Sergeant Tony's Blog

We clicked from the very beginning.

You know what I mean?

We were instantly drawn to one another.

You meet someone, male or female, and immediately you get them. They get you. You feel a connection with them. You want to know more.

In seconds you go from strangers, to feeling a sense of familiarity that you can’t explain. You sense their personality and spirit; yours and theirs are so similar … and you know it in a moment!

Yesterday I had lunch with two such people.

I met Mark and Linda in Tokyo in 1989 and within minutes we had formed an immediate bond. Call it chemistry. Call it a connection. Call it cosmic. When it happens, it’s magic!

But I’ll tell you this, it doesn’t happen everyday. It’s rare. Rare indeed. In fact, I can probably count on one hand the number of times it’s happened in my life.

It’s impossible to explain.

You meet someone and you know instantly that this person is, what I call, “a life changer.” Do you know what I mean? It’s not one of those things that you finally recognize after months of knowing them. You know it instantly. There is something about them! And you know immediately that this chance encounter, this random meeting, is going to alter your life … forever. They’re a life changer!

Mark and Linda became two of my dearest friends in a heartbeat … and over the next 10 years we enjoyed that friendship at every opportunity doing all kinds of things together. Trips, travel, triathlons, tennis and endless hours of the best conversation to be had … that always ended too soon; and the time in between always too long.

But as often happens in life, circumstances caused the trajectory of our lives to vary and our paths to change. They returned to the States from Japan and moved to Richmond, VA and I returned and moved here to Memphis. Within a year or so Mark’s job literally had him spanning the globe. (In the past month he’s been in Johannesburg, South Africa, London, Hawaii, and Idaho.) And opportunities to be together practically evaporated. Emails and phone calls … but no opportunities to see one another in years.

Until yesterday.

And then, in an instant … reconnected … as if the years apart had never existed at all. Magic!

We spent the next 3 hours talking about the details in our lives, telling stories, laughing, being amazed, being grateful. But it wasn’t the telling of the details of our lives that brought us close again … that was always there … just like when we first met! It was inside of us always and never left. Kindred spirits that are drawn to one another by forces and energies that can’t be understood, described, or explained. It just is. And it’s either there or it isn’t. Impossible to fabricate.

I have a lot of close friends and warm acquaintances that I’m thankful for everyday! I have a deep desire to know people and to connect with them. Being with people energizes me. I genuinely like people. Odds are, I probably like you too! (Don’t tell anyone that I like people. My reputation as Evil Incarnate will take a hit if you tell this story about me.)

One of the absolute joys of my life is connecting with people. I don’t look at you boot campers as clients or customers … you’re like family to me — granted we’re a dysfunctional family — but that’s how I connect with people and probably how I connect with you.

One of my long time friends, someone who’s known me since I was 12, says that I let a lot of people onto my “front porch” where I entertain and get to know you … but I invite few people into my “house.” She says that I invite tons of people to climb the steps to my porch, but the front door doesn’t open to many. Those who get in, she said, I never allow to leave, even if they behave badly. She may be right about that. I have a hard time letting go. Actually, I don’t know if I am capable of letting go of those who’ve been inside.

But there are some people in my life for whom there never was a front door to open … they just had immediate and welcome access to my whole life … the whole house. There was never a door for Mark and Linda. They appeared in my den in an instant!

And I’ll bet that you’ve got your own Marks and your own Lindas in your life too. People with whom you connected at once! People with whom your relationship has required no work. It just is! There is a connection, a mutual understanding, an engagement of kindred spirits that is natural, comfortable, easy, and deeply fulfilling. Effortless. Effortless. Knowing them is as easy as knowing yourself. And the passing of years doesn’t affect it. You could go five years without seeing them or talking to them and yet meet them for lunch tomorrow and there would be that instantaneous connection and the years would be as if they had never existed. You’d pick right up where you left off!

And if you were lucky enough to marry such a person with whom you connected so immediately and so deeply, you should be thankful everyday! Everyday! What a wonderful thing! You might call that person your “soulmate.” Someone who connects, complements, and (my apologies for the “Jerry Maguire” reference) completes you.

The Japanese have a word that is similar to soulmate, but not necessarily a romantic term. “Shinyu” means “close, intimate friend” and can be used to refer to a male friend or a female friend. But as one of my Japanese language teachers told me, that word means so much more. It literally means that if you were to lay the soul of one person over the soul of the other, there would be no differences. They would be the same. Not copies. Not duplicates. More like mirror images of the same original.

Of course, our lives are also filled with deep, meaningful, and significant relationships that were slower to take hold and build and those we should celebrate and be thankful for as well. That said, those that happen in an instant are particularly significant to me.

I hope that those kinds of special connections in your life are being nurtured and given opportunity for expression as much as possible. Take time today, or in the next 24 hours, to reach out to those extraordinary people in your life. (Maybe even forward this newsletter to them!)

Honor those who had, and have, an instant and welcome access into your life, your “house.” Tell them how important they are to you. That you love them. And if they are far away or out of reach, tell them how much you miss them. Because when it comes down to it, my friends … those connections — those people and the relationship you have with them — are the core and substance of our lives … everything else is just smoke and mirrors, stuff … background noise.

Thank you Mark and Linda. I love you guys. You are life changers … you are shinyu.

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Sgt. Tony’s Return to Running!

I am planning my return to running in the first annual Freedom Run 5K on April 24.

This is a new race sponsored by the Navy - Marine Corps ROTC unit at the University of Memphis. This is the unit that my son, Matthew, was the Commanding Officer of last year. And our own Pat McGhee’s son, Christopher, is a member of.

I will be a “beginner” runner, so my pace will be slow. Won’t you join me? Maybe run with me and keep me company? Run past me and make fun of me?

Never run a 5K before? Wouldn’t this be a perfect FIRST 5K?!!

I’d love to have a big group of us turn out for this run.

http://5kfreedomrun.racesonline.com/

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BOOT CAMP DISCOUNTS AND FACEBOOK EXPERIMENT!

The hottest buzz in internet marketing is the use of social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Here’s the experiment:

Make a Facebook status update and get a discount!

For every status update that you make that references:
“USMC Fitness Boot Camp,”
“Sgt. Tony’s Boot Camp,”
“Tony’s Boot Camp,”
or something similar, you can take $2.50 off your reenlistment fee! Up to $20 off for any given month!

Your status update has to be a specific reference to USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP or to me specifically by name.

So, “I love boot camp!” won’t work cuz there are lots of fake boot camps out there!

“Great Boot Camp workout with Sgt. Tony this morning!” is good!
“I love USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP!” is good!
“I love Sgt. Tony and his Boot Camp ROCKS!!” is REALLY good!

You get the idea! Use your own wording and personality, just include the specifics.

Oh, and for you haters, the reference has to be POSITIVE! “Sgt. Tony is mean!” or something similar, wouldn’t really work! But, “Sgt. Tony is wonderfully mean and kicked my butt at boot camp today!” does! “Sgt. Tony is the Devil!” is OK too!

Have fun with this! Be creative!

Restrict yourself to just one of these status updates per day, please. You don’t want 8 status updates in a row going out on the same day!

That would not be in keeping with the experiment!

The deal gets better …

When one of your Facebook friends, who isn’t a boot camper, goes to the website (www.usmcfitnessbootcamp.com) because of YOUR status updates and contacts me through the boot camp website, you get an additional $5 off your next enlistment for a max of $20!

Your friend has to actually contact me through the website, not through Facebook. This will help to measure traffic to the website generated from Facebook.

AND … if someone joins because they learned about us through your status update, your next monthly enlistment is FREE!

You could get up to $40 OFF for one month and the next month after that could be FREE, simply by making a few Facebook status updates!

So get started right now! This also applies to Boot Campers who’ve taken some time off to hibernate for the winter! You know who you are!

Log on to your Facebook account and say something like, “Sgt. Tony is the most awesomest man in Memphis!” And your discounts begin!

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LOSE THE WEIGHT - The Body You Want in July Begins With a Strategy Today!

Take Shape For Life - weight loss program is simply amazing!
The program calls for you to daily eat 5 Medifast replacement meals (soups, shakes, bars, puddings, oatmeal, and even brownie bites!) and one “lean and green” meal that you prepare or have at a restaurant.

Take Shape For Life …
* It’s simple
* It’s scientific (Johns Hopkins endorsed)
* It takes the guess work out of the process
* It’s goof proof
* It’s very affordable!
* IT WORKS!
* It’s delivered right to your front door!
* You’re not hungry!
* You learn the habits of long term weight loss. No yo-yo’ing!
* And best of all, you get ME as your coach!

You can go directly to the Take Shape For Life website (below). Plenty of detailed information. You can also sign up there as well.

Or feel free to call me. 901-644-0145.
Go to: www.combatchallenge.tsfl.com .

I’m very excited about Take Shape! The success that those who are on the program have had has been sensational!

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MAKING A FACE!

Several of you need to move up in your weights. Many are using the same dumbbells that you started with. MOVE UP! You should be making a face during the last few reps of most of our exercises. So it’s time to increase your dumbbells!

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JOB SEEKER

Tay Joslin is a veteran of the sales and service

industry. He is seeking a position within an

established department which can benefit from

his expertise in customer satisfaction, as well

as his competent communication skills. If Tay

can add value to your place of business, give

him a call at (901) 355-6771. Resume available

via email at maninblack21@hotmail.com.

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Be bold, my friends!

Keep your eyes on the life you want.

Don’t settle!

To your continued good health and fitness!

Tony

Sergeant Major Tony Ludlow
USMC Fitness BOOT CAMP, Commanding
Mailing address: 4888 Southern Ave., Memphis, TN 38117
Cell Phone: 901-644-0145
www.usmcfitnessbootcamp.com
http://www.combatchallenge.tsfl.com/esuite/home/combatchallenge/