Mood Swings: Saying No to Hormonal Havoc

It's ironic that I've chosen today to write about mood swings. Yesterday was supposed to be my running day and I wasn't able to go. Today, with the melting snow, slushiness abounds; therefore my prospects for relief are not good at this point. Last night I didn't sleep well, and that along with certain "cyclic" factors have left me feeling somewhat moody and unstable.

I have come to recognize over the years that there are a number of variables that influence a woman's level of emotional stability. Through applying this knowledge on a fairly consistent basis, I have found those things to be of great help in balancing my moods and emotions.

That being said, there will always be certain areas that are out of our control.

Yet getting a handle on the things that we can control can make all the difference.

These things are ordered by degree of importance. For that reason, it might make the most sense to tackle one area at a time, starting with number one and persisting with that until it has become a habit; then proceed from there.

Anyway, for me, it looks like this...

1. I start each day with prayer and Bible study. This helps me to begin my day with the acknowledgment that God is in control, and that His purposes and plans are greater than mine. I pray that He will order my day and help me to prioritize according to His will. That helps to relieve my load tremendously, calms my brain, and enables me to channel my energies more effectively.

2. I eat balanced meals and snacks, which does not require perfection. I don't feel like I've "fallen off the wagon" if I have a dessert, or eat Pringles or fries with a meal.

A focus on deprivation wouldn't cut it for me.

What I have found though is that the more I focus on on healthful eating, the less room there is on my plate and in my belly for sugar laden junk.

Some things I try to include in each meal are as follows...

-protein- meat, beans, nuts, or quinoa
-healthy fats- whole milk, Greek yogurt (with fat in it), cheese, coconut oil, olive oil, etc.
-carbohydrates- whole wheat bread, brown rice, quinoa, corn or wheat tortilla, etc.
-fruit juice with breakfast, veggies with other meals

If I eat a snack, I usually go for trail mix or nuts. Junk food doesn't give me energy; if I eat that stuff because I'm tired, I just end up feeling worse. If I'm going to eat those things, I find that it's better to eat them with or after a balanced meal. Then I'm less likely to overindulge.

3. Exercise brings amazing balance to my system, mentally as well as physically. I don't kill myself with that either, though. It might be the nature of my "job" and the fact that I'm always moving anyway, but I find that a three mile run every third day is enough to bring the balance that I need.

4. Sleep makes a world of difference to my mood. If only there were a magic wand that we could wave to ensure that we get enough every night...

There are some things I have learned that will increase the likelihood of getting a good night's sleep. They are as follows...

-eating balanced meals
-exercising
-early to bed, early to rise
-taking a short nap, no longer than 45 minutes midday
-slowing down when I feel my body is telling me to do so
-not watching TV or reading anything that overstimulates me close to bedtime
-no caffeine after 2PM

None of these things produce perfection. Hormones themselves can interfere with sleep. Yet, as I've applied these principles, my sleep has greatly improved.

5. Our bodies need routine and predictability to establish our natural rhythms for optimal health. For those of you who have kids, you've probably already recognized that they function better in a framework of routines. We are no different. This will look different in every family.

Applying these principles has brought much needed balance for me, mentally as well as physically. Mood swings are more likely to occur only a couple times a month, rather than on an ongoing basis.

This enables me to step back and objectively observe the process, rather than feeling frustrated in the midst of it. I'm able to better recognize my triggers and to discern those times when I'm going to need to exert more effort to tame my tongue, or when I just need to back off and take a little time for myself.

I truly hope that these suggestions will be of help to you. Are there things that you've learned that have enabled you to minimize the effects of hormonal havoc? If so, please comment. Thank you in advance for reading and for sharing. Have a great day.

Coming Home

How many women out there are leaving their babies daily with people they wouldn't trust with their purses?

As the pace of life gets faster and our "to do" lists get longer, people tend to live in default, a mode that results in making decisions with less thought and care than they would if we lived in a simpler world with fewer options.

Please note that I in no way mean to say that every mama could or should be home with her baby for the first five years. Every family is unique, personally and financially. There are single moms who do not have the option of staying home because they are the primary breadwinners in their households.

Yet I have no doubt that it would be in the best interest of every child from birth to five whose moms are able...mentally, physically, and financially, for their mothers to be their primary caregivers all day, every day during those first years.

It would be better for the family unit as a whole if mamas would devote this time to establishing and building loving relationships with their children, without the distractions that inevitably result from working full time away from them.

Better health and functioning in families would bode well for society as a whole.

So many women are in a position in which they feel that they have to work outside of the home to meet the needs of their families. The truth is though that in many situations, that decision was made well before baby's birth.

This might have involved the choice to buy an expensive house that they now have little time to live in, or the decision to buy a fancy car to keep up with others who were doing the same. More generally, the choice may have been one to live a lifestyle centered around materialism, as opposed to embracing the beauty of a simpler life, one that is less rushed and busy, and that allows moms to focus more on the things and people that matter most.

I was that person with the job and the plan to keep working while raising my children. I scoffed at my Mama's claims that I wasn't going to be able to go back to work after the birth of my first child. What did she think, that I was some kind of weakling? Other women did it and so could I. I had gone to college to be a teacher, and for goodness sake, we had a house to pay for. These things, from my perspective, made her claim seem simply out of this world.

And then she turned out to be at least partly right.

I had my son in May 2003, and enjoyed my maternity leave and summer off. In July, the countdown began, the countdown to leaving my nursing infant every weekday so I could go out into the "real world" to do what strong women do.

I did go back to work, a place that I had enjoyed prior to becoming a mama, but where satisfaction was no longer to be found. I hear people tell new moms that it will get easier; truly, I didn't want it to get easier. To embrace that ease would have been to deny my maternal instincts, the most powerful, meaningful part of who I was becoming, to embrace a life of less.

After a couple of months, I put in my resignation. I remember a meeting with our principal and assistant principal, in which they tried ever so kindly to encourage me to stay. They reasoned that children often need their mothers more when they become teenagers than they do when they are small, and that I might want to consider working until that time.

I did not agree.

I've since reasoned that a good, stable, and loving home environment in the early years is likely to produce a grounding and security in children that will enable them (and us as parents) to weather the teenage years more effectively.

A good foundation is vital to the strong construction of anything, right?

We haven't yet had the opportunity to determine whether or not my prediction was correct, as my oldest will be only (ONLY!) eleven in May.

And now back to the story...we cushioned my transition to home financially by starting a home daycare, which was a fairly seamless transition for me professionally because of my degree in Early Childhood Education. Having friends over every day was a blessing for my children as well.

By the time we got around to having our third child, we were able to afford to live comfortably without the extra income that my job had provided so we closed our home daycare, which enabled me to focus completely on our growing family, a transition that I was excited to make.

If you're one of those moms who feels that need to be home with your kid(s), I encourage you to consider your options. In all likelihood, your skill set looks very different from mine. Think about how your talents and skills might transfer to something that you can do on more of a part time basis, or at home full time.  Do your research, and most importantly, take it to the Lord in prayer.

This, sweet mama, is one of the most important decisions you will ever make.

Sometimes the lives that we had planned are quite inferior to the lives we could be living.

"Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." (Proverbs 3:4,5)

Bill Nye/Ken Ham Debate

Wow! I can't believe I've chosen such a controversial topic for my first blog post. Yet, living a "Life Unchained" will certainly lead me to step out of my comfort zone on occasion. Besides, in truth, I don't think I really chose this particular post. I believe it is more accurate to say that it chose me.

Last night, Bill Nye, best known as "the Science Guy," and Ken Ham, founder of the Creation Museum in Kentucky met to debate Ham's assertion that the creation account as recorded in the Bible should be presented alongside evolution in science classes across our nation. 

Bill Nye recently made the statement that creationism is not appropriate for kids and that "if parents want to deny evolution...that's fine, but don't make your kids do it because we need them, we need engineers that can build stuff, solve problems."

Why should you care about any of this? 

Well, if you are a Christian or adhere to any religious doctrine, you should care because the status quo in regard to such things sets a certain environment in education, determines what can and can not be taught in your child's school, driving the way that textbooks are written, and potentially setting the stage for a world view that may be in opposition to your own.

As a supporter of science and technology, you should care because many perceive Biblical creationism as a threat to science and its applications today. They think that a belief in creationism might answer too many questions, thereby squelching the pursuit of knowledge and inquiry, resulting in a decline in creativity and innovation in the United States.

Definitions

creationism-belief that life arose as recorded in the book of Genesis in the Bible, with God creating heavens and the earth and everything in it over the course of 6 days; resulting from genealogy as is laid out in the Bible, creationists believe that the earth is between six and ten thousand years old.
intelligent design- the theory that life, or the universe, cannot have arisen by chance and was designed and created by some intelligent entity (Online dictionary)
evolution-theory that asserts that "life arose from non-life" and that "over millions of years, matter became more complex until, by some chance of volcanic activity or lightning, there was a sudden transformation to the organic state, the beginning of life." Evolutionists believe that the earth is billions of years old. More specifically, this is macroevolution.
microevolution- theory approved by generally all scientists; presently observable premise that there is "evolutionary change within a species or small group of organisms, esp. over a short period." (online dictionary)
natural selection-"the process whereby organisms better adapted to their environment tend to survive and produce more offspring. The theory of its action was first fully expounded upon by Charles Darwin and is now believed to be the main process that brings about evolution." (online dictionary) Note again, this is generally accepted in the scientific community by both creationists and evolutionists. The difference lies in the fact that evolutionists group all living things together in one family line, while creationists believe that natural selection occurs only within a kind or species.

My Summary

I saw most of the debate but not all. Here is my account from what I gleaned from those moments. I in no way mean to put words in either man's mouth. I am just sharing the events as I remember them.

Ken Ham did an effective job of expressing the fact that there are many scientists with PHDs who adhere to the creationist view of the origin of life, some of whom even joined the debate by video and shared their views. 

Ham also shared some of the weaknesses of the radiometric dating method, highlighting instances in which its results have been proven inaccurate. 

Additionally, he explained that we have seen no observable instances in which DNA has been added to facilitate change in an organism, pointing out at least one example in which this was thought to be so, but turned out to be incorrect. The DNA in that particular organism had been there all along but simply was not activated until a certain point in time.

These were some of his strongest points, in my opinion. A significant amount of his time was spent discussing the teachings of the Bible, which may have gone over well with fundamentalist Christians but not so much among those in the general scientific community.

Nye came out confidently, presenting a well-earned wealth of knowledge, encompassing about every field of science a person could think of. He came across as a person open to change in any instance in which reliable physical evidence is found to support it. 

While Ham spent time distinguishing between observable and historical science, Nye emphasized the importance of utilizing previously acquired knowledge to move forward in our understanding of the world, thereby promoting discovery and innovation. 

He made a strong point of expressing his opinion that Ham's creation model only attempts to answer questions about life's origins, while showing no potential of scientific progress or capabilities. He challenged Ham to offer any one scientific prediction he could make as a result of his creation model of science. Ham didn't produce on that one.

My Take

People have a tendency to emphasize the facts that support their previous held opinions, while ignoring those that do not.

Every person approaches this argument with presuppositions.

It is easy for creationists and proponents of intelligent design to perceive scientific discovery as evidence of the hand of God or a designer. The fact that people have made amazing mathematical predictions that have been confirmed in the field of astronomy only strengthens their belief that all that is seen in the universe was created by design. That things observed in the world can be backed up by logic and good sense fuels their belief that the heavens and the earth did not just happen, but were created with a purpose and a plan.



Those presuppositions are easier for me to grasp because they line up with my own.

Though I believe most evolutionists won't admit it, they have their own presuppositions as well. I found a list of them written by D.Q. Inerny in his "Philosophical Psychology" textbook, written as follows...

-Life came to be through natural means with no need for divine intervention.
-"Life arose from non-life" and "over millions of years, matter became more complex until, by some  chance volcanic activity or lightning, there was a sudden transformation to the organic state, the beginning of life."
-All life on earth has descended from one primitive form of life.
-"It all began with a simple cell that underwent changes."
-Natural selection-survival of the fittest (check out definition in Definitions section)
-The process happens without direction.

Sometimes you just have to lay it all on the table, so here it goes...

For Ken Ham and creation scientists, I think you will be most productive if you will bang the Bible a little less and get into the lab and textbooks a little more. There are great scholarly articles at the answersingenesis.org. Focus on those and continue to develop more of them.

We all know that the framework of all that you do is God and His Word. I adhere to that and greatly respect it. 

Yet, you've got to remember who you're dealing with. These people are looking for concrete facts and are not likely to sway their notions in response to Bible verses. Let God's truth guide and direct you as you endeavor to seek more answers in the scientific world in effort to back up design. It's all around us. Keep going.

To evolutionists, I would suggest that you stop putting misleading stuff in our textbooks. If this is a done deal as you all claim, there would be no need to mislead.

In his book, "Icons of Evolution," Biologist Jonathan Wells shares that a number of textbooks continue to share inaccurate evidence for evolution long after they had been refuted by science. Examples are...

-Haeckel's embryo drawings. It has been know since the 1860s that they were falsified. That they even made it into 20th and 21st century textbooks is enough to make one believe that deception is the underlying intent.
-The Miller experiment. Though we now know that the the early atmosphere was not at all like the one that Stanley Miller used, this is still shared in many Biology texts without critique. 
-Lack of acknowledgment that there are weaknesses in Darwin's "Tree of Life" model. The Cambrian Explosion raises far too many questions about the theory of evolution for students not to be taught about the weaknesses of the theory.

I'm good with having theories in our textbooks, lies not so much.

As Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, "The means that we use must be as pure as the ends that we seek."

Stay true. Then we'll listen to what you have to say.