Tag: Guest Bloggers

May I Have Your Attention Please, By Lorie Sheffer

One of the best gifts we can give to someone is listening to what they have to say. Really listening with our full and undivided attention.

Look around you. Take notice of how distracted most people are. We are so busy that we multitask while talking to our children and grandchildren, text while sitting down for a meal, and keep that cell phone turned on “just in case”. Distraction is everywhere. It almost seems as if the art of conversation, of being fully engaged in a verbal exchange with another human being, is becoming a thing of the past. There was a time when “restaurants” with big screen TVs didn’t exist. In fact, most of us were made to turn off the TV when dinnertime rolled around. In my home, if a friend called during a meal, they were politely asked to call back later. Remember when homes had only one, maybe two, phones? Even as recently as when I would drive my daughter to and from her dance classes, which were several nights a week, we had no cell phone to interrupt our conversation. You got your kids in the car and you had a captive audience for the duration of the ride. And so did they!

There is nothing worse than trying to tell a person what is on your mind while having them text someone under the table, or “having” to take that phone call, or being so distracted by what else is going on around them that they end up only hearing a portion of what you are saying. Worse yet are the “dates”, where you will see a young couple out to dinner, she sitting there smiling while he gets to watch the big sporting event on the billboard sized TV that is hanging in the restaurant. The sad thing to me is that there are young women out there who take this as normal and seem totally OK with it.

Those of us at midlife and older know that life exists without constantly being plugged in. We have a vague recollection of giving and receiving undivided attention. We know what it’s like to read facial expressions and pick up on body language. We have eaten meals- appetizer to dessert- without looking at a TV or taking a phone call or texting under the table.

The current heat wave most of the country is experiencing this week is straining the power grid with extra air conditioning demands. This morning I received a recorded phone message from my power company asking customers to please refrain from using anything but totally necessary appliances in an effort to avoid an overload. After all, what would we do if, God forbid, we lost power and had to sit for an afternoon and actually interact with one another?

Perspective, By Heather Pinson, Guest Blogger

Photo: Heather Pinson.

Sometimes you just need to go for a walk with your daughter to get a little perspective. When we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change. If it works with a water bottle, how much more effective would it be if we believed it to be true for ourselves? Perspective: get some. Go! Make a difference.

Editors note: Look closely in photo: “Plant bottle, up to 30% made by plants. Impossible?

The Popcorn Was The Best Part Of The Movie, By Lorie Sheffer, Guest Blogger

Last week the movie Titanic was on one of my cable TV channels. I thought back to when I saw that movie in a theater, just after it was released. It was torture for me to sit through it. I thought the computer imagery looked fake and ridiculous, the love story was stupid and the theme song was like fingernails on a chalkboard. But I sat there through the end credits, realizing that the movie lasted longer than it did for the actual Titanic to sink.

There have been times when I have started reading a book, only to realize early into it that I don’t like it. It may be the style of writing or the story itself. There are several about which I have commented about having to slog through.

At what point in our lives can we give ourselves permission to walk out of a theater, hit the eject button on the DVD player, or close a book and not open it again? Unless it’s something we are later going to be tested on for a class, who cares if we finish it or not? If we are renting or going to a movie to be entertained then why sit through something that bores us? If we’re reading for pleasure, then why slog through something when there’s a whole world of books out there that we can enjoy?

I have also had the experience of thinking I was going to hate something, but agreed to sit through for someone else. My husband just had to see the movie Glory. I thought I would just use the cool, dark theater for a chance to take a two-hour nap. I left the theater sobbing, knowing I had just seen what would always be one of my all-time favorite movies. I had a similar experience with Apollo XIII. It was released during my son’s obsession with all things NASA.  “Oh, this should be a real nail biter! Wonder if they’ll make it back to Earth alive?” was my sarcastic comment while waiting in line for tickets. Nobody was more stunned than me when I found myself perched on the edge of my seat, waiting for the crew to contact mission control upon re-entry. Again, I knew I was seeing what is still one of my favorite movies.

I suppose what I’ve learned is that while the payoff for trying something you think will not interest you can, in fact, turn out to be an unexpected wonderful surprise, it’s also OK to admit you just don’t like something. Even if a movie ends up winning more awards than any other movie in history, if you don’t enjoy it then why sit through it? Life is too short for sappy movies and boring books. Life is too short to be filled with meaningless junk in general. We can’t change things that have happened in our past. Time machines don’t exist and there are very few, if any, do-overs in life. All we can do is decide what we allow into our life from this second on. We can try new things, discover new things about ourselves, and sometimes even surprise ourselves by finding joy in unexpected places. We also have the power to let go of the worthless stuff that is weighing us down. We have the power to put it down and step away from it so that we can better fill that precious time with happiness and things that we find worthwhile.

Going Viral, By Lorie Sheffer

As baby boomers, not only have we had to learn about new technology, we’ve also had to learn about new threats to our health. As teenagers, we never heard of HIV/AIDS. Just as we have now hopefully become more educated about that virus, a new threat has emerged. MRSA seems to be the new word that sends folks into panic mode. When my father contracted MRSA during his long hospitalization, I saw first hand the panic reaction that people had in response and realized that most of this panic came from misinformation. While MRSA is serious, it is most times treatable. That being said, there are some basic things we should all know.

MRSA: Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, are bacteria that are highly resistant to antibiotics. According to the Mayo Clinic, these bacteria are “the result of decades of often unnecessary antibiotic use.” Antibiotics first became widely used in the 1940s. Often people would demand them for viral infections such as a bad cold. Sometimes they would stop using them when they began to feel better, saving them for the next time they or another family member became sick. The problem with this is that while antibiotics can kill bacteria, they do absolutely nothing to kill or even weaken a virus. In fact, not only do they not help, they actually cause harm. How? By setting evolution in motion by creating a classic “survival of the fittest” with the bacteria.

Bacteria are living organisms that live on an evolutionary fast track. They learn to survive the antibiotics and become resistant to them. Bacteria exist everywhere, and some types are beneficial. For example, the bacteria found in yogurt help with digestion by aiding in the breakdown of food. Other bacteria are harmful because they invade our bodies, where they then grow and multiply. An example of harmful bacteria is streptococcus, more commonly known as strep throat. Since strep is a bacteria, antibiotics would be a reasonable treatment. There are also viral throat infections, and treating them with antibiotics would be useless. Many patients, however, don’t realize this and react angrily if their physician refuses them antibiotics for a viral throat infection.

Viruses are not living organisms and cannot exist on their own. They live, grow and reproduce only after they invade living cells. Some are fought off by our own immune systems, some run their course, and some, like HIV, set up camp in our cells. People don’t die from HIV; they die because the virus attacks the immune system. When the immune system is compromised then secondary disease has a chance to wreak havoc.

The bottom line is, while antibiotics are wonderful drugs for treating bacterial illness, there is danger of too much of a good thing. Because of overuse of them and because of the use of antibacterial soaps and cleaning products instead of the just as effective soap and water or bleach and water, we have created stronger bacteria that have learned to resist our arsenal. If you use these things when you really don’t need them, they are not going to work when you DO need them.