(Reposted from the original Health Zone)
So far I've heard it called a half-dozen names: The Super Fat Burning Diet, The Dolly Parton Diet, The Miracle Diet, The Cabbage Soup Diet, and most often, The Sacred Heart Memorial Hospital Diet. But by any moniker, this is the diet that's captured our attention, the one that appeals most these days to our diehard dreams of slimming down in one fell swoop.
It was also the number one download in our Health Zone library -- leading the pack by thousands of hits. Never mind that it sends nutritionists into either howls of laughter or downright disdain. Never mind that no hospital will lay claim to this public relations fantasy of a fat-fighter. Or that Sacred Heart Memorial in Spokane, whose cardiac rehab center supposedly created it, spits out dozens of terse denials every month. Can you see why I was a touch leery about even mentioning this article knowing all the RDA's out there would be on holiday high-alert? Would they track me down on twitter and cyber-flog me with spinach pasta and sentence me to tweeting '5 A Day' a couple zillion times? Or would they understand that as the uber-curious I feel bound to get to the bottom of this bottomless pot of veggies?
For I am (maybe) about to begin another Seven Days of Research Hell. I did start this diet last Spring but didn't finish it. So in the name of science, I am about to pay penance for those dark chocolate days of Girl Scout Cookie Season, last summer's chocolate custard cones, Halloween's you-know-what and months of sitting on my butt, letting my thighs go to jello. This ol' computer-bound bod needs a thorough roto-rootering if there is to be any hope of fitting into anything this side of the millennium.
For anybody who wants to follow along, here it is: But please, check with your physician before you start any weight management plan, okay? That's an order! Posting this does not in any way constitute an endorsement of something this patently nutty. This diet is for entertainment value only, as all the 1-800 number psychics say.
And please note, the strange rhetoric and odd instructions are part of the original hand-me-down diet. I really don't write or talk that way, thank Buddha. And furthermore, now that I've re-read this Soupy thing a couple of times, after its been in the mothballs since the late 90's, I am thinking that maybe this was originally created not by Sacred Heart Hospital but by a few bored and chubby nuns. Although I was not raised Catholic, I was married to an all-Catholic school boy. So I definitely recognize Guilt when I see it.
THE CABBAGE SOUP DIET
Basic Fat Burning Soup:
6 large green onions 2 green peppers1 or 2 cans tomatoes
1 bunch of celery
1 large head of cabbage
1 pkg. Lipton soup mix
Season with salt, pepper, curry, parsley, if desired, or bouillion, or hot sauce. Cut vegetables in small to medium pieces and cover with water. Boil fast for ten minutes. Cut to simmer and continue cooking until veggies are tender.
This soup can be eaten anytime you are hungry. Eat as much as you want, whenever you want. This soup will not add calories. The more you eat, the more weight you will lose. Fill a thermos in the morning if you will be away during the day. If eaten alone for indefinite periods, you would suffer malnutrition!
Day One: All fruits except bananas. Cantaloupe and watermelon are lower in calories than most fruits. Eat only the soup and fruits. For drinks - unsweetened tea,cranberry juice or water.
Day Two: All vegetables. Eat until you are stuffed with all the fresh raw or canned veggies. Try to eat green leafy veggies and stay away from dry beans, peas and corn. Eat along with the soup. At dinner time on this day, reward yourself with a big baked potato and butter. Do not eat any fruits.
Day Three: Eat all the soup , fruits and veggies you want. Do not have a baked potato. If you have eaten for three days, as above, and have not cheated, you will find you have lost 5 to 7 pounds
Day Four: Bananas and skim milk. Eat as many as 3 bananas and drink as many glasses of water as you can on this day along with the soup. Bananas are high in calories and carbohydrates and so is the milk, but on this particular day your body will need the potassium and the carbohydrates, proteins and calcium to lessen your craving for sweets.
Day Five: Beef and Tomatoes. You may have 10-20 ounces of beef and a can of tomatoes or as many as 6 fresh tomatoes on this day. Try to drink at lest 6-8 glasses of water this day to wash away the uric acid in your body. Eat the soup at least once this day.
Day Six: Beef and Veggies. Eat to your heart's content of the beef and veggies this day. You can even have two or three steaks if you like with green leafy veggies, but no baked potato. Be sure and eat the soup at least once today.
Day Seven: Brown rice, unsweetened fruit juice, and veggies. Again, stuff yourself. Be sure to have the soup at least once today.
The end of the seventh day, if you have not cheated on the above diet, you will have lost 10-17 pounds. If you have lost more than 15 pounds, stay off the diet for two full days before resuming the diet again for day one. (This may be too much math for me)
This seven day eating plan can be used as often as you like. As a matter of fact, if correctly followed, it will clean your system of impurities and give you a feeling of well-being as never before. After only seven days of this process, you will begin to feel lighter by at least 10-15 pounds, and have an abundance of energy. Continue this plan as long as you like and feel the difference. This diet is fast, fat-burning and the secret is that you will burn more calories than you take in. It will flush your system of impurities and give you a feeling of well-being.
This diet DOES NOT lend itself to drinking any alcoholic beverages at any time because of the removal of the fat buildup in your system. Go off the diet at least 24 hours before any intake of alcohol. (So much for New Year's Eve) Because everyone's digestive system is different, this diet will affect everyone differently.
After day three, you will have more energy than when you began if you did not cheat. After being on the diet for several days, you will find your bowel movements have changed -- eat a cup of bran or fiber. Although you can have black coffee with this diet, you may find that you don't need the caffeine after the third day!
DEFINITE NO NO'S: Bread, alcohol, no carbonated drinks (including diet drinks). Stick with water, unsweetened tea, black coffee, unsweetened fruit juices, cranberry juice and skimmed milk. The Basic Fat Burning Soup can be eaten anytime you feel hungry. Eat as much as you like. Remember that the more you eat, the more you will lose. No fried foods or bread. you can eat broiled or baked chicken instead of meat (absolutely no skin on the chicken).
Any prescribed medication will not hurt you on this diet.(Note: Of course you will ask your doctor about this when you call BEFORE you start this plan.) Continue this plan as long as you wish and feel the difference both mentally and physically. If you prefer, you can substitute broiled fish for the beef on only one of the beef days. You need the high-protein in the beef the other days.
Okay, there you have it. This really was all the rage in the mid-nineties, pre-Atkins. I am wondering if it will make a major re-appearance now that the Atkins fad has largely gone poof.
Tell me what you think ---- is Cabbage Soup gonna make a comeback?
Monday, November 24, 2008
Are You Thankful For The Wrong People?
You know, so often we thank the wrong people. For some odd reason, we think only folks who are nice to us should be thanked. So we completely overlook an all too significant group, a group that may very well be responsible for much of the progress in the world: the ass-kickers.
"Remember that a kick in the ass is a step forward."
When someone gives you a swift kick, it zaps you right off the dime. However comfy you were on that keister of yours, you go flying off it into a whole new place. From this new vantage point, the world looks different. So you muster up enough steam to squawk: "Hey, wait a second there! I'm not gonna put up with that! I'll show you! I'm gonna ____!" And invariably, whatever it is you're gonna do to 'show them' is legions better than where you were before. At least now you're moving.
Now ass-kickers are not nice. The world certainly doesn't need any more of them, and even American Greetings might not get a National Ass-Kickers Day off the drawing boards. But they do serve a purpose. By behaving badly, they remind you sharply of your own beliefs about right and wrong. For many of us, this is enough to kick us out of neutral and into high gear.
Action. That's what a swift kick is all about. And that's why the ass-kickers in our lives deserve to be at the very top of our Christmas lists every year. Would you have taken that very productive next step without them? Would you have moved this swiftly along your path towards greater happiness without a big assist from your local AK?
It looks like I'll be writing a lot of thank yous this weekend.
"Remember that a kick in the ass is a step forward."
When someone gives you a swift kick, it zaps you right off the dime. However comfy you were on that keister of yours, you go flying off it into a whole new place. From this new vantage point, the world looks different. So you muster up enough steam to squawk: "Hey, wait a second there! I'm not gonna put up with that! I'll show you! I'm gonna ____!" And invariably, whatever it is you're gonna do to 'show them' is legions better than where you were before. At least now you're moving.
Now ass-kickers are not nice. The world certainly doesn't need any more of them, and even American Greetings might not get a National Ass-Kickers Day off the drawing boards. But they do serve a purpose. By behaving badly, they remind you sharply of your own beliefs about right and wrong. For many of us, this is enough to kick us out of neutral and into high gear.
Action. That's what a swift kick is all about. And that's why the ass-kickers in our lives deserve to be at the very top of our Christmas lists every year. Would you have taken that very productive next step without them? Would you have moved this swiftly along your path towards greater happiness without a big assist from your local AK?
It looks like I'll be writing a lot of thank yous this weekend.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
(Diet) Danger Lurks Where You Work
If you're trying to watch your weight, watch out for your office. Because danger lurks at the snack machines, in the deli downstairs and in the conference room. Temptation is everywhere.
Why is the office so dangerous? We asked Kim Ziemer, R.D., M.S. "It's a combination of factors that creates a nutritional mine field. Social pressure, for one. Who wants to be seen as the office curmudgeon by refusing to share in a co-worker's birthday celebration? Social occasions relieve some of the stress that's a normal part of any work situation. For many people, it's not easy to take the break without taking the cake, too."
"One solution," continues Kim, "is to compromise by accepting a small sliver of cake so you can still participate without feeling deprived. Limit yourself to a few bites. But if you find that's too difficult -- and many people do -- arrive at the party *after* the cake has been served. Take the break, enjoy the celebration, but make sure that gooey frosting is all but gone by the time you arrive."
What else contributes to the overweight office? "Boredom and fatigue -- the evil twins of over-eating," says Kim with a grin. Even the best of jobs has its moments of monotony. But too many people go for high caloric snacks when what they really want is a change in activity. The brain flags; they search for something to help feel alert again. Some go for a caffeine kick; others for a food pick-me-up. Neither is a true solution, and unfortunately, the snack solution can boomerang into steady weight gain.
The answer? The first step is to recognize what's really going on. Once a worker understands that boredom is the motivation for reaching for that cookie or heading toward the snack machines, he can instead switch to a new task to relieve boredom. Or rather than the stroll to the candy machines, she can stroll outside in the fresh air or even around the building. A change in scenery, new tasks, *movement* period, can reduce the desire for the sweet treats.
The other evil twin -- fatigue-- wreaks even more havoc in the office. Studies have shown that people often mistake being tired for being hungry. We are more apt to overeat when we've missed a good night's sleep or when we've been active to the point of exhaustion.
And putting in a full day's work is tiring, no matter what sort of work we do. That's why a treacherous time for weight watchers is on the way home or when they've just arrived home after a long day's work.
"So you need to ask yourself, when you reach for that bag of potato chips at 3 p.m.," states Kim, "Am I tired or am I hungry?" If you've had a solid and nutritious lunch at noon, one that will keep your blood sugar at even keel until dinner, you shouldn't be physically hungry. But if you think you are, carry a nutritious snack from home. A piece of fruit or even glass of orange juice should give you a lift.
Lunch can be a booby trap in itself. Lunch skippers do so at their own peril. They're often the first ones to desperately dig in the drawer for that smashed bag of stale corn chips, sneak out for a fatty burger or, if they make it through the day, fall prey to gobbling a candy bar on the way home.
What is available for lunch is yet another treacherous tale. While office cafeterias are improving nutritionally, many of them still serve high sodium, high fat, high caloric fare. The deli next door may not be much better. And any way you look at it, daily restaurant eating requires planning. Everyone loves to eat out -- but you need to have a strategy to stay healthy if you eat out on a regular basis.
The office doesn't have to be a dangerous place. In fact, many have found the office to be a wellspring of support for healthier eating and living. Simply find a few kindred souls and bring nutritious lunches and snacks. Or visit one of the many healthy websites for inspiration, ideas and nutri-buddies.
Here are a few tips on how to protect yourself against office temptations:
FOR 5 DAYS, KEEP A FOOD JOURNAL.
In it, record:
- when you feel hungry &
the signs of hunger
- what time you eat
- what you eat
- who you eat with (if anyone)
- if there is an occasion/event
- how much sleep you got
the night before
After a week, review the journal to see if there are any patterns. Do you grab for a donut everyday at 10:30 a.m.? Think about what you had for breakfast. If you didn't eat enough stick-to-your-ribs kind of nutrition, your blood sugar may be low. That donut may be exactly what you don't need to keep your energy up. Try a whole wheat bagel instead. It'll fill you up without the sugar or fat.
Cravings at similar times everyday may signal boredom. Try to schedule a short break for that time instead. Turn up the music and dance! Do some yoga stretches. Run out and do an errand. Snack on an apple. Spritz your face with cool mineral water. Switch to another project. Change your pace, change your pattern.
GRAZE
Stretch your food into six meals a day. Some people feel better eating smaller meals more frequently instead of three large ones. Again, this requires some planning. You'll need to carry healthful foods to work with you -- unless you have a super boss who lets you run out every couple of hours to pick up yet another lunch.People who work at home often naturally fall into grazing.
BIRTHDAY CAKES AND OTHER BOOBY TRAPS: PLAN THE OFFICE BIRTHDAY PARTIES YOURSELF
Bring low-fat Angel Food Cakes with fresh fruit, low-fat dessert topping and lots of candles!
POWER SNACKS FOR THE OFFICE:
Apples
Air-popped popcorn
Bananas
Boxes of raisins
Cubed cantaloupe
Cubed watermelon
Dried apricots and other dried fruit
Low-fat, low calorie granola bars
Oranges
Pears
Plums
Pretzels
Whole wheat bagels
reprinted from the original HealthZone
Why is the office so dangerous? We asked Kim Ziemer, R.D., M.S. "It's a combination of factors that creates a nutritional mine field. Social pressure, for one. Who wants to be seen as the office curmudgeon by refusing to share in a co-worker's birthday celebration? Social occasions relieve some of the stress that's a normal part of any work situation. For many people, it's not easy to take the break without taking the cake, too."
"One solution," continues Kim, "is to compromise by accepting a small sliver of cake so you can still participate without feeling deprived. Limit yourself to a few bites. But if you find that's too difficult -- and many people do -- arrive at the party *after* the cake has been served. Take the break, enjoy the celebration, but make sure that gooey frosting is all but gone by the time you arrive."
What else contributes to the overweight office? "Boredom and fatigue -- the evil twins of over-eating," says Kim with a grin. Even the best of jobs has its moments of monotony. But too many people go for high caloric snacks when what they really want is a change in activity. The brain flags; they search for something to help feel alert again. Some go for a caffeine kick; others for a food pick-me-up. Neither is a true solution, and unfortunately, the snack solution can boomerang into steady weight gain.
The answer? The first step is to recognize what's really going on. Once a worker understands that boredom is the motivation for reaching for that cookie or heading toward the snack machines, he can instead switch to a new task to relieve boredom. Or rather than the stroll to the candy machines, she can stroll outside in the fresh air or even around the building. A change in scenery, new tasks, *movement* period, can reduce the desire for the sweet treats.
The other evil twin -- fatigue-- wreaks even more havoc in the office. Studies have shown that people often mistake being tired for being hungry. We are more apt to overeat when we've missed a good night's sleep or when we've been active to the point of exhaustion.
And putting in a full day's work is tiring, no matter what sort of work we do. That's why a treacherous time for weight watchers is on the way home or when they've just arrived home after a long day's work.
"So you need to ask yourself, when you reach for that bag of potato chips at 3 p.m.," states Kim, "Am I tired or am I hungry?" If you've had a solid and nutritious lunch at noon, one that will keep your blood sugar at even keel until dinner, you shouldn't be physically hungry. But if you think you are, carry a nutritious snack from home. A piece of fruit or even glass of orange juice should give you a lift.
Lunch can be a booby trap in itself. Lunch skippers do so at their own peril. They're often the first ones to desperately dig in the drawer for that smashed bag of stale corn chips, sneak out for a fatty burger or, if they make it through the day, fall prey to gobbling a candy bar on the way home.
What is available for lunch is yet another treacherous tale. While office cafeterias are improving nutritionally, many of them still serve high sodium, high fat, high caloric fare. The deli next door may not be much better. And any way you look at it, daily restaurant eating requires planning. Everyone loves to eat out -- but you need to have a strategy to stay healthy if you eat out on a regular basis.
The office doesn't have to be a dangerous place. In fact, many have found the office to be a wellspring of support for healthier eating and living. Simply find a few kindred souls and bring nutritious lunches and snacks. Or visit one of the many healthy websites for inspiration, ideas and nutri-buddies.
Here are a few tips on how to protect yourself against office temptations:
FOR 5 DAYS, KEEP A FOOD JOURNAL.
In it, record:
- when you feel hungry &
the signs of hunger
- what time you eat
- what you eat
- who you eat with (if anyone)
- if there is an occasion/event
- how much sleep you got
the night before
After a week, review the journal to see if there are any patterns. Do you grab for a donut everyday at 10:30 a.m.? Think about what you had for breakfast. If you didn't eat enough stick-to-your-ribs kind of nutrition, your blood sugar may be low. That donut may be exactly what you don't need to keep your energy up. Try a whole wheat bagel instead. It'll fill you up without the sugar or fat.
Cravings at similar times everyday may signal boredom. Try to schedule a short break for that time instead. Turn up the music and dance! Do some yoga stretches. Run out and do an errand. Snack on an apple. Spritz your face with cool mineral water. Switch to another project. Change your pace, change your pattern.
GRAZE
Stretch your food into six meals a day. Some people feel better eating smaller meals more frequently instead of three large ones. Again, this requires some planning. You'll need to carry healthful foods to work with you -- unless you have a super boss who lets you run out every couple of hours to pick up yet another lunch.
BIRTHDAY CAKES AND OTHER BOOBY TRAPS: PLAN THE OFFICE BIRTHDAY PARTIES YOURSELF
Bring low-fat Angel Food Cakes with fresh fruit, low-fat dessert topping and lots of candles!
POWER SNACKS FOR THE OFFICE:
Apples
Air-popped popcorn
Bananas
Boxes of raisins
Cubed cantaloupe
Cubed watermelon
Dried apricots and other dried fruit
Low-fat, low calorie granola bars
Oranges
Pears
Plums
Pretzels
Whole wheat bagels
Desperate For Chocolate Skinny Chocolate Pudding Shake
Preparation Time: About 5 minutes (but never fast enough)
Needs: Blender
Music to Cook by: HELP! by the Beatles; Bad Day, Daniel Powter
Clothes to Cook In: Anything Loose (Caftans, tents, minimum 10% Spandex)
What You Need:
3 cups cold skim milk
1 package chocolate flavor fat-free, sugar free instant pudding & pie filling
1 1/2 cups fat-free ice cream (any flavor; everything goes with chocolate!)
What To Do:
Pour milk into blender container.
Add pudding mix and ice cream, cover.
Blend on high speed 15 seconds or until smooth. Serve at once if it has been a really bad day or refrigerate and stir before serving. Mixture will thicken as it stands ...or as you stand at the counter, slurping. Thin with additional milk, if you're not as desperate as you thought.
Needs: Blender
Music to Cook by: HELP! by the Beatles; Bad Day, Daniel Powter
Clothes to Cook In: Anything Loose (Caftans, tents, minimum 10% Spandex)
What You Need:
3 cups cold skim milk
1 package chocolate flavor fat-free, sugar free instant pudding & pie filling
1 1/2 cups fat-free ice cream (any flavor; everything goes with chocolate!)
What To Do:
Pour milk into blender container.
Add pudding mix and ice cream, cover.
Blend on high speed 15 seconds or until smooth. Serve at once if it has been a really bad day or refrigerate and stir before serving. Mixture will thicken as it stands ...or as you stand at the counter, slurping. Thin with additional milk, if you're not as desperate as you thought.
Top Ten Ways To Tell If You're A Chocoholic
1. Your children are named Chip and Godiva.
2. You only vacation in Switzerland, Belgium or Hershey, Pa.
3. You think using the word 'carob' in a chat room or message board should be a TOS violation.
4. When you had your colors done, your Color Counselor said you were a Mocha.
5. You saw Forrest Gump 27 times just to see the box of chocolates.
6. You have seriously considered joining the Army simply to get the chocolate D-rations.
7. You summer in Chicago because Marshall Fields won't ship Frango Mints in hot weather.
8. You consider white chocolate sacrilege.
9. Your recipe files are empty --- except for the letter C.
10. Your screen name is Coco.
2. You only vacation in Switzerland, Belgium or Hershey, Pa.
3. You think using the word 'carob' in a chat room or message board should be a TOS violation.
4. When you had your colors done, your Color Counselor said you were a Mocha.
5. You saw Forrest Gump 27 times just to see the box of chocolates.
6. You have seriously considered joining the Army simply to get the chocolate D-rations.
7. You summer in Chicago because Marshall Fields won't ship Frango Mints in hot weather.
8. You consider white chocolate sacrilege.
9. Your recipe files are empty --- except for the letter C.
10. Your screen name is Coco.
Will You Finish This Year or Will You 'Complete' It?
How will you end the year of our Lord 2006?
Will you finish this year ... or will you complete it?
Finishing just happens; you don't have a lot to do with it. 12:01 a.m. merely pops up on the clock and that's that. You move on to 2007 without so much as a farethewell to the 365 days that have just passed.
But completing ... now here's a different story. Completing is active, not passive. Completion is something you make the decision to do. You vow to complete on 2006 and all that it was to you. You energetically wrap it up, acknowledge it, and applaud its gifts. 2006's lessons are now bound in its own primer and filed away.
Completing feels like choice. As I am a great advocate of not having rules or events imposed upon me, I'll go for completion over finished every time. Wouldn't you rather have a completion date than a deadline?
So here is what I am saying to myself as 2006 winds on down:
Thank you, 2006, for teaching me so much about ___________________. I've learned so much about _______________ that I am in fact completed on it.
Thank you, 2006, for giving me so much _________. I really appreciated that, 2006.
For example, in 2006, I learned a lot about what it feels like to sit on my butt in front of a computer and let my muscles go to jello. Now I am the world's greatest living expert on tapioca thighs. My lessons are completed in this area so I will thank 2006 for teaching me this and be done with it.
I know that 2007 will bring me new lessons. I am fervently hoping that one of these lessons will fall into the domain of what it feels like to have uber-tight, toned thighs with quads and calves that can zap off a killer roundhouse.
If there are parts of 2006 that you want to be done with -- say goodbye to them now. Don't just finish the year out. Don't drag the grief, hurts, angers, fears, frustrations or sorrows from one calendar to the next. Actively let go of them.
There is a Completion exercise that has worked for many friends of mine. On New Year's Eve, they sit in front of the fireplace, bonfire or candle. First they write down all they want to complete on for that year. They say a farewell prayer or meditation, and then one by one, they place the slips of paper in the fire, watching as they curl and burn. As the smoke rises, they bless the year and say goodbye for good.
Will you finish this year ... or will you complete it?
Finishing just happens; you don't have a lot to do with it. 12:01 a.m. merely pops up on the clock and that's that. You move on to 2007 without so much as a farethewell to the 365 days that have just passed.
But completing ... now here's a different story. Completing is active, not passive. Completion is something you make the decision to do. You vow to complete on 2006 and all that it was to you. You energetically wrap it up, acknowledge it, and applaud its gifts. 2006's lessons are now bound in its own primer and filed away.
Completing feels like choice. As I am a great advocate of not having rules or events imposed upon me, I'll go for completion over finished every time. Wouldn't you rather have a completion date than a deadline?
So here is what I am saying to myself as 2006 winds on down:
Thank you, 2006, for teaching me so much about ___________________. I've learned so much about _______________ that I am in fact completed on it.
Thank you, 2006, for giving me so much _________. I really appreciated that, 2006.
For example, in 2006, I learned a lot about what it feels like to sit on my butt in front of a computer and let my muscles go to jello. Now I am the world's greatest living expert on tapioca thighs. My lessons are completed in this area so I will thank 2006 for teaching me this and be done with it.
I know that 2007 will bring me new lessons. I am fervently hoping that one of these lessons will fall into the domain of what it feels like to have uber-tight, toned thighs with quads and calves that can zap off a killer roundhouse.
If there are parts of 2006 that you want to be done with -- say goodbye to them now. Don't just finish the year out. Don't drag the grief, hurts, angers, fears, frustrations or sorrows from one calendar to the next. Actively let go of them.
There is a Completion exercise that has worked for many friends of mine. On New Year's Eve, they sit in front of the fireplace, bonfire or candle. First they write down all they want to complete on for that year. They say a farewell prayer or meditation, and then one by one, they place the slips of paper in the fire, watching as they curl and burn. As the smoke rises, they bless the year and say goodbye for good.
Today is the first day of the rest of your life
Some of you may remember this. We wore it on T-shirts, hung it on walls, intoned it during smokey midnight conversations in college dorms.
Today is the first day of the rest of your life.
I have no idea who wrote this mantra. I can't remember it ever being attributed to anyone. It was one of those catch phrases that merely appeared, spontaneously generated by the age of Aquarius, hours of Dylan, and the legions of students who fervently needed to believe that each moment held its own fresh start.
Too many of us have let go of this idea. In the rush of mortgages and jobs and marriages good and bad we have lost that start-over feeling. Our hurts and mistakes pile up and overwhelm us. We etch ourselves with indelible labels. We are branded with a backlog of our own making.
Today is the first day of the rest of your life.
Simple, so simple. Yet your body already knows this. Every breath is new, every cell is spinning its way into new life even as you read these words. Your mind and your spirit needs to accept what is already a piece of biological reality.
So today, whether you were a child of the seventies or not, remember these words. What you did yesterday you need not do today. What you felt yesterday you need not feel today. In this age of ever-emerging technology, with the promise of so much, nothing needs to be a re-run. Not your life, your actions, your spirit.
Your life is all new, all the time.
Today is the first day of the rest of your life.
I have no idea who wrote this mantra. I can't remember it ever being attributed to anyone. It was one of those catch phrases that merely appeared, spontaneously generated by the age of Aquarius, hours of Dylan, and the legions of students who fervently needed to believe that each moment held its own fresh start.
Too many of us have let go of this idea. In the rush of mortgages and jobs and marriages good and bad we have lost that start-over feeling. Our hurts and mistakes pile up and overwhelm us. We etch ourselves with indelible labels. We are branded with a backlog of our own making.
Today is the first day of the rest of your life.
Simple, so simple. Yet your body already knows this. Every breath is new, every cell is spinning its way into new life even as you read these words. Your mind and your spirit needs to accept what is already a piece of biological reality.
So today, whether you were a child of the seventies or not, remember these words. What you did yesterday you need not do today. What you felt yesterday you need not feel today. In this age of ever-emerging technology, with the promise of so much, nothing needs to be a re-run. Not your life, your actions, your spirit.
Your life is all new, all the time.
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