Body, Mind, Spirit: Healthy Dinner Ideas – Rewiring the Brain

A Prayer for Spiritual Community: Creator and Sustainer, in this spiritual community, in this time and place, may we feel your presence ever stronger, ever deeper. As we gather in a spirit of fellowship, may your love, strength and Spirit of Truth bless us all in every way. Thank you for our daily sustenance, food and strength, we ask for your blessings upon this meal. May each one present here tonight receive a special blessing of insight, may we go on to encourage, love and support each other as you would have us do. At this time, if there are any special prayer requests, aloud or in silent prayer, please mention them now for inclusion in this unbroken, connected chain of prayer….

Your prayers…______________________________________________________________________________________

…_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Thank you for hearing our prayer. In thanksgiving and in remembrance of Jesus, we pray. Amen.

Body – Healthy Dinner/Supper Foods: Some of you may prefer a light dinner (supper) and heavier lunch, others may prefer to have their bigger meal in the evening – either way – we just need to pay attention to our bodies and do whatever works best. Parts 1 and 2 of this 3 part series may be found online at www.InterfaithSpiritQuest.com.

Healthy Dinner/Supper Ideas – Control your own portions and remember - everything in moderation.

• Soup or Chili, Hearty Bread/Crackers/Pita, Pickles/Olives/Veggies
• Big Salad Bowl, Loaded with Veggies, Light on Meat/Cheese/Egg/Beans, Hearty Bread/Crackers/Pita
• Grilled/Baked/Roasted/Boiled Lean Meat, Side of Stir-Fried or Fresh Veggies, Tossed Salad, Hearty Bread/Crackers/Pita
• Baked/Boiled/Grilled/Roasted Potatoes/Sweet Potatoes/Veggies, Fruit Salad/Fresh Fruit, Hearty Bread/Crackers/Pita, Pickles/Olives/
• Stir Fry Veggie Bowl, Lean Meat/Fish or Beans/Tofu, Brown Rice, Sliced Oranges or Fruit Salad
• Baked Fish, Boiled Cabbage/Carrots/Potatoes, Rye Bread

Interfaith Spirit Quest

Mind & Spirit - Brain Rule #3- Wiring: Every brain is wired differently. See Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School - by John Medina.

Every brain is wired differently and each brain can be re-wired to think differently – at will! Do you believe this?

In the book Brain Rules by John Medina, it talks about a Michael Jordan quitting Basketball to focus on a new challenge – Baseball. Michael Jordan failed miserably at Baseball, not even rising to the level of a minor league farm team! But this is Wisconsin and we love football, so today, we're going to talk about Brett Favre – our favorite NFL Quarterback and his 2009/10 NFL Football season with the Minnesota Vikings! J As you all know by now, the Vikings lost the NFC Championship game against the New Orleans Saints on January 23, 2010. Had they won, Favre would be playing in his third Super Bowl this year, his first two being with his beloved Green Bay Packers way back in the last century. J Favre threw an interception near the end of regulation time in the 4^th quarter, which sent the game into overtime, never to regain possession of the ball in overtime themselves, the Vikings promptly lost. The Saints make it to the Super Bowl. Go Indianapolis Colts! While I do not blame the loss on Favre, many people have picked up on the fact that Favre has been in this situation on two other occasions as a Green Bay Packer; once against the Philadelphia Eagles and once against the New York Giants. In both of those games, Favre also threw and interception that ended their hopes of heading to another Super Bowl.

So, what does this have to do with re-wiring the brain? What I'm trying to show here is that Favre actually had his best year ever as a Quarterback in the NFL! All of his stats were way up, his interception ratio was at the lowest number ever, throwing only 7 interceptions all year versus his previous average of 13 at minimum. Many years were much higher; Favre threw 20 interceptions during several years. Anyway, moving on….getting to the point now….

The question is: 1) How did he do it? How did Brett Favre, a 40 year old Quarterback, have his best year ever? How did he get his interception rate down to 7 from his previous average of 13? …and question 2) How or why did he throw that final, crushing interception?

The answer to question #1 is that he effectively re-wired his brain; he managed to eliminate all obstacles to his success by focusing on his biggest problem – interceptions. He changed the way he does business. He proved that he could do it through controlling his mind, thus controlling his actions.

The answer to question #2: So why did he thrown that last interception? First off, nobody is perfect, I believe that Favre did everything he could to lead the Vikings to victory but could have used a little help from the defense that day. Then of course there's the Referees stating publicly, after the game of course, that they messed up on a couple of calls that went against the Vikings. Anyway, so the answer is – perhaps re-wiring the brain is an extremely difficult thing to do and it requires intense, continuous desire and focus without let-up on the part of the individual to change. But Brett Favre did in fact prove that it could be done. He is to be forgiven for his momentary lapses, and this will only lead him to improve his performance should he choose to come back for another year – which I think he will do.

Every time you learn a new task, you are wiring your brain. To solve and old problem, we need to turn it into a new task. Do not think of things as problems, think of things as goals or targets. Do not think of problems, think of ways to reach your destination. Focus only on what will work, not on obstacles. While the author of Brain Rules, John Medina, talks a lot about the physical reasons for the wiring of our brains, and we certainly cannot do everything we think we can, the really cool thing that I have discovered is that our spirit personality is unquestionably capable of willing the physical body and mind to do the impossible!

Interfaith Spirit Quest

Interfaith Spirit Quest - Tips to help you re-wire your brain:

• Pray, meditate, contemplate – focus on your task/goal/target
• Be a reminder to yourself – leave notes, journal, repeat motions toward task/goal/target
• Exercise, eat healthy, sleep well, get some sunshine
• Evaluate your life – do you need to work on your love life, family life, play life and work life?
• Be honest with yourself, seek to understand why you don't make the right choices or changes
• Align your habits with your task/goal/target – that means create new habits and destroy bad habits
• Choose your life, map out your destiny; but accept who you are and soar where you know you can
• Have the experience. A few wise sayings:
  • "What you hear you forget, what you see you remember, what you do, you understand",
  • "Practice makes perfect".
  • "Just do it!"
• The Creator & Sustainer of the Universe wants you to enjoy an abundant, successful and fruitful life!
• Celebrate your abundance and enjoy the fruits of your success!

Interfaith Spirit Quest Discussion Questions:

1. Do you think it's possible for you, or Favre for next year, to be completely successful re-wiring the brain? _________________________________________________________________________________________
2. What is keeping or preventing you from changing something about yourself that concerns you? _________________________________________________________________________________________
3. How can we support each other? How can we help and support ourselves? _________________________________________________________________________________________

Brett Favre began his career as an Atlanta Falcon in 1991 throwing 4 passes as a Falcon, 2 of them interceptions, 2 of them incomplete.

He was traded to the Green Bay Packers in 1992 and played there for 16 seasons. His interception ratio averaged 13-20 per season. He led the Packers to 2 Super Bowls, winning one and losing one.

 

 

 

In 2008 he asked to be traded to the Vikings, but Packers Management refused and traded him instead to the New York Jets where he had 22 interceptions and an all around bad year.

 

 

 

Ah, finally, the Favre's wish to become a Minnesota Viking is fulfilled. He takes the Vikings on a whirlwind romance and almost makes it to the Super Bowl. His interception rate during the regular season is pared down to 7. Brain effectively re-wired. There's always next year – one can only imagine what the Favre will do next.