a cooking pot and twisted tales
Thoughts and Tales…A Lifestyle Blog with a Zing.
Mama said to me, baby,
in life the rejection that hurts most
is the rejection of self
If others reject you for your differences
make sure that you are
full of self-acceptance.
©
Jacqueline
In God, you say you trust
as you quickly strap your guns,
the Bible in one holy hand
the smoking gun in the other
You are the truth keepers
with your mouthful of lies,
you pick verses that serve your purpose
your hypocrisy goes beyond the surface
The grandiose self-titled peacemaker
who steals and poisons others water,
you go where the land is rich
and live its people in misery
In God you say you trust
as you decimate nations of natives,
that God of yours is very testy
I doubt he’s the same as mine.
©
Jacqueline
I gaze through the window,
outside the light begins to fade
the sky has deepened,
from pale blue to darker blueish grey,
with patches of purple indigo and orange
then it swiftly goes black;
the days’ curtain closes
but I don’t draw my curtains
nor do I turn on the light
I stand here,
high up the 21st floor,
allowing the square glow
from the computer and TV
to light up the room,
as I gaze at the winking taillights
of commuters rushing home;
juxtaposed with people
whose strides have slowed to less hurrying pace
Yet as I take in the pockets of scene before me
the repetitive drone of the news on TV
channel my thoughts to another scene
in another place, at another time;
unfolding in my harassed imagination,
conjuring images of frantic panic
of horrified pandemonium
as gunshots spewed from the window
in rapid fire at innocent lives
Many struck,
blown down by hate,
their painful screams still stuck in their throat
eyes frozen in disbelieving shock
their startled spirits jumped out in a hasty exit
as their curtain falls with eyelids squeezed shut;
the streets run with blood, yet we covet the gun
returning to our sanctuaries, we sigh and pray in mourning,
and wait for the next massacre.
©
Jacqueline
When society develops apathy to the ills found in its midst, the value of the life of its citizenry diminishes.
I can barely find the words to express how touched and happy I felt when my ten-year-old son offered to take care of me and make me something to eat last night as an effort to ease my stress.
Several packs of tagliatelle, cheese, carrots, tomatoes, ketchup, fish-fingers, all my spices and a messy kitchen, the young man whipped up a candle-lit dinner.
The food tasted better than any that I’d had in ages. It could have done with a little more simmering to soften the tagliatelle, but it was just perfect.
There was oodles of love, a dash of care and sprinkles of appreciation washed down with a cold glass of orange juice 🙂
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Today’s featured blogs are:
How contented are you? Or are you fussing and cussing and getting mad over everything?
For all those of us battling with the scale and wishing we could whittle the fat away. This great post is for you.
I’ve decided to accept all of me…every beautiful curvaceous rounded edge and corner of my body. I am proudly me. I had to get to a point where I started to love myself. I just needed to stop the battle within myself against myself. Self-acceptance became my focus point instead of pushing away this beautiful person based on a number on the scale.
What brilliant idea this is. I simply love it. Take a quick peek.
Our children emulate us. Most of their attitude/behaviour is learned and this is largely from their homes. If we are not better adults, how exactly do we expect to have better children?
Bullying starts at home. It starts with adults who see no problem with posting brutal responses to tragic stories because they need to feel that they are better than others—just as a school-yard bully would do; they need to claim the position as better parents, better guardians of their teens, more efficient workers, etc. This competition is so destructive to society.
Finding a happy disposition in a sea of disparate negativity
Fabulous post!
Choose to be the type of person that everyone wants to work with, to talk to, to collaborate with…a positive and happy disposition is a cohesive force!
Do step in, explore these blogs and show some love.
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We’re all focused on the future, aren’t we? After all, we want to ensure that we can enjoy a happy future and one that is full of good health. Sitting around just waiting for the future to come can’t guarantee a happy and healthy future, but setting in place some good foundations now can help put one in place for you.
Ready to start planning for the future? Here are some things you need to do to plan ahead for a very healthy and happy future!
A healthy diet is one of the most important things in our lives. Choosing low-calorie food options that are high in nutrients ensures our mind and body get all of the right vitamins and minerals that they require to grow and develop correctly. Plus, it means you will be getting plenty of essential nutrients that can help the body overcome various health conditions and allow it to adapt to old age. For instance, if you are a meat-eater, you should cut down on processed meats like sausages and burgers and stick to lean chicken breasts instead.
You also need to consider your finances to make sure that they set you up for a strong future. It’s worth buying some life insurance as this will protect your family financially if anything were to happen to you. As this health IQ review shows, active and healthy individuals can benefit from some competitively priced insurance cover from certain companies. It’s also worth saving up for retirement as early as possible to ensure that your finances aren’t stretched once you give up work.
An active life is a healthy life! It is crucial that you continue to be active, even throughout old age. Staying active can help to boost your moods, keep your weight in check, and relieve stress. Don’t worry; you don’t have to start training for marathons or push your body to the edge. Simply walking more is enough to keep you active and healthy. In fact, a thirty-minute brisk walk each day has been shown to prevent a lot of serious health conditions.
Staying physically active is one thing, but you also need to remember to exercise your brain and mind as well. This will keep your mental health and ability in good shape as you enter into old age. There are various ways you can keep your mind fit and agile. Lots of studies show that one of the best things is to learn a second language. If that sounds like too much hard work to you, you might want to just work on some puzzles in your spare time such as crosswords or Sudoku.
It can often be easier said than done, but staying away from stress can help you in a lot of different areas of your life. It can reduce blood pressure, help you get a better night’s sleep, and be generally happier!
Ready for a happy and healthy future?
You’ve got to fall in love again. Fall in love with taking care of yourself; mind, body and soul. Jacqueline
For the past week, I have been publishing posts on self-care because the plain truth is that when our well-being is out of sync, every other thing in our life suffers.
Time spent taking care of oneself is time well spent. Mentally, spiritually, emotionally and physically, we need to stay strong to be more effective and to withstand the consistent onslaught of horrendous stuff and news that life dishes out in spades.
It is not selfish in the least to take away that much needed time to decompress and to maintain a worthy lifestyle. As a matter of fact, it is a selfless act because when you show yourself the much-needed attention and care, you are better positioned to care for those you love.
When we neglect ourselves, the effects trickle down and the interesting thing is that we lose our effectiveness even when we think that we don’t have time to take care of ourselves and do those things that make us happy.
What are you doing today to make a desired and positive change?
The world has gone so absolutely bonkers and reality TV-ish that just picking up the newspaper today and reading the latest story about President Trump is akin to picking up a political-thriller, which makes the world of reading novels worryingly redundant.
Okay, maybe that last statement was a stretch too far, but you kind of get the drift. It is what led Matthew Quirk to construct his wonderfully sculpted article.
Luckily, there has been the emergence of some new genres over recent years that could re-establish novels as the go-to medium when it comes to people wanting to escape. We have to warn you, though, some of these genres are totally bonkers, while others are proof that the human race will never be short of creative ideas.
If you have never heard of Bizarro Fiction, then the only way we can really describe it is, well, being totally weird for the sake of being totally weird. The aim of the game is basically to entertain the reader, but how the author gets to that stage is completely up to them and could see their literature delve into all things funny, gross, graphic, absurd or just madcap.
You may think this is totally niche and will never make it, but David Wong has totally proven that theory wrong. He even had one of his books made into a film. Crazy.
That is right, Literary Role Playing Games are a thing. It is kind of hard to wrap your head around at first because books in the LitRPG Reads genre tend to describe a protagonist’s adventure with the context of a computer game, meaning there are added mechanics like
experience points, stats and the chance to level up.
However, as mental as this sounds, the chance to read about different quests and see achievements is a great way to read about the adventure from a whole new standpoint.
Now you may be thinking that is just another genre that plays on all things punk – why wouldn’t you – but it is actually a genre that is based on the fantasy of manners.
Hear us out, but is basically the other side of the coin that is Steampunk. You see, Steampunk tends to focus on things like the weapons, tech and aesthetics of a particular age, whereas Mannerpunk prefers to focus on the etiquette, manners and social politeness of the era instead.
Of course, there is the punk element to it, in which its most famous title is probably Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, a real twist on the Jane Austen classic.
With the rise of certain social media sites, namely Twitter and Facebook, the world of communication kind of got flipped and squashed and squeezed and altered.
A number of words we use when it comes to online communication became limited and that meant the ideas had to be made concise.
Well, this concept and approach has seen some authors create entire worlds, stories, plots and characters within the confines of these status boxes, known as Microblogging Novels. Say what you want, readers get the chance to read entire chapters the moment they are finished, which is cool.
It felt good to take a brisk early morning walk and not get drenched in one’s own sweat. I am exceedingly thankful for the changing clime over here.
The temperature is dropping from its oppressive, simmering height, there are more chirpier and happier birds tweeting in the trees, the yellowing, orange leaves are simply beautiful but that also applies to the budding leafs.
Natures transience is a reminder that each new day comes with an abundance of changes and that yesterday’s trouble will give way to today’s peace.
Adopt the pace of nature, her secret is patience – Ralph Waldo Emerson
It’s something that we can’t deny, the looming of Old Mother Time will get us all eventually, and while we hit a peak with both our physical and emotional health, both start a gradual decline that we can get quite concerned about. But what are the key changes in the body as we age, and what can we do to prevent them?
As we age we lose our bone density, also known as osteoporosis. Part of the reason our bones become less dense is because of the lack of calcium, as the body will absorb less calcium (and vitamin D) from foods. Certain bones tend to weaken more than others such as the bones in the spine, which can be very painful, and while you can pay a visit to the chiropractors to work on realigning your spine, you can work at increasing your bone density by doing a few things. Exercise, especially resistance based ones, has been shown to increase bone density. You should also increase your intake of calcium and vitamin D, and up your intake of good fats, as these will help to absorb the calcium and vitamin D into your bones. In addition to this, you need to cut back on foods that will take calcium from your bones, such as carbonated drinks, caffeine, and the main culprit, refined sugar.
The decrease in muscle mass starts around the age of 30 and is caused by the decrease in levels of growth hormone, or testosterone in men. Most people will only lose about 10 to 15% of their strength due to age, but there are issues like sarcopenia which comes from extreme inactivity. You can continue to strengthen your muscles as you age by taking part in resistance training, or anything that requires you to fight against gravity, from sit-ups to push-ups and pull-ups. Body weight exercises are a great place to start. Exercising is also great to reduce body fat as you age. By the age of 75, your amount of body fat tends to double in comparison to your early 20s and 30s, which will increase the risk of illnesses like diabetes.
Generally, the number of nerve cells will decrease in the brain as you age, but although your brain is able to compensate by making new connections between the nerve cells, your brain will tend to have more cells than it needs to do standard activities, also known as redundancy. Of course, the concern for many of us as we age is the onset of age-related cognitive decline, such as dementia or Alzheimer’s. The trick to preventing this as best as possible is, again, exercise, but for your brain. That feeling of frustration when you’re learning something new is the thing you should be aiming for. This is the point where your brain is making new connections and neurons. So by doing things that are completely brand new, from learning an instrument to a language, this is what will keep your mind sharp and fresh.
These are the three areas that you need to focus on to age well. And, remember, it is never too late to start, no matter how old you are.
a cooking pot and twisted tales 