It’s a fairly well-known fact that how we handle what comes our way in life is largely dependent upon our viewpoint. It affects how we see the past. It also affects how we see the present and the future.
The antique window pictured above is hanging in my living room. I can change the background. Therefore, I can change what I see through my window. For the Christmas holidays, I stapled a holiday scene to the back. But we cannot so easily change our viewpoint on life.
I always get pensive at this time of year. I suppose looking back at the year ending and seeing it with 20/20 vision gives perspective. But, when looking forward to the new year beginning, we can see nothing for certain. We may make resolutions of one kind or another or we may make plans to do something we want or need to do. But the truth is that we don’t know what lies ahead. What is also true is that we have no control over what lies ahead!
Looking Back
There is no doubt that this has been a tough year for many, including me, my family and many people that I know and love. I think back to when the year began and all the hope that we held for a better year than 2020 had proven to be. However, that’s not exactly how it seemed to go in many cases.
Many people have had tragic losses this year. Some losses were due to catastrophic weather events or devastating illness. Some losses were the unexpected deaths of loved ones. And still other losses were the emotional kind – hidden so that other people can’t see. How we navigate the hard things about 2021 depends on our viewpoint: what we see through our “window”.
Looking Forward
So how do we navigate an unknown 2022? How do we process the losses we have endured in 2021? How do we incorporate the lessons learned from the past into our daily living of the present and the future? I suppose it will be different for each person. Here are some of the ways I will incorporate a positive viewpoint into my life.
Walk with Jesus
First, I have already begun to be more deliberate in walking with Jesus. It’s so easy to put my focus on the problems and worries around me. But I have found that if I can carve out a regular time each day, preferably in the morning, to spend with Him in prayer and reading His Word, it affects my “window”. It allows me to begin my day with the perspective that I am not alone and that He is in control and will walk with me. It puts my mind where it needs to be.
Choose Love
Secondly, as admittedly difficult as it is sometime, I must choose love: love in my thoughts, love in my words, love in my actions and love in my choices. What makes it difficult is that it is so easy to focus on me…what hurts me, what affects me, what’s good for me, etc. It is also easy to focus on others…but not in a good way. Focusing on their faults, their failures to live up to expectations, and their unkind words and choices only derails my viewpoint! But, when I focus on love: showing love to others and saying loving things in a loving tone, it IS good for me and keeps my focus where it should be!
Be Determined
As a person who has dealt with the trappings of perfectionism most of my life, it’s so easy to focus on the details that drive us crazy. But, when we can rise above the messy details and see the big picture, we can make choices that say, “I love you anyway.” I will tell you that it is not easy! I will also tell you that it takes determination. It also takes practice!
Choose Your Viewpoint
Do we have a choice what we will see when we look through our window as I do with my antique window? No, unfortunately, we do not. However, we do have the choice HOW we look through our window! Our viewpoint, whether selfish, critical and frightened or loving, peaceful and hopeful, will determine how what we see affects us!
I have no idea what lies ahead in your 2022, just as I have no idea what lies ahead in mine. I want to live each day making each moment count. My goal is to make sure every person in my life knows how special they are to me. At the end of 2022 I want to look back and know that I didn’t miss opportunities to show love and compassion. I want to know that I showed Jesus’ love to those around me, even to those who are unlovely or unlovable. What will your viewpoint be going forward?
What is gratitude? Dictionary.com defines gratitude as “the quality or feeling of being grateful or thankful”. The quality or feeling of being grateful or thankful. So let’s dive a little deeper. What is a quality? Again quoting dictionary.com: quality is an essential or distinctive characteristic, property or attribute. And by the same token: a feeling is described as the general state of consciousness considered independently of particular sensations, thoughts, etc.
So, gratitude is a distinctive characteristic or attribute of thankfulness. It is also a general state of consciousness. So you can have gratitude as a characteristic with which you live your life, or you can feel gratitude as a state of your every day consciousness. Basically, when you combine these two definitions, you encompass both the physical and the emotional sides of yourself. You feel thankful and that translates into a gratuitous outlook. Or, you could look at it another way: You have an gratuitous outlook and it affects how you feel!
Does an Attitude of Gratitude Come Naturally?
Whether you realize it or not, gratitude is worn as a visible inner/outer garment! I don’t know if you like to people watch, but when I have the time and find myself in the right place, I find it interesting to watch people going about their day unaware that they are being watched. For instance, sitting on a bench in the mall, sitting in an airport, or even just sitting in a restaurant having a meal…people watching is fascinating. Have you ever watched people as you are stopped at a traffic light and looked over into the car next to you or those turning across from you? You can probably point out the people who have gratitude as a conscious state of their being. You can also probably point out those who don’t!
Think about yourself. How often do you feel grateful? Or do you find it easier to say “the glass is half empty”? I think for some people, gratitude DOES come naturally. Perhaps they have had an easy life (would that make you grateful?) or maybe they’ve had a difficult way to go (would that make you more grateful?). Are “you” more prone to be grateful if you have been abundantly blessed, or if your blessings have been more sparse, from your point of view?
How To Develop an Attitude of Gratitude in Your Life
There have been seasons of my life where it was difficult to remember to cultivate gratitude. Perhaps you have felt the same way. And then, there are seasons when despite trouble, you can find the blessings for which you can be grateful. I believe there are some exercises you can do on a daily basis that will help you to develop gratitude.
1. Make a Gratitude/Blessings List Each Day
One way I have found to help me focus on being thankful is to list the the blessings in my life. I think it’s a good practice to do this each day because over time, you will have a much more comprehensive list. For instance, today, I may feel gratitude for specific things related to TODAY. Tomorrow, other blessings may be more in the forefront of my mind.
2. Let Your Mind Dwell on the Good Things
We all have good and bad in our lives. There will always be positive and negative people to deal with. There will always be days of rain and days of sunshine…days of winter and days of summer. But just as the verse in Philippians 4:8 states, “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy– think about such things.” Wherever we allow our mind to dwell, affects our ability to be thankful or bitter.
3. Do Something Kind for Someone Else
It is so much easier to be thankful if we get our minds off our ourselves and find a way to bless someone else. I’m not talking about pity. I am just talking about realizing that in some way, we have all been blessed, and by spreading that blessing around to others, it in someway, enhances that blessing in our own hearts and lives.
When we focus on ourselves, our woes, our needs and what makes us gloomy, not only does it negatively affect those around us, it prevents us from experiencing gratitude for our blessings. You may say “I have nothing to be grateful for.” However, if you think about–truly think about it in front of a piece of paper with a pen in your hand, you will find things for which to be grateful!
4. Teach Others to Have an Attitude of Gratitude
You can teach gratitude to yourself, your children and other people in your life! “How?” you might ask! A Gratitude Jar (or Blessings Jar) is a great way to incorporate gratitude into your heart, life and home!
What is a “Gratitude Jar”? It’s easy to make and it can and probably should involve the whole family! Take a mason jar of any size and decorate it with a label made from construction paper and markers. You can be as creative as you want to be! This is a great way to involve your children.
When the label is made, tape it on the outside of the jar. Leave the jar in a prominent place so that it doesn’t get forgotten. Then, as you find things to be thankful for, write them down (or small children can draw pictures) and put them inside the jar. You can even date them, if you’d like.
At some designated time in the future, whether it is a week, a month or a year from now, sit down and go through each paper in the jar, one by one, read it, and reminisce about each blessing. I think you will find that as you get in the habit of contributing papers of gratitude to the jar, your heart will be learning to be grateful.
All Good Gifts Come From Above
I believe that all good gifts come from God. When I focus on His blessings each day in my life, it draws me into a closer relationship with Him and reminds me how much He loves me! Gratitude is a powerful thing!
Do You Have an Attitude of Gratitude? It’s Your Choice!
What will you do with what you’ve read today? Take steps to cultivate an attitude of gratitude, showing gratitude for your blessings and reap the benefits? Or, perhaps you will just proceed through life as you always have and forget about this article as well as your blessings! It’s definitely your choice. What will you choose? As for me? I choose Gratitude!
I’ll be the first to admit there is nothing magical about mucking a stall or milking a cow. Neither is there anything magical about cleaning house, or picking up your toys (if you are a child), UNLESS you make it magical! Remember the old Disney song “Whistle while you work”… I’ll bet you can hear the tune in your head just by my mentioning those four words!
Life can be more enjoyable if we learn to enjoy the things we HAVE to do…if we learn to find the magic in doing them…the spark! I will give you a few examples:
1. try making a game of picking up toys with your child or grandchild.
2. put on some music while you are cleaning house or doing dishes…maybe even dance with the broom.
3. play a game while traveling…alphabets on signs, state license plates and a U.S. map, find a red-colored car…etc., you get the idea.
4. take a walk in the rain (WITHOUT an umbrella!) and splash in the puddles!
I play this game with my granddaughter when it’s time to go in the house after playing outside. She never wants to go in. She loves playing in the back yard…but I have no issues getting her to come in if I say three simple words: “I’m gonna win.” With that, she is off and running for the back door and there are no tears about leaving the “playground”, as she calls it!
So, we have a barn, obviously, right? We have a radio in the barn that plays a local country station (shout out to @WCOL 92.3 Columbus!). There are a few songs in particular that make me want to dance and even if I am milking, I struggle NOT to get up and dance. One day I was either getting ready to milk or had just finished when one of these songs came on and I DID IT! I DANCED in the middle of the barn!
Oh! I got the looks and not just from the cows but from my husband who happened to walk back into the barn just as I was getting started…but I didn’t let that stop me. I just enjoyed myself!
There are lots of ways to make the mundane magical. Just try looking at the world from a child’s perspective. The buds on the trees and the new blooming flowers, a robin’s nest with brilliant blue eggs in it, a flock of geese flying overhead, the delighted squeals of children at a neighborhood park…all of these things are magical, if you just take the time to appreciate them.
When you look at the world with fresh eyes, you not only can enjoy the ordinary and the mundane, but you can appreciate the blessings you may take for granted every day! There are lots of things out there to make us grow up too fast, or make us forget what it was like to be a child of wonder! When you have the chance to live a little, let your hair down and dance with the mop, or dance in the barn or whistle while you work! Whatever it might be, DO IT! I guarantee you won’t be sorry…and I’ll bet the people around you will notice and you might find that familiar lilt in your step or a more frequent smile on your face!
I’m sure you are aware that Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. Different people have different thoughts about this day. Some people say “It’s just another Hallmark holiday designed to get you to buy cards and candy.”, but still they participate. Other people get very serious and take the opportunity to show their significant other special love in the form of a card, flowers, candy or a dinner out. Still others feel it is just another day and allow it to pass without much fuss or fanfare. Where do your thoughts fall?
Personally, I would love to have my husband acknowledge it and make me feel special in some way, but that’s just not who he is. I normally don’t get cards for other special days, so I have learned not to expect one on this day either. Oh, yes! At first, I was hurt and disappointed, but as the years have passed, it’s just one of those things I have gotten used to. I do feel kind of jealous when my friends get flowers, candy or jewelry, etc. from their husbands, but I don’t allow myself to dwell on it.
So, what is love? In the Bible, 1 Corinthians chapter thirteen spells out some of the attributes of love: patience, kindness, not envious or boastful, not arrogant or rude, not self-seeking, not irritable, not keeping a record of wrongs, rejoices in truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, and true love never ends. In other Bible passages, it indicates that humility, seeking peace and looking after the interests of another are also indications of love.
Through the years, I have heard other definitions: “Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.” (Robert A. Heinlein) And, according to the Urban Dictionary, love is “giving a person the power to destroy you, and trusting them not to.” WOW!
I have always been a person who has had high expectations and that personal characteristic has caused my heart to break many times. So, I have learned a couple of things in order to protect my heart: 1) Expect nothing, then anything is a nice surprise; and, 2) Turn it around and instead of focusing on myself, make someone else feel loved.
Other factors that can affect how we give and receive love might be “Where did you learn to love?” or “Who taught you what love is?” I grew up in a loving home with two parents who TO THIS DAY still are “in love” with each other! They will celebrate 65 years of marriage next month and it is obvious to me by how they talk to each other, how they talk about each other and how they treat each other that they are still “in love”! How precious that is!
Not only do they still love each other, they love their four kids, their four kids’ spouses, their eight grandchildren and their six (soon to be seven) great-grandchildren! Often, my mornings are blessed with a message like “Good morning, precious daughter” from my dad or “Good morning, sweetie” from my mom!
I grew up watching my mom exhibit her love to her family by DOING…cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, etc. You know what I mean! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!! Now, as a mama and nana, I find myself showing love in some of the same ways! We definitely learn what love is and how to express it by watching those we grew up with.
However, in the same way, I have friends who didn’t grow up with this kind of demonstrative love and they have struggled to find their own way of expressing love…what it is and what it isn’t. Their love is no less genuine or heart-felt, I think they have just had to learn how to express it without the guidance of those people in their early lives.
So, what says love to you? Here are some of the things that say “love” to me, in no particular order:
use words and tell me that you love me and that I’m important to you.;
be kind to me, and not just on a particular day;
be interested in my day…ask me!
surprise me with something nice once in a while, and it doesn’t have to be big or expensive!
be happy to see me
look into my eyes
be deliberate about engaging with me
do something with me: take a walk, window shop, go get coffee, watch a movie, etc.
miss me when you don’t see me and tell me so
hug me
be deliberate about spending some time with me
give grace to me
maybe DON’T say everything that comes into your mind
forgive my mistakes
So, if these things feel like love to me, can I use any of these things to make someone else feel loved? Or, better yet, you know your special someone: what would say “love” to them? For some people, it’s having a day to themselves to do what they want to do. Now me? That’s not EVER what I would choose. On my special days, I want to be surrounded by those people that I love. But, you get where I am going with this. Take the focus off of yourself and focus on making someone ELSE feel special!
Take the chance to grow! Don’t wait for someone to hurt and disappoint you. Flex your “love muscles” and do something nice for someone else; help someone else feel loved and important! I guarantee you it will warm your heart as well as the recipient of your loving actions! And, it will take your mind off of what is or isn’t being done for you!
Have a great day and week and MAKE IT a Happy Valentine’s Day for yourself and someone you love!
It was suggested to me by a friend that perhaps I could chronicle and share my journey through this time. I think I will take her up on that. I’m not sure how it will go, or how many “parts” there will be, but I am certainly willing to share so, if by something I am going through, I am able to help someone else going through something similar.
I don’t mean to imply that the death of my dreams is any more or less important or devastating than the death of your dreams. I just know that writing helps me process and if writing it down helps me, then perhaps it will help someone else, even if all the variables aren’t the same.
So stay tuned… or not. Either way, I will be writing my way through this processing of healing.
The first thing I want to dive into is for me, there are a couple of different types of dreams. As I said in my original post, there are dreams that just plain aren’t going to come true in any form or fashion. Then, there are dreams that won’t come true in the way that I dreamed them, but with some alterations, either in thinking or circumstances, may still resemble my dream.
Depending on which dream is on my heart at the moment demanding the most of my emotional resources at the time, the mourning will look different. For the dreams I’ve dreamed all my life that just aren’t going to come true, either by the fault of my own choices or the fault of another’s choices, the mourning is the deepest pain.
For the dream that must change, whether a little or a lot, but some semblance of that dream can remain, the mourning is different: still very painful, but some part of my brain knows that it’s not a total loss. So when you have the loss of multiple dreams in both these categories, the mourning is truly a mixed bag of emotion and thought processes.
Another aspect that I want to dive into during this introductory phase is truth. I come into this phase of my life with the basic knowledge that 1) God is sovereign; 2) I am not alone; 3) He works all things together for my good and His glory; 4) God’s word is truth; 5) I am loved by my Creator; 6) This world is not my home, so everything I go through while I am here is just temporary.
So, I invite you to come along for the journey. Subscribe, if you’d like, so that you don’t miss the posts. Feel free to comment and if something I say helps you, please feel free to share that, too. It would be an encouragement to me!
Well, it’s been a pretty long time since I wrote on my blog. But, don’t think I haven’t been writing! Since I posted last, in April, we have been very busy here on the farm and I have been very busy as an author!
First, the authoring news! In May, My Name is Odin was released! If you aren’t familiar with Odin, he is our 28-month-old Great Pyrenees livestock guardian dog. He is an amazing creature and my love and respect for him grows daily. He has been “off lead” and in “full guardian mode” since he turned two years old in April and he has literally OWNED the pasture and the protection of the animals who live there!
He has learned NOT to chase the Merlin and his hens (well, he remembers that MOST of the time!). Then in July, we introduced him to our 50 three-week-old broiler meat chicks. Oh boy! Did he love having them in the pasture! He layed by them, circled the chicken tractors and left his mark multiple times a day! I think he was energized by the fact that when he was investigating and making his rounds around the chicken tractor, the chicks would squawk and scatter. But, he is STILL a puppy, right? He has his routine in patrolling the entire pasture, which I think is more than cool!
Mocha and Jersey have learned (again, for the most part!) to put up with him. He loves to “tail” them (literally following under their tails) when they are going from pasture to barn and back again. Sometimes Jersey’s dislike for him is displayed by turning around quickly and giving him “the look” as if to say “keep your distance, buddy, or I’m gonna kick you right in the nose!” And, amazingly enough, he seems to read her, because most of the time he will back off.
His speed amazes me. One day when we were out doing chores, I noticed he was laying over in the side pasture with something between his paws…the typical pose for when he is eating a bone, etc….but I hadn’t given him a bone. So, I slowly approached, talking softly and sweetly to him so he didn’t feel threatened…and he picked his treasure up and headed to the back pasture with it. I am not totally sure what it was, but I am almost positive it was a bunny. It was the right size and the right shape. The thoughts of that boy being fast enough to catch and eat a bunny totally astounds me! However, I know HE IS FAST! When he is running up behind me and passes me, the wind he brings with him is amazing and the speed with which he passes me is impressive! I don’t hear him until he is just a few paces behind me and then it’s breathtaking…hoping one day he doesn’t knock me over. Once, he didn’t steer clear enough and some part of him hit the back of my knee. I don’t know how I kept from falling! Thankfully, I stayed upright with a new appreciation of all of his attributes that make him such a good livestock guardian.
He is SMART! AND, he is motivated by the duck jerky treats I found at our local pet supply store. When preparing to let him off the lead for good, I had to find something that would motivate him to obey. The beef jerky treats did NOTHING! The chicken treats did nothing! So I tried the “European raised duck jerky” and oh my! It’s almost funny because even when he knows he is going to get tied up (to keep him out of the barn when it has to be opened, because he causes havoc in the barn…cats…chicks…etc.) you can see his dilemma. He WANTS the treat but you see the struggle in his behavior as he has to deny himself freedom for the treat! Jeff won’t even attempt to tie him up because he doesn’t take treats out with him and Odin stays far from him and watches because he knows Jeff will tie him up if he gets too close…and he won’t even get a treat for his trouble!
So, on to the next book: my fifth book in the de Good Life Farm book series, The Mysterious Midnight Visitor at de Good Life Farm is waiting for the final edits to be made by my publisher and hopefully will be released in the next couple of weeks! But, the most exciting thing perhaps, is that I have completed my first children’s fiction picture book, Carmella’s Camel, and have begun my first fiction chapter book (name being withheld for now).
Besides the writing I am doing, I have one children’t book being illustrated, with another to follow soon after. And, I am working on some counting books (if you know me, you know that not only do I LOVE words…I LOVE numbers!) Writing is such a joy to me. The marketing…well, not so much! Guess I will just have to continue writing and getting books published because I love it and I have a lot of things to write about..and not because I am making money at it.
The COVID-19 pandemic has blown out the fire in my book sales because the schools have been where I have sold the most, which makes sense because children are my audience! Not being able to do author visits makes me sad. Not only do I appreciate the sales, but I absolutely LOVE interacting with the children, watching them interact and respond to the books as I read them and answer their questions (or hear their stories and comments as well). I hope that someday soon, those visits can continue.
The meat chickens’ “one bad day”.
So, back to the meat chickens – yesterday completed the good life we gave our first batch of meat birds and we loaded them up in the truck early in the morning. Of course, we tied Odin up…can’t even imagine how much harder they would have been to catch had he been loose to rile them up! Anyway, he watched intently as we caught and put each one in crates and loaded them onto the truck. Then, he watched as we went to the second chicken tractor and did the same. The look on his face was perplexed concern. He strategically placed himself in front of the chicken tractor where his new charges are (the four-week-old meat chickens) as if to say, “You can’t take these!”
“You can’t touch these!”
Micah drove the truck loaded with chickens out of the pasture and Jeff closed the gate. I let Odin off the lead and immediately he headed over to the empty chicken tractors to check them out. I headed to the house to grab what I needed to take with me to the processor and then as we pulled out, I realized Odin had run all the way to the front pasture so he could see what was happening with the chickens. It was as if he felt responsible for their well-being and he was reluctant to turn over his duty of protection to anyone else. It was so adorable and admirable!
Now we have the second batch of broiler chicks in both of the big chicken tractors in the pasture and the cycle starts again. As soon as they were all safely moved into their new homes…Odin began making his rounds, keeping his watchful on them…and of course, making them noisily scatter when he came near.
Besides broilers, we are raising thirty layer chicks. Our layers’ production has dwindled and in this family, 3-4 eggs per day will NEVER do…so we will eagerly anticipate the day in late fall that we will begin getting eggs again and have enough to share. This time, when ordering, I opted for a higher percentage of the good egg producers and fewer of the “pretty variety egg” producing hens. After skimping on eggs for weeks now, I want the majority of my hens to be all about laying eggs. I did get a few Americana’s for their pretty blue eggs, but just a few!
And gardening…this year I have grown the most amazing garden I have probably ever grown. My zucchini plants are monstrous (as are some of the zucchini that hide under those amazingly large leaves) and I have frozen tons of zucchini spirals for use instead of pasta and shredded zucchini for breads and muffins. YUM! Now my tomatoes are starting to come on and I made my husband’s day when I put fresh tomatoes on his turkey sandwich and salads.
My sweet red peppers are nearly ready to harvest and I have banana peppers ready to freeze. Jalapeños are already in the freezer, so when my Roma tomatoes are ready, it’s salsa time! I will also be sharing my Roma tomatoes with my mom for canning, since I seem to use a lot of the tomatoes she cans. This year it will be a joint effort.
But the “funnest” thing about my garden is growing pumpkins. I don’t ever remember growing pumpkins before but I have wanted to for some time. The pumpkins started off as something fun for whatever grandkids can be here when they are ready to harvest…but they have turned into something FAR more than that! (I am going to be slyly evasive about this for now).
I love how the pumpkin leaves grow so symmetrically!
We have had a pretty difficult last four weeks — the first weekend, we lost our air conditioning on one of the hottest days of the season. We couldn’t keep the house cool enough and we are so sad that even with fans and water, Beau, our not-even-five-year-old male golden retriever died from heat stroke. Our hearts are broken.
The next weekend, the air conditioning went out AGAIN…a different issue…however it wasn’t AS HOT as the previous weekend and we took our female golden, Lacey, to our son’s house to hang out for awhile. Thankfully, the problem with the air conditioner was discovered and the fixed!
The following weekend our other son got sick with some stomach/intestinal bug (oh, this is AFTER a week and a half before that when my husband got sick with the same symptoms!) and he was pretty sick for a week! Then, he had to get a COVID test in order to return to work. We are still waiting on those results even though he has been well for several days.
Then, this past weekend, (YES! another weekend!), we blew a fuse in the barn when going out to do milking and evening chores. Our sweet neighbor, Dave, came and tried to fix it (he can fix anything!), but no luck. We put together more than 240 feet of extension cords and plugged them in on the deck so that our 3 week old layer chicks wouldn’t die. We have done the milking with no light and no fans…until I got fed up and found another extension cord for those luxuries during chores! Today, we finally got electric restored…it was a BIG ticket…issues that should have been caught when we bought the house, but unfortunately, weren’t.
the path where the new electric lines were laid from barn to house
Well, I just wanted to catch you all up on what we’ve been up to here at de Good Life Farm. It has been an eventful few months, but what can you do but be thankful to the good Lord for the blessings and keep plowing ahead?
Hope you enjoyed this update and will subscribe to my blog. Watch for the announcement that my new website is up and running (hopefully soon) http://www.dianeorrauthor.com. You will also be able to access my blog there as well purchase books and eventually other items!
“Living de Good Life” is not just the name of my blog…or the name of my farm…or the name of my online presence….although it is all of those, it is more. SO. MUCH. MORE! “Why?” I hear you ask? Because, there are many things that contribute to living a good life.
One of those things that may seem illusive for some people is really feeling good. Feeling good…healthy…energetic and happy are things that are easy to take for granted until you don’t feel well, aren’t healthy, have no energy and are discouraged! I have had my share of years feeling well but when I turned 50, things seemed to take a downward turn. I severely injured my knee and discovered after a delayed visit for an MRI, that I had torn my meniscus. I had definitely taken being able to run and play with my kids, jog and walk down the street, and even go up and down the stairs doing laundry for granted!
Finally, with fear and trembling, I scheduled surgery. The recovery was rough for several reasons but the effects were much longer lasting that I expected. Possibly due to the pain pills I was given, and possibly due to years of stress and anxiety, mostly of my own doing, I developed a sliding hiatal hernia in which my stomach would slide up into the hernia and get caught, causing esophageal spasms which were described online as “pain like a heart attack”. Yes! It was! The pain was so severe that I ended up passing out and having a seizure in Whole Foods with my children present. It was frightening for them as well as for me!
A “chiropractor” (and I put it in quotation marks because he is so much more than a chiropractor) was recommended to me by a friend when my then family doctor interpreted my abdominal ultrasound as gall bladder disease and instructed me to call the surgeon and have it out immediately! I knew from doing research that my symptoms did not line up with gall bladder symptoms, so I was thrilled when Dr. Lewis was willing to take a look at the test results.
He said my diaphragm and digestive system were so inflamed that the inflammation and resulting distress was causing the recurring issues and severe pain attacks. He immediately put me on an anti-inflammatory diet* which in essence cut out all white/refined flours and sugars and listed other inflammatory foods to avoid. He also put me on an alkaline diet with a chart* of acidic foods to avoid, as well as some natural supplements to help me heal. This was turning point number one for me!
Immediately my system began healing. At the worst of it, I couldn’t even lift a gallon of milk because the muscles in my stomach and diaphragm were so inflamed. I had to be careful not to eat too much at a time and not to bend forward after eating so that my stomach wouldn’t slide up into the hernia. This meant no bending forward to do laundry, let alone lifting the laundry basket. My poor boys! They learned to do a lot of things they had been sheltered from doing. But, I did heal!
I began this regime in spring of 2013 and by mid 2014, the esophageal attacks were only a bad memory. I was beginning to get my life back! I began using natural sugars like maple syrup, coconut sugar and flours like almond and coconut. It was a challenge to learn to eat and cook a new way, but for me, it was well worth it to not have the pain and suffering I had endured.
With this new way of eating, the pounds began to fall off. I again felt like exercising and was able to lose more than thirty pounds. I was thrilled and felt like I had a new lease on life. However, even natural sugars will put weight on you and eventually, I realized I was gaining some of the weight back, even though I wasn’t eating white sugars and flours.
I tried eating more protein as in shakes and yogurt but for the most part felt like I was starving. My family really couldn’t eat the way I felt I needed to eat, so either I made two meals or tried to modify what I made for them so I could eat it but, what usually happened is that I made a meal for them and I ate next to nothing, rarely feeling satisfied.
Enter Trim Healthy Mama, at the suggesting of several friends. This was turning point number two for me. The books were gifted to me by friends as well as some of the special ingredients. Again, it took some time for me to absorb the concepts of separating fuels but what was so life-changing for me was that the sisters’ books included recipes…LOTS of recipes. I tried a few and they were delicious! My family was even willing to eat them and liked them!
Now, almost a year later, I have lost twenty-five pounds, feel like a new woman and now have a new way of eating that sustains and energizes me! The recipes are delicious and most are fairly easy to follow. You can choose not to buy special ingredients but even the few that I buy have enhanced my feeling that I am not deprived and I finally have good food to eat! I am so thankful for Trim Healthy Mama and the friends that pointed me in this direction!
This is now a way of life for me! And, (ok…you know I had to say it…) it’s such a good life!
Please comment below if you would like to know more about Trim Healthy Mama. I would be happy to share with you what I know!
*I am happy to make these charts available to you. I have a chart for anti-inflammatory foods and I have a chart for acidic/alkaline foods. Please leave a message below if you are interested in receiving either of these charts to help you heal.
the beginning of a beautiful St. Patrick’s Day, 2019, on the farm
I was given a wonderful and unexpected gift…the gift of a second chance. Many of you know that early in February after doing morning chores, I took a serious fall on ice that was hidden under a layer of snow while I was out taking pictures of what I thought might be the final snowfall of the season. It was breathtakingly beautiful and although it was extremely cold, I was thoroughly enjoying capturing the pure white beauty against the contrast of the drab browns and grays of winter.
The lane behind the south pasture…one of my favorite photo stops.
As I was taking pictures from some of my favorite spots around the farm, my eye caught the beauty of a particular maple tree in the back pasture. I slowly and carefully made my way across the pasture to get “the perfect shot” and as I ducked under an electric fence tape (the one you see just head of me in the above photo), I took a nasty fall. Although I was seriously hurt and I knew it, I was mostly concerned that I had dropped my camera in the snow and that I hadn’t captured the much-desired picture of that maple tree. That last thought has haunted me all of these weeks!
the last photo before my fall. the illusive maple is just showing a few branches on the right edge of this photo.
So, on St. Patrick’s Day, with the temps at forty-one degrees, it started snowing. BIG. BEAUTIFUL. FLAKES.!! At first, it didn’t collect on the ground and then suddenly we realized it was beginning to collect and it was collecting fast. My husband suggested I might take this opportunity to capture some pictures of this wintry wonderland surprise, so I donned my barn coat, and boots and headed out with my trusted camera in hand.
this is what I saw when looking up into the snow as they fell on me and my camera
There are many beautiful places here on the farm to capture scenic shots, but guess where I headed? You guessed it..out to get that illusive shot missed several weeks ago because of my fall. The sight did not disappoint! It was like my maple tree was standing there waiting for me to capture her beauty.
the perfect maple tree dressed in white
This may not seem like a big deal to you, but it was a pretty big deal to me! Each time someone would ask me how I fell, I would tell them the story of the illusive picture and how I could still see it in my mind…the picture that got away. This haunting irritation can now be put to rest. I am quite happy and thankful for the unexpected opportunity for a second chance to capture the beauty of the maple’s last chance to wear her winter dress!
OK! You have heard the saying “The grass is greener on the other side.”, and usually when we say that, we are alluding to the truth that often we think the grass is greener on the other side but when we get there, we find it is the same grass that we had before, but it just looked greener! Well, I am afraid that Oreo discovered that at least at this point in our spring, the grass definitely was greener on the other side!
Of course, we were thirty minutes away at Micah’s ballgame when I realized I had missed a call from our sweet neighbor, so I immediately returned her call. She informed me that Oreo, our 7 1/2 month old steer had escaped our pasture and was happily grazing on the growing grass in theirs.
Immediately, Jeff packed up his chair and headed home. In the meantime, I called Noah to see if he knew of anyone who had experience with cattle who could help until Jeff got there. Then, I tried to get ahold of the farmer I bought our cows from and couldn’t reach him. I then made a plea on Facebook and texted a couple of people. Then Noah, who was still at work, called back and said he didn’t know anyone else but was headed over. Now this is a big deal to me because he hasn’t had much experience with our cattle because he moved out before we had more cattle than just the two mamas. This was such an act of love!
In the meantime, our sweet neighbor, Susie, was sitting at the back of her house keeping an eye on Oreo. She was concerned he might realize he was FREE for the first time in his life and head toward the road, but thankfully, he kept his head down most of the time devouring the new grass.
Noah assessed the situation, and made the smart decision to move our truck into a position to block the escape hatch so Caramel and Truffle couldn’t get out and then he had a talk with Oreo! He said Oreo didn’t like what he had to say!
Shortly after this, Jeff arrived, and even with the two of them working together, Oreo didn’t want to cooperate. He didn’t want to leave the lush grass for the dry patch of ground he has been confined to as we allow the pasture to grow. Looking at it from his perspective, who can blame him? Choice: dry hay or lush green spring grass! Thankfully, they worked together and eventually Jeff was able to get the lead rope on him and lead him back through the break in the fence.
I am so thankful that our neighbor was home and cared enough to call us! I am so thankful that Noah headed over and did what he could to minimize the danger or we could have had three ornery beasts devouring the neighbor’s pasture. And to top it all off, I am so thankful that while all of this was going on, Micah had a great game of baseball and his team beat a D-1 school team!
For a girl who begrudgingly endured baseball games (one right after the other) as I was watching next to my dad or grandpa, it sometimes amazes me how much I love baseball. I used to think it was just some grown men, batting around a small white ball and running around the bases, but now after being married since the new millenia to a baseball fanatic (aka enthusiast) and now raising my favorite baseball player, who from very young had an understanding of the strategy of the game far beyond his years (me: what? there is a strategy to batting that little ball around the green grass?), I have grown into a somewhat aware fan.
When our youngest son was little, I remember standing in the check-out line at Aldi with him and his big brother. He, of course, had Cleveland Indians garb on and someone commented on it. His response was something like “if you don’t like the Indians, you can’t live in our house!” Oh my! I suspect he was more right than I was willing to admit that day!
So, spring not only brings the excitement of the Indians’ new season, it brings the joy of watching my favorite player play ball. He has come a long way from the little guy who used to set up a baseball diamond in the living room in front of the television and duplicate and emulate what he saw the Indians doing, including pitching, batting and running the bases! This is the boy who at two-and-a-half years of age played t-ball at the “Y” in town and was disappointed when he learned that there were no balls and strikes and that they had set up little individual diamonds on each base so that the coaches could teach the game on small scale to the other kids. He was trying to turn double plays when there weren’t even any outs. It was an outrage to him that everyone got to bat every inning whether or not we had exceeded three outs.
So fast forward through 14 years of recreational baseball teams, coaches and games to one and-a half years ago when at the end of the rec league scheduled games he said he needed and wanted to play more baseball games. So we did some investigating and he started last year playing for the local high school. It was just what he needed, even though it wore him out. After homeschooling for so long, I wasn’t prepared for being on someone else’s schedule and it was a tough adjustment but so worth the sacrifices as I watched him thrive under better training and the love of playing more games.
Now we are halfway through the schedule for high school baseball and it is going too fast. He has improved so much in strength and skill. Watching this young man play what he loves is so thrilling. So, our lives revolve around the schedule of games dictated by coaches we know and those we don’t know, by the weather – both spring and winter like it’s been this year, and it is so worth it. I absolutely LOVE watching him do what he loves and what he seems to have a real talent for doing.
It’s hard to believe that in another short three weeks, he will have another high school baseball season under his belt and he will be heading to play with his friends on the rec league where he admits there is less pressure. I am well aware that there won’t be very many more seasons before this part of the journey is over and I admit that I dread it. What fun it is watching your child thrive at something they excel at doing. So, as crazy as it is, I am hanging on for the ride! So, see you at the ball park, whether local or Columbus Clippers or Cleveland Indians. It’s for the love of the game!
