Just a few highlights of happenings Around Wellington. For many more photos, visit the link “Photo Galleries” on this site!
September, 2009 – AW in Pictures
September, 2009 – A Little Bit of Literature . . .
Lighten Up with Lisa
By Lisa Dawn Wax
A little bit of literature sheds a whole lot of light!
“ No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main…any man’s death diminishes me because I am involved in mankind;” Devotions upon Emergent Occasions, Meditation XVII pub.1624
John Donne (1572-1631), English Metaphysical Poet
Hi Readers! First off, I’d like to thank those of you who emailed me with all the your wonderful compliments and feedback from last month’s column. I was pleased to know how many of you enjoyed reading the article and were inspired by to take on last month’s challenge to change just one thing in your lives in order to initiate a chain of events of change. I hope you are continuing with your progress and look forward to hearing more success stories, as I’d love to share them in future columns. For those of you who missed last month, I invite you to read the .
Last month I introduced the theory of energy of thought via imagination and your individual power to create the life you want to live. This month we’re going to build on individual energy and discuss the principle of a collective universal energy. Once again while these terms might seem New Age they are merely a rebirth of much older beliefs. I am writing this column almost 400 years after John Donne wrote his essay with the above quote and Donne’s work was published 1500 years after its original inspiration which was taken from the New Testament, Romans 14:7. The words may have changed, but the message remains the same. Solidarity…We are all socially and spiritually interconnected and with this knowledge comes the power to persevere.
I’m going to dare to go one step further and reveal that in addition to being interconnected with one another we are interconnected with a Source Energy, also known as a Divine Consciousness or Higher Power. It is this higher power that has the ability to not only unify us as a collective energy but to empower us all so that we may live the lives we desire to live… the lives we are meant to live. So, how do we tap into this collective divine source energy? We simply need to realize its existence and acknowledge our mandatory participation. By participating I mean to say accepting our interconnectedness as truth and acting as one group instead of one person. We must reach out to those in need as well as recognize and accept help when others reach out to us. We must truly believe with our hearts and in our souls that we are never alone.
I’d like to share a joke I heard years ago but remember often. A man is drowning at sea and he looks up to Heaven and prays for God to rescue him. A scuba diver swims by with a life preserver and the drowning man waves him away, saying, “God will save me.” Then a boat comes by and throws him a line. He doesn’t take it, saying again “God will save me.” A helicopter flies overhead and drops a rope. The man again turns away and says, “ God will save me.” At last the man drowns. At heaven’s gate he sees God and asks him, “Where were you? Why didn’t you save me?” God replies, “I sent the swimmer, the boat and the helicopter, the rest was up to you.” The drowning man not only turned away repeatedly from help that was within his reach but also failed to recognize the precise divine intervention he was seeking. I believe that many of us do this on a daily basis because in our pain and suffering we focus on feelings of alienation rather than searching out our true connections, our life lines, our saviors, our Lucky Charms.
Lucky Charms, as I like to call them, are people and/or events that help us when we are least likely to reach out for help on our own. They can be someone we know, or a stranger who smiles at us for no reason, or possibly even a guardian angel in disguise. They can be a fortunate situation. For example, I consider writing this column to be one of my Lucky Charms as it allows me to connect positively with so many of you. They can also be a negative situation that challenges you to rise above yourself and find a strength within that you never even knew you possessed. I’m sure we all have at least one story of tragedy or despair where we somehow managed to emerge from the darkness into the light. This transition might have been due to the love of family, support of friends or even the growth of our soul. No matter what the source, Lucky Charms force us to acknowledge and embrace our connections to each other, to ourselves and to the collective energy of the spiritual world in which we live. In 1955 Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a French philosopher and biologist, wrote The Phenomenon of Man and stated, “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience”. Whichever statement you choose to believe is unimportant. The importance is to believe in the unifying existence of spirituality, to know that we are all connected and to remember we exist to help each other.
Remember a funky little R&B inspirational song that echoed the theme of solidarity? I’m speaking of the 1972 hit song “Lean on Me”. I wish I had space in this article to write all of the , but here is the chorus.
“Lean on me when you’re not strong, and I’ll be your friend
I’ll help you carry on, For it won’t be long
Till I’m gonna need – Somebody to lean on”
At some point we all need somebody to lean on and the best way to ensure having a friend is to be a friend. So, this month I challenge you not only recognize the Lucky Charms in your life (including the hidden painful ones), but to be a Lucky Charm in someone else’s life. A friend of mine shared the term “Pass Along Therapy”, which is similar to the principle. The Pay It Forward principle asserts if someone does you a kindness, turn around and do a kindness for someone else. This creates a chain reaction of kindness, universal energy in motion. The Pass Along Therapy principle focuses more on healing, asserting that if you help someone else you get the added benefit of also helping yourself. This can easily be achieved through charity and volunteer work. I don’t know anyone who has volunteered for a cause they believe in and not felt some sort of personal benefit from having done so. Personally, I am a volunteer for Hospice of Palm Beach as a patient visitor. There are no words to accurately describe the pure fulfillment of soul knowing I am helping someone through their darkest time. It raises me high above myself where I can see more clearly and gain a perspective I wouldn’t have otherwise seen because it takes me out of the individual consciousness and into the collective consciousness. I am a Lucky Charm for the patient and family members, but the experience is absolutely a Lucky Charm for me as well. Albert Einstein once said, “No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.” If we can rise to a higher social consciousness and become a part of the collective consciousness or as John Donne said, “a piece of the continent” then we can uniformly welcome the opportunity of enlightenment and the ability to heal both our personal and universal pain so that we can rescue ourselves and mankind. The boat, the helicopter and the swimmer are all waiting for you to lift up your hand and grab on to hope, but don’t forget to then pass them along to someone else.
Once again I’d like to close with a song quote. This one is from The Beatles.
“Oh I get by with a little help from my friends. Oh I get “high” with a little help from my friends. Oh, I’m gonna try with a little help from my friends.”
(Note: Although I’m sure Paul and John were speaking of a different “high” than I am, for the purpose of this article think of it as a raise in consciousness and energy.)
Until next time, may your days be brighter and your lives be lighter.
Lisa Dawn Wax, aka Lightworker Lisa, has been certified in Massage Therapy, Fitness Training and Reiki Healing for over 15 years. In addition to being a born Lightworker she is a certified Angel Healing Practitioner; both of which basically confirm her intuitive abilities to help, heal and teach. Using reiki (energy healing), divine messages and intuitive readings, she has helped many people to identify the source of their pain, clarify current life situations, and successfully redirect their focus into positive channels. If you’d like to share comments about this article or if you are in need of affordable healing and/or life coaching via divine inspiration with immediate results, please call her at 561-594-3948 or visit her new website .
September, 2009 – Happy September!
Dear Around Wellington Readers,
Happy September! I hope you had a wonderful summer!!
Have I mentioned (lately) that we have given away over $1,000 in fabulous contest prizes to our winners, since launching the online version of the magazine in April? I recommend checking our Contest link right now to see if there’s a contest running. Do you feel lucky today?
Our featured Around Wellington Stories of the Month are a lot of fun! We have a movie review of “Julie & Julia” from writer and Wacky Food Show Host Frannie Sheridan. We’ve also included a 5-minute video segment, so you can have a taste of Frannie’s Wacky Food Show, as presented at Whole Foods Market in Palm Beach Gardens. And Frannie was good enough to include her own recipe for Guilt-Free Chocolate Truffles. Yumm-o!
Are you suffering from Communication Overload? Too many emails, text messages, Facebook requests, Tweets and so forth? Especially if you happen to be a business owner, too much communication can clog up your productivity. Luckily we have super-organizer and productivity coach Claudine Motto with Seven Tips to Help You Manage, also in our AW Stories of the Month.
Writer Wendell Abern takes a walk on the serious side for his annual September 11th “To All the Grandchildren in the World” in “Cantankerously Yours.” If you received the former print version of Around Wellington®, then you might remember this article from the past three years. As editor, I feel that it’s something everyone should read on September 11th, just so we never forget. When he first read it aloud at a writers’ group meeting I attended, I had chills – because of the simple truths that come through in his words.
With “Mommy Moments,” it’s my turn to give my “lousy two cents” when it comes to affordable ways to have family fun this month. If you’re a parent, check it out and find out more about a few great things to do, either for FREE or for very little.
Thanks to Debbie Sanacore, who tells us a little bit more about her neighborhood Stonehaven Estates in our “Neighborhood Scoop” article. BTW, we need a few more writers to cover Banyan Lakes, Bella Terra, Black Diamond and Wellington’s Edge. Email us at: aroundwellington@earthlink.net if you’re interested.
Have you ever wondered how to calculate a cat’s age? Well, it’s trickier than figuring out dog years! And our “Pet Talk” expert Frances Goodman explains how it works for us this month. Thank you, Frances!
Our new columnist Lisa Dawn Wax (aka Lightworker Lisa) brings us her second edition of “Lighten Up with Lisa,” as well as our Poem of the Month. I received a lot of good feedback after her first column and I think you’ll be inspired by her poem this month too.
Every month I look forward to getting to know one of our advertisers a little bit better in the process of bringing you the AW Spotlight article. As a mother of two, I truly enjoyed interviewing Hillary of Hillary’s Heart Children’s Boutique, hanging around in her store and getting to see all of the really fabulous kids’ clothing, gifts and personalized items that she has to offer. If you want to find a very special gift for a child, I highly recommend a visit to Hillary’s Heart in the Marketplace at Wycliffe, Lake Worth Road and State Road 441.
By the way, I don’t yet have a link on my site for Letters to the Editor, so I’m including this recent Letter to the Editor at the end of my comments. As I hope you know, dear readers, you can always email me a Letter to the Editor at aroundwellington@earthlink.net. I’m especially interested in your thoughts on the national health care debate and your thoughts on what is being done (and not being done) about the cancer cluster situation in the Acreage.
I have been inspired, over the last few days, listening to the outpouring of gratitude for Senator Ted Kennedy and all that he did for his family, his friends and his country. His words are both timely and timeless. “The fundamental test of our society is how it treats the least powerful among us.”
Wishing a happy September to all of you! Remember to shop locally and use our AW Coupons when you’re Around Wellington. THANKS to all of you!
Krista Martinelli, Editor
***
Letter to the Editor
The “Killer Beds”!
This is in response to the last few weeks of totally irresponsible, and fact of lacking reporting by our national media, as well as The Palm Beach Post (Wednesday, July 29th), suggesting that tanning beds are “as dangerous as arsenic,” or in the “same risk category as cigarettes and plutonium.” I would like to set the record straight with a few solid facts that seem to be omitted recently. The UV rays one receives outside in the natural sunlight are the exact same UV rays you are exposed to in a tanning bed. The difference is that in a bedew filter out some of the bad stuff or “harmful rays.” My grandfather always said “everything in moderation” and with of the misleading, contradictor, and downright false warnings the average consumer has received over the past few years, I understand how one could be confused. My grandfather not only was a doctor, he was right. Humans, like the rest of our planet, need sun exposure (UV’s) to survive and thrive. 
Since 1992, thousands of doctors have recommended moderate exposure to sunlight (UV’s) for a variety of health benefits. Oprah’s guest Dr. Oz Mehmet and Dr. Andrew Weill are two prominent examples. I have at least one dermatologist (that I am aware of) that tans at my salon for the known benefits of Vitamin D. In a tanning bed you are only allowed so much exposure and are required to wear eyewear for your protection. This is not true at Peanut Island, at the beach, or lying out by the pool. The news stories that say things like “tanning is as dangerous as arsenic” are flat-out wrong. The scientists have not made that kind of comparison at all, only reporters looking for a scary headline. The most common misleading statistic” that tanning beds increase the risk of melanoma by 75%, comes from a study with questionable methods. The study’s authors admit that they did not adjust for factors like outside sun exposure and skin sensitivity. Even if the study was accurate, it does not that mean that 75%of tanning bed users will get melanoma; it means that their risk is higher than living under a rock.
Because the issue is relative risk, when the original risk is very small, a percentage increase that looks big actually translates into a very small added risk. To use another example, your annual risk of a fatal car accident is about is about 0.013%. If that risk were increased by 75%, it would be 0.023%, or about 1 in 4,500. To put that number in perspective, the increase is 10 times smaller than the OSHA guideline for “acceptable risk.” Finally, I was always told to “never kick someone when their down.” My industry goes through a natural and expected slow down in business during our steamy South Florida summer months, add to this a dismal economy not experienced since the Great Depression, and you have an indoor tanning industry that is in mood to be kicked. Killer beds? My, over ten thousand happy, clients (and counting), say NOT!
Yes we TAN! David Thorpe/Owner of WellingTAN (7 years voted “Best of the West,” WPBF25 A-List)
September, 2009 – How Old is My Cat?
Pet Talk
By Frances Goodman
So, How Old is My Cat
in Human Years, Really?
Question: When is a cat a senior? Also, how do you compare a cat’s age to human years? Is it seven human years to every cat year, like with dogs? Thanks.
Answer: Many cats begin to have age-related physical changes between seven and 10 years of age, and most by the time they are 12.
However, the theory that every “cat year” is worth seven “human years” is not entirely accurate
According to the Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine, here’s the formula:
A one-year-old cat is physiologically similar to a 16-year-old human;
A two-year-old cat is like a person of 21.
For every year after that, each cat-year is worth about four human years.
Using this formula, a 10-year-old cat is comparable in age to a 53-year-old person;
A 12-year-old cat is comparable to a 61-year-old person, and a 15-year-old cat to a 73-year-old human.
As cats grow older, they often become less agile. Because of this, it may be necessary to relocate litter boxes and make them more convenient for elderly cats, to prevent elimination in improper places.
Providing a litter box with low sides or constructing an access ramp around the box may help older cats gain entry to their potty area more easily.
Thanks for your question.
Question: I have two dogs and a cat. I would like to get a bird, too, but don’t know if they would get along with each other. Could they be compatible? Signed, B. L.
Answer: Bringing any small pet into a household with larger pets who might view it as prey can be stressful for everyone, including you.
Your pleasure in having the bird can be outweighed by the need for constant supervision and the ever-present possibility of a tragic event.
Plus, merely being stared at by a cat or dog can be unnerving for birds and affect their overall wellbeing.
If you were introducing a puppy or kitten to an adult resident bird, especially a large species, that might be easier. The young newcomer possibly would grow up respecting the bird’s seniority and position in the family.
Even so, the risk would still be there.
Conclusion: It can be done, but constant supervision and awareness would be required at all times. More so, if there are children in the home.
Unless you have absolute control over all these elements, I’d recommend against adding a pet bird– for the bird’s sake.
Best wishes, and thanks for caring enough to ask.
Frances Goodman is an obedience trainer and pet care writer who lives in Royal Palm Beach. Got a question? Email her at fhpettalk@hotmail.com. Visit her web site at www.mypetnews.com.
September, 2009 – Fun Family Things to Do
Mommy Moments
By Krista Martinelli
Fun Family Things to do . . . on a Budget!
So what can you do for a dollar these days? Ordinarily not very much! But if you head up to Palm Beach Gardens and take your children to the Playmobil Fun Park, you can play all day for just a dollar! You might recognize the excellent name in the world of toy manufacturing, Playmobil, which is a German company. My German friend Andrea says that she grew up playing with Playmobil toys, as do many European kids and many American kids too. Playmobil built a few “FunParks” around the world as a unique marketing strategy, so kids can test out the toys and the company can showcase their line of products. There are only two Playmobil FunParks in the United States, one in New Jersey and one right here in Palm Beach Gardens. Whether your young child enjoys playing out a pirate scene, imagining how a fire rescue would be handled or playing with princesses in castles, they have the characters and the space to do it at Playmobil FunPark. With almost 20,000 square feet of playing space, children have plenty of room to play!
When we entered the Playmobil castle to meet up with friends, I overheard a couple of
mothers commenting about how clean it is inside. “Spotless,” they were commenting, not something you hear from Moms very often. I also saw several families who packed a lunch and took advantage of the picnic tables in the back of the castle. There’s a microwave too, very convenient. It’s set up, so that you can comfortably spend a few hours or even a whole day, if you’d like to.
A wide variety of Playmobil sets capture every child’s attention; there’s something for everyone. My kids (who are two and four years old) seem to gravitate toward the circus sets and the Noah’s Ark area most often. I have also seen little boys who are quite happy staying about five feet from the entrance, where all the trucks are. We attended a very nice birthday party for our 3-year-old friend Olivia at Playmobil a couple of months ago. A good mix of “play time” and coming together time for singing, dancing and having birthday cake!
Another family fun thing to do that we discovered recently is the FREE kids’ workshop at Home Depot, which happens the first Saturday of every month. We stumbled upon it while getting a few things for my garden on a Saturday. The Home Depot staff was very inviting and before we knew it, we were being whisked away to the kids’ workshop area! Both kids (who are two and four) got their own orange Home Depot smocks to wear. We were given two kits to build wooden birdhouses and all the tools we needed, plus work benches to get it done. Our kids loved getting the rare opportunity to hammer with “real hammers” (under close supervision, of course, and with a lot of help). When we were finished with our birdhouses, the kids received pins and certificates of completion. Now we’ve marked our calendar to make sure we don’t miss any of these Home Depot workshops!By the way, I think that the kids’ workshops end at noon, so call or stop by your local Home Depot to confirm.
Here’s another fun affordable thing to do with kids that we discovered last month – eat at Denny’s on a Tuesday night! Kids eat free on Tuesday nights and, in some locations, on Saturday nights too. I had completely forgotten about Denny’s, perhaps simply because there are so many of them. In South Florida, it seems that you come across a Denny’s as often as a Walgreen’s or a nail salon. But lo and behold, now that we have kids, this is one of the best places to go for dinner! They have a super-fun kids’ menu with coloring, things to do and very kid-friendly items to order. Just consider these side dishes: apple dunkers, tumbling vanilla, high-diving veggies, fishing goldfish crackers, game-on grapes, home plate mashed potatoes, jump-shot Jell-o, finish line fries and vegetable of the day. Even the pickiest of young eaters can really order something that they are guaranteed to eat, like Mac & Cheese with grapes.
My kids also enjoyed these alien-looking drink cups that come with two straws and with two different drinks inside. Listen to these refreshing summer beverages: Blueberry Pomegranate Smash, Four Berry Fizz, Strawberry Mango Pucker and Cherry Cherry Limeade. We tried and liked all four! By the way, if you visit Coupon Divas.com, you can find a list of all of the local restaurants and the days that “kids eat free.”
Now here’s one more cool FREE thing to, but I found out about too late for this summer. You just visit www.kidsbowlfree.com and you can register at their website to receive two FREE games of bowling for each child, every day for the whole summer. Now that’s a lot of free bowling! It’s a little funky – they email you a week of printable coupons each week. But my neighbor who has four children had success in using these coupons throughout the summer, so we know it’s for real!
Last but not least, please remember to check out our AW Coupons page! These are all special offers from terrific LOCAL businesses, just for our Around Wellington readers. Thanks to you, our readers, and don’t forget that AroundWellington.com is a “spam-free zone”; we never share our subscriber list.
Krista Martinelli is the editor of www.aroundwellington.com. She’s the mother of a four year old girl and a two year old boy. She plays with the kids by day and works by night. Sleeping is a rarity!
September, 2009 – Astrology at Work
ASTROLOGY AT WORK IN YOUR LIFE
By Karola Crawford
SEPTEMBER
Happy Birthday to all of you Virgos out there! Attention to detail, and, a need for healing or to be a healer is at the crux of your being. Many times you need to heal yourself first, and then you are able, through expanded knowledge of yourself, to heal others in your family, your community and the world. Virgo sees the tiny details that are prominent in projects and in daily life, and sometimes this is to the point of excluding the larger picture. If you have strong Virgo in your chart, you may need to be prompted, from someone that can see the forest, to get a different perspective from above. You, in turn, can tune in on the fine details for those that are unable to see where the focus needs to be. Your strengths are in mechanical details, medicine, fine print and computer work. You can usually catch a glimpse of the necessary information that may have been missed by others. Your Ruler is Mercury, so mental energy is high with you and you need to learn to tone it down at the end of the day. Meditate or do something extremely boring to quiet your mind. Sitting on the patio and watching the sun set is a soothing activity for anyone, but it is especially good for your mind and nerves.
Your ruler is in the sign of Libra for most of the month, so you seek to balance your energy and please others. This is a good time for social activities so have fun celebrating your birthday with many friends and family. The last part of the month is good for extreme detail work that you have been unable to tend to. Most of the confusion clears up the last week of this month.
Scorpio – This is the month of healing, so allow the inner promptings some space and try something new to feel better. Stay very open in your mind this month…you will hear a positive suggestion that you need to follow up on now.
Sagittarius – Something very sudden and new will pop into your life and you need to act on it quickly or the idea will go away. Listen to your inner messages as they will come when you are walking or exercising. Write them down!!
Capricorn – Great changes are happening both inside and outside of you and you may be trying to hold on for dear life. Allow the change to happen…you can’t do anything about it anyway. In the near future you will see that it was exactly the way it needs to be and you would not have wanted it any other way.
Aquarius – Keep dreaming your dream and listen to the small voice within. If you are suffering from allergies or vague symptoms, then get a complete check-up before following through on a herbal remedy.
Pisces – You are able to go with the flow rather easily, but you do not like the abruptness of the changes that have occurred in the last few months. There is still more to come, so see it as a breaking of the tight mold that you may have created. You never know where you might end up and it will be a wonderful change.
Aries – Stick close to home this month and save the travelling for later. Good things are happening on the home front so gather the family and friends and play games or talk. You will find that you get more done now than you thought possible.
Taurus – It is important for you to receive recognition for work that you accomplished this month, so if no one notices, speak up. This is a great month for beautifying your yard and redoing your home.
Gemini – The first part of the month will find you frustrated with projects that keep coming back instead of being completed. Wait until after the 12th to get final details out. Don’t sign any contracts, and read the fine print on anything that you are working on at this time.
Cancer – You have more energy than you have had in a while, so use it to finish some physical activities that you have been unable to do lately. Enjoy the workout and relish the rewards for work that is finally completed.
Leo – This is a great month to get a makeover and try something new. Your mind is focused on improving your gorgeous presence, so use the time to purchase new clothes and get that haircut that you have been wanting to try.
Karola Crawford, MAFA, has been a certified Astrologer for 22 years. She has cast charts for clients all over the world and also practices Holistic medicine, Yoga, Shiatsu, Reiki, Auricular Acupucture and is an accomplished artist. Where does she get all of her energy? A grand trine in fire, of course. Karola can be reached at 561-615-1591 or by visiting the web site at www.karolacrawford.com.
September, 2009 – YOU-TOPIA
YOU-TOPIA
By Lisa Dawn Wax
Have you ever wanted something so badly you thought you would die if you didn’t get it?
Have you ever wished for something for so long that your heart ached with anticipation?
Whatever it may have been, this person, place or thing
meant instant and complete gratification and happiness.
Well, if so, what did you do once you got it? If, in fact, you did.
Did it mean as much as you thought it would?
Was it as perfect as it should have been?
Were you as happy as you thought you would be?
Did it give you instant life? Make your heart stop aching?
Did the angels start singing above?
Most probably the answers are, No.
But, if they are Yes:
How long did the relationship last before it fell apart?
How often did you use it before you threw it away?
Or how long did you admire the scenery before you moved?
If you stop to think about it, you’ll realize…
There is only one person who can give you meaning
Only one place to find all that is wonderful and good
And only one thing that can make the difference between a
Utopian way of life and one lived in misery.
The person is you
The place is within yourself
And the thing is your own self worth.
September, 2009 – A little back to school advice
TEEN TALK
by Evan Baumel
A Little Back to High School Advice
No one can go far in life without asking for guidance. Advice is intended to make someone’s life better. When people give counsel, they usually offer an impartial perspective on certain issues. For instance, often a person’s competitive counterpart can offer words of wisdom. Another example is when parents attempt to advise their children on the tribulations of adulthood. Teachers and professors do what they can to best guide students in a particular field. Religious leaders are especially skilled in giving practical advice to their congregants.
Of course, suggestions cannot be given without previous experience. When someone is asking another person for advice, it is usually because the latter had experience with the subject in question. I know personally that older brothers and sisters are some of the best venues for guidance, since they are considered more “experienced” in life. Knowledgeable people usually offer credible and accurate advice.
High-schoolers in particular are always searching for advice. SAT or ACT prep guidebooks give advice to anxious pupils searching for a higher grade. Friends ask each other whether or not something is in style. Guys ask other guys about subjects like sports, girls, food, and other interests. Girls inquire about clothing, shopping, dating, etc. (according to Cosmopolitan magazine).
I personally have been given a plethora of advice. For instance, I have been told that being affable and gregarious (big words meaning friendly) will earn me more friends than being self-centered. I have also learned that in some cases it is more practical to remain quiet than speak the “ugly truth.” All the advice that I have received has served one purpose: to make me a better person. The best advice ever passed on to me was, “Be open to what people have to say, but let your heart decide the paramount choice of action.”
Thus, when I offer counsel, I do so with honesty and sincerity. Since I’m the Teen Talk columnist, I’ve decided to give general tips for students entering or returning to high school. Use them wisely:
Evan Baumel is a senior at Wellington High School. He’s involved in Debate, National Honor Society, Key Club, politics and writes for the school newspaper.
September, 2009 – Planning for Fiscal Health
By the Numbers
By Debbie Aria 
Planning for Fiscal Health
Regardless of the current state of the economy, financial planning is always an important issue for businesses and individuals. Whether it’s time to maximize your income or time to cut back on expenditures, you’ll need a plan to make sure you are making the most of your money.
Financial planning takes a holistic approach, taking into account your current situation, needs (e.g. your assets, liabilities, income and expenditures), and your future objectives and life goals.
Your life goals could include buying a home, building an investment portfolio, saving for your children’s education, managing debt or planning for retirement.
A written financial plan is the beginning of managing your finances. It is achieved through a thorough analysis of your financial circumstances, and the development of a long-term financial planning strategy.
Setting goals is a significant component to any well thought out financial plan. When setting goals, be specific and realistic and, by all means, establish a time frame for achievement. Once goals are set the next step is to gather data.
With the proper data you can make sound decisions. Preparing accurate financial statements is the best place to begin. A good way to do this is to write everything down. Make a list of all income sources and all expenses. List all assets (investments, cash, real estate, insurance cash values). Don’t forget to make a list of all debt and current interest rates.
Once all the financial information is summarized, it’s time to create a plan of action. Written plans are a set of assessments about what to do, why to do it, what resources to involve, and how to do it. A well thought-out analysis of one’s current financial position can lead to proactive decision-making; take the initiative by acting rather than reacting to events.
Strategies may change depending on the current economic conditions, but with the proper tactics in place what could be rough ups and downs can be smoothed out to be more like ripples. No one wants to think about economizing, but sometimes that’s just what we need to do to get by. Consolidating debt, reevaluating expenses, and putting off non-necessities are just a few ways to streamline the cash flow in an economic downturn. When things are going well, it may be time to invest for those down times. By changing a few habits your personal financial status can remain relatively smooth over the course of a lifetime.
Remember that financial planning is not static. It is an ongoing process that is constantly being updated as your personal situation changes due to marriage or divorce, death, illness, birth of a child or other factors. For businesses, the plan changes as market conditions change, the business grows, a new product or service is launched, to gain a better focus of an existing business or a business is prepared to be sold.
If you need help with business planning or getting your family finances in order, call me for a consultation. I offer personalized service with integrity, objectivity, and professionalism.
Debbie Aria, CPA
About Debra Aria, CPA, PLLC Located at 79 Westbury Close, she has been in business for over 20 years and a Wellington resident for 16. She serves individuals and small businesses providing tax and accounting services together with elder and long-term care issues including Medicaid planning and asset preservation. She can be reached at 561-795-5516.
September, 2009 – The Day My Heart Went Haywire
AS I WAS SAYING
by Alan Williamson
The Day My Heart Went Haywire
Most days I wake up in the morning, eat breakfast, toss back some coffee, go to work and everything kind of unfolds within the familiar framework of my daily life. Now don’t get me wrong – there are surprises, small adventures and moments of spontaneous departure from the established plot lines, but for the most part, I can count on the essential who, what, where and when of my life being firmly in place on a daily basis.
Except . . . for the Monday morning my heart started beating like an extended drum solo performed by a manic-depressive jazz musician. It sped up. It slowed down. At one point, it even played an African-influenced bongo riff from Paul Simon’s Rhythm of the Saints album. The end result of all this uncoordinated percussion was that my heart stopped efficiently pumping blood to the rest of my body, making me lightheaded, dizzy, and morbidly preoccupied with my own mortality.
A quickly arranged trip to my doctor for an EKG revealed that I was experiencing something called “atrial fibrillation.” A-fib, I was told, is an irregular heartbeat where the heart’s two upper chambers (the atria) beat chaotically and out of synch with the two lower chambers of the heart, affectionately referred to as “the ventricles.” This disruption in the heart’s electrical system causes poor blood flow to the body, heart palpitations, weakness, and an increased risk of stroke.
“This is all good information,” I told my doctor, “but there’s one small problem. You’ve got the wrong guy.”
“Are you the guy whose wife drove you over here because you had a rapid heartbeat and dizziness?” she countered coolly.
“Yes,” I conceded, “but this is the kind of thing that happens to unhealthy people – people with heart disease, high blood pressure or a thyroid condition. I’m in the best shape of my life, I work out, I meditate, eat whole foods, don’t smoke, drink red wine moderately, and have never been admitted to a hospital in over 50 years on this planet.”
“Well your heart didn’t get the memo,” she pointed out. “I’m putting you in the hospital for further tests.”
Going from a self-reliant man in command of his destiny to a patient with three IV’s in his arm and a skimpy hospital gown covering up roughly 50% of his God-given goodies is a serious blow to a guy’s pride.
“I’ll run home and bring you some sleep pants,” my wife volunteered. “Anything else you want?”
“Do we have any ‘Get Out of Hospital Free’ cards lying around?” I ventured lamely.
Any remaining shred of manly dignity disappeared the first time I had to pee in the plastic container they put at my bedside. Had I known I’d be relieving myself in a plastic jug any time soon, I would have practiced at home in my spare time to hone my speed and accuracy. As if taking a wiz propped up in bed while strangers walk by your open door wasn’t degrading enough, I then had to hang my steaming micro-brew from the IV stand for visitors to gaze at.
“Just bottled a fresh batch,” I told the nurse stopping in to check on me. “I’m calling it Haywire Heart Amber Ale.”
“Did they tell you what needs to happen by tomorrow morning?” she asked, unimpressed with my entrepreneurial spirit.
“Is that the part where I wake up and realize this was all a dream?”
“Actually, with the help of these IVs, your heart needs to convert back to a normal rhythm by then.”
“And if it doesn’t?”
“If it doesn’t, we put you under and electrically shock your heart to interrupt the arrhythmia.”
“Sounds like a plan,” I nodded thoughtfully. “Listen, if for some reason I’m not here in the morning, feel free to start without me.”
Fortunately, my heart did convert back to a normal rhythm, at 11:46 that night to be precise. I know this because I woke up out of a fitful sleep to see a nurse standing under the clock at the foot of my bed saying, “You converted.” Groggily coming to, my mind scrambled to grasp her words – I converted? To Judaism? Organic living? A life of fighting crime wearing a skimpy hospital gown?
“Your heart converted back to a normal rhythm,” she clarified. “Now go back to sleep so we can get on our schedule of waking you up every 20 minutes throughout the night.”
With my heart back on script, the only remaining concern was why it went rogue on me in the first place. Because all the tests confirmed that I didn’t have any underlying heart disease, high blood pressure or thyroid issues, all the main causes of A-fib didn’t apply. The cardiologist called it “lone atrial fibrillation,” which is basically medical jargon for “sometimes stuff happens and with any luck it won’t happen again.”
Here’s what I think happened. My pericardium, a thin, two-layered, fluid-filled sac that covers the outer surface of the heart, became inflamed because of a viral infection. With the membrane around the heart swollen, the pressure caused changes in the normal heart rhythm bringing on the isolated episode of atrial fibrillation in an otherwise healthy man. But hey, I’m no expert . . . just a guy with a computer who Googles the Mayo Clinic.com and the New England Journal of Medicine.
Just to be safe though, I have made some lifestyle changes. I’ve converted to an organic diet and taken up interval training wearing a hospital gown. The healthy eating and extra exercise are great for my heart, and wearing the hospital gown reminds me of a profound but simple truism:
Life is short, so live fully and cover your butt when you can.
Alan Williamson is an award-winning writer with 27 years in the field of true fiction (advertising). A practical man who knows that writing for a living is risky going, he has taken steps to pursue a second, more stable career as a leggy super model. Alan can be reached at alwilly@bellsouth.net.