Living It With Lisa

Ever since I melted some margarine to put on my garlic toast and I looked in the pan and it truly looked like plastic, I never bought it again.  I didn’t care what my food budget was I always bought butter.  And that was in 1979!  A decision I have never regretted.  Heather Huyghue agrees and posted this on Facebook.  And here is why ….

Margarine was originally manufactured to fatten turkeys. When it killed the turkeys, the people who had put all the money into the research wanted a payback so they put their heads together to figure out what to do with this product to get their money back.

It was a white substance with no food appeal so they added the yellow colouring and sold it to people to use in place of butter. How do you like it? They have come out with some clever new flavourings….

DO YOU KNOW.. The difference between margarine and butter?

Read on to the end…gets very interesting!

Both have the same amount of calories.

BUTTER is slightly higher in saturated fats at 8 grams; compared to 5 grams for margarine.

Eating MARGARINE can increase heart disease in women by 53% over eating the same amount of butter, according to a recent Harvard Medical Study.

Eating BUTTER increases the absorption of many other nutrients in other foods.

BUTTER has many nutritional benefits where margarine has a few and only because they are added!

BUTTER tastes much better than margarine and it can enhance the flavours of other foods.

BUTTER  has been around for centuries where margarine has been around for less than 100 years.

And now, for MARGARINE…

• Very High in Trans fatty acids.
• Triples risk of coronary heart disease …
• Increases total cholesterol and LDL (this is the bad cholesterol) and lowers HDL cholesterol, (the good cholesterol)
• Increases the risk of cancers up to five times..
• Lowers quality of breast milk
• Decreases immune response.
• Decreases insulin response.
• Margarine is but ONE MOLECULE away from being PLASTIC… and shares 27 ingredients with PAINT.

These facts alone were enough to have me avoiding margarine for life and anything else that is hydrogenated (this means hydrogen is added, changing the molecular structure of the substance).

Open a tub of margarine and leave it open in your garage or shaded area. Within a couple of days you will notice a couple of things:

• No flies, not even those pesky fruit flies will go near it (that should tell you something)
• It does not rot or smell differently because it has no value; nothing will grow on it. Even those teeny weeny micro-organisms will not a find a home to grow. Why? Because it is nearly plastic. Would you melt your Tupperware and spread that on your toast?

Chinese Proverb:
When someone shares something of value with you and you benefit from it, you have a moral obligation to share it with others.

Pass the BUTTER PLEASE!

How do your organic eggs rate?  I was surprised to find Egglands Best, Central Market Brand, Traders Joes and 365 Brand by Whole Foods no better than Great Value at WalMart!  They all scored 1 egg out of a possible 5!

The Cornucopia Institute’s has provide an organic egg scorecard  that rates companies that market name-brand and private-label organic “shell” eggs based on 22 criteria that are and should be important to us … the consumer since we are paying more for what should be a better organic egg.

The Cornucopia Institutes scorecard “shows ethical family farms, and their brands, and exposes factory farm producers and brands in grocery store coolers that threaten to take over organic livestock agriculture.

Some of the factory farm operators literally raise millions of birds (both conventional and organic) with as many as 85,000 “organic” hens in single buildings.

With this Web-based rating tool, you can see which brands of eggs found in your region are produced using the best organic farming practices and ethics. Based on more than a year’s research into the organic egg business, the scorecard rates almost 70 different name-brand eggs and additional private-label products.

Both the report and scorecard highlight the good news in the organic egg industry by showcasing the true heroes, including national and local producers that are supplying ethically-produced organic eggs and are worthy of consumer support.”

Click here to view the scorecard.  In Whole Foods defense they have three brands offered in their stores.  Worlds Best Eggs and Vital Farms which both scored 5 eggs and their 365 Organics Brand which only rated 1 egg.  So shop with knowledge.

What are your thoughts on this scorecard?

First reports from the fire inspectors for Country Music Star Trace Adkins home said that the total loss of his 5,000 square foot house started in his dryer!  No matter what the cause, there are lots of house fires that start in a dryer.  Let’s eliminate that possibility for our homes with a few easy tips from a appliance repairman.

Have you ever had the heating unit go out on your dryer or think it is about to fail because the clothes aren’t getting dry?   Well here is a tip from a repairman. Go over to the dryer and pull out the lint filter.  I’ll bet it is clean since most of us clean the lint from the filter after every load of clothes.  Now take your “clean” filter over to the sink and run hot water over it.  (The lint filter is made of a mesh material).   If the hot water is sitting on top of the mesh you have a big problem! Dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh and that’s what burns out heating units. You can’t SEE the film, but it’s there. Those dryer sheets make your clothes soft and static free.

Now take one of your dryer sheets out of the box.  Feels waxy doesn’t it?   This substance builds up on your lint screen and can stop the air circulation inside the dryer and vent. This is also what causes dryer units to potentially burn your house down!   The best way to keep your dryer working for a very long time  is to take that filter out and wash it with hot soapy water and an old toothbrush every six months. Put it on your calendar! Your dryer might last a few years longer too.

Note: I went to my dryer and tested my screen by running water on it. The water ran through a little bit but mostly collected all the water in the mesh screen. I washed it with warm soapy water and an old toothbrush and I had it done in 30 seconds. Then when I rinsed it .. the water ran right thru the screen!  There wasn’t any puddling at all!  That repairman knew what he was talking about!

Another  Tip: Twice a year you should clean the plastic hose pipe that vents to the outside. Use the vacuum cleaner to suck out accumulated dust and lint.

So clean them both and don’t forget to schedule the dryer cleaning on your calendar six months from TODAY!

In light of natural disasters with falling buildings and bridges … it would be wise to read this short excerpt if you haven’t seen it before.  Where you ‘hide’ can save your life.

————-

My name is Doug Copp. I am the Rescue Chief and Disaster Manager of the American Rescue Team International (ARTI), the world’s most experienced rescue team. The information in this article will save lives in an earthquake.

I have crawled inside 875 collapsed buildings, worked with rescue teams from 60 countries, founded rescue teams in several countries, and I am a member of many rescue teams from many countries.

I was the United Nations expert in Disaster Mitigation for two years. I have worked at every major disaster in the world since 1985, except for simultaneous disasters.

Reporters at the Associated Press Tokyo Bureau take shelter under a table during the earthquake Friday afternoon. Exactly what we are taught and what we should NOT do.

The first building I ever crawled inside of was a school in Mexico City during the 1985 earthquake. Every child was under its desk. Every child was crushed to the thickness of their bones.

They could have survived by lying down next to their desks in the aisles. It was obscene, unnecessary and I wondered why the children were not in the aisles. I didn’t at the time know that the children were told to hide under something.

Simply stated, when buildings collapse, the weight of the ceilings falling upon the objects or furniture inside crushes these objects, leaving a space or void next to them. This space is what I call the ‘triangle of life’. The larger the object, the stronger, the less it will compact.

The less the object compacts, the larger the void, the greater the probability that the person who is using this void for safety will not be injured. The next time you watch collapsed buildings, on television, count the ‘triangles’ you see formed. They are everywhere. It is the most common shape you will see in a collapsed building.

1) Most everyone who simply ‘ducks and covers’ WHEN BUILDINGS COLLAPSE are crushed to death. People who get under objects, like desks or cars, are crushed.

2) Cats, dogs and babies often naturally curl up in the fetal position.
You should too in an earthquake. It is a natural safety/survival instinct. You can survive in a smaller void. Get next to an object, next to a sofa, next to a large bulky object that will compress slightly but leave a void next to it.

3) Wooden buildings are the safest type of construction to be in during an earthquake. Wood is flexible and moves with the force of the earthquake.  If the wooden building does collapse, large survival voids are created.  Also, the wooden building has less concentrated, crushing weight. Brick buildings will break into individual bricks. Bricks will  cause many injuries but less squashed bodies than concrete slabs.

4) If you are in bed during the night and an earthquake occurs, simply roll off the bed. A safe void will exist around the bed. Hotels can achieve a much greater survival rate in earthquakes, simply by posting a sign on the back of the door of every room telling occupants to lie down on the floor, next to the side of the bed during an earthquake.

5) If an earthquake happens and you cannot easily escape by getting out the door or window, then lie down and curl up in the fetal position next to a sofa, or large chair.

6) Most everyone who gets under a doorway when buildings collapse is killed - How?   If you stand under a doorway and the doorjamb falls forward or backward you will be crushed by the ceiling above. If the door jam falls sideways you will be cut in half by the doorway. In either case, you will be killed!

7) Never go to the stairs. The stairs have a different ‘moment of frequency’ (they swing separately from the main part of the building).

The stairs and remainder of the building continuously bump into each other until structural failure of the stairs takes place. The people who get on stairs before they fail are chopped up by the stair treads – horribly mutilated. Even if the building doesn’t collapse, stay away from the stairs.

The stairs are a likely part of the building to be damaged. Even if the stairs are not collapsed by the earthquake, they may collapse later when overloaded by fleeing people. They should always be checked for safety, even when  the rest of the building is not damaged.

Get Near the Outer Walls Of Buildings Or Outside Of Them If Possible - It is much better to be near the outside of the building rather than the interior. The farther inside you are from the outside perimeter of the building the greater the probability that your escape route will be blocked.

9) People inside of their vehicles are crushed when the road above falls in an earthquake and crushes their vehicles; which is exactly what happened with the slabs between the decks of the Nimitz Freeway. The victims of the San Francisco earthquake all stayed inside of their vehicles. They were all killed. They could have easily survived by getting out and sitting or lying next to their vehicles. Everyone killed would have survived if they had been able to get out of their cars and sit or lie next to them. All the crushed cars had voids 3 feet high next to them,  except for the cars that had columns fall directly across them.

10) I discovered, while crawling inside of collapsed newspaper offices and other offices with a lot of paper, that paper does not compact. Large voids are found surrounding stacks of paper.   Spread the word and save someone’s life… The Entire world is experiencing natural calamities so be prepared!

‘We are but angels with one wing, it takes two to fly’ In 1996 we made a film, which proved my survival methodology to be correct. The Turkish Federal Government, City of Istanbul , University of Istanbul Case  Productions and ARTI cooperated to film this practical, scientific test.   We collapsed a school and a home with 20 mannequins inside. Ten mannequins did ’duck and cover’ and ten mannequins I used in my ‘triangle of life’ survival method. After the simulated earthquake collapse we crawled through the rubble and entered the building to film and document the results.

The film, in which I practiced my survival techniques under directly observable, scientific conditions, relevant to building collapse, showed there would have been zero percent survival for those doing duck and cover.

There would likely have been 100 percent survivability for people using my method of the ‘triangle of life.’ This film has been seen by millions of viewers on television in Turkey and the rest of Europe, and it was seen in the USA , Canada and Latin America on the TV program Real TV.

If we could shrink the earth’s population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, it would look something like the following.  There would be:

57 Asians

21 Europeans

14 from the Western Hemisphere, both north and south

8 would be Africans

52 would be female

48 would be male

70 would be non-white
30 would be white

70 would be non-Christian
30 would be Christian

89 would be heterosexual
11 would be homosexual

6 people would possess 59% of the entire world’s wealth and all 6 would be from the United States.

80 would live in substandard housing

70 would be unable to read

50 would suffer from malnutrition

(ONE)1 would be near death;

(ONE)1 would be near birth;

(ONE)1 (yes, only 1) would have a college education;

(ONE)1 (yes, only 1) would own a computer.

When one considers our world from such a compressed perspective, the need for acceptance, understanding and education becomes glaringly apparent.

And, therefore . . .

If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of this world.

If you woke up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week.

If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace, you are among the top 8% of the world’s wealthy.

If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture, or death, you are more blessed than three billion people in the world.

If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation, you are ahead of 500 million people in the world.

If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful, you are blessed because the majority can, but most do not.

If you can read this message, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world who cannot read at all.

As you read this and are reminded how life is in the rest of the world, remember just how blessed you really are!

A year ago today I lost my precious friend Cynthia.

A Birth Certificate shows that we were born.
A Death Certificate shows that we died.
Pictures show that we lived!
Have a seat . . .
Relax . . .
And read this slowly…

~~~~~ ^^^ ~~~~~

I Believe…  
That just because two people argue, that 
doesn’t mean they don’t love each other. 
And just because they don’t argue, that doesn’t mean they do love each other.

I Believe… 
That sometimes when I’m angry I have the right to be angry,  
but that doesn’t give me the right to be cruel.

I Believe… 
That we don’t have to change friends if we understand that friends change.

I Believe… 
That no matter how good a friend is, they’re going to hurt you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I Believe… 
That true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. 
 Same goes for true love.

I Believe…  
That you can do something in an instant that will give you heartache for life..

I Believe… 
That it’s taking me a long time to become the person I want to be.

I Believe… That you should always leave loved ones with 
loving words. It may be the last time you see them.

I Believe… 
That you can keep going long after you think you can’t.

I Believe… 
That we are responsible for what
 we do, no matter how we feel.

I Believe… That either you control your attitude or it controls you.

I Believe… 
That heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.

I Believe… 
That money is a lousy way of keeping score.

I Believe… 
That my best friend and I can do anything, or nothing, and have the best time.

I Believe… That sometimes the people you expect to kick you 
When you’re down will be the ones to help you get back up.

I Believe… 
That maturity have more to do with what types of experiences you’ve had, and what you’ve learned from them… and less to do with how many birthdays you’ve celebrated.

I Believe… 
That it isn’t always enough to be forgiven by others. 
Sometimes, you have to learn to forgive yourself.

I Believe… 
That no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn’t stop for your grief.

I Believe… 
That our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.

I Believe… 
That you shouldn’t be so eager to find out a secret. It could change your life forever.

I Believe… 
Two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.

I Believe…
That your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don’t even know you.

I Believe… 
That even when you think you have no more to give, if a friend cries out to you…you will find the strength to help.

I Believe… 
That credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.

I Believe…
That the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.

I Believe… The happiest of people don’t necessarily have the best of everything. They just make the most of everything.

Thank You God for all the wonderful people who help us throughout the journey of life…

GOD BLESS YOU

The following story was published on MyDailyInsights Friday Story and got lots of responses.  It touched people where they were.  What they realized is that nothing changes unless you “plant your daffodil bulb” each day.  Here is some more food for thought:

“You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.” – Charles “Tremendous” Jones

Albert Einstein once said “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”.

Are you doing nothing and expecting different results?  Thinking about it doesn’t make it happen?  What are you going to DO today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow to create a difference in your future?

Plant a daffodil everyday!

~~~~~~~~

THE DAFFODIL PRINCIPLE

Several times my daughter had telephoned to say, “Mother, you must come
to see the daffodils before they are over.”  I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from Laguna to Lake Arrowhead “I will come next Tuesday”, I promised a little reluctantly on her third call.

Next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and reluctantly I drove there. When I finally walked into Carolyn’s house I was welcomed by the joyful sounds of happy children. I delightedly hugged and greeted my grandchildren.

“Forget the daffodils, Carolyn! The road is invisible in these clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and these children that I want to see badly enough to drive another inch!”

My daughter smiled calmly and said, “We drive in this all the time, Mother.”  ”Well, you won’t get me back on the road until it clears, and then I’m heading for home!” I assured her.

“But first we’re going to see the daffodils. It’s just a few blocks,” Carolyn said. “I’ll drive. I’m used to this.”

“Carolyn,” I said sternly, “please turn around.” “It’s all right, Mother, I promise. You will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience.”

After about twenty minutes, we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church, I saw a hand lettered sign with an arrow that read, “Daffodil Garden.”  We got out of the car, each took a child’s hand, and I followed Carolyn down the path. Then, as we turned a corner, I looked up and gasped. Before me lay the most glorious sight.

It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it over the mountain peak and its surrounding slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns, great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, creamy white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, and saffron and butter yellow. Each different-colored variety was planted in large groups so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue. There were five acres of flowers.

“Who did this?” I asked Carolyn.  ”Just one woman,” Carolyn answered. “She lives on the property. That’s her home.” Carolyn pointed to a well-kept A-frame house, small and modestly sitting in the midst of all that glory. We walked up to the house.

On the patio, we saw a poster. “Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking”, was the headline. The first answer was a simple one. “50,000 bulbs,” it read. The second answer was, “One at a time, by one woman. Two hands, two feet, and one brain.” The third answer was, “Began in 1958.”

For me, that moment was a life-changing experience. I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than forty years before, had begun, one bulb at a time, to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountaintop. Planting one bulb at a time, year after year, this unknown woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. One day at a time, she had created something of extraordinary magnificence, beauty, and inspiration. The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the
greatest principles of celebration.

That is, learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time–often just one baby-step at time–and learning to love the doing, learning to use the accumulation of time. When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world …

“It makes me sad in a way,” I admitted to Carolyn. “What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five or forty years ago and had worked away at it ‘one bulb at a time’ through all those years? Just think what I might have been able to achieve!”

My daughter summed up the message of the day in her usual direct way. “Start tomorrow,” she said.

She was right. It’s so pointless to think of the lost hours of yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson of celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask, “How can I put this to use today?”

Use the Daffodil Principle. Stop waiting…..

Until your car or home is paid off
Until you get a new car or home
Until your kids leave the house
Until you go back to school
Until you finish school
Until you clean the house
Until you organize the garage
Until you clean off your desk
Until you lose 10 lbs.
Until you gain 10 lbs.
Until you get married
Until you get a divorce
Until you have kids
Until the kids go to school
Until you retire
Until summer
Until spring
Until winter
Until fall
Until you die…

There is no better time than right now to be happy.

Happiness is a journey, not a destination.
So work like you don’t need money.
Love like you’ve never been hurt, and, Dance like no one’s watching.

If you want to brighten someone’s day, pass this on to someone special.

I just did!

Wishing you a beautiful, daffodil day!

Don’t be afraid that your life will end, be afraid that it will never begin.

I ran across this information and have not confirmed that it came from Johns Hopkins.  However it is information that is widely known and now compiled in one article.

To remain healthier and/or if I was diagnosed with cancer, I would want to understand everything possible.  I believe we are only as healthy as the food we choose to eat.  I liken our bodies to a Ferrari.  If I owned one I would never put substandard oil, gas, fluids in that vehicle.  Why?  It would not run at its full potential and would make the parts wear out quicker.  Our bodies are our God given Ferrari that will eventually wear out, of that we are certain.  But does it have to work overtime combating the chemicals and substandard food that we choose to eat?  It only makes our parts break down faster and sometime they cannot be repaired.

It is imperative that we become conscious eaters. Pay attention to the quality and the quantity of the food you eat.  You will be healthier for it!

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AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY IS THE ONLY WAY TO COMBAT CANCER, JOHNS HOPKINSIS FINALLY STARTING TO TELL YOU THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY.

Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins

1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person’s lifetime.

3. When the person’s immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors.

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle factors.

5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.

6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastro-intestinal tract etc., and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.

7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.

8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.

9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.

WHAT CANCER CELLS FEED ON:

11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.

a)   Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in colour. Better alternative is Bragg’s aminos or sea salt.

b)   Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soymilk, cancer cells are being starved.

c)   Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.

d)   A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells.

e)   To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).

f)     Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer-fighting properties. Water–best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.

12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines become putrefied and leads to more toxic buildup.

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body’s killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the body’s own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body’s normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, unforgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.

16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment.  Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.

I received this from my neighbor Michel and just had to share.  It gives us room for thought and a real reason to “enjoy an ice cream with my kids, a good dinner with a man who makes me shiver, and a piece of chocolate with my friends.”

=======  ~~~~~ ======

Recently, in a large city in  Australia, a poster featuring a young, thin and tan woman appeared in the window of a gym. It said, “This summer, do you want to be a mermaid or a whale?”

A middle-aged woman, whose physical characteristics did not match those of the woman on the poster, responded publicly to the question posed by the gym.

To Whom It May Concern,
Whales are always surrounded by friends (dolphins, sea lions, curious humans.)
They have an active sex life, get pregnant and have adorable baby whales.
They have a wonderful time with dolphins stuffing themselves with shrimp.
They play and swim in the seas, seeing wonderful places like  Patagonia  ,
the  Bering Sea and the coral reefs of  Polynesia  .
Whales are wonderful singers and have even recorded CDs.
They are incredible creatures and virtually have no predators other than humans.
They are loved, protected and admired by almost everyone in the world.

Mermaids don’t exist.
If they did exist, they would be lining up outside the offices
of psychoanalysts due to identity crisis. Fish or human?
They don’t have a sex life because they kill men who get close to them, not to mention how could they have sex?
Just look at them … where is IT?
Therefore, they don’t have kids either.
Not to mention, who wants to get close to a girl who smells like a fish store?

The choice is perfectly clear to me: I want to be a whale.

P..S. We are in an age when media puts into our heads the idea that only skinny people are beautiful, but I prefer to enjoy an ice cream with my kids, a good dinner with a man who makes me shiver, and a piece of chocolate with my friends.

With time, we gain weight because we accumulate so much information and wisdom in our heads that when there is no more room, it distributes out to the rest of our bodies.   So we aren’t heavy, we are enormously cultured, educated and happy.

Beginning today, when I look at my butt in the mirror I will think, ¨Good grief, look how smart I am!