December Newsletter Article...

Grow, or You will Shrink…
By Lanny Keithley

Life can throw many things at you. What was reality yesterday does not exist today. In fact, today may be a completely new reality for you from all of your past. Traumatic events and medical procedures are the most common life changing events, but there are many other things that can change your life forever, on a moment’s notice. Since you are reading this article, you have probably been through some of these life changing events and are dealing with their effects.

Things that you were capable of being able to do yesterday may be gone forever. Friends and/or family members may be gone. Some of the things that made up your perception of what you are may no longer be possible to do. All of these things will happen to you many times during your life. The bottom line is that there is no status quo in reality. Reality only exists for a moment and is replaced with the next moment of reality and so on as long as you live. Every moment is different and based on the last moment. The next moment will be based on what is happening right now.

Every day you wake up really is the beginning of the rest of your life. And, if viewed and dealt with as such, can make your life much more enjoyable for you and all those around you, which brings us to the subject of this article…

Whatever you are today is the total of all the stuff you have learned and experienced in your life. And, that will be true tomorrow and for every new day you live. You only have one viable option to take in proceeding with your life. That is to seek out knowledge and learn from experience - to grow. Any other path will only lead to a degradation of all that you consider life to be. It may linger for some time, or be quick, but it will happen. There is no such thing as just staying the same.

The other side of growing is dealing with “reality” and being able to accept it for what it is – Reality. The dictionary defines reality as – “actual being or existence, as opposed to an imaginary, idealized or false nature”. When you are not accepting and/or living your “reality”, you can expend vast amounts of energy that, instead of helping your growth, will only accelerate your decline. What you were in the past, whether real or imagined, does not exist now - and there is no way you can make it, or will it, to exist now. You are what you are right now .

I think most folks can agree with most of what I am saying as being true. But, with those that have significant problems with dealing with reality, there are areas of their life that they just cannot accept and are the root cause of their problems with it.

Billions of dollars are spent each year searching for regained youth and trying to stop the progression of aging. And, for most of us, we will look back on this moment that we hate now, sometime in the future, as being a very good time in our lives.

Since the beginning of time, people from most cultures have searched for the “Fountain of Youth” to stop the ravages of age from taking its toll on our bodies. The “to keep us young and to never grow old” sales pitch will be used until the solution is finally found or technologically developed. Until then, not accepting your reality is a much bigger problem. Besides all the costs and effort involved in this search, the biggest problem with this lack of acceptance with reality is in what it does to your life.

While remembering the past is positive and good, using it to define and limit your current life is very unhealthy. The past is the past and as such, is history. No matter how good or bad it was, it will never exist again. You cannot grow and experience new things if you spend all your time thinking of the past. Preoccupation on the past can also build walls inside that can limit your thought processes in the future – keeping you boxed into your non-existent past.

On the other hand, it is good to use your past as a basis for growth, as that experience is very valuable in knowing what did or didn’t work for you before. If you don’t let go of old constraints and walls you built up in the past, you will have to re-experience old efforts to learn their values to you again.

It is widely known that many of the diseases and afflictions that are considered to be “old” age related can be limited or stopped by continuing to be active and keep doing things we consider to be “young” oriented. In recent articles, I have been offering techniques to help keep you younger and more active.

First, I presented meditation as a tool that will keep your mind and thought processes active. I would recommend that, in addition to the meditation, you pickup habits and games that require mental challenges. Whether that is playing cards, working on puzzles, or any number of activities that require creative thought. This will also help in every daily task you do.

Then, last month, I recommended yoga as a way you could keep your physical body in shape and regain many abilities and capabilities you perceive as youthful. Yoga is a great exercise system that everybody can do at their pace and level, and grow with it as their bodies change.

Both of these recommendations have worked for me and many others. But, there are many other mental and physical exercise and growth systems out there and most of them will work for you if you just do them. The point here is that you need to keep your mind and body active and going, or it will shrink and you will not like the results.

I have been doing the SUDUKU puzzle in the paper every day for a couple of years now. It is challenging to me and I like them. The other day I found a little electronic SUDUKU game at Wal-Mart and I got it. I keep it in my jacket pocket and anytime I now have some spare time, waiting for something or whatever, I pull out the little game and start playing it. It keeps me active and also really helps to chew up all the time I have to wait for this or that. That little game works for me. Your task is finding something that works for you…

Consider new ideas and concepts that will help you to grow and expand. Involve your friends and family if possible to keep up your interaction with others. Every day of your future is what you make of it – Are you Growing or are you Shrinking?

Thanksgiving and Black Friday...

Thanksgiving was great. We only had two guests coming, but Pam did her full Thanksgiving meal deal and it was great as usual. This year we had a Tur-Duc-Hen instead of a regular turkey. We purchased it already built. It is a boneless stuffed chicken inside of a boneless stuffed duck, inside of a boneless stuffed turkey and all sewed up to look like a regular turkey. Well, it was a little 'flatter' than a regular turkey as it came in a box and was sort of box shaped, but was very good. Here is a picture of the Box it came in...




It was very easy to carve. You just start at the neck end and cut down the middle of the breast and then do lateral cuts every 1" or so all the way down since there are no bones. Here is a picture of it after our meal was sliced out of it...



Our guests were Pam's sister Roberta and her friend Dawn. She said she brought Dawn so she wouldn't have to do any dishes because that was Dawn's job... A great time was had by all. We ended up all over stuffed like the Turkey. Our Gravy dispenser was as well, as you can see below...




So, after we got that all cleaned up and gave our guests a box full of leftovers to take to their families or pets, we pretty much rested for the next big event of the holiday weekend - Black Friday...

We got all the ads in the Thursday paper for all the great Black Friday sales and I went through them all and made up a list of all the stores, items and sales times. Pam was too worn out from all the cooking to get into it too much and left it up to me. The biggest sale was Best Buys. They open their doors at 6am, but start handing out tickets for their really hot items at 3am. So, Pam set the alarm for 2:15am and we got up and were there at Best Buys about 2:30am... The plan went so well, until we saw the line of 'crazier than us' folks that wrapped around the building with tents and sleeping bags and all. I later found out they had been there since 3pm on Thanksgiving day. O, yeah, the temp at 2:30am was 26degrees...

So, we went back home depressed and tired as the sales really didn't start until 6am and went back to sleep with a new alarm set. It went off at 5:30am and I was up. Pam told me to go for it and gave me approval, but decided that she wasn't that crazy - again...

I went to Best Buys and the store was packed. By then the temp had dropped to 18 degrees. There were lines that wrapped around the store. I picked up a few little items that were left and got into the back of the line. I started to talk to people and had all the tickets for the really good items and had been there for days. This one couple had pretty much everything. I told them I really wanted one of the E-machines Desktop system, with flat panel monitor and Cannon do-all printer that was on sale for $199. They had two of them and this guy in back of them said he would give them $50 for the ticket if he had it. I said I would give them $50 for it and pulled out a $50. They took it and I was very happy. Then, as I was going down the line at about 2 steps every 10 minutes, I saw another paper for this special $99 Kodak camera and digital frame laying there that someone had abandoned. I asked around and nobody claimed it so I picked it up also. Then, as the line went on, the girl in front of me, who had a Sony Laptop ticket, but really wanted a e-machines desktop, offered the folks in back of me $150 for their other e-machines ticket and they took it. Then, she had this sony laptop ticket which she didn't want anymore and gave it to me. This is a really nice full featured laptop that usually sells for $700-$900, for $399... These were the three items that I had wanted in the first place, so I was a really happy camper.

Anyway, I got them all and was out of there by 8:30am. That is how long this line too to check out... I then went to Home Depot to get some special tools, Sportsman's to get my annual supply of 2 for 1 socks, and Target for more toys and sale items. The Jeep was full and I was worn out. It was a very successful Black Friday again this year here in DaHo...

Awaiting Winter...

The weather is continuing to get colder and I am still not 'ready' for it. Last winter seemed to last forever and I am not looking forward to going through that again so soon. We haven't seen any snow yet, but there seems to be a series of storms coming through that will resolve that problem sooner or later - probably sooner...

I went fishing at a new spot with a new fishing buddy, Dennis. He has an older little boat with an outboard jet motor that is pretty scary looking but runs pretty good. I always wear my life vest and after two short trips, it seems ok, but I am not too good with boats since becoming a Lary. Anyway, we went to Auger Falls, which is a mile or so up from Scotts Access where I bank fish a lot. He drove the boat up from a few miles down the river and picked me up at Scotts as I didn't feel comfortable going through the tougher parts of the river down stream. There is a big round 'hole' there that is about 150 yards around and had a depth of about 95 feet. We had lots of bites but caught only one nice 6 foot Sturgeon. He actually caught it, but got tired bringing it in and I finished the job. He said that they usually will catch 4-6 fish a day there. I caught 2 bait stealing squaw fish, er Pike Minnows as they are now called. They are not minnows or have anything to do with a Pike but 'Squaw' is not a PC acceptable word anymore... We ended up using one of them for bait which had some justice to it, but didn't work...

I want to go back there. It was one of the nicest places I have been to for Sturgeon fishing and I think has real possibilies. The only real problem is that you have to boat into it. It is suppose to become a city park next year, but it is still a hike down the cliffs once you get there via land.

Pool is going well, sorta. I am usually wining 3 of my 4 games a match and have a number of table runs, but as always it could be better. Now that the weather is turning colder, I will be spending much more time practising pool than fishing so it should get better real soon.

The new Cat, Felix, is growing and doing well. He is really wearing out Cali, our older female cat, by attacking her and chasing her all over the place. Without claws, they are just playing, but you can only have sooo much fun... Felix is just so active when he is awake. He still loves to sleep with us, which we love, but still thinks everybody should be up playing with him when it gets light in the morning - Grumble, grumble...

Soon, in the next week or so, I am going to focus on cleaning and redoing the garage that has been reduced to a pile of stuff over the hetic summer fishing season. It isn't that big of a deal and should only take a few days to get it all squared away again.

Next week is Turkey Day and the always exciting Black Friday early morning sales, which I have been going to the past couple of years. They usually start about 4am and there are usually some amazing deals so I will be out there doing them again, I am sure.

Well, that is about all that is fit to print here in DaHo...

Columbia River 2 - Me ZERO...

I have been mentally healing and trying to figure out some 'cute' stuff to say about the Columbia River fishing trip that I was so bragging about last week. I thought I had it all down this time after being skunked on my first fishing trip up there earlier in the year. I was expecting to bring home lots of Sturgeon meat from medium sized fish you can keep up there and pics and stories of catching some really big ones. Well, that didn't happen at all. In fact, nobody was catching large fish except for this seal, but he was cheating...

This time we were fishing below the Bonneville Dam, about 50 miles from Portland, which was much prettier than the other place we fished up river - as you can see by the picture below...



If you look real hard, you can see a orange ball in the water by each of the boats in the picture. That is part of this special anchor system that must be used up there. It allows the boat to remove itself from the anchor, leaving it there and take off to get out of the way of these giant barges and ships that go up and down the river. Little boats fish all over the place and when one of these big ships/barges is coming though, it figures out its path and it is up the to the little boats to get out of the way or get ran over. When that happens, the little boats just release their connection to the anchor ball and get out of the way until the river is clear again and then they go back and reattach to their anchor line. Below is one of the barges that we had to move for...


The fishing really sucked - again. Our guide could not be held accountable for this mess though. Nobody was catching fish while we were there. The week before, everybody was catching fish and from what I hear they are all catching fish again now. I guess the fish were just taking a holiday from being caught for the time we were there - Grumble, Grumble. Here is a picture of Don with the largest fish caught on the trip. I caught 2 that were two feet or less, which were the smallest Sturgeon I have ever seen...



The boat was great as was the nice little town of Stevenson WA we stayed in. The only negative was the hotel which was run by a 'foreign' family and not maintained well at all. That and my room neighbors were full vans of young male 'foreign' workers that partied all night.

I don't think I have been more bummed about a trip result ever in my life. Its a big commitment in time and effort to do a trip like that and to get skunked again was painful, to say the least.

It was very nice to get home to Pam and the cats, who missed me and helped to lick my wounds. Life is good here in DaHo...

November Newsletter Article...

Hatha Yoga
By Lanny Keithley

Last month's article addressed Meditation as a tool to help make your mind function better. This month's article will discuss a tool to do the same thing to your body - Hatha Yoga.

Yoga has been around for over 3,000 years. It was developed by the Sages and Wise Men of ancient India and passed down from generation to generation, by converts, until writing came into existence. Yoga is a means by which to obtain control of one's latent powers. The word actually means to "yoke" - a means of uniting the individual spirit with the Universal Spirit. As with Meditation, Yoga is not a religion, but is used by many to increase their spiritual awareness, if that is their path.

There are hundreds of types of Yoga that cover every aspect of life. This article will focus on Hatha Yoga - the Yoga designed to keep the physical body in its best possible condition as it was originally designed, what they now call DNA. It will not give you muscles that you weren't intended to have, make you skinnier than you should be, or do anything that isn't part of your individual physical body 'plan', no matter how much of it you do.

Unlike any other exercise system, you do the same exercises, exactly the same way, to lose or gain weight, or develop any part of your body. Yoga has been called "the perfect exercise system" as it makes your body perfect. It can be practiced by anybody - age and physical condition are not barriers. Each person can benefit from Yoga by doing the exercises that they are physically able to do. Yoga will not cause overexertion, when done properly, in even the very old or ill.

Most of the asanas, the Yogic term for an exercise, involves stretching muscles. When muscles are stretched too far, pain is felt. All of the Yoga asanas are done slowly, which allows the person to stop at the point of pain. All other exercise systems involve fast and violent movements, which do not allow for the person to stop soon enough. By the time the person feels the pain, the damage has usually already been done. Pain is the body's way to tell you when to stop. Yoga teaches you to be aware of your body and all its functions, including pain.

Many of the commercially available Yoga classes have taken the concept and incorporated other Western exercise techniques to make them more appealing to their clients. They have added high temperatures, fast 'fat burning' speed, and many other ideas that are totally against the teachings, and basic understanding, of Yoga.

There are numerous modern exercise systems designed to force the development of muscles, and even specific muscle groups, as if that is what makes up a 'perfect' body. Others try to force reduction of weight and control the body's fat content. All of these systems do not necessarily result in a healthier body, as is commonly assumed, for health is a state when all the organs function perfectly under the intelligent control of the mind.

Yoga will develop muscles and will control your weight, but only as dictated by your individual body structure. In addition to all the 'normal' things a good exercise system is suppose to accomplish, Yoga produces perfect and compatible functioning of all the body's organs - which is the key to having good health.

When any of the organs in the body stop working properly, the person doesn't feel as young as they did. I think we can all attest to that. Throughout time man has sought the fountain of youth. Everybody wants to remain as young as they can, but most of the 'remedies' to solve this dilemma only resolve some of the symptoms - at best.

Yoga helps to reverse the aging process by restoring the proper functioning of all the body's organs. After medical 'adjustments', some medications may also be needed to replace the organ's original functions, but this can all work with Yoga.

One of the almost unique aspects of Yoga is its focus on the endocrine gland system of the body. This system is what makes all other bodily functions possible and controls growth, weight, size, metabolism, energy, health, sexual power and even disposition. Many of the asanas focus on the feeding and health of the endocrine glands, which in turn promotes the realization of the body's adherence to its individual DNA plan.

I have talked to people that have watched someone do Hatha Yoga and thought the exercises were 'weird' looking compared to traditional types of exercises, and they are different. But, that 'bent over back twist' they might view as odd, is really force feeding blood to an endocrine gland that can have body wide implications to one's current and future overall health.

Many people say that they find it hard to do without a class or group. I guess, everybody has their own way, but I have found it much easier to do it on my own. Either way, I would highly recommend doing a little reading first.

When I first got into Yoga, I read about 50 books on it, as was my ilk back then, and found one to be the best one for a general understanding of the subject as well as a training manual. If you would like to learn more about Hatha Yoga, I would highly recommend you read "Yoga, Youth and Reincarnation", by Jess Stearn. It's a paperback by Bantam Books and was first published in 1965. Please don't get hung up on the title. It is an easy reading book of his experience in learning Yoga and gives a good background of understanding for interested people. It provides a good training section in the back that discusses each asana: its concept, its values and benefits, and how to do it. There are also lists of asanas to do, in proper order, and will give you a good understanding of what it is and what to expect.

The way I learned was to select a list of asanas I felt was right for me, from the number that are listed in the book. I would then get ready to do the Yoga and look up my next asana in the book and read all about it. I would then do the asana, with all the details I had read fresh in my mind. If I had any questions or thoughts about it, I would reread the passage on it in the book to help my understanding of it and go on to the next. In a short while, I was reading the book only from time to time for a general refresher.

Whether I read about it first or not, I still envision what I am about to do in mind, then visualize the details as I am doing it, and afterward, in feeling all the benefits. It does not really matter how well a person is able to perform the asanas in the beginning, because the full benefits of doing them will be realized according to each person's body structure.

If you elect to go the class route, reading the book will give you a good understanding and can help you select an appropriate class. You don't want to do Hot Yoga or any of the rapid paced ones that are readily available today. Either way you go, you should have a good understanding of what you are doing and its benefits. And, as with any growth activity, your mind should be educated and involved. Since there are no rapid movements in Yoga, the only thing that you need to add is a good cardio-vascular exercise for the heart.

I have been doing Hatha Yoga for years and it has been a wonderful asset to my health. Now, after becoming a Lary, I cannot do all the asanas I use to, or at least do them in the same way, but the benefits are still as good as they always were. My weight is maintained appropriately without significant 'management' on my part, and I am as healthy as is possible with all the medical 'fun' my body has enjoyed. With the help of Yoga, I have been able to regain a large portion of my mobility from the effects of the radical neck dissection surgery. My thyroid gland has now been replaced with medications and that has worked well. So, even we Larys can realize great and wonderful benefits from doing Hatha Yoga.