We are still in our infancy at marketing You’re Amazing And I’ll Prove It! and it is taking us down a lot of alleys that we never thought we would have to go down. But we are getting there. We hope everyone is safe.

Now for this week’s story:

I was talking to Lady Linda about the fact that there are very few diaries from our well-known ancestors  that exist, much less the common man.  I am fascinated to know what their daily lives were like. I am kind of an amateur historian, so I’m always reading something historical or watching documentaries. I am amazed at how strong our ancestors were.

It also angers me to think that some Americans think they have it tough. The fact is, if you think you have it tough, then you do. Your mindset is everything, so let’s see if we can start seeing the positive.

I often hear someone say that the first responders were magnificent. Let me paint a picture for you and then ask you a question. Let’s pretend for a moment that you are in a single car accident. A person going by calls 911, and the police, paramedics, and firemen arrive to help you. In the meantime, you are able to get yourself out of the car and far enough away so that you are safe if the car explodes. You have a head wound that is bleeding badly. Because of this you take your shirt off and put pressure on the wound.

The ambulance takes you to the hospital and you wind up being ok. Sore for awhile, but ok. However, the hospital tells you some things that I will wait to tell you for a moment.

Now for my question, “Who is the first responder?” Most people I talk to say the police, firemen, or the paramedics in the ambulance. Some people said, “The person who made the phone call.” But, no one said the real answer, and that is you. You are your first responder, if you are not unconscious.

To make my case I’ll tell you what the hospital told you just before you left. The doctor that took care of you told you that your head wound was bleeding so bad, that had you not applied pressure immediately, you would have died before the pros arrived.

I take nothing away from the wonderful people that are our doctors, paramedics, nurses, police, firemen, and anyone I left out. But the fact is, if you are conscious and able to take some action to help yourself, you are your own first responder.  

Let me tell you about some of our ancestors.

I was watching a documentary called Frontier Doctors. Obviously it was about doctors who explored the untamed American wilderness in the Late Eighteenth and early  Nineteenth centuries. Basically it boils down to this, you either had to have the skill and the knowledge to be your own doctor or there better be someone in the handful of people you’re exploring with or you’re dead. Even with a person who knew the medicine of the day, the medical knowledge of the day was so limited, your chances to survive weren’t good.

Women were the household doctors of the day. You were taught, starting as soon as you could understand, how to be your own doctor. By the age of 5, children knew how to close a wound.

This next story will show you just how far you had to go to be your own doctor if you were going to survive.

There was a trapper on the Missouri River in the early 1800’s nicknamed Peg Leg Smith. He was shot by an Indian and was all by himself in the wilderness. He wrapped a tourniquet around his leg, cauterized it, and then amputated his own leg with a hunting knife. He then whittled himself a wooden leg and made his way out of the wilderness. This ancestor of ours was so tough, that years later he got  into a barroom fight in Independence, MO and he ran out of bullets. He yanked off his wooden leg and used it as a weapon, killing 2 men and knocking another unconscious.

As you can see this is being your own physician to the max. The least we can do to honor the strength and courage of our ancestors, is to stop whining, learn how to take care of ourselves and teach our children how to take care of themselves.

We are our own first responder and the best way we can be our own first responder is to learn how to do the maintenance on our bodies – stretching, deep breathing, getting the right amount of sleep, etc. You only have one body, so learn how to take care of it. It’s really not that hard. Do it in honor of Peg Leg Smith.

In my book, You’re Amazing And I’ll Prove It!, the reader answers questions at the end of each story and discovers for themself that they are as amazing as any other spirit on this planet. No better, but every bit as good as any other spirit. Once the reader understands that they are amazing, the only thing left for them to do to have true happiness is to find their passion.

If you are not doing what is your passion, you are living in an alternate reality. Every second that you live outside of your passion feels like a lifetime of misery. In You’re Amazing we stress how important it is that you find your passion. For this reason, we have a section in You’re Amazing And I’ll Prove It! that shows you one of the ways to find your passion and help in your journey to find your purpose in life. Order today at www.youreamazingandillproveit.com !

As always, I welcome your comments and stories. If you would like to follow my blog, please click on the plus (+) sign in the upper left-hand corner of this page. See you next week!

You’re Amazing And I’ll Prove It!

Neal G. Brownell

845-657-3009

nealgbrownell@gmail.com

http://www.nealgbrownell.com

http://www.youreamazingandillproveit.com

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Guest on –

Be Awesome Podcast with Dr. Kristina Hallett (air date 3-3-20)

Heroes Like You Podcast with Joe Belliston (air date 3-5-20)

Let’s Live! with Thurman Greco – Woodstock, NY cable TV – Nov. 2019

Beyond Risk and Back with Aaron Huey (air date TBD)

Which Way? with Shari and Jann Simmons (air date Friday 1-10-20)

The Empowered Whistleblower with Dawn Westmoreland (air date 2-24-20)