Yeah. Well. Truth be told, I put Goat Poop Oil on my face. Pretty much, every morning. It isn’t as bad as it sounds really. I saw the news story on 60 Minutes about a year ago. If I have mentioned this before, sorry. I write a lot of things and I don’t keep a tally. But yes. Goat Poop Oil.
Here is the thing. It is supposed to help your wrinkles. Years ago I smoked like a freaking banshee, and now, I have wrinkle-chin. Funny how we are. I think if someone had warned me about wrinkle-chin, and the ensuing goat-poop treatment, I would have quit smoking a lot sooner than what I did.
Back to the oil. It comes from Morocco, which is right there at the top of Africa. Right below Spain. That has to be good, right? Anyway, they have these trees there called Argania Trees. Craggy trees, with fruits and nuts. The goats climb way up into the trees, and start munching away. After the goats finish eating the fruit and nuts off the tree, they pass these valuable clumps of seeds. People go around and harvest this nutty poop, which is then pressed to create the sought-after Argan oil.
That’s the oil I put on my face. I don’t know that it is doing much good, but I sure do like that way it feels. And truthfully? It smells pretty nice too. So I am happy to spread it on my chin each morning. It gives me little moments of joy, and who can Argan with that?
Ugh.
Anyway, a lot of people have “things” they do that they believe is helping their well-being. Most of it, without any significant scientific data. Some “Cures” and “Diets” and “Remedies” are based very loosely on modest to flimsy studies. But we do these things anyway because we like to believe in the magic pill. I’ll have the blue one, please.
Probably the most obvious throughout time, are the weight-loss magic wands. High-protein, hold the bread, double the cheese, eat standing on your head, have mayonnaise and bananas for three weeks and then switch to nothing but Nilla Wafers. Paleo this. Gluten that. Blah, blah. It goes on. Endlessly.
But the self-help goes way beyond and back again.
People also engage in practices, like yoga, meditation, qigong, martial arts, exercise. More.
There are the other Usual Suspects on the list. Cleanses, red wine, chocolate, kale, Ginko Biloba, Rocky Balboa, I’ll have a Nutter-Butter-Peanut-Butter-Sandwich-Cookie, just don’t squeeze the Charmin cures.
Some people take supplements. Yes indeed-eeeee. I traveled with some folks once, and they had gallon-zipper-bags full of supplements. They seemed okay on the outside, but heaven only knows what is going on underneath it all.
There are all sorts of paths. Homeopathic Medicine, Acupuncture, Herbs, Crystals, Juice Therapy, Aromatherapy. Vitamins. And. On.
Honey, garlic, ginger, probiotics, St. John’s Wort, coffee, tea, aloe, vinegar, peppermint. Patty.
Goat. Poop. Oil.
No matter.
I think if we believe in something, it is true for us. People believe in things they can’t see, or prove, all the time.
If we tell our minds to wholly believe it is factual and correct, our brains give us the feedback, and convinces us of the reality. And really? Reality is subjective.
So today. Be who you want to be. Do what you want to do. And believe what you want to believe. It makes you, you.
And with that. I hope, very soon, you will encounter some little moment of truth, which is in your core. I also hope it is something SO crazy-good, that will last in your heart for years and years to come. And when other people look you right in the eye, they will know you have found that something true, and incredibly good.
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“A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.”
― Mark Twain
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“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.”
― Aldous Huxley
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“Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened.”
― Winston S. Churchill
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“The reason I talk to myself is because I’m the only one whose answers I accept.”
― George Carlin
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