been removed. In looking at the Map of Consciousness, we can
track what happened. The snake would have instantly
sensed the fear, which has a negative energy field,
along with my anger and desire to strike at it. However, his responses through his energy system WORRY, FEAR, AND ANXIETY 279
were so fast that the strike would have happened
before I could have moved my shin out of the way. Instead, because of the severe threat of the circum
stances, I really, really let go. Did I ever! I moved right
through the willingness to let go, right through the
acceptance, love, and joy, and right into a state of pro
. found peace. If we calibrate the energy field of that
experience, it started out at 100, but almost instantly,
it moved up to 600. Then a Presence prevailed-an
Infinite, profoundly still Presence whose essential
nature is one of peace, whose power is infmite-that
controlled the whole experience. Thus, both the
snake and I transcended fear, and we moved to a time
less silence. The snake was as though enchanted. We
looked at each for minutes~ and I was reluctant to
break the spell by leaving. The snake then slithered
away and never rattled its tail. This is valuable because it illustrates the falsity of
another one of the mind's belief systems that we have
to learn to release, which is the idea that fear is the
source of our safety. We will notice that the mind
seems to worship fear as though it is some kind of a
demigod. The mind has a program that says, "The rea
son I'm alive is due to my fears. I am alive because I
allow fear to decide what I am going to do." A little
introspection will show that this belief system is
going on. A person says, "Well, if I wasn't afraid of
being poor in myoId age, I wouldn't get insurance. If
I wasn't afraid of an automobile accident, I wouldn't
drive safely." So the person begins to ascribe the
source of their aliveness, the source of their life, to
fear, which is the god of their life.They really begin to 280 HEALING AND RECOVERY
worship fear. We can see from the above example that just the
opposite is true. What insures our survival is the
absence of fear and its replacement by caution and
realistic common sense.We have managed to survive in
spite of our fears, not because of them. We can make
decisions based on rational choice, on our knowledge,
and on value coming from the beingness of that which
we really are without fear entering the picture at all.All
day long we make decisions based just on our aware
ness ofreality, with no fear particularly involved. Fear is
not necessary. There is the idea that fear is good for us,
that it is beneficial and has all kinds of hidden, mysteri
ous values. People will look back and rationalize how
fear got them to do this and do that, and all I can say is,
"Too bad." Too bad they did not do it out of love for
themselves or for their fellow human beings. Too bad
that they did not do it out of love for life itself, love for
their own aliveness, and love for their body.Why not do
things for our body out of love for it instead of out of
fear of the consequences? Why not keep it healthy and
happy because we love and value it, not because we
are afraid of a heart attack or something else? There is another technique for letting go of more
of this fear, which I call "the worst-case scenario." If
we follow fears and ask, "Why am I afraid of that?" we
will see that it leads to another fear. Why are we afraid
of driving a car? We might have an accident. Why are
we afraid of an accident? Because we might get
injured. What if we get injured? Then we might suffer
pain, and so on.We will find that every fear ultimately
leads to the fear of death, the fear of the body's dying. W 0 RR Y, FEAR, AND ANX lETY 281
It will lead to the fear of whether other people like us
or agree with us. Ifwe look at fear and keep asking our
selves what fear does that bring up, and what fear is the
basis of that, we fmally get to the worst-case scenario. For example, let us say that our fmancial fears are
that we will totally run out of money, have no place to
live, no money for food or clothing, and that we will
end up semi-naked somewhere on a street corner in
the cold with no place to go, and no medical help. What we do is constantly let go of resisting the feeling
of this and picture the worst possible thing that can
happen to us, such as ending up in the poor farm or
sitting on the street corner as a bag lady or a bagman. We then allow ourselves to picture the worst possible
scenario- there we are with our bag next to us, sitting
on the cold street corner at midnight, friendless. We imagine whatever the worst possible fear
could be and continue the practice. If we will go
within ourselves and keep letting go of resisting the
inner experience of what is coming up, pretty soon
the fear of the worst scenario will run out. Ifwe con
tinue this practice long enough, eventually we will
finally sit down and handle 'the biggie', which is piC
turing ourself in the casket with everybody walking
by it.That is the worst scenario that most people can
visualize-physical death. There is the belief that we are the material body,
and that is all there is to us. Sooner or later we come to
that fear, and when we do, we sit with it in the same
way as we sit with any other fear. We let go of death,
which is a label, a thought, and a concept. We have no
experience of the truth of that, only our fantasies, 282 HEALING AND RECOVERY
thoughts, and beliefs; therefore, we have to label it as
only a fantasy in our mind.What people actually expe
rience as they picture that and let go of resisting those
feelings and sensations is a very surprising thing.When
they have gone through the process and become that
which is greater than the entire experience, they real
ize that they have survived the worst possible scenario. First, I imagined being abag person. By the time the
fear ran out, I enjoyed i~. I thought it would actually be
fun to just do what I wanted to do-hang out with the
people' I wanted to talk: with, not have to go to work or
pay any bills, and have no health or automobile insur
ance premiums to pay. It would be okay because it
would be from choice and not from victimhood. It
would just be a different experience that is in great
contrast to the rest of my life. From choice, there is no fear; the fear disappears. The worst thing that can happen is to end up on a
street corner and live that kind of life, but the fear
about it is gone. I may not choose that kind of life, but
if it should happen, it is not filled with fear. I am no
longer run by the fear of that, so I do not have to lie in
bed at night worrying about what would happen if I
run out of money some day. No matter how much
money one has, that fear is present.The thought that
we can earn more and more money and pile it up in
the bank is futile. I know somebody who was worth
sixty million dollars, ended up bankrupt, and had to sell
off his personal possession to pay his bills. Could sixty million dollars protect us from that
which we fear? Of course not. Money will not protect
us at all, nor will barricades, putting six locks on our WORRY, FEAR, AND ANXIETY 283
doors, or hiring more police. The only protection is
owning that wt: are the source of our own experience,
that we are the master of it, that we can handle it, and
that we are greater than it. The mind always tries to justify our fear, of course. It says, "Well, there are a lot of muggings; therefore, my
fear is justified." Why is there such a thing as justified
fear? Who needs it? Why not walk home out of choice
in a way that we know is not going to bring on such an
attack? Why not out of loving oneself enough? Why not
out of just enjoying life and valuing it to the point that
we do not want to risk it, out of choice? Survival does not depend on the fear of being
mugged or robbed. It depends on pre-choice, which is
made by a mind that is not fearful. Because of the 'not
fearfulness',I am alive today.Itwas not being afraid that
held back the rattlesnake from striking me when it was
really only inches away. It was due to the loss of the
fear and the letting go of it. It is possible to be in very
severe


 they are liver-
toxic, but doctors feel impelled to use them to prevent heart attacks and strokes. By being able
to do without statins, patients on the Gerson program avoid yet another source of toxicity. Any
remaining cholesterol surplus is easily eliminated by the niacin (vitamin B-3), which is an integral
part of the Gerson protocol. Of course smoking, another source of elevated cholesterol, is strictly
banned on the therapy. The Gerson treatment not only helps to clear arteries of plaque, (which medicine claims
cannot be done), thus avoiding strokes or more serious second heart attacks. It is also a natural
method of prevention, even in people who may have a genetic predisposition to heart disease, and
has also helped patients, who have already suffered a heart attack or stroke, to recover and even
restore some lost functions. Case History: In December 1993, the 87-year-old father of recovered Gerson patient M.<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>
Q: What is the cost of the GKI treatment compared to other heart treatments?,
A: Less than $50.
Q: What is the primary cause of atherosclerosis, according to the text?,
A: The deposition of LDL cholesterol in the walls of the arteries.
Q: What is the primary cause of Rheumatoid Arthritis, according to the text?,
A: Food allergies or intolerance.
Q: What is the primary cause of ADHD, according to the text?,
A: Not specified in the text.
Q: What is the primary cause of morbid obesity, according to the text?,
A: Lack of exercise and an unhealthy diet.<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>Childhood obesity is particularly dangerous, since the
child’s developing organism is less able to deal with the many complications of gross overweight
than that of an adult. Several British researchers have stated that for the first time in human history
it will be normal for parents to outlive their offspring. A hugely successful recent movie produced by Morgan Spurlock, “Super Size Me,” unveiled
the truth about the destructive effects of fast food. Spurlock, a healthy 33-year-old man undertook Copyright © Charlotte Gerson, 2007. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any medium, print or electronic without prior written permission from the author.Page 7 2Healing the Gerson Way—Defeating Cancer and Other Chronic Diseases
www.thegersonway.comto eat all his meals at McDonald’s for 30 days, to find out what this exclusive diet would do to
him. Throughout the experiment he was regularly examined by gastro-enterologist Dr. Daryl
Isaacs, who declared that Spurlock was “an extremely healthy person who got very sick eating
this McDonald’s diet.” At one stage the doctor even told Morgan Spurlock that his liver had turned
into pat é and asked him to stop his experiment. But the moviemaker persisted. At the end of the
month he reported, “I got desperately ill. My face was splotchy and I had this huge gut. { He gained
25 pounds in 30 days.} My knees started to hurt from the extra weight coming on so quickly. It
was amazing and frightening.” On top of it all, his liver became toxic, his cholesterol shot up from
a low 165 to 230, his libido flagged and he suffered from headaches and depression. Within a few
days of beginning his ‘drive-through diet,’ Spurlock was vomiting out the window of his car, and
doctors who examined him were shocked by how rapidly his entire body deteriorated. Mothers cannot be solely blamed for their children’s faulty nutrition and inactivity. Very few
mothers receive any nutritional guidance from their pediatrician. The problem is that he doesn’t
know much about nutrition, either. All he has learned in medical school boils down to the usual
“protein, carbohydrates and fats” doctrine. And so he is unable to recognize the harm done by
the children’s favorite foods; for instance, that the animal products used in fast foods are heat-
damaged, poorly assimilated, too high in cholesterol and salt, but deficient in true nutrients—
vitamins, minerals and enzymes. As a result they don’t satisfy hunger, and so a vicious circle
is created, leading to overfed but undernourished children. If a child asks for more food after a
complete meal, the mother’s instinctive reaction is to dish out an extra portion; she doesn’t realize
that no additional amount of food will make up for the missing essential nutrients. The average American diet leaves children not only hungry but also with low energy, so they
spend a lot of their free time lounging around, doing nothing. Yet they would also like to play, win
at games, run, and eventually ‘show off to the girls.’ To make up for their low energy, they start
to ‘look for something,’ and unfortunately find it, too. What they find are cola drinks containing
caffeine and sugar stimulants, cigarettes full of toxic substances, and eventually alcohol and street
drugs, giving a brief ‘high’ and leading to addiction. The same vicious circle affects adults, too. Since the conventional American diet is devoid
of live nutrients, the body remains unsatisfied and craves more—not quantity but quality, proper
nutrition that it needs to function smoothly and well. Sadly, people don’t know or understand this,
and so they try to satisfy their craving with rich desserts, ice cream, cakes and cookies. These
don’t satisfy, either, but they do create weight gain, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and
eventually diabetes and worse. Obesity is a morbid condition indeed, and can only be overcome
by changing to a junk-free, nutrient-rich wholesome diet. One doesn’t need a degree in nutrition to know that all kinds of sugar are fattening, and that
the modern Western diet with its vast range of convenience foods is over-rich in sugar. However,
when it comes to official policy concerning nutrition, such basic facts are often swept aside for Copyright © Charlotte Gerson, 2007. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any medium, print or electronic without prior written permission from the author.Page 7 3Healing the Gerson Way—Defeating Cancer and Other Chronic Diseases
www.thegersonway.comcommercial reasons, which frequently clash with the interests of public health. One such recent
clash concerned the upper safe limit of sugar added to food, as recommended by the WHO (World
Health Organization). Professor Colin Campbell reported on this event in his book, The China
Study,  and with his permission we quote his account:
“The recommendation on added sugar is as outrageous as the one for protein. When this FNB
(Food and Nutrition Board) report was being released, an expert panel put together by the WHO
(World Health Organization) and the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) was completing
a new report on diet, nutrition and the prevention of chronic diseases. Professor Philip James
was a member of this panel and a panel spokesperson on the added sugar recommendation. Early
rumors of the report’s findings indicated that the WHO/FAO was on the verge of recommending
an upper safe limit of 10% for added sugar, far lower than the 25% established by the American
FNB group. “Politics, however, had early entered the discussion, as it had done in earlier reports on added
sugars. According to a news release from the director-general’s office at the WHO, the US-based
Sugar Association and the World Sugar Research Organization, who ‘represent the interests of the
sugar growers and refiners, had mounted a strong lobbying campaign in an attempt to discredit
the WHO report and suppress its release.’ According to The Guardian newspaper of London,
the US sugar industry was threatening to ‘bring the WHO to its knees’ unless it abandoned these
guidelines on added sugar. WHO people were describing the threat as ‘tantamount to blackmail.’
The US-based group even publicly threatened to lobby the US Congress to reduce the $406
million US funding of the WHO if it persisted in keeping the upper limit so low at 10%. There
were reports that the Bush administration was inclined to side with the sugar industry. “So, for added sugars, we now have two different upper ‘safe’ limits: a 10% limit for the
international community and a 25% limit for the US,” is Professor Campbell’s wry conclusion. Clearly, despite official claims, the obesity epidemic hitting the American people is not solely the
result of insufficient exercise!”
Osteoporosis
Also known as ‘brittle bones,’ this progressive loss of bone mass is unfortunately becoming
very common. It causes fractures or breaks at the slightest impact, such as a fall or other
accident. Fractures are immensely painful and heal slowly—or, in old people, not at all. A serious
break, necessitating weeks of bed rest, can lead to infected bedsores and other, potentially fatal
complications. More women than men suffer from osteoporosis, so it is assumed to be caused by ageing, post-
menopausal loss of the female sex hormone estrogen, lack of exercise, and smoking. However, we
have seen a 28-year-old man suffering from this condition! The conventional medical treatment
prescribes female hormones, calcium, Vitamin D, and regular exercise. The best that these can Copyright © Charlotte Gerson, 2007. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any medium, print or electronic without prior written permission from the author.Page 7 4Healing the Gerson Way—Defeating Cancer and Other Chronic Diseases
www.thegersonway.comachieve is to slow down the disease process, not reverse it.


 substances. Hundreds more accumulate in the liver, brain,
kidney, pancreatic, bowel and heart tissue, obstructing proper cellular
respiration and causing inflammation and damage to these tissues. Many contaminants oxidize and become airborne thus causing liver and
lung damage and cancer. Many more bond with each other to form radical
substances like nitrosamines, which highly accelerate tumor formation and
growth. A large number of the above-cited pesticides, herbicides, fungicides,
petrochemicals, etc., are hormone disrupters. They inhibit or stimulate the
production of hormones or steroids, like estrogen and testosterone. Benzene levels in air, water and food have skyrocketed. Benzene is a
known carcinogen, which is used in solvents and food additives, and emitted
from oil refineries, gas stations, rubber (tire) manufacturing plants and diesel
powered vehicles. An astronomical amount of carcinogenic substances are
released into our air and our water from tobacco smoke, gas and especially
diesel emissions, body shops, airports, highways, railways, subways, most
industries, boating, petro-production plants, etc.Radiation is another high source of our cancers. Harmful radiation is
found in dental offices and hospitals (with use of x-rays, nuclear medicine,
and other processes), around high power wires, TV sets, microwave ovens,
cathode-ray computer monitors and most medical diagnostic equipment—
including Cat Scans, MRIs, mam-mogram and x-ray equipment. Cancer has now reached epidemic proportions, estimated to be in every
other person in the U.S.. According to Kathleen Deoul in her book
Cancer
Cover-Up {Genocide}:
 “One American dies of cancer every minute—the
equivalent of crashing three fully loaded 747s every day! But it doesn’t have
to happen.”
We live in a world of excitotoxins, also called “neurotoxins,” which are
affecting our relationship with the outside world and with ourselves. We have
literally surrounded ourselves with cancer-causing agents—we live in them
and around them, we drink, eat and inject them, and we are constantly putting
them on our skin. Our houses are full of formaldehyde and other potentially
toxic and carcinogenic substances released from carpets, Formica-type
(laminate) cabinets, plywood, glue, curtains, synthetic garments, etc. Your
clothes can be full of toxins, especially if they are dry cleaned. Perchloroethylene or “perc” —the chemical used in dry cleaning—is
extremely toxic. Spills at dry cleaners can necessitate the removal of the
building and the dirt beneath it. Plastics are another server of toxins and potential carcinogens. Vinyls
(phthalates) are found in PVC pipes, toys, baby teething objects, baby bottles
and building materials. Never buy distilled water in plastic containers. As
distilled water is void of substances, it therefore creates diffusion, pulling
other substances (like minerals and chemicals) into it. Even if we stopped using all chemicals today, it would still be too late. The human species remains steeped in ignorance as it continues to destroy its
own home. No other species does this. Big industry and automobiles are
some of the worst polluting offenders. Many factories that pour millions of
toxic particles daily into the air do not want to use pollution control devices
because of the expense. Although a lot of good research is going on by many
honest individuals, this information seems to get suppressed or buried by a
monetary-based society. But life has no price tag. Everyone must pitch in and
help clean up this world of ours. Become as free of toxic chemicals as possible.MODULE 4.6
Protecting Yourself From Carcinogens

We are surrounded by and consume hundreds of carcinogenic substances
each day. These substances act as igniters and accelerators. They damage
tissue and inspire immune responses like gasoline enrages a fire. Many of
these are neurotoxins, which attach themselves to your nervous system and
endocrine gland system. This creates hypoactivity, or lowering of the
function of these systems, which can create a multitude of symptoms
including difficulty in breathing, heart arrhythmia, MS and Lou Gehrig’s
disease. You must take full responsibility for your own health. Even our
government has little concern about the levels of environmental toxicity
Politicians don’t seem to realize that they are affected just as everyone else is. Why do you think cancer is soaring? The truth has been well hidden by those
who wish to gain from all this. However, they will eventually succumb to
these toxins, just as everyone else is. PROTECT YOURSELF! 1
. Live closer to nature, away from factories, power lines and heavy traffic. 2
. Fill your house with live plants. Philoden-drons (philodendron spp.) are
known to absorb formaldehyde, ammonia, benzene, trichloroethylene
and hydrates, as well as xylene. The following plants are great indoor
plants and will help clean indoor air:
Philodendron (Philodendron spp.) Spider Plants (Chlorophytum comosum)
Bamboo plant (Rhapis excelsea)
Corn Plant (Dracaena fragrans)
English Ivy (Hederá helix)
Bromeliads (Cryp tan thus spp.) Chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum spp.) House-type Palms
Ficus TreeGolden Pothos (Epipremnum aureum)
3
. Always wash your fruits and vegetables before you eat them. Use a
vegetable wash or fresh lemon juice with hydrogen peroxide. 4
. Eat an 80 to 100 percent raw food diet. Eat fruits even more so than
vegetables. Fruits are full of antioxidant and astringent properties. They
will keep your lymphatic (immune) system clean and moving. They also
enhance the strength of a cell, especially brain and nerve cells. 5
. In traffic, keep your car’s outside air vent closed. Make sure your car’s
exhaust system is not leaking and in good order. 6
. Use 100 percent natural hygiene products (soaps, shampoos, etc.). Read
the labels. If they have chemicals in them, don’t use them. (If you can’t
pronounce it—you probably don’t want it.) What you put on your skin
absorbs into your blood stream and circulates throughout your body. This can damage your brain, heart, kidneys and especially your liver. 7
. Avoid dry cleaning, as the chemicals used are extremely toxic. 8
. Use common sense with everything you do and use. It’s your body and it
carries you around this world, as any vehicle would. If it fails—you’re
stuck. Chemicals can be extremely dangerous. 9
. Avoid cooking. If you must cook, steam your food in stainless steel. Always use stainless steel cookware. 10
. Use and clean your air conditioners and air filters. Use the natural, high-
filtration-type that removes 1-micron to 3-micron size particles. 11
. Use R/O (reverse-osmosis) or steam-distilled water. Note: Avoid storing
distilled water in plastic containers. Distilled water will leach some of the
chemicals from the plastic into itself. 12
. Drink from and use glass as much as possible. Plastic can be toxic to
you. 13
. Avoid walking for exercise near high traffic areas. Walk in a safe park or
wooded area instead. 14
. Avoid florescent lighting as much as possible. Be aware of what you eat,
drink, breathe and what you put on your skin, as this is how you bring
the outside world in. MODULE 4.7
Poison Control Centers

Here are the telephone numbers for local Poison Control Centers in the
United States. You may want to program the numbers for your area into your
automatic dialing feature, if you have one. Please note that all phone numbers
are subject to change. Check your state’s Poison Control Center number for
accuracy. UNITED STATES

ALABAMA
205-939-9201
205-933-4050
800-292-6678 (AL only)
ALASKA
907-261-3193
ARIZONA
Statewide
800-362-0101 (AZ only)
Phoenix Area
602-253-3334
Tucson Area
602-626-6016
ARKANSAS
501-686-6161
CALIFORNIA
Davis Area
916-734-3692800-342-9293 (Northern CA only)
Fresno Area
209-445-1222
800-346-5922 (CA only)
Orange County Area
714-634-5988
800-544-4404 (Southern CA only)
San Diego Area
619-543-6000
800-876-4766 (619 area code)
San Francisco/Bay Area
415-476-6600
San Jose/Santa Clara Valley
408-299-5112
800-662-9886 (CA only)
COLORADO
303-629-1123
CONNECTICUT
203-679-1000
800-343-277 (CT only)
DELAWARE
302-655-3389
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
202-625-3333
202-784-4660 (TTY)
*
FLORIDA
813-253-4444
800-282-3171 (FL only)
GEORGIA404-


ron seeds, sugar, lemon water and mangelwurzel, that were
boiled with it, without dis carding the water. And he
should make it a habit during a meal to eat first green
leafy vegetables spiced with a sauce made of barley and
good oil. After this my lord can eat whatever he wishes. And when he has finished his meal he should suck on
quinces, pears, an apple or a pomegranate with its seeds. And the vegetables which my lord takes should be, first,
beets, mountain spinach, spinach  or rape-wine, whichever
he has, mixed in good olive oil and barley sauce. But if he has to soften his stool with medication, he
should take a gram of good rhubarb and pound it, and an
ounce of the tamarind fruit, pur ified and cut as thin as
possible, and soak them overnig ht in a liter and a half of
water, boiled well and simmered. In the morning it should
be strained over three ounces of filtered syrup of roses. After he takes this he shoul d abstain from food until the
completion of six hours from the rising of the sun. FOR CONSTIPATION
If the stools have become very  hard it is best that he
should take cassia fistula. A nd here is the mode of its
preparation: oxtongue herb—f our drachmas; licorice,
cleaned and shelled, herba fontis, barberry seeds—three drachmas of each; althea seeds—five drachmas; moist
roses of seven petals, anethum—seven hearts. All should
be soaked in one and a half  liters of warm water a day
and a night, then it should be boiled and crushed and
strained over twenty drachmas  of cassia fistula, twenty
drachmas of almond oil and one ounce of sugar. He
should take it and wait until it completes its action and its
evacuation. He should then eat a boiled chicken. If it is
not the proper time for finding moist roses he should
place over it three ounces of st rained rose syrup. And I
know that one who reads this paragraph will wonder, and
say: It is not right to use barberry seeds, because they
have the character of preven ting the softening of stools
toward which you aim. One should know that barberry
seed has the property of prev enting the injury caused by
cassia fistula, of strengt hening the intestines and
preventing tenesmus. This is what the old practitioners
taught us. And the physicians also mention that oxymel of
roses causes softening. It is proper that my lord should
possess it also and should take it when it is very hot to
soften the stool. Its mode of preparation: One should take a liter of very
strong vinegar and throw into it one hundred moist rose
leaves, which have been placed in the sun for one day. Next morning one should remove the roses and place other rose leaves in the vi negar, the same number as
before. And one should not refrain from changing the
rose petals every day for fo rty days. And one should take
this vinegar and make of it a syrup, three pounds of sugar
for every three ounces of vinegar. Ibn Zuhr compounded an oxymel syrup made of
raisins and it was very good when made during the
summertime. Its mode of preparation: The dark raisins
should have their seeds remove d. In one liter of vinegar
one should throw half a pound of raisins and soak them
for two days. Afterward he should put them on the fire
and boil them twice and purify them, making oxymel
vinegar. And this compound is made with great care
because the vinegar will withhold the white superfluity
and will prevent the formation of malodorous moistures
and nothing can be equal to it or  like it. It is of a very
subtle substance and has a cooling effect on the
temperament. The oxymel is of great help in all fevers. But the vinegar hurts the liver very much, it irritates it
and shrinks it and causes its blood to become pale. THE LIVER'S ROLE IN HEALTH
Galen has already explained that the preservation of
man's health lies in the health  of the liver; it colors the blood and increases its moisture s, but it increa ses its heat,
and if it does that too much, it may burn the blood. While
vinegar weakens his strength, raisins, that are congenial
to the liver, give it fats and nourishment. When the syrup
is compounded of vinegar and raisins as the venerated
[Ibn Zuhr] did, we get the bene fit of the vinegar and we
prevent injury to the liver. We thus obtain the benefit of
the raisins and we are saved from increased heat. This
syrup is so wonderful and good that it should be prepared. Your servant has already compounded for his master
two syrups and an electuary for the occasions which he
mentioned. One of the syrups he should always take,
every time. Its function is to purify the blood, remove its
turbidity and cleanse it of the gases that come from the
black bile. It will expand the spirit and gladden it. It will
chase away evil thoughts and feelings. And this is the mode of pr eparation: One should take
rose leaves—one pound; oxtongue —half a pound;
lavender—two ounces; Sodom's apple, fumaterra seed
and citron leaves—one ounce of each. He should soak all
of these in six liters of warm water a day and a night. Then all of them should be boiled several times, crushed,
cleansed and strained through a sieve. Place them in six
liters of sorrel syrup and put over a small flame until they thicken into a syrup, perfuming it with a quarterweight of
myrrh. TO STRENGTHEN THE HEART
Your servant has not found any syrup equal to it, to
gladden and strengthen the hear t and give it power. It is
mild and neither raises nor lowers the temperature and
therefore can be taken at any time. And the amount to be
taken is from two to three ounces, in cold water in
summertime and in warm water in wintertime. But the second syrup which your servant saw fit to
compound will loosen the stool very much and will often
cause a bowel movement twice or three times, depending
upon the preparation. It strengthens the expelling force in
the stomach and in the in testines and removes the
moisture and the black and re d biles with ease, without
harming the organs of digestion. As to the amount to be
taken, that is from three to four ounces of warm water in
which anise has been boiled until it is changed in
appearance. One should not ta ke it constantly, but only
when he needs it to expel the retained superfluities. When
one has accustomed himself to taking it once a week, it
will strengthen the intestines and remove the factor that causes dryness of the stools. The stools will become soft
and return to their normalcy. Its preparation: One takes shelled polypody, pistachio,
broken and crushed—two ounces; senna Mecca and
oxtongue—one ounce of each; crushed licorice and
crushed althea—half ounce of each; moist fennel—a
handful; and moist roses—twenty flowers. He should
soak all these in four liters  of warm water a day and a
night. In the morning he shoul d boil it, crush it and strain
it over thirty drachmas of ca ssia fistula, purified and
mixed with half an ounce of almond oil, strained and put
away separately. And he shoul d take myrobalan of Kabul
in a polished form and amilegium myrobalanus emblici—
ten drachmas of each. He should macerate the myrobalan
and soak it in a liter and a half of warm water a day and a
night. And in the morning he should squeeze the
myrobalan very well and purify it and add to what he
boiled, the cassia fistula which he prepared separately. He
should mix the two fluids and throw into them four liters
of violet syrup and place over a weak flame, and he
should suspend over it a bundle of soft flaxen cloth or
spikenard and mastic— two drachmas of each—and
crushed rhubarb— three drachmas. And he should not
forget to squeeze the bundle with his hand to bring out
the powers of the ingredient s which it contains. And when the liquid assumes a syrupy thickness it should be
removed from the fire and hidden in a clay vessel lined
with lead. In time of need one should proceed as I
mentioned. DIGESTIVES, APHRODISIACS, SEDATIVES
The spice hinted by your serv ant is the great electuary
which was prepared by his servant beforehand. It helps
the triple digestion [in th e stomach, the liver and the
organs] and strengthens all th e organs in general and the
heart and brain in particular. It delays aging, liquefies the
white fluid, prevents fumes from


 is simple agnosticism. For it is of che csscnce of  scientific honesty thnt
you do not prctcnd to know  whaL you do noL know,
and of thc csscncc of scicntific  methocl Ihat you do
not cmploy hypothcscs which  cannot  be tcsted. Thc immcdiatc rcsults  of this honesty  have bccn
deeply unscttling and depressing. Forman sccms
to be unablc  Lo live wiLhout  myth,  without  the
belicf
18  THE  AGE  OF ANXIETY
that the routine and drudgery, the pain and fear of
chis life have sorne  meaning and goal in the
future. Al once new myths come into being -
political an<l  economic myths with cxtravagant
promiscs  oE the  bcst oí fucurcs in the prcsenc
worl<l. These myths  give  the individual  a certain
sense  of meaning  by making him pan of a vasl
social effort, in which he  loses someching of his
own emptincss and loneliness. Yet the very
violence of these political rcligions be - trays  the
anxicty  bcncath  thcn1 -for  they  are  bul  mcn
huddli11g togcthcr  and shouting to give them -
selvcs  courage  in the dark. Once  therc  is the suspicion  th:n  a religion  is a
rnyth, its power has go11e. lt may be neccssary
for man to have a myth, but he cannot self-
consciously  prescribe onc as he can mix a pill for a
headache. A  myth can only "work" whcn it is
thought to be truth,  and man cannot for long
knowingly and imcntionally  "kid"  himsclf. Evc11 the best modern apologists for religion
seem  ro overlook this fact. For their most forceful
argu - ments for sorne  son of rcturn to onhodoxy
are those  which show the social and moral
advantages of be - lief in God. llut this <loes not
prove that  God is a  reality. lt pro\'eS, at mosl, that
bclicving in God is  usdul. "I EGorl dicl nol cxist,  it
woulcl be necessary  LO invem him. " Perhaps. Dut if
the public has any suspicion thac he does nol cxist,
the invemion is in  vain. THE  WISOOM  OF lNSECURITY
lt is for this reason that most oE the current
return  to onhodoxy in sorne intellcctual  circles
has a rather  hollow ring. So much of it is more a
belief in belicv - ing L11an a bclief in Cod. The
contrast bctween thc  insecurc,  ncurotic,  cducatcd
"modern"  and the quiet dignit}' and  inner pcace
of the old -fashioned  believer, makes the  latter a
man  ro be envied. But it  is a serious
misapplication  of psychology  to make  the
presence or absence of neurosis the touchsrone of
truth, and to argue that if a man's philosophy
makes  hirn neurotic, it 111ust be wrong. "l\fost
atheists and  agnostics are neurotic, whereas most
simple Catholics  are happy and at  peace with
themsel \'es. Therefore  the views of the  former are
false, and of the latter  true. " Even  if the observation  is correct,  the reasoning
bascd on it is absurcl. lt is as if to say, "You say
therc  is a firc in the base111cnt. You are upset
about ir. De - cause you are upset, therc is
obviously no fire. " The  agnostic, thc sceptic, is
ncurotic, but this <loes not  imply a false
philosophy; it implies thc discovery of  faets to
which he clocs not know how to adapt him - self. The intellectual who tries to escape from neu -
rosis by cscaping from thc facts is 1nerely acting
on the principie that  "whcrc ignorance is bliss, 'tis
folly  to be wise. " \Viten  belief  in 1he eternal  becomes
impossible,
and thcre  is only  thc poor su bstit me of bel ief  in be-
lieving,  mcn  seek  thcir  happincss  in the joys  of
time. O  THE   AGE   OF   ANXIETY
However much they may try to bury it in the depths
of their minds, they understand  these joys  are both
uncertain and brief. This has  two results. On the one
hand, there is the anxiety  that one may  be missing
something, so that the mind flits nervously  and
greedily from one pleasure to another, without
finding rest and satisfaction in any. On the other, che
frustration of having always to pursue a future good
in a tomorrow which never comes, and in a world
where everything must disintegrate, givcs  men an
attitude  of "v\That's  thc use anyhow. " Consequently, our age is one of frustration, anx -
iety,  agitation,  and addiction  to "dope. " Somehow,
we must grab what we can while we can, and drown
out the realization that the whole thing is futile and
meaningless. This "dope" we call our high standard
of living,  a violent and  complex stimulation  of thc
senses, which makes them progressively less sensitive
and thus in nccd of yet more violent stimulation. Wc
crave  distraction -a panorama  of sights,  sounds,
thrills, and titillations  into which as much as pos -
sible  must  be crowded  in the shortest  possible  time. To keep up this "standard" most of us are willing
to put up with lives that consist largcly in doing jobs
that are a bore, earning the means to seek relief from
the tedium by intervals of hectic and expensive pleas -
sure. These intervals are supposed to be the real liv-
ing, the real purpose served by thc necessary evil of
work. Or we imagine  that  the justification  of such
21 THE  WJSDOM  OF lNSECURlTY
work is the rearing of a family to go on doing the
same  kind  of thing,  in order  to rear  another
family. and so ad infinititm. This is no caricature. It is the simple reality of
mil- lions of lives, so commonplace that we need
hardly  dwell upon the details, savc to note the
anxiety and  frustration of those who put up with
it, not knowing  what  else  to do. But what are we to do. The alternatives seem
to be two. The first is, somehow or other, to
discover a  new myth, or convincingly resuscitate
an old one. If  sciencc cannot prove there is no God,
we can try to  live and act on the bare  chance  that
he may exist  after ali. There seems to be nothing
to lose in such a  gamble, fo r if death is the end, we
shall never know  that  we have  lost. But,  obviously,
this will never  amount  to a vital faith,  for it is
really no more  than  to say, "Since the wholc Lhing
is futile anyhow, let's  pretend it isn't. " The second
is to try grimly to face  the fact that life is "a tale
told by an idiot," and  make  of it what  we can,
letting science  and technology  serve us as well  as
they  may  in our journey  from  nothing  to nothing. Yet these are not the only solutions. We may
begin  by granting ali the agnosticism of a critica. science. We may admit,  frankly, that we have  no
scientific  grounds for belief in  God,  in personal
immortality,  or in any absolutes. We may refrain
altogether from  trying  to believe,  taking  life just
as it is, and no more. 22 THE  AGE  OF ANXIETY
From this point of departure there is yet another
way  of life that requires neither myth nor despair. But it  requires a complete revolution in our
ordinary, ha - bitual  ways  of thinking  and (celling. The extraorc. linary thing about this revolution is
t. hat ic reveals the truth behind rhe so -called myths of
traditional religion and  metaphysic. lt reveals, not
belicfs, but acrnal realities corresponding -in an un -


 with the knife, using
his other hand to feel wher e the paint was going. After an hour of this, Jonathan was cover ed in sweat and
paint. Exhausted, he lif ted the canvas upright. He took a few
steps back. He couldn’t see what he had painted, but still he
felt satisﬁed. It was, he hoped, a painting of L upe in her quinceañera
dress. OceanofPDF.comEPILOGUE
An autumn day, thr ee years later. Jonathan sat at a cr owded banquet table at a lar ge party
under a banner that r ead congratulations on your
quinceañera, lupe! A Latin band played festive music, and nearly everyone
was dancing. At one table sat Brie with a number of L upe’s classmates;
another table was ﬁlled with family members, including
Lupe’s par ents, r ecently r eturned fr om Me xico af ter
Jonathan helped them ﬁnd work as car etakers at a local
farm. Another table had apartment dwellers and another
was ﬁlled with nurses and doctors. When the music ended, L upe’s grandfather wheeled
himself to the micr ophone and spok e in Spanish. Beside
him, his wife translated. “Not everyone thought our darling L upe would mak e it to
this gr eat day, but we believed, and most important, Lupe
believed. She taught us all how to live with hope and faith
and gr eat spirit. She is our angel on earth. W e all love her
and thank God that she has blessed our lives.”
Everyone applauded, Jonathan the loudest and longest of
all. Lupe, now 15, stood, dr essed in an or nate dr ess, looking
like a princess, her hair coiled in braids ar ound her head. During the ensuing years, she’d gr own nearly a foot; and
her face had become mor e ser ene and beautiful. She smiledand placed her hands over her heart as they continued to
clap for her. She walk ed over to her grandpar ents and put her ar ms
around their shoulders and hugged them tightly; then she
turned to her par ents, who wer e glowing with pride. Then
she walk ed over to the table wher e Jonathan sat. Ther e was
a mixtur e of guests her e: Leo, the fabric purveyor, in a
brocade vest; W illiam, the driver; Jonathan’s sister, Carla,
and her son, R odney; the landlor d, Mr. Antunucci; and the
local deliveryman. Jonathan’s hair had grayed mor e at the temples, and his
face was cr eased and lined, but ther e was a new aspect to
his expression, a look of peace. He seemed surprised when
Lupe tapped him on the shoulder. He reached back his hand, and she took it. “ Can I have
this dance, please?” she ask ed. When he made a courtly bow in r esponse, she guided
him out to the dance ﬂoor. The two of them began to dance as a slow, sweet melody
played. Lupe cir cled Jonathan, and they moved easily, as if they
had been doing this all their lives. Jonathan whisper ed a few wor ds into L upe’s ear, and she
smiled up at him. “You’re welcome,” she said. As the music ended, Jonathan joyfully thr ew an ar m in
the air, and for a moment he became the living embodiment
of The Dancing V agabond. OceanofPDF.comABOUT THE  AUTHORS
Louise L. Ha y, the author of the inter national bestseller
You Can Heal Y our Life,  is a metaphysical lectur er and
teacher with mor e than 50 million books sold worldwide. For mor e than 30 years, L ouise has helped people
throughout the world discover and implement the full
potential of their own cr eative powers for personal gr owth
and self -healing. L ouise is the founder and chair man of Hay
House, Inc., which disseminates books, CDs, D VDs, and
other pr oducts that contribute to the healing of the planet. Visit: www.LouiseHay.com
Lynn Lauber  is a ﬁction and nonﬁction author, teacher,
and book collaborator. She has published thr ee books of her
own with W.W. Norton & Co., as well as many collaborations
with other authors. Her specialties include ﬁction, personal
narrative, and self -impr ovement. Her essays have appear ed
in The New Y ork T imes. She has abridged audiobooks for
such authors as John Updik e, Oliver Sacks, Oprah W infrey,
and Gor e Vidal. V isit: www.lynnlauber.com
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 produce grown in dead soils. Howe ver, organically grown plants specifically
cultivated in highly composted soils rich with organic matter can contain plenty of B 12  and a host of other nutrients not found (or
found in short supply) in industrially grown produce. Organic matter, defined as anything that rots, is the root of organic fa rming and the engine that runs the entire web of life on
Earth. Fungi and bacteria eat the organic matter, and then they “p oop” … in the process contributing complex substances to the soil,
including vitamin B 12  and other nutrients, in profusion. Plants grown in such soils take up thes e nutrients through their roots. When we add chemicals to the soil, we destroy not only “pests” and the bac teria that produce vitamin B 12, but also the entire
pyramid of soil life (which begins with organic material, then fungi  and bacteria but also includes mites, then predatory mites,
springtails, and worms). Most agricultural soil in the United States  contains only 1 to 2% organic matter, a level that qualifies it as
biologically dead. The practice of farming with chemicals and not retur ning any organic matter to the soil is now more than sixty
years old. The far-reaching devastating side effects of this prac tice on all forms of life on Earth—and their delicately balanced
ecosystems—are too numerous to adequately describe in anything less  than a separate book. Therefore, I recommend getting to know the organic farmers at your local  farmer’s markets and making sure that they use
compost.<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        heirloom tomatoes
Directions: Blend ¾ of the peaches with ¾ of the tomato. Thinly slice th e remaining ingredients and stir them into the soup for
added texture. Course Three: Blackberry Sesame Salad
1 lb. lettuce
4 oz. tomatoes
8 oz. blackberries
2 tbsp. raw, mechanically hulled tahini. Directions: Finely chop the lettuce into a large bowl. Slice the tomat o into wedges and toss with lettuce. Dress with a blend of
blackberries and tahini

Summer Menu Plan: Day Three

BREAKFAST
Honeydew Melon
3 lbs. honeydew melon

LUNCH
Figgy Delicious
1 lb. figs
1 lb. bananas
Directions: Blend with 16 oz. water, or to desired consistency. DINNER
Course One: Mango and Raspberry
8 oz. mango
8 oz. raspberries
Directions: Slice or cube the mango into a bowl and sprinkle with raspberri es. Course Two: Delightfully Cool Cukes
8 oz.<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>
Q: What is the main difference between the fuyu and hachiya persimmon?,
A: The hachiya is smaller in size and has a thinner peel than the fuyu.
Q: What is the definition of raw foods?,
A: Raw foods are defined as those that are whole and fresh, with all their original components intact.
Q: What is the difference in the way the human body processes vitamin B12?,
A: The human body can produce B12 on its own and also obtain it from the soil through the roots of plants, but the lack of organic matter in agricultural soils has led to a deficiency in B12.
Q: Can a person thrive on a fruit-only diet?,
A: No, a diet consisting only of fruit is not sustainable and can lead to nutritional deficiencies.
Q: What is the recommended daily intake of leafy greens?,
A: The book recommends consuming 2-6% of total calories from leafy greens, which translates to 1-4 pounds of greens per day.<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>(I prefer vegan fertilizers and compost that don’t contain a nimal products or manure.) People find this difficult to hear, but I also believe that if you live where farmer’s markets and organic ally grown tropical fruits are not available, you would do well to
consider relocating. Of course, growing your own food would be best of all, and I hig hly recommend doing so, whenever possible. 2) We wash our produce. A hundred years ago, people tended to bathe once a week or less, on average, and they  did not concern themselves with
fastidiously washing the surfaces of their fruits and vegetables  as they do these days. In part, this is another result of agrochemical
food production, as people have been misled to believe that pesticide residues ca n be adequately washed off by rinsing or scrubbing
the outsides of their produce. In the past, when people ate lettuce, celery, carrots, and other vegetable s fresh from the ground, the soil left clinging to the
vegetables often contained vitamin B 12. They also obtained the nutrient from the bacteria-laden dirt that acc umulates near the stems
of apples, peaches, pears, and other core and stone fruits. But between the che micals we apply to the soils and our obsessive fear
of germs and bacteria, we effectively eliminate this source of the n utrient, as well. 3) We cannot absorb the B 12  we eat. Meat eaters easily consume enough B 12  because the bacteria that make it, live in the digestive tracts of li vestock, and it is distributed
in the muscle meats of the animals they eat. As described earlier, v egans who eat organically grown plants from richly composted
soils, and who don’t compulsively wash their produce, should also get ple nty of the nutrient. In both of these cases, vitamin B 12  deficiency is usually only a problem if you lack a chemical calle d the “intrinsic factor,”
which causes people to be unable to absorb B 12. How does this occur? It seems that intrinsic factor production is reduce d as
dietary fat increases. This is by far the most common cause of B 12  deficiency. Doctors can easily test whether a person has a normal
ability to absorb B 12. For those who do not, no amount of the vitamin in the diet will help. Thus, all of u s, vegetarians and meat
eaters alike, are at risk of B 12  deficiency. A high-fat diet increases this risk substantially, for two reasons. F irst, the colonies of B 12 -producing bacteria in our intestines
utilize carbohydrates for fuel. As the amount of fat in our diets goes up, t he amount of carbohydrate goes down, thus reducing the
quantity of fuel available to the microbe. Less fuel results in a smal ler colony and an overall decrease in B 12  production. Second, the
B12  uptake sites in our intestines become clogged when there is excess fa t in the diet, further reducing B 12  absorption. When
reduced B 12  production is coupled with impaired absorption, the likelihood of B 12  deficiency becomes predictable. 4) Medical B 12  standards are artificially high. The situation is further complicated by the fact that many refi ned starchy foods are “enriched” with a synthetic form of vitamin B 12. When doctors test for “normal” B 12  levels, their results are skewed towards the high end by the fact that  most people eat these
foods (mostly grain products—cereals, breads, pasta, cookies, cakes, etc.) on a daily basis. People who eat a grain-free diet not
supplemented by this poor imitation of the natural nutrient often  test “low” for B 12  even if their levels are healthy and they are totally
asymptomatic. This is because their B 12  levels are being compared to those of people who are consuming a B 12  supplement in their
food at almost every meal. How important is it to eat organically grown food? Organic produce is always to be preferred, but life is full of compromises an d choices. It may be better to eat commercially
grown raw vegetables than to eat cooked or steamed organic vegetables, but i t is a difficult choice. Organically grown produce generally contains more vitamins and min erals than conventional produce (see the FAQ on vitamin
B12  on page 254), and the fresher it is the better. Organic produce generally con tains little or no pesticide residue in comparison
with conventional produce; nevertheless, the amounts involved are not  usually critical to health, and it is far more important to avoid
the pathogenic effects from cooked food. To concern yourself with pesticide residues while eating cooked food is a prov erbial fire and frying pan situation. Neither is
good for us. The best solution is to consume only organic raw plants. Otherwis e, the decision is much like choosing whether to shoot
oneself in the foot or shoot oneself in the hand. In the case of cooked complex carbohydrates (grains, potatoes, corn, legumes), h owever, eating them both raw and free of
synthetic chemicals has recently become a matter of grave concer n. Commercial agroscientists are scrambling to counteract the
seriously negative press being caused by a recently discovered DNA-da maging carcinogen and neurotoxin called acrylamide. This
potent chemical killer was found in high concentrations in the food supply  in 2002 by a Swedish researcher. Scientists at the World Health Organization and elsewhere origin ally attributed shockingly high levels of acrylamide (found
most prominently in bread, chips, crackers, french fries, and other dry-cooked c arbohydrates) to the cooking process itself,
because they found


edom:  P articipants are free to come and go without persuasion,
coercion, intimidation, or con sequences. There is no hierarchy;
instead, there is voluntary fulfillment of practical necessities and
duties. 13. Commonality:  Rec ognition is a consequence of what one has become
rather than a result of ascribed titles, adjectives, or trappings. 14. Inspirational:  T ruth eschews and avoids glam orization, seduction, and
theatrics. 15. Nonmaterialistic:  T ru th is  devoid  of need for worldly wealth, prestige,
pomp, or edifices. 16. Self-fulfilling:  T ruth is already  total and complete and has no need to
proselytize or gain adherents, followers, or “sign up members. ”
17. Detached:  There is noninvolvement in world af fairs. 18. Benign:  T ru th is identif iable along a progressive gradient. It has no
“opposite” and therefore no “enemies” to castigate or oppose. 19. Nonintentional:  T ruth does not intervene or  have an agenda to
propose, inflict, or promulgate. 20. Nondualistic:  All transpires by virtue of intrinsic (karmic) propensity
within the field, by which potentiality manifests as actuality rather thanby cause and ef fect. 21. T ranquility and peace:  There are no “issues” or partialities. There is no
desire to  change others or imp ose on society. The ef fect of higher
ener gies is innate and not dep endent on propagation or ef fort. God
does not need help any more than gravity needs the “help” of an
apple’ s falling of f the tree. 22. Equality:  This is expressed in reverence for all life in all its
expressions and  merely avoids that which is deleterious rather than
opposing it. 23. Nontemporality:  Life is realized  to be eternal and physicality to be a
temporality. Life is not subject to death. 24. Beyond pr oof:  T hat which is  “provable” is linear, limited, and a
product of intellectualization and mentation. Reality needs no
agreement. Reality is not an acquisition but instead is a purely
spontaneous, subjective realization when the positionalities of the
dualistic ego are surrendered. 25. Mystical:  The origination of truth is a spontaneous ef fulgence,
radiance, and illumination, which is the Revelation that replaces the
illusion of a separate individual self, the ego, and its mentation. 26. Ineffable:  Not capable  of definition. Radical subjectivity is
experiential. It is a condition t hat replaces the former ego-centered
condition. W ith this event, context replaces content, devoid of
temporality and beyond time. Reality does not exist in time, of it,
beyond it, or out side of it, and it has no relationship to that which is an
artifice of mentation. It is there fore beyond all nouns, adjectives, or
verbs, transitive or intransitive. 27. Simplistic:  O ne sees the intrinsic beauty and perfection of all that
exists beyond appearance and form. 28. Affirmative:  T ruth is beyond opinion or provability. Confirmation is
purely by its subjective awareness; however, it is identifiable by
consciousness-calibration techniques. 29. Nonoperative:  T ruth does not “do” anything o r “cause” anything; it is
everything. 30. Invitational:  As contrasted with promotional or persuasive. 31. Nonpr edictive:  B ecause Reality is nonlinear, i t cannot be localized or
encoded in restriction of form, such as secret messages, codes,
numbers, and inscriptions, or hidden in runes, stones, the dime nsions
of the pyramid, DNA, or the no stril hairs of the camel. T ruth has no
secrets. The Reality of God is o mnipresent and beyond codifica tion or
exclusivity. Codes are indicative of human imagination and not the
capriciousness of Divinity. 32. Nonsentimental:  Emotionality is based on perception. Compassion
results from the discernment of truth. 33. Nonauthoritarian:  There are no rules or dictates to be followed. 34. Nonegoistic:  T eachers are respected but reject personal adulation or
specialness. 35. Educational:  Provide s information in a variety of formats and ensures
availability. 36. Self-supporting:  Neither mercenary nor materialistic. 37. Fr eestanding:  Complete without dependence on external or historical
authorities. 38. Natural:  Devoid of induced, altered status of consciousness or
manipulations of ener gies by artificial exercises, postures, breathing,
or d ietary rituals (that is, non reliance on form or physicality; no
invoking of entities or “others”). 39. Complete:  Devoid of exploitation or gain. 40. Nonviolent:  Not coercive, benign, nonthreatening. Spiritual truth is universal. The  same essential truth has been taught by
the enli ghtened mystics, saints, sages, and avatars who have appeared
throughout histo ry, in dif ferent r eligions and cultures, separated by dif ferent
sides of the globe and across many centuries. No person or religion orgroup is  the sole possessor or purveyor of truth. A truth is true at all times
in all places, in dependent of cultures, customs, opinions, pers onalities, or
circumstances. A true teacher claims no specialness but rather points the seeker to
realize the same truth from within. The Self of the student is said to be the
same Se lf of the teacher, whose state of Self-realization serves  to activate
the s tudent’ s own inner awakeni ng. T rue teachers humbly acknowledge that
divine states are a gift of G race and therefore do not of f er spiritual
teachings for a price beyond covering expenses required for dissemination. Integrous teache rs and or ganizations are not interested in contr olling the
personal lives of students, promotionalism, gaining followers, or
entertaining peo ple with theatrical presentations. Their integr ity requires
them to share t he gift of Real ization they were given, with the unique
capacities bestowed them, but they have no attachment to the response;
what peo ple do with it is up to them. People are free to come and go as they
wish. Notable is that pure spirituality has no requirements, obligations,
dependencies, attachments, or other evidence of specialness, nor the
imposition of control, such as  oaths, financial pledges, or signing up
members for classes or “traini ngs. ” Commitment is to the core of truth
itself, n ot to the person of the teacher, and pure spirituality  is free of
seduction by proselytization or secrecies. All that is necessary are curiosity
and an attraction to truth, which is complete, total, and self-suf ficient. The teachers, teachings, or groups found attractive or meaningful depend
on the karmic propensities and evolution of the seeker at any given time. Dif ferent teachers and teaching s will appeal to dif ferent seekers and be
appropriate for dif ferent life tas ks. What is best for one person or situation
may not  be best for another. Just because a teaching calibrate s at 600 or
higher does not mean it is the most appropriate or helpful; wha t matters is
that a teaching or teacher calibrates over 200, the level of integrity. SPIRITUAL EDUCA TION
Fortunate is the seeker who has  not been led away from the straight and
narrow path of spiritual truth by diversions and popularized attractions. People spend lifetimes searching for authentic teachings and becomesidetracked by the seduction of attractive, glamorized aberrations away
from truth. These turn out to be fictional or romanticized fa ntasies that
attract the naïve person’ s inne r child. Spiritual fairy tales a bound and
impress the credulous, for who m anything labeled “spiritual” is imbued
with a magical glamour. T o go through that stage is routine during initial,
uncritical enthusiasm and exploration. The primary problem initially i s the lack of awareness of the dif ference
between the truly spiritual reality and the astral, paranormal, or supernatural
domains. T o the naïve, thes e latter alternatives seem amazing and
impressive. A “right-on” psychi c reading is indeed impressive to a novice. The majority of popular best-selling supposedly spiritual books are actually
fictional, and their average leve l of truth is at calibration level 190, as are
slick-appearing “spiritual” magazines that glamorize fallacious fantasies of
“other d imensions,” and so on. T he paradox is that the appeal is to the naïve
seeker who has not yet mastered this dimension, much less other fanciful
ones. Mystical “powe rs” that are g enuine are not exhibited, much less
promoted or sold for a price


 For example, take the stone,
washed with water. It varies in time, but not the time grinds
it, it makes water. The aging process takes time, but time -
this is not the cause of grinding. Two stones, subjected to the same extent the process of grinding
water, cleared at different rates depending on their hardness
and density. For the same reason two people under the same
destructive factors are aging at different rates, depending
of individual resistance degrading agents. Stone wears faster or slower depending on the
amount of water flowing around it: if it is small, stone washed
slowly if the water a lot, then erase faster. Also
and a person is aging rapidly or slowly, depending on the number of
destructive influences to which he is exposed. A few extend the example: imagine a self-healing
rock. First, she polished under water. Then
128
128water stopped her wash. Rock begins to "repair"
themselves and recover most of the lost material. in the human body will be ecological process
(He is self-repairing), when the causes of aging
eliminated. The body is able to break down part of damaged structures and replace
them fresh, update the cells by removing accumulated
them as "loads" and "repair" their damaged parts. Speaking
figuratively, the human body itself is able to actively
manage their own affairs and be constructive. Man is so made that can live longer and better than he
doing it now. He will live much longer
years than now, and enjoy the absolute health and energy. It should not languish in the 60 years of age or earlier. But in fact, for
excluding deaths from accidents and murders, people die
from disease. If we lived in such a way that the development of disease
was prevented, we will not only be able to live longer than
think at the moment, but we could live, having a physical
and mental strength. Aging is defined as "the accumulation of changes in the body,
increase the risk of death of the individual over
time ". It simply means that aging is a
slow accumulation of pathological (painful) changes
in tissues and organs, damage to the structures of the body and slow
deterioration of its vital functions. Old age - it's just one more
chronic disease. This is the reason that we can
age, sooner or later, and some people in the 70 years younger than other
forties. Aging takes place in time, but time is not the cause
him. Consequently, no matter what way to accurately determine
human physiological age, it is important that we have found
and found out the causes of aging. Eliminate the cause
aging and physiological age let him take care of itself. Argue that no one knows exactly what the changes
organism, leading to aging, or what exactly these changes. Consider the experiences of the famous French scientist, Dr. Alekensa
Karel, author of "Man - a creature unknown. Supporting
living fragments of chicken hearts for many
years, he found that they grew older, unless exempt from waste
accumulated in their cells. In other words, they grew older because of
accumulation in the cultural environment in which they were held, products
- Waste of their own metabolism. If these wastes are regularly
output so that the cells they are not poisoned, the heart of the chicken
not been aging. It is very important evidence that aging
is the result of chronic saturation of toxic substances. Unfortunately, an important discovery has attracted too little attention
perhaps because they did not find a way to use it. 129
129Karel experience and many other similar allowed scientists to make
Finally, the cells potentially immortal. in normal
state, they continue to divide and re-share, but they do not
die. Death is an abnormal phenomenon. However,
under normal conditions of life, we observe that the cells at the
actually grow old and die in large numbers. For an infinite
continuation of life all conditions must be favorable. When the cells are potentially immortal, as scientists now think,
and the organism as a complex of aging, it is obvious that one of the two
is true. Or functional specialization of cell
groups - the body's organs is irrelevant or absent
coordination of cell groups in the body. Perhaps there are
both these factors. If one or both of these assumptions are true,
the question arises: is the discrepancy between the specialization or
discrepancy Coordination primary (initial) state
life or whether it (inconsistency) is the result of
installed and removable causes? If this initial state,
we can not hope to prevent more than a short
period of time the process of aging, beginning in most
cases quite early. But if it is caused by reasons that
can be avoided or eliminated, which seems likely, then we
able to do much to prevent aging. At least the countless experiments in many lower forms
Experience has shown that one can not only delay the aging process
on an infinitely long time, but also to reverse it, to restore
youth. More than 15 years, Professor KM Cheyld University of Chicago
investigated the aging animals. His results
pointed out that periodic fasting is usually contributes
rejuvenation of the body. By studying certain types of insects, he found that the abundant
food insect life lasts 3-4 weeks, but if the number of
food is much reduced, or to compel insects to starve
they will stay active and young at least 3
year. Here is his conclusion: "Partial starvation prevents
aging. Starving is transferred from the coming of age in primary
postembryonic state, he was almost born again. " Cheyld pointed out that in the organic world is the rejuvenation
no more than the usual process of cell renewal. This
process is continuous throughout the life of any organism. Similar studies were conducted by the Institute
Physiology of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences. with the help of a special regime
power they "rejuvenated" two-year rat to a state
characteristic of the age of three months. English biologist Clive
McKay has made lengthening life span of mice by 1,5 times with two
hungry days a week, and reduce food intake by a third
allowed to increase their life 2 times. 130
130In our country, some interesting experiments on rejuvenation of animals
spent a wonderful doctor Suren Arakelyan. According to him,
"Elderly" chicken past starvation, again began to bear
eggs, they have restored the pen cap and voice became
above and younger, and her body graceful, slender. Here is a picture that
Suren Arakelyan Avakovich saves since his experiment. in his hands two "older" sister-laying hens. One hungry, the other -
no. After photographing my sister-eater lived only one month,
and rejuvenation of the chicken - another six years. Was something to wonder: from
Thousands of retired-age birds, nine hundred and ten every day
delayed egg. But not simple! Egg weighed 68 grams, and
laid by pullets - only forty-eight. Biochemical analysis
confirmed: and the quality of the eggs better. Feared that the famine will
birds to death, but the contrary, they began to live much longer: the average
Eighteen years instead of six-tempered nature. Specific term
life was extended three times! A chicken named Belle lived up to
fantastic age - up to twenty-one years. For a man
the same proportion as the same age would be equal to two hundred and forty -
two hundred and fifty years. After the chickens Arakelian took up bull high-value species. The early years of their short - only four years. And then - on the meat. Bulls
went on a hunger diet, but the water took antistress
complex preparation. Stress - because the usual
hunger pushes the animal in a painful, restless state. Taking these substances, as the bulls would not notice the hunger. So
lasted twenty days. Bulls lose weight, losing 15-20% of live
mass, but these were temporary loss weight soon returned, and
with it specific reproductive opportunities. Total
- Life expectancy at monthly rest bulls once a year
with fasting increases by 3 times! Failure to keep a youth due to factors
nuisance ideal process run the update. Any
removal of these impeding factors at any age leads
to a shift - for renewal and youth. It should, however, acknowledge that there are clear limits
opportunities to rejuvenate the person. in the tissues of the human
organism may occur irreversible changes, and attempts
resolve their similar attempts to grow a new leg after
she was lost. Many lower forms of living beings, and
Some of them are very complex organisms
have the ability to grow new members or domestic
agencies (even new heads, brains and eyes), and their possible
rejuvenation is much wider than the more highly
organisms. But a person can be rejuvenated to a much greater
than we thought. Until now, we can assume a fair
assertion that the greater the number and degree of pathological
changes in the human body, the less possible
131
131its rejuvenation. The older the body becomes, the less
he possibility of restoring youth. However, I do not think that
the greatest opportunity to rejuvenate by starvation Need
only to people of both sexes in old age. Starvation also
extremely important for younger people as a means of circulation
reverse the aging process, although they have aging and slow. If we
can use fasting to prevent destructive
processes in vital organs by


 slap of new fresh warm urine will bring out the pheromones from
The body and this is what the cosmetic companies have been trying for
years to perfect. They can't do so for personally it's your pheromones
That do the sexual attraction and it must be used warm as it first comes out
of the body. We are animals still, and it will bring out the animal in you. Some women have mixed their special perfume with warm fresh urine. A few drops will do. Don't go crazy. Yes I understand. Your thinking, "what a jerk". Don't try it. I know a lot of women and men that have tried it and it works. Remember, fresh, warm, few drops, and bingo. Check it out. For this one I'm sure you will not tell your best girlfriend. Remember, your life should not always be an open book. 9 {2}
Drinking
Thinking, Is he serious? You bet I am. This is where it gets scientific, medicinal, and the Pharmaceutical
companies get "pissed" more than we do because we get our
pharmaceuticals free and natural and NEVER toxic to our system NEVER. {Unless we are full of drugs, pharmaceutical or reacreational}. Plus, we are not guessing at what's wrong. We take our liquid in the morning and what we can't use in our body
immediately gets expelled for a new body assimilation later in the day. However this time the body is recreating a host of
vitamins, enzymes, minerals itself and from the foods we have consumed
ready for reabsorption· into our cells from the drinking. There are more than a dozen hypothetses relating to the re-absorption. Lets look at a few. 1}. Nutrients
By drinking or massaging with urine, we possible re-use and re-absorb
many vitamins, salts, amino acids, hormones, and so forth as nutrients. Vitamin 81 {Thiamin}, Vitamin 82 {Riboflavin}, Vitamin 86, Vitamin 812,
And many others. 2}. Hormones
Hormones are powerful molecules which once produced may cause
complete alteration in the balance of body processes, personality,
emotions, and state of mind. After the years of 40 to 50 there may be a
hormonal imbalance which now in this new age there are millions and
millions given" Premarin", a prescription drug short for
pregnant-mare urine. { See premarine farm section to learn more }. Yes you read correctly. Pregnant female horse urine. So why pay for animal hormone therapy when you can not only have
human hormone therapy but your own selected personal therapy? With this self-therapy we should also be aware of a hormone called
Melatonin. This powerful anti cancer human hormone availing a very
easy method for falling asleep or an aid for jet lag. The pills that are sold
in the nutritional stores are normally hormonal extract from pigs. Also lets not forget dopamine, insulin, corticosteroids, gonadotropin,
prolactin, vasopressin, thyroxine, adrenaline, testosterone, progesterone,
and many others. 10 It is suggested to use your first urination after you get up in the morning. The reason is that enzymes and hormones are more concentrated and
collected all during the night. The method for collection is do not drink the
first 20% because that part is mostly oil and bile. Do collect the
centerportion for drinking. The last 20% may have sediment. So, only the central portions, warm immediate after releasing. NEVER drink that which has been left open to the air for a time. This is when bacteria originate in the atmosphere and multiply quickly
3}. Enzymes
Many enzymes are contained in urine. Protease,
Beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase, alpha-amylase, lysozyme. This gives great explanation to why urine therapy is affective against
strokes, heart attacks, arteriosclerosis, embolism, etc. One enzyme
Urokinase is well known for its vasodilatation and resembles nitroglycerin
and its ability to strengthen the arteries. Urokinase is extracted from urine and brought into the medical
marketplace on a large scale. An American company has developed a
special filter that collects the proteins and has 10,000 Porta-Johns. This collection of urine and the transition to Urokinase give to a annual
market sales of $500,000,000.00 from unsuspecting donors. 4}. Urea
Urea in amniotic fluid is by the most part urine from the fetus. *
Starting in the second month it is essential for proper development of the
pulmonary system. * Urea also affects the brain and central nervous
system. Utilization of urea is sometimes used during brain surgery to
minimize pressure on the brain and spinal cord. Chiropractors as well as
myself are fully aware of the health problems caused by the pressures or
subluxations of the spinal column and pressure on the brain. Urea tends to
shrink the spinal column and brain therefore reduces this pressure. Urea is an oxidizing substance. It dissolves fats and other natural body
-secretions. Urea is also more effective when warm or when heated. 5}. Salts
The drinking of salts as urine is by nature a salt solution is an important
therapeutic remedy. It relieves such problems as constipation, asthma,
stomach ulcers, indigestion, and elimination of certain parasites. 6}. Immune System
Urine is not toxic, however there may be some toxic substances in urine
available in small amounts, especially if someone is in contact with a
11 new disease and does not know it or is ill. We will talk more of this under
the definition of Homeopathy and the law of similars. These are the
medically active substances at infinitesimal do&es. Natural vaccines
Understand that what we drink in our urine may give us that added vaccine
needed to starve off the next oncoming flu, virus, aids, plague, or whatever
the governments of this world may unleash on the mass population. What a grand way to fight naturally against mass infectious warfare. You can now be ready for the inevitable. Your pharmacy at hand. 7}. Bacteria, Viral, and fungal. Urine has a germicidal and antiseptic effect against bacteria, virus, fungus
and many parasites. So does ammonia and salt. It is also known that urine
placed on a scrape, cut, bruises, prevents infection and keeps flies away as
in warmer climates. Scientific research has demonstrated that both urea
and ammonia have a powerful effect on viruses and bacteria. How to brbdt? Children
Two or three times a day with juice, chocolate, milk, or lemonade. Think it up. Make your kid happy. It's up to you when you break the news. Remember you need to collect it and when they get older, they are smart. Why not just tell them as it is their life pharmaceutical and a secret from
most. You know that they are the privileged ones. If they tell their friends
I'm sure they will get blasted. Other not being told from their parents direct
make this crime if not told perfectly proper. Adults
Go for it pure if you can. Straight. Come on. It's blood plasma. If not start out with a few drops in juice or water. Build up to an once
And later a couple ounces to the whole release. tcts talk of uses tl1rousl1out tl1e worlb. In India where purified water was at a minimal especially in the small
villages, many have told me by those who lived in India and who visit often,
that many wash their bodies, hair, dishes, with the urine from cows. Urine is as we have told you when fresh out of a human or animal is sterile. Therefore the best form of washing possible. Of course the curing and softening of the skin without the harshness of
soaps are an additional benefit. In the Persian {Mid east countries}, the nomads of the desert who have
minimal water available for drinking, wash themselves in camels urine. It is a sane, pure, sterile way of cleaning our human body. It is a different method, never taught in schools in the USA,
12 Nevertheless it is their way. A sociological way proper in their country. If you think that those countries do that type of therapy because they are
backward third world countries, lets look now at Holland. Holland is first in recreational drug legalization. Marijuana is being sold at local coffee shops with menus for the different
types of marijuana flavors, strength, and imports from other countries. Holland now is the only country in the world that has legalized euthanasia. That is to say the legalization of ending one's life. Holland also has in some, not all restrooms, special dispensers for those
who use urine therapy on a daily basis. Urine therapy has also been used before 2,000 years in empires such as
China, Greece, and the Roman Empire, including in the times of Christ. Eskimos, American Indian, Mexican Indian, all the indigenous of South
America, and the indigenous people of Australia also utilizes this therapy. It permeates the countries of Bulgaria, Germany, Romania, Austria, and I
am sure many more but the research is so hard to get many to open to you. So you see, urine therapy has been here from time beginning. It was only society and its taboo that holds back this information. 8}. Miscellaneous
There are many other beneficial substances that are


 used and mistr eated. This is why we sometimes attack who
they ar e, which is far mor e hurtful that addr essing a behavior or a
choice. BRENÉ BROWN
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. It was formless,
and darkness was over the surface of the deep. The Spirit of God was
hovering over the waters. We will never know the exact mind of God, but clearly, He was not
content to leave the formless earth alone. He immediately brought order and
boundaries to the situation. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw
that the light was good, and he separated the light from the
darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called
“night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the
first day (Genesis 1:3-5). And creation continued. God continued to bring order to His universe. We see order in His handiwork every day when we consider how allcreation works in balance and predictability. As I look around and marvel at
the mountains, valleys, moon, and stars, I think of Fred Hoyle’ s analogy:
A junky ard contains all the bits and pieces of a Boeing 747,
dismembered and in disarray. A whirlwind happens to blow
through the yard. What is the chance that after its passage a fully
assembled 747, ready to fly, will be found standing there? So
small as to be negligible, even if a tornado were to blow through
enough junkyards to fill the whole universe.1
I choose God. I choose balance, predictability, order, and boundaries—
and that is what this chapter is about. A Harsh Intr oduction to Boundaries
The book Boundaries  by colleagues John Townsend and Henry Cloud
has helped milli ons consider how they can apply boundaries to their lives. The topic of boundaries becomes even more critical and highly personal
when it involves the issues of narcissistic and emotional abuse. It wasn’t a perso n who mistreated me, but rather a large corpor ation. It
wasn’ t a single event that caused me to have vengeful thoughts, but rather a
series of events. My nemesis was a cellular phone company who promised
me a money-back guarantee on a phone, only to renege on their promise. I had done my part of the deal,  having paid them a handsome sum for
the latest phone.<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        Begin to experience empowerment as you move
through the emotions associated  with your losses. When you grieve your
losses, you begin the healing process. You continue your healin g when you
sit with an understanding soul who grieves with you. Then move from small to tall. Reenter life. Move from withd rawn to
engagement in life and share your incredible story. Define yourself not by
your pain but by your courage and the process of reclaiming your life. The Path Forward
We have talked about growing smaller because of narcissistic and
emotional abuse. Growing smaller is the result of being repeate dly toweredover, being told you were inferi or, and having those feelings of inferiority
settle into your self-identity. We further explored the power of crazy making, the debilitating impact
of brain fog, and how that contributes to the loss of your self. Finally, we explored the path of reclaiming your life, not living as a
victim but rather as one who embraces life and is empowered by it. As we move into the final section of the book, “Recoverin g from
Narcissistic and Emotional Abuse,” we will see how change begins—with
you. OceanofPDF. comPART 3
RECOVERING FROM NARCISSISTIC
AND EMOTIONAL ABUSE
OceanofPDF. com10
CHANGE BEGINS WITH YOU
Listen, I tell you a mystery: W e will not all sleep, but we will all
be changed. 1 CORINTHIANS 15:51
It was the perfect home. Christie and I had spent time researching where to build our dream
home. I studied precipitation maps and found a perfect location  that caught
part of the rain shadow, meaning  we would get less than half the rainfall of
Seattle. Located on Hood Canal with majestic views of the Olympic Mountains,
we were thrilled as we considered a new life with waterfront property. We
imagined our lives filled with digging clams and beachcombing. Christie and I spent hours with an architect designing our home, hoping
ultimately to create a bed and breakfast. We pored over plans, week after
week, settling finally on the perfect layout for a house and attached cottage. It even had a crow’ s nest for me to write in. We settled into building the house, which became a bit of an
undertaking. Building rarely goes as planned, and this project hit snag after
snag with carpenters, electrici ans, and roofers. Two years later, after
numerous delays, we finally moved in. After getting settled, our home  and cottage decorated beautifully by
Christie, we were ready for business. We were prepared with a name—Hood Canal Guest House—and  lovely brochures. We had even  joined the
chamber of commerce. All systems go. The guests came and went, all delighted with Christie’ s hospita lity and
the incredible setting. I sat back with visions of a nice moneymaking
venture. Fast-forward a year. “I don’t think I’m happy having people come and go in our home,”
Christie said one evening. “What do you mean. ” I asked incredulously. “This is what we planned. You designed this house and cottage and wanted a bed and breakfast. This
is exactly what you wanted. ”
“It’s what I thought  I wanted,” she stated emphatically. “I’m just not so
sure anymore. ”
“It’s just going to take some getting used to,” I said. “What can I do to
help make it work. ”
“That’ s the point,” she said. “I don’t think there is anything to make it
work. I don’ t think I want to have a bed and breakfast anymore. ”
“Wow,” I said. “This is not good. We have spent a fortune getting this
place up and running, Christie. ”
“But I’m not happy,” she said. “I want to move. ”
I was not pleased and walked out of the room. After a chilly evening,
she approached me the next day. “Do you want to talk about the house. ” she said. “Fine,” I replied, still struggling to wrap my head around the possibility
of having built a bed and breakfast and now Christie didn’ t want to live
there. We spent the next few months arguing, talking, arguing, and talking. I
must admit I wasn’t always pleasant about it. I didn’ t want to change
directions. I didn’ t want to consider moving after saving money, spending
two years building, and preparing to run the bed and breakfast. Christie didn’ t sway from her desire. She wanted to move. She wanted
to live in a much smaller home without guests coming and going. She
wanted to live in a cottage. She didn’ t want to live at work. I didn’t adjust easily, but I did finally adjust, moving past my initial
fears and concerns. I finally realized that change is difficult and requirescompromise and struggle. I realized that facing truths, no matter how
challenging they are, leads to ultimate freedom. I’m happy (now) to say we live in a lovely cottage, half the size of our
former home. We are both delighted in our lifestyle, the compromises we
both had to make, and the adjustments needed to get here. You are facing changes much bigger than mine, but you can do it. You
know the difficulties of facing hard truths. Change requires us to let go of
what we have and stretching toward what we want. If we do that, we can
get where we want to go. Let’s work together and consider change. Let’s understand the fear of
making changes, the dread that comes with it, and the exhilaration of
reaching the other side. Stages of Change
During those times when I become critical of myself for my slowness in
making change, I remind myself I’m doing the best I can. I’ve always done
the best I could with the amount of information I had at the time. Hindsight is 20/20 of course, and we can all second-guess ourselves
over our past decisions with the knowledge we have today. It takes great
fortitude not to do that and inste ad to look toward the future. We have today
—that’ s all. We can critically  review whether we are living today the way we want,
considering we don’t want to look back with regrets. We all have the power
to move beyond our past and into our future. Of course, we must do even more than that. We must be intentional
about how we move into whatever future we’re granted, and that is what
this chapter is about. We will learn as much as we can about our life,
making wise choices that will bring us closer to the person God wants us to
be. Know that God wants you to thrive, not just survive. To help you
consider how you want to move  from victim to survivor to one who thrives