Day 278: Be solution orientated – not problem orientated

 

The Other day I was facing a dilemma with some farm work. without going into details I had a particular problem where I could not find a solution and all I saw was problem after problem. So I explained the problems in detail to my partner and after every suggestion she gave me to get to a solution all I did was showing the problems with her suggestions. In the end I was complaining about the problems and became a little frustrated with all the problems. There is a saying “ complaining without giving solutions is called whining” - so at the end of it all I was doing was whining.

I was in a reaction at that point, because all I could see was problems. Then she said to me” Be solution orientated – not problem orientated”. And that stuck with me and I could see what I was doing. I was purely focusing on all the problems without actually looking at solutions. At that moment I was problem orientated and thus it is all I could see – problems. I took her advice started looking at solutions and then found something that worked.

It’s so easy to list the problems in our lives and continuously point them out and complain about them, but it’s a very different story to stop the whining and complaining and actually look for solutions to the problems. And in some cases there is not an Ideal solution which makes it easy to get stuck with all the problems, but being Solution Orientated will assist and support you to stop being blinded and consumed with the problems in your life and to find solutions.

Next time you find yourself in a situation where all you see is problems then you know “ I am being problem orientated”. In this state all you will see is problems and no solution will come out of this. Instead be Solution Orientated – this way you don’t allow the problems to keep you from getting to a solution.

Day 277: What does it mean to be "Here" in the moment?

 

You have probably heard this a few times in life “Live in the moment”. What does it mean to live in the moment? What does it mean to be here in the moment? And more importantly why is it so hard to actually be here in the moment?

The next time you are doing something like cleaning your house or some gardening pay attention to where you thoughts go. I was walking through the orchard one morning assessing the damage from a recent hail storm which unfortunately destroyed most of the figs. Anyway, as I was looking at the trees and trying to fix some of the damage and salvage what I could, I was constantly thinking. Thoughts like thinking about what I’m going to do next and what I’m going to make myself for lunch and other plans of the week etc.

So while I was busy picking damage fruit and trimming broken branches I was thinking about other things. I was not actually here in the moment, but in the future looking at plans and things I am going to do next – instead of being here and focusing on what I’m currently doing.

So being here in the moment means actually being here in the moment. It’s Not thinking about the future and constantly being in your head. While I was thinking about these things while walking in the orchard my awareness was diminished. When I realized what was doing and stopped the thoughts to simply be here in the moment I could hear the birds that I did not notice before.

Not being fully here in the moment we tend to miss things – it is in these moments that we tend to misplace keys, or forget about turning the oven off or any other event of forgetfulness. Simply because when you were putting down the keys you were in your head and not actually aware of your environment.

So bring yourself back to earth and be Here

Day 276: To Give up OR Give up on Giving up?

 

 

For the past few months my thyroid has been functioning normal. The cool thing is that it was functioning normal without me being on medication, so it was actually back to normal. It was a relief to me, because I could finally put it behind me. My Doctor did say it is something that I will have to monitor for the rest of my life – and when he said that, I create a slight undertone of worry within myself.

Now the whole process of my thyroid malfunctioning was not a very pleasant experience and it’s something I would not want to go through again, so knowing it could malfunction again I created That fear and worry in the back of my mind.

So about 2 or 3 months ago I started experiencing familiar experiences – like increased tiredness no matter how much sleep I get and general exhaustion even though I have no reason to feel this. My throat also became a bit sore, and all of this is basically the same symptoms I experienced last time. Basically it all pointed to my thyroid starting to malfunction again. The blood tests did show the levels were not correct and my thyroid was going hyper again.

This brought with it a bit of me feeling sorry for myself. I knew what to expect - the progression of symptoms – and really did not want this. There was a moment of self-pity as I looked at the road ahead of me and thought to myself it would be easier to simply give in to all these emotions coming up.

I looked at the process walked thus far and all the points I faced and saw that yes , it’s going to be crappy and yes, it’s not something I prefer doing, but that is not going to stop me from walking this point again. I did it before and thus proven to myself that I am able to walk this point. Within that I trusted I am able to do this. So I know that my thyroid might go hyper again – but it’s not something to be feared or be worried about.

When we are faced with difficulties in life there is not much we can do about the physical reality of the events, but we do have a choice how we will react to it. We can choose to feel sorry for ourselves and be overwhelmed and believe that we lack the strength to make it through and simply give up – or we can stop those thoughts and emotions and feelings that make us want to give up and then push through and face the point head on. It’s your life.

How The Living Income Guaranteed can drastically decrease Mental Illness

 

A recent study revealed that poverty and unemployment are linked to metal illness and depression. It turns out that people who don’t have enough money to live are more likely to be depressed and suicidal.

Its shows that nearly 1 in 5 of Adult Americans experienced mental illness in 2013. The main purpose of this study was to show just how many people are not currently being treated for mental illness – however it does not give actual solutions to the cause of the mental illness in the first place.

What we are dealing with here is a typical Band-Aid solution. By giving people who are depressed drugs is not a permanent solution. What we need to do here is stop the problem at the source – and from the study one of the main causes of why so many people struggle with mental illness is because of the lack of money.

And it makes perfect sense – We need money to survive in this world. When you are unemployed and living in poverty not being able to provide for yourself or your family can result in you becoming depressed. Its horrid to live in such conditions – and to give these people drugs to take away the depression will not solve the problem at hand. So what will?

By taking these people out of poverty will drastically improve their current living condition. If you do not have to worry about going hungry or not finding a place to sleep you can actually start living and stop just surviving. With the Implementation of the Living Income Guaranteed we can remove poverty and homelessness and with it drastically decrease mental illness. That would be stopping the problem at its source – by providing a permanent solution.

Below are some points explaining parts of the study :

In November of 2014, the U.S. government’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) issued a press release titled “Nearly One in Five Adult Americans Experienced Mental Illness in 2013.” This brief press release provides a snapshot of the number of Americans who are suicidal, depressed, and mentally ill, and it bemoans how many Americans are not in treatment. However, excluded from SAMHSA’s press release—yet included in the lengthy results of SAMHSA’s national survey—are economic, age, gender, and other demographic correlates of serious mental illness, depression, and suicidality (serious suicidal thoughts, plans, or attempts). It is these demographic correlates that have political implications.

Also, the survey results provide extensive evidence that unemployment and poverty are highly associated with suicidality, depression, and serious mental illness.

These lengthy results, for example, include extensive evidence that involvement in the criminal justice system (such as being on parole or probation) is highly correlated with suicidality, depression, and serious mental illness. Yet Americans are not told that preventing unnecessary involvement with the criminal justice system—for example, marijuana legalization and drug use decriminalization—could well prove to be a more powerful antidote to suicidality, depression, and serious mental illness than medical treatment. -http://www.salon.com/2015/02/19/what_were_not_being_told_about_suicide_and_depression/

2015 Let’s not Buy into the Idea of love This Valentine.

 

Valentine’s Day is the day to celebrate Love and a day to take special planning to bring the romance to your partner. Lots of chocolates get bought and eaten, lots of gift cards and restaurants love the full house that this day brings. Nothing says LOVE quite like spending lots of money on your partner.

When I was a kid in school this day brought with it a bit of resentment. We all have this idea of what love is based on movies and TV-series, it seems so desirable and when you are a teenager love and getting a partner can be one of the most important thing currently in your life. Unfortunately I was not all that popular and one of the “nice guys” so this day would leave me kind of sad that I did not have somebody.

Interesting enough I was not alone in this sadness on this particular day, some go even further and can’t handle the pain and actually kill themselves on Valentine ’s Day which is not surprisingly one of the highest days of suicide rates. The question is why do we all buy into this idea of love presented to us?

We see on TV how beautiful love is and how perfect it is and how all you need is love and everything will work as long as you have love. But we all know this to be untrue. We experience this first hand, no relationship is like it is on TV - it’s never perfect – yet we still desire it. And when the relationship does not meet the expectation created based on ideas we are left disappointed. And why? Simply because we had an idea of what love is.

People often say that Love can’t be defined – wrong. If you are unable to define love then you do not know what Love really is. Love is not a feeling. That is a limitation of the word and what it truly is. Love is action, an act of unconditionally supporting another without judgments to become the best each can be. And that takes work, allot of work.

So let’s not buy into the idea of love – the fairytale of love and rather create it into something that can truly stand the test of time.

Movie ‘The Giver’ - What does it show about ME?

 

Where shall I start? At the beginning. The reason behind the memory wipe the community decided on was because they saw that Humans were destructive. The only way to ensure survival was to take away the things that caused humans to be destructive: Emotions and free will and making everything the same.

That is part of the big problem we humans face and those 2 things play a major role in why the world is so screwed up currently. Free will and emotions actually work together – The things we do and decide upon are largely based on emotions. We follow what we feel and are directed by our emotions, so in the movie they take daily medications to suppress emotions.

Now, the concept behind the new way of life the people in the movie are living is actually quite cool, BUT it’s all based on the assumption that the only way for humans to live together in peace is to block all emotions, take away everything that represent diversity and live in “Sameness”. Essentially removing anything that could possibly trigger all the bad stuff humans are made of.

The thing is that it’s not our emotions or freewill or diversity that makes us do all the bad stuff we do like fighting, greed, spite and jealousy. Sure, removing that stuff like they did in the movie might stop it for a while, but the problem is that it’s only suppressed. It’s still existent inside the people in the movie, it’s just suppressed.

The key here is to realize exactly what the problem is: You and I. Each of us has accepted greed and anger and all those things as part of who we are – we accepted this to be “Human Nature”. We are allowing ourselves to be directed by our emotions and that determines our whole existence. And that is the real problem. We do not really have freewill when our decisions are based on our emotions. The problem is also the solution.

By understanding and seeing that we do not have to accept this as part of our nature – or more that we as humans have the capacity and power to change our accepted nature. We can remove the triggers within ourselves – all the things that makes us not able to live on this planet in peace. We can End Wars, End Poverty, End Famine, End Abuse – We have that power within us. The power to Change.

What would Heaven be like exactly? Hell? Can I take my smart phone with me?

 

Not much is known about heaven. In the bible there are few references of how heaven would be like. Would I be able to play Clash of clans in heaven? Watch the big bang theory? Watch the new season of the Walking dead? Have sex with my partner? Play the latest Games? Watch Sports? What we do know from the bible is the well-known pearly gates and the streets of gold:

“And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.” (Revelation 21)

Basically allot of precious expensive stones and gold decorating the place, but in a world where wealth is of no issue much of these precious stones are pretty useless other than being pretty eye candy to look at for an eternity. Also it said that people will keep their current bodies, there will be no hunger or need to sleep and no pain and suffering. What exactly do you do all day?

For this reason they are before the throne of God, and worship him day and night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them (Revelation 7:15)

It is difficult to grasp just how long an eternity is. It’s forever and ever. It doesn’t end. Look at our lives now, we have computers and games, we have phones and apps, we take photos and share them with others – Heavens seems void of all modern technologies and is filled with stuff that seemed very desirable in the old age where gold and stones were wealth sought after. Could you image living eternity without your phone, electricity and spending all that time praising God?

Sleep is a very nice thing and an enjoyable experience especially when you are tired. Sex is also an amazing thing, but there will be none of that in Heaven. There will be eating and great feasts, not sure where the food will come from in terms of slaughter and grow houses, but I think it will just manifest ( God is Almighty After all)at least we will have that.

Personally for me this would be Hell – walking through golden streets and praising God for most of my time. I think the only reason why heaven is the place people want to be is because burning in Hell for an eternity is the only alternate. So yes Humans were given free will, but if someone holds a gun to your head and tells you that you have 2 choices: 1. Give me everything OR 2. I shoot you – Then you don’t really have a choice…