Why Would You Give Up A Perfectly Good Bad Habit?

Why would you give up a perfectly good bad habit? That is the question I am asking myself right now.

The bad habit I am giving up is diet coke. Now before you start defending diet coke.....don't worry, I think it is a wonderful thing. No need to tell me how much fun a diet coke and some chips are...but I went beyond the pale. I drank so much, that I was feeling like I needed to quit. I'm not sure if it is diet coke that is contributing to how I feel, but maybe, so I thought I would.....wait for it.....quit. Yikes...

You see I feel squishy....and I know there is a ton of sodium in that sweet little drink. I really don't drink enough water...so I feel squishy. And I want to feel less squishy. I also don't want to have to have diet coke on hand. It's simple, I am addicted to caffeine. Caffeine is not the enemy, it actually helps with headaches, and other things....I just drink too much. I went from a nice balance to, "Gotta have it!!"

This latest journey actually started with Green Smoothies. My dear friend Patrice started drinking them quite a while ago. She is the healthiest eater I know....but she isn't weird about it....she loves all food, and eats it with real passion. She just eats well...lean meat, lots of veggies, fruits and nuts. So I started drinking them too...I knew I wasn't getting enough vegetables so this is a great way to get some real food in your body. They are easy to make, stuff spinach (and I mean stuff) in a blender, add water, juice or crystal light and then blend it up....Add some frozen fruit, personally I love any kind of berry. Strawberries, blueberries, blackberries...you get it...berries. Blend, blend, blend.....at the end add a banana. Done..... You can tweak this any way you want to. Add frozen peaches, add fresh fruit, add kale, collard greens (not too many, they are strong, but mighty). The rule is, there isn't a rule. You can't do this wrong. I have been drinking them for a few months and I noticed my nails were growing. I have notoriously weak nails, and because of that I bite them....and then I get hang nails...yikes. So this was a big change. I am doing nothing else differently...so it must be the green smoothies. I made the leap that if my nails were absorbing more vitamins, then so are my bones. That caught my attention. I don't want a hump. I have heard, maybe it's true maybe not, that soda leaches calcium from your bones...I don't know where I heard that....maybe it's totally made up...but if it is true, I will regret not drinking less later on in life....when I have a hump.

The evidence I have with Green Smoothies is now more empirical than anecdotal. My problem nails are better.

I will let you know about the diet coke thing. Right now I am on a methadone treatment.... Excedrin every 4 hours. I know it has caffeine in it...but I will eventually wean down. I am not worried about too much aspirin right now.....one thing at a time.

And from my experience with green smoothies I will give this diet coke thing about 3 months before I judge if it is effective or not. I have lots of other things to change in my life. Things that just bug me about myself. I end up feeling weak and unable to change. And I know that isn't true...I can change.

I just did....one change gives you some power to change something else. Seriously who has ever just painted a room? After that you need some new carpet, maybe some new window treatments? Change empowers change...

I knew I was drinking too much soda...I have been drinking diet soda my whole life. Remember Tab? I drank that, then diet Dr. Pepper.....then Diet Coke....Don't get me wrong, there isn't anything wrong with soda....but when a truck backs up at your house to unload, then you may have gone too far. Wish me luck!!

Wisdom for the day.......We find out at the end of our lives how important the decisions are we made at the beginning of our lives.

I really don't want a hump...

What Do You Think?

Imagine my surprise when I looked all over for the dog, only to find him standing in a pot we filled with water for the birds and rabbits. He stayed in there long enough for me to find my camera and take a picture. Then I discovered I hadn't put a card in the camera.. So I run to find the picture card, put it in the camera, go back to where Hudson is and take his picture. That's how hot it is....he stayed in there....posing...until I got the whole thing together.

Just some thoughts...

DMVs are the same all over. I went with my son to the DMV in Utah, (hooray in-state tuition!). He told me he had been there 3 times trying to get a drivers license. Each time he went home dejected and brokenhearted because he needed yet one more piece of paper proving he was who he was. But this time we were so hopeful...he had a birth certificate, passport, social security card, paycheck stub, and a letter addressed to him at the address he claims is his.. We went in and sat down.......we were the only ones in the whole DMV, I am not kidding, the only ones. There were three women working, none of them doing much.......so imagine our surprise when over a loud speaker we hear,

"serving number 300 at window number 2"

Number 300? At window number 2? This is how badly we wanted that drivers license, we did not laugh, we did not make fun....and we were nearly injured attempting to hold in our sarcasm.

The woman behind window number 2 sat up straight and looked right at us...my son looked at me like we were in a Fellini movie. I told him to go break a leg....he didn't have his old license because it was stolen along with his wallet....the woman working behind window number 2 had to conference with the other DMV employees as to whether or not he should get a new license without a thorough investigation. For some reason, they went ahead and gave him the driver's license. Score!! Painful process but all done.

Why is barbeque sauce different all over the country, but bureaucracy is exactly the same no matter where you go?

Speaking of bureaucracy, I am officially tired of the Washington debate, which is what they call the mess they have made. I used to like all the trees and museums...now it is just a city filled with people doing everything they can to stay there, at my expense, just doing stuff to help them. Sorry....really tired. And btw to the note taker at my local Senators office who was so rude to me over the phone...that was a mistake.

Football lock out? Stop it guys.....Now. I read the other day that 79 per cent of America watches football...that means 180 million people want the lock out to end. Who seriously wants to tick off 180 million people? I get nervous when a magazine tells me I only have 4 issues left.....I don't like to make anyone angry. So pretend everything isn't about money and fix it.

Note to self, the low fuel light is not a suggestion. The computer in the car isn't trying for a spot at a comedy club...you will run out of gas, near your home, at a busy intersection, during lunch time, where everyone you know will drive by.....oh, wait that happened.

Thanks Lori for saving the day.

I have discovered something about green smoothies, after months of drinking those lucious, amazing drinks, my nails grew. Seriously, they grew. Which means my bones must be better, and that lessens the chance of a hump. Really good news. You really cannot taste the spinach...note, don't tell your kids there is spinach in the smoothie...it can be a deal breaker.

Wisdom for the week? Be nice to someone who isn't nice to you.....It looks good and it's the worst thing you can do to a mean person.

Discuss.....

Time For A Change

This morning I was reading about a young man from Idaho who was in a terrible car accident.

He was the only survivor, that is sobering enough, but add to that his injuries are very extensive, many broken bones and brain trauma. His recovery will be long and arduous. I didn't know where to focus my thoughts, on the three young women who died in the accident? What their families were going through? Or on the young man and the difficult road back he will have. One accident, in one minute life goes from happy teenagers driving home from a church function, to unbelievable sadness, and a life change no one saw coming.

It is easy to forget that about life, that it can change so quickly. Just one phone call can alter your life forever. I have never appreciated it when people say, "It could be worse." I don't like that philosophy because whatever trial you are experiencing is valuable, and should not be discounted. We minimize the experience when we say that. It is not easy to embrace the trial, but most healthy minded people eventually do. We are hard wired to survive, so we find ways to not just make the best of the situation, but to make it our finest hour. That is why my motto is,

"There is no education in the second kick of a mule."

It is a great old fashioned, Texas way of thinking. I appreciate the hard times my family has survived....but I am embarrassed to admit I have not embraced my trials as I could have. I have whined, pouted and complained....when I should have been grateful for the amazing blessings I do have. So when I read about the young man from Idaho, or the people who died in Joplin Missouri from the tornado, or friends I know who are going through difficult times, I know it is time. It is time to change, to find a way to avoid being miserable, a course correction of sorts. John Longden wrote years ago about time. He said,

"I refuse to waste my valuable time. Today has one thing in which I know I am equal with others, Time...all of us draw the same salary in seconds, minutes, hours, 24 golden hours each day. Today I will not waste my time because the minutes I wasted yesterday are as dead as a vanished thought. Today I refuse to spend time worrying about what might happen. I am going to spend my time making things happen."

Isn't he so right about worrying about what might happen, and isn't it so inspiring to believe you can make things happen? Earth life is tricky, it is filled with all kinds of road blocks, problems and obstacles. And it could be tempting to think the odds are too great and simply give up. When we hear the news, it is all bad. The economy has kicked our collective butts, and everyone has been affected. Instead of retreating and being hopeless, it is time to pick up the gauntlet. It is time to start a business if you can't be hired. It is time to lend your resources to others when you can. In essence it is time to realize how powerful we are, together, and how much of a difference we can make, together....To simple believe and be hopeful.

President Dieter Uchtdorf said, "Hope has the power to fill our lives with happiness".

I believe that. I know that when one person refuses to see a half empty cup they inspire the next person, and the next and the next. That is what hope is.

Can't this be our finest hour?

I come from a long line of survivors......I just forgot that for a while.