Mark E. Lampkin

It Ain’t About You…

It has been one week since my latest PSA test and Digital rectal examination showed no further growth of my prostate…and I am still excited about those findings. Since then I have had discussions with a few friends, with the intent to uncover their thoughts and concerns about their health issues; and particularly where it relates to men.

There were a few women who shared with me that their father’s had died at an early age, and thus had wished for a longer time to have spent with there Dads. I believe both of their father’s succumbed to heart failure brought about by diabetes. As I sit and think about my time spent last summer with my grand and great-grand daughters, it became crystal clear that my taking care of myself was important to me…but it really mattered even more when I looked into the eyes of the youngest bloodline that I have created.

And so I ask you men, and women, to consider how you might think of a world that your grand children would live in…without you. That’s right. You are nothing more than the picture in a frame on the fireplace mantle. Stories are told about you and who you were, and always end with a sad refrain, “he/she died so young.” Those of us on the north side of 50 realize how young 60 is looking every day. It is all in our perspective.

On my social media pages I am listing my morning breakfast menus…showing a balance of protein, fruits, juices and sometime a little meat to keep my inner dinosaur happy. Having recently received my cholesterol reading I know that I am doing the right things with regards to my food intake. Again, it ain’t about me…

You see, I am thinking years ahead to my granddaughter graduating from her schooling…my great granddaughter getting her high school diploma…even my youngest daughter getting married. I want to be walking upright and of my own volition…not being pushed around in a wheelchair or worse, not being alive to witness these special occasions.

So, do me a favor and spread the word. We are going to begin the second half of 2011 by making a true commitment to a healthier lifestyle. We will walk more. Eat more fruits. Drink more water. Eat less red meat. And show gratitude for another day of life.

And for those of you who are still not sure if this works…keep my mantra from today in your mind and spirit…”It Ain’t About You.” This is for those future generations who will be doting on you when you are the patriarch/matriarch of the family and telling the stories of how life used to be…in 2011.

Peace.

Hair today, gone tomorrow…

It is spring and thus time for the NBA playoffs, where it is always interesting to see the types of advertisements that dominate the between play segments of each game. Your standard beer commercials occupy a majority of the commercials, with car and truck ads often a close second in number. However, it is the “other” brands of products that marketers have determined we men are in need of that causes me to go hmmm.

The one lately that has me shaking my head is the one from Hair Club for men. You have seen at least one of these, I know. A very sad looking guy is sitting in the office of this follicle physician (?), looking miserable and forlorn. They hold a mirror to the back of his head and show him the bald spot…like the man has not already seen it before today.

The narrator shares with us how this new “hair” will look and feel like your own natural hair. You can even go swimming, with no embarrassing moments when you ascend form the water.

My biggest laugh came when the African-American man was combing his new “do”, and holding the back of his head/hair with his other hand. You know he was trying his best to make sure that his piece of hair was not going to be dislodged by that brushing. His little smile only made matters that much more humorous. Probably thinking that thankfully the check for this gig is already in the bank. I can recall only seeing two men of A/A heritage with a hairpiece…and neither of those resembled anything like their real hair.

So, as I have seen my once curly black hair both recede and turn to silver in color, I wonder how one determines to take the plunge and seek admission to the Hair Club. Will someone tap me on the shoulder and give me the coordinates to a secret meeting? Will I be required to take an oath and learn a password or handshake? This could all be so much fun. And expensive too, I would presume.

Or maybe I won’t do anything and just enjoy the transition from having a perfectly shaped super-size Afro in my younger days to a card-carrying AARP senior with a Silver-mane…and be graceful, and grateful, through it all. Now if I can just get my salon barber to charge me by the hair she has trimmed, and not by the minute I will be able to purchase that hand held mirror…

Peace.

Running out of gas…

Tonight I had the opportunity to officiate three men’s recreational league basketball games. That means that the players are grown men usually between the ages of 18-50. Yes, I actually believe there was another 50 year old, besides me, running up and down the court. A few times I had a funny flashback to 1991, when I played my last rec league games.

The men I played with 20 years ago were, like me, ex jocks who usually played one to two times per week. And thus we thought we were doing pretty well for guys our age. Tonight, I got a glimpse at what it really looks like when your body is not doing what your mind is yelling to do. Granted, the men today are a bit bigger in height and weight than my contemporaries’…thanks in part to their eating habits and a preponderance to play more games on video than real ones. I think that I am actually in better shape than many of those men who are at least 15 years my junior. Their energy gas tank was just about empty…

As I also reflect as we approach the end of the first quarter of 2011, I wonder how much is left in the proverbial gas tank of the American working citizens…

How can we continue to allow the oil companies to push through the ceiling of our budgets, gasoline prices that have now spilled over $4.00 per gallon? I daily hear friends and colleagues share horror stories about the cost to fill up their automobiles. One even said it took one hundred dollars to accomplish that…for his BMW. Are you kidding me?

Fortunately, in a basketball game there are bench personnel who can substitute for those players on the floor who have “run out of gas.” What is the plan to provide substitute relief for the American people? If it is true that Exxon/Mobil made more than $10 Billion dollars in 2010, and yet paid no federal taxes…what is their motivation to make less money? Somehow I feel another Enron or Wall Street implosion looming on the horizon.

Unfortunately, we do not have the luxury of taking time between quarters, like in a basketball game, in order to strategize our plan for the second quarter. But yet, we must do something to get the attention of those who would call themselves our leaders. Maybe it is time to take to the streets…walking, biking, carpooling, and riding mass transit. Whatever it takes to get the powers-that-be to take notice of our collective pain. Otherwise, just like those players I saw tonight, we will all be left with the dreams of what used to be…and nothing left to finish the game we truly love to play. The Game of Life.

Peace.

Checking the YES Box…

The other day I went to a new massage therapy professional. His session was a gift to me from a friend/colleague. When I called the office to get the correct address I was told to come a few minutes before my appointment time in order to complete a new client questionnaire. No problem. A piece of cake. Just like the good old days….Right?

Now you know the way this goes…a litany of questions with yes and no as the options. Do I have any history of heart disease, high blood pressure, back injury, arthritis, etc. And that is when it began to unfold…Sitting in that chair with the form on the clipboard, halfway through the questions. I have answered YES to more of the questions than ever before in my life.

Granted, I am blessed with reasonably good health. I even like to boast that I have never spent a night in a hospital since I left it 56 years ago…but here I am now looking at a form that I used to check the no boxes without thinking. And here I have to admit to myself that YES, this now applies to me.

What do we do with that? How does it make us feel when we now have a chronic illness? A disease that will alter how we approach each new day. The most that I do is take ibuprofen to muffle the pain that Uncle Arthur is wreaking in my fingers and toes…

Will you join me in the journey as we gracefully grow older together? Let’s take heed to our bodies each day…eating 2-3 helpings of fruit, drinking 4-6 glasses of water and moving. And no, going to the bathroom is not considered effective healthy movement. Go for a walk. Dance to the music in your iPod. Heck, play a Wii fit game with your grandkids and break a sweat. Do something that will raise your heart rate above “just enough to survive.”

So that the next time you are in that office and completing the new patient form, your no’s will once again outnumber your yeses…

Peace.

Let ‘Em Play, Ref…”

This evening I had the pleasure of officiating a high school basketball game in the Oakland Athletic League. Those games are rarely ever boring or one-sided. And tonight’s contest was no exception to that rule…Rules. We officials do not make the rules. We only know and enforce them during our appointed games.

And so it is interesting when we had a close score at halftime, that upon returning to the court prior to the start of the third quarter, a fan in the stands shouts out to me, “let the kids play, ref.” He said it again, as though I could not hear him from the 15 feet that separated us. And so, as I often will do to bring levity to a situation I said, “but they are playing…” Most of the people sitting near him laughed at the irony of this statement. The game had been played well by both teams, with one player hitting a shot at the buzzer to create the two-point advantage. So, to me and the others in attendance, the kids had played quite well.

Later in the evening, after the game had been decided, and I had time to reflect on the fans’ comment, I was struck by what type of game would be had if we just “let the kids play.” Would there be no fouls called? What about three seconds in the lane. Surely no one would call the numerous traveling violations that occur during an officiated game.

No, it would be less of a contest and more of a talent show to see who could outdo the other player. The game of basketball is a TEAM game. And as such, we officiate the actions of all the players, not just the wanna be superstar.

In your business or place of employment, are you allowed to just “let em play? No rules to follow. No procedures to adhere to. Come in when you feel like it and go home whenever…that is a recipe for confusion, chaos and bankruptcy.

Please, do us all a favor and respect the fact that we officials do this out of our love for the sport and our desire to insure that young athletes have the chance to play a game that will be officiated by rules, not by our whims. And every once in a while the team with the bigger heart achieves victory over the team with more talent. That would not happen in a game with no rules or guidelines to follow.

Our kids will respect the rules we fairly enforce. Let’s prepare them for the work world now, so that their having to adhere to a job description won’t send them into convulsions. That is sure to be a slam-dunk in preparation for their game of life.

Peace.

All Things Being Equal

As you know from my blog posts in 2010, I have a penchant for picking apart clichés…and this is the leadoff batter for 2011.

So tell me dear sir or madam, what things are ever equal?

Someone in the work environment receives the same wage, but does more of the work than their counterpart.

One of the partners in a marriage/relationship is doing more to nurture and maintain balance…than the other person. Teddy Pendergrass may have made a popular song about a 50/50 love, but we all know better than that.

Even our children, who are reared in the same home, with the same parents and values, end up being quite different in many respects. So, where is this equal?

Finally, at my age I get it….it never is going to be equal. The ebb and flow, the yin and the yang, is always fluid. It shifts and grows where expansion is needed. There is always a low point that will need to be elevated. But it won’t be equal. It will just be raised.

If you are waiting on someone or something to be equal before you make your move…

Instead, do your part right now with all that you have at your disposal and watch as you begin to attract the people and resources you need to fulfill your assignment. And as you get closer to the finish line, you will see that someone is at the starting line where once you stood…and you will be the one to fill their cup from your reservoir.

Make this your year to wait no more for equality…

Peace.

About losing 6 pounds each month?

About saving $300.00 each month?

About cutting your cholesterol by 20 points?

About starting that home-based business?

About giving those clothes away to a charity?

About forgiving your parents. Children. Spouse. Self?

This is just a short list of things I have heard from my friends and family as we begin the descent into 2011. Too many of us have allowed the days, weeks and months to pass without achieving any real progress in the areas of our lives that we determined needed attention in 2010.

Why not start right now, today, and make a short list of the people and things you wish to impact over the next 7 weeks. Ask a friend to be an accountability partner to you, so that it is public knowledge; they can support and encourage you to create the new habits.

Let’s roll into 2011 with real momentum.

I know you can do this….

Peace.

We Can’t Weight Any Longer…

As one who has never had a weight issue, other than trying to gain a few pounds so as to fill out the back of my pants, I am still quite concerned and empathetic with those who struggle mightily in the other direction. The article I saw here is another alarm that is blaring loudly to our citizenry. Many of us have at least one family member who is affected by the issues of obesity, heart disease and diabetes. They are a trio that is taking people to the grave much too early in life. Read this and share it where applicable…