Health Works – Life Works

Fat? Getting fatter? Are you struggling with weight loss? You are not alone. So am I. I may have found a simple way to start weight loss and a way to maintain a desired weight.

As a young woman, I was always slender. One time, I noticed that I was up 5#. ??? That was curious. I reviewed what was different about my diet. What I noticed was that I had added a piece of pie to my dinner, every night. Hmmm. Apparently that was too much. I eliminated the pie and guess what… I returned to my normal weight (115-120#) within a couple of weeks.

The years passed. I had a couple of great kids. Life got busy. Exercise fell to an occasional experience in my life. My weight went up between 125 pounds. It seemed that through the decade of the 40’s, I added 10 pounds. I didn’t like that. However, Susan Weed (the herbalist) strongly suggests that you gain a minimum of 10 pounds before menopause. The fat cells hold the estrogen and it would make that journey easier. Ok, I was good with that.

In the last 6-7 years life has been very stressful. My husband has had the opportunity to explore new employment, which was successful. Both of these required moves to different states. I have had to find new work in both states. That wasn’t a problem, but on the stress scale, I am off the top. (That is another article).  We have had 2 kids in college. One graduated in May and the other expects to graduate in Dec. In the last year or more, my weight has gone up monthly.

We all know the risks of being over weight. They include increasing risk of heart disease, diabetes, GERD, bowel problems, breathing problems, joint problems, just to name a few issues. It is very important to maintain a healthy weight, if you want to live long and be healthy.

I have tried diets, diet aids, cutting back, promises to exercise…. And the weight was still going up. I am not fat, but I am getting there, fast. What do I do to stop this?

I have a reasonable diet. Breakfast is a home made natural laxative spread on flax seed bread. Lunch is peanut butter, cashew butter or almond butter (raw if I can get it) with home made low sugar jam on whole wheat fiber one bread. I snack on fresh veggies, apples or other fruit. Dinner is a large salad, chicken 1-2x week, fish 1x week, lots of vegetables, occasional potatoes or pasta. I have an occasional piece of chocolate. I do drink coffee (mostly decaf) with cream and agave (natural, low GI sweetener). I drink lots of water, some place between 70-100 ounces per day. About half of the foods are organic. I am adding more free range chicken, turkey, (beef for husband) to the diet. This year I was able to join a local CSA (consumer supported agriculture) farm for fabulous vegetables. I have an herb garden and through in a few vegetables of my own.

I believe in cleaning. I have done several throughout the years. Since January 09, I have done 4 gall bladder flushes. I am currently doing a kidney cleanse. Our bodies are full of toxins. We eat food that has been sprayed with pesticides. Meats are loaded with chemicals, hormones, antibiotics. We breathe in polluted air. Our water is less than pure. We take medications (prescribed and over the counter). The body can’t get rid of everything through the bowels. The fat cells store the toxins. Our liver get clod up as does the gall bladder.  The kidneys are another filtering organ. They need to be clean. Yet, while I am doing these things, I was gaining weight.

Last month, I started adding a new product to my food. It is guaranteed to help you lose weight.

I HAVE STOPPED THE WEIGHT GAIN!  I HAVE LOST SEVERAL POUNDS!  

I want to give this another couple of weeks to make sure that it is working for me. If this weight loss continues, I will be back with more information about the products an how to get them.

Stay tuned……..

I am a healer. I work in the Human Energy System to help people to return and maintain health and wellness. Energy work, such as Healing Touch, Brennan Healing Science and Reiki, fall in the realm of “Subtle” healing. By this, I mean, the makes very small and infinitesimalshifts and their life changes. For instance, “getting a new job” is a big happening. We are very aware of that. What we are not so aware of are all the little tiny shifts in thinking, attitude and actions that go into “gettting a new job”.  When I explain subtle energy healing to new clients and students, their faces offen go blank.

The other weekend, I was making a long trip. I went to my favorite library and picked up this book on CD that looking interesting and that I could complete within the travel time. There I was, last Thursday evening, after a brief appearance at business function for my husband, car was packed and gassed up, I slipped in the CD and was tooling down the highway.

From the first sentence, I was intrigued. I hated to stop the car and turn off the CD.

Can you smell the difference between peppermint and spearmint and wintergreen? Can you smell or taste the difference between Mediterranean basil and regular no name basil?

Subtle, yep. The differences are subtle (slight, delicate, faint, fine). This book is about subtle flavors and techniques used in cooking to heal the soul.

Woven around the ingredients found chopped and simmering in Lillian’s restaurant cooking class are sniplets of the stories of healing for nine people. The first story is about Lillian, the restaurant owner. She learned to cook to help heal her mother’s withdrawal after her father left when Lillian was four. To Lillian, food, the colors, textures, aromas and flavors could awaken sleeping memories, stir emotions and heal the heart. She now owns a very successful restaurant and offers a monthly Monday night cooking class. This story is around her Monday night class and 8 students all there for different reasons.

There are eight students in the class. Carl and Helen have been married forever. They have a secret that is tender to the heart. Have you ever been a young mother? Lost your identity in the process? Well, Claire is and has and finds herself among the dishes, spices, wines of the class. There is Tom, a lawyer who lost his beloved and lost himself. Then there is Antonia, who is new to America. She is an Italian kitchen designer who finds her way in America in the sweetest of ways.

Lillian has a knack for knowing how to pick the right student to help with the right dish with the right ingredients to stir deep healing.  How about a journey in baking a white on white cake, that provokes wistful thoughts of delicate love. Or how to make pasta, a garlic red sauce, choose the best wine, and find that it is the catalyst that breaks apart your relationship, setting you free.

Tuck yourself in a corner of Lillian’s kitchen, or a corner table in the restaurant. Imagine having a dark espresso with sweet textures of tiramisu. You can taste this just from listening or reading this delightful book. Erica Bauermeister is that good. Her words and descriptions make the meals, the students and the stories come vividly to life in your mind and senses.

This is a must book for students and practitioners of energy healing. Healing occurs in all situations: in the doctor’s office, on a healers table, and in the kitchen. We all would do well to remember that even a slight shift in perception, attitude, taste or activity can and will make a profound difference in one’s life.

Black Holes, Einstein and Management. I am not sure that I would have use them in the same sentance before this morning. I was in a sleepy haze listening to NPR’s Morning Edition when Krulwich on Science’s commentary “A Light Take On The Gravity-Time Relationship”. It is a physics issue. But Brian Green, theoretical physicist, appearently makes physics principles understandable with story telling. This story is “Icarus at the Edge of Time” by Greene, and it is based on Einstein’s theory that gravity and time are relational. The more gravity, the slower time moves and the less gravity, the faster time moves. Here is the link if you want to here the story: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=96095009.

Appearently Black Holes have a lot of gravity, more than we have on earth. There is more gravity here on Earth than there is out in space. In the story, the boy, Icarus, gets in his pod, leaves the space ship and ventures out to the black hole. The father, cautions him to come back to the ship. Icarus isn’t interested. He switches off the communicator just before his father tells him that gravity effects time. He goes and explores the edges of the black hole. Meanwhile, Dad is watching him with binocculars. He sees his son’s  m o  v  e   m    e     n     t       s       s       l        o         w           d           o              w             n               ! 

Everything becomes slow motion. Now for Icarus, he experiences the regular march of time. He is not aware that time has slowed down for him in the pod but not for Dad in the ship. Icarus pokes around for several hours and then heads back to the ship. He is feeling rather smug that he figured out to visit and survive the black hole, only to discover there is no Dad and no ship. Icarus had a several hour experience in the heavy gravity of the black hole. However, Dad had a 10,000 year experience in the lighter gravity of space. Hmmmm. Hate when that happens.

You are probably wondering what this has to do with management. I have been in nursing for several decades (not telling how many). Most of this time, I have been in the trenches, that would be at the bedside or front line in the home. I would equate the “trenches” with “Black Holes” as far as the gravity/time continum goes. That would mean that management would expierience time as much faster and with increasing speed as one moves up the Ivory Tower.

Follow me for a minute. (Would that be the slow mo trench minute or the blink in the Ivory Tower?) I will speak from my experience as a nurse. Though, I can’t imagine others have a vastly different experienc. In the trenches, there are problems, challanges, issues of all sorts. I don’t have a “my people will talk with your people”. I am “IT”. There are phone calls, follow up phone calls, documentation, patient/family questions, problems, fears, print jobs that don’t print, assignments get changed, meetings, more documentation and…. you get my point. I can spend 3 hours in the office, setting up my assignment for the day. I am not twiddling my thumbs or eating bonbons. I can be in a home, handling several issues, teaching, documenting, only to realize that I have been there for 2 hours. To management, I must be in sl o  w    m   o    t      i      o       n        !

I look at my managers and they are doing this project, that committee, this research, that task. Twit Twit, they have all this stuff accomplished. They seem to leave on  time than I do (not that I am counting).

So… The MaryPat Theory on the Work-Time Continum or at least a coralary to the Einstein’s Theory. The closer one is to the trenches, the slower time moves. It will be the regular “tick tock” that the trench worker experiences. We will be in slow motion to the manager. To us, the manager in the lofty Ivory Tower is moving much faster and will actually look frantic. For the manager’s part, he/she will experience a regular “tick tock”, just at a much faster rate. Does that mean managers age faster?  Hmmmm

Managers need to be aware of this difference.  I think that I will include this theory on my next evaluation! (ah, perhaps not.)  And on that note, I will just check in on my 3 Ten Minute Mood Lifters to help me to decrease the stress of the slow trench/time experience.

One might wonder why I would want to can strawberry jam in the middle of a move. Why not! It fits in w/ my personality. Besides this move and relocation is spaning several months.

Berries: strawberries, raspberries and blueberries are plentiful here in upstate NY. It has not been the same in other states that I have resided. My neice wants to learn how to make jam. So Aunt Mary Pat is going to show how to make jam.

First you have to gather supplies. They include canner w/ insert, wide mouth funnel, tongs for lifting jars, soup laddle, small and large spoons, whisk, spatula, potato masher, canning jars, lids, rings. For strawberry jam, you will also need, fresh picked strawberries, pectin (like sure jell), lemon and sugar. There are no-sugar pectins that work well too. I made both kinds this year.

There is a difference betw/ lids and rings. The lids are the tops that seal the jars in processing. They are held on by the rings for processing purposed. You do not store the finished produce w/ the rings on the jars. I keep a few rings available for the open jars that I am using.

I sterilize my jars after cleaning them in boiling water for 15 minutes. Wash the berries and crush them. I use a potato masher. Follow the directions on the pectin package. There are times that you can vary recipes. This is one of the times you can not alter the recipes. It is based on chemical reaction and portion sizes. They do recommend that you do one batch at a time.

A hot water bath processing is pretty simple. You will need your canner 2/3 full of boiling water. You want the water to cover the jars. Put the hot jam in jars using wide mouth funnel. Clean the top rim of the jar.  Place a wet lid on the jar, secure with a ring.  Place the jam packed hot jars on the canner insert and lower into boiling water. When the water returns to a boil, boil for 10 minutes. Remove jars and keep them upright over night. Listen for all the lids popping. It is a wonderful sound. All the lids should be concave when cool. If they

Normally I do not have difficulty with jam. This year, when I am teaching my niece, the jam doesn’t jell. My mistake was cooking it at a lower temperature for a longer period. It needs to be cooked on high heat for short period of time. I cooked it too long and inactivated the pectin.

For many cooking mistakes, there are fixes. And there is in this case too. I called the 800 number on the pectin box. The person on the help line was useless.  She kept criticizing me for my mistake and had no idea how to fix the jam. What a way to win friends and influence people. NOT!

Cooperative Extension is a great place to get household and kitchen information. Most every county I have lived in has one. The dietitian had a recipe to fix runny, pourable jam. Here it is. I tried it and it works.

You can redo up to 8 cups of runny jam at a time. The portions are PER CUP of runny jam.

1 tablespoon water, 1 1/2 teaspoon powdered pectin, mix and bring to a boil.

Add 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1 cup of jam and bring to a boil over high heat while sturring constantly. Boil 1/2 minute. Skim any foam, fill your jars and reprocess.

I did 8 cups, so I used the following proportions: 8 tablespoons of water, 12 teaspoons of pectin, 16 tablespoons sugar. My jam is perfect.

Have you been laid off or fired? Is your future freed up? Is your head spinning? Are you feeling like you have been hit by a Mac truck? Loss of a job will rock you to your core. Read on. Here are steps that can help you navigate and survive this time of change do to job loss.

People loose their jobs for many reasons. Some reasons include down sizing, new CEO may bring in a new management team, or lack of work. Sometimes the lay off is through no fault of your own. Sometimes the employee sabotages their work life by not getting along with co-workers, lying, poor grooming, unreliable, used work for personal business, couldn’t do the work, or abused alcohol or drugs and they get fired.

When the ax comes, there will be a bunch of emotions that will overwhelm you. And there are activities that you will need to do to survive and flourish.

The emotions include denial “this isn’t happening”, feelings of overwhelm, fear, anxiety, anger, sadness, and depression. You will have to deal with the emotional rollercoaster. If you need help get it. Eventually you will get to acceptance and experience new growth and opportunity.

1) First, realize that you will have all of these feelings or emotions. Most of us will not experience these in a particular order. You may go from anger, to fear, to depression, to being OK, and then back to anger. Be present to each stage. Get a good friend to listen to you, be your sounding board. Or you can journal your feelings until you get a handle on them. If the emotions become too overwhelming, get professional help. After the first week, stop the “poor me” stories. Staying in the story makes it very difficult for people to be around you. It is what is. We have to work, so put on your boots and start looking.

2) If you qualify for unemployment… go and sign up. You have paid into the system and you will pay into it again. It is a financial stop gap between jobs.

3) Take stock of where you are financially. You may need to redo your budget so that you can live, eat and pay your bills. It might be a back to basics budge, but remember it is temporary. If you eat two meals daily at fast food restaurants, you should consider eating at home and packing your lunch. It is less expensive and healthier.

4) Review what happened, why did you lose your job. Be honest. If you have contributed to your new state of freedom, admit it. What can you do to fix your attitude or behavior(s) so that you get and keep the next job? If you need help in this area, get it.

5) Finding the new job takes focused effort. If you can get outplacement service, do it. You can Google “how to find a great job”. The internet is rich in resources from ‘how to’, resumes, job postings what to wear to an interview and how to interview, and follow up. Plan on spending 7-8 hours a day in job search activities. Watching TV, doing lots of chores, hanging out at the coffee house or pub, will not get you closer to getting that new job. Finding a job is like going to work.

6) Network. Network. Network. Call your family, friends, acquaintances and your Christmas card list. Let them know your situation and that you are looking. If they give you a lead, follow up. Start a little newsletter. It is a great way to keep everybody posted on your comings, goings and progress. It is a fabulous networking tool.

7) Keep good records. Have a calendar. Show up on time, neatly dressed, with your resume and references neatly presented. Keep a log of your resumes/applications that you have sent out, interviews, expenses and the results. This will keep you on track and you can have timely follow up.

“No.” Yep, you may get turned down. In fact, you may get many “no suitable opening” letters. So what. Shake it off and go on to the next opportunity. There is a job out there that is a good match for you. Keep looking.

9) Which brings me to my next point. Keep a positive attitude. It is the one thing you can do to help land that next job ASAP. It is the Law of Attraction. You won’t get that dream job by being depressed, and angry. People who are happy, upbeat, positive, capable, and dressed appropriately are much more likely to get the offers.

10) You Got The Offer! Yippee! Suit up and show up. Be a good employee. Be excellent at what you do.

Losing a job is very stressful. It will rock you to your core. It is something that most of us will go though, at least once in our careers. Are you having trouble with your emotions? Is the stress of job loss getting in the way of finding a new job? I invite you to visit http://healthworksenergyhealing.com/ if you are having trouble with the stress of being fired or laid-off.

From Mary Pat FitzGibbons, RN MS

Last fall (2007) there was a CEO succession at the company where my husband and I work. In November, my husband, who was in upper management, was the first to be laid off. In a nanosecond not only does your work network crumble, but so does your social network. This is a small town. When this happened nobody would talk to us. I can’t tell you the number of our friends that wouldn’t, couldn’t or didn’t know how talk to us. They would avoid us, by looking at their shoes and walk away. May be it was fear? Will they be next? I don’t know what shunning is excactly, but loss of all our social contacts was rather devistating on top of the job loss. So, what do you say or do for your co-worker and friend who has been fired or laid off?

Whenever there is a change in management, employees become afraid. Your job feels very insecure, you may become defensive, protecting your position. With a change in management, there usually is some form of change coming down the pike. When a company brings on a new CEO, it may well mean changes in top management. Jack Welch became president of GE (General Electric) when GE was in trouble. He was known by the nickname “Neutron Jack” because many folks lost their jobs. However, he turned the company around to be a viable in today’s world, thereby saving and creating jobs. That scenario happens every day in companies all over the county. But what do you say or do for your co-worker who has been laid off.

1) When you see your friend, say “Hi, I am sorry to hear about your job.” Loosing a job isn’t leprosy, it’s not contagious. Just say “Hi!” The friendship and support is needed and much appreciated. Just keep in contact.
2) Do activities with your friend. Go to lunch or dinner with them, play golf or cards or go to a show. You don’t have to fix the situation, just be a friend.
3) Listen, your friend will need to sort things out and make plans for the future. It is easier and nicer to have a friend walk the path with you.
4) Encourage your friend through the process of the job search. It can be very lonely and frustrating to look for a new position. It is very important to be positive during this time. You are much more likely to land a new job with positive upbeat attitude. Call your friend, frequently to see how he/she is doing and how the process is going.
5) Depending upon the circumstances, the friend may have to move. Stay in contact with your friend during the process. If there are ways to help, do so if you are able. Having your friend over for a simple dinner is a wonderful gesture.
6) There will be a whole host of emotions that everyone will go through during this process. You don’t have to get stuck in “life sucks” conversations. Simply recognizing the emotions of anger, disappointment, sadness, and grief may be all that you need to do. Then you can get on to what is right and good in the new opportunities that present.
7) Be a “Friend”. Be present and available to the extent you can. You never know when this person or another friend will need to be there for you. “Pay it forward”, if you will.

Getting fired or laid-off is not the worst thing in the world. Learn from the situation and grow. It is a doorway to new opportunities that await you.

I invite you to visit http://healthworksenergyhealing.com/ if you are having trouble with the stress of being fired or laid-off.

From Mary Pat FitzGibbons, RN MS

Getting laid off really turns your world upside down. This is very difficult when it is you that gets the boot. However, it is also very unsettling when your spouse gets laid off. Previously I wrote about some of my experiences in the last 4 months. Living in the question mark is quite an experience. Truth be known, we are always living in the question mark. It is a lie to think that my security lies out there, someplace, with the job, the husband whatever. My security and my freedom are within me. If I can remember that and seek to find and cultivate my own inner freedom and security, I will always have them. If I choose to look outside myself, then the best I can get is security and it will be provisional.

During this time, I have had the opportunity to learn many things. One biggy was to “not worry”. Worrying and fretting only serves to raise the blood pressure, set you up for heart attack or stroke or cancer or accidents or something else. I didn’t really want any of those aforementioned outcomes. So I choose not to worry. Does that mean I never worried or was anxious? No, of course not. However, when I would slip into that state, I would catch myself and start thinking other thoughts. I would put some great music on. Or I would listen to “The Secret” or Young Living Oil educational CD. It worked.

My husband was very clever. He is very good at making, maintaining relationships. That is why he is so good at his job, fundraising. He wrote up an email newsletter, letting all his family, friends and acquaintance know what had happened and asked their help. Help came in the form of leads, prayers, good wishes, phone calls, lunch etc. It paid off. Through his diligence, contacts, and hard work, he found, was offered and accepted a position in upstate NY. We left NY 20 years ago. I never thought that I would get back there. Ya never know about these things.

Now we have the task of packing, selling the house, finding temporary (I hope it is really temporary) housing, buying a house, moving and making a life for our self in a new town. It will be new friends, new jobs, new routine, new almost everything. That is OK. It gives me time to do a lot of de-cluttering…. getting rid of what I don’t need any more.

My husband found a great job. Eureka! For that I am happy. Now it is time for me to explore the new opportunities opening for me.

Have you every heard of Color Breathing? It isn’t very hard. Simply put, you take in a series of deep yoga or belly breaths. You imagine each of the following colors. You breathe in the color until you can see it, feel it and taste it. The colors are Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Sky Blue, Indigo, and Violet/White.

For instance, you take the color red. Luscious red. Tomato red or strawberry red or a velvet red.
See it clearly or smell it or taste it or feel it. Then imagine that you are breathing in this color. Let it fill you feet, legs, body, arms, and head. When you feel full of the color, you can release it. Do this exercise with each color.

We have an energy system (aura) that surrounds and penetrates the body. There are major 7 energy centers (or chakras) that bring in universal energy to nourish the body. Each chakra is a wheel or vortex of energy and it interfaces with the body with an endocrine gland and a major nerve plexus. The colors I gave above are the colors of chakras on the 2nd level of the aura. Each color has a vibration. When we are sick, depressed, stressed or otherwise out of balance, our Vibrational pattern is distorted, off, not balanced. Breathing in the colors is a simple way to rebalance our selves.

Would you like more information on the energy system, energy healing, depression, pain, stress release? Come see me at http://healthworksenergyhealing.com/ See you soon, Mary Pat

Some interesting things have happened since my last blog note about my husband getting laid off. It is really an interesting thing to watch one self go through this situation. Some of my experiences included fog, confusion, irritability, shame, fear to name a few. It was pretty rocky for a couple of weeks. So how to you get through the inital shock of (you or) your spouse getting fired or laid off?

There is a technique call “The Witness, Asker and Experiencer” that is great for helping you through all kinds of life events and happenings. Most of us are experts at the “Experiencer” part. We go through one experience after another. If we are in therapy, we have the opportunity to analyze some of this stuff. But how do we learn from these experiences and grow. How do we find our way out of the far country after a shock. We need something else besides the experience. The other two parts of this are the “Witness” and “Asker”. Imagine an experience that you have gone through or are going through. Now imagine that there is a camera up in the corner of the “room” in which you are having the experience. It is recording the experience, frame by frame. There is no judgement, it is just experience. Imagine watching the experience through the lens of no judgement.

Here is an example. I walk into the kitchen at lunch time during the week. My husband is sitting at the table working a crossword puzzle. He often stops home to have lunch, no big deal. I say “Hi” and have some idle chit chat. He says that he had a meeting with the boss and he is no longer employed. The world starts to get foggy. I ask “what happened?” My head is swurling, I can’t think. Can’t breathe either. My heart sinks. He tells me why. It feels like it is rainning bricks as I begin to assimulate what this means. My world is falling apart. Now I have to go back to work and be the competent nurse that I am. Yeah, right. Well, I used my wittness to help me. I know from my personal work, that the “fog” is about fear, existential fear. This goes way back to childhood abuse. When you are foggy, you don’t think well and can make horrible choices. When I am foggy, I am not grounded. This is old stuff. Because I use my “witness” I have choice. If I didn’t have the “witness” I would be in reaction. What kind of reactions could I have? We could have been in a big fight. I could have called off from work. I could have been in an accident do to not paying attention. I could make a mistake that could harm a patient or cost the company lots of money.

This is where the “Asker” comes in to play. It is the curious “asker”. It is the part of me that get very curious about the situation that I am currently experiencing. It asks the questions that give me choice. It might say “Wow, what a drama!” This is a place where I can separate myself from the situation a little bit. It makes it more neutral. “Oh, I see the fog coming in, what is this about?” “Look at the husband who is feeling badly about a situation over which he had no control.” “How do you want to handle this?” “Do you think you are scared?” “Do you think you need to be careful this afternoon?” “What do you need to do to take care of yourself?” This situation could be the perfect excuse for going into a long depression, which I didn’t care to experience.

Some of my self care activities include the following. I started using Rescue Remedy (Bach Flower Remedy) in my water. It helps to protect you from a shock. It helps to stablize and balance the emotional system. I started taking St. John’s Wort to also stablize my mood. I have a ground meditation that I do. I used this to help me through the processing and intergrating all the abuse. In it, I create a sacred space for me to live, move and have my being. I can get lax in doing this meditation. I started it in full on a daily basis. It can take me about 20 minutes to do it fully. Also I am using essential oils. I put them on my body in a particular order and have a breath pattern I use to intergrate them through my aura or energy field. They are Valor (grounding) on the wrists. Harmony goes on the solar plexus. Joy is on the heart and White Angelica (protection) on my neck/head and feet. Good nutrition and sleep. It is the basics but it works. I have a few close friends who helped me process the intracacies of all of this. It took a couple of weeks to get through the thick of it all.

I know that I need to keep a level head and possitive attitude to help my husband and I get through this process. My husband has had a very good attitude. He started up a newsletter again. He has been through this before. New boss, new management team. He includes what happened, related jokes, his plan for finding new employement, and he asked the help of the folks he sent it too. My husband does a great job of networking. He keeps regular contact with people he new 30 years ago. In fact, he will be interviewing with the first lead he received from a friend from the 80′s. And we both live in different states from 20+ years ago. It comes in handy at a time like this. He has an outplacement firm that is helping him, howevery he is generating most of his own leads. He goes on to his professional web sites and responds to job postings. They all want the resume to be submitted on line. This has been an experience. I have had to help him cut and paste some of the resumes and the newsletter. I know a move is in store. I wasn’t what I had planned or hoped for. However, “it is what is.” I can make it miserable by and angry, depressed attitude or I can make the best of it. I choose the latter. Do I do this well all the time? Of course not. I have my moments. When I do. I bring in my “witness, asker and experiencer” to help me through the maze.

I use some ten minute mood lifters to help me. Music is great. I can sing a couple of songs and put myself in a new space. I take voice lessons, so I practice my vocial leases. I like pieces from Phantom or Messiah. I am working on a one woman show, so I work on those pieces. I flip through the radio stations to find music that fits my mood. It can be upliving. It can make me cry… Sometimes it is good to cry it out.

How about doing puzzels! Puzzels are great for several reasons. One, they create space between you and the difficult situation. Often our minds come up with the greatest answers when we are doing something else. I like sudoku. It challenges my mind to boot. As we get older we need these thing to keep us sharp.

If you want more information about Energy Healing click here. http://healthworksenergyhealing.com/ Take care of your self and see you next time. Mary Pat

Getting Fired or laid off, sucks, to coin a word. After such an event, you are swamped with an ocean of emotions. At the same time, there are things that you need to do to keep going and it is very difficult. Three weeks ago, my husband was given a pink slip invitation to a new chapter in our lives. I don’t know why. I am told that we have a new administration and he is bringing in his own team. We are new enough to this area, and I was hoping that my husband would be still considered “new blood” and part of the new team. Nope.

Some things had happened and I knew something was afoot. And yet, when the day came with the proclamation, I was still devastated. I was actually a recipient of being “fired” or permanently “laid off” about 10 years ago. Can you believe a nurse being laid off for lack of work? Yep. I worked for an independent medical equipment and IV (intravenous) company. We only had about 10% of the local market. The other player, the local hospital, had about 85% of the market. It was felt that we would never have more than 10%, so our department was closed. I knew that it was coming. My partner and I went out to lunch and reminisced about all the good times we had. After lunch….. “Would you step into my office please.” Even though I knew it was coming, I was devastated.

Both of these experiences where similar. First, I had that “sinking feeling” in my chest and gut. Then I became very confused and remained in that state for some time. Confusion could also be unfocused. This last time it manifested in the following ways. I seem to develop a medical condition called “CRS“. That is translated as “can’t remember s–t.” I would forget appointments or even where I put my calendar for that matter. I was forgetting procedures at home and at work. I tend to be ADD, and it has been much worse; starting 10 projects and forgetting that I did that. Man, is that frustrating.

Also I was experiencing a great deal of FEAR. Well, that’s not a surprise, when the bread winner is out of work. That sort of hits you low in the gut. “What are we going to do?” “Will he be able to find new work soon?” “How are we going to make it financially?” “What about the house?” “What about the 2 kids in college?” What about ______?” Fill in the blank. My part time salary will only go so far.

I was angry! Angry at the company and angry at the husband, angry at____? We moved here from the east coast several years ago for this position. I like it here. I love my house. I have the best house I have ever lived it. It is 110 year old, stone house with curved doors and arched transoms. We don’t have a big yard, but we have a very nice yard with many garden spots for meditating or reading or entertaining. I had hoped that we would be here until retirement, about 6-8 years from now. Change in plans!

This is a life changing event, no matter why it happens. We have a new chapter started. What it is going to look like, I have no idea. We can create a lovely new chapter, but I have to get my emotions under control. I say “we” can create, because it is a “we” project. You might think that we are at the whims of the business world. Maybe yes, maybe no. My husband and I are dreaming up the type of position that my husband would like and the house/community we would like to live in. The mind can not distinguish between something vividly imagined and reality. Did you know that most every successful business person, athlete, entertainer’s use positive pre-play. Why not. Oh, you don’t know what I mean. Well, here is an example. They took a high school basketball team, tested their free throws accuracy and divided them in half. One half practiced free throws for an hour. The other half practiced free throws in their mind for a half an hour and on the court for a half an hour. They did this for a season. At the end of the season, they tested both half’s for free throw accuracy. They where about the same. Then there was summer break. When fall came, the two groups where tested again. The interesting thing is, the group that practice free throws in their mind was much more accurate than the group that had physically, practiced the free throws. It was thought that during the summer break, the students who had done the mental practice, had continued to practice. The results show it. So we are vividly dreaming of the new opportunity.

Emotions. I have no control over my husband’s emotions. I do have control over mine. If I can take care of myself, it will help my husband to take care of himself. I practice “witnessing“. That means, there is a part of me that is in the experience and part of me is watching. I “watch” as if I where a camera in the corner of the room. I “watch” each event and each emotion as it occurs. I may be at work and then aware of say “grief” flooding me. I have learned that all emotions come and go, flow and ebb. I have also learned that I can experience the emotion without having to “do” anything. When I don’t fight the emotion, I can watch it build, flow then ebb away, just like a wave. also, I have very good friends with whom I can process some of my stuff. It helps me clarify the issues and emotions. If you are in the same situation and are experiencing difficulty, see a counselor. “FEAR” is an acronym for “false evidence appearing real”, or “face everything and recover” they both work. Fear is a warning that something is amiss. In this situation, I might feel that my security is totally controlled by the employer. The truth is, my “security” in within me. I have the stuff of survival within me. I may trade time for money with an employer. Make no mistake about it, I am responsible for my security. I don’t know what is down the road, but I know we will land on our feet.

The confusion is like a state of “shock”. It can whip you around if you are not careful. I have done these things to help myself during this time. First, I witness without judgement. I give myself a break. Then I am choosing to not engage in negative thinking. I don’t know about you, but I can create all sorts of “drama’s” in my mind. I don’t want more drama to happen. Every time I have a negative thought or drama start, I stop. I think about something else. I sing. I listen to uplifting tapes and CD’s. I know that I do not have the luxury to play in that sandbox. So I am choosing not too. I developed quite a headache. That was an invitation to slow down, as if I didn’t get the hint. I needed to take naps most every day for about 2 weeks. I am lucky in that my work is flexible and I was able to take the time I needed and finished my notes in the evenings. I took a break from some of the activities I am in this fall. I have a practice of grounding and getting centered. I sometimes “forget” to do it. I am doing this every day, right now. When I practice my grounding meditation, I get more into my body and therefore much more attentive and focused. I use Rescue Remedy in my water. It is a Bach Flower remedy for trauma. It works on the subtle energy levels, smoothing out the field or aura. When that is smooth and coherent, I am calmer and more focused. I also use Young Living Essential Oils (YLO) of Valor on my wrist to ground, Harmony on my solar plexus for harmony, Joy on my heart for the experience of Joy, and White Angelica on my neck and whole body to connect to the Angels, Guides and Agencies that work with me and make straight my path. You can link here http://marypat-fitzgibbons.younglivingworld.com/ for information and to purchase the oils or talk to a distributor near you.

My husband is doing the things he needs to do. He is working with an outplacement firm. He has updated his resume and is getting it out among his niche market and network. My husband has the ability to always see the positive, which has helped me over the years. The last time he was laid off, he started a newsletter to all his friends called “On the Road Again”. I do think of Willie Nelson’s song and it does seem to be our theme song this fall. My husband as friends and business contacts all over the country. He meets people and maintains contact over the years. He doesn’t burn bridges, even with past employers. You never know when you will need their contacts. He is also doing house therapy. There is nothing like removing 10 layers of paint and wall paper to clear your mind, release frustration and get the kitchen up graded and ready for sale.

I am helping him to dream the new job and living opportunity that awaits us. I don’t know what this process is going to look like. It could be long and arduous or short and sweet. I am rooting for the latter. I do know that we have a better chance to attract the dream job/live by keeping a good attitude every day. Do I slip sometimes, you bet. But I get back on track as soon as I can. I have friends that can help me, and I use them. Will this road be smooth, probably not. Life isn’t smooth. But Life Works. I trust that this will work. It will work for me and it will for you.

Blessing to us all, on this journey of life. All the fun, follies, foibles, we are getting better and better. You know the saying, “We plan, God laughs!”. I guess I need to laugh and watch the new plan unfold.