tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4957949504179510162024-03-28T15:20:31.830-07:00Reflections of Stephen LauStephen Lau shares his reflections on life and living, health and wellness, faith and spirituality, self-help and self-learning--a blog on introspection in the art of living well for triple life makeover in health fitness, emotional centeredness, and spiritual connection.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger355125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-495794950417951016.post-75021406634266050182024-03-28T15:20:00.000-07:002024-03-28T15:20:00.135-07:00Good Fortunes and Misfortunes<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Good Fortune and Misfortune<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Life may be a bed of roses, but always with
thorns. Good fortunes and misfortunes exist side by side, and they complement
each other. A misfortune is an ingredient that one needs to blend with the rest
of the ingredients of life and living. Life will not be wholesome without
misfortunes and tragedies, which exist to enable one to appreciate more what
life has to offer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">A case in point<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">There was a Chinese
story<b> . . . </b></span><b><span style="color: black; font-family: "simsun"; font-size: 16.0pt;">塞翁失馬</span></b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A man
lost his only horse, which ran away one day. His friends comforted him. But he
was not upset at all; instead, he said: “That’s not a misfortune.” A few days
later, his horse came back with a stallion. This time, his friends
congratulated him on his good fortune. But he said: “What’s so good about
that?” Later on, his only son rode on the stallion and accidentally broke his
leg when he fell from the horse. Once again, his friends comforted him for the
misfortune. But he said: “Breaking his leg may not be a misfortune.” Indeed,
soon after that, a war broke out, and all the young men were drafted into the
army, except the man’s son with his broken leg. All of them were later
annihilated in a fierce battle. The moral of the story: a misfortune may turn
itself into a good fortune.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">There is a Chinese saying: “A man’s destiny
cannot be summarized and sealed until nails are put on his coffin’s top.” So,
nothing is set in stone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">TAO wisdom<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">According to TAO, willingness to accept your
own fate or destiny provides you with inspiration for right conduct. Not
accepting is a controlling and manipulative mindset through unbecoming conduct
to control your destiny to get what you want in life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">In TAO, there is no such thing as “good luck”
or ”bad luck.” Let go of the negative concept of bad luck, such as “13” and
“touch wood,” or even the positive thinking of having good luck. Instead, let
the natural flow of life move through you, giving you internal power to make
the impossible become possible, the difficult become easy. Simplify your life,
and get rid of clutters that make you become superstitious. Remember, luck is
something that you create for yourself, and that it is an external reality
beyond your control, whereas you can always create your own internal reality of
peace to overcome any groundless fear responsible for your internal negative
energy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Everything in this material world has meaning only in comparison
with one another, and that goes for good luck or bad luck too. Does “Friday the
13<sup>th</sup>” worry you? Are you getting yourself depressed by thinking of
your bad luck in relation to the good luck of others? Go deeper into the core
of your being and take control of your own beliefs, and not follow those of
others. Fear is only your mental construct. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">According to conventional wisdom, winning is always related to
conflict: you must fight in order to win, just like in any contest or
competition. The bag and baggage that all winners and losers carry with them is
that their net worth and value are solely based on their winning or losing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">TAO, on the other hand, focuses on doing your best in any
endeavor. More importantly, it is you, and no one else, who will judge your own
wins and losses.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">“Everything that happens to us is beneficial.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Everything that we experience is
instructional.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Everyone that we meet, good or bad, becomes
our teacher or student.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">We learn from both the good and the bad.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">So, stop picking and choosing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Everything is a manifestation of the
mysteries of creation.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">(Lao Tzu, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tao Te Ching</i></b>, Chapter 27)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">“We accept all that is simple and humble.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">We embrace the good fortune and the
misfortune.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Thus, we become masters of every situation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">We overcome the painful and the difficult in
our lives.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">That is why the Way seems paradoxical.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">(Lao Tzu, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tao Te Ching</i></b>, Chapter 78)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Stephen Lau</span></b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Copyright© by Stephen Lau<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-495794950417951016.post-5784926243705130502024-03-27T18:06:00.000-07:002024-03-27T18:06:00.191-07:00Living By Faith<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">This is <i>your</i> living by faith. Living in this contemporary world is challenging and difficult. <i>Why? </i>Because there's too much information, disinformation, and misinformation, and thus you're easily led astray. Worse, you're living in your <i>flesh</i>--which means your thinking mind is controlled by your physical desires.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">According to <b>Albert Einstein</b>, thinking is <i>everything</i> in everyday life and living, but people seldom do it. In other words, your human wisdom is inadequate and incomplete. So, you need your spiritual wisdom to help you in your everyday life choices and decision. But believing in God is a tall order. The journey of faith is long and winding with many obstacles, detours, and sidetracks. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">But once you've your faith, <i>your living by faith</i> will help you in your actions and inactions, as well as in your choices and decision, in your everyday life and living.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CNRJVP9B" target="_blank">Living By Faith Is Living in Miracles</a></b></span></p><p><b>Stephen Lau</b></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-495794950417951016.post-53801224048086217012024-03-27T12:58:00.000-07:002024-03-27T12:58:00.224-07:00How to Avoid Human Conflicts<br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><b>Balance and Harmony</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">The Way Through Human Conflicts<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Human conflicts are many. The Way is the only
way to go <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">through</i> them, rather than
avoiding them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Balance and harmony<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Always maintain your internal balance and
harmony. Remember, the world around you is always a reflection of what is deep
inside you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">“The Way
is easy,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">yet
people prefer distracting detours.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Beware
when things are out of balance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Remain
centered within the Creator.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Distractions
are many,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">in the
form of riches and luxuries.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">They
allure us from the Way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Accumulations
are like extortions of the poor. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">They
bring only disaster and suffering.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Do not
deviate from the Way.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">(Lao
Tzu, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tao
Te Ching</i></b>, Chapter 53)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">“When
there is no desire to be someone that we are not,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">separate
from our true nature designed by the Creator,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">all
things are in perfect balance and harmony.” (Lao Tzu, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tao Te Ching</i></b>, Chapter 37)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Five elements and
natural cycle<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">The five elements of the
ancient Chinese are: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">metal</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">wood</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">water</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">fire</i>, and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">earth</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">The five elements
balance and complement one another to create both internal harmony and a
natural cycle. To illustrate, water nourishes trees or wood; without wood,
there will be no fire (which burns wood); without fire burning wood, there will
be no earth (the ashes from the burnt wood); without earth, there will be no
metal (from the earth itself); through condensation, fire heats metal to
produce water; without metal, there will be no water; without water, there will
be no tree or wood. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 27.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">These five elements are
interdependent on one another for their own existence in the form of a natural
cycle. In many respects, human relationships and our dealings with one another
attest to the cyclical nature of the world we are living in. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 279.6pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: .25in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<u><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">TAO wisdom<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Think about your own
nature with reference to the five elements. Are you strong and independent like
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">metal</i>, bold and pioneering like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">wood</i>, soft and flexible like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">water</i>, fiery and passionate like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">fire</i>, or nurturing and receptive like <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">earth</i>?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Also, think about the
different natures of the people around you, or you have to deal with.
Understanding their different natures may result in better and more harmonious
relationships with them. Indeed, the five elements can give you profound wisdom
and insight into many different life situations to help you avoid unnecessary
everyday conflicts and disparities. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">The bottom line: learn
to live a life without any conflict and confrontation with others. To do just
that, you need to know not only yourself but also others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">“Knowing
others is intelligence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Knowing
ourselves is true wisdom.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Overcoming
others is strength.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Overcoming
ourselves is true power.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">(Lao
Tzu, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tao
Te Ching</i></b>, Chapter 33)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Everything
will be in its natural place because everything follows a natural cycle. So why
do you strain, stress, and strut yourself?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">“We stay
in the very center of the Creator,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">and
refrain from controlling our destiny.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Everything
will evolve and fall into its natural place,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">according
to the laws of the Creator.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">(Lao
Tzu, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tao
Te Ching</i></b>, Chapter 37)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Soft and flexible<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">To help you overcome conflicts
and resolve issues, you need the flexibility of TAO. Always be flexible,
instead of being strong-willed and uncompromising.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">“The Way
is paradoxical. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Like
water, soft and yielding,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">yet it
overcomes the hard and the rigid.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Stiffness
and stubbornness cause much suffering.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">We all
intuitively know <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">that
flexibility and tenderness<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">are the
Way to go.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Yet our
conditioned mind <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">tells us
to go the other way.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">(Lao
Tzu, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tao
Te Ching</i></b>, Chapter 78)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">It does not mean that
you let people walk all over you and do nothing. Just step back, giving
yourself some open space to create a detached mindset. If you are combative and
strike back with a personal attack, you are in fact driving a nail into wood
with a hammer; when you pull out the nail, the puncture on the wood is still
there. So do not do anything that you may regret for the rest of your life.
Always defer your anger for later processing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 33.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<u><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">All in all<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Having good human relationship with others may
not only afford you joy and happiness, but also heal you mentally, physically,
and spiritually through your own connections with others. On the other hand,
having bad human relationships may make you feel sad, lonely, hopeless, and
depressed. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">“If we
are in harmony with the Creator, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">we are
like newborn babies, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">in natural
harmony with all.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Our
bones are soft, and our muscles are weak,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: 32.5pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">but our
grip is strong and powerful.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">(Lao
Tzu, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tao
Te Ching</i></b>, Chapter 55)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="CSP-ChapterBodyText-FirstParagraph" style="text-indent: 16.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">We are all living in a
world of speed in which nothing seems to last too long, including human
relationships. In contemporary living, there is too much focus on speed. Given
that life is short, there is a great deal to be done and accomplished. As a
result, you may feel the compression of time, and you may have developed a
compulsive mind with a multi-tasking mindset, such as talking and texting on
the phone while driving at the same time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Remember, it is your
compulsive mind that makes you feel distressed and unhappy. Ironically, it is
because you know and believe that nothing lasts, that you want to do more, much
more than necessary, hoping against hope that some of the things that you are
doing may last a little longer. Because nothing lasts, so you begin to look for
new ones to replace the ones that have expired. An example is a love
relationship: if it does not turn out to be what you have expected, you just
let it end itself, and then start looking for another one because it is your
belief that nothing lasts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">According to TAO, truly
nothing lasts, but that is the <em><span style="font-family: "arial";">wrong</span></em> way
to look at the impermanence of things. The <em><span style="font-family: "arial";">right</span></em> way is to look at everything with <em><span style="font-family: "arial";">non-attachment</span></em>, which is letting go of
whatever that happens in your life, be it joy or sorrow, success or failure,
happiness or un-happiness. Letting go essentially means understanding that
nothing lasts, and that what goes up must also come down, because everything in
life follows a certain natural order—just like youth becoming old age, and life
transforming into death. Understanding the impermanence of all things may
change <em><span style="font-family: "arial";">how</span></em> you are
going to live your life and interact with others. If nothing lasts, then let go
of everything, and live your life to the fullest, which is in the present. The
past was gone, so let it go; the future is yet to come, so let go of your
expectations. Only the present is real, so live it to the fullest.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; text-indent: 16.5pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: .25in; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">“Therefore, we focus on the present moment, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: .25in; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">doing what needs to be done,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: .25in; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">without straining and stressing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: .25in; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .25in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: .25in; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">To end our suffering,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">we focus on the present moment, <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">instead of our expected result.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">So, we follow the natural laws of things.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">(Lao Tzu, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tao
Te Ching</i></b>, Chapter 63)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "garamond"; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Stephen Lau</span></b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Copyright© by Stephen Lau<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-495794950417951016.post-41906311330285170022024-03-27T12:30:00.000-07:002024-03-27T12:30:00.320-07:00"YOUR LIVING BY FAITH"<p><span style="font-family: inherit;">This is <i>your</i> living by faith. Living in this contemporary world is challenging and difficult. <i>Why? </i>Because there's too much information, disinformation, and misinformation, and thus you're easily led astray. Worse, you're living in your <i>flesh</i>--which means your thinking mind is controlled by your physical desires.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">According to <b>Albert Einstein</b>, thinking is <i>everything</i> in everyday life and living, but people seldom do it. In other words, your human wisdom is inadequate and incomplete. So, you need your spiritual wisdom to help you in your everyday life choices and decision. But believing in God is a tall order. The journey of faith is long and winding with many obstacles, detours, and sidetracks. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: inherit;">But once you've your faith, <i>your living by faith</i> will help you in your actions and inactions, as well as in your choices and decision, in your everyday life and living.</span></p><p><b><a href="https://your-living-by-faith.blogspot.com" target="_blank">Your Living By Faith</a></b></p><p>Stephen Lau</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-495794950417951016.post-17366692389859744882024-03-26T08:08:00.000-07:002024-03-26T08:08:00.308-07:00Cancer Cure<p> </p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie2hQgJQsRepzSwTJc7hUwj9r5HGYne_aCcPdzF7Q41skPhGQBUjrCMRZ-ZsrMoijDQCNPxZg-59g1Ca7P1LaYBade-aeuGXEGD3fcO41jqhzKbpfqHU3u0OebgCvoIwgrmnck7QTBS3Mr/s800/cancer.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie2hQgJQsRepzSwTJc7hUwj9r5HGYne_aCcPdzF7Q41skPhGQBUjrCMRZ-ZsrMoijDQCNPxZg-59g1Ca7P1LaYBade-aeuGXEGD3fcO41jqhzKbpfqHU3u0OebgCvoIwgrmnck7QTBS3Mr/s320/cancer.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p><b style="font-family: Arial; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This book is all about . . . .</span></b></p><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">This book is about what to do when one is diagnosed with cancer. The author is neither a doctor nor an oncologist. He is simply showing the power of the mind not only in coping with the traumatic experience of cancer but also in overcoming the disease itself. In addition, he presents detailed information on what an individual must do on the cancer journey of cure and recovery.<br /><br />A cancer diagnosis is not a death sentence. Rather, it is an opportunity for growth and development. Harness your mind power to conquer your cancer.<br /><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; text-align: justify;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008SJDIQS" style="color: #1a0400;">CONGRATULATIONS! YOU'VE GOT CANCER!</a></b></span><div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><b style="font-family: Arial; font-size: large;">An Excerpt from the Book . . . .</b></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; text-align: justify;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>What is Cancer?<br /><br /></b>Cancer is a multidimensional disease. The word “cancer” is a term used for diseases in which abnormal cells divide without control and are able to invade other tissues. It is a consequence of the failure of your repairing and defense mechanisms in your body. Cancer cells can spread to other parts of the body through the blood and lymph systems. Cancer is one of the most dreaded diseases of humanity.<br /><br />This is a common scenario. You feel a lump or a swelling under your arm and see your doctor about it; or you may have some health issues, requiring some tests. The doctor tells you that you have a tumor, which is a swollen collection of cells. Is the tumor benign or malignant? For confirmation, a biopsy is usually performed.<br /><br />A benign tumor means it is slow growing, it does not easily spread to other parts of the body, and therefore unlikely to be fatal. If the tumor is malignant, it is growing rapidly, and is likely to spread to other parts of the body, and therefore life-threatening. If the cancer shows good response to whatever treatment the patient chooses, it is said to be in a remission. The chance of the cancer returning is often greatest in the first two years. In the next three years, the chance is considerably reduced. After five years, the patient is said to be cancer free. Probably as old as life itself, cancer has been around humanity for ages, but only in the second half of the 20th century did the number of cancer cases begin to explode exponentially. The sudden surge of this devastating disease was probably due to:<br /><br />The drastic changes of high-stress lifestyle<br /><br />The overuse and misuse of drugs and pharmaceuticals<br /><br />The inferior quality and the huge quantity of junk food available<br /><br />The excessive use of chemicals and extensive exposure to environmental pollutants<br /><br />All of the above were not around a hundred years ago, or at least not as rampant as they are now,<br /><br />Contrary to popular belief, cancer is not a mysterious disease against which you are powerless. If you understand its causes and take positive actions, and if your body still has enough time to make the necessary adjustments, you can still win your battle against cancer and become a cancer survivor.<br /><br />Cancer appears to be a mysterious disease because it is a disease caused by not one but many factors. Unfortunately, the conventional approach to the disease is to treat the malignancy of the tumor. Cancer is holistic dysfunction of the body, the mind, and the spirit; as such, there should be a holistic approach to the disease.<br /><br />Although you may not be a doctor or an oncologist, learn everything you need to know about your cancer. You need neither a medical background nor medical expertise to know the basics of cancer. Your goal is not just to survive your cancer, but to thrive and turn your health around.<br /><br />You have to understand that in many ways you are responsible for the disease. Get a handle on why you may have made yourself prone to that disease in the first place. In life, everything happens with a reason, though it may not be too apparent to you at first. Once you understand the reason, you may be able to control, if not get rid of, the disease completely.<br /><br /><b>Be A Cancer Survivor<br /></b><br />Although cancer is a complex disease, it is critical that you empower your mind to know as much as you can in order to initiate the healing process.It is estimated that only approximately 15 to 20 percent with chronic or catastrophic illness, such as cancer, can be called cancer survivors.<br /><br /><i>The attributes of a cancer survivor</i><br /><br />A cancer survivor is an individual who is willing to take the responsibility for his or her health conditions, who makes an effort to reshape his or her life, and who actively participates in his or her recovery process.<br /><br />Do you wish to become a cancer survivor, or are you content to become one of the 50 to 60 percent of cancer patients who just sit back and let their health professionals take control of their prognosis?<br /><br />Even worst, are you like one of the 20 percent cancer patients, who have a death<br />wish because they have found themselves in a death trap?<br /><br />If you become more knowledgeable of cancer, you make better health decisions, and you have a greater chance of survival.<br /><br />Be a cancer survivor. The choice is all yours.<br /><br /><b>The Importance of Emotional Well-Being<br /></b><br />An important aspect of your cancer therapy and recovery is your emotion, which<br />is controlled by your mind.<br /><br />One of the most essential aspects of the mind is self-acceptance. As a matter of fact, self-rejection is the root cause of all emotional problems, such as mental depression. In life, you are who you are, and you must accept yourself as who you are, not someone you wish you were or could be. Likewise, you must accept the hard reality that you have cancer, and you must deal with your disease accordingly. Many cancer patients harbor thoughts of denial, or, worse, self-guilt. Therefore, if you are unhappy, angry, blaming yourself, the world, or even God, you are self-generating and perpetuating your own misery, which is destructive both emotionally and physically.<br /><br /><b>A Trauma, Not A Trap<br /></b><br />To be diagnosed with cancer is already a traumatic experience, to have to undergo various therapies and treatments only further aggravates that excruciating experience. Therefore, it is critically important that you do not let your traumatic experience overwhelm you and turn it into an emotional trap.<br /><br />What is an emotional trap? How does it differ from an emotional trauma?</span><br /></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Click <b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008SJDIQS">here</a></b> to get your copy.</span></span></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-495794950417951016.post-33627563689555092422024-03-25T15:13:00.000-07:002024-03-25T15:13:00.139-07:00The Paradoxes of Life<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16pt;">The Paradoxes of Life<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16pt;">A paradox is a statement with two totally
opposite meanings that may seem contradictory to each other and yet together
they not only are true but also make sense.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16pt;">Believing in God in itself has many
paradoxes: the Creator becomes a creature; the Infinite becomes finite; the
Eternal One enters into time; and death is the way to life. These are some of
the paradoxes expressed in the Bible.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16pt;">The presence of God is one of the many
paradoxes of life. Indeed, sometimes we see God’s love, mercy, and justice, but
there are also times we see only His indifference, condemnation, and even
injustice. In fact, there are many times we are prone to asking the pivotal
question: “<i>Where</i> is God?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16pt;">So, how do we explain this enigma and the
paradox of God’s presence in human lives?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16pt;">The reality is that God does not change. God
is always and will forever be who He is: God is constant and present. It is
only humans’ perceptions of God that constantly change under many different
circumstances.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16pt;">Believing in God is a tall order because we
are living in a world not only of paradoxes but also of changes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1511648376" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiko9dTmDqCiodblbUkKycS4teKTJT7fOucoXqgqRdV9Qur0qyfsSWfMw5C1EvKUvG-zvHUPzoHQl9FKOtkJOKJG3K9YwfFcyEYRzBIebW5mQf8FAR-epXpKcEHNPF3iDFeaIhxm-yGJILl/s320/no+ego.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16pt;">The paradox of
two-in-one person<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16pt;">You are a two-in-one person. As a matter of
fact, we <i>all </i>are, to a certain extent.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16pt;">There are two persons living inside you: one
is your ego-self; the other is your spirit. They co-exist: your ego-self is
living in the physical or material world, while your spirit is living in a
totally different environment with a different dimension. There is constant and
continual contact and interaction between these two personalities. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16pt;">Your ego-self is assertive, and even
aggressive, always telling you that you are separate from everyone else. Your
ego-self wants more of everything, not only to define who you are but also to
separate you from others. Your ego-self is judgmental, not only self-evaluating
but also assessing others through comparison and contrast with yourself. Your
ego-self is constantly shifting and shuffling back and forth between the past
and the future, instrumental in improving the ego-self in the past, as well as
in enhancing the ego-self expected in the future. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16pt;">Your spirit is the other person living inside
you. Your spirit, on the other hand, is gentle and submissive in nature, always
nudging you to do what is right and to avoid doing what is wrong.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16pt;">The paradox is that both your ego-self and
your spirit co-exist, and that each strives to dominate and influence the
other.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16pt;">The classic illustration of the two-in-one
person is <b>Robert Louis Stevenson</b>’s famous story of Dr. Jekyll and Mr.
Hyde. In the story, both Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde have a dark side within them,
where evil is always lurking underneath to surface anytime. In the end, it
turns out that Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde are actually one and the same person. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16pt;">Given that the ego-self and the spirit
co-exist and that one can never <i>totally</i> get rid of the other, the
reality is that the more control the ego-self has over the spirit, the more
difficult it is to understand God’s presence, not to mention to attain His
wisdom. To unravel the paradox of two-in-one person, let go of the ego-self, or
at least diminish its control over the spirit, so as to feel <i>more</i> the
presence of God in order to seek His wisdom.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16pt;">The paradox of
understanding<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16pt;">One of the reasons for the paradox of God’s
presence is <i>rationalization</i>. Man is a rational being, and understanding
is vital to believing. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16pt;">According to <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><b>St. Augustine</b></st1:place></st1:city>, the Bishop of Hippo
(354-430 A.D.), in life there are certain things we do not believe unless we
understand them, and there are also other things that we do not understand
unless we believe them <i>first</i>. According to <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">St. Augustine</st1:place></st1:city>, faith is not opposed to
understanding, nor is it independent of understanding. His famous statement
“faith seeking understanding” is an act of believing <i>first</i>, without
which unbelief closes the door to <i>further</i> understanding. In other words,
believe first, and understanding will follow. <b><span style="background: white; mso-highlight: white;">St. Anselm</span></b><span style="background: white; mso-highlight: white;"> of <st1:city w:st="on">Canterbury</st1:city>, a
well-known Christian philosopher and theologian of the eleventh century, also
echoed <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">St. Augustine</st1:place></st1:city>’s
statement in his famous motto </span>“I do not seek to understand in order that
I may believe, but I believe in order to understand.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="background: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16pt;">“By faith we understand that
the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen
were not made of things which are visible.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="background: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16pt;">(<b>Hebrews</b> 11:3)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1518833306" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="437" data-original-width="287" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAiTJ1vg1Rr7hRyLGutaRJWpcRoia_agGwHd8JUl3RUZPnO6qKQ0c0lWI2PrkyaWz3yQNpDONqxwb7mt2pkTUhGln7XZpDJLtkWv87B2QpgFUAXjgO45kU69NxTqpPArM5Y63qNjOWfS7Q/s320/letting+go.jpg" width="210" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16pt;">The reality is that man has only limited
power of understanding. Therefore, let go of any pre-conceived concept or
rationalization in order to appreciate the presence of God, thereby opening the
door to <i>further</i> understanding the mystery of His presence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16pt;">Stephen Lau</span></b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16pt;">Copyright© by Stephen Lau<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-495794950417951016.post-51082588107961942142024-03-24T07:24:00.000-07:002024-03-24T07:24:00.246-07:00Letting Go<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">What Is
“Letting Go”?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">“Letting go” literally means releasing your close or
tight fist in order to abandon or give up something that you are holding in
your hand. If you are close- or tight- fisted, you also cannot receive
anything. “Letting go” is detachment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">The opposite of “letting go” is “attaching to” something
that you are stubbornly holding on to.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="background: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">To live well, you need to ask yourself many self-probing questions as you continue on your life journey in order to find
out: <i>who</i> you really are, and not who you think or wish you were; <i>what
</i>you really need, and not what you want from life; <i>why</i> certain
undesirable things happened while<i> </i>certain desirable things did not
happen to you. Without knowing the answers to those questions asked, you can
never be genuinely happy because you will always be looking for the unreal and
the unattainable, just like the carrot-and-stick mule forever reaching out for
the unreachable carrot in front.</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="background: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">In many ways, the human brain is like a computer
program. Your whole being is like the computer hardware with the apparatus of a
mind, a body, and its five senses. The lens through which you see yourself, as
well as others and the world around you, are the software that has been
programmed by your thoughts, your past and present experiences, as well as your
own desires and expectations. In other words, it is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">you</i>—and nobody else—who have programmed your own mindset. All these
years, you may have been trapped in a constricted sense of the self that has
prevented you from knowing and being who you really are. That is to say, your
“conditioned” thinking mind may have erroneously made you "think" and
even "believe" that you are who and what you are right now; but
nothing could be further from the truth. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="background: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">By </span><span lang="EN" style="background: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">asking relevant questions, you may have the human wisdom
to "change" that pre-conditioned mindset, and thus enabling you to
separate the truths from the half-truths or even the myths that you may have
created for yourself voluntarily or involuntarily all these years.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1518833306" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="437" data-original-width="287" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_85SHyESLRXnupRdATm2qDa6USPb17-cbUTZOSrhMXsicjbThRPHF386UlErzKjxMi-Xj5b5qsnRjLZawgMPWEJ0oYfvSeD1bekilRMFs78SPwAHY9QrmqRtduYHeHbyiH7v9TMu8hpcd/s320/letting+go.jpg" width="210" /></a><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">What Are Attachments?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">An
attachment is basically your own emotional dependence on things and people that
define your identity, around which you wrap your so-called “happiness”, and
even your survival. Attachment is holding on to anything that you are unwilling
to let go of, whether it is something positive or even negative.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">An
attachment is no more than a safety blanket to overcome your fear—fear of
change and fear of the unknown from that change. To cope with that fear, all your
attachments become your <i>distractions</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">We are
living in a world with many problems that confront us in our everyday life, and
many of them are not only unavoidable but also insoluble. To overcome these
daily challenges, many of us just turn to attachments as a means of distracting
ourselves from facing our problems head on, or adapting and changing ourselves
in an ever-changing environment. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">All our
struggles in life, from anxiety to frustration, from anger to sadness, from
grief to worry—they all stem from the same thing: our attachment to <i>how</i>
we want things to be, rather than relaxing into <i>accepting</i> and <i>embracing</i>
whatever that might happen after we have put forth our best effort.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Given
that attachment is closely related to the thinking mind: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">how</i> it processes life experiences, it is therefore important to
know and to understand the different phases of life.lo, such as the development phase, the transitional phase, the consolidation phase, and the letting-go phase.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">The Letting-Go Phase <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">With
advancement in age, and as age begins to take its toll on the body and the
mind, most of the life habits that control how they should live have become
well established. Their thoughts, based on decades of their past experiences,
now dominate their thinking, and hence control how they live the rest of their
lives. At this point, it may be difficult, if not impossible, to alter the way
they process their experiences and perceptions—just as the saying goes: “It is
difficult to teach an old dog new tricks.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">In this
final phase in their lives, unfortunately, they have to learn letting go,
whether they like it or not. Everything begins to slip away from their lives:
their youth, their health, and inevitably their minds too. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">All in
all, <i>how</i> the mind processes experiences and perceptions determines the
type of person you are and will become. The happenings in your life are real,
but the way you <i>process</i> and <i>perceive </i>them may positively or
negatively affect your life because they are stored in your subconscious mind,
which may either give you valuable life lessons, or create delusions and
self-deceptions that may not only confuse you but also lead you astray. True
human wisdom, therefore, plays a pivotal role in <i>how</i> the thinking mind
processes all life experiences and their respective expectations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">It is in this final phase that you must learn how to let go of anthing and everything in order to live the rest of your life as if everything is a miracle.</span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Stephen Lau</span></b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Copyright© by Stephen Lau<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1500107735" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="150" data-original-width="100" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyFwdnE3Ki34D3f6AG4bOmKKqdvbeYBioTsr-6_BF-cplY1s0VoeJgnAn9gQdatdV8ruiwzcyodcotEmiQkcniMjFpO_n3Iw9lWBJPCLSusDA3P6nKhatuNNMvtyAwYT2ILDTrEbdYtxYl/s320/ASIF.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-495794950417951016.post-11464633386362270312024-03-23T18:15:00.000-07:002024-03-23T18:15:00.241-07:00The Yin and Yang Love Story<p> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD2kAb-lN90QbTRIzblAwzmiFwmiuy5d8w92Z9gFXa5oc4sIrCPywrjwB8yAh9vf5QijupZcqGUg1EwvTdSfrgfwXFkfrdwpD2u82vzdpteDb6I25hL8c_uIFiDWXQtyiW4niRneveJeU/s499/FYY.jpg" style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 29px; font-weight: 700; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD2kAb-lN90QbTRIzblAwzmiFwmiuy5d8w92Z9gFXa5oc4sIrCPywrjwB8yAh9vf5QijupZcqGUg1EwvTdSfrgfwXFkfrdwpD2u82vzdpteDb6I25hL8c_uIFiDWXQtyiW4niRneveJeU/s320/FYY.jpg" /></a></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: 29px;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/147838610X">FOREVER YIN AND YANG</a></span><br /><span style="font-size: 29px;">(A Novel)</span><br /><span style="font-size: 29px;"> </span><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">The Novel Is All About . . . .<br /></span><br /></b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; text-align: justify;">This is a love story in ancient China, about a cock wedding with the presence of a cock instead of the bridegroom.<br /><br />It is also a story of unrequited love, of murder and execution, of blood reincarnation, of death bringing back life leading to enlightenment. The story reflects TAO wisdom in love with no ego, as well as <i>Nirvana</i>, which is awakening to the ultimate truth of consciousness without being self-conscious.<br /></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: medium; text-align: justify;">Click <b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/147838610X">here</a></b> to get your novel.</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-495794950417951016.post-76744766425827817832024-03-22T13:47:00.000-07:002024-03-22T13:47:00.132-07:00Why You Have Your "Freedom" Not to Choose "Fondling"<p><a name="FONDLING"><b><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">FONDLING</span></b></a></p><p><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;">What is fondling? It is your desire to do </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;">repeatedly</i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;">
something that you are fond of to the extent that your mind just cannot stop
your action. In other words, your fondling is your </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;">addiction</i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;"> and
bondage.</span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;">Alcohol drinking is common among
teenagers; about 40 percent of high school teens drink alcohol due to social
acceptance of drinking and the belief that alcohol can lower anxiety.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Alcohol is an intoxicating ingredient <span style="background: white;">produced by the fermentation of yeast, sugars, and
starches found in drinks. </span>Beer has 5 percent of alcohol; wine, made of
grapes, has 12 percent of alcohol; liquor, such as gin, vodka, and whiskey, has
about 40 percent of alcohol. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">But alcohol has its many dangerous side
effects. It slows down the brain functions, leading to slurred speech, lack of
coordination between the body and the mind, unconsciousness, and temporary loss
of memory. In addition to brain and nerve damage, there are many health issues
of the heart and the liver related to alcohol drinking.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Social drinking may lead to binge
drinking, which is drinking several times within 2 hours. Drinking only beer
may progress to drinking wine or even liquor. The truth is that no amount of
alcohol is safe or risk-free, and alcohol drinking is a progressive disorder
that often leads to alcohol addiction and drug abuse over the long haul.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><b><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Freedom</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;">As a teenager, you have the freedom to
choose or not to choose social drinking as a platform for your interactions
with others.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Not choosing it gives you the freedom to
use other platforms for your communication with others, such as </span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #323648; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">actively involved through traditional sports,
afterschool clubs, and social excursions. Social media may or may not be an
ideal alternative.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #323648; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">If you choose to start drinking beer, you
must have the freedom to say “no” and not be pressured by others to start
drinking wine or liquor.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><b><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #323648; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Bondage</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #323648; font-size: 12pt;">Alcohol addiction will put you in the
bondage of alcohol withdrawal symptoms—anxious, confused, depressed, fatigued,
and shaking while not drinking alcohol.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #323648; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Another bondage of alcohol addiction is
the shackle of drug abuse. Alcohol is very reactive with many drugs and
medications in that it can magnify or negate the medicinal effects on an
individual with alcohol addiction while taking those medications. So, drugs can
be abusive and destructive to an alcohol addict. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="background: white; color: #323648; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">The way to turn bondage into freedom is to
stop consuming alcohol. It is never easy without medical and professional help.
But you have the freedom to free yourself from that bondage.</span><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"><o:p> </o:p></span><b><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">SMOKING</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;">Smoking cigarette must be avoided because
it contains </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">nicotine</i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;">, which damages the brain, leading to many health
issues of the brain, the heart, and the liver later in life. Your brain, which
continues to grow and develop up to around age 25, can be damaged by nicotine.
The damage initially affects your learning with lack of attention and mood
swings. Nicotine withdrawal—stopping smoking with symptoms of anxiety,
depression, insomnia, irritability, and physical fatigue—often puts you back to
smoking.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Nicotine is an addictive drug that
initially gives you excitement to “free” you from boredom and anxiety. Many
teenagers begin smoking cigarette out of curiosity, as well as having observed
many celebrities smoking on screen in old movies or even their family
members.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Now, it is not even “cool” to do
e-cigarette or vaping with its appealing flavors because they also contain
nicotine<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><b><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Freedom</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;">You have the freedom of choice to smoke or
not to smoke.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">If you are already a smoker, you still
have the freedom to quit smoking or continue to smoke.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">But your freedom to smoke will inevitably
put you in bondage.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><b><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Bondage</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;">Your bondage to all the physical,
emotional, and mental damages of smoking may be lifelong.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">The only way to turn the bondage into
freedom is to quit smoking. That requires physical, mental, and spiritual
efforts and perseverance.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><b><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">CALMING</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;">In
your transition phase, many addictions, other than drinking and smoking, may
crop up as your mind continues to grow and expand.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Addictions are distractions from focusing
on other more important things in life. These distractions can temporarily calm
you down, but they do not solve your problems. Addictions to calming yourself
can come in many different forms, including some of the following:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-indent: -0.25in;">Eating: Foods give pleasures to
the tongue. Over-indulgence in eating leads to obesity and other eating disorders.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">Gambling: Winning satisfies the
mental craving for success and self-confidence. Compulsive gambling is the
source of many financial problems later in life.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">Games: Video games can create
“gaming disorder” with social anxiety, lack of motivation in life, and
interpersonal conflicts in everyday life.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; text-indent: -0.25in;">Networking: Internet obsession may
lead you astray by directing to many platforms of misinformation and
wrongdoings.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><b><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Freedom</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;">You have the freedom to eat, to play video
games, to go online, and to do just about anything in your daily life.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">But you have only 24 hours a day, just
like everybody else. So, you must learn how to manage your time and not giving
yourself <i>time stress</i>. Good time management involves setting precedence
and priority over anything and everything you need to do.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Living is about <i>doing</i>—doing what
needs to be done, but not over-doing, which may, paradoxically, lead to
non-doing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">In your transition phase from adolescent to young adult, your knowledge
is essential to your doing. However, you must also understand the fact that
knowledge is <i>infinite</i>, and your capability to acquire your knowledge is
only limited. Your true wisdom is to apply your “limited” knowledge to see <i>how</i>
it works in your everyday life and living—that is, knowing what to do and doing
what you know. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">So, spending too much time on <i>anything</i>
is not the way to go.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><b><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;">Bondage</span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;">Not knowing that “excess leads to
depletion” is your vulnerability to bondage.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">To free yourself from being trapped to any
bondage, remember the golden mean: “more for less” and “less for more.”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B7QT3VRC" style="font-weight: bold;">FR</a><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B7QT3VRC" style="font-weight: bold;">EEDOM with BONDAGE</a><b> </b>shows you <i>how </i>to free yourself from your bondage to the <i>flesh</i> that gives you the "freedom" to make the wrong choices and decisions in your everyday life.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"><o:p> </o:p></span><b style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #141414;">Stephen Lau</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><b style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #141414;"><span style="color: black; font-family: arial; font-weight: 400;">Copyright© by Stephen Lau</span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 324.5pt; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"><br /></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-495794950417951016.post-10097854328582428822024-03-21T05:42:00.000-07:002024-03-21T05:42:00.135-07:00One Bondage Leading to Another Bondage<p style="text-align: left;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;">Human freedom of choice is often held hostage by its
bondage to the </span><i style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;">flesh</i><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;">, where your corrupted body dwells and the origin of
the desires and wants of your thinking mind that ultimately change the freedom
of your choice.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 324.5pt; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">No matter
how soft or strong your bondage may be, one bondage always leads to another.
The more bondages you have, the greater their control on the freedom of your
choices and decisions, and the more wrong things you will subsequently do.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 324.5pt; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><u><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" lang="EN" style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">An illustration of one bondage
leading to another and yet another</span></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 324.5pt; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;">On July
4, 2022, a 25-year-old Black man in Akron, Ohio, was shot 60 times by 8
policemen. The news was widely reported in the media because the victim was a
Black man and the police had presumably used “excess force” to gun him down.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 324.5pt; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">The victim, who had no criminal record,
was initially stopped at a routine traffic stop. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 324.5pt; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Maybe “racial injustice” and “excessive
use of force by police” told the victim’s mind that he had the “freedom” to get
away. So, he <i>chose</i> to get away. His “freedom” tied him to the “bondage”
of “getting away.” <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 324.5pt; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">Driving away his car and being chased by
the police put him in another mental situation that gave him the “freedom” to
choose to fire his gun to “stop the police chase.” His freedom of choice only
reinforced his bondage to “getting away.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 324.5pt; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">After stopping his car at some point, the
bondage of “getting away” told his thinking mind that he had the freedom to
“flee on foot” and so he did.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 324.5pt; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">While running, his bondage told his
thinking mind that he had the freedom to turn around to do whatever he chose
and decided to do. But he was shot dead.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 324.5pt; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;">The above tragedy could have been avoided
if the victim had <i>not</i> taken his “freedom” to “get away” in the first
place, which led to his bondage that distorted his thinking mind with another
freedom of wrong decision leading to another and yet another bondage that
finally tied him to his own death. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 324.5pt; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">The "freedom" of choice of actions and decisions is controlled and manipulated by the human mind which lives in the <i>flesh</i>. Probably, that's what happened in the victim's mind: "I'm a Black, and the police don't like <i>me</i>. The police always use <i>excessive force</i>. I've <i>my</i> freedom to get away as soon as possible."</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 324.5pt; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-size: 16px;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B7QT3VRC" style="font-weight: bold;">FREEDOM with BONDAGE</a><b> </b>shows you <i>how </i>to free yourself from your bondage to the <i>flesh</i> that gives you the "freedom" to make the wrong choices and decisions in your everyday life.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 324.5pt; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span face=""Arial",sans-serif" style="color: black; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-fareast;"><o:p> </o:p></span><b style="font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #141414;">Stephen Lau</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; tab-stops: 324.5pt; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;"><span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #141414;">Copyright© by Stephen Lau</span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-495794950417951016.post-87871652200759065282024-03-20T05:23:00.000-07:002024-03-20T05:23:00.136-07:00The Role of Human Wisdom<p> <b style="text-align: justify;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">THE ROLE OF HUMAN
WISDOM</span></b></p>
<p style="margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">The ancient Tao wisdom from China -- the wisdom of </span><b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;">Lao Tzu</b><span face="Arial, sans-serif">,
the ancient sage who was the author of the immortal classic </span><b style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><i>Tao Te
Ching</i></b><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> on human wisdom -- provides a blueprint for nourishing human
wisdom: an empty mind with reverse thinking, mindfulness for clarity thinking,
living in the present with no expectations of the future, no picking and
choosing, accepting and embracing everything that comes in the natural cycle of
change—what goes up must always come down. True human wisdom is the ability to
understand that <i>how</i> the mind works and <i>how</i> human attachments are formed.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><br />
Why is human wisdom so important in the art of living well? The mind is
responsible for thinking, and hence <i>what </i>we do and <i>how</i> we
live our lives. Our thinking comes from our thoughts, which derive from our
perceptions based on our five senses. Our thoughts then become our memories,
stored in our subconscious minds. These subconscious memories affect our
many life choices and decisions either positively or negatives, producing many
experiences that become our assumptions and predictions that further change the
way we think. In short, our life experiences become the raw materials with
which we form not only our realities but also our ego-selves.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">One of the essentials of Tao wisdom is living in the present
moment. <b>Scarlet O’Hara</b> in <i>Gone With the Wind</i> said
at the end: “Tomorrow is another day.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">Yes, tomorrow is another day, but that day may or may never come.
Fortunately or unfortunately, we always choose to believe that it will
come. <i>Fortunately</i> in that it may give us hope and
expectation; <i>unfortunately</i> in that it may divorce ourselves
from the realities of life, making us less grateful of the present or less
thankful of what we already have <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">Living in the now is exemplary of the consciousness of being,
which holds the key to understanding human wisdom. Today is now, and
mindfulness of the present is the realization not only that tomorrow is another
day but also that it may never come. This mental consciousness makes us aware
that we must be constantly asking ourselves mind-searching questions about what
we need to know <i>now</i>; what we need to love <i>now</i>; what we
need to be grateful for <i>now</i>. In short, today provides the compass
and roadmap for our life journey, which may abruptly end tomorrow.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><br /></span></p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1532717849" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="167" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlGLv-vbxXPn_RXtfCCEdnx5XgtNNKLVr0xHl5dJTdOIbQ-v4XidMexH697LLtENqe-DnKzZlVyGy_86bdRT5cAHrfzrvCJqzEbF4vF3KvyFaH-nXX3a7I-hVqS7s4JfNcu3LY1uZ4MnyjoleaRtfIEgI7c7MHyfFE21Gj_PSX-O-AVE_aQKV4mFqlnQ/s1600/tao%20te%20ching.jpg" width="167" /></a></div><br /><p style="margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></p>
<p style="margin: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b><span face="Arial, sans-serif">Stephen Lau</span></b><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;">Copyright© by Stephen Lau</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-495794950417951016.post-47473283864903680482024-03-19T19:08:00.000-07:002024-03-19T19:08:00.129-07:00The TAO of Healing<br />
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Millions and billions of people worldwide are suffering from autoimmune
diseases, including <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">myasthenia gravis</i>
which is only one of the many different autoimmune disorders that are causing
anxiety, fear, pain, mental confusion, and even suicidal thoughts in some of
those afflicted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1098994183" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigmW8vWXkHsJV_NMidPzXMoGd1AD2XwleqxRcWmmyG0gYUvcTshHtV6YhcnqfT3Pa23Q5TuA_OA_708HQay6fMya7U77wnPk6Mmawy8oHJTL0BW_lIp3L8DzeQANclzLCyVqz_DyEif-h4/s320/tao+of+healing.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">According to Western medicine, there is no known cure for autoimmune
diseases due to the complexity of their causes. Understandably, patients
afflicted with autoimmune diseases are seeking healing from many different
healing modalities, such as the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the
Ayurvedic medicine, and among many others. In addition, they are desperately
looking for help from herbs, fruits, and all kinds of natural nutrient
supplements, as well as from physical exercises and spiritual practices, to
rejuvenate their failing health due to their weakened immune systems.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Knowledge and Wisdom<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Knowledge comes from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">how</i> your mind perceives and processes
any information available. Wisdom, on the other hand, is how you <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">apply</i> the knowledge acquired to cope
with any disease and disorder you may have, as well as your everyday life and
living. The important implication: being knowledgeable may not necessarily make
you wise or wiser. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">The bottom line: you
need <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">both</i> knowledge and wisdom to
heal yourself of any human disease, including <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">myasthenia gravis</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Given that both knowledge and wisdom come from
the thinking mind, your brain is, therefore, the most important of all your
body organs. With its billions of brain cells, your brain is not only most
complicated but also major source of all your health issues and problems.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">So, first and foremost, it is important to keep
your brain healthy as much as possible in order to be capable of acquiring the
knowledge and attaining the wisdom to initiate <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>your self-healing of any disease you may have.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">The
Healthy Brain<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">This is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">how</i>
you may keep your brain healthy:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Keep
yourself hydrated because 80 percent of your brain is water. Drink at least 7-8
cups of water per day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Keep healthy
gums, and floss your teeth regularly to prevent any gum disease.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .25in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Enhance
and improve blood flow to your brain with your 30-minute exercise at least
several times a week.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Eat a
healthy diet: high-quality lean protein; low-glycemic and high-fiber carbohydrates;
natural and not processed foods.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Avoid
inflammation and the formation of free radicals in your body.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Avoid
sugar and sugary drinks, including all sodas and diet sodas. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Quit
smoking, and limit your alcohol consumption to no more than 5 glasses per week.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Manage
your blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Maintain
healthy levels of nutrients, e.g. vitamin D and omega-3s.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 33.0pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; tab-stops: list 33.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Maintain
healthy hormones of the thyroid and the testosterone. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Promote
good mental health, and avoid anxiety and depression.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">De-stress
yourself with correct breathing and daily meditation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Get
quality sleep of at least 7-8 hours a night without the help of medication.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Develop meaning and
purpose in your life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">In addition to having a healthy brain, you
must learn how to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">empower</i> your
thinking mind to seek and acquire the knowledge to heal your body of any
disease. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">The TAO of Healing<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1532717849" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjDUcYhLbNSXaYRmOIRZwYzfPOzmAoJOD432NFxvy_GGBzJQR8Zwg3cp3tGLGK7xsznFwFA8YSCzpZtEhL6dWZX5_Tst27nmtatJ6fW-sVnG8rARWj8lmkhIkrL7M6HMbKa5XBUw3kgKNe/s1600/tao+te+ching.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">The TAO is the wisdom of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Lao Tzu</b>
from <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region>
more than 2,500 years ago. Lao Tzu, <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">the
ancient sage, was the author of the immortal classic <b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">TAO TE CHING</i> </b>on human wisdom. The TAO</span> may play a pivotal
role in the healing process of any autoimmune disease, including that of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">myasthenia</i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">gravis</i>.<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Stephen Lau</span></b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Copyright© by Stephen Lau<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-495794950417951016.post-53137779803736362832024-03-18T06:23:00.000-07:002024-03-18T06:23:00.133-07:00"Books By Stephen Lau"<p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: x-large;"><a href="https://books-by-stephen-lau.blogspot.com">BOOKS BY STEPHEN LAU</a></span></b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">A New Blog about the <b>40 Books Written By Stephen Lau</b> in the past two decades.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">His books include books on <b>Chinese Wisdom</b> and <b>Spiritual Wisdom</b>, as well as books on <b>Learning English</b>, <b>American Idioms</b>, and <b>English Slang</b> and <b>Colloquial Expressions</b>. Some of his books also focus on health, such as <b>Autoimmune Diseases</b>, <b>Vision Health</b>, and <b>Longevity Living</b>.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">The Blog gives a brief <b>Book Description </b>and a <b>Sample </b>from each of the 40 books to help you see if </span><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">any of them is suitable for you.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;">Go to: <b><a href="https://books-by-stephen-lau.blogspot.com">BOOKS BY STEPHEN LAU</a></b>.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: medium;"> </span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-495794950417951016.post-26666050801611477552024-03-17T14:22:00.000-07:002024-03-17T14:22:00.145-07:00Anti-Depression Love Recipes<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Love Recipes<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1539020304" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="508" data-original-width="453" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkDcLJdMbZERPo8a9mz0DwgDZ4ApP4cTsLZxtDLEVxwy4GCm87waoJ3XwUWTOYjfud_WTfbJGf5ZULVFCI3iZ12O3MSwxqkbC97ILwOFH2H92l8aBIUpEK1HeXiFqqiRSkQ-479H7_FDdQ/s320/depression.jpg" width="285" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">“Love” is a big word in
all human civilizations. For all religious disparities, love still plays
an essential role in all the world’s religions. Love plays an important role in
human lives, especially living in a world of conflicts and aggression.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">What is the real meaning
of “love”? Love involves our emotions and feelings. We all love some things and
some people. </span><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Love,
ironically enough, gives us both happiness and unhappiness. When the love is
fulfilled, we feel happy; when the love is rejected or unrequited, we then feel
pain, which becomes the unhappiness. This, unfortunately, is the reality of
love.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Loving others is not
that easy, and loving yourself is sometimes even more difficulty. This is also
the reality of life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">The truth of the matter is that to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">truly</i> love someone is very difficult, if not impossible, unless you
love yourself <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">first</i>. </span><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Self-acceptance <o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">In a general sense,<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><em><span style="border: none 1.0pt; font-family: "arial"; padding: 0in;">self-esteem</span></em><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>is the positive or negative evaluative
perception of self. It is a rating of self based on a partial assessment
of current and/or past traits. Many mental health professionals claim that
achieving higher self-esteem is the keystone of good mental health, in
particular, in avoiding depression; such claims, however, are dubious at best.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Low self-esteem is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">self-doubt</i>, often expressed in not asserting oneself in public or
workplace, and not pushing past one’s comfort zones. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">To love yourself is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">self-acceptance</i>, which is accepting who
and what you really are—and not who and what you wish you were (that is, your
ego-self). </span><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">It should also
be pointed out that “loving yourself” and “loving your ego-self” are not quite
the same. The former is loving yourself for who you really are despite all your
imperfections; the latter involves loving or craving to be the person you wish
you were. “Loving yourself” means you can love others as well because they are
not very different from you in that they, too, are as imperfect as you are. On
the other hand, “loving your ego-self” means it is very difficult to love
others because you want to distinguish and separate yourself from others;
accordingly, others must somehow satisfy your ego <i>first</i> before you can
love them. </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">That
explains why if you have a big ego-self, you cannot easily and readily love
others. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">The bottom line: if you
can accept yourself as who and what you are, then it may become much easier for
you to accept and love others as who and what they are. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Oneness of all life<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Accepting and loving
others implies having mindfulness of the inter-connection between people; that
is to say, no man is an island, according to the poet<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><b>John Donne</b>. This mindfulness
leads to love, and then to the awareness of the presence of God or that of a
Higher Being. Love is the first step towards spirituality.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">The oneness of all life is one of the basic laws of Nature: that
is, we are all inter-connected with one another. This universal moral principle
holds the key to true and lasting freedom in living. Without that freedom, we
are forever living in human bondage that inhibits further development of the
wellness of the body, the mind, and the soul. Without this wellness alignment,
there is no wellness wisdom.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<u><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">An illustration<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">A pastor from Hong Kong was invited to give a
sermon in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region>.
A woman from the congregation asked the pastor if it was right to give money to
get her son into an elite school. The pastor replied by saying: “Your son
getting into that elite school would also imply depriving another child of that
same opportunity you are seeking for your child.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">A year later, the pastor met the same woman,
who told him that her son had got into that elite school but without using her <i>kwanxi
</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">or </span>connection. The pastor
then said to her: “See, God is in control; if you would just let Him.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<u><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Thinking question<o:p></o:p></span></u></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">If you were the woman with the money and the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">kwanxi</i>, would you have done differently?
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Stephen Lau</span></b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Copyright© by Stephen Lau<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-495794950417951016.post-85483005760890939272024-03-16T17:08:00.000-07:002024-03-16T17:08:00.180-07:00Why Prayers Are Not Answered?<br />
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<img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEUHFu2XG_4WvvpJHUH7FEwGXnk_xaKVl0i4u0dxOkPfGVy48Lneh-z4GpTegxthsR-UPUhOeC_iPy826lIWeLmBu9xx2MZh2TVxzenPuhl48CUwBVsW0_UcQ7du18U7iQFyzPFzklrUzR/s320/prayers.jpg" width="213" /></div>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Why Your Prayers Are Seldom Answered?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Albert Einstein</span></b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">
once said, “Thinking is difficult; that’s why so few people do it.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Thinking is a process of self-intuition through asking
relevant questions to create self-awareness and self-reflection. It’s the natural
habit of the human mind to try to solve all problems by asking questions.
Through the process of solving problems, the human mind may then make things <i>happen</i>.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">So, asking all relevant questions is self-empowerment of
the human mind to increase wisdom because it initiates the intent to learn, to
discover, and then to change for the better. </span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Here are some of the questions you may want to ask
yourself concerning why your prayers are seldom answered or not answered at
all:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">What’s a
prayer?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Jesus</span></b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"> said: </span><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">“<span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Ask</span> <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">and</span> it will be given to <span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">you</span>; seek and you will find; knock and
the door will be opened to you.” (<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Matthew</b>
7:7) Is a</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"> prayer just your way of
asking for something that you want?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Is
it a personal request to the Creator to make something happen or not to happen
in your life?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Is
it a conversation or communication with the Creator to further develop your
relationship with Him?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Is
it a way of seeking advice from the Creator to help you deal with your own
life’s problems and challenges? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Is
it a means of asking the Creator for His blessings you think you may be
entitled to?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Or
is it none of the above?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">How
often is a prayer said or offered?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Before
you getting up, and before you going to bed?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Several
times throughout the day, such as before your meals?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">While
attending a religious service?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Seldom,
if ever, unless expressing with your condolences to someone you feel sorry for?
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">There’s an old proverb that says: “He who cannot ask cannot live.” Life is
all about asking questions, and seeking answers from all the questions asked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">By answering all of the above questions, you may be able to self-intuit <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">why</i> your prayers are answered or not
answered at all.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE9ryP_eAZzdiB-gX9sunjOHeueWWfHbt2Ggs2Fh8q_xHANNvM62oN8xZE7l3oKgLJTC3c2-kC2MUMsUF3KQuogYpYVCZ-ZB8kKMhRvga_oH5utkjeFeFEaEB4Hkn0wksR7Wq4MChyGFMf/s1600/tao+te+ching.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="167" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE9ryP_eAZzdiB-gX9sunjOHeueWWfHbt2Ggs2Fh8q_xHANNvM62oN8xZE7l3oKgLJTC3c2-kC2MUMsUF3KQuogYpYVCZ-ZB8kKMhRvga_oH5utkjeFeFEaEB4Hkn0wksR7Wq4MChyGFMf/s1600/tao+te+ching.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Your self-intuition requires not only your spiritual wisdom, but also your
human wisdom, in particular, the TAO wisdom of the ancient sage <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Lao Tzu</b> from <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">China</st1:country-region></st1:place>, who was the author of <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tao
Te Ching</i></b>, the ancient classic on human wisdom.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16pt;">Click <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/108585437X" style="font-weight: bold;">here</a> to get <b>Why Prayers Are Seldom Answered</b>.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16pt;">Click <b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1532717849">here</a></b> to get <b>The Complete Tao Te Ching in Plain English</b>.</span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Stephen Lau</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Copyright© Stephen Lau</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-495794950417951016.post-8970018218345574702024-03-15T16:59:00.000-07:002024-03-15T16:59:00.124-07:00No Comparison, No Depression<br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana";">Depression is a mind disorder, which
affects brain chemicals, which distort how the mind thinks. Therefore, it is
important to understand <i>what</i> causes the disorder in the first
place. Taking anti-depressants may control the symptoms, but
without addressing its cause.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana";">Human thoughts are generated by the
human mind through its perceptions. Oftentimes we compare ourselves with
others, or simply with our own past, and thus subconsciously create our own
negative thoughts that depress us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana";">There was an ancient Chinese fable of a
stone cutter who worked so hard at cutting stones that he often felt stressed
and depressed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana";">One day, while standing behind a huge
stone where he was cutting his stones, he looked up at the sky, and saw the
beautiful sun. Then, he wished he were the sun that could give warmth and
sunshine to everyone on earth. A fairy came to him and granted him his wish, so
he became the sun.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana";">For a while, he was happy and
contented. Then, one day, a big cloud came over, blocked out everything from
his view, and he could not see what was below. He became distressed and
unhappy, and wished he were the cloud, instead of the sun. Again, the fairy
came to his rescue, and granted him his wish. He became the cloud, and began
drifting and floating happily and peacefully in the sky.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_Toc417895164"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null"></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Toc417895164;"></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana";">After a while, a strong wind came and
scattered the cloud in different directions. Now, he wished he were the strong
wind that could blow away anything and everything that stood in his way. Again,
the fairy made his wish come true: he became the strong wind, blowing here and
there. For a while, he was happy and contented.<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_Toc457749007"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null"></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Toc457749007;"></span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_Toc417895165"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null"></a><span style="mso-bookmark: _Toc417895165;"></span>Then, one day, he found out that he
could not blow away the big stone behind which he used to cut stones. Worse, he
was stuck there, going nowhere. Now, finally, he began to realize that was
where he belonged. He made his one last wish to become the stonecutter that he
used to be. The fairy granted him his last wish, and now he was contented to be
the stonecutter again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana";">The moral of the fable: any comparison
and contrast between self and others—or even between the current self and the
self in the past—is often a stumbling block to self-contentment, the lack of
which will direct one's thoughts inward and generate depression. Indeed, if you
are discontent with what you have or what you are, while matching an area of
your own deficiency with that of someone else’s obvious strength, you are in
fact preparing the groundwork for your own depression. It is just that simple!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Stephen
Lau</span></b><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "verdana"; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Copyright©by
Stephen Lau</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/172580252X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=172580252X&linkCode=as2&tag=writilearnres-20&linkId=01bff7bc69315484826025e876cb35d5" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="400" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&MarketPlace=US&ASIN=172580252X&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL250_&tag=writilearnres-20" width="266" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=writilearnres-20&l=am2&o=1&a=172580252X" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1539020304/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1539020304&linkCode=as2&tag=writilearnres-20&linkId=07364938d2e72ec41168a432197256a5" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="400" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&MarketPlace=US&ASIN=1539020304&ServiceVersion=20070822&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&Format=_SL250_&tag=writilearnres-20" width="266" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=writilearnres-20&l=am2&o=1&a=1539020304" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-495794950417951016.post-9396909034399740292024-03-14T13:31:00.000-07:002024-03-14T13:31:00.247-07:00Oneness with All Life<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Oneness with All Life<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">With both human wisdom and spiritual wisdom,
you may see <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">anything is everything</i>
not just for yourself but also for others as well. In other words, you may
intuit the wisdom of oneness with all life, which is your interconnection with
others, not just with those who are close to you,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>but also with those<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>who are<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>distant and unrelated to you. Life is all about anything and everything.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">No
man is an island<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; color: #4c4c4c; font-size: 16pt;">According to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">John Donne</b>, </span><span style="background: white; font-size: 16pt;">the famous English poet, “no man is an island”; that is,
every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. Therefore, we
are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">all</i> interconnected with, as well
as inter-dependent on, one another in many different ways.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 16.0pt;">Connectedness</span></b><span lang="EN-AU" style="background: white; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Oneness
is the law of nature: what we do to others, we also do to ourselves, either
consciously or unconsciously. It is the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">unity</i>
of all life—life is what we all have, and what empowers all of us, giving us
the enlightening experiences and the holistic ways of living. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Bible</b> has repeatedly stated the
significance of oneness of God’s creation and salvation to all.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 16pt;">In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God.</span><span style="font-size: 16pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 32.65pt; margin-top: 0in; tab-stops: .5in 300.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">John</b> 1: 1)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For in
him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and
invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have
been created through him and for him. (<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Colossians</b>
1: 16)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 44.65pt; margin-top: 0in; tab-stops: .5in 4.0in; text-align: justify;">
<span class="text1cor-12-13"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For we were all baptized by one
Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>slave or free—and we<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>were all<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; tab-stops: .5in 300.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span class="text1cor-12-13"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">given the one Spirit to drink. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; tab-stops: .5in 300.0pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span class="text1cor-12-13"><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-size: 16.0pt;">(<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1
Corinthians</b> 12:13)</span></span><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="background: white; font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">According
to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Lao Tzu</b>, the ancient Chinese
sage, one of the reasons why nature has continued to exist for thousands and
thousands of years is that all forms of life in nature have their presence,
which depends on one another for their co-existence<span style="color: #4c4c4c;">.
</span>Just think about that: </span><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-size: 16.0pt;">everything in nature does not exist
just for itself, and that is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">why</i> it
can last forever. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Each and every being in the
universe. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">is an expression of the Creator.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We are all shaped and perfected by
Him.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="text"><span style="color: black; font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(Lao
Tzu, <b><i>Tao Te Ching</i></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, Chapter 51</span>)<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Blessed
is he who has no ego-self. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">He will
be rewarded with humility to connect with the Creator.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: 44.65pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">(Lao
Tzu, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Tao
Te Ching</i></b>, Chapter 9)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-AU" style="color: black; font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So,
always focus on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">others</i>, instead of
just on yourself all the time. Focusing on others also initiates your
connection with the Creator, providing you with spiritual wisdom to guide you
along the rest of your life journey.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">According to <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Buddha</b>, “Nothing ever exists entirely alone. Everything is in
relation to everything else.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What
Buddha means is that i</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 16pt;">t is not uncommon for humans to blame their problems on all the
things <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">outside</i> themselves—other
people and circumstances that are beyond their control. But the connectedness
with all life contradicts that common but erroneous belief; the reality is that
what we see in others and in our own circumstances is a reflection of our inner
life, of what we believe in—which is the main source of all human<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>miseries<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>and sufferings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The truth<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is that<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>all humans suffer because they do not see the miseries and sufferings in
others, except in themselves.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS2ngeo5uEFeJHDsbRLCrVp1J3mdvBCro0d6dLM9pXgFYcVOOhKwdACmwUYHQpD4nfcTOLUUAW_dL-R7cT0hrkSIyfkyNtKnClGapUKLVgPpenPRsQ1LEdwI1Lyfo9GDbwXUWd7YRc09UM/s1600/anything.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS2ngeo5uEFeJHDsbRLCrVp1J3mdvBCro0d6dLM9pXgFYcVOOhKwdACmwUYHQpD4nfcTOLUUAW_dL-R7cT0hrkSIyfkyNtKnClGapUKLVgPpenPRsQ1LEdwI1Lyfo9GDbwXUWd7YRc09UM/s320/anything.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Martin Luther King, Jr</span></b><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">., Baptist minister, and leader in the civil rights movement, once
said: “Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be
what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated
structure of reality.” So, your connectedness to others plays a pivotal role in
helping you become your true self, instead of who you wish you were.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Even <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">John Lennon </b>in his famous hit song
“Imagine” says: “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope
one day you’ll join us. And the world will live as one.” That the world will
live as one may indeed become a reality, and not just a dream.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 16.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">To get your
paperback copy of <b>Anything Is Everything! Everything Is Nothing! Nothing Is Everything!</b>, click <b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1727767608">here</a></b>; to get
your e-book, click <b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07K61QMD8">here</a></b>.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<b style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 16pt;">Stephen Lau</span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Copyright© by Stephen Lau</span></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1532717849"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjT246b8DyRgqRFNzfd59s_h2_2ZUzN33BtrHyyc5nYjhnRZkIl-tS4_dul74rF7vXr9X9YCgQ8VUMoG9LdiwrOuW4eogCUBWRl1dcm-ZWfks1cS5wQSlG6EUvS-zmWK6d23fNjDGFUdis/s320/tao+-+link.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-size: 16pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-495794950417951016.post-65772365612907123612024-03-13T13:29:00.000-07:002024-03-13T13:29:00.131-07:00The Importance of Money Wisdom<br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">You are living in a world wanting wisdom. The majority of people
experience the lack and not the abundance, while only a small number of people
feel both the affluence and the wealth. Surviving and navigating in this world
of money disparity require profound wisdom—the perspectives of human wisdom,
Biblical wisdom, and the TAO wisdom from ancient <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086M9RJNT" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="489" data-original-width="334" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw76Up14aLo9T4Z9JvgEv_3GgCzXz6FIjRROgwXoT-W1JL3JsYDp0_H6XUflQS3jkiYrNzmoK1Uf2wNYURq5t2FAbS2QCHkCMigjunP_9Hcw9TeHH7WotUwJumUJpby6XPm-ebU6FSDEBY/s320/Your+Money+Wisdom.JPG" width="218" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">So, always ask yourself many questions regarding <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">your</i> money wisdom, given that money
always plays a pivotal role in this world of both abundance and lack.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Charles
Proteus Steinmetz</span></b><span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">, a German-born American mathematician and
electrical engineer, once said: “There are no foolish questions and no one
becomes a fool until he has stopped asking questions.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">So, continue your life journey asking yourself
many self-intuitive questions with respect to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">your</i> money wisdom. The spirit of wisdom demands you to ask as many
questions as possible on how <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">you</i> view
the world today based on <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">your</i> past
and present life experiences. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Your</i>
money wisdom is your individual need to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">think</i>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">more </i>about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">your</i> money. Do not bury your head in the sand! Just be wise on all <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">your</i> money matters!</span><span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Asking-questions-and-seeking-answers may give you <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">your</i> money wisdom. Your own life
experiences are often responsible for your judgmental attitudes, your bias
prejudices, and your assumptive presumptions</span><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">—they may prevent you from knowing your real
self, as well as from separating the truths from the half-truths or the myths
about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">your</i> money wisdom.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">The
truth of the matter is that <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">your</i>
money wisdom is all based on your own perceptions and interpretations of your
life experiences. That is why <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">your</i>
money wisdom is uniquely <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">yours</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Your
money journey in this world is forever filled with missteps and detours,
irrespective of your abundance or lack. Even if it may seem to be a bed of
roses to you because of your abundance, it is always filled with some thorns.
So, you need your spiritual wisdom to give you hope and guidance on your money
journey.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">To
attain that spiritual wisdom, you need your <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">faith</i>—which
is your trust and obedience to your Creator. According to <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Saint Augustine</b></st1:place></st1:city>,
faith is to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">believe </i>in what you do
not see, and you will then <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">see</i> what
you believe. So, if you <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">believe</i> in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">your</i> money wisdom, you will then <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">see</i> your security in every aspect of
your life, whether you have abundance or lack..<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">To apply
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">your </i>money wisdom in the material
world you are living in, you need the wisdom of the TAO—which is the humility
to detach yourself from all attachments that you think define who you are. With
no ego, you may then become self-enlightened: perceiving the “nothingness” of
all things, as well as self-intuiting your “connectedness” to anything and
everyone in the world. So, you are in balance and harmony with anyone and
everyone, and you are no longer at war within yourself with your fear of
insecurity—<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">that</i> is ultimately <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">your</i> money wisdom.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br /></span>
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Click <b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086MJNXMN">here</a></b> to ge your paperback, and click <b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B086M9RJNT">here</a></b> to get your ebook.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><b>NORA WISE</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Copyright © Nora Wise</span></span></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-495794950417951016.post-68929218829184420162024-03-12T08:48:00.000-07:002024-03-12T08:48:00.174-07:00Control<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">CONTROL<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Obedience and trust<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">What is
obedience or disobedience to God?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1484039572" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="372" data-original-width="302" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqAJ9kx9kRVXVUV6OKj8cNAxxFFflIPaQrGOGnhjKsJ44XE0MkAaFWtothkrXvWW7g7h80Tn2xobCwBTq5MwuanQTQn63x4qG8V_4tw2R3JtZ3AaR3kDKqyZ7xmwhNgu9N0A-k7dbz1tLw/s320/bible.jpg" width="259" /></a><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">An
example of disobedience is lining up for hours to get your Power Ball. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">What if it is God who wants <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">you</i> to
win the lottery?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Well, in the first place, God did not create the Power Ball. It is your own
choice and decision to go and get the lottery ticket; it has everything to do
with your own <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">greed</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">vanity</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Buying a
lottery ticket is one of the many attachments to money and wealth. </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">You may
want to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">change</i> God’s mind about what
He has destined for <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">you</i>. Remember, if
God wants you to be super rich, He would have given you all the tools in the
form of God-inspired life passions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Changing God’s mind for what He has already destined for
you is disobedience. </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Obedience to God is
graciously <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">accepting</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">embracing</i> any adversity and calamity in
life so that you may learn lessons from them, thereby enhancing your spiritual
wisdom to continue your pathway of trust and obedience.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="background: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">“Teach us to number our days,</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br />
<span style="background: white; mso-highlight: white;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="background: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">(<b>Psalm</b> 90:12)</span><b><i><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">What is trust in God?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Trust in God means
believing in the veracity of His Word.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="background: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">“so is my word that goes out from my mouth:</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br />
<span style="background: white; mso-highlight: white;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It will not return to me empty,</span><br />
<span style="background: white; mso-highlight: white;">but will accomplish what I
desire</span><br />
<span style="background: white; mso-highlight: white;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and achieve the purpose for which I sent
it.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="background: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">(<b>Isaiah</b> 53: 11)</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1518833306" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="437" data-original-width="287" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6-_TY55EWm257sPlRhNwaGsZPuAJ42-3BRPkaqWBQ0Hs3vlFn0J49Vv2y2a6m3fjHuvTM6CtsMQl66dEZJsHbFBa22AMq3an_VlecCYKhPWXNh9dyYZ9mDQEWbPdpOJM2FP3Dd8wXDcS0/s320/letting+go.jpg" width="210" /></a></div>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Letting
God Is letting go of your control<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">God is in absolute control
of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">everything</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="background: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“He says, ‘Be
still, and know that I am God;</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><br />
<span style="background: white; mso-highlight: white;"> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will be exalted among the nations,</span><br />
<span style="background: white; mso-highlight: white;"> I will be
exalted in the earth.’”</span><b><i><o:p></o:p></i></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">(<b>Psalm</b>
46:10)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Throughout ages, miracles
have happened around the world—a testament to the indisputable fact that God is
always in control of anything and everything, despite humans’ resistance to
letting go of their futile endeavors to control their own destinies.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="background: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">There was the story of<b> Norbert Gennep</b>, born in AD 1080, who came
from a wealthy and influential family in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Germany</st1:place></st1:country-region>, with ties to the imperial
court. At that time in history, it was not uncommon for those seeking political
advancement to also acquire ecclesiastical offices. So, Norbert had himself
ordained a Sub-deacon and became a Canon, although he had no real piety or
religious inclination; his ultimate motive was to indulge himself in worldly
luxuries and pleasures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="background: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Then, one day in AD 1112, while riding on horseback, he was struck by a
fierce lightning, thrown from his horse, and remained unconscious for a while.
On waking up, Norbert was completely transformed, and asked: “Lord, what do you
want me to do?” He heard God’s voice, saying: “Turn away from evil, and do
good.” Obediently, he gave up everything he ever owned, became a priest,
preached the Gospel, and lived the simple life of a wandering preacher in
barefoot. Norbert eventually became the Archbishop of Magdeburg in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Germany</st1:place></st1:country-region>, and
was subsequently made a Saint by the Roman Catholic Church.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="background: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">You do not have to be struck by lightning and thrown off the horseback
before you would let go of your attachments to the material world, as well as
your futile attempt to control your destiny. God can work miracles in your life
if you are obedient, and if it is His will.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">The
origin of control<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Control is basic human
instinct. Humans are inherently controlling. Out of fear and insecurity, our
ancestors living as early as in the Stone Age strove to control their environment
in order to survive, and thus developing their fight-or-flight instinct.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Since time immemorial,
control has evolved, and most of us are controlling to a certain extent. We, as
parents, control our children’s destinies by striving to steer them clear of
the wrong pathways we might have previously treaded ourselves. Our cultures
tell us that we should be in control of everything around us at all times,
including our futures and destinies. Controlling, to many of us, is synonymous
with independence and power.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">The
irony of control<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Stress in everyday life
and living may make you want to control everyone and everything around you in
order to de-stress yourself. Ironically enough, in the process of controlling
stress, you may also have inadvertently created a vicious cycle of
stress-generating-more-stress.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">The anticipation of stress
puts you on an alert system, producing stress hormones. Then You may have to
make some choices—choosing this and avoiding that. Choosing in itself is
stressful, especially when picking the wrong choices, leading to regret and
disappointment. In addition, your expectation of the anticipated result may
further intensify the stress, often making you do more than what is necessary
to guarantee the expected result. Over-doing is stressful. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">The irony is that
controlling stress may only lead to getting more stress. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1475074662" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1067" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRG0LnmyOiR6xvSmbpwYEneD7s_YZ2Wau044a2bHRgYXLzbhg8uyBBlZe9l9tko_HPehgq2mYIluRBiEcBYNKKo_8jn4oLzeYzPBbkFY3sVHwrlRNBEVFeo6Foew2tlBjk4NJZ-R78ElpQ/s320/bll.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">The
different ways of control<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Control may come in many
different forms in life, and we are all susceptible to some forms of control. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Given that control is
basic human instinct, we all spontaneously want to control <i>how</i> people
perceive us. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">If you ask a child “How
old are you?”, the child may answer: “Five years and four months”, while also
extending his or her four fingers to highlight the “four months.” The child
wants to <i>control </i>your perception of him or her—that he or she is “four
months” older than other five-year-old kids. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">If you ask a teenager the
same question, that teenager may answer: “I am fifteen”—implying that “I’m <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">nearly</i> old enough to drive <span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">soon</span>.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">If you ask someone in the
late twenties or early thirties the same question, that individual may answer
quite differently: “I won’t tell you; just guess!”—that individual may want to <i>control</i>
your perception of his or her real age in relation to his or her appearance. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">If you ask an elderly
person the same question, that person may be more willing to let you know his
or her real age by saying: “I’ve just turned eighty.” That individual is, in
fact, also <i>controlling</i> your perception: “See, I’m eighty, but I look much
younger—probably like a sixty-year-old, don’t I?” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">To a more or less degree,
we all want to <i>control</i> how people <i>think</i> of us. Do you like to
wear loose-fitting clothing to hide your belly fat? Do you use heavy makeup to
mask your facial lines? Do you dye your hair to make you look younger? Control
is about the perception of the ego-self by others.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">In addition to controlling
how people perceive us, we may also want to control how people act and react
toward us by using emotions, such as anger, fear, and guilt, among other
negative emotions. Furthermore, we may also want to control the circumstances
we are living in, thereby controlling what is happening to and around us.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">The bottom line: we are
all controlling to a certain extent due to our attachments to different things
in life that we think may define who and what we perceive ourselves to be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Stephen Lau</span></b><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-align: justify; text-autospace: none;">
<span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 16.0pt;">Copyright© by Stephen Lau<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-495794950417951016.post-65591992336341550432024-03-11T20:00:00.000-07:002024-03-11T20:00:00.241-07:00Is Holistic Health Right for You?<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Holistic health is the pursuit of the highest qualities of the
physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects of the human experience in
order to initiate holistic healing to recover from any disease or disorder.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">Is holistic health
for </span><i style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">everyone</i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">Almost anyone </span><i style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">can</i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"> pursue
holistic health. But for the individual to eventually embrace holistic health,
he or she must have the following attributes:</span></span><br />
<b style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></b>
<b style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">Intent to
heal</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">The
intent to heal is expressed in a deep desire to improve health in order to
heal.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"> That begins
with <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">self-awareness.</span> <span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">That is, you must, first of all, become aware of the
need for living for life to the fullest. If you are already content with the
life you are living at the present moment, you will continue with your current
lifestyle patterns. If, on the other hand, you are dissatisfied, you will have
to make meaningful changes in your life. So, it has to do with self-awareness
of the intent to heal.</span></span></span><br />
<b style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></b>
<b style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">Self-responsibility</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">Life
is full of choices, and holistic health is simply a choice. You are responsible
for your life. Once you decide that the power to change is well within you,
almost </span><i style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">anything</i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"> can happen. But if you hand over your
responsibility for your health and well-being to the professionals, you cannot
and will not live your life to the fullest. Why? It is because others cannot
live your life </span><i style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">for</i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"> you; given that life is about choices,
nobody can make those life choices </span><i style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">for </i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">you, and, above all, no
one can establish balance and harmony in </span><i style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">your</i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"> life.</span></span><br />
<b style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></b>
<b style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">Self-acceptance</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">Self-acceptance is as
important as self-responsibility in holistic health. You must accept yourself
for </span><i style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">what</i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"> and </span><i style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">who</i><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"> you are. Never strive to
become the someone else that you are not. Mental anguish impairs holistic
health.</span></span><br />
<b style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></b>
<b style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">Self-empowerment</span></b></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: inherit; font-size: 18.6667px; line-height: 28px;"><br /></span></div>
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]-->
<!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"><o:p></o:p></span>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Empower yourself with knowledge and information so that you may
have the wisdom to discern the truths from the myths about health and healing.
For example, there is a growing body of evidence showing that antibiotics and
other pharmaceutical drugs weaken the body's immune system, and thus increases
the susceptibility to illness over the long haul. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><a href="https://amzn.to/2Xnm9dn">HOLISTIC SELF-CARE</a></b></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: #666666; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong><span style="color: #141414; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%;">Stephen Lau<o:p></o:p></span></strong></span></div>
<span style="color: #141414; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 150%; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Copyright© by
Stephen Lau</span></span><br />
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<img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=writilearnres-20&l=am2&o=1&a=140195006X" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=writilearnres-20&l=am2&o=1&a=1612125352" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-495794950417951016.post-63457381329956088942024-03-10T14:33:00.000-07:002024-03-10T14:33:00.122-07:00Today and Tomorrow<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Ernest Hemingway</span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"> in his book <i>Farewell to Arms</i> described how once he was sitting all by himself as he watched the ants busily working under his feet, and then after a while he stamped out the ants under his feet. Tomorrow, we could become those ants. Today, living in the now ushers us into grateful living, preparing us for tomorrow, which is just another day.</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Scarlet O’Hara</span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"> in <i>Gone With the Wind</i> said at the end of the movie: “Tomorrow is another day.”</span><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Yes, tomorrow is another day, but that day may or may never come. We always choose to believe that it will come. The truth of the matter is<i> </i>that it might never come. Our self-delusion that it <i>will</i> come may give us expectations that often lead us into doing many things to anticipate that our expectations will be fulfilled. This is one of the reasons why many of us have a compulsive mind, such that the mind is forever shuffling between the past and the future, except staying in the present, which is the only reality; the past was gone, and the future is yet to come.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px; text-align: justify;">Living in the now is <a href="http://www.wisdominliving.com/" target="_blank">wisdom in living</a>. Living in the now is the consciousness of being. Today is now, and mindfulness of the present is realization not only that tomorrow is another day but also that it might never come. This mental consciousness may make us appreciative of what we already have and grateful for not getting what we deserve. Have you ever thought that human birth is unique? Fathoming that mystery may be enough to make you become more grateful for and thankful of your being.</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px; text-align: justify;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><b>TAO wisdom</b> focuses on mindfulness, that is, living in the present moment, which is the reality of living. By the same token, <b>Jesus</b> told us not to worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will take care of itself. Living in the now is basic human and fundamental Biblical wisdom. Do you <i>really</i> believe in that? More importantly, do you put that in your everyday life and living?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Stephen Lau</span></b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;">Copyright© by Stephen Lau</span><br />
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<img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=writilearnres-20&l=am2&o=1&a=1577314808" style="border: none; margin: 0px;" width="1" /><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="//ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=writilearnres-20&l=am2&o=1&a=B01E76JP1C" style="border: none; margin: 0px;" width="1" />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-495794950417951016.post-7609886738868589242024-03-09T18:19:00.000-08:002024-03-09T18:19:00.130-08:00The Wisdom in Asking Questions<div class="MsoNormal">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">One of the first things you should teach your children is <i>asking questions</i>: the whys and the why-nots. Life is habit-forming. Once children develop this mental concept of asking questions, they will like to ask questions for the rest of their lives. Asking questions is self-enlightenment, which plays a pivotal role in wisdom. To live well, you need wisdom, not just knowledge and expertise. The latter may give you a successful career, while the former provides you with the key to the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007OWVLZK" target="_blank">art of living well</a>. One of the essential ingredients in wisdom is self-intuition, which involves asking questions to find out not just one's true self or nature, but also the reality of all things. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">According to <b>Lao Tzu</b>, an ancient Chinese sage, knowing yourself is true wisdom.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Knowing others is intelligence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Knowing ourselves is true wisdom.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Overcoming others is strength.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Overcoming ourselves is true power.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">(Lao Tzu, <b><i>Tao Te Ching</i></b>, Chapter 33)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">“Who you are” determines <i>where </i>you are going, w<i>hat </i>you are going to do, and w<i>hat </i>kind of a person you are going to become for the rest of your life. Nobody can answer those questions for you, because nobody knows you better than you know yourself. People can be your mentors or role models; they can even provide you with a road map or even a compass. But only you can decide where you are going to turn or make a detour along your life journey, and this is where wisdom comes in. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Life is all about asking questions, internalizing them in your mind, and finding appropriate answers to those questions asked. Asking questions is introspection, which is a process of self-reflection, without which there is no self-awareness and hence no personal growth and development. A static life is not worth living. Therefore, asking questions is self-empowering wisdom—a life-skill tool to trigger a set of mental answers, leading to actions or re</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">actions based on the choices you make from the answers you have obtained. It is the natural habit of the human mind to try to solve problems by making things </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">happen</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">. According to <b>Samuel Butler</b>, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24px;">“Life is the art of drawing sufficient questions from insufficient premises.” </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Finding out who you really are also determines your </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">physical</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">, </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">emotional</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">, </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">intellectual</i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">, and, </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">spiritual </i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">needs. They all play a pivotal part in your life because they not only determine your </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">attitude </i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">towards the challenges and changes you may encounter, but also define your </span><i style="font-size: 12pt;">purpose </i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">in your life. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>Socrates </b>once said: “An unexamined life is not worth living.” </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Examine your life with Tao wisdom. There is much to learn from this ancient wisdom from China. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tao wisdom is the essence in the art of living well, It is the profound wisdom of </span><b>Lao Tzu</b><span style="font-family: inherit;">, the author of the immortal classic </span><b><i>Tao Te Ching</i></b><span style="font-family: inherit;">, one of the most translated works in world literature. The book has been popular for thousands of years due to its wisdom, which is simple but controversial, profound and yet intriguing. To fully understand it, you need to get all the essentials of Tao wisdom. Click <a href="http://www.wisdominliving.com/tao-wisdom-essentials.html" target="_blank">here</a> for more details.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Stephen Lau </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Copyright© by Stephen Lau</span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-495794950417951016.post-10144499131612837982024-03-09T17:58:00.000-08:002024-03-09T17:58:00.237-08:00Health Awareness<p> <span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">“All men by nature desire knowledge.”</span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;"> </span><b style="font-family: inherit; font-size: x-large; text-align: justify;">Aristotle</b></p><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">When it comes to erasing age, very often you are your own worst enemy.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><span style="line-height: 36px;">Health Awareness</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">To become younger and healthier for longer, you must be aware of your own health conditions, whatever they may be at this moment<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-left: 0.25in; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Do you have high blood pressure?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-left: 0.25in; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Are your blood cholesterol levels normal?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-left: 0.25in; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Do you experience regular physical pain, or frequent headaches?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-left: 0.25in; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Do you have difficulty going to sleep?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-left: 0.25in; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Do you have insatiable cravings for certain unhealthy foods?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-left: 0.25in; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Do you have anxiety or mental depression?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-left: 0.25in; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Is everyday life stressful to you?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-left: 0.25in; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Are you overweight?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-left: 0.25in; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Do you have any degenerative disease or chronic illness?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">It is useless to deny the presence of any health problems you may have. Your <i>awareness </i>of your present health conditions is the <i>first</i> step towards erasing your age.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><span style="line-height: 36px;">Health decision</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Once you become aware of your own conditions, make a <i>decision</i> to bring about the necessary changes—a change in your attitude, and a change in your diet and lifestyle.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Adopt the right attitudes towards aging and wellness. The right attitudes include your quest for health information. According to a research study at Purdue University by <b>Mohan J. Dutta-Bergman</b>, published in the <i>Journal of Medical Internet Research</i>, “individuals who searched for health information on the Internet were indeed more likely to be health-oriented than those who did not. Consumers who sought out medical information on the Internet reported higher levels of health-information orientation and healthy activities, as well as stronger health beliefs than those who did not search for medical news on the Internet.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Knowledge is power. Knowledge not only gives you more options in life, but also enables you to make your own health decisions, instead of replying on others to make them for you.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Empower yourself with health information. Do not reply solely on doctors or pharmaceutical drugs to make you younger and healthier for longer. They offer no miracle cures.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Nowadays, many doctors may find themselves unable to keep themselves abreast of the new knowledge of medicine in spite of their continuing education. In addition, many doctors may become so preoccupied with the ever-increasing paper work required by the health care machinery that they simply do not have adequate time for their patients. If doctors cannot devote their full attention to treating you, it just makes good sense that you should be more reliant on yourself to keep yourself younger and healthier for longer.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoBodyText3" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoBodyText3" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The pharmaceutical companies and the FDA have convinced not only the medical establishment but also the gullible public that costly drugs are the answer to all their health problems, despite their dubious track records and often-deadly side effects.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The use, misuse, and abuse of drugs account for 250,000 to 500,000 deaths each year in the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region>. And do you still believe that pharmaceutical drugs provide all the answers to your health problems?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><b>Dr. O. W. Holmes</b>, Professor of Medicine, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Harvard</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype></st1:place>, had this to say regarding pharmaceuticals putting you in harm’s way: “If all the medicine in the world were thrown into the sea, it would be bad for the fish and good for humanity<b>.</b>” Dr. Holmes’ statement speaks volumes of the potential harm of pharmaceuticals.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">This is not to say that doctors and pharmaceutical drugs have no place in modern medicine—far from it. But you must equip yourself with knowledge to understand what your doctors are telling you, and why you should be taking certain medications, if need be. More importantly, become your<b> </b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">own physician</span>, and, indeed, the best you could ever have, because no man can be a perfect physician to you than <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">yourself</i><span style="mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">, and n</span>o one can tell you what your body needs other than <i>yourself</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">So, without the right attitude, it is difficult to initiate any meaningful change in your life. Let your mind control your body, and not the other way around. Therefore, what you feed you mind is as important as what you feed your body. A toxic mind is worse than a toxic body. Remember, your mind is most powerful if you harness its energies to create the reality for you.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/172580252X" target="_blank">The TAO of Living for Life</a></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; text-align: justify;"><b style="font-size: x-large;"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Stephen Lau</span></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span lang="EN" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: large;">Copyright© by Stephen Lau</span></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-495794950417951016.post-3400803140763173572024-03-08T17:43:00.000-08:002024-03-08T17:43:00.134-08:00The Ancient Wisdom in Aging<p><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 14pt; text-align: justify;">The human body has built-in body wisdom that keeps it young and healthy, that is, an innate awareness of its basic needs, as well as its warning signs and signals of internal disharmony that may lead to imminent disease and disorder. Therefore, wisdom is required to enhance this human consciousness to create a new environment in which the biochemistry of the body becomes the substance of awareness of beliefs, emotions, and thoughts, thereby instrumental in maintaining and sustaining the overall wellness of an individual to remain disease-free as much as and as long as possible.</span></p><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 14pt;">Body wisdom is no more than everyday eating and living habits. Eating is a science, and living is an art; they complement each other, just as "yin" and "yang" do. Human wisdom is, essentially, the capability in creating and managing this art and science to live a better and a longer life.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Ancient wisdom plays a pivotal role in aging. Ancient wisdom, however, is not the same as contemporary wisdom. The former has more to ays do with the mind -- how it thinks and perceives; the latter focuses more on knowledge acquisition, and its practical applications in life.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">To illustrate, <b>Lao Tzu</b>, an ancient sage in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region> some 2,600 years ago, was the author of the immortal Chinese classic "Tao Te Ching," which is one of the most translated and extensively read books of all time. According to legend, Lao Tzu wanted to leave <st1:country-region w:st="on">China</st1:country-region> for <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Tibet</st1:place></st1:country-region>, but he was stopped at the city gate, where he was forced to put down his wisdom in writing before he could leave. Reluctantly, he expressed his profound and eternal wisdom in only 5,000 words, and that was how "Tao Te Ching" came into being..<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">How is the role of TAO wisdom in living a better and a longer life?<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Lao Tzu's wisdom is unique in that it emphasizes "reverse" thinking of the human mind, instead of the "conditioned" contemporary mindset. In other words, one must, first and foremost, have an empty mind before one can even think out of the box, not to mention creating one's own box in thinking. To illustrate, Lao Tzu's focus on "under-doing" (as opposed to "over-doing" or "the more, the better" contemporary mindset), "living in the present" (as opposed to "multi-tasking" modern lifestyle), and "no expectation of result" (as opposed to "goal-oriented" or "goal-setting" attitude of this day and age) is conducive to creating internal peace and harmony, which is the essence of living a stress-free life. The essentials of Tao wisdom are fundamental to the art of living well and the science of healthy living without stress.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">In addition, Lao Tzu believed that true wisdom lies in internalizing and self-intuiting eternal truths. Unlike contemporary wisdom, Tao wisdom has no blueprint for all -- just as the health of an individual is based on the unique body chemistry of that individual; true wisdom, therefore, is acute awareness of the needs of the body, which is known exclusively only to that individual.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Another example of ancient wisdom is that of <b>Hippocrates</b> (377-460 BC), the "Father of Medicine." His basic principles of health and wellness are profound. For example, Hippocrates said: "Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food." His wisdom is quite contrary to the conventional wisdom of modern medicine, which overtly emphasizes the use of drugs. The <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">United States</st1:place></st1:country-region> is the riches but also the sickest country in the world, and our healthcare costs have skyrocketed in recent decades.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Hippocrates also expressed his wisdom in the art of living: "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." The wisdom of modern medicine focuses on cure through drugs and procedures, rather than prevention through a holistic approach to health and wellness of the body, the mind, and the spirit. The wisdom of modern medicine is simply on quick fixing the symptoms, instead of preventing their occurrence in the first place.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">The wisdom of Hippocrates echoed that of Lao Tzu's "non-doing" or "under-doing" when he said: "To do nothing is sometimes a good remedy." According to Hippocrates, "everything in excess is opposed to nature" because of the presence of the innate body wisdom in self-healing. Unfortunately, modern medicine chooses to do just the opposite, and thus opening the Pandora's box, creating many more human diseases and disorders through toxic drugs and procedures.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;">To conclude, wisdom is about acute awareness and profound perception through the human eye to see things as they really are, without looking at them through colored spectacles. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1799239527" target="_blank">The TAO of Living Longer</a></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;"><b>Stephen Lau</b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 24px; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 28px;">Copyright© by Stephen Lau</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-495794950417951016.post-48411453685263277682024-03-08T06:47:00.000-08:002024-03-08T06:47:00.126-08:00Avoiding Sudden Death<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt;">Nowadays, it is possible to prevent sudden death due to
cardiac arrest.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt;">Cardiac arrest is the sudden loss of cardiac function,
which may result in sudden death. Like an electrical pump, your heart generates
electricity in its upper chamber, sending signals through pathways in your
heart to make all the muscle cells contract at once in order to produce your
heartbeat. Through this intricate process, blood is pumped through your heart
valves into all your body organs so that they, too, can do their work properly.
Any malfunctioning, however, may lead to cardiac arrest, causing sudden death
when the heart stops beating.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt;">A person whose heart has stopped will lose consciousness
and stop normal breathing, and the pulse and blood pressure will be absent.
Sometimes there are no warning signs prior to cardiac arrest, but in other
cases people can experience dizziness or fainting spells. Sudden loss of
consciousness or death often occurs during cardiac arrest.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt;">The good news is that if you can prevent cardiac arrest,
you can prevent sudden death resulting from it. With the advancement of medical
science, it is not difficult to identify the causes of heart disease and the
development of its related health problems. Prevention of heart disease is always
better than the cure. Prevention of heart attacks is avoiding sudden death due
to cardiac arrest. However, the cooperation of the patient is critical to the
prevention of symptomatic coronary artery heart disease. That is to say, the
patient also plays a pivotal part in preventing cardiac arrest, and hence the
possibility of sudden death.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt;">What the patient can do is to modify his or her risk
pattern through lifestyle changes. True enough, the patient cannot change the
genetic factor, the age factor, and the gender factor, but the patient can
change the lifestyle, in particular, the eating habits, to reduce the onset of
symptom-free silent myocardial ischemia as well as symptomatic coronary artery
disease.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt;">The Standard American Diet (SAD) has notably contributed
to one of the most overfed and undernourished populations in the world. More
than 60 million Americans are overweight. Worse, obesity is accompanied by poor
nutrition. With the exception of those few individuals suffering from metabolic
abnormalities, such as under-active thyroid, obesity is just inexcusable
overindulgence of foods loaded with fat and cholesterol. Changing dietary
habits is the solution to problems related to cardiac arrest, including the
potential of sudden death. Dietary therapy may seem to be a simple solution,
yet it is a difficult one to implement. The patient needs to be empowered with
knowledge of cardiac arrest and its relationship to diet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt;">It is almost impossible to initiate any meaningful dietary
change if the patient does not see the need to do so. In brief, watch your body
weight. Read food labels and consume foods low in calories. Use behavior
modification through mind power to create a "thin mind." Reduce your
dietary cholesterol intake to less than 300 mg per day. Avoid foods rich in
cholesterol, including meats, egg yolks, dairy products, and organ meats, such
as liver. Eat oat bran to facilitate the removal of cholesterol. Avoid
saturated fats, which should be less than 10 percent of the total calories
consumed. Even polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, such as soft
margarine, vegetable oils, should be reduced to a minimum. The total
consumption of fat should be less than 30 percent of the total calories.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt;">Dietary therapy, which is the mainstay of treatment of
heart disease, is always preferred to drug therapy, which is never a long-term
solution to health problems. Only when dietary controls prove ineffective, then
drug therapy should be used. In addition to dietary therapy, exercise therapy
also plays a pivotal part in preventing sudden death due to cardiac arrest.
Despite the controversy over the benefits of exercising, repeated scientific
studies have proved a definitive statistical link between a sedentary lifestyle
and heart attacks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt;">What you eat and how you live your life may impact the
development of cardiac arrest, which is often the cause of sudden death.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<strong><span style="color: #141414; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: normal;">Given the
potential of sudden death, why should you focus your mind on depressive
thoughts about the past or worries about the future? Instead, focus your mind
on what you can do <i>now</i> to avoid any sudden death that may
happen to you if you don’t take care of your health.</span></strong><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<strong><span style="color: #141414; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt;">Stephen Lau</span></strong><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #141414; font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt;">Copyright© by Stephen Lau</span><span style="font-family: "verdana"; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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