How far back on the back burner do you live?

Another month bites the dust as we approach the crazy holiday season. It is amazing how fast this year has zoomed by for me, and from what everyone says, for them too!

I often wonder if it is due to the super speed we push ourselves to maintain or is it that we take so very little time to relax and actually enjoy life at all? I am sure it is a little of both with a sprinkle of forgetting to slow down and smell the roses, a dash of over working and a side of doing everything for everyone else and forgetting to do for ourselves. The combination does make time go by quickly and it puts us at the front of the line for premature heart attacks, strokes and early retirement to the grave.

Most individuals will not slow down until something serious happens to them or the Doctor orders them to make a change, or one day they cannot function at that speed anymore and they instantly begin to fall apart at the seams. You would think, as we are all intelligent people here that we could just look in the mirror and realize we are changing, and in most cases not for the better, and that we have no time for ourselves and because we never say no to anyone I guess you could say it is self induced stress. Day after day and month after month leading to year after year we push ourselves so far back on the burner of life that we can actually forget our own dreams and aspirations until we start to forget who we really are. This is a common scenario and an unhealthy one too.

When you are the one person that always does everything for everyone, believe you me the word gets out quick and you become the person that never says no and will help everyone with everything. I have found this was the case for me for more years than I want to admit. It all rang true when after helping so many people move over the years that I had lost count of the friends I helped relocate. I finally had a chance to do some relocating and I called and everyone had something to do, amazing how that happens that everyone is busy at the same time? I started thinking that no matter what I had to do, I would never say no, so I said to myself, maybe I need to say no once in a while when I really cannot help out or do a favor.

The next week one of my acquaintances called and needed me to help with some stuff, obviously one of the ones that was too busy to help me, so I said sorry I am busy. Well you could have heard a pin drop, wow I thought to myself. My friend said really? I said yep, he said well I guess I will have to rent a truck. I felt very weird saying no, but I felt great because I have so much going on already I would have never got caught up if I had once again joined in.

The moral of the story is that we all have normal stress in our lives and if you are an over doer, sometimes you need to, for your health to just say no. The other thing was the world did not stop and they got over it quickly and possibly learned a lesson that I am not the end all helper anymore.

The stress of being an over doer can affect your blood pressure, your heart, cause depression and affect your health and well being. We want to always help but in the long run and at the end of the day, sometimes it just stresses us out and negatively affects our health beyond belief.

I guess I have decided that moderation is the key to a much more balanced life in every aspect of our being. Sometimes saying no when we really have to is an alright thing, and putting ourselves first for once is a Great Thing!!!!!

Why did I walk in this room and where did I park my car?

Have you ever had one of those days that made you feel you left your brain somewhere else other than in your head? I think it is just so frustrating when you forget the simplest things like a name or number or why you walked into a room. They say it is all a sign of growing older but I really feel in many cases it is stress, the stuff that gets us all tied up in circles to the point where we do not know if we are coming or going.

I mean when we get away from the bump and grind of work and the day to day stress, it seems that our brains go back to normal, so what do we do to help us while we are in the stress of the moment, and we need to be at our mental and focal best? They always say that cardiovascular exercise is a good start and I really do agree as it really does get the blood circulating and forces blood to the starved areas like our overloaded brains.

I was at the mall today and when I was leaving I noticed about four or five people walking aimlessly around the parking lot looking for their cars. Is it that they had so much on their minds when the parked that they did nit pay attention. Could they actually be on the other side of the mall and they are not even in the correct lot? Yes, is the answer, when we are concentrating on so many things we lose the simple short term memory temporarily. It does return and when it does we are always so happy with ourselves.

I think that Disneyland has the right idea, they label their parking lots with the name of cartoon characters, I mean how hard is it to forget that you are parking in Goofy 4? I guess at one time it was a big problem so they re labeled. I guess the people that never found their cars are now the employees in costume everyday, they just kept them there and put them to work!

Nutrition may also be a great step. Avoiding white bleached flour and sugars and food that are empty in nature or has been emptied of nutrition by processing. Increasing nuts and seeds and green veggies and protein seems to be the direction we need to be heading in, and away from the other stuff that tastes great and does zero for our bodies.

What about a list of nutritional supplements that help focal attention. Ginkgo Biloba, Vinpocetine, Huperzine, Choline, DMAE, B Complex to name a few are the leading brain nutrients getting the best attention and feedback.

I am sure you read every day how we are living longer but at the same time dodging geriatric diseases that we should not be anywhere near facing for a few more decades. I myself feel, as do the best nutritional Physicians in the country that dodging the bullets with an arsenal of diet and exercise and nutrition that we can definitely slow down the aging process and avoid the mental grim reaper.So do not despair when you cannot finish a thought, or when you walk into a room and have absolutely not a clue why you are there. And do not worry when you are at the mall and you cannot find your car, just go back in and do some more shopping and pretend it was just a fresh air break. I guarantee the short term memory stuff will come back if you take better care of the one organ that needs some TLC on a daily basis, your brain!!!

Remember how important your pet is to your life and your health!!!

In a time where happiness and success in life is measured by the almighty dollar, it is good to know that many people measure their success by their friends, their families and the loving devoted pets.

If you are not a pet owner or an animal owner this may be something that is hard for many of you to understand how much richer a life can be that has a pet in it. Pets are the missing link in a life when many people have stress that ruins their life, or loneliness that seems to go on forever, disease and hardship, depression and basically a thankless world that expects all and many times gives nothing back. In a world where we are judged not only by performance and going ten times beyond what is expected just because people think we should and being asked to put our lives so far on the back burner to make other people successful that we sometimes seem to disappear.

Where we are judged by the clothing we wear, what we drive where we live, how we eat, the friends we associate with as well as our dislikes and likes.There is some peace of mind and it is great to know that a pet is the neutral part of our life that does not care about any of the above.

Bad hair days, being overweight, being a bit of a couch potato, or wanting to just hang out and do nothing, our pets are happy to be in the room and a part of the moment. It is amazing that they can actually stimulate our immune systems, help to ease loneliness and lower blood pressure, yet ask nothing back in return except love and being your friend and devoted companion.

Today my very good friend Peni said goodbye to her best friend Poutie. A companion, family member and friend for fifteen years. This blog is to appreciate our four legged friends and maybe to remind us just how important our pets really are as companions and to our health and well being.

Below is a poem I love. Peni, I hope it helps to get you through the days upcoming a little easier.

The Rainbow Bridge

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable. All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind. They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster. You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart. Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown...