Wellness Articles

Archive for 'Motivational'



About Fatherhood…

It is easier for a father to have children than for children to have a real father.
– Pope John XXIII

Small boys become big men through the influence of big men who care about small boys.
– Anonymous

My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, “You’re tearing up the grass.” “We’re not raising grass,” Dad would reply. “We’re raising boys.”
– Harmon Killebrew

I don’t know who my grandfather was; I am much more concerned to know what his grandson will be.
– Abraham Lincoln

The most important thing that a father can do for his children is to love their mother.
– Theodore M. Hesburgh

Any man can be a father but it takes someone special to be a dad.
– Anne Geddes

My father didn’t tell me how to live; he lived, and let me watch him do it.
– C.B. Kelland

When a father gives to his son, both laugh; when a son gives to his father, both cry.
– Jewish Proverb

I cannot think of any need in childhood as strong as the need for a father’s protection.
– Sigmund Freud

When I was a kid, I said to my father one afternoon, ‘Daddy, will you take me to the zoo?’ He answered, ‘If the zoo wants you, let them come and get you.”
– Jerry Lewis

By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he’s wrong.
– Charles Wadsworth

Father taught us that opportunity and responsibility go hand in hand. I think we all act on that principle; on the basic human impulse that makes a man want to make the best of what’s in him and what’s been given him.”
– Laurence Rockefeller

I just owe almost everything to my father [and] it’s passionately interesting for me that the things that I learned in a small town, in a very modest home, are just the things that I believe have won the election.”
– Margaret Thatcher

A man’s children and his garden both reflect the amount of weeding done during the growing season.
– Unknown

If You Want to Know About Health, Ask Mom

Mother’s Day is set aside each year to appreciate the oldest and perhaps most prevalent role in our culture, motherhood. Moms are called upon to raise children, run households, be a neverending source of entertainment and diversion for kids, and address issues that no one else seems to be able to handle.

Moms contribute so much to our upbringing – they can serve as a sympathetic ear, a strong back, a willing taxi driver, an expert manager, a source of wisdom, a cheery voice, and a world class problem solver.

But one of the most important jobs that lands on Mom’s list is to oversee the family health and wellness. Mothers tend to have an intuition, a sixth sense about what’s right for their families. Often, the mother decides what the family eats, which activities are too dangerous to risk, and which doctors the family goes to.

This is why it’s important for mothers to understand the value of chiropractic care for themselves and their families. Often, when Mom begins her own spine and nerve system care with her chosen chiropractor, she opts to bring the children in for a check-up, to be sure that there are no early problems brewing, and sometimes even insists that Dad has to come in to get checked too.

Why do moms tend to care so much about bringing the family in for chiropractic care? Because mothers inherently know what’s good for their family, and keeping everyone healthy is far better than waiting to get sick and then trying to get better, which can be inconvenient, costly and painful.

It’s more logical to stay well than to have to get well, so moms all over the world bring their families in for regular check-ups and chiropractic adjustments when necessary. Faced with ongoing family decision-making, they usually just naturally know the right thing to do, so if you want to know about health, ask Mom!

Think About It!

Getting healthy depends on what you focus on.

This is more than just an interesting idea, it’s an important and valuable reality. Scientists tell us that the experience we have moment to moment and day to day throughout our lives depends on what we focus on. If that is true, it begs the question “What are you focused on?”

During more private moments, it is easier to notice what you are focused on because all you really have to do is “check in” with your internal chatter and how you are feeling. When things are quiet and you can be with your own thoughts, it is essential to notice what they are and make sure they, and you, are focused on the things you want, as opposed to thinking about the things you don’t want.

Why is this necessary? The human mind often does not notice the “negatives” in our thoughts. For example, if I say to you, “Whatever you do, don’t think about a pink polka dot elephant,” you might notice that a “pink polka dot elephant” instantly becomes your focus. This is because the mind ignores the “don’t” part (negative) and goes right to the “think about” part. This happens naturally most of the time in all of us.

So, if you think to yourself “just ignore the things that annoy you about him,” your tendency will be to focus on the “things that annoy you about him,” not the “ignore” — curious, isn’t it?

So, then, how can this support you in being healthier?

Well, what do you think about, when it comes to your health?

Are you thinking of not being sick? Your mind may be tricked into focusing on “being sick,” not the “not.” Are you thinking about not being in pain? Your mind will tend to focus on “being in pain.” Are you thinking about not having trouble sleeping, digesting, or breathing? Your mind will look right at the symptom, not the “not.”

Instead, you could concentrate on being well, feeling great, and sleeping, digesting and breathing well. By paying attention to the way you construct your thoughts, you can choose better words to express your feelings, and guide your mind toward better results.

So, try on, “I am relaxed, and it’s easy for me to fall asleep.” Or, think “my body works well and I am good at digesting my food and breathing normally.”

Or, “I practice good lifestyle habits like eating well, drinking enough water, and getting regular chiropractic adjustments so my spine and nerve system are healthy.” This is the way you can use your mind to help you be healthier.

Could it really be that simple? Clearly, you’ll have to do more to be healthy than just monitoring and managing your thoughts. But most doctors agree, it’s a secret weapon you can use to improve your chances at health and wellness, when you take the responsibility to create the right mental and emotional backdrop to your health habits.

You’ll still need to develop a healthy lifestyle, but if you want to be as healthy as possible, think about it!

Spring Cleaning Is For More Than Your Home

Right about this time of year, many families and households are emerging from their winter slumbers and lifting their faces to bask in the springtime sun.

Whoever is the “neat freak” in the home makes some comment about “spring cleaning,” and the teenagers run for cover, knowing what that means – it’s that time of year to tear things apart, scrub them spotless and reset the environment to make the conditions as beneficial and enjoyable as possible. Leaving no stone unturned, there is washing, straightening, and repair until everything is shipshape.

Why do we bother with spring cleaning? Even those of us who are not especially driven to keep things in order recognize that unless at least around once a year we put some attention into it, there would be a gradual, relentless decline of the appearance and cleanliness of the home, which after a while would be very unpleasant.

So, we choose the arbitrary convention of “spring cleaning” to restore ourselves to at least a neutral position, if not an opportunity to make things a little nicer and a little better each year.

Those of us who adopt the same policy toward our health often improve our quality of life and increase our longevity. Sure, it’s great for those who have the discipline and passion to maintain their bodies meticulously at all times, but most of us are not quite so diligent – but that doesn’t mean that we can’t be healthy. Just because you can’t do everything doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do something – if you could do a little “spring cleaning” in your body, it would significantly contribute to your overall well-being.

What if you decided to skip the extra dessert or night snacking? What if you got up a little early for a walk in the morning sun before breakfast? What about just sitting quietly for a few minutes each morning to connect with your higher self, or a Higher Power? Could you drink a little less coffee or soda or alcohol, could you choose healthier foods, could you park your car at the end of the lot and stroll a hundred yards to get your blood flowing, or finally quit smoking? Anything you do to make yourself clean out, get strong and move forward is a great gift to yourself.

If you don’t pick a time of year to get back on course, you may experience the same kind of gradual decline that happens to a home without attention. Why not give your chiropractor a call, and he or she can help you put together a “spring cleaning” program for your body that will make you healthier long-term and leave you feeling great!

Thanksgiving, A Time For Gratitude

Here are some easy action steps you can take to get into the Thanksgiving spirit.

Have fun thinking of things you are thankful for.

Accept people’s frailties, celebrate their assets.

Pay for a co-worker’s lunch.

Pick three people and write them thank you notes.

Yell your lover’s (or dream lover’s) name out the window.

 

Tell someone you care about that you appreciate them

Have a friend over for dinner.

Answer your phone or email with a cheery attitude.

Never act hastily in anger, pause to consider the other’s feelings first.

Keep love in your heart.

Say something kind to someone who needs to hear it.

Give up an hour to help someone less fortunate.

 Inspire a child to think bigger.

Volunteer your time occasionally, just because.

 Invite an old friend out for coffee or a drink.

Nurture an animal or plant with your love.

Get into the habit of saying please and thank you.

A “Crash Course” on LEADERSHIP

Some people mistakenly think that leaders are uniformed figureheads who are elected or chosen to represent a certain group or organization, but everyday leadership is demonstrated by parents, teachers, older siblings, clergy, friends – in fact, just about everyone finds themselves in a position of leadership from time to time.

Here are the thoughts of leadership educator Steve Ventura on
the subject:

The 10 most important words:
“What can I do to help you be more successful?”

The 9 most important words:
“I need you to do this, and here’s why …”

The 8 most important words:
“That’s my mistake and I will fix it.”

The 7 most important words:
“My door is always open to you.”

The 6 most important words:
“Let’s focus on solving the problem.”

The 5 most important words:
“You did a great job!”

The 4 most important words:
“What do YOU think?”

The 3 most important words:
“Follow my lead.”

The 2 most important words:
“Thank You.”

The MOST important word:
“YOU.”

Everyday Enlightenment…

World class athlete, college professor and bestselling author of the classic “The Way Of The Peaceful Warrior” Dan Millman offers us twelve gateways to personal growth in his outstanding book, “Everyday Enlightenment.”

  1. Discover your worth – Life is full of gifts and opportunities; you will open to receive and enjoy them to the degree that you begin to appreciate your innate worth, and offer to yourself the same compassion and respect that you would give to others.
  2. Reclaim your will – Inside you is untapped strength of will, of spirit, of heart. You have only to remember your purpose — great strength of will resides within you, waiting for expression.
  3. Energize your body – If you lack vitality, nothing else matters. If you have your health, anything is possible.
  4. Manage your money – it can serve you or bind you, depending on how you manage it. Clarify your goals and use your gifts, and you can make good money doing what you enjoy while serving the higher calling of your soul.
  5. Tame your mind – You perceive the world through your beliefs, interpretations and associations. As your mind clears, you perceive reality simply as it is.
  6. Trust your intuition – Your subconscious mind holds keys to intuitive wisdom, clear sight, and untapped power. All you have to do is look, listen and trust, paying attention to dreams, feelings, and instinct.
  7. Accept your emotions – emotions are like waves on the sea or weather in the skies, rising and falling on their own accord. You cannot control your feelings, so you are not responsible for your feelings, only for your response to them. Accept emotions completely, let your feelings be, just don’t let them run your life.
  8. Face your fears – Fear is a wonderful servant but a terrible master. Like pain, it can alert you and advise you, but may also cloud or limit your life. Your fears are not walls, but hurdles. Courage is not the absence of fear, but the conquering of it.
  9. Illuminate your shadow – As an infant, you were pure potential, but in growing up you disowned parts of your being, and you became “this” but not “that.” By illuminating your shadow, you become whole again, and real.
  10. Embrace your sexuality – Hungers and appetites for food, sex, and life are natural. If you suppress the power of your drives, you create obsessions, compulsions and guilty secrets. Life is not a matter of indulging or denying the energies of life, but of observing, accepting, and wisely channeling them.
  11. Awaken your heart – Love is life’s great secret. Love endures not from words or feelings alone, but from actions that carry you beyond the interests of separate self. You are not here to contact your higher self; you are here to become it.
  12. Serve your world – Service is both a means and an end, for in giving to others, you open yourself to love, abundance, and inner peace. You cannot serve others without uplifting yourself.

Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day is meant to give due honor to the woman who gave us birth and life. Though we often feel gratitude towards our mothers we may not demonstrate it often enough. Mother’s Day is celebrated to share those feelings with our mothers, to spend some time with them and make them feel special.

Great women like Julia Ward Howe and Anna Jarvis will always be revered for their contributions in bestowing dignity to women and motherhood and they are largely responsible for the creation of Mother’s Day.

Mother’s Day is celebrated in May in dozens of countries worldwide, but ranges from February in Norway, to March in the Middle East, to November in Russia.

Mother’s Day is also a huge commercial success. Mother’s Day is now the most popular day of the year to dine out in the United States. Americans will spend billions on flowers, pampering gifts, and greeting cards, not to mention about 7.8% of the U.S. jewelry industry’s annual revenue in 2008, with custom gifts like mother’s rings.

Here are some favorite Mother’s Day sentiments and quotations:

M – O – T – H – E – R
“M” is for the million things she gave me,
“O” means only that she’s growing old,
“T” is for the tears she shed to save me,
“H” is for her heart of purest gold;
“E” is for her eyes, with love-light shining,
“R” means right, and right she’ll always be,
Put them all together, they spell “MOTHER,”
A word that means the world to me.
Howard Johnson (c. 1915)

A mother understands what a child does not say.
Jewish Proverb

Youth fades; love droops, the leaves of friendship fall;
A mother’s secret hope outlives them all.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, physician and poet

You may have tangible wealth untold;
Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.
Richer than I you can never be –
I had a mother who read to me.
Strickland Gillilan

Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children.
William Makepeace Thackeray

Who ran to help me when I fell,
And would some pretty story tell,
Or kiss the place to make it well?
My Mother.
Ann Taylor

A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials, heavy and sudden, fall upon us;
when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our
sunshine, desert us when troubles thicken around us, still will she cling to us,
and endeavour by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness,
and cause peace to return to our hearts.
Washington Irving (1783-1859)

All I am or can be I owe to my angel Mother.
Abraham Lincoln, U.S. President

There never was a woman like her. She was gentle as a dove and brave as a lioness … The memory of my mother and her teachings were, after all, the only capital I had to start life with, and on that capital I have made my way.
Andrew Jackson, U.S. President

My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am I owe to my mother. I attribute all my success in life to the moral, intellectual and physical education I received from her.
George Washington, U.S. President

April is National Humor Month

Well-known humorist Larry Wilde declared April as National Humor Month in 1976 – it starts with All Fools’ Day, and mid-month is April 15th, Tax Day, which for most people is no laughing matter, and all the more reason to yuk it up while you have the chance!

Using humor to relieve stress is simple — the benefits are simply wonderful. Follow these easy steps and you’ll be on your way to defusing anxiety and frustration.

1. TAKE A HUMOR BREAK.
Keep a book of jokes or cartoons handy. If it makes good sense to keep a first-aid kit for medical emergencies, why not a mirth-kit to deal with stressful situations?

Ten minutes before a meeting or potentially stressful situation read some funny stories. A smile or chuckle will relax you and better prepare you for a confrontation. A good laugh makes you feel good and allows you to think more clearly and quickly. Humor makes you more efficient — it allows you to function better.

2. LAUGH AT YOURSELF.
Dr. Meyer Friedman in his book, Treating Type A Behavior and Your Heart, points out that being able to laugh at yourself is healthy.

Dr. Friedman’s research in heart disease leads him to conclude: “The person most effectively protecting himself against the continued progress of coronary artery disease is the person willing to see himself and his affairs as ludicrously unimportant in the planetary scheme of things.”

When you make fun of yourself it takes the sting out of what other people say.

It is not necessary to constantly put yourself down in the workplace, but self-deprecating humor shows that you’re human. It reveals that you are so self-assured, you can readily poke fun at yourself. And guess what? People like you more! Humor keeps you from taking yourself too seriously and makes dealing with others easier.

3. CREATE A FUNNY FILE ALL YOUR OWN.
Find out what makes you laugh and nurture it. Each of us has an individual sense of humor. There are many life experiences we can look back on and laugh about uproariously. Childhood incidents, school situations, even marriage mishaps.

Remember the embarrassing moments that were so painful when they happened but are funny now when you think about them.

The next step in developing your funny file is to put together a humor library. Gather up your favorite cartoons, comedy records, joke books, funny video films — anything that will bring a smile to your lips. Bookmark your favorite humorous websites.

Marsha Sinetar, organizational psychologist and author of Do What You Love, mentions an executive who has a file folder reserved for cartoons, jokes and other humorous anecdotes.

“I call this my mental health file,” he explains. “When I’m down in the dumps, bored, uninspired, I flip through this folder. I’m always amazed at how a few laughs pick me up and change my perspective. It’s interesting how a humor file can reach your inner spirit and remind you that the world’s not such a bad place after all.” Keeping your own humor collection provides comic relief when you need it most.

Science has made us aware that there is now another way to cope with stress that does not require drugs or toxic agents of any kind. People who may need a cure for one of the most depressing and debilitating maladies of our times can now access the newest and best prescription: Humor.

Beware the Ides of March …

Poets, authors and philosophers have recorded their ideas about the beauty and excitement of this time of year – enjoy some lovely and entertaining thoughts about the month of March.

 It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade.
Charles Dickens

 “A light exists in Spring
Not present in the year
at any other period
When March is scarcely here.”
– Emily Dickinson

 “Daffodils,
That come before the swallow dares, and take
The winds of March with beauty.”
– William Shakespeare

 “The March wind roars
Like a lion in the sky,
And makes us shiver
As he passes by.

When winds are soft,
And the days are warm and clear,
Just like a gentle lamb,
Then spring is here.”
– Author Unknown

 “Springtime is the land awakening.  
The March winds are the morning yawn.”  
– Lewis Grizzard

 “March is a tomboy with tousled hair, a mischievous smile, mud on her shoes and a laugh in her voice.”
–  Hal Borland

 One swallow does not make a summer, but one skein of geese, cleaving the murk of March thaw, is the Spring.
Aldo Leopold

 Spring is nature’s way of saying, “Let’s party!”
– Robin Williams

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