“Come Listen to my Story of Origin!!”

It’s never, never, never, too late!! Life is here, Life is now, Life is all that we have; so, while we are alive, we have this one opportunity to live and to make the utmost of it!! For me, the process of getting engaged to a greater extent in my own Life and times began when I caught a glimpse of myself in the silver-lined pane of glass hanging from the wall in my motel room at Alamosa, Colorado, about three years ago; what I saw there pained me so; you see, the reflection looking back at me from that smooth, shiny, and reflective, surface of pain on the wall did not represent the form and the figure that I had conjured up in my mind as to who I had imagined myself to be; who was that person staring back at me: the lumps, the bumps, the bulging belly, and the dowager’s hump?? I was there doing my next travel assignment in physical therapy after finishing up a previous assignment in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. Lake Havasu is where my eyes were opened to the beauty of LIFE and it was there that my Life changed in ways more than one; it was there that the concept of Bird Food for LIFE (BFFL) was born. The full story is in my book, but the synopsis goes something like this; as Americans living in this vast, last, best, and most wonderful, Land of the Free and Home of the Brave, we have nearly every opportunity available to mankind; to participate in and to enjoy from the richest, most diverse, colorful, and creative smorgasbord of foods, flavors, friends, and activities, imaginable. That is to our benefit and to our chagrin, at times. As a consumer society, we have been shown, taught, and immersed in the model of Life bent around the siren call of “I want more, give me more, and don’t you ever make feel deprived or hungry!!”

I witnessed the atmosphere and the effects of this consumer society while visiting and hanging out at the various shops, restaurants, bars, and bistros, at Lake Havasu’s English Village near the iconic London Bridge. It is a resort, a destination, and a beautiful sight to see; and I had the pleasure of meeting and greeting many beautiful people there; and witness from afar the various: large dinner gatherings, anniversary celebrations, wedding receptions, birthday parties, etc., etc. It was, by then, the tail end of winter, spring had not yet sprung, and the weather was delightful; but what really caught my attention was not the young, busy, and bustling waitstaff there, but the amounts of foods, drinks, appetizers, main dishes, side-dishes, desserts, and the sheer quantities, being delivered to the tables on plates, in buckets, and on platters upon platters. It was a celebration, almost like nothing that I had ever witnessed before; there was no end to the quantity of foods, drinks, side dishes, and desserts. Then came the loud horn, the siren call, the announcement over the loud speaker, a marching band with all hands-on deck, gathering around with music, singing, clapping, and dancing, in celebration of the next order and delivery of their infamous 38oz margarita, served in a cowboy hat with a salted rim, and enough straws for the entire table!!  

What I did notice was how happy everybody there seemed to be: the talking, the smiles, the laughter, and the enjoyment, that was to be had there!! And then I noticed the sheer size of the participants there; from the youngest to the oldest; they were big people: the moms, the dads, the grandparents, and even the cute toddlers running about. My most recent experiences in PT had been working with my dear old people in various nursing homes and long-term care centers, where I got to see the effects of peoples’ previous Lifestyle choices and behaviors visited upon them in their current functional abilities and disabilities; in their latter years. Now, as a person and as a physical therapist, I want nothing more than for everybody to be able to live and to participate in their own lives and times to the greatest extent imaginable, and for the longest time possible, for everyone’s benefit!! I thought about those thoughts through the rest of that day and into the next, as I became interested in trying to figure out some new and creative approach to: Life, living, engaging, eating, and moving, that would be fun, effective, long-lasting, and to the benefit of everyone. I ruminated on that idea over those next few days, I wrote a couple little-stories at my favorite coffee shop and then later in the week on my drive back to Lake Havasu City from Kingman, AZ, where I had just worked a full day at the nursing home there, some sixty miles north of Havasu, in Kingman, Az, it happened!! The clock struck 5:00, I completed my duties, I clocked out, I walked out to my Super Sonic Chevy car, climbed in, tuned the radio to the S.O.S. station, and began to drive back toward Lake Havasu City, where my Super 8 Motel room was patiently waiting for me. The weather was warm, the music was uplifting, I was dancing in my mind because I had been taking dance lessons and was beginning to learn how to move to the rhythm and rhyme of Life; I was looking forward to returning to the sights and sounds of Lake Havasu and I was eating my Dill Pickle SPITZ sunflower seeds, one at a time; when the thought crossed my mind, ”I’m eating Bird Food, I like Bird Food.”  THAT’S THE ANSWER!! Over the course of the next couple days, I worked with the idea of Bird Food as more than a dietary consideration and more than a metaphor for picking and choosing which foods to eat, but as a way of Life, living, and getting engaged, in all areas of our lives and for the long-term. It was at the little coffee shop on the English Channel called The Local Grind, that I first penned the words “Bird Food for LIFE,” upon my keyboard. Bird Food for LIFE is more than a seedy meal plan, it is a way of LIFE; it speaks to the opportunities that we have each and every day, to pick and to choose: when to get up, what to wear, where to go, who to hang out with, what we eat, when we eat, how fast we eat, how much we eat, and so much more. From the age of accountability and on through our Lifespans here in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave, we are in charge of ourselves and nobody else; to say otherwise would be to relegate ourselves to the dark ages.

To complete this essay, let me just say this; “It’s never too late to Laugh, it’s never too late to lose weight, and it’s never too late to lose your mind, and that’s where Good HUMOR comes in!!” Good HUMOR is better than a bowl of ice cream, it helps us to take our minds off the malady, and put them on what is most important; and that is LIFE, living, engaging, moving forward, and loving our neighbors.  A good recipe for baking that cake will include these ingredients: BFFL, Good HUMOR, Truth, Justice, and the American Way!! But how do we get from there to here??

APPLICATION: A brand-new new tool that is now available for helping us all to get engaged in this new way of LIFE, the Bird LIFE, was brought to me by my colleague, my friend, and my mentor, in the field of Feeling Great, Stacey Rawson. She is an independent distributor for UNICITY’S Feel Great system, whose mission is to empower you and me to become the best version of ourselves- physically, mentally, and emotionally. It does this by utilizing the benefits of two simple, plant-based products, which help us to curb hunger, and lessen the effects of sugar upon our body, soul, mind, and spirit; with the side effects of: greater energy levels, a healthy gut, improved mood, improved blood sugar control, clearer thinking, clearer skin, better heart health, weight loss, and potentially even a longer Lifespan. For me, the truly greatest aspect of UNICITY’S Feel Great System is that it goes along so well with my extensive work, writing, and application of Bird Food for LIFE; where I have dropped over 55# in the course of writing my first book of little-stories, and sharing it far and wide with people just like you; plus, it is Plant based and I am 100% PLANT based; and from the very beginning!! I was brought into this world as a little-baby Plant and now have grown into a full-grown PLANT!! Plants are 100% natural; they are the living definition of natural, and so with that, along with this company’s patented products, research studies, track record, and the backing of testimonials from Real Life people, I now have the confidence to stand shoulder to shoulder with UNICITY’S vision, for a lighter, brighter, and more beautiful, future for everyone!!

THE END, for now, but stay tuned because there will be more to come!!  (To include the best ingredient of all- Good HUMOR!!)

Good day,

Larry Plant, PT, author, Father, and friend to You!!