Terry Lloyd's Blog, page 54

My Life Link Moments.

When I am feeling down sometimes I need to remind myself of instances that have put a smile on my face. For instance the time at the completion of my driving test when I still did not know whether I had passed or failed. I had sat there, one nerve filled individual not knowing how the next words from the person sat next to me could alter the rest of my driving future. The driving tester never said the words You have Passed until after a few tense, anxious moments he acknowledged me with a request for my personal information and with a slight tremor to my voice I gave the driving tester my details for inclusion on my full driving licence, there was an unspoken congratulations, I had passed!

There was the day when well over the age of fifty I learnt how to float and subsequently swim. I always felt I should be able to swim but never quite got there. It is thanks to my wife standing on the swimming pool side giving me encouragement and the instruction to simply lay back in the water and push up with my feet, straighten my body out so that without effort I found myself floating on the surface of the water. I could not believe it had been so simple to float and for so many years I had gripped the side of the pool kicking my legs furiously in the belief that I needed to be able to swim in order to be comfortable in the water. Now one of the most pleasurable pastimes is to simply lay on my back enjoying the sensation of floating with no need to exert any energy.

One cold evening I had a most intriguing encounter with a wild creature. At the front of my house there is a concrete parking area. Facing the house I could see that behind a car there was a cold hungry fox. We stared at each other, time seemed to tick by and I began to speak softly while moving back to allow the fox free passage if he wanted it. Something strange occurred as the fox chose not to go. He stood and watched me with a look of wonder, a few minutes went by where man and animal shared a sort of connection, an interesting understanding. The fox seemed to observe me and while holding me with his gaze he bobbed his head up and down. I was not sure what the action meant and thought it may have been some sort of greeting. I waited, watched as the fox once more bobbed his head at me and felt a strange compulsion to bob my head back at the animal. It was odd, the fox and I standing there in a human meets animal encounter. It almost felt as if someone should be filming this walk out into the wild with a well practised male voice over explaining the situation to a highly enraptured audience. There was something unsure about the incident, you could almost taste the thrill of it in the air. There was an element of trust, neither I nor the fox knew how the other was going to behave in this chance meeting. The fox was watching me with an interest that belied his inner emotions, I too must have looked intrigued as the fox lifted his front paw slightly off the ground in a gesture of indecision about my intentions. There was something vulnerable yet capable about him. His piercing eyes held mine, his expression one which matched my own interest. There was an undeniable beauty in the animal. The bright red of his fur stood out starkly against the backdrop colours of his natural home, his physical appearance was relaxed, his stance calm, able and intelligent. The truth was that at any moment he could have jumped, moved away, left the meeting but he chose to stay and engage in some sort of an unspoken assessment of what I was. The meeting could not be expressed in words, no language could depict what went on in that short moment in time.

These are only a handful of my smile incidents, the times I like to call my life link moments because they are the minutes which linked to achievements, to experiences and to defining times for me, they shaped me, they helped me to go on to learn, do things I hadn't thought possible and to live life like never before.

My Loved Authors.

Authors that have made an impression on me, every one of them taken to heart, this is my loved author list in no particular order...

The earphones crackled and sprang into life as an urgent voice screamed the command. “Dive, dive roll and turn Ginger you have a Messerschmitt on your tail!”
A few moments later after an exciting and enthralled dog fight over the South of England a response came over the ear phones “Thanks Biggles that was a close one.”
I would be glued to reading every chapter of Captain W. E. Johns' series of second World War R A F exploits. The thrilling daring missions of the few defenders, the RAF heroes of the skies of England. Then I came across C S Forester's man of the sea; Thirty two puffs of smoke hovered along the side of a Spanish Man of war flag ship. The intended target was a smaller British navy Sloop Captained by Horatio Hornblower. He stood by the helmsman and at the precise moment gave the command “Hard a starboard!” The reason for this was not immediately apparent until many of the round shot splashed harmlessly into the sea. The sloop was steered so as if it would pass the stern of the Spanish Galleon but at the last moment “Hard a starboard helmsman.” At nearly point blank range the British Sloop fired its broadside into the Spanish Galleon. Grappling hooks bound the two vessels as Captain Horatio Hornblower gave the order sword in hand “ Follow me men.” The foe that faced them was not trained Spanish sailors but a motley group of forced vagrants lead by a self styled Supremo who had no sailing skill.

In the African jungle a wrecked fuselage of a plane lay undisturbed after many years and one of the survivors of that crash picked up a small fading black and white photo of a smiling young couple holding a baby between them. There was a shrill warning cry and a large female
ape pulled the survivor from the wreckage but this was like a repeat happening that had occurred twenty years ago. Tarzan looked at the reflection from the pool surface of a tall muscular character with long flowing hair and felt the trunk of his favourite elephant pushing him in the back. Tarzan's only clothing was a loin cloth and belt with a knife. He summoned his friends by a distinctive cry that echoed through the Jungle.

I am sure I have read every one of Edgar Rice Burroughs books about Tarzan and avidly kept up with him even when he left the jungle to explore other worlds.

Another awe inspiring writer also wrote about Africa and Egypt. His attention to detail and descriptive language transported you into deserts, oceans and jungle. His action scenes make you sweat and breathe heavily as though you are there, knee deep in the action, there are tense heart beating moments plus a little adventurous romance. For me he is he is an inspiration who explores the limits of imagination. The only problem is I have read all his books. Come on Wilbur Smith when is your next novel coming out?

My Religious View.

Religion is a very personal and sensitive subject and my reason for writing this is to clarify and possibly improve religious tolerance. First what is religion? According to the Oxford dictionary it is a belief in a superior entity that may be called a God and his expressed wish for mankind to follow his directions to conduct everyday life. Devotion is expressed by prayers, hymns and worship. Another entry states that religion equates to someone who can follow a set of principals which guide the believer to a better way of living.

Human nature being the way it is a person can find in any stated form of words be it in the: Bible. Koran, Holy book, one can locate support for any view he may wish to stress. Then who can argue with God's printed word?

Because people may not share your same belief and use a different name for their religion does not make them your enemy and there are several reasons for this. Truth may appear differently according to how it is viewed. Take for example a statement about a one handled jug. For people viewing it from the front the handle is on the right and for those viewing from the back the handle will be on the left. For those viewing it from the side there is no handle. All statements are correct and true.

An enemy is someone who by action has done you harm. In some religions this is the opportunity to show the value of the religion by not retaliating but offering the hand of friendship and in forgiving the wrong done to you.

The silent majority live in a multi religious environment peacefully but sometimes sufferer from violent attacks by elements intent on inciting religious hatred. They justify their actions by quoting out of context dogma and ignoring other quotes that state tolerance and kindness.

My favourite story is the good Samaritan as it demonstrates the best in human behaviour and shows that actions not just words are important.

Religions and beliefs sate general human ideals such as respect for life, not to cause pain or suffering, not to steal, lie or speak ill of somebody. Respect other peoples right to believe and express themselves.

Ultimately you are what you do, regardless of what name your religion or belief is.

During wartime many firing squads would be ordered to shoot fellow soldiers who in some way had failed to carry out their duty. It was well known that some members of the firing squad would have a conscience and deliberately miss the intended victim.

Use your conscience. It is you who has the responsibility for your own actions regardless of any order or command from a superior authority.

There are good and bad people and no single religion has a monopoly of either.

May your faith and belief always help you be a good human being.

Alien Life.

I have always been interested in Cosmology, in the origins of time, the explanation for why and how we as a people are where we are. This interest became useful in fuelling my imagination
in writing science fiction. The deceptively simple facts of the Universe creation and destiny opens the door to Pandora's box, it blows your mind when you realise evolution is an integral part
of everything in existence both of the visible and invisible.. The truth is evolution is continuous and everywhere.

In the nearly fourteen billion years of history countless stars have come into existence lived and died, from the remains new more complex atoms have formed to join with enormous clouds of gases to become new embryonic stars and once the mass is sufficient they shower the immediate area with potential life giving energy. How can it not be possible that there are one or two goldilocks worlds with thriving Alien life?

There is an important question, one which has been asked over many hundreds of years and that is if Alien life is there, why have Aliens not made contact? I can think of several reasons but first things first. It sounds a little X Files meets Bourne Identity but could Governments have deliberately kept secret their existence so to avoid panic and fear. Experience of real events have actually proved that a little information of the Sci-fi type can cause hyped up notions to take hold. Many years ago one such idea to put out a real life mock News bulletin in a radio broadcast headlined with THE ALIENS HAVE LANDED and you can imagine what went on in one town, one state and then one whole nation. When War of the Worlds was broadcast it did prove that many people did have questions about Aliens or at least knew of the set situation to the point that when even the first mention of this kind of information was out, it spread so quickly, fear was at the heart of each person it seemed and the ensuing panic was very real, people really thought and feared the Alien creatures which had supposedly landed and battled more with themselves than anything like any physical Alien threat. People only had to hear the word Alien and Attack for them to be fearful, many crashes were recorded as people tried to leave the town and get away, some started to attack other people and the head of a broadcasting station was shot by a distraught listener. The whole sad incident does indicate that while opinion on what or if Alien life is a reality, there is an instinctive notion of possibility when it comes to the subject of Aliens.

Next in theory of possible Alien life is distance as the size of the Universe is so immense it would take many light years to travel across the Universe. Then there is the degree of technical development and that Aliens may not have the ability for space travel. For example here on Earth the dinosaurs had existed for many millions of years, time in which life evolution took shape and it makes you think that in amongst all those millions of years on another planet there could have been other life forms of which we, without any means of communication, would know nothing about. With all the planets, the rate at which life can shape and form, there is a distinct possibility that there could be other life forms apart from that of what we know about. Interestingly there are records of early neolithic drawings seemingly displaying what look like people witnessing Alien type creatures and what seem to be Space Crafts.

If Aliens poses the ability to contact people they may even have fear alerting other beings of their existence. That would not be surprising as if you look at world history, the way in which difference is treated is not always with kindness or interest. Sometimes if something is not fully understood this can bring about fear. Fear can breed all kinds of volatile responses. Historically people have fought battles for life, land and resources. Sometimes these battles start from fear of a new people or from a self interest in the potential for land or resources, sometimes it is a combination of all of the issues. North America's red Indian population were persecuted and forced to live on reservations, long and emotive issues were lived through in order that people could be moved from their natural habitat to that of a new land, the same lands that later were found to have valuable treasures so again these people were moved to another area. South America had the Inca Nation and again had valuable items that were seized by the Spanish and the Inca leader was executed. It does cause you to consider just how a new Alien life would be treated given that historically there have been many instances when self interest in life is put over through fear or battle instead of a peaceful coalition.

So if Aliens are intelligent and assuming that there are types of Alien life we have to question what it would take for them to contact us and if there would be amicable relations or a conversation lost in translation. Do you think Alien life is possible?

Terry Lloyd's School Days.

Time in all its wonder passes by and shortly I will celebrate my seventieth birthday. I remember from my school days saying to myself I will not be boring, I had an affable but slightly over enthusiastic history teacher who loved to retell his retold war stories. While our history teacher was an able tutor, he also had a tendency to teach according to his own syllabus, a lesson by lesson retelling of personal experiences of WWII. He was a good man, an enthused orator but we never did world history and instead knew all about his own account of the war, it did make me think about past events and how they shape people. In a way we are history and history is in us. People recalling the past is a part of our lives and as my history teacher regularly disregarded the syllabus and entertained us with his exploits of the second world war it was easy to see that history was alive in each and every story he told. Although Henry the Eighth should have been the subject, the shell bombing, the planned and pain filled attacks, the men in the line and the comrades of the war took over. Ghosts from the past filled our little history room and slowly historical words came into our collective conscience. As in all professions there were good and bad teachers I had to encounter and from them I constructed Grace Popoff a natural history teacher who displayed all the best qualities of teaching. Grace is one of the characters in my book Archaeopteryx and I wish I could have had her as one of my teachers.

One of my maths teachers had the ability to control the class but had a no nonsense way of treating students who had not grasped the method being taught, and if you didn't get it right the first time then you were in for it...

“Please Sir, I don't understand why I have to put a one under that figure.” I used to say. It was a regular occurrence, students who did not understand something but were too afraid of the consequences of asking about it. In a loud stern and I do not have time for this voice the maths teacher would intimidate the student and overshadow him in an overbearing way. He would take to the front of the class as if it was his private domain and we were his little possessions to do with at his will. It was a terrible and terrifying experience. We were treated as if we were deaf or stupid.

“You do not need to understand it! Just do it boy.” Then the shouting would start and the maths teacher would address the rest of the class. “Are there any more idiots in this class?”

There would be silence and no more questions.

No one should ever be made to think that asking for assistance is in some way a weak thing to do. The maths teacher we had to endure was someone who would say something once, say it in his own way and would not expect to have to say it again. Students were left with no choices in how or if they learnt his lessons. Although for me I found it difficult I ended up copying the example and I had no idea why I was doing it.

The opposite type of teacher had knowledge of his subject on his side but no skill in controlling the class. He would spend the entire lesson struggling against certain elements intent on disrupting the lesson. The students found it more fun to misbehave. In the end the English lessons became a form of bribery, the English teacher himself would read from a novel and threaten to stop if the class misbehaved.

After leaving school I attended night school to improve my English and a rather odd thing happened. At the beginning there were too many students for one class and it was split into two.
The class I attended was run by a part time female teacher who encouraged her students and rewarded good work by reading it to the rest of the class. Over several weeks the number of students remained the same for her class. The other class which had been split from our one was taken by a full time male teacher who had a limited view of teaching, he had little time, patience and was a straight forward like it or not type of teacher and the result was in the same time his attendance of students reduced. That class had fewer students on each occasion, down and down the numbers went and so on until they only needed one teacher. There was a choice, the teacher who had been part time but actively encouraged her students or the negative but full time teacher. It was a difficult dilemma and yes you have guessed it, the male full time teacher took over and by the end of the course the were hardly any students left to take the lessons.

It is not enough to know a subject. A good teacher must be able to communicate in effective ways, knowledge has to be able to be passed on, the teachers I had who made me who I am could inspire, initiate learning and instinctively knew how to get their lessons into the minds of their students, they could inspire a drive to learn in their students and their lessons were the ones which went on to mean something in later life.

Phenomenon.

Have you ever thought about phenomenons? I don't mean just the Biblical loaves and fishes variety, the type I am talking about are personal physical impossibilities!

My wife, daughter and friend were in our car returning home. They were being closely followed by another car and my wife had signalled to turn left into our driveway. The car following instead
of overtaking on the outside deliberately positioned itself to pass on the inside. What occurred next took everyone's breath away. The passenger, our friend in an amazed voice said “I don't believe what has just occurred. That car has just passed through us.” Indeed all three had witnessed an impossibility and to this day can not understand how it could have been possible. As the cars had looked like they were going to hit one another, with the car taking over from the inside too close and too speedily progressing towards my wife's car to be averted, the two passengers and my wife all closed their eyes in fear. Seconds seem to turn to painfully drawn out minutes...as the eyes opened, the realisation hit as thankfully nothing else had done and the other car was parked up against the road but on the other side of my wife's car. To everyone it looked as if the car had somehow passed through them. No one was hurt. Everyone was shocked. The driver of the car who had pulled up was sat starring at the car, eyes wide in what looked amazed shock that no collision had taken place.

One extremely foggy night I was driving home with my wife and daughter on a dual carriage way. The fog was so thick that the other carriage way was completely invisible and there was dense fog in front and behind of us. My daughter was slightly fearful of what was occurring and so in an attempt to calm her my wife said maybe my daughter should close her eyes and say a little prayer for the mist to lift a little. My daughter agreed and within a few minutes of closing her eyes I have to say that I was taken aback by what took place, it was as if the mist started to clear, to dissipate and not as one may think but slowly the distance in front of us lifted within the main beam of our headlights as if someone was walking in front of us clearing the way forward. I knew something amazing was occurring as I could see that only the stretch of road lit by the headlights was continuing to clear, everywhere else was not visible due to the thick fog, the miraculous cleared path stayed with us on our journey for the next two hours driving and all the way to our destination.

On another occasion my wife and daughter were in the car travelling to University and at a large roundabout a car was waiting on an adjacent garage forecourt, it looked odd to my wife that he should be just sitting and waiting at the roundabout like that but with cars behind her she had no choice but to continue to drive. The next few minutes confirmed her worst fears as the driver waited for them to turn around and then he shot forward aiming for the passenger side of the car where my daughter would have been seated. After we all thought that the driver had been waiting for the opportunity to deliberately cause an accident perhaps for an insurance claim. Before they had left my daughter had explained to my wife that there was a theory about Guardian Angels, there was she said, a Guardian Angel for each walk of life and if one asked for that particular Angel to help they they would be aided as it was needed. My wife had joked with my daughter and said well as it was so difficult to get a parking spot at the University where they were going maybe they could ask for help to have a safe journey there and to find a perfect parking spot! The drive had been uneventful until the roundabout incident and as my wife's car entered the roundabout the waiting car pulled out sharply, he was about to hit them when once again things seemed to slow down and the car missed them entirely. In fact there was no damage as the waiting car passed through my wife's car in what looked to be a second miracle on the road. The astonished driver did not wait around and drove off at speed leaving the roundabout in surprise. After getting over the shock my wife and daughter continued on to the university where they were happy to see that in an otherwise busy car park there was one perfectly empty space situated next to the building where they were going.

Sometimes things happen that make you stop and think, incidents which force you to ask why and how certain things happen. Many years ago I was in dispute over an injustice to my daughter and in order to put thing right I needed some indisputable proof to establish my point. I visited the main library and surveyed the shelf after shelve of relevant books. I thought to my self how will I ever find the right book? I thought of the injustice to my daughter and I really needed some help. I opened my eyes and thought let's get started. I stretched out my arm to pick the first book and started reading. This first book had the very proof that I was looking for to confront and put right the injustice. Not only did it contain and stipulate a case which was alike to the one we had been through but it gave us what we needed in order to go and legally enforce the right outcome for our daughter.

There are outstanding occasions in life, events which seem to have no logical explanation for why something has come to be. There have been news reports about a boy who could not talk, did not have what was thought to be the ability to learn anything, he was adopted by a family and one night as they went to bed they heard a beautiful piece of music, nothing had been left on to cause the music and so the parents went downstairs to find that the little boy was the one sitting at the piano playing and singing so beautifully that tears were streaming down his own face.

It has been my experience that phenomenons can and do occur in every day situations, perhaps when one least knows they are going to occur, or sometimes when one is in desperate need. Personally phenomenons in my own life have intrigued me.

Nightmares.

In my juvenile days when I was about eight years old I had a remarkable period of recurring nightmares. One particular episode involved a trip to a giant store in the middle of Croydon near London that had many floors and sold everything that you could imagine. On the way to visit the store there was a very narrow stretch of pavement and in the front window of an adjacent shop there was a working coffee grinding machine and the pungent aroma of freshly ground coffee would meet you as you approached. It was just before Christmas and on the top floor of the store there was an extravagant display of Father Christmas helpers; Elves and Gnomes set in different scenes that could be started by placing a coin in the slot and the industrious figures began banging, sawing and making toys for Christmas.

My Mother rarely had a chance to socialise in the evening and on that particular occasion was let down by a babysitter but I reassured her with my strongest eight year old attitude that I would be all right as I was getting to be a big boy so no harm would come to me. My mother was reluctant but told me I was not to open the door to any strangers and she would not be too late. She kissed me on the forehead and closed the front door.

All too soon it was time to go to bed. I turned the light off and pulled the cold sheet over me. My trapped hot breath warmed my face and I drifted into a shallow sleep before the odd and slightly eerie sounds of elves knocking and sawing surrounded me. To my horror their sweet smiling faces were changing to disfigured gargoyle demons with expressions intent on doing me harm. In a panic I tried to run but my legs were pinned by the once cosy blanket which seemed to turn into my relentless captor. I was breathing heavily and part of my reasoning brain told me I was having a nightmare. “Wake up!” My vision cleared to the black of the night. I sat up covered in sweat,
my heart pounding in the pitch darkened room. I left my bed trembling and blundered into the side table before turning the light on. I was very tired but terrified of going back to sleep and letting the gargoyles loose in my imagination out into what appeared the frightening real world of my fantasies. I was shivering with cold and my pyjama top was glued to my body, I swallowed hard before turning the light off and returning to bed. I pulled the sheet up and struggled to stay awake trying not to think of the murderess Gargoyles. Again I slipped into sleep but this time I was running pursued by a nameless fear. I could see the front door all I had to do was just turn the knob to escape. I headed to the front door and the knob kept turning, pitifully swirling around and around in my little hand but not doing the one thing I needed for it to do, not helping me, not opening the door.

Time can effect one in so many different ways. One moment I was struggling to open the door, the next I was drowning as a giant Octopus had landed on my face and was intently aiming to suffocate me. In the mists of my mind I can hear my Mother shouting “Wake up Terry and let me in.”

My Mother had managed to get herself locked out and fortunately the bedroom window was not completely closed. She had opened it and threw a cloth which had landed on my face in order to wake me up.

Did I tell her about the nightmare? No, I was a big boy I could not tell her I was frightened of the darkened depths of what she knew nothing about, of the all too real horrors of my own personal eight year old reality.

THE NON-DIET Diet!

The NON-DIET diet!

There are several aspects involved in healthy eating and lifestyle, we all know that, but put into practice how many of us do everything we are told!

My dubious friend, a set of scales, once again stated a weight more than recommended for my height and years, I felt my heart plummet and my tummy grumble in complaint. We all have it, about ten times or so in our lifetime we question our looks, the way that we appear, how fit we are and yes my friends the other dreaded F word...How fat am I? It's an ugly question because we all know that our fitness has an effect on our physical and mental state but really do we have to live like a Saint not to be a Sinner? I don't think so. You can be fit, have the lifestyle that you would like and have a friendly approach to what makes you who you are, no self loathing, no hatred of that bathroom mirror and no Dreaded Calorie Crunch! Sound good, then dear friend, read on...

At first when I looked at that enemy of mine, the sacred scale, I set about finding information relevant to reduce those extra little sneaky pounds. I knew the basics, but no diet appealed to me and so after sitting starring at my tea without a sweet something to put on the side I thought Hang On it isn't the Diet that is the key but the balance of how I live my life and so here is my take on the NON-DIET diet, throw away those diet schedules and don't chain yourself to the Calorie Counter.

THE NON-DIET Diet:

THE KNOWLEDGE BIT – ENERGY IS NOT THE ENEMY The first part is simple, food provides the energy, vitamins and minerals to be healthy. The body continuously burns calories at different rates and excess calories are stored as fat for later use. So how do I keep a balance of used calories as opposed to storing fat?

The answer is to reduce the total amount of food eaten, you don't have to not ever let a sugary bite pass your lips but you do have to moderate how much you eat. You can do this and it applies to snacks as well as to regular meals, you can start to take control by using a smaller plate. Psychologically I will be satisfied at clearing the plate and interestingly the size of the plate does have an effect on my mind, it is almost as if by finishing off the smaller plate I get the same feeling of substantial fullness as if I had finished everything on the larger size. Here psychology has an effect over my physical state. I also eat slowly, chew every mouthful, taste everything, take time of about a minute on each piece of food so my body has chance to send the signal to my sensory and physical perception of me being full.

YOU CAN EAT THE ODD SUGARY TREAT – yes you read that right JUST DON'T OVERDO IT!

DRINK MORE – BUT BEFORE YOU GET TOO EXCITED ABOUT THE PROSPECT, I MEAN LESS OF THE OTHER DRINKS AND MORE OF THE H2O, IT'S BEEN AROUND FOR AGES BUT IT IS VERY GOOD FOR YOU IN SO MANY WAYS.

I start the day with a glass of pure water and it is recommended that I drink eight glasses of pure water every day. Many Eastern countries believe that in starting the day off with a glass of water you are hydrating and cleansing the body as a whole, there is arguable evidence that this has an impact on your health and reduces the risk of premature ageing and some significant illness.

EAT MORE! EAT MORE OF THE GREEN VARIETY AND SUPPLEMENT WITH FISHY DELIGHTS, GO ON YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO!

One third of my diet is fruit and vegetable plus once a week an omega 3 fish such as salmon is integral for me. If I need a snack between meals I can and do eat when I feel the symptoms of an empty tummy but instead of that biscuit or pack of something sweet, a fruit has a slow release of natural sweetness which helps to give me that energy I need over several hours instead of a short sharp sugary shock which will energise me and then give me an all time sugar low!

DON'T DO TOO MUCH EXERCISE – YOU DON'T NEED TO OVER EXERCISE TO GET THE BODY TO BALANCE OUT THOSE CALORIES.

I am careful to watch the exercise is within my physical capability. I never strain or sprain, and I love to walk gently as I find that it eases me into doing physical exercise with me not out of breath, panting or looking like a Physical Fanatic. These things are important to me! Do you know that only twenty minutes of exercise, if done correctly, once a day can get the body to start burning more calories than if you exercised several times that same day?

When I exercise I walk for about a two minute stint, it makes me a little breathless but nothing excessive, then this is followed by one minute's rest and repeat. This whole routine is repeated seven or eight times in a session. This has benefits in higher fat burning throughout the day.

I have found the NON-DIET diet to do it for me! The eating is not an effort, I don't have to avoid but I know what to eat and don't over indulge, the exercise sessions are not too strenuous and actually I find that having done one set in a day leaves me free for the rest of the day and importantly after one week checking on the scales there is a slight reduction in weight!

So my dear friends HAPPY NON-DIETING to you! May you all love the life you have been given without being too much of a Sinner or a Saint.

Out of Body Experience.

It was like being in a dream. As my vision cleared I knew something was different but my brain was trapped in slow motion mode. Gradually I became aware of a noise, in fact several sounds,
one was a continuous sound and another a klaxon sounding an emergency signal. Beneath me was a white oblong shape. On each side there were blobs connected to the oblong. Now I could hear running footsteps and people's voices as they surrounded the oblong. A loud voice shouted. “clear!”

I reasoned I must be looking down from the ceiling. The voice called again “clear.” The centre of the oblong jumped and for a moment the continuous sound stopped only to start continuously again. The same voice. “Time of death... twenty three eleven.”

The features of the mound laying on the oblong become distinct, I am looking down at my own grey face. In a panic I call out. “You have made a mistake. I'm not dead!” But nobody can hear me as they switch one by one the electrical blobs off.

I thought to myself. Is this how it feels to be dead?

“Doctor, Doctor I saw a movement and there is a very slow weak pulse. “

There are numerous accounts of out of body experience not always at the point of death. The closest personal experience was as a little boy it appeared to me I had the ability not only to sink through the bed but rise until my face was only a few inches away from the ceiling. Of course the problem I have Did it really happen or was it my imagination?

Self Defence.

In my teens I attended a Judo introduction class and much to my consternation spent most of the
time getting up from the mat after being thrown on to it. To me it appeared everybody was stronger and heavier than me. After the first few days every part of my body ached and just to walk was painful. It was only much later that I had an insight onto the key of Judo. The principal is simply to destroy your opponent's balance. This can be shown by increasing your resistance so your opponent over exerts uncontrollable force, then suddenly by moving and adding your strength to the opponents by pulling instead of pushing. This will be enough to overbalance your opponent.

You do not need to worry about a correct hold or with which foot to block your opponent unless you want to take up Judo as a sport.

Taking up self defence and or martial arts should deal with the psychological affect of being attacked and prepare you for the right course of action.

The first principal of self defence is to actively avoid conflict. One glorious summer afternoon my wife and I were taking an after lunch walk with an elderly dear friend of ours. The lady who was a French Russian Aristocratic descendant had been a friend of ours for some years. We were walking on the pavement along a main shopping street, I was on the outside nearest the road and my wife in between the Aristocratic lady and myself when a tall young man came from behind us and positioned himself next to my wife ignoring me and said “You're a beautiful lady.” Our friend quickly smiled and said “Thank you young man it is a long time since I have had a compliment like that.” The man's shocked expression said it all. It had been one moment, one second where upon a mistake saved the life of my wife. In faltering, the man did not know what to say, his compliment for my wife had not hit his victim and in those few seconds of hesitation all the preparation for the attack went astray...

A car had stopped a little in front of us and the rear passenger door was opened where another young man was inside leaning out. Our friend stepped forward as if to carry on the conversation, thanking the man for the compliment but by that time my wife and I had already passed the parked car. The young man said something that I could not catch and quickly jumped into the car and it sped away.

The full impact of the situation only came to us later and we started to think about how in a few moments my wife could have been kidnapped. We heard later on the news about other attacks which had taken place where women had been kidnapped right off the street, drugged and forced into prostitution. We thought about how near we had been to a terrible situation and how one minute of unexpected action could fend off such a well prepared for attack, if my wife had been taken and she resisted what could have happened to her, she could probably have been killed.

The point of the true story is to say and do anything to distract your potential aggressor, to do the unexpected could save your life.

Try doing something or even saying something in a calm tone “Hello how are you? I haven't seen you for a long time. How is your mother?” All you need is one minute's distraction to give you a chance to get away.

If you think shouting will help then shout fire rather than help or rape as people are more likely to respond. The outcome of an attack is usually decided in the first moments and a determined but unexpected repulse will make the aggressor find an easier target. But if the aggressor has released you, run. Please do not hold out for revenge. If the aggressor grabs you concentrate on the weakest point by grabbing the little finger and lift against the joint this is much more effective than trying to release the whole hand.

Of course if you have had training you will have a good idea of how to respond to an attack. Always know that you are the one in control and it is not the physical strength but the knowledge of technique and how to plan your defence that can save you from a situation.