…there is something so wonderful about creating a post and then pressing the “spell check” button and it says “there are no misspellings”. I love that feeling…the simple things…
Author: Dr. Erica Peabody
Fenton, MI is a great place to be from and to move back to. Serving this community the "Exceptional Chiropractic Experience" at Cafe of LIFE Chiropractic is my favorite way to spend my days. Cafe of LIFE (www.cafeoflifefenton.com) is a Family Wellness Chiropractic Center located in the heart of this great little town. When I am not at my chiropractic practice, you will find me at the yoga studio, the gym, in my running shoes, with my family, on my snowboard, on my mountain bike, surfing, on the lake or some local restaurant or hiking trail. My ultimate goal and life purpose is to make a small difference in this crazy world...and have some fun while I am doing it.
I ALWAYS SEEM TO…
…fill up every single second of any time that I have off from work. A four day weekend felt like a 1 day weekend though there is no possible way to fit everything I did into less time than four. It was super fun! Thanksgiving dinner with my family which was probably the best Thanksgiving dinner I have ever had. There is a fresh cranberry/horseradish thing my aunt makes that I could seriously eat it by the spoonful and it tops off the dinner wonderfully. The rest of the food was amazing as well however I am such a horseradish fan, that is the part that really sticks out in my mind. Then I got up on Friday and made an impromptu trip down to Chicago. My youngest brother and his wife live down there, right on Michigan Ave. It is an awesome spot. And though I didn’t do too much shopping, the view out of their condo is amazing and great people watching. I drove down on Friday and came back up on Saturday afternoon which made for a long day (The picture is my brother, his mother-in-law, my sister-in-law, her half-brother and of course me at the Chicago zoo checking out their lights display). I needed a break from my week after all the stress I was under for the previous two weeks so it was a perfect time for that trip. Saturday night was spent down in Royal Oak, celebrating my cousin buying her first home. What a great spot and a wonderful party. Sunday was a little bit more family time and home and to bed early. I am sure I am not the only one that needs a break from the long weekend, a vacation from the vacation. Happy Holiday season…now bring on the snow!!!!
NOVEMBER
What a wonderful month. I think this way mostly because of my favorite holiday (aside from my birthday) happens in November. I love, love, love Thanksgiving. I think Thanksgiving has everything that Christmas has to offer and none of the expectations. It is a day for family, friends, and food and really, what else is much better than that? This has been an interesting year for a lot of people, especially in Michigan with all the change and many have found themselves getting wrapped up in all that is just not going their way. But when the holidays come around, and especially Thanksgiving, it is a time that we are reminded of all our blessings. Look around you…you have so much more to be grateful for than you have probably thought about in a long time; a roof over your head, clothes on your back, food to put in your belly, water to drink, the love of family and friends, a country that when compared to what else is out there is a pretty great place to live, among so many other things. Be grateful and tell others you appreciate them. One of my most favorite songs of all time is Natalie Merchant’s “Life is Sweet”. The part of the song that chokes me up every time goes like this:
“…But don’t cry
You know the tears will do no good
So dry your eyes
Oh, they told you life is hard
Misery from the start
It’s dull
It’s slow
It’s painful
But, I’ll tell you life is sweet
In spite of the misery
There’s so much more to be grateful…
…But, I’ll tell you life is short
Be thankful
Because before you know
It will be over
‘Cause life is sweet
Life is, oh, so very short
Life is sweet
And life is, oh, so very short…”
I love it. In spite of everything, there is so much to be grateful and life is sweet and oh so very short. Get out there and enjoy it! Look for chances to be grateful at least once per day no matter how low the day may feel because “LIFE IS SWEET!”.
WE WON!
I haven’t won any contests in a long time but my luck has finally turned around today when we won the Chamber of Commerce’s Scarecrow Contest. As I was putting this one together, I thought I was being pretty clever and it turns out a few other people thought so as well!!! So I just have to share a picture with you. Have a Safe & Happy Halloween!
"IF YOUR MOMMY LOVED YOU…"
This is an actual statement that I heard from one of the practice members here at the Cafe of LIFE. This woman came in the other day and said her daughter told her that her teacher said “If your Mommy loved you, she would take you to go and get your flu shot”. Now, I am not a psychologist, however I can imagine the ramifications of a statement like this. This particular family has been under regular chiropractic care here at the Cafe of LIFE for a couple years now and they understand that the body has a miraculous and wonderful way of taking care of itself. Here are some examples of the miracles that happen in our bodies every day. Actually they are not miracles at all, they are the body simply doing what it is supposed to do when it is supposed to do it.
Fever is created when there is an organism, bacteria or virus, in the body that is not supposed to be there. These micro-organisms live at temperatures around 98.6, the “normal” body temperature. The body is so intelligent that it knows that if it raises the internal temperature it will kill off the invader and we will return to health. WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO LOWER THE TEMPERATURE???
Diarrhea is when there is an organism that has invaded the body that is not supposed to be there. The body sends an excess amount of fluid to the stomach, small intestines and large intestines to create a quicker flowing rate to rid the body of whatever is invading it. Now if the intruder is not supposed to be there and the body is doing its absolute best to flush it out, WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO SLOW OR STOP THAT PROCESS?
Inflammation happens to injured tissue in order to create a healing cascade which has to do with sending excess blood and fluid with repairing cells to the injured area. If the body is doing its best to send in the repair crew and creating discomfort so you will stay off that area, WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO STOP THAT NATURAL HEALING PROCESS?
We walk around in one of the most amazing pieces of equipment, in one of the greatest designed vehicles, with an intelligence inside that is NOT MAKING MISTAKES. Our bodies have the ability to heal that is much more powerful than anyone has ever led you to believe. So LET THE BODY DO WHAT IT NEEDS TO DO and not inject, expose it, and poke and prod it with all kinds of extra stuff. Under most circumstances, the body will fight off the flu with flying colors! It is amazing!!! So let’s let the pharmaceutical companies keep their pills and elixirs that they claim will make you healthy. HEALTH COMES FROM WITHIN and the brain/body connection needs to be free of interference (come get your chiropractic adjustment). Let’s get back to trusting our bodies to take care of themselves. It is all part of the design. Nature needs no help, just no interference!
THE AFTERMATH
The Detroit Half-Marathon happened this past Sunday and I was a participant. It was a wonderful race though many of you may not think of it that way if you heard the news reports on what happened. 3 men died during the race, ages 26, 36, and 65. WOW! That is tragic for those families. Statistically speaking, 1 of 100,000 die during long road races. 3 in 20,000 is a much higher than that, a lot higher! It has been a topic of conversation here at the Cafe of LIFE all week because many people knew that I was running on Sunday. Now that I am in this “running world” I have noticed an overwhelming amount of caffeine raging through these runners. Now I do not know if caffeine or heart conditions were the cause of the deaths, I am just speculating and it is the only thing that makes much sense. A typical race looks something like this (by the way, not MY typical race, but a typical) wake up and have a cup of coffee with breakfast, then a shot of caffeine in their packets of “Goo” that energize them during the race, sometimes twice or more, as well as caffeinated jelly beans. That might be just a little too much. To add to that, many runners take Tylenol, aspirin or Motrin prior to running because to be frank with you all…it is painful to run long distances, I don’t care who you are (just for the record, I do not ever have caffeine and I do not take any over the the counter drugs or otherwise). So potentially this (and as stated before I am just speculating), combined with 30 degree temps outside, led to some tragic deaths. My prayers are with their families as they try to understand their losses.
Please remember, caffeine is a stimulant. It alters how our bodies function, how our brain processes information, decreases our immune system, leaches calcium from our bones, and the list goes on and on. The only safe amount of caffeine is none at all. Be conscious of what you are doing and look towards other alternatives of increasing energy; eating raw, nutrient-rich foods, drinking lots of water and alkalizing your body. Health is a daily choice and every decision effects every day in the future.
DETROIT HALF MARATHON
If you are downtown Detroit this Sunday morning, be prepared to run into some intense traffic and people as it is the running of the Detroit Free Press Marathon and Half-Marathon…and its going to be a good time! I have been training this year to run the Half-Marathon so look for me in the thousands of runners:) The challenge I am running into is that I am also heading down to Atlanta, GA on Thursday morning to finish my continuing education credits which means flying back really late on Saturday night to make the race the next morning. The race route is unique to Detroit as the only route that runs in two different countries. In fact, in order to even pick up race packets, it requires a passport and Homeland Security will be monitoring the race expo. We begin on Fort Street right downtown and run over the Ambassador Bridge, do a couple miles in Windsor and run back through the tunnel. I ran Chicago Marathon (yes the entire 26.2 miles) back in 2006 so this should be a piece of cake, YEAH RIGHT!!! Wish me luck. I am very excited!!!
GREAT FUN FOR $25
I had the most fun over this past weekend. There is not much you can do in this life for just $25, however you can take a Beginning Motorcycle Safety course for that kind of money. It was a long weekend course but so super fun. I had never ridden a motorcycle prior to the class and really haven’t been on any 4-wheelers, snowmobiles or much of anything else that is motorized so I wanted to start from square one. Which for safety purposes, that is the very best place to start. There were 45 people in the class and it was offered on the campus of Washtenaw Community College in Ypsilanti. We had 4 hours of in-class instruction followed by 10 hours of riding broken up into 2 hour segments over 2 days. And it was solid riding time. Then they give a knowledge test and a riding skills test (which I proudly say I aced) which then allows you to go into the Secretary of State office and take a law test for your motorcycle endorced drivers license. I cannot say I am completely road safe yet as a rider yet but I will be soon. I am looking at getting a bike, hopefully before winter rolls in. In fact, I am more looking into a Piaggio bike, it is a super-scooter pretty much. My step father is going to help me find the bike that is right for me as he has been riding motorcycles for many, many years. Should be fun!!!
What fun have you had for $25 lately?
"TOUR DE TROIT"
What an amazing and wonderful weekend! It was filled with friends and fun and of course, went by too fast!!! One of the super fun things I did over the weekend is a bike ride called “Tour De Troit”. It is a 30 mile bike ride through the city of Detroit. Naturally 30 miles would take us winding around in the streets, exploring all the little nooks and crannies of the city. It was amazing as I had never even explored the city by car. So you may think, what is it like to tour Detroit on a bike? Well ask any one of the 2,000 participants and they will say they enjoyed themselves immensely. It was police escorted and 2,000 people stopped a lot of traffic. In fact, at some points, I felt bad for those people in cars as the group took quite a few minutes to pass at any point during the ride. It was a perfectly sunny day and the trip took about 4.5 hours, which included a 30 minute stop for snacks. All ages, all levels of bikers, everyone just having fun. It is definitely an event to return to every year. Join me next year, maybe we can put together a Cafe of LIFE group!!!
(the picture is me hydrating before the ride:)