"Sometimes I get the feeling that the aspirin companies are sponsoring my headaches." -V.L. Allineare

What if much of what we've always believed to be true turns out to be a lie? Like believing in Santa as a kid, most all of us believe in doctors, prescription drugs, the government, charity foundations, etc. At least to a certain extent. But what if the joke is on us?

A close friend of mine lost her husband to cancer three years ago. She wrote about the experience and shared it with me. It was heartbreaking that they felt lied to at almost every turn by almost every doctor. (There was one old MD that they felt was sincere.)
Call me a conspiracy theorist or a Bible thumpin' scripture quoter, but one thing rings true to me. The LOVE of money, indeed seems to be, the root of ALL evil. At first, that is hard to imagine. I can see, MOST, maybe...but ALL? C'mon now. But every time I pull a thread and begin to unravel the sweater, it turns full-circle back to the love of mammon.

A few questions to ask yourself:

• Who seems to advertise even more than the automobile industry? If you  guessed pharmaceutical  companies, you are right. 
• When was the last time you went to the doctor and he/she talked to me more about diet and exercise as a way to prevent/cure illness, than about writing another prescription?
• If something as simple as eating organic foods and taking vitamin C was the prevention/cure for cancer, would there be any money to be made by oncologists and drug companies?

If keeping Americans sick and ignorant also keeps the coins clinking in the pockets of the powers that be, why would they waste time on prevention education and cures? Only to ultimately be standing in unemployment lines?
I know full well that I am on a rant, but after reading more information today, I do feel just furious! We are being played like someone's fiddle and we say, THANK YOU, and go along on our merry way.
At the risk of sounding like a hypocrite, I do still take prescription drugs. I am asking God for wisdom and courage to get off of them. I deal with clinical depression and thus far, have not done well trying to stop these meds, but it doesn't mean I'll quit trying.
We take so, so many things at face value and trust people we don't know who unfortunatley do NOT have our best interest in mind 99% of the time.
What if the cure for cancer has been under our noses all along, but we've been sold a bill of goods for someone else's job security, which, of course, comes back to the LOVE OF MONEY.

Okay, self, just calm down.  Breathe....in and out...in and out.....I'm going to take a break...have a cup of antioxidant tea, maybe sit on the porch and meditate on something more positive for awhile.

Every Day is a Gift from God

So, I FINALLY figured out how to upload a picture on my blog. Whoo-hoo. I confess I am technologically challenged. And I'm still getting used to my Mac, so there's another learning curve. Good excuse.

 I had an epiphany about a week ago. I was in search of more hours in my day, to do things that needed to be done (like housework, yuk) and also more time to catch up on my reading, writing, taking pictures, talk to a loved one on the phone, or write a letter. Basically, all things that I enjoy doing in my life. So, I thought for, like, 30 seconds, and then...TA DA! Just like that, it came to me. Quit watching TV, silly! And so, I did. Closed the doors on my entertainment center (I know, SO yesterday) and sat down with a book. Amazing. I knew that TV had the capacity to make a mind turn to mush, but, why did it take so long to click about it being a useless time-waster? And I still was only watching on a heavy-hitting day about 4 hrs. of TV, which is STILL only half of what the average (whatever that means) American watches per day.

But that has become one to four hours in my day that was just "gifted" back to me. Did I already say, Amazing?? Oh well, willy nilly if I did. I'll never come close to the 1538 times Ali said it on the Bachelorette this past season. "Chris is going to take you to meet his family tomorrow." Amazing! "Frank is still in love with his old girlfriend." Amazing! "Roberto has agreed to stay in the Fantasy Suite with you tonite." Amazing! ""The camera man just barfed up his sushi all over the patio." Amazing! Ok, you get the pic...please pardon my pitiful digression.

TV...yeah, so I did some internet research (the other AMAZING piece of technology that causes us to go gaga)and it confirmed what I already knew. TV makes the mind a bowl of mush. Cold, glazed over, unappealing mush. That's not to say that I'll never voluntarily set my eyes on another TV screen as long as I live, but it is to say that if I'm going to partake, I'm also going to acknowledge that I am, indeed, vegging out while the left, thinking, reasoning, discerning side of my brain goes out to lunch....or supper or...We are being programmed to NOT think anymore. Blame it on the producers, the advertisers, the media, blame it on the President, I don't care. But the truth is, it's WE who are pushing the remote.
All that to say: Time is a commodity these days. At least it is to me. And to find a few extra hours a day to create, to invest in relationships, to listen to the silence, to sit and do nothing, without apology...well, that, for me is pretty phenomenal.
Truly, every day IS a gift. :)

"We are stripped bare by the curse of plenty" -Winston Churchill

I'm beginning to think that America, at large, has gone mad. From our economy,to our families, to our politics, entertainment, out-of-control consumerism, the "church" of Jesus Christ, not-with-standing. We are being lulled into a trance, taken in by a spell, reeled in on a hook. We have allowed ourselves to become brain-washed into believing that right is wrong and wrong is right, that wants are needs and that stuff will somehow make us happier, more beautiful, more alluring, and successful. We have become lovers of mammon and pursuers of power. Self-indulgent to the point of being sickening. How did we get here? And how do we escape this insanity?
In our prosperity, we have forgotten who we are, not only as Christians, but as human beings. Now, I understand why David asked God to give him neither riches nor poverty, but just enough. But I wonder, if in our materialistic society, we even know what just enough is anymore. Is a cupboard containing rice and canned green beans "enough?" Do I consider myself deprived if I have no meat? Are 6 pairs of shoes "enough?" Because I probably have 25 pairs of shoes, (including sneakers and slippers) and I don't consider myself a "shoe person." Don't ask me about my pens. I likely have 100 or more. I wonder how I sleep at night. I want to be a better person. I don't want to be devoid of charity as I revel in my abundance. I want to share what I've been given...really care about others, not just act like I do. I want to give more than I get. And put more value on people than things.

"Our greatest danger in life is to allow the urgent things to crowd out the important."

So, let's break this down to where we live...

EXAMPLES OF THE URGENT:
Paying the electric bill that was due... yesterday, vacuuming the dead flies up out of my living room window sill, finding the match to my favorite black shoe,searching online for a place to vacation, going to the grocery store for butter for tonight's dinner, watching the Bachlerette finale to see who Ali chooses (PLLEEEEEAASE!), trying to decide...for hours... what color to dye my hair, getting the last bid in on Ebay as the seconds tick by, mopping the sticky kitchen floor where the lemonade was spilled, taking a shower so I can get to the post office on time...

EXAMPLES OF THE IMPORTANT:
Writing those long overdue cards to my loved ones, listening to a friend who NEEDS me to just listen...for as long as it takes to pour her heart out, kissing my husband goodbye when he walks out the door, playing with my grandson, talking to my girls, savoring the moments of stillness with God, long phone conversations with my son, chatting on the porch with my favorite neighbor, laughing at my little dog as she runs around in circles, holding the door for the lady with the overflowing grocery cart and four fussy kids...

So many days, I DO allow the urgent to take precidence over what's important. I get caught up in too many things that matter little in the bigger perspective. I let other people's "emergencies" and my own obsessiveness cloud my judgement and flitter away my time. But I am learning, slowly, as I grow older and (hopefully)a tad-bit wiser, the vast difference between urgent and important.