TriVita

As we enter 2011, I am still emotionally impacted from witnessing heroic acts in 2010.  A hero is someone who is looked up to for their actions.  These are people who have done something to overcome huge obstacles to survive or to reach out and help others.  What is so incredible is they have made these heroic acts by putting others ahead of themselves. 

In a world of greed, power and personal ambition, driven by the question of “what’s in it for me,” I sat with my wife Susan and we cried as we watched 10 heroes being featured for their purpose and passion to help others.  It was the annual CNN Hero awards show on Christmas Eve.  

These were ordinary people who – through their passion for a cause greater than themselves – were doing extraordinary service for mankind.  As I watched I knew I was witnessing what I personally believe: there is awesome potential in everyone who gives themselves over to the passion for a cause that is bigger than them. 

I was also seeing the manifestation of the law of awareness, that “somewhere around them was someone or something to help them fulfill their life purposes.” 

Meet Anuradha Koirala who at 61 years of age is doing everything within her power to stop human trafficking and sexual exploitation of young girls.  This Nepalese woman started a rescue home by taking a little from her $100 monthly salary to help a few girls she was able to rescue from a local brothel. There was no thought at the time of a world news network telling her story – it was just the heroic act of a woman’s heart that was committed to helping others. Now seven years later, she was being recognized as a hero. But she was a hero when she started the Maiti Home for girls. Koirala has rescued over 12,000 girls in seven years and now has over 400 hundred girls and women living in her homes.  

Meet Linda Fondren who challenged Vicksburg, Mississippi’s 15,000 residents to lose weight. She saw a 2009 report that Mississippi had been the fattest state in the nation for six consecutive years and determined that she would do something to change the future of Vicksburg. She had witnessed firsthand the devastating effects of obesity when her sister died at 54 years of age, weighing 260 pounds with a 4’11” frame. Her sister’s words kept ringing in her ears: “I wish I would have taken better care of myself.”  

She challenged residents to lose weight by going to the mayor, restaurants, school boards, and churches and rallying them to participate in the weight loss challenge. Fondren started a gym that offers free fitness and nutritional classes and started a walking class.  In just one year she has seen over 15,000 pounds melt away in Vicksburg.  She wasn’t appointed, elected or asked to take this community role; she chose it as a cause bigger than herself.    

 It is my belief that within every person is a cause greater than themselves. And when they recognize that cause – no matter how large or great – the resources will come to help them fulfill it. 

This is going to be an awesome year for TriVita because as a company we have a mission and cause bigger than ourselves: helping people experience wellness.  I believe we are seeing a leadership group developing in TriVita that is much more focused on fulfilling life purposes than on just seeing how much money they can make.  The greatest resource around us today is the awesome potential of a person that recognizes their life purposes.  They will do heroic acts as they release their passion of service towards others, just like the 10 heroes featured on CNN. 

I am so looking forward to meeting our Director leadership in Hawaii next month… it will perhaps be the most meaningful event in our history. 

May this New Year be filled with wellness, prosperity and discovery for your life purpose! 

Michael