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;

Zagat's D.C.'s 5 Best Pizza Spots

1.  2 Amys
2.  Matchbox
3.  Pete's New Haven Style Apizza
4.  Pizzeria Paradiso
5.  Seventh Hill

What I’ve learned since moving to D.C. (some of which should be obvious): 0038

1851.  Jason Lancaster (the lead singer of “Go Radio”) looks like Kevin McKidd (of “Grey’s Anatomy”);

1852.  At this point in my life, when I meet someone, I have no expectations for them at all.  I don’t know if it’s a good way to see things or a defense mechanism against being hurt and/or let down. . . . Because, to some degree (whether judged fairly or not), I think I’ve felt hurt and/or let down by almost everyone that was important to me growing up;

1853.  It seems like every time my heart is broken a little part of me (perhaps my soul) dies inside, never to feel again.  I don’t think it’s immediately permanent, but it’s like a part of your body that’s deprived of oxygen.  It slowly withers and if it’s deprived of oxygen long enough, it eventually dies, never to come back.  It seems like at some point my heart will be broken so many times and for so long that I won’t be able to feel anything at all or anything ever again;

1854.  It seems like I’m only attracted to women that are uninterested in or emotionally unavailable to me. . . . Am I so afraid of (real) intimacy that I (unwittingly) sabotage myself?

1855.  If it doesn’t feel natural, it isn’t going to work;

1856.  If you want to accomplish something, you must first expect it from yourself;

1857.  You’re either a host to your source (who some call God) or a hostage to your ego;

1858.  January 13^th 1975 was a Monday;

1859.  (President) Abraham Lincoln started Thanksgiving (Day) in 1863 during the Civil War;

1860.  Paul Revere was celebrated by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  And Americans have been hearing of the midnight ride ever since, mostly oblivious that the poem plays merry-hell with the true facts and ascribes to Revere the heroics of other men.  This was deliberate; Longfellow, writing at the outbreak of the American Civil War, was striving to create a patriotic legend, not tell an accurate history.  Revere did indeed ride to warn Concord and Lexington that the British regulars were marching from Boston, but he did not complete the mission.  Many other men rode that night and have been forgotten while Paul Revere, solely thanks to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, gallops into posterity as the undying patriot and rebel.  Before the poem was published Revere was remembered as a regional folk-hero, one among many who had been active in the patriot cause, but in 1861 he entered legend.  He was indeed a passionate patriot, and he was vigorous in his opposition to the British long before the outbreak of the revolution, but the only time Revere ever fought the British was at Majabigwaduce, and there, in General Artemas Ward’s words, he showed “unsoldierlike behaviour tending to cowardice.”  The general was quoting Marine Captain Thomas Carnes, who closely observed Revere during the expedition, and Carnes, like most others in the expedition, believed Revere’s behavior there was disgraceful.  Revere’s present reputation would have puzzled and, in many cases, disgusted his contemporaries;

1861.  Information does not necessitate transformation;

1862.  90% of happiness is based on how you process information about the world;

1863.  (I think) I love you Robbie Harris;

1864.  96% to 97% of what you do is controlled by your subconscious mind;

1865.  Abraham Lincoln was a Republican;

1866.  Abraham Lincoln’s (eldest) son, Robert, served on (General) Ulysses S. Grant’s staff;

1867.  I self-medicate. . . . I smile;

1868.  Bourbon is made from a mixture of grain that’s at least 51% corn and aged in new, charred oak barrels;

1869.  You can mentally make plans to do things with someone (i.e., eat at a restaurant, go on a trip and do countless other things) and never consciously realize it.  That is until you’re faced with the reality that they’ll never happen. . . . You feel sad and a sense of loss . . . and a part of you is in denial and hopes that they’ll still actually happen;

1870.  At the end of the day, it is successful reference experiences that breed confidence;

1871.  You can gain a ton of confidence by hitting small goal after small goal.  These small goals slowly give birth to bigger and bigger goals;

1872.  If you have to have your Georgetown Cupcake fix, but hate waiting in line, order online and opt for pickup.  When you arrive, tell the hostess you’re there for pickup and they’ll let you go to the front of the line;

1873.  I think the lobster rolls at Hank’s Oyster Bar are better than the ones at Tackle Box (TackleBoxRestaurant.com), but their (grilled tilapia) fish tacos (with coleslaw, sour cream, pico de gallo & chipotle sauce) are pretty good;

1874.  “Grateful Dead” songs are very bluesy;

1875.  Most frozen crab cakes are awful, but the “waterfront BISTRO” crab cakes Maryland style, sold at Safeway (Safeway.com), are pretty good.  They’re mostly crab (meat) with very little filler;

1876.  Don’t believe everything you think;

1877.  It’s (really) hard to let someone go if part of you doesn’t want to let them go . . . or if you’re in denial;

1878.  The power of your beliefs to keep you stuck is enormous.  Those deeply ingrained notions act as chains restricting you from experiencing your unique identity.  You have the capacity to loosen these chains and make them work for, rather than against, you;

1879.  Every self-limiting thought that you employ to explain why you’re not living life to the absolute fullest–so you’re feeling purposeful, content, and fully alive–is something you can challenge and reverse, regardless of how long you’ve held that belief and no matter how rooted in tradition, science, or life experience it may be.  Even if it seems like an insurmountable obstacle, you can overcome these thoughts, and you can begin by noticing how they’ve been working to hold you back.  Then you can embark on a deprogramming effort;

1880.  A sense of powerlessness ensues when it comes to altering anything about yourself that has become so established that it feels like who you are;

1881.  Your beliefs carry far more weight than you realize in determining what you can do, what you’ll undertake, and how far you’re capable of going;

1882.  What you are is what you believe, not what you were handed genetically;

1883.  You attract what you are, not what you want; and what you are is your beliefs;

1884.  Thinking that you’ll always be poor, unlucky, overweight, or underweight; that you’ll always have an addictive personality; that you’ll never attract your soul mate; that you’ll continue to have angry outburst; that you’ll always lack musical, artistic, or athletic ability; or that you’ll forever be shy because you’ve always felt that way . . . are excuses.  And when you see them for what they are, you eliminate them.  On the other hand, if you find them to be firmly entrenched personality traits and habits of thinking that can’t be challenged, you’ll symbolically suck your thumb and cry when life doesn’t appear to cooperate;

1885.  A large body of evidence demonstrates empirically that your beliefs can change your genes;

1886.  While excuses are just thoughts or beliefs, you are the decider of what you ultimately store away as your guide to life;

1887.  All that we are is the result of what we have thought.  It is founded on our thoughts.  It is made up of our thoughts.  If one speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows one, like a shadow that never leaves;

1888.  There’s statistical evidence that the conscious mind occupies approximately 5 percent of the total workings of the brain, leaving 95 percent to the realm of the subconscious;

1889.  You can access the program you’re operating with by examining your thoughts.  Your habitual mind takes over when you choose to ignore your conscious beliefs, and you just continue to act in ways you’ve been programmed to.  But you can shift to your creative mind and explore your options.  You don’t have to buy the old argument that a part of you is inaccessible, unreachable, or buried so deep down inside that undoing early programming is impossible;

1890.  If no one told me who I was, who would I be?  Quietly meditate on this by spending some time in the spaciousness of not knowing.  Imagine that your subconscious mind is nonexistent and there is no storage receptacle for excuses during your life.  There’s just an open and inviting clear space inside of you with a magical surface that nothing adheres to.  You might imagine that your everyday conscious mind simply doesn’t absorb the opinions of the folks you grew up with.  In this little fantasy, there’s never been anyone telling you who you are.  So who are you?

1891.  I can change my body’s infirmities by shifting my beliefs;

1892.  I have the power to undo old thoughts about my genetic destiny;

1893.  If I stay with them and live from my heart, my beliefs can inspire new talents if I so desire;

1894.  I can heal anything by healing my beliefs first;

1895.  I intend to keep my beliefs uppermost, and I refuse to blame anything in the material world for any deficiencies in my life;

1896.  Mark Warner (i.e., U.S. Senator for & former governor of Virginia) co-founded Nextel;

1897.  There’s a $5.95 processing fee for MasterCard gift cards;

1898.  Affirm: I believe that I am perfectly capable of overcoming any early conditioning I have adopted as a part of my personality and my current life experience;

1899.  Use positive proclamations daily that are life enhancing and align you with the loving Source of everything.  Rather than allowing your thoughts to insist that something is wrong or missing, retrain your conscious creative mind with beliefs such as these: What I desire is already here; I just haven’t connected to it yet.  It can’t be stopped because my thoughts are aligned with the mind or intellect of God;

1900.  Pimentón is smoked paprika;