Drink Your Milk: A Day in the Life Sunday

It's sucks not feeling well. I have not been feeling well for months. I used sick days. I never use sick days. I am rarely ever away from the office. That in itself could the problem, but it is actually something else.

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After many months of  MD, NP, ENT visits and a pending allergist appointment, we may have gotten to the bottom of what ails me. It's not what was running through the worst case scenarios in my mind but it was all the more surprising.

I am vitamin D deficient.

I am an American. I have a job. I own Apple products. How can this be? With a rolling sigh I heard loud and clear over the airwaves, the nurse explained to me that it is rather common. Even in America. Was I drinking milk and taking my calcium? I was ready to listen.

WebMD reports that Vitamin D deficiency can occur for a number of reasons:

• You don't consume the recommended levels of the vitamin over time. Most of the natural sources include fish/fish oils, egg yolks, cheese, and fortified milk.
• Your exposure to sunlight is limited. Because the body makes vitamin D when your skin is exposed to sunlight, you may be at risk of deficiency if so.
  
• You have dark skin. The pigment melanin reduces the skin's ability to make vitamin D in response to sunlight exposure.
  
• Your kidneys cannot convert vitamin D to its active form. As people age their kidneys are less able to convert vitamin D to its active form.
• Your digestive tract cannot adequately absorb vitamin D. Certain medical problems, can affect your ability to absorb vitamin D from the food you eat.
• You are obese. People with a body mass index of 30 or greater often have low blood levels of vitamin D.

All in all, this explains a lot. Here's what I am thinking. I should have been taking my calcium, Greek yogurt is not Vitamin D fortified and protecting my skin from age spots and cancer with SPF 50+ all these years wasn't helping the cause. The piece about aging? Nothing of the sort.

You'll find me hanging out at the safe upper limit of 4000 IU of vitamin D for a few months - but don't go there yourself. The Institute of Medicine increased the recommended dietary allowance of vitamin D to 600 IU for everyone aged 1-70.

Get some sun, drink some milk, and get off my lawn.

Finding A Way - With Others

I am unwrapping posts from the archives and mixing the old with the new. Enjoy this post from the past.

I have written previously about how, in HR, we are bound by so many rules and regulations that the challenge lies in us finding ways to get the job done in spite of them. There are grey areas, there is wiggle room, and there are self-imposed interpretations that can be more restrictive than they need to be. Our challenge as leaders is being able to look at an issue from a new perspective.

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In a post on Fast Company, Donna Karlin leads with a quote a rings true to me,"We don't see things are they are, we see things as we are" - Anais Nin

Getting beyond ourselves and what we've always done and realizing that what you thought was an absolute, non-negotiable truth, absolutely was not. What you thought was a solid wall might actually have a weak spot for a nice bay window - there may be a way around, or better yet right through, a perceived barrier to meeting an organizational need or to providing a service.

There may be a way but we will need to do our homework first.

How did I get here? Not by any planful way at all but by a few different conversations, venting sessions and very frustrating interpersonal interactions. They were all converging, blending, stirring and then . . .  at one "AHA" moment, a possibility came to me on my way into work one morning. "Of course, why didn't we see that sooner?"  This possibility suddenly shone a new light on all previous interactions and conversations.

I am only able to accomplish the things that I do because of those around me and we may have stumbled upon a window in a seemingly airtight room. But you know what, even if we find out that is isn't, it has reminded me of the value in discussing issues, listening to dissenting opinions, allowing all sides of an issue to be presented, and more so, of the value of that each and every person.

===> Do you think leaders need to "Grow up and Lead?" I do. Help me spread the word by clicking here and then "Yes, please write this manifesto" at ChangeThis. Voting ends Jan 4.