Do Something Special With Leap Year Day

2/29/12
Leap Year

While I know we really don't get another day in life, the way the calendar is aligned, there is an extra day this year. It is leap year! I'm amused by it and think it gives us an extra day to do something special in life. We could all take a day and think about our impact on the world.

There is a site that explains more about Leap Year at http://www.timeanddate.com/date/leapyear.html if you want to learn and understand more. I can only wonder what it is like for someone who was born on February 29 and technically only gets to celebrate a birthday once every four years.

Anyway, I thought I would just write a lighthearted blog post today because I find leap year to be cool. It just makes me stop and think about time and how we either use it to our benefit or we waste it. It helps me stop and think about what I do with the time I have been given.

Child Abusers And Rapist Take Away Your Control

Child Abusers And Rapists
Take Away Your Control

I was watching an old episode of Doogie Howser, MD (Neil Patrick Harris) on the HUB channel. We like Doogie Howser! He's so cool. The episode of this show was on a topic where Doogie opened the door one evening at home and was met with someone pointing a gun at him. They were robbed, but not physically hurt. Of course, after this, they depict the fear of the trauma that Doogie went through.

As Doogie is considering buying a gun to protect himself, the shooting range owner says something to the effect of, what did the robbers take from you that really mattered. It wasn't the items in your house because they can be replaced. It wasn't your physical well being because you weren't shot. The thing they took was the control. They took away his control.

Right Brain Is Our Future According To Oprah Super Soul Sunday

A Whole New Mind
By Daniel Pink

I just happened to go and turn the TV on to the OWN channel and it was about the time Super Soul Sunday was coming on. In the first segment, Oprah was interviewing, Daniel Pink, the author of the A Whole New Mind. Essentially, Daniel is a left brain person that sees a future where it will belong to right brain people.  He feels that things have already tilted in our society towards right brain people.

His premise is that many of the left brain tasks that are currently being done today, can either be done by a computer or farmed out to people all over the world. It is really not a necessity any more or special to be left brain dominant because it is over saturated in our population.

There is nothing wrong with left brain people. In fact, they are just as needed as right brain people. However, left brain people will need to adapt to some of the right brain functions if they are to survive and thrive in this world in the future.

Yesterday Does Not Dictate Tomorrow

Corey says yesterday does
not dictate tomorrow!

All too often we go through life carrying the emotional baggage of pains we have faced in our life from one day to the next day. Sometimes we are aware of this taking place and other times, we act as if our baggage is invisible. Many times we feel that we have dumped the baggage along the way, only to discover that we are still clinging to it.

Until we realize that we are carrying the baggage of yesterday, into the future of tomorrow, we'll never truly find our self. For if we keep carrying this baggage, then well become tired and weary as we struggle along. While we may attempt to convince our self and others that we have made it, there is a good chance that if we look at our hands, we'll see them clasped around our emotional pains.

We don't have to let yesterday dictate our tomorrow. In fact, we have the option at any time of growing and evolving through the painful emotions we once experienced. It is all up each one of us individually to do this. It is important to note that this is a process that unfolds with time, not a one time magic moment that makes everything disappear.

Message To Brain Is Cancel

Message To Brain Is Cancel

One of the things I have been learning lately from various sources is how to get my brain to stop the chatter of loops that do me no good, and think about things that are helpful. My brain can go down into the depths of despair so quickly and sometimes stay there. Often it is a struggle to pull myself back out and I'm sure that is a result of the depression that I still struggle with in my life.

Yet, the thing that is beginning to help me the most is to just stop my brain when I catch it going into the places that I do not want it to go. It isn't always easy to do this, but if I can recognize that I am doing this, it is half the battle. Once you catch yourself being overtaken by the chatter of the negative brain, all you have to do is tell yourself to stop.

Telling yourself to stop appears differently for different people. Each of us needs to learn what works for us. The basic message to the brain is CANCEL or STOP or ENOUGH. These things are your attempt to get your brain to stop long enough for another neural pathway to engage. Another way to state this is that by stopping the message to your brain and allowing a new message to begin, you are rewiring the brain.

Pain Helps Get Our Attention

Pain Helps Get
Our Attention

I keep running across a recurring theme lately in regards to pain.  These are not new concepts to me, but I feel they are trying to get my attention.  As I was reading on page 157 of "My Stroke Of Insight" by Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, the message once again appeared.  Just as she stated, I know pain helps get our attention.

Here is the quote that I especially liked.  "Pain is the tool our cells use to communicate to our brain that there is trauma somewhere in our body.  Our cells stimulate our pain receptors in order to get our brain to focus and pay attention."  All I can say is EXACTLY!

All too often, we focus on ways to get rid of the pain, rather than listening to the pain.  Yes, I know that some are probably saying, but I can't take the pain anymore.  I hear you.  I've been there!  However, the pain is not the enemy.  In many ways, it is our friend.  The more we connect to it, the more we will dissipate the energy of the pain.

So What's In Your Food Pantry

What's In Your
Food Pantry?

If you have not had a chance to read yesterday's blog post, Do You Consume Too Much Sugar (2/22/12), take a moment and go read this blog post. It will help what is written here to make more sense. Even if you think you know what is in your food pantry, I've got a feeling you may be surprised by the ingredients if you look at individual items.

Even though we try to buy healthy food, I am still amazed at just what they put into these food products. It really makes me wonder about the intelligence of humans. Most likely as you will find, I was surprised at just what was in our food pantry.

So take a moment, after you have read the previous blog post, and take an inventory of the food products in your house. See which ones have sugar, high fructose corn syrup and various other substances that may not be helpful to the human body. If you are unsure of something, do a Google search on it and see what it is. This may very likely surprise you.

Please feel free to list what you find and learned in the comments below. I would love to know as well because you might just be teaching myself and others something we don't already know. Please don't use the comments to promote some product, but give it a genuine effort to share what is in your food pantry. Help enlighten everyone through what you learn. Let's make this a group effort!

Do You Consume Too Much Sugar

Do You Consume Too
Much Sugar?

These days, so many people eat so much sugar. Some of it we can easily understand in what we eat and the rest of it, we may not be aware. How many labels of the food products that you buy, do you read and understand? The bottom line is that we eat far more sugar than we need.

According to a program that aired (2/17/12) on ScienceFriday.com of NPR, UCSF pediatrician Robert Lustig states that sugar is the main cause of the obesity epidemic and metabolic diseases we face in our country. His premise is that we are eating far too much sugar for our body to take in and adequately use or need.

Judgement Is The Absence Of Love

Judgement - Love's Absence

Some days I have to shake my head at what humans do to one another. Some days, I cannot understand why we do what we do. It is often beyond belief, how we judge one another or hold one another up the ideals we have in our mind. In my mind, I see this judgement as the absence of love.

Everywhere you turn, you can see this in action. Just take a look at comments that get posted on news articles or even what fills our news and politics today. Look at how we hold someone's life up in an almost god like way, even though they may have suffered greatly and made horrible choices. Consider how we view those around us as to who we consider worthy of our attention and those who we do not. Think about how we listen or dismiss others as belonging to a group we do not understand. It is as if we hold the answers for these people, rather then seeing them through the eyes of love.

I Stand In Amazement Of The Universe

Amazement Of The Universe

I stand in amazement of what the universe does and how it pulls various things together. I use the word "universe" because it is what fits for me. An event that surprised me, led to someone else learning there was hope. That event, was being on the Dr Drew show about conversion disorder in New York.

It is sort of funny that when the producer called, I had not been following the story in New York. I limit my intake of news and it was not a story I had heard about. While I know who Dr. Drew is, I was not a regular viewer of his show. And when they called, I was not expecting to be on national media that day. It came as a complete surprise and in fact, this is the first time I have ever done anything like this.

We All Somaticize

One of the things we often overlook in our society affects the health of many people. We are quick to focus on major diseases and health conditions as they pertain to medical care. Yet, when it comes to understanding and comprehending somatization, the medical system often fails to see what is in plain view.

Somatization in a simple definition is when we take trauma or stressful situations and turn it into a physical reality. The physical symptoms are really nothing more than a physical manifestation of the trauma or stress. Often you hear people only talk about trauma, but in all reality, the build up of stress over time has the same effect on the body as a traumatic moment.

Consider the following example. Your home life is stressful trying to pay all the bills, keep the mortgage current, while your job has been nonstop. There is never a peaceful moment in your day or a moment where you can relax. The kids have demands upon your time, your significant other vies for your attention and you have to make sure the house is taken care of, meals are prepared and a whole host of other tasks. On top of that, even though you get home at night, your company issued smart phone keeps you engaged in work activities through text messages and email. You long for a vacation where you can toss your phone in an ocean, but quickly realize that the possibility of relaxation is nothing but a dream.

There Is No Coming To Consciousness Without Pain

Often we want to go the easy route in life when we experience pain and hurt.  It is so easy to just want to hide, run, flee and avoid everything that appears to be painful or difficult.  It is human nature to do this.  It is the nature of the ego to do this.  However, if you want to find peace and deep healing, avoidance will not get you very far.

The image at the top of this post says it so clearly that there is no consciousness without pain.  Yet, we try avoid it and we try to medicate it or act as if it is not there.  We go to great lengths as humans to not face themselves.  If you doubt what I say, just look at what we do today when it comes to pain and hurt.  We head to the doctors, beg for medications, and consider alternative therapies to get rid of the pain.  Yet, in the end, these are only band-aids for a gushing wound, if we don't go within and touch our innermost soul of the mind body connection.

Do Not Hurt Little Children

Do not hurt little children! While those words may sound simple and straight forward, there are people in our society that obviously fail to understand them. Every time I read a story about child abuse in any form, it makes me very angry. Today, there was a story in the Orlando Sentinel of such a case.

A 16 month old is dead because the little boy, Torey Dymond, went for a walk with his mother's boyfriend, 30-year-old Clifton Alexander Frazier. According to the mother, Rosalia Poirier, when the boyfriend got home, the little boy was lifeless and turning purple. According to the boyfriend, the little boy was whiny and was just asleep.

Fortunately, the police were called to the hospital to investigate and the boyfriend is now behind bars. In the newspaper article, it sounds like this boyfriend not only did crack cocaine but enjoyed beating the mother as well.

In addition, the boyfriend did not want the mother to call for 9-1-1 and said there was no cause for alarm.  Really, a 16 month old child is lifeless and purple, but there is no cause for alarm.  Wow... Wow...

Triggers In Walmart

Triggers In Walmart

The other day in the store, I had one of those experiences with another shopper that you would just like to forget.  It was in Walmart of all places.  Sometimes that can be a challenge to shop there because it is a wide mix of people who are in a hurry and far too often have very little respect for anyone else.  However, the experience happened right before my eyes and my mind and body didn't recognize it for the trigger it was.

When I got home, I was still fuming and fussing about what had transpired in the store.  I shared it with a couple of friends and in all reality, what I wrote to them was not very respectful to the shoppers in the store.  One friend of mine called me out on it and she was right.  Even though I felt violated, I had no right to talk about the people in the way that I did.

The thing was, I did not even realize just how much I was triggered by this event and how far I escaped out of reality in my mind and body.  It was not until this friend of mine called me out on it, that I began to realize just how big the trigger was for me.  It was like I had gone to some place in outer space and was not even present with what was going on.

Answers To Life

You Are The Answer
By Michael Tamura

All too often, we think if we don't have the answers for our life in this very moment, that we're doomed! It is easy to expect immediate solutions because we are so taught this in our society. If you want cash, you go to the ATM. If you have pain, you either go to the corner drug store or doctor and demand an answer that will alleviate the pain. If you want something to eat, you head to the fast food restaurant.

However, unlike many modern conveniences, answers and spiritual growth in our life is not an instant process. Please don't get me wrong, because it likely could be instant. Most of the time though, we have different experiences in our life, so that we gradually grow into the answers we need. It is the process of discovery where we learn so much.

Just as Michael Tamura stated on page 218 of his book, You Are The Answer, "spiritual growth is neither a race nor a contest. We do not get credits in heaven for suffering greater pain or for putting on a better performance."

All too often, we just focus on the things that really don't matter and yet, we fail to see the things that do matter. It is easy to gravitate towards the neon lights and shiny stars, but in the end, if we seek out the illusions, we'll be left with another day and neon lights that are switched off.

Afraid Of Emotions

Afraid Of Emotions

It is sad to see "emotions" shown in a negative way in the news these days. No, I am not taking a political position either way. I don't consider emotions to be something that should become an issue of any segment of our population against another segment of our population. Being afraid of emotions in whatever form it takes, is a recipe for disaster in respect of one another as humans.

All my life, I was taught to hold my emotions in and not let them show. Being a man, you are taught by example how much society frowns upon emotions that are shown in private or public. I saw this example played over and over again in my family and while growing up through the people in my church and community.

Being afraid of emotions is like playing around with a nuclear bomb just waiting to detonate. Emotions are part of our lives and they are part of what makes us human. Emotions are good for our life! To withhold or deny our emotions is to deny the totality of our human existence. Stuffing these emotions deep down inside only adds to physical ailments that will build up over time.

Simple Moments In Life According To A Cat

Simple Moments In Life
According To A Cat

I love it when an animal teaches us about life by just being themselves.  I ran across this video the other day and just found it to be cute.  It was a great way to help remind us that simple things in life mean so much.  If you're a cat lover, you know just how true this video is.

There is so much that animals can teach us and all we have to do is spend a moment with them.  Some days we complicate our lives by making it more than it needs to be.  If we just step back for a moment and find the little things in life, we will most likely be amazed at how much joy we can find in our own day.

I hope you enjoy this video.  There is an orange cat on here that is just like one we have.  He is so full of love and anywhere we are at, he is the happiest when he is right there with us.  He doesn't go for the fancy things.  All he wants is the simple things in life like being loved, fed and close to his humans.

Observe Your Amusing Life In The Universe

Observe Your Amusing Life

I'm learning more and more to just live life in this moment and stop the worrying about the things I just can't do anything about.  Yes, it is easy to give lip service to these things, but it is now becoming more mainstream in my life.  You see, I 'm learning to be amused by the world around me and what the universe offers to me.

Now, I don't mean that I am laughing at everything in a joking or sarcastic manner.  In fact, that is the opposite of what I mean.  Yes, I do try to find the joy and laughter in life, but not at the expense of living in realistic terms.  After all, if life does not mean something to us, than how does that play into our every day?

By making life amusing, I am really referring to observing life through the eyes of an observer, not just willfully participating in events that I feel as if they are out of my control.  It is far too easy to go through life, thinking that things cannot change or improve, rather than realizing that I have so much power and influence in my life.

What People Talk About Before They Die

CNN:  What People Talk
About Before They Die

In a recent article on CNN, there was a story about people in hospice.  Specifically, the story was about what people talk about before they die.  I know many people believe they know what happens in the end, some people have experienced and come back from death, while others speculate. It is interesting just how much variation there is in beliefs among people. It is a subject I'm also fascinated with and have learned about through the books of Dr. John Lerma.

The one thing that stands out in this article and what I recall from Dr. Lerma's books is that people don't always talk about God and religion in those final hours like most of us would expect.  It seems that most people talk about families and resolving issues in life where there was difficulty and strife.

Often these people talk about love and how they learned what this concept was as well as how they either felt like they weren't loved in various situations or how they weren't able to love like they needed to throughout their life.  It is interesting to read some of these experiences where they really talk about finally understanding what love truly means and feeling that love in the final days of their life.

Florida Senate PIP Reform Excluding Massage And Acupuncture

If you have been following my blog, you will know that I keep politics out of this blog.  I feel there are many political things on the internet and I do not need to add to the screaming.  However, in this case, a bill coming before the Florida Senate (SB 1860) will severely impact the life and business of those who are licensed massage therapists and acupuncturists.

There are many thousands of massage therapists and acupuncturists in the state of Florida. I realize that if you don't live in Florida, this does not apply to you.  Nevertheless, I think some of this information needs to see the light of day.  Please feel free to pass this on, so hopefully the Senate will listen to those in this profession.

Trauma Is Not What You Think It Is

Trauma Is Not What You
Think it Is

Traumatic experiences don't have to be as grandiose as you may think they do. All too often, I see people minimizing what trauma really is. They think it has to be something that is so over the top. In fact, trauma can be much less than you think and sometimes it appears to be the minor moments that are the most difficult.

Consider three examples and then determine in your own mind if they are trauma or not. First example is that you witness a horrific automobile accident where someone close to you almost dies. The second example is someone working in the most stressful of jobs every day and each day they go, it is all they can do to get through the day of stress. The third example is of a relationship breakup where the person was really in love with the other person and they decided to end the relationship.

So which ones of the examples above did you consider to be trauma or traumatic experiences? Hopefully you selected all three of them. I know, you're probably doubting what I am writing here at this time. You're most likely saying, well stress isn't a trauma or we all would be in traumatic states. I'm sure you are thinking that a relationship breakup is rough but not traumatic. Most likely the car accident is a given because of how horrific it would be.

Enjoy The Resistance In Life

Enjoy The Resistance
In Life

At one time, I thought I was doomed forever and that life would always suck.  I figured that I was sentenced to a life of despair.  Yes, I knew I was resisting so much in life, but because of my home grown fears, I knew no other way to deal with all of it.  It had become my best friend in life - you know the beloved and hated twin.

All too often though, I see other healers want to rid people of their resistance (or pain and suffering) to situations in life and almost look at resistance being a negative entity.  While noble in their efforts, I think most healers and helpful people are missing the mark.  In fact, I think if anything happens, the healer should help encourage the person to enjoy the resistance in life that they experience.

You might think I'm totally nuts here, but think about this for a moment and then I'll follow up with an example from my own life.  The resistance is there for a reason and it is there to most likely help learn some truth for our life or discover something we need to see.  It may also be there for us to fully understand some condition that others are going through so that we can help them climb out of the dark pit they are currently residing in.  Most often, we do not know what is behind the resistance and so if we treat it as something we need to take away, we may be doing that person a disservice.

Observing Synchronicity In The Universe

Observing Synchronicity In
The Universe At The Park

Lately, I've been noticing some things taking place in life.  I enjoy sitting back every now and then and just observing life.  Often, we miss the little things because we are just too busy and unfocused.  Observing synchronicity in the universe gives us deeper insight into our life.

Events have happened lately with little random pieces of life falling together at the exact moment they needed to happen.  If they would have happened a moment sooner, it would have thrown off the complete order of succeeding events.  In the moment of each event, I was not able to tell how it was connected.  It was not until the events came together as one, that I could look back and see the progression of what happened.

As I look back now and observe the synchronicity in the universe, it is a little amusing.  When I say amusing, I am not making fun of the way the universe has put things together, but I am seeing just how wonderful it is.  Of course, some could say that the universe (or life force or whatever you call it) has nothing to do with these things and they are all random.  However, the more I observe it, the more I see that there is some force operating within us that leads us forward.

Conversion Disorder Is Real

Don Shetterly on Dr Drew
show 2/1/12 - Leroy, NY

Since I am now part of this story in Leroy, NY that Dr Drew is covering on HLN, I am saddened by some of the things that is happening.  Conversion Disorder is real and it does happen in people.  Just like Dr. Drew said the other night, it happens far more than we may realize.  Yes, I know there are syndromes where people fake symptoms.  I am well aware of that, but Conversion Disorder is real!

Some of the hurtful comments coming from people watching these news stories is downright awful, hurtful and unhelpful to those experiencing it.  I can only observe some of the people on TV, much like everyone else.  However, to make "faking" the focus of comments is some of the most hurtful things you could do to another human being.

Conversion Disorder shows up in different ways and intensities.  When I went through what I did, it was so intense and all at once that I could hardly function in life.  I still remember the seizures that would have my body flailing around until it reached exhaustion.  Once at that point, I would sleep for hours.  In one instance, they even rushed me by ambulance to the hospital emergency room, only for me to have gotten to the point of exhaustion by the time I arrived.  No one knew what to do with it or me because there were no symptoms that made sense.  The symptoms would come and go at various times through out the day.

Top Book Reviews For Feb 2012

Top Book Reviews
Feb 2012

This month's top book reviews is going to be different. I am sure I could find some book that would fit in with the mind body and valentines day, but that isn't how I operate most of the time. Instead, I'm sharing three book titles that I have just purchased and are now on my reading list.

The first book that I'm anxious to read is by Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor. The title of this book is "My Stroke Of Insight". I saw her on a show on the OWN channel where Oprah was talking to her about a stroke she had been through in her life. I imagine it is very difficult to recover from a stroke and I know one other lady who is a healer, who recovered in natural ways from a stroke. While I've never been through a stroke, I experienced paralysis and virtually a complete memory loss. I'm always excited to learn about how others have dealt with this and see what I can learn. I've even more excited when I can learn the inner workings of the brain. This will be the first of the three books that I am planning on reading just as soon as I get finished with my current one.

End Of Illness With Asprin

Last night on the daily show with Jon Stewart, I heard an author talk about his book "The End Of Illness".  In the segment that aired on the Daily Show, he hypothesized that the root of all illness was inflammation within the body.  This inflammation if left unchecked would lead to all kinds of health conditions including cancer, muscle inflammation, the heart and others I cannot recall at this moment.

While I completely agree with him that we need to do much more prevention than treatment in this country, I could not help but question some of his conclusions.  It is important to note that I have not read his book, only have I seen his interview with Jon Stewart.  There may be much more data and evidence in his book for his hypothesis, and I want to make it clear that I have not seen this yet.  You are more than free to get his book and draw your own conclusions.

The Hunt For Creativity

Fragments Of Awareness

This past weekend, I went to a couple of events that had creativity on display.  While they were two totally different events, the hunt for creativity might have left some empty handed in one event, but fulfilled in the other.  Generally speaking, we have lost our creativity in this world.  What people consider to be creative is usually nothing more than a lot of bright flashing lights, fast moving images and video with sounds that have been regurgitated.

In the one event this week, the items that were displayed looked almost the same from one booth to another.  The colors were even similar and the items were hard to tell apart.  The atmosphere was more subdued and the excitement level of energy was low.  Yet, it appeared that these people poured their life and soul into what they were doing.  It just lacked creativity.

Have You Had Your Miracle Today?

Miracles Are Everywhere

While I would love to claim the following thoughts as my own, they come from reading Chapter 14 (page 177) from the book, You Are The Answer by Michael Tamura.  Some of these things about miracles, I have never heard stated in the way that he presented them.  I'm going to attempt to share and paraphrase them in my own words with how they impact my own learning and thought process.  As I look back to an earlier post on October 6, 2010, I can see just how far I have come in my understanding.

Miracles are extraordinary, but who defines what ordinary is. Think about this for a moment because what may be ordinary to me, might not be ordinary to someone else.  It is all relative through our own eyes and the experiences we have come to know in our own life. The beginning of miracles means wonderful which I find to be absolutely amazing.  I love it when words say what they mean and there could be no more perfect way to look at a miracle, but to see it as something wonderful.

Dr Drew and Conversion Disorders in Leroy, NY

In the studio for taping
the Dr Drew show on
Conversion Disorders

Just a quick blog post to let you all know that I'm on Dr. Drew tonight (Headline News HLN) at 9pm EST. The topic is about the mysterious medical cases in Leroy, New York and conversion disorders.

I (Don Shetterly) suffered from a conversion disorder back in 1991. Here is more about my story.
http://mindbodythoughts.blogspot.com/2011/09/conversion-disorder-healing-part-1.html

For more information on Dr. Drew and this story, check out the following link.
http://mindbodythoughts.blogspot.com/2011/09/conversion-disorder-healing-part-1.html


Click to read the transcript on CNN of the show.

Don't Let Facts Stand In The Way Of Truth

Don't Let Facts Stand
In The Way Of Truth

Let me paraphrase one of my favorite books by Michael Tamura, You Are The Answer (page 172). Facts are not the truth because you can use facts to support your position, and yet you can still be dishonest. Facts of course are created from the past, while truth is here and now.

I still remember one boss I had in a major agriculture company many years ago. His idea in dealing with people was that if he could convince people of something, than it was true. At least that is what he purported to be the belief in his own mind. At the time, I struggled to believe him, and I still find his statement to be strange.