Health

Which Are You: Wounded or Broken?

I haven’t tried to figure out my answer.

But I just read (again, after many years) an article by John Coblentz. He begins….

A wounded spirit is one that is hurting, but one in which the hurt has festered into unbearable attitudes and responses. A person with a wounded spirit lives in inner misery that focuses regularly on his injuries.

Then he proceeds to flesh out briefly two short outlines which itemize some characteristics of a wounded spirit and a broken spirit.

According to Coblentz, a wounded spirit lives out:

  1. A negative mind-set.
  2. Victim reasoning.
  3. Grievance mannerisms.
  4. Blame tactics.

In contrast to that, he looks in Psalm 51 and finds these characteristics associated with brokenness:

  1. Acknowledgment of wrong.
  2. Contrition.
  3. Humility.
  4. Seeking after God.
  5. Teachability.
  6. Unworthiness.

Do read the full article: Wounded or Broken? — it’s relatively short…and beneficial.

Monitoring Your Eyeballs

I need to remember to do this. And if you’re reading this on a monitor, so should you.

Reduce Computer-Caused Eye Strain with the 20-20-20 Rule

Repetitive stress injury RSI and eye strain are common ailments among computer users, and there’s no silver bullet for avoiding them beyond taking regular breaks to relax. Following his doctor’s advice, tech blogger Amit Agarwal suggests a simple 20-20-20 rule.

To help you deal with this problem, the 20-20-20 rule suggest that after every 20 minutes, you the computer user should take a break for at least 20 seconds and look at objects that are 20 feet away from you.

“Rule suggests” — isn’t that so…modern?

No wonder people treat the 55 mph rule as a suggestion and not a…well…rule.

But in the case of the 20-20-20 rule, I’m glad it’s only a suggestion. Otherwise, I need to be punished.

Well, that aside, apparently there are eyeball-rolling exercises to help eyestrain. But they shouldn’t be done just anywhere.

Busting Hunger With Bananas

Ever grab a snack but then feel hungry again 20 minutes later? Next time, reach for a banana. It’s loaded with Resistant Starch RS, a healthy carb that fills you up and helps to boost your metabolism. Slightly underripe medium-sized bananas have 12.5 grams of RS—more than most other foods. Ripe bananas give you 4.7 grams of RS, still enough to keep hunger pangs away.

Source: Bananas: The ultimate hunger buster

Driven by What Purpose, This?

…The physicians who crafted the program apparently don’t share the church’s professed evangelical beliefs, espousing instead various forms of Eastern mysticism and the tenets of a Christian cult, Swedenborgism.

Vowing to lose 90 pounds, Warren said he placed himself under the care of Drs. Mehmet Oz, Daniel Amen and Mark Hyman last fall and worked with each to develop “The Daniel Plan.”

Oz, host of the Emmy-winning “Dr. Oz Show” and professor of surgery at Columbia University, says he is inspired by Emanuel Swedenborg, an 18th century cult founder who taught that all religions lead to God and denied orthodox Christian beliefs such at the atonement of Christ for sin, the trinity and the deity of the Holy Spirit.

Best-selling author Amen, a professor of psychiatry at the University of California at Irvine, teaches Eastern religious meditation and the New Age energy-based practice of Reiki.

Hyman, a four-time New York Times best-selling author, promotes mystical meditation based on Buddhist principles.

More of the story: Rick Warren Hosts Cult Celebrity Doctors

Deceived on Purpose cover graphic
Deceived on Purpose

Vitamins to Fight Stress

Some days are more stressful than others. When stress hits, knowing which nutrients to incorporate into your diet, either with fresh foods or natural care supplements, can really help you tackle the load and come out on top. A good multivitamin that includes the B complex vitamins, or just a targeted vitamin B complex supplement, is a good choice. These nutrients help in the production of serotonin and dopamine, both of which play a role in relieving anxiety and relaxing. Foods that are loaded with B vitamins are another good choice: whole grains, nuts, dried fruits and eggs. Folic acid is an especially key nutrient, helping to stabilize your mood. It can be found in dark leafy green veggies and beans. And of course there’s L-tryptophan, an amino acid found in turkey that has become a legend for its ability to calm you into a post-Thanksgiving dinner slumber.

Their source: Natural Health Magazine

My source: Swanson Health Products

Don’t Just Sit There!

Got a screen? Just say no! (Apparently)

According to the study conducted by a group of international researchers, anyone who devotes more than four hours daily on screen-based entertainment such as TV, video games or surfing the web, ups their risk of heart attack and stroke by 113 percent and the risk of death by any cause by nearly 50 percent compared to those who spend less than two hours daily in screen play — and this is regardless of whether or not they also work out.

[…]

“Assuming that leisure-time screen time is a representative indicator of overall sitting, our results lend support to the idea that prolonged sitting is linked to an increased risk for cardiovascular disease and premature mortality,” notes the report’s lead author, Emmanuel Stamatakis of the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at University College in London. “Doing some exercise every day may not compensate for the damage done during very long periods of screen time.”

[…]

Stamatakis adds that since modern life has moved to the sluggish end of the activity continuum we need to find ways to make moving and standing the default states and sitting the exception.

Even though a formal workout program didn’t appear to offer protection from the ill effects in this study, Stamatakis still cautions that avoiding sitting is not enough to make up for lack of exercise; we should all still aim for a minimum of 30 minutes of physical activity daily.

Source: Too Much TV, Screen Time May Mean Earlier Death

But what if there’s no screen involved (such as just sitting there at a sewing machine)?

I suppose the results are the same.

I guess I’m doomed.

Above all, love God!