“Fear keeps us focused on the past or worried about the future.  If we can acknowledge our fear, we can realize that right now we are okay.  Right now, today, we are still alive, and our bodies are working marvelously.  Our eyes can still see the beautiful sky.  Our ears can still hear the voices of our loved ones.”

 

~Thich Nhat Hanh

 

 

 

I am looking at my tabula rasa, my “blank slate” for the day.  That is this empty blog entry.  My blog entry about planning got me thinking about my desire to write more books.  I am getting fairly adept at churning out blog entries.  Now can I organize my knowledge into another book, which will hopefully be even better than the last?  I have MindMeister and Goalscape to help me organize my thoughts.  These tools are essentially outlining tools.  What I need to do first with a book is outline it.

 

 

I thought of organizing my blog entries chronologically into a book.  Of course, no one would read a book the size of my entire blog.  I could break it down into chunks and have separate volumes, composed of some or all of the 220 entries I have written so far in this blog.  However, would my readers find that interesting?  Would it be better to organize my book into topical chapters, rather than doing it chronologically?  Of course, my blog tells a story, not that anyone has had the tenacity to read it from beginning to end, including myself.

 

 

Just bringing together my blog entries into a book will not bequeath me the opportunity to write something new.  I enjoy the process of writing.  Something fresh is the answer, perhaps partly on topics I have never touched in my blog.

 

 

 

One thing I want to write about is care for the eyes.  My eye doctor gave me instructions that I have not followed to a tee.  Then again, when I tried to improve on what I was doing, I discovered that my eyes are too sensitive to get shampooed every day, let alone twice a day.  There has to be a happy medium in my care.  I take supplements for the eyes:  astaxanthin, zeaxanthin, and lutein, hoping to improve my vision.  It did improve, in one of my eyes.  The left eye did not fare as well.  However, I felt encouraged anyway.  Who improves their vision over a period of seven years?  Vision tends to worsen.

 

 

I feel further encouraged by the work of Dr. Joseph Mercola who claims he knows how to make your reading glasses unnecessary.  I do not use glasses for distance, but more and more, I depend on reading glasses for my near vision.  I started using prescription reading glasses at the age of 49.  Dr. Mercola says the key to vision improvement is relaxation.  I noticed that after doing a few seconds of palming, holding my palms over my eyes so as to block out the light, my vision does improve.  Maybe it is time to learn more.

 

When my most recent eye doctor checked my vision with reading glasses, I could read the finest print with ease.  She said my glasses were in great shape and at the right strength.  However, who wants to use them?  Of course, I got off all the smudges for the eye exam, but ordinarily, my eyeglasses are not that clean.  The naked eyes do not have smudges and have much better peripheral vision than what is possible with eyeglasses.  However, part of my peripheral vision is part of what I have lost.  Is there something I can do about that too?

 

 

I do not have all the answers to these questions at the time of this writing.  Dr. Mercola says to get six CDs from Greg Marsh.  Let me see if I can find the price on them.  It is $149, less than the cost of a pair of prescription reading glasses.  Alternatively, I can get online access if I do not want the mess of handling multiple CDs.  If I could even keep my sight from deteriorating, it would be worth it because I would not need my next pair of glasses or perhaps not even the next.  I will not buy the program just yet, but let me put it on my wish list. Here is the link.  Dr. Mercola spent thousands of dollars to get the training and still thought it was worth it.

 

 

Right now, I am working on the computer without reading glasses.  I thought I needed reading glasses to prevent eyestrain and headaches, but according to Mercola, glasses make your eyes become worse.  By the way, Dr. Mercola recommends animal-based omega-3 fatty acids, dark-colored berries, dark leafy greens, astaxanthin, zeaxanthin, and lutein, and avoiding trans fats and aspartame.  Eyes need a complete diet including vitamins A, E, C, B6, B9 (folate), B1, B2, B3, and B12.

 

That is another reason I recommend using Cronometer: for healthy eyes.  It helps you get complete nutrition, including all of the above, and well-rounded nutrition is needed for healthy eyes.  Cronometer spots trans fats in foods better than any other tool I have seen.  It tracks lutein and zeaxanthin, which most nutrition tools ignore, even though it does not differentiate between the two nutrients.  It helps you balance omega-3 and omega-6 oils, even though it does not differentiate between different types of omega-3:  ALA in plants and EPA and DHA in animal products.  Even with these limitations, it is far better than any other tool in providing you a way to ensure you are getting adequate nutrition for your eyes.

 

 

I have struggled with pressure in my eyes also.  My ophthalmologist found the pressure in my eyes to be high normal rather than high in my most recent exam.  Mercola says astaxanthin protects against glaucoma or pressure in the eyes, so it may be working.  One eye doctor said that pressure in my eyes is high, but my corneas are thick, which protects against glaucoma.  He diagnosed me as negative for glaucoma.

 

 

Perhaps one of the greatest threats to the eyes is diabetes.  One reason I have watched my food and carbohydrate intake for so long is to protect myself from diabetes.  So far, so good.  Diabetes runs in my mother’s family, and a doctor told me I had prediabetes.  Not only that, but my medication predisposes me to diabetes.  Years later, the same doctors said that I still have prediabetes but not as seriously.  My tendency toward diabetes had actually gone down.  I attribute that to diet.

 

I just checked the foods to avoid if you have prediabetes.  They include sugar, of course, and also processed meats.  My husband loves his deli meat and is of course, willing to share.  It is time for me to find an alternative.  Other foods include fried foods, lard, and butter (there goes that artichoke fest dipped in butter!), and refined grains.  I can definitely make some improvements.  Maybe next time, my husband and I can dip our artichokes in olive oil.

 

 

EVENING Prayer

Dear Lord,   I am actually composing this blog entry without using my eyeglasses.  I am doing okay.  I do not think I am straining too much.   I would like to try Greg Marsh’s program for vision improvement.  Fortunately, I already have pretty good vision.  I attribute that to a large extent to good nutrition, with the help of Cronometer.   Also, individual supplements: fish oil, astaxanthin, zeaxanthin, and lutein appear to be helping.   Lord, I want to start writing more books.  My blog occupies me, but it will disappear once I die.  My books will remain.   What legacy is worth leaving?  What can I say that will have lasting value?  The fields of computers and nutrition are highly volatile. Perhaps nothing I say will be worthwhile in fifty years.  Let me not be so pessimistic though.  I believe in hope.   Lord, what gifts can I give my readers?  Already, I offer Joyful Vibrance:  Transform Your Body Image, Energy, and Mood!   Knowledge these days is cheap, but the stories stand out.  No one has exactly my story.  Stories give us inspiration and courage.   The work of Brené Brown encouraged me.  For years, I was too afraid to share my story because of the stigma of mental illness. People still stigmatize it, but I can overcome feeling shame about it.  Instead, I can vulnerably share my story and give others courage.   Lord, help others to see clearly with their eyes, minds, and hearts.  Help them seek nutrients that really make a difference.  Let them achieve relaxation in their eyes, head, shoulders, and neck so they can achieve greater visual acuity.   Help us all find vibrant joy, loving our neighbors, giving relevant, priceless gifts whenever we can to bless others.   Amen.

 

If you would like to join me on this journey from the beginning, please start with Day One.