I’ve been thinking for years about the whole gluten-intolerance arena. How did we arrive there and why are there soooo many who are adversely affected by wheat?

Bread has been called the ‘staff of life’ for generations. It keeps for a long time once it’s dried out. The sourdough varieties have extremely long life plus the health benefits of the fermentation. Cowboys carried ‘hardtack’ in their saddlebags for an on-the-go snack before McDonalds or Dollar General made their home on the range. And I have tried the hardtack twice…a friend of mine discovered an old recipe and made some up…we couldn’t even soften it in a cup of strong coffee to make it palatable! It lasted forever because no one would/could eat it.

So back to the gluten dilemma….and these are my thoughts wondering out loud, (because I have friends who are gluten free because gluten causes them problems.)

Could it be that the nation’s shift (now world’s shift) from whole grain flours to heavily refined [with the endosperm and husks removed-(the parts that contain all the oils and nutrients so valuable to the flour), although the flours are now ‘enriched’ ie. vitamins sprayed back over the refined flours], has caused a reaction within our bodies? Because all this seems to have started after the World Wars when so much of our foodstuffs went through great change in order to send the best of our foods to the service men fighting in other lands, while we folk at home learned about oleo-margarine, Crisco shortening and oils, Soft-a-Silk cake flours, box mixes and TV dinners. (sorry for all the use and misuse of parentheticals)

Rancidity of whole grain flours caused a problem for shelf life in stores. Yes, the grains could be ground, packaged and sold, but in warmer climates/stores and just over time the oil in the grains would spoil (go rancid) and would develop an off smell and bitter flavor. And so the grains had to be ‘improved’ for longer salability. Flour makers and sellers came out better, but the public, the home, the housewife feeding her family and the family in turn suffered…back to mal-nourishment (in ‘the land of plenty’)!

“Listen, lady, you are always talking about different stuff….why?” “I feel like you’re meddling! Just leave well enough alone!!!” Maybe that’s part of the problem…it’s not ‘well-enough’

I don’ t think it should be that hard to make good food for our families/ourselves to eat well and thereby stay healthy!

…And so I speak my thoughts and opinions….so you can make yours 🙂

“Why are you always talking about my house, where I live, and stuff that’s mine?”

Because, stuff that’s important to you is important to me. We’re all human beings, all with different tastes, likes and desires, yet in some ways, we’re all the same 🙂 We have a need for some sort of order and cleanliness and health to function at our highest level.

My mom told me as I was growing up, the reason she believed so many little kids didn’t feel well much of the time and had low energy was because they didn’t eat their vegetables. (kids were low on nutrients)

I maintain that philosophy in alot of areas. We’ve got to follow the blueprint of how we’re designed a little closer to get the results we hope for.

It’s so easy to ‘let things slide’ and pretty soon we wonder, ‘why don’t/can’t I…?’

They’re lots of good conversations about the connection between mental health, physical health, our home-life, who we hang around with…all of these components make up our whole self.

How we take care of ourselves will influence how we take care of others, for good or for the other… 😦

Don’t just take my word for it. Do your own study.

Again, you are worth it, and you will feel better for it!

If ‘X’ marks the spot; what kind of mark, what kind of spot are we leaving?

They’re some pretty awful looking spots where people live, and that’s the spot they are leaving a mark upon. It doesn’t matter if they are poor or rich, homeless or with home, it boils down to what they value about their life, the choices they make about themselves, the way they choose to come across to others, and the way their choices, their ‘spot’ (or mark on their spot) will affect others.

Some may not think they have a choice, you may be one of them, but we do! We can keep our selves clean and neatly put together…hair, clothes, shoes. Don’t see yourself as a victim, the ‘poor me’, rather begin to see yourself as you really want to be.

How about your domicile, your sidewalk, your street, even your car. Just a few moments of organization, take a plastic bag from the grocery and gather up any trash in those places (doesn’t matter if the trash was yours or not, it’s your domicile and you need to have some pride about its appearance…you’ll feel better about it!). Show the neighbors how well you care for your spot!

We’re each leaving a mark of some sort wherever we go…do we throw paper out the car windows (the street dept will pick it up, it’s their job 😦 ). Do we change our mind about a purchase and leave the PJs we decided against in the cereal aisle? Are we carelessly parking our car and take two spots or back in crooked so it infringes on the spot next to yours? Are we brusk to the waiters and window severs because we’re in a hurry, or do we leave a good tip and big ‘thank-you’

…feel like maybe I’m treading on thin ice here… Yet all these things take little time and yield big results within us, for being a bigger person, and within the other people as they notice the ‘mark’ we’ve left behind on them.

We are good people, created to do good and leave good wherever we go.

Let’s rise to this daily challenge and prove to ourselves that the mark of our spot is going to be good!