Establishing Healthy Relationships

Establishing Healthy Relationships 

“Help thy brother’s boat across and lo!

Thine own has reached the shore.”

Hindu proverb

                                                                                                                                       Establishing healthy relationships is the key to happiness. Being in a supportive and loving relationship is probably the strongest psychological predictor to establishing overall wellness. When we are asked, “What gives meaning to our lives?” our friendships and other significant others are probably at the top of our list. The human brain is wired for us to be social beings. People need other people. We are able to store in our memory banks a large amount of facial images and we can retrieve these images from memory at a moment’s notice because of our need to be with others.

We may be experiencing thoughts which prevent us from having healthier relationships such as feeling obligated to do certain things with significant others, family members, and other people in our lives. We can change our thoughts to “I am looking forward to spending time with my family.” Relationships don’t just happen, they are built on mutual respect and understanding. Their development is something that is learned and practiced. We need to think of relationships as an investment. When dealing with unresolved trauma, we may have had trouble facing the future with the anticipation of positive outcomes. It is important to change our outlook on life in order to make the life changes necessary to establish healthy relationships.

The transition from just being acquaintances to friendship is characterized by the increase of self-disclosure. In the early stages of any relationship, self-disclosure tends to be a more gradual and reciprocal process. Letting people know about things that are very personal to us takes courage for most of us. Reciprocity is the key and if you or your possible friend is not willing to share your deepest, darkest secrets, more than likely the relationship will not last long. Or the relationship will feel like something is missing and will quickly lose its luster. Once the relationship is established through mutual self-disclosure, the glue that binds two people together is intimacy. Emotional expressiveness and unconditional support along with acceptance, loyalty, and trust are key ingredients for a solid and satisfactory relationship. Skills such as learning how to listen as well as responding appropriately to the news being shared are paramount. We need to listen as well as share. 

 

Ingredients for a healthy relationship are: 

·         Mutual respect.

·         Forgiveness.

·         Honest Communication.

·         Empathy.

·         Shared responsibilities.

·         Trust and support.

·         Effort and Commitment.

·         Making decisions together.

·         Respecting each other’s boundaries.

·         Avoid competing with one another.

·         Avoiding stereotypes

·         Focusing on each other as individuals. Respecting each other’s strengths and abilities. 

                  ·         Being assertive helps relationships which means stating our needs and wants without                          attacking, blaming or making excuses.

·         Independence which is a very important factor that both friends can find enjoyment with spending time with each other; but at the same time maintain separate identities.

·         Being willing to admit our mistakes and shortcomings.

·         Generosity is another necessary component when maintaining a healthy relationship. In a healthy relationship, we can give another person something or do a good deed for a person and not expect something in return for our generosity.

·         Have a common vision. We both have an idea of what the relationship means and where we would like it to go.   

Friendships and spousal connections are like a dose of good medicine, someone who will stick by our side through the good and bad times. A loving and supportive relationship to a spouse is one of the most important of all relationships. Marriage has been noted as a better predictor of happiness than having money or children. Friendships cannot be minimized due to their importance. Most young people who say they have a good relationship with their parents are usually happier with life in general.

 

          If we are having difficulty sustaining healthy relationships, one of the biggest roadblocks may be not taking the time or making the effort to make healthy and supportive connections with other people. We can easily get caught up in our own lives, our jobs, our routines, and before we know it, we are spending less and less time with friends, family, and our spouse or significant other. We can and need to take the time to spend quality time with our friends and family to secure our connection with others. We need to pay attention to how much time we waste doing things that don’t enhance our lives such as watching too much television. 

Healthy relationships take commitment and the desire to maintain a connection to others.  Having a wholesome relationship is a choice between two individuals. We need to allow enough time in our lives for each other and don’t place blame on the other person if things are not working out. It takes two to fight and it also takes two to make things work. Communicate with one another and make plans to spend time together. A lot of time is wasted when there are disagreements due to misunderstandings. We are responsible for our own feelings and we can portray what our feelings are in a productive, non-hurtful manner. The value of a strong, supportive and caring relationship is priceless.

 

The Greastest Murder Machine in History

The Greatest Murder Machine in History
By Mike Konrad

When one thinks of mass murder, Hitler comes to mind. If not Hitler,
then Tojo, Stalin, or Mao. Credit is given to the 20th-century
totalitarians as the worst species of tyranny to have ever arisen.
However, the alarming truth is that Islam has killed more than any of
these, and may surpass all of them combined in numbers and cruelty.

The enormity of the slaughters of the "religion of peace" are so far
beyond comprehension that even honest historians overlook the scale.
When one looks beyond our myopic focus, Islam is the greatest killing
machine in the history of mankind, bar none.

The Islamic conquest of India is probably the bloodiest story in
history. -- Will Durant, as quoted on Daniel Pipes site.

Conservative estimates place the number at 80 million dead Indians.

According to some calculations, the Indian (subcontinent)
population decreased by 80 million between 1000 (conquest of
Afghanistan) and 1525 (end of Delhi Sultanate). -- Koenrad Elst as
quoted on Daniel Pipes site

80 Million?! The conquistadors' crimes pale into insignificance at that
number. No wonder Hitler admired Islam as a fighting religion. He stood
in awe of Islam, whose butchery even he did not surpass.

Over 110 Million Blacks were killed by Islam.

... a minumum of 28 Million African were enslaved in the Muslim
Middle East. Since, at least, 80 percent of those captured by Muslim
slave traders were calculated to have died before reaching the slave
market, it is believed that the death toll from 1400 years of Arab and
Muslim slave raids into Africa could have been as high as 112 Millions.
When added to the number of those sold in the slave markets, the total
number of African victims of the trans-Saharan and East African slave
trade could be significantly higher than 140 Million people. -- John
Allembillah Azumah, author of The Legacy of Arab-Islam in Africa: A
Quest for Inter-religious Dialogue

Add just those two numbers alone together, and Islam has surpassed the
victims of 20th-century totalitarianism. However, it does not end
there. Add the millions who died at the hand of Muslims in the Sudan in
our lifetime.

Much of Islamic slavery was sexual in nature, with a preference for
women. Those men who were captured were castrated. The mulatto children
of the women were often killed, which explains why Islam was not
demographically shifted towards the black race, unlike slaves in the
West, who bore children to breed a mestizo class. Add in those dead
children; and we arrive at well over 200 million.

Remember that in the 7th century, North Africa was almost totally
Christian. What happened to them?

By the year 750, a hundred years after the conquest of Jerusalem,
at least 50 percent of the world's Christians found themselves under
Muslim hegemony… Today there is no indigenous Christianity in the
region [of Northwest Africa], no communities of Christians whose
history can be traced to antiquity.-- "Christianity Face to Face with
Islam," CERC

What happened to those Christian millions? Some converted. The rest?
Lost to history.

We know that over 1 million Europeans were enslaved by Barbary Pirates.
How many died is anybody's guess.

...for the 250 years between 1530 and 1780, the figure could easily
have been as high as 1,250,000 - BBC

In the Middle Ages…

…many slaves were passed through Armenia and were castrated there
to fill the Muslim demand for eunuchs. -- Slavery in Early Medieval
Europe.

The same practice ran through Islamic Spain. North Europeans captured
from raids up to Iceland, or purchased, were butchered in the
castratoriums of Iberia. Many died from the operations that ran for
centuries.

The number of dead from the Muslim conquest of the Balkans and Southern
Italy is unknown, but again the numbers add up, surely into the
millions over the centuries. Don't forget the 1.5 million Armenian
Christians killed by the Turks during WWI. We do know that over five
centuries, vast numbers of Christian boys were kidnapped to become
Islamic Janissary mercenaries for the Turks. Add those in, too.

Muslims prized blonde women for their harems; and so enslaved Slavic
women were purchased in the bazaars of the Crimean Caliphate. In Muslim
Spain, an annual tribute of 100 Visigothic [blonde] women was required
from Spain's Cantabrian coast.

For decades, 100 virgins per year were required by the Muslim
rulers of Spain from the conquered population. The tribute was only
stopped when the Spaniards began fighting back -- Jihad: Islam's 1,300
Year War Against Western Civilisation

Add in the death toll from the Reconquista and the numbers climb
higher.

Research has shown that the Dark Ages were not caused by the Goths, who
eventually assimilated and Christianized:

…the real destroyers of classical civilization were the Muslims. It
was the Arab Invasions... which broke the unity of the Mediterranean
world and turned the Middle Sea -- previously one of the world’s most
important trading highways -- into a battleground. It was only after
the appearance of Islam... that the cities of the West, which depended
upon the Mediterranean trade for their survival, began to die. -- Islam
Caused the Dark Ages

Add in those unknown millions who died as a consequence.

How many know the horrors of the conquest of Malaysia? The Buddhists of
Thailand and Malaysia were slaughtered en masse.

When attacked and massacred by the Muslims, the Buddhists initially
did not make any attempt to escape from their murderers. They accepted
death with an air of fatalism and destiny. And hence they are not
around today to tell their story. – History of Jihad.org

We may never know the numbers of dead.

After Muslims came to power in the early 15th century, animist hill
peoples eventually disappeared due to their enslavement and
‘incorporation’ into the Muslim population of Malaya, Sumatra, Borneo,
and Java via raids, tribute and purchase, especially of children. Java
was the largest exporter of slaves around 1500. -- Islam Monitor

In the same manner, Islam arrived in the Philippines. Only the
appearance of the Spanish stopped a total collapse, and confined Islam
to the southern islands.

The coming of the Spanish saved the Philippines from Islam, except
for the Southern tip where the population had been converted to
Islam.-- History of Jihad.org

Again, the number of dead is unknown; but add them to the total.

The animist Filipinos were eager to ally with the Spanish against
Islam. In fact, much of Southeast Asia welcomed the Spanish and
Portuguese as preferable to Islam.

...from the 17th century successive Thai kings allied themselves
with the seafaring Western powers – the Portuguese and the Dutch and
succeeded in staving off the threat of Islam from the Muslim Malays and
their Arab overlords.-- History of Jihad.org

A few galleons and muskets were not enough to conquer Asia. Islam had
made the Europeans initially appear as liberators; and to a certain
extent they were. Who were the real imperialists?

Even today...

...Malaysian Jihadis are plotting to transform multi-ethnic
Malaysia into an Islamic Caliphate, and fomenting trouble in Southern
Thailand.-- History of Jihad.org

Add this all up. The African victims. The Indian victims. The European
victims. Add in the Armenian genocide. Then add in the lesser known,
but no doubt quite large number of victims of Eastern Asia. Add in the
jihad committed by Muslims against China, which was invaded in 651 AD.
Add in the Crimean Khanate predations on the Slavs, especially their
women.

Though the numbers are not clear, what is obvious is that Islam is the
greatest murder machine in history bar none, possibly exceeding 250
million dead. Possibly one-third to one-half or more of all those
killed by war or slavery in history can be traced to Islam; and this is
just a cursory examination.

Now consider the over 125 Million women today who have been genitally
mutilated for Islamic honor's sake. In spite of what apologists tell
you, the practice is almost totally confined to Islamic areas.

New information from Iraqi Kurdistan raises the possibility that
the problem is more prevalent in the Middle East than previously
believed and that FGM is far more tied to religion than many Western
academics and activists admit. – “Is Female Genital Mutilation an
Islamic Problem?” ME Quarterly

Once thought concentrated in Africa, FGM has now been discovered to be
common wherever Islam is found.

There are indications that FGM might be a phenomenon of epidemic
proportions in the Arab Middle East. Hosken, for instance, notes that
traditionally all women in the Persian Gulf region were mutilated. Arab
governments refuse to address the problem. -- "Is Female Genital
Mutilation an Islamic Problem?" ME Quarterly

Remember that this has gone on for 1400 years; and was imposed on a
population that had been formerly Christian or pagan.

FGM is practiced on large scale in Islamic Indonesia; and is increasing.

...far from scaling down, the problem of FGM in Indonesia has
escalated sharply. The mass ceremonies in Bandung have grown bigger and
more popular every year. -- Guardian

The horrified British author of that Guardian article is still deluded
that Islam does not support FGM, when in fact it is now settled that
FGM is a core Islamic practice. Islamic women have been brainwashed to
support their own abuse.

Abu Sahlieh further cited Muhammad as saying, "Circumcision is a
sunna (tradition) for the men and makruma (honorable deed) for the
women." -- “Is Female Genital Mutilation an Islamic Problem?” ME
Quarterly

What other tyranny does this? Not even the Nazis mutilated their own
women!

Unlike the 20th-century totalitarians whose killing fury consumed
themselves, reducing their longevity, Islam paces itself. In the end,
though slower, Islam has killed and tortured far more than any other
creed, religious or secular. Unlike secular tyranny, Islam, by virtue
of its polygamy and sexual predations, reproduces itself and
increases.

Other tyrannies are furious infections, which burn hot, but are soon
overcome. Islam is a slow terminal cancer, which metastasizes, and
takes over. It never retreats. Its methods are more insidious, often
imperceptible at first, driven by demographics. Like cancer, excision
may be the only cure.

So whenever you read about this or that Israeli outrage -- and there
may be truth to the complaint -- place the news in context. Look whom
the Israelis are fighting against. Islam is like nothing else in
history.

Sidenote by Sharon Brunner: Stephen Quayle in Angel Wars: Past, Present, and Future includes information on page 208 about the amount of people killed by the Muslims. It is something that I was not aware of until I read Quayle's book. I find it astounding that a religion supposedly based on peace has such a violent history. The Islam appear to me as lions in sheeps' clothing. They have an amazingly morbid and violent past which appears to be continuing into the present and possibly the future.

New Year's Resolutions for 2015

New Year’s Resolutions for 2015

                I have given much thought to the resolutions I want to make for 2015. Part of what I want to pursue in 2015 is the enhancement of my musical ability. I observe others such as my friend Mary who played her guitar for us at a Creative Endeavor’s meeting. She played Christmas music which was quite delightful. I want to continue my writing career and finish at least two more books in 2015. I completed three books and that will make five books altogether. I have a lot to say about specific topics. I want to continue with my volunteer efforts. I thoroughly enjoy working with the animals at the animal shelter and creating situations in which elders can socialize and participate in life-long learning. Another tried and sometimes resolution after all the holiday eating is to begin a healthier lifestyle of eating nutritious foods and exercising. I am on my way to the latter. I exercise almost on a daily basis. It’s the food thing I need to get a better handle on.  There are so many things to work on and I also want to live a life of balance.

                One of my resolutions will involve watching Oprah Winfrey’s Super Soul Sunday programs.  This morning I watched one of her shows and Don Miguel Riuz was her guest speakers He wrote the book “The Four Agreements,” which touched my life many years ago. All the people who were giving testimonials concerning his book, stated it changed their lives completely. The four agreements are:

1.       Be Impeccable With Your Words

2.       Don’t Take Things Personally

3.       Don’t Make Assumptions

4.       Always Do Your Best.
 

                Think about the four above statements. Be impeccable with your words was discussed first and Winfrey told the audience about how she is usually true to her word when it comes to others; but she will short change herself. She gave the example of taking time to exercise and then shortening the time she originally agreed to exercise. We need to stand behind what we say for ourselves and others, pick our words carefully to portray our exact meanings, and use our words in a constructive manner. Don’t take things personally and don’t make assumptions are behinds all of life’s dramas.

                The last but certainly not least is always do your best. I spent eight years in scouting and the Cub Scout motto is always do your best. I love the beliefs and values taught by scouting. I practice on a regular basis: leave the area in which you visited in better shape than the way you found it. My husband, Don, and myself often clean areas. For example, we leave the animal shelter better than the way we found it when we volunteer on Sundays. I usually try to do my best; but I could improve in that area.

                About eating and exercising, I have purchased several books on self care from thrift shops. I am reading through some to see if I can pick up some more ideas on how to get in better shape. One of my aunts said to me that she doesn’t care about having a girlish figure; but she does not like carrying around extra weight.  Things are easier to do when she weighs less. What a healthy way to look at things.

                I continue to examine all my relationships. We are people who need people and we need to do the best we can to protect all our relationships. And if a relationship is not healthy for us, we should probably leave that relationship. I have had to say goodbye to some relationships and I picked up other relationships, ones that have proven to be healthier for me. Sometimes we have to love people from afar. I think the relationship I have with my spouse is getting healthier and healthier as we age. We are each other’s best friend.

                However, one of the barriers I face is not appreciating what I have and instead focusing on what I don’t have. I need to practice gratitude more. I need to be grateful for all that I have learned through good and bad times. I am reminded of Deb Ford’s book “Spiritual Divorce.” Things happen for a reason and there is something(s) we are suppose to learn from that situation.

                I am reading the book “A Father’s Book of Wisdom.” Here are some of the quotes in that book I want to share with you:

If you judge people, you have no time to love them.  -Mother Teresa

If your life is free of failures, you’re not taking enough risks.  -Unknown

Some goals are so worth, it’s glorious even to fail.  -Unknown

Do it! Move it! Make it happen! No one ever sat their way to success.  -Unknown

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.  -Eleanor Roosevelt

It’s not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.  -Roy Disney

Never, never, never, never give up.  -Winston Churchill

Real generosity is doing something nice for someone who’ll never find out.  –Frank A. Clark

Never let a day go by without giving at least three people a compliment.  –Unknown

The harder you work, the luckier you get.  –Gary Player

Failure is success if we learn from it.  –Malcomb S. Forbes

                I especially like the last quote. One of the Super Soul Sunday speakers noted that it is important to be good at failing. We learn best from our failures. If everything went perfect wouldn’t life be boring. What would we have to talk about? If Don and I thought exactly alike, I would be bored to tears.  His opinions that vary from mine add spice and variety to our relationship and I welcome our differences. Variety is the spice of life. I have permitted others to make me feel inferior and I learned that I need to count on myself and believe in myself. I have discovered that I have goals that seem to be ones that I am inspired to do. Being inspired is being linked to divinity. I am driven to write books with specific topics. I am driven to work with animals. I am driven to be the best I can be when I provide instruction to my students. In order to accomplish our goals we have to move, just do it. Our lives are what we make of them and our happiness must come from within, not from outside sources. It is up to us to make the best out o four lives.

 

 

The Christmas Holiday

The Christmas Holiday

Over the many Christmas holidays I have experienced throughout my lifetime I have discovered that this time of year can be very stressful. It’s filled with overeating, eating things that are not exactly good for us and being just plain busy with visiting, wrapping, filling out Christmas cards, decorating, the whole nine yards. I don’t spend a day baking and decorating cookies anymore and was happy to give up that tradition. There are things we can do to make the holidy season more enjoyable. We can all have a happy holiday season if we reach out to others. 

                I can understand why people who have faced hard times find the holidays especially difficult. There is so much hype in the media about festive events and if our holiday festivities are not as elaborate as the ones portrayed by the media we may consider ourselves failures. However, Christmas and Thanksgiving should represent our gratefulness for what we do have in our lives. Even the poorest of the poor have something to be grateful for. I am grateful for my loving husband, our wonderful pets and my health. My health affords me many opportunities to get out and enjoy life and participate in volunteer activities.

                My husband and I are so much beyond the partying stage in our lives and we enjoy a good movie with a large bucket of popcorn on our lap. What a treat. We enjoy going for walks with our dogs. We enjoy making the lives of our little furry friends at the animal shelter a little bit better. I sit in the middle of the floor and they climb on top of me and cuddle with me. I like looking at the bulletin board that my husband and I decorated at the shelter and our ability to bring cats out front to get adopted.  We have actually volunteered at the shelter during the holidays and brought a little Christmas cheer to our little furry friends. All the cats are usually given canned cat food. It’s cute when they order us to serve them.  Over 100 cats have been adopted because we donated feature cat kits. Some cats have been passed by and we help them find a home. We love that these cats are now in a home hopefully getting the love they deserve.

                I also volunteer for an elders group. I have done a lot for this group and I am considering stepping down from my position. They are placing a lot of responsibility on my shoulders and it takes a lot of my time.  However, I am happy that I was able to assist this organization for the past four years. I have learned a lot from the sessions that were provided and have learned a lot from the entire experience and met a lot of wonderful people.

                Knowing that we have made a difference in the lives of many furry and non-furry beings has brought a lot of happiness to us.  I saw a posting on facebook in which a family decided to give to charity what they would spend on each other for Christmas. I think that is great. I think that the giving of Christmas should be practiced throughout the year. We can do so by donating our time, by giving to others what we can afford to give and by being nice to one another. More people need to realize that the more you give the more you get. I am not talking about money. I am talking about being rich with the good feeling from helping others.

                Let’s take this time to start a habit of giving of our time and resources to those in need.  We can all give more and enjoy doing so. We need to give ourselves a hug and tell ourselves how wonderful we are. Also, let’s use this time of year to start a habit of being kind and nonjudgmental to our neighbors, friends, acquaintances, people we don’t know and all the furry little creatures. All of us can make a difference in the lives of others.

               

Science of the Soul

 

Science of the Soul

The concept of the soul was explained in the documentary Science of the Soul that aired on October 5, 2014. This documentary was shown on the History Channel. The term “soul” was explored by using a scientific perspective which included accounts of near death experiences, and brain wave measurements. Questions were posed regarding the concept of the soul: Does the brain activity indicate that our soul exists? Once the soul leaves the body is that soul waiting for Jesus’ resurrection? If the soul leaves the body where does it go? Will science prove telepathy is the result of souls communicating with one another? Is IQ a measurement of the soul?

            Through scientific study it was decided that consciousness is separate from our brains or consciousness is considered our natural brain. The brain consists of 100 billion neurons. The soul is a matter of faith. In 2007, 81% of people surveyed during a peer research study reported that they believe in an afterlife. There have been many attempts made to quantify the soul.

            In 1907, Dr. Duncan McDougal carried out a rather strange and morbid scientific study. He watched six people die, they were weighed before and after their deaths. It was determined that the soul weighs 21 grams or less than an ounce. This study received a tiny mention in the New York Times.

            Through various studies it was determined that the death of our physical body is not the death of our soul. Religion provides us with a way to describe the phenomenon that is  easy to discern. Religion is paradoxical. We want to hug our deceased grandmother; but at the same time we want to live forever.

            Ancient Greeks believed our body is unimportant. Our body consists of basic impulses that are considered somewhat unacceptable. Our soul represents everything that is good. They believed that soul dispersed into small atoms. The Greeks believed in reincarnation. These beliefs are challenged by Christianity which considers the body and soul as one thing. Christian souls are referred to as ghosts. The Ancient Egyptians believed in an afterlife and the body is entangled with the soul. They learned how to mummify their dead. They saved the organs and tossed the brain. Renee Descartes said "I think so therefore I am" during the 17th century. The field of neuroscience was bron due to his insight.           

            Science was used to unlock the secrets of reincarnation. Files were examined on 2,500 children. In May 2000, in Lafayette, Louisiana a study was conducted with a young child. He started kicking in his sleep when he was two years old. He would have non-stop dreams. His visions became very real when he was awake. James Leininger was the son of Andrea and Bruce. Andrea was a Ballerina instructor and Bruce was an HR manager. Both were Christian and did not believe in reincarnation. At age three and older he began drawing pictures of a plane that was on fire and diving to the earth.  James reported that when he was older he wanted to fly a F18 plane. James would tell his parents over and over again that he was a fighter pilot and his plane went down. The Japanese shot the plane and this occurred during WWII.  James knew about vintage planes. It was discovered that he may have been reincarnated from James Houston, a navy army pilot. James named his GI Joes Billie, Walter, and Leon. They were pilots who were killed before he died. He said he met them in heaven. His parents were shocked at the details given to them by their son.

            James insisted on meeting with James H.’s sister. He asked about a picture that only James and his sister knew about. It was a picture that Jame H.’s mother painted for her children. Anne, Jame’s sister, finally believed that she was talking with her deceased brother. James reported to his parents that he chose them to be his parents. He thought they would be good parents. He found them at a pink motel in Hawaii during the time they decided to have a child.

            His parents wanted him to move on so they took him to the place where the plane went down. He cried and threw flowers into the water. Things changed drastically after that. James did get on with his life and he even drew a picture that depicted peace.

            It was reported that indigenous people believe in spirits. Need to harmonize the soul with spirits. Harmonizing the soul prepares the youth for adulthood. Westerners believe we are born with our souls. It is believed that the soul is a meeting place between our existence and another world.

            Studies were conducted by working with children, mostly preschool age. The scientists reported that children are closest to their souls before they develop their identity. Alison Gopnik went on to report that neurons in children’s brains are more active, like lanterns and adults brains only light up when learning is going on. When the child becomes self aware their brain slows down.

            In 1846, people started using things that provided a feeling of anesthesia, their pain was blocked. First they used laughing gas and then it was ether. It was discovered that ether blocked the pain. When people are under anesthesia, they do not dream. There is no consciousness. Dr. Hamerof started conducting a study involving anesthesia and patients’ brain activity when they were under anesthesia. Brain scanners revealed that their brains were active as if the patients were awake.

            13 million people reported near death experiences. Near death experiences are very common. There was a study conducted with 1,500 heart attack victims. The mind and brain are separate. Yvonne Kason, M.D. was in a plane accident. The plane went down and she was swimming in very cold water. She appeared to be above her body watching herself swim. At first she felt terror when the plane was plummeting to the earth and then she felt at peace.Yvonne was nearly dead due to hyperthermia. She was placed in very hot water to bring her back to life. She said when her soul returned to her body, it was like a vacuum sound when it entered her body like a genie entering a bottle. Souls do return to the body.

            Dr. Henry Markram is experimenting with a blue brain project. He is building a brain. Questions that come up with these exploration are: will these forms of artificial intelligence be able to reason like we do? Can a model be built that can speak and have a higher brain structure? The scientists are using rat neurons, these neurons are emerged in artificial brain fluid. These are still living neurons. The neurons are mapped. Humans have 100 billion neurons in their brain. The scientists are building a brain one computerized neuron at a time. They are analyzing the rules of the structures of the neurons. The scientists using this form of simulation based research hoped to be completed in ten years. They question will this brain have emotions and a soul.

            David Chalmers discusses singularity and this is predicted by consciousness. Can these machines overpower us? Will the blue brain become evil? These are things to consider. Have you seen the television show Person of Interest?

            Hiroschi Ishiguro has designed a robot that resembles him, an android. It is a life size version of him. His plan is for these robots to join the workforce and take over the hard jobs that humans do not want to do. Hiroschi is from Japan and the Japanese believe everything has a soul. Souls are everywhere. The robots are constructed with facial recognition software. They cost $100,000. However they are referred to as brain damaged. The robots’ body movements are difficult. It is predicted that within the next generation, sensitive robots who can feel and demonstrate emotions will exist. 

            Mechanical companions resembling medium sized stuffed animals were created for the elderly in Japan. These toys were created to calm and soothe them. They are aware of the person’s emotions and respond in a way that provides comfort.

            The soul is a mysterious concept. There are many questions that come up when we discuss the soul. The soul leaves the body when a person experiences near death and then reenter the body. Science has proven that reincarnation does exist. Children are closer to their souls then adults are. People under anesthesia may be closer to their souls. Do our souls have memory and are they part of our consciousness?

           

Be a Master of Your Time

Be a Master of Your Time

-----Time-management strategies for entrepreneurs

Self-professed “No B.S.” entrepreneur and author Dan Kennedy takes a hardnosed approach to time management in his book No B.S.: Time Management for Entrepreneurs (Entrepreneur Press, 2044). He says despite your description, no one works an eight-hour workday. Why? “Not a soul on the planet gets in eight productive hours a day.” The culprits are so-called “time vampires,” meetings, interruptions and lack of discipline. Kennedy offers these strategies for increasing your productivity and maintaining your sanity:

1.      If you don’t know what your time is worth, you can’t expect the world to know it either. Just like an attorney, think of your time as billable. For every minute you waste, think of the money you also wasted.

2.      Time vampires will suck as much blood out of you as you permit. A typical time vampire is Mr. “I just have a quick question,” who drops by several times a day. Kennedy says to imagine him like a vampire sucking out a pint or two of blood each time. By he end of the day, you’re drained.

3.      If they can’t find you, they can’t interrupt you. The average business owner is interrupted once every eight minutes. That adds up to a lot of lost minutes. Kennedy suggests setting aside “do not disturb” times at work, with a closed door and a phone- and email-off policy.

4.      Punctuality provides personal power. Kennedy says you cannot reasonably hope to have others treat your time with respect if you show little or no respect for theirs. So, do what you gotta do,  and be on time.

Source: Success ] From Home. Volume 10 – Issue 4, April 2014.

 

Face Your Fears

Face Your Fears

Take small steps to overcome your fears with these expert tips:

·         Make a list of your fears. You can’t confront fears until you acknowledge them.

·         Visualize a life in which fears don’t stop you. Write down what you could accomplish if fears didn’t stop you. Picturing life without limitations can provide motivation to face fears.

·         Change your frame of mind. Your thoughts play a significant role in creating fears. Susan Jeffers, Author of Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway, says sometimes managing fear can be as simple as telling yourself, “Whatever happen to me, I can handle it.”

·         Face your fear. Start with baby steps. Say, for example, you are scared of public speaking, but know it could help your business. Try speaking in front of five or your friends, suggest Stan Popovich, author of A Layman’s Guide to Managing Your Fear.  “Then up the number to 15,” he says. Small steps boost confidence and make confronting fears possible.

Source:  Success ] From Home. Volume 10 – Issue 4, April 2014.