Illusion of separation

One of the biggest illusions of mankind is the illusion of separation. That we are separate from others, that we are separate from nature. That we are separate from our environment. 

More and more people are realizing this fact, but not consciously doing anything to accept it into daily life. 

If you think you are separate from others think about this. Every 30 days your body changes all its cells. So every 30 days we die and are reborn again with completely different cells than before. Where we get material for this? Well, we'll say from food and water, but we also get it through the air we breathe.

When someone has a swim in a river or a lake, part of his molecules are washed by the water. Then we drink the water, containing those molecules or atoms and incorporate it into our bodies. When people are growing food many of their molecules go into the ground, it is absorbed by plants and incorporated into the food. Then we eat the food and incorporate it into our bodies. When you drive in the bus or plane, go to cinema, concert or shopping mall, you incorporate millions of atoms and molecules exhaled by other people.  They become you. So just by drinking, eating, and breathing every single day you build your body from molecules of other people. And not only them. Molecules of plants or animals as well. 

You can think you are vegan or vegetarian, but this is also an illusion, as by eating plant products you are still incorporating parts of animals and humans into your body. Your ethics can trick you to think different, but without animal manure, and earthworms, and fungi and different animals there would never be fertile soil. Soil can't be fertile from artificial fertilizers from factories. This is a known scientific fact. Such fertilizers just make soil dead in a certain amount of years.

I will not go into the aura, quantum physics, field theory. It is enough what I have already written, that you can understand that we are connected with everything around us. If you disagree, do the following. Hold your breath and never breathe in again. Can you do it? Of course that no one can. Because we need to be connected with the air we need, and the air comes from our surroundings. From nature. Without this simple connection, we are gone. 

And if you know that without a tree that is producing your oxygen you are gone, will you cut the tree? Or will you rather plant a tree? Will you set fires in nature or will you join reforestation efforts? It is a simple question but needs a huge change in thinking. The same goes with everything in the environment and with other people as well. Understanding that we are connected and not separate, that cooperation if more fruitful than the competition, that eat or be eaten is no longer the way of evolution, will evolve humankind more than we can imagine. And make this lovely planet a better place for generations to come.        

Digital dementia

Today, for the first time, I've heard about a disorder called digital dementia. It is like standard dementia that can come at an old age, but it is caused by smartphones. 

It is not a secret why are children addicted to smartphones. Using a smartphone causes dopamine and endorphins secretion in the brain, just as using some drugs. There were tests on animals that would get brain stimulation as of "happiness hormones" when an animal will press a certain button. What was discovered is that an animal will press the button until it dies, forgetting to eat, drink or do anything else but press the button. 

The same is happening to our children when using a smartphone. Researchers found out that if you don't give your kids to use a smartphone too much, they would wake at night and secretly use it. Information mess coming from smartphones is very dangerous. Today's children received and processed more information than the average adult in his/her whole life living in the 15th century. 

Researchers from Harvard University found out almost 10 years ago that deep parts of the brain in average teen have atrophied, shrinking in size. This causes a permanent decrease in the cognitive capacities of the brain. For this reason, more and more children can't sit, write, read, calculate, and can't concentrate. This all causes the diminishing of learning capacities in the young generation. 

Result: Whole humankind stopped cognitive ascend and is in cognitive descent. Making for the first time in human history fact that every new generation is more stupid compared with the previous. All thanks to advances in technology that made us addicts and slaves.      

Body cleaning

We all know and practice body cleaning using water. Shower before work, shower after heavy exercise in the gym, warm bath to relax and indulge ourselves. This is nothing new. 

But how often do you bath yourself with fire? Fire?!? Who washes with fire? 

Well, having in mind that our body is not only physical but that we also have other bodies, like astral or etheric, water can clean only physical. And water is only one of the 4 or 5 metaphysical elements. 

In Tibet, it is common practice to wash your body with the wind. You stand with your hands stretched to the side and let the wind (air) clean your body. It is very uncommon for Western civilization to use it. Not that there is no wind, but it is not practice brought from the East. 

More practiced, but also quite rare is the practice of sound bathing. You can say it is metal quality as we usually use triangle or Tibetan bowl to make the sound. You may have seen Tibetan bowls used for healing or for Feng Shui to clear stale energies in your home. The patient sits and the therapist goes around him, using a sound-producing instrument. As sound is a wave just as our bodies are, it cleans deep inside of us.

In Roman, Greek or other ancient text, fire is used for cleansing as well. Similar to sound cleaning, this time the therapist has a candle or vessel that is filled with burning oil that hangs on a chain and uses it going around the body of the patient. In the East, they say that it cleans our aura and astral body.

The oddest practice is using mud for cleaning. Oddest as adults often are not happy if their kids come home all muddy. But, in many spas and medical facilities, mud is used as therapy. It is also used in cosmetic parlors. In India, it is a common practice of holy men to cover themselves with mud. You have surely seen photos of not very nice looking muddy gurus. But mud is earth and has this stable energy to ground us.

So from now on, if you want your body to be clean, besides the water, use sound, fire, mud, and air to clean it as well. There is saying that fire should be used once a week, and the other three at least once a month.          

Pollyanna and psychology

When I heard for this name for the first time it was watching UFC fighter, Polyana Viana. I had the impression this is the name of someone from Polynesia. 

Then, listening to some self-help lecture, I heard about the little girl Pollyanna, who was always seeking something positive in every situation, no matter how bad it was. I also found out that she's the character from the children's book with the same title, written by Eleanor H. Porter. 

In the book, Pollyanna got a name from her sisters Polly and Anna who died as babies. Her mother and father have died also. So this child of eleven, filled with so many tragedies already, moves to her rich aunt to live kind of Harry Potter life with Dursleys. But she's not a super-human. She's just a child to who the father said to seek positive things (play "glad game") in every bad situation, preparing her for his death. 

So, she sometimes gets sad, tears start rolling, but she remembers her father's words and always finds something positive. By doing so, she changes situations and people around her. 

This is exactly how we should be. If you had a chance to see The Unsinkable movie by Sonia Ricotti, you heard many stories of tragedy and bouncing back. If you think it is hard for you, and you can't come back, imagine you are the kid, and your father takes a gun and kills your mother in front of you, and then he kills himself. All a sudden your life is over. And this little girl came back. Not as unsinkable Pollyanna, but still. 

Pollyanna's story is so strong that psychology knows Pollyanna's hypothesis, Pollyanna's principle, and Pollyanna syndrome.

Pollyanna hypothesis is a universal human tendency to use positive words more frequently and diversely than negative words.

Pollyanna principle is a principle saying the brain processes information that is pleasing and agreeable in a more precise and exact manner as compared to unpleasant information. So we tend to color our past experience more rosy than they really were.  By focusing on positive, we program our subconscious mind to notice positive things more than they really occur. 

Pollyanna syndrome in psychotherapy means “an excessively or blindly optimistic person.” Many psychiatrists think this is bad, as, in their opinion, people can only grow is they suffer. And life is and should be suffering. There is no space for positivity in the negative world as they see it. This is of course nonsense for many other, more spiritual people who don't see our life as "the valley of sorrow", but creative heaven. And find out that we can grow even more through positive stimuli. Meaning, if you are positive, your creativity is stronger than if you are negative. If you are depressed, you will hardly create anything good or useful, but when you are inspired (in spirit), you soar and your creativity bursts. 

So my advice is, no matter how hard it seems, stay positive, find even the smallest positive thing in that situation and you will change your reality, and attract more positive things. Just remember the Oscar-winning movie "La vita e bella". 

     

Wisdom of dr. Wayne Dyer

I have a long "relationship" with late dr. Wayne Dyer, who influenced me as he influenced hundreds of million people.

For tonight, I have taken some of his popular quotes I would like to present to you.

1. Have a mind that is opened to anything and attached to nothing. 

If we look at a world as children, in awe and admiration, we have a mind open to anything - including miracles. Everything is allowed to come to our experience. But if we attach ourselves to something, either person, thing or the idea, we tend to become biased, we start to judge instead of being curious. 

2. You can't give away what you don't have.

This seems quite logical, don't you think? Yes or no? If I don't have money, I can't give money. If I don't have a yacht, I can't give yacht. But this is not what dr. Dyer had in mind. If I don't have peace in me, I can't give peace to someone. If I don't have empathy in me, I can't give empathy. If I don't have love (or don't know it as I have never received it), then I can't give love. Very simple, but very deep.  

3. There are no justified resentments. 

There is a nice story. If we are been bitten by the snake, we won't die because of bite, we will die because the poison runs through our blood. If we hate, blame, resent someone, unless we are a black mage, this person will continue living a normal life. No matter how much poison we spit on him/her. But this poison is running through us, and we will die because of it. Expecting someone else to die because we have drunk the poison is fullish. Yes or yes? And it is scientifically proven that if you are in low emotions like hate, blame, shame, fear, guilt, etc. our blood changes it's pH value, becoming acid. And acidity is the best way to get cancer. So hold no resentments as they can't be justified, only toxic to you.  

Important things when moving out of you rental home

This is the last post in the series about renting in Ireland, at least for some time. 

As I started by moving in, it is right to finish by moving out of your rented home.

One of the most important things that can be quite costly for your deposit, is to leave the apartment as clean as possible. A few days before moving out it is time for a major cleaning. You probably won't be able to clean it in a single day, so plan accordingly. 

Kitchen:

Clean you cooker thoroughly, degrease hobs and oven if necessary. Do the same with a microwave. The fridge should be fully defrosted and cleaned, so make sure you don't have food left.

Clean the drains with the special liquid and clean sinks. As in Ireland kitchen is usually the place where you will find a washing machine, be sure to check and clean filters if possible.

Clean all surfaces and dishes/cups/glasses and shelves in the kitchen. Check that there is no garbage or food left anywhere in the kitchen. Clean the floors as well.

Dining/Livingroom:

Clean tables and all surfaces (usually here are several tables), move sofas so you can clean under it.

Bedroom:

If possible move the bed and clean under it. Clean wardrobe and nightstands.         

Bathroom and toilet:

If you have a shower, clean the cabin glass spotlessly. Clean tiles and floor as well. The same goes for the bathtub. The sink and toilet bowl should be clean as well. It's quite usual practice to put blue tabs in a water reservoir of the toilet and flush it so that water turns blue and stays in this state when you leave. This will probably be the last room to clean as you will probably use it on a day of moving out. 

Other:

Vacuum thoroughly all carpets. It is not a bad idea to clean them with special liquids, even use odor-removing agents. Clean all other floors as well. I'm absolutely sure that the biggest problem to clean will be windows if you are not on the ground floor. Most of the windows in Ireland can be barely opened or you can access only part of the window, no matter what tools you are using. And with the rains and wind blowing dust every day, often no matter how thoroughly you clean it, windows will get dirty the next day as if you didn't clean it. So prepare to be frustrated with it.

Last day:

Finally, on the last day take photos of every single thing in the apartment, just in case a landlord wants to take your deposit for no justified reason, claming that you didn't clean something. Make the list of things you are leaving (like cups, bowls, cutlery, kitchen cloth, toilet paper, etc.) 

Take any garbage that is left. Anything your landlord takes for garbage will be deducted from your deposit.  

Turn all appliances and electricity switch. 

Note final readings for electricity, gas or level of oil.

Be sure you have canceled or transferred your TV license and broadband to the new location. The same goes to any subscription.  

Inform all institutions from Revenue to bank about changing addresses so that you don't get important mail to your old address. 

Don't forget to return all the keys.

Before leaving, be sure that you have reported any possible damage before you moved out and that you have proof of it from the landlord or agent, to avoid any later misunderstandings. 

Did you know? Renting in Ireland

As the majority of people in Ireland, foreigners in particular, are renting their homes from landlords or agencies, it is quite strange that so many people don't know some basic facts about renting.

Did you know:

1. That, if your main income is from social welfare, you have a right for Rent Supplement - money to help you pay private rented accommodation? 

2. That if you are living in Ireland for more than10 years (or prior to 07/12/2010 you may qualify for tax relief on the rent you pay? 

3. That Fully Furnished in Ireland means that you have a sofa or couch and other seating, coffee table/TV table, kitchen/dining table and chairs, beds and mattresses, bedside lockers, large appliances (fridge/freezer, cooker, washing machine), carpets or flooring, window blinds and/or curtains? Now, you also have to have a microwave and often kettle. 

4. That you have Part 4 Rights if you lived in a rental property for 6 months or more? This happens automatically and gives you additional rights as a tenant.  

5. That you can legally terminate a lease if you offer to assign the lease to a new tenant and the landlord refuses to consent? So if you want to move out of a property for any reason (you find better and/or cheaper place to rent) and you find someone to step-in instead of you, you have a right to terminate a lease without consequence even if landlord objects or don't agree. We know the reason why he would not agree with a new person moving in - the greed. If your 12 months of rent ends, a landlord can raise the price of rent to an amount he/she likes (if rent cap is not in order), but if someone new moves in, this may not be the case. 

6. That hanging your pictures on the walls without written consent by a landlord will be taken from your deposit? Also, any cuts or rips on curtains or carpet that you didn't take note when you moved in, will be taken from your deposit, even if a landlord did make them.

7. That reasonable tear and wear depend on the fact are you single or you have kids in the property?

8. That the landlord can increase the rent once in any 12 months period?

9. That all rooms must contain a fixed heating appliance? And that you must be able to control it? It can't be automatic! 

10. That every room must have proper ventilation? 

11. That if you don't have a garden, your washing machine has to have a tumble dryer? 

12. That all habitable rooms must have adequate natural lighting?

13. That you must have access to proper, pest and vermin-proof refuse storage facilities?

14. That you should know the building energy rating (BER)?

These are some of the legal requirements and data so few or people renting knows. Some of them were completely new to me, too.   

    

Six Blocks for Receiving Money and Abundance - part 2

Last three blocks Zeenat calls Set of lack

So block No. 4 or Lack No. 1 is:
1. Lack of Receiving

It is associated with the guilt to receive. Often we feel ashamed or even guilty for receiving gifts. It is not necessary that gifts are in value, but you all know a situation when you give something to someone and a person blushes because of it. Or you surely know people that can't take compliments. I hope you are not one of them. This means that people mostly feel insecure about themselves so when someone gives them a compliment, they think that a person is mocking them or making a joke. It is easy to overcome this, you just have to learn how to receive. And don't forget to be thankful for any gift, no matter how small it may seem. If beggar gives you one euro it is much more than if Jeff Bezos gives you one hundred euro.

2. Lack of Self-Acceptance

This is associated with a lack of self-worth. We are born with 100% self-worth and self-acceptance, but as we grow up, we tend to lose it on the way. Spiritual teachers would say that we forgot our purpose in this life, that we are on the path that is taking us from our soul purpose. We can say that we lost ourselves. We put many masks to fit in, to comply, to not stand-up, to please others. This ultimately leads us to live someone else's life. If you remember the movie "Dead Poets Society" and brilliant role of late Robin Williams when he teaches students to be themselves so at the end, they climb tables even if it means they will lose their way of living in conformity. 

We look for others to give us credibility or validate us. If parents say we will never be good at something, we are prone to believe. If the teacher says we are stupid for Math, we will accept it, even though it may not be the truth. Same goes with a partner, and particularly friends. We are so keen to listen to what "friends" are telling us, that we completely lose ourselves. 

In order to attract more money, this "modus operandi" has to go. The energy of money doesn't need nobody's validation. It is supreme. So to be in the money energy (necessary to attract wealth), we need to boost self-acceptance. Remember the famous "Mirror Work" by late Louise Hay, Queen of self-development. "I accept of myself"; "I approve of myself" are her famous words in many lectures. 

So, we can conclude that this is the key block to receive more money and abundance. 

3. Lack of Gratitude (being unable/unwilling to say "Thanks!")  

This is the last, sixth block. Many people don't know to say "Thank you!" when receiving something. You find a dollar on the street, and you just take it. You don't look up and say "Thanks! Send me more!". Shop assistants give you the item you have purchased, you just take it and go out. So many people are not willing or even capable (trained) to express gratitude. We tend to take things for granted. But it is not so. 

If we don't know to say thanks when we are getting something, imagine how impossible is to say thanks when you did not get something you want. You go to a shop and your favorite item is gone. You get crazy. You don't stop for a moment and say "Great, now is the opportunity to try this other product I wanted to try but I didn't as I always bought my favorite one." You are denying yourself of possible positive surprise. Or good laugh if the other item is far worse than one you like. I always like the affirmation by F.S. Shinn that goes something like "If I didn't get, give me something of the same value or better" as this happened to many people so the wanted thing was even way better than one they wished for. Law of attraction will say the same - don't intervene in God's/Universe/Devine work as you don't have a clear picture of what possibilities there are. 

Zeenat says the same - "don't get upset why this or that didn't happen or not given to me. Not getting it helps you get something bigger or different." It is important that we stay in the space of gratitude as it raises our vibration. So we attract more positive things. So every morning I do one of the meditations by Louise Hay that is packed with gratitude. And when you open your mind, you discover that there are so many things to be grateful, even if your life is miserable by your standards. Do you have a bed? Do you have a roof overhead? Do you have access to drinking water? Do you have clothes? Is the air around you breathable? Do you have electricity? Do you have hands or legs or eyes or ears, etc.? There are so many things we take for granted, not thinking that many people on this beautiful planet don't have it. And I'm not talking private jets, yachts, fast cars. No, basic things I have listed, that so many people don't have and will not have in their life. So, each morning, when you wake up, be gratefull for everything you have around yourself. And be open to receive. 

Six Blocks of Receiving Money & Abundance - part1

As promised yesterday, here are Six Blocks that prevent us from Receiving Money and Abundance.

1. FEAR (of not having enough)

We know this one very well. You want to buy something but that little voice is saying "Don't, you won't have for this or that (usually for living, food, etc.). 

This is also the fear that there will never be enough (money, love, food, friends, you name it) that feeds on us making us feel insecure, and thus falling deeper into the fear state/energy/vibration. I've personally have been (partially still am) in a situation that I feel (know) that if money doesn't come, I will die. Some of you have maybe been in this feeling if you were unemployed and without savings or other means to support you. Maybe you had that fear that often leads people to make suicide as they don't see any other way out.

We have to know that, as long we are in a fear state, we will not be able to grow our energy or vibration.     

2. GUILT - SHAME

It can correlate to many things, but here we think about you feeling guilty for spending the money. You buy a book and then feel guilty as you could have borrowed it from the library. Or you buy something for you and feel guilty as you didn't buy anything for your kids/partner. 

The basic truth about money (now more than ever) is that money is energy. For energy to work, it has to flow. If energy is stagnant (check Feng Shui) it will cause disease, financial problems and myriad of different problems for places/people. So you have to receive and give money freely so that this energy can flow. This is very hard when you come from low energy (fear), as fear will prevent you to enjoy spending or cause you to be very reluctant to spend. 

There are many ways to prevent being reluctant, from affirmations (check Florence Scovel Shinn), using gratitude every time you pay for something, not blaming yourself if you spend more than you wanted, trying not to buy everything on a discount, but buy something small but luxury. 

This guilt is often associated with our upbringing, with what we were told as kids or teens. Mostly it was our parents saying: "Money doesn't grow on the tree"; "Money has to be earned, not spent"; "It is hard to get/have money"; "You have to work really hard to have money"; "Money is evil"; "Only bad people have a lot of money". And it goes on and on. You have surely heard such statements, over and over. More you have been "programmed" with such negative affirmations, more difficult it is for you to give. You block money energy and you experience a lack of abundance in your life. So give money with a smile, bless every purchase you make, bill you pay and fear will subside. 

3. GRIEF (from loss of money)

Fear and guilt lead to grief. Every time we spend money, we feel sad. We are grieving money that has left us. We feel we will not be able to earn enough to cover the expense, to cover the loss of money we are experiencing. We often also fear we will not receive enough, not only money but love as well. So we feel sad and we grieve. If we give with love and bless the money that is leaving us (just as we bless money that comes to us), we will cancel reasons for grief, and it will go away, not being able to feed on our low energy. 

Zeenat Lakdawalla

For the last few days, I've been listening to some of the lectures from the Life Transformation Summit (www.lifetransformationsummit.com).

And in my life, I have listened to hundreds of gurus, life coaches, spiritual teachers, healers, etc. It's hard for me to find something really awesome anymore, as most of the things I have heard one way or the other.

Then today I had discovered Zeenat Lakdawalla. Believe me or not, I didn't google her to learn more about her. I was in awe of her lecture. Still got goose skin just thinking about it.

Most of the people in her branch will give you nice presentations on what they do, what they "preach", how it is related to you, what will you get if you buy their book, CD, DVD, course. Zeenat didn't do anything like it. She gave a meditation and blessing to participants doing "healing" for people listening. And only after that, she explained more about it, gave a lecture, and only a last few minutes offered her product.

Unfortunately, I can't share with you this video as it was 24 hours online and removed (as usual, you have to buy access to the seminar to be able to listen to it for longer).

What she did is some kind of language (called Light Language) she uses during this guided meditation that made me in a long-lasting state of awe and my body reacting incredibly to it. 

But I will share a link to her seminar she will have later this month (this was free gift for participants) and if she repeats what she did today, you will be blessed too. Also, tomorrow I will give you some main points about her lecture of Six Blocks of Receiving Money & Abundance, so you can have a clearer picture. 

The link I'm allowed to share is: healexploreexpand.com/gift      

Moving to new home - part 2

After checking the condition of the property and inventory there are still things to check.

Utility readings

The majority of properties in Ireland use electricity for cooking and heating. If you are lucky, you will have a gas heating and stove, but this is a relative rarity. So things to check and which should be in your tenancy agreement are meter readings of electricity and gas. You should also be aware do you have an electricity meter for night and day tariff or only one. Check that reading on the actual meter are the same as in your tenancy (renting) agreement. Later, when an account of the electric supplier is set in your name, you will have to check if the same numbers are on the online account.

If you use oil for heating, check the level of oil in the tank. You should leave the same amount of oil when you move out.

Keys

Be sure to check all the keys you get. Sometimes you will get one, sometimes two sets of keys. No matter how many keys you got, check them all. Check keys that open your building, check apartment/house key, check post box key (if you have one), and in case that your refuse bins are locked, check that you have a key for that lock as well. Sometimes you will have to pay the deposit for the keys of common refuse if you share it with other tenants in the building. And don't forget to collect that deposit when you leave your home for another one. Don't make the same mistake as I did not check the key and found out that the lock is rusted and can't be opened so you can't reach your refuse bin. And you have to wait for approval by a landlord to have a lock changed. This can take ages and your apartment will be full of garbage. 

Moving into your rented home

When people move to a new rented apartment or house, often they are so happy that they forget to check many important things. 

Let's make a list of things you should check, even if a landlord or his agent has left.

Check the property and inventory

It is a rare case that the landlord will provide you with an inventory list (though by law you should get one). So first check for damage in your new home. Note that for each nail or nail hole in the wall, a landlord has the right to deduct 5 € from your deposit. So take a photo of every nail or nail hole if you want your money back. Also, take photos of cracks, dirty surfaces (windows, walls, carpets) as you should have got your home thoroughly clean (which is rarely the case). So when you are leaving, and the landlord wants to take 70 € for cleaning, you will be able to prove it was the same as you moved in. 

Every piece of furniture that is damaged, you want to have on the photo. Check utilities, like broken shelves in refrigerator, dirty stove or microwave, dirty or damaged washing machine. Check sinks, toilets, bathtubs, cabinets, drawers and make a list with photos of everything that is not in order. If you don't, be sure it will be deducted from your deposit. 

Of course, you won't be able to check if all things work, but you can check toilets and showers while the landlord/agent is present. You can't check the washing machine or oven, or dishwasher (if you are lucky to have one). Often you can't check heating as well, but you should check it as soon as possible, and make notes if it is not working and promptly inform the landlord. 

If any of the appliances are not working after you try it, notify the landlord immediately. Otherwise, this can be reduced from your deposit. And you won't be able to use it until the matter is solved.  

Frosty the Snowman

I don't know why, but it happened that I've listened to this song today and become very sad.

What have we done to the world? We, my generation, two before and one after. Regardless of who is to be blamed more. When I was a kid, in the 1970s and the 1980s, we could really sing this song. We had snow at least 3 months a year, at least one month in a continuum, and we could build the snowman without a problem. We even had coal to make his eyes and buttons. Wood branches for hands. We had it all. 

And then our fathers and later we screwed a global climate, wounded dear Mother Earth, left it ruined for our kids. No matter that I was green, that I dedicated almost 25 years of my life to organic agriculture (until some bad people took it from me), I see that my kids don't have anything from this children song. 

Winters now are snowless, or with very little snow, so my kids can barely make even the smallest snowman. They don't have coal anymore (maybe they did see it when the barbecue was made) and don't even think that they could use it for eyes or buttons. We robed our kids of joy. Every winter when we had snow for a few days, I would take them to walk in snow deep as they can. To jump in snow, roll, make snow angels. Now, I can't even do this as my kids are taken from me. 

We messed climate, so kids can't be kids anymore, and with all technology, we are taking from them even a chance to enjoy in nature. Willingly or not, we are turning them to couch potatoes. And it turns me to be very sad as I failed to protect nature so that my kids can have snow for a month at least and make as many snowmen as they can and want. Didn't we all fail them? And Frosty the Snowman will only become a legend that the elderly talked about in so many places on our beautiful planet. 

To finish this sad story a bit positive. Let us all pray for rain in Australia. 

     

Fasting

I was never fascinated by Indian teachings or philosophy. I'm more Confucius or Lao Tzu's type of person.

It doesn't prevent me to listen to Indian guru's. Many things they teach resonate with my soul. Like fasting.

We live in a society where eating is a substitute for many things. You are lonely so you eat, you feel depressed so you eat, you think about yourself as ugly, fat, stupid or any other negative belief and what you do? You eat. Even Hobbits can't cope with you. You have more meals a day than they. It is important that you eat something all the time. 

Unfortunately, many times this is junk food. Processes, heavy on E things, dead food. I don't want to preach, it is hard to turn away once you get hooked on all taste enhancers. I'm not even vegetarian or vegan. On the contrary, I don't support it. I believe in balance, not extremes. 

But we often eat the food without any nutritional value, like various snacks (me included), and very fast feel hungry. So we take more. And more. And suddenly, we are looking older, feeling even more tired, we get fat, and this fat is not easy to get rid of. 

I found out that in yogi tradition, there must be at least 8 hours between the meals. I was shocked. How many times I would eat something in 8 hours. Meal, side dish, snack (regardless is it a fruit, vegetable chips, rice cakes or anything else labeled as healthy), cookie or cake, chocolate or similar. Ok, I did cut on unhealthy food and sweets, but still, I feel hungry if I don't eat every few hours. And all western medicine doctors will tell you that you have to have at least 5 smaller meals, instead of 1-2 big ones. 

This is completely opposite to what Indian tradition teaches. So I gave myself a challenge, to try to eat only 2 meals a day. Maybe, I'll take a fruit or two in between and a lot of water. I want to see what will happen if I succeed to do it for 2 weeks as gurus promise miracles and 90% of disease to go away. Let's see. If you want, you can join me and try it for yourself. Who survives starvation will tell how was it.      

Renting in Ireland

I had the luck to find a great book about renting in Ireland in my local library.

Book is called "Renting in Ireland - The Tenant Survival Guide" and is written by John Leahy. You can check more at www.renting.ie web pages. 

Book nicely guide you through the most important things when renting a home in Ireland. It gives you tips on where to look for a home, on what is important concerning the location of your new home even what is rent supplement and tax relief on Rent payments. Not that the majority can use it, but it is good to know.  

It guides you through a viewing of properties, warns you of possible scams, gives you a checklist of what to inspect in the home, explains that fully furnished is in Ireland, and gives advice for students.

You can also learn about types of tenancy and lease, standard lease clauses, terminations of a lease, and rent a room scheme. One chapter deals with deposits, warning you how to keep/protect your deposit and what can be deducted from your deposit, with insight at wear and tear. 

The additional chapter deals only with students who usually share property, advising what to keep an eye on, to avoid conflicts that can occur when several unknown people share the same property.  

You can also learn about your rights as tenant, repairs, right to privacy, neighbors, and things that are usually rarely allowed by landlords like sub-letting or pets.

John explains standards and safety, which is a very big issue in Ireland, particularly compared with some other countries. He also gives advice about moving out in order to get your full deposit back and finishes with a chapter about disputes with a landlord. I hope you won't need this info, but it is good to know a bit about legal stuff here in Ireland. 

Even if you are tenant for some time in Ireland, this little book can give you some advice about things you were not even aware of.     

Secret of Joy

I was lucky to watch a nice video of a highly spiritual but also crazy funny man called Sadhguru. I won't write to you about him, as you can easily find about him everything you want on the Internet.

What I want to talk about is the secret of joy. I have been practicing this throughout my life (not constantly, unfortunately) and somehow I seem to practice it more here in Ireland than anywhere else.

But let's return to the story. Sadhguru was telling about famous philosopher Lao Tzu, whom everyone who ever heard for Zen knows at least as the founder. People were asking him about the fact that every day he's joyful. What he said was so simple - "I have an option. To wake and be the miserable whole day and to wake and be joyful all day. Until this day, I have chosen to be joyful."

This is a simple but awesome truth. Everyone can make this choice. I did it many times. One of my friends even gave me a compliment that I was the most positive person he ever met. Don't know about it, I still haven't learned to take a compliment without rethinking.

Sometimes we forget this choice in the morning. Or we convince us that this is pretending. Faking. No, choosing to be happy doesn't mean that you will not be sad or mad at some moment in a day, but if you honestly choose to be happy, most of the day you will be. And more you practice it, more reasons to be happy will come into your life.

Make your choice every morning and live with you have chosen.

   

Victims

Are we creators of our circumstances, or are we, helpless victims?

There are people that will convince you in first, and others convincing you that we are victims. The wise man would say that they are all correct.

Are we the ones that summon noisy neighbors that make so much noise at night that we can’t sleep and are feeling ill, or are we just victims of coincidence/destiny?

Let’s say that we are summoning such toxic people. Wouldn’t it be hard to believe that we are such subconscious masochists that we did not when we have the power to do all we want, summoned kind and considerate neighbors, with which we can be friends and enjoy?

But, to quote a book title – What the f@§* do we know?

Maybe we attracted such neighbors from Hell so that we finally learn to stand for ourselves? So we will have to ask them for peace and silence.

But what if they don’t listen? What if they attack us? Maybe this is happening so we can learn to lean on others? As we will not go to darkness or give up. We will call a landlord if they are renting or police. In most cases, it will be enough.

Why are other neighbors not doing anything? Maybe they are foreigners, of a different religion or skin color, afraid they will be one that will have to move if they complain against natives. Unfortunately, this is often the case. Locals can have links to a landlord and accuse you. Or they can be in the police. Or they know police officers so that the police won’t do a thing.

What then? Well, there is a chief of police or local media. And if neighbors are good with them also? Well, then we were wrong in the beginning, and our lesson was simple – we have to move. That could be a move we always wanted but always found reasons not to do it. So when God/Universe/Flying Spaghetti Monster/You Name It did all nice things to make us move, and we ignored it, He/She founded a way to kick us in the butt and sent us on a voyage we desired but we to inert to do it.

Or we are just not lucky. And we will have to endure it until we don’t get broken. It is not always possible to move (maybe you just moved in and have a year contract or bought it and have no money to find something else). If we don’t want to be victims and slowly get intoxicated by the venom that neighbors produce, we will have to go out of our comfort zone and just do it. Whatever we find best.

Power of positive friends

The power of positive friends is priceless.

Let me tell you two stories.

Story #1

When I first moved into my new apartment, I was taken down how old it looked. The last one was much more modern. So even though in my soul, I felt it's warmth, my ego was saying that I moved to worse, not better. 

Then friends came and said, yes it is old, but it is quite lovely. And slowly, I started to look at it with different eyes. 

My view of the location was also negative. I used to live in the center of the town, a short walk distance from anything important. The new site is far from it. So I was dissatisfied until another friend said, "Look, there is BMW parked there. And look at that luxury car. You are living in a wealthy neighborhood." And I realized this is true. There were many expensive cars parked in yards or front of the houses. So I started to see myself living in a castle on Beverly Hills. As this place is on the hill as well, and building I live in is bigger than any other with 11 or more big apartments. 

So, sometimes we are just into a negative emotion, not seeing rationally, and our friends can change this perspective. 

Story #2

I had a problem with the curtains. I tried to fix it by myself but failed. So I asked a friend for advice. And he gave me an idea. But still, I couldn't do it by myself. So I have asked another friend for help. A moment he started to help, I realized that the idea of using glue wouldn't help. It turned out that I'm right. Just by sheer presence, my friend opened my eyes, and I saw a solution. Solution that was there all the time, in front of my eyes. But I was blind to it. I did it, and even to his surprise it worked. I solved a problem because I had a friend willing to help next to me. He didn't have to do anything, only be there. 

This is the power of positive friends. Using their willingness to help us, we discover ways to help ourselves, doors that would not be opened if we didn't knock, and our friends didn't open the door. 

Ignorance is a bliss

Yes, truly, ignorance is a bliss.

After years of intensively following the media and knowing most of the things happening all over the world, I become aware how much poison a modern media produces.

So I stopped following any media.

After a year of self-imposed isolation of media, today, while waiting for a friend, I took a newspaper to browse it for fun. Murder, killing, mafia, criminal, stabbing, beating, clashes, no money, poor, deprived, handicapped, fraud, missing, property damage, theft, and the list goes on an on.

I started to search for any good news. I scanned first 20 pages, but couldn't find any. Out of at least hundred news, not a single good or positive one.

But how about a person that waited more than a year to have coffee and a nice chat with a friend. Or about a person who was, out of the blue, invited by a friend for a lunch and "glass of conversation".

Or about a clumsy kid that so much wanted to belong so went for a sport and had an excellent coach who saw that kid will never be really good in it but give the kid a place and a sense of belonging and kid won 9 medals since. Only because the coach was human and understood the kid.

Or of another kid who was so good in a sport that everyone was so jealous and had a lousy coach who cared only that most of the parents are happy. But as God closed one door, another has been opened so clever coach came and invited the kid to another club. And all kids, and their parents and the whole community was happy because they understood how much this kid can help them all achieve their best.

Will you read about it in media? No way.

So ignorance is a bliss, stop taking poison thru radio, TV, press, portals, and Internet in general (social networks particularly).

Unfriend all negative people, people spreading poison and misery, those that feed on negative emotions, and surround yourself with positive ones.

And as you become more positive, you'll attract into your life even more positive things. Trust me, it is easy if you try.     

Planning Ireland - "I just call to say I love you"

If you are not a turist and like roaming a lot, a minute (or a next day) when you arrive in Ireland, you would like to buy a SIM card. As a VIP user in Croatia, for me it was logical to buy Vodafone (found some action for 35€ per month). But anyway, I decided to contact some of Croatians living for few years in Ireland (Facebook group admins and members) to seek their suggestion. 

It's nice to think how smart you are, but smart people ask for advice. So they suggested 2 other popular communication providers: Three.ie and Meteor.ie. Meteor looked nice because of Unicorn logo, but offer from Three was better. For 20€ (discount from 30€) you can have "Free All You Can Eat Data" (unlimited data), unlimited Any Network texts (SMS), unlimited Any Network weekend calls (not very good, but it is as it goes), free Three to Three calls and free 4G Access (most of the providers charge you for 4G access. In general, it is bit less good than what I've used in Croatia, but minimum salary 3 times bigger in Ireland, prices are at least twice cheaper than in "Out beautiful". 

So, when you chose provider, find closest shop. Mine is some 50 m from B&B I'm staying in, so first thing in the morning is to buy a SIM card. 

If you move from Croatia, be sure to unlock (decode) your smartphone first. Otherwise, you won't be able to use your new SIM card. It is now free of charge if you are mobile subscriber in Croatia (or if you have a bill that you bought your mobile in official store). Count on a fact that it takes up to 15 days to unlock it. You can always unlock/decode your smartphone at service but it will cost you around 20 €. You can do it in the shop or online, and be sure to follow instructions when you put your Irish SIM card. Have in mind that every service provider has some phones already unlocked, so check it first.