SERIOUSLY SPEAKING – RECOVERY: THE DAY AFTER

As much as we try – we are indeed only human!

What does this translate to on the day after Thanksgiving?

If you are like most of us you’re probably carrying a wee bit of extra weight…

We do tend to idealize the image of the Thanksgiving dinner – forgetting perhaps that those we love have not suddenly been kissed by fairy princesses – they are still human with all the nicks, cuts and flaws that come with our kind.

Putting us all together around a table loaded with tempting food can easily lead to stress, overeating, competition – a perfect formula for…nausea!

It’s okay!  Remember dogs fart too…

  

DANCE WITH IT!   EXPERIENTIAL APPS           

An opportunity to experiment with some fun

ideas...

3 STEPS TO HOLIDAY RECOVERY

Forgive  

 

First yourself – okay, you ate a lot – so what?  Let it go!  If you hold onto it by scolding yourself you know you’ll do worse tomorrow! 

Shock yourself by being kind – no regrets!  And along the way – if you weren’t perfect with friends and family forgive that too!

         

Laugh

The most potent mental health remedy is our ability to laugh at it all!  To expedite this piece of the strategy think about any moments from yesterday that might have been in the annoying category... 

Now, use your imagination to create humor out of any crumbs of melodrama still lurking!  

Exaggerate those moments to the point of laughter!

Forget

Any slights, faux pas, nastiness – imagine you can bundle it all up, babushka style, every last snippet, and dump it all into the nearest trash heap.

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THANK YOU!

A true autumn day – it’s overcast and the leaves on the trees have turned crimson and yellow gold, a gentle drizzle falling from the mystical grey colored sky…

The kind of day, shrouded in magic and myth that often foretells the coming of Thanksgiving.

Each year we are reminded to count our blessings, even if they sometimes seem elusive…

History aside, how amazing, really that we have a day dedicated to remind us…

What do ya think?

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THE FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS

A thought for Hanukkah “The Festival of Light” which begins tonight…

“Light gives of itself freely, filling all available space.  It does not seek anything in return; it asks not whether you are friend or foe.”

“It gives of itself and is not thereby diminished.”

                                                                   – Michael Strassfeld

This is a time of the triumph of light over darkness. 

How do you bring light into the world?

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HOLIDAY HELPER…

Is this really ‘The most wonderful time of the Year’? 

CHECK IT OUT: 

EXPECTATIONS: 

Harmony and Understanding

Love and Peace

Good will to men

Perfect presents

Perfect food

Perfect conversations…

REALITY:

Stress

Competition

Insults

Over eating

Exhaustion

Depression…

WHOOPS...

What do ya say?   

Can you see that crash coming, or what? 

To avoid the collision: GET REAL!

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Coming in December - Check out Holiday Helper – a ‘Mini-Medi' audio clip to help you through this holiday season at www.oldladiesdance.com

SUNDAY SMILES – SWEET POTATO PIE

There are moments and places that make you feel good – if you let them in…

Today 3 strangers accidently ‘coincided’ in the library.  

Some books fell – we laughed – ok giggled – and the librarian rolled her eyes and scolded us grown ups who were setting a baaad example for the kids… 

We were caught!  And somehow a wonderful conversation – shared guilt perhaps - evolved.

The topic - after all Thanksgiving is in the air - was sweet potato pudding!

3 women – 3 wonderful mouth watering recipes...

And now we share them with you!

While you bake check out my favorite sweet potato pie song – written by James Taylor and sung here by Ray Charles…

“Oh Lord, I feel fine today

Walking on cloud nine today…”  hear more

THE RECIPES

1)    Sweet potatoes, evaporated milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar, marshmallows…

Combine first 5 ingredients, place in baking pan.  Cover with Marshmallows.  

Bake at 350 degrees F for about ½ hour or until toothpick comes out clean

2)    Sweet potatoes, cornflakes, walnuts, pecans, butter

Whip potatoes, put into baking pan.

Melt butter and mix in cornflakes, walnuts and pecans.

Fill pan with half way with potatoes and half with cornflake mixture.

Bake at 350 same as above

3)    This is the ‘Paleo’ version

Sweet potatoes

4 eggs

Cinnamon and nutmeg

Blend all and pour into greased pan

Bake 25-30 minutes at 350 F

These ladies started out by baking raw sweet potatoes but hey, canned anyone?   

And don’t ask me for exact amounts please! 

That librarian was giving us the evil eye…

HAVE A GREAT THANKSGIVING!

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SERIOUSLY SPEAKING – WANT TO CHANGE YOUR GAME

Here’s a great example of ‘trying harder’:

You’re at someone’s house.  

Their dog jumps up on you. 

The owner yells, “Down!” 

The dog stays right there.

The owner yells LOUDER!

The dog smiles…

You cringe…

This one is easy to see, right?  

Obviously doing the same thing, no matter how loud, is not working.

This concept of ‘trying harder’ permeates our culture.  We find it in our schools, in our doctor’s offices and at work, just to name a few places.

Unfortunately, this belief often leads to failure, self deprecation and shame.

DANCE WITH IT!   EXPERIENTIAL APPS           

An opportunity to experiment with some fun

ideas...

WANT TO CHANGE YOUR GAME?

1)  Think about a problem situation you are dealing with.

2)  How are dealing with it?

3)  Do a quick analysis:

   Problem        Attempted solution     Results

4)  Now ask yourself a few questions:

        Is this an on-going problem?

        What’s your solve rate?

        Do you think your strategy is effective?

        Are you stubbornly holding on to an old strategy?

        If so, why?

5)  Now the fun part: 

Create a new solution and try it on!

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IF AT FIRST YOU DON’T SUCCEED…

No!  That old ‘try try again’ is not the answer!  It will only drive you nuts!  (Did I really just say that?)  

  

Better go with that healthier adage from sports:  'Always change a losing game!'

How many times have we all heard, or even said ourselves:

“But I’m trying so hard!”

Yup!  You are!

But to create a different outcome you have to do something different!

People often ask how they can heal from old emotional wounds.

If you keep doing the same behavior you keep yourself frozen. Trying something different leads to healing!

WHAT DO YA SAY?  UP FOR A NEW GAME?

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SERIOUSLY SPEAKING – PITY PARTY?

No matter how strong we are there are times when we are all tempted to do the ‘pity party dance’ – life’s ‘woe is me’ tango.

And we are all entitled to feel sorry for ourselves – for a little while!

When it becomes chronic we turn ourselves into victims.  At this point, we are turning anger at whatever has happened in on ourselves!

DANCE WITH IT!   EXPERIENTIAL APPS           

An opportunity to experiment with some fun

ideas...

THE ROAD TO RECOVERY…

Conscious exaggeration is a powerful tool in releasing ourselves from the seduction of playing the victim!

“Oh, woe is me – AAOOO!" 

Howl at the moon, moan and groan but do it at a high decibel level.  Get your inner actor engaged.  

And if you really want to go for it - ask a friend to join your 'pity party'.

You’ll know you’ve released the lock when you start laughing or rolling your eyes at yourself!

Ham it up!   

We'd love to hear how this one goes!    

 

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THE BEST LAID PLANS…

Don’t you just love it when you have a perfect plan . . . and fall flat on your face?

Recovery is of course the issue. . .

Laugh, cry, sing, dance, spin in circles – whatever you do, always have a ready exit strategy in your back pocket.

The trick is not getting caught in the quicksand of 

“Woe is me…”

Sure, you can visit that state for awhile, but not long enough to get sucked down . . .

Can you hear that ‘sucking you down’ sound?

SLURP…      SLURP…     SLURP…

You get the idea!   Don’t go there!

What do ya say?  How do you recover?

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SUNDAY SMILES – TAXIS – AGAIN!

More taxi talk – sorry but in this city in they really are a great source of laughter…

So I got into this taxi and a loud beeping sound – I mean really loud – began to vibrate through the entire car…

“Seat belt?” I asked him.

“No, “he muttered.  “Something in dashboard…”

 

I was about to say, “No problem, as long as it doesn’t explode…”

Once upon a time that would have been funny, right?  These days not so much…

Although in this case it probably wouldn’t have mattered since the driver didn’t understand much English …

He did however, probably wonder what kind of a maniac he had in his cab since it was all I could do to keep my cackling down to a quiet roar as he kept glancing nervously into the rear view mirror…

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