More detoxing

Well after several failed attempts at detoxing, I had what seemed like a meridian massage earlier this week (complete with tibetan chimes and crystal infused oils) along with a few comments from the therapist about getting my eating right. I also looked at a few of her angel cards, one of which said, you're addicted and oversensitive to sugar, you need to detox. Which was something i'd been thinking about doing for a while now.

I plan to detox for at least 10 days with the intention of extending it as much as possible. Depending on how long i can hold out. Today is day 2. Day three is usually the hardest. Today i only have a mild headache. I was going to do a full water only fast, but i've now resolved to take it more gently by having some food, since i still have to go to work.

Namely been having green smoothies in the morning, apples for morning and afternoon tea, and lots of herbal teas throughout.

The books of Moses and Genesis talk about herbs being created for meat for man and beast. Very interesting.

Next month for our birthday my sister and I are going to an "Unplug from the world" retreat. I think it will be fun.

Who I really am by Kenneth Cope

Went to a musical "fireside" in Sydney while I was there (having got home today). Kenneth Cope, LDS composer extraordinaire was over visiting the land of big red deserts. He spoke about different aspects of Who we are, interspersed with singing songs, either hymns or his own compositions. It was so beautiful and uplifting.

Abba, meaning Daddy or Poppa, is the word Jesus used in the garden of Gethsemane as he was suffering the pain of the atonement. He said if you walked through Israel today, thats what you would hear little children calling out to their fathers. Becausse He, God, is truly our father, and we are his children. And if our spirits weren't shielded by these earthly tabernacles, then everyone would be able to see our glory, a glory which comes from our spiritual parents in heaven.

I had an atheist teacher in intermediate school. I asked if he would sponsor me in the 40 hour famine and he said no because he didn't believe in God. I couldn't quite make the link between not believing in God and refusing to sponsor something, or maybe it was just an excuse. I don't understand atheism at all, especially when i look out the window and see all the wonders of Gods creation.

Sydney Aquarium

I went to the Sydney aquarium in Darling Harbour yesterday. It was a very very long walk on a very hot day but i got to learn about dugongs, sort of like a sea cow. I'd never heard of them before. Funny looking creatures. They eat about 120 heads of lettuce each per day (theres 2 of them) and they're an endangered species, owing to their natural food source (sea grass) being destroyed by multiple types of fishing, trawling and digging up sand for land reclamation projects.

The thought is that the myths of mermaid sirens luring sailors to their deaths in days of yore is based on sightings of the dugong in the past.

I also got to go on a glass bottom boat in an overheated aquarium pool to watch all the fish and sharks directly underneath us. During the 5 hours we were there, i took over 500 photos, mostly because my camera wasn't coping so well with the dim lighting conditions and fast fishy movements. My favourite fishes were the ones off Finding Nemo. The blue tang (Dory) and the clown fish and the one called Gill. Also the cute little sea horses and this freaky big blue fish with a huge eye that swivelled around til he was looking at all of us.

I wonder what fish see when they look out of through the aquarium glass. My friend says nothing can beat the 7 Seas aquarium in Osaka Japan, so I guess i'll have to go see that one some day. And after such a delightful day viewing Gods underwater creations, what did we have for dinner? Fish and chips. Yum.

How the Other Half Live

For Christmas last year, each Air NZ staff member received a one-off lounge pass to the Koru Business class lounge, to use on any international flight during the following year. Since it expires at the end of this month, I decided that today would be a good time to use it, prior to my trip to Sydney.

I felt a sense of queasy trepidation as I headed upstairs to where the lounges are located. There was a note on the back of the pass saying that it could only be used on a "space available" basis. I wondered if that was their way of barring anyone who looked unsuitable. The funny thing is half the people here are wearing jeans and sneakers. I guess everyone wants to be comfortable on a flight, unless they have to jump off the plane and head straight out to a business meeting.

There's a lot of well dressed couples, and i feel like a lowly staff member. Its a really cosy place with soft music, cushy seats, lots of "interesting" art work, free internet and lots of free food. I can see why people want to come here to wind down before the rigors of air travel. But i don't think I could come here all the time. Its just a bit intimidating to me. If i was a different person it wouldn't be a problem. I'm sure everyone here just thinks of themselves as a regular person. But they don't seem like it. You'd have to have a lot of money to get business class seats just for a flight overseas, considering how many cheap fares are available these days.

I read a definition of confidence I'd never heard of before recently. Confidence is trusting yourself. Everyone has confidence in certain areas, because everyone is familiar with certain things. This place is way above my comfort zone. I even went and asked the concierge where to put my dirty plates. She laughed, and told me not to worry about it, just leave it on my table. "You get waited on hand and foot here, make the most of it." They have people that come around and scoop up your dirty plates and stuff for you.

In conclusion, this is a nice place to visit but i wouldn't make it a regular thing.

The Reverse Law of Attraction

My sister is really good at winning stuff. Im not sure how she does it nor how she's so good at it, but she always seems to be winning prizes at one thing or another, ever since we were little.

The other day we went out for lunch and were arriving back at her place to find an envelope in her mailbox (at the end of a long driveway). Since she was driving i very kindly offered to open it for her, but she would have none of it.

She opened it to discover that a competition she had entered a few weeks back, she had won a coffee maker. Of all things, a coffee maker. Since devout mormons don't drink coffee, I thought this was hilarious. On the entry form, out of a list of possible prizes, she was adamant that she had written, "anything, EXCEPT the coffee maker." and yet that was the one she'd won.

She said whenever she's entered a competition just for the heck of it thinking "thats such a dumb prize, who would want that" she tends to win it, like the small garden shed she won recently. I advised her to sell her unwanted prizes on trademe. and then to teach me how she does it.

If the law of attraction says that what you put out into the universe comes flying back at you, how come when you say you don't want something, you win it?

I started reading a book about Energy yesterday. Energy is about momentum and flow, and resisting or blocking energy, is apparently bad (according to the book, not me). Negative emotions especially impatience, fear and anger, block energy so that bad things tend to manifest in your life, and positive emotions lead to the reverse.

According to several books i've read, there are ways to harness the energy of the universe, (As a man thinketh, by James Allen, Think and Grow rich by Napoleon Hill, Tony Robbins books, The Secret etc) but none of them is particularly clear about the whole concept and how you go about doing it. I get annoyed with things that aren't clear.

Passions

A talk I listened to on sunday provoked my thinking a lot.

The speaker told us about a man he met a few months ago at his "surrogate grandfathers" funeral. His surrogate grandfather was his grandmothers partner for years after his grandfather died, and at the funeral they met his 85yr old brother. Not your typical old man walking around with a hunched back and cane, he was spritely and full of life. They asked him the secret to his longevity and his enthusiasm for life.

His answer was that everyone needs 3-5 passions, things that give them energy and drive and make life worth living for them.

The speaker had since pondered on this, and his 5 were travel, languages, the gym, his studies/degree and journalling.

What are mine?

Abel Tasman National Park

Ended up hang gliding and doing a Microlite flight just out of Motueka, up north of Nelson where i was staying. The guys at Tasman Sky adventures were awesome, small family business venture. Helen very kindly picked me up, Mitch dropped me off at the airport afterwards and Trevor was my pilot for the morning.

Would highly recommend to anyone, it was so beautiful up there. Am already planning my next trip back there, to the national park/marine reserve, might do a couple of day trips there.

Action

At times, I refrain from doing anything, in the hope that its the best course of action, even though I know that it never is. 99% of the time, its probably better to do something, rather than nothing. Its my procrastinative self at work, I believe. Over the weekend, I kept thinking about Nelson, and going to Nelson. In my normal way, I was like, Oh yeah, thats a good idea, Nelson, its a nice place, maybe I can go there sometime next year. But there was this feeling, sort of like an insistent nudging that I should do it sooner rather than later. I have no idea why.

But 3 days later, here I am in Nelson, smack dab in the middle of NZ. I have no idea why I'm here. But yesterday I managed to book my flights, accomodation, even a hang gliding trip for thursday in Motueka and transport there and back. Simply the fact of taking action and doing something has made me feel a whole lot better, like i'm doing something worthwhile, even though I have no idea for what purpose.

Maybe there is no purpose. Maybe its just a test. It felt like a prompting, but maybe it wasn't a spiritual prompting, but a sub-conscious self prompting me to get out of my comfort zone and move. Movement is vitality is momentum is life. Stagnation and (opposite of movement) is death.

I had a friend in high school, his motto was Live with no regrets. I always admired him for his energy and constant action, and even though I appreciated his example, I could never bring myself to do the same thing. I considered myself more of an observer in life. But I think it would be alot more fun to be a participant, rather than sitting on the sidelines. Maybe this trip south is the first step.