We the People - What's going on in the world - Alternative news and Views

We the People - What’s going on in the world?

For a long time now, I’ve been staying away from politics, conspiracy truths and anything that put me in a position of being shot down in flames - as has happened in the past. Too many times, when I had my radio show: “We The People”, I was accused of talking a load of crap.

However, time is an amazing thing and, since I’ve been silent, most of my predictions have come true - even down to Putin being nominated as a Nobel Peace Prize winner. I don’t know why but I can almost predict, without any doubts at all, what the next move of the NWO is going to be. If you don’t believe me, or if you’re new to my political rants and raves, please check out my youtube channel.

So, what’s going on in the world? ... well, we have a refugee crisis. I think everyone knows that by now. One million people were evacuated in Chile during a horrendous earthquake. Why is nobody talking about that? Are Chileans of less value than refugees?

Or, is it that, as per usual, we’re being distracted?

On several radio shows I have had the honour of being on, in particular The Mind Set Central and We the People, it’s been mentioned time and time again that there is a depopulation plan in progress. My question is, why does nobody associate the “so called” natural disasters with this plan? 

As crazy as it may seem to you, the reader, I have a theory about all these natural disasters and there is NOTHING natural about them. The culprits? HAARP, EISCAT, secret military operations, fracking - I dare say, which coincidently isn’t just about the gas being sold to China, but also about building a complex system of underground tunnels. To what purpose? That will be revealed in good time. However, if there was one thing the US and the UK learned from Iraq and Sadam Hussein’s regime, it was how to build an amazing city of connecting underground tunnels.

Well actually, truth be known, and I loathe to dispute the Daily Mail who said otherwise, Sadam didn’t build them. Keep that under wraps though. Not a lot of people know that because our governments never tell the truth nor does the mainstream media. However, the real companies behind the fictitious lie were, just for the record, the Parson’s Corporation from sunny California; Aeroinzenjerin, a Serbian Engineering company and a British company who’s name escapes me right now.

Now, if I was a true conspiracy theorist, and having read extensively about tunnel warfare, I would say that these connecting tunnels, caused by fracking,  will serve the purpose of protecting the privileged few who will escape a nuclear attack one day. In other words, they will protect the elite against an almighty world war like nothing ever seen before in the history of humanity. Unless we change our ways, it will come and the only human beings left standing will be the 1% of rich elite who can afford to buy their way into the protective tunnels. Should anyone survive above land, they will be forced to live in such harsh conditions that life will become impossible.

You think I’m exaggerating? Just look around you and see all the hatred fuelling up in all directions. Look at how we are becoming so divided as people, it’s always a question of us and them. I’m not even sure who the “us” is anymore nor who “them” is. There is just too much racism and hatred everywhere. Even within the same culture, there are so many opposing national groups challenging each other with hatred fuelled motives. And, guess what? The likes of the Bilderbergs are loving it. This elite 1% are very happy to leave us to fight among ourselves and to kill each other. All they do is throw a little fuel on the fire, via the media, touching our very sensitivities to the core, then they can sit back, wash their hands of it and watch the population decrease on its own. It’s a genius plan. It’s a plan that requires no effort, at all, except a little public relations and marketing propaganda.

Why is it so successful? Because there are too many people in this world who are gullible and still believe that the government has our best interest at heart, because the elite know exactly what makes us tick. They’ve been collecting psychological data on us for centuries.; and because there are still people who think the media has a duty to diligently and independently report news back to us. Not so. All major and most minority news reporting agencies have sold out because what counts is ratings and not ranting about the truth. The truth? ... There is also the fact that many people don’t want to hear the truth because they can’t handle it.

Remember when I predicted Putin would be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize? I was called a f***ing crazy nut. Yet, 2 months after my prediction, low and behold, he was nominated. It’s time we woke up to the fact that everything our governments do is just a massive public relations exercise to hold public opinion on their side.

You hate refugees? Well, how many do you know? Is your hatred towards them based on what the media are telling you to believe about them? Or, do you actually know them and have made your own mind up through your own PERSONAL experience. I know refugees, not Syrian ones, but I know other Muslim refugees and trust me, most of the negative views of them comes from media propaganda designed to play on your fears. 

However, I’m getting distracted. What else has happened in the news lately? Well:

Russia and China were on a mission to take the dollar out of their trading. Then, suddenly, the US declared they were going to protect Iran’s Nuclear project with a lot of umming and aaaing, just to please their Israeli friends who they don’t want to upset. Then, finally, Saudi Arabia was appointed to head a UN Human rights council.

Now, to the average person out there, all these independent events may seem completely unrelated and all outrageous given the US’s persistent sanctions on Russia and Iran and, of course, Saudi’s own track record of human rights issues

I’m sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but all these “seemingly random” events are, in fact, very well connected. Why? Well, let me enlighten you a little bit. 

Russia and China are part of an organization called the Shanghai Cooperation. One of the observing member states is Iran. Who should have a foot in the door as well? Saudi Arabia, but in all fairness, they only ever look out for themselves. They have no loyalties except unto themselves, their wealth, their greed and a total reform of Islam that, again, nobody is talking about. This is why they will not take any refugees from Syria. They don’t care about them. They have no value to them.

It goes a lot deeper than that, but I don’t want to bore anyone. Let’s just say that changing regimes in different countries is in their interest, for oil, as much as any other countries. Their own oil reserves won’t last forever. So, they have to find new ways to stay in the luxury they are accustomed to. If that means allowing foreign countries to kill their Muslim brothers and sisters. Then, so be it. 

Is anyone really so naive to believe that if Saudi had wanted to, they couldn’t have stopped half the wars against Muslims in the world? ... Does anyone truly believe that these hate preaching immams would still be allowed to continue if Saudi Arabia, home of the Holy Mecca, stepped in? As long as it doesn’t affect them, they just don’t care.

Another well known fact about Saudi Arabia is that they have always plowed money into the US government and probably the British one too. I think it’s Tony Blair who, in fact, lives among the wealthiest Arabs in London. No hatred and discrimination there then. Just saying.

Anyway, coming back to the news. Should Russia and China eliminate the dollar, things would go downhill and pretty fast for a lot of countries. Allegiances, alliances and trade agreements would soon change course. The US and the UK may find themselves isolated. The EEU could, potentially, fall.  That would not be good for any country’s economy; especially Germany, which currently has, probably, the strongest economy in Europe.

So, I personally think, in light of all this information, there is a little of: “You scratch my back and we’ll scratch yours” going on among the super powers right now. Russia and China don’t eliminate the dollar as long as Iran is given free reign over its nuclear program and Saudi get to head a UN Human rights panel. What’s wrong with this picture?

Oh, and I almost forgot, Saint Putin is now going into Syria to sort out the ISIS problem. I still think he’ll eventually win the Nobel Prize award for saving the day.

Of course, the ISIS problem could have ben resolved years ago but it was all a part of the bigger plan, because believe it or not, all the countries in the world are working together on some level. If they’re not, they soon will be.

Another interesting fact to keep in mind is, Israel no longer has the stronghold on the diamond market.  Another well kept secret. However, India currently does. You should also know that India, coincidentally, is a member of the Shanghai cooperation organisation.

I think it’s safe to say that, if we the people, want to understand governments, their strange foreign policies and the shift in their alliances all we have to do is follow the money trail.

Don't want refugees? ... It's very simple ...

Beautiful peeps of the world. What I’m about to say today may offend the sensibilities of some, but this is not my intention. My intention is to, hopefully, awaken you to see events taking place in the world in a different light. I would like you to keep an open mind and ask yourself: “What if?” - what if there is a small chance that what I am saying is of any relevance and truth. I am trying to appeal to your sense of humanity and not to the individualistic nature we have been brainwashed into adopting as “supposedly” different nations, races and cultures.

I keep saying the same old thing over and over again - that, as human beings who inhabit this earth, we are all the same. We laugh and cry the same. We are made of the same flesh and blood. On the whole, we aspire to the same things and we all want to live in a world where we have a home, where we can provide for our families and, hopefully, for those who have children, live long enough to walk them down the aisle.

Just because our skin colour is different and just because we have different beliefs, doesn’t mean we are not the same. Since a young age, we have been conditioned into believing a set of concepts that others before us decided to adopt as a way of life. We have been programmed to follow a set of rules that a minority of “others” decided we should follow to keep peace and order.

We are taught who to like and who to dislike in accordance with the people around us and what they believe. For decades the media has dictated what we should have, how we should dress and behave. The huge corporations sponsoring the media tell us how to think, feel, where to spend our money and what to say to be considered “politically correct” and an asset to them.

Considering we are 7 billion people on this beautiful planet, it’s shameful that very few of us can see through this bullshit, which brings me to why I am writing this article.

As many people around the world, over the last couple of decades or more and especially this last week, I have been very upset, horrified and driven to tears by what is happening to our fellow brother and sister human beings in war torn countries. From Iraq to Syria, Palestine to Libya, Egypt to Tunisia. Aside from the rich Islamic nations such as Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the likes of, no other Islamic country has had any real peace for decades.

Please do not be patronising and say that these countries asked for it. Nor, that they brought it upon themselves. Neither statement would be true.

There is enough evidence now in circulation to support the fact that 9/11, which sparked all these wars, was a false flag. It was the perfectly scripted, public relation exercise, that was used as an excuse to cause enough public outrage, hatred and discriminatory motivation, to justify wars on Islamic countries - wars that were only a front to gain possession of what precious little oil reserves remain on this planet and control strategic shipping areas around the Mediterranean. In fact, the US and the UN now control nearly all of the coastal areas in the Mediterranean. I’m sure that what they haven’t gotten with force, they’ve probably bought, bribed and, literally, stolen.

All you have to do is look at a map to see what I’m saying.

As if that isn’t enough, though, the west decided to invent ISIS. All you have to do is look at their brand new UN issue Toyota trucks (imported through Gibraltar) to realise this goes far beyond a bunch of idealists. I’m still dumbfounded at how the general public can believe that a bunch of outback fighters could fund themselves, train themselves and have all the latest in every weapon on a farmer’s salary. Have you never asked yourself why ISIS hasn’t been stopped. It’s not that there aren’t enough resources to do so around the world.

Think about it. Supposedly, no country wants terrorism. Yet, no country is truly united in the fight against terrorism. Why? Why is ISIS allowed to continue when Sadam Hussain and Kernel Gaddafi, who was actually doing something good for Africa as a nation (but that's a whole different essay), were eliminated.

Why is it a whole string of witnesses to the fake flag of 9/11 mysteriously die and yet, we, as a united world can’t stop a handful (in comparison to 7 billion) of idealistic fanatics? - Why? - Because the imminent threat of ISIS created by a series of publicists and media sensationalism has YOU running scared and demanding action from your government. You are being manipulated into judging all Muslims as terrorists when, in fact, the majority are just people like you and me who want a peaceful life.

Have you ever noticed how ISIS’s strategies, their tactics and their training is outstanding - it’s all military precision. It’s precision that only comes from the best military minds around the world. Those, for our worst sins, can be found in the US, in the UK, France and Germany. Coincidentally, these are, in fact, also the countries who benefitted the most from all the wars. They are the ones, for example, who immediately took over the oil reserves in Iraq and in Libya.

You may think that none of this benefits you, the general public, but it does and in ways you could never imagine. We, as a people, need to face the fact that our consumerism has gotten so out of hand that oil reserves are almost depleted. Have you ever asked yourself why, all of a sudden we are seeing more and more electric cars and hybrids and devices that don’t require fuel. The answer is simple. Governments and big corporations know oil is at an all time low but they need to keep you, the consumer quiet and happy and in the luxury we’ve all become accustomed to with our ipads, iphones and EVERYTHING that makes your life easier.

Just recently, we’ve all seen the tragic photographs of children and adults alike being washed up on various shores around the world.

I have silently watched as the Facebook divide grows bigger between those who believe refugees should be given safe passage and those who claim they just invade countries for benefits and housing and sucking the system for everything they can get.

I don’t mean to rain on anyone’s parade here, and I am by no means a mind reader or even the brightest crayon in the box, but, I don’t believe for one minute that these people would go through what they go through and risk their lives and the lives of their children for dole money. Call me naive and say what you like ... but ... children are sacred in any country and to almost all families. Of course, there are exceptions but no loving parent would attach their child to the bottom of a moving truck or put them in a tiny cargo unit, at sea, and risk their child’s life for housing benefit.

I think there is a very important point being missed here. The refugees who are pouring into EU now are people just like you and me. They had their home, their job, their life. It was taken away from them by the greedy “elite” few who orchestrate world events. They didn’t ask for this. I’m guessing that the majority didn’t even want to leave their homeland because just as you’re nationalistic, guess what, so are they. It’s seems to be a general popular trend to be able to identify with your country, your culture, your people. What makes you think that any EU country is better than theirs?

I’m sorry but this isn’t a time to be pointing fingers at people who are just trying to stay alive amidst war and famine that is destroying their world.

This is a time to be pointing fingers at ourselves. We need to think hard and carefully about how our actions, and decisions, affect the lives of others. Who did you vote for? Whoever it was, they pushed the war buttons. They are the reason there are refugees. They are puppets in the hands of the elite few corporations who control practically ALL of the economy on a global scale.

When you buy, who do you purchase from? What do you purchase and how much of it do you purchase? Have you ever stopped to think about why the oil reserves are almost depleted? Do you know it takes oil to manufacture EVERYTHING we consume.

If you don’t want refugees, it’s very simple - stop living as if you’re the only person who exists on this planet.
Be considerate, be moderate, demand change and be that change you want to see.

Why do people go to psychics, mediums and tarot readers?

When people seek divination, it’s usually because they’ve reached the end of their tether and have nowhere else to go and no-one else to turn to. Or, perhaps they do have somewhere and someone to turn to but they just don’t trust their opinions; not because they’re not valid but simply because they will not consciously listen to any opinion that doesn’t resonate with what they want to hear. Yet, they don’t quite rightfully know what they want to hear. They’re engaging in attention seeking for the sake of being the centre of attention. They’re not actively engaging with the advice being given. Hence, they blame the whole world for being incompetent when, in fact, they’re not taking responsibility for themselves, their actions and the situations they find themselves in.

The type of people who seek out psychics are usually at a point in their life when they’ve reached emotionally instability. Their mind is so much all over the place that they have difficulty seeing the wood for the trees; so to speak. They’re agitated, somewhat hyper. They can’t focus properly and get distracted very easily. They flit from one scenario to the next for their lack of ability to deal with an issue and resolve it there and then. They’re going through some kind of anxiety and nervous stress.

A psychic, a medium, a tarot reader might tell a client a truth, in accordance with what the cards or the intuition is, but most of the time the client doesn’t want to hear the truth. The truth is unbearable and too difficult to deal with. If a person hears the truth, it means they have to face it and take responsibility for it. Yet, isn’t that why a client is seeking a psychic in the first place, to turn away from the responsibility of making decisions for themselves?

Also, in a popular culture, where people have been led to believe the impossible is possible, there is a tendency to turn to divination in search of miracles. A person seeking a reading will have other the top expectations both of the reading and the person doing the reading. When those expectations aren’t met, they’ll simply blame the tarot cards or the email method of response or the psychic or the medium. That’s when they’ll accuse them of being a charlatan and claim one method doesn’t work over another.

People should be aware that all divination is based on intuition. Intuition is intuition no matter whether it’s written, verbal, comes with a pretty set of picture cards or a set of stones with funny symbols on them. It’s not infallible but it’s also not fake. What makes it volatile is the clients own choices.

For example, I can say to a friend: “Please don’t drive your car today, I have a feeling something will happen.” The choice to drive that car is entirely up to my friend. My friend chooses, or not, to believe in my words. My responsibility is to deliver them. It is then their responsibility to pay attention to them or not. Nobody can force anybody to listen or obey; unless you’re in the army and have to follow orders. Every decision we make is entirely a product of our freewill.

What amazes me is, why people would choose to spend money on a professional psychic, tarot reader or medium when they’ve already hot-wired themselves not to believe anything being said. That is lunacy! It’s also a little narrow minded. The client has closed himself/herself off before they’ve even started. It’s crazy! I’m sure that clients work as hard as any one of us to earn their money, so why would they sabotage themselves in such a manner?

After all, money doesn’t grow on trees and it’s as if they’re taking it, putting it in an ashtray and burning it. If you’re going to PAY for advice, at least consider it, take it on board, mull over it, be open to receiving it.

Maybe, in today’s society of waste, we’ve just become too accustomed to having everything  too easily and too readily to appreciate any of it. That’s why we reject so much of it and throw it out. That’s also lunacy!

We’ve become a society that gives value to things instead of people.  We place value on appearance rather than content. Our priorities are completely screwed up and we accuse people, who are just human beings trying to make a living, of not being all they’re cracked up to be just because they don’t fit with our model of how they should be.

However, for every bad person in the world there is a good counterpart somewhere. The law of Karma also states that what goes around, comes around tenfold. The universe will balance things out eventually.

Religion

I don’t consider myself to be a religious person. I was brought up a Catholic and I was lead to believe that catholicism is the only right way in this world. Then, through family ties, I encountered Islam, that also claimed to be the only way of this world.

Years later, I was introduced to Jehovah’s witnesses, when they knocked at our family door once, and, unsurprisingly enough, they claimed their religion was the only way to go.

When I worked in China, I found that people still pray to an infinite number of Gods - just like our ancestors throughout history in ancient Greece and Latin Rome. Heck, my name even comes from a Greek and Roman Goddess. Read any kind of European mythology and you will find numerous Gods in every country.

Over the last few years, I have had the pleasure of conversing with great Rabbis from the United States and Israel and, low and behold, they believe their religion is the salvation of human beings.

I’ve read the Torah, the Vedic Scriptures from India, the Holy Bible, the Holy Qur’an, the Japanese Bushinko, the Egyptian and Tibetan books of the Dead. I’ve read about the Bonn religion, Russian and Greek orthodox religions and Hinduism. I’ve studied Shamanism and Buddhism and I could mention many more.

Yet, in 2009, I converted to Buddhism, not because I was seeking a religion. I’m openly, and honestly, not good at following any set of religious rules and rituals. I’m not even capable of having, or following, ritualistic patterns in my everyday life, let alone my spiritual one. I never get out of bed at the same time daily. I never eat at regular meal times and the list could go on. I guess I just don’t have enough self-discipline in that area, or perhaps deep down I feel it’s all a waste of time.

In all honesty, I probably make a terrible Buddhist. I don’t follow any kind of formalised, or institutionalised indoctrination and I don’t pray conventionally. I don’t chant properly or frequently enough. My meditation practice is falling a little by the wayside and I’ve probably broken a few of the vows I took when I converted.

Yet, I don’t go out of my way to harm people or other living beings. I don’t go out of my way to harm the environment we live in. In fact, the three main Buddhist principles I try and follow every single day of my life are: love, kindness and compassion towards other living beings even though it’s not always easy. I’ve always said that mosquitoes will be the reason I’ll stay in Samsara for all eternity and my thoughts of wanting to slap around a few high-maintenance, pretentiously demanding, and thoughtless tourists on holiday is very very remote from being a good Buddhist.

None the less, I don’t go around slapping people every time I feel like I want to. On the contrary,  every day of my life, I still try to make a tiny little difference in someone else’s life and do something to avoid harming the natural world we live in. Sadly, mosquitoes are excluded from this conversation. 

The atheists among you would argue that you don’t need to be religious to be kind and you’d be absolutely right. Religion doesn’t teach us to be kind. Your parents, your education, the very foundations of your moral and ethical being teach you to be kind. You don’t have to be religious to be a kind person.

We can argue that you don’t need a God to tell you to be compassionate, which is absolutely correct. You can learn to be compassionate from a friend, a relative, from doing volunteer work, from empathising with people in circumstances different, or less fortunate than your own. You certainly don’t need a supreme being to show you how to be loving.

In fact, my strong belief is that we’re already, naturally, creatures of love. We were born from an act of love and anyone who has ever done something nice for someone else will also know how good it feels to see someone happy thanks to something we’ve done. It’s the most satisfying feeling in the world.

However, I do understand that many people in the world find these qualities difficult and need guidance to adhere to them. If that guidance comes from their God, and makes them happy and better people, then so be it. Who am I to say it’s wrong. I fully understand that a lot of people need a supreme being to believe in for their own peace of mind when things go wrong, when they need help and when there is nothing in their lives but despair. 

I completely comprehend the need many people have to believe in supernatural powers that can save them. For many, faith is all there is and why should that be wrong? As long as it harms no others in the process.

My personal reasons for converting to Buddhism were:

I’m not capable of being an Atheist. I believe that, in whatever form and with whatever name anyone wishes to call it, there is a very powerful energetic source of all creation out there. Ever since studying physics back in college and metaphysics during my university days, I’ve adhered to the philosophy that the beginning of all things is energy and that energy, by its very nature can be magnified, reduced and transformed but it can never be destroyed. 

Since all energy is derived from atoms, protons, electrons and neutrons, which are particles that form the basic composition of everything. We are no more than a bundle of unified energy on two legs. Of course, this is only the opinion of a ranting woman. I don’t expect anyone else to agree with me.

For the first time in my life, during any religious gathering, or retreat in this case, I heard a Buddhist monk, who I now love dearly and who I consider to be my heart teacher, say: “Buddhism respects all religions, beliefs and cultures.” His words resonated so deeply within me, that I knew I was in the right place and among my kind of people. 

In fact, in all the time I’ve spent in India and Nepal, among Tibetan people and those who have chosen the path of Buddhism, I’ve never heard a bad word said against any religion.

The point of saying all this though, is not to convert anyone to Buddhism nor convince anyone that Buddhism is the way to go. Not at all.

My point is, if one major religion of the world, like Buddhism, can accept and respect all other religions and ideologies, why the hell can’t all the other religions? and yes, surprisingly enough, Buddhism is one of the major religions since studies estimate that close to1 billion people practice it on a global scale. 


Is a question of arrogance and pride?  Is it because each religion wants to be right about its ideology and beliefs? Or, can it simply be a question of what it’s always been about; politics, manipulation and control. Secular powers preying on the beliefs of human being based on existential insecurities. 



I’ll address, more in depth, what I mean in my next article - Religious Ideologies.

Being in a wheelchair

Ever since I was of an age to really understand, I’ve always had the utmost respect for people in wheelchairs. I’ve sympathised with their predicament but I don’t think I’ve ever fully understood it until now.

In 1996 or 1997, one of my University residential course investigations was about the attitudes people have towards those in wheelchairs. Six of us aspiring psychology graduates, back in 1996 or 1997 took to the streets of Brighton to investigate whether people, in general, give those in wheelchairs due respect or if they talk to the person pushing the wheelchair.

We set the investigation up in such a way that we had a person in a wheelchair and another acting as a carer; pushing the wheelchair. The rest of us strategically positioned ourselves, at various angles, to observe people’s behaviours as they were approached by our colleagues. We each took it in turns to be in the wheelchair, as well, so we could get a real sense of what it was like in the firing line so to speak.

As part of the investigation we got the person in the wheelchair to stop people at random and ask them for directions or information. What we found was that 7 out of 10 people would respond to the carer and not the person in the wheelchair. It was shocking and appalling to say the least.

We also found that when we pushed the wheelchair head on into people, in an accidental way, and without any direct contact that could cause any physical harm, the majority would look away or look at the carer. In each case, they ignored the person sat down.

From that day forward, I was always my awareness of the attitudes people had towards disability was somewhat enhanced. I actually found it quite heartbreaking on a lot of levels.

Just recently, my broken foot and having to totally rely on another person, for everything, has taught me that it’s one thing to be placed in a wheelchair for an hour or two and then be able to get up and walk away. Yet, it’s a whole different story when you are completely confined and unable to get up at any time.

Personally, I found there is nothing more frustrating than having a very strong mind, a cast iron will, a perfectly capable upper body and a lower limb that’s just not having any of it. It won’t move, it can’t move. It’s too painful to bend or stretch. It’s just there; dangling and doing nothing.

Every time I felt I just wanted to get up and walk across the room, the physical interfered and the mind, that wanted to scream, was forced to shut up. I might add here that it’s taken years of Meditation and a fair amount of Buddhist practice to learn to listen when I tell my mind to shut up. Mental silence is the only thing that has kept my sanity over the last 5 weeks. Well, that and painting, writing, working from home and catching up on so many things I’ve let go by the wayside for a long while.

From my 4 week experience of life on wheels, I’ve learned so much. Life in a wheelchair really does takes on a whole different perspective and I don’t just mean in one’s outlook. I mean, physically, mentally and emotionally. Everything changes.

So much that we take for granted, as vertical bipeds becomes so difficult, virtually impossible or unbearable.

A few examples:

Getting in and out of a bath for a shower. Standing on one foot to have said shower. I’m not even going to go into the dangers of showering on foot. I’m sure you can imagine them. 

Cooking and washing dishes. In a wheelchair it’s quite difficult to reach any standard sink properly just to wash one’s hands let alone wash dishes. The same applies to cookers. I’m seriously thinking that standard kitchens are predominantly designed for bipeds and too high for proper wheelchair access. 

Shopping, which also means completely relying on someone to get the wheelchair in the car, drive to a shop, get the wheelchair out of the car, get things off shelves, (which are also not designed for people in wheelchairs), push a shopping trolley, bag all the shopping and carry it out of the shop back to the car where they then have to put the wheelchair back in the car and drive all the way home. Now, I’m not saying this is the case with every person in a wheelchair but it may be the case a lot of the time. 

For a biped who’s use to just popping out to the local store when she’s run out of bread or fancies a bit of chocolate, there is nothing more frustrating than having to wait for a particular day and time that someone can go to the shop for you or take you there. The only positive aspect to this is that one can quickly learn the art of shopping discipline. By that I mean how to make a proper shopping list, how not to forget anything and how to learn to do without, and find alternatives, when something runs out.

Going to a doctor or going for a hospital appointment. There’s the same old reliance on someone to get you there. Once you’re there, there’s the problem of parking, going up ramps, finding the ramps in the first place, getting into and out of lifts, especially when the lift is small and filled with bipeds who are faster than you and standing behind you. You could cut the air of angry frustration among some of them when you’re trying to maneuver out of their way and you’re taking a little more time than they would like. 

Generally, just being at home all day and all night at the mercy of the kindness of someone who will help you or take you out. Life seems to be very limiting, and confined, when you’re not able to drive yourself, get yourself on a bus or in a taxi.

In the few times that I’ve had the great pleasure of being able to go out, and trust me, after a while even a trip to the doctors feels like a major outing, I’ve had a mixture of reactions from people towards the wheelchair and I. Some people smiled at me sympathetically. Others had that curious: “I wonder what’s up with her” look. Some looked a little disturbed by my being there and just a few kind souls wanted to help me, push me, get things off top shelves for me.

I found there were still cases of people avoiding eye contact with me but, I’m not sure if that can be owing to the fact that we’ve become a cold, segregated society where we don’t generally tend to make eye contact or if, in fact, it was because of the wheelchair.

Surprisingly enough, or not, there were also a few times where people would almost fall over the wheelchair. Yes, I’m still boggled by that one but, let’s face it, there are people out there who are so wrapped up in their own little bubble that they haven’t got a clue what’s going on around them.

Over the last few days I’ve progressed out of the wheelchair and taken my first few steps with crutches. It’s an alleviating feeling to be upright again. I feel a sense of victory at finally moving my limbs.

Yet, I noticed, for example, that my visionary field had adjusted its perspective to cope with my new situation. When I went into the kitchen, as an upright biped, I had a little difficulty viewing the correct depth and distance of the counter tops. My brain thought it was odd viewing the kitchen again from a taller point of view. It threw me off balance for a few moments.

Every time I stand now, I feel taller, which of course I am, compared to when I sit in the chair. It might seem like no big deal but it is to someone who has always considered herself a shorty.

I still can’t drive yet, so my freedom is still limited, but I am able to slowly hobble out onto my balcony with my crutches and admire the sea, breathe in some fresh air and fill my soul  with something other than four walls of concrete and a computer.

The great thing about all this is that I’ve had major time to reflect and admire how we as people have the capacity to adapt so rapidly to new situations when we go with the flow instead of fighting against the tide. When our mind is resolute and our will is strong, nothing can stop us from doing anything and no amount of change can break us.

If ever there was a time I was grateful for my mind, (and everything in it) and this body and its capabilities, that time is definitely now.  Don’t take what you have for granted. Appreciate it and look after it.  After all, you don’t want to lose it.

To all of you out there in a wheelchair, you have my utmost respect and admiration!!! You truly rock!!!

Your dream life!

Are you living the life you dreamed of? Do you feel fulfilled with your life and the way you live? Are you grateful for the life you have?

If you do, then: Congratulations to you! It's fantastic that you're living the life you dreamt of. You've already achieved more than many people will ever do throughout their entire lifetime. Most people will only ever dream of being paid to do what they love.

It’s wonderful to see someone in such a privileged position showing gratitude for it and it is a privilege.

 Sadly, and especially nowadays in the midst of a world crisis, bills and responsibilities are preventing a lot of people from taking the plunge and just following their passion in life. Needs must - as they say. So, necessities have to precede pleasure. 

Many people also let insecurities and other peoples' negative opinions stand between their dream and what “has to be done” in accordance with a flawed system, in an economically driven society, that makes “having money” essential.

Yet, money should never be a motivating factor. If you love something and have a passion for it, getting paid to do it is just a bonus. It’s the icing on the cake. Realistically speaking, if you don’t have a passion for something, no matter how much money you get paid for it, you will never do it well because your heart will never be in it.

I’ve been writing online for over a decade and I hosted numerous radio shows online and in real time. I’ve volunteered around the world and never earned a penny from any of it. Why? because what I felt I had to say to others far outweighs the economic reward I could have ever gained from it. Letters of gratitude from people I’ve never met can’t be financially valued and nobody can put a price tag on the difference you make in someone else’s life.

However, we do live in a real world where bills and necessities must. So, like I said before, you are in a wonderfully privileged position and hats off to you. Well done!

On the other hand, did you answer no to my questions above? If you did, then perhaps you need a little coaching from a professional. Allow me to give you some guidance on how to improve your life, achieve your goals and live the life you've always imagined yourself to be living.

Life begins now. You can't change what has been but you can write the future.

Breakups?

Another question is ... two people want to mutually end a relationship but one person ends it before the other; causing immense pain and heartbreak ... how do you deal with it and what advice can you give in 10 stages? ... wow ... putting me through my paces today ... I'm no relationship expert but ...here's my reply:

If both parties wanted to mutually end the relationship that tells us something has been wrong for quite some time. Under normal circumstances (whatever they may be) if the people involved are rationally sound, they wouldn’t decide to end a relationship just for the sake of it nor out of the blue nor on a whim.

The fact that they both wanted to end the relationship also tells us that both parties felt incompatible with each other for whatever reasons. They shared a common feeling that things weren’t working between them and that neither party was happy. In that knowledge, one would assume that their rational mind knows the best thing for them to do is separate.

So, although I appreciate the fact that every break up has its consequences, if a person, who wants to break up from their partner, feels distressed and heartbroken over “being dumped first” rather than being the one “doing the dumping” it’s not a mourning for the relationship as much as it is a matter of pride and ego being hurt.

So, maybe steps 1, 2 and 3 should be:

1) An analysis the relationship to create a realisation, and eventual awareness/acceptance of what was wrong and why there was a mutual desire to end it.

Awareness, acknowledgement and acceptance are tools for empowerment.

2) Create an understanding that we’re not going to be compatible with all the people we encounter in life. Many people come into our lives for a specific reason at a specific moment in time when we need them or when they need to teach us something. Or, perhaps, they appear when they need us to teach them something. People come and go from our lives, very few stay for a long duration.
Incompatibility doesn’t mean unworthy, unlovable or undesirable. This should be reinforced in the wounded party.

3) Getting the injured party to admit that the breakup is, in fact, mutually beneficial. There is no “dumping” and “being dumped”.Looking at the relationship realistically, if they both wanted to end it but neither one had taken the dreaded initiative to do so, who knows how long the suffering and pretense would have carried on for. They would have ended up making each others‘ lives a misery. So, ending it was a positive thing.

Steps 4 through to 10 should be about:

- Taking time to learn to be with one’s self and love one’s own self. It’s a new chapter in a new phase of life. It can be written any which way even if that means reinventing one’s self. This is a phase for reflection and introspection. Spending quality time with friends and family.

Having a life re-assessment. Creating new happiness within one’s self.After all, we cannot rely on others to create our happiness nor should we enter a relationship with the idea that someone else is going to make us happy. That’s a lot of responsibility to hand over to someone else. When they fail to live up to our expectations, we feel they’ve failed us. We feel let down and hurt and, eventually, we repeat the same mistakes again and again.

If we’re already happy when we meet someone, their presence in our life will be complimentary to it and not a necessity.

Finding new hobbies/interests, join clubs and find passions in life that are both enjoyable and lead to meeting new people.

Eventually finding the positive lessons learned from the broken relationship, forgiving the wrong and letting go.

Travelling, broadening horizons and doing all the things you feel you can’t do when you’re in a relationship.

Meeting someone new and moving on. Everything in life has a certain amount of risk but never taking a risk means never discovering new opportunites and life really is too short to shut all doors.

Of course, Rome wasn't built in a day. Nor would anyone work through these stages in 5 minutes. Everyone progresses at their own pace in life and just as well. It would be boring if we were all the same.

One global love