Good news: I didn’t get sick. The OnGuard and Wellness Formula did the trick once again.

Knock on wood that it continues.

Yet, it was pointed out that I may have been what some may call “a little preachy” about my stance on health and wellness. What? No cigarettes? No alcohol? How can a person live?

My answer: how about a lot healthier!

Duh!

Cigarettes are deadly. Smoke inhalation can kill you. Just because cigarettes or the vaping equipment give you smoke in smaller doses doesn’t mean it’s not killing you slowly. Oh, but it’s got a filter (or whatever the excuse is). I don’t care. The answer is that you are still better off not smoke. And for goodness sake, don’t smoke and then go around saying that your allergies or all the smoke from the wildfire is bothering you! If the smoke from wildfires is bothering you, what the hell do you think those little cigarettes are doing to you — same damn thing! And, your allergies wouldn’t be nearly as bad if your lungs and nasal passageways weren’t already irritated and weakened from the crap you INTENTIONALLY puff into them. Yeah, you will get ZERO sympathy from me on that one.

As for alcohol, again, no sympathy. Never has alcohol ever made any situation better. NEVER. Oh, but we had fun drinking and laughing at my sister’s cousin’s step-brother’s daughter’s fifth wedding. Yeah, and then you wonder why six months later she’s calling the cops for the third time because her husband beat the tar out of her. Yet, she won’t get a divorce or leave him because “he only gets that way when he’s drinking.” Yeah, duh.

Oh, but I need a drink to relax. I’ve had a hard day. Get a hobby! Meditate. Take a walk. If it dulls your senses and/or your mind, it’s dulling your body.  Nobody has time for that.

I also personally believe that a majority of crimes are influenced by alcohol use. (I’ve seen alcohol turn normally smart people stupid pretty fast)

Yes, my stance might be a little tough for some people to take. Boo hoo.

I have an achiever personality. I like to do things. I like to accomplish. Do you want me to make excuses for that? Sorry, I won’t. I also understand that if I don’t have my health, I won’t be able to achieve what I want to accomplish. They go hand and hand.

If you pour toxins into your body and you aren’t getting where you want to be, you might want to examine your actions first.

It seems like everyone wants to be successful and healthy, but no one 1) realizes that both are a natural state for all energy, or 2) wants to do the work to correct it if they’ve gotten off course.

I will admit that even I’m not exception here. I’m off track. I’ve even put myself back on track, then gotten discouraged and given up for a while. I had successfully lost 70 lbs, but when I couldn’t break one weight barrier and I saw the holidays coming up, I decided to give up. I’d only planned on getting off the track for a few months. I figured I’d changed enough in my diet that i would be all right. Two years later and gaining 40 lbs back, yeah, dumb move. Trying to lose the weight a second time around is proving to be even more difficult.

But I will do it because I don’t want my weight to ruin my health. I have too much to accomplish.

Drugs and alcohol have stolen away the lives of some of the best artists. Imagine what could have been created if they’d chosen not to poison themselves.

It really is our natural state to thrive. We have moved beyond the typical survival that our ancestors dealt with. Even plants struggle in the beginning, trying to take root. But after the plant does that, it thrives. It creates in abundance, not just to take care of itself, but to reproduce, and give back to nature in excess.

Think about a bush of berries. The bush doesn’t say, “Well, this year I’m only going to create 10 berries because I really only need to put out 10 other little bushes like me.” No. It creates hundreds of little berries because birds will eat some. Seeds will then get distributed further away from the bush too. The next year, the bush will create even more berries because the birds ate so many.

A tree doesn’t just put out one branch with one leaf. No, it puts out ten large ones and hundreds of smaller branches all with tons of leaves on it. If it bears fruit, it’s not just going to be one or two. Weather permitting, it is going to make as much fruit as it can possibly bear.

We are creators, each and every one of us. We get to choose what we create in our lives. Our every thought and action is proof that we are a species capable of manifesting great things. We have to get beyond the notions that there are limits and that we are all just trying to survive. Nope, we’re beyond that now. We are in our thriving phase. We are meant to produce great things, not only for ourselves, but for those around us. We are interconnected, just like the bush and the bird. It took a certain toughness to get to where we are, and it will take a different type of toughness to get through this growing stage to where we need to be. I look around and I see people stalled out by their own lack of motivation. It’s easier to go to the store and get that pack of cigarettes or that case of beer and to self-medicate away their meaningless lives than it is to sit down and write that book or screenplay; learn to draw, cook or sew; practice their stretches, chords, or vocal scales.

Or whatever it is you want to create.

How long are you going to let your own vices and excuses control your life? Don’t you want to have a say in how your life goes?

Get up.

Rise up.

Take 100% responsibility for your life.

Don’t let anything dull your life.

It’s time to sparkle.

It’s time to go through the growing pains as a species and clean up our acts. It’s time to be tough.

It’s time to thrive.