LIFE SAY, "NO TO DRUGS"

I lost a brother due to drugs. This wonderful, good-looking young man, with a signature bedimpled smile became a monster. He was 14 when he turned to alcohol and drugs. We did everything we could to unhook him of these horrible things. His behavior and moods changed, he was always out of control. We saw first hand what he turned into and the devastation that he brought onto the entire family. Until one day he realized the danger of drug use and told us that he was willing to undergo rehabilitation at DARE Rehab Center ran by Fr. Bob Garon. DARE did so many marvelous things to help him. Wonder of all wonders, he learned many skills in the rehab center. He stayed clean and sober for years, until one day he crossed paths with his old buddies again .... and that was it.

You could simply imagine how we hated his buddies that would give him drugs, and then we realized they were not forcing him, the problem was with him. He could not stand up for what he knew was right and say, "no I am not going to be a user anymore."

There are many individual and group problems related to the process of growing up. One of these problems is the misuse and abuse of drugs. Young adolescents may acquire various information about mind-altering drugs through mass media. The peer group, too, could be a major source of distorted information about drugs. It is a common knowledge that economic, social and psychological factors contribute to the increasing incidence of drug dependence.

Abused drugs generally have one thing in common: they cause changes in a person's mood or behavior. They can affect a person's perceptions, moods, behavior and skills. Some people abuse drugs because they think they can gain acceptance from their peers. Others abuse drugs in an attempt to have more friends and feel they belong to the group. Peer pressure also lead to drug abuse.

MOVING FORWARD

Making a decision to do something new usually involves giving up something else. That's what makes it hard--there's a loss to deal with as well as the uncertainty in the future. We resist change when the number of positive things in our lives is equal to the number of negative things. Comparing these positive and negatives objectively helps us to move forward.

OVERCOMING ENVY AND JEALOUSY

Do we rejoice in the good that others do, especially when they seem to outshine you? Do we get upset and jealous because someone else has taken our place or taken the spotlight away from us? Envy and jealousy, its counterpart, are sinful because they lead us to sorrow over what should make us rejoice. The reason we may be sad or feel discontent over another's good fortune or excellence is the fear of losing our own value and excellence or being replaced by a rival. Envy is contrary to love. Both the object of love and the object of envy is our neighbor's good, but by contrary movements, since love rejoices in our neighbor's good, while envy grieves over it.

How can we overcome envy and jealousy? With the love that God puts into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. This love seeks the highest good of our neighbor. Apostle Paul says that "love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right." If we ask the Lord to fill us with His purifying love, we may rejoice in the good of others, even in those who may cross us at times or cause us difficulty.

COMMUNE WITH NATURE

Learn to appreciate the beauty around you!

Poets tell us that the world is full of beautiful, wonderful things. We don't have to be a poet to realize that this is true. All we need is to rub sleep out of our eyes and look around with a keener, more observant gaze. Watch the clouds as they float lazily across the summer sky, study the outlines of trees, smell the freshness of the morning breeze, listen to the happy, lively chirping of the birds, hear the buzzing of the busy bees hopping from one fragrant blooms to another, feel the gentle, warmth of the early morning sun. Commune with nature!

We don't have to be a poet to know that the world is full of beauty.

TRIVIA - RED TAPE

Did you know that the phrase, "red tape," the rigid application of regulations and routine, resulting in delay in getting business done, got its name from the color of the tape that was commonly used to tie official papers.

The term occurs as early as 1658.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - FAITH

"I would rather live my life
as if there is a God, and die to find there isn't,
than live my life as if there isn't,
and die to find out there is."

Bishop T. D. Jakes

BRISK WALKING OR JOGGING?

The weather is getting cooler everyday. Al-Khobar corniche is now always crowded with joggers, brisk walkers, bikers, and picnickers; a familiar sight in the morning and evening time.

Brisk walking and running are exercises very popular among expats here in the Eastern Province, exercises which help in balancing a high-fat diet. As far as I know, both help develop extra routes of circulation for blood to flow through, while a high-fat, high-cholesterol diet tends to close normal routes off.


According to Michio Kushi, author of the book, The Microbiotic Way, jogging increases circulatory capacity and may reduce the risks associated with eating the modern diet. Unfortunately, jogging has some drawbacks. While for a period of time it may be a balancing form of exercise for the heart and circulation, in the short, it tends to unevenly stress the heart and other body parts and systems. Although, some people can enjoy jogging or running, they are frequently halted by back problems, bone and joint disorders, kidney damage due to the shock of pounding up and down while running.

In the words of Thomas Jefferson, "the sovereign invigorator of the body is exercise, and of all the exercises, walking is the best." The rewards of just plain walking equal those that can be obtained from any other exercise, with half the risk of injury or exhaustion.

MAY I PAWN MY DAUGHTER?

Strange News from Abroad

The rough economy meant good business for pawnshops. They are more than willing to help many struggling people to make both ends meet. We can pawn just anything of value, but to pawn a daughter is a different story.


A father went to the police and reported that her daughter was missing. Police searched for the girl for three days and then became suspicious after the father failed to follow up on the case. Their suspicions increased when the girl's mother told them that the disappearance coincided with the departure of a guest, who stayed with them for two days.

A thorough investigation revealed that the father pawned his daughter to his creditor as a form of guarantee that he would repay the debt.

What a way to make some quick cash, ha!

FRUSTRATION

How can we muster frustration? Study shows that people who easily get frustrated are more likely to react in a prejudiced way than people who are not easily frustrated. Low tolerance for frustration is only one of the personality variables that sometimes accompany prejudice. People with low self esteem are more likely to be prejudiced than people who have high respect for themselves. Individuals who lack self-esteem look for others who can be seen as more unworthy than they themselves are. Guilt feelings about behavior are also projected onto people whose own behavior is what the prejudiced people see as bad about themselves, but cannot admit.

NOBLE VIRTUES, NOBLE TASKS!

We should develop the noble virtues of patience, fortitude, and perseverance. If at first we don't succeed, keep trying. It is a good thing never to be discouraged, to rise stronger after each fall. Every end is a beginning. It all depends upon how we look at it. We will not succeed if we concentrate on our failures. But if we see beyond our failures and reach our hands towards the success that lies in the future, that success will be ours.

Always remember, there is no such thing as "too late."
Many open doors and choices await us.

THE RED, RED ROSE

Scotland's most famous poet, Robert Burns once wrote that his love was like "a red, red rose." He compared the pretty girl he loved to a red, red rose. He probably meant that the pretty girl's complexion is an attractive and healthy looking as a beautiful rose and the texture of her skin is as velvety and smooth as the petals of a rose. The way she stands is as straight and regal as the rose held upright by its straight firm stem. The subtle fragrant of the rose may correspond to the fragrance of the girl, the way she attracts people is like the way beautiful rose attracts those who see it.

A Red, Red Rose

Oh my luve is like a red, red rose,
That's newly sprung in June:
Oh my luve is like the melodie,
That's sweetly play'd in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonie lass,
So deep in luve am I;
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
Till a' the seas gang dry.

Till a' seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi' the sun;
And I will luve thee still, my dear
While the sands o' life shall run.

And fare thee weel, my only luve!
And fare thee weel a while!
And I will come again, my luve
Tho' it were ten thousand mile!

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY - SOLITUDE

"Children love to be alone
because alone is where they
know themselves, and where they dream."


Roger Rosenblatt

JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!

Just as we need psychological space, we also need to surround ourselves with a certain amount of physical space.

For whatever reason, we want control over who has access to us and when. How would you feel if you discovered someone had been eavesdropping on your telephone conversations? Or if someone had been opening your mail? Or giving out confidential information about you? Privacy is much more than physical isolation, a psychological state. It is our freedom to determine "when, how, and to what extent information about yourself is communicated to others," according to a renown psychologist, who believes that there many reasons why people seek privacy. Privacy provides a sense of individuality and independence. You are your own person making your own conscious choices.

COLDS AND FLU

It's wintertime, season of colds and flu.
A friend said, I should get a flu shot. Do I need one?

They say, children get the most colds because they lack the built-up resistance to infection, in contrast with adults who suffer less because they have built-up a natural immunity. A study of a common cold disclosed that the incidence of colds was greater among the better-educated.

There is no proven or sure cure for colds and flu but time. However, there are many available over-the-counter medications to relieve the symptoms.

A MAGICAL EXPERIENCE

Falling in love with love
is falling for make believe,
Falling in love with love is playing the fool!

Falling in love is a magical experience, yet it lasts only a short time. Often it burns out, leaving the once love-struck person wondering how and why it all happened. If the love prospers, love changes from a passionate love to a compassionate love. Like, loving, and sexual relationships form the human connection that expands the boundaries of self. The person who does not reach out for the hand of another, or whose extended hand is not grasped by another, is cut adrift. The isolated individual may become lonely or depressed. But the person whose life includes love and intimacy is a person whose life is enriched.