The Anne Report, Making Time with The Five Rule, shows us how we can make time where there seems to be no time. The Main article, Handling Life's Misfortunes, reminds us that how we handle life's obstacles is an important part of maintaining our physical well-being. The Healthy Living article, Healthy Breakfasts, provides four options for new breakfast choices. The Anne Talk is Anne's video, Happy Mothering Day. The Featured Product this month highlights Anne's Four Books. Click to read What is EZosophy? Click here to learn about Anne's newest book, Words Make a Difference.

The EZ Mantra: "Everything can be EZ or at least EZier." – Anne Sermons Gillis

Living EZosophy, May 16, 2017
Published Weekly on Tuesday Mornings

Phone: 281-419-1775
Email: anne@annegillis.com

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  The Anne Report

Making Time with The Five Rule

Dear ,

As I sit at my desk, I spot a beat-up trailer through the window. It belongs to my next-door neighbor's yard manicurist. A buzz sounds through the air. The sun peeps in and out as if it were on a light switch. Lucy, my dog, snoozes by the fireplace, and my stomach reminds me that I need to eat something.

These are the ordinary moments that too often slip by if I immerse myself in activity. I outsmart that sense of urgency and devise little plans to keep me on track. I love to work in the yard, but when I have another project going, and I have three going today, I don't feel like I have time to play "yard." That's when I use my Five Rule: There's always five minutes to spare. So after my morning walk, I wrestled the kudzo-like vines, picked up dead limbs, and cut away dead branches. What fun. I was on such a roll that I worked for 15 more minutes then ate breakfast outside. I had time to work. It was the pressure of needing to do other things that robbed me of my ability to enjoy my back yard. My five-minute plan was just what I needed to cut away any sense of overwhelm I felt. I spread myself out luxuriously in those five minutes, and as I worked, I relaxed and discovered the absurdity of my mental pronouncement of not having enough time.

Martin Dies State Park, Jasper, TX
Deep in the heart of the East Texas Pineywoods

I wrote the above piece on Saturday morning, but as you read this Jim and I are snuggled in our little vacation home, our RV, at Martin Dies State Park. I schedule these adventures in advance so we will not be tempted to lose the opportunities we have to take play-cations. There are more reasons not to go than there are to go, but I've countered this event planner in my head and found it to be more of a mis-event planner than an event planner. And I grow older and wiser. I'm out of here! That planner goes on and on about work and being productive, but as for me, I'm going to take my five minutes and sometimes even my five days, because when I do, my life is EZier and EZier.

Anne

  Main Article

Handling Life's Misfortunes

Healthy living is a life style. It includes what we eat, how we eat, how we sleep, how we relate to others, how we treat ourselves, and how we handle our responsibilities. When we think of health, we think of taking positive steps; we think of strength. Yet how we react to troublesome situations, shattered dreams, and genuine loss, is as much a part of healthy living as taking steps to maintain our physical well-being.

I had a friend who lost his leg in an accident. He was on a motorcycle and a car hit him. My friend was a motorcycle safety instructor. He did nothing wrong, yet he lost his leg. I went to see him in the hospital. He was in good spirits. His friends rallied around him. The medical staff wondered who the 70 plus year old man was who had a parade of friends marching in and out of his room. The year before, he went through a trying divorce, and to have this accident come on the heels of such a difficult time, seemed unfair. How much can one man take? Then the unthinkable happened: he had a stroke. Now he had a paralyzed arm and a missing leg. I lost touch with him, but I heard he had given up. He just couldn't handle the cards life dealt him. I am not sure what happened to him. I hope he rallied.

I can't say that I would have handled things any differently, but I would hope that I could stand the winds of time with its perils. I would hope to continue to live a useful life, regardless of the circumstances. I may be wrong, but I think giving up is not an option. Okay, maybe temporarily, but not permanently. Life is a gift, regardless of the form it takes.

I have another friend who contracted rheumatoid arthritis when he was in his teens. He has chronic psoriasis and has been in and out of hospitals more times than I can count. Once he was in the hospital for months, and he got quite angry and turned away from his life-sustaining beliefs. He suffered financial difficulties due to his health issues and missed as many breaks as he received. But after he recovered, he eventually returned to his life. He is in the helping profession. Today he is in his mid-seventies. He has lost mobility and spends his days in a wheel chair, yet he joyfully continues to sing professionally and still works with people. His life was not fair, but he is living a meaningful, productive life.

We have partial dominion over what happens in our lives, but we don't have total control. None of us is exempt from tragedy and disaster. Healthy living includes being able to say yes to life, over and over, during the good times and the bad. Our relationship with life should be like a marriage, for better or worse. When we sink down in despair over the events and calamities in our lives, we turn off any good that might come our way. We won't see our good because we are so absorbed in proving our point: "Life is a bitch and then you die." We can always prove that point. We can gather plenty of evidence, because life does suck part of the time. Yet if we don't face those tragic times with courage and self-compassion, we sentence ourselves to life in some sort of self-constructed psychological prison, and give up ourselves to a lower power – our egoic mind.

Life brings with it many complications, including unexpected hardships. We must learn to handle them because there is no other good option. We have to resist the temptation to turn our problems into sanctuaries where we worship irritation, rudeness, hopelessness, and despair. The captain of a ship doesn't run away when the ship hits rough seas. S/he stays at the helm to bring the ship through the storm. If s/he gave up, it could lead to death. When we give up on life, we become the walking dead, and yuck, who wants that?

Life brings with each situation a special gift. When we remain present and listen to life, we find an awakening to something deeper than life's events. We find courage. We find inner strength. We find support. We find compassion and a softening of the heart. We find ourselves in a new and different way. This is not about remaining positive. This is about contacting the part of ourselves than can't be harmed by life's events. When we do contact that self, we find that life can always be EZier and EZier.

Anne

  Quotes

Anne Word Art

The Siren: For Whom the Belle Tolls

The sweetness tolls for listening hearts,
its beauty to receive.
And all who hear, gather near, the sounds that love imparts.

Silliness is a family tradition, and my sister Lois and I compete to be on top of the family silliness chart. We write the silliest things. The following sillyution is my anti-angst offering. Let's replace our existential angst with existential ain't milking the drama anymore. This piece should put me on the top of the family silly chart.

Dropping the Illusion

I came to the conclusion that the world offered an infusion of delusion.
No more confusion or altered illusions. I turned around for a better solution.
I'm happy to report that I'm no longer out of sorts. I can't support, so I will happily deport, the thoughts that thwart my mental court.

  Featured Product This Month

Anne's Four Books

Click here to check out Anne's newest book, Words Make A Difference, a book of affirmations, action plans, and deep insights into the human consciousness that transforms and heals the soul, the local and global community, and the planet. Travel with Gillis on a journey through deep psychology, metaphysics, and nondualism.

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  What is EZosophy?

Click the graphic above to learn about EZosophy.

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NOTE: If you are viewing this on a cell phone, be sure to scroll to the right to see the other column.

  Healthy Living

Healthy Breakfasts

Do you ever wake up and wonder what you'll eat for breakfast? You've wised up and outgrown the desire for cold pizza. You stand at your refrigerator, door wide open, and scratch your head, as the cold air rushes past your inquiry.

Yes, I know you can have a piece of toast and a cup of yogurt, but are they really the best thing to eat on a regular basis? The China Study, the most comprehensive book on diet, offers clinical evidence that people who eat dairy and flesh foods are five times more likely to get cancer. "The book is loosely based on the China–Cornell–Oxford Project, a 20-year study—described by The New York Times as "the Grand Prix of epidemiology"—conducted by the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine, Cornell University, and the University of Oxford."

While I do eat some dairy and seafood from time to time, they are on my rarely eaten foods list. When I am at the coast and can buy local fresh seafood, I eat seafood. When I am at someone's house and the choices are limited, I might eat cheese or eggs. I do use organic butter. It is my weakness, but I substitute tahini for butter on a regular basis. I love a good tahini, avocado, tomato, and lettuce sandwich.

Okay, back to breakfast. Here are some of my favorites.

Fresh Apple Toast

Ingredients

• Two pieces of toast (Ezekiel bread is healthier than most, if you are not gluten intolerant, but flour is an inflammation causing food, so avoid a daily dose of wheat bread. There are some great gluten-free breads available.)
• One medium organic apple (Why organic? Check it out.)
• 1/4 cup chopped nuts
• Cinnamon
• Butter/Tahini

Core apple and chop in a small food processor. Don't have a small processor? Just mince the apple with a knife. Spread butter/tahini on toast, cover with minced apple. Sprinkle with cinnamon and top with nuts. This makes a healthy breakfast that should last you until lunch.

Cashewgurt Apple Smoothie

I've discovered another great breakfast food, Forager's Cashewgurt. Mix equal parts of unsweetened organic apple sauce with plain Cashewgurt and you are good to go. If you have time, you can get out your blender and use a fresh apple. Don't peel the apple unless it is ono-organic.

Non Dairy Keifer

Recently I was at my daughter's house. She knows I like Cashewgurt, but when she went shopping she could only find the keifer-like drink. What luck for me. It's yummy and loaded with probiotics.

Fruit and Nuts

There was a time that I ate chopped fruit and nuts exclusively for breakfast. I mixed mangos, pineapple, blueberries, strawberries, watermelon, cantaloupe. When running late, a banana and a handful of nuts sufficed, but when I had time, I delighted in wonderful flavors of seasonal fruit. Once, when in Costa Rica, Jim and I ate pineapple every morning for breakfast and sipped on fresh coconut butter. I think fruit is the food of the gods! Add a few nuts and I'm in heaven.

Above are four great ideas to jump start you in the right direction. Maybe it's time to go on a food adventure to make your breakfast healthier and more interesting. Health is wealth, and eating nourishing foods leads us away from disease and toward fitness.

Happy eating.

If you have any healthy living tips for the newsletter, send them to me at anne@annegillis.com.

  Anne Talks

Happy Mothering Day

  Anne Art

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  Anne's Schedule

All times here are Central Time
unless otherwise specified.

Sunday, May 21, 2017
11:00 AM Service
"Living in Ease and Peace"
Carmel Temple
1208 Pennsylvania St.
South Houston, TX 77587
713-944-0014

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You may reach Anne by phone at 281-419-1775 or click the button below to contact Anne by email. Anne is also available to officiate at weddings and funerals.