BLOG 144—What do You Know About Mushrooms?

With my words, I hope to throw some oblique light upon your life.
I want to inspire you to see life in a different and/or better way.

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*** The freedom I am experiencing in my travels is a marvelous thing!
*** Going where I want, when I want, and seeing wonderful places and people.
*** I will have places to show you and tales to tell.
*** I will have secrets to unfold and good news!

I WANT TO TAKE YOU AWAY WITH ME
ON WONDERFUL ADVENTURES!

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INTRO TO THIS WEEK >>

The cold is here, we are keeping the fireplace going throughout the day; nice to have this. You may remember, I liked having my fires when I was out traveling and in a campground. Now I get to have a fire all the time, I like that.

Something that likes the cold in the area, we are seeing many different kinds of mushrooms. These fungi are delicious, deadly, magical, intoxicating, and mysterious. I’ve never eaten a mushroom from the wilderness, always store-bought for me.

Mushrooms are a low-calorie and rich source of fiber, antioxidants, and protein. They may also mitigate the risk of developing grave health conditions, such as Alzheimer’s, heart disease, diabetes, or cancer. They’re also great sources of Selenium.

Throughout history, mushrooms have gained many varying notorieties, considered both food and foe. Today it is easy for us to find safe, tasty mushrooms at the grocery store, as I have, but it wasn’t always the case. Over the years reckless mushroom hunters have thrown caution to the wind with sometimes fatal results, giving food-safe mushrooms a bad reputation.

It’s resulted in two very different categories of people and a mycophile (those who love mushrooms) and a mycophobe (those who fear mushrooms); which are you? Then, there are folks like me, who fall somewhere between adoration and trepidation. I enjoy mushrooms, but I’ve heard enough horror stories about them to be cautious; you won’t see me hunting for wild mushrooms and eating without knowing if they’re safe.

A great deal of the mystery surrounding mushrooms stems from their association with poisonings and accidental deaths. On the other hand, mushrooms have also been praised for their medicinal properties, thanks to their heavy dose of protein, potassium and polyacrylamide, which contribute to your healthy immune function.

Of course, you can’t have a talk about mushrooms without touching on the intoxicating variety. Though we may associate hallucinogenic mushrooms with the culture of the 1960s, archaeological evidence suggests that these types of mushrooms served religious and spiritual purposes many years earlier.

It wasn’t long before the rest of the world began to cherish mushrooms. By the late 19th century, Americans were cooking up mushrooms in their own kitchens. Prior to this time, mushrooms were mainly reserved for use in condiments. Inspired by the French, Americans took mushrooms to a whole new level of devotion.

For centuries relatively little was known about mushrooms, and for a long time the Eastern half of the world was considered mostly mycophilic, and the West mycophobic. This all changed when the French introduced mushrooms into their haute cuisine.

Mind-altering mushrooms were used in religious ceremonies in ancient Mexico and by hippies of the 60s. Roman Catholic priests also observed and recorded the consumption of hallucinogenic mushrooms by native peoples after the conquest of Mexico in 1519.

Psychedelic mushrooms are an interesting group. Although certain cultures have been known to use the hallucinogenic properties of some mushrooms for centuries, psilocybin was first isolated in 1958 by Dr. Albert Hofmann, who also discovered lysergic acid diethylamide (which is LSD.)

Magic mushrooms are often prepared by drying and are eaten by being mixed into food and/or drinks, although some people eat freshly picked magic mushrooms.

I will have to study eatable mushrooms now and have a bite.

How about you?

Charles Dickens once wrote:
“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of it for others.”
I hope my words do that for you.

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WORDS TO INSPIRE YOU! >>

Inspirational quotes and motivational sayings have an amazing ability to change the way we feel about life and can change our thinking.

This is why I find them so interesting, challenging, and important on our path to joy and happiness and finding ways to inspire ourselves as well as others.

Inspirational quotes and ideas provide us with a quick and timely burst of wisdom to get our focus back, offering the inspiration needed for the day or occasion.

I hope to inspire you with my words.
Words have power.
At any age, you can (and should)
make changes to make your life better.

You see, the way you think and feel about yourself, including your beliefs and expectations about what is possible for you, determines everything that happens in your life. It all derives from your quality of thinking.

When you improve the quality of your thinking,
you change the quality of your life—
sometimes instantly!

Just as positive words can make someone smile, and/or, a well-timed amusing quote can make someone laugh, your own thoughts react to the world in real-time. You have this control!

In fact, you have complete control over only one thing in the universe — your thinking — and that’s where motivational quotes come in!

To keep your motivation, you have to use each day as an opportunity for improvement, to be better, to get a little bit closer to your goals. It might sound like a lot of work—and with your busy schedule—next to impossible. But you can do it!

Self-talk is so important—THINK RIGHT!
Motivational words, yes, they’re just words.
But they’re positive words; they will keep you on track.

Remember, you are only as young as the last time you changed your mind. Keep your thoughts and self-talk fun and productive and always reaching for advancement.

I hope these words I pick do help you.

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BE INSPIRED BY THESE WORDS >>
From my book series, “Beyond Your Potential”

Why have goals?
Goals are good for us because they help us to focus our attention and energy, and we can then act passionately and effectively toward our desired outcome. You don’t want to aim at reaching your goals though. Instead, aim your energy to the path leading to the goal. This is true for career goals, juggling goals, fitness goals, relationship goals, and all other goals you have.

Stay on Course
As long as it is within your control, stay on the path you’ve set for yourself and enjoy your time there. If you were to disregard the path, your entire effort may be weakened. If you don’t in fact enjoy the process of doing what you do, you risk not giving it your all and giving up on the goal. A short-range goal would be one that you want to accomplish in a day or even a week. A long-range goal might take a year, five years, or even a lifetime. We can’t put our goals out in the future and hope to one day work toward them. What we have to do is pull the future to us. Set your goals now and start driving toward them.

Direction
Without a clear goal in mind, we can find it difficult to decide what to do next. Goals should be set for many areas of your life – physical, family, economic, social, spiritual, mental, career and juggling. Without being clear about your goals, you will go only as far in life as what you need to get by. You must go beyond the potential you think you have. Everyone has different dreams and goals. Figure out exactly what yours are, then start mapping out a course to reach them.

People are Here to Help

Remember, people are here to help you. Maintain relationships with positive people who have goals similar to yours. This will help you to reach your goals much sooner. Remember though to judge yourself by your goals and your abilities, not by comparing yourself to other people’s progress or results.

Makes Life Better
Goal setting and self-improvement does not mean that you are dissatisfied with the way you are now. Goal setting is a way of looking to the future and seeing new paths toward success so that you can add to what you currently have. Goal setting is an aggressive way to break out of the ruts and plateaus of life to advance you. It is a plan, a desire, a passion, a mission. Planning like this is a way of getting to know yourself, what you can achieve, and what you really want out of life.

Model Excellence
As I was recovering, I found and modeled other people who had suffered head injuries and later found ways to do well for themself. By modeling, I mean I would do as they would do, act as they do, be on the same track of success. After my recovery, I would still use this technique and would find people whom I respected and admired and I would model them. You see, excellence can be duplicated. Think of people who have already reached the goal that you have in mind and answer the following questions.

1. What did they have to do to reach their goal?
2. What steps did they take?
3. What do you think their frame of mind was?

Get Help Toward Your Goals

If at all possible, talk with people who have achieved the goal that you have in mind. Don’t be afraid to talk to other people – we are here to help each other! I have found that every person that I wanted to talk to about how they met their goals was happy to talk to me about their success. Rightfully so, they were proud of what they had accomplished. When you talk to other people about their successes in life, ask precisely and intelligently how they reached their goals. Ask them what ideas they might have to help you avoid the roadblocks or obstacles they encountered on the way to reaching their goal. This will save you energy and time on your path to reaching the same goal.

WITH THE RIGHT TOOLS, YOU CAN OVERCOME ANYTHING.
At any age, you can make the change and aim your life anew.
Now, it’s time to get out there and do
something incredible that you can rejoice in!

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MY DAILY JOTTINGS >>

11/7—Beth and I went for a walk. When were about ½ kilometer away, our dog Jemma, to our surprise, went walking up on the other side of the street. She found a way to use her nose to open the door. We must be more careful.

11/8-12—Not much to write about this week. My not being on the road can make things seem slow. Yet, each of us is in charge of finding joy and pleasure in our own lives. Even not traveling I am finding joy how I can.

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MY CHALLENGE FOR YOU THIS WEEK >>

As spring is coming, get out there and start planting your garden. If everyone grew edible fruits and vegetables instead of having a lawn, we could easily feed the world. A raised bed garden makes it so you don’t have to bend over and looks nice. Watch this >>

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMk8Mo7pwWY

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NEXT BLOG >>

This upcoming week I will be building a raised bed garden using old pallets that I cut down. I will have photos so you can see. As you might know, I am against the idea of having a lawn. A lawn serves no purpose and, unless you have kids to play on it, the grass is a waste of space.

I plan on building gardens (which take no more time than having a lawn) and pathways around the house. Eventually, I do not want to have any grass growing that is necessary to cut. Right now we don’t even own a lawnmower.

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THIS WEEK, MAKE YOUR LIFE SOMETHING

THAT YOU CAN WRITE ABOUT!