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Why Does the Date for Easter Change Every Year

Why does the date for Easter change every year? Have you ever wondered
why Easter Sunday can fall anywhere between March 22 and April 25? And
why do Eastern Orthodox churches celebrate Easter on a different day
than Western churches? These are all good questions with answers that
require a bit of explanation. In fact, there are as many
misunderstandings about the calculation of Easter dates, as there are
reasons for the confusion. What follows is an attempt to clear up at
least some of the confusion.

In Western Christianity, Easter is always celebrated on the Sunday
immediately following the Paschal Full Moon date of the year. I had
previously, and somewhat erroneously stated, "Easter is always
celebrated on the Sunday immediately following the first full moon
after the vernal (spring) equinox." This statement was true prior to
325 AD; however, over the course of history (beginning in 325 AD with
the Council of Nicea), the Western Church decided to established a
more standardized system for determining the date of Easter.

In actuality, the date of the Paschal Full Moon is determined from
historical tables, and has no correspondence to lunar events.

As Astronomers were able to approximate the dates of all the full
moons in future years, the Western Christian Church used these
calculations to establish a table of Ecclesiastical Full Moon dates.
These dates would determine the Holy Days on the Ecclesiastical
calendar.

Though modified slightly from its original form, by 1583 AD the table
for determining the Ecclesiastical Full Moon dates was permanently
established and has been used ever since to determine the date of
Easter. Thus, according to the Ecclesiastical tables, the Paschal Full
Moon is the first Ecclesiastical Full Moon date after March 20 (which
happened to be the vernal equinox date in 325 AD). So, in Western
Christianity, Easter is always celebrated on the Sunday immediately
following the Paschal Full Moon.

The Paschal Full Moon can vary as much as two days from the date of
the actual full moon, with dates ranging from March 21 to April 18. As
a result, Easter dates can range from March 22 through April 25 in
Western Christianity.

Historically, western churches used the Gregorian Calendar to
calculate the date of Easter and Eastern Orthodox churches used the
Julian Calendar. This was partly why the dates were seldom the same.

Easter and its related holidays do not fall on a fixed date in either
the Gregorian or Julian calendars, making them movable holidays. The
dates, instead, are based on a lunar calendar very similar to the
Hebrew Calendar.

While some Eastern Orthodox Churches not only maintain the date of
Easter based on the Julian Calendar which was in use during the First
Ecumenical Council of Nicea in 325 AD, they also use the actual,
astronomical full moon and the actual vernal equinox as observed along
the meridian of Jerusalem. This complicates the matter, due to the
inaccuracy of the Julian calendar, and the 13 days that have accrued
since 325 AD. This means, in order to stay in line with the originally
established (325 AD) vernal equinox, Orthodox Easter cannot be
celebrated before April 3 (present day Gregorian calendar), which was
March 21 in 325 AD.

Additionally, in keeping with the rule established by the First
Ecumenical Council of Nicea, the Eastern Orthodox Church adhered to
the tradition that Easter must always fall after the Jewish Passover,
since the death, burial and Resurrection of Christ happened after the
celebration of Passover. Eventually the Orthodox Church came up with
an alternative to calculating Easter based on the Gregorian calendar
and Passover, and developed a 19-year cycle, as opposed to the Western
Church 84-year cycle.

Since the days of early church history, determining the precise date
of Easter has been a matter for continued argument. For one, the
followers of Christ neglected to record the exact date of Jesus'
resurrection. From then on the matter grew increasingly complex.

Mary Fairchild

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Future developments expected in the area of tribunal claims, settlement and compromise in UK

Employers and employees will be encouraged to resolve disciplinary and grievance issues themselves, using a third party (for example a mediator or an arbitrator) to help resolve the problem, ending up in an employment tribunal as a very last resort. The revised Acas code of practice on disciplinary and grievance procedures will become even more important as failure to follow its provisions may lead to a 25 per cent reduction or increase in compensation.

Other changes under the Employment Act 2008

Other changes resulting from the Employment Act 2008 include:

   * technical matters relating to the appointment of the President of the Tribunals and lay members,
   * removing employment judges’ discretion not to issue a default judgment in certain circumstances,
   * providing that, where electronic communications are used in hearings, and oral evidence is given, the public must be able to see and hear all parties to the communication,
   * clarifying provisions on the withdrawal and dismissal of proceedings,
   * automatic dismissal of proceedings where the parties to an Acas settlement have confirmed in writing their understanding that the proceedings covered by the settlement will be dismissed and the claimant has withdrawn the claim,
   * enabling an employment judge to review certain default judgments on his own initiative,
   * enabling an employment judge sitting alone to hear Stage 1 Equal Pay claims based on equal value.

Compromise Agreements

No major developments are expected in the area of compromise agreements. Any further changes are likely to occur on a piecemeal basis by way of case law.

Tribunal system

Further legislation governing tribunals generally (not just employment tribunals ) are already underway. Some aspects of The Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 come into force in April 2009 and some are already in force. Although the main provisions of the Act do not directly affect the employment tribunal system, the following changes may be of interest:

   * Unification of tribunals under a single organisation with a simplified structure of two tiers and the creation of the post of Senior President which will provide the tribunals judiciary with clear leadership and a single voice.
   * Creation of a hierarchy of two new tribunals, the First-tier Tribunal which will be a superior court of record and generally will have appellate functions, and the Upper Tribunal. The First Tier and Upper Tribunal system will start on 3 November 2008 for tribunals dealing with such matters as social entitlement, health, education and social care, taxation and land, property and housing. The new system does not directly concern employment tribunals and the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT)which will be separate from the First Tier and Upper Tribunal respectively although there will be close links between them.
   * Abolition of the current requirement for a tribunal award to be registered in the County Court (or High Court) if it has to be enforced.
   * Renamed employment tribunal chairmen employment judges.

Mediation

Other possible future developments in the courts and tribunal system generally may result from   EC Directive (2008/52/EC) on mediation in civil and commercial disputes. The Directive requires all Member States to simplify and improve access to justice by promoting mediation as a method of settling disputes. The Directive must be implemented by 21 May 2011. Radical changes resulting from the Directive are unlikely in UK employment matters for a number of reasons:

   * There is already an increasing emphasis on mediation in the UK which pre-dates the Directive.
   * The measures apply to cross border disputes (however, there is nothing to prevent a Member State choosing to apply provisions internally).
   * The Directive should apply in civil and commercial matters and not to 'rights and obligations on which the parties are not free to decide themselves under the relevant applicable law'. Such rights and obligations are particularly frequent in family law and employment law.

From CIPD Sources

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Beyond Fear and Addiction: Six Steps to Healing

There is a wonderful anachronism for FEAR:

False
Evidence
Appearing
Real

Much of the fear in our lives is based on false evidence.

Our bodies are designed to respond with the fight or flight mechanism to real and present danger – such as being physically attacked. In the face of real and present danger, the adrenaline flows and the blood drains out of our organs and brain and into our limbs to prepare us for fight or flight.

Yet many people spend much of their time in the anxiety and stress of fight or flight when there is no real and present danger. This is because the body responds the same way to imagined danger as it does to real danger. The body thinks that the false evidence coming from our thoughts is real.

This constant state of fear and anxiety often leads to various addictions in the hope of numbing out the difficult feelings. Food, alcohol, drugs, nicotine, gambling, sex, TV, shopping, approval, attention, work, anger, rage, violence to self and others – all can be used in attempts to block out painful feelings.

Yet, the addictions themselves are an abandonment of self, in that they are not a healthy and loving way of dealing with painful feelings. And it is self-abandonment that causes the most fear, anxiety, and depression.

Thus, many people are caught in a very negative circle based on self-abandonment:

• Thinking negative thoughts about the future – about rejection, failure, loss of others, loss of self, loss of money – creates fear in the body and is an abandonment of self.

We are abandoning ourselves when we allow ourselves to make up thoughts about the future that scare us. This would be like saying to a child, “You are going to end up alone. No one will ever love you. You will be out on the streets with no food and no help.” Saying this to a child would be considered child abuse, yet many people tell these same things to themselves over and over when there is no objective truth to these statements.

• Once we have created fear with our negative thinking, we try to avoid the fear with our various addictions.

Avoid responsibility for creating our fear by turning to addictions is another self-abandonment. This is like offering a frightened child a cookie instead of addressing the source of the fear. The self-abandonment creates deep inner emptiness and aloneness, which perpetuates the addictive behavior. It also creates neediness, leading to pulling on others for love, approval and attention.

• Addictive behavior perpetuates the original fears – an endless vicious circle of self-abandonment.

Moving Beyond Fear and Addiction

There really is a way out of this! While the process of moving beyond fear and addiction is simple, it is not easy. It takes deep commitment and devotion to your peace and joy.

1) Choose the willingness to feel your painful feelings and take responsibility for creating them, rather than continue avoiding them with your various addictions. It is only when you are willing to be with your feelings rather than avoid them that you can learn about how you are creating your own pain.

2) Consciously decide that you want to learn about what you are thinking or doing that is causing your pain.

3) Dialogue with the part of you that is in fear and pain – you can think of this feeling part of you of a child within – about how you are causing the pain. Discover your thoughts and actions that are causing your pain.

4) Open to learning with a Higher Power – your own highest wisest self, an inner teacher or mentor, a guardian angel, God – about what is the truth regarding your negative thinking and what the loving action is toward yourself.

5) Take the loving action for yourself that you are guided to do in Step 4.

6) Notice how you feel. If you feel more peaceful, then you know that you have taken loving action. If not, then you need to go back through these steps to discover another loving action.

By Margaret Paul, Ph.D.

General Blog
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Implications of Workplace Stress and Legal Remedies

 

This article appeared in the SL Bar Association Journal-March 2009

 

Work related stress is defined as ‘the reaction people have to excessive demands of pressures, arising when people try to cope with tasks, responsibilities or other types of pressures connected with their jobs but find difficulty, strain or worry in doing so.’

‘Not being able to cope’ is a common denominator in other definitions of stress. It is important to note that stress is not confined to managers, it is also common among manual workers.

 

Here are some other definitions of work-related stress:

  • "job stress can be defined as the harmful physical and emotional responses that occur when the reqirements of the job do not match the capabilities, resources, or needs of the worker. Job stress can lead to poor health and even injury."

[Stress at work,
(United States National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, Cincinnati, 1999.]

  • "the emotional, cognitive, behavioural and physiological reaction to aversive and noxious aspects of work, work environments and work organisations. It is a state characterised by high levels of arousal and distress and often by feelings of not coping."

[Guidance on work-related stress: Spice of life – or kiss of death,
European Commission, Directorate-General for Employment and Social Affairs]


 Signs and health consequences of stress

Stress causes complex changes in the body’s chemical processes affecting the way people feel, think and behave. The immediate physical effects include a faster heart rate, a dry mouth and throat, butterflies in the stomach and excess perspiration. However, individuals react in different ways – some may hyperventilate, others may have headaches/migraine, muscle tension in their neck and shoulders, dizziness, blurred vision, skin rashes and allergies. Chronic stress can lead to physical and mental disorders.

Increases in colds and other infections as the immune system is weakened are early signs of stress. Other warnings could include backache and digestive illnesses. More serious conditions may follow such as ulcers, hypertension, angina and coronary heart disease.
Heart attacks and increased susceptibility to tumour growth can be the ultimate consequences.

Fatigue seems a common reaction which is also related to difficulty in sleeping and insomnia. Other problems include anxiety, panic, irritability, hostility and aggression, psychosomatic complaints, depression and even ‘nervous breakdowns’. Dealing with everyday tasks becomes daunting and consumption of alcohol, tranquillisers or tobacco increases as people under stress try to ‘cope’. In terms of work, the end result may be ‘job burn out’ – when a person has depleted energy reserves, is pessimistic and dissatisfied, and has a low resistance to illness.

 

Job Stress and Health:  What the Research Tells Us

Cardiovascular Disease
Many studies suggest that psychologically demanding jobs that allow employees little control over the work process increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Musculoskeletal Disorders
On the basis of research by National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety-USA and many other organizations, it is widely believed that job stress increases the risk for development of back and upper- extremity musculoskeletal disorders.

Psychological Disorders
Several studies suggest that differences in rates of mental health problems (such as depression and burnout) for various occupations are due partly to differences in job stress levels. (Economic and lifestyle differences between occupations may also contribute to some of these problems.)

Workplace Injury
Although more study is needed, there is a growing concern that stressful working conditions interfere with safe work practices and set the stage for injuries at work.

Suicide, Cancer, Ulcers, and Impaired Immune Function
Some studies suggest a relationship between stressful working conditions and these health problems. However, more research is needed before firm conclusions can be drawn.

-Encyclopedia of Occupational Safety and Health

 

Sources of stress

Organisation culture and management style can be a source of stress. Poor  communications and indifferent leadership also create anxiety. Lack of competence causes stress too. This may arise from poor selection practices at the time of recruitment, promotion or transfer. It may arise because people have been inadequately trained for the new job. Social and economic events outside the employment relationship cause stress and need to be considered.

An important and often overlooked cause of stress is the failure of individuals to take responsibility for self-management of their learning and development and their consequent loss of confidence and inability to do the job. This also results in anxiety over their employability.

Stress  is also defined as as ‘the adverse reaction people have to excessive  pressure or other types of demand placed upon them’.  Of course a certain level of pressure in a business  environment is desirable. Pressure helps to motivate  people and will boost their energy and productivity  levels but, when the pressure individuals are under  exceeds their ability to cope, it becomes a negative   rather than a positive force – in other words, stress.

 

Stress creates physical changes linked closely to our  flight or fight reflex. Adrenaline, noradrenaline and  cortisol are among 40 hormones produced by the  body when stressed.

 

Stress in itself is not a medical condition but research  shows that prolonged exposure to stress is linked  to psychological conditions such as anxiety and  depression as well as physical effects such as heart  disease, back pain and headaches.

The Cost of Financial Stress

The headlines of the day remind us of economic troubles across the land: Global Markets Plunge on U.S. Recession Fears, Millions Trapped Below Poverty Line, Housing Crisis Heats Up—Thousands Face Foreclosure, Credit Card Debt Hits All-Time High, Fuel Prices Soar and so on. Politicians solicit votes with promises of relief, the Federal Reserve cuts the interest rate again, and probes of predatory lending are launched.

Meanwhile, millions who struggle beneath the weight of financial burdens press on with their lives, many living paycheck to paycheck and cutting corners to keep food on the table. The tremendous strain of financial worries breaches the bonds of marriage and tears families apart, costs billions each year in lost workplace productivity and billions more in medical costs. It leads to headaches, high blood pressure, serious cardiac problems and a range of other medical problems.

Many who are buried in credit card and other debt give up and file for bankruptcy, ignore the bill collectors or simply walk away, but the majority of people suffer silently, enduring a relentless buildup of stress that saps their energy, motivation and quality of life, weakening their immune system and eroding their spirit.

"Thirty million workers – one in four – are suffering serious financial distress. … A large proportion of those who are financially distressed, 40% to 50%, report that their health is negatively impacted by their financial worries and problems."

—From the 2005 Report, "Financial Distress Among American Workers"

A recent Reuter reported stated that  A paralegal, recently laid off, wanted to get back at the "establishment" that he felt was to blame for his lost job. So when he craved an expensive new tie, he went out and stole one.

The story, relayed by psychiatrist Timothy Fong at the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute and Hospital, is an example of the rash behaviors exhibited by more Americans as a recession undermines a lifestyle built on spending.

In the coming months, mental health experts expect a rise in theft, depression, drug use, anxiety and even violence as consumers confront a harsh new reality and must live within diminished means.

"People start seeing their economic situation change, and it stimulates a sort of survival panic," said Gaetano Vaccaro, deputy clinical director of Moonview Sanctuary, which treats patients for emotional and behavioral disorders.

"When we are in a survival panic, we are prone to really extreme behaviors."

Because stress is so widespread, it has a very high cost for individuals, companies and organizations, and for society.

For the individual, in addition to the devastating impact of the serious health impairments referred to above, the loss of capacity to cope with working and social situations can lead to less success at work, including loss of career opportunities and even employment. It can give rise to greater strain in family relationships and with friends. It may even ultimately result in depression, death or suicide.

For the company or organization, the costs of stress take many forms. These include absenteeism, higher medical costs and staff turnover, with the associated cost of recruiting and training new workers. It has also been shown in recent years that stress takes a heavy toll in terms of reduced productivity and efficiency.

The following are some estimates which related to the cost of work-related stress:

  • in the United Kingdom, it has been suggested that over 40 million working days are lost each year due to stress-related disorders;
     
  • in Australia, the Federal Assistant Minister for Industrial relations estimated the cost of occupational stress to be around A$30 million in 1994;
     
  • in the United States, over half of the 550 million working days lost each year due to absenteeism are stress-related.
     

These figures are cited in Research on work-related stress,
European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, 2000.

 

 

Workplace Stress and Legal redress

In 1960, a Michigan court upheld a compensation claim by an automotive assemblyline worker who had difficulty keeping up with the pressures of the production line. To avoid falling behind, he tried to work on several assemblies at the same time and often got parts mixed up. As a result, he was subjected to repeated criticism from the foreman. Eventually he suffered a psychological breakdown.

By 1995, nearly one-half of the States allowed worker compensation claims for emotional disorders and disability due to stress on the job [note, however, that courts are reluctant to uphold claims for what can be considered ordinary working conditions or just hard work].

Constructive dismissal

 

In many decided cases in the UK we observe that employees who were affected have filed action against the employers for work related stress as a result of constructive dismissal. The advantage of this approach is that they only have to prove that their

employer was in breach of contract and do not have  to prove that their treatment by their employer led to  them suffering a psychiatric injury.

 

In order to succeed in a claim for constructive  dismissal certain key elements have to be established as ruled in the  2003 case of France v Westminster City Council

(EAT/214/03):

 

  • There must be a breach of contract by the  employer.

 

  • The breach must be sufficiently serious to justify the  employee’s resignation.

 

  • The employee must resign in response to the  breach.

 

  • The employee must not delay too long before  resigning or he or she may be judged to have  affirmed the contract.

 

 

For the purposes of claiming constructive dismissal for work-related stress, it is a breach of implied terms such as the duty to provide a safe place of work and the duty of mutual trust and confidence which are most likely to be used.

 

In Courtaulds Northern Tiles Limited v Andrew ([1979] IRLR 84) it was held that a term is implied into every contract of employment that the employer will not, without reasonable or proper cause, conduct itself in a manner calculated or likely to destroy the relationship of trust between the employer and the employee.

 

However, psychiatric injury caused by the manner of  an employee’s dismissal rather than conduct prior to  dismissal cannot be compensated for in damages in  common law.

 

Disability discrimination

 

Disability  discrimination legislation is another way through which employees could approach this issue. Under  The Disability Discrimination  Act 2005 of UK, which came into force in December 2005 the definition for a mental disability is now the same as that for a physical disability under section 1(1) of the DDA 1995: ‘a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on the person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’. This change means that it is arguably easier for people suffering from stress to claim they are covered under the DDA.

 

Employees who wish to seek redress through this will be required to meet significant tests to prove  disability discrimination.

 

The case of Clark v TDG Limited Novacold ([1999] IRLR  318, CA) established certain  key questions that must  be answered before discrimination can be proved. Which are as follows:

 

  • Is the employee disabled?

 

  • Is the employee being treated less favourably for a  reason related to that disability?

 

  • Are there reasonable adjustments necessary to  accommodate the employee?  

 

  • Is the proposed course of action in relation to the  employee capable of being justified?

 

 

Work-related stress claims under common law

 

The most serious cases of work-related stress that lead  to psychiatric injury are likely to be prosecuted under  the common law. Claims arising out of work-related  stress under common law are prosecuted under the  tort of negligence.

 

Employers’ duties under common law were identified  by the House of Lords in the case of Wilsons & Clyde  Coal Co Ltd v English ([1938] AC 57 2 AER 628). In  this case it was accepted that employers have a duty  under common law to take reasonable care to provide  and maintain:

 

  • A safe place of work

 

  • Safe appliances and equipment and plant for doing the work

 

  • A safe system for doing the work  

 

  • Competent and safety-conscious personnel.

 

 

In practice it is seen that the courts rarely  make a distinction between the principles of tort and  contract because there is little difference in how they  apply .

 

Employers were first alerted that they could be liable  for negligence for failing to identify and manage work-related stress by the case of Johnstone v Bloomsbury

Health Authority in 1991 ([1992] QB 333 (CA)). In this case Johnstone, a junior medical officer, sued the authority for causing his mental breakdown as a result of excessive working hours. The case was ultimately settled out of court but was a clear indication that  stress-related illness could result in personal injury claims under the common law of negligence.

 

Four years later in the landmark case of Walker v Northumberland County Council in 1995 ([1995] IRLR 35), Walker was awarded damages of £175,000 after the council was found in ‘breach of its duty of care in failing to take reasonable steps to avoid exposing the employee to a health endangering workload’.

 

In this case Walker, a social worker, had to deal with a steadily increasing workload during the 1980s and in 1986 he had a nervous breakdown. Walker’s psychiatrist advised him that his breakdown had been caused by pressure at work and that he should not return to the same level of responsibility as before. He returned to work in 1987 after being told he would be assisted by another social worker. However, this support did not materialise and he had a further breakdown and was diagnosed as suffering from stress-related anxiety. In February 1988 he was dismissed by the council on the grounds of permanent ill-health and subsequently sued the council for damages, arguing it had been in breach of its duty of care as his employer in failing to take reasonable steps to avoid exposing him to a health-endangering workload.

 

The changing legal perspective on stress-related personal injury claims was also underlined by the February 2007 case of Daw v Intel Corporation ([2007]

EWCA Civ 70) where Daw was awarded £134,000 in damages after a breakdown from work-related stress resulted in her suffering depression, despite the company having a counselling service – one of Hale LJ’s key propositions in Hatton. Daw had made

numerous complaints to management about her workload prior to her breakdown. Pill LJ, noting Lord Walker’s comments in Barber that ‘every case will depend on its own facts’, said that the presence of a counselling service was not a panacea ‘by which

employers can discharge their duty of care in all cases’. This case underlines that the principles regarding work-related stress personal injury claims are still evolving.

Daw’s counsel, Roderick Moore, told Solicitors Journal (8 February 2007) following the decision: ‘My feeling is that courts are lowering the bar for employees.’

 

Low morale, health and job complaints, and employee turnover often provide the first signs of job stress. But sometimes there are no clues, especially if employees are fearful of losing their jobs. Lack of obvious or widespread signs is not a good reason to dismiss concerns about job stress or minimize the importance of a prevention program.

 

 

 

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Experiencing Our Feelings

This past full moon and lunar eclipse were very powerful for me. I experienced the energies quite intensely. The night before and after the full moon I couldn't sleep at all. I experienced all the pent up emotions I carried within me. A major illumination finally occurred to me concerning a situation I repeatedly attract in my life. I realized I attract people that will tell or show me in various ways that I am not good enough. I have struggled with low self esteem throughout my life. I receive this message from people that I care about and it hurts me so deeply. I saw that the reason I keep getting this message that I am not worthy of being treated good is because I don't value myself enough or feel I am worthy.

In that moment I was able to reclaim my inner power and truly know that I am worthy of love. I must once and for all stop allowing people, even those I care about, to treat me poorly. It is time for me to stand up for my needs and set boundaries. The messages I have been receiving where others have told me or done things to show me I'm not good enough, have been there to show me that this is not true. When I can really love and value myself, no matter what others say or do, they will no longer effect me in the same way because I won't own it.

I sense that because I haven't truly felt that I deserve love, respect and kindness that when someone would say or do something to hurt me it would penetrate my being and I would feel the pain and affirm that somehow I don't deserve to be valued. Once I completely realize that I no longer wish to experience this mirroring effect in the way that I am treated that I will never attract situations and people that will treat me in this way.

The thing is, so many people show me so much love, kindness and respect. I am learning how to accept love and truly believe that I am worthy of it. I feel with this awareness I can really see that when those I care for do and say things that send me the wrong message, I don't need to own it. In essence they are actually not feeling good about themselves and projecting it onto me. It doesn't mean that I have to believe it or accept the message.

The solar eclipse on January 26, followed two weeks later with the intense full moon energies and lunar eclipse has magnified our issues and brought them to the forefront for us to see and heal them. We are being challenged to go to the next level of conscious awareness so we can clear the issues that have been holding us back from experiencing love and intimacy.

It takes a brave person to face their shadow side and come to terms with patterns that don't belong in the new energy. The message I am getting is that we need to feel our feelings and express ourselves. Upon that realization I cried. I hadn't cried in probably over a year or more. No matter how much I have wanted to cry it has been bottled up inside of me. The tears were a release. We have been suppressing and not feeling what is inside of us. We can't move forward if we are stuck in the past or continuing a pattern that doesn't serve us.

In many instances we have been denying our feelings. We don't want to deal with the fear, anger, resentment, sadness, loneliness, or anxiety we've been feeling. Rather than acknowledging that it is there we pretend it isn't, this way if it is out of sight, it is out of mind. Many think it is not spiritual to feel these emotions so they will pretend they are not there. We are humans for goodness sakes! We are spiritual beings having a human experience and we are being shown that now is the time to feel what is inside of us.

In the moment that I really understood what has been happening with me, I really saw what I have allowed to occur in my life, and experienced the feelings, I was able to transmute it and move past it. I am understanding that when I get these negative messages about myself I can recognize it for what it is and not own it.

We are meant to feel. Our society has become about doing and not feeling. It is time to change that. We need to learn to be in the present moment and allow ourselves to experience pleasure, happiness and love. If we want to fix what is wrong in our lives and world we must realize we have strayed away from feeling.

It can be scary to feel. I think we may wonder if we start feeling our emotions we might go crazy and go on some rampage since they've been bottled up for so long! If we express our anger or fear it might overwhelm and consume us. I truly believe it is safe to show whatever emotion we are experiencing as long as it is in a healthy and productive way. Holding it in is much more dangerous. It leads to illness, anger and imbalance.

In order to experience true intimacy in our relationships we need to allow our emotions to be expressed. When we take a chance to express love to another we risk opening up and revealing our vulnerable and tender side. We must take a risk of getting hurt and rejected. Without opening up we never get the opportunity to experience love, affection, pleasure and true intimacy.

We are being challenged to look deep within ourselves and confront what is there. I had to face my low self esteem issues, feeling not good enough or worthy of love. As we heal our shadow side, we transmute the lower energies that hold us back from loving. We are being guided into the new energy by metamorphizing into who we really are, so we may experience what we really want in our lives. The tears I cried were not only those of sadness and frustration, what I was experiencing is a realization, hey, I am worthy, just because I carried around these feelings since childhood I've outgrown them.

As we acknowledge and accept our shadow side, experience the pent up feelings, and process the awareness, we can then release the issues and let go of those feelings once and for all, and move on to opportunities to give and receive all the wonderful things meant for us.

By Stefanie Miller

General Blog Neuroscience & Psychology
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Over 40 and Laid Off?


 By Craig Nathanson

The 5 most important steps you must take now…

Do nothing
Probably not the first piece of advice you would expect to get! When you are laid off, the range of emotions you feel can be overwhelming. You become your own worst critic, and you start coming up with all the reasons why you lost the job. At home, you hear more of this from your family members, although maybe not so directly.

You feel like a failure. Your self-esteem has taken a hit, and you feel depressed and a little lost. You feel angry and you're not sure what to do about it. You rush forward into a new job search, and related frantic activity….

Stop — wrong approach.
Instead, take some time for reflection. Chances are you didn't even like this job or the work itself. Privately, you are a little excited to be free of this job prison, although you would not admit this to anyone right now.

This is the time to get away. It may be for a few days, or maybe a few weeks. Do nothing during this time except think deeply about what you want out of your life and what activities bring you the most joy. This is a rare space of time to think seriously about who you are, and where you want to make a contribution. Don't lose this opportunity.

Forget about money
Sure, your immediate concerns probably revolve around how to pay next month's bills. Ideally, you tap into other resources to buy time. After 40, we need more time than money. There is probably nothing you can do in the next two weeks that will make a difference in the short term. Instead of working on your resume, make a money plan to get you through the next 1-3 months.

This is a rare opportunity in your life to really invest the time to think. What work MUST emerge through you now? No external job description will ever get this right for you. This must come from you. Where do you most want to make a contribution in the world right now? Why is this important to you? This is the MOST important question you must answer about your life and the reason you are here.

Get educated
Once you have defined what you are really passionate about, it's time to get educated. Who is doing the work you most want to do? Read everything you can. The more you read, the more inspired you will get. Eventually, you may choose to embark on some formal education, but for now simply gather enough data to help you feel good about your choice of work.

When you are working at and learning about what you love, and what really interests you, you won't be able to tell the difference between work and play. Soon, your vocation will become a lifelong vacation. Instead, most of us just work at jobs. The difference between our jobs and the rest of our lives is very clear. Your life can be better than this!

Brand yourself
Whether you decide to work for yourself or others, the process should be the same. What are exactly your best gifts, and what do you enjoy most? What kind of services or products can you create and sell to others using your unique gifts? What are the features and benefits of what you will offer? What is the perfect niche audience for you and your products and services?

Let's say, for example, that you like to design art work. You think, "Who would buy what I love to do most?" You think a little deeper, and realize that you could design cost-effective restaurant menus that would draw people to the restaurants. Your menus would feature specials, ingredients, and customer reviews. Restaurant owners would benefit as customers would learn more about their eateries, and what they have to offer. Then another thought hits: you could write a newsletter, displaying your brand, targeted at restaurant owners giving advice on how to brand their restaurants!

You decide to call this business "Creative menus". You are off and running. This same logic works whether you love to help animals or design software. The reason we are seeing so many layoffs today in corporate America is that most organizations don't know how to develop entrepreneurial thinking or entice creativity inside their businesses.

Make a plan
Write down your vision of your perfect vocational day. Without this vision, you will have no motivation to move forward. Most people don't change anything in their lives until the pain of not changing becomes greater than the initial discomfort associated with changing.

Most people look for jobs in an illogical way. They look for them! Most jobs were not designed for you in the first place. You spend days and months networking, hoping a Job will come to you. The job probably will come to you eventually, but it will quickly look like the last job prison you were in. There is a strong tendency to go back to what we did before, ONLY because it was familiar and we were good at it. After 40, it becomes critical to avoid this trap.

First define a plan, and steps to create for what you want. Then you will know where to look, and how to start building exactly what would be perfect for you.

Laid off recently?
Congratulations! You have a unique, perhaps once in a lifetime, opportunity to get to know yourself better and to ask better questions of yourself. Be careful what you ask, because the work you choose to do can determine the kind of person you become.

Take that pink slip and run to the nearest beach for reflection and peace. This is the best gift you can give yourself now. I'll be cheering you on as you go!

Craig Nathanson is a coaching expert

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Character- Jakie Robinson

It requires incredible foresight to remain faithful to an idea. To ignore what your eyes and ears tell you and imagine better. One individual – Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson imagined better and ended eighty years of baseball segregation. He crossed the color line and made his debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947 as the first African American in major league baseball.

One of five, born on January 31, 1919 in Cairo, GA, Robinson was raised in relative poverty by a single mother. Even though he wasn't born into a privileged environment, Jackie was destined for something infinitely larger. His professional baseball career, which spanned from 1947 to 1957, is the quintessential story of an All American Baseball hero.

Despite unmitigated racial discrimination from baseball's management, teammates and fans, Robinson possessed the courage to defy retaliation and was the consummate athletic professional. He was an outstanding base runner, stealing home 19 times in his career more than any ball player since World War I. As a disciplined hitter, a versatile fielder and an outstanding defensive player Robinson won Rookie of the Year in 1947 and Most Valuable Player in 1949 for the National League. He was the first African American inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame and became a member of the All-Century Team. He received a championship ring when he led the Dodgers to a 1955 World Series victory over the New York Yankees.

Major League Baseball retired Robinson's number 42 – never to be worn by another ball player – in recognition of his accomplishments on and off the field in a ceremony at Shea Stadium.

Robinson's historic achievements in baseball were but one aspect of his life and legacy. Quoted as saying, "I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me – all I ask is that you respect me as a human being" he was a champion of civil and human rights. He was a staunch supporter of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Anti Defamation League of B'nai Brith. He founded the Jackie Robinson Construction Corporation to improve living conditions of Black Americans in metropolitan areas and he served as Vice President of Chock Full O' Nuts.

Robinson was a significant fundraiser for the NAACP and a major figure in national politics influencing leaders such as Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy and Nixon; Hubert Humphrey and Nelson Rockefeller. As a syndicated columnist, he was a civil rights movement forerunner. One of only two players in baseball Jackie received the Congressional Gold Medal and President Ronald Regan awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

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Working Long Hours Linked to Mental Decline

In a recent study, working long hours was associated with decreased cognitive function in middle-aged adults.

The study examined 2,214 middle-aged British civil servants who were working full-time. The researchers performed various tests to measure the participants' cognitive function at the time of study enrollment (1997-1999) and again at follow up (2002-2004).

According to the authors, working more than 55 hours a week was linked with poorer mental skills, including impaired short-term memory and recall, compared to those who worked a standard 40 hours. Individuals who worked the most hours experienced the greatest decline in cognitive function.

These results were similar after adjusting for potential confounding factors, including age, gender, marital status, education, occupation, income, physical diseases, psychosocial factors, sleep disturbances and health-risk behaviors.

In addition, participants who worked overtime slept fewer hours, reported more symptoms of depression and drank more alcohol than those who worked just 40 hours.

The potential mechanism for these negative effects remains unknown. It is also unclear if the effects may be long-term. Additional research is warranted in this area.

For more information about cognitive decline, please visit Natural Standard's Medical Conditions database.

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