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July 18, 2006
- Day 7 - Week 15 - Ten Easy Things To Do
Sixty four years ago, three
days from now on July 21, my dad was given leave
from the United States Naval Air Corp to be present
at the birth of his son Peter in Middletown
Connecticut. He was not yet fully active chasing
German submarines, but had begun his stint serving
our country as his firstborn took his first breath.
Both parents gasped as I emerged at 4 pounds 10
ounces. No cartilage in the ears and with a full
head of black hair I looked like a child from
another dimension. I have had a good run, and look
forward to celebrating life for a couple more
decades, and only wish I still had that full head of
hair.
As is my custom around a
birthday, I pause and reflect upon my life. Reading
comes naturally to me, even though I will admit, mea
culpa that I could only get through 60 pages of the
daVinci code before I had had enough, but part of my
daily routine is reading something that will teach
me something new.
A few days ago I picked up an
article from my environmental stack that announced:
10 Easy Things You Can Do to Help the Earth.
Sounded good to me and I wondered if any, most, all
or none of the 10 would relate to my own personal
health, and yours as well.
- Plant a tree in your yard
or start a garden.
- I like this one. We
need trees to clean the air. Some trees and
plants can even mitigate pollution that
affects the lungs of millions. Each of us
is able to create a little organic garden; a
good garden is both a vehicle of therapy and
an oasis simultaneously. One tomato plant
brings great joy and tomatoes are part of a
good healthy diet.
- Stop using pesticides on
your lawn.
- Personally have never
used them, but my neighbors like them.
Animal doctors will tell you dogs get cancer
from pesticides on lawns. No need for
pesticides or Miracle Grow. Use a mineral
based fertilizer and fish emulsion and your
lawn in green and beautiful and safe for the
grandkids. Pesticides have been directly
linked to lymphoma cancer.
- Support a local, organic
farmer of CSA (community supported agriculture)
- Organic is good and
minimizes exposure to an accumulated and
agglomerated chemical cocktail. CSA’s
operate on the principle of individuals pay
the farmer in advance and when the seasonal
produce or fruit is ready it is delivered to
your door. Most CSA’s produce healthy
produce year round and it is a win win for
farmer and consumer.
- Buy organic
- Time and time again we
hear this mantra. A student of the Bible
knows that repetition signifies importance
and I am beginning to sound like a broken
record when it comes to food choices. We
are more and more aware that food grown with
the triple threat to our health;
conventional fertilizers, herbicides and
pesticides must be phased out immediately.
- Spend time in nature
- One of the factors in
bad health for all of us is the times we
live in. We are a stressed out population
seeking elixirs in forms not sufficient to
remedy the problem. Go to nature and let
the stress dissipate. When the stress goes
the immune system recovers and healing is
enhanced. A simple concept here but too few
of us makes the connection. Even a simple
evening walk around the block has the mark
of therapy attached to it.
Thus, we can see that the folks
from EcoMall who brought us the 10 Easy Things
have unknowingly and probably unwittingly
contributed to our campaign for good health and
healing.
Quoting the author: “Through
small shifts in individual awareness, as well as
simple, easy actions, everyone can surely contribute
to a powerful, collective transformation to our
world.”
I might add a transformation of
our own internal eco system can also take place if
we become pro-active and adopt these five
principles, and others, into our daily routine.
Tomorrow I will add five more tips from developers
of Eco Mall.
Back to Week 15 |
