The Building Blocks 1

This top 10 entry was not carried through as often as I had hoped in the past year and will be given more attention in 2020 the video below is related to the work shown

So  once a week. Or so  this blog will include the building. Blocks of a song  that  may develop.  The blocks may not  end up in the order  they are numbered..... because. That’s just the way of the universe.

1.

Every now and then peace and joy drift from your routine

A humbling numbing chaos will blur what was once serene 

 There may be little shelter from the spaces in between

 That’s when you must name your torments,  Redefining what they mean 

So  

Peace and Joy Pot Luck—Self Driving Cars Indoor Plumbing and Government?

SOME SORTA STRANGE SOOTHING THOUGHTS I THINK?  

What follows is rambling entry that crosses over  from far-reaching places such as  self-driving cars, toilets, and government.  It deals with the anxiety of jobs created and lost and  a new blog I  will start  on that.  

Be gentle with  the diversity and  enjoy the thinking  if it  brings any to mind.  i will get  back  to  a more focused  entry pattern on this blog  on my next  post (after the  Top 10)   for now enjoy any of this  you can..

Oh yeah and  the video is just some  strange  eye candy I  did while  I was waiting  for  some  technology  to boot up.  Don't freak—-

And Remember  we are celebrating MLK day today( originally posted  last January) which  was  a day to remember  workers equality as much as ethnicity or race.. anyway the  pre-prologue for this is over…. read on.

It’s  like really cold outside this morning and I am glad eventually  everyone (or almost everyone)  in  our part of the world has reached  the level of affluence  needed to have indoor  plumbing,efficient if not  affordable  heating, and we have as a society decided that training and paying  people to take care of these things is  worthwhile.  

But I didn’t sit down to  comment on your toilet this morning so if that’s what  you wanted to read about I apologize  right  up front. 

In the past few days I have spent  hours  reading, watching news reports, and crusing YouTube  researching the “progress” of “self-driving vehicles.”  Like “the Wall” it seems everyone has  both an opinion and  some anxiety regarding  this new and inevitable  technology.  

I am  launching a blog  on another  page  that will make my thoughts  very evident, however,  for this blog I wanted to  put some facts out there and leave people with  some  peace about  whatever happens  next.

Really smart people are starting to  get involved  in all aspects of this including  what happens to the  job market.  The  hard questions  about personal choice—who will profit the most—and information privacy and security are  also moving  forward at the same speed as the  science of making these  things work.

Will there be some questions  to deal with…well… yes.  However, we also asked  what would all the stage coach drivers do?  Oh and  did the world end  when the keypunch operators  and telegraph  tappers sort of disappeared from the  classified ads?

Oh and  just a couple more questions come to mind…. do you think the first person who flushed an upstairs toilet in their house  wondered  if that stuff was going to wind up where  it was supposed to?   

But when it comes to the self-driving  thing… just know that  you  have people thinking about  important things and at least inn  the US  as citizens  we had better  start  urging  our government  folks to  start  working on these  matters a bit more so that our schools, roads,  purchasing systems etc are also  ready… because of course if there’s  if there is one part of  this whole thing where it  is hard to  see  progress it is in that corner of the world.  …and since that  is pretty regular these days… well  maybe that should bring you some peace.  

In the end there is a bit  of irony here.  We are feeling anxiety  about  machines that  may make us feel  like less humans  are needed and forgetting that the purpose of these machines  is to get more people to places where  more people can be  together acting humanly.  

If  you have read this  far I thank you and please send  me  an email comment if you have  thoughts.

Peace

 .

P is for persistence

P= PERSISTENCE

THISHardwork, Optimism, Persistence, and Experimentation... Seeking  joy often goes Beyond sitting and wondering what is going to happen to you and moving toward what you can do with all the various circmstances the world  provides, changes, and reveals.  Hope is not So much an attitude as an active creative activity.

IS A “TOP 10 Entry that stands on the shoulders of. The series of posts that surround it. The “HOPE series.
Anyway here is the  post—enjoy...or at least persist!!

When is it okay to give up hope?  The  answer  to this lies in the  last two parts of this  newer stronger definition  of hope.  If we don’t  plan to work hard and stay optimistic persistence  isn’t going to happen—and experimentation well forget it.  

Let’s focus on persistence.  First, some folks  equate  persistence and stubbornness.  Well they  are related.  Persistence  is however far more dynamic.   Persistence embraces a goal while accepting  that change of process and method  is probably going to be  needed.  Stubbornness  is staying the course—the same course—-and wanting  change for everything  else around you.  Well…Let me introduce the idea of  sidewalk  grass.  sidewalk  grass (the grass that grows  in the cracks in your  sidewalk will eventually grow in enough  varied ways and  create enough change that  the sidewalk will  give way.  If  the grass simply stayed in the same place (stubborn)  it would be there…but change nothing.  

Persistence  is the concept  that allows hope to work  on the universe’s  go the spirit’s  timeline instead of the one we presuppose.  The difference  between this and just plain patience is that persistence  requires  a person to keep  building support, keep working hard.  In short persistence  is active not static.  

Persisence also allows  an occasional review of  your goal whereas  stubbornness  looks  only externally for obstacles  

We live in a world where we have changed  the  old phrase  If at first you don’t  succeed try try again, to if at  first  you don’t  succeed  find someone else to blame and give  up.  

So  in short persistence  means  giving your  goal and yourself time to generate  a wide range of possible solutions, to reframe some of the challenges and apply hard work and optimismm… If it sounds like we are wandering toward experimentation…that’s because we are.   Persistence  gives you the time to experiment which is what the next post will explore.  So far  we  have Hard  work—Optimism which  create the  tools and  attitude…persistence  now creates the time element  and  experimentation might be he most exciting  component .. 

How the Cookie Crumbles?

Christmas is the season for cookies so it’s appropriate that this post is in the top 10 for the year read and enjoy 

HOW THE COOKIE CRUMBLES?

A lifetime friend (when you get to be a certain age you  know that this term applies—) and I  were  in a deepish philosophical  conversation when he used the phrase… “well sometimes that’s  just how the cookie  crumbles.”  

Well  at the end of this  post I’ll  talk about  the relationship  between finding peace and joy and  cookies  crumbling…. however right now I’m sticking to the  good part—-cookies.  

I  didn’t  do worldwide research on this so I apologize  to those  outside our borders  who read this…. I probably  have things other than  this blog to apologize  for when it comes to Americans so just forgive me and read on.  

In 2017  it was estimated  that the average American eats  18,928  cookies in a lifetime.  However there is of course  the  controversy whether  double stuff Oreos count as one or  2 or 1.5 —we‘l will have to  call in the bureau of standards and form a committee  and after a fact finding  task force gets done with   a preliminary investigation, tentative findings will be issued after which there  will be a prescribed  comment  period.  For now, let’s say  double stuffs are just  regular  cookies  using Performance  Enhancing  Substances  and  while it will keep them out of the hall ofame—- the old school  kind  will make it on the first ballot (can you tell i’m a baseball fan?) 

Alright… we eat this 18,928  cookies  in our lifetime and what are the favorites  —-Well this list  I read counted brownies as cookies…not related to that  original number of 18,928 and so I’m unilaterally  throwing  them out of the  five.
  So  t5  to 1—- you want suspense  right?  Sugar Cookies (seems a bit repetitive to me).. come in at 5.  Number 4 Oatmeal Raisin.  Now  I refer to this as the cheater cookie..  People will say “oatmeal is  healthy and raisins are a fruit.  Nonsense I say…. raisins are a fruit.  They are a fruit packed sith sugar in its natural state and  Raisin bran cereal contains more sugar than  Frosted Flakes.  So these  “healthy” cookies are at number  four disguised as “healthy”.  Number  3 is  Oreo….the originalNow I don't  know  if this counts all the  off-brand varieties or not, however, I don’t care. Oh sometimes  nabisco gets carried away  with  orange or pink  fillings for  holidays etc… but oreos will always be  ok in my book.  they  have  become a little suspect in recent years sneaking their way into the ice cream market  — you know  like the cookies and cream types.  Come on Oreo you can make it on your own… you don’t  have to count on ice cream to help  you out.  Then at number two….  Peanut  Butter  Cookies.  Now  peanut butter  came up  on the list at number two as a biT of a surprise  for me.  After all there are a lot of people with nut allergies out there and  thus  I’m a bit concerned that in the future  these cookies will be relegated to  a contraband  status.  For  now good work  on holding your  place and of course it doesn’t  hurt that  people often  combine you  with  chocolate access.

Well that leads us to the number one cookie….. of course  you know it is CHOCOLATE CHIP.  I won’t  go  into the number of store  made varieties of  chocolate  chip cookies except for a brief  commentary on “Chips Ahoy.”  I am  not at all sure  how the idea of selling  these cookies  using the  maratime  theme  came into being.  I don’t see a bunch of  pirates standing  on the gang  plank saying “I’m not coming  aboard unless we have  those cookies  with our rum.”  Oh well  whatever… 

Alright now  I promised I would get to the Peace and Joy  part.   and so I will… 

For  many  many years my uncle has ben going visits older  sister on Saturday mornings expecting  home-made  chocolate chip cookies to go with  the coffee  they  have shared  to talk about life  in their hometown and the quirks in our family.  I just know it is part of a routine that  gives them both an anchor of peace in their lives… and though  it probably doesn’t have happen  quite as often as it used to.  I think  it has been a valuable ceremony for  both of them.  I’m not  so sure  it wasn’t a way  for each of them to reset from  the weak and start the weekend.  So  seeking peace and joy sometimes requires building  some of these routines just as reset  mechanisms …. Now I could be completely  wrong, in which case it has always been a good excuse just to have cookies  for breakfast.  However, if you look  at the nutrition content in some cereals you are having cookies for breakfast too.  I once look at the  nutrition  value on a box of lucky  charms and in the  nutritional value box it just said  LOL…

Anyway it is Saturday  Night    I’m saying have a cookie— relax… there are some healthy choices out there, but aI am just saying have one  in honor of all the brothers and sisters  who have enjoyed cookies together  or all the grandmas  who made  the cookies for their grandkids.  I know that  all 18928  of our cookies haven’t been  so special and a few  have broken  off and  had tho be spooned out of milk or coffee … but there have been some  very special cookies  made and eaten over time and all of us  should find some to enjoy from time to time.  

Okay  one last  cookie story… when I was a kid there was a bakery/factory  in  our little town that made some of the “off-brand or local store brand cookies.  But the smell from the factory  sure was a good thing.  One day in the local drugstore/soda fountain an odguy probably  half my  age now cam  across the street  into the drug store to grab  some  gum.  He was  complaining that the government  was making them wear  these silly hard hats  now.  I being curious and in a state of disbelief asked  “really?”   This  guy looked  at me and  smiled—-then he says ‘yep my boy.. i survived  Nam and a couple more years in this mnan’s  army so it would be  a crying shame if I got  killed by a couple cases of  vanilla wafers  falling  off my forklift.”  He just  laughed and said enjoy your tootsie  pop kid to which I said I don’t  have one….He threw  a dime on the counter and said go crazy ny little man.  So from  then on how’s a kid ever going to break a  positive  connection with cookies?  

Alright  tomorrow I’m adding part two  this post… It will poetic and musical and my tribute  to cookies a great source of  peace and joy.

Food can make your holidays special even food for the soul

Some Holiday foods never grow old...and  that’s some food for thought.

In one of my more recents podcasts, I described the history of candy canes.  They certainly have not  grown old as a holiday classic.  Around here we almost always have peanut blossom cookies with a chocolate star or  chocolate  kiss in the center, some sugar cookies, some rice crispy  and white chocolate drop cookies etc. etc.

those things are great because they connect our taste buds with our memories  over years and years of holiday togetherness which is a fantastic source of peace and joy.  

Food for the Soul

Food for the soul is  sometimes overlooked these days and  I for one refuse. To let it go unceremoniously.  Just as important as those holiday classics in food we need to cherish and share some of the stories we all. Have come to know.  Don’t be. Afraid to slip in quotes from.”how the 

Grinch Stole. Christmas or a Charlie Brown Christmas during the holidays.  Most of the time these  words will bring a sense of commonness and peace into the conversation.  You can. Also include some classic lines from  more modern offerings like Christmas. Vacation with  the Griswold and of course the Santa Clause with tim Allen.  You can dip into the way back machine and  refer to A miracle on 34th Street and of course every time a bell rings an angel gets it’s wings (and a Corona gets a lime)  from It’s a Wonderful Life.  

The Best Soul Food. Of All (for me)

In 1846 so. 173 years ago, Charles dickens dropped a Christmas Carol in our laps.  This thing is a ghost story, a love story, a story about dysfunctional family life, a tale about  disability, hypocrisy, having a personal legacy, and spiritual change and it all happens in one night!   Well one night with all the required flashbacks and dreams and such.  

I’m not going to summarize the story here... I would suggest you find. One of several versions to watch.  Start with a classic black and white. Version if possible but  if at all possible DO NOT SKIP SCROOGED the Bill Murray adaptation because it brings. Home some points about our modern world. More pointedly than some other variations to the classic tale.  

In the end this is a tale about change and hope and knowing it is not to late.  It is a tale about. Exploring what is possible and what one person can do to make a difference in more than one life and in seeking peace and joy this is something to stay focused upon.  ...

To summarize holiday classics  can be a source of connecting with. Peace and joy.  Food  is a classic and some stories are classics too.  One of the  most substantial and relevant stories is. “A Christmas Carol and while it won’t  be played 124 hours straight like A Christmas Story or Home Alone I it has a powerful message I encourage us all to take in.

And of Course in the words of  Tiny Tim

God Bles Us One and All

Back to the Top  10 tomorrow 

Hey this is some great handmade holiday stuff you could start holiday tradition which is sort of what this episode is about check out the link 

Home | whal3n 

Sometimes peace and joy takes face talk or walk?

Peace & Joy —When to Talk & When  to Walk

A few days ago I popped a video into this blog and wrote about how ”acceptance is not surrender.”  This was a very  hard  concept  for me to grasp for a long time…. I mean it’s like going to Verizon right now and insisting on a flip phone without a camera… my attitude was a bit outdated given my life experiences.  So, I sort of wanted to continue this theme  at least one more time.   

Let’s face it most times  when we are least peaceful and joyful is when we are looking for or in  an argument or have just left one.  Rarely  do both or all parties walk away after an argument  saying “good talk..I’m glad you changed my mind.”  I can count the times  that has happened to me on one  hand without  using any fingers, however sometimes after such chats I have used  one finger to respond.  Be that as it may, let’s move this conversation forward.

First of all, if you have to … and I mean just have to have it out with someone remember the words of Eleanor Roosevelt who said something like— “Smart people discuss ideas-less smart people talk about events—-and well those who are less smart  yet talk about people.  So if you are going to persuade  someone I think that is a good thing to  remember.  Changing  minds  usually doesn’t go well if  the process starts with a personal attack.  Keep it at the idea level as best  you can.  The second  way to keep these deals more peaceful is to  say we  may  not need to come to a decision on this right now.. but we need to start a talk about it.   That way we don’t need to leap to the opposite corner right away even if that’s where it might be headed

Finally sometimes the best talk is not to have one at all.  From time to time  you just have to express that this is not the time for  hashing things out… Sometimes  people need  space and they need it right  now.  At this point  if you can  be perceptive  it is often best to allow the space to happen so that things can bend but not break.  

Peace and Joy  require  some  flexibility and so we should aim at not breaking things unless we plan on leaving them  for …well possibly  forever.  

Anyway  I am popping in a song my brother and I sort of created  yesterday.  His emotions  prompted the  lyrics and my mind has been in that place before so I chopped this together and  am sharing it today. 

Enjoy.

NEW COMMENTS: 

The current culture seems to push people to declare their unending loyalty to people and ideas.  If it is possible in 2020 maybe we can start asking each other to declare that we will seek various sources of information, be willing to try to re-examine our ideas regularly, and make the effort to check back with others regarding their values and ideas instead of placing them in a box and leaving them there.  Assume people are complex and  will experience change in spite of anything we might say or do.  In short work harder to understand. An idea than to control a person who may hold it.  If you have to  experience some silence  to allow the other person to change or moderate—it is worth. Your time and peace and joy. Is probably  worth the wait.  

Let 2020 be a time of new ideas and new connections.  Peace. 

Another brick in “The WALL

this top 10 post is about walls and as it is highlighted there are a couple of things I would like to add. There are so many messages in the media and in our communities that encourage us to build walls not bridges and so in this holiday season I would encourage everyone to consider the following questions

As you are likely to be doing some family visiting this holiday season what is one question that you would like to ask anyone or your entire family?
Think of any three people you would like and imagine or write down five things values etc. you believes you have in common with these people.  Now to pick two people that you wish had these things in common with you or the group of people you were thinking about

Finally what skills or talents do you have personally that would help either you or someone you care for build bridges with other people not walls?

OK enjoy this top 10 for 2019



These days we hear  a lot of talk about  "the Wall."

If  you want to you can link to FoxNews--CNN, or MSNBC  some links below and get a ready-made opinion  of this topic.

https://youtu.be/7k6WMJz3CWw

https://youtu.be/pmEuSQ2aQ80

https://youtu.be/7zAqO7U0k4o

Fortunately, this is not the wall I'm talking  about....because there are enough  people talking about that already

I'm also  not talking  about  Pink Floyd's "quasi-experimental"  album (The Wall  and the stunning movie adaptation.)

So what Wall?

Well I thought  about the great wall of China because that is one impressive wall and it was built a long time ago and  we in the "west" don't  know much about it except what we might  learn  with regard to how ancient alien astronauts  might have had a hand in it (just kidding)


I'm talking  about the walls  that this debate about some border structure  are  building  between  people who  otherwise believe  in a lot of the same things and for  some of the same reasons.

We all want  a safe place to live and to feel like  things  are fair.
We  as humans  all like some sense that we can have a space of our  own if we need it for a while.

we  are as  human beings  built to  be hyper aware of new and strange  situations including the looks of people. These are realities.
Let's all admit that.... and move ahead.


WhatI guess I'm questioning is why we have to make this  yet another  either or issue for our country and the world are we?


Building a Wall of Duality  that urges us to characterize  ourselves as one of our many  facets?  If so  please don't make it aawall.... I want to be sorted  out by the curve of my left ear.  Should I start a Facebook group?

Seriously... if we are to achieve peace and joy  in this  existence let's breathe and avoid  a forced  extreme and two-sided choice— a wall inside.

 There have always been walls there will always be walls but let’s think about them differently here’s a little song about  walls it is a one take wonder it will be better when I work on it a while but so will humanity (mine).  LOL

—

The magical history of candles 2019 top 10

THE MAGICAL HISTORY  OF CANDLES

Google it… I don’t know anything about the history of candles.  I know they have been around a long time and I know one of the most expensive  brands is the “yankee”  candle.  The Yankees probably outbid the  Red Sox or Dodgers so Bed Bath and Beyond wouldn’t be selling  these things…. and if you  don’t follow baseball please keep reading…I’m about to make  a point.

Candles are  indeed magical.  You see you can in almost always find a way to light your own and it can light your way to many  lplaces.  Also when you come across someone who needs their candle  lit you can easily share  the light of  your candle and then you both have a light and the power to light the candles of others.  

Well in the past few  years I have come across a number of people…probably some of you who are reading this… who  were carrying a candle and were able to light my way for a while  and a few  have  been able to make sure my candle stayed lit when I went on my way.  I have made some efforts to light the candles of others and hope they have  gone on to do so.  

In the end the  candle is a magical thing because  even if it doesn’t light the whole  room it often  provides a powerful aroma that  reminds  you of a peaceful or joyful time.  

So sometime in the next week or so….light a candle either  your own or someone else’s … and let the peace and joy  glow on. 

Happy holidays and keep shining brightly in 2020

Health change peace and joy

Peace and joy: your body as change

So here we are at the end of the beginning when it comes to. Talking about. Health, body/mind peace and joy.  Thus far the primary messages have  focused upon building relationships with medical professionals as human beings to enhance your chances of doing well in “clinical medicine situations).  Then, food and how  our culture.has come to treat the buying and eating processes. Some attention.has been given to the inadequate health education we receive as youth and  beyond.  The focus. Has been on these areas because we can play a very active role in all of these facets of  moving toward peace and joy by participating in our own well being.  Now it is time to  put a cap on this for a bit by focusing on  a topic that could have been first or last, however last seems to  work as a summary idea so here it goes.

In a book called (I think) “Aging for. Beginners” the authors  present a very  “mindfulness” framework for  the readers.  In simple terms they point out that stuff happens to everyone’s body throughout a life span and that this is inevitable.  While  they don’t  come right down to it, they imply the hell out of the idea that  the very human need for security makes it difficult for us to  age gracefully. Or have any peace of mind regarding. One of the most natural pathways that all humans walk.  They are right.  Society and our own minds as part of it have taught. Us to fear changes especially  to our body and ones that indicate aging in particular.  To paraphrase they also  believe when things are relatively stable and  at least  okay we get complacent  and then when things  change we complain, get anxious, and make peace or joy  very close to impossible.  We almost never. Look at shifts in health as a possibility.to learn how to advance under certain body circumstances.  

So this is my final. Commentary for seeking peace and joy and. Understanding  health.  Like I said—for now.  

The  Certain Change Paradox

Spoiler Alert.... Have you ever met a baby?  How about a 5 year-old?  Has your life been impacted. By you as a pre-teen or teen-aged kid?  Have you nNoticed any  gray hairs or shifts. In body parts?  If yQuestion—As humans to we live a life of constant  changes in body  images, heath status, and attitudes toward our bodies and those of others?  If your answer is no to any. Or all of these questions the idea that flinging to. Ideas. Of body “certainty is not going to promote a  peaceful  outcome—because in the vernacular —it ain’t  so Jack.  Your body was  made to change and no matter how many plastic parts we put in them change is still going to happen.  

Okay that brings me to  the final point... If you  are very uncomfortable with change, you will have. A hard time ever finding  peace, Joy, and Happiness in the same place.  Acceptance and comfort  in change is clearly a key to accepting and influencing  what. You can is a path to coming to a better health care place in your mind and soul.  From the time you leave the. Womb till the time you turn to dust change is the human way.  So if you can count on change stop  treating change as  uncertain and thus letting it fall into something to be anxious about.  Try to view changes  in your body with some degree of  uncovering new  opportunities to find different ways of doing things, and a chancer to form different. Relationships with.people who  now expect you  to understand them because they have had a similar body experience.  If you can accept change and embrace it, you will find all types of opportunities  fo Sind peace and Joy.  If you deny change you will feel pretty. Hopeless,  

Don’t doubt we will tale more about this in the near  future.  Starting Tomorrow the Top Ten Countdown... Number. 10.  The Magical  History of Candles you can find some peace and joy in the discovery process of “what’s next?”  If. 

Healthy peace and joy some nearly final thoughts

HEALTHY PEACE AND JOY SOME NEXT TO FINAL THOUGHTS

The relationship between Body/Mind/Spirit/ and Peace and Joy is of course complex and critical to understand inasmuch as possible.  However, this group of commentaries is only going to dip into the well but t2ice more.  Then  other visits will be made.   

You see, since 2020 is peaking around. The corner and the days are counting down I thought I’d dust off my top posts from the year, give them a fresh coat of humor, information, and punctuation and release them  as a retro-prospective.   I also want to do a  “resolutions post and of course I might not make  it to ten after I dig in, becxausae my spirit will call out and say that’s enough or here’s something else you need to write about—right now!

Having said.all that...here we go on Helathy Peace and Joy for today.  So far the focus has been on the medical appointment  process and  breaking the. Clinical model for your health care professionals. And so that you can get human treatment from and for human beings.  Next, the topic was  food—how I/we treat it in our culture and how faster is not better and it’s going to show up. In one of my resolutions (BTW).  Comments have been made about. The lack of healthcare education we receive throughout our lives.  For certain we have (even when parts of it function outside the. Regular range) this marvelous instrument known as the human body and the mind/soul/spirit and we get almost  no help understanding how it works. Or how to use it.  In short, becoming more aware is probably step one in heading up the road in. Peace and joy.  Okay...moving forward.

So let’s start with a  simple question—do you still dance?  If. Not did you. Quite because your knees or hips. Woreout?  Or did your knees or hips wear out because you quit dancing?  No matter...what  you could do is start again.  If you ask a group of. Five year-olds to show.you their best dance, not a single one won’t  be able. Or willing to do that and so do we teach people.that dancing is unacceptable or that adults don’t do that kind of stuff?  In short one of the keys to.seeking. Peace and joy in a healthy way is to “shake, shake, shake, shake , shake,shake, shake your booty (sp).  I bet in addition to  sitting silently for  long periods the Buddha could still bust a move, shake a leg, cut a rug...

Okay I’m just suggesting we make like the scarecrow after being up on that pole and hey even use the pole to do some dancing if tha’t your deal.  Just  move.  

Everyone has time for a little dancing—EVERYONE!!! Dance in your house if you must—while you are sweeping the floor or picking up laundry or taking  the pizza box to ther garbage etc.  You can do a little two step and the megastore while you are in line-NO JIGS AT THE “U-SCAN self-checkout except in the third week of March—then all bets are off.  

Dance over to your local bookstore  (if you are in or near Burlington, Iowa —Burlington by the Book on Jefferson is THE PLAC—and pick up a copy of Bill Bryson’s “The Body: a Guide for Occpants.”  This book covers your body like  two passionate college-aged loverss on a ...okay you get5 the point—the book  tells you a lot about almost every  part of the human anatomy.  TaTake three minutes  a day to inventory your body parts both inside and out.  I’m not suggesting  an “at home” colonoscopy kit or anything, I’m just saying give yourself  a minute to check things out regularly you can do some parts of this with a partner every so often too—but don’t imagine you are doing it with neighbor while  that’s going on.  

Okay so far 1. Move—2. Get. Educated and 3 Stay aware and here’s number. 4...

Be grate3ful for lo the. Parts of you that are in working order at any given time don’t take. This miracle for granted.  Imagine  the headaches  that would come if we.all had to lift  our right arms to chew or snap. Our figures to urinate?  Queen’s AAnother One Bites the Dust would be playing in most public  restrooms or maybe Ice Ice Baby or Roger Miller’sKingb of the Road?  

Take a minute to breath deep and e thankful for the intellect and physical  skills you have.  

Well...I’ve. Given you  about enough for. One day.  I’ve  got a little dancing to do in the kitchen.  

Peace Out