This January I thought it would be good to look at some ideas to make our lives better, full of good health and happy thoughts. Two weeks ago we talked about Journaling and how it can make your day, week or year better by writing down what you think and do… in other words making plans. So this week I thought it would be good for us to reflect on our past plans and see how we can make our lives healthier and happier.
Tasks: each week I will give you a task and hope you will email us back your results! Last week your task was to make plans for this month or year or better yet start journaling. How did you do?
This week I want to talk about Reflecting: This is a word with many meanings and it can be of use to us as we look at ourselves and see how we reflect in others by the way we talk, listen, and live our lives.
“We do not learn from experience … we learn from reflecting on our experiences” John Dewey
How true this statement is – we need to re-look at what we do to see how it affected our lives and those around us – then we will be able to repeat the right actions and avoid the wrong actions.
So your task for this week is to re-look at what you have done over the last year and reflect on how it has affected you and others in your lives – Was it good? Do you want to repeat the same course of action – or would it be better to take another course of action?
Along with the idea of reflecting, I want to ask: Are we good listeners? The only way we can tell is by truly listening, in others words when someone else is talking we need to stop thinking about what we want to say and really listen. Therefore, as an extension of good listening skills, you need to develop the ability to reflect words and feelings and to clarify that you have understood them correctly. As well as understanding and reflecting the verbal messages of the speaker it is important to try to understand the emotions. A good way to do this is to repeat the main words they have spoken so they have a chance to hear what they are saying and you give them that chance by listening and not interjecting your thoughts. Really let the speaker get their message across before you interrupt with your own thoughts.
So here is another task: Write down what you have learned by really listening to your spouse, children or best friend. Then let us know how it felt to do this; how did it help your relationships?
Human self-reflection is the capacity of humans to exercise introspection and the willingness to learn more about their fundamental nature, purpose and essence. Human self-reflection invariably leads to inquiry into the human condition and the essence of humankind as a whole.
Eggplant Appetizers
It is always good to have some dehydrated eggplant rounds ready in the fridge or freezer so you can make up some healthy raw appetizers when people drop in for a visit or to tide them over while they are waiting for dinner.
Dehydrated Eggplant Rounds
Slice the eggplant into ¼ inch slices and soak in the following mixture for ½ hour then dehydrate for 4-8 hours:
- ½ cup olive oil
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp garlic powder
Veggie Dip
makes 1 cup
Put the following in a food processor and process until creamy:
- ½ cup of each: bell peppers & celery
- ¼ cup onion
- 1 clove garlic
- ¼ cup flax seed (freshly ground)
- ½ tsp sea salt & 1 pinch cayenne pepper
To assemble put a thin slice of cucumber or zucchini on the eggplant round and 1 spoonful of the veggie dip on top of that – garnish with diced pepper.
Do you need parts for your Appliance? We may have them!
Instead of replacing your whole appliance you may just need an appliance part. All of our parts will be on sale for the month of January.
Once we’ve sold out of the parts we won’t be stocking them any longer. So, get them while we have them!
Call our toll free number to inquire about the part you need 1.866.478.2224
