Is Involuntary Euthanasia in Our Future?

by Jim Denison, Breakpoint, July 2, 2015

Laura is a 24-year-old in Belgium who plans to die by euthanasia this summer. She is not terminally ill. Rather, she explains that she has wanted to die ever since she was a child. “Life, that’s not for me,” she says. She has been approved for death by lethal injection. The chairman of Belgium’s federal euthanasia commission recently stated that 50 to 60 psychiatric patients like Laura are euthanized each year.

Belgium legalized euthanasia in 2002. Last year it became the first nation to legalize child euthanasia. According to The New England Journal of Medicine, Belgian doctors also “hasten the death” of patients “without an explicit request.” More than 1,000 patients a year are euthanized in this way. As Cambridge professor Jack Keown explains, “If a doctor thinks death would benefit the patient, why should the doctor deny the patient that benefit merely because the patient is incapable of asking for it?”

More countries are asking similar questions. In a recent poll, a majority of people in 13 out of 15 nations agreed that euthanasia should be legal. Some 20 states in America are considering euthanasia measures. According to Gallup, 69 percent of Americans believe physicians should be able to legally “end patient’s life by some painless means.” This is nearly double the percentage who supported euthanasia in 1950.

Expect to see more countries go the way of Belgium. A culture that views truth as subjective opinion has no objective reason to value human life. But God does. He made each of us in our mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13-16) and engraved us on the palms of his hands (Isaiah 49:16).

And since we’re all dying, he invites us to say with Paul, “We do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.”

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Older Athletes Have a Strikingly Young Fitness Age

By Gretchen Reynolds, NY Times, July 1, 2015

Older athletes can be much younger, physically, than they are in real life, according to a new study of participants in the coming Senior Olympics. The study found that the athletes’ fitness age is typically 20 years or more younger than their chronological age, providing a clear inspiration to the rest of us to get out and start moving more.

I wrote last year about fitness age, a concept developed by researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim who had taken note of epidemiological data showing that people with above-average cardiovascular fitness generally had longer life spans than people with lower aerobic fitness. So at any given age, fit people were relatively younger than were people who were out of shape.

But the researchers decided that their insight was not useful unless people could easily determine their fitness age. So using a mobile exercise laboratory, they went out and tested the fitness and health of more than 5,000 Norwegian adults and used the resulting data to create a sophisticated algorithm that could rapidly calculate someone’s aerobic capacity and relative fitness age based on his or her sex, resting heart rate, waist size and exercise routine.

They then set up a beguilingly simple online calculator that people could use to determine their fitness age.

When I wrote about the calculator last year, Dr. Pamela Peeke took note. An assistant professor of medicine at the University of Maryland and board member of the foundation that runs the National Senior Games–which are informally known as the Senior Olympics–she is also a competitive triathlete.

And biologically, it seems, she is a spring chicken. When she plugged her personal data into the online fitness calculator, it told her that her fitness age is 36.

Chronologically, she is 61.

Delighted, she wondered whether other older athletes would be similarly youthful. And she had a plan for how to find out. Contacting the scientist who had led the development of the fitness age calculator, Ulrik Wisloff, she suggested that together they study a particular group of older people–the participants in this year’s Senior Olympic Games.

The Senior Olympics are a biennial competition for athletes over 50 and consist of a variety of sports, from track and field and swimming to pickleball. To compete, athletes must first qualify regionally.

Nearly 10,000 men and women aged from 50 to 100 have qualified for this year’s Games, which begin on Friday in and around Minneapolis-St. Paul, in Minnesota.

Senior Olympians are not professional athletes, but most train frequently, Dr. Peeke knew. They tend to be more physically active than other people of the same chronological age.

To see just how their lifestyle affects their biological age, she and Dr. Wisloff asked all of this year’s Senior Olympic qualifiers to complete the online calculator. They set up a special, dedicated site for the participants, so that their data could be isolated. (The fitness calculator itself was unchanged.)

Many of the participants complied, producing more than 4,200 responses.

The results were impressive. While the athletes’ average chronological age was 68, their average fitness age was 43, a remarkable 25 years less.

“This is a massive difference,” Dr. Wisloff says. “I had expected a big difference,” he continued, “since these people have trained for years. However, I was surprised that it was this big.”

The effect was similar for both male and female athletes, he pointed out. Virtually every athlete, in fact, had a lower fitness age than his or her chronological age.

Dr. Peeke and Dr. Wisloff have not yet determined whether athletes in certain of the sports at the Senior Olympics, particularly endurance events such as distance running and swimming, have a younger fitness age, in general, than athletes participating in less-vigorous sports.

But they plan to parse the data extensively in the coming months to answer that question and to look for other patterns among the Senior Olympians. They expect to publish their findings soon.

Even in advance of that information, though, the takeaway message of the data should be inspiring, said Dr. Peeke, who will be competing in the triathlon event at the Senior Olympics.

“A majority of the athletes at the Senior Games didn’t begin serious training until quite late in life, including me,” she said. “We may have been athletes in high school or college. But then, for most of us, jobs and families and other commitments got in the way, at least for a while.”

Few Senior Olympians returned to or began exercising and training regularly until they were middle-aged or older, she said.

“So you can start any time,” she said. “It’s never too late.”

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Becoming a Better Public Speaker: Tips From the Greats

By Megan Allen, Education Week, July 1, 2015

Heart thumping so loud I know everyone can hear it. Face and neck flushing red. Sweat beads beginning to sprout and then trickle down my forehead.

No, this is not the moment in front of the crowd and under the spotlights–this comes from just THINKING about that moment! Whether it’s speaking in front of our school faculty, presenting at a local school board meeting, or testifying in front of Congress, many of us feel anxiety about public speaking. So what can we do to be better prepared as public speakers? Here’s a few lessons from some speaking greats.

Embrace the Anxiety. Did you know that Warren Buffett used to be terrified of speaking in public? According to a story in Forbes magazine, he picked out his college courses based on whether he’d have to speak in front of the class, avoiding the ones where he knew he’d be forced to face his fear. He even dropped a public speaking course.

But then he decided he would have to overcome this fear to be in business. And that he did–becoming not only one of the world’s richest people but also a well-respected storyteller.

We can all do the same thing. A fear of public speaking is not just common; it is innate. We have to acknowledge our fears; don’t try to pretend they’re not there! Instead, harness the jitters and refocus them by thinking of those nerves as positive energy and excitement. If we reframe anxiety as our desire to do our best, it can help us control those feelings.

Connect With Your Audience. Have you ever watched Bill Clinton speak? I recently talked with several people who have, and one thing rang true for them all: He can make connections! Clinton seems to have a way of making people feel like he is connected to them and who they are.

So the lesson here? Don’t talk to people, talk with people. Whether it’s 25 or 250 people, in your head, frame it as a conversation, not a speech. Think of the faces in front of you as your flock. Nurture them and your relationship with them. Make eye contact. Bring them along on the conversational journey.

Be Aware of Your Body Language. This is another homage to Bill Clinton. He smiles during positive points, gestures with his palms for added inflection, and furrows his brows during serious moments. When he is making a point, he uses his index finger to tap the podium in front of him.

This behavior is backed by Harvard professor Amy Cuddy’s TED talk and research, which shows that our body language can send just as big of a message as our words. Albert Mehrabian, a UCLA professor who has done extensive research on nonverbal communication, stated in a communication study that, in regards to liking a speaker, seven percent happens in spoken words, 38 percent happens through voice tone, and 55 percent happens through general body language.

This can be hard to focus on while you’re up in front of the masses, so sometimes I need some help. I write messages to myself in the margins to relax. Smile. Have fun. Think about what message my body is sending that I might not be aware of.

Tell a Story. Think about the elements and flow of a great story. What drew you in? What kept you reading or listening? Chip and Dan Heath mention this in the book Made to Stick. The same elements go into a great speech! Paint a picture with your words. When it comes to advocacy, this is especially important.

Connect With Your Emotions and Show Passion. Don’t be afraid to be human in front of an audience. There is something great about human connection that builds relationships, even from behind a podium.

Be Succinct. Think of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. Big message, 265 words. I think we sometimes think more is more, but the mantra “less is more” really stands true.

Use Wit. Think of the last line of Socrates’s famous speech, given after he was condemned to death: “But it is now time to depart–for me to die, for you to live. But which of us is going to a better state is unknown to everyone but God.” Now, I wasn’t a literature major, but I am a connoisseur of witty banter and comments. I took that comment as the ultimate example of a witty closing comment (pun intended).

Think About Cadence, and Don’t Be Afraid of Silence. The perfect example of cadence? Martin Luther King, Jr., in “I Have a Dream.” The intonation, the inflection of his words, the rhythm, and the power of a carefully placed pause. Don’t be afraid of silence–it can be more powerful than any word. I have another trick here: I write notes to myself. “Pause,” written in capital letters, or underlining words to emphasize. I read lines over and over again until the cadence feels right.

Use Repetition as a Golden Thread. Repetition can tie your message together. Think of Winston Churchill’s “Blood, Toil, Sweat, and Tears,” where this great orator would weave a phrase through both the beginning and end of a speech. I wouldn’t use this strategy all the time, but it’s a good trick to have in your back pocket.

Relax and Have Fun. I have to remind myself to do this. So at the top of my notes for a speech, I write two words: “Breathe. Relax.” When your adrenaline is pumping and the spotlight is on you, what seems like common sense may slip our mind. A reminder really helps.

Know Your Style. Do you need notes? How much practice do you need until you feel comfortable? How much scaffolding do you need so you are comfortable in the moment? Should you print out your whole speech to have on hand in case panic strikes (yes, this happens.)?

Know yourself and give yourself whatever support you need to be the best “you.” I practice my speech and record it so I can listen, reflect, and refine. I also make sure to time my speeches so I know what content to cut and what needs additional work.

Keep Your Print Large. Twelve-point font is not always helpful under the spotlights, in front of a crowd, and when your heart is thumping like the Energizer Bunny on Red Bull. If you decide to print out your speech and notes, do so with a larger font size that you can easily read when you glance down. Also, highlight the important pieces of your speech so if you go off on a tangent, you make sure to hook back into those key points.

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Nicholas Winton, Rescuer of 669 Children From Holocaust, Dies at 106

By Robert D. McFadden, NY Times, July 1, 2015

Nicholas Winton, a Briton who said nothing for a half-century about his role in organizing the escape of 669 mostly Jewish children from Czechoslovakia on the eve of World War II, a righteous deed like those of Oskar Schindler and Raoul Wallenberg, died on Wednesday in Maidenhead, England. He was 106.

It was only after Mr. Winton’s wife found a scrapbook in the attic of their home in 1988–a dusty record of names, pictures and documents detailing a story of redemption from the Holocaust–that he spoke of his all-but-forgotten work in the deliverance of children who, like the parents who gave them up to save their lives, were destined for Nazi concentration camps and extermination.

For all his ensuing honors and accolades in books and films, Mr. Winton was a reluctant hero, often compared to Schindler, the ethnic German who saved 1,200 Jews by employing them in his enamelware and munitions factories in Poland and Czechoslovakia, and to Wallenberg, the Swedish businessman and diplomat who used illegal passports and legation hideaways to save tens of thousands of Jews in Nazi-occupied Hungary.

Mr. Winton–Sir Nicholas in England since 2003, when he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II–was a London stockbroker in December 1938 when, on an impulse, he canceled a Swiss skiing vacation and flew to Prague at the behest of a friend who was aiding refugees in the Sudetenland, the western region of Czechoslovakia that had just been annexed by Germany.

“Don’t bother to bring your skis,” the friend, Martin Blake, advised in a phone call.

Mr. Winton found vast camps of refugees living in appalling conditions. The pogroms of Kristallnacht, the “Night of Broken Glass,” had recently struck Jewish shops, homes and synagogues in Germany and Austria. War looked inevitable, and escape, especially for children, seemed hopeless, given the restrictions against Jewish immigration in the West.

Britain, however, was an exception. In late 1938, it began a program, called Kindertransport, to admit unaccompanied Jewish children up to age 17 if they had a host family, with the offer of a 50-pound warranty for an eventual return ticket. The Refugee Children’s Movement in Britain sent representatives to Germany and Austria, and 10,000 Jewish children were saved before the war began.

But there was no comparable mass-rescue effort in Czechoslovakia. Mr. Winton created one. It involved dangers, bribes, forgery, secret contacts with the Gestapo, nine railroad trains, an avalanche of paperwork and a lot of money. Nazi agents started following him. In his Prague hotel room, he met terrified parents desperate to get their children to safety, although it meant surrendering them to strangers in a foreign land.

As their numbers grew, a storefront office was opened. Long lines attracted Gestapo attention. Perilous confrontations were resolved with bribes. Eventually he registered more than 900 children, although he had names and details on 5,000. In early 1939, he left two friends, Trevor Chadwick and Bill Barazetti, in charge in Prague and returned to London to find foster homes, raise money and arrange transportation.

He and a few volunteers, including his mother, calling themselves the British Committee for Refugees from Czechoslovakia, Children’s Section, enlisted aid from the Refugee Children’s Movement, had photos of the children printed and appealed for funds and foster homes in newspaper ads and church and synagogue bulletins.

Hundreds of families volunteered to take children, and money trickled in from donors–not enough to cover all the costs, but Mr. Winton made up the difference himself. He also appealed to the Home Office for entry visas, but the response was slow and time was short. “This was a few months before the war broke out,” he recalled. “So we forged the Home Office entry permits.”

In Prague, Mr. Chadwick quietly cultivated the chief of the Gestapo, Karl Bömelburg–they called him “the criminal rat” after his inspector’s rank of kriminalrat–and arranged for forged transit papers and bribes to be passed to key Nazis and Czech railway officials, who threatened to halt trains or seize the children unless they were paid off. The Gestapo chief proved instrumental, clearing the trains and transit papers, Mr. Chadwick said.

Mr. Winton sent more money, some for bribes and some to cover expenses for children whose parents had been arrested and shot or had fled into hiding, while many of the Czech families sold possessions to pay for their children’s escape. The red tape and paperwork seemed endless.

But on March 14, 1939, it all came together. Hours before Hitler dismembered the Czech provinces of Bohemia and Moravia as a German “Protectorate,” the first 20 children left Prague on a train. Survivors told of searing scenes on the station platform in the final moments before departure as children sobbed and pleaded not to be sent away and parents faced giving up their children.

Mr. Winton and his colleagues later arranged for eight more trains to get the rest of the children out, crossing the Third Reich through Nuremberg and Cologne to the Hook of Holland, then across the North Sea by boat to Harwich, Essex, and on by British rail to the Liverpool Street Station in London. There, he and the host families met the children. Each refugee had a small bag and wore a name tag.

But only seven of the eight trains made it through, the last in early August, bringing the total rescued to 669. About 250 children, the largest group, were on board the last train out, on Sept. 1, 1939. On that day, however, Hitler invaded Poland, all borders controlled by Germany were closed and Mr. Winton’s rescue efforts came to an end.

“Within hours of the announcement, the train disappeared,” he recalled. “None of the 250 children aboard was ever seen again.” All were believed to have perished in concentration camps.

Nearly all the saved children were orphans by war’s end, their parents killed at Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen or Theresienstadt. After the war, many remained in Britain, but others returned to Czechoslovakia or emigrated to Israel, Australia or the United States. The survivors, many now in their 70s and 80s, still call themselves “Winton’s Children.”

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Venus and Jupiter’s Proximity Leads to Prophetic Speculation

By Melody Dareing, June 30, 2015

A unique sight produced by Venus and Jupiter’s proximity leads to prophetic speculation among those who believe in Biblical prophecy. The two planets will draw incredibly close to each other beginning tonight, June 30, in the constellation of the Lion. The proximity of the two planets to the star Regulus, the brightest star in the Leo constellation, makes for an unusual occurrence that will produce what will look like one bright star in the western sky.

The event, which scientists said last occurred 2,000 years ago, has been dubbed “The Star of Bethlehem” because many theorize the event is what the wise men following the star actually saw, rather than one bright star. This event will last only a few days of visibility with the naked eye although it will be able to be seen with a telescope for more than a year. The wise men, if one believes scripture and Middle Eastern historical evidence, followed the star for at least a year before they found baby Jesus, who was then living in an apartment with his family.

Part of the wonder involved with this celestial event of Venus and Jupiter is the study of the Bethlehem Star by Johannes Kepler, a non-scientist who took on studying the original event thousands of years ago. He determined the alignment being seen this week was, in fact, the star, and that the event played into Biblical prophecy.

According to Kepler, Venus and Jupiter aligning in Leo points to the Jewish tribe of Judah, known as the Lion tribe, which is located within ancient prophecies regarding the Messiah. The researcher concluded that the conjunction happened at the beginning the Jewish New Year. Additionally, Virgo is the constellation rising in the east behind Leo as Jupiter and Regulus made their first close contact. Virgo is tied to the image of a virgin. Virgo, in the event 2,000 years ago, received the Sun’s rays and was above a new moon. According to John in the Book of Revelation, the virgin was clothed in the Sun with a moon at her feet. Kepler thinks this verse refers to this event.

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How About a Global Currency?

By Leonid Bershidsky, Bloomberg, July 1, 2015

It’s almost a truism to say that membership in the euro exacerbated the Greek crisis. The thinking goes like this: Because Greece doesn’t have its own currency, it couldn’t increase its competitiveness and boost growth through devaluation. Although devaluation is a valuable instrument, I think most countries and companies would benefit if the world, not just Europe, used a single currency.

Today’s fragmented financial world is unfair. On the one hand, there’s Denmark with such a glut of currency, local and foreign, that its central bank’s key deposit rate is minus 0.75 percent and companies are considering overpaying their taxes because the Tax Ministry pays 1 percent interest on the excess. Then there’s Greece, which has had to limit withdrawals from automated teller machines to 60 euros a day because of a severe cash crunch.

Consider the case of Apple, with an enormous cash pile that earns next to nothing. The company had about $160 billion in March 2014 and made $1.795 billion in interest and dividend income that year–which is less than 1 percent, considering that the company’s kept increasing the cash holding. And there are companies, even entire countries, that would kill to be financed at that rate–but are forced to accept much higher ones, and not necessarily because they are unsafe borrowers, but because they are often dragged down by risk perceptions that have little to do with reality.

Before the 2008 financial crisis, financial globalization–defined as international capital inflows–was on the rise, partly because investors underestimated risk. After the mortgage crash, it became clear that rating agencies weren’t much help to investors in making such estimates and that local and specialized knowledge was needed to make intelligent decisions. The European debt crisis only confirmed this.

The fiscal regimes, political and macroeconomic risks of countries vary so much that mistakes happen, even when a foreign investor can afford detailed and knowledgeable analysis. The bond guru Michael Hasenstab’s investment in Ukrainian bonds for Franklin Templeton is a case in point: The trade was thoroughly analyzed and Hasenstab traveled to Kiev last year to talk to officials and executives, but the country now wants him to accept a 40 percent haircut as part of its International Monetary Fund-led bailout.

To ensure that financial resources are distributed more evenly throughout the world, it would make sense to cut down country-specific risk. Taking monetary policy out of individual countries’ hands would go a long way toward that goal. Currency risk would be eliminated–the same monetary unit would be in use everywhere–and there would be a uniform interest rate environment. The creditworthiness of specific borrowers would be investors’ biggest area of concern. That’s still a big unknown, and there would always be enough coups, revolutions, corruption, fraud and mismanagement to throw the best models off kilter. Yet there would be much less to worry about.

Now, the world’s 140 or so currencies sometimes make cross-border flows dangerous. Switzerland and Denmark have both suffered from their commitment to their own currencies this year. The ability to devalue is nice, but it’s illusory, to a large extent: It helps balance a budget, bring down debt levels and make exports more competitive, but it hits ordinary people with high inflation. Besides, according to a 2010 paper by Stephen Kamin, director of international finance at the Federal Reserve System, by giving up the right to print their own money, governments stand to lose less and less. And they might even need the discipline imposed by an outside monetary policy authority.

If the world used the same currency, the problems inadvertently caused by the euro wouldn’t be replicated. German banks were too willing to lend to projects in the European periphery because they felt they could trust members of the same exclusive currency club and because the euro made investing in Europe almost frictionless, an advantage the rest of the world didn’t have. The one world, one currency club would make friction disappear.

Of course, there would be the question of who should administer the global central bank. The U.S. would want to–the dollar is as close to a global currency as we have–but resistance from other global players would sink the project. This is where something like Bitcoin could come in handy: a decentralized system that works with little human intervention. “Mining” rules could be established to prevent anyone from cornering the market, but the system would self-regulate.

This is naive utopianism, of course. The obstacles to such a project are beyond estimation, as so is the technical complexity. But this pipe-dream is a reminder of how tough and complex the euro project is. Those who hasten to write it off as a failure don’t show it enough respect. Sure, there have been setbacks, and some countries may prove unable to keep taking part, but its participants are accumulating data that may one day allow us to figure out how to bring the whole world closer together.

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Wanted in College Graduates: Tolerance for Ambiguity

Jeff Selingo, LinkedIn Pulse, June 29, 2015

Three months after I graduated from college and following a summer journalism fellowship at the Arizona Republic in Phoenix, I had my first interview for a full-time newspaper reporting job. It was in Wilmington, N.C. The managing editor of the newspaper picked me up at the airport and after a quick lunch, he dropped me off on Front Street, the historic main thoroughfare along the banks of the Cape Fear River. He told me to go find a story.

It was a Friday afternoon in late August and I had to report and write the story by 5 p.m. I had never been to Wilmington before and I didn’t know anyone else in town. I didn’t have a car. All I had was the notepad and pen the editor kindly gave me. For the next several hours, I roamed the streets talking to business owners, local residents, and tourists. I eventually found a story–about a tourism campaign the state was undertaking after a close call with a hurricane–and filed it on time.

But as the editor later told me, the article itself was not the test. It was my reaction when he dropped me off: he wanted to see what I would do in an unfamiliar situation. Other job candidates, he said, either panicked and asked for a specific assignment or they figured out how to get the job done. He wanted employees who could cope with the unknown on a daily basis.

As artificial intelligence increasingly makes many jobs obsolete, success in the future will belong to those able to tolerate ambiguity in their work. Too many recent graduates, however, approach their job descriptions the way they did a syllabus in college–as a recipe for winning in a career. They want concrete, well-defined tasks, as if they were preparing for an exam in college. “Excelling at any job is about doing the things you weren’t asked to do,” said Mary Egan, founder of Gathered Table, a Seattle-based start-up and former senior vice president for strategy and corporate development at Starbucks. “This generation is not as comfortable with figuring out what to do.”

Like many of the other 21st Century skills sought by employers, a tolerance for ambiguity is often developed early in life. The feedback children get from adults and teachers have an enormous impact on their ability to deal with uncertainty.

Carol Dweck, a Stanford University psychologist, has found that praising children for their intelligence, rather than for their effort, often leads them to give up when they the encounter the unknown. It’s much better in her opinion to compliment children for their persistence. People perform better when they can focus on things they can control rather than things they cannot.

Dweck has conducted several studies over the years that found people would do better if they thought of their intelligence as flexible and not something fixed at birth. People with what she calls a “growth mind-set” see challenges as opportunities to broaden their skills. But people who have been constantly praised for their intelligence freeze in ambiguous situations when they don’t know the answer and often tie themselves in knots trying to reach perfection.

The ability to tolerate ambiguity on the job requires people to think contextually, what I call the “connective tissue” that occupies the space in-between ideas. It is the “killer app” of today’s workplaces. We make these connections by following our curiosity and exploring and learning from peers.

Knowledge is not just what is in our brains, but is distributed throughout our networks. Learning happens by building and navigating those networks. But these networks are not just virtual–places such as Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, or LinkedIn. Some of the best connections between knowledge occur in face-to-face conversations.

When I interviewed for that reporting job in North Carolina twenty years ago, I had no clue how much journalism would evolve over the coming decades. Even so, the set of skills journalism provided me–particularly, the initiative to find a story every day, the ability to recognize patterns and trends, and to synthesize disparate ideas–remain invaluable no matter what I do. You don’t need to major in journalism or become a reporter, of course, to acquire those set of skills, but they are crucial to navigating a future workplace marked with so much uncertainty.

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'US needs oil wars to topple Middle East chessboard': William Engdahl

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Escolha Ser Positivo

Link
Uma compilação

Quando você muda a sua perspectiva, as coisas mudam.—Max Planck

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Muitos anos atrás, cuidei de um senhor com Alzheimer.

Por mais de seis meses eu o alimentava, dava banho, vestia, fazia companhia, limpava o seu bumbum e o levava para caminhar. Eu também suportava os seus ímpetos, como, por exemplo, quando ele tentou me bater o caminho todo de volta à casa e depois me impediu de entrar e ficou rindo feito um louco (Claro! Rsrsrs.)

Eu comecei a cuidar dele porque gostei de sua esposa logo na primeira entrevista. Eu gostei muito dela como pessoa. Suas olheiras mostravam o cansaço extremo por ter que cuidar dele 24 horas por dia, 7 dias por semana. Mas puxa, quanto amor por aquele homem. Ela olhava para ele com tanta ternura! Ele nem a reconhecia, no entanto ela permanecia inabalável. Eu queria ajudá-la, por isso entrei no time.

Aprendi muito nesse período. Eu estava tão sensível que nem suportava contato físico. Mas às vezes, aquele senhor idoso só se acalmava quando alguém segurava suas mãos. Eu tinha que segurar sua mão e me retirar e encontrar um ponto de quietude no meu íntimo para energizá-lo. Só então ele sossegava.

Eu o observava passar horas olhando para fora da janela. Ele via coisas que eu não via, e eu ficava curiosa. Será que seus óculos eram mágicos e lhe permitiam ver outros mundos?

Seria possível dizer que ele sofria, mas nunca saberei ao certo, e não acho que seja o caso. Ele vivia com a cabeça em outro lugar, mas parecia feliz e saudável a maior parte do tempo.

As pessoas que realmente sofrem com esse tipo de situação são os membros da família. Os seus muitos filhos e sua esposa, uma pessoa bastante animada. Mas sofrer era uma decisão que cabia a eles, e preferiram não sofrer. Optaram por incluir o mal de Alzheimer como um fator a mais na equação de suas vidas pelo meio do qual pudessem aprender e crescer em família. Eles ficaram muito mais unidos. Viram que precisavam pedir ajuda na hora da necessidade (nesse caso estou incluída), e criar uma rede de puro amor para amparar esse homem que era tão importante na vida de todos eles.

O mal de Alzheimer foi uma tragédia, pois retirou este homem, em vida, do seio familiar. Foi uma dádiva no sentido que lhes deu a oportunidade de crescer em espírito e como família, de uma maneira que não teria acontecido de outra forma. Eram todas pessoas adoráveis.



A minha filha tem um cromossomo a mais [síndrome de Down]. Muitas pessoas gostam de dizer que ela sofre com uma doença. Não acredito que seja isso, pois não é o que ela transparece. Mas vai saber, né?

Gosto de pensar que ela é uma dissidente que desejava vivenciar o mundo de uma perspectiva diferente. Gosto de pensar que ela me empurra na direção de entender o amor incondicional. Essa menininha jamais se encaixará em uma caixa, qualquer que seja. A natureza da síndrome de Down torna o futuro um incógnito.

Preciso amá-la como ela é, neste exato momento, e no future, como quer que ele se desenrole, e aconteça o que acontecer.

Considero isso uma lição digna de ser aprendida.—Meriah[1]

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Uma atitude de louvor ou gratidão em situações difíceis atrai o Espírito e o poder do Senhor na situação. Eleva o nosso espírito e o das pessoas ao nosso redor, pois nos ajuda a ter uma perspectiva positiva. Dá-nos fé – fé no Senhor e fé diante de circunstâncias negativas, e a fé é a vitória. Sem dúvida a fé muda a situação, mas em situações ruins muitas vezes é difícil ter fé para orar, pois nossa reação natural é se entristecer, ficar perturbado ou desanimar. Por isso o louvor é o contra-ataque a essas coisas negativas. Ele domina o nosso espírito e reação às circunstâncias, dando-nos fé, confiança no Senhor e uma energia espiritual positiva.—Maria Fontaine[2]

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Nós sempre enfrentaremos dificuldades nesta vida. As circunstâncias nunca serão perfeitas aqui na terra, enquanto estivermos na vida física. Por isso, às vezes, somos tentados a temer e nos preocupar. Mas a maneira de superar tudo isso é olhando para Mim, concentrando-se na luz.

Concentrar-se na luz é deixar de olhar para as poças de lama dos desapontamentos, temores ou situações difíceis, e olhar para o chafariz de águas borbulhantes que é a Minha perspectiva positiva. Em vez de fazer caretas por causa da lama, venha admirar o meu espetacular chafariz. Pode contemplar as lindas cores se movimentando nas águas refrescantes, juntar as mãos e matar a sua sede. Pode tirar os sapatos e pular na água borbulhante, jogar água pra cá e pra lá, e beber à vontade.

Mantenha os olhos em Mim, lembrando-se que Eu estou no controle. Absorva as Minhas promessas por meio da leitura e meditação. Brinque alegremente na água na Minha presença, Me louvando apesar do que acontece ao seu redor. Isso é concentrar-se na luz! Jesus fala em profecia[3]

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Tudo tem o seu lado positivo. Toda pessoa e toda situação tem algo de bom, e a maior parte do tempo não é muito óbvio. É preciso procurar, e às vezes procurar com bastante atenção. O meu velho eu estava satisfeito em se recostar e observar ao meu redor. Se eu via algo negativo, seguia meus sentimentos. Não queria procurar ou pensar muito no positivo. Era muito mais fácil relaxar e apenas aceitar o que via (geralmente o lado negativo e ruim).

Agora, quando estou diante de uma situação difícil ou de um desafio, eu penso: “O que isso tem de bom?” Por mais terrível que seja a situação, sempre posso encontrar algo de bom se parar para pensar a respeito. Tudo tem seu lado bom e ruim, e nos oferece aprendizado. Então, no mínimo, podemos aprender com as experiências ruins; mas geralmente não para por aí. Se observarmos com atenção, geralmente descobriremos algo bom e positivo sobre toda pessoa ou situação.—Dani[4]

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A maior descoberta da minha geração é que o ser humano pode alterar sua vida se mudar suas atitudes. —William James

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Escolher uma atitude positiva é um processo. Não é algo que se faz apenas uma vez e conta que tudo vai ser perfeito a partir daquele momento. Ainda sofreremos reveses, demoras, acidentes, frustrações, argumentos, fadiga, e medo. O segredo é a maneira como reagimos a tudo isso. Queremos deixar as situações arruinarem nosso dia, ou preferimos encarar o futuro com esperança? Temos o poder de escolher…

Ao optarmos por uma atitude positiva cada dia, na verdade estamos atraindo mais experiências positivas, e reduzindo a possibilidade de termos experiências negativas. Você talvez tenha reparado que cada experiência muitas vezes determina a qualidade da experiência seguinte, causando uma reação em cadeia em nossas vidas. Se uma coisinha der errado, pode desencadear uma série de problemas no resto do dia. Nesse contexto, é fácil perceber a força de uma atitude positiva. Em vez de deixar pequenas coisas arruinarem o nosso dia, deveríamos ignorá-las e seguir adiante sem nos deixarmos afetar.—Autor anônimo[5]

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O coração alegre serve de bom remédio.—Provérbios 17:22[6]

Publicado no Âncora em julho de 2013. Tradução Hebe Rondon Flandoli.


[1] www.mamapedia.com/voices/the-choice-to-suffer.

[2] Publicado originalmente em fevereiro de 2007.

[3] Publicado originalmente em agosto de 2008.

[4] www.positivelypresent.com/2010/03/train-yourself-to-be-positive.html.

[5] http://www.wingsfortheheart.com/consciously-choosing-a-positive-attitude.htm.

[6] NVI.

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To Be a Great Leader, You Absolutely Must Be a Reader

By Rick Warren

If you’ve ever been to Israel, you know there’s a real contrast between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea. The Sea of Galilee is full of water and full of life. There are trees and vegetation. They still do commercial fishing there. But the Dead Sea is just that—dead. There are no fish in it and no life around it. The Sea of Galilee is at the top of Israel and receives waters from the mountains of Lebanon. They all come into the top of it and then it gives out at the bottom. That water flows down through the Jordan River and enters into the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea takes in but it never gives out. That’s why it’s stagnant. The point is, there must be a balance in our lives to stay fresh with both input and output. There’s got to be an inflow and an outflow.

Somebody has said, “When your output exceeds your income, your upkeep will be your downfall.” There must be a balance. Most Christians get too much input and not enough output. They attend Bible study after Bible study. They’re always taking in but they’re never doing any ministry. The problem we pastors and church leaders face is the opposite. You’re always giving out, and if you don’t get input, you’ll dry up.

Paul wrote his second letter to Timothy in prison. At the end of the letter he tells Timothy, “When you come, bring my coat, bring the books, too, and especially the ones made of parchment” (2 Timothy 4:13). At the end of his life, while in prison, Paul wants two things… “I want my coat and I want my books.” C. H. Spurgeon commenting on this passage says:

He is inspired, yet he wants books. He has been preaching at least thirty years, yet he wants books. He’s seen the Lord, yet he wants books. He’s had a wider experience than most men, yet he wants books. He’s been caught up to heaven and has heard things that are unlawful to utter, yet he wants books. He’s written a major part of the New Testament, yet he wants books.

Oswald Sanders in his book Spiritual Leadership says: “The man [and woman] who desires to grow spiritually and intellectually will be constantly at his books.” I remember reading the biographies of both John Wesley and Jonathan Edwards. Both of them were intellectual giants. They stayed fresh by having a book continually while they were on horseback riding from event to event. Everywhere they traveled, they had a book. I’ve seen drawings of Wesley with a book in one hand, reading, not even looking where his horse is going.

Leaders are readers. Every leader is a reader. Not all readers are leaders but all leaders are readers. A lot of people read, but they’re not leaders. If you’re going to lead, you’ve got to be thinking further in advance than the people that you’re leading. There are at least four reasons reading is essential.

1. You must read for inspiration and motivation.

Harold Ockenga said, “Read to refill the wells of inspiration.” William Long, who wrote Christian Perfection and a number of Christian classics, wrote “Reading on wise and virtuous subjects is, next to prayer, the best improvement of our hearts. It enlightens us, calms us, collects us, collects our thoughts, prompts us to better efforts. We say a man is known by the friends he keeps, but a man is known even better by his books.” Personally, I feel few things get me out of sluggishness more than reading a good book. It gets my creative juices flowing. So the first thing I do is read for inspiration.

2. You must read to sharpen your skills.

Aldous Huxley said, “Every man who knows how to read has in his power to magnify himself, to multiply the way in which he exists, to make his life full, significant and interesting.” Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body. Your mind is a muscle, and just like any muscle, the more you exercise it, the stronger it gets. You cannot wear out your mind. No one ever died of an overused mind.

Just like every other professional, you as a minister have to continually be upgrading your skills. The way you do that is through reading. Make a list of the skills that are needed for your facet of ministry and then read in those areas.

3. You must read to learn from others.

It’s wise to learn from experience but it’s even wiser to learn from the experience of others. All of us learn from the school of hard knocks—trial and error. But we don’t have time to make all the mistakes ourselves. Socrates said, “Employ your time in improving yourselves by other men’s documents, so you shall come easily by what others have labored hard for.” Employ your time reading what other men have already learned and then you can learn much easier what others have labored hard for.

The fact is, you can learn from anybody. You don’t have to agree with everything they do, but everybody has something to teach you. We have assimilated lots of good ideas from many different sources and put them together in a new format, and that’s what creativity is. All truth has been around forever. There are no truly new ideas. Creativity is taking existing ideas and making them work in a new way.

4. You must read to stay current in a changing world.

If books are any indication of personal growth of senior pastors, a lot of pastors in America stopped thinking when they got out of school. They’re not reading anything new, yet they’re trying to speak on a weekly basis. In today’s society, obsolescence comes very quickly. You can write a science textbook and by the time it gets to press, it’s out of date. You cannot live out your entire ministry on what you learned in seminary. You have to keep growing and keep learning.

With that as a background, I want to share with you some tips about how to get more out of your reading:
Analyze your reading habits to see what you’ve read and what you really need to read next.
Be intentional about scheduling time for reading, then read snippets of books wherever you are.
Balance your reading. Read broadly. Include people you don’t agree with. This is how we are stretched.
Mark up your books and take notes. If you use a reading app, make highlights and store them.
Know what not to read. Know your favorite authors, read the covers and tables of contents and the bibliographies to see if the book is worth your time.
Read book reviews and book summaries to process even more books in less time.
Build your library. Whether you prefer print or e-books, collect a library to reference and to leave behind.

And above all, remember that the Bible is our number-one priority in reading. You can get so caught up in reading other books that you don’t read the Bible. Make time for God’s Word before reading anything else. It is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. We need to spend more time reading it than anything else.

If you want to be a growing leader of a healthy movement, keep reading. It’s the only way to stay out front.

http://pastors.com/great-leader-absolutely-must-reader

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