Monday, June 20, 2016

Better than I thought


Recent harvest from Uncle Billy's garden

Ward's recent surgery has him on a special diet--basically easy to digest food. I thought we could handle what was needed for a few days without getting anything special from the store, but it didn't work out as planned. First we asked about a piece of toast? Nope. We only had whole grain bread. How about some pasta or noodles boiled in broth? Nope. We only had whole grain pasta. How about some cooked veggies from the freezer? Nope. The freezer only had broccoli, mixed veggies, and Brussels sprouts.  Fresh strawberries? Nope. Too many seeds. Fresh blueberries? Nope. Skins and seeds.

Also a visit to Uncle Billy's garden today yielded some very nice vegetables but didn't increase Ward's menu choices. Red cabbage? Nope. Broccoli? Nope Lettuce? Nope. Peas? Nope.

Despite all of this, Ward is not starving. He's feasting on bananas, egg noodles, carrots, applesauce, and chicken. Hopefully, a visit to the doctor later this week will give the go ahead to add most things back.

So this whole process got me thinking. While we have our fair share of junk food, our everyday eating habits are really not that bad. That was a revelation to me because I only noticed the cookies and chips we have sometimes instead of the good food we have most days. Without realizing it, I was focusing on the negative instead of the positive. Do you ever let your negative thoughts take over with out realizing it?


12 comments:

  1. All the time. I'm very pessimistic by nature and Greg has told me that I was too negative so I've tried to make an effort to lighten up. However, it's hard to fight what comes so naturally. When I went back to France these last 3 times, I realized that it was a family trait that I inherited from my dad, ironically one of the very things that contributed to my disdain of him. So I need to try harder NOT to turn into him. I hope there is still time!

    I'm glad your hubby is home and well enough to eat foods that agree with him, even though it was a challenge for you to find suitable foods in your stock! I never think of strawberries as having seeds. So odd to think they could bother someone's digestion! I hope he continues to get better!

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    1. I do believe that we are born with the tendency to either be negative or positive and it's all linked to our natural anxiety levels. After that, nurture has a big influence.

      It's my nature to be somewhat negative, but since realizing that, I've been able to do much better. It takes effort, but I'm pretty good at seeing the positive first now. But not always as I talked about above.

      Good luck as you try to see the positive more easily. The hardest part is to catch your negative self doing something that has come so naturally all of your life.

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  2. I'm glad Ward is recovering from surgery nicely. And isn't that a good feeling for you -- to realize that you do, indeed, eat very well. Doesn't surprise me!

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    1. This whole episode with Ward has made me realize that we're doing pretty well in most areas. When something major happens, all of the little annoyances tend to fade into the background. And that is what has happened here.

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  3. The produce looks so good! It would be hard to avoid eating it. I'm happy to hear that Ward is continuing to recover--hopefully you are getting some nice weather and he can enjoy sitting and watching the wildlife in your back yard.

    I think I have a tendency to be easily irritated by situations (or people) which are illogical or insensitive to others. When it comes to fight or flight, I'm definitely in the "fight" category. I have to make a conscious effort to think "what is the positive in this situation" or "where is this person coming from". It's not something I like about myself and yes, those thoughts tend to take over without my being aware of them.

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  4. I tend to give other people more of the benefit of the doubt than I do myself sometimes.

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  5. I think you are spot on. I think we are much easier on everyone else than we are on ourselves. I am not sure why we do that either!

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    1. I'm not sure either, but it certainly happens with most people.

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  6. Yea, I do sometimes. But I usually think this could be a lot worse and think of someone who is worse off than me. Glad Ward's surgery went well!

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    1. You certainly have a lot of reasons to see the negative side of things. I think you do a good job looking at the positive side of your difficulties.

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  7. I wish I could say that we mostly eat the good stuff...UGH. We mostly eat the bad stuff....I must stock the fridge with good stuff! Hope Ward is feeling better soon!

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    1. Having the good stuff on hand is at least half of the battle for me.
      Ward is doing better every day.

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What do you think?