The Words that Changed My Perspective on Life

Life consists of many different elements, such as learning how to talk, interact with people, coping with various situations.
At the same time, life also has its ups and downs. Everyone has or will experience these moments. Speaking from a personal standpoint, I endured more than my share of life's ups and down, such as graduating from college and pursuing my career to having a very low self-esteem and experiencing and surviving domestic violence.

Someone may ask, "how did you learn to overcome many of the negative obstacles of your life?" The reply may be, "Perseverance, patience, and motivation." That was exactly my answer. Here are a few inspirational Bible verses that changed my life and is continuing to make a positive impact:

Romans 12:6
6. "We have different gifts according to the grace give to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith."
Ephesians 3:17-18
17. "so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love.
18. may have power, together with all the Lord's holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love for Christ."
Proverbs 18:21, 23
21. "The tongue has one power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit."
23. "The poor plead for mercy, but the rich answer harshly."

I take these verses and apply them to everyday life because it is essential in defining who we are as individuals. It also determines how we choose to live our lives, whether it is the road to success or the highway to failure. I rather choose the successful route.

Meditating for Good Health

In today's society, we are often lacking good health due to the demands that are to be met with, such as the work overload that many of our jobs require or to the rush movement of our everyday lives. Many of us are seeking ways to balance our lives for the purpose of having a peace of mind and overall health.

Meditation is often the topic on many peoples' minds. He/she may hear that this technique will help someone to stay focused in terms of daily life issues. The good news is that it does. But what is meditation? Meditation is the engagement in deep mental exercise directed toward a heightened level of spiritual awareness. It is also practiced for the sake of wellness and well-being.

During the practice of meditation, the first thing that individuals will learn how to do is to stay focused on attention. This will allow you--the meditation practitioner to aim at the mindfullness of thoughts, feelings, and sensations. Individuals will notice that there will be a sense of calmness and no worries about anything negative; he/she will be so focused that there will be no room for judgments due to the physical relaxation and psychological balance. With practicing meditation, this will more likely to change a person's perspective on how their emotions are operating.

In many cases, the practice of meditation consists of four elements: a tranquil place, a particular posture that is comfortable, focusing on attention, and having an open attitude.

The reason that meditation is practiced in a tranquil place is to avoid as many distractions as possible. The main aim is to focus on the thoughts that are processing in your mind during this state. Individuals need a particular and comfortable posture, because there are so many different methods of meditation. It can be practiced while in the sitting position, standing up, walking, and lying down, just to name a few. Focusing on attention deals with everything from the breathing sensations to focusing on a mantra. A mantra refers to either a specific word or a group of words. It also focuses on the dominating portion of consciousness. In meditation, having an open attitude is a must. It allows individuals to letting these distractions automatically appear and disappear without being judgmental. If the attention becomes distracted, then they are not subdued. As a result, having an open attitude will allow the meditation to put the mind back into the focusing perspective.

The hassles of everyday life can be very chaotic. But when we stay in perspective on what is really important, we will stand a better chance of living a healthier life.

Source:

nccam.nih.gov/health/meditation/overview.htm

A Patch of Pink

A patch of pink is

like a bottle of perfume

with much luminance.

Why Should We Buy, Eat, and Grow Local Foods?

Product of Canada...Product of Colombia...Grown in Mexico. Often in our local supermarkets, especially in the produce section, we see fruits and vegetables that come from other parts of the globe instead of coming from close to home. Many environmentally conscious people are encouraging consumers to purchase food locally.

What is local food? In a nutshell, local food is not grown overseas or in other parts of the world. In other words, there are some of the products, as in fruits, vegetables and meats as well, are more likely to survive the local climates.

The question is why should we buy and use local food production? According to some environmentally-friendly people, getting produce is an excellent outlet to learning more about local farming. Besides learning about local food farming, the food that we are accustomed to eating travels cross-country, overseas, and across the rest of the world. Guess what?

The refrigerator that the food are chilled in during the long trip burns more fossil. Talking about bad for the environment! It can take its toll on everything around us.

When we buy local foods straight from the farmers, there is a boost-up in their income. This means that the farmers can run their business more efficiently and closer to home and at the same time helping the economy.

What is the difference between sustainable food production and industrial food production? Sustainable food production tends to focus on the healthier aspect of the food as well as the environment, especially in terms of animals, allowing fair wages to the farmers, and giving a helping hand to the farming industry.

Unlike sustainable food production, industrial food production utilizes on fossil fuels. Many people know that this can produce greenhouse gases, which plays a huge role in the change of the climate as well as the entire environment. Unfortunately, not many people are aware about the food transportation process. He/she does not realize that the favorite T-bone steak may have to travel three thousand miles before its final destination--the dinner table. In fact, approximately forty percent of the energy used involves chemicals, as in pesticides and chemical fertilizers.

Get this! In addition to preventing fresh foods from perishing during the transportation and storage for a lengthy time, industrial food production also involves the usage of paper and plastic packaging. As a result, the meat packaging process is not reusable or recyclable. There is also a large amount of pollution in the industrial farm.

Caring for the environment is a very good cause. As with anything else in life, there is always misleading information. Just because a consumer purchases local food does not mean that it is safe from pesticides, chemical fertilizers, and anything else that will present a health and environmental hazard. Ensure that the food is supposed to be local are from farmers and/or garden workers that are utilizing methods of sustainability.

Sources:

www.sustainabletable.org/issues/eatlocal

www.sustainabletable.org/issues/whybuylocal/