I’m sure most of you have friends (men and women) or have read about people who are very intelligent, have fame, great paying jobs, wealth, and are very popular on TV, the movies, or in the music industry.  Yet, these so called highly acclaimed individuals lack one necessary component in their lives – COMMONSENSE!

Now granted, I don’t claim to have any of the attributes aforementioned, however, I thank God Almighty for giving me one ingredient that has kept me above ground longer than I expected.  Yes, plain old commonsense.  Several years ago, when I changed jobs my insurance provider assigned me a new doctor.  Immediately I was given a complete physical.  Reviewing the results, my new doctor told me, “James, I have some bad news for you.  If you don’t lose weight and start exercising regularly, you will be a diabetic.”  At the time I weight about 190 lbs and for the past 20 years had sat on my can working on computers.  After given instructions of what to do about my no so good health situation, I embarked on a rigorous exercise program.  Folks, in three months I lost 25 lbs. and after a follow up check-up my doctor told me, “James, everything looks good, keep doing what you’re doing.”

I’m sure most of you have heard of Elvis Presley.  Yep, the King of Rock and Roll had everything going for him: good looks, fame, money, women, etc.  Yet, this poor man died at the age of 42. The official coroner's report lists "cardiac arrhythmia" as the cause of Presley's death, but this was later admitted to be a ruse entered into by the Presley family along with autopsy physicians Dr. Jerry T. Francisco, Dr. Eric Muirhead and Dr. Noel Florredo to cover up the real cause of death, a cocktail of ten prescribed drugs, taken in doses no doctor would prescribe.

The phrase "cardiac arrhythmia," in the context of the coroner's report, means little more than a stopped heart; the report initially tried to attribute the arrhythmia to cardiovascular disease, but Elvis' personal physician stated that Presley had no such heart problems at the time.  Most of Elvis' many health problems were traced to rampant abuse of prescription drugs.

Isn’t it said that this great artist died needlessly at the prime of his life due to drug use.  Even today, while dead, Elvis still makes more money than most Americans do.  However, his lack of commonsense to take care of his body cut short his life to let him enjoy it to its fullest.

My wife and I love to go to San Antonio to dance.  San Antonio provides tourist with a variety of conjunto (accordion music), Tejano (Tex-Mex music), blues, jazz, country, and music from the 1950s Rock and Roll Era.  One club we frequent is Arturo’s on Zarzamora Street.  We love to go to Arturo’s to hear and dance to the music of the TNT Band.  The leader of the band, Tony Osornio, is a close friend and a great vocalist.  The last time I visited with Tony at Arturo’s I noticed that his legs were swollen and covered with blisters.  Realizing that Tony is obese and diabetic I asked him, “Tony, why don’t you lose weight, start walking, and eat things that won’t increase your sugar levels?”  “James, I can’t.  I love to eat.  My doctor gives me a list of foods I can safely eat but I just don’t like them,” he concluded.  A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I traveled to San Antonio and anticipated seeing and dancing to Tony’s TNT band at Arturo’s.  Sadly, we were told that Tony lost both of his feet and no longer performs.  Folks, besides being a great vocalist and musician, Tony is somewhat of a lucky man.  Several years ago, he won the Texas Lotto with the last dollar he had in his pocket when he stopped to gas up at a filling station.  After wining the lotto, he invested part of the money in Budweiser beer stock and nearly tripled his lotto jackpot.  However, with all the money Tony has raked up, he couldn’t buy an ounce of commonsense to learn to care for his own body.

Just a few days ago, while I was shopping my wife called me, “James, Tim Russert died!”  “Did he die of a heart attack?” I asked her.  “Yeah, how did you know?” she asked.  I didn’t reply.

That day, as I listened to the radio and viewed the tube, Tim Russert’s untimely death seemed to be aired over and over again.  Seems that everyone in the news media were shocked at the sudden death of Mr. Russert.  To me, it appeared that Mr. Russert’s news associates could not believe that he could die at the height of his illustrious news career at the age of 58.

Soon, news anchors and associates of Mr. Russert started to reveal the professional manner in which Mr. Russert conducted his renowned “Meet the Press” program.  Politicians, newsmen, and friends of Mr. Russert talked about his untiring love for his TV program and the passion and love he had for politics and journalism.  After hearing all the praises for Mr. Russert’s professional news career for nearly a week, the reason for his untimely death so surfaced.  According to Mr. Russert’s physician, Dr. Michael A. Newman, Mr. Russert’s cause of death was an enlarged heart and clogged arteries.  Of all the accolades I heard about Mr. Russert, one stands out for me.  Don Imus gave it on his new RFD early morning program.  I’m a big Imus fan and many times Mr. Russert was a guest on his show.  Commenting on his good friend’s sudden death, Mr. Imus stated that he and his wife, Deirdre, a health food advocate, were aware of Mr. Russert’s overweight and health problems and tried many times to change Mr. Russert’s bad eating habits.  However, he never took their advice.

So there you have it folks, you can be smart, wealthy, famous, etc. but if you don’t take proper care of your body in a commonsense way, beware of the consequences.

James H. Reza

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