Posted on 12 May, 2010 -
An A to Z of tips and fascinating facts: Part 1
D is for what to do with all the dandelions that seem to be growing by the millions at the moment
I is for the 101-year-old Italian neurologist who still goes to work each day
B is for blue whales… K is for kitchen timers…
Bitty times call for bitty emails.
So while our politicians attempt to scrabble together some kind of plan, I have found myself reflecting them this week by pulling together a whole array of different tips, fascinating facts and inspiring anecdotes.
Or, to paint it in a more positive light, perhaps, the whole world is our oyster and we have the chance right now to create whatever future we wish for it. May we go forward with passion, optimism, care and determination - both in the living of our own lives and in the ongoing nurturing and maintenance of our society.
This weeks offerings will take you from A through to L via elephants, Google, bank holidays and Leadership:
A is for Abilities and the fact that we all have the potential to be able to do everything. The idea that some people are good at some things and not good at others is quite some way from the truth. If we seem to have a certain talent it is more that this ability has been awakened in our brain. If you are not good at a certain thing, it is more that the relevant part of your brain is not working yet or has not been turned on yet. The ability is there, you just need to find a way to get it up and running.
I have come across this idea in several sources before and most recently in the book on dyslexia called Seeing Spells Achieving. The authors Andrew Bendefy and Olive Hickmott say that for some children, the ability to spell or read, for example, comes very quickly, for others it needs to be worked on more. Being slower in this area, however, normally means that children are often naturally more creative and inventive.
We can all paint, draw, sing or write. We can all be good at whatever we wish as long as we believe that we can do it and are prepared to put the necessary time into the learning. Some people are faster at learning certain skills than others but it does not mean that the people who take longer in getting there won’t be as good when they get there. Winston Churchill’s school teacher once said, for example, that he would never amount to anything…
B is for the blue whale whose blood vessels are so wide that a human could swim down them.
C is for the supplement Coenzyme Q10 for the brain, the heart and energy regulation. It can be bought relatively cheaply in health stores and chemists but is sometimes sold at higher prices under its other names, ‘ubiquinone’ or ‘ubiquinol’. There is even evidence that the mainstream medical profession are beginning to recognise that it may be useful in the treatment of neurological conditions such as Parkinsons, for heart conditions, for asthma and other. Alternative practitioners have been prescribing it as a general ‘health improver’ for the brain, the heart, for anti-ageing and even for weight maintenance for years - especially as natural production of the substance declines as we age. Many believe it is one of the key supplements to take.
D is for Dandelions. Is it me, or are there SO MANY of them this year? There are so many of them, in fact, that I found myself googling for a recipe for dandelion wine. What I found instead was a recipe for dandelion fritters where you simply coat the flowers in a batter mixture and then fry them. Apparently they are very nutritious - and tasty too. If you do a search on Google you’ll find dozens of other recipes for both the greens and the flowers including dandelion soup, dandelion wine and sauteed dandelion greens. In a book on foraging I even found a recipe in which they were fried up with bacon and made into a kind of omelette!
E is for elephants who swim better than any other land animal, can climb mountains and move in silence without leaving a track. Captured and tied up for hours in logging camps they have been known to commit suicide. They are also known to sacrifice their own lives for the greater good or to protect their fellows.
F is for the fear that paralyses or holds back the lives of so many. Fear of failure. Fear of trying. Fear of the judgement of others. Fear even, perhaps, of success? Frightened of being poor - frightened of being rich. Frightened of being scorned - frightened of being loved. Some may put it down to a lack of confidence in the self but I feel the idea of the fragility of the self often describes it better. But what is this self that demands to be kept in cotton wool in the dark and away from the view of others? What or who has made it so fragile? And why do we sometimes allow it to act as a tyrant - holding us back from being more and enjoying more of our life?
G is for Google. The name, you may be interested to know, is a play on the word googol, which refers to the number 1 followed by one hundred zeroes. A reference, I presume to the billions of pieces of information it sorts through every day. Like many people, Google is something I use almost every day. While the amount of information and answers you can find on it is amazing, I try to remind myself that a lot of what you read will be extreme and possibly one-sided. If you have a health worry, for example, and look for more information on Google, what you find may end up worrying even more. I love to use Google Directions if I’m making a car journey. I just cut and paste the instructions into a Word file and print them off.
H is for (Bank) Holidays which have been around since The 1871 Act of… 1871. The act was passed by Liberal Politician and Banker, Sir John Lubock. As an enthusiastic supporter of cricket, he believed that bank employees should have the chance to take part in or attend their local inter-village cricket matches which took place on these days.
The Whitsun holiday coming up commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit on the disciples of Christ. The name is a contraction of ‘White Sunday’ because of the white clothes worn by people who were to be baptized on that day.
I is for the Italian neurologist, Rita-Levi Montalcini who at 101 still goes to work in her laboratory each morning to join her all-female team working on her Nobel prize-winning research into brain cells. She gets up at five each morning, eats just one meal a day and goes to bed at 11. As well as her interest in the brain on a cellular level, she’s also very interested in the way we humans use it. Too many people, she says, choose their actions and beliefs in accordance with their instinct rather than their rational intelligence. Terrorism, fundamentalism and human unhappiness can all be blamed on it.
The secret of life, she says, is to use your rational brain more and stop thinking about yourself so much. Oh, and to keep on working.
“You don’t die at the time of your physical death. Your message lives on. I am not in the least frightened of dying, it will only affect this very small body that I have lived in. It is not important when I die. The important thing is to have lived with serenity using the rational left-hand side of one’s brain, and not the right side, the instinctive side, which leads to misery and tragedy.”
J is for jumping - a really good form of exercise. Great for the body, great for the mind. Try it for a few minutes and see the effect it has on your mind and energy levels. Try serious jumping for a great workout. Especially good if you have a mini trampoline or rebounder.
K is for kitchen timers used as a great tool for organising and motivating yourself. In the book Organise Yourself, for example, author Ronni Eisenberg says they can be used to: remind yourself to do something in a few minutes such as ring back an engaged number… get yourself to do something you can’t get round to - like exercising or tidying your desk - for just ten minutes… challenge yourself to get some window cleaning, dusting or hoovering done in just ten minutes… to remind yourself when you must watch your TV programme or leave the house for an appointment.
L is for Leadership. A good leader is somebody who encourages the strengths of others and enables those around them to work with confidence, passion and creativity together towards a goal. It is not a question of telling others what they must do (although part of the bravery of a leader is taking on that responsibility at times) but rather to lead a team to greatness. Among our families, our friends and at work, we all get the chance to help lead others to greater things.
