Stimulate Your Mind

How much time do we spend reflecting on our actions and thoughts? A few hours a day? A few hours a week? A few hours a month? A few hours a year? Never? If we are not making time to reflect then we to need to hit the pause button and reevaluate our state of mind and heart. We need to realign the wheels of our hearts to ensure that we are staying on the right track. In particular, how often is mercy a factor in our thoughts and actions? If the answer is not always, then we need to spend more time in self-reflection. Mercy is defined as compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm. Lacking in self-reflection results in a lack of mercy. Unfortunately, many people, young and old, are missing this component from their daily routine. The loss of this reflection leads to a misguided state of mind and ultimately affects behavior. This state/behavior is typically seen in adolescents, specifically, bullies. We nor...

Several years ago, I had the wonderful opportunity to work on a global health project. As with all international travel, the lessons and experiences were priceless. Towards the end of the trip I learned about “accepted” cultural practices that deeply saddened me. Namely, there was systemic abuse at essentially all levels in the region. These abuses were directed towards the vulnerable and weak. In most cases the victims were single or widowed women. One of the stories that was shared with me was that of a mother (widowed) who could not sustain her family financially. In order to cover expenses, she had to “pimp out” her daughter. Unfortunately, this had become common practice in that society. After hearing the stories and confirming with others, I did what I could to support the victims and to voice my opposition. But I had so many questions in my head. How can this exist in our modern world? Where were the human rights people? Where were the women’s rights people? Where we...