After they have gone

What do you know about your grandparents or parents for that matter?

Did you ever talk to them about their lives?

Do you know what they did?

Not just the stuff you heard

How about when they were young?

What excitements came their way?

Did they do any crazy things?

Chances are if they did some crazy stuff they have not told anyone about it

Did they see amazing things?

What interesting things do they know about your family?

So much will just die with them.

Shame really because everyone has a story

In fact many of our parents and grandparents have lots of interesting anecdotes

You might be surprised at what they did or experienced in their younger lives

Why not find out

Once they are gone it's too late

You will probably find some photo or memento that looks as if it has a story

Too late they've gone and the story with them

Just buy a simple little tape recorder and ask them some questions about their lives

Their stories just might give you some important insights into your own life

After they have gone it's too late

11 things

11 things they did not teach you and you will not learn in school.

Love him or hate him, this needs saying more often

Bill Gates recently gave a speech at a High School about 11 things they did not teach you and you will not learn in school.

He talks about how feel-good, politically correct teachings created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and how this concept set them up for failure in the real world.

Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it!

Rule 2 : The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3 : You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.

Rule 4 : If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.

Rule 5 : Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your Grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to ge t the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semester You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time..

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.


Bill Gates.

Male and Female

Recent research finds differences between men and women's brains

A guide to the male and female influence points

DECISION MAKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING:
Controlled by the frontal lobe, which is proportionally larger in women.

EMOTIONAL RESPONSE:
Controlled by the limbic cortex, which is also proportionally larger in women.

SPATIAL PERCEPTION:
Controlled by the parietal cortex , which regulates how we move around. Proportionally larger in men.

EMOTIONAL MEMORY:
Controlled by the amygdala, which is proportionally larger in men. When recalling an emotionally charged scene, men enlist its right side, women its left. Men remember the gist of the scene, and women the details.

SUPPRESSION OF PAIN:
Controlled by the periaqueductal grey, an area of grey matter in the mid-brain, known to have a role in the suppression of pain in men but perhaps not in women.

What the experts think about the research

Rosie Boycott, Founder of Spare Rib Magazine
There are real differences between men's and women's brains. In the 1970s, I saw feminist girlfriends bringing up children and religiously give the girl a truck to play with, and try to get the boy to like the colour pink. It never worked. Little girls and boys had very different ideas about what they wanted to play with and what colours they liked
.

Oliver James, Psychologist
It does not prove anything about the role of genes or environment. It is pure speculation. The size of different parts of the brain can be affected by childhood experiences. For example, a woman who was sexually abused as a child has, on average, 5 per cent less mass in in her hippocampal region than a woman who was not sexually abused.
.

A C Grayling, Philosopher
This discovery does not affect just the difference between the sexes, but also different populations, and different ethnicities which have different propensities to illness and disease. For instance, we treat children differently from adults, so it's not surprising that we might treat Europeans differently from Asians, men differently from women.
.

Phillip Hodson, Psychotherapist
This evidence could be used to reinforce stereotypes, and this is worrying. Humans need to be interchangeable – women need to be able to do the traditional male jobs and the same applies to men. Long-term relationships that work are ones where people are similar. I do not believe "men are from Mars and women are from Venus". We are all from Earth.
.

Judi James, Body language analyst
I'm not surprised by this new evidence. Research like this has been going on for years. However, I think instead of trying to categorise differences we should celebrate diversity and people's individuality and their quirks, rather than looking at whether they are male or female. I find evidence like this tends to create stereotypes.
.

Natasha Walter, Feminist author
I think we have to be careful and not jump on small studies that show small differences and assume they're going to remain significant. Obviously there are some physical differences between the brains of men and women, but these differences may not be innate and unchanging. They can be produced by our environment and circumstances

.

Independent

.

Another take on the above is that several of those invited made sensible comments

Why is it that scientists insist on looking at the mechanical structures?

.

They continue with reductionistic approaches

.

Even though there is not a hope in hell of understanding a complex human system by ever more minute examinations of it's component parts

.

We seem to be incapable of looking at things holistically

.

For example where does consciousness fit in this study?

.

The brain is nothing without consciousness

.

And where is consciousness to be located?

.

Still such approaches help sell newspapers and it certainly does no harm to mainstream scientists trying to obtain funding and kudos

.

Bottom line looked at another way is that we need each other and can help each other and this surely is the most important aspect of the similarities and differences between women and men

.

Who knows nature might even have a reason for creating us in a similar but dissimilar fashion at this point in our evolutionary journey?

Heard it before

Nothing you say is new

I have heard it all before

Some of it many times

I am sure you have

And if you have then why aren't you further ahead in your growth?

Why doesn't your life work better ?

Because while you might have heard you didn't hear

.

Too unkind to say in one ear and out the other

.

Because you remember hearing it before but it has not affected you

.

It has not acted as a catalyst

Let us say you were not ready to hear

For all of us we only take things on-board when we are ready

Ready to truly hear

And this is why we need to hear things over and over again until one day we get it

.

And this in turn can only happen when we are ready to grow

Often as a result of experiencing the same problem over and over until slowly we begin to realise that we might be the cause

Having felt pain over and over

Why?

Because we are not open to learn

We are not ready to learn

We are frightened to take what seems like a risk

To do what seems like something more dangerous

Notice you keep getting the same problem

Yes this is how it works nature will keep giving you the same situation or choices over and over until you learn to change your behaviour

Like groundhog day if you like an analogies

So what keeps happening to you in your life?

Over and over

Same problem with every relationship perhaps?

At some point hopefully you will realise that the real problem is not your partners

It is you

Nature will give you the same partner over and over until you do get it

It will just keep on happening

So hear it one more time and let's hope that this time the light goes on

If you want to find the way out of your problems then be open to hear

The answer is in you

Not out there

In you, you are the only one who can change things

No guru, no master

You

Inside you is what needs changing

So be open, hear what people say to you

Hear what they do not say

Listen to that little voice inside
.
Have the courage to ask

Tour de France

Sometimes a Tour de Force, sometimes a Tour de Farce but this year apart from some more drug revelations a tour of uncertainty until the very end with several contenders vying for the famed yellow jersey

Nearly three weeks in the saddle

One might not follow cycling in fact most don't

However if you watched some of the stages, as each day's race is called, then you can learn something about endurance, will power, stamina, tactics and team work

Amazing fitness, strength of character and perseverance

And so much more on public display

As with many other sports technique is important

As are many other aspects including team planning, strategies and timing

However it is often the psychological aspects that determine the outcome

Those little signs that give one an edge over the others

What makes one man freeze or crumple and another rise up and prevail?

Maybe something in our childhood

Genetics maybe

Training can help

But usually it is that something inside an individual that will not lie down, will not give in

Stubbornness, no it is more than that

Obsession, no for this is what they do for a living

A special character perhaps

No matter It does give an insight into the degree to which one can control one's emotions

Emotions that get in the way of so many people's attempts to succeed

Emotions that haunt our performance in so many areas of life

Prevailing over these emotions is one of the battles of life

The starting point as with so many other things in life is to ask yourself

Do my emotions rule me or do I rule them?

Do my emotions in fact dominate me?

Have I ever really thought about how they pop up and block me?

Probably not in these terms

Make time to learn about how and where your emotions get in your way

.

Block you, stop you

This investment in time and attention will more than repay itself because learning about one of the major powers in our life is always worthwhile

And once you have begun to consciously understand how emotions rule then of course the next step is to figure out how to control them

And this brings you to your major life battle, which is to locate, understand and fight your life fears

And yes every human has fears

And yes fears are what get in your way in so many things

Fears are at the root of so much of our emotional behaviour

Maybe those riders in the Tour de France are just finding a way to channel their fears

Maybe many things but the real point is that you get out of life what you are prepared to fight for

.

And the fight for mastery of yourself is the really tough one

.

The Tour de France obliges the riders to face themselves in some ways

.

However we all have to face ourselves at some point whatever we do

.

No exceptions

.

Nature does not grant exceptions

.

Have you started yet?

.

Have you?

Stranded

Trying to be cool

Not so easy when you are in a strange place

Know no one

Cannot speak the language

Had your passport and possessions stolen

No money either that went too

What to do?

If you are near or in an airport you are lucky because someone will speak a language you do

If you are due to fly then they might be able to confirm your reservation, which if they can will allow you to ask them to contact someone who can help you

If you are in a city then again try to move to a place where your identity can be retrieved or confirmed

Simple points

Never carry important papers or documents all in one place

Wear a money belt or similar concealed protection

Try to have important items on your body and not in separate bags which can be stolen

Do not wave money or other items of value about

Be conscious of those around you, move away from those who seem to pay too much attention

Do not put items into easily accessible pockets

Have emergency numbers for mobile phone theft, cards, tickets and other valuable information in a separate pocket

Learn key numbers by heart

Report the thefts to your local embassy or local police as often they can help

Even if they cannot or will not help they will often give you a report copy, which can come in useful later if you are insured

Make sure others know where you are and when you should make contact

There are few feelings worse than having all your important items stolen

Most of us experience something of this nature at least once in our lives

Do not be caught out

Be more conscious when travelling

Vodka

Who knew this then?!!!!

1. To remove a bandage painlessly, saturate the bandage with vodka. The stuff dissolves adhesive.

2. To clean the caulking around bathtubs and showers, fill a trigger-spray bottle with vodka, spray the caulking, let set five minutes and wash clean. The alcohol in the vodka kills mold and mildew.

3. To clean your eyeglasses, simply wipe the lenses with a soft, clean cloth dampened with vodka. the alcohol in the vodka cleans the glass and kills germs.

4. Prolong the life of razors by filling a cup with vodka and letting your safety razor blade soak in the alcohol after shaving. The vodka disinfects the blade and prevents rusting.

5. Spray vodka on wine stains, scrub with a brush, and then blot dry.

6. Using a cotton ball, apply vodka to your face as an astringent to cleanse the skin and tighten pores.

7. Add a jigger of vodka to a 12-ounce bottle of shampoo. The alcohol cleanses the scalp,removes toxins from hair,and stimulates the growth of healthy hair.

8. Fill a sixteen-ounce trigger-spray bottle with vodka and spray bees or wasps to kill them.

9. Pour one-half cup vodka and one-half cup water into a Ziploc freezer bag and freeze for a slushy,

refreshing ice pack for aches, pain or black eyes.

10. Fill a clean, used mayonnaise jar with freshly packed lavender flowers, fill the jar with vodka, seal the lid tightly and set in the sun for three days. Strain liquid through a coffee filter, then apply the tincture to aches and pains.

11. To relieve a fever, use a washcloth to rub vodka on your chest and back as a liniment.

12. To cure foot odor, wash your feet with vodka.

13 Vodka will disinfect and alleviate a jellyfish sting.

14. Pour vodka over an area affected with poison ivy to remove the urushiol oil from your skin.

15. Swish a shot of vodka over an aching tooth. Allow your gums to absorb some of the alcohol to numb the pain

First boy or girl friend

How much did they shape your feelings about later partners?

That first love lingers

Sometimes it scars

Sometimes it inspires

Maybe a bit of both

And then our subsequent lives are set in patterns all stemming from this first experience

Wow!

Our lives all set because of our first experience

Often this is the case

Have we even consciously noticed?

If it was healthy and beautiful fine

But if it was brutal or hurtful then time to unwind this memory

It is past, gone, nothing to do about it

Let it go

No

Before letting it go amend it

Thank that person mentally for the experience because however painful it was you now wish to unilaterally let it go

Unresolved hurtful and painful memories can affect us for the rest of our lives

So bring them into your consciousness and look at them

Acknowledge the pain and understand how they touched you

Maybe still do

A pain brought into the open and looked at loses its power

So look at it and let it go after accepting it's impact on you

.

Understand how holding onto the pain or fear is doing nothing for you now

.

Choose to find love and light in your life

Our first love can be more powerful than we realise

Justice

Sometimes it seems that there is no justice

When blatant murderers continue to kill men, women, and children in many countries around the World

So called ethnic cleansing and genocide continue today as they have for as long as anyone can remember

What kind of humans are we?

Notice though how slowly but surely despots and murderers are being brought to stand trial

The latest Radovan Karadzic is reminding the World of what he did to ten of thousands of humans

The President of Sudan likewise has been indicted although not brought to trial yet

Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe might have stolen his election but he and his cronies also showed the World their brutal abuse and ongoing murder of fellow humans

The junta in Burma liikewise reminded us of their abuse of their fellow citizens during the recent natural disaster to hit their country

Imperfect the World's response might be

Slow it certainly is

The move from shrugging shoulders

Looking the other way

From ignoring murder

To the creation of an active International Criminal Court has been painfully slow

Still is as the Untied States needs to reconsider it's reasons for not joining as do other countries

Too many other murderers are still at large however slowly the world is moving to recognise that this is the only way

Remove their freedom to retire

Remove their freedom to travel outside their countries

Slow and imperfect though this is justice is beginning to become a possibility where a decade ago this was not so

Justice is important

As is the exposure of their behaviour

Morality demands we stand up to murderers

It's a start

For the many millions of men women and children butchered over the last few decades there is no redress

It is up to us to speak out

To make our own contribution to exposing injustice

Yes we all have a role to play how we do so is up to us

Lovely day today

And it's summer time too

A great feeling to know that the days stay longer until the end of October when the clocks get turned back again

Alters our feeling about time a bit to experience those long warmer summer days

Talking of longer days time is not an easy subject

For children playing time does not exist

For adults working in a an unloved job time is forever

Time seems very variable depending on what we are doing

And what we are doing shapes our experience of time

Which leads to how we feel about what we do

Feeling positive about the day changes our experience of it

So a day perceived as lovely is more likely to experienced as such

No matter what we have to do

Lovely day it is then.


Enjoy your lovely day!

And to you too

Is often our reaction when someone swears or is rude to us

It is an instinctive thought that comes to mind when people are rude to us

In fact many of us would want to swear and shout back

Some do

Some can control their emotions

Some can watch the other party with more objectivity

For most it is naturally unpleasant to receive abuse

And our reaction is often one of anger

Unfortunately anger is not helpful to our growing

Anger does nothing for our nervous system

If you are a violent person then learn to let it out in a gym or by doing some sport where violence is acceptable

Then take the next step and start to figure out why you are violent

.

Why you get angry so quickly

.

Do this because if you do not then your violence can not only get you into serious trouble but it will also damage your health

So many things seem fine when we are young

They are not so fine though when we get older

Funny really how few young people have the idea to look at those older than themselves to see who remains in good health and who is damaged

It would seem a logical thing to do

Like so many other things in life often the obvious does not get our attention

We are too busy doing other things

So notice those who seem to have it together

Those who have aged nicely

Notice also how the angry ones usually disappear

How often they encounter bad health

How no one wants to be with them

Let go your own anger

Take time to do those things that are helpful to growing older with better health

Age nicely please

.

Make life a pleasure for those around you.

Shiny new toys

Shiny new toy today second hand item tomorrow

So short has the life cycle of many products become that few can keep up with all the latest "must have items"

And if so few can keep up why bother?

In times of economic duress time to let the fashionistas go

Let them be

Fix on what products are best for you

Do they work?

Do they do what they say they will do?

See through the hype and learn to appreciate what you have

.

Not what you do not have

.

Learn to find pleasure in relationships and nature not things

Things can only get worse over time, that is how they are designed to be

Conversely relationships can getting better and better over time

Strong relationships help you through difficult times

Toys do not add anything over time

Cell phones and cancer

Cellphones emit non-ionizing radiation, waves of energy that are too weak to break chemical bonds or to set off the DNA damage known to cause cancer.

There is no known biological mechanism to explain how non-ionizing radiation might lead to cancer.

But researchers who have raised concerns say that just because science can't explain the mechanism doesn't mean one does not exist.

Concerns have focused on the heat generated by cellphones and the fact that the radio frequencies are absorbed mostly by the head and neck.

In recent studies that suggest a risk, the tumors tend to occur on the same side of the head where the patient typically holds the phone.

Like most research on the subject, the studies are observational, showing only an association between cellphone use and cancer, not a causal relationship.

The most important of these studies is called Interphone, a vast research effort in 13 countries, including Canada, Israel and several in Europe.

Some of the research suggests a link between cellphone use and three types of tumors: glioma; cancer of the parotid, a salivary gland near the ear; and acoustic neuroma, a tumor that essentially occurs where the ear meets the brain. All these cancers are rare.

Last year, The American Journal of Epidemiology published data from Israel finding a 58 percent higher risk of parotid gland tumors among heavy cellphone users.

Also last year, a Swedish analysis of 16 studies in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine showed a doubling of risk for acoustic neuroma and glioma after 10 years of heavy cellphone use.

Some doctors say the real concern is not older cellphone users, who began using phones as adults, but children who are beginning to use phones today and face a lifetime of exposure.

The fear is that even if the individual risk of using a cellphone is low, with three billion users worldwide, even a minuscule risk would translate into a major public health concern.

IHT

Mistakes

Why do I keep making the same mistake?

Why do I keep finding myself going out with partners who I don't really like or have much in common with?

.

Why doesn't it work on so many levels?

Why?

Because you are not clear with yourself

Because you mirror image

You might not want to believe this

.

However we attract what we are

.

And this will keep on over and over until we learn our lessons

.

Nature has all the time in the world and will not be fooled by you

.

So if you refuse to learn then fine come back next life and the one after and do it all over again

.

And yes that's how it works

Nature is quite fair you will meet who you deserve

To change meeting the same wallies over and over sort yourself

Until you can love yourself it will be tough to love another

To love ourselves means accepting ourselves as we are not as we project

Time to drop those false perceptions of yourself

.

Stop the theatre

.

And if you do not like yourself then who pray is going to change this if it is not yourself?

You are the only person who can change you

So list those areas where you do not like yourself and start working on them

Life is process so do not beat yourself up because you are not perfect for if you were perfect you would not be here

You would be sitting on some cloud munching grapes strumming on your harp

So get real, accept that life is process and that it does not matter that this that or the other is not perfect

If you are working on it and are trying your best then that's fine

Nature asks no more of us than this

Once you start addressing your fears, your weaknesses and yes most of them are at root fears

Then lo and behold less wallies will come along and you will attract a different kind of partner

.

Because you are no longer the same person

You have no time to waste so start today

.

Remove the wallies from your life

Do you know love?

Do you?

It is something that comes from inside us

Not from outside in but from inside out

Not something from someone else although someone might trigger the feeling of love

Offering a focus if you will

True love is unconditional

It cannot be love if there are conditions

Love is without conditions

Loving someone means letting them go if they want to go

Love is not blind as some might say

We are blind and that is not love

It is our lack of perspective or awareness

Lust even

However love is everywhere

In everything

Love is unique there is nothing else like love in this Universe

Love is more powerful than anything else is this Universe

Literally

Love gives more and greater meaning to everything

Love offers sustenance

Love helps us find strength

Deep down we all want love

Many do not have the courage to let go and love

Do you?

Because only by letting go of our fears can we find love

First for ourselves and then for another

Do you know love?

Wisdom

Our age we say, is inferior in Wisdom to any other, because it professes, more visibly every day, contempt for truth and justice, without which there can be no wisdom

Because our civilisation, built up of shams and appearances, is at best like a beautiful green morass, a bog, spread over a deadly quagmire

.

This was written two hundred years ago before spin and lies in public life had really got going

.

There are no prizes today for morality while there are prizes on any game or reality show for any amount of base behavior

.

Our age while giving lip service to ideas of freedom is in truth an age of ferocious moral and mental slavery, the like of which has not been seen before

.

A slavery to things and self, to one's own vices, social customs and ways

.

A slavish dependence on things inanimate, to use and to serve

.

This was also written two hundred years ago

.

Where then is the Wisdom of our modern age?

.

First though what is meant by the word wisdom

.

The first point of wisdom is to discern that which is false, and the second, to know that which is true

.

So strong is human selfishness, that wherever there is the smallest personal interest at stake, there men become deaf and blind to the truth, as often consciously as not.

.

Nor are many people capable of recognising the difference between men who are wise and those who only seem wise, the latter being chiefly regarded as such because they are very clever at blowing their own trumpet.

.

Then we come to the problem that the truly wise today, as in days gone by, will conceal their wisdom

.

Old philosophers such as Socrates and Rosecroix would proclaim that all they knew was that they knew nothing

.

The two words wisdom and truth are synonymous terms, and that which is false or pernicious

cannot be wise

.

This gives us the clue to wisdom and it is not something to be found very often on our modern world because so little is proven to be true

.

Nature gives up her innermost secrets and imparts true wisdom only to him, who seeks truth for its own sake,, and who craves for knowledge in order to confer benefits on others, not on his own unimportant personality

.

Few are those who consent to learn at such a heavy price and so small a benefit for themselves in prospect

.

So the wise become rarer and rarer every century

.

Wisdom becomes likewise rarer and rarer

.

Like the melting snows and disappearing fish in the sea our world is changing in so many more ways than most realise, and the disappearance of wisdom is one such

.

Without wisdom we are unlikely to survive our current and growing challenges

.

And conversely without extreme challenges we are unlikely to listen to wisdom

.

So maybe because of our current problems we will have the wit to search for wisdom

.

Let us see how we behave as things get tougher.

English women of another era

In the fifth to eleventh centuries were bought and regarded as the property of the husband

And as late as the seventeenth century husbands of "decent station" were not ashamed to beat their wives

Gentlemen arranged flogging parties of pleasure for the purpose of seeing wretched women whipped at Bridewell

It was not until 1817 that the public whipping of women was abolished in England

In the 1890's a woman receiving a higher education was obliged to remain all her life under the tutelage of some man

She had no rights to her husband's property, and lost every right to hers,

Even to every penny she eared by her own labor, having in short

No right to hold any property, whether inherited or acquired

A man deserting his wife for another woman, and leaving her and his children to starve, was not forced to support them

But had a legal right to every penny earned by his abandoned wife, as "the skill of her brain was not hers, it was her husband's

No matter what he did, or whatever crime he committed against her, she had no recourse against him

Could neither sue him, nor had even the right of lodging a complaint against him

Moreover she had no rights as a mother, English law recognising only the father and the child

Her children could be taken away from her

Separated from their mother forever and there was no redress for her

The wife had in the eyes of the law simply no existence

.

And it was only through the efforts of the Women's Franchise League and other similar bodies that these terrible conditions were addressed in law many years latter

Russian women

Before the revolution had rights on a par with those of men, and in some cases their privileges were far greater

Since the days of Catherine II, she was sole mistress of her property, the husband having no right to one kopeck without the wife's legal signature

That a poor woman, marrying a rich man, having on the other hand a legal right to his property during his life, and to a certain portion after his death, whether he wills it or not, and also a right to the maintenance of herself and children whatever she does

.

If seperated, not divorced, and the husband was a public official, a certain portion was deducted from his salary and paid over to the wife

.

That a woman holding property and paying taxes is obliged to give her vote, whether personally or by proxy

And that so greatly was she protected by law that even a child born between nine and ten months after the husband's death was considered legitimate by law. simply because abnormally prolonged gestation does casually happen

The law stated that it was more consonant with the law of Christ to forgive nine guilty women, rather than wrong the tenth who may be innocent.

.

And then along came Communism

.

And then again how about today?

The fork

Roasted meats were eaten with fingers as late as the beginning of the last century.

The fork was known in the days of Henry III, but rarely used before the end of the eighteenth century

The wife of Charles le Bel (1324) and Clemence of Hungary had in their dowry each one fork only, and the Duchess of tours had two

Charles V (1380) and Charles VI (1418) had in their table inventory only three golden forks - for fruit

Charlotte d'Albrey (1514) three likewise, which were however never used

Germany and Italy adopted the fork at their meals a century earlier than did the French

Cornet an Englishman was much surprised, while travelling in Italy in 1609 to find

"a strange looking clumsy, and dangerous weapon called a fork"

Used by the natives while eating

In 1651 we find Ann of Austria refusing to use this weapon and eating together with her son Louis XIV with her fingers

The fork came only into general use only at the beginning of the last century

In China, native forks (chopsticks) were used a 1,000 years B.C, as they are now

History lesson

Without women it is debatable that we would have Christianity today

Modern Protestantists and Roman Catholics owe their existence to priest ridden and church going women

To the mother who teaches her son his first bible lesson, to the wife or sister who forces her husband or brother to accompany her to church

To the emotional spinster the admirer of every popular preacher, to the legions of women who support their church

And yet the predecessors of these churchmen have for fifteen centuries degraded women from every pulpit

The early Church fathers denounced women as noxious animals, necessary evils, and domestic perils

Fierce invectives against the sex form a conspicuous and grotesque portion of the writings of the fathers

Gamble says in the forth century holy men gravely argued the question "ought women to be called human beings?"

But let the Christian fathers speak for themselves.

Tertullian in the following flattering manner, addresses women: "You are the devil's gateway, the unsealer of the forbidden tree, the first deserter from the divine law. You are she who persuaded him whom the devil was not valiant enough to attack. You destroyed God's image - man

Clement of Alexandria says "It brings shame to reflect of what nature woman is"

Gregory Thaumaturgus says "One man among a thousand may be pure; a woman, never"

Woman is the organ of the devil - St Bernard

Her voice is the hissing of the serpent - St Anthony

Woman is the instrument which the devil uses to get possession of our souls - St Cyprian

Woman is a scorpion - St Bonaventure

The gate of the devil, the road of iniquity - St Jerome

Woman is a daughter of falsehood, a sentinel of hell, the enemy of peace - St John Damascene

Of all wild beasts the most dangerous is woman - St John Chrysostom

Enough!

If you have interest in how abusive Christianity has been to women look to the supremacy and honor the women of ancient Aryavarta had been elevated

Also from the earliest times of which we can catch a glimpse the women of Egypt enjoyed a freedom and independence of which modern nations are only beginning to dream

In the legends of early Rome we have ample evidence both of the high moral estimate of women and of their prominence in Roman life

The inequality and oppression which related to women disappeared from pagan laws

The consequence was that the situation of the Roman female whether married or unmarried became one of great personal and proprietary independence

But Christianity tended from the very first to narrow this remarkable liberty

The jurisconsults of the day contended for better laws for wives, but the Church prevailed in most instances, and established the most oppressive ones

There is not a more cruel chapter in history than that which records the arrest, by Christianity, of the natural growth of European civilisation regarding women

And one can surmise that man left to rule without check or balance has brought us to many of the difficulties we face today

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So few know the true history of Christianity with regard to women, however the ongoing fight about ordaining women Bishops today gives us a glimpse of that behaviour

Ponder this

In nature the female is the source of all life

Without woman human life cannot exist!

Every human male has a mother!

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The truth is usually more interesting than current mythology

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Make it your business to learn the truth about things that are in your life.

Just keep it simple

Is an expression we hear from time to time in relation to different things

Today it is in relation to our health

We can divide our health into three segments

Physical

Mental

Emotional

Today it is an observation on our physical health, which in turn relates to the other two

Nature has been present as long as man, longer

Nature is considerably smarter than mam

Certainly much smarter than most scientists

The human system has evolved over an enormous period of time

In fact millions of years although this is not currently acknowledged or believed

No matter, human systems are strong and subtle at the same time

When we start taking medicines and pills we often do more harm than good

Why?

For one simple oh so simple reason

All allopathic medicines are designed to work on one particular aspect of our system be it for colds or blood pressure whatever, one part only.

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None or very few of them have been tested for their effect on other parts of our systems

Imagine taking two or three pills or medicines at the same time, a not uncommon situation.

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Not one of these medicines or pills has been tested for their effect on each other let alone what happens when they are in the body at the same time as each other

Most modern medicines make no distinction between young or old, fit or unfit, large or small, let alone the psychological state of the different patients

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So our point is this nature will naturally move us towards better heath if we let her

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The introduction of man made drugs should be kept to the bare minimum possible

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For better health trust your system to want to repair itself

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Learn to listen to your system it will guide you in what you need to eat

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Sudden urges to eat different things are often because those foods contain elements that your system needs

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If you have become addicted to taking pills then seek help because yes this is a real addiction for many people today

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Trusting our systems to heal themselves is often more helpful than feeding on allopathic drugs

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Deciding to create better health is also important

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You take the decision to create the health you want

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You are responsible for your own health

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Doctors can support or hinder this process

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Some doctors are good some are not

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Take responsibility for your own health

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Eat reasonably

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Exercise reasonably

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Decide that you will let go of your fears and stresses

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At the root of most medical conditions is fear in one form or another

Yes really

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Your life will be more enjoyable if you take controlof your own health

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And having good health is possibly the most important single thing a human can have

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Think about it

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Just keep it simple.

Mmmmm - 61

Occultism is not magic, although magic is one of it's tools

Occultism is not the acquirement of powers, whether psychic or intellectual, though both are it's servants

Neither is occultism the pursuit of happiness, as men understand the word, for the first step is sacrifice, the second renunciation

Life is built up by the sacrifice of the individual to the whole.

Each cell in the living body must sacrifice itself to the perfection of the whole;when it is otherwise, disease and death enforce the lesson.

And it is the same today as when these words were written many many years ago

And yes occultism is practised today as it was then

No public acclaim for those who follow the path

Nor will this ever change for the rules are inviolable

Diets don't bother

Walk into any bookshop and notice: the shelves are full of diet books:

Yet, despite this the diet industry is in the middle of a backlash.

Two books challenged the concept of dieting, the first "The Diet Delusion" and then "Rethinking Thin", both of which challenged conventional wisdom about weight loss.

Now comes Geoffrey Cannon's "Dieting Makes You Fat" and he says that dieting causes the very condition it is meant to cure because the human body cannot distinguish between dieting and famine.

Humans are designed to respond to the threat of an irregular food supply by retaining body fat rather than burning it off.

The more humans diet, the more their bodies become trained to look for food, slow down their vital functions and conserve body fat.

And sweet foods were part of human evolution, not weak willpower because in the forest and Savannah sweetness was a way of finding safe foods

Cannon says that restricting calories is the worst possible way to achieve the body of your dreams. “If you have more body fat than you want, don’t even think of going on a diet,” he says.

“Be more physically active instead, and be patient because you need to train your body to build up lean tissue, which works more efficiently than body fat.”

He suggests that if you are active, then you can enjoy a balance of good food — even cake.

People who exercise regularly burn off 500-700 more calories a day than their sedentary counterparts because fit bodies burn off a lot of energy during the time they are resting, not only while they are exercising

Nor is Cannon the only one saying that diets don't work because while he was writing the update to his book research published by UCLA last year, concluded that diets don’t work either.

The study concluded that:dieters can initially lose 5%-10% of their weight on any number of diets, but then the weight comes back.

It was found that after dieting the majority of people regained all their weight, plus more and after five years only five percent had maintained any weight loss at all.

“People make the mistake of judging the success of a diet at the point that it is stopped,” says Cannon. “It’s madness.

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Dieting triggers the body to go into reversal. When people come off a regime, it’s a form of the bulimic syndrome.

They find they can’t stop eating restricting calorie intake by anything more than 200 calories a day will trigger a rebound effect, and the more drastic and long-lasting the diet, the worse the rebound once it ends.

In some studies, people coming off a diet were forced to eat up to 10,000 calories a day — and still reported feeling hungry.

“People often asked him ‘If this is all true, why haven’t I heard it before?’

His response is, ‘In whose interests is it to tell you?’

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The diet industry sells its wares on the basis of repeat custom — if a diet doesn’t work, it’s your fault.

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It’s time for a paradigm shift, no more diets, just more sensible exercise

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Unfortunately much of what our bodies do is beyond the control of our minds

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Meaning that we do not have control over our appetites

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To most people this idea that we don’t have control over our appetites is not an easy one.

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People are even more loath to admit the obvious that we have so little control over our minds in anyway at all

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Can you honestly say that you control the thoughts that come in and out of your head all day long?
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“Claims made by the diet industry appeal to our base desires Cannon says because. “The dieting business is fabulous. It sells dreams.

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But dreams rarely come true.”

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Particularly if the dream is based upon false ideas

Cognitive dissonance

Might not be a phrase you are familiar with however the behaviour it describes is familiar to many of us

You believe that you are a good person, say, yet you know you have done a bad thing.

There is dissonance.

You resolve it by deciding that the bad thing was not that bad.

The worse your behaviour, the harder you will try to twist it around in your head until you can reconcile it with your view of yourself.

It is commonly believed that we have theories and that they are tested by the facts.

The opposite is true.

We have theories and then we strive mightily to fit the facts into them, ignoring those that don't quite work or reinterpreting them if we have to.

The more we have at stake emotionally, the more pressing this task becomes.

Cognitive dissonance explains a great deal.
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When groups like the police, medics, politicians, social workers, barristers, judges the legal apparatus - get together, convinced of their own righteousness, the facts are in cases of cognitive dissonance completely ignored.

They are certain that they are right, certain they are just and often, you know, they really are.

But when they are not, they will never ever admit it, digging themselves in more and more deeply.
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There's only one way out.

That is to allow others, those without a stake in the righteousness of anyone, to examine what went on.

Sadly in many cases this is not done

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Even worse those involved deny that there is any need for such a review

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On a personal level if you do this then time to get real

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Telling others you are right when all the evidence says you are not is a big big problem

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On a simple level we might call it lying however it is indicative of a bigger problem

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Look at yourself and consider if your behaviour warrants attention

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And if it is your friend then be aware that cognitive dissonance does not take care of itself

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Cognitive dissonance an unusual phrase for a sadly all too common condition

One thousand

Today is the one thousandth blog that I have written

It all started after someone said why don't you write a blog?

So here we are one thousand blogs later

Why?

From my standpoint it is a good discipline

I don't know where it is going

I don't mind

My challenge is to try and offer something useful and or interesting

To try and introduce readers to the truth of things

Not easy because you are all different

All at different points in your consciousness evolution

All with different problems

Or so it seems

In point of fact all modern humans share things in common

We all have more points of similarity than we do dissimilarity

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Even though money, class, sex, colour, age, and education might obscure this

After we remove the huffing and puffing of modern hype and spin what do we find?

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Humans of all types trying to get by

All with concerns for our planet even if these are only at a subconscious level

All with issues about our own lives

All with stress issues of one kind or another

All feeling powerless to a greater or lesser degree

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And many many more issues that all humans must face

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Doesn't matter if we are rich or poor, selfish or altruistic

The way forward is the same for all of us and it is this that interests me in writing this blog

How to assist our understanding about how things are and why they are as they are

How to help an understanding that the only way out is through hard work

How to find the courage to face change

How to overcome our fears

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How to understand that there is a truth about things

A tall order and a challenging one given so many cultural prejudices and misinformation's

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Yes most societies have their little games and deceits

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Slowly but surely though more and more people would like to know the truth of things

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Where did we come from?

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What's it all about?

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Why are we here?

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What am I meant to do with my life?

So until then this is why I keep writing to explore ideas to help in this journey

Let's see where this goes

Enjoy your day