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Have you ever met a person who is so pushy that they just completely turned you off?  Maybe you’ve had a friend or acquaintance who does this?

Well, I’m here to speak for those of you who could not speak up for yourselves, and to ward off those of you who are the “pushers” (if you do it intentionally or unintentionally).

Pushers need to know that there are certain boundary lines that every person must stay behind.  If you know someone and constantly poke fun at them, or call them a derogatory pet name, it may be funny to both parties at one time, but it can easily switch over to anger, hostility and overall hatred between the two, in no time.  Never get too comfortable calling each other names, because honestly what may have started out as a fun thing to do, has somehow taken a dive into harassment.

I know what you’re telling yourself, “Harassment?”

And I say, “Yes! Harassment!”

Were you ever teased as a child?  If you have, you know how horrible the side effects of being teased and called names is, it sticks with you years later.  So, why would you want to do that to a friend or co-worker?  Causing them to have a lower self-esteem, become self-conscience of everything they say and feel awkward around you.  In fact, it is a form of bullying.

There may be a day when that person decides that enough is enough and they may start the name calling back, or choose that your relationship is just too much drama for their tastes, and they may end the relationship.  Either way, it leads to unfortunate results, so know when you’ve gone too far, and don’t have too much pride to sit down and apologize (if needed).

So, please- do as your Mother once told you, “Don’t speak if you don’t have anything nice to say.”

Most people know that they should have a yearly physical and get blood work taken to be sure that everything is balanced.

Often times testing for vitamin D deficiency is not normally done without asking for it specifically.

A relative of mine, at the prodding of her Mother, recently went in for a check-up and found out that she was so low in Vitamin D, that her doctor had to put her on high powered Vitamin D supplements for 1 month, and then she has a follow-up appointment after that to be sure that the levels have become normal again.

Living in Western Washington State (as we do) or any other cold/rainy place for most of the year, you know that we tend not to get enough sun exposure and thus we become Vitamin D deficient.  Most of the body’s vitamin D requirements are met by the skin in response to sun exposure. Other less potent sources of vitamin D include foods such as salmon, sardines, cod liver oil, and vitamin D-fortified foods like milk and some cereals. Vitamin D can also be obtained through supplements.

Low Vitamin D may cause:

• a heart disease risk (such as: congestive heart failure and chronic blood vessel inflammation)
• high blood pressure
• alters hormone levels to increase insulin resistance, which raises the risk of diabetes
• may cause obesity
• reduces immune system (thus causing recurring illness)
• depression or “the blues”

Several studies have shown that people with low vitamin D levels were twice as likely to have a heart attack, stroke, or other heart-related event during follow-up, compared with those with higher vitamin D levels.

Vitamin D Deficiency on the Rise

Vitamin D deficiency is much more common than previously thought, affecting up to 50% of (healthy) adults and children in the U.S.

Researchers say higher rates of vitamin D deficiency may be due in part to people spending more time indoors and efforts to minimize sun exposure through the use of sunscreens. Sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 15 blocks approximately 99% of vitamin D synthesis by the skin.

In Conclusion

Thinking that you get enough sun exposure, or thinking you’re eating all the right foods, is not a guarantee to keep you from checking your Vitamin D levels.  Be sure that the next time you go to your doctor for  your annual physical (or any other visit), to request that your Vitamin D levels get checked.  The possible side effects and complications of being Vitamin D deficient, far outweigh any fear you may have of getting pricked (with a needle) at the lab, or any other reason you can think of to be careless by not asking about your levels, because it’s imperative to find out if your Vitamin D level’s are normal.

So take out your favorite sunscreen, lather it on and try and enjoy at least 15 minutes of sun exposure a day.

Today is the 39th year of environmentalism and activism for Earth Day.  Today is a day we are encouraged to do things for our environment by volunteering for a clean up, motivating others to take action, and doing small things throughout the year to make a difference in our environment.

When most people hear about earth day, the first thought that crosses their minds are probably a bunch of hippies dancing around in the rain.

But the question I ask you is this, “Do we need to really wait for a specific day to make a change?” Most of you would probably shout a wholehearted, “No!”.  But, at the same time, what are we doing to help our environment and lend a helping hand?  We need to get up off of our high horses and take action, each and everyday, to change the world’s pollution around us.

Since Earth Day started in the 70’s (as an annual reminder that we must make a change for the better), we’ve most definitely caused more pollution, which has had horrible effects on nature.  We have done a lot of damage to the environment and most of it was done by people who did it unintentionally.  Earth Day isn’t just an American holiday, it’s celebrated by 175 countries worldwide.  But again, do we need to wait until Earth Day to take action?  We need to strive everyday to become better at using up less fossil fuels and look up ways that we can make small changes that will make a large positive overall effect.  We should now be involved in reversing the effects of damage from years past.

If you enjoy the outdoors and doing fun things like: taking hikes, biking, kayaking, snowboarding, skiing, etc.  You’ll know that every negative thing that we do to the environment, has an adverse reaction to the earth and thus may change these once loved hobbies forever.

If our environment continues being abused, things will drastically change for the worse.  If you enjoy watching nature shows and sifting through endless photos of the amazing landscapes around us, you’d be disappointed to know that in years to come, they may slowly begin to disappear.

The ice caps are melting, the jungle is dying away, the beautiful trees in Alaska are dying by droves due to beetles that live off of the trees and kill the entire tree.  They  then move off to other trees, thus killing acres and acres of trees at a time.  The beetles are thriving because the increased temperature in that region, compared to the temperatures of long ago, has increased to a level that they are able to multiple quickly and do the most damage, thus causing a nearly irreversible chain of events to happen.  Less trees equals less clean air, less clean air equals more illnesses and deaths attributed to the pollution (by humans and animals), and so on…

From today on out, we need to analyze how much waste we are creating, cut down to the bear minimum, try to use vehicles that emit less pollution, force companies to begin manufacturing with a green concept in mind, use less electricity by using florecent bulbs, unplug unused appliances, keep the lights off in the rooms we’re not using, turn off the facets and stop overusing much needed water and on top of all the other things that can be done, we must teach the future generations about how blessed we are on earth with all of it’s natural beauty.  If we do nothing to change it now, and continue being heedless and careless with our planet, the worst is yet to come.  A world that none of us can fathom and something that we will all kick ourselves for, in the end.

If you feel motivated and recharged and wonder what you can do to make a positive change, you can do some things privately in your own backyard by planting a tree or cleaning out your yard, or you can look up what  Earth Day events are happening locally.  You can do that by going online, thumbing through your phone book, calling a friend, picking up your local newspaper and  researching ways to make a difference in your town.

While sitting in the waiting room waiting for my name to be called, I began to hypothesize…

If there ever was a nationwide survey on the percentages of people who stare at others (which I’m sure there probably is), the percentage is probably high.  Most people would say that they hate being stared at, no matter what the situation.  But, it seems that staring goes up steadily when people are sitting around bored, in waiting rooms.

Most people have become savvy waiters, because they have to do it so often in their lifetime’s.  So, they may bring along a good book, their I-pods, some toys for the kids, while sitting around and waiting.   It’s almost like they send their body into a coma-like state until they are tended to.

But, it’s always irritating and rude when people take advantage of others who are trapped there in the waiting room like birds in a cage.  What I mean by this is when someone stares someone else down, making them feel very uncomfortable while they are unwillingly waiting as long as it may take, before they’re out of there.  I’ve observed many a time when someone is busy thumbing through whatever outdated magazine that was lying on the table beside them, and other person begins staring at them.   Of course the person can feel the eyes of the other person boring through their soul, so they look up to see the perpetrator, just as the other person pretends to look away or be doing something else.  Why is it that people can be so rude to stare another person down while they are busy and not paying attention to them?  Is it that they are so very interesting?  Surely, it can’t be that…

Truthfully, I don’t think people are interesting enough to be stared down for a long period of time, with or without their faces shoved into a magazine or book.  But, when did the common courtesy for others fall away?  In the 1950s almost everyone was cordial, people gave a little smile or head-nod when someone made eye contact with them. Now-a-days you get the death glare.  What’s the deal with that?

Either way, life is all about our differences and yet it’s also about finding common lines between the variety of human personalities out there.

Just then a woman tapped me on the shoulder and said, ” Honey, you’ve been looking at those people over there for quite some time.  Do you find them interesting?”

I looked up at her and giggled quietly to myself, “Oh, i’m sorry, was I staring?”

I can’t stand people who are two faced, people that can smile with you one second, and talk behind your back with seething anger or envy,  all wrapped neatly underneath a calm facade.  People should be honest with their feelings, especially when many people can’t hide it, because it’s written all over their faces.

Every person is entitled to privacy, that much we all know.  But, when a  person  pokes or prods someone else into doing something that they really don’t want to do, or make them feel uncomfortable with their line of questioning, I think it’s a huge injustice.  I think they’re absolutely taking advantage of the other person’s embarrassment or their naturally naive nature.  If a close friend makes a suggestion, it isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but if something is said in malice with the intention of hurting the other, quite frankly I think it’s just another form of childish bullying.

Not everyone has the same opinions about things, so if you disagree with someone else, it doesn’t mean that there is a need to shout or cause an all-out brawl with the other person.  The parties can then agree to disagree, as the proverb says.  But, when you disagree with someone else, there’s no need to force the subject.   They may eventually come around to your point of view, but not when they feel forced into making a hasty decision, as if they have a revolver held to their temple.

Every person is entitled to have their own reactions to different situations in their lives, be it anger, sadness, depression, excitement, jubilation, etc.  But there is a fine line that they must not cross over.  They can show their reactions without lashing out and verbally, physically or psychologically abusing those around them.  Many people tend to blurt out horribly painful remarks to those around them, before analyzing whether what they were about to say was offensive.  Bad remarks and hurtful words to others are things that can cause an uproar affecting those around them.  Often times, it makes a person keep their distance from such a person and they may end up losing friends over recurring, uncontrollable outbursts.

I have an example in my own life.  Back when I was in Culinary school, we were having a meeting with the Sous Chefs (of which I was one), and the Executive Chefs in charge of the Culinary program.  I vented my frustrations by ranting and raving about what a student had put me through, earlier in the day.  I raved and raved for many minutes, without anyone uttering a word.  When I was done with my speech, I looked around to see my fellow Sous Chefs and  Executive Chefs just staring back at me.  The look on their faces was worth a thousand words.  I couldn’t even tell you the look of shock and distaste that they had on their faces. I had just about burst at the seems and laid everything out on the line, without filtering anything before I said it.

I realized at that point the huge mistake I had made.  I vowed from that day forward not to lose my temper to the point that  I could make a fool of myself and no longer be taken seriously.  I decided that if I had a problem, I had to resolve it by going to that person, talking to them in a reasonable manner and be a part of  resolving the problem.  I think that day, everybody just had so much going on in their own lives, that they were utterly shocked when I just threw the information at them, at the lightning speed of a tornado.

So, my advice to you is this– when you feel yourself getting agitated and you know that you’re going to explode, try your best to remove yourself from the situation long enough to find a way to calm yourself down and then return to the situation once you know what you’re going to say and say it in a tone that is not threatening, but calm.  People will listen to you and try to help you out with it, if you do it in the correct manner.  Otherwise, they will  just shut down and not want to listen to it all. They’d prefer to just pretend it never happened and move on, making you feel like a fool.