Recently while working on a translation assignment, I came across some incredible words about the currently popular topic of "sustainable development". I found the words so pertinent to today's situation on planet Earth that I want them to be the last words on this blog before I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. These words will certainly inspire me greatly as I think about my priorities for 2012.
Permanently sustainable development - or more precisely, way of life - is focused on the search for harmony between man and nature, between society and its environment, so that we come as close as possible to the ideals of humanism and reverence for life and nature in all of its forms and in all time horizons. It is a way of life that searches for balance between the freedoms and rights of each individual and his/her responsibility towards other people and nature as a whole, including responsibility towards the future generations. We should adopt the principle that the freedom of every individual ends not only where the freedom of another individual begins, but also where the destruction of nature begins. Let's live so that in satisfying our needs, we do not infringe on the rights of those that come after us.
JOSEF VAVROUŠEK (15.9.1944 – 19.3.1995) - the first Czechoslovakian Minister of the Environment
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Friday, October 21, 2011
Charlie Chaplin's speech in The Great Dictator
Wow, I had no idea Charlie Chaplin had this dimension to him. Also amazing how this speech is so relevant to today...
Sunday, August 21, 2011
10 easy steps to relaxation
Today's aktualne.cz online daily published (in Czech) a great 10-step guide to relaxing, so because ability to relax is so important for living a happy life, I am taking a liberty of providing a translation below. I hope you enjoy it and actually find the time to use it :-)
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Take a look at dogs - they use as many moments as possible for relaxing. Relaxing the body soon results in a relaxed mind. Try it like the dogs do, experts say!
Pick a calm, quiet place, where nobody will disturb you.
Start breathing as slowly and deeply as possible. The breathing should be calm and regular.
Before you begin, do a few excercise to remove any muscle tension.
Get comfortable - sit or lay down.
Slightly tighten and then relax all body parts, one by one: start with the tips of your toes and continue up to the head and face.
Concentrate on each body part, and think about heat, heaviness and relaxation.
Banish all thoughts that may disturb you: imagine how they are physically floating away.
Do not try to consciously relax your mind, just focus on the gradual relaxing of muscle groups.
Remain like this for at least 20 minutes. Then take a few deep breaths and open your eyes. But remain seated or lying down before you get up. And again think of a dog or another animal: before they get up, they always stretch out thoroughly.
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Take a look at dogs - they use as many moments as possible for relaxing. Relaxing the body soon results in a relaxed mind. Try it like the dogs do, experts say!
Pick a calm, quiet place, where nobody will disturb you.
Start breathing as slowly and deeply as possible. The breathing should be calm and regular.
Before you begin, do a few excercise to remove any muscle tension.
Get comfortable - sit or lay down.
Slightly tighten and then relax all body parts, one by one: start with the tips of your toes and continue up to the head and face.
Concentrate on each body part, and think about heat, heaviness and relaxation.
Banish all thoughts that may disturb you: imagine how they are physically floating away.
Do not try to consciously relax your mind, just focus on the gradual relaxing of muscle groups.
Remain like this for at least 20 minutes. Then take a few deep breaths and open your eyes. But remain seated or lying down before you get up. And again think of a dog or another animal: before they get up, they always stretch out thoroughly.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Standing in the light | OdeWire
Interesting insights into human health. Plus a great story of a man working hard trying to make the world a better place. OdeWire does make for inspiring reading!
Standing in the light | OdeWire
Standing in the light | OdeWire
Friday, August 5, 2011
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
God doesn't work in mysterious ways. We do. God simply is.
Lately I've been hearing the term "God works in mysterious ways" a lot. Or maybe I've just been noticing it a lot. At any rate, I started pondering this and suddenly realized that I don't think God works in mysterious ways at all. I believe that God simply "is", does his thing, and lets us do our thing (within a given set of physical and spiritual laws). And it's us that works in mysterious ways. It's a partnership that keeps the world (in a broader sense) going forward. And in this partnership we attribute a lot to God, which we should actually attribute to ourselves. Perhaps it's a self-defense mechanism of trying to reduce our own responsibility for the almost infinite power that we really do have. Brings to mind Nelson Mandela's famous quote: "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure."
And by the way, do you know how Mandela's quote continues? How about this: " It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
Wow.
Powerfull stuff, that can sometimes be confusing. So what should I do, people sometimes ask. If I may offer a piece of advice that I got from a native American woman shaman, how about: "When in doubt, choose love". That always seems to work out well in the long-run...
And by the way, do you know how Mandela's quote continues? How about this: " It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
Wow.
Powerfull stuff, that can sometimes be confusing. So what should I do, people sometimes ask. If I may offer a piece of advice that I got from a native American woman shaman, how about: "When in doubt, choose love". That always seems to work out well in the long-run...
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
A big lesson from my eight month old son on perspective shifts
A couple of days ago I was doing the laundry while I was home alone with my now eight month old son Tobias. He was awake and in full activity mode when the laundry finished. He loves observing whenever we do something he hasn't seen before, so I placed him in a child seat from which he could watch me take the clothes out of the washing machine and put them on the clothes drying rack outside. I was a bit tired and in a bit of a rush, so when I noticed that in spite of carefull inspection before putting the clothes into the washing machine, a paper tissue had somehow gotten into the machine and of course ended up in hundreds of small bits all over the wet clothes, I got quite upset inside. So trying to hide my anger, I started to whip the clothes around one by one in order to get the paper bits off. And whadyaknow, Tobias started laughing as he thought it was something fun to do! Boy what a shift of perspective that was for me! I started laughing too and pretty soon it really was a fun thing to do! And in a couple of minutes all the bits were gone and I thanked Tobi for the big lesson he taught me - I can shift my perspective like that any time I want!
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