I HAVE LIVED My life...well...long...with joys and sorrows, Learning from yesterday, reveling in today, seeing hope in tomorrow.
The person who, from the mirror, looks back at me Is not the child, woman, warrior, survivor who inside you'd see. In her face are reflected the smiles and tears Of unexpected blessings and vanquished fears.
I continue on till this journey be done, Walking with God till the crown of life is won, Seeing myself in each one I meet, Loving, striving to make their lives more complete because I HAVE LIVED.
I haven't checked out all these "facts" but, being that it's a banana, can't hurt, right?
BANANA FACTS THAT MAY SURPRISE YOU
After Reading THIS, you'll NEVER look at a banana in the same way again!!
Bananas. Containing three natural sugars - sucrose, fructose and glucose combined with fiber, a banana gives an instant, sustained and substantial boost of energy. Research has proven that just two bananas provide enough energy for a strenuous 90-minute workout. No wonder the banana is the number one fruit with the world's leading athletes. But energy isn't the only way a banana can help us keep fit. It can also help overcome or prevent a substantial number of illnesses and conditions, making it a must to add to our daily diet.
Depression: According to a recent survey undertaken by MIND amongst people suffering from depression, many felt much better after eating a banana.This is because bananas contain tryptophan, a type of protein that the body converts into serotonin, known to make you relax, improve your mood and generally make you feel happier.
Anemia: High in iron, bananas can stimulate the production of hemoglobin in the blood and so helps in cases of anemia.
Blood Pressure: This unique tropical fruit is extremely high in potassium yet low in salt, making it perfect to beat blood pressure. So much so, the US Food and Drug Administration has just allowed the banana industry to make official claims for the fruit's ability to reduce the risk of blood pressure and stroke.
Brain Power: 200 students at a Twickenham (Middlesex) school were helped through their exams this year by eating bananas at breakfast, break, and lunch in a bid to boost their brain power. Research has shown that the potassium-packed fruit can assist learning by making pupils more alert..
Constipation: High in fiber, including bananas in the diet can help restore normal bowel action, helping to overcome the problem without resorting to laxatives.
Hangovers: One of the quickest ways of curing a hangover is to make a banana milkshake, sweetened with honey. The banana calms the stomach and, with the help of the honey, builds up depleted blood sugar levels, while the milk soothes and re-hydrates your system.
Heartburn: Bananas have a natural antacid effect in the body, so if you suffer from heartburn, try eating a banana for soothing relief.
Mosquito bites: Before reaching for the insect bite cream, try rubbing the affected area with the inside of a banana skin. Many people find it amazingly successful at reducing swelling and irritation.
Nerves: Bananas are high in B vitamins that help calm the nervous system. Overweight and at work? Studies at the Institute of Psychology in Austria found pressure at work leads to gorging on comfort food like chocolate and crisps. Looking at 5,000 hospital patients, researchers found the most obese were more likely to be in high-pressure jobs. The report concluded that, to avoid panic-induced food cravings, we need to control our blood sugar levels by snacking on high carbohydrate foods every two hours to keep levels steady.
Ulcers: The banana is used as the dietary food against intestinal disorders because of its soft texture and smoothness. It is the only raw fruit that can be eaten without distress in over-chronicler cases. It also neutralizes over-acidity and reduces irritation by coating the lining of the stomach.
Temperature control: Many other cultures see bananas as a "cooling" fruit that can lower both the physical and emotional temperature of expectant mothers. In Thailand , for example, pregnant women eat bananas to ensure their baby is born with a cool temperature.
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD): Bananas can help SAD sufferers because they contain the natural mood enhancer, tryptophan.
Stress: Potassium is a vital mineral, which helps normalize the heartbeat, sends oxygen to the brain and regulates your body's water balance. When we are stressed, our metabolic rate rises, thereby reducing our potassium levels. These can be rebalanced with the help of a high-potassium banana snack.
Strokes: According to research in "The New England Journal of Medicine,"eating bananas as part of a regular diet can cut the risk of having a stroke as much as 40%!
Warts: Those keen on natural alternatives swear that if you want to kill off a wart, take a piece of banana skin and place it on the wart, with the yellow side out. Carefully hold the skin in place with a plaster or surgical tape!
So, a banana really is a natural remedy for many ills. When you compare it to an apple, it has four times the protein, twice the carbohydrate, three times the phosphorus, five times the vitamin A and iron, and twice the other vitamins and minerals. It is also rich in potassium and is one of the best value foods around. So maybe its time to change that well-known phrase so that we say, "A banana a day keeps the doctor away!"
I submit this, tongue-in-cheek but there IS some truth here...
Because I'm A Guy
Because I'm a guy, I must hold the television remote control in my hand while I watch TV. If the thing has been misplaced, I'll miss a whole show looking for it, though one time I was able to survive by holding a calculator.
Because I'm a guy, when I lock my keys in the car I will fiddle with a wire clothes hanger and ignore your suggestions that we call a road service until long after hypothermia has set in.
Oh, and when the car isn't running very well, I will pop the hood and stare at the engine as if I know what I'm looking at. If another guy shows up, one of us will say to the other, "I used to be able to fix these things, but now with all these computers and everything, I wouldn't know where to start." We will then drink beer.
Because I'm a guy, when I catch a cold I need someone to bring me soup and take care of me while I lie in bed and moan. You never get as sick as I do, so for you this isn't an issue.
Because I'm a guy, I can be relied upon to purchase basic groceries at the store, like milk or bread. I cannot be expected to find exotic items like "cumin" or "tofu." For all I know these are the same thing. And never, under any circumstances, expect me to pick up anything for which "feminine hygiene product" is a euphemism.
Because I'm a guy, when one of our appliances stops working I will insist on taking it apart -- despite evidence that this will just cost me twice as much once the repair person gets here and has to put it back together.
Because I'm a guy, I don't think we're all that lost, and no, I don't think we should stop and ask someone. Why would you listen to a complete stranger -- how the heck could HE know where we're going?
Because I'm a guy, there is no need to ask me what I'm thinking about. The answer is always either sex or football, though I have to make up something else when you ask, so don't.
Because I'm a guy, I do not want to visit your mother, or have your mother come visit us, or talk to her when she calls, or think about her any more than I have to. Whatever you got her for Mother's Day is okay, I don't need to see it. Did you remember to pick up something for my mom, too?
Because I'm a guy, I am capable of announcing, "one more beer and I really have to go," and mean it every single time I say it, even when it gets to the point that the one bar closes and my buddies and I have to go hunt down another. I will find it increasingly hilarious to have my pals call you to tell you I'll be home soon, and no, I don't understand why you threw all my clothes into the front yard. What's the connection?
Because I'm a guy, you don't have to ask me if I liked the movie. Chances are, if you're crying at the end of it, I didn't.
Because I'm a guy, yes, I have to turn up the radio when Bruce Springsteen or The Doors comes on, and then, yes, I have to tell you every single time about how Bruce had his picture on the cover of Time and Newsweek the same day, or how Jim Morrison is buried in Paris and everyone visits his grave. Please do not behave as if you do not find this fascinating.
Because I'm a guy, I think what you're wearing is fine. I thought what you were wearing five minutes ago was fine, too. Either pair of shoes is fine. With the belt or without it looks fine. Your hair is fine. You look fine. Can we just go now?
Because I'm a guy and this is, after all, the new millennium, I will share equally in the housework. You do the laundry, the cooking, the cleaning and the dishes. I'll do the rest.
An added note: My friend, Easy, left a comment on this blog which I think merits including here: Easy said: "Because I'm a guy.....I can be different and step out of these stereotypes... Been there, done that...but not anymore..."
These are the words of a true MAN..not just a "guy"..Thanks, Easy! Praise the Lord, and more power to you!
Last night about midnight, as I sat at my computer, I heard three loud thuds. My car, sitting parked in front of my house, has been hit numerous times, most likely by a drunken driver. Of course they have never left a note and, fortunately, my old but in very good condition (until now, but I'm getting ahead of myself) '93 Buick Century Custom Wagon has full coverage so my insurance company has covered the repairs.
Back to last night...I looked out the window on the side of my house (from where it seemed the "thud" sounds had come, and saw nothing. Then I went to my front window to look out where my car is parked, and saw people gathering in the street. In my robe, nightgown and slippers, I went out to see what had happened. It was raining softly. First thing, I checked my car. Oh, my gosh! Not again!! The rear street side of the entire back of my car had been "blown away" including the little side vent window in the back. Pieces of my car were strewn everywhere. But mine wasn't the only car that had been hit. Two other cars on the opposite side of the street also had extensive damage, every other car, in fact, as if something had ricocheted back and forth from one side of the street to another, hitting here and there as it flew by.
One of the neighbors had heard the noise and come running out in his socks and chased down the car that had caused the damage to where it came to a stop, just down the next street. He, along with a few other men from the neighborhood, kept the perpetrator, who they said smelled of liquor, from leaving. There were a lot of words flying around, like "spic" and "illegals." It took forever for the police to arrive (typical). The police took all our information and said to pick up our accident reports in the morning at the station.
So this morning I got up and dressed and took myself over to the police station. As I walked into the vestibule, there was a young Mexican man standing in disposable hospital scrubs, barely able to walk, with his belongings in a small plastic bag. He spoke to me in Spanish, asking if I had change for the phone. I asked him what had happened. He said he had an accident last night. I commented that maybe his accident had been with my (and the others') car on 73rd Court. He seemed to not deny it.
So what does one say when in such a situation? I asked if he had auto insurance. Nope. I then began to talk to him about driving drunk, how it could have been a person he hit, maybe someones child, how all of us whose cars were damaged would now be paying for his choice to drive intoxicated, how he himself was now injured.
Believe me, I know how it goes. I was married for 20 years to a Mexican man who, though for most of our married life was a good husband and father, a dependable provider, etc., eventually, at 50 years of age, succumbed (not literally) to the addiction of alcohol and, in time, cocaine. I know it's the culture. They grow up (and I know it's not only in the Mexican culture) watching the men "kick back" with a few beers (or more than a few) after a hard day's work. It's their "due." Social gatherings are always accompanied by alcohol. And it's a spiraling downswing that only gets worse.
So here is this young man, working a temp job (as he told me when I asked), no insurance, here with no family (and probably illegal), working days and taking English classes at night, barely making it (somewhat like myself, actually) who, because of his poor judgement, has created havoc for not only several of us whose cars happened to be in his bleary path, but himself as well. Surely his situation will not afford any of us any compensation for our damages. So what feelings should this inspire in me? Anger? Hatred? Prejudice?
Actually, grace is what came to mind. Someone who is lost is in desperate need of grace, that undeserved forgiveness such as that which God's grace offered to sinful me, so undeserved, made possible by Jesus' coming to take the punishment in my place when He died so that I might live and be right with God. Shall I look to another human being with any less?
So I talked to this young man about changes, about filling his life with God instead of drinking. I gave him my address and told him to come any time he felt he was lonely or wanted something to do beside drinking. I told him I'd find a Spanish-speaking church and we'd go together. I offered him my hand.
