Logical Mr. Spock

Leonard Nimoy at 81

I have been a true Trekkie for 50 years. I was so devoted to the early series that it took me a while to get into the next generation. Spock's character so wonderfully developed by Leonard Nimoy is  in my mind as a real character like Sherlock Holmes. I always thought that Leonard Nimoy would've been a brilliant Sherlock Holmes. Some characters like the Klingons changed with special effects redefining their character. But with Spock, special effects could not alter the perfection that Nimoy brought to the role. All of the lines play with my mind and are part of me.

I think of Star Trek IV where Nimoy explorers using profanity. Nimoy and Shatner carry on a classic exchange in which it's decided that a Vulcan should not swear. The cast brought us in on their experience. Somewhere on the deck of the Enterprise was the audience. Actors would take a bit part just to be on the set. The original warp drive was the sound of a window air-conditioner. Think of the little screen Spock looked into was nothing like our computers. It all was in the thee minds of the writers and actors who made it work. Nimoy’s screenplays of Star Trek IV and VI were the best in the franchise. 

There are no Vulcans yet we know them. We have a Klingon Bible. Space the final frontier calls to a better path.

He lived long and prospered. Thank you Leonard for embracing Spock and having fun with it. Well done. Keep walking

Developing awe and gratitude is good for health

Polett Villalta scuba diving off Key Largo, Fla., 
next to the statue Christ of the Abyss, left. 
PHOTO: VETERANS OCEAN ADVENTURES 
her story is awesome

Read three articles today that may improve our health and relationships to others. The Wall Street Journal Elizabeth Bernstein wrote an article of researchers studying “awe” and finding it is good for relationships. Awe improves our health as well. The feeling of awe makes us care about others. A Dr. Kelter Took 56 inner city kids on a rafting trip for a week and researchers found the kids were more curious and engaged about what was happening in the world.

Awe helps fight depression because it lowers inflammation which is a factor in depression. Awe attunes us to things bigger than ourselves. It actually increases kindness and compassion toward others. The evidence that supports the feeling of awe is still a little soft. Awe can be religious, nature (creation my word) a sports event or political rally Ms. Bernstein reports. We may be in awe or amazed at others things or people. What ever it is, it is good for us and others and in the fat man terms keep us walking. http://www.wsj.com/articles/researchers-study-awe-and-find-it-is-good-for-relationships-1424717882 

Pastor Rick Warren whose Church shares The Daniel Plan informs us the more grateful you are, the happier you are. Sometimes the longer we know somebody, the more we take them for granted. Replacing a negative thought with thanks can have an impact on how we feel. It also has a direct impact on the person we say things to. If you're not thankful don't fake it. Find something else to be thankful about. Apostle Paul could say concerning the Philippians, “Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God” (NLT). Philippians 1:3 http://danielplan.com/blogs/dp/the-more-grateful-you-are-the-happier-you-are-2/

A reporter recently died for the New York Times. Many people said kind things and thanks for the reporter. Greta Van Susteren laments "Wouldn’t it nice if we could say those things before a person dies." It reminds me to say things or write thanks in the land of the living. It is an easy way to make people feel better. 

From the Daniel plan Dee Eastman and Shelly Antol wrote an article about creating space for solitude. It seems to me if we have a place of silence we can create moments of awe and thanks more often. Since positive attitudes have a direct impact on our physical and mental health increasing good thinking would be a good idea. 

In the hustle and bustle of our life silence can be a little hard getting used to. The article quotes Henry Nouwen “without solitude it is virtually impossible to live a spiritual life. Solitude begins with a time and a place for God, and him alone. If we really believe not only that God exists but also that he is actively present in their lives-healing, teaching and guiding-we need to set aside a time and space to give him individual attention.” Mother Teresa is quoted to have said, “silence is essential in a religious house… there is no life of prayer without silence… God is a friend of silence.” http://danielplan.com/blogs/dp/creating-space-for-solitude/

The other day I wrote about aloneness and I think this is part of it. Keep walking

I had difficulty praying...

The other night I had difficulty in prayer. I don’t think it is uncommon or for that matter wrong of us to experience difficulty in prayer. Since the fall life has experienced evil and harm. Today we express it as “it is what it is” or  “life happens.” When we plant our garden there are thorns. We work yet are underpaid. We do the right thing yet experience hard things. 

Sometimes prayer is hard when your child is sick. You like to change places but that doesn’t happen. Like many things we learn to work through our trials and learn from them to ease the burden. For example we learned that if we insulate our homes  and we fare better than homes 100 years ago. Improving our furnaces cuts down winter illnesses. We still pray for our sicknesses but what we learn and experience helps. 

We pray for success and blessing for our loved ones but often trials are troubles are experienced. Troubles and trials are more normal than we like to think. In an athlete competition that can beat you can make you better but the outcome may be that you lose. When I was a kid it beat my dad up to watch me fall. Picking myself up made me stronger. My dad didn't like to watch me compete sports because he was afraid of injury. I was in a wrestling match once where later the coach told me that my dad was way up in the bleachers in the corner watching. That meant a lot to me, I knew how hard it was for my dad. My dad used to play catch with me for hours. I was never a very good athlete but I wasn't bad. It made me strong and certainly made it interesting for the bullies who thought I was an easy prey. I didn’t win all my fights with bullies but I never quit. 

What I know about prayer is God cares, God feels our pain, and prayers are heard. There is His will which is different from our will and He works things out for our benefit. That benefit may be not experienced until heaven. (Romans 8:18-30) Take time to read it and note the groaning. Think of my old bones groaning. LOL

One of things I liked about work, ministry, is to somehow help ease burdens of others. There are plenty of limitations. Think of the gift a carpenter gives or a plumber, electrician, a bus driver, teacher, a merchant when they work to make life better. We pray and trust and yet the outcome is unsure. Keep walking

Lonely or Aloneness? What is the difference?

I was listening to Night Sounds with Bill Pierce a couple of nights ago where he talked about the difference between loneliness and aloneness. Reminded me of the song, Lonely Voices Crying in the City by Billie Banks, 1967

Lonely voices crying in the city,

Lonely voices sounding like a child.

Lonely voices come from busy people,

Too disturbed to stop a little while.

Lonely voices fill my dreams,

Lonely voices haunt my memory…

There are a lot of lonely people. In the last 20 years we have seen a lot of people drawn to the Internet who are lonely. The Internet being the new phenomena introduces us to ways in which lonely people seek connection in cyberspace.

Loneliness affects all age groups, but since now I am older I've been thinking about how loneliness finds its way in the lives of many senior citizens. I have shared with you how 25% of us by the age 63 are clinically depressed. The feeling of loneliness has to factor in. Loneliness has a painful, maybe even bitter feeling.

Aloneness is something quite a bit different. I remember watching a shop owner from Iowa move to Alaska and for 30 years enjoy living in an isolated life on a lake where he made his own log cabin to carve out for himself a way to survive the bitter cold and beautiful summers. Every day gave himself to the task of making his life better as he lived in the wilderness. He gave it up when he was in his 80s because you got tired of the cold weather and move back into a retirement home. (1960's PBS production)

Aloneness doesn't have to be this extreme. In might be sometime in the morning or late night where you have a quiet time or you're reading, listening to music, go for a walk. You may like Leroy Jethro Gibbs go down to the basement to build a boat with your own hands. These examples of aloneness move us away from that hustle and bustle of regular life that can be as enjoyable as drinking your favorite beverage or viewing a work of art or nature caught in the pleasure of your own thoughts. Prayer can be this. I think even writing can be part of this aloneness that can be enjoyable.  For most of us the short periods of aloneness can add tremendously to the quality of our life.

I'll leave you tonight with the thought of the differences between loneliness and aloneness. We want to cut down loneliness and find ways to enjoy our aloneness. Keep walking

Is it time to clean the closet?

When it comes to health, we all have challenges. Please challenges are something like having an out of control closet where you've stuffed everything into it. It is gotten so bad you don't even open the door. The space and everything in it has become unusable. The closet takes a life of it's own. You don't even want to go there, I'll just keep it closed. The problem is the closet keeps growing. Stuff will grow in there and it'll move throughout the house. Have you ever been inside a hoarders house. The smell is so bad you can’t stay in there. There is no room to live.

Our health can be like that. If we don't take care of the challenges they can do us in. Health challenges do not go away. Our fear of them will make them larger than they seem. So looking at health from the point of view of the fat-man as a way of looking at challenges we have to meet. There are plenty of stories of courage of people facing life threatening challenges. I know it's scary but take a look at what challenges you. Our personal stories can often be very different. What I have learned or experienced maybe different from what you have gone through. But the principle of the fat Man is to first recognize that a problem exist. Then the next principle is to find out the best things to do about it. Not only are we looking for knowledge but practical strategies and expert support to give us a fighting chance. The third principle of the fat Man is to follow through and put the plan in action. The fourth principle is to make the plan of action work for you. Words like adapting, adjusting, making changes all except the idea that we don't live in a perfect place. Life will continue to happen and we have to be as flexible as we can in facing it. 

We have to take it a day at a time. If we are on the right path, For example if we are taking the right medicine there should be a reasonable time to see improvement. It may take time where we continue to struggle. Sometimes this is unavoidable. When our strategies involve lifestyle changes, what we're looking for is a change of habit. Habits take about five months to develop. Can you be real enough to give something five months. We all are wanting the 30 minutes solution. Life's not a sitcom in change never happens overnight.

If I can give a word of encouragement - last October I did a reevaluation of where I was at. My legs were still healing from injuries from a fall. I knew I had to rethink how to move ahead. I had to find ways that I can exercise without falling. I had to rehab my legs and get a sensible time frame. No more walking on the sidewalk without the use of a walking stick. Learn how to walk with a walking stick. Since my injuries now included back pain it was harder just to dive into something. Quitting or giving up would mean further declining in my heart health. Now this I really rethought. My cardiac doctor told me to go for it. This was not the time to give up. 

So, I introduced biking to my walking schedule. In the last few weeks I posted my online adventures to do interval training and I'm starting to see progress. Adding a recumbent bike is putting my fourth principle in action. The technology they put into the bikes today are a big plus. Learning about interval training in walking and cycling is very encouraging. 

Is it time to clean out your health closet. What challenges do you face? Keep walking

Have you ever been crazy with home projects? Making work enjoyable

Spencer Tracy

Put to gather my indoor recumbent exercise bike today. Took me about three hours to put it together. Bike in Texas for about a half an hour and later watched the Illini for another 30 minute drive. True to form the ride was comfortable. My trail ride I changed intensity and the game  I kept an easy pace. The ride was easy on the back. The cycle gives a good range of motion. Reminds me of my outdoor recumbent bike. The biking put me well over 10,000 steps for the day.
I know I am known for being patient with kids. When it comes to putting things together or projects at home I am actually the opposite. A few years ago I decided to change the craziness. Here are some of the ideas that have helped me.

1. Assume because it is true, that I am no expert. (Where did I get the idea I worked for Bob Villa? in fact at times I could be a novice, unskilled, and if it is really important, hire someone to do it. If I do attempt to do it expect problems.
2. Allow yourself time to do it. Why am I in a hurry? There is no rational reason for me being in a hurry. Relax, What can I do to make it easier?
3. Laugh and when in doubt, laugh again.
4. When a problem comes up if possible take a step back. Do I understand the step or procedure? Do I lack the skill needed for particular step? Can I with practice get better at it or is it something that would be better served by someone who does it for a living. If I am working with Barb, really take a step back. She can often get an angle I can't. My idea may not be working. Which I think is funny because I am doing something I never did before. The main thing is what ever my frustrations, they are not hers. Take responsilbily for my moods.
5. Today's project I was able to do just about all of it. There was one step that took more than two hands. When Barb got home, I showed her what we needed to do and I tried to help her do what she could to help me. She looked it over and gave me a very helpful suggestion that made it kind easy. So today we score one for the good guys. 

It beats the insanity. Keep walking