Pharmaceutical Sick Care Loves Its Drugs

How dare you!  How dare you!  You're talking smack about my drugs.  They keep me alive.  They maintain my life.  They keep me and my friends from dying.  How dare you!  Just who do you think you are?

I see all the time how people talk about pharmaceutical companies and medical care providers as being evil.  In many respects, there is much truth to it, but I still believe at the heart of all that is good, there are people who want to do the right thing.  Corporate greed and profits of course get in the way and has degraded health care into a dependence upon medications.

Are all medications bad?  I don't think any of us can answer that.  If you're a diabetic, would you consider insulin a bad thing?  Probably not.  Are all antibiotics bad?  Probably not.   Are antibiotics over prescribed and over used?  Absolutely!  I don't want to take one color and paint all medications in one light or another. 

Health Care Follies

I have to admit.  I have not had health insurance since 2003 or sometime around that point.  In fact, I've not had to go to the doctor in so many years, I'm not sure why I would start going now.  I know many people do and many people believe in this, but I'm one of the strange ones when it comes to health care.

Maybe its helped that I've done a trmendous amount of healing work on myself and I just see things differently.  I see what is possible, rather than sumcumbing to what is the norm.  I've had experiences in my life that made me doubt so much of what is pushed in modern day health care.  In all reality, I'm probably one of those that health insurance companies want on their rolls, because I cost very little.

It wasn't always like this for me.  At one time in my life, I suffered from ulcers, migraine headaches, allergies, pains of all types and of course the mother of all health care issues, conversion disorder.  Not long ago I had pulse rate that hovered around 100, high cholesterol that no medication could help and my life struggled with depression, anxiety, and a rash that covered my entire body.

Through all of this, I learned that the power to heal myself did not come from doctors, or pills or new age practices.  I learned that the power was within myself.  It took awhile to see this and it took even longer to begin learning how to fully tap what was already within me.  Now, I'm not saying I am 100% perfect and can heal any ailment within my body, but I will put myself up against any medical or new age procedure any day of the year.  I continue to play with this in my own body as I learn how this actually works.  It isn't exactly easy to repeat in other people.

Killing Ourselves With High Medical Bills

In a recent article in Time Magazine, a detailed account is given of someone experiencing life threatening cancer and not having adequate insurance to cover it.  In this scenario that was presented, the couple did have insurance, but since they were self employed, the policy was not enough to cover the costs of cancer treatment at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.  You can read more of the details in the Time Magazine article, Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us.

Even though we are killing ourselves with high medical bills in this country, I am not trying to vilify MD Anderson Cancer Center.  In fact, I believe they are helping to bring together all facets of healing and health care.  The only thing that bothers me in this article is that their president is also tied financially with some major pharmaceutical companies.  I find it sad that there is this close of relationship between health care services and companies that are profiting from the same thing.  In my mind, it is a conflict of interest and you will have to decide for yourself how you feel about it.

Of course we can sit here all day and blame someone or everyone for the high medical bills.  Regardless of who we blame, each one of us individually are killing ourselves with the state of healthcare in this country.  It is up to each one of us to change how we perceive what health care and healing is, rather than just following the status quo and doing what society dictates we should do.  I am very adamant on this, because I know that while medical care is necessary, it often negates the individual's role

The Truth About Health Care

If you have been following the news lately, you will know that a major ruling just came down today from the Supreme Court.  This ruling was on health care or what some call, ObamaCare.  Depending upon which side of the political isle you fall on, you most likely support or object to this ruling.  I'm not here to discuss the politics of the health care or the Affordable Care Act. 

What I am here to discuss is that everyone views health insurance and health care as one in the same.  We all think that everyone is entitled to health care provided by medical providers and that insurance is how it is funded.  In some ways, I probably would not disagree with this. In fact, it is a basic statement of how things operate currently in our country.  However, if you look around and see the bigger picture, you realize that we as a country see health care in a way that is misguided at best.

Health care is not about going to the doctor in my opinion.  It is about each person learning how to take care of themselves properly and making good choices for their body.  Now, before you claim that you do this, I would caution you to step outside of your own beliefs and paradigms, then attempt to make this claim.  You see, health care is not something that one political group or another influences, it is about what we do individually to take care of ourselves.

False Assumptions In Healing And Clinical Errors

Candy For Medical
Treatment

On KevinMD.com, there was an excellent article on clinical errors.  While I realize this was written more for the medical community, it applies to healing and alternative practices.  I'll let you read the full article but I'm just going to highlight a few that stuck out to me as I was reading it.  The following is my own take and perception on these items.  They are not meant to be aligned with the article on KevinMD.com that I reference. 

1)  The Placebo is just as powerful as modern medicine.  While many pharmaceutical companies do not highlight the effect of placebos, they often heal just as well as the medication or treatment.

2)  Many diseases do not all of the sudden show up.  There is a progression over time.  They are gradual.  Identifying what is going on in the person's life prior to the symptoms appearing is critical.  Learning how to help the client change their life is more likely to offer long term healing, rather than a quick fix.

Fear Is The Weapon Of Control

Fear is alive and rampant in our society and every day life. Most of us go through life, not even recognizing just how intimately involved we are with fear. It is as if we are having a secret affair with fear, yet no one including our self knows about it.

Where does fear show up? There are so many ways that it is hard to list them all. However, let me start with some of the top ones that I see displayed throughout our society.


The Government
The government which is by the people, for the people and of the people or namely, each one of us, is one of the greatest sources of fear. Through our "boogieman" that has been created, we are scared into complacency. Since our government has the truth and information that we are all led to believe in, we succumb to the fear that the "boogieman" is around the corner, hiding and waiting to attack us. One could argue that this is truly the case but just as I want to believe that, I so remember the drills in elementary school of getting under the desk in case the communists came and bombed us. Of course, I never did know what a communist was but I was taught to be very afraid of it. Today, we have replaced the communists with other "boogieman" as fear is the weapon of control.



The Media
One of the biggest purveyors of fear is the media. They have this down to a science. The stories are about the most sensationalized events. Often, they talk about the what if scenarios and the calamity that would follow if a fictionalized event unfolded. Day in and day out, the media does this with graphic images that captivate our brain and seize every logical thought we hold. The repetition of these stories of calamity adds to the imprint of fears that we live with in our day. In fact, the fears that are reported begin to feed off of one another until they take on a life of their own. Again, fear is the weapon of control.


The Church
While I realize many people follow the tenants of church, at the heart of religious institutions, fear is used to control the masses. The fear of dying and spending an eternity in a lake of fiery hell is a strong motivation for people to donate to the church, follow without question what they say or hold the church and its leaders up on pedestals. I realize that many people who go to church and attend religious institutions claim to think logically for themselves but in many ways, they are only fooling themselves. If you are an observer, you will see quickly how much fear rules the lives of the church followers. Of course, this does not just stop with the church but it has permeated the new age practices of the day. Fear is the weapon of control in the church.


The Economic Markets
In our day and age where the economy and the markets have taken a beating, we are taught that if we don't do our part and spend our money, the economic conditions of this country will decline. I am still mesmerized by the movie, I Am, where the person was demonstrating how the Stock Markets were created as if they were a human entity. When in fact, we as humans created this system and we control it. Yet, we live in fear of this system as it appears to control each one of us, whether we invest or we don't invest our money. As I go around a city on trash day, or to the thrift stores, or even view the stuff being given away online, I see the evidence of what consumerism does to us as a people. We have so much stuff and we are so attracted to our stuff that we are losing sight of what really matters. The fear of the economy has attacked us and I don't believe it is for the best. Again, fear is the weapon of control to keep us spending more so that the collective "we" don't let the economy crumble!


The Medical Establishment
One of the greatest weapons of fear in the medical establishment is that the medical establishment holds all the answers to our health. What happens when you get a cold or get sick, you run to the medicine cabinet or the pharmacy or health care provider and get something to take, to get rid of what it is that you have. Unfortunately, many things that make us sick are a result of stress, overworking and past traumas that have went unresolved. Yet, we don't stop and take an inventory of our life or see what may be linked to these moments. All we do is run to someone or something to relieve us from what we fear most, our health. Today, there are drugs and procedures and practices for everything that promise to make you better. The sad part is, unless we go in and do what we need to for our body, all the health care practices in the world will not make us well. They will just mask the underlying problem until something else comes along and gets our attention.

I could go on and on about the fears that permeate every part of our society. They are the weapons of control and if we don't begin to become aware of them, they will be our biggest enemies. It does not mean we have to throw everything away that we have come to know and believe in our lives. However, if we do not evolve and grow in awareness of reality, than none of it will matter any longer. If we continue on the path we are on, we will succumb to the fears and it will no longer be just a weapon of control. It will be one and the same.


Further Reading:
1) Fear Not (Blog Post Mar 26, 2011)
2) The Fear Of The Climb (Blog Post Sep 28, 2010)



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Clutter In Our Life, Part 6

Clutter #6 - Health care, Doctors, and Medicine
Part 6 of 10

At one time, I thought the only way you became healthy was going to your doctor for a checkup and then running to the pharmacy to fill the prescriptions the doctor prescribed. Of course, after some life changing moments I went through, I woke up and realized that I was chasing an illusion instead of something based upon reality.

Doctors, medicine and health care do have their place. Please do not misunderstand me! However, when we fail to take care of our bodies and we fail to heal ourselves from our past, going to the doctors for answers is like jumping off the edge of a cliff and hoping we'll fly like the birds and butterflies do.

We as humans pound our bodies to death each and every day, then we wonder why we get the pains we do, the heart disease, diabetes, cholesterol problems, as well as anxiety, depression and various other conditions. Most of these things are a result of us ignoring our bodies and numbing ourselves to what we feel.

If we spent as much time taking care of ourselves as we do listening to the medication advertisements on TV, we might all be surprised at how much healthier we become. Our country is spending records amount on so called health care and in reality, we are no more healthy than we were 50 years ago.

Taking a pill or drug to treat one symptom so affects some other part of the body that the next thing we find is we are treating another system of the body. It becomes a viscious circle until one day we will find that that drugs and pills have done us in.

Come back tomorrow for part 7 of this series, Clutter In Our Life. Below are the various parts to this series that you can read as well.

Clutter In Our Life Series
- Introduction
Part 1: Spending our hours watching TV news
Part 2: Keeping Ourselves Constantly Busy
Part 3: Numbing Ourselves
Part 4: Following Blindly
Part 5: Food Choices
Part 6: Health care, Doctors, and Medicine
Part 7: Hydrating Our Bodies
Part 8: Thinking We Have The Answers
Part 9: Exercise Is For Another Day
Part 10: We Fail To Evolve
- The 30 Day Challenge


Blog Post & Images (c) 3/20/11 Don Shetterly - use by permission only
http://www.donshetterly.com

Clutter In Our Life, Part 2

Clutter #2 - Keeping Ourselves Constantly Busy
Part 2 of 10

Most of us go to a daily job or if we don't, we find ways to keep ourselves busy almost 24x7. Jobs are important but many times we fail to give ourselves down time after the day is done. These days with the mobile cellular devices and laptop computers, we are hardly ever disconnected from our jobs. There is always that email to answer or that person needing to have a question answered.

We live in a day of instant everything and 30 seconds is a long time for anyone to wait anymore. Than we get home and one child has this event to go to, another has another event. We've got to figure out how to get something to eat for everyone, do household chores, take care of a million other tasks and yet try to get a few hours of sleep before the next day starts up.

Each day we do this, we run a negative balance in the account of our lives and if we don't stop during the day and push the reset button, we travel at lightening speeds for all kinds of health care and body issues.

Come back tomorrow for part 3 of this series, Clutter In Our Life. Below are the various parts to this series that you can read as well.

Clutter In Our Life Series
- Introduction
Part 1: Spending our hours watching TV news
Part 2: Keeping Ourselves Constantly Busy
Part 3: Numbing Ourselves
Part 4: Following Blindly
Part 5: Food Choices
Part 6: Health care, Doctors, and Medicine
Part 7: Hydrating Our Bodies
Part 8: Thinking We Have The Answers
Part 9: Exercise Is For Another Day
Part 10: We Fail To Evolve
- The 30 Day Challenge


Blog Post & Images (c) 3/20/11 Don Shetterly - use by permission only
http://www.donshetterly.com

Fear is Real

Fear is a real part of our life. In many ways, if we learn how to embrace the fears that are present in our everyday life, we can bring about tremendous growth and awareness for our self. For all too long in my life, fear ruled my every moment and I ran from things that were more of an illusion than a reality. As I learn to embrace that which comes from the struggle within me, I become more conscious and aware of all that I can be.

In our world, fear is alive and well. So many people have been wounded in life by various events and these events are holding an illusion over them that fear is the norm. We see it by what is shown on TV and talked about in the news. The pundits and talk show hosts enlarge the concept of fear to draw people into their shows, thus improving ratings and advertiser dollars.

We also see fear as being a strong motivator behind the ego of politics, power and control. If each of us would stop and open our eyes for just a moment, we would be shocked at what is truly going on. However, with the mass of our population living in fear, it is hard to identify how are minds are filtering out that which is before us.

Fear even shows up in our every day life when it comes to the way we deal with others and the way we care for our children. Even our body pains and the way we take care of ourselves physically are so engulfed in the foundation of fear. Health care is more about running from or trying to mask the pain (get rid of the pain or condition) than it is about going into fear and reclaiming that which is within us. Yet, we as a society are so locked into the power of fear that we struggle to even believe this is a remote possibility.

Our lives are touched in many ways by fear and the more we succumb to its power, the more we are holding ourselves back from finding our true potential. Society and civilization require each of us to step up and become all that we were meant to be but the more we walk hand in hand with fear, the more we bring darkness to all those we meet.

My attempt of writing about fear isn't to bring about more fear within each of us. It is instead a way for me to help others understand just how prevalent fear is in our lives and the power it holds over us. I have fought all my life to overcome so many fears I grew up with that I realize first hand just how difficult it is to not let fear rule my life. My hope is that everyone I meet will begin to understand a little more just how fear has a hold of our species and will work to begin recognizing it. Fear can be a powerful motivating agent of change in our lives or it can take us down. May we have the courage to open our eyes and see fear for what it truly is in our life and in the world.

Fear is...

• Being afraid of the unknown
• Something that feels real but may not be
• Expectation that something around you is bad
• Not being fully aware of what reality truly is
• the absence of fact that can be proved
• Illusion of reality
• Escape from that which we feel and know
• Larger than life
• When we find ourselves lacking in self confidence
• Arises from our wounded self
• Ignorance
• Following the masses
• Unjustified but seemingly real situations
• Distortion of what is truly present
• Seeing an image that is a twisting of the facts
• Facts that do not add up while logic is thrown aside
• Listening to the illusion of what others say
• Not following your own convictions
• Not being connected to your own body
• Being unable to recognize when it is present
• closing the door to truth and knowledge
• Not being open to awareness and growth
• Thinking that you have all the answers

(c) 11/12/10 by Don Shetterly - Use by permission only

Freedom From Pain

It is so easy it seems to resist things in life. While resistance sounds difficult, it is by far something we do frequently as humans. This may be through our thoughts, our bodies and even in our spiritual growth and overall learning in our lives. We do this without notice and we do this without giving it much thought.

When we resist, we can see evidence of it in the body. Many people would describe the resistance as tight, tense or painful areas in the body. It may show up through physical illness, unexplained medical conditions or common things like headaches, flu, colds. It may be one of the many symptoms drug companies use to increase their profits. Resistance as I found out in my own personal life may even be itching and rashes. We all know to some degree the things where we hold resistance in our own bodies. Sometimes we are more aware and conscious of these things. At other times, we are disconnected from these parts of our life.

At one time, I would get migraine headaches, stomach problems such as a nervous stomach, and tense muscles. These things would attack me as if there was no tomorrow. During these times, I would visit the doctor looking for help to get me out of pain. They would prescribe Imitrex for the headaches, Tagamet for the nervous stomach or give me muscle relaxers, all in an attempt to help heal my pains. At least at the time, I thought this was the only way a person could take care of themselves. I thought this was what health care was all about and staying healthy.

I went through some very difficult moments in life suffering from these conditions. Each time they would occur, I would question myself, as to why they were showing up. It took me many years to begin realizing and learning that the true source of my pain was resistance. Of course, the resistance was often cloaked in fear to throw me off the trail and confuse me. Fear, as I have learned, is much more powerful than we often allow ourselves to understand.

Once I began to learn that much of the pain I experienced in life was resistance, my life began to change. These things that I suffered from became messages that my body was giving me. They were helping me to change, evolve and grow as a human. They were helping me to consciously grow in my own awareness. It wasn't just about the pain that I was encountering at that moment in my life. Without the pain, my knowledge of so much in life would have been limited. My growth and evolution would have been limited.

If you're overwhelmed in life, all you really want is for someone to give you answers and take you out of pain. You want the magic solution in life that will do this. In those moments of pain and suffering, not much else matters. There is a health care industry in existence today that works to take us away from the pain. In fact, there are many new age, alternative therapies out there that attempt to do this as well.

Reaching for the pill bottles or hanging by every word a doctor or new age guru tells you, most likely will do nothing for you in the long term. Yes, it may make you temporarily feel good, but it is a short term fix that is nothing more than an illusion. It will rob you blind while leaving you smiling that something something was actually done.

The suffering and pain we experience are there for a reason. They are messages given to us by our bodies to help us. Masking them, avoiding them or hoping they will go away is a false prophet selling false illusions of magic and snake oil.

Resistance is not allowing these messages into our awareness and consciousness. Whatever they may be, there is some reason they are showing up. There is some fear that is present in our minds. Only we know as individuals what our bodies and minds are trying to tell us. While resistance may be one way we deal with things in our life, it will not solve our problems. It will not make our pain go away.

We must go into the pain if we wish to let go. The answers we need are within us. While others may help support and guide our way to discovery, it is up to us to stop resisting. It is up to us to consciously choose to allow these pains to exist. We are the explorers of our own body and we are the ones that will discover our own truths.

For when we allow our pain and suffering, it is at that point we are reclaiming our power. We are overcoming the fear that is present and we are truly healing ourselves. By going into these pains, we are evolving in conscious awareness connecting to our minds and bodies. It is there that we will find freedom from our pain and our suffering. It is all up to us and how much we allow this to happen. The power to do this resides within ourselves and if we tap into it, the limits of what we can do for our lives is beyond any limits known to man.


(Above Picture taken of Space Shuttle Launch - (c) 08/08/07)


*Read other articles on Mind Body Thoughts Blog

Masking The Healing

We all have times when we come up against physical situations that challenge us to the core of our being. It may be anything from hip pain, back pain to a rash, headache, allergies or any condition you can name. Sometimes these conditions are debilitating and leave us screaming beside the road of life.

The strange thing that we as a culture subscribe to is we just want to flee the pain. The pain or difficulty of the situation is more than we can take in our lives. While this is understandable, we are often misled by the treatment options available to us. We just look for any way possible to get rid of or mask the pain as if it is no longer present in our lives.

We actually go to great lengths in our lives to flee pain. Through visits to the doctor, test and procedures, surgeries and medications, we beg for someone to alleviate our pain, heal our symptoms and fix us. We beg for someone to give a name to the condition that we are experiencing so we'll be able to know without a doubt, just what it is we are dealing with.

As much as we try to convince ourselves that we have somehow helped our situation, we are not curing ourselves of the conditions we face. There is much profit and power derived from these pains and conditions and so the illusions are propagated throughout our culture and society. In fact, they have become the norm in every day life and anything outside of these advertised healing methods give the appearance that they will not help.

Even though we spend billions of dollars each year on health care and healing, diseases and suffering are still present. It almost seems that new medical conditions are showing up every time we turn around. No matter how much money we pump into the health care system or how much we spend on doctor visits, medications and procedures, we are not necessarily a healthier people.

A long time ago, our culture and many others found more natural ways to heal the body. If someone was sick, we were not pushing ourselves to continue our life without interruption. We knew how to take time and rest and relax so that our body could heal itself. Today, we take numerous meds convincing ourselves that we are somehow treating and curing our illness.

If these medications and medical procedures are really curing us, then why are these health situations still around? I am not convinced anyone could argue successfully that we are truly healing people from all these medical conditions.

While I am aware you can mask the pain, this is not healing. Most in our society do not believe these words. Even if they give lip service that they do, just take notice of where an individual turns when the pain gets rough. We cling to what the medical establishment and our families tell us, acting as if it is the only hope we have. We completely disregard that which is within us as we give away our power to someone else. We fail to see just how powerful a role that we play in healing our own lives.

It has been said that our cells have the genetic cod for replication of normal and healthy cells. yet, we see just the opposite of that. Of course, when stress and trauma are allowed to reside within the body, our normal cell functions are disrupted. The stored energy of past events alter how the cell replicates and functions. If we release the trauma, we unleash the cells and the body to function in the way they are intended. If we hide ourselves from the trauma and stress, they we alter our biology.

By introducing some outside agent to mask the condition in our body, we are not healing ourselves. We are simply putting a mask over our eyes in hopes we will not notice the pain. We are hoping the pain will disappear. In the short term, the pain may disappear. However, if you give it some time, it will find a way to show up again. The next time it comes knocking in life, it may be much more difficult than it was before.

As hard as it is to believe, healing does not come from outside sources. There may be individuals and procedures that helps us connect with healing within our bodies but they do not heal us. For true healing, either on our own or with the help of a safe person, we need to connect with the source of pain in our lives. When we connect with the source of pain, only then will we find the way back to health. We can mask this, avoid it, explain it and try to believe that these connections do not exist. Of course, in the end, we will most likely learn we are just fooling ourselves. To make these connections does offer ourselves so much more freedom than we can imagine.

*Read other articles on Mind Body Thoughts Blog

How Awake Are We?

How awake are we? This is an important question to ask one's self. I'm not referring to hitting the alarm clock and pulling ourselves out of bed to start our day. I'm not referring to being asleep in the night time or awake as in the day time. This is the basic question of our lives that is philosophical, yet very real.

Through The Media:
If you watch the news and follow the accounts of what is happening in the world according to the different media outlets, there is a good chance that being asleep is normal routine for your life. Most of what is reported in the media is not balanced, not factual and not fair and balanced as some outlets would suggest. There is no more balance in the far left reporting than there is in the far right reporting. CNN, MSNBC, and FOX NEWS all have their biases and their own pools of thought that yield to their agendas. Yet, many millions of Americans take the news to be the authority on what is happening in the world. We even have pundit after pundit now analyzing the way we should look at news.

It is not a world that allows us to wake up no matter how much we may think it is. Try turning the news off for a month and only reading some headlines if you feel the need to know what is going on. If you tune out all the extra stuff and just focus on the main thoughts in a headline, you'll be surprised at how your view changes to the news. Try turning off the TV news and you'll begin to breathe much easier and find more enjoyment and peace in life. If you don't believe me - try it and see if you can prove me wrong!

Our Daily Activities
Another major area where we tend to "sleep in life" is that of what we choose to do in our day. Time and time again, I see people who are running to and from all kinds of activities for their children, all kinds of events and various other things as well as all the running in high speed that they do in their jobs. There is never a moments rest. All is about getting to this place and doing this or that, having this day filled up and that weekend booked with things. Granted, some of these things are good things but when they get to the point where you have no down time and no rest in a day or even in a week, they become interference and noise in our lives.

Our bodies need the down time and the rest. We were not meat to multitask forever and ever in our lives. The brain and the body can not rest and repair itself when we're running in high gear. Try taking a look at your schedule for a week and see if you cannot cut in half all the things you do. Give yourself some down time where you might just go for a walk, or sit in a park or maybe read a book, take a bath or some other restful activity. One that does not involve the TV would be very important in these down times. And at the end of the week, see how you feel and see how life seems to you. I'm willing to bet that you'll see a difference in your life and things that you thought were helpful and important may appear differently.

Health Care
Another area where virtually most of us are asleep is in the area of our health. We tune into the media and health care ads to see what it is that we should do to keep our lives healthy. Some of us might consider the route of exercise as being the way we keep our self healthy. While this does help, health is much more than that. Some of us might be looking for a drug that helps some infliction that we face in our life or maybe a term that describes a condition we face. We feel that is healthy. Some of us feel that test after test prescribed by the medical community gives us the edge on preventive measures while in some ways, they are masking the true source of what may be going on.

Yes, some medical procedures are warranted and one should always make informed decisions but so many of us follow the medical establishment blindly because a Doctor makes some statement, or a internet site makes a claim or there is some "research trial" that suggests it is so. Do you know just how much research is done that is not being truthfully and honestly reported? Some of us might think that taking a flu shot is the best way to stay healthy when in fact, it is in all reality introducing the toxin into our system. I'm not advocating that all shots and vaccines are necessarily bad but I am urging people to open their eyes and be 100 times more informed than they are.

If you think I've fallen off my rocker, try to consider this? Listen to all the side effects of the drug commercials and in fact list them on a piece of paper. Now, take some time to ponder what these are. I'm sure you'll begin to see that some of these drugs can be more harmful than good. Realize to that with each drug that helps to alleviate some symptom in your body, it means that some other part of you is being turned off which of course leads to an imbalance in your body that will require further drugs or treatments. That's a mind blowing thought if you think about it.

Spirituality
One other big way people are asleep is through their spirituality. Yes, as spiritual as people want to be to themselves and the world, they are often asleep. Whether it is one church denomination or another or some spiritual self help group or even some new age/spiritualism thought pattern, they are all acquainted with being asleep to some degree. I'm often amazed at how one church feels they have more figured out than the next and they are the ones going to heaven while the others are going to be lost in Hell. I've even seen churches where clapping, instruments and certain activities are ok while it being considered wrong and sinful in others. Oh how I remember one church we went to that the church split up because some people liked to clap in a worship service while others thought it was immoral.

I'm more amazed at just how the new age spiritual movement tries to flee some of the teachings of the mainline churches. In it, they think that they have reached a higher enlightenment because they don't do things like the main denominational churches do. Yet, if they truly looked at what they did, they would quickly notice that their vocabulary and customs mirror that which is in the churches. Yes, there may be differences but if you look at the root of these things, you'll see the same elements in the churches.

Again, I ask you to take a look at yourself and see what is similar and what is different. Don't just follow someone's teachings or some book's teachings and treat it as the entire basis for life. That is being asleep. Question everything that is being taught and realize that much of what is being said, is nothing more than that person's own interpretation of what spirituality is all about. Spirituality is much more then following dogma or church teachings. Most of us limit spirituality though to something that has been regurgitated over and over throughout the ages without giving a thought to what is the true meaning behind our spirituality. I've got a feeling that there are going to be many surprised people one of these days when heaven and hell don't appear in the form they were taught.

All too often, we as humans look to others for our source of inspiration, knowledge and answers. We feel that the answers we seek to the conscious and unconscious questions of life, lie in what others tell us. In fact, the answers we all seek to life are within ourselves. This involves the spiritual, the physical and the mental. We all have the power within us to do much more than we realize and to understand much more than we allow ourselves to. Instead, we take the easy road and wait for someone out there to show us the way, to take us out of pain and to make up for our own insecurities. However, in doing so, we have given up the most basic part of our human nature. We have made ourselves powerless when in fact we are powerful.

Stepped On Toes
I realize that I've probably stepped on many toes here and I'm sure to those that read this, many are saying - yeah right - I don't do that or this writer is just not aware of what I know. You can take whatever road you want to take after you read this but at least consider how your life matches up to some of the things I've written about. I'm not asking you to take my word for this. I'm just hoping that you'll think about these things in an honest and truthful way to see if there is something within these words that sparks something in your brain. If you're not able to get to that place, than just hold this in the back of your mind for a future time in life where it will become more valuable to you.

It's In The Body
Many things that I now know in my life came to me many years ago. When I first heard them, I scoffed at them and tried to distance my life from them. I thought, how crazy can someone be to even think about these things. Yet, I have been shown things through very physical ways in my body that I could never understand before. When you see things through your own physical body and not as just some "unknown concept", you can know for sure that there is something to it. Too many follow too many unknowns when in all reality, the answers for most of what we need lies within us. That's all the further we have to go. If you can experience it in your body, than it is real.

Swine Flu Paranoia

I received this picture in an email the other day and I have no idea who created it. Whoever they are, you did a wonderful job depicting the paranoia surrounding the swine flu. If the creator of this picture sees this post, please let me know who you are so I can give proper credit to you.

While I know the general population feels that health care is about taking shots, vaccines, medications and having all types of medical procedures done, there are other ways. If we continue to subscribe to this paradigm, we are not making ourselves more healthy. We are avoiding the inevitable. I know there are many out there that feel this is the only way, and I know that many would not listen to much outside of that but I'm asking that you do not accept the status quo as the only route. Step away for a moment, from all that society, the news and those you have always listened to are telling you and seek out that which is a powerful force of healing and health within our bodies. You need not go any further in discovery than looking within yourself.

Death by Medical Error

Something to think about


The IOM (Institute of Medicine) estimates that between 44,000 and 98,000 people die each year from medical errors.





Even at the lowest rate of 44,000, it is higher than the annual mortality from

• Motor Vehicle Accidents (43,458)
• Breast Cancer (42,297)
• AIDS (15,516)

Medical Errors are the eighth leading cause of death in the United States.

A study by AHRQ (Agency For Healthcare Research and Quality) found that just one type of error, preventable adverse drug events, caused 20% of the yearly patient injuries or deaths in the hospitals that were studied.

I learned a long time ago, the hard way, that doctors in all of their testing and science and education do not have the answers. If a human does not search out through their own wisdom and knowledge in conjunction with modern health care that is available, than they are only blindly being led along life's path as sheep heading to pasture.

There is so much more we can do as humans in our own health care that does not require drugs, surgeries and billions being spent. However, if the first thing we do when we suffer any type of physical condition is rush towards the status quo in medical care, that we have given up on some of the most valuable cures in our life - that is the healing power within the human body and the awakening to so much more.

Don't wait until you are sick or in pain to start seeking the most healthful route for your life. Begin today listening to your body and taking appropriate steps to take care of yourself. Only you will know what is best for you to do and if you take those steps, your body will be a much happier place to inhabit. Not all health care comes in a pill, a syringe or a surgery!

Health Care

I continue to be amazed at what our country, society and world views as "health care". If you say "health care", the first thing that comes to the mind of most people is going to a doctor for check ups, tests, medications and procedures. Ok, it might include a few other things to a few other people, but mostly that's what is portrayed in this world.

While there is a need for doctors and medicine and health care as described, that is only half of the picture. I know the medical association, the doctors, the pharmaceutical companies do not want you to think otherwise. For if you do, their corporate profits will go down.

Contrary to what 99% of the population thinks, there are so many other things that one can do to take care of their health. Yet, those things are in the minority and somewhat sampled on an occasional basis. And if you do not agree, just take a moment and look around you to see what the vast majority of people are doing for medical care. That is where the proof is to what I am saying.

In order for us to shift the paradigm that we have all fallen into, we have to examine some basic facts.

• #1 Much of our life experiences including our past, influence our present moments. If we do not deal with the past, it will deal with us. That is a plain, pure and simple and a proveable fact!
• #2 We often ignore the true message of the pain or health condition we are facing because it is easier to pop a pill, than to deal in the nitty gritty stuff of our life. Sometimes pills are needed in certain situations but they should not be the first thing we turn to.
• #3 We often make much more out of the situation then we need to because often (I'm not going to say always or 100% of the time) but often there is some emotional, mental or spiritual side to whatever medical situation we are facing. There is more to the picture than meets the eye.
• #4 We often feel solace and comfort in placing a label on the condition we have. However, the danger in this is that now we live up to that label after we find out all we can about it. We may not realize we do this but often labels we put on ourselves or our conditions hold us back more than they help us.
• #5 The mind is extremely powerful in healing our body if we allow it to do this. The placebo effect is now being found through research to do as much healing in physical ailments as the actual drugs themselves.
• #6 As a culture, we have relied on research to provide us with the answers and solutions that we need to either help treat ourselves or our loved ones. Yet, research is a big business with many dollars being thrown around and in order to evaluate the research, we need to follow the money trail. In following the money trail, analysis of the research results can be evaluated more accurately. Research and statistics do not necessarily mean that the conclusions are 100% accurate.
  
• #7 Fear is one of the most common culprits for making seeing eyes blind and by that, fear rules this world in so many ways and it blinds us to what is really and truly going on. Fear is valid when you are running from the tiger but fear has no place when you are trying to discover the intricacies of your body, the world around you and the universe.
  
• #8 Being with pain is very difficult whether it is your own or someone very close to you. As humans (especially when we have allowed fear to come into our lives), we struggle to be with someone or our self that is in pain. It is a natural part of our biological lives but when it becomes the sole arbitrator of our life or our loved ones, than we have lost site of the possibilities that exist.
  
• #9 Supplements and health drinks and potions and snake oil are widely used in the world by people who believe they will work. Often they cost so much money and while there is much science and research to back up the claims, these products fail to live up to the expectations. Remember the placebo effect? Remember to, that even in these so called "alternative health" means, you need to follow the money trail and evaluate them accordingly. Even with expensive price tags and miraculous claims, these things are not always what they seem to be. Look at them and evaluate them through open eyes that do not close.
  
• #10 Possibilities are endless! Let me repeat that. Possibilities are endless! Be careful, locking yourself into one paradigm thinking that this holds all the answers for you. For when you are thinking this way, you have given up on the possibilities that exist.
  
• #11 The answers we need are within us. In our society we fail to listen to ourselves, our bodies and our thoughts. We fail to connect to that which is within us. Within each one of us is a master healer. When was the last time, you listened to yourself and I mean truly listened to yourself? For when we do not listen to ourselves (to thine own self be true), we give our power up to someone else and we lose so much of the potential that is right within our bodies, our minds and our spirits.
• #12 Consider what is going on in your life the next time you get an ache or a pain or something seems off. Often what is happening in your life will show up in some physical way within your body. Have you ever heard someone say, "my back is killing me" as they over exert themselves without rest, or maybe my "legs are tired/hurt to move" when they are struggling to make a decision of their path in life? Do I need to say any more or is the picture clear?
  

Each one of us needs to evaluate what is best for our lives. If we do not take the time each day to listen to our bodies, to go in and clean out the closets of our lives and to give ourselves rest, than how can we expect to be healthy inhabitants of our own bodies?

Health care is not about procedures and taking pills. Health care is about getting to know your body in every way possible and then listening to your inner self in finding the most potential for your life that you can. There is so much more out there than the advertisements show us each and every day. We've become people with eyes that are closed when we so badly need to open our eyes and claim everything we can.

The potential exists and the possibilities are endless. How much will you close your eyes to? How much will you allow yourself to open your eyes and see?