"See you guys on the flip side."
Ivan didn't say goodbye, he said he'll see us again. As you can see, Ivan is in the military. He stopped by the gym the other morning to let us know he was leaving for the Middle East. He was all smiles and handshakes, cracking jokes and talking about how he will be looking for a place to continue his training wherever he is stationed.
Ivan has been a source of inspiration to more people than he realizes. He doesn't do Facebook or check out videos on Youtube. He is not at all interested in how cool he is or how many videos he can post of himself. And yet I have had many people come to me and say how he has inspired them to work harder and eat better. I have had people come to Absolute MMA and say, "I saw that guy Ivan on Facebook and thought that was really cool. How can I do what he does?" People who are doing mediocre workouts start pushing themselves harder. When I ask them what happened they have said, "I felt guilty after seeing how hard Ivan works."
Whenever Ivan hears that people are inspired by his work, he says, "Positive choices bring positive changes!" He remains modest and maintains everything he is doing can be done by anyone. Anyone willing to make positive changes that is. He doesn't feel sorry himself or where he is in life. He accepts the responsibility for how he got here and for how he's going to get better.
We will look for Ivan's return and all the stories he'll be sure to bring back. I'm sure we'll hear from him while he's over there and we'll pass the word along.
Good luck, Ivan! "See you on the flip side!"
