Are you ok?

11^th September 2014

You can be your own best friend or your own worst enemy – choose wisely!

Day 3 of Simple Start in the bag and I even ate out, opted for steak and jacket potato (no butter) peas and tomato, it was just the ticket for a delicious lunch.  I did indulge in a 250ml glass of wine before going to bed which was my two treats and I’ve slept better so hopefully this head cold is on the run.  My slow cooker beef hotpot turned out delicious so that’s food for today as well, the beef was melt in your mouth.

I’ve got a really full weekend of work so tomorrow I’m going to chill and relax and try and recharge my batteries and hopefully see off this cold.  Saturday I’m at the opening day at Ashmore Parks http://www.the-hub.info/ not only do I run a meeting down the road but I also live on the estate so this is an important centre for my community and I’m looking forward to the grand opening.

It’s been great in meetings this week, we’re talking about food which is always a good thing and sharing our meals and recipe ideas, yesterday Kelly told us about her  pulled pork in slow cooker, then posted the instructions for us in our group;

Pulled pork

lean joint of pork, pour about an inch of diet cola round it; bbq sauce and chilli flakes. Put it all in slow cooker for about 6/7 hours. When cooked remove pork and shred with 2 forks, spoon some of the juices/ bbq coke over the top and leave for 5 mins. I like mine on Weight Watcher petit pains

It does sound good doesn’t it! I quite like the idea of having it on a bed of brown rice with sweetcorn and peas because the juice would soak into the rice.  Mmm maybe that will be going on my “to eat” list.

Yesterday I shared a video on facebook

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152704415384769

If you have 5 minutes please watch it, it’s really good, thought provoking!

Actually here are the lyrics because I found it powerful and moving, so many messages put together in one short video! So I’m going to finish here BeYOUtiful because we can all learn something from his words, read them then go out today and be nice, apparently today is R U OK Day, a great initiative that encourages people to ask one simple question. Who will you ask if they're ok today?  We all need to start loving and caring if we are to make a difference.

Why I Think This World Should End Lyrics
Prince Ea

The world is coming to an end
The air is polluted, the oceans contaminated
The animals are going extinct, the economy’s collapsed
Education is shot, police are corrupt
Intelligence is shunned and ignorance rewarded
The people are depressed and angry
We can't live with each other and we can't live with ourselves
So everyone’s medicated
We pass each other on the streets
And if we do speak it's meaningless robotic communication
More people want 15 seconds of fame
Than a lifetime of meaning and purpose
Because what’s popular is more important than what’s right
Ratings are more important than the truth
Our government builds twice as my prisons than schools
It’s easier to find a Big Mac than an apple
And when you find the apple
It's been genetically processed and modified
Presidents lie, politicians trick us
Race is still an issue and so is religion
Your God doesn’t exist, my God does and he is All-Loving
If you disagree with me I'll kill you
Or even worse argue you to death
92% of songs on the radio are about sex
Kids don’t play tag, they play twerk videos
The average person watches 5 hours of television a day
And it's more violence on the screen than ever before
Technology has given us everything we could ever want
And at the same time stolen everything we really need
Pride is at an all time high, humility, an all time low
Everybody knows everything, everybody’s going somewhere
Ignoring someone, blaming somebody
Not many human beings left anymore, a lot of human doings
Plenty of human lingerings in the past, not many human beings
Money is still the root of all evil
Yet we tell our kids don’t get that degree
The jobs don’t pay enough
Good deeds are only done when there's a profit margin
Videos of the misfortunes of others go viral
We laugh and share them with our friends to laugh with us
Our role models today
60 years ago would have been examples of what not to be
There are states where people can legally be discriminated against Because they were born a certain way
Companies invest millions of dollars hiring specialists to make Little girls feel like they need “make up” to be beautiful Permanently lowering their self esteem
Because they will never be pretty enough
To meet those impossible standards
Corporations tell us buy, buy, buy, get this, get that
You must keep up, you must fit in
This will make you happy, but it never does for long
So what can we do in the face of all of this madness and chaos?
What is the solution? We can love
Not the love you hear in your favourite song on the radio
I mean real love, true love, boundless love
You can love, love each other
From the moment we wake up to the moment we go to bed
Perform an act of kindness because that is contagious
We can be mindful during every interaction
Planting seeds of goodness
Showing a little more compassion than usual
We can forgive
Because 300 years from now will that grudge you hold against Your friend, your mother, your father have been worth it?
Instead of trying to change others we can change ourselves
We can change our hearts
We have been sold lies
Brainwashed by our leaders and those we trust
To not recognize our brothers and sisters
And to exhibit anger, hatred and cruelty
But once we truly love we will meet anger with sympathy
Hatred with compassion, cruelty with kindness
Love is the most powerful weapon on the face of the Earth
Robert Kennedy once said that
Few will have the greatness to bend history
But each of us can work to change a small portion of events
And in the total of all those act
Will be written in the history of a generation
So yes, the world is coming to an end
And the path towards a new beginning starts within you.