Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign what's Worthwhile Healing Mind, Body, and Spirit I'm Ramsey Zimmerman. I choose peace of mind, vitality of body, and joy of spirit over stress, exhaustion, or overwhelm. Together, let's explore and pursue the many ways to build holistic health and wellness.
[00:00:31] Hey there, It's Ramsay here.
[00:00:33] This is episode 100 of the what's Worthwhile podcast.
[00:00:37] What began as a search for meaning and direction has become a mission to help others.
[00:00:42] Sometimes it's practical, sometimes it's lofty, sometimes it hits home, and I'm sure that sometimes it misses.
[00:00:48] But it's always honest, always coming from inside of me.
[00:00:53] I write and speak to share what's in my head so that it might help you, and so that what's bouncing around in there won't tear me apart. But speaking is risky and dangerous.
[00:01:05] Even today, in this episode, I will risk offending you, pushing your buttons, because the only thing more risky is the alternative.
[00:01:13] Staying silent and just going along.
[00:01:17] As a society, we are now reaping the consequences of avoiding difficult conversations with people who don't believe the same things that we do.
[00:01:25] Lets take this opportunity and many more thereafter to talk, listen, and share our best understanding of hard truths.
[00:01:35] I guess I'll start at the beginning. In March of 2024, I was in a pretty dark place.
[00:01:41] I'd lost my job, didn't have a clue about which direction I wanted to go next. So I asked myself, what's worthwhile? What do I want to focus my attention on?
[00:01:51] What's worth my time and energy?
[00:01:53] What is even real?
[00:01:55] The only thing I was excited about doing was starting a new podcast.
[00:02:00] I made a few episodes where I basically read out loud my journal entries.
[00:02:04] Then I reached out to some friends and invited them to be guests. It also gave me a good excuse to reach out to people that I knew only a little bit or that I hadn't spoken with in a long time.
[00:02:15] I decided to pursue five big topics of interest energy, political reform, business, building bridges, health and fitness, and Christian spirituality. Here's a quick word about each one of those I've been professionally involved with energy efficiency and renewable energy for decades, but now I am perhaps more interested in how people find and use energy within themselves and between each other.
[00:02:39] Regarding politics here in America, we're perhaps now living through one of the biggest political realignments of our lifetimes.
[00:02:47] Therefore, I think it's more important now than ever to build bridges between people, especially with people that are very different from ourselves.
[00:02:56] When I started this podcasting journey, I thought I was pretty fit and healthy, but I soon realized just how much I had to learn. And as for my spiritual journey as a Christian, well, that's a lifelong work in progress, to be sure.
[00:03:11] A few months into my what's Worthwhile journey, I found the beginnings of an answer for myself. I what's worthwhile to me is building mind, body and spirit wellness.
[00:03:21] I became convinced that mind, body and spirit are inextricably linked and that in order for us to be whole, successful people, we need to pursue the health of all three of those elements of ourselves.
[00:03:33] I continue to write and speak my thoughts as messages and reach out to and invite interesting people to come and speak with me on the podcast.
[00:03:41] I joined a network called PodMatch, which enabled me to connect with a deep set of fascinating people who are eager to be guests on POD Podcast. And so the podcast grew.
[00:03:51] I also knew that while I loved being a big thinker and generalist on the podcast, I also wanted to dig in and find something far more tangible that I could use to work with individuals one on one to improve their health and wellness situations.
[00:04:05] I looked around and found the Nutritional Therapy association, which has been a leader in the Food as Medicine movement for more than 20 years now and trains and certifies nutritional therapy practitioners.
[00:04:18] NTPs focus on five foundations of good health, namely nutrient dense whole food, effective digestion, blood sugar regulation, getting enough high quality sleep, and responding well to stress.
[00:04:32] Quick side note about stress. I've always wanted to write a book and I'm psyched to publish my first book at the end of this month called Stress Response. Manage your response to stress in order to reduce anxiety, avoid burnout and find calm and steady focus.
[00:04:49] It was back in late August, early September of 2024 that I was deciding if it was the right time and move for me to invest deeply in natural holistic health.
[00:05:00] Would focusing on nutrition and the foundations of health serve my deeper desires to build mind, body and spirit wellness? What about my desires for political reform and building bridges between people?
[00:05:12] Then something surprising happened.
[00:05:15] Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Threw his support behind Donald Trump for President as a means to join his future administration to work for human health.
[00:05:24] In a single moment, the Make America healthy again or MAHA movement was born.
[00:05:30] I was already following RFK Jr pretty closely at that point. When he joined Trump, RFK invested himself in transforming human health and wellness at the national level.
[00:05:41] He inspired me to invest myself in a 12 month training program.
[00:05:46] I saw and knew and believed in that moment that they would win the election and RFK Jr would lead this Transformation at the national level.
[00:05:54] Here we are, 12 months later, in September of 2025. I expected to write this episode, episode 100, primarily as a follow up to my episode 50, which I called Maha on my mind for. In fact, the mahawk Commission published just last week a comprehensive strategy document.
[00:06:14] I figured that was risky, though, because RFK Jr. Is a controversial political figure who has waded directly into the health and wellness space.
[00:06:24] But instead, I feel compelled to address another controversial political figure and circumstance.
[00:06:30] On September 10th of this year, Charlie Kirk was assassinated.
[00:06:35] He was shot directly through the neck, which I find ironic and symbolic because it took away his voice.
[00:06:41] Charlie Kirk used his voice. Not force, not violence, not coercion.
[00:06:48] I think many disliked him because he challenged them. He asked questions, he spoke his mind, and he asserted his beliefs.
[00:06:56] But he also went out of his way to listen to and engage with people who did not agree with him.
[00:07:03] I don't know all the things that Charlie Kirk said. I'm sure that I did not agree with everything that he said. I don't agree with everything that anyone says. But that's not the point.
[00:07:16] The point is that he had the right to speak. We all do.
[00:07:22] He had the right to challenge, to argue, to defend, to state his best understanding of the truth.
[00:07:29] We all have that right.
[00:07:32] We all have the right to speak up.
[00:07:35] But do we use that right and use it well?
[00:07:38] Have we used it to build up, love, empower, correct and guide?
[00:07:44] Or have we used it to belittle, divide, denigrate, seek to prove our own point at the expense of others?
[00:07:53] I believe we need to build bridges between people.
[00:07:57] That's not easy. It's actually quite difficult at times.
[00:08:01] But it is essential.
[00:08:03] It's constructive instead of destructive.
[00:08:07] When I asked myself what's worthwhile, it was really about what I needed to learn and then say out loud, you see, I had been hiding, going along to get along, afraid to speak out about what I was seeing, what I believed, what I sensed was coming down the road.
[00:08:29] Why?
[00:08:30] Fear.
[00:08:32] Fear of rejection, cancellation and destruction.
[00:08:37] What did that fear and hiding get me isolated and laid off.
[00:08:43] I wasn't the only one afraid and hiding in silent and compliant in the last five or 10 years, though, was I?
[00:08:51] What did that fear get us as a nation?
[00:08:54] It made us divided.
[00:08:56] Refusal to speak with, let alone work productively with, people who look different or think different than we do.
[00:09:03] It made us sicker. Look at how we responded to Covid.
[00:09:07] Blindly and silently followed the authorities when they told us to shut up, mask up, stay home, and just take our shots.
[00:09:15] It led to whiplash, national political leadership.
[00:09:19] We went from one extreme political ideology to the dead opposite and back again.
[00:09:25] It led to violence, burning cities, drug and gang violence, assassination attempts, and now an actual assassination.
[00:09:34] Look, I don't like to go off like that.
[00:09:38] I know that was quite a list.
[00:09:40] Probably something in there to offend everyone.
[00:09:44] But here's the point.
[00:09:46] There's more than enough happening now to offend everyone.
[00:09:51] I'm actually very hopeful and optimistic.
[00:09:54] I think a lot of people are now sick of fighting, and I think a lot of people are waking up to think for themselves.
[00:10:02] I'm not backing down.
[00:10:04] I'm just getting started.
[00:10:06] As a practitioner, I will work with people to support their health.
[00:10:11] As an author, I will write about and provide actionable strategies.
[00:10:16] As a podcaster, I will craft and deliver messages based on my best understanding of the truth. And I will welcome guests onto the podcast to do the same.
[00:10:27] Whoever you are, wherever you are, whatever you do, I encourage and call upon you to ask yourself what's worthwhile?
[00:10:38] Think for yourself.
[00:10:40] Do your own research, form opinions, share them with others and invite them to share with you. Then honestly, openly, genuinely listen to what they have to say in return.
[00:10:55] Consider it.
[00:10:56] Test it.
[00:10:57] Maybe they're right.
[00:11:00] Above all else, love.
[00:11:03] Love yourself.
[00:11:04] Love your neighbor as yourself, and love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength.
[00:11:13] I'm not perfect.
[00:11:14] Far from it.
[00:11:16] I'm a work in progress.
[00:11:18] But I will keep writing and speaking and seeking and trying to lead, enable and encourage. And I hope that for today that is enough.
[00:11:29] Looking for more? Visit whatsworthwhile.net to listen to podcast episodes, learn from books and articles, and live better by choosing healthy products and practices. I'm now offering services through Worthwhile Advisors for personal coaching, professional advising, speaking, and group facilitation. If you or your team are ready to reduce stress and anxiety, build vitality and momentum, and accomplish your goals without burning out, then please contact me with Ramsey Zimmerman through the website or on social media like Instagram X or LinkedIn. Thanks.
