LET'S TALK ABOUT REISHI MUSHROOM - PART 2

Thanks for stopping by. Here is Part 2 of my video series on Reishi Mushroom and Healthy Coffee. Check out my web site. E-mail me with any questions or leave a comment on this post.

HEALTHY BREAKFAST, HEALTHY DAY

As a child, I never liked breakfast. My mother would mix up a package of Carnation Instant Breakfast and I had to quickly drink it before leaving for school. As I grew older I still did not enjoy breakfast. My stomach rebelled at the thought of food. I would gladly have eaten a full-course breakfast at 10:00, but by then I was in school, and later at work. Not an option, obviously. The earlier I have to eat, the less I want to eat it.

I know. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Studies show that children concentrate much better in school after a good meal. Adults think and work better. We should all eat well before we leave home in the morning.

But early mornings are a challenge to me in more ways than breakfast. I simply do not like to get up early. Now, ask me to stay up late and I have no problem. 5:00 a.m. feels like the middle of the night, especially in winter. At midnight I'm often still wide awake. So to rise early enough to make breakfast is, well...

Something you can prepare the night before would be a mix of fruit cut up ready to eat. You can make enough for a couple of days if you like. Add a muffin and juice in the morning and you're ready to go.

Easy, nutritious and delicious breakfasts that can be eaten quickly are the best choice. One option I like in the winter months is oatmeal. And no, I don't have to get up half an hour early to cook it. I simply put it in my small slow cooker overnight and voila! It's ready to eat when I get up. And I don't make plain old porridge. I add cranberries, raisins, blueberries, sunflower seeds, other grains. I sprinkle generous amounts of cinnamon into the pot. When I dish it out I add raw buckwheat honey to taste. (Always add the honey after cooking. Otherwise you destroy some of the goodness.) If you like, you can add milk or soy beverage. I prefer it without.

(Probably most of you drink coffee, but even though it might wake you up and keep you going, it is not the best choice of beverage. Coffee if very acidic, and your body's pH needs to be slightly alkaline to be healthy.)

But my favorite breakfast is one that can be prepared in a couple of minutes in the morning. A banana, some cantaloupe, peaches, strawberries, blueberries - whatever you like best - added to plain yogurt, soy beverage and a scoop of meal replacement powder and mixed in the blender makes a drink chock full of nutrition and energy. To make it more filling, add a raw egg. If necessary, use a little raw honey as a sweetener. Vary the fruit from day to day, and you have a menu for the week.You can also use fruit juice instead of milk. Delicious!

Another quick but nourishing meal is a slice of whole-grain toast, peanut butter and banana with a glass of soy beverage.

Mmm... I'm getting hungry! Too bad it's bedtime instead of breakfast time.

CREATIVITY IN BUSINESS KEEPS IT HEALTHY

The creative faculty becomes more alert and receptive to factors originating outside the individual's subconscious mind, the more this faculty is used, and the more the individual relies upon it and makes demands upon it for thought impulses. This faculty can be cultivated and developed only through use. Napoleon Hill in Think and Grow Rich.

Have you ever noticed that businesses are always changing their advertising tactics, products, methods of  presentation and retailing, etc.? Fast food restaurants come up with new menus even though the old ones are still selling well. Why is that? Creativity stirs up consumer interest. Consumer interest produces sales. Sales generate income.

Technology is constantly changing. First it was reel-to-reel tapes. Then came 8-track. Soon cassettes took over only to be outdated by CDs. Now it's MP3s, Ipods and on and on into the future. Television became more popular than radio. Then videos were the big thing. It didn't take long for DVDs to appear, then Blue Ray, now HDs. What's next? Computer technology changes almost monthly. Buy a computer today and in six months it's been replaced with something better, something that does the job faster, has more options.

This creativity is a power to be harnessed by business owners. It is a power that resides within, not something you can purchase or collect from without. But it has to be developed by use.

Mr. Edison tried out more than 10,000 different combinations of ideas through the synthetic faculty of his imagination before he "tuned in" through the creative faculty, and got the answer which perfected the incandescent light. Napoleon Hill in Think and Grow Rich.

Creativity, as Mr. Hill said, must be put into practice. We start small, then use that to increase our creative ability. Without applying this ability to create to our businesses, they will cease to grow. Others will take our place. Others with creative ideas for sales, advertising, promotion, etc.

Do you think you do not have this faculty? Listen to what Mr. Hill had to say about that in the same book: I discovered, from the analysis of over 25,000 people, that men who succeed in an outstanding way, seldom do so before the age of forty, and more often they do not stride their real pace until they are well beyond the age of fifty. You've still got time.

I love the poetry of Edgar A. Guest. When I was a teenager my father listened to the Detroit radio station at dinner time. I fondly recall listening to Bud Guest reciting his father's poems. I have since acquired some of his books of poetry and cherish them. One poem always brings a smile: I Ain't Dead Yet. It portrays the attitude of some network marketers who have given up on their business. But it also gives hope that things don't necessarily have to remain as they are now.

I AIN'T DEAD YET by Edgar A. Guest

Time was I used to worry and I'd sit around an' sigh,
And think with every ache I got that I was goin' to die,
I'd see disaster comi' from a dozen different ways
An' prophesy calamity an' dark and dreary days.
But I've come to this conclusion, that it's foolishness to fret;
I've had my share o' sickness, but I
                                  Ain't
                                       Dead
                                              Yet!

Wet springs have come to grieve me an' I've grumbled at the showers,
But I can't recall a June-time that forgot to bring the flowers.
I've had my business troubles, and looked failure in the face,
But the crashes I expected seemed to pass right by the place.
So I'm takin' life more calmly, pleased with everything I get,
An' not over-hurt by losses, 'cause I
                                   Ain't
                                       Dead
                                              Yet!

I've feared a thousand failures an' a thousand deaths I've died,
I've had this world in ruins by the gloom I've prophesied.
But the sun shines out this mornin' an' the skies above are blue,
An' with all my griefs an' trouble, I have somehow lived 'em through.
There may be cares before me, much like those that I have met;
Death will come some day an' take me, but I
                                     Ain't
                                          Dead
                                                 Yet!

Let's learn a lesson from this gentle poet who looked at life in the slow lane. If we've still got life in us, then we have creativity within. If we have creativity, we have the ability to put it to use. We can be successful in business if we stop moaning about what hasn't happened, what we can't do, how everything seems to be against us, that we will only fail again and let's move ahead to create a life of success and prosperity. If you're reading this, you ain't dead yet!

Scratchboard picture by Diane Stephenson

Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Or, as Benjamin Franklin put it in Poor Richard's Almanack in 1741, "Beauty, like supreme dominion, is but supported by opinion". Well, I would like to share with you a few pictures that, in the eye of this beholder, are examples of beauty in nature - God's creation. I thought this would be a little break from the Healthy Living blogs. Although without beauty in our lives, we cannot be truly healthy. I hope you enjoy.

The first picture was taken at the Fanshawe Park Pioneer Village.
The florals were taken at Waterworks Park in St. Thomas Ontario.

The last one was taken in Brantford Ontario from my cousins backyard.



I apologize for the haphazzardness of these photos, but I haven't yet figured out how to do this the way I want it. I hope it doesn't spoil the effect of beauty.