You are here: Home / Archives for self improvement

Mother’s Day, a Brief History

May 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By Linda Thurlow -

We can all say a big thank you to our mums on mother’s day. Over the years I have sent many bouquets to my mother. Did you know that this special anniversary has been officially recognised since May 10th 1908. The woman who had this day dedicated to her was known as Anne Jarvis. Anne was born in 1832 in Virginia, USA. Married at 20 it is believed that she had as many as 12 children, most of whom did not live into adulthood. Diseases such as, diphtheria, scarlet fever and whooping cough claimed the lives of most of her children. Ann realised that poor sanitation, including uncovered garbage and bad ventilation contributed to the spread of disease. Putting aside her own grief, Ann Jarvis became a community activist. Anne launched designated days for mothers where local women came together to improve their surroundings.

During the civil war, she organised women to nurse wounded soldiers from both sides of the divide. Anne had a massive influence on the lives of many women of the time, her own daughter Anna devoted much of her life to campaigning for a national holiday to recognise and commemorate all mothers particularly Ann’s. The first official mother’s day service was held on May 10, 1908 in a Methodist church in West Virginia. Anne saw it as a day to show love and gratitude, she suggested that white carnations represent family bonds. This American tradition has spread across the water and “a happy mother’s day is a tradition embraced by people in lots of countries” Giving your mother flowers on mother’s day is a wonderful way of showing your gratitude and love for a mothers love.

Flowers are said to give instant pleasure and happiness. Rutgers: University researcher Jennette Haviland-Jones Ph.D. explored the emotional impact that the receiving of flowers has on people.

It first of all revealed that those who send flowers, in comparison to other gifts, are viewed as successful, caring and emotionally intelligent people. For the person on the receiving end of this gift is the pure delight and positive emotion that they can evoke.

Flowers are not just for special occasions. It is commonplace to send flowers to your mother on mother’s day, to your lover on Valentine’s day, or to a grieving relative or friend, if you use your imagination a little, flowers can be given in between all of the “occasions” just to show someone you care.

The list is endless as are the types of flowers themselves. Giving them to someone you work with, the giving of flowers is not always a declaration of love, it is sometimes a show of appreciation, a thank you for getting the job done, a big well done and beneficial to everyone in the office! Giving flowers to the rebellious teenager; as a thank you for cleaning their room, this may on the face of it, be deemed as a bribe, but imagine the sheer delight of a clean bedroom, with a beautiful, sweet smelling floral tribute and a happier, cleaner him/her, Flowers as a gift send out messages of love, hope, kindness, thanks, and sympathy; the giving of flowers is as old as time itself, long may it prosper.

Linda Thurlow is a writer on many subjects including floristry and floral tributes including Mothers Day Flowers and the opportunity to order flowers online initiative

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Linda_Thurlow
http://EzineArticles.com/?Mothers-Day,-a-Brief-History&id=5446519

 

 

Share
Filed Under: Self Improvement Tagged With: , ,

A Healthy Mind Equals A Healthy Body

May 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By Ebony Rosie Holmes -

There is an old saying that a healthy mind equals a healthy body. This is actually not so far from the truth. A healthy mind is indeed indicative of a healthy body. Health is both physical and mental and to keep your mind healthy it needs to be exercised just as much as the body needs exercising.

Life is a continual learning curve and we are never too old to be trained in a new skill. It may take a little longer to absorb new information as adults, but it is well worth the effort. I am very proud of the older people in our community who have integrated computers, mobile phones and other technological equipment into their lives, not easy when you’ve lived so long without them.

It is vitally important to keep on learning throughout life and I feel sad for those that say they hate books and avoid anything to do with study. Watching TV can be a useful medium for gaining knowledge of world events and other cultures as there are some great documentaries, but to become involved personally in new ventures is so much more satisfying. It seems that every town has day and evening classes covering a whole range of subjects and just by making the effort to get to the classes, a whole new world of people and possible friendships can open up, as well as learning about new subjects.

If I was a young person now in 2010, my first priority would be to learn a trade or have a profession that would provide me with a decent living. I tell this to my nieces and nephews as even if a trade or profession does not last them a lifetime, it is something to fall back on in hard times. Many of us born in the 1950′s and 60′s did not have the opportunity to go to university or learn a trade and some of us have had to change direction in mid life as our jobs have become obsolete. This has meant a return to study as mature age students to gain more qualifications. This was my path and I loved my years at university although it was hard work at times. My reward for all this work was gaining my honours degree and then my graduate diploma. So, don’t let your age or fear of failure stop you from taking on tertiary studies or any other course you want to do.

Having goals is another way to keep your mind active and helps to maintain your motivation levels whilst working towards your particular objectives. I have long term goals (5-10 years), medium term goals (2-4 years) and short term goals (1-2 years), which keep me feeling positive and motivated to achieve my ambitions. I review my goals every 12 months, usually as the New Year approaches.

Ebony values a healthy approach to life and knows full well the joys of having an active mind. She has found a book that covers a variety of these issues and it gives you advice on how to look 10 years younger. This is all good quality content for people who want information instead of fluff regarding real people getting benefit from a healthy overall regifter ones mind, body and soul.

http://www.lookingyoungertips.info

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ebony_Rosie_Holmes
http://EzineArticles.com/?A-Healthy-Mind-Equals-A-Healthy-Body&id=5908892

 

 

Share
Filed Under: Self Improvement Tagged With: , ,

Why is Taking Care of Your Health Important For Your Self-Esteem?

May 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By Liv Miyagawa –

If you are not taking care of your health you are telling yourself that your body, and thus you as a person, is not important. If you want to have a high self-esteem you need to tell yourself that YOU ARE IMPORTANT.

Think about somebody that you love very much. It may for example be a friend or it may be a family member. Imagine that this person got ill. Wouldn’t you wish for that person to become healthy again? If you could, wouldn’t you want to do everything that you could possibly do to help that person get better? If you really love somebody you want that person to be as healthy as possible and feel as good as possible all the time. You want to help that person to be at his/her optimal physical state both in the short-term and in the long-term.

Your level of self-esteem is basically your amount of love towards yourself. The higher self-esteem you have the more you will also be able to love others. In order to raise your self-esteem you need to act as if you already had a high self-esteem. You cannot start to love yourself more if you are constantly treating yourself as if you didn’t. Therefore, in order to raise your self-esteem you need to take care of your own physical health because that is what you would do if you really loved yourself.

A person with high self-esteem considers herself/himself important. This is NOT the same as considering oneself to be MORE important than others. At the contrary, the higher value you consider yourself to have the more value you will be able to see in others. If you think that you are an important person, then it becomes obvious that you will want to take care of the body that is supporting you and keeping you alive. Taking care of that body involves eating well, exercising, resting and so on. If you neglect your physical health you’re sending the message to yourself that you are not important enough to be taken care of. On the other hand, if you do take care of yourself, you’re sending yourself the message that you are important enough to have an ideal health so that you can live longer and develop your potentials.

Take care of your health and self-esteem will follow!

Liv Miyagawa – The Self-Esteem Coach

Liv Miyagawa, The Self-Esteem Coach, helps people all over the world to raise their self-esteem and to reach their personal goals. She opens people’s eyes to their own strengths and helps them to figure out what it really is that they want to get out of life. Liv helps people to find out exactly what steps they need to take to reach their goals, and she supports them and motivates them on their journey towards a more fulfilling future. http://www.livmiyagawa.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Liv_Miyagawa
http://EzineArticles.com/?Why-is-Taking-Care-of-Your-Health-Important-For-Your-Self-Esteem?&id=4154452

 

 

Share
Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: , , , ,

Turning Anger Into Compassion

May 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By Nancy Nicolazzo -

“When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over.” Thich Nhat Hanh

I grew up in a family dominated by alcoholism, narcissism, illness and dysfunction. There were four of us, my mother, my father, my older brother and myself.

From a young age, I had a lot of responsibility. I was a parentified child, caring for my older brother who was epileptic and also caring for my parents whose main focus of concentration was on themselves.

Growing up I was filled with confusion, dissatisfaction, and suppressed anger.

As a child, I did not know other children were busy playing and being cared for. For me it was all about caring for others. I was left alone while my father worked, my mother shopped, and my brother was taken where he needed to be.

As a result of these dynamics, I grew up trying to please my distracted parents. I wanted nothing more than to win their approval and affection.

Expectations of me, from my parents, were many and grew in number as I did in age, until, as an adolescent I became rebellious as a response to a domineering father and a controlling mother.

My parents tried to enforce who were my friends, the young men I dated, my thoughts and my behavior. As a result, I married a man they disapproved of, who, (un)surprisingly was very much like them – narcissistic, unable to show love and affection and cut off from his feelings.

As I went out into the world, worked, married, became a mom, talked with others, read a few books and practiced Buddhism, I realized that my upbringing was filled with dysfunction and there were reasons that I had issues with trust, felt “different”, turned myself inside-out to win approval, had anxiety and suffered with depression. And as I worked with all of this in meditation and keeping a dream journal I realized I had lots of anger – even rage.

People work with anger in different ways. My way was to repress it. As I worked with my dreams, I realized I felt rage at the man I married and later I realized I also felt rage towards my parents. It was safer, when I was younger, to repress the rage as a way of “holding onto” my husband and my parents. Repressing anger, however, is not such a healthy thing to do – it takes a toll on the body, the mind and the spirit.

Marshall Rosenberg, who writes about nonviolent communication, says “You can feel it when it hits you. Your face flushes and your vision narrows. Your heartbeat increases as judgmental thoughts flood your mind. Your anger has been triggered, and you’re about to say or do something that will likely make it worse. You have an alternative. The nonviolent communication process teaches that anger serves a specific, life-enriching purpose. It tells you that you’re disconnected from what you value…”

Rosenberg’s quote on anger helped me to realize that anger serves an important purpose. The quote helped me to understand my reactivity. And, understanding my reactivity and that my parents were suffering, allowed me to transform the anger to compassion.

I realized that no matter how much I gave to my parents, it would never be enough. No matter how many times I flew across the country to visit, or stayed for weeks to help them recuperate from surgery, or help them move to an assisted living situation, they would always let me know that it wasn’t good enough. This caused me suffering, and they suffered as well. They suffered by being unable to accept the love and care I offered them. They suffered by wanting more than is reasonable to expect.

As I started saying “no” to unreasonable parental expectations and abuse I felt a huge sense of loss. Because I understand unconditional love, the love I have for my children, I realized that I never had unconditional love as a child.

Finally I realized that the anger I felt was telling me that I valued kindness, fairness, respect, and unconditional love. I finally realized that I value myself as a human being worthy of respect, love, kindness and concern.

Along with the loss comes relief, clarity, positivity and strength. Realizing that I no longer need to put myself in situations of abuse has helped the anger subside and compassion arise.

I have found Thich Nhat Hanh’s quotation “when another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over” to be true and when I keep it in mind I can let go of anger and embrace compassion.

Nancy is a twenty-year veteran of teaching, consulting and coaching. Assisting people to live with skillfulness, compassion and mindfulness is the focus of her mindfulness coaching. For information on meditation and mindfulness, and her coaching, click here http://mindfulworkshops.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nancy_Nicolazzo
http://EzineArticles.com/?Turning-Anger-Into-Compassion&id=6854359

 

 

Share
Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: , ,

Bill, Ducks and a Magazine: The Psychic Medium Blew Me Away

May 11, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By Irene Conlan -

Donnie Tash, a psychic medium, was my guest on The Self Improvement Show yesterday (May 10) and he blew me away. He said he had a message from my beloved Stephen who died in 2001 of Lou Gehrig’s disease. “He’s very grateful for all you did for him,” Donnie reported. “O.K., fine.” I thought. No big deal there. Donnie continued “He talked about how you bossed the doctors around and he talked about something you wrote – about someone named Bill and about ducks.” He continued, “He did well with the disease for a long time and then suddenly got worse.” I could confirm that Donnie was “spot on” about that.

I drew a complete blank. Stephen and I didn’t know anyone named Bill and I didn’t know about the ducks. I write a lot of articles and I probably talked about getting “your ducks in a row.”  I couldn’t remember. Donnie insisted I wrote it for a magazine but I’ve never written for a magazine.  Doctors, Bill, ducks, a fast decline and a magazine. What on earth was he talking about?

Still blank, I was not able to confirm what he was telling me except for the statement about Stephen’s sudden decline and being bossy.

Well, we talked about it again last night and did some Googleing. It took a while but we finally found it. I wrote an article in March of 2009 for The AZNet News – a wonderful holistic newspaper published here in Arizona. I also submitted it to EzineArticles and posted it on this blog. (Notice the “zine” in Ezine as in magazine).

The reason I’m telling you this is that I completely forgot about the article, about calling Stephen “Bill” in anything I ever wrote and about the ducks. Donnie certainly didn’t know about any of it. For a Medium to pick up on details as tiny as these but, at the same time as highly significant, is more than awesome and certainly not coincidence.  It is real! He got information!  He didn’t get the information from me so I can only assume Stephen helped. You be the judge.

The message? Stephen was grateful that I still cared about what had happened to him and that I wanted to let people know about it. He wanted to say “Thank you.”

I have run the article in full below with the passages marked in red that Donnie Tash talked about and I couldn’t remember:

The Powerful Effect of Bedside Manner – A True Story For Healthcare Professionals

By Irene Conlan -

This is about bedside manner and it is a true story.

He – we’ll call him Bill – had been ill for several months with some strange symptoms which progressed rapidly. When he finally saw a physician, he was weak on one side of his body, was having trouble swallowing and had twitching muscles all over his body. He was sent immediately to a large neurological center for diagnosis and treatment.

After spending all day being examined in the emergency room he was finally admitted to a hospital room late in the day – discouraged, exhausted and frightened. They woke him in the middle of the night for an MRI and a CT scan and he got almost no sleep. The next morning started very early with blood work, more x-rays and a parade of health care professionals. By nighttime he was too tired to eat and sleep would not come. No one seemed to notice.

The next day the neurologist, considered one of the best of the best, came in with a retinue of residents trailing behind. Chart in hand he looked at this very ill man and said, “Well, we’re pretty confident that you have ALS – that’s Lou Gehrig’s disease. There’s no known cause, no treatment and no cure.” He spoke in Medicalese to the residents – words that regular people don’t understand – and then turned to Bill and asked, “Do you have any questions?” Everyone was too stunned to ask anything and the specialist and his charges, with no further comments or dialog, left the room.

The next day after the last confirming test was done, the neurologist came in again with his parade of residents. After dialoging among themselves, again in Medicalese, the doctor said to Bill, “The last test is in and it is confirmed that you have ALS. There’s no cure. Now don’t go running around spending your money on exotic treatments and alternative methods because nothing will help you. You can go on home and come back to the ALS Clinic. Do you have any questions?” Not waiting for an answer, he left the room like a duck with his ducklings trailing behind him.

The death sentence had been delivered without so much as a kind word or gesture.

The hospital staff came and went quickly like they were just too busy to say anything (and in all likelihood they did not know just what to say to someone who had just been told he was going to die a horrible death soon).

Later in his treatment – a month or two later at the Clinic – this brilliant doctor said, “I’m really surprised that you are not deteriorating faster.” Bill obliged him and his decline accelerated. Within a month and a half he died in hospice. (The care at Hospice, by the way, was amazingly supportive, loving and compassionate).

The doctor was brilliant. The hospital gave the best physical care that could ever possibly be given. The bedside manner of both the doctors and the hospital staff scored at Zero!

“Bedside manner” is really no more than:

o Common Courtesy

o Kindness

o Listening

o Showing interest

o Using understandable language

o Perhaps showing compassion

It does not matter if you are a renowned specialist in allopathic medicine, an osteopathic, homeopathic or naturopathic doctor, a dentist, a chiropractor, a reiki master, a spiritual healer or some other form of alternative and complementary medicine practitioner, your patient deserves to be treated like an intelligent, sensitive, competent human being. It is your job to give him information in a language he can understand, give him the bad news without robbing him of all hope and set a stage for his healing or transition.

Remember that your patient is more than bones, muscles, organs and skin and that what impinges on him emotionally, spiritually and psychologically impacts his response to medical care and healing work. Your bedside manner can be used as therapeutically as the prescription pad, the adjustment and the energy work. Put yourself in your patient’s shoes and think about what you would need to know and how you would like to be treated – then your bedside manner will most likely be what it should be.

By Irene Conlan

Irene Conlan has a masters degree in nursing, a doctoral degree in metaphysics, is a certified hypnotherapist and an ordained minister. She practices holistic hypnotherapy in Scottsdale, AZ and the Phoenix metropolitan area. Irene can be found at http://www.theselfimprovementblog.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Irene_Conlan
http://EzineArticles.com/?The-Powerful-Effect-of-Bedside-Manner—A-True-Story-For-Healthcare-Professionals&id=2241610

 

There you have it. the magazine, Bill, the ducks, and, the article doesn’t say so, but, yes, I got bossy.

Thank you Donnie, for being so great at what you do and do it with such integrity.

If you want to listen to the show it is: http://www.worldtalkradio.com/worldtalkradio/vepisode.aspx?aid=61590

Share
Filed Under: Self Improvement Tagged With: , ,

Examining The Effect Of Superstition In Life

May 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By John Dir -

No matter how sophisticated our society becomes, superstitions persist in having an impact on success or failure. There seems to be part of the human mind that thrives on creating little anchors of “magic” that lift us up or bring us down independent of rationality. Though the clearly logical part of our thinking can easily dismiss the practice or belief in superstitious activity as silly quirks, our less rational creative mind goes to work incorporating whatever we feed it to gain or lose an edge in using faculties consistently engaged in solving problems.

Uncontrolled belief in superstitions can have a negative impact on how people conduct their lives. When applied in extremes, such thoughts can become destructive to the point of debilitation. Superstition can be passed down through generations or created on a purely individual level. Some of the older forms of superstition like walking under a ladder, stepping on cracks in pavement, spilling salt, breaking mirrors or other “bad omens” are examples of misguided beliefs that have long been a part of lore. There are also a host of traditional counter measures and lucky charms reported to counteract bad luck and turn it into good.

Some people prefer to practice more subtle forms of superstitious behaviors. Many professional athletes use a particular article of clothing to set their minds on creating a winning edge in competition. Similarly, average people use articles of clothing like a “lucky tie” or “lucky shirt” they wear whenever going out for a job interview or participating in some other event like gambling. Other people rely on astrology or other forms of irrational mental exercises to test for the right time to make a particular decision or perform certain actions.

Superstitious beliefs are tied to the supernatural or unpredictable side of events that are in the scope of things otherwise beyond our control. The difference between rational observation and superstitious practices is substantial. With rational observation, we can assess behaviors and methods that either work consistently or not. When the results are inconsistent, we can eliminate those influences that had no impact on outcome. On the other hand, superstition works completely on irrational belief systems where one successful mental correlation counteracts many unsuccessful results. If our mental “magic” seems to work once, we focus on attempting to recreate the success by trying to reproduce the same magic repeatedly.

There are few people in the world who approach life in a completely rational fashion. Each person carries around their own little bag of tricks that seems to serve them well over time. In general, everyone should use whatever positive edge they can find to enable their success, even if the methods are seemingly little more than smoke and mirrors. However, when these little bits of magic fail to help us achieve what we set out to do, it is essential for us to examine our approach as rationally as possible to change the things that may be contributing to our failures. One consistent fact about life is that things are constantly changing. If a current situation is unsatisfactory, this too will change when we take the right approach. Sometimes positive change is difficult to achieve, but it is certain that success will not be due to anything other than performing the right actions at the right time. Whatever we do in preparation for that appropriate timing should be practiced with a clear eye for cause and effect. Though our spiritual practices can provide us with comfort during difficult times and provide inspiration, it is how we interact with others and apply our inspirations which will carry us forward to beneficial results.

LittleTek Center

Visit our information channel and download some cool software from our home page at http://home.earthlink.net/~jdir/

If you like my articles, email them to a friend!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Dir
http://EzineArticles.com/?Examining-The-Effect-Of-Superstition-In-Life&id=973299

 

 

Share
Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: , ,

10 Tips for Living Now

May 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By Neva Howell -

One of the reasons I love having animals around is that they are so self-realized and they live always in the moment. I love just watching my cat do anything at all because whatever it is he’s doing, he’s doing fully.

I envy that full-out expression. Maybe that’s one of the reasons God gave us pets, to remind us about the NOW, which is the only moment we have for sure.

But how to do we, in this forward-moving and forward-thinking world, live in the one moment that matters? There are bills to pay and deadlines to meet and kids to get through school and college. There are meals to prepare and personal relationships to maintain.

I have not mastered living in the moment but I do have a few tips on doing it that have been helpful to me and my hope is that they would benefit you as well.

10 Tips for Living Now:

1. Observe animals. Truly, they remind us to invest in the moment with gusto. If you don’t have a pet in your life, consider getting a dog or cat. If you can’t do that, go to the zoo.

2. Observe children. Children are deeply now-oriented and while that can drive a mother to distraction at times, it’s also a great blessing because it models how to be present fully with whatever we are feeling.

3. Take a deep breath. Get in the habit of pausing when the mind is on overload, leaping into a future not yet here or a past already gone, and taking a deep breath. As you release, release also the path your mind has taken and gently breathe yourself back into this moment.

4. Observe what is around you. One simple tool for getting back into the now is to look around you and focus on something in your immediate environment. Try to see something as if you never saw it before…that plant on the desk, the color of the walls, the design in the picture, the face of a co-worker.

5. Move your body. Find something around you to hold on to and do some stretches or put on some music and dance for a few minutes. When we rush into the future or past, we cause our body to enter fight or flight status because we can’t do anything about either the future or the past. This is a stressful situation on the body and causes unconscious rigidity. If we can remember to stretch at such times, or dance, we can bring our attention back to the body and back to the now.

6. Engage the senses. Having an aromatic cup of hot tea or eating something that you really enjoy can help bring you back to the present moment. Just don’t do anything else, like working with one hand and eating or drinking with the other. Just enjoy the food or drink fully.

7. Learn about someone else. We tend to focus on ourselves and our own problems a lot. This is part of what sends us into the future or into the past. By choosing to learn a new thing about someone, we not only shift the attention from ourselves to someone else but we also have to be present to get the response.

8. Declare the truth. Two words can instantly bring more awareness to the moment. Say “I AM” with conviction and vocal strength and you will be not only affirming your existence in the now but your divine nature in the world.

9. Ask for help. Remember that you have a Divine right to call on help beyond your personality self. Pray for more awareness of the present moment.

10. Be in nature. There is a tremendous gift of energetic awareness in nature. Be in it often. That old advice of hugging trees and putting bare feet on the earth to ground, center and bring you to the present has persisted because it works!

Neva maintains a health and wellness portal to provide educational articles on alternative health care and spiritual healing. More information: http://www.askahealer.com/free-spiritual-articles.htm

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Neva_Howell
http://EzineArticles.com/?10-Tips-for-Living-Now&id=296922

 

 

Share
Filed Under: Self Improvement Tagged With: , ,

No Regrets – Seize the Chance to Live Life Well

May 9, 2012 By Leave a Comment

No regretsBy Susan Leigh -

There are times in life when we procrastinate. We delay in making an important decision and lose an opportunity to go in a particular direction. Our life may turn out completely differently as a result of that indecision. In later life we may wonder what we have missed and look at ways to reclaim those lost opportunities and make good.

- Education is an area where many people look back and have regrets. Often the lure of earning money can entice people away from college or university and into work. But even people who are successful in their careers can have regrets at not having been to university, not having finished their education. Going back to college in later life is often a good decision. There is an important difference in studying because of parents insistence and in being there by choice, because you want to. It is far more satisfying to study a subject that is of interest.

- Marriage. Many people regret the delay in calling time on a marriage that is on the rocks. The arguments, separate lives, loss of common ground and lack of sex are often an ongoing problem for some time before a couple finally agree to divorce. There may be concerns about the impact of a divorce on the children, the financial implications, issues with family or friends, but often at least one person in the relationship has acknowledged that the relationship is completely over. Relationship counselling can help both parties to communicate better, come to terms with the situation and appreciate the need to move on, as amicably as possible.

- Love. Often people look back on their earlier lives and regret a special relationship that had potential but came to nothing. Perhaps one or both felt they were too young at the time or a misunderstanding was never clarified. Many networking sites now reconnect people from years ago. Some are rekindling their love affairs. Often when people find themselves single again they look back at the chances they missed, the safe way they have lived their life and determine to have fun, freedom and love, now that they are in a position to make the most of those opportunities.

- Travel is an area that many feel is life enhancing. Seeing other countries, cultures, arts, foods, ways of living is an important way to develop the mind and outlook. Many young people revel in taking a gap year for the purpose of travelling and experiencing the world at large. Being receptive to these life experiences though can be done at any age and travel to more unusual places is becoming far more popular. Many people delight in exploring off the beaten track. And as people retire earlier in life and are fitter and healthier for longer travel is an opportunity to definitely relish in later life. There is often more time and money available in later life and as such, many adventures to be appreciated.

Recalling missed opportunities in earlier life often provides the motivation and determination to make up for that situation in later life. Rather than living with regret, it can often provide an opportunity to seize new situations and live life well.

Susan Leigh is a Counsellor and Hypnotherapist who works with
- stressed individuals to promote confidence and self belief,
- couples in crisis to help improve communications and understanding
- with business clients to help support the health and motivation levels of individuals and teams

For more information see http://www.lifestyletherapy.net

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Susan_Leigh
http://EzineArticles.com/?No-Regrets—Seize-the-Chance-to-Live-Life-Well&id=6109481

 

 

Share
Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: , , , ,

What Happens When We Die? I don’t know. Do you?

May 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By Irene Conlan -

There are some things that we just don’t know for sure and one of those is what happens when we die. Do we go to a place called Heaven or one called Hell? What about Limbo? What about the Bardos? Do we come back again and live another lifetime or do we just have one chance to get it right? (And what does “getting it right” mean?)  Do we just cease altogether and disappear from all realms?

You can find “experts” who represent each of these ideas and declare that they are the only ones who have it right (I always find it amusing when someone gets dogmatic about things that cannot be known).

One thing for sure is that we are all going to do it – each of us will “die” some day -  so you might want to give it some consideration while you can.

You might want to watch the videos on the right. Put together, they are nine parts of a documentary made for HBO and present a number of different points of view on life after life or, if you want to say life after death that’s o.k., too. There are a number of movies that deal with life after death -  like What Dreams May Come, Meet Joe Black and Heaven Can Wait.  There are  many more, most of them comedies. We have books,  movies and TV shows about ghosts, apparitions and paranormal phenomena and stories of near death experiences by people who have been pronounced dead only to come back with stories of “the other side.”  Read the “Featured” article on today’s blog – Life After Life – Death Is Merely a Changing Room for one of these stories. As a hypnotherapist I have worked with a number of people who had near death experiences who wanted to remember more about what happened and see if they could re-create the amazing love they felt while they were there. They don’t waver in their stories nor does anything change – they simply recall more of the details and bask in the feelings of love and exhilaration. I have read a couple stories of those who did not have a wonderful experience but I have not met them.

Some claim they can talk with those “on the other side.”  I had someone that I loved very much who died of Lou Gehrig disease in 2001. A couple of months after his passing a psychic friend of mine said she had messages from Stephen. They didn’t make sense to her and she apologized for telling me such strange things. But I knew exactly what she was talking about – things that only Stephen and I shared with each other. She was, excuse the expression, “dead on.” No one else knew. So where did the message come from? Many say they can feel the energy of their loved ones and some have seen them. How do you explain that?

What about Mediums? I don’t know. But I don’t discount them. I know there are charlatans in business, in entertainment, in sports, in government, in religion, in education – and in the paranormal realm. I know, too, that there are people in those fields that you can absolutely trust.I know several mediums that I absolutely trust. I know others that I don’t think are accurate.

I think life is an exciting, crazy ride that we know very little about. I plan to keep an open mind and an open heart so I don’t miss a thing. I happen to believe that that part of me that is “me” – the conscious part of me – will continue and since I have no choice in whether or not my body dies,  I might as well look forward to the next great adventure.

In the meantime you might want to listen to The Self Improvement Show tomorrow when Donnie Tash, a gifted medium, will talk about “Gratitude from the Grave.”

Share
Filed Under: Self Improvement Tagged With: , , ,

Life After Life – Death Is Merely a Changing Room

May 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment

By Edward Toupin -

Since I awoke from my three month coma in August of 2004, I have been asked many times about what I remembered and experienced. After looking over my notes and speaking with my wife and some of the medical professionals involved, I decided that it might be a good idea to write a short overview of these experiences. They were both wonderful and frightening, but the lessons I learned and the “gift” I was given are worth more than anything I could ever experience again.

When I awoke, I was told about my wreck and my coma. That wasn’t all that exciting. But, what really kicked me in gear was when my wife and the surgeons carefully informed me about my deaths and myriad other events. It was all amazingly like a dream! I couldn’t believe it! How could I have died if I feel more alive now than ever before? I remembered everything that happened during the noted coma. But, I never knew I was in a coma because I actually “lived my life” through what I now know were “trips” outside of my comatose state.

The medical professionals were amazed because I not only described activities that occurred to me physically, but I described the nurses and the rooms I was in during my comatose state. I then carried on about where I went, what I did, and what I saw. Mystified and concerned, my wife and the medical staff stepped outside to discuss my mental and physical state. My wife then re-entered and told me that I was never supposed to walk again. I was never to function mentally as I had. I was not to live but five more years on feeding tubes and a respirator in a nursing home. Ouch! I was a power lifter and a mathematician, writer, and software engineer! It just knocked me for a loop! But, this was not acceptable.

Now, I have to take a tangent to discuss what happened in my “death-zone”, comatose excursions. It was an amazing adventure! I visited homes, people, and places of business that had come into existence during my coma and afterward. For example, I described one house to my wife and how to get to the property. I drew the map and the house’s layout. We took a day and drove there to find that the exact house I “visited” was being built were I saw it in my death-zone travels. Another example was a “visit” with my brother, who is alive and well, as we ate at a restaurant, made of coral, by a body of water. Amazingly, in the physical realm, he came to visit and I took a picture of him when we went out to dinner. Upon review of the photo, I noticed that we were next to a lake with a coral statue standing behind him, outside of the restaurant. I’ve always had a bit of psi ability and have been practicing and studying it for years, but this was beyond me! These events, in addition to many others, caused me to consider that my travels were more than just mental twists and dreams.

However, back to the bad news, I had to deal with all of this without the realizations that slowly came back to me from my trips. I was blank and empty and going to die. What did I have to lose? I demanded the removal of the tubes and other paraphernalia as I didn’t want to drag this on for too long for my wife. Let’s just do it. I then, went to sleep.

Three days later I woke up in a rehab center. My blood pressure was normal and, having had my tubes removed, I was starving and had to go to the bathroom. It wasn’t an easy task to “walk” to the bathroom, but I did. I then decided to take a further trip to the cafeteria. Of course, I didn’t make it, but I was so close I could smell the hospital food. One of the assistants at the center caught me, put me in a wheelchair, and rolled me back to the room. Stubbornly, I crawled into bed myself. But, I did it!

After my single attempt to make it on my own, everything else came into place like a puzzle. One piece fit nicely into another. How I made it, no one knows. I was released from the rehab center in three weeks and, two months later, I am doing everything I did before the accident — only better. I’m walking, driving, and traveling with my wife! I’m doing my writing, math, and software engineering again! I am better in the sense that I am a better person than I ever was before. Better in the sense that I have a greater patience and an understanding that I never had before. Smarter in the sense that my mind is more open and I no longer have the fears and baggage that I had before the accident. Richer in the sense that I have my life back.

But, how did I get here? I should be dead — or so I’m told often as my doctors sign off on me. I know now that I was given “a gift”. The gift is different for everyone. Some don’t understand it and become bitter while others see it and want more of it. Smashing my head into the ground and being stuck on a 750 pound motorcycle during three flips is the hard way to receive a gift. But, it is more of an education and an “essence” than anything physical. It is me. It is you. It just … is!

The gift is very simple and small, but very powerful. It is simply — seeing and feeling. I lost that somewhere along the way. It is knowing what is there and seeing what is here. Feeling everything. Riding in the dream instead of chasing it. The memories, emotions, and feelings that taunted my life and vision are gone. I feel and see like never before. My wife calls my new gift an innocence. I call it a knowledge of all and the wonder of a child.

But, what does all of this mean? During my numerous trips in my dead-zones, I was greeted by many people who would speak to me and then tell me to gather my things. They were angry with me as I was told I was “in the wrong place”. My things were these odd bubbles floating over my head that contained visual memories that were part of my life. I simply took out of the clouds those memories I wanted to keep. When I awoke, I was to have suffered horrendous memory loss. However, I’ve been tested and evaluated to find that I’ve not lost any mental function or memory. As a matter of fact, I recall things now that were amusing and wonderful parts of my life that I had long forgotten! I have so many new stories about my life that my wife enjoys at every dinner!

However, these people I mentioned would speak to me in my travels. I only remember extreme words and feelings as a flash, but I “feel” the results of these discussions. Issues that have been hidden, yet affective, in my life were discussed and resolved. It was as if I had to re-experience the events of my life, things I had forgotten, and resolve them — Now! Amazingly, I recalled all of those forgotten, painful memories when I awoke. But, the pain was gone! They were just placeholder memories of times gone by. They became educational pictures on the walls of my mind as opposed to blocks in the way and baggage to carry in my life.

But, one of the many questions of my life, that was answered, was about death. Is the afterlife as final and drastic as religion teaches? Is there a heaven and a hell? Will I really see my relatives, my dad, when I die? Call it the ultimate research project, but the results were amazing. From my experiences in my coma and death-zones, I found that death is but a quick change in a dressing room. I merely changed “clothes” to continue down the path I was heading before! It was just life as it was and always will be. It is the life I led and experienced. It is a continuation of everything I was into and everything I wanted to be. Looking for a better life after death is for naught if the life we make in this physical realm is unbearable. If it is hell on Earth, then it will be hell “off Earth” as well. If the physical realm is heaven, then it will be heaven. It is the actions we take and the decisions we make “here” that determine what happens “there”.

I learned from my discussions and travels that the body is merely a host and the important elements of our lives reside inside it, and around it. Although it was badly damaged, my body wasn’t lacking the ability to walk, eat, and perform the necessities of a physical life. It was my soul, my higher self, that had been in a coma for years and hadn’t come around as of yet. As it began to wake, it provided the energy and effort to make the body move and heal in its necessary ways. Now, it’s all good and functioning as it should!

Speaking of my soul being in a coma, it is interesting to think that, through the years, we all become so keen at neglecting our higher self and our souls that the physical becomes the core. Feeling and seeing have become secondary to the physical temptations. The physical is only a temporary stage in our existence. It is the spiritual and higher aspects of ourselves that we must attend so that we can ensure that we have the fulfilling life we want now and later. The physical is never fulfilled as once the half-filled glass if full, it wants a bigger glass. The physical only knows the need for survival. It is the “souler” that adds the intelligence and creativity to living. The souler can be fulfilled in the simplest things and is bent on living to the best that it can be in all ways.

Although it is a gift that they gave me — to come back and be — I must add that you should not try my trick at home. Crashing on a mountain, falling into a coma, and then dying is not a way to spend the summer. Although Las Vegas has a hot summer, I could have simply gone to the lake for the time I spent asleep. But, all that I learned and feel now can easily be integrated into any life simply by stepping back and evaluating what is truly important. Let the souler come out and rule the physical! What truly means something to you? Who truly means something to you? Where do you want to go?

In the end, it wasn’t a miracle. It was the harshest, yet most rewarding, experience of my life. It is a chance to create my heaven for my next visit. It is a chance to appreciate so much more. It is a chance to give so much more. It is a chance to be so much more. It just … is!

Edward B. Toupin, Ph.D. is an author, publisher, life-strategy coach, counselor, Reiki Master, and technical writer living in Las Vegas, NV. His research focus is on cognitive transformations, epistemology, and metaphysical topics. His experiences have spawned a new series of articles and a book project entitled “Dynamics of Life” that peers into the hidden recesses of our physical and spiritual interactions.

For more information, and to find out about his upcoming books, e-mail publish@toupin.com or visit http://www.make-life-great.com or [http://www.life-vision-imagineering.com]!

Copyright (c) 2004 Edward B. Toupin, Ph.D.

etoupin@toupin.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Edward_Toupin
http://EzineArticles.com/?Life-After-Life—Death-Is-Merely-a-Changing-Room&id=22088

Editor’s note: The Self Improvement Show on Thursday, May 10 will talk about talking to those on “the other side” with medium Donnie Tash.You can find the show at 12 noon at http://www.worldtalkradio.com/worldtalkradio/vshow.aspx?sid=1822

 

Share
Filed Under: Featured Tagged With: , , ,
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »