Wake-Up Call for Mankind

Posted on March 18, 2020 by Chronicles of a Blogaholic

“Sometimes it takes a wake-up call, doesn’t it,
to alert us to the fact that we’re
hurrying through our lives
instead of actually living them;
that we’re living the fast life
instead of the good life.
And I think, for many people,
that wake-up call takes the form of an illness.”.
Carl Honore

Wake-Up Call

I hope we will all learn a great deal from this crisis. Important issues like how war is not the answer. How climate change is real. How money can’t buy you time or health. I hope we will learn simple things like, we need to eat healthy, be more kinder, more considerate, more patient and most of all we are in this together.

I can’t help but believe that this World Wide crisis is nothing more then a wake-up call for mankind.

Shine On

Survival of The Fittest

Posted on March 16, 2020 by Chronicles of a Blogaholic

“In the long history of humankind and animal kind,
those who learned to collaborate
and improvise most effectively have prevailed.”
Charles Darwin

Charles Robert Darwin 1809-1892

We are currently living in a very precarious time. Except for outbreaks of a War and the attack of 911, the USA hasn’t experienced such a fast paradigm shift in our life styles in almost a century.

If you are over 90 years old, you understand what it means to make big sacrifices for the good of all mankind. Anyone under 90 years old has never experienced a major crisis of this magnitude. The last time this Nation faced a major crisis was the 1929 stock market crash.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt faced challenges when he took office back in March 4, 1933 during the height of the depression and made his famous speech: “Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Words that are probably the most iconic used by any President.

Roosevelt faced the economic crisis and the American people, who had just lost about everything, including hope, with honesty and compassion. Most don’t realize, he prefaced his famous speech with saying this is an important time to tell the truth and that the dire facts have to be understood. He continued to say that we have to come together as a Nation and that he was taking responsibility for the Great Depression and he would go to Congress with a series of measures to recommend to Congress.

Through all of this, Roosevelt gave our Nation a sense of hope and trust that he would get them through this harsh time. As we all know, he did succeed and was responsible for many life supporting government programs we have today.

The Coronavirus pandemic is challenging our values, beliefs, trusts and our existence. Let’s face it, unless you live under a rock, it’s the number one topic and concern for everyone especially our leaders.

I’m sure like all of you, I’ve been reading, watching the news and researching about the Coronavirus. Facts about where it’s heading, how to possibly prevent the spread and all the daunting statistics are overwhelming.

After analyzing all of this Coronavirus information, I can’t help but think about the great Charles Darwin. Most of you fellow Blogaholics know who Darwin was but in case you don’t: Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection is one of the most important concepts and organizing principles of modern biology. … And because of its clarity, the phrase coined not by Darwin but by, Herbert Spencer, “survival of the fittest” is still widely used to explain natural selection to people interested in understanding the evolution of life on Earth.

As we are learning, the Coronavirus is not discriminating between, race, economic class, continents or social status. It appears it is choosing to infect the elderly and those with compromised immune systems. Anyone with what they are calling, “underlying conditions”, whether they have diabetes, autoimmune disease, emphysema, etc. has a compromised immune system period. That’s why healthy children, anyone from age 10-40 without any existing illness are having a better chance of surviving the virus.

The media as well as our leaders have a great deal of impact on how we respond to this crisis. As the Coronavirus continues to unfold on to our Nation of panicked, stressed and frightened people, this is the time we need to work together, be more patient, not panic, we need excellent honest leadership (that’s an entire other issue) and most importantly, we must take care of ourselves and our loved ones. Because, as we are witnessing, the government can only do so much to protect its people. It will eventually come down to, survival of the fittest.

Shine On

The Four A’s

Posted on February 7, 2020 by Chronicles of a Blogaholic

“Everyone you meet
comes with baggage.
Find someone who
loves you enough
to help you unpack.”

Four As.jpg

Dr. Deepak Chopra is an author and alternative-medicine advocate. TIME magazine describes Dr. Chopra as “one of the top 100 heroes and icons of the century. He’s a prominent figure in the New Age movement, and his books and videos have made him one of the best-known in alternative medicine.

In one of his recent weekly Podcast’s he spoke about the four keys to a successful relationship, which he called the four words that begin with A.

Acceptance, don’t try to change them, or try to prove them wrong
Appreciation, notice their strengths
Affection, let them know that you care
Attention, be a good listener

Sometimes, we find ourselves focusing on peoples faults and we see them and say to ourselves, “oh no there they go again”, when they do something that angers us or annoys us. We get frustrated and annoyed at them or even very angry at them. When this happens, whether it’s a personal or professional relationship the first thing we need to do is remember:

What is our shared vision with this person? What is the emotional bond with them? Most importantly, what are their strengths? How do these strengths complement yours. We all have unique strengths.

We also may have times in our life where we fall out of rhythm or we see the persons differently and not how they were when you first started in the relationship. This is the time in the relationship when you press the pause button in your internal mind, and you say to yourself, what am I observing? Ask yourself, what am I feeling? What is missing here? How do we fulfill this missing need? You can also ask the other person the same questions. Most importantly you ask them what are you needing from me and how can I help you? It’s important to be open and honest without being critical and accusing.

We need to periodically check-in with our partner which often is scary. We need to be honest and often we might not get an answer we want to hear. If that happens, say to them, at least I offered you help and I’m here for you.

We take on the energy that is around us. These energies, fears, anger, happiness, sadness, no matter what these energies may be are contagious. If you find yourself absorbing peoples emotions and their negative energy which can affect your energy and positive outlook, we must decide that you are going to be independent of anger, criticism, and flattery. This way we get in touch with our true self. Don’t tell them their negative energy is affecting you, because it will only make matters worse. The best thing to do is, ask yourself, what is the most creative way to nurture this relationship?

That’s it. Sounds simple, but it’s not easy to apply these techniques when we’re in a challenging relationship. It needs a little practice in our daily lives. How about beginning with each day using just one of the four A’s.

Shine On

Lift My Spirits

Posted on February 3, 2020 by Chronicles of a Blogaholic

“The mind is everything.
What you think you become.”
Buddha

Positive thinking

If you’re looking to have a more positive 2020, there’s a book I highly recommend, “Wokini: A Lakota Journey to Happiness and Self-Understanding”, by Billy Mills. Translated from Lakota, “Wokini” means “seeking a new beginning” or “seeking a new vision.” This book taught me about myself, and showed me what it means to be happy. It also guided me on my own personal journey to feel more satisfied in my life.

The book is a wonderful blend of modern therapeutic principles, positive thinking; self-awareness; and Native American beliefs in meditation, thought, dreams, and respect for the harmony and balance of nature.

The Wokini way of life and thinking has helped me a great deal this past year. Whenever I feel stressed or angered from the most minuscule thing, I just chant Wokini and do some breathing exercises. This simple chant keeps me from bringing negativity into my life and most of all helps lift my spirits.

Shine On

Ballet Beautiful

Posted on January 31, 2020 by Chronicles of a Blogaholic

Edgar Degas 1834-1917

It’s been over a century since French painter Edgar Degas lived and died. This self portrait of Degas is on display at the Metropolitan Museum of art in New York City.

More than any other of the great artist from the impressionist era, Degas was fascinated by the powerful and exciting world of ballet. Degas was masterly at capturing in his paintings the flowing movements of ballerina’s on stage, candid poses of young dancers waiting in the wings and in rehearsal halls and dance classes.

Edgar Degas – The Dancing Class 1871

Although Degas painted other subject matter, Degas was enchanted by what he called a “fairy like illusion of the ballet”. He admired ballerinas hard work which often the public never witnessed.

It wasn’t that long ago ballet performances were only enjoyed by the rich and famous and rarely did the underprivileged experience the beauty and wonder of ballet. Thanks to movies and television the public is much more aware of the beauty, hard work and discipline it takes to become a prima ballerina.

I’m an admirer of Edgar Degas paintings not for just his painting style, but also for the beauty and the grace of ballet. Live performances of ballet along with any movies or tv with ballet is one of my favorite visual experiences.

Although I never dreamed of becoming a ballerina, I always found ballet classes and ballet based workouts my favorite. In recent years, my go to workout is, Mary Helen Bower’s, Ballet Beautiful dvd tapes.

Mary Bowers is the prima ballerina who trained Natalie Portman for the 2010 movie, Black Swan. What I love most about Bower’s workout routine is I can do 15 minutes or more of Ballet Beautiful workouts in the privacy of my living room. The workouts are great for toning, elongating your body and just stretching to gain better mobility and balance. Doing this workout gives me energy and lifts my spirit.

If you’re looking to gain strength and quickly tone your body, you don’t have to be female, or join a gym or even be a prima ballerina to enjoy the benefits of Ballet Beautiful.

Shine On