Mental Nutrition

After some lapse in posting new blogs, here I am again resuming from where I left off sometime ago.

First Dose: What's New that I've recently learned -

For my favorite source of "new" knowledge, I like to forage through the old and used books section of the" Friends of the Library." Almost all libraries have this section. It is a good place to buy books for practically nothing - as low as $0.10 up to about $1.00 per book. And these are not necessarily old books. They can even be recent best sellers. But I digress.

Here's what I learned from one of the "old" books I picked up: Feeling Good - The New Mood Therapy by Dr. David D. Burns, a Signet Book, first printed in 1981.

Depression has been called the world's number one public health problem! It is so widespread that it is called the "common cold" of psychiatric disturbances. However, there is a very significant difference between your common cold and depression. While a cold can give you running nose and some degree of discomfort, a depression left unchecked can actually kill you! Now that is really serious. This is because depression can lead to suicide! In recent years, there has been a shocking inrease in the suicide rate, even among children and adolescents. This, despite the wide use of antidepressant drugs and tranquilizers - dispensed in the Billions of dollars!

Now before I depress you any further with this rather gloomy bit of knowledge, let me tell you the good news about it: Depression can be overcome by simple methods for MOOD ELEVATION. Dr. Burns has recently developed what is termed: COGNITIVE THERAPY - a clinically proven revolutionary method of drug-free treatment for depression from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine.
My understanding of the essence of this treatment is: by managing your moods, you can effectively deal with depression and its very dangerous, destructive effects. This Cognitive Therapy is a fast-acting technique that can be learned by anyone and applied personally without necessarily going to a psychiatrist.

The benefits that this method provides include:

• Rapid Symptomatic Improvement: For mild depressions, the effects can be noted within a few weeks - about 12 weeks.
• Understanding: You'll learn why you get moody and what you can do to change it.
• Self-Control: You'll learn to develop and apply practical, realistic, step-by-step self-help plans to put you moods under greater voluntary control.
• Prevention and Personal Growth: Provide genuine and long-lasting prophylaxis (prevention) of future mood swings that can lead to your personal growth.

This is a far as I will go with this. You have the information, just pick it up from there and learn the details about it yourself. My message here really is that while depression can be very damaging and dangerous to your well being, YOU can DO SOMETHING to correct it - YOURSELF! Just take the effort to learn how.

Second Dose: Now for Something FUNNY or Light -

Doctor: "This is a very sad case, very sad indeed. I much regret to tell you that your wife's mind is gone - completely gone."

Husband: "I'm not at all surprised, doctor. She's been giving me a piece of it every day for the last twenty years."

-----

"How did your wife get on with her slimming diet?"
"Fine - she disappeared completely last week!"

-------

He: "But you promised at the altar to obey me."

She: "Of course. I didn't want to make a scene."

____

Third Dose: Here's something Inspiring from Helen Steiner Rice:

Enfolded in His Love

The LOVE of GOD surrounds us
Like the air we breathe around us --
As near as a heartbeat,
as close as a prayer.
And whenever we need HIM
HE will always be there!

GOD's Love

GOD's Love is like an island
In life's ocean vast and wide -
A peaceful, quiet shelter
From the restless, rising tide.

GOD's Live is like an anchor
When the angry billows roll -
A mooring in the storms of life,
A stronghold for the soul.

GOD's Love is like a fortress
And we seek protection there
When the waves of tribulation
Seems to drown us in despair.

GOD's Love is like a harbor
Where our souls can find sweet rest
From the struggle and the tension
Of life's fast and futile quest . . .

GOD's Love is like a beacon
Burning bright with FAITH and PRAYER
And through the changing scenes of life
We can find a HAVEN THERE!

And that is it, for "Your Daily Dose" today. I know this is supposed to be a daily posting, but just like most of you perhaps, I just get caught up in many other things to do to keep us with this. But, I will try to post as often as I can. Just bear with me, thank you.

Vacation Break

The schedule of Your Daily Dose had just barely started when it was pleasantly interrupted for several weeks by a short but sweet vacation, and then an extra week of training in my regular work. So we will take up where we left off, starting this week - beginning today, Sunday Sept. 7, 2008.

Once more, let me share with you at least compiled doses of:

1. Some new knowledge learned
2. Something funny or comic
3. Something inspiring

First on SOMETHING NEW that I've learned:

During the school break, I took the opportunity not only to go on vacation to my hometown nearly half way across the Pacific, but also to have a good physical check up. Everything turned turned out OK, thankfully, but in the process, I learned a little bit more about this most amazing machine with no equal, even by today's latest technology: the human body.

Here are a few interesting bits of bio-data:

• Our circulatory system, with the heart as the central organ, pumps 10 pints of blood every minute - and up to 30 pints of blood during brisk exercise - through about 60,000 miles of arteries, veins, and capillaries.
• An average adult body holds from 8 to 10 pints of blood which contains some 25 trillion red cells (for carrying oxygen) and 25 billion white cells (for fighting disease). Some white cells have a life cycle of only about 12 hours, while the red cells have a life cycle of about 120 days.
• Our body is 2/3 water, about 10 gallons of it, or 60% of an average person's weight.
• Our body also has an odd assortment of other substances: enough fat for seven cakes of soap, enough lime to whitewash a small shed, the carbon equivalent of a 28-pound bag of coke, enough phosphorus to make 2,200 matches, an enough iron equivalent to a one-inch nail.
• We also have a spoonful or more of sulfur and an ounce of various other metals, other than iron. That's quite an assortment that our body needs in order to function efficiently. If there are deficiencies in any one of them, it would affect our normal body's functions. For example, if our diet is deficient in iodine, the thyroid gland enlarges, causing the dramatic swelling in the neck (goiter). All the factors or elements necessary for our health are taken in through our food - all except one: the oxygen that we breathe.
• A human baby starts out with 305 bones, some of which fuse together as it develops until there are about 206 (with some variations), operated by 650 muscles and more than 100 joints. The tendons anchoring muscle to bone are strong enough to withstand 8 tons per square inch of stress, with the thigh bone taking a strain of half a ton per square inch while walking! Can you imagine the stresses than those Olympic athletes - particularly the gymnasts - have to be able to withstand?
  

Our complex human machinery is encased in a flexible, waterproof covering that is our skin. An average man has about 20 square feet of it. This skin covering wears away and is replaced every few weeks. It also has about 5 million hairs, each lasting about 3 years, and has about 4 million embedded "receptors" that enable us to feel, distinguish between hot and cold, and experience pain or comfort.

We need "fuel" in order to sustain the body's operating needs. In a lifetime, an average person consumes about 50 tons of food and at least 11,000 gallons of liquid.

Physically, contrary to popular belief, modern man is shorter compared to his earlier ancestors. Based on skeletal studies, with slight variations, over the ages, we have lost an inch at an average height of 5'8" compared with the average 5' 9" for the stone age man (400,000 to 8,000 B.C.).


Now for SOMETHING FUNNY:

Politics is in season, so here's some jokes about politicians:

"Some of our Congressmen (and Senators too) drink more than they can stand."
"How do you know?"
"Why, I read the other day in the paper about one member who made a speech from the floor of the House."

-----

Steet Orator: "We must get rid of radicalism, Socialism, Bolshevism, Communism and Anarchism."
Voice from the Crowd: "And while we're about it, why not throw in rheumatism?"

-------

"Father," said the small boy, "What is a demagogue?"
"A demagogue, my son, is a man who can rock the boat himself and persuade everybody that there's a terrible storm at sea."

--------

Son: "Pa, what is a politician?"
Father: "Son, a politician is a human machine with a wagging tongue."
Son: "Then what is a statesman?"
Father: " It is an ex-politician who has mastered the art of holding his tongue."

---------

Disappointed Candidate: "And I thought I sure heard the voice of the people calling me."
Friend: "It must have been yourself thinking out loud."

---------

"What would be a good way to raise revenue and still benefit the people?"
"Tax every political speech made in this country."

--------

Acknowledgement: Above jokes were taken from 10,000 Jokes, Toasts and Stories compiled by Lewis and Faye Copeland, copyrighted 1939, 1940, and published by Doubleday & Company, 1965.


And for our final dose, here's an INSPIRING VERSE from Helen Steiner Rice:

Look on the Sunny Side

There are always two sides,
the GOOD and the BAD,
The DARK and the LIGHT,
the SAD and the GLAD --
But in looking back over
the GOOD and the BAD
We're aware of the number
of GOOD THINGS we've had --
And in counting our blessings
we find when we're through
We've no reason at all
to complain or be blue ---

So thank GOD for GOOD things
He has already done;
And be grateful to him
for the battles you've won.
And know that the same GOD
who helped you before
Is ready and willing
to help you once more ---

Then with FAITH in your heart
reach out for GOD's Hand
And accept what He sends,
though you can't understand ---
For OUR FATHER in heaven
always knows what is best,
And if you trus in His wisdom
your life will be blest,
For always remember
that whatever betides you,
You are never alone
for GOD is beside you.

Today's Three Doses for the Mind.

The First Dose: New knowledge for today - learning and doing initial Site Promotion using Go Daddy's Traffic Blazer.

The new knowledge that I picked up today was the basic fundamentals of how to promote my newly published site: http://www.besthomecareproviders.com. This is really not rocket science and nothing new to many internet entrepreneurs but to a newbie like me, this certainly was new ground: learning and doing search engine optomization, website analysis, and finally site submission and registration with the major search engines and directories. A great help is the service package I purchased from Go Daddy, their Trail Blazer Deluxe Package. I'm not going into the details of that here - you can check that one out for yourself - but it was a thrill to be "registered" for the first time with Google and Yahoo - with hundreds of other search engines and directories still to follow. It just made me realize the immensity of the world wide web - and the many details, procedures, protocols that anyone serious in this business has to go through and understand. Good thing the Support provided by Go Daddy was really excellent. They're there when you need them for any question or clarification and the steps that one has to do. An internet geek can probably figure this out on his own - but for one in a hurry to get moving and without the luxury of allocating longer time for self-study and experimentation, I have been taking the easier route - just go to Daddy for answers to questions and guides on what to do next.
Just to let you have a sense of where I'm coming from: I am new at this internet business thing - designing and publishing a website, blogging, podcasting (I haven't done any of these things before.). Although I've been using the PC for many years - as early as when it was still in that original large rectangular box with a separate green monitor - and where the biggest thing for me then was knowing how to do "Wordstar" wordprocessing. To compound my learning situation, I have just shifted from the PC to the Mac, and there is a whole new world of difference in doing things with the computer that is somewhat akin to the differences between Apples and Oranges. I have my transition pains and agitations - but that's another story.

Still another element that compounds the situation and makes me move this forward just a bit faster is the fact that I am going for a three week semestral break not only from school work, but I will also be out of the country - and away from my work station by Tuesday next week (that 08/12/08). So I really had to get the ball rolling, at least on the major search engine registrations, pronto!!! I realized here that, just like in any other major undertaking in life, you really have to think long-term. I was advised, (and I took it), to adjust my domain registration from my cautious month-to-month initial "testing" phase that I signed up to about a week ago, to a five-year Domain Registration - in order to signal to the search engines and all other internet search players that I'm not about to quit soon, and therefore give me a higher search ranking than if I had remained as a month-to-month entrepreneur. The logic of this view made sense to me, so I heeded Go Daddy's suggestion to upgrade to 5 years domain registration. Like it or not, ready or not - I'm committed here, so that's that.

The Second Dose: Something Funny

Here are three jokes I found today:

"My husband won a thousand dollars at poker the other night and he split with me."
"He gave you half?"
"No, he took his thousand and left!"

- - - - - -

She came into the police station with a picture in her hand.
"My husband has disappeared," she sobbed. "Here is his picture. I want you to find him."
The inspector looked up from the photograph.
"Why?" he asked.


- - - - - - - -

"John, dear, I'm to be in amateur theatricals. What will people say when I wear tights?"
"They'll probably say, I married you for your money."

- - - - - - - -

Now here's the Third and Final Dose for the Day: An inspiring story.

Source: From a collection of favorite writings about enjoying and keeping friends, by Peter Seymour, published in a small but very substantial book entitled 'The Treasure of Friendship," copyright 1968 by Hallmark Cards, Inc. The story is by Robert Hardy Andrews:

To Be A Friend.

In India 2500 yearts ago, a man named Gautama Buddha walked the roads and preached and taught. His teachings are still remembered by five hundred million Buddhist believers in Asia and the Orient.

I am not a Buddhist. But I find no disloyalty to my faith in accepting advice as practical today as it was when Buddha first offered it. In a mango grove in Bihar he told one of his disciples that five things are necessary to achieve release from unhappiness and fear. These, he said, include: restraint, proper discourse, energy in producing good thoughts, firmness in pursuing them, and acquisition of true insight. But first of all, and above all, he said, the seeker must learn to be a good friend.
When people asked for a definition of friendliness, Buddha answered, "It means to have hope of the welfare of others more than for one's self . . . . It means affection unsullied by hope or thought of any reward on earth or in heaven."

Buddha admitted that such generous wholeheartedness would not be easy. Yet in the long run it is intensely practical. "Compassion and knowledge and virtue" he said, "are the only possessions that do not fade away."
"To be a good friend . . ." How simple it sounds - just five short words. Yet how much they represent! Think how much it could mean, a flowing out of new forces of friendship from person to person, and eventually from land to land.
Try as we may, there is no other form of security. As Buddha said, "Friendship is the only cure for hatred, the only guarantee of peace."

Let me just add to this story what Socrates said of friendship:

"Be slow to fall into friendship;
but when thou art in,
continue firm and constant."

Well folks, that's it - my Daily Dose for the Mind, for today.

Here's My Prescription

Everyday of our life, we need somethings to keep us going. Actually, a lot of things, but to reduce it to its barest minimum, we need Food, Shelter and Clothing. But that is just on the physical side - the body. If you believe, as I and a great many others do, that we are not only body but mind and spirit as well, then certainly that basic need increases. I do not want to venture into the spirit side - that is something that is personal and individual, based on our own beliefs - but I can share with you my prescriptions for the mind.

In summary, my prescribed Daily Dose for the Mind consists of the following:

1. A Bit of Knowledge - something new that we learn each day.
2. A Joke - something to that gives us smiles, (better yet, laughter) and amusement.
3. An Inspiring Story.

So, without much ado, here is my initial prescription for today:

First Dose: A Bit of Knowledge

Source: “The Origins of Hyperlink” - from a book by Biz Stone, “Who Let the Blogs Out” published in 2004.

This may already be known to most of you, veteran bloggers out there, but for a newbie like me, this is a new bit of information - so I am counting this as part of the First Dose. And in summary, here it is:

Biz Stone is described in the Foreword written by Wil Wheaton as: “Biz Stone is to blogging what Marconi is to radio . . . one of the very first people to bring blogging to the masses”

In Chapter 1, Biz Stone describes a castle built long ago by a particularly important sect of Buddhist monks. This castle had a very private room called the “Room of Knowledge,” where an elaborate web of strings crisscross throughout the space in a random pattern which “looked like a ridiculously complex and giant game of cat’s cradle.” The strings would link books to other manuscripts, drawings, and occasional small statue or wood carving. “There was more than sixty thousand feet of string in the room and more giant rolls of it out in the shed waiting to be used.” The monks, who were the only ones with access to this room were were actually developing the physical manifestations of hyperlinks - the “lifeblood of the web, and, by extension, the blogs...” Let me not steal the thunder from the story - you can read it for yourself.
Biz Stone traces the origins of the hyperlink from Vannevar Bush, visionary scientist who in the 1930s wrote about a machine he called Memex in an essay titled “As We May Think,” Douglas Engelbart who in 1940s picked up Bush’s concept and subsequently created the “Online System,” the legendary prototype of the “hypertext,” Ted Nelson who in the 1960s coined the term “hypertext” and ultimately Tim Berners-Lee who in the 1980s-1990s spearheaded a project called “WorldWideWeb,” which eventually led to the birth of what we now know as the internet.

That is as far as I will go with the “Knowledge Dose” - you can do your own research and reading on the rest of the story.


The Second Dose: A Joke

Source: Eleanor Doan’s “The Speaker’s Sourcebook of 4,000 Illustrations, Quotations, Anecdotes ...”published in 1960.

Definition of a “Bachelor”

“A bachelor is a man who has cheated some woman out of a divorce.”

“A bachelor never gets over the idea that he is a thing of beauty and a boy forever.”


The Third Dose: An Inspiring Story

Source: From “Fragile Moments” edited by Phyllis Hobe in 1980, a short story by Arve Hatcher.

Recently after a heavy blizzard my car was stuck in a snowpile, and my efforts to get it moving only dug its wheels in deeper and deeper. Down the street came a muscular teen-ager carrying a shovel. When he saw my problem he promptly got to work and set the car free.
“Many thanks,” I said gratefully as I reached to hand him some folded bills.
“No way,” he said with a smile. “I belong to the DUO Club.”
“Never heard of it,” I replied.
“Sure you have,” he grinned. “it’s the do-unto-others-as-you-would-have-them-do-unto-you club.” And with a wave of his hand and another big smile, he was on his way.

Initial Trial Post

This is just an initial test post. I have actually finished what I thought was my first posting but for some reason, even after I have pressed Publish Post, I cannot seem to find. I am obviously new at this so if that first post - which took some time and effort to put together is "lost" somewhere, and I am unable to retrieve it, then it's just my luck. Perhaps all newbies like me must have gone through something like this. I must admit that it is frustrating - but I am keeping my "cool" and just pick it up from there. Perhaps I may have done something "wrong" or not in keeping with the sequence of things here.
So that's it.. This is my first blog - assuming the one I prepared before - which had a bit more of the substance than this narrative venting - is really lost. Hopefully it's not - but whatever it is - the fun begins.