Joking with a friend last night I related to her my theory about how the TV blew up – ‘go on’ she said ‘Professor Darshan tell me how it happened’ – 'Well, I suspect the relentless negativity of the news was just too much for the poor thing to take – I know it was for me!' - I replied.
I believe it is important to keep informed, especially where there is injustice against innocent people. However there’s more to us human beings than the destruction of each other and the planet. We’re doing good things too and it’s a shame more of these stories don’t show up in the news. So that when we watch it we’re not just bombarded with images and reports of occurring and impending disaster but also uplifted, made to feel a little lighter, given some hope and touched in some way by hearing of the kindness and compassion we’re also capable of.
Sometimes I think if aliens came and visited earth and the first thing they did was to switch on the news they’d probably jump straight back in their spaceships and make the quickest exit possible. That would be such a shame, because the news isn’t a balanced representation of what is really happening in our world.
I think we can all take personal responsibility and search for the ‘good news’ in life too. Better still maybe we can create it through our actions as individuals and through our interaction with others.
Saturday, 24 January 2009
Thursday, 15 January 2009
Life without Television
Last weekend I made myself a big mug of camomile tea, got my fleece blanket and settled down to watch a good film. When I switched on the TV there was a loud bang followed by some smoke and the smell of fumes. It was a bit of a shock but I was pleased too in a strange way, because I had wanted to have more time to read and to write my journal.
So after airing the room I picked up a half read book, which ironically had been sitting for ages on a shelf in the TV cabinet and snuggled up on the sofa. It was so relaxing, I’d pause from time to time to listen to the gentle ticking of the wall clock and only put the book down after I’d finished it.
I’d already planned to spring clean the lounge the next day so the timing was perfect and with the help of a kind neighbour the TV was put in the car and taken to its final resting place at the tip and a special cage just for old TVs.
It does feel a bit strange, but I do notice I’m more relaxed, which isn’t due to not watching TV. I was such a hopeless viewer anyway, if there were ever a competition to find the worlds worst TV viewer I would win hands down, my viewing was so erratic, I’d go a whole week sometimes without even switching it on, I never followed any programmes. I guess the only real use I had for it was to watch DVDs, something historical and meaningful which I did enjoy from time to time. If all viewers were like me the BBC would only have to make about three programmes a year and alternate them!
I think the relaxation could be down to the fact that I’m now doing more activities which are calming by nature, like reading an inspiring book and really enjoying the quietness, of which there’s not a lot in modern day living. I bumped into a friend yesterday who asked if I’d been on holiday - no I said I’ve just been without TV for a week!
So after airing the room I picked up a half read book, which ironically had been sitting for ages on a shelf in the TV cabinet and snuggled up on the sofa. It was so relaxing, I’d pause from time to time to listen to the gentle ticking of the wall clock and only put the book down after I’d finished it.
I’d already planned to spring clean the lounge the next day so the timing was perfect and with the help of a kind neighbour the TV was put in the car and taken to its final resting place at the tip and a special cage just for old TVs.
It does feel a bit strange, but I do notice I’m more relaxed, which isn’t due to not watching TV. I was such a hopeless viewer anyway, if there were ever a competition to find the worlds worst TV viewer I would win hands down, my viewing was so erratic, I’d go a whole week sometimes without even switching it on, I never followed any programmes. I guess the only real use I had for it was to watch DVDs, something historical and meaningful which I did enjoy from time to time. If all viewers were like me the BBC would only have to make about three programmes a year and alternate them!
I think the relaxation could be down to the fact that I’m now doing more activities which are calming by nature, like reading an inspiring book and really enjoying the quietness, of which there’s not a lot in modern day living. I bumped into a friend yesterday who asked if I’d been on holiday - no I said I’ve just been without TV for a week!
Tuesday, 6 January 2009
Success with New Years Resolutions
Most people will be starting the New Year with some resolutions in mind. Having goals is fundamentally important to wellbeing. Goals are attractors, like magnets they pull us forwards into our future, making it compelling and stop us from getting stuck. They give our lives a sense of direction and movement. Achieving them has a positive impact on our self esteem.
Here are some simple tips to help you on your way:
State your goal in positive terms. What you want to achieve as opposed to what you want to stop doing, for example ‘I want to eat less chocolate’ can be better rephrased as ‘I want to eat more fruit’. This is because in order to process the negative your mind first has to make a picture of what is to be negated – so it sees a nice big bar of chocolate and then tells itself not to eat it, which actually reinforces the very thing you want to keep away from! Having a goal of eating more fruit gives your brain a very clear and direct message of what you want to happen.
Commit your goals to writing. Anything which has significance in life is stated in writing. Birth, marriage, death, laws, religious scriptures all have written form. Remember to include the date you set your goal, it will be meaningful when you look back after achieving it. A journal, diary, laptop or postcards are all great for doing this. If you’re a more visually oriented person you might like to create a collage of different pictures or photos which represent your goal.
Specify for Success. Anything can be accomplished if it’s broken down into small enough steps. We human beings have sent men to the moon! Goals are essentially journeys, they take us from where we are to where we want to be and like any journey they are made up of individual steps. Identifying the daily, weekly and monthly steps which need to be taken, will help you to keep on track.
These can be of an external nature such as doing regular exercise, sticking to a healthy eating plan, learning a new skill or getting the support of a friend. Equally important are the internal personal qualities you can draw on like determination, being organised, relaxed, creative or patient. Beliefs also exert a huge amount of influence on goals, an empowering belief to hold could be: ‘I deserve to have my goal and am capable of achieving it.’
Have milestones and celebrate them. Milestones are critical for keeping up the necessary motivation to reach a goal. Celebrating them serves to acknowledge all the effort you’ve put in and how far you’ve come, as well as adding in some all important feel good factor.
Keep your eye on the goal when doing the boring stuff. Having the bigger picture in mind while doing the smaller everyday kinds of tasks towards your goal will help you to stay focused and motivated.
Don’t be scared of the blips. Thankfully we’re not robots, but wonderful human beings, so there will be days when you are amazingly enthusiastic and feel nothing in the world could stop you and others when you feel weary and tired towards your goal. When you have a blip be gentle and loving to yourself and remember if you’ve taken three steps forward and moved back two, you’ve still gained one step and are still closer to your goal than before. That’s something to be proud of.
Here are some simple tips to help you on your way:
State your goal in positive terms. What you want to achieve as opposed to what you want to stop doing, for example ‘I want to eat less chocolate’ can be better rephrased as ‘I want to eat more fruit’. This is because in order to process the negative your mind first has to make a picture of what is to be negated – so it sees a nice big bar of chocolate and then tells itself not to eat it, which actually reinforces the very thing you want to keep away from! Having a goal of eating more fruit gives your brain a very clear and direct message of what you want to happen.
Commit your goals to writing. Anything which has significance in life is stated in writing. Birth, marriage, death, laws, religious scriptures all have written form. Remember to include the date you set your goal, it will be meaningful when you look back after achieving it. A journal, diary, laptop or postcards are all great for doing this. If you’re a more visually oriented person you might like to create a collage of different pictures or photos which represent your goal.Specify for Success. Anything can be accomplished if it’s broken down into small enough steps. We human beings have sent men to the moon! Goals are essentially journeys, they take us from where we are to where we want to be and like any journey they are made up of individual steps. Identifying the daily, weekly and monthly steps which need to be taken, will help you to keep on track.
These can be of an external nature such as doing regular exercise, sticking to a healthy eating plan, learning a new skill or getting the support of a friend. Equally important are the internal personal qualities you can draw on like determination, being organised, relaxed, creative or patient. Beliefs also exert a huge amount of influence on goals, an empowering belief to hold could be: ‘I deserve to have my goal and am capable of achieving it.’
Have milestones and celebrate them. Milestones are critical for keeping up the necessary motivation to reach a goal. Celebrating them serves to acknowledge all the effort you’ve put in and how far you’ve come, as well as adding in some all important feel good factor.
Keep your eye on the goal when doing the boring stuff. Having the bigger picture in mind while doing the smaller everyday kinds of tasks towards your goal will help you to stay focused and motivated.
Don’t be scared of the blips. Thankfully we’re not robots, but wonderful human beings, so there will be days when you are amazingly enthusiastic and feel nothing in the world could stop you and others when you feel weary and tired towards your goal. When you have a blip be gentle and loving to yourself and remember if you’ve taken three steps forward and moved back two, you’ve still gained one step and are still closer to your goal than before. That’s something to be proud of.
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