YOUR LIFE A-Z:PERCEPTION

WHAT EYES ARE YOU LOOKING THROUGH

PERCEPTION

PERCEPTION matters.  PERCEPTION is an amazing ability to sense a situation (any) through your senses, which also include your biography and biology.  For instance if you have a history of not being heard or understood, perhaps you have developed a PERCEPTION that what you have to say is very uninteresting and that you are not as smart as though around you.  That PERCEPTION is dangerous and harmful to your self-esteem and it hurts you.  Instead, maybe you have been around very self-absorbed people.  So, always question your PERCEPTIONS.  How did you come to believe certain things?  When did you come to believe certain things?  For instance if you were four years old when you PERCEIVED that the world was out to hurt you, and perhaps the age of four was very hurtful.  However, at the age of twenty-nine you will need to update your PERCEPTION.  You have many more options as a twenty-nine year old than you did as a four year old.  PERCEPTIONS really do affect your belief system and how you see the world and yourself.   Thus, it is important to examine your perceptions and update them based on the reality of your life as it exist today.  Facts and truth are always filtered through your internal belief system and it is best to compare the facts to what really exist in the world around you.  A four year inside of you should not be ruling your adult life.  Developmental stages make a difference to how you come to believe what you believe. 

YOUR LIFE A-Z: ORGANIC

GOOD EARTH AND WATER RESTORE US

ORGANIC

To eat or not to eat ORGANIC is a very important question these days and it is riddled with confusion.  ORGANIC is more expensive and as a result not an easy buy in for those struggling financially.  ORGANIC is confusing and reading the label seems to make it more confusing at times.  However, the more you learn the more sense it may make to make the switch.   I found a simple site: www.organic-center.com that keeps it simple and helpful.  However, in order for you to switch to ORGANIC you need a mental buy in that reaches into your belief system.  If you truly do not believe ORGANIC is necessary you are going to consistently choose non-organic because of price point and convenience.  Thus, rather than me or any other medical expert telling you what you should do, take personal responsibility and research the benefits of ORGANIC food and if you still do not believe it is important then don’t do it.  If you want to run your own experiment to see if eating ORGANIC makes a difference, then clean out the garbage food in your pantry and refrigerator and go ORGANIC completely for thirty days.  You may not notice a difference, but that difference may become very apparent once you add garbage food back to your diet.  It really takes less than thirty days to notice the difference.  ORGANIC can become an investment that you make in becoming healthier and making more responsible choices for your health.  If you don’t have your health, you have nothing.  Think about it and then act on it.

YOUR LIFE A-Z:EXERCISE

NEVER SKIP IT

EXERCISE

EXERCISE is also a great de-stressing tool.  Some of you love to EXERCISE and can’t wait to get to the gym or on your mountain bike.  Others of you hate EXERCISE and have to be forced into doing it.  I would wager that those of you who hate to EXERCISE are EXERCISING for the wrong reasons and doing particular EXERCISES that you just hate.  Before I talk about different types of EXERCISE, let me get clear EXERCISE, whether you like it or not is important to your health.  Thus establish an EXERCISE rule.   The only rule needed is to EXERCISE at least thirty minutes a day whether you like it or not.  The simplest way to EXERCISE is to walk for thirty minutes.  Other than a good pair of walking shoes, walking EXERCISE does not require anything else and almost everyone can do it.  If you can’t walk then you need to discover other ways to EXERCISE.  Stretching is a good choice of EXERCISE and it does not require any fancy equipment.  Learning to make EXERCISE as part of your daily routine is a very important part of self-care.  The goal is to EXERCISE more days a week than not.  EXERCISE will help you stay flexible and healthy as you age.  And unless you die early, you will age.  If you want to get around in a healthy body as you age EXERCISE is important.  Make it your goal to discover an EXERCISE that you don’t hate and then do it on a daily basis.  It is simple.  The only goal is to do it.  Don’t do it to lose weight, do it because you love yourself.

YOUR LIFE A-Z:BREAKFAST

A HEALTHY CHOICE WHEN EATING OUT

BREAKFAST

The first rule of good physical self-care is to always eat BREAKFAST.  BREAKFAST starts our metabolism for the day and signals the body that it is time to get on with the process or living well.  BREAKFAST is considered by most health experts to be the most important meal of the day.  However, not all BREAKFAST meals are the same, so this is not a license to eat whatever you want. However, it is a license to eat something.  Good BREAKFAST choices are always less than 500 calories and often you can have a good breakfast less than 300 calories.  Portion control is important in all of our meals.  BREAKFAST needs to be balanced with protein choices.  Thus an egg omelet with fresh veggies, yogurt with nuts and berries, apple with peanut butter, whole grain carbs with any of the above can complete the meal for you.  Some of you enjoy variety, so be sure to think ahead and have several healthy choices on hand and pre-plan it the night before so that you get in the habit of making sure you eat before you leave the house or have a breakfast to go ready and waiting for you in the fridge.  Some professionals recommend that you eat protein with your BREAKFAST meal and that you eat within thirty minutes of being up.  If you are not a BREAKFAST eater, then make this meal a priority and keep it simple in order to get into the habit.  The simpler it is for you the more successful you will be. 

YOUR LIFE A-Z: YUMMY

THE MORE COLORFUL...THE BETTER

YUMMY

YUMMY and healthy can go hand in hand.  Because of our over commercialized food industry that focuses on selling sugar, carbs, and colorful snack foods our brain has been conditioned to want things that look tasteful and make our saliva glands activate when a picture of a Cinnabon drenched in cream cheese shows up on a TV commercial.  Immediately the brain says,  “I want one.”  Well let’s think about that commercial that wants to keep you fat, sluggish, and wanting another one of those picturesque foods.  That classic Cinnabon has 880 calories, 830 grams of sodium, and 59 grams of sugar.  What a binge that is!  You would have to exercise on an elliptical for 3 hours at level four just to burn that off. 

Kale, brussel sprouts, and squash never make the big screen commercial thus those foods are out of our consciousness unless we subscribe to a healthy recipe magazine.  YUMMY may require an acquired taste for the healthy because our senses are not be flashed with beautiful soups and salads that are cooked with fresh whole veggies.  Would you change out a Kale and Quinoa salad for a Cinnabon if you really understood that this YUMMY food would help you stay slim, benefit your heart health rather than harming it, and fill you up with wonderful antioxidants to fight off disease?  YUMMY is a mental focus and a retraining of the brain to desire what is best for the body.  Perhaps all us have been pre-programmed to keep the pharmaceutical and western medical enterprises rich while we suffer from heart disease, diabetes, and cancers.  Re-define YUMMY and enjoy the health benefits of new taste buds.

YOUR LIFE A-Z:VIVACIOUS

SIEZE THE DAY

VIVACIOUS

Be VIVACIOUS!  Be energetic, lively and embrace life fully. You don't have to be a super-star or a Hollywood actor to approach life as a vibrant loving VIVACIOUS person who enjoys a great walk in the park with a bounce in his/her step and a big smile on his/her face.  VIVACIOUS behavior is 90% mental energy and attitude. Who is the most VIVACIOUS person you know?  Take a minute to image that person in your mind's eye.  Pay attention to how that person walks. VIVACIOUS people walk with confidence and a spring in his/her step.  VIVACIOUS energy seems to be contagious.  When I am around someone who is VIVACIOUS I feel more alive and more interested in what is going on around me.  Don’t let life become dull.  Go out and about today embracing the moment.  Walk with a bounce, dress in colors and put a smile on your face.  Tune into an inner space where you can find that person inside of you who loves life and delights in the simplest pleasures.   Enjoy with VIVACIOUS energy a blend of music today and the taste of simple healthy foods.  Enjoy the sun and bask in it for a while and if it is raining or snowing, delight in the diversity of nature.  Even nature changes colors, temperatures, and its weather to keep from becoming boring.  If every day were the same boredom would set it.   So change out a sense of dullness today for the VIVACIOUS you that longs to enjoy life deeply.