Here & Now, Darling!

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REST

This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence ...1 John 3:19

Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest ... Mark 6:31

Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths, or the turning inwards in prayer for five short minutes. ~Etty Hillesum

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time.
~Sir John Lubbock

I still need more healthy rest in order to work at my best. My health is the main capital I have and I want to administer it intelligently. ~Ernest Hemingway






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All The World's a Stage

 

"For what else is the life of man but a kind of play

in which men in various costumes perform

until the director motions them off the stage.

-Erasmus

"All the world's a stage" is the phrase that begins a monologue from William Shakespeare's As You Like It. The speech compares the world to a stage and life to a play, catalogueing the seven stages of a man's life, sometimes referred to as the seven ages of man: infant, schoolboy, lover, soldier, justice, Pantalone and old age — facing imminent death. It is one of Shakespeare's most frequently quoted passages.

All the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players; they have their exits and their entrances, and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.

The Seven Ages

The Infancy

In this stage the man is born as a helpless baby and knows little but waiting as a man in embryo to spring out.

The Schoolboy

Here, he begins his schooling; the charms of helpless innocence cease. It is in that stage of life that he begins to go to school. He is unwilling to leave the protected environment of his home as he is still not confident enough to exercise his own discretion.

The Lover

The lover is depicted as a young man composing his love poems, shown beneath two pictures of Cupid, the god of love and on the left, Romeo-Juliet balcony scene. In this stage he is always maudlin, expressing his love in a fatuous manner. He makes himself ridiculous in trying to express his feelings.

The Soldier

Here, he is hot-blooded with a high degree of self-respect. He looks forward to gaining a reputation, even if it costs him his life. He is inflamed with the love of war and, like a leopard, he charges. He is very easily aroused and is hot headed. He is always working towards making a reputation for himself, however short-lived it may be, even at the cost of foolish risks.

The Justice

In this stage he thinks he has acquired wisdom through the many experiences he has had in life, and is likely to impart it. He has reached a stage where he has gained prosperity and social status. He becomes vain and begins to enjoy the finer things of life and he attains a socially accepted state and expounds the wisdom he has gained in his life.

The Pantaloon

He is a shell of his former self — physically and mentally. He begins to become the butt of others' jokes. He loses his firmness and assertiveness, and shrinks in stature and personality and tries to shrink himself into a shell of his worries and is indifferent to his physical appearance and apparel, just as he was in his youth.

The Old Age

In this stage he is dependent on others for care and unable to interact with the world, he experiences "second innocence, and mere oblivion. this stage is also known as second stage."

~ The Monologue ~

At first the infant, mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.

Then, the whining school-boy with his satchel and shining morning face,

creeping like snail unwillingly to school.

And then the lover, sighing like furnace, 

with a woeful ballad made to his mistress' eyebrow.

Then, a soldier, full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,

jealous in honour, sudden, and quick in quarrel,

seeking the bubble reputation even in the cannon's mouth.

And then, the justice, in fair round belly, with a good capon lined,

with eyes severe, and beard of formal cut, full of wise saws,

and modern instances, and so he plays his part.

The sixth age shifts into the lean and slippered pantaloon,

with spectacles on nose and pouch on side, his youthful hose, well saved,

a world too wide for his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,

turning again toward childish treble, pipes and whistles in his sound.

Last scene of all, that ends this strange eventful history,

is second childishness and mere oblivion,

sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

"We are not human beings having a spiritual experience.

We are spiritual beings having a human experience."

 -Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

I Shall Not Live in Vain

        Forever is composed of nows.

        Find ecstasy in life; the mere sense of living is joy enough.

        If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain.

        Beauty is not caused. It is.

        Unable are the loved to die, for love is immortality.

        Because I could not stop for death, He kindly stopped for me;

        The carriage held but just ourselves and immortality.

        The soul should always stand ajar, ready to welcome the ecstatic experience.

        Success is counted sweetest by those who never succeed.

        Dogs are better than human beings because they know but do not tell.

        Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul -

        and sings the tunes without the words - and never stops at all.

                          -Emily Dickinson

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Vegetables and Other Protein Rich Foods

Animal protein is a storehouse of unhealthy saturated fat, high calories, and high cholesterol. A healthier alternative are vegetables rich in protein, which contain all essential vitamins and minerals required. By following a well-balanced diet, meeting the daily protein requirement should not be a challenge.

Vegetables Rich in Protein:

Artichokes

Artichokes are known as a great source of potassium, magnesium, calcium, vitamins and dietary fiber. Artichoke contains the bioactive agents apigenin and luteolin. The total antioxidant capacity of artichoke flower heads is one of the highest reported for vegetables. These vegetables also score high when it comes to protein. One medium artichoke (100 g) contributes 2.89 grams of protein.

Asparagus

This tall, slender, green perennial is quite nutritionally dense. Asparagus is low in calories and is very low in sodium. It is a good source of vitamin B6, calcium, magnesium, and zinc, and a very good source of dietary fibre, beta-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin K, thiamin, riboflavin, rutin, niacin, folic acid, iron, phosphorus, potassium, copper, manganese, selenium and protein, as well as chromium, a trace mineral that enhances the ability of insulin to transport glucose from the bloodstream into cells. One half cup (100 g) of cooked asparagus contains 2.2 grams of protein.

Broccoli

Broccoli is an edible green plant in the cabbage family whose large flowerhead is eaten as a vegetable. The word broccoli comes from the Italian plural of broccolo, which means "the flowering crest of a cabbage".

Broccoli is an excellent source of vitamin C and vitamin K. Raw broccoli also contains moderate amounts of several B vitamins and the dietary mineral, manganese and protein. 100 grams of raw broccoli provides 34 calories and 2.82 g of protein.

Brussels Sprouts

These leafy green vegetables typically look like miniature cabbages. The Brussels sprout has long been popular in Brussels and Belgium, and most likely originated and gained its name there.

Raw Brussels sprouts contain excellent levels of vitamin C and vitamin K, with more moderate amounts of B vitamins, such as folic acid and vitamin B6; essential minerals and dietary fibre exist in lesser amounts. Each ½ cup (100 g) serving of cooked Brussels sprouts offers 3.38 grams of protein.

Brussels sprouts, as with broccoli and other brassicas, contain sulforaphane, a phytochemical under basic research for its potential anticancer properties. Although boiling reduces the level of sulforaphane, steaming and stir frying do not result in significant loss.

Peas

The pea is the small spherical seed or the seed-pod of the pod fruit Pisum sativum. Each pod contains several peas. Pea pods are botanically fruit, since they contain seeds and developed from the ovary of a (pea) flower. Peas are starchy, but high in fiber, vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin C, vitamin K, phosphorus, magnesium, copper, iron, zinc, lutein and protein. A 100 gram serving of peas provides 9 grams of protein.

Spinach

Spinach, along with other green, leafy vegetables, is rich in iron. A 180 gram serving of boiled spinach contains 6.43 mg of iron, whereas a 170 gram hamburger patty contains at most 4.42 mg. In a 100 gram serving, providing only 23 calories, spinach has a high nutritional value, especially when fresh, frozen, steamed, or quickly boiled. It is a rich source of vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, magnesium, manganese, and folate, and a good source of the B vitamins riboflavin and vitamin B6, vitamin E, calcium, potassium, and dietary fiber. One cup of cooked spinach packs 5.8 grams of protein.

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Establish a Morning & Evening Routine

A morning and evening routine can create some sense of sanity and calm in your life.

These are two habits that you can start today that will make a big improvement.

Now, because of different things that have come up in my life, I’ve fallen a bit out of my routines. I’ve also been changing them over the last few months as my needs have changed.

So, this month, my challenge will be to focus on re-establishing my daily routines, refined and simplified.

I’ve simplified my morning routine, to give myself more of a sense of calm.

Here’s my new morning routine:

Morning routine

• Meditate

• Shower

• Coffee/Read/Breakfast

• Write
• Clear out email

In the evenings, I want to get ready for the next day and do a one-sentence journal reflecting on my day before winding down for bed.

Evening routine

• Clean up

• Prepare clothes

• Journal

• Read

Establishing routines:

It might sound easy to establish routines like the ones listed above, but it’s just as easy to fall out of them. You want to make them a habit that will stick.

The key steps to establishing routines are to:

1. Focus on them. Keep your routine as your foremost goal for one month, focusing on nothing else. Having too many habits at once spreads your focus too thin, and makes success less likely.

2. Make them rewarding. In the morning, I meditate, shower, have my coffee and breakfast, read and write as part of my calming routine. In the evening, I quietly prepare for the next day, review my day and read. They are both very satisfying routines.

3. Log your progress. Reporting your progress every day in a journal or some other type of log, or put up stars on a calendar. The key is to keep track of it and see how well you have done over the course of a month.

Source: Zen Habits
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FUN & PLAY

He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:2-0

Creativity is intelligence having fun. ~Albert Einstein

You don't stop having fun because you get old, You get old because you stop having fun. ~Unknown

Live and work, but do not forget to play, to have fun in life and really enjoy it. ~Eileen Caddy

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