Jillian Michaels Is A Big Loser

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The biggest loser, in my mind, is Jillian Michaels.  Why?  Because she is so immersed in the superficiality of LOOKING fabulous that she says in Women’s Health magazine that she doesn’t want to become a biological mother, because “I can’t handle doing that to my body.”

Yikes!  She can’t handle real life?  What happens as she ages, and the skin is no longer taut over her muscles?  What happens when her metabolism changes with age?  Where will her self esteem be then?

I’m aggravated that an individual who purports to teach people about body image and self esteem would be so negative about the challenge of getting back in shape after childbearing.  I’ve done it.  Millions of women have done it. This is lousy role modeling.  She shouldn’t be coaching others when she is so profoundly fearful of the challenge to her body with motherhood.

Furthermore, she says she’s going to adopt.  Really?  What happens when that kid’s body isn’t perfect?  How is she going to actually mother with her schedule of television shows, DVD shoots, plans for “Losing It With Jillian,” and her own television talk show….AND keeping her body perfect?

We all put our priorities in different places.  Hers is superficial.  I am shocked that this doesn’t topple her media house.  In fact, I think this would be a career killer for someone who is supposed to be an inspiration, primarily to women.  Go figure.

Make Your Life Better in a Moment

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How can your life be better in an instant?

Believe it or not, I have the answer to that question.

Think about something lousy you’re experiencing today.  Frown.

Now, think about something wonderful you’re experiencing today.  Smile!
At any one moment, you get to choose how you’re going to react.
Here’s something to try:

Get together with a friend today, and talk ONLY about things that elevate both your souls and your spirits.  No whining about your lives, no talking smack about other people, no complaining about relatives or politics.  Just say the things that elevate both of you and your collective sense of well-being.

And guess what?  Your life becomes better instantaneously.

His Heart and Mind Are Somewhere Else

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All marriages can hit bumpy patches once in a while.  But one listener didn’t expect a surprise 40 years after the wedding! 

Or watch other videos at youtube.com/DrLaura.

Read transcript here.

Tempest in A Teapot

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An Oregon middle school teacher has publicly denounced the Tea Partiers – a grassroots political organization which opposes many of President Obama’s health and financial concepts and actions – as “a loose affiliation of racists, homophobes and morons” among more offensive names.

The school district placed him on leave, pending the conclusion of an investigation by the school district into whether he used school hours or computers to work on his anti-Tea Party website, and if his political activity was appropriate behavior for a teacher of middle school students.

The teacher had announced his intention to embarrass Tea Partiers by attending their rallies dressed as Adolf Hitler, carrying signs bearing racist, sexist, and anti-gay epithets, and acting as offensively as possible, according to FoxNews.com.

The Oregon Tea Party organization is quoted as saying that the teacher doesn’t need to lose his job.  He just needs to have sensitivity and anger management training.

I think they’re just being politically correct.  He should be fired for sure.

He has the responsibility of teaching and role-modeling the proper behavior for a citizen in a democracy.  Attempting to embarrass and destroy an opposing point of view is not part of the democratic process, in spite of the fact that it seems like the main means of discourse in our society at present.  And it has to stop   somewhere.

He could have had his students do a project, learning about the positions of the Tea Party movement, and to critique them, with pros and cons as they see them (in spite of the fact that most kids their age pretty much just parrot what they learn at home).  Nonetheless, debates and critical essays are what he should be teaching, not “search and destroy.”

I hope he is fired ASAP.   Let that be a lesson!

Quote of the Week

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What is a friend?  A single soul dwelling in two bodies
               – Aristotle

On Being A Good Friend

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I have a very good friend (and I hope she thinks the same of me).  Her name is Sheridan.

We have a kind of magic together:  we have a lot of interests in common and do “day road trips” to bead fairs, fabric stores, yarn shops and such, because we share craft hobbies and help each other with our projects.  The other day, she just showed up when I was on the air to give me some buttons she’d bought for a tote project gift I was working on.  With the buttons came a card which showed an old photo of two women friends on a couch.  Underneath the photo, the caption read:  “A good friend will bail you out of jail.  A GREAT friend is one who sits beside you and says ‘Wow, that was fun!’”

I couldn’t stop laughing when I read that, and while you should not take that literally, it does suggest that friends really get into each other in a special way. Friends want to experience each other’s joys and heartaches as part of bonding with and mending each other.

I have watched Sheridan put herself out for me, stand up for me, and bend over backwards to make me happy.  I am one lucky woman to have such a blessing in my life.  Friends – really good friends – are a rare commodity:  you have to have just the right chemistry, attitude, understanding, forgiveness, openness, kindness, and thoughtfulness.  A good friend brings all that out in you.  A good friend makes you a better person.

I’m sure we’ve irritated each other from time to time, but we’ve never had a fight about it.  Why not?  Because good friends have each other’s best interests at heart and accept each other’s quirks with humor.

The best way to have a good friend is also the best way to have a good  marriage: choose wisely, and treat kindly.

And consider yourself very fortunate if you have someone who resonates with you in this lifetime.

Sheridan, I love ya girl!

The Matter-of-Fact Hero

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Recently, I was walking from my kitchen to my office and passed by my TV, which was tuned to Fox News.  The anchors were promoting an upcoming story that I didn’t stick around long enough to watch, but one which I want to comment on nonetheless.  They showed three pictures from a bank security video camera where a guy (who wasn’t wearing a mask, and who may or may not have been carrying a weapon) was robbing the bank.   Behind him was an older, larger man who had a very relaxed expression on his face – almost as though he wasn’t aware that anything was happening.

The next frame showed the robber turning to leave.  The third frame showed the large man “bear-hugging” this robber from behind – while still maintaining a totally relaxed expression on his face!

The caption underneath proclaimed the bear-hugging guy to be a hero.

Yes, he was.  He caught the bad guy.  But what struck me is that he waited calmly and then just acted – behavior which is very typical of hero-types.  They do what they do without agonizing over it, without mulling over their fears and potential losses.  They simply do the right thing.

Jews for all times call the Christians and their families who risked torture and death in order to rescue Jews during World War II “righteous Gentiles,” and hold them in supreme respect.  I have watched documentaries where righteous Gentiles explain why they did what they did when it was a potential death sentence.  To the one, they all said the same thing:”IT WAS THE RIGHT THING TO DO.”  It’s how they were brought up.

Heroes are so “matter of fact” about their extraordinary actions that they don’t even categorize what they have done as “heroic” and it’s not false modesty.  It’s just that it was, for them, simply the right thing to do.

My Son’s Not Making the Grade

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A mother wonders if she’s pushing her son too hard to get good grades:

Or watch other videos at youtube.com/DrLaura.

Read transcript here.