“Don’t swim like goldfish, you might die.”

Swimming upstream can get tiring.  I remember owning several goldfish in my life.  Goldfish were content to just float.  I don’t remember them trying to paddle too much with their little baby fins.  I don’t know what would have happened to my goldfish if I put them in a rushing, gushing river with rocks and snakes and all the craziness.  It would have not been pretty.  The goldfish would have been swept away into oblivion.

Unfortunately, my longest living goldfish (2 years!) died in a tragic bowel cleaning gone wrong:  toxic chemicals or “suds” remaining in the bowel led to an overdose of the “suds.”  Classic goldfish mistake.  To make matters worse, it was my aunt and uncle and cousins who were babysitting my goldfish while my family was on vacation that killed the poor unsuspecting goldfish.  They didn’t understand the importance of this goldfish or the significance of this goldfish living for so long. 

I have few regrets in my life.  But the goldfish, this may be one of them.  I should’ve taken the goldfish with me on my vacation, but alas, I trusted someone else without any emotional attachment to the fish. 

Classic mistake #2. 

Moving on.  I like to swim against stream.  It is fun.  It is difficult.  It can make me super angry at times and it can make me exhilarated at times as well.  Depends on the day, depends on the moment.

I wonder which fish are the best at swimming upstream.  Sharks, whales, snakes (are they considered fish in rivers?   Probably not), craw fish, oysters, lobsters, lizards, porcupines (how did they get in the water?), shrimp (bottom-feeders, probably didn’t make it upstream), salmon (wait, what are they doing there?  Oh yeah, they are eating GMOed corn and being farm-raised, awesome.), etc.etc…

I doubt that the salmon being fed GMOed corn swim that well in general.  They probably just get so fat that they start to float and look like balloon fish, extremely large floating goldfish with a pale pinkish frown all over their skin. 

It is interesting.  I would like to interview our animals, fish, and land to find out how they feel about the recent developments in America (the last 50 years or so).  I can imagine the corn-fed salmon crying hysterically, lamenting about the move from salt water to water with no salt and corn floating everywhere.  It must be strange.  Or maybe they don't think, so it doesn’t matter (we should involve PETA in this conversation). 

Well, we think so it could matter to us.  If we learn to swim upstream in a challenging country to be healthy, perhaps the tide could change.  It is possible.  Or we could continue with little pockets of health, fighting to survive the industrialization of a country and a food industry. 

One thing that disturbed me this week may or may not disturb you.  But at least let’s think.  I was having a conversation with a person whose brother-in-law has cancer and has been given by the doctor 19 months to live, with the current medications that have been prescribed.  I recommended some natural remedies, food and whole food supplements.  When I got back to the individual about her brother-in-law’s thoughts, she told me that he was scared to try anything new or to deviate from the doctor’s instructions.  I was dumbfounded. 

How could this even be possible that this is where we have gotten in our beliefs and thought processes about health in America?  People are actually more scared to eat food in food form or to eat food in blended up food form than they are to pop synthetic, man-made, prescription drugs (that kills over 100,000 people per year with properly prescribed medications, not overdoses).

I am still dumbfounded.  The guy (who is young, probably 40’s or 50’s) would rather follow his doctor’s instructions after his doctor told him he probably would still die in 19 months following the protocol that was given, than a “risk-taking” protocol of food and whole food supplements (that may I add, has never ever killed anyone or never actually could kill anyone because it is food).

This is super challenging for me as a Nutritional Therapist.  Because I am scared for our country, for the millions of people who are simply doing what there doctor says and not exploring every possible option out there and not pursuing health through lifestyle changes, diet, minimizing stress, whole foods supplements, loving people, living for a higher purpose, and finding time to soak in the sun.

Simple things that can make a big difference in the quality and quantity of our lives.

Another crazy and disturbing thing that happened this week:  I saw a sign for an assisted living center for elderly people 55+…since when has the elderly population become 55+??  And who decided this?  55 years of age should be the prime of someone’s life, where they are in the prime of their career and flourishing!!!!  Not retiring and dying in an assisted living facility (remember the cultures that we discussed where it is normal to live well into 100 years of age with no medications and no health aliments to speak of?  It is possible!!). 

Let’s stop floating like goldfish that usually live less than 1 year (my fish was the only exception that I know to this rule).  Instead, let’s learn to swim upstream and figure out the things that we need to do to move counter-culturally so that we can live to our potential of quality and quantity!

We can do it!