Good Luck and Taking It One Day at a Time 

So today is June 29th, 2021 and it is a very hot summer and I find myself sitting in a car dealership service center, waiting with other customers, for my car repair.  My husband and I now lease cars rather than buy them.  We felt that the lease cars under warranty replace the hundreds of dollars we were spending on service and car parts on cars we owned. We may have been wrong, but I am sure luck has something to do with this.  I never had this particular problem with my other leased vehicles.  

 As I wait and try to relax, I think about the history archives I have been working on at the synagogue as a volunteer, reading articles from the late 1880's through today and the celebrations over the years.  What we take for granted today were things of celebration back in those days.  Our congregation went from no building and using someone's home for prayer and celebration, to raising money to build a small building, then eventually one bigger and then the biggest.  Our Sisterhood membership began with men as leaders, 125 years ago, sewing burial shrouds for the Jewish funeral homes in town.  Women took over after the first year or so and we have been going strong ever since, although we stopped sewing shrouds about a hundred years ago.

 Longevity is a secret and no one really has the answer of how to live a long life.  A relative who is turning ninety-nine years and seems perfectly healthy overall, has no reason or trick they used to live this nice long life.  They attribute it to luck.  I should add that religion was important to their lifestyle, although not necessarily overly religious, just regular. They did not have any particular weight issues although siblings did.  The same with illness or cancer although it was in the family.  When asked "What is your secret?", which they get asked a lot, the answer is always "luck".  

Luck is about being ready, having a positive attitude and deciding the life you choose belongs to you. Others have put it in their own terms and you can read about it elsewhere but this may not be so easy for everyone.  As we slowly ease out of this pandemic, personal anxiety is at an all time high.  Fear of crowds and unwillingness to be around others, going back to normal activity pre-pandemic, or even travel and see relatives, has been vastly diminished. 

On the other hand, this time can be viewed as an opportunity to make changes.  This is where luck comes in.  We can look at this time and feel sad and depressed or we can look at at it and view it as an opportunity for change.  Things to do might be to make a new habit from something you used to do regularly. Try to improve your diet and overall health.  

Get some regular sleep perhaps a goal of 6-7 hours per night.  Begin an exercise program which includes strength training to build muscles that went soft when we were stuck in our homes.  Try meditation, yoga or tai chai to calm the mind and create that positive outlook that will channel your good luck in the future. Try one or all and the course of your luck will change.

 Finally, the young man said my car is ready...I happened to ask him as he walked by...that was good luck!

Back on the Path

It is a brand new world and things I wrote about in the last two posts have happened or almost happened. By that, I mean that our new President is Joseph Biden and history was made by electing Kamala Harris, the first women of African American and Asian descent, as our Vice President.  Great historic news!  Also, the biggest fear happened, a group of white nationalist, anti-Semitic, racists, literally stormed and almost took over the Capital building in Washington DC, on January 6th, 2021. These people created an insurrection that will be taught in high school and college history classes forever.  It was scary to watch in real time on television and Past President Donald J. Trump verbally led the charge.  He had a rally earlier in the day and suggested that he would be "by their side as they go and take back their country" and the rally attendees did exactly as was asked.  Congress conducted a formal "Second Impeachment Trial", to prevent the former president from ever attempting to run for office again. The vote was cast to acquit Past President Donald Trump after the Second Impeachment Trial. There remains strong supporters of citizens and members of our American Congress support Mr. Trump.  This is a scary moment in our history.  The state of Georgia "turned blue" and after the 2020 national election, the Georgia state legislature voted to meaningfully suppress the rights of voters.  Where in that state more people and people of color voted in two Democratic Senators in Congress. 

If you want more information, I encourage you to do your own research on the subject.  I just couldn't continue without adding a historical update.  What does this have to do with nutrition and spirituality you may ask?  Well, as we still are in the midst of a Covid Pandemic and while in some areas of the country Covid 19 vaccines have become more available, people are still putting on weight.  People are still getting Covid 19 and still dying from it.  Praying might be helpful right now if that is helpful to you.  Meditation is another form of prayer, if you do not affiliate with a particular deity, and taking a few deep breaths when you are feeling out of control may help too. 

My focus today is how to get "Back on the Path" or finding your way back to normal or what will be the new normal once mask restrictions are lifted.  I believe the first thing to focus on is your personal health.  Go to a physician and get a check up to see what is your current health situation for your age group.  Is your blood pressure normal, 120/80 mmHg, how about your HgbA1C, (Hemoglobin A1C) which is the three month check of your blood sugar average. The range for normal is below 5.7%, Prediabetes is 5.7-6.4% and Diabetes is 6.5% and above.  Most people don't know these values but as we get older or maybe because of the Pandemic, these numbers take on a greater importance.  Finally, go step on a scale.  I know I hate it too! But unless you know where your starting point is, you can't make a healthy diet plan to get where you need to be.  Most people have put on at least 10-20 pounds during the Pandemic.  We are all so scared and food has that lovely side effect of making us feel better.

Obviously, this is my blog and my opinion and you as the reader can disagree.  The Covid-19 Pandemic we are still going through has created levels of anxiety that many have not experienced before and those who have some issues with mental stress have seen their levels rise.  We are strong and can benefit from what we learned about ourselves and family and friends. If we try, we can use this new information to change our behavior and perhaps feel even better when we come out on the other side.  Let's hope so anyway.