Eldon Taylor's Blog, page 4

Finding Personal Peace

There was a time in our ancestry that our fight/flight mechanism was on the lookout for such things as a saber tooth tiger. In our modern world saber tooth tigers are extinct, and our fight/flight function is more commonly anxiety and depression. That is not to say that there is no longer a need for fight and flight, but rather that, for most of us, real life-threatening stimuli are extremely rare. As such, rather than fight or flight, today’s stressors tend to lead to anxiety (preparedness to fight) or depression (withdrawal is akin to flight). With the reality of Covid ...

The Healing Power of Humor

Years ago, I read Norman Cousins’ book, Anatomy of an Illness. Cousins tells the story of how he healed himself of cancer through laughter. The publisher describes it this way, “Anatomy of an Illness was the first book by a patient that spoke to our current interest in taking charge of our own health. It started the revolution in patients working with their doctors and using humor to boost their bodies’ capacity for healing. The patient’s talent was in mobilizing his body’s own natural resources, proving what an effective healing tool the mind can be.” Art of Healing I well ...

Loving Unselfishly

There is a lot of talk about unconditional love. Allegedly it is the gateway to a higher understanding of ourselves and the world around us. Proponents argue that loving someone unconditionally means that we never withdraw our love. Now that can be exceedingly difficult, and in some situations, totally inappropriate. Take for example the abused spouse or child. For them, unconditional love may literally be the worst thing they could do. Now, before someone jumps on me about that statement, let me unpack what I mean. Unconditional Love Unconditional love dictates that we love everything. We may not approve of ...

Visualize, Crystalize, Energize

There has been a lot of conversation about manifesting for the past century or more. Books like Samuel Smiles’ Self-Help, Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People, Norman Vincent Peale’s The Power of Positive Thinking, and of course most recently, The Secret, are well known among self-help publishers. Best sellers all of them, these books were not the first in the self-help genre but probably the first to demonstrate the importance of this niche in publishing. Self-Help Publishing Whether for riches or relationships, the self-help genre has grown into one of the largest niches in publishing today. Indeed, ...

Meaning

Why is it that we so easily dismiss, ignore, or forget the many miraculous/unexplained things that happen to all of us in life? Are you one of us who has experienced an unexplained happening and just moved on, setting it aside as inconsequential? Or are you one of us who insists they have never experienced an unexplained event—at least until you really reflect on your life? Unexplained Events A couple of years back I wrote a book, published by Hay House, all about unexplained events and what they might mean. The title of the book is simply, What Does That ...

To Judge or Not

We all are aware of the admonishment, “Judge not lest you be judged.” Yet, how are we to decide good from bad without judgment of some kind? Our court system is built upon the very principle of fair judgment. So, is the serial killer to be judged for his/her actions? Judge what? The question is really an exercise in judgment itself, for the real question is what we are supposed to judge and not who. Think about that for a moment. A crime is committed and as a collective society, we agree it is indeed a crime. Say a life ...

Binary Mind

We live in a world that is highly complex and full of nuances and intricacies. To use the words of poets, there are many shades of gray to almost everything. That said, we seem to want things much simpler, so we tend to choose black or white. You’re either with us or against us. It’s bath or shower, Apple or Microsoft, blue or red, shoes or sandals, juice or coffee, and so on. In other words, when presented with a choice, we choose. Why? Black and White Thinking There is an interesting anecdote shared by Kevin Dutton in his book, ...

Is God an Emergent Property?

In this week’s spotlight, I wish to further our discussion from last week’s show regarding brain/mind and consciousness. Many people think of the brain/mind as a matter of emergent properties. That is, the parts of the brain act as greater than the whole, and in this way mind or consciousness arises. In other words, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Emergent Property Emergence is basically part of system theory. Emergence theory is used to explain many things in nature ranging from the activity of ants to the emergent phenomena in materials such as atoms. Quoting Sciencing.com, ...

Emotional Balance

In this week’s spotlight I want to discuss emotion. Many people believe that intellect should rule emotion while others are convinced that emotion must be married to mind in order to maximize both. Even at that, there are a few who insist emotion should trump all else. Logic or Emotion? The fact is hard research has a place for all. There are times that emotion should rule and times that emotion should not enter the equation. Balancing the two is something that sounds simple but is quite difficult in many domains of life. To further complicate the matter, we find ...

Intelligent or Not

In this week’s spotlight, I want to discuss intelligence. What exactly do we mean by intelligence? Do you have to be human to be intelligent? If animals possess intelligence, do plants? Do we think that feeling is part of intelligence? Awareness—is that a measure of intelligence? Is the universe itself, as many philosophers and mathematicians believe, intelligent? Intelligent?  Webster defines intelligence this way, “The ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills. The act of understanding—comprehension.” Now think about that while I turn to some controversial research regarding plant intelligence. Did you know that plants have a brain—at least a ...