What is the first thing many Americans do in the morning? The reach for their coffee. They go buy it at a Starbucks, Dunkin' Donuts or some other chain coffee shop. Did you know that there are about 11,000 Starbucks in the U.S? There are over 5800 Dunkin Donuts in the U.S.. The average American consumes over 3 cups of coffee a day. Can anyone say "addiction"? Not to mention the sugary food that they buy along with the coffee. Can anyone say "another addiction"? This is how over 50% of the US population start their day. High on caffeine and sugar. From here it is all downhill. How can we make smart choices when we start the day in a sugar induced caffeine driven brain fog?
Where there used to be small family owned businesses there are now large corporately own Drug stores. There are more than 10,000 Walgreens in the U.S.. CVS and Rite-aid are not far behind. Why are there so many drug stores? Because we are on so many drugs. Nancy Reagan's campaign "Just say no" to drugs is long forgotten. Now we can't say no to drugs. If we do we are looked at as "granola", "alternative" or "risky". We wash our drugs down with our coffee (caffeine =drug) and follow that with a sweet treat (drug). This is how we begin to lose the ability to think clearly about our choices. From here on in we are lulled in by sexy ad campaigns and flashy marketing. All reasoning flies out the window.
As we head down Main Street it is hard not to notice the ridiculous amount of cell phone stores. Verizon, Sprint and At&t are just a few. There must be 10 in my town alone. We CAN'T live without our cell phone (addiction). In fact, more and more of us have more than one cellular device. Holy crap! Land lines are a thing of the past. Many people don't even have home phone lines. And if you try someone's home phone number no one will answer. I guess if you want to reach a person they can't be home. Some of us remember the days when we couldn't see who was calling. We can screen our calls to see if we want to "deal" with whomever is trying to reach us. Can anyone say avoidance? Sometimes I wonder if we have cell phones so we can keep track of who we are avoiding. This can't be healthy? I am not suggesting to get rid of our cell phones but perhaps we should be more aware of just how we are using them. Are we using them to communicate or to avoid communicating? I hear stories of people breaking up with people or getting fired via txt message. Really? This is NOT communicating. I guess we have so many cell phone stores because we have a lot of people we want to avoid!
As we travel along the street we find McDonald's, Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pizza Hut. Aren't these all owned by the same company. The look alike. They smell alike. They sell similar food-like substances. I know it is cheap. I feel like it is the same crappy food in a different colored container. And yet, Americans can't get enough of it because there is at least one of these chain stores in almost every town. One year ago there were 13,381 McDonald's in the US alone. There are over 32,000 locations internationally! There are 6000 Pizza Huts. Burger King has 7233 stores. The biggest fast food chain in the US is Subway with a whopping 23,336 locations in the U.S. That's a lot of meat. To make matters worse, these fast food chains tell us how we feel and what we want. McDonald's tells us "I'm lovin' it!" Pizza Hut says "It's your hut!" Burger King is still "Have it your way". KFC changed to just abbreviated letters because of the word "Fried" in their name. And who can ignore "America runs on Dunkin'"!
Finally, as I head down the street I see a bunch of corporate gas stations. Each trying to be a penny less than the other. But now gas stations don't just sell us gas. They want to sell us Mega-Soda and Old-fashioned hot dogs. They sell Krispy Kreme donuts, some sell Dunkin Donuts. I wonder if that counts towards their over 5800 stores. You can also get COFFEE-Gourmet Coffee in a gas station. You can even buy a cellular device and rent dvd's. Hmmm...I wonder if the gas station realizes that the more stuff they offer the less I have to drive. Then the less gas I need.
How can we be healthy when we are given so many 'chances' to make ourselves sick? It all starts first thing in the morning. Waking up to use drugs to get us going is a big red flag. Then we avoid uncomfortable situations with other people. Finally, big fast food companies, chose our food. What is a person to do if you live in a town with Main Street, USA and you want to be healthier?
I don't have any easy answers. I can only account for myself. I can make the best possible choices for myself and my family. I will say that if I can avoid big chain stores, I do. I try to patronize small family owned businesses whenever I can. Of course, the cell phone thing is impossible. I try to txt when I really don't need to communicate any important feelings. I grab a green drink in the morning at my friendly neighborhood natural foods store. I try to start my day with healthy choices so that I can make smart food choices and smart relationship choices for the rest of the day. It is the best way for me to insure I have a sharper brain and I am able to deal with uncomfortable situations better. Then I know that I'm am really lovin' it, I had it my way and I'm runnin' on what ever I decide to run on!
Blessings all!
