There is so much talk of self improvement these days. I hear people saying things like, Im trying to be a better person or Im just trying to get it right! and it just doesnt sit right with me.

There were people in my childhood who gave me the message that I wasnt enough, or in some cases, too much. I was given the consistent message that I needed to try harder to win their approval. It never dawned on me that I wasnt the problem. I just accepted their opinions of me and kept striving to please them.

If you learn this in your early years, youll be caught in the treadmill of constantly trying to be better all your adult life. Are you trying to earn love or avoid criticism by working harder, losing weight, quitting smoking or caregiving to the point of exhaustion?

Never feeling good enough is not about needing to improve yourself its about needing to see yourself for who you truly are.

Thanks to my meditation practice, I gradually realized that I was actually good enough, just as I was. I didnt need to be more of this or less of that. Does that mean I stopped growing or learning? Of course not. I still engage in all kinds of personal growth practices. The difference is, now Im not doing them to try to gain anyones approval.

As children, we desperately need our parents and other caretakers to think highly of us. But sadly, some of them are too broken to be able to give us that. Thats a tragic and painful story for a child, but it doesnt have to be your story as an adult.

What if you could learn to see yourself through the eyes of your highest self? What if you could speak with yourself like you would speak to a beloved child or pet? Replace the voice of your inner critic with the voice of unconditional love and acceptance?

Its possible, but it takes practice. Its called reparenting yourself, and the good news is that you dont have to blame or reject your actual parents in order to do it. All you have to do is stop believing the voices in your head that tell you youre not enough.

Deep inside each of us is a spark of light that has remained untouched by all our human experiences. Meditation helps us to reconnect with that part of ourselves, and each time we do, it expands. That light is who you truly are.

Each time you connect with your inner light, the lies of not being enough lose their grip on you. You dont even have to argue with them anymore. Remembering who you are means not having to prove yourself to anyone ever again.

If everything you do is motivated by love and acceptance for yourself, you are much more likely to succeed. So instead of trying to be a better person, try to love the person that you are.

Sita Rebizant is a resident of Clearwater and author of the book Safe, Loved and Free: How hitting rock bottom inspired by awakening and led me to the life and love Id always longed for.

ALSO READ: Mystic Musings Just be

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Mystic Musings: Do you feel the need to improve yourself? Clearwater Times - Clearwater Times

China is one of the world's greatest economies and its largest developing country. It not only possesses Asia's largest economy, but it also has a motive to contribute to regional peace to enable the implementation of Chinese President Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which is aimed at helping China and its Asian and African allies expand economically.

Over the past 5,000 years, Chinese people of all ethnic groups have worked diligently and wisely to build a magnificent culture and a cohesive multiethnic country. The Chinese culture is distinct in that it is long-lasting, inclusive and open. Moreover, through decades of interaction with the rest of the globe, the Chinese nation has sought to learn from other nations and develop itself, contributing significantly to the advancement of human civilization.

Overcoming challenges and downfalls, the Chinese people have progressed with the times, drawing on both knowledge and lessons from China's and other countries' development, deepened understanding of the laws governing human society's development, and encouraging the socialist system's self-improvement and growth. As a result, after a long battle, the Chinese people have succeeded in identifying a route of development that conforms to China's reality, a road of socialism with Chinese features. China's overall goal of peaceful development is to promote domestic prosperity and harmony while pursuing international cooperation and peace.

While China is the world's largest developing country, it wants to help other developing countries by utilizing the same strategies it used to get through poverty. However, following China's non-intervention principle, China must provide this assistance while respecting the host country's sovereignty. This means that China would work hard to improve the lives of its citizens and contribute to human progress via hard labor, innovation and reform, building long-term friendly relations and fostering equality and mutually beneficial cooperation with other countries. This has evolved into a national commitment reflected in national development strategies and progress made in China's development.

A small group of Chinese researchers coined the phrase "developmental peace." In 2019, He Yin, a well-known scholar, stated that developmental peace is a significant departure from liberal peace because it is based on China's peaceful rise and international aid practices and that developmental peace aims to achieve political stability backed by strong institutions and economic development. The main goal of China's peaceful development is to achieve modernization and common prosperity for the people.

Only when a country's national conditions allow for development is it viable. In the Chinese environment, China's development path has taken shape. China is well aware that peaceful development is a long-term process and that the current internal and international contexts are undergoing significant and complicated changes.

The principle of maintaining the stability of governing institutions and providing foreign aid without political strings is based on China's own experience of strong state-led development and oversight of political reforms and China's principle of maintaining the stability of governing institutions and providing foreign aid without political strings. Even if there is no conscious desire to do so, China is poised to become a major player in peace building for the simple reason that the payout of its political and economic activities in post-conflict societies will give it both a major stake in their stabilization and the resources required to play a leading role.

Moreover, many Chinese initiatives in peacekeeping, conflict mediation and infrastructure construction, for example, are arguably already pointing in this direction and may eventually converge in this paradigm. Due to its geographical and demographical characteristics, South Asia has focused on global attention. This region in general, and Pakistan in particular, has received attention since it launched the BRI.

China and Pakistan have agreed to construct the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is supposed to bring peace and prosperity to South Asia. The visualization of mutual success and economic development is linked to provincial connectedness and growth. This project, which is seen as the main pillar of the BRI, connects Pakistan and China to more than 60 countries, not just their immediate neighbors.

The CPEC also includes multiple energy, hydro, nuclear, coal and solar power projects totaling 21,690 MW, the development of numerous economic zones, and the Pakistani city Gawadar's ports and international airport renovation. The CPEC promises to benefit 66% of the global population, including Europe, Asia and Africa.

The CPEC is a regional connectivity structure as it will benefit China and Pakistan and Iran, Afghanistan, the Central Asian republics and the regions. Improved road, rail and air transport networks with frequent and free exchanges of expansion and people-to-people contact enhanced understanding through academic, cultural and regional knowledge and culture, the activity of higher volume of trade and business flow, producing and moving energy to have more optimal businesses, and enhancement of cooperation through a win-win model will result in the well, interconnected region.

Pakistan and China hope that the CPEC will help them expand economically and bring peace and prosperity to Pakistan's less developed areas. It is a journey toward economic regionalization in today's globalized world. It established peace, progress and a win-win paradigm for all of them. It promises a brighter future in the area, with peace, prosperity and economic growth.

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Southwest Airlines is working on a plan to transform the customer experience. To achieve this goal, is willing to make a strategic investment of USD 2 billion.

According to the company, the initiatives to be implemented are designed to improve and simplify customer travel from the time of booking the itinerary, in transit through the terminals and during the flight. The objective, according to Southwest, is to offer a more pleasant, efficient and productive experience.

Among the services to be developed, the company highlighted enhanced onboard connectivity, the installation of personal device power ports at all seats, larger overhead bins with improved accessibility, a new fare category with greater flexibility (Wanna Get Away Plus), more onboard entertainment options, increased refreshment offerings and the enablement of new self-service options.

As we continue to welcome back loyal Customers and win new ones, these initiatives, combined with the best people in the industry, support our purpose of connecting people to whats most important in their lives through friendly, reliable, and low-cost air travel, said Bob Jordan, Southwests CEO.

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The airline said it is working to improve onboard bandwidth on all its aircraft. In addition, it said it will adopt a strategy of diversifying WiFi providers for the next aircraft to join its fleet. The company is currently upgrading its existing fleet equipment with state-of-the-art hardware from connectivity provider Anuvu, which can provide a significant improvement in speed and bandwidth, up to ten times better than today.

Separately, Southwest recently signed an agreement with satellite connectivity provider Viasat to offer high-quality connectivity and live TV programming onboard aircraft delivered starting in the fall of this year.

Beginning in early 2023, the companys Boeing 737 MAX aircraft will feature USB A and USB C power ports in every seat. The ability to keep your devices charged while you are connected inflight is a request that weve heard consistently in ongoing conversations with our customers, said Tony Roach, Vice President of Customer Experience and Customer Relations.

The addition of new digital options will include new self-service options, such as the possibility to purchase priority boarding from the mobile app or the option to add non-seating minors to the reservation at airport self-service terminals. Improvements in that regard reduce phone calls and waiting times.

Southwest will also enhance its in-flight entertainment portal. By the end of the year, it will double the number of free movies currently available and upgrade the flight tracker to provide 3D views with aircraft information and personalized destination guides.

See also: Delta to resume flights between Orlando and Amsterdam

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Southwest to invest USD 2 billion to improve customer experience - Aviacionline

Too often, incarceration leads to more incarceration - the reoffending rate for adult prisoners is 42 per cent.

This leads to a cycle of crime in offenders and costs the taxpayer 15 billion a year. Education in prison, however, cuts this rate by 7.5 percentage points.

The 2016 government-commissioned Coates Reviewalso found that prison education improves employment opportunities, community safety and prisoners' wellbeing.

This last factor goes beyond employment or even reoffending, stretching to improved self-confidence and mental health.

The problem is that the Coates Review also found that prison education was inadequate.

Six years later and the story is unchanged, and often worse. Ofsted found that two-thirds of prisons had poor-quality education, skills and work management, and just nine of 32 institutions were judged to be of a high standard (compared with eight out of 10 community further education providers).

Prisoners themselves are falling off: between 2011 and 2018, there was a 90 per cent drop in prisoners taking level 3 courses (AS level or above).

Something desperately needs to change.

So, the Commons Education Select Committee, which I chair, has been looking into adult prison education for the last 18 months.

We found some deeply worrying deficiencies that the government should remedy as fast as possible.

The first, and most important, recommendation is that prisoners need educational assessments. The available data shows that 30 per cent of prisoners have a learning difficulty, but evidence shows this is an underestimate.

The current system is inconsistent, incomplete and relies heavily on self-declaration, so the true scale of learning challenges in prisons is unknown.

But 40 per cent of prisoners have been permanently excluded from school and 57 per cent have English and maths proficiency below the level of 11-year-olds.

Most prisoners do not come from a stable educational foundation and it's counterproductive to act as if they have.

Education that isn't at the right level or doesn't provide the right support is likely to deter prisoners from life-improving learning.

That's why our new report urges the government to implement a consistent system in which every offender receives an assessment for learning needs from an educational psychologist.

This new assessment system is a key element in what the report recommends should be a wholesale overhaul of prison culture to sufficiently prioritise education.

The inquiry heard that education improves employment prospects, making prisoners less likely to reoffend.

However, a number of charities and unions were keen to stress another point: that learning has value in itself.

Witnesses told the committee that education improved prisoner wellbeing, prison culture and behaviour. Learning can transform our prisons if given the right priority.

That's why the government should further promote learning in prisons, pay prisoners the same rate for education as unskilled work, and, most importantly, ensure each prison has a deputy governor of learning who is directly responsible for the educational outcomes of offenders.

While education has its own value, for many prisoners it is their ticket to a new, more stable life on the outside. Currently, just 17 per cent of prisoners are in stable employment a year out of prison.

Thankfully, the government has taken some key steps to strengthen the link between prisoners and employers.

The government's education White Paper proposals to establish employment advisers and local employment boards are welcome, and we look forward to hearing the proposed implementation timeline.

It has also accepted a key recommendation, borne from this inquiry, to extend the Skills & Post-16 Education Act's apprenticeship scheme to prisoners.

With further incentives, such as tax breaks and targeted funding, this could be a lifeline that helps prisoners reintegrate into society.

Finally, our inquiry found that digitally speaking, prisoners are being left behind. Prisoners are often moved to different prisons with little notice.

Currently, when this happens, their education record is effectively wiped - there's often limited communication and scant educational records.

If prisons were to introduce digital passports, detailing specific needs and progress, prisoners would be far less likely to fall off a fractured learning pathway.

It's also a fact that modern learning requires modern tools.

We wouldn't expect school or university students to study without access to digital resources, so how can prisoners be expected to receive a competitive standard of education without some of technology's key learning benefits?

There are legitimate fears about security but, if prisons can ensure that access to online educational resources will be tightly regulated and monitored, then it's in everyone's interests to give prisoners the benefits of digital education.

Education can break the cycle of incarceration to incarceration.

Prisons can't purport to be places of rehabilitation without putting learning, with all the opportunity and self-improvement it entails, at the heart of their mission.

Robert Halfon, Conservative MP for Harlow and a former skills minister, is chair of the Commons Education Select Committee

Read more:
Prison education must embrace digital tools to tackle reoffending rates - Tes

Theres a higher probability that executives will change employers multiple times during their career than the probability theyll remain with only one organization their entire career. Sometimes its by choice, but, unfortunately, its often because of a number of factors outside of their control.

Therefore, the prudent executive understands the importance of preparing for their next career move while they are currently employed. Executives who fail to utilize a portion of their time to position themselves for their next job search make a serious career mistake. Dont think of your job as your career. Your job may be the most important stepping-stone for your career, but its not your career.

While youre employed, put these professional activities on your to-do list:

Continue your education

What a tragedy it is that many executives spend a concentrated period of time in academic studyand then focus only on the job at hand. A number of self-improvement courses and formal academic programs are available to professionals. If youre not interested in those, listen to some of the great speeches available on YouTube. Listen to Simon Sinek, Zig Ziglar, Jim Rohn, Tony Robbins, or John C. Maxwell. Some of the best speeches and advice ever given are free to anyone taking the time to download them and listen.

Even if you dont intend to complete another degree, consider taking courses that will strengthen your abilities in finance, economics, human resources, or some other subject where youre lacking expertise. Make it a priority to find programs and seminars that will benefit you the most. Often, your current employer may pay for part or all of the expense of such programs.

Participate in professional associations

There are regional, state, and national associations for almost every profession. All offer opportunities to meet others within your field or industry. Participate toward honing your leadership skills. Its not enough to just attend association gatherings. Seek leadership positions within the organization. One way to ensure that happens is to volunteer for jobs no one else wants to do.

Perfect your communication skills

Of the thousands of executives Ive known, there is only a handful who couldnt improve their speaking skills. The rest of us are just a work in progress. And, more often than not, the writing skills of these same executives leave something to be desired as well. In perfecting your speaking skills, the most important factor is practice. Teaching at a nearby college or university where you are presenting to students can be a great learning experience, and it can look good on a rsum.

If you cant teach a course, at least seek professional speaking engagements. Appearing before an audience of professional peers and delivering an effective presentation is one of the most challenging things you can do. To perfect your writing skills, write articles and books. The best advice that can be given in this regard is to simply begin. It takes time, but it enables you to develop an in-depth expertise in a field. And in doing so, you gain exposure to colleagues in the field, which enhances your networking capabilities.

Maintain a job search folder

Keep the folder at home and include information youll need for your next job search. At a minimum, the folder should include copies of your one-page, two-page, and multiple-page rsums. And those rsums should be updated every four to six months. Also include the names and addresses of employer prospects you might want to contact regarding a career move, and also the contact information for appropriate executive recruiters and recruiting firms.

Add to the file any information or clippings youve saved about anyone youre thinking of contacting. If your organization has used an outplacement firm in the past, learn as much information as you can about that firm in case you find yourself forced to use it because of a termination.

Part 2 of this article will address two other important issues in preparing for your future career move or advancement.

Terence Moore, former president of MidMichigan Health and co-editor of The Health Care Executive Search: A Guide to Recruiting and Job Seeking, authored this column as a part of a monthly series focusing on career survival and advancement for the Daily News. He may be contacted at tfm43@speednetllc.com

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Strategies for career survival and advancement: What to do between job searches (Part 1) - Midland Daily News

Teaching is like having a bank account. You can happily draw on it while it is well supplied with new funds; otherwise, youre in difficulties. Every teacher should have a fund of ready information on which to draw; he should keep that fund supplied regularly by new experiences, new thoughts, and discoveries.

These famous lines from the iconic book To Sir, With Love by E. R. Braithwaite still hold 61 years later. From the time we begin our educational journey, our teachers build our foundational literacy. In addition to our parents, they serve as our closest confidants, role models, or mentors.

While we all agree on how important a teacher is to a student, herein lies the dilemma ushered in the last decade, further escalated by the pandemic. As education evolves, schools evolve, and students also evolve, have our teaching methods evolved? Simple answer its a work in progress.

Teaching today has begun quite complex and exciting. The time and patience of students or parents have decreased. Information or learning happens 24 hours a day from multiple channels web, net, social media, and online micro-communities. In such a dynamic world, teachers work hard to maintain students focus via curriculum innovations and interactive learning tools.

Its not like curriculum innovation and vocational or interactive learning methods did not exist before the pandemic. Its just that the adoption was mostly amongst a chosen few. This scenario has changed in the post-pandemic era. With the lockdown-led online learning modules, emerging new study verticals around coding, phonetics, STEM learning, and an array of new technologies at their disposal, todays teachers have begun evolving to match the rapidly changing paradigms of schools and students.

Therefore, what makes a 21st-century new age teacher?

To master of knowledge from Jack of all trades

The times have changed from uniform learning to personalized education. For the current hybrid study modes, teachers need to develop individualized learning plans for different students with varying absorption capabilities. That means they have to not only become masters of their subject but frequently go beyond the stated course curriculum. Combining parental and student feedback, these masters of knowledge eagerly test different teaching modes and experiments. They teach with experiential, intuitive methods to help in a childs overall physical, cognitive, socio-emotional-ethical, and cultural development.

Powered by technology

A crucial skill for any teacher, principal, or school today. Most teachers still wear multiple hats that include administrative and clerical tasks. Investing in the right set of technologies can easily take care of these managerial tasks. Take SchoolMitra for example, a cloud-based platform that can take care of everything staffing, payroll, admissions, fees, transportation, library, examination, database, inventory, and communication.

In fact, as per NEP 2020, teachers should no longer engage in any work that is not directly related to teaching; especially strenuous administrative tasks. Schools have to continue investing in digital technologies such as secure LMS (learning management system) and ERP (enterprise resource planning) solutions that can free up teachers. Free them up to concentrate on imparting flexible, multi-faceted, multi-level teaching across grades and geographies.

Investing in continuous self-improvement

Interestingly, NEP 2020 further states that teachers and schools have to look at continuous opportunities for self-improvement and to learn the latest innovations and advances in their professions. Many organizations and teachers have begun participating in training modules to keep pace with the evolving students and parental needs.

Ed-tech companies and auxiliary organizations offer multiple certifications, personalized modules, and interactive online learning solutions that can help. For example, Eupheus offers a certificate from the University of Concordia to computer teachers. A professional development program for teachers on teaching new skills to students. It was offered during the Code2Win National Coding Competition, another gem of a program for the future of learning. Such certifications and learning programs not only build necessary skills but credibility too. They offer a sense of accomplishment to the teachers and trust to parents and students.

As a nation with a rich learning heritage, we all understand that to become a global economic powerhouse, future leaders have to be nurtured well. Teachers have a critical role to play here. Empowered teachers are key to building a powerful nation.

Views expressed above are the author's own.

END OF ARTICLE

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What makes a teacher empowered in the 21st century? - Times of India

As a talk show host, producer, actor, cosmetics line founder, and mom of two, Drew Barrymore has her life down to a science on paper. In a Womans World exclusive interview, the rom-com star explained that in reality, she doesnt feel like she has it all together. And thats okay.

The honesty comes as no surprise. The 47-year-old is renowned for making everyone in the world feel welcome in her world. She is so honest on screen and in her social media (we love those makeup-free product reviews on Instagram!) that sitting down to talk with her feels like talking to an old friend.

Its clear that the past two years in a pandemic have given Barrymore some new perspectives, especially when it comes to her mental wellbeing and life choices.

I really want to focus on mental wellness, she says. And if somebody is like, how do you balance it all? Im like, I dont feel like Im balanced at all. At all. Im no model. I feel like a total hot mess. Im burning the candle at both ends and putting work and my kids first. And then Im on the back burner.

So, what are her keys to dealing with a never-ending schedule and still feeling fulfilled? Self-compassion and self-improvement. Im trying to be more gentle [with] myself mentally, she adds. And convey kindness on the show were making [The Drew Barrymore Show]. And just keep growing as a person. Im going to the mental gym right now and doing my workouts there, and it feels really good.

The other key for Barrymore: finding ways to cut down on day-to-day stressors, like dinner prep. She confesses that when her kids were little, she struggled to come up with meals that were both healthy and appealing. I was a mom who just really wanted to avoid hangry meltdowns with kids, she says. Theyll just do anything when theyre kids and toddlers.

The solution became a flexitarian diet. This trendy eating plan puts plants, beans, and whole grains first, but gives you wiggle room to eat meat and dairy every so often. And its perfect for Barrymore: I dont think Im rigid about anything, she explains.

A big part of her flexitarian diet has been her partnership with Quorn, a food brand that creates meat-free chicken and beef products that rival the real stuff. The not-so-secret ingredient in all their products is something called mycoprotein, which is made from a harmless fungus. Its long, thin fibers imitate the texture of meat.

According to Melissa Snover, registered nutritionist and Founder and CEO of Nourished, one of mycoproteins biggest health benefits is its protein content: For every 100 grams of mycoprotein, there are 11 grams of protein, Snover says. In addition, she thinks its a good option for people who want to eat heart-healthy foods because it is so low in fat and cholesterol.

While some products are probably healthier than others (the meatless chicken patties are covered in crispy bread crumbs), these meat alternatives make a lot of sense in a flexitarian diet. Were all obsessed with the nuggets, Barrymore says, referring to her family. Ive never had anything like Quorn. I feel like chicken has been brought back into my life.

For Barrymore, being a Chief Mom Officer for Quorn is about more than the tasty meals alone. Its about self-improvement, because it means supporting a sustainable food source.

I just want to be a part of good things, she says. Somehow, Im managing to squeeze in time to do things with and for a network that makes me feel good, like working with Quorn and brands that are on the path that I want to be on.

And Im 47. And Ive also been really hard on myself my whole life. Im like, When are we going to be gentle with ourselves? I know we want to be gentle with others, but like, Ive completely lost sight of that question my whole life. So, thats kind of new and fun for me.

Its a simple but essential question one we all have to answer for ourselves. You might choose to be gentler with yourself by creating a self-care routine, forgiving yourself for past mistakes, or taking a big bite of a fake chicken sandwich. Its up to you were not here to judge, and wed like to bet that Barrymore will cheer you on.

We write about products we think our readers will like. If you buy them, we get a small share of the revenue from the supplier.

Here is the original post:
Drew Barrymore on Self Care and Working With Quorn - Woman's World

Herping is the act of searching for amphibians or reptiles.[1][2] The term, often used by professional and amateur herpetologists, comes from the word "herp", which comes from the same Greek root as herpetology, herpet-, meaning "creeping". The term herp is a shorthand used to refer to the two classes of ectothermic tetrapods (i.e., amphibians and reptiles).[3]

Yeah, so I totally click-baited you sick fucks into thinking I was going to talk about venereal diseases and catching them, but the only thing we caught this weekend was tons of Amphibians. Are you feeling pissed you're not getting Herpe content? Go google a blue waffle then you will be on your hands and knees begging to hear about Toads. Because I found a ton of them last Saturday. Spring has sprung, and that means the marble quarry I stumbled upon was filled with mainly terrestrial amphibians hitting the water and banging.

Since the marble quarry was man-made, it was pretty devoid of fish or frogs that usually eat Toad's eggs, so there were tons of American Toads just going at it, leaving long strings of eggs. Unlike frogspawn, toad eggs arent laid in clusters but in long lines.

I lowkey think there's been more biomass in the forests due to less pollution during the covid lockdowns.

Everywhere you looked, there were toads hopping around.

Not only were there toads, but eastern newts were also banging in the shallows of the rock quarry.

Eastern Newts have a pretty cool lifecycle; they go from largely terrestrial red efts, which tend to survive better on land but return to the water as adults to live and breed. Peep this red eft I found.

These dudes are also pretty poisonous. Their bright color indicates they are not to be eaten by predators, but they lose much of their toxicity in old age. Red Efts are newts, not salamanders, even though they are terrestrial.

Rounding off the day of herping found a spring peeper.

A musical creature, you will recognize their role in the sounds of the forest.

For our first nonamphibian of the day, we caught a garter snake that are also horny fuckers as they have giant orgies.

Check out these deprived fucks.

A lot of you are going to think this is freaking weird but guess what? I was tripping balls, and it was sick. So who is the real loser here? But honestly, if you can imagine, this is a great pastime to get away from the internet and get the brain to practice mindfulness. When you are constantly looking for something, it promotes mindfulness. Mindfulness is the act that keeps you in the moment and is a muscle that trained can help with mental health issues.

Benefits of Mindfulness

Literally, the inability to be in the moment is a big factor in anxiety. Worrying about the future and not being in the now. Exercising mindfulness muscles helps prevent anxiety. Doing shit like recognizing external stimuli.

Basically, it gets you out of your head and reduces cortisol. It is a great way to stop thinking about shit and be present. Herping does that for me by making me use my eyes and ears to put me in reality and the present. This may sound pretty hippy and shit, but the science is there. Huge helper with racing thoughts and anxiety. It can be achieved through exercise, hunting, and meditation. Meditation is fucking hard. Way easier just to go find frogs.

"O, Billy's soft he's talking about mental health" Dude, I definitely can beat the shit out of 98% of you (About 2% of you know Jiu-Jitsu, and that shit is basically cheating). Also, I am trying to prevent CTE. Most people get into consuming content to distract from real problems, so hopefully, this shit can help.

Well, I hope one of you sick fucks thought they were going to hear some stories about herpes and ended up getting some trojan-horsed brain exercised to help your overall wellbeing. You see that right there? I just tricked you into self-improvement.

Here is the original post:
Lets talk about Herps: Its as infectious as you think it is - Barstool Sports

Earlier this month its author, Andrew Wilson, wrote that if Scotland votes to become independent, it will be the richest country ever to do so. The economics of the independence debate start with this clear and simple fact. He continued, Scots have the choice of independence and a return to the European Union. Not choosing that would be economically high-risk. The process will not be simple; it will be hard work and take effort, but like most acts of self-improvement, it will also be satisfying and meaningful.

Kit Fraser (Letters, same day) asks why shipbuilding on the Clyde has largely been consigned to history. That is down to the failure of successive UK governments to use Scotlands oil bonanza to modernise our shipyards or to seriously invest in our infrastructure and renewable energy like Norway.

As much oil and gas has been extracted in the Scottish North Sea as in the Norwegian sector. If an independent Scotland had replicated Norways policy of creating a sovereign wealth fund, it would now be, per capita, the wealthiest country in the world.

Unfortunately, under London control we are consigned to years of austerity.

The Scottish Government urgently needs to change its direction. Independence is no longer a viable issue. The fact is that the political parties supporting the Union received far more votes than the independence supporting ones in the recent election.

This was true also in 2014, with a huge turnout and in reality this has not changed ever since. Now we observe that even the flag-waving independence marchers numbers are dwindling to derisory levels. The support simply isn't there but Scotland is facing a cost of living crisis which really needs Nicola Sturgeon's full attention instead.

Our health service and education are in trouble too. Her government also needs to come up with a more practical scheme to heat Scottish houses rather than ultra expensive and inefficient heat pumps. If we are all struggling with the cost to heat our homes right now just how will most Scots afford to junk their present systems for this new one? It is time to join the real world.

Labour, the Lib Dems and our very own SNP have the answer to the cost of living crisis a Windfall Tax. While I agree that this would be of immediate help, it is but a relatively small one-off so would only postpone the current problems.

The SNP could act first, however, and raise a similar amount for Scotland, but at literally no cost. Labour estimate a windfall tax would raise 1.2- 1.9 billion, so Scotlands share would be about 130 million which, coincidentally is almost exactly the amount the SNP have kindly increased the drinks industrys profits by with the advent of minimum pricing.

Why give this money to big business, especially as they seem to have a dislike of it? Had it been a tax then they would have had the very monies to spend on those who are currently struggling. To me that 130m is an excess profit and one thats never going to be invested back into society.

Thank you for Brian Monteiths article (Perspective, 16 May) giving the facts of NI/GB/EU life and refuting the one-sided views of fellow Scotsman columnists Joyce McMillan (Perspective, 13 May) and Christine Jardine (Perspective, 16 May). Are they among those whose default position, in any UK dispute with the EU, is that the UK is wrong?

Neither of them even mentioned the Protocols Article 16, whose sole raison-detre was agreed by the EU precisely to resolve UK/EU disputes and was of course invoked by the EU in Ursula von der Leyens vaccine tantrum (albeit soon withdrawn)!

It is not a question of ripping up the Protocol but of how it is operated in practice. Trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland equates to well below 0.01 per cent of the EUs GDP, yet Brussels insists on implementing on that miniscule fraction around 20 per cent of all its external-border checks on goods.

Until June 2017, under the then Irish Taoiseach, Enda Kenny, the UK and Ireland cooperated in developing sensible electronic off-border checks and controls; and the EU itself was reported to have published a similar solution. Kenny was then replaced by Leo Varadkar, Theresa May lost her majority and authority in her totally unnecessary general election, and Ireland and the EU decided to weaponise the border issue, resulting in Mays backstop and then Johnson being forced to accept the Irish Sea border, with the Protocols Art 16 safeguard, in order to achieve any sort of Brexit whatever.

Lord Frost and Liz Truss have proposed sensible changes to the EUs demands; if it requires the UK to invoke Article 16 to achieve them, with infinitely greater justification than von der Leyen had, then so be it.

John Birkett, St Andrews, Fife

It is gratifying that Nicola Sturgeon is perceived, throughout the UK, to have been more than competent in dealing with the Covid pandemic. She is, however, only rendering managerial competence to our incompetent London overlords!Westminster remains determined to bypass Holyrood with the UK Internal Market Act and the infamous Nationality and Borders Bill, along with imposing British freeports and levelling up schemes.

Furthermore, Boris Johnsons dysfunctional government is ready to suspend democracy by refusing any debate on independence, irrespective of political mandates or the growing majority wishes of the peoples of Scotland.A strong response, not platitudes, is now required from senior SNP figures as they consider a date, as promised, in 2023 for Indyref2. I firmly believe that independence and the breath of freedom gives meaning to life, not only for an individual but also for a nation.

Grant Frazer, Newtonmore, Highland

Nicola Sturgeon was to deliver a speech on foreign policy and climate change yesterday at the Brookings Institution in Washington. There is something surreal about an institution full of expert researchers listening to the thoughts on foreign policy of someone who has no significant experience or expertise in that area, because it is not a part of her devolved remit.

Brookings view of Ms Sturgeon and her presumptuousness has been articulated by its director of research in foreign policy, Michael OHanlon, who has criticised Ms Sturgeons allegedly preferred timing for another referendum, 2023, calling it weird in view of the international crisis caused by Vladimir Putins aggression against Ukraine. In OHanlons opinion, attempting to break up the UK at present is the work of political opportunists, in a slightly unfriendly way to the broader Nato good. That is putting it diplomatically.

In tone deaf mode, Ms Sturgeons line is that Scotland and America apparently as equals must cooperate at a time of international crisis: That is why visits like this one matter. I doubt that I am the only person (on either side of the Atlantic) left muttering delusions of grandeur at that claim.

Jill Stephenson, Edinburgh

I was horrified by the view expressed by Iain Livingstone, the Chief Constable of Police Scotland, to the Sheku Bayoh inquiry. His QC stated on his behalf: Nor is it enough simply to be non-racist. Police Scotland needs to be anti-racist.

A non-racist police force is one that treats people equally under the law regardless of race or ethnicity. Such a force is entirely in keeping with our legal traditions, Western philosophy and our Judeo-Christian heritage. An anti-racist police force is something quite different.

Anti-racism divides people in to two classes: oppressors and the oppressed according to their ethnicity, and then treats people differently according to which class they are assigned to.

It was anti-racism which led to social workers, politicians and policemen turning a blind eye over several decades to the racist grooming gangs operating in many British towns and cities. In 2014, the Jay report concluded that there had been an estimated 1,400 child victims of the grooming gangs over 17 years in the town of Rotherham alone.

It is anti-racism which makes much of the wicked murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993, but completely ignores the torture murder of Kriss Donald in 2004, because it goes against the narrative of whites as oppressors and other ethnicities as the oppressed.

The bigoted and divisive Marxist dogma of anti-racism should have no place in our criminal justice system nor in our society. Instead, we should remember that Justice is blind and treat people equally.

Otto Inglis, Crossgates, Fife

I think I have the answer to Andrew Gray's query about his blood donor form (Letters, 16 May). I was donating last month no 147 and the person next to me asked his same questions and was given the answer that a different form is used in England and in Wales it is even duplicated in Welsh!I presume, therefore, that the choices there are White English or White Welsh! What a staggering waste of duplicationScott Miller, Joppa, Edinburgh

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Clare Humphreys, Owner of Will to Win at her desk. Picture: James Mackenzie.

Happiness, health and wealth you can have it all.

Thats what personal and professional development coach Clare Humphreys wants her clients to know from the outset.

She believes that there is no barrier to self-improvement and that achieving one life goal shouldnt mean missing out on another.

Stuck in a rut at work? Been looked over for that new promotion again? Is your business not getting the clientle you feel it deserves? Or perhaps you just want some personal growth, an insight into how to nurture relationships and improve as a person.

Then Clares Newtonmore-based consultancy Will to Win can help overcome these challenges.

And with her fresh qualification in the Neuro Change Method, shes combining the arts of psychology and philosophy with a solid fact-based science.

It is now her unique selling point a game-changer she considers for people looking to make a positive change in their lives and businesses.

Already a qualified personal development coach, HR practitioner and a graduate of the Proctor Gallagher Institute, she has now added the the Neuro Change Method to her considerable skills.

It uses science to explore ways to change thinking at a neurological level.

The Neuro Change Method is completely evidence based and about understanding and enabling change from a scientific and biological viewpoint, Clare said.

Only in the last 15 years, have scientists discovered that the brain you are born with is not the one you die with. Our brains are malleable and able to change.

That means you can change your behaviour, habits and outlook to get the results you want. Your behaviour is not fixed and you are not a victim of your fate.

Sometimes people dont even know they are stuck in a rut, Clare continues.

The first thing is to ask yourself questions: Am I happy in my life? Do I want more? What does happiness, health and wealth look like to me?

We constantly look to the outside for things to fix us or change our situation. When in reality: We have to start from within, our perception everything always starts from that viewpoint.

Whether you want a fulfilling life, whether you want more money or to grow your business, or a better wealth of relationships, its not until you stop and look at yourself in the mirror and ask: My life, is it really down to circumstances or conditions? Or is the truth that I need to start with myself and look within to what I can change.

Clare explained that humans are genetically hard-wired to want more.

However, at the same time, societal conditioning can lead many people to deny themselves the development they need professionally and sometimes personally.

She said: If we are achieving something we always want more. If we have success we want more. If we are running, we want to run faster. As humans it is an innate behaviour.

But we are led to believe that achieving something greater than what we have already, well that is for other people, that is not me, I am who I am, and we dont even question that belief? That we should be content. Be grateful absolutely and always but if you are dissatisfied then thats good! Dissatisfaction is a creative state.

It can be good to be dissatisfied to want more. To progress in your business or your life thats a good thing.

Give yourself permission to want more.

Clare said one of the most powerful questions to ask her clients is: What is it that YOU want?

And that seemingly simple questions can have a plethora of answers.

But it makes her clients stop and really think, she explained.

Clare said: A lot of people that I work with have this self-awareness already.

But some dont have that accountability and structure that they need.

By putting that in place you can progress.

To put it simply, she said: Im like a personal trainer for the mind.

If you want to get fit then you go to gym.

But you can easily lose motivation and slip back into your old ways.

Whereby if you have a

personal trainer, they take you through the process, they help and guide you and hold you accountable. They are alongside you on your journey.

They are going to be holding up the mirror to show you things that you might not see.

Its not about fixing people its about making them a better version of themselves.

Clare sees a wide range of clients.

From business owners struggling to make a mark, to company employees looking to better themselves and make the next leap professionally.

But it always boils down to a simple starting point during a consultation.

The starting point is that I always work with the person themselves, she said.

My aim is to not necessarily look at marketing plans and deal with strategy. I work with the individual to find out what is holding them back in terms of what they are trying to achieve.

Before that, most people dont even know what they want. Or they have an inkling of what they want but they have been denying themselves of that want due to belief systems what they perceive to be true.

People will come to me and say I want to achieve something bigger and better but I dont know how or where to start.

I want better results for my business and or life in general.

She said the golden thread running through all of her business is that people recognise that they can and must change their own behaviour first.

She said: What I find is that what most people want is: Happiness. Health. And wealth.

So what I do with people to start them on that journey is allow them to focus in on what these goals actually mean to them personally.

One persons version of happiness, health or wealth will vary from someone elses.

So each person has got to answer that question what does that look and feel like to me? And what is stopping me from achieving that? Why can I have one but not have the other?

It is about finding balance. But I do believe you can have all things as well.

Its only our perception of the situation that is stopping us. And its our belief systems.

We invest in cars, houses, technology. But do we really invest in ourselves. And the majority of the time we dont. However, when you do thats when everything changes.

She added: Change is inevitable but personal growth is a choice.

If youre not happy with your current results, dont sit there do something about it. Or at least have the conversation to see if you can do something about it. Reach out and lets have a chat about what happiness, health and wealth means to you

PANEL: BNI Network

Clare Humphreys is the current president of BNI (Business Network Internationals) Tuath chapter.

They meet online once a week on a Wednesday.

BNI is the worlds leading business referral organisation with more than 287,000 members worldwide.

The principal aim is to connect like-minded individuals in a network where they can help and grow their businesses.

Clare, who took up the presidency of the chapter in March this year, said: For me it was a no-brainer to join BNI four years ago.

Ive been a member ever since.

As to the benefits, Clare said: You join BNI for business but you stay for so much more.

Its like having your own community. A lot of business owners are entrepreneurs or solopreneurs and they dont have a team around them.

But we have a very tight community from Caithness down to where I am in Newtonmore.

The common goal is that everyone wants to help each other grow their own business and everyone elses business.

PANEL: Testimonial

As someone who has always been interested in and embraced personal development, I believe that my own business successes and personal growth is rooted in the guidance and coaching Clare Humphreys provides.

Having completed her Thinking Into Results course previously, I am now studying her Neuro Change Method. This particular course is different in that it is steeped in the scientific and medically accepted research that is referenced throughout the practical coursework.

The Neuro Change Method appeals to my own inner curiosity of why and how personal development like this works. It also introduces some very practical ways of engaging in the course materials and delivers a higher level of awareness of how I am thinking, responding and behaving.

For someone who likes to go a little deeper into the psychology and the physiology of understanding what really makes you tick, and how that helps you improve almost any aspect of your life, with Clares guidance, the Neuro Change Method is a very worthwhile investment to make in yourself.

Gordon Sheppard, WP Support and Consulting

http://www.wpsupport.consulting

Newtonmore, PH20 1AY

T: 07765 056440

E: clare@will-to-win.co.uk

http://www.will-to-win.co.uk

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