Are you Winning the Fight on TOXINS?

GOOD HEALTH EQUALS GOOD LIFE

Did you know toxins are everywhere?!  How do you we protect ourselves and our loved ones, when the toxins are all around us, the air we breathe and food we eat are being sprayed and laden with pesticides.

Just recently there was the Riverton Dump fire in Jamaica.  Lots of communities both near and far were affected.  Lots of school in the vicinity had to be closed.  Increased cases of asthma, “cardiac illnesses, infant mortality, low birth weight of babies, onset of childhood asthma, coughs, wheezing, chest tightness, shortness of breath, burning in eyes, nose and throat and the list continues.  Shocking isn’t it.  But guess what? This is not the only toxins that we absorb in our body.

 The most heavily sprayed foods are apples, strawberries, peaches,    grapes (especially the imported varieties) and the list goes on.  Do     you ever wonder what’s in your fruit smoothie?  Makes you wonder   huh?

An article by Harvard Medical states that “While some people age healthily, the conclusion of many studies is that, compared with younger people, the elderly are far more likely to contract infectious diseases. Respiratory infections, influenza, and particularly pneumonia are a leading cause of death in people over 65 worldwide. No one knows for sure why this happens, but some scientists observe that this increased risk correlates with a decrease in T cells, possibly from the thymus atrophying with age and producing fewer T cells to fight off infection”

Kids are also impacted by the presence of Toxins in the air and in our foods, its common to say that kids have their lives ahead of them to undo whatever unhealthy eating habits they may have.  However, some children do not get the chance to live long enough for that to happen.  The American Academy of Paediatrics note that “Children encounter pesticides daily and have unique susceptibilities to their potential toxicity, … there is evidence showing associations between pesticides and pediatric cancer and adverse neurodevelopment is “robust” and point to a role for insecticides in risk of brain tumors and acute lymphocytic leukemia.”

How can you protect yourself?

–  This means regular exercise – even if it is just 10 minutes a day.  I usually find the 10-minute workouts that I can do in front of my computer in the kitchen.

–  Ensure that your kids are fully vaccinated, (and YOU for that matter), – it is always important to ensure that kids are immunized against infectious diseases and viruses.

–  Step up on personal hygiene; washing hands regularly, cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing or cough in your elbow instead of your hands

–  Eating right –   Lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grain, plenty of water you know the drill.

However, since we know most foods are heavily laden with pesticides and toxins, and the fact that our diets are lacking in a number of essential nutrients, including calcium, potassium, magnesium, Vitamin A, C etc … it is important to also supplement.

Be sure however to speak to your doctor before taking any supplement and ensure that you do not overdose on supplements, as some persons have a tendency to take more than the required dosage.   Make sure also to include supplements that are able to defend against bad bacteria and toxins.

As keeping our body healthy and protected is of utmost importance it is imperative that we take all the steps necessary to ensure our body is up to par and can handle anything that life throws at us. Are you doing everything possible to win the fight?!  Leave a comment on what it is that you do on a regular basis that has helped you to stay healthy?

Empower and Inspire to Succeed!

Where There is LIFE 

There is HOPE

Life Begins Each Morning…

“Whether one is 20, 40, 60, or 80, whether one has succeeded, failed or just muddled along, Life begins each morning.  All past days are gone beyond revisiting.  All days that still may come are veiled in mystery.  Each new day is Life and life begins anew with it.  Each night of life is a wall between today and the past.  The greatest fact in life is this, that it is never too late to start again.  However, discouraging your days may have been, keep this thought burning brightly in your mind:  Life Begins Each Morning!”

– L. M. Hodges

 

 

Isn’t this just great motivation to keep going one day at a time.  We’ve all been there, we’ve fallen down, by the time we’ve gotten back up, we are so far behind it gets discouraging.  But keep going, every day is a new day, every day is another opportunity for a Fresh Start.  Never give up.  Life Begins each Morning…

“Every day is an opportunity for a Fresh Start”

My New Year Wish

From my Garden

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!  With lots of joy, happiness and blessings.  Remember, everyday that you have life is a new day to create anew spirit within you; for new opportunities for new chances. Whatever it is, you have the capacity to make it happen. You have to believe in yourself and take it one step at a time  and with God’s help we will surely make through.

As always, Where there is LIFE there is HOPE

Audria

How do you forgive yourself

This was a great read, and I thought it would be good to share as we all have trouble forgiving ourselves.  I have made some mistakes in my life that sometimes I still do beat myself up for.  But guess what I realize you cant change the past, you can only live for today.  Sarah Markley is an (in)courage writer on Daysprings.com.

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5 Steps to Forgiving Yourself

“I’m just so stupid!!” One of my daughters face-palms herself after a mistake she’s made. And I’ll admit, it’s a big one.

“No you aren’t. You just made a poor choice.” I go to her, gather her and do my best to infuse truth into her heart and somehow layer it over the lies that have begun to reside there.

I have never told her she is stupid or bad or unlovable. To the contrary. I try to combat those outside influences each day of their lives.

You know you’re amazing.

You are so smart.

You’ve done your best, that’s all you can do!

But even my girls are prime examples of just how hard we are on ourselves.

My 10 year old can run 3 good barrel runs but if she disqualifies on her fourth, she’s in tears. My 6 year old can stop the attempted goals for a whole soccer game but if she lets one sneak through as goalie, she can’t seem to forgive herself.

Why is it so hard? And why are we so hard on ourselves?

As adults we’ve seen so much more in our own lives worth forgiving then letting soccer goals squeak by or going off course in a barrel race. We’ve made big bad poor choices that really do affect our own hearts and the lives of others.

We’ve betrayed people and spouses and we’ve lied to people that didn’t deserve to be lied to. We’ve stolen and held anger close and we’ve been bitter. We’ve also simply made big, life-altering but unavoidable mistakes that have hurt and tripped others and ourselves.

As adults, we’ve done a lot of things over our lifetimes that truly deserve a face-palm.

Probably the most common question I hear when you tell me your stories is this one:

How did you learn to forgive yourself?

I’m not a step-by-step formula girl, but I’ve tried to drill it down to five steps, more or less, that have helped me come from a place of understanding the mistakes I’ve made to being able to forgive myself. {And I’ve made a few big ones in my time.}

1. Take responsibility for what is yours but not for what is not yours. Here’s what I mean. To begin to forgive ourselves we must realize that we actually did do something stupid or silly or wrong or unthoughtful. We have to take responsibility for our actions and behaviors that led us to the place. But we also shouldn’t take responsibility for the mistakes and wrongs of others. If my 1st grader gets in a tussle on the playground and screams angrily at another kid, she should take responsibility for what she has done wrong, but not for the actions of the other child. Those of us who are hard on ourselves often take too much blame and we take blame that is not ours.

2. Start speaking the truth. The truth is, you’ve already been forgiven. The truth is, your mistakes do not define you. The truth is, you are not alone. The truth is, the grace and forgiveness of God are bigger than all of us and our mistakes combined. The truth is, God has deemed us worthy of His forgiveness. When we begin to speak these things we also begin to believe them. And the truth is, your journey to forgiving yourself is one that God with travel with you each step of the way.

3. Embrace grace. Bask in it. Observe it in action. Watch for it. Become an expert in it so you can recognize it when you see it. Begin receiving it from others if you don’t. Those of us who are hard on ourselves are also hard recipients of grace. We don’t accept it from ourselves (it’s why we are on this journey) and often we don’t accept it from others.

4. Forgive others. One of the best ways I know how to begin doing something is to practice it. If we practice forgiving one another, the forgiving of our own mistakes comes all the quicker.

5. Let others speak the truth into your life when you forget it. Sometimes we need good, objective truth-speakers in our lives to help remind us that we have already been forgiven. Maybe it is a good friend, a mentor, a counselor or a fellow {in}courage community member. None of us can journey on our own, ever, so even in this it is good to have solid, strong people around us to tell us that we are worthy of forgiveness. And to tell us once in awhile that:

we are amazing,

we are smart,

and we’ve done the best we can.

Do you have trouble forgiving yourself? What things have helped you?

by Sarah Markley

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I especially love #4, remembering to forgive others will no doubt help you in forgiving yourself.

Remember, Where there is Life there is Hope.

Audria

Love is spelled T-I-M-E for a Child

To all my fellow parents, I thought you might like this.

As I read this article by Zig Ziglar on spending quality time with kids, I realized my morning started out real badly with my son, with him crying and me threatening to withhold games and toys.

Zig says “The way you start and end your child’s day is extremely important because if the day is started and ended properly, the time in between will go much better”. This made a lot of sense, because when I reflected on the other times that I’m gentle and would kiss him and we giggle together in the mornings, things flow sooo much easier.

We tend to make a lot of deals together.  It would go like this..“You know if you go to the bathroom do what you have to do, then I give you a bath, have your breakfast and get dressed without fussing you can take your leapfrog with you to the car”.. stuff like that.  And it usually works most of the time.  There’s still a little fuss, and I’ll remind him of the deal and what he has to lose.  He would then say “mommy was I good, see mommy I making a deal” 🙂 which makes me soo proud.

I mean, I understand, with all the stress that we go through, we tend to get a little course with them.  We take out our frustrations on them, we rush them, we get impatient.

But here’s Zig Ziglar’s suggestion, which I absolutely agree with, and hope that you will try from now on.

He says “At bedtime, take your child by the hand, lead them back to the bed, tuck them in, then chat with them for a while.  For a child, love is spelled T – I – M – E, and your child is more likely to open up and reveal his/her heart just before they go to sleep than at any other time of the day.  Ten to fifteen minutes can make a big difference in the bonding process with your child by giving them that precious assurance that they are deeply loved, that you have time for them and they are more important than ten more minutes of television.  Try this approach and I’ll SEE YOU—and your child—AT THE TOP!”

All the best to you in your continued bonding process, and remember with kindness as your guide you will never lose your way.

Audria

That ‘thing’ called Exercise

WOW Exercise… do you know how hard it is to create and maintain an effective exercise routine.

I’ve been at it on and off for quite a while now.  But I’m thinking, I’ve got to tell myself that this ‘thing’ called exercise is VERY important.  I’ve got to tell myself that this can be a life or death situation. It is very important to the quality of my life.  I’ve got to get drastic in order to get out of bed, or stop whatever I’m doing and just go do the exercise.

I’m getting scared and tired of hearing stories of people getting a stroke at the age of 38 – I’m getting close to that age now 🙂 – Yesterday, I read a story of a young lady at the age of 25, who just collapsed and died, she wasn’t known to have any illnesses.  What a tragedy that must be for her family, it brought tears to my eyes.

I figure it has to be a balance, a good diet means everything in moderation.  As too much of a thing can be bad for you.  I try to take my supplements as support for what I might not be getting based on my diet.  Try to take  care of my mental, emotional and spiritual life, as stress is a serious killer.  This includes our family life and work life and then we have to make sure we get time for ourselves to just unwind and do whatever.

Then here comes the exercise, we just can’t get away from it.  Face it, our bodies need it.  One of the benefits of exercise is a healthy mind, it can help to fight anxiety and depression.  The brain is stimulated by exercise into releasing chemicals that make you feel happy. Maybe this is why I always have a pep in my step when I exercise.

So without further ado, I’m off.  I think this morning is a ZUMBA morning!!!

Remember with the right attitude anything is possible!