Soon, I picked up another clue. My nose began to sense subtle smells of river, slightly musty, but clean and fresh at same time. Although I still could see nothing, I was even more certain that I was on target.

I kept walking toward that place all my senses told me was straight ahead, even though I couldn’t see my goal through fog, and after a few moments, I came to my riverbank. Simple as it seems, I saw it as a profound analogy for life itself. There are times when we can’t see our goal, no matter how hard we peer into mist. Yet we have clues and that feeling inside that if we keep moving in a particular direction, our goal will eventually come into sight.

There have been many times in my life when my goal wasn’t clear to me. In fact, it seemed totally shrouded in fog. But I kept moving toward that goal, sometimes taking tiniest of baby steps, until my goal finally could be seen and achieved.

The river that runs alongside our farm teaches me lessons every day, a constant reminder that maybe old folks were right—you can’t sit beside same river twice.

© 2004. Gary E. Anderson. All rights reserved.

Before anyone ops for surgery they should first invest time in training to get as much out of it as they can. Then, if results of their training stops short of their goal, by that time, electing to have surgery, they’ll find they won’t have need for as much surgery and their skin will be in far better shape for healing. Once all is healed, they should jump back into their training and not let it happen again! What are your thoughts on Botox?

The most popular cosmetic procedure today is Botox. This procedure has done much to build my business. I have many clients who decided to give FlexEffect a try after trying a few injections of Botox.

Paralyzing muscles (corrugators) to prevent frowning also causes those muscles to atrophy: within six weeks as much as half of muscle is lost to atrophy. Over a period of time, repeated injections will result in hooded lids (drooping upper eyelids). The area of injection also becomes extremely flat. This is not what I would call a fair trade off.

For every person trying to eliminate a line or furrow through Botox, there is a trainee eliminating same line and furrow through FlexEffect – without side effects.

What type of changes should one expect to see?

Initially, change most Flexers comment on about three weeks into their training is how their face feels different to touch. They notice increased tautness and thickness in cheek and mouth area. Lips become more defined, and there is an increase in facial oil production. This is a real bonus since it is natural oil that holds moisture in skin -- bye bye dry skin! Three months will bring a visual lift in cheeks, even more firmness, and smooth skin where there used to be fine lines. In six months, friends will be asking you to teach them exercises.

How does Flexeffect affect skin?

Without doubt, Flexeffect is a tremendous benefit to skin. The supply of blood to a contracting muscle is ten times greater than normal. Resistance Training brings a vigorous supply of blood to surface. This blood carries vital oxygen and nutrients to skin and growing tissue, while carrying away old and damaged cells. With this constant flushing of oxygen and nutrients, skin cells become healthier. Before a cell dies, it clones itself. This newly cloned cell will become healthier before cloning itself -- and so on, and so on. This means better skin tone and better texture. The bottom line: you cannot beef-up muscle without beefing-up its surrounding tissue.

Like any form of fitness training, FlexEffect takes time and discipline. Muscle builds fast but it’s going to take your skin considerably longer (re-cycling of cells) to show benefit of your training. Give yourself a year. I know a year sounds like a long time, but it’s worth it. Besides, you’ll be watching your face improve from month to month. Can’t get more exciting than that!