Humor Heals Like Good Medicine

I was sitting in a meeting one evening with other parents like me.  We were all alumni from ICEC, an organization providing various therapies to our special needs children.  The meetings were always moderated by a psychologist who helped us work through our grieving, healing, and milestones.  Thank goodness because we needed all the mental help we could summon.  You know that saying “It takes a village?”  It does. It takes a village of psychologists and pharmacists to get through such staggering times like that.

Nevertheless,  it was quite a liberating group and it was the first time that I realized I could just be myself with no hang-ups, nothing to prove, and nothing to be egotistical about.  It was an amazing time of self awareness, all the while dealing with the most traumatic moments of my life.  You would think that dealing with all the hurt, pain and disappointment of having a child with special needs would only make me feel helpless, unhappy, guilty, and disappointed, but it was the opposite.  I felt relief that Derek is who he is without any need to explain anything.  

So this one mom started talking about her kids, how she had one child with ADHD, one with autism and one with some other undiagnosed syndrome.  And I thought I had a full house.  She went on to explain that her son was born missing several fingers.  She was pouring out her heart to all of us when I suddenly burst into inappropriate laughter.  It was awful.  I felt ashamed at first because everyone was looking at me like I was nuts.  They disapproved of my “bad behavior.”  I couldn’t stop, I was a runaway train at that point.  Tears started rolling down my face.  People started giggling as they watched me explode with the freedom that comes with pure laughter.  The laughter was like rockets jetting out of my mouth.  Finally I had to stop and explain myself.  It took me several times to try and talk, I couldn’t stop the laughing.  Finally, I said,  “I’m so sorry, but I’m laughing because if I would have known you earlier, we could have given you four fingers!  My son was born withextra fingers and toes  –12 of each –we had spares!”  The room exploded in laughter.  The other parents laughed like they’ve never laughed before.  All the sadness, grief and disappointment was washed away for several minutes as we passed around a box of tissue to dab the tears of laughter streaming down our faces.  It was much needed relief.

The absurdity of that sentence that came out of my mouth was appreciated by this crowd.  This is the same crowd that can laugh at things you would never think someone should laugh at.  It’s like me saying, “Oh, your kid’s room is a mess?  Let my “borderline autistic” son come over. He’ll line up all the toys and have the place spotless.”  Only parents of special needs children and the friends and family that they are close too can feel comfortable laughing at that kind of darkness.  It’s such a sense of freedom that I can’t explain when you can be safe enough to laugh at such serious circumstances.  No one is offended, no one makes excuses for it, it is just us “being” with what we have been given.  Our adopted four-year-old son was born addicted to meth. His birth mother used   drugs while she was pregnant with him.  We recently ran with the kids in a children’s 1K race at a local festival and we joked that David would win the race hands down.  We rarely see him walk. His preferred method of traveling is running.  He runs down the street, in the house, wherever we go.  We laughed that he sized up the other kids running the race, bysaying, “You think you can beat me?  I don’t think so, I’m powered by Meth.  I got this thing in the bag.”

As bad as that sounds, you have to realize, it’s the adverse circumstances that our kids have sometimes that make you stop and think, “I have to laugh or I’ll cry.”  We choose laughter, and sometimes it may not sound politically correct to other people, but I have nothing to prove to other people anymore.  And being PC takes too much work. I’m exhausted already.

It’s like my 95 year old grandmother (“Gaga”) said to me after she observed a particularly hectic day we were having in my house, “Honey, you need to drink more.”  Boy, Gaga had a way with humor and that’s what keeps me going – humor.  If I can make someone laugh for a minute when they are in the fight of their life dealing with such traumatic events, you better believe I’m going for the funny bone.  We have to just keep going and I think that’s what laughter does. It just helps us keep moving through the day. Before you know it, you’ve made it through a few minutes, and then you’ve made it through a few more.  Suddenly you realize you’ve made it through a day with less tears than you had the day before and you’re still alive and you’re still functioning.  I think that’s what this is all about – finding a way to deal with what you’ve been given and still being a functional, happy and positive human being.


Kelly Seymour, is a mother of three, one of whom has Jouberts syndrome.  Kelly on occasion submits her insightful and warming reflections to the Children’s RARE Disease Network
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How to Use Tea for Weight Loss

Tea can be an excellent tool in your battle to retrograde weight. Green tea especially will support you drop those player pounds. Researchers in Japan have discovered that people who drink about 5 cups of green tea a period course burn up an player 60 to 80 calories cod to a chemical process from the caffeine it contains. This doesn’t seem like much, but it can give you the move that you need to begin losing weight. Combine that with the comely flourishing foods and regular exercise, and you’ll definitely see results.

  1. Step 1

Understand that, other than the nutrition and goodness of the tea itself, you are also consuming a cup of water. Since it takes about 20 transactions for your brain to discern that your stomach is full, drink a cup of tea 20 to 30 transactions before you eat each meal. Be aware, however, that drinking blistering tea or coffee with caffeine can inhibit the iron absorption from the food you are eating.

  1. Step 2

Use a cup of tea as a eat once between breakfast and lunch, and once between lunch and dinner. It will support you feel fuller and satisfy whatever cravings.

  1. Step 3

Drink a blistering cup of tea with meals. Some people tend to gulp algid beverages such as milk, soda and water with their meals. Having a blistering cup of tea will encourage inferior liquefied while your eating, which is much better for digestion. People tend to sip kinda than gulp with a blistering drink.

  1. Step 4

Walk every period and combine angle meats such as dud and chicken, and lots of fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables into your diet.

Author is an expert in weight losswith more than 21 years of experience in helping people to reduce their weight. He is working for a multi million dollar company that has set records in the weight loss industry.To reduce weight in a fun and easy way please visit Lose 20 – Losing weight may save your life.

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/supplements-and-vitamins-articles/how-to-use-tea-for-weight-loss-1481374.html

Acai Juice – Benefitting With Acai

Many of us have heard of the benefits of the Acai Berry, what it can do for our health and how it can help in our diet. One thing many people overlook, or underestimate with Acai is drinking it as an Acai Juice, this is especially tasty when you freeze it, or mix the Acai juice with crushed ice. Considering this when you decide to incorporate Acai into your diet or lifestyle can bring even more benefits.

The first thing you will notice with Acai juice is the bitty texture of the juice, this is because when you pulp the Acai you are not wasting any part of it, and therefore receiving the full goodness of the Acai in the juice. There are a variety of ways that you can ensure that you receive the full goodness and benefits of Acai, but this by far is the tastiest.

You can also mix the Acai with another fruit such as Guarana, this is traditional in Brazil and is extremely popular and full of flavor and rich in vitamins. Appreciating that Guarana may not be easy to access in some countries you could try creating alternatives with your Acai juice, such as banana, wheat or mango – my personal choice when not with guarana is Acai juice with banana, full of vitamins and with a great taste.

Combining Acai into your daily diet will soon show results, and having the option to consume it in different ways makes it even better, if you wanted to you could have one Acai juice a day, around 300 to 400 ml and mix it daily with something different. A tasty and very healthy diet, and it is also very useful for weight loss plans too.

Appreciating that Acai is not always so readily available this is where the internet comes in to it´s own. Packed with resources and avenues to access Acai, and in many cases to even purchase Acai juice directly without even having to blend or pulp it. My advice here would be to look around a little before you decide to buy anywhere, as there are a huge amount of sites offering Acai products.

Knowing the benefits of Acai and the great taste of Acai juice will enrich your diet and life, and I would urge anyone to give it a try, it´s a unique flavor that is almost impossible to dislike. When I first arrived in Brazil I was introduced to Acai, and Acai juice became a part of my daily diet very quickly.

No matter what part of the world you happen to be in you can have the same, seek a great source for your Acai products and Acai Juice, and start with this great Acai Product Review Site.

Mark Grey,
mark@markfreelance.com

Article Source:http://www.articlesbase.com/supplements-and-vitamins-articles/acai-juice-benefitting-with-acai-1384109.html

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