Let's Get This Change Over With!

This is a good year. We’ve elected a new president and he’s promised change. If you’d followed the polls, you’d also notice that he apparently has the support of most of the country. Of course this would make it easy for a politician to assume that he also has a mandate to pursue his agenda. After all, he was elected on his promise for change.

I don’t know about you, but I didn’t hear much in the way of specific changes that were being proposed in the months, weeks and days leading up to the election. It was all about taking care of ‘you’ or those ‘others’ that needed his help. Making sure that the “have-nots” would be re-cataloged as “haves”.

Of course now we see what he had in mind. Wealth redistribution. The “S” word. Our president is going to socialize our banks, our economy, and our health care. Heck, he wants to socialize our money!

This is good! No, not because I support his efforts to restructure what has made America the most successful and powerful place on this planet. Not because I believe in rewarding the non-workers with entitlements. Not because I see a future in it at all! But this is quite possibly the only way that this nation can get this socialist fantasy out of its collective system. Unlike Rush Limbaugh, I’m not hoping for President Obama to fail. Instead, I am confident that his plan will fail……ultimately.

It cannot succeed. The only real motivation for good hard work is financial reward. Once people realize that the reward is the same no matter how hard you work, the motivation evaporates, the efficiency disappears, and innovation means nothing.

The good news follows. Enlightenment. I know this. I have been enlightened like so many others. It’s times like these that forces people to rethink what works and what doesn’t work. All of a sudden we see the “recently unemployed” examining options. Network marketing or Multi-Level-Marketing (MLM) is getting a second look. Marketing on the internet is generating a huge interest! What this says to me is that there are simply too many of us to fall for government hand-out gimmicks. Sure, they may take the cash up front. But many also know that it only amounts to terminal relief in a natural cleansing process that is going to happen repeatedly over the course of any society.

www.StrataBizMentoring.com

Waterless Challenge

I was about 15 years-old the first time someone challenged me to eat (4) saltine crackers in less than a minute. I was certain that I could prove myself as an exceptional young stud with my speedy eating prowess and I was quick to accept the opportunity. I didn’t bat an eye when it was clarified that I couldn’t take a drink of anything during my performance. But when I stuffed the crackers into my mouth, one by one; I soon came to realize that I wasn’t quite the stud that I thought I was. It didn’t matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t swallow quickly enough.

I was a little young to reflect on the experience at the time; other than maybe as to how I could collect a few winnings on wagers with others as unsuspecting as I was. It was years later when I began to truly understand the relevance of water in this event as well as countless others. I’m not suggesting here that I learned other parlor tricks with water. Instead, I came to understand just how crucial water is to the efficient performance of so many earthly functions. Even more to the point; water is absolutely critical to the human body. As a matter of fact, we humans are roughly 70% water! When that proportion of water drops in volume, we can suffer in so many ways.

When the upper gastrointestinal tract is low on water, the first sign is heartburn. We tend to respond with extensive or overuse of antacids which may lead to ulcers or cancer. Arthritis pain is a signal of water shortage in the joints. Low back pain and ankylosing arthritis occurs when the spinal column and discs are low on water and cannot cushion the weight of the body. The brain can only function well when it is amply hydrated. Without water, migraines can occur and mental clarity suffers. Water and a moderately controlled intake of sea salt can prevent and cure asthma. Water and small portions of salt can prevent and cure the adult early-onset of diabetes. Prolonged chronic dehydration leads to depression, multiple sclerosis, loss of libido and chronic fatigue syndrome.

And I could go on, but you get the idea. But back to the cracker-eating challenge. If you’re dehydrated, eating is a challenge. The tissue and glands in your mouth and throat need to be hydrated. I don’t know about you, but I enjoy eating too much and I’d rather it wasn’t a challenge.

Purified, mineralized and magnetized water is so important to our health.
-Dr. Batmanghelidj-

Once Upon a Time in the East

I recall an incredibly hot day when I was working abroad in the Middle East. I stand corrected; we were not actively “working” at the time, but had the afternoon off because of the intense heat. We gave a shot at basketball briefly, but quickly realized that there was wisdom behind the idea of avoiding overexertion under those conditions. We soon found ourselves swilling cold beer instead. Now that was fun! But as you might expect, things got a little out of hand. I soon lost track of how many brewskys I had tossed down.

We were seated in a circle, laughing and joking at mindless stuff when I suddenly felt light headed. I was confused. I didn’t think I’d drank that much! Fortunately, one of my partners recognized what was happening and shoved a glass of water in front of me. He said, “Drink this! You’re dehydrated!” I quickly downed the glass of water and shoved it back, asking for another. Before he could refill it, I’d sensed an immediate yet gradual clearing of my foggy head. I continued to drink more of the ‘life-giving’ liquid, for which I’d suddenly realized a much greater appreciation for.

I’d just experienced severe dehydration and learned a valuable lesson. I had felt tingly and dizzy. That translates into somewhere between 3-6% loss of water from my body.

Now if I’m doing my math right and our body is 60-70% water; the formula would look like this: I’m 200 pounds, so 70% of that is 140 lbs. 6% of 140 lbs is 8.4lbs. I should have been down to a total weight of 191.6lbs! Well the sad truth is, drinking beer is not generally considered a good weight loss plan. In fact, every bottle of beer or ounce of alcohol delivers 100 useless calories into your system. Liquor and wine is even higher in calories!

What alcohol does is give the body the illusion of being overly hydrated and all we feel is the need to pee! In a foggy, groggy state, we suspect that we’re getting plenty of liquids, but in reality we’re depleting ourselves of water and slowly adding to the size of our belly. Alcohol is a diuretic that inhibits our bodies’ natural anti-diuretic hormone, so we ultimately urinate more than usual, shedding valuable water!

A practical formula to counter some of this is quite simple. For every glass of beer or every ounce of alcohol consumed, the body requires a replenishment of 12 oz of water.

By keeping ourselves hydrated, we are able to counter many of the detrimental effects of the beer(s) we chugged. Our mind functions better, our metabolism is better, our gastrointestinal tract performs better; any hangover is diminished, and all in all; our body is in better balance.

And you know what’s coming next, right? To avoid these issues we need to be conscious of proper hydration. Of course, one simple practice is to watch that alcohol!

Toxic World

25 years ago there were only 4 known autoimmune disorders. Today there are over 80. Over 150 million people are affected by autoimmune disorders today! This can easily be recognized as an autoimmune epidemic.

Autoimmune disease is a disorder that occurs when the body’s immune system attacks its own tissue. The immune system is designed normally to identify infectious agents that have entered the body and attack and destroy them to guard against illness. Someone suffering from an autoimmune disorder will generally have unusual antibodies in their blood that target their own body tissues. It is these “unusual antibodies” that represent the autoimmune disease.

Some of the more common examples of autoimmune disorders include systemic lupus erythematosus, rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile (type 1) diabetes, scleroderma, Sjogren syndrome, Addison disease, vitiligo, pernicious anemia, and pulmonary fibrosis.
Though evidence is less than clear as to what precisely can be blamed for each of these diseases and their “unusual antibodies”; most researchers have narrowed their focus to our toxic environment. The fact is that toxins may be the most important cause of the autoimmune epidemic. Detox of the body is easily the most prudent response. And the simplest, most expedient detoxification method is adequate daily consumption of quality water.

A world renowned researcher on water, Dr. Batmanghelidj, is very clear about this. Pure mountain spring water with its mineralized and magnetized properties is the best water to drink to clean out the toxins. And the more toxins in your body, the more water it takes to get rid of them.

The Art of Medicine....

.....consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease. - Voltaire

Looking Forward

Stop and consider- not every one's going to agree. That's a good thing. There are plenty of issues and personalities to ensure that.

Those who know me well are probably smiling right about now. They're thinking about how outrageously opinionated I am. They're aware of how I've usually had some harsh critiques for those things, events or lifestyles that I've struggled with in others. I believe most people may struggle with many of the same things; though they may not choose to express themselves quite like I have. My wife and daughters generally respond to me with an exaggerated rolling of the eyes and go on about there way.

Others, maybe even strangers, will be stopped in their tracks. They'll look at me blankly for a moment and calculate how to respond. Some will ignore me and what I had said or they'll simply move on.

I have a confession. It really does them no good; even more, it does me no good. You see, I have to admit that I don't always mean what I'm saying. Worse yet, sometimes I don't even have the slightest clue of what I'm talking about.

However, some of my greatest moments of clarity came about when I was challenged by whoever felt the need to straighten me out. They may have been polite, angry, bothered or merely disgusted. Whatever the motivation or style, I usually found my internal response to be an enlightenment. I may not have been quick to admit it, but in reality; I learned something.

I burned a memory cell, I adjusted- I changed.