Wednesday, September 30, 2015

Flu season is almost upon us

Seth Berkley explains how smart advances in vaccine design, production and distribution are bringing us closer than ever to eliminating a host of global threats — from AIDS to malaria to flu pandemics.

Monday, September 21, 2015

She is Worth Dying for

She is Alive 

           She is Home 

                     She is Complex 

                                  She is Beautiful 

                                             She is Finite  


She is Hurting....

 




With Health, Wealth, & Wisdom
Your's truly


Content credit: The principal source for the footage was Yann Arthus-Bertrand's incredible film HOME http://www.homethemovie.org/. The music was by Armand Amar. Thank you too Greenpeace and http://timescapes.org/

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

Self-driving Cars can Equal Freedom

You may or may not have heard about Google's self-driving cars. They're cute, a little anthropomorphic but that's on purpose. Of course there has been some outcries as to the dangers of self-driving cars and I understand the concerns.

 Yet! There is a benefit to promoting these for public use that most people do not consider.

 Beyond safer roads free from distracted drivers, Google's self-driving cars have the ability to offer mobility to those in desperate need to such a degree that it could be considered life-altering! How you ask? Consider your parent(s) - let's say they're healthy vibrant individuals living and working, enjoying life till suddenly one or both are struck down with an illness, a disability, or life-altering stroke. Your parent(s) are suddenly immobile because they are unable to drive due to the previously mentioned health related issue and local, public, or alternative modes of transportation are time consuming. Medically speaking it is this life-altering interruption that can and statistically often does send mentally healthy people spiraling into a life-threatening depression. When life get's interrupted so does everything that happens in life - visiting friends, grocery/clothes shopping, entertainment, doctor's visits (etc). This is where Google's self-driving car can make a world of difference and not just to the elderly but to all people with disabilities or inabilities to access normal mobility.  But don't take my word on it....

Friday, September 4, 2015

Koyaanisqatsi | Life Out of Balance


We are living Koyaanisqatsi, which is Hopi for "life out of balance." 

At one time or another, we've all probably looked at the cost of solar paneling our home, or weighing the comparison of possible savings of a gas car versus electric- though the environmental cost is still debatable. Not to mention the giddy childish smiles like that of Don Quixote chasing windmills whenever we drive past a wind farm. Or, if you've been brave enough even contemplated living "off the grid!"

Saving the Earth, our only true home is a big job and we're just not serious enough about it.  We've all watched (even if you don't want to admit it) children's movies with the sometimes not so subtle environmental theme (Wall-E and Ferngully) and have at least heard about Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth.  And of course there are movies that play on our deeper emotional connection combining government, environmentalism, and humanities ultimate destruction: The China Syndrome, Chinatown, and Soylent Green (it's people!).  Than there's the odd fantastical environmental movies like The Day After Tomorrow, Avatar, Tomorrow Land, and San Andreas (okay not so much that one- but it is a good ol' fashioned end of the world keep on the edge of your seat kind of movie).

Every day we see evidence that we cannot continue at the pace we are currently at.  To avoid landfills my home town burns trash.  Recycling centers are losing money due to their promise of making it easier for everyone to recycle.  By allowing everyone to throw all recyclables together they are running into massive material separation issues costing them more money than they can profit on (http://wpo.st/sMeT0).  

Daily we hemorrhage good edible food just because it looks funny or doesn't meet our "standard" for edible food. (http://on.ted.com/Tristram).  Food that was trucked miles from where it was grown or slaughtered using up millions of gallons of oil in the process just so it could be thrown away.

We build with unsustainable or pollutant causing materials instead of utilizing alternative forms of construction.  Who says you have to live in a home with four square corners?  Why not use eco-friendly building materials that ultimate reduce the amount of CO2 in our atmosphere if you're planning on building new?  Replace materials in your next building project from materials that emit high levels of CO2 with those that emit low to no levels of CO2, this includes paints and carpets (http://www.eesi.org/files/climate.pdf).

What can we do?

  1. Invest in sustainable and alternative forms of energy
  2. Recycle, Reuse, Repurpose everything that you can (do you really need a new couch?)
  3. Buy local food and food that cannot be used in someway (stews are great for ugly food) or eaten compost in your own yard
  4. Research alternative building materials that work well in your local environment (i.e. cod/adobe/hay bale homes just might not work where temperatures drop to -50 degrees in the winter, but are great in warmer dryer climates)
  5. Take part in local environmental groups to learn what you can do to help even if it's just planting a rain garden or adding a water collection barrel at the end of your rain spout.
  6. Most of all WAKE UP! Every little action toward environmental protection is one step forward in the global fight!
We are connected physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually with the health of our planet.  So why do we treat it with such disdain? How we treat the earth is a reflection on how we treat ourselves and clearly we are out of balance.  So do something Now! Today! Walk to the store which is only 8 blocks away.  The exercise will do you good, you'll buy less because you have to carry it home, and maybe, just maybe, you'll have a better appreciation for the food you bought.  Turn off the computer! Go outside! Interact, reconnect, find your purpose once again in nature.

With Health, Wealth, and Happiness!
Your's truly!




Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Reduce poverty to improve health

Globally there is a crisis between health, poverty, and habitat. Paul Pholeros speaks on such points in his TedTalk in 2013. There is a disconnect between first world and third world countries and the access to simple every day necessities. Necessities that can mean the difference between life and death especially in children.

Monday, August 31, 2015

Focus on Your Goals

Here's another inspirational email - sometimes I love them and well other times they're just junk.  I only share the best with you fans!



Hi Health is Spiritual,

There will be times in each person’s life when they will feel
like they aren’t doing as well as they have hoped or compared
to their peers.
There are times when self-doubt will be so suffocating that you
would rather sit still in one place rather than make a wrong move.
It’s hard to manifest your dreams when all you can think of is
curling under your sheets and sleeping off the bad vibes.
What we’re here to tell you is that feeling like a failure will
actually help you in making your dreams come true.
Even the most successful people around the globe have gone
through multiple failures in their lifetime. And it is in these that
they found the right formula for a successful life.

Without falling down, they might never have known the right
way to climb up.
That said, here are 2 methods on how you can help yourself
keep focused on your goals.
Cauterize the worry wart in you
People are worried 24/7. Whether it’s a consequence of
something they’ve done in the past or the dread of what will
happen in the future.
These kinds of thoughts can be debilitating.
The past has already happened, and your present is about
learning from that and applying it for a better future.There
really is no point in worrying about what has already happened
and what hasn’t happened yet.
It will only rob you of enjoying what you have now.
Our minds are so strong that they can make us believe anything.
If we keep on thinking about the things that can go wrong, then
most often than not, those thoughts will come true.
The law of attraction uses the same principle, but in the positive
context.
If you think positive, the positive will come. You will be able to
attract wealth, love, friendships and the like. Use the power of
the mind to manifest your dreams, not your fears.

Learn to tune out
When you find yourself entertaining these negative thoughts, you
need to actively, consciously, divert your attention somewhere else.
It helps to visualize your brain as a gadget that can be turned on
and off, or at the very least, one whose frequency can be changed
like that of a radio or a television.
You need to know what kinds of thoughts trigger the panic or
anxiety in you.
And to counter this, you need to think of an object, a person,
or a place that can soothe you when the panic comes.
Visual people usually have a good method of combating scary
thoughts because they know what it is that they need to picture
right away.
If you’re not particularly visual, let’s say you’re auditory, have
your peaceful go-to song on speed dial. If you’re more of a feeler
type of person, it’s good to imagine a soothing scenario like let’s
say a beach or the forest.
Different pictures work for different people. Don’t be boxed in a
certain type.
What matters is that your method works for you.

I hope you enjoyed this and it will assist you in focusing on
who you are and where you want to be in life.

We will chat again soon,

Heather Mathews


P.S. I didn't have all life's answers right away.

Friday, August 28, 2015