On February 27, 2010, the devastating earthquake in Chile promoted tsunami warnings issued for the Hawaiian Islands.  My brother called me at 5:00 am on the morning of the 27th to inform me of the tsunami that was to arrive at 11:07 am.  At the time of the phone call I was in the kitchen making breakfast in preparation to go to a workout that I lead for my patients every Saturday morning.  As I turned the radio on, advice was given to fill up water for drinking, buy food and fill up gas tanks in cars, for a 3-5 day time period.  Not having personally experienced a tsunami before my mind began to race and speculate what it would be like in a matter of 6 hours with the arrival of the tsunami. 

The first thing I did was to wake my wife up and tell her about the earthquake and tsunami news.  The second thing my wife and I did was to pray together.  We prayed for the people of Chile, anyone who was affected by this tragedy and of course protection for what was to come.  As we listened to the news updates, we started to call friends who lived on the coast or low lying areas to invite them up to our house.  We live on a hill overlooking the ocean so we were not only safe but had a good view of the coming tsunami to boot. 

I left the house to get water, food, and gas.  I only had 45 minutes before the civil defense warning sirens were to sound off a disaster warning at 6:00 am to give the people of Oahu ample warning to prepare for the impending disaster.  Gas lines were already crazy but, thank God, I found a station I didn't have to wait too long at.  Getting food was an entirely different story, however, so I left the over-crowded market parking lot and headed to my office which was nearby.  Going to a non-health food market at 6:00 am to get canned foods was not on my A-list.  In fact it is not on any of my lists, ever. 

After leaving the market parking lot, my brother gave me another phone call and a piece of his mind because his brother (me) had not waited in line like he had done for a cart full of canned foods.  What I failed to explain to him was that I was headed to my office where there were eight 5 gallons jugs of purified drinking water and a large refrigerator of food.  One of the beautiful benefits of a healthy lifestyle is having a large refrigerator at work where you can sustain proper nutritional habits.  As God always provides for me, I received a large quantity of grass fed organic beef just the day before. 

After raiding my office of food and water, I headed home knowing we would have house guests for the day or perhaps next several days.  When I arrived, my house was alive with friends.  Breakfast for everyone including the children was the first priority. Organic fresh papaya, frozen blueberries, apples with coconut oil gave us a quick nutritional boost.

Following breakfast, a workout with the parents was next on the agenda.  Since my friends were all patients of our wellness clinic, they had already bought into the concept of exercising every day.   Both women and men together shared a great functional training workout.  We did a timed workout with stations that represented different exercises.  20 minutes later we were sweating and panting, a good sign after any workout. 

We fired up the free range, grass fed, organic, no drugs-whatsoever heavenly beef I received form the day before.  I always seem to notice that there is a special hunger and desire for MEAT after a great workout.   The meal did not disappoint any cell of our bodies as we all made insatiable groans while we feasted. 

I wish the end of my story was more exciting than an uneventful tsunami, but it was just another healthy day in the life of being a wellness fanatic.  I would like to close with a word of encouragement.  If Dr. Bruce and friends can preserve their wellness beliefs, in the midst of a predicted impending disaster,  you too can surely maintain your beliefs without one!

God Bless,

Dr. Bruce