Would you have given up?

By: Author Unknown

In 1832, he was a 22-year old business failure.

That same year he ran for the legislature and was defeated.

In 1833, he was a business failure once again.

In 1836, he was said to have suffered a nervous breakdown.

In 1838, he lost in an effort to become Speaker of the House in the State Legislature.

Five years later, he ran for Congress - again it was in vain.

In 1846, he ran for Congress and won - only to lose his re-election bid in 1848.

He ran for the Senate in 1854, and lost.

He ran for the Vice-presidential nomination in 1856, and lost that too.

In 1860, Abraham Lincoln became the 16th President of the United States.

Miracle of the baby girl plucked from the rubble: Four-month-old reunited with her father after incredible rescue

By Richard Shears

The sound of a baby’s cry amid the rubble seemed so impossible that soldiers searching a tsunami-smashed village dismissed it as a mistake.

But it came again. And they realised they had not been hearing things.

They pulled away wood and slate, dug back thick oozing mud – and there was the child they were to describe as a ‘tiny miracle’.

... And fear: Upon hearing another tsunami warning, a father tries to flee to safety with the baby girl he has just been reunited with

The four-month-old girl had been swept from her parents’ arms in the shattered village of Ishinomaki when the deadly wave crashed into the family home.

For three days, the child’s frantic family had believed she was lost to them for ever.

But yesterday, for a brief moment, the horrors of the disaster were brightened by one helpless baby’s story of survival.

Soldiers from the Japanese Defence Force had been going from door to door pulling bodies from the devastated homes in Ishinomaki, a coastal town northeast of Sendai.

Most of the victims were elderly, unable to escape the destructive black tide.

But for this precious moment, at least, it was only the child who mattered to the team of civil defence troops who found her.

One of them picked her up in  his arms, wrapped her in a blanket which had been handed to him  and cradled the child as his colleagues crowded around, not believing that someone as young as this had survived when all hope had been lost.

The tiniest survivor was cold and wet and crying, but she is believed to have suffered no other injuries. Why she did not drown remained a mystery.

But the soldiers were somehow able to trace her overjoyed father, who had been taking refuge in his wrecked home with the rest of his family.

Even then, the nightmare wasn’t over. For just minutes after the emotional reunion, the shell-shocked survivors were told that a second tsunami might be on its way.

The panicked father begged the soldiers to take the baby to safety on higher ground.

But the 11am alarm proved to be false and the reunited family returned to try and rebuild their home.
Amid the devastation, there have been precious few tales of survival.

Joy: The member of Japan's Self-Defence Force member holds the four-month-old baby girl in Ishinomaki, northern Japan after her rescue

But the discovery of the unnamed child has given fresh hope that others might be found alive in the shattered landscape which covers scores of miles of the east coast of Honshu island.

Yesterday, it emerged that witnesses looking down from the second floor of a house in one of the worst hit areas thought they noticed some movement in the back of a wrecked car by the side of the road and soldiers discovered an elderly woman who had been trapped in the passenger seat for more than 20 hours.

Although she was traumatised by her ordeal, the victim was said to be otherwise unhurt.

As the Mail reported yesterday, Hiromitsu Shinkawa was found sitting on the roof of his floating home about nine miles from shore. Waving a red cloth, he was picked up by a boat. His wife is missing.

‘Several helicopters and ships passed but none of them noticed me,’ he said. ‘I thought that was going to be the last day of my life.’

A man in his 70s was also pulled from a collapsed building in Sendai, a port town badly hit by the double disaster.

Before the baby’s discovery, searchers found at least 2,000 bodies cast up along the shoreline of the badly-hit Miyagi prefecture.

All had drowned, according to police, and as the search through the debris continued throughout the day officials conceded that what had started out as a rescue effort would become a recovery operation.

And then came the cry of a little girl.

‘Her discovery has put a new energy into the search,’ said a civil defence official. ‘We will listen, look and dig with even more diligence after this.’

Just absolutely beautiful!

A letter from Sendai

Things here in Sendai have been rather surreal. But I am very blessed to have wonderful friends who are helping me a lot. Since my shack is even more worthy of that name, I am now staying at a friend's home. We share supplies like water, food and a kerosene heater. We sleep lined up in one room, eat by candlelight, share stories. It is warm, friendly, and beautiful.
During the day we help each other clean up the mess in our homes. People sit in their cars, looking at news on their navigation screens, or line up to get drinking water when a source is open. If someone has water running in their home, they put out a sign so people can come to fill up their jugs and buckets.
It's utterly amazingly that where I am there has been no looting, no pushing in lines. People leave their front door open, as it is safer when an earthquake strikes. People keep saying, "Oh, this is how it used to be in the old days when everyone helped one another."
Quakes keep coming. Last night they struck about every 15 minutes. Sirens are constant and helicopters pass overhead often.
We got water for a few hours in our homes last night, and now it is for half a day. Electricity came on this afternoon. Gas has not yet come on. But all of this is by area. Some people have these things, others do not. No one has washed for several days. We feel grubby, but there are so much more important concerns than that for us now. I love this peeling away of non-essentials. Living fully on the level of instinct, of intuition, of caring, of what is needed for survival, not just of me, but of the entire group.
There are strange parallel universes happening. Houses a mess in some places, yet then a house with futons or laundry out drying in the sun. People lining up for water and food, and yet a few people out walking their dogs. All happening at the same time.
Other unexpected touches of beauty are first, the silence at night. No cars. No one out on the streets. And the heavens at night are scattered with stars. I usually can see about two, but now the whole sky is filled. The mountains are Sendai are solid and with the crisp air we can see them silhouetted against the sky magnificently.
And the Japanese themselves are so wonderful. I come back to my shack to check on it each day, now to send this e-mail since the electricity is on, and I find food and water left in my entranceway. I have no idea from whom, but it is there. Old men in green hats go from door to door checking to see if everyone is OK. People talk to complete strangers asking if they need help. I see no signs of fear. Resignation, yes, but fear or panic, no.
They tell us we can expect aftershocks, and even other major quakes, for another month or more. And we are getting constant tremors, rolls, shaking, rumbling. I am blessed in that I live in a part of Sendai that is a bit elevated, a bit more solid than other parts. So, so far this area is better off than others. Last night my friend's husband came in from the country, bringing food and water. Blessed again.
Somehow at this time I realize from direct experience that there is indeed an enormous Cosmic evolutionary step that is occurring all over the world right at this moment. And somehow as I experience the events happening now in Japan, I can feel my heart opening very wide. My brother asked me if I felt so small because of all that is happening. I don't. Rather, I feel as part of something happening that much larger than myself. This wave of birthing (worldwide) is hard, and yet magnificent.
Thank you again for your care and Love of me,
With Love in return, to you all,
Anne

Wondering how you can help? Aid relief efforts by clicking here to donate to the Japanese Red Cross, or text redcross to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

posted by Anne Thomas on 3/14/2011 11:30 am 

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MILLIONS OF DEAD FISH REDONDO BEACH,

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Please watch with an open mind...

Open-Minded Man Grimly Realizes How Much Life He's Wasted Listening To Bullshit

This really made me smile, today.

February 26, 2011 | ISSUE 47•08

Richman estimates he's squandered 800 hours alone by letting salespeople pitch things to him that he's not going to buy.

CLEVELAND—During an unexpected moment of clarity Tuesday, open-minded man Blake Richman was suddenly struck by the grim realization that he's squandered a significant portion of his life listening to everyone's bullshit, the 38-year-old told reporters.
A visibly stunned and solemn Richman, who until this point regarded his willingness to hear out the opinions of others as a worthwhile quality, estimated that he's wasted nearly three and a half years of his existence being open to people's half-formed thoughts, asinine suggestions, and pointless, dumbfuck stories.

"Jesus Christ," said Richman, taking in the overwhelming volume of useless crap he's actively listened to over the years. "My whole life I've made a concerted effort to give people a fair shake and understand different points of view because I felt that everyone had something valuable to offer, but it turns out most of what they had to offer was complete bullshit."
"Seriously," Richman added, "what have I gained from treating everyone's opinion with respect? Nothing. Absolutely nothing."

According to Richman, it was just now hitting him how many hours of his life he's pissed away listening intently to nonsense about celebrity couples, how good or bad certain pens are, and why a particular sports team might have a chance this year. The husband and father of two said that every time he's felt at all put out or bored by a bullshit conversation—especially a speculative one about how bad allergy season was going to be—he should have just turned around, walked away, and gone rafting or rappelling or done any of the millions of other things he's always wanted to do but never thought he had time for.

At various points throughout the day, Richman could be heard muttering to himself that he couldn't believe he was almost 40 years old.

"Twenty minutes here, 10 minutes there. It all starts to add up," said Richman, who sat down and figured out that between stupid discussions about favorite baby names and reviews of restaurants in cities he'll never visit, he'd wasted 390 hours of his life. "And you know what the worst part is? It's my fault. Here I thought being considerate to others by always listening patiently to what they had to say was the right thing to do. Well, fuck me, right?"

According to Richman, he started thinking about how much time he's flushed down the toilet being an approachable person after a work meeting in which he let a coworker, David Martin, ramble on and on with an idea everyone knew was "total shit" the moment the man opened his mouth. Richman said that a single glance at the clock made him realize he had just spent 14 minutes of his finite time on earth not playing with his kids or being with his wife, but listening to garbage.

"It was like I stepped out of my body and saw myself actually listening to this man's worthless drivel—but it wasn't him who looked like a moron, it was me," Richman said. "I was nodding my head like an asshole and saying ridiculous things like, 'Right,' and, 'I see your point, Dave,' when I should have just said, 'Dave, your idea isn't good and you are wasting our time and you need to shut up right now.'"

By his estimates, Richman's receptiveness has resulted in 160 irreplaceable hours of listening to grossly uninformed political opinions, 300 hours of carefully hearing out both sides of pointless arguments, and at least a month of listening to his parents' bullshit about how important it is to be open-minded.

Eighty days have been wasted on the inane blather of his college friend Brian alone.
"All those hours I could have been relaxing, or reading all these great books, or getting into shape, or working on side projects that I'm really excited about," Richman said. "But instead I've been listening to overrated albums recommended to me by my asshole friends."

"Did you know that in my life I've listened to five days' worth of people talking about their furniture?" he added. "It's true. That's a trip to Europe right there."

While Richman has vowed to cease being open-minded to absolute horseshit, acquaintances reflected on his approachability.

"I love Blake," coworker David Martin said. "He's such a good listener. A lot of people are closed-minded and self-absorbed, but Blake always makes an effort to hear where I'm coming from. The world could use more people like him."

The Shocking truth about being a Nice Person

This is a guest post from Eduard Ezeanu
 
I used to get very excited whenever someone would tell me: “you’re a really nice guy”. I thought it was a fantastic compliment to receive.

Then I started noticing in my own life and the life of other “really nice” people that this label often came with less than favourable consequences. The more I noticed the patterns unveiling, the more being seen as “nice” began to trouble me and shock me.

So I began to change some of my nice guy persona and get more of an edge. It was one of the best moves I have ever made.

Eventually, as a communication coach, I also began teaching others how to be less nice.
Today, my close friends and I have an insiders joke about this. Whenever we say about a person “he’s a really nice guy” or “she’s a really nice girl”, what we actually mean is “this person gets used and abused in all imaginable ways for being a people pleaser”.

What Does “Nice” Mean, Anyway?
To be fair, I think that when someone calls you a “nice guy”, “nice girl” or “nice person”, there are two different meanings.

Sometimes an individual can’t find the more accurate positive word they want to use to describe you, so they use a conventional positive word. They want to say that you’re interesting, or funny, or kind, or a good conversationalist, but it comes out as nice, cool or OK.

If this is the case, you have nothing to worry about. The word nice is a poor choice to describe an overall positive trait you have. Embrace it and forgive people for their vagueness in communication.
However, I came to the conclusion that more often than not, the label “nice” reflects something that might appear positive initially, but it will in fact work against you. Here’s the thing:
People will frequently refer to a person who is very accommodating and focused on pleasing others as being “nice”. 

So the word may sound, well, nice, but it’s a dangerous label to have because it reflects the presence of personal attitudes and behaviours that in the long run will sabotage you.

The Perils of Being a “Nice” Person
Most of us have learned that it’s good to be nice, that we should put others first, that we should always help them and have a reputable image in front of others. If you’re frequently seen as a nice person, this is probably the sign that you’ve internalized this way of thinking a bit too well.
I’m not against helping others or being kind. I do think however that many people take this too far and end up sacrificing their own needs in order to please others, thinking that this will solve everything in their lives. And unfortunately, that’s very far from the truth.
This topic has recently started receiving serious attention in the world of psychology, where phenomena such as the nice girl or nice guy syndrome are now being studied vigilantly.
And the perils of being seen as the nice person are becoming apparent.

Here are some of the key ones:
1. Exhausting yourself trying to please others.
As almost any nice guy or nice girl is fully aware, trying to please everybody and hold on to that nice reputation is a huge burden. Most nice people dedicate huge amounts of time, energy and resources to helping and accommodating others.

2. Ignoring your self.
Obviously, if your focus is on others all the time, you have little time or energy to take care of yourself and enjoy yourself. This probably explains why the nicest persons I know are out of shape, stressed out and bordering multiple illnesses.

3. Getting manipulated by others.
Most of us have believed a dangerous lie: that if we’re nice to others, others will also be nice to use. In practice, this only happens on and off. Many times, niceness invites people to use you, demand increasingly more from you without giving back and take everything for granted.

4. Getting stuck in this frame.
Whenever as a coach, I work with a nice person and they turn more assertive, others are typically shocked by their new behaviour. They’ve become so used with this person pleasing them all the time that when they start putting their foot in the door, it seems like pure treachery.

Fortunately, a nice person reputation can be changed, and the best way to do so is by changing how nice and compliant you really are.

There are three specific action steps to keep in mind:
1. Get in touch with your needs.
The first step to putting your needs forward is to become more aware of them. Although people who tend to be very nice often think their only need is to help others and be liked, they actually have a lot of more self-centered needs. They just lost touch with them and need to re-connect.

2. Boost your confidence.
In my coaching practice, I often find that nice guys or girls struggle with self-esteem and self-confidence issues. They need to weed out their limiting beliefs and sometimes to master overcoming shyness or anxiety. If this is your case as well, definitely give a lot of attention to the inner change process.

3. Put your needs forward more.
This can imply spending more time doing what you enjoy, asking more for what you want, saying no to others, being more spontaneous, expressing unpopular opinions or ending toxic relationships. It may not be easy at first, but this is the crucial behavioural step.
As you move from a people pleasing to an assertive approach to life, people will see you differently and treat you differently.

You may not be told that you’re “really nice” anymore; you may sometimes be told that you’re “rude” or “selfish”, but you know what? Beyond those labels, you will have healthy relationships with people and a fulfilling life.

Woman - Julie Felix

This post is for my dear friend Drew Miles!  Hope you hear the music in your head, but even if you don't know the song ... enjoy the beautiful lyrics from lovely Julie Felix.

You serve the old
You raise the young
You cut the stars when they are flung into the sky
You heal the sick
You feed the poor
It is your love that lights the way and that`s for sure

Chorus:
Cause you're a woman sweet like summer-corn
you're a woman and to the Goddess you were born
beautiful woman, sweet sister of mine

Your scars are deep
Your tears are warm
It is your threat that mends the sails when they are torn
And like a waver your heart may break
But it keeps pounding like the sea,
Make no mistake

Cause you're a woman sweet like summer-corn
you're a woman and to the Goddess you were born
beautiful woman, sweet sister of mine

Isis, Astarte, Diana, Acharat
Teachers of the mysteries that we forgot
Virgin, girlchild, Madonna and old crow
Faces of the moon that you know
You' re not alone

Cause you 're a woman raped and cheated for the long
you`re a woman, to the Goddess you belong
beautiful women, sweet sister of mine

and from the moon you gather light, illuminate the dark
Take back the night
You channel love
And love is strong
And you regain your rightful place
Before too long

Cause you're a woman sweet like summer-corn
you're a woman and to the Goddess you were born
beautiful woman, sweet sister of mine

Spring

I am so happy spring is just around the corner.  I wake up pretty early most days by the lovely sound of birds in the tree near my window.  I feel blessed that I am alive and in good health.

On the subject of Health, I'd like to share a post with you from Becky Robbins.

Whenever I’m forced to fill out those long health status forms, I feel so grateful that I’ve learned what I know about being vital and healthy when I can check the ‘No’ on all those scary maladies. And while I visit my family history, I think about my parents and their lifestyles, which I’m convinced drove them to an early grave. They smoked Chesterfields, drank a nightly scotch on the rocks or two, and ate everything fried without a second thought. It was Mad Men encapsulated. The only good to come of it was for me to have been a witness and vow the opposite for myself.

 

Ah but the slope is slippery! After 14 years of being vegetarian (fish as the exception) and wanting to rebel against the rigid rules of that choice, I began a food celebration. No things were off limits and I still have a love affair with beautiful food. I enjoy the process of shopping at farmer’s market on Sunday mornings and then creating great meals and social events around them in the kitchen. While I know these sensory pleasures are part of living a graceful life, I have a higher level of awareness of healthy organic ingredients and moderation in all things.

I decided together with Jolie 10 days ago to do a great cleanse to kick off spring. We both decided that the Clean program by Dr.Junger was the perfect one for us. Confession: knowing that I’d be doing this for 21 days, and that afterwards would be a gentle re-entry into the world of food and drink, I decided to give my blessings to the goddess of all cupcakes, Sprinkles! I bought the yummiest chocolate fudge cupcake and loved every bite. And now, day 11,  we’re super committed and actually enjoying how good we feel already! I could go on and on about the specifics, colon hydrotherapy, etc. but I’ll let you research that for yourself!

Inhabiting a human body is miraculous. One day I was in Indio, California at a Mexican restaurant that was this little tucked away place, nothing memorable. Except the clientele. An obese woman was filling up 2 chairs at the table next to us and I had so much compassion for her but also amazement. How could one little heart, about the size of my 2 fists, pump blood into that enormous amount of fat and tissue and organs? The body has such a will to live, to thrive, that it will endure more than we can imagine.  I’ve never forgotten her. I can’t imagine she would be alive today, and that is a wasted life. No ability to run and have fun, to ride a bike or walk up a hill. No ability to slip on a wetsuit and slide into azure water and see magical creatures up close. No ability to jump on a pair of skis and enjoy the mountains. No ability to dance at her daughter’s wedding. How sad. So this cleanse is a blessing I’m giving my body, to take a break, regenerate and provide me with vitality and life far beyond where I’d be otherwise.

Heart Attack

 

What are you to do if you have a heart attack while you are alone.

If you've already received this, it means people care about you.

 

The Johnson City Medical Center staff actually discovered this and did an in-depth study on it in our ICU.   The two individuals that discovered this then did an article on it, had it published and have had it incorporated into ACLS and CPR classes.  It is very true and has and does work.

 

It is called Cough CPR.

 

A cardiologist says it's the truth,  if everyone who gets this sends it to 10 people,  you can bet that  we'll save at least one life.

It could save your life!

 

Let's say it's 6:15 p.m. And you're driving home   (alone of course), after an usually hard day on the job.  You're really tired, upset and frustrated.  Suddenly you start experiencing severe pain in your chest that starts to radiate out into your arm and up into your jaw.  You are only about five miles from the hospital  nearest your home.  Unfortunately you don't know if you'll be able to make it that far.

 

What can you do?

You've been trained in CPR but the guy that taught the course didn't tell you what to do if it happened to yourself.

Since many people are alone when they suffer a heart attack, this article seemed to be in order.

Without help, the person whose heart is beating improperly and who begins to feel faint,

has only about 10 seconds left before losing consciousness.

 

However, these victims can help themselves by coughing repeatedly and very vigorously.

A deep breath should be taken before each cough, and the cough must be deep and prolonged, as when producing sputum from deep inside the chest.

A breath and a cough must be repeated about every two seconds without let up until help arrives, or until the heart is felt to be beating normally again.

 Deep breaths get oxygen into the lungs and coughing movements squeeze the heart and keep the blood circulating.

The squeezing pressure on the heart also helps it regain normal rhythm. In this way, heart attack victims can get to a hospital.

 

Tell as many other people as possible about this, it could save their lives!

From Health Cares, Rochester General Hospital via Chapter 240s newsletter 'AND THE BEAT GOES ON '

 (reprint from The Mended Hearts, Inc. Publication, Heart Response)

 

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