I recently wrote a reflection paper for one of my classes. I intended to write the paper on the movie The Secret, but the ideas in The Secret, combined with current events and books I’ve read, stimulated me to write a paper about the power of choice, especially in healing. This blog draws directly from that paper.

The Secret is both a book and a movie that explains the law of attraction. This law states that we attract what we think about and/or feel. Two lines from the movie are: “thoughts become things” and “feeling creates the future”. Assuming that reality is influenced by our thoughts and feelings, it is important to identify, request, and visualize what we want to happen, rather than dwell on fears, worries, and what we don’t want. To put the law of attraction into practice, we must “ask, believe, and receive”. The Secret works in every arena: financial, intellectual, relational, spiritual, and physical. The Secret and the law of attraction are all about choice; we choose what we want through our feelings. Choice is the most powerful tool in existence because it is the one power that everyone possesses and that can never be taken away from anyone.

During first semester, I read Power vs. Force by David Hawkins, which focuses on the idea that everything (and everyone) is connected to and therefore a vast collective knowledge is accessible to everyone. The book provides a guide to tapping into it via kinesiologic testing. However, there is also much discussion in this book about the difference between power and force, which I found fascinating. Force is an attempt to control what cannot be controlled. Power actually arises from within and is not applied to people or things, but instead attracts them or creates them. There are abundant examples of both force and power in the news and our lives every day. For instance, the current issue of whether torture or human rights violations are valid tools of interrogation. In this case, interrogators use force to gain valuable information that belongs to prisoners. The problem with this is that the prisoners, despite having all other rights and powers removed, still retain the power of choice. In this situation, the prisoners actually possess power, illuminated by the lengths to which interrogators will go to trying to overcome it.

More recently, I read Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. The major theme of this book is also choice. The prime movers of the world respond to the exploitation of their creative and productive power by choosing to remove themselves from mainstream society. Despite attempts to force them into cooperation, the power of choice cannot be taken away from them and it cannot be overcome.

Healing is intimately connected with the power of choice. Despite economic status, state of health, available resources, or intelligence, the law of attraction is a tool accessible to everyone, all the time. We must determine our own destiny, rather than rely on others (doctors, medications, family, friends, job, etc.) for happiness and health. This is not as easy as it sounds. The law of attraction is common sense, really, but actually becoming skilled in its use takes awareness, practice, and consistency. Apart from our outlook, attitude, or self-image, thoughts and feelings also manifest in vocabulary, speech, posture, daydreams, worry, fear, choices, and every other area of life. In order to change these manifestations, we must also become more self aware and practice a new way of being.

The corollary of the power of choice is the power of acceptance. While we have unlimited choice to control ourselves, there are many forces in the world that cannot be controlled. In the realm of health, this is especially important because perfect physical health may not be possible in all cases. To achieve true (holistic) health, we must learn the live by the Serenity Prayer, most associated with Alcoholics Anonymous: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

I just realized that this month is my five year anniversary with the Blood Type Diet! I did have a “false start” at the diet in summer 2001, but April 1st, 2002 was the first day I truly committed to this lifestyle and I’ve been in hooked ever since.

Living right for my type has changed my life immensely… I have avoided the need for anti-depressants, which, given my heredity and prior emotional lifestyle, is no small feat. I have fallen in love with the many miracles of my body and learned that I am beautiful. I am tapped into a seemingly endless well of energy and passion that makes every day a pleasure. The BTD was the first step on a new career and life path which allows me to reach my greatest potential and help others. Finally, my eyes were opened to a world of knowledge and ideas beyond the BTD that have stimulated and transformed me.

I look better, I feel better, and I do better.

Beta carotene is a great nutrient. It is the precursor to vitamin A, which is important for so many things, mainly immune function, reproductive health, skin health, and night vision. However, vitamin A (a fat soluble vitamin) can build in the liver and be toxic in excessive amounts. Beta carotene, however, is not toxic, at least when taken as food.

Beta carotene is an antioxidant with cancer protective effects. Interestingly, though, beta carotene supplementation has been found to increase the risk of colorectal and lung cancer in smokers, whereas food sources of beta carotene do not (yet another reason to choose foods over pills).

Read more about beta carotene at the World’s Healthiest Foods website

So why am I writing about beta carotene? I LOVE carrots. Love them. When I found out I was a non-secretor (and therefore carrots became beneficial for me) I was thrilled! When I first started BTD, I ate only a few carrots each day. Now I usually eat over a cup of carrots per day, going through about two pounds each week. They make the perfect effort-free snack that can be taken anywhere and eaten anytime without refrigeration.

A couple of years ago a friend at work joked that my palms are orange-tinted because I eat so many carrots. I thought he was joking, but gradually came to realize that other people’s palms are not the same colour as mine! The rest of my skin is pale pink, but my palms and soles of my feet definitely have an orange cast to them… This condition is called carotenodermia and results from deposition of extra beta carotene in the skin – the body is extremely efficient and does not want to waste nutrients. Luckily, this is harmless!

However, I decided to do an experiment. Two weeks ago I ate the last of my carrots and didn’t buy anymore. I had some at a friend’s house later that week, but since then haven’t eaten any at all. I’m still eating all my other regular veggies (kale, red peppers, broccoli, celery, sweet potatoes), which also have beta carotene in them, but not carrots. Today I noticed that my hands are distinctly less orange!

I miss my carrots, so I’ll probably go back to eating them, but maybe in lower amounts. I think I like them more than I mind the orange palms…

Five fast fig facts:

1. Although considered a fruit, the fig is actually a flower that is inverted into itself. The seeds are drupes, or the real fruit.

2. Figs contain a proteolytic enzyme that is considered an aid to digestion and is used by the pharmaceutical industry.

3. Psoalens, a chemical found in figs, has been used for thousands of years to treat skin pigmentation diseases. Psoralens also promotes tanning in the sun.

4. Figs have many nutritional benefits. They are higher in fiber than any other common fruit or vegetable. A quarter-cup serving provides 5 grams of fiber, which is 20% of the RDV. Figs are a good source of potassium, a mineral that helps to control blood pressure. They are also a fruit source of calcium (79 milligrams per 8oz serving).

5. Figs have an opening, called the "ostiole" or "eye," which is not connected to the tree, but which helps the fruit's development by increasing its communication with the environment.

According to Typebase 4, dried figs are beneficial for all types except B secretors.

For years I have heard other people rave about dried figs, but I never tried them because, honestly, they don’t look very appetizing. They are brown, shrivelled, and ugly. But, they are so tasty! Now I am addicted. Yesterday I received my order of five pounds of beautiful figs! I buy my figs through a co-op group at school which orders them from this website.

For more information about figs, check out:

World’s Healthiest Foods

I am efficient. I like routine. I like to plan things and track things. I like consistency and accuracy. I have three planets in Virgo to explain all this… Most of all, I like to possess information – that one comes from my ascendant in Scorpio!

I am an information collector. For example, I know the birth signs or even exact birth dates of most people I have come into contact with, including people on the BTD forums that I’ve never met! I even know this stuff about many celebrities that interest me. This is literally hundreds (maybe thousands) of people! Somehow, it enters my brain and I remember forever. I am an information collector on myself too. I keep receipts, I track my income and spending (good little business student), I track my menstrual cycle, I track my exercise, I track my health history, I even track the prices of groceries I buy so I can remember what the best price is. This combination of information gathering (and remembering) and tracking has made me a good student and highly efficient. I can’t even count how many people have told me that I am the most efficient person they know. OK, enough bragging…

One of the (many) things I track is what I eat every day. Not the exact foods, but the grouping (veggies, fruit, water, etc) so that I can monitor how I am doing using the BTD portion/frequency guidelines. Years ago when I was still learning the BTD and trying to resolve several health issues, this was very helpful to me. Because I was accountable for what I was eating, I made better choices. I noticed trends (like overeating nuts, which I still do!) that I could then try to change. In 2004 I noticed that although I never had potatoes in the house, I was still eating at least one serving per week (usually more) at restaurants. This surprised me, so I decided to experiment by resolving to cut out potatoes in 2005. Doing this convinced me that potatoes actually are an avoid for me and once I stopped eating them, I didn’t really want them anymore. I have also used this information to increase my vegetable intake, again with great benefits. In the nearly five years since I started the BTD, I have accomplished most of my health goals, which I had never thought possible previously.

However, after many years of tracking this information, I feel that it may be time to take a break. I am really good at following the BTD now and maybe I don’t need the accountability anymore? I am very busy and have so little time that I am looking for things to cut out. I am also on a quest to become less “regimented” as one of my roommates calls me. I live to a standard that is simply not attainable by most people around me, which has caused me frustration most of my life. For many years now I have been learning that I need not be in control of as many things as I try to be. I don’t need to know everything (but, oh, how I want to!) and I can relax my observation of the world around me and still be OK. I will always be this way to some degree, but I’ve made major changes to my life and outlook along these lines and have learned so much from doing so.

Therefore, starting tomorrow (mid-month even!), no more tracking food. This makes me a bit sad, since this is part of my daily routine now and I derive some satisfaction from being able to “give myself credit” for making healthy choices everyday. But I think I can continue to do that without the little pat on the back. Wish me luck!