Denial aint just a river in Egypt . . . . . .

I remember telling the nurse in my hospital room, just before they were going to release me, 'nurse, I'm going to change things in my life so I don't ever have to end up back here again'. She smiled as she went about her business. Then I asked, 'does everyone say that when they are in here'? I still can hear her answer as she turned to me and said, 'no, I have never actually heard any patient say that in all my years as a nurse'.

I was stunned. Surely nobody likes to be in a hospital bed or emergency room, so what gives? The only thing I could come up with was it was perhaps a form of denial for people. For whatever reasons they had. And all those reasons are valid. Who wants to look into the mirror and realize that most of the time, it is ourselves that created the health crisis in the first place? That's the last thing McDonald's wants you to be thinking, either, by the way. But somebody has to say something when an American is dying every 30 seconds from heart disease. How long can we afford to stick our head in the sand?

But change is happening. Organic foods are growing nationwide. Regular supermarkets often have a small section of organic produce now! Farmer's markets are popping up all over the country. People are realizing that organic food taste better and has no chemicals in it.

At a recent doctor lecture I attended on healthy lifestyle and eating, I was saddened to see so many obese people who were clearly in physical trouble. Some on canes. And others walking with great difficulty. And by no means were all of them considered 'old'. But during the break, I saw the ray of sunshine in the midst of a stormy horizon. Virtually every person who was eating had something healthy. I saw apples, bananas, oranges, salads and even stuff brought from home!

Hope springs eternal! And it's never too late to make a new start. And it starts with the food of the earth that will nourish your body, not something processed that will hurt you and make you sick.

Ranman lunch picture of the day: corn tortillas, yellow heirloom tomatoes, lettuce, cilantro, brown rice, black beans and oregano. All organic.