It’s my 40th birthday today! I used to dread the thought of being this
age but I’ve actually been excitedly waiting for it to roll round - it
feels like the start of a new era. I’m feeling a little better physically
than I was yesterday (thanks for all your good wishes!) but emotionally
there is nothing to compare with how I feel today - on top of the world
maybe? (grin)

I thought it might be fun to share 40 things that I now have since I found
Radiant Recovery:

1. I have hope
   
2. I have dreams
   
3. Sense of purpose
   
4. Self-esteem (I have some!)
   
5. Can-do attitude
   
6. Take time for myself
   
7. Comfortable in my own skin
   
8. Starting to realise that boundaries are more than just a cricketing term
   
9. Like who I see in the mirror
   
10. Discovering integrity
    
11. Life is full of opportunities
    
12. Enjoy my food
    
13. It’ll turn out all right and even if it doesn’t it’ll STILL be all right
    
14. There’s nothing wrong with me - I’m ok as I am
    
15. I can look at scary feelings without crumbling
    
16. Today’s a good day despite the weather
    
17. My favourite things are the little things - hugs with my kids, frosty
    sparkles in the sunlight
    
18. Feel more connected
    
19. More balanced
    
20. More visible
    
21. Recognising my own self-worth
    
22. I love more
    
23. I live more
    
24. I laugh more
    
25. I feel whole
    
26. I wear make up to please myself not other people
    
27. I am writing my own rules
    
28. I trust
    
29. I feel more deeply
    
30. If something’s not quite right I have a good idea how to fix it
    
31. I am not my past
    
32. My house is tidier
    
33. Confidence
    
34. I am starting to realise that I do have control of my own life
    
35. I’m willing to speak up for myself
    
36. I am discovering feelings I never knew I had
    
37. Sense of adventure
    
38. Sense of awe and wonderment
    
39. A feeling of growing into my big self
    
40. A knowing that I am going in the right direction for me

And the best bit is I couldn’t have done any of this without your support
(yep, even you, Yvonna!) You guys are the best and thank you from the
bottom of my heart for being here!

Selena

Have you ever wondered how best to talk about Radiant Recovery? We had a
member of the community join us recently for that very reason as she was
doing a presentation.

As a result, we now have two sets of notes in the Ambassadors Files
section about how best to discuss sugar sensitivity. And it all starts
with the Chocolate Chip Cookie Test....

If you want to come on over and find out more feel free to drop by for a
cup of tea.

Selena

Wild Rice and Sweet Potato Stuffing

Ingredients:

* 1 cup uncooked wild rice
* 2 1/2 c water
* 1/4 tsp. salt
* 2 medium sweet potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1" cubes. Do not peel
* 1 cup chopped apple
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 1/2 c onions, diced
* 1/4 c celery, diced
* 1/4 c parsley, chopped
* 1 tsp. poultry seasoning
* 1/4 tsp. pepper
* 2 TBS olive oil
* 1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan, combine wild rice, salt and water. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 45-60 minutes or until grains open. Drain and set aside.

2. In another saucepan, combine sweet potatoes with enough lightly salted water to cover. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer for about 15 minutes until potatoes are tender but not mushy. Drain, set aside.

3. In a large skillet, heat 2 TBS. Olive oil over medium high heat. Add garlic, onion and celery and saute until vegetables are fragrant. They will be about 2 minutes.

4. Add apples, poultry seasoning, and pepper. Continue to saute another 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

5. Combine wild rice, sweet potatoes and apple mixture. Add chopped parsley and combine well. Add almonds and toss.

6. Use stuffing to fill poultry. Or you can put the stuffing into a lightly greased casserole dish and bake at 350 for 25 minutes until golden and heated through.

Radiant Recovery Cookbook

Naomi's Nutritious and Delicious Cookbook

Sheila's Kitchen Recipes

********************************************************************

**Your Last Diet: More Than What You Think**

YLDonline is a membership program run directly by Kathleen DesMaisons herself.

Our chats continue to be such a source of support each week. I love that regular Wed chat and Euro chat are so different and teach us so much.

If you are not a YLD member, come and join us. Click here if you are ready to change your life or just plain ole have fun.

 

********************************************************* ***********

**Radiant Recovery Store **

David manages the Radiant Recovery Store. He is also Kathleen's oldest son.

Well, if you are going to make the stuffing, better get some wild rice now

I think I have ironed out all the glitches of our new database and subscriptions now. I love the sytem and I LOVE being able to give you better service.

Please send questions and suggestions. I love hearing from you and truly want to help you do your program better.

 

********************************************************* ***********

**Our Online Groups**

We have recently asked Jaki (Fulhamwitch@btinternet.com) to be the liaison for the radiant introduction to cooking list. The list is just rocking. A couple of people have asked me whether she is a witch. They were serious. I was sympathetic. For a long time I wondered and was afraid o ask and find out (smile)....anyway, she shared this explanation with us. I know you will love it. And watch the TV clip. It will make you cry. and....come join us on the list...it is really fun.

I heard last night at chat that my email address has caused a little consternation. It is familiar to the Brits and to some of the step lists but some of you will not know that I am a football (soccer) fan and writer. Fulham is my team and we are in the English Premier League. As we play in white my pen name there is 'white witch'. This grants me anonymity at matches and also means I get to play with words and call my match coverage 'The Witch Report'. I do live in a very old cottage in the woods and have a cat (White of course) but I assure you I have neither the body nor the stamina for dancing naked round bonfires on Walpurgis Night. British humour aside I have no connection whatsoever with the occult and if this caused anyone discomfort I am truly sorry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxg4o64d-iM

We have a rule on the lists that we do not talk about politics or religion. I made this rule to keep us safe from energy that divides and splits.

Last night on chat, I decided to talk about *bridging* which is a behavioral technique that helps us come down from experiences of great intensity. Tuesday was a night of great intensity. And I was moved to speak of my feelings of what we had experienced....

In the middle of this, we had a new person who was very upset. She said, not all of us feel this way. And she slammed the door and left. She wrote me later to say that I had broken my own rule and that I should have known better.

I realized that I was speaking to something much bigger than Democrats and Republicans. I was speaking to the heart of what Radiant Recovery is about.

A big part of this is the ability for us to speak about differences of opinion without killing one another, without walking out or slamming the door. And in fact, we have started this very process within our community leadership. Not everyone in leadership holds the same views that I do. And we have been talking and finding ways to honor different ways of looking at the world.

I am going to share with you what I said last Wednesday night. And it will tell you about my values. It will reveal what has grown our vision, and has sustained this work every day, day in and day out for 10 years. If you think it is only about politics, you will miss the point. You may not agree, and that will be all right. But you will know who I am and what drives this vision here. Our chat last week was about reclaiming hope, about bringing people who have been disenfranchised back, about believing that *yes we can*...that we as a people can say no to things if they do not work.

here is my sense
about how important this is
I have felt a sense of despair about politics and vision for 40 years
that is a long time
since the 68 democratic convention
I read Michael Lerner's book last summer
and he described this feeling that many of us who were in college in '68 have felt
this sense of losing something
this is way bigger than an election
for me
it was as if we lost our way
we lost our hope, our belief that the world would be better
I actually cried when McCain did his speech
because it was so honorable
and it was like he came back into himself

[at this point, one member challenged my talking politics and slammed the door as she left the room]

this is not about politics, k
and I am sorry, if you cannot hear what I am saying
well, that is the sad part
but I have decided that I will speak this
because this is about the same thing that radiant recovery stands for
that people from different backgrounds can come together
and can hold the possibility of a new way of looking at things
some won't be able to do that
they will stay stuck in the idea of *them*
and they will walk out of the room

we were confused for 40 years
our hope for transformation got lost because we were unwilling to say, I care about this
I care enough to have you get upset and leave
I am not backing down

when I looked at the faces last night
the young people, the people of color, gay, straight, men, women
sobbing
well I have had to catch my breath
because it was so big
it was not what I expected
I thought it would be another brutal and stupid fraud like 2004
and I was sitting there, just listening
and the clock chimed 9 o'clock
and boom!
something happened
the world shifted
not just american politics
see the day before I had been watching a lot of internet stuff
about what Palin was whipping up
the fear, the racism
the ignorance and bigotry
and it was terrifying
I thought, is this what we are really about
is this what we are becoming
and then last night
when McCain was saying thank you to everyone
he didn't even acknowledge her
and I felt this awful sadness that she too was used
it was a very strange feeling
to have this compassion for someone I was so angry about
and for him as well
he got lost in it
an energetic which has been dehumanizing
and killing things in its path
greed
people losing houses, jobs, lives while Exxon records 14 BILLION profit in one quarter
it is bigger than politics
it is not about abortion or gay marriage or whether obama is black
it is about the people speaking that greed is not all right
and some people cannot see that yet
and I realize that I have said *no politics* on the lists because I am unwilling to define it in such narrow terms
I have been intimidated by the hate
into a kind of silence that I will do no more
you know I can say, we will not be racist or sexist or homophobic
yes, many times, LOL
I guess part of it is realizing that we all can speak now
and if someone says, well I am not of that camp
they are saying, I reject hope
I reject reconciliation
and they can do that
but it will not move me
and you certainly can admit, that some define it as a political issue
and that is the power that will heal all of us
the economic crisis has highlighted who has been taking from us
the seduction of money caught a lot of people
an energetic of quick glory
well it is like addiction, more, more
and when you are in it, you do not see it
you just need the rush of more
we all know this
I totally understand the person who was seduced into a 400.000 house with no money down and a balloon mortgage
the illusion of wealth is about addiction