Hello to all my adoring fans! I'm so glad that it's more than just 2. And it's even more than 3! I discovered that I have at least 10 people that read my page! WOO-HOO! That's enough to inspire a girl to keep writing. I know I wasn't very consistent with writing last month, but I'm sure everyone can understand with the holidays and so forth.

I'm back and it's a new year. Full of hope, full of joy and full of potential. I know that traditionally this is the time to make resolutions and try earnestly to stick to them. I'd say that 90% of the population in this country (and others too) resolve to lose weight. While that's an admirable resolution, too often people buy the gym memberships, drink Slim-Fast and then get bored and by March have forgotten all about losing weight. I wish that more people would just resolve to live healthier lives. It's so much easier to look at something as a permanent change in your life than short-term. And, if someone quits smoking, changes bad eating habits or begins an exercise program whereas he/she may have never moved a muscle before, that's better than just sucking in more nicotine, popping pills or drinking diet shakes.

Ok, I know I'm up on my soap box now. I promise not to stay there too long. :-) I get sad when I see unhealthy people walking around trying to accomplish daily activities and seeing what a struggle it is for them. Eating healthy doesn't mean you have to buy all your groceries from a Health Food Store or buy all organic food. Eating healthy means eliminating or at least cutting back on fried food, eating plenty of fresh, raw veggies and fruits and limiting red meat. McDonald's and Burger King should be avoided as much as possible, too. I don't mean just for losing weight but for lessening the chance of clogged arteries.

The last two years have been easier for me... I haven't resolved to "If I could just lose 10 pounds"...blah, blah. Instead, I have stuck with maintaining a healthy life STYLE. As a result, the weight I have lost has stayed off. I have instead RESOLVED to put even more effort into eating properly and exercising regularly.

The biggest benefit of living healthy is longevity of life. Sure, you can live your life just as long by not eating properly or by smoking and drinking excessively, but isn't it also about Q U A L I T Y of life, too? I don't want to feel tired all the time. I don't want to be out of breath going up a flight of stairs. I don't want sallow coloured skin. I don't want wrinkles. I don't want diseases. I want HEALTH. I choose ME! :-)

My best friend Rosemarie, gave me a wonderful gift. She bought me a Friendship Book. Each day of this year, there is a passage for me to read. I am going to commit myself to reading this book every single day.

Yesterday's passage is quite appropriate for the start of this new year. It reads as follows:

The hands of time move every day, ticking away the hours and the minutes --- indeed, our whole lives are dominated by the clock. Perhaps at no other time do the hands of the clock become so meaningful than at New Year when midnight signifies not just another day passing but the close of the year.

It can be an emotional time, for it is then that the concept of time takes on a new meaning --- time to remember, to reflect, even to laugh, perhaps shed a tear or two, as we look back, look forward and wonder what a new year has in store for us. These words by author Minnie Louise Haskins seem appropriate: "And I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year, 'Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.' And he replied, 'Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be to you better than lifght and safer than a known way.' " (Taken from the Friendship Book of Francis Gay)

Thought Of The Day: "You must do the thing you think you cannot do." --Eleanor Rooosevelt

Thought Of The Day #2: "The only joy in the world is to begin." --Cesare Pavese, writer

Until next time... peace, comfort & HEALTH!!!