According to a Time magazine article, excercise does not help the weight-loss process much. This is because one tends to become quite hungry after (vigorous) excercise and I can attest to this. After excercise, I tend to crave junk food. I think it might also have to do with the fact that there is a sense that I need to "reward" myself for the hard work I have just done and am therefore more prone to indulge in a packet of Cheese Curls. This is not to say excercise is not good - it is an important factor in combating diseases, amongst other benefits. Excercice has been widely purpoted as one of the most effective means towards weight-loss, but I guess part of this includes self-awareness that must kick in after excercise and to resist the urge to dive into the nearest delicatessen selection. Then again, I read somewhere that smoking does not really cause cancer. Eish!
Find the Time magazine article here: http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1914857-2,00.html
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Self-Help - Deep stuff. Or is it really?
In the spirit of enriching the posts I will profile some readings that have made an impact on me; news articles, other peoples' posts on their blogs, books etc.
This is an interesting post I came across on Mail & Gurdian's Thought Leader about self-help. I personally have my own reservations about self-help and the article below is a succinct articulation of these. I do not believe in perfection, that you can have your whole in such an orderly manner that even a fly would not rest on your shoulder - that would make us all robots walking around in some kind of trance. Should we constantly seek to better ourselves? Certainly, but we shouldn't be so hard on ourselves either. I think that through self-help we put too much pressure on ourselves to achieve overnight "enlightenment" - I think this is a journey of continuous learning, and not one that should be achieved by the mere consumption of one copy of psychological mumbo-jumbo. I think the best lessons we learn, and those that truly enrich our lives are those we derive from overcoming personal challenges and not through self-criticism. This is not intended to offend - this is a reflection of my opinion on this particular subject.
By Suntosh Pillay
“Are you living your best life?” Oprah Winfrey likes to ask. Jennifer Niesslein asked herself this, took it quite seriously, made a list of areas in her life that needed improving, and began an ambitious two-year experiment — follow with devotion the self-help gurus and their advice. In her own book Practically Perfect (in every way), we join her misadventures through the world of self-help in a bid to discover a happier life, exposing what she calls the “uniquely American” phenomenon of trying to be perfect. Of course, there’s nothing unique or American about it.
Self-improvement books have been around for ages. Jesus, Krishna and Muhammad, in the Bible, Vedas and Qur’an, began the self-help era ages ago. Even Scientology’s founding writer, L Ron Hubbard, managed to sell a strange therapeutic “cure’ to the public in the 1950’s called Dianetics. His skill at writing science fiction novels probably weakened his credibility in mental health. At the time, a leading psychoanalyst, Rollo May, wrote in the New York Times: “Books like this do harm by their grandiose promises to troubled persons and by their oversimplification of human psychological problems”. May’s criticism of Hubbard’s poorly researched claims are perhaps a default criticism of a bulk of today’s self-help manuals and “Improve your life now!” DVDs and audio CDs — they build up people’s hopes, but may further shatter their self-esteem if expectations are not met. Anyone that faithfully reads such a book is, after all, probably in a difficult stage of their life.
But self-help sells. It’s a multibillion-dollar booming industry, with its own section in every book store and a popularised genre of our time. Dr Phil and Deepak Chopra are cult-like. Oprah’s Book Club is bursting with self-enlightenment guides. Motivational speaking is now a full-time career path that merely requires excessive self-branding and above-average oratory skills to kick start a lifetime of dishing out advice. “Empowerment” and “Self-awareness” are the buzzwords of the industry. We all want to be Rich Dad, not Poor Dad. We all want to know The Secret. We’re all scrambling to find our Zen. We all want to be Highly Effective People with all seven habits, and now the eight. Don’t sweat the small stuff, we’re told by Richard Carlson, because it probably won’t matter a year from now. Maybe he’s right — I mean come on, he sold 21-million copies of his book.
People don’t buy broken products. But aha — maybe that’s where the self-help business model is perversely genius: the product is never faulty, you are. The hidden message is that if it’s not working for you, you’re probably not doing it right — try harder, be patient, you’ll get there, just believe in your (lousy) self! And now, Psychological Science, an academic journal, published a study that says repeating positive statements about yourself may actually backfire, but only if those affirmations are inauthentic and fake. Dr Joanne Wood, the author, also warns against unresearched quick fixes.
Is it a never-ending story? A search for an indefinable moment where we can truly say “I am happy and content and this is enough for me?” But who gets there, really? Material evolution is about progress; spiritual evolution is about contentment. And yet, aren’t both about getting to some “next level”? That obsession with being better, the initial impetus for Niesslein’s experiment — isn’t that what underlies the driving force of life? And that’s the paradox, isn’t it? Self-help is about improvement and contentment, at the same time.
Suntosh Pillay is an intern clinical psychologist and independent writer.
This is an interesting post I came across on Mail & Gurdian's Thought Leader about self-help. I personally have my own reservations about self-help and the article below is a succinct articulation of these. I do not believe in perfection, that you can have your whole in such an orderly manner that even a fly would not rest on your shoulder - that would make us all robots walking around in some kind of trance. Should we constantly seek to better ourselves? Certainly, but we shouldn't be so hard on ourselves either. I think that through self-help we put too much pressure on ourselves to achieve overnight "enlightenment" - I think this is a journey of continuous learning, and not one that should be achieved by the mere consumption of one copy of psychological mumbo-jumbo. I think the best lessons we learn, and those that truly enrich our lives are those we derive from overcoming personal challenges and not through self-criticism. This is not intended to offend - this is a reflection of my opinion on this particular subject.
By Suntosh Pillay
“Are you living your best life?” Oprah Winfrey likes to ask. Jennifer Niesslein asked herself this, took it quite seriously, made a list of areas in her life that needed improving, and began an ambitious two-year experiment — follow with devotion the self-help gurus and their advice. In her own book Practically Perfect (in every way), we join her misadventures through the world of self-help in a bid to discover a happier life, exposing what she calls the “uniquely American” phenomenon of trying to be perfect. Of course, there’s nothing unique or American about it.
Self-improvement books have been around for ages. Jesus, Krishna and Muhammad, in the Bible, Vedas and Qur’an, began the self-help era ages ago. Even Scientology’s founding writer, L Ron Hubbard, managed to sell a strange therapeutic “cure’ to the public in the 1950’s called Dianetics. His skill at writing science fiction novels probably weakened his credibility in mental health. At the time, a leading psychoanalyst, Rollo May, wrote in the New York Times: “Books like this do harm by their grandiose promises to troubled persons and by their oversimplification of human psychological problems”. May’s criticism of Hubbard’s poorly researched claims are perhaps a default criticism of a bulk of today’s self-help manuals and “Improve your life now!” DVDs and audio CDs — they build up people’s hopes, but may further shatter their self-esteem if expectations are not met. Anyone that faithfully reads such a book is, after all, probably in a difficult stage of their life.
But self-help sells. It’s a multibillion-dollar booming industry, with its own section in every book store and a popularised genre of our time. Dr Phil and Deepak Chopra are cult-like. Oprah’s Book Club is bursting with self-enlightenment guides. Motivational speaking is now a full-time career path that merely requires excessive self-branding and above-average oratory skills to kick start a lifetime of dishing out advice. “Empowerment” and “Self-awareness” are the buzzwords of the industry. We all want to be Rich Dad, not Poor Dad. We all want to know The Secret. We’re all scrambling to find our Zen. We all want to be Highly Effective People with all seven habits, and now the eight. Don’t sweat the small stuff, we’re told by Richard Carlson, because it probably won’t matter a year from now. Maybe he’s right — I mean come on, he sold 21-million copies of his book.
People don’t buy broken products. But aha — maybe that’s where the self-help business model is perversely genius: the product is never faulty, you are. The hidden message is that if it’s not working for you, you’re probably not doing it right — try harder, be patient, you’ll get there, just believe in your (lousy) self! And now, Psychological Science, an academic journal, published a study that says repeating positive statements about yourself may actually backfire, but only if those affirmations are inauthentic and fake. Dr Joanne Wood, the author, also warns against unresearched quick fixes.
Is it a never-ending story? A search for an indefinable moment where we can truly say “I am happy and content and this is enough for me?” But who gets there, really? Material evolution is about progress; spiritual evolution is about contentment. And yet, aren’t both about getting to some “next level”? That obsession with being better, the initial impetus for Niesslein’s experiment — isn’t that what underlies the driving force of life? And that’s the paradox, isn’t it? Self-help is about improvement and contentment, at the same time.
Suntosh Pillay is an intern clinical psychologist and independent writer.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Do they have a cure for this one?
Helping too much? At a certain point in my life (ok, when I was younger) I was very content with just letting people get on with their lives without my interference; I would not offer my help unless asked and I was a champion at minding my own business. These days, well, lets just say, I have a too-eager-to-help-syndrome. I am unstoppable. Whether my help is being asked for or not, I’m your Superman. This is a 180 degree turn from what I was and I don't know what brought it about. And this is all subconscious behaviour, I burst out my willingness to assist before I can rationalise what the consequences for me will be. Of course there is nothing wrong with lending a hand to others, just that to me this is strange behavious because I have always been self-sufficient and therefore always expected everybody else to be too. I am still self-sufficient but have added to that an abnormal enthusiasm to rescue others. If I were to be honest with myself, I don’t like it – for the simple reason being that there is little appreciation on the receiving end. One would of course argue that if I were sincerely trying to help others, gratitude would be the least of my worries. Nonsense. As an example, try sending money to your little sister/ brother and not get any sort of acknowledgement and see how it feels. Not cool. Of course I will not stop helping others out but I should probably be a little bit more discerning about it, and not offer my help all willy nilly. Everything in moderation. Except shoes and handbags.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Something worth blogging about
So I finally got my driver's license, at a measly cost of R4050.00 - thanks to our corrupt system. This brings an end to four years of illegal driving - trust the law to put a damper on things; no more living life on the edge trying to run away from the honourable men in blue!
But this is bigger than just the driver's license (not everything is about me - hehe). It's about the general state of misdemeanor that one reads about in the public service on a daily basis. A friend of mine recently asked what is to be done about the corrupt DG's who rent houses for thousands while they earn a, by any standard, reasonable income, and can surely afford a modest abode. My thinking is that they are corrupt sons of b*tches, when one squeals on another, sh*t will definately hit the fan, heads will roll because I am certain that they are all protecting one another. It's the "I won't go down alone" syndrome. I cannot stand it! And yes, I have been party to some of it (just listen to how I got my license) but what's a girl to do? Makes me wanna go Eish!
But this is bigger than just the driver's license (not everything is about me - hehe). It's about the general state of misdemeanor that one reads about in the public service on a daily basis. A friend of mine recently asked what is to be done about the corrupt DG's who rent houses for thousands while they earn a, by any standard, reasonable income, and can surely afford a modest abode. My thinking is that they are corrupt sons of b*tches, when one squeals on another, sh*t will definately hit the fan, heads will roll because I am certain that they are all protecting one another. It's the "I won't go down alone" syndrome. I cannot stand it! And yes, I have been party to some of it (just listen to how I got my license) but what's a girl to do? Makes me wanna go Eish!
Monday, July 27, 2009
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Are there any original jokes out there?
So in the spirit of keeping boredom abay at the office, a friend recommended this website www.toomuchfreetime.eu.
I particularly liked their, dare I say, really original jokes. Here is one of the good ones:
As they led a man to the gallows a thunder storm broke out.“Terrible weather for it,” says the prisoner. “I don’t know what your worried about,” says the hangman, “I’ve got to walk back in it.”
I particularly liked their, dare I say, really original jokes. Here is one of the good ones:
As they led a man to the gallows a thunder storm broke out.“Terrible weather for it,” says the prisoner. “I don’t know what your worried about,” says the hangman, “I’ve got to walk back in it.”
Friday, June 26, 2009
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