Tips to a Happier You in 2012~Your Handiwork

Has anyone tried Laughter Aerobics, my first tip to a happier you? (Tips to a Happier You in 2012~Laughter Aerobics) Well, here’s my next tip to a happier you: 

Work with your hands…“Handiwork.”
I realize this really doesn’t make much sense, but it is another thing we can do that will naturally increase the serotonin in our brain. When we do repetitive, coordinating movement with our hands, the amount of serotonin in our brain will increase. The ideas are limitless–scrap booking, knitting, origami, playing guitar, pottery, jewelry making, carpentry–after all, Jesus was a carpenter.
Here’s why: 

Handiwork increases contentment~When you are working with your hands doing something that requires a little thought (but not stressful thought), your mind doesn’t have time to worry about the past or the future, but instead settles on the thoughts of the moment you are in helping you be content. 
Handiwork decreases pain~As a pharmacist, I’ve seen patient after patient who suffers from depression also be diagnosed with fibromyalgia. When serotonin is low, your threshold to pain is low. Any repetitive movement you do with your hands has been shown to directly increase the levels of serotonin in your brain, not only increasing your mood, but also increasing your threshold to pain. Also, pain is perceived in your brain. Your brain cannot concentrate on two things at the same time, so when you’re concentrating on what you’re doing with your hands, your brain literally cannot interpret pain signals and your pain will decrease. 
Handiwork may help overcome addiction~Have you ever known someone who has a knitting or crochet project in their hands every time they sit down to relax–every time their mind might be idle? Often these hobbies like knitting, crochet, or cross-stitching become addictive. But this is not necessarily a bad thing. Through research (and through my own learned personal experiences) it has been found that the tendency toward addiction has a genetic component. Being “addicted” to knitting may work to keep another addiction from surfacing. And in turn, addiction to knitting might help someone overcome another addiction by keeping that idle mind occupied so whatever addiction is will not be at the forefront of his or her mind. 
Handiwork increases productivity~Someone who is depressed typically lives in a hopeless state. They have a hard time setting goals, because they truly cannot motivate themselves enough to accomplish them. They feel unproductive and worthless. Picking up and easy “handiwork” hobby like knitting can be such an easy thing to do to begin to transform a depressed mind into one that wants to learn, set goals, and even do something for someone else. When I was so sick, in and out of the hospital, someone knitted me a prayer blanket. As she made the blanket, she prayed over it, blessing her and me both! 
Handiwork helps you relax~Remember I taught you about the hormone, cortisol, in the Laughter Aerobics Post? Well, it comes into play here as well. When you work with your hands in any movement that is repetitive and requires a little coordination, it causes relaxation and your cortisol level decreases, therefore allowing your serotonin levels to increase, therefore creating a happier you! 



Get those hands busy!


From my heart,

Celeste

Tips to a Happier You in 2012~Laughter Aerobics

As a pharmacist, a patient, and a child of God who’s had to be “parented” quite a lot over the last eight years, I have learned many practical solutions to insomnia, depression, anxiety, and addiction. I’ve also learned that these four issues often go hand in hand, and are directly related to the chemicals in our brain. The pharmacist in me sought a medical solution–pills. And as most of you know, pills just made things worse.
Throughout this year, I’m going to share small, easy changes you can make in your life that will make for a happier you. All of these tidbits of information are based in both scientific fact and scripture. Medicine and faith really can walk hand in hand when God is your first and foremost physician. I’ll try to keep it simple as far as the “sciency” stuff goes, but a little knowledge about the brain really helps understand why these solutions work.
Most of you have probably heard about the hormone we have called serotonin, right? It’s that almighty chemical the media flooded us with information about when Prozac was first introduced. There is another hormone in your brain called cortisol. Cortisol is the hormone that really kicks in we we are under high stress, afraid, in a hurry, etc. It’s the one that helps us with our “fight or flight” mechanism. Remember that term from high school biology? Well, these two hormones do not coexist well. When Cortisol is high, like when you are worried or stressed, Serotonin is low. And vice versa. 
I’m here to tell you that you don’t need Prozac or one of it’s relatives to help. There are numerous small changes you can make in your lifestyle that have been clinically proven to increase the serotonin levels in your brain. 
Today I want to tell you about laughter aerobics. “What?” Yes, laughter aerobics. This has got to be one of the silliest things I’d ever heard of, but it really exists. Laughter aerobics is a class where people basically sit in a circle and one person is appointed to begin laughing. Fake, real, goofy…it doesn’t matter. They just have to laugh. In turn, everyone else starts laughing too. The great thing is, you don’t have to go to an aerobics class! In the evening, after your work day is complete, do some laughter aerobics with your family. Your kids will think you’re nuts, but that’s all part of the fun! I promise you will end your day with a happy note, your cortisol levels will decrease, your serotonin levels will increase, and as a bonus, you will sleep better.
To top it off, science is not the only confirmation that laughter will make you happier. Read the prescription verse for today. From this verse comes the quote we’ve all heard, “laughter is the best medicine.” 
So tonight, begin your new year by making this small change. Spend just five minutes with your family playing laugh aerobics. I promise you won’t regret it and what do you have to lose?
From my heart, 
Celeste

Where Medicine Meets Faith

Today on “Dr. Oz,” he had Joel Osteen as his guest. The title of this segment was “Where medicine ends and faith begins.” If you’re reading this blog, you probably know God gave me a miracle after years of failed medical attempts at healing. This particular subject holds a spot very close to my heart! 
I was excited to see such a mainstream show confront such a controversial topic, but honestly, I was left disappointed. The main message resulting from the interview was there is power in prayer. I wholeheartedly agree! But as came through in the show today, Joel Osteen is a “feel good” preacher. He believes in happiness and prosperity, and that anyone who believes and has enough faith can achieve just that. What I did not hear on the show today was the will of God. God has a plan. He is in control. For his children, God has promises that he will bestow, but not mentioned by Rev. Osteen today was that we may not see those promises until we reach Heaven. 
I realize this was a secular show, and I’m sure Dr. Oz had the network guiding him in what he could and could not say, but I was disappointed that the subject “when everything fails” didn’t come up. So if we die, do we assume that neither faith nor medicine worked? No. This brings me to one of my favorite quotes by Max Lucado: 
“The ultimate aim of healing is not just a healthy body but a greater kingdom. If God’s aim is to grant perfect health to all his children, he has failed, because no one enjoys perfect health, and everyone dies. But if God’s aim is to expand the boundaries of his kingdom, then he has succeeded. For every time he heals, a thousand sermons are preached.”
And to that I add this…even when he does not heal us while we are here on earth, he completely heals us when we die. For me to live is Christ, to die is gain. (Philippians 1:21)


Even in death, God has a plan. The experience of losing someone often leads other to Christ.

Prayer is important–essential actually to our spiritual walk. But God already has all the answers, doesn’t he? God has already promised us that he has a plan and a purpose for us…a hope and a future (Jeremiah 29/11). When we pray, he restores us. Praying helps us to remember that he is God and he has us in his hands. It helps us to fight the evil influences this world has over us and have faith in him. Prayer doesn’t help God be a better God, but it helps us to be better children.
I have blogged on this subject several times, and I think as Christians, it is vital that we live on this earth with an eternal perspective. Yes, what we do here is important because while we are on earth, we are laying up our treasures in Heaven. What are those treasures? People—the people that will be in eternity beside us. I’m attaching links here of the other blog posts I have on this subject:

Life is Good, Eternity is Better
In Sickness and in Health

It all boils down to your heart. Only God truly knows your heart. He alone knows your faith, your love, your struggles, and your trust in him.
I love the PRAYER acronym on today’s prescription. I will leave you with the scripture that supports it’s meaning. 
P ~ praise ~ Yours, O LORD, are the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heavens and on the earth is yours; yours is the kingdom, O LORD, and you are exalted as head above all. Riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. (1 Chronicles 29:11-12)
R ~ repent ~ If my people … will humble themselves, pray, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear their prayer… (2 Chronicles 7:14)
A ~ ask ~ Ask, and it will be given you . . . knock, and the door will be opened for you. (Matthew 7:7)
Y ~ yield ~ …your will be done…(Matthew 6:10) and …not what I want but what you want. (Matthew 26:39)
E ~ expect results ~  …approach the throne of grace with confidence. (Hebrews 4:16)
R ~ return oftenThe prayer of faith will save the sick. (James 5:15)


I’d love to hear some of your thoughts on the subject! 

From my heart,

Celeste






Who’s behind your mask?

Have you ever seen the movie, Point Break, with Patrick Swayze? I’ll never forget it. Not because Patrick was in it (though that was memorable), not because of the surfing and huge waves in the movie, but because of those stupid masks they wear at the beginning to rob the bank. There are four robbers, each wearing the mask of a US President. Doesn’t sound like big deal, right? For whatever reason, those masks completely freaked me out! I had nightmares about them for weeks!


I used to love scary movies. Halloween has never bothered me…haunted houses, scary masks, trick-or-treating…I loved it all. So what was it about the masks in that movie that disturbed me? 

They weren’t scary masks. They were masks of good people, worn by some seriously not good people.  

I’ve spent the last five days at the Christian Communicators Conference at Lake Keowee, South Carolina– Twenty-four women in one house who all want to be speakers. Can you imagine? We had to have scheduled quiet time every day like preschoolers, and preschoolers would have probably been better at being quiet than we were! But I digress…

I was so blessed by the transparency of all of these women. After only four days them, I’d made a connection with each and every one. They wear no masks. We are all women who have gone through different struggles in life, all trying to use our experiences to help others in similar situations. No judgment. The blood of Jesus Christ covers us all. No need for judgment. 

Once we can accept the gift of the cross that God gave us through his son Jesus, there is no need for masks. 

No need to worry about being judged by others. It’s only God’s judgment we need to worry about. Go back and read the verse on today’s prescription above. As Christians, we are to be ourselves; unashamed of our past or who we are, because we are covered by the blood of Christ. He calls us to share his truth with everyone, but how will they believe if they cannot see the work he’s done in us? 

In the movie, the robbers chose those US President masks to hide so they would not be punished for the crime they were committing. If they did not have the masks, do you think they would have robbed the bank? If they knew everyone would see who they truly were, wouldn’t they have been more likely to obey the law and act more honorably? 

It’s time to shed those good masks. Masks of deception. They may look good from the outside, but they also prevent you from healing on the inside. God calls us to be transparent and unashamed.

So when Halloween is over tonight, take off those masks for good! 
From my heart,

Celeste


Shredding away my past…

Although it’s fall, I spent the week spring-cleaning…

Yesterday, I spent the morning shredding 4 years worth of insurance statements. Since my seizures have disappeared, I’ve been on the search for new insurance and decided it was time to get rid of all paperwork for claims that have been closed. I really did not expect to take a journey back in time while I was shredding! 

As I picked up pages to put in the shredder, I caught words here and there…ambulance, emergency, x-ray, fracture, prescription, …and they did not bring back good memories. Dates tied random words to the place and situation in which the seizures occurred. For seven years my memory was really fuzzy from the seizures and medications, but yesterday, my memory was crystal clear. Several of my seizures happened in public places like Wal-Mart, The Glazing Pot, and Gray Court Pharmacy. You’d have thought Wal-Mart was on fire when I had them there. All because of a seizure, I got two fire trucks, and police car, and an ambulance.  I had one in Park City, Utah while we were on vacation, so of course sirens screamed all the way to the hotel, where lots of people took notice. Trevor and I were alone in the hotel room and he handled it all! One of my seizures happened at home while I was alone with Miranda and Marlee. They were in the bath at the time, and Miranda found me about twenty minutes later with our Great Danes hovering over me. There was a puddle of blood about two feet wide under my head from breaking my nose. It’s truly a blessing I don’t actually remember the seizure and seeing people react to them; I want no memory of my children’s faces in the aftermath. But I do remember the events after I regained consciousness, which usually took about an hour. They are NOT good memories. 

I let seizures define me for seven years. I felt like a victim. I let the depression that went with each seizure build on the one before, driving me further and further into the hole of isolation I’d dug for myself. That was not God’s plan. He wanted me to turn to Him. He wanted me to see His strength in my weakness. 

I finished shredding all four years worth of statements (three garbage bags full). Four miserable years of my past represented in those garbage bags, shredded beyond recognition. No more reminders and a new insurance plan in the works. 
My past is past. It is gone. I cannot and will not go back. I wish I’d realized sooner that it was only God who could heal me and maybe I wouldn’t have turned to so many other ways to “fix” myself. But now, God has wiped it away, as far as the east is from the west, and He didn’t even have to use a shredder! He just wanted me to turn to Him. 
From my heart,

Celeste

A Flavorful Life

Whenever I read or hear this verse, I can’t help but think of Grandpa.
Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.
He’s actually my grandpa-in-law, but I’ve always thought of him as my grandpa (I met my hubby when I was 13, so he’s been “grandpa” for more than two-thirds of my life!)
Whenever we have grandpa over to out house to eat, you’re guaranteed to hear this conversation:
“Pass the salt please”
(Shake shake shake shake shake shake shake)

“Is this stuff coming out?”
(taste)

“Is this real salt or that fake stuff you always use?”
(taste…shake shake shake shake)

“This isn’t real salt”

“When are you going to get the real stuff in this house?”
Grandpa just does not like sea salt. He wants the “real thing.”
He has led a full, happy life, and if too much salt is the only thing threatening his health, let him have it.
Grandpa has always lived a life of service to God and kindness to anyone with whom he comes in contact. He’s spent his life sprinkling his salt on all those around him and therefore has lived a very “flavorful” life.
A life without Jesus is not satisfying. No matter what you try to substitute, Jesus is the “real thing.”
Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? (Luke 14:34).
Today is Grandpa’s 98th birthday. If I make it to 98 years old, I hope that my life have been spent sprinkling my salt on others and reflected on as a flavorful life.
Grandpa is still making sure his salt tank stays full so he can continue to sprinkle it’s contents until he needs it no longer. We are taking Grandpa to dinner for his birthday tonight, and since we are going to a restaurant, I’m sure the salt will be the “real thing.” And even though we are eating Italian, don’t think for a minute you won’t hear, “Pass the salt please.”
I now keep “real” salt in my house… just for Grandpa.
From my heart,


Celeste
Happy Birthday Grandpa!

What I learned from Rudy Giuliani…

A few weeks ago, David and I went to a big motivation seminar held in downtown Greenville. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Rudy Giuliani spoke about something that’s
fascinating and frustrating to me these days…the “almighty” internet. 
With the invention of the internet, we have “knowledge” at our fingertips and it travels faster than we are capable of dealing with. Computer knowledge is necessary to live in this century. It’s here, and it’s here to stay. The problem is, however, that we have stopped thinking for ourselves. We are becoming a manipulated society. 
One of the problems I have with this computer generation is how we are becoming so accustomed to immediate gratification. With health issues, it is frustrating because as patients, we punch in our symptoms on the keyboard and the computer generates a list of possibilities. Within an hour or so, we have diagnosed ourselves! Let me give you an example of a pharmacist “friend” of mine…
She was seven months pregnant, had an eight-year-old and four-year-old also, and a husband who happened to be out of town. After work, she went to retrieve her children, and her mom commented about a “bump” on her forehead. She had thought it was just a weird zit! In a panic, her mom said, “You call the dermatologist in the morning and you tell him you have to be seen immediately! That looks exactly like what Nita’s daughter had and it was melanoma!” 
Well, since she was a pharmacist, she knew to just look it up on the computer and she would see it was nothing. SO…after getting the kids to bed, she finally sat down at the computer around midnight. By 1:00 a.m. she was convinced that she was dying of melanoma and would be leaving her husband with three kids to raise alone. That made for one long, sleepless night. 
Anybody had a similar experience? I’m sure you’ve realized that that “friend” was me. As a pharmacist, I should have known better! The sad thing is I have gone to the computer more than once for my need for immediate gratification, and more than once I’ve come to the wrong conclusion.
To keep us thinking for ourselves and not relying on Sir Google, Mr. Giuliani suggested five things we must do to keep our minds active and maintain our ability to think independently:
1) Read books–have a basis to make your own decisions. Don’t just read other people’s opinions about what they’ve read. 
2) Listen–to other people. Seek advice from people you look up to and believe in. You can become a leader by learning from other successful people. 
3) Take notes–never stop writing. Write your thoughts, goals, lists…keep the parts of your mind active that make you an individual.
4) Take five minutes every day to just STOP–relax, pray, stop your world for a few minutes.
5) Most importantly, we must care and love other people. The computer tends to isolate and disconnect us from people. Sure we have Facebook and email, and they are great ways to communicate. But they don’t allow us to see the heart of people or minister to their needs. 
Coming from the person in charge of NYC when the twin towers were hit on 9/11/2001, I wanted to listen.  The Rudy Giuliani I watched handle that chaos and tragedy obviously had standards and values in place that helped him. While he relied on computers and statistics to help New York recover from that tragedy, it was his willingness to listen to people one on one and his compassion for them that made the difference in those months after September 2001. He prayed and asked God’s guidance in knowing the right steps to take. He relied on his heavenly father for wisdom and instruction. While it was one of the toughest times our country has endured, I consider Rudy Giuliani a man of great character and principal, and someone to learn from. 
I thought his “five things” were very interesting. I find myself doing all of those things these days, though I would have never put them together in a list on thinking independently. I realized, though, that during my seven years of depression, I didn’t want to do any of those things. I didn’t want to read books to because I just wanted to mindlessly watch television so I didn’t have to think about my world. I got to a point where I didn’t want to seek advice of others because I was convinced it was hopeless. I never thought writing things down would help me, although I’d been told to try it more than once. I prayed, but it was selfish prayer. I was too busy being self-absorbed in my own pity party to worry about anyone else long enough to actually do something that required effort. 
I wonder now how much sooner I could have overcome the depression if I had made the items on this list a priority? Hmmm…
From my heart, 
Celeste

Do you plan your fun or simply let it happen?




I had a bible study to go to one night, and I left a few chores to be done while I was gone. One of which was to put away the monster size pack of toilet paper rolls from Sam’s. I was gone for three or so hours, and I was amazed to come home to see that the pack of TP was actually gone from the place I left it, and nowhere to be found. Visit inside my brain….”They actually put it up! I can’t believe someone actually listened and they didn’t just zone out in front of the TV while was gone. I will really need to give them some praise so they realize how much I appreciate that they listened and did this small task for me. Maybe I need to remember to praise more and fuss less…”

…Think of my surprise when saw the kitchen sink:


APPARENTLY, as soon as I left, a toilet paper fight broke out: Twenty-four rolls of toilet paper flying through the air…”over the dogs and through the kitchen, to the sink full of dishes we go”; Kids hiding behind doors, diving over sofas, sliding across the kitchen floor. And when I say kids, I’m including my slightly oversized, 46-year-old kid as well.

They obviously didn’t think that I could appreciate such fun, and decided to attempt to hide it from me. Yes, all of the rolls of toilet paper were tucked away in the appropriate bathroom cabinets, but they were a little worse for the wear. None of them quite “rolled” the way toilet paper was intended! But the dead give-away was the soaking wet roll in the kitchen sink.

Now when I got home, no one was to be found. Trevor and Marlee were asleep, and Miranda was in our room talking to David. When I walked in with the wet roll of TP, I immediately saw very guilty looks on their faces, and Miranda said, “CRAP, I thought we got them all!” The gig was up.

A year ago, while I was still in the midst of my depression, I’d have just gotten frustrated. Now, I wish I’d been here! Or at least had a hidden camera so I could see it! They have laughed and laughed over those few unplanned hours with toilet paper therapy.

We need to enjoy the every day in life. The trips we plan and look forward to are sometimes great, and sometimes not so great; the elaborate plans we make for a family day may come together, but all to often someone gets frustrated or upset; but who would have ever imagined the memories and joy that came from a huge pack of toilet paper from Sam’s…

Let life happen and look for the joy. Every single day.

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Intercourse…an adventure or a destination?


Be honest. Did the title make you want to read this? I’m sure this one will catch my hubby’s eye…and I can’t get him to read hardly anything I write! It’s not very long, but you have to read to the end to get the title…
If you have read my recent posts, you know my hubby and I just celebrated our 22nd anniversary. See my posts titled, “Its time for….” and “Do you get it?” to be up to date to understand this post…
This last year has been an incredible year for me…and us.  My new life in Christ has been the most incredible year of my life. I never thought that a close, personal connection with my Savior could outdo everything else! And while it outshines everything else in my life, my relationship with Christ makes everything in my life so much more special than ever before.
I thought nothing could top getting married.
I thought nothing could top giving birth to three beautiful children.
I thought nothing could top building my dream house with my husband and kids.  Until…
After seven years of the hell I went through, God reached down with his arms of comfort, peace, grace, and mercy and brought me to a place better than anything I could have imagined. Better than marriage, better than motherhood, better than my “American dream.” He brought me to a place of complete rest and contentment in him. He brought me to a new level of understanding with an eternal perspective. He freed me from all of the prisons I’d been keeping myself in. And now, all of those other things that I gave such high value to are better than they ever were before. I appreciate and love my family on a whole new level, and my dream house is just a house, with my “American dream” residing inside the house…and inside my heart.  If you ask me how, I can only explain with one word…miracle.
Ok, this was supposed to be a fun post, so I’ll get back to the “fun” part.
When my miracle is brought up in conversation, my hubby will be the first to say that it wasn’t MY miracle, but HIS. Sometimes I agree when I look back at what he had to deal with for seven years. I don’t know how he was able to handle a depressed wife, the responsibility of three kids, work, the house, and finances…and the list goes on and on. So while we were on our anniversary trip–the first anniversary we have looked forward to in quite a long time–we ended up traveling through Intercourse, Pennsylvania. Well, if you know David (or any man for that matter), he could not pass up the photo opportunity.  And he joked, “It only took us twenty-two years to make it to Intercourse, and I guess it took my second wife to get me here!”
So now, after my miracle, David loving refers to me as his “second” wife.
…And it’s amazing.
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