Living Positively and Healthy

The next morning, as they prepped me for surgery, I had to rely on my humor to stay sane and not breakdown crying.   I had a song stuck in my head that oddly gave me strength and serenity:   Blue Oyster Cult’s 1976 hit “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper.”   “Seasons don’t fear the reaper, nor do the wind, the sun or the rain, we can be like they are.”   There was no sense in fearing what was about to happen.   It was out of my control.   The song gave me a sense of solace.   I found it ironically comical to be singing that song to myself.   It was a matter of laugh or cry, or in this case, laugh or die. As they wheeled me into the holding area, I tried cracking jokes with the orderly.   They gave me a lovely blanket made of what looked like bubble-wrap and readied me for anesthesia.   The orderly rolled me toward the surgery room, and I was still joking about the situation.   I asked him if he ever had patients joke as they were being c...

“Life is hard.   After all, it kills you.” ~ Katharine Hepburn Death at a Funeral Some people think about death once in a blue moon, a fleeting thought that floats in and out of the recesses of their minds.   Some never think about it…really think about it.   I think about death in some form every single day of my life.   I think about when I’m going to die, how I’m going to die, will I be naked when I die?   I then I think, of course, I’ll be naked when I die.   I probably have an unusually thorough concept of my own mortality.   I’ve been to so many funerals in my life, I’ve become somewhat of a funeral expert.   I’ve been to so many funerals that most of my wardrobe is black, just to be prepared.   I’ve been to so many funerals that they refer to me as pallbearer number three.   I can’t hear “the Old Rugged Cross” without tearing up, on cue.   I’ve developed an anxiety disorder in reaction to death.   I went ...

Today, as I was sitting in the vet's office waiting for my dog to complete his chemo, I heard the TV above my head announcing that there has been yet another school shooting, this time in California.  We argue over what is the cause of this problem.  Is it guns?  Is it gun laws?  Is it mental health?  Well, there is no clear cut answer.  There is only a lot of grey.   So sad. I'd say a good chunk of the problem is the isolation that we feel due in part to social media. Even though we have more access to information and people, we are more isolated as a society than ever in human history. This kid was dealing with divorce and death, (heavy stuff for a teenager) yet had very little support, I imagine. We have turned from a village, taking care of one another, to a society of hermits. Check on friends who you haven't heard from in a while  or someone who may be "acting weird". Don't expect those in need to come to you. You have to be proact...

I used to think that the idea of increasing the minimum wage to $14 per hour was outrageous.  How could a business afford such a drastic increase?  I thought that this would devastate the small business owner, and it possibly could.  But my thoughts about the minimum wage changed when I went to early voting today. As we all lined up to wait for our turns in the voting booths, I passed a bulletin board with various documents.  One document stood out to me:  the minimum wage posting.  The current federal minimum wage is $7.25, and it has been at that rate since 2009.  The federal minimum wage has NOT changed in a decade! When the federal minimum wage was first introduced in 1938, it was a quarter an hour.  When I started working as a teenager, the minimum wage was $3.35 per hour.  For the most part, the federal minimum wage has consistently increased throughout the years, except for a few times in my years working.  There was not an in...

1 INTRODUCTION What if I told you that you could start living a happier, more fulfilling life today?  Do you want to sleep better and have more energy?  Imagine living life with purpose and meaning.            Many of us are dealing with stress at a chronic level.  Because of this constant stress, we are finding ourselves not only physically, but also mentally and emotionally depleted.  Stress has become an epidemic and is costing us greatly.  It is driving us to the doctor and is even driving us to our graves.  Chronic stress is connected to six leading causes of death! One constant truth with all people is that we all want to be happy.  But happiness isn’t the same for everyone.  We must decide what we value, what our priorities are, and what actually makes us happy.  Most of us do not know where to start on that discovery.        ...

“One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.” ~ Bob Marley Music plays a special role in most of our lives.  It evokes a response that is universal.  It can take you back to a place and time long ago.  It can change your mood.  It can inspire, or it can make you cry.  It can get you through a long morning commute or accompany you in a workout at the gym.  Music can help you pass the time while you are doing mundane chores like laundry.  Employees have been found to be more productive when allowed to listen to their preferred music choices over those who have no control over their musical choices.  But even background music increases performance and accuracy in employees and also enables efficiency in repetitive tasks.  Music has been a teacher to us as children, helping us learn the alphabet and numbers.  Like with color, advertisers exploit music to get us excited to buy the products that they are peddling....

We've all heard the old saying that money doesn't lead to happiness, but does a lack of it actually lead to unhappiness? Like most people, I have bouts of anxiety and depression from time to time.  I'm not talking about the kind of depression where you feel a little sad.  I'm talking about the kind of depression that makes it nearly impossible to get out of bed, where you sleep half the day away, and where you feel despair that homelessness is creeping around the corner.  One minute you can't eat, and the next you are eating anything that you can get your hands on.  I go from crying to feeling nothing at all.  I recently had a relapse of anxiety combined with depression (which if you have never experienced both at the same time, you don't know what you're missing!).  For the first time in decades, I was late on my rent.  I also was behind on some bills.  I was devastated and felt useless.  I became worried that I may lose my home, really ...