50% Less Calories

Well, here we are. Yet another week has gone by. Does anyone actually know what day it is? What month it is? What season it is?

Mother Nature is continuing to confuse me with her weather because one day it is pushing 80 degrees with sunshine and the next day mis windy with brisk chills that force us to cuddle ourselves with comfy sweatshirts.

Right now, it is 8:50pm, my legs are KILLING me from my 5 mile run around Lancaster, and the grandfather clock in my living room continues to chime letting me know that time is passing as I try to come up with what words to write for you all this week.

And before we get into this week’s post, I will start with the below message that I continue to re-iterate as we live out the 2020 quarantine.

My heart goes out to those who have passed away from this virus. My heart goes out to all of those who are currently suffering and fighting to get well. My heart goes out to everyone who has been directly and indirectly affected by this virus. My heart goes out to all people who are working the front lines to restore health and well-being to the world around us. My heart goes out to all of us who are working to navigate the unknown on the daily with feelings of anxiety and despair.

Well, time to get down to business. Do you have your cup of coffee ready?

Tonight, as I was struggling to figure out what to write, I got the sudden craving for orange juice. I wanted something refreshing along with a dose of Vitamin C because who doesn’t love some extra Vitamin C?!

As I walked to the fridge to pour myself a cold glass of the colorful beverage, I took notice of the label for what was probably the first time. Because who actually reads labels when they are pouring themselves product from the fridge?!

Hopefully, I’m not in the minority on that.

Regardless, the label read the following:

“50% Less Calories. Same Great Taste.”

And that was when it hit me…the blog topic for this week!

And no, it is not in regards to the fact that I LOVE calories and that everything I consume should be 100% calories.

Calories don’t count during quarantine, right?!

Anyhoo, I digress.

These days, it is rare for me to experience a day without any type of negative–whether it is from the news that is being presented to us on the daily, a customer interaction in regards to a slow shipping time, or witnessing verbal abuse between humans. It’s everywhere.

And while our world has definitely come together to support each other in several aspects, there is still a part of me that feels like we have become even more polarized as a society.

It is disheartening.

And what is even more saddening is to see the numbers (and witnessing from social media) the people who are struggling with anxiety and depression.

That is also disheartening.

And I want anyone who may be reading this post (or who might know of someone struggling with these feelings mentioned above) to reach out to me because as Mr. Sunshine I’m happy to provide a listening ear or extra dash of positive energy to hopefully help give you that extra boost.

As Robert Ingersoll once said, “We rise by lifting others.”

We have to remember to continue supporting each other throughout what we are experiencing and continuing to be humble, understanding, and genuine.

But most importantly, we must remember to be HUMAN with each other.

So, what point am I trying to make with this blog post?

It is actually quite simple.

We need to work on 50% less hate and substitute it with 50% more love.

We need to work on 50% less finger pointing and substitute it with 50% more of a listening ear.

We need to work on 50% less fear and substitute it with 50% more faith.

We need to work on 50% less sadness and frowns and substitute with 50% more happiness and smiles.

We need to work on 50% less hurtful thoughts and actions and substitute it with 50% more acts of kindness.

The point I’m trying to make is that we all have areas in our life where we can work on “50% less calories.” And from there, we can try substituting it with an alternative that will still allow us to have the “same great taste.”

Just like the label I read on my refreshing orange juice beverage.

I know that I’ve had several moments of personal defeat and failure of these entities I’ve mentioned above in the last couple of weeks. I’m a work in progress. We all are. No one is perfect and what is beautiful about what we are experiencing right now is that we are all experiencing it together.

So step back today, tomorrow, and the next day to figure out how you personally can do 50% less in your life and substitute it with 50% more to make the world a better place.

Sprinkle sunshine always,

JP!