiots, the wrong numbers on the phone seem like a weight on my shoulders with no reason to continue on.  Her years at Dr. school were rough, except for when she saw that carrot just ahead of her.

Baby likes to travel.  She’s no Motel 6, Super 8, or Zinger Motel kind of lady.  We pay someone to watch the cats, and THAT’S not a bad gig.  We’ve been in the seats of the front of the plane, and we never want to go back.

Baby likes the restaurant leaning over the cliff, rather than the steakhouse chain, or the cafeteria style place.  She deserves it, she’s a Dr.  I deserve it, I’m with her.

She sends fruit baskets for Christmas (not fruitcakes), she always gives good gifts.

Baby pays some of my bills as I move towards my financial goals (which are hers as well).  Lost a couple of the women there, did’nt I?

I see us at some fancy couples resort, or maybe a cruise ship spa, side by side, getting treatments with oils, getting massaged and loving life.  She’s really led me to great health.  I rub her feet like no one else can.  And by the way, no one else can.

We’ll be there, in a convertible, cruising up Highway 1 towards San Francisco, from Pismo Beach.  You either know what I am talking about, or you need to get out more.  I mean c’mon, put us in a Visa commercial or something!

The old Rick used phrases like “I can’t afford that” “Wish I could go there   “  “When I get outta debt, I’ll…..”(fill in the blank)  “Someday I’ll”

YOU NEVER GET TO SOMEDAY I’LL.  Your ship does not JUST come in.  That’s like expecting to win the lottery but not purchasing a ticket.  Not going to work.

To get somewhere, you HAVE to see it, see yourself there, kick the tires, take it for a spin, make an offer, have a plan, pretend, act as if you’re already there.  Some put the pics up in the office, bathroom etc.

You also have to believe that you are worthy, deserving, and see yourself in possession, earning it, etc.  You have to earn enough money to buy it, lease it, maybe even rent it.

For a good 14 years I had a governor on my financial go-cart.  Remember the go-carts you get in and race against your friends.  Who won?  Assuming you all floored it the whole way, probably the one that happened to be in the front row.  Because of the governors.

Or would you prefer ceiling.

Can’t get over that.  Like a long time employee trading his/her hours for dollars, at the top of the pay scale.  Now THAT’S a motivated worker…….NOT.

I’m not a good employee for someone else.  Any of you employers that took a wrong turn on the way to see your Careerbuilder post for employees…..keep walking and don’t look back.

You won’t get your dreams and goals working for someone else.  Well maybe, but I bet you adjusted down those lofty goals when reality hit you, somewhere through the years.

So what do you do?

Assuming you are NOT the next Beckham (who?) or Peyton Manning, or Prince Fielder, or Tiger Woods….And if you aren’t threatening Carrie Underwood or Beyonce, or Bruce Springsteen for performing excellence…….

For ‘normal’ people like me, Network Marketing, home-based business, perhaps internet marketing, all seem to be the best hope.  That is, to make the big bucks, get free(r) with your time, and hit those big goals.

Get that clear picture of a Why, a plan to achieve it, find a GREAT company, and you could be off to the races.

I am so grateful and thankful for:

You, whomever you are reading my blog.  (You can say you read here even before I became famous)

Mom, who is such an angel, and has almost always had tons of faith and so many encouraging things to say

God, who has had the ultimate patience with me, and drew me to him slowly

Kevin Pascal, who shared the Gospel with me

My computer, wow, I am learning and learning

Our little church

My first kitty Bubba, that grew very big and died about 8 years ago,

My second cat Cleeko, still lovin’ up on my wife and I

My raw whole food product, Mila by Lifemax.

Tracy Biller, Ultimate Success CDs, and his teaching and coaching

Quansite and their tireless support (your here aren’t ya?)

Linda Miller and her patience and persistence

Amway, I think you started something there

My heart attack, for waking me up, and leading me to my wife

The many travels I have been blessed to take

Hawaii, Beach, Tradewinds

Those that told me I would not amount to much, or thought it

The room-mate that I had that went crazy and threatened me

The music of my youth, and more recently

Tony Vraniak and his generosity of time and money

The Boys who made it all happen in MKE when I got outta town to move to Hawaii:  Ron Norwood, Paul Stearns, James Hamann, Tim Halmar, Tim Brudnicki, Raj, Harvey, Damon Brog, Vel, Lori, of course Nancy Benetton and Shorwest Realty.

The Oahu COC for the way they welcomed me and threw a mean Groom Honoring (I still have the video.)

The Wongs for the marriage counseling.

My current church, the Honolulu International Christian Church.

The jobs I have had since I moved here, both good and bad.

(Hopelessness, victim mentality, stress, bad diet…….stay away.)

The mailman

Room mate that thought he was Jesus and thought he would be elected president in ‘04

Walter and Jeremy, and back in the day, Jim Trinastic, my computer people!

Sports live and on TV

Dr. John Demartini, Dr. Frank Cummins, and Mark Decker.

Peter Millard for all your support.

Dr. Malia Emmerich

Thank God I got to know Jesus, and studied the Bible when I was 38 years old.

Thank God I live in Hawaii.

Thank God I met the woman of my dreams, and she saw fit to marry me.

Do you see a pattern developing here?  I love to fill in those statements.  (Don’t we all?)  It’s easy to write a few pages to explain, after the statement.  I am convinced that by being grateful and appreciative for ALL that I have, I am open to receiving more.  (I know that a lot of people feel that way.)

In fact, sometimes instead of just asking God for stuff I have grateful prayers.  Also to prepare to envision my future, I do the same gratitude preparation.  I didn’t come up with this, I’m just passing it on.  And guess what, I DON’T envison all of the bad things that can possibly happen.

Been there, done that, had the heart attack…..

In fact, try this.  Whoops, strike that.  DO this.  Finish the statement with some of the things that seemed so bad at the time.  Now, it’s not to dwell on them.  You won’t attract more positive in your life with a woe-is-me, or victim mentality.

Just look on the side of,  “What positive things happened as a result of that bad thing?”  Now I don’t praticularly care what the thing was.  There is a positive side.  There HAS to be.  At this point, some of you are thinking “this guy is nuts.”  You have not allowed yourself to look on the ‘good’ side of THAT bad thing.

Well, no matter what your ‘thing’ is, I will counter with Thank God I had a heart attack.  Then I will follow with Thank God I got divorced, and for good measure, I will throw in Thank God I abused alcohol for twenty years…

Now, follow up the statement by writing a couple of pages detailing the positive consequences that followed the ‘thing.’  OK, at least one.

BTW, this is not a joke.  It is not trivial.  It is healing.  Way more healing than   ”I think I will tell my bad story to twenty more people this next month and wallow in my pain some more.”  Or “Maybe it is good that some more people know how bad I have had it and will feel sorry for me.”  I have many of those victim stories cued up and ready to go, whenever I would want to bust them out.  But I don’t anymore. 

Anyway, from my experience, even when you don’t think you can see the tunnel, God can provide a light at the end.  Do this experience and let me know what you come up with.  Write a page at least after your Thank God I experience.  (If you feel that your Thank God I ‘thing’ is SO bad, so horrible, that’s even more reason to do this exercise.) 

There are people specifically trained to help you work through it all, and I can refer you to them.   Adios for now, Rick Emmerich

Get my book:  Thank God I…Triumph Through Tragedy    http://www.thankgodi.com/cmd.php?Clk=4313438

Blaaaammmm!!

The looks on our faces rivaled Thomas Edison, Chris Columbus, even that dude that invented Peanut Butter and Jelly.  The big smiles told the story.  We had discovered something…….important.

At 60 mph, in an AMC Javelin 2 door, (I won’t give the color, or plate number for obvious reasons), and with just the right trajectory, an empty shorty Miller bottle would crack a roadsign like nothing you ever imagined. 

“Let me try it!” Tommy said with a grin.  Alright all you Einstein crimestoopers, cool your jets.  I’m changin’ his name and btw, this happened 34 years ago.

After a couple of tries, and a stop to replenish our stock of shorty bottles, he got one (from the drivers side.)

Now, I know what y’all are thinkin’.  Or I’ve at least narrowed it down.

That’s littering.  Yep, you bet.  It’s a tough choice for a child of the 60s who was scolded mercilously by mom for throwing out a McDonald’s Vanilla milkshake (1/2 full) on a camping trip in Northern Wisconsin 42 years ago.  But, these bottles were actually EVIDENCE to the proper authorities.

Or, you may be thinking “Hey, let’s try that ourselves.”

Bad idea, and I’ll tell ya why.  First of all, drinking, by itself is bad for a whole lot of people.  Drinking in cars is bad, wrong and illegal.  Littering is all of those, too.  That’s to say nothing about the damage that flying glass projectile going at least 60 miles per hour could cause to anything other than a road sign.  (Hey I flunked Physics, but it was going pretty fast.)  We were highly trained professionals and not in a densley populated area. 

Btw the police have really heard all of the excuses.  

Well, after that summer, and one more year, Tommy went to college, and although I dabbled in higher learning, he did it for real, he gradiated!  I stayed the course, trying new and creative ways to entertain myself.  Long story short, I was lucky to survive those years.  So we parted ways, for decades.

So, you how these puters work.  With Face Book, the Class-mates or whatever, even Google, we sometimes make those connections, again. 

Of course you wonder, what they look like, what kind of work do they do, whatever.  I wondered  “Did I do something bad enough so that Tommy would not want to talk to me?”  Knowing those days, my 20s and let’s be honest, a certain segment of my 30s, that’s a valid wondering.

You gotta think that to have made it this far, there must some growing up, some polishing of the personality, some maturity.  Or not.

Anyway, I expect to talk some more back and forth, and we’ll see.  It takes a while just to catch up.  I know one thing for sure.  Even if we meet in person (spanning about 5000 miles), we won’t be tossing any shorty bottles……. I don’t think they make ‘em anymore.

HAD to go to the beach, Doctor’s orders.  I really like the beach, but it’s a sizeable chunk of time in the middle of my day.  And I am my own boss, which is good,  but it can be bad.  Some of you know what I mean.  My wife is a Chiropractor and Holistic Healer (Dr Malia).  She told me to go, so I went. 

You see, I am a work at home guy, a Network Marketer.  And now, I have developed a system.  I have two computers that are running to increase my efforts, and some of the time, I have three, including my wife’s.  So that’s 3 computers on in my office.  Here’s the problem.  That’s a whole lot of EMFs (electromagnetic frequencies) bouncing off the walls, and my body was starting to show the affects.  I was ’sparky’ or maybe glowing, I don’t know, the lights were on.

So the solution is to go to the beach.  Of course a lot of people go to the beach, but I had to actually go INTO the salt water.  I love it, did I mention that.  The salt water helps dissipate the damage from the EMFs (Electro Magnetic Frequencies).  I know, most of you aren’t aware of the EMFs.  It’s not some fringe theory, the tests can show the bright red marks on the side of the head with a thermography camera where we place the cell phones.  Many sit in front of computers all day long.  You have EMFs my friend. 

Now, there are things that help.  There is a ‘bio-chip’ or small vinyl football-looking brown thingy that you put on the phone.  They have them for puters, for TVs, for wherever the EMFs come from.  Ever get that hot feeling on the ear that you use the most for your cell.  Me too.  I always use the left.  That’s my cell ear.

So I’m at the beach, just chillin’ like a villian.  I play this game.  I call some people to just talk with the waves in the background.  It’s kinda like, I’m at the beach, and your’e NOT.  Yeah, I was working, sorta.  I made about 6 work calls then checked in with my mentor.  It’s not a real fun game, yet.  It will be more fun down the road, just wait.

So I am relaxing, sunning and enjoying life, and this kid walks up.  A little cutie, I guess about 3, on the shore.  He’s butt naked, and just lovin’ life.  It actually reminded me of my first REAL memory as a child.

I was probably about that big, in Waukegan, IL on the first day of summer.  Maybe not the official one, but the first one that mom took me down to the beach.  I was excited, and started running full speed toward the water.  (That really is the only way to go into the water in places like Lake Michigan or God forbid, Lake Superior.)  The shock of the coldness goes away pretty quick.

Anyhoo, I made it about 4 steps into the frigid water and screamed in pain as I took that last step.  The shock of the stabbing pain in my right foot led to loud sobs and I probably cried for my mom.  Of course she came running and rescued me.  No, it was not a shark.

I had stepped on a piece of glass left by some teenage or young adult partyers no doubt.  My big toe was throbbing as the blood streamed out.  My mom put some pressure on it, I guess, but they had a first aid guy there pretty quick too.  This was a big deal, first day of the season, I guess.  The Dr. was smoking a cigar the whole time-they did that back in the early 60s.  You can’t get away with that now, ya know. 

That definitely wrecked the moment, but I got a sucker and made the front page of the News Sun the next day for my trouble.  We kept that darn yellowed front page until it disintegrated somewhere along the line.

Anyway, cute kid, just runnin’ in the surf.  Kids in Hawaii got it made, btw. 

But here I am at the beach.  You know people back in Wisconsin where I moved from must think we all spend all day at the beach.  It’s not really like that.  You CAN create a career where you are your own boss, and then you can let yourself go sometimes, but you get the picture.

But back to the sneaky little EMFs.  Electro pollution. It is a real concern.  I have the little football on my phone and I wear a necklace that interfers with the current, minimizing the damage. 

I do know that I get headaches, and that scary hot feeling from my cell.  My wife, who IS an expert, can test for the dangerous levels.  You didn’t know that your cell phone was bad for you, did you?

If you want to find out more, and perhaps get one of these devices, go to

http://www.mybiopro.com/drmalia.   and come visit us in Hawaii, I’ll take ya to the beach.  

It’s been raining for the last two days.  We got more rain in the last two days than we had in August, September, and October combined.  Constant drip, drip, drip, even now as I type.  OK, I know Diamond Head will be green, not brown.  It’s good…..for the farmers.

Remember that from when we were kids,”It’s good for the farmers.”  Our parents always said that when it rained, especially on a Saturday.  It would happen when we went camping.  I remember the time we set up the tent FACING a hill and it rained.  That’s a lesson you only have to learn once.

We don’t usually get lightning here on Oahu.  We did this time.  We lost power for a bit, well actually the power flickered here.  The poor dudes two valleys over lost it for two hours.

You know what it’s like when they get snow in South Carolina.  People freak out like they’ve never seen it before.  (Some of them haven’t.)  Lotsa wrecks.  Sometimes that happens here with the rain.

But we went to church.  We used mind control on the traffic.  They all left us alone.

And you know how in the midwest (tell me someone in the midwest is reading my blog,  puhleeeeeaze) you know how it always rains on Memorial Day Weekend and wrecks everyone’s plans.         Except the farmers.

“Write the letter!” ”No, I’m too busy, she’ll never get it” ”Write the letter!”  She now could tell that I wasn’t mad, but not backing down either.  She saw my eyes and said,  ”OK, I’ll write the letter”.  “What are you going to do, walk up to Oprah and hand her the letter?”  The look she got back told her that that was EXACTLY what I planned to do.  But I also knew then that I had a plan B.

The next day I was to board a plane to LA, then one to Houston, then on to Chicago.  I would have a leisurely night visiting with my sister and brother-in-law in Wrigleyville, and she would lovingly drop me off at Navy Pier the next day for our event.  I wanted to catch up with family on the trip, but I admit, the excitement Zrii’s business ribbon-cutting was really racing in my head.  Would Bill have Oprah there?  To many she was larger than life, but to my wife, well, my wife had had a dream and a VISION.   Would I get some recognition?  (Earth to Rick, you have to earn THAT.)  Would Bill even talk to me?  Those  thoughts.

The plan was perfect.  I had originally planned to fly stand-by, but 3 weeks out, I rethought that, and worked out a masterful combo of frequent flyer miles, and a nifty low-cost round trip from Honolulu to LA.  And all on the same airline(Continental.)

“Did you write the letter?”

The trip back would be a little tricky.  Continental only has one daily flight out of LAX to HNL, and it would be gone by the time I landed on the way back.  (Hey guys could ya work with me on THAT a little?)  I remembered our friends in church in LA, and the brainal computer quickly scanned down the list.  I stopped at Kyle, called him and he said, “Bro, of course, I’ll pick you up, and we can work things out!”

I was on a roll.  My employer was cooperating by terminating me, and that would take place on the date I was in Chicago for the event.  Nice touch, I thought.  I would never again have to work for someone else.  Yeah, I’ve heard the one about saying never.

I saw my wife laboring over the letter.  By the end of the second (or third) draft, and after a couple of tears, she had it!  You see my wife and I saw the show where Oprah unveiled her Academy in South Africa.  We cried, they rejoiced, the kids would better themselves.  Wow, how cool is that?  These were life-changing times for those girls.  It was touching to witness Oprah’s soul being fulfilled.

Malia my wife, thought-what if she went to SA to share her considerable healing skills.  (I threw in the word considerable.)  She could really help them with emotions from their challenging backgrounds.  Though joyful, and possessing the ‘it’ factor, they were hiding  the pain.  A chiropractor that does NET and holistic healing can do that, often quite dramatically.

Malia had had a dream one night FOUR YEARS AGO where she was treating Oprah on her private jet.  (It had beige leather seats and Oprah was wearing a purple jumpsuit as they flew over Santa Barbara.)  It was the night that she had given tons of Christmas gifts to the kids in South Africa.  Malia felt then that Oprah wanted to do even more….

A week before the trip I had rolled my ankle and it really got sore a day later.  It swelled up so big, I could have been a float at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.  Someone said “guess you’ll have to cancel the trip.”  I said “Guess again.”  It turned out to be gout.  Now I KNOW the title of my own blog.  I know that my poor diet caused the uric acid build-up that obviously manifested itself as gout in my left foot.  That’s a topic for another blog entry.

I also knew that I was crawling across the floor at home for a couple of days.  I bought a cane, started the proper procedures,  (see my future blog) and ordered a wheel chair for every connection of the trip.

It was almost time.  The finely crafted letter was combined with a photo greeting card that I created, and was in the envelope ready to go.  I was on the way to the airport.  After a kiss OK, 2 or 3, I said goodbye to Malia.  I was wheeled off through security, and on to the plane.  Perfectly timed.  A guy could get used to this treatment.  I worked the whole way on the flight to LA, then boarded the flight to Houston the next morning.  After almost no sleep on the plane to LAX, I was a zombie on the Houson bound connection, not asleep, not awake, just on auto-pilot.

In Houston, I got more excited about the completion of the trip, and perked up.  I would work all the way to Chi on the flight.  Then reality hit.  The storms that were hitting the OK/AR/MO/Southern IL area were ‘blocking’ the path of our flight to Chicago.  6 hours later, we took off, so much for seeing my sister and brother-in-law.  My bro, who works for a competitor would laughingly say “Shoulda flied United.”

I landed,  got in my wheel chair, heading for the L train.  The guy was pausing to ogle women on the way, and trying oh so hard to be my friend.  I was getting a bit tired of that, but we were getting there quickly.  I reached into my wallet, (after buying my L train ticket) to give him a tip, and could only produce a one dollar bill.  Ouch, that even hurt me.

I met a half awake bro-in-law, who whisked me to the condo.  Their very homey place welcomed me, but their schedules meant that they had to be up and out in a matter of hours.  We got up, and soon I was hobbling around Navy Pier in Chicago, obviously before anyone other than employees were expected there.

Finally the event doors opened and I was overwhelmed by the moment, as our company (Zrii) Pre-Launch ribbon-cutting was taking place.  I looked around at all the logos, the displays, and realized that I needed to be in line.  The day seemed to be somewhat of a dream, and I met my old friend and business associate Paul.  I also met my mentor and guru Craig.

Later, at a break, I saw CEO Bill Farley in a corner of the side of the stage greeting people.  I grabbed THE Letter, and hurried over with my camera.  He had that perennial smile, the joy, the energy that I already admired.  He glowed, as person after person waited patiently to talk and take a pic.

Except THAT guy.  He stood impatiently and then started to push toward the front.  He said, “I just want a picture!”  I guess talking to Bill was not part of his deal.  Well, of course, he got his pic, and finally THE moment arrived.

See, approaching Bill’s good friend Oprah had been plan A, and I guess I could have gotten a ride over to Harpo Productions.  Could have meekly knocked, then begged an associate or more likely a janitor to take my letter, and PERHAPS give it to her eventually…….  She obviously wasn’t here.

But Plan B was her friend Bill.  His perennial smile faded, oh so briefly as he read the name on the envelope.  He said, “Oh, this is a bit of a tall order” I said “I know, but could you do your best?”  He nodded and then the earth-stopping moment was drawing to a close.

We took the pic.  Of course he looked perfect, and I had this ‘cat that just swallowed a canary’ look on my face.  (At least I got it)  Mission accomplished!

The rest of the event could be summed up in one word.  CLASS.  I told Bill that later off to the side at the night presentations.  He again seemed like he was glowing, taking in the whole experience as we were.

I wonder if she’s seen the letter yet………….

Rick’s note:  I have not been a part of Zrii for 3 years, but I don’t mind leaving this blog active.  It is STILL my wife, (Dr. Malia’s) dream to work with Oprah.