Mum's The Word

What A Beautiful Reminder Of Two People I Loved So Much. In A Much Earlier Blog I Explained About The Mum's. For Those Who Missed Reading It Let Me Briefly Explain How They Came About.
At A Family Reunion I was Presented With A Mum In Memory Of My Sister Who Passed Away On July 4th, 2010. We Brought Them Home And Bobby Asked If He Could Plant Them In The Front Yard. I Told Him He Could But Warned Him They May Not Survive. Even Though We See Many Mum's Being Sold In The Fall Months, The Actual Planting Of Mum's Are Suppose To Be In The Spring. After He Planted Them He Told Me He Put His Memory Stone He Got At Brenda's Funeral Next To The Mum's He Planted. He Grinned And Told Me They Will Be Back In The Spring Time.
Bobby Didn't Live To See Spring Time. He Passed Away On December 29th 2010. I Had Covered The Mums With Plenty Of Leaves To Protect Them From Winters Brutal Temperatures. I Uncovered Them In March. They Were Wilted And Obviously Dead. Of Course I Was Disappointed But Knew The Chance We Took By Planting Them In The Fall Months. A Couple Weeks Later While Mowing I Seen A Few Leaves On A Stem Very Close To The Ground Where The Mums Were Planted. I Decided To Keep An Eye On Them To See If It Was Indeed The Mum Or Just A Weed. As The Weeks Passed It Got Larger. By Mid Summer I Realized It Had Survived The Winter And I Would Soon Have A Reminder Of My Sister Brenda. She Loved Plants Anyway, So Maybe It Had A Little Help From Heaven.
The Reunion Came Around Again. I Was Presented Another Potted Mum In Memory Of Bobby. To Be Honest About It I Decided To Not Attend Any More Reunions But I Suspected To Be Presented A Mum In Remembrance Of Bobby. Some May Consider It Selfish. I Wanted Another Potted Mum To Plant Next To His Aunt Brenda Whom He Loved Very Much. She Was Considered His Favorite Aunt. I Got That Mum And Decided To Plant It Right Beside Brenda's Mum. Knowing It Too May Not Survive The Winter, But I Wanted To Do It For Bobby. The Photo At The Beginning Of The Blog Was A Photo I Took Yesterday. The Right Side Of This Mum Was Originally Brenda's. Oh Incidently When I Planted Bobby's Mum I Found The Memory Stone He Planted Next To Her Mum. I Asked My Mother For A Memory Stone That Was Given Away At Bobby's Funeral. I Won't Give Them Up. I Always Carry A Memory Stone Of Both Brenda And Bobby And I Always Will. I Suspect Bobby's Side To Come In Full Bloom In A Matter Of Days Or A Week. When It Does I Will Place It At The Bottom Of This Blog. It Is Something I Will Always Look Forward To Each Year. It's A Love Story That Continues Through Death. Brenda Loved Bobby Like The Son She Never Had. I Think It's Quite Appropriate The Two Mums Became One. Oh How I Miss Them Both........

Did you know that every minute you walk can extend your life by 1.5 to 2 minutes? In addition, many studies show that people who walk regularly live longer, weigh less, have lower blood pressure, and enjoy better overall health than non-walkers.

Ready to lace on your shoes? If you want to add to the amount of walking you do, just clip on a pedometer. That simple action actually increases your physical activity by over 2100 steps per day, a review that pooled data from 26 studies found.

Here’s a look at ten benefits of walking.

Walking Increases Your Lifespan

Walking more than an hour a day improves life expectancy significantly, a 2011 study showed. The researchers looked at 27,738 participants between the ages of 40 and 79 over a 13-year period. Surprisingly, their lifetime medical costs did not increase—even though they lived longer.

“An increase in walking time at the population level would bring about a tremendous change in people’s health and medical cost,” the study authors wrote.

Walking Wards Off Diabetes

Just thirty minutes of walking a day can prevent diseases such as type 2 diabetes, a 2002 study looking at both overweight and average weight men and women in a population at high risk for the disease showed.

If you already have diabetes, walking is helpful for you, too. A mile or more daily cuts your risk of death from all causes in half, according to a 2007 study.

Walking Keeps Your Mind Sharp

Walking 72 blocks a week (around six to nine miles) helps increase grey matter, which in turn lowers the risk of suffering from cognitive impairment—or trouble with concentration, memory and thought, according to a study which looked at 299 seniors over a nine-year period.

Furthermore, walking five miles per week can provide some protection to the memory and learning areas of the brains of those already suffering from Alzheimer’s disease or mild cognitive impairment, and lead to a slower decline in memory loss.

Common Symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease

Walking Helps Lower Blood Pressure

Walking just 30 minutes a day, three to five days a week—even when the 30 minutes are broken into three ten-minute increments—has been found to significantly lower blood pressure.

Walking is Great for Bone Health

Putting one foot in front of the other for about a mile a day led to improved bone density in post-menopausal women, and slowed the rate of bone loss from the legs, according to a 1994 study. “It takes walkers four to seven years longer to reach the point of very low bone density, study leader Dr. Krall told the New York Times.

Walking Cuts the Risk of Stroke

Walking about 12.5 miles a week or more cut the risk of stroke in half, according to a study looking at over 11,000 Harvard University alumni with an average age of 58.

Walking Improves Your Mood

If you’re feeling down in the dumps, walking is a quick and easy solution. Just thirty minutes on a treadmill reduces feelings of tension and depression, according to research published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. In fact, the study found that walking lifted moods more quickly than anti-depressants did (and with fewer side effects).

And the more people walk, the better their mood and energy, says California State University Long Beach professor Robert Thayer, based on a study looking at 37 study participants over a 20-day period.

Walking Torches Calories

Just 20 minutes of walking a day will burn 7 pounds a year. The effects are even more dramatic when you add in some dietary changes as well.

23 Diet Plans Reviewed: Do They Work?

Walking Improves Insomnia

Having trouble sleeping at night? Try taking a brisk 45-minute walk in the morning five days a week, and your sleep may improve significantly, according to research from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, which looked at women from the age of 50-74. (Walking in the evening, however, sometimes has the opposite effect—so keep an eye on when you’re exercising and what your sleep patterns are.)

Walking is Good for the Heart

Women who took brisk walks for three or more hours per week reduced their risk of heart disease by 30-40 percent, according to an analysis of over 72,000 women aged 40-65, who were enrolled in the prospective Nurses’ Health Study. As I reported recently, heart attacks kill more US women than men annually. However, the benefits of walking aren’t limited to one gender. A different study showed that walking can cut the risk of coronary heart disease in half for men between the ages of 71 and 93.

The Big Picture

How Many Of Us Has Said Things We Later Regret? I'm Sure We Are All Guilty Of This A Time Or Two. In A Perfect World We All Say And Do Everything That Is Right.
In The End Does It Matter If Somebody Said Something That May Have Offended You? Either The Tone They Used Or Maybe The Way They Said It. Somewhere Down The Way That Light On Top Of Your Head Will Light Up And You Just May Get It. Hopefully Before It's Too Late.
Yes I Am Pointing My Finger At The Ones Who Are Reading This. However In The Meantime Three Fingers Are Pointing Right Back At Myself. Sometimes We Don't See Ourselves As Others See Us.
There Have Been Times I Have Reached My Boiling Point. However, In The End Does It Really Matter?
Looking At The Bigger Picture Is It Worth All The Grief By Acknowledging Your Feelings Were Hurt? We Are Not Living In A Perfect World And Not Everything In It Will Be Perfect. As We Age We Are Suppose To Get Wiser. To A Certain Degree I Would Say I Have Reached My Years I Have Grown Wiser. However There Are Other Times I Questioned Myself And Must Admit I Need Some Fine Tuning On Certain Aspects Of My Life.
No Better Time To Give Yourself A Good Swift Kick In The Butt.