Letter of Encouragement/Advice

This is a letter I wrote to a girl asking for advice on vegsource during the fall of 2009. It was a time of turmoil on the board because there was an internet troll present regularly posting doomsday, disrespectful trash. Hope it helps.



Dear Hannah,

I've been thinking a lot about you lately, so I decided to write a letter of encouragement and advice. A letter that I would have appreciated receiving at your age. A letter you can choose to ignore or enjoy or get mad at, but whatever your reaction-isn't it amazing to know that you have the choice to choose any of these emotions? You are in control of these, if you want to be.

I know you are 19 years old and are sometimes struggling with staying 811rv as well as other issues like high stress at school. Boy have I been there, in more ways than you can know. How did I get through these issues? Certainly not as well as you have the possibility to do because I was not exposed to 811rv at your age. Going through University for me was often hell. I was eating crap. I wasn't sleeping well. I wasn't exercising. I gained the usual 15 school pounds. I was totally stressed out most of the time. But, I survived.

I wish so much more than survival for you. I wish you could thrive during this experience just like every future challenging experience you will face. 811rv diet and lifestyle can give you the opportunity to thrive, all you have to do is choose it, each day. Don't look back at the past or worry about the future. Choose to do the right thing each day-it is never wrong to do the right thing. You know what is right for you. This knowledge is in each and every one of us. Guidance is also here, if you need some of the details spelled out more clearly.

Hannah, there are far more formidable opponents to doing the right thing than cyber "people" on this board that only give a capital letter to identify themselves with. Close friends and family will put pressure on you to do all sorts of things, mostly because they want you to act like them to justify their own actions. My mother was famous for trying to make me feel guilty when I refused her food, which to her symbolized her nurturing and sacrifices she made to raise me. Now she has Alzheimer's amongst many other diseases. In a weird way, I wish she was still able to try to manipulate my feelings like she used to because that would mean that I had not lost her to this horrible "walking dead" disease.

Authority figures with lots of fancy sounding initials attached to their names will use their positions also to try to stop you from doing what you know is right for you also. They do this for all sorts of reasons, even if they appear well meaning, they are often spoken out of self-interest.

This outside pressure will intensify when things are not going as well as they should be. For example, you lose some sleep, get stressed, look horrible and almost everyone will point to your differences and say "see, I told you so". You can even get hit by a bus and people will still say "see, I told you that bizarre diet was going to do you in." This is the usual behavior of arrogant, whiny, negative, sick people who prefer negative attention to no attention at all. You will constantly be challenged by these energy guzzling types-but it is your choice how you react to them. You can choose to let them get to you or not. Isn't it amazing to have this choice?

Hannah, look at yourself in the mirror. Do you have eyes on your face above your nose and mouth? Can you feel your heart beating in your chest? Is your brain in between your ears (not like others whose brain is up their butt)? If the answer to all of these questions is yes, then the chances are that you are a human.

What can a human like you accomplish? Perhaps, if you're lucky (living under correct knowledge), you'll be as happy and healthy as one 56 year old man that I know. This man is only a human, but he is taking care of a beautiful family, he regularly runs marathons, he teaches people that are interested to learn what he knows, he writes books, he hosts internet forums for an often hostile public, he holds quality transformational events for people that are interested, he gives amazing conferences, he laughs a lot, he cries when it's appropriate and much more. He does this all quite humbly too. To me these are all parameters of well-rounded excellent intellectual, emotional and physical health. As you know, all of these are connected, as is everything else in life.

In contrast, the vast majority of other 56 year old men I know can barely get up in the morning to go to their 9 to 5 cubicle for corporate slave wages. The vast majority of other 56 year old men I know have many, many health issues, chronic and acute. So what is so special about Dr. Graham? Nothing, except his diet and lifestyle.

Hannah, I wish for you, that in 37 years you will have surpassed your wildest dreams for health and happiness, simply by choosing to do the right thing each and every day.