Thanksgiving Day is 48 Days Away: Planning Ahead

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Thanksgiving is such a wonderful holiday.  I hate that it seems to get lost between Halloween and Christmas - or at least that's how it seems out in the stores.

I saw Halloween stuff competing with Christmas decorations in the last week of September!  Ye Gads.

Meanwhile, maybe some would say I'm just as bad.  Why?  I'm doing menu planning now.  For Thanksgiving.  Forty-eight days in advance.  Yepper -- crazy, right?

Planning Ahead for Turkey Day

Well, here's the thing.  I'm participating in National Novel Writing Month in November, so I need to get ready for that added work load.  (Which is writing 50,000 words or more in 30 days.  I plan on writing a very bad first draft of a thriller novel.  LOL)

But I might be planning for Thanksgiving this week anyway.

Why Plan for Thanksgiving Now?  

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Why?  It's gonna save me money and time and stress.  And it makes me happy.

That is Simple Living, at least in my view.

How is it saving me money and time?  Well, I'm planning the whole weekend.  Bill will provide his famous hash brown and egg tacos, that's a tradition.  There will be leftovers.  Natch.

No one in this casa cares about Black Friday, so no worries there.  Well, if there's an online special for a TV or laptop for a penny or a dollar, we might be a little interested.  Maybe.

Football may be involved.  To me, this means snacks.  Walks in the park will occur.  Naps.  Soup. Movies.  Fingers crossed, we'll have sweater weather!

Today, I'm going to have all the recipes together, including the snacks and the drinks, right in front of me. I'm buying in bulk at Sam's Club -- and watching the food ads --  for things I can store or freeze and have ready come T-Day.

I'm looking for deals.  (Yesterday, I found a nice price for pecans at HEB.)

I'm keeping the recipes simple, too.  No Bon Appetit here.  Simple stuff.  Good stuff.

Plus not so many choices.  Two desserts.  One kind of coffee.  Chips and queso.  Turkey Chili.  Iced Tea. You get the idea.

I'm excited thinking about Thanksgiving.  Counting blessings; eating queso while watching an Alfred Hitchcock movie; the turkey-induced nap.

I'm plotting things that are fun and free.  Walking in the park, bringing bread to feed the ducks and geese while the dogs sniff the goose poop?  This costs nothing and it's amazing.  Memory-making.

Ditto the movie night with popcorn and classic movies.  At some point, there may be watching sports on TV; I never do this -- but I'll be writing that thriller novel.  As long as no one is hogging the chili con queso, we'll all be fine.

Oh, my, this is fun!!!  I like this planning ahead plan.  It makes me happy.  Maybe it will bring a smile to your face, too, Dear Reader.

Simplifying Your Thoughts: Simple Living Means Fighting Against Stress and the Thoughts that Cause It

Tonight, there's the big Republican debate between the presidential candidates and tomorrow, President Obama is going to address the nation on the unemployment crisis - and media rumors are that this will include spending more money.  Lots more money.

Next week, we honor the 10 year anniversary of 9-11.  Last week, we had hurricanes on the East Coast and earthquakes on the West Coast, and even as I type this, hundreds of thousands of areas of beautiful, piney hillsides near Bastrop, Texas (not that far from me, as the crow flies) are burning in an uncontrolled fire.  Was it caused by the drought? By arson?  What about all the wildlife and the homes and the families?

The Scream - Edvard Munch

It's all cause for stress.  

Stress, big stress.  And that's before you take it down a notch and start wondering about your own circumstances.  Finances, health, relationships, savings, investments, rising prices, what the future might hold.

There is a lot to think about, and lots of people are swirling those thoughts around in their minds without realizing that you have the power to decide what you will think about -- and that you need to do this.

It's accepted by most everyone these days that stress will make you sick.  Keep it up, and it can kill you.  (For details, check out lots about acute stress and chronic stress at WebMD.)


And what is stress?  It's your body reacting to what you are thinking.

Simplifying your life involves more than being frugal with your purchases or going green with your environment or becoming vegetarian in your diet ... simple living means having peace and joy and strength in your attitude.

How do you do that?  You become proactive about what you are thinking about and you stop letting your mind run willy-nilly over whatever scary things it wants to ponder.  Yes, you can do this and it doesn't mean that you become brainwashed or live a zombie's existence.

Simple Living Between Your Ears:  How to Fight Stress With Simplicity

I don't do this as well as I'd like, but I'm much better at it than I was long ago.  Here are some of the things that have worked for me:

1.  I stop myself every so often, and pay attention to the thoughts that have been bouncing around in my head.  Am I worrying about something?  Am I angry about something?  Am I afraid?  Then, I take hold of those thoughts and resolve them.

2.  I speak out loud to myself if this is needed.  For example, I forgot to mail in my car registration and here it was, September, and I've suddenly got an expired tag on my windshield.  My thoughts just baked themselves into a big pie of pressure, and once I realized that I was fretting about this in my head, it all stopped when I said to myself, "I will not get a ticket on the way to getting my car sticker, and if I do, then I'll just pay it.  This isn't worth getting upset over, I'll just deal with it - whatever happens." 

3.  I don't watch TV news, I read my news online.  Maybe it's still inflated and spun, but it's less stressful for me than all those talking heads who seem to vie for who can be more thrilling, for lack of a better word, as they ramble on about the latest horrific event.

4.  I pray and I read my Bible, renewing my mind with scripture.  There's a reason why so many have read this book for so long, there is true comfort and strength in its pages.  I think even non-believers can find good counsel in words like these:  "[a]nd now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise." (Phil 4:8 NLT).

5.  I read about stress and thoughts to learn more about how thoughts do impact my physical health.  There's lots on this:  medical research (see this UCLA study); books on brain function and stress (see Who Switched off My Brain by Dr. Carolyn Leaf); and books on how diet and exercise are powerful tools against stress, promoting clear thinking and proper hormone balance (see the Hormone Diet by Natasha Turner ND).

One of the great things about living simply is knowing that you can control your lifestyle - even if there are others that don't understand why you are choosing that different drummer.  A big part of that change is internal, becoming a person of independent thought.

Some Days Will Eat You, Some Days You'll Eat the Bear.  

As Jane Armatrading once sang (listen here), some days the bear will eat you, some days you'll eat the bear.  We're all a work in process.

Hang in there, fight that stress, and if you need to see it on the screen, remember this:

Everything is going to be alright.  

(image from Wikimedia Commons, public domain)

More on Sitting All Day Being Harmful for Your Health

Just read a great article with lots of information on research done regarding the dangers of sitting all day rather than standing or moving.  Written by Dr. James A. Levine of the Mayo Clinic, the article is entitled, "The Extreme Dangers of Sitting," and it's worth the read.

One big thing that stuck with me:  you will spend THREE times the energy standing instead of sitting.  So, using that standing desk without anything more means you're tripling your energy output.

So, even if you're not into a standing desk because it's fun or it's cool (remember, Ernest Hemingway wrote from a standing desk), think about this:  you might just lose some lbs and never have to go to the gym, never have to break a sweat.

Now, that's a scoop, right?

Oh, and one other thing from this study that stuck with me:  a nice evening constitutional for an hour, where you walk to enjoy the scenery and let the dog sniff the tree trunks, will expend the same amount of calories as if you were to take a ramped-up 30 minute power walk. Sweet. 

I'm off to walk the dog!

pH Balance in Your Body: Should You Care About Your Internal Acid - Base Balance?

I'm hearing more and more about the pH balance of the human body and how maintaining a proper pH balance is important to your health. 

 

What is pH balance?

 

It's the balance between acid and alkaline.  Water is neutral.  When your pH balance goes wacky, then you have physical consequences.  Things like acidosis can occur.  After that, really bad things can happen: cancer, kidney disease, things like that.  Turns out, pH balance is really, really important. 

 

What's acidosis?

 

Acidosis results when your body is too acidic and therefore internally promotes the growth of bacteria, viruses, mold, and other bad things that can make you sick. 

 

Acidosis is a state where your body lacks sufficient calcium and oxygen to keep an internal balance that keeps these nasty things in check.  It's not like you don't always have bacteria, mold, etc., inside your body.  It's just that when you get out of balance, then they have an environment conducive to their growth. 

 

Not only does this mean that you can suffer from gas, bloating, headaches, and other rather minor symptoms, but as these things continue to thrive, things get more serious.  Intestinal disorders -- and get this, I learned that osteoporosis is the result of chronic acidosis.  In order to grab the calcium it needs to fight off the pH imbalance, the body will suck out calcium from its own bones and teeth to try and get a better alkaline level - and win the war against the bacterial growth.  Less bone mass, that's osteoporosis.

 

You can monitor your pH balance by buying cute color-coded gauges at your nearby health food store, or online at places like The Wolfe Clinic. 

 

How to get yourself back in a balanced pH state?

 

First of all, there's no magic pill here.  Simply put, you have to eat right - the same kind of thing that you are supposed to be doing anyway.  Avoid sugar, fast foods, caffeine.  Eat lots of raw veggies and fresh fruit.  Drink water.  (Here's a nice chart for you.)   Apple cider vinegar is supposed to be helpful, too.  Get calcium inside of you, along with water and potassium. 

For more information, check out these articles:

• Wikipedia - pH balance
• The Wolfe Clinic - pH
• MedlinePlus - respiratory acidosis
• Merck Manual - acid base balance
• Critical Care Medicine Tutorial - acid base balance

Where's The Note? Facing Foreclosure, You May Want to Check Out this Site ASAP - or NOT

Where's the Note? is a website published by a group of organizations (see their logos at the bottom of the page, you'll have to search for their actual sites -- they don't link to this new web site) that's getting lots of media attention.

Go to Where's the Note and you'll get background information on foreclosure issues (things like the definition of a mortgage note) as well as lots of direction on how to fight your impending foreclosure due to the apparent idiocy involved in fast-tracked foreclosure processes by financial institutions across the country.  Better known at this point as "foreclosuregate," in case you haven't been reading the news lately. 

Of course, there are those that are arguing that even if there's a paperwork mess resulting in a title nightmare, if the borrower could not pay the note, then legally Where's the Note gives them action, but morally nothing's changed.  Folk like Mike Konczai are writing about this twist on the growing news story, and I'm happy to see it. 

Because while there are those (including at least one member of Congress) that have advised homeowners to squat, staying put in their homes until the paperwork mess gets sorted out, I gotta wonder if that's best for the home owner. 

It's far from a peaceful life, squatting.  Waiting for the shoe to drop - and unless you get a windfall, then you're setting there knowing you can't pay what you owe, so eventually that's a bell that is gonna ring.  Squatting is not a guaranteed winning Lotto ticket.

Plus, it keeps you from pulling up stakes and moving forward.  And forward is good.  So you join the millions of Americans negatively impacted by this depression, ahem, recession?  So you move to a rental, a forced downsizing of your life?  Is this really and truly so horrible? 

Maybe not, Dear Reader.

Many folk are scared of the simpler life, only to be very pleasantly surprised.  Because a simpler life is a better one.  Whether you voluntarily pursue it or it's thrust upon you, either way -- it's freeing not to be burdened with so much material stuff.  A new chapter in life may mean a second chance to pursue a dream, move to another location, get rid of that dining room set you hate and never use. 

So, while Where's the Note? sounds awfully friendly, I gotta wonder if it's worth all that angst to avoid the eventual New Chapter in Life.  Second chances are sweet, no matter how you come by them.

Doctor Mark Hyman Decries Conventional Medicine in HuffPo: The Rising Awareness of Lifestyle Medicine

Dr. Mark Hyman (M.D.) practices medicine and writes bestselling books (he's made the New York Times Bestsellers list four times so far). Dr. Hyman also founded The Ultra Wellness Center, and is considered to be a world-wide leader in "functional medicine" - so when he writes an article for the Huffington Post (the top blog in the country per Technorati), people pay attention. 

The article is entitled, "Millions Die Due to Withheld Medical Treatment" and if you can't read it at the link (it will be archived at some point), feel free to check Dr. Hyman's website or contact me -- I've saved a copy in OneNote because I don't want to lose it.)

Practicing Physician Claims Conventional Medicine Corrupted by Greed

You should, too.  Why?  Because Dr. Hyman is standing up against a huge contingent of his peers when he writes that conventional medicine today is corrupt: that by its co-dependence upon the big pharmaceutical companies, the true cures for such major diseases as diabetes and heart disease lies in lifestyle medicine. 

What is Lifestyle Medicine?

Since lifestyle medicine isn't as profitable as conventional methods, it's being ignored according to Dr. Hyman and the result is akin to the Tuskegee Experiments of the 1920s (and if you don't know about this  horror, it's worth your time to stop and read what Dr. Hyman's written - just to learn about this).  

Dr. Hyman's providing lots of information on the web to help people - his website is great, so is the UltraWellness Center.  For example, check out his free series of articles online, "7 Keys to Ultrawellness."  Great stuff in here. 

Lifestyle Medicine Incorporates Simple Living.  Wow. 

Dr. Hyman promotes many of the things that simplifiers value.  Things like eating whole, fresh, organic foods.  Foods that you cook yourself in ovens and on stovetops.  Avoiding bad stuff like high fructose corn syrup and mercury.  Exercising.  Getting enough rest.  Avoiding stress.  Drinking lots of good water.  Taking vitamins. Taking herbs, too. Understanding detoxification. (Did you know that internalized stress can make you fat? Wow.) 

Want to Learn More About Lifestyle Medicine?

To learn more, check out his personal site or Dr. Hyman's UltraWellness website (where he offers a free ebook and lotsa free videos), follow him on Twitter (http://twitter.com/markhymanmd), or surf around for "lifestyle medicine" where you'll find good sites to learn from, including: 

American College of Lifestyle Medicine
Harvard Medical School's Lifestyle Medicine Institute
The Institute of Lifestyle Medicine

Tea as a Stress Reducer - It Works

Black tea has been studied in Great Britain (of course), and found to be a proven stress reducer.  Actually, it doesn't relax you so much as it prevents those nasty stress hormones (like cortisol) from skyrocketing and it is also able to fight against the formation of blood clots. 

Chamomile Tea is a Powerhouse

Herbalists for centuries have been reporting that chamomile tea reduces stress.  Personally, I love the taste of chamomile tea.  So I was very excited to learn that it's somewhat amazing in all its benefits.  For example, WebMD reports on studies that show chamomile tea to have the additional benefits of blocking complications from Type 2 diabetes including loss of vision as well as  nerve and kidney damage. 

Additionally, one research study published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry found that chamomile tea heals inflammation along with assorted skin diseases, open wounds/ulcers and even gout. WebMD also reports that recent studies have found that simple little old chamomile tea can stunt growing human cancer cells.

Green tea and ginseng tea also not only provide great health benefits, but also to fight stress well.

Nice to know a no-calorie, inexpensive, easy-to-find beverage can do so much for you, right?  Add that to a real, traditional English tea time and you've really got yourself a stress-break.

Sunday Drive - Why Not Take One This Week?

I can remember weekends when I was very little: my Dad would unfold his long, stork-like legs from the white formica kitchen table, stand and stretch, then announce to my mother and I that he thought it was "time for a little drive." This was always great, great news for me.

We'd rush (at least, I remember that I rushed) to get ready for this Big Adventure. Always on a Sunday afternoon (in lieu of the Sunday Nap). Hair brushed, shoes on, I always had to bring my doll with me - and sometimes, I got to bring along Sammy, our little dog, too. So exciting!!!

The three of us would pile into the car - a big, big 1960s Chevy - and since this was the time before car seats, I was free to play in the huge back seat - leaning over into the front to talk to my parents, sliding from one side to the other to look out the windows. Dancing with the dog when he wasn't claiming a window of his own, drool ribbons forming in the wind, on the outside of the car door ....

And we'd go to such fascinating places. Seguin. Floresville. New Braunfels. At some point, my dad would drive us through a Dairy Queen for ice cream, and I still think of him every time I drive past a DQ. He would've loved a Blizzard, I'm sure.

We'd bring back treats for dinner, too. Sausage from New Braunfels. In season, there would be watermelons from Luling or strawberries from Poteet. Pecans from somewhere.  My mother would chat about the different ways she could prepare these treats that evening, as we rode along the Farm to Market roads.

She was happy. So was my dad. So was I. We were a family on a Sunday Drive. 

It was the best of family times for us. It didn't cost much money, which may have been one of my dad's goals - though I never knew that.  My dad was suffering from terminal cancer during many of those rides, and I never knew that either - though I did notice that he was losing his hair (chemo) and that we stopped getting ice cream (he couldn't tolerate dairy) after awhile.

Today, gas prices are high and schedules are tight.  Still, there's so much to be said for the family piling into the car and driving down roads you've never seen before: talking and laughing and listening to music on the radio.  Stopping at roadside stands to buy farmer's produce.  Stopping to read those historical markers. 

It's a simple thing, the Sunday Drive.  Take one this week. 

What are Tonics? Recipes for Tonics You Make at Home

Tonics?  They're much more than an old wives' tale or a historic folk remedy.  Tonics are liquids made of good things that are good for you.  Tonic recipes have been around for years, centuries even.  And while modern health care providers can scoff at the value of tonics, there are many people out there who swear by them. 

Here's some scoop for you, Dear Reader, on tonics:

1.  Tonic Tea Recipe -- just an overall, good for you blend made up of good things like licorice, ginger, and sarsaparilla.  

2,, New York psychiatrist (and Lyme disease sufferer) and her husband, a psychopharmacologist at Columbia University, tell Mother Earth News all about a tonic made from a Russian herb that solved all her problems (which included serious things like severe fatigue, painful joints, and impaired mental function).  She did take the tonic over a three month span, but it worked.  And other stuff had not. 

3.  After telling this great story about the Russian herb, Michael Castleman reports on six great tonics that help in various ways -- though he does not give recipes.

4.  Recipes, though, are at the ready over at HomeMadeRemedies.com.  They've got a long list of tonic recipes, lots of which sound like they will taste great.

Me?  I'm going to investigate these tonics -- because I am so very happy with my Apple Cider Vinegar tonic and how it's benefited me.  Love it, love it.  Because of this experience, I'm sold on tonics for good health.

Silence - The Value and Power of Turning the Noise Off

It's amazing how much input we receive into our brains everyday. 

From TV to movies to games to music, much less conversation, it's possible to spend all your waking hours with some type of stuff steadily going into your ears and into your mind for analysis and storage.  That's before the other stuff: the traffic sounds, construction noise, dogs barking outside, ... you know, the stuff you aren't controlling yourself.

Which means that when you turn everything OFF and the only thing you're hearing is the whirr of the car motor, or the breeze through the branches of a tree, it can be overwhelming.  All that internal jumble is still bouncing around inside your head at first, like bees buzzing around.  It can be uncomfortable.

Just wait.  In a bit, this will subside and after you incorporate some silence into your life, that uncomfortable feeling will go away.  And with it, you'll gain an internal harmony that you'll be glad to discover.  It's relaxing, even joyful, to experience silence in this noisy life.

And, it's a lot easier to hear that still, small voice without all that other stuff competing for your attention.

'This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength ..., " ' Isaiah 30:15-18 NIV



"Learn to get in touch with the silence within yourself and know that everything in this life has a purpose."
- Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

"True silence is the rest of the mind; it is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment."
- William Penn


Image:  A mountain stream on Raspberry Island, Alaska. Wikimedia Common, public domain.

Give Yourself a Hand - Applause Whenever You Need It

Give yourself a hand.

You deserve it, Dear Reader!

Get out there and have a great day, and the best week ever!

Thanks to MetalHoodMetalHood for putting sharing this via YouTube.

Happiness Prevents Heart Disease According to New Study

In today's news, there's a lot of media coverage of a new research study done by American researchers and published in the European Heart Journal that happiness prevents heart disease.

In other words, happy people don't get heart attacks, according to these findings.

Now, we've already heard about eating more fruits and veggies, eating whole grains, and avoiding bad fats to avoid heart disease.  And there was recent news coverage of another study that pointed to adequate levels of Vitamin D as preventing both heart attacks and diabetes. 

Well, seems to me that living a life of simplicity could be said to prevent heart disease, too.  Living a simple life, as least as I've been doing it, means things like:

Getting some sunshine every day (sunshine is an excellent source of Vitamin D);
Eating lots of fresh vegetables and fruits (even juicing them);
Getting stress out of your life (and keeping it out); and
choosing to live a life that is peaceful, focused, and appreciative of daily blessings.

5 Tips for Getting Work Done at Starbucks

There was a time when I didn't really share with folk that I can be found working away some afternoons during the week at one of the local Starbuck's coffee shops.  People with jobs in designated locations (read that "offices") didn't take this seriously, it seemed to me.  So I did it.  But I kept quiet about it.

Then I read about George Stephanopoulos writing speeches for Bill Clinton at the Starbucks down the street from his office and I was freed from this Coffee Shop Shame.  (Even now, Stephanopoulos continues his freeing of the masses, by posting on his Facebook page about preparing questions for his TV interviews, yes, at Starbucks.)

Here are 5 things that I've found help in getting things accomplished when you're working at the coffee house:

1.  Get yourself a Netbook with a decent battery life and stop fighting for plugs.  My Eee last 8 hours on a charge, and has a decent keyboard.  My old laptop wouldn't last 2 hours without me finding an electrical outlet somewhere.  And lots of places don't want you to power up, forcing you to pack up and leave, usually right after you really got started.

2.  Get yourself a Starbucks card for your coffee.   Keep it with your computer.  This keeps you in check, coffee money-wise.  It's easier to order that Venti Caramel Mach, and heck why NOT a brownie, when you use your cash or your bank card.  Having a coffee budget tied to its own card keeps you happy with your Grande Coffee of the Day.  Really.

3.  Choose your spot carefully.  You're in a public place, a venue that welcomes chatter.  The moms with the kiddos there for storytime, the college kids studying together -- they may not talk loudly, but their conversation can be distracting if you are right next to them.  Choose a wall.  One of those remote, leave me alone, Greta Garbo tables.  You're WORKING.

4.  Have an agenda.  Before you enter the building, know exactly what you are going to be doing during your time there, and don't make this unreasonably short.  Or long.  You will not edit the Great American Novel in its entirety while at the coffee shop.  You might edit a couple of articles. 

5.  If you're at a Starbuck's that is either within a book store or next door to one, then you're in a tricky spot.  There are great tables within the book store that are fabulous for getting stuff done.  Cozy little corners, surrounded by books.  But don't let yourself get distracted by those books -- you're not there to shop, unless it's a treat after you've met your goal.  And, don't allow yourself to start staring at the spines on those shelves, pondering Great Thoughts, and then fall into the temptation to pick up a tome or two, just to thumb through it.  Before you know it, an hour has passed and you haven't done anything on your work - but you now know so very much about 17th Century furnishings .....

Time Management Tip: Returning Calls, Emails, and Text Messages on Your Schedule, Not Theirs

I'm offering up one of my greatest time savers here, today, just for you, Dear Reader.  I only return messages left for me at 10 am, 2pm, and 4 pm.  My phone's ringer is turned off, and my cell phone sits in my purse.  I call it my "Dr Pepper Rule," because of the old 10-2-4 logo on the Dr. Pepper bottles.  Remember those?  (I still love me a Dr. Pepper, real not diet.  Yum.)

Right off the bat, if you choose to do this, too, get ready for some backlash.  There are those who will be annoyed, perhaps even offended, that you aren't picking up your phone every time it rings, or jumping right on their text message or e-mail in reply.  That's okay, because this isn't about them.  It's about you, and your schedule.

I do try and let everyone know that I do this.  New clients are informed in a standardized email that I send out as part of my introduction.  Loved ones grin and bear it, too - some still grumble, but they love me anyway. 

How does this help?  Why follow the Dr. Pepper 10-2-4 Rule?

It keeps you on schedule with what you've set out to do for that day.  As a writer, I've got to have blocks of time to focus on my work.  Writing is tricky, you want to be in this zone where things are flowing out of your mind so fast that the words aren't popping up fast enough on the screen -- and that zone if fragile.  It takes awhile to get there (a pal said I should research the "alpha state" of the brain, it's involved here, somehow), yet you can lose it in a second.  So, I need the lack of interruption to get my stuff done, to make a living.

However, the rule isn't just for writers.  It's for anyone who values their time.  When they created answering machines, they were intended to be time-savers.  Messages are meant to be left, and returned later. 

One of the most important things in leading a simple life, is keeping things simple.  Constantly reacting to your phone - voicemail, text, email - can have you bouncing through a day like the small white ball in a pinball machine.  That's not a joyful, peaceful, productive way to live. 

At the end of the day, ask yourself:  what have you accomplished that YOU set out to do?  How did you spend your currency of time?  Follow the 10-2-4 Rule, and you'll be pleased with your answers.

103 Things You Can Do to Reduce Your Stress

ARRRGGGGH!!!!  What do you do when you feel like pulling your hair out, or better yet, like this wet cat?  It happens to all of us, but stress is bad for you in so many ways, and living a simple life means living a peaceful one.

How to beat stress?  Okay, I didn't make up a new list on my own, because lots of great people out there have already made several excellent compilations of advice and guidance on stress reducers.  What I'm providing here is a subset of that stuff on the web -- lists that I found helpful, and a little bit different, coming from different sources.  Sure, they may have some overlap on the most obvious tips, but each has something good to share.

Here's 103 Stress Reducers, with my take on each of these lists:

6 Natural Stress Reducers
What you would expect -- music, laughing.  Some not so easy to do when you're stressed, like "think positive"....
52 Proven Stress Reducers
No big explanations, but some good stuff.  Like getting up 15 minutes earlier, that works for me.  Actually, I love this list.  Good stuff here - like don't hang around worrywarts, and unplugging your phone.
37 Ways to Calm Down Fast
I like the title here, a positive attitude right off the bat.  This list is from Reader's Digest, and it's got a few gems (although all these lists do overlap after awhile, of course).  Some tips I thought were really useful:  buy yourself flowers for your desk every week; several that deal with how you start your day -- rituals, etc.; finding a personal credo (I've got to find mine).
8 Immediate Stress Busters
This is a list made by physicians, and it's got good practical advice in it.  Like checking your posture, consciously slowing down your speech, and eating little snacks of nutritiously-dense foods along with drinking plenty of water.  And a fun one: plan on giving yourself a little reward at the end of the day.  Nice doctors. 

Procrastination Is An Enemy to Simplifying Your Life

Simplifying your life means changing your lifestyle. Changing your methods of living life can be very difficult, even when you are proactively wanting to alter things.

When you are involuntarily simplifying because of a lost job or unexpected expenses, it gets even harder. It's easy to procrastinate. Especially when things seem overwhelming. When you're afraid, it's easy to be a deer in the headlights - thinking that if you do nothing, maybe it will all go away.

Procrastination is Your Enemy

Procrastination, however, is your enemy. Don't put off things that will ultimately benefit you and your family. Nothing good can come from it.

Hara Marano's Great Article

There's a great article by Hara Marano over at Psychology Today discussing the evils of procrastination, and I encourage you to jump right over there and read it. It contains such jewels as:

• Procrastination is a "profound problem of self-regulation." I never thought of procrastination this way before, and it makes good sense.
• Procrastination "is one response to an authoritarian parenting style ...," where controlling parents prevent the kids from "developing the ability to regulate themselves, from internalizing their own intentions and then learning to act on them." Without judging anyone's childhood, I like the idea that identifying your own intentions and learning to act on them is a kind of self-awareness and I especially appreciate the phrase "self-regulation." Regulation of one's self, instead of having advertising agencies regulating one's behavior by set society standards, is a key component to successfully simplifying your life.
• "Procrastinators "actively look for distractions, particularly ones that don't take a lot of commitment on their part." The example that was given was reading (or checking) e-mail, but I'm thinking video games and watching mindless television also count. Why do this? "They distract themselves as a way of regulating their emotions such as fear of failure."
• Procrastinators aren't all the same. There are the "thrill-seekers, who wait to the last minute for the euphoric rush;" the "avoiders, who may be avoiding fear of failure or even fear of success, but in either case are very concerned with what others think of them; they would rather have others think they lack effort than ability;" and "decisional procrastinators, who cannot make a decision ... [which]absolves procrastinators of responsibility for the outcome of events."

How to Change?

How to change? The Marano article suggests "highly structured cognitive behavioral therapy," whatever that is. Personally, I think that the power of prayer is of great use here, too. It's been my experience that faith can conquer procrastination:

• “If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done.” -- Ecclesiastes 11:4 (The Living Bible)
• "For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of self-control." -- 2 Timothy 1:7 (CET)

Detoxification Lite

If you are pondering a detox program -- liver, kidneys, etc. -- but are concerned about being incapacitated for a couple of days, maybe you should try Sunny Greens' Total Greens for a gentle detoxification. You'll experience some of the same detox dilemmas - flu-like symptoms, etc. - but they won't be as intense as the more serious detoxification formulas. Of course, it's probably not as thorough either.

Me? I did this and while the flu-like symptoms did not make for a fun weekend, the increase in energy and clarity of thought sure sold me. Detoxification is a good thing.

Stress 101

Stress, left unmanaged, can result in many things: fatigue, headaches, irritability, changes in appetite, memory loss, low self-esteem, withdrawal, cold hands, high blood pressure, shallow breathing, nervous twitches, reduced sex drive, insomnia, other changes in sleep patterns, gastrointestinal disorders, as well as detrimentally impacting the body's immune response, thereby contributing to cardiovascular disease, cancer, endocrine and metabolic disease, and skin disorders. Many psychiatrists report that most back problems are caused by stress.

What happens? Inside your body, stress immediately results in an increase in adrenaline; eleveated blood pressure and a rising heart rate; muscle tension; a shutting down of the GI tract/digestion as the body prepares to fight or flee; rising cholesterol as fats and sugars are released; thickening of the blood, with a tendency to clot.

What to do?
1. Exercise. This is the fastest, immediate stress reducer. Walking is fine.
2. Consider your ways. Make changes to lessen the sources of stress.
3. Consider your diet. Cut out sugar, pre-fab food, caffeine, drink more water.
4. Ask for help. No man is an island.
5. Confess your sins. Take responsibility for your life. Manage yourself.
6. Pray. Whenever you catch yourself worrying, turn it into a prayer.
7. Sleep. Take a nap, make sure you get 8 hours during the night.
8. Stop and take several long, deep, full-lung breaths during the day.
9. Make a gratitude list. Stress distorts perspective; look around and recognize the good things that exist in your life - including the basics: you can see, walk, etc.
10. Take time-outs during the day. Every hour, get up, get out, stretch for a few minutes. Move.
11. Take supplements, including: B-Complex, to help your nervous system; Vitamin C, for adrenal function; Liquid Minerals, because these are depleted within one hour of the stressful situation. The University of Maryland Medical Center recommends: American, Asian, and Russian Ginseng, Brewer's Yeast, German and Roman Chamomile, Kava Kava, Lemon Balm, Skullcap, Tyrosine, and Valerian. MSM is also recommended by various health care providers to fight the effects of stress upon the body.


Sources: biotech.com, valerie saxion, mercola.com, University of Maryland.

Your Body and the Weather

Granny Clampett isn't the only one who can predict the weather by her body aches. According to several scientific studies, both barometric pressure and humidity influence the human body's pain levels. (One of the latest being a 2005 study presented at the American College of Rheumatology.)

Wind, precipitation, and temperature also have an impact. As these increase, folk suffering from arthritis or neurological diseases (e.g., MS) can predict an approaching storm because they hurt more. Others may have an increase in migranes, asthma attacks, or escalating problems with circulatory conditions. In fact, chronic pain specialists ask their patients to log weather conditions and pain levels, to determine the patient's physical relationship with the weather.

This information is not new, of course. During the Civil War, it was documented that amputee soldiers sensed pain in their "phantom" limbs whenever the weather changed.

Online "ache & pain" forecasts are available at www.weather.com and at intellicast.com (which also offers a very nice "bad hair forecast," if you're interested).


Sources: weather.com, usatoday.com, 02/21/2005 intellicast.com

Food as Medicine - 2

Aloe vera is amazing. You grow the spiky cacti at home, cut off a spike whenever there's a cut or some sunburn.

But did you know aloe vera can help with arthritis as well as with intestinal problems, including ulcers? Psoriasis is also benefited by aloe vera, as is shingles. Warts. Heartburn, too.

Just rub the gel from a spike onto your painful outer area (arthritic knuckle, scrapped knee) and drink the juice for the internal pain.

How much juice? That depends on what you're addressing. Dr. Weil suggests starting at 1 tablespoon after meals for some things, and the WholeHealth doctors think one-half cup in the morning, and again in the evening, is good for some others.

Also, check the juice for quality. None of the options are expensive, but some have higher aloe content than others. Always insure that "aloe vera" is the first ingredient on the list.

Sources: wholehealthmd.com, drweil.com.