Month: April 2025

Healthy Tips: From Drama Queen to Zen Machine

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Before you throw your hands up and audition for a role in your own family soap opera, try this one mental trick that can turn emotional chaos into calm clarity.

Make a Potentially Tense Situation Calm: Reframe the Situation (Cognitive Shift)

Why it works: Changing your perspective helps you step out of emotional reactivity and into logical reflection.

How: Ask yourself, “What’s another way to look at this?”

Example:

Your teen slams the door and calls you “the worst.” You start to react—but then stop and think, “They’re overwhelmed. This isn’t about me.” Suddenly, you’re the wise parent in the after-school special instead of the lead in a family drama.

New Podcast: Turning Pain into Power: Scars, Stars, and the Stories We Carry

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Scars remind us of what we’ve survived — but they don’t define us. In this episode, I reflect on both physical and emotional scars, from childhood injuries to grief and loss. Through poetry by William Stafford, Carl Sandburg, and David Whyte, we explore how healing transforms us, how letting go frees us, and how scars can become symbols of strength, not shame. If you carry your own scars — visible or hidden — this conversation is for you. Your best days aren’t behind you… they’re still waiting.

Listen Now:

Real-Life Drama You Couldn’t Make Up

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We binge mystery thrillers for the drama, suspense, and shocking endings—but real life? It’s got juicier plot twists, worse decisions, and way fewer commercial breaks. We’ll watch a mystery thriller on our TV wondering how it is going to turn out. The story’s writer’s did a great job in holding us in suspense. We’re not sure what will happen. When we go to bed we may have trouble falling asleep because the ending was exciting and worse, if it didn’t end the way we wanted it to. What we don’t think about is that the mysteries or drama shows we watch are happening all the time all around us. I knew a guy who had been married (notice the past tense) for twenty-five years. He confided in my that he was having an affair. Then he proceeds to tell me with whom he is having an affair. I knew all three people. I didn’t need to read a book to see how this was going to end. Well, he ends up divorcing his wife and he marries the younger woman with whom he was having an affair. He tells me that when he dies both women will be by his bedside each holding one of his hands (talk about narcissism and ego). He did die and no, both women were not holding his hand we he died. Not too much suspense there. The only suspense was how much his first wife was going to get in the divorce settlement. She was the only winner in this story. She unloaded his sorry butt and made him pay.

Today’s Quote: Seek Tranquility

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“A happy life consists in tranquility of mind.” ― Marcus Tullius Cicero

From Fastballs to Fables: How I Got My Sex Ed on the Sidewalk

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Life lessons from a four-room flat, a factory whistle, and a bunch of guys who thought they knew everything.

When I was a kid I walked a bit over mile each day to school. We lived in a six apartment building. Each apartment was a four room cold water flat so close to the railroad tracks the building shook as the express freight trains roared by. Each morning a shoe factory, 50 meters to north, started work at 5 a.m.
The trains shook the walls, the factory shook my sleep, and my friends—well, they shook my understanding of the world. On the way to school I’d meet up with friends from the other apartments and we talk about boy stuff like baseball or football or who was stronger. Once I hit adolescence the talk was still sports but girls played an increasingly bigger role in the conversations. In those days there was no talk about sex in the home. So how did a kid going through pubescence learn about sex? The way most guys did, by listening to the older guys give their wisdom. These gems of wisdom were passed down through generation through crafted art of storytelling. Can you imagine going from playing ball and talking sports to the world described by the older guys? Of course, my friends and I accepted these stories without questioning their authenticity. What’s that experience taught me? Turns out, not everything passed down from the “elders” is gospel—especially when it comes wrapped in a baseball cap and ends with, “Trust me, I know.”

Talk Like a Pro: Can You Spot the Words We All Overuse?

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Ever feel like you keep saying the same stuff over and over? Well, you’re not alone—and it turns out, most of us lean on the same trusty nouns without even realizing it. Let’s put your everyday English radar to the test. Can you spot the sentence loaded with the most commonly used nouns in the language? (Source: ChatGPT)

If you want to know the reasoning for the answer send me an email: ray.brese@gmail.com

QUIZ START

Spring by Celia Laighton Thaxter

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Spring

Celia Laighton Thaxter

The alder by the river
 Shakes out her powdery curls;
The willow buds in silver
 For little boys and girls.

The little birds fly over
 And oh, how sweet they sing!
To tell the happy children
 That once again ’tis spring.

The gay green grass comes creeping
 So soft beneath their feet;
The frogs begin to ripple
 A music clear and sweet.

And buttercups are coming,
 And scarlet columbine,
And in the sunny meadows
 The dandelions shine.

And just as many daisies
 As their soft hands can hold
The little ones may gather,
 All fair in white and gold.

Here blows the warm red clover,
 There peeps the violet blue;
O happy little children!
 God made them all for you.

Source

Healthy Foods: 👃 Nose Nutrition: 4 Foods That’ll Keep You Breathing Easy and Sniffing Strong

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You take care of your heart, your brain, your abs (sometimes)… but what about that underappreciated air-sniffing superhero on your face?

Let’s face it—your nose puts in the work. It filters air, detects danger (burnt toast, bad leftovers, cheap cologne), and lets you enjoy the scent of wildflowers or fresh tortillas. The least we can do is feed it right.

So if your nose has been feeling foggy, stuffy, or just underwhelmed, here are 4 foods to put back on the sniff map.

🍊 1. Citrus Fruits – Vitamin C with a Zing

Why: Oranges, lemons, and their citrus cousins pack a punch of vitamin C, helping reduce nasal inflammation, fend off infections, and keep your sinus linings smooth and strong. Basically, citrus is your nose’s natural bodyguard.

Try this: Squeeze lemon into warm water in the morning. Your sinuses will throw a parade in your honor.

🧄 2. Garlic – Nature’s Nasal Decongestant

Why: Garlic brings the heat with allicin, a powerful antimicrobial compound that clears nasal congestion and boosts circulation. Think of it as a spicy bouncer for your sinuses.

Tip: Don’t fear the garlic breath—it’s a small price to pay for breathing like a champion.

🫚 3. Ginger – Soothing Spice for Sinus Peace

Why: Ginger reduces swelling and helps thin out stubborn mucus. It’s basically a nasal pressure release valve—with flavor.

Best served as: Tea with a little honey, or grated fresh into your favorite dish (or smoothie if you’re bold).

🐟 4. Fatty Fish – Omega-3s for Open Airways

Why: Salmon, sardines, and mackerel are loaded with omega-3 fatty acids, which tame inflammation and support sinus tissue health. More airflow, fewer sniffles.

Bonus: Your brain loves omega-3s too—double win.

🌬️ Final Sniff of Wisdom:

Your nose does a lot more than hold up your glasses. Keep it happy, healthy, and humming with the right foods—and maybe next time you walk by wild mint or fresh-baked bread, you’ll stop, inhale, and say, “Thanks, little buddy.” In my case, I’d say, “Thanks, big fellow.” LOL

Source: ChatGPT

Healthy Tips: 🌳 Take a Hike, Stress: Why Walking Might Be Your Best Therapist

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Welcome to Day 2 of our “Stay Calm, Carry Snacks” series. Today’s tip? Walk it off—literally. When life feels like a pressure cooker on high, sometimes the best thing you can do is get out of the house (or your own head) and let your legs lead the way.

Whether it’s a lap around the block, a hike through the woods, or a power stroll to the mailbox and back, walking in nature (or anywhere, really) helps lower stress hormones, clears mental fog, and gives you the illusion that you’ve got it all together—even if you’re wearing mismatched socks.

🧘‍♂️ Why It Works:

• Moving your body calms your mind

• Nature boosts feel-good chemicals

• Squirrels are great listeners

• You can’t doomscroll if you’re walking without your phone

So the next time you feel like tossing your phone out the window or Googling “How to move to Iceland without telling anyone,” try something simpler:

Put on your shoes.

Go outside.

Breathe.

Walk.

Repeat.

No co-pay, no waiting room, and no clipboard judging your snack habits.

Source: ChatGPT

Today’s Quote: Embrace Change

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The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.” ― Alan Wilson Watts

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