https://youtu.be/SQuyCc1Cuac
So just what is in your
L U N C H B O X. . .
Maybe the bigger question is:
just
what
are
you
w i l l i n g
t o
s h a r e. . .
and the greatest question yet:
A R E Y O U ?
Who Cares - What Matters
https://youtu.be/SQuyCc1Cuac
So just what is in your
L U N C H B O X. . .
Maybe the bigger question is:
just
what
are
you
w i l l i n g
t o
s h a r e. . .
and the greatest question yet:
A R E Y O U ?
Have you ever suffered from
A L T I T U D E S I C K N E S S ?
I’m not asking what’s the highest mountain you’ve ever climbed
or if you’ve ever hiked a Pike’s Peak-like trail;
I’m asking did you ever feel the highest of high’s:
A H E L P E R ‘ S H I G H ?
No, it’s not a myth or even a goal to have or aspire. . .
it’s very real and like most real things,
it not only evokes a lot of opinions and theories,
but also a lot of studies that actually present facts.
Take any N D A D. . .
That’s right, a Non-Directed Anonymous Donor. . .these are people who literally walk in off the street and say that they are healthy and would like to donate a kidney; not to a family member or a distant relative or a very close childhood friend. . .NO, to an actual person they have never met and quite possible never will; a true; NON-DIRECTED ANONYMOUS DONOR.
Dr. David Lansburg, director of kidney transplants for British Columbia, Vancouver says that such a donation sets off a chain reaction of giving as well as a saving multiple lives.
You think?
Dr. Abraham Maslow called such acts, witnessed and shared,
P E A K E X P E R I E N C E S. . .
Dr. Jonathan Haidt is a psychologist calls this peak experience ELATION and describes it as a warm feeling in the chest, a sensation of expansion in the heart, an increased desire to help, and increased sense of connection with others.
Well. . .
are you buying THIS a cup of coffee
or treating it like some discarded moldy grounds?
BE YOUR OWN STUDY
You don’t have to go too far back into your own personal photo album to remember,
do you?
If someone yells at you for no good reason, first thing in the morning. . .
it’s sets off a chemical reaction inside of you that would make the most sophisticated Chemistry Sets pale in comparison.
Pssssssssssssssst:
The same is true if you
DO GOOD. . .or even witness good being done!
FACT: When you do even the simplest of kind things, you literally feel happier–because you do; it’s the brain’s natural versions of morphine and heroin–they call it dopamine.
FACT: Kindness gives you a healthier heart. Oxytocin causes the release of nitric oxide which expands the blood vessels, hence, lowering blood pressure.
FACT: Kindess slows down the aging process. The study of Tibetan Buddhist’s Loving Kindness Compassion meditation found that kindness and compassion did, in fact, reduce inflammation in the body.
FACT: Kindness makes for better relationships. Seriously, do you hate seeing an act of kindness or actually having one done to you?
FACT: Kindness is contagious. Let’s go back to our 28 year old Non-Directed Anonymous Donor (NDAD) who walked into a clinic and donated a kidney. It set off a “pay it forward ” type of ripple effect where the spouses or other family members of recipients of a kidney donated one of theirs to someone in need. The “domino effect,” as it is called in the New England Journal of Medicine report, spanned the length and breadth of the United States, where 10 people received a new kidney as a result of a that single anonymous donor.
So. . .
you want to get H I G H ?
Get your kindness on. . .
It’s the one Rock you can throw
that’ll start three ripples with the first skip:
The ripple for the recipient
The ripple for you
The ripple for the one who might see the kindness. . .
One simple act of kindness will get you a one way ticket to a
H e l p e r ‘s H i g h
W A R N I N G:
B E W A R E. . .
T H I S I S H I G H L Y A D D I C T I V E
Well. . .did you?
I did.
Zippy.
I don’t remember when I got him, but I remember when he went away mysteriously one day.
I was crushed. . .
I r e m e m b e r.
Psychologists call that a security or transitional object.
Of course there have been studies about this.
There are no real numbers on how many people actually carry around a childhood pillow,
blankie or stuffed animal,
but a recent survey of 6000 British adults by the hotel chain Travelodge
found that 35% admitted to sleeping with such an object.
Surprised?
Up until very recently,
it was thought to be bad,
but in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology in 2000,
it was found that those with a transitional object
experienced less distress, as measured by blood pressure and heart rate.
Apparently
S E C U R I T Y B L A N K E T S
really do live up to their name.
I visited a lady in a dementia unit recently who was holding a stuffed animal.
We talked briefly about some of the photographs in her room
of family and pets and she blurted out,
“You, YOU can go now. But he’s staying,”
she said as she clung and hugged her stuffed animal even closer.
I thanked her for letting me stop by;
she wanted me to pray for her and her stuff animal before I left.
It was as short prayer.
I left wondering. . .
A couple of presentations
. . . a few conversations later,
I’m still wondering.
W H Y ?
Why the clinging to a stuffed animal,
blankie,
pillow
or any other lifeless object?
I’ve asked it of a couple of groups and a more than a few individuals now.
I’m not sure that that there’s a definitive answer,
but some that have been offered are:
Non-Judgmental
Accepting
Unconditional love
Peaceful
Security
Who knows really?
The thing I wonder about the most though,
is if this
t r a n s i t i o n a l o b j e c t
can provide all or each of those things–
what about me?
How much more so can I?
P R E S E N C E
is one of the most powerful,
non-evasive,
Nonpharmacological,
least expensive,
cheapest,
EFFECTIVE
ways ever discovered to provide
h e a l i n g !
Maybe what I wonder most. . .
Who could have ever imagined
j u s t b y s h o w i n g u p
the most amazing things can take place
over and over and over
again and again and again and. . . . ?
Now T H A T ‘ S the stuffing we’re all made.
(Don’t let it go to waste)
https://youtu.be/b-xScLIevw0
LOVE HAS NO LABELS. . .
if that were
ONLY T R U E
if that were
ONLY THE NORM
and not the
n o n s t a n a r d
Love Has No Labels
is a movement to open our eyes to there unconscious bias. . .
While the vast majority of Americans
consider themselves
UNPREJUDICED
many of us unintentionally make snap judgements
about people
based on what we see–
whether it’s
race
age
gender
religion
sexuality
or disability
By becoming aware of our own
b i a s e s
WE can work to end bias
in ourselves,
our families
our friends
our communities. . .
Hmmmmmmmmm of the DAY:
WE NEED AN ORGANIZED MOVEMENT
to show us we need
LOVE WITH NO LABELS
Let’s make it this Simple:
Challenge that;
Inspire that;
Mirror that;
Share that;
B E T H A T
(not often)
A L L – W A Y S !
We all have them, don’t we?
S C A R S !
They always tell stories, don’t they?
Where we got them?
How long ago?
What they used to look like?
How they faded. . .
How,
How they still hurt. . .
But isn’t this the truest of true?
The worst scars there are,
the ones that hurt the most,
aren’t the ones we wear on our sleeves,
or can ever really be seen. . .
they’re the ones we wear on our hearts,
aren’t they?
It’s an older movie now,
“THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER,”
2012;
the book, older still, by Stephen Chbosky,
1999,
and there’s a Classic line that’ll knock you to your knees and let the funk run out, or at least, uncover that bruised, scarred, still-very-much-beating heart
“WE ACCEPT THE LOVE WE THINK WE DESERVE.”
Before I even hint of asking you,
is it
T R U E
or
F A L S E,
maybe what I should really ask is,
“Are you willing to show your scars,
every minute,
infinitesimal scar
your beating heart expands
with each pulsation?
Well. . . ?
T R U E
or
F A L S E ?
Sorry. . .
you’ve got to
S H O W
your work,
just like some Fifth Grade Math homework. . .
P R O V E I T !
Do Y O U,
Accept the Love
Y O U
think YOU deserve?
Want to see my scar ?
Ohhhhhhhhhhhh,
you already have—-
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm,
your scars are my scars,
my scars are yours. . .
https://youtu.be/vDuA9OPyp6I
A R E Y O U H U N G R Y ?
For what?
Steak?
Potatoes?
Salad?
Broccoli?
Corn?
Mashed Potatoes?
Spanish Rice?
Shrimp and Grits?
Ribs?
Eggs, Bacon and Homefries?
A Grande Breve Latte?
Cake?
Pie?
Sherbert?
Rootbeer Float?
Milkshake?
Cookies?
Candy Bars?
Tic Tac’s?
Gum?
Popcorn?
Well. . .
that which feeds you,
r e a l l y
r e a l l y
feeds you. . .
E A T Y O U R F I L L
Feed the Beast
and Feed it often
until you’re slothingly
F U L L
and. . .
don’t go hungry
ever again. . .
and more. . .
f e e d a n o t h e r
and really take care
of the
hunger problem!
Maybe what the world needs now
is just a huge table full of
hungry people
willing to share
t h e i r b e s t s
to the left
and right of them
and not being ashamed
to go for the
s e c o n d s
or
t h i r d s. . .
T a b l e U P
Bon appetit
The Common Cold Explained?
Has it ever been?
We get sniffles
We cough
We sneeze
We wheeze
We wipe a nose that can’t stop dripping
“WE CAN SEND A MAN TO THE MOON BUT WE CAN’T CURE THE COMMON COLD”
. . .and then there’s the Winter Cold.
There’s studies on this stuff, you know?
Dr. Mike Tipton, a Professor of Human Physiology at Portsmouth University in the UK studies the human body’s response to extreme environments–like being dunked in icy water or like what so many did on New Year’s Day when many took the Polar Bear Plunge in Lake Erie and I’m sure, other parts of the World.
Dr. Mike says the temperature of how your hands and feet dominate your overall sensation of thermal comfort. “You can be warm, but if your hands and feet are cold, you will feel cold,” Tipton states.
Hardly earth shattering information, huh? I mean go to a football game in sub-degree freezing temperatures WITHOUT GLOVES and in thin socks and thin shoes. . .you won’t make it till kick-off.
But maybe the worst,
the absolute worst kind of C O L D S
we can ever feel is not the ones we sneeze or shiver our ways through, but the
C O M M O N C O L D
we seem to be experts in giving one another
on any given day
at any given moment. . .
Isn’t THAT the worst?
Is it REALLY just because we’re different?
I remember my best friend when I was in third grade was Nathan. We were inseparable. Every waking moment, especially in the Summer, we were playing football, baseball or hide-and-seek and any other game we’d make up on the run. We traded baseball cards and had camp-out-sleep-on-the-living-room-floors sleep overs. We shared everything but his grandmother hated me; wouldn’t let me on her front porch or in their yard because I was a Lutheran and he,
. . .they were Catholic;
Somehow that brought out her Common Cold
. . .and it could kick the furnace on in a heat wave.
The Social Scientists will tell us
it’s all ingrained in us since our Cave Woman/Man days
when we fought over food or pelts or fire wood or a certain corner in the cave;
Maybe this is wired in us,
this ME-FIRST attitude
or my Tribe first,
my family,
my nation
first,
the idea of attacking someone first out of fear
that something will be taken from us. . ..
But more and more I’m finding I really am
S E A R C H I N G
N E E D I N G
an U N-C O M M O N C O L D.
It’s always seemed as if we have had to
O V E R C O M E
each other in order to guarantee our survival;
now more and more. . .
isn’t it that we are actually
D I S C O V E R I N G
new ways of relating to one another,
and here’s the KICKER,
we actually need each other to accomplish THIS!
When we IMAGINE
that the person,
known or unknown
before us might be having the worst day of THEIR lives,
that THEIR suffering is actually our Suffering. . .
it’s utterly amazing how the Common Cold becomes vastly more
M O R E U N C O M M O N
Now, THAT’S NOTHING TO SNEEZE AT. . . .
Ahhhhhhhhhhh,
a life without thick gloves and thicker shoes. . .
because
O U R W A R M T H
is sufficient!
(or maybe we keep sending our feelings/emotions and ourselves way past the Moon and Mars before ever getting around to curing THE COMMON COLD?)
Sometimes. . .
it’s really less about the
p r o d u c t
and more about the
c o m m e r c i a l
When’s the last time you’ve been
Mrs. Claus’ed?
Maybe the better question:
When was the last time you have been
Mrs. Claus
to someone else. . . ?
You know it’s really not that hard. . .
See
Hear
Feel
Learn
of a need
and
M E E T I T
It just might be one of your
greatest secrets
you can share
without
having to
w h i s p e r
H O W
. . .Get Claus’ed
and then make sure you
C L A U S
away
without
C L A U S E. . .
because the best way to
Celebrate
D e c e m b e r 26
is simply to treat it like
D E C E M B E R 2 5
(f o r e v e r)
Psssssssssssst of the Day:
That’s the biggest not-so-confidential
s e c r e t
you’ll never quite be able to
hide
or
ever need to. . . .
https://youtu.be/PYOJ1j7axrE
T H I S I S C H R I S T M A S
Most wait 364 days for it to come
but the best Kind of Christmas
isn’t the one that’s expressed
with language
it’s the one that’s spoken with
with the heart
The best Kind of Christmas
isn’t the one that needs words
but the one that leaves you speechless
The best Kind of Christmas
isn’t the one sung of
but the one that symphonies match not
The best Kind of Christmas
isn’t found in a manger thousands of years ago
but the one found in you–
shared with countless others
T H I S I S C H R I S T M A S
HAVE THE MOST ENDLESS
MERRIEST ONE
A
Caring Catalyst can share
365 days a year
Pssssssssssst of the Day:
It just might be
one
simple
h u g
away!
The problem with
H A N D S
is not that we all have them. . .
it’s that they are not always joined;
Our hands c a n
and have done so much on their own. . .
but when they are joined together with other hands
the imagination isn’t vast enough to comprehend
what can be accomplished;
Could have H A N D S joined together
stopped the tragic,
senseless violence that takes place all to often in
Anywhere, USA. . . ?
P E R H A P S
We will never know. . .
but H A N D S joined together can go along way in
providing the
H E A L I N G
What to do. . .
Imperfect hands in an imperfect world. . .
S I M P L E :
H E A L I T !
I’m often. . .
too often reminded
Of the story of a Rabbi who prayed daily that God would make a perfect world in which there would be no hatred, jealousy, pain, disease, pain or problems. One night, God appeared to the Rabbi in a dream and took him on tour of the world made perfect. The Rabbi saw his house, his synagogue, his town. Lions and lambs laid together. Still, the Rabbi was troubled. . .something was missing. “Where am I in this perfect world?” the Rabbi asked. God offered an apologetic answer: “This is the Perfect World you requested. You must understand that you are not perfect, so you cannot be included.”
Now, this is where
I would usually plug in some
facts,
figures,
data
scientific studies
that would prove
K I N D N E S S
is not just an option
it’s a healthier life style. . .
but
sometimes you just don’t need a study
to tell you
what you already know. . .
F A C T :
Terrible. . .
most horrible things take place in our lives and in our World
but they have no relationship on how we live our lives of
Care and Compassion. . .
F A C T :
Expecting the World to treat us fairly
because we are nice people
is like expecting a Bull not to gore us
just because we’re vegetarians. . .
F A C T :
We may never be able to prevent horrible events from happening again. . .
but by coming together
by joining hands
by Unconditionally Caring
by Unrelentlessly being Compassionate
we lessen pain and make the World a better place
N O M A T T E R W H A T
F A C T :
The Future isn’t a place we go to
It’s a Place we Create
F A C T :
By joining hands in Care and Compassion
the Future becomes a much better
P R E S E N T
a more hopeful
N O W
Join me
p l e a s e
oh please oh please oh
p l e a s e