Mindconnection eNL, 2020-04-19

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Item 1. Amazon hired 100,000 workers for its warehouses. The company is now hiring 75,000 more. That will help offset the tens of millions jobs lost due to the panic-driven shutdown of our economy.

Item 2. Even politicians are starting to understand you can hold your breath only so long before you drown, and our economy has to breathe. While CV-19 presents the possibility of an even larger death toll, that possibility may be less overall than the death consequences of continuing the shutdown. There is a middle way, and it's been proven by people working in retail (grocery stores, hardware stores, home centers, etc.). This is what we should have done originally, not shut everything down.

Item 3. What politicians still do not understand is how the poor dietary choices that are made daily by over 80% of the population render the population far less disease-resistant. The good news is more people are talking about this. For those of you who have not been reading this newsletter long enough to know, the nutshell version is this. Make fruits and vegetables 70 to 80% of your diet; these have amazingly powerful health benefits and taste great. Eat no processed foods, wheat products, corn products, sugar cane products, artificial colorings, etc.; all of these things simply drain away your health.

Item 4. Despite being attacked relentlessly by people suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome, being abused by the lamestream media, and being viciously lied about by Nancy "Nutcase" Pelosi, President Trump has worked smart to help get the economy rolling again. The process he's pushing is sensible. Contrary to caricature, he isn't making things up and not listening to people. He's listening to the CDC and to knowledgeable people in other countries. It's good news that he can even think straight with all undeserved criticism he's been taking. It might help his cause if he would think more often before speaking, but it's what he's doing that matters and he's been doing good things at a blistering pace since taking office.

Item 5. Hillary Clinton is not POTUS. That is very good news, indeed. Old news but good news. Especially now.

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Political campaigns provide plenty of examples of the "accept without thinking" practice. Some candidate promises free this or free that, yet his supporters do not stop to think about how much that will cost and who will pay for it (nothing provided by the government is actually free).

Fitness advice is another area where people don't think about what they hear or read. If they did, nobody would be on the Keto diet or the Paleo diet. The core premise of each of those is fatally flawed, and a little thinking is all you need to see that.

There is probably not an area in which people don't simply accept what they are told without thinking.

It's not always the case that if you think about what you're told, you will realize it's false. For example, suppose I tell you that you need to wear hearing protection to operate a lawnmower. Most people hear this and do not stop to think about it. They assume it's wrong. But if they stopped to think about it, they would think about why they want to keep their hearing also. And that would cause you to look up the issue online or elsewhere. You would then discover that industrial safety people teach that if you have to raise your voice above normal conversational volume to be heard over the background noise, you should be wearing hearing protection.

Simply thinking about what you hear or read will help you make more sense of whatever it is. Many times, you will be able to reject false information and bad advice rather than rely on it. Many times, you will be able to better appreciate and use good information and good advice. The key is to think about what you hear or read.

Humans have these really big brains. But we tend not to use them very much. That is something that sets up intellectual atrophy. Thinking about what you hear and read is good mental exercise, in addition to having the other benefits I mentioned.

Then along came CV-19 and a gross over-reaction to it. Shutting down the economy to stop the spread put us into a siege situation with no stored supplies to get us through. There is a middle ground, and we should have taken it. Because political leaders failed us (as usual), we instead have millions of people filing for unemployment each day. And one reaction is to spend even more money the federal government does not have, which means greatly accelerating our debt.

So it's bad and there is not going to be the kind of recovery we got from the simple act of nullifying Soetoro's Executive Orders. What can you do?

Here are three things you can begin with:

• First, bring your A game to work. Nearly 80% of Americans bring their D game to work. They are disengaged, and put in their time each day doing enough to get by but not enough to get ahead. If you bring your A game, you help your company and your career at the same time. If you are no longer working and your job is simply gone, think about how you would bring your A game to work if you could and keep this in mind when talking with prospective employers.
• Second, bring your A game to your personal finances. Where do you waste money? Look at little things, because those add up. For example, do you hold the refrigerator door open instead of quickly removing what you need and closing it? Do you run the tap while brushing your teeth?
• Third, turn some attention to your local political situation. The typical city council is made up of money-wasting idiots. It is always immoral to waste money, it is especially immoral to waste other people's money. Start contacting your council members via telephone, e-mail, etc., and ask them what they specifically have in mind to reduce fiscal waste.

Another idea with huge potential

We have another fake "election" coming up this November. What's crazy about this situation is the people who do the most damage tax us without representing us. Take Nutcase Nancy Pelosi, for example. She looms large in all of our lives, and not in any ways that are good. She is allegedly "elected" by people in her Congressional district, yet she has a hugely deleterious effect on the finances of every American. What can you do? One thing I intend to do is start phoning people in her district, explaining that l need their help. I'll ask them to look at what Pelosi has actually done and ask them to help stop her this fall.

What if 1,000 of us each contacted 20 people in Pelosi's district? That would probably get her out of Congress.

Let's make that happen!

https://blog.malwarebytes.com/scams/2020/03/coronavirus-scams-found-and-explained

Photo taken a couple of weeks after my 59th birthday.

Note that the information provided here will likely conflict with the "fad of the moment" and other unsustainable, unproductive ways of looking at health and fitness.

Article appears below.

See my climbing videos here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCyb67uKOxW_TsG6BVPbBIQ/videos

This is the final installment in our 10-part series on "How to manage hormones naturally". This part is titled, "Handling social pressure." For most people who have embarked on a health-oriented lifestyle, social pressure is the biggest barrier to success.

Much of this pressure is exerted via statements that other people make to you. These are often judgmental and assume that you are doing something wrong. For example:

• "You only go around once." Notwithstanding the misplaced modifier there, the "logic" here is that because you live only once then engaging in health-averse behavior is OK.
  A good answer is, "Yes, this is my only body and I enjoy taking care of it."
  An excellent answer is, "So what is it you want to know about how I stay in shape?"
   
• "You need to live a little." The "logic" here is that if you eat right, train regularly, and get enough rest you aren't enjoying life.
  A good answer is, "I prefer to live more than a little, and I prefer to live with plenty of energy to do the things I want to do. Disease and infirmity are just not my style."
  An excellent answer is, "You make a good point, and it seems like you're asking me why I enjoy my approach to diet and exercise."
   
• "You're a health nut."
  A good answer is, "There's nothing nutty about taking care of your health."
  An excellent answer is, "Thank you for noticing my attention to taking care of myself. Is there some aspect of that you are particularly interested in?"

Usually, these comments are made because the other person feels guilty for not doing what you are doing. That's why there's a good answer (justifying what you do) and an excellent answer (Opening a dialogue so you can help that person meet their underlying desire to share in your success).

It's not always coming from them

More of this pressure is exerted without actual intent. You exert this pressure on yourself.

Here's how it works. You show up at a function where people are munching on potato chips and drinking soda. Nobody really cares whether you do that or not, but you feel out of place so you munch on some chips and grab a soda. The solution in this situation is to just be yourself. Note also, other people at that gathering might be noticing they are the only one with brown shoes, the only one with a red shirt, etc. There is nothing wrong with being different in some way from other people. Differences are what make us interesting.

So John shows up wearing his trademark baseball cap. Nobody else is wearing such a cap. John does not feel self-conscious about  being different. Neither should you.

And think about this fact. If you eat right, you are going to look and smell different from just about everyone else anyhow. Smell different? Yes, your body will exude a different and more pleasing odor. If you are a male reading this, the testosterone that is on your breath will be probably twice as high as what's on the breath of another male who is on the wheat, corn, and sugar diet. Contrary to popular myth, humans have a powerful sense of smell.

Just accept the fact that you have chosen a different path and consequently have a body that functions, smells, and looks different from a "normal" body. I say "different" but the reality is "better." And other people pick up on that. So the fact you also eat differently is not a bad thing. It's what gives you your superpowers (relative to "everyone else"). Just don't get carried away with this and look down on other people for not making the choices you make. My point here is your choices are good choices, not ones to be ashamed of or to change in a misguided effort to "fit in."

Here's an analogy. Let's suppose you owned a very successful business and became a multi-millionaire. Then you go to a friend's party, where everyone else is a middle class earner. Would you feel like you had to do something bad to your business so you could fit in? Of course not.

And going back to the statements that people make, suppose someone there says you should stop doing what makes you successful so that you can fit in with all the middle class people. Would you do that? Of course not. But if someone pointed out to the other party goers that you had done quite well for yourself and asked you to say a few words about your secret to success, would you do it? You probably would.

It's not about willpower

So in the first case, others exert pressure on you. In the second case, you exert pressure on you. In either case, what usually happens is you tap your willpower so you can resist the pressure. Then your willpower runs out.

People have asked me, "Where do you get the willpower to never eat junk food?" and "Where do you get the willpower to never miss a workout?"

The answer is I don't use willpower to meet these goals. I very much enjoy preparing and eating real food, not just because of the health advantages but because it looks and tastes great. And there's the tactile sensation of eating real food; it's a pleasure you should not deprive yourself of.

OK for food, but what about those workouts? Surely, those take willpower?

No. When I am training, I feel the connection to whatever muscles I am working, and it's great feeling. Arnold described this in the movie Pumping Iron. There's a visceral pleasure when you are training to your limits. Why would I want to miss that? There's a certain rush you get when training, and it's followed by an endorphin high and a prolonged elevation of testosterone. Why would I want to miss my drug-free high or my six day a week "testosterone injection"?

Use that pressure to your advantage

Rather than use willpower to fight social pressure from the disease-embracing, health-averse culture, follow these tips to use social pressure to your advantage:

• See yourself as a leader. If others choose to follow your example, great. If not, that's their problem not yours.
• Take any negative comments as a sign that people are really saying they wish they could be like you are. That's pretty motivating.
• Prepare for encounters by pulling your shoulders back and holding your head high. This body posture sends out positive signals that are likely to get you compliments. If you slump and thus your posture shows expect to be criticized, then you probably will be criticized.
• If someone makes a comment that you should skip a meal or miss a workout, take a good look at that person's physical condition. About 99.999% of the time, you will see a good reason not to skip that meal or miss that workout.
• Suppose someone makes a comment that questions your disciplined way. "Say, I notice you aren't eating the chocolate cake. Is that a weight loss thing?" Treat that question as an invitation to discuss (without coming across as judgmental yourself) the subject of good nutrition. Keep it positive, and keep asking the other person for their take on things. "A lot of empty calories in that cake. What do you think is a better alternative?"
• Remember your long term goals, and why you made them. Sticking to your program is not a question of being able to give something up, it's a question of attaining something you desire.\

Keep in mind that the vast majority of people experience a long, miserable decline due to muscular atrophy from not training and due to various health problems from poor food choices. Once your legs go, you're looking at being sentenced to "death by nursing home." If you've seen the condition of these places and the people withering away in them, you should be highly motivated to stick with your health care program (diet, training, rest, etc.) regardless of any social pressure to do otherwise.

• The best workouts are short and intense.
• A good diet contains far more flavors and satisfaction than the typical American diet.

Corona virus is not new.

For many people, middle age is when broadness of the mind and narrowness of the waist change places.  For others, their mind does not broaden but their waist does. Think about what you can do to ensure you broaden your mind and not your waist.