|
|
|
December 2009 |
|
Nobody can make you feel inferior
without your consent.
|
|
Something to think about....
The Wolf You Feed
An elder Native American was
teaching his grandchildren about life. He said to them,
"A fight is going on inside me. It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One wolf represents fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. "The other stands for joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. "This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too," he added. The grandchildren thought about it for a minute and then one child asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?" The old Cherokee simply replied..."The one you feed." An old Native American proverb A few weeks ago as Peggy and I did the Health At Every Size radio show, we discussed body hatred, body love, forgiving our bodies for not being what we want, etc., and I made the statement that "the emotion you feed is the one that will grow." I'm not sure if I formulated my conviction on this subject from the old proverb above, which I saw in an email a few years ago, or from some other source. I'd love to believe it's my own original thought, but are there really any original thoughts? But do I know it is a fact that the emotions we feed are the ones that grow. So what emotion are you feeding? Are you one of those people who has trained your brain to go immediately to the negative side of any subject that comes up? I'm going to use my husband as an example of this. I'm not talking behind his back. He'll be the first to agree with me. We're all familiar with the "is the glass half full or half empty" analogy of a positive person or a negative person. Well, Joe's glass is normally not just half empty, but three-fourths empty. In fact, on a really good day, he'll say, "I'm almost happy." But he'll never commit to being totally happy. Sometimes when I bring up a new idea or some thought that I think is good, he'll reply with, "Well, the trouble with that is—" I've brought this to his attention so much that it's become a joke with us. I've watched him and others frantically search for the negative side of a subject if it's just a little too positive for them. They're feeding the negative emotions. Or are you one of those people who go directly to the positive side of just about any subject? Is your glass almost always half full? I'll use myself as an example of this.
Just as a clue, I've been
recently dubbed "Pollyanna" and accused of keeping my
Pollyanna head in a certain orifice of my body. Actually I
gave myself the name, but many of my family members jumped on
it just a little too quickly.
I will frantically search for the positive aspect of any subject. I literally hate a doomsday, the-sky-is-falling, nothing-is-going-to-work-out-okay attitude. So I feed the positive emotion. And, yes, I realize that this can be done to the point of losing touch with reality—but I sure am happy here in my world! My point is that our brains will respond to how we train them to think. Whatever emotion we feed our subconscious, it will feed that emotion back to us. Of course there are health problems that can cause some of us to have bouts with depression, or life situations that are really hard to deal with, so I would never try to tell someone to "just think your way out of your situation" if you do need help. But if you're a healthy individual who is feeding the negative emotion, why not try feeding the positive one and see how much better you feel? Instead of complaining about the clouds, remind yourself that the sun is shining right above those clouds. Instead of telling yourself that "this is going to be a bad day," try telling yourself that "something good can happen today." Instead of looking in the mirror and pointing out all the parts of your body that you don't like, find some of the things you do like and concentrate on them. Feed those upbeat, feel-good, positive emotions. |
|
Hi everyone!
Well, here I am, again running late with the newsletter. I hope everyone had a wonderful November. Husband Joe and I went to Mississippi for Thanksgiving and had a really good trip and wonderful visit with family. But I seemed to have brought back a vicious bug from the Magnolia State. It's a head and throat invasion! On November 20th Joe had a lithotripsy procedure (laser blasting) done on his right kidney. He had a 12mm stone. He had to have a stent put in from his kidney to his bladder to keep any of the small stones from blocking his pipes—or, as the doctor put it, causing a log jam. Anyway, he went back last Tuesday to the doctor to make arrangements to take out the stent. The doctor X-rayed to make sure the stones were gone—and all they had done was break the 12mm stone into two pieces. Now he had a 7mm and a 4mm stone. So this past Friday he had to go back and have the procedure done again. He had bladder spasms the first time and was in a lot of pain for a few hours, but the second lithotripsy went much, much better. I guess we'll find out next week if the stones are broken up or if he has to go back again. But for now he's feeling okay and going back to work Monday.
All this new technology is just
amazing to me. I wonder if in a few years all surgery will be
done by laser and no knives will be needed. I'm real okay with
that!
If you didn't see it before, I'm offering my latest book as a free download. If you enjoy it, pass the word around:  Something
To Think About: Reflections on Life, Family, Body Image &
Other Weighty Matters by the Queen of Rubenesque RomancesDownload it at http://www.pearlsong.com/newsroom/patballard/somethingtothinkabout.pdf. Everyone have a wonderful December. Be safe through the Holiday Season.
Love,
Visit Pat's Place at
www.patballard.com | Write me at
patballard@bellsouth.net |
|
Click on the Bookbuzzr graphic (if visible on your computer screen) to browse an excerpt from Pat's newest book,
Your body is a unique work of art. |
|
Links About The Queen & Her Books
|
|
Weighty Matters Eating disorder groups assert that this well-intended, but under-informed and unproven strategy of focusing on BMI fuels weight-prejudice and neglects groups which may be in equal need of improving their health and lifestyle. There is concern that, in some cases, the programs contribute to negative self-esteem, body dissatisfaction and eating disordered behaviors among young people. Neither the scale nor BMI calculation provide the full picture most relevant to health status, such as lifestyle and activity patterns, and physical and mental health measures. Thus, assuming ill health based on weight alone is not only inappropriate but harmful and discriminatory, and should be discontinued. Read the
rest of the article here:
http://www.medicalnewstoday. |
|
Reader Review of the
Month "If you're a woman, odds are
you're not happy with your body. You probably can't remember when you
weren't at war with your belly or your thighs. (Men are beginning to catch
up with their own versions of body discontent.) Western culture provides
you with a steady stream of images and advice about an often unattainable
"right" way to look, feeding your feelings that you just aren't acceptable
as you are. "10 Steps is your body's best friend in pocket form. I'm delighted to have it on hand to recommend—personally and professionally—to anyone struggling with body image and the inkling that it's better to embrace than fight the one-and-only body you have." |
|
Browse and
share excerpts from Pat Ballard's books online. Listen to Pat on the
June 1, 2009
Health At Every Size radio show Listen to
a Feb. 11, 2009 Conversation with Pat Ballard Read an interview with Pat at The F-word (Food. Fat. Feminism.) blog. Communicate with Pat
via her "Amazon Connect" blog on Amazon.com!
Pat's romantic suspense novel Abigail's Revenge is featured on the Beautiful
Portal website:
http://www.beautifulportal.com/news.php?item.900034.8
An article on Pat has been
posted at: |
|
Calendar of Events Now available from Pearlsong Press—Pat's newest book, the nonfiction Something to Think About: Reflections on Life, Family, Body Image, & Other Weighty Matters by the Queen of Rubenesque Romances. It's a FREE PDF ebook that can be downloaded at http://www.pearlsong.com/somethingtothinkabout.htm or via the link at the beginning of this newsletter. Pat is now co-hosting Radio Free Nashville's Health At Every Size show, which airs every Monday morning. The show is streamed live over the Internet 10-11 a.m. CST Mondays. You can also subscribe to the podcast of the show (automatically receive the mp3 recordings of the weekly shows on your computer, iPod or mp3 player) via iTunes. Click on the "subscribe in a reader" button/link in the upper lefthand column, and select "Add to iTunes" or the podcatcher of your choice.
Listen to the live
broadcasts over the Internet at
http://www.radiofreenashville.org/. You can also listen to
the live broadcasts through your telephone via UPSNAP.COM. See the
Health At Every Size show website or the
Radio Free Nashville website
for details. Davidson County, Tennessee residents can also hear the show
live through the Secondary Audio Programming of Comcast cable's Channel
10. |
|
Give someone a good
read as well as support in loving themselves. |
|
Newsletter Archives
Read previous issues
of The Queen's Proclamation at
http://www.pearlsong.com/newsletterarchives.htm. |
|
Subscribe Me! Remove Me! Did someone forward this newsletter to you, and you'd like to sign up to receive future issues yourself? Use the form below to subscribe. Already a subscriber, but want to remove your email address from the Queen's mailing list? You can also use the form below to unsubscribe — just fill it in, select "Remove" from the drop-down menu, and click "Go!" |
|
The
Queen's Proclamation is published by Pearlsong Press. |
