Gratitude Improves Your Health

THAT was the key to Dax being able to build a new life. He had to discard the old one and be born again. And births are seldom painless for anyone. It would have been nice if he could have been made to understand this, so instead of trying to fight to save his old life or despair over its loss, he could instead have focused his efforts on the future and hope that he could attain, one that even he has to admit is not very bad, all things considered. This is done nowadays sometimes in military hospitals (they are perhaps more accustomed to personality death and rebirth) but sometimes not. I would like to see it done more.

Patients Right to Refuse Treatment?
Patient Right to Death?

Help us: Classic Case presentation of Donald (Dax) Cowart Rejects Treatment and is Ignored!?

a. Was the higher good served?
b. Decide what the “higher good” is?

Best Answer – Chosen by Voters
I’m going to have to turn the order of your questions around in order to answer them properly.

Questions of what the ‘higher good’ is have been around for millennia, and I don’t think they are likely to be resolved to everyone’s satisfaction any time soon. But there are two prominent thinkers I like to refer to in times like this: Aristotle and Kant.

Aristotle, believed that the purpose of humans is to reason, and that to be good an entity must perform his function well. This puts us in a bit of a quandary – if we deny a person’s choice to die we are countering their very purpose, but on the other hand if we allow their reason to prevail they will cease to function well and stop reasoning altogether. I think Aristotle would have suggested that such a difficulty suggests a flaw in one of our hypotheses, and in this case it would be that a reasonable person CAN choose to destroy themselves.

I suspect this is the view of much of the medical community, as Dax himself occasionally points out on some of his tours. It raises the question of whether this is really so – that any person who wished to die is by definition unreasonable.

Kant is a big fan of reason, arguing that it is in fact greater than any instinctive sense of good or bad, if properly applied. His idea of ‘good’ is whatever would be beneficial if everybody did it all the time. At first, being allowed to kill yourself when there seems no hope of retaining what you value would seem to be a good thing, but we can also come up with examples (Dax is a good one) of people who would have killed themselves if given the opportunity, but who instead went on to develop new values and live productive and beneficial lives. Thus allowing death or suicide where recovery is possible is bad, and should NEVER be allowed, according to Kant.

Dax argues that patients should be better informed, have more say in their treatment, and be treated with kindness instead of threats as happened in his case. I can only agree with him as far as that goes. Many of the treatments that were used on him have already been abandoned as inhumane.

Yet even three decades after his recovery, Dax also says that he should have been allowed to die. I would just say that his reasoning is still faulty. I think I would put things this way:

When his accident occurred, Donald Cowart DID die. Many of the things Donald had would be simply unavailable to Dax. Yes, they share the same memories, family, and past, but Dax is handicapped in ways Donald cannot possible understand. Donald’s future, his hope, dreams, and reality are completely inaccessable to Dax, except as a painful memory. I think Kierkegaard but it best when he said, “The most painful state of being is remembering the future, particularly one you can never have.”

THAT was the key to Dax being able to build a new life. He had to discard the old one and be born again. And births are seldom painless for anyone. It would have been nice if he could have been made to understand this, so instead of trying to fight to save his old life or despair over its loss, he could instead have focused his efforts on the future and hope that he could attain, one that even he has to admit is not very bad, all things considered. This is done nowadays sometimes in military hospitals (they are perhaps more accustomed to personality death and rebirth) but sometimes not. I would like to see it done more.

Was the higher good served? Poorly. But without a doubt on my part, yes.

Source(s):
http://www.virginia.edu/uvanewsmakers/newsmakers/cowart.html

Dax Cowart
…It is so different today than it was when I first started speaking in 1982. How in tune and students and health care providers are to these issues and how much better their understanding is. And how much better the respect is for patient autonomy where before it was laughed at or scoffed at. So I enjoyed having this time with you.

One of the things that I have done that I never thought I would do before I was in the explosion and blind is I took up writing poetry as a hobby. And I would like to end with the beginning and the end of one of poem as a closing.

The name of it is The Dance of Life. Embrace the day, hold it close to you like the fire and passion of a vibrant, beautiful woman. Feel it’s warmth and energy flow through you. Listen with the spirit and you will hear the emotions of your brother’s heart. Speak with the spirit and your brother will hear the emotions of your heart. And when you and your brother speak and listen to each other with the spirit, your spirits will touch. Be real. Step into your self, plain to all that is you. Release all that is not. For it is here in the deep, blue heaven of these high places that we soar on wings that are our own and ride the currents of our soul. Thank you. (applause)…

We like people for their qualities,

but we love them for their  defects.

This is an article that says what I mean.

Rev Dorris- I have seen a lot of this too.

I think our current society has erased a lot of the support systems that helped people to deal with everyday crisises in their lives. Time is seen as such a valuable commodity, and no one seems to have much to spare. By the time someone gets a chance to speak to another human being about their situation, a lot of the emotion has either left their awareness, or they have overanalyzed it all. Often people, myself included, look for a quick reply to their obvious angst, so that they can proceed in their own day and accomplish the necessary tasks of the moment. Often, people settle for relationships that are more like gripe sessions – I’ll tell you my grief, then you tell me yours. Another factor complicating the development of true friendships is the current working situation that many find themselves in. Companies either move their workers around constantly, or lay off workers to minimize their budget constraints. This makes for many short-term contacts – not a good place to develop sustained relationships. People turn to therapists or ministers, priests or rabbis for counselling, but this is a one-sided relationship, because the counsellor doesn’t share his or her information with you. The end result is that people become surrounded by lots of” shoulds ” or “musts”, but don’t really change their situation, because it must come from a place within themselves to really mean something to them. Families and neighbors used to give us these long-term relationships to foster self-awareness, but, sadly, a lot of these contacts are lacking in the fast-paced modern world. I think we need to develop communities again. Children will see examples of adults making healthy decisions in their lives, and follow their examples. We could all stop “spinning our wheels”, so to speak, in self-destructive activities. Leslie

Search engines are the trade winds of the internet. Like the explorers of the sailing age, intrepid web searchers set out to enrich themselves, their ultimate destination the ultimate mystery. Never mind that they end up on a blog instead of atop a hill of glittering treasure or in the belly of a whale. Let’s stick to the romantic metaphor.

Taro Gold compiled some great quotes on perfectionism in “Living Wabi Sabi.” Among them:

This is the very perfection of a man, to find out his own imperfection. -Saint Augustine

Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack, a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in. -Leonard Cohen

Only the idea of something is perfect. It’s expression in material, worldly terms is a mere shadow of that idea. -Plato

Great thoughts, discoveries, and inventions have generally been nurtured in hardship, often pondered over in sorrow and established with difficulty. -Paxton Hood

The art of living lies less in eliminating our troubles than in growing with them. -Bernard Baruch

Mistakes are the portals of discovery. -James Joyce

________________________________________________________________________50 MILLION MISSING

The 50 million missing women. [J Assist Reprod Genet. 2002] – PubMed Result

The epidemic of gender selection is ravaging countries like India & China. Approximately fifty million women are “missing” in the Indian population. Generally three principle causes are given: female infanticide, better food and health care for boys and maternal death at childbirth. Prenatal sex determination and the abortion of female fetuses threatens to skew the sex ratio to new highs. Estimates of the number of female fetuses being destroyed every year in India vary from two million to five million. This review from India attempts to summarize all the currently available methods of sex selection and also highlights the current medical practice regards the subject in south-east Asia.

________________________________________________________________________50 MILLION MISSING

Who Are the 50 Million Missing Women?

________________________________________________________________________50 MILLION MISSING

Missing: 50 million Indian girls
Female foeticide

The consequences of female foeticide and the resulting gender gap arealready unfolding: Girls are being trafficked from impoverished neighboringcountries like Bangladesh and Nepal or from disadvantaged or tribal areas in India andsold into marriage for the equivalent of about $200 (in Haryana State, a bull costs $1,000). With 50 million girlsalready missing today, the result of this dangerous practice is ineluctable: A society without women, even if today it isthe world’s second-most populous, isdoomed to eventual extinction.

________________________________________________________________________50 MILLION MISSING

UN report: 60 Million Girls Missing in Asia

Referring to the United Nations Population Fund, Fox News reports a gender and generation gap of 60 million girls due to infanticide, selective abortions, dowry deaths, better food and health care for boys and maternal death at childbirth, and pre-natal sex selection.

60 Million souls!

________________________________________________________________________50 MILLION MISSING

Infanticide, Abortion Responsible for 60 Million Girls Missing in Asia

According to a recent United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) State of the World Population Report, these practices, combined with neglect, have resulted in at least 60 million “missing” girls in Asia, creating gender imbalances and other serious problems that experts say will have far reaching consequences for years to come.

________________________________________________________________________50 MILLION MISSING

On March 08, 2008, The Statesman newspaper which is published from Calcutta, did a full page article on The 50 Million Missing Camapaign on flickr. The photos here are by members of the group — Hervè Blandin, Lars-Gunnar Svärd, Divyesh Sejpal, Marc Ducrest, and Joel Dousset. The one of me is also by Lars-Gunnar Svärd. Thanks to everyone for their support.
Please visit the campaign site at www.50millionmissing.com
50 MILLION MISSING (Indian Women):An International Campaign

About 50 MILLION MISSING (Indian Women):An International Campaign

This is a Campaign to increase International awareness about the millions of women that have been eliminated from India’s population.

Due to a traditional preference for sons, daughters are regularly dispensed with through selective abortions and the practice of infanticide. The medical journal Lancet recently announced that about a 1000,000 female fetuses are aborted in India each year. In the state of Kerala, India’s most literate state, it is estimated that about 25000 new born infant girls are annually killed. The figures of female infanticide in Bihar are far worse. There, mid-wives admit to being paid to kill at least half of all baby girls they birth. It is also estimated that at least 25000 women are annually murdered by their in-laws and husbands, after being subject to extended physical and mental torture for reasons of dowry.

why shrinks in therapy dont work

They only go by what the patient brings to the table
They never experience the patient outside their office
They just arent motivated enough
To really do what neds to be done
After all, they’re only human
You are too.
They dont show you who you really are.
After all, only you can do that.
Someone can open the door, but you have to walk throught it to get to the other side.

Dear friends, I’ m now playing Wonderland Online. Do you want to join me and thousands of others around the world? WLO is great because it has so many unique systems, including manufacturing, and fishing. The new server “Gemini“ will be launched very soon. A new server means a new start. Let’ s play it together.

WL video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H61elndMT8w

WL Screenshot: http://wl.igg.com/community/screenshots.php

Fw: Fwd: A Cab Drivers story

Posted by: “jasbir Bedi” 

Mon Aug 11, 2008 6:11 pm

Though not related to any religion, but a nice story to read on.

What a kind story.Restores faith in humanity that there are still kindness existing in this present society of selfish self centered mentality.
FROM…… Jasbir Bedi.

Read on. A beautiful story and such touching moments. Something to learn and to apply in our daily living. Have a great day.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

When I arrived at 2:30 a.m., the building was dark except for a single light in a ground floor window.

Under these circumstances, many drivers would just honk once or twice, wait a minute, and then drive away.

But I had seen too many impoverished people who depended on taxis as their only means of transportation. Unless a situation smelled of danger, I always went to the door. This passenger might be someone who needs my assistance, I reasoned to myself.

So I walked to the door and knocked. “Just a minute”, answered a frail, elderly voice. I could hear something being dragged across the floor.

After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her 90’s stood before me. She was wearing a print dress and a pillbox hat with a veil pinned on it, like somebody out of a 1940s movie.

By her side was a small nylon suitcase. The apartment looked as if no one had lived in it for years. All the furniture was covered with sheets.

There were no clocks on the walls, no knickknacks or utensils on the counters. In the corner was a cardboard box filled with photos and glassware.

“Would you carry my bag out to the car?” she said. I took the suitcase to the cab, then returned to assist the woman.

She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the curb.

She kept thanking me for my kindness. “It’s nothing”, I told her. “I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated”.

“Oh, you’re such a good boy”, she said. When we got in the cab, she gave me an address, and then asked, “Could you drive through downtown?”

“It’s not the shortest way,” I answered quickly.

“Oh, I don’t mind,” she said. “I’m in no hurry. I’m on my way to a hospice”.

I looked in the rear-view mirror. Her eyes were glistening. “I don’t have any family left,” she continued. “The doctor says I don’t have very long.” I quietly reached over and shut off the meter.

“What route would you like me to take?” I asked.

For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked as an elevator operator.

We drove through the neighborhood where she and her husband had lived when they were newlyweds. She had me pull up in front of a furniture warehouse that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.

Sometimes she’d ask me to slow in front of a particular building or corner and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.

As the first hint of sun was creasing the horizon, she suddenly said, “I’m tired. Let’s go now”

We drove in silence to the address she had given me.It was a low building,like a small convalescent home, with a driveway that passed under a portico.

Two orderlies came out to the cab as soon as we pulled up. They were solicitous and intent, watching her every move. They must have been expecting her.

I opened the trunk and took the small suitcase to the door. The woman was already seated in a wheelchair.

“How much do I owe you?” she asked, reaching into her purse.

“Nothing,” I said.

“You have to make a living,” she answered.

“There are other passengers,” I responded.

Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly.

“You gave an old woman a little moment of joy,” she said. “Thank you.”

I squeezed her hand, and then walked into the dim morning light. Behind me, a door shut. It was the sound of the closing of a life.

I didn’t pick up any more passengers that shift. I drove aimlessly lost in thought. For the rest of that day, I could hardly talk. What if that woman had gotten an angry driver, or one who was impatient to end his shift?

What if I had refused to take the run, or had honked once, then driven away?

On a quick review, I don’t think that I have done anything more important in my life.

We’re conditioned to think that our lives revolve around great moments.

But great moments often catch us unaware-beautifully wrapped in what others may consider a small one.

PEOPLE MAY NOT REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT YOU DID, OR WHAT YOU SAID, ~ BUT ~ THEY WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER HOW YOU MADE THEM FEEL.