Thinks I find along the way
Looks yummy! Get some at Recipe: Tomato and Avocado Grilled Cheese | Greatist.com.
“Many of us do not understand what we are responsible for and what we are not responsible for. We may believe we have to get into a tizzy when someone has a problem because it is our responsibility to do that. However, at the heart of most rescues is a demon: low self-worth. We rescue because we don’t feel good about ourselves.. caretaking provides us with a temporary hit of good feelings, self-worth, and power. Just as a drink helps an alcoholic momentarily feel better, a rescue move momentarily distracts us from the pain of being who we are. We don’t feel loveable, so we settle for being needed. We don’t feel good about ourselves, so we feel compelled to do a particular thing to prove how good we are.” ~ Melody Beattie via Today’s Quotes: What Joy!? Make Yourself Do Uncomfortable Things!.
“We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.” ~ Native American Proverb via 15 Ways to Celebrate Earth Day Every Day « Positively Positive.
Follow the ‘via’ link above if you want the 15 ways. I’m not much of a tree hugger, but I am becoming more and more concerned about the environment especially a phenomenon that affects rural folks more directly than city folks, but it affects us all the same. The issue is CAFOs…
A Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) is a term that was first coined by the United States’ Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to describe animal agricultural facilities that have a potential pollution profile. Specifically, the EPA defines a CAFO as an animal feeding operation (AFO) that (a) confines animals for more than 45 days during a growing season, (b) in an area that does not produce vegetation, and (c) meets certain size thresholds. The EPA’s definition of the term “captures key elements of the transformations” observed in the animal agriculture sector over the course of the 20th century: “a production process that concentrates large numbers of animals in relatively small and confined places, and that substitutes structures and equipment (for feeding, temperature controls, and manure management) for land and labor.”[1]
via Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Kewaunee County, Wisconsin is a paradise of sorts, but we have 17 CAFOs in our county. Although our population is only 20,000, CAFOs produce the effluent [manure] equivalent of a population of 1.3 million people. Futhermore, Wisconsin law does little to protect its citizens against these big operations. I’m celebrating Earth Day by learning more about CAFOs and their impact on my family and community…
I love grapes! Now I have more reasons why…
Grapes are packed with hundreds of antioxidants, including vitamins C and K and beta-carotene, which help rid the body of pesky free radicals (byproducts of oxygen use) that cause cellular damage. Antioxidants act as free radical hunters to prevent and repair the damage to cells[4][5].
What’s more, grapes are a great source of phytonutrients, the most notable of which is resveratrol. Resveratrol has made big headlines in recent years for its potential cardiac benefits like lower levels of LDL cholesterol (high levels of which can lead to heart problems) and prevention of blood vessel damage. Plus, it may help inhibit cancer cell growth and possibly help treat cognitive impairment[6][7].Think grapes are just good eats? Wrong! This fruit’s super power is not just through the belly — it’s good for the skin, too! Grape seed oil contains high amounts of conjugated linoleic acid (a fatty acid and antioxidant). Slathering on some grape seed oil can help skin fight off collagen- and elastin-destroying enzymes and could also inhibit damage caused by free radicals[8]. Isn’t the old saying, “A grape seed a day keeps the wrinkles away?” (Well, now it is.) via Superfood: Grapes | Greatist.com.
Go buy some grapes!!!
Melody Beattie shares this today….
All the arts we practice are apprenticeship. The big art is our life. ~ M. C. Richards
What you do is not who you are.
You are more, much more, than that.
It’s easy to get so caught up in what we do that we’re only identifying ourselves through our daily tasks. I am a mechanic. I am a parking lot attendant. I am a doctor. I am a dishwasher. When we link ourselves too closely to our jobs, we deny ourselves the chance to ever be anything else. We limit ourselves by believing that’s all we are and all we’ll ever be.
Our concept of who we are is one of the hardest, but most rewarding, ideas we can change. If you have been brought up believing that you are clumsy, you will probably demonstrate this belief in your actions—until you identify that idea, let go of it, and let yourself be something else.
Don’t limit yourself by saying you are just what you do. Stop seeing yourself as a static being. If I am “just” a parking lot attendant, then how can I hope to ever influence someone through my words, my art, my music, my life? But if I am a vital, living, growing soul who happens to be parking people’s cars, then everything I do can become a symphony. I can have an influence for good in the lives of everyone I touch. I can learn from them, and they from me. I can learn the lessons that I am supposed to learn at this place in my life, and I can move on to other lessons.
God gave us the power to change. You’re more than what you do. You’re a vital vibrant soul that came here to experience, grow, and change. Make a masterpiece out of your life.
God, help me realize the glory of my soul. Thank you for my mortality and for the ability to learn and grow.
Source: April 24: You are a Work of Art | Language of Letting Go
Need to get started? Ponder this:
“Who among us has not made a plan to get up in the morning and exercise, but then hit snooze one time too many, sleeping through our morning jog?
We may have been super-inspired by the incredible brain-boosting properties of exercise. We may have had every intention to start an exercise plan and stick to it. But then… we didn’t. Our warm bed sucked us in. We’ll exercise tomorrow. What we need is willpower.
Once we get in the habit of exercising—or of staying calm in the face of a toddler meltdown, of not checking our email after five o’clock, or of doing anything else we want to have the resolve to do—we don’t need to try so hard. But for now, because we are in the habit of pushing snooze—or yelling, or checking email compulsively all evening—we need self-discipline.” via 5 Tips for Boosting Your Willpower | Psychology Today.
Follow the ‘via’ link above to get 5 great tips…
“If we’re growing, we’re always going to be out of our comfort zone.” ~ John Maxwell via Quote: On Growth | Greatist.com.
Here’s a moral with a story from Melody Beattie…
Jenna started dating a new man. Like many women, she was a little frustrated with all the losers that had come along before. She thought she’d put this one to the test. She wanted to see how good he’d be to her.
So when he called her up and asked her what she wanted to do, she told him she thought he should take her on a little trip.
“Hawaii would be nice,” she said. “You get us the tickets. And find someplace nice for us to stay when we get there. I don’t want to be in a cheesy hotel.”
He had enough money in the bank. The trip, she thought, would be exquisite and luxurious. She envisioned the first-class air travel, the limos, and the home he’d rent complete with maid service and a cook.
When the day of the trip arrived, they took a taxi, not a limo, to the airport. And when she boarded the airplane, he led her back to coach. When the flight attendant came around asking if people wanted to rent movies, her boyfriend shook his head and went back to reading his book. She had to dig out the four dollars to pay for the movie.
She sat scrunched up in her seat, all the way to Hawaii. When they got there, he took her to a time-share condo. Then he drove her in the rental car to the grocery store and said, “Pick out what you want to cook.”
Throughout the vacation she spent a lot of time stewing in her head, but when they got home, she decided to give him one more chance.
So when he called her up and asked her what she wanted to do Friday night, she said she thought a movie would be nice. She hung up the phone, then dressed up and did her hair. She thought maybe he’d take her to a nice theater.
He picked her up, then drove to the nearest Blockbuster. “Go in and pick out whatever video you’d like to rent,” he said. “Do you want to watch it at your place or mine?
The moral of this story is twofold and simple. The first lesson is if you know exactly what you want, you need to spell it out clearly. The second is that it’s better not to expect people to take care of us. Even if they agree to do it, we might not like how they do the job.
While it’s nice to have people love us and do things for us, it’s better to plan on taking care of ourselves.
God, help me remember that it’s my job to take care of myself.
Source: April 18: Remember to Take Care of Yourself | Language of Letting Go
Hmmmm…
Lately I’ve been learning a lot about expectations. I think the simplest way to avoid disappointment is not to have them. Or, as Melody points out if you DO have expectations “you need to spell it [them] out clearly” or be prepared to meet them yourself…
In The Language of Letting Go Melody Beattie says…
“We often refer to recovery from codependency and adult child issues as “self-care.” Self-care is not, as some may think, a spin-off of the “me generation.” It isn’t self-indulgence. It isn’t selfishness—in the negative interpretation of that word. We’re learning to take care of ourselves, instead of obsessively focusing on another person. We’re learning self-responsibility, instead of feeling excessively responsible for others. Self-care also means tending to our true responsibilities to others; we do this better when we’re not feeling overly responsible. Self-care sometimes means, “me first,” but usually, “me too.” It means we are responsible for ourselves and can choose to no longer be victims. Self-care means learning to love the person we’re responsible for taking care of—ourselves. We do not do this to hibernate in a cocoon of isolation and self-indulgence; we do it so we can better love others, and learn to let them love us. Self-care isn’t selfish; it’s self-esteem. Today, God, help me love myself. Help me let go of feeling excessively responsible for those around me. Show me what what I need to do to take care of myself and be appropriately responsible to others.”
Beattie, Melody (2009-12-15). The Language of Letting Go (Hazelden Meditation Series) (pp. 105-106). Hazelden. Kindle Edition.
Feel free today to take care of yourself…
More from Melody Beattie:
We can delegate tasks, but we can’t delegate responsibility, if the responsibility is really ours.
Sometimes, it’s normal to delegate tasks to other people. We may hire people to do certain things for us. We may engage in contracts with a therapist or a healer to help us work through a certain issue. But the responsibility for which pieces of advice we follow, and the decisions we make in our lives, ultimately belongs to us.
It’s easy to get lazy. We can let a friend, an employee, or even a skilled therapist begin making our decisions for us. We can listen to what they say and blindly take their advice. Then we don’t have to take responsibility for our lives. If the decision doesn’t work out, we can say, “You were wrong. Look at the mess you’ve gotten me into. I’m a victim, again.”
Yes you are. But you’re a victim of yourself.
We can listen to advice and let other people help us, but if they’re helping us do something that is our responsibility, the ultimate responsibility for the decision still belongs to us.
Get help when you need it. Delegate tasks. But don’t give away your power. Remember you can think, you can feel, you can take care of yourself, you can figure out your problems.
Don’t get lazy. Don’t give away responsibility for your life.
God, help me remember that I am responsible for me.
Source: April 17: You are Responsible for You | Language of Letting Go
A valuable message from Melody Beattie…
Are you willing to take responsibility for this mat, to own it? That doesn’t mean it isn’t everybody else’s mat, too. If you’re big enough to own the mat as yours, you’re big enough to let it be theirs, too.
— George Leonard
In his book The Way of Aikido, George Leonard wrote about the concept of owning the mat. He was talking about aikido. He was referring to an air of ownership, a certain presence he learned to demonstrate both on the mats while practicing martial arts and in his life.
Many subtle attitudes and past conditioning can affect our sense of ownership of our lives and of the world we live in—guilt, a haunting sense of victimization, laziness, living with repressive, angry, or abusive people may have tamed our sense of ownership of our lives. Continue reading “Own Your Life”
Thanks to Steve Layman for posting this poem. I love ANYTHING to do with daffodils…
I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils; Continue reading “A poem for Monday…”
The best thing one can do when it’s raining is to let it rain.
— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
C. M. MacNeil shares this from Melody Beattie…
Our most important focus during times of stress is taking care of ourselves. We are better able to cope with the most irregular circumstances; we are better able to be there for others if we’re caring for ourselves. We can ask ourselves regularly: What do we need to do to take care of ourselves? What might help us feel better or more comfortable?
Self-care may not come as easily during times of stress. Self-neglect may feel more comfortable. But taking care of us always works.Today, I will remember that there is no situation that can’t be benefited by taking care of myself.
via April 14, 2012 – Today’s Gift from Hazelden « cmmacneil.
Apparently eating healthily is more complicated than just avoiding demon Cheddarwurst…
Getting the recommended two cups of fruit per day while keeping sugar intake under the recommended 26 grams per day for women and 36 grams for men can be tricky. Depending on your choices, this could be bad news for fruit lovers: Just two cups of sliced bananas adds up to the maximum recommended amount, clocking in at 36 grams of sugar!
The sugariest fruit we found? Red grapes, which have a whopping 23 grams of sugar per cup. If you’re looking to cut back on your sugar intake, try strawberries or blueberries, which have a respectable 7 grams of sugar per cup.
The Takeaway: Some fruits can have a shocking amount of sugar. To keep it under the recommended limits, try sticking to berries and staying away from grapes.
Juiced?
Regardless of sugar content, whole fruit is always a better choice than fruit juice to keep sugar intake lower and take fiber intake up a notch.
Fun Fact
A cup of orange juice has 30 grams of sugar — nearly as much as a can of soda.
Sigh…
Good stuff from Melody Beattie. Again.
For the first several hundred years after the Buddha died, there were no images of him. Only his dharma, or teachings, were passed on from generation to generation. Eventually, however, the people wanted an image to remind them of their ideal, and that’s when and how Buddha statues came to be.
The good thing about having statues of Buddha is they remind followers of the ideals they’re striving for in their lives. The difficult thing about Buddha statues is that people may be tempted to idolize the statue, and forget to seek the state of consciousness the Buddha represented.
It’s easy for us to idolize our mentors and teachers, the people who encourage and help us to grow. It can be easy to look around us and think others have the key to enlightenment, success, joy.
Stop idolizing other people.
Look in the mirror.
You have everything you need to learn your lessons, grow, achieve success. You have all the courage you need to fail, then try again. You have everything you need, within you, to live and follow your own path with heart.
Not only are you right where you need to be, but you can get wherever you want to go from here. And you and I have all the power we need to learn the lessons we came here to learn.
God, teach me that all I need is within me.
Source: April 12: You Have the Power | Language of Letting Go
Christians, don’t get so hung up on the B word – you know, Buddha – that you miss the lesson! Have you forgotten this?
“The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, 21nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.” Source: Luke 17 NIV 1984
How important is the stuff in your life?
Your material possessions—those things you’ve worked so hard for, slaving 40, 50, 60 hours a week to acquire—how much value do they actually add to your life?
We bet it’s less than you realize.
Here’s an exercise for you. Take a moment, write down your 10 most expensive material possessions from the last decade. Things like your car, your house, your jewelry, your furniture, and any other material possessions you own or have owned in the last ten years. The big ticket items.
Next to that list, make another top 10 list: 10 things that add the most value to your life. This list might include experiences like catching a sunset with a loved one, watching your kid play baseball, eating dinner with your parents, etc.
Be honest with yourself when you’re making these lists. It’s likely that both lists share zero things in common.
My friend David Kanigan confessed an addition to donuts on his blog a few weeks back and I chided him on his blog without confessing a similar addition to Cheddarwursts and other hotdogs and sausages with similar nutritional value…
No more excuses! Forget about the tempting smells from the pizza place down the block. Or how easyit is to pick up a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich on the way to work. These tips make eating healthy not only easier, but often cheaper, too.
Source: 22 Cheap and Easy Ways to Eat Healthy | Greatist.com
At home, my wife is obsessed with providing the best of live and homemade foods. In my office where I have my own refrigerator and microwave the contents are Cheddarwursts and Diet Mountain Dew. Sigh. I need to go to the source and review this list. Maybe you do too…
Melody Beattie writes…
We will discover the nature of our particular genius when we stop trying to conform to our own or to other peoples’ models, learn to be ourselves, and allow our natural channels to open.
— Shakti Gawain
We have much in common with each other. And recovery, growth, and change are strengthened by honoring these similarities. But each of us is unique. We each have our own strengths, weaknesses, gifts, vulnerabilities—our own personalities.
The purpose of spiritual growth is not to eliminate the personality. It is to refine and enhance it, and allow each of us to express ourselves creatively.
We are not meant to be just like anyone else. Comparison will leave us uncomfortable, either on the side of pride or of inadequacy.
You are you. The wonder of life comes in finding your own rhythm to the dance, your own way of seeing the world, your own brush stroke, phrase, or special combination.
Being aware of your true self is the best way to free yourself from the controlling, manipulative behaviors of others.
You don’t need the right car, the right shoes, the right girlfriend to be complete. All you really need is to be yourself. Your spirit is the real you. Let it guide you.
Be still. Listen to your spirit say, I am, and I am enough. In the silence, you’ll hear God.
Happiness is not something you postpone for the future; it is something you design for the present. — Jim Rohn
Bright, shiny objects! 
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