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Excessive Calm A Symptom Of Swine Flu!

Last spring Stephen Colbert did a brilliant spoof on the pandemic of panic about swine flu, which the government wants us to henceforth call "the H1N1 virus formerly known as swine flu."  Seriously, we don't want the pork industry to suffer collateral damage and pork sales are already down.

By the way, what did I have for dinner last night? The new white meat! Yes, I had pork tenderloin deliciously prepared with spiced apples. Yum! Yeah, I not vegan.

Back to Stephen: the YouTube video doesn't have all the video but the audio and stills is enough to get the picture.

As you watch, be sure to laugh into your sleeve!

12 Steps to Sanity with Therese Brochard

When I first meet a new client who is dealing with depression they often come to me exhausted after weeks or months of emotionally running with no traction. So I try to give them a foot hold right away.

We start with the basics: sleep, what are they eating and how are they moving. Sometimes just adjusting these three things makes a huge difference. We discuss the appropriateness of medication and I try to get them linked with a psychiatrist I think will work well with them. I teach them about cognitive behavioral psychotherapy; how it's the most effective therapy technique known to work on depression.

I want my clients to know as much as I do about CBT and the treatment of depression so that they can do it for themselves outside the office, on their own and forever.

All this and more is covered by Therese Brochard, writer of Beyond Blue and fellow contributing writer on PsychCentral in '12 Steps To Sanity'. Therese shares her personal steps to recovery (all of which I heartily endorse) and writes about them from the perspective of a person who has been there.

What, Me Worry? Swine Flu

Picture the little kid crying in front of Mom. She's wagging a finger at him saying, "I'll give you something to cry about!" Anyone else feeling that way or is it just me? Terrorism, recession, and now what? Swine flu? Oy! What's next? A plague of locusts?

Once again the media pounces and every five minutes we are hounded by how we shouldn't panic, but... Much reporting is just about as helpful as someone yelling "Fire!" in a crowded theater. "We don't want you to panic, but there's a three alarm blaze in the lobby." Really, is that helpful?

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Photo courtesy topshampatti via flickr

Our Lady Of Weight Loss - Janice Taylor

It's amazing how the Internet works. I was looking over this week's Beliefnet newsletter (in which my post The Frog In The Pot was featured) and I discovered Janice Taylor's blog. What a find!

Our Lady Of Weight Loss is a breath of fresh air when it comes to weight loss advice and support. I'm definitely bookmarking this one. Here is a slide show she and a friend came up with that's an example of her light touch.  The Best Stay Fat Strategies

Prejudging The Unassuming Middle-Aged Woman

Even Simon was blown away by what came out of Susan Boyle's mouth. Why was he so shocked? Does it speak to how quick we are to judge people before giving them a chance? Does this happen to you as the judge? As the judged? Do you struggle with being taken seriously? Isn't that what prejudice is?

It took a long time for me to accept that I had prejudices because I pride myself on being free of them. Not true. My prejudices are subtle, a certain accent or style of dress. Or they are socially acceptable, (God this makes me cringe) like obesity. It takes awareness and a willingness to be wrong, for me to work beyond my knee jerk first impressions.

The prejudice against Ms. Boyle is one that effects women of a certain age everywhere. It's rotten to be on the receiving end of this kind of ageism. The girl who substituted for my usual stylist asked innocently, "So do you have grandkids?" Ouch! But why should her remark hurt so much? Wasn't I there to have my grey roots attended to? I'm old enough to have grandkids even if I don't. Don't I know a lot of hip, dynamic, confident grandmother's? It was time to admit that I was a victim of my own prejudices and it was time to break free.

That's where Susan Boyle has a lot to teach me. What a lot of guts it took for her to get in front of the most famous asshole critic in the world. There is a twinkle in Ms. Boyle's eye before her performance which tells me she didn't need Simon to tell her her worth. That's a healthy self-esteem!

If you haven't seen it yet take a look.

Susan Boyle on Britain's Got Talent

photo courtesy of Bert Kommerij via Flickr

"Seize the moment! Think of all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart." ~ Erma Bombeck

How Stress Can Creep Up On Us

This article originally appeared on EWN Now! about a year ago. Freshened it up a bit, I posted it yesterday on the PsychCentral blog, World of Psychology.

Enjoy this second look.

The Frog In The Pot: How Stress Creeps Up On Us

8 Steps To Find Hope After An Affair

Few things harm a relationship more than an affair. Whether the affair is emotional, a 'one night stand' or full blown, the betrayal delivers a life altering blow. Will the injury to the relationship prove fatal?

In my experience as a relationship counselor there are some essential steps a couple must take to survive an affair, individually and together. If done wisely, there is hope the relationship will come through the ordeal stronger than before.

~ End the affair immediately. Kindly, completely, utterly. This has to come first if you are serious about reconciliation. 'Friendship' is not an option.

~ Re-commit to the relationship.  If either of you aren't sure about staying together then, for God's sake, say so! Confusion is OK just don't let that be an excuse to avoid talking about the reality.

~ Full disclosure. If your partner wants to know the details you owe them the details. Help them understand the reality because believe me, as bad as it is, it isn't as bad as what your partner is imagining. Sometimes they really don't want to know. Fine, let them tell you that directly. Don't assume it.

To Build Self-Esteem: Keep Your Promises To Yourself

Food is my drug of choice. It so easily could be smoking or alcohol. That my addiction is food probably has something to do with growing up in a super skinny family.

As recently as last month I couldn't admit to myself how out of control my eating was. I'd eat a good breakfast, a decent lunch and then have two servings of everything for dinner and snack through the evening until bedtime. After the satisfying rush of calories was over I'd feel out of kilter with my own conscience, wobbly like when the spin cycle goes off balance in the washer.

It's taken a long time to accept that I was powerless over food. As long as I was under it's influence I kept myself in the shadow of the life I could have. The light bulb went on when I was listening to Bob Greene's podcast with Oprah. [To find it, go to the iTunes Store, podcasts, and search 'Oprah health Greene'. The download is free.]  I like Bob Greene because he's the only person I know who can tell Oprah she's wrong to her face. Also he talks a lot of sense.

He says in this podcast that when we put ourselves off ("Oh, I'll exercise tomorrow, there's no time now.") we break promises to ourselves, something we would never do if the promise were to someone else. Every time that happens we disrespect and dishonor ourselves, undermining our self-worth. 

I made a promise last year to journal the food I ate on the Fresh Start page of this blog. I've failed miserably to keep that promise and that has hurt. Following my own advise I want to get beyond the 'failure', learn from it and make a new promise, one I can keep. Here's how:

"Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people." ~ W. C. Fields