OMTimes Magazine October B 2017 Edition

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October B 2017

Cover Story

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86

Dick Russell - Global Warming: When Profits Trump Truth

Health & Wellness 40 46 48 52

Boost Energy Naturally and Finally Feel Great Again 6 Ways to Stimulate Body’s Energy 4 Earth-Friendly Hygiene Products You Should Be Using 15 Alternative Tips for Treating Appetite Disturbances

Spirituality 60

Catalysts for Change

OM Living 68 72 78

Why Goal Setting Can Be Limiting and What To Do Instead Helicopter Parents Are Raising Unemployable Children Dream Patterns: Revealing the Hidden Patterns of Our Waking Lives

92 96

7 Signs You're Needy And Clingy 12 Practices to Strengthen the Loyalty Bond When Cupids Arrow Won't Strike

Metaphysics 104 Open Yourself Up To Receive Gifts from Your Guides

Personal Growth 110 4 Steps to Break Through Any Limitation 114 How To Break Unhealthy Habits

World Vision 118 Just Because the Right Is Wrong Doesn't Mean the Left Is Right

Books 128 Book Spotlight - Wisdom From Your Spirit Guides

Dick Russell

Global Warming: When Profits Trump Truth The science is overwhelming, the facts are in - the planet is heating up at an alarming rate, and the results are everywhere to be seen. Yet, as time runs out, climate progress is blocked by the men who are profiting from the burning of the planet.

Dick Russell is an acclaimed environmental writer, activist, lecturer, and author of 13 books

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on subjects ranging from natural history to the assassination of President Kennedy. His latest book, Horsemen of the Apocalypse: The Men Who are Destroying Life on Earth and What it Means to our Children, written with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. before Trump came to power lays bare the sordid truth about the energy moguls most responsible for the climate disaster that our civilization is facing.

Dick Russell joins me today to expose the men behind the lies and the cover-ups about the severe impacts of climate change. He’s going to tell us what motivates them to put their profits and careers ahead of the health and welfare of their own children, grandchildren and the rest of us.

And on a more positive note, he’s going to reveal the rebellious descendants of the fossil fuel families who are trying to make a difference in a more sustainable world.

Sandie Sedgbeer: Dick, Horsemen of the Apocalypse, focuses on the energy moguls that are most responsible for the disaster that we’re facing. With the election of Trump, many of the people profiled in your book are now in ultimate positions of power. When you and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. first conceived this book, did you have any idea that it would be so prophetic?

Dick Russell: Absolutely not, and that’s really the most alarming aspect of the book coming out right now. I mean, Rex Tillerson, who was one of the main people that I profiled in the book, was then the head of Exxon Mobile, had been for some years, and suddenly, he’s become Secretary of State. Scott Pruitt, who’s now running the EPA, had been the protégé of Harold Hamm, who is this fracker extraordinaire, I guess you’d say - pioneering of hydraulic natural gas fracturing of the earth in Oklahoma. And Hamm had been behind him for a long time pushing him forward as Oklahoma’s Attorney General. Harold Hamm was one of the horsemen that I profiled, as well.

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The Koch brothers from Wichita suddenly had their congressperson that they’d installed really in Wichita, Kansas, their home base, becoming the head of the CIO. I mean, it was just staggering to see what happened after Donald Trump took office.

Sandie Sedgbeer: Well, at the same time, for the rest of the world, it’s a really good thing your book has come out right now because at least we can be alerted to the truth.

Dick Russell: Well, I hope so, that’s obviously why I wrote it, to try to get the word out and make people realize the facts have been in for a long time, that the disaster that we’re facing is going to cripple civilization, and it’s not that far away. I mean, 16 of the past 17 years have seen record setting temperatures all over the world. What’s really scary, as the Arctic Ocean is heating 20 to 30 degrees above normal last summer, sea ice there is at an alltime low, and oceans are rising more than they have since the last Ice Age. I mean, there is absolutely no Omtimes.com

doubt that climate change is happening at an accelerating pace and that human beings, basically the big fossil fuel companies, are more responsible for this than anything else, and there’s just no scientific doubt about it anymore.

Sandie Sedgbeer: Just yesterday, The New York Times published an unreleased draft, The Federal Scientist Climate Report, released, and apparently leaked before Trump could bury it. So, the timing does seem to be very, very interesting.

Dick Russell: I read that piece. I think it was leaked because the scientists who have written this report are very afraid it’s going to be suppressed by the Trump Administration, that it won’t release it.

So, that’s what’s real, we’re living in an Orwellian world where, alt facts are put forward by the Trump Administration as reality, and the terrifying facts about global warming and climate change are being buried.

That’s been true from day one when the Administration came in when they started censoring, taking, removing all information

about climate change and its dire effects from the websites of the EPA and NASA and the Department of Agriculture, everybody else.

was going on with the climate way back, 30 to 40 years ago.

Their own scientists began coming in and saying, hey, there’s going to be a big problem.

Sandie Sedgbeer: And the really scary thing is how many people, believe the lies, believe the alt facts.

But instead of going forward with their research regarding any public recognition, they started funding these climates denying scientists, paying big money to scientists like Willie Soon from Harvard and others to basically say, “Well, there’s a lot of doubt about this situation, we can’t really be sure that it’s happening.”

Dick Russell: Yeah. They do, they do, sure. I mean, denial is human nature and if it’s too much to bear, no matter what it is, if it’s one of our relatives going to jail, our children having a breakdown or whatever, people just often have a really hard time dealing with it. And that’s what’s going on certainly with climate change.

Sandie Sedgbeer: Your book details the cover-ups that have been going on for 30 years.

Tell us a little bit of the history.

What’s been going on, how it started, where it started and why it started.

Dick Russell: Well, it really started with Exxon Mobile, for example, or before they were Exxon Mobile, back when they were just Exxon, they had their own scientists studying what

They did everything they could to fund people, people in political positions. Of course, when the Bush Administration came in, it was much easier than it would have been had Al Gore become President, as he should have been rightfully. But, the Bush Administration just completely went along. They called in Exxon right from day one, and Exxon was successful in stopping the Kyoto Protocol from being implemented by the US at that time.

At the same time, Exxon’s own scientists were discovering, along with their research and Omtimes.com

development teams, alternative energy that was going to change things. Exxon was ahead of the curve. They were making the motors for these hybrid vehicles and actually supplying them to Toyota and then completely shut that research division down, letting go of things like fuel cell development, which could totally change things.

They had a guy named Pat Grimes, who I write about in the book, who was a genius and was very into fuel cells and hybrid cells and all of that, way ahead of his time. He had patent applications going back into the 1950s that Exxon Mobile had just basically buried because they didn’t think it was going to be as profitable as their oil and gas business.

All of the big fossil fuel companies were involved in covering up what was going on with the climate and in fact paying scientists to claim that it wasn’t as bad as we’re now seeing it is.

Sandie Sedgbeer: We hear a lot lately about the Koch brothers and, what their Omtimes.com

ultimate agenda is. Can you tell us about the Koch brothers?

Dick Russell: Yes, the Koch brothers, Charles and David Koch, are the wealthiest fossil fuel private magnates in the world. Their wealth was estimated a couple years ago at more than $50 billion apiece.

Their company is based in Wichita, Kansas. And I’m originally from Kansas. I went to school at the University of Kansas. But, I certainly never heard of them back in the day.

They were under the radar for many, many years until Jane Mayer, a writer for The New Yorker did a piece, I guess it must be seven or eight years ago now, exposing these guys.

And, like some wealthy people who don’t want to be known because of what they may be doing, the Koch brothers were certainly among those until Jane Mayer’s piece. Their company-their companies, Koch Industries, go back to their father, Fred Koch, who started them in 1925 in Kansas. He and a business partner developed this superior process for refining oil, but then they got forced out of

the American market by these patent infringement lawsuits from their competitors.

in that sense, yeah, I would say that they’re morally bankrupt.

They just don’t give a damn.

So, Fred Koch, the father, actually made his fortune in Stalin’s industrializing Soviet Union and then by building refineries in Hitler’s Germany.

Sandie Sedgbeer: It is mind boggling. I mean, your book, it’s stunning. It’s also sickening, and I don’t mean that as, derogatory to you. It’s just the scale of this, and the wanton lack of any morals at all is just mind boggling. I mean, everything that we think about humanity and the higher values that we all share, and many of these people could be called the devil’s spawn.

They’re the planet’s largest exporter of oil from the tar sands in Canada and the second largest private company in the entire US. So, that’s kind of the basic background on them.

Sandie Sedgbeer: So, we know a little bit about their background, but, I mean, who are these men? Are they completely morally bankrupt?

Dick Russell: I’ve never met them. I went to Kansas. I tried to get an interview, but of course, they didn’t want to talk to me. So, I interviewed a lot of the activists there; so, it’s baffling in a sense. I think they justify themselves ideologically and claim that the free market is what they’re really about and that everything should be gauged by that. But, of course, it’s their form of denial of what they’re doing to the planet. So,

Dick Russell: I’m afraid you’ve got it. I think so, too.

Sandie Sedgbeer: Dick Russell, I watched Josh Fox who made the movie Gasland and I watched a little bit of his movie about fracking. You talk in your book about how Oklahoma billionaire Howard Hamm paid off the local university in an attempt to cover up its geological studies showing how fracking is behind the state’s huge increase in earthquakes. Tell us a little bit about Howard Hamm.

Dick Russell: Harold Hamm is one of the wealthiest people in the country. He’s a multi Omtimes.com

billionaire. He hit the Bakken oil shale field in South Dakota, it was his big pioneering discovery, I guess. He’s been connected to the University of Oklahoma for some time, as he has been on their Board of Trustees. He was very close to the President David Boren, a former US senator from Oklahoma. But, what went on was there was a geologist at the university named Austin Holland.

He was with the Oklahoma Geological Survey. So, it was part of the university’s College of Earth and Energy.

Holland began studying these tremors that were plaguing about half a million mostly rural people who lived in the central and north central parts of the state. Oklahoma, people may not realize, has gone from experiencing almost no earthquakes to now being the earthquake capital of the United States, including a couple of them which have registered as high as 5.6 on the Richter scale.

People have lost their homes, and it’s really been quite scary.

And nobody for a long time supposedly knew why this was happening.

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Well, but the University of Oklahoma did, and they began talking about the fact the hydraulic fracturing of natural gas, which was sending all this wastewater down into the earth from the process, was triggering earthquakes because Oklahoma has a geological formation that’s fragile, and similar to Texas and other states who’ve also been seeing some of the increase in earthquakes.

So, basically, they had a meeting where Hamm came in and met with Boren and met with the geologists and they began sort of dropping subtle hints, not-that he’d better lay off of this or he was going to end up losing his job. Well, he eventually resigned from the survey.

It took several years before the Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin would admit that, “We’re looking into this, and it does look like the hydraulic fracturing process is causing an increase in the earthquakes.”

When you watch Josh Fox’s amazing documentary Gasland, which was an awakening for me when I saw it, you’re seeing people with groundwater

contamination, and they turn on their faucet in their home and, it burst into flames, the water. I mean, it’s like, wow, and people are drinking this?

So, there’s definite evidence that fracking causes contamination of water supplies. And thank goodness that Josh Fox did that documentary that shows this.

So, now that we know them, and yet they’re still trying to cover it up and push fracking forward all over the country, that to me is a crime against nature and humanity.

Sandie Sedgbeer: Well, let’s look on the more positive side because you also write about the descendants of many of these families who are trying to make a difference. You mentioned Richard Berman earlier, and in your book, you talk about how his son has completely rejected his father, denounced him publicly. Tell us about some of these people who are making a difference.

Dick Russell: Yeah, well, I tried to interview the young people from these fossil fuel families who would talk, but in fact,

there weren’t any. Even the ones who may not like what their fathers are doing aren’t willing to speak publicly against the family. David Berman was an exception to that. He was the lead singer for a long time for a popular independent rock band called The Silver Jews. And a few years ago, he quit. He said he couldn’t continue anymore, and he said a lot of it had to do with what his father did. And he came right out and said my father is a despicable man. He’s an exploiter and a scoundrel.

So, he’s one who was certainly willing to come out and publicly speak about it. But, there are others.

One family that I greatly admire is the Rockefeller’s. Standard Oil was the precursor to Exxon, and John D. Rockefeller began, the whole oil boom in the world.

But, the newer generations of Rockefeller’s, first, they’ve been divesting from Exxon. They’ve been calling for things like forcing them to take climate change into consideration. I mean, that’s down the line.

And then there are some of Omtimes.com

them like Chris Lindstrom, he’s the grandson of David Rockefeller, the Chase Manhattan banker who died just this year at the age of I think 101. And Chris has been out there, starting a bio energy company in Jamaica. I know Chris.

I interviewed him at a conference there’s a new organization called Nexus, N-E-X-U-S, which are children of inherited wealth who come together. They have regular meetings, they have an annual conference at the United Nations where they bring together about 500 of them to talk about what can they do to make a different kind of world than their forefathers have created.

And Chris was one of these. And his bio energy company he’s now moved into manufacturing of hemp.

He had spoken to me and to people at Nexus about investing in companies that start moving resources into transforming the system itself. He said, “The first real necessity at this point is to

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compost the BS in our heads about the world we live in, that we’re at the end of the line of a chain of living creatures and everything is here to benefit us. We have the technology to create renewable fuels that have been suppressed by the fossil fuel industry.”

So, working in Jamaica, he set out to come up with a new form of bio energy that would take waste and transform it into energy that would not pollute the atmosphere and could create fertilizer.

So, you have people like Chris.

And then I also interviewed a woman named Katherine Lorenz whose grandfather, George Mitchell, had pioneered hydraulic fracturing or fracking.

I found her to be a very interesting person and someone who’s definitely devoted to creating a more sustainable world.

Sandie Sedgbeer: I read an article yesterday online how Millennials could bring the oil industry to its knees. And do you

think that they really are the ones that are going to change things? Do we have time to wait for them?

Dick Russell: Well, we’re running out of time to save civilization, really. And I think that more and more Millennials and especially even younger people are starting to see this and really get out there and call for change.

Sandie Sedgbeer: What can we as individuals do?

Dick Russell: We can get out there and march on the streets.

We can make ourselves heard.

We can obviously do things that have been talked about for years, that we need to do at home like drive more fuel-efficient cars, save energy, recycle.

All those are great things that we should all be doing.

Sandie Sedgbeer: I think many people feel helpless because they just don’t know where to begin.

But, one place that I would highly recommend is your blog. We do not have the luxury of remaining in ignorance, do we?

Dick Russell: No, we don’t, we really, really don’t. We can’t bury our heads in the sand. And unfortunately, for some time now, I would say since the ‘60s when I came of age, things have been much more oriented toward everybody’s out for themselves, and material world and, we’ve lost track of the need to do something for the future and of the more spiritual aspect of life.

And the only silver lining I see in the fact that this new Administration has taken power is that there are a lot of people starting to wake up to the fact that we can’t be complacent.

Sandie Sedgbeer: Dick Russell, thank you from the bottom of my heart.Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Men who are Destroying Life on Earth and what it Means to our Children has been called one of the most important books of our era. Go out, get a copy, read it and educate yourself. If you want to know more about Dick Russell’s work, check out his website at dickrussell.org.

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Health & Wellness

Innovative new approaches to Healing as well as holistic methods for dealing with health issues and personal growth

Fatigue Warrior..

Boost Energy Naturally and Finally Feel Great Again!

Our daily lives often leave us depleted. We are pulled in so many different directions that we often have no time left for ourselves. We give to everyone else and don’t have any energy left at the end of the day to do the things we love. When you have chronic low-energy life becomes frustrating and exhausting.

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If you’re overwhelmed with work, family, marriage or motherhood it’s likely that all you want to do is read a good book and have a hot bath without someone demanding something from you. Possibly your calendar is jam-packed with events, to-do’s, calls, errands and you just can’t take it anymore.

To top it all off, your body is starting to show signs of overwhelm. You feel exhausted and fatigued all day long regardless of how much sleep you get, you’re craving coffee and sugar and you can sense that something isn’t right- you’re not well. It’s likely you were even recently told by a doctor that you have adrenal fatigue and you don’t know where to start to get well.

Well, I’m here to tell you that you’re not alone.

We’ve all found ourselves completely exhausted and burned out at one point or another. We have all struggled to keep our head above the water, only to be brought down again and again by fatigue and low energy.

What is Adrenal Fatigue?

Due to our fast-paced and stress-filled modern lives, over 80 percent of us will experience Adrenal Fatigue multiple times in our lives. Adrenal fatigue occurs when the adrenal glands, the small lumps of tissue located directly above your kidneys, become triggered. The primary trigger for the adrenal glands is stress.

Your adrenal glands produce hormones that are critical for your well-being: adrenaline, cortisol and hormones that regulate the production of your sex hormones, estrogen and testosterone. When your adrenal glands are triggered and over-extended, your adrenal glands produce extra amounts of hormones, such as adrenaline. This is an extraordinary survival mechanism if you are in danger, but if the stress continues over a long period of time (let’s say you are going through a divorce, bankruptcy, the death of a loved or some type of major crisis) your adrenal glands will eventually become damaged from being so hyperactive.

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Adrenal Fatigue Symptoms If you have Adrenal Fatigue, you may experience one or more of the following symptoms: weakness, lack of energy, trouble concentrating, becoming easily confused, forgetfulness, trouble completing basic tasks you could once handle easily, hoarse voice, poor digestion, constipation, depression, insomnia, not feeling rested after waking from sleep, and relying on naps during the day.

In addition, you may experience the following: • You “crash” in the early part of your day and/or throughout your day • You feel tired all day at work and have more energy at night when you are home • You’re really exhausted at night but have trouble falling asleep • You feel unrested even after a full night’s sleep • You experience continual sweating under your armpits even after minimal activity

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• You are always thirsty and can’t seem to quench your thirst; or you have dry mouth; or you’re always craving salt • You have blurry vision or difficulty focusing with your eyes • You are continually craving stimulants like coffee, cigarettes, or soda Yet, you don’t have to feel this way. There is hope.

So you’ve been told you have Adrenal Fatigue, now what?

Treatment of Adrenal Fatigue involves reducing stress on your body and mind, eliminating toxins from your food and environment, avoiding negative thinking and revitalizing your body with the right healthy food for your body. Your body is an amazing machine and, when given the right tools, it can bring itself back into balance.

Recovery from Adrenal Fatigue and chronic low-energy is possible, yet it may take patience and often a complete change in lifestyle. Regardless

of how long it takes, the sooner you get started on the road to wellness, the sooner you’ll start feeling better and restoring your adrenals to full health. If you have severe adrenal fatigue, don’t despair.

You can take a number of concrete steps, as described below, to heal your adrenals and return them to optimal health.

1. Remove any food from your diet that taxes your adrenal glands.

• When it comes to healing from Adrenal Fatigue, and low energy in general, diet plays a big role. There are many foods that support adrenal function, but first it’s helpful to remove any foods that are difficult to digest or contain toxins or chemicals.

• Foods to avoid: • Caffeine • Sugar and artificial sweeteners • Alcohol and soda • Processed and microwaved foods

• Hydrogenated oils 2. Add nutrient-dense foods to your diet that are easy to digest and have healing qualities.

Eliminating foods that don’t support your adrenals is only half the battle. Next you need to add in nutrient-dense foods to give your body a fighting chance to heal. Here are some of my favorite superfoods for adrenal health: • Coconut • Olives • Avocado • Cruciferous Vegetables (cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts, etc.)

• Fatty Fish (e.g., wild-caught salmon) • Chicken and turkey • Nuts, such as walnuts and almonds • Seeds, such as pumpkin, chia and flax • Kelp and seaweed • Celtic or Himalayan Sea Salt 3. Eat a light, balanced meal every 90 minutes to two hours.

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Most of us eat large meals 1-2 times a day with long stretches in between. This is not helpful when your adrenals are overextended as about 90 min to 2 hours after you eat a meal your bloodstream runs low on glucose, meaning you’ve run out of the sugars you consumed. Once this happens, your adrenal glands are forced to produce hormones such as cortisol to keep you going. So, if you frequently go for long stretches without eating then your adrenal glands are under a constant strain and you’re not giving them a chance to recuperate.

• Probiotic

3. Take these “Core 4” supplements every day.

• Don’t stay up late. If you can, get to bed before 10pm and sleep in until 9 am. 7-9 am is an important time for adrenal repair.

This combination of a decline in nutrient-dense food and an increase in stress, toxins and gut imbalances is why we can no longer get all of the vitamins and minerals we need from our diet alone. It’s what I refer to as “the perfect storm” and why I believe everyone should use a few essential supplements to maintain optimal levels of nutrients.

• High-Quality Multi-Vitamin • Omega 3s (EPA/DHA, Fish oil) • Vitamin D

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3. Reduce stress on your body and your mind.

As you can see, stress reduction is key. Your adrenal glands have a big job and we can do a lot to help them out by make some changes to how we live our dayto-day life. Here are a few tips to help reduce stress on your body and give your adrenal glands a break so they can recover fully.

• If you feel tired, rest as much as possible.

• Sleep 8-10 hours per night.

• Get more laughter and fun in your day.

• Practice deep belly breathing every day. I recommend the 4-7-8 breathing technique.

• Minimize work and relational stress. Set boundaries with stressful conversations.

• Exercise regularly- even just walking can help.

• Avoid negative people and

negative self-talk. Surround yourself with people that encourage you.

• Take time for yourself regularly and do something relaxing.

• If you’ve experienced deep pain and trauma in your life, seek support such as coaching, therapy, or counseling to process any unresolved emotions.

Adrenal Fatigue Prevention Once you get your body back into a state of balance and wellness, it will be important to create a lifestyle that will help you avoid Adrenal Fatigue in the future. The most straightforward way to keep your adrenal glands strong and healthy is to avoid extended and/ or extreme stress and strain that sets them up to overproduce adrenaline. If possible, cut back on obligations and manage your schedule and life in a way that makes space for rest, relaxation and time to recover and heal. All of us experience emotionally and physically intense (and stressful) times in our lives, but it’s important to give your body adequate time to recover afterward.

The above treatments for Adrenal Fatigue can be equally applied to preventing Adrenal Fatigue in the future. Many people will make drastic changes in the short-term to heal their body, but then go right back into the same lifestyle they had before, so Adrenal Fatigue becomes a part of their life again down the road. You don’t have to be this way. You can allow this message from your body to teach you your body’s limits. I encourage you to continue to incorporate the above 5 steps into your daily life and experience the joy, peace, and balance that goes hand in hand with optimal health.

Angela Watson Robertson, MBA, CIHC, INHC, is known as The Reinvention Warrior and host of Masters of Reinvention. Not only has Angela completely reinvented her own life, she has created simple, effective tools to help others transform every area of their lives – from health, career and money to relationships, spirituality and sex. Find her free wellness tips, course and programs on her website. For more about the Fatigue Warrior program go here: www.fatiguewarrior.com Omtimes.com

6 Ways to Stimulate Body’s Energy

By Achal Mehrotra

Each individual cell present in our body is responsible for producing energy. But these cells can only produce energy when they are supplied with the right nutrients. Thankfully there are several supplements that we can take externally to help boost the body’s energy. These might be herbs, vitamins, and other supplements. So, to stimulate body energy, there are some natural ways that you can follow.

Control Stress Factors Stress consumes huge amounts of energy from our body. This can be lessened by talking to others, visiting a psychotherapist or Omtimes.com

joining a support group. There are also certain relaxation therapies like yoga, meditation, tai-chi, and self-hypnosis that are effective to reduce stress causing conditions.

Exercise Regularly Through exercise, your cells burn more energy. Thus, it circulates oxygen because hormones like epinephrine and norepinephrine are released. These can help you feel more energized towards work.

So, even if you are not into heavy exercising, simple walking can be good for your health.

Eat and Drink Well Doctors say that a good habit to retain energy is to have small snacks and meals every hour rather than waiting for the heavy meals thrice a day. Your energy will remain steady because there will be a constant supply of nutrients.

This will also reduce chances of fatigue. Dry fruits are also a good alternative for small meals.

Water is essential for life. No matter how many sports drinks you consume, water will be required by you. Not having enough fluids can cause fatigue.

Making sure you have enough water will alleviate the shortness of fluids.

Have a Good Sleep Avoid sleeping during the day even if you feel sleep deprived.

This process will help you sleep better and have a sound sleep.

This will also let you have a relaxed mind.

Limit Alcohol Consumption Never cross the limits of consuming alcohol. You can always have it occasionally, provided that you do not make it a habit or load yourself so much that you lose the sense of good and bad. Experts say it is better if you can avoid drinking at the midafternoon hours. This is because alcohol has a strong sedative effect during the day.

Avoid Smoking Smoking is not good for your health. It may cause insomnia. It is also responsible for speeding the heart rate and raising the blood pressure. Even if you fall asleep, the additives can make you have a feeling of craving and awaken you in between your sleep. Following these natural processes can boost your body energy and make you feel better in the long run.

To know more about energy medicine, please check our website.

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Natural Cleanse: 4 Earth-Friendly Hygiene Products You Should Be Using

By Rachelle Wilber

Many people may think hygiene has to be forfeited when using earth-friendly products. This myth simply isn’t true. Eco-Friendly hygiene products are often just as, if not more effective than

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standard products. EarthFriendly products are usually free of many chemicals that can harm both the environment and your body.

Making the switch to more sustainable hygiene products will lessen your exposure to dangerous chemicals and help keep the planet clean.

Brush Your Teeth Plastic is particularly dangerous to the environment because it is unable to break down. Most of us use our toothbrushes for a few weeks, and once they begin to get old, we simply throw them away.

The plastic in the toothbrush is not biodegradable, so it won’t break down. Millions of people worldwide throw away toothbrushes each day. This can lead to pounds and pounds of plastic waste each year. Instead of buying a plastic toothbrush, look for toothbrushes made out of recycled materials.

Some companies offer mail back programs. The mail back program allows you to send back your used recycled tooth-

brush to be recycled again.

Toilet Paper Manufacturing toilet paper is an extremely energy intensive process. As surprising as it may sound, the United States Department of Energy ranks toilet paper manufacturing as the fifth most energy costing industry. The production of this product results in large emissions of greenhouse gases, which weakens the ozone layer. The manufacturing of the paper also produces dioxins as a byproduct.

Dioxins can build up in the environment and cause health problems. Look for toilet paper made of recycled content the next time you go shopping.

Shampoo Instead of purchasing several small plastic bottles of shampoo, try buying in bulk. Purchasing a large bottle of shampoo from ecofriendly companies lessen the amount of plastic waste.

Some companies, such as Top 10 Jungle, know how much

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better all-natural hygiene products can be for the environment. They are also a lot better for the body, mind, and spirit. The shampoo is not just shampoo, not any crappy brand will do. You must be shrewd and picky about the products you buy. If you care about your health, that is.

Transdermal absorption is a serious matter, chemicals are soaked into your pores, and they go directly to your bloodstream and are taken all around the body. Because of this, consumers should know to buy higher quality products that are as natural as possible.

Bath Accessories The process of making bath rugs and towels can release dangerous chemicals and bleaching agents into the environment. So many industries do not care about the environment and the few that do make great products for their loyal customers. The only way to change this is to bankrupt the bad companies and support the good ones

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by purchasing their products instead. Replacing your old towels and rugs with ecofriendly products is sure to lead to a cleaner planet.

Earth-Friendly hygiene products don’t have to be expensive and are often just as effective as any other product. When you buy ecofriendly products, you can rest assured knowing that you are doing all you can to keep the planet healthy. Everything we do, no matter how small, can positively impact the environment.

Rachelle Wilber is a freelance writer living in the San Diego, California area. She graduated from San Diego State University with her Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Media Studies.

She tries to find an interest in all topics and themes, which prompts her writing.

You can follow Rachelle on Twitter @RachelleWilber and on Facebook https:// www.facebook.com/profile. php?id=100009221637700

15 Alternative Tips for Treating Appetite Disturbances

By Andrew Pacholyk MS L.Ac If you experience a notable change in appetite, appetite Disturbances, either experiencing loss of appetite or having difficulty controlling it, you should first consult a physician, to rule out

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any illness or nutritional deficiencies. Whether you want to stimulate your appetite or control it, changing the way you eat may help.

Appetite loss is the body’s defense against ingesting anything that could slow the healing process. Almost any infection can cause a loss of appetite. A passing cold or flu virus could be responsible.

So could more serious things like tuberculosis, low thyroid function, diseases of the heart or lungs or liver problems.

Bulimia is an illness characterized by uncontrolled episodes of overeating usually followed by selfinduced vomiting. Eating binges may occur as often as several times a day. Induced vomiting known as purging, allows the eating to continue until interrupted by sleep, abdominal pain, or the presence of another person.

The person is usually aware

that their eating pattern is abnormal and may experience fear or guilt associated with the binge-purge episodes. The behavior is usually secretive, although clues to this disorder include overactivity, peculiar eating habits, eating rituals, and frequent weighing. Body weight is usually normal or low, although the person may perceive themselves as overweight.

The exact cause of bulimia is unknown, but factors thought to contribute to its development are family problems, maladaptive behavior, self-identity conflict, and cultural overemphasis on physical appearance.

Bulimia may be associated with depression. The disorder is usually not associated with any underlying physical problem although the behavior may be associated with neurological or endocrine diseases. The disorder occurs most often in females of adolescent

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or young adult age. The incidence is 2 in 10,000 people.

Bulimia is a bit different from anorexia because the person with bulimia doesn’t avoid eating. Instead, he or she eats a large amount of food then gets rid of it quickly by vomiting or taking laxatives.

This is commonly known as “binge and purge” behavior.

Anorexia nervosa is an eating disorder associated with a distorted body image that may be caused by a mental disorder. Inadequate calorie intake results in severe weight loss. The exact cause of this disorder is not known, but social attitudes towards body appearance and family factors play a role in its development.

The condition affects females more frequently, usually in adolescence or young adulthood.

Statistics show the risk factors are seen most often in Caucasians, having an upper or

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middle economic background, being female, and having a goal-oriented family or personality. The incidence is 4 out of 100,000 people.

Other culprits of appetite loss include antihistamines, over the counter drugs, painkillers, and prescriptions.

Aging itself can take its toll on the appetite. In older people the metabolism slows down, muscle mass decreases and physical ailments impede activity. On top of all this, taste sensations diminish and stomach secretions don’t flow like they used to. All of these things contribute to appetite loss.

Controlling your appetite is another matter. We often eat out of habit, not hunger.

People who do try to stop an addictive behavior, such as smoking, often find themselves overeating. One reason is a habit: They’re used to doing something with their

hands and mouth, so they eat.

Or they could be battling the misery of nicotine withdrawal with the nurturing pleasure of food. Regardless of the excuse, this lack of control often leads to many health problems.

See related topics: weight loss, aging, depression, stress, sleep difficulties, PMS, anxiety, thyroid problems, diabetes, and smoking.

According to the American Institute of Gastroenterology, the best strategy for promoting good overall health is to eat a balanced, predominantly plant-based and nutritionally dense diet.

Most of your daily calories should come from vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and beans.

15 Best Balancing Tips 1. Recognize the problem: People with an appetite disturbance often do not recognize or admit that they have a problem. A trusted family member or another individual you believe in can

be helpful in making sure that needed care or rehabilitation are received.

2. Determining your needs: Appetite disturbances, eating disorders, depression and anxiety all require a comprehensive diagnosis, in which the clinician will determine whether the person is in immediate danger and/ or requires hospitalization.

Nutritional counseling, psychosocial interventions, monitoring, as well as medical care may be appropriate.

3. Talk Therapies: Individual psychotherapy (especially cognitive-behavioral or interpersonal psychotherapy), group psychotherapy that uses a cognitive-behavioral approach and family or marital therapy can be very effective.

Overcome low self-esteem and addressing distorted thought patterns and behaviors is crucial. Families are sometimes included in the therapeutic process.

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4. Severe weight loss requires an inpatient hospital stay, where proper nourishment is given, and the person’s medical needs are met. In some cases, intravenous feeding is appropriate.

5. Moderate exercise is crucial: for both successful weight loss or for those suffering from anorexia and bulimia. Not only does it help burn excess calories, but by increasing your physical activity, you can modify the way your brain regulates hunger, making you less susceptible to food cravings and can increase hormones to stabilize mood or anxiety disorders. If exercise is done excessively, in the case of anorexia and bulimia, encouragement of healthy but not excessive exercise is the specific goal of this strategy.

6. The primary goal of treatment for bulimia: is to reduce or eliminate binge eating and purging behavior.

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7. The primary goal of treatment for anorexia: is restoring weight lost due to severe dieting and purging.

8. Vitamin Therapy is a good way to help your body regulate what you may not be getting through your diet or what you are losing through purging and abuse. A good daily multivitamin is the best start.

9. Drink Plenty of Water: Not only will you lose water as you exercise, drinking water makes you feel full, therefore, not as much room for food.

10. Control blood sugar levels: this is a good way to balance your system by eating 5 small high protein meals a day.

11. Limit Animal-based Foods: such as meat and dairy products, which are loaded with saturated fat and cholesterol. Use olive oil or canola oil instead of butter or margarine to reduce your intake of saturated fat and

hydrogenated fat (trans fat).

Moderate your consumption of fried, salted and smoked foods.

12. Portion Control: Eat portions to satisfy hunger, not to clean the plate. By dinner, if you have complex carbs (potatoes, yams, brown rice with your meal; it should be no more than a cup full.

Half of your plate should be a vegetable. The meat, fish, chicken portion should be the size of your fist. Portion control is the secret to a healthy weight! Avoid coffee, sugar, alcohol.

13. Believe: Your belief system has everything to do with the mental and spiritual aspects of any eating disorder. Fight anxiety with relaxation exercises rather than food.

Utilize meditation, yoga, stretching. By creating healthy eating habits and regular exercise, you are sure to lose weight without depriving yourself of nourishing food.

And if you continue those good habits after you reach

your goal, you will have an excellent chance of maintaining your desired weight and see it more as maintaining a lifestyle as opposed to a diet.

14. Sleep Well: Good quality sleep is important, especially when you are trying to lose weight or recover from anorexia or bulimia. It is most important to go to sleep with a “Quiet Mind.” Sleep rejuvenates, detoxes and regulates the body.

15. Overcome Fear: Fear can be an underlining problem in many cases. There are many ways to quiet the mind. Doing 15 to 30 minutes of meditation or yoga can be very helpful. You must allow yourself to be distracted or get into your meditation or yoga and “let go” of the day’s thoughts...see Meditation.

Address your fears or phobias by journaling. http://peacefulmind.com/ appetite-disturbance Therapies for healing mind, body, spirit

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Simply Spiritual To perceive reality from a different perspective is to open oneself to the wonders and unlimited wealth of creation. Simply Spiritual offers the opportunity to visit new places, new methods, and different ways to perceive the vast human knowledge of our Universe.

“Catalysts for Change�

By John Holland Recently I was on a long red-eye flight back from an amazing weekend at the new 1440 Multiversity conference center near Santa Cruz in California. I never sleep on these night flights, and naturally, it gives me a time

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to think. Once we’d climbed to our cruising height, the cabin was dimmed, and it was eerily quiet, and often it’s a time when I get flashes of inspiration or those wonderful intuitive nudges that tell me either to share some of my personal thoughts or offer a little advice.

If you’re like me, you may be quite busy this summer. This is just an important reminder that you should try not to spin too many plates in the air at once, as inevitably you’re going to drop one!

Some people cope with multiple plates spinning at once, whereas others cope with fewer.

I believe it’s equally important when you’re setting resolutions – large or small – covering whichever aspect of your life is necessary at any one time. Just as not trying to spin too many plates, it’s

just as important not to set too many resolutions, only to watch them fall by the wayside one by one.

Every so often, especially on these long flights, I think about the things I want to change in my life. Change is a fundamental premise and a promise of what’s to come in both your physical and spiritual life. Change can start with a thought or a more tangible approach when you write down your spiritual aspirations for the future or set an intention to change in some way. It can be a new project or maybe releasing old patterns that are no longer working for you or that aren’t for your highest good. Or you may be inspired right now to take a leap of faith in a whole new direction!

But if you’re asking how to initiate change, then I’d offer some advice.

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JOHN’S LESSON Firstly, if you attempt to make a significant dramatic change in your life, it can be too much, so I’d always recommend small steps. By taking small steps, it’s possible to shift your approach and your perspective so that, what were once irritating resistances, become pointers for the future. A colleague once gave me some great advice. (Just do three things) If you were to do just three things every day for five days towards a goal, they don’t have to be big things. It could be a phone call, researching on the web, or even putting together a list. By the end of the five days, you have done 15 things towards manifesting your goal.

My advice is actually quite simple. It’s about keeping

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it simple. If you’re looking to make a change, then consistency is key too, so that whatever routines you put in place, make sure you practice them daily, keep them consistent and don’t set lofty goals for change that you know you’re never going to achieve.

Finally, as I wrap up this newsletter, a dear colleague and fellow author – Kerri Richardson just sent me her new book “What Your Clutter Is Trying to Tell You?” Did you know your clutter can be a powerful catalyst for change in your life? In her book, you’ll learn how to uncover the message in your clutter and reclaim your life. I highly recommend it!

Live a Soul-filled life!

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OM Living For those living a more Conscious Lifestyle

Why goal setting can be limiting and what to do instead

by Kerry Garner Venter

I think it’s safe to say that most people would like to achieve results in their life and/or business and that goal-setting is one of the vehicles they use to do so.

In fact, goal setting is possibly one of the most popular selfhelp strategies out there. From business goals, personal goals, to SMART (specific, measurable, action-oriented, realistic, and time-based) goals - I’ve even been told I needed to have a…

BHAG (big, hairy, audacious,

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goal)! It’s one of those practices that are widely known…which is why this article could be quite contentious for some.

There are some reasons I believe that goals are actually more limiting than they are a contribution and would love to invite people to play with the alternatives that I’ll go into.

There’s no doubt that many people set and reach goals. It is curious though why others don’t.

I perceive that two of the keys

to this mystery can be found in both the history and etymology (meaning/root) of the word ‘goalsetting.’

Let’s start with the history first.

According to Wikipedia, Edwin A. Locke was the first person to put goal-setting on the map more than 30 years ago. However, his inspiration actually came from Aristotle, who speculated that purpose can cause action.

I used to do everything I could to ‘find my life purpose’ and live it.

From numerology to astrology, to palm readings, to getting special mantras to chant, and of course - setting goals. You name it, I did it in search of my oh-so-evasive purpose. Like so many, I knew that we were all here for something greater and I desperately wanted to know what that was for me.

Little did I know that trying to find your life purpose is buying into the lie that there has to be a cause or reason for you to be in the world, rather than just being it! What if the purpose of life was to have fun and choose what was true for you in every 10 seconds? And what if it was ok that it changed - again and again, and again?

When you have a reason and justification (or purpose) for doing something, it can limit what else is possible, how it actually gets created, and keep you judging yourself for not living or carrying out that purpose.

Change is the only constant - not purpose. So when you have a purpose or goal, it can become the very thing that limits you and what can be created.

Have you ever noticed that you achieve things that you haven’t set goals for? And how much more that occurred with greater ease than when you did have goals? Our performance is not directly tied or linked to goal setting. We are performing every single nanosecond of the day. Performance is relative. It’s all about the meaning that you ascribe to things that make it so.

All you really have to be aware of is what you’d like to create, ask questions about what it requires, and then follow the energy when it’s light and fun. Now I totally get that some of you are thinking, “But what happens when we have to do things that aren’t fun?” and it’s a great question.

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There will always be things that we have to do. The difference is knowing when you are doing something that contributes to what you’d like to create in the future vs. doing something you think you have to, must, should, ought to do, that you actually don’t.

When you buy into the values, expectations, and projections from others, you lose touch with what’s true for YOU! When you follow what’s true for you, there’s nothing that will stop you.

Now onto the etymology.

I’ve been studying and working with linguistics, semantics, and the etymology of words for over 20 years. Since everything is energy, the words that we use are a vital part of creating the results that we desire since they are one of the most used carriers of energy.

One of my favorite tools to use to look at the energy of words is a free Online Etymology Dictionary - http://www.etymonline.com - which provides the original meanings that are still infused in words we use today.

Here is the result from the word “goal”: Omtimes.com

The 1530s, “endpoint of race,” of uncertain origin. It appears once before this (as a goal), in a poem from early 14c. And with an apparent sense of “boundary, limit.” Perhaps from Old English *gal “obstacle, barrier,” a word implied by gælan “to hinder” and also found in compounds (singal, widgal).

Now I’m not sure about you, but I am not about to be putting any of my energy into ‘endpoints, boundaries, limits, obstacles, and barriers.’

Here’s what I would rather do set TARGETS! There are four main reasons I prefer setting targets: 1. You still get points even if you miss the bullseye.

Unlike with goals, if you aim, shoot and miss, you still get points.

2. You get instant feedback.

Not only do you get points, but you also get feedback about where to aim for next time you throw (act). And even at the end of a game of darts, unlike with a soccer game, you still come away

with seeing the culmination of your efforts.

3. You can have as many as you desire and they can be as big or small as you’d like.

A goal post is literally only a certain size, and there can only be one in a game, so there is already limited in that. Targets, however, can be as large as you’d like them and you can aim for as many as you like.

When I stopped judging myself for not attaining my goals and began to set targets for myself instead, I found I had more ease, joy, and fun with the process and I that I was able to hit them more consistently.

Try them. The only way not to get points is if you don’t aim and shoot.

Kerry Garner Venter is a business and leadership mentor, life coach and certified Joy of Business facilitator.

Kerry earned a degree in Psychology and Human Energy Systems at Tuscon, Arizona, and then embarked on

decades’ long research into psychology, consciousness, and subtle energy. She gained her Master’s degree in Conscious Leadership Development and Whole System Change from Middlesex University, U.K. She later began a successful career as an executive coach and consultant, covering a diverse portfolio such as leadership, team optimization, culture transformation, and learning and development.

A near death experience as a child forever changed Kerry’s views on human potential and led to profound insights into the mind and the constraints of perceived limitation. She is a lifelong seeker of knowledge and deeper understanding.

As a facilitator of Joy of Business, Kerry now travels the world-leading business classes and retreats, assisting business and team leaders to transcend the limitations of conventional thought and traditional business practice. The joy of Business is a special program

by Access Consciousness. www. kerrygarnerventer.com

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Helicopter Parents Are Raising Unemployable Children

By Marcia Sirota, MD.

Helicopter parents are in the news a lot these days. These are the parents who can’t stop hovering around their kids.

They practically wrap them in bubble wrap, creating a cohort of young adults who struggle to function in their jobs and in their lives.

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Helicopter parents think that they’re doing what’s best for their kids but actually, they’re hurting their kids’ chances at success. In particular, they’re ruining their kids’ chances of landing a job and keeping it.

Helicopter parents don’t want their kids to get hurt. They want to soften every blow and cushion every fall. The problem is that these overprotected kids never learn how to deal with loss, failure or disappointment -- inevitable aspects of everyone’s life.

Over-protection makes it nearly impossible for these young people to develop frustration tolerance. Without this important psychological attribute, young people enter the workforce at a great disadvantage.

Helicopter parents do too much for their kids, so their kids grow up lacking a healthy work ethic, as well as basic skills. Without this work ethic and these necessary

skills, the young person won’t be able to accomplish many of the workplace tasks expected of them.

Helicopter parents over-protect their kids and deprive them of any meaningful consequences for their actions. As a result, they miss out on the opportunity to learn valuable life lessons from the mistakes they make; life-lessons that would contribute to their emotional intelligence.

Helicopter parents protect their kids from any conflicts they might have with their peers. When these kids grow up, they don’t know how to resolve difficulties between themselves and a colleague or supervisor.

People solve problems by trying things, making mistakes, learning, and then trying again. This process builds confidence, competence, and self-worth. Helicopter parents prevent their children from developing all of these

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important attributes which are necessary for career success.

Helicopter parents think that their kids should win at everything. Everyone who competes in a sports meet should get a trophy. Everyone should get a passing grade, even if their assignment is overdue or poorly conceived.

In a functional workplace, there’s only one winner of the competition, and only highquality work is rewarded. If children grow up thinking that no matter what they do, they’ll win, they won’t realize that they actually have to work hard to succeed.

These spoiled young people will be devastated when they keep losing competitions, blowing interviews or getting fired from their jobs. They won’t understand how much effort is actually required to be a winner in the work world.

These young people lack competence and agency

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from never having had to work through a problem or complete a project all by themselves. They expect others to do these things for them, just as their parents always have. In essence, they can’t think or act for themselves.

Helicopter parenting instills a set of bad attitudes in kids. They grow up with great expectations of success, unrelated to how much time or energy they invest, and they feel deserving of preferential treatment -- neither of which go over well with their colleagues or bosses.

In a job interview, prospective employers might be put off by the overly entitled attitude of a young person, or be alarmed by their lack of basic skills.

The young person’s general aura of ignorance and incompetence, combined with expectations of immediate and substantial rewards unrelated to performance are likely to be the kiss of death in any

interview for a good position.

When parents decide to accompany their 20-something offspring to a job interview, it undermines any confidence an employer might have in this potential employee.

“Why,” the employer might ask themselves, “would a jobseeker need to bring their mommy or daddy along on an interview, unless this young person was more child than an adult?”

one following them around anymore, cleaning up their messes, whether physical, interpersonal or professional.

In a www.webpsychology. com article by Barb Nefer, “millennials are getting hit hard by depression. One in five young workers has experienced on-the-job depression, compared to only 16 percent of Gen X and baby boomers.”

Even in smaller ways, helicopter parents cripple their kids.

The adult child of helicopter parents will take their coffee break and then walk out of the break room, not having cleaned up their mess or washed out their cup. You can see how this will foster resentment among their colleagues.

Nefer goes on to say that according to “a white paper from Bensinger, DuPont & Associates, Millennials have impaired functioning on the job and higher rates of absenteeism, as well as more conflict and incidents of getting written up,” all of which “can impede job performance.”

These young people expect “someone” to clean up after them, in the same way, that their mess was always cleaned up when they were kids. They don’t see that there’s no-

According to an article by Brooke Donatone in the Washington Post, a 2013 entry in the “Journal of Child and Family Studies found that college students

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who experienced helicopter parenting reported higher levels of depression.”

The Washington Post article goes on to say that “intrusive parenting interferes with the development of autonomy and competence. So helicopter parenting led to increased dependence and decreased the ability to complete tasks without parental supervision.”

Sometimes the best way to “be there” for your kid is not to.

It’s clear from the above articles that helicopter parenting is contributing to a growing rate of depression among young people as well as an inability to function optimally in the workplace.

If you’re a parent who wants your children to have career success as adults, you need to be aware of any tendencies toward helicopter parenting in yourself and your co-parent.

Loving your child means guiding them, protecting them and

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supporting them. It doesn’t mean smothering them, overprotecting them or doing so much for them that they never learn to think on their feet, cope with challenges or deal with disappointment and failure.

The most loving thing you can do as a parent is to take a step back and let your child fall down, flail about and figure things out on her own. Sometimes the best way to “be there” for your kid is not to be there for them. This is how you enable them to develop confidence, competence, self-worth and emotional intelligence.

Young people today need parents who support them in becoming functioning adults.

This means less hovering and bubble-wrapping of kids and more empowering them to do things for themselves, figure things out for themselves and learn how to cope with difficulties, all by themselves.

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Dream Patterns: Revealing the Hidden Patterns of Our Waking Lives

Dreams are bizarre. There’s no way around it. Because of this, they’re inherently interesting.

Dreams can teach us about the nature of consciousness, reveal to us personal and universal truths through symbolic language, and enable us to make lasting changes in our own lives. I have experienced all of these through my own dreams.

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At various stages of my life, I have used my dreams to understand the unconscious forces shaping my behavior, feelings, and attitudes. But I didn’t do this by studying one of the many dream dictionaries that are available.

Dream dictionaries encourage us to interpret individual dreams in isolation and, furthermore, to interpret each individual image within each dream. But there is too much noise in our dreams for this approach to provide valuable interpretations on a consistent basis. Nor have I gained the most from my dreams by trying, in a psychoanalytical manner, to interpret all of my dreams as either expression of unconscious desires or as universal archetypes. What allowed me to create change in my life was 1) recognizing personal patterns of images and themes in my dreams, 2) recognizing the patterns in my waking life that they represent, and then 3) working to change those waking-life patterns. My dreams changed then as well, confirming the changes I made in my waking life.

Images, people, and themes

repeat themselves in our dreams over a period of time.

For example, a particular cluster of individuals or types of people (uniformed authorities, monsters, laborers, etc.) tend to appear in our dreams, and our dreams tend to occur in a particular cluster of places (an old family home, forests, institutions, etc.). It is these recurring elements that we need to note and then interpret. These patterns may sometimes be literal recurring dreams, which occur in an identical or nearly identical way each time, but usually, they are not. The repeating elements of our dreams tend to occur in a variety of combinations and contexts to produce unique dreams each night. Consequently, we must patiently record our dreams over a period of time to reveal the patterns. These elements recur because of ongoing behaviors and stimuli within our waking lives and our unconscious minds. Our dream patterns point us to those stimuli, enabling us to recognize them. Having recognized them, if they are unhelpful behaviors or attitudes, we can then adopt Omtimes.com

new, more skillful behaviors and attitudes.

We may dream of certain elements simply because we frequently experience those elements in our waking lives.

On the other hand, I was surprised to find how few of the commonplace elements of my waking life appear in my dreams. Many recurring elements of our dreams may not draw from our immediate waking lives. Some of my dream elements are from my childhood or other long-past events.

Other elements are seemingly inexplicable. Regardless of their origins, take note of the patterns and where they come from in your experiences.

Having recognized dream patterns, we can then recognize the waking-life patterns they point to. The relationship between the two isn’t always or even often obvious. For example, as a teenager, I frequently dreamt of hostile, fanged animals. The obvious expression of fear and anxiety didn’t make sense to me, since, at the time, I believed myself to be rather happy and content.

The pattern in my dreams Omtimes.com

prompted me to look for fear and anxiety in my waking life.

The more I looked, the more of it I found.

Dream patterns drawn from the commonplace things of your waking life can be particularly difficult to interpret, because those elements may not be literal references. Our dreams must draw on something to build themselves; they often use the commonplace. But our dreams may use those commonplace elements to represent something else, something we are unaware of. So we must patiently reflect on our dream patterns and cultivate selfawareness to recognize the waking-life patterns revealed in our dreams.

Simply recognizing an unhelpful attitude or behavior may be enough to stop that pattern and replace it with something more skillful. But often that is not enough. I have generally had to work to replace those unhelpful patterns. Consider the example with the hostile animals I gave above. Recognizing the dream pattern was important,

but I had to do more. I had to actively look for those moments of fear and anxiety in my waking life. When I identified those moments, I acknowledged them, recognized that they resulted from defense mechanisms or an ingrained pattern that no longer served me, and then I let the feelings go. After a few months of this, the moments of anxiety became fewer and fewer. As the anxiety disappeared, so did the dreams.

Identify and interpret your dream patterns. Reflect on how those patterns are playing out in your waking life. Be aware of the actual moments in the day when those patterns are operating.

When you are conscious of those moments, you can control how you respond.

Dissolving those unhelpful patterns requires active selfawareness and repetition.

As you work to dissolve those patterns, look for confirmation of your efforts in your changing dream patterns.

I do not entirely dismiss the value of individual dreams.

I occasionally experience

individual dreams with profound meaning. These dreams, ones Carl Jung called “big dreams,� are packed with mythological elements and, therefore, standout from the normal patterns in my dreams.

Those big dreams generally occur at times of major change in my life. Those dreams, however, are rare and precious. We can, however, best recognize them when we learn to sift through, on the one hand, the meaningless noise and, on the other, the very meaningful long-term patterns of our dreams. But the greatest benefit from our dreams comes from the persistent and long-term study of those dream patterns that enable us to dissolve unhelpful waking-life patterns and replace them with more skillful ways of living.

Jonson Miller has practiced dream interpretation for over 25 years. He is a member of the International Association for the Study of Dreams. He teaches history at Drexel University and lives in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, USA. https://jonsonmiller.wordpress.com Omtimes.com

Relationships

The interconnectedness among all human beings and, consequently, the relationships among us are the focus of this section. The dynamics of the web of connections we make is one of the most prominent aspects of human existence: how we interlace with each other’s existence in a meaningful way.

7 Signs You’re Needy And Clingy

By Nancy Nichols

You don’t need a man to be happy.

You grew up feeling alone and unloved. Your father was emotionally unavailable, hypercritical or abusive. You have a low sense of self-worth.

You keep looking for man’s conditional love, but you

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gravitate to men who are noncommunicating, unfaithful, deceptive and abusive-men who somehow remind you of your father.

You want a wonderful boyfriend or husband, but you believe you are unworthy of a man’s respect, love, and commitment. You constantly need a man’s reassurance.

You romanticize and anguish about a relationship with your new man. Know that your feelings of uncertainty project desperation and neediness.

You allow a man to walk all over you or you reject a man before he can reject you.

When a quality man shows an interest in you, you act out with your fearful, insecure and irrational behavior. You have panic attacks, you binge on sweets and fried foods, you drink too much, and you succumb to promiscuous sex. You withdraw from your friends, you worry frantically, and you slip into a funky depression.

It’s a clear sign that you lack confidence in your worth.

Suitors back away from you and boyfriends fall out of love with you because a relationship with you is neurotic, difficult and emotional draining.

Your underlying problem is: You’re afraid a man might reject or leave you.

You’re afraid to be authentic and vulnerable.

You’re afraid to trust a man because he might hurt you.

You afraid a man won’t want you because you’re a middleaged woman.

You allow men in your life who are non-communicating, noncommittal and abusive.

Girl, you need to realize your value as a woman!

We can’t choose our dads, but

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we CAN choose the quality of men we allow in our lives.

We can’t change our hurtful, dysfunctional past, but we can create a satisfying and secure future.

Here are 7 signs you have needy, clingy behavior and how to change it: 1. You’re too accommodating.

When you chase a man, you are telling yourself: you don’t think you are worthy of his pursuit. Out of eagerness and insecurity, you’re too nice, too available and you have sex with him too soon. You feed his dog when he goes out of town. You ditch your girlfriends, and you cancel your plans to go out with him at the last minute. When he doesn’t call or text you (like he said he would), you call him to hopefully reassure yourself. You’re afraid to say “no” to sex because he might stop seeing you.

Solution: STOP selling yourself short! Ignore the tingling,

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throbbing, love-sick feelings that you experience about a new man. Understand that it’s a natural part of your “needa-man” cravings. Calling him will make you appear anxious.

Anxious will make you appear needy. If you have to guess whether or not to call... the answer is “DON’T CALL!” If your gut morals tell you to hold off having sex with him-woman up and tell him you’re NOT ready to have sex.

Succumbing to a man’s selfish sexual needs fuels your needy emotions and low self-worth.

2. You give more than you get. You call, text and email him more than he contacts you. You concoct a way to be with him; you invite him to a party, and you cook dinner for him. You keep his favorite beer or liquor on hand. You give him gifts, email him cute cards or send flowers to his home with office (yes, women do this!). You think being nice and accommodating will make him appreciate and love you, but you don’t get what you were

hoping for in return.

Solution: A healthy relationship needs a balance of “give and take.” When you give too much, you appear desperate for a relationship.

Pay attention to your wants and needs and don’t be afraid to express your desires or your concerns. If you cook dinner, it’s his turn to take you out to a restaurant. When you call and leave him a message or you text him, wait until he contacts you. If he doesn’t call you right away, don’t assume there is something wrong. He could be busy or waiting for a reason (or the right time) to call. But if he doesn’t call at all, you need to accept the cold fact that he’s just not into you.

Until you are a solid couple, save the gifts for his birthday, Valentine’s Day and Christmas.

Ditch the syrupy greeting cards and ask him to pick a nice bottle of wine up before coming to your house. If you are indeed giving more than you receive, you are with the wrong guy.

3. You act out your apprehension. You crave a man’s validation and acceptance, but your insecurities cause you to be jealous, anxious and mistrusting. You constantly text him and call him. You drive by his house, and you stalk him on Facebook.

When he doesn’t call or text you back right away, you become uptight and fearful.

You imagine that you did something to push him away, you become suspicious of his activities, and you doubt his commitment.

Solution: It’s time to reprogram your dating computer. You are the SELECTOR. He is the PURSUER. A man’s job is to court you, woo you, impress you and convince you that he is the absolute best man for you.

Your job is to be charming, receptive and appreciative of his pursuit. Bombarding a man with texting and phone calls is the surest way to push him away. If you believe you ARE

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the prize, he will sense your confidence and self-worth, and he will work double-time to win your favor.

4. You hound him for affirmation. You feel he is not fulfilling your relationship needs. You beg him to talk to you, reveal his intimate thoughts with you, spend more time with you and have sex with you. Your behavior is smothering and suffocating, causing him to pull back from you to protect his personal space.

Solution: Dating in hopes of a serious relationship is an unrewarding process. Absence does make the heart grow fonder. Force yourself to give him space and create activities for yourself. Practice dating for the sake of entertainment and friendship. Go out with your friends. Spend time alone, nurture your 7 chakras and learn to love your own company. Warning: He may be emotionally stunted and

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incapable of fulfilling your basic emotional needs, in which case is a lost cause.

5. You discount his hurtful behavior. Your love for him is blind, irrational and selfdestructive. You bond to a man whose dysfunctional behavior jells with your needy, co-dependent mindset.

You minimize and discount the oblivious-that he is self-absorbed, unreliable, deceitful, non-communicating and quick-tempered. You subconsciously (or knowingly) operate in denial, tolerating his bad behavior.

Solution: You deserve better. If you continually commit to men who make your heart ache and you are uncertain about your future with him-you need to get into therapy so you can understand WHY you gravitate to men who mistreat you.

6. You have no personal boundaries. You act like a doormat. You let him come

over at midnight for a booty call. You sweep aside the fact that he canceled your Friday night date at the last minute. He texts you for a date at the last minute, and you actually go. He lies to you, and he verbally abuses you, and you silently condone his maltreatment.

Solution: Men do not respect women they exploit. Stop trying to please him and be good to yourself. Raise your standards. Hold him accountable for his bad behavior. Be cognizant of what you want and need in a relationship and make up your mind to accept nothing less.

If he pulls away from you, it’s because he can’t manipulate and control you.

7. You cling to a man who has lost interest in you. His phone calls and text messages have stopped, and he spends less and less time with you. His conversations with you are shallow and short, and he has

less physical touch with you.

You try to reel him back in; you send him flirty, sexy messages and you invite him over for a drink. He turns you down, and so you haunt his favorite hang out hoping to run into him.

You think if he sees you, it will rekindle his interest in you but you are disheartened by his cold reception.

Solution: Pursuing a man will not change the way he feels about you. If he seems distant or suddenly unavailable, take care of your mental state by making yourself slightly more unavailable. Allowing a man to have his space without your interference will give him the freedom to recharge his manhood. When he happily and willingly comes back to you, you will experience a surge of confidence and selfworth. If he doesn’t, he is NOT the right man for you.

Visit Nancy Nichols’s website http://www.knowitallnancy. com.

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12 Practices to Strengthen the Loyalty Bond

By Linda Bloom

Dictionary.com defines loyalty as “faithfulness to commitments or obligations.� I much prefer to think of loyalty regarding commitments that are freely chosen, rather than obligations that have associations that are heavy, and bring up fears about being trapped. Because loyalty has so many positive benefits, it is a shame to be discouraged by the negative associations that can get in our way of moving into a higher level of well-being in our partnership. By realizing the huge benefits of cultivating Omtimes.com

loyalty as a signature strength, and seeing the many ways loyalty enhances our lives, our interest in and motivation to become adept in this area grows.

activities that might not be as pleasurable for us, but we choose to be a part of them because it means a great deal to our partner.

Loyalty is Contagious

3. When we hear about disputes in our partner’s workplace, with family members, or friends, we can take our partner’s side whenever possible.

Strengthening the loyalty bond is not a “have to”; it’s a “get to.”

Rather than seeing loyalty from sacrifice, we can see through the lens of enlightened self-interest.

Demonstrating loyalty in all the possible ways we can think of is a direct and mighty way to strengthen the bond. And such a strong bond will invite your partner’s loyalty in return. There are many ways to enhance your life by cultivating the signature strength of loyalty. Consider these twelve practices, and see if you can discover others.

1. The most obvious demonstration of our loyalty is when we forsake all other possible lovers, to maintain sexual fidelity. In using selfrestraint to resist temptation, we honor our vows of monogamy.

2. Consciously choosing to spend time together doing the activities that we both enjoy, but also, stretch into our partner’s world by participating in those

4. By standing united together in the face of adversity, meeting life’s many challenges (health crises, financial and professional setbacks, losses, problems with children, family members and friends) our relationship grows in resilience and strength.

5. When having disagreements and arguments, to make every effort to see the issue from our partner’s point of view, to meet them part way, and to be on their side rather than an adversary, we are demonstrating that harmony in the relationship is more important than being right or getting our way.

6. By filing down our rough edges of being critical and judgmental, we create a peaceful household.

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7. By showing up (rather than being detached, moving out of self-absorption, being withdrawn and neglectful) we begin to listen to their concerns, and by showing caring, our partner feels our loyalty to them.

8. When we look carefully inside ourselves before giving our word to an agreement and only agree to those contracts that we actually are prepared to follow through on, we demonstrate our loyalty, and as a result, those honored agreements build trust.

9. When our partner is forgetful, disappoints, or breaks an agreement and we give them the benefit of the doubt, rather than blaming them for their error, we show our loyalty.

10. Knowing what our partner wants and helping them to get it is a powerful way of demonstrating that their needs and desires are just as important as our own. In offering our support to assist them in reaching their goals, we assure our partner of our loyalty to them.

11. By rejoicing and celebrating their successes with sympathetic joy.

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12. By focusing on our gratitude for all the many ways, they have been loyal to us, supported us over our years together, stretched into our world, made peace with difficult issues, and were forgiving about our imperfections, our appreciation shows itself in reciprocating by being loyal to them.

When these kinds of behaviors are practiced consistently, not in a sacrificing way, but done with a full-hearted orientation, the bond between the couple flourishes. Don’t take our word for it, look to your own experience and see what loyalty in its many forms has brought to your life already, and see how these practices will enhance your partnership even further.

Linda Bloom L.C.S.W. has served as psychotherapist and seminar leader practicing relationship counseling almost forty years.

Check out her OMTimes Bio. If you like what you read, click here to sign up Bloodwork’s monthly inspirational newsletter and receive our free e-book: Going for the Gold: Tools, practice, and wisdom for creating exemplary relationships.

FINDING LOVE In Trying Times, Count on the Conscious Relationship Expertise Of Ascending Hearts Dating

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When Cupids Arrow Won’t Strike?

Give Up!

By Lisa Becker

Back in 2000, I was 30 years old, single and convinced I was going to die an old spinster with a house full of cats. Never mind the fact I didn’t own a cat, let alone multiple cats, and didn’t even like cats. I was certain the cliché would apply.

Flash forward to today and I’m happily married for fourteen years to a man I met online. (We

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joke we have outlasted a lot of Hollywood marriages.) We also have two amazing daughters.

So how did I go from “I’m never going to meet anyone” to “See you tonight for dinner, honey, after the PTA meeting?”

To understand how I got where I am, and the advice I would give to others in a similar situation, we need to go back to the beginning.

I was a young, single professional living in Los Angeles. I had a phenomenal family and great friends. I had just spent my 30th birthday living it up in Vegas. Yet, I found myself in a funk at the thought that life wouldn’t be complete without a mate. And I had always wanted a home.

Tax benefits notwithstanding, I knew I wanted a permanent place to call my own. And if I wanted to paint the walls, plant flowers or hang up a piece of artwork, I didn’t want to ask permission.

It was during that year, I had an epiphany that life as it was, at that moment, may be it. That moment may be as good as it

gets. So I decided to buy my own place. Why wait around for a husband that may never materialize?

Before escrow even closed, I met my now husband. He’ll joke that he liked me for my amazing West LA condo and only married me for my money. He’ll also tease that the next time he marries, it will be for love. I jab back that the next time I marry, it will be for looks. But I digress.

The point is, Cupid’s arrow seemed destined to miss its mark with me. But rather than let being single hold me back, I decided to live my life on my terms. It reminds me of that quote from the modern classic film, “The Shawshank Redemption,” Tim Robbins’ character, Andy Dufresne, says to Morgan Freeman’s Red, “Get busy living or get busy dying.”

That movie quote also comes to mind when I was asked to offer advice for others who similarly don’t seem to be finding favor with Cupid. What do you say to someone when they feel like they’re never going to meet the right person and can’t bear

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the thought of trying another online dating site, swiping left or right, enduring another set up, or shuffling through another round of speed dating?

My advice? Give up. You heard me. GIVE UP! Just surrender to that notion that you’ll end up alone. If that is truly the case, do you want to spend the next 30, 40 or even 50+ years wallowing in misery? Sitting around and lamenting your singleness? Or are you going to get busy living?

Like me, buy your own home!

Travel to all of the places you want to visit! Write that novel!

Engage in hobbies and activities that bring you joy!

Case in point. I have a friend who was perpetually single and in her early 40’s. Even more than wanting to be married, she wanted to be a mom. After much deliberation, she decided to foster a one year old with an eye toward adoption. She focused all of her love and attention on a deserving little boy and in the process let her amazing qualities of compassion, caring and selflessness shine through. She was married to

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a wonderful man before the adoption was even finalized.

She gave up! Instead of channeling her energies into finding love, she did what she loved. You see, chances are, when you start focusing on what will make you happy - not who will make you happy - you will be happy. Happiness is evident and infectious. Happiness makes you more interesting and more attractive to someone else. And when that happens, you are more likely to meet the right person.

Now you’ll notice I didn’t say you will find someone to complete you. Believe me, if that’s your end goal, you’re going to be sorely disappointed.

I’ll admit I swooned pretty hard when I heard Tom Cruise’s character say to Renee Zellwegger, “You complete me,” in “Jerry Maguire.” It was and still is a great, romantic moment on film. But in real life, that would scare the heck out of me.

The idea of completing someone else - being wholly responsible for their happiness - is a lot of pressure. That’s no way to start or sustain a relationship.

Instead, I say focus on making yourself happy and whole. When you give up the idea that you need someone else to make that happen, I think you’re more likely to find a partner who wants to complement the amazing life you’ve created for yourself.

Lisa Becker is a romance writer who spends her time like she spends her money - on books and margaritas. Her latest romantic comedy, Links has been called light, fun, sexy and smart. You can share your love stories with her at www.lisawbecker.com.

Excerpt of Links As I race to the restaurant, I scowl knowing Mom’s going to have my head. Actually, she’s probably used to it by now. I’m surprised they don’t give me fake arrival times knowing I’m always ten minutes behind.

I rush through the revolving door of the restaurant, through the bar, and smack into a woman. She brushes against my bum shoulder and the pain burns right through me. Minding the manners Mom hammered into me from a young age, I mutter, “Sorry,” when I’m honestly not. I look down and

notice something familiar about her.

“Hi, Garrett,” she says, sharing a small smile. “It’s been a long time. How are you?”

“Um. I’m fine.” My brows furrow as I wrack my brain trying to figure out who the hell this woman is. She’s short, about five two and roughly my age. I glance down and notice full, round breasts, slightly wide hips and thick thighs. Not my usual type, so I’m pretty sure I haven’t slept with her. At least I don’t have to worry about that embarrassing scene. She’s got chocolate brown eyes, looking at me with warmth. “And...how are you?” Shaking my head I am still trying to place her.

“I’m doing well,” she replies, her smile growing.

“I’m glad to hear that,” I say, trying to be polite and end this awkward reunion that clearly has me clueless.

“Well...I guess I should go.” She turns back and waves to a woman sitting in a far booth of the restaurant. On further

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inspection, she’s waved to Lindsay, my sister, who of course made it to our family lunch on time. Seated with her are my parents, with Mom frowning at me and shaking her head. Like she didn’t expect I would be late. Marcus isn’t here yet either.

Guess the twin thing really does run deep.

is LA after all -- walks over.

“Pardon the interruption,” she begins. “I would just be kicking myself if I got home and didn’t take advantage of telling you what a big fan I am.”

“Oh, thank you,” I say, turning on the faux charm I reserve for situations such as this.

“You know Lindsay?” I ask her.

“Uh, yeah,” she says, with a small chuckle and a noticeable hint of sarcasm.

“My parents?”

“Of course,” she says, shaking her head slightly like it’s hitting her I have no damn clue who she is.

Then she confirms my suspicions and just lays it on the line. “You don’t know who I am, do you?”

Her eyes are alight with humor.

“Umm. I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage,” I splutter, rubbing my hand behind my neck -- my tell -- before flashing her my most charming, dimpled smile. Before she can respond, a lady in her mid-sixties with salt and pepper hair wearing an outfit appropriate for someone twenty years younger -- but this Omtimes.com

“My husband and I loved your book.” The lady turns fully toward this mystery woman. “I wish I had it with me for you to sign. Maybe I could get your autograph on something else?”

I cock my head to the side and watch Mystery Woman. She turns back toward the elderly lady and smiles sincerely.

“Sure. I’d be happy to sign something.”

The lady reaches into her oversized zebra-print bag and produces a pen and small notepad. She hands them to Mystery Woman and turns to me, smiling.

“Who should I make this out to?” asks Mystery Woman.

“Donna and Frank. Your dear

friends, Donna and Frank.”

“My...dear...friends...Donna... and...Frank,” Mystery Woman murmurs aloud as she writes a note. Watching her autograph the note, I can’t help the grin spreading across my face. Once she finishes, Donna reads through the note, her eyes widening with delight.

“Thank you, Charley,” she says.

“My pleasure,” replies Charley -Charley? -- who looks tickled.

“Charley?” I say, racking my brain to no avail.

“Yes,” replies Donna with pride. “You are standing with the brilliant novelist Charley Windham.” She turns back to Charley before walking away.

“Thank you again, dear.”

with amusement. “Wait, you’re Charley Windham. Who wrote The Crossing Guard?” Charley shakes her head and laughs.

“That’s me.” Charley giggles, unable to control the wide smile spreading across her face.

“Yes. Now I know. I read your book. In fact, everyone on the tour read it. You couldn’t walk around a locker room or airport terminal without seeing someone with it in their hands.”

“That’s nice to hear.” She grins at me with her head tilted and nodding her head slightly up and down, giving me the impression she’s waiting for me to say more.

“That explains who you are, and I get you would know who I am, but how do you know my family?”

“Charley Windham?”

“Uh-huh,” responds Charley, giving me a look like I should piece it together.

“Charley Windham. Why does that name sound so familiar?” I rub my hand on the back of my neck while Charley looks at me

“That is the question of the moment, isn’t it?” she says, smiling smugly.

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“Immensely.” She is grinning unabashedly.

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Metaphysics

Open Yourself Up To Receive Gifts from Your Guides

by James Van Praagh

You have a team of guides, both on earth and in the divine realm, who work through you to help make the most of your earthly existence. They delight in providing you with protection, guidance and divine gifts – all you have to do is make yourself open and available to receive them.

Setting Your Intention From the moment you wake up every day, you must have a sense of gratitude. Thank you for giving me another day to learn. Be mindful of your thoughts. I know that a lot of you who are reading this are thinking, My body is in constant pain. I should be grateful for that? Or My child has died. I’m supposed to be happy? I don’t want to sound like I’m trivializing your battles or that I don’t have empathy for your

struggles. What I’m saying is that it’s my belief that obstacles have been placed in our paths so we can learn from them. In my worldview, everything in the physical dimension is temporary; it is your soul that is perfect and immortal. Try not to drag yourself out of bed each morning and think negatively.

Also, don’t walk around in a daze. Train yourself to become constantly aware and conscious. Thoughts are real— they can affect your mood and your health.

When you take a shower and the water flows over you, close your eyes and for a moment picture a golden light of loving energy flowing into your body.

Be aware that you are receiving this golden light in every cell, muscle, bone, and tissue. See the light expand and flow through your energy field and beyond your body into your spiritual self. As it does, imagine all energies that are not for your highest good dissolve and flow down the drain. Mother Earth will neutralize those. This golden light brings you a sense of balance, peace, and connection to the One Source.

In complete awareness you know that you are part of the Universe, and that this beautiful energy stays with you throughout the day.

As you are preparing to leave the shower, say, “May God go before me and show me the way today.” You are setting your intention and programming the spaces you will encounter each day. When you send out this thought, you’re actually transmitting that vibration and the same energy will return to you. Make your intention personal to you. I vary my intentions throughout the week. Some- times I say, “I am a magnet. I will attract only love and the experiences that are for my highest good.” Or: “Spirit, guide me today. May everybody who comes upon my path be enlightened.”

Set your intention daily. Make it a habit. If you have to, put a note or object in or near the shower to remind you to invoke your intention. In two weeks, you will start to feel centered, connected, and balanced.

You will have a sense of renewal.

VanPraagh.com

Music expresses that which cannot be put into words.

Victor Hugo

The Number

THE BEST OF CONSCIOUS TALK RADIO AND SACRED MUSIC ON THE INTERNET

Personal Growth & Development We grow as individuals as we face challenges and overcome life’s obstacles. This section is dedicated to helping you chart your course.

Whenever we suffer over what we aren’t able to do, create, or work through, where is our attention in these moments? It’s riveted on our own thoughtproduced reality that’s telling us we’re stuck! Maybe you can recognize some of these heavyhearted inner voices that come with being victimized by such dark thoughts. In one-way or another, they say...

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“I’ll never get out of this mess.”

“I’m too stupid to learn these things.”

“I must have done something terrible to deserve this.”

1. The more these gloomy voices talk to us, the more discouraged we feel.

2. The more discouraged we feel, the more certain we are there’s no other choice but to feel that way.

“It’s too late!”

“There’s no point in going any further.”

“This is hopeless.”

Those dark voices seem to be ours, but they’re not.

Now on the surface of things, these all-too-familiar whispers of defeat – these dark voices that reach our inner ears, speaking to us with our own voice- seem to be genuinely concerned with our unfortunate condition. But a deeper look into this covert operation tells a much different story.

These troubled thoughts are part of an unseen “conspiracy of limitation” taking place in our own consciousness! Follow the next four ideas to their stunning conclusion. They prove that selfillumination and self-liberation are one and the same power.

3. The more convinced we are that we have no choice, the less choice we have.

4. The act of identifying with this dark inner dialogue actually produces the dead-end we fear!

Maybe our perception is all wrong!

And so it goes: now we’re convinced of our own captivity!

There’s no way past the limitations we perceive. And the key idea here lies in the word “perceive” because it rhymes with deceive. And that’s just what this perception is: a secret deception. Here’s the liberating proof.

There are no dead ends in real life. But you must prove this bright fact to yourself. In any given moment, there is always something higher you can do with your life than sit there and

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suffer over what you think you can’t have, or do, or be. Why wallow when a small amount of interior work acts to change your reality?

Here’s an example of a new and higher inner action to take when faced with the presence of any discouraging inner state: See that the size of the discouragement you feel is directly proportional to the size of your insistence that life conforms to your demands. Then having verified this truth for yourself, dare to quietly drop that selfdefeating demand.

Maybe you’ve felt discouraged because you wanted to learn something new -- a skill, or a difficult lesson - but felt sure that certain limitations of yours placed this possibility beyond your abilities. Now you can do something much higher than just resign yourself to feeling discouraged.

It’s in our power to drop any discouraging thought.

Instead of falling into those familiar feelings of futility over yourself, deliberately drop Omtimes.com

those discourage-filled thoughts telling you the limit of your present view is the limit of your possibilities. Who you have been matters only to those dark states that want you to remain that way so that they can continue to rule the day. Refusing to dwell in the world of discouraged thoughts and feelings is the same as opening the door to a new world without limits. Just start working with who you are now!

In other words, do what’s in your power and refuse to be discouraged about anything else.

Keep repeating this new action one step at a time until you’ve walked away from the whole false idea that there’s no further you can go!

Guy Finley is the best-selling author of The Secret of Letting Go, The Essential Laws of Fearless Living, and more than 40 books and audio albums on selfrealization. Guy is the founder and director of Life of Learning Foundation, a nonprofit center for self-study located in Merlin, Oregon where he gives talks four times each week.

For more information, please visit http://www.guyfinley.org/

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How To Break Unhealthy Habits

By Jessica Ann

When you decide to start making some healthy changes and living a healthier lifestyle, it can feel quite overwhelming to overhaul your entire life.

And a lot of the time, that keeps people from making any changes at all. It’s overwhelming because it completely shifts your normal routine around.

Here are a few practical ways to get over that hurdle...

Find the root of your unhealthy habits. Most bad habits started in one way or another, so it’s time to

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dig deep and find the cause of your bad habit. Maybe you notice that you always binge on chocolate as soon as you’re experiencing stress at work. Finding these triggers and eliminating the triggers themselves is like taking the fast track to sustainable, lasting change. Write a list of your triggers and bring awareness to your situation.

turkey might work for some, but for most of us, it will result in a relapse and possibly a binge. You can better decide to cut one sugary meal or snack from your life each week and slowly decrease your sugar intake. The same goes for healthy habits, don’t start with wanting to work-out twice a day, start with once or twice a week and build up from there.

Replace your unhealthy habits with healthy ones. This tip will help you ditch your bad habits while you build the good ones. If you’d like to ditch that nightly glass (or 3) of wine because your sleep is suffering and the pounds are packing on, find something healthy to replace it with. Exchange that wine for a healthy sleepytime tea, and enjoy better sleep as well. This also goes for reaching for a large bowl of snacks at night, try replacing it with veggies and hummus or a bowl of fruit.

Remember not to be too hard on yourself, nobody is perfect, and you certainly don’t have to be. A small setback might cause you to give up your goal altogether so don’t let one mistake break all the progress that you made. The all or nothing approach simply does not work. Be patient with yourself and be proud of yourself. While you’re using these tips to break old habits and build new ones, it still won’t be easy, but it will finally stick this time. And, you’re worth it!

When it comes to both breaking and building habits, it’s important that you take things slow. Completely quitting refined sugar cold

For weekly tips, recipes and support to help you reach your health and fitness goals, subscribe http://www.jessicaann.ca

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When you look at the view of Earth from space, you are immediately in awe of what you do see: the incredible beauty of Creation. It is not until you look closer that you realize what you do not see.

You do not see lines partitioning countries.

You do not see separation between races.

You do not see division between religions.

You do not see the walls people build to isolate themselves from each other.

There is only One Planet. There is only One Humanity.

This section is dedicated to introducing thoughts and ideas to foster a greater understanding of Humanity’s interdependence.

World Vision

Just Because the Right Is Wrong Doesn’t Mean the Left Is Right

By Steve Bhaerman

“Too often these days activating the base means activating the basest of instincts.”

– Swami Beyondananda In the wake of the incendiary “white-wing” march in Charlottesville, and the resulting tragic death of a young woman in an

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intentional terrorist act, it’s understandable that we recognize that Donald Trump as president has emboldened racism and helped bring it out of the closet.

And ... before the “sane and reverent” among us take up the torches of righteousness ourselves, there are two things to consider so that we preserve both sanity and reverence.

The first is that the act was perpetrated by an individual acting on his own. And as with so many other terrorist perpetrators -- like the enraged “Bernie supporter” who seriously wounded a Republican congressman in June, or the perpetrator of the terrorist nightclub attack in France last year, or the one who opened fire at an Orlando nightclub, James Alex Field had a history of domestic violence. (http://www.huffingtonpost. com/entry/james-alex-fields-domestic-violence_us_599221bde4b08a247276ba28?ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009) While there is a YUGE difference between Bernie’s

“we’re-all-in-it-together” and T-Rump’s “let’s-build-awall” messages, a disturbed individual can somehow twist even a peaceful message into violence.

That disturbance -- usually uncovered after the fatal perpetration -- is the culmination of a history of violence, which often can be traced back to having been physically abused as a child. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ pmc/articles/PMC2771618/ This is not to dismiss the toxicity of Donald Trump’s message, and the newlyresurrected white supremacist movement. As someone commented the other day, “While not all Donald Trump supporters are white supremacist racists, a lot of white supremacist racists are Donald Trump supporters.”

So how about those other folks -- some of whom I know -- who are not racist, not violent, and yet pulled the lever for Trump? How did that come about?

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That brings us to the second thing progressives have to consider in addressing “how the right got right and the left got left” -- the myopic embrace of “political correctness” to the point of absurdity.

Is Political Correctness ... Politically Incorrect?

left invited me to be a “surprise” entertainer at a leadership retreat. The Swami was well-received, a great time was had by all, and I was invited back for the next group, and that worked well too. However, the third time was not a charm.

A friend of mine who left an administrative job in higher education a few years ago decided he wanted to return to teaching. So he got a position at a graduate school in a large Midwestern city. There he found students attacking him for being a white male, disrespecting him and citing him for “microaggressions” -- insults so small they cannot be seen with the naked eye. A once-dedicated teacher, he left this position shaken and disheartened.

One woman in the group decided to turn the audience against me because the Swami character was -- in her perspective -- making fun of people from India. Never mind that I’ve been invited to perform for real swamis like Swami Satchidananda, that India’s equivalent of People Magazine did a favorable feature article on me some years back, and that East Indian people in my audience have always been able to recognize that I’m not making fun of their tradition, but using the swami character to lovingly make fun of everything else.

A bit closer to home, about nine years ago, an associate who trains leaders in the nonprofit world and political

When I performed George Gershwin’s song for peace in the Middle East (“You say salaam, I say shalom ... you throw a bomb,

Here is a sad and disturbing example.

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I blow up your home ... let’s call the old thing off”) a song that had recently been a big hit at a Jewish Palestinian peace event, that was the last straw for this woman, who obviously believed that no matter what, the Palestinians were ALWAYS right and the Israelis ALWAYS wrong.

By the end of the show, she had convinced the one poor guy who was of Indian descent that he should feel insulted, and then she convened the rest of the group into a circle to “support” her. There, those who had laughed at my humor had to “recant” and renounce their laughter (I wish I were exaggerating; I’m not). I was intentionally excluded from the circle, and then one of the men from the group of “peaceful leftists” approached our sales table and with a voice meant to be menacing said, “I think you had better leave now.”

I will say that several audience members came up to me and “secretly” told me that I was very funny and they loved the show. None of them, however,

had the courage to stand up and speak out in the face of a woman who was clearly deeply wounded, but shouldn’t have been allowed to ruin the event for everyone else.

In his recently-released book, Trump and a Post-Truth World (https://integrallife.com/trumppost-truth-world/) integral philosopher Ken Wilber goes deep into the contradictions of liberal ideology, which boils down to: “We tolerate everything but intolerance.”

Political correctness, born of Stalinism (https://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Political_correctness) and reinforced by new left activists in the 1970s, became a rallying cry for those who identified with the exploited and the oppressed. The problem is that in spirit, political correctness is as totalitarian as the oppression it seeks to redress. No wonder Rush Limbaugh became so popular attacking “femi-nazis”.

It was clear to me 20 years ago that it was political correctness that put Limbaugh on the map, and of course Howard Stern. As

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a one-time nine-year-old boy, I know being told, “you CAN’T say that!” can bring out the nine-year-old boy in anyone.

During the Clinton era, the focus on political correctness and identity politics diverted attention from the Clintons’ neoliberal pro-corporate economic policies, and even in the 2016 election, emails from Hillary (somehow on their list I was “Ann”) would sometimes say, “Dear Ann ... did I make you proud tonight?”

Somehow her being a woman was supposed to make up for everything else.

It didn’t.

And so here we are ... poised -- or more accurately poisoned -- for a new civil war, where I guarantee, Donald Trump or no Donald Trump, the left will get “left” once again.

As to why, two Biblical phrases come to mind: Resist not evil.

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Where there is no vision, the people perish.

While resisting Trump and Trumpery would seem irresistible, the ONLY thing that would not only keep us from falling backward but would propel us forward is a clearly focused vision of the future we would like. This is not so easy, particularly when so much of what we don’t like is in our face. But when we stop and consider that an ideology fervently supported by just 25% of the population, and either actively opposed or disliked by 75% of us, is now in command of all three branches of our government, we have to wonder why that is.

I think I may have the answer.

Donald Trump has clearly articulated what he stands for, and his core supporters fervently agree. Progressives meanwhile -- thanks to the treachery of the Democratic Party and their lack of a coherent, viable and inspiring vision for the future -- have been hoodwinked out of their

legacy as the true mainstream, and fallen into the guaranteed-to-lose position of reacting against each atrocity.

In other words, when you only get to play defense, you never have a chance to score.

It’s time for the courageous visionaries to step forward, and take a stand for the world we want and not merely predictably and ineffectively react against the one we don’t want.

Beyond the Race Issue -The HUMAN Race Issue John Perkins uses the distinction “life economy vs. death economy.” I like that. It’s simple.

Fossil fuels ... exploitation of people and planet ... destruction of air, water and soil ... that’s the death economy. Restorative agriculture and regenerative enterprise, adopting the Golden Rule as the “golden standard” for behavior, and reverting to Plato’s three expressions of love -- truth, beauty and goodness -- that’s a good start as a true “pro-life” stand.

Losing identity issues and embracing “identical” issues would be a step toward evolutionary change.

Regardless of race, religion, belief system or sexual preference, we all want and require clean air, water and soil. We all want to be free from oppression, both from the lowly criminal at the bottom and the highly criminal at the top. We want to be treated with respect, and likewise are willing to treat others that way in an atmosphere of reciprocity.

Yes, yes, yes. By all means speak out against right wing violence, racism and Nazism. And at the same time, let’s recognize that “politically correct” speech cannot heal the wounds of misunderstanding, nor do groups like Antifa (http://www. cnn.com/2017/08/14/us/whatis-antifa-trnd/index.html) who fight violence and racism with their own violence hold the key to the future.

It may be that Donald Trump has done us all a huge favor

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by saying boldly what the Republican Party has been saying with a wink and a nod ever since Richard Nixon developed the “southern strategy” to win over white folks in the South after LBJ signed the Civil Rights Act. Now that so many of us -- including Republicans -- find ourselves in accord opposing Nazism, it may be time to gather the 75% majority under “one big intent”: Thrival for each and all in a world where we have economic and political wellbeing, and respect for one another and the web of life.

in order to spark the doughnations that will put us over the top, we’re making two offers that will feed two birds with one scone. One is physical, the other is digital.

For a $29 donation, you can receive five copies of Swami’s classic Swami for Precedent book (still pertinent more than a decade later) ... a $75 value!

The price includes US shipping via media mail.

Or, for the same $29 donation, you can receive his digital Fool Enchilada Special, including FIVE hours of Swami’s comedy disguised as wisdom / wisdom disguised as comedy.

A Note to Co-Hearts and Supporters

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