Bill Phillip's | Transformation

Describing the Indescribable!

This is a rerun of my regular blog on the body for life website. Much of it is about transforming events in general, so I thought you all might enjoy a read of it. It is about the Tennessee event that just took place this last weekend.

"In essence, the title of this blog is what I’m trying to do. The 1 1/2 day experience of the Tennesse Fitness weekend is over; I’m home again; and I’m still processing what all went on there. It is much like trying to get a drink out of a firehose.
Here’s what I "did."
1. Met about 30 new people at the event.

2. Reconnected with about 60 old friends at the event.

3. Missed about 50 people just because there wasn’t enough time!

4. Participated in a champion’s panel Friday evening;

5. Stayed up way too late visiting;

6. Got up at 5:00 a.m. and went over and registered for the race;

7. Ran the 5 k race with 50 other crazy BFL’ers at 8:30.

8. Taught a one hour seminar at 11:00 a.m.;

9. Went to a group workout from 2 to 3;

10. Talked more!;

11. Went to a banquet from 6 pm to 11:00 pm;

12. Talked more;

13. Ate pizza in the lobby of the hotel about 1:00 am and got to bed at 2.

14. Got up at 7 on Sunday, packed and loaded up my car;

15. attended a  seminar given by Bill Phillips;

16. Said goodbye to dozens of people in the hotel; 1 pm; departed Knoxville. 10 pm, arrived home!

Well, not restful, but definitely eventful! There were many high points, too many to even mention, and they are all about people, not what we did. Here are just a few things that come to mind right now, and I’ll write more later this week about why I think they were so meaningful and so important to what we are as body for life participants, as transformers.

I met Marty Goldman, a man from Waukegan Illinois who lost his adult son Tom on the first day of 2008. A loss of a child leaves an indescribable hole in the soul, and Marty was no exception to that rule.  But, with the grace and mercy of God, with the support of Bill Phillips, and with great grit and determination, Marty has not only refused to fall victim to the great loss he suffered, but he has completely transformed his life, physical, mentally, and even spiritually. At the risk of embarrassing him, I will tell you that Marty Goldman is a gentle yet strong man whose eyes are truly a window to his soul. What you see is what you get with him, and he is just a truly great guy! He loves what and who he is, and like so many other champions, he gets the principle that what he is called to do is to serve others by seeing that others who need transformation get it too.  You can see videos on Transformation.com about Marty, and they will make you laugh and cry, but until you see Marty, in person, you only have half the story. I’ll never forget him.

I saw Mark Unger again, and I also met his friend and fellow runner, Eric Knowlton and his lovely wife Michelle. Michelle did a wonderful transformation. What humble and special people they are.

Eric and Mark are running the Marine Corps marathon very soon, to fulfill a goal, and also to benefit a terrific charity, Hope for the Warriors. Hope for the Warriors does many things. One is in a way a bit like Make A Wish, and provides assistance that cannot be provided as normal medical or service=connected benefits to severely wounded soldiers. Mark gave us just one example. A swimming pool for a man who lost his legs in a roadside bomb incident. The one thing that works best for this man to interact with his family and to feel fully human again with his family is to swim. No gift would mean more to him than to have a pool, and that is what Hope for the Warriors will do for him.  If you’d like to help, and I hope you do, go to www.hopeforthewarriors.org. Eric and Mark are members of "Team Hope for the Warriors" and you can donate to their cause by going there.  Well, tomorrow, more--much more--about Knoxville and what you missed!