Change on our terms.

So as September comes to a close we all start the end of the year shuffle. The last quarter to do all the things we have put off all year, and although we had the best intentions, they did not get done.I wonder why it is that no matter how much we plan on, every year, getting more organized, and how we are swearing we will not do the same things as we did last year, we do.

I am guessing it is comfort zone, and just ultimately easier to do what we know. Even when we know change is needed, and possibly life saving as well as life changing, we still have a hard time getting going, and staying on course.

I have a friend that thought she had the answer to making changes stick. She said she would put a sparkletts 5 gallon water jar in her closet, and every time she deviated form the course, she would put a dollar in the bottle. She had a plan to go to the gym 5 days a week, stop swearing and stop eating fast food. We laugh now, but bu April first, she had over six hundred dollars in the bottle.I have not spoken to her in a few months, but as of May she decided that she was not ready for a change. I think that this is something we have to think of as well. When change is truly meant to happen, it will, and wanting it alone, is not enough of a driving force.

Over the years I have heard of people that got up one day and said, that's it, and they were on their way.. Maybe, that is what it takes, mental readiness and focus, and the decision being totally ours for a change, and the chnage has to be for us nobody else..

Basics

Do you ever find it interesting that the medical establishment, an organization that is in the business of getting us healthy, recommend diet, exercise and nutrition only after prescriptions are suggested? Traditionally around the world, diet is always one of the first stops on the healthy journey, and supplementing the diet just seems to make better sense in those regions of the world. To me, diet, exercise and sleep as well as a positive attitude and healthy living are the most vital part of adding to our quality and quantity of life.

The last time I looked, a deficiency in our bodies usually occurs because the foods being consumed are of very little nutritional value and or the individual is stressed out. Many times the digestive systems are compromised, and it could also be a lack of nutrients the body is needing to function properly. The daily things we should be doing every day adds to our health, but they are the things we usually cut corners on. These things like good food, great supplements, exercise, sleep and a great positive attitude, things we should want to do are seriously ignored. I am sometimes amazed that people actually think they have drug deficiencies and have convinced themselves of this. I am not sure of a single study where a deficiency is created from not having your drugs, a withdrawal symptom when you are out of it, maybe.

I think it all comes down to getting back to basics, keeping it simple, consistent and healthy!

A new blog direction...

So, long time, no write. I have decided to take the blog in a different direction. Most of you know my radio show brings you great information and great quality companies who make amazing nutritional products. The best guests in the industry are available to you the hear, as well as the most updated information about the choices available to you for better health, 10 radio shows per week. I have decided to do my own critique, and product review, besides the information brought to you on my radio shows. I want to bring you honest information about products in the health food and nutrition industry, and the ones you should take a second look at and consider for your daily supplement and food choices.

I think it is important to have the best informational tools at your fingertips, so now youwill have one more tool you can use to bring you to the place where wiser decisions can be made.

As a reminder, my radio show can be heard at 8 AM PST and 5 PM PST Monday through Friday, and you can listen at my site by clicking the listen live tab. Go to www.jeffreyburkemedia.com
You can also email me from the site, or click the "ask Jeff" button to send me a note, or go to my face book at radiowithjeff.

All of these will allow you to stay up to date and you may get the information you have been looking for. Please send you friends to the blog and my web page, as my radio archives are also available fro download at your convenience.

Motivation

I often wonder why it sometimes takes a disaster of extreme levels for us to get motivated to make a change. Why even when we know that certain things should not be done, or certain food groups should not be consumed, why we still allow ourselves todo those activities or eat those foods? It seems as though cravings, comfort zones, bad habids, vices, and just weakness keeps us in the unhealthy zone.

I think my frustration comes into play when the same person who has numerous health problems and does nothing about it, but will do everything possible to fix an electronic device or replace or upgrade anything to them that is more of an importance. A lack of priorities in regards to our health will almost always cause even the smallest problem to become a much bigger issue, and sometimes accelerate the negative outcome.

With my radio shows and lectures common questions always arise in reference to how they can feel so bad when they are doing healthy things,or they thiunk they are.  With further investigation, you discover a belief system and mentality that is very common across all part lines. The if I take a vitamin I can then continue doing all the wrong things and "have my cake and eat it too". This attitude is
in every demographic, in all areas of the country because when you come down to it most people want the results and the symptoms to go away, but do not want to do the work, not do they think they have to change.

I am aleways amazed when a major health problem does arise and the same person that for years has said natural things are not for them suddenly get interested. It is as if they are opening their eyes or maybe it is just a sign of desperation. My hope is that small changes are applied along the way and throughout otheir lives so as to promote a better and healthier foundation.

Convention time again!

There is something about a Natural Products Convention. Even if you have been in the field for three decades, the excitement leading up to the first day of the event does get you excited. For many of us that are blessed to be in an industry we love, and get to grow within and along with the industry, there is a level of satisfaction like in no other field, or non I know of. It is the excitement of learning about new products, or new delivery systems or being brought up to speed with all of the literature we are overwhelmed with on the show floors. Our bags ever filling with samples and literature, business cards changing hands like playing cards at a poker table, and all the while looking up the row to see what is coming next.

The days are long, brain cells will be lost, new ones will be stimulated and yet we think about what we are doing after the show as we plan our strategy for the next day in the trenches on the floor. I personally have been attending for over thirty years, and for me, although some faces have changes, new philosophies have been adopted, and the standing of the industry has changed, one thing stays the same, knowledge, and the pursuit of more of it for us to pass along.

I never get tired of the articles, and industry literature. The good, the bad and sometimes the ugly articles, all of which keep us informed and alert as well as prepared so we may address them as questions come up, and they always do.

I am always glad to see how companies that were at one time a small Mom and Pop are now huge companies offering a plethora of products for the consumer. Some companies that started out with a niche item or a solid one department philosophy have stuck to their guns and now do it better than anyone in the industry.

There is never boredom in this field, and if you are able to keep the passion and the hunger for knowledge, you will never ever run out of ways to feed that hunger and your mind at the same time.

So as the convention winds down and your feet are tired, you are over stuffed from sampling every food group available and eating a good amount every day, you start to think WOW, I survived another show. But, with the over stuff bags of samples, sore feet and what seems to surely be the first signs of being brain dead as you could not possibly process one more item of information, you are still excited about the next show on the calendar. In what other field are you able to have this much excitement, stimulating knowledge, continual updating and improving and all in a category this important, Our Great Health!

Hope...

As many of you know, my dog Keeley has been missing for now for 15 weeks, and it has been one of the worst emotion ordeals I have been through in a very long time. It is a true test to the importance pets play on our lives, and a true example of how truly important they are to us. I am blessed to have a lot of amazing pets, but I think once in a lifetime you develop an amazing connection with an animal, and my connection just happens to be with her.

I have had to learn, or relearn, or maybe just apply a lot of values that I have not had to incorporate in one thought process before.  Patience, trust, protocol, and the hope that the person who has her will eventually do the moral right thing.

I guess if you have had this happen to you, you will get it, and if you have not, it is quite awful. Your mind races all day long and I find myself feeling the symptoms of a death and the loss of a friend all at the same time. Some people will say, it is just a pet, I say, her devotion and friendship and loyalty are things I wish and hope their best friends are able to offer them.

So I take it day by day hoping for a call from anyone that can do a micro chip test, but in the back of mind the reality and prospect of her return becomes dimmer and dimmer by the day. What does stay alive and bright is that she, wherever she is at this time, is being taken care of and loved and feed well..

Smelling the roses..........

We seem to be in a hurry doing everything except enjoying life these days. Although I get the quest for furthering and achieving our goals, providing for our families, and allowing and affording ourselves things that make our life more enjoyable. The thing is, as we progress through all of these steps during our lives, we do forget to take the time and smell the roses, and for some of us, we forget to even look to see that they are there.

How many times have we had a shock to our routine, like a bad blood work up, or bad news from a Doctor’s visit? How often have you been privy to downsizing, or unforeseen problems that have blindsided you, and until it did, you may have felt you had the perfect existence? Although these things in themselves are part of life, and we must realize that no matter what your demographics, sex, race, religion or financial status, we are all going to deal with one or more of these, and many others during our lives. For this purpose alone,  enjoying each and every day becomes even more important to each of us, at every age.

So why does it take a death of a friend, a loved one, a spouse, child or even someone you knew casually to make us think how fragile life is? Why does it take a family member or friend dying in the hospital, at a “way too young” age, for us thing of our own mortality, and how we should be thinking of living healthier, and making those changes that we keep saying we are going to do?

I remember a story of 4 brothers and sisters whose father was dying of lung Cancer. We were all up in the room visiting their dying father and after an hour or so, some fresh air was necessary. As we came down the elevator all of them were distraught, and sad, and could not believe he had lived a life that was so unhealthy. As we went outside the comments about being healthier and life is too short were being thrown around. The minute we went outside and sat down, all four of them lit up their cigarettes. All I could see was the irony of their statements, and at the same time, their weakness. The power that these vices of all sizes and shapes have over us, and how we may be unsuccessful against them, until we are ready for a change.

This past week a dear friend of mine passed away, and because of my busy schedule, although we are very good friends, I did not learn of the passing until the service was over. I myself realized the importance of slowing down, and was reminded of the fact that there are no guarantees, and life is precious. So as I write this, I am reminded that it is the lessons like this one that makes me hopefull that I will learn something, and remind myself of the importance of enjoying all I am lucky enough to have, and not just the quest for the thingsI think I may need.