Inspiration by Augie

This weekend I went to the IDEA World Fitness Convention in San Diego, CA. It was my first weekend or night for that matter away from Frankie. I had a constant internal dialogue going with myself that it was important for me to go away and have some independent time. The weekend was definitely worth the separation anxiety that I felt. I went to a lot of great classes and the highlight of the event was one of the Keynote Speakers, Augie Nieto. Augie is one of the most successful innovators in the Fitness Industry. He is the founder of Lifecycle, Inc. If you have ever stepped foot into a gym then you know his product well. He has always lived and breathed his passion of fitness. In 2005, he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Lou Gehrig's disease. He was honored with a Life Time achievement award from Idea and I was honored to hear his acceptance speech. His wife was by his side as he wheeled himself on to the stage on a high powered hydraulic wheelchair. As he made his way to the podium, he boosted himself up with his hydraulic chair so that he towered above the audience. The entire audience gave him a standing ovation and roared with applause. As he looked out into the audience, his eyes began to fill with tears and so did mine. You could feel and see his passion for life and the gratitude that filled his heart. He talked with great effort about his diagnosis and Lou Gehrig's disease and the message that hit home with me was what he said about living and dying. Simply stated, he said, "I had two choices, I could either wake up in the morning and choose to live or I could wake up in the morning and choose to die." He has without a doubt chosen to continue living life to the fullest. He has waged an aggressive campaign to find a cure for ALS and as of January he has raised more than $7.1 million dollars.
His presence and heart felt words will serve as a constant reminder to me to live each day to the fullest and to truly appreciate my health.