January passed by and it barely feels like winter has begun.  Now comes Feb., the shortest month that typically feels the longest. Will we finally get the harsh weather that was predicted or will the jet stream keep it all away? All I know is that I better start preparing my March newsletter now. I do have an extra day as there are 29 days this month...

If you’ve recently gotten a flurry of spam e-mails from my address, I’m sorry. I can assure you that they’re not coming from my computer.  I disconnect my computer from the Internet when I’m not actually using the Internet. The offending e-mails are typically sent out in the middle of the night.  So it appears that my address book was hacked from either my BlackBerry or one of the social networks, i.e. Facebook or LinkedIn. This bothers me greatly because I believe so strongly in privacy rights and have to adhere to higher standards as a healthcare worker. I’ve tried contacting my Internet Service Provider and my cell phone company. Both point fingers at the other and say the solution is to change my e-mail address. I’ve been using my business e-mail address for over 11 years now, so that’s not an option I’m comfortable with. Besides, you’d still get spam from that address anyway. Most of you get this newsletter from me once a month. Others get a weekly e-mail on Monday Mornings regarding any open appointments available that week. There are just 5 of you that receive an occasional joke from me.  Other than responding to e-mails I receive, I simply don’t send out many e-mails with the exception of a Saturday appointment reminder or a follow-up on an appointment. When I send to a group of people your name is always blocked by placing it in the BCC line. So here are a few ways to know if the e-mail you’ve received is really from me:  

It’s a reply to a message you sent me – I’m better at answering e-mails than answering the phone.  If you send me an e-mail I Will Respond To It. So I do suggest you put something on your subject line. 

The subject line will make sense – I don’t send out e-mails with subject lines that are nonsense. They won’t be blank and they won’t consist of just numbers.

There won’t be links for any products/services – If I’m going to make that rare recommendation I do so here, in my newsletter, for the entire world to see. The only other time I’ll send you a link is in response to your own question.

It will have a signature line from me – Both my phone e-mail and my computer e-mails are set up with signature lines that include my name, Greenwich Healing Hands and my phone number. Unless you’re one of the 5 I mentioned above, you’ll always have my signature line on an e-mail to you.

I hope this helps.  I know I get some spam e-mails from some of you, but I can usually tell they’re junk by looking at the subject line. I also know it’s not your fault. I’m considering dropping out of Facebook. I don’t like the way they’re going with posting personal histories.  I’ll never knowingly allow LinkedIn to access my contact information again. Once again, I’m sorry if you’ve gotten spam from my address.

Everyone has good intentions in January. We’ll start new diet and/or exercise programs, we’ll make promises to break a bad habit and take better care of ourselves. But as February rolls around, our motivation begins to lag and we can easily fall prey to our old habits. So how can you stay motivated and keep up the good work?

I like to start by looking back and seeing that I’ve made progress. One way to do this is to keep a chart or diary. It helps to write things down. It’s easy to fall back on negative thoughts and habits, but harder when you see the positive changes on paper. If you’re trying to lose weight, just weigh yourself once a week and do it consistently at the same time of day. Write down the number so you can visualize your progress. If you made a promise to get yourself to the gym more often, mark your calendar with a big red dot for each day you get to the gym so you can see it staring you in the face each morning. If you made yourself a promise to take better care of yourself and get a massage more often, do the same thing. You’ll notice the changes when you actually do something positive more often. I love it when clients come in and say “I really don’t hurt anywhere today”. Look at the positives rather than focusing on the negatives and what you consider to be flaws in your plans. Yes there are times when it may seem like 2 steps forward and 1 step back. But the point is that you keep getting another step forward. That’s where the change comes in.  Seeing change keeps you motivated.

Make goals that are realistic and obtainable.  Break down a large goal into smaller components.  Say you really want to lose 100 lbs.  Now that's daunting to anyone and not realistic in the short term. So break it down into 10 lb segments.  Every time you lose 10 lbs, pause and give yourself congratulations for sticking to it. 

Keep careful track of your time. We can’t save time and store it away. There are only 24 hrs each day and we need time for sleep and recovery. We all have a lot to do every day. Do you really need to waste time tweeting about the latte you just picked up at Starbucks? E-mails and Facebook updates all take away time. You can’t get that time back, so use your time wisely.

Dr. Denis Waitley say, “Think of the order in your day, instead of the routine.
Order is not sameness, neatness or everything exactly in its place. Order is not taking on more than you can manage, without still being able to do what you can really choose. Order is the opposite of complication; it’s simplification.”  So do what you can to simplify your life.  You’ll be glad you did.

There was recently a study by the University of Ulster and University of Limerick that showed that using icing as a treatment could be detrimental to performance if an athlete returned to their activity immediately after icing. The newspaper article didn’t give the full details, as usual. So I looked into it. The study was done on athletes who were icing during their games.  The study showed the detrimental effects last less than 15 min. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t use icing after an activity. It only showed that using ice while still involved in the activity could have some negative effects during a competition. Icing after an activity is great for killing pain and relieving inflammation. 

Last month I made a recommendation for My Pillow. I received a lot of comments, both good and bad, regarding the pillows.  I didn’t say you HAVE to buy anything. I said my wife and I really enjoy our sleep so much more these days. If you purchased any pillows, I seriously hope you enjoy them as much as we do. If you don’t like them, they have a 60 day money back guarantee. Use it. By the way, the letter I sent to the inventor was posted on his website, along with my full name and company name. I’ve been getting e-mails from people across the US and Canada asking me if I’d buy those pillows again. Some of them just want to see if I’m a real person. Well I burned my hand last week and I can assure you that it hurt, so I must be real. And yes, I’d buy the pillows again, but hopefully not for 10 years when the warranty on the current pillows runs out. 

I was lucky in January. I only had to climb up on the roof once to clear the snow away from the skylights and drain.  I didn’t get trapped up there either, so this is a good year so far...

I’ll be working in my Old Saybrook office on Sunday Feb. 5th.  As I write this, one spot is still available.

Though I didn’t want to use a photo of the kids this month, I did want to share this one with you. Tyler has a habit of hanging out under the kitchen table with his chin on the support bars of Carol’s chair. He’s been doing that since we got him in July.
Allie & Tyler want to wish you all a Happy Valentine’s Day.

Tyler had a rough month. He got neutered in mid-January. He’s recovered well but then nothing seems to slow him down.

Did you hear that the Bronx Zoo is allowing you to name a hissing cockroach after your beloved for Valentine's Day this year? They say it's because cockroaches, like diamonds, are forever... I think that naming a hissing cockroach as a gift might just be grounds for a divorce in most states. 

Hurricane Irene continues to wreck havoc. We arrived in Old Saybrook this weekend to find that our retaining wall had partially collapsed, nearly dropping our patio into the marsh. The summer storm had brought the tides about 4 ft up the wall, something that never happens. In some places that wall is 8 ft tall. It’s going to be a major repair. Guess I’ll be working on extra clients for the next few months...

Here are my favorite quotes for this month:

“We're so engaged in doing things to achieve purposes of outer value that we forget that the inner value, the rapture that is associated with being alive, is what it's all about.” -- Joseph Campbell

“If you’re too busy to enjoy life, you’re too busy.” -- Jeff Davidson

“Never let the fear of striking out get in your way.” -- Babe Ruth

 “Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly and applying the wrong remedies.” -- Groucho Marx

For additional information or to schedule an appointment, please call (203) 253-5576 and ask for Bob Jensen.  You may also email me: healinghands@snet.net