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I caught up with a good friend of mine who has an incredible story of human endeavour to tell. Wayne McDaniel is an ex NBL All Star player with the 3rd highest career points in the game. He’s also an accomplished actor, singer, voice over and just a genuinely nice guy. He shares a brief story on his exposure to drugs to his basketball career to where he is today which I’m sure you’ll enjoy. Hello everyone! First up let me say I am extremely excited to be an Ambassador for alkalife Natural Alkaline Water. I have been passionate about mind/body health for approximately 25 years. Ok, this first blog I see as an introduction to you the reader, to myself, my background, and I guess my drives, passions and motivations in life. And possibilities and potentials for the future of not just myself, but also where you the reader may see options and new ways of thinking concerning your own health and well being. I was born a poor black child…not really, I just love that quote from the movie The Jerk. I was born in San Francisco California, the only Son of Ruthie & Sam who never married. My dad had four boys and two girls already when he met my mom and she had four boys already as well. So we were like a Black American version of The Brady Bunch. Except a lot more dysfunctional. Mom and dad separated when I was very little maybe 2 or 3 years old. And I didn’t see dad again until I was 18 years. He was a gripman on the famous cable cars and Lassie appears with him in one of the episodes from the famous tv series, watching that episode was the first time I saw what he looked liked. As I look back, growing up with my mom and four step brothers was fascinating on many levels. Being the youngster I was very shy, I looked up to all my brothers, and was very close to them all. My oldest brother Greg married young and his wife’s brother James I credit with actually showing me how to shoot a basketball. I would simply watch his style and copy it over and over. It wasn’t the most fundamentally sound shooting technique but I was consistent with it and developed my own style from it. It was at Pelton Jr. High School where I first began to excel in the sport. But it was also the arena where the temptation of drugs was ever present. So on the one hand I would be excited about enhancing my new skills at school daily while getting good grades, only to come home most afternoons to the sight of one of my brothers shooting up heroin in our bathroom and then going outside to play and being offered marijuana at a dollar a joint while listening to the sounds of Ms. Parker drunk out of her mind on Ripple (a cheap white wine) screaming why no one love her. Drugs where all around me growing up and I mean always all around me. My mom never did drugs she would just have a drink on occasion. So I developed this respect and strength for and from my mom as she held her dignity amidst the constant swirl of intoxications. Pelton Jr. High was a joy! I played basketball, it brought me a little out of my shyness. I learn trumpet, however the music teacher Mr. Moore was furious at me when I told him I wanted to do drama instead. Being a class clown was another way to gain confidence and my being a basketball player gave me the perfect platform. Capping is when one person talks bad jokingly about another person and they just verbally go back and forth, well I became The Master of Capping so drama was a perfect fit for me. Chewing gum under the teachers chair, hitting class mates in the back of the head with soaked paper balls were favourite pranks of mine. After leaving Pelton I went to John O’Connell High School, a small trade school,not known for its sporting prowess. I excelled! Academically and in drama and basketball. I did plays, and became the cities leading high school basketball scorer. My first big scare came when while walking across the street I was hit by a car, compound fracture right fibula and tibula, after the bones set my right leg was a fraction shorter and the doctors said I wouldn’t play my senior year, I was shattered! To relieve my depression I would sit in my room listening to the radio and making my own announcements that “Wayne McDaniel is once again The City’s Leading Scorer! This was my first introduction to The Positive Affirmation. Still, I recall how frustrated I would be trying to scratch my leg under the full length cast. While wondering and wondering what my fate would be. But I persisted with The Affirmations all through the day for several months. After the cast was removed swimming became my therapy of choice. My senior year was a spectacular success and I went on to City College of San Francisco for my freshman and sophomore years. Two great years lots of personal and team success. Cal State Bakersfield was next where I became a real force, helping to lead my team to the NCAA Division 1 Finals. After my senior year I didn’t get drafted by an NBA team. The rap on me was I was too small to play forward and didn’t have a ball handling skills to play guard. That summer I played in Magic Johnson’s Summer League and did well. Well enough to get an offer to play in Australia for The Adelaide 36ers in 1983. Enjoyed an outstanding year average 26.5 points per game. I then went on to play for Geelong, New Castle and Hobart, where my first Daughter Mahalia and son Sam where born, becoming the 3rd best scorer in league history. The class clown is an archetype that is very strong in me, so when I retired in 1997 & moved to Sydney I knew I wanted to get into acting/media. I worked as a Top 40 countdown announcer for a popular community dance radio station called Dance FM. In 2000 I signed with Bedford & Pearce Management and began appearing in tv commercials for One Tel and Panasonic. I’ve now featured and starred in 8 theatre productions in Sydney. Appeared in numerous overseas commercials and done voice overs for countless major campaigns. In 2003 my second daughter Jorja was born and I suffer another car accident in 2004 as I fell asleep at the wheel driving back from Gosford fracturing my right hip and sustaining 19 stitches in my right hand. This is about the time my basketball coaching network began to expand, and I was getting more auditions for movies Son of Mask, Terra Nova, Dynasty The Reunion as well as Superman Returns and The Sapphires. Mid 2014 I formed a jazz/soul/funk band called ‘Three Miles’. It was in Newcastle while playing for The Falcons that I was introduced to the power of thought, power of structured visualisation and controlling self talk. BHP invited our team to participate in a Self Mastery Course by American Lou Tice. This is when my meditation also took on greater importance in my life. And this focus paid dividends throughout my basketball career in Australia as well as my recovery from trauma and set backs. Remember my affirmation after my first car accident? Well before my hip replacement in 2011 I visualised weeks before the operation. I would imagine how healthy cells would look around my hip, how my mobility would increase and how running on soft beach sand allowed me greater strength and quicker recovery. I believe passions are what drive us to purpose in life! It took me some time to accept that I have a very good singing voice “a beautiful instrument” as my voice coach would say. My passions revolve around the nurturing of my sound, my songs and stories,all in partnership with the whole health model that essentially says,”everything is energy”, and if you can increase the quality of your energy you will promote a better quality of life in all areas. My purpose is to inspire others to live their highest joy passion and excitement in all that they do. Three Miles plays LazyBones Lounge cnr. Marrickville & Illawarra Rds. Marrickville Saturday March 14th 8:30-10pm. Until we speak again, B well, b you! wayne mcdanielWayne “Mac” McDaniel is passionate about health & well being. His greatest joy is in expressing his talents,skills & gifts in the service of inspiring, motivating & uplifting others into greater versions of themselves. Meditation, eating a whole-foods diet and exercise have been and continue to be the foundation for his success in basketball,acting,speaking and singing. Wayne feels joyous uplifting others thru his singing & public speaking while sharing his knowledge stories and insights. Realising everything is energy and resonance. He seeks to avoid judgement of others realising that we are all making decisions,choices and actions based on our current levels of understanding & consciousness. And as we gain & apply greater knowledge we will intend,think,emote,and feel to reflect this change,raising the levels of consciousness within ourselves and others. For more natural health tips visit our blog at: http://www.alkalife.com.au/blog
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