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Gratitude: The many ways it helps us shine brighter and love deeper

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I recently came across the acceptance speech of Laszlo Krasznahorkai who won the 2025 Nobel Prize for literature.  Here is a sample of that sweet speech: “I give my thanks to the first thirty-one girls with whom I fell fatally in love, but especially to Marti Klinkovics,... I give my thanks to the artists of Classical Greece, To the Italian Renaissance, To Attila Jozesf, the Hungarian poet who showed the magical power of words. To Fyodor Mihailovitch Dostoyevskij, To my older brother, who often carried me home from kindergarten, because of which I became infinitely grateful to him, as he showed me that there could be another way of looking at the world, not just that which is given.” His entire speech was a poem of gratitude to the many people, experiences, places, and influences that shaped him into the man he had become.  It made me smile the kind of smile that spreads across your face when you spy an elderly couple sharing an ice cream or a kiss.  There was something ...
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Eat Real Food: Breaking down the new food pyramid and nutrition guidelines

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image from  realfood.gov The US government just issued a new food pyramid along with a campaign to "Eat Real Food".  This is the most drastic change to nutritional recommendations for public health in decades.    It is no secret that, in the United States, our healthcare system is deeply burdened by chronic illnesses and diseases that are directly related to diet and lifestyle:  diabetes, heart disease, obesity, strokes, dementia and Alzheimer's, musculoskeletal issues like arthritis and joint pain, mental health issues, etc.  We are long overdue for a serious discussion on our nutrition guidelines in order to prevent this rise.   It is my observation that the new recommendations are aligned with what many experts and researchers in the health and wellness space have been discovering and championing for years at this point.  As a former high school teacher, I watched my students eat hot fries, pop tarts, and soda for breakfast, showing how la...
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New Years Goal Setting: Thoughts and reflections on how to best approach those New Years Resolutions

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Although I understand the philosophy behind "New Year, Same You", I can't help but be a New Years Resolution girl.  I have always loved the idea of a fresh start, perhaps because I've always been one to stumble off course a bit and need to find my way back.   It is such a clear starting point and a great opportunity to sit down and intentionally reflect on the previous year, on who you became by the end of that year, and decide who you would like to become in the next year.   Perhaps it was a rough year where you had difficulty in your relationships, went through a break-up, experienced loss, had financial struggles, or health issues. Perhaps it was a year of tremendous change where you switched careers, moved cities, got married, became an empty nester, or became a parent. Perhaps it was a joyous year where you reached weight loss goals, got out of debt, met the love of your life, and traveled to your favorite places.   Whatever the case, the past is ...
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Sleep Hygiene: Why sleep is so important and ways to improve your sleep quality

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When we sleep our bodies and brains go into repair mode.  The systems of our body get to rest, junk gets cleared out, muscles are repaired, certain substances like cytokines are produced which help our immune system function, and so much more.   We need these repairs to take place to function at optimal health, and yet, for so many out there, consistently good sleep seems like a thing of the past; something that happened when we were toddlers with no cares in the world.   The long-term effects of poor quality or not-enough sleep are shocking and include: increased risk of type 2 diabetes, increased risk of Alzheimer's, poor hormonal health (low testosterone in men for example), increased stress, and more.  Dr. Peter Attia has an excellent book called  Outlive  where he dives into the importance of sleep in one of his chapters.  It is an informative and eye-opening chapter. Sadly, it is so rare to meet an adult who says, "I get great sleep all...
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Margin: Protecting your time and schedule as a spiritual practice.

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"Margin restores balance and restores our soul" -James Bryan Smith from The Good and Beautiful God Imagine getting a letter in the mail and opening it to find pages and pages of written text from TOP to BOTTOM of the page.  If you are anything like me, you might put that letter down or try to skim it to get a gist.  Reading the whole thing, just staring at it for too long, would probably feel overwhelming.  That letter has no margin.  Many of our lives are like that letter. What is this concept of "Margin"?  I first heard this term used in the book The Good and Beautiful God   where the author, a pastor named James Bryan Smith, urged the reader to include margin in their life as a spiritual practice.   In his discussion of Margin, he referenced another book, appropriately titled: "Margin" , written by Richard Swenson, MD.   Upon reading Dr. Swenson's book, it was eye opening how much this Medical Doctor also had to say about the importa...
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Walking, the wonder pill: Why the obsession with getting your steps in is valid

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 "If walking were a pill, it would be the most impactful pill we've ever had in all of modern medicine"                           - Dr. Casey Means I'm not sure when it started or who started it but the concept of getting 10,000 steps a day has been around for a while now.   All smart watches are equipped to count our steps these days, and many of us have ventured to try to increase our step count.  But why the obsession with walking?  It doesn't really feel like a workout.  You can walk in jeans and sandals, barely breaking a sweat.  Some of us walk a lot throughout the day and still struggle with our weight.  Is it that powerful?   Yes.  Yes, it is.   Here are 5 reasons why daily walking (at least 7,000 steps) is so important 1.  It improves our metabolism The leading cause of the chronic disease problem in the USA is poor metabolic health....
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Nunc Coepi, Now I begin: On resistance and never giving up

"If I should fall even a thousand times a day, a thousand times, with peaceful repentance, I will say immediately, Nunc Coepi [now I begin]"                                    - Venerable Bruno Lanteri Welcome to my little corner of the internet.  I am writing this first entry at 34 years old, 20 weeks pregnant with my 1st child, heavier and less fit than I have been in a few years (and I'm only going to get even more heavy and less fit for the next few months).  I am walking out of a very challenging season of my life, and I don't have it all figured out.  I almost stopped myself from working on this little vision of mine because I wasn't at my "best."  But thank goodness I caught myself and recognized the little voice of "Resistance" for what it was.    Steven Pressfield  speaks beautifully on this concept of "Resistance" in his book  "The War of Art" ....
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