RUMINATE THE JOY

Are you a happy or a sad person? Where does your mind tend to go automatically?  Do you rejoice in your past victories, or do you continually mull over what you should have done? Emotional disorders such as depression, anxiety and self-hate are associated with a heightened sense of regret. People with high neuroticism – are those with the tendency to return to the negative, the bad experience.  NOT forgetting the past, and looking forward to employing lessons learned, their minds go up and down like a merry-go-round of what SHOULD have been. There is a brain map, a groove created by positive and negative memories. We must decide to interrupt the pattern of sad thinking in order to positively change our mood. People MUST choose to get off the roller coaster and walk with determination to NOT repeat their sad story, in their mind, or to other ears. People use effective strategies to regulate their emotions when calling to mind sadly negative auto-biographical childhood memories. Choosing to capture each thought and creatively re-framing it while seeking a NEW perspective is healthy. There is a blessing, a lesson from God tucked inside each experience. Choosing to NOT be a victim, we thank God for His way of building character in us.  We remember Him and all He suffered and we count our blessings. Common lessons found in hardship are:  patience, endurance, increased faith, and the SERENITY found in CONTENTMENT in this world, as it is, NOT as I would have it. It is GOOD or BAD according to our FREE CHOICE.  Letting go of the past, and expecting better things today, with HOPE for a greater eternal destiny, this choice gives troubled people peace and joy. Research finds a marked improvement for depressed people who work to challenge each negative memory.  Analysis of clinical studies revealed that both men and women who were high in extroversion (gregarious, assertive, stimulus-seeking) tended to remember more positive than negative life events. Neurotic people recall a greater proportion of bad memories and their minds are stuck in returning to the same negative memories again and again, a process called rumination. Rumination is known to be associated with depression. Depressed people maintain negative memories and as a result they feel sad. Feeling sad increases the tendency to have more negative memories. It is a vicious circle. None of the study subjects were diagnosed with depression, however, both male and female participants were likely to experience a lower mood after recalling negative autobiographical memories. Previous research has shown that being able to call up concrete, detailed memories that are positive or self-affirming can help to boost positive mood for people with a history of depression. SIMPLY PUT without extensive clinical research MEMORIZE this scripture and PRACTICE or RUMINATE on it daily. “Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends! ~ Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:1-9 ~ Sad people are encouraged to increase current social activity to replace old memory patterns. PLAN a happy event to RUMINATE in the future.  PRAISE God in ALL things ALWAYS, I say it again, seek God with all your heart, and you will find Him in the midst, beckoning you "Come to Me all ye who are heavy ladened and I will give you rest!" AMEN

Chapala to Puerto Vallarta

Mikey liked driving Suzie through GUAD at 5:00 AM to Nogales/Tepic on HWY 15 to miss the traffic.  All LEFT LANES through GUAD until you see the RIU hotel on the right. GET INTO RIGHT LANE.  EXIT to DETOUR 15D to Puerto Vallarta. Drive in right hand lane along 15 frontage road, past the RIU. RIGHT turn at LIGHT when GPS speaks. GET in LEFT lane, follow to the dead end, turn LEFT onto 15 D to PV.  AGAIN stay in LEFT lane towards JALA, NAYARIT.  Pass through (3) toll roads for total fees of 250 pesos one way.  Follow EXIT 15D to HWY 200 to Chapallia.  OXXO rest and bathroom stop.  Follow 200 to Compostela. Follow signs to Puerto Vallarta.  Through PV on 200, at the end of the city park, turn left, then follow road until you see LIBRAMIENTO, turn LEFT --- then RIGHT at the LIGHT, over bridge to GARZA. Life is great, retirement in Mexico makes road trips to exotic places a treat! More terrific adventures with friends coming up in November and December, we are thrilled to practice Spanish as we delight in this rich culture.
View Garza Blanca Preserve PV in a larger map

ONION MAGNETS

In 1919 when the flu killed 40 million people there was this Doctor who visited many farmers to see if he could help them combat the flu. Many of the farmers and their families had contracted the flu and many had died. The doctor came upon this one farmer and, to his surprise, all were very healthy. When the doctor asked the farmer what he was doing that was different, the wife replied she placed an unpeeled onion in a dish in the rooms of the home.  The doctor couldn't believe what he heard.  The doc examined the onions under the microscope.  The doctor found the flu virus in the onion.  It obviously had absorbed the bacteria, therefore, keeping the family healthy.  ANOTHER ONION experience:  Several years ago, many employees  and customers of a beauty salon were coming down with the flu. The shop owner placed several bowls,

containing onions, around in her shop.  To her surprise, none of her staff got sick.  Many have proven that setting a bowl of onions our during flu season actually kept them from getting sick. Simply cut off both ends of a white onion and place it in an empty jar, at night place the jar in the room of a sick person.  The onion will be black in the morning from absorbing the germs.  The onion will be a mess, but the patient with the flu, a cold, pneumonia will feel better. Families that placed onions and garlic  around the house saved many lives during the black plague years ago. Both onion and garlic have powerful antibacterial, antiseptic properties.  Many times when a person has tummy upsets, or rumblings

down in the GI, people consider all that they have eaten and don't know what to blame. Maybe it's the onions that cause the rumble!  The reason onions are so good  at preventing us from getting colds, and flu, is that onions absorb bacteria.  This is also the reason we should not eat an onion that has sat for a time after it's been cut open.  How about those onions in the salad at your local buffet?  How long have they been sitting out?  LEFT  OVER  ONIONS  ARE  POISONOUS.   A tour through Mullins Food Products, makers of mayonnaise, revealed much about food poisoning. A chemist named Ed was the wiz kid who demonstrated various dangers with regard to exposed foods. Most people worry that mayonnaise will spoil.  Ed said all commercially made mayo is completely safe.  Mayo does NOT have to be refrigerated.  No cause for alarm or harm by refrigerating it, but it's not really necessary.  The pH in mayo is set at a point that bacteria could not survive in that environment.  The summer picnic bowl of potato salad sitting on the table, did not cause upset tummys!   ONIONS were in the potato salad!  Onions are a magnet for bacteria, especially uncooked onions. Never eat a portion of a sliced leftover onion.  Putting onions in a zip-lock bag in the fridge does not protect you from the sliced contamination of the onion that magnetized bacteria.  Onions on hotdogs at the baseball park or at Costco can cause you tummy rumbling. Leftover onions that are cooked like crazy are okay. Dogs should never eat onions. Their stomachs cannot metabolize onions.  It is dangerous to cut an onion and plan to cook it the next day.  The onion becomes highly poisonous, even after a single night, and creates toxic bacteria.  The bacteria may cause adverse stomach infections because of excess bile secretions and even food poisoning.