Roland Yeomans's Blog, page 81

U is for UNDERSTANDING

“Life can only be understood backwards;  but it must be lived forwards.”
― Søren Kierkegaard 

  “Any fool can know.  The point is to understand.”
― Albert Einstein 

 “Everything that irritates us  about others  can lead us to an understanding  of ourselves.”
― Carl Gustav Jung 

 “Nothing in life is to be feared,  it is only to be understood. 
Now is the time to understand more,  so that we may fear less.”
― Marie Curie 
DO YOU THINK MANY OF THE WORLD'S  PROBLEMS STEM FROM LACK OF UNDERSTANDING?

T is for THOUGHT

Your Mind does not care 
what your Brain thinks?

“The world isn't just the way it is. 

It is how we understand it, no? 

And in understanding something, we bring something to it, no?

Doesn't that make life a story?”
― Yann Martel


The brain and mind are both involved in consciousness 

and the terms are often used interchangeably but the brain and the mind are not the same.



To imagine the influence of the mind over the brain, 

picture executives gathering in a boardroom to direct corporate strategy and determine company policy. 



There is so much we do not know about how we think.
I mean, are thoughts made of matter? 

In a sense thoughts are made of matter, 
but in the same way a flame or a sound wave is made of matter.
The signal is propagated, but which matter does so constantly changes.
Electrons don't just flow along a nerve.
 
When a neuron fires, electrical current jumps from one to another via synapses., 
But to transmit the signal 
the receiving neuron must fire and transmit the signal to the next neuron in line ...
like one mysterious Conga Line of Thought.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF  THE MIRACLE OF THOUGHT?

S is For ... WEP_RIF

(583 Words)



RIF

It sounded like a term in music.  
"Let me play you a RIF  from my latest song."
 But there was nothing musical in losing your job to being Reduced in Force.  
 Such an impersonal term.  
 Large corporations liked their bloodless terms when slashing their employees’ wrists.


Alice sat down wearily on the couch on which she could almost see Troop curled up waiting to be hugged.   
Troop. 

Why couldn’t dogs live as long as parrots?

Maybe hearts so filled with love burst all too quickly?   
In that case, Frank would live forever.  
 May his new trophy wife leave him as empty as he left her those long years ago. 

On the coffee table she carefully set down her jewelry box 
which held only the jewels of memories, some bitter sweet, others just bitter. 

Alice made sure not to nudge her champagne glass though it was only filled with Ginger Ale.   
What had been Frank’s mocking refrain?  
 ‘Alice gets in too much trouble sober to dare being drunk.’

Alice opened the jewelry box and took out the bottle chock-full of sleeping pills.  
 She’d endured three sleepless months after Frank left to hoard enough to ensure the Big Sleep as Bogie called it.

Then, on the way home from the pharmacy that third month, she’d seen Troop, wet, lost, and bedraggled on the side of the road.

Who was cruel enough to abandon a Golden Retriever?

Troop helped fill the void left by Frank’s desertion and Susan’s death.  
 Suze, her wry wit had brightened all her days since grade school up to her brave, futile battle with cancer.

Alice pulled Troop’s collar from the jewelry box, followed by the baggie filled with his golden hair taken after he had died in her arms at the Vet’s.   
She opened the plastic bag and felt the soft hairs.   
She blinked back the hot tears.

She swallowed a few pills, washing them down with a sip of Ginger Ale.

Next, she pulled out the folded divorce papers and tossed them in disgust on the carpet. 


The postcards and letters from Suze Alice gently placed beside Troop’s collar and baggie of hairs.   
She opened her eyes wide to clear them so she could re-read every one  …

Although she long ago memorized them all.

More pills, more sips of Ginger Ale.

She could hear Suze in her head as she always did when she knew she was making a mistake.

‘Ali, there is still a future for you.  All you have to do is go out there and make it yours.’

Alice sighed, 
“Maybe that was true when we were younger, Suze.   
But you’re long dead, and I’m dead meat.  Too young for Social Security and too old to get another job for which I’m trained.”

Her shoulders slumped, “I am so weary of empty words and emptier people, sick of unseeing eyes.  I long for this endless sleep.”

Alice swallowed the rest of the pills, washing them down with the remainder of the Ginger Ale.   
She swung her legs up on the couch. Laying her head on Troop’s favorite pillow, she closed her heavy eyes, putting the now empty jewelry box on her chest.

It was getting harder to breathe.   
A weary peace settled on her like a heavy blanket.   
She almost felt the box slip from her relaxing fingers, dimly heard it thud hollowly to the carpet.

Darkness enveloped her, and for the first time in years, Alice welcomed it.

A cold nose suddenly nudged her limp fingers.  Though closed, her eyes saw an old friend.

‘Oh, Troop, you waited for me.’

 
“Today is only one day in all the days that will ever be.  But what will happen  in all the other days that ever come  can depend on what you do today." 
-Ernest Hemingway For Whom the Bell Tolls

WEP_RIF

(583 Words)



RIF

It sounded like a term in music.  
"Let me play you a RIF  from my latest song."
 But there was nothing musical in losing your job to being Reduced in Force.  
 Such an impersonal term.  
 Large corporations liked their bloodless terms when slashing their employees’ wrists.


Alice sat down wearily on the couch on which she could almost see Troop curled up waiting to be hugged.   
Troop. 

Why couldn’t dogs live as long as parrots?

Maybe hearts so filled with love burst all too quickly?   
In that case, Frank would live forever.  
 May his new trophy wife leave him as empty as he left her those long years ago. 

On the coffee table she carefully set down her jewelry box 
which held only the jewels of memories, some bitter sweet, others just bitter. 

Alice made sure not to nudge her champagne glass though it was only filled with Ginger Ale.   
What had been Frank’s mocking refrain?  
 ‘Alice gets in too much trouble sober to dare being drunk.’

Alice opened the jewelry box and took out the bottle chock-full of sleeping pills.  
 She’d endured three sleepless months after Frank left to hoard enough to ensure the Big Sleep as Bogie called it.

Then, on the way home from the pharmacy that third month, she’d seen Troop, wet, lost, and bedraggled on the side of the road.

Who was cruel enough to abandon a Golden Retriever?

Troop helped fill the void left by Frank’s desertion and Susan’s death.  
 Suze, her wry wit had brightened all her days since grade school up to her brave, futile battle with cancer.

Alice pulled Troop’s collar from the jewelry box, followed by the baggie filled with his golden hair taken after he had died in her arms at the Vet’s.   
She opened the plastic bag and felt the soft hairs.   
She blinked back the hot tears.

She swallowed a few pills, washing them down with a sip of Ginger Ale.

Next, she pulled out the folded divorce papers and tossed them in disgust on the carpet. 


The postcards and letters from Suze Alice gently placed beside Troop’s collar and baggie of hairs.   
She opened her eyes wide to clear them so she could re-read every one  …

Although she long ago memorized them all.

More pills, more sips of Ginger Ale.

She could hear Suze in her head as she always did when she knew she was making a mistake.

‘Ali, there is still a future for you.  All you have to do is go out there and make it yours.’

Alice sighed, 
“Maybe that was true when we were younger, Suze.   
But you’re long dead, and I’m dead meat.  Too young for Social Security and too old to get another job for which I’m trained.”

Her shoulders slumped, “I am so weary of empty words and emptier people, sick of unseeing eyes.  I long for this endless sleep.”

Alice swallowed the rest of the pills, washing them down with the remainder of the Ginger Ale.   
She swung her legs up on the couch. Laying her head on Troop’s favorite pillow, she closed her heavy eyes, putting the now empty jewelry box on her chest.

It was getting harder to breathe.   
A weary peace settled on her like a heavy blanket.   
She almost felt the box slip from her relaxing fingers, dimly heard it thud hollowly to the carpet.

Darkness enveloped her, and for the first time in years, Alice welcomed it.

A cold nose suddenly nudged her limp fingers.  Though closed, her eyes saw an old friend.

‘Oh, Troop, you waited for me.’

R is for REJUVENATE

“There was no respect for youth when I was young, and now that I am old, there is no respect for age. 

I missed it coming and going.”
 - J B Priestley

Countess Elizabeth Báthory
Considered by many to be the world's worst female serial killer,
She was the true inspiration for Bram Stoker's Dracula. 
Legend has it that she bathed in the blood of at least 650 servant girls she had tortured and killed to retain her youth.

Did you know that Vampire Facelifts and Young Blood Transfusions are a Thing, now?

Older people are transfusing the blood of the youngto try to halt or reverse the effects of aging.
 
Plasma from young people between 16 and 25 is transfused into patients over 30

 as part of a clinical trial called “Ambrosia.”

 The treatment costs $8,000 for one liter or $12,000 for two!

Creepy, much?

QUESTIONS to ask if you wish a better life _ A To Z Challenge Post

“We hear only those questions  for which we are in  a position to find answers.”  — Friedrich Nietszche
If we don’t make time to examine our motives, it may catch up to us.   Why?   Many people are dictated by their unconscious desires instead of making conscious choices.     “Question everything.  Learn something.  Answer nothing.”  — Euripedes
Ask WHO ARE YOU BECOMING? 
The Past is written. The Present is the sum of your earlier choices.  The Future is uncertain.
  Who you decide to be should be an informed decision not a consequence of following the path of least resistance.

Ask DO I LIKE MYSELF?


“The big question is whether you are going to be able to say a hearty yes to your adventure.”
 — Joseph Campbell

See the past as a series of events that shaped your life, 

because every experience brings the gift of learning and growth. 

If you disapprove of yourself you cannot possibly like other people 

since every interaction stems from your relationship with yourself.


Ask WHAT MATTERS MOST TO YOU & WHY?

“In all my affairs it’s a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark 
on the things I have long taken for granted.”  — Bertrand Russell
This is an important question 
because until you clarify what you value most, you will spend your life wandering aimlessly. 
Sadly, many people may never discover what is important to them 
because they are distracted by the swirl of events around them.
To You, 
WHAT IS THE MOST  IMPORTANT QUESTION  TO ASK YOURSELF?  

Do You Know Your PURPOSE? _A To Z Challenge Post

Your Purpose is the Key that will unlock the door of your future. 
Purpose provides the banks to the river of your life.  Without it, your life will stagnateand become a listless swamp.
WHAT IS THE PURPOSEOF YOUR LIFE?

Do You OWN Your Mistakes or Do They OWN You? _ A To Z Challenge Post

“We are products of our past,  but we don't have  to be prisoners of it.”
― Rick Warren

 Most people develop a childhood habit of dodging punishment for mistakes, but it's a habit that must be broken. 
Taking responsibility when things go wrong is crucially important to building trust with others and learning from your mistakes. 


Dysfunctional parents enforce rules arbitrarily and consequences for mistakes
 are inconsistent and unpredictable. 
In the face of irrational punishment and anger that they can’t reason with, children learn that the only solution is to evade reality. 

  As you make the transition from childhood to adulthood, it is a habit you have to learn to leave behind. 
If you don’t, you will continually lose trust with employers and friends,
And even more importantly,  you will never learn from your mistakes.
HOW COMFORTABLE ARE YOU IN DEALING WITH YOUR MISTAKES?

NOW: #AToZChallenge

If Mystery had a Mother, the voice I then heard would be hers:

“Behold, Hayato, my fascination with humanity: the esthetic of their lostness. 

Their future rushes at them. They have a single instant, as it flashes by, 

to change it into a comprehensible, acceptable, and palatable past.

Instant by instant, tomorrow blinks in their grasp. If  they do not seize without holding, 

shape without breaking, that continuity of moments, they leave nothing behind.

Their object, all their objects, is to mold and print themselves on those single bits of future that,

 in the touching, ages into swiftly vanishing yesterdays.”
 - Empress of Night and Darkness

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KQ8XMJR

"The present time has one advantage  over every other - 
It is our own. 
Happiness is not something  you postpone for the future: 
It is something you design  for the present.
 Do not dwell in the past,  do not dream of the future,
concentrate the mind  on the present moment... 
else you will die  not having lived at all."  - Ingrid Durtz
WHAT DO YOU THINKOFLIVING IN THE NOW?

MOVIE Rights Optioned! #AToZChallenge

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BDHGKJX/





Lydia Kang's The Impossible Girl has been optioned for film 

to Cassian Elwes and Marcus Markou's The Movie Collective.

Give her Best Wishes on her FB announcement:  https://www.facebook.com/lydiakang1