Charity and Compassion

It was during the years I lived in Florida that I first began seeing men standing at intersections holding signs that read: Will Work For Food. At first, it was shocking in its newness; afterwards it became a personal conflict. I would often overhear groups of people talking about what a racket it was. They would say that limousines delivered the men to various corners. However, I had not seen this; could it be true or a lie? Then one day I was driving home from the grocery store. A man with a sign approached my car while I was stopped at the light. He was holding his sign to my window and looking in my eyes. I had to make a decision, it was no longer a matter for debate. It was there in that moment the world became silent. All the voices and arguments were gone. I had clarity. It was not my responsibility to decide if this man deserved my help or not. He was asking for food; I gave him a loaf of bread.  

What a relief and blessing it was once the decision was made. It is not my responsibility to judge whether someone else deserves to be helped.  When someone asks, give what they ask for. I did not give money, he asked for food. Where I live in Honduras, there is very little financial aid for those with physical limitations or the very ill. Often I’ll see a mother with a invalid child holding her hand out while standing outside a grocery store, a blind man with a brother or neighbor helping him request donations at a traffic light. There is generally some handicapped person in  a wheel chair holding out a jar at an intersection. People from other cultures can find these sights disturbing but within the culture here, there is a quiet understanding.

Those who have help those who cannot help themselves. I see it in so many levels here. If your life is blessed with a car then you financially aid those that are walking blind or in wheelchairs when they stand asking for help. If you live in a nicer house with a number of electric appliances, you pay the highest rate for electricity so that the poor who use little receive their electric free. The emotional benefit is a wonderful feel-good. There is also the added benefit of being free of guilt or shame in having while living amongst those who don’t. The benefit that comes on the energy or spiritual level is the highest reward. It is what is often referred to as The Golden Rule.

A Piece of the Puzzle: Chronic Conditions

Exploring the possible causes of chronic conditions has been a special interest of mine for over 15 years. In studying the lifestyles of traditional cultures, I began to see many areas that invite weakness through the beliefs of those living in first world countries.  This is part of why I decided to live outside the United States. A geographical change allows a shift in perspective.
 

Overtime the picture has become more complete as I gathered the many bits of wisdom; pieces of the puzzle. There is no ONE contaminated ingredient; there also was no magic cure. Whether the condition undermines the person physically, mental/emotionally or affects the nervous system and self-perception, the resulting imbalance takes over their lives.  The change they look for must come from the core. New information needs to flood the whole person: nutritional changes for vitality, a shift in opinion and a reconnection to the Earth.

Changing lives for the better has led me to creating five steps that bring effective results. 

1.      1. Treat the symptom. People cannot focus on healing when they are in pain. Give them the listening ear, the emotional or herbal support they need to be in the present moment.

2.          2.  Identify the root cause; bring light into the darkness. It is difficult to put aside that which has never been validated.   Deal with it face-on or in an abstract approach, whatever allows release. 

3.     3.   Inspire them to create a dream. There needs to be a vision for their lives that is free of the anchor of limitation.

4.    4.   Help them design a daily routine that can bring their dream into fruition. Find a song or symbol that helps keep them on track with the vision.

5.    5.   Challenge them to help someone else. Chronic conditions become all consuming. Placing attention on helping another, helps create a greater picture and break the chain  of confinement. As they give another a hand-up they are encouraged to keep climbing upwards themselves.

I cannot teach a technique that helps awaken someone to oneness, but I can let them  accompany me on my path. Every problem has an energy core. All energy can be transformed. - Malana

Self Discipline

With each new blog, I promise myself to become focused and disciplined in making posts. As you can see from the dates, I have failed. This procrastination trickles into my exercise schedule, my Facebook and other media posts, and even my correspondence efforts. Does anyone else have this problem?

It feels like there is just too much going on. As I reexamine what I’ve done that could cause the hours to vaporize, I see so many different interruptions or distraction that I don’t know which one to blame. As with most chronic behavior…why is it so much easier to give self-destructive habits priority over sound, healthy, logic?

I learned that we invest the most time into the thing from which we want the most benefit. An example is that if a child learns that more attention is gained from misbehaving than from being good, they will be naughty…even if the attention they receive is painful. Applying that information here; we get endorphin releases from every emotion we feel whether it is pain or pleasure. After a while, our addiction to the chemical causes something similar to a scratch in a record...an easy path to follow. I believe that when we are not getting enough endorphins from 'happy' or healthy habits we fall back on the other.


I’ve remembered a tool that may allow me to retrain the source of my stimulus. During my years in sales I learned about making a ‘5 Most Important Things’ list. To do this, simply write a list of the 5 most important things you want to complete the next day. It helps to write them in order of their priority. Then check off each item as it is completed; a nice neurochemical release in itself. The list helps keep you on track regardless of interruptions. If by some chance, the list is not completed by the end of the day, just move that item(s) to the top of the next day’s list. Ahhhh, that feels better already.