April Column

I just about forgot to post my April newspaper column.  So here it is.  Been a busy month as I was closed the first week of April due to a little surgery I had on my shoulder area.  Doing real well and getting back to normal.

April column

First thing on my list today is to report that I will be closed the first 10 days of April. I am having a little surgery on my shoulder and not sure how long before I can drive. So don't forget me and come in when you see my flag out.

Do you believe in synchronicity: I do and love to see it pop up in my life.

One day a couple weeks ago I left the store a little early so I could go to the local country store to pick up a bag of oatmeal that I had ordered. So it took me on a different highway to go home from there. I had the radio on to this oldie's country music. A song was on by Jimmy Dean called Big Bad John. The split second that it came to the part of the song when he sang about him going to the Promiseland, I looked up and was passing a country church with a huge sign (you guessed it) Promiseland! It was really like I had just received a message from someone. You could call it God, The Universe, My higher self, what ever your belief. But it was real and I smiled all the way home with a feeling that I had someone watching over me and they just wanted to give me a little nudge to remind me.

Consider the Butterfly

by

Carol Lynn Pearson

I have believed in synchronicity for many years. I have often read a word that I had never heard of and in the same day seen it on a billboard. When I saw this book I knew I had to read it. The author talks about how you can find meaning in your life by watching for these “coincidences” She calls it “transforming your life thru meaningful coincidence”. Carol finds things almost daily that make her believe that there is someone watching over her. The title of the book comes from an event that in a single day at least 8 phrases about butterflies came into her life that gave her meaning to connect with a child she had lost that had an affection for butterflies. I challenge you to watch for these “coincidences” in your life, and remember there are no coincidences!

I have never actually read and entire “diet book” But I was intrigued with this one when I saw the author on one of the TV Doctor shows. I would call it a nutrition book and after my report I think you will see why.

The Happiness Diet

by

Tyler Graham & Drew Ramsey, MD

The first part of the book gives a very clear explanation of how we have eaten for centuries and what the turning point was that completely changed our eating habits and for the first time in history, too much food is making us sick. They refer to the Modern American Diet (MAD) that is expanding our waistlines but also starving our brain resulting in a big increase in obesity and depression and they explain how they are linked. I found that sugar is the number one “bad mood” food, no real surprise there. I find it interesting how in the last 100 years or so we have discovered so many “new” diseases and disorders while at the same time we have greatly increased consumption of sugar and other refined foods to the extent that for those who eat the MAD diet are most likely to be sick or depressed. I have actually tried to avoid all processed foods and chemical additives like artificial sweeteners for the last 2 weeks. I have focused on whole grains, fruits, and veggies. Also I tried to not eat anything that listed more than 3 ingredients. I honestly can say that I have more energy. I think this is all stuff that we already really KNOW, but it becomes to easy to ignore. Maybe we need to stop ignoring the elephant in the room.

Uglies

by Scott Westerfeld

I enjoyed this teen fiction book. It is the first in a series of 3 books. If you like apocalyptic novels, you might want to find all three books to read. The Uglies is set several hundred years in the future where the Rusties (people of our time period) have left the civilized world in ruins. Living in a Utopian world a young girl named Tally is getting ready to turn 16 and go thru the transformation surgery to make her beautiful and give them a new personality. But she meets Shay who is a rebel and takes her on a trip to the Smoke, which is a primitive settlement in the frontier where the rebellious Uglies go to avoid the operation. The theme of conformity against individualism is strong. Tally eventually learns that she isn't ugly at all and she fights to avoid being forced to conform. I think it was a well written book and can see why the younger crowd would enjoy reading this. The second book is called Pretties.

Lastly I want to mention that a gentleman came into my store this last week. He also writes a column for this paper so you will be familiar with him. Randy Turner has written three books now related to the Joplin tornado,May 22, 2011. I will be carrying them in my store to sell if anyone is interested in them. The first one is Spirit of Hope and is about the tornado and the events afterward. The second is 5:41 and is about the rebuilding of Joplin. The third is Scars-from the tornado and it is composed of personal accounts, mostly from Mr. Turners students of how they survived and are recovering. It looks like he has done a really good job to document this historical event.