Cherishing My Privileges

As I've aged, I've become kinder to and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend. I have seen too many dear friends leave this world, too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging. Whose business is it if I choose to read, or play on the computer until 4am? I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60s, 70s and 80s, and if I, at the same time wish to weep over a lost love, I will. I will walk the beach, in a swim suit that is stretched over a  bulging body, or deemed inappropriate for my age and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set. They too, will get old.

 

I know I am sometimes forgetful. But then again, some of life is just as well forgotten, and eventually, we remember the important things. Sure, over the years, my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break, when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers, or even when somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength, and understanding, and compassion. A heart never broken, is pristine, and sterile, and will never know the joy of being imperfect. I am so blessed to have lived enough to have my hair turning grey, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and too many have died before their hair could turn silver.

 

As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore. I've even earned the right to be wrong. So, to answer your question, I like being older. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day and have my favorite drink; if and when I feel like it.

Live A Life Of Gratitude

As humans, it is in our nature to worry. And while we worry about the things we want, we always fail to appreciate, enjoy and be grateful for the things that we have; the countless blessings that we take for granted. So, today and every day,

* Before you say an unkind word, “Think of someone who can't speak.”

* Before you complain about the taste of your food, “Think of someone who has nothing to eat.”

* Before you complain about your spouse, “Think of someone who's daily crying out for a companion.”

* Before you complain about life, “Think of someone who died too young.”

* Before you complain about your children, “Think of someone who desires children but are barren.”

* Before you argue about your dirty house someone didn't keep clean, “Think of the people who are living in the streets.”

* Before whine about the distance you drive, “Think of someone who walks the same distance or more, with their feet.”

* Before you complain about your job, “Think of the unemployed, the disabled, and those who wish they had a job, any job.”

* Before you think of pointing your finger or condemning others, “Remember that not one of us is without blemish, and that we are all answerable to one Creator.”

* And before you allow any depressing thoughts to get you down, “Remember your countless blessings, smile and God for life.”

* Finally, “Feel free to share, for sharing is caring.”

Some Brain Damaging Habits

The brain is one amazing organ in the body. It is the control system for all the activities that happen in your body. It stores all the information on experiences and everything else you have encountered ever since you were born. Just like the heart, the brain is one vital organ as without it, you are basically useless. You can never function properly without it.

 

With the above information in mind, you may think that people will strive to keep it healthy and safe. For sure they do try. But without enough knowledge, you may be doing some things that are causing harm to your brain. Those habits that we adapt and make them part of our lives, yet they are costing us much more as far as our health is concerned. For your brain to stay healthy and function properly, you need to get rid of the following habits.

 

1. Excessive Sugar Intake:

Sugar intake has long been associated with several health complications, from obesity all the way to cancer and other life-threatening conditions. For some reason, we still end up taking excess sugar either knowingly or unknowingly. The effects are heartbreaking. Apart from the many conditions it keeps you at risk of contracting, you may be surprised to know that it also causes damage to your brain over time. This is because, loads of sugar in your bloodstream prevents proteins and nutrients from being absorbed. This results in malnutrition and hinders brain development in the sense that the nutrients it requires to develop and sustain it can no longer be absorbed in the body. The next time you feel enticed to add just another teaspoon of sugar, think of all the harm it will cause you. It is not worth it. Also, try to avoid as much as possible those foods that are high in sugar content.

 

2. Skipping breakfast:

Breakfast is the most important meal of a day. It gears you for the day’s activities and keeps you on track throughout the day. A sad reality in life is that most people tend to ignore it and rather opt to concentrate more on having a heavy lunch and dinner. When you wake up in the morning, you’ve most likely spent more than six-hour in bed without any food. All the food that you had eaten for dinner has already been used to sustain you through the night. Simple logic is you wake up hungry even though you can’t feel it. You need the energy to keep you going, making breakfast an important aspect in your happy mornings. If you skip breakfast over a long period of time, the brain degenerates since it lacks the essential nutrients it requires to function properly. Also, you tend to overeat, making you prone to some lifestyle diseases.

 

3. Multitasking:

It is often said that the good thing about a woman is that she can multitask. Often, you will find women teasing their male counterparts on how better they are for their ability to multitask. But is it really a good thing? A recent study by the Daily Mail found out that those people who multitasked frequently were more likely to suffer from brain damage than those who didn’t. It was seen that the brain tend to shrink when we multitask. One is recommended to follow a stipulated routine to perform their daily activities, one thing at a time. You will not only perform effective work but also save your brain from a lot of troubles.

 

4. Conversing Rarely:

According to research by the World Health Organization (WHO), people who rarely talk may end up suffering from brain damage. This is because the brain cells tend to become dormant making it shrink. On the other hand if you talk indulge in intellectual talks; you tend to stretch your brain, strengthening it in the process. This is essential as far as brain development and growth is concerned. Thinking is like exercise to our bodies. The deeper the thoughts, the more the brain muscles are exercised and the better your brain develops. Watch a movie, read a book but whatever you do, don’t keep your brain inactive.

 

5. Sleep deprivation:

As we sleep, a lot of things happen; our skin renews, and the overall body reenergizes. Sleep is vital for our physical and mental well-being. A recent study by the WHO found that when we sleep, the brain takes this time to cleanse itself by removing all the toxins that might have built up in the brain within the day. Sleep deprivation means this process doesn’t take place thus causing brain damage. It can also lead to the accelerated death of brain cell leading to early memory loss, or Alzheimer’s disease. Having a good night sleep, of about 8 hours per day, is essential to keeping your brain healthy and active.

 

6. Covering Your Head While Sleeping:

Latest world news shows that a large percentage of people are affected by this vice. Who wants to leave their heads open in the cold night? Apparently, when you cover head with a pillow or any other thing as you sleep, there is a buildup of oxygen and carbon dioxide around the head area. When these two are concentrated in one area, inhaling the mixture air leads to brain damage effects. Oxygen deprivation prevents brain growth. In addition, when you inhale a large amount of carbon dioxide, the consequences are dire, not only for your brain but also for your general well-being. Sleeping in a warm room may prevent you from covering your head at night, minimizing this risk.

 

7. Overeating:

Just when you had thought that overeating was already causing a lot of negative health effects to your body, then this? Yeah, get used to it already. Apparently, when you overeat the brain arteries harden, decreasing our mental power. Do I need to add that overeating also causes low self-esteem, weight gain and bloating? I don’t think so. I guess there is no stopping when it comes to overeating as far as threatening our lives is concerned. Avoid this habit as much as you can. Eating a heavy healthy breakfast is a nice way to start.

Some Random Facts_4

1.       Elvis Presley once lived next to an Orthodox rabbi and his wife. On the Saturday Sabbath, he ran errands and turned electronics on and off for them.

2.       In 2012, a Hong Kong business tycoon offered a US$65 million reward for any man who can woo and marry his lesbian daughter.

3.       80% of people are dissatisfied with their jobs.

4.       Couples in which one partner spends 10+ hours more than usual at work divorce at twice the average rate.

5.       More than 13 million working days are lost every year because of stress-related illnesses.

6.       Cats are such picky eaters because they are naturally driven to eat foods with a preferred ratio of protein to fat: 1 to 0.4.

7.       If the U.S. freed all its prisoners except murderers and rapists, it would still have more people in prison per head than Germany.

8.       The longest-running experiment is the pitch drop experiment. A funnel holding a sample of tar pitch sealed in a glass jar shows how some substances that appear solid are actually liquid. It takes 10 years for a single drop to form.

9.       The cost of sequencing a human genome went from US$100 million in 2007 to about US$3,000 in 2012.

10.   As soon as they find a rock to anchor themselves to, young sea squirts eat their own brains.

11.   In 2012, about 42 million Americans had never been married, twice as many as in 1960.

12.   People in Britain who wake in the middle of the night are most likely to do it at 3:44 a.m.

13.   There is a reservoir of water 3 times the volume of all the oceans deep beneath the Earth's surface.

14.   Ancient Greeks investigated animal structure and described the difference between arteries and veins around 500 BCE.

15.   A cabin fire on Apollo 1 killed three astronauts during a launch-pad test in 1967.

16.   An analysis of nearly two-thirds of the world's languages shows that humans tend to use the same sounds for common objects and ideas.

17.   An iPhone has about 75 elements in it — two-thirds of the periodic table.

18.   Jackie Kennedy won an Emmy Award for her televised tour of The White House in 1962.

19.   Alfred Nobel, of the Nobel Prize, lost his brother to an accident at his lab. They were working with liquid nitrogen and attempting to create a more stable explosive. Nobel was able to complete his research after the accident and invented dynamite.

20.   50 beavers were introduced into Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, in the 1940s to help start a fur trade. There are now over 100,000, and they have devastated over 16 million hectares.

21.   The director of the FBI encouraged everyone to cover their webcams in 2016.

22.   In 2012, Catarina Migliorini, a 20 year old Brazilian girl, auctioned off her virginity online for US$780,000.

23.   Only 30 to 50 of the original Apple 1computers still exist, with originals selling for over US$50,000.

24.   Most drivers think they are a better-than-average driver.

25.   The company which maintains Big Ben has staff on 24-hour call should something go wrong.

26.   U.S. taxpayer money was used by the military to pay NFL teams to honor them.

Happiness Is The Way

 We convince ourselves that life will be better after we get married, have a baby, then another. Then we are frustrated that the kids aren't old enough and we'll be more content when they are. After that, we're frustrated that we have teenagers to deal with. We will certainly be happy when they are out of that stage. We tell ourselves that our lives will be complete when our spouse gets his or her act together, when we get a nicer car, when we are able to go on a nice vacation or when we retire. The truth is there's no better time to be happy than right now. If not now, when? Your life will always be filled with challenges.

 

It's best to admit this to yourself and decide to be happy anyway. Happiness is the way. So, treasure every moment that you have and treasure it more because you shared it with someone special, special enough to spend your time with, and remember that, time waits for no one. So stop waiting, “Until your car or home is paid off. Until you get a new car or home. Until your kids leave the house. Until you go back to school. Until you finish school. Until you lose some weight. Until you gain some weight. Until you get married. Until you get a divorce. Until you have kids. Until you retire, until you die.” There is no better time than right now to be happy. Happiness is a journey, not a destination. So work like you don't need money, love like you've never been hurt, and, dance like no one's watching.

 

Enjoying The Present

Welcome to another beautiful, healthful and love-filled day. May we have the ability to appreciate that when we sacrifice our health and sanity in the pursuit of money in order that we may enjoy the pleasures of the world, we shall eventually sacrifice that money in recuperating our health and sanity.

 

May we never be so anxious about the future which has always been and will always be a mystery that we don’t enjoy the present that is a gift and a reality. And may we never live as if we are never going to die, and then die never really lived.

The Unused Instrument

While on a flight returning from a holiday, a distinguished young lady, said to a priest seated beside her, "Father, may I ask you for a favour?"  And the priest replied, "Of course, my daughter! What may I do for you?" So the lady said, "Well, I bought an expensive electronic hair dryer that is well above my customs limits and I'm afraid they'll confiscate it. Is there anyway, you could carry it through Customs for me? Perhaps, say under your robes?" And the priest said, "I would love to help you my daughter, but I must warn you; I will not lie." Then the lady smiled, handed him the dryer and said, "Father, with your honest face, no one will question you."

 

When they got to the Customs, she let the priest go ahead of her. And when the Customs official asked, "Father, do you have anything to declare?" The priest said, "My son, from the top of my head down to my waistline, I have nothing to declare." The official thought this answer was as strange as they come, so he asked, "And what do you have to declare from your waistline, to the bottom of your feet?" And the priest smiled most benevolently, and said, "I have a marvelous little instrument designed to be used on a woman, but which to date, is unused." Roaring with laughter, the official said, "Go ahead, Father! Next!”