Sunday, February 22, 2009

Your Business, Your Health, Your Responsibility

Personalized Toasting Glass Stemware Set of 2Building your online business is not for the faint of heart, that is if you are honest with yourself. There is a big difference between selling a product online and owning your online business. You have the hours upon hours of coding your site, performing Search Engine Optimization, making sure that your pictures are optimized, back links relate to your business, customer service, packing your product, marketing your product, and keeping yourself healthy. That's interesting that health was listed last, yet without it nothing else that was listed here matters.

The American Heart Association recommends that you exercise a minimum of thirty minutes a day to keep your heart healthy. Thirty minutes seems like such a long period of time when you have so much to do to keep ahead of your competition. Exercise is nothing to put off , yet we all do because we justify our reasons by saying that it can't happen to me. I feel great, nothing is wrong. Why exercise when I look good, I'm not over weight, I don't smoke, and I eat right.
The reasons I know that people are using these excuses is because I did as well. My world almost came to an end on December 23, 2006. I was feeling good, eating right, nothing was wrong. I was relaxing watching some television and all of a sudden I got this pain in my chest, a pain that felt like I needed to crack my breast bone. I thought really nothing of it until it went straight through me to my middle back. Then my shoulder blades felt the same way, that I needed to crack them, like I did my neck every once in a while. This raised my eye brows a bit, actually it felt like I had a severe back pain coming on. I started to wonder if this could be what I thought it was, a heart attack, noooo, can't be, I'm to young, I feel good, it can't happen to me. I was convinced that it was happening when from no where, the cold sweats began. This is where I made the only mistake of the evening. I had my wife drive me to the emergency room, we are about eight blocks from the hospital and I came to the quick conclusion that we could get there faster than the ambulance could get to me, and then me to the hospital. The reason that was a mistake was that if I had gone into full cardiac arrest, we didn't have the necessary equipment in our vehicle to shock my heart.

We made it to the emergency room, at the admitting desk I collapsed and went to the ground. I figured that I was safe and it was time for all the great folks at Holland Hospital to take over. Do you have any idea what it is like to make eighteen new friends in a matter of minutes? I suggest that you find a different way to achieve that goal.

The team of professionals at Holland Hospital put on a show that was remarkable. Each step of the process was a well choreographed dance. Nurses would move forward and perform a procedure, then back out of the room, then an E.K.G. was administered, the attendant performing that backed out and the doctor came in to read it. The doctor told me it was the real deal. I'll never forget those words as long as I live because as soon as I heard those words I said these words; "No it can't be , I'm to young, I felt great, I ate well.

I came home on Christmas day, a somber day, and all I could think about is what do I do next, I feel broken I said to myself. Here is the answer: Cardiac Rehabilitation. Holland Hospital has a great Cardiac Rehabilitation program. For thirty five minutes every other day I spin, use a treadmill, and other various pieces of equipment to maintain my healthy heart. I said healthy heart, yes because I got lucky there is no heart damage.

Running your business involves making many very important business decisions. Don't take your health for granted. It's the most important business decision a business owner can make!