Shooting From The Hip

Cicone C. A. Prince

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Shooting From The Hip

Shooting From The Hip Seven Life Lesson I Learned After My Hip Replacement Surgery Cicone C. A. Prince

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Copyright Š 2018 Cicone C. A. Prince All rights reserved.

Copyright ©2018 by Cicone Prince All rights reserved, No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at cicone@ciconeprince.com CiconePrince.Com Publishing Ordering information Quantity Sales. Special discounts are available in quantity purchases by corporations, associations, networking groups. For details contact: Cicone Prince @251-753-6299 Cicone@ciconeprince.com www.ciconeprince.com www.ciconeprince.com/shop Includes biographical references and index

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Shooting From The Hip

DEDICATION I would like to dedicate this book to everyone who is facing a major decision in their life. I know it can be difficult to move forward but I know that you can do it! Sometimes we just need a little help.

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Table of Contents Lesson 1 ........................................................................................ 1 Lesson 2 ........................................................................................ 5 Lesson 3 ........................................................................................ 9 Lesson 4 ...................................................................................... 13 Lesson 5 ...................................................................................... 17 Lesson 6 ...................................................................................... 19 Lesson 7 ...................................................................................... 22

Lesson 1 I Had To Face Reality Total Hip Replacement...

That's not something that a 48-year-old man expects to hear from his doctor. But there I was sitting in my doctor's office face with the reality of having a total hip replacement. Even as my doctor talked to me his voice faded into the background as I focused on the X-ray and saw that there was no cartilage between the ball and socket of my left hip. I could still hear him talking but his words didn't have my full attention as I looked at the X-ray and noticed that on the ball there were tiny bone spurs. These spurs are what made it difficult for me both to sit down and to get up.

Have you ever been faced with reality and didn't like what you saw?

Have you ever been faced with a situation that you couldn't just wish away?

Have you ever had to look life straight in the face and take it as it came?

Well, this was the reality that I was faced with. I was going to have to make a decision. Either I was going to have the surgery or I was going to stick my head in the sand and hope things got better. Of course, I did my research on doctors 1

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and I talked to several people who had the exact same surgery. One of them was my father. He had both of his hips replaced and he was doing fine. Now before you try to figure out if bad hips are hereditary I really don’t know. The one thing I was sure of was that the activity limiting pain that I was facing has to come to an end. I did, however, find comfort in testimonies of past patients and their words reassured me that I had chose the right physician. But even with all of that I still had to make a decision. I had to DECIDE to have the surgery. My doctor wasn't going to come to my house and arrest me and take me to the hospital and force the surgery on me. I was going to half to TAKE ACTION.

I don’t care how hard the choices that come your way you have to first face them. Downplaying a situation just to feel better about won’t work. The wishing thing isn’t the way that they are won’t cut it either. There are times in life when you have to go in “Eyes Wide Open” in order to properly prepare yourself for the possible outcomes. You can’t fix what you won’t face!

So what about the things in your life, your business and yes even your health. In order for you to do anything with them, you have to acknowledge and address them.

I know a lady that had knee problems and was in need of surgery. She had been given all of the data and had gotten 2

Shooting From The Hip several opinions about what the best course of action. She faced it, but she didn’t take action by having anything done and it lead to more health issues.

Don’t allow your fear of the unknown to keep you from doing what is best in the long term. There is a quote that says,

“Some people would rather live in a know Hell than explore an unknown Heaven.” ~ Unknown

Some people are so comfortable with the status that anything that disrupts the status quo becomes the enemy.

By the time some people are ready for surgery they have compounded more issues that require more decision and more money.

Lesson: So the first Lesson is “You Have To Face Reality”

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Lesson 2 I Had To Make a Decision And Take Action!

When it came down to the person giving the green light about this surgery the weight of it fell squarely on my shoulders. Not my wife, not my children, not my family or friends the decision was mine to make and mine alone. And for me, it wasn’t a hard decision. When I look at how my life would be better rather than worst it was an easy choice for me. I had to see the value in what the surgery was going to give me. I had to see a better quality of life and this surgery offered me that.

Have you ever had to make a decision but felt like you didn’t have all of the information?

Those that may be married have you ever been given just a sliver of information instead of the whole thing? Even as parents we have been asked to make decisions with less that all of the information.

“In order to make an informed decision you have to have “information.” ~ Cicone Prince

Educating myself on the procedure was the first step and with the doctor I chose that was easy. They had 3D Animated video on their website that showed step-by-step what would take 5

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place. They had it down to a science and the video really answered a lot of questions I had even before I asked them.

Knowing the process really gave me confidence about the surgery. There are times in your own life when just knowing what expect brings a certain amount of comfort.

It’s easier to say yes to something when you have a better understanding of. And that’s what I had to do. I had to know as much as I could and I had to have faith in the doctor that he knew what he was doing in order to agree to the surgery. That decision was not made without careful thought and consideration and neither should any life altering decision.

Lesson You Have To Make A Decision and Take Action

When faced with your own monumental decisions, make sure that you get as much information needed for you to feel comfortable with the choice that you have made. This will give you a quiet assurance that you have done your due diligent when it comes the your options. I really like what Napoleon Hill said about taking action:

Having an idea is not enough. Having faith is not 6

Shooting From The Hip

enough. Action towards your goals is how you will bring about success. And that action is necessary not one day per week, or one day per month, it must be a consistent, daily habit. ~ Napoleon Hill

There is no way around it. You have to make the choice. And you should want to. We are free moral agents, which means that we have the right to choose. Few people want someone else to make a choice for them and neither should you. You have to make a choice and then take action! Knowing is half the battle, that’s how they use to close out the G. I. Joe cartoons of the 1980’s. They said that because once you know then you have to act. So it’s not just enough to make a decision. You really have to put some feet to your faith and move in the direction of you goals.

For me, my goal was increased mobility and a better quality of life.

So what’s your goal?

What is that thing that you want to accomplish?

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What is your must complete thing?

Lesson That is the thing, you have to be deliberate in by making a decision and taking action to make it happen.

Notes

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Lesson 3 I Had To Realized That There Was No Turning Back Once I made the decision to have my total hip replaced then I had to realized that there was no turning back. I had to embraces that this reality was in my future and that it wasn’t going away. I had to march full speed head towards this surgery.

To be honest I really didn’t think about the surgery too much. I thought about the benefits that I would get from it. I did not entertain any thoughts that would have hinder me from getting this surgery done. I shared it with family and friends like I was getting a cavity filled. Now don’t get me wrong I knew the surgery, any surgery could be major and are always the possibilities of something going wrong but I didn’t allow those thoughts to stand in the way of me having it. You really can’t give that much time and energy to what could go wrong and not enough to what could go right.

There are things in our lives that we have no control over but then are things that we do have some say so in.

I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.” Charles R. Swindoll

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We need to focus more on our response than we do on what happens to us. That mindset will go a long way to helping each of us move forward in life. Identifying those things that we have limited to no control over and placing that responsibility on the shoulders of those to whom they affect most. And then giving our full attention to those things that hit home for us really is the way to live a “Stress Free” life.

I remember a story where a man asked his son how to get out of a situation that he was too deep in and the son’s reply was, “If you are too deep to get out of it then you have to go through it.” Some of us have situation in our lives that have us so entangled that we see no way out. We think that we are stuck like Chuck. We feel that way and it becomes frustrating.

My hip replacement surgery was one of those things that I knew the only way out was through. and I moving forward only!

Lesson: You Have To Realized That There Was No Turning Back

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Notes

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Notes

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Shooting From The Hip

Lesson 4 The New Reality It’s a part of human nature to resist change but as the quote goes, “The only thing that is constant is change.� My new reality after my surgery was that a piece of me had been changed forever. My body was missing something I had since birth but it was no longer serving me. My hip joint was not functioning as design and it had to be removed if I was going to lead a productive life. This was my new reality. I had to except it for what it was, and it really changed the way that I looked at life. I really began to think about how things in our life could be doing us in, dragging us down and making things worst for us instead of better and we are not willing to let them go.

Have you ever come face to face with something that was not helping you and if you were honest, it was hurting you? Have you ever truly looked at the situations and thought this is taking too much from me?

When I find myself in those situation I have to settle the issues that something has to give. Something has to change or I have to change.

We have to be willing to embrace the changes that come into our life especially if they are for the better. My hip replacement

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surgery was for the better. I went forward looking past the surgery to the active life style that it would afford me.

But I did have a moment when I felt like I was no longer whole. I felt like I had lost a piece of myself, and I had. That piece of hip bone that was no longer there somehow left a hollow part in me. It was hard to explain. I was happy that I had the surgery but I felt like something was taken from me. I didn’t have all of my body parts that I was born with.

Sometime we think that things have to be perfect all throughout life for us to truly say that we are happy. We hope never to have any problems or struggles and then get upset when we do. Trouble can be a blessing in disguise. It can be the thing we need to develop even more. Did you know that trees don’t grow in the spring or summer? They grow in the fall and in the winter. You see when the fall and winter come around there is little water so the roots of the tree and the plants have to reach down deep to gather more nutrients from the soil. They have to stretch in order to get as much as they can, but once they have gotten all they can they are left with longer roots.

These new roots are then in place when the spring and summer time comes and as the rain starts to fall and the soil is full of life giving water, the longer and larger roots are there to provide more nourishment to the tree or plant and thus the blooming and growing. So is it in our own lives. When we go through hard times we may look like we are being stripped of all of our 14

Shooting From The Hip dignity and it’s not glamourous at all. We may look like a bunch of stick sticking up out of the ground and almost dead. But the reality is that we have just been pruned. And while we are in that place that’s when our roots of our belief stretch down further and feed us during those dark days. And once the winter experience has past then we can bloom with the possibility of a brane new day because not only have we gone through it, we have grown through it.

Somebody once said that a scar just means whatever hurt you didn’t kill you and I’m a living witness to that. The 12 inch long scar on my hip served as a constant reminder that my life had been forever changed and that this was my new reality.

Lesson: What has occurred in your life that has brought you to a point that you had to accept a new reality? Did that decision leave you feeling empowered or powerless? What would you have done different?

Notes

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Notes

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Lesson 5 Learning All Over Again If you are like me then going back to school is nothing that you would like to do. But I have learned that if you stop learning then you stop growing. We have to be willing to learn in order to do then things that we couldn’t do before. After my hip replacement surgery I had to learn all over again. I had to learn how to walk, stand, sit and sleep. I had to retrain my mind and body to adjust to my new reality.

What have you had to learn again? Have you had to learn how to Love again. How to believe in yourself again? Trust again?

Sometimes learning again can be hard because we learned it wrong the first time. After my surgery I had to learn how to walk with my new hip. I found out that I was an half of inch taller in my left leg now so that meant I had re adjust my strive and my stance and that took some time. I didn’t have a problem walking but, believe it or not I did have a problem standing for more than 5 minutes. You see my lower back had muscle memory, where the muscles were used to being in one position with the bad hip but no that the hip was replaced even my muscles had to “learn” again and adjust to my replacement.

“Learning only becomes difficult when it’s forced.” ~ Cicone Prince 17

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If you don’t want to learn then anything becomes a chore. I never wanted to drive a 18 wheeler. I never wanted to wake up and not know what city I was in. So for me, if I had to do that that would be a chore. It would be hard and I would not get the most out of it.

I wanted to learn how to live with my new edition. My new hip gave me access to mobility that I hadn’t had in a long time. So getting back to life made me the ideal student. I wanted to keep making sure my body was getting better by doing everything needed to go beyond where I was before the surgery.

Lesson: You have to be willing to learn.

Notes

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Lesson 6 This is one of those areas that a lot of people have problems with. Following instructions are needed to arrive at an expected end. Even when it comes to cooking, following the recipe is crucial to the dish turning out right. So many people try to cut corners even when cooking then wonder why it doesn’t taste or even look like the item they are supposed to be preparing.

When it came to my hip replacement recovery I kept telling people that I was like the ex-convict, “I wasn’t going back!” I wasn’t trying to do anything that would require them to have to go back in my hip and reset it. They called them “Hip Precautions” and I was to observe them in order to keep my new hip in place and from popping out.

Hip Precaution Number 1: No crossing of my legs.

This could cause my new hip to rotate past its intended range and pop out. This precaution wasn’t a hard one to keep because I rarely cross my legs. Crossing my legs where never really a thing for me. But when it came to me not wanting my hip to pop out I paid close attention to not only how I sat but how I slept.

Hip Precaution Number 2: No sitting too low This one was a hard one because of my height. Being 6’4” you can imagine that most seats have my knees in my chest or at 19

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least above my hip. I had to find the highest chair in the house and then put a pillow in it. My recliner was off limits and I had to have my designated sitting location. It took some getting used to but after a while I had no problem.

Except, for the toilet seat. Now I know that visual might not be what you wanted to have but it’s a part of my story. I had to get a Commode Seat to keep me from sitting to low on the toilet. Believe me I was not thrilled, but again, I wasn’t going back! So I use it for as long as I needed it.

Hip Precaution Number 3: Running or jarring activity This one was not that hard but it did limit me in what exercise I could do post-surgery. I really wanted to make my health a priority and this surgery was going to open the door for that but I had to be careful about how I eased myself back into any routine. I was told not to do any running for a while so instead I walked. Even after I went back to work I walked my normal 6 blocks to get to my building because I knew that I need to exercise my replacement in order for my body to heal properly.

After walking I started slowly riding my bicycle to build my stamina up. Now this has taken me some months and I didn’t include any time frames because everyone’s situation is different. You have to listen to your doctor and listen to your body as to the level and intensity of you exercise after your surgery. Remember, you don’t want to go back!

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Shooting From The Hip Lesson: What are some areas in your life that you need to establish some precautions? What things do you need to avoid in your own life? It could be in the area of health, maybe even the area of finances. It could be in the area of relationship. Whatever the area, there needs to be some precautions taken.

Notes

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Notes

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Shooting From The Hip

Lesson 7 Back In The Game As I made my way back into the life that I was sitting on the side line watching I returned to a new sense of purpose. I returned with a new lease on life. One that allowed me to be an asset to those around me and not a liability. As I made my way back to doing that things I love, taking care of my family, serving at my Church and working I was meet with loving caution from those who cared about me. They wanted make sure that I didn’t overdo it and that I took my time.

As I look back on them limiting my contributions, I am reminded just how much they care. They wanted to make sure that I was completely healed before I went charging off to save the world.

Sometimes I think they were too cautious, but I realized that they did it in love. And to be honest if I were in their shoes I probably would have done the same.

And that brings me to this closing thought:

“Without Commitment you’ll never start. But Without Consistency you’ll never finish.” ~ Denzel Washington Lesson: Are you committed to finishing what you start? Are you known for being the closer? The person that gets it done? If not, then 23

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why? So many thing have been started but what about those things that need to be finished? Don’t let it be said that you started but never finished. Let you legacy be that you finished what you started.

To your Health and to your Wealth!

Cicone Prince E:

cicone@ciconeprince.com

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www.ciconeprince.com

T:

@Cicone_Prince

IG:

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR Cicone Prince is a highly sought after Motivational Speaker, a renowned Award-Winning Author, and Personal Development Strategist that helps people take an objective look at themselves.

He is the President and CEO of CiconePrince.com and their slogan is “Introducing You to Yourself.” TM

With an Associate’s Degree in Electronic and a Bachelor’s Degree in Electronic Engineering, Mr. Prince has used his love of learning to continue educating himself. He then passes on those lessons via engaging stories and illustration during his motivational speeches.

Mr. Prince latest book, “Are You Climbing The Wrong Mountain?

Finding Your True Purpose” explores the possibility that you are not living up to your full potential on your current career path. A copy of it can be purchased from Amazon.com

www.ciconeprince.com

Mr. Prince is married to Yolanda Prince and they have 5 children, Marcellus, Christin, Jessica, Taylor and Johnathan

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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Are You Climbing The Wrong Mountain www.ciconeprince.com

Are You Climbing The Wrong Mountain Summit 2016 www.ciconeprince.com

Cicone’s Daily Dose of Vitamin C www.ciconeprince.com

1-On-One With Damon Davis www.ciconeprince.com

www.climbtherightmountain.com

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