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Hi this is Linda Gullo welcoming you to Mini Miracles from Minor Moments where the smallest moments can add up to make your days full of joy. This is Podcast # 52 on Forging ahead through times of trouble. We'd be foolish to think that all of life is easy, but life is challenging and it is hard to stay on top of it all. For many of us our faith in God and living with wholesome values helps us stay on task. So where does your strength come from? Is it God? Is it people around you? Those at work? or Family members? Perhaps it comes in the form of reading good books? Often the brief escape into a Fictional piece of writing helps you filter things out in your head. OR you run to books filled with advice and hopefully learn from them? I wrote a book several years ago called Erasing Adversity. IT was a book about the story of a man who underwent a series of medical issues following a life altering brain injury and how treatment, perseverance, and scrambling for resolution took a toll on the family around him. It was a book that was meant to give hope. It was to be relatable to everyone whether they have cancer, go bankrupt, or encounter grief of any kind. The need to read and share these sadnesses are meant to encourage one another. I have a sign in my office that reads "all things are temporary!" We need to dream on and keep going. We need to set goals and work toward better tomorrows. We need to keep moving, creating, and finding new things to be interested in for ourselves and those around us. We need to include more people and events into our lives by inviting others to share in our joys and sorrows. This is not your tomorrow when things are wrong; it is just today. Tomorrow may be the surprising turn around day for you. Every day brings opportunities for turning things around. So let’s talk about “instant motivation!” One of my patients suggested that I discuss the weather and how it affects us. I thought that was an interesting topic because the traffic into my office depends a lot on the changing seasons and the weather. People including myself; even the smallest children are effected. The sun brings out what I refer to as the “Happy Chemicals.” People get more active and connect more with friends. Their aches and pain seem to subside or at least appear to be more tolerable.
Actually, I think a domino effect goes into play and it plays out like this:
- The sun comes out and brightens our moods.
- We raise the shades in our homes, put things away, and begin to declutter.
- We call friends, make plans, and go outside. We breath in the fresh air.
- We invite people over and they gladly come out of their routine to visit with us.
- We receive more handshakes and hugs.
- We commiserate with each others physical pains and recognize our own crosses aren’t as bad as, we may have thought.
- We learn ways to compensate and move more.
- The more we move and run errands that we had been putting off, the better our dispositions become. Why? Because we have start feeling accomplished and successful.
- We dress up more, put on better clothes, and get compliments. That in turn make us want to be out and about more.
- We socialize more in our yards and our patios with music. We might even begin to dance as I saw at a recent church affair where volunteers were being honored.
- So now we all begin to move more. For those with arthritis, exercise makes their discomfort more tolerable, and often gentle stretching may help back pain. Often exercise can help control asthma and the frequency of attacks. People with diabetes are able to lower their sugar levels with more walking and eating less of the wrong foods.