Healthy Thinking

Nick Vujicic is a 29 years old Australian man who had been born without limbs and with no medical explanation for this birth "defect". He is a firstborn son of Christians parents, his father was a Pastor of their church and mother, a nurse, whose had no warnings or time to prepare themselves. However, they were convicted that there is no such thing as luck, chance or coincidence in life and "bad" things don't happen without a good purpose. Nick, at the age of fifteen had peace and truly believed that he could be a great testimony of power of God and courageously faced many challenges and obstacles.

Currently, he is twenty-nine years old, completed a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Financial Planning and Accounting. He is also a motivational speaker and love to go out and share his story and testimony wherever opportunities become available. He has developed talks to relate to and encourage students through topics that challenge today's teenagers. He   is an speaker in the corporate sector. Nick has a passion for reaching out to youth and keep himself available for whatever God wants him to do, and wherever He leads, Nick follows. 

Nick, at the age twenty-three have said:  "I have many dreams and goals that I have set to achieve in my life. I want to become the best witness I can be of God's Love and Hope, to become an international inspirational speaker and be used as a vessel in both Christian and non-Christian venues. I want to become financially independent by the age of 25, through real estate investments, to modify a car for me to drive and to be interviewed and share my story on the 'Oprah Winfrey Show'! Writing several best-selling books has been one of my dreams and I hope to finish writing my first by the end of the year. It will be called 'No Arms, No Legs, No Worries!'." 

Nick believes that if you have the desire and passion to do something, and if it's God's will, you will achieve it in good time. He also used to say that as humans, we continually put limits on ourselves for no reason at all. One of Nicks usually advices is: "If we want to do something for God, instead of focusing on our capability, concentrate on our availability for we know that it is God through us and we can't do anything without Him." 

The Nick's behavior and hard work toward his "complicated" life are unusual, specially for somebody with so many physical "defects". When Nick shares his story and dreams, he  manifests his concern and commitment with the people health of all over the world. Celebrating and sharing the life over limitations he has been a great representative and supporter of "Global Health Action". 

Nick proves us that the we can handle much more than we realize!

Check this movie out by yourself, and think about it...

NICK VUJICIC ADVICES:

• "I LOVE LIVING LIFE. I AM HAPPY." 

• "If I fail, I try again, and again, and again..." If YOU fail, are YOU going to try again? It matters how you're going to FINISH... Are you going to finish STRONG? We are put in situations to build our character... not destroy us. The tensions in our life are there to strengthen our convictions... not to run over us.

• Nick is thankful for what he HAS. He's not bitter for what he does NOT have. I have never met a bitter person who was thankful. I have never met a thankful person who was bitter. In life you have a choice: Bitter or BETTER?

• "No arms, No legs, No worries!"

The Child Had Grown

It seems that the Canadian child who had silenced the world for 6 minutes really had grown. Severn Cullis-Suzuki,12 years old, had a speech on behalf of worldwide children toward a relevant audience of adults (international authorities) in an expressive event (ECO - Environment Children Organization). It was in Brazil, Rio de janeiro, 1992.


Currently, she shares how all adults make a difference!

The Child who silenced the world for 6 minutes

Sometimes words can not reproduce the emotion, energy, courage, and satisfaction experienced in rare moments of our lives. There are feelings and reactions that only the facial expression, tone of voice, the ambience of the music and the power of the image can make a surprising and unforgettable moment.

Enjoy each minute of this special movie...   

Being Lonely in the Modern World

Since the last two days I had problems with my blogger system, I confess that I've felt with no voice, no words, with no world communication, with no rights to express myself, with no chance to hear the thoughts of people! This is the first time that it happens to me... I've never figure out that I would be so lonely as I felt and decided write something about it! 

Loneliness in this Modern World

Over the last twenty years, lots of studies have been done, analyzing the effect of loneliness in human life, specially in the modern world, modern lifestyle and mental diseases. it is an important public health concern. There are already evidences that reveal the risk of developing and dying from heart disease based on the strength of one's social network of friends and family, and recently can be noticed the increase of mental diseases due to the "busy" new lifestyle, where lots of people running around each one of us, but never stopping!  

The loneliness due to modern lifestyle is increasing the global public health concern! 

Being Lonely in these world...

Most of us, at least once in our lives, have experienced loneliness. For some it's temporary, perhaps triggered by particular events or transitions, while for others, it seems to be a permanent way of life.

The losses of people, job, home, country and freedom can easily explain the loneliness experience. Elderly people, that live a long time couple life, sometimes simply forget how it's life alone. When suddenly one of them is lead of this life... During the days, when the sun shines outside, while dog, birds and wind were there, bringing the sounds of life around... it's possible surviving, it seems that life is going on as before, but lying in bed at night, when pictures, personal objects and clothes are seeing, or looks up from reading the newspaper ready to share a thought, it’s an overwhelmed with emptiness. It's a reality, but it's the natural history of life. All of us, one day will return "home".

But, what really upset the society nowadays is the increasing number of young people, living in the huge cities, walking among themselves, talking with them, living with them... are loneliness! 

Young people, at college, universities always are waiting for the best time of their lives, they made "lots of friends", went to parties. But, the impersonality of all of this causes a strange loneliness. Sometimes when words are needed, the closed world of the earphones playing high music, or noise are there.  Other times, when a friendly voice are needed, just can be heard through the voice mails. There are moments that friendly advices are really welcome, needed, and even when the distance is not an impediment to seat and talking, ask and answer, the text messages looks like being the best choice. It's  faster, not much personal, not so much responsibilities are evolved, and can be written by codes, a new  language, with lots of "new" abbreviations and acronyms, not properly words, but icons, images, sounds, even movies, when just a smile, a warm hug, friendly worlds such as "count on me" could be all and the best to be done.

The imbalance between technology and humanity has generated sad consequences in this world, called modern world. The quite shy turn it hard and turn young people lonely and apart and hardly can see their housemates, their old friends and family. What to say? What to tell them? 

It’s not complicated to observe how loneliness can arise from either the loss of connection to others, or being unable to form new connections. Solitude life can also shows how certain times of year can intensify loneliness, such as Thanksgiving, Anniversary, Christmas time... can be a lonely and endless time... Or, the notion of everyone else getting together with loved ones, leaving marginalized feelings, isolated, and suffocating with this disconnection.

Sure, that writing and talking more and more about it just can bring a problem and not a solution, because the balance between the technology and humanity is a human ability and self willingness. It's a free-will!

I'm here, just looking for a touch of consciousness...


Count on Me!

The Impact of Lifestyle on Mental Health

The demands of the modern word definitively have been unreasonable. The daily requirements such as being strong, being a hard-worker, being totally professional, agile, creative, polite, humorous, nice, restless, focused (even when living problems, diseases, difficulties, etc). Being always healthy, willing, helpful and have a good looking and smile everyday. The modern man must to be a competent citizen, student, worker, friend, son, father, no matter what.

Constant stress also causes insomnia, headaches, allergic reactions, disorders of the gastrointestinal tract. If the first symptoms were skip and signals not observed, it can result in a vegetative-vascular dystonia, atherosclerosis, angina, myocardial infarction and other very unpleasant diseases. Stress is a major blow to the immune system, and therefore become easy prey to infectious diseases.

Some people are unable to cope with all the responsibilities connected with living in the modern world leading them react against the stress, tension, over-busy, over-urbanization, over-industrialization, over-information and over-pollution based on new habits, the modern lifestyle throw into moments of “relief”. Bad habits such as smoking, drinking alcohol, lack of sleep, fast food, fat food, lack of fruits, vegetables and irregular eating leads to worsening of the man’s well being. The struggle with difficulties may end severe depression, alcohol abuse and drug addiction, suggesting that the physical and/or the mental health are affected.

The hope that the modern world with all of the technology and science would prevent and/or avoid the mental health issues is not yet a reality. Although there are better methods to treat mental health problems today, all of the factors cited above can't be ignored such as the most important causal agents of the mental disorders and their social consequences:

• Lack of value-education. 
• Unbalanced educational system; whose moral and ethical issues are not considered effective for the behavioral modification, resulting in the weakening of will-power and tolerance. 
• Disturbed family relations 
• Violence and cruelty 
• Corruption and immorality 
• Neglect of law and order 
• Drug addiction 
• Lack of compassion and spirit of service 
• Lack of discipline and self-control 
• Possessiveness 
• Selfishness 

Considering that all of us are living in these modern society and many of us are already feeling some effects of it in ourselves, in our relatives, friends, co-workers... It needed some more explanations to turn understandable that self character weakness it's not the responsible for that, although the self-confidence and knowledge are strong co-adjuvants during the recover period of the lifestyle diseases.      

The Brain Chemicals under influence of the Modern Life

Under the influence of the modern lifestyle, all human chemistry comes down. Fidgeting, concentration, sleep, energy, mood swings, behavior, etc are controlled by the human body chemicals. Serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, melatonin, insulin, and prostaglandins are some of the most important of them and are strongly influenced by the stress, diet, exercise, sunlight, sleep... 

• Being indoors - lack of sunlight: melatonin reduced 
• Stress, anxiety, tension - lack of sleep: serotonin reduced 
• Current food processing, fast and fat food: fatty acid imbalances and chemical sensitivities 
• High sugar and low-fat diet: insulin increased; prostaglandin imbalance 
• Poor nutrition: serotonin reduced
• Lack of exercise: serotonin and dopamine reduced  
• Boring classes or job - lack of enjoyable activity: dopamine and norepinephrine reduced. 
• Deionized air: serotonin reduced 

Serotonin and dopamine reduced levels from stress, lack of sleep and exercise, poor nutrition, lack of concentration and lack of sunlight and enjoyable activities can be correlated with ADHD (attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder); Serotonin fluctuation levels from irritability, depression, aggression, anxiety, chronic pain, restlessness or fatigue, nausea, weight gain, fibromyalgia, impulsivity, mood swings usually  are connected with Bipolar Disorder. Reduced serotonin caused by emotional trauma, sadness, losses, boring surroundings, restlessness, lack of exercise, loss of pleasure, lack of concentration, weight gain or loss are correlated with Depression. Reduced melatonin from lack of sunlight may disturb the sleep cycle and cause seasonal depression, called SAD.

Dopamine and serotonin is the "feel good" chemical which illegal drugs mimic, such as cocaine, heroin, marijuana and others, as well as cigarettes, coffee and alcohol. 

Current food processing modify the types of fatty acids usually consumed. Since the brain is composed largely of fatty acids, they are needed to regular development and repair of the human brain.  

Lots of sugars and carbohydrates lead to increased insulin levels. High insulin level leads the body to store fat, thereby decrease the blood sugar concentration and the brain can just burn sugar, thus it results in a low concentration and Depression. Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) also can lead to the Diabetes. In addition, the low blood sugar causes hungry, which demands to eat more sugar or carbohydrates, and the cycle is repeated. Finally, insulin levels affect serotonin and many systems throughout the body. Poor nutrition can result as well in lower levels of chemicals like serotonin. Vitamins B6, C and E (the stress vitamins) are especially important.

ADHD patients, as a group, seems to be more sensitive in general and may therefore be more sensitive to the effects of modern lifestyles. Some people may be born with inherently lower serotonin levels, which become the neuro-receptors more sensitive, resulting in higher highs and lower lows, and an increased vulnerability to depression and other related syndromes. The same may be true of dopamine, insulin and other chemicals.

Helpful Suggestions to restore the modern lifestyle imbalance:

• Make lifestyles changes to decrease stress
• Meditation or yoga
• Stress reduction courses
• Diet change to restore fatty acid balance
• Go to bed on time, with a slow-down period each evening before bed and wake up at the same time each day. Those all-night sessions on the Internet put a strain on your serotonin system. Although you may feel good while you're "wired", you'll probably experience the fogs once you've had a good night of sleep.
• Expose yourself to early morning sunlight. Morning sunlight increases the level of melatonin in your bloodstream at night, which induces sleep, and also increases the level of serotonin 
• Balanced diet: 30% protein, 30% fat and 40% carbohydrates at each meal. 
• Stress vitamins: the B (B6), E, and C. B6 vitamin is used to increase serotonin
• Chromium is important for lowering insulin levels. 
• Minerals evolved in serotonin production are magnesium, zinc, copper, manganese, and iron 
• Regular exercise increases both serotonin and dopamine, and affects other important systems as well. 

If these suggestions were followed, it’ll be possible to maintain the body in a good physical state.The food became most effective, the stress will be under control and the life, full vitality. All of these will also contribute to built a successful career, improving personality and pleasure from life.

Lifestyle Diseases

The modern world benefits are unquestionable; the technological advances, the scientific development, the medicine improvements, awareness, global consciousness, etc. Although better, the modern world requires a deep and almost exclusive commitment between the system and the population. It demands an enormous dedication, energy, speediness, outcome and competitive behavior. The sustainable modernization requires a lifestyle adjustment such as a fast-pace, a focused attitude, a decrease of social and enjoyable activities, and an over strain. The claim of juggling money, work, family and relationships that can induce a serious negative impact on the physical and mental health and emotional well being.

The consequences of so much involvement and responsibilities are the lifestyle diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity and mental health disorders (stress, anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, etc). Its seems being widespread in the society nowadays! Twenty-First Century living can certainly be stressful at times, particularly at work, where we’re putting in long hours and giving ourselves little breathing space (in 2000, one in eight UK employees were working more than 60 hours a week). According to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), up to five million people in the UK feel “very” or “extremely” stressed by their work leading them ill. Its is estimated that mental health problems account for the loss of over 91 million working days 

Modern lifestyle is fast-paced, low movement, rich in content and form of a single lifestyle: food, clothing, housing, transportation, entertainment and other bad behavior in everyday life, and social, economic, spiritual, and cultural factors in all aspects of adverse physical and/or psychological resulting in  this "new" human disorders. 

Today's society, and lifestyle related diseases have posed a threat to people's health a major issue. Type of production in agriculture-based state and society, the production level is low, very poor in material life, people's health is mainly affected by infectious diseases, parasitic diseases and nutritional deficiency disorders; the type of production as the mainstay in the industrial countries and social, production levels high, material prosperity, people's health is affected mainly cardiovascular diseases, cancer, nutrition and genetic diseases. Although affected by various factors, there is a common factor:  Its a lack the necessary health and health care knowledge, and unscientific way of life is very unhealthy relationship. 

According to the World Health Organization estimates that 75% of adults in developed countries suffer more than non-communicable diseases risk. The threat of infectious diseases both in developing countries, but also "human disease" that is the spread of non-communicable diseases, which is derived from a lifestyle choice, mainly because the food is too salty, too much fat, lack of exercise and air pollution cause. 

Modern lifestyle diseases mainly the following aspects: 

1. The psychological and emotional excitement increases, food nutrition structure is irrational, environmental pollution, more people are smoking and drinking and many other factors, leading to cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and other diseases, increased incidence of causality, a premature death and disability important reasons.

 2. The accelerated pace of modern life, time and space concept, the concept of increased competition, increased child and retired workers, life in the stimulation of increased tension, psychological factors and emotional response has become an important virulence factor, causing a number of psychological and emotional reactivity diseases.

3. Due to lack of knowledge of health beauty make-up, contact dermatitis, allergic dermatitis, hair dye, earrings incidence of infection caused by the significant increase in young women. 

4. Modern wearing high heels caused by disease, contact lens keratitis, sunglasses and other diseases more common in young men and women. 

5. Aviculture, cats, dogs and other pets, animal-borne diseases cause an increase, especially rabies in many parts of the epidemic was sporadic. 

6. Significant increase in the number of smokers has become a cancer, an important factor in cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease; alcoholism often occurs. 

7. In the middle of mental, as sedentary, with the eyes, with the brain and so on, write more, resulting in mental fatigue, visual fatigue are more common.

The Lifestyle diseases are a result of the way we lead our lives. These are also named as diseases of longevity or diseases of civilization. Lifestyle diseases are the result of an ill-relationship of people with their environment.

These diseases are widespread, as countries become industrialized and people live longer. The way these begin is dangerous. It takes years to develop and then becomes so much a part of our lives that it cannot be easily cured even with allopathic medicines. The fact that our diet is changing day by day, from high nutritional food, we move towards junk food, has contributed to the era of lifestyle diseases.

Reduction in physical activity and exercise has also added to the scenario. Substance abuse, especially tobacco smoking and alcohol drinking may also increase the risk of certain diseases later in the life. But unlikely other diseases, lifestyle diseases can be barred, as its influence can be weakened by changing our lifestyles, improving diet and making the environment healthier.

To tackle with the situation faced due to communicable diseases, modern science improved medical treatments, vaccinations, sanitation, awareness etc. But lifestyle diseases have again challenged the science. They take away the time from you. People die at an early age. Various lifestyle diseases, now-a-days, include Alzheimer’s disease, atherosclerosis, asthma, cancer, chronic liver disease or cirrhosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, Type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, nephritis or chronic renal failure, osteoporosis, depression, obesity, heart disease and stroke.

There is a correlation between forms of mental illness and the technological lifestyle, the research supporting that is extensive. We may get sick from the absence of close human contact. The alienation from the natural world is also a causal factor in madness, that the more we isolate ourselves from the creation of which we are apart, the more alienated we become from reality, from ourselves, and from each other. 

Following the trends of the modern world, we can easily find lots of information regarding this "modern" medical conditions! But, instead of reading more, being more concerned, more and more guilty, incapable of dealing with all of this "development" of the world. What about seating down, keeping calm, avoid noises and just for some minutes being focused on the real values of our lives. What can be more important than our existence, our health, well being, happiness? Are there some ideal, some dream, some people, career... more valuable than ourselves life?
All the solution is in our hands and minds; attention: "lifestyle diseases can be barred, as its influence can be weakened by changing our lifestyles, improving diet and making the environment healthier." Any medication or medical procedure can, alone, solve all of our problems. The knowledge of the diseases natural history, the causes of them, the treatment and the necessity to change some of our daily behaviors are always the best and strong way to keep back the control of our lives!


Good Luck!