Alex Marestaing's Blog, page 2

サプリメントに関しては…。

生活習慣病を防ぎたいなら、ダメな生活スタイルを見直すことが一番早いと言えますが、常日頃の習慣を突如として改めるというのはハードルが高すぎると思う人も少なくないでしょう。
「便が詰まることは、非常にやばいことだ！」と考えなければなりません。恒常的に食事とか軽いスポーツなどで生活を計画的なものにし、便秘を回避できる生活スタイルを続けることがとても大切になってくるというわけです。
ストレスに耐え切れなくなると、いろんな体調異常が生じるものですが、頭痛もそれに該当します。ストレスにより誘発される頭痛は、毎日の生活が問題となっているわけですから、頭痛薬を服用したところで治るはずないのです。
白血球の数を増やして、免疫力を強める力があるのがプロポリスであり、免疫力をレベルアップすると、がん細胞をやっつける力も強くなるという結果になるわけです。
プロポリスを求める際に確認したいのは、「どこの国から輸入されたものか？」ということなのです。プロポリスは多くの国で採集されているわけですが、国によって構成成分に多少違いがあるのです。

どんなに黒酢が嬉しい効果を供してくれるからと言いましても、とにかく多く服用したら良いというものではないのです。黒酢の効果や効能が有用に働くのは、最高でも0.3デシリットルが限度だと言われています。
ダイエットが上手くいかなかったという人を調べると、多くは基礎的な栄養まで縮小してしまい、貧血だの肌荒れ、その上体調不良に悩まされて放棄するようですね。
個々人で生み出される酵素の分量は、遺伝的に確定しているとのことです。今の若者は体内酵素が足りないようで、優先して酵素を確保することが必要不可欠になります。
便秘で苦悩している女性は、極めて多いのだそうです。どうして、ここまで女性は便秘に苦しめられるのか？それとは反対に、男性は胃腸を壊してしまうことが多いみたいで、下痢で辛い目に合う人も大勢いると言われています。
例外なく、一回は耳にしたり、現実に体験したことがあると思われる『ストレス』ですが、一体実態は何か？貴方自身はマジにご存知ですか？

２０種類程度のアミノ酸が、ローヤルゼリーには含まれているそうです。アミノ酸と言いますと、ダイエット効果をイメージされるかもしれませんが、生きていくうえで必要不可欠な成分だと言えます。
サプリメントというものは、あなたの治癒力や免疫力を上げるといった、予防効果を主目的とするためのもので、位置づけ的には医薬品には入らず、ただの食品となるのです。
サプリメントに関しては、医薬品みたいに、その効用もしくは副作用などのテストは十分には実施されていません。もっと言うなら医薬品と併用するという際は、要注意です。
何故感情的なストレスが疲労の原因になり得るのか？ストレスに強い人にはどんなタイプが多いか？ストレスを排除する為の究極の方法とは？などをご提示中です。
生活習慣病とは、中途半端な食生活など、身体に負担を与える生活をリピートすることが元で見舞われる病気だと言われています。肥満なども生活習慣病だと言われています。

The Stories Tour Podcast Episode One

Episode One: The West End Has Faith

Alex and actor David Birch of Matilda the Musical hang out in London’s West End and talk about Hamilton, mid show bathroom emergencies, and how faith is lived out on the London stage. A bonus story finds Alex at the international premiere of Stranger Things Season Two.

 

 

The Stories Tour UK

Happy Summer everyone. I love the feeling of hope that comes with the warmth of June, and I hope you’ve been able to enjoy a lot of sun time with the ones you love. (And for my Australian friends, I hope your winter is a good one)

Summer also means that my UK Stories Tour is right around the corner. I’m looking forward to meeting all of my UK friends at a few stops in Northern Ireland and Somerset this summer.  And, if you can’t make it, I’m also doing some radio appearances.

I’ve learned so much from a lot of talented producers, directors, musicians, and writers this year, and I can’t wait to share some of their stories when we meet this summer.

Here’s the schedule:

July 5 – The Breakfast Show (Branch FM UK)
August 8 – The Morning Show With Wendy Grace, Dublin, Ireland (Spirit Radio Ireland)
August 9-10 – New Horizon Conference, Ulster University Northern Ireland
August 11 – United 18 Conference – Royal Bath and West Showgrounds, Shepton Mallet UK

Wishing you hope-filled and peaceful months ahead.

 

 

A Break from Impossible

Hi Everyone,

I hope you’re doing well and that you’re heading towards summer with a heart full of hope. And if you’re not feeling too hopeful at the moment, just know that God is on the move. He always is.

I haven’t written a newsletter in a while because I’ve been busy writing, and rewriting, my latest book. My agent is now pitching it to publishers, which means I have a lot of time for other things, which is kind of awesome.

As you all probably know by now, chasing dreams is tiring. We dream the impossible, and sometimes, in a lightning-burst miracle, those dreams become reality.

…sometimes.

But most of the time, the impossible proves to be, well, impossible. We spend years desperately treading water in a sea of rejection letters. Books that don’t sell. High hopes that are dashed. Months of back-breaking work that goes to waste.  It’s absolutely exhausting.

As a writer, I’ve been through this roller coaster ride of emotions a million times, and I’ve begun to learn something. Occasionally, you need to take a total vacation from the impossible and focus on the present-day POSSIBLE.

Allow me to explain.  Yesterday, I started working on a new patio for our garden. Hard work, but, in a few weeks, I know I’ll have a patio. The patio is pretty much a sure thing.

Later, I helped my daughter, who’s heading off to college in the fall, complete some last-minute forms she had to fill out. She was stressed, and now she’s not as stressed. Success.

Then, I took my dog on a walk to make him happy. He’d been looking a little depressed. I opened the front door, and he bolted outside like a joyous tornado. I had to run to keep up with him. Mission accomplished!

I know this may seem so obviously simple. But chasing after dreams can be hope-shattering, tenuous, painful…and the dreams we’re after are never, ever, ever, a sure thing.

I know a lot of workshops and podcasts and blogs tell us to market more, get on social media more, write more, create more, pitch more, sell more, learn more….be more. But sometimes dreamers, it’s time to let the impossible go for a while, to focus on the present, to take time to work on the simple, the always rewarding, the always doable, POSSIBLE things in life.

You may not be able to get that impossible publishing deal right now, but you can write that email to a friend who needs encouragement.

You may not be able to fully mend that impossible, tangled relationship, but you can buy a gift and leave it on a front porch.

You may not be able to find that perfect one to marry now, but you can hang out with that friend who’s hurting.

You can play tag with your kids in the summer rain. You can take a late-night walk holding hands with the love of your life. You can go on that last-minute trip for ice cream after dinner. The kids will be happy. And, in the grand scheme of things, their opinions are the only opinions that truly matter.

And maybe, when we start enjoying the sweet and simple possible things, we’ll begin to realize that we’re not the people that our failures say we are. And maybe, we’ll begin to see that God can use us without the record deal, publishing contract, perfect family, million-dollar-job.

So, Dreamers, dream big, and hope bigger.…but also step off the front lines sometimes and focus on the POSSIBLE  things that are right in front of you.

Peace,

To Those Who Wait

And darkness will be rewritten

Into a work of fiction, you’ll see

– Sleeping At Last

 

To all my friends who wait,

For someone to love, for families to hold, for illnesses to end and normalcy to return,

For a child to be born or a child to come home,

For a friend, job, contract,  or dream…

Wipe your tears if you can, (and if you can’t that’s okay)

Buy yourself some coffee, (or tea if that’s better)

Turn on some music,

Sing a little, if you’re the singing type

Put your feet up and dream of sweet things

Read a good book or watch a soul stirring movie

Smile

…just because

Love your friends more, hug your family tighter, give the good things in life a kiss

and don’t forget, never forget, to trust

Because no matter what it is you’re waiting for…

God is on the move

…I promise

But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31)

Peace,

Alex

The Stories Tour

The Stories Tour will be heading to Ireland, The UK, Australia, and the U.S. this year. I’ll be talking about how to find a faith that’s wild enough to take risks, subtle enough to inspire, and strong enough to question things. Here’s what’s up:

Northwest Christian Writers in Seattle on February 5
The Wordsowers Conference in Omaha on April 28
The New Horizon Conference at Ulster University Northern Ireland on August 9 and 10
United 18, Royal Bath and West Showgrounds, UK on August 11 (Details TBA)
The Omega Conference in Adelaide, Australia on October 26 and 27

More dates on the way. I’ll keep you posted.

Rain

We’ll tell our stories on these walls

Every year, measure how tall

And just like a work of art

We’ll tell our stories on these walls

With each year, our color fades

Slowly, our paint chips away

But we will find the strength

And the nerve it takes

To repaint and repaint and repaint every day

I’m sitting in SeaTac airport in Seattle watching the rain pour down on cold runways. Weird how just a couple of hours ago I was in sunny California, and now I’m in this beautiful gray.

I have about forty minutes to write, so I’ll make this quick. I have a speaking engagement on Monday night, and my daughter and wife decided to tag along…YAY!  Unfortunately, by the time they decided to come, my earlier flight was way too expensive, so they’re on a later flight. So I’m presently waiting at the airport for them, which is totally fine with me because I’m more than thrilled to have them along.

See, I’ve been traveling alone a lot lately, and every time I step out my front door, bags in hand, I suddenly feel weaker, like Superman without his cape, or Spiderman without his web slinging ability. I know it sounds cliche, but I’m so much stronger when I’m with my wife and kids. And that’s not a bad thing. Not at all. I think it’s the way it’s God’s wired us. To need others. To long for their company. To walk through life hand in hand.

And when we rely on one another, we realize that people matter, friends matter, family matters. Then things suddenly become clearer…our purpose, our meaning, our focus.  And the things we thought were so important – like the new book I’m working on and the summer travel schedule I’ve frantically been trying to finalize this week – suddenly seem way less important.

Sure, it would be easier to rely on my family less, to travel without the sting of homesickness, to be strong and independent. But I’m fine with the way it is for now. As my daughter Emma says, “love hurts, but I never want it to go away.”

Anyway, their plane is just about to land, and I’m starting to feel the strength coming back…. ha ha. Gotta go.

 

 

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Rejections Are Opinions

I know, it’s not a long blog post, but a necessary one. Any artistic endeavor, any vision, any dream, will be met with rejection from time to time. It just happens. So rather than packing up the idea and calling it a day, steady yourself against the wind and take a step forward, then another, and another, and….

Spin

The Whirling Dervishes, a Sufi Muslim sect, spin.  Have you ever seen YouTube videos of them? They spin for hours, trying desperately to touch the divine.  They spin to hear heaven’s voice. They spin for healing. They  spin themselves into a trance so they can leave the burdens of this earth behind.

Some of us shake our heads at the futility of this manic twirling.  But you know what?

We spin too.

We spin because we want God’s blessings. We spin because we’re hurting. We twist and turn because we want to hear His voice. We spin because it makes us look better.

We spin because we desperately want God’s acceptance, acceptance we already have.

We spin because countless Christian books, and radio hosts, and sermons tell us to…

Do more

Say more

Give more

Be more

As many of you know, I’ve been on a quest this year, a quest to learn from Christian artists who have found ways to make an impact on secular culture. In talking to these award-winning filmmakers, directors, animators, and musicians, I’ve noticed something. They’re singularly focused on what they do. They know who they are, who they’re meant to be, and chase after that with all their hearts. And in doing so, they’ve had to say NO… to good things that aren’t their things, to church things that take them away from God things, to anything that takes them away from their purpose, to anything that causes them to spin.

See, in order to make an impact, we need time. Time to heal, time to think, time to listen, and time to be excellent. Excellent in our art, excellent in our relationships, excellent at saying no to the guilt that wants to pull us away from who we’re meant to be. In other words, we need to stop spinning.

Stop and be still…

Be still and enjoy the life God has given us. Be still and enjoy our families, our friends, the blue sky outside, all gifts that came with no strings attached.

Or maybe it’s time to be still and sit patiently in the painful silence and wait…wait for the answers we’ve been crying out for instead of trying to conjure them up. Then, just maybe,  we’ll be able to hear God’s whisper, the whisper that says

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  29   Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  30   For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matt. 11:28-30)

There has to come a point in our relationship with God that we finally feel like we’re okay, comfortable, at ease with the amazing relationship God has given to us through His son.  It’s time to finally embrace the fact that God loves us already. He accepts us for who we are and hears our prayers, our sighs…our silence.

So to all of you who are tired of spinning, be still with me this year. And this time, maybe we’ll finally give Him the glory for the miracles that find their way into our lives, because it wasn’t our spinning that brought the blessings.

It never was.

 

 

 

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I Know You

As I venture into 2018, I have this poem stuck in my head, “The Gods Tremble Before Quiet Strength”  by Iain Thomas.  When my poetry-loving daughter read them to me, they just seemed to take hold and not let go.

I know you best when you are brave.

I know you when your strength comes from your compassion and when

your greatest fear, is that you have not been compassionate enough.

I know you when you look at others not as others but as people you might

have been, as people your parents might have been, as people your children

might still be.

I know you and I see you when you stand up.

I know you and I see you when they tell you to be afraid, to hate, to go

away from the world, to go away from each other. I know you and I see you

when they scream storms at you, when they bury you beneath mountains,

when they drown you in oceans, when they push you under and yet still you

whisper from the deepest part of you:

“No.”

And when you do, I look at you and I say,

“There you are. I know you.”

“There you are. I know you.” I don’t know why exactly, but Thomas’s words really hit home. See, as humans we’re  constantly collecting. Collecting knowledge. Collecting sermon notes that end up crumpled up in pockets and purses. Collecting pats on the back, followers on social media, people to fill our pews, and sales, always sales. The sad thing is, in all our collecting,  in all our busyness, we can forget what really matters, knowing the hearts of those around us and letting ourselves be known, by others and, more importantly, by God.

I know, it’s a big ask. I mean, how can we be known by the maker of the universe? Well, I think that God knows us when our ministries are focused not on collecting, but on connecting. When we strive to know the hearts of others and honestly share ours. When we use our platforms to give hope to the lonely and to stand against injustice. And when we create, not only for ourselves, but for “the least of these” because, when we do, we’ve done it unto God.

                                                                                   “There you are. I know you.”

At the end of 2018, I want to hear these words. From my wife, from my kids, from my friends. And, mostly, from the quiet whisper of God….There you are. I know you. 

See, I’ve spent a lot of years trying to know more about God, but this year I want to spend some time letting God know me.

Just a few thoughts from a heart that’s always wondering. Have an awesome 2018 friends.

Peace,

 

 

If you have any comments or questions, or want to learn more about my Stories Tour speaking engagements, sign up for my newsletter.

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First Stop Seattle

As I drove away from the Omega Writers Conference in Sydney a couple of weeks ago, I spent some time thanking God for the opportunity to be able to meet so many talented, creative people doing awesome things with their work.

Travelling and speaking has by far been one of the biggest blessings in my life, and I can’t wait for 2018. I’m home for a couple of months now as the holiday season begins, but next year should be a great one as my Stories Tour takes off for another season.

First stop is Northwest Christian Writers in Seattle on February 5. I’ll be speaking about my new project and about finding our creative voices at their monthly writers meeting. If you’re in Washington, come on by. Once I get a link, I’ll try to post it here.

Well, I’m off to do some more writing. I’m really excited about the new book. It’s called From a Whisper to a Shout…at least for now. Can’t wait to share it with you all when I’m finished. If you want some every-once-in-a-while updates, creative tips, and book news from my world, you can sign up for my email newsletter using the contact form below. And, of course, if you have any comments, questions or want to let me know how your own creative projects are going, you can use the form to let me know as well