Using Our Words for the Postive the Social Media Edition

      
      Something that has been weighing heavily lately. Is how our words are used. We can be a force for the positive and lift people up. Or we can be a force for the negative and tear people down. This is really hard for me. I used to be really proud of my sarcasm and wit. Seriously not realizing that on the other end of my witty snark, was another person. Maybe I knew them in real life. Maybe this person who was on the receiving end of my snark was a celebrity. Or a reality show celebrity. Not realizing that even though they put their life out there. For all of us to read about. They are still a human being with feelings.

 

           Having this sort of epiphany. When I was the victim of someone else's alleged snark. And not having done anything to deserve such treatment. I was really upset. And then I realized the error of my ways. Even though I had been having this come to Jesus moment for many months. This one incident was my moment of clarity. Everything came into focus, so to speak. 

 

           It happened when I posted a picture of my dog, Olivia. I posted it on some unknown Facebook page. With a caption saying that she was the cutest dog. And some faceless internet person said, no actually she is not cute, she is an ugly little dog. Considering neither Olivia, nor I had ever even met this person.  And considering all Olivia has gone through. In her short life. All of her health problems. She was really scrawny and sickly before I took this picture. This comment from an unknown internet person. This comment really hurt my feelings.

 

 

 

           I think that social media and the internet have emboldened people sitting behind their computer, smart phone, or tablet (myself included) And we say a lot of things that we would never dare to say to someone's face (myself included)

 

           I have to nervously admit that social media like Facebook and Twitter are my guilty pleasure. Along with message boards for my favorite TV shows and singers, etc. And I used to go to the Twitter page of people I didn't like and comment on their status updates. What benefit was there for me? Truth is there was none. Doing this in no way shape or form helps me. It actually makes me a worse person.

           Even if I find the behavior of the one I commented on to be repugnant. Will that help anyone? Especially the one that I am making a commenting about? I have already found out that it just drags me down. It doesn't do me any good. By commenting on a celebrities awful behavior. Will it somehow help the celebrity? I doubt it. I bet it would have the opposite effect. Think about it? Would you change for some random person leaving you a negative comment on social media? Or would that make you feel defensive? I mean, this person doesn't know you.
 

          I do believe that celebrities and reality TV show celebrities really do read their twitter and Facebook. Along with the message boards. And even those that are regular every day people read write posts on message boards and read the comments. They are all human and have feelings, too. We should be kind to people. Those we know in real life and those we only know from TV and  message boards. We don't know what their daily struggles are. We don't know what their emotions are. I don't want to be the person that posts a negative comment and sends someone over the edge. We may never know if someone is so emotionally fragile that a negative comment will do serious harm. Everyone is fighting a battle. So we should be kind.

          I have started asking myself if what I write is necessary? Does it need to be said? Does it need to be said, by me? Does it need to be said, right now? And even then I still fail. I still post things I shouldn't. What can I say? I am a work in progress.
 

          Join me as I become a force to use my internet words for the positive. I think the prettiest, strongest and most fabulous are those that build each other up instead of tearing down. Being a positive person is fabulous.



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Confession is Good for the Soul

      The September fitness minutes goal was 1000.  I didn't even get close. Just did about a quarter of that. So I will scale back my goal for October. My goal for October is 250 fitness minutes. That is eleven minutes a day, five days a week. I do believe that I can manage that.

My Pretty Little Ladies

Working on Working it Out

     Tell you a secret. I don't like exercise. Never did like exercise. I don't like playing sports and was the kid that was picked last for the team. Can't blame anyone though. If I was a star athlete. And I wanted to win, who doesn't want to win? I wouldn't picked myself either.

      It has been such a struggle to exercise. Ever since I took my one week break in July. I have been struggling to get back on track. Since rejoining Weight Watchers. I have lost two of the four pounds that I regained. So that news is very good. Today however was just a bad day. The type of day that one wouldn't want repeated. Nothing major, just petty annoyances. I know that there are people in the world that have it much worse. Just nothing was going right today. It was just one of those days.

      Setting goals seems to help in keeping me on track. So my fitness goal for the month of September is to exercise for 1000 minutes. I have completed 121 minutes for the month of September so far.

       Very happy to say this one thing. In the past, days like this would make me blow off exercise. And devour every yummy carbohydrate in the house. Today though, no excuses. Stayed in my points range and I exercised.

My Not so Little Friend

**Note: Before beginning any exercise or diet program. Or making any health goals. It is important to consult your doctor.

Starting all Over Again, All Over Again and Again and Again and Again

         **Note** I lost all my weight using Points Plus. I have not and will not use Smart Points**Note**

     Ok I will admit it. I am only human. And for the past two months I have been struggling to maintain my weight loss. And for a little while, even gained a bit back. And then we had a church picnic. And I love food. I love to eat and I will over do it sometimes when I am faced with many delicious options. And I sometimes always overdo it at Church picnics.  So I rejoined Weight Watchers. And I am back on track even after the delicious Church picnic.

              The hard part has been exercising. I have just been floundering for the past two months. I don't believe that I have exercised a whole week straight, or even two weeks in a row. So I have gotten back into that this week. After all, I have to do something to make up for the picnic.

          I also tried green smoothies this week. I think I would rather eat a fiber one bar. I am going to continue to make fruit smoothies but leave the green out of them. I won't post a picture of my smoothie because it is just so awful looking. And on top of that it is near dinner and I don't want to spoil your appetite. Oh well at least I can say I tried.

          I believe that it isn't failure until I give up completely. I have never given up completely. And have had many restarts in this long and winding journey. Finding what works for you and sticking to it is fabulous. And giving yourself permission to fail and start all over is also fabulous.

This has how many points?


**Note: Don't began any exercise or diet program. Or make any health goals without first consulting your doctor.

Shame, shame, sHaMe

     I have noticed how popular it has become to shame a woman for her size. Whether she is overweight, regular weight, or under weight.  Although I believe it has always been a popular sport to shame a woman for being overweight. The skinny shaming is a recent occurrence.

      And I am speaking to myself when I say let's use our words to build up and not tear down. Let us stop saying that because a woman doesn't meet our criteria of what a woman is "supposed" to look like. That somehow disqualifies her as a "real woman".

         All of us that call ourselves women. We are real women! Some women have curves. Some women are skinny. Some women are athletic. Some women have a little extra cushion in the middle and other places. Some women have an illness that causes them to be thin. And they would love to gain weight. And it is not helping when someone is rude and tells them to eat a cheeseburger. We are all real women!

         The entertainment industry is hard enough on women. Let us make this up by being kind to each other. A little Kindness and gentleness and building up your sisters as well as your brothers is Fabulous!

"Be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle" ~John Watson

(Thanks for hearing me out. I am truly speaking to myself on this subject. I just hope that I can be a good influence to someone else.)

Just Want to Say Thanks

I just wanted to take a little time out. And tell the people that read my blog how much I appreciate them. You will never know how much that means to me. That you take time out of your busy day to read my blog. Thank You so Very Much!

Yummy Cheesy Mashed Cauliflower

I prefer to start with fresh cauliflower, but you could use frozen. I think it would be more work to strain the water out of frozen.

Boil for forty five minutes to an hour. You want the Cauliflower to be really mushy done and falling apart.

Strain it

After mashing it, put it back in the colander and mash it again to remove extra water. This step may seem tedious and unnecessary, but without it your mashed cauliflower will be watery. Trust me that isn't good.

After mashing and straining. Put it back in the pot. Mix in two tablespoons of butter, 3/4 cup of cheese and 1/4 cup of milk. I use skim milk, but you could use whatever you like. I  also like a sharp white cheddar. The sharpness of the cheddar balances out with the mildness of the added milk and cauliflower. I have also used mozzarella. It is good, but it has a very mild flavor.

Mix the butter, cheese and milk in. In that order. So everything melts. And then you have lovely mashed cauliflower. It is a nice change from mashed potatoes. Possibly [not] any healthier than mashed potatoes, but different. I like mashed cauliflower as much as I like mashed potatoes. And this girl loves her mashed taters.