Peace and Tolerance......

Today as I have enjoyed a day off work in memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  I am reminded of my own personal thoughts about peace and kindness in the world in which we live.  One of Dr. King’s famous quotes is:  “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

 Many times we spend more of our time fighting over opposing views than we do loving each other and practicing tolerance.  We need to embrace our similarities instead of fighting over our differences.  We need to have passion and celebrate what we are for instead of condemning others for what they believe.

How do we teach peace?  We teach peace by living our life with tolerance and understanding.  What would our world look like with less hate and more love?  I want to make love my life’s mission, would you join me?  My personalized license plate says “LUVWINS.”  I want to live in a world of love and peace where love wins!  We can make a difference with one gesture at a time. 

The truth is, we judge what we don’t understand.  My challenge to you today is to talk less and listen more, seek first to understand and then to be understood and show passion for your beliefs without extending hateful words to others.  In everything you do find a way to show tolerance and peace.

“In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends” Martin Luther King Jr.

The time is NOW.....

I often find myself putting off to tomorrow what I need to do today.  Today I make the commitment to start anew every day.  No more waiting until the beginning of the month, the beginning of a new year or when the time is most convenient for me.  The time to make change and start anew starts NOW.  Every day is a gift and we must treasure these moments without regret and without waiting for when the timing is better.  The time is now....

With that being said…. I want to share with you my thoughts on my last three day.  My last three days on the military diet.  This diet for me was more of a jump start in to better decisions and more accountability.  In three days I lost 8lbs.  I wanted to know how I would feel after this diet and if I would feel hungry.  Surprisingly the diet was successful. I told myself that I could do anything for three days.  The diet consists of a lot of protein and lots of fruits and vegetables.  I had lots of energy on day one and two.  Day three was a little more challenging (I had to eat a whole can of tuna and I couldn’t add mayo)!  The good news is I got to eat vanilla ice cream each night for dinner. 

Some things I learned in three days…

·         Eating healthier is a must.  The saying “we need to eat to live not live to eat” was the perfect mantra for these three days.  Healthier food gives us more energy.

·         Appreciation of the small things.  With this three day diet I looked forward to the ice cream at dinner.  Any other time I would have never looked forward to a half a couple of vanilla ice cream. 

·         Portion control.  Everything was measured these three days.  I didn’t realize how much a “cup” of something was.  I would guess before and would likely think that I had a cup of “potatoes” but it really was probably at least double that.

With this “jump start” and with lots of prayer, I plan to change my diet.  With that I mean I will be more conscience of portions, enjoy treats less often (you don’t enjoy them unless they are a special treat) and challenge myself to have “military diet” days.

 With this blog as I continue to offer up a challenge to readers, my challenge to you is to realize the time is NOW.  The time is now to eat healthier, go back to school, follow your dreams, make a difference in the lives of others, and enjoy life to the fullest!  Today is a gift that is why we call it the 

present :)