Saturday, October 22, 2011

a little bit of this...a little bit of that

I'm a fan of 'less is more'. I do love cooking. But after a hard cycle of workouts, I'm ready to eat! I had a taste for Chinese carryout. I'd tried this 'new' spot up the road and found it to be very inexpensive, tasty, and not a very long drive. My favorite dish is the Chinese Vegetables with Vegetable Fried Rice. I don't do beef and if you've followed me for the past few months you know I'm serious about my digestive tract. Now I happened into Whole Foods earlier in the week looking for my Gardein Holiday Stuffed Turkey. It wasn't in, and I was too busy to bother the service desk, so I glanced in the frozen foods section and found VegeUSA Black Pepper Steak...only it's not steak. It's vegetable protein, soy to be exact. I thought to myself...I said "self", you can toss that with some peppers and have your way with it.

And so I did, only I didn't do the sauteing, I picked up a carry out order along with my vegetable fried rice and tossed the veggies with my vegan pepper steak. It was yummy!!! I added an egg roll to the plate and dinner was served.

If you have a hankering for beef loins and have given up meat, there's a healthier option just waiting for you to try! Enjoy~

Saturday, October 15, 2011

the day we all opted out of medical insurance

the day that we all opted out of medical insurance

The United States is a highly civilized intelligent community of all types of people. And here we stand, fighting for health care for all persons. Everything is about the comfort zone of the rich and right.

What would happen if you woke up tomorrow and made a decision during this enrollment period to simply opt out? And then you told ten other friends, and they did the same. And then you did this for the next five years. You no longer purchased prescriptions, went into hospitals, or purchased any over-the-counter medicines. And you lived on the principles of the Old Testament. What would happen to their system if you decided that when life happens it happens and when death happens, it happens? That you were no longer worried or begging a professional to extend your dance card?

Imagine...

Yes, I realize that many of us live and breathe on every word that our doctor tells us regarding our health. If they show us a chart, some photos, and scare us enough we are willing to latch onto a prescription that may in fact be doing our entire body’s ecosystem an injustice.

What would happen if you woke up tomorrow and made the decision to take your life into your own hands, and live through the foods you eat and not the medications prescribed to you?

Yes, I realize that some of us ‘can’t’ function without the medications we live on. Imagine the day when the medication that you’ve been prescribed, in order to save your life falls into short supply. Imagine the day when the pharmacological association decides you are no longer worthy to accept this ‘gift’ and have chosen by lot or birth that someone else is far more superior to you, and thus you must get by any way you can.

What would happen? Would you live or would you die instantly? Would you give up, take your own life?

Politicians march to Washington armed with free health care provided to them by the public. They receive the best, and slamming your President’s health care bill simply implies that they do not believe you’re entitled to the same gift you grant them—free public health care. The health care system is dealing your comfort zone away daily, and what are you planning to do about it? It’s a service in high demand, and thus the cost has bankrupted families.

Imagine the day, when you are no longer a chess piece on their board...when the demand for medical care is low…
Tell me, who is in power now? Who controls the market now?

Imagine that…

Imagine the day when someone might just solicit to the public, free health care for a year, ten years, etc. just for enrolling and telling ten others to do the same...

Imagine the day when we all opted out of medical insurance...we could literally wager what we deem is fair and just.

Thursday, October 13, 2011

forgiveness, peace, growth

Oftentimes we are hurt by the actions of others. The pain of the disappointment bores a hole deep within our hearts. It is only the people who we love and trust with our hearts who impose the biggest disappointment. The opinions and actions of those insignificant rarely matter. It's not always the other person's fault, even though often the pain appears to have been done with intent. Either way, until you allow yourself to confront the issue, peace will never be allowed to reside over the situation.

Death is the end. When it comes there is very little chance that you can move beyond the tragedy of the past disappointments. Closure in that realm is permanent. As long as someone is alive, you are allowed to gain a better understanding of the wrongs you think have been inflicted upon you. It may never gain you the full apology you think you are warranted. But it should grant you permission, to move forward. It's not about the other person, it's about you. It's the closure you seek.

Recently I had a very self-actualizing moment with a past friend who I felt had wronged me. I spent eight years hiding and purposefully removing myself from any and all elements that would find me reconnecting with that person. It wasn't until my mother passed away that I realized and remembered that death is permanent. Any thing you do in life, the pains you cause or the wrongs you've done, have a chance to be righted. And so I recalled a conversation that my mother had with me, and discovered that I owed this person the opportunity to pay his respects. I didn't know if it would mean anything to the person, if they'd long since forgotten about my mother, but it seemed like the right thing to do.

I never intended on having a regression. Everything happens for a reason. Without fail, the latch flew off the shed, the door swung open, and inside lay the past. The purging began. It was painful to speak about, and it was painful I'm sure to hear. But it all needed to be said. Time waits for no one. We think we have tomorrow, but it has never been promised. The point is to finish everything today as if it is our last. Closure. That is what I needed.

By the end of the conversation, forgiveness was remembered. It was a reminder that it was possible again. Everyone believes that they are better at being a human than the next. It's only when we self-actualize that we understand that others are as easily flawed as we are. Pedestal's aren't the place for humans. Allow people the freedom to move around up there, else, they are doomed to fall. No matter how much of a perfectionist we are, we aren't perfect. We are subject to human frailty.

Peace again resides, so that growth can take place. We don't know what the future holds. But I can promise you that it doesn't hold much for us. And that's okay. The point here is that closure was gained. The past was remembered, verified, cleansed, understood, and then shelved. People are hurt by the past and they don't want to remember it. Thus, they lock it away and pretend it doesn't exist anymore, until a trigger happens. Some emotional event causes the pain to surge to the forefront and we are forced to recognize it.

It's there to torture us because we didn't make peace with certain things. We washed over them, tucked them away for the greater good. We didn't want to rock any boats, upset people, make folks feel ashamed. So we shelved them, hid them, and put a security lock on its door. But the trigger blew the door off it's hinges.

See, when we open the door we approach the pain and the tragedy with empathy, grace, and the desire to make it right. But when the door is forced open, it's like a rape, a violation, a trespassing on the past. Regressions matter. They are healing. They hurt. But they heal. Time is in short supply so we hope to get to the root cause before the last sand falls. There will be tears. There will be sickness. There will be what appears to be pain. But it's called the hurt when your healing.

Ever recognize that a few days after you've cut your skin that it hurts worse than the day you first cut it? It's very similar to the hurt you feel when your soul is healing from pain. This is the growth you want. You've earned it, so claim it. Not everyone wants an understanding. They are content to leaving everything exactly where it is, fearing a single word or phrase may upset the fold.

Growth only comes when healing takes place. You've freed yourself. It's not that you did this in order to grant this person permission back into your life, as if the entire regression process was a toll they had to pay to gain reentry. No! This was for you. Not them. They still may very well be unfounded in blame. It's for you. You, who have given up the belief that the past could have been any different. Forgiveness frees you, grants you peace, so that you can grow beyond the circumstance.

chicken-less chicken sandwich

MorningStar Farms rocks! I'm sure I say that a lot. But it's true. I had a hankering for a sandwich and realized that I had MorningStar Italian Chik-n Patties in the freezer, in an unopened box, just waiting for me to dine on them. So I heated one for the appointed time, placed it on a whole wheat sandwich thin by Arnold/Brownberry, added lettuce, a slice of soy cheese, and onion with ranch salad dressing. On the side, I deep fried six onion rings. Pure Deliciousness!


Wednesday, October 5, 2011

rest and recover, then fire it up

Hi Everyone! The results are in. I gave my soles for Parkinson's on Oct. 1, 2011 @ approximately 10:30 a.m. We started the run with a couple laps around the 'home track' and then off we went to challenge our minds, bodies, and spirits. It was a great cause and I couldn't have been more happier with my results. I had projected 15 mins - 1st mile, 12 minutes - 2nd mile, and 10 minutes - 3rd mile. That would be a total of 37 minutes. Well, I ran my second 5K ever, in 36:30 minutes. I was smoking. The weather was cold. I didn't expect it to be any better actually. Last year, when I ran the Brooksie Way 5K, I realized that October is just not forgiving. The mornings are bitter. And this one left nothing to the imagination. I was inspired. My sister was inspired. We did our thing. My training paid off! Last years run was about an hour, 5 minutes shy. 10K's are in my future. I can feel it! 6.4 miles??? I can do it~

Remember now, I'm almost 42 and running wasn't my life until a year ago. I forgot to get on the grass and stretch. I did the same thing last year and was sore. Then the long drive...sitting. Time to rest and recover. The lower body is strong so I took the next day and worked my bottom half at the gym. Now, to rest and recover. Two days. And the 'welcome back' run today at 5.5 was like pushing a rusty wagon up a hill. LMBO! I should have started with a walk, then to an incline walk.

It's all good. I'm thinking "tin man" from the Wizard of Oz. We would make quite a pair. I will not push past the pain this year. Last year, I did that and was sidelined for a few weeks. I'm going to cut my long runs out...and apply max interval training and boot camp style cardiovascular training. The weight training days are on the climb now. YES!

This girl is about to crank up that furnace.

No, cardio isn't going anywhere. It's my staple. But the long run is about to be reset. Speed is going to fall back a bit too. No injuries...no injuries!