Holiday Weight...

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Now that Thanksgiving and Black Friday is over.. it is time for the Christmas spirit. Time to finish the leftover thanksgiving food and make room for the nice pine trees and stockings, and lets not forget.. room for the Christmas deserts and goodies.

 

https://www.countryliving.com/food-drinks/g2173/blogger-christmas-recipes/

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With all these holidays coming up in just these last 2 months of the year it is important to finish the year strong. Whether it is a diet you are following, a seasonal job or a semester in college; finish strong! It could be so easy to let loose but the work you have done could be finished. There is an end line that we are coming closer to and instead of taking a break we should be like a racer in a marathon; getting to that finish line even if it causes us pain and sweat.

It's understanding though, really... it's hard to follow a diet when we just had a plate full of turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, macaroni, stuffing.. and the list goes on...

A diet has to be a difficult task to carry on one's shoulders when there is so many food options on the table during these times of the year.

Here are some tips that could possibly help you finish the year strong.. and slim.

1.STAY ACTIVE 

Watching t.v and sitting on the couch are often a big part of one's holiday feast, staying active during the holidays is fairly important.. after all we are about to each an excessive amount of food.

2. PORTION SIZE

There is a lot of food options... yes... but that doesn't mean you need to get a spoonful of it all. Remember that those that eat in excessive amounts tend to gain more weight than those who watch their portions. The link below will tell you more about food label and their importance to food portions.

portion size matters

3. WATCH THE SNACKS

On top of all the food and the desserts there will also be snacks. Some unhealthy snacks such as cookies can become a great weight on when consumed in excessive. Remember that too much of a good things could turn out really bad. 

In no way do I want to stop you from eating, after all the holidays is when we can take advantage of all the good foods in one night. However, it is important to find a balance and not only when it comes to Christmas food but also in all the roles that we have been a part of this year that are coming to an end this upcoming month and onto newer and better doings. 

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Jigsaw Puzzles..

Justin Senigar, now 18 years old, once went to the clinic with the diagnosis of autism. The doctors diagnosed Justin and concluded that he would never be able to communicate or interact socially. However, by the time they actually got the chance to look at Justin's brain the doctors were astonished at what they saw in the EEG (Electroencephalography) scan. Justin was not autistic. He was actually having seizures.

"Despite the fact that every one of these disorders originates in the brain, most of these disorders are diagnosed solely on the basis of observable behavior. But diagnosing a brain disorder without actually looking at the brain is analogous to treating a patient with a heart problem, based on their physical symptoms, without even doing an ECG or a chest X-ray to look at the heart." - Aditi Shankardass

https://www.ted.com/talks/aditi_shankardass_a_second_opinion_on_learning_disorders#t-402308

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It is easier for many of us to overlook a situation and judge it based on what is seen on the outside. As many recognize the well-known saying, "you can't judge a book by its cover" this saying applies to much more than books, people, or situations.

I'd like to share a little bit of a relative's experience with certain misinterpretations in his mental status. Time and time again the doctors have concluded that the number of times that he spaces out and does his fidgeting he is doing it because he suffers from an autistic disorder. Another doctor mentioned that the cause of his fidgeting and his urge to bite everything was due to ADHD. A different doctor had told him that because of his dyslexia he wasn't able to get good grades in school. Finally, when a neurologist was able to actually look into his brain they found that he actually had a blood clot in his brain which was causing his pain and his difficulty speaking and seeing. His pain was the reason why he would bite everything and he wouldn't say anything about his pain.

Judging in these circumstances based on what one could see with their naked eye is not enough. More than anything, judging based on what is seen is not something that should be encouraged. It shouldn't matter if you're judging a book, or a person, or maybe even a sickness a judgement is a judgement with no question asked. Without a deeper understanding of a situation judgments could lead to outcomes that could possibly cost someone their whole life.

Like books, and like Senigar, people and things are often judged by their cover. I encourage you today to view judgement towards others as the real disorder.

The Right Shoes...

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An open-minded person could learn a lot about others by analyzing the type of shoes that they are wearing. I'm not saying that they can judge them wrongfully but often times one's shoes reflect the kind of person that is wearing them. Take for example the artists that paint their white vans or the ones that customize their shoes online. While there are people that take their time and effort to customize their own shoes by hand there are also the people that are content with the basic shoe presentation and that's just how different we all are from one another. Shoes are everywhere and it could be said that they have become more and more divergent just like our country has. Whether they are running shoes, flats, sandals, stilettos, glass slippers or sparkling ruby slippers, they all come in the same packaging but the beauty of this is that each person has the right to wear their shoes, walk on their shoes, and show their shoes how they choose to.

Or do you really think that Dorothy could've worn Cinderella's glass slippers better than her own ruby slippers?

See, those ruby slippers were seen to hold great power; the power to be where home was. We choose to think that these materialistic things, these shoes are the power but what good are the shoes without someone to fill them in? The power is vested in the people that wear their shoes and how they wear them. The Wizard of Oz depicts a powerful message where these ruby shoes symbolize something greater than just beautiful shoes. In short, the Wicked Witch schemes to get a hold of Dorothy's ruby slippers and when she does she is shocked and unable to lay her hands on them. The message I perceived from here is this; while there are artist and people that choose a basic preference there are also people that are more content with living their life like someone else's. In this case, someone else's shoes. When people try to fit themselves in the shoes of someone else they will eventually feel the shock because those shoes are not for them. 

The shoes just doesn't fit. 

The shoes you wear today represent who you are and where you walk today. How you decide to walk is ultimately up to no other person but you. So, I encourage you to walk on your own yellow brick road and wear your own shoes. Whether they are yellow, checkered, floral or plaid remember that there are people with different shoes than yours and their differences don't make them any less or more important than you, but equal to you.

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The Wizard of Oz (LINK)

Amen...

amen

[ey-men, ah-men]

1. it is so; so be it (used after a prayer, creed, or other formal statement to express solemn ratification or agreement). 

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I always thought religion was an important part of each individual. Whether someone believes in something or not it is important for each person to believe in something, even if it's not believing in anything. It is important to know what you and the people around you believe in and more than anything practice what you preach, and if you don't believe in anything well I guess that's not really practical. The point is that we each have a choice. In a way our beliefs often reflect our actions. 

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I heard a phrase once that goes like this, "God only gives you as much as you can handle". As a child I'd always question the division in a family and also wondered about the homeless people I would see walking around the crazy streets of L.A. I wondered about the children that would come to school with me wearing the same clothes every week and about the children that had nothing better to do than to put others down. I wondered what it was that drove these families, these homeless, these children to turn towards something good or in some cases something bad. What was it? What is it that drives them to turn towards good actions or bad ones?

There is roughly about 4,200 religions in the world today; the most popular ones being: Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, Hinduism, and Judaism. Now I know you may be asking yourself what these religions have to do with good actions or bad ones. Here it is, the sense of community is what most of these religions have in common and as many know, they each have different beliefs, and different principles that dominate their perspective of the world and of others. Where one sees skinny jeans to be an appropriate dressing style others see long skirts to be the right dressing style. 

Image Source - https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/07/inspiring-interfaith-top-quotes_n_3678988.html

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'My religion as a Sikh affects everything I do, even the food that I eat — I am a vegetarian because of my religion — and my appearance. I am not supposed to cut any hair, even my facial hair, and because culture and religion go together, I do not wear pants that are too baggy or too tight. In my religion, if you see someone you do not know, you say hello to them, and if you see someone of your religion, you will talk for a while.'

—Harpreet Singh, third-year public health major. Hometown: San Pablo, CA.

'Christianity is pretty important to me. I grew up in a Christian household, and it's shaped my morals, how I think about things. I consider it a guide for how to live my life, not a strict doctrine that I have to follow.' 

—Jennifer Tillett, first-year applied mathematics (intended) major. Hometown: Los Angeles, CA.

'I was raised a Buddhist, but I don't go to temple and neither do my parents, even though they're religious. I've learned about a lot of religions, through religious studies classes, and I've integrated various morals and values from several of them. When I need to make decisions in my life I reflect back on what I've learned. There isn't a single religion for me.'

—Henry Truong, fourth-year political science major. Hometown: Los Angeles, CA.

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I never understood how the words that were preached on Sunday mornings made everyone scream "AMEN!" in a Christian church, even less what encouraged the  Jehovah Witnesses to go out and knock on doors handing out pamphlets. I didn't understand how people could remember all the angels names in the Catholic church nor why the Buddhist church believed that karma had a significant effect on people that did others wrong. I could not understand how there were a number of beliefs in the world today, and still there was so much mess and destruction all over the world. 

Some people blame religion, others blame their enemies, many simply blame God even with a simple "Oh My God!". But what if religion is the solution? What if community could bring us all together and help us move forward all together and make a positive change in the world.  

Religion would be a principle battlefield in this rapidly changing landscape and it was already clear that religion was a significant part of the problem, mentions Sharon Brous. But what if religion could be the solution.

Psychologist tell us that the more we learn about what's broken in our world, the less likely we are to do anything. You can't do everything but you can do something. Forgive, love, show up, protest, and be a part of the conversation.

Religion can and must be 

a force for good in the world. 

A shift towards love, 

towards justice, 

towards equality

and dignity for all.  -Sharon Brous

Amen.

and toward dignity for all.

A Lost Art...

Letters,

             Smoke signals,

                                    Homing pigeons,

                                                               Hieroglyphics,

                                                                                      Brick phones,

                                                                                                            Emails,

                                                                                                                        Internet,

                                                                                                                                    Face Time, 

                                                                                                                                                      and Holograms: 
all forms of what our previous and our current generations have used to communicate in the past, the present, and perhaps one day, the future. Innovation in our communication world has time and time again proven that there is yet, so much more to be discovered. When will it ever be enough? Better yet, when was the real art of hand written letters not enough?

Letters have a distinctive value to them that text messages and emails don't. Hand written letters are a personal gift that unlike any other form of media message portray a part of a person feelings by transforming their thoughts into an art of words. Sure, the long text messages can deliver the same exact message but would you rather get Grandma's warm, homemade cookies or Walmart's clearance cookies? Ha. Got you. 

How to Price Homemade Cookies

by Lorna Hordos 

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Here are some movies that incorporate the significance of letters and how important they were in their stories:

• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society 

• Cyrano de Bergerac 

• P.S I Love You 

• Beastly 

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

*Spoiler Alert* The title of the movie is the name of a book club society that was made in an instant so that the Germans wouldn't arrest a group of Guernsey locals scurrying past their curfew. After that, they decided they would make the book club a real society. The society would give them an excuse to move around occasionally and smuggle food and other hidden objects within their island. 

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society paints a vivid story through letters that the two main characters write to each other. Experience the path that took a formal writer from London to the United Kingdom's Guernsey Island all through the art of written letters. 

Cyrano de Bergerac

Much like Romeo and Juliet, Cyrano de Bergerac portrays an inevitably, tragic, love story. Two men fall in love with a women and work together to make this women fall in love with them while making her think that they are all one person. Roxanne ends up falling for the words that Cyrano writes her through letters and Christian makes his appearance when they wish to meet. Since Cyrano is too self-conscious about his physical appearance and Christian can't manage to express his feelings with words when meeting with Roxanne they make a plan to use each other's strengths and eventually make Roxanne fall in love; however, it wasn't appearance that impressed Roxanne rather it was through the letters that she felt truly felt loved by. Click the link below to get a glimpse of Cyrano's story.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbUiWMfCiOc

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I don't know about you but Grandma's homemade cookies taste pretty good and homemade cookies should never go out of style, because just like hand written letters, they're one of a kind. 

Showing An Interest In...

Weather one is showing their interest in a sport, an event, or a class people also show their interests towards others in a similar manner. Lets take for example a girl. As a boy, you'd show your interest towards that girl in different ways. Texting her, walking with her, offering her your sweater when it's cold are some actions that will show her that you are interested in them. On the other hand, if you are not showing interest you'd ignore her and not show any effort or attention at all. Right?

Time, Effort, and Attention. 

What if I tell you that discrimination in schools could be seen in the same way. As an instructor, there are times where they will show a certain bias towards a targeted group of students which coincidentally most of the time, has to do with ones race, ethic backgrounds, or religious belief being different from the instructor's. 

⇲ Discrimination: the unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things, especially on the grounds of race, age, or sex

It is understanding that this would be a problem looking back to about 80 years ago, but to this day discrimination is still an issue within the education system and it is affecting students in a place where it is said that all men are created equal but in reality are not being treated equal. 

Teachers have power. They control the classroom .They decide who gets recommended for prizes like gifted programs and who doesn't. They decide who receives interest and who doesn't. By directing ones attention to a student they can be inspired but by ignoring one or sending them to another class teachers can also discourage. 

[http://revisionisthistory.com/episodes/13-miss-buchanans-period-of-adjustment] 

Time, Effort, and Attention.

Something Better...

Have you ever wondered how educational systems work in other countries? How just having different accustoms and rules affect students performance all over the world and what opportunities are open to them? 

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Before commencing, it is important to know that the Mexican education system is much different than that of the American system. Here's a link that demonstrates the an overall overview. 

→ https://transferwise.com/gb/blog/mexican-education-overview

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A few Mexican, American students have had the experience of both the Mexican education and at some point have also had the experience of an American education. Why? Are Mexican students not receiving the same education as students in America? Is it cheaper? What intrigues these students to come to the United States to study ? 

It is a significant choice. Weather it is to study in a higher-quality institution or to simply learn the English language, Mexican students are realizing that pursuing a higher education in the United States outgrows the benefits of studying a career in Mexico and opens many more opportunities to a better future. SOMETHING BETTER for a change.

First and foremost, Cost. What it costs to pursue and finish a university degree, or in other words an associate's or bachelor's degree, is little to nothing compared to what it costs in America. Tuition at public universities and technical universities/institutions is free to Mexican citizens; however, there may be fees which can be as high as $US 150 per semester. Tuition at private universities varies widely and can be very expensive, with some charging $US 20,000 or more per year according to master studies in Mexico. BUT WHY?⬐

It is important to consider the type of economy that Mexican students are living in. Jobs are scarce, population is more than overcrowded, wages are low and to cover such low standards of living, education costs are low. 

Unfortunately, there have been previous reports that mention corruption in Mexican schools. Most schools are greatly unfunded and lacking in resources and in many occasions schools hours aren't sufficient enough for students to get educated enough. 

With that being said an education is available to every child in Mexico; however, successfully applying that certain study to a job is harder to find than the education itself. 

What good what an education be if one isn't going to use it?