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Army germ research lab in Md. that was working on Ebola treatment is shut down by CDC
Turn Off the Procrastination Station
“A year from now you may wish you had started today.” ― Karen Lamb
As I was beginning to type this article, a series of thoughts appeared on the movie screen of my mind, “Nah, I don’t feel like doing this. I should be at the gym. Did I remember to call or email whoever I said I would to schedule appointments, meet a deadline, or answer questions? I need to check the dryer to be sure that the latest load of laundry will be dry in case there is anything I want to wear to the office today where I will be in a few hours, sitting with clients whose own mental meanderings resemble mine.”
A dizzying array of thoughts indeed. Each one was cleverly designed to keep me from addressing the issues that I know will arise as I explore the concept of procrastination. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it this way:
Definition of procrastinate
- transitive verb : to put off intentionally and habitually
- intransitive verb : to put off intentionally the doing of something that should be done
I can also hear the sound of Carly Simon singing to the tune of her hit song “Anticipation”, except the words are “Pro-cras-tin-ation… it’s making me late. It’s keeping me wa-ay-ay-ting.” Waiting for what? For the inspiration to write something profound and life-changing? For the discipline to keep typing and not stopping to check emails or the latest social media distraction? Yes, both.
In recent conversations with a few creative people in my life, what became abundantly clear is that it is not just limited to children who don’t feel like doing their homework, so they don’t until the deadline looms over them and they either scramble to complete it or shrug their shoulders and figure that they will just deal with the consequences. It is common for adults to fall into that pattern as well. Some have even shared that they perform better at crunch time, either despite or because of the anxiety it might induce.
One musician who has long been plagued with the thought that he can’t write a song because it may not be good enough for himself or for anyone who may potentially, someday, maybe, down the line, in a distant future happen to listen to it. Most lately, he has added to the mix that he doesn’t want to waste possibly good lyrics on a “bad song.” Our minds can be such tricksters. I encouraged him to write a song about the songwriting process, reminding him that even those who are prolific are sometimes at a loss. One difference between those superstars and him is that they don’t let their own fears stop them from sharing with the world what ideas are swirling about in their brains.
Another is a talented writer, speaker and therapist who keeps saying she wants to write another book. She has several to her name. This one will be more revealing and personal that will provoke emotions that, I imagine, she is not sure she is ready to face. When we chatted about it this morning, she started the conversation referencing it this way, “the book I am supposed to be writing.” I reminded her that it isn’t doing anyone any good in her head and that she needed to get it out there so it would be of benefit to the readers and for herself. She has plenty of support and encouragement from everyone in her life.
Can procrastination be a good thing? University of San Diego professor Frank Partnoy thinks it is. He is the author of Wait: The Art and Science of Delay. In an article called “Why Procrastination is Good For You,” he champions the idea that taking our time, thinking things through, delaying response and refraining from making snap judgments may prevent costly errors.
A fun way to view procrastination comes in the form of this quote from John Perry, author of The Art of Procrastination: A Guide to Effective Dawdling, Lollygagging, and Postponing, who said, “If you go back through history of human culture, and take away every invention that was made by someone who was supposed to be doing something else, I’m willing to bet there wouldn’t be a lot left.”
Can we differentiate between procrastination born of sheer laziness and lack of motivation and careful prioritizing, looking for a more enjoyable, less complex way of accomplishing a task? (Think of Mary Poppins singing Spoonful of Sugar: “In every job that must be done there is an element of fun. You find the fun and snap the job’s a game.”) In my own experience, it is never about lack of motivation, since I often run on the adrenalin of overachievement and would consider myself a performance addict. The term was popularized by Dr. Arthur Ciaramicoli, EdD, PhD, clinical psychologist and author of the book Performance Addiction: The Dangerous New Syndrome and How to Stop It From Ruining Your Life. Although it isn’t found as an official diagnosis in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, it describes a set of behaviors and lifestyle choices that carry with them hazards and benefits. When someone’s attitudes and behaviors fall into that category, they may bask in the joy of achievement and praise, but also crave it and believe they require it to feel confident and competent.
According to cartoonist Bill Watterson, creator of the beloved comic strip Calvin and Hobbes, “You can’t just turn on creativity like a faucet. You have to be in the right mood. What mood is that? Last-minute panic.” Wonder what the boy and his tiger BFF would have to say about procrastination?
Chocolate Collagen Pudding
We love a good Collagen Fuel (or Primal Fuel) shake, but there’s something to be said for mixing it up. We think this Chocolate Collagen Pudding does the trick quite nicely—other non-Primal members of the household will likely think so, too. With two scoops of collagen plus cocoa powder and coconut milk (sub regular milk if you prefer), it satisfies even the most discerning chocolate lover without all the sugar and additives many puddings (especially boxed powders or premade varieties have).
And one juicy secret? You can have it two ways: mousse or pudding texture. (We think we just saw some eyes light up….) After blending the ingredients together, you can either pour the chocolate mixture into ramekins, or pour it into a pyrex container before placing in the fridge. If you do the former, you’ll get more of a mousse-like texture after the chocolate sets. If you do the latter and mix up the chocolate mixture after it sets, you’ll see more of a pudding texture. Enjoy!
Servings: 3
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Cooling Time: 3 hours
Ingredients:
- 1 cup + 2 Tbsp. full-fat coconut milk
- 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. cocoa powder
- 2 scoops Primal Kitchen® Chocolate Coconut Collagen Fuel
- 1 Tbsp. maple syrup (optional, or your favorite sweetener, to taste)
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- dash of salt
- chopped chocolate & mint, to garnish
Directions:
Heat ½ cup of coconut milk in a small saucepan. Once the coconut milk is warmed, sprinkle the Primal Kitchen Chocolate Coconut Collagen Fuel over the coconut milk. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the mixture to rest for 1-2 minutes. Whisk the collagen and coconut milk together. Add the vanilla extract. Sift the cocoa powder into the pan, stirring as you go.
Pour mixture into a blender along with a dash of salt, the remaining coconut milk and your sweetener of choice. Blend until smooth.
Allow the pudding to set for about 3 hours in the refrigerator. Gently mix the pudding with a spoon and pour it into ramekins or serving glasses. Garnish with chopped dark chocolate and a sprig of mint.
Nutrition Information (per serving):
With Maple Syrup:
- Calories: 221
- Total Carbs: 14 grams
- Net Carbs: 5 grams
- Fat: 16 grams
- Protein: 10 grams
Without Maple Syrup:
- Calories: 203
- Total Carbs: 9 grams
- Net Carbs: 5 grams
- Fat: 16 grams
- Protein: 10 grams
The post Chocolate Collagen Pudding appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.
Why Attachment Is a Key Factor in Your Mental Health
Attachment. You’ve heard about it right? How you and your partner can have a better, more fulfilling relationship by learning about your attachment styles and how they mesh (or don’t as the case may be.)
But attachment isn’t just for the romantically involved.
Attachment affects our social and emotional wellbeing — our confidence, our ability to get on with others, even our ability to identify a career path.
How can attachment be that important?
Attachment is designed to help us survive.
It helps us relate to our caregivers and by doing so ensures that we remain in proximity to those who are able to feed, protect and soothe us. Not only that, but our attachment behavior elicits these caring behaviours in our parents and helps generate a lasting bond that influences our early development.
Infancy and Attachment
Before we are born, we are already absorbing information from our environment. Our mother’s mental state and emotional wellbeing have a big influence on our development — even at this early stage.
Obviously a mother’s physical wellbeing impacts the growing child, but If she is stressed, unsupported or anxious, this will also influence the child’s early environment through the presence of stress hormones in the blood which pass through the placental wall.
People with a history of insecure attachment will be more vulnerable to mental illness and other problems in later life.
We learn who we are through our early attachments.
We also learn how to relate and what to expect of relationships. If we don’t receive adequate mirroring and attunement in infancy we don’t learn to value ourselves and in some cases, we might never learn who we are at all.
We are not born perfectly formed.
Our nervous system and our brain develop in concert with our primary caregiver (usually, but not always our mother). This relationship allows us to experience the world safely.
As we grow, we learn and explore, getting to know ourselves and our environment. This important experience-dependant development sets up structures and pathways that influence our wellbeing over the lifespan.
But sometimes, things don’t go so well. Our mother is stressed or unwell, anxious or unsupported. In some cases, parents might have a history of trauma that has never been resolved.
These factors will all influence the attachment relationship.
The more we are ignored as infants, forced into unwanted interactions or left to manage our own distress, the more we will lose ourselves.
Babies are exquisitely sensitive to the mood and mental state of our caregivers.
A parent with unresolved trauma may unwittingly transfer the intense affect associated with the trauma through eye contact, facial expression and patterns of interaction.
An infant who is being parented by someone with a history of unresolved trauma will be left at the mercy of disorganizing states.
They will be far too much for the developing nervous system.
The more sensitive the child, the more they are at risk. Premature infants are especially vulnerable.
Sometimes infants and young children will learn to cope with these states by splitting off from the experience, leading to the use of dissociation as a coping mechanism later on.
Because these experiences often come at a time before we have language, they are not remembered, but remain with us, affecting our sense of ourselves and our ability to relate to others. We will sometimes be left with a felt sense of ourselves as being “unlovable” and with ongoing, chronic and unconscious shame.
Although this sounds dire, reparative experiences of attachment can help us grow and resolve our trauma. These experiences can come through therapy, but they can also come through stable, intimate relationships where we can feel safely held and nurtured and experience ourselves as worthy of compassion and love, perhaps for the first time.
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