Balancing Minerals = A Balancing Act

I've been away from home for two weeks. The first week I, along with a team from our church, participated in an outreach ministry in the Tinderloin district of San Fransisco. It was hard work all day, but very rewarding. We met wonderful people who work in the ministry, people who receive help from the ministry and those who run a local business in the neighborhood because they want to be part of the solution.

By the end of the week my body was spent. I had taken my multi-vitamin along and my thyroid supplements, but the other things I left at home. Getting my body back into the rhythm of life has been a challenge. I realize from reading "Healthy Healing," the section on muscle cramps, spasms and twitches, that I'm probably lacking minerals. Linda Page writes, "Muscle spasms, cramps, twitches and tics are usually a result of body vitamin and mineral deficiencies or imbalances. Most cramping occurs at night as minerals move between blood, muscles and bones." It seemed like I could feel every bit of movement those minerals made as I lay still trying to sleep. "Avoid refined sugars, processed and preserved foods. Food sensitivities to these are often the cause of twitches and spasms," Page notes. She also mentions the need for increased Vitamin C in women.

We can't just take a lot of extra minerals in supplement form because it can be too much for the body to process.

"Minerals must be acquired by food. Our bodies do not make them. Although we would hope we could get them from the foods we eat, today’s diets do not contain the minerals we need even if you are eating a pristine diet. A deficiency of a single mineral can negatively impact the entire chain of life, rendering other nutrients ineffective and useless. What about supplements? Most of them are ineffective because they are not coming in a full spectrum form or from a food form. Many are synthetic and can not be properly digested or absorbed, which lead to even further problems. All minerals work together. When you affect one it affects the other." ~InspiringHealth.net

Good foods such as green leafy vegetables, nuts and seeds, and seafoods will take us a long way in replacing needed minerals.

Good health is such a balancing act, if we tip too far to one side and neglect the other, we lose our balance and can quickly fall. A healthy lifestyle includes deep breathing, plenty of clean water, a healthy diet including the vitamins and minerals we need, and a spiritual discipline as well. So here's a shameless plug for my ebook, which discusses each of these areas in a short, easy-to-read format. "Mid-Life NOT a Crisis" Click for NOOK. And for Kindle.

So, I'm upping my mineral intake along with some Vitamin C and taking much more water. I've also gotten back to my regular diet and begun to exercise again. It's so easy to relax our standards of health when we're out of town!

Here's an informative page about Minerals put out by the US National Library of Medicine, if you're interested in reading more.

What do you do when your muscles twitch, your bones hurt and/or you're just plain exhausted?

Here's to Your Success

Do you feel successful?

To answer that we need to know what success means to our individual life.

Off the top of my head, my answer is: I'd like to know I follow the plans God has for me and that I'm pleasing Him along the way. I'd like to use fiction writing and my interest in natural things to generate income. I'd like to earn enough money so that my husband and I could travel and visit family on a regular basis. I'd also like to be involved in our local community.

What does success look like to you?

Discovering your deepest, most valued goals takes time, time to think, ponder and pray. Here's where we Americans lock ourselves in a "no-success" closet. We rush through our day trying to check off as many things from our to-do list as possible. We rush through our meals, wishing food could be faster, then run to our evening activities. Finally we plop into bed and set the alarm to begin again.

If we don't schedule quiet time for prayer, meditation and just plain thinking, we'll never discover our real goals. Without this quiet time, we can't create either. It takes time to develop new ideas.

Try this exercise: Find a quiet place in the house where you won't be disturbed for at least 20 minutes. Sit comfortably. Breath slowly, allowing your breath to go deep into your abdomen. Think about the sounds around you for a moment. Now block out those sounds and think about your breath, slow and deep. Next focus your thoughts on an aspect of God's character, or on an idea you'd like to develop. Ask God to bless your thoughts and give you insight. Don't push your mind to hurry and come up with all the answers. Just relax. Breath. Ponder.

Once you decide what you really want, then you must make judgements about every opportunity that comes your way. This means saying "No." That one little word will enable your success more than any other single word or act. Read the last two sentences again. . . Ponder that!

You have to say "No" to everything that does not directly or indirectly feed your goals.

Another thing that increases creativity and productivity is allowing time for the basic necessities of life. We need to schedule time in our day to brush our teeth, bathe, clean house, organize our papers, pay the bills, check our emails, etc. (Be careful not to get sucked into Google search-land while on the computer. #1 Time-waster). These are the things that can bog us down and halt our creativity and thought life if we let them get out of control. And please don't forget sleep, water, and proper nutrition. Without these our brain doesn't function at optimal capacity.

It really is okay to take care of yourself.

So, to sum up:
1. Schedule time to pray and think. Use breathing exercises to help you relax and focus.
2. Decide on your goals
3. Say "No" to those things that don't fit in with your goals.
4. Keep up on the basics: neatness, cleanliness, exercise, drinking water, eating healthy food and sleeping.

Success isn't the biggest house with the most/best stuff in it. Success ins't working 60+ hours a week or even having the most prestigious title at the company. Success is accomplishing your own personal goals, while maintaining good relationships with those you love (first of all God), and enjoying good health along the way.