I Haven't Watched The News, Or Read a Newspaper, In Over 3 Years

Recently, a friend posted this cartoon on my facebook page...

It made me chuckle, but I was also reminded how much my life has changed the past three years, since I decided to tune out from mainstream media. 

Yes I, who once prided myself on being up-to-date with current affairs, have not watched the news, read a newspaper, or visited a news site in more than 3 years. 

When I made the decision to switch off, I was highly stressed, anxious about the future, drowning in debt, and felt helpless about what was happening in the world. That first week, I had to continually stop myself from turning on the TV out of sheer habit. It was a surreal feeling - almost a fear of not knowing or of being left out.

Maybe the world was crashing to a halt, and I was the only one who didn't know, and couldn't prepare for it?

But the world kept right on turning and, after that first week, I simply found other things to do.

More productive things, I might add! 

The fear of “not knowing” and being “left out” gradually subsided as I found myself not missing out on anything that actually made a speck of difference to my life. Instead of focusing on what was wrong and what I didn't want, I began to turn my attention to what I could do - creating the kind of life and future I wanted for my children. This saw me leave the city, get out of debt, move to a tropical island, start a business, write a book...

That transformation was the result of many changes I made in my life - cultivating selective ignorance was just one of them. But there are several benefits which can be traced directly to my decision to "tune out", and which had many flow-on effects in my life.

1. I've become much more sensitive and aware. 

I’d always thought of myself as a sensitive, intuitive kind of person, but I had no idea that watching and reading the news was desensitizing me so much.

Now, when I glimpse the sensationalist headlines of a newspaper, about terrorism or warfare or religious tensions, I feel myself start to become tense and on edge. It’s not outwardly evident, but I feel the subtle change of energy within me.

I never realized the negative, energy-sapping news stories were affecting me like that, until I spent time away from it, and now I can see it all too clearly.

Recently, my dad left his newspaper on the kitchen bench and my curiosity got the better of me. I didn’t even finish the first paragraph on the first page, before I walked away in disgust. It was all about war and bombs and military. It took me several hours of re-focusing my attention before I managed to shake off the feeling of un-ease.

I can’t believe I subjected myself to those negative vibes for so long, thinking I was staying “informed”, when really I was staying fearful and passive and helpless. But not any more!

      2. I've made better use of my time. 

      Over the last three-and-a-bit years, more than 1000 hours of my precious life have been spent on worthwhile activities, rather than sitting back helplessly, while being bombarded with "proof" of what a horrible world we live in.

Those extra 1000 hours were spent cooking nutritious meals for my family, playing with my children, cleaning my house, writing an e-book and building this website.

3. I’ve become more positive and confident. 

Rather than being constantly reminded of everything supposedly wrong with the world, I can now choose to focus on the kind of world I want to see. The world I see is nothing like the one portrayed on the news. I see people helping each other, being good citizens, trying to be decent partners/parents/employees. 

In the latter years of her life, my grandmother became very pessimistic and fearful about going out on her own. She stayed at home, reading the Daily Telegraph, which just confirmed her suspicions that robbers and murderers were lurking around every corner, just waiting to rip off a little old granny and leave her for dead.

I found myself falling into the same trap...

I used to worry about the future, and how would I protect my children amongst all this terrorism, and economic upheaval, and rising costs of living? Basically, I felt helpless. Strangely enough, the more anxious I became, the more I had to watch the news, in case there was some matter of utmost importance I had to know about (there never was. Just more of the same fear-mongering and pessimism.) 

Now, I don’t lose sleep over any of those things. Instead, I focus on what I CAN control, which is not “out there”, but “in here”. 

Rather than fearing the future, I am hopeful and optimistic and know that I am well-equipped to handle whatever challenges lie ahead.

  

       4. I’m more up-to-date on useful information.

      I may not know the name of the latest axe-murderer, or which celebrity is cheating who, or who got sent out for being a naughty boy during question-time in parliament (does anyone even care?), but I am one step ahead of the media on useful information.  

For example, a couple of years ago, I read an article on Steve Pavlina’s blog about the health benefits of having a “standing” work-desk, rather than sitting at your desk all day.

Last week, as I was walking into work, I happened to glance up at the current affair show on TV. It was about how sitting at a desk all day is causing so many health issues, it will eventually burden the healthcare system more than smoking, and a stand-up desk is one simple, but effective, solution.

I laughed.

It was old news to me…

5. I'm more creative and able to think "outside the square".

Without meaning to sound like a conspiracy theorist, the mainstream news outlets really do portray a very limiting, conventional view of the world (which may or may not be influenced by whence their advertising dollars come from...)

Once I managed to extract myself from that limiting, narrow paradigm, I found that my mind became highly creative and original. Rather than getting my information from mainstream media, I gathered information by talking to people, reading books and blogs, experiencing the world with my own senses, and not through the skewed lens of the media. This had the effect of opening up my mind to all kinds of possibilities and opportunities, and led me to achieve things I might never have attempted in the past.

All in all, my news fast has been a wise decision, with many positive benefits.

If anything really important is happening, someone will tell me about it, or post about it on facebook. I don't feel that I'm missing out in any way.

So here’s to many more years of remaining blissfully ignorant of the headlines and hype.

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Your Body Is The Healer

Ok, hold tight. I’m about to say something heretical…

Medicine cannot cure you, and a doctor cannot heal you.

Let me repeat: Medicine cannot cure you, and a doctor cannot heal you.

Only your body can heal you.

 At best, your doctor can give advice or prescribe a product, and his medicine may suppress your symptoms (usually how conventional medicine works) or kick-start your body’s own healing reactions (often how naturopathic medicines work), but at the end of the day, your body has to do the work.

If you have a broken bone, the doctor or surgeon might put it back into place, but only your body can knit the bone back together again. If you have a wound, the nurse might dress it to stop infection, but it's your body that grows new skin and closes over the wound. Your body is the true healer.

If you take the latest, greatest vitamin formula and all your aches and pains disappear, does that mean it has cured you? No. It means your body finally has what it needs to heal itself and function properly.

If you undergo chemotherapy and it shrinks your tumor, does that mean it has healed you? No. It means the chemotherapy has suppressed (one of) your symptoms. Cancer is one symptom of a toxic, acidic system. Chemotherapy, radiation and surgery might take out or reduce your cancer, but it cannot heal your toxic, acidic system. Your body can, though, if you give it the right diet and support.

I'm not saying doctors and medicine and herbal remedies don't have their place. Unfortunately, they have become all too necessary! But the real aim of a healthcare system shouldn't necessarily be to supply more doctors or better medicine, it should be to create a society that needs less doctors and less medicine! Anything else is just a band-aid solution...However, the economic reality is that band-aid solutions keep people in jobs and in business, so we are stuck with them (Pardon the pun).

I believe that if people really understood how awesomely their bodies were designed and what they are capable of, they would treat them a whole lot better.

When you get a “cold”, the runny nose, the sore throat and the cough are not symptoms of  an illness. They are symptoms of your body fighting off the illness. When your body is alerted to a foreign invader (such as a nasty germ), it immediately sets off a chain reaction of defenses. It starts sending in its troops, like white blood cells, but you probably just know them as “snot”, “mucus” or “gunk”.

Your body raises its temperature to try and kill off the invading pathogen – so you get a fever. 

Your body attempts to prevent the pathogen from penetrating further than the throat, which causes localized inflammation and heat in the throat, hence you get a “sore throat”. 

Your body is doing exactly what it’s meant to do! It’s protecting you…and what do you do in return? You pop some cold and flu pills to avoid feeling the sore throat and the sniffles. That’s right, you block the body from doing its work. 

Just because something makes us feel better, doesn’t mean it has healed us. In fact, with many modern medications, it has succeeded only in tampering with the bodies natural processes. If you take a painkiller because you have a headache, the painkiller doesn’t take your pain away, it simply turns off your pain sensors so your brain can’t register the sensation anymore.

Doesn't it make more sense to find out what your body is trying to tell you? In the case of a headache, it's probably trying to tell you to drink more water, or get away from your computer, or that you're lacking magnesium, or eating/using something that irritates the body. Listen! Your body is always talking to you!

And while we’re here, let’s have a little conversation about germs. All through the winter months, people cough and sniffle and blame their problems on “germs”. Unfortunately, germs are everywhere and life on earth is not possible without them. Germs are not the problem. Your immune system is the problem! 

Most likely, the immune system has become bogged down due to stress, nutritional deficiency, toxic overload, lack of exercise/fresh air/sunlight and can no longer cope.

The answer is not to try and control germs (you can’t), the answer is to build up an immune system that does what it’s meant to do – resist anything that’s potentially harmful to the body.

I haven’t been sick in years, and it’s certainly NOT because I’m paranoid about germs (I don’t even own a disinfectant, unless you mean vinegar). 

It’s certainly NOT because I wash my hands fifty times a day with antibacterial stuff (I wash my hands at the appropriate places with good old-fashioned soap and water). 

It’s definitely NOT because I vaccinate (Sorry to be heretical yet again, but I do not see the sense in becoming immune to certain strains of one virus, while at the same time being injected with the likes of aluminium, monosodium glutamate, and polysorbate 80, which just adds to my toxic load and makes it harder for my body to fight off other strains of other viruses. I'd much prefer a strong, healthy immune system that can resist any strain of any virus. But that's just me...)

And it’s definitely NOT because I take loads of multi-vitamins (I don’t take any).

I have, however, discovered (through research/trial and error/experimentation), how to support my immune system to do its job properly - that is, protect me from illness and disease. If you want to know more about the 7 habits I follow for excellent health, you can find them in my e-book “100% Alive”, available on Amazon.

The human body is beautifully, exquisitely designed to heal itself, renew itself, cleanse itself and regulate itself. If we nurture it properly, that is exactly what it does! But when we don’t? It doesn’t repair itself, it degenerates and ages, it fills up with toxins and gunk and fails to regulate itself properly. Sadly, you don’t have to look very far to find living (just!), breathing evidence in our families and communities and workplaces.

There is actually no physiological reason why the body should “age”! The body is constantly renewing itself, shedding old cells and replacing with new ones. The reason that people get old and stiff and arthritic is not due to the passage of time. It’s because: 

1. Their body is not getting enough nutrients to do its work properly. You need plenty fruit (preferably raw), plenty vegetables (preferably raw) and lots of leafy greens (preferably raw, again) if you want any hope of supplying your body with what it needs nutritionally. If the majority of your diet is cooked or processed foods, your body is going to wear out prematurely. Just saying..

2. They are overloading their bodies with toxins (chemicals on their food, in their personal care products, in the air they breathe, in their water) at a rate faster than the body can excrete them. Eventually, the body begins to clog up with toxic waste, the joints grow stiff and everything begins to slow down. 

3. Lack of use! People sit at their desk all day, drive the car home, sit in front of the TV, and then lay down to sleep…and wonder why their beautiful bodies, which were designed to dance, and run and jump, start to seize up from lack of use.

4. People accept aging as inevitable. After I turned 30, I began to notice more and more people my own age imply they were “getting old”. In their early 30’s, for goodness sake! All around us, people are perpetuating the belief that after the age of 30 - 40, our physical health starts to go downhill. People just love to talk about their ailments and what bothers them! Take notice, and you’ll realize you’re constantly being reminded that after a certain age, your body gets fatter, it slows down, it starts to ache, your memory and eyesight start to fade. 

Well, I say bollocks!!

What you believe is what you receive. If you expect to get old, crotchety and wrinkly, that’s likely what you’ll get. But I say no thanks. I say that my body is the earthly temple of my soul, I respect it and nurture it, and it returns the favor a hundred-fold. 

You see, I have this stubborn streak, and I don't necessarily accept that if someone else experienced it (or even if lots of other people experienced it), then it's inevitably going to be my experience too. We create our own experiences and outcomes, based on what we put in...

For example, when I had my first son, people said I couldn’t expect to go back to the same size as before. After a while, the weight came off and I went back to wearing my pre-pregnancy clothes. Then, they said, it won’t be that easy after the second one. But a few months after the birth of my second son, I was right back into all my old clothes. Then the next lot of well-meaning advice, was that after turning 30, I’d have to work harder to stay slim. 

Meanwhile, I just smiled politely, and ignored their "advice".

In fact, I can state with absolute certainty that I am more energetic, more flexible, more toned, healthier and fitter than I was a decade ago. And I fully expect to be even more so, in another decade. 

You get to choose how you age, by choosing what you put in your mouth, what you put on your skin, what you allow in your mind, and embracing love in all it’s forms. These daily little choices have an accumulative effect over the years.

The most youthful-looking people I know are not the ones who buy expensive anti-aging creams or employ personal trainers. They are the ones who have lived simply and honestly, loved wholeheartedly, gave generously, appreciated nature, and nurtured their bodies with wholesome foods.

Your body is just exquisite. Every process, every system, every cell, every action and reaction, is perfectly designed to keep you healthy and in a state of homeostasis (balance). Nurture it, love it, support it...it's the true healer. 

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The 10 Most Mind-Blowing Books I've Read

Anybody who knows me, knows that I adore reading books! My mentor loves to remind us that readers are leaders, and I reckon she's right. 

After much deliberation I've whittled my list of mind-blowing books down to just ten. These books completely changed my worldview, or inspired me to transform my life and health.

If you click on the title of the book, it will take you to The Book Depository - my favorite online bookstore. They have millions of titles (including ones that are hard to find in conventional bookstores) and free shipping to most countries in the world (but not Tonga, sadly. I save up my orders for when I'm in Australia). These links are affiliate links, so if you do make a purchase, I receive a small percentage.

1. E-Squared by Pam Grout

I bought this book less than a year ago, and I've already read it five times!

It is fascinating, entertaining and profound, all at once, and the "experiments" have the potential to change your life.

2. The Beauty Detox Solution by Kimberly Snyder

It doesn't matter if you're a health nut or a complete newbie, this book has it all. It explains how our bodies work, and how to look after them so we can look and feel awesome.

If you only ever read one book on health, let it be this one.

3. The Magic of Thinking Big by David Schwartz

This book is decades old, but it's wisdom is timeless. It teaches you how to harness the power of the mind to create the life you want.

It's brilliant, and I re-read it at least once per year, hence why my copy is tattered and missing it's covers.

4.  Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah by Richard Bach

Have you ever stumbled across a little old book that looked kind of plain, but when you began to read, it completely blew your mind? This little book was like that for a me.

 It is written as a non-fiction story, but the message is so profound I had to keep putting it down, so I could digest the meaning and let it sink in.

5. The 4-Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferriss 

More than anything, I love a book that challenges the current paradigm and looks at the world from a different angle to the one we're used to being shown.

 This book is all that! I love it most, not for the business insights and resources (which are great on their own) but the reminder of what is possible.

6. The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber

If you are in business, or thinking about going into business, you need to read this book. Seriously. I say this from hard-won experience. This book provides the template for building a sustainable business and teaches you how to work ON your business, instead of IN it.

Buying this book will probably turn out to be the best investment you ever make in your business. Have I mentioned that you need to read this book?

 

7. The Hidden Messages in Water by Masaru Emoto

I've been delving into quantum physics and metaphysics for a while, but this book was mind-blowing, especially some of the author's theories on the Universe and energy fields.

This book also contains stunning photographs of how our words and thoughts affect water molecules (and in turn affect us, and the wider world).

8. Spirits in Spacesuits: A Manual for Everyday Mystics by Sean O'Laoire

Ok, I confess. I borrowed this book from a friend more than six months ago, and I still haven't given it back. He's overseas, so that's my excuse for treasuring this book as long as I possibly can.

This revolutionary book really opened up my mind to a different perspective of God, life, the Universe, the Bible.

9. Don't Get Mad, Get Wise by Mike George 

One day, I was in a bookshop and I only had enough money to buy one book. This was the one I chose. It turned out to be perfectly suited to the situation I was dealing with at the time.

This book teaches us how we can choose to be at peace, no matter what is happening around us or to us. I still use these principles in my everyday life.

10. Not On The Label: What Really Goes Into The Food You Eat by Felicity Lawrence

I've read many books exposing the food and drug industry, but years later, this one still stands out as the one that shocked me so much, it forever changed the way I buy food.

This one is based on the UK food system (although most of it applies to the entire Western world). For an expose on the US food system, try reading Fast Food Nation. 

What books have really blown your mind or changed the way you see the world (or yourself, for that matter?) Let me know in the comments, because I would love to have a read. If they're mind-blowing enough, I may even be obliged to re-arrange my list...

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The Blessing Line

One night, I sat up late talking with a friend. He was telling me about the "Blessing Line" and drawing it with his finger on the kitchen table. 

"Here" he pointed "is the blessing line, where abundance flows and blessings rain down on you. When you start the see the reward for all your efforts...

But here, before you cross over the blessing line, are challenges and disappointments and obstacles. This is where you feel most tired and discouraged. 

This", he said "is where most people give up. Right before they reach their blessing line."

Hmmmmm.

Come to think of it, I too have been guilty of doing just that!

One example springs to mind clearly. 

When I was 25, I started my own cleaning business. I planned and researched it for months. While I was still working at my day job, I began cleaning for a lady once a week, so that I would have a reference when I started looking for clients.

I planned that I would charge premium rates, give superb service and use only environmentally-friendly cleaning products.

When I felt I was ready, I accepted a voluntary redundancy from my job in accounts, and used the money to live on while I got my business off the ground.

I placed one ad on a free local classifieds site, and soon I had my first customers. I quoted what I thought was "good money" to me at the time. As promised, I gave excellent service. I did not leave the house until I knew for sure the skirting boards had been dusted and behind the toilet was spotless. The client may never have checked such things, but that was the standard I had set for myself.

After a short while, my customers began referring their friends and soon I was booked up. I was cleaning 3 houses per day, 5 days a week. It was tiring work, but I was earning a good income and I got into a really good routine where I could easily clean a 4bedroom, 2 bathroom house from top to bottom, in just over 2 hours. 

Soon it was time to think about employing someone. The first lady did a trial run, and spent the entire 2 hours cleaning the kitchen counter, and then rang to tell me she had found another job. (Phew!)

The second was a family friend, who did quite a good job, although not quite the attention to detail I would have liked. Sometimes, when he wasn't looking, I went back and did something he missed. Alone, I cleaned 3 houses per day, but together we could only manage 5.

By the time I paid him at the end of the week, I was left with just a couple of hundred dollars. Even though I had all the extra responsibility and did all the after-hours work of cleaning the equipment, washing the microfiber cloths, meeting potential clients to give quotes, and doing the book-work. 

Somehow I was working longer hours than ever and getting paid a pittance. I became so tired and run-down, I seemed to constantly have a cold. My son was only 2 yrs old at the time, and I barely saw him. My dream of running my own business had become a nightmare.

When I fell pregnant with my second son, it was such a relief to close the business and go back to my old job of getting paid by the hour and no after-hours stress.

I quit before I reached the blessing line.

What happened?

It was obviously a winning business idea. I hadn't spent a cent on advertising, the customers were happy (several years later, I still had customers email me to ask if I was cleaning again), but somehow it all went wrong.

The truth is that I used the obstacles and challenges as an excuse to quit, rather than using them as a reason to go beyond my comfort zone. I was afraid to hire more staff or a manager, because I didn't know how to be a leader or bring up uncomfortable issues if they weren't performing properly (I could have learnt!). I didn't want to raise my prices to cover the cost of hiring others because I didn't know how to tell the customers (I could have found a way!).

I wanted to stay where I was comfortable, not realizing that my business could only grow and expand to the extent that I was willing to grow and expand, myself. 

So, I quit when things got tough and I never saw the blessing line.

The cynic in us might wonder why, if God is so loving, does He make life so hard for us? Is he trying to find out if we are "deserving" enough?

I don't think that's the case at all.

Problems are not meant to discourage us, they're not meant to annoy or destroy us. 

They are sent to grow us. 

Problems are our teachers!

Let's face it, when life is comfortable, we have little desire or inclination to change. But when faced with a problem, we're forced to do something. We can turn and run, or we can use it as an opportunity to improve ourselves and our skills. 

The choice is ours.

What about you? Have you ever quit before you reached your blessing line?

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Perfect Paradox: Finding "Balance" in Life

Several years ago, I began to question what the real meaning of wisdom was. I knew it had to be more than an IQ score, or the ability to remember facts and figures. It had to be more than simply being able to make good decisions. 

Gradually, I came to realize that wisdom is about recognizing balance. You see, in this life, there is a very fine line between what benefits us and what depletes us. What adds and what takes away. What builds up and what destroys. What brings us closer to our goals and aspirations, and what leads us further away. And just to complicate matters, the fine line is constantly shifting as we evolve and move through each experience.

I’ve come to see that true wisdom is recognizing balance (and just as importantly, recognizing the lack thereof).

And then I came to one of the glorious paradoxes of life. In order to enjoy, or even recognize “balance”, we must experience imbalance. Regularly! We are constantly slipping out of balance and when we become aware that it doesn’t feel so good, we make an effort to move back into balance or alignment.

Here’s just two examples from my own life:

1.) During my adulthood, I have been both a food-lover, who didn’t care at all about calories or ingredients. I loved and enjoyed food and indulged wherever and whenever I felt like it. Cheesecake was my favorite food. 

I’ve also been a health nut who read ingredient labels obsessively and avoided a long list of foods, including MSG, sugar, wheat, meat, yeast, aspartame, artificial colors or flavors. The thing is, both extremes suited me for a while, but eventually I became aware that they were holding me back – the indulgent me began to suffer all kinds of health symptoms and lack of energy, and the obsessive me began to feel stressed and restricted from the effort of maintaining such a diet in a culture where food is celebrated and shared as a sign of love and hospitality. 

I’m now somewhere in between, and still experimenting to find that harmonious balance that enhances my body and my life, rather than depletes them. 

2.) During my late teens, I was spontaneous and carefree and loved to party. During this stage, I made plenty of irresponsible decisions (some of which I had to pay heavily for). I didn’t think too much about the future because I was busy having fun today. Several years and life-lessons later, I swung to the opposite extreme. I worked three jobs, saved my money and set goals to own my own home and start a business. Eventually, both extremes caught up with me and my physical health suffered because of it.

I’m still experimenting and learning that perfect balance between aspiring for tomorrow and enjoying today.

The thing is, we cant enjoy or even recognize a sense of “rightness” until we’ve experienced what a sense of “wrongness” feels like. Every “negative” emotion or experience allows us to recognize and appreciate it’s opposite. 

If we avoid making mistakes or try to drown out all “negative” emotions, we are really depriving ourselves of the richness and depth of life. How can we possibly appreciate emotions of love or joy, if we’ve never fully experienced their opposite, or their lack, in our lives?

All of our imbalances, our “mistakes”, our “failures”, they all add to our understanding of what is right for us. They act as benchmarks as we seek to find balance, that wonderful sense of rightness and alignment that can only be realized by first experiencing how unpleasant if felt to be all out of whack. We learn by going too far to one extreme and discovering it didn’t feel so good, and perhaps swinging back to the opposite extreme and discovering (sooner or later) that doesn’t really work for us either. Through this learning process, we begin to discover where the happy medium lies. 

As we move through life, that happy medium changes with every circumstance and experience, and it changes as we evolve and grow. What felt good and right and balanced for me five years ago, may seem all wrong for me today. This is why finding balance is a lifelong effort. No sooner have we discovered it, the goalposts move and suddenly we are once again seeking that sense of balance.

This is not disheartening. This is one of the utterly glorious things about life. If it weren’t so, life would be stale and boring and flat. Instead, we get to experience the exhilaration of the highs and the desperation of the lows, and both give meaning to the other.

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