The Lost Art of Waking Up: a Pictorial

Somewhere along the line, we forget how to wake up refreshed and renewed. And instead we awaken like this:

 Correction: we wake up like that after hitting Snooze repeatedly:

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Finally, we lumber up and stumble on in search of clothes and keys and everything we'll need--the most important of which we will always forget.

So, no matter what we wear...no matter what we don't forget...the message we send to the world will be this:

Okay, then. Let's take these as givens:

--Good diet

--Good health

---6-8 hours' sleep every night

If so, why would we need Snooze alarms? I have a theory about this. I don't claim that it's profound but it's been tested--and it works:

Our mindset when we go to bed determines our state in the morning. For better or worse, we continue where we left off the night before. And we'll continue for the worse if we retire in a negative or aimless state, I propose a three step plan to ensure that we wake for the better.

1) Eat lightly after 6 p.m.. Your last meal doesn't have to be what you see in the picture above. But keep it light, something easily digested.

2) That's right, meditate--in any position you like: sitting in a cozy chair or thinking while you stretch. Your meditation can be a review of the day: what went well or might have gone better. Review your blessings while you're at it. A positive 15-minute spiritual stretch will prepare you for a deeper and more restful sleep.

3) This is my own master key: a Kenneth Cole standing valet. My solution to maddening mornings spent looking for my keys, deciding what to wear and learning when I've left home that I've forgotten something. After my spiritual stretch, I set myself up for the morning--everything I'll need, from clothes to keys to change to my wallet, etc. I go to bed in a decisive state as well as a positive, calm one.

The process is a simple one. Whether you use it or one of your own, be true to it and you'll enjoy wht you've missed for far too long:

Lies, Lies and More Damned Lies

I'm in a rare state of despair today because I've learned once again that ads are often jut cold, polished lies.

My state began a while back when learning that the bottled water on which I'd been spending so much of my money was actually just tap water. The story's here, if you care to look. But you've probably already had doubts of your own.

http://www.collective-evolution.com/2016/01/25/pepsico-finally-comes-clean-and-admits-the-truth-about-their-bottled-water/

True, none of us could have expected that our designer tap water might actually threaten our health--with something like...oh, say...a tapeworm:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7mNTpRB9F0

Still, life went on. My despair ebbed as I started watching closely, and more closely still, the food I put into my body. I eyed the labels like a hawk, on the watch for sugar in any form, preservatives, etc.

But I read a story this week that rocked my boat and should rock yours. Whether you're a Vegan, vegetarian or meat lover, the same question concerns us all: can we trust the labels or even the stores? Is 'organic' food really organic? Are 'cage-free' chickens actually cage-free? Are 'grass-fed' cows actually grass-fed? Is 'free range' actually so?

Here's one ad that sure sounds good, for yummy free range chickens:

http://www.maryschickens.com/


But:

'Direct Action Everywhere, whose mission is to create animal welfare-friendly cities and outlaw factory farming practices, visited a dozen Pitman farms and never once saw a chicken roaming outside. The group reported that it found no indications of outdoor living, such as feathers or fecal matter. Twenty-four hour surveillance cameras attached to six separate locations revealed no outdoor birds either, the activists said. Instead, chickens were packed shoulder-to-shoulder inside dusty sheds with degraded air quality, forced to challenge one another for access to food and water.'
--the intercept.com, 9/15/17


So free range may mean, Dasani-style, not cage-free.

And does cage-free actually mean anything better than factory farm?

For your consideration:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/theyre-being-eaten-alive-what-i-saw-in-a-cage_us_580a5aefe4b0b1bd89fdb1d0

I don't argue that you should be Vegan or that you shouldn't eat meat. But all of us should be empowered to make enlightened dietary decisions. And this is something we can't do if the labels lie.


“The industry is in bed with the government,” said (Wayne) Hsiung. “I’m a former securities lawyer. It’s similar to the financial industry. The USDA’s mission statement is to promote agriculture. You can’t promote the industry and guard against the industry’s abuses. It’s like trying to be a lawyer for both sides of a litigation.”

A Hallelujah Change of Life

You know what it's like, there's just not enough time, not when you work 40 hours a week. And for much of my life I worked two jobs--60 hours or more, 7 days a week--while somehow making time to write.

In Seattle I cut down to one job, a relief. Even so, though, weekends were never enough. Half the weekend, generally, was spent recovering from work stress. 

I'd continued to write. In fact, I'd succeeded in putting on speed, close now to putting out one book a year. But I'd pretty much given up on having an actual life.

Until now. I quit my office job and took a position that offers: future transfer, if I like, to any major city in the country...good benefits...a physically challenging position that helps me stay in shape...discounts on the best and healthiest organic food...and:

a 4-day week, if I like.

I like--and I've arranged it.

Retirement may be wonderful for those who can afford it. For those of us who can't...yet...we should at least enjoy the rewards of a physically active job...nearly half the week off to ourselves...good medical benefits...and paid time off.

Finally, the second shift allows me to write seven days a week. So I'm a happy camper--with a train trip coming up in November.