FoodSanity(14.0)

Sugar!  As a pervasive element in the standard American diet (S.A.D.), it is now a known culprit in the de-healthifying of Americans (children included).  Food manufacturers put some kind of processed sugar in almost all of their products.  Why?  So we'll get addicted to it (which we do), and eat more of it.

In this video, Dr. Mark Hyman, discusses several important points about how eating well can make us less sick. 

In particular, Dr. Hyman speaks to the devastating effect that eating processed sugars has on the human body.  He even describes sugar as a "recreational drug."  Interesting thought.

I was a sugarholic for decades, consuming it in some form or another at breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks.  Though I looked reasonably healthy, I finally realized that sugar was a fundamental driver in the metabolic problems I was experiencing - high blood pressure, constant heartburn and acid reflux, joint pain due to inflammation, headaches, constantly increasing belly fat, etc.  Sugar was not only shortening my life, it was compromising the quality of the life I had.  Thanks to the thinking, speaking, and writing of functional medicine physicians like Dr. Hyman, Dr. Robert Lustig, Dr. David Perlmutter, Dr. Roby Mitchell, and Dr. Ben Edwards (you can find them all with a quick Google search), I began to see what I was doing to my own health.

Been there.  Done that.  Not going back.

Boredom

Boredom is a psychological state, not condition of reality.  

Being bored is the ultimate insult to oneself.  

IF you feel yourself slipping toward a state of boredom, try one (or more) of these:

• Call a friend or family member you've haven't talked to in awhile (or write 'em a note).
• Read a book/article/blog.
• Begin conceptualizing and/or sketching out a new project for yourself (sun room? garden? bath remodel? quilt?).
• Go for a walk/run/jog/bike ride outdoors, and pay attention to the world around you.
• LEARN something new.

Whatever you do, DON'T turn on the television.  (It's the equivalent of turning your brain into mashed potatoes.)

You and the world around you are far too interesting to let boredom dribble into your consciousness.

MostMaking

Life is pretty darned short (you've probably noticed).  I am quite fond of the Kenny Chesney song titled "Don't Blink."

Indeed, a hundred years goes faster than we think.

So, how can we make the most of the short life we are given?

Some modest suggestions:

• Make a difference (somehow, some way, everyday).
• Love more freely, forgive more easily.
• Try to leave others feeling better, just by having had an encounter with you.
• Be on the constant look out for ways to serve others, especially those in need.
• Be more thankful (and a little less bitchy).
• Try new stuff, learn new things, be a little fearless.

And, don't blink.

FreeWill

Those of us who have raised children understand fully that humans arrive on the planet with the endowment of Free Will.  Even suckling babies have a way of letting us know what they want and when they want it.

As we get older, our understanding of the exercise of Free Will continues to develop and become more sophisticated (for most of us).  Whether we do so intentionally or not, our exercise of Free Will is the vehicle we use use to shape our lives and our futures.  

Sometimes, others would presume to commandeer our Free Will.  They cannot - unless we give them permission to do so.

Those of us who fully embrace our Free Will enjoy lives of adventure, growth, happiness and self-actualization.  

Those who relinquish their Free Will to others can best be described as victims - victims of their own demise.  

Past<<>>Future

We perpetually stand astraddle the threshold between the past and the future.

The past is important, but not nearly as important as the future.

The past is for reference, the future is for preference.

The past represents energy spent, the future represents energy potentials.

The past stores old memories/experiences, the future offers endless possibilities for new versions of both.

The past harbors a few regrets (or a lot), the future only the opportunity to reduce or avoid them.

The past is the haven of the powerful influences that shaped us, the future possesses our own acts of shaping.

The past was the vehicle of our previous learning, the future offers an expressway to new knowledge, skills, and ways of thinking.

Attention FORWARD!   Full steam ahead (with just a few peeks over the shoulder).

ParadoxDance

In leadership, and in life, we are constantly confronted with the pressures of paradox. According to Morgan (1998), in the book Images of Organizations, we are continually pushed-pulled in two different directions by bosses, by politics, by circumstances, by regulatory entities, by our values.  Looks something like this:

     Innovate <----------> Avoid Mistakes 

Think long term <----------> Deliver results now 

     Cut costs <----------> Increase morale 

    Reduce staff <----------> Improve teamwork

      Be flexible <----------> Respect the rules

                                          Collaborate <----------> Compete

                                         Decentralize <----------> Retain control 

        Specialize <----------> Be opportunistic 

                                             Low costs <----------> High quality

Each goal of those dichotomies seems worthy and noble.  Yet, whenever we narrow our view of life/work/relationships/problems by thinking of them in isolated constructs (as shown above) we have, in effect, "simplified" the metrics.  But, life/work/relationships/problems defy simplified metrics, they must be considered and navigated holistically.  It requires us to do the dance of paradox, to find the "sweet spot" on each continuum, but taken in the context of the whole.

The "sweet spot" on each of those continua above is found by viewing them through the lenses of our values, our ethical anchors.  Nobody can determine our values and ethical anchors for us - that comes from thoughtful soul-searching and self-reflection.  

Wise mentors, great thinkers, exemplars can all help us find our moral grounding, but at the end of the day, it's a learning journey we must take for ourselves.  And, that journey never ends.

  

  

TheGift

Raised in the Christian faith I was often reminded that "my life is God's gift to me; what I do with my life is my gift to God." 

Regardless of our spiritual or religious inclinations, we can all probably agree that our lives are a gift.  Beyond that, our bodies and minds (and spirits, if you're so inclined) are fundamental to that gift of life.  There seems an aspect of stewardship that is tightly tethered thereto.

If you can accept the obligation component of my first sentence above (the part after the semicolon), then...
how we treat and relate to others,
          how we spend our time,
                    what we choose to read/view/listen to,
                              how we nurture our bodies,
                                        to what causes we lend our talent,
                                                  the degree to which we attend to our wellness,

have EVERYTHING to do with our giving back.  

It's a debt owed, and one we can surely attempt to repay.