Dear sisters, when my life is uneventful, I am so grateful. The last two weeks have been hectic and boring. One of the most exciting things I have done is write this newsletter and curate interesting information from the internet for you. Oh, and I did sign up for line dancing.

---

Personal Development

Gifts of Life that Make Every Moment Count

How do you see your life? Do you see it as a series of misfortunes, or as a steady stream of gifts?

As I look over my life by decades, and by day to day living, I see an abundance of gifts. Too many to begin counting.

I understand that caring for my ailing mother, and sick husband were gifts although, it took years to come to terms with it.

It was a pleasure to care for mom, who showed me how to be a gentle old lady, and being sick does not equate to being unkind.

The gift of having Roni, my daughter in my life for 36 years. What lessons can I learn from missing this child of mine? What gifts are there in her absence? Is heartbreak a gift?

I have the gift of joy because I have two living daughters and three grandchildren. They are my most joyful gift that keep on giving and I keep on receiving.

The copycat gift!

The gift from my mother who cared for me thru diphtheria, and clothed and fed me, going without necessities herself.

The gift of her strength has seen me through multiple challenges. The gift of my father’s intellect continues to give me insight.

I appreciate the gift of my adversities and plights through life because, on the other side of hardships, I found wisdom, love, and peace.

I especially value the gift of friends who hold my hand near and from a distance, with their loving thoughts.

The gift to me of prosperity and deprivation. If I had not known the difference, life would be less jubilant.

It has been a true present to learn how not to worry, and how to concentrate on what I want to occur, and not what I don’t want to happen.

The difference between love on my mind, and hate in my heart. I know hate eats away at the core of the human spirit.

An honorable gift of having a conversation with myself. Asking questions of myself like, “Do I need this,” or “do I want this?”

To ask myself when adversity or good fortune enter my life, “what lesson can I learn from this?”

The gift of meditation to rest my burdens with God, and leave them with the holy spirit to be resolved without my interference, and when prayers are left in meditation my fondest dreams come true.

They are my secret treasures, and I am letting you in on some of them.

I can mention my breath, my garden, my pain, sun, moon, rain, trees, oceans, and on and on.

Writing this short article has made me realize how truly blessed I am. I think my gifts go into infinity as a count. I am pleased I have a grasp on this.

I understand the wonderful gifts I receive every day, and the choice I have with how to use them.

How sad I feel for those who don’t recognize the gifts they are given.

The lessons I have learned from my gifts, there is no amount of money that can pay for them.

I pray I have given to others many gifts as well.

“There are souls in this world who have the gift of finding joy everywhere, and leaving it behind them when they go.” ― Frederick William Faber

I pray I am one of those souls.

Honor yourself!

​

---

Personal Health

Muscle Loss As You Age

Over a decade you can loose up to 6 pounds of muscle mass. This loss can effect such activities as walking, carrying your groceries, cleaning, and dressing yourself.

It impedes your recovery from illness and injury. Loss of muscle mass can also have catastrophic results from a fall leading to disability or death.

We have all heard of someone falling, breaking their hip, not recovering and passing away.

According to an article from Harvard Medical says increasing your muscle mass slows bone loss and reduce your blood sugar.

The question is how do you prevent muscle loss? The best choice is strength and power training. I participate in a body pump class at the YMCA twice a week. It works for me.

Get started at home with light weights and exercise bands. Professional instructions on your technique may be needed so not to injure yourself. Stay strong and stay healthy.

​Mayo Clinic​

---

The Ketogenic Diet

The last newsletter we talked about intermittent fasting and the promise of information on the Ketogenic diet this week.

The ketogenic diet (or keto diet, for short) is a low carb, high fat diet that offers many health benefits.

If you have a large amount of weight to loose and you want to eat three meals a day, this plan may be for you.

Do you love cream, cheese, butter and beef this plan may be for you.

There are several versions of the ketogenic diet listed below. Read the entire article for a description of this eating plan.

• Standard ketogenic diet (SKD): This is a very low carb, moderate protein and high fat diet. It typically contains 70% fat, 20% protein, and only 10% carbs (9Trusted Source).
• Cyclical ketogenic diet (CKD): This diet involves periods of higher carb refeeds, such as 5 ketogenic days followed by 2 high carb days.
• Targeted ketogenic diet (TKD): This diet allows you to add carbs around workouts.
• High protein ketogenic diet: This is similar to a standard ketogenic diet, but includes more protein. The ratio is often 60% fat, 35% protein, and 5% carbs.

​Ketogenic Diet 101 Healthline

---

---

Musical Respite or Not!

Sisters, I owe you an apology. the link to the musical respite I posted last newsletter did not work. My mistake. I didn't recheck. Here it is again. I hope you enjoy it. Music joins humanity.

​Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 2 / Yuja Wang / Valery Gerviev / Marilinsky Orchestra

Be sure to start from the beginning.

---

I leave you with this:

“Raise your words, not voice. It is rain that grows flowers, not thunder.”

Rumi

---