Happiness, Wellness and Healing

My How Time Flies

When I looked back, it was 5 weeks since my last post.  That is very hard for me to believe.  I have been learning lots of new things during this time.  The event that began the present endeavor was joining the Agel Company.  That led to learning about internet marketing.   I have been really fascinated by the new world that I have found.  I have learned about Adsense ads, affiliate programs, search engine optimization, and the list goes on.  I am starting to learm more about social networking, and even have participated in several teleseminars.  I quickly figured out though that these are put on to convince me to buy products.  I have only found a few sites which seem to offer information for free. 

The thing that " bloggles my mind" is the vast potential number of people worldwide who can read and participate in such programs.  My marketing experience with Agel has yielded responses from the entire world.  Add the fact that I am only looking at a very small, although popular area, and the potential for good and influence rises exponentially.

My point is that with this new perspective, my world just became bigger.  Or as Thomas Friedman would say "flatter."

Compact Flourescent Lightbulbs

One of my favorite authors is Seth Godin.  In fact, listening to his audiobook Small is the New Big, is what inspired me to start my own blog.  Today, he posted a riff about CF lightbulbs, asking how many of us have them in our homes and why or why not.  Well, I have at least nine in my home.  There would be more, but the last trip to the store in a hurry found an Ace Hardware that did not have the size bulbs we needed.  Below are the reasons that I am gradually changing exclusively to CF lightbulbs:

1.  I can have 3 to 4 times more lumens with much less watts.  Lots more light with lots less energy.

2.  They do not produce as much heat.

3.  Over the life of the bulb, they save money.  Since they last longer, I change them less often and have to buy less.

4.  Less bulbs equals less trash for the environment.

Alas, there are also a few things that I do not like:

a.  They take several minutes to produce the expected amount of light.  In other words, they have to warm up.

b.  I have to decide what hue to buy, whether full spectrum, yellow, or blue.  Choices, choices!

We may think that unless we each make many changes to help the environment, our actions do not matter.  NOT TRUE! If we all do as much as we are willing and able, (even if it is just to use more safe and effective lightbulbs) over the millions of inhabitants, it will add up to something significant.

Holiday Blues

December is always an interesting month.  There is the anticipation around receiving and giving gifts and there is the dread of gaining weight on all of the sweets that seem to populate the last two months of the year.  As always, I have already enjoyed some of these treats.  And ever threatening on the horizon is the need to make new goals and resolutions for the coming change of the year.  As a physician, I am always amazed at the number of people who become ill and even pass on at this time of the year.  The amount of sadness and depression seems to outweigh the amount of joy for most people.  I have below several ideas and suggestions which I try to use to keep depression away myself at this time.

1).  Think outside of yourself.  For some of us this means family, for some service to those not as fortunate.  This may include family, friends, or strangers.  There is no one way to reach out, the ideas are as numerous as there are individuals in this world. 

2).  Plan to forgive any perceived injustices that have occurred.  Forgiving does not mean letting abusive behavior continue, it means not letting the poison of resentment continue in my attitude and spirit.  We forgive to help ourselves, not the other party.

3).  If you have lost loved ones, plan to honor them in some way.  Trying to avoid the pain of loss, only makes it more intense.  Grief and sorrow seem to shrink when they are consciously given a place, but grow and overtake us when we try to box them away from us. 

4).  Give.  Give.  Giving does not have to cost money.  We each know what is most important for use to give.  It varies with both the person who gives and with the person who receives.

5).  On the topic of giving.  One of my personal pet peeves, it giving gifts when it is "expected."  It seems to me to be better to pass on gifts at all times and in many different ways, even more fun when unexpected.  Not sure if I really do that as much as I need to, but a goal.

6).  Act silly!  One of the best depression busters I know.

Angels at home

One of the joys of my life (I have many.), is my relationship with my pets.  I have three.   The eldest is a spoiled Yorkshire terrier named Columbo.  He is harassed daily by two not so elderly cats.  The older cat was about three years old when I adopted him at a Petsmart from KittyCo.  His name is Chili because he was rescued at a trash dump behind a Chili's.  According to his foster mom, no one wanted him after he had been to three adoption sessions because he was not as cute as the little kittens.  Well, tell me someone is unwanted, and I immediately want to help.  So, I held him and we seemed to do OK together and I sat down to do the paperwork.  About that same time, a taxi driver came in with a tiny, squealing kitten who was about three to four weeks old.  His story was that he got the kitten from a man at a gasoline station who had a box of them, kittens, I mean.  When he got home, his wife told him, "No Way!"  The ladies there were trying to comfort the poor thing, but to no avail.  Since I was sitting, I offered to hold her.  Can you guess the next line?  Little Felice, my name for her, started to purr, snuggle and eat.  Needless to say, she went home with me and Chili that day also.

Now the dilemma at home was how to keep her secure and have Columbo accept her.  To our amazement, Columbo adopted her as his own little child.  Now Felice is not sure whether she is a cat or a dog.  She goes between playing with Columbo and next playing with Chili.  It has taken two years for Chili to get over running away from Columbo.  Finally they can be in the same room and not bark and hiss. 

To me, these guys are truly angels from heaven.  They love without condition.  They are always forgiving.  Not once have they pouted when I get home, no they are always there to receive and give love and attention.  At least one of them comes to the door everytime.  Over the years Columbo has heard all of my secrets and he has yet to tell one of them in public.  When I went through a period of depression, he stayed with me, but also made me get up and walk with him and play.  By those demands, he helped me recover.  I consider it an honor from heaven, to be blessed to entertain these truly remarkable creatures for their stay on earth.  I know that each one is sent just for me.  Felice's reaction when we met proves that.