Staying Strong in a Crisis

[Carol Anne Kincaid~Paradis]

WORDS OF WISDOM

"He enjoys true leisure who has time to improve his soul's estate."

ALWAYS REMEMBER YOU ARE "SPECIAL" Do not undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others. It is because we are different that each of us is special. Do not let others set your goals. Only you know what is best for you. Do not take for granted the things closest to your heart. Cling to them as you would your life, for without them, life is meaningless. Do not let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past nor for the future. By living your life one day at a time, you live all the days of your life. Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying. It is a fragile thread that binds us to each other Do not be afraid to encounter risks. It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave. Do not shut love out of your life by saying it is impossible to find. The quickest way to receive love is to give love; The fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly. Do not dismiss your dreams. To be without dreams is to be without hope; To be without hope is to be without purpose. Do not run through life so fast that you forget not only where you have been, but also where you are going. Life is not a race, but a journey to be savored each step of the way. THIS MESSAGE HAS BEEN SENT TO YOU BECAUSE YOU MEAN SOMETHING TO SOMEBODY... Strangers Are Friends We Haven't Met Yet...by Helen Steiner Rice... Let your light shine. Shine within you so that it can shine on someone else.

Here’s something to try if you’re fighting sugar cravings…… Put on something PINK! Whether it’s a shirt, sweater or even pink socks. According to the University of Oxford, our brain associates the color pink with sweetness - from cotton candy, to bumble gum, to pink frosting. And seeing the color gives an effect similar to consuming sugar. We feel sweeter! Pink increases our feel-good hormones, and also makes us feel more energized, which blocks our sugar cravings. In studies, even consuming something pink - like pink-colored water - gave people increased feelings of pleasure, even when no sweetener was added! Study subjects also ran faster and farther on a treadmill after drinking something pink! And while any shade of pink will work to some degree - a saturated Barbie-pink works best and cuts sugar cravings significantly.

Staying Strong in a Crisis

Five lessons from a Red Cross chaplain

-  REV. EARL JOHNSON

WE ARE LIVING IN FRIGHTEN-ING, tumultuous times. Coro-navirus continues its spread across the globe, killing hundreds of thousands of people, its toll of sickness and economic disruption affecting millions more. The poor and people of color have been particularly hard hit. There have been protests and demands for change. It’s hard not to feel helpless. Hard to stay hopeful.

But it is important to remember that we have been here before—many times, in fact. As a chaplain and as the national spiritual care manager for the American Red Cross, I have witnessed firsthand how our country has come together in times of crisis, how God works through each of us and how there are ways to give and receive comfort, small yet powerful acts of kindness, even when life seems darkest. Here are five examples.

Comfort comes from compassion

I grew up in tiny Boonville, Missouri. My father was an auto mechanic, and my mother was a homemaker dedicated to volunteering at church and helping out family and friends. I remember many a night when my dad would open our house to strangers whose cars had broken down. And my mother would run errands for people who didn’t drive. It wasn’t just my family. Neighbors helped neighbors. That was who we were. I felt called to a life of service too. The 1960s, when I came of age, were a time of unrest and change. I wanted to do something to make the world a better place. After graduating from Yale Divinity School, I went to work as a pastor back home in Missouri.

MAY THE ANGELS SHOWER YOU WITH BLESSING DAILY! HAVE A SUN FILLED WEEKEND .X