Swine Flu .....

Opening my email today I was drawn to a message entitled “shocking news”.  My first thought was to delete it as it looked decidedly like spam, and then my curiosity got the better of me and I decided to open it.  Fortunately the main message was in an attachment. However, the one line teaser was enough to make me jump back and instantly click delete.  Suffice it to say that it was about Swine Flu.  An emotive subject at best,  with potential to be absolutely terrifying at worst.

 

For those of us who choose to believe that the world is one big conspiracy and an atomic meltdown just waiting to happen, shocking stories merely help to confirm our suspicions. However, for the rest of us mortals who are trying to retain some sense and sanity, around a subject that has already been compared to the Black Death, it is simply another scare tactic to shake off.

 

What is it that makes people want to spread such salacious “hearsay” and send us into blind panic? Everyone knows that it only takes a few extremists in a crowd to cause a stampede. Imagine what you can do by thoughtlessly passing on an email to potentially millions of people. There should be a warning on all computers of the penalty for such irresponsible behaviour.

 

There has been a lot of discussion recently around blogs and the integrity of information being passed through the internet, where there are no procedures for checking the validity of what is being written. At least when you read a newspaper, the editor is accountable for what goes to print and can be sued for libel. There is no such watchdog in cyber space. We have simply to use our own common sense and intuition to know what feels right and when to delete it, not only from our inbox but also from our minds.

 

The anti virus programs which identify hoaxes go some way to catching out unscrupulous emails. Nevertheless, how many people actually bother to check before pressing the forward key, whether what they are sending is the truth?

 

In the same way that we are being advised not to sneeze in our hands, as it spreads the flu, I would suggest that we only forward messages which contribute to the good mental health of our society, and practice some good internet hygiene, by dumping rubbish in the Trash Can where it belongs.    

 

 

 

 

Exodus

To all those leaving Dubai or another perspective on the global economic downturn

 

The eerie silence

of an empty town

The grey clouds

gathering

in preparation

How many souls

have come and gone from here

All victims of an easy life

The rest on hold

until they reach their

saturation

 

There’s only so much

pleasure

in one life

Then balance comes to play

and makes us choose

those options we’ve avoided

all those years

when comfort was the driving

motivation

 

Yet satisfaction does not please

the soul

in search of higher triumphs

in this mundane life

Don’t fool yourself

It’s only camouflage

When winter comes

and bareness of the trees

reveals  the deprivation

 

What keeps us in this place

Magnificent

When deep within we know

the truth is there?

Our stubbornness, refusal

to believe

that what we do

does not affect the soul?

 

Alone we came

and all alone we leave

And some of us attempt

connection here

but most discover

that our legacy

Is naught

but bitterness and tears

 

The joker laughs

as he peels off his face

You thought your life on earth

was free of charge

But now you see the devil

lies beneath

and I have come to collect

What you owe

 

You’ll pay in kind

through suffering and grief

For all those years

you took

but did not give

And all around you crumbles

Into dust

as Mother Earth cannot sustain

your lust

 

So get down on your knees

and say a prayer

To that false god of comfort

And prepare

to sacrifice your greed

for selflessness

 

And as you use this Earth

more gently

and with care

You will enjoy

the fruits of love

and gratitude

 

18^th April, 2009

Developers' Greed

When you build so high

Do you think of others

As you take their sky

When you take away the light

Leaving us to live in dark

Do you pay us for our sacrifice

Or are you ignorant

 

When you build your cities

Is there room for grass and birds

That fly beneath the trees

Or do you leave us

Concrete and stone

To live alone.

 

Is there space

For people to embrace

Their need to be

A family

Or did you forget

In haste

and greed

To think of that

 

When the buildings age

And their luster fades

Do you care to ask

For some repair

Or do you let them rust

And fall to dust

In an ugly mess

Of urban suicide

 

While you move away

And build elsewhere

Again, taking someone’s air

Until one day

There’s nothing left

And you choke

on your own

selfishness

 

Dubai 2007

Benefits of Self Love

Is it possible for us to find true love if we have not found our true self? Carl Jung had an interesting theory about the world outside of us being a projection of within. In NLP we call it “Perception is Projection”. So, if we apply that to relationship, to find your "true love", you would need to "truly love" yourself within.

 

On a very basic level we all know that we can never truly understand something until we have experienced it ourselves. We may think we understand but true knowing comes after the personal experience. An obvious example might be loss of possessions or a job, a failed marriage or relationship. We can sympathize with the other person but true understanding and empathy only happens when it happens to us, when we have experienced how it feels.

 

Relationship, like love is a two way street, an exchange of giving and receiving. Tantra teaches us that it is in the receiving that we truly connect. However, to be able to receive is not easy. It requires a switch in our thinking, our belief system. We need to believe that we deserve to receive and in many cases this goes against the cultural upbringing of our society. We are primarily taught that giving is acceptable and receiving, to a large degree, is selfish or greedy. So we focus on the former and suppress the latter. When we are unable to receive, it does not matter how much someone tells us we are loved, we cannot understand or accept it. Thus the exchange, the give and take, the push and pull is thwarted.

 

Many clients tell me they don’t feel loved or appreciated by others. My immediate response is “do you love yourself, do you appreciate your talents?” Usually they hang their head and admit they don’t. So what can we do about this? How can we learn to love and appreciate ourselves so that we can truly accept the compliment, the love offered by others, so that we can learn to receive?

 

We can begin by acting as if. When someone pays you a compliment, thank them and smile. If someone offers to do something for you, accept it with gratitude. When you do something well, thank yourself and smile. Tell yourself every morning that you appreciate who you are and can even love both the good and the ugly in yourself. After a while the very act of pretending to receive becomes a true form of acceptance.

 

One of the five NLP frames is that we are 100% responsible for the results we get. Once we take responsibility we are able to do something about our situation. Instead of wasting time and effort trying to change others, and we all know that doesn’t work, we can focus on ourselves instead. By ignoring or minimizing all the things we dislike about ourselves and empowering everything we like, we begin to grow into that positive model, that person we really would like to be. As Stephen Covey revealed in his Seven Habits, by focusing on the things we have control over, our circle of concern shrinks and our circle of influence expands. So, if you want to attract a fabulous partner or a better life, work on being fabulous yourself and you will find that new you is reflected in your new friends and relationships. Life is then truly what you always wanted.