There Is a Benefit to Boosting the Immune System

As many of you know I have been sick for just under a week now. It is only a head and chest cold but since every bottle of red and green syrupy liquid in our bathroom expired two to six months ago I know it has been at least two years since I have had a significant illness. Even our aspirin was past its freshness date! Generally I am not a person who takes medication, in fact the reason the aspirin was expired is because I do not like to take that even for a headache, I feel that with a healthy diet, exercise, tons of water and the generally positive attitude I try to maintain most of the time I will stay energetic and ready to tackle the world. Most of the time it works but right now I have been dumping out old bottles, tossing them in the recycle bin and restocking with medicines that I have not been shy about taking the past few days to help me feel human.

One of the first things I do when I am sick is start drinking a glass of orange juice every day as I feel vitamin C has its own medicinal benefit. I try to drink it at night with dinner as I find my body is worn down by this point in the day and my immune system is at its lowest so it is in need of the extra boost. Last night as I was pouring my glass I looked at the juice container and immediately became impressed with Tropicana.

On the top of the carton are the words Rescue the Rainforest, a short blurb in reference to the rapidly declining number of trees in our rainforest and what we can do about it now that we have purchased this tasty beverage. In association with Coolearth, Tropicana is eager to preserve 100 square feet of rainforest for every promotional code entered on the Rescue the Rainforest website.

I went to the website, located my code on the carton and began the registration process. Registering on the site was quick and easy -- I first had to enter my birth date then complete a form providing an address and email (no phone number) and then it took me to the page to enter my 11 digit code. I entered the code and it was just that simple, I was thanked for helping to save 100 square feet of rainforest!

There is no limit to the number of times a new code can be entered! So if Tropicana orange juice is a staple in your household, or you just have one small carton like me, I strongly encourage everyone to take the two minutes to enter the information and help preserve this endangered resource. Upon completing registration, there is invaluable information regarding the current state of the rainforest and its resources on both the Coolearth and Tropicana websites. I hope everyone has a chance to read through this information as well as it is indeed eye opening.

Thinking Nothing but Healthy Thoughts

The tissues I received as the BBGG door prize were timely indeed, I have caught my first cold like something in well over two years and it has definitely knocked me out. It is difficult for a go-go gal like me to do nothing more than watch cheesy movies all day, to lie on my sofa and simply take care of myself. Sometimes the body has its own way of telling us to slow down however so today I am taking the hint.

I have been thinking all day about the ways I could tie my illness into an environmentally significant post -- touch on one of the comments I received regarding cloth hankies, the benefits of orange juice on the immune system or how I reduced my carbon footprint by not surfing the internet all day -- but in the end I want to do exactly what I have been advising friends and family that have caught various illnesses recently -- think healthy thoughts.

The power of our minds is just that, powerful. We have the ability to heal ourselves, acquire the things we want and do the things we want to do by focusing on them and allowing them to come to fruition. I am a firm believer in mind over matter and I imagine this is one of the main reasons why I have been exposed to many sick people this winter but have not yet caught anything myself; I live each day with the knowledge that I am simply a healthy person. This time I must laugh at the irony; my cold comes after literally a week of working from home, being exposed to virtually no one let alone a crop of sick people. As I lay here and type now I am visualizing myself up and around, starting yoga for the first time in a long time and enjoying swim class this upcoming Friday morning.

To see myself as healthy, breathing well and feeling no aches in my muscles makes me happy, it makes me feel like myself. With that feeling comes the knowledge that my body will do its best to cycle through this sickness and expel it quickly. I will do what I can to assist it by staying hydrated with juice, tea and water, eating bowlfuls of soup and taking it slow and steady so as not to aggravate any residual germs into a relapse. Then I will be again the person I know I am, healthy and happy.