Sometimes I think we spend more time than we should making our homes, yards and gardens beautiful while we neglect beautifying what is most important; our inner world. I know far too many people who are either burned out or close to being burned out that it’s not even close to being funny. The term “burned out” is also extremely interesting as it implies that we each have a fire that burns inside of us. So if we had a fire that needed to be tended every day for our life sustenance, would we not spend a good deal of time making sure it keeps burning?

Being able to tap into ones “fire” or lack of is not always an easy thing to do as most of us are just walking through life not paying attention to anything that comes from within. We have been told to pay attention to everyone else; the kids, your spouse, your boss, politics, news and everything else but you! However, if you continue to pay attention to everyone else at your own expense, be prepared to eventually burn out and join the throngs or other people that are oblivious to their own fire. Or make a different decision today to tend to the fire that makes you tick. May it always burn brightly!

I love homemade foods. I love homemade cake and pizza. Homemade soup is one of my favorites. But my favorite of all is homemade bread. I should say dough because that is the more accurate. With homemade dough you can make pies, pizza, and many others things; bread included. Bread is something that you never really stop and realize how much you eat of it. I didn’t realize that my family eats at least a loaf a day. We eat sandwiches in our lunch. We use it for dipping in our soup or pasta. We use it in stuffing and meatloaf. My family eats a very large amount of bread so we make a lot of it to accommodate our taste buds..

That’s one reason we have lost our taste for store bought bread. Since we can make our own dough now, we make homemade bread all of the time and it is truly delicious. The kind we make still has the soft inside but the crust is not soft like store bought bread. Our homemade bread has a very crisp, almost crunchy, crust that really adds some enjoyment to simple sandwiches. Homemade foods really are better, especially bread.

Everyone wants to be healthier. Some try to be healthier by exercising and some simply eat healthier. One way to improve the way you eat is to eat fresh fruits. Believe it or not fresh fruit can be as satisfying of a snack food as chips and dip. The trouble is getting kids to eat it.

One good way of getting kids to eat more fruit is to put it out in front of them. Place a big bowl of fruits on the dining room table or in the living room if your family is allowed to eat in there. The kids will most likely be attracted to the convenience of just grabbing a fruit and taking a bite.

The best way to get kids to eat fruit instead of starchy snacks is to not give them the option. Do not buy chips. They will scream and yell about it of course but they will eventually learn to accept it. And they will also learn to enjoy it. Fruit is sweet and yummy after all.

I believe that a huge population of Americans no longer prepares meals from the basic ingredients. A growing number of people are content to choose from the wide variety of fast food restaurants of varied price range. There are frozen foods that require 1-5 minutes in a microwave or longer in conventional oven. And then there are the people who prepare meals from boxed easy to make food-stuffs that require nothing extra or maybe one additional ingredient. This is a sad trend that disconnects people from understanding what our actual food is and where it comes from.

The true nature of food can only come about when we see and touch the actual ingredients and mix and change these ingredients to the food that we share and eat together. This is the basic thinking behind the growing slow food movement gaining in popularity around the globe. People are reacting to the basic disconnect behind the food industry and how it relates to our eating habits. Many of us are thinking that it may not be a good thing that food is fast and we have no idea what our food is and are choosing to understand our place in the world by understanding the food we eat.

I am one of the growing numbers of nameless Americans that cannot afford health insurance. I consider myself a self-insured person. I see the doctor at least once a year for an overall checkup. Years ago, I was diagnosed with gout and have been living with this easily treatable affliction for as long as ten years now.

Health is a wonder, especially when the news comes that health is also fleeting if taken for granted. I have recently been informed that I am a borderline diabetic. I am amused at this diagnosis because it seems much like being borderline pregnant. It seems to me that one is either a diabetic or not a diabetic. But alas, I won’t allow my cynicism to belittle the very dangerous news of my condition.

And since I am an American with no health insurance and now am in possession of a pre-existing condition, my chances of gaining affordable health insurance seem to be near impossible. I am forced to take responsibility for my health and work to possibly reverse the condition since I am still diagnosed as “borderline”. I am looking forward to an increased health awareness and responsible and healthy life choices to reduce the need for expensive healthcare treatment. Carpe diem!

Don’t pretend that you don’t know what I am talking about. It has happened to almost everyone I know; you eat too much food all at one time on Thanksgiving and can barely move the rest of the day. You tell yourself that you are not going to do it again this year and you end up doing it anyway. Well, I have found a way to beat the bulge and feel great about it. I call it spooning.

It’s really quite simple, I get to have one spoon full of anything and everything I want and no more. What I find is a spoon full is about one serving and when you put one serving of the things you like on the plate, there is plenty of food, room for all of it, which used to be a large problem, and once you are done you are satisfied and full. The key is not to go back for seconds and thirds. Drinking water or tea will help you tackle going back to the trough for more and if you need some additional help; go into the bathroom, close the door and raise your shirt and take a real long look at your gut. That should do it!

Many people are so afraid to see someone about their pain that they self diagnose it and just hang on for dear life. Some people do it because they don’t have health insurance and can’t afford the care and some do it because they are really afraid to know what is really going on. For others it is a lack of faith in the more traditional healthcare professions that have let so many down over the years.

That has given an opening to other methods of care such as acupuncture, aroma therapies and chiropractic care. Though I have tried all of these as well, I always start with my chiropractor and highly recommend it. I have had great experience with taking my chiropractors advice on seeking other doctors when it is beyond his capabilities. But what has really convinced me that he knows what he is doing is that he sends me to the right place every time. For cholesterol and kidney’s it was to the Internal Medicine Doctor for another patient it was to a Cancer Specialist and so on and so forth. Having a doctor that is this experienced is a fantastic way to take care of yourself and he really is a pain specialist.

If we lived in a perfect world then everyone would be in favor of the following;

• Take care of the poor and the sick
• End war
• Stop the icecaps from melting
• Employ everyone that wants to be employed
• Pay little or no taxes
• Make Healthcare available to everyone
• Freedom of choice
• Freedom of expression
• Civil liberties and rights for everyone

I could go on with this list but you get the idea. When you sit and ponder what a perfect world would look like it can make you either happy or sad. The happy part is that we have something that is wonderful and good to aspire as a nation and world. The sad part is how far we have to go to get there.

What has me confused more than anything about this list is that I can see only one thing on it that people from both sides would readily agree about; pay little or no taxes. For a country that claims such high ideals and moral fabric, you would think we would be willing to pay more taxes for all the other things on the list. But as I was reminded today at lunch that means we would have to sacrifice a little of our own to help the whole and while that sounds great in a Star Trek movie, currently, it’s not the American way.

I had a very interesting thing happen in a business meeting the day after the President’s press conference on healthcare and have taken a few days to really think about what it all means. One person just asked if anyone watched it when one of the older participants chimed in with a comment that went something like this; “Why would anyone watch that? I turned on Fox News after it was over and they said Obama told nothing but lies.”

I asked a simple question, “How does Fox News know he said nothing but lies”? The same person shot me the look of death and stated, “Anyone who listens to CNN or MSNBC is an idiot!” I looked around the room and everyone else just looked down at the desk then I said, “No sir, anyone who doesn’t listen to all sides and do the research to find out what is true or not is an idiot.” Needless to say, the meeting was over before it started and it’s the first time I have ever felt that I lost business because I just didn’t fall lock-step in line with the one handing out the contract. What happen to the right to free speech without repercussions? Why can’t we just get along? I have no affiliation with either party and have been an Independent for the last 20 years and have never felt I had to change the way I think and believe to make a living. God help me, because I won’t say I believe something just to make a buck; this is America!

When it comes to food with the organic label we have a pretty good idea of what we are buying and putting into our mouths. However, when it comes to products such as toothpaste, shampoos and lotions I’m not so sure. I recently asked a lady in the skin care industry if she had any organic products for skin. She looked at me and said that there was no such thing. When I disagreed with her (because I have been using an organic skin care cleaner) she asked me if I refrigerated the product and I told her I didn’t. Then she asked me the question that got me to thinking.

Since organic products are made of nothing but natural ingredients and natural ingredients either need to be refrigerated or they rot, then how does your skin cleaner overcome this issue? I could not think of an answer. I went back and started doing a little research and found that there is no regulation for these types of products. They can claim anything they want and no one checks. That’s not to say they aren’t good, it’s just buyers beware. Just because something claims to be “organic” doesn’t mean they are.