So far for me, ginger is my best natural decongestant. After one of my ginger drinks I usually get 1-2 hours of much clearer sinuses.

Love me some ginger!

My ginger drink recipe

Although I started consuming both to help strengthen my immune system, I’ve found they also help cut my cravings for junk food.

This is huge and pleasant surprise! I’ve been a life-long lover of junk food, both chips and sodas, and my cravings for both are almost gone.

My eczema has a cycle. It starts with an overwhelming need to itch…which I fight as long as I can. At some point, the need to itch becomes so compelling and demanding, I give into it and itch. And oh, it feels soooo good at first. The relief is almost orgasmic.

The problem is, once I start itching, even an itsy bitsy bit, I can’t stop. It’s like the whole impacted area wakes up and demands to join the itchfest. So I keep itching until, finally, I’m itched out. Of course, by the time that happens, my skin is irritated and raw so it hurts in a whole new way.

The secret then, is to avoid itching altogether. And if you think that’s simple, then you’ve never had eczema.

In December, my “need to itch” to “itch free” ratio hit a new high where the former was almost constant. I decided to take action by investigating home remedies to combat the problem.

Among my successes to help relieve or decrease the need to itch are:

The reason? Between my watering eyes, constantly runny nose and incredible itchiness from allergy-related eczema, I couldn’t stand it anymore.

I’ve been doing a lot of different things since early December and one delicious change is substituting raw honey for refined sugars.

Aside from honey being a healthy substitute for refined sugar, it’s also having the delightful effect of helping to cut my cravings for junk food.

This December everything came to a head. I reached a point of almost continual itch to the point of severe distraction. And I became tired of my constantly watering eyes and sore eyelids from the weeping. Not to mention my close attachment to a box of Kleenex.

However, I didn’t want to have to resort to a pile of drugs to help myself, for either my allergy or eczema. First, I prefer to take minimal drugs and second, they’re way to expensive.

So I resolved to find more natural methods to improve my health. I’m not a doctor but I am a hell on wheels researcher.

Education in America today elicits mixed feelings from me but mostly I’m not impressed.

First I'm very much an intellectual. Twenty years ago, I would have impressed on any kid that college is a must. However, in today's world, high school kids face two issues – 1. Outsourcing, and 2. Expensive college educations that can leave them burdened with debt.

Thus, I find myself changing my view on college – and believe me it’s a shock.

So I highlighted my hair blue.

Ever since, I’ve broken out into unprovoked grins of delight from doing one outrageously different thing in my life. It’s a little thing but it’s stimulating me to find ways to Live Life Bold.

Would love to hear your stories about your other acts of outrageousness.  Dish!

P.S. Next haircut…I’m going with purple highlights.  Can't wait!

The problem for some of us, or maybe all of us some of the time, is when we get caught up in deluded fantasy instead.  If inspiration is the divine, then fantasy is the hell dimension that drags us away from our live and into its pit.

How to do, how to do.  Then it hit me…life-changing epiphany.

Every weakness is a strength. 

I realized however deep my failures are indicate the height of my possible success. 

Ernest's wisdom has stayed with me a decade or so later because It's. Absolutely. True.

As “they” say, change is the only constant in life.  Another truism is change is always stressful, even when it’s welcome, because change always, always requires some form of sacrifice.  The magnitude of stress escalates, though, when change is imposed. 

If you're like me and are a natural change agent, then how do you handle yourself to avoid the fallout of being a rebel while still being true to your nature?  Let's talk strategies to be welcomed as an awakening change agent.