Wellness and Your Irritability Threshold

IFLScience

In certain ways, wellness is like church ministry---we insist on complicating it when it's really so simple. Wellness is often shown as some complex system of making the body and mind healthy and measuring the result by some equally complex measures. 

Often, they make it look like wellness is looking and feeling like your favorite showbiz idol---trim and perfectly sculptured body, flawless skin, pretty face, glossy hair, gym life, and strict diet---which are all super costly to maintain. Church ministry is often like that, too. It has to have a lot of glamour, gimmicks, popularity, accomplishments, good publicity, exciting programs and lively activities which are all costly to maintain.

But really, wellness (like true ministry) is all about character.

It all boils down to this---what's your irritability threshold in your unguarded moments? How easily do you get pissed off (and do you get easily pissed off by simple things)?

You live a genuinely WELL LIFE only if you have good character, especially if you have lots of patience and kindness (especially when dealing with your subordinates). All your hard efforts at achieving wellness and your expenses for getting good health come to naught if you have a rotten character, especially when dealing with poor and unimportant folks.

One cool afternoon, while "idling" with God in the middle of a rice field in Nueva Ecija, this idea hit me: "Love is not irritable," [1 Corinthians 13.5 Good News Translation]. In another version, it says, "Love is not easily angered."

It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no account of wrongs.

Then it struck me. That is genuine wellness! That's what consists a WELL LIFE.

Then I asked myself, "What's my irritability threshold?" Do I easily get irritated? By what? I pondered on the thought and examined myself. God made me a very patient and quiet man (often I have incredible amounts of tolerance) by his grace (not of myself), but I realized how I still needed to have a lot more patience. God showed me the times I was impatient and how I sometimes got pissed off by simple things like flies landing on my nose or lips, or when people made me wait a lot and wasted my time.

God never thought his time was wasted even if his servants made him wait a lot, did he?

If you really learn to be so patient and kind, especially to the unkind or to people of lower ranks or disposition (and not get affected negatively by it), then you live a genuinely WELL LIFE. The same goes in church ministries. Big ministries and mega churches mean nothing if they have transformed you (or deformed you) into an unkind, impatient, self-centered and cruel creature.

Do you want to know if you're truly successful and living a WELL LIFE? Just check your irritability threshold.

Here's how you laugh your way out of sadness. Click here. 

Can You Stop People from Giving You Problems?

The Globe and Mail

The first thing most people do when facing a problem is complain. And by complaining, they mean the other party should make amends to make things right for them. Or, the other party should change to avoid making the same mistakes again.

Like what's happening in the US now. President Trump decides to prioritize Americans and immigrants complain. It means they want Trump to change policy. I can understand what Trump is doing. I'd do it too if I were president of the Philippines---put Filipinos first. And I won't care what foreigners say. I'd prioritize Filipinos in the Philippines.

Is that too hard to understand?

You can remain yourself while still being easily likable to most people. Click here to get the story!

Let's look at what's happening here. Duterte seriously addresses the illegal drugs problem in the country and some people complain when dead bodies of drug dealers start littering in the streets. They want Duterte to stop going after drug and underworld characters for fear they themselves might be implicated.

Another example. Duterte changes foreign policy and befriends China but Filipinos who worship America complain and worry about having more difficulties getting US visas.

They all think the solution to problems lies in other people changing for them. They never think change has to start in them most especially.

If only we all think of changing ourselves first rather than complaining and demanding other people to adjust for us. There probably would be less problems to think about with more selfless people thinking of others.

If you seriously think about it, the root cause of problems really is the ego and the solution is change within. Not change in government or religion or policies. It's not even change in other people. It's real change deep within you---within each of us.

Don't tell people to change. YOU change.

Instead of complaining about Trump's American-first policy, why not ready yourself for a permanent homecoming. Anyway, it's more fun in the Philippines. If deportation doesn't happen, good for you. If it does happen, just think how God won't allow things to happen without good reason.

Instead of worrying about Duterte's aggressive anti-drug campaign or foreign policy, why not just keep away from drugs to make sure you don't get caught in the crossfire? And why not just start learning Mandarin and getting used to eating Maling instead of fearing Spam getting out of stock.

Fact is, you cannot stop people from giving you problems. And you can't go on through life begging them to change for you. At the first sign of a problem, people's first tendency is to control others. Now, imagine people doing that to each other.

 Believe me, the first sign of a real solution is when you stay out of that tendency.

Parents often have problems with their kids or teenagers and wish that they'd change. Well, they probably would, but that would be after a long time. Or, they may not. So, in the meantime that they're not changing, what would you do? Yell at them till you drop dead?

There was this dad who had problems with his chain-smoker teenager. He used to yell at him for it. Then it dawned on him. Instead of yelling at his kid each day, he changed strategy. He stopped yelling and started working out......and he also stopped seeing his other woman.

It turned out his kid was rebelling because of his other woman and because he was himself utterly unconcerned about his health. He didn't smoke or drink but he looked like a whale.

After he changed, his kid quit his vices.

Jesus said something to this effect:

First take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.

The change must first happen in you.

When a food crew in a restaurant, for instance, doesn't act right (say, he's arrogant and disrespectful) most people's reaction would be to complain. Well, you can change that. Why not simply stand up, leave quietly and change restaurant?

How Do You Get Out of the System of Outputs?

Cartoons by Ron Leishman

Just because you have output doesn't necessarily mean you have success. Even malfunctioning devices have outputs. Neither is productivity always a sign that everything is running smoothly. I often see school textbooks printed by the bulk and selling well, yet containing a lot of errors. A lot of them are useless.

Numbers often do not mean anything except that there are few or many of a certain item. Big size or number doesn't always mean superiority. And yet so many things are judged by size and number. So much of life are still ruled by them. People see you by your outputs, not your running condition.

We're so much like machines---in fact, so many people I've met treat people like machines, automated machines, to be exact. They expect you to keep producing for them, and automatically at that (and I'm not just referring to the workplace but to everyday life). How you feel is definitely out of the question. What matters is that you work and produce for their pleasure.

So, let's take it from that perspective.

I've seen a lot of people use up their entire lives in pursuit of outputs---like they're really machines. Whoever brain-washed them did it so well. They seem to have forgotten that they have human flesh and souls and really see themselves as tough, cold, steely machines. They see life as one big production department.

All their lives they plunged themselves in work, to producing things, to accomplishing a lot of endeavors. And often, they do this "for God." God cursed man with that---to work a lot "by the sweat of your brow" and keep working "through painful toil...all the days of your life."

In the end, they all find themselves in terrible pain while wasting away in their death beds, suffering severe ailment after a lifetime of abusing their bodies, working beyond the limits set by God on a human body.

What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun? All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless. [Ecclesiastes 2.22-23]

God designed the body and mind to enjoy good rests each day. Originally, he did not design the body for work but for aiding the mind and soul to commune with God. That alone. He did not create man and give him a body to produce outputs. Every "output" needed had already been provided by God in Eden. God was not interested in outputs that man could accomplish. God just wanted man to be with him---in close communion.

We have to go back to that plan.

We have to stop viewing life as a time solely for producing outputs. Ecclesiastes already hinted that in life, there's a time for everything, not just outputs and accomplishments. We have to stop seeing life as one long production lead time and people as machines. This twisted view of life also produces wrong character, attitudes and perspectives. It explains why difficult people are around.

We have to begin seeing humans as spirits inside human flesh that gets tired and with minds that despair and get anxious. These are all built-in so we'd seek God. God designed it like that---put human spirit in physically feeble flesh so that we'd get tired and seek rest.

In fact, rest is when we finally become really productive. When we learn to rest correctly, we start to enjoy everything and see the value of even the smallest, tiniest thing in life---even the slightest, irrelevant efforts that don't seem to produce outputs.

Most of all, we learn to value and respect each life, regardless of output. This is an essential part of building God's true Kingdom on earth in Christ.

I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live. That each of them may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all their toil—this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that people will fear him. [Ecclesiastes 3.12-14]

Is there a way out of all this? How do you get out of the system?

God started recreating everything about two thousand years ago when Christ died on the cross. Now, all of us who are tired and heavy laden are invited to rest in Christ. All we have to do is repent from sins and all "dead works" and surrender our whole lives to Jesus Christ. That's resting in God.

How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death (or dead works), so that we may serve the living God! [Hebrews 9.14]

Look at the benefits of resting in God:

To the person who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God. [Ecclesiastes 2.26]

But Many Go Back to the System of Outputs

The sad thing is, many who have availed of Christ's invitation to rest didn't get the whole picture and went right back to the system of outputs. They proceeded to find something to do and accomplish for God---and the harder it was to do, the better. Peter went right back to catching fish when he saw no "output" from Jesus' death on the cross.

We are given a "lighter load" to carry, says Christ, and that load shouldn't take us back to the curse in Eden. We shouldn't be found suffering pain and sorrow in the end in our deathbeds due to the abuse we did to out bodies while pursuing earthly toils and outputs.

Remember, Jesus didn't end up in a hospital bed. Even Moses grew old strong and healthy while pursuing God's will. And come to think of it---Moses had a lot of great accomplishments in his life but was forfeited the reward of seeing the Promise Land just because he disobeyed God in one little thing---he struck the rock twice instead of talking to it.

Believe me, to God there's more meaningful output just talking to a rock than all the accomplishments you could think of in this world.

What to Do to have Powerful and Muscular Arms with Push-ups

Pranay Platon

Why should you want more powerful and muscular arms? One, so you can do better physical work, like if your job requires you to lift, push or pull heavy things. Second, they help prevent fights. 

I'll deal with the second reason here. If you want to avoid fights you should develop good character and a fit body. That's the reality in the streets. I know it because I'm a streetfighting instructor in Manila. A lot of fights and quarrels can be avoided if thugs or trouble-makers see your powerful and muscular arms.

So, it's really about survival, why you should want to develop your arm muscles---protecting yourself and your family.

And how do you develop powerful and muscular arms? Being a no-gym fitness buff, I advice you to do it with mere push-ups. Do regular full push-ups (your chest touching the floor when lowering your body and then lifting your body with your arms until they are fully stretched). But you should do it slowly. Let the muscles in your arms, forearms,shoulders and chest feel it, especially when you slowly lift your body, your arms pressing against the floor.

Not too slow, though, especially if you have other things to do during the day. Probably, you count to 10 as you lift your body and count again to 10 as you lower it. Make sure you accompany the movement with correct breathing. Inhale slowly as you lower your body, Exhale slowly as you lift it, feeling the "chi" in your arms (Chi is the flow of strength from your abdomen to your arms as you exhale).

Do this push-up with 10 to 15 repetitions in 3 to 4 sets. Don't be too in a hurry. Enjoy the workout and let your mind rest as you're doing it. The full effect will be spoiled if you do it with stress. As you develop strength in your arms, increase the repetitions. Soon, you will feel how powerful your arms have become and the muscularity will follow.

Soon, too, your developed arms will fit right into the sleeves of your shirts, making the muscle size obvious with every movement. People, especially trouble-makers, just have to see your arms to think twice or thrice before messing with you. About 90% of the time it works. I know this for a fact. But should a silly guy not notice and decide to make trouble for you, you're in a much better shape to neutralize him, if need be.

I still prefer to ignore trouble-makers, as long as they don't hurt my loved ones. 😎

Please watch the video below:

There are a lot of push-up variations that serve different arm purposes. I plan to tackle them a bit here on Choy's Cut one by one. I prefer push-ups than lifting weights because weights tend to give you too bulky muscles that do not serve streetfighting speed and agility. And push-ups are portable and won't cost you a dime. For the cheap but effective fitness workout that I regularly do, click here for the e-book.

Or, checkout this free video. Click here.

Here's What Serious Wellness is All About

Image from Great Cartoons

Most folks think fitness starts and ends at the gym. And then they go out to the world and live their usual undisciplined lives. Although they're familiar with the idea that health and fitness is a lifestyle, they really don't know what that means.

It's like church. People do church on Sundays in a building with a cross they call "church." And then they leave it after service and live their "normal" lives in the world. Sunday is "church" day to them. They are familiar with the idea that church is actually people and church life should continue on other days (not just Sunday) even when they're in the world out there. But they don't really know what that means. And probably, some readers would find it odd that I mention church here when I'm talking about wellness. But it adds up.

Real wellness (and Choy's Cut wellness) is being well in every aspect of life. It's not just health and fitness. You cannot be really well if your marriage is a wreck or your family broken, for instance---even if you have the most muscular or sexy body on the planet. And definitely you cannot be well if your soul is going straight to hell.

For keeping physically healthy and fit, checkout my ebook. Click here.

Wellness is being well in life in all 6 aspects. You're well physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, spiritually and financially. That's what I call all-inclusive wellness. It's not necessary that you get them all perfect now. The vital thing is that you have balance in every aspect. Wellness means balance, as perfection also is.

It's important to be well the whole day. It's a lifestyle. While you're getting ready for work or business, traveling, eating, talking with friends or clients, relaxing, watching a movie, posting on Facebook or Instagram, shopping, driving, cooking, napping, etc. you should be enjoying wellness.

Here's how I easily keep fit. Click here.

For instance, I'm talking to my boss and he's giving me a hard time, requiring a lot and burdening me with quotas and deadlines. Though that's stressing me, I should be well. I'm stuck in heavy traffic, being immobile on the same spot for hours and getting late for appointments, I should be well. No matter what the situation is (especially if you're in adverse situations) wellness should still reign.

This is a powerful wellness verse:

I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. [Philippians 4.11-13]

Wellness is being content. But it's also the ability to "do all things." You cannot be really "well" if you're not content. Contentment is a vital life lesson that will keep you well all day, every day throughout life. But it doesn't mean you stop being better. Wellness is also reaching your full potentials by "doing all things." And in Choy's Cut wellness, this is possible only through Christ who strengthens.

Your full potential with patience, for instance. You face problems and challenges with kindness, understanding and a broad mind. You train yourself to keep cool and peaceful amid crisis. That training includes a healthy diet and regular workouts to help ensure you have normal blood pressure (so you can control your anger), mental and emotional health to understand things with maturity, and spiritual health for empowerment from God.

Now, you can more easily get all the above if you have financial health to buy the best health supplements, quality reading materials and other things that can help you achieve them.

Wellness is not just what you find in gyms, spas or wellness centers. It's what you find in life.

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How to Get Rid of Stomach Troubles When Traveling is Also How You Stay Healthy During Travels

Kpopselca

I travel around locally for time to time and I know how bowel movement can be a problem. Especially if you have to leave so early in the morning, like 4 am. This means you have to get up earlier to prepare, like 2 or 3 am?

Early in the morning is when your body works to eliminate food you had the previous days. Natural body detox and waste elimination are often at their peaks at 5 am. So, if you wake up earlier---say at 2 am---and try to relieve yourself in the comfort room, waste elimination may not be that productive. Why? Because most bodies are programmed to eliminate waste at 5, 6 or 7 in the morning. At 2 am, the digestive system is still "asleep," as it were, although the systems of our body never sleep.

So you go out at 3 am because you have to be at the meeting place before departure, which is 4 am. At this time, your digestive system is just "waking up."

Or, if you have a car, you start hitting the road at 4 am. So, one or two hours after, you may start feeling like going to the restroom. If you're like me, stopping over a gas station with clean restrooms (there are plenty along SLEX or NLEX where gas stations exist with fast food chains and grocery stores) and using the toilet is not a problem. I have used a  lot of them with excitement. But most people are not comfy with that. They'd rather suffer the discomfort of restraining their bowel movement, which takes away all the joy of traveling.

To avoid this, here are my tips:

1. Eat lots of green leafy vegetables and fibrous fruits the day (better if 2 days) before traveling, particularly during lunch and supper. And remember to eat fruits first before meals. It's very important.

Don't eat any meat or fish. About an hour after meals, drink lots of water (but NOT cold water). You'd find that the following day, at 5 am, you'd have a smooth bowel movement. That would happen about two times that morning. So you can be free of bowel-movement worries during travels.

2. Better if you always drink warm water the day before, or something a little bit hotter. But not too hot.

See how tips 1 and 2 will keep you healthy if you make them a lifestyle?

3.  Arrange for a 5 am departure instead of an earlier time if you are traveling with others. The most comfy travel is 7 or 8 am. You can wake up at 4.30 am and have plenty of time to allow for bowel movement.

4. Avoid eating lakatan banana. Over ripe latundan banana is good the day before.

5. Develop the habit of doing water therapy first thing each time you wake up in the morning. This helps loosen stool and ease up bowel movement---if you had a good green leafy diet the day before. If you have this habit, then you have less worries during travels. It'll also keep you healthy.

6. During travel, refrain from eating  or drinking too much. Chewing gums will cause air to be trapped in your tummy and bloat it. That gives you a feeling of more urgency to run to the CR pronto.

7. Don't indulge in eating during travels. Eat just enough. Drink just enough. Sprite or 7-Up helps stop bowel movement a bit.

8. Be careful what you eat during travels. It's not the time to try strange food dishes or drinks. Make sure to eat in a clean place serving clean food.

9. Make sure the water you drink is purified.

10. Avoid eating fibrous food during travel.

If the above tips aren't possible and you really have to break some of them, then I strongly advice you to always be equipped with at least 2 rolls of tissue paper and a small bottle of alcohol. And keep them handy (don't place them in your luggage placed in the back trunk of the car).

The first place I look for when traveling is a nice and clean restroom with abundant water. If worse comes to worse, then you have to make do with what's available, no matter how messy. I have trained myself to be ready for this. So I always take 2 rolls of tissue paper with me and a small bottle of alcohol. I keep them in my belt bag.

With hotels (or any accommodation), I always look for four things:

1. Air-conditioned room
2. Clean bathroom and toilet
3. Plenty of water
4. Fire escape

If these are not available, I have plans B and C ready. Just devise any contingency plans. It's all up to you. Definitely, never stay in a hotel with no fire escape. As for the toilet, look for a fastfood store nearby with nice CR.

Why Eat Makopa this Time of Year

PInterest

Rose apple---that's what one site called makopa in English. I was surprised, too. Google calls it mountain apple. I and my friends called it tambis when we were kids and my first taste of it was when my neighbor's makopa tree was abundant with fruits one summer.

I examined it before biting into it, finding this red bell-shape fruit kindof eerie. Some fruits were pink, but I liked the deep red ones better. It smelled like some kind of an ornamental flower, so the more it didn't appeal to me. But seeing my friends eating them like crazy, I also began eating mine.

"Crunch!" Hmm, it was crunchier than most apples I have eaten (back then Fuji apples were not yet available). It was juicy and just sweet enough, a bit more sweeter than our local turnip. I was surprised that I liked the taste, though not the appearance.

We treated it like some cheap pop corn or hopia. We'd drop by our neighbor, pick some fruits from their makopa tree, and munch them casually. We didn't know how powerful it was in terms of health benefits. It's got Vitamin C, thiamin, magnesium, calcium, iron, sulfur and potassium. It's a great source of dietary fiber, besides. Thus, it's low in calories and fat. Obvious, isn't it?

I think it has either anthocyanin or resveratrol because of its red color.

Now, here's what's so special about makopa this time of year. Place a bunch of makopa in the vegetable crisper or chiller and eat them when cold enough. I'd even suggest you slice the fruit in thin pieces and mix in your fruit or vegetable salad or your favorite fresh fruit juice. Actually, I'd prefer fresh fruit punch with a measure of red wine.

I can imagine how it will go with your grilled meat dishes if you slice makopa real thin or blend it dry and use as toppings on your meat. Better if you mix it with thinly sliced onions, cucumber and radish. Super healthy, too.

Imagine yourself stressed up from office work. You get home exhausted and needing refreshment so badly, suffocated by pollution and irritated by traffic. Then you open the fridge and get 5 makopa fruits from the vegetable chiller and start munching as you sit down in your favorite sofa and relax. You should try this with makopa because it has a different invigorating effect.

Makopa is not sold anywhere in the city or provinces. I have yet to see the fruit being sold. So this poses some problems. However, if you have a neighbor with a fruiting makopa tree, you can always ask for some.

Here in our neighborhood, I see kids walking away with a sack-full of makopa after asking some from another neighbor who doesn't care about the ripe, red makopa fruits just falling on the street. I watch them walk back home with excited faces, and I remember my childhood. Few kids today know what makopa is and eat it to.