January 2nd, 2024 ~ another clean sheet of paper upon which to write, live, sing, breathe, laugh, walk (stretch)...

There are so many great ideas out there!

My real estate colleague/team lead and I say this all the time - so many great ideas for our business. But it takes time to choose, time to implement and time to consistently follow-through.

I'm going back to full-on WFPB SOS-free eating on January 4th - that is the day that I'm returning from "holiday" mostly full-time to "normal" mostly full-time. 

We had a super fun and heart-filling "Totally Casual Come 'n Go, Eat, Drink & Relax AFTER the holidays Open House Bonfire Afternoon PARTY" on 12/30/2023. We, and when I say 'we' I mean himself mostly - made delicious split pea & ham soup, Haggis (a la "American"), mashed potatoes, sausage rolls and a new offering this year - fried Haggis "bites." I made vegan chili (Krocks in the Kitchen "Brian's Super Tasty Vegan Chili [plant-based, oil-free]" that I adapted to my taste), and I bought "the goodie plate" from my catering friend and Pampered Chef consultant. The goodie plate included delicious peanut butter cookies, chocolate chip cookies, fudge & chocolate-covered peanut clusters... YUMMY! I also ordered some Blueberry Cream Cheese bread, and for New Years Day - green corn tamales. Alta, your food is delicious! Thank You! The link is to her FB page.

And after having delicious Crispy Peanut Butter covered Chocolate balls at a friend's for Festivus, he made me my own batch... which I did not share and will finish before the 4th of January!

But I came on here to say that there are lots of great ideas out there to get our thoughts flowing about what kind of year we want to create for ourselves. What our intentions are. Not new year resolutions, as such, but more of a focus for creating... more habit building.

It is important for me to remember that I have to actually carve time - make space - to meditate and pray on these concepts and ideas. What do I really want? What is my purpose and am I pursuing that?

I love this quote ~

"The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away." ~ Pablo Picasso.

 

Here's just a few that I put in a word document to reflect upon:

 

From Mel Robbins Podcast

“Howto Make 2024 the Best Year: 6 Questions to Ask Yourself” 12/21/2023

1. What are the highlights of your year?

2. What are the harder aspects of the past year for you?

3. What did you learn about yourself over the past 12 months?

4. What are the things you want to stop doing and not bring into the next year?

5. What do you want to continue doing in the next year?

6. What do you want to start doing for real in the coming year? What really matters to you?

 

Robin Sharma (email)
You’ve been graced with 12 pristine months, fresh and available for you to shape into your highest destiny.

1. Who must I become to make 2024 legendary meaningful?

2. What one breathtaking new project will I bring into the world this new year?

3. What [and who] must I let go of from last year to make 2024 wow myself better than I have been in the past?

4. What major daily habit will I install to make the next twelve months my best yet?

5. What gifts and talents within me must I salute and cherish more often? [Self-respect is a giant performance multiplier].

 

Jan Carley –
https://creativecoachinggroup.com

I recommended that you all do a "daily control project" - like maybe 15 min. to clean a cupboard or fold your laundry - something that would make you feel a satisfied sense of "completion" at the end.

 

Ben Nemtin

Here are three things I learned from my conversation with the wise Dr. Gilovich:

1. You get more out of life when you invest in experiences instead of things. At the end of our life, all we really have are the memories from the experiences we have collected. Too often we are tricked into thinking that we need more stuff to make us happy, but Dr. Gilovich's research is proving that experiences bring us the most fulfilment.

I asked him what kind of experiences make us the happiest? He said, “Spending money on other people makes you happier than spending money on yourself.” Consider this as you write your new year’s list. Think about experiences you can plan with loved ones or solo experiences. And don't forget that the age-old saying is not just lip service. It truly is better to give than to receive.

2. We are most fulfilled when we are taking action. In other words, being passive makes us unhappy. When we are moving toward a goal (even if we don’t reach the goal) we are most fulfilled. Remember this and take all the momentum of this new year and funnel it into taking steps towards your goal. By doing so, you will start to feel inspired, and your spirits will begin to lift. 

What easy steps of action can you take? 

1. Write your list in a journal (I recommend The Bucket List Journal).
    
2. Pick one goal that commands your attention and commit to doing three things in the next 48 hrs that will move you closer to that goal (even if they are tiny steps).
    
3. Ask a friend or family member to be your accountability buddy and keep you on track.

3. The headwinds vs tailwinds asymmetry. If you have ever cycled into a headwind, you are keenly aware that you are in a headwind. However, when you turn around and suddenly have a tailwind, you notice that tailwind for a few minutes and then you don’t notice the wind at your back. The same is true in your life. When you move through your days, you must pay attention to the barriers, but you don’t have to pay attention to the things pushing you along. Therefore, it’s much easier to feel resentful towards the barriers than be grateful for the things going your way (because those things are oftentimes invisible).
 
We know past research has proved that when you are grateful, your life is enriched. The key here, Dr. Gilovich said, is to have an active gratitude practice. Consider keeping a gratitude diary as you move into 2024. It’s very simple, at the end of each day, write three things you’re grateful for and three things you appreciate about yourself. I do this, and it really is so effective. 

Happy New Year, friends. Here's to pursuing our passions, our talents and our people that bring us JOY. Peace, Health, Love, Compassion, Kindness & Grace to us all in 2024 ♥ And Harmony ♫ ♪, of course!

It's That Time of Year Again... Re-evaluation of the Current Situation

 “One of the biggest reasons we don’t achieve our goals is we say yes to too many things that are not our priority and no to too many things that are our priority.” – Jay Shetty

*More later

 

Miracles of Daily Life

 

Yoga teacher and spiritual leader Sadhguru on the miracles of daily life:

"Every moment there are a million miracles happening around you:
a flower blossoming, a bird tweeting,
a bee humming, a raindrop falling,
a snowflake wafting along
the clear evening air.
There is magic everywhere.
If you learn how to live it,
life is nothing short of a daily miracle."

Source: Inner Engineering: A Yogi's Guide to Joy

 

From:  James Clear's 3-2-1 weekly newsletter (10/19/2023)
​Author of Atomic Habits and keynote speaker​

 

Mind-Body Connection - It's a Thing!

How Being Too Nice Can Destroy You: A Story You've Never Heard with Dr Gabor Mate - Your Inner Child Matters (11:49 minute YouTube Video)

Overview:

The video is about our basic needs for attachment and authenticity as developing children, and if/when we don't receive the message from our parents/care giver(s) that our authentic self is okay, what develops is shame and internal suffering - which often manifests in us through dis-ease.

 

What's on YOUR Life List? Part I

Reading this post on The Art of Non-Conformity by Chris Guillebeau got me to thinking more about my own life list... or "The Things I want to Do Before I Die" - also known as a Bucket List or a Life List - the idea originated by John Goddard.

I know I have an old post somewhere already started that has a list of goals I want to accomplish, places I want to travel to and experience, and experiences I want to do (like zip-line in Hawaii). I don't know if I want to take the time to find it, though.

I just finished a training course related to real estate called "The Ninja Installation" and feel a shift in what my life has been about. Reviewing your "Life List" is one of the things to do every morning as part of a daily routine for success. Along with some other activities, the Life List Review is to help keep me focused on where I'm going and WHY I'm doing what I'm doing.

One of the things we did while in the training was "Life List Bingo" and it was finding people in our 30+ member class who had done some of these incredible things... 

Saved a Life
Completed a Marathon
Climbed a 14,000' Mountain
Seen a Volcano while it is erupting
Climbed the Eiffel Tower
Scuba Dived
Jumped Out of an Airplane*
Gone Hang Gliding*
Been on a Cruise Ship*
Written a Book*
Been to the Great Wall of China*
Visited all 50 States*
Been to Australia*
Played in a Rock Band
Played professional sports
Completed a Triathlon
Been to more than 30 countries
Piloted a helicopter or an airplane
Has been on television
Professional Singer or recording artist (mine on the Bingo card)
An artist or sculptor

It seems like there were at least 5 people who got a Bingo :-)

Asteriks (*) means that is something I want to do

I think I limit myself so much - my current Life List that I created on day one of the class, that I'm starting the habit of reviewing at the start of every day is this:

Take the Young side of my family on a All Inclusive Cruise/Resort (annually)
Make Enough money so that Himself can retire
Make enough money in case mom needs a care facility
Family reunions

Make the Top Level of my company's Internal Recognition
Be a full-time published writer
Income retirement over $1 Million
Have passive income in the form of rental properties and/or AirBnB's
Be a professional Singer/Studio Singer/Role on Broadway (Broadway Star)
Be Financially independent

Be able to take 4 months annually during the hot season and travel around the USA with my truck and trailer, reconnecting with family and friends - seeing all 50 states & experiencing each state's top 10-25 attractions
Visit all the continents
Take a Luxury African Safari
Take a smaller Luxury Cruise, or series of Cruises - European river cruises appeal to me more than tropical ones
Be the "Grand Instigator" of a small, excellent singing ensemble

Have $2 Million to start/fund a tiny house community in/around Tucson for homeless
Fund a no-kill dog shelter
Write my book, "Everyone Can Sing*"
Give talks about my "Everyone Can Sing*" book
Do a TedTalk on "Everyone Can Sing*"
Donate to any and all causes whenever and however much I want
Be Healthy (no medications), flexible & energetic (walking and stretching daily) and have other people say or think "How is it she's aging so gracefully?"

Not everything on this list requires a lot of money... but quite a bit of it does!

And I want to be sure and give myself credit for the things I've already done... like Live in a foreign country when I write my list. And where do I keep this list? Blog? Notebook? Journal? Scrapbook kind of thing?

... To Be Continued ...

Family, the other "F" word (?)

Discussing with a friend a current situation that is happening between myself and a very close member of my family, she said her husband calls family the other "F" word. That made me laugh. But this situation in which I find myself is anything but funny.

I'm not going to publish what I started writing about the situation that is happening that made me write the title of this post. 

If you pray, please pray. If you send good vibes, please send those. 

I hate that this is the second post of 2023. There's been some great things happening, but when I received the text on 1/15/2023 that started this, the big dark cloud came and hasn't really left. 

"Nothing I say will change it." ~ wise words from my colleague. 

I cannot control what someone else understands. 

"God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference."

This makes more and more sense as I get older.

Don't Know What to Say (song)

https://youtu.be/_RuOCCjSae4I bought some music on iTunes recently... "Liv On" is the collaborative album with Olivia Newton John, Amy Sky & one of my favorite artists, Beth Nielsen Chapman. This song, "Don't Know What to Say" expressed beautifully how awkward it is when grief hits.

You don't know what to say

You don't know what to do

When life delivers this

The right words don't exist

The fault is not with you

Now everybody's come

My loved ones file by

I stand here feeling numb

while family and friends

Hug me as they cry

There is no language for this loss

Grief is a bridge that can't be crossed

Until you've felt someone you love slipping away

You don't know what to say

Now so much time has passed

For me it's standing still

and way too soon they'll ask

That I stop looking back

I hope someday I will

Thanks for being here

And listening to me

And letting me be sad

And letting me be mad

Just letting me be

There is no language for this loss

Grief is a bridge that can't be crossed

Until you've felt someone you love slipping away

You don't know what to say

Just know that it's okay

Love's the only way

When you don't know what to say

And here's the song:
https://youtu.be/_RuOCCjSae4

Why Just a Word for 2023... how about an entire thought?!

 “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” — Aristotle

Whole Food, Plant Based no Sugar, Oil, Low-Salt Lifestyle

While singing is still my reason for being, quickly catching up to something else I'm passionate about is eating healthier. Specifically Whole Food Plant Based healthier eating combined with Intermittent Fasting. Not a temporary "diet" that I'm "on" for awhile, then find myself going back to eating "normal" which is, appropriately named, SAD (the Standard American Diet). This is my lifestyle.

The word diet from the Greek is "diaita = "a way of life" - and from Wikipedia "According to Foxcroft, the word diet comes from the Greek diaita, which represents a notion of a whole way healthy lifestyle including both mental and physical health, rather than a narrow weight-loss regimen."

I like that best - "... a notion of a WHOLE way healthy LIFESTYLE including BOTH mental and physical health..."

I've been traveling the veggie-head path toward what is (almost) essentially Vegan for a long time... For the past 10-ish years I have described my eating as about 80% Whole Food Plant Based (WFPB), and 20% of the time I have the processed foods, dairy and occasionally a burger and fries. Historically, the social aspect (read: fun) of eating out and trying to stay compliant took the fun out of eating out. And I don't think I've ever described how much I enjoy eating out. It's a thing. 

But I digress.

This year I've decided that 2023 will be 93% WFPB mostly SO free with low S - which is essentially the title of this post. SOS is Sugar, Oil and Salt. I've been watching and reading Chef AJ, Anne Crile Esselstyn & Jane Esselstyn, Rip Esselstyn, Jill & Jeff over at The Whole Food Plant Based Cooking Show and Forks Over Knives videos... Dr. John McDougall with the occasional dip to the absolutely delicious (but not oil-free) recipes by Nisha at Rainbow Plant Life whose book "The Vegan Instantpot Cookbook" has amazing and delicious (!) stuff! 

Some back story:
In 2011 I lost 100 lbs on Medifast (now called Optivia - Opt-ah-VEE-ah). I knew I'd be 'transitioning back' to eating real food and started researching healthier eating. I knew that Atkins-style of eating wasn't for me... I'd tried it in Scotland for a couple weeks - and for a few days it was awesome, but I like fruit and vegetables too much, and have never been a huge meat-eater. I'd also thought, since my early 20's, that vegetarianism would be a good fit for me. (I thought Vegan was a bit too extreme, but also, I liked the idea of not eating 'food that had a mother.')

So in my research for what I wanted to eat, I watched "Forks Over Knives," "Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead," "Plant-Pure Nation," "What the Health," "Hungry for Change," and "Vegucated."

The first book I purchased was Dr. Joel Furhman's audio book of "Eat to Live" after I watched Vegucated.

This film had a huge impact on me because it followed three very very normal "off the street" folks who agreed to 'be vegan' for 6 weeks. It shows their struggles... not just with what food is available to eat, but how socially difficult it is to stick to your commitment. This film showed 'unsanctioned' filming of inside of a chicken house, and how our CAFO (Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation) style of food production, which breaks my heart and is (imho) cruel and inhumane among other I-don't-want-to-go-there-now things; isn't the PR image of what the big businesses want the public to believe about how they are raising pigs, turkeys, chickens and cows. If you want to understand more about why I came to this conclusion, besides plugging my nose every time I have driven past them (CAFO facilities) on road trips in California and Texas, this page on the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter will explain.

Dr. Fuhrman said that to start a healthier way of eating (WFPB), I didn't have to give up my favorite foods... rather, to transition to healthier eating, before eating the "normal" foods, I first had to eat a pound (yes, a pound) of vegetables. Preferably raw. At least, this was my interpretation of what he said (lol). A great summary of the book is here. 

That's a lot of food.  

But I decided that I wanted to pursue this lifestyle. Slowly.

Yes, eventually our taste buds change, and some transitions were easier than others... drinking plant-based milks was easy - I have never really liked milk. I'd have Ovaltine as breakfast in high school, but that's the only way I could stand it. (My dad used to drink a glass of milk with ice... blech. My mom grew up on a dairy farm and had to drink raw milk as a kid, so she never drank much milk after she moved away from home.) 

Giving up Dairy Queen soft serve... er... not so easy but I'm not stopping every week anymore. Eating more beans... not a problem! Cheese wasn't as hard for me as it is for others... though my summer eating is usually tortilla chips with grated cheese and guacamole. Giving that up was hard. But Nisha has a great fake "cheese/queso" that is quick and easy in the Instant Pot ~ and while not cheesy in the traditional sense, it fills that gap for me just fine!

So that's some of the journey.

The Health aspect of this WOL (Way of Life) is huge. Hippocrates is attributed to having said "Let food be thy medicine." 

But this website says something different...  perhaps he said something more inline with, “ 'In  food excellent medicine can be found, in food bad medicine can be found; good and bad are relative.' With some imagination this can be read as: some foods can cure you, other foods can make you sicker; the effect can vary case by case. "

I'm listening to the audio book "Whole: Rethinking the Science of Nutrition" by Dr. T Colin Campbell, which discusses reductive science methodology vs holistic (wholistic?) science methodology and is compelling. I appreciate all that Dr. Michael Greger has said and done, especially with his NutritionFacts.org YouTube channel and bringing our attention to the science. In his book "How Not to Die" he discusses how we might eat better and avoid chronic disease. 

I bought the book "Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us" and haven't started it, but know the whole point of the book is to educate us; that processed food and the companies that produce it has purposefully been made to be addictive, so we buy more (all about the profits), eat more and then buy more. And this practice is making us sick.

And I need to mention Dr. Neal Barnhart who really has shown the light on diabetes. It isn't the sugar, it's the (animal) FAT in your blood that prevents the insulin from getting into the blood cells! His book "Your Body in Balance" is eye-opening. It's about the science of food, hormones and health. What we eat affects our mood, not just our physical body. This is science... S C I E N C E... that (I personally believe) isn't shared in the mainstream because as Dr Greger says... who's going to make money off of real food... "Big Beet?" LOL!

Maybe you've heard that sugar is more addictive than cocaine...? Here's one of the studies. 

But food addiction is another post.

This is just one post about this passion, it isn't meant to be the whole story of how I got to where I am and why I feel so strongly about this. I've been watching, reading and processing this change since 2012... it isn't taken lightly and I've done quite a bit of research. 

It is a personal decision, and I do not judge how other people choose to eat. I do want my loved ones to live healthier, so I may feel sad about unhealthy decisions, but at the same time, the news about diet and what is 'good' for you changes every day it seems. 

On top of all of this, Allopathic doctors are not required to take nutrition classes in their medical training - fewer than 20 hours, according to a google search. They don't treat the cause of the disease, they prescribe medication and drugs... which is a whole 'nother topic! If we ate more food closer to how it grows (whole corn instead or corn syrup, corn dogs, corn cereals), our bodies will appreciate it. 

The human body is incredible! Given the right conditions we can heal ourselves of so many diseases... of course there are always exceptions to the rule(s), but listening and watching the stories of people who have overcome 'diseases of lifestyle' by following a WFPB lifestyle is inspiring!

"Balance in all things" is one way of looking at this, but after all the study I've done, I do not believe that. 

That said, I do believe that breaking bread together is a significant social tradition that benefits our society. Sharing delicious food together that has been lovingly prepared... well, that's important to me. I'm going to choose to eat with friends and loved ones, doing my best to make choices good for me, but not at the expense of being together and demanding my food choices must be made available.

There's a joke about Veganism that Omnivores tell, "How can you tell when someone is a Vegan?" - "Don't worry, they'll tell you." That's not me, which is why I say 93% percent of the time I'm eating WFPB-low SOS. The other 25 days a year I'm enjoying my favorite foods on holidays, birthdays, and other special occasions.

I have lots to say about this topic. And I'll say more later. This is only about my personal story and journey. I'm not telling anyone to do or change anything... except maybe to do your own research on the topic and learn for yourself. But I'm thankful that 'you can't exercize out of an unhealthy way of eating' cuz I'm not a fan of physical movement (lol). Never have been. I'm stretching now... love it and it's my speed! 

I also practice Intermittent Fasting... I aim to go at least 12 hours between dinner and the next day... my ultimate goal is to fast for 18 hours and have an eating window of 6 hours... and when I'm busy that's easy. If I'm not engaged with whatever I'm doing, then I get 'hungry' (aka bored) and look for an excuse to eat. A year ago (December 2021) I started with a 14 hour fasting window and 10 hour eating window, and combined with making healthier plant-based choices 80% of the time, I lost 25 lbs in about 3 months. I've stayed down, and I'm down another 5 lbs now, but have been less disciplined about my fasting/eating windows so haven't lost nearly as fast.