Hundreds of people from the community just participated in the 2009 Relay For Life out at the Edgar County Fairgrounds. Always a touching event, participants walk to raise money and awareness for the American Cancer Society, often in memory of someone they knew who has battled cancer.
With that in mind, it’s always good to think about things we can do to prevent cancer before it occurs, if possible. So I’d like to share some information from an interesting book I just finished: “The Hidden Story of Cancer” by Brian Scott Peskin, B.S.E.E., M.I.T., and Amid Habib, M.D.
With a background in engineering and mathematics, Peskin has applied his particular expertise to the cancer research that has been completed in the last century, and come up with some interesting findings. He says much of the relevant information was actually known in the 1930’s and 1940’s, but researchers didn’t want to believe it, so they went off in a different direction.
BUT HOW DO YOU FEEL?
Posted: August 08, 2009
I was talking with a new member who had been working out for a few weeks. When I asked her how things were going, she told me “things were fine.” That was too generic an answer for me, so I asked her how she was feeling. Kind of reluctantly, she replied in a shy voice, “Better.” I said “so you’re feeling better?” She smiled and said, “Yes, I feel better.”
I said, “So you’ve been exercising every day and you’re feeling better?” She laughed and said, “O.K. I’m feeling better. I didn’t want to admit it, but I’m feeling better.” I asked her how her clothes were fitting and she said they fit more loosely.
I told her that was great, and just the way it should be. The most important thing is always how do you feel? After that, what are your clothes doing? Do they fit better? Often times, we’ll see these two long before it starts showing up on the scale.
NO KINKS!
Posted: July 31, 2009
My dad had another birthday last week. He’s now up to 86 and still counting. He’s also a pretty good example of what we should be like when we get older.
Even in the Bible, people lived a long time, and they were productive. Moses looked out on the Promised Land before he died. Apparently his vision was still good enough to let him see out over the valley.
Abraham and Sarah even had a baby when they were ninety! O.K., that might be an extreme example (and special case), but you get my point. We’re designed to be productive and useful even in our later years.
KEYS TO THE KINGDOM
Posted: July 21, 2009
Wouldn’t that be nice? Someone walks up to you and says, “Here. These are keys to that brand new house over there. It’s all yours. Congratulations!” This actually happens on a popular T.V. show. I’m sure they appreciate it, but in at least one case, the people promptly took out a mortgage against the house and then lost it all in foreclosure.
How many lottery winners end up broke after spending it all on foolish things? I’m sure some are prudent and even increase their charitable giving, but most? They’re like the rest of us who get a (much more modest) raise but then promptly spend the increase.
Instead of living on what we made before and saving the difference for a rainy day, we increase our spending. Instead of getting rid of credit card and car payment debts, we load up expecting things to always go our way.
HOW TO GET WHAT YOU WANT
Posted: July 15, 2009
This week let’s take a look at how to get what you want. Some things are very difficult to accomplish, like becoming president or an astronaut. But for most things, you can usually get what you want just by following some simple steps.
Get a goal!
If you don’t have a goal, it’s pretty hard to stay on course. Most people don’t just get in their car and say “where do we want to go on vacation?” It’s planned out. You’ve thought about it a lot, and you know where you want to go. You even have things planned out when you get there.