  |
|
|
|
Jerry Lopper's BlogPosted by Jerry Lopper MaAnna Stephenson's new book, The Sage Age: Blending Science with Intuitive Wisdom explores the interfaces between science and intuition. MaAnna's extensive research, taking over four years to complete, chronicles studies and breakthroughs over a wide range of topics from antennas to quantum physics. Throughout, MaAnna documents studies that may provide a scientific basis for the work of intuitives and holistic healers. The Sage Age appears to be a thorough reference book, complete with source references. This is a worthwhile book for the person with interests in rationally based sciences as well as faith based human achievements. More on The Sage Age >>> Posted by Jerry Lopper Whether the issue is work/life balance, finding time for yourself, looking for meaning in your life, or wondering if there's a job for you that's satisfying, finding a balanced life is a major problem for millions. The following articles address the issues of finding a balanced life. Values, Passions, & Strengths in Life Balance Five Steps to a Balanced Life: Use Values, Passions, and Strengths to Bring Balance to your Life. Five important actions you can take to get balance and control back in your life...more>>> Fundamentals of a Balanced Life: Learn the Basic Building Blocks for Work-Life Balance Learn how to build a solid foundation for a balanced life...more>>> Work-Life Balance Worksheet Work Life Balance Worksheet: Chart Your Balance in Life and Correct Work-Life Imbalance Learn to chart your life balance and request your own copy ...more>>> Five Important Skills for a Balanced Life Positive Thinking for Life Balance: Use Unique Strengths in Combination with Optimistic Hopeful Thoughts There are five skills important to a balanced life...more>>> Self Awareness for Life Balance: Manage Time & Learn to Say No Positively This article address three more skills: Self Awareness...more>>> Life Balance and a Personal Foundation Find Balance in Life: Overcome Work Life Imbalance with a Strong Personal Foundation The five components of a strong personal foundation will help bring life balance...more>>> Time Management and Multi-Tasking Is Work/Life Balance About Multi Tasking: A Balanced Life Builds on a Fundamental Foundation of Life Purpose Discover the fundamentals that support a balanced life...more>>> Additional Resources Self paced course, The Balanced Life Posted by Jerry Lopper Lucid Living, a small book with a powerful and thought-provoking message has lingered in my mind since my recent review . I tend to agree with the theme, that the life we call reality is more illusion than absolute. How I see the world colors and shapes my experiences, others having the same circumstances will experience them differently. I see that phenomena regularly. My limited physical senses make it difficult to fully get my mind around the concept that the world I'm experiencing, including everyone in it, exists only in the illusion I call life. So I'm left with loads of questions I can't answer. But when I experience a vivid dream that seems so real, includes people and emotion and action that feels real, and I feel lingering emotions as a result of the experience, I can see and accept the point of Lucid Living. So if my life is a dream-like illusion of experiences, why do I have the second level experience of dreams within my dream? Because of experiences that I can't fit-in my day-time experience? Is night-time dreaming a second shift for desired experiences that don't make the first shift cut? If you enjoy pondering life's mysteries, knowing full well the answers will remain just out of sight, read Lucid Living. It's a great mental and philosophical challenge. Posted by Jerry Lopper The HappinessClub is a web site dedicated to pomoting the benefits of happiness. You can join the Happiness Club free or start your own club in your area. The Happiness Club features this quote by Lionel Ketchian, "Happiness is an inner state of well-being that enables you to profit from your highest thoughts, intelligence, wisdom, awareness, common sense, emotions, health, and spiritual values." The site offers free e-books, audios, videos, articles, and a discussion blog. Becoming happier is an important and worthy area of personal growth. Several of my happiness-oriented articles are: A Path to Happiness Through Meaningful Work Positive Psychology &Happiness Be Happy with a Happiness Attitude The Six Life Benefits of Happiness July 10, 2008 was International Happiness Day, so I'm a bit late with this posting. But it's never too late to learn to be happy. Posted by Jerry Lopper Many of the articles I write for Suite101 are inspired by the work of positive psychology researchers. A fairly new branch of psychology, positive psychology is focused on the study of well being, studying people at their best. What I love about positive psychology is its dedication to making the benefits of research available to all of us through articles, courses, moderately priced books, and conferences. These are not limited to the inner circle of psychologists, but open to anyone with an interest in human well being. Alex Linley, a major force in positive psychology implementation resides in the United Kingdom. In 2005, he founded the Centre for Applied Positive Psychology, with a mission of Strengthening the World. Linley's latest book, Average to A+, Realising Strengths in Yourself and Others addresses his primary interest of bringing out the best in people. I've ordered the book and will be reviewing it here in the near future. In the meantime, you may be interested in some of the articles I've written on using your strengths. These are: Strengths for Life Satisfaction Posted by Jerry Lopper Did you feel happy yesterday? The Gallup Organization may call tonight to ask that question. Gallup, in partnership with Healthways Inc., is conducting 1000 interviews each night in the U.S. Gallup asks a series of questions about the events of the previous day and how the person felt that day. The database of over 150,000 interviews is providing a wealth of information about health, happiness, and well being. You may not be surprised to find that people feel more stress on work days than on weekends. Not a big revelation there, but the specifics are interesting: On Friday, June 14th, 2008, 11% of those surveyed said they had a lot of stress or worry the day before (a normal work day). On the following Monday, June 16, only 7% reported stress or worry the previous day, Sunday. The Gallup Poll results site reports that "On a given day, 49% of Americans experience a lot of enjoyment/happiness, while 10% experience intense stress/worry. The percentage of Americans who experience a lot of happiness/enjoyment compared to those who experience intense stress/worry is highest for those who report spending six to seven hours socializing." This confirms positive psychology researcher findings that social contact improves happiness. Posted by Jerry Lopper In late March of this year I put out a few requests for volunteers to test a new Balanced Life E-course I was developing. One of the requests was in a Suite101 blog post, others in my personal blog and Suite's writer's forum. The course testing is now complete and I'm wrapping up modifications, corrections, and improvements. So I asked myself, what have I learned from this experience? I learned:
All in all, this was an excellent experience. Humbling at times, but I learned much and the E-course will be much, much better for the involvement of others. Posted by Jerry Lopper One of the fascinating aspects of life is the regularity with which life presents us with opportunities to experience who we really are. Some may view these same situations as frustrations when the unexpected shows up and disrupts what was planned. Forty five year old Phan Thi Kim Phuc was a happy nine year old when the horrors of the Vietnam War changed her peaceful village life in a horrific way. You may have seen her in a famous, Pulitzer Prize winning photo. Phuc is the little girl running naked with her skin burning from a napalm bomb attack. "Napalm is very powerful, but faith and forgiveness are much more powerful," Phuc was quoted as saying in a recent speech in Columbus, Ohio (The Columbus Dispatch, May 8, 2008, by Meredith Heagney). Though faced with the horrible deaths of family members and years of painful skin surgeries, Phuc is a happy, peaceful person. How Phuc thinks about what life presented her is captured fully as she asked her audience, "Please don't see her (herself, the girl in the picture) as crying out in pain and fear, see her as crying out in peace." Most of us don't have to go through events as traumatic as this woman, but we all have the opportunities to react to the unexpected by being true to what we believe, what we value, and how we choose to view the world. Posted by Jerry Lopper A Dublin, Ohio company has few rules for employees other than doing the job. Employees have unlimited vacation and sick days, flexible schedules, and an informal work environment without cubicles, walls, or corner offices for the bosses. Reporter Amy Saunders of the Columbus Dispatch summarizes, "...they come to the office, behave responsibly and do their work. Really." Founder Jack Buchanan responds, "Why wouldn't they. They have a job to do." Buchanan's ad agency fosters a culture of mutual respect. No one has been fired for abusing the company's policies, though they have if unable to fit into the relaxed, responsible culture. "Companies have the myth that you can control people - you can't control them, but you can make them miserable," says Buchanan. Hmm, quite a contrast from the environment depicted in the comic strip Dilbert, which many painfully see as accurate representations of their employers. Posted by Jerry Lopper If you're reading this you're experiencing what, in my mind, is a true wonder of the world - the Internet. There are many lists of the Wonders of the World, most being natural or man-made structures. The Internet merits a "Wonder" rating for this one reason: it joins humanity as nothing has in the past, except for personal travels. Through our inter-communications with each other we're able to see that people in different countries, with different cultures, governments, and religious beliefs share with us the basic human desires, interests, fears, and joys. The organizations of church and state are separatist by nature. They've divided us into us and them by highlighting differences. Sure, we're all different in many ways, but the ways that we're the same far outweigh our differences. We can see that for ourselves once we communicate directly with another person. The Internet makes that ability a daily occurrence. This came home to me again due to a brief, but very enjoyable interchange of email with Susan, who resides in Australia. In discussing this topic, Susan observed that the anonymity of our Internet exchanges allows us to assess a person based on what is said, the tone, the words chosen, etc. without the handicap of pre-judgments based on a person's skin color, weight, age, and citizenship. Enjoy what you read on the Internet, evaluate informational content for yourself, and bless your ability to tap into a world-wide communication tool so easily. Posted by Jerry Lopper A study published recently in the Archives of Internal Medicine, and reported on by the Associated Press, indicates that a government recommended diet for lowering blood pressure prevents heart attack and stroke, even in those without high blood pressure. Research begun in 1980, involving more than 88,000 healthy women analyzed their food choices and noted that those whose diets closely modeled the recommendations of DASH were 24 percent less likely to suffer a heart attack and 18 percent less likely to have a stroke. DASH, for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension recommends a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat milk, and plant based protein, with limited amounts of total fat and saturated fat. The DASH food pyramid is a product of the FDA. Though the study focused on women, Simmons College researcher Teresa Fung, the study's lead author suggested that men would probably get similar results. Tonight's dinner: Spicy red beans and whole grain brown rice. Fruit for dessert! Posted by Jerry Lopper Lost your car keys again? Concerned because you went into a room purposefully, only to realize you have no idea what you went in to get? It's probably not Alzheimers or early stages of dementia, but lack of concentration. This, according to Patricia Curtis in the March 2008 issue of Readers Digest. Curtis quotes Zaldy S. Tan, MD, director of the Memory Disorders Clinic at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, who says, "Forgetting these types of things is a sign of how busy we are. When we're not paying good attention, the memories we form aren't very robust, and we have a problem retrieving the information later." As I described in a review of Dan Gilbert's, Stumbling on Happiness , Gilbert explains it this way. We compress the huge amount of data that we perceive in a given experience into a few critical components: the sensory highlights and associated emotions. Later, as we recall the event, our mind brings up the highlights and emotions and fills in the rest. That's right, we imagine what would have occurred to smooth out the few pieces of fact and form a complete story. So our mental lapses may be nothing more than lack of focus and concentration. Whew! Now where did I put that flash drive? Posted by Jerry Lopper **Notice** The trial or beta test of this Life Balance E-course is now filled and has begun. If you are interested in a future offering of this course, email me. Striking a good balance between work, family, friends, recreation, and all the other roles of life can be very challenging. It's no fun to be overwhelmed, over-worked, and facing the end of the day with no time for yourself. The articles I've written on Life Balance are quite popular. Requests for the free Pillars of a Balanced Life Worksheet are also high. But the Pillars Worksheet is just a start at gaining clarity on the balance, or lack of it, in life. And the articles are independent, generally found through search engines and inter-related only by internal links. So I'm working on an E-course that will combine an initial balance assessment, lessons and exercises in implementing life balance ideas, explanation of the five fundamental building blocks of a balanced life, and describe the four skill sets needed to put it all together. A wrap-up evaluation is also planned, all of this delivered by email once each week for six or seven weeks. I'm looking for a small group of people to trial the E-course. The trial group will receive the E-course free, but must agree to:
All participants must be adults, 18 years of age or over. Participation by those with well balanced lives is desirable as well as those seeking greater life balance. Send your request to participate to personaldevelopment@suite101.com. Posted by Jerry Lopper I'm intrigued by the human mind and soul. Oh, the body is pretty interesting, too. But mind and soul always interest me. Both are so powerful, mysterious, and deeply hidden from view. Yet we accomplish who we are by routinely using the forces and capabilities of mind and soul. What intrigues me the most is learning to use mind and soul for better living. The research out of positive psychology indicates that there is much each of us can do, and do easily, to have happier, more fulfilling lives. My articles based on positive psychology information are among the most popular at Personal Development. So when the opportunity came to join the newly formed International Positive Psychology Association, I jumped on it. I look forward to bringing the latest thoughts from positive psychology research to everyone working to be the best they can be. Posted by Jerry Lopper I'm a do-it-yourselfer first class. My first inclination when something is broken is to fix it. This goes for household appliances, cars, electrical, and plumbing problems. Even people problems aren't immune from my tinkering and fixing nature. So when it comes to finding application software to do a job, I favor F-R-E-E open source solutions. I've found there are many excellent open source products available for the do-it-yourselfer. Open source is the term used for software that is non-proprietary and freely shared. Open source code is documented and made available to anyone wanting to use it as is or modify it for their own purposes. Generally, open source products are free, although some developers charge for installation, customization, and ongoing support. Some open source programs are backed by active and helpful support forums, but many are one-person operations, severely limiting the availability of timely advice. Watch for reviews on several excellent open source application programs that are applicable to the small business owner, web designer, pod caster, and mass communicator. Posted by Jerry Lopper There's nothing quite as relaxing and entertaining as a good fictional who-done-it. I was recently introduced to Brian Haig, author of several legal thrillers. Brian's main character, Sean Drummond, is an ace lawyer in the Army's JAG unit. JAG, for Judge Advocate General, is the oldest legal firm in the US, established in 1775 by George Washington as the legal arm of the Army. Drummond has a secret past in Army Special Operations, one of those invisible units that do the dirty work behind enemy lines. Now he's a JAG lawyer, with a flair for getting assigned to clients (that's how the Army does it) that don't seem to have a prayer of acquittal for charges of nasty things like murder, rape, and espionage. Drummond also has a flair for digging deeply, persistently, and obnoxiously until he solves the conspiracy/frame up/murder and wins the case. He's an A-1 lawyer, investigator, detective, and wise-guy. But there are lots of legal and detective thrillers in the fiction market. What caught my undivided attention and readership is that Haig's Sean Drummond is funny; not just heh-heh, or giggle-funny, but out and out laugh-until-you-cry funny. Brian Haig knows the inner workings of the Army. A West Point graduate and career strategist, he was a special assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the inner circle of military planning. Politics and the military are in his blood. He's the son of Alexander Haig, former Secretary of State. He now has six books published, his latest being Man in the Middle, published in 2007. His next book is targeted for early 2009. I can't wait! Posted by Jerry Lopper Relationships are such a fundamental component of our lives. How we interact with others, our reactions to their swings of mood, their acceptance and support of us, or lack of it, all this and more provides richness to our experiences of life. And yes, some problems and frustrations, too. I notice the insights some authors have on the relationships portrayed in their books. Anne Perry, for one, often explores relationships very deeply with her characters. In Shoulder the Sky, her character Joseph was in a life threatening situation, set adrift in the Atlantic in a small boat after a confrontation with a German U boat. "He began to think of all the things that mattered most...his family, the people he loved who formed the frame of his life within which everything else took meaning. What was laughter or beauty or understanding if there was no one with whom to share it? What was achievement alone?" In At Some Disputed Barricade, her character, Mason, reflecting on his love for Judith, though they were so different. "She was part of his dreams, of the quiet places inside him that fed his strength, the things for which he struggled and climbed to his feet when he fell, the thing that gave the journey a purpose , a distinction, a place to belong." Author Beth Nonte Russell, in Forever Lily, describes the difference between facing a life event alone or with someone. Paraphrased, she said a good event was twice as good when shared with someone, and a bad event only half as bad. I've observed that it's much more enjoyable to share an Hawaiian sunset with a loved one than to observe it alone. And the pain of a personal loss is measurably reduced when two or more share it. Posted by Jerry Lopper A friend told this story of her son and his girlfriend. On Valentines Day the girl presented her boyfriend with a personally written greeting, listing the nice things they had done together, the memories they'd made, and how much they all meant to her. This was a heartfelt and emotional gift filled with her love. In return, and apparently while driving, the boy presented his gift--a hastily purchased stuffed bear bearing a heart-shaped Valentine. The girlfriend, seeing a commercial gift with little thought behind it and no expression of personal feelings, promptly lowered the car window and tossed out the gift. It should not surprise us to learn that this relationship did not last much longer. If you're faced with Valentine's Day fast approaching and no gift in hand, keep in mind that the best gifts are given from the heart. It's not the size, cost, or uniqueness of the gift that will determine whether it will have a place in your recipient's heart, but the size of unique thought that goes into the gift. Grand words from Hallmark are fine, but an outpouring of feelings is better, no matter how it's worded. For personal messages of love that you can put in your own words, read Unique Valentine Gift Ideas. Posted by Jerry Lopper The Mediterranean Diet Recent findings from the NIH/AARP Diet and Health Study indicate the eating habits of Greece and southern Italy reduce the risk of death from all causes by twenty percent, according to an article in the January&February 2008 issue of AARP The Magazine. The so-called Mediterranean Diet has long been known for its heart health benefits. Now this data provides an even greater incentive to eat Mediterranean style. This diet features:
New Year Resolution Was a New Year resolution of yours to start eating healthier? Though most resolutions fail within a few weeks, these research finding should help reinforce your commitment to dietary change. Changing eating habits can be difficult. But researchers tell us that we can form new habits in as little as 30 days of regular use. For help with the psychology of change, read Changing for Good. Posted by Jerry Lopper Brain Food A research update in the January&February issue of AARP indicates that eating foods rich in carotenoids may help keep your brain sharp. Carotenoids are the natural fat-soluble pigments which give plants their color. A French study of people in their 70s found that those with the lowest scores on cognitive (thinking) tests also had the lowest levels of zeaxanthin and lycopene. Zeaxanthin is the carotenoid in dark-green leafy vegatables and yellow and orange fruits and vegatables. Lycopene is found in tomatoes and watermelon. Other research demonstrates that mind exercises are also positive factors in preserving mental acuity. So, while you're doing those crossword puzzles, take to heart your mother's reminder to "eat your colors" and snack on carrots, tomatoes,and green-leafy vegetables. Posted by Jerry Lopper Global Warming Global warming. Are we destroying our environment? Are the glaciers melting at a rate that will raise ocean levels and create beach-front property in Pennsylvania? Well, that may be extreme. Though there is some dissent, the overwhelming majority believe that scientific evidence confirms our planet's climate is warming, and that this will have a serious detrimental affect on future generations. Climate Counts An organization named Climate Counts provides a forum for individual consumers to take some action. No demonstrations, marches, or letter writing campaigns to public officials, but economic action designed to influence corporate actions. The lead paragraph at Climate Counts says, "Everyone's talking about global warming, but what can you personally do about it? When you buy from companies taking responsibility for climate change, you're sending a message that climate change matters to you. Not all companies share that sense of responsibility. But if they know you're paying attention to what they're doing (or not doing), they'll take action." Climate Counts is a non-profit coalition funded by Stonyfield Farm, Inc. and launched in collaboration with Clean Air-Cool Planet. Climate Counts use a 0-to-100 point scale and 22 criteria to determine if companies have:
The scorecard for each company is viewable, along with links to email your encouragement or complaint to the corporate CEO. A company's score is reduced to one of three progress-marking categories for simplicity: Stuck, Starting, and Striding. It's easy to compare company results in nine sectors: For example, Canon is the top rated company (Striding) in the Electronics sector, while Apple is far distant in last place (Stuck). The next time you make a purchase, consider supporting a company that is doing something about planet Earth. Posted by Jerry Lopper In a study of the behaviors of 20,000 men and women in the United Kingdom, researchers conclude that adopting four healthy behaviors can add, on average, fourteen years of life. No need to search for the magical waters of the fountain of youth, nor to try the longevity-potions concocted by TV pitchmen. Simply adopt these four behaviors:
That's it! Though adopting each of these healthy behaviors has long been advised by health experts, this study quantifies the benefit in terms of longer life--fourteen years worth. The good news is that adopting these four behaviors is within the reach of everyone, regardless of income, geography, or social status. Source: Public Library of Science (2008, January 9). Four Health Behaviors Can Add 14 Extra Years Of Life. ScienceDaily. Retrieved January 11, 2008, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2008/01/080108083001.htm Posted by Jerry Lopper If healthy eating and weight control are included in your goals for 2008, avoid the center aisles of your local grocery store. Stick to the perimeter, says Bonnie Axab Powell in the January, 2008 issue of Wired. Powell indicates that most chain groceries arrange produce, dairy, and meats around the store's periphery. Processed foods and impulse items are clustered in the middle aisles. Where are foods high in refined sugar? The middle aisles, especially concentrated in cereals and snacks. These also include the highest concentrations of calories by weight, according to Powell. If you've resolved to eat healthy this year, keep your grocery cart away from the store's mid-section. Instead, load up on produce, low fat dairy, and low fat meats. You'll have an easier time meeting your goals and you'll save money, too. |
|
|
|
