Get over self-indulgence

You may seek to experience more peace and harmony within yourself, and yet, be unwilling to admit, examine or address what isn't working.  This isn't simply a question of what isn't going your way.  Re-assess what other people tell you isn't evolving in appropriate directions.  Even if you disagree with others, your attention may be drawn to areas of your perception or beliefs you hadn't thought about before.  What benefits could you see in all of this?  Its useful to look beyond your own envisaged outcomes to see how you could be enhancing or hurting the lives of others, in ways you hadn't anticipated.  How would that knowledge make you feel?

At this point in your life, you need to be willing to perceive and assess your behavior in new ways.  Adaptability reminds you different forms of adjustment exist.  Consider attitude, perception, and willingness.  You function and make choices that define a certain quality of life.  You go places, see people, and embrace activities with a degree of freedom.  You have continued to make choices which enable you to maintain that quality of life, or at least, you have made valiant efforts.  So, how would you know things weren't working? and after all, not working for whom?

1) Your lifestyle isn't sustainable.  You may realize deep down that you spend more than you earn. Its a vicious circle to use credit cards to pay other credit card bills.  Remortgaging or borrowing from 'Peter to pay back Paul' isn't reducing your debt.  Your choices do the opposite.  Sustainable living creates a circling back to functionality. You need to realize taking all trees from your lot and not replanting, won't leave anything for next time. Greed has negative repercussions. It's not just you in the 'here and now' who is affected by your choices. You teach by example and you deprive others when you hoard. Imbalance may lead to a change in the scales, not simply by creditors, who auction your belongings, but also by environmental crises, as ecosytsems adjust in order to survive.  These hints imply your behavior and desires for ownership may be distorted.

2) You lack clarity.  A concrete sense of direction is missing.  Underneath it all, you desire lucidity.  As you evolve into a clearer state of mind, you'll no longer feel lost or confused.  You can't ignore wrongdoing or a sense that you may have gone to far.  You can't change the past, but you control what you decide now.  No behaviors are coincidental.  You may go to extremes because you feel disconnected to the world and your true self or, you're initially blind to the consequences.  You simply need to grasp how your mind offers you clues to set things right.    

3) You're ready to admit the truth.  Events have unfolded in such a way as to empower you to notice the world around you is evolving.  You come to recognize you have been changing your own rules to get what you want, and the world has responded by depriving you. To feel you possess people, things and situations you hope will remain in your life, suddenly strikes you as inappropriate. The fear of losing what you cherish has led you to seek to hold far too tightly.   

4. You realize your view of security has been too rigid. You begin to recognize that raising your own awareness of your present reality reveals what you have to do.  Its time to develop courage to go against the staus quo, to behave differently than you have done before.  Your fear of losing what you think you have has taught you that you don't posess anything. You only care for people and things for the time necessary for you to learn what they really symbolize and tell you about yourself. 

Predicting waves: a job for satellites

When people are asked to imagine a dream escape, they often envisage a scenic, remote island. At times, I've thought of Tahiti myself, in a rustic bungalow built on stilts over water. I have no modern gadgets, and focus on finishing a book, meditating or snorkeling before a meal. Images of dream destinations are often enhanced by satellite images of maps and detailed close ups. 

As we take a break from the life we know, and imagine where we're not, we seek to disconnect from our typical reality. Tourists caught in tsunamis are often focused on anything but a pending disaster. Even local people are caught off guard in Japan, Pacific Islands, Thailand, Sri Lanka and other places that have been hit. Just because you have a phone, tv, radio or Internet doesn't guarantee warning. The existence of tsunamis in modern days is largely unknown before it hits.

Back in 2000, during some of my research on the impact of El Nino in the south pacific coastal region of South America, I'd seen and heard proposals for warning systems on buoys, sensors and satellites. This wasn't immediately dismissed as impossible, but cost was viewed as prohibitive by government and industry. There existed a lack of collective will, lack of desire to spend or to be proactive. Key actors prefer to respond to a crisis and then, disband to focus on other matters.

Since the 2004 tsunami which caused the deaths of 300,000 people in the southeastern pacific, governments of coastline nations have agreed on the urgency for a global tsunami warning system. They do not agree, however, on who will pay for manufacturing, installing and monitoring it. I think more now about people on islands without communication equipment. Although money has been spent by leaders on new sensors and radios, I decided to review satellite buoy warning systems and how they had been mplemented since my initial view of the technology.

In case you're unaware, tsunamis mainly evolve from huge quakes. A global network of sensors already exists to detect and measure seismic activity. Yet, not all ocean quakes lead to massive waves. Available seismic data doesn't tell you much on the direction or speed of incoming waves. Where some regional tsunami warning systems draw only from seismic data, such systems aren’t trusted. The only way to confirm if a tsunami is brewing is to observe moving waves close-up. Tsunamis initially appear small at the surface, even near a quake’s epicenter. The height may be as low as a few centimeters. Only as waves approach land do they swell to frightening sizes. This trait makes detection hard, requiring high-tech equipment.

The first method used to supplement seismic data was taking readings from tide gauges. Although some tide gauges are very sophisticated, many are basic mechanical devices that measure height of a float protected from waves by an enclosure called a stilling well. Because tide measurements require a fixed point of reference, tide gauges are normally installed on or near a coast. They're easily accesible for maintenance and sensors there are only really useful for a short distance. The question of how many buoys would be necessary for a comprehensive global system, where they would be placed, how they would be maintained and by whom, remain unanswered questions. Sounds like a situation for a United Nations of space affairs, yet such an entity doesn't yet exist.

A more direct way of detecting tsunamis out at sea is to measure pressure changes on the ocean floor. The Deep-ocen assessment and Reporting of Tsunamis (DART) program, is now used in the Pacific ocean. Bottom-mounted sensors detect changes in pressure known for a typical tsunami. The sensors relay the information via sonar to a buoy floating on the ocean surface. Buoys, in turn, transmit the data to a satellite, which relays data to ground-based stations for processing. DART does improve speed and accuracy of tsunami warnings. The downside is existing sensors and buoys are prone to failure and must be serviced or replaced lots. Experts agree there aren't enough specialized buoys or satellites to monitor all oceans.

Nice to know there's always hope. Tsunamis at sea are invisible to an eye, but radar satellites will detect them, if pointed in the right place at the right time. The issue with these satellites, other than they may not detect the problem, is that the data they produce must be relayed and processed on Earth.The hours required can't provide early warnings. Future generations of satellites, however, may overcome such limitations. There's always the chance we will grow to better understand the root cause of why tsunamis occur and circumvent rather than influence the cause. Otherwise, using satellites or any other technology strategy would simply be like putting a bandaid on a wound, or only dealing with the symptoms of real issues.

Against the odds

Are you the sort of person who asks, "when will they ever learn?" You may secretly wish you had the courage to take chances other people do, even if they don't always end up with their desired outcomes.  Maybe hearing about and even knowing some of these people is causing you to think it might be time to give up some of your fears and false beliefs.  After all, consider the barriers you have built up around them.  What do you prevent yourself from experiencing or achieving?

From the point you decided you desired more of certain things in life, you resolved to do what was required.  In your mind, you thought of reaching out to take what you could, but you didn't have the audacity.  Instead, you chose to follow set rules and systems, adopting the status quo.  You did what was expected, and you gradually moved up the ranks.  Perhaps you even lost your nerve to take chances.  What would it have mattered anyway, you think, unless it might've cost you your position or peer respect? You came to feel brute force was the way to separate winners and losers, yet, you've come to feel having what you've gained is missing something.

A voice inside is urging you to evolve away from that which you thought you were, in order to accept who you are.  You're realizing that protecting yourself from what you wish to experience is no longer the way to go.  You will stop justifying why you refuse to take that chance.  You're thinking it makes more sense to expend effort toward acting rather than listening to your doubt. 

It's time to ask yourself a few questions: is it possible some of your past choices weren't the ones you really desired to make? Is it possible that by taking a risk now to do things differently, that you would learn things about yourself that could change everything?  Is it possible that inviting yourself to step out of your comfort zone could be exhilarating, life-altering and transform you for the better? 

It's true some people appear content as they are.  Still other people refuse to accept a possibility of new ideas, and prefer not to try to understand them.   Each day, in everything you do, you live the results of your assessment and your choices.  By doing something or not doing something, you're responsible for the risks you consider and your reactions.  What would it take for you to alter some of your conditioned beliefs, to rethink your ways, and evolve new points of view?

Wake up and feel the pain

People who experience chronic pain and dream of better health and well-being may seek to achieve this by using narcotics. Counselling and reassurance may do little to soothe physical discomfort. Chronic pain sufferers indicate that without a continuing supply of narcotics, they become disabled by an inability to cope with pain, and their lives are unbearable. To what degree this is true before taking narcotics is under question. Self-examination is a way to explore how you feel and what you might do.

Physicians believe narcotics are appropriate for some pain sufferers, but it's come under fire that doctors prescribe them too freely for patients who could be helped in other ways. While it’s advisable to take chronic pain reports seriously, physicians must also address a pain source separate from the pain itself. As doctors will contemplate whether pain is real enough for drug treatment, patients are left to deal with the matter. Some choose suicide. The ones who 'stick it out' wish doctors could awaken and feel the pain of the experience to know how real it is.

This said, consider the origins of chronic pain are hard to identify. Doctors trained as problem-solvers may hesitate to diagnose and treat what they can't see, especially when their position will be surrounded by so much controversy. Even when a pain source is clear, like a pair of torn spinal discs, physicians may resist prescribing narcotics because they fear federal regulators and understand strong drugs, in the short- or long-term doses, can build powerful addictions.

At the same time, some pain sufferers admit their pain is so bad, their life all but stops. When physicians are prohibited from renewing narcotic prescriptions, it's difficult to find another physician to prescribe them. Patients may be labelled as addicts or 'problem cases' associated with physicians who are under investigation for prescribing habits. This leaves the pain sufferers without effective treatment.

Physicians find themselves between a rock and a hard place. One thing that causes them to get concerned is the possible abuse to the detriment of true need and appropriate use, as well as the prospect of losing a license for perception of inappropriate prescriptions. Its not widely acceptable to use hard drugs for serious illness, even if regulations are slowly evolving.

Doctors face conflicting guidelines at state and federal levels. They are duty-bound to ease patients' pain, but prescribing too many strong drugs or dispensing them too freely can lead to suspicion and federal investigation. What is acceptable remains open to question. It brings up quality of life issues, control, and fear of error in judgement. Should you prioritize the status quo, doctor's license or patient care?

If people you know experience challenges due to chronic pain, or if you do yourself, then you'll gain new insight into the crux of this murky issue. Even if you don't, imagine yourself as suffering. What would you do? Who would you support? Which treatments would you seek? How you evolve to see health and well-being, what is possible or desirable or, what is a perceived opportunity in life, changes greatly.

5 precepts to enrich your life

1) Avoid regrets. This life is too short to waste energy on what can't be changed. Choose instead to learn and apply your new wisdom to "next time." Your life experiences will forever be enriched by your ability to refer back to lessons learned by yourself and other inspirations.

2) Remain open to learning and changing your beliefs. If you change your beliefs, you influence the root cause of your behavior. Who you were yesterday will not necessarily be who you have evolved into today. Embrace change as a facit of personal growth with joy and gratitude.

3) Teach yourself to be happy in the moment. Remind yourself no 'right or wrong' decision exists, only your perception of what matters at a given time and phase of your life. Savour every feeling, from love to pain. Every feeling offers you a message. How do you learn to intuit?

4) Take every opportunity to get-to-know yourself better . As you learn to listen closely to your inner voice, you'll make choices according to who you really are, not who people lead you to think you are. This soul-searching can also encourage you to develop and deepen a spiritual side.

5) Commit to people and causes.  As you do this, it will enable you to believe more in yourself. Distance yourself from perceived needs of "enough" of anything, from thinking you may never get enough money, attention or reciprocity. Choose instead to give unconditionally of yourself in all that you do, from relationships and work to spritual pursuits. You will find unexpected sources of appreciation will bless you by the truckload. You will attract what resonates from within you.