Military Diet Exposed

If you’ve read my previous post, then you’ll know that I’ve been experimenting with the so-called three-day military diet. After one round of the diet, I learned some valuable lessons that I’ve implemented into my own diet. One of those lessons being that you should always question what you read and experiment on the concepts before diving in head first.

Going into the fad, three-day diet, I already had some idea of what to expect. I knew three things before I began the strict diet plan. First, I knew that it was trendy and I’m always skeptical of anything trendy. Second, I knew that it worked on the principle of limiting calories-well duh. Third, I knew that I wanted proof of how it worked-if it worked at all.

Initially, I read through several blogs and articles regarding the diet. There were some who reported that they liked it and some who hated it. There were some who experienced success and others who didn’t care, because the restrictions sucked too much to try it again. I hypothesized that any change that I might experience wouldn’t last and would have no lasting positive affect on my health.

I read some posts that warned about the pitfalls of not sticking strictly to the meal plan. Others simply warned about the loss of energy due to the fact that meal plan limited caloric intake to less than 1000 calories per day.

Diets, in my opinion, should not make you feel lousy, so I began to experiment with that in mind. Sticking with the concept of daily reduced calories, I explored a few alternatives to the suggested foods. You can read in my previous post about the few items I replaced each day to help satiate my hunger and ease the predisposed psychological burden that accompanies any strict diet. Those substitutes contained similar macronutrient combinations to the suggested meal, but were in my normal staple so I knew I would like them.

I observed my attitude day by day including mental clarity and mood. Toward the end of the three-day period, I concluded that the “military diet” left me tired and hungry. Furthermore, the weight I lost did not improve my overall health. You can read the results in my prior post titled The So-Called Military Diet or skip to the recap below.

Here’s a brief recap of round one of the three day diet as reported previously. The final weigh-in concluded a three pound loss in water weight only with no change to my body composition. Consequently, my blood pressure rose to a risky level.

I decided to study my daily journals and sift through the details. Knowing that reduction in caloric intake would certainly cause one to drop pounds, I decided to stick with that concept but with modifications.

If I could lose three pounds of water weight on the fad diet, then my next goal was to lose three pounds of fat using a modified diet of my own.  Only this time I would tailor it to my own body composition and type and include foods from my normal diet.

Knowing my body type was tricky. In order to determine mine, I needed to look back to my earlier years. I chose a time when I was in my best physical shape. I found pictures of me just after my first Spartan race a few years ago. At that time I was in my late thirties and had just competed and won a Biggest Looser camp at our local rec center. Then I compared the past to my current status.

Think of it this way, your body shape is determined by genetics, but it might be temporarily hidden by circumstance. Whatever you do, do not compare yourself to others. Your health is about you and only you. Comparing yourself to others will reduce your rate of success. Also, it will make it difficult to determine your body type.

For example, when I look around and compare myself to the other guys in the gym, I see myself as a short, “fluffy” man with weak shoulders but can lift as much as the hulk next to me. This comparison makes no sense.

However, when I look at photographs of myself and compare them to how I look today I see something very different. By doing this type of comparison I see that I’m a mesomorph.

I won’t go into detail about ectomorphs, mesomorphs, and endomorphs, but I’ve embedded links to a few websites where you can find more information. I recommend finding out what body type you are before beginning any diet or work out regimen.

Knowing that I’m a mesomorph, I can move forward with my diet adaptation with the idea in mind that I need to watch my calorie intake. When considering a work out plan a mesomorph should also consider matching cardio with weight training.

The main point that I focused the majority of my attention on was the macronutrient balance a mesomorph should consider.

After reviewing my notes from the previous three-day diet, I noticed that my best day was the day where my carbs versus fats versus protein were 40% vs. 30% vs. 30%, respectively. This balance was in line with most of the literature I read about the ideal diet for a mesomorph.

The next step toward beginning my personalized diet was to create a meal plan. The simplest solution was to eat foods that already existed in my diet. To do this I used the fitbit app on my phone to scan and enter everything from my refrigerator and pantry.

This part was by far my favorite step in the process. Once the nutrient details were in my phone, I sat down and started to piece together daily meal plans.

By the time I was done, I had created a three-day meal plan that looked very similar to what I currently ate every day. I didn’t have to go to the grocery store and spend a fortune replacing everything in my kitchen. The key was to create that perfect balance of 40% carbs to 30% fats to 30% protein and to cut my caloric intake in half. This meant that I would have to eat less than 1500 calories per day.

After the dust settled on my masterpiece, I had a three-day meal plan that kept my daily calories under 1200 calories, kept me fed all day so I wouldn’t feel hungry, and included food that wasn’t just canned tuna and dry toast.

Now for the proof, but before I present my meal plan and discuss my results, let me recap.

Two weeks ago I successfully completed a trendy three-day diet. Although, I lost three pounds, my blood pressure rose and my body composition did not change. I hypothesized that by incorporating the things that worked from the fad diet with the needs of my body type I would experience fat loss and maintain a healthy blood pressure. Furthermore, I would create a simple meal plan that wouldn’t require me changing my current food preferences.

Day 1

Breakfast

Instant apple & cinnamon oatmeal with a tablespoon of coconut creme coffee creamer.

Lunch

Half of an avocado followed by a chocolate decadence IsaLean Bar.

Afternoon Snack

Twelve dry roasted almonds.

Dinner

Tai chicken salad; Ingredients included:

• 6oz of roasted chicken breast
• 2 oz of chopped carrots
• 1 broccoli spear
• 1/3 cup of snap peas
• 1 tbsp of rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp of lemon juice
• 2 tbsp of soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper

Evening Snack

Creamy french vanilla protein shake with a medium banana and a tablespoon of coconut creme coffee creamer.

I loaded up the calories on the first day in order to survive the next two days. My total caloric intake was 1425. My nutrient composition was 37% from carbs, 36% from fat and 27% from protein.

Although, the composition was not ideal, this meal plan satisfied my hunger and was still half of my regular calorie intake. The reason my macronutrients did not line up with my original plan was because I unwittingly added a protein shake at the end of the day in order to add calories not realizing that I hadn’t entered my meal at lunchtime into fitbit. In fact, I unknowingly did this all three days.

Day 2

Breakfast

Instant apple & cinnamon oatmeal with a tablespoon of coconut creme coffee creamer.

Lunch

Half of an avocado followed by half a large grapefruit.

Afternoon Snack

Extra sharp cheddar cheese stick.

Twelve dry roasted almonds.

Dinner

Blueberry faux cheesecake; Blended ingredients included:

• 1.5 scoops of creamy vanilla protein powder
• 1 cup of low fat cottage cheese
• 1.5 cups of fresh blueberries
• 1 tbsp of sugar

Evening Snack

30 parmesan crisps

My total caloric intake was 1193. My nutrient composition was 41% from carbs, 31% from fat and 28% from protein.

Although, the composition was not ideal, this meal plan satisfied my hunger and was less than 1200 calories. By the way, the fake blueberry cheesecake was fabulous. It contained the consistency of cheesecake and the sweetness of blueberries.

Day 3

Breakfast

Instant maple and brown sugar oatmeal with a tablespoon of coconut creme coffee creamer.

Lunch

Chocolate decandence IsaLean bar.

Afternoon Snack

Peach Mango Green Tea

12 parmesan crisps

Dinner

Sweet Summer Salad; Ingredients included:

• 8 oz of cherry tomatoes
• 2/3 cup of berries
• 6 oz roasted chicken breast
• 3 oz of organic baby spinach
• 3 tbsp of seasoned rice vinegar, basil & oregano
• 1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar

Evening Snack

Creamy french vanilla protein shake with a medium banana and a tablespoon of coconut creme coffee creamer.

My total caloric intake was 1480. My nutrient composition was 41% from carbs, 31% from fat and 28% from protein.

Although, the composition was not perfect, this meal plan satisfied my hunger and was less than 1500 calories.

Results

I weighed-in using a higi station at my local pharmacy. I use this unit because it’s consistent and gives me more than just weight as a metric. It offers me measurements on weight, BMI, body fat percentage, blood pressure, pulse and hydration level. Below I’ll give you my metrics taken the day before I started my diet and metrics taken the day after my three day diet.

Day 0 – Before metrics

• Weight – 174 lbs
• Pulse – 79 bpm
• Body Fat Percentage – 25.53%
• Systolic – 130 mmHg
• Diastolic – 89 mmHg
• BMI – 28.99
• Hydration – high (acceptable level)

Day 4 – After metrics

• Weight – 168 lbs
• Pulse – 61 bpm
• Body Fat Percentage – 23.05%
• Systolic – 114 mmHg
• Diastolic – 77 mmHg
• BMI – 27.99
• Hydration – high (acceptable level)

There was no question in my mind that the modified three-day diet that I tailored for my body type surpassed my expectations. It outperformed the so-called “Military diet” and was much easier to execute.

My mind was clear and my body satisfied through the diet. I was able to cut calories and not sacrifice energy. In the end, it paid off. I lost 6 pounds of fat and not just water. My blood pressure actually improved and my resting heart rate lowered.

I’m satisfied that I can recreate the results from my diet plan, so I’m going to practice it again. This time I’ll add a few more metrics such as waist circumference and fat versus lean mass comparisons.

Stay tuned.

If you try my three-day-diet outlined above, please let me know how it went. I’d like to know if others experienced the same results as me. You may have to substitute some items based on your body type and what you have on hand. Remember, this diet is meant to accommodate what you already have on hand in your refrigerator and pantry.

Respond below if you have any questions or comments about this post.

 

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The So-Called “Military Diet”

Hi all, I’m back. It’s been a while and I apologize. We’ve been very busy. You can follow all of my activities at any of the following sites: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Amazon, and Links of Courage.

Now, for this story. Needless to say, this week was a bit rough. If any of you have tried the so-called “military diet,” then you’ll know that the lack of calories each day leaves you weary by the end.

I set a goal to lose a few pounds by the end of the diet but really I wanted to take a scientific approach to the diet and experiment with details. I know they say that you shouldn’t substitute anything in the diet, but I wanted to answer the question, “why not?”

In order to get a better idea of what my body would go through physiologically, and since I don’t have a robust scale at home, I decided to rely on a higi station at the local pharmacy.

I noticed this particular machine when I was picking up prescriptions for my son. It had electrodes to measure percent body fat and hydration. I didn’t know how accurate this machine was, but all I needed were numbers to compare before and after results, so I created my free account and began.

My plan was to begin the diet Monday morning, so I measured myself on Sunday night. Below is a snapshot of my results.

Here’s where I started experimenting. (By the way, I tracked everything in fitbit. I also discovered that higi and fitbit are compatible. They weren’t a perfect match, but my fitbit activity was uploaded to my higi account daily.)

When you look online for the “military diet” you’ll find a myriad of responses. Most of them are identical and they warn you not to alter the food requirements. I didn’t listen.

Day 1

My calorie intake and macronutrients content are shown below.

Going into this diet I had no doubt that it operated on the principle of calorie restriction. I could only guess from how adamant everybody was about not modifying the food that there must have been some science involving calorie composition.

It appears from the chart above that the intent for Day 1 was to carboload. This would prove essential by Day 3. You’ll also notice that for breakfast I substituted grapefruit for a coffee flavored yogurt cup.

Day 2

Day 2 felt pretty much the same as Day 1, but boy was I wrong. Check out the content in the table below.

Calories went up and carbs went down. The macronutrients were fairly equal for Day 2, unlike Day 1. This is where I substituted hot dogs for Sun-Dried Tomato Turkey sausages. They had less calories than hot dogs but a little more fat.

By the end of the day I was beginning to feel lethargic. My body responded to the low caloric intake and was tired. I wasn’t too despondent however because I knew I had only one more day to go.

Day 3

 

Day 3 was great. My brain seemed a little sluggish but somehow more focused, and I had enough energy to get me through the day. I didn’t substitute much here except to exchange an ordinary slice of cheddar cheese for a Chipotle Cheddar cheese stick. I also added Louisiana hot sauce to the 2 servings of tuna for flavor. The hot sauce had no calories but a lot of sodium.

See the calorie composition below.

My protein intake remained relatively the same but carbs went up a little which meant that fats went down. Unfortunately, I neglected to add my water consumption on Day 3, but I drank about the same amount of water all three days.

Now for the great reveal. Did this three-day diet do my body any good? The real question, “Does it have to be this particular diet or can any diet that restricts calories help a person lose weight in three days?”

That answer is, “I don’t know.” I need to experiment further. Unfortunately the machine was not connected to the internet the day I measured so my results didn’t get uploaded to higi. Instead, I took a picture of the screen.

You’ll notice that although my BMI went down slightly, my percent body fat rose slightly. Also, note that my blood pressure rose. In any case, I accomplished my goal of losing a few pounds-about a pound a day.

This was just one experiment and the first of many to come from me. Watch my page next week to see what foods I substitute next time.

You can see photos of some of my meals below. Thanks for following.

(I ate the grapefruit for breakfast on Day 4 because I wanted to weigh-in later that day and didn’t want to negate my three days of effort.)

 

 

 

Change is Good

Putting 15 years of stuff into boxes requires a lot of boxes!

I’ve been gradually combing through my office one binder at a time. My purpose has been to eliminate unnecessary stuff. Unfortunately, when everything is important it’s very difficult to throw anything out.

I began early knowing full well that it would take me time to pour over “historical” documents in a futile attempt to determine their validity. I’m very pleased to report that today I was able to rid my office space of 10 binders full of out dated SOPs and pre-millennial memos. However, it wasn’t without a few tears. I get really sentimental when I read memos written by retired colleagues and admirable predecessors.

The alternative would be to pack it all up and move it to my new office until someday my successor would have to throw it out. Network television should film a reality TV show about office hoarders. They could get great ratings filming my office for their pilot episode.

In any case, I felt really proud of myself today as I tossed binders into the shred bin. It felt quite refreshing actually. Unfortunately, I have a long way to go and only two months to get it done.

Although I tell myself daily that change is good and I like the new building we’re moving into, saying goodbye to the old building is going to be very difficult for me. I literally feel like I’ve grown up in this office.

I was 24 years old and newly-wed when I started working at the medical examiner’s office. My wife taught preschool on campus and I was in the process of completing medical school prerequisites at the University of Utah. Previous to that I was living at home with my parents and working as a volunteer EMT/Firefighter and substitute school teacher.

I fell in love with forensics and chose to make it my career. Over the years I’ve been presented with opportunities to choose other paths, but in the end forensics has maintained its appeal.

Looking into my office and seeing stacks of boxes filled with so many memories, I can’t help but feel nostalgic. I found a note tucked away in one of my binders written by a medical examiner who passed away many years ago. The note was almost 15 years old, but her advice was as fresh as the day she wrote it.

It was just instructions on how to be a great transcriptionist, but the feelings and emotions that flooded my office were tangible and unforgettable. God bless you, Dr. Frikke!

Speaking of unforgettable moments, I want to end by sharing an experience from today that I hope will leave a lasting impression.

As you know, we’re packing up the office so we need a lot of boxes. Well, we ran out of boxes today so I went to the store to purchase more. As I was checking out, the cashier said something that caught me off guard but absolutely made my day. Her name was Linda.

As I walked up to the counter, Linda said, “You’re cute!”

With flushed cheeks I thanked her and said, “You just made my day. In fact, when we’re done here I’m going to give you a hug.”

Then, Linda’s cheeks flushed and she said, “You just made my day.”

That brief encounter with Linda solidified a valuable lesson. That lesson was about how the influence of one person can change the world.

It doesn’t take slander and mud slinging to get to the top. You don’t have to be president of the United States to make a change. Showing love and kindness to strangers will make the world a better place to live.

Right now, I commit to be a little more kind tomorrow than I was today. I’m going to do it for Dr. Frikke. Who are you going to do it for?

Linda changed the course of my whole day. I challenge you to change the course of somebody’s day. Make the world a better place.

 

 

 

Rise to Success

I just wanted to let you know about a huge online event that’s coming up.

Over 40 top authors and entrepreneurs will be speaking.

Big names like Verne Harnish
, Jeff Walker, Tucker Max
, David Allen
, Gretchen Rubin
, Barbara Corcoran
, Perry Marshall
, Mel Abraham
, Ruth Soukup
, Cal Newport
, Scott Oldford
, T. Harv Eker
, John Lee Dumas
, and lots more.

And since I know the host, I got you a free ticket.

I got you free tickets to an online event that’s coming up…

The event is called the Self-Publishing Success Summit.

And the speakers are going to show you how to go from “no idea” to your published book — or turned the book you wrote into a bestseller.

Then you’ll learn how to use your book to build your brand, following, or 6-figure business that lets you share what you’re good at with the world.

Here’s the best part: These guest speakers have never been together at one event before.

And some of these speakers charge thousands of dollars to attend ONE their live events.

But you can see all of them in one place for free — you don’t even have to leave your house.

Check out this online event (I got you free tickets)

And the event’s broken down into 3 phases, so it’s easy to put to use. Here’s just a few of the speakers’ presentations:

Writing: Ray Edwards, Claire Diaz-Ortiz, Jeff Goins,Gretchen Rubin, David Allen, and Jay Papisan

Marketing/Publishing: Michael Hyatt, John Jantsch, Chris Brogan, Grant Cardone, and Gary Vaynerchuck.

Monetizing: Crystal Paine, Hal Elrod, Josh Shipp, Verne Harnish, and T. Harve Eker.

I can’t wait to hear these speakers!

Get your free ticket now:

Get your free ticket to this awesome online event.

Hope to see you there,

-Brandon Callor

P.S. I’m really excited to attend this online event, and I want you to be there too. Pick up your free ticket (it takes 10 seconds).

Claim your free ticket to Self-Publishing Success Summit. 

& on the seventh day

This made me chuckle. I really enjoyed the imagery.

A Narcissist Writes Letters, To Himself

“I briefly considered a universe where chickens were the dominant species

& every morning ate scrambled placenta with bacon.

The problem was getting men to wake up at four in the morning

& scream at the sun in unison for no reason.”

-God, on rest.

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Return on Investment

If you clicked on this blog post hoping to read tips on investing, then you’ve come to the wrong place. I’m so sorry friend, but I’m not going to talk about money market accounts or dividends here.

I’m talking about anything you purchase upon which you might place added value for years to come.

For example, many years ago my wife and I were newly married and shopping around for a bed. Have you found yourself in the following situation? She wants soft, you want stiff. She wants queen-size, you want California king.

Thankfully, we agreed on one important thing – initial cost was not a factor. We decided that the most important deciding factor was our return on investment.

Let me tell you what I mean. We figured that we spent as much time sleeping as we did working. By the way, this was before kids when 8 hours of sleep was realistic. But still, a third of our day was spent laying on a mattress.

How we spent the rest of our day was in large part determined by how well we slept. If we slept poorly our day had the potential of following suit. If we rested well and comfortably and got plenty of Z’s our day had the potential of going well. Do you see where I’m going?

It seemed, then, that picking the right mattress was less about the initial cost of the thing and more about it’s added value. We placed value on the comfort level of the mattress and how much sleep we would get over the life of the bed.

Friends, I’m pleased to tell you that our return on investment has paid dividends for many years. My wife and I are both happy and successful at work. I would like to believe that our three children are well-adjusted largely due to the fact their parents are well-rested and therefore more patient.

Every night I hop into bed it feels like the first time. It was money well spent on a quality mattress.

The same goes for anything in your life. If something is worth doing or the product is right for you’ll know by the added value it brings to your life.

Now that I’ve illustrated my point I want to switch gears to the real reason I’m writing to you. I want to talk about a program I’ve recently discovered that has added value to my life and I want to share it with you. It’s called Self-Publishing School.

I’ve wanted to write a book my whole life. I started several children’s fiction books and a few others, but haven’t finished them. Over the years I’ve attended writing seminars and various classes to help improve my craft. I even started this blog to give me an outlet for writing.

Two years ago I submitted my first children’s book to a publisher. I attached my manuscript to an email along with a cover letter to the publisher. It was like sending my baby off to school for the first time. I was an emotional wreck.

I thought all kinds of things. Would they like it? Would it get rejected? What if somebody called my baby ugly? How would l react?

I was so excited and nervous that I didn’t poop for days. Days turned into weeks. Weeks turned into months. Finally, came a letter in the mail!

What do you think they said? Almost a year past just waiting to hear that they didn’t want my story. For a lot of people this is where the story ends. For others the process continues month after month as they wait for the next publishing house to respond.

I found a better way. My wife introduced me to something that has changed my life. If you want to write a book, spend less time waiting to publish, and make passive income while you work on your next bestseller, then I urge you to click on the link below.

Click here for a better way.

The folks at Self-Publishing School have mastered the process of writing and self-publishing. The link will take you to a series of four free video trainings. In these videos you’ll meet my friend Chandler Bolt who will walk you through the steps of his success.

His Mastermind Community awaits writers and entrepreneurs like you. Yes, I said entrepreneurs.

Writing a book isn’t the end-all. You want the world to hear your voice. You have something to say. You need to market your book and sell it, right.

Click here if you’re ready to write your book.

This link will take you inside where Chandler Bolt will explain how to use online tools to help you market your book in order to reach bestseller in your category.

Using the link above will grant you access to four free videos. Once inside you’ll see testimonials from successful Self-Publishing School graduates. Imagine yourself in their place one day.

It won’t take much searching to find answers to your question about SPS, but you need to click the link below in order to start digging. Once you’re satisfied you’ll be asked for your name and email address. You will received an email with a link to four free videos and more information about the school.

Enrollment to Self-Publishing School is not always open and we’re looking for committed students. Students committed to investing in their success as an author.

Follow this link and enter your name and email address to receive a free video guide to self publishing.

Click here for your free guide to self publishing.

I’m grateful I did.

W. Brandon Callor

SPS Master student/blogger

Guest Blogger on R.K. Grow

Hello everyone. It’s been awhile since I last posted anything. I apologize for the wait. Please check out my article as a guest blogger on R.K. Grow’s website. http://rkgtheauthor.com/wp/guest-post-by-brandon-callor-supervising-medical-examiner-assistant/#comment-106

I offer insight on writing accurate morgue scenes and true-to-life characters for writers who want to develop authentic material when writing morgue scenes.

“Me” Post and Thank You for Following

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The new Boeing 787 Dreamliner can carry about 250 passengers. This blog was viewed about 1,600 times in 2012. If it were a Dreamliner, it would take about 6 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Coping Strategy: Sharing

When I speak of sharing as a way to cope with tragedy I’m not referring to something as trivial as going halfsies on a foot long submarine sandwich or something more drastic and deviant such as joining a swinger’s club. I mean opening up yourself to another human being by sharing your sorrow. Seeking social support is an adaptive or constructive coping technique. The trick is knowing whether or not the other person is willing to share your burden.

The Christian Bible speaks of Jesus Christ who told his disciples to come unto Him with their burdens and He would give them rest. The Torah suggests that the word rest, as used in this scripture, refers to a related word that means to lead or guide. Consequently, a person who knows the way to peace or knows how to find happiness has a moral obligation to help others find the way. The Quran says that Allah does not put burden on any human more than he can bear. It also says that any man who is burdened cannot lift another from their burden without the help of Allah. I’m paraphrasing, of course. The 14th Dalai Lama said, “Compassion and love are not mere luxuries. As the source both of inner and external peace, they are fundamental to the continued survival of our species.” Buddha taught his son to practice compassion. He said that compassion has the capacity to remove the suffering of others without expecting anything in return.

With those thoughts in mind, I would like to share an experience I had the other day. I met a kind, honest man who for whatever reason decided to open up to me. We met as he was delivering supplies to my office. His tragedy was tender and personal and I felt honored that he chose to share it with me. The story he shared was about the death of his infant child many years prior. I suppose he felt comfortable sharing his history with me being that I work for the Medical Examiner. Perhaps he thought that I would understand his loss and appreciate his pain. He would be correct in that assumption. Whatever reason he might have had for sharing his story, I DID truly appreciate him sharing it with me. It’s important to me to remain grounded. It’s all too easy to become callous and dissociate from reality when surrounded by tragedy all day long. Connecting with another human helps maintain realism.

Although I am still a stranger to that delivery man, I will always remember the part of him that he shared with me, and I hope our brief interaction lightened his load. It certainly made me reflect on a few aspects of my childhood. You see, I come from a long line of story tellers who share our family history as if speaking is as essential as breathing. Every aspect of our family’s life has been shared with friends, neighbors, and strangers alike. As a child it embarrassed me to hear our trials revealed so readily with anyone willing to listen and some not so willing. I’m just now beginning to realize that the sharing of those burdens with others, and the open discussion of our family’s trials were perhaps an attempt to cope with the burden of those trials.

I have discovered that I too have the gift of sharing. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. In any case, I have found that it is quite liberating to release my secrets into the world. Thank you to all of my liberators and please accept my apologies for saddling you with my problems. A caution to all who comfortably and freely share your burdens with others, please be aware with whom you share that you do not saddle the already heavy-laden. Neither of you will benefit from that interchange.

Please consider the following quote by L. Whitney Clayton of the Presidency of the Seventy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In his October, 2009 General Conference address, That Your Burdens May Be Light, he said, “…bearing up under our own burdens can help us develop a reservoir of empathy for the problems other face. The Apostle Paul taught that we should ‘bear…one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.’ Accordingly, our baptismal covenants require that we should be ‘willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light; yea, and [be] willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort.'”

I would like to reiterate what the Dalai Lama has said concerning human nature. Compassion is not a luxury, it is fundamental to the survival of our species. May you be willing to share your sorrows with a friend and in turn receive their’s. Be a friend to one who has none. Listen. It is human nature to hold on to your anger and sadness, to wallow in self-pity. Do yourself a favor and put off the natural man. Remember that a more constructive technique to cope is to share.

Related articles

• The Burden Of Selfish Religion (theologicaljello.com)
• The purpose of life (jampasmandala.wordpress.com)
• Raising Compassionate Kids (everydayfamily.com)
• His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama: The Art of Compassion (sarahhamiltoncoaching.wordpress.com)
• Not My Issue! (akissofbliss.wordpress.com)

There’s No Good Reason

A friend of mine was visiting the other day and during his visit he said something thought-provoking to my oldest son who was quarreling with his younger brother over a seat. It was simple, but profound. He said, “There’s no good reason why he can’t sit there.” My son was speechless. Apparently, my oldest son felt that he was entitled to that particular spot on the couch because he had been sitting there several minutes earlier. He left the spot in order to sit in another chair which was closer to the television and became incensed when his little brother took his vacant spot on the couch next to my friend. My oldest son really didn’t want to sit on the couch any longer, but he also didn’t want his younger brother to sit there “for no good reason.”

This incident made me think about the shenanigans that occur at the work place and all around us. I’m guilty of acting like my eight-year-old son at times. Why is that? Is it a sense of ownership due to relative social position that motivates us to behave this way. Maybe it’s a sense of entitlement learned from a society that constantly tells us that we can have it our way. I’ve heard it said that we are a choice generation. What does that even mean? I think some people have interpreted it as something other than what it was intended. Whatever the reason, I fear THAT mentality is taking over our country “for no good outcome.”

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