Work

In the 1950's I attended a one room gradeschool. We had to learn a certain number of poems each year. Younger students would watch and admire the older students. The following poem was the last poem memorized in the 8th grade. We couldn't wait to be in the 8th grade and to be able to recite this poem with gusto.

Work: A Song of Triumph by Angela Morgan

Work!

Thank God for the might of it,

The ardor, the urge, the delight of it—

Work that springs from the heart’s desire,

Setting the brain and the soul on fire—

Oh, what is so good as the heat of it,

And what is so glad as the beat of it,

And what is so kind as the stern command,

Challenging brain and heart and hand?

Work!

Thank God for the pride of it,

For the beautiful, conquering tide of it.

Sweeping the life in its furious flood,

Thrilling the arteries, cleansing the blood,

Mastering stupor and dull despair,

Moving the dreamer to do and dare.

Oh, what is so good as the urge of it,

And what is so glad as the surge of it,

And what is so strong as the summons deep,

Rousing the torpid soul from sleep?

Work!

Thank God for the pace of it,

For the terrible, keen, swift race of it;

Fiery steeds in full control,

Nostrils a-quiver to meet the goal.

Work, the Power that drives behind,

Guiding the purposes, taming the mind,

Holding the runaway wishes back,

Reining the will to one steady track,

speeding the energies faster, faster,

Triumphing over disaster.

Oh, what is so good as the pain of it,

And what is so great as the gain of it?

And what is so kind as the cruel goad,

Forcing us on through the rugged road?

Work!

Thank God for the swing of it,

For the clamoring, hammering ring of it,

Passion of labor daily hurled

On the mighty anvils of the world.

Oh, what is so fierce as the flame of it?

And what is so huge as the aim of it?

Thundering on through dearth and doubt,

Calling the plan of the Maker out.

Work, the Titan; Work, the friend,

Shaping the earth to glorious end,

Draining the swamps and blasting the hills,

Doing whatever the Spirit wills—

Rending a continent apart,

To answer the dreams of the Master heart.

Thank God for a world where none may shirk—

Thank God for the splendor of work!

Of course, I didn't understand how hard it was going to be to work as an adult. There's house cleaning and laundry and clothes as well as going to your job so you can pay the bills! And you have to do it day after day until you retire! There were many times that I cursed my parents for teaching me such a good work ethic (just kidding)! 

So, we know what a sense of accomplishment we have when doing a job well. Let's transfer that work ethic to our health as well. We are worth it!

I Love to Walk

(I wrote this last winter....I was employed in long term care for over 35 years)


I need to walk....

In long term care we must have "care plans" for all of our residents.  These are the goals that are set by staff, the resident and family or significant others.  They are usually related to health or care concerns but sometimes they list preferences for the resident.  A recent trend is to have "I" care plans that state the goals/wishes in the first person such as "I want to keep my blood sugar within normal range." or "I want to lose weight."  In cases where someone is restless, the "I" care plan may say "I want/need to walk".  This is a reminder to staff that they should ensure that a resident has a place to walk that is free of obstructions and that if they need assistance in walking, that someone is there to help.  If the resident cannot tell us what is important to them, we often talk to family and friends to find out what the resident enjoyed doing in the past.

The point of the first paragraph is to introduce my love of walking.  I just read an exercise blog today that said "do what you love" and your exercise routine will be more successful.  I love to walk.  I need to walk.  More importantly I need to do it outside where  I can see, smell and feel the outdoors!!  I have been a sporadic walker for over 35 years.  I started walking for stress control, not for weight management as many people do. It was also my alone, thinking time when my life was much busier than it is now.   In the last 10-15 years, I have gotten in the habit of listening to books while I walk.  This combines my love of reading with my love of walking.  Listening to books or music can impede my hearing of nature sounds but I will occasionally turn off the book to hear geese honking or most recently to hear an elk bugle.   My love of walking has returned with a vengeance after I  recovered from my double knee replacement surgery in April.   I have been wearing a fitness band for 10
months and am currently walking 12000 steps or about 4.5 miles a day.  I love it!!  I am ready to increase my walking to 14000 steps a day except for one problem....North Dakota weather.  Several days this week I have had to wear my down filled coat and a scarf across my face because of the wind.  When there is ice or snow, I may not be able to walk outside because of the unsure footing.  Winter is coming, no doubt about it.  So I am longing to be in a warmer climate or in a less rural place where I could at least walk at a mall or fitness center.

The other morning I woke up to the wind howling and thought some very negative thoughts:

• I won't be able to walk outside today
• It's going to be so cold
• I hate North Dakota wind and cold weather
• I could walk on the elliptical but I would rather not
• and most ridiculous of all....This has got to be Arden's fault!

I had read that when you walk, you should walk with a smile because it lifts your spirits.  Most days I grin for the whole hour that I walk.  I love that I am stronger.  I love that my knees don't hurt.  I love the sights and smells of rural North Dakota....in all seasons.  So I decided to go for my walk despite my negative thoughts and the wind and I discovered that my negative thoughts were SO wrong.  How often does that happen---that my negative fears and worries are SO wrong.  It wasn't nearly as cold as it sounded and it was a great walk!!

What do you love to do?
Are your negative thoughts leading you into a downward spiral and how often are they proven wrong? 

To Thine Own Self Be True

Shakespeare writes in Hamlet Act 1, scene 3, 78–82

This above all: to thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
Farewell, my blessing season this in thee!

Take care of yourself first, he counsels, and that way you'll be in a position to take care of others. There is wisdom in the old man's warnings, of course; but he repeats orthodox platitudes with unwonted self-satisfaction. (from Shakespeare quotes at ebook.com)

I was married in 1971 and had grown up watching my mother, a typical stay at home 1950's mother who put her husband and children before herself. By 1974, Arden and I had two children when Marabel Morgan had a best selling book. The Total Woman sold more than ten million copies and was the bestselling nonfiction book of 1974.^[1] Grounded in evangelicalChristianity, it taught that "A Total Woman caters to her man's special quirks, whether it be in salads, sex or sports,"^[2] and is perhaps best remembered for instructing wives to greet their husbands at the front door wearing sexy outfits; suggestions included "a cowgirl or a showgirl." "It's only when a woman surrenders her life to her husband, reveres and worships him and is willing to serve him, that she becomes really beautiful to him," Morgan wrote.

My best friend and I read this book and like the good wives we aspired to be, tried to follow it. The 
funniest incident is when I called my husband at work and told him to come home because I had on
my smallest bikini! Imagine my surprise when the Sunday School Superintendant knocked on the
door wanting to discuss my teaching Sunday School. Do I run and throw some clothes on or do I act casual and visit with my bikini on? I chose the latter!

About the same time, the Atkins Diet became popular and was my first official diet that helped me 
lose the weight I had gained during my pregnancies.   Because of my nursing background, I knew that fruits and veggies and whole grains were healthy and enjoyed preparing meals around them. But alas, my Scandinavian heritage led me to love rich gravies and sweet treats too. It seemed that once I started eating one treat, I couldn't stop!

Fast forward 40 years and I am a liberated woman. My husband can cook his own meals, wash his own clothes and does most of the vacuuming and floor washing! In the last 40 years we raised 4 
children and numerous foster children so despite the fact that my husband did not need (nor did I want to) wait on him, I still lost myself to children and work. 


We can also lose ourselves so much that we don't recognize when we are hungry or thirsty. We often aren't very good at reading our bodies signals.  Part of the reason is because we have been told not to trust our instincts in regards to food.  Studying and following different diet programs can be SO confusing. Basically they all tell us the same thing...what they say is the correct way to eat and we've been doing it all wrong. I wonder if current diet trends are simply a marketing ploy to sell more books or Snackwells or other chemical laden foods!  The early Weight Watcher plans told us we had to eat liver at least once a week..there was no substitution...so we faithfully choked it down even when we didn't like it. 

I believe the "clean eating" programs do a better job at telling us to listen to our instincts...enjoy the food we eat....don't eat it because we "should" but because it tastes good and is healthy for us. Trust your instincts. Experiment. If you don't like brussel sprouts, don't write off all vegetables but try 
something else....maybe asparagus or bok choy. If you are craving chocolate or sweets or other unhealthy things, ask yourself why and investigate your cravings. Maybe investigate sugar addiction and experiment with ways to break the addiction. Find yourself and what you enjoy. Listen to that inner voice. Engage your friends in discussions or talk to a cook about the best way to prepare foods. Let kids help in this adventure of changing our appetites to hunger for healthier things. In the words of my granddaughter after a weekend of eating chips and other junk "I just want a really crisp red apple"!

Together, we can change!

“At the center of your being
you have the answer;
you know who you are
and you know what you want.”
― Lao Tzu

Life is too short to eat bad tasting food!

My new motto is "life is too short to eat bad tasting food".  There's an assumption that "diet" food does not taste good and anything that tastes good is bad for you i.e. cake, cookies, pizza etc

I don't know how many times I have been on a "diet" and eaten limp celery or dry lettuce or scraped the mold off the raspberries cuz that's the only fresh food in the house. Geneen Roth wrote a book (among several) called "When You Eat at the Refrigerator, Pull Up a Chair". She talks a lot about mindful eating in comparison to mindless eating where we end up thinking...I can't believe I ate the whole thing! In mindful eating you say "yum" with each and every bite. So if you eat a piece of cake, it should be a $6 cupcake from a specialty shop where you savor every bite and not some box cake that tastes like cardboard! No guilt...just enjoy it! In addition,  if you are eating healthy make sure what you choose is full of the flavors you love and that it is fresh. My favorite green salad has both fruit and nuts.

My new favorite dressing is a homemade honey mustard: 1 cup of brown mustard, 3 tbsp honey, 1 tsp vinegar, 1 tsp oil and 2 tbsp of poppy seeds is optional. I also like Newman's Own olive oil and vinegar dressing.

I am greatful that through clean eating my tastes have changed. I no longer drink soda of any kind and love flavored water...my favorite is a cucumber-mint from Target. I drink one cup of coffee instead of a whole pot. That one cup is exquisite with coffee mate's Natural Bliss all natural coffee creamer.

Geneen Roth's Eating Guidelines include:
1. Eat when you are hungry.
2. Eat sitting down in a calm environment. This does not include the car.
3. Eat without distractions. Distractions include radio, television, newspapers, books, intense or  anxiety producing conversations and music.
4. Eat only what you want.
5. Eat until you are satisfied.
6. Eat (with the intention of being) in full view of others.
7. Eat with enjoyment, pleasure and gusto.

#3 is the hardest for me...when, why did the TV get moved into the kitchen or dining room or did we start to eat in front of the TV?

So in the name of healthy eating, I am willing to try new things but question them too...just because
it's deemed healthy doesn't mean it tastes good and just because it tastes good doesn't mean it's bad for you! Healthy food can and should be delicious!  Hopefully one day all of those sugar and fat laden desserts will come with a warning label....not just cigarettes. I continue to struggle with unhealthy eating but am learning to eat mindfully and with forgiveness after I have had a slip.

I tried a new recipe for Vanilla Spice Quinoa Breakfast Cereal....interesting...not sure I will eat it again without tweeking the recipe!

One of the keys is to keep fresh, frozen and canned ingredients that you love on hand so you can whip up healthy meals more easily!  And to keep moving!

Today is the first day of the rest of your life...

There's never been a day like this day to me

There's never been a day like this day I see

There's never been a light that shines so bright

As this day, this glorious day

This is the song that is going through my head this morning as I kayak around Rodeo Island on Lake Sacacawea. Conditions are perfect, the water is still, there's not much traffic and the sun is shining.

A perfect day to start a new adventure...a 30 day adventure called Fantasy Fitness Challenge. It's one of those challenges that is popular with younger folks these days. I think there's 16 of us in this challenge....probably 2 or 3 of us are Grandmas. I am a professional "dieter". Yes, I know we are not supposed to call it a "diet" anymore...it's a lifestyle change. I have had the best success with Weight Watcher's in the past. I was even a WW lecturer over 35 years ago. As a retired nurse I also have knowledge of nutrition and the benefits of exercise and eating healthy. I am very excited to see nutrition and exercise becoming popular. It is an answer to prayers. The obesity in this country is sad.

Although I have the knowledge, can I transfer that to action? My plan is to blog daily for the next 30 days. It may be thought provoking but mostly light hearted and funny.  Here are my thoughts and questions today:

*I know I can do this for a day or two but 30 days? Seriously?

*What about giving into my cravings....when my mind is screaming "I'm starving" or "One bite won't hurt" or "I deserve that treat cuz I've been good or had a hard day"

*What about the days when I just want to veg and not think or plan or follow the menu plan...when I want to rebel and go my own merry way?

Well, let's simply enjoy this day, this beautiful day and the moments of this day filled with people and challenges and exercise and healthy eating. Make it a great day...this day!