What I’ve learned since moving to D.C. (some of which should be obvious): 0039

1901.  Maple is very durable.  It’s used in bowling alleys;

1902.  Mixing a little (vanilla) protein powder into your yogurt isn’t half bad;

1903.  It’s a fine line between hope and denial;

1904.  Feelings are messy;

1905.  Coffee plays a role in malnutrition.  The caffeine depletes the body’s supply of thiamin (i.e., vitamin B1) and other B vitamins, calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium and zinc.  Studies have shown that a single cup of coffee can reduce iron absorption (from a meal) by as much as 75%;

1906.  Studies have shown that women with high caffeine intake suffer more hip fractures than those who avoid caffeine or drink in moderation (i.e., 1-2 cups per day);

1907.  A cup of coffee or green tea a day is not likely to have a negative effect on your overall health.  However, in excess, caffeine can cause nutrient deficiencies that can affect both health and quality of life.  As with most dietary factors, moderation and balance are keys to optimal nutrition intake;

1908.  Cynics criticize, and winners analyze;

1909.  Thai X-ing (ThaiX-ing.com) doesn’t serve alcohol, but you can bring your own;

1910.  Habit implies that you’ve made the same choices over time, and your thoughts and behaviors are simply accustomed to a certain way of being.  It also suggests that there’s room to make your thoughts less automatic and more aligned with the realm of choice;

1911.  Begin noticing what you’re thinking as a way to weaken your reliance on the excuse of your subconscious.  Repeating these quotes can be helpful: “Every extension of knowledge arises from making conscious the unconscious” (Friedrich Nietzsche), and “The unconscious . . . is dangerous only when our conscious attitude towards it becomes hopelessly false” (from Modern Man in Search of a Soul, by Carl Jung).  Two of the world’s greatest teachers state that you can change previously unconscious thinking habits and bring them to your conscious mind;

1912.  Do good things, and don’t do bad things!  Bad thoughts prompt you to engage in self-limiting behaviors; good thoughts, on the other hand, support your desire and capacity to live at high levels of joy, success, and health;

1913.  You elevate your life by taking responsibility for who you are and what you’re choosing to become.  You can transcend the ordinary, mundane, and average with thoughts of greater joy and meaning; you can decide to elevate your life, rather than have it stagnate or deteriorate with excuses;

1914.  You can bring your desires to consciousness by disconnecting the power from your subconscious so that it can’t continue to run your life;

1915.  You have absolutely no incontrovertible evidence that what you’d like to change is actually going to be challenging.  It’s just as likely to be easy for you to change your thinking as it is to be hard;

1916.  Making something difficult in your mind before you even undertake the effort is an excuse.  Nothing in the world is difficult for those who set their mind to it;

1917.  If you convince yourself that something involves more risk than you’re capable of assuming or have the strength for, this is a poor excuse for not taking action;

1918.  The fear involved in anticipating a risk simply serves to keep you from taking action.  When you convince yourself that it’s your job to avoid taking chances, you can continue your familiar habits;

1919.  If you fear the opinions of others–or if you fear failure or success–then anything that you think or do will involve some risk.  But if you’re willing to live from your convictions and fulfill your destiny, then what others perceive as taking chances are simply the ways you choose to elevate your life.  Even if you do believe that changing the way you think will involve risks, so what?  The peace that you feel because you ignored the worry of a risk is far greater than staying stuck in a belief that is really only an excuse;

1920.  You live your life, every single bit of it, in the present moment and only in the present moment.  All you ever get is now.  Every thought occurs in the present moment, and every change has a defining moment;

1921.  You’re not obligated to fulfill the wishes or a destiny dictated by kin;

1922.  Much of our unhappiness springs from the fact that we’re terrible at accurately remembering how things made us feel in the past, so we make bad choices regarding the future;

1923.  (Giant) panda bears like “The Killers;”

1924.  Typically, you’re attracted to dating partners in reaction to your relationship with an opposite-sex parent – or a same-sex parent, if you’re homosexual;

1925.  You’re going to attract someone with roughly the same emotional health as your own; meaning that in a relationship, one partner may appear to be the dysfunctional one, but ultimately, both are typically at about the same level of emotional health.  So the healthier you are, the healthier the partner you ultimately end up with is likely to be.  In other words, work on your own issues if a happy relationship’s ultimately your goal;

1926.  Just because you have no recollection of ever having been other than you are today, this isn’t proof that your nature is unchangeable;

1927.  The very fact that you’ve been a certain way throughout your life is a perfect reason for encouraging yourself with thoughts such as: I’m fed up with being frightened, shy, poor, unhappy, used by others, condescending, fat, or out of shape.  It’s all I’ve ever known, and it stems from the way I think and the beliefs I’ve come to accept as defining my nature.  If this is my nature, then I’m going to change it, beginning right now;

1928.  Just because you’ve “always” been a particular way, this isn’t a rational explanation for your present state of affairs.  In fact, it’s an excuse attempting to explain away what you feel are shortcomings;

1929.  I can accomplish anything I put my mind to here in the present moment.  My past has no bearing on what I can and will create.  If it has never happened before, that is all the more reason for me to make it happen now.  I will cease being a slave to my past;

1930.  If you’re capable of conceiving it, then that act of visual conception, combined with your passion for manifesting your idea into reality, is all you need to activate your genius;

1931.  The Capital Area Food Bank (CapitalAreaFoodBank.org) in D.C. reminds me of a warehouse club. . . . It distributes 30 million pounds of food annually;

1932.  I am ageless, and I can train my body to work with me in achieving anything I can conceive of in my mind.  There’s nothing about my age today that prohibits me from fulfilling my dreams.  My mind is free, and I can train it to do my bidding rather than acquiescing to an excuse pattern;

1933.  Acknowledge that you can’t get the humongous things done today, but you can take that first step.  Think small and accomplish what you can in the here-and-now;

1934.  The manner in which you were treated or even mistreated provided you with an opportunity to be a stronger, more self-reliant person.  Early experiences aren’t meant to be hidden behind when life isn’t working out the way you want it to–they aren’t reasons for staying stuck!  But the family-history excuse has a huge following, so you have lots of company if you’re using it to explain to yourself and others why you aren’t who or what you want to be today;

1935.  If you can’t elevate the thoughts about your past that are causing you to remain unhappy, unsuccessful, and unhealthy, you stay stuck where you are.  Keeping unfortunate memories from the past alive with remnants of the originating anger, hate, and sadness becomes a habituated way of processing life;

1936.  If you’re overextended, know that you’ve chosen to be in this position.  All of the activities of your life, including those that take up huge portions of your time, are simply the result of the choices you make.  If your family responsibilities are problematic, you’ve opted to prioritize your life in this way.  If your calendar is crammed, you’ve decided to live with a full schedule.  If there are way too many small details that only you can handle, then this, again, is a choice you’ve made;

1937.  I’m allowed to say no to requests that keep me from having time to pursue my life purpose;

1938.  There’s no right way to do anything;

1939.  I intend to take time for myself to live the life that I came here to live, and to do it without ignoring my responsibilities as a parent, spouse, or employee;

1940.  “Breathing in, I calm my body.”  Reciting this line is like drinking a glass of cool lemonade on a hot day–you can feel the coolness permeate your body. . . . “Breathing out, I smile.” . . . Wearing a smile on your face is a sign that you are master of yourself;

1941.  Anything that is love cannot be fear, and anything that is fear cannot be love.  If we can find our way to stay in a space of love, particularly for ourselves, then fear is an impossibility;

1942.  Simply being cognizant of your excuse making will open you up to vast arenas of new possibilities.  You can begin this process by paying attention to the false part of yourself that believes in limitations;

1943.  Just being conscious of the fact that you are exercising can lead to better fitness.  A recent Harvard University study, published in a February 2007 issue of Psychological Science, tracked the health of 84 female room attendants working in seven different hotels and found that those who recognized their work as exercise experienced significant health benefits.  The women were separated into two groups: One learned how their work fulfilled the recommendations for daily activity levels, while the other (the control group) went about work as usual.  Although neither group changed its behavior, the women who were conscious of their activity level experienced a significant drop in weight, blood pressure, body fat, waist-to-hip ration and body-mass index in just four weeks.  The control group experienced no improvements, despite engaging in the same physical activities.  The study illustrates how profoundly a person’s attitude can affect her physical well-being.  So, if your daily routine keeps you on the move, start thinking of it as exercise.  It may be enough to move you toward your fitness goals;

1944.  My parents lived in D.C. during the ’68 riots.  They lived on the 3200 block of 3^rd Street in Northeast (by Catholic University);

1945.  My dad went to junior college at Wingate (College) in 1960 and then to Kansas State from 1960-1961;

1946.  Practice giving rather than asking for more; practice being nonjudgmental and offering help where you previously offered criticism.  Want what you want for yourself even more for someone else, and observe how much better you are at eliminating those old “me first” thoughts that have demanded your attention in the past;

1947.  The only thing an excuse gives you is an option out of the life that you’d like to live.  Words like difficult, risky, can’t, not strong, not smart, rules, too big, and too complicated excuse you from being the kind of person you’d like to be and were destined to become;

1948.  Excuses are evidence that you’ve discarded a way of thinking that’s all-powerful for one that’s all-limiting.  In other words, it’s imperative that you decrease ego-dominated thinking (which offers you mostly excuses) in favor of thinking that’s aligned with “all things are possible” ideas;

1949.  Alignment represents movement into the state of awareness;

1950.  Every time you have a thought that extends to a conversation with others about what is missing, what shortages you have, your bad luck, what always has been, how others don’t understand you, and so forth, you’re practicing a misaligned/excuses mentality.  But remember that your mission is to shift into the action state of realigning;