Monthly Archives: December 2011

Yesterday I was reminded that with 2011 ending, it’s a good time to think about the choices I’ll make in 2012. Because in most areas, if I don’t actively make choices, I’m still making choices by not making choices. So I reread some posts I wrote about choices and then shared the links with you in yesterday’s post.

Choices can be easy to voice, but much harder to stick to. One key component involves thinking through the changes we need to make to follow through with our choices… so today is a recap of posts I’ve written with practical steps to make changes.

If you only click one link on this post, make it this one with advice from Dan Buettner. He has done extensive research into living well and living long. Focus on one of the 10 habits a month in 2012 and in less than a year, you’ll make major changes to your life.

• 10 Beneficial Habits by Dan Buettner … and Me

Since the number one change people often want to make is about health and fitness, let’s talk about that.

If we don’t actively choose how we’ll take care of our health… by default we’re more than likely choosing to be unhealthy. If we don’t plan and choose wisely, we’ll end up eating too much cheap/fast/convenient/unhealthy food that is available everywhere, especially in America.

If we don’t make a choice to get regular exercise, we will more than likely not move enough…. unless we sell our car and walk everywhere, which is next to impossible for most of us..

Caring for your body is work—but have you ever thought about the hard work of not caring for it?

• Is it Hard Work to be Unhealthy?

Our bodies work best when we move regularly. There’s many beneficial exercises, but walking and running are the most natural and ones you don’t need special equipment for… unless you want to walk while working on a computer—which I’m loving!

• Video Review of the LifeSpan Fitness Treadmill Desk 

And since running is my thing, I naturally have posts about that. If you want to start running, these posts are for you:

• Getting There Pole by Pole
• This Post May Not be For You

Stress is a huge negative factor for one’s health. Some stress is external, but we often add more stress to our life by making unwise choices about how we spend our time and money. Some stress might be unavoidable, but the truth is “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you respond.” Lou Holtz.

• The Choice is Yours—Stress or not
• Help Yourself—Stop and Think!
• Myth: More Stuff will Make me Happy
• Your Mind is Priceless—Use it, Don’t Lose it

Change does not happen overnight… but resist urges and it can happen, one step at a time:

• Resist Urges and They will Past
• Is One Step at a Time an Overused Cliche’?

Joy/happiness is good medicine, so make some wise choices and you too can know:

• How to Have a Perfect Joy-Filled Day

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I’d love to hear tips from you on what you’ve found to be effective when making changes.

2011 is ending. 

Did the things you wanted to happen in 2011 happen?

Why? Or why not?

There’s many things we do not have control over… weather, the country’s economy, spouses, kids, others, the music in elevators, etc.

But there are many things we do control…
and can make choices about.

You can spend your time complaining about the things you can’t control …
or you can do what you can, with what you have, where you are.

You have control over many things… your health, finances, attitude, organized office/house, etc.

So what are you waiting on?

If you don’t claim the gift of life you have now, what excuse will you use at the end of 2012?

Contrary to many predictions, I think 2012 will come and go… and we will again arrive at the end of a year in 366 days. (2012 is a leap year, so you actually have an extra day to accomplish the choices you make)

As I looked back over my posts this year, I realized I’ve often written about making choices. It was good for me to reread them because I (again) need reminding of the choices I have, so I thought I would share some of them with you.

• The Myth of Someday
• What Choices do You Have?
• Making Choices so You can Appreciate Life
• Is Goals a Dirty Word?
• The Choice is Yours—Stress or not
• 5 Steps to Take Before you Say I Can’t
• I Think I Can, I Thank I Can…
• Eureka! Your Wish is Granted!

So what choices do you want to make to help 2012 be a year you will be happy to look back on?

A few weeks ago, I wrote about a sweet new treadmill I was getting and how I was moving my work station from a chair to a treadmill desk.

I’ve been walking while working and/or catching up with friends online almost everyday for the past two weeks and loving it!

Instead of writing a review … I decided to try my hand at a video review. It’s my first video review, so be kind.

Do you think you’d enjoy walking while working?

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UPDATE:
My story has been included in articles about treadmill desks a few places:

Forbes: Walking while you work by Dr. Robert Glatter
USA Today: Get off your duff: Work and walk with a treadmill desk by Alice Truong

Walking while working – Janet Oberholtzer

For more info, check out the LifeSpan Treadmill Desks here.

Thanks to the wonderful world of the internet, it’s easy to have friends from around the world and sometime in the past year or two, I met Jason Ewart from Australia online. Jason is a life coach, author and was an Australian Of The Year Nominee.

Jason has overcome some tough challenges in his own life… because he can. Now he helps others extract their full potential… because they can.

Jason has a website called Potential Extractors and graciously invited me to write a guest post for him. I’m thrilled for the opportunity to have a post on the other side of the world. I share what I’ve learned about doing what you can, with what you have, where you are… because you can!

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Tackling Transformations

I want to play the piano, but I don’t want to go through the process of learning it.

I want to have ten friends over for a great meal I’ve cooked, but I don’t want to do all the work involved.

I want to run a marathon, but I don’t want to do all the training.

I want  _____ but I don’t want to ______

The list could go on and on.

Sometimes it’s okay to let things go that we really don’t want to do if there’s no real need to do it. There are many people that play the piano beautifully, so I will enjoy their music.

But other times we have to do things we don’t want to if we want certain results. Transforming ourselves or a situation is tough, whether it’s something we initiate or an unwanted transformation is forced on us. 

Since life isn’t perfect, sometimes we are forced into situations we didn’t plan or we come to a place where we know we need to make changes involving our health/finances/etc. and we have to go through a process of transformation.

Where do you begin? How do you make it happen?

Go to Potential Extractor to read what I’ve learned about tackling transformations.

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Other guest posts I have done:

Many bloggers are reposting their most popular posts during the last two weeks of the year. I tend to cheer for the underdog, so I’m going to repost posts that weren’t popular, but I think they deserve another chance.

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A post for Trust 30 … a 30-day writing challenge I participated in during June.

Today’s Prompt:

Our arts, our occupations, our marriages, our religion, we have not chosen, but society has chosen for us. We are parlour soldiers. We shun the rugged battle of fate, where strength is born. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

The idea of “being realistic” holds all of us back. From starting a business or quitting a job to dating someone who may not be our type or moving to a new place – getting “real” often means putting your dreams on hold.

Today, let’s take a step away from rational thought and dare to be bold. What’s one thing you’ve always wanted to accomplish but have been afraid to pursue? Write it down. Also write down the obstacles in your way of reaching your goal. Finally, write down a tangible plan to overcome each obstacle.

The only thing left is to, you know, go make it happen. What are you waiting for?

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My Response:

I was born asking why. I’ve taken steps outside the norm. I’ve dared to be bold. (though trembling and shaking at times)

I think having bold dreams is good, but dreams usually need the companion of endurance.

At age twenty, I married and my husband and I followed our dream of living life outside of the strict traditional Mennonite (think almost Amish) world we’d grown up in. For a time, it was almost like moving to a foreign country as we learned how to do life outside those boxes.

After a few failed attempts as entrepreneurs (and wanting to quit many days) we founded and operated a successful business. That was fun, but exhausting, so after twelve years it was time for a change. We sold our business, property and house. We put our household stuff in storage and packed up a motorhome with essentials for ourselves and our three boys. We planned to travel around the states for about a year … before returning to ‘real life’.

Six months into that once-in-a-lifetime trip, we had an accident 3,000 miles from home. My husband and boys were fine … I almost died. The long, tough road of recovery and learning to live with a new normal (pain, limitations and a deformed leg) has left me more timid than I’ve ever been … but I’m slowly getting my grove boldness back. One positive thing is that it strengthen my endurance.

I’d been a runner for ten years pre-accident so that had given me some endurance — recovering from my injuries and then getting back to running post-accident gave me a whole new level of endurance. This prompt reminded me how endurance is the key to overcoming the obstacles to the dreams that we have during moments when we are daring to be bold.

5 Facts about Endurance:

Dreaming is necessary and it is easy, fun and doesn’t force you to do anything. Endurance to overcome the obstacles to make that dream happen is hard and can cause you to reach deeper than you ever imagined you would.

1. Endurance is like a muscle … the more you use it, the stronger it grows.

2. Your dreams have to match your endurance muscle. Break them up into attainable goals.

3. Endurance is one or many good habits repeated until you reach your goal.

4. When you want to quit … reach back and relive times when endurance helped you accomplish a dream.

5. Never give up! Your body, mind and spirit have deeper stores of endurance than you realize.

Be bold enough to add endurance to your dreams and your chances of them succeeding are raised at least a hundred-fold.

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How/where do you find endurance for the dreams you want to accomplish?

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After nearly nine years, the war in Iraq is declared over.

On March 20, 2003,  the U.S. invaded Iraq… based on intelligence that has since been proved faulty at best and non-existent at worst. We were told that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and had connections to al Qaeda, so therefore along with the war we were already fighting in Afghanistan, we needed to go to war with Iraq to prevent terrorist attacks.

Side note: We were told repeatedly that the war had nothing to do with our oil supply, but yet why did I hear a reporter say that some of the people staying over there (even though the war is declared over) will be there to protect our oil interests? 

I didn’t lose any loved ones on 9/11. Maybe if I had, I’d think differently, but I’m trying to wrap my brain around some numbers today.

After almost 9 years of fighting in Iraq:

• no WMDs were found
• 1.5 million U.S. troops served
• 4,500 U.S. soldiers killed
• 300 coalition soldiers killed
• 40,000 Iraqi soldiers or insurgents killed
• 1,500 private contractors killed
• 130 journalists and 50 media support workers killed
• 105,000 to 115,000 Iraqi civilians killed
• 30,000 U.S. soldiers wounded (some will have long-term physical effects, all will have lifelong effects)

.These numbers are based on various sources from here,  here and here.  Some organizations have estimated that the combined death toll could be close to 1,000,000.

All the lives lost directly due to the war is heartbreaking and hard to comprehend.

Now add to that the tremendous financial cost and it’s next to impossible to comprehend.  If we took some of the estimated 1 billion to 1 trillion that we spent on the Iraq war and used it for food for people starving here and around the world, how many lives could have been saved?

So how was this war worth it?

Which brings me to a question … Why is it that many applaud the way the Amish community forgave the person that harmed their innocent children, their world and their way of life in the Amish school shooting … but many cheer our president when he declares war on people that harm our innocent children/people, our world and our way of life?

Wars have been around since the beginning of time… and they don’t seem effective, plus the cost in lives is too big. So maybe it’s time to try something new.

Is it impossible for a country to respond with kindness and forgiveness?

Christmas is coming early to my house! Today I get a new workstation.

My workstation the past 4 years

This chair with a foot rest and laptop desk has served me well as my body has recovered from nasty injuries. Though I’ve recovered, my legs still have issues and my left leg prevents me from having my legs hanging down for more than short periods of time or from standing still too long in one spot.
So it’s time to mix things up!

Drumroll please … 

My new work station

Walking is good for our body, mind and spirit!

In Because I Can, I talk about the day I found out that the doctors didn’t know if I would ever walk again. Suddenly the simple act of putting one foot in front of the other seemed like the most joyous thing on planet earth.

I don’t remember my first steps at age 1, but I’ll never forget my first steps at age 38. Now I cherish walking and sometimes I still marvel that I get to enjoy this gift again. Over the past few years, I’ve written about celebrating walking and how walking is the new cool.

Now I run again, but since I work as a writer and I like to stalk connect with friends online, plus there’s Twitter, Facebook and now Pinterest,  I spend more hours sitting in a day than I would like to.

So this summer when I saw this news clip from ABC News about treadmill desks, I wanted one! I know walking slowly will be better for my legs and feet than sitting with my legs hanging down or standing still in one spot.

And today is the day!

This gorgeous LifeSpan Treadmill Desk will go in my living room, because that’s where my writing chair is and I want to switch between the two through-out the day, plus then we can also use it when watching TV. (Jerry thinks this is just for me, but tonight he’ll find out his sedentary evenings watching TV have just ended ;)

Our bodies are meant to move and now instead of slouching in my chair while working, I will be walking and working! And my brain works best when my body is in motion, so I should be super productive now.  Watch out world!

I’ll keep you posted how it works … one step at a time.

My Video review of the LifeSpan Treadmill Desk.

I wrote the post below last year and am posting it again due to a recent Facebook conversation. Last week I posted a link to Blessed are the Entitled? by Rachel Held Evans (if you haven’t read that post, head over there now and remedy that) and thanks to Facebook friends that love to engage in conversations, we had a spirited, but civil conversation about issues surrounding the “Keep Christ in Christmas” campaign/war/fight.

If interested, here’s the Facebook conversation (thanks FB friends, it’s great interacting with you) If you and I aren’t connected on Facebook, feel free to send me a friend request. 

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Happy Xmas.

Merry Xmas.

Happy Holidays.

Merry Holidays.

Happy Christmas.

Merry Christmas.

What’s your greeting of choice for this season? (I threw a few new ones in the list to see if a new trend starts)

For some nothing other than Merry Christmas will do. They view the Christmas season as stemming from Jesus’ birth and feel like other greetings takes Christ out of Christmas.

Others say Happy Holidays. If Christians, they don’t want to offend and/or want to include everyone in the festivities. If not Christians, they don’t think this season is all about Jesus.

As a Christian, I know my greeting should be Merry Christmas, but I never had strong feelings about it. I often based my greeting on who I was saying it to … or who I was with.

Sometimes I was frustrated with the whole greeting fiasco, so I stayed with Have a nice day. (no one gets upset by nice)

Tired of my own inconsistencies, I wondered why a few words spoken during a short portion of the year were such a big deal. Does what the clerk at Walmart says really affect my faith, the Christian faith at large or the morality of America?

So I read, studied and researched. I learned enough to know that there is much I don’t know. But it seems like the celebration we know as Christmas is a combination of traditions from ancient Romans, Druids, Judaism, Winter Solstice celebrations and Christian symbolism.

Many of the Christian celebrations are based on Bible stories and events … and this is a great time to reflect on Jesus, his birth and his life. But there is nothing in the Bible about celebrating Christmas. And Christians didn’t celebrate Jesus’ birth on December 25th until at least 400AD.

As the Puritans settled in America, they forbid Christmas celebrations because it had evolved into a season of wild parties back in the old country. For a time, if you were caught celebrating Christmas in Massachusetts, you were fined 5 shillings. (wonder if they had Christmas police)

Here’s a few thoughts from the Law Librarian Blog:

In 1645, Cromwell’s Parliament abolished the observance of Christmas thus banning all civil festivities associated with the celebration of Christmas, including the sending of Christmas cards. The Puritans in Massachusetts bested Parliament by criminalizing Christmas 14 years later.

In 1659, the General Court of Massachusetts enacted a law making any observance of December 25 (other than a church service) a penal offense. The “Five-Shilling Anti-Christmas Law” stated:

Whosoever shall be found observing any such day as Christmas, or the like, either by forbearing labor, feasting, or any other way upon such account as aforesaid, every such person so offending shall pay for each offense five shillings as a fine to the country.

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Those laws were repealed at some time, but Christmas was not recognized as a holiday  in the United States until 1870. Until then, businesses were open and Congress routinely met on Christmas Day. It was just another work day.

And I learned Xmas is not taking Christ out of Christmas. The X comes from the Greek letter Chi, which is the first letter of the Greek word Χριστός, which translates as “Christ” and in years past the X was often used to mean Christ.

I learned more, but this post is long enough, so I ask you … can a few words spoken by you or others define what this season means to you?

Do you feel what someone else says or doesn’t say affects your faith/beliefs/etc? 

Myth: A plant-based diet does not provide enough protein.

Is this true or a myth that’s been repeated so often that people think it’s true?

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Food is good and is one of the basic pleasures of life.

Good food can make a bad day better. It can enhance celebrations and make them even better. It can provide a time to have conversations with others that won’t happen unless food is involved.

But most important food is meant to provide our bodies with energy to live.

So it’s interesting that a lot of what we put in our bodies does the exact opposite. It doesn’t provide energy—it takes energy. It doesn’t provide health—it kills our health.

I’ve always had an interest in eating well and that has intensified after being injured, especially after hearing this advice:

I’m a creature of habit and I had a killer sweet tooth… so the process of changing my eating habits from the traditional high-fat, high-sugar, beige-colored PA Dutch diet has been slow… but bite by bite, I made progress.

One major change I made was in my protein sources. I’d never been a big meat eater, though I generally had my fair share. But as I researched healthy diets around the world, it soon became clear that most had little or no meat in their diet. I began questioning the pros and cons of eating meat.

But having heard no meat = not enough protein many times, I wondered if I could omit meat from my diet without hurting my body or my running. Thanks to good advice from various places, especially No Meat Athlete, a terrific website about eating a plant-based diet, I decided to go without eating meat for one month to see how I feel.

That was in January, 2010 … and I haven’t eaten any meat since.

Except for a time or two*, when I had a mouthful of something before I realized it had meat in it. (What’s up with putting bacon in vegetable dip?)  I felt so good  after that one month, I had no desire to eat meat again. The only dish I miss sometimes is creamed dried beef over biscuits.  (my PA dutch readers will know what that is)

My family supports my decision and agrees it’s healthier to eat less meat, but they don’t want to give it up totally. Since I’m the primarily cook at my house, I still cook with meat for them, but I’ve changed most of their meals to include less meat. And I put up with banter about my diet, including being called an odd vegetarian because while I don’t eat animals, but I don’t really like them either.

It’s now almost two years and I continue to have more energy, along with being less moody. Since April I’ve run 3 half-marathons (13.1 miles) and many shorter races and my beat-up body feels better than ever. My main protein sources are beans, nuts and some dairy.

The truth is with a little effort, a plant-based diet can provide enough protein.

I could link to numerous websites that provide proof, but to keep things simple I’m going to default to No Meat Athlete. No Meat Athlete was founded by Matt Frazier and in a search for his own health and to educate others, Matt has searched the internet (not quite to the end, but almost) and other resources, so why should I (or you) do all that work?

Actually when I first started reading No Meat Athlete, I’d check his information with other sources. With time, I realized he was spot-on almost all the time. He’s also willing to honestly deal with issues that could happen with a plant-based diet. Susan Lacke, a frequent guest poster on the site, recently wrote about a protein deficiency scare she had because she wasn’t putting enough thought into making sure she ate well.

So if going vegetarian is something that has interested you, but the protein issue has nagged you, know that it can be done. Start by reading this link-loaded page:

How to Go Vegetarian

Vegetarian might not be your style, but check out the page below for healthy eating advice. It contains vital-easy-to-use information about how to switch from the typical unhealthy diet to a healthier diet, complete with grocery shopping information, recipes and more.

The Only Healthy Eating Guide You’ll Ever Need

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What other health-related myths might we believe? 
Have you been able to translate your desire to eat healthy into actually eating healthy? 

As I wrote recently, I’m thankful for the peace I’ve found and while many religions talk a lot about peace (especially this time of year) some of their methods of helping people find peace seem contradictory.

While I don’t think or expect that God and/or our spiritual journey is to be all fun and games… I do think there’s something wrong when it involves threatening, insisting or shouting.

How does a sign like this help anyone? Does this carry any of the good news and peace that Jesus says he came to bring?

A post, Americans: Undecided About God? by Eric Weiner in the NYT addresses this.

Put bluntly: God is not a lot of fun these days. Many of us don’t view religion so generously. All we see is an angry God. He is constantly judging and smiting, and so are his followers.

No wonder so many Americans are enamored of the Dalai Lama. He laughs, often and well.

Precious few of our religious leaders laugh. They shout. God is not an exclamation point, though. He is, at his best, a semicolon, connecting people, and generating what Aldous Huxley called “human grace.” Somewhere along the way, we’ve lost sight of this. - Eric Weiner

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Do you view God as angry? Why or why not?
Does whether you view God as angry or not affect whether you have peace or not?