Choose your friends wisely

Soft awareness, spaciness, flexibility, taking a time-out What is my intention? What action should be taken? ANXIETY (or WORRY ) is focused on the future. It arises to help you look ahead and identify the tasks you need to complete or the deadlines you need to meet. Foresight, focus, task completion, procrastination alert! What brought this feeling forward? What truly needs to get done? When confusiety appears, you may be dealing with a situation of overwhelm: too many tasks, too many deadlines, or too many ideas. The key to working with both emotions is to rely on each of them for what it does best. You can learn to welcome the restful and down-regulating aspects of confusion so that you can take breaks from the intense focus and activation that anxiety often requires of you. This had a pleasant chime sound and was very helpful in him letting me know he needed me. Caring for someone with Parkinson's can be both rewarding and challenging. Because Parkinson's progresses at different rates for different people, it is impossible to predict what changes you will face and when you will face them. However, there are things you can do to prepare yourself as a caregiver for the changes that are likely to occur. Get into a routine Scheduling is essential, especially when it comes to medications and meals. Because some Parkinson's meds must be taken at specific times before and after meals, it's helpful to establish a medication and meal schedule so that it becomes routine. As mentioned in article 9 on planning, there are several legal documents that you should have drawn up to make sure your loved one gets the kind of care they want in the later stages. These include a HIPAA authorization, a health care and financial power of attorney, a living will or advanced care directive, a will, and a trust. In terms of day-to-day planning, allow extra time for things.

Neurogenic foods do this in part by increasing levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a substance made by the body which is like miracle-grow for the brain. A variety of chemical messengers stimulates neural growth, collectively they are known as neurotrophins. They include: The most widely studied neurotrophin is BDNF. It acts like fertilizer for new brain cells and new neural connections. It appears to be the main signal for turning on neurogenesis and neuroplasticity. There are things that lower BDNF, such as certain foods, inflammation, chronic stress and anxiety, physical assaults, and emotional and sensory deprivation. Conversely, there are things that increase BDNF, such as certain nutrients, emotional states of well-being, mental stimulation, and spiritual practices. The key is to increase BDNF levels naturally and safely, by aligning with the brain's own systems. When BDNF levels are artificially increased by injecting BDNF directly into the body, it has the opposite effect and strongly inhibits cognition, memory, neurogenesis, and neuroplasticity. For dressy nights: go glam THE LATEST IN LENSES Frames are not the only part of your eyewear that may need a makeover. If your lenses are thick, have a clear line of demarcation between the top and bottom (that is, bifocals), or make your eyes look magnified, you are going to look OL. Fortunately, technology is on your side. Extremely thick lenses are extremely passe, so if your vision is really bad, ask for high-index lenses. These are made of a thinner and lighter plastic than traditional lenses, so even if you need a significant correction, you don't need to be sporting a wide wedge of lens. These babies don't come cheap. You'll probably end up paying about $215 for the lenses (roughly $90 more than the standard thick lenses), but they're worth it. As we get older, usually starting around age forty, the lenses in our eyes get stiffer and less flexible, a condition known as presbyopia.

Take all the time you need. When you feel complete, look into your mother's eyes. Notice how much of your energy is moving toward her now. Take three deep, slow breaths and complete the process for now. Or repeat the above steps with your father. Be sure to do this with both parents. Offer gratitude to your Divine for this healing experience. Notice your interactions with your family over the next week or so. Write down your observations so you can more easily see your progress. Repeat this exercise periodically. The rest of the people might as well leave their brains at home because maybe they'll need them after work. Right, said Elizabeth. In that process, what do you suppose happens to the cashier's self-esteem? It's eroded. Right again. Now, what do you think would happen if the cashiers were given all the detailed information about the impact that bad checks have on the business, and then were given check approval power? Fewer bounced checks, Marvin responded. That's what all the research says about places where it's been done. Further, the people have higher self-esteem and can provide more attentive customer service. When you give people information and a chance to act like owners, they'll usually come through, Elizabeth explained.

Take it seriously. Science has proven over and over again that attitudes and emotions are contagious. Spend your time with people who motivate you, believe in you, and bring out the best in you. Be around people who empower you. Some people might want to convince you to stay stuck because they don't like taking risks and are afraid of uncertainty. So, stay away from the naysayers, the blamers, and the complainers. The people who are always judging or gossiping and talking bad about everything. Don't listen to their opinions and trust your own inner voice. It will be difficult for you to get a healthy self-esteem and become successful if people around you want to convince you of the contrary. Unfortunately, it will often be people from your inner circle. One of the best ways to deal with anger is to talk openly to the person you are angry with. When you feel like screaming at someone, then the anger has been building up for a long time. Often it is because you feel you cannot speak openly to the other person. So the second-best way to let our anger out is to talk to the person in the mirror. Mirror work will help you get all your feelings out. One of my students had a difficult time letting her anger out. Intellectually, she understood her feelings, yet she couldn't express them outwardly. When she allowed herself this expression through her mirror work, she was able to scream and call her mother and her alcoholic daughter all sorts of names. She felt a tremendous weight lift from her when she released her resentment. Later, when her daughter came to visit, the woman couldn't stop hugging her.

In your everyday life, you should leave room for mistakes. This ascertains that you will not be frustrated when something goes wrong. Focus on learning from your mistakes. Ultimately, you will notice that you start paying less attention to doing things perfectly. This creates room for more opportunities since you will be willing to try anything, whether you succeed or not. Set Deadlines Spending too much time thinking about a decision can lead to overthinking. Some decisions do not require you to think too much about them. They are simple choices that you can make within a short period. Therefore, it makes sense to set deadlines that you will make a specific decision before the end of the day. The Enchiridion, after all, is not a sacred text. Like Seneca, I consider Zeno, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, and in fact Seneca himself, to be my guides, not my masters. From the onset Stoicism was marked by vibrant discussions not just with rival schools--the Epicureans, the Academic Skeptics, the Peripatetics--but internally. I have already pointed out that Chrysippus made major innovations, in direct disagreement with the first two heads of the Stoa, Zeno and Cleanthes. The middle Stoics Panaetius and Posidonius also explored different directions, some of which were incorporated by successive generations, others rejected. There are limits, of course, to how much one can revise a system of ideas or philosophy. Perhaps the most famous Stoic heretic was Aristo of Chios, who flourished around 260 BCE (only four decades after the foundation of the Stoa). He rejected the standard Stoic notion that in order to study ethics we also need logic and physics. The resulting system ended up being very close to that of the Cynics, and Aristo eventually left the Stoa entirely. Later on, during the Renaissance, Justus Lipsius (1547- 1606) attempted a radical update of Stoic philosophy in order to make it overtly compatible with Christianity.