Everyone seems to be getting acupuncture lately. We've seen movie stars with cupping marks, talking about how its cured their post partum depression and helping with recovery after childbirth. Have you checked it out yet? Do you know what you are missing?

Many people across the globe are using new therapies, Acupuncture, Chinese Herbs and other modalities generally referred to as Traditional Chinese Medicine. TCM treats a huge variety of problems. Read on for how it can help you.



10 Great Things about Acupuncture

Pain Relief

• Acupuncture relieves pain by releasing Endorphins, the bodies "feel good" chemicals.


• Acupuncture can normalize nerve impulses by stimulating the central nervous system with acupuncture needles.

The Immune System

• Evidence indicates that acupuncture can strengthen the body's immune systems and give it a better natural resistance to outside pathogens.


• It increases white blood cell counts.


• In increases Alpha, Beta and Gamma globulins, which can help white blood cells better fight infection and produce more immune antibodies.

Drug Recovery

• Using acupuncture for detox is getting more and more attention these days.


• Acupuncture can help with reducing withdrawal symptoms, decrease cravings, relieve stress and tension and help with insomnia.


• Many clinics through out the USA are using acupuncture detox treatments for drug addiction, alcohol addiction and smoking withdrawal.

Musculoskeletal Disorders

• Acupuncture releases tension in muscles.


• Lymphatic, nervous and circulatory systems are affected by acupuncture, making it effective to treat torn muscles, pain after trauma, sports injuries and more.


• Now days many sport figures use acupuncture to improve training and performance and speed up healing and manage pain.

Allergies

• Acupuncture and Chinese herbs can help with allergies by helping the body react normally to the substances that are causing the problems.


• Chinese herbs can help to lower the excessive immune response of the body to bring relief from common allergies.

Stress

• Acupuncture helps to balance the body and give you energy as well as relax you.


• De-stressing and relaxation can be the best way to prevent serious health problems such as heart disease, cancer, stroke and respiratory problems.

Diseases and Disorder

• Disease happens with theres serious disorder in the body. Regular acupuncture can help the body stay balanced during the onslaught of daily life.


• Acupuncture treatment is varied depending on the nature of the illness and the constitution of the person being treated, this personalized treatment can help the body to heal and prevent such things as bronchitis, asthma, diarrhea, IBS, GERD and high blood pressure... just to name a few.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

• Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is one problem that many physicians find themselves unable to treat. Acupuncture and Chinese herbs can improve the body's immunity and therefore, eliminate this problem.


• Depression and stress is often the cause of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, acupuncture can help to relieve these problems.

Menopause

• Are you looking for alternative methods of working with your menopause? Acupuncture can make the difference!


• Typical symptoms associated with menopause include night sweats, hot flashes, insomnia, mood swings, and heart palpitations. Don't miss out on being able to control these symptoms, acupuncture can help.

PMS and Menstruation

• The emotional and physical discomfort associated with your monthly menstrual cycle can be put back into balance.


• Women's health is one area where Chinese Medicine shines. Research shows that it can help with infertility as well as health challenges surrounding menstruation.

Do any of these problems plague you? Call your acupuncturist today and make an appointment to discuss how they can help. You and your health are important, make the investment today.

Find out more about author Kim Knight, MAcOM, Lac
Photo by Wonderlane

A new trial in the Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine investigates whether transcutaneous electrical stimulation, when applied to acupuncture points in patients after acute stroke, decreases spasticity and/or increases muscle strength more effectively than placebo stimulation and standard rehabilitation.

What does this mean for Stroke survivors? That the ability to move comfortably and have the ability to move their limbs, talk, move and live their lives closer to normal may be able to be affected by regular acupuncture with electrical stimulation.
Find out more about Kim Knight, MAcOM, Lac

In Chinese Medicine, the spleen and stomach are most active in the following times:

Stomach 7-9 am
Spleen 9-11 am

When you wake in the morning, your body's energy is focused and ready to work the stomach which takes in food and in the spleen, which transforms food into nourishment and transports it to the various areas of your body that need it.

It makes sense that between 7 and 9am, you would intake food, so that your body can work from 9 to 11am.

Are you using these times for food intake? If so, what kinds of food are you putting in your body at this time? Perhaps you grab a bagel and cream cheese, perhaps a muffin, perhaps an Egg McMuffin. If you’re lucky, you get a pastry, a hearty breakfast of pancakes and sausage and eggs, or an English fry-up.

Unfortunately, when it comes to being healthy, none of these options is a great way to start your day.

If you are unable to eat well during these times, it means that as you start your day and getting the swing of things at work, your blood-sugar is ready to plummet. The next thing you usually think of is to get anything into your mouth that will raise these levels again. While some berries or nuts would do, many of us end up with a pastry and coffee.

If you eat a healthy breakfast, your body transforms all of those nutrients into energy and this allows you to have a great day, full of energy and being alert.



Now that I have convinced you that EATING breakfast is a good idea, what should you eat?

Most of us think of breakfast as sugar or carbs. Pancakes, waffles, toast, donuts, pastries, scones, bagels, pies, sugar cereals, breakfast bars, muffins and the like. If we move on from the carbs, we then think of things that are too fatty, fried eggs, sausages, bacon, cream cheese on your bagels, cheesy omelets, Egg McMuffins, Sausage McMuffins, hash browns, and the like.

You may think that narrows down your options significantly, but there really are still many options available to you!

Yes, these things take time! You will find that if you manage an extra 15 minutes in your morning to fill yourself up with good food, you will pick that time up later in the day with being more alert and productive.

Some ideas:

• Oatmeal - You can add in flax, almonds and fruit. Stay away from the sugar though, add in honey, molasses or enjoy the fruit flavor!




• Granola - I like any granola that is whole grain, high in fiber and low in sugar. Be careful of pre-sweetened granolas, or ones with too much dried fruit. Fruit is good, eat it fresh and whole.




• Eggs - Eggs sometimes get a bad rap, but they are full of protein and stay with you during the day. Scramble them, make a frittata, by adding in some veggies and bake them. Eat them hard boiled. A hard boiled egg can make a great snack. Enjoy them with some whole grain toast and you have a great breakfast.




• Fresh berries, yogurt, granola. Get low-fat yogurt (not non-fat, as it often has too much sugar) or soy yogurt, cut up some berries or other fruits, add some healthy cereal.




• Grapefruit with whole-wheat toast & almond butter. Add a little sugar on top of the grapefruit, and it’s actually pretty good. The almond butter is healthier than peanut-butter, with lots of good protein to fill you up.




• Fresh fruit salad. Cut up some apples, melons, berries, oranges, pears, bananas, grapes … any or all or whatever your favorite fruits are. Add a little bit of lime or lemon juice. Perfect. Add in a hard boiled egg and you have enough protein to get you through the morning.




• Juice it - Celery, carrots, beets, apples, oranges, pears, ginger... add them all! Add in a good quality protein powder with vitamin supplements and you are good to go! This is an excellent breakfast in the spring and summer.




• Dinner - Don't forget the other foods! Sometimes stir fry is a good breakfast. I have a pumpkin soup recipe that I have modified into a nice breakfast soup with curry, chicken, vanilla and cinnamon. Keeps me going all day! This is especially good in the winter.

Images from 123RF LIMITED

Your Digestive Health



95 million Americans suffer from various digestive disorders. These range from constipation, diarrhea and irritable bowl syndrome to other serious complicated conditions such as acid reflux or GERD, ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.

In fact, over 35 million physician office visits a year are due to gastro-intestinal complaints. With the side-effects that often accompany western medicine and sometimes less-than-desirable results, many patients are turning to acupuncture for help. Reports are confirming that acupuncture and Chinese medicine can offer relief from even the most complex digestive problems.

Chinese Medicine and Diagnosis of Digestive Disorders

Chinese Medicine has been used for digestive disorders as early as 3 AD, where early medical literature suggested specific acupuncture points and herbal formulas for complaints such as rumbing and gurgling in the intestines, abdominal pain and diarrhea.

In Chinese Medical theory, these digestive disorders are primarily attributed to a disharmony in the spleen and stomach. The spleen takes the active role in the transportation and transformation of nutrients and in this way it helps to maintain physical strength. The spleen turns the nutrients you have eaten into usable building blocks and Qi.

The spleen is attributed to the Center of the body, and many schools of Chinese Medicine attribute a healthy spleen to a healthy and well functioning body. By taking into account a persons' constitution and varied symptoms, a treatment plan is designed specifically for the individual to bring their "middle" back into harmony and optimize the proper functioning of the digestive system. A variety of techniques can be used during treatment including acupuncture, herbal medicine, bodywork, lifestyle/dietary recommendations and energetic exercises to restore digestive health.

If you suffer from a digestive disorder, give me a call. I will be able to give you more information about treatment options to get you healthy and symptom free!

Zusanli - "Three Leg Mile"

The old story goes that monks who were walking up to the meditation spots on the mountain would stop often to massage this acupuncture point and it would allow them to walk "Three more miles".

The acupuncture point, Zusanli, also known as Stomach 36 (St 36), is one of the most frequently used of all acupuncture points and is certainly the most intensively studied. The indications for use of this acupuncture point are many, and the claimed benefits are substantial.

Zusanli is a very powerful point for digestive health. This acupuncture point adjusts the qi and blood throughout the body and strengthens the spleen and stomach. It is one of the major supplementation points on the body and has the ability to treat a wide range of conditions.

Current research has found the Zusanli can both increase and decrease movement in the stomach, raise and lower blood pressure and increase or decrease the white blood cell count depending upon whether there are too few or too many white blood cells. Because of its ability to balance and regulate, it is generally considered to be a point that has a beneficial effect on the whole body.

Massaging Zusanli is often an important exercise in Qi Gong and martial arts practices. Regular application of moxibustion (a therapy which involves the burning of specific herbs at acupuncture points) to Zusanli is considered to be a method for gaining longevity. There is an ancient Chinese saying: "Moxa Zusanli and live to be a hundred."

Stomach 36 is located four finger breadths below the kneecap, one finger breadth outside of the shinbone, in the groove. The point is usually tender.

I hope you have enjoyed this journey into stomach disorders. Please drop me an email or give me a call and say hi if you haven't had an appointment in a while, we have a lot to catch up on!

Warmly,


Kimberly A. Knight, Lac, MAcOM

tensegrityhealth.com

There are a lot of folks in the productivity world making a lot of to do about early rising. I've been a natural early riser most of my life, but it wasn't until I was embarking on a study of productivity that I realized I could really use that time to get some things done.


When my son was very young, I started rising at what seemed like an extraordinarily early hour, 5am, so I could have some peace and quiet. This time became some "me time" and I just sat and drank my tea and watched the sunrise. This alone is an excellent reason for getting up early, but if you are wanting to make a bit more out of this time, it can be done.

The problem isn't what to do with our time.

We are all so busy now that any amount of extra time we can find is good. The problem arises when we try and rise early. Its hard.

Steve Pavlina posted about rising early quite some time ago, and as a regular reader of his blog and someone who values being productive, I have to agree. This is one of the number one ways to take control of your life.

So, what can to do to make this much, much easier?

• Don’t make drastic changes. Your body is set to wake up at a certain time. Shocking it into a new state immediately may work for some, but for most of us, starting slowly, by waking just 15-30 minutes earlier than usual can make the difference between success and failure. Get used to this for a few days. Then cut back another 15 minutes. Do this gradually until you get to your goal time.



• Allow yourself to sleep earlier. Your body needs 7-9 hours of sleep per night to process. Your body undergoes an immense amount of activity while you are sleeping, cleaning your blood, oxygenating your system and rebuilding and re-energizing. You do not want to rob your health of the process it needs to stay happy. Try going to bed earlier slowly, just like waking. Once you are waking earlier, you will get tired earlier as well.



• Put your alarm clock far from you bed. If it’s right next to your bed, you’ll shut it off or hit snooze. Never hit snooze. Snoozing is a terrible habit that makes you more tired over the course of the day. Your body needs to wake up once, not multiple times per day. If it’s far from your bed, you have to get up out of bed to shut it off. By then, you’re up. Now you just have to stay up.



• Get out of the bedroom as soon as you shut off the alarm. Don’t allow yourself to rationalize going back to bed. Just force yourself to go out of the room.



• Do not rationalize. If you allow your brain to talk you out of getting up early, you’ll never do it. Don’t make getting back in bed an option. Just get up and get it done. Once you are up and moving, it will feel much better.



• Do allow yourself to sleep in once in a while. Give yourself one day a week to catch up and rest. Enjoy sitting in bed in the morning if that is something you find valuable, and just take it easy. It will be a great reward for all of the productive things you have done with the rest of your week!



• That being said, make waking up early a reward. Yes, it might seem at first that you’re forcing yourself to do something hard, but if you make it pleasurable, soon you will look forward to waking up early. Enjoy a early morning cup of some of the best coffee. Have a great breakfast. Spend some of your time watching the sunrise or meditating. You have time now!



• Take advantage of all that extra time. Don’t wake up an hour or two early just to read your blogs or surf the net. Get a jump start on your day! Lay out a major goal for the day the night before and once you are well fed and ready to go, get to work on it. Use this time to get ahead, take care of yourself and be more healthy, not less.



• Enjoy the sunrise! Pay attention to the colors, the birds and your surroundings.

Now our minds and bodies continue their quest for more sunlight, we've marked the first day of spring. As I took my morning walk today I contemplated my own personal organization system and what I find appeals most to me about it. I have a schedule that stays on time, a to do list that is up to date and keeps me on top of things and a clean and uncluttered living space.

A while back I posted about Simplicity and organization and talked about mental debt and keeping the mind free and open.

While having systems such as to do lists and calendars in place to put the things that come to our minds, the reminders, the constant nag that you have something to do, safely away, I realize that doing that is not enough. We need to have a mind that flows and a mind that seamlessly is integrated into our body, keeping it calm and free of stress. A mind that flows with movement, that can be calm but powerful when need be. It occurred to me that we need to have a "Mind Like Water" state.

A much famous quote from Bruce Lee:


"Empty your mind, be formless. Shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle and it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot it becomes the teapot. Now, water can flow or it can crash. Be water my friend."

The common way of thinking about this is that organizational or productivity system is the path or goal and the Mind Like Water is the destination. Having this fluid organizational system becomes something to attain.

The possession of anything begins in the mind
-Bruce Lee

To obtain anything, we need to possess it, own it and begin the process of integrating it into our minds and bodies.

I believe Bruce is right: possession of a mind like water begins in the mind. It’s not productivity first, mind like water second. It’s the other way around.

Find your calm places, find things to do that encourage peace and calm, rather than anxiety and anger. Empty your mind of the thoughts of busy and do not latch onto actions and interactions that cause unrest and turmoil.

A calm and adaptable body and mind are essential for health. Find yours.

Interesting article ran across my feed this morning, I wanted to share:

Vitamin D May Prevent Colds and Flu

In our world today, everyone seems to be worried about something. We work busy lives and have the economy and worrying what will happen next to consider. While treating my patients and interacting with the students at the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine, where I am a teaching assistant, I am noticing a lot of extra stress happening. Its almost officially spring and the Wood element is beginning to shoot up its energy into our lives. For many of us in Portland, late winter can be a very hard time. The rain never ceases and we have this desire to get out, yet we can't, just yet.


All of this desire to have our energy move 'up and out' but not having an outlet for it, is causing some stress in life.

Without some way of removing this stress from your system, you're placing yourself in danger from a lot of stress-related diseases such as heart problems, hypertension and insomnia.

The Good News

Acupuncture is great at relieving stress and acupuncturists are great at helping you make some small changes in your life to help you manage your stress better!

How does acupuncture help manage the stress? In traditional Chinese medicine, much of the treatments depend on an understanding of the balance in our bodies and its internal organs. The sicknesses we sometimes develop are seen to be caused by imbalances in our lifestyles and environment. Stress is also affected by this imbalance. That is why when there is something wrong with your body, you'd typically have less of an ability to deal with stress. You'd get more irritable and find it really to difficult to relax. By inserting small, thin needles just under the surface of the skin, we can begin to stimulate the acupuncture points that can send signals to your brain to begin the process of releasing its natural relaxers and pain killers into the system. For most people, this can bring an immediate sense of relaxation and well being.

Circulation

Acupuncture also helps by stimulating your circulation. With this improvement, circulation between your organs is improved and therefore your body will cleanse itself of wastes more properly. Your organs also benefit from the oxygen being pumped through your system from your lungs and making its way into every cell in your body, completely, easily and without blockages. This leaves you overall, much healthier and has the added benefit of relieving your stress!

Having an acupuncture session is much like a massage, you settle into a deep state of relaxation while you are at your appointment, but the benefits don't end there! Many patients report sleeping much better not just that night, but most nights between sessions.

The Remedy

Acupuncture and other Chinese medical modalities, including herbal medicine, are practices that help you use your bodies' own ability to manage stress properly. This leaves you not only less stressed out, but much less susceptible to the diseases caused by stress.

If you have been suffering from more stress than usual this winter, give a call and make an appointment. With a few sessions of acupuncture, you could be back on track and ready to go for spring!

Photo credit to http://www.bigfoto.com

It is always great to see Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine in the news! A big congratulations to the Finger Lakes School!

NYCC announces new name for school of AOM

February 18, 2009 — New York Chiropractic College Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs, Michael Mestan, DC, announced that the College has adopted a new name for its school of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (AOM). The school will henceforth be known as the Finger Lakes School of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine of New York Chiropractic College.

NYCC President, Frank J. Nicchi, MS, DC, expressed his gratitude to Mestan and to all members of the naming committee for their generous contribution of time and effort in identifying and exploring a variety of possible names.

Though young, the new AOM school already is showing impressive results. Recent National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine (NCCAOM) test results indicate that Finger Lakes’ students’ scores exceed the national average and show an increasing percentage of students meeting or exceeding the national averages on the portions of the test dealing with Acupuncture with Point Location, Biomedicine, Foundations of Oriental Medicine and Asian Bodywork Therapy.

The Finger Lakes School of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine realized a 100 percent pass rate on four out of five of these exams in 2008, and the pass rate percentage for that exam was 93.75.

Source: New York Chiropractic College, www.nycc.edu

Do you live an organized life? Waking up in the morning, are you clear on what your plans for the day are, where you are going and what needs to be done? Do you set goals, evaluate those goals and then seek to accomplish them? If you don’t do these things, do you have a set way of living that allows you to flow from one day to the other without stress, leaving you room for creativity and freedom to find ways of entertaining yourself?

In our society today, many adults, and tragically, kids as well find themselves lost in their lives when it comes to having a simple, straightforward life. I’d like to address two topics that I believe are important when trying to find ways to make stress less of a part of your life and to begin to take control of what your purpose in life really is.

Organization and Simplicity.

Both of these topics have been high on the list of buzz topics in the last few years. Everyone is into life hacks. In fact, one of my favorite blogs is Lifehacker, a website devoted to giving you easier ways to do things, better ways to live and simpler ways of being productive. There’s a reason these types of blogs are gaining in popularity. We’re all working ourselves to the bone, one job, and two jobs; sometimes three, to keep things running, but I often wonder how smoothly they really are running. We’ve complicated our working lives, our social circles and our health to the point of disease.

First of all, what is organization? My friends, family and colleagues often say I am organized, and one recently asked me, “You know, you are so incredibly organized and you talk about simplifying your life, but it’s never been my experience that being organized is simple, it’s always a mess of complicated things you need to do to make your life WORK.”


Organization really IS quite simple.

• Downsize


• The Home principle


• Mental Debt

Downsize

This is often the hardest part. You have to get rid of everything you do not want, need, or use. Those piles of boxes? They take up a lot of room that you “needed” so you got a bigger apartment. That bigger apartment costs more to keep at a stable temperature, takes more time to clean and keep neat and the sheer amount of things in it keep your mental debt high just thinking of them.

Simplifying your life can reap incredible benefits. A few years ago I began following this Simplicity Checklist. I looked at one thing a week and worked to accomplish that item all week if it applied to me. I’m now down to the bottom of the list and I can honestly say that this checklist alone changed my life in incredible ways. Check it out. If you’ve been wanting to clean up and make your life more manageable, this is it. While you are at it, check out the other great suggestions and productivity tips at Zen Habits

The Home principle

The home principle is very simple. Once you only have the things in your home and life that you need, make sure they have a home in your life. Go into each room and make sure every single item in your house has a place it’s supposed to “live” when not in use. This way, you completely eliminate the hard part of cleaning, “Where am I going to put all of this stuff?” Have a home for your Inbox, which is mail, paper items that come into the house that need to be taken care of, have a home for keys, toothpaste and shoes. Have a home for your extra candles, your watering can, your recycling. If you use items in more than one place, have one in each place. For example, I brush my teeth at night at the sink, so I have toothpaste and a brush there, but I like to brush my teeth in the shower in the morning, so I also have a set there. I have lubricating eye drop in no less than three places in my home. Every action has an item, and every item has a home. Cleaning then becomes easy. Just put everything away where it lives.

Mental debt

This is a huge problem for me. I’m a multi-tasker by nature and used to go on and on to my friends about how I enjoyed doing more than one thing at a time, even before the concept was in common usage. However, doing so requires that I keep everything in my head all at once. To do this, I need space in there. The concept is like freeing up RAM in your computer so that it is more capable to process. If your mind is always over loaded with when your next dentist appointment is, how you are going to organize that next work party and whether or not you want to take that new job, its pros and cons, it won’t have space to process the creative impulses it naturally gets. Worry, rumination, remembering, considering, reminding and daydreaming all take up space in your head and are considered mental debt. The key is to find ways to removing these things from your head, and keeping them somewhere safe, that you trust.

Some ways I use to keep mental debt out of my head

Google Calendar – For keeping track of things such as appointments, schedules, menus (what foods we’ll be eating on what day, also reminds me to take things out of the freezer), my monthly cycles and related reproductive information, ritual schedules and the like. I review my calendar weekly to make sure it is up to date and then never worry about when and where again.

Remember The Milk – Now I am a huge fan of this service. It’s not for everyone, but it is so highly customizable that I have been in to do list love with my “Cow” as I call it since these guys were still in beta. It’s a free service that you can use to set reminders of all types, keep lists, birth day reminders, housecleaning reminders and your to do items split up by lists, categories and priorities. My lists include my yearly goals and are things like:

• Health – Goals and reminders for my health.


• Housework – Simple reminder to clean various rooms on various days. I do one room a day, based on Feng Shui.


• Family and Friends – Reminders to schedule lunches with my son, potluck shared dinners with my closest friends and date nights with my honey.


• Esoteric Studies – I set out a curriculum for myself yearly as to what I want to learn and accomplish and this reminds me what topic I am learning today and to stay on track.


• Tensegrity Health To Do list – My work, insurance reminders, birthday reminders, inventory, scheduling, meetings for lunch with doctors to grow my network, everything.


• Event organizing – I volunteer and organize a lot of events as a part of my duties. This reminds me to make announcements, get volunteers and follow up with people on items.


• Wedding – We’re getting married in May and this has the to do items such as buy wedding rings, make dress and send out announcements.


• Personal To Do – Things such as journaling daily, record my cycles etc are here in daily reminders.


• Volunteering – Other miscellaneous items in regards to my volunteer work. I have other lists I use here as well.


• And many others

My cell phone – I use my phone to remember things when I am away from the computer. I have voice notes, but you can also just send yourself a voice mail. “Remember to put that dinner with David on your calendar when you get home.”, “Remember to schedule that lunch with Joseph”. Etc.

Email – Now I use Gmail, and I love it. Threaded conversations make older email clients seem useless. The spam filters alone mean that I never have to spend time in my head wondering/worrying and figuring out how to get Viagra ads out of my personal space. I consider it a huge part of my healthy lifestyle. It also allows me to keep in touch with my family and keep organized.


Chinese Medicine and Organization
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, all things have correspondences and all things must be in balance for health to occur. Each organ relates to each other organ. All of the systems are interwoven to feed, nurture and control each other.

A lifestyle that balances out the various aspects of your life so they too can feed, nurture and control each other is essential. You must eat nutritious, healthy foods. Exercise and move your body. Have fun; enjoy your friends, your family and your loved ones. Work hard and well.

All of these things are much easier to put into place when your basic needs are well taken care of, balanced and organized. Have a clean living environment in which to do your life’s work and you will find that the space you’ve made will then be able to be filled with all of those things you’ve been putting off, but which your heart has been yearning to do.

Start a new career. Learn a musical instrument. Travel around the world. What is stopping you today? What are you using as excuses?

Look around you now and see if your world view is cluttered and messy. Spend just a few minutes today thinking about ways that you can clear your vision, make room for your real purpose and get to work.