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New Years Resolve, Binge or Be

copyright © 2009 Betsy L. Angert.  BeThink.org Another year has come and gone.  Everywhere she goes she hears people speak of New Years resolutions.  They all say this time will be different.  I will decide to do as I had not done previously or at least had not done well.  Countless commit to a life of calorie counting.  Others merely muse that they will exercise more.  Drugs, drinking, there are also discussions of these concerns.  People are confident.  This year I will deliver myself from what I think evil.  A few philosophize as to their personal career path.  Change is the objective.  A greater goal is thought to be golden.  As Author Mary Anne Radmacher reflected and now millions whisper as their mantra, "Live with intention . . .  Choose with no regret. . . . Do what you love. Live as if this is all there is."  Therein lies the problem.

A Weighty Issue

copyright © 2009 Betsy L. Angert.  BeThink.org On February 15th, Barry boarded the plane.  He was deep in thought and noticed few of the people around him.  The prior evening had been exceptional.  This sensitive man celebrated Valentine's Day with friends, with family, and best of all with himself, a person he had grown to love and respect, an individual he barely knew for all of his life, himself.   More recently, Barry had become a more balanced individual.  He is now constantly on the move, not merely in a physical sense, but in a more real manner.  The successful businessman, the sensational father, the phenomenal friend, the scholar who climbed the career ladder well, in the not so distant past, never felt truly fulfilled.  Now, he thought of himself as a work in progress, a being who has transitioned beyond his wildest dreams.  Yet, he trusted there were still many roads to travel.  He wondered; would he make it.  On this day, unbeknownst to him, Barry would find his answer.  Yet, he would also be prompted to ask more questions.

I Resolve . . .

Something Could Change

copyright © 2008 Betsy L. Angert.  BeThink.org Come 2009, I will commence on a new path. I will exercise regularly, smoke not at all.  A healthy diet will become my regime.  On Monday, January 5, my life mission will be realized in my work.  The opportunity to inaugurate again, to give birth to me at my best will inspire a rejuvenation.  Today, I resolve to . . . not make a single New Years resolution.  In truth, I never have committed to change.  Yet, the person you see before you is not the same being that might have appeared on any other day, of any other year.  I have evolved, and so do we all.

Americans Have No Choice; A Diet of Fats, Salts, Sugars

copyright © 2007 Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org

'Tis the season to be jolly. From Thanksgiving Day to the dawn of the New Year, Americans are encouraged to eat. He, she, you, and I are expected to fritter our fears away. We will worry not of weight gain, heart attacks, coronary artery disease, strokes, or diabetes. Citizens in celebration will gorge on and gulp down millions of morsels. Americans will eat, drink, and be merry with reckless abandon. There are some expressed concerns for food safety, especially after a year of scares; however, for the most part we will dine with delight.

Bulimia. "Control," Not the Means Nor the Mission [Chapter Seven]

Carousel of Romance™ Top Revolving Carousel Musical Globe

Copyright © 2007 Betsy L. Angert. BeThink.org

She heard it said every time the topic was brought up. The words flow from their mouths as the food did from hers. Terminology spills into the sink of the uninformed and ignorant just as her fare did almost immediately after she swallowed it. Resembling her refusal to digest what she ate, they reject what is offered to them. Bulimics do not do as they do so that they might feel in control. While marinating in a myriad of feelings and flavors, a binger that purges is not exerting his or her desire to control. She cannot. She knows this all too well.

Addiction? Habits? No Laughing Matter. Ferguson On Spears

© copyright 2007 Betsy L. Angert

Please ponder this presentation. The film may provide a fertile foundation for deeper thinking. Eye To Eye With Craig Ferguson On Spears

In my earlier missive, The Price of Addiction. Bush and War I went out of my way not to discuss "dependencies" as though they were obsessions, habits out of our control. I did not wish to define a fixation as a tendency that could be easily contained. Personally, I believe there are physical, physiological, psychological, neurological, environmental, ecological, and emotional components that cause us to do as we do and think as we might. Every entity and each element effect our thoughts, words, and deeds.

The Price of Addiction. Bush and War

© copyright 2007 Betsy L. Angert

Please view the video presentation. Do the Math. What might The Cost of Iraq truly be?

Chapter and verse has been written on George W. Bush and his history of addictions. None doubt his alcohol abuse. The President speaks of this obsession often. His own struggle to stop drinking may have endeared him to many voting constituents. People in America can attest to their own struggles with alcohol dependency. Some feel certain George Bush did his fair share of cocaine; perhaps, it was another drug of choice. It seems marijuana was part of the party boy's bingeing. Currently, and for the last twenty plus years our President has been clean. George W. Bush is sober and possibly no longer addicted to intoxicants, unless we are speaking of war.

I Am An Anorexic, Bulimic, A Person! ©

Once you label me, you negate me.
~ Soren Kierkegaard [Danish Philosopher]

An article in the New York Times grabbed my attention instantly.  It appeared in the health section.  The title, One Spoonful at a Time.  This writing was heartfelt. Author, Harriet Brown tells a gripping tale.  It took me to memories of my own struggle with anorexia and bulimia and how these affected my family.  In this exposé, the dilemma of how to treat the condition was thoroughly discussed.  I wish to share my response to this situation and story.  My personal experience of this is vast.  I hope my thoughts, realizations, and rejoinders on this topic will be helpful to those grappling with similar issues.  I trust that the effects of anorexia and bulimia are trials and tribulations for all those afflicted by these.

The subject of weight alone is a sensitive probing.  An individual need not starve, binge, or purge in wrestling with weight.  On the same day another New York Times essay loomed large entitled "Big People on Campus."  This commentary contemplated the plight of being "fat."  I was once that too.  Many may muse in this moment, all anorexics believe they are chubby, and while that may or may not be true, I actually was at times in my life.  My weight rarely was stable; nor was I when reflecting upon it.  However, my weight was never the issue; it was a distraction, a symptom of what was within. 

Jews, Mel Gibson, War. Rehabilitating Hatred ©

“Peace is harder to make than war.” - Stanley Weintraub Those that know me well might ask why would I write an exposé discussing Mel Gibson. I am not a fan of Hollywood or its gossip. I do not go to the movie theatres. I rarely recall the names of actors. Show business personalities are of little interest to me. Their art does not mesmerize my mind. Most of it, I feel, is meaningless. As for Mel, I was unwilling to attend a showing of the “Passion of Christ,” even though a friend offered to pay for my ticket. As much as I believe it is important to know what those that differ from me, think, say, do and feel, the prospect of an anti-Semitic message turned my stomach.

Though this treatise will invoke the name of Mel Gibson, it is not about Mr. Gibson; it is about hatred and whether or not we can rehabilitate the hearts and minds of those that hate.