When you experience pain, do you: Become anxious and depressed Pop a painkiller Lose sleep Call in sick Book a massage Do nothing, live with it, and suffer in silence All of the above There's really no simple answer to this question, since there are many dynamics - like the type of pain, your background and personality and family and social environments - that can determine … [Read more...] about Natural Remedies for Pain Management
Current Obsessions
When Nothing is Sure…Everything is Possible
Yesterday, I eavesdropped on Dame Judy Dench and Maggie Smith. “How many new lives can we have?” asked Ms. Dench. She answered her own question with the best five words I’ve heard in a long time: “As many as we’d like.” Lest you think I hang out in such royal company, I don’t. That question comes from the movie, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. Have you seen it yet? I haven’t – my efforts … [Read more...] about When Nothing is Sure…Everything is Possible
Cracking Knuckles, Popping Gum and Other Auditory Annoyance
Here’s a more-than-common scenario in my house: Dinner is over, the table is cleared. The dishwasher is silently humming, the kitchen is officially closed and it’s time to finally sit back and relax. We head for the couch and settle back into our respective spots (creatures of habit are we) to enjoy a television program or read a book. We exhale. It feels good; that moment of complete surrender, … [Read more...] about Cracking Knuckles, Popping Gum and Other Auditory Annoyance
Gotta Dance!
Do you like to dance? If you do, when is the last time you danced? Dance was a childhood passion that came to a pause long ago. As a young child, I was passionate about ballet dancing. The more lessons I took, the more I loved it and the more I excelled until my local teacher, Judy, recommended that I pursue more serious dancing at a more serious-type dance studio in New York City. I guess I … [Read more...] about Gotta Dance!
My Very First Marathon!
With each passing year, I get more hopeful about some things, yet less hopeful about others. For instance, I'm less hopeful that my skin will ever look like it did when I was younger. And what of my hearing? I'm not there yet, but the fact that I'm relieved when a movie has subtitles tells me something. So, the hearing gets thrown into the less-hopeful-it'll-get-better pile. But... I'm more … [Read more...] about My Very First Marathon!
Why Walking is Good For Your Health
Rumi, the 13th century mystic poet, was fond of saying, "Beauty surrounds us, but usually we need to be walking in a garden to know it." I get it. So many times I whiz back and forth in my car, covering the same areas time and time again. It's not until I get out there on my feet and slow down with a walk that I'm able to notice and take in the beautiful and minute details of my … [Read more...] about Why Walking is Good For Your Health
With Each Passing Year, More Wisdom is Won
This year has zoomed by, and it’s tough to sit with the fact that 2015 feels and sounds like its way in the future, rather than mere moments away. Time, which becomes such a precious commodity with each passing year, has a way of surprising me with its swiftness. Wasn’t it just July? Didn’t I just turn 50? But alas, it is the end of December and I just turned 60, and both facts startle … [Read more...] about With Each Passing Year, More Wisdom is Won
Defining Moments
We all have defining moments. Do you think they chart the course of our lives? Yesterday, like on most other days, I startled when my alarm went off at 7:00 AM. And like on most other days, I routinely made my way to the bathroom, shuffled into the kitchen, pressed the button on my coffeemaker to brew myself my usual dose of caffeine. Stirred in the half and half. Waddled into my … [Read more...] about Defining Moments
Remembering to Give Thanks: 12 Things I’m Grateful For
I thought that this year would be different; that I wouldn't be posting the usual "I'm grateful for X." But somehow, this morning, with Thanksgiving Day approaching, I've been hit with a sentimental moment. So I'd better strike while the proverbial iron is hot! Thanks for being here and for reading my blog. Being a writer sometimes feels like I'm yelling into the great unknown black hole. I'm so … [Read more...] about Remembering to Give Thanks: 12 Things I’m Grateful For
Why We All Need to Strength Train (and a giveaway, too!)
Having celebrated a big birthday recently has made me more sentimental about aging than normal. But with sentimentality comes complaints. Granted, they're not in a a "woe-is-me" kind of way- but with a bit more humor and irony attached to them. Humor? My feeling is that if we don't laugh about creaky joints, gray hair, diminishing eyesight, hearing and skin tone, then all that bitching becomes … [Read more...] about Why We All Need to Strength Train (and a giveaway, too!)