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	<title>Bruce R. CrossThe Magic of Prunes &#8211; Bruce R. Cross</title>
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	<description>Helping You Discover a Place Called HOPE!</description>
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		<title>The Magic of Prunes</title>
		<link>https://brucercross.com/the-magic-of-prunes/</link>
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		<pubDate>Wed, 09 Oct 2013 01:10:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Bruce</dc:creator>
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				<description><![CDATA[Are you feeling a little sluggish today?  &#160; Do you feel a little stuck and not moving forward?  Is life cramping your style?  If so, I have good news for you.   Your solution might be found in the phrase, The Magic of Prunes! I repeated this phrase daily to our team while on a multi-day [&#8230;]]]></description>
					<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong><span style="color: #800000;"><i>Are you feeling a little sluggish today?  </i></span></strong></p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #800000;"><i>Do you feel a little stuck and not moving forward?  </i></span></strong></p>
<p><strong><i><span style="color: #800000;">Is life cramping your style? </span> </i></strong></p>
<p>If so, I have good news for you.   Your solution might be found in the phrase, <strong><span style="color: #800000;"><i>The Magic of Prunes</i></span></strong>!</p>
<p><a href="http://brucercross.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Prunes.jpg"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-128 aligncenter" alt="Prunes" src="http://brucercross.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Prunes-e1381279236641-225x300.jpg" width="225" height="300" /></a></p>
<p>I repeated this phrase daily to our team while on a multi-day <strong><a title="cycling adventure" href="http://brucercross.com/an-epic-cycling-adventure-the-great-allegheny-passage-and-co-towpath/"><span style="color: #800000;">cycling adventure</span></a> </strong>this summer.  Much like a fancy hotel that places a delectable piece of chocolate on your pillow, I took it upon myself to place a few individually wrapped prunes on the pillows of my cycling pals.</p>
<p>Ingest three of those babies before beddy-bye time and <i>voila</i>, the morning magic is worked!</p>
<p>Things “<i>flowed</i>” smoothly.  We needed to insure having a “<i>movement</i>” before we got moving.  “<i>Regularity</i>” was a must!</p>
<p>The last thing one wants on a four day, 340 mile trek is to, you know, feel “<i>stuck</i>”.   It would make for a long day otherwise.  We encountered enough obstacles.  Poor digestion did not need to be one of them.</p>
<p>Yes, we are briefly going to talk about “<strong><span style="color: #800000;"><i>poop</i></span></strong>” on this post.</p>
<p><span style="color: #800000;"><strong> <em>If Oprah can talk about it, why can’t I?</em> </strong></span></p>
<p>I have only seen one episode of Oprah’s show and you guessed it, the topic was about poop.   It sounded interesting.  <a title="everybody poops" href="http://www.oprah.com/health/Everybody-Poops"><span style="color: #800000;"><strong>Everybody poops</strong></span></a>.  Lots of beneficial health information was obtained.  I was able to pick up a few good tips.</p>
<p>It has been said that one definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.</p>
<p>Much like we had to be intentional about our digestive habits while on our trip, we also have to be intentional about making progress other aspects of life.</p>
<ul>
<li>Maybe the prune you need to ingest is taking a brisk walk to kick start your system and clearing the cobwebs from your mind.    The physical is directly connected to other areas of your life.</li>
<li>Perhaps your progress forward is best served by taking an apparent step backward – taking “<i>five</i>” to unwind and slow down a little.  Time to put things into perspective.</li>
<li>When we were in financial crisis a few short years ago, our step forward came in the form of acknowledging there was an issue that needed to be addressed. Like a cold pal of water being thrown on us, we had to look the problem in the eye and meet it head on.</li>
</ul>
<p><em><span style="color: #800000;"><strong>We were afraid. We were concerned. We were paralyzed. We needed a way out. It would not be easy.</strong></span></em></p>
<p>The answer came in the form of a <span style="color: #800000;"><strong><em>middle-of-the-night desperation prayer</em></strong></span> and being led to and then following <a title="FPU" href="http://www.daveramsey.com/fpu/home/"><span style="color: #800000;"><strong>Dave Ramsey’s financial plan</strong></span></a>. That is part of our story.</p>
<p><span style="color: #800000;"><strong><em>What things have you feeling somewhat constipated?</em></strong></span></p>
<p>There is never one easy answer.  However, there <strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="color: #800000; text-decoration: underline;">IS</span></span><span style="color: #800000;"> </span></strong>an answer.</p>
<p>Much like the prunes working their morning magic, there are steps you can intentionally take to begin the process of moving forward.</p>
<p><span style="color: #800000;"><strong><em>It all begins with the first step. </em></strong></span></p>
<p>You may be in the middle of an overwhelming situation.  I get that.  You are worth the investment of <strong><span style="color: #800000;">YOU </span></strong>trying – I believe you will be surprised at what occurs!</p>
<p><span style="color: #800000;"><em><strong>How can you put one foot in front of another, daring to believe things can be different?</strong></em></span></p>
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