Life

Remembering Whitney Houston

2012-02-12T16:13:00.000-08:00

When I heard on the news last night of Whitney Houston’s sudden passing, I was shocked and saddened. I started enjoying listening to Whitney Houston’s music in elementary school when her hit song “Greatest Love of All” was frequently played on the radio. It was often played in summer camp when I was around ten. (They may have been playing this song for the camp counselors to hear since it’s about the love of kids, and I guess it was quite fitting.)

Two of my favorite Whitney songs of all times are “When You Believe” (for the Disney movie Prince of Egypt about Moses) and “One Moment in Time”. (I’ve embedded the videos on this page.)

In this time of fear…… Now I’m standing here, my heart so full I can’t explain. Speaking faith and speaking words I never thought I’ll say. There can be miracles, when you believe. Though hope is frail, it’s hard to kill. Who knows what miracles you can achieve? When you believe, somehow you will… you will when you believe.

Each day I live, I want it to be, a day to give, the best of me. I rise and fall. Yet through it all… I want one moment in time… when I’m faced with destiny… I will be free.

I must admit that not all of Whitney Houston’s songs have good messages, in my opinion. I didn’t particularly like the messages on some of her love songs, but she surely did make all her songs sound great with her amazing vocal range.
Also, who can forget the hit movie The Body Guard she starred in back in the early 90’s and the hit song “I Will Always Love You” which was voted the best song in my high school year book.

Not only did Ms. Houston have great vocal abilities, but she actually started a career in the spotlight as a teen model, which did not surprise me when I read about this years ago. She was a very beautiful woman.
People started recognizing her singing talent when her mother brought her to sing at church events, and the producer Clyde Davis introduced her to the world when he discovered her.
Unfortunately, in the last ten years, Whitney Houston has been struggling with personal problems (battling with drugs, alcohol, and ex-husband Bobby Brown.) I've always hoped that she would pull herself back up. Despite her struggles in her later years, we can’t forget her accomplishments of more than two decades. My prayers go out to Whitney Houston and her family.
Greatest National Anthem Performance I’ve Ever Seen
I Believe in You and Me

For more Whitney Houston music videos from her two decades of singing career, go to:
http://music.yahoo.com/whitney-houston/

To Produce Power in Your Work

2012-02-01T18:14:00.000-08:00

If I want my work to become powerful, it must be frequently and daily in my prayers. I must actively pray about it.

“History is silent about revivals that did not begin with prayer.” - Edwin Orr

“To desire revival and at the same time neglect (personal) prayer and devotion… is to wish one way and walk another.” A.W. Tozer

Things Change When You Change Your Perspective

2012-01-09T12:48:00.000-08:00

"When you change the way you see the things around you, the things around you change. When you change the way you see the people around you, the people around you change." -Amadeo Constanzo

By the time you experience this, you'll wander why you tried so hard to manipulate the things around you in the past. You'll wander why you frustrated yourself so much in trying to change the people around you, when you finally and truly realize that you only needed to change yourself and change the way you see them.

You may think that I am writing this to teach you. Although that is true, I am doing this more so to remind myself. Revelation of the knowledge is great, but maintenance is just as important. Maintenance requires habitual reminders(from teachers, reading the writings of such teachers, and routine re-reading.)

My New Year's Resolutions 2012

2011-12-31T12:21:00.000-08:00

1. Occupy Sesame Street

2. Change CD in player

3. Get up to date with technology and get rid of CD player. Get a solar powered… cassette player.

4. Move to Canada to get away from hurricanes and earthquakes in New York.

5. Use social networks like Twitter to spark a Canadian spring.

6. Bitch about the economy. Wait, I did that last year (and the year before.)

7. Become the Republican nominee for the Presidency so that I can do three things: (1) Stop hurricanes and earthquakes, (2) Miraculously eradicate unemployment despite global economic problems, and (3) Ah. Ummm. What’s the third one? Oops.

8. Become really good at planking so that I can get endorsements from Nike... and Apple.

9. Tebow five times a day.

10. Come up with a more serious list of New Year’s Resolutions.

Copyright: © 2011. This document is the sole property of Amadeo Constanzo. You may use this article for free on your web site, blog, or other publication if and only if you include this entire copyright notice including the following links and statement. Other free teachings from Amadeo Constanzo can be found at SpirFit.com and SpirFit.org

New Year's Resolutions 2012, Shu Chan 陳樹中 University of California, UC Davis, Brooklyn Tech, Amadeo Constanzo

Terence Chan LIU Long Island University

Polygamy (Part 2): Does God Hate Women?

2011-11-30T10:36:00.000-08:00

My previous blog entry "Polygamy (Part 1): Does God Allow it" was written for one of the churches I attended (and taught at) years ago. After reading it, one of the sisters of that church responded with the following:

ANONYMOUS SISTER WROTE:
My main issue with polygamy is not family troubles,
because I've already accepted that as the truth
through common sense and examples from the OT, but
just the stance women have to take.

Call me a ranting feminist, but I really do dislike
what women have to go through, not only in the OT, but
in some instances in the NT, in the societies I've
learned about, and even in circumstances around me.
Firstly, I had trouble with the fact that a woman was
created for Adam, not for God. So through Ge 2:18,23,
men can justify their treatment and regard for women,
since they were made for AND named by men in the first
place! Later on in the OT, women were perpetually
burdened with the responsibility of bearing a son, and
even if the man was the one incompetent, the woman was
blamed for being barren. Thus, men could have multiple
wives through such excuses/reasons. Just the very fact
that they were able to do so implied that men could do
as they please concerning the issue of women.

Certainly, as you have mentioned and I have read in
Deuteronomy (and a part of Numbers, maybe... my memory
grows stale), women were allowed to marry another man,
who was related to her husband, to carry on the family
line. But they were to do so out of duty, not their
own will. Many fathers, however, like the well-known
patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, were able to
take on more than one wife even if they had plenty of
offspring, especially male, to carry on their line.

Even in the New Testament, women were not to take on leadership
roles, of which I am still not sure why. If they could
lead others into God's light, why on earth NOT? 1Cor
14:34-35 hits even me harder. It's disgraceful for a
woman to speak up in church? Perhaps Paul didn't mean
exactly that. But doesn't he know his words could be
detrimental to progeny in more ways than one could
imagine? Especially since generations and generations
of believers read and follow these words?

One of my friends dislikes Christianity mostly because
of excerpts in Numbers 31 about virgin women, as if
they were just booty to satisfy the men. I myself
wouldn't blame her for her criticism, if I were still
a nonbeliever, though I did attempt to explain to her
the historical background and what God allowed, but
did not encourage. She wasn't very convinced.

I as a Christian still have trouble with such passages
from the Bible. I even considered turning away from
Christianity because of the pain it causes me as a
woman. I almost feel like I'm encouraging self-hate.
Yet I prayed about it, and God kept bringing me back
to Him even though I was mad. I thank Him for that,
but I still haven't resolved these issues--merely put
them aside. My brother says I grow too heated about
this, that yes, women's toes were stepped on often,
unfortunately, but there's nothing really to be done
about it. I laughed and said, "Sometimes I wish I
were born a man, though I hate to admit it."

The reason I'm writing all this to you is just to
respond, and hope you have a better reaction to these
passages than I do. I hope you don't view this
position with respect to your own gender, but see it
objectively, and also in other perspectives. Sometimes
these issues, along with evolution and abortion, eat
at me, and sometimes I just realize I should search
for knowledge, but realize these things are part of
God's plan, not my own decisions and wills. But what
am I to tell others when I testify--and what am I to
tell myself as I reread these passages that denigrate
women? I do not search for equality; I do understand
that men and women are very different and I don't
expect them to be alike or even to understand each
other, but I desire religious equity. And I'm sure I'm
not the only one.

I THEN RESPONDED TO HER WITH THE FOLLOWING:

Thank you for your response. To respond to your response, let me first clarify something regarding how women were encouraged to marry her husband¡¦s brother after her husband dies. She was only allowed and encouraged to do this after her husband dies. When you remarry another man after your husband dies, it is not polygamy and it is not adultery. After your spouse dies, the marriage is no longer binding. (This is true even today, which may have something to do with the phrase ¡§til death do us part¡¨. See also 1Corinthians 7:39-40.) In the times of the Old Testament, (as far as I know) women were not allowed to practice polygamy (Numbers 5:11-31). Only men could practice polygamy and have more than one wife (back then). I know you must be even angrier about this double standard. But before you get too mad, please first continue reading this.

First of all, let me mention that it is human society that you should be mad at, and not God. The customs of polygamy back in those days were from men, not from God. However, God did allow it (although he probably did not like it too much). However, there were other things that God allowed that he didn't like too much, which he no longer allow later. For example, divorce is one of these things. I speculate that God allow us certain things (like polygamy and divorce) that he didn't like (and knew wasn't good), probably because of our stubborn heads and hard hearts. You know how we are as humans, when we understand something as one way and we are so used to certain customs. I think God kinda went along with us in our imperfection and hard heartedness (probably to save more of us). But this is only my speculation. However, I do have bible verses that is consistent with my speculation. If you look in Matthew 19:1-8, one of the issues that God kinda went along with us in our imperfection is the issue of divorce. He clearly didn¡¦t like the idea of divorce since that was not what he originally intended of a married couple. However, he went along with our imperfection and he allowed divorce (back in biblical times) because of our hard hearts. (Matthew 19:1-8) I believe it is the same with the issue of polygamy. Like divorce, God probably wasn¡¦t really happy with it. I think he went along with it so that more people would be saved. (As many Israelites as there were that turned against God back in those days, many more probably would turn against God if God didn¡¦t went along a little bit with our imperfection). Again, this is my speculation. So, I don¡¦t think you should be mad at God, when you should really be mad at man¡¦s society and how man are stubborn to cling to man's customs.

Let me also ask you another question. Other than the fact that men were able to have multiple wives and that ¡§they could do as they please¡¨, there are probably so many other things in history that you (and we all) could be very mad about. What if I tell you that I am very angry about Peloponnesian War that happened more than 2000 years ago. I am very angry about how the Spartans were treated. Wouldn¡¦t you be telling me, ¡§It doesn¡¦t make any sense to be angry about something so long ago?¡¨ And this is exactly my point.

Regarding the issue of leadership of women in the church and your quoting of what Paul said in 1Corinthians, this is a very controversial subject among different Christians. God taught me about this back in 2002 (with a whole chain of events that happened that year which I¡¦m not going into). Anyway, my brief response to this subject is: if you look at the context of which Paul spoke, and at the bible as a whole and not just that one verse in 1Corinthians, you would see that God does allow woman to teach (let alone speak) in a church. This issue would really require a lot of writing and pulling scriptures from the bible. So I am not going to get into it here. . I've been intending to write an article about this issue, but I¡¦ve been putting it off (probably because I know how long the article would be).

Also, I don't think you should feel like you're encouraging self-hate being a female Christian. You should focus on all the examples in the Bible of how God loved and cared for the women who loved him. There are so many.

Also, if your non-Christian friends dislike Christianity because of the male dominated stories in the Old Testament, I highly recommend that you start them on the New Testament such as the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. In my opinion, I always discourage starting beginning Bible students with the Old Testaments. I think they should have a good understanding of God from the New Testament before they start reading the Old Testament.

Copyright: © 2007. This document is the sole property of Amadeo Constanzo. You may use this article for free on your web site, blog, or other publication if and only if you include this entire copyright notice including the following links and statement. Other free teachings from Amadeo Constanzo can be found at life.SpirFit.com and SpirFit.org

Polygamy (Part 1): Does God Allow It?

2011-11-10T11:50:00.000-08:00

I would like to comment on an essay I've read about polygamy (the practice of having more than one wife.) This essay I've read is posted on

http://SpirFit.org/downloads/polygamy.pdf

To briefly summarize the essay, it states that:
1. "Polygamy was an accepted custom" and God WAS okay with polygamy in biblical times (especially when having children and many descendents were more important than it is today).
2. Although God was okay with polygamy (at that time), he warned against taking many wives.

I agree with this essay mostly. However, this essay stops short in not clearly stating that polygamy is no longer accepted by God today. The essay does not state this maybe because this is an obvious fact. However, in case there is any misunderstanding, I would like to state clearly that polygamy is no longer allowed by God today. (1Corinthians 7:2)

The essay cites Deuteronomy 25:5-10 as proof that polygamy was allowed. This is not the correct passage to show that polygamy was allowed (although there are many other passages in the Old Testament that shows that polygamy was allowed by God in biblical times). What Deuteronomy 25:5-10 does show, is that marriage is binding only until death. That is why when a woman's husband died in those days, the woman is encouraged to marry the husband's brother to provide descendents from her husband's family. Since her marriage to her first husband is no longer binding after he dies, she is not practicing polygamy. (Even today, marriage is only binding until death as shown in 1 Corinthians 7:39-40. One possible reason why marriage is no longer binding after death could be found in Luke 20:34-36 but I digress.) Although Deuteronomy 25:5-10 is not a good passage to prove the case of polygamy in biblical times, it does show the importance of women having children or providing descendants for her husband (even after he dies) in those days.

Today, polygamy is not allowed. I could see why God forbids polygamy today. It is for our own good. In biblical times when polygamy was accepted, there were more conflicts within the families of more than one wife (Genesis 16:3-6). Even looking at circumstances today, I can see why forbidding polygamy is for our own good. Here's how I look at it. I can see how the married men of today already have their hands full, dealing with just one wife and kids from her. In most cases, there are more than enough problems and things to deal with, having just one wife and kids. I think all the married men could completely understand what I am saying here. I can already imagine how impossible one's life would be to have many wives. It is probably not easy to live with many wives. It is not easy living with many females. When I was growing up, I lived with five females (i.e. 4 sisters + my mother). I can tell you from experience that it is not easy (especially in the morning when there was only one bathroom).

A long time ago, the show 20/20 on ABC actually did a story on polygamy in America. There are actually a few men remaining in America who have more than one wife (although only one is legally registered). Most of these men that they interviewed on the show were fundamentalist Mormons. I believe they are remnant from the time when the Mormons still allowed polygamy not that long ago in history. Anyway, these men were mostly saying how tough it is to maintain more than one marriage and the kids from these marriages (in terms of finance, energy, and time). It is not that hard to see why God now forbids polygamy for our own good.

SUMMARY
1. "Polygamy WAS an accepted custom" and God allowed with polygamy in biblical times (especially when having children and many descendents were more important than it is today).
2. Although God allowed polygamy in ancient times, he warned against taking many wives.
3. God now forbids polygamy (probably for our own good.)

Copyright: © 2007. This document is the sole property of Amadeo Constanzo. You may use this article for free on your web site, blog, or other publication if and only if you include this entire copyright notice including the following links and statement. Other free teachings from Amadeo Constanzo can be found at SpirFit.com and SpirFit.org

Polygamy, Does God Allow Polygamy, Legal, Lawful, Shu Chan 陳樹中 University of California, UC Davis, Brooklyn Tech, Amadeo Constanzo

Set Your Clocks Back

2011-11-06T10:21:00.000-08:00

If you haven't done so already, set your clocks back one hour (relevant for most areas in the U.S., effective this morning.) However, I guess the worst that could happen is that you'll be an hour early for work on Monday.

Relationships, Mine, Others', and Lessons

2011-10-13T10:55:00.000-07:00

Coming up in this Life blog, I’m going to start writing about relationships, including – how I’d go about finding; maintaining; stories of others, and lessons I’ve learned. I will also include my own stories, past hurts, and past mistakes that less than a handful of people know about.

When God recently indicated to me to embark on writing this series (on this completely unexpected subject), I was taken aback. At first, it didn’t make sense to me. Slowly and surely, it started to make sense to me more and more. I began to remember the connection between relationships and the emotional-spiritual affects which affects your health, your minds ability to function, and your work or academic performance. Take for example my student who had trouble concentrating in her school work when she was dealing with problems with her boyfriend. (He was cheating on her.)

Take also for example the man who developed a life threatening condition (aneurysm and cavernous sinus thrombosis) shortly after he started having problems with his marriage. His wife has a boyfriend and the husband wants a divorce. But in his country, his son will almost certainly be awarded to the wife in the courts as well as a lot of his fortune. He doesn’t want to lose his son, and he doesn’t want his son to grow up without both parents. Also, he is emotionally distraught from having to live with a wife who has a boyfriend out there. He is constantly full of anger, depression, and emotional pains. It was shortly after all these that he developed his life threatening condition. I believe that it was no coincidence. I am not saying his relationship and emotional troubles were the sole cause of his health problem, but I am saying that his troubles at home were definitely a major contributing factor.

Anyway, my point is that our relationships and emotional states are completely related to our SpirFit states (mental, spiritual, emotional, and physical state.)

Therefore, it is not really "out there" (as it initially felt to me) that I am writing about relationships. I think you will find the lessons and stories I provide (including my own experiences) interesting and helpful.

Habitual Thoughts Determine Results

2011-10-06T16:19:00.000-07:00

“If you want to know what you were thinking a year ago, just look at your life today.” - Jack Canfield

This quote is a very strong reminder for me. Your thoughts are like seeds. You sow them today, but you may not get results immediately. Many people do not understand this in our microwave culture of quick results. (That’s why diet pills sell despite their potential long-term ineffectiveness and harmfulness, as I’ve written previously.)

Not that your thoughts are all you need. However, it is one of the most important steps. You have to get into the habit of setting aside time to think of what and how you want to be and visualize where you want your life to go. This is absolutely true also for your physical fitness. Bodybuilders and fitness competitors know this. This is also true for physical healing of medical conditions (as well as emotional and psychological healing) as I've learned first-hand in my medical battle years ago.

“For as he thinketh within himself, so is he.” Proverbs 23:7 (ASV)

We really have to be careful of what we think about or where our mind goes everyday. I can’t speak for everyone, but it’s a constant and conscious effort for me to direct my mind on where I want it to go and away from the negative places of where I don’t want it to go. I have to always try to remember that stinkin thinkin causes stinkin results. Stinkin results add up to a stinkin life.

Again, just the right thinking (and visualization) is an important step or daily habit, but it’s not all you need. It is also important to be connected to the Divine Power of God by praying/talking with God. Your spiritual state, emotional state, and the state of your faith is very important to go along with your thought. For example, if you have fear, hatred, doubt, or resentment in you, your seeds (or thoughts) will not produce the good harvest you want (or your desired results).

So, we should be routinely sowing good thoughts, while being in the right state.

Steve Jobs Passed Away; His Work and Lesson

2011-10-06T15:15:00.000-07:00

Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, died from complications of pancreatic cancer on Wednesday at the age of 56. He was one of the greatest visionaries (on par with Edison and Ford). He has changed the way we live through creation or changes of devices like the personal computer (the Mac which leads the trends in PCs), music players (like the iPod touch), phones (iPhone), tablet computers and eReaders (iPad),...

Little do people know that Jobs has also provided important life lessons to people young and old, in addition to bringing innovative, useful, and trendy devices to the world. I have posted one of his life lessons at:

http://life.SpirFit.com/2010/10/follow-your-heart-dont-live-someone.html

Complete news of Steve Jobs' passing can be found at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/business/steve-jobs-of-apple-dies-at-56.html?hp

A list of Apple patents under Steve Jobs can be found at:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/08/24/technology/steve-jobs-patents.html?ref=business

This Irene Is Impartial

2011-08-27T10:24:00.000-07:00

As Hurricane Irene is coming, even wealthy areas like Battery Park City and parts of Long Island are evacuated. Apparently, Irene does not care about how much money you make or how much money you have… at least not this Irene.

MTA Shuts Down Tomorrow at Noon

2011-08-26T13:01:00.000-07:00

New York City MTA will shut down (system-wide) at noon tomorrow (Saturday, 8/27/2011). You should be in a safe place (not flood zone and if possible, not above 10th floor) by noon tomorrow, if you live in NY, NJ, or Tri-state area.

http://mta.info/

Hurricane Preparations

2011-08-26T07:34:00.000-07:00

There is a mandatory evacuation of Zone A areas in NYC. To find out what zone you're in and evacuation/safe centers, go to:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/oem/downloads/pdf/hurricane_map_english.pdf

and

http://gis.nyc.gov/oem/he/index.htm

Severity of Hurricane Irene
Hurricane Irene has a high likelihood of being a serious storm. "This is a particularly threatening situation," said Dr. Rick Knabb, hurricane expert and meteorologist. "Computer models are currently trending toward a forecast solution of rare potency for portions of the Northeast. Irene will be a serious and multi-hazard threat for the major metropolitan areas of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. This includes Norfolk, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City, Hartford, and Boston. This hurricane has the potential to produce flooding rains, high winds, downed trees (on houses, cars, power lines) and widespread power outages. Significant impacts along the immediate coast include high waves, surge and beach erosion."

At least five state governors have already declared a state of emergency. As I have been listening to what some meteorologists have been saying and as I remember Katrina and New Orleans (and how unprepared everyone was back then), I don't think the authorities are overcautious right now. You should make preparations.

If the authorities tell you to evacuate, get out! If you don't, you may die. (Remember Katrina and New Orleans.)

Prepare a supply kit:
www.nhc.noaa.gov

Prepare a Go Bag (especially if you live in low lying areas with higher chance of evacuation):
http://gothamist.com/2011/08/24/does_anyone_actually_have_a_go_bag.php

NYC Evacuation centers:
In the case your area requires an evacuation and your family has nowhere to go, notice the evacuation centers (red dots) on this map- http://www.nyc.gov/html/oem/downloads/pdf/hurricane_map_english.pdf

Are you in an evacuation zone for the hurricane? Find out at http://gis.nyc.gov/oem/he/index.htm

MTA Shuts Down at Noon on Saturday:
New York City MTA will shut down (system-wide) at noon tomorrow (Saturday, 8/27/2011). You should be in a safe place (not flood zone and if possible, not above 10th floor) by noon tomorrow, if you live in NY, NJ, or Tri-state area.

http://mta.info/

Information on Hurricane Irene:
http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/08/25/hurricane.irene.state.by.state/

http://www.weather.com/weather/hurricanecentral/

More about Hurricane Irene:
http://gothamist.com/2011/08/25/hurricane_irene_is_coming_heres_a_m.php#photo-1

Protecting Valuables and Electronics, and Preventing Electrocution
- Move valuables and electronics out of basements
- On any floor, keep valuables and electronics on high shelves and away from windows

Funny and Creepy News

2011-08-25T21:19:00.000-07:00

After rebels stormed Qaddafi’s compound, they found a stash of pictures of Condoleezza Rice, former U.S. Secretary of State. Our current State Department spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland, called this “deeply bizarre and deeply creepy.”

It could’ve been creepier. He could’ve had pictures of George W. Bush.

Source:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-25/qaddafi-had-stash-of-condoleezza-rice-photos.html

The Dream is Still Alive

2011-07-04T09:37:00.001-07:00

If you ask me today how things are going? I want to answer in five words - "The Dream is still alive." I am thinking in terms of fulfilling my purpose, completing the work, reaching self-actualization (as Maslow would say), and being where I am meant to be while I am on earth.

I was inspired and reminded this morning when I listened to a Joel Osteen podcast. Then I remembered this song from my favorite female trio of the 90's. Maybe this will also inspire you or remind you:

I'm Dying

2011-06-05T11:55:00.000-07:00

When I was younger, the sight of a cemetery depressed me and saddened me. I’ve come a long way since then. A few days ago, I happened to be standing on elevated ground overlooking a cemetery on both sides. Instead of sadness, I had this feeling of comfort and clarity.

If you are to die soon, what would you want to do before your departure? Think about that. Do you want to feed the hungry? Serve another segment of the human population? Apologize to someone. Bring three people to God? Sing in front of people? Visit Spain. Bring 300 people to God? Make sure your family’s taken care of? Produce a music CD? Visit Fiji. Bring 3,000,000 people to God? Leave your message whether it is in the form of a book, a blog, an audio form, a video form, and/or any other form? Do you want to do some or all the above?

“Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking that you have something to lose.” - Steve Jobs

Well guess what? You are going to die soon. I am going to die soon. We are all going to die soon. Not necessarily tomorrow or even next year. (Unlike the cults, I am not predicting the end.) Even if I live for 30 more years or 60 more years, that is still soon. Ask anyone above the age of thirty and we will tell you how fast the years go by. As a Chinese adage goes, “There are not many 10-years in life.” If you are above thirty, you already know this, but maybe you just need a reminder.

“There are two certainties in life – death and taxes.” (?)

So, with this lesson or reminder brought to your attention, what do you want to do now? Do you want to continue to stay on the common path of just surviving or just existing, and never truly living the life you were meant to live? I understand that you have to be “realistic” and you can’t just change course immediately because you have to make a living. However, I think you should at least start thinking about it daily. Have the intention daily, if you want to get out of the common mode of just existing.

“Upon continuous intention, visualization, and prayer, the “how” will come and it will be done.” - Shu Chan

Here are two simple recommendations for you. You could do this while lying in bed before falling asleep. If you ride public transportation to work, you could do this during that commute time too:

1. Think about what you want to do with the rest of your life, knowing that you will die. Keep what you want to do in your daily intention.

2. Talk to God about it.

You have nothing to lose doing this, but everything to gain! A previous vlog I posted related to this one (with Steve Jobs) could be found at: http://life.SpirFit.com/2010/10/follow-your-heart-dont-live-someone.html

Feel free to choose the “Subscribe” options on the right side of this page. It’s free. Feel free also to follow updates from me via Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/SpirFit/141881909215772 or via Twitter at http://twitter.com/amadeoconstanzo

Copyright: © 2011. This document is the sole property of Amadeo Constanzo. You may use this article for free on your web site, blog, or other publication if and only if you include this entire copyright notice including the following links and statement. Other free teachings from Amadeo Constanzo can be found at SpirFit.com and SpirFit.org

Dying, Living On Purpose, The Road Less Traveled, Shu Chan 陳樹中 University of California, UC Davis, Brooklyn Tech, Amadeo Constanzo

Terence Chan LIU Long Island University

Osama Bin Laden Dead

2011-05-01T22:00:00.000-07:00

Breaking News! Osama Bin Laden was killed in Pakistan,according to White House officials.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/02/world/asia/osama-bin-laden-is-killed.html?hp

However, it's hard to tell whether the war on terrorism will get harder or easier. Is chopping off the head (of Al Qaeda) effective or will he become a martyr thereby strengthening his followers? We must remain vigilant, as Al Qaeda may try to retaliate.

"The death of Mr. Bin Laden is a defining moment in the American-led war on terrorism. What remains to be seen is whether the death of the leader of Al Qaeda galvanizes his followers by turning him into a martyr, or whether it serves as a turning of the page in the war in Afghanistan and gives further impetus to the Obama administration to bring American troops home."

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What Is Not Seen

2011-03-23T03:52:00.001-07:00

"What can be seen cannot protect you. It is what is not seen that is the most powerful." - Amadeo Constanzo

Tsunami Alert and Flood Watch

2011-03-11T09:09:00.000-08:00

Tsunami warning for San Francisco, West Coast, and Hawaii. Be prepared to get to higher grounds. (Domino effect from earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

In a separate situation, flood watch for New Jersey and tri-state area.

Plans for February 14th

2011-02-11T17:51:00.000-08:00

I can’t wait ‘til February 14th. It will be an unforgettable evening. The IBM computer, Watson, will compete on Jeopardy against Ken Jennings and another top Jeopardy champion. If Watson wins, it would be a significant point in history for AI (Artificial Intelligence).

What, did you think I was going to talk about Valentine’s Day?

Run In Such a Way

2011-01-17T16:12:00.000-08:00

Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. (1 Corinthians 9:24-26)

This is a message of discipline, training, or practicing. This is true for spiritual as well as physical training. It is also true in academic training (such as studying, doing review questions, and doing homework) and in working at your job.

"Run in such a way to get the prize." Intend and aim to get the prize. (Visualize and pray for it.) Do whatever it takes to obtain the prize - whatever training, running drills (in sports), immersing in ice water (sports), review questions (academics), summarization (academics), and other types of studying (academics and work). (Do whatever it takes, but within moral and ethical boundaries.)

Do not be the boxer who beat the air without hitting the opponent. If you are merely going through the motion without intention of getting the prize, you are like the boxer beating the air. Do not be like the runner just going through the motion (only because the coach told him to) and never winning any races.

Ideas for Your New Year's Resolutions 2011

2011-01-07T10:51:00.000-08:00

If you need ideas for your new year's resolutions, here are mine.

Lose weight, by training to become the thumb wrestling champion
Learn something new... like performing brain surgery… on myself.
Spend more time with family and friends… on Facebook.
Take a job with the Long Island Railroad and turn down the NFL, so that I can spend more time with family
...on Facebook
...with my phone while operating the train.
Be more organized and productive… by outsourcing to India and China.
Get out of debt
...by starting a company that would clear the snow in New York right after a blizzard, and cut costs
...by outsourcing to workers from India and China.
Form a coffee-party of Democrats to retake Congress.
Bitch about the economy; wait, I did that last year.
Drink more water… without peeing more.
Gain weight… by drinking more water without peeing more.

This list presented in a video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7vnCbYELmo

Copyright: © 2011. This document is the sole property of Amadeo Constanzo and SpirFit. You may use this article for free on your web site, blog, or other publication if and only if you include this entire copyright notice including the following links and statement. Other free teachings from Amadeo Constanzo can be found at SpirFit.com and SpirFit.org

A "Smashing" Video

2010-12-11T20:42:00.000-08:00

Check out what Nick does to the gingerbread house:

Your Story

2010-11-26T11:49:00.000-08:00

This is a story of your life in one area or another. If we consciously avert this tendency as described in the video, we will save ourselves a lot of misery.

Audio Download to MP3 Player
Right-click the link below and then choose save.

http//SpirFit.org/Audio/SpirFit_Audio_AnotherStreet.mp3

Transcript
This is a story as told by Dr. Wayne Dyer, which I believe resonates with all of us, in one area of life or another. It’s a story of you. It may be a story of your relationships. It may be a story of your work. It may be a story of your studies. It may be a story of your career choices. Or it may be a story of another area of your life.

Chapter 1. I pick a street to walk down. It feels good on this street. It feels comfortable walking down this street. Suddenly, I fall into a hole. It catches me off guard. I didn’t see it coming. “How did I end up here?” I ask myself. I am hurt. Eventually, I climb out of the hole. It takes some time but the wounds eventually heal.

Chapter 2. I walk down the street. It feels good. I fall into another hole. “How did this happen again?” I ask myself. I can’t believe I am down here again. I eventually climb out. But it still hurts. My wounds eventually heal.

Chapter 3. I walk down the street. It feels good for the time being. This time, I see a hole coming. I still fall in. “I can’t believe it! How could I still end up down here!” I climb out. It doesn’t hurt as much because my body has now adapted. My shell’s become more hardened.

Chapter 4. I walk down the street. It feels good. I see a hole. This time, I walk around the hole,… but this street is still getting me nowhere.

Chapter 5. I walk down another street. Another street. The right street.

IF YOU COULD SKIP STRAIGHT TO ANOTHER STREET, CHAPTER 5, SKIP STRAIGHT TO CHAPTER 5. Walk down a different street, the right street. Although some people do go through chapters 1-4, going down the same street with the same holes, you’ll save yourself a lot of misery if you skip these chapters. Selectively seek out chapter 5, ANOTHER STREET, the right street and go right on it.

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It's All Possible, With God

2010-11-08T10:03:00.000-08:00

It's all possible if you follow God's calling and keep connected to Him. Peace Pilgrim was called by God to walk across the country spreading the message of peace and helping multitudes of people. She gave away everything she had and just walked across the country with essentially nothing, trusting that all her basic necessities would be provided for her, as long as she is on the purpose from God. She walked across the country for more than 30 years carrying virtually nothing. She didn't have a steady paycheck. She didn't carry food with her. She did the work she was called to do, and everything was provided for her. It was just like how Jesus and his disciples walked around everywhere carrying nothing with them. (Matthew 10:7-10) Rationally, we would say, "It's impossible. How can someone not prepare necessities so basic as food, money, tranportation, and shelter and be okay? The answer is - it's all possible, AS LONG AS YOU ARE SERVING GOD. It's all possible as long as you are FOLLOWING YOUR CALLING OR PURPOSE from God.

Restore My Sanity

2010-10-30T11:06:00.000-07:00

Restore my sanity! Live video right now at

Follow Your Heart, Don't Live Someone Else's Life

2010-10-18T09:29:00.000-07:00

The following video contains extremely important life lessons from Steve Jobs. He was speaking to Stanford University’s graduating class of 2005 at their commencement. It's only 15 minutes. His lessons echo what I’ve been saying (to anyone with opened ears) since 2004. I have to urge you to first set aside what you know and what society has been teaching you before you start listening to this speech. First, empty your cup.

If you prefer to read instead, transcript is available at the bottom of this entry.

Review the Following Themes of the Speech (I recommend that you watch again keeping them in mind)
(1) Trusting that the dots will connect. (He didn’t specify trusting who, and mentioned several options. I would say trusting God, the one and only.)
(2) Getting off “the well-worn path” when necessary “and that will make all the difference”. (This is a whole lesson by itself, about the “road less traveled” as I’ve taught students and friends (with opened ears.)
(3) Find your TRUE love (regarding your work as well as your companion).
(4) Remember that you’re going to die. This will remind you that you have less to lose than you think.

Rare Interview of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates Together in 2007

Transcript of Steve Jobs' Stanford Speech
Thank you. I'm honored to be with you today for your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. Truth be told, I never graduated from college and this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation.
Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories. The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first six months but then stayed around as a drop-in for another eighteen months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out? It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife, except that when I popped out, they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking, "We've got an unexpected baby boy. Do you want him?" They said, "Of course." My biological mother found out later that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would go to college.

This was the start in my life. And seventeen years later, I did go to college, but I naïvely chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, and no idea of how college was going to help me figure it out, and here I was, spending all the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back, it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out, I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me and begin dropping in on the ones that looked far more interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms. I returned Coke bottles for the five-cent deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the seven miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example.

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer was beautifully hand-calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and sans-serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me, and we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts, and since Windows just copied the Mac, it's likely that no personal computer would have them.
If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on that calligraphy class and personals computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do.

Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college, but it was very, very clear looking backwards 10 years later. Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward. You can only connect them looking backwards, so you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something--your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever--because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well-worn path, and that will make all the difference.

My second story is about love and loss. I was lucky. I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents' garage when I was twenty. We worked hard and in ten years, Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4,000 employees. We'd just released our finest creation, the Macintosh, a year earlier, and I'd just turned thirty, and then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew, we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so, things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge, and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our board of directors sided with him, and so at thirty, I was out, and very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating. I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down, that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure and I even thought about running away from the Valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me. I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I'd been rejected but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods in my life. During the next five years I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the world's first computer-animated feature film, "Toy Story," and is now the most successful animation studio in the world.

In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT and I returned to Apple and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance, and Lorene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful-tasting medicine but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life's going to hit you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love, and that is as true for work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work, and the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking, and don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it, and like any great relationship it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking. Don't settle.

My third story is about death. When I was 17 I read a quote that went something like "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself, "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "no" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important thing I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life, because almost everything--all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure--these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago, I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctors' code for "prepare to die." It means to try and tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next ten years to tell them, in just a few months. It means to make sure that everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope, the doctor started crying, because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and, thankfully, I am fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept. No one wants to die, even people who want to go to Heaven don't want to die to get there, and yet, death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life. It's life's change agent; it clears out the old to make way for the new. right now, the new is you. But someday, not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it's quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice, heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalogue, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stuart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late Sixties, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and Polaroid cameras. it was sort of like Google in paperback form thirty-five years before Google came along. It was idealistic, overflowing with neat tools and great notions. Stuart and his team put out several issues of the The Whole Earth Catalogue, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-Seventies and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath were the words, "Stay hungry, stay foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. "Stay hungry, stay foolish." And I have always wished that for myself, and now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you. Stay hungry, stay foolish.

Thank you all, very much.

Love Poetry

2010-10-14T20:29:00.000-07:00

To all you romance readers, you may find this poem from the bible interesting and surprising. It is written by King Solomon (of a man to his bride) in Songs 4. The bible has a lot more than what most people think, including romance. Here it is:

How beautiful you are, my darling!
Oh, how beautiful!
Your eyes behind your veil are doves.
Your hair is like a flock of goats
descending from Mount Gilead.

Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn,
coming up from the washing.
Each has its twin;
not one of them is alone.

Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon;
your mouth is lovely.
Your temples behind your veil
are like the halves of a pomegranate.

Your neck is like the tower of David,
built with elegance;
on it hang a thousand shields,
all of them shields of warriors.

Your two breasts are like two fawns,
like twin fawns of a gazelle
that browse among the lilies.

Until the day breaks
and the shadows flee,
I will go to the mountain of myrrh
and to the hill of incense.

All beautiful you are, my darling;
there is no flaw in you.

Come with me from Lebanon, my bride,
come with me from Lebanon.
Descend from the crest of Amana,
from the top of Senir, the summit of Hermon,
from the lions' dens
and the mountain haunts of the leopards.

You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride;
you have stolen my heart
with one glance of your eyes,
with one jewel of your necklace.

How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride!
How much more pleasing is your love than wine,
and the fragrance of your perfume than any spice!

Your lips drop sweetness as the honeycomb, my bride;
milk and honey are under your tongue.
The fragrance of your garments is like that of Lebanon.

You are a garden locked up, my sister, my bride;
you are a spring enclosed, a sealed fountain.

Your plants are an orchard of pomegranates
with choice fruits,
with henna and nard,

nard and saffron,
calamus and cinnamon,
with every kind of incense tree,
with myrrh and aloes
and all the finest spices.

You are a garden fountain,
a well of flowing water
streaming down from Lebanon.

Not Imprisoned By Our Past

2010-09-07T19:41:00.000-07:00

This was an entry I wrote on another site on 9/13/2004. I feel that it's a very important lesson as reminded by another blogger. I am reposting here.

"We are products of our past, but WE DON'T HAVE TO BE PRISONERS OF IT. God's purpose is not limited by your past. He turned a murderer named Moses into a leader, and a coward named Gideon into a courageous hero, and he can do amazing things with the rest of your life too. God specializes in giving people a fresh start." (Rick Warren in his book Purpose Driven Life)

"What happiness for those whose guilt has been forgiven... What relief for those who have confessed their sins and God has cleared their record." Psalm 32:1 (LB)

Back in the days when Jesus was on earth, the devil wants the sinners to remain sinners. The devil wants the prostitutes, the dishonest tax collectors, and other sinners to remain in their sin. They were broken and the devil wants them to stay broken. The devil did this through the spiritual leaders such as the Pharisees. They didn't eat with sinners and they want to remain elite above sinners. They rejected the sinners which encouraged the sinners to remain as sinners. Unfortunately, there are some Christians today doing the same as the Pharisees of those days. Do not let them discourage you from walking with God. (In my personal experience, they had almost turned me away many times.)

God however had other plans, as shown through Jesus' actions when he was on earth. He wants the sinners to no longer be sinners. He accepted the broken and the fallen. He forgave, and caused many to repent and start anew with God. In another words, he spread the good "condition" of starting anew.

Even if this is not your first time of starting anew with God, you can still do it again. No where in the bible limits how many times you can start new with God or limits how many times you can repent. (This is not to say that you should plan to sin in the future.) Focus on now and plan now not to sin again and plan now to remain with God. Don't worry about whether you will succeed in doing so. No matter how many times you have repented and started anew with God in the past, right now you can do it again.

From my lessons from God through experiences, through bible lessons, and through different teachers, I'm here to tell you that you can start anew. All you have to do now is CHOOSE to start NOW. CHOOSE to walk with God. Make that choice. It's that simple. Don't be imprisoned by your past sins (of what you should've done or what you didn't do) whether it was 4 years ago or yesterday. Past is past. Learn from it, then let it go.

After you made the choice now to walk with God again, the second thing to do is repent. Choose now not to go back to your sinful ways. When we don't have God with us, we were like aimless wanderers. Remember. What's important is now. Choose now. Now not as in pressuring you with urgency, but now as in: don't dwell on the past (which you cant change) and don't dwell on the future (which you do not know).

Copyright: © 2004. This document is the sole property of Amadeo Constanzo. You may use this article for free on your web site, blog, or other publication if and only if you include this entire copyright notice including the following links and statement. Other free teachings from Amadeo Constanzo can be found at SpirFit.com and SpirFit.org

Shu Chan 陳樹中 University of California, UC Davis, Brooklyn Tech

Terence Chan LIU Long Island University

Not a Saint

2010-09-02T21:21:00.000-07:00

In my last blog entry where I critiqued how some women dress, I might have sounded like a saint. I am here to tell you frankly I am definitely no saint. That's exactly why I wrote that entry, because I am being "real". I am a real man and we are biologically "built" in a certain way. When a woman dresses a certain way revealing too much or wearing clothes too tight, it's hard for a man not to look. However, this is not the kind of attention you want, ladies, as I've mentioned in my previous blog.

I am not a saint, but a man. A saint would not need women to stop dressing in a certain way in order for him to not look at them a certain way. Ladies, this is not the way you want us to look at you. We are not looking at you like a princess. This is not the type of attention you want. For more on this, see my previous entry at - http://stanzo.blogspot.com/2010/08/ladies-how-you-are-dressed.html

For the men who aim to be spiritual, there is a practical reason to strive to not let your eyes and mind wonder toward that "natural" place. You could find numerous examples of men bringing themselves to ruin because they were unable to do so, if you look in history or even current events.

Ladies, How You Are Dressed

2010-08-16T18:58:00.000-07:00

Okay, ladies. This is the first time I am commenting on the way you dress, which is probably a dangerous thing to do. But hey, I am not the type who plays it safe.

For those of you who have the tendency to expose a lot to get guys’ attention, I just want to point out that there are different kinds of attention from guys. When you are exposing a lot of yourself, do you actually think the guys are saying to themselves, “What a beautiful princess?”

Trust me, we are are not thinking, “That’s the girl I want to marry.”

There are so many different dressing styles out there that you could actually choose a more elegant dressing style that is very beautiful without dressing immodestly. Check out the following fashion clip has some classy and beautiful styles, yet still modest.

To some Christian women (or spiritual women of other faith), I want to say this. Just because you are to dress modestly, it doesn’t mean you have to wear clothes that look like they belong to your grandmother.

I know that some of you may want to complain about the stick figure models in the video. As a fitness expert and a guy, that will require a completely separate blog entry about whether being stick figures are healthy and attractive, or not.

Copyright: © 2010. This document is the sole property of Amadeo Constanzo. You may use this article for free on your web site, blog, or other publication if and only if you include this entire copyright notice including the following links and statement. Other free teachings from Amadeo Constanzo can be found at SpirFit.com and SpirFit.org

Shu Chan 陳樹中

Don't Leave the Great Project

2010-08-11T08:42:00.000-07:00

"I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down with you?" Nehemiah 6:3

Today's devotional at http://www.raystedman.org/daily-devotions/nehemiah/a-great-work speaks directly to me. Boy does this apply to my work. For the few of us who have "left the tribe" and have been led by God onto "the road less traveled", this message applies. Things, circumstances, and even people have and will try to pull us away from the "great project" unintentionally or intentionally. From my experience, most of them do it unintentionally (which is slightly different from Nehemiah's case.) Some of them may even be beloved friends and family.

Similar to Nehemiah's experience, my experience also has been that fear tactics have been used to try to pull me away. They tell you that something bad will happen if you don't follow them. Maybe they are saying that you will be bankrupt financially and lose everything if you don't follow them. Maybe they are saying that you will get in trouble with the law if you don't follow them.

Whether they are intentional or unintentional, the consequences will be dire (more dire than their claims) if we succumb to them and allow ourselves to be pulled away from the great project.

In the end, you will have a happy ending if you stay on the project or the path God has put you on. If you stir away from this path, it will end badly. This is what you should fear, not the things that they are threatening you with.

A final advice for those of you in a similar situation. Keep a distance from them. If "they"include loved ones, you have to keep a distance or at least limit the frequency of contact with them. You unfortunately have to do this at least until the great project is completed.

Jesus also served as an example in this area when his own family was attempting to hinder him from his work (although they were doing so unintentionally). You probably remember the incidence when he was speaking while surrounded by a great crowd. Somebody told him that his family was on the outside trying to reach him and trying to get him to do what they wanted him to do. Another incidence was when he was a teenager where he allowed his family to travel a distance without him as he stayed behind to reason with the priests.

In my case however, I am blessed that most in my family support me or allow me to stay on this road God has placed me on. There is only maybe one person in my family who subtly tries to manipulate me to get off this road although she on the surface says that she supports me on this road.

"Father, You have given me a great work to do. Help me to see through the seeming "golden opportunities" that come my way to divert me from that which You have called me to do." (Elaine Stedman at http://www.raystedman.org/daily-devotions/nehemiah/a-great-work)

Copyright: © 2010. This document is the sole property of Amadeo Constanzo. You may use this article for free on your web site, blog, or other publication if and only if you include this entire copyright notice including the following links and statement. Other free teachings from Amadeo Constanzo can be found at SpirFit.com and SpirFit.org

Shu Chan 陳樹中

Wireless Mic Law and Churches

2010-08-09T12:01:00.000-07:00

"The Federal Communications Commission's
(FCC) changes to the radio spectrum left
churches around the country scrambling
to replace wireless microphone equipment
by a June deadline. The 700 MHz band,
used by about 25 percent of wireless mics,
has been re-designated as the FCC creates
space for digital television broadcasts
and mobile phones. Some churches say
replacing their equipment has cost tens of
thousands of dollars. After June 12, violators
faced fines of more than $100,000."

- Christianity Today

Your Health Insurance

2010-08-04T10:02:00.001-07:00

A few months ago, I wrote an article summarizing the health reform bills that President Obama signed, including key points that may affect you. I forgot to share it here. Here it is - http://www.baycurrents.net/key-features/item/217-what-the-new-health-reform-means-to-you

Not all the changes from the bill will take place immediately.... Some have taken place already such as your insurance company’s requirement to allow you to include your son/daughter (upto age 26) in your insurance plan. Other changes will take place later.

Pursuit of Unhappiness

2010-07-23T08:21:00.000-07:00

In this country, we have the right to the pursuit of happiness (as written by one of the founding fathers.) However, we also have the right to pursue unhappiness. We have the right to get married.

I kid. I kid... Or do I? You have to ask my shrink.

How Do You Want to Be Remembered

2010-07-12T11:05:00.000-07:00

How do you want to be remembered? That’s a question Dr. Stephen Covey asks us to think about. I came across a poem that I would want to be read at my funeral when I leave here.

THROUGH DEATH TO LIFE
by Kathleen A. Sullivan

The calm and gentle angel, Death,
Has folded in his strong embrace
One whom we loved – has borne him hence
To fill on High some special place.

We call him dead, and mourn his loss,
But yonder in the Home of Rest
No more he bears his earthly cross;
He lives in Heaven with the Blessed.

...

How oft, as years roll swiftly by,
Our lips will move in silent prayer,
...

His flock have lost their dearest friend,
But why make murmur or complaint?
For when that noble life did end,
God’s Kingdom gained another saint.

John Wooden Passed Away at 99

2010-06-09T12:34:00.000-07:00

The devout Christian and legendary coach John Wooden (winning 10 NCAA championships) passed away last Friday, June 4th. More about this at:

http://blog.christianitytoday.com/ctliveblog/archives/2010/06/john_wooden_a_l_1.html#more

Voices

2010-05-12T06:43:00.001-07:00

“I believe that the voices of fear, both from without and within, can only be dispelled by trusting the voice that comes from the heart. Be still and listen to it. If it speaks of love and compassion for others, for the world itself, it just might be the voice of God – or a reasonable facsimile. If, however, it snarls with fear of the unknown, fear of losing what you have or of not getting what you want, then it just might be the voice of Rupert Murdoch – or a reasonable facsimile.” - Chuck Lorre

I can’t say that I entirely agree with the philosophy of Chuck Lorre, but I find this quote to be quite funny, and partially true.

Don't Let Your Possessions Possess You

2010-05-10T10:46:00.000-07:00

We have to look out for our natural tendency to be overly consumed by over-materialism and excessive comfort. This tendency correlates with lack of spiritual development.

"I don't know what spiritual development really means. But I do know we're deficient in some way. We are too involved in materialistic things, and they don't satisfy us. The loving relationships we have, the universe around us, we take these things for granted" -Morrie Schwartz (the late sociology professor who was an agnostic)

"Whether the subject is bike racing, or cancer, or just living, comfort only takes us to a point that's known. Since when did sheets with the right thread counts, a coffeemaker, and an electric toothbrush become the only things worth having or working toward? Too often, comfort gets in the way of inner reckonings." -Lance Armstrong (an agnostic, cancer survivor, and 7-time Tour de France winner)

Here are two men with their new found wisdom while they were facing death. Not surprisingly, they echoed what the bible has been teaching us all along about the folly of putting too much focus and time on materialism (apparent in our "bling-bling" pop culture.) See Luke 12:16-21. Don't get me wrong. I do realize there are some real necessities in materials like food, clothing, and shelter. I even think that it is necessary to maintain a certain level of appearance (because we have to make our "temple of God" presentable). However, many of us in our pop culture go overboard in our excessive spending on our appearances, on decorating our houses, and on "souping" up our cars. Our obsessions have gone way beyond necessity. Our obsessions with luxury are causing our miseries.

I remember a dear lady, who was up in years. She was working so hard and always complaining. I finally said to her, "Why in the world do you need to work so hard when you have only yourself to support?" And she said "Oh, I have to pay rent on a five room house." "A five room house!" I replied. "But you're alone in the world. Couldn't you live happily in one room?" "Oh yes," she said sadly, "but I have furniture for a five room house." She was actually working her fingers to the bone to provide a proper home for that furniture! And that happens all the time. All I can say is, don't let it happen to you.

BECAUSE OF OUR PREOCCUPATION WITH MATERIALISM WE OFTEN MISS THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE, which are free. UNNECESSARY POSSESSIONS ARE UNNECESSARY BURDENS. IF YOU HAVE THEM, YOU HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF THEM.

I'll tell you about one more woman. She was liberated, although not in the best possible way. I saw her only occasionally, but I happened to see her about a month after her huge house, in which she and her husband had been living alone since the children were grown, had burned down while they'd been out. They lost everything except the clothes they were wearing. Remembering how attached she had been to that huge house, in spite of the fact that it was such a burden for her to take care of, I started to say a few words of sympathy. But she said, "Don't sympathize with me! Now, you could have the morning after, but not now. Just think, I will never have to clean out that attic. I will never have to clean out those clothes closets. I will never have to clean that basement! Why, I've never felt so free. I just feel I'm starting life all over again!"

She and her husband were living in a sensible size apartment and, indeed, I'm sure they did experience a wonderful sense of freedom. But wouldn't it have been better if they had learned to give and had extended their surplus towards those who needed it? Then they would have been blessed by the giving, and others would have been blessed by the getting. In any case, it was a situation which liberated. (Peace Pilgrim)

If you have enough for food, if you have housing, if you have enough for clothing, if you have enough for a certain level of freedom in transportation, if you have enough for unforeseen conditions or illnesses, and if you have enough for all the vital needs, you are fine. On the other hand, it is not necessary to drive a Porsche instead of a Honda. (That extra money you spend on a Mercedes could've been partly invested in funds to generate passive income to cover more necessary expenses and partly donated to the needy.) It is not necessary buy brand name clothing when there are a lot of beautiful clothes available for 1/3 of the price. (If you ever see me in brand name clothing by the way, they were gifts from others. The last time I bought a brand name anything was probably more than eight years ago and the price must have been drastically cut.)

"I am not a slave to comfort and convenience. I wouldn't be a pilgrim if I were. We can allow false beliefs to govern our lives and be enslaved by them. Most people do not wish to be free. They would prefer to moan and chafe about how impossible it is to give up their various enslavements to possessions, food, drink, smoking, and so forth. It is not that they can't give them up--they don't really want to give them up." -Peace Pilgrim

Here's the take-home lesson - Don't let your possessions possess you.

"I realize that if you don't have enough you won't be happy. Neither are you happy if you have too much. It is those who have enough but not too much who are the happiest." –Peace Pilgrim

Copyright: © 2006, This document is the sole property of Amadeo Constanzo. You may use this article for your web site, blog, or e-zine only if you include the following statement and web links-
"Additional free teachings from him can be found at stanzo.blogspot.com and spirfit.com". You automatically have permission to post this article if you include the above statement and links. Otherwise, permission requests could be sent to healthsciencewriter@gmail.com

Going Through A Storm

2010-04-15T12:42:00.000-07:00

Are you going through a storm? If you are, the following will help you tremendously:

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=70573336&blogID=304161531&Mytoken=273BC7B5-39BC-4ACC-BF18C0B221B90490969731

http://www.raystedman.org/new-testament/mark/why-are-you-afraid

http://Life.SpirFit.com/2009/06/power-of-uncertain-part-1-opportunities.html

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=70573336&blogID=304963041&Mytoken=273BC7B5-39BC-4ACC-BF18C0B221B90490969731

How Do I Forgive

2010-03-26T13:30:00.000-07:00

Will we be punished for our unforgiving hearts, our anger, and our resentment? Or are we punished by them? My answer: both. Those of us who have Christian parents or other spiritual teachers may have already learned that we will be punished for our anger and unforgiving heart when we face judgment at the end of this life. However, many of us do not realize that we are also punished by our anger and resentment.

Rick Warren explained this insightfully: "Resentment always hurt you more than it does the person you resent. While your offender has probably forgotten the offense and gone on with life, you continue to stew in your pain, perpetuating the past. Listen: Those who have hurt you in the past cannot continue to hurt you now unless you hold on to the pain through resentment. Your past is past! Nothing will change it. You are only hurting yourself with your bitterness. For your own sake, learn from it, and let it go. The Bible says, 'To worry yourself to death with resentment would be a foolish, senseless thing to do.'" (Warren, 2002) Warren quoted this passage from Job 5:2. The New International Version (NIV) of this passage states: "Resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple." When our resentful and unforgiving hearts take control, don't we feel like it's killing us inside? It really is foolish to let the resentment eat us up inside.

Dr. Wayne Dyer provided a good metaphor on this topic (Dyer, 2001). When a person is bitten by a poisonous snake, the person does not die from the bite. Instead, the person dies from the venom that flows in his bloodstream after the bite. In the same way, when someone does something that hurts us, his action isn't the most harmful. What is most harmful to us is the resentment that flows within us after the action has been done (just like how the venom flowing in the bloodstream is what kills the person). However, we have a choice to get rid of the resentment and prevent it from flowing within us.

There is plenty of scientific evidence that support this biblical advice of having a forgiving heart and getting rid of our resentment. Such resentment and anger are negative emotions. There are a growing number of scientific studies showing that such negative emotions cause illnesses and aggravate existing illnesses. Such studies have been done by researchers like Dr. Margaret Kemeny (Kemeny, 2003) among others (Koh, 2005 and Enkelmann, 2005.) Medical doctors and medical school teachers such as Dr. Deepak Chopra and Dr. Herbert Benson also have given lectures that are consistent with what I am stating here. Science is showing that God's advice in the Bible has a practical purpose to do us good.

So how do we obtain and maintain a forgiving heart? How do we eliminate our anger and resentment, or how do we prevent such negative emotions from taking over us? To do so, we need to ask God for help in prayer. The seemingly impossible goal of having a forgiving heart is possible when we have God's help. It is possible when we are connected to God by prayer. The healthy practice of taking out uninterrupted quiet time will also help. Another method to obtain a forgiving heart is daily reading of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). From these books, we read about the heart of Jesus who was the most forgiving human being in history. When we read about Him, we are reminded of how our hearts should be.

A third method to obtain and maintain a forgiving heart is by listening to loving and positive music such as Christian music. It is very important to stay away from music of violence, hate, immorality, and negativity. The same also goes for video games and movies. There are too many movies of the hero taking revenge, when in reality the real heroes deserving respect are those who do not take revenge.

Whatever wrong is done to you cannot be undone by revenge and resentment anyway. Instead, resentment and revenge always cause more problems.

Let's look at the example of Jesus and the forgiving heart he had when he lived on earth. When he was being tortured and about to be killed, he prayed the following:

"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." Luke 23:34 (NIV)

Jesus is such a great example of having a forgiving heart. He asked God to forgive strangers who were torturing and killing him by the worst possible method during that era under Roman rule. Yet we think that it's such a hard task to forgive even our loved ones! It really is nothing compared to how much Jesus forgave.

Our family and friends love us the most, but they can hurt us the most. I think most people can agree with this. So how do we get ourselves to forgive our family, our relatives, and our friends when they hurt us? It is much easier to forgive our loved ones if we change our perspective. We have to see past their outer action and words. Instead we should focus on their inner intent and inner concern for us. We have to focus on their inner love and see past their external behavioral mistakes and imperfect actions that aggravate us or hurt us. When we look deep inside their hearts, we will see that they only want what's best for us. We will see that beyond their imperfect actions or words, they have real love and concern for us. We should also remember times when we said things or did things that frustrated or hurt our loved ones, and we sought their forgiveness. When we remember those times when we do the hurting, it's easier for us to forgive. We also should know that there are times when we hurt our loved ones, and we don't even realize it. In those instances, wouldn't we want them to see past our faults and forgive us? Remember this and it will be easier to refrain from anger and resentment toward our loved ones when they do us wrong.

Personally, I sometimes remember experiences in the past when strangers, former employers, neighbors, and others intentionally attacked me because they had no concern or love for me. They attacked me for their own little benefits. Generally I try to keep such memories out of my thoughts, but frankly it is sometimes difficult to keep them out of my mind. So I use these memories to make it easy for me to forgive my loved ones who care deeply about me. I also make an effort to remember all the instances when my loved ones did good things for me. Doing so makes it easy for me to forgive them. We should all make an effort to remember all the instances when our loved ones do good things for us.

Again, we need to look beyond the imperfect external actions, words, and behavior of people. We need to look past these and look deep inside them to see their inner love. I know people who fail to do this and they are very unhappy. Peace Pilgrim once said, "Stop being a surface liver who stays right in the froth of the surface." (Peace Pilgrim, 1991) We must look beyond the surface!

Understanding the importance of forgiveness in establishing and maintaining a connection with God may make it easier for us to forgive everybody. Having a forgiving heart is extremely important in our connection with God. The Bible states the following: "And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins." Mark 11:25(NIV)

One of the most common complaints I hear is, "Why doesn't God help me? Why hasn't he heard my prayers?" The biggest reason I see in many cases is that we have a weak connection to God, if any. There are numerous reasons for this, one of which is having an unforgiving heart. When we have an unforgiving heart, we can't connect to God. When we don't have the connection to God, we complain that God isn't listening to our prayers and we conclude that he is powerless. It's like a man concluding that the internet doesn't exist because he refuses to get a computer and refuses to sign up with an ISP (Internet Service Provider).

One of Jesus' parables in the book of Matthew demonstrates how we really are when we fail to forgive in comparison to how much God our master forgives us:

Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. The servant fell on his knees before him.

'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.'

The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him.

'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded. His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'

But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. Then the master called the servant in.

'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?'

In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.

- Matthew 18:23-35 (NIV)

To fully understand this parable, we must realize that we are just like that unmerciful servant, and God is the merciful master. If we are honest with ourselves, we would see that we all are that unmerciful servant with our natural vengeful minds and our desire to seek "justice" for ourselves. We must realize this and make an effort to no longer be this unmerciful servant. Yes, it takes effort, but it's worth the effort. Our connection to God will become better after making the effort. Our immediate lives will become better and it will keep us from hell in the long run.

Summary
We must all strive to have a forgiving heart. If we don't, we are only hurting ourselves with our resentment and anger. We are also destroying our health and our connection with God. We are punished for our anger and resentment, but we are also punished by our anger and resentment. We should keep resentment, or the "venom", out of our systems by forgiving. So how do we forgive? To do this, we should pray to God for help and look to Jesus as our example by reading the Gospels and books of similar nature. We should have uninterrupted quiet time daily. We must connect to God. We should listen to positive music such as Christian music and stay away from negative music. We should stay away from movies of violence, hero's vengeance, killings, and immorality.

References
1. Rick Warren, The purpose driven life (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2002), 28.
2. Wayne Dyer, 10 secret for success and inner peace (Carlsbad, California: Hay House, 2001), 115.
3. Kemeny, ME. (2003). An interdisciplinary research model to investigate psychosocial cofactors in disease: Application to HIV-1 pathogenesis. Brain Behavior and Immunity, 17, S62-72.
4. Koh, KB (2005). The relation between anger expression, depression, and somatic symptoms in depressive disorders and somatoform disorders. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 66(4), 485-491.
5. Enkelmann, HC, et. al.(2005). The relationship of hostility, negative affect and ethnicity to cardiovascular responses: an ambulatory study in Singapore. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 56(2), 185-197.
6. Peace Pilgrim, Peace Pilgrim: her life and work in her own words (Santa Fe, NM: Ocean Tree Books, 1991)

Copyright: © 2005, This document is the sole property of Amadeo Constanzo. This document may not be copied, copied for resale, or incorporated in any publications, recordings, broadcasts, performances, displays or other products, without the written permission of the author. Requests for permission should be made in email to healthsciencewriter@gmail.com

Daylight Savings Time This Sunday

2010-03-12T10:36:00.001-08:00

Daylight savings time. Move your clocks forward 1 hour this Sunday morning, March 14th, 2010 (for those of you in eastern and western U.S.)

Does Google or the Internet Make Us Stupid?

2010-02-19T16:07:00.001-08:00

You may have read about the hypothesis - Does Google or the Internet make us stupid? I think that's the wrong question to ask. It's not what you use, but how you use it. This definitely applies here when you are talking about a general tool like Google or the Internet with so many different aspects and tools.

Let's use a home exercise machine as an analogy. If you use it to hang clothes, it will not help you lose weight but will give you a messy looking room. If you use it daily to exercise, it may help you lose weight. Google and the Internet are much more complex tools than the exercise machine. If you use Google Scholar to read scientific and trade journals, that would definitely not make you stupid. However, if you are using Google videos to watch home videos of someone falling flat on their face doing a stupid stunt, then that may make you stupid (especially if you decide to try the stunt on your own.) Therefore. "Google makes you stupid" is an overly-general theory or hypothesis.

Wyclef's Foundation Cannot Be Trusted

2010-01-22T12:25:00.000-08:00

I generally agree with teachings of the Bible regarding donating for good causes and to God. These teachings of giving is also echoed by other major religions.

However, you may want to give wisely by looking into the organizations you are donating to.

The non-profit organization of the Haitian-born rapper, Wyclef Jean, cannot be trusted. When his organization Yele Haiti Foundation (also known as the Wyclef Jean Foundation) was accused of using their donated funds to pay Wyclef Jean for performances at fundraisers and to pay a company co-owned by Wyclef Jean for services, he denied it. Now, Mr. Jean is no longer denying it, but he is blaming the accounting firm he hired.

Apparently, Mr. Jean is using the accounting firm as his scapegoat, and he fired them. So, it is the accounting firm that decided to pay you personally, Mr. Wyclef, from the funds of your nonprofit organization? Who are you trying to fool, Mr. Jean?

To anyone who wants to donate for the cause in Haiti, please donate to the following two charities I trust:

http://www.worldvision.org

http://doctorswithoutborders.org

They have been working in Haiti long before the earthquake and will more likely be able to use your donations effectively to help the people of Haiti. By the way, I have no affiliations to any of these charities.

Driving, Cell Phones, and Texting

2009-12-30T09:39:00.000-08:00

The following article is a must-read for everyone who drives (especially teenagers).

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/technology/19distracted.html

The whole series is found at:

http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/technology/series/driven_to_distraction/index.html?scp=1-spot&sq=driven%20to%20distraction&st=cse

Heroes

2009-12-28T09:23:00.000-08:00

When I was teaching a student a few weeks ago, I mentioned something God has been teaching me regarding following your calling and getting on the path in life designated for you. My student excitedly responded, “That sounds like Heroes?”

“Heroes?” I asked.

“The TV show Heroes,” she clarified.

Since then, I didn’t think much about the it until yesterday when I saw a commercial about the show Heroes. In the commercial, the narrator briefly mention that each person (or each hero) has his/her special abilities. However, each one alone cannot serve the ultimate purpose. The ultimate purpose or the greater good is served only when they are together as a whole. The screen showed each hero as a puzzle piece.

"Alone, we are insignificant. But when the pieces come together, we all serve a purpose."

I’m now thinking, the writer of this story probably has some spiritual understanding to include these important lessons into the story. I have never watched even one episode of this show, but I will probably check it out when I get the chance.

I found the link to some full episodes of Heroes at http://www.hulu.com/heroes but I won't have a chance to watch any until later. I also noticed that it's on its fourth season already. Is there any background information I need to know, from the first 3 seasons I've missed.

If you haven't done so already, subscribe (for free) by clicking "Subscribe" on the right column. (The rest is self-explanatory.)

Dealing with People at Work

2009-12-16T10:19:00.000-08:00

From an email, a woman was having trouble with the behavior of her colleagues at work and the injustice she’s experiencing there. Her sister advised her to help others without expecting anything in return. One reason for this is to avoid being disappointed while still being "the light".

I think the sister is right. Be the light and eventually, the other people will come around. Even if they don’t, that shouldn’t affect you so much.

We have to decide beforehand the person we want to be. Once we’ve decided, no matter what others do, they will not change us. The best example of being the light is Jesus. In a room of darkness, just one light going on will eliminate the darkness in the room. We could be that light.

Even non-Christians have found this to be effective. One famous example is Gandhi. When injustices occur inflicted by people in the world, they will not change us. Needless to say, this is even more possible to do when we are connected to God.

I could only explain things from the perspective of a follower of Christ. However, even non-Christians can benefit from such a perspective (as certain teachers of "universal spirituality" have extracted teachings from Christ (Marianne Williamson and Oprah Winfrey to name two). But they took teachings from the teachings of Christ and of the Bible, without crediting them.

Again, it’s easier to do when having a connection with God.

Also, there’s another part to this. Jesus taught his disciples to be innocent as doves (or to be the light), but be as shrewd as snakes. (Matthew 10) We have to be on guard too. It’s finding the balance between being the light, while being on guard. As Jesus told us, “I am sending you like sheep among wolves.”

Also, don’t let certain little things people do bother you. As Dr. Deepak Chopra teaches, it’s the interpretation of certain things that kills you (or affects your physical health).

In summary, decide beforehand to be the person you want to be (to be like Christ, for me) and let not other people or their actions change that. Be the light (and it requires endurance), but also be shrewd (or on guard).

Feel free to subscribe to this blog for free, by clicking subscribe on the right column.

Crisis = Danger + Opportunity

2009-12-05T12:56:00.000-08:00

I’ve just realized something remarkable. The word “crisis” in Chinese, 危機, is literally translated as “danger” + “opportunity.” This is completely consistent with what God has been teaching me, as I’ve taught in my previous blog at http://stanzo.blogspot.com/2009/06/power-of-uncertain-part-1-opportunities.html about how crisis, or situations of uncertainty, can be turned into an opportunity.

It’s amazing how some ancient Chinese people thousands of years ago, in a land about 10,000 miles from where I currently live, learn the same truth. I learn the truth from God, wherever and whenever. Wherever you are and whenever in history you are living, truth is truth. Truth is timeless and not bound by location.

Put on the Armor to Handle Crises

2009-11-30T12:26:00.000-08:00

In life, you have (metaphorically speaking) sunny days, rainy days, and hurricanes. You must ask yourself: Are you prepared for the hurricanes, or the heavy storms? Are you prepared for the major crises? For some of you, you may already have gone through a major crisis.

I’ve mentioned in my writings my personal health crisis of 2004, when I was facing disability and a body part was hideous looking at the time. I did not know if I was going to become legally disabled. I am thankful to God that I am not legally disabled, and I now am looking normal.

One very important factor in this positive outcome is putting on the “armor” of God before the crisis and throughout the crisis. (Ephesians 6) Let me use the analogy of military armors and weaponry in medieval times. The knights in those times wore armors and carried weaponry that requires training (since they are quite heavy). A trained knight could be very effective and deadly with his armor and weaponry.

Let’s also use the modern day armored tank and the fighter jet as an analogy. Before one can effectively use an armored tank or a fighter jet, you must be very well trained to fly the jet or steer the tank into the crisis zones. Otherwise, they would be quite useless to you (although they are very effective for trained pilots.)
Such is also true with the armor of God. Before you enter the inevitable crises or storms in life, hopefully you’ve put on the armor of God and have been trained.

What is the armor of God? Simply put, it’s the teachings of God (through the Bible, through your relationship/connection with God, through life’s experiences God allows you to have, and through the Word.)

The outcome of my crisis back in 2004 would not have been so good if the armor of God had not been introduced to me beforehand. You see, I have sought out knowledge from God and a relationship with God before the crisis. When the crisis hit, I was glad that I had certain knowledge and wisdom. Without them, I would probably be legally disabled right now. (In that specific crisis, “the knowledge” included spiritual knowledge and medical knowledge that God had provided me beforehand.)

The main point of today’s message is: Put on the armor of God and be trained in it. Seek knowledge and wisdom from God (through the Bible first and foremost.) Seek a relationship with God (through daily prayer and connect with true Christians.) You need to do this before you go through a crisis. If you are already going through a crisis right now, you need to do this even more so. God can provide you with the spiritual knowledge, medical knowledge, financial knowledge, or whatever knowledge and wisdom is necessary, but only if you are opened to Him. If you are not opened to receive from Him, you will not receive. So, don't blame God if you are not opened to receive.

Health Care Reform Summary and Updates

2009-09-21T10:47:00.000-07:00

Summary of Possible Revisions to Obama’s Healthcare Reform (September 2009)
Nothing is completely certain at this point as there are several bills in the Senate and the House. At the end, they will have to be worked out, into one bill for the President to sign. Right now, it looks like Baucus' Bill will have a major influence, although Republicans as well as liberal Democrats are dissatisfied. More changes/compromises are bound to be made.

• The Public Insurance Option
It looks unlikely at this point that the public option (the government-run insurance option) will stay. However, nothing can be completely certain at this point. There may still be a coop (non-profit) insurance option instead of a public option (obviously as a compromise with all those who’ve bought into the fear of “social medicine” with a public option.)

• Raising Taxes
Obama promises not to raise taxes on families making under $250,000 per year. However, it is still uncertain whether he would raise taxes if he would raise taxes at income levels above $250,000

• Cost
The cost if we go with the Baucus Plan will be under $800 billion over ten years. (My analysis: Although $800 billion over ten years seem like a huge cost, our current health care and health insurance system in this country is costing us more than that, and will cost us more than that as healthcare costs from our current system will continue to grow. As we in the 21st century compete globally (individuals for jobs as jobs are being shipped out abroad and corporations like GM competes with Japanese car makers, to name a few examples), the cost of not passing health care reform is much greater than $800 billion to U.S. citizens, U.S. corporations, and the entire United States of America.)

•Other Provisions from Previous Summary
The other provisions from my summary (in my published article at the end of August) are likely to stay (when health care reform passes.) No one can be certain the exact form the final bill will look like, as many bills in the House and the Senate will have to be worked out (merged.) It’s a complicated process.

Summary of Obama’s Healthcare Reform as of August 2009 (from an article I've written for Bay Currents Newspaper)

• Public Health Insurance
This government-run health insurance (funded by premiums) would be available to compete with existing private health insurance companies. Affordability credits will be available on a sliding scale system. (Affordability credits financially help those who can’t afford to pay for health insurance. The lower your income, the more affordability credits you would have.)
[As of September 2009, it seems that the public health option will likely be eliminated. It may possibly be replaced by a co-op option (non-profit organizations providing health insurance to compete with private health insurance companies.)]

• Health Insurance Exchange
This would be a marketplace for individuals and small businesses to compare and shop for health insurance. There would be mechanisms here for consumer protection and fraud prevention. This is also where affordability credits would be administered.

• Elimination of Discriminatory Practices Based on Health Condition
It would be illegal for insurance companies to exclude anyone from starting or renewing coverage because of a pre-existing condition.
[This apparently indisputable provision received applause from Republicans and Democrats. Therefore, it will likely stay. However, politicians (backed by special interests) who secretly want to exclude this item are trying to derail the whole health care reform (because they can't justifiably oppose this provision.)]

• Prevention of Bankruptcy from Medical Expenses for Individuals
Insurers would no longer be allowed to put a cap on the amount of benefits received by an individual. However, there would be a cap on out-of-pocket medical expenses by an individual.
[This apparently indisputable provision received applause from Republicans and Democrats. Therefore, it will likely stay. However, politicians (backed by special interests) who secretly want to exclude this item are trying to derail the whole health care reform, using fear tactics as we've seen.]

• Improving Medicaid and Medicare
Health care provider participation in Medicaid and Medicare would be increased, improving access to care for low-income families, the disabled, and the mentally ill. To do so, there would be increases in reimbursement rates for primary care services. The Medicare “donut hole” -- the coverage gap by which Medicare recipients have to pay for their medication for a brief period -- would be eliminated.

• Investing in the Medical Workforce
To prevent a shortage of doctors and health care professionals due to an increased number of Americans being covered, more scholarships and loans would be made available for people entering various medical professions. There would also be an expansion and improvement of graduate medical education and medical training.

This has been mostly a factual summary, with my analysis/informed-opinion in brackets [] or parantheses (). More on my personal thoughts about health care reform at http://stanzo.blogspot.com/2009/09/how-healthcare-reform-may-affect-you.html from my personal experiences with healthcare and having interviewed many others (for two published articles.)

Copyright: © 2009, This document is the sole property of Amadeo Constanzo. You may use this article for your web site, blog, or e-zine only if you include the following statement and web link- "Amadeo Constanzo is a leading spiritual nutrition and health expert. Free teachings from him can be found at stanzo.blogspot.com and spirfit.blogspot.com". You automatically have permission to post this article if you include the above statement. Otherwise, permission requests could be sent to healthsciencewriter@gmail.com

Shu Chan

Inappropriate Behavior - Kanye, Joe Wilson, Serena

2009-09-14T20:48:00.000-07:00

Inappropriate or unacceptable behavior will cost you, as Kanye will learn. Serena Williams and Joe Wilson have already learned.

Many of you may have seen Kanye West’s unacceptable behavior in last night’s VMA awards when he got on stage when Taylor Swift was accepting her award. See the video here for yourself. (You may have to wait through a few seconds of commercial.)

MTV Shows

As you can see, he took the microphone from Taylor Swift and said something implying that Beyonce should’ve won the award instead. The young Taylor Swift was left there just stunned. Why would you take a moment away from a young teenage singer in a nationally televised award show? It’s just unacceptable behavior. Although it may not have fully hit Kanye’s pocketbook yet, I believe it will. His popularity (if he ever had it) has been hit hard after this incident, as many in social networks online and blogs have already written hateful comments about Kanye West.

On Saturday, Serena Williams’ lashed out at an official during a match.

The official, the target of Ms. Williams' outburst, is off-screen to the right. Even if you disagree with the call, why would you lash out at an official like that? That’s inappropriate and unacceptable. Serena Williams’ outburst cost her the match, and a $10,000 fine.

On Thursday, we had Joe Wilson yelling out “you lie” in the middle of the President’s address in front of Congress. Notice that Mr. Wilson was booed from both sides (Republicans and Democrats.)

Now, with every organization or every environment, there are just certain codes of conduct (written or unwritten). This is true with most work places. This is also true with Congress (and that work place rightfully has a higher standard). One thing you would never do is yell out disrespectfully at the President during a presidential address within the chambers of Congress. It is outrageous behavior unheard of.

After Mr. Wilson's outburst, his political opponent gained $500,000 more than him in campaign contributions, overnight. (Approximately, $1,100,000 poured into his opponent's campaign within 24 hours.) Also, many in Congress are considering disciplinary action against Mr. Wilson. Unacceptable behavior will cost you.

Although these cases of unacceptable behavior are rare, it does happen and I've experienced inappropriate behavior by students at the community college where I teach some labs (workshops), but such occurences are very rare. These few students eventually paid the price. If we’ve only learned one thing, it is this – inappropriate behavior will cost you eventually, if not immediately.

How Healthcare Reform May Affect You and Your Bank

2009-09-10T11:23:00.000-07:00

There are certain things that are still unclear about Obama's health reform such as whether there would be a public health insurance provision, co-op, or a trigger mechanism for either one. (The uncertainty is due to having to change certain items and details to compromise with the Republicans, blue-dog Democrats, and liberal Democrats. It's tough to try to satisfy all sides.) However, there are two items on the bill that all sides (the right, the left, and the middle) stood up to approvingly clap during President Obama’s speech in front of Congress last night. The undisputed two items that I am quite sure would not change in the bill when it’s passed are:

• Elimination of Discriminatory Practices Based on Health Condition
It would be illegal for insurance companies to exclude anyone from starting or renewing coverage because of a pre-existing condition.

• Prevention of Bankruptcy from Medical Expenses for Individuals
Insurers would no longer be allowed to put a cap on the amount of benefits received by an individual. However, there would be a cap on out-of-pocket medical expenses by an individual.

It would be unthinkable for any Congressman to dispute these two items, unless they want to appear impious. However, those Congressman who are influenced by the private health insurance industry would just try to throw out the whole proposed-bill (including these two items) or they would try to delay the process. (They know that, historically, any long delay of health reform destroys any chance of it. This was true with President Clinton and previous presidents who had made the effort.) The private health insurance industry and the influential people they back (politicians, the media, some bloggers, and others) are likely the source of all the mis-information in the last few months that are compromising our chance of reforming healthcare.

Even if you have health insurance (from your job or from purchasing on your own), not having these two proposed terms (and others) signed into law may affect you or someone you love. Many have faced bankruptcy when they came down with a disease, even when they had health insurance from their job. There are lots of problems with our current system, or the current status quo, but most of us don’t see it until something major goes wrong with our health. I didn’t see it until I faced my own health crisis in 2004, and I had probably the best health insurance benefits in the state of California, being employed by the University of California. Chances are, your current health insurance is not better than the ones offered by the University of California to their professors and employees. You are therefore even more vulnerable than I was, although you won’t really know it until you are hit by a health crisis – the perfect storm.

You may find my article about Obama’s health care reform including a summary of the proposed bills at the right page of:

http://issuu.com/baycurrents/docs/bcv6n2/3

Feel free to email at healthsciencewriter@gmail.com if you want the pdf version

I Look to You

2009-09-03T09:57:00.000-07:00

There are days when you will need someone to look to. I recommend looking to God. If you've ever gone through those days (or months, or even years) or are going through those days right now, here's a song for you.

Whitney Houston - I Look To You
Uploaded by wesky. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.

After giving it my all, who do I look to?
I look to you, God.

After all that I’ve been through, who do I turn to?
I turn to you, God.

After all my strength is gone, who do I look to?
I look to you, God.

And when melodies are gone
In you I hear a song.

After losing my breath
There’s no more fighting left
Sinking to rise no more
Searching for that open door…

I look to you.

Feel free to contact me if you want to talk. (Click my profile for my contact information.)

Do Your Possessions Possess You?

2009-08-28T16:34:00.000-07:00

Let's start with quotes from two people who learned very important lessons when they were facing death.

"I don't know what spiritual development really means. But I do know we're deficient in some way. We are too involved in materialistic things, and they don't satisfy us. The loving relationships we have, the universe around us, we take these things for granted" -Morrie Schwartz (an agnostic and a sociology professor)

"Whether the subject is bike racing, or cancer, or just living, comfort only takes us to a point that's known. Since when did sheets with the right thread counts, a coffeemaker, and an electric toothbrush become the only things worth having or working toward? Too often, comfort gets in the way of inner reckonings." -Lance Armstrong (an agnostic, cancer survivor, and 7-time Tour de France winner)

Here are two men with their new found wisdom while they were facing death. Not surprisingly, they echoed what the bible has been teaching us all along about the folly of putting too much focus and time on materialism (apparent in our "bling-bling" pop culture.) See Luke 12:16-21.

Don't get me wrong. I do realize there are some real necessities in materials like food, clothing, and shelter. I even think that it is necessary to maintain a certain level of appearance (because we have to make our "temple of God" presentable). However, many of us in our pop culture go overboard in our excessive spending on our appearances, on decorating our houses, and on "souping" up our cars. Our obsessions have gone way beyond necessity. Our obsessions with luxury are causing our miseries, as demonstrated from the following excerpt from Peace Pilgrim's teachings.

I remember a dear lady, who was up in years. She was working so hard and always complaining. I finally said to her, "Why in the world do you need to work so hard when you have only yourself to support?" And she said "Oh, I have to pay rent on a five room house." "A five room house!" I replied. "But you're alone in the world. Couldn't you live happily in one room?" "Oh yes," she said sadly, "but I have furniture for a five room house." She was actually working her fingers to the bone to provide a proper home for that furniture! And that happens all the time. All I can say is, don't let it happen to you.

Because of our preoccupation with materialism, we often miss the best things in life, which are free. Unnecessary possessions are unnecessary burdens. If you have them, you have to take care of them.

I'll tell you about one more woman. She was liberated, although not in the best possible way. I saw her only occasionally, but I happened to see her about a month after her huge house, in which she and her husband had been living alone since the children were grown, had burned down while they'd been out. They lost everything except the clothes they were wearing. Remembering how attached she had been to that huge house, in spite of the fact that it was such a burden for her to take care of, I started to say a few words of sympathy. But she said, "Don't sympathize with me! Now, you could have the morning after, but not now. Just think, I will never have to clean out that attic. I will never have to clean out those clothes closets. I will never have to clean that basement! Why, I've never felt so free. I just feel I'm starting life all over again!"

She and her husband were living in a sensible size apartment and, indeed, I'm sure they did experience a wonderful sense of freedom. But wouldn't it have been better if they had learned to give and had extended their surplus towards those who needed it? Then they would have been blessed by the giving, and others would have been blessed by the getting. In any case, it was a situation which liberated. (Peace Pilgrim)

If you have enough for food, if you have housing, if you have enough for clothing, if you have enough for a certain level of freedom in transportation, if you have enough money or insurance for unforeseen conditions or illnesses, and if you have enough for the basic survival necessities, you are fine and be grateful for all these things. On the other hand, it is not necessary to drive a Mercedes instead of a Honda. (That extra money you spend on a Mercedes could've been partly invested in funds to generate passive income to cover more necessary expenses and partly donated to the needy.) It is not necessary buy brand name clothing when there are a lot of beautiful clothes available for 1/3 of the price. (If you ever see me in brand name clothing by the way, they were gifts from others. The last time I bought a brand name anything was probably more than eight years ago and the price must've been drastically cut.)

I am not a slave to comfort and convenience. I wouldn't be a pilgrim if I were. We can allow false beliefs to govern our lives and be enslaved by them. Most people do not wish to be free. They would prefer to moan and chafe about how impossible it is to give up their various enslavements to possessions, food, drink, smoking, and so forth. It is not that they can't give them up--they don't really want to give them up. (Peace Pilgrim)

If I am to sum up this message in one sentence, it is this. Don't let your possessions possess you.

"I realize that if you don't have enough you won't be happy. Neither are you happy if you have too much. It is those who have enough but not too much who are the happiest." –Peace Pilgrim

Copyright: © 2006, 2009, This document is the sole property of Amadeo Constanzo. You may use this article for your web site, blog, or e-zine only if you include the following statement and web link- "Amadeo Constanzo is a leading spiritual nutrition and health expert. Free teachings from him can be found at stanzo.blogspot.com and spirfit.blogspot.com". You automatically have permission to post this article if you include the above statement. Otherwise, permission requests could be sent to healthsciencewriter@gmail.com

Shu Chan 陳樹中

Facing Uncertainties (Part 4) - Harnessing the Power of Your Mind and Spirit

2009-08-21T15:37:00.001-07:00

“After continuous intention, visualization, and prayer, the “how” will come, and it will be done.” - Shu Chan

Now that you have some understanding of the power of your mind from http://stanzo.blogspot.com/2009/08/facing-uncertainties-part-3.html , I am going to teach you one simple daily practice to harness that power. Some people neglect strategies that work only because they are simple. Sometimes, the most simple is the most effective.

The practice of SMP-walking is simple. SMP stands for Spiritual-Mental-Physical. You are not only walking physically, but you are walking your mind and your spirit. This practice did not really originate with me. I merely took the practices from people who are successful at harnessing the power of their minds, and altered them to what works for me, and combined it with my spiritual knowledge (as God has been teaching me.)

I first began to practice SMP-walking when I was in the midst of a storm, my health crisis of 2004, where I was facing the possibility of becoming legally disabled (with many rare complications and five surgeries to keep me from becoming legally disabled.) Thanks to God for the knowledge and guidance, I did not become disabled. Some of you may be in similar “uncertain” situations or know someone who is. It may be a health crisis, it may be a financial crisis, or it may be another type of “uncertain” situation. Whatever it is, the simple practice of SMP-walking to harness the power of your mind and spirit will make a huge difference in the outcome of the situation (since you are engaging the power of your mind and spirit while connecting more closely to God.

SMP-Walk Procedures
Find a safe place to walk (whether it is around the block or the park) at a safe time of the day. You could also be doing this with a partner or in a small group, but you shouldn’t be talking to each other during the walk. You should be in your own mental state. However, after the walk is over, you could share what went on in your mind with your partner or your group. (Also, if it is safe to do so, you could use your iPod and play some serene music while you walk.)

SMP-walk could last 15 minutes or it could last an hour, whatever you have time for. You should try to do it daily. It only works when it is practiced consistently. (It’s like exercising. You don’t just work out once and you become fit for life. You won’t reap any benefits if you only do it once or twice. You have to do it consistently for continuous health benefits. The same is true with this exercise of the mind and spirit.)

If you can’t yet find a safe place to walk, you can do this in a quiet room (without distractions). You could sit in place, stand in place, walk around the room, or ride on your stationary bike.

(1) Walk and breathe. Start with relaxation breathing while you walk. (Again, you could be on the stationary bike or the elliptical trainer instead of walking.) I like to count from 1 -10 repeatedly when I do this. I also add a prayer here.

(2) Affirmations. While continuing the same breathing pattern and walking, start saying, or affirming, to yourself the outcome that you want. For example, if you are going through a health crisis, say to yourself, “Everyday and every way, I am getting better and better” and “Every day and every way I am feeling better and better.” While you say this repeatedly to yourself, you should visualize how you will look like when you get better. Feel how you will feel when you get better. You could also remember how you felt when your physical health was at the best condition and feeling well. (This is especially effective for conditions involving pain.) If you have a situation with work, finance, or relationships, you could also come up with an affirmation to say to yourself and visualize/feel the desired outcome and state.

(3) Thank God in Prayer. Thank God in your mind for the things you have in your life. (Shift your mind on the part of your life that is going wrong to the parts that are going right.) Thank God for these parts of your life that you may have taken for granted. You could be thankful that you are not starving as more than half the world is. You could be thankful that you have a secure roof over your head. There are a lot of things that we take for granted that we should be thankful for. (Think of each of these things and visualize them in your mind while you thank God for them.) The second part of this is to thank God for the things that He is about to grant you. Thank God for your desired outcome even though you have not yet reached the outcome at this point (whatever your situation is.) For example, if you are facing cancer right now, thank God for the healthy cancer-free body you will achieve. (Visualize yourself in the cancer-free state and feel it, even if it has not yet manifested.)

(4) Forgive and Love. Whoever you are mad at, whoever has done you wrong no matter how great or small, forgive them right now in your mind and in your heart. Say to yourself here, “Just as God has forgiven me for my trespasses great and small, I forgive _______ .” Say this for each person who’s done you wrong. You must mean it in your heart as you say this to yourself. (This is especially important in physical healing but also important in altering other situations. I will explain this in another blog.) Now, pray for yourself and pray for these people you are forgiving. I know forgiving is sometimes hard to do. For help with this, go to – http://stanzo.blogspot.com/2009/06/how-do-i-forgive.html

Copyright: © 2009, This document is the sole property of Amadeo Constanzo. You may use this article for your web site, blog, or e-zine only if you include the following statement and web link- "Amadeo Constanzo is a leading spiritual nutrition and health expert. Free teachings from him can be found at stanzo.blogspot.com and spirfit.blogspot.com". You automatically have permission to post this article if you include the above statement. Otherwise, permission requests could be sent to healthsciencewriter@gmail.com

Shu Chan 陳樹中

Facing Uncertainties (Part 3) - Understanding the Power of Your Mind

2009-08-10T14:00:00.000-07:00

Whatever uncertain circumstance you may be facing (now or in the future), one of the most important lessons about yourself is the power of your mind. Having this understanding makes a huge difference in the outcome of your difficult situation. This is especially true for health, or physical, conditions.

Our minds are much more powerful than most of us realize. This can be demonstrated by a concept frequently taught in undergraduate psychology courses where a picture of an iceberg is shown. The tip of the iceberg (or 10% of the iceberg) is seen above the water level. However, most people don't see 90% of the iceberg under water. Just like the iceberg, only a small portion of the mind's capabilities are seen or known to man. As much as I am amazingly discovering more of the mind's capability throughout the years, that unseen 90% of the capabilities of the mind is likely to be way beyond what I know.

In addition to this iceberg analogy, let me provide you with a real life demonstration of the amazing (but little-known) power of the mind. For a long time prior to the 1980's, a number of travelers reported that they witnessed a group of Tibetan monks in a remote part of the world in the Himalayas and how these monks were able to use their minds to achieve feats with their bodies that we would think impossible. They were reported to have the ability to significantly raise their body temperature, so much that they can dry ice-cold wet towels on their bare backs. In addition, they were able to survive subzero temperature up in the mountains wearing barely anything.

For many in the West who've heard about these monks, they skeptically concluded that it's not possible. However, teams of scientists, medical professors, and documentary film crews traveled there in the 80’s to see if the monks can really do what witnesses had reported and if true, to document what they find. Here's what they observed, documented, and verified with scientific instrumentation.

One of the common practices of these monks (as documented by the teams of scientific researchers and film crews) is the practice of soaking towels in buckets of ice-cold water and placing them on their bare backs. With the ice-cold towels on their skin, they would sit quietly and use their minds to raise their body temperature. Within approximately 20 minutes, the wet towels on their backs started steaming. In a little over an hour, the sheets became completely dry.

In some of the coldest nights of the year, the monks have a frequent practice that would kill most of us. As witnessed and documented by the researchers, these monks went up to a high point of the Himalayas not wearing much. Again, they would use their minds to raise their body temperature and stay there overnight in sub-zero temperature. They did not even quiver while the team of researchers and film crew were all bundled up with layers of coats and blankets trying to survive the freezing temperature and prevent frost-bite. In the morning, the monks nonchalantly stood up and walked back down the mountain (while the struggling team of Westerners were finally relieved.)

To ascertain that the monks temperature raising abilities are real, the scientists connected measuring equipment, for gauging body temperature, to the monks while the monks performed their mental practices. Sure enough, the equipment showed significant increase in body temperature.

The monks’ remarkable abilities to raise their body temperature seem impossible because it is against common “logic” or against anything we previously knew in the natural world. What these monks can do with their minds is part of the 90% of the unknown part of the iceberg (from my previous analogy.) I emphasize the words “small part” of the iceberg, because we and our minds probably have many many more untapped capabilities (in addition to the temperature raising abilities demonstrated by the monks.)

The first step in harnessing this potential power of you mind is KNOWING how powerful it is, and knowing that it’s more powerful than you previously imagined. I brought up the example of the Tibetan monks to demonstrate the point that we must be open to know that our minds can go beyond the limits that we previously knew.
In a future blog, I will teach you a simple practice, SMP walking, to harness untapped power of your mind.

This is part 3 of the "Facing Uncertainties" series. For part 4 where I teach you something you how to do SMP Walk to harness the power of your mind, go to:
http://life.SpirFit.com/2009/08/facing-uncertainties-part-4-harnessing.html

For the previous parts 1 and 2 of this series, feel free to go to:
http://life.SpirFit.com/2009/06/power-of-uncertain-part-1-opportunities.html
http://life.SpirFit.com/2009/07/facing-uncertainties-part-2-do-not-fear.html

Copyright: © 2007, 2009, This document is the sole property of Amadeo Constanzo. You may use this article for your web site, blog, or e-zine only if you include the following statement and web link- "Amadeo Constanzo is a leading spiritual nutrition and health expert. Free teachings from him can be found at stanzo.blogspot.com and spirfit.blogspot.com". You automatically have permission to post this article if you include the above statement. Otherwise, permission requests could be sent to healthsciencewriter@gmail.com

Shu Chan 陳樹中

Frustrations on the Road

2009-08-09T13:37:00.000-07:00

More than a few you have mentioned to me about the frustrations you have when driving on the road. So, I thought I would give you a different perspective that will help you deal with road frustrations or road rage. It is not only my perspective, but I draw from wise men and other sources of wisdom (sent my way by God.)

"Do you know what I do? When someone wants to get ahead of me in traffic –when I used to be able to drive- I would raise my hand… I would raise my hand, as if I was going to make a negative gesture, and then I would wave and smile. Instead of giving them the finger, you let them go, and you smile. You know what? A lot of times they smiled back. The truth is, I don't have to be in that much of a hurry with my car. I would rather put my energies into people." -Professor Morrie Schwartz (in Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom.)

Although Morrie wasn't Christian, this is a Christ-like quality he had. He shone light in situations of darkness, and spread the light to others. This was what Jesus taught and was how Jesus lived. When you shine a light on the darkness of others, the darkness disappears. When you wave and smile (an action of the light) rather than give the finger (an action of darkness), the others are more likely to wave back. I believe we've all experienced this when we smile at someone, they will naturally smile back. When you bring light in the presence of darkness , the darkness cannot remain.

"In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." –Matthew 5:16 (NIV)
There's really no use of getting angry on the road. Your anger will not make the bad drivers drive better (and we all know that "I am always the good driver. I've never made a driving mistake in my life. It's everybody else who are the bad drivers.") Instead, your anger will make the situation more dangerous for you, for them, and for everyone else on the road.

"So that little old lady who's driving in front of you at 20 miles per hour with that 1976 Cadillac (cream colored). You've all seen her. She's everywhere… She could hardly see over her steering wheel. And she signed an oath…that she will drive aimlessly around… testing your ability to deal with her. She's like a test. She's like a gift from God. Once you stop being mad at her for being what she is or who she is and what she's about…when you stop the anger and bitterness at who she is, and understand that SHE'S EXACTLY WHERE SHE'S SUPPOSED TO BE. And she's there to teach you a very important lesson: slow down. You have to. Relax. DON'T GIVE HER CONTROL OVER THE [GODLY] PART OF YOU ... It's still there, and it's yours. It's really what constitutes your entire humanity. Don't give it away. Think of yourself as connected to [God and all His creations] and a part of it all, rather than [as] someone who is victimized, or slowed down, or abused by, or "here it happens again". It's all part of the perfection of it all. That's a very nice enlightening place to get to. It really slows you down, and it doesn't take away your ability to make choices. It takes away your WANTING THE WORLD AS YOU WANT IT TO BE instead of as IT IS. That's what defines "neurotic". That's what "neurotic" really means: to be wanting the world as you are, rather than as it is. [You need to] process it exactly as it is. It's just in how you perceive it and how you choose to process it. If you see everybody as a teacher, then you ask yourself, "What do I have to learn here?" In that second that you're just about to be angry and go around, and maybe… [about to] have a head on collision. Maybe at that moment, that person is there. That person is there to teach you to slow down a little bit." - Dr. Wayne Dyer

The key is to accept the fact that we (humans) all are not perfect, especially in our driving. We have to accept that the slow old lady driver will always be out there. We have to accept the fact that there will always be the "fast and the furious" drivers out there. To make the roads a safer place, we first have to really look OBJECTIVELY and HONESTLY at ourselves to make sure that we are not that slow old lady driver, and also not that "fast and the furious" driver. Secondly, we have to be Jesus-like and accept everyone else for their imperfection (or their imperfect driving). We must compensate for their imperfection with our defensive driving. It would not be wise to feed anger into a dangerous situation when you encounter the "slow old lady" or "the fast and the furious".

A study has been done, where they split drivers into 2 groups. Group A were the "fast and the furious" drivers weaving in and out of lanes to get to their destination as fast as they could. Group B drove at 5-10 mph above speed limit keeping one steady speed. The results of the studies showed that Group A arrived at the destination ONLY 1-3 minutes (average) before group B.
I personally replicated this study when I was living in the Bay Area. I had a friend, Anthony (not his real name). Anthony is the only person I know who always drive at the speed limit. One night, we were both driving from point A (in San Francisco, CA) to point B (in San Leandro, CA). I drove as fast as I could, trying my best to get around cars. When I got to point B, it was LESS THAN ONE MINUTE before Anthony pulled up behind me!

These are facts backed up by studies and by my individual case study. Even though we may FEEL like we are getting to our destination much faster, the fact is that we only get there 1-3 minutes faster when we jet it. Are those 1-3 minutes really worth putting your life at risk and other people's lives at risk? Are those 1-3 minutes really worth raising your stress level and blood pressure (therefore deteriorating your health)?

Driving too slow is also dangerous. Although I brought up the example of my friend Anthony who always drive the speed limit, I do NOT recommend driving at the speed limit. I believe driving at the speed limit is too slow and therefore dangerous (especially when we know that there will always be someone driving 90mph in a 55mph zone). I think it is best to drive 10mph ABOVE THE SPEED LIMIT (in normal dry conditions) and try to keep it steady at that speed.

I, of course, am not the perfect driver. So if you see me make a mistake in my driving (if I start driving again), I have a few letters for you: PBPGINFWMY (Please Be Patient, God Is Not Finished With Me Yet).

________________________________________
Copyright: © 2005, This document is the sole property of Amadeo Constanzo. All copies of this data file must contain the above copyright notice. This document may not be copied in part, edited, revised, copied for resale or incorporated in any publications, recordings, broadcasts, performances, displays, electronic media, online media, or other products, without the written permission of the author. Requests for permission should be made in writing by email to healthsciencewriter@gmail.com

PERSEVERANCE

2009-07-26T18:05:00.000-07:00

by Anne Stortz
from Chicken Soup for the Unsinkable Soul

When all the world is looming dark
And things seem not so clear,
When shadows seem to hover 'round
Lord, may I persevere.

When it seems everything's been tried
And there's no way to go,
Just let me keep remembering
Sometimes the journey's slow.

I may just need to stop and rest
Along the path I trod,
A time to try to understand
And have my talk with God.

As I gain new strength to carry on
Without a doubt or fear,
Somehow I know things will be right,
And so, I persevere.

Obama's Health Reforms Can Mean Life or Death

2009-07-25T07:41:00.000-07:00

I recently wrote an article about Obama’s health care reform efforts for a local Brooklyn publication. The article should be published in the next week or so. I am limited in what I could write here because they’ve paid me for the first rights to my information in the article.

Because I’ve examined the 1014 page legislation proposed and have written an article about it, I support this health care reform effort pushed by Obama. After the American Medical Association (AMA) reviewed the proposed legislation, they now also support it (which is an 180 degree turn from their original position, and their historical position in opposing previous reform efforts by past presidents).

I also support the current reform efforts because I had personally faced difficulties from the broken health system, and because of insider understanding of certain things when I worked at UCSF (medical school and medical center.) I urge everyone to support H.R. 3200 and Obama’s health care reform efforts, because what happened to me (when I had to deal with the broken health care system) can very well happen to you and to anyone, and it has happened to many in this country and some/many have died or become disabled because of the broken health system. Unfortunately, most people don't really know how bad things are until they actually go through such situations. Don't wait until you are fighting an illness and facing death/disability before you support Obama's health reforms. It would be too late by then. We have a rare window of opportunity to change things now. Don't let it slip. Support Obama's health care reform efforts. Call or write to your senators and congressmen.

The Confidently Wrong

2009-07-10T14:08:00.000-07:00

I am just so sick of people who are “confidently wrong”. From the start, they have the attitude that what they are saying is right. They are very confident in what they know. You being a listener let them finish everything they want to say, to give them a chance to be right. May be if they complete their whole explanation, you will find that they are right. However, after they complete their point, they are still unfortunately dead wrong. (Honestly, I really wish people are right, because I really hate to debate them. Unfortunately, I have too much information/facts (in my head as well as in my computer. That can be a gift, but in these cases it’s a curse.)

Now you (knowing that you have the resources, literature, or documentation to back up what you know) start explaining to them. However, before you even get 10% of your explanation out of your mouth, they cut you off. They don't give you the same respect of finishing your point, the respect that you've given them. They say, “Stop” as if you are being unreasonable, when you spoke for less than a minute after listening to them for five minutes. You just want to presenting information, backed by documented facts that you have, just like you do when you teach a seminar or a class. They cut you off before you can finish, or before you barely started, and they act as if you are being unreasonable. But you barely started your explanation or correction of what they said, although you gave them the benefit of the doubt and allowed them to completely finish their point (even though it ended up to be wrong).

In the end, you try to get your last few words out before they start to get mad, “I have resources to back up what I am saying.” They don't even let you tell them quickly where you obtained your information. They cut you off because they are not interested in seeing the facts, since it conflicts with what they think they know (from a seminar or from reading, in which they misunderstood the teacher or the writer).

I think more people in this society need to understand the importance of knowledge and how to seek knowledge in depth and accurately. It is usually the non-readers and non-seekers of knowledge who are among these “confidently wrong” (although even the knowledgeable sometimes are “confidently wrong” on occasion, usually because of a stronghold on their ego which blindsides them from the facts.)

More people need to embrace the exchange of ideas in a civil manner, which includes listening and allowing both sides of an argument ample time to present their information.

For some reason, I have been coming across people who don’t understand this. However, I don’t tell people this because that doesn’t achieve anything. Also, they’ll say, “You’re a know it all” and put you in the same category among the know-it-alls who do not have the facts to back up what they are saying.

This is why I like science, or at least the part where facts and findings are documented, or published. You have to be objective. If you are right, you have literature to back things up, regardless of your lack of ability to be a politician or debater. This is also why I love to write. In writing, you get to finish all your points without interruption and you present your sources. The wise readers could read what you have and check your sources. The unwise readers can stop reading whenever they want. However, there are usually enough wise and knowledgeable readers out there to recognize the information you are presenting (if they are backed by facts and well thought out).

I think God is trying to remind me or push me by recently bringing me so many incidences of the “confidently wrong.” They are in the family, within my friends, and even among my clients. I think God is really pushing me to get my writing (or the writing portion of my plans/goals) going. The writing portion of my plans has been progressing, but at a crawling speed. (There are many portions/components of my plans but most people don’t understand this, but they will. Unfortunately, people will only understand when the millions of dollars start rolling in. Although I do currently get paid from some of my writings and from teaching/tutoring college students how to write and research, I am still not at the level where I am meant to be yet.)

This entry is somewhat of a rant. However, there is a lesson for us all here. First of all, we all need to listen, and not just speak and cut others off, and not quickly get agitated if you don't agree. Even if you think you are right, let people finish presenting their information before you analyze everything. Then, analyze everything objectively, getting your ego out of the way. As I've written in a previous entry "Is There Room In Your Cup", come with an empty cup. I consciously try to do this (since I probably am also the "confidently wrong" on occasion. I haven't totally rid my ego, which is quite hard to do. But I believe I am on the right track since I am conscious of all of this.) Those who are not conscious of this are more likely to be among the confidently wrong.

Facing Uncertainties (Part 2) - Do Not Fear the Unknown

2009-07-08T11:51:00.000-07:00

Previously, I wrote (in part 1 of this “Facing Uncertainties” series)about seeing your gloomy situation with a different perspective, so that you can see the hidden opportunities and get the lesson God is presenting before you.

So far, the most important thing you must understand can be summed up in five words – do not fear the unknown. For me, God really drove this lesson home when I was facing surgery after surgery years ago as the doctors (and I) were scrambling to keep me from becoming disabled.

Why is it important to not fear the unknown when you are in the middle of a storm full of uncertainties? Let’s use the analogy of the dangerous situations law enforcement officers and military personnel often have to encounter. It is apparent to any one of these brave souls that you cannot panic or have fear in such treacherous situations. This metaphor applies also to the various uncertain situations you may face in life.

Fear exists because of doubt. You would not fear if there’s no doubt in you. Fear and doubt normally go hand in hand. Fear and doubt are the complete opposites of faith. Anything in opposed to faith hinders you from the outcome you desire. This is especially true for health conditions including terminal conditions.

Often, your situation is meant to strengthen you and your faith, and to move you to go to God and ask Him for help. Sadly, some people still refuse to go to God for help even in a desperate situation. It really doesn’t make any sense because they really have nothing to lose in seeking God and praying to Him for help. As my ophthalmologist said, “It doesn’t hurt.” In medicine, they often weigh the risks vs. benefits when considering whether they want to go ahead with a specific intervention. In this case, there are no risks in prayer, but there are potential benefits (as documented by scientific studies).

When you do figure out that it is best to go to God to ask Him for help, try your best to not doubt and not fear. From experience, I know that this is easier said than done. It is easier said than done when you are facing the possibility of becoming disabled, the possibility of losing your home, or the possibility of losing your life. However, you have to try your best as the enormous importance is taught in the book of James.

“But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.” James 1:6-8

How do you not doubt and not fear when you are in such dire situations, you may be asking? Other than prayer as I’ve already mentioned, there are other things you can be doing, but they first require an initial spiritual understanding (including the understanding of the enormous power of your mind and spirit when connected to God). More on this in later blogs.

For part 1 of this "Facing Uncertainties" series, click here.

For part 3 of this "Facing Uncertainties" series, click here.

Copyright: © 2009, This document is the sole property of Amadeo Constanzo. You may use this article for your web site, blog, or e-zine only if you include the following statement and web link- "Amadeo Constanzo is a leading spiritual nutrition and health expert. Free teachings from him can be found at stanzo.blogspot.com and spirfit.blogspot.com". You automatically have permission to post this article if you include the above statement. Otherwise, permission requests could be sent to healthsciencewriter@gmail.com

Health Insurance Options When Unemployed

2009-07-07T12:09:00.000-07:00

Nine months ago, I wrote an article in a local newspaper about how to keep your insurance if you become unemployed in New York. It is unbelievable how many people have lost their jobs since then. Because of the increasing layoffs, I feel that I should provide here the link to the Bay Currents issue containing this important article (on page 5 "Health Currents" section):

http://baycurrents.net/BCpdf/BCV5N5.pdf

Also, my editor had eliminated some important parts from my original article. Below, is an important part that has been eliminated and not in the published version:

So, what do you do about your health coverage if you lose your job? You should first ask the human resources representative (of the company from which you departed) about COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act). COBRA allows you (the former employee) to continue the same insurance after your departure from the company, but you must notify human resources and the health insurance company's plan administrator within 60 days of your departure. Unfortunately, you would have to pay the monthly premium of the insurance under COBRA. Despite paying the premium out-of-pocket, this option is very important for people with a pre-existing medical condition who must have health coverage. Under COBRA, the health insurance companies are not allowed to include an exclusion clause (excluding coverage of the pre-existing condition) nor are they allowed to charge them more than 102% of the original employer-paid premium. If you have to buy insurance on your own, it is common practice of insurance companies to drastically raise the price for individuals with pre-existing conditions (any little ailment or major chronic disease you've had in the past can be considered a pre-existing condition).

While you maintain your COBRA eligibility, you should simultaneously look into free health insurance programs. Paying for health insurance is the last thing you need when you are laid off. Fortunately, unemployed New Yorkers are likely to be eligible for one of these government sponsored insurance programs...

Free health insurance programs for which you may be qualified if you are unemployed:

Medicaid
http://www.health.state.ny.us/health_care/medicaid/
1-877-472-8411.

Family Health Plus

http://www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/fhplus/
1-877-9FHPLUS

Healthy NY

http://www.ins.state.ny.us/website2/hny/english/hnyeci.htm
1-866-432-5849

Child Medicaid and Child Health Plus
http://www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/chplus/
1-800-698-4543

If you are married and unemployed, another option you should look into is your spouse's health insurance from work. You could very well be covered by it.

Note that the information here are for New York residents. States vary in the programs offered and on eligibility criteria.

Make Room In Your Cup

2009-07-04T21:28:00.000-07:00

An expert on Eastern philosophy, a professor, travels to the East to learn more about Eastern philosophies. He travels to the East to meet with this Eastern guru who he has always wanted to meet. When the professor finally meets with the guru, he sits with him to have tea. As this guru explains things, the expert/professor constantly interrupts the guru. The professor frequently interrupts with what he knows from his own studies. Finally the guru stops talking and begins to serve tea to the professor. Although the professor's cup is already full, the guru continues to pour. Consequently, the tea overflows onto the professor's lap. The professor jumps up and yells, "Stop pouring. The cup is already full!" The guru calmly responds, "You are like this cup. You are so full of what you already know that you have no room for my tea."

For those of you who are or were mixed martial artists over the age of 30, you probably have heard this story in the past. This story applies to mixed martial arts. However, it also applies to many different areas in life.

We all have the natural tendency to not leave room for new tea. We all have the natural tendency of rejecting new tea that we have never tried. I see that many people suffer from this (including those who proclaim themselves to be open-minded).

I have learned long ago to always approach new things or new people with an empty cup. This may mean that I am setting aside my old tea temporarily, but not permanently discard the old tea. Most of the time, I end up mixing the new tea with the old tea in right proportions creating a much better blend of mixed tea.

In order to be able to stretch our minds or to have lots of room for new tea, one requirement is humility. Many smart people I know reach their upper limit because they lack humility. As smart or wise as they may be, they could have been smarter or wiser if they are more humble.

There is unfortunately a majority of people who are so fixated on what they already know or how everyone has always thought. They have no clue most of the miseries or dissatisfactions in their lives could be eliminated if they humble themselves and just let in some new ideas or knowledge from someone else (including someone who may be younger or even someone who seems inferior.) Some people are able to do this in some areas but not in other areas. They are the ones who proclaim themselves as open-minded. But in the areas where they leave no room for new tea, they just say "I am open-minded" but they continue to leave no room for new tea in that area. Is there an area in your life where you are not leaving room for new tea? Honestly?

As I have already mentioned, this concept of making room for "new tea" is important in many areas in life. Therefore, many of my future blog entries will refer back to this "new tea" metaphor, especially when I see many in my life who understand this concept but they keep coming with an already full cup.

Copyright: © 2007, 2008. This document is the sole property of Amadeo Constanzo. This document may not be copied, copied for resale, or incorporated in any publications, recordings, broadcasts, performances, displays or other products, without the written permission of the author. Free permission to display or publish is usually granted, upon written request. Requests for permission should be made in email to healthsciencewriter@gmail.com

How Do I Forgive

2009-06-28T17:49:00.000-07:00

Will we be punished for our unforgiving hearts, our anger, and our resentment? Or are we punished by them? My answer - both. Those of us who have Christian parents or other spiritual teachers may have already learned that we will eventually be punished for our anger and unforgiving heart (or the hurts and evil actions as a result of them) when we face judgment. However, many of us do not realize that we are also punished by our anger and resentment.

Rick Warren explained this insightfully: "Resentment always hurt you more than it does the person you resent. While your offender has probably forgotten the offense and gone on with life, you continue to stew in your pain, perpetuating the past. Listen: Those who have hurt you in the past cannot continue to hurt you now unless you hold on to the pain through resentment. Your past is past! Nothing will change it. You are only hurting yourself with your bitterness. For your own sake, learn from it, and let it go. The Bible says, 'To worry yourself to death with resentment would be a foolish, senseless thing to do.'" (Warren, 2002)

Warren quoted this passage from Job 5:2. The New International Version (NIV) of this passage states: "Resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple." When our resentful and unforgiving hearts take control, don't we feel like it's killing us inside? It really is foolish to let the resentment eat us up inside.

Dr. Wayne Dyer provided a good metaphor on this topic (Dyer, 2001). When a person is bitten by a poisonous snake, the person does not die from the bite. Instead, the person dies from the venom that flows in his bloodstream after the bite. In the same way, when someone does something that hurts us, his action isn't the most harmful. What is most harmful to us is the resentment that flows within us after the action has been done (just like how the venom flowing in the bloodstream is what kills the person). However, we have a choice to get rid of the resentment and prevent it from flowing within us.

There are plenty of scientific evidence that support this biblical advice of having a forgiving heart and getting rid of our resentment. Such resentment and anger are negative emotions. There are a growing number of scientific studies showing that such negative emotions cause illnesses and aggravate existing illnesses. Such studies have been done by researchers like Dr. Margaret Kemeny (Kemeny, 2003) among others (Koh, 2005 and Enkelmann, 2005.) Medical doctors and medical school teachers such as Dr. Deepak Chopra and Dr. Herbert Benson also have given lectures that are consistent with what I am stating here. Science is showing that God's advice in the Bible has a practical purpose to do us good.

So how do we obtain and maintain a forgiving heart? How do we eliminate our anger and resentment, or how do we prevent such negative emotions from taking over us? To do so, we need to ask God for help in prayer. The seemingly impossible goal of having a forgiving heart is possible when we have God's help. It is possible when we are connected to God by prayer. The healthy practice of taking out uninterrupted quiet time will also help. Another method to obtain a forgiving heart is daily reading of the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). From these books, we read about the heart of Jesus who was the most forgiving human being in history. When we read about Him, we are reminded of how our hearts should be.

A third method to obtain and maintain a forgiving heart is by listening to loving and positive music such as Christian music. It is very important to stay away from music of violence, hate, immorality, and negativity. The same also goes for video games and movies. There are too many movies of the hero taking revenge, when in reality the real heroes deserving respect are those who do not take revenge. Whatever wrong is done to you cannot be undone by revenge and resentment anyway. Instead, resentment and revenge always cause more problems.

Let's look at the example of Jesus and the forgiving heart he had when he lived on earth. When he was being tortured and about to be killed, he prayed the following: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." Luke 23:34 (NIV)

Jesus is such a great example of having a forgiving heart. He asked God to forgive strangers who were torturing and killing him by the worst possible method during that era under Roman rule. Yet we think that it's such a hard task to forgive even our loved ones! It really is nothing compared to how much Jesus forgave.

Our family and friends love us the most, but they can hurt us the most. I think most people can agree with this. So how do we get ourselves to forgive our family, our relatives, and our friends when they hurt us? It is much easier to forgive our loved ones if we change our perspective. We have to see past their outer action and words. Instead we should focus on their inner intent and inner concern for us. We have to focus on their inner love and see past their external behavioral mistakes and imperfect actions that aggravate us or hurt us. When we look deep inside their hearts, we will see that they only want what's best for us. We will see that beyond their imperfect actions or words, they have real love and concern for us. We should also remember times when we said things or did things that frustrated or hurt our loved ones, and we sought their forgiveness. When we remember those times when we do the hurting, it's easier for us to forgive. We also should know that there are times when we hurt our loved ones, and we don't even realize it. In those instances, wouldn't we want them to see past our faults and forgive us? Remember this and it will be easier to refrain from anger and resentment toward our loved ones when they do us wrong.

Personally, I sometimes remember experiences in the past when strangers, former employers, neighbors, and others intentionally attacked me because they had no concern or love for me. They attacked me for their own little benefits. Generally I try to keep such memories out of my thoughts, but frankly it is sometimes difficult to keep them out of my mind. So I use these memories to make it easy for me to forgive my loved ones who care deeply about me. I also make an effort to remember all the instances when my loved ones did good things for me. Doing so makes it easy for me to forgive them. We should all make an effort to remember all the instances when our loved ones do good things for us.

Again, we need to look beyond the imperfect external actions, words, and behavior of people. We need to look past these and look deep inside them to see their inner love. I know people who fail to do this and they are very unhappy. Peace Pilgrim once said, "Stop being a surface liver who stays right in the froth of the surface." (Peace Pilgrim, 1991) We must look beyond the surface!

Understanding the importance of forgiveness in establishing and maintaining a connection with God may make it easier for us to forgive everybody. Having a forgiving heart is extremely important in our connection with God. The Bible states the following: "And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins." Mark 11:25(NIV)

One of the most common complaints I hear is, "Why doesn't God help me? Why hasn't he heard my prayers?" The biggest reason I see in many cases is that we have a weak connection to God, if any. There are numerous reasons for this, one of which is having an unforgiving heart. When we have an unforgiving heart, we can't connect to God. When we don't have the connection to God, we complain that God isn't listening to our prayers and we conclude that he is powerless. It's like a man concluding that the internet doesn't exist because he refuses to get a computer and refuses to sign up with an ISP (Internet Service Provider).

One of Jesus' parables in the book of Matthew demonstrates how we really are when we fail to forgive in comparison to how much God our master forgives us:

"Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. The servant fell on his knees before him. 'Be patient with me,' he begged, 'and I will pay back everything.' The servant's master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go. But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. 'Pay back what you owe me!' he demanded. His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.' But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened. Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed. This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart." Matthew 18:23-35 (NIV)

To fully understand this parable, we must realize that we are just like that unmerciful servant, and God is the merciful master. If we are honest with ourselves, we would see that we all are that unmerciful servant with our natural vengeful minds and our desire to seek "justice" for ourselves. We must realize this and make an effort to no longer be this unmerciful servant. Yes, it takes effort, but it's worth the effort. Our connection to God will become better after making the effort. Our immediate lives will become better and it will keep us from hell in the long run.

In summary, we must all strive to have a forgiving heart. If we don't, we are only hurting ourselves with our resentment and anger. We are also destroying our health and our connection with God. We are punished for our anger and resentment, but we are also punished by our anger and resentment. We should keep resentment, or the "venom", out of our systems by forgiving. So how do we forgive? To do this, we should pray to God for help and look to Jesus as our example by reading the Gospels and books of similar nature. We should have uninterrupted quiet time daily. We must connect to God. We should listen to positive music such as Christian music and stay away from negative music. We should stay away from movies of violence, hero's vengeance, killings, and immorality.

References

1. Rick Warren, The purpose driven life (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2002), 28.

2. Wayne Dyer, 10 secret for success and inner peace (Carlsbad, California: Hay House, 2001), 115.

3. Kemeny, ME. (2003). An interdisciplinary research model to investigate psychosocial cofactors in disease: Application to HIV-1 pathogenesis. Brain Behavior and Immunity, 17, S62-72.

4. Koh, KB (2005). The relation between anger expression, depression, and somatic symptoms in depressive disorders and somatoform disorders. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 66(4), 485-491.

5. Enkelmann, HC, et. al.(2005). The relationship of hostility, negative affect and ethnicity to cardiovascular responses: an ambulatory study in Singapore. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 56(2), 185-197.

6. Peace Pilgrim, Peace Pilgrim: her life and work in her own words (Santa Fe, NM: Ocean Tree Books, 1991)

Copyright: © 2005, This document is the sole property of Amadeo Constanzo. This document may not be copied, copied for resale, or incorporated in any publications, recordings, broadcasts, performances, displays or other products, without the written permission of the author. Requests for permission should be made in email to healthsciencewriter@gmail.com or fax to (253) 663-5319

Facing Uncertainties (Part 1) - Opportunities in Disguise

2009-06-24T07:23:00.001-07:00

Are you in a dire situation of uncertainty right now? Are you in the middle of a health crisis, or do you have a health condition where you don’t know how you’ll end up? Did you recently lose your job or were you somehow wiped out by the market? Or are you in another type of financial crisis where you are uncertain about how you will be able to cover your basic expenses? Are you losing your home? Or are you in an emotional crisis where your spouse is leaving you or your relationship is in jeopardy? Some of you may even be facing some combination of the above.

I’ve been there. Five years ago, I was in a health crisis that lasted almost a year. It was surgery after surgery, not knowing when it would all be over. I also didn't know whether I would become whole again or end up disabled. That health crisis lasting for almost a year naturally caused a financial crisis at the same time. That was one of the most uncertain periods in my life.

From that experience and from God’s teachings, I learned about how to deal with such “uncertainty” (when I was desperately hoping for a certain outcome.)

Whatever uncertain circumstances you may be in right now, open your eyes and open your mind to see the opportunity. Yes, I said opportunity. With every tough and uncertain situation, there is a lesson and/or opportunity. If you don’t step back and see the situation with new eyes or from other angles, you will miss the valuable opportunities.

I once saw on a talk show a woman who was telling her story about being laid off. Initially, she was fearful and anxious, but she later consciously looked at her situation in a different light. She used the opportunity to do some thinking and some soul searching which she was previously not able to do, when she was employed and caught up in the busy-ness of her job and life. Looking at that situation with new eyes, she saw an opportunity of a life time. She has always wanted to start a chocolate business. However, she didn’t dare leave the security of her job, and quitting her job would put her without any income while taking the risk of building her chocolate business. Now that she’s laid off from her company, she receives unemployment benefits for about 11 months. Although the unemployment checks were only half her previous salary, it was survivable as she cut back on spending and learned to sacrifice the unnecessary luxuries in her life. Such temporary minor sacrifices were worth the opportunity to start the chocolate business she had always dreamed of, while having some income from the unemployment checks.

Usually, the truly spiritually grounded person would have no problem cutting back on luxuries and living simply. The more spiritually grounded you are, the more likely you are able to handle such situations in the best way where you can capitalize on the opportunities and get the lessons from these tough and “uncertain” situations.

Within 11 months, this woman’s chocolate business took off and she is now in a much better situation than she was when she was working at her previous job. Not only was she making more money, but she is doing exactly what she loves. She made use of a seemingly dismal situation (where many may have been blinded by the gloom) and she stepped back to look at the situation with new eyes in a more relaxed state (instead of a fearful state).

Most uncertain (and seemingly dire) situations are really golden opportunities if you can see it in new light. The more spiritually grounded you are, the more you are likely to do that and handle the situation in the best way possible capitalizing on the potential opportunities in the midst of the storm. In my blogs here, I intend to guide you in establishing that spiritual foundation. This also includes establishing a mental and physical foundation.

If you are in a tough and uncertain situation right now, I recommend doing two things:
(1) Allocate time to pray/talk to God daily. If you claim to "not have time", you can do this at night while you are laying in bed waiting to fall asleep.
(2) Take walks (in a safe place) and think about the outcome you desire of your situation. (Keep away from fearful, doubtful, or negative thoughts.) I’ll teach you more about power walks (or what I call SMP walks) later.

There is potential power and opportunities in the uncertain, or the unknown. Instead of fearing the unknown, seize the potential opportunity, to obtain true security. More on how to do this in future blogs.

For Part 2, go to http://stanzo.blogspot.com/2009/07/facing-uncertainties-part-2-do-not-fear.html