Recently by Casey Roon de Pacheco

Saturday I spent the day at the barn. It wasn't my intention as the day started, I had my own list of things to do, but like most days, I stopped at the barn and hung around a little too long. Before too long, I was put to work!

There was a person at the barn yesterday who was here with horses and while the horses munched on their afternoon feeding, we sat and talked. A few months ago, she and I had discussed our love for dogs, most specifically German Shephards, and she had given me some natural suggestions for improving my dog's skin and coat health (salmon oil is the trick, btw). Anyways, I figured it couldn't hurt to try her suggestion and after two weeks of salmon oil on Cala's food, I could see a dramatic change in her coat and skin. I had received very wise advice.

So yesterday I wanted to thank her for having shared her knowledge with me. She went on to tell me some fantastic, yet true, stories of natural and organic remedies that she has known about for years. She told me her own personal story of a large wound on her leg that Neosporin actually made worse, and how she took matters into her own hands and found out about Manuka Honey (its honey from New Zealand) that cured her wound. But it didn't cure it before she was referred to a wound clinic, and when she spoke with the doctor there, she pulled the honey out of her purse and he said, "WHERE DID YOU GET THAT?" and she instantly thought that he was going to scold her. Instead, he whipped out his own pot of it and said that they have used it at the wound center for years but it is not common knowledge. (Understand me: drug companies don't want you to know about this natural cure!)


I made mental note of the name and the story she told me and I researched the honey this morning and already ordered my first bottle from manukahoneyusa.com

She then asked me if I believed there was a cure for cancer. I told her yes, but that finding a cure for cancer is big business and that we wouldn't be given that information for anything! She agreed, but then she told me this God Wink that happened to her recently when she learned about the information relating to asparagus. Yep, asparagus. She recounted the story that I dug up on the internet this morning and have linked to here. To tell you the truth, I don't know that there is a 'magic cure' for cancer, but the anti-carcinogenic properties and antioxidants in asparagus certainly are real. Please read the article and consider pureeing your own asparagus and taking your tablespoons daily as it certainly cannot hurt anything and will be good for you. I love how the biochemist relates his belief that "what cures can prevent". Start taking your asparagus now! I am!

Asparagus has been grown since ancient Egypt. The Romans ate it year round in season, and dried in winter. It was known even then for its medicinal properties. Like everything else, it fell out of fashion after awhile and was replaced but the "next big thing", however, it is the same vegetable it has always been and it is a 'superfood' that we should all consider growing in our gardens, buying, and eating. According to everything that I am reading, it is actually best to eat the asparagus cooked, though raw is certainly better than nothing! Steam your asparagus to eat, or steam it and then pureed it and put it in the freezer and scoop out a tablespoon a day. A spoonful a day keeps the doctor away!

We also talked about the importance of beets. I have never eaten a beet, though recently I was asking friends on Twitter about beets and their taste just out of curiosity. Beets are another vegetable that has strong effect on our digestive systems and should be consumed frequently. Clean out that liver of yours and eat some beets!

Heck, don't stop there! Get some asparagus going too and don't forget the honey!


*****IMPORTANT******
Did you know that the honeybees are diminishing? Remember the Bee Movie? Well it wasn't fictional, its real. The honey bees are diminishing and I'll bet you didn't know how integral they are to our everyday lives, did you? Here's an excerpt from www.helpthehoneybees.com, a campaign founded by Haagan-Daaz.

    One out of every the three bites of food an average American eats is directly attributed to honey bee pollination.3

    Honey bees are responsible for the pollination of more than 100 crops, including fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, and provide 80 percent of the country's pollination services.4

    The honey bee is responsible for $15 billion in U.S. agricultural crops each year.5

    Bees fly approximately 10 to 15 miles per hour and visit about 50--100 flowers in each pollination trip.6

    To produce one pound of honey, honey bees must visit two million flowers and fly 55,000 miles.7

When a honey bee returns to the hive after finding a good pollen source, it gives out samples of the flower's nectar to its hive mates and performs a dance that details the distance, direction, quality and quantity of the food supply. The richer the food source, the longer and more vigorous the dance.8

Bees are dying due to poor nutrition and pesticides, mainly. They need things to pollinate, and we need them to do it. Here is how you can do your part to help: Plant a Bee-Friendly Garden.

"Did you know that saving a bee is as simple as planting a seed? It's true. By planting your very own bee-friendly garden, you can keep our little friends buzzing and pollinating. Don't worry if you don't have a green thumb--we'll give you simple instructions that show you how".... go to www.helpthehoneybees.com to download the simple instructions. Photo Credit © Olga Lyubkina | Dreamstime.com © Sak12344 | Dreamstime.com © Vladimir Grekov | Dreamstime.com

Has anyone ever told you that 'you are too close to the situation to see the forest for the trees'? Or a friend has commented on a situation 'as an outsider looking in'? I'm sure you have encountered these situations, especially when addressing the lives of other people, but it is an odd and strange sensation when you are able to step outside of your own bubble and see things through different eyes... its called gaining perspective.

Last week I was on vacation. The vacation I went on was to visit some extremely wealthy friends of ours that have anything, and I mean anything, money can buy. To live for a week 'like the other half' would seem to be extraordinary, fun, and intoxicating right? Nah... not even close. I will admit that it is often a true convenience to have help in the way of someone to cook your food and look after your needs, but without anything to do for myself day after day, I found myself bored, then restless, then angry, but then introspective...

Its interesting to have so much money that you don't need to work, to be able to hire several someones to handle absolutely every single necessity of your life, and to live out your days completely footloose and fancy free. Most people would say that they would jump at this luxurious lifestyle, they would bask in the money and free time, and pamper themselves with the best that money could buy.... However, I would bet that all would ultimately find themselves bored and restless like me.

Its because we need purpose. We need fulfillment. We need the satisfaction of completing tasks that are meaningful and important in our lives and to our families. We need to work, because we are working toward something, even if it is just a pitiful check at the end of the week. It is the fruit of our labor.

Visiting my friends, I found them to be restless, unhappy, unchallenged, and discontent. I don't think they can see 'the forest for the trees'... they change the location of their perpetual location by visiting one of their many houses around the world, seeking something they cannot find. Because they can have anything that money can buy and they don't need to work, their lives are filled with very little meaning. The discontent appears to nag at them and they are constantly seeking a 'fix' to their unhappiness, which usually comes by way of some type of 'toy' that diverts their attention, ultimately bores them, and then they go buy something else...

The vacation I found myself on was 7 days of absolute relaxation. Sleeping in every day, all meals prepared to my every whim, any extravagance slathered upon me, and with no schedule, responsibility, our consequence to any of my actions. For this family, a few days of rest was all we needed to rejuvenate and want to 'get back in the saddle'. Our friends? That is their perpetual existence.

Their lifestyle is so completely different than anything I could ever even imagine that I could only describe it by calling it Oz. Just like Dorothy gained some perspective on her own wonderful life at home, I realized that my chaos and complete circus is often overwhelming and stressful, but also rewarding, meaningful, and lived with purpose. 

Saturday morning my son played baseball, despite the temperature not reaching 40 degrees. Despite a Wind Advisory with gusts of wind strong enough to wipe out a t-ball player! Nevertheless, we played. Played, and won...

As I tried to comfort the chilly and crying kids and just endure the cold, I transported myself to the beach. My Mom used to tell me to do that: on cold days standing at the bus stop, she'd tell me to imagine I was on a warm beach... when the weather was blistering hot in the summer, she'd tell me to imagine being on the North Pole!

The point here is that you can trick your body into believing whatever your mind feeds it. Today I was freezing until I started thinking about that beach. You must involve every sense in order for it to work, you must imagine what it smells like, how the salt coming off the ocean takes on your lips, the heat of the sand almost burning your feet. When you start thinking in detail, your body starts to respond.

We used to do this playing volleyball. We'd have a practice every so often that wouldn't be on the court at all, but in a classroom, with a sports psychologist. The psychologist would tell us to relax and close our eyes... once everyone was relaxed, he would start the 'game'. We would be playing a match in our minds, he would give us the details and we would envision the outcomes (obviously playing to win)... the interesting thing about these exercises was that our muscles were responding to the mind game as if we really exerting ourselves out on the court! Our muscles would actually feel sore! WOW!

So obviously this works both ways, if you can imagine a better outcome, you can also envision something worse. This is what happens to most of us. When we stew on our misfortune or sorry state of affairs, we make our problems bigger than they really are. We exacerbate the problems by reliving the moments in our heads over and over. Have you read or watched The Secret? Whatever you create in your mind will manifest itself in your life...

So when the chips are down, tell yourself to smile and put your best foot forward. Tell yourself that things are GETTING BETTER BY THE MINUTE, and they will! 

Photo Credit © Mark Aplet | Dreamstime.com

One of the flaws of my otherwise fantastic personality (if I do say so myself) is that I'm stubborn. I know it, I see it, I own it. But I can't change it. Its part of who I am.

One more character flaw? Despite what you may think, I'm pretty shy. In my comfort zone, I am personable, funny, and enjoy a group of people. When I am out of my comfort zone? I'm quietly stressing out and anxious. Growing up, many peers at school thought I was mean or bitchy, intimidating and mean... oh shoot, if you only knew that I was afraid of you! Guess I faked it pretty well!? Who knows why I am so shy, it's just me.

Sometimes I am able to somehow 'overcome' my shyness and fake it. Don't get me wrong, I'm still panicking on the inside but I am able to stifle it somehow. I do this by pretending I'm acting! No seriously, I pretend that I am looking at myself on tv, and acting My Part. You know, the Part of ME, the goof-ball and clumsy one?! I know it sounds weird, but often that's the only way I can get through a situation.

Hubby doesn't understand this. He doesn't understand that I'm shy. He doesn't understand that I have an extremely hard time meeting the droves of people he is always introducing me to. In his business, especially with all of his international clients, its customary that the men hang out and the wives chat amongst themselves. I know it might be good for business to "make nice" with the wives of his clients, but most of the time, you can find me hiding in a closet! No, I'm not kidding! One time Hubby was convinced that I was faking a headache just so I didn't have to entertain a group of women that were coming with their spouses to the ranch. Not so! I get so stressed out and worried that I make myself physically ill. Believe me, it's not fun.

It's the act of being 'thrust upon' strangers that gives me such discomfort. When I come to know strangers on my own, in my own time, without the prodding of someone pushing me, I do just fine. Heck, I have zillions of friends everywhere which I made just fine on my own!! Its just the act of being pushed into situations where I'm not yet comfortable that makes me panic.

People have forever been pushing me to be part of something larger than myself. As an only child I got the impression early on that others felt sorry for me because I didn't have siblings for built-in playmates! I could have cared less about playmates! I was blissfully happy as a child and honestly never once wished for a brother or sister.

The same is happening now with our son. He is our only child and is the happiest and most well-rounded individual I have ever known. Yet the same panicked look comes over his face when adults try to push him to play with strangers. Just like good ol' Mom, he is an outgoing, popular kid when he comes to make friends in his own time. Pushed? Forget about it! I understand his shyness towards strangers, he got it from me.

"I am what I am and that's all that I am. "-Popeye 

Photo Credit © Jose Antonio Sánchez Reyes | Dreamstime.com

Original
Strong
Independent
Authentic
Courageous
Honorable
Fearless
True
Bold
Dedicated
Clever
Passionate

These are great words, aren't they? If someone used these words to describe you, it would be pretty cool, wouldn't it? Absolutely.

The funny thing is that I believe that we all have these qualities in our hearts. We are all capable of greatness, it lies inside each and every one of us! It doesn't matter who we are, where we come from, what we look like... doesn't matter how popular we are, the color of our skin, or our income bracket... every single one of us are bold, strong, passionate people, capable of moving mountains if we just unlock the keys to our hearts!

The mantra 'be who you are' is a reminder to strive every minute of everyday to be yourself, and be the BEST self you can be. You only have one turn on this carousel of Life and it would be to everyone's advantage is you choose to make the very most of every moment you're given. You can make the most of your life by being true to yourself!

Now I know what you're thinking: what does she mean exactly? Well, it takes some thinking and 'tuning in' to your body and your thoughts... I would take some quiet time to think about the following questions to get yourself prepped and ready for discovery... Grab a piece of paper and jot these down, and throughout your day, think about how you would answer them:

1) Name 5 things you like to do (hobbies for example) that make you totally happy. When you are doing these things, you could accidentally let the whole day go by because you are so engrossed in your activity that you don't notice the world around you.

2) Has there ever been something you wished you could do, but you thought your friends would think it was silly or your parents wouldn't approve, so you just decided to forget your idea and be like everyone else wanted you to be?
(I had a friend like this in school who desperately wanted to become a mortician and everyone thought she was a freak for wanting to examine dead people, so she ultimately was talked out of her passion and has never full 'realized' who she is as a result)

3) Do you ever think to yourself, "I wish I were more like _(insert name)____; she is always happy and fulfilled"? Answer truthfully now!

4) Imagine that you are a guest at your own funeral in the future (I know its morbid, but just hang with me for a sec): what does the scene look like in your mind? Are there tons and tons of people pouring in the doors, all very respectful, all in agreement that you lived a full life? What do they say about you? How are you described? This is a powerful exercise to get you thinking about how you want to live your life. Time is ticking and you owe it to yourself to use each moment you're given to be the best YOU that you can.

5) Think about 5 people that inspire you to be a better person, a better YOU. Who are they and why do they inspire you? Who do you think inspires THEM?

Give these 5 exercises some thought as you go through your day. Think about what you would do if you were given the opportunity to do anything, absolutely anything to be the BEST 'YOU' you could be. Family pressure, peer pressure, lack of self-confidence, insecurity, lack of funding... none of those are factors in this exercise. If given the opportunity to do anything great with your life, what would your heart choose to do?

People that find their 'calling' and do what lies in their hearts talk about their work or their studies as not feeling like work at all. Its their passion and without doing their life's work, it would feel like they were missing a part of themselves. Think about professional athletes for example... sure many have a great paycheck that certainly motivates them, but most play their sport because they absolutely love the game. They go through injuries, off season in the weight rooms, constant wear and tear on their bodies, because of the natural high they are on when they play their sport.

I know I've talked about him before on this blog, but I grew up with Yankee captain and shortstop, Derek Jeter. Derek and I were always good friends through school. Despite peer pressure always trying to get him to drink or smoke at parties, kids picking on him because he was 'different', Derek had a goal. Derek was tuned-in to his heart, knew what he needed to do to Be Himself. Derek knew he wanted to play baseball, he specifically knew he wanted to play for the Yankees. He achieved his dream and let nothing stand in his way. Baseball was his 'natural fit'. While he is an extremely intelligent and good-hearted person, its nearly impossible to imagine Derek doing anything else but playing baseball. Because he has followed his heart and his passion, he makes his work look effortless, makes it look easy.

I really think that when we see someone doing something that looks easy, they are working from the heart and it shows...

Get busy thinking about what lies in your heart and lets hear about it! 

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