Isn’t it funny how sometimes you can go about your day, all is well, and then some little thing happens and WHAM! Major over-reaction, emotions in a whirl, you are consumed by whatever it is that happened and it goes around and around in your head like a dog taking down a rat?

This has happened to me twice this week in my business.

I think it’s fair to say that I’m pretty open, and I love to share ideas, collaborate, support other businesses, etc. I make a habit of it. I do it on purpose, consciously, because I believe with all my heart that collaboration, an exchange of ideas, and support beats competition and closed fists any day. I’m even happy – and encouraging – when a person decides that a different solution to what I’m offering is a better choice (that happened to me this week, and it was fine. Honest.)

But two things happened this week that stopped me in my tracks. The first happened when my efforts to do something amazing were thwarted by someone who just wanted “the bare facts” and the second through a mis-communication in a FB post where I was trying to be helpful but it was misinterpreted and blew into a stabbing attack that I cannot seem to resolve. In both cases I was overwhelmed by the emotions which were obviously completely inappropriate for the seriousness of the situation. Both cases disturbed my peace of mind for days, hindered my sleep, and caused me to go through my days with deep, ulcerative anxiety.

What was THAT all about?

I took it to Jesus and asked Him to show me what was up. Turns out there’s a huge (HUGE) fear of rejection there. Way bigger than I had imagined – especially in the current situation I’m in with a loving, supportive family, great friends, and almost embarrassing amount of written praise and affirmation that comes my way (especially on my birthday). I mean, I do feel loved, appreciated, and supported, believe me! But there’s still something there…

I mean, we all have brokenness. That’s obvious. Some just creates frustration, and can be tackled on a case-by-case basis. This particular experience however, is obviously starting to affect my work, my productivity, my health and my relationships all around (who wants to hang out with someone who’s obsessing over some small slight?!) Wow.

During prayer, after showing Satan the door on this issue, I asked Jesus to first heal the root cause of this rejection and fear of abandonment, and then to help me to accept and receive what He’s already showering me with in evidence to the contrary.

It’s been a powerful experience, and the journey continues…

If you’ve walked through this yourself, I’d love to hear your story. If you have tips that will help me walk through this with greater integrity and more permanent results, I’m all ears!

Darlene

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Last Monday was my birthday. As usual, my family was ridiculously generous with the most exciting gift being a “Blendtec Blender” – Woohoo! We’re drinking a LOT of meals around here, LOL. What a blast as we discover the world of raw food, juicing, and delicious soups! I feel like I can cook!

Not everything we try is healthy – we had a great “S’mores” shake on Monday that was desperately unhealthy and desperately delicious, but for the most part we’re just liquidizing fruits and vegetables. Yummers!
Let’s see, we’ve made shrimp bisque, bacon and potato soup, multiple smoothies, corn chowder…I think that about wraps it up.

I’m looking for some great raw food recipes that I can make in this though, so if you’ve got some ideas, please share!

Darlene

PS – yep, I got the pretty red one! Food’s gotta taste best in a red blender, don’t you think?

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I have had the great blessing of finding a terrific walking partner who loves to do really long walks. These sorts of people are hard to find! When you add to the mix that this woman is also a fabulous conversationalist, you get someone who is a rare gift indeed.

I haven’t known her for long, and she and I are, in many ways, very different. However, throw a long walk, a happy dog, and a marathon goal into the mix, and somehow magic comes out the other side.

We train solo during the week, but on Sundays we get together and tackle the long walks. She and I each have beautiful walking trails very close by – one of the great benefits of living in Calgary! – and so we take turns meeting at each others’ homes, and walking each others’ walks. What a gift!

When you do walks together that are a minimum of 2.5 hours you get a wonderful opportunity to really reach into each other’s lives. Conversation gets past the superficial really quickly, and you discover unique jewels buried inside each other that rarely have the time to come out and sparkle in the sun.

As a social media manager, I’m very adept at building relationship online through the various platforms, both for personal and for business benefits. As an extreme introvert, I love having these tools at my disposal. Also, because of my introverted nature, I have loved walking on my own. However, this new situation with a great walking partner has been such a delightful surprise.

I write this to encourage you all to maybe stretch your comfort zone a little and find yourself a partner, a long trail, and a big goal. Who knows what you might discover! There is great joy in the companionship of a good friend on a long walk.

Darlene

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Back in January I wrote about a challenge I was taking on to master one thing every month. Last month it was walking. This month it’s beginning a program of intermittent fasting. Based on the ebook “Eat Stop Eat*” I’m hoping to get some of my blood numbers back on an even keel, and I also hope it will help me lose weight. With my thyroid situation I’m not holding out much hope, but hey, it never hurts to try. I’ll be fasting on Mondays and Fridays (These are my two rest days for marathon training, so it won’t be so hard on my system), just for 24 hours – from supper to supper. This means I eat every day, and stop the fast before the starvation mode sets in, but after the fasting benefits begin.

If you’ve never tried intermittent fasting, I can recommend it. Now that I’m off the wheat I don’t wander around the kitchen in a crazed fury desperate to shove carbs down my throat, so it’s much easier!

For the purposes of prayer, starting next month, I’ll also be fasting for three full days the first full weekend of every month – Saturday, Sunday, Monday. Once a month won’t be much of a problem here, and the rest it gives my body will be quite the gift, I’m sure.

Have you ever done regular fasting? How was it for you? What’s the longest fast you’ve done? Have you done intermittent fasting?

I’d love to hear your comments and responses below!

Darlene

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I’ve discussed my desire to sleep Polyphasically in previous blog posts but as much as I want to do this, I struggle with my ability to actually throw myself out of my bed in the morning.

A few months ago I decided to try again. I started by simply setting my alarm every morning for 4:00 am and then just shutting it off. By the end of the month I was often just awake at that time. I then started getting up at 4:00, but alas, the comfort of my bed hypnotized me with its soothing warmth and I struggled. Some days were successful, most were not.

But, again, because of the fact that my friend is training with me for the marathon, and the ONLY way I’ll find training time is by getting up early, I’ve been mostly successful these past two weeks. I took Friday-Sunday off last week as I was simply shattered, but otherwise I got up faithfully.

This means that currently I’m getting 6 hours of sleep per night (bedtime is a STRICT 10:00pm). I’m wanting to add some stretching and weight training to my schedule, so my next step (in two month’s time) is to wake up at 2:30 giving me a 4.5 hour night. This would enable the other training and still allow me to complete my walking training in the morning.

So far so good. I’m tired, but I’m always tired, so no biggie. I do two 20-minute naps faithfully every day using my Yantra Mat and pillow (which – after getting accustomed to the initial discomfort) creates such a deep sense of relaxation in combination with my Pzizz app on my iPod, that I wake up feeling like I’ve had a long sleep.

There’s still a long adjustment period ahead of me, but so far so good. I realize 6 hours is still a decent length of sleep but for this 9-hour a night person it’s still been a bit of a shock. Hopefully with the healing of my thyroid issues this will become less and less of a problem.

Do you sleep polyphasically? Have you tried it in the past? What were/are your experiences? Do you have any great tips for me? Please share them below!

Darlene

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Back in 2008 I walked my very first marathon. I was over-trained, burned out, inexperienced, and not totally prepared for what was coming. I also didn’t realize that over half the marathon was on a pretty steep grade uphill!

I came in second to last, in tears, after 7 hours, 33 minutes and 59 seconds. I was in rough shape!

Since then I’ve wanted to walk another marathon, but do it in good shape, properly trained, strong, and fully aware of what to expect. I’ve tried to re-train several times, but I’m really terrible at long-term maintenance. I realized I can’t tackle big projects without help to keep me focused on the long run!

A couple of weeks ago I met a woman through our business and we went for a walk. In passing I mentioned my desire to do a marathon again, and she jumped at the opportunity!

So, without further ado, we decided to go back and to that same marathon – The BMO Okanagan Marathon 2012 on October 7, 2012.

What’s been amazing, is just knowing my friend is doing this with me has meant that I’ve been getting up and doing my training almost every morning (it doesn’t start officially until March 27) and no matter how hard I tried before, I just could not drag these bones out of bed. Amazing, this power of mutual support!

This is going to be a blast. If there’s anyone else out there who wants to train and walk with us, let me know. Post it in the comments, and I’ll get the information to you.

Woohoo! Kelowna, here we come!

Darlene

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Well, I’ve done it. In my last post I talked about the discovery of a thyroid problem and the recommendation by my naturopath to try a wheat free diet.

On March 1 I took the plunge, and I am pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to go wheat free – I was expecting terrible withdrawal symptoms. However, I’ve already been cutting back on carbs, so I’m sure that helped. It can be a bit challenging finding “meal patterns” to keep things simple, but so far, so good.

I don’t feel that different yet – though I have stopped the hypoglycemic feeling I often get, and I don’t have major energy crashes in the afternoon. Mostly I’m still just tired all day, but it’s a nice steady tired, LOL!

Have you gone wheat free? Do you have tips/websites/recipes that might help me and anyone else reading this blog? Reply in the comment section below.

Oh, and the book “The Wheat Belly“* is quite the eye opener. I definitely recommend it!

Darlene

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When you struggle with something for a very long time, and keep hearing “there’s nothing wrong”, and then you hear from someone that yes, indeed, something is seriously wrong, you feel so validated.

That’s what happened to me on Monday.

For years (like about 30) I’ve struggled with debilitating fatigue. It’s not CFS, and my thyroid and iron levels keep coming back as normal. Doctors keep trying to prescribe anti-depressants (I’ve tried 6, each of which has “increases drowsiness and fatigue” as a contraindication!!) or tell me to take a walk as if I’m just feeling “off”. There are days, however, when just looking at the length of the hallway from my bedroom to the stairs (about 12 ft) is enough to overwhelm me.

My “tough genetic stock” and the years of dealing with it make me just take a deep breath and push through, still able to accomplish a reasonable amount of stuff, but there have been days when I just can’t take the level of fatigue and want to spend the week in bed. Not that extra sleep helps or anything -wish it did!

I’ve been participating in a nutritional research group. They start with a very thorough blood test. Mine came back with a high reverse T3 level when measuring my thyroid function (something my allopathic doctors have missed every single time). Normal is between 11 and 23. Mine is 57, and the doctor’s comment was “I’ve never seen levels this high”. Finally, someone recognizes that something’s wrong. This condition is called “Wilson’s Temperature Syndrome” which, in my case, not only indicates a malfunctioning thyroid, but probably indicates that my adrenal glands are blitzed.

This whole thing explains not only my fatigue, and the fact that I am constantly forgetting what I’m talking about in the middle of a sentence, but it also explains why I cannot lose weight or why Tom keeps saying things like “How can someone this cold still be alive?!”

Because of the other levels it’s apparently a little tricky to fix, but we’re starting on some iodine treatment and looking into things like something called “Wilson’s Protocol” which I don’t understand yet. The Doctor is also suggesting a gluten free diet for 3 months, and recommends the book The Wheat Belly*. I also found this: The Fresh 20 – Meal Plans for Busy Families which I might try.

What a gift. Nothing’s fixed yet, but I feel so hopeful that things could be different. When I see what I can accomplish with this level of fatigue, I’m a little nervous about what I’ll get done when it’s all over, hahaha!

Heck, I might even find the energy to clean house (but don’t hold your breath!)

Darlene

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As you know, I’m always curious about things, and love to explore new ideas.

One of my latest ones is Aromatherapy

Did you know that pure essential oils can clean the receptor sites of cells, enabling them to better access the nutrition they need to function well? Did you know they can also repair damaged cells? Even more amazing, they can also repair damaged DNA.

The essential oils of aromatherapy are extracted from aromatic plants and herbs-from the flower, bark, root, twig, seed, berry, rhizome, or leaves-generally through a process of steam distillation. These oils may be inhaled or massaged into the skin, after combining with a vegetable, nut or seed oil.

The olfactory bulb is part of your brain’s limbic system, which is not under conscious control. The limbic system controls digestion, libido, and emotions.

So, it’s not your imagination that scents evoke emotion. Aromas actually trigger the release of chemicals in the brain that create a feeling of well-being. Scientists say your body’s response to an aroma takes just four seconds.

I’ve been doing a lot of reading about this, and plan on sharing some of what I’m learning. What’s amazing is that Aromatherapy can not only deal with physical healing, but emotional healing as well.

One of the books I’ve been reading is this one: Heal With Oil: How to Use the Essential Oils of Ancient Scripture by Rebecca Park Totilo. It’s short, easy to understand, and gives an interesting introduction to the oils of ancient scripture.

Check it out! Tell me what you think!

If you’ve used essential oils and have some stories to share, share them below! I’d be interested in hearing about them.

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So, as part of my 12in12 challenge I wanted to get back out walking starting February 1. Today I just found this cool walking challenge that starts on the 1st and encourages you to walk 1049 minutes (30 minutes a day for 35 days) and the number of minutes is based on the number of miles for the Iditarod Sled race. Here are the details from the site:

The Idita-Walk is an event to promote physical fitness in the spirit of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race. The Iditarod Sled dog race is 1049 miles long from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska. To complete the Idita-Walk, simply walk 30 minutes a day for 35 days between February 1, 2012 to March 31, 2012 for a total of 1049 minutes (any combination of minutes will work – just reach 1049 during the 60 day event!).

Want to join me? It’s only $10 and the money is for charity. You can sign up here: www.idita-walk.com

You can even register your dog!

Post below if you’re going to join in! It will be fun to watch out for each other’s results.

Darlene

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