Health and Lifestyle
New Insights
Well every now and then, one comes up with some great insight. It doesn’t have to be profound, just meaningful in itself. So yesterday I discussed the idea of “wholesome”. Today I watched a short recording of our 10 month old grandchild eating breakfast. These are the good times when everyone is healthy and the smallest efforts go so far. Learning to feed oneself is a big step. It is something that will continue forever. I am not thinking of just feeding ourselves literally food.
So how do we feed ourselves as we get older? Do we search out like-minded friends? Do we learn that the profession we entered is stimulating and just perfect? Do we learn that some foods agree with us and others don’t? Just how do we stimulate our minds and keep learning?
These are all good journaling questions? So they are also on the Journaling Aids page of this blog. So let’s try to answer some of these questions.
Feeding ourselves continues to be a challenge throughout our lives. We are always teaching ourselves basic things. Learning to dress ourselves. We learn to button, zipper, tie, and velcro our clothes. We coordinate colors and styles to fit us and our personalities. We learn to walk and sit and navigate in small areas like on an airplane. We facilitate seatbelts and our own boundaries on a bus or theater.
As we enter into the community as a student, we learn to follow rules. We meet the firemen, the police, the teachers, the tradesmen, the librarian, and other relevant people. We ask questions and stumble along to fit in to the acceptable norm of our environment. We learn the rules and the importance of them. Along the way, we try to meet friends. That never ends. Our friendships make us better people. God gave us connections to keep us safe and accountable.
I have been reading a few good books. One is by Jon Acuff called DO OVER; Rescue Monday, Reinvent Your Work, and Never Get Stuck. I highly recommend it to anyone in transition or thinks they should change their profession or job. It is thought provoking and helps a person stay focused. It may help you answer questions regarding what you do and what you’d like to do. (It is the recommended book on our main page, please check it over, I am still reading it and savoring its messages).
Back to learning to eat! As we get older, we learn the foods that agree with us and those that do not fuel us well. Our desire to stay healthy and part of society keeps us focused on being productive and energized.
Don’t get stuck, keep reinventing yourself. It is okay to change hobbies, to run more, to read more, to take on new habits and forms of enjoyment. It is okay to travel and volunteer. Embrace life and “Delight in Living!”
The Wholesome Lifestyle
The wholesome lifestyle, just what is that? I can tell you what it isn’t. It isn’t trying to beat your neighbor by purchasing a better car, yet the commercials would like us to think that!
It’s not about compromising your values about life! If you have an elderly parent living with you, it may show others your priorities. Or if there is a family nearby who needs shopping done for them, it isn’t healthy for you to ignore them.
A new cool dress on a hot summer day.
It isn’t about swearing or rudely yelling at the neighborhood kids. Yet I recall hearing a neighbor do that when my son was younger. The man was very self centered and unkind. I later learned that he had dropped his daughter on her head several years before, because of a bad temper.
It isn’t cheating on your income taxes to get ahead. It isn’t stealing paper clips from the office you work at to save a few pennies. It isn’t being self centered!
So here are a few things that contribute to a wholesome lifestyle!
1-It’s about teaching children to compete fairly. Playing family games. Setting a good example. Teaching ourselves and our children to be a good winners or losers.
2-It’s about being the best version of yourself (Matthew Kelly’s books are all based on this premise). It’s giving some of our time to those around us. When was the last time you asked if you could pick something up at the store for your neighbor?
3-It’s about learning to have a good attitude. When your own yard is full of leaves, but you help someone else do their yard with a smile.
4-It’s all about being thankful for the ability to walk into any store and get food when we want it. We don’t have to deal with flooded homes, war torn homes, or poverty. We all have the opportunity to earn and spend.
5-Manners are never lost. Being grateful and letting people know how much you appreciate them is part of living well.
6-Learning to accept what we have and be appreciative. It may mean having clean clothes, food on the table, and running water. The ability to see a doctor or get immunizations for our families is an marvelous opportunity.
7-It is humbling to be on the receiving end. I bought something at a garage sale earlier this summer. It was a toy for a grandchild and it was really cumbersome to carry home. A younger neighbor offered to carry it for me down the block. It was so appreciated as I needed the help.
8- Going out of your way to show kindness is good. When my daughter was unable to lift anything over 5 pounds after surgery 6 years ago, a friend from her church came in the morning to help her with the baby until I arrived. Giving and receiving gifts of time are wholesome values.
9-Passing on clothes from one family to another helps us not to waste. When my children were small, the family across the street had children. She was pass on clothes for my daughter and I would pass on boys items for her son. We both benefited on saving money and helping each other.
10-It is about reading and keeping up-to-date with magazines and books. Education is something that no one can take away from us.
11-It is about going to church, school events, or community runs and being part of a larger family.
We don’t have to have everything new. We don’t need to match. We don’t have to be clones of one another like the Jr. High kids seem to think! We need to be caring and compassionate; accepting and nurturing to one another. Despite our differences, we need to reach out and accept that we all want to be healthy and needed. We need to follow the basic 10 commandments and the laws. Be kind!
I just heard a Podcast featuring **Derrick Tennant share about his “obstacle” becoming his “opportunity.” We all have “obstacles” in our life that can move us and other people forward.
Enjoy your week and “Delight in Living!”
* Matthew Kelly at www.dynamiccatholic.com
**Check our Derrick Michael Tennants page @ www.derrickmichaeltennant.com
Private
What does private mean to most people? Does it mean something is truly private financially? Does it mean a person is reserved and not communicative? Or does it simply mean they prefer to stay to themselves? Does it mean this is their title in the armed services?
I have this label on one of the doors of my office. It is meant that I don’t conduct business in this room. It is reserved for working on files, talking on the phone, and doing computer work. There are also areas for people to engage in conversation so this is only a small part of the office that I reserve.
On social networking often people will keep their sites for a select few and make it by membership only. Sometimes there are private country clubs or associations that are for members of a specific industry. We all belong to families and some are more open than others. Big families tend to be that way. They are as a group more private and have their own code of honor.
I was raised by parents who were private people. They taught us not to be nosy about our neighbors. We were taught not to discuss religion, politics, or the amount we made. In affect, they were teaching us social skills about knowing our boundaries with others. We were taught to knock at the door and to step away when someone was on the phone. I still do believe we need stay out of other peoples business unless we are to be of service.
Today people freely discuss many things. They talk religion and often try to persuade you of their religion. They dump their political views on one another even when one doesn’t want to know what they think. They intrude into our business and often are just busy being nosy.
Now that so many people use their cell phones as their only phone, it is more difficult to stay confidential. Some of these habits are really out of control. Today people take calls here, there, and everywhere. They don’t seem to care who hears them. One day while I was on a train going downtown Chicago, I learned too much about one of the passengers, who went on and on while she was on the phone. After awhile I could see she was annoying everyone around her. I felt she was being too public, as well as, rude.
It is good; however, to be inquisitive. It is when we ask questions that we become clearer about our own needs and values. We tell children to ask questions so they can learn. I have thought about this a lot with the many dangers in the world at large. We do need to be vigilant and aware of happenings around us. What was safe years ago isn’t the case in this day and age.
So as a mother and grandmother, I think we have a duty to teach our children boundaries that will keep them safe. Do you agree? Think about how to implement these safeguards. Are you setting a good example or acting like the lady on the train? Are there neighborhood watches around you? Is school involvement a way to be on top of things in your own area?
Hope this helps keep you and your loved ones safe and still able to “Delight in Living!” Have a great week! Feel free to sign up on our site for future PDF’s and helpful hints.
Keeping in Touch
Have you ever wondered what happened to an old friend after they moved away? Or perhaps due to an illness or accident, you have lost track of them? Well I have been looking for a girl that grew up a couple of doors away from me for years. She lost her mothe
r due to a brain tumor when we were in Junior High. Her dad, who was a pilot for United Airlines, remarried a lovely lady. Soon they moved away and I was never able to say goodbye or how much I loved being a friend.
Well all of us need to reconnect with those we hold dear. I am in the process of doing that this week. I have three people who I always enjoyed and for one reason or another, I lost them. One I connected with last weekend by phone. She is older than I am and I owed her a letter. Instead I called and reconnected in a personal 45 minute call. It felt good hearing her voice. She is unable to write well and has a caregiver so life has gotten increasingly difficult.
The other two people both moved away from the area. When I didn’t get Christmas cards, I figured something was wrong. I was able to get their addresses and letters are already written. I am delighted to try and reconnect with them both.
Letter writing is an art form. There was an elderly Mission Priest I once knew well after he came to Hartland, Illinois for a week long Mission. We never lost touch. He wrote me every couple of weeks as he traveled up and down the California coast ministering to the parishes without a Pastor. In the process of communicating with him, I learned how a good conversationalist can indeed carry over into becoming a good writer. He was artful in his wording. He had great insight on the societal changes in our United States from being with a crossover of people. When I received word of his death, I was saddened. He was an old fashioned Jesuit* with a deep spirituality. Whether you agree with everything he said, he was still someone you truly enjoyed hearing.
Communication is so much more than words. It is a style of using language. It is taking in the non verbal expression and sighs. In letters we are not privileged to see expressions. The personality comes through the writing style. Is it readable or like a doctors prescription? Recently a friend was disturbed that her children were not learning cursive* writing. Years ago we learned the Palmer Writing method. At another school I taught in the Zaner Boser method was taught. Both are beautiful and seem to have been lost. Parents can also pass those skills on to their children. It is so classy to be able to write well and legibly.
My father had a very clear writing style. He was a machinist and took pride in clear blueprints. He loved to “doodle”. Mom could have been a penmanship professor; her writing was beautiful. Each had a distinctive signature and beautiful flow to their writing. When I come across something they wrote or a recipe of mom’s, I find myself instantly reconnected to them. They died in the early 80’s, but I feel their spirit in their writing.
So I leave you with a challenge. Is there someone you need to connect with today? Are you able to contact them in a personal way? Are you on social media, but need to be more “in person” with a long lost cousin or friend? Enjoy the day as we enter into Fall weather. Peace and “Delight in Living!”
What’s on the Menu?
Have you ever tried to make out menus for your family? One of the biggest joys for me is to go into a restaurant and read their menu. It tells you a lot about the place you are eating. Is it a single, small ice cream parlor with specialties that makes you feel special? Is it known for a hometown favorite? Is it a franchise where everything is the same no matter where you go?
Menus tell us the cuisine. It may be all French food or strictly Italian. It may be Asian food or All American. At home, our tastes may be varied. I know in our home we were “the International home of foods!” My husband being Italian had his favorites that I still make today. There were the Mediterranean dishes of pasta with vegetables, garlic, and olive oil. There were the Spinach patties and other family dishes that I make.
My grandparents were European and so I also learned how to cook those dishes from Prague and Austria. My husband loved Julia Child and would make Vichyssoise and Lamb dishes. We began to add in Mexican dishes of Pollo and Tacos. As the kids grew our family tried new things. We’d go out to restaurants and encourage them to taste new foods; there were Frog legs and Venison.
Shifting our menus makes us appreciate having food. It helps us recognize how lucky we are to be able to go into a store for groceries and buy whatever we want. It is easy to take for granted our freezers and the many opportunities to eat well.
We all have our local food pantries that are needed, because so many people are without jobs and incomes. Young people have come out of school with loans that lurk overhead.
So what is on your menu today? Whatever it is, feel blessed and thankful. Have a beautiful day and savor the many flavors and opportunities to eat.
By the way, we are having a Mini Miracles Cafe start this Fall on Friday nights. It isn’t a menu for foods, but for the “mind”. Won’t you consider joining us? It will be great fun!
Color Your Attitude with Joy
I was reading on the www.hawaiibusiness.com an article by Jackie M. Young on Jill Morton. Jill discusses how people are affected psychologically and physiologically by color. This is her field of expertise. She has been a consultant to many well known companies and tells us that colors take on new meaning over the decades.
I do think that is true. There were the eras of gingham. Red and white, black and white, green and white, etc. lined the fabric store shelves. They were used after WW II in clothes, curtains, and table linens. They were simple and lent an charm to our homes; they brought beauty and life back into our world.
There were the classic pin stripes that seem to come and go. They always look so smart and stylish as men had dress shirts with this slight touch of color. Tweeds, brocades, and silks all emerged along the way to add style to our homes.
Color can influence the way one thinks. It can change our actions and cause others to reaction. Whether it is calming or irritating can affect our disposition. Just think about when you have a headache. Would you want to be in a bright red room? What is the most irritating color for you?
From the time we are children, we are influenced by our bedrooms and the classrooms we are taught in each day. Are they cheerfully decorated in yellows, blues, or pinks? Are they clean and practical? How are we dressed?
Are the greens drab and passive? For some of us, green may make you think of the Chicago River during St Patrick’s Day when the river takes on a hue. It may remind you of the olive colored swamp lands in the South Pacific. Where there are monkeys swinging from the branches, or the slime and color of nearby creeks. Soft greens make me recall the color of doctors offices and hospital corridors when I was a child.
Since the 90’s, I have the habit of selecting a color at the beginning of Advent and one at Lent. It helps me take on a better attitude. I have selected red for passion and tried to be more giving. I have tried green for Lent and looked ahead to the natural greens of the earth sprouting new vegetation. Another year, I selected orange. I bought an orange trench coat and purse. It was a source of strength like one gets from the vitamin C in orange juice. I was on a high of feeling energy.
One year when things were bleak and my husband was very ill, I selected metallic gold. I decided it would be a time to be positive. I bought gold foiled candy for my office. I put up a small tree that my colleagues called “anorexic”, but I love it and decorated it in all gold ornaments. Gold garland decorated the windows. I purchased a metal sculptured nativity of Mary, Joseph, and the Christ child that was about 2 inches deep, but about 8 X 8. It sat on the window ledge as a ongoing reminder of the season; a season of HOPE! Thinking back to that time, I do believe the whole mindset carried me into a new year. That was 15 years ago and so many wonderful things have happened since then.
Advertising has been using colors on a subliminal basis for years to get us to react to products. The colors unite us to the Holidays. Red, white, and blue are the patriot colors of the United States and adorn our villages and communities during Memorial Day and the 4th of July. Red, yellow, rust, and orange are the colors of the fall season! Orange and black take us into the Halloween season. Red and white call
us into the days of holly berries, candy canes, and hanging stockings. Reds lead us to Valentines Day and green into St Patrick’s Day and the beginning of spring.
So unless you are color blind (where you see shades of gray) enjoy the wide range of colors to elevate your spirit and bring joy to your world. Wear the colors that make you feel like engaging with other people. Let them enhance your eyes and skin tones. Let color lift you to new heights.
Is it any wonder that we are all uplifted by the prism of color that shines through stained glass? Or the lovely crystal waters of a waterfall that reflect the gentle blues of the sky? Find your colors every season and let them raise your spirits and give you added meaning to life.
May your day be graced with vibrancy and joy. “Delight in Living!”
Who Are You Anyway?
Have you ever said or done something and question yourself? Like where did that come from? My reaction was so off mark! Or you jump into a project and the results are so different than you expected! I think we have all been there. Periodically I find myself being very abrupt with telephone sales people who don’t understand “no” after I have very kindly listened. That is not typically me!
At other times, I have disclosed information, where I should have been silent. Along this pathway of life, we take on different traits. Sometimes we harden our hearts to the truths or refuse to try changing. Of course, that isn’t the healthiest way to grow or get ahead.
We need to focus on what we want and the way we are going to pursue our dreams. It is easy to go to school and have school lead the way, but eventually we have to confront major life challenges. How do I pay my bills? Where will I live? What am I going to do to fill my life? Where is my purpose?
The idea of communicating our needs well to one another needs to be addressed. Sometimes the people we complain to or get exasperated with are unable to understand or even take care of the problem. I am beginning a group this October in the office called Mini Miracles Cafe. It is all about dialogue and using the World Cafe Menu to start conversations and find resolutions.
Maybe this comes from a need for myself, as well as, the people around the community. I hear people expressing concerns without seemingly a way to fix them. But there is a way. There are people and ideas that are out of the box that can resolve things so peacefully. So for a “free pass” to the group or for other information, just email at linda@lindagullo.com
More will be coming on this in the next month. As people working hard and living well, we can find resolution. We can help point one another into a direction of self care. In the meantime, look for the mini miracles and opportunities all around you. “Delight in Living!”
Feeling Invisible
I think it all began when I was a child. I felt invisible. That is I just didn’t feel noticed. I was the youngest of the cousins and always left behind. I was too young to go to the bowling alleys. I couldn’t drive or hold a job. BEING INVISIBLE ISN’T BAD. As a matter of fact it may give you the edge to learn more.
I guess that I realized it when I was about 10 and sitting in the living room with my mom and dad. An old friend of my father’s stopped in for a visit. He and his wife were in the La Grange Park area and stopped in. My mother hadn’t met them before either, but my parents were very hospitable. I recall sitting on a stool near the picture window and quietly listening to the conversation. After awhile, I simply said “excuse me,” and got up to leave. The man said, “Yes, you are excused!” I was so shocked that he even heard me.
When I attended High School I was in a class of 1200 students. It is easy to feel invisible even though I was an active student and danced in the school musical. The first 2 years were at the Western Springs Campus and the last 2 in La Grange. It was like being a freshman twice getting readjusted to the new site. In all the years after high school, I have only met 3 people from there and only one was from my graduating class. Crazy ugh?
You know the feeling too. It is when you are standing in line at a counter in a department store and no one is there to serve you. Or you stop at an intersection and seemingly wait forever for your turn because others are hurried and not allowing you to take your turn. There are many times we feel invisible. I find that the case in doctors offices where you sit forever behind a closed door waiting for someone to arrive. Is it any wonder so many suffer from generalized anxiety and have problems. Next time I’ll take a puzzle with me.
So these words are from our newest Saint, Mother Teresa. “Do Small Things with Great Love!” She certainly made a mark on society and showed us how we can do small things and make people feel visible and relevant. I just love that idea. A simple smile, a call, a “hi” or holding the door for the next person may make them feel important.
May your day find mini miracles of recognition and love waiting for you.
“Delight in Living”
We Are Visual
TODAY’S TOPIC IS EATING
Since we are a society of visual people, beware! The Power of suggestion can often lead us to temptation. It can lead us to eating even when one isn’t hungry.
Making our kitchens and homes into places of comfort is wonderful. But making our eating options healthy is even better. Nuts, berries, and/or homemade granola can be some of the best snacks.
I noticed that since I watch PBS stations that the inclination to snack while watching television left me. There are less food commercials to excite me.I tend to get up and get a drink of iced water. So here are a few suggestions that might help us.
- Put away the candy dishes.
- Put a canister of tea on the counter.
- Turn off the cooking shows.
- Don’t eat while driving.
- Keep fruit on the counter.
- Cut up carrots, celery, anise, cauliflower, & fruit. Keep it chilled in baggies in the refrigerator for quick access when the temptation to eat drives you there.
- Clean out the pantry of salty unnecessary snacks.
- Watch the people who are with you daily that you don’t end up in fast food alleys. Be the novel one who plans ahead.
- Make a batch of popcorn once a week and put it in a large can for yourself. Even make up individual packets for taking with you to work. I just heard that a handful of popcorn on a salad is a good replacement for croutons. However, if you love croutons for soup and salads, check out www.thekitchn.com to make your own.
- Make a large pot of your favorite soup or chili that is easily accessible.
- Make up spinach or salmon patties if you find them tempting. I grabbed 2 spinach patties to have for lunch today.
- Go into stores when you are full.
- Go directly to the fruit islands when you shop and avoid the fresh bread and cookie isles.
- If you head into the local sandwich store, b
y a single package of cookies or drink instead of having a box of cookies to tempt you sitting on the counter or in the cookie jar at home. - Opt for a packet of nuts to nibble on.
- Good luck and have a GREAT WEEK!
- Check out http://webneel.com/fruit-carving-art to have your own artistry shine in the kitchen.
- “DELIGHT IN LIVING”
Exciting Finds
Exciting things I have found this week to share with you!
Well maybe they aren’t as big as this Burning Bush, but here goes:
- www.theworldcafe.com is a new way to share and bring people together. Facilitate yourself and others, have fun, listen to one another for patterns, insights, and deeper connections. A way to slow time and reflect on the finer things in life. I am thinking of starting the Mini Miracle Cafe this Fall.
- The Monacle Magazine-September 2016 Issue is about 3/4 inch thing and filled with briefings on global affairs, business, culture, and design. Loaded with tidbits about so many things. Takes one to far away places that reconnected me to places I have traveled and places I now want to visit. Offered insight into what other people are thinking about American Politics.
- https://riedelusa.net A new place for me and a possible place for all of us to by glass pieces for our homes and for gifts.
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MarketingProfs@em.marketingprofs.com This is a place to keep up with the latest in marketing trends. Great for all entrepreneurs.
Hope you enjoy some of these places as much as I did. I feel encouraged to do some traveling and visiting global places soon. “Delight in Living!” Hope you find many mini miracle helps here!