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Much of what one does--to avoid suffering, to seek happiness, to stay healthy--is to keep a safe space for one's private language.
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Yiyun Li (Dear Friend, from My Life I Write to You in Your Life)
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The emptiness of the narcissist often means that they are only focused on whatever is useful or interesting to them at the moment. If at that moment it is interesting for them to tell you they love you, they do. It’s not really a long game to them, and when the next interesting issue comes up, they attend to that. The objectification of others—viewing other people as objects useful to his needs—can also play a role. When you are the only thing in the room, or the most interesting thing in the room, then the narcissist’s charisma and charm can leave you convinced that you are his everything. The problem is that this is typically superficial regard, and that superficiality results in inconsistency, and emotions for the narcissistic person range from intense to detached on a regular basis. This vacillation between intensity and detachment can be observed in the narcissist’s relationships with people (acquaintances, friends, family, and partners), work, and experiences. A healthy relationship should feel like a safe harbor in your life. Life throws us enough curve balls in the shape of money problems, work issues, medical issues, household issues, and even the weather. Sadly, a relationship with a narcissist can be one more source of chaos in your life, rather than a place of comfort and consistency.
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Ramani Durvasula (Should I Stay or Should I Go?: Surviving a Relationship with a Narcissist)
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Travel is a joy, full of surprises. Perhaps some of the most enjoyable times are those where one comes close to disaster: the risks add spice, and make for great stories when you are safely back home again.
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Jane Wilson-Howarth (How to Shit Around the World: The Art of Staying Clean and Healthy While Traveling)
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Start small by simply staying in touch with healthy people, then slowly start prioritizing these relationships and intentionally put time with these folks ahead of the rescuing, fixing, and forgiving you are often doing for the narcissistic people in your life. You can just phone it in to your toxic relationship and bring your A game to your safe spaces.
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Ramani Durvasula (It's Not You: Identifying and Healing from Narcissistic People)
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Feeling down? You know what I do. I step outside. I look at the birds, the cars, the trees, from a safe distance for everyone's sake. Soak it in! Look around. YOU ARE STILL HERE! You are healthy and take heart. YOU are doing your patriotic duty staying home! YOU got this!
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Johnny Corn
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And so we have to show our love in other ways. We have to climb the mountains rising up before us, food strapped to our backs, our faces covered with masks as we say, “Stay safe. Stay healthy.
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Jennifer Haupt (ALONE TOGETHER: Love, Grief, and Comfort During the Time of COVID-19)
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10 ways to raise a wild child. Not everyone wants to raise wild, free thinking children. But for those of you who do, here's my tips:
1. Create safe space for them to be outside for a least an hour a day. Preferable barefoot & muddy.
2. Provide them with toys made of natural materials. Silks, wood, wool, etc...Toys that encourage them to use their imagination. If you're looking for ideas, Google: 'Waldorf Toys'. Avoid noisy plastic toys. Yea, maybe they'll learn their alphabet from the talking toys, but at the expense of their own unique thoughts. Plastic toys that talk and iPads in cribs should be illegal. Seriously!
3. Limit screen time. If you think you can manage video game time and your kids will be the rare ones that don't get addicted, then go for it. I'm not that good so we just avoid them completely. There's no cable in our house and no video games. The result is that my kids like being outside cause it's boring inside...hah! Best plan ever! No kid is going to remember that great day of video games or TV. Send them outside!
4. Feed them foods that support life. Fluoride free water, GMO free organic foods, snacks free of harsh preservatives and refined sugars. Good oils that support healthy brain development. Eat to live!
5. Don't helicopter parent. Stay connected and tuned into their needs and safety, but don't hover. Kids like adults need space to roam and explore without the constant voice of an adult telling them what to do. Give them freedom!
6. Read to them. Kids don't do what they are told, they do what they see. If you're on your phone all the time, they will likely be doing the same thing some day. If you're reading, writing and creating your art (painting, cooking...whatever your art is) they will likely want to join you. It's like Emilie Buchwald said, "Children become readers in the laps of their parents (or guardians)." - it's so true!
7. Let them speak their truth. Don't assume that because they are young that you know more than them. They were born into a different time than you. Give them room to respectfully speak their mind and not feel like you're going to attack them. You'll be surprised what you might learn.
8. Freedom to learn. I realize that not everyone can homeschool, but damn, if you can, do it! Our current schools system is far from the best ever. Our kids deserve better. We simply can't expect our children to all learn the same things in the same way. Not every kid is the same. The current system does not support the unique gifts of our children. How can they with so many kids in one classroom. It's no fault of the teachers, they are doing the best they can. Too many kids and not enough parent involvement. If you send your kids to school and expect they are getting all they need, you are sadly mistaken. Don't let the public school system raise your kids, it's not their job, it's yours!
9. Skip the fear based parenting tactics. It may work short term. But the long term results will be devastating to the child's ability to be open and truthful with you. Children need guidance, but scaring them into listening is just lazy. Find new ways to get through to your kids. Be creative!
10. There's no perfect way to be a parent, but there's a million ways to be a good one. Just because every other parent is doing it, doesn't mean it's right for you and your child. Don't let other people's opinions and judgments influence how you're going to treat your kid. Be brave enough to question everything until you find what works for you. Don't be lazy! Fight your urge to be passive about the things that matter. Don't give up on your kid. This is the most important work you'll ever do. Give it everything you have.
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Brooke Hampton
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In the Qur’an’s telling, Abraham after much reflection declares himself a Hanifam-Muslima (3:67). Typically translated as “a pure Muslim,” both words were archaic Arabic terms at the time of the Qur’an’s revelation and together constituted a dynamic new identity for young Abraham. The root Hanif (cited twelve times in the Qur’an) originally described a tree precariously balanced atop eroding soil in a volatile climate, forced to constantly adjust its roots and branches—and was also used to describe traversing a perilous lava formation. The term connoted the need to constantly rebalance in order to stay safe in unstable situations: remaining true to core roots while having the courage to confront reality. In essence, a Hanif is a healthy skeptic who honestly evaluates inherited traditions.
In Abraham’s formula, the Hanif interrogates reality not as a cynic but as a healer, diagnosing injuries in order to repair them. Indeed, Muslim derived from the ancient Semitic root S-L-M, literally “to repair cracks in city walls.” As the integrity of monotheism erodes over time, repairers need to assess the damage and then get to work restoring the fractures.
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Mohamad Jebara (The Life of the Qur'an: From Eternal Roots to Enduring Legacy)
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I suspect that you cannot recall any truly significant action in your life that wasn’t governed by two very simple rules: staying away from something that would feed bad, or trying to accomplish something that would feel good. This law of approach and avoidance dictates most of human and animal behavior from a very early age.
The forces that implement this law are positive and negative emotions. Emotions make us do things, as the name suggests (remove the first letter from the word). They motivate our remarkable achievements, incite us to try again when we fail, keep us safe from potential harm, urge us to accomplish rewarding and beneficial outcomes, and compel us to cultivate social and romantic relationships. In short, emotions in appropriate amounts make life worth living. They offer a healthy and vital existence, psychologically and biologically speaking. Take them away, and you face a sterile existence with no highs or lows to speak of. Emotionless, you will simply exist, rather than live.
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Matthew Walker (Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams)
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Chris loved to look at every type of plant, animal, and bug he hadn’t seen before on the trail and point out those he did recognize. He enjoyed walking along small streams, listening to the water as it traveled, and searching for eddies where we could watch the minnows scurry amongst the rocks. On one Shenandoah trip, while we were resting at a waterfall, eating our chocolate-covered granola bars and watching the water pummel the rocks below, he said, “See, Carine ? That’s the purity of nature. It may be harsh in its honesty, but it never lies to you”.
Chris seemed to be most comfortable outdoors, and the farther away from the typical surroundings and pace of our everyday lives the better. While it was unusual for a solid week to pass without my parents having an argument that sent them into a negative tailspin of destruction and despair, they never got into a fight of any consequence when we were on an extended family hike or camping trip. It seemed like everything became centered and peaceful when there was no choice but to make nature the focus. Our parents’ attention went to watching for blaze marks on trees ; staying on the correct trail ; doling out bug spray, granola bars, sandwiches, and candy bars at proper intervals ; and finding the best place to pitch the tent before nightfall. They taught us how to properly lace up our hiking boots and wear the righ socks to keep our feet healthy and reliable. They showed us which leaves were safe to use as toilet paper and which would surely make us miserable downtrail. We learned how to purify water for our canteens if we hadn’t found a safe spring and to be smart about conserving what clean water we had left.
At night we would collect rocks to make a fire ring, dry wood to burn, and long twigs for roasting marshmallows for the s’more fixings Mom always carried in her pack. Dad would sing silly, non-sensical songs that made us laugh and tell us about the stars.
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Carine McCandless (The Wild Truth: A Memoir)
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Superficiality results in vacillating inconsistency, and emotions for the narcissistic person range from intense to detached on a regular basis. A healthy relationship should feel like a safe harbor in your life. Life throws us enough curve balls in the shape of money problems, work issues, medical issues, household issues, and even the weather. Sadly, a relationship with a narcissist can be one more source of chaos in your life, rather than a place of comfort and consistency.
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Ramani Durvasula (Should I Stay or Should I Go?: Surviving a Relationship with a Narcissist)
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We have no obligation to endure or enable certain types of certain toxic relationships. The Christian ethic muddies these waters because we attach the concept of long-suffering to these damaging connections. We prioritize proximity over health, neglecting good boundaries and adopting a Savior role for which we are ill-equipped.
Who else we'll deal with her?, we say. Meanwhile, neither of you moves towards spiritual growth. She continues toxic patterns and you spiral in frustration, resentment and fatigue.
Come near, dear one, and listen. You are not responsible for the spiritual health of everyone around you. Nor must you weather the recalcitrant behavior of others. It is neither kind nor gracious to enable. We do no favors for an unhealthy friend by silently enduring forever. Watching someone create chaos without accountability is not noble. You won't answer for the destructive habits of an unsafe person. You have a limited amount of time and energy and must steward it well. There is a time to stay the course and a time to walk away.
There's a tipping point when the effort becomes useless, exhausting beyond measure. You can't pour antidote into poison forever and expect it to transform into something safe, something healthy. In some cases, poison is poison and the only sane response is to quit drinking it.
This requires honest self evaluation, wise counselors, the close leadership of the Holy Spirit, and a sober assessment of reality. Ask, is the juice worth the squeeze here. And, sometimes, it is. You might discover signs of possibility through the efforts, or there may be necessary work left and it's too soon to assess. But when an endless amount of blood, sweat and tears leaves a relationship unhealthy, when there is virtually no redemption, when red flags are frantically waved for too long, sometimes the healthiest response is to walk away.
When we are locked in a toxic relationship, spiritual pollution can murder everything tender and Christ-like in us. And a watching world doesn't always witness those private kill shots. Unhealthy relationships can destroy our hope, optimism, gentleness. We can lose our heart and lose our way while pouring endless energy into an abyss that has no bottom. There is a time to put redemption in the hands of God and walk away before destroying your spirit with futile diligence.
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Jen Hatmaker (For the Love: Fighting for Grace in a World of Impossible Standards)
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We all felt our world slipping away, in cascades and cataracts, the promises of temporary change becoming less and less temporary. Didn’t we feel so much safer? Weren’t safe and healthy worth more to us than large weddings and overcrowded schools? Hadn’t the pox been spread by people working and attending school when they should have stayed home? Never mind that they didn’t stay home because they couldn’t afford to. The talking heads were in agreement that necessity would fuel innovation. Good things were coming fast, they promised; I stopped watching the news.
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Sarah Pinsker (A Song for a New Day)
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I want to tell you a story about bravery. I want you to forget every over-romanticized notion you’ve ever heard about fearlessness; replace it with the idea that bravery is not an absence of fear but a rebellion against it. that it’s taking the risk. reaching for the person you want. chasing your dream. fighting for it all (despite despite despite). Bravery is hoping it’s worth it. Stop holding your humanity like a failure and wondering why you can’t succeed. Fear is an instinct to keep us safe and alive— it’s healthy to carry it as long as you don’t allow it to control you. Perpetuating the idea that we can scrape it from us completely only serves to breed more fear, make us feel alone, and create shame for something that exists (and should exist) in every breathing thing. Make no mistake: everyone is afraid of something. Everyone is taking a risk, in their own way. Every day, people are finding their dreams. surviving. falling in love. letting go. moving forward. stepping back. staying. healing. Every single one of them is doing so despite the fear, not without it. Set your sights on what you genuinely want and not just what is easy. Hold hope with both hands. be afraid. jump anyway. What I’m trying to tell you is: don’t aspire to be fearless. aspire to be brave.
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Chloe Frayne (The Gravity Inside Us: Poetry and Prose)
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. The Truth: In this case the negative effects completely outweigh the positive. Sure, GM crops may be “no-till,” but we have effectively increased the amount of toxic chemicals released into the environment while simultaneously creating a new breed of “superweed” that is resistant to “safe” herbicide. Myth 7: Monsanto's glyphosate, known as Roundup, is a nonthreatening, biodegradable herbicide. The Truth: Roundup was forced to remove the term biodegradable from its packaging. Roundup persists in the environment and has toxic effects on wildlife. During crop growing season, the toxin known as Roundup was found in 60-100% of air and rain samples taken from the Midwest. Yuck. Myth 8: GM and Non-GM crops have
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Matthew Johnson (GMO Free Diet: How to Stay Healthy by Identifying and Avoiding Dangerous Foods)
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My grandmother wanted desperately to see me, but Mom wouldn’t let me see her. So my grandmother kept calling my father and pleading with him to bring me to see her. He did. I was very excited about it. I was about 7. I didn’t know it was supposed to be a secret so I told my mom. She was so upset that she wouldn’t let me see my dad for years and wouldn’t let me stay all night at his house till I was about 13. From then on, I never told my mom anything important. Those years I couldn’t see him were horrible for me because visiting my dad was the best thing in my life. With him I was safe from being hurt. Also, he noticed me. He looked at me. He talked to me. He didn’t use me. I became very attached to his wives, trying to bond with someone, I guess. Also, I talked to my dad through them.
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Anne Katherine (Boundaries Where You End And I Begin: How To Recognize And Set Healthy Boundaries)
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We already have so much to worry about. Keeping our families safe and healthy; performing well at work; staying fit; avoiding the obesity epidemic, the depression epidemic, heart disease, early aging; living with chronic illness; inheriting a polluted earth; wildlife going extinct; an uncertain future . . .
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Anthony William (Liver Rescue)
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But then we also must walk through the much longer process of forgiving and healing from the impact another person's actions have had on us. Forgiveness is a command by God, but reconciliation should be very conditional on many factors—most of all whether all parties involved can stay safe ad healthy if they stay together.
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Lysa TerKeurst (Good Boundaries and Goodbyes: Loving Others Without Losing the Best of Who You Are)
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When a child experiences a traumatic event, no matter how many years pass, that event will forever be embedded in their memory. Furthermore, what the brain will remember the most is what they did to stay safe at that moment. The thought process behind that action will eventually repeat itself over and over well into adulthood. If the traumatic event isn’t realized, the individual will suffer the negative consequences of it. If individuals fail to address the traumatic events or the negative consequences, they might struggle to make better choices late into adulthood. Do you realize how damaging that is? Imagine being 50 and still letting your past dictate your current life choices.
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Scott A Young (Master Your Attachment Style: Learn How to Build Healthy & Long-Lasting Relationships)
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There is an invisible force that pulls individuals of varying interests and pursuits back into the wild. Our existence has been tied to the natural environment since the beginning of humanity. Yet in an effort to protect ourselves from the elements we have walled ourselves off, not just from storms, but also from sunsets. We have protected ourselves from unsavory individuals, as well as friends and neighbors. And we have found a way to stay healthy by sanitizing our society and synthesizing our food and drugs. This is not natural, or safe, or healthy.
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Jennifer Pharr Davis (The Pursuit of Endurance: Harnessing the Record-Breaking Power of Strength and Resilience)
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CULTIVATING A “YES” STATE OF MIND: HELPING KIDS BE RECEPTIVE TO RELATIONSHIPS If we want to prepare kids to participate as healthy individuals in a relationship, we need to create within them an open, receptive state, instead of a closed, reactive one. To illustrate, here’s an exercise Dan uses with many families. First he’ll tell them he’s going to repeat a word several times, and he asks them just to notice what it feels like in their bodies. The first word is “no,” said firmly and slightly harshly seven times, with about two seconds between each “no.” Then, after another pause, he says a clear but somewhat gentler “yes” seven times. Afterward, clients often say that the “no” felt stifling and angering, as if they were being shut down or scolded. In contrast, the “yes” made them feel calm, peaceful, even light. (You might close your eyes now and try the exercise for yourself. Notice what goes on in your body as you or a friend says “no” and then “yes” several times.) These two different responses—the “no” feelings and the “yes” feelings—demonstrate what we mean when we talk about reactivity versus receptivity. When the nervous system is reactive, it’s actually in a fight-flight-freeze response state, from which it’s almost impossible to connect in an open and caring way with another person. Remember the amygdala and the other parts of your downstairs brain that react immediately, without thinking, whenever you feel threatened? When our entire focus is on self-defense, no matter what we do, we stay in that reactive, “no” state of mind. We become guarded, unable to join with someone else—by listening well, by giving them the benefit of the doubt, by considering their feelings, and so on. Even neutral comments can transform into fighting words, distorting what we hear to fit what we fear. This is how we enter a reactive state and prepare to fight, to flee, or even to freeze. On the other hand, when we’re receptive, a different set of circuits in the brain becomes active. The “yes” part of the exercise, for most people, produces a positive experience. The muscles of their face and vocal cords relax, their blood pressure and heart rate normalize, and they become more open to experiencing whatever another person wants to express. In short, they become more receptive. Whereas reactivity emerges from our downstairs brain and leaves us feeling shut down, upset, and defensive, a receptive state turns on the social engagement system that involves a different set of circuits of the upstairs brain that connects us to others, allowing us to feel safe and seen.
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Daniel J. Siegel (The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child's Developing Mind)
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Preventing Separation Anxiety We wish our dogs could be with us all day, every day, but it’s not possible, and puppies do need to learn to spend time alone. A dog who can never be left home alone without destroying the house may be suffering from separation anxiety. Teach your Lab to feel safe and comfortable at home alone while she’s still a puppy, even if you’re home all day. Your life or job situation may change someday, and you’re heading off future trauma by teaching this lesson now, when she is young. Your puppy’s not yet mature enough to have the run of an entire house or yard, so confine her in her crate or pen when you’re gone. What you might think is separation anxiety might really be simple puppy mischief. When you’re not there to supervise, she’s free to indulge her curiosity and entertain herself in doggie ways. She knows she can’t dump the trash and eat the kitty litter in front of you, but when you’re gone, she makes her own rules. Teach your puppy not to rely on your constant attention every minute you’re at home. Set up her crate, pen, or wherever she can stay when you’re gone, and practice leaving her in it for short rests during the day. She’ll learn to feel safe there, chewing on her toy and listening to household noises. She’ll also realize that being in her pen doesn’t always mean she’s going to be left for long periods. Deafening quiet could unnerve your puppy, so when you leave, turn on the radio or television so the house still has signs of activities she’d hear when you’re home. Background noise also blocks out scary sounds from outdoors, so she won’t react to unknown terrors. HAPPY PUPPY Exercise your puppy before you leave her alone at home. Take her for a walk, practice obedience, or play a game. Then give her a chance to settle down and relax so she won’t still be excited when you put her in her pen. She’ll quickly learn that the rustle of keys followed by you picking up your briefcase or purse, getting your jacket out of the closet, or picking up your books all mean one awful thing: you’re going, and she’s staying. While you’re teaching her to spend time alone, occasionally go through your leaving routine without actually leaving. Pick everything up, fiddle with it so she can see you’re doing so, put it all back down, and go back to what you were doing. Don’t make a fuss over your puppy when you come and go. Put her in her pen and do something else for a few minutes before you leave. Then just leave. Big good-byes and lots of farewell petting just rev her up and upset her. When you come home, ignore her while you put down your things and get settled. Then greet her calmly and take her outside for a break.
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Terry Albert (Your Labrador Retriever Puppy Month by Month: Everything You Need to Know at Each Stage to Ensure Your Cute and Playful Puppy Grows into a Happy, Healthy Companion)
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Anger: I am mad at you for running out into the street without looking to see if any cars were coming. Fear: I am afraid that you’ll get badly hurt or killed. Requests: I want you to pay more attention when you are playing near the street. Stop and look both ways before you walk or run out into the street. Love: I love you so much. I don’t know what I would do without you. You are so precious to me. I want you to be safe and healthy. You deserve to have lots of fun and stay safe so you can continue to enjoy life to its fullest. Do you understand? What a different message! You need to train your inner critic to talk to you the same way.
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Jack Canfield (The Success Principles: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be)
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Goldfish Memory
For decades people believed that the goldfish memory lasts only for 3 seconds. But over the years, this belief has been debunked multiple times with experiments and research.
Goldfish are one of the most popular pet fish, and if you are a proud owner of a goldfish, you would be happy to know that your fish remembers you.
Disproving the 3 seconds memory myth
Studies show that your goldfish memory spans more than three months. In one of the studies, the scientists added a lever to the goldfish tank that dispensed food when pressed.
The goldfish in the tank quickly learned to press the lever to get food. The goldfish started to come to the lever whenever they were hungry.
Later the scientist changed the process and adjusted the lever to dispense food only at a particular time within a one-hour window.
Soon the goldfish learned to return to the lever each day around that time when the lever dispensed food.
This experiment proves that goldfish do have memories that span more than 3 seconds.
In another study, the scientists used music to train the goldfish. Whenever they brought food for the goldfish, a particular piece of music would be playing. The goldfish learned to associate this music with food. Later, the scientists released the goldfish into the wild. After about five months, they played the same piece of music, and the goldfish returned to the same feeding place.
The results of the above experiments would have been different if the goldfish has a 3-second memory.
Are goldfish smart?
The answer is yes they are! Besides having better than a 3-second memory, goldfish are also quite intelligent in their own right. They have shown an incredible ability to learn and process information.
In many cases, your pet goldfish have been found to remember their owners' sound and to distinguish the one who feeds them.
They are usually scared when they meet new people, and it is only after repeatedly seeing the person that they no longer fear them.
There have also been instances where goldfish do complex activities like swimming through a maze or push a ball into a net. This proves that the goldfish have better memory and can perform far more complex tasks than we give them credit.
Goldfish evolving over millions of years
Scientists believe that the entire fish category has evolved over hundreds of years and have learned to remember where and how they can find food, what predators look like, how to stay safe, and basic survival instincts.
Conclusion
From all the research and studies that have been conducted, it is easy to deduce that when you keep your goldfish in a bowl with the same accessories for years, it will not provide a scintillating environment for the fish to thrive.
The goldfish may not be the smartest species in the animal kingdom, but they do have a memory that is more than just 3 seconds.
Hence, it is only fair that if you bring home a goldfish as a pet, give it the environment it needs to enjoy a healthy and stimulating life.
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Goldfish Memory
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Never underestimate the power of your associations. By the phenomenon known as “emotional contagion” as well as through the activation of the mirror neurons in our brains, we model the behavior of the people we spend our days with. Fill your life with exceptionally excellent, enterprising, healthy, positive, ethical and sincerely loving people. And over time, you’ll exemplify these lofty traits. Allow dream stealers, energy thieves and enthusiasm bandits into your Tight Bubble of Total Focus and please know you’re sure to become like them. The real key is to avoid trouble creators. People who have grown up in an environment riddled with drama and non-stop problems will consciously and subconsciously re-create drama and nonstop problems because, as amazing as it seems, such conditions feel familiar, safe and like home to them. Stay away from all drama queens and negativity kings. If you don’t, sooner or later, they’ll dissolve your bigness and destroy your life. It’s just what they do. Relate peacefully, as much as possible, with everyone. Even one enemy is an enemy too many. Pass through life gracefully, taking the high road when conflict shows up. Should someone do you wrong, let karma do the dirty work. And let a world-class life be your revenge.
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Robin S. Sharma (The 5AM Club: Own Your Morning. Elevate Your Life.)
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Perhaps it does come back to valuing community, after all. Recent studies in science communication have suggested what I've sketched out in this chapter: that scientific literacy is not the variable that determines whether or not a group will accept the reality of a public health issue like vaccination or global warning: social groups are. While those individuals tested demonstrated a surprising ability to factually interpret scientific findings, they tended to eventually revert to in-group thinking about the issue, siding with whatever their main social group already believed. We humans are social, after all. Our social nature is why solitary confinement is potentially a human rights violation, why just about all of us wish we weren't having to stay home during the COVID crisis, why we all cling to Zoom meetings-why children yell at one another across balconies, starved for the sound of another child's voice. We all do the same dance of retreating to our social safety spaces. And if our 'safe' social group told us that our experience during the pandemic was a lie? Well, it seems we'd be more likely to believe our friends than science, because, as I've argued elsewhere...in times of desperate calamity, all we humans really have is one another. I have no answer to this twisted dilemma that the healthy carrier narrative, via the vehicle of COVID-19, has presented to us in the United States, but understanding the dilemma rightly is surely important.
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Kari Nixon (Quarantine Life from Cholera to COVID-19: What Pandemics Teach Us About Parenting, Work, Life, and Communities from the 1700s to Today)
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The advantages of high rank must be pretty enormous, otherwise evolution would never have installed such foolhardy ambitions. They are ubiquitous in the animal kingdom, from frogs and rats to chickens and elephants. High rank generally translates into food for females and mates for males. I say “generally,” because males also compete for food, and females for mates, even though the latter is mostly restricted to species, like ours, in which males help out with child rearing. Everything in evolution boils down to reproductive success, which means that the different orientations of males and females make perfect sense. A male can increase his progeny by mating with many females while keeping rivals away. For the female, such a strategy makes no sense: mating with multiple males generally does not do her any good.
The female goes for quality rather than quantity. Most female animals do not live with their mates, hence all they need to do is pick the most vigorous and healthy sex partner. This way, their offspring will be blessed with good genes. But females of species in which the mates stay around are in a different situation, which makes them favor males who are gentle, protective, and good providers. Females further enhance reproduction by what they eat, especially if they are pregnant or lactating, when caloric intake increases fivefold. Since dominant females can claim the best food, they raise the healthiest offspring. In some species, like rhesus macaques, the hierarchy is so strict that a dominant female will simply stop a subordinate walking by with bulging cheek pouches. These pouches help the monkeys carry food to a safe spot. The dominant will hold the head of the subordinate and open her mouth, essentially picking her pocket. Her intrusion meets with no resistance because for the subordinate it’s either this or get bitten.
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Frans de Waal (Our Inner Ape: A Leading Primatologist Explains Why We Are Who We Are)
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Condoms and fandangle size:
penile sizes vary: Southeast Asian condoms, for example, may be rather small, while
African ones are large. The shape of penises is also very diverse, so not all condoms
fit all comers
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Jane Wilson-Howarth (Staying Healthy When You Travel: Avoiding Bugs, Bites, Bellyaches, and More, New Edition (CompanionHouse Books) Doctor's Advice on Immunization, Precautions, What to Do When Illness Strikes, and More)
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If you have recently been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, you probably haven’t exercised in years, and the idea of doing so might seem intimidating. Don’t worry—as long as you start slowly, exercise is not only perfectly safe, but highly recommended.
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Hiroaki Tanaka (Slow Jogging: Lose Weight, Stay Healthy, and Have Fun with Science-Based, Natural Running)
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At the other extreme, rigid boundaries involve building walls to keep others out as a way to keep yourself safe. But staying safe by locking yourself in is unhealthy and leads to a whole other set of problems. Whereas porous boundaries lead to unhealthy closeness (enmeshment), rigid ones are self-protective mechanism meant to build distance. This typically comes from fear of vulnerability or a history of being taken advantage of. People with rigid boundaries do not allow exceptions to their stringent rules even when it would be healthy for them to do so.
Rigid boundaries look like:
• Never sharing
• Building walls
• Avoiding vulnerability
• Cutting people out
• Having high expectations of others
• Enforcing strict rules
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Nedra Glover Tawwab (Set Boundaries, Find Peace: A Guide to Reclaiming Yourself)
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Crying It Out (Extinction) The optimal time to use this strategy is after three to four months of age (post–due date). Perhaps this is when both parents must return to work full-time or with postcolicky infants (colic usually starts to dissipate at three to four months) or after parents see partial success with graduated extinction. Extinction can successfully be used earlier, but most parents find it unacceptably harsh for younger babies. Extinction was used with some twins in my survey at five to six months of age after the due date, when the parents had suffered from becoming desperately sleep-deprived. At three to four months, many parents in my survey used extinction successfully. Extinction means open-ended crying at night. The process is pretty straightforward: if you know that it is time to sleep and not time to feed, you ignore the crying, without a time limit. Initially, the baby will fall asleep after wearing herself out crying, but very quickly this process teaches the baby how to fall asleep unassisted without protest or crying. And the baby then stays asleep for a longer time. A major fear here is that prolonged crying by one twin will disturb the sleeping of the other. Parents in my survey stated that the sleepy twin, surprisingly, almost always adapted to the crying after a few nights and slept through their sibling’s protests. Of course, another major fear is that you will harm your child by letting him cry. But as long as he is safely in his crib, letting him cry is only a means to an end of better sleeping. There is no published research showing that this procedure causes any harm to children. In contrast, there is no question that not sleeping well truly harms them. If your twins’ bedtime is early and naps are in place, the process of extinction usually takes three to five nights. In general, the parents in my survey describe the first night’s crying to be thirty to forty-five minutes, the second night’s ten to thirty minutes, and the third night’s zero to ten minutes. If their bedtime is too late or a twin is not napping well, the process may take much longer, or it may appear to work but the success is short-lived. Sometimes older children cry more on the second night than on the first, but the entire process still takes just a few days. “We started around three or four months as fatigue from care and unpredictable sleep schedules reached the breaking point. The first night, our babies cried for about twenty minutes; the second for about ten minutes. They’ve slept through the night ever since.
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Marc Weissbluth (Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Twins: A Step-by-Step Program for Sleep-Training Your Multiples)
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What causes people to get fat? Your body’s cells need three things to thrive and survive: 1) oxygen, 2) the proper nutrients and 3) The ability to eliminate waste. If any one of the three is lacking, your cells will mutate (into cancer cells, for example) in order to try to adapt and stay alive in the overly acidic environment. Normally when your body returns to an alkaline state, the mutated cells will devolve back into healthy red blood cells. This process is called pleomorphism. When your body does not have the energy or nutrients it needs to neutralize the acid, it cannot safely move these toxins and acids out of the body. So its only choice is to park them away from the
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Corey Wayne (Mastering Yourself, How To Align Your Life With Your True Calling & Reach Your Full Potential)
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How to protect yourself and others from COVID-19?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “The best way to prevent illness is to avoid being exposed to this virus.” As the vaccines continue their roll out.
And follow advices to the world health orgranization (WHO), "Stay aware of the latest COVID-19 information by regularly checking updates from WHO and your national and local public health authorities."
What to do to keep yourself and others safe from COVID-19 by WHO
1. Maintain at least a 1-metre distance between yourself and others to reduce your risk of infection when they cough, sneeze or speak.
2. Maintain an even greater distance between yourself and others when indoors. The further away, the better.
3. Make wearing a mask a normal part of being around other people.
How to protect yourself and others from COVID-19 by WHO
If COVID-19 is spreading in your community, stay safe by taking some simple precautions, such as physical distancing, wearing a mask, keeping rooms well ventilated, avoiding crowds, cleaning your hands, and coughing into a bent elbow or tissue. Check local advice where you live and work. Do it all!
A. Wash your hands by CDC
Practicing good hygiene is an important habit that helps prevent the spread of COVID-19. Make these CDC recommendations part of your routine:
Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after you have been in a public place, or after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.
Read more on my website
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Letusmakeyourich
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As we said earlier, one of the great problems of spirituality in our day and age that so few people feel safe enough to admit is how separated we feel from God. We rarely experience God’s presence throughout our day. “Love, joy, and peace” does not describe the felt experience of many Christians. Often we come to church hoping for a God hit—a fleeting moment of connection to God before we return to the secular wasteland. Could the antidote for this spiritual malaise be as “easy” as silence and solitude? If our theory is right and the problem is more our absence than his, more about our distraction than
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John Mark Comer (The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World)
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I don’t have any great ambitions for myself. It’s enough for me if the three of us can lead safe, healthy lives. A peaceful life is best. But such a modest ambition is becoming more and more difficult to achieve. People may try to live quiet, retiring lives, but things can happen. They might get caught up in a crime, or ill from food additives. The way society works or businesses operate can change in a flash, and even as you wish things would stay the same, a giant wave engulfs everything. It’s tragic when people think the wave won’t reach them but get swept away by it anyway. The wave takes everything with it, you hurt all over, and you’re left holding on to nothing.
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Riku Onda (The Aosawa Murders)
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One of the body's emergency measures for dealing with excess toxins is to store them in fat cells. Fat can be like an emergency garbage-collection area, absorbing toxins so that they can't affect other major organs. This is part of the healthy way the body deals naturally with toxins. The problem is, it can have the side effect of building "toxin warehouses" inside our own bodies! If we keep on adding fat and never burn it away, and if we keep on consuming high levels of toxins, the fat in our bodies just keeps accumulating toxins and holding on to them. Instead of being safely removed from the body, where they can't do us any harm, the toxins stay right inside us, waiting to get back into the bloodstream where they can do more damage to our systems.
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Carla Johnson (Clean Eating Made Easy - Simple Steps for Busy Women who want to Eliminate Fatigue and Feel Great)
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November 13, 2024
Pests can be more than a nuisance; they pose serious risks to health, property, and peace of mind. While DIY solutions may offer quick fixes, professional pest control services provide lasting solutions that protect homes and businesses. Here’s why investing in pest control experts is crucial for long-term safety and comfort.
Customized Pest Control Solutions
Each pest problem is unique, requiring tailored solutions. Professional pest control experts assess the situation and implement strategies based on the specific type of infestation, the property’s layout, and potential sources of pest entry. This targeted approach not only ensures effective removal but also prevents future infestations.
Advanced Pest Control Techniques and Tools
Professional pest control companies stay updated with the latest methods, using Eco-friendly chemicals and advanced equipment to safely eliminate pests. Unlike over-the-counter products, professional-grade treatments are designed to be more effective, posing minimal risk to people, pets, and the environment.
Safety and Compliance
Pest control professionals are trained to handle hazardous chemicals safely. They understand the correct dosages and application methods, minimizing exposure to harmful substances. Additionally, professional services comply with local health and safety regulations, ensuring that pest control practices meet industry standards.
Expert Identification and Prevention
Different pests require different treatment approaches. Professionals can accurately identify pest species and understand their behaviors, helping to develop targeted treatment plans. This knowledge allows experts to address the root cause of infestations, offering preventive measures that keep pests at bay.
Cost-Effective Long-Term Solution
While DIY pest control may seem affordable, it often leads to repeated treatments and escalating costs. Professional pest control services offer long-lasting results, saving you from future expenses related to recurring infestations. By investing in expert solutions, you save time, money, and effort in the long run.
Protects Health and Property
Certain pests carry diseases and can compromise structural integrity. Termites, for example, can cause extensive damage to wooden structures, while rodents and cockroaches spread harmful bacteria. Hiring professionals for pest control ensures your home or business remains a safe and healthy environment.
Guaranteed Results and Peace of Mind
Professional pest control companies offer warranties and guarantees, giving you peace of mind knowing that if pests return within a certain period, follow-up treatments are covered. This reliability and accountability set professional pest control apart from DIY approaches.
Key Takeaways
Hiring pest control experts is essential to ensure a safe, pest-free environment. Professional pest control services offer customized solutions, advanced tools, safety, cost-effectiveness, and guaranteed results. By choosing experts, you protect your health, property, and peace of mind.”Our pest control services are tailored to meet the specific needs of your home or business.
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