A useful tip

I learnt a useful tip today. 

 

 Because its treatment brings celestial energy to your body, ancient Chinese called this point “The Gate of Heaven,” or Shen Men. Shen Men is a deep, miraculous point that boosts the energy flow, decreases stress and strengthens the overall health of your body.

 

This acupressure point is also helpful in suppressesing addiction and inflammation, and its treatment stops pain in every part of your body. Massage the Shen men point on your ear to relieve stress. The Gate of heaven or Shen Men is located in the center of the upper third part of your ear.

 

 When you need to inhale turn your head to the left, and when you need to exhale turn your head to the right. You will feel your body calming down.

 

Sourcet: http://www.homehealthyrecipes.com/what-happens-when-you-massage-this-point-on-the-ear/#sthash.rhy5nLSo.0EN65NfP.dpuf
 

The Gladness of Nature

Is this a time to be cloudy and sad,
When our mother Nature laughs around;
When even the deep blue heavens look glad,
And gladness breathes from the blossoming ground?
- William Cullen Bryant

Life is too short to be preoccupied with the past

A friend whom I have not met or talked to at all for the past 10 years contacted me out of the blues.  I realized half way through our conversation that other than catching up on old times, she really needed somebody to talk to and probably she thought of me because I had a similar experience.  So I did lent her an ear.  It was a one-way conversation but I was patient.  At the end of the 2 hour telephone call she requested a time to meet and we have a date.  She asked me to read her blog which she started to write 8 years ago to know how she feels.  Every blog entry was so intense and after reading only a few entries, I was exhausted. I realize that for the past 8 years  she had been writing only about "the betrayal"and the many dimensions of her emotional experiences related to it.  

I could say that the intensity of my life experiences had not been any less than hers.  Fortunately for me the ache and sadness that used to hit me and stopped me in my tacks every now and then, had long since disappeared.  Maybe it has become of little significance to me.  I hope she would let the past be buried down deep in the abyss of history and not let it affect her emotions anymore.  Life is too short for us to be preoccupied with the past.

 

Child labor had dramatically increased in Syria

Child labour isn’t a new phenomenon in Dera’a, in southern Syria, but it has dramatically increased in recent times as families have lost breadwinners due to bombing or clashes. They now look to children to provide support to make ends meet.

"Many of the children who left school have done so because of the harsh conditions in Syria right now. Often it’s because schools were destroyed in shelling and clashes, and I know one child who was forced to work when the family’s breadwinner was killed. The child had to work to pay for a home for him and his family,” Fatima, a teacher at a primary school in the countryside east of Dera’a, told Middle East Eye.

Children who are working take on enormous responsibilities, working long hours, sometimes more than 12 hours per day, and often doing work adults can’t or won’t. 
 
Source:  Child-labour-rise-destitute-southern-Syria

 

Why shouldn't people feel as free to delight in whatever sunlight remains to them?

Birds sing after a storm; why shouldn't people feel as free to delight in whatever sunlight remains to them? - Rose Kennedy

Besides butterflies and bees, my flowers also attract birds. 

My Rememberer

My forgetter's getting better But my rememberer is broke To you that may seem funny But, to me, that is no joke. For when I'm 'here' I'm wondering If I really should be 'there' And, when I try to think it through, I haven't got a prayer! Often times I walk into a room, Say "what am I here for?" I wrack my brain, but all in vain A zero, is my score.

At times I put something away Where it is safe, but, Gee! The person it is safest from Is, generally, me! When shopping I may see someone, Say "Hi" and have a chat, Then, when the person walks away I ask myself, "who was that?" Yes, my forgetter's getting better While my rememberer is broke, And it's driving me plumb crazy And that isn't any joke.

P.S. Send this to everyone you know . . . because I don't remember who sent it to me!

Source: http://www.dennydavis.net/poemfiles/aging2b.htm

I'm Fine, How are You?

  

There's nothing the matter with me,

I'm just as healthy as can be

I have arthritis in both knees,
And when I talk, I talk with a wheeze.
My pulse is weak, my blood is thin,
But I'm awfully well for the shape I'm in.
All my teeth have had to come out,
And my diet I hate to think about.
I'm overweight and I can't get thin,
But I'm awfully well for the shape I'm in.
Arch supports I need for my feet.
Or I wouldn't be able to go out in the street.
Sleep is denied me night after night,
But every morning I find I'm all right.
My memory's failing, my head's in a spin.
But I'm awfully well for the shape I'm in.
The moral of this as the tale unfolds,
Is that for you and me, who are growing old.
It is better to say "I'm fine" with a grin,
Than to let people know the shape we are in.
I'm fine, how are you ?

Source: http://www.dennydavis.net/poemfiles/aging2b.htm

168 million child laborers globally

According to the International Labor Office, there are about 168 million child laborers globally, which accounts for approximately one in 10 of the world’s children. Albeit a one-third reduction since 2000, the problem remains acute. An estimated 13 million children work in India alone, despite laws prohibiting child labor and mandating school attendance.  About four percent of child laborers are in forced or bonded labor, prostitution, or fighting in armed conflict. The remainder of the world’s child laborers work in family businesses or on family farms, where they often toil as much as 27 hours per week and are, like the child tobacco laborers, exposed to a variety of dangerous chemicals and pesticides.

Source: http://www.counterpunch.org

Paulo Henrique Felix da Silveira, aged 9, collects recyclable materials by wading into the Arruda Canal near the Saramandaia slum in Recife, Brazil. According to a 2010 census, 3.6% of the 20,166 people who collect items for recycling in Pernambuco State were aged 10-17 - Reuters

Rustam,10, works at an aluminium factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh, where about 25 children were employed, 

many of them working for 12 hours a day - Reuters

Source of photographs: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk

Nothing is ever really lost to us

“Nothing is ever really lost to us as long as we remember it.”
― L.M. Montgomery, The Story Girl

Too bad...

Playing a musical instrument could help protect against mental decline

Playing a musical instrument could help protect against mental decline through age or illness, according to a new study.

'The research suggests that musical activity could be used as an effective intervention to slow, stop or even reverse age or illness-related decline in mental functioning.'

The study, published in the journal Neuropsychologia, builds on previous work showing the benefits of musical activity on mental and physical well-being.

Please read: Playing-musical-instrument-sharpen-thoughts--help-ward-depression-dementia
Mmm...better put my 32 year old piano to better use.....

They are God's gift to you

Birthday dinner at home, courtesy of Farouk and his wife Azni