Sure, I could’ve (and maybe should’ve) said daily bread instead of daily grain. But that wouldn’t have rhymed with the retrain your brain part. So, I took some poetic license. And there you have it.

Well, I could be talking about anxiety and depression, in which case I might give you a list of cognitive distortions like someone else did on another website. Here’s the list they shared.:

And the number one reason for that is because God tells me not to be. Plus, it’s bad for your brain which makes it much more difficult to retrain. So I recommend living in joy and gratitude. Yeah, we should all be extremely grateful. We’re not getting what we deserve (you’re not getting those wages you actually deserve, right?).

My educated guess is that if you ARE anxious and/or depressed, you’re way too focused on YOU.

But sometimes things happen and you find yourself forced to focus more on YOU. Or at least parts of you. And that’s where I find myself currently. So that’s why I’ve been talking about it more lately.

Brain injuries, or other forms of head trauma, like stroke, are a challenge to the neuroplasticity of your brain and nervous system. And since that’s the boat, I find myself in, at this time, the information I find is fascinating. Here’s the basic gist of it that I found in an article:

Brain cells send messages, which are the neural connections around the brain. However, when an individual experiences a stroke, the stroke damages some of the connections inside the brain in addition to the connection between the brain and the rest of the body. Rehabilitation activities help the brain make new neural connections in the healthy parts of your brain. And more neural connections can improve your brain’s ability to control your body and perform daily activities. Every time you take an extra step, say a new word or do an exercise, it helps the brain make new connections.~

My first gut reaction to all that is:

God is good. God is great.

By the way, I’m also extremely grateful you’re here reading this. I want you to know it’s no small thing to me that you have spent some of your precious, valuable time checking out what I share. I hope it blesses you in some way. And if there’s anything else you’d like me to focus on, don’t hesitate to ask.

Subscribe to my FunderFlash Journal. Because the flashes of light I share on my website come directly to your inbox. So you can spend your valuable time reading instead of searching. And, to show my sincere appreciation for your time and attention, I’ll send you download links to books and music, right away. Kids from 3 to 103 can enjoy these fun goodies.

The form can be filled in the actual website url.

Stay tuned,

The post Retrain your brain with a good daily grain appeared first on Tony Funderburk.

Note: the last podcast episode said it was number 995. But it was actually 994. And this episode is actually 995. OK, back to your regularly scheduled whatever it was you were doing before I interrupted you.

Mindfulness is the cognitive skill, usually developed through meditation, of sustaining metacognitive awareness towards the contents of one’s own mind in the present moment.

Because the information you see about mindfulness and self-awareness, all over the place these days, really focuses on that one word: self.

And from what I’ve been able to determine, through a variety of articles, they lead away from God. Here’s an example of what I mean taken from the ultimate internet authority, wikipedia:

~ The term mindfulness derives from the Pali word sati, a significant element of Buddhist traditions, and is based on Ānāpānasati, Chan, and Tibetan meditation techniques. Though definitions and techniques of mindfulness are wide-ranging, Buddhist traditions describe what constitutes mindfulness, such as how perceptions of the past, present and future arise and cease as momentary sense-impressions and mental phenomena. ~

So, what does all that mean?

Two words. Mumbo Jumbo. OK, I’ll add one more word, Dumbo.

If your “perceptions of the past, present and future arise and cease as momentary sense-impressions” (aka feelings), your life ain’t got no foundation. And if you put any kind of trust in mental phenomena, you’re just liable to be tossed “to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine.”

Because meditation, that doesn’t focus on self, can be a very powerful mental and emotional tool.

I recommend that your meditation (or mindfulness) should focus on things that are:

Of course, you already know that, if you’ve been connected with me for even a little while. So this information and recommendation is for the uninitiated, the newbies, and anyone willing to trust truth over feelings and phenomena.

It’s not a rule you have to follow,

This all has even more meaning for me now. Because part of my occupational and physical therapy, for better stroke recovery, includes exercising my brain. It sounds like it would be the easy part, but when parts of your brain are zapped due to a blood clot, you might be surprised how quickly the old think tank can run out of gas.

So, I’m gonna take my own advice right now and trust the Truth to help me.

Subscribe to my FunderFlash Journal. Because the flashes of light I share on my website come directly to your inbox. That way you can spend your valuable time reading instead of searching. And, to show my sincere appreciation for your time and attention, I’ll send you download links to books and music, right away. Kids from 3 to 103 can enjoy these fun goodies.

The form can be filled in the actual website url.

Stay tuned,

The post Mindfulness and awareness: done this way it’s meaningless appeared first on Tony Funderburk.

If this was an article for a health and wellness  client, I couldn’t actually say food is medicine. In order to protect my client from lawsuits and such, I would have to say “food can be medicine.”

Yeah, don’t get too excited. Because that doesn’t mean ALL food is medicine. So, even though I like to joke that vitamin C stands for cookie, you might not see any health benefits from your favorite chocolate chippers. Sorry to boost your bubble. Or should I say crumble your cookie?

Anyway…

So, where do vitamins originally come from? And where does nutrition start? Food. As I said, food is medicine. And I’ve never been able to kick the eating habit. Yeah, I literally feed my habit, you might say (well, you probably wouldn’t say, but I just did) every day. And I don’t even.want to kick the habit. I love food. I’ll be the first (or second) to admit I don’t always eat what’s best for me, but it;s a high priority in my life.

Your body isn’t lacking pharmaceuticals. It needs efficient, sufficient nutrition. But most doctors sit at a computer keyboard, type in data, and wait for software to tell them which meds to prescribe. Just in case you didn’t already know this, that’s not healthcare. In fact that process read to neither health nor care.

So, let’s talk about what can lead to health and care.

And here’s some information about me you’ve ever asked for, but I’m gonna share anyway. I can’t swallow typical vitamins without chewing them. And 99% of vitamins taste horrible. I know for a fact! So, that’s why Elgielene and I focus on…you guessed it…

We made the switch back to basics. Just plain ol’ food. We buy as much organic as we can. But that’s WAY more expensive. Right? Not so fast. Because the money you can save on doctor’s bills can more than pay any difference in price you find.  And here’s something even more important. Food doesn’t tend to overwork your internal organs like processed vitamins. Don’t take my word for it. Look into it. I think you’ll enjoy food a lot more than the alternatives.

All that being said, genetics still play a huge role. And, as I discovered recently, you can eat healthy, nutritious food, get plenty of fresh air and sunshine, and walk 6000 to 10,000 steps a day, and still suffer a stroke.

So, it still comes down to how nobody gets out of this life alive. And that’s why even more than bodily exercise and nutrition, it’s important to have a healthy relationship with your Creator. That way all the rough stuff you go through in this life is temporary, and the joy-filled, glorified life in paradise is forever. So is the unappealing alternative.

Just some Food For Thought on a nice, Spring day…

You know what? You should subscribe to my FunderFlash Journal. Because the flashes of light I share on my website come directly to your inbox. So you can spend your valuable time reading instead of searching. And, to show my sincere appreciation for your time and attention, I’ll send you download links to books and music, right away. Kids from 3 to 103 can enjoy these fun goodies.

The form can be filled in the actual website url.

Stay tuned,

The post Food is medicine that doctors don’t get us in appeared first on Tony Funderburk.

No, I haven’t taken up golfing. So, the one stroke I speak of is the kind of stroke you don’t wanna get even once. But on April 17, yeah, just last month, I had one sneak up on me and knock me down pretty hard.

It’s one thing to read about, or watch what someone deals with in a movie, or hear somebody tell a story about relearning how to walk and do simple things like pick something up. But it’s another thing entirely to actually have to do it yourself. And yet that’s where I find myself now.

It all started, as I said, on the evening of April 17th. I had just a few hours to go before I would drive to the airport to pick up Elgielene at the airport. She was getting back home around midnight from a two-week trip to see her sister in Florida. I had just gotten off the phone with her and her sister, after a conversation about flight numbers and times. Then I got up from my desk, walked to the kitchen to get a glass of water, and a weird feeling, came over me. It was something I haven’t felt before, so, being a typical American tough guy, I decided to.” walk it off.”  And I started pacing back-and-forth from room to room.

Unfortunately, the pacing didn’t help. I couldn’t walk it off. Matter of fact, I noticed my left leg started not responding so well and it bumped into things. Then, I started to have suspicions that something dastardly was taking place in my brain. So, I started quoting the first couple of lines from Lincoln’s Gettysburg address to see if my speech was OK. Oddly. enough, my speech was pretty much fine.

But I tried to walk again and my left leg refused to cooperate. It just felt like a heavy weight that I couldn’t even drag. Well, that was enough to get me to dial 911 and put in a call for an ambulance.

In very short order, a couple of very nice female paramedics showed up at my door, came inside, checked my vitals, and recommended that I waste no time getting to the emergency center of a nearby hospital.

The crew in the hospital very quickly diagnosed that I had experienced one stroke, and that I needed to go into the ICU for quick treatment.

I was only able to leave her a voicemail that told her what happened and that I had been taken to the emergency room at this particular hospital. Imagine her surprise when she got off the plane and found that I wouldn’t be there to pick her up at midnight. And not only that, I was also in intensive care at the hospital. How’s that for a wake up call after a long day of connecting flights between Florida and Kansas?

Anyway…

It’s nearly a month since that took place and I just got back home four days ago. And it’s quite a drastic change in the Funderburk lifestyle. Before, I did all the driving because, well, I’m a man, and that’s what real man do. But now I’m not allowed to drive. Elgielene has really stepped up her game. And she’s taking great care of me.What a blessing! She has to do everything she was doing before plus help me do things that I don’t do so well now. My physical and occupational therapists told me they expect what they call “activation” to return to my left side eventually.

So, there’s the word I’m dealing with right now. Eventually.

This is my first message out to anyone who has connected with me online. And I expect to share more updates as my eventual recovery progresses.

There are some people who know about the stroke, and I know there have been a lot of people praying for me. For that I’m eternally grateful. Thank you for including me in your prayers. And thank you for the awesome encouragement and support.

Here’s a rhyme that I wrote way back that needs my personal attention now:

Hey, I’m talkin’ to you man…

Think about what you’re eatin’…

“I’m a healthy happy human

Subscribe to my FunderFlash Journal. Because the flashes of light I share on my website come directly to your inbox. So you can spend your valuable time reading instead of searching. And, to show my sincere appreciation for your time and attention, I’ll send you download links to books and music, right away. Kids from 3 to 103 can enjoy these fun goodies.

The form can be filled in the actual website url.

Stay tuned,

The post One stroke over par is very tough so far appeared first on Tony Funderburk.

I hope you avoid the boomer pharmacy like the plague (How do you like my ironic twist of a phrase, there?). If you’re not a boomer, then obviously that reference doesn’t apply to you. But no matter. Because whatever Gen this or Gen that you are, I hope you also avoid the pharmacy trap. My guess is, you won’t.

And I say it’s tragic because most of it could be avoided with some lifestyle changes and choices. Lest you think I exaggerate, check out these comments I found on social media today:

Your average baby boomer today has become a prescription drug zombie, on 4-5 pharmaceuticals daily just to function, according to new NHANES data. Is this what health is supposed to look like?

This Boomer had measles, mumps, chicken pox. Vax’s were few (only 3-4), and there were no 6 mo “wellness” visits to the doctor. We kids went to the doc only if we were sick or broke a bone. No one had allergies, autism, ADHD, etc. Just awful what “health care” has become.

I think the reason Boomers started looking awful at 54 is because most of them smoked, never thought much about their diet, and certainly never had an exercise regimen. Younger people have more information about health now and can avoid the fate of the Boomer body with some effort.

Speaking of Medicare I recently read wherein Medicare projections by 2030, up to 70% of hospital beds will be aging Boomers w/ need for chronic pain care, after aging into pained bodies from skilled trades WHY would pain care need to be inpatient?? Serious question?

Boomers do this all the time to downplay vaccine harms and US food being poisoned. “I [did thing] and I turned out fine.” Meanwhile they’re on a cocktail of pharma drugs and getting rapidly worse each year.

I’m 62. In some of the best shape of my life. Some of us have been awake a LONG time, not buying what the mainstream is selling. And I’ve been around long enough to see the patterns that got a lot of people in a very precarious place.

I pride myself on being 60+ years old, with; no vax, never sick, no alcohol, no sweets, active, no prescriptions, super healthy diet. Most of my friends have all kinds of issues. Not me.

I’ve been in this fitness game for over 27 yrs. I got started as life happened. Went from fit to fat. People ask “what’s ya diet.” I don’t. I eat real whole foods. And I pay attn to how foods affect my body and adapt. In my 60s, fatty-fish & chicken rule.

I have lived cleanly as possible since the 70s. I don’t use any meds and I am 70, college weight, good BP, AIC. And I don’t use drugs, ETOH, Benzos, SSRIs. I walk, exercise, meditate and foster gratitude and joy. And I am mostly immune to psyops and live well. Discipline and gratitude go a long way toward health.

You can make your regular trips to the boomer pharmacy. Or you can take your walks in the fresh air and sunshine. And you can shovel frankenfood into your mouth every day. Or you can choose whole foods that haven’t been bastardized with ingredients you can’t pronounce. Junk you surely wouldn’t put in your body if you could see what it is and what it does.

Elgielene went through a health coach course a few years ago. And the doctor who presented repeated a message of how your health can improve at any age and at any stage. But you have to decide where you’ll put your money. In the boomer pharmacy? Or in good food and better choices?

And the best choice you can make is to trust your Maker. Keep in mind:

No one deserves your healing Lord.
But you deserve our praise.
Your great name and your Word
Will lift us up and fill our days,
If we will look to you for strength
And courage to declare
The love and Truth about You
Found in Jeremiah’s prayer.

(from my song Jeremiah’s Prayer)

© 2018

Once you see the benefit, join the growing body of believers who’ve already signed up for the FunderFlash Journal. And I’ll send you daily flashes of light so we can stay focused on faith, hope, and love.

Stay tuned…

The post Boomer pharmacy is not the right legacy appeared first on Tony Funderburk.