Cholesterol, the truth at last…

“So many people spend their health gaining wealth, and then have to spend their wealth to regain their health.” – A. J. Reb Materi

YOUR health is in YOUR hands...

I mentioned in my last post I was going to be writing about something very close to my heart, this IS NOT that article, although this article does have something to do with the heart…

I have a few friends and family members who have high cholesterol, I might even have it too, (I think it’s time to get it checked), anyway, I happened to read an interesting article on the topic.

As many of my friends know, I am not a big fan of the big drug companies, simply because I believe they are greedy. They do what they do to make money, NOT to help people with their health, although their brilliant marketing & advertising departments / agencies do a wonderful job of helping us believe otherwise.

So how do we know these articles are truth and not just another marketing campaign? Well, we don’t, that’s why we have our own beliefs and intuition. The reason I believe these articles is the my belief in God. Anything us humans seem to touch or interfere with usually turns out ugly, which is exactly what has happened to our food. Eat what God has created for us to eat, and that means we need to eat organic fruits and vegetables, free range chicken & fish and natural, hormone free red meat, which for some strange reason is more expensive than processed food.

Anyway, read the articles and decide for yourself, just click on the links below…

Heart Surgeon Admits Huge Mistake! – by Dwight Lundell MD 02/03/2009

Heart Surgeon Admits Huge Mistake Part 2 – by Dwight Lundell MD 02/06/2009

“Every human being is the author of his own health or disease.”  Buddha

“It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver.” -  Mahatma Gandhi

Distractions

“Happiness can only be found if you can free yourself of all other distractions.” – Saul Bellow

Walking Tyson in the park, 30 October 2009

In my previous article I asked the question ‘what do YOU think is the biggest distraction in YOUR life at the moment?‘, and was quite surprised by the answers I received. Most of them related to work, and after pondering it for a while it became obvious to me, we spend most of our life at work, so that’s where our focus seems to be.

I am therefore going to split this article in two sections, distractions at work and at home.

In my opinion there are only 2 major distractions at work, email & internet, and office politics.

How often have you thought, ‘let me quickly check my email’, and after replying to a few and forwarding a few a couple of hours have passed? Or you go onto the web to look for something and get totally engrossed in something else? The only way to control how you use your time emailing and surfing the web is through self-discipline. There are many methods for using your time more productively, but it always boils down to the same thing, self-discipline. You are trying to create a new habit after all.

Dealing with office politics is a totally different proposition altogether, because we can only control how we react to it, not the complete situation. Most of us tend to get caught up in various situations that get blown out of proportion. We’re emotional beings and sadly we seem to have lost the ability to deal with our emotions correctly. Of course our ego has to get most of the blame for this, but that’s a book all on its own.

I would love to know how many hours have been lost due to the effect of office politics. We argue over issues which should be resolved quite easily, the arguments affect our fellow workers and they are unable to do their work efficiently, someone tries to undermine someone else by sabotaging a project, all in an effort to get ahead. The stuff you see in the movies actually does happen, sad but true.

“By prevailing over all obstacles and distractions, one may unfailingly arrive at his chosen goal or destination.” – Christopher Columbus

At home I believe there are also two major distractions, television and tomorrow.

There is usually a list of chores to be done, some people agree with this method, some don’t, personally, if I didn’t have a list, things would never get done. I can’t remember all the chores. But we usually look at the list, walk past the TV…., and switch it on, just to see if there is anything interesting on. And there usually is, I mean, the mating habits of the common house fly sure beats any chore. And then there is the list of soap operas and mini series. We somehow feel that if we miss an episode our lives will become meaningless.

Hence the other distraction, tomorrow. I’ll do it tomorrow, and before you know it a whole month of tomorrows has passed us by, never to be seen again. I am writing from experience here, I am just as guilty as everyone else when it comes to procrastination.

“Any occurrence requiring undivided attention will be accompanied by a compelling distraction.” – Robert Bloch

Fortunately, or unfortunately, depends on whether you’re a half empty or half full person, the remedy to all distractions is self-discipline. And depending on where we want our life to go will determine our level of self-discipline.

Next week I will be writing about something very close to my heart and will hopefully be getting back on track with where I want my articles to go, I feel like I have veered off course slightly…, sorry about that!

Taking a break…

Me and my boy, Adam, Eerste Rivier, 23 October 2009

I am supposed to be writing about distractions, but with all that’s been happening in my life I had a welcome distraction, I went away for the weekend with my family and some great friends. So I’ll be writing that article later in the week.

After writing my last article I went hunting for a journal. It seems journal writing is considered more of a female thing to do, there were plenty of journals for woman, but none for men. So I thought I would create my own, non gender specific journal. I’ll keep you posted on that little project…

Before I write my next article, a quick question, what do YOU think is the biggest distraction in YOUR life at the moment?

Planning

Walking Tyson, Sardinia Bay, 09 October 2009

“He who fails to plan, plans to fail.” – Proverb

Last week I mentioned I was going to try and help you develop habits to utilize your time more effectively. The first, and most important habit we are going to try and develop is the habit of planning, and I don’t mean long term planning, I mean daily planning.

Before I carry on, I just need to share something I have noticed over the past few years.

Most of us humans really do complain a lot, and it is getting worse all the time. We complain we don’t have enough time, we don’t have enough money, and it seems we actually like complaining. When I ask people what they are doing about their situation, they say they don’t know what to do, so I suggest a few things and guess what, the excuses start flowing. It seems we want everything done for us, which really confuses me. How are we supposed to experience life if everything is done for us?

So if you want to take control of your life and stop complaining all the time, here is what I believe is the first step on the road to recovery.

“Planning is bringing the future into the present so that you can do something about it now” – Alan Lakein

I have never been good at any planning, I don’t think I have actually planned anything properly in my life. Of course I have planned things, but it has always been in my head, which is not the correct way. We might think we are really gifted that we can plan things in our head, but that is not a gift, it is just plain lazy.

So let’s get to the practical stuff. Most of us have a personal/ home life, and a business / work life. So the best suggestion I can make is to get a journal for your personal life and a diary for your business life. We’ve all heard of a diary, but a journal? I also scoffed at the idea of getting a journal, but to be successful we need to do what successful people are doing, so I’m off to get one later.

Firstly let me explain journaling. When we wake up in the morning most of us have a routine, so we need to fit 5 minutes into that routine to write in our journal, and all we need to do is write one or two things down. I call them intentions. They can be broad or specific. Broad – “I intend to have a great day today.” Specific – “I intend to go to gym after work and have a great workout.” Why do we need to write these intentions down? Accountability. Before we go to bed at night, we open our journal and we can see what our intentions were for the day, and then we can see if our day was successful or not. And before we call it a day and go to sleep I suggest we write a bit about our day, just write down two things you are really grateful for, and one thing that upset you. I’ll explain more about night time journaling in another article.

When we get to work, most of us have a cup of tea coffee and then dive right into the day, and usually the day becomes chaotic. Want to have a more relaxed day? We need to start planning our day. It takes 10 minutes, and the 10 minutes could save us an hour or two later. Write down all the tasks we want to complete in the day, and we need to be realistic about our own abilities, trying to cram too much into one day will not help us achieve good results. And remember to allow time for the unexpected. Next we need to prioritize our tasks, and we MUST NOT do all the quick and easy tasks first. We need to split our tasks into long term and short term tasks and assign a value to each task. What tasks, if completed today will add value to our business / company, and what tasks are part of a long term plan to add value to our business / company. And what tasks, if NOT completed today will do damage to our business / company. If you are unsure about which tasks are more important, please discuss them with your boss, NEVER assume anything.

Now, and only now are we ready to start working. Once we have successfully completed each task, write down the time it was completed, and if it took more than an hour to complete, take a five minute break before tackling the next task.

This may or may not seem easy to you, but don’t judge it until you have tried it. In the beginning it might be a bit difficult, but don’t give up, it is just as tough to create a new habit as it ease to break an old one. And remember, we need to believe we can achieve what we write in our journal and diary otherwise all it becomes is a writing exercise.
“To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.” – Anatole France

To my readers who are going to try and develop this new habit with me, please share your progress. Together I’m sure we can achieve far more than as individuals.

Next week I’ll be writing about how we waste our precious time and how we seem to sabotage our own efforts to develop new habits.

“I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ” – Jeremiah 29:11

Time

“Time is more valuable than money. You can get more money, but you cannot get more time.” – Jim Rohn

Time seems to be the one thing people complain about the most. Either that or we just use it as an excuse all the time.

To show you how fast time goes by, here is a recent photo of my pride and joy. He is now 6 months old, can you believe it! And 4 months ago I was writing about how he was teaching me some valuable lessons. Read that article here.

As Adam gets older he is going to be needing more of the one thing I can’t create, my time. We all  get 24 hours in a day, it’s how we use it that makes us successful or not.

For the next few weeks I’ll be writing about the one thing very few of us do, but the one thing we should all be doing. Utilizing our time more effectively. I am not the most successful at managing my time effectively, but if I want to be a good parent I had better start improving it, and fast. If you are not a parent, don’t worry, what I’ll be sharing you can apply to your work life as well.

It all starts with changing old habits and creating new habits, and maybe even getting rid of some ‘bad’ habits. And just like any habit, it takes time to develop, but most of us are impatient, so we give up before the habit has fully developed. More about this, and more next time.

So until next time, use your time wisely, because once it’s gone, you can’t get it back!

“Time is free, but it’s priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it you can never get it back.” – Harvey MacKay

Free will

“Man is a being with free will; therefore, each man is potentially good or evil, and it’s up to him and only him (through his reasoning mind) to decide which he wants to be.” – Ayn Rand

I have always been fascinated by the topic free will. I have had numerous conversations with many people, my very first article I ever wrote was even titled, Free Will, Gift or Curse? Please read it here.

Until recently I have always been a little bit confused about the whole concept, I understood the gist of it, but never grasped it completely. Fortunately in my quest to gain understanding, I was led to an interesting site where I was able to download an ebook which explained it to me in a way that I could understand. Below is the chapter, written by Thomas Herold. If you would like to explore what the site has to offer and how it can enrich your life, please click here.

A Spiritual Viewpoint of Free Will

I found the following example on one of the exciting audio books from Fred Alan Wolf. Fred Alan Wolf is a physicist and a spiritual seeker, and has dedicated his whole life to the quest of what consciousness truly is.

Imagine that you are sitting on a red elephant. The red elephant symbolizes your higher self, your source, or whatever word you have for it. As you direct your life you tap the elephant on his right ear and the elephant goes right. If you tap him on the left ear he goes left. This is our basic understanding of free will. I decide this and then this happens. It all works fine as long as the elephant goes in the direction you want him to go. However the problem and frustration starts when the elephant turns in another direction – not the one you have chosen.

Here we find ourselves in the realm of hypothesis and speculation:

• Maybe you did something wrong
• Maybe God doesn’t want you to take this path
• Maybe you are just not strong enough

The rationalizations we come up with are endless.

What happens on a spiritual level of understanding is the following: The elephant – your higher self – sends you a signal he wants to go right. That could be your intuition, for
example. You receive this signal and you align with it and tick the elephant’s right ear. Whenever you hear the signal and you follow it, you are absolutely in alignment with your
higher self, your source, your infinite power.

Is this still free will you may ask? Yes, it is, as it is still you who is giving yourself the signal.

This is very profound and powerful concept when you truly understand it. All that it takes to operate your life on this level is to explore your consciousness and understand that it is infinite, that it is the ultimate source of your being.

• You are not your mind
• You are not your feelings
• You are not your body
• You are not your thoughts

You are infinite potential; your true essence is beyond space and time. You are everything and nothing at the same time. You were never born and you will never die. You are the spirit
that is shared with every other living form on this planet. You have access to anything and everything you wish to have.

In Summary:
Understand that when you begin to work with your inner or true self, you open yourself to higher levels of exercising your free will. After all your inner work, things may not manifest as you wish. Relax and learn to go with the flow. Your true self is always in alignment with what is best for you. Your free will provides the general direction you want to go, but not the actual means to get you there.

Alignment

“Find something you love to do and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.” – Harvey MacKay

Firstly, let me give you one of the many dictionary definitions of work. – “The labor, task, or duty that is one’s accustomed means of livelihood.”

If you can earn a living by doing something you really enjoy, it is no longer work, and in my opinion that is what we should all be striving for in our lives.

I have been involved in engineering design for fifteen years now, and while I enjoy what I do, I have always felt there is something missing. I don’t wake up in the morning looking forward to going to work and at the end of the day I don’t feel satisfied with what I have done all day. It might have something to do with where I work, but I have worked from home as well, so I don’t think it is a reason.

Many of us work where we work because we have family responsibilities, we have to provide for our loved ones and give them what we believe is best for them. But wouldn’t it be great if we could provide for our loved ones by doing something we really enjoy. Imagine how much happiness there would be in your family if you were all living the life you chose, not the one that was apparently ‘given’ to you.

“Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it.” – Buddha

So, I have come to a place in my life where I think it is about time I discovered what it is I really want to do with the rest of my life. I definitely don’t want to end up like most of us do and get to retirement age not having lived life.

Whenever I ponder things in life, I am usually led to the answers, as we all are, some of us just choose to ignore the answers. So, I was led to a book, and in this book are two chapters entitled “The Importance of Knowing What You Want From Life.”, and “Find Your Unique Strengths, Gifts And Talents.”

I’m going to give you the list of the questions posed to me, and challenge you to answer them for yourself.

• What is my deepest desire?
• What would I like to accomplish in my life?
• What would I like to accomplish this year?
• Where would I like to be in 5 years?
• Where would I like to be in 20 years?
• What am I good at?

And if you have trouble answering the above questions, then like me, you have lost touch with your inner self, your true guide in life.

Below are some more questions intended to guide.

• What were the toys you liked to play with?
• What were you interested in?
• What did you like best to play?
• What presents did you wish to receive for your birthday and Christmas?
• What did you dream of becoming in your future?
• What do your friends think you are good at?
• What do they think your talents are?
• What do they recommend what you should do with your life?
• What would you do if you had enough money not to work ever again?
• What were your dreams when you were younger?
• What do you think is impossible for you to do?
• What would you do if you won five million dollars?
• What would you do if this was the last day of your life?
• What would you do if you couldn’t fail?
• What are your strengths and talents?
• Do you have a wish but don’t know how to fulfill it?
• What do you admire most about others?
• What would your ideal lifestyle look like?
• What does success mean for you?
• What makes you really happy?
• Is there anything that needs to be invented?
• What does a perfect day look like for you?
• What would you do if there were no restrictions?
• What really excites you?
• What would you be honored and recognized for?
• Where do you see your life in ten years?
• If you were immortal, what would you do with your life?
• What needs to change to make this a better world?
• What would you do if you were Superman?
• What are you proud of?
• What would you do if you were the President?
• What would you like to accomplish this year?
• What would you do differently if you could start over again?

Some of us might feel really uncomfortable answering these questions truthfully, but I urge you to be brutally honest and if you can’t answer all the questions, you can always come back to them at any time. If you were able to answer all of the questions, and you are in the job of your dreams, congratulations, you are one of the very few. A word of caution, our ego likes to trick us into believing we are where we are supposed to be, so try to answer these questions as if you were a child again.

I haven’t been able to answer all the questions yet so I still don’t know what it is I am meant to be doing with my life, sadly I can’t remember what my answers would be if I were a child again. But, I will persevere, for my own sake, and the sake of my family.

“I’ve learned that making a “living” is not the same thing as making a “life.” – Maya Angelou

I remember doing some tests when I was in junior school, I think they were called aptitude tests. I wonder if it’s possible to get hold of the results of those tests. If anyone knows, please let me know.

I leave you this week with a quote to ponder. Until next time, live YOUR life well.

“I would rather live my life as if there is a God and die to find out there isn’t, than live my life as if there isn’t and die to find out there is.” – Albert Camus

Responsibility

This is just a quick one that I thought I would share, something I read this morning which helped put a lot of things in perspective for me.

I am responsible for what I see.
I choose the feelings I experience, And I decide
upon the goal I would achieve.
And everything that seems to happen to me
I ask for, and receive as I have asked.

No accident nor chance is possible within the universe God created, outside of which is nothing. Suffer, and you decided sin was your goal. Be happy, and you gave the power of decision to Him Who must decide for God for you.

It really does explain just how responsible we are for our own lives, we just need to realize it…

Attracting Moola

“Successful people make money. It’s not that people who make money become successful, but that successful people attract money. They bring success to what they do.” – Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

Judging from most of the comments I got about my last article, most of us just don’t believe we are capable of becoming wealthy. Well if that’s what we believe then that’s exactly what will happen. And most of us also believe that we can’t attract money, we have to earn it. Well by me learning how to attract money, I believe I have ‘earned’ it through my learning….

When I first started learning the truth about life I took a long hard look at my past and how my beliefs have affected the various situations I have had. And when it comes to my financial ‘cycle’ I had to be brutally honest with myself. And after much frustration I had to admit the truth to myself. All the hard times I have been through have all been self inflicted, the good times too, but they have been far more scarce. One thing that was extremely obvious, but difficult to grasp was the fact that the times I worried about money are the times the it seemed to become scarce.

You might say that the reason I started to worry was because it became scarce, and it would be really easy for me to agree, and blame outiside factors for my predicament, but it was actually the other way round. For some or other strange reason I started to worry about money, or I changed my spending habbits, or I made some unwise financial decisions, but it always started with me. I challenge you to be brutally honest with yourself and take a long hard look at your financial ‘cycle’.

So, what am I doing to change my beliefs?

• Firstly, most of us have a monthly ‘budget’, or we should have. But ‘budget’ is such a restrictive word, so I have changed it to my monthly ’spending plan’, because that’s exactly what it is, and it feels and sounds more positive.
• Secondly, I have stopped being a bargain hunter. I no longer walk down the aisles looking for the cheapest products, because by doing that I was sending out a message that I wasn’t worth much. I’m not being irresponsible and buying products that are going to jeopardize my spending plan, I know what products are within my plan, and if they are bit more expensive than the cheapest, tough, I’m worth it.
• Thirdly, when I get to the till to pay, I no longer look at the final amount and get all stressed out. I am grateful that I am able to buy everything. I hear too many people complaining about the cost of one bag of groceries. Complain all you like, it’s not going to change the price, give thanks instead, you’ll feel much better.
• Fourthly, and this is a really touchy one. I tithe, but not according to what most of us are taught in church. In church we are encouraged to give one tenth of our gross earnings to the church as a way of saying thank you to God. I believe you should give what you can afford to, and it needn’t be to the church. I give what I can and I usually give to a different charity every month, and I give happily. You see, when we try to hoard all our money, we are stopping the flow of money / energy in our lives.

And lastly, I have opened an account I call my ‘Financial Fortress’, and what I do, is the amount of money I decide to give away is the exact same amount I put into my ‘Fortress’. And I may not touch the money in my fortress, no matter what. It might sound like hoarding, but to me hoarding is keeping everything to yourself, I’m only keeping a small percentage.

These are just a few of the things I’m doing which I find are really helping, below is a list of everyday things we can do to help change our beliefs and start bringing the flow of money back to into our lives.

• - Feel good whenever you spend money.
• – Take your focus away from debts and focus on your belongings.
• – Speak only talk about financial success, health and good relationships.
• – Remember you are your greatest resource and naturally wealthy.
• – Believe the world is abundant.
• - Be happy for other people’s financial success.
• – Be grateful and appreciative for what you have in your life.

Below are a few beliefs that will block the flow of money into your life.

• - Rich people are greedy and dishonest.
• - I’ll become a greedy and uncaring person.
• - I’ll attract the unwanted envy of others.
• - I will do wrong if I become rich.
• - I can’t be rich and spiritual.
• - If I’m successful, my friends will be jealous and stop liking me.
• - Money is the root of all evil.
• - I will never have enough money.
• - Financial success will mean working all the time.
• - Money doesn’t grow on trees. (it does actually, money is printed on paper, and paper comes from trees…:) )
• – There is virtue in poverty, and wealthy people are morally bankrupt.
• - Those who have figured out a way to achieve wealth and financial security are just lucky.

“If you want to feel rich, just count the things you have that money can’t buy” – Proverb

“Money will come when you are doing the right thing.” – Mike Phillips

Until next time, I wish you all the financial prosperity you rightfully deserve.

Ps. I have finally updated my ‘About Me’ page, please check it out.

Introducing Moola

“Money is usually attracted, not pursued.” – Jim Rohn

I’ve decided to write about a very touchy subject this week, MONEY… But before I continue please note that I am not an authorized financial adviser, so what I am writing about is just common sense, not financial advice.

Firstly I need to make a few points that we are not all aware of.

• we all have an emotional attachment to money, we either love it or we hate it.
• most of us believe that without money we can’t survive.
• most of us believe there is not enough money for everyone, and everyone’s needs.
• most of us have no idea where money actually comes from. (it’s not the bank…)

So where does money come from? Try to follow my ‘believe it or not’ train of thought. Our government is only supposed to print and mint the amount of money equivalent to our gold reserves, it’s actually a lot more complex than that but I’m not going to even try to explain it. So the piece of paper or metal coin we exchange all the time has been assigned a certain value. So, money comes from gold, gold is mined from the earth. Where does gold come from? To be really honest, mother earth made it, but made it from what. Well, it is made from the same substance everything is made from, energy.

And there is a law about energy, it cannot be created nor destroyed, merely transformed from one form of energy to another.

Below is a simple story showing the flow of money / energy.

In a small town on the South Coast of France, holiday season is in full swing, but it is raining so there is not too much business happening.

Everyone is heavily in debt.

Luckily, a rich Russian tourist arrives in the foyer of the small local hotel.

He asks for a room and puts a 100 euro note on the reception counter, takes a key and goes to inspect the room located up the stairs on the third floor. The hotel owner takes the banknote in a hurry and rushes to his meat supplier to whom he owes 100 euro. The butcher takes the money and races to his supplier to pay his debt. The wholesaler rushes to the farmer to pay 100 euro for pigs he purchased some time ago. The farmer triumphantly gives the 100 euro note to a local prostitute who gave him her services on credit. The prostitute goes quickly to the hotel, as she was owing the hotel for her hourly room use to entertain clients.

At that moment, the rich Russian is coming down to reception and informs the hotel owner that the proposed room is unsatisfactory and takes his 100 euro back and departs.

There was no profit or income. But everyone no longer has any debt and the small townspeople look optimistically towards their future.

As you can see, the flow of money / energy was easily done. This is quite a simple example, why don’t you try and figure out where your salary originates from. (you might find that somewhere in the chain you or someone you know helped contribute toward your salary…)

So if money is merely a form of energy and it should be freely abundant, why isn’t it? It all started a very, very long time ago, when a concept known as greed entered into humanity, and along with greed came the need for power and control. And greed only came along when we lost faith in our creator. You see, true faith means believing all our needs will be met, and in my opinion we weren’t created to struggle through life, we were created to live life joyously.

So, if we want to live an abundant life it all starts with changing our beliefs. And if we can change our beliefs about money, then money will no longer be a problem.

“Money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver.” – Ayn Rand

A quick note. Those of us who are struggling financially will think this is a load of rubbish. Those of us who aren’t know all of this already.

My next article will be about our strange financial habits that keep most of us right where we are.

I leave you with an excellent quote we should show our boss, and if you are the boss try and figure it out why it’s so true….

“I don’t pay good wages because I have a lot of money; I have a lot of money because I pay good wages.” – Robert Bosch