Love Makes You a Believer

As a wise person once said (a.k.a my grandmother) it would be a better world if people believed - no matter what in, so long as they believed - but mostly in themselves, and in the power of love.

Let's take a look at the traffic of trouble that congests the world as it turns in June 2012. People continue to hurt each other, sometimes for no other account than a piece of land, or their religion and race, and they continue to hurt our world.

A team of scientists have warned that life on Earth may be on the way to an irreversible "tipping point" due to forests and fish stocks declining, water demand rising and lack of action on climate change.

It seems humanity's path is anything but sustainable. New technologies have brought about their own form of decline, especially to old money making trends. The many ways of getting content for free (and my blog is one of them) have slashed the profits of the professionals in their respective fields.

I pride myself on producing 100% original content, and this isn't a copyright or piracy issue - that is a separate issue which has always been around and just came online when we did. The issue here is one of productivity and cutting out the middle-men that patrolled the tollbooth to the transition of amateur to professional; anyone can become a singer, a writer, a celebrity without having to leave the comfort of their own homes to reach the masses.

Some say that because of that taste has declined, but what is good taste and bad, has always been in the eye of the beholder. It's a general trend affecting music, print journalism and mainstream movies - and even the porn industry is in crisis from declining hard copy DVD sales because of the freedom the digital genesis of our lives has given us. Developing technology has made sex so accessible, that porn has become blasé. We can all be porn stars in our own homes - and become stars of the small and silver screen, too.

Fans making their own websiodes of their favourite shows are getting just as much attention as their revered franchise. Institutions like Star Trek have even seen past actors get in on the act. Indie film-making has gone virtually mainstream.

And accessing information has become so easy that some have begun to fear original content is in decline. It seems everyone just wants to copy and paste these days - and even important organisations have been caught out with their important reports.

So does this show that, compared to past generations, our brains are getting lazier? Although scientists believe the scare stories about changes to the brain brought on by use of digital technologies are overstated, there is evidence that the science shows a definite effect on the brain, particularly in children.

With technology increasingly becoming such a big part of the family home, parenting has become divided into two - offline and online parenting. Experts warn that parents should worry less about cyber-bullying on Facebook and Twitter, and more about sleep and memory disruption when children use technology at night, such as texting on their smartphones.

Parents used to have to worry about their kids catching one type of virus, now they have to be taught intelligent surfing so as not to infect the family's home computer with all sorts of malware. And it's not just cyber-criminals making malware and viruses, nations have got in on the act to bring their offline warfare, online.

Should we begin to despair - or is this just a case of more choice? It's seems that rather than brains getting lazier, we have simply discovered more ways to be deviously innovative. The oddities of our planet can amuse, surprise, horrify and mystify - but sometimes it's the weirdness that oddly gives life its personality.

There are those that believe it is foolish to fear advancements in technology, when in actuality, with science and technology changing our lives at such a fast rate, we have the potential for an interesting - if not brighter - future.

The humans whose ancestors thought of building vampire-slaying kits in Victorian times, are now producing gadgets like ultra-thin wraparound glass to banana pianos. Wacky inventions have gotten a new lifeline with ever increasing avenues opening up by technology. The oddities of our humanity has been given a new voice.

Are we, however, imbuing too much of our humanity into things? Can machines ever have a soul? Technology is not that advanced at any rate - and some believe that people were created to be loved, while things were created to be used. The reason why the world is in chaos, some state, is because today the opposite is true - things are being loved and people are being used.

But could practising spirituality actually be the lifeline many of us are grabbing out for? Dogma and differences in religion can cause us trouble, but faith can be a healer.

For example, here's an unusual health tip for improving the health of your heart: practice praying - at least meditatively. I touched upon the importance of meditation before (it forms part of my 90 day mind healing programme) but this health advice comes courtesy of researchers at the Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, in Ontario.

Love is the spirit doctor

The research team noted that previous studies have suggested that meditative contemplation measured during religious services could provide small yet important protective benefits against coronary heart disease (CHD) and CHD risk factors (e.g., diabetes, hypertension). However, they stated that the extent to which these benefits apply to Canada deserves study, because approximately one-third of adult Canadians attend religious services at least monthly.

In light of that statistic, they devised a clinical trial to examine the association between frequency of religious service attendance and prevalence of CHD, diabetes, and hypertension in Canada. The researchers used data from the Canadian Community Health Survey.

After controlling for demographic, socio-economic and health behaviour variables, the association between religious service attendance and prevalence of CHD was not deemed significant. However, persons who attended religious services more than once a week exhibited lower prevalence odds of diabetes and hypertension compared to persons who attended less than once a year.

The findings of this study represent the first bit of health news that suggests religious service attendance may be associated with a lower prevalence of CHD risk factors.

If you've been thinking about connecting with your spiritual side, this study provides some excellent motivation. Along with being heart healthy, attending weekly services could prompt you to engage in more social connections with family and friends. Even without strong religious beliefs, a positive faith based belief system studies are suggesting can create a meditative place to contemplate your life. You may also find yourself more connected to your community, perhaps engaging in some volunteer activities.

This will help feed your spirit, mind and body, so that the glitter on the inside will help you glitter on the outside. Don't tie your happiness to things, tie your happiness to the love you accumulate inside. The more love inside, the more immune your spirit will be to the negativity that inevitably comes along in life.

Personally, I feel happy with both myself and how things are progressing for me, even though the world seems to have been stuck in a rut of late. But we can share out the positive flow of our own life, to help others change, and in doing so change the world into a better place for future generations.

I have been thinking about a few different ways to ensure that the year continues to be filled with positivity and happiness, and everything I've implemented seems to have rubbed off on my twin flame, close friends and acquaintances.

So, in addition to believing in something, here are 10 powerful tips for you to start using in your life to ensure that the rest of 2012 is a successful year for you, irrelevant of global events - because we must nurture the peace at home first that we wish to see in the world.

1. Know that you are unique and incredibly special. There is no other person on this planet as unique as you are. You are one of a kind no matter what anyone tells you. Know, believe and be proud of this.
2. Appreciate everything that you have. Happiness goes hand in hand with appreciation of the things that we have in our lives. That goes for even the smallest of things like having the pleasure of eating nice food, and enjoying friends company.
3. Approach each day with optimism. From the moment you get out of bed, think of all the great things that you achieve each day. Negative and positive views are only interpretations, why not go with an interpretation that makes you happy?
4. Set a new, fun and interesting goal for yourself. We always try and improve, that's just how we work as human beings. Set a small goal that you can achieve each day to fuel the warm fire of accomplishment.
5. Adapt to the constant changes that are happening.Change is all around us and sometimes there is little we can do about it. One of my twin flame's role models, Bruce Lee once said: "Be like water my friend." So take change as an opportunity to better yourself.
6. Live each day as though it was your last. Remember that no matter what you do, one day will actually be your last. So why wait until the last day to appreciate life to the fullest.
7. Love yourself. Love is a power that can move mountains. Love and appreciate yourself. This will give you an extra bit of self confidence as well.
8. Understand the people around you. Try and see the world from their eyes. Usually when you do this, you will feel sympathy or empathy and you will become a little bit wiser, a little bit gentler and a little bit less concerned about things that might be worrying you.
9. Stop trying to be perfect. It is impossible to be perfect all the time. The sooner you let go of this idea, the sooner will you feel a nice sense of relief.
10. Laugh! This is probably my favourite. When you go through the day with a smile on your face, it seems like problems stay away from you. We live by intervals of reason under the sovereignty of humour and passion, and it's always best to have a solid sense of self but never to take yourself too seriously. Laughter is one of the oldest medicines of our world, it will help you achieve a long, positive and healthy life, and enjoy the time you have.

Ask yourself how have things been going for you so far? If you don't like the answer you get, test these tips out for yourself, it will give you an accurate testimonial as to how it makes you and others around you feel.

Sometimes it's just a matter about finding peace in the midst of chaos and the clutter that technology can add to our lives. Meditate the point, see what you come up with - but don't get me wrong, inanimate things do have an important part to play in our lives.

As I mention in my "Love Your Imagination" post, technology isn't evil, it is our capacity for evil and how we use technology and its advancements that need to be checked, but I think I'm onto something when I say that adding glitter inside, will make you glitter on the inside.

Because then our innovations in technology will reflect our humanity within, not be the substitute for it. When we learn to love each other, we discover that there is no metal substitute to feelings; we must appreciate and embrace things, but we must cherish all living things.

I believe that, because love has made me a believer. And if you believe, it can make a believer out of you, too.

Yours in love,