The world is perfect for us to grow.  We weren’t sent here to eek by or survive, that’s part of some people’s journey.  But we are here to grow and become greater than what we were before, just as a child grows to become like his parents.

Instead of seeing the things in your life that you don’t like, that you think of as imperfect, see them as opportunities to grow.  Perfect opportunities.  Even the withered arm on a crippled man is still a perfectly withered arm.  Even pain and suffering are perfect.  They exist for us because we have not been perfected yet, and they present the perfect opportunity to transcend them.  How to do that… well we’re all learning aren’t we?  I believe that once our hearts are perfected our world will be too.  As above, so below.  As within, so without.

Some people are so weighed down with trying to make it from day to day, or keeping up with the latest fashions, or making their car payments that they have never had that Matrix awakening moment where you realize that this world is not the only one, and indeed it’s a Contested World.  It’s our choice whether or not we want our world to be a paradise or a wasteland.  We happen to be at the tipping point one way or the other.

How much thought have you given to the world you are helping to create everyday?  What kind of world do you want your children to inherit?  Most importantly, what are you doing to create that world?  Becoming the most successful person in the world doesn’t mean a thing if you raped the planet to get there.  If your children have to grow up in an uglier world, what kind of parent are you?

Begin with imagining your Perfected World, what kind of place is it?  Where do people live?  What is their quality of life?  Is everyone equally happy, or is it an elitest world, where only the privledged have the opportunities to  pursue happiness?  Think about things like our food source… do we put toxic chemicals on our food in the future?  What about our houses?  What do they look like?  Do they get even larger and more separate from their environment, or do they merge together with it?  How about our jobs and school system?  Do we still work 50 hours a week at jobs that we hate?  Or do we get to enjoy our lives and work in the way that we choose?  What about money?  Do we still have currency, or do we invent something better?  Do we become more commercial, consuming more products, or do we have better things to do than watch TV and play video games and surf the internet?  How do we travel?  Do we ever solve the fossil fuel problem?  Do we go electric and solar, or do we invent some new technology?  Maybe we fly everywhere instead of drive?

Really think about it.  Talk about it with your friends, ask them what kind of world they would create for their children.

Then the fun part… The part that should put a smile on your face, or tell you that you need a new picture of the future, one in which you are smiling…  Now that you have a picture of where you are going, you can begin to break that down into small chunks.  Just like eating an apple, you can’t eat the whole thing at once, so you take small chunks of it and before you know it, you’ve accomplished your task.  In the beginning, this might look like eating low on the food chain (vegetarian), recycling, organic gardening in your yard (or even on the balcony of your apartment).  You might keep your old car a little longer so you can save up and buy a hybrid or wait for one of the new electric or hydrogen cars.  If you live in the city, maybe you bike to work, or walk a few times a week.  If you’re building a new house, maybe you build it off the grid, with solar and wind energy fueling your electric needs.  Maybe you avoid toxic chemicals in your household cleaners.  Maybe you petition your city to stop drugging your water supply with unnatural chemicals and pharmaceuticals.  Maybe you plant some trees on your birthday to counter how much paper products you use each year.

Each and every thing in this world is perfect for you, and with your growth, this perfect world becomes perfected.  Create beauty on the inside and beauty will manifest on the outside.

Think about it…Similar Posts:

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• Each year in the United States alone, over one hundred million cows, pigs and sheep are killed in slaughterhouses. An additional four billion birds (chickens and turkeys) are slaughtered annually. THE ABOVE STATISTICS REPRESENT A LINE OF DEAD ANIMALS STRETCHING OVER 750,000 MILES — A LINE FAR LONGER THAN THE DISTANCE TO THE MOON AND BACK!
• It is more efficient to eat low on the food chain; when we cycle grain through animals we waste most of the protein and other food values. The population of the United States is: 243,000,000. The number of human beings who could be fed by the grain and soybeans eaten by U.S. livestock is: 1,300,000,000.
• The number of people in the world who will STARVE TO DEATH THIS YEAR: 60 MILLION. The number of people who could be adequately fed by the grain saved if Americans reduced their meat intake by 10% is: 60 MILLION.
• Only 20% of the corn grown in the United States is eaten by humans. 80% of the corn grown in the United States is eaten by livestock.
• Only 5% of the oats grown in the United States is eaten by humans. 95% of the oats grown in the United States is eaten by livestock.
• THE PERCENTAGE OF PROTEIN WASTED BY CYCLING GRAIN THROUGH LIVESTOCK IS: 90%
• THE PERCENTAGE OF CARBOHYDRATE WASTED BY CYCLING GRAIN THROUGH LIVESTOCK IS: 99%
• The percentage of dietary fiber WASTED by cycling grain through livestock is: 100%
• HOW FREQUENTLY A CHILD DIES OF STARVATION: EVERY TWO SECONDS.
• Number of children who starve to death EVERY DAY: 40,000
• The length of time the world’s petroleum reserves would last if all human beings ate a meat-centered diet: 13 YEARS. The length of time the world’s petroleum reserves would last if all human beings ate a vegetarian diet: 260 YEARS.
• 40 pounds of soybeans are produced by the same amount of fossil fuel needed to produce 1 pound of feedlot beef.
• The percentage of energy return (as food energy per fossil energy expended to produce it) of the most energy efficient factory farming of meat is: 34.5%. The percentage of energy return (as food energy per fossil energy expended to produce it) of the least energy efficient Plant food is: 328%
• Principal reason for U.S. military intervention in Persian Gulf: Dependence on foreign oil.
• The percentage of raw materials consumed in the U.S. for all purposes presently consumed to produce the current meat centered diet is: 33%. The percentage of raw materials consumed in the U.S. for all purposes needed to produce a fully vegetarian diet would be only 2%.
• The number acres of U.S. forest which have been cleared to create cropland to produce a meat-centered diet: 260 MILLION ACRES. Amount of trees spared per year by each individual who switches to a pure vegetarian diet: 1 ACRE.
• Historic cause of the demise of many great civilizations: Topsoil depletion. The percentage of U.S. topsoil already lost: 75%. The percentage of U.S. cropland lost each year to soil erosion: 4 million acres, the size of Connecticut! THE PERCENTAGE OF U.S. TOPSOIL LOSS DIRECTLY ASSOCIATED WITH LIVESTOCK RAISING: 85%
• OVER 50% OF ALL WATER USED FOR ALL PURPOSES IN THE UNITED STATES IS USED FOR LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION.
• The water needed to produce 1 pound of wheat is: 25 gallons. The water needed to produce 1 pound of meat is: 2,500 gallons.
• The cost of common hamburger meat if the water used by the meat industry was not subsidized by U.S. taxpayers: $35 per pound.
• The cost per pound of protein from beefsteak if U.S. taxpayers ceased subsidizing the meat industry’s use of water: $89
• The current cost per pound of protein from wheat: $1.50. The current cost per pound of protein from beefsteak: $15.40
• IT TAKES A HUNDRED TIMES MORE WATER TO PRODUCE MEAT PROTEIN THAN VEGETARIAN PROTEIN. One chicken slaughterhouse can use 100 million gallons of water — enough to serve a community of 25,000 persons — in a single day.
• The number of medical schools in the U.S. is: 125. The number of medical schools with a required course in nutrition is: 30. The training in nutrition received during 4 years of medical school by the average U.S. physician is: 2.5 hours!
• The most common cause of death in the U.S. is: Heart attack. The risk of death from heart attack by average American man: 50%. The risk of death from heart attack by average American vegetarian man: 15%. The risk of death from heart attack by average “pure vegetarian” man (“vegan” – no dairy, meat or eggs) is: 4%.
• Increased risk of breast cancer for women with heavy meat diet compared to vegetarian women: 400%
• Men with heavy meat diet are 360% more likely to die of prostate cancer than vegetarian men.
• The average measurable bone loss of female meat-eaters at age 65: 35%. The average measurable bone loss of female vegetarians at age 65: 18%.
• THE DISEASES WHICH ARE COMMONLY PREVENTED, CONSISTENTLY IMPROVED, AND SOMETIMES CURED BY A LOW-FAT VEGETARIAN DIET INCLUDE: Strokes, Kidney stones, Prostate cancer, Cervical cancer, Diabetes, Peptic ulcers, Hiatal hernias, Gallstones, Irritable colon syndrome, Heart disease, Breast cancer, Pancreatic cancer, Stomach cancer, Hypoglycemia. Constipation, Osteoporosis, Diverticulosis, Hypertension, Salmonellosis, Colon cancer, Ovarian cancer, Endometrial cancer, Kidney disease, Hemorrhoids, Obesity, Asthma and Trichinosis.
• The breast milk of meat-eating mothers has 3,500% more pesticide contamination than the breast milk of vegetarian mothers.
• Less than 1 out of every quarter million slaughtered animals is tested for toxic chemical residues.
• Percentage of male college students sterile in l950: 0.5%. Percentage of male college students sterile in 1978: 25% Sperm count of average American male compared to 30 years ago: Down 30%. THE PRINCIPLE REASON FOR SPERM COUNT REDUCTION AND STERILITY IN U.S. MALES IS DIETARY INTAKE OF CHLORINATED HYDROCARBON PESTICIDES. 94% of chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticide residues in the American diet comes from meat and other animal products.

• It has been estimated that, due to the high level of uric acid in meat, the kidneys of a meat-eater must do ten times the work than the kidneys of a vegetarian

It’s been said that hurt comes to the hurtful… perhaps we should start being less hurtful to the animals of this planet.  The quality of life for everyone on the planet would improve as well.

Think about it…Similar Posts:

• 10 Easy Ways To Go Green Today
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Thanks to Anthony, the WildAlchemist for bringing this and other great posts to my attention.

Have a wonderful day.Similar Posts:

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How can we call ourselves free, when we clearly aren’t?  Sure you can own land, as long as you pay for it…  So you spend years of your life working for someone who is working for someone else, doing a job that you hate, all so you can “own” a piece of land in a country that supposedly belongs to you in the first place.  And then what happens when you finally ‘own’ this piece of land?  You are required to pay taxes on it every year, like some serf or peasant in service to some far off dictator king.

Who have we let take our land from us and then ransom it back to all Americans at a price that they must pay for the rest of their lives?  Is this freedom?

And we wonder why the planet and environment is going to hell, it’s because nobody cares about what isn’t theirs.  We don’t view the Earth as belonging to us, so we don’t take care of it.  And pretty soon, it’s not going to be able to take care of us any longer either.

Why can’t every family own their own piece of the Motherland?  Why can’t every family have a garden where they can do whatever they see fit to do without fear of making money to pay taxes or buy food?  Do we as Man not deserve this?

Where along the way of human “development”, did we decide that all land belonged to the state?  And if it doesn’t belong to the state, then why are you taxed on it?  In fact, what would happen if you didn’t pay taxes on it?  The government would take your land away.

Land should be available for every family who desires it to create for themselves a family domain where they can live free and happy.  This would solve every problem plaguing society today.  Think about it…   No more crime, no more poverty, no more hunger, pollution would begin cleaning itself up, diseases would be nearly wiped out, medicinal plants would be free to all those who needed them…  Free healthcare wouldn’t even be needed because no one would be sick…  Obesity, gone.  Diabetes, cured.  Cancer, a sick thought of the past.  If everyone had the best of what they needed to be healthy and happy, then what kind of world would America be then?

Let Laws be passed that provide for private land ownership without taxation, and let’s begin cleaning up the mess we’ve made of God’s creation.

Or do you already know of a way this can be accomplished?  Please let me know about it.Similar Posts:

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There are a few different reasons for stopping, the biggest one probably being it’s hard as hell not to eat anything solid.  The others being that I mostly wanted to see what it was all about, and having seen that I’m happy to wait a little while before really trying to tackle this beast.  92 Days!  I don’t see how they did it.  But I’m curious to find out.

So for now I’ll go back to my mostly raw lifestyle with a new appreciation for food.

One of the lessons that I’ve had to learn in my life is how to treat myself after failing at something.  The most important thing you can do for yourself is to not make a big deal over failure.  In the past, I’ve been so scared of failing that I wouldn’t even begin something.  No longer though…

Even though I didn’t last as long as I might have liked, 3 days without solid food is 3 days longer than I’ve ever gone without solid food before, and I’ve learned invaluable lessons about addiction, and how to eat properly (ie. only when you’re hungry), not as a way to feel better about something (ie. self-medicating).

I am fairly certain that at some point in the future I will juice feast again, but until that time, I will enjoy juicing within the context of my normal diet.

Looking forward to my bananas again Similar Posts:

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Juice feasting is really pretty simple in form… You make and consume 4-6qts of raw, fresh fruit and vegetable juices.  With at least 2 qts being dark greens like spinach, kale, parsley, dandelion, and the like.  Depending on your blood sugar level you can have more or less fruit juice.  Seeing as I’m not a diabetic, I can have plenty of fruit juice as long as I get my 2 qts of greens.

That’s pretty much it.  A typical juice feast lasts 92 days, with others lasting 60, 45, or 30 days.  I’ve yet to decide which if any of those I’ll be doing.  I may only last a week, maybe two.    We’ll see…  I’ve been practicing procrastination with this one, and I’m interested to see how long I can put off eating solid food.

I have to say that it is quite the mind teaser.  I am reminded once again how addictive food can be.  Even just the act of eating is a strong habit to break.  You wake up and eat your breakfast while watching the news or reading the paper, you eat your lunch around the table with co-workers, or reading your book, and you eat your dinner with family or friends, all the while snacking in between or later that night while you watch tv or a movie.  Am I coming off a bit obsessed?  Sorry bout that, I’m sure the cravings will pass.

I have been craving chicken wings for the last two days though, which is weird because I wouldn’t normally eat them on my mostly raw vegan diet anyway.  Perhaps tomorrow I’ll go into why I switched to raw foods in the first place.

Today I had:

2 qts watermelon, lime juice

3 qts green juice (spinach, cucumber, carrot, celery, parsley, and a red bell pepper today)

1 qt orange juice

I weighed 174 lbs today, which brings weight loss to 2 lbs so far as I started out yesterday at 176 lbs.  I’ve felt good all day.  High energy, good spirits.  I slept about 9.5 hrs last night, which is more than usual for me.  I usually get about 7 hours of sleep.  My dreams were quite vivid, which I’ve also heard is usual for a juice feast.  My skin’s been a little drier than usual, especially on my hands.

Well that’s all for today, stay tuned Similar Posts:

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I went to bed with a headache and a slight fever.  Woke up with a stuffy nose and sinus pressure.  Also my teeth hurt.

I did the recommended skin-brushing and then took a shower before heading off to the grocery store to buy some veggies and fruits to juice.  I got three bunches of spinach (wasn’t sure how much juice I would get from greens), one bunch of cilantro, some cucumbers, carrots, celery, granny smith apples, oranges, limes, garlic, and ginger.

I’ve felt pretty good all day, with the exception of some sinus pressure still, and my joints have been aching.
Especially the knees and lower spine.  I’ve also been cold all day, like I could never really warm up.  Other than that, no major detox symptoms yet, just a slight fever at times.

Mentally I’ve been a little disjointed today.  Don’t know if it’s the interruption of my daily routine, or the juicing yet.  I’ve read a lot today, and rehearsed with the band, but other than that, I’ve just been taking it easy, and I plan to keep taking it easy for the first few days, or at least until I get used to not eating anything all day.  (It’s kinda creepy)

Stay tuned, I’ll be trying to post daily on my progress, unless the day’s events really just don’t warrant a post.   More info on exactly what this entails later, but for now, I thought it better to just go ahead and start.

I’m excited!Similar Posts:

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Right now, I’m figuring out the best time to start, but I may just need to jump right in, so that I don’t keep thinking about it forever.

The benefits of the juice feast are that you aren’t cutting out any calories so you can still function from day to day while detoxing.  Another benefit is the emotional detox, as all of your body’s cells release their toxins, apparently all of your emotional baggage comes out with it.  And after the year I’ve had emotionally, I could really use some of this

The self discipline part of it is going to be the fun part!

Stay tuned for more details, as I will be covering the juice feast in detail once I begin.Similar Posts:

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Get a Ride.

This is an easy one folks, and one that’s been around for years. Carpool or use public transportation. If everyone would carpool one day out of the week, we’d lower carbon emissions by 149 million tons.

Another easy solution is to walk or ride your bike. (Might help your waistline out too)

Forty percent of all car trips in the U.S. are less than two miles.

Walking also gives you important time to breathe and think good thoughts. It puts you outdoors and lets you get some one on one time with your planet.

Maintain Your Vehicle

If you do have to drive, then make sure your car or truck or SUV is properly maintained.

Make sure your tires are properly inflated. This can increase your mpg by up to 3 percent, which would save you up to 10 cents per gallon of gas.

Slow it down. Braking and Accelerating aggressively wastes fuel. Driving over 60 mph can cost you 20 cents per gallon of gas for every 5 mph increase.

Change Your Lightbulbs

Change out your regular energy wasting incandescent light bulbs with CFLs (compact fluorescent lightbulbs). CFLs use 75 percent less electricity and last up to 10 times longer.

Turn It Up Or Down

Adjusting your thermostat up or down by just Three Degrees Fahrenheit year round will save you about $114 on a 1,500 square foot home, and will keep two and a half tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

Power Down Your PCs

If every U.S. computer and monitor were turned off at night, the country could shut down 8 large power stations and avoid emitting 7 million tons of carbon dioxide every year.

Whether at work, or at home, if you aren’t using it when you’re sleeping, then shut it down.

Install A Low Flow Shower Head

Yes, water is cheap. But although 70 percent of the globe is covered in water, less than One percent of that water is available for human use.

Eat Less Meat

Not only will your health improve, but the environment will too. A pound of beef requires 30 times more water to produce than a pound of wheat, and 200 times more than a pound of potatoes.

Producing 1 calorie of animal protein uses 10 times as much fossil fuels as producing 1 calorie of vegetable protein. And guess which is better for your body?

Start by skipping meat for one day a week.

For more info check out The Case Against Meat

Pay Your Bills Online

It will save you time and money. If all U.S. households received electronic statements instead of paper, and paid their bills online, we’d save 18.5 million trees every year, 2.2 billion tons of CO2 and other greenhouse gases, and 1.7 billion pounds of solid waste.

Bring Your Lunch To Work

Not only could you save around $2,000 a year, but take-out food packaging creates 1.8 million tons of trash in the U.S. every year. Guess how much of that trash is bio-degradable…

and finally…

Stop Drinking Bottled Water

I know you think it’s “better for you”, but you’re wrong

In the U.S. in 2006, it’s reported that we spent $15 billion on bottled water. Did you know that you could run 100,000 cars for a year on the amount of oil it takes to produce plastic for these bottles? And then 9 out of 10 of these bottles are then just thrown away.

The really crazy part, 24 percent of the bottled water consumed is just filtered tap water!

Buy a reusable water bottle from mySigg.com or KleanKanteen.com, and if you’re really concerned about the quality of your water than filter it yourself, at home. You’ll save thousands of dollars a year.

Well that’s it for today, let me know if you’ve found this enlightening, I know I did when I first came across the info.Similar Posts:

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