Issue Four
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Issue Four
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Coach K is taking another issue off but will for sure be back next time! In his place I am including a timely and thoughtful article by Annette Colby, Ph.D, RD.
Another year is about to close it's doors, and 2004 will open before us. For most, this past year was filled with many challenges. No matter how you faced these obstacles, whether you succeeded or failed in overcoming them, they taught you valuable life lessons. Each obstacle came with it's own unique gift. Each darkness also held within it Light.
It may not have seemed so at first. But with retrospect, and compassion for ourselves, we can move through pain and disappointment to uncover the wisdom and strength offered us by the experience.
On the other side, no matter how filled your year was with challenges, each day also brought much to be grateful for. This New Year's Eve, before leaping into another set of resolutions, take some time to pause and reflect on the year gone by. Give yourself a gift of time for reflection. Time to sit down with yourself and review previous months. See how far you've come. Review what was accomplished. List the many things you were grateful for. List the successes you have had.
Look at your list of goals for last year, including what you did not accomplish. Reflect on whether those goals were important to you. Were they based on what you think you "should" be doing, or do your goals originate from your heart's dreams? Are they worth putting back on this year's list? What strengths will pursuing those goals uncover within you?
This is a perfect opportunity to reevaluate last year's life and habits. Sort of an inventory of old plans and desires. The purpose is to reconnect with who you are and notice where you've been. By reflecting on the past year we can find the motivation to release our previous beliefs and behaviors. We can look at our actions and "turn the page" on what we no longer desire. We can rediscover our life's goals and aspirations. Are you living the life you were meant to life? Questioning our actions and directions allows us to redirect the course of our life.
YEAR END QUESTIONS
Take a little time to sit back, relax, and think about all you've accomplished this year. Make a list. Revisit the past to gain some insight into the future. To go where we wish to go and be whom we wish to be, we need to know where we are and who we are. An honest, non-judgmental self-analysis can be beneficial to gain a clear picture of what was. As we end the year, it seems particularly fitting to devote some time to reflecting on the year past and where we find ourselves as the new beginning is upon us.
The following questions can stimulate your thinking for this process. Reflect upon what you did, how you felt, what you liked, what you didn't, and what you learned. Write out your thoughts and feelings. Look at yourself and your experience with as much objectivity (love) as you can. You alone are responsible for your attitude, your choices, your focus and your goals. You can, to an astonishing degree, create the life you want. Use your power and choose well.
QUESTIONS
Here are some suggestions to get you started in considering the past year. Feel free to add your own.
Happy New Year . . .
News and Views
Why I Never Get Flu Shots
It's the time of the year when many of you are running out to get your annual flu shot. I have never had one and
never will (and I don't get the Flu, either!) This is a story that explains my reasoning as well, courtesy of
a href="http://www.mercola.com"target="_blank">Dr. Mercola
Every year about this time, quite a few people write me and ask, "My Doctor tells me to get my annual flu shot. Should I do it?"
Well, I don't diagnose or prescribe, and what you do with your body remains entirely up to you and your doctor (if you still go to a doctor), but I'll gladly tell you what I do regarding flu shots...
I avoid them like the plague.
In fact, at age 52, I've never had a flu shot, and it would take a Marine nurse and at least four burly wrestlers the size of Jessie Ventura to hold me down and give me one.
Perhaps you already sense I have strong feelings about flu shots?
These feelings stem from personal opinion, reading, and dramatic personal experience.
First off, I don't think toxic chemicals and virus strains grown on living tissue belong in the human body, even when they're packaged in sterile glass vials.
Since my family and I don't rely on doctors anymore, I don't have access to an insert that reveals the composition of this year's flu vaccine, but I did find some general information at the Concerned Parents for Vaccine Safety web site, where I learned about some of the ingredients used to make vaccines.
Do you want any of the following vaccine constituents in YOUR bloodstream?
Well, I refuse to put all of the above in my body, and I hope when your doctor starts telling you it's time for your annual flu shot that you'll require him to defend the annual injection. You or your insurance company's probably paying eighty bucks for a visit, so get your money's worth.
Have your doctor read you the insert that comes with the vaccine.
Then have him/her explain why it makes sense to inject toxic chemicals into the human body and how such substances can aid the delicate immune system.
Chances are he/she will fall back on questionable statistical and demographic explanations that the medical establishment has used for decades to justify immunization.
Try to engage your doctor in a non-confrontational discussion because this is an opportunity for him/her to actually give some serious thought to what he/she is injecting into bodies of patients day after day after day.
Many traditional doctors who haven't studied diet and lifestyle aren't going to change unless we help to educate them to what drugs and vaccines may really be doing long-term to people.
Okay, to speak from personal experience for a moment, let's look over our shoulders to 1990, a time period before the Day family turned to natural methods of building health.
In February of 1990, right after my wife's major cancer surgery in January, her doctor recommended a flu shot.
Almost immediately after the injection, my wife started feeling ill.
Overnight she came down with the worst case of flu she'd ever had.
She went to bed and literally didn't get up again for more than a few hours at a time for years afterwards. Only now, almost a decade later, is she finally regaining full health and energy.
I don't have space or enough heart yet to tell my wife's entire story, though I'll do it one of these days, but if you'll click here, you can read an article written by another CFIDS sufferer, an article that shows the cause and effect connection between flu vaccines and terrible immune disorders.
Okay, I'm a realist so if was still thinking traditionally, part of me would almost buy into the typical rationale for flu vaccines, that so many people are spared the annual flu and only a few die or have their lives ruined after being injected.
I'd buy into that if I were convinced that injecting a filthy substance into the body actually made sense.
Unfortunately, once I stopped buying into the big medical lies about their drug, cut, and burn system, I started questioning all of it.
And when one digs into the vaccine history (check out the Swine Flu vaccine if you want a real horror story) and scientific research (especially in Europe), it quickly becomes apparent that nobody really knows what these toxic stews of chemicals and microorganisms do in the human body.
Well, readers and a few medical professionals have called me a simple-minded dolt on more than one occasion, but since 1993 I've approached the yearly flu shot hype with the understanding that if I eat and live properly, I won't have to worry about catching the flu.
The flu vaccine I use -- eating and living as close to nature as I can -- actually works.
Not only that, but it doesn't cost a dime, and nobody's going to have his/her life ruined because of a "bad batch" of vaccine that triggers some mysterious autoimmune disease that lays a person out of commission for years.
But let's say you don't want to eat and live close to nature.
Okay, I can understand that, but my next question would be "Which is better? Some rest time with the flu or having toxic chemicals injected into your bloodstream?"
I mean, seriously, before I got healthy I almost looked forward to a yearly bout with influenza because it meant I could go to bed and get some rest instead of working practically every waking moment of my life.
I might add that I haven't missed more than two consecutive days of work from an illness for almost five years, so a non-vaccine approach does work for me. This non-drug approach has resulted in a level of health that continually amazes me, especially when I see other men and women my age who are miserable and without energy. Men and women who spend all too much of their time drifting from doctor to doctor in endless pursuit of solutions that don't get to the cause of their problems -- diet and life style.
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The Multiple Sclerosis/Milk Connection
By Robert Cohen, www.notmilk.com
Michael Dosch, M.D., and his team of Toronto researchers have determined that multiple sclerosis and type I (juvenile) diabetes mellitus are far more closely linked than previously thought. Dosch attributes exposure to cow milk protein as a risk factor in the development of both diseases for people who are genetically susceptible. According to Dosch:
"We found that immunologically, type I diabetes and multiple sclerosis are almost the same - in a test tube you can barely tell the two diseases apart. We found that the autoimmunity was not specific to the organ system affected by the disease. Previously it was thought that in MS autoimmunity would develop in the central nervous system, and in diabetes it would only be found in the pancreas. We found that both tissues are targeted in each disease." (Journal of Immunology, April, 2001)
Most researchers believe that MS is an auto immune disease. Auto means "self." The body's reaction to a foreign protein is to destroy that antigen-like invader with an antibody. The antibody then turn upon one's own cells. That is an auto-immune response. In the case of MS, the body's response is to attack the outer membrane-protecting nerve cells, or the myelin sheath.
MS is found in milk-drinking populations. It is interesting to note that Eskimos and Bantus (50 million living in East Africa) rarely get MS. Neither do those native North and South American Indian or Asian populations who consume no dairy products.
Many physicians have noted a dairy link to MS. Many little clues have been reinforced by one very large clue. Each clue provides a piece of the puzzle.
Norway has the highest rates of milk and dairy consumption in the world. Dr. Ashton F. Embry analyzed geographical regions, and provides this dairy clue: www.DIRECT-MS.org
He writes:
"...In Norway MS is up to five times more common in the inland farming areas than in the relatively nearby coastal fishing areas."
John McDougall, M.D., cites the British medical journal Lancet in pointing out that a diet filled with dairy products has been closely linked to the development of MS. (The Lancet 1974;2:1061)
Dr. Luther Lindner is involved in clinical MS experiments at Texas A & M University College of Medicine. Lindner, a pathologist, writes "It might be prudent to limit the intake of milk and milk products..."
A worldwide study published in the journal Neuroepidemiology revealed an association between eating dairy foods (cow's milk, butter, and cream) and an increased prevalence of MS. (Neuroepidemiology 1992;11:304¬12.)
The April 1, 2001 issue of the Journal of Immunology contains a study linking MS to milk consumption. It has long been established that early exposure to bovine proteins is a trigger for insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. Researchers have made that same milk consumption connection to MS.
The July 30, 1992 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine first reported the diabetes auto immune response milk connection:
"Patients with insulin dependent diabetes mellitus produce antibodies to cow milk proteins that participate in the development of islet dysfunction... Taken as a whole, our findings suggest that an active response in patients with IDDM (to the bovine protein) is a feature of the auto immune response."
In October of 1996, The Lancet reported:
"Antibodies to bovine beta-casein are present in over a third of IDDM patients and relatively non-existent in healthy individuals."
Two months later (December 14, 1996), The Lancet revealed:
"Cow's milk proteins are unique in one respect: in industrialized countries they are the first foreign proteins entering the infant gut, since most formulations for babies are cow milk-based. The first pilot stage of our IDD prevention study found that oral exposure to dairy milk proteins in infancy resulted in both cellular and immune response...this suggests the possible importance of the gut immune system to the pathogenesis of IDD."
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16 Quotes on Drugs
Book Review
Title:
When The Road Turns: Inspirational Stories about People with MS
This book is a collection of inspiring stories written by people with MS. The book gives insight into what it
is like developing MS, being diagnosed with the illness and how people learn to deal with it and get on with
living life to the full no matter what course the illness takes. The prologue for the book is written by
the well known talk-show host Montel Williams who himself has relapsing-remitting MS.
I like the picture this book paints of life as a journey and MS is the unexpected turn in the road, which takes
one hell of a lot of adjusting to, but the people in this book prove it can be done no matter how sharp the turn.
Life can, in some cases, even turn out to be all the richer for this unexpected and unwanted turn, provided
the individual is prepared to face MS, change, adapt and take life by the horns in spite of it.
This doesn’t happen overnight, however. It’s a process, which takes time. Often people start off in denial of MS,
then they grieve over their loss of health and “the life that was” whilst feeling sheer terror at the thought of what
the future might hold. The people in this book often describe periods when they became very depressed and almost
gave up on life, but in time they learn to grasp their new reality and in many cases go on to achieve many a
remarkable venture, find new interests and skills, set up initiatives to help others in similar situations and
use their experience with MS to help and motivate others in a similar position.
Often there is some external trigger which wakes them up, such as inspiring people like Christopher Reeves or Professor
Stephen Hawking, to the realization they can’t spend the rest of their lives feeling sorry for themselves and
that they do still have much to give to the world.
There are many wise words spoken in these accounts, which capture the indomitable human spirit. With each chapter
you realize how variable MS can be, but the main message is clear: when it comes down to what you can achieve in
life after diagnosis with MS, it largely hangs on Attitude and has little to do with the symptoms or disability
you have to live with.
Dr. Richard Radtke is living proof of this. He’s an accomplished professor of fisheries oceanography who
decided he would continue in his field of research. In spite of being legally quadriplegic he has scuba-dived
deep in the ocean in his wheelchair, been hoisted by a crane in his wheelchair from his research boat in the Antarctic
Circle in Norway, been strapped to a bobsled behind a team of dogs in Alaska and been lifted by Armed Guards at
the Great Wall of China, as well as having seventy scientific papers and numerous scientific meeting presentations
to his credit. His philosophy is “there is always a way”.
Then there is the account by Gary Lavenson the “Crazy American” who traveled all the way to Athens, Greece to try
an “experimental” MS treatment involving a low dose chemotherapy drug Mitroxone mixed with immunoglobins, and intense
rehabilitation.
I found his experiences most interesting especially his words “I have found relief from time to time in doing all these
things but I think the most benefit has come from the efforts I made on my own behalf.”
This becomes evident during his rehabilitation in Athens where upon demand that he walked “I had to believe it was
possible first”, and he does indeed learn how to walk again unaided. He imagines the headlines “Man arrives in
Greece in wheelchair and leaves on Bicycle”, and upon telling his Mother of his plans to trade in his wheelchair
for a bike, she is left convinced he is on some mind-altering drugs.
But alas as so often with MS, the road is not smooth, and Gary is struck down with a fever and severe relapse
during his stay. Though he does learn to walk again the effects of this treatment don’t last. This is a story of
great courage however, as Gary travels half way around the world in search of a cure, really stepping out
into the unknown, prepared to do whatever it takes and pushing back the boundaries.
Through his vast experience in combating MS Gary has discovered “My Spirit runs deep and within it are all the tools
I need to reinvent my life”. Wise words indeed.
Eric Simons, who attempted to climb the Argentinean Mountain Aconcagua, and gives motivational talks around the US,
agrees saying, “If we don’t push, we never learn our limits”.
From this book we can learn about the importance of setting goals and remembering our dreams. Each story proves that
people can push their boundaries and test their limits and succeed. This is very empowering psychologically in
the face of an illness like MS and seems to help people regain control over their lives once again.
To summarize, I enjoyed reading these short stories by people with MS, and re-realized the importance of focusing
on of what you HAVE and creating opportunity out of adversity. MS tests you to your limits at times but we are
resilient and there is life at the end of the tunnel provided we believe that there is. MS seems to give
people a real perspective on what is really important in life and often it is not what they thought it was.
For your book purchases: Please note that when you purchase anything through Amazon.ca
on the Internet, if you'll use
this link, you will be helping support us! Shopping online... what could be more
convenient and simple?? Visit our
Recommended Reading page for great suggestions!
Thought For The Day
The Man Who Thinks He Can!
If you think you are beaten, you are;
If you think you'll lose, you're lost
If you think you're outclassed, you are;
Life's battles don't always go
Author ~ Walter D. Wintle
Author: Margo Russell
Review By: Sylvia Brown
If you think you dare not, you don't!
If you'd like to win, but think you can't,
It's almost a cinch that you won't.
For out in the world we find
Success begins with a fellow's will;
It's all in the state of mind!
You've got to think high to rise.
You've got to be sure of yourself
before you can win the prize.
To the strongest or fastest man;
But sooner or later the man who wins
Is the man who thinks he can!
