Life can be funny sometimes. Just when you think you have things figured out; just when you think things are moving forward; it throws you a curve. Something comes out of nowhere that forces you to pause and to reexamine your current situation. Such a thing happened to me during the past week.

I’m not going to share “exact details” of what happened as it’s not really necessary. I’m pretty sure we can all learn from the situation despite that limitation.

Earlier in my life I had a person who was a major influence.  Many great things came out of the relationship but many painful things came out of it as well. In my opinion, there was a lack of respect in the relationship. Specifically my “partner” did not respect me and no matter how long I stuck around they never would.

After many years of this “sometimes pleasurable / sometimes painful” relationship I eventually came to a conclusion:

IF I TRULY RESPECTED MYSELF I HAD TO WALK AWAY FROM THE SITUATION

In retrospect, while it was painful, many good things came out of the relationship. I have no doubt I would not be where I am today had I not had the experience.

Since that time, many years ago, I told myself I would never allow myself to repeat that same  mistake. I would NEVER allow myself to get into that type of relationship again!  I felt that I had learned my lesson.

Well, guess what?  Over the past year I entered into a business relationship that, in my opinion, turned out to be all too similar to the one I swore I would avoid.

Apparently the universe felt as if I still had more to learn!

What did I learn?  I’m still figuring that out.

This is proving to be an interesting week for me.

In 2 days, I will be turning 50 years old.  As I’m telling people, the first 25% of my life is about to be over (yes, I do want to live for 200 years – provided I’m healthy and the the world is okay).

In that regard, I have taken the entire week off from work to visit a health spa in Tucson, Arizona, known as Canyon Ranch.  This is actually not a new experience for me, as I’ve been here 5 other times over the past 20 years.  In fact, the very first time I came here was to celebrate my 20th birthday.

For those of you unfamiliar with this place, it is very “spiritual” in nature.  It’s an absolutely gorgeous, first class property that is run in a first class manner.  The accomodations are fantastic;  the food is incredible and the people you meet are nice.

It’s also an excellent place to try new experiences (more on that a little bit later).

As this birthday milestone has approached, I have been spending the past 3 to 4 months working on really getting in shape.  I’ve been eating much better and I’ve been exercising quite a bit.  Over that time period, I’ve built up to where I’m exercising 3 or more hours a day at least 25 days out of each month.

The 2 main exercises I’ve been undertaking are pool walking and walking on a treadmill.  Personally, I enjoy pool walking a lot more, as it is a highly aerobic exercise that is easier on the legs and joints than regular walking or running.  The water provides great resistance, but because of the flotation aspects of walking in the pool, it puts less stress on the body and you’re able to recover faster.

However, the treadmill is much more convenient, as I have a treadmill at my house.  While I also have a pool at my house, it is too small to do a lot of walking, so I wind up going to one of the local gyms in town.  Anyone who has ever spent much time in a community pool knows how much fun those can be.  Let’s just say you meet some interesting people.  I’ve seen these people do some pretty crazy things, some of which make me wonder about whether or not they’re “totally there” or if they’re just walking around in an unconscious state.  However, it works out to be okay in the long run if you’re willing to be a little tolerant of other people’s “habits”.

When I started my pool walking, I put together my own campaign that I have titled”  A Million Steps To Health.

Basically, I figured that if I take at least a million steps in the pool over a 3 to 5 month period, that my personal health and overall well being would improve immensely.     I started on March 17, 2009 and since then, I’ve covered approximately 372,000 steps.  The bright side is that I’ve been GREATLY increasing the duration of my workouts as I’ve started to get much stronger.

In fact, this morning, I walked for 4 hours in the outdoor pool here at Canyon Ranch.  What a beautiful morning it was.  In fact, I’m outside by the pool right now writing this post.  That walk was almost 15,000 steps in and of itself.  In fact, over the past 2 weeks, I’ve had 3 walks of 3 hours each, one for 3 1/2 hours and today’s for 4 hours.  All of this was to build up to doing a 5 hour pool walk on my 50th birthday.

At first, I was a little bit skeptical as to whether or not I’d be able to get in good enough shape fast enough to do it, but after doing 4 hours this morning, I now have no doubt about being able to do it.  In fact, I could have easily made today’s walk last for 5 hours, but I don’t want to spoil Thursday’s planned fun.

One of the things I do each time when I visit Canyon Ranch is that I make it a point to try something new.  This year, I’m going to get a chance to do something I’ve been wanting to do for probably at least 10 years.  On Thursday, after finishing my workout and having lunch with my wife, I’m going to participate in a group spirituality session in a Sweat Lodge.  I’m greatly looking forward to the experience and I will definitely blog about it afterwards.   We have a “prep” session tomorrow night where they tell us how to prepare in advance for the experience and it takes place on Thursday.

At first I wasn’t sure whether or not I should participate in the sweat lodge experience, but the fact that it happened to correspond EXACTLY with my 50th birthday and the fact that sweat lodge experiences are known for “marking transitions”, I KNEW WITH 100% CERTAINTY that I’m supposed to do it.
Stay tuned and I’ll keep you posted.

In the hopes of learning something new today, I’m going to discuss the Sixteenth (16th) Amendment to the United States Constitution.

WHAT DOES THE 16th AMENDMENT DO?

Many people may not know this, but as originally written, the United States government could NOT impose an income tax on the people, because it was prohibited under the original language of the constitution.

In 1913, the then Secretary of State Philander C. Knox reported that 38 states out of the 48 then in existence had ratified the amendment.

SOME PEOPLE CLAIM IT WAS NEVER PROPERLY RATIFIED

Over the past 3o to 40 years, countless people have made claims that the amendment was never properly ratified and thus the United States income tax is unconstitutional.

These same people have refused to file and pay their income taxes for a variety of reasons.  In pretty much all cases, they have lost in court and many of them have gone to prison for income tax evasion.

Nonetheless, to this day, the United States Internal Revenue Service will tell you there is a large number of people who refused to file and pay their income taxes, despite the fact the courts have NEVER ruled in their favor.

THE CONCLUSION

As a tax attorney and CPA, I frequently get asked by people about these claims.  I’m here to tell you to NOT rely upon anyone who makes these claims to you that the United States income tax is unconstitutional.  If you don’t like the system, write your congressman and work on trying to get it changed.  HOWEVER, I do NOT recommend that you ignore the system.  That will only get you in trouble.

You can read more about the issues involved by CLICKING HERE and by CLICKING HERE ON THE IRS WEBSITE.

This is the second  post in a new category titled:  Learn Something New Everyday
I am embarking on a mission to learn at least one new thing everyday for the next year.  It is my goal to share that journey with you, so here goes.  Here is what I learned about today.
CHINA WAS ONCE THE WORLD’S GREATEST NAVAL POWER

In the late 1300′s and early 1400′s, China, under the leadership of the great admiral Zheng He, China was probably the world’s greatest naval power.

Zheng He rose to preeminence by winning several great naval battles.  Between 1405 and 1433, the emperor of that time (the Yongle Emperor) sent Zheng He out on a series of seven naval expeditions, all designed to control trade and impress other nations with the power of the Chinese fleet.

It is not entirely clear all the places where Zheng He visited, as the records of his last 2 naval expeditions were destroyed.  The successor emperor (the Hongxi Emperor) promptly cancelled Zheng He’s expeditions and proceeded to have much of the Chinese fleet burned / destroyed.

Thus ended China’s period as the world’s greatest naval power.  The interesting thing is that under the Hongxi Emperor and his son, the Xuande Emperor, many reforms were put in place that proved to be very popular amongst the people, all of which led to what is often referred to as one of China’s golden ages.

SO WHAT’S THE POINT ???

Where would China be now had they not “pulled back” from their maritime explorations and had they continued to spread their influence out amongst the world?

That’s not to take anything away from where China is at the moment, but it’s interesting to ponder whether or not things would have been different.

This is a first post in a new category titled:  Learn Something New

I am embarking on a mission to learn at least one new thing everyday for the next year.  It is my goal to share that journey with you, so here goes.  Here is what I learned about today.

THE CONCEPT OF MUGA-MUSHIN

MUGA is a Japanese word that means “no-self”.  MUSHIN is a Japanese word that means “no-mind”.

The Japanese concept of Muga-Mushin centers around the benefits to be derived from reaching a state of egolessness / selflessness.

Muga talks about the physical aspects of emptiness and mushin refers to the mental aspects of such state.

The concept is basically that if one let’s go and just lets things happen; that is when we will achieve the best results.

That is what I am working on in my life at the moment.  I am letting go of fears, worries, concerns, etc.  I am just focusing on being.  I am focusing on stabilizing my mind so that it is not violated by the activity perceived by my senses.

You can read more about Muga-Mushin by clicking here.