The Brabec Bulletin Sampler
(Continued from page 1)
Reviewing the Situation
and Reevaluating Your Life
Do you find that you're working so hard all the time, or so constantly busy
with activities that you don't have time to quietly ponder your life and goals?
From time to time, we all must carve out some time for this kind of
contemplation and planning. Otherwise, we'll be like a hamster in a cage,
constantly running round and round in our little wheel of life, never getting
anywhere.
In recent months while working on various personal projects, always with good
music in the background, I had a lot of time to just think about how I want to
live the rest of my life, as well as what I'd like to accomplish as a writer
before I become another inkblot on the tablet of time. Although I spent several
months in 2009 living like a semi-retired individual (and loving every minute of
it), WORK remains my middle name. I won't be retiring any time soon, if ever,
because old writers never stop writing, they just change their subjects. I have
gradually come to the conclusion that if I am to remain excited about my work in
the future, I need to stop doing what I've always done, and find something new I
can get excited about. After all, writing about nothing but homebased business
for nearly forty years can get very boring and lead to serious burnout, which is
where I've been lately. But LIFE? Ah, that will always be interesting to me.
There comes a point in the lives of all self-employed individuals—especially
those of us who have been doing the same thing for perhaps decades—when it's
necessary to sit back and carefully rethink our dreams and goals. Or, as Fagin
sang in the Broadway musical, Oliver, "I'm reviewing the situation . . . I think
I'd better think it out again."
Year 2009 was a turning point in my writing and work on the Web, for it was
then that I began
to see my life from a totally different angle. Now I see all
my past accomplishments as a writer in the home business field as sort of a
been-there-done-that kind of thing, and that's why I'm now moving into new areas of writing
and work on the Web. Deciding to be different (as always), I rewrote my bio last
year as a success story that summarizes my career accomplishments as I see them
now, looking back over the past fifty years. With an emphasis on how self-study
changed my life at every turn, I prove the rule that says one step always leads
to another. If you haven’t read my BIO lately, you’ll find it’s now an article
that includes a couple of important lessons I've learned along the way, as well
as some
words of encouragement to those who are just starting a business of their own or
trying to keep going in today's economy.
One of my over-sixty friends who prefers anonymity sent an interesting report
of what she and her husband decided to do in response to what the economy had
done to their decades-old home business in 2009, and to the businesses of many
of the clients they’ve served through the years. Their food-for-thought idea
might inspire you.
"We are currently reevaluating our lives, reading books like those you
recommended in the last Bulletin, and going back to school! In our state, as in
many states, people over sixty can go to college free (although they don't
mention that the books cost $100 or more). My husband, who loves to sing and
wishes he had been able to do that his whole life, is taking a music class and
will soon be releasing his first CD. I’m taking a finance class as I ponder
other things I like to do. Even my mother is taking a class. The business stuff
can wait awhile as I look for my new direction in life. Now I've got to get back
to studying—a new chapter every class plus homework and a quiz. Midterms were
last week. We are all so excited right now."
I related to this reader's report because I've been reevaluating my life ever
since my husband died. As a writer, however, I have only benefitted from all the
advances in technology that are making it easier for me to do my editing and
publish books. Although my life has changed dramatically in the past five years,
I'm able to continue to do what I've always done best and loved most, which is
write about what I know and have personally experienced. The Internet may have
killed the market for the kind of home business books I used to write, but
people still read books, and I know how to find a market for the book I will be
publishing early in 2010. (Watch my HOME page for news of its publication and
companion website.)
My Big Vitamin D/Swine Flu Surprise
America's great vitamin D deficiency has been in the news a lot lately, but I
first learned about it in my recent annual visit to my internist in 2009. When he ran
the usual blood test to check my cholesterol and glucose levels, etc., he added
a test for vitamin D levels, something none of my doctors had ever done before.
When I asked why, he said it was because the government's guidelines for the
amount of vitamin D we all need have long been way too low, and this has caused
a national epidemic of vitamin D deficiency in the past five year that
physicians are only now becoming aware of.
This vitamin deficiency is affecting both young and old alike. In one of his recent
newsletters, my online pharmacist friend West Conner
wrote, "Could it be that one simple vitamin deficiency is causing the increase
in diabetes, arthritis, many cancers, multiple sclerosis, high blood pressure,
and a host of other preventable diseases? Half of adults and 40 percent of all
children in the United States are deficient in vitamin D, and nearly 100 percent
of people with the diseases listed above lack the proper amounts of vitamin D in
their body."
If you have always been aware of the importance of vitamins, you may have
been supplementing with extra vitamin D, especially if you spend most of your
time inside or out of the sun. I've spent most of my life in an office and until
recently have never been out in the sun much. But I never worried about vitamin
D because I've been getting extra vitamin D every day for years in the calcium
tablets I've been taking to strengthen my bones and help prevent osteoporosis.
I've also taken a multi-vitamin supplement for the past twenty years, so I was
surprised to find that, although my level of vitamin D is currently rated "normal," I
am at the absolute bottom of the scale.
My doctor said he was surprised to find that he also had a serious vitamin D
deficiency and was now taking 2500 IU daily. He suggested I do the same, but my
further research has prompted me to up that amount to 4,000 IU. If that
sounds like a lot, consider that Dr. Conner and many other doctors in the age
management field now believe that the current recommended allowances of from 200 IU to 600 IU (depending on your age) is not nearly enough. Dr. Conner recommends
getting at least 15 to 20 minutes of sun daily in the summer, 25 to 30 minutes in the
spring and fall, and 35 to 40 minutes in the winter since this sun exposure can get
you up to 10,000 IU of vitamin D a day. If you can't do that, he recommends
taking up to 5,000 IU a day.
Vitamin D's Relationship to Swine Flu (H1N1).
Vitamin D deficiency is associated with low bone mass, poor muscle strength
and, some say, to increased risk of heart disease. Several doctors are now
reporting that lower levels of vitamin D means a weakened immune system that
could make it difficult for people to avoid the flu, and especially the H1N1 (Swine)
flu.
Dr. David Williams, editor of
Alternatives, one of the most respected and
widely read alternative health newsletters in the world (which I've read for
years), is a scientist who
travels the world in search of new natural cures and treatments for today's
serious health concerns. In his October 2009 newsletter, he discussed vitamin D
in relation to the Swine flu saying "I'm convinced that very high levels
are necessary in the face of an acute illness." He also believes that adults should
be taking between 4,000 and 5,000 IU a day, and children 1,000 IU per every 25
pounds of body weight. If one contacts Swine flu, he recommends mega doses of
Vitamin D (1,000 IU per pound of body weight per day for a week).
In the above-mentioned newsletter, I was linked to the following websites
that you ought to check as part of your own vitamin D research:
Vitamin D Council. In particular, note the boxed
content on the home page that links to reports from other doctors on the
connection between vitamin D and H1N1 Swine flu.
Naturamart.com. Source for
vitamin D in liquid form
(one drop gives 2,000 IU).
Bio-Tech-Pharm. For therapeutic doses of
vitamin D
(50,000 IU).
Note that buying vitamin D from either of these sources will be MUCH less
expensive than buying tablets at your local drug store.
In conclusion . . . if your doctor hasn't checked your vitamin D levels, ask
him or her to do so as soon as possible. Meanwhile do some research on the Web
to learn how much you and your loved ones may be at risk here.
"If you think taking care of yourself is selfish, change your mind. If
you don't, you're simply ducking your responsibilities." - Ann
Richards, author and former Texas Governor
If you have enjoyed this Sampler and learned something from
it, then I urge you to join my mailing list now so you can receive future Brabec
Bulletins by email.
