Taking Risk

Success is a by-product of vision supplemented with courage wrapped with powerful beliefs. We need to replace our fears with courage and risks with securities, so that we are able to face various changes and challenges of life. I came across some lines on taking risk:

To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.

To weep is to risk being called sentimental.

To reach out to another is to risk involvement.

To expose feelings is to risk showing your true self.

To place your ideas and your dreams before them is to risk being called naïve.

To love is to risk not being loved in return.

To live is to risk dying.

To hope is to risk despair, and to try is to risk failure.

But risks must be taken, because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing. The person, who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing and becomes nothing. He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he simply cannot learn and feel and change and grow and love and live. He is a slave as he has forfeited his freedom.

Only the person who risks is truly free, as J. Krishnamurti says!

The Diet Myth

Many of us may have suspected that calorie-controlled diets don't work. And now Professor Tim Spector, a leading Genetics expert at King's College, London has found compelling evidence why this is so, as written in his new book The Diet Myth (2015). He believes that with the right regimen of diet and exercise, we can be happy, healthy – and lean – and keep the pounds off for life.

What’s more, Prof Spector is offering a new theory about what really makes us fat — which could revolutionize our approach to weight loss. As one of the scientists leading worldwide research into the trillions of bacteria living in our stomachs, Prof Spector believes they hold an amazing power over our health and moods — and that our modern diet may be having a negative effect on them.

Prof Spector has found that the type and variety of our gut bacteria have an astonishing influence on many aspects of our health. He says that microbes not only help in digestion of our food, but they also control the calories we absorb and provide vital enzymes and vitamins, as well as keep our immune system healthy. Our gut microbes are also linked to cardiovascular health, risk of diabetes and mental well-being.

Prof Spector argues that, with the right regimen of diet and exercise, we can change our personal mix of gut bacteria to become one that keeps us happy, healthy and lean. He believes bacteria are likely to be responsible for much of our obesity epidemic. The root of the problem, he says, may be our modern diet and its effect on our gut bugs.

Compared with our ancestors, we have only a fraction of the diversity of microbial species living in our guts. Fifteen thousand years ago, man regularly ate around 150 ingredients in a week. Nowadays, most people consume fewer than 20 separate food items, and many of these are artificially refined. The increasing promotion and use of calorie-restrictive diets that depend on just a few ingredients will inevitably lead to a further reduction in microbe diversity and, eventually, to ill-health.

So, how does exercise affect the gut bacteria? One way in which it affects is by stimulating the immune system, which, in turn, sends stimulating chemical signals to the microbes in our guts, according to a 2011 study in the journal Immunology Investigations. Exercise also benefits our balance of gut bugs directly, according to a 2008 report in the journal Bio-science, Biotechnology and Biochemistry.

Another finding is that artificial sweeteners should be avoided. Tests on mice by Israeli researchers suggested that artificial sweeteners can alter the balance of gut bacteria, so that the bacteria, in turn, release chemicals that, ironically, raise blood sugar levels, increasing the risk of weight gain and diabetes. And this particularly harms the health-enhancing microbes, according to a 2008 study in the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health.

The diversity of microbes in our bodies is 30 percent lower than fifty years ago. Microbes in our gut affect our brain and mental health, and contribute to autism and depression and even the urge to eat more. A diet of junk food can dramatically reduce healthy gut microbes in only two days. Olive oil and nuts are ultimate health foods that nourish our microbes.

In conclusion, the type of food we eat and amount of exercise we do, are more important than just counting the calories, if we wish to reduce our weight or maintain good health.

Be Nice--It is good for your business

We all know that negativity is harmful. But did you know it costs the US economy an estimated $300 billions a year? And this is just one country; if we add all the countries, then the cost will be astronomically high!

We all have momentary interactions with people every day. These interactions can be positive, negative or neutral. Dr Daniel Kahneman, winner of the 2002 Nobel prize in Economics, suggests that there are approximately 20,000 moments in a given day, and each one lasts about 3 seconds. Those 3-seconds interactions are rarely neutral; they are almost always positive or negative. And we can deliberately choose to make them positive or negative.

Dr Donald O. Clifton, often called as the grandfather of Positive Psychology has done a lot of research on effects of positivity on people and organizations. He created the "Theory of the Dipper and the Bucket" more than a decade ago. To put this theory in simple words, we all have a metaphorical bucket. The bucket is filled by positive interactions and emptied by negative ones.

We feel great when our buckets are full, and rotten when they are are not. We also have a metaphorical dipper that we can use to empty or fill other people's buckets; but when we fill others' buckets, we also fill our own. Thus an organization populated by people with "full buckets" would have much more positive energy than one of people with "empty buckets", and would be more productive and profitable.

So what does this theory have to do with our relationships, whether at work or home?
Our relationships with people are formed by small moments, and they are crucial both in business and in personal lives. Dr Clifton and Tom Rath have discovered a 3:1 ratio; when a work team has more than three positive interactions for every one negative interaction, it is significantly more likely to be productive. When the positive interactions are lower than that, team is significantly less productive.

However wanting a more positive environment isn't enough. We need to do something, but not overwhelm people with positive emotions by cutting out negative emotions completely. Ignoring negative things that need to be changed is destructive! Instead, we should focus on the way we are treating other people in our brief interactions with them. For example, managers who start the conversation by focusing on a few good things that the employee has accomplished, then moving on to areas that need improvement, set up a more positive framework for discussion.

Therefore in conclusion, let us all aim to fill our buckets with positive interactions as much as possible for more fulfilling relationships.

Getting old vs Being old

You must have noticed that some people are worn down by hard work, while others thrive on it. The difference lies in complex social and psychological factors to which our bodies are constantly responding. Getting old and being old are two different things. Growing old happens in the mind; it is therefore uniquely variable in humans. After 20 years, any dog is an old dog; after 3 years, any mouse is an old mouse; after 100 years, any blue whale is a very old blue whale. In all these creatures, biological age is the only number that counts, yet everyone knows people who are young at 80 and others who seem old at 25 years. The great Renaissance man Sir Francis Bacon held a caustic opinion of old people-- "who object too much, consult too long, adventure too little, and repent too soon". This is the kind of old age everyone wants to avoid. Fortunately, nothing in our physical makeup forces it upon us. If we don't want to grow old, we can choose not to.

Psychologist Bernice Neugarten from the University of Chicago has given five factors, governing life satisfaction which in turn influence our 'getting old'. These are:
1. The person derives pleasure from daily activities.
2. The person regards his life as meaningful.
3. The person feels he has achieved his major goals.
4. The person holds a positive self-image and regards himself as worthwhile.
5. The person is optimistic.

Studies have shown that early aging is slowed down by good mental health and accelerated by poor mental health. Aging process is learned. People with good mental health teach their bodies to age well. Increased stress is often observed in the lives of those who become chronically ill and die young, but stress doesn't make people sick; giving up their inner adaptability to stress does.

The greatest threat to life and health is losing our spontaneity and sense of wonder. Children display tremendous vitality and rush at each day with open arms. This is natural to them and remains natural until they learn the dulling habits and attitudes that kill their spontaneous curiosity and wonder. As we grow older or mature, we start spending too much time in planning things. As a result, child-like innocence, creativity and pleasure are lost!

You are only as old as you think you are!

There is a famous saying, "You are only as old as you think (or feel) you are", and this relates to our psychological age. We can change our psychological age by interweaving personal and social factors. Among the major factors are our regular daily and work routine, job satisfaction, satisfying long-term relationships and feeling of personal happiness, love and compassion.

A psychologist from University of California, Larry Scherwitz, did an interesting study. He taped the conversations of nearly 600 men, a third of whom were suffering from heart disease, and the rest of whom were healthy. Listening to the tapes, he counted how often each men used the words I, me and mine. Comparing his results with the frequency of heart disease, Scherwitz found that men who used the first-person pronoun most often had the higher risk of heart trouble. In addition, by following his subjects for several years, he found that the more a man habitually talked about himself, the greater the chance he would actually have a coronary disease.

Counting the times a person said "I" was an ingenious way to quantify self-absorption. This means the less you open your heart to others, the more your heart suffers. The antidote for this is to be more giving, as Scherwitz concluded:

Listen with regard when others talk; 

Give your time and energy to others; 

Let others have their way; and

Do things for reasons other than furthering your own needs.

Now, tell me how old are you?

Three Ages of Man

How old are you? Before you rush to reply, consider that there are three distinct and separate ways to measure someone's age:
Chronological age-- how old are you by the calendar.
Biological age-- how old your body is in terms of critical life signs and cellular processes.
Psychological age-- how old you feel you are.

Only the first of these, the chronological age is fixed, and this is also the most unreliable of the three. One 50-year old may be nearly as healthy as he was at 25, while another person of the same age may already have the body of a 60- or 70- year old. To really know how old you are, the second measure, biological age comes into play; it tells us how time has affected your organs and tissues compared to other people of same chronological age.

Biological age also has its limits as a measurement tool. Biological age is known to be changeable. The arrow of time can move forward quickly or slowly, stop in its tracks, or even turn around. Your body becomes younger or older biologically depending on how you treat it.

The determining factor is psychological age, which is the most personal and mysterious of the measurements but also the one that holds the most promise for reversing the aging process. Like biological age, psychological age is completely personal--- no two people have exactly the same psychological age because no two people have exactly the same experiences. How old you feel you are has no boundaries and can reverse in a split second. An old woman recalling her first love can suddenly look and sound as if she has turned 18 again.

Instead of coming up with a fixed number to answer the question "How old are you?", we need to arrive at a sliding scale that shows how fast our three ages are moving in relation to one another. For example, take the case of two 50-year old men:
A, who has lots of family problems, suffers from depression, with a history of heart disease, and overweight.
B, who is happily married, healthy, optimistic, and satisfied with his job.

Although A and B are both chronologically 50 years old, A is under so many negative influences that his body is 10 years older biologically and is aging quickly. The picture is very different for B. His good physical and mental health indicate that he is aging slowly biologically and is actually getting younger psychologically.

Although we can't change our chronological age, we can very well alter the other two ages, more so the psychological age. How to do that, we shall explore in the next blog!

What is beauty?

Does your partner look as beautiful to you today as five years ago, or last year or yesterday?

Now, what is beauty? Who is beautiful? If we go by the definitions of beauty projected by the numerous advertisements in the daily newspapers, a woman is beautiful only if she is as "endowed" in that area as the model in the ad.

As a woman myself, I fail to understand the typical definition of sexiness, attractiveness and the other --- "nesses" linked to one's body's form. Or how losing hair or that male pattern baldness makes a man less attractive or sexy?

A study published in July, 2004 issue of scientific journal Evolution and Human Behavior shows that our idea of our lover being beautiful depends on what we have learnt about him or her over time.We all start perceiving physical attractiveness or beauty differently after a while. Scientists have found that those people who we find initially physically appealing would not look that good if negative traits start piling up. On the other hand, a person will look even better if positive attributes add up, even as age takes its wrinkly toll.

So if you believe in love at first sight, keep in mind that the person who makes you swoon now, might not after a few weeks, months or years. The desirability of a possible mate depends as much on the "non-physical" traits like whether they are cooperative, dependable, brave. hardworking, intelligent and so on--- as on physical factors like smooth skin and symmetrical features. It is not smart to discount potential partners on looks alone, because many less-than-pretty folks have plenty of beautiful traits.

The worth and value of a woman are not and should not be measured by the her vital statistics or shape of her features. A woman has much beauty to celebrate: her life and identity, the vital role she plays in the domestic setting and the workplace, the contributions she has made in various arenas through the years, her creative energies manifested in her writing, and the power in her voice which can still both a crying baby and a raging sea, among others.

Therefore, every woman is beautiful and worthy, with or without her perfect body or features. The bottom line is -- Beauty remains an ethereal thing, becoming brighter or duller over time depending on the person who perceives it. Someone has rightly said-- Everyone has beauty but not everyone sees it!