Most times when we talk about taking our life to the next level, the first thing a lot of people think of is doing it FINANCIALLY. Well that's all well and all but today, that is not my focus. Today when I say lets take our life to the next level, I'm challenging everyone that reads this to do so with their HEALTH. I mean you can't enjoy the wealth you earn if your health isn't in order and I can almost guarantee you that if I said, I will give you a million dollars today but tomorrow you'll die, you would definitely choose to live. I know I know, that may be a bit harsh of a scenario, but the reality of things is simple, we all want to be here living on earth as long as possible but are we truly making the choices in life on a daily basis that ensures that we are at our healthiest for the duration of time here on earth that the man upstairs sees fit. Are you making your life an priority? I'm coming at y'all from this angle today from a personal experience. Can I be transparent with you for a moment? Most men that I know and those I talk to do not go to the doctor the way we should. In the black community, attendance may be even lower than every other race of men when it comes to getting your health checked out. I mean a lot of us literally do not go to the doctor unless we absolutely have to. Hell I even know men that base their health off their partner. If she's good, he automatically figures he is as well. Crazy thing is, that part of the spectrum is really only about sexually transmitted diseases. Those are the main things you hear and talk about but what about the silent killers? What about the high blood pressure and diabetes cases that run rampant throughout the black community? I'm asking because these two things have ran in my family on both sides for my whole life. The food choices we make and the lifestyles we live heavily influence our quality of life and sometimes you need an up close and personal wake up call to get in order and put a real priority on your health. Yesterday was mine. Yesterday I got up and went to church. It had been a few weeks and I'm just now trying to get back into attending church since covid but yesterday I attended and was pleasantly surprised that our church was having a health and wellness expo. It was an opportunity for me to tap in and see about myself. I mean why not right? Although I have been feeling well lately considering the changes I have made to my life and now being down about 40lbs, I figured things were fine. Well things weren't fine, and I found out some things that totally took me off guard. Yesterday I found out the lifestyle changes I had been making health wise were very much needed and right on time because yesterday I found out I had diabetes & my blood pressure was high. I mean my case was crazy high which made me wonder where things were when I was making all the unhealthy choices. I was shocked but I also was relieved in a way because it explained why some things had been happening to me in the past that I just couldn't figure out why and never went to see about. I had been having headaches off and on out the blue from time to time, I've had my vision blur & lose focus, and I even had my sex drive leave for a while and when it did return, I wasn't on my game like normal. I was thinking all this was happening because I am getting older (over 40) and had extra weight on me & blood just wasn't flowing like it used to, I now know what I'm dealing with. Although I am on the right path to handling my health and my bedroom game is coming back (thank god), my A1C levels were damn near double the norm and after doing a urinalysis, I also learned that I had protein in my urine which could affect my kidneys if not corrected. Fellas I'm telling you to GO TO THE DOCTOR. Hell I'm challenging you because if I hadn't found out what was up with me, I wouldn't know a thing and could have fell victim to the silent killer. Now that I know though, its GAME TIME!!! Going forward I vow to be proactive about my health not only with myself but with those that I care about. I want to be around a really long time and I can't do that half-assing around. God gave me my wake up call and I'm using this opportunity to perhaps give you yours. I challenge you to eat better, get active, rest, and not let anything stress you out. I challenge you to go get checked out, get some bloodwork done and find out where you stand. After you have done that I challenge you to give it your all and defeat any obstacle you may have. I'm on no meds and I refuse to take any at this point. I've made great strides with my health but going forward I'm gonna go even harder and I plan to have all my levels with everything normal or better by my birthday in October. GAME ON, lets get it!!!