Focus

On what do you focus today?  The things that need to get done?  The pressures and stressors of your life? Relationships?  The pile of work on your desk?  The last of the canning and wood that needs to be done before winter sets in?  The kids?  Parents?

Take time to RE-focus and calm your inner self.  When we are spinning out of control, it's hard to stay focused on the tasks at hand.  Nothing seems to get done completely and everything feels frayed.  Taking a few minutes, maybe 30 minutes or more, to center yourself, may just give you that inner breath that you need to be able to return to the "necessary" with greater calm.

Focus is the "word of the day" on A+ a WORD from God's Book.  "A Monday - Friday blog consisting of 4 to 6 INSPIRATIONAL scriptures based on a single word. Presented by LIFEgroups International."  This is a blog that I've followed off and on since it started (initially by e-mail, then by blog).  Today's word was so fitting, I just had to share it.

Does High Fructose Corn Syrup Cause Obesity and Diabetes?

Could high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) be a cause for the rise in obesity, diabetes and other medical problems? Should you be concerned about it in your daily diet?
Pick up almost any product in your kitchen and you will see high fructose corn syrup listed in the ingredients. You might wonder how can it be bad for your health when it is just corn and fructose. There is more to gaining weight than just calories.  Take a look at this Factoidz article.

If you really want to dig deeper, take a look at this lecture.  Give yourself time to watch this.  It has some technical detail, but is REALLY important to watch.

Here's a very simplified version of the longer lecture:

Insomnia

My maternal grandmother once gave me some very wise words of wisdom.  She asked me what I did when I couldn't sleep.  I don't recall what I responded, but her words of advise have stuck with me for almost 30 years: PRAY. 

We often cannot control the fact that we cannot sleep, there may be many contributing factors, but we can control what we do with that time.  We can use that time in prayer and meditation.  Maybe it's a time for praying for others - start with the people or events that come to mind off the top of your head.  This frequently leads you to thinking of more that need intersession. Sometimes you will have no idea what to pray for.  Be open to whatever comes to mind. 

I recall, back on the night of October 14, 1975, one man doing just this.  He was unable to sleep, so he got up to pray.  He was reported to have prayed for everything and everyone he could think of, but still he couldn't sleep.  He felt strongly that he needed to awaken his wife to join him.  The two of them continued in prayer, praying through the wards of the city's largest hospital.  Finally, around 1:30 am, they were able to go to sleep. 

The next day, this man, a Congolese pastor, joined with a group of other pastors and missionaries for their regular meeting.  He asked if anything significant had happened overnight.  One of the missionaries reported that a missionary girl had been bitten by a very large water cobra (estimated to be over 6 feet long).  She had been in critical condition all evening and night, on the first respirator in the country.  At about 1:30 am she had taken a turn for the better and was taking off the respirator.  Her parents arrived from the "bush" shortly there after, to find her alive.  In a country of limited medical care and very poisonous snakes, she was the first known victim to survive a bite.

That missionary girl is my one and only sister.  I remember that night as clearly as if it were last night.  We too prayed all night, but we knew for whom we were praying, the pastor and his wife didn't.  He followed the pull in him to pray.  What could have been a very frustrating night of insomnia, was actually a night of necessary prayer. 

Very rarely do we have experiences as dramatic as this, THANK GOODNESS!  BUT, I know that many of us have our nights of insomnia.  We also have circumstances in our lives that need prayer.  What about the unspoken needs of others?  We may not know the specifics, but take the time to focus on them as well.  We may never know the outcome, but that doesn't mean that our lack of sleep hasn't contributed to a miracle somewhere else.

Retreat

A week ago I attended a retreat.  Merriam-Webster defines a retreat as:

1:a (1) : an act or process of withdrawing especially from what is difficult, dangerous, or disagreeable (2) : the process of receding from a position or state attained <the retreat of a glacier> b (1) : the usually forced withdrawal of troops from an enemy or from an advanced position (2) : a signal for retreating c (1) : a signal given by bugle at the beginning of a military flag-lowering ceremony (2) : a military flag-lowering ceremony

2: a place of privacy or safety : refuge

3: a period of group withdrawal for prayer, meditation, study, or instruction under a director

     This retreat was with a group of women, many of whom I had never met.  I knew that I was going for a time with the third definition,  a period of group withdrawal for prayer, meditation, study, or instruction under a director, but I felt like I was needing to take time to withdraw from the chaos of life.  In reality, it was a time of all three definitions.  We went out of town.  We secluded ourselves in a self-contained center - sleeping, meals, meetings, chapel.  We took time to listen to others talk, we shared, prayed, sang, laughed, cried and encouraged each other in our lives.

     We took time to step back from our lives, re-evaluate and refocus on the most critical aspect of ourselves: our spiritual lives and our connection with God.  While my personal beliefs may not be the same as yours, the key point here is to take time to refocus your life to the most important driving force in your life.  Quiet yourself.  Slow down.  What is needed in your life so that you may not feel so frazzled, tired, exhausted?

     I've been trying to do some focused reading since I came home.  We were given a book at the end of the retreat called Coming Down the Mountain: How to Turn Your Retreat Into Everyday Living by Thomas Hart.  This book is helping to remind me of critical issues in my life:  interpersonal interactions, my prayer life, my connection with my Creator.  In short, it's giving me a chance to slow down the pace and re-focus on that spiritual/emotional aspect of who I am. 

     As a human being and as a physician, I truly believe that the only way that I can be of the most benefit to help others is when I am most healthy.  Being healthy is not just a state of no illness or pain, but a state of physical, emotional and inner wellness.  We all may have pains or illnesses that distract us from life, but I believe that our emotional and inner wellness are key in how we face the world around us.

     Even if you cannot get away on an official "retreat," try to take some time to retreat from the world around you and quiet yourself for a while today.  Not only will your inner self thank you, but your physical body will too.

A Time to Quiet Oneself

Our lives are crazy.  We practically spin from one activity to another, rushing from the time we awaken till we flop in exhaustion at night.  How often have you been absolutely wiped out, only to find that you cannot sleep because your brain and emotions won't slow down?  (hmmm, do I sound like I'm speaking from experience here?)

We can't keep up this pace.  It will kill us, slowly, but it will kill us, eventually.  We internalize that stress to the point that it takes it's toll not only on our emotions, but also on our physical bodies (stress -> elevated hormones and chemicals that eventually "wear out" and run low -> inflammation and depletion of other important chemicals -> depression, anxiety, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, etc, etc, etc) and our spiritual selves.  We MUST make the choice to slow down or face the consequences.

Any of you who have come through WSHC have heard me encourage you (at least on your first visit) to take at least 20 minutes a day for some quite time.  Take some time to quiet your mind, emotions, body and spirit.  Easy to say, I know, but this part of your life is critical.  It's just as critical as eating good food and drinking enough pure water so that you have the right nutrients for cells to function properly, aerobic exercise for your heart and lungs, strength training and stretching for musculoskeletal health and keeping good positive company for emotional health. 

Find a way to take some time every day to get away from the distractions of your life.