Thoughts bad for your mind and bad for your body

The following is an article I came across from a website called LiveScience.com. The reason I'm re-posting it here (with full credit to its author, Jeanna Bryner, Senior Writer for LiveScence), is because when it comes to living a life influenced by Eastern Philosophies, one of the common threads is always the connection between a healthy mind, a healthy body, and a healthy essence/soul/being.

Buddha discovered early on that a healthy body and a healthy mind were linked, as noted in one of my earliest entries on this blog. With that in mind, this article points out seven negative thoughts that can be harmful to your health. Take note, and with it, shake off the negative thoughts on your way to a healthy mind, a healthy body, and a healthy being. :)

From LiveScience.com:

"7 Thoughts That Are Bad For You"

By Jeanna Bryner, LiveScience Senior Writer

Our personalities do more for us than determine our social circles. Temperament can impact a person's physical health.

"The idea that behavior or personality traits can influence health is one that's been around for a long time. We're just now getting a handle on to what extent they do," said Stephen Boyle of Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina.

From those with a chill demeanor to the completely frazzled types, mental factors are ultimately tied to physical health. And while a highly neurotic person might deteriorate more quickly than others, not every character trait will kill you. Some might even boost lifetimes.

Cynicism

Cynics who tend to be suspicious and mistrustful of others, a character trait that scientists refer to as hostility, may have an increased likelihood of developing heart disease. "These aren't necessarily hot-headed people, but people who are more likely to read into people's behavior as some hostile motive," Stephen Boyle said during a telephone interview.

In a study of more than 300 Vietnam veterans who were healthy at the study start, Boyle found that those who scored high on measures of hostility were about 25 percent more likely to develop heart disease.

Boyle and his colleagues think that hostile individuals might experience more stress, which can cause spikes in an immune-system protein called C3 that has been linked with various diseases, including diabetes. In fact, the participants with higher scores on hostility showed an increase in these proteins while the non-hostile men showed no such increase.

Lack of Meaning

If you lack a sense of purpose, your stay on Earth could be truncated. A study involving more than 1,200 elderly participants who didn't have dementia at the study's start found that those who indicated having a high purpose in life were about half as likely to die over the study period, which lasted up to five years. The results, published in the June 15 issue of the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, held regardless of a person's age, sex, education and race, along with level of depression and neuroticism.

"Persons with high purpose readily derive meaning from and make sense of the events of their lives, and likely engage in behaviors and activities that they deem important," said study researcher Patricia Boyle of the Rush Alzheimer's Disease Center in Chicago.

Some other research has suggested that people with a higher sense of purpose may have different levels of stress hormones, better heart health or improved immune systems, though more research is needed to firm up any of these biological mechanisms, she said.

The opposite also holds: "The findings from our study suggested that people who no longer set and work actively toward goals or enjoy their day-to-day activities (how they spend their time) are those with greater mortality risk," Boyle told LiveScience.

Fretting

People who are highly neurotic -- constantly worried and anxious, and prone to depression -- die sooner on average than their chill counterparts. And a recently reported study of nearly 1,800 men followed over a 30-year period suggests that's partly because neurotics are also more likely to smoke. Perhaps having a cigarette eases anxiety, said study researcher Daniel Mroczek of Purdue University in Indiana, adding that such a short-term payoff might not be worth it if it kills you down the line.

Lack of Self-control

Late for appointments? Can't keep your desk organized? No self-control? These seemingly benign qualities could take a toll on your health.

A review of more than 20 studies and nearly 9,000 participants revealed people who are conscientious -- organized and self-disciplined, as opposed to impulsive -- live two to four years longer than others. Study researcher Howard S. Friedman of the University of California, Riverside, suspects the boost in lifetime can be attributed partly to the fact that highly conscientious individuals are less likely to smoke or drink to excess, and live more stable and less stressful lives. The study is detailed in a 2008 issue of the journal Health Psychology.

Anxiety

The jitters can put a strain on your noggin, research suggests. Compared with the highly frazzled, individuals with a mellow demeanor who are outgoing may be less likely to develop dementia, which can be caused by Alzheimer's disease and other illnesses. The claim is based on a study that followed more than 500 elderly individuals for five years. Among the outgoing extroverts, dementia risk was 50 percent lower for participants who were calm compared with those who were prone to distress.

Gloom and Doom

The gloomy, inhibited person is not just at a disadvantage socially, but also physically.

A preliminary study of more than 180 patients suffering from peripheral arterial disease (plaque buildup in the arteries) showed participants with so-called type D, or distressed, personality, had an increased odds of dying sooner than other people. Type-D people are more likely to experience negative emotions while at the same time hold in their feelings.

The researchers, who detail their work in the August issue of the journal Archives of Surgery, suggest the personality type is linked with the body's immune system as well as stress response system.

Stress

Whatever you do, don't let this list worry you! Research is showing that prolonged stress can be deadly, and if it doesn't do you in, workplace stress can increase your chances of heart disease, flu virus, metabolic syndrome and having high blood pressure.

A study of nearly 700 Israeli workers found that those who experienced job burnout (when work stress becomes unmanageable) were nearly twice as likely as others to develop type 2 diabetes, in which a person's body becomes resistant to the sugar-regulating hormone called insulin.

And while a job promotion might boost your income, it also stresses you out. British researchers recently found that when people get promoted, they suffer on average about 10 percent more mental strain and are less likely to find time to go to the doctor.

Let go of your anger like you'd let go of a hot coal

"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned."

I came across this quote from Buddha today and it got me thinking...as many of his quotes tend to do. How often does something happen that makes us so angry that we carry our anger with us throughout the rest of the day?

Someone says something to you at work that's snide or snotty, or someone is rude to you in line at the grocery store or post office. Or you're at a meeting and someone just won't stop getting on your nerves with a narrow point of view. A family member or friend does something or says something that causes you to just outright stop speaking to them until, years later, you find it hard to remember the exact thing said that made you so angry to begin with.

What can you do?

No one is saying to just rollover and become a human punching bag. However, the next time one of these things start to light a fire in you of anger, I challenge you to take a small moment and ask yourself this very simple question - "where will my anger get me in this situation?"

You might feel that your anger will accomplish something, but I'm hard-pressed to believe it, especially for trivial things like people's personality flaws.

If you keep that anger burning inside of you throughout the day, the week, the months?

Just as bad. That anger becomes bitterness, and does nothing more than eat away at the good person you are inside, affecting every part of being - your demeanor, your thought process, your heart, your ability for love, your capacity for good - all eaten away by your anger like a plague.

You often hear people say "don't sweat the small stuff." They're right. Grasping on to your anger, never letting go of the things that irk you, or something someone said this morning, yesterday, last week, last year, or ten years ago...does nothing more than to burn you from the inside out.

Let go of the hot coals, let go of your anger, and find one more way to set yourself free.

You never really get to see your own face

Recently, a colleague told me: "You never really get to see your own face."

I thought about this for a little bit - longer, I'm sure, than he expected me to.

We will never truly know what it's like to interact with and see us. We can only know the internal us and what we attempt to put out externally. It is something only others can share in, but only we can give.

Interesting.

Truth, Justice, and Humanity's Potential for Good

I want to talk about Superman.

Yep, you heard me right. Superman. I'm not talking Frederich Nietzche, but Clark Kent - THE Superman - blue suit, red cape, you know the guy.

Your first thought of course is, why Superman and what does he have to do with Eastern Philosophy? Many people consider him to be a bit of a weenie, or a boy scout, never one of the cool super heroes. I beg to differ.

What Superman represents is exactly what Buddhism teaches us - the potential for humanity to do good by its own actions. Not by divine intervention, but through ourselves.

Check this out - (you'll have to click to enlarge, but trust me, worth the few seconds):


This comic book page right here epitomizes what Superman is about - an iconic figure in pop culture not as a savior, but as an inspiration, to make those fictional characters of Metropolis, and possibly some real-life people stand up and show the world that the world can be a better place if we each choose to do our part and make it one.

Buddhism teaches us that we all possess the ability to control what we think, do and say, and to make our lives a representation of compassion and wisdom, rather than one of greed, fear, and selfishness.

The ability is within each and every one of us to refrain from acts (be they in body, speech, and mind) that can cause pain to ourselves or to others. With that said, we each also have the ability to perform acts this those same ways that promote happiness and peace.

How many times to we see people who are constantly negative about everything talking about how terrible the world and everything around them is? As we've said before, negative, brings forth negative. We have the potential to cleanse ourselves of that negativity and purify our minds - making each one of us another step towards a better world.

That is a huge part of what Buddhism is about - it's not about dogma or rules to follow. It's about the potential inside each of us.

Buddha said that looking at ourselves honestly, we'd find that the root of much of our pain is our own ignorance and the misconceptions we hold about the true nature of our existence.

The path to our own happiness lies in getting rid of our wrong ideas about why things are why they are, and create a mindset of generosity and morality.

Generosity not only helps take away our selfishness, but brings us a joy and good feeling that creates bonds of friendship and love with others around us. The less we grasp at possessing things and worrying about what we don't have, the more we can open up to the world around us and contribute positively to it.

In Buddhism, morality is looked at as refraining from using negative words and deeds. By not feeding the negative, we begin to free ourselves from falling into its grasp and start to live more positively, hopefully inspiring others to do the same.

So take a cure from Superman - stop looking for a savior to fix everything and start realizing we have the ability to do it ourselves. It starts with each and every one of us. Use your gifts to help others, and to inspire them to do the same.

Be the kind of person you want the world to be filled with. Over time, you might find that the world isn't so bad. :)

Our thoughts, our world

"All that we are arises from our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make our world."

I came across this quote on a little app on my fiance's IPod that presents you with a handful of Buddha Quotes each day. In fact, I believe it's called Handheld Buddha. This particular quote stuck out in my mind and has been swimming around in my brain ever since.

What we think shapes the world around us - how we act, how we speak, how we perceive. We've heard many a time that a negative mindset brings about a negative reaction from the universe right back to us. In turn, a positive mindset will return a positive reaction from the universe.

Let's take it one step further.

A few years ago, I was sitting in a coffee shop on a rainy Fall day and had one of the most memorable conversations with my friend and noted author, Larry Trivieri Jr., where we talked about the concept of manifestation.

I was reading a book called "An Unlikely Prophet" at the time, by an author we were both big fans of - Alvin Schwartz. The concepts in this book led Larry and I to discuss some bizarre instances in our own lives. On my end of things, we were discussing concepts, situations, and realities that I had written about in stories, scripts, and films, that later, whether you believe it or not, started becoming true.

At the time that they were written, they were merely visualizations of ideas, ideals, and desirable outcomes that I was writing out of my own subconscious mind and onto the page (and in some cases from mind to page to film). However, as years went by, I could look back and realize that life situations that had materialized had evolved and developed very much in the way I had created.

One of our mutually favorite writers, Grant Morrison, has talked about this for years. Morrison wrote a comic series called "The Invisibles," where he based one of the series' key characters - King Mob - after himself. Morrison notes that many of the trials and tribulations that he put the character of King Mob through throughout the series - whether it was meeting a particular type of woman, or having his lungs crushed - it, over time, began to happen to Morrison as well.

In these cases, whether my own, Morrison's, or Larry's, thoughts literally had created a world - a reality.

We do it every day, whether we realize it or not. You, yes, YOU, are creating the world around you, your life of tomorrow with your thoughts of today. You an disbelieve it, you can shun it, or you can embrace it, and start creating your world today!

Precept One - Epic Fail

I tried. I really tried.

I know I put out the challenge to anyone reading this blog to join along with me as we tried to live out a Buddhist precept each week. The first was to not say, act, or think in a harmful way toward any living being, no matter what it was.

I failed...and miserably at that.

I struggled. I tried keeping my mouth shut at work when someone would say something ignorant or harmful toward something or someone else at work...I tried to take in everything around me as a part of the living connection between the universe.

I made some progress, but I can't in any way say that I made it happen. I kept my mouth shut...but it didn't mean I wasn't thinking some harmful comment to someone. And you know what I ended up doing last weekend? Pulling out the weed-wacker and taking out every weed I could find in the yard.

Perhaps I'm just not there yet. There are certain aspects of Buddhism that perhaps I AM capable of handling, but there's still so many more that I'm just not at the level of yet.

Maybe with time. We'll see. A brief reprieve before we try another one.

I wonder if other people had been or could be any more successful at it than I. Would love to know and get any tips if anyone has them.

This challenge will prove interesting...

Okay...this first challenge is definitely going to prove to be tough.

How do you act in a capacity as a boss and have to question why things aren't done or done right, yet not say so in a way that would be considered "doing harm" by Buddhist standards?

Day One and already some interesting questions arise. If anything, this challenge will prove educational.