Thursday, September 30, 2010

Limits, Boundaries and Habits

dd43853   Do we limit our own selves? Is one of the main reasons we do not succeed and can not be happy the fact we don't allow our selves to do so? I always wondered if this is a fact or just another random thought we all get that helps fuel our guilt complexes. I do believe in some cases we do set our own boundaries and limit ourselves in order to keep within our comfort zone. Some people do not like change and rather stay in a unhappy but yet comfortable life then to risk it getting worse or taking on new challenges they fear they will be unable to handle.

When we are children we set our limits and goals by the standards and expectations of both our peers and our family. We take the opinions of those around us and give them the power of authority because when we are children we take everything at face value and as true. By the time we start realizing not everything we see and hear is always true we already have set up a behavior pattern and set many of the boundaries or limits we will live by for the rest of our lives. Though some may and can change by influential experiences and by the influence of others basically they will not change much.

Alas there is always hope because the human brain is reprogrammable and so is the limits and boundaries we have set or accepted. To change both your limits and boundaries is not an easy task because you have to basically ignore the programming long enough to set new boundaries and limits. It is kind of like a bad habit you've been doing for years, though difficult to break the habit it is not impossible. Look at people who smoked for over 20 to 30 years and quit. They had to not only break the habit of wanting to put a cigarette in their mouth but the addiction of nicotine. Many have succeeded in quitting smoking and so many have also failed. This shows how difficult it may be to face a habit and addiction but it also shows you can beat both if you are determined enough.

Most of our negative thoughts and the boundaries / limits we have are basically habitual behaviors that can be overcome through time and determination.  We have to want to change our limits and boundaries in order to succeed, just like one must really want to quit smoking in order to do so. We also must realize we can achieve much more than we presently believe we can and see that we are only limited by our own thoughts and beliefs. This makes me remember a line from a song I had to sing back in a elementary choir “Nothing is impossible until you try” it was from a Thomas Edison themed school function.

Allot of the times when I feel that I can not do more or better I look at all those in the history of mankind who overcame great odds to achieve wondrous things. People like the early colonial Americans who challenged one of the greatest military powers of the time to achieve freedom and the creation of both the constitution and the great nation of the United States.  So many historical examples of men and women who broke through their limits and boundaries to challenge the odds and win. They are proof that anything is possible if you allow yourself to be limitless and break through the boundaries set by society, peers and your own self.

Get out of your comfort zone and discard those limits and boundaries that keep you from being all you can and should be. Be  who you want to be and beyond, bring the uniqueness of your individuality to the table of life and be proud of who and what you are. Let no one tell you you are anything but great and wonderful for we all are a par of a wonderful and extraordinary species called the human race.

Well enough of my ramblings for now
Peace and Love to you all
Ray Barbier

Thinking of Friends

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Sometimes I just sit here and think of all the friends I have known through out my life and wonder where all of they are and how they are doing now. All those friends from my childhood and teen years that I moved away from back in the late 80’s those that I hung out with after school and those that were just a school acquaintances. I wonder if any of them ever think about me if even remember me. It is very interesting how we form friendships and alliances during our youth and how easy the friendships and alliances disappear through both the progression of time and the increasing of the distance of space between. Then there are a few friendships that seem to never be effected by the test of time. I also find it funny how our memories can be distorted by time and even fade into fuzzy recollections as we age.

Looking older is never been much an issue for me but the one thing that does bother me about growing older is the loss of the friendships I had and the slow increase in loneliness i feel due to the lack of friends. I miss having the group of friends I hung out with at times and I feel as if my world is shrinking day by day. So many friends I had have died or were lost to time and distance. I guess humans are generally social creatures and as we get older the social aspect of being human becomes less and less as we go through life. I have a few friends left from my childhood and teen years but they are far away and busy with their own lives as much as I am so we communicate less than I would like us to. This is mostly my fault due to my busy schedule so I enjoy the time I have to communicate when I can.

Sometimes I sit here and remember the days when I and my friends had so much fun and faced the challenges of growing up together. I hope all of them are doing well and hope to see all of them at least one more time in this short life we all live. I wish them all well and that they have a great life along with happiness in their life and the lives of their loved ones.

May Peace and Understanding Guide you All Though your Lives.

Ray Barbier

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Orb Networks – Multimedia Software

orbtestOrb is a easy way to listen to your music files and watch the video files on your home pc remotely across the internet. Very useful if you travel allot and want to take your media library with you without taking up the hard drive space on your laptop or netbook. To help explain further below is an excerpt from Orb Networks FAQ located at http://www.orb.com/pdfs/press_kit/OrbFAQ.pdf

What is MyCasting™?
Orb MyCasting is a free service from Orb Networks that makes it easy for consumers to remotely view and share their live and recorded home and Internet TV, music, videos, photos, podcasts and other digital media stored on their PC, from any Internet-connected device, be it a mobile phone, PDA or laptop. MyCasting is the opposite of broadcasting, allowing you to stream your digital media when (time), where (place), and how (device) you want it.
What's unique about Orb?
Orb Networks is the first company to offer a single solution for enjoying virtually all of your digital media remotely, using the devices you already own. There is no need to choose which technology path to go down to access your media remotely; other options are cumbersome and require an additional investment in yet another “cool” technology. Orb is free and begins with one easy download: there is no hardware or software required, and no additional time needed to catalog and categorize your digital media. You get instant access to the digital media that’s already on your PC. Just download Orb and start MyCasting.

If you wish to give Orb a try (Free Software and free service) go to : http://orb.com/en/download_orb or just http://orb.com

That's all for now
Peace
R. Barbier

Monday, September 27, 2010

Just a rant about congress

Roosevelt Signs The Social Security Act: Presi...I find it quite interesting it is the rich politicians who want to raise the retirement age on social security once again. If they had to rely on the Social security as their primary if not only source of retirement and their salary was the  minimum wage if they would still want to raise the retirement age and strike down a national health care system.  I wonder if they would see things different and not be so against entitlements if they were not making those 6 digit salaries. I still am a firm believer in the idea of setting term limits on the congressional seats. If the president has a term limit why shouldn't the congress. The congress is becoming like a stagnant pond, the same senators and house representatives been in there for way too many years. Time for newer , younger and more creative blood in the congress. New ideas and hopefully less party polarization  would be the outcome of such new blood.

Well that's just my 2 cents worth of political thoughts for today.

Peace and Prosperity to you all

R. Barbier

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Food City Joins in Nuval Scoring System

Food City has joined in the Nuval Scoring system which makes good nutrition easy by providing comprehensive nutritional information in a single number.
To help Explain Nuval a bit here is an excerpt from the Nuval site

How the Scoring Works
NuVal™ Scores summarize comprehensive nutritional information in one simple number between 1 and 100.  Each NuVal™ Score takes into account more than just the nutrition fact panel.  It considers 30-plus nutrients and nutrition factors – the good (protein, calcium, vitamins) and the not-so-good (sugar, sodium, cholesterol).  And then it boils it down into a simple, easy-to-use number; a number you can trust to make better decisions about nutrition in just a few seconds.



for further information on Nuval go to http://nuval.com/

Friday, September 24, 2010

Division, Immaturity and Our Congress

In a 1786 James Gillray caricature, the plenti...

The national debt seems to be one of the main focuses of the political arena during this pre mid term elections. So much party division within the major 2 parties that it seem neither the democrats or republicans can agree within their own party or with each other. It is all about power and control at the moment and not about the lower middle class or the poor. Anti Obama sentiment is the republican playbook and Obama is still holding on to the blame Bush mentality. I know Obama’s Health bill has allot of holes and flaws but then this is mainly because the republicans and democrats can not get together to do something good for the citizens that elected them. Such division between two parties is bad enough but now the division is within the parties themselves.

The Lust for power and the war within for control has pretty much shattered our congress which in turn makes the congress weak and ineffective. Instead of a republican pledge I would like to see a Bi-Partisan Pledge and to see them actually keep that pledge. The Main tings they need to focus on is a real healthcare solution that will make healthcare affordable for the lower middle class and poor along with affordable higher education that would in turn bring economical growth. Social security should be sealed to where they can not borrow from its funding and should not have an age increase for its benefits. I have noticed allot of politicians rather cut programs that help the lower income than cut either their own salaries or programs that they support. When you make over one hundred thousand dollars a year I guess social security and healthcare are not a concern to you, but when you make below twenty five thousand dollars a year they are your main concern.

It really shocks me that so many highly educated people that makes up our congress can act so immature and can not find a middle ground between them to get the things done that is needed. They play the blame game too much and seem to overlook that thy all are to blame. Not one party or the other are solely to blame for the state our country is in. Both sides have passed and blocked laws and bills that has brought us to were we are today. Maybe if they completely read what they are signing for and maybe have a real debate over the issues instead of party positions we might get our country back on the road to greatness.

Well enough of my Political Ranting for now
Peace to all

R. Barbier

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Modern Times and Religious Ideals

Cults and new religious movements in literatur...In modern times the way organized religion operates is not much different then the ways it has in the past. Each religion claims to be the one and only path to God and or heaven. When we get arrogant enough to proclaim we are right and that all others are wrong we open the door for problems such as terrorism, racism, sexism and even religious persecution. Being a Christian in faith I can only comment on my own faith and the status of the organized religion of Christianity. Seems some of the Christian churches of today preach that if it isn't Christianity then its an enemy of the church and of God. I have seen T.V. evangelists preach fear of other religions and even try to oppose the freedom of other religions to exist in the United States. There are allot of churches and religious leaders who are tolerant if not even accepting of other religions out there also and i commend those who show tolerance and acceptance for that is what being Christian is supposed to be.

Jesus taught us to turn the other cheek, forgive others, love your enemies and to be humble before God. I do not see enough churches promoting that message or even trying to following it. Jesus lived a life in which he healed the sick and he showed compassion to all in his travels. I feel until mankind in a whole can learn to love each other and to have a compassionate heart we will never know the love god has to give us all. A heart that is hard as stone gives no love nor can it receive the love given to it. An unforgiving heart will never know forgiveness for others or itself. God has given man many great gifts and abilities yet we waste some and abuse others with little care or appreciation. Freewill is one of the greatest of gifts he has given man and yet we seem to forget it was a gift. The gift of life and then the gift of salvation are the top two gifts and even those are sometimes taken for granted if not forgotten by some.

We need to remember where the gifts come from and to cherish them always humbly and truly. Though we have dominion over this world we live in we are still the servants of the one who gave it all to us and should remember this always. We should always walk with love and compassion in our hearts and be guided by the wisdom God grants us. We should never interfere in the freewill of others for that is their god given gift and therefore no man has the right to interfere. The only right we have in the freewill of others is to offer them advice and or other paths to follow, ultimately it is solely up to them to choose their own path in life.

Well enough of my Religious Ramblings for now
Peace to all

R. Barbier