Uncategorized – Page 41 – in thriver words

An Eye Opening Cold Shower

I took a cold shower this morning, literally, an eye opening COLD shower.
shower

Okay, for those of you who must go there…no, not for that reason. My air conditioners aren’t working. Two air conditioners, both less than 3 years old, two…not working…AT THE SAME TIME! It’s 99º outside, feels like 106, and who knows inside? My thermostat only registers 90º and it’s been maxed for two days straight. I’m in line for a repair, but the line is LONG. I’ve now left for a coffee house with free wifi so I can hopefully smell better and think straight.

As with all unexpected, and even unwelcome, obstacles, having to do things differently lets me see things differently. Each and every time, I learn all over again that some of my assumptions are just wrong.

I live in an old two story house with the master bedroom upstairs and guest bedroom downstairs. I would assume that it would be cooler to sleep downstairs under the ceiling fan, but for some odd reason, it’s not. Without the air on, downstairs is staying hotter than upstairs once the sun retreats.

So, if downstairs under the ceiling fan is not the coolest sleeping environment, it stands to reason that between the open windows on either side of the upstairs would be my next best choice, right? Last night, I opened the windows and with a pillow, sheet, & cold wash cloth in hand gave sleeping on the padded bench by the window a try.
window
I was sweaty, uncomfortable, and aware of every loud rap song that streamed out of the windows of passing cars. I was NOT asleep. I finally decided that being right by the window was doing me no favors and slipped into my bed hoping exhaustion from the heat would keep me from tossing and turning the night away.

This morning, it was cool outside when I grabbed the paper off the porch. Cruelly, cool. Ironically cool. Relaxing cool that had failed to permeate the wide open windows upstairs where I slept. I should have slept in a tent in the back yard. Or, as I discovered when I grabbed my clothes after that cold shower, in the closet. My closet was cool – inexplicably cool. The coolest place in my house. How can this be? It’s directly under the roof. It’s enclosed so no air moves around, and yet it is cooler than my cross-ventilated bedroom.
closet

The air repair won’t happen until tomorrow at the earliest. Tonight, as is the case with all unfortunate circumstances, I will have the chance to make a different choice based on the new information that has been forced upon me. I didn’t ask for this. When I was literally wilting at my computer yesterday, I didn’t exactly welcome the opportunity to learn any of these facts, but today I recognize that I really only have two choices: 1)Do the same thing and be miserably hot, or 2)Take what I’ve learned and make a more informed, and hopefully more comfortable, decision.

That makes it an easy decision! I’ll be a quick learner. Does that mean I’ll sleep in the closet? Maaaaybe.

Here’s what I’m taking from this situation: When you find yourself in an unfortunate circumstance, the things you have the opportunity to learn can change your day or your life if you show up with an open heart, an open mind, and a willingness to let go of your assumptions. And you may not even have to take a cold shower to see the possibilities!

Gluten-Free Summer Freeze-Out Diet

Enjoy a gluten-free summer freeze-out diet! My list of preferred summer food includes all things really, really cold! Perhaps it’s because my kitchen and favorite sitting room hold heat late into the evening, or perhaps it’s because it’s, well, really hot outside. At least once per summer I resolve to eat nothing but ice cream until the leaves turn orange.

Today, I’ve been making a list of all the things I want to include in my Specialized Gluten-Free Summer Freeze-Out Diet. Here’s what I’ve come up with so far:

Lepops Gourmet Iced Lollies
These delicious frozen pops are handmade using locally grown produce and herbs. If you buy several, they throw in an insulated bag. My grand dog Stewart likes many of the flavors including Cucumber Jalapeño.

Red Mango® Frozen Yogurt
What I love about Red Mango is that the frozen yogurt retains the tanginess of regular yogurt instead of tasting just like ice cream. I don’t really have a favorite flavor here. I try whatever sounds good. My next choice will be the Taro flavor.

gelato Talenti® Gelato
I especially like the Sea Salt Caramel flavor with its chewy chunks of chocolate I’m totally curious about the Black Cherry and Black Raspberry & Chocolate flavors too, but they never seem to be available at my local store.

cherrygarcia Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream
The names may be better than the ice cream, but Cherry Garcia® will pass in a pinch.

bbtattoo Blue Bell Ice Cream
We can only hope Blue Bell gets its problems worked out. I like their flavors and the party they hosted at the facility in Broken Arrow.

I don’t much like sweet tea, but I’m still intrigued by Chef Andrea Litvin’s recipe for Sweet Tea Granita as published in Garden & Gun: http://gardenandgun.com/article/anatomy-classic-sweet-tea-granita/page/0/1. I think it’s the ice in the photo that keeps luring me in.

Ice cold anything is appealing to me when the mercury tops 100. Later this week I’m going to a fundraiser featuring ice cream cocktails that combine locally distilled spirits with locally made ice cream. It sounds like the perfect way to enjoy giving back!

I may not be totally serious about eating nothing but ice cream this summer, but I love the idea! Have anything you’d like for me to add to my list? Let me know and I’ll try it out.

http://www.lepops.com/

http://www.redmangousa.com/

http://www.talentigelato.com/

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Pharmaceuticals Are Drugs. Over-the-Counter Medicines are Drugs. Supplements Are Drugs. Period.

pretty pills Pharmaceuticals are drugs. Over-the-counter medicines are drugs. Supplements are drugs. Period. But sometimes we don’t really act that way.

We take supplements along with prescription drugs without ever checking to see if there can be a bad interaction between the two. We don’t research the company that manufactures our supplements to see if they’re reputable even though we know the supplements are not regulated by the FDA. We pop Tylenol after a late night of drinking with no consideration of the consequences to our liver. We tell our children not to use marijuana, heroin, meth, ecstasy, or bath salts, but encourage them to take Adderall, Dexedrine, Xanax, Prozac, Paxil, Lexapro, Luvox, Celexa, Zoloft, Lorcet, Lortab, Norco, Dilaudid, OxyContin, Oxyfast, and Percocet without always exploring non-drug treatment options.

It’s like we have collectively lost our healthy respect for the power of these substances and their possible detrimental side effects or perhaps it’s overshadowed by our collective expectation of a quick resolution to all of our immediate problems. Whatever this attitude shift is, it’s affecting our health and our society. The CDC reports that since 1999, the amount of pain reported by Americans has stayed about the same, but the amount of prescription pain relievers prescribed and sold has more than quadrupled (1).

I have noticed a change in the way my doctors and dentists approach treatment and the use of medication. When I had all of my wisdom teeth out a few years ago and was visibly bruised down to the base of my neck, I was prescribed two days worth of codeine. More recently, I was prescribed a week’s worth of hydrocodone following the removal of a single root from one tooth in a 15 minute procedure. I filled the prescription on the way home assuming I’d be in severe pain when the deadening wore off. Interestingly, my pain was hardly noticeable and only required one day’s worth of Extra Strength Tylenol. My family physician now uses a medicate-and-see mode for diagnosis rather than the remove-all-medications-and-see-what-happens approach to diagnosis that I experienced at the Ochsner Clinic in 1989 when I had psittacosis.

I have a friend who calls her doctor for Vicodin whenever her life gets stressful, another who calls her gynecologist for Valium when she needs to take the edge off, and several who swear by their longstanding prescriptions for Xanax. All of them are well supplied and none of them are in therapy. None of them think this odd.
needle
This sort of matter-of-fact incorporation of highly addictive substances into our everyday lives without examination is leading to alarming trends. According to the CDC, 44 people per day die in the US from prescription drug overdose(2), and some users turn to heroin as a less expensive alternative. The number of chronic heroin users in the US in 2014 was reported by Forbes as being estimated at approximately 1.5 million.

While many of us have no experience with addiction, we all know that pharmaceuticals have side effects. Many times it takes years on the market and numerous injuries before a drug is deemed unsafe or prescriptions for it are limited. Perhaps it’s best not to treat drugs casually at all.

I’m not saying we should avoid doctors, their advice, or all medications or supplements. It just seems that now is a good time to get curious about everything we choose to ingest. It’s easier than ever to access information, so why not learn as much as we can about medication, supplements, and food so that we can make informed choices?

Where should the research begin? You can start with anything. Pharmaceuticals are drugs. Over-the-counter medicines are drugs. Supplements are drugs. All of these substances deserve research. Responsibility for our health and the quality of our lives falls appropriately on our shoulders.

When we fail to get informed, we relinquish some of the power we have over our own destiny. Hopefully, when we make that choice it is deliberate rather than by default. Otherwise, we will feel diminished by the process rather than empowered by our choice. My wish is for all of us to choose well and feel powerful.

pouch pills

1)http://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/
2)http://www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/epidemic/index.html
3)http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacobsullum/2014/03/10/how-many-daily-heroin-users-are-there-in-the-u-s-somewhere-between-60000-and-1-million-maybe/

Cheri, Cheri, Quite Contrary

garden My dad used to say it as if it were my full name, “Cheri, Cheri, quite contrary.” His version was, of course, a takeoff of the nursery rhyme in which the line that follows reads: “How does your garden grow?” I hear him again in my head each spring when my yard begins to bloom. Was he just being funny, or did my dad have a point? Am I contrary?

I don’t think I’m really contrary, but I’m certainly contrarian. I don’t accept conventional wisdom without careful consideration. I gather loads of information before making a decision. I play devil’s advocate so that I can turn an idea around and see the other side. I’m not afraid to hang a jury. I can remain calm in the midst of a crisis because I focus on the next best step to take rather than on the idea that there’s a crisis.

This mode of operating makes me feel as though I am strong, solid, resilient, and competent. Some people agree with this view. Others see my contrarian nature as a huge pain in the booty. And so it will always go.

And that is why I don’t want to focus on that particular question. Whether or not I’m contrary is not important. In fact, I think we often get sidetracked by asking ourselves and our children the wrong questions.

We ask:
What do you want to be when you grow up – doctor, lawyer, engineer, programmer, professor, fireman, pilot, plumber…
Instead of asking:
How do you want to be when you grow up – kind, courageous, motivated, knowledgeable, innovative, powerful, conscientious, loyal…

We ask:
What do you want to do – drive a truck, find a husband, play pro basketball, buy a big house…
Instead of asking:
What qualities do you want to contribute to the world – compassion, thoughtfulness, peacefulness, gratitude, generosity, honesty…

We ask:
Will your new job pay more?
Instead of asking:
How will your new job feel better to you than your previous job?

We ask:
Is your new job a career advancement?
Instead of asking:
Is there something you want to learn from this new job?

We ask:
Will I start, Coach?
Instead of asking:
How do you think I can help the team, Coach?

We ask:
Why doesn’t my husband do more around the house?
Instead of asking:
Why haven’t I thanked my husband for working so hard?

We ask:
Why doesn’t my wife keep the toys picked up?
Instead of asking:
I wonder if my wife would like some me time while I bathe the kids and pick up the toys?

We ask:
Why do the other salesmen get all the leads?
Instead of asking:
What can I do to make my customer’s day easier?

We ask:
Should I go to the party?
Instead of asking:
What are my intentions in going to this party?

We ask:
Why isn’t this partnership working?
Instead of asking:
If this partnership were to end, what would I want that process to look like?

We ask:
How can I say no?
Instead of asking:
How can I say yes when it feels like I’m betraying myself?

We ask:
How can I find the time to take care of myself?
Instead of asking:
How can I take care of my family if I don’t take care of myself?

Now, I’ll ask:
Are the questions you’re asking helping you show up in the world in the manner you desire?

If not, now’s a great time to change up the questions!

Cheri, Cheri, quite contrary? Depends on why you’re asking!