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Our InnerSelf welcomes your inner self.
While there are many things taking place on our planet that may leave us shaking our head in disbelief or discouragement, there are also things that can give us pause and fortitude. When things are not going well, there is always the potential and possibility of improvement. The basic knowledge that everything is always changing is actually encouraging.
As many of us raised in the Christian religion have heard, mankind has free will. We get to choose our actions, we get to choose whether we shall live a life based on love for ourselves and for others. This is our saving grace. The fact that: 1) everything always changes, and 2) we have free will and can make choices for the better.
So this week, we look at changes, at choices, and at "where we go from here". We start with Peter Ruppert who tells us to "Never, Ever Give Up: Having the Courage to Start Over Again". He shares a story from his own life as well as from the life of Alex Honnald, who is the subject of the documentary Free Solo. These stories give us encouragement to face our fears and our challenges, and never ever give up.
Never, Ever Give Up: Having the Courage to Start Over Again
Peter Ruppert, author of the book "Limitless"
If you continue to build courage throughout your life and take each next step with grit, determination and a knowledge that failures along the way are part of the process, you will eventually come out on the other side successful.
continued...
Choices are always an either/or decision, whether conscious or not. We choose this or that in our actions, attitudes, words, thoughts, etc. Jude Bijou introduces us to "How Our Minds Work: The Three Ultimate Attitudes".
Jude presents us with the three destructive attitudes and the three constructive attitudes... and these are the basic attitudes that we choose between every single day of our lives, and even every single moment.
How Our Minds Work: The Three Ultimate Attitudes
Jude Bijou, author of the book "Attitude Reconstruction"
The Three Ultimate Attitudes are bottom lines of how our minds work. There are three Destructive Ultimate Attitudes associated with sadness, anger, and fear. And there are three opposing Constructive Ultimate Attitudes...
continued...
We continue our journey with Alan Cohen who asks us "What Will You Do With Your Life Now?" He reflects on our "going back to normal" as the pandemic recedes... and he questions if going back to "normal" is really the right choice to make.
The image that comes to my mind is of being in a car careening down a steep hill with a cliff at the bottom and the car has no brakes. We know we are in trouble. And then by some "magic" or divine intervention, the car stops abruptly.
After we sit there for a while catching our breath, what is our next step? Do we "go back to normal" and continue heading down towards the cliff at breakneck speed? Or do we change direction, make different choices, and choose different priorities?
That's where we are now... The emergency brakes were applied (by tiny little viruses that if all combined in one place would not even fill a Coke can. So now that our momentum is stopped, what will we choose to do?
What Will You Do With Your Life Now?
Alan Cohen, author of the book "Soul and Destiny"
As the pandemic recedes, we are all looking forward to reclaiming something like the life we once knew. But could one of the purposes of the pandemic be to direct us to a life better than the one we knew?
continued...
We continue our journey of self-discovery with Carl Greer who asks "What’s the Rush? Hindsight is 20/20". This is the beginning of his article:
"For many years, I was too caught up in my own world to be fully present for other people—I was on the clock, feeling the pressure of time and agendas. It’s clear to me now that sometimes, I was the one creating the sense of urgency..."
Perhaps you can identify with the rush-rush, go-go-go mentality that Carl is referring to. For him, now being in his 80s has helped him see a new possibility, a new way of interacting with others and with life in general.
For many of us, the pandemic has also provided this "eye-opening" experience. So we can ask ourselves, what's the rush? And we can make choices and changes that will support our peace of mind, our happiness, and the well-being of the people we care for -- whether that is your immediate family, or the world-wide family we are all a part of.
What’s the Rush? Hindsight is 20/20
Carl Greer PhD, PsyD, author of the book "The Neckie and The Jaguar"
For many years, I was too caught up in my own world to be fully present for other people—I was on the clock, feeling the pressure of time and agendas. It’s clear to me now that sometimes, I was the one creating the sense of urgency...
continued...
Alexandra Wenman presents us with "The Key to Enlightenment: Expanding our Consciousness and Our Heart". This is the key, not just to enlightenment, but to everything in our day to day lives. While enlightenment is usually seen as a faraway goal, our immediate actions and choices become enlightened ones when we choose to expand our consciousness and open our heart to the people around us... no matter their race, country of origin, beliefs, attitudes, etc. This also includes choosing forgiveness over rancor, love over judgment, etc. etc.
It's always our choice... living from the heart is the path that will lead us to a life of bliss and harmony for all...
The Key to Enlightenment: Expanding our Consciousness and Our Heart
Alexandra Wenman, author of the "Archangel Fire Oracle" card deck
The key to “enlightenment” is in the word “light”. By opening our hearts to deeper and vaster love, we are taking in more light and are then able to shed more light on who we are by accessing our innate wisdom.
continued...
As usual, the planetary aspects support our weekly journey. Here's an excerpt from Pam Younghan's Astrological Journal which emphasizes the choices we all need to make:
"...the struggle between the past and the future, between the status quo and progress, between the need for form and the urge for freedom, between the politics of divisiveness and the more enlightened policies of inclusion.
"In my mind, this Saturn-Uranus square represents a grand-scale Cosmic Experiment. The hypothesis for this experiment is that humanity is capable of much more than what we have revealed up to this point, especially in terms working together for a common cause, side-by-side with those who represent different values and opinions. But, to get to the hoped-for conclusion of this experiment, this square is showing the myriad of ways in which we let conflict divide us."
Read the journal (link below) for more specific information as to the energies that will be visiting us this week.
Horoscope Week: June 28 - July 4, 2021
Pam Younghans, Astrologer
This weekly astrological journal is based on planetary influences, and offers perspectives and insights to assist you in making the best use of current energies. This column is not intended as prediction. Your own experience will be more specifically defined by transits to your personal chart.
continued...
Our choices and our free give us the ability and the power to choose Love at every turn. It's not always easy, and we may "fall off the wagon" several times. But no matter what, we recognize that errors are human, and we start over or keep going...
Love will never give up on us, and we don't have to give up on Love or on ourselves either.
Wishing you enjoyable insightful reading, and of course a wonder-full, joy-full, health-full, and loving week.
Please scroll down for additional new articles that were added to the website during the week.
Marie T. Russell
editor/publisher,
InnerSelf.com
"New Attitudes...New Possibilities"
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NEW ARTICLES THIS WEEK
***** articles and videos added daily *****
Most featured articles are also in audio and video format.
Go to each article for the links.
FEATURED ARTICLES: (see above)
ADDITIONAL NEW ARTICLES:
Parts of the 5,000 Year-Old Stonehenge Stone Circle Were Imported
Mike Parker Pearson, UCL
Centuries before the development of rudimentary geology, Geoffrey’s exotic theory – that the stones at Stonehenge were filched from a foreign field – has enveloped the 5,000 year-old site in yet another layer of mystical intrigue
Why the legacy of Billy Graham continues to endure
Kalpana Jain, Senior Religion + Ethics Editor, The Conversation
A new two-hour documentary on PBS examines the life and rise of Billy Graham, the famed preacher, who died on Feb. 21, 2018 at 99. Graham’s enduring legacy is...
Never, Ever Give Up: Having the Courage to Start Over Again (Video)
Peter Ruppert, author of the book "Limitless"
If you continue to build courage throughout your life and take each next step with grit, determination and a knowledge that failures along the way are part of the process, you will eventually come out on the other side successful.
Daily Inspiration: June 27, 2021
Marie T. Russell, InnerSelf.com
One of the ingredients of harmony and happiness is balance. We are out of balance when we feel lacking in any way... whether we feel lacking in personal attributes, or in financial support.
How Marriage Choices Affect Pay Gap and Inequality
Greg Larson, Yale University
With stronger complementarities in home production among spouses, highly educated people increasingly marry other highly educated people, while less-educated people increasingly marry other less-educated people...
Climate Change: Effect On Sperm Could Hold Key To Species Extinction
Kris Sales, University of East Anglia
Since the 1980s, increasingly frequent and intense heatwaves have contributed to more deaths than any other extreme weather event. The fingerprints of extreme events and climate change are widespread in the natural world, where populations are showing stress responses.
Interest in tiny houses is growing, so who wants them and why?
Heather Shearer, Griffith University
Tiny houses are now so popular that someone was charged with stealing one last week. A social media campaign tracked its journey (in Australia) from Canberra to Hervey Bay. My research to date has found a marked increase in people who want their own tiny house, particularly among older women.
Do genetic differences make some people more susceptible to COVID-19?
Vikki Rand and Maria O’Hanlon, Teesside University
Coronavirus affects people differently – some infected develop life-threatening disease, while others remain asymptomatic. And a year aftere COVID-19 emerged, it’s still unclear why. To try and answer this question, researchers have started looking at the genetics of people who get COVID-19...
Daily Inspiration: June 26, 2021
Marie T. Russell, InnerSelf.com
It's not always easy to live the life we wish to live. We have expectations to content with... not just from the people we love and even of the people around us, but also the sometimes misguided expectations of our own self.
How Our Minds Work: The Three Ultimate Attitudes (Video)
Jude Bijou, author of the book "Attitude Reconstruction"
The Three Ultimate Attitudes are bottom lines of how our minds work. There are three Destructive Ultimate Attitudes associated with sadness, anger, and fear. And there are three opposing Constructive Ultimate Attitudes...
Scotland’s Outdoor Play Initiative Has Some Lessons For The Rest Of The World
Michal Perlman, University of Toronto, et al.
The outdoor play movement in Scotland initially started as a grassroots effort but has been adopted by the national government as a way to accommodate more children within child-care programs, address obesity, reduce screen time, increase children and parents’ connection to the environment, and improve mental health issues.
Time to make nature studies a compulsory school subject – before it’s too late
Matthew Adams, University of Brighton
Time to make nature studies a compulsory school subject – before it’s too late. “Every child in every country is owed the teaching of natural history, to be introduced to the awe and wonder of the natural world, to appreciate how it contributes to our lives.”
Why The Concept Of Net Zero Emissions Is A Dangerous Trap
James Dyke, University of Exeter et al
Sometimes realisation comes in a blinding flash. Blurred outlines snap into shape and suddenly it all makes sense. Underneath such revelations is typically a much slower-dawning process.
Daily Inspiration: June 25, 2021
Marie T. Russell, InnerSelf.com
I want you to know that all energy is positive. All energy is good. It changes depending on what you do with it. I want you to quit speaking in terms of negative energy, because...
The Key to Enlightenment: Expanding our Consciousness and Our Heart (Video)
Alexandra Wenman, author of the "Archangel Fire Oracle" card deck
The key to “enlightenment” is in the word “light”. By opening our hearts to deeper and vaster love, we are taking in more light and are then able to shed more light on who we are by accessing our innate wisdom.
Gender washing: seven kinds of marketing hypocrisy about empowering women
Rosie Walters, Cardiff University
At a time of so much focus on how women are held back and treated unfairly, corporations spend multiple millions telling us what they are doing to empower women and girls. When this makes them seem more women-friendly than they really are, it’s known as gender washing.
Teaching kids social responsibility – like how to settle fights and ask for help – can reduce school bullying
Jonathan B. Santo, University of Nebraska Omaha
Schools that encourage their students to care for their classmates’ feelings and to peacefully resolve conflicts with their peers can lower incidents of bullying, according to our peer-reviewed study published in the International Journal of Behavioral Development in June 2021.
From the great plague to the 1918 flu, history shows that disease outbreaks make inequality worse
Janet Greenlees, Glasgow Caledonian University
In May 2021, virologist Angela Rasmussen reflected how “if the last 18 months have demonstrated anything, it’s that we would do well to remember the lessons of past pandemics as we try to prevent future ones”. This includes ensuring we come out stronger.
Daily Inspiration: June 24, 2021
Marie T. Russell, InnerSelf.com
People who talk to themselves are often considered crazy. Many of us have been told, or have heard said, that one shouldn't talk to oneself.
What’s the Rush? Hindsight is 20/20 (Video)
Carl Greer PhD, PsyD, author of the book "The Neckie and The Jaguar"
For many years, I was too caught up in my own world to be fully present for other people—I was on the clock, feeling the pressure of time and agendas. It’s clear to me now that sometimes, I was the one creating the sense of urgency...
Your brain biology may explain doomscrolling
Tamara Bhandari-Washington University
The biology of our brains may play a role in “doomscrolling,” according to new research. The term “doomscrolling” describes the act of endlessly scrolling through bad news on social media and reading every worrisome tidbit that pops up...
With Ford's electric F-150 pickup, the EV transition shifts into high gear
Brian C. Black, Penn State
When President Joe Biden took Ford’s electric F-150 Lightning pickup for a test drive in Dearborn, Michigan, in May 2021, the event was more than a White House photo op.
Why Misogyny Needs To Be Tackled In Education From Primary School
Louise Mullany, University of Nottingham and Loretta Trickett, Nottingham Trent University
Global research on primary schools has shown that boys learn to behave in gendered ways that are reinforced by the adults around them. Teachers are a key part of this socialisation process. To change behaviour, we need to start with school.
Daily Inspiration: June 23, 2021
Marie T. Russell, InnerSelf,com
We can free ourselves from whatever is unlike Love and truly become free to express the Love and Joy that reside in our true Self.
What Will You Do With Your Life Now? (Video)
Alan Cohen, author of the book "Soul and Destiny"
As the pandemic recedes, we are all looking forward to reclaiming something like the life we once knew. But could one of the purposes of the pandemic be to direct us to a life better than the one we knew?
Bringing joy back to the classroom and supporting stressed kids – what summer school looks like in 2021
Raphael Travis Jr., Texas State University
Already 62% of parents believe their children are behind in learning, according to a survey conducted by the National PTA and Learning Heroes.
Breadwinner stress links men’s job loss and breakups
Michele Berger-Penn
In cultures that value men as breadwinners, their unemployment can affect the long-term success of a romantic relationship, research finds.
Here’s what’s really driving our unhealthy food habits
Gary Sacks, Deakin University
Public health experts have long argued that when it comes to preventing obesity, we need to stop blaming individuals.
Daily Inspiration: June 22, 2021
Marie T. Russell, InnerSelf.com
As humans we tend to be concerned with externals: with youth, with beauty, with looking good. The big house, the fancy car, the snazzy clothes...
How writing can improve mental health
Christina Thatcher, Cardiff Metropolitan University
Ernest Hemingway famously said that writers should “write hard and clear about what hurts”. Although Hemingway may not have known it at the time, research has now shown that writing about “what hurts” can help improve our mental health.
Young people are eager to have sex, but will post-pandemic hookups bring happiness or despair?
Nicole K. McNichols, University of Washington
As an associate teaching professor who teaches a very large human sexuality class at the University of Washington, I benefit from frequent access to young people’s inner thoughts and desires surrounding relationships and sex.
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