A Balanced Approach to Wellness!

Taking a break for now

12 19 20

I started this blog in September 2013 as a way to introduce people to Energy Guidance Complete. Since then, I’ve shared the information I receive from Spirit, hoping that others would recognize the wisdom as I have. Although Spirit wants me to share more, I feel that we’ve covered so many important issues and I’m ready to take a break. From time to time, I’ll share more information if Spirit pushes me to do so. I’m finishing a book titled Love Leads the Way, which will be out in the beginning of 2021. I’ll write a post when it’s published.

I’ll leave you with links to topics that I think are extremely important and worth considering:

Screen! My beloved screen! about addiction to smartphones and computers

Posts about attention deficit disorders: Attention Deficit category (“Deficit disorders are deficits in societies, not in individual people.”)

Race is variations of people. No more, no less.

??Fuck Cancer!!

Prevention of poor health–>Stop the causes!

Posture–so much more important that people think!

Sleep and its issues

The importance of delight

Spending the effort on Your health

Loneliness is complicated

Children’s most important need

The health effects of the latest technologies We can’t say that we haven’t been warned.

Who or What is God?

Category:

Well-being

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Spirit says to apply this post to the situation in Ukraine

02 25 22

Below are quotes from the book Descending into War, Descending into Contempt which I published in 2017. Spirit requested that I share them with you to help you understand the motivations behind the current invasion.

“War is always a descent. It is never a positive choice. Contempt, too, is always a descent. It brings only negativity and misguided thinking and actions.”

“Contempt—that which stays unspoken and that which erupts into action—when allowed to mix with laws, regulations, and edicts, putrefies daily comings-and-goings and deliberations for future legislation. The members of society who create legislation that sanctions contempt and determine to continue contemptible frameworks for their society, lower their society’s true potential.”

“Conflict isn’t present when people want the amount that quenches their natural hungers. It isn’t present when people objectively assess their needs and notice the needs of others. But, when people covet or want more than they need, the equation begins to form, and it pulls in the people who create the conflict and all others who directly participate or indirectly become involved.”

“…feelings of superiority, feelings of inequity, and feelings of emasculation—are intensified when disappointment accelerates feelings of despair or demoralization. Disappointment can be a strong emotion, and it intensifies feelings of contempt and the possibility of conflict.”

“When combined with the other causes of contempt, the sense of superiority feeds conflicts among families, communities, regions, and nations. The sense of superiority is very insidious.”

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Conflict

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Why Alzheimer’s-afflicted people have trouble remembering new information

01 22 22

With Alzheimer’s disorder, the body accesses information that is stored away from the brain.

Information is stored in the body in three places: in the brain, around the pancreas, and by the uterus in women and in the scrotum of men. When brain functioning freezes (because of Alzheimer’s disorder), the body searches for information stored in the areas that do not freeze. Because freezing in the brain is either a slow or a fast process, the body can only move information from the brain to the other storage areas when time allows.

Accessing the non-brain stored information is less direct than accessing the brain-stored information, which causes Alzheimer’s-afflicted people to struggle with recall. An Alzheimer’s-afflicted person who cannot remember new information does not remember because the information was never stored.

Note: This information has been spiritually received.

Category:

Health afflictions

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Illnesses caused by shallow breathing

12 28 21

Shallow, or stunted, breathing is the cause of many illnesses. The list below includes items that might not seem like illnesses to you, but your body relates to them as illnesses.

  1. Lowered functioning of the senses
  2. Lowered functioning of the heart
  3. Lowered functioning of bronchioles in the lungs
  4. Lowered functioning of white blood cells
  5. Lowered functioning of sweat glands
  6. Esophageal spasms
  7. Emotional outbursts
  8. Certain types of headaches
  9. Menstrual irregularities resulting in lessened output
  10. Heightened despair
  11. Oral dryness
  12. Spiritual distraction
  13. Muddled thinking (Yes, it counts as an illness.)
  14. Glandular sluggishness
  15. Follicular sluggishness
  16. Fascial growth sluggishness
  17. Nasal inflammation
  18. Anxiety
  19. Anxious movements
  20. Disturbed muscular regeneration
  21. Disturbed sleep patterns
  22. Disturbed dreams
  23. Tired responses (physical and mental)
  24. Overextended focus on calamity
  25. Underwhelming response of reflexes (physical and mental)

The prevention of these illnesses: proper breathing that is measured and extended. (There are other causes for some of these illnesses; however, correction of breathing can often bring surprising healing.)

Note: This information has been spiritually received. Although I have closed the Energy Guidance Complete connection, occasionally Spirit pushes me to share information. The information presented here is important enough for me to step out of my “retirement”.

Category:

Breathing

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My rant about…

11 16 21

This post is completely from me and not from Spirit.

I went to an alternative spiritual festival this past weekend and attended a rebirthing session, which I’d never done before. It was a VERY interesting experience, and it brought up strong emotions and thoughts that basically became a rant.

As I entered the rhythm of the session, my first thought was one of anger at my mother for having filled me with medications when I was a child and having fed me extremely unhealthy foods. (When I think back to tastes from my childhood, they include the sweet chalky taste of Kaopectate, a chocolate crunchy medication I don’t remember the name of, alka-seltzer, and cherry cough drops.) She fanatically followed my bowel movements and stomach complaints, and immediately addressed them with medications. I was a sickly kid and spent a lot of time in the company of doctors at their offices or at home visits.

My anger at my mother then moved to the doctors who were her advisors. They’re the ones that advised her how to be a good, caring mother and which drugs to give for which issue, and when to graduate to prescription drugs for a stronger effect. My anger widened to include the marketers of the drugs who convince people of the need for these drugs. Then my anger widened to include the marketers of unhealthy processed foods who convinced my mother that their products were good for children. I had a lot of anger swirling around in my head!

As I moved into a calmer phase of the rebirthing session, I reminded myself how far I’ve moved past that unhealthy phase of my life, and I started to calm down.

But then I started to think about the new phase of life I’ve entered, that of older age, and how so many of the people I know are full force into that phase of going from doctor appointments to blood tests to more invasive tests to appointments with specialists, on and on, and much of that prodding and testing is for chronic issues that conventional medicine doesn’t know how to address. My anger started to grow again!

I’m angry at the medical establishment for convincing people that they don’t have agency over their own health. People who are extremely bright and competent in other areas become like children following the orders of their doctors. (I’m not against conventional medicine for treating issues that alternative therapies can’t treat [like injuries after accidents, separating conjoined twins, etc.]). I’m ranting about conventional medicine’s inability to treat the body as a whole and treat chronic afflictions.

By the end of the rebirthing session, the anger at my mother had receded and I recognized that she was just trying to be a good mother, but had been manipulated by others (or had unintentionally allowed herself to be manipulated). My angry feelings towards the forces that encourage ill health and reliance on medications continued, so I decided to try and release them in this rant.

What do I hope for? For people to rise up and take charge of their health and change their diets when changing the diet will make a difference and change destructive habits (I know, easier said than done) and explore healing therapies beyond the conventional ones. That all applies to me, too. 🙂

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Well-being

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“Love Leads the Way” is published!

10 28 21

Hi everyone! I’m back to let you know that I finished the book about love and the heart, and have had it published. Here are excerpts:

“There are countless songs, poems, and stories about love and the heart. Often they come from places of wishful thinking and buried reality. “Love Leads the Way” contains no wishful thinking, rather it provides information about love and the heart that is important to know so that we can build nourishing relationships that guide us.”

– Forward

To be connected to the soul requires an ability to harness the intangible knowledge that resides in the heart.

The heart knows the way of the man or woman who carries it. Hearts are physically similar (with variations according to body size; nutritional care received during gestation, infancy, and childhood; and weather [hot/cold/ damp/overcast/ intensely sunny]); and yet they are intangibly different from person to person, with no two hearts the same (as with a fingerprint).

The intangible heart is the best judge of character and motives, but it must overcome the forces that prevent it from working its magic…

– Introduction

The work begins within! When we are unkind to ourselves, we inhibit our ability to relate to others in a balanced and caring way. Their idiosyncrasies annoy us rather than entertain us. We relate to them in harshness and in impatience. When we are kind to ourselves, we expand our caring for ourselves and for others.

– Learning to Love “I”

…A broken heart is part of living. Our hearts break when loved ones die or when love is unrequited or when once-in-love is no more.
Our bodies are designed to help us through the heartache, but the help comes by turning inwards and listening: listening to the feelings of pain and acknowledging them; …listening to the memories and cherishing or releasing them; listening to our inner voice and following its lead; … The more we listen, the better we heal.

– Heartache is a Holistic Response

Know that social connections keep your heart strong. They can’t mend a heart with physical defects, but they can encourage its daily functioning. Seek out opportunities to interact with others and eschew too many solitary endeavors. We are social animals. That’s part of our design.

– Strengthening the Heart

The heart infuses life with emotion, with strength, and with direction. The heart reaches to the soul for guidance and brings the guidance in, even when soulful living has been abandoned or denied. The heart feels the connection to guardian angels, urging wisdom flow and urging sensations of comfort and support. The heart ties us to the rhythms in nature. In the spiritual realm, it pulls us into the flows and into the stillness.

– Leading from the Heart

Love Leads the Way is available in paperback or Kindle. Click here for information.

Category:

EGC books and articles, Heart, love

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Anxiety is riddled with misunderstandings

08 03 21

Being anxious has become standard behavior for us modern folks. Ask a person to describe himself and there’s a good chance he’ll include anxiety as a lifestyle descriptor. Feeling anxious is how many teenagers and children generally feel, especially those who are in step with the modern conveniences of smartphones and social media apps. Those who overeat or undereat, those who question their abilities or physical features, those who pretend to be experts or moderate proficients, and those who live facades or lies–all experience anxiety, that is, self-imposed struggle to maintain their self-imposed reality. (For young children, anxiety can be reactions to reality that is imposed on them through improper care by caregivers or experiences of fear or deep sadness. Anxiety in children can be included in this post discussion, but the remedies are often not in the children’s hands.)

What are the misunderstandings about anxiety? Anxiety is not an illness. Anxiety is not unnatural. Anxiety is not insurmountable. And it’s not combated with drugs or over-emphasis.

Anxiety is a natural response to uncertainty and pressure. It operates from a place of protection. It also helps slow down responses and missteps. Anxiety gives the body and mind a place to process confusion and expectations. It is a helpful experience because it causes people to pause or stop.

Anxiety is a symptom of overcompensation, overthinking, and undervaluing oneself. It is helpful when too much is being asked of a person or when expectations are impossible to achieve. It pushes towards reexamination of goals and ideas. It also pushes towards changes in personality and relationships (especially for anxious children).

Anxiety is best handled through examination of goals, relationships, and lifestyle choices. Each of these areas can contribute to anxiety, and so by examining them and recognizing the things that lead to anxiety, the anxiety can be lifted through revision of expectations. For children who are experiencing anxiety, parents and caregivers must examine their expectations on the children and pay attention to the children’s natural talents and likes.

Anxiety is a call to action, a call to make changes.

Note: This information has been spiritually received. Although I have stopped receiving spiritual wisdom on a regular basis, I am sometimes pushed to activate the channel.

Category:

Health afflictions

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Conflict and contempt disrupt the global rhythm of all living things.

05 04 21

Previous section: “Here’s how we can all contribute to less conflict in the world“

The final section from Descending into War, Descending into Contempt, pp. 46-47:

How People Can Connect

Dynamic and beating rhythm vibrates endlessly. The rhythm resonates with the movements of each living thing—each blade of grass, each infant, each orangutan, each beetle—and connects them all unseeingly. People live within the rhythm of the connections, just as the other inhabitants of the world do.

The more the living elements are connected, the better the rhythm binds them. The rhythm balances the living without their awareness, and gives them life. The rhythm of the living is sustaining.

The connections that people build with each other, and with the nonhuman elements, resonate in the rhythm. Destructive feelings and actions disrupt the rhythm. Each action performed positively builds the rhythm; each action performed negatively unbalances it.

Of all the living matter in the world, people have the most influence on the rhythm. Our thoughts, decisions, and actions have impact. When we connect with the animals and other creatures in a responsible way; when we connect to our families, friends, acquaintances, community members, and unknown people with desire for camaraderie; when we see the environment as a gift to protect; and when we are open to our soulful guidance, and allow those who depend on us to be soulfully guided, then the rhythm resonates with depth.

When we accept feelings of superiority, or expect to receive what other have and feel resentful, or allow despair to deepen disappointments, or glorify actions that lead to uncontrolled release of harmful destruction, then we allow conflict and contempt to shift the rhythm, and the global rhythm for all living elements is affected.

Descending into conflicts is movement wasted. Energy is best directed towards acceptance, protection, and connection!

————————–

From p. 2: Descending into War, Descending into Contempt…is presented to us from Spirit for loving reasons. All the wisdom presented in the book series shows love from Spirit in the information that is shared with us. Each word has been deciphered by me, but the words belong to Spirit. The sharing is help for us to create a contempt-free world.

Category:

Conflict

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Here’s how we can all contribute to less conflict in the world:

04 28 21

Previous section: “How People Should be Interacting“

Today’s section from Descending into War, Descending into Contempt, pp. 41-46:

Investing in Potential

This book has offered explanations for the cycling of contempt and conflict within human existence. Contempt and conflict have become catalysts for distancing from the ideal. They destroy societies and they harm future generations.

Ideal is possible when contempt and conflict are moderated. Events will always occur that enable contempt and conflict to simmer, even boil, but they aren’t in control when deliberate actions are taken to ignore them.

Ignoring the feelings that ignite contempt and conflict builds resistance to them and affects the rhythm of life vibrationally. Overcoming negative forces and choosing to bring out compassion pave the way for serenity.

Reaching potential as a society is possible through daily connection to environmental forces (being part of nature, feeling its changes, and protecting it); self-nurturance (creating habits that uplift); group efforts to prevent conflict; personal responsibility to resist self-interest; and gratitude for the gifts of the region and the efforts of society (individual societal members, respectful connection to people who are related, who provide services, and who become close or peripheral acquaintances).

The requirements for reaching potential as a society, which were presented above, can be rewritten with more detail:

Daily connection to environmental forces
  • Each day, observe plants and notice their uniqueness: the height and breadth of trees, the colors and shapes of flowers, and the structure and power of leaves.
  • Each day, notice the subtle and not so subtle changes in the seasons and smell the changes.
  • Each day, nurture elements of nature: outdoor plants, indoor plants, or littered areas.
  • Each day, connect to pets or notice animals that are cared for by others or live freely. Marvel at their antics.
  • Each day, when you taste nature—through eating fresh fruit or vegetables—taste their connection to the earth and taste their gift of sustenance. The sustenance from the earth is a gift.
Self-nurturance
  • Just like an infant, feel your body’s basic needs, and as an adult, responsibly provide responses:
    – If your body is thirsty, drink water.
    – If your body is hungry, eat nutritious foods.
    – If your sense of snuggling calls out for closeness, hug a family member or good friend.
    – If tiredness demands rest, make rest a priority.
    – When demands to rid the body of urine and feces require action, respond and don’t ignore the important need to remove waste.
    – Stay curious.
  • Know that the body needs to move and stay put. If your days are spent in constant motion, add more moments of stillness. If your days are spent being inactive, add intentional movement throughout the day.
  • Nurture your talents and desires to create.
  • For men: know that your body needs to release energy differently from women. Participate in games or competitions with other men that provide (1) challenges that are physical and mental, (2) reasons to yell and scream, and (3) adrenaline release.
Group efforts to prevent conflict
  • Speak out against messages of prejudice.
  • Choose leaders who value inclusiveness.
  • Stop actions that reflect superiority thinking.
Personal responsibility to resist self-interest
  • Regularly practice benevolent thinking: visualize kindness or envisage yourself being compassionate.
  • See the turf you traverse as being in your hands to care for. Relate to it as if you are its caregiver, even if you are there temporarily. Help beautify and tend the area—alone or with others.
  • Push yourself to be less judgmental of family members, people who are very different from you, and rivals. When judgmental thoughts invade your thinking, switch to thoughts about emptiness. Let the empty visualizations stay in your mind until the judgmental movement passes.
  • Treat all service providers with kindness.
Gratitude for the gifts of the region and the efforts of society
  • Think about things in your life for which you are grateful. The things can be dear to you, like a beloved person, or mundane, like grocery stores. From time to time, make a list of these things, and be aware of all that is in your life for which you can be grateful.
  • Besides treating all service providers with kindness, show them gratitude as well.
  • Explore gratitude rituals that instill expressions of thanks. Religions and support groups have such rituals. If established rituals don’t appeal to you, create rituals that express your personal gratitude.
  • When unwanted events cause despair, open to supportive people and release into the comfort of their connection with you.

Next section: “How People Can Connect”

Category:

Conflict

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How People Should Be Interacting

04 22 21

Previous section: “Remodeling Reality“

Today’s section from Descending into War, Descending into Contempt, pp. 40-41:

Investing in Potential

Horrific acts imbalance societies terribly. Their far-reaching effects upset family structures and societal arrangements. The people who perform the horrific acts are permanently scarred, and the people who are their community suffer proportionally.

Conflict breeds conflict breeding more conflict, but why? The natural live-and-let-live formation of society should limit it. Conflict is an aberration. It is not true human nature.

The natural idea-developing, arrangement-building interactivity of people has been misunderstood and relegated to one more thing about human interaction, when in actuality, it IS HOW PEOPLE SHOULD BE INTERACTING!

How People Should be Interacting

In a connected society—one in which the importance of building connections among people is recognized—each person has a responsibility to consider how his or her actions affect the others. Self-care is valued, and so is care of the others.

Talents of each person have value, with each person contributing according to abilities and pace. Natural leaders take leadership roles, understanding that their roles must consider the needs of the societal members. Their power lies in their ability to relate to the youth. The youth have responsibility of caring for the surroundings, and the elders are responsible for tending the surroundings and overseeing daily functioning of the community.

Respect for religious differences prevails. Respect for lifestyle manifestations allows people to express individual temperaments. Respect for difficulties of people born with physical or intellectual limitations is given without pity. Respect for the environment is an everyday occurrence.

The interactions of people—with animals, the land, natural events, and other people—satisfy the need for connections. The interactions join the underlying rhythm of life that pulsates with the flow of blood in each creature’s life. The more interactions, the more the rhythm strengthens.

Next section: “How People Can Reach Potential“

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Conflict

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The key to reducing conflicts is described here.

04 19 21

Previous section: “Facing Death“

Today’s section from Descending into War, Descending into Contempt, pp. 36-39:

Remodeling Reality

Changing reality diverges (di, two; verger, to incline [to bend forward or prompt to do something]) the future. The making of the future accompanies every action and every interaction that occurs. The future is constantly changing.

Objectification enables treatment of others to be inhumane. Whether the others are hated or not, inhumane treatment causes a future that is inclined towards indignations. Inhumane treatment and continued objectification of people and animals spiral into societal living that is abhorrent.

Human nature, just like the nature of each animal group, is partially unchangeable and partially controlled by internal governance. Humans live within the boundaries of their physiology and their capacities for thought. The range of boundaries and capacities is genetically, geographically, and companion-personality influenced (by parents, siblings, caregivers, and peers). In addition, the range is influenced by societal and historical frameworks. Modern influences on the range are technology, pharmacology, and rootlessness.

Hormonal influences have overall input into human behavior. The hormones — especially the sex hormones — direct the eyes, and the drive, and the desires. Choices made because of hormonal insistence are confident temporarily, while the immersion in the hormonal actions capture reason. Hormonal influences affect the future in the choices to allow them to determine actions.

Divergence of possible consequences from choices and actions! Divergence shows the future what could have been in the past. Divergence thought is shown in statements of “If only”. “If only they had chosen to…”  “If only the school officials had…”  “If only…”  If onlys are reflections on the past, but they can be used in the present to create a future that is harmonious. The current acceptance of unkindness as behavior that is part of human nature is changeable. Unkindness is not built in, and it can be softened by actions that change the future.

Men and women have hormonal forces that open them to unkind actions. Masculine and feminine unkindness can be similar, but masculine unkindness can be more destructive. The phenomenon of emasculation is the basis of horrendous destruction, as described in “Feelings of Emasculation”. Masculine submersion into the depths of destruction is the cause of crises and conflicts throughout the world. The future is often molded on the aspirations and descent of men. Women have secondary roles in most of the conflicts, because of societal and internal reasons. The future has less negativity because of women.

Conflicts can be changed into compromises and détente when the desire to coexist is nurtured. Many paths are angled towards coexistence, but these coexistence paths depend upon determination and participation to succeed.

Here is a coexistence path that understands the physical and hormonal needs of men. It requires the participation of boys and men in all stations of society. This path recognizes the energy that is generated within each man that pushes towards action.

This path, in recognition of the energy that must be released, is based on local gatherings of boys and men in games or competitions that are played daily. The games must include physical exertion — with or without contact — that releases heat, adrenaline, and potassium. The release of these components reduces aggressive behavior.

Daily physical exertion is key to lowering conflict. Watching other men in physical competitions initiates the release of the conflict components, but becomes a catalyst for frustration if personal release does not occur. Boys and men who are inactive disturb the energy-release requirement. Inactivity produces alternate “routes” for release that can cause uncontrollable bursts of anger, emotional dis-tress, and illness.

The application of this path has global implications when each small area implements it: local disagreements lessen, regional barriers relax, and conflicts fade. The release of conflict components through daily local gatherings of males participating in games or competitions affects neighborhood groups, corporate management, and government leaders. From young to old, the physical gatherings help the men create a future that is less conflicted.

Next section: “Investing in Potential“

Category:

Conflict

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“In the struggles of conflict, death is a possible outcome.”

04 13 21

Previous section: “Capital Punishment“

Today’s section from Descending into War, Descending into Contempt, pp. 34-35:

Facing Death

In the struggles of conflict, death is a possible outcome.

A struggle in a family can lead to volatile emotions that result in death. A struggle between competitors can render death when the competition matters too much. Struggles because of desire for wealth or power have many negative effects, and death is in the possible realm of actions considered.

Death is meted out regularly when society is structured to suspect its inhabitants. In these cases, the conflict is codified — de jure or de facto — in both oppressive regimes and in proud nations.

Between countries, death can be a nationalistic duty when wars erupt. Deaths due to defending one’s country are mourned but elevated; deaths due to betraying one’s country are approved and applauded. In both cases, the deaths are the end of living. Is it good to die for one’s country? The answer depends on what is left behind.

Facing death. Facing death when death is imminent—not from natural causes, but from enemy fire or enemy hands — is a moment of emptiness. The thoughts begin to run out and the body gives way. When nothing can be done to prevent the imminent death, the body freezes and starts the process of soul separation. In a natural death, the soul separates after the death occurs. In a precipitous death, the soul begins to separate when the person gives way to the death about to occur. The soul is separated so that the body dies with less anguish.

Facing death. For some, not a fear at all. For others, a motivator to grovel. The fear of death bridles no other animals except humans.

The fear, at the point when life declines into death, is wrapped and protected in ethereal love. The fear has assistance to open the soul to move on. Fear of death becomes no more.

Next section: “Remodeling Reality“

Category:

Conflict

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“Capital punishment has emotional side effects for the people who administer it…”

04 07 21

Previous section: “Casualties of Resentment“

Today’s section from Descending into War, Descending into Contempt, pp. 32-33:

Capital Punishment

Capital punishment is a payment that should never be extracted. No matter what another person did, capital punishment is not for people to use. Death that is deliberately meted out is improper for people to do. It creates imbalance in the people who cause it to happen—in the judges, in the juries, in the officials overseeing the event, and in the general populace.

Capital punishment has emotional side effects for the people who administer it, not for the people who receive it. Yes, those who die because of capital punishment have fears and other emotions. The side effects they don’t feel are indifference, hardening, and stonyheartedness. Yes, they may have been in-different, hardened or stonyhearted, which allowed them to commit offenses deemed worthy of death, but their mental state before execution contracts.

The feelings of the people who participate in government-sanctioned executions, from the people who administer the deaths to the people who voted for its use, are indifferent to the enormity of purposefully administered death, are hardened to changes that have happened to them because of their indifference, and have become stonyhearted—desensitized, remorseless, and indurate. The full extent of capital punishment effects are not understood, but they are wide and rippling.

Judging others is appropriate. Confining some who cannot control their misanthropic behavior is prudent. Insisting upon restitution is instructional. Bringing society towards helping the offenders before they hurt others is wise. Allowing capital punishment is misguided.

Next section: “Facing Death”

Category:

Conflict

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“Feelings of resentment infect relationships, self-esteem, and perceptions of society.”

04 05 21

Previous section: “Ferocity“

Today’s section from Descending into War, Descending into Contempt, pp. 30-31:

Casualties of Resentment

Resentment is felt throughout the presence of conflict. Conflict naturally arouses the feelings of resentment, and it feeds the feelings, even after the conflict has resolved or disintegrated. Feelings of resentment infect relationships, self-esteem, and perceptions of society.

The casualties of resentment are many. Some of them are listed here:

  • Stubbornness in negotiations
  • Aggressive speech
  • Feelings of emasculation
  • Acceleration of feelings of despair
  • Hurtful actions
  • Armed confrontations
  • Mistreatment of children
  • Inability to protect children
  • Fractured relationships
  • Covetous view of one’s own possessions
  • Annoyance at the daily interactions with others, even when the interactions are kind
  • Conflict and ill will towards segments of the population
  • Lowered performance of work
  • Envy of friends and close people (family, coworkers, etc.)
  • Rejection of society
  • Escape through numbing substances
  • Investment in destructive thoughts and actions

Resentment casualties hurt. They damage others in many ways and damage the resentful ones with each resentful feeling. Resentment brings on foolish decisions, failed agreements, and pain. The effects of resentment are wide and lasting, and they destroy. From individuals to nations, resentment fosters distancing and grief.

When resentment is felt, the best solution is acknowledgement of the feelings and openness to exploration of solutions. Letting resentment fester is the wrong approach. The right approach is acknowledging resentful feelings, and then evaluating them and rectifying the thinking or the situation.

Next section: “Capital Punishment”

Category:

Conflict

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“…people continue to teach unkindness and hatred.”

04 01 21

Previous section: “Preparing for the Fight“

Today’s section from Descending into War, Descending into Contempt, pp. 28-29:

Ferocity

The viciousness that conflict enables buries humanity in quicksand. It pulls all down down, thinning the resources to stop the expectation that ferocity and viciousness are normal behaviors.

Ferocity is an innate quality in people—in all people, but it is usually contained. When ferocity is allowed to take hold, the results are often tragic.

Unkindness is not an innate quality; it is learned. Children learn it from caregivers and people who affect their lives when they are young. If unkindness is doused on people, it drenches but does not pass into the behavior, unless the unkindness is consistently administered or is traumatically experienced. Unkindness that has become part of a person opens the person to release ferocity.

Uncontrollable hatred is also not an innate quality, but it is felt when it has been experienced or when it is lived by example. In other words, children who experience uncontrollable hatred directed at them may internalize it and use it against themselves or others, or children who see and hear demonstrations of uncontrollable hatred towards other people may unconsciously digest the hatred towards others and display it in the future. When uncontrollable hatred is felt and unkindness has been learned, ferocity develops.

Throughout history, people have viciously hurt other people. The cycle of ferocity does not change, because people continue to teach unkindness and hatred.

News stories focus on salacious and hurtful events so that people become inured to vicious and degrading actions. Books and movies describe loathsome and reprehensible characters, because people have become conditioned to see them as “entertainment”. Ferocity can be controlled, but it requires conviction, understanding, declaration (public statements), patience, vigilance, kindness, and action by participants and sideliners so that the ferocity remains inactive. Conviction is the solution to ferocity—conviction that ferocity can be controlled and neutralized.

Next section: “Casualties of Resentment”

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This section saddens me and I can’t find a sentence to emphasize in the title.

03 28 21

Previous section: “Dreading Events“

Today’s section from Descending into War, Descending into Contempt, pp. 25-27:

Preparing for the Fight

Similarities exist in gearing up for battles. There are physical preparations and mental conversations. Smaller battles require the same preparations as larger battles, if the stakes are crucial to either side.

In ongoing conflicts, preparation is muted by the need for constant engagement. These conflicts usually experience reduced physical and mental preparations. For fighters in from the beginning, the training and encouragement they received before feeling the endlessness of the conflict can sustain until it ends, if they believe in the cause. Fighters who enter midway, whether or not they receive preparations that rev them, experience the relief of the in-from-the-beginning fighters, and that welcome gives them a sense of purpose, or a sense of hopelessness, from the moment they arrive.

Involvement of commanders in the fighting is not the main motivator for engaging in the activity of death. The motivators are revenge, duty, and devotion to the cause. Commanders can rouse fervor, but even if they are absent, the fighters immerse themselves in the iniquities.

Fighters who are in it for financial reward or excitement have less motivation to wholeheartedly commit themselves to dying. For them, a commander’s presence influences performance.

Fighters who are forced to fight, those who have been brought in against their will, also require commander presence to engage in indignations.

When judgment-altering substances are used in “motivating” fighters (drugs [legal or illegal] or alcohol), brutality increases in the activity of death. For the fighters who live past their participation in brutality, whether or not they were given mind-altering substances, nightmares and visualizations will plague them in the current life and in the next life to come. (Nightmares and visualizations of blood-filled scenes plague all who participate in brutality that is excessive—even for those who only followed orders.)

Circumstances often influence the age of those fighting. Organized induction of fighters or the rise of an armed conflict create fighters of set ages. In these circumstances, age affects training and performance of responsibilities. Vigilantes, who gather their fighters through force or brainwashing, usually take children and very angry people so that they can mold them. When fighters join forces for financial gain, they usually do so to support a family, and are of varied ages.

Preparing for the fight uses cleverness, wits, and intuition. These things cannot overcome massive weaponry, but they are helpful in struggles where strategy is needed. Preparing for the fight when exhaustion has set in, leads to mistakes and lack of confidence by the fighters. No matter the preparations, though, the moments of meeting to kill are valueless.

Next section: “Ferocity”

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“The stage before experiencing calamity is filled with hope, anxiety, and fear.”

03 22 21

Previous section: “The Desire for Power“

Today’s section from Descending into War, Descending into Contempt, pp. 22-24:

Dreading Events

The stage before experiencing calamity is filled with hope, anxiety, and fear. Fear fills the lungs and shortens the breath. Anxiety flows through the blood and causes sleeplessness or hysteria. Hope is in the thoughts that the dreaded event will prove less dreadful than anticipated.

Shortening of the breath combined with sleeplessness can cause a weakened immune system, which can lead to sudden illness and incapacitation. Shortening of the breath combined with hysteria can cause behavior that is societally unacceptable, but is condoned at the moment. Shortening of the breath combined with sleeplessness and hysteria weakens the body’s ability to rationally process information so that violent or retrogressive actions can occur.

These changes apply to men and women; however, societal morés influence the extent of the changes. Children descend less quickly into the consequences of shortened breath, sleeplessness, and hysteria; although they may experience hope, anxiety, and fear acutely. A person’s attitude also influences the impact of hope, anxiety, and fear.

Anticipation of the calamity to come affects the spirit, indisputably. The stronger a person’s sense of connection to spiritual belief, the stronger the control of emotions and the less the sinking into anxiety and fear. The connection doesn’t prevent anxiety and fear from appearing, but the sense of support that comes from spiritual connection provides strength in self-conviction and self-dependence. The connection must be sincere to have the strengthening effects.

Calamities are different due to the circumstances in which they happen. A government-sanctioned purge has positive and negative effects on the inhabitants, depending on loyalties and societal standing. Supporters may be fearful, yet joyous, and those who resist may be hopeful, yet afraid. Rebellious uprisings, like government-sanctioned purges, have positive and negative effects. They embolden some and terrify others. Individual attackers, such as serial killers, frighten all because the targets are less clear and the locations seem random. Revenge seekers bring calamity that is frightening and demurring, because the victims can be anyone in any part of society. Honor killings come under the category of revenge seeking.

Fear, a natural emotion, is intensified by calamities that are real or anticipated. Anticipating violence can cause similar emotional distress as experiencing it. Experiencing violence creates altered behavior that invades subsequent actions. Experiencing violence also teaches forceful reactivity that can be released on others in the future.

When intense hatred has been experienced, the experience can be internalized and then used against others. When intense hatred is witnessed but not personally experienced, the demonstrations of intense hatred towards others may be digested un-consciously and then be displayed towards others (towards those displaying the hatred or those receiving it) in the future.

Intense hatred is an emotion that propels towards action or retreat. Either of these reactions causes internal turbulence, so that health can be compromised if the reactions are too extreme. After a calamity, intense hatred requires release so that people can handle the altered circumstances.

Calamities that become long-term evolve into ways of life. They push people to change routines and priorities, but they are less anxiety- and fear-causing. Depending on age, health and attitude, each person reacts to the changed reality by seeing beyond the new situations or pushing against them. Life situations are ever-evolving, and the nature of people is to adapt and learn new rhythms. Refusing to adapt is not human nature.

The stage before experiencing calamity is difficult to endure. It is not a time for judgment of others nor high expectations. It is a time to offer help and provisions. Calamity is a change, megacosmically or societally created, that occurs as a matter of course. To consider it rare is unrealistic. The more that people accept calamity’s place in life, the more they can weather the storms and upheavals.

Next section: “Preparing for the Fight”

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“Power is meant to be used for creative endeavors, not for physical dominance or emotional manipulation. “

03 20 21

Previous section: “The Equation of Conflict”

Today’s section from Descending into War, Descending into Contempt, pp. 20-21:

The Desire for Power

“I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us, that the less we use our power the greater it will be.”

In this quote by Tom Jefferson, power is in front of us, to be used when needed, with awareness of its effects and with awareness of its dangers. Awareness is the important factor for power, because its intoxicating nature is addictive.

The availability of power is elusive; it seems to be permanent when it is in one’s possession, yet it can fail when the power is assumed to be a right. Power depends upon feelings of entitlement, ability to speak authoritatively, physical features, self-centeredness, and desire for control. When all that one wants is one’s own satisfaction, power becomes addictively desired, and the feelings of entitlement and desire for control silence the sense of compassion. Without compassion, the desire for power becomes personal. It becomes a character trait that is overly defining. When power ceases, the person is left bereft of identity and control.

Having power for the sake of power is unwise. The power loses its focus and misdirects actions that then bring lessened potential. Power is meant to be used for creative endeavors, not for physical dominance or emotional manipulation. Taking the power, misdirecting it, and desiring its pull causes the power-hungry person to act contemptuously. The behavior brings combative reactions into relationships and negotiations. The more the power is used needlessly, the less reliance on wisdom occurs.

Greater are the actions that spring from observation and wisdom than are the actions that push from self-importance and foolhardiness.

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“Sources of conflict pervade the human condition…”

03 18 21

Previous section: “Feelings of Emasculation“

Today’s section from Descending into War, Descending into Contempt, pp. 17-19:

The Equation of Conflict

The possibility of conflict floats. It floats on the interactions of people, and changes course as posturing and understanding moves back and forth.

Each conflict has its variables and relations. They change over time and resolve. Separate from some conflicts is humility. Without humility, conflicts fester and widen. Resolution requires drastic changes in environmental conditions, being united by a common goal, or magnanimous acts of generosity.

The breadth of conflict is dimensional. Small conflicts between a few people are possible. Each conflict has its participants and its issues. The issues are dimensional too, because each participant’s view of the issues is different. Resolving “small” conflicts can be as difficult as resolving larger ones. The smallness is relative and depends on the willingness of the participants to negotiate the conflict.

Dimensional too are the emotional states of each conflict participant. Emotional feelings fluctuate and are influenced by the destructive feelings that incite contemptuous eruptions. Conflict resolution is influenced by emotions that play leading roles in resolution outcome.

The equation of conflict and conflict resolution is indiscriminate. Conflict isn’t present when people want the amount that quenches their natural hungers. It isn’t present when people objectively assess their needs and notice the needs of others. But, when people covet or want more than they need, the equation begins to form, and it pulls in the people who create the conflict and all others who directly participate or indirectly become involved.

The equation of conflict is built into some social networks, such as in religions and cultures. The religions and cultures that diminish the status of the “other” codify conflict, which then forces perpetual conflict on its members and believers.  Built-in conflict negates spiritual ascension so that practitioners of conflict-ridden religions and members of conflict-encouraged societies cannot have spiritual access—no matter how much they desire it. Only by rejecting the superiority espoused by their religion or social group can they achieve spiritual ascension.

The sources and circumstances of conflict—so many and so easily started! A person could admit defeat in trying to resolve conflict. Accepting conflict as being beyond change is short-sighted. Staying in continuous conflict is actually more effort than working to harmoniously coexist.

Sources of conflict pervade the human condition and they encourage destruction or repair, depending on each person’s viewpoint. Repair is the better choice.

Next section: “The Desire for Power”

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“…feelings of emasculation can cause withdrawal, depression, and desire for revenge.”

03 11 21

Previous section: “Feelings of Disappointment“

Today’s section from Descending into War, Descending into Contempt, pp. 14-17:

Feelings of Emasculation

Relationships require validation of all the participants. The relationships, whether between two people or many nations, establish frameworks in which people can create their lives. Validation comes from feeling secure in the relationships.

The feeling of security is very important to men and women. It enables them to work towards common goals—goals that fulfill expectations and aspirations. When security is lacking in relationships, people experience conflict. They can also experience instability, fear, and abandonment. Insecurity in relationships, no matter the size of the relationships—in a marriage, in a business partnership, or in negotiations with comparably situated people (negotiations between businesses, organizations, or nations)—affects feelings particular to men.

Men who feel powerful in negotiations in which the other side(s) feels powerless, temporarily feel satisfied, but experience insecurity due to recognition that the “winning” brings with it the mistrust of the other side(s). For the “powerful”, the sense of domination creates an atmosphere of neverending control that must be maintained; otherwise, winning will be lost, and this responsibility to be powerful emasculates them through self-inflicted castigation. Winning appears to be the goal, but in actuality, winning places the powerful in a prison of neverending doubts and posturing.

Men who feel powerless in negotiations develop protective shells around themselves that allow them to acquiesce or rationalize their inability to prevail. These shells are helpful in handling loss, but they don’t alleviate feelings of emasculation. The feelings of emasculation can cause withdrawal, depression, and desire for revenge.

Powerlessness in negotiations destabilizes society, because all those affected are surrounded by its effects on the men. Whether the powerlessness produces withdrawal, depression, or desire for revenge, these feelings simmer inside and influence actions. Powerlessness can create large reprisals when men who desire revenge group together and allow the revenge rallying call to determine their actions. The need for revenge is strong for men.

Men who feel rejected, whether by society or by individual society members, react. Their reactions are self-critical, or incite self-examination, or inspire hatred, or distance them from others. The reactions to self-criticism because of rejection can differ from rejection to rejection, depending on the frequency of rejections and the support network of the man being rejected.

When the reactions to rejection are bewilderment and hurt, the reactions can intimidate some men and cause them to reduce connections to the hurtful sources of rejection. Bewilderment and hurt can also cause some men to examine social interactions, reassess the rejections, and use the rejections as lessons in life. Learning from rejection restores confident participation in relationships.

When the reactions to rejection are retreat and blame, men and women suffer. Men suffer more if they feel emasculated by the rejection. Feelings of reduced dignity or feelings of wronging one’s honor impact men differently, depending on character strength, past abuse from others, and feelings of superiority. The influences of societal expectations, judgment-altering catalysts (drugs [legal or illegal], alcohol, or overwhelming experiences of belittlement), or scruples sway a man towards—or away from—negative actions that trespass on others.

The sway towards harming others, be they people, animals, property or family, pushes actions that damage the others. The force of the sway towards harming others is strong, and it engulfs a man and takes over his reasoning capabilities. The strength of the force governs thoughts and overwhelms bodily weakness or intervention. The emasculated sense of self that has allowed the strength of the force towards negative action to take control over thoughts and justifies the feelings of emasculation, enables men to rape, over-damage, abuse, and ruin others.

The nature of men is NOT to do these things; the nature of destroyed sense of self creates the fantasy that men do these things. Men, no matter their testosterone, are NOT meant to harm; they are meant to create. Creating and building and exploring and challenging the body and mind are natural outlets for testosterone-driven men. Pillaging and abusing and oppressing and grandiosizing are the fantasies of men with destroyed sense of self.

The mix of rejection with feelings of superiority and disappointment is a powerful mix for contempt. Comfort in connections prevents emasculated thinking. Insecurity in relationships brings it forth.

Next section: “The Equation of Conflict”

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“Disappointment can be a strong emotion, and it intensifies feelings of contempt and the possibility of conflict.”

03 10 21

Previous section: “Feelings of Inequity”

Today’s section from Descending into War, Descending into Contempt, pp. 12-14:

Feelings of Disappointment

Disappointment is a feeling that afflicts from an early age, and no one is immune from its appearance. The growth process is accelerated when people work through feelings of disappointment. It is not a negative emotion when it is a catalyst for appreciation and adaptation.

Sometimes, disappointment is an accelerator of despair. Disappointment with despair is more difficult to overcome, but when they have been faced and handled, the growth process continues. When they are not handled, the disappointment can underlie future responses to ordinary happenings. When despair is mixed with feelings of inequity and with inaction to change the situation, the feelings of disappointment can increase the likelihood of conflicts.

Disappointment on its own lowers vigor. When  disappointment is accompanied by feelings of inequity, of violation, or of injury, desire for revenge or sabotage can foment.

Disappointment at the group level (two or more people), which comes from the feeling of having received unfair treatment, waits for a trigger that will either direct towards dismissal of the urge to act (restraint) or release restraint towards action (positive or negative). The release of restraint can unite group members or create disunity, because each group member experiences disappointment differently.

Disappointment can also be an accelerator of demoralization. When this situation happens, the strength of disappointment overcomes surety of self and challenges courage. Courage is needed when envisioning possible disasters and when immersed in challenging feats. Disappointment dampens courage, and then when courage is needed, it (courage) is less commanding.

The other contributors to conflict—feelings of superiority, feelings of inequity, and feelings of emasculation—are intensified when disappointment accelerates feelings of despair or demoralization. Disappointment can be a strong emotion, and it intensifies feelings of contempt and the possibility of conflict.

Next section: “Feelings of Emasculation”

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