We are living in incredibly stressful times. I recently watched a documentary called Heal. I am in awe of the power of the mind-body connection. Hello Fresh link for $80 off- https://bit.ly/37cP8YP-

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Good evening and welcome to my humble podcast abode. I am Cocoa Griot, just a fifty-something who cherishes the opportunity to share info about life, love, and a bundle of other topics. I watched a documentary recently called Heal. It explored the power of our mind's influence on our bodies. It was astonishing to watch the stories of people who used their minds to heal their bodies. After the program ended, I thought about the word HEAL as an acronym for change in life- health, empowerment, acceptance, and love. I'm not trying to proselytize anyone in terms of health and wellness. I made changes this year, and I'm so glad I did. There are many factors that encouraged me to really embrace getting and staying healthy.

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Did you guys know I used to own my own gym? I used to work out several times a day, and then life happened. I got to the point that if any of my former gym members saw me, I would hide. I decided that is no way to live. I had to take accountability for my poor choices and not loving or honoring myself enough to take care of myself. I really got frustrated when my butt had his own zip code. I mean somebody actually wanted to put a post office on my left cheek. So every day, well, Monday through Friday, I'm up at the crack of dawn and walking. This time does not just help my body physically, it's a great time to be out in nature and ease my mind. Walking has many incredible benefits. I just want to share a few under this category of health. Walking serves as a mood enhancer, lowers blood sugar, and strengthens your heart. See in my family, we lost the genetic lottery when it comes to cardiac stuff. So walking is a way that I try to help balance out the negative impact of my genes. It doesn't take a huge commitment to make a difference, just walking 15 minutes a day is better than sitting that same amount of time. Teaming up with a loved one or friend can help with the accountability piece. If you both agree to specific times to walk it is easier to stay on track than if you're just making yourself do it every day. Also, they're often walking clubs in cities, but if there isn't one in your area, how about establishing one? That's a little bit about health, let's transition to empowerment.

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Empowering is one of my favorite all-time words, just the sound of the word generates a positive vibe that really resonates with me. One of the first things I do to empower myself is to surround myself with positive people. There's no underestimating the value of having people in your life that exude joy and positivity. I definitely interact with positive people when my self-esteem has taken a hit. These people always pour something healing into my cup, and I definitely feel better after our interactions. Another way that I empower myself, is with my computer passwords. My passwords are all sentences that are uplifting messages to me. Every time I type one of these passwords, I smile because it reminds me of my own value and worth. In line with the theme of health, practicing self-care is a way to empower yourself. I agree with the person who says self-care is not selfish. When you take the time to make sure that you are good in every way, that is empowering. I also believe it's important to be engaged in work that you love. If you have to show up for work five days a week or however many you go, it's good to have a job you truly enjoy and work that you love doing. For me, that has been a blessing in my life to have a job that feeds my spirit and lets me know that I am doing something to help others. That is incredibly empowering, while we're on this topic of self-care, I want to introduce tonight's exciting sponsor to you.

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Now, on to the A, acceptance. If I told you I didn't struggle with acceptance, I would be disingenuous. There are times when things happen, and I just don't want to accept them. Let me give you a simple example first. I was trying to get a coupon to load on my phone. But somehow, it never would load, I just stood there in the store line, absolutely livid! I kept trying and trying and then it was my turn at the register. I told the clerk," Hey, I'm trying to use this coupon!" and he was like, "Ma'am, you passed the printed ones on the way in, just go grab one". I was dumbstruck for a second. I thought about how hard I was trying to do something, when there was already a solution, in my face, but I couldn't accept it because I just knew I had to do it a certain way. Turns out, the 40% coupon that was already printed was way better than the 30% coupon that I couldn't get the load on my phone.

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Accepting what is instead of what should be is never easy. I should have been able to use the 30% coupon, but it didn't work. Let me tell you a deeper example of when it comes to my life and acceptance for a very long time, I struggled with accepting the fact that my husband had passed away. I spent months, well to be eight months to be exact, just shopping. I needed something to fill the hole and the void inside of me. When I stopped at the end of the eight months, I had to accept the fact he was gone and he was not coming back. I couldn't buy enough things to stack between here and heaven to go to where he was. I had to accept what is instead of what should be. I think this is part of some of the resistance of people right now in terms of dealing with COVID-19. People think we should be able to do certain things, but the reality is we cannot. We won't be able to do those things until everybody gets on board with following safety protocols. Acceptance can open the gateway to happiness. Because you're not continually bumping your head against the wall trying to do something that just isn't going to work.

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Lastly, I want to talk about love. You can look at that in terms of loving others, or you can look at it in terms of loving yourself. I tend to do both. Now, I think about what are examples of me loving myself how am I showing that? Also, I think about how do I show love to my children, siblings, friends, and co-workers? When you lead with love, it will be the signature for everything you do and say. I cannot stress enough the importance of the tonic benefits of love, versus the toxic detriment of hate. When you make the effort and take the time to love, you benefit in the end. There are so many people in this world in need of love. Taking the time to send that text, make that call, or write that email could brighten someone else's day. You can have a bright day in the end as well.

Thank you for listening this evening. As always, I wish you good health, good fortune, and a good night! Cocoa Griot out!