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When a person has bad habits, you can bet that this person will have stress throughout their lifetime. For example, if a person smokes cigarettes it increases the vitals functioning capabilities, which gradually affects the heart, lungs, and other vital organs.

An autopsy will tell if a person smoked or not when the person is internally evaluated. If the person was, a smoker it will show on the body’s organs and the person’s lungs will be black. Now we know that a person’s internal organs are pinkish and when black is current then problems occurred in the person’s life.

When a person has problems, stress is obviously overwhelming. Likewise, if a person drinks heavily it affects the central nervous system and reduces a person’s ability to cope with stress. Heavy drinkers put their self in harm’s way by destroying the body and potential going to jail in the future.

As you can see, bad habits can cause stress and will cause stress. When a person is born, they are often healthy and if this person avoids bad habits that cause harm then the person’s life will be rewarding. If you are free of chemicals and substances that can cause you harm you will have the ability to make good decisions that offers you a successful future.

Eating too much is also a bad habit that needs modified. If a person overeats regularly and avoiding exercise then this person is subject to obesity, heart failure, strokes, diabetes and so forth. We see this causes problems and problems are one of the elements that cause our stress to increase. One of the obvious bad habits that create potential dangers is stress itself.

When a person is lacking the ability to manage his or her life and becomes stress every time an expectation presents itself then this bad habit too can cause harm to the body. Coping means we have the ability to manage our lives successfully without creating stressors that cause our stress to increase.

Minimizing stressors can help us to live a more productive lifestyle and provide us hope when times are hard to deal with. It is never easy to eliminate a bad habit since it is obviously a ritual, but it is possible to work toward reducing and finally eliminating the habits that cause us stress.

If you are use to smoking a cigarette after each meal then tell your self that today you are going to drink water instead of smoking after a meal. If you drink coffee and it opens your smoking cravings up, then start drinking orange juice, milk or some other healthy beverage. If you are a heavy drinker, tell your self every day that you are worth saving.

Sit down and review with your self the many problems you are facing and if some are less severe than others are. If you are often late paying your bills then you know that this is a problem, so you will need to learn and practice paying your bills on time. When you do not pay your bills on time, late charges occur or shut-off notices following.

As you can see, we all cause many of our own problems, which initiate stress. Sitting down and evaluating our situation and decisions can help bring forth rewards by seeing the problems we created and learning how to eliminate the problems in our lives. For example if you are often late for work then you know you have a bad habit that can cost you your job.

You may think that losing your job is not a problem, since someone else will hire you, but loosing your job is not the only problem in the picture. If you continue to adhere to your behaviors by being late for work, you are going to get a bad repetition with businesses.

Business owners talk amongst other owners. Now you can permanent displacement is potential, poverty, potential crime, and so forth. We are adding to the list of problems by ignoring or not accepting that our bad habits are the leading cause of uncontrolled stress. Our decisions are at the top of the list that determines if our stress is overwhelming or not. When behaviors cause stress, it is time to make some changes.

For more related information visit: http://www.DepressionSymptomsTreatment.com - a site that offers advice for avoiding, coping with depression. Get professional knowledge on dealing with symptoms, drug side effects and improving your life!

For several years, industry experts have warned of a pending retention crisis and the need to have a retention plan in place. If you haven’t done so already, it’s time to take this problem seriously and here’s why. According to TalentKeepers, the annual cost of employee turnover in the United States is a staggering $5 trillion. Furthermore, with the exit of the baby boomers from the workforce, the US Bureau of Labor has predicted 10 million more jobs than workers by the year 2010. How prepared is your organization?

Here are four steps to improve employee retention rates and decrease the impact of attrition on your organization:

1.Measure turnover and calculate the costs of turnover within your organization. Management and HR professionals alike may be struggling with the ability to put retention efforts in place when their organizations are facing tighter budgets. Therefore, it is important for HR to calculate the costs, both tangible and intangible, associated with turnover and to educate their organizations on how retention efforts can actually save money in the long-term.

The obvious costs are financial costs resulting from decreased productivity, replacement costs of employees who’ve left the organization, the expense in time and money for training new employees, and other indirect costs of recruiting and hiring new employees. Remember to consider the costs of workflow interruptions when employees leave, decline in the quality of service, loss of expertise and business opportunities, impact on the job satisfaction and morale of remaining employees, as well as the image of the organization.

Measuring turnover can help you determine the causes of attrition and the best strategies to retain talent in your organization. It also allows you to do a cost/benefit analysis of existing or proposed retention efforts. This is a perfect opportunity for HR to show the impact it can have on the organization’s bottom line by putting retention programs in place before the mass exodus begins.

2.Identify the variables leading to turnover for your organization. In other words, ask yourself “why do employees leave or say they would leave?” The variables might be compensation, benefits, management style, working conditions, or a combination of these or other variables that are affecting job satisfaction. The best way to gather this information is to ask current employees. This can be accomplished through mechanisms such as employee attitude surveys, focus groups, structured interviews, or informal feedback. You may also consider gathering data from senior management, exit interviews with former employees, and even applicants who have declined job offers from your organization.

3.Construct a plan to support your employees. Once you’ve identified why people would leave your organization, put a retention program in place that specifically addresses those reasons. Keep in mind that retention programs need not be financially burdensome in order to be effective. Here are some ideas for keeping employees satisfied now:

·Provide equitable and competitive compensation and benefits packages.
Consider conducting internal and external analyses to determine the fairness and competitiveness of your compensation and benefits packages.

·Promote diversity. Mandate diversity training for managers to foster a work environment that encourages individuality and acceptance of unique work styles Employees who feel their differences are valued, not just tolerated, are more likely to remain loyal to their organizations. An added bonus is increased motivation and productivity from your workforce.

·Foster a learning environment. Identify the needs of your workforce and offer opportunities to obtain knowledge and skills for professional growth within the organization. If you already have a tuition reimbursement program in place, remind employees that it’s available and encourage managers to motivate their employees to take advantage of the program.

·Identify opportunities for career development for top-performing employees. Establish career development plans for these employees that highlight opportunities for more challenging work.

·Implement recognition and/or reward programs at all levels of the organization.
Employees may have very different motivators, so build flexibility into such programs to keep rewards individualized. For creative and inexpensive ideas, check out Rosalind Jeffries’ 101 Recognition Secrets: Tools for Motivating and Recognizing Today’s Workforce.

·Foster positive employee relations from the top down. Evaluate communication channels and make improvements where necessary. Make positive employee relations a part of management’s performance goals.

·Implement work/life balance programs to the extent possible. An increasing number of Americans are redefining success in terms of quality of life instead of financial terms. Acknowledge non-work priorities, offer work-scheduling options, and make it acceptable for employees to exercise those options.

·Ensure that your performance management system is working. Not all retention is good. High performing employees want to know what’s expected of them and whether or not they are delivering on those expectations. They also want to know that their colleagues who don’t share their desire to perform well are “handled” appropriately.

·Keep employees engaged. Survey your workforce to determine how your employees feel about their work, supervisor, and the organization. Engaged employees feel that their supervisors care about them as people. Among other things, they feel that their opinions count and that their development and growth in the organization is encouraged. The bottom line is that engaged employees are more productive and loyal employees.

·Have fun at work.
The concept of a fun workplace has grown in popularity and can be as simple as holding contests or theme dress days or arranging a surprise picnic in the company parking lot. Encouraging employees to have fun at work serves to reduce workplace stress and monotony.

4.Monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of your retention program. Once you’ve implemented a new or modified retention program, calculate the return on investment by continuing to measure turnover and track improvements that are a direct result of the retention efforts. Or, if turnover rates are not improving, use this data to start over in terms of identifying other possible cause(s) of turnover.

As you plan your retention program, be prepared to work harder to retain the top-performing employees you have been able to retain during the downturn. Remember, it’s your most talented people who are most marketable, and most likely to move on when the opportunity arises.

Michele Whitehead, PHR, is the Manager of Human Resources Services at Berkshire Associates Inc. As an expert in human resources practices and procedures, Michele is experienced in providing customized solutions to a variety of human resources issues that surface in all types of businesses. She has experience with all aspects of the employment life cycle from recruitment and hiring processes to retirement and termination, and everything in between.

Changing ourselves requires deprogramming. Reiki is one of the gentlest, most effect ways of making changes today, which affect yesterday and tomorrow. You might think deprogramming is for cults and wars, but it is most commonly used for the every day brainwashing that often causes depression and physical illnesses. Reiki is Natural Healing for the mind, body, and spirit. You cannot learn any of the many styles of Reiki from a book or video, but in today’s world there are many qualified Reiki Shihans(master/teachers)with an energy and technique lineage back to Mikao Usui,the founder of Reiki.

I will use person X as an example of every day brainwashing. You might find that person X sounds a lot like you. As a young person X was told s/he never listened, always procrastinated, and always wanted ridiculous things. Schoolteachers added to the list of things X did wrong. Then from a spouse it was, you never know what you are talking about, and you never do anything right. From children it was, I wish you were nice like the other kids’ parents, and you never know what is good for anyone. Good things were said to X as well. However, all the negative combined over time can create a block that can harm a person both mentally and physically. Often times these blocks keep a person from enjoying compliments and the good things in life. Physical and mental symptoms that medical doctors say they can find no reason for, sometimes appear as well.

A Reiki Shihan (teacher) or Reiki practitioner never diagnoses or promises a cure, but Usui Reiki Ryoho, heals by balancing and surrounding with harmony. Usui Reiki Ryoho, commonly shortened to Reiki, is the name Mikao Usui gave to the vibration of love and harmony he connected to in 1921. Techniques taught in such styles of Reiki as Gendai Reiki-ho and Komyo Reiki, release the negative from the whole person and fill the void with positive energy. Reiki is not a quick therapy that promises an immediate cure. The negative that has taken years to harm a mind, body, or spirit requires time to release. Multiple Reiki sessions or hours of Reiki training is best. The nice thing about a qualified Reiki Shihan or practitioner is that with Reiki, your actions are never out of your control as with hypnosis, and you never have to be exposed to alcohol or smoke. Reiki does not replace professional licensed medical care, but it can work with conventional medicine as it promotes and speeds healing at all levels.

Humans are said not to have instinctive behavior, but often the imprinted behavior we acquire happens when we are looking the other way. Pulling your hand back from a flame or ducking as an object or a fist comes toward you are learned behaviors to help keep us safe. Unfortunately, some reactions we blend into our everyday life are not helpful to our well-being. If you have ever seen those five simple lines of the Gokai (five Reiki precepts or principles), it might make you think that Reiki is too simple to be good.

Reiki does not require any elaborate rituals or any material objects to give it strength. Love and harmony are very strong energies and the combination is very powerful. Reiki practitioners spend immeasurable hours in study with his or her teacher learning and practicing self-healing and self-growth. A Reiki Shihan(teacher) has gone through at least four levels or degrees in whatever style of Usui Reiki Ryoho she or he practices. Within each of the first three levels of Reiki, numerous exercises and techniques are practiced for self-healing. Then remember that Reiki is the name given to the vibration of combined love and harmony. When all is balanced within you, and you are surrounded by harmony blocks are healed.

Living in Maine, in the United Stated I began by studying styles of Reiki commonly practiced in North America. I then learned the simple yet very strong Japanese Reiki techniques of Gendai Reikiho and Komyo Reiki from Japanese teachers. You can find out more about how Reiki balances on my website at www.naturalhealinglearning.com, and links to other factual Reiki websites.

Roberta R. Banres, Reiki Gendai Reikiho and Komyo Reiki Shihan and practitioner, and Herbalist. Teaching Reiki in her healing room nestled in the trees in Maine or anywhere a group of people has been organized. Through Reiki, herbs, and meditation healing journeys into the past she is dedicated to helping others in the art of well-being. Check out her website at http://www.naturalhealinglearning.com.

Many of us have associations with the holiday season for sorrow as well as for joy. Extremes of happiness and of sadness may have good cause. In my case, wonderful memories of great celebrations filled with great food, gifts, and cousins to play with are tempered by the memory of losing my mother just after Christmas in my 20th year after a 6 month struggle with cancer.

Such co-mingling of powerful experiences present opportunities to challenge any tendencies of the mind to take us into smallness and dark moods and to chose our greatness and joy instead.

Here are a few suggestions:

1) Release any notion that it is “selfish” or “bad” to invite abundance and joy into your life. The only thing that can make it “bad” would be if you ask for good things at the expense of others. Again and again, invite abundance, joy, compassion, and wisdom for yourself and for everyone.

2) Release the images, thought patterns and stories about yourself that tend to convince you you are small, hopeless, helpless, unlovable and unimportant. Examine the idea/trance of personality that causes us to suffer such painful thinking because it goes largely unexamined.

3) Practice asking, “Who do I have to believe I am, or, what do I have to believe is true about me to have this problem?” Then challenge the “truth” of the answer you come up with.

4) Practice contemplating the greatness and mystery of life of which you are an inseparable part. Therefore you are a full manifestation of this greatness and mystery.

A great saint once said about the practice of contemplating the true nature of oneself vs. the false notions of oneself:

“One who meticulously measures the length of his shadow, before trying to leap over it cannot be said to understand anything about a shadow. Similarly, the one who, after arduous study of the scriptures, comes to some definitive conclusion about the Self, has failed to understand it. Words recoil from the Self, so how can the intellect, which functions entirely by means of words, understand anything about it?”

4)Trust your Self by practicing again and again simply resting in the present moment in your Heart, your Core, ignoring any thinking that judges your effort or distracts you from this effort to rest in your Self.

5) Recognize that prayer and worry share the same basic template. They are both focused emotion-laden thought about a given subject. Therefore, see that worry is just negative prayer. Since we tend to get what we pray for, when you find yourself worrying, instead of fighting it, take the subject of concern out of worry mode and pray as joyfully and confidently as possible for the blessing that would fulfill the concern.

May these simple points enable to you to experience and share a wonderful holiday season and rest of your life!

Copyright 2006, Jack Elias, All Rights Reserved

http://www.FindingTrueMagic.com/emotions.shtml

If you’ve been diagnosed with bipolar disorder (also known as
manic depression) you are not alone. It has been estimated that
over 2 million people in the United States suffer from this form
of mental illness which involves episodes of both mania and
depression.

Although bipolar disorder usually begins in childhood or early
adulthood, it is often not recognized as an illness. And,
because it is sometimes misdiagnosed, individuals who have it
often suffer needlessly although treatment is available. Left
untreated, those with bipolar disorder sometimes experience
serious complications, including an inability to keep a stable
job, abuse of drugs and alcohol, marriage problems, and even
suicide.

Symptoms of mania can include: decreased need for sleep;
excessive feelings of euphoria; extreme distractibility; racing
thoughts and rapid talking; decreased need for sleep; drug
abuse; and a denial that anything is wrong. Depressive symptoms,
(the flip-side of mania) may include: difficulty sleeping; loss
of appetite; feelings of hopelessness; decreased energy;
persistent sad mood; loss of interest in pleasurable activities;
and thoughts of death or suicide.

It is important to recognize the various mood states experienced
by individuals with bipolar disorder so that they can obtain
effective treatment. Unfortunately, this illness often goes
unrecognized by everyone involved, including family, friends,
physicians, and even the patient.

An early stage of this illness often manifested is hypomania, in
which the person suffering from it shows a high level of energy,
excessive moodiness or irritability, and impulsive behavior.
Ironically, hypomania may feel good to the person who
experiences it. Unfortunately though, if left untreated, bipolar
disorder tends to get worse, and the person typically will
experience episodes of full-fledged mania and clinical
depression. Fortunately, most people with manic depressive
illness can be helped with treatment, specifically medications
and therapy.

Medications play an important role in helping to stabilize the
mood swings often found with this type of mental illness.
Lithium has been shown to be very effective in helping to
control mania and in stopping the recurrence of both manic and
depressive episodes. Several types of antidepressant have also
been found useful in combating the depression aspect of bipolar
disorder. In severe cases, electroconvulsive therapy is often
helpful in treating severe depression that fails to respond to
medication.

Therapy from a qualified provider can also be helpful in
educating the patient and providing support and guidance to all
family members involved. It is important to remember that
bipolar disorder is recurrent, and, as such, long-term
preventive treatment is indicated in most cases.

Finally, it is important to know that bipolar disorder is a
legitimate illness, and that it will not “just go away” if given
enough time. Treatment is necessary to help keep the disease
under control and a maintenance regimen (including both
medications and therapy) may be required over the length of a
person’s life.

Don’t you have the right to take a mild sedative at times of extreme crisis? Are doctors right in prescribing Xanax to patients? These are some questions that need serious contemplation, as Xanax can be seen differently from different angles. We need to go into pros and cons of the effects of using the drug to come up with a clear-headed answer that is not overtly biased towards either the pro-drug activists or the anti-Xanax squad. Getting into the bottom of all the disinformation and misinformation on this topic would help in coming out with the truth.

Physicians are not wrong in prescribing Xanax under extreme cases of anxiety for a short term use. In fact this drug is the only relief that can cool down the nerves of the patient. A dose of Xanax can induce sleep in a person, who is not able to get a wink of sleep even after all those physical and psychological therapies. But their usefulness after a week or so is highly questionable. Even the most pro drug (Xanax) literature is not in favor of prolonged use of the drug.

Xanax, like other tranquilizers and mild sedatives, is habit forming and highly addictive. A long term use of the drug, say a few weeks, will give rise to tolerance and withdrawal symptoms. If a patient has gotten into such a stage, due to continued use of the pill to get over his anxiety, panic or depression problems, he is likely to face many other problems related to his physical health. This can further complicate matters.

The drug also covers up anxiety by suppressing the normal activities of the brain. To put it correctly, the brain is not in control; rather it is Xanax that has caught hold of the reins of rationality and sanity. You cannot anticipate and comprehend your reflexes and reactions to any situation under the duress of Alprazolam. In fact what you get is an effect of drug induced anxiety rebound.

A person with such drug induced anxiety rebound in their system lives under considerable threat of recurring anxiety problems. His natural reflexes and self consciousness becomes handicapped in the face of an anxiety attack. The natural anxiety responses and reflexes of the brain get muted as Xanax has repressed them. Many abnormal anxiety responses develop in the brain at this juncture.

But doctors who prescribe Xanax still reinforce and hold on to the fact that they are doing a favor to the patients, who cannot cope up with anxiety at all. They have to react accordingly to the patient’s mode of helplessness. So, where is the choice? What can be the alternative to Xanax as it is ineffective therapeutically?

Many psychologists are of the opinion that psychotherapy is one slow but effective means that can help a person to get rid of his anxiety problems. Patients should employ different therapies like group therapy, meditation, deep massage, relaxation techniques, and spiritual exercise under different therapists till he gets over the anxiety problem. This may prove beneficial in the long run as the therapeutic effectiveness of Xanax is questionable.

Naorem Romeo writes on everything related to anxiety, depression, stress, xanax, and related drugs. you can visit http://www.buy-xanax-online-now.com to check out the latest articles and titbits related to men’s erectile issue.

Yes, it’s ok to allow yourself the luxury of being enthusiastic, light hearted, inspired, relaxed and happy at workplace. If you don’t do this, you are self-denying your true potential.

It’s unfortunate that many people think that a happy demeanor at office would appear ‘Strong’ and ‘out of place’ to other people including coworker, clients and employee. Often they wrongly assumed that if someone is looking happy, he/she must be satisfied with the status quo and, therefore, lacks the necessary motivation to excel in his/her work or to go to the extra mile. And s/he simple can’t compete in a competitive environment.

This sort of thinking creates huge amount of stress at workplace. Many employers are of the view that they should not allow their employees to be very happy as they may lose their edge.

It’s absolute non-sense to believe that a relaxed, happy person is necessarily lacking in motivation. In reality, happy people are almost always the ones who love what they do. It has been observed again and again that people who love what they do are highly motivated by their own enthusiasm and continue improving themselves and their performance. They are not only good listeners but also quick learner. Further, almost all of them are highly creative, charismatic, easy to go around and very good team players.

On the contrary if we consider unhappy people, we find that they often held back by their own misery or stress, which often distract them from success. Rigid and stressed out people are a drag to be around and difficult to work with, always adding negative vibes in the environment. They lack motivation owing to their being consumed with their own problem, lack of time and stress. Unhappy people often feel victimized by others & their working conditions. It’s difficult for them to be solution oriented as they see everything as someone else’s fault. In addition, they are usually poor team players because they are often self-centered and pre-occupied with their own issues. They are defensive and almost always poor listeners. Despite having o many negative traits, if they are successful, it is despite their unhappiness not because of it. If an unhappy, stressed out but successful person can learn to become happier, he or she will become even more successful.

So my dear friend! Please rest assured. It’s okay to be happy, kind, patient and more relaxed at workplace. It will be to your great advantage – both personally and professionally. You won’t lose your edge.

Just be happy and be natural with a positive frame of mind at your workplace. Dong this, you will not be uncaring or unmotivated. Rather you’ll feel more inspired, creative and driven to make an even greater contribution than you do right now. This habit will give you the ability to see the solutions and opportunities where others see problems. Similarly, rather than being discouraged by setbacks or failures, you’ll bounce back quickly and resiliently.

I one read in a book that if we start thinking positively and act happily, positive force of the nature start attracting towards us. Dare to be happy and your life will begin to change immediately. Your life and your work will take a greater significance and it’ll feel like an extraordinary adventure. Others’ll love you. Number of your friends will soar and that of your rivals/enemies will drop.

Eklavya is a simple student of meditation based in India. He provides knowledge of meditation through his website Meditation is Easy (http://www.meditationiseasy.com). This website provides knowledge of meditation (& various meditation techniques) to general public in a simple and idiot-friendly language ! Along with a collection of 112 Meditation techniques of all times (for all people of all age), you will also find a useful collection of various tips for stress-free life http://www.meditationiseasy.com/tips/index.htm) including workplace tips, health tips and Soul tips ! Have a look..

To me, I am worth a human person! Is rhetoric, provoking me to
tirelessly make an endeavor, seeking the path on which I and
other human persons should or should not walk on. Philosopher,
with reference to its father, Aristotle, is instigated by
“wonders.” One of the most important elements that bring this
article into a reality is eventuated from that of Aristotle’s
wisdom. Wonder what is the theme of this article? Thoughtful
read on this article is the answer. The world is viewed from
different points of view; adolescents would say that the earth
is worth living on, since entertainments are ubiquitous. Eyes
from philosophical aspect; on the other hand, may compare the
world to a perplexed, irreversibly protracted havocs that are
tying every human person and every corner of the world into one
knot that will never be untied. This is one of the reasons why
philosophers and other mind-injured intellectuals are striving
to find the solutions. By and large, the author is this article
does share similar objective. I am not claiming that I am a
philosopher, but I am really walking on the track of philosophy:
the world is the irreversibly perplexed place and I, strongly
claim that such negative tendency will never be meticulously
solved at all, but betterment is really possible; however, the
stated betterments is dependant on all of us; making a simple
idea into civilization. When and how is Our Human Value Started?
The scope of this article is not to argue when a fetus is
considered physically as really human person, but what I am
referring to is those you are capable enough to read this
articles and to participation in the society. Yes, I would like
to make my article easy, very easy to understand. We are equally
valued and respected, commencing from the municipal to the
international instruments. From Cambodia’s constitution to the
humanitarian products of the General Assembly of the United
Nations Organization, Council of Europe or Association of
American States, “we are all human being” and how our human
valued is started? To me, it is started when we start thinking
that we are human being and must live on the human track. But
the most difficult question is “what is the most important
element for human being?” “Understanding”, to me, is the
incomparable distinction of human being. Understanding is the
very first and the very last distinction that make use called
ourselves “human being” and that make us different from animals
or creatures. Walk on “Understanding Foundation” for all Corners
of your Lives Ancient philosophers have pointed out different
answer to the aforesaid question, but all of them can not escape
from one philosophy that makes human being a human being:
Understanding. Understanding shall be started from ourselves.
For instance, learn from yourselves that what would you feel if
someone underestimates you; the others would feel the same.
Understand that success is achieved from tireless work and
skill, understand that a product is instigated by a simple idea,
understand that reading is the prime purpose for gaining
knowledge, understand that failure is the matter of the person
concerned and on of the parents or government, etc. Apply those
understanding principles into your daily lives; household, work
or society. You will see the differences as it is the experience
of the author himself. This article is purposed to be in brief,
since it is not target to explain but to instigate.

Initiation- The three wombs at the tomb…

Most of us come to our initiation through our dreams.
Unfortunately many of us just write them off as nightmares and
try to forget about them soon as they wake. Others of us sign
divorce papers or four year contracts in our new professions.
For a few others it is the new zest for life that is the
beginning of the climb off our cities streets. The initiation
comes many years too late. For that man on the street, the
initiation could of been seeing his best friend die from a
Heroine over dose.

Initiations is our wake up calls to our adult lives. It is the
psychological break from the mother. Youths in Aboriginal tribes
of Australia are ripped away from the false security of their
mothers as the bull roarers are whirling in the air and the men
of the tribe come disguised as monsters with feathers glued to
their naked bodies. These men initiated fear that is the
beginning of the break from the old world of these children into
the next. Robin Hood plays throughout the middle ages served
this role as well. Traveling gypsies played the part of Friar
Tuck to preside over the ritual with a may queen picked to play
Maid Marriane. The youth of age in the spring would all play
Robin to consummate their adulthood with the May Queen,
Marriane. Then they had to overcome the pubescent egos
represented by another gypsy playing Prince John. Once the
immature ego is conquered the Lion King Richard arrives in the
breast of each youth as he becomes an adult. The Surname Robins
and Robinson predominate Britain, these are the children
conceived from Robin Hood rituals. Here the youths leave behind
the Oedipal lives of their now past and enter that of their
father’s to search out women of their own.

In ancient Cave Bear Cultures, the Men of the tribe would push
the initiates through a dark slimy tunnel that opened onto a
large expanse where all the secrets of the hunt and adult male
life were related to the youths. Then the men passed the youths
back out birth canal into society as adults. The shock and
response is to be the same as a squirrel cornered by a bear, the
courage to turn and strike to save its life. The courage in the
face of fear to become an adult. No Bishop slap or degree will
equal the right response.

“The Problem is not new, for all ages before us have
believed in gods in some form or another. Only an unparalled
impoverishment of symbolism could enable us to rediscover gods
as psychic factors, that is, as archetypes of the
unconcious….Heaven has become has become for us the cosmic
space of the physicists, and the divine empyrean a fair memory
of things that once were. But the heart glows, and a secret
unrest gnaws at the roots of our being.” Carl Jung,
Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious

In Tropical tribes initiations act much like the British, with
one exception.

The copulating of the male youths with the male queen happens on
a platform with four beams holding a roof of others. The last
youth who copulates with the may queen is killed with the queen
as they knock out the beams and the roof collapses on them.
Merging male and female in the life and death cycle. You won’t
have to die in such a fashion but you must die now. You think

Dorothy was ever the same after the tornado? Are you prepared to
die, the kingdom of god is laid before you. Have you crossed
that bridge over the moat through the skull to the castle of
your mind? Do you fear the anxiety of Pan as you enter the
forest alone. You have to die alone as well as be born again.
Will you allow me to kill you? Then read on…..

In life we suffer through many little deaths, the ego deaths.
The death that happens to our lives when we move away from home
for the first time, the death to the title of husband as we sign
the papers, the death of our student personas as we accept that
degree, and the like. Death happen in many forms and guises.
This is represented with the monthly death of the moon and the
snake that sheds its skin. Also it is the goddess who can bleed
for a week and live. The shedding of the monthly egg, the symbol
of the new soul. Women, eggs, moon, and snake are ancient
revered symbols before mans fall when the Garden of Eden was
written. Man had found the power of sperm! In Cambodia during
the Vietnam War, many Cambodians died from loose bullets falling
upon the village as men shot machine guns into the night sky to
stop the sky snake from eating the moon. For the phases of the
moon at that time of year look like a giant black snake is
eclipsing the moon as it passes its jaws into its gullet.

>From all of these little ego deaths of the moon, women, and
snake comes the death of the soul. The Phoenix rises out of the
egg to be burned by fire to rise again from the calcination
through another egg. This symbol is the eagle and the lion. To
be born again as the eagle is to leave this existance for
another, like Guatama. The Lion is to be born again of the earth
as a Bodhisattva The one who can travel between both is the
Griffin, the symbol of Christ in his Mercury role as guardian of
secrets. The Lion and the Griffin perform the return. So will
you allow me to kill you. Will you enter the tomb in the fashion
of Lazarus. Will you allow Christ to free you from your tomb.
How long have you been lying in there already?

Now who watches over you as you lie in the tomb. Well of course
the women.

Mary of Bethany and Magdalean wait in the house adjacent from
the tomb they laid their brother in. It is Spider Women who
gives the Living eagle feather the alien god and warning about
the rocks that crush, the reeds that cut him to pieces, the cane
cactus that tear him to pieces, and the boiling sands that
overcome. Who is the spider women? She is the mother who has
prepared us for good or bad to cross over into adulthood. She is
the one that provided us with the knowledge and the ability to
use it up to this point. But it is for us alone to cross over
and be atoned with the father as the twin War Gods of the Navaho.

Spider Women asks, “Who are you, and whence do you come?” Upon
hearing this the youths shrug. The first importance of the runes
is to seek your past. Then she asks what they are doing.”
Whither do the two of you go walking?”. Next the runes ask what
you are doing now and how does that have to apply from where you
came from. Youths reply they are going no where in Particular.
Neil Young in the movie Made in Heaven, when the youth Elmo is
crossing over the threshold asks him the same question.

Niel Young replies” When you do not know which way you are
going, any way is good.” They only climbed down her ladder
because they had nowhere else to go. Their intuition had led
them. Like Erik, in Erik the Viking, searches out Freya. She
asks him if he had ever seen the sun? He replies it was in a
distant far removed memory. The Navaho youths were in search of
their father the sun as well. Freya asks Erik what he is looking
for, as does the Twin Gods. The Spider Woman after the youths
reply in ignorance of what they are doing four times, does she
ask if they are seeking the father. But Erik will be looking for
the woman he had killed and his father god, Odin. Erik killed
his anima and is looking for his mate. Both of these women
describe the challenges the youths must face and where to find
their father. Also they explain that the father might threaten
their lives when they find him.

The conflicts between father and son abounds through lore and
myth. It is Luke confronting Darth Vader; Arthur facing Mordred
on the flip side; Twin War Gods facing their father; and
Hercules challenging Zeus. This when the youth no longer needs
the father for survival but guidance. This could be blocked by
the father who is vacant, the father who is scared of being
replaced in his occupation, the father who is afraid of death,
the father who is in the power of a higher grip, or the father
who has not crossed the threshold himself. Dart Vader was the
distant father who was in power of the Emperor who lived in fear
and destruction for anyone who would push his threshold. He was
always choking people who had questioned or failed him. The
throat is the home of orders and directions. It is where power
is manifested into matter. He stole peoples voices. As his was
supported by machinery with someone else at the keyboard. If the
son crosses the threshold, the father is forced to soon cross
over. This is the power of the black dragon and the senex.

The Spider Woman teaches the youths to be pollen.

“Put your feat down with pollen. Put your hands down with
pollen. Put your head down with pollen. Then your feet are
pollen, your hands are pollen, your body is pollen, your mind is
pollen, your voice is pollen. The trail is beautiful. Be
still.”

Here the mother teaches the youth to follow their instincts .
Your journey will be of chance, the actions of your hands will
be Zen, your mind will be receptive, and your voice reactionary.
This is guidance from Obi Wan Kenobi, use the force. It is
Parzival releasing the reigns of the horse.

The trail is beautiful is a reminder to overcome the fear and
desire trap and be still. To put yourself in the hands of the
god or goddess. To trust your fate or river that is the current
of your own individual life. Be still is a calling to leave
behind all goals and just do. Just do it and be still.

To be pollen is to drift in the wind. In the runes Ansur is the
power of breath. It’s feminine counterpart is Laguz, the power
of water. Once you leave the water, you must first cross into
the air. Satan crossed through the ocean between heaven and
earth to enter the air of the sky before he landed in our world.
To be of pollen is to follow the force, of our life.

Women teach us to listen to our own voice. They give us joy,
comfort, justification, and reassurance. Men do this in reverse
and add personal justice and retribution.But with the coming of
the suffrage movement, women began sitting on a fence. More and
more women became borderline mothers represented by the
dichotomy of the good witch and bad witch. The Bad witch is
always trying to conqueror kingdoms or blocking their children
from their fathers. As the bad witch is trying to wrestle with
coming to the father, they prevent their children from getting
there before them. Also the women become concerned with social
status and goal orientation of wealth. They leave behind faith,
hope, and instinct for their children to find on their own.
Raising children is left to others. This is what Mary Popins is
about. This happens in between two World Wars that leave men
reeling with their emotions that come on like a flood. Most
repress them in work, drink, and family. These men became
indoctrinated by the armies concepts of making anyone in
opposition to you non human and the concept of no I in team.
These men returned to a society full of entrenpenaurs who
pursued individual dreams. To advance against these minds they
formed conservative groups to reflect their lives in the
military. Only now is the army debriefing soldiers to return to
the society of the individual. These men come in two types, the
victim and the aggressor.

Those who lived through the battle field at all cost who left
morality or scruples behind and the ones that came home
emotionally and physically injured.

The victims often feels that he never left behind anyone on the
battlefield and wonders why he has been left behind in society.
The aggressor helps no one but himself and makes allegiances
that only buffer his survival interest.

Both are in the grip of strong desires and fears. So men of the
GI generation and their wives sit on the fence at odds with both
sides. Can any of them learn to walk the fence instead. To cross
the razors edge?

In many cases we can not look toward our parents to bring us
across the threshold because they never crossed it on their own.
Finding Nemo is about a father who is crossing that boundary to
catch up to his child. But most parents of this type only cross
over with much resistance and conflict.

For more from The Guide @
Docspond, just click your heels and push the mouse button
back on the colored section.

Reflect upon the following questions, and answer those you feel might be most important for those
who are most concerned about this topic.

QUESTIONNAIRE ON HOW TO COPE WITH SUFFERING

1- If there is a loving God, why do so many Christians and good people have to suffer so much whereas others don’t? What about natural disasters?

2- In suffering, why are some people so sensitive, and others not, over the same event? Give examples.

3- Much suffering is caused by physical pain, so how can one deal with this?

4- Much suffering is caused by emotional pain, so how can one deal with this?

5- Without pain, can we really grow spiritually and mentally? Do we need at least some pain to do this?

a) As we grow, will the pain generally become less and less?

b) Without having experienced pain to some degree, and even in a different area of life, can we really help others?

6- In suffering or pain, why does forgiveness play such an important part in the situation?

7- Do you have to forgive, if you don’t condemn?

8- Can you argue with someone without condemning him or her?

9- Why is forgetfulness of the bitterness so necessary in true forgiveness?

a) Can forgetfulness be accomplished by your thanking God for everything that happens to you?

b) Can forgetfulness be accomplished by empathizing with the person who hurt you?

10- Do you also have to forgive institutions or situations which you’ve condemned in your anger?

11- Is it all right to become angry at God? What happens then?

12- Does prayer really work? Give examples.
a) Is meditation really a form of prayer?

13- Does Bible reading or the memorization of Biblical verses help? Give examples.

14- Faith helps when one is suffering, but what kind of Faith and how does one get this kind of Faith?

15- If you had enough Faith, would you be suffering? If you’re saved, would you be healed?

16- Should one lie in order to prevent another from suffering? Are there other situations in which lying could be acceptable?

17- I know a Christian who has never suffered, despite having some experiences that we all seem to consider as being tragic. Could you explain this? Could you really define what suffering is?

18- As Christians, some feel that we need to suffer to identify with Christ’s suffering, whereas others feel that we shouldn’t suffer, since Christ did the suffering for us. What do you think?

19- Do you feel excessive boredom or the creation of excessive boredom is a sin, and that this can create much suffering?

20- Do you feel that developing a general support group in your Church would help those who are suffering? One might call this a growth group.

21- Comment on some of these suggestions in coping with suffering:

A- Participating in Self-Improvement Programs.
B- Practicing Positive-Thought Recitations.
C- Imagining you’re one of your more Positive Thinking Acquaintances.
D- Doing things for others.
E- Participating in a Support Group.
F- Visiting a Psychologist or a Psychotherapist.
G- Going to a Prayer Group.
H- Human cloning, or organ or gene transplanting.
I- Euthanasia.

If you want an even more Biblical study on suffering turn to “The Book of Job”, or if you want a more Christian-psychological approach turn to “A Road Less Traveled” by M. Scott Peck M.D.

Question on Internet: How do you really cope with suffering? Do you blame God for it? Do you hate God? Are you angry with Him? How do you cope with this hate or anger, or in some way do you accept your suffering?

THE RESPONSES COME FROM 3 CHRISTIAN WEBSITES

A summary of some of the comments that some of the contributors over Internet have made:

1) I’ve done it all, and being angry at God is an acceptable emotion because it shows honesty, and this is what God expects from us. Actually a technically blasphemous ploy used sometimes in counseling is to forgive God, just to stop the tendency to keep blaming God all the time.

2) But we should always trust God, even in the midst of all the suffering we have to endure.

3) Our lives tend to move in cycles. As a great hymn once stated “After the sun, the rain: After the rain, the sun: This is the way of life”. Just treasure the benefits you have at the moment, and remember that God is suffering along with us, and that we should try to learn something from this suffering-.

4) In 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (N.I.V..) it states “Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Jesus Christ” I don’t believe that God actually causes the suffering, but whenever you thank God for everything, even for the suffering, it seems to ease the pain a great deal. In other words, it seems to be a spiritual mechanism for releasing future blessings.

5) Another thought on the subject of suffering is that if all churches try to invest some time into developing in–depth communication growth activities whereby these activities could serve as strong support vehicles for people who are experiencing special life-changing situations, or even in trying to solve ordinary every-day problems, it would be helpful. These groups could be called Support or Growth Groups.

6) In a sense, Jesus was made Perfect through His suffering, and we too can be made perfect though our suffering in that through our suffering we can understand people, and therefore help them, much more effectively because we have gone through many of the same problems. (Hebrews 2:10)

The following are some testimonies on the subject of suffering.

1) John says: I guess you can say that I am some type of an expert when it comes to suffering. Pastoring my first church less than one year I was afflicted with terminal cancer. For six months I battled physical and emotional pain. Then again three years later I once again was afflicted with cancer. This one required that I retire from the ministry. Three years after retirement I came down with kidney then prostrate cancer. Not only do I suffer from cancer, but also from PTSD from Vietnam and Law enforcement. Then I have one wayward daughter that has caused us great sorrow. Living in retirement away from the action is a difficult position for me to be in. I no longer feel needed or appreciated. This by far is the most difficult position for me. I am presently writing my book on suffering, but over all it has increased my faith and made me a better person. God’s word has proved itself to be true in my life. It states “We also glory in tribulation, knowing that tribulation produces perseverence; and perseverence, character, and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Rom 5:5). It is the hope of Christ that makes it possible for us to persevere in times of tribulation and distress. We have an anchor for our soul that rests in the One who has gone before us and conquered. God deserves to be trusted. And when you have this trust and hope you can weather any storm in life.

2) Robert says: While I’ve not had cancer, I find a few paralells similar to my own. After graduating from bible college I took up my first pastoral position. Much of my ministry was in marriage counseling. Five months after taking up the position, I was booted out of my home. My marriage was over. This did not do much for my credibility. Following this, I had most of the Christian world turn on me. I hardly ever to get to see my 2 daughters. My name was smeered in every corner of the world, and after the breakup, I fell into a relationship and now have a baby with this lady. I now have nothing to do with that child. I had no money, car, assets, or home, and had ended up being an inconvenience to a Household out of a need to stay
somewhere…Anywhere. Six months after the breakup, with no one reaching out to my hand that was outstretched, I attempted suicide and was hospitalized. I then have had to live with the condemnation, (not care) of someone who was not emotionally “with it”. Funny how God will really allow you to go through the ringer. But people tend to go to one extreme of two choices. 1) They give up on God altogether, and damn his name, and give their life to Satan, or 2) They come closer to God and end up having a relationship which is undescribable. I guess we both have the choice which way we are to go.

3) Will says : If you assume that because you have failed God once-or even more than once- in the past, He will never use you in the future, you are limiting God. God has the ability to forgive. He has the ability to turn your failures into triumphs. He is able to figure out a place that’s just right for your particular talent or gift. And furthermore, He desires to put you to use in His Kingdom. You may say, “Well, I didn’t refuse a call from God, but I sinned in a major way. God will never be able to use me.” Again you are limiting the ability of God. God can heal your life, restore you, put you back together, and put you back on track with Him, and use you. Trust Him to do that. Just look at the number of people who have been to prison, failed miserably, fallen from grace, suffered great disrepute or a loss of reputation, and God has lifted them up and restored them. Very often, the latter days of their lives are more fruitful for Him than their former days before the failure. God knows our human frailities. He knows how to overcome them and how to work through them, around them, and in them. God knows how to fix our mistakes. The Christian Church is the only army in the world that shoots its own wounded. I have served in the Navy, the Army, 18 months in Vietnam. I was a big city cop and detective, a deputy sheriff. I drove log trucks, and been a minister and traveling evangelist. I have been all over the world, and have met a lot of people. But sadly to say, that I never knew greater discomfort, and let downs, and downright hostility then when I went into the ministry. But I know that we are not fighting against flesh and blood.. Rather against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. I have learned a long time ago, that the only person that
you really have to satisfy is God Himself. And if you are right with Him, nothing else matters. But our God is the God of the first change, and the second, and fifth. He will never turn His back on us. And remember the words of Paul, “Being confident of the very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Phil 1:6). God bless you my brother in Christ.

Corbin says: Most suffering is really a consequence of the gift that God gave us, which is free will. Other suffering might be caused by creation limitations and unseen spiritual conflict. But free will, I believe, is the major culprit. However we absolutely need free will, because without it, we could never choose to love God or each other, which God definitely wants us to do. But with free will, you also have the possibility of making wrong choices, which is really the cause of much of our major sufferings today. An analogy of how unseen Spiritual Warfare could affect our way of life can be seen by how unseen Spywords in a computer can effect the navigational efforts of a mouse attached to a computer.

Corbin Melvin Wright was born in New York City in 1931, grew up on Long Island, graduated from Roanoke College in Virginia with a BA in Political Science, and from New York Theological Seminary with a Masters in Religious Education. Corbin became a committed Christian in 1958, and after a number of years became a committed Ecumenical Christian. Corbin worked as an accountant in various companies for about 25 years in New York City, then moved down to Argentina and worked for about 21 years as a Business English converstionalist teacher with some of the top managers. Corbin also became a Stephen Minister
(trained counselor) while down here. He has been married twice (the last to an Argentine), widowed once, no children, one cat.

If you wish to contact Corbin, you can write to him at (corbinwr@yahoo.com).