1. New tradition I’m instilling (or at least trying to)…
I am a BIG fan of tradition. And as life changes, it is important to welcome new traditions… and honor old traditions. Past traditions are lovingly engrained in our memories (Thank you, Huhman family!)… being welcomed with open arms into existing traditions is heartwarming and deeply appreciated (Thank you, Musser and Cordiak families!)… and new traditions bolstering new bonds signifies growth and meaning. This year, I pushed for a family Polar Plunge… where we jump into the (freezing cold) lake behind our house. While we couldn’t time things out to be able to do it on Thanksgiving Day, we did do it TODAY! First… I must be clear that I did not force anyone to do anything. Second… someone will inevitably ask me if it was really cold. YES!!! It was VERY cold. But invigorating. I’m planning on trying to make this a new tradition for our family… every Thanksgiving. See the pic below of me taking the leap. The temperature outside is 33°F. The water temperature in the lake… Uh… super cold!!! (actually, it is 44°F🥶)
2. A word you should know…
There is a word… hormesis… which is defined as “a phenomenon in which a harmful substance gives stimulating and beneficial effects to living organisms when the quantity of the harmful substance is small.” We know that the body, when exposed to things that are adverse, strenuous, and even harmful, gets stronger, more resilient, and is healthier afterward. In regards to the above Friday’s Finding… you might ask WHY??? Would I expose myself (and encourage my family to expose themselves) to freezing cold water. Because I love them and want them to be healthier. Haha! Actually, because even though long-term exposure to cold water can be dangerous, even life-threatening, it is because of the phenomenon of hormesis that short-term exposure has incredible health benefits. See my blog this week (titled “What Doesn’t Kill You”) by clicking here, where I elaborate on the concept of hormesis. You really should understand more about it.
3. Change I am making…
With the increased information that continues to emerge on the damaging effects plastics have on our overall health, we continue to make efforts to reduce our exposure to them. Our most recent revelation was that when we cut on plastic cutting boards, the plastic ends up in our food. A study I just read is what prompted me to take action. In this study, called “Cutting Boards: An Overlooked Source of Microplastics in Human Food,” it was found that “if you use that board daily, researchers estimate that you could ingest around 7 grams to 50 grams of microplastics from a polyethylene chopping board and around 50 grams of microplastics from a polypropylene chopping board. The average red solo cup is around 5 grams.” I also read that it could be linked to the ingestion of 79.4 million microplastics each year. Yikes! So… we are getting rid of our plastic cutting boards and moving to only wood. I’m sharing this because it was something I had not thought about, but makes sense. Every little bit helps! (It’s probably only a matter of time until we find out that the toxins in the wood are not much better, but until then…!?!)
