O Man!

From a devotion...source or author unknown.

My 4 year old grandson came up to me and said, "Grandpa, I am going to sing for you." You may recall that the "Johnny Appleseed Song" ends with Amen repeated over and over again. My grandson sang it with gusto, including his own version of the ending:

       O the Lord is good to me and so I thank the Lord for giving me the things I need, the sun and the rain and the apple seed. The Lord is good to me. O man! O man! O man! O man! O man! Ohhhh man!

     I got to thinking about the good sense in my grandson's version. O man, the Lord is good to me! O man, the Lord does give me the things I need!

     I've had many O man! moments since he sang to me. I hope you have many O man! moments too. You don't need to use the proper Amen. Just express your awe and gratitude with O man! and God will get the message. It will place you in the grand tradition of David when he determined to let his lips praise God.

I can so relate this to my health journey. There is such an abundance of fruits and vegetables available compared to 30 or 40 or 50 years ago. There are resources in knowing how to prepare and eat them. There is a variety of fun exercise programs right at our fingertips. There are ways to track our steps and infuse our water and track your eating habits. O man!

We are given so much more than the sun, rain and the apple seed.

And another of my favorite poems/sayings.....source unknown.

ENJOY THE LITTLE THINGS

MOST OF US MISS OUT ON LIFE'S BIGGEST PRIZES:

THE PULLITZER

THE NOBEL

THE OSCAR

THE TONY

THE EMMY

BUT WE ARE ALL ELIGIBLE FOR LIFE'S SMALL PLEASURES:

A PAT ON THE BACK

A KISS ON THE CHEEK

A FOUR POUND WALLEYE

A FULL MOON

AN EMPTY PARKING SPACE

A CRACKLING FIRE

A GREAT MEAL

A GLORIOUS SUNSET

A CUP OF HOT SOUP

AN ICY COLD DRINK

DON'T FRET ABOUT MISSING OUT ON. LIFE'S GRAND AWARDS; ENJOY IT'S TINY DELIGHTS. THERE ARE. PLENTY FOR EVERYONE.

So on this day, September 11th, full of sorrows and loss,  let us pause and give thanks for those who protect us and for those who are brave and selfless. O MAN!

Vexations

     Vexations by Lynne F. McGee in the Washington Post (written in the 1980's).
     It all began when the dental hygienist, who was scraping tartar off my teeth, asked, "Do you spend about four minutes each time you brush your teeth?"  With a gurgling tube hanging from my lip, I responded, "A liddle lessth than that."
     "You really should," she said, "or you will lose your teeth." I vowed to myself that I would floss, pick, brush and rinse as instructed.
     At my annual physical examination the doctor asked, "How often do you exercise?" "Do you limit your salt intake?" and "Does your diet contain much cholesterol?" I thus began  an intensive fitness program, which I checked off on the daily "Personal Maintenance Schedule" on the refrigerator door.
     I then made an appointment for a beauty makeover.  "When is the last time you had a facial?" the cosmetologist asked.
     "Never" didn't seem like the right answer, so I hedged with, "It's been awhile."
     "You should have a facial more often. You've already got some wrinkles around your eyes," she warned. Mentally I added "Get facial!" to my personal maintenance schedule.
     I soon learned personal maintenance was not all that I had to worry about.  At the appliance repair shop, the clerk examining my coffee maker asked, "Do you run white vinegar through it each month?" This began my "Home Maintenance Schedule," which took its place next to my personal maintenance schedule.
     Several other appliances, too, began demanding my attention.  When I discovered that the tape deck in my car, the VCR and the disk drives in my computer also required cleaning, I wondered how long I could keep up this rigorous program.  I was sleeping four hours a night, had lost touch with my husband and children, and had no social life, not to mention no room left on the refrigerator door.
     It all came crashing down one night when I was reading an article entitled: "Are You Endangering the Lives of Your Loved Ones by Failing to Dust Your Smoke Alarms Regularly?"
     I ran to the refrigerator and tore the schedules to shreds.  In their place I have established a policy in which I respond to all questions about my behavior by taking the Fifth Amendment.


It's so easy to turn our lives into one big "to do" list.  To live in a "shoulda, coulda, woulda" world.  It seems to take the fun out of life.  Does our road to health contain advice like:

• Drink at least 8, 8 ounce glasses of water each day
• Eat 5-8 servings of fruits and vegetables each day
• Exercise at least 30 minutes, 5 days a week

Should our diet be no sugar or no carbs or no fat? Should it be paleo or just clean eating? and what exactly does clean eating mean....it seems to have different meanings to different groups. So how do we get past all the shoulda, coulda, woulda and find the right path?  Well, it goes against a lot of advice but listen to your instincts.  Diet experts seem to tell us that our instincts are wrong and we should do things their way.  For me the best course has been to do a sugar detox and then everything else seems to fall into place.   I am actually hungry for those fruits and vegetables and thirsty for clean, pure water.  I have more energy so I feel like going for that walk.  I am sleeping better.  Also, drinking a power packed shake each day reduces my appetite.  Life is good without the constant struggle of deciding which expert has the best advice for me. Learning to trust myself and just listening to my instincts is much less vexing!!