Would Your Doctor Put His Money Where His Mouth Is?

Someone recently told me the best investment you can make is in yourself.  Thinking numbers and accumulation, this at first was hard to wrap my head around.  Most people think of investments in terms of the stock market and retirement.  Planning for your future is important.  So important that it should include thoughts beyond money.  Often we focus so much on the mindset of accumulation for later that we forget to live in the moment.

That is when it hit me.  I was not living in the moment.  I was thinking about a distant day to come that frankly might not come.  Without even realizing it, I was not living the best version of me.  I was using my talents, but not in a God-inspired way.  I wanted more, but rather than take the step, I played the game of life with a reserved attitude.  I was too nervous about the consequences of taking a chance that might not work out.

When it Hurts Bad Enough, You Will Take Action

See what you don’t know about me, and admittedly I didn’t know about myself, was that 20 years ago, I lost a part of me.  I listened to the crowd.  I pursued the path that had been laid out for me of going to college, becoming a professional, starting a practice and living in a location with lots of opportunity.  Seems like a path for success.  And for many it is if your gauge of success is monetary.  But money cannot be the only gauge of success and as the old saying goes, money does not buy happiness.  Once that sank in, the tides had shifted for me internally and there was no going back.

I started realizing that every vacation and every opportunity to take a break was to go back home to visit my parents and the family farm.  I felt disconnected.  I was a professional talking about food, how to source it and how to shop at the farmer’s market.  Yet, I disconnected myself from the basic elements of food production and caring for it.  Once the pattern and rational for my actions became so clear, I could no longer hold back.  I had to make this element of me that originated from my youth as real to me on a daily basis as an adult.

Moving Forward with Blind Faith

If you are a Christian and have ever placed something totally in God’s hands, then you understand the term blind faith.  I don’t mean you turned a part of it over to him, and held on to a little trying to maintain control.  No!  I am referring to putting it 100% is in hands not knowing how some of the questions you have in your head are going to be answered.  That was me.  I am the logical planner.  I want to work out the details and then take a step forward.  But if I was going to find that part of me I lost, I could no longer be that person.

The time came.  Was I going to move forward with blind faith, or was I going to be complacent and not live the life I had been.  Would you like to know what I did?  I didn’t just take a step out unsure if there would be something for my foot to rest on.  I jumped with both feet.  I had to.  I could no longer look a patient in the eye with a heart of conviction knowing that I was not taking every action possible to avoid the toxins that I rant against.

How I Invested in Myself

Harvest Hills Ranch – Blackberries

I needed to be true to myself.  I wanted to not just be a voice for what patients should do, but a gleaning example of what to do.  Avoid toxic, refined foods, eat naturally grown, locally sourced vegetables and fruits, drink clean, chemical free water, get quality sleep and put yourself in an environment that you enjoy.  That is exactly what I did.  I invested in myself.  I found the location where I could practice all the recommendations that I provide to patients daily.  I call it Harvest Hills Ranch.  It provides me the mindset to be a better professional, though ironically it is the opposite of a professional environment.

Would Your Doctor Put His Money Where His Mouth Is?

I am a better doctor, a better writer / author and husband with more motivation and determination to spread the message of Food Function Freedom.  The environment around me is a persistent reminder of the necessity to communicate to you.  So back to the title of this post, “Would Your Doctor Put His Money Where His Mouth Is?”.  This is not a title looking to indite another clinician.  Far from it in fact.  Rather, it is to say that when we invest in ourselves, believe in our message to the core of our existence, we don’t always have to know how things will work out.  In my case, the message of the importance of toxin free food and helping others understand it far exceeds any challenge I may encounter along the way of sharing it.

The mindset of accumulation has no place when the value you add to another person’s life becomes more important.