The 4-Hour Body
Good Morning, God!
Yesterday was slow and sleepy. A lovely Sabbath Day. After church I prepared brunch for us and then fell into a deep sleep. Kit went over to visit my mom — who beat him in Scrabble — while I steamed beets, watered my plants, made almond butter, and later pesto.
Then we both went to bed early. Oh joyous day!
But, in between all of that I rediscovered The 4-Hour Body and read it, off and on, during the day. I have such a weakness for self-help books, God.
I suppose it is because they offer me hope — offer me an opportunity for more self-control. Hmmm. Anorexics are looking for that sense of self-control, too, aren’t they God? A serious thought. But our need for a sense of self-control is vital to our well-being.
In listening to Dr. Servan Schreiber’s video yesterday, it was the part about rats, stress, and personal control that lodged in my mind. I shared it with Kit and it keeps coming back into my mind. It seems that when researchers injected cancer cells into rats, 56% recovered. But in an identical set of rats given cancer cells plus random electric shocks, only 23% recovered. Demoralized, those rats had given up.
The key part of the experiment came in the third group of rats. They got the injection of cancer cells, they got the random electric shocks. But they had a lever in their cages that when pressed would shorten the shocks. Those rats had a 63% recovery rate.
So, God, I guess, for me, a good self-help book acts as a “lever,” providing an enhanced sense of self-control. Please, God, may I expand both my self-control and my self-care.
Story teller,
A Moment with God 
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