End of the Year (part one)

Now that the busy-ness of the holiday season is almost behind us, it’s time to relax a bit and think of what we would like to happen next year.

Chris Guillebeau, in his annual week-long review asks two questions:

1. What didn’t work well this year?
2. What worked well this year?

I love the way Chris looks at things, and I’ve adopted his two questions as the beginning of my own annual review.

I have a long tradition of spending New Year’s Eve, once the rest of the family has gone to bed, sitting on the floor in my living room figuring out stuff.

• Favorite drink: hot raspberry cordial.
• Favorite music: Sarah Brightman singing Pie Jesu with Paul Miles-Kingston.
• Favorite pen: Pilot G2 07, in blue so I can see it better by candle light
• Favorite book to write in: Planner Pad — I write in the “goals/projects/calendar” section in the back, the last four pages.

Because I know the new year is coming, and because I know I’m too sleepy that late at night to remember it all, I usually begin a few weeks earlier and devote two pages to list my answers to Chris’s questions.

This year has been the most unpredictable year ever and had a lot of surprise successes. That page is almost filled.

The other page, the things that didn’t work well,  has about half as many listings, but a few of them are significant. Projects I wanted to begin, money I wish I wouldn’t have spent, time I wish I would have put into projects, other ongoing commitments that didn’t get the attention needed. I was as though I was going down the highway but didn’t know where I would end up.

In looking over all the things that didn’t go well I see a theme:

I was distracted.

My distractions were not bad things. My daughter’s family of four moved in with us last December while they designed and had their new home built. It took eleven months. And during that time they crammed themselves and some of their stuff into our modest home and, well, I was distracted by the pitter patter of little feet, the wonderful companionship of my daughter, and the accompaniment of little girls almost any time I wanted. My focus was on family.

And it was good.

My list of things that didn’t go well has a second theme too:

I made mistakes.

Learning from past mistakes happens better if you examine them.

Most on my list are due to old habit patterns that I didn’t bother to deal with. Like not scheduling things to be done at certain times or on certain days. Or not making a list of breakfast meals that work when I’m in a hurry. Or not planning suggested dinner menus in writing so I can look at them when I need groceries but I’m not feeling creative.

New Year’s Eve will find me forgiving. Forgiving me for the things I didn’t get accomplished this year, forgiving others for whatever offenses I still haven’t forgiven, forgiving everything and anything that might get in the way of pressing on into the new year with a clear idea of where I think I’m going. And forgiving me for the fears that prevented actions I really wanted to take.

Learning.

I’ve run three classes now (one still in progress) with people who frequent the LeftLemon.com page on facebook. I trust they have benefited, but I’ve certainly learned a lot! I’d forgotten how difficult it was to figure out how to balance a meal. It almost comes as second nature to me now, but I’ve been working on it for nearly five years.

LeftLemon.com is about using food and food alone to achieve health. I could have done better this year. The last time I saw Dr. Max he actually handed me an envelope of pills to take to get my kidneys working better. Do I know how to get kidneys working better with food and food alone?!?

This past year I’ve answered a lot of questions from visitors to the website, from friends who know what I do, and from people in Max’s office. But no one else benefited from those answers. This new year will find me focused on answering the many questions that come my way in a form that helps many, instead of just the questioner. Which is what this blog is about.

My goal is to give you at least one tidbit that will help you on your journey toward health. Maybe even two. And if I manage to keep my promises, these missives will arrive on Monday nights and Thursday nights.

Hot Morning Drinks

I know several people who swear their bowels move perfectly when they drink coffee every morning. They pay for that with kidney stones and other health problems, but there is something to their claim. So try one of these instead:

• hot herbal tea with cayenne
• hot lemon water with raw honey and cayenne
• hot chai tea with cayenne
• hot milk with maple syrup and cayenne

Sometimes I add a bit of Real Salt. It helps the fluids get all the way to the colon. If you can taste it, you’ve used too much.

And if you want to know why there is cayenne in all of the above hot morning drinks, it’s because cayenne is well known for stripping excess mucus from your insides.

Here’s hoping your week is filled with the blessings of good health, good friends, and good food choices.