You First! Friday As It Was Intended

When I worked for Colgate -Palmolive, one of my greatest accomplishments was the creation of their first-ever branded wellness platform. It started out with my idea to make every Friday a day that would be dedicated to individual health and wellness.  I came to my manager with "YOU FIRST FRIDAYS" in hand and of course, he was supportive (so supportive that the management team totally overlooked the fact that I this was my initiative and they claimed it.....that's a whole other story).  Ahem....but.....the idea was such a good one that I was asked to make slight changes and expand the program to be simply called "YOU FIRST!" and later "YOUR HEALTH AT COLGATE", probably because in corporate America, putting yourself into anything and looking like you're goofing off in the nurse's office while you are actually taking care of your biggest needs, is not acceptable.  One of these days, I'll write about my "Personal Program Room" design.  But, for now, as I am a "retiree" rather than "employee", I can pretty much do what I want and today...today.....is.......ta da!  YOU FIRST FRIDAY!!!  

So, go ahead, take care of yourself today.  Be well and that does not mean "physically".  Wellness is so much more than that.  Use your eyes, your ears, your heart.  I'm doing that right now and hopefully, I will remember, if only on Fridays, to allow myself to think of what it is I need to be "well" and here's my first shot at it..........

There is something so right and so relaxing about the above photo.  I took it a week before Thanksgiving last year after a perfect afternoon out with my daughter and two granddaughters. It calms and soothes me. We were not going to be together for the holiday, so we had a Thanksgiving lunch at the Wayside Inn, not far from their home.

                                                                       
                                         

                     

And today, the third of a very, very cold snap, when the sky is grey and the wind is howling, I am using all of my "wellness tools" and finding that it's times such as these, that I don't need climate controls, that my climate is just perfect all of the time and that my world is just fine because I have people who make the wind stop and the sun rise, every single day..

                                           

That, and I have a lot of lavender. Everywhere.  Lavender everything.  I love lavender.  So much.

http://frenchfood.about.com/od/desserts/r/Lavender-Creme-Brulee-Recipe.htm