Fresh start - OR - Same old, same old

     At the end of each year, many of us resolve to make the new year new, better, different. But the force of habit is disappointingly strong.
     Other ways of saying 'force of habit' include: mindlessness, being on autopilot, sleepwalking through life, among the walking dead, zoned out, brain-dead ... It's a deep conditioning that is very similar to addiction to substances.
     Students I've taught who've served in combat as helicopter pilots or marines are radically more alert, attentive, present than other students. They seem much more alive. They're tuned into what's happening right now, right here - they're mindful. Mindfulness is a life skill that can be learned in civilian life through mindfulness training. Mindfulness allows one to live life consciously, on purpose, in freedom. 

     To - BE HERE NOW - is a moment-by-moment choice. One can vow to, from now on, take hold of one's destiny as an evolving conscious life form, by choosing freedom every moment.

Source: internet

"As good as it gets!" ??? Keep raising your standards!

     “Perhaps most importantly, emotional intelligence enables the skills that help us create conditions for our own sustainable happiness. Matthieu Ricard defines happiness as ‘a deep sense of flourishing that arises from an exceptionally healthy mind … not a mere pleasurable feeling, a fleeting emotion, or a mood, but an optimal state of being.’ And that optimal state of being is ‘a profound emotional balance struck by a subtle understanding of how the mind functions.’”

       Tan C-M. Search inside yourself. The unexpected path to achieving success, happiness (and world peace). HarperCollins, NY, 2012.       NOTE: the author is Google's celebrated engineer & "jolly good fellow" Meng.

My photo does not do justice to this haunting work of art - Ghita Levin Pottery www.ghitalevinpottery.ca

Don't AVOID Scary Things out of Fear, APPROACH Skillfully with Love

     Approach or avoid? Odd question? Maybe not. Our amygdala makes this decision thousands of times each day. Consider your willingness to be with a "difficult, challenging" person - be it a relative, colleague, or "heart-sink patient". S/he rubs you the wrong way. Being with this person feels uncomfortable, hard to bear, painful - you don't think you can handle it gracefully, it wears you out. You fear that you're not up to the challenge - right?
     Now suppose you've just taken a course on "managing difficult people." You have a brand new bag of psychosocial skills you're eager to try. Now how do you feel about being with someone you previously judged as difficult, challenging? Completely different right? You're no longer afraid, in fact you're keen. Why? Because you now feel competent. You won't be worn out or some other way diminished by the encounter - you have a good chance of feeling empowered, and even the challenging person may feel better following the encounter.
     What's the first rule in dealing with "difficult" people? Don't prejudge - be curious about where they're coming from - ask questions & listen deeply. In other words, don't be afraid, be curious, learn their point of view, give them the gift of feeling heard. In other words, treat them with neighborly kindness (love) instead of judging them as bad, difficult, challenging (don't fear them).
     So, we can grow as human beings by approaching those whom we tend to avoid. Approaching them without judgment, but with curiosity and kindness will accomplish much - for us and them.
     While this suggestion is moral & ethical, it is NOT a "should", but rather a very practical course of action to test. As in any aspect of healing, if this reduces the suffering of others & your own, do more of it; if it increases suffering, do less.
     See also: http://mindfulnessforeveryone.blogspot.ca/2012/03/65-embracing-full-catastrophe.html

Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia - beautiful even during today's storm

Aging - toward Wisdom, Self-realization

     In an excellent NY Times article (Dec 19, 2012), Judith Graham summarized several recent studies which suggest that "age stereotypes ... can have an important effect on seniors’ health.
     When stereotypes are negative — when seniors are convinced becoming old means becoming useless, helpless or devalued — they are less likely to seek preventive medical care and die earlier, and more likely to suffer memory loss and poor physical functioning, a growing body of research shows.
     When stereotypes are positive — when older adults view age as a time of wisdom, self-realization and satisfaction — results point in the other direction, toward a higher level of functioning."

http://newoldage.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/12/19/older-people-are-what-they-think-study-shows/

Consciousness Can Continue Maturing into Old Age

“Age is opportunity no less
Than youth itself, though in another dress,
And as the evening twilight fades away
The sky is filled with stars invisible by day.”       Longfellow

Photo: qhenson   www.dpreview.com

Ethics & Guidelines for Prescribing Drugs

     "The Journal Sentinel/MedPage Today examined 20 clinical practice guidelines for conditions treated by the 25 top-selling drugs in the U.S.
     These drugs sit in the medicine cabinets of millions of Americans -- Nexium (esomeprazole magnesium) for acid reflux, Lipitor (atorvastatin) for high cholesterol, Cymbalta (duloxetine) for depression, and OxyContin (oxycodone) for pain. Their collective sales topped $94 billion in 2011, accounting for 30% of drug revenue in the U.S.
An analysis of the guideline panels, which involved 293 doctors, found:

• Nine guidelines were written by panels where more than 80% of doctors had financial ties to drug companies.
• Four panels did not require members to disclose any conflicts of interest.
• Of the 16 guideline committees that required disclosure, two-thirds of the panel members had ties to drug companies.

     Some guidelines written by conflicted panels recommend drugs that have not been scientifically proven to safely treat conditions, leading to inappropriate or over prescribing, specifically guidelines for anemia, chronic pain, and asthma."

http://www.medpagetoday.com/PrimaryCare/GeneralPrimaryCare/36522?utm_content=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DailyHeadlines&utm_source=WC&xid=NL_DHE_2012-12-19&eun=g259408d0r&userid=259408&email=novaquest@eastlink.ca&mu_id=5254360

     "The publication of an editorial questioning the benefits of high dose epoetin was canceled by the marketing branch of a journal after being accepted by the editorial branch highlighting concerns of conflict of interest in publishing.^[22]
     In 2011, author Kathleen Sharp published a book, Whistleblower’s story,^[23] alleging drug maker Johnson & Johnson encouraged doctors to prescribe epoetin in high doses, particularly for cancer patients, because this would increase sales by hundreds of millions of dollars. Former sales representatives Mark Duxbury and Dean McClennan, claim that the bulk of their business selling epoetin to hospitals and clinics was Medicare fraud, totaling $3 billion.^[24] In a lawsuit, Duxbury alleged his employer wrongfully terminated him in 1998. He lived in Gig Harbor, Washington. He was born on March 23, 1960 and died on Tuesday, October 13, 2009, at age 49, while his case was still in litigation."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epoetin_alfa 

     My Dad was pressured by his physician into taking epoetin (~1999) for anemia. Because his physician was so insistent, in spite of the fact that it cost $1,000. out-of-pocket, he complied. There was no benefit (for my Dad), and he died of heart failure.

Dalhousie University's Caduceus Project, conceived & directed by Miro Davis

Self-Knowledge, Depth, and Healing Abilities

     “Thomas Merton warns us that ‘he who attempts to act and do things for others or for the world without deepening his own self-understanding, freedom, integrity and capacity to love, will not have anything to give to others. He will communicate to them nothing but the contagion of his own obsessions, his aggressiveness, his ego-centered ambitions, his delusions about ends and means, his doctrinaire prejudices and ideas.’ And for Merton, the Cistercian monk, deepening one’s own self-understanding requires a disciplined practice of meditation or contemplative prayer, made possible only by regular doses of holy quiet.”

       Simmons P. "Learning to fall. The blessings of an imperfect life." Bantam Books, NY, 2000.

Shaman Traveler to Other Worlds for Blessings by Norval Morisseau