Big subject yes I know. I approach this with a bit of trepidation because I know that I am going to rub some people the wrong way. Let it be known that the reason for this writing is because things have been posted, written that rub ME the wrong way. Stating how blessed one is to have faith and prayer for comfort subtly implies that those who do not have faith in a deity or who do not pray have no means of comfort. The notion that faith and prayer should be the default position irritates me. I understand that this is what works for them, and I understand that they do not mean offense, however, when the implication is that without faith and prayer there is no comfort or peace or whatever, I am offended. I have dealt with much death and adversity in my life and faith never made it any better, never brought them back and rather than encouraging me to treasure cherished moments and memories, faith taught me that we must hope for something better beyond this life and for a day when we would be with our loved ones again. Pining for this new life caused me to ignore and neglect this one, to forget those moments that should most be treasured. Now I am not saying that this is the case for everyone, but it has been the case for me. Rather than seeking what was best for me and my children, faith said I must stay in my situation so I could have a forever future. Load of horse shit!!! How does anyone KNOW there is life beyond this one? They don't. Period. You can have all the faith in the world that there is a life beyond this one, but that will not make it so. So I say make the absolute most of THIS life. Recognize that death is a part of life. It is the cycle of life for ALL creatures, big and small. All life is important and to be treasured BECAUSE it is so fleeting. Does that mean there is no purpose?? Absolutely not. Our purpose to to make things better for those who do give us forever, our children and their children. This is our responsibility!! It is our evolutionary duty to make the world a better place! Does faith do this?? Not that I have seen. Faith causes one to believe that life here is temporary and thus treat the world as though IT is fleeting rather than life. Exploitation of other lifeforms to their extinction and endangerment,extraction and exploitation of resources to OUR and OUR children's endangerment, lack of respect for the life of others are the results of this notion. Poverty, starvation, war...if the value of life was truly appreciated and understood these things would not be the norm. If the value of life was truly taught and understood people would be more likely to get help for their personal issues rather than hope for something new somewhere, sometime else. There is a saying that goes..."Give a man a fish, you will feed him for a day, teach a man to fish you will feed him for a lifetime, teach a man to pray and he will starve to death on his knees." ~ Chinese proverb variation.
Now if one can have faith and still make the most of this lifetime, understand clearly the value of life, teach this to their children without judgement of others for whatever reason, with encouragement to take care of personal issues in healthful ways, and without the 'we will see him/her one day in heaven', more power to them. Great! Good! Although, other than a very few, I think it unlikely that one can have that mix and still have 'faith'. (Note: I am speaking of faith in the manner of belief and all its entrapments) At least in my opinion. (I really do wish to be wrong on this one.) Humans need to address whatever problems they have regardless of cause, repair what is possible to repair, accept and move on. This is a lesson better learned young and is best taught by example. I have faith in humanity that as a whole it will do what it needs to on the evolutionary path to ensure survival. And this is all the faith I need. Prayer is energy directed and I can direct my energy without prayer, without faith. So when someone dies, I think positive thoughts of wondrous memories of their life, what they have left in the hearts of their friends and family, and gratefulness for the time we had with them. I treasure their memory, think of them with love and this is what comforts me. I wish I had had this same appreciation when I was younger as I would have far more appreciated items that should have been treasured. There was no need because Armageddon was around the corner and we would soon be with them in paradise. Now, I have no need to think of them in a better place because it is what it is. Non existence does not mean that there is no hope, it just means that the energy our loved ones used has gone on to feed other parts of this amazing universe we live in. I see wild strawberries growing in endless fields and I think of my mom, I see eagles soar and I think of my granndpa. Energy is in all we see, it is never expended only transferred. In this manner reincarnation can be so and our loved ones energy can be a part of whatever beauty in nature that we see them in. This is more real to me than some invisible heaven with some invisible and unimaginable angels or god. Whether or not there is a future paradise is immaterial to this life because it is unknowable. Paradise needs to be here and now. On the whole this world IS a wonderful place. Imagine how it could be if people would let go of the hope for something better beyond this life but worked instead at making this life their something better? Death is a part of life that teaches us to appreciate life.
Life is meant to be lived...so live it. Faith, other than in our own human potential, is not required.
Monday 24 October 2011
Thursday 20 October 2011
Holy! I've Been Distracted for a Month!!
So a month has gone by since my last blog post. No surprise really as I often start projects, then drop them when distracted by something else, sometimes never to return or return years later, so really a month is not bad. A lot can happen in a month. I'm not saying a lot has happened in the past month just that a lot CAN happen in a month. Okay actually a lot has happened.
I am indeed running for village council, may even get elected. I have been trying to come up with a platform but as I have no real axes to grind. I will have to run on the promise of doing my best to ensure honesty, transparency and being a voice for my constituents. I have no idea what it will be like and am trying not to prejudge. I am honest to a fault so I am not sure that I will be able to fill the typical politician boots. I hope I have enough self-awareness to not be swayed by anything to change or severely challenge my honesty. Anyway, I guess I will continue working on a platform. Gonna need some ammo for the All Candidates Forum, assuming there is one.
My youngest daughter has been accepted to Blanch McDonald for their Global Makeup program and offered a $2000 scholarship if she starts November 30th. Yep that's right! Next month! An entire 3 months or so sooner than I anticipated her moving. She is actually moving November 7th as we had already purchased her flight to go visit her sister and take her to a concert...so now she won't be home till Xmas. She is getting ready and will undoubtedly be far more ready than I will. So on November 7th John and I will officially be empty nesters. I will have to take the 'nearly' out of my blog name. Boo.
As of 3 days ago I have lost exactly 45 lbs since February. How? First I stopped eating anything with wheat and/or gluten in it, then I got braces so have been doing smoothies alot (not Visalus, will get to that in a sec). At first these were yogurt, milk fruit and hemp seed hearts. We used homemade yogurt for the most part. Then we chose to cut milk (skim, 1%, etc. not dairy as we still eat cheese and greek yogurt which is made from whole milk and is low in lactose. Milk for drinking particularly homogenized milk is very high in lactose.) and substitute almond milk, not soy, in our cereal and for drinking. True Almond by Silk is the best so far and is even passable as coffee creamer. Although I use cream and generally only have one mug of coffee per day in the am. Anyway I digress. John has joined me, actually he is the one I primarily wanted off milk as I have never been a big milk drinker. We have also cut out almost all carbohydrates and only have rice pasta occasionally. Meals generally consist of protein and vegetables. We make sure every meal contains fats, saturated from meats, dairy, butter, olive oil, ground flax in smoothies, and grape seed oil, our own variation of the ketogenic diet. Since starting this John no longer has intense swelling of his ankles and feet in the evenings or at anytime for that matter, even though he has been on them, or off them as the case used to be. This is a huge improvement that we think comes from cutting out the milk he used to drink daily. As well, his energy level and motivation are much, much higher and he can no longer sit still idly for long. Anyway, these dietary changes are turning into permanent ones and John continues to feel better and look better. He no longer eats wheat and gluten, except for every once in awhile. No white rice or potatoes and all pastas etc are from brown rice or quinoa. Permanent changes. I feel great and now weigh 147lbs or so, thinner than when John and I married. I would like to lose 10 more lbs or so and then clothes shopping as I got rid of all my size 8 stuff long ago and my size 10 stuff is beginning to hang a little too loosely. (Not bragging just stating a new and proud fact.)
As for Visalus, my biggest issue is that it is an MLM which I find distasteful. I have seen what MLMs (also known as Network Marketing and often indistinguishable from pyramid schemes) have done to members of my family. So admittedly this already biases me against the product. Next it is a shake mix...pure and simple. Add other ingredients such as fruit, milk, juice and in one item I read, even coffee (hmmm) etc. to a packet of vitamins, minerals and protein. That it is sold as a 90 day challenge is a good way to kick start wieghtloss and I seriously considered starting John on it to help him with his weightloss, but I have no desire to try to sell it to anyone else. And it is pricey when I can buy enough protein whey mix for $50 to last a month and know that vitamins and minerals are generally best absorbed through whole foods. So there is my issue. I am sure some nurses and doctors will say otherwise and yes, I am sure it has helped lots of people and I guess, if I still had the 45 lbs to lose I may look at it much differently. I also try not to do artificial anything to the best of my ability and minus the occasional bag of cheetos ( no gluten!! and bad for you but taste oh so good!) because, well it just is not good for you. Meat and vegetables have been tested over a millenia...artificial sweeteners, (sucralose for example, made from chlorinating sugar by the way) have not been. So going with tried, true and natural whole foods, because dammit, we know they are good for a body and is THE BEST way for your body to absorb nutrients. Am I gonna have to provide references for these claims?? Let me know or if in doubt google it...thoroughly.
Okay so obviously I have had a few things on my mind...gotta go get my daughter enrolled in college. I am sure I am not quite done so I'll be back...after another round of Conspiracy Theory Facebook Battle.
I am indeed running for village council, may even get elected. I have been trying to come up with a platform but as I have no real axes to grind. I will have to run on the promise of doing my best to ensure honesty, transparency and being a voice for my constituents. I have no idea what it will be like and am trying not to prejudge. I am honest to a fault so I am not sure that I will be able to fill the typical politician boots. I hope I have enough self-awareness to not be swayed by anything to change or severely challenge my honesty. Anyway, I guess I will continue working on a platform. Gonna need some ammo for the All Candidates Forum, assuming there is one.
My youngest daughter has been accepted to Blanch McDonald for their Global Makeup program and offered a $2000 scholarship if she starts November 30th. Yep that's right! Next month! An entire 3 months or so sooner than I anticipated her moving. She is actually moving November 7th as we had already purchased her flight to go visit her sister and take her to a concert...so now she won't be home till Xmas. She is getting ready and will undoubtedly be far more ready than I will. So on November 7th John and I will officially be empty nesters. I will have to take the 'nearly' out of my blog name. Boo.
As of 3 days ago I have lost exactly 45 lbs since February. How? First I stopped eating anything with wheat and/or gluten in it, then I got braces so have been doing smoothies alot (not Visalus, will get to that in a sec). At first these were yogurt, milk fruit and hemp seed hearts. We used homemade yogurt for the most part. Then we chose to cut milk (skim, 1%, etc. not dairy as we still eat cheese and greek yogurt which is made from whole milk and is low in lactose. Milk for drinking particularly homogenized milk is very high in lactose.) and substitute almond milk, not soy, in our cereal and for drinking. True Almond by Silk is the best so far and is even passable as coffee creamer. Although I use cream and generally only have one mug of coffee per day in the am. Anyway I digress. John has joined me, actually he is the one I primarily wanted off milk as I have never been a big milk drinker. We have also cut out almost all carbohydrates and only have rice pasta occasionally. Meals generally consist of protein and vegetables. We make sure every meal contains fats, saturated from meats, dairy, butter, olive oil, ground flax in smoothies, and grape seed oil, our own variation of the ketogenic diet. Since starting this John no longer has intense swelling of his ankles and feet in the evenings or at anytime for that matter, even though he has been on them, or off them as the case used to be. This is a huge improvement that we think comes from cutting out the milk he used to drink daily. As well, his energy level and motivation are much, much higher and he can no longer sit still idly for long. Anyway, these dietary changes are turning into permanent ones and John continues to feel better and look better. He no longer eats wheat and gluten, except for every once in awhile. No white rice or potatoes and all pastas etc are from brown rice or quinoa. Permanent changes. I feel great and now weigh 147lbs or so, thinner than when John and I married. I would like to lose 10 more lbs or so and then clothes shopping as I got rid of all my size 8 stuff long ago and my size 10 stuff is beginning to hang a little too loosely. (Not bragging just stating a new and proud fact.)
As for Visalus, my biggest issue is that it is an MLM which I find distasteful. I have seen what MLMs (also known as Network Marketing and often indistinguishable from pyramid schemes) have done to members of my family. So admittedly this already biases me against the product. Next it is a shake mix...pure and simple. Add other ingredients such as fruit, milk, juice and in one item I read, even coffee (hmmm) etc. to a packet of vitamins, minerals and protein. That it is sold as a 90 day challenge is a good way to kick start wieghtloss and I seriously considered starting John on it to help him with his weightloss, but I have no desire to try to sell it to anyone else. And it is pricey when I can buy enough protein whey mix for $50 to last a month and know that vitamins and minerals are generally best absorbed through whole foods. So there is my issue. I am sure some nurses and doctors will say otherwise and yes, I am sure it has helped lots of people and I guess, if I still had the 45 lbs to lose I may look at it much differently. I also try not to do artificial anything to the best of my ability and minus the occasional bag of cheetos ( no gluten!! and bad for you but taste oh so good!) because, well it just is not good for you. Meat and vegetables have been tested over a millenia...artificial sweeteners, (sucralose for example, made from chlorinating sugar by the way) have not been. So going with tried, true and natural whole foods, because dammit, we know they are good for a body and is THE BEST way for your body to absorb nutrients. Am I gonna have to provide references for these claims?? Let me know or if in doubt google it...thoroughly.
Okay so obviously I have had a few things on my mind...gotta go get my daughter enrolled in college. I am sure I am not quite done so I'll be back...after another round of Conspiracy Theory Facebook Battle.
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