LifeChanger Hypnosis Blog

Just because he's angry

noreply@blogger.com (LifeChanger Blog) — Sat, 18 Dec 2010 15:51:00 +0000

... doesn't mean he's right.

... or even well-informed.

Something to think about when dealing with a customer, a leader or even a neighbor.

It's easy to assume that vivid emotions spring from the truth. I'm not so sure. They often come from fear and confusion and well-told stories.

- Seth Godin

Sure, but what's the hard part?

noreply@blogger.com (LifeChanger Blog) — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 15:54:00 +0000

Every project (product, play, event, company, venture, non profit) has a million tasks that need to be done, thousands of decisions, predictions, bits of effort, conversations and plans.

Got that.

But what's the hard part?

The CEO spends ten minutes discussing the layout of the office with the office manager. Why? Was that a difficult task that could only be done by her? Unlikely.

The founder of a restaurant spends hours at the cash register, taking orders and hurrying the line along... important, vital, emotional, but hard? Not if we think of hard as the chasm, the dividing line between success and failure. No, the hard part is raising two million dollars to build more stores. Hard is hiring someone better than you to do this part of the job.

Hard is not about sweat or time, hard is about finishing the rare, valuable, risky task that few complete.

Don't tell me you want to launch a line of spices but don't want to make sales calls to supermarket buyers. That's the hard part.

Don't tell me you are a great chef but can't deal with cranky customers. That's the hard part.

Don't tell me you have a good heart but don't want to raise money. That's the hard part.

Identifying which part of your project is hard is, paradoxically, not so easy, because we work to hide the hard parts. They frighten us.

CINNAMON AND HONEY

noreply@blogger.com (LifeChanger Blog) — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 15:49:00 +0000

Honey is the only food on the planet that will not spoil or rot. It will do what some call turning to sugar. In reality honey is always honey. However, when left in a cool dark place for a long time it will do what I rather call "crystallizing". When this happens I loosen the lid, boil some water, and sit the honey container in the hot water, turn off the heat and let it liquefy. It is then as good as it ever was. Never boil honey or put it in a microwave. To do so will kill the enzymes in the honey.

HEART DISEASES:
Make a paste of honey and cinnamon powder, apply on bread, instead of jelly and jam, and eat it regularly for breakfast. It reduces the cholesterol in the arteries and saves the patient from heart attack. Also, those who have already had an attack, if they do this process daily, they are kept miles away from the next attack.. Regular use of the above process relieves loss of breath and strengthens the heart beat. In America and Canada , various nursing homes have treated patients successfully and have found that as you age, the arteries and veins lose their flexibility and get clogged; honey and cinnamon revitalize the arteries and veins.

ARTHRITIS:
Arthritis patients may take daily, morning and night, one cup of hot water with two spoons of honey and one small teaspoon of cinnamon powder. If taken regularly even chronic arthritis can be cured. In a recent research conducted at the Copenhagen University, it was found that when the doctors treated their patients with a mixture of one tablespoon Honey and half teaspoon Cinnamon powder before breakfast, they found that within a week, out of the 200 people so treated, practically 73 patients were totally relieved of pain, and within a month, mostly all the patients who could not walk or move around because of arthritis started walking without pain.

BLADDER INFECTIONS:
Take two tablespoons of cinnamon powder and one teaspoon of honey in a glass of lukewarm waterand drink it. It destroys the germs in the bladder.

CHOLESTEROL:
Two tablespoons of honey and three teaspoons of Cinnamon Powder mixed in 16 ounces of tea water, given to a cholesterol patient, was found to reduce the level of cholesterol in the blood by 10 percent within two hours. As mentioned for arthritic patients, if taken three times a day, any chronic cholesterol is cured. According to information received in the said Journal, pure honey taken with food daily relieves complaints of cholesterol.

COLDS:
Those suffering from common or severe colds should take one tablespoon lukewarm honey with 1/4 spoon cinnamon powder daily for three days. This process will cure most chronic cough, cold, and clear the sinuses.

GAS:
According to the studies done in India and Japan, it is revealed that if Honey is taken with cinnamon powder the stomach is relieved of gas.

IMMUNE SYSTEM:
Daily use of honey and cinnamon powder strengthens the immune system and protects the body from bacteria and viral attacks. Scientists have found that honey has various vitamins and iron in large amounts. Constant use of Honey strengthens the white blood corpuscles to fight bacterial andviral diseases.

INDIGESTION:
Cinnamon powder sprinkled on two tablespoons of honey taken before food relieves acidity and digests the heaviest of meals.

INFLUENZA:
A scientist in Spain has proved that honey contains a natural ' Ingredient' which kills the influenza germs and saves the patient from flu.

LONGEVITY:
Tea made with honey and cinnamon powder, when taken regularly, arrests the ravages of old age. Take four spoons of honey, one spoon of cinnamon powder, and three cups of water and boil to make like tea. Drink 1/4 cup, three to four times a day. It keeps the skin fresh and soft and arrests old age. Life spans also increase and even a 100 year old, starts performing the chores of a 20-year-old..

SKIN INFECTIONS:
Applying honey and cinnamon powder in equal parts on the affected parts cures eczema, ringworm and all types of skin infections.

FATIGUE:
Recent studies have shown that the sugar content of honey is more helpful rather than being detrimental to the strength of the body. Senior citizens, who take honey and cinnamon powder in equal parts, are more alert and flexible. Dr. Milton, who has done research, says that a half tablespoon of honey taken in a glass of water and sprinkled with cinnamon powder, taken daily after brushing and in the afternoon at about 3:00 P.M. when the vitality of the body starts to decrease, increases the vitality of the body within a week.

The Times They Are A Changing - Bob Dylan

noreply@blogger.com (LifeChanger Blog) — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 15:44:00 +0000

Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin' or you’ll sink like a stone'
For the times they are a-changin'

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin'
And there’s no tellin' who that it's namin'
For the loser now will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin’

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside and it is ragin'
It’ll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changing

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin'
Please get out of the new one if you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin'
And the first one now will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'

A good quote

noreply@blogger.com (LifeChanger Blog) — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 15:56:00 +0000

"A leader is not an administrator who loves to run others, but someone who carries water for his people so they can get on with their jobs."

~Robert Townsend

Neat!

noreply@blogger.com (LifeChanger Blog) — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 16:01:00 +0000

A new IKEA store in the Denver area will employ 500-foot-deep
holes in its cooling and heating system. The 130 holes will be
just below the store's parking garage. Temperatures in the holes
hover around 55 degrees year round, so air inside them can be
pumped up into the cooling and heating system to reduce energy
costs by up to fifty percent. Nationwide, geothermal has the
potential for saving billions of dollars in energy costs.

Opening in 2011, the new Denver store has the National Renewable
Energy Laboratory as a partner in the design and construction of
the geothermal energy components. The system works basically as a
series of pipes placed in the holes containing a liquid like
water, which takes on the temperature of the soil walls of the
holes and then is transported back up to surface level. If the
temperature at the surface is hot during summer, the 55-degree
water is used for cooling, and if it is winter, it is used for
warming.

Erin Anderson, geothermal analyst said, "We're trying to
determine what the temperature is all the way down as a way to
achieve a comfortable temperature in the store. We have this
ground that is pretty steadily cooler in the summer when you want
cool air and warmer in the winter when you want warm air."

Digging the 500-foot holes requires four to five hours at a time,
if everything goes well. If there are difficulties, one hole can
take all day. The cost of drilling should be offset by energy
savings fairly early in the store's life and the geothermal
energy system is expected to function well for as long as the
building is in use. The hope for the Denver area store is that it
will be a model for other commercial geothermal projects.

A Chanukah Message

noreply@blogger.com (LifeChanger Blog) — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 16:01:00 +0000

Every human being was created with the unique capacity of bringing light in some form to this world! Chanukah celebrates the triumph of that light over selfish, dark, senseless impulses in humanity. Ultimately, this holiday teaches each and every willing and able person that in the battle of light and dark, light will always prevail and that light is infinitely more powerful than darkness.

We begin lighting the menorah with one candle. And we end up with eight. Why? Because goodness is contagious and lies at the natural essence of each created being!

So, in brief, Chanukah teaches us that we can all light up the world one good deed at a time, one little flame at a time. When you have done one good deed today, never be satisfied. Do one more tomorrow. And soon you will see that your candle, together within mine, will rid the world, once and for all, of the darkness of hatred and pain

From Shirley MacLaine Newsletter

noreply@blogger.com (LifeChanger Blog) — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 21:15:00 +0000

Although space fare has steadily improved over time, a team of
scientists says the best is yet to come. They look forward to
when residents of future lunar or even Martian outposts can dine
on luxuries such as fresh vegetables.

Paragon Space Development Corporation has unveiled what it called the first step toward growing flowers - and eventually food - on the Moon. Paragon, an Arizona company that has partnered with NASA in previous experiments on the Space Shuttle and International Space Station, calls it a "Lunar Oasis". It's a sealed greenhouse that looks like a bell jar encased in a 1.5
foot tall triangular aluminums frame.

It's designed to safely land a laboratory plant on the lunar
surface, and protect it while it grows. The miniature greenhouse
is to be launched into space by Odyssey Moon Ltd, a participant
in the Google Lunar X Prize. Paragon officials say future testing
of the "Lunar Oasis" will be driven by Odyssey's flight schedule,
which will not happen until 2012 at the earliest.

When it does lift off the greenhouse will contain the seeds of
Brassica, a hardy plant related to Brussels sprouts and cabbage
that is used in the production of cooking oil and livestock feed.
Because Brassica goes from seed to flower in just 14 days, it can
complete its life cycle in a single lunar night.

"Colonizing the Moon or Mars seems so far away, but it is
important that we do this research now," Paragon president Jane
Poynter said. "It takes a long time to get a lot of research,
and to get integrated, reliable efficient systems" before
colonists move in, she said.

NASA, which will retire its Space Shuttle fleet this year, has
committed to two new goals: returning astronauts to the Moon by
2020, and a manned mission to Mars by 2030.

"I was pleased to see this (project) put together by Paragon,"
said Gene A. Giacomelli, a professor at the University of Arizona
Department of Plant Sciences. "NASA has pulled back on funding
for bio-regenerative life support systems, and most of the
centers in the US that had been doing that research had stopped."
Giacomelli and students at the university's Controlled
Environment Agriculture Center (CEAC) are working on their own
as-yet-unfunded lunar greenhouse.
The agriculture center also makes remote operational improvements
to its existing, state-of-the-art hydroponic "growth chamber" at
the National Science Foundation's new Amundsen-Scott South Pole
Station in Antarctica.

Conditions at the South Pole, which include a high-altitude, low
air-pressure environment, and wind-chill factors of minus 100 C,
make the project a "good analog" to conditions at a lunar
outpost, Giacomelli said.
The South Pole greenhouse, now in its fifth year, allows workers
living in the coldest place on Earth to dine on tomatoes,
peppers, lettuce, strawberries and fragrant herbs. It produces
about 27 kilos (60 pounds) each week, enough to provide each of
the 75 scientists there with two salads per day.

"This isn't science fiction," Giacomelli said. "We have the
technology to sustain life on the other planets right now, if we
could get there."
There are many challenges to growing plants in space, but the
biggest is finding enough water on site to support a permanent
outpost. An expedition to Mars will take three years to
complete, so plants must multi-task: remove toxins from the space
facility air, recycle wastes, generate oxygen, provide nutrients
for future crops, and produce food.

I wouldn't mind having something like that in my backyard!

A few things to think about ...

noreply@blogger.com (LifeChanger Blog) — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 21:12:00 +0000

1. Anyone who rushes through life always finishes last! This is a truth unseen by the masses, but evident to those weary of going nowhere fast. You race as you do to escape the unhappiness you feel being where we are, running towards what you imagine will free you from that dissatisfaction. But such races are always lost before they begin because you can't outrun yourself!

2. All forms of momentum are mindless, but never more so than when a mind--blinded by desire--runs after what it wants without any awareness of its action.

3. Patience is a great virtue whose cost is paid by becoming painfully conscious of what our impatience does to others.

4. The rush to judgment is a race that nobody wins!

5. Allowing the rushed state of another person to push you into an anxious state of mind is like letting the horse you're about to ride convince you to wear the saddle!

6. You are well on our way to reclaiming your original fearless Self when you find your source of peace and contentment in just being alive.

7. Rushing through life lends the one who habitually hurries the feeling of being "important," but loans such as these come at the high cost of always having to justify one's unkindness--like when we have to convince ourselves that our impatience with others is a necessary evil along the way to that "greater good" towards which we think we run.

8. The main reason it's wise to listen to one's own heart--whenever we can step out of the rush and remember to do so--is because there's much more to be learned from the parts of us that don't "speak" in words . . .than those that do.

9. The most important thing to remember whenever you find yourself in a mad rush is that what you are really trying to get to is a quiet mind . . . a peaceable state of self reached only by realizing there is no place more empowering for you to be than in the present moment.

(Excerpted from The Courage to Be Free, Weiser Books, 2010

Guy Finley is the best-selling author of more than 38 books and audio albums on self-realization. He is the founder and director of Life of Learning Foundation, a nonprofit center for self-study located in southern Oregon where he gives talks four times each week. For more information visit www.guyfinley.org,

Great article on Hypnosis in Psychology Today

noreply@blogger.com (LifeChanger Blog) — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 21:00:00 +0000

http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200101/the-power-hypnosis

Good advice!

noreply@blogger.com (LifeChanger Blog) — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 20:59:00 +0000

Just pursue your goal…inhabit it. Wear it, act it, live it, taste it! Get committed—take action!"

~Gary Ryan Blair

"A Parent's Note to a Teacher"

noreply@blogger.com (LifeChanger Blog) — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 20:55:00 +0000

by Anonymous

I'm the voice of a grateful parent
whose child was in your class...
the one who needed help to find his way

You've been a special blessing
as you helped my child succeed
and I'm thankful for the part you had to play

You gave him so much more
than just the lessons in the books
you gave him wings...so he could learn to fly

You ignited a flame within his soul
a passion to learn and grow...
to never give up and always be willing to try

Your encouragement inspired him
and your kindness was so real
but the thing that thrills my heart the most is this...

By building his self-confidence
you changed his life this year
he believes in himself...and a brighter future is his!

Good News from Shirley MacLaine Blog

noreply@blogger.com (LifeChanger Blog) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 20:53:00 +0000

They leap from helicopters or speeding boats, bringing aid to swimmers who get into trouble off Italy's popular beaches.For these canine lifeguards, the doggie paddle does just fine.

Hundreds of specially trained dogs from Italy's corps of canine lifeguards are deployed each summer to help swimmers in need of rescue.

These "lifedogs" wear a harness or tow a buoy that victims can grab, or a raft they can sit on to be towed back to shore, and unlike their human counterparts, they can easily jump from helicopters and speeding boats to reach swimmers in trouble.

With millions flocking to Italy's crowded beaches each summer, the Italian Coast Guard says it rescues about 3,000 people every year — and their canine helpers are credited with saving several lives.

It takes three years for the canines to reach expert rescue status, and currently 300 dogs are fully trained for duty, said Roberto Gasbarri, who coordinates the Italian School of Canine Lifeguards program at a center outside of Rome in the seaside town of Civitavecchia.

"Dogs are useful in containing the physical fatigue of the lifeguard, to increase the speed at which casualties are retrieved, to increase the security of both the casualty and of the lifeguard," Gasbarri said.

"The dog becomes a sort of intelligent lifebuoy. It is a buoy that goes by itself to a person in need of help, and comes back to the shore also by himself, choosing the best landing point and swimming through the safest currents," he said.

The Civitavecchia center is one of a dozen around the country for the school founded more than 20 years ago in the northern province of Bergamo by Ferruccio Pilenga, whose first trainee was his own Newfoundland.

Check out this New York Times article on Past Lives

noreply@blogger.com (LifeChanger Blog) — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 20:52:00 +0000

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/29/fashion/29PastLives.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&emc=eta1

5 things that ruin strong marriages

noreply@blogger.com (LifeChanger Blog) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 20:48:00 +0000

By Dr. Marion Goertz, RMFT

As a child, I used to wonder what happened to the couple after they walked off into the sunset at the end of a Hollywood movie. As an adult, I know that sunset strolls and happy endings take lots of hard work and planning. Here are 10 life situations couples may face...post credit roll...and some ideas about how to keep the music playing!1. Fighting fatigue… careers, children, caring for aging parents and on it goes. Life's responsibilities take every ounce of creative energy that we have, often short-changing our couple time. Five fatigue busters: Good nutrition, proper rest, adequate exercise, recharging social times as a couple and grounding spiritual practices.2. The battle of the budget…Stretching finances, unforeseen expenses, different perspectives on money and power differentials can all cause feelings of hurt and insecurity. Be responsible and be fair. If necessary, involve an objective third party to help establish and monitor a mutually workable budget.3. Failure to honour…Our primary relationships are about as healthy as we are. Shaky self esteem, poor physical fitness, depression, untreated illness and unrealistic expectations can sometimes lead to poor coping mechanisms like addictions and even affairs. We have the right and the responsibility to take good care of ourselves, our partner and our relationship. As needed, seek the best medical and emotional care that is available.4. Friendly invasions… As an adult, your new, chosen family needs to be your first priority and demands your strongest loyalty. Does your spouse take second place to other people in your life? Who gets your time, your energy and therefore your respect? A healthy and undivided home, surrounded by appropriate boundaries, allows for the greatest enjoyment of friends and extended family members.5. Words that wound…While differing opinions are necessary in healthy relationships, criticism, hostile humor, avoidance and dismissal will surely poison even the most committed unions. As you talk to or about your spouse are you building strong connections through your words, your facial expressions and your body language or demolishing your own happiness? Do yourself a favour, love your spouse!

Winners and Losers

noreply@blogger.com (LifeChanger Blog) — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 20:47:00 +0000

You will only become a winner by doing what winners do. Losers do what losers do. They never seem to change. Nobody goes overnight from loser to winner. It’s not like suddenly winning the lottery. Winning in life is a growth experience.

Remember, by the inch it’s a cinch, by the yard it’s hard.

For you to be a consistent winner in life, the negatives must be removed. If any of the negative habits and attitudes of a loser persist in your life, isn’t now a good time to identify them and begin to work on improving? All you have to do is tackle the most difficult habit or task each day and work on it.

Do the difficult first and all else will be easy.

What is the most difficult task you have before you today? Do it now—don’t wait! If you truly want to be a winner in life, you must act today. Remember, “today is the tomorrow you hoped for yesterday.” Now is the only time any action can take place. If you don’t begin now, you will never begin. Success on any level of being occurs through the hourglass effect—little by little, grain by grain, the habits of winning accumulate.

Soon, your life will be filled with fulfillment and richness. I wish you the very best in developing a winning personality. So, act now on the realization of your fondest dreams and hopes. Act today the way you’d feel having them already within your grasp. They are already there once you begin to act on them. Act today—do not delay. You’ll be forever glad you did!
Bless you in the sweet richness of life,

-Peter Ragnar

A Heart Pump Ticks Down, and a Stranger Steps In to Help

noreply@blogger.com (LifeChanger Blog) — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 20:43:00 +0000

By DENISE GRADY

ASSIST PUMP Khristine Orlanes, a nurse practitioner, found the batteries for Mr. Volpe.
Mr. Volpe, 67, a slight, gray-haired man, looked in his car for the bag he always keeps nearby with spare batteries. But, no bag. In his mind’s eye he saw exactly where he had left it, to make sure he would not forget it, on a chair near the door back home — an hour and a half away. He thought of the clever little hand pump he had been given to keep his mechanical heart going in an emergency. It, too, was in the missing bag. Standing in the parking lot, he could hear one thing. Beep. Beep. Beep.
“I have to admit, I panic,” he said.
Mr. Volpe is one of thousands of Americans who have had these pumps, called left ventricular assist devices, surgically implanted to help their failing hearts. Former Vice President Dick Cheney is another. Sometimes the pumps are used to keep people alive until a transplant becomes available, but in other cases they are meant to remain as long as the patient lives.
Mr. Volpe, a retired subway conductor who had had two heart attacks and two bypass operations, had an assist pump implanted in October 2009 by Dr. Yoshifumi Naka at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia hospital.
The pump is placed near the patient’s own heart. A power line emerges about waist level and connects to a controller, a mini-computer which plugs into a pair of one-and-a-half-pound, 12-volt batteries. Patients wear a black mesh vest over their clothing that holds the controller and batteries. The pump Mr. Volpe had, a HeartMate XVE, made by Thoratec, could run for about four hours on two batteries. The pumps cost $70,000 to $80,000, usually covered by insurance.
That day in the parking lot in December, in Fishkill, in upstate New York, Mr. Volpe was too far from Columbia to get there in time. But his wife phoned its heart-pump clinic, and nurse practitioners told her to call 911 for an ambulance to the nearest hospital.
Mr. Volpe knew that if the pump stopped, he was not likely to die immediately; his own heart, though weak, would probably keep him alive. But he was still in real danger, because clots would form in the mechanical heart if it quit, and cause a stroke if they escaped into his bloodstream.
Dr. Donna Mancini, Mr. Volpe’s cardiologist and director of the heart failure and transplant program at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia, said the hospital had not encountered a situation like this before.
“But with these devices getting more use, it may arise,” Dr. Mancini said.
Right now, Dr. Mancini said, Columbia has 45 patients with pumps who are waiting for transplants. Just a few years ago, there were only 10.
She said she did not know why, but this year fewer donor hearts have become available than in the past, leaving more patients dependent on the pumps. Usually, the hospital performs 80 to 100 transplants a year.
“This year we’re on a course that will probably yield around 60 transplants,” Dr. Mancini said, adding that there were about 150 patients on Columbia’s waiting list.
Nationwide, 3,138 people are waiting for heart transplants, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing. Last year, 2,211 received new hearts.
Thoratec said that in the past decade or so, a total of 6,000 XVE devices and 5,000 of a newer model, the HeartMate II (the one Mr. Cheney has) had been implanted.
An ambulance took Mr. Volpe to Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie. But that hospital does not implant assist pumps, and had no batteries or hand pump. Doctors there, advised by Columbia, began dripping in a blood-thinning drug, heparin, to prevent clots.
Meanwhile, Khristine Orlanes, a nurse practitioner at Columbia, began trying to find another patient with an assist pump who was close enough to bring Mr. Volpe a set of batteries in time.
She called Robert Bump, 61, a building contractor who worked near Poughkeepsie. He had six spare batteries in a knapsack.
“I’m on my way,” Mr. Bump said.
An electrician offered to drive, and they tore off in his pickup truck. The electrician called a state trooper friend, told him the story and said, “We’re not stopping.”
A police car met them partway to Poughkeepsie and escorted them. They made the half-hour trip in about 20 minutes.
Mr. Bump strode into the emergency room and spotted Mr. Volpe on a gurney, surrounded by doctors, nurses and his frantic wife. The alarm was still beeping. A doctor, noticing Mr. Bump’s black-mesh vest and the controller, said, “Oh, he’s got one, too.”
Mr. Volpe, who had no idea what plans had been hatched on his behalf, said: “I see this big fellow walk in. I recognized the outfit right away.”
Mr. Bump snapped the batteries in place and said, “O.K., you’re good.”
There was a small round of applause in the emergency room. Mr. Volpe could not stop saying thank you.
His pump, due to run out in 15 minutes, had somehow lasted nearly an hour, but apparently had just minutes left when Mr. Bump arrived.
The two men had different pump models that happened to use the same batteries. If Mr. Bump had been using a newer version of the batteries for his model, they would not have been compatible with Mr. Volpe’s.
“Mr. Volpe’s stars were aligned that day,” Mr. Bump said. “There is some reason that gentleman needs to be here.”
On July 24, after nearly a year on his assist pump, Mr. Bump made it to the top of the waiting list and received a transplant at NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia. At the hospital, his wife overheard the spouse of another transplant patient say that she, too, was from upstate.
Mr. Bump’s wife mentioned that her husband had helped another patient from the same area who needed batteries for an assist pump.
“That was my husband,” the other woman said.
By coincidence, Mr. Volpe had also just received a transplant.
Last week, the two were up and about, in good spirits. Both said they owed their lives to the assist pumps — but were thrilled to be free of them. Both were desperate for showers, after nearly a year of sponge baths. They would not miss the vests, either. On more than one occasion, Mr. Bump had had to reassure strangers that he was not wearing a bomb.
Leaving a sitting room at the hospital last Thursday, Mr. Bump rose first and offered Mr. Volpe a hand getting up.
“No thanks,” Mr. Volpe said softly, smiling. “You gave me enough help, Robert.”

Why am I shy? New study offers insight on introverts

noreply@blogger.com (LifeChanger Blog) — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 20:45:00 +0000

Shy or introverted people may actually process the world differently than those who are more extroverted, according to a new study.
Researchers have determined that about 20 percent of people are born with a personality trait called “sensory perception sensitivity,” or SPS, which facilitates an inhibited, even neurotic, demeanor.
Colloquially, we say those people are “slow to warm up” to social situations, or may cry easily, or offer deeper than expected thoughts, according to the study.
Researchers at Stony Brook University in New York and Southwest University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences in China gave 16 participants a questionnaire to separate participants into two groups: sensitive and non-sensitive.
The researchers asked the participants to compare a photograph of a visual scene with one of a preceding scene, asking whether or not the scene had changed. Some changes were subtle; some were obvious. While participants looked at the scenes, the researchers scanned each participant’s brain with functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, machine.
The scientists found that participants deemed “sensitive” analyzed the scenes with subtle differences for a longer time than “non-sensitive” participants did, demonstrating greater activation in brain areas involved in associating visual input with other input to the brain and with visual attention.

The results suggested that highly sensitive individuals:
- Prefer to take longer to make decisions.
- Are more conscientious.
- Need more time to themselves in order to reflect.
- Are more easily bored with small talk.

Those attributes complement previous research, which found that highly sensitive individuals are more bothered by noise and crowds, affected by caffeine, and easily startled compared to “non-sensitive” individuals.
All that may seem obvious, but the research suggests that sensory sensitivity is a result of an inherent nature to be more attentive to experiences — not the other way around.
A sensitivity trait is found in more than 100 other species, suggesting that it could offer an evolutionary advantage or disadvantage: the thinkers versus the doers.
Example: Thinkers could survive in a dangerous situation that requires thought, but doers may have better chances in situations that require aggressive action.

Their results were published in the March 4 edition of the journal Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience.

U.S. News & World Report reveals five ways that exercise can enhance your brainpower and mood:

noreply@blogger.com (LifeChanger Blog) — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 20:39:00 +0000

It reverses the detrimental effects of stress. Exercise boosts levels of soothing brain chemicals like serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. Exercise may actually work on a cellular level to reverse stress's toll on your aging process.
It lifts depression. Sustained, sweat-inducing activity can reduce symptoms of depression about as effectively as antidepressants.
It improves learning. Exercise increases the level of brain chemicals called growth factors that help make new brain cells.
It builds self-esteem and improves body image. Even simply seeing fitness improvements, like running a faster mile or lifting more weight, can improve your self-esteem and body image.
It leaves you feeling euphoric. High-intensity exercise can leave you with a feeling of euphoria. Try running, biking, or swimming as fast as you can for 30 to 40 seconds and then reduce your speed to a gentle pace for five minutes before sprinting again.

Further, a new study by researchers at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago have revealed impressive insights into why exercise is so good for your brain. In short, it appears that exercise lowers the activity of bone-morphogenetic protein or BMP, which slows the production of new brain cells.
At the same time, exercise increases Noggin, a brain protein that acts as a BMP antagonist.
According to NYTimes.com:
"The more Noggin in your brain, the less BMP activity exists and the more stem cell divisions and neurogenesis [production of new brain cells] you experience."

The Nature Conservancy:

noreply@blogger.com (LifeChanger Blog) — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 20:37:00 +0000

On the very bright side, never in peace time history has there been such a gallant effort, by so many people, spending so many billions of dollars with no end in sight, to rapidly clean up your environment.
Never before have numerous heads of state and representatives of a corporation as large as many smaller nations, pledged to work together, sharing expertise and resources to get a job done.
Never before have so many prayer and meditation groups suddenly formed, amongst and in between every religion and those belonging to none, to foster healing of your precious planet.
Never before have finger pointers, conspiracy theorists, and blame mongers been so idle and unnecessary in the face of such a tragedy.
Never before have industry titans across every sea chosen to reexamine their own safety procedures, revisit their own environmental safeguards, and expend their own fortunes to voluntarily reflect upon and demand that they do an even better job from this day forward. And to top it all off, the planet has a loving, brilliant consciousness all her own, and of her countless balancing acts, healing herself is one in which she truly shines.

We're in this together...

Ubuntu - South Africa welcomes the world.

noreply@blogger.com (LifeChanger Blog) — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 20:35:00 +0000

Archbishop Desmond Tutu explains the word Ubuntu in 2008:

One of the sayings in our country is Ubuntu - the essence of being human. Ubuntu speaks particularly about the fact that you can't exist as a human being in isolation. It speaks about our interconnectedness. You can't be human all by yourself, and when you have this quality -- Ubuntu -- you are known for your generosity.
 We think of ourselves far too frequently as just individuals, separated from one another, whereas you are connected and what you do affects the whole world. When you do well, it spreads out; it is for the whole of humanity.

Gum goots designed with a blast to charge mobile phones

noreply@blogger.com (LifeChanger Blog) — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 20:36:00 +0000

By Jim Drury

LONDON (Reuters) - Modern festival-goers who dread ending up with a dead mobile phone battery after days stuck in a muddy field with no electric plug power points may now have a solution -- power boots.
Mobile phone company European Telco Orange has introduced a phone charging prototype -- a set of thermoelectric gumboots or Wellington boots with a 'power generating sole' that converts heat from the wearer's feet into electrical power to charge battery-powered hand-helds.
The boot was designed by Dave Pain, managing director at GotWind, a renewable energy company.
Pain said the boot uses the Seebeck effect, named after physicist Thomas Johann Seebeck, in which a circuit made of two dissimilar metals conducts electricity if the two places where they connect are held at different temperatures. "In the sole of the Wellington boot there's a thermocouple and if you apply heat to one side of the thermocouple and cold to the other side it generates an electrical charge," Pain told Reuters Television.
"That electrical charge we then pass through to a battery which you'll find in the heel of the boot for storage of the electrical power for later use to charge your mobile phone."
These thermocouples are connected electrically, forming an array of multiple thermocouples (thermopile). They are then sandwiched between two thin ceramic wafers.
When the heat from the foot is applied on the top side of the ceramic wafer and cold is applied on the opposite side, from the cold of the ground, electricity is generated.
After a full day's festival frolics music lovers can plug their phone into the power output at the top of the welly and use the energy generated throughout the day to charge their phone.
But the prototype boot does have one drawback. You need to walk for 12 hours in the boots to generate one hour's worth of charge.
Pain said GotWind was working on improving the technology, which could then also be used in other forms of clothing.
"The technology's not just limited to footwear, or indeed boots, but you could for example make clothing out of it, you know, a headband, for example. So really anywhere where you're limited to using grid power, you could use this sort of technology,"he said.

(Editing by Belinda Goldsmith)

Pantry, Counter, Fridge? Where To Store Produce For Maximum Shelf Life

noreply@blogger.com (LifeChanger Blog) — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 20:41:00 +0000

No matter how good a deal you got on those in-season blueberries, tomatoes or basil, it’s money wasted if some of that produce goes bad before it makes it to the table.
It’s an all too common budget dent. Americans throw out roughly 14% of what they buy, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Worse, that figure is before factoring in the leftover food you scrape from your plate.
Knowing how long fresh fruits and vegetables last and where to store them for maximum shelf life leads to better deals. You can make smarter decisions about how much to buy of a particular food, and use more (if not all) of it before it goes bad. (That’s not to say you can’t keep peppers on the counter or oranges in the fridge, of course – just that if you opt to keep something in less than ideal storage conditions, you might need to eat it a few days sooner.)
The solution: Our handy storage guide below, compiled from chefs’ experience, as well as research by the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, MealsMatter.org, Self magazine and the Food Marketing Institute. (Got your own tips to extend the shelf life of fruits and veggies? Post them in the comments.)

Apples
Store on the counter. Move any uneaten apples to the refrigerator after seven days. In the fridge or out, don’t store near most other uncovered fruits or vegetables — the ethylene gases produced by apples can ruin them (making carrots bitter, for example). The exception: if you want to ripen plums, pears and other fruits quickly, put an apple nearby for a day or so.

Artichoke
Refrigerate whole for up to two weeks.

Asparagus
Store upright in the refrigerator in a plastic bag with either an inch of water or with a damp towel wrapped around the base, just like you would have flowers in a vase. They’ll last three to four days that way.

Avocados
Ripen on the counter. Can be stored in the refrigerator for three to four days once ripe.

Bananas
Store on the counter. Refrigerate only when ripe — they’ll last for another two days or so.

Beets
Remove green tops an inch or two above the crown. Refrigerate beets in a plastic bag to prevent moisture loss, which leads to wilting. (They’ll last seven to 10 days.) Refrigerate greens separately, also in a plastic bag.

Berries
Grower Driscoll’s recommends refrigerating berries, unwashed and in their original container. Blueberries and strawberries should keep for five to seven days; more fragile raspberries and blackberries up to two days.

Broccoli
Refrigerate in a sealed plastic bag. It’ll keep for three to five days.

Carrots
Refrigerate in a sealed plastic bag for up to three weeks.

Cauliflower
Refrigerate, stem side down, in a sealed plastic bag. It’ll last three to five days.

Celery
Refrigerate one to two weeks in a sealed bag. Keep in the front of the refrigerator, where it’s less apt to freeze.

Citrus fruits
Store oranges, lemons, limes, and grapefruit on the counter. They can last up to two weeks.

Corn
Refrigerate ears still in the husk. They’ll last up to two days.

Cucumbers
Refrigerate, either in the crisper or in a plastic bag elsewhere in the fridge. They’ll last four to five days.

Garlic
Store in the pantry, or any similar location away from heat and light. It’ll last up to four months.

Green beans
Refrigerate in a plastic bag for three to four days.

Green onions
Refrigerate for up to two weeks.

Herbs
Fresh herbs can last seven to 10 days in the refrigerator. “When I use fresh herbs and store them in my refrigerator at home, I keep them in air-tight containers with a damp paper towel on the top and bottom,” says Raymond Southern, the executive chef at The Back Bay Hotel in Boston. “This keeps them fresh.”

Leafy greens
Refrigerate unwashed. Full heads will last five to seven days that way, instead of three to four days for a thoroughly drained one. Avoid storing in the same drawer as apples, pears or bananas, which release ethylene gases that act as a natural ripening agent.

Mushrooms
Take out of the package and store in a paper bag in the refrigerator, or place on a tray and cover with a wet paper towel. They’ll last two to three days.

Onions
Stored in the pantry, away from light and heat, they’ll last three to four weeks.

Peaches
Ripen on the counter in a paper bag punched with holes, away from sunlight. Keep peaches (as well as plums and nectarines) on the counter until ripe, and then refrigerate. They’ll last another three to four days.

Pears
Store on the counter, ideally, in a bowl with bananas and apples, and then refrigerate after ripening. They’ll last another three to four days.

Peas
Refrigerated in a plastic bag perforated with holes, they’ll last three to five days.

Peppers
Refrigerated, they’ll last four to five days.

Potatoes
Store them in the pantry away from sunlight and heat, and they’ll last two to three months.

Radishes
Refrigerate. They’ll last 10 to 14 days.

Summer squash
Refrigerate in a perforated plastic bag. They’ll last four to five days.

Tomatoes
Spread them out on the counter out of direct sunlight for even ripening. After ripening, store stem side down in the refrigerator and they’ll last two to three days.

Tropical fruit

Mangoes, papayas, pineapples and kiwifruit should be ripened on the counter. ., ripen mangos in a paper bag in a cool place, and then refrigerates them for another two to five days.

Watermelon
Kept at room temperature on the counter, it’ll last up to two weeks,

Winter squashes
Store on the counter for up to two weeks.

Frugal Foodie is a journalist based in New York City who spends her days writing about personal finance and obsessing about what she’ll have for dinner. Chat with her on Twitter through @MintFoodie

From the Universe

noreply@blogger.com (LifeChanger Blog) — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 20:38:00 +0000

Please tell anyone who wants to know, that a dream not followed by consistent action, however humble or small the actions may be, points to either a huge contradiction or a gigantic misunderstanding.

From James Allen

noreply@blogger.com (LifeChanger Blog) — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 20:34:00 +0000

Composer, sculptor, painter, poet, prophet, sale, these are the makes of the afterworld, the architects of heaven. The world is beautiful because they have lived; without them, labouring humanity would perish.