Why? vs Why not???

Why don't we listen? Why aren't we listening to ourselves? 
It wasn't until after my year of travel and coming back to settle down (for a moment?) in the little village of Samara that it really strikes me. I left it all behind! I spent my whole life being programmed. By parents,  sibling/relatives, the TV and it's ridiculous commercials (which so many people watch for hours every day). By friends, religion, government, and health care providers. We are programmed to follow, and not listen to our true selves and that inner voice gets squashed in the process, with only brief moments of awareness. I ran around doing things that didn't make me happy, just relieved they are over with. Things I am told I HAVE to do, so I tell myself I must do it. 
I see it all around me, and it comes in many forms. Through strong opinions and condemnation, through bossiness, commandments, indifference when no one listens to what I am saying. Through false or conflicting media, fostered dependence, devaluation, and a million distractions both big and little. 

I see the opposite here in Samara. I spend a fraction of the time on how I look, for example. No choosing earrings (or buying them, or storing them), or make-up, or matching shoes to an outfit (I only have 3 pairs. You heard me, 3). No hair drying and styling. No buying and using products like mousse or gel or hairspray or hair dye. Giving me additional time for the important and more natural things in life.
So much less time spent wandering the aisles of Walmart (department stores) and grocery stores and preparing big cooked meals one, two, or three times a day (ok, never in my life did I feel the need to cook a big breakfast, but you get my point). Now I eat a simple breakfast. I eat a regular lunch, and if I'm still hungry in the evening I eat a mango or an avocado. More time for the important things in life.

Why not simplify life? Why do we spend so much time in the kitchen organizing, cooking, cleaning, and stocking? Why do we eat foods that are so incredibly processed and then wonder why our health is on the line in a million different ways? Both physical and mental. If you had to go on a salt free diet do you know how much your daily meals would change? A cup of whole milk can have up to 100 mg of sodium in it. It's in everything. Do you know what your daily salt/sodium intake is? I encourage you to read labels for one day. If your life is too busy for that, or you hesitate for any reason, I encourage you to ask yourself why. Or perhaps, "Why not?" I have tried so many times to consider the idea of going one whole day with no sugar, but that day does not exist! Even if I exclude avoiding the natural sugars in fruits. (http://www.sugarstacks.com/ is a great website to check out). 
A quote from http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/difference-between-sucrose-glucose-fructose-8704.html
is:
Sucrose, glucose and fructose are important carbohydrates, commonly referred to as simple sugars. Sugar is found naturally in whole foods and is often added to processed foods to sweeten them and increase flavor. Your tongue can't quite distinguish between these sugars, but your body can tell the difference.

Here is my last rogue idea of the morning. When is the last time someone asked you "How are you?"? What was your reply? My usual reply is: "I'm fine and fabulous. How are you?" Which in no way describes how I feel 100% of the time. But 100% of the time it brings a smile to my face. So I programmed myself to say that, to try and generate some good energy. And why not? Sometimes a foul mood or a small headache can be altered by a smile. So many things that make us feel less than Fine and Fabulous are based on a lack of awareness. It was for me, for so many years. I wasn't aware of how I was talking to myself. I wasn't aware of how what I was eating was ruining my brain's abilities, and my body's abilities.

I'm reading a great book right now called The Year of the Frog, A Tattletale Fairytale by Juls Amor. It's phenomenal. The page I just read said that she hoped the people she left behind when she moved would be ok, especially her clients as a therapist. She wanted them to know they were ok. That they were actually more than ok. They were perfect. And it really struck me. We walk around sometimes not even able to say: "I'm okay". Why is that?? Why shouldn't I answer every time: "I am perfect in this moment, thanks for asking!". Why can't we be perfect in our struggles and our pain and imperfections? I want to be beautiful in my imperfections. I want to feel that level of acceptance and faith in the Universe, and in myself. I bought a new dictionary, and it has a new and improved definition of "Perfect". To be fully engaged in the moment. I am always perfectly "me". How can I not be me? To not be myself is to give away my responsibility to myself. That is a hollow, victim-based life of pain and of my own choosing. 
If you have ever thought: "It shouldn't have to be this way!" then you are right. It doesn't. 

Last New Year's Eve was a very painful time for me. One incident ruined my entire first week of 2017. Threw me into a nasty tailspin. Now it's the end of 2017 and I'm in awe of all that I accomplished because I decided to be beautiful in my imperfections. To embrace all of life, both the good and the bad and let it be. There is growth in the things we label as Bad and Painful. My motto was: Let Love Win. And it did. The mood of 2017 was not dictated by the awful first few moments that lasted a week. The sun always shines above the clouds, my friends. Without fail. Unless it's night time. At which point you wait for the coming morning light. And it always comes. At least it has so far, right? Every day of my life so far. I consider that a good sign.