Concentrate your brain’s power when you need it and then give it a rest when you don’t.
Breakdown and Breakthrough
Breakdown
Go ahead and give it to me
Breakdown, it’s all right
Tom Petty – Breakdown
When we think of the word breakdown we often think of something going wrong. Once my car broke down in the middle of the night and I had to walk a few miles to get help. It turned out my car’s alternator failed and was no longer producing electrical current needed to keep the various electrical systems working. Since the car was not making needed electricity without the alternator, the car’s battery was eventually drained leaving me stranded, literally in the dark.
A breakdown can also describe a mental state in which we “lose it.” According to the Mayo Clinic, a nervous breakdown refers to a “stressful situation in which someone becomes temporarily unable to function normally in day-to-day life[i].” The clinic further states that these breakdowns tend to occur when life’s demands become physically and emotionally overwhelming. Humans. just like cars, need their electrical systems working properly to avoid malfunctioning.
Materials can be described by how well they allow an electric current to flow through them. The opposition to the flow of electrons is a measure of the material’s resistance. Materials can be classified into two broad categories: a) conductors – those materials with relatively low resistance values, and b) insulators – those materials with relatively high resistance values. It is important to note that all materials will eventually conduct electricity if subjected to a large enough potential difference or voltage. This critical voltage level for a material, it’s breakdown voltage, above which when it is exposed the material will conduct electricity is called the material’s voltage threshold. Electrical current can flow in any material, even those that typically act as insulators, if that material is exposed to a high enough voltage – it’s breakdown voltage. A breakdown of the material’s insulating properties occurs when the material is exposed to a voltage that exceeds the material’s dielectric strength and as a result, the material begins to conduct electrical energy. A common occurrence of breakdown voltage is a lightning strike where electrical current flows from the clouds to the earth.
A brief primer on what causes lightning to strike the earth is as follows: The clouds in the sky become heavily charged relative to the earth and more and more voltage (potential difference) builds up between the clouds and the earth, resulting in a giant battery being formed. This process continues until the voltage differential between the earth and sky exceeds the dielectric strength of the air; resulting in the air no longer being an insulator but rather becomes a conductor. The air is exposed to its breakdown voltage and as a result electrical current, known as a lighting bolt, travels from cloud to ground in a tremendous flash. Please see the following link if you would like more information from NASA – What Causes Lightning
Like all materials, I have a breaking point as well and had a break down as I became middle-aged. After experiencing several challenging life circumstances which included a divorce, 3-job changes and most importantly from my family members experiencing life-threatening illnesses, I slowly turned to God to help me weather the storm. Luckily for me, I connected with my higher power and this infinite potential broke down any resistance that I had previously offered. I eventually let go of my Ego and let God begin to flow through my life. After this breakdown, I would no longer persist to resist the flow of life. As I let go and let God direct me and trust in his wisdom and guidance, I went from primarily being resistant to the Flow to trying to live as an open conductor of the Flow.
Submit to God and be at peace with him; in this way prosperity will come to you – Job 22:21
Please let me know if you have had any breakthroughs after what otherwise seemed to be breakdowns.
so let go
And jump in
Oh well whatcha waiting for
It’s all right
‘Cause there’s beauty in the breakdown
Frou Frou – Let Go
Meanwhile, wishing that you can break on through to the other side.
Soundtracks
Breakdown – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Let Go – Frou Frou
Break On Through (to the other side) – The Doors
[i] Flavin, Daniel Hall. “What Does It Mean to Have a Nervous Breakdown?” What Does It Mean to Have a Nervous Breakdown? Mayo Clinic, n.d. Web. 13 Aug. 2016.
Songs of Change
2,600 years ago Heraclitus was credited with an important maxim for us as we try to live our life. He said, “The only constant in life is change.”
Still centuries later we often try in vain to turn back the advance of time, fighting a losing battle. Plastic surgery and all sorts of elixirs promise us the fountain of youth. How we want to hold onto youthful beauty.
Trying to mask over our outward appearance we can become oblivious to the changing nature of life. We can become lulled into complacency as each day, while unique, begins to blend into the next. We get up, we work, we come home, and we go to bed and repeat again tomorrow.
Then we are blindsided, taken aback when some dramatic change occurs in our life. For example, we exclaim how could this happen when a loved one leaves us – even though at some level we all know that our time here is limited.
Change can occur subtly and almost imperceptibly but it is occurring nonetheless. Perhaps this is why when I went to a 33-year high school reunion, everyone else had aged while I still felt the same. In reality, I am sure my friends saw the same passage of time reflected in me as I saw in them.
While the outer me has gone through visible aging, the real me, the inner me, – my soul, my consciousness, my awareness, my witness, my watcher, whatever you call the higher-self, has been observing and taking part in this evolving, flowing life since I became manifest nearly 50-years ago.
I have become quite comfortable with change and this level of comfort began by processing that change is the very nature of life itself. Rather than being swept along by the winds of change, I learned I could allow them to blow through me.
The sooner we make peace with the reality of the impermanence of things, the sooner we can transcend all the strife and reside in a place of peace of contentment.
To this end here are a few songs about change that have some valuable information as well as being great tunes to listen to:
Turn! Turn! Turn! – The Byrds
Turn! Turn ! Turn!
To everything (turn, turn, turn)
There is a season (turn, turn, turn)
And a time to every purpose, under heaven
Based on the book of Ecclesiastes 3 in the Bible, this song beautifully captures and describes the ebb and flow of life.
Changes – David Bowie
Changes
Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes (Turn and face the strange)
Turn and face the strain
Change can be uncomfortable, but we can’t run from it. We should instead be open and accepting to the strange new that results from change. We can instead allow it to occur. Rather than resisting the strain of change, we can go with the pull of the change and go for a ride. When facing the strain, instead of pulling against it, we are not opposing the energy of the change itself. We conserve energy when we go with the Flow rather than when we oppose it.
Don’t Change – INXS
Don’t Change
Don’t change a thing for me
I have always liked this song. The chorus line that says “Don’t change a thing for me”, conveys that we should accept others where they are in their life without judgment. Live and let live.
Across The Universe – The Beatles
Across The Universe
My favorite of the songs about change is Across The Universe. To me, this song conveys the sublime truth of our connection with God.
Pools of sorrow, waves of joy are drifting through my opened mind
Possessing and caressing me
Jai Guru Deva OM
Nothing’s gonna change my world
Nothing’s gonna change my world
Nothing’s gonna change my world
Nothing’s gonna change my world
Nothing can change your world when you are the change itself.
Om
Independence Day(s)
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
Here in the United States we just celebrated our Independence Day holiday, to commemorate when we declared our independence from England. Back in 1776 we in essence divorced ourselves from the King of England.
Well as of this post, I am excited to report that I got married on July 1 and my wife Fiona and I are off to Paris to celebrate our wedding and enjoy our honeymoon. I am blessed and grateful to be able to share my life with her. I am indeed a very lucky man.
To focus on other things, I will be taking a bit of a break from the weekly posts, resuming these in August.
Meanwhile I wanted to provide you with some material in case you wanted to learn more during my summer sabbatical.
1. Q&A when I was on my friend Lorna Scott’s podcast
2. Cleaning the Connection and Workbook from Flow 101 course
3. Lastly here is the latest Let Go, Let It Flow book cover
Thank you!
Wishing you and your family a fantastic summer.
Love and Light!
Namaste
Cavemen In A Connected World
“Our lives are lived in a world we have created, not the world we were created for” – Dr. Roy Sugarman
Arianna Huffington is one of the most influential women in the world today and has worked hard and become very successful. In her book Thrive, she provides a first hand account of the impact of stress and overwork in her own life. Ms. Huffington, the creator of the Huffington Post, achieved wealth and power but suffered from overwork and exhaustion leading to her own wake-up call after collapsing from stress. Huffington goes on to document the widespread disease of stress in our modern world citing that researchers at Carnegie Mellon found that from 1983 to 2009, there was between a 10 and 30 percent increase in stress levels across all demographic categories. Higher levels of stress can lead to higher instances of diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, fully three-quarters of American health care spending goes toward treating such chronic conditions. The Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital estimates that 60 to 90 percent of doctor visits are to treat stress-related conditions.
It seems modernity is harming us as the amount of stress we experience in our lives and our technology advancements are correlated. Our biology and our technology are not totally compatible. In our modern, highly efficient world we can be harmed by devices and lifestyles that were designed to make our lives easier and more enjoyable.
Today we are frantically running around being busy but not really accomplishing things. For example we spend our time checking our Facebook pages, texting, tweeting, instagram-ing, playing fantasy sports, etc. all the while not giving our brains a rest. We wake up tired, and hurried, rushing off to work often without eating breakfast or taking the time to center ourselves for the coming day. We fight rush hour traffic to sit at a desk doing work we may not enjoy in order to afford things that don’t make us happy or bring fulfillment. We then return to our homes, after perhaps working in jobs that do not fulfill us, and then after fighting traffic to come home, we then numb ourselves with alcohol, food and or television. We feel chronically tired but get no restful sleep. We repeat this cycle day after day and wonder why we are burned out.
If the external world is contributing to our stress, we certainly are not helping ourselves if we also mistreat our bodies. For if our bodies are temples consider how we sometimes treat them and often do not give them the care they need to perform optimally.
Human beings are complex organisms that need proper exercise, rest, sleep, love, etc., in order to function optimally. But just think about the food we often eat -often processed, convenient food that can be lacking nutrients. We fuel our cars with premium fuel but do not do the same for our bodies. Food is fuel for our body. Further we too often operate in our own red-zone, by not providing our bodies with the sleep, rest and physical activity to perform at our best.
Our stressed-out lives have an impact not only on us, but also on those who live, work and in general are around us. We are highly social creatures and individual/group dynamics have been studied extensively. Researchers are confirming the contagious effects of stress. Just like the old adage about one bad apple spoiling the whole bunch. The same thing holds for the contagious effects of stress rings true. One stressed out worried or anxious person can literally bring everyone around them into this state. Beyond our actual interactions and proximity to others, the contagion of emotions can be spread through our social and virtual networks as well.
So for all or our sakes, un-plug, recharge yourself and return to the cave.
Please be sure to leave some writings on the wall about what has helped you!
References:
Sugarman PhD, Roy (2013-01-18). Saving Your Life One Day at a Time: Seven Ways to Survive the Modern World (Kindle Location 101). Heart Space Publications. Kindle Edition.
Huffington, Arianna (2014-03-25). Thrive: The Third Metric to Redefining Success and Creating a Life of Well-Being, Wisdom, and Wonder (p. 14). Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Kramer, Adam DI, Jamie Guillory, and Jeffery Hancock. “Experimental Evidence of Massive-scale Emotional Contagion through Social Networks.” Proceedings of the National Academies of Science of the United States of America 111 (2014): 8788-790. Experimental Evidence of Massive-scale Emotional Contagion through Social Networks. Web. 29 Nov. 2014. <http://www.pnas.org/content/111/24/8788.full>.