March 3 , 2003

From the Inside Out
SIGHS OF THE HEART

"She keeps repeating it over and over again. We've been back to this shelter at least five times. It has been weeks now since we started all of this," the woman told the volunteer.

"What is it she keeps asking for?" she asked. "Puppy size!" "We have plenty of puppies, if that's what she's looking for." "I know. We have seen most of them," she said in frustration. Just then the young child came walking in the office. "Well, did you find one?"

"No, not this time," she said with sadness in her voice. "Can we come back on the weekend?" The two women looked at each other, shook their heads and laughed. "You never know when we will get more dogs. Unfortunately, there's always a supply," the volunteer said.

The young child took her mother by the hand and headed to the door. "Don't worry, I bet we'll find one this weekend," the child said.

Over the next few days both mom and dad had long conversations with her. They both felt she was being too particular. "It's this weekend or we're not looking any more," dad finally said in frustration. "We don't want to hear anything more about "puppy size" either," mom added.

Sure enough they were the first ones in the shelter on Saturday morning. By now, the young child knew her way around, so she ran right for the section that housed the smaller dogs.

Tired of the routine, mom sat in the small waiting room at the end of the first row of cages. There was an observation window so you could see the animals during times when visitors weren't permitted.

The young girl walked slowly from cage to cage, kneeling periodically to take a closer look. One by one the dogs were brought out and she held each one. One by one she said, "Sorry, you're not the one."

It was the last cage on this last day in search of the perfect pup. The volunteer opened the cage door and the child carefully picked up the dog and held it closely. This time she took a little longer. "Mom, that's it! I found the right puppy! He's the one! I know it!" she screamed with joy.

Mom, startled by all the commotion, came running. "What? Are you sure? How do you know?" she asked. "It's the puppy sighs!"

"Yes, it the same size as all the other puppies you held the last few weeks," mom said. "No, not 'size' -- sighs. When I held him in my arms he sighed," she said. "So?"

"Don't you remember? When I asked you one day what love is, you told me "Love depends on the sighs of your heart. The more you love, the bigger the sighs!"

The two women looked at each other for a moment. Mom didn't know whether to laugh or cry. As she stooped down to hug her child she did a little of both.

"Mom, every time you hold me I sigh. When you and Daddy come home from work and hug each other you both sigh. I knew I would find the right puppy if it sighed when I held it in my arms," she said.

Then holding the puppy up close to her face she said, "Mom, he loves me. I heard the sighs of his heart."

Close your eyes for a moment and dream about the love that makes you sigh. I not only find it in the arms of my loved ones, but in the caress of a sunset, the kiss of the moonlight and the gentle brush of cool air on a hot day. They are the sighs of the heart.

- Bob Perks, Petwarmers.com
www.bobperks.com

Yes You Can!
COMPUTE ERGONOMICALLY

Keyboards: Your wrist position is key. The ideal computing position, most agree, is to be sitting upright or slightly reclined. Your shoulders should be straight, upper arms hanging straight down, close to your body, and elbows at a 90-degree (or even slightly more) angle.

Your forearms and hands should be flat and your hands relaxed. All this leaves your wrists in a neutral position — those who type with their wrists pointed up or down, or extended outward or inward, are asking for trouble. It generally means they're sitting too close or too far away, or they don't have a keyboard that suits them.

Ergonomically designed Split keyboards that are sloped in the middle are growing in use and popularity.

Mouse: Does it fit your hand? Hands run in all different sizes, but so do mice. What you want is one not too big or too small, but that fits snugly under your relaxed hand.

The bottom of your hand should feel the mouse, and the point where your hand turns into your wrist should be on the table.

If you're pooh-poohing this, don't. You'd be surprised how many people suffer hand or shoulder pain because of a mouse that's an unnatural fit.

A trackball mouse often works better for people with shoulder pain because it takes less overall movement to use.

For those already suffering from hand or wrist pain, the answer might be a foot-operated mouse, which eliminates stressful hand motions.

Monitor: eye level and minus glare. If it isn't positioned correctly, your PC monitor can cause neck pain, shoulder pain, and eyestrain from glare.
Keep it directly in front of you, and at an arm's length in distance. Your neck should be straight, not leaning forward.

The top of the screen should be directly level with your eyes. The monitor should be tilted slightly upward. Put stacks of paper underneath it if necessary — and be wary of using a laptop PC in place of your desktop for long periods of time.

Beyond this, glare from poor positioning related to your windows or lighting could result in eyestrain and headaches. Re-position your monitor, and adjust your font size and color, if necessary.

HealthyComputing.com strongly urges following a "20-20-20 rule." "Every 20 minutes you are working at your computer, look 20 feet away for 20 seconds."

Chair: most important component? A good chair may be the most important part of your workstation, because it affects your position more than just about anything else.

An adjustable chair, allowing the user to customize the fit, is the better choice ergonomically than a fixed chair with no options.

Besides sitting straight or slightly reclined, a user's lower back should be fully pressed up against and supported by the back of the chair. His feet should be flat on the floor, or on a foot rest — a platform you can buy inexpensively to help a user maintain a correct sitting position and avoid fatigue.

Users should change positions several times a day to break up the repetitive stresses. A health-care specialist where I work recommends drinking water throughout the day. That guarantees you'll take breaks.

~Monte Enbysk
MSN BusinessCentral

Photo: Aruba Natural Bridge


The first European to set foot on Aruba was the Spanish explorer Alonso de Ojeda in 1499. He remarked that he had come to "an Island of giants" for the remains he found of the first settlers were larger than average Europeans of that day. Wind and water erosion on Aruba have created the Caribbean's highest and most dramatic coral structure. Natural Bridge forms an arch measuring 100 feet long standing 23 feet above sea level, carved over the centuries by the pounding sea. Many rock formations indicate this island was
once under the ocean and thrust up by
millions of years of volcanic activity.

LINKS
THAT SHINE

"PORTALS OF SPIRIT "

An online spiritual resource center complete with book reviews and links, healing resources and practices, categorized sites from A to Z, as well as an ezine entitled "Gateway To The Soul".
www.PortalsOfSpirit.com


VISIT ALL LINKS

Fascinating Facts
MEDITATION & WEIGHT LOSS

Meditation is a centuries-old method for clearing the mind and calming the body. A few decades ago, it was known only as an Eastern religious practice or as mysteriously bohemian. Now, meditation has gone mainstream. Recommended as a stress-reducing technique by hospitals and doctors across the country, its myriad benefits include reduced blood pressure, healthier arteries and an enhanced sense of well-being. With all these benefits going for it, meditation is an ideal tool for relaxation and self-discovery on the way to your weight goal.

Breathing Your Way to Peace and Thinner Thighs? "The very core place to start is the breath," says Alison Shore Gaines, a holistic counselor at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Lenox, Massachusetts. In her "Conscious Eating for Sacred Nourishment" workshops, Gaines teaches students to take five deep breaths before eating. "A lot of times when we eat habitually, we get poised for action we lean in and the tummy gets tight and we get ready to shovel," she says. Taking five breaths relaxes the body and clears the emotional palate. "This way people enjoy their food, they really taste it, they really see it and they eat less because they're enjoying more and going slower," adds Gaines. Before you get too excited, though, remember: Meditation is not a quick fix. "You can't just magically sit down and meditate and tomorrow have no weight on your body," says DeDe Lahman, a certified yoga instructor and body image lecturer in New York.

A Practice of Presence: Of course, a meditation practice involves more than a few deep breaths. "Meditation is about stopping and being present, that is all," writes Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., in "Wherever You Go, There You Are; Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life" (Hyperion, 1994). He adds, "Mostly we run around doing. Are you able to come to a stop in your life, even for one moment? Could it be this moment? What would happen if you did?" What happens on the physical level is what Dr. Herbert Benson, M.D., the Harvard doctor who initiated meditation studies in the 1970s, calls the "Relaxation Response." He discovered that during meditation, brain waves shift into a state similar to and sometimes more relaxed than sleep. This level of relaxation lowers the amount of stress hormones that cause pain and illness. Meditation can also clear a foundation for healthier thinking and feeling. "When you meditate, all the junk comes up, all the clutter," says Lahman. "The negative body images come up, the desires for certain foods come up and the emotions that are attached to those desires come up. The more they surface, the more you can put them in your mental recycle bin and start with a clean slate," she adds.

Meditation Tips: There are many types of meditation. Find one that resonates with your beliefs, and make sure your instructor has plenty of experience. In the meantime, you can try the following:

1. Sit straight in a comfortable, quiet place.
2. Close your eyes.
3. Relax your muscles.
4. Pay attention to your slow and natural breathing.
5. When distracting thoughts occur, simply notice them and gently bring your attention back to the breath..
6. Continue for 10 to 20 minutes.

Try to practice once or twice daily. With time meditation will "bring a sense of relaxation, of coming to peace," says Gaines. "And from that place of peace we make better choices." Meditation is not a magic cure for weight issues, but it can help curb emotional eating and pave the way for a healthier relationship with food.

~Valerie Reiss for WeightWatchers
MSNFitness.com

Laughing It Off
DOG RULES ...

ACCORDING TO HUMANS: "Ironclad Training Guidelines"

The dog is not allowed in the house...

Okay, the dog is allowed in the house,
but only in certain rooms...

Fine, the dog is allowed in all rooms,
but has to stay off the furniture...

Okay, the dog can get on the old furniture only...

Fine, the dog is allowed on all the furniture,
but is not allowed to sleep with the humans on the bed...

Okay, the dog is allowed on the bed,
but only by invitation...

Fine, the dog can sleep on the bed whenever he wants,
but not under the covers...

Okay, the dog can sleep under the covers by invitation only...

Fine, the dog can sleep under the covers every night
and the humans must ask permission to
sleep under the covers with the dog!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ACCORDING TO CANINES: "Phideaux's Prayer"

Now I lay me down to sleep,
My humans' bed is soft and deep.
I sleep right in the center groove.
My humans, they can hardly move!

I've trapped their legs, they're tucked in tight,
And here is where I pass the night.
Peacefully, without a doubt,
'Til morning comes and I want out!

I sneak up slowly to begin
Nibbling on my humans' chins.
They soon awake to care for me,
'Cuz I'm their critter, don't you see?

Now morning's here and time to play
(I always seem to get my way!).
From first light to the setting sun
I count my blessings ones-by-one!

~Contributed by Jim Webster

Untangling the Web

WHAT A SITE!

Setting and managing goals ...
The Web's leading site for all of your personal
and professional goals, walks you through a comprehensive, step-by-step goal-setting process for any goal, whether it's short-term or long-term, easy or difficult, practical or lofty. They also provide pre-made Goalplans for popular goals, to get you started even faster volume, power, finance, cooking, etc..
www.MyGoals.com

COMPUTER-EASE

When was it updated?:
When you visit a web page, you may not have any way of knowing how old the information really is. If this is important to the information's validity, you can at least find out when the page was last updated. Just click in the Address Bar and type javascript:alert(document.lastModified)
and press Enter. A dialog box displays the last date and time that the page was modified.

 
Photo: Stefano Rellandini /REUTERS


Hurricanes of vapor, snow and muscles ...
horse races called "White Turf" have been
held on the frozen lake of St. Moritz for over
95 years. In St.Moritz, which became the
first winter resort in 1864, two Englishmen
looking for some excitement proposed the
first race in 1906. The hit of the show are the
"skikjöring" competitions, a sport invented by
Scandinavians, where thoroughbred horses
pull competitors behind them on skis.
~REUTERS

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"The intent of Inspiration Line is to show What Is Possible … By choosing new perspectives,
we can change ourselves from the inside out and improve our relationships, our community and our planet."
Editor . Chelle Thompson ~~~ Associate Editor . Geri Merrill
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E-mail your motivational, informative or humorous stories for us to share:
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