Today I tried something new in the smoothie arena. If you’ve been reading this blog you know that I have been experimenting with smoothies for awhile now as a way to eat healthier and tastier.
Now that we are in the season of squashes – particularly pumpkins – why not try a smoothie that tastes like a pumpkin pie? I did. It was fast and easy.
1 14 oz. can of cooked pumpkin (or 2 cups fresh, cooked pumpkin)
2 cups kefir (creamy plain yogurt or silken tofu could be substitutes)
2 tbsp maple syrup (honey could be a substitute)
1/2 tsp salt
pumpkin pie spices to taste: ground cinnamon, ginger & cloves
Combine all ingredients in blender and puree. Makes 2-3 servings. That’s it. Drink up.
The kefir adds a whipped-creamy taste to the pumpkin. The spices make it taste like a slice of pumpkin pie in a glass – but without the fat, carbs and salt.
The smoothie will look identical to the photo above – even though that is a different recipe – “pumpkin spice smoothie” that also looks like it would be good to try. You can find it at For the Love of Food Blog here.
We had been in Jerusalem for awhile. The rhythm of our days alternated between working one day and doing something fun the next. The days were hot but dry. We walked everywhere. It was fun to visit the neighborhood where DH grew up – see his grade school, his high school, the people and places he knew.
One morning DH said he had a surprise for me. He had made an appointment for me at the King David Hotel. In fact, it was an appointment for a pedicure! Truthfully, my poor feet really needed it after so much walking in the dry, hot climate. But the King David Hotel? That was pretty extravagant!
And so it was. DH dropped me off early in the afternoon and said we would go for tea up on the veranda of the hotel afterward. The view from the shaded veranda overlooked the Old City. It was soothing coolness in the heat of the late afternoon.
Sometimes we just need to be able to receive whatever the universe has to give us – even unexpected pampering. I remember . . .
Often we like to think that we are free. After all, if we are adults we can go where we want and do what we like. However, if you think about it, many things restrict our freedom. Lack of education or income, along with discrimination, gender and age can restrict our freedom just for a start. Illness, abuse or addictions may also be factors that restrict our ability to freely choose in our best interests. Cultural and family norms may also restrict the choices we see available.
When you think about it – anything that distracts us or prevents us from choosing in our own best interests and those of the common good (to which we are inter-related, inter-dependent and inter-connected) restricts our freedom.
We are not truly free until we are free to choose for our own health and well being and the well being of others.
Am I qualified to write a post on what it takes to live joyfully? Probably not any more so than others who also live joyfully. On the other hand, I certainly have seen the back side of this coin. Meanwhile, others have commented to me that I seem very joyful, happy and peaceful. Students have even written it on their course evaluations. So perhaps writing down a few of my observations is helpful.
Those of us who come out of physically or emotionally abusive families, usually have not learned the the healthy psychological habits of living joyfully. Just like learning to set healthy boundaries or only allowing healthy relationships into one’s life, living joyfully is a learned skill. The joy, of course, is within us – within each and every one of us. But it is a skill to learn how to allow that joy to emerge, allowing it to penetrate our everyday life and relationships.
Here some of the habits necessary for joyful living –
1. Take time to reflect and be grateful every day. Do not seek happiness in external things, situations, addictions or behaviors. If you are caught in addiction seek help.
2. Retrain ruminations and thoughts away from victimization, bitterness and resentment. Drinking thoughts like these is no different than drinking poison – and wondering why the other person doesn’t drop dead. Rather, retrain your mind to focus on the positive things in your day, in your life. Get help through therapy if you need it.
3. If you can’t find something positive – create something. Greet the cashier at the grocery store. Say a pleasant “hello” to someone on the street. Do something nice for yourself. The amount of positive energy in your life is dependent on the number of positive actions you are willing to take.
4. Create a network of healthy and supportive relationships. This is a minimal requirement to begin living joyfully. Without others who also live this way we do not have good models to emulate or the support we need to make difficult decisions and choices. Again, introspection, spiritual direction and therapy can be helpful here.
5. Once healthy relationships are in place, begin removing dysfunctional, abusive or unhealthy relationships from your life. Usually this last step will usually happen on its own. Oil and water will separate.
As adults only we can decide which relationships are life-giving for us. Accept relationships and situations for what they are – as they are. Decide what you are willing to tolerate and more importantly what you are not willing to tolerate. This is not about creating drama or ultimatums. It is about slowly, but surely, removing yourself from unhealthy situations. If positive change occurs you can always re-assess. Until then, healthy adults do not worry about other adults, neither do they take care of them, either financially, physically or emotionally.
To allow yourself to take care of another adult, or to allow yourself to be taken care of by another adult is not love – it is co-dependence, enabling and perhaps enmeshment. If other adults in your life need care, point them to resources to get the help they need. Real love desires that other adults have independence and freedom.
6. With your new-found freedom, healthy relationships and energy enjoy your new, joy-filled life!
