7 Habits of Highly Frugal People

The book 7 Habits of Highly Effective People has sold over 15 million copies since it was first published in 1989, teaching people all over the world how to live a happier, more successful and more satisfying life. One of the prevailing themes of the book is the fact that to change your life you need to change your attitude because no one else is responsible for what happens to you but you, so you can either complain about the things you don’t like in your life or you can set about changing them. Not surprisingly, this directly relates to the state of your finances.

If you are tired of living week to week, of having your phone regularly cut off or having to make excuses to skip dinners with your friends if the money has run out before the end of the month then you can use the seven habits of highly effective people to take control of your money situation and live a more frugal lifestyle, and a happier one.

Read it all here=>>MoneyNing.Com

100 Ways To Make Your Home More Therapeutic

Your home should be a relaxing place– a sanctuary away from the stress of work and the hustle and bustle of the outside world. Yet often we let our homes become stressful places, filled with clutter, reminders of things we have to do, and simply not the relaxing retreats they're meant to be. If you feel like your home isn't nursing you back to health each night, then consider some of these tips to help make it more therapeutic and comfortable for you.

Read it all here=>>Nursing Schools.Net

B12 Shots: A Great Way Boost Your Energy and Improve Your Health

Vitamin B12 shots for weight loss, healthy skin , reducing stress, energy boosters, and so much more.
Because of that experience and my doctor’s words about how great these shots are for one’s overall health I have decided to make them a new part of my health regime. Some people get them once a month while others get them as often as twice a week

“The typical dose is 1000 mcg (thousand micrograms), only aproximately 100 mcg of that is absorbed per shot.”

(source: http://dailystrength.org/c/Chronic_Fatigue_Syndrome/forum/1993236-b12-shots)

The effects of B12 shots are completely dependent upon the individual person. My doctor informed me that there is not really a given timeline that someone will feel the effects. He said that sometimes it can be a gradual process where you just feel better in small increments while other people feel the effects in a more sudden manner.

A site where you can learn all about this supplement see FAQ,Testimonials and order any supplies:
http://www.b12-shot.com/index.asp

Senior citizens Cane-Do self-defense too

By Larissa Klitzke Contra Post Times

DANVILLE — An elderly person wielding a cane may not be as vulnerable as criminals suspect, thanks to Cane-Do, a self-defense class for seniors.

The classes include a 30-minute lecture and warm-up, followed by an hour of training in which seniors use exercise bands and their own canes to learn how to hold, twirl, strike, poke, jab and block.

"Honest citizens are not allowed to carry anything to defend themselves, but we can all carry canes," said John Bruhl, of Danville, who recommended the class to Danville town officials after his wife, Nadene, saw a video of Cane-Do on television late one night.

Organizers say self-defense is a valuable skill for seniors in particular because the elderly are perceived as easy targets by criminals and are disproportionately affected by property crimes, including burglary, motor vehicle theft and property theft.

In 2005, about one in five personal crimes against persons 65 and older were thefts, compared to one in 33 for those ages 12 to 49, according to U.S. Department of Justice statistics.

"I am older and I know in this economy people pick on the elderly," said Nadene Bruhl. "I don't want to be a victim."

The first day of class on July 6 included light sparring and techniques such as the two-handed jab, groin hook and head strike.

"I thought it looked particularly ridiculous for elderly people to defend themselves with a cane," said George Field, of Danville, who uses his cane regularly for walking support.

Field said he likes the idea of knowing self-defense, but added that he joined the class primarily as a fun way to exercise.

The local Cane-Do class is being taught by Jose Isidro of the Mt. Diablo Hwa Rang Kwan school, who teaches other self-defense classes in Pittsburg and has more than 25 years of martial arts experience.

Cane-Do draws from samurai sword fighting skills to not only use the cane as a means of self-defense but also to integrate useful hand-to-hand techniques such as striking, kicking, locking, throwing and grappling.

In the class, Isidro also offers mental training, including mind-clearing and breathing exercises to quiet the mind, aiding the body in fostering self-defense skills, personal fitness and healing.

"The main part is to keep healthy and enjoy life," Isidro said.

Reach Larissa Klitzke at 925-847-2160 or lklitzke@bayareanewsgroup.com.

Reality and Revictimization..why not everyone can just "move on" and "get over it" .

Courtesy SANCTUARY FOR THE ABUSED This website donates its time & resources to help the abused. (Please support this site and give whatever support you can to this excellent help resource for abuse victims)

Victim, survivor, victimology, victim abuse... why are victims being told to deny their reality?

You have been methodically and diabolically abused and suddenly you hear "don't be a victim, choose to be a survivor." The concept that a victim can always consciously choose how to proceed, is wrong.

The phrase, "move on with your life" is common. In a commanding, offhand and arrogant tone, those who have fought and lost a custody battle, their home, car and savings, family, job and may be suffering physically (adrenal exhaustion is common) are stunned to be told, "well, better move on with your life."

The entire infrastructure of a life is often destroyed leaving the victim, stunned, numb, hypervigilant, indigent, betrayed and perplexed as to why they are expected to "choose" to not be a victim. Give them a time machine and this can be done. Give them revictimization abuse and it cannot. They are victims.

It's time to give that word back its status and in doing so, give respect to the abused. Respect comes in the form of providing help. An empowering, compassionate approach to those who have been stripped of dignity through repeated abuse in courts of law, or by their partners, begins with recognizing and defining the situation of the victim.

What is the definition of a "victim"?
According to the dictionary a victim is: One who is harmed by, or made to suffer from an act, circumstance, agency, or condition; a person who is tricked, swindled, or taken advantage of.

The victim of a narcissist or abuser is traumatized. There are biochemical changes in the body and structural changes in the brain. Thought patterns change, memories are lost, immune system strongly affected, brain cells die, there is chest pain, muscle pain, feelings are intense and emotions chaotic. Victimization is never deserved.

Dr. Frank Ochberg, Harvard trained MD and trauma expert, says our culture now disparages, blames, isolates, and condemns someone for being a victim.

As a victim of any kind of abuse you deserve:

• 1. Compassion
• 2. Validation
• 3. Freedom from therapeutic verbal abuse
• 4. A support team to open doors to resources
• 5. A friend, therapist or counselor who can teach you the skills to rebuild your life.

Depending on who you are, this may take a long time or not. Variables include amount and length of abuse, health, supportive family or not, finances, genetic explanatory style (optimism or pessimism), coping skills you may already have and many others. As a victim, you have the right to say, "STOP" to those who blame the victim.

An entire self help industry has arisen that believes if you just really really wanted to, you can be happy and healthy and fully functional as soon as you choose to be. A starting point for recovery are post traumatic stress sites. There you will find trained and compassionate support people with articles that explain trauma healing methods.

The Scientific Basis of Healing, Happiness and Recovery It doesn't matter if you call yourself a victim, survivor or Martian. No one should deny you victim status. It is what is. A victim is not a slothlike creature, nor stupid. Nor is a victim responsible for what happened to him/her and we must stop worrying about language and start helping. A victim is a person with a life in chaos.

What matters is that you get the help you need and the compassionate trained person to give you the skills.The good news is that happiness is trainable, resiliency comes back and psychologists are moving from the Freudian model which has dominated psychology for too long and was wrong to boot, to a model that moves from pathology as the dominant scheme. The process of de-traumatization begins with validation. It then moves to retraining explanatory style. Depending on the depth and time of the abuse, it may take a long or short time to process to empowerment and control. IT IS NOT NECESSARY to analyze every event. It IS necessary to be heard and listened to and to tell your story. Validation is critical.

abridged=>>

http://www.narcissisticabuse.com/victim.html

ABCs of a Happy 2008

by Irene Masiello author of PARADISE COSTS-the first pro-active, grassroots REALITY WRITING book

Awareness is y/our responsibility
Believe in a Higher Power
Celebrate the moment
Discover something new today
Earth needs our prayers
Free-will ultimately prevails
Gratitude requires expression
Health balances mind, body & Spirit
Inspire others with enthusiasm
Joy is contagious
Kindness always counts
Love is never wasted
Miracles happen all the time
Nature is God’s palette
One day at a time
Peace on earth begins with you
Quiet time is required each day
Respect other people’s rights
Smile and sleep more
Time heals those who work at it
Understanding goes a long way
Virtue is its own reward
Why not?
Xtra-ordinary people think bigger picture
Yesterday’s gone; today matters now
Zero in on a goal & go for it.

Reading Shakespeare has dramatic effect on human brain

• Research at the University of Liverpool has found that Shakespearean language excites positive brain activity.
  
  Shakespeare uses a linguistic technique known as functional shift that involves, for example using a noun to serve as a verb. Researchers found that this technique allows the brain to understand what a word means before it understands the function of the word within a sentence. This process causes a sudden peak in brain activity and forces the brain to work backwards in order to fully understand what Shakespeare is trying to say.
  
  By throwing odd words into seemingly normal sentences, Shakespeare surprises the brain and catches it off guard in a manner that produces a sudden burst of activity - a sense of drama created out of the simplest of things." read all here ......
  
  

Macbeth: She should have died hereafter;
There would have been a time for such a word.
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.

Halt Elder Abuse and Terrorism.- Top Seven Things You Can Do

MUCH OF THE TASK of fighting (elder abuse) and terrorism is done by governments, security agencies, and the military or police . But there are practical things an ordinary citizen can do to make an significant difference fighting terrorism/abuse. If you doubt it is even possible to defeat terrorism and Elder Abuse , you need to read this. But if you're ready to do something about it, here are CitizenWarrior.com's top seven ways to halt terrorism and Elder Abuse for a civilian. Each principle links to an article about it.

1. Share information with your friends. This might actually be the most useful thing you can do.

2. Be observant and report suspicious activities. First you need to learn what kinds of things you should be on the lookout for. Then you can use your eyes and ears as you go about your normal routines. If you see someone in a car looking at blueprints of a building, for example, if you see an elder making un usual financial transactions for example, or and taking photographs of a building , you can simply call 911. An officer can come out and question the person. If they are there for a legitimate, no harm was done. If they are not, it may be the beginning of shutting down a terrorist or kidnapping plot . If you know what to look for then being observant doesn't mean being paranoid. Most activities are not suspicious. But a few specific kinds of activities are. Find out what those are and keep your eyes open.

3. Choke off terrorists' source of money. Demand that Elder Abuse Laws and guidelines be enforced and Although terrorists have cells within democratic countries, they rely on financial support from terrorist-sponsoring countries. And almost all terrorists are trained in such a country. Four have been identified with certainty: Iran, Syria, Sudan, and North Korea. A company called DivestTerror.org has found a way to cut off a major source of support for those countries, which will force those governments to choose between supporting terrorism or being economically viable.

4. Steer conversations to the topic of terrorism and abuse . And then, of course, share what you know. Improve your ability to start casual conversations and gently open those conversations to the topic of terrorism and abuse. Influencing the opinions of others and sharing what you know is a vital task you can do to fight terrorism and all types of abuses. The ideas in your teammates' heads are collectively determining the fate of the free world. You can change someone's opinion, but you must first be talking about terrorism and abuse, and in such a way that you don't cause the person to shut you out.

Most people don't know any more about terrorism or elder abuse than what they see on the news, and that mostly consists of confusing, helplessness-inducing sound bites. You know things about terrorism/abuse that can help mobilize your sphere of influence to be a force for good in the world. But in order to do that, you'll need to begin conversations, and steer them, and that's a skill that takes know-how and practice.

5. Learn more about influencing people. Once you have someone in a conversation, how can you change their opinions? How can you successfully persuade them? This is also a skill you can improve with know-how and practice. In fact, your skill can win people to a new way of thinking, and your lack of skill can entrench them more solidly in their old way of thinking. Skill is all-important, and it can be greatly improved, no matter how good you are already. Just as marksmanship is a vital skill to an infantryman, and navigation skills are essential to the captain of a ship, skill with people is all-important for a citizen warrior fighting abuse.

6. When you find a good article online, share it. This is one of the easiest ways to make a difference. If you do it well, you can enhance the impact of what you share. Doing it well means being sparing in what you send (rather than sending lots of stuff indiscriminately), and giving your personal impression of the article along with a link to the article itself. And you can probably make the biggest difference by trying to match the article with the person. In other words, if your friend is a sandal-wearing peace activist, sending an article by an outspoken redneck would fail to persuade. Match the article to the person for maximum influence. Help ease her or him into a new way of seeing.

7. Help people see the URL, haltterrorism.com The domain name goes to the article you're reading now. Get a haltterrorism.com t-shirt and wear it. Add haltterrorism.com or Stop Abuse to your email signature. Print the domain address on business cards and post them on bulletin boards. Get a bumper sticker with the address on it. Not everyone is interested in terrorism or abuse , but those who are will be curious, and you've just sent them to a good resource.

It goes without saying, of course, that you'll keep learning about terrorism and abuses of the elderly and other vulnarable citizens , and you'll learn especially well anything you'd like to teach to others. Listening to an audiobook again and again in your car is an excellent way to really learn something well.

Not all books are created equal. When you find a really good one, get it in an audio format and listen to it while you drive. When you share information or perspectives with someone, you have a good opportunity to really illuminate the subject for them. If you have only a vague understanding of something you read only once, you'll find it hard to be lucid or convincing, and you'll fail to persuade. Part of persuasion is knowing what you're talking about.

You want to do something about terrorism and abuse . You want to halt the terrorists and abusers in their tracks. Excellent! Choose one of the seven ideas above — the one that appeals to you the most at the moment — and do it. On behalf of the rest of your teammates, I thank you for your good works.

"Seniors and their families need to be assured that crimes against the vulnerable will be diligently prosecuted to stem the tide of predatory exploitation of the weak."

Related articles:

In his book, Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life, Martin Seligman has a very good list of what to look for in your arguments when you're arguing against a negative thought. Read his list here.

A good list to memorize ahead of time is David Burns' ten cognitive distortions. These are the ten mistakes the brain is naturally prone to make. Find his list online at any of these four locations: UWEC, Wikipedia, JohnEmmons, or AngelFire.

Make the process of changing your thoughts easier by calming your body first. This is similar to the increased effectiveness of cognitive therapy combined with antidepressants. With the body in a better state, thought habits are easier to change.

Your brain has a naturally-occurring negative bias and when combined with an imperfect brain that makes mistakes, it is a combination terrorists and abusers can exploit. Take actions to shore up this weakness, first in yourself and then in those around you.

Edited for E.A. article by Citizen Warrior

The Parable of the Gift by Siddhartha Buddha

The teacher asked to them: - If somebody arrives to you with a gift and you do not accept it, to whom do the gift belong ? - To who tried to give it - one of the students responded. -

The same is for he who brings slander and insults- the teacher said. When they are not accepted, they continue belonging to he who brought them with himself.

Siddhartha Buddha

--------------------------------------

Great Teachers often spoke in parables and this is one of my favorites.

Emotional & Psychological Trauma:

Trauma. The word brings to mind the effects of such major events as war, rape, kidnapping, abuse, torture, or other similar assault. The emotional aftermath of such events, recognized by the medical and psychological communities, and increasingly by the general public, is known as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Now there is a new field of investigation that is less familiar, even to professionals: emotional or psychological trauma.

Recent research has revealed that emotional trauma can result from such common occurrences as an auto accident, the breakup of a significant relationship, a humiliating or deeply disappointing experience, the discovery of a life-threatening illness or disabling condition, or other similar situations.

Traumatizing events can take a serious emotional toll on those involved, even if the event did not cause physical damage.Regardless of its source, an emotional trauma contains three common elements:

• it was unexpected;


• the person was unprepared;


• and there was nothing the person could do to prevent it from happening.

What is the difference between stress and emotional or psychological trauma?One way to tell the difference between stress and emotional trauma is by looking at the outcome – how much residual effect an upsetting event is having on our lives, relationships, and overall functioning.

Traumatic distress can be distinguished from routine stress by assessing the following:how quickly upset is triggeredhow frequently upset is triggered how intensely threatening the source of upset is how long upset lasts and how long it takes to calm down.

If we can communicate our distress to people who care about us and can respond adequately, and if we return to a state of equilibrium following a stressful event, we are in the realm of stress. If we become frozen in a state of active emotional intensity, we are experiencing an emotional trauma – even though sometimes we may not be consciously aware of the level of distress we are experiencing.

How is emotional trauma treated?Traditional approaches to treating emotional trauma include:talk therapies (working out the feelings associated with the trauma);Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) involves changing one's thoughts and actions, and includes systematic desensitization to reduce reactivity to a traumatic stressorrelaxation/stress reduction techniques, such as biofeedback or breathwork; andhypnosis to deal with reactions often below the level of conscious awareness.

There are also several recent developments in the treatment to emotional trauma. Depending on the nature of the trauma and the age or state of development at which it occurred, these somatic (body) psychotherapies might even be more effective than traditional therapies. Some of the new therapies include:EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprogramming)Somatic ExperiencingHakomiIntegrative Body Psychotherapy

Jaelline Jaffe, Ph.D., and Jeanne Segal, Ph.D., and Lisa Flores Dumke, M.A., contributed to this article.

Abridged and Edited for E.A. for More Resources on How to Deal with Trauma >>

Maintain Your Health and Vitality Through Internal Cleansing

By Dr. Lynn Hardy, N.D., C.N.C., Naturopathic Doctor and Certified Nutritional Consultant

Each year the average American consumes 150 lbs of sugar and 566 cans of soft drinks (“liquid candy”)(1). According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, that is equal to “52 teaspoonfuls of added sugars per person per day.”(2) Can you imagine yourself sitting at the kitchen table gobbling down 52 teaspoons of white sugar – every single day? Well, that’s exactly what most of us are doing without even realizing it!

Junk food consumption has increased drastically in the last few decades. Compared to 1981, in 2001 the average American consumed in one year: 45 large bags of potato chips - up 78%; 120 orders of French fries - up 130%; 190 candy bars - up 80%; 120 pastries or desserts - up 95%; 150 slices of pizza - up 143%(3)

My body basically fell apart

“Scores of cheeseburgers, hundreds of fries and dozens of chocolate shakes later, the formerly strapping 6-foot-2 New Yorker - who started out at a healthy 185 pounds - had packed on 25 pounds. But his supersized shape was the least of his problems. Within a few days of beginning his drive-through diet, Spurlock, 33, was vomiting out the window of his car, and doctors who examined him were shocked at how rapidly Spurlock's entire body deteriorated.

‘It was really crazy - my body basically fell apart over the course of 30 days,’ Spurlock told The Post. His liver became toxic, his cholesterol shot up from a low 165 to 230, his libido flagged and he suffered headaches and depression.” (4)

Toxins “stimulate neurons to death”

Junk foods and soft drinks contain dangerous additives, chemicals, and many are laced with excitotoxins “found in such ingredients as monosodium glutamate [MSG], aspartame (NutraSweet®), cysteine, hydrolyzed protein, and aspartic acid”. Excitotoxins are “substances added to foods and beverages that literally stimulate neurons to death, causing brain damage of varying degrees.”(5)

No one’s put it better than nutritionist, Carol Simontacchi, in her best-selling book The Crazy Makers: “Food industries wantonly destroy our bodies and our brains, all in the name of profit.”

Read the entire article by By Dr. Lynn Hardy here >>

Cancer, Longevity, Statins and the ' Ape Diet'

ANDRÉ PICARD PUBLIC HEALTH REPORTER
A customized vegetarian diet can lower cholesterol levels just as effectively as state-of-the-art drugs, according to a new Canadian study.Researchers found that a modernized "ape diet" -- one that is high in fibre, nuts, soy and extracts of leafy greens -- can reduce cholesterol by almost 30 per cent.

By Randall Parker Biomedical

The ape diet had 4 major categories of components.
The key components of the ape diet are plant sterols, found in plant oils and enriched margarines, viscous fibre, found in oats, barley and aubergine, and soy protein and nuts.
The margarines enriched with plant sterols (which compete with cholesterol for absorption) used in the study may have been the commercial brands Take Control, Benecol, and Benecol Light. To up your plant sterol content using natural foods one possibility is pecans with 95 milligrams of plant sterols per 100 grams. However, the level of plant sterols in the margarines is about two orders of magnitude greater (1.7 grams sterols in 14 grams of Take Control) and clinical trials in plant sterols have used about 2 grams per day. Still, the nuts have other heart-healthy benefits.

The researchers claim this diet works because it recreates the kind of diet humans evolved eating.

"We went right back in time to, hypothetically, five million years ago, when the diet would largely be leafy vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds," Dr. Jenkins said.


The results of this study are sufficiently dramatic that JAMA recommends its use before cholesterol-lowering drugs are tried.

In an accompanying editorial, James Anderson, a professor of medicine at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, said the findings have dramatic public-health implications. He suggested that physicians prescribe the "ape diet" to patients before even considering drugs.

This diet is an improvement on the Garden of Eden diet the same researchers developed.
The daily volume of food was about a third of that of the Garden of Eden diet, Jenkins said, adding the people who followed it didn't complain about how much they had to eat but said they couldn't eat any more.

Those who lost weight were asked to, however.
Most of the reports on this study didn't pick up on one particularly interesting result the researchers observed.

Surprisingly, the diet also lowered the levels of C-reactive protein, considered a risk marker for heart disease.

The CRP drop was dramatic.
Equally impressive was a 28 percent drop in C-reactive protein, a substance found in the blood that is a sign of inflammation and possible heart disease. The statin group had a 33 percent drop.
The Scientist has a good recent survey of the many ways chronic inflammation appears to contribute to the development of many diseases. (requires free registration - and I really recommend taking the trouble as they are one of the better science news sites)

Peridontal disease also causes arterial inflammation and increased risk of heart disease.

However, many clinicians were unclear of the cause of elevated CRP levels. A study published earlier this year in the Journal of Periodontology reported that inflammatory effects from periodontal disease, a chronic bacterial infection of the gums, cause oral bacterial byproducts to enter the bloodstream and trigger the liver to make proteins such as CRP that inflame arteries and promote blood clot formation.

Keep your teeth clean and your gums healthy.

Excerpt from Do statins cause cancer or affect longevity?

CONCLUSIONS--Extrapolation of this evidence of carcinogenesis from rodents to humans is an uncertain process. Longer-term clinical trials and careful postmarketing surveillance during the next several decades are needed to determine whether cholesterol-lowering drugs cause cancer in humans. In the meantime, the results of experiments in animals and humans suggest that lipid-lowering drug treatment, especially with the fibrates and statins, should be avoided except in patients at high short-term risk of coronary heart disease.

Daily Yoga Meditation Shown to Improve Memory, May Prevent Alzheimer’s

Semi Lotus Position

Older participants not only gained better memory but their brains worked better.

June 2007 – Your memory getting faulty? Cognitive ability not what it used to be?
New research with older people finds stopping other activity for a daily meditation session can improve your thinking and your memory. The leader of the study thinks these daily 12-minute Yoga sessions may even prevent Alzheimer’s disease.

"This exciting study confirms what we have been observing in clinical practice for many years, that meditation is one of the most effective tools to address memory loss," said Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D., president and medical director of the Alzheimer's Research and Prevention Foundation, the non-profit organization which sponsored the study.

"For the first time, we are seeing scientific evidence that meditation enables the brain to actually strengthen itself, and battle the processes working to weaken it," said Newberg.
"If this kind of meditation is helping patients with memory loss," he continued, "we are encouraged by the prospects that daily practice may even prevent neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's."

Practiced by millions of individuals to reduce stress and anxiety, improve concentration, and even lower blood pressure, meditation is among the most commonly used alternative therapies in the world.

Read it all at SeniorJournal.Com >>