"Everybody's Got Something" -- Part II -- Learning As We Go

Learning Life's Lessons---

I so fondly remember my grandmother's words, "You have to live once to know how to live". As time goes on I appreciate how wise those words were. My own words added are, "Learning is a lifelong process, Living is a learning process". Putting all philosophical quotes aside, we definitely do learn as we go. The real learning begins when we have challenges to meet. Our true character is put to the test and we discover what it takes to move forward. What do we learn when life is easy? 

Yes, in our day-to-day life we all experience ups and downs. It can often seem like we are riding a roller coaster through life. Some of us are actually anxious when things are going smoothly, waiting for the other shoe to drop and expecting something horrible to happen around the corner.

Others may expect life to always be a breeze. There's nothing wrong with that. But when life hands them lemons they don't really know how to make lemonade--their whole world falls apart. They begin to have a "Why me?" attitude.

 Its interesting how differently people can perceive things. I remember the days when I was a fitness instructor and members taking my classes where shocked to learn that yes, there had been a period that I was overweight. I remember too, years later, a teaching colleague who implied that I must have had an easy life because I was always happy and smiling.

My story is not different from many others. I have had my share of life's challenges and have found that the tough times provide many valuable lessons, and I have learned to really appreciate the rest. 

Every struggle provides a valuable lesson

Let's Be HEALTHY!

MMM....Yum...Eat Your Veggies

Of course there are many things we LOVE to eat.

Yes, often what we love is not the best for us. 

Just like mom tried to teach you many moons ago, you can never go wrong eating your veggies.

Eating has become an important social activity in our lives (as well as a comfort for many). 

If you were taught to clean your plate it can be difficult to stop with food still in front of you. If you fill half your plate with veggies of all colors-- "eat the rainbow"--not a plate filled with mashed potatoes or french fries, you are heading in the right direction.

There is nothing wrong with bacon or chocolate once in a while in small doses (dark chocolate is rich in antioxidants) as long as they are not what becomes your backup at every meal.

Let's eat to be HEALTHY and HAPPY!

Just a Reminder About HAPPINESS...

Sometimes we spend so much time looking for the key to happiness we don't realize that we don't need one. We hold in our hand (really in our heart) all we need to achieve happiness. Realizing and focusing on what we already have with gratitude is the place to begin. Happiness is in our journey, not our destination.

Yoga Can Be Very Underrated

There are many benefits to Yoga

Yoga is an ancient practice but has gained much popularity in recent times. There are many reasons why.

If you asked me twenty or thirty years ago if I liked yoga, or was even interested in trying a class, I probably would have turned you down. For years I put yoga in the same category as golf. I thought it was meant for someone older, for someone who couldn't run or do aerobic exercise. I thought for any exercise to be truly beneficial you had to push your cardiovascular system to a maximum range and/or sweat like crazy.

Well I am proving myself wrong. As it turns out, there are many benefits from practicing yoga and you don't have to wait until you are old at all. As I have also said with golf, I wish I had started many years earlier. I tried yoga at home with a simple CD years ago but still didn't take it seriously. I realized the calming effecting but didn't really commit to it to notice any other benefits.

A Lesson From Ruby, The Dog --- Part II - ATTITUDE

Animals can teach us a lot about attitude!

I remember years ago a sort of (probably unscientific) personality test was popular. Of course I took it. You would answer a field of questions about such things as lifestyle, feelings, and reactions to situations. When tallying your score at the end you would find out which animal symbolized your personality. There were fun-loving dolphins, wise old owls, and more I can’t remember. What I do remember was my result categorized me as a loyal, eager-to-please Golden Retriever. I owned two wonderful Golden Retrievers at the time.

Ruby knows how to share. Here she so lovingly shares her bed 
with a new puppy that joined our family.

We can learn a lot from our animals. There are adorable pictures all over the internet of animals hugging and caring for each other, even befriending and nurturing different species. They don't judge. They live simply. They don't try to impress or compete. They live for the basic needs of food and shelter. Yet they give without question. When they connect with humans they depend on us to provide their basic needs but they don't put expectations or conditions on our relationship. 

Why PALEO? ... Because I Want To Be Like Ruby...

Ruby is loving life

In a recent post "A Lesson From Ruby, the Dog--Part 1--Nutrition"
I described how changing Ruby's diet really changed her life. By eliminating processed dog food and making all of her food with whole food ingredients that we control, everything has improved. Frankly, I was surprised at how many people asked me for more information on what we feed Ruby.

(See the post below for more details)

http://healthyhappybychoice.blogspot.com/2016/04/a-lesson-from-ruby-dog.html

My point was how much we, including myself, could improve our own quality of life, if we ate more like Ruby. I'm concerned that many people care more about what they feed their dog than what goes into their own body or what they feed their children.

I want to be like Ruby. So in my never-ending quest for better health I found and researched PALEO. I intentionally do not use the word DIET because it has connotations of being something trendy or temporary, used only for the purpose of losing weight. PALEO may seem like a buzz word or trend but it is not. I first heard the term from a cohort in fitness about nine years ago. I didn't give it a thought then. Actually the Paleo way of eating has been around since, well you know---

When Is It Time ?...

When is it really time to do something about your health (or your weight?)

You may be at a point in your life when you say to yourself, 

"This is as good as it gets". If you are--

            🎉🎉CONGRATULATIONS!🎉🎉

I like your attitude. You know how to appreciate what you have. You are rare. I have been known to say this, and have been taught by my hubby (a very smart man) that it is even better to say, "This is the best its ever been". Saying that means you appreciate everything the way it is but you are not closing the door to even better.

On the other hand you may be spending time wishing things were better and not understanding why you feel that way or how to make it happen. We know as adults, wishing doesn't make things happen. Change requires action.

Either way--things CAN be better, beginning with your health: