Last week was one of those busy weeks filled with a full agenda that carried over into the weekend. After the last handshake and thank you to some of the greatest people on the planet, I jumped in the car with the family Sunday afternoon and headed north just to get away and chill for a day. First thing Monday was a nice breakfast and then me, Mary and the girls were laid up on the Beach enjoying a beautiful ocean breeze. It was the perfect place to power down and with every wave sweeping up on the sand and flowing back out into the surf, I felt the stress trickle out of my body and my energy restored.

I've been around the beach and sun all my life in SoFlo and most of the time I'm aware of the fair skin my lovely mother passed on to me at birth. It's one of the blessings of being Ann Alessi's son, along with her good natured sweet spirit. Yes, I have a soft side that comes from my mommy. Over the years though I wished I had inherited my father's olive complexion from his Italian heritage, but that wasn't the case. I can thank him for my hot-passionate temper and high blood pressure. So when I hit the beach, I'm one of those who need the 30 SPF sun screen.

On the beach I made sure I loaded up my face, chest, stomach and shoulders and then turned my attention to the cool, relaxing breeze. There wasn't a cloud in the sky. Perfect day to simply relax, which I did for about 2 hours. When we were ready for a good meal, we packed up our chairs and towels, cleaned up and off we went to a "Little Bit of Brooklyn". And that's when I started to notice the uncomfortable pain in a very odd location...my underarms. At first I thought my deodorant had caused a slight irritation, but when I got back home and took off my shirt I realized I forgot to put sunblock on one very important place on my body and now my underarms were screaming from the pain of being sunburned. Can you imagine that, an underarm sunburn?

Now maybe this is something women are accustomed to dealing with when they head out to the beach, but putting sunblock under my arms is not what I usually do when I'm in the sun. And let me tell you, the last thing on my mind to do after hanging out with a bunch of Goodfellas for a few days, was sunscreening up my underarms. But now the burning heat is as irritating as...well you know. Next time for sure I'm covering up every place on my body.

And that's not only good for sunbathing, but also a good practice for every area of my life. I just can't get out in life and not think about keeping myself protected or else life can be filled with pain. An unprotected attitude could mean pain in my career. Unprotected spending will lead to pain in my wallet. Unprotected passions definitely will cause serious pain in my relationships. There are some areas of our lives that we need to keep covered or else pain will be the outcome.

One of the greatest lessons of life can be learned from the sport of Boxing. After the boxers are announced and the fighters are brought to the middle of the ring to receive their last minute instructions from the referee, before he sends them back to their corner to begin the fight, he always admonishes the fighters with these words: Keep yourself protected at all times.

You got it, ref. I will definitely remember every day is a fight and we need to stay on our toes and stay protected. Because, as I learned this week on the Beach, the uncovered areas of our lives could cause us much pain and there's no one to blame for that but ourselves.

Help me out. How do you keep yourself protected at all times?

I have a picture stuck in my head of my Dad and I when I was baby. It's a classic pic of a Dad whose beaming ear to ear with pride as he proudly displays his son on the hood of his car. I'm set in the sitting position with legs spread wide for balance and arms extended over my head in a "pick me up" pose, and he's leaning against the hood on his elbow with his legs crossed around his ankles. As you look at the photo the thought that comes to mind is the baby should be sitting in a highchair or crib and not on the hood of an old Chevy. But that's the reason for the picture. Little boy, let Daddy introduce you to the real world where big boys know how to play with bigger and faster toys.

In just a few hours, a group of men in South Florida will kick off an event that's solely for big boys and their toys. We're loading up a 4000 sq ft Man Cave with the machine gun mounted Jaguar from the James Bond "Die Another Day" movie, thanks to Michael Dezer and his large privately owned collection. Miami Bike builder, Axel, has dropped off his sick custom chopper and side car hydraulic lifted beauty. Thanks to Luis Sanchez and his PAW MotorSport, 2 of his Racing MINI's were dropped off and will sit perfectly next to the two 10 foot interactive gaming-screens. The black pavement walkway will feature a number of mustangs and Harley's just to wet the appetite as the fellas make their way in.

Along with all the toys will be a demonstration from a few power lifters as 8-time Mr. Olympia, Lee Haney talks about true strength. The speaking line-up includes former Lightweight Boxing Champion, Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini, Scott Jones and mad-man, Doug Giles. Live interviews and recognition of heroic efforts by Special Opts Officer Rich Bautista and Doral Policeman Michael Rodriguez, while MMA Undefeated Fighter, Level Martinez shares his moving story of how he transformed his life from gang-banger to cage-fighter.

Speaking about big boys, I was looking through my email the other day and came across this funny story about Bubba and the night he graduated from Cox High School. When they were about halfway through the ceremony the principal said, "Ladies and gentlemen, we have a problem. Bubba is a few credits short and won't be able to graduate tonight."

Bubba was the starting right guard for Cox's football team. When the student body heard that he wasn't going to graduate, they all jumped up and started to chant, "Give Bubba another chance! Give Bubba another chance!" The football coach and the principal had a quick conference. Afterward, the principal announced that they decided to give Bubba another chance. Bubba was told that he will be given a "One Question" math test, and if he passed, he could graduate.

The question was, "What is 2 plus 3?" Bubba thought for a couple of minutes and finally said, "I have it! The answer is 5!" There was complete silence in the auditorium for a couple of seconds, and then the entire Cox High School football team jumped up and began to chant, "Give Bubba one more chance! Give Bubba one more chance!"

Now that's funny, but the truth is not everybody's laughing out there in the big boy World of Life, and some are needing more chances to get it right. To get it right, we need to be challenged so we can change, trained so we can be tested, and pressed so we can prosper. Goodfellas is about building up the men around us, because we've learned that no man can get up on the hood of life, without somebody helping us get up there.

If you're in the South Florida area, I hope you'll join me at the Goodfellas Men's Conference, March 21-24, 2012. Info at www.metrolifechurch.cc #GFConf2012

I've been suffering from a "chronic" type pain that I wake up with every morning for as long as I can remember. I don't have it when I go to sleep at night, but sure enough each and every morning when I open my eyes it's there and it takes me a good hour to work through it and get relief. My pain is a headache that's accompanied by a stuffed up head.

First thing one would consider to fix my problem would be to look at my sleeping conditions, since evidently something is going on in my sleep that is causing me to wake up with this morning mess in my head. But I don't want to change the near freezing like temps in my room, nor am I ready to turn off the ceiling fan just so I can wake up free from the pain and congestion. It's like the saying, when the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain of changing, I'll change. Well, waking up may be painful, but those six to eight hours of sleep are more important to me than the hour clearing out my head. So I've forced Mary to adjust to sleeping in the polar conditions in the room. Which means she has to endure me snorting, sneezing and hacking for an hour every morning until my head clears and the headache subsides.

In order for my wife Mary to adjust to the Icelandic sleeping conditions, she's had to purchase a nice, heavy, cozy comforter for our bed, which she did a few years ago. And of course, like most women, she had to buy a beautiful set of pillows to adorn the comforter with so that it takes us an hour just to clear the bed so we can get in it to sleep. No wonder I sleep so soundly. Between the large dose of Melatonin and the work out I get just getting into bed, I'm exhausted when my head finally hits the pillow. But I don't complain (at least not every night), because even I find the weighty comforter pretty comforting and cozy, as it keeps our bodies perfectly warmed all night long.

But interestingly, it was discovered by my very own Mary that what's been causing my troubles is the very comforter that is bringing us comfort. It appears our cozy little friend is filled with goose feathers, and I evidently am allergic to the "down". Imagine that, the "down" has been bringing me down. I can't go into the details of how this little secret was discovered, but let's just say Mary's filled with her own little personal grief since feeling responsible for my personal pain and congestion, as she personally picked out and purchased the comforter. Now that the comforter is gone, I've been healed from the chronic morning misery.

How ironic to think that what brought me comfort in one aspect of my life brought me so much pain in another. The comforter wasn't really comforting me at all, but instead was actually the culprit of my pain.

Today, I'm finally free and it was as easy as changing the covers on my bed. So don't let the covers keep you covered any longer. If you're living a pain-filled life emotionally, physically or even spiritually, take a look at what you're using to comfort you. If that comforter is actually causing you more pain, then change the covers and watch how free you'll begin to feel.

I realize I might be losing some non-sports fans with this blog, but I find myself conflicted today. I don't know if I should be happy or cry about the Indianapolis Colts releasing Peyton Manning. In all the years watching him play as a stellar QB in the NFL, I have a tremendous amount of respect for him due to his life both on and off the field. And now, a team that he's won numerous championships and a Super Bowl for, and a team whose value has increased by $233 million (according to Forbes) since his arrival in 1998, is releasing him to finish his career elsewhere. It just doesn't feel right. Then again, football in America isn't just a sport, it's a business and I think we can all learn a few lessons from Colts owner, Jim Irsay, as he parts ways with a player he himself deeply loves and respects.

When you think about it, Peyton Manning is going to be in a good place wherever he goes simply because he is Peyton. I mean, when his brother Eli won the Super Bowl this year, one of the first questions he had to answer from the media was, "what did your brother Peyton say to you after you won?" Peyton's going to be just fine because he's a winner and will be celebrated in whatever city he lands in. But what about the Indianapolis Colts football team? After winning only two games this season, you have to hand it to the ownership for wanting to fix what was broken and doing that requires having to make the gutsy call and decision to let a legend and future Hall of Fame Quarterback go.

My wife Mary and I love to watch the TV show “Restaurant: Impossible”, where Chef Robert goes into a failing restaurant and totally revamps the place within 24 hours and only $10,000, helping the owners turn it to a successful enterprise. Every time I watch I think to myself what my life would look like if a Chef Robert stepped into my world. Would I have the guts and the drive to make the hard calls and decisions to change what needs to be changed in order to thrive? I'm not sure why, but sometimes our greatest hindrance to success is success, meaning our past success can cause us to settle into a comfortable place where it becomes almost impossible to even see we need to change. And when that happens, it's then easier in life to simply hope and pray things get better. Yes, the desire for improvement is present, but taking the necessary action to make the improvements doesn't always line up with the desire.

So maybe, even though we may not all be sports fans, we can learn from what's taking place in Indianapolis. Here's my take away from Jim Irsay's leadership:

1. It all begins at the top. When making improvements the desire must lead to a decision and that originates with the one at the top of the organization. Face it, if you don't want to change, no one can do it for you. Ownership means taking ownership, personally or corporately.

2. Real improvement requires making changes. Watch Chef Robert do his magic and you'll see how hard this is for those in the decision making position. It's easier to talk about change than it is to change. Who in their right mind would think about letting go of a legend? Only those who realize talk is cheap and that real change requires making difficult changes.

3. Improving means taking risks, for in order to reach higher heights one must let go of the familiar and grab hold of the unknown. To go higher, Irsay and the Colts will release a Super Star and sign a rising star to take his place, but there's no guarantee the new star will ever shine as bright as Peyton's star. And therein lies the problem with risk. It scares us because it doesn’t come with any guarantees.

4. Lastly comes the work...one of the only four letter words this generation doesn't use. I'm amazed at the work Jim Irsay has already put into improving his Colts. He started by letting go of his General Manager, Head Coach and now his All-Star QB. And you can bet the work has just begun, because having different means doing different.

I want the best for Peyton and the Indianapolis Colts. I also want the best for you. So here's the question: Is it time for a change? If so, follow Jim Irsay's lead and start building a Championship life today.

I'm a Dol-Fan and hope to see Peyton in the aqua and orange. How about you? Do you have any preference to where Peyton Manning plays football next year?