In this issue:
1) Welcome Letter by Sibyl McLendon
2) Dealing With Depression by Pat Valle
3) Steps Towards Inner Peace by Peace Pilgrim
4) The 10 Things in Life that You Control by Jim Allen
5) The Power Of Music
6) How Do You See Things? by Robert Taylor
7) The Fall Of Freddie The Leaf by Leo Buscaglia
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Welcome Letter
by Sibyl Mclendon
Welcome Letter
by Sibyl Mclendon
Yá'át'ééh and welcome to MousePages. I hope this finds each and every one of you well, and prospering. At my house, some of us are better than others.... my husband threw his back out this past week. He has lots of pain medication, so he is pretty darn happy in spite of it!
My youngest son, it turns out, did not pass the physical for the Army, so he is trying to decide what to do now. My oldest son is in the process of reviewing the recording contract that he has been offered. We are all very excited about this. When he has his first record (do they even call them records anymore?) out, I will sure let you all know!
This week, we have another wonderful article by Pat Valle, about depression. With the state of affaris in the country right now, this may be a timely article.
A little funny to leave you with this week:
Life's Reflections
1. I'm not into working out. My philosophy is no pain, no pain.
2. I'm in shape. Round is a shape.
3. Ever notice when you blow in a dog's face he gets mad at you,
but when you take him in a car he sticks his head out the window?
4. Ever notice that anyone driving slower than you is an idiot, but
anyone going faster is a maniac?
Brandon White
The WebProNews Team
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Dealing With Depression
by Pat Valle
Depression is one of the most common disorders that affect millions of Americans every year. Some causes of depression can come from taking prescription drugs for hormones, painkillers, sleeping pills and tranquilizers. Other causes may be from hormonal imbalances, allergies or the loss of a loved one Symptoms may include loss of appetite, intestinal problems, inability to concentrate, headaches, fatigue, heart palpitations as well as thoughts of suicide. Evaluation from a qualified doctor in the area of depression and anxiety should be sought out first to determine possible imbalances such as hypoglycemia, allergies or a thyroid problem.
Mild depression usually passes quickly but when the depression becomes recurrent or constant, then the need for support and counseling should be considered. Drugs are usually prescribed for this disorder but unfortunately they do have side effects and many people develop a dependency on them. Although I do agree that severe depression should be treated aggressively, I don't believe that mild to moderate cases should necessarily be treated in this way.
There may be a deficiency of the B-vitamins including B-12 which can cause mood disturbances. It is important to seek a doctor who is knowledgeable in nutrition to be able to diagnose the problem. Exercise on a daily basis can actually boost ones ability to use more oxygen in which the body releases substances that can affect a positive mood. Amino acids also help boost the brains' energy and stabilizes mood fluctuations. The amino acids such as tyrosine, SAMe, taurine and gaba have been very successful in treating depression disorders. Other studies indicate that dietary changes can be helpful and that there is a possible link between food allergies that can trigger depression. By eliminating caffeine and sugar, people may experience an elevated mood.
Herbal remedies are very popular now because the side effects are minimal compared to prescription drugs. St. John's Wort is one recommendation which is used primarily for mild to moderate depression. It usually takes two to six weeks for the effects to be noticed. It is a photo-sensitive herb and should not be used by people who are in the sun for long periods of time. It should not be used by anyone who is currently using MAO inhibitor drugs or alcohol. Aromatherapy is also very useful as it stimulates the senses. Some essential oils that may help, include lavender, chamomile, geranium, ylang ylang and marjoram. The oils can be used alone or in combination. They can be used by smelling directly from the bottle or diluted in an ounce of carrier oil such as almond or olive oil. A few drops of the essential oil in the carrier oil can be applied to the hands or wrists. If used undiluted it can cause irritation to the skin. Before using any alternative treatment, be sure to check with a health professional.
Remember, there is always hope for depression and it does not have to take over our lives indefinitely. A positive attitude can greatly improves one's mental state.
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Steps Toward Inner Peace: Harmonious Principles for Human Living
By Peace Pilgrim
[Please enjoy this marvelous commentary by the woman who walked more than 25,000 miles during the last few years of her life and who gave up everything, including her name, to become Peace Pilgrim.]
NEGATIVE vs. POSITIVE
I have chosen the positive approach--instead of stressing the bad things which I am against, I stress the good things which I am for. Those who choose the negative approach dwell on what is wrong, resorting to judgment and criticism, and sometimes even to name-calling. Naturally, the negative approach has a detrimental effect on the person who uses it, while the positive approach has a good effect. When evil is attacked, it mobilizes, although it may have been weak and unorganized before, and therefore the attack gives it validity and strength. When there is no attack but instead good influences are brought to bear upon the situation, not only does the evil tend to fade away, but the evil-doer tends to be transformed. The positive approach inspires--the negative approach makes angry. When you make people angry they act in accordance with their baser instincts, often violently and irrationally. When you inspire people they act in accordance with their higher instincts, sensibly and rationally. Anger is transient, whereas inspiration sometimes has a lifelong effect.
ON FEAR
There's no greater block to world peace or inner peace than fear. What we fear we tend to develop and unreasoning hatred for, so we come to hate and fear. This not only injures us psychologically and aggravates world tension, but through such negative concentration we tend to attract the things we fear. If we fear nothing and radiate love, we can expect good things to come. How much this world needs the message and example of love and faith!
THE FREEDOM OF SIMPLICITY
Some seem to think that my life dedicated to simplicity and service is austere and joyless, but these do not know the freedom of simplicity. I know enough about food to nourish my body properly, and I have excellent health. I enjoy food, but I eat to live. I do not live to eat, and I know when to stop eating. I am not enslaved by food. My clothes are most comfortable as well as most practical. My shoes, for instance, have soft fabric tops and soft rubberlike soles--I feel free as if I were walking barefoot. I am not enslaved by fashion. I am not a slave to comfort and convenience--for instance, I sleep equally well in a soft bed or on the grass beside the road. I am not burdened by unnecessary possessions or meaningless activities. My life is full and good, but not overcrowded, and I do my work easily and joyously. I feel beauty all around me and I see beauty in everyone I meet--for I see God in everything. I recognize the laws which govern this universe, and I find harmony through gladly and joyously obeying them. I recognize my part in the Life Pattern, and I find harmony through gladly and joyously living it. I recognize my oneness with all mankind and my oneness with God. My happiness overflows in loving and giving toward everyone and everything.
ON PEOPLE IN OUR TIMES
In order to help usher in the golden age, we must see the good in people--we must know that it is there, no matter how deeply it may be buried. Yes, apathy is there and selfishness is there--but good is there also. It is not through judgment that the good is can be reached, but through love and faith.
SPIRITUAL GROWTH
Spiritual growth is a process the same as physical growth or mental growth. Five year old children do not expect to be as tall as their parents at their next birthday; the first grader does not expect to graduate into college at the end of the term; the truth student should not expect to attain inner peace overnight.
MAGIC FORMULAS
There is a magic formula for resolving conflicts. It is this: Have as your objective the resolving of the conflict, not the gaining of advantage. There is a magic formula for avoiding conflicts. It is this: Be concerned that you do not offend, not that you are not offended.
MY MESSAGE
My friends, the world situation is grave. Humanity with fearful faltering steps, walks a knife-edge between complete chaos and a golden age, while strong forces push toward chaos. Unless we, the people of the world, awake from our lethargy and push firmly and quickly away from the chaos, all that we cherish will be destroyed in the holocaust which will descend.
This is the way of peace: Overcome evil with good, falsehood with truth, and hatred with love.
The Golden Rule would do as well. Please don't say lightly that these are just religious concepts and not practical. These are laws governing human conduct, which apply as rigidly as the law of gravity. When we disregard these laws in any walk of life, chaos results. Through obedience to these laws this frightened, war-weary world of ours could enter into a period of peace and richness of life beyond our fondest dreams.
We people of the world need to learn to put the welfare of the whole human family above the welfare of any group. Starvation and suffering need to be alleviated, as do fear and hatred.
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If you have been inspired by this, there is a little spiritual classic you may want to read:
PEACE PILGRIM
HER LIFE AND WORK IN HER OWN WORDS
This 224-page book was compiled by five of Peace's friends after her death in 1981. It tells her experiences as she walked more than 25,000 miles across America as a penniless pilgrim, walking until given shelter and fasting until given food. She spoke to thousands of individuals and groups, sharing with them her message that the way to peace is to overcome evil with good, falsehood with truth, and hatred with love.
Peace Pilgrim offered her message without any charge, and in the same spirit we will send a printed copy of Steps Toward Inner Peace (in booklet form) and the Peace Pilgrim Book free to any who ask. To request copies:
Friends of Peace Pilgrim
43480 Cedar Avenue
Hemet, California 92544
(909) 927-7678
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The 10 Things in Life that You Control
by Jim Allen
There are just a few aspects of life that we can truly control, and it's useful to know just what those areas are. If you don't know, you'll spend a lot of time blaming others for your own failings. Try and exert too much control in areas you shouldn't and the universe will create some interesting ways to
remind of your place.
So be prepared an learn the 10 things in life that you DO control:
1. What you do
Your actions are yours alone. You choose to make them or not make them and you are responsible for the effects of those actions.
2. What you say
Likewise, the words you speak (or write) are also consciously chosen. Like actions, they have an impact on your life and the lives of those you contact.
3. What you think
Yes, there are some subconscious thoughts that you can't control. But the things that you really think about, your beliefs, your ideals, etc. are
concepts you have chosen to accept and believe in.
4. Your work
Many people like to overlook this one, it being much easier to say "Oh, I'm trapped in my job because I don't have a degree, experience, etc." Hogwash! That's simple a way of denying one's responsibility in having chosen the job in the first place.
It's your job and you chose it. If you stay (or go), that's a choice as well.
5. Who you associate with
There's a famous t-shirt that states: "It's hard to soar like an eagle when you're surrounded by turkeys."
Your friends can either lift you up or bring you down. You make the decision which type of friends you wish to have.
6. Your health
Much of our health is a factor of genetics, environment, and exposure. Much more of our health is simply a matter of the things we choose: diet, exercise, drugs, sleep, routine physicals, check-ups, etc.
7. The environment you live in
Your house, the condition of your home, the town you live in, the amenities available to you are all things you can control, although some to a lesser degree (i.e., you decide to tolerate them or move someplace else).
8. Your finances
Having or not having enough money is a factor of what you make versus what you spend.
9. Your time
You choose how to "spend" your time and how much of your time to give to various activities. You'll never get more time than the 24 hours your given each day.
10. Your legacy
All your actions, words, and knowledge that you share while you are living become the gift that you leave when you are gone.
____
Jim Allen is a life and business coach. Get more great ideas in you email every week by subscribing to Jim's weekly newsletter, THE BIG IDEA, by sending a blank email to: mailto:Subscribe@CoachJim.com (©2001 Jim Allen & CoachJim.com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED)
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The River
Written by: Garth Brooks, Victoria Shaw
You know a dream is like a river
Ever changin' as it flows
And a dreamer's just a vessel
That must follow where it goes
Trying to learn from what's behind you
And never knowing what's in store
Makes each day a constant battle
Just to stay between the shores.. and
I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry
Like a bird upon the wind
These waters are my sky
I'll never reach my destination
If I never try
So I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry
Too many times we stand aside
And let the waters slip away
'Til what we put off 'til tomorrow
Has now become today
So don't you sit upon the shoreline
And say you're satisfied
Choose to chance the rapids
And dare to dance the tide.. yes
I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry
Like a bird upon the wind
These waters are my sky
I'll never reach my destination
If I never try
So I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry
And there's bound to be rough waters
And I know I'll take some falls
But with the good Lord as my captain
I can make it through them all.. yes
I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry
Like a bird upon the wind
These waters are my sky
I'll never reach my destination
If I never try
So I will sail my vessel
'Til the river runs dry
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How Do You See Things?
by Robert Taylor
Most of us see circumstances through our own biased perceptions. We see them based on our beliefs and experiences. No two people will see the same event in the same manner.
Proof of this lies in the fact you can take statements concerning an accident from 20 people and none of the versions will exactly match. Each person adds to or detracts from their description of the accident based on what they expected to see or what they were looking for.
Things happen. It is our perception of them that defines them as being good, bad or indifferent. When you fear snakes you see every piece of vine and tree limb lying on the ground as a snake until you observe it closer.
We plan a picnic and it rains. This ruins our day. However, to the farmer who has gone through a long spell with no rain, it is welcome and makes his day wonderful. The rain has not changed. It is just seen from a different perspective.
When we incorporate the farmer's viewpoint into ours, the rain takes on a different meaning. Our day is no longer ruined and we actually enjoy it.
We often hear you can look at a glass as either being half- empty or half-full. There is yet another way to look at this. You can see that the same amount of content would fill a smaller glass or appear to be even less than it is in a larger glass. The amount of content has remained the
same, our perception of it has changed.
Ah, but there is also magic in the way we perceive things. We can always change our viewpoints to more closely match what we really and truly desire rather than rely solely on past biases and experiences.
We can choose to see everything that is and that happens in a new light. We can elect to feel that all things are beneficial to us. Electricity is one of the greatest benefits we enjoy today, however it is deadly when someone is electrocuted. We could not long live without water, but
it is deadly to those who cannot swim.
Gravity, which is beneficial because it keeps us from flying off into space, is deadly if you are falling from a great height. Oxygen is required for life and is dangerous in its purest form.
The above are just a few items which are both beneficial and dangerous. In the end, it is our perception and use of these things that gives them their qualities as they apply to us individually.
How do you perceive things to be?
Copyright 2001 by Robert Taylor
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THE FALL OF FREDDIE THE LEAF
A Story of Life for All Ages LEO BUSCAGLIA, Ph. D.
Spring had passed.
So had Summer.
Freddie, the leaf, had grown large. His mid section was wide and strong, and his five extensions were firm and pointed.
He had first appeared in Spring as a small sprout on a rather large branch near the top of a tall tree.
Freddie was surrounded by hundreds of other leaves just like himself, or so it seemed. Soon he discovered that no two leaves were alike, even though they were on the same tree. Alfred was the leaf next to him. Ben was the leaf on his right side, and Clare was the lovely leaf overhead. They had all grown up together. They had learned to dance in the Spring breezes, bask lazily in the Summer sun and wash off in the cooling rains.
But it was Daniel who was Freddie's best friend. He was the largest leaf on the limb and seemed to have been there before anyone else. It appeared to Freddie that Daniel was also the wisest among them. It was Daniel who told them that they were part of a tree. It was Daniel who explained that they were growing in a public park. It was Daniel who told them that the tree had strong roots which were hidden in the ground below. He explained about the birds who came to sit on their branch and sing morning songs. He explained about the sun, the moon, the stars, and the seasons.
Freddie loved being a leaf. He loved his branch, his light leafy friends, his place high in the sky, the wind that jostled him about, the sun rays that warmed him, the moon that covered him with soft, white shadows.
Summer had been especially nice. The long hot days felt good and the warm nights were peaceful and dreamy.
There were many people in the park that Summer. They often came and sat under Freddie's tree. Daniel told him that giving shade was part of his purpose.
"What's a purpose?" Freddie had asked.
"A reason for being," Daniel had answered. "To make things more pleasant for others is a reason for being. To make shade for old people who come to escape the heat of their homes is a reason for being. To provide a cool place for children to come and play. To fan with our leaves the picnickers who come to eat on checkered tablecloths. These are all the reasons for being."
Freddie especially liked the old people. They sat so quietly on the cool grass and hardly ever moved. They talked in whispers of times past.
The children were fun, too, even though they sometimes tore holes in the bark of the tree or carved their names into it. Still, it was fun to watch them move so fast and to laugh so much.
But Freddie's Summer soon passed.
It vanished on an October night. He had never felt it so cold. All the leaves shivered with the cold. They were coated with a thin layer of white which quickly melted and left them dew drenched and sparkling in the morning sun.
Again, it was Daniel who explained that they had experienced their first frost, the sign that it was Fall and that Winter would come soon.
Almost at once, the whole tree, in fact, the whole park was transformed into a blaze of color. There was hardly a green leaf left. Alfred had turned a deep yellow. Ben had become a bright orange. Clare had become a blazing red, Daniel a deep purple and Freddie was red and gold and blue. How beautiful they all looked. Freddie and his friends had made their tree a rainbow.
"Why did we turn different colors," Freddie asked, "when we are on the same tree?"
"Each of us is different. We have had different experiences. We have faced the sun differently. We have cast shade differently. Why should we not have different colors?" Daniel said matter-of-factly. Daniel told Freddie that this wonderful season was called Fall.
One day a very strange thing happened. The same breezes that, in the past, had made them dance began to push and pull at their stems, almost as if they were angry. This caused some of the leaves to be torn from their branches and swept up in the wind, tossed about and dropped softly to the ground.
All the leaves became frightened.
"What's happening?" they asked each other in whispers.
"It's what happens in Fall," Daniel told them. "It's the time for leaves to change their home. Some people call it to die."
"Will we all die?" Freddie asked.
"Yes," Daniel answered. "Everything dies. No matter how big or small, how weak or strong. We first do our job. We experience the sun and the moon, the wind and the rain. We learn to dance and to laugh. Then we die."
"I won't die!" said Freddie with determination. "Will you, Daniel?"
"Yes," answered Daniel, "when it's my time."
"When is that?" asked Freddie.
"No one knows for sure," Daniel responded.
Freddie noticed that the other leaves continued to fall. He thought, "It must be their time." He saw that some of the leaves lashed back at the wind before they fell, others simply let go and dropped quietly.
Soon the tree was almost bare.
"I'm afraid to die," Freddie told Daniel. "I don't know what's down there."
"We all fear what we don't know, Freddie. It's natural," Daniel reassured him. "Yet, you were not afraid when Summer became Fall. They were natural changes. Why should you be afraid of the season of death?"
"Does the tree die, too?" Freddie asked.
"Someday. But there is something stronger than the tree. It is Life. That lasts forever and we are all a part of Life."
"Where will we go when we die?"
"No one knows for sure. That's the great mystery!"
"Will we return in the Spring?"
"We may not, but Life will."
"Then what has been the reason for all of this?" Freddie continued to question. "Why were we here at all if we only have to fall and die?"
Daniel answered in his matter-of-fact way, "It's been about the sun and the moon. It's been about happy times together. It's been about the shade and the old people and the children. It's been about colors in Fall. It's been about seasons. Isn't that enough?"
"That afternoon, in the golden light of dusk, Daniel let go. He fell effortlessly. He seemed to smile peacefully as he fell. "Goodbye for now, Freddie," he said.
Then, Freddie was all alone, the only leaf on his branch.
The first snow fell the following morning. It was soft, white, and gentle; but it was bitter cold. There was hardly any sun that day, and the day was very short. Freddie found himself losing his color, becoming brittle. It was constantly cold and the snow weighed heavily upon him.
At dawn the wind came that took Freddie from his branch. It didn't hurt at all. He felt himself float quietly, gently and softly downward.
As he fell, he saw the whole tree for the fist time. How strong and firm it was! He was sure that it would live for a long time and he knew that he had been part of its life and made him proud.
