Thank you for your contributions and comments. I really appreciate knowing that you are out there reading this newsletter. Please send your emails with suggestions, thoughts and contributions to richhill@iinet.net.au I received an email from Andy about the "Who I am Makes a Difference" campaign. I've found a great video of this and I set it up in juxtaposition with a marvellous motivational clip by Al Pacino from "Any given Sunday". Check these out in my article on "How Do I Know You're an Expert?"

The recipes are from my friend Leigh's website www.healthybytes.com.au It's a great site to check out and so are the activities this week. Also I couldn't resist a bit more creativity, this time from Architecture. They're just wild and crazy guys!

FABULOUS LOW GI FOOD

Grilled Wild Salmon with a Lemon Myrtle Macadamia Dressing

www.healthybytes.com.au

Mind: Make a list of 7 things that you would really like to have in your life. These might be material, physical or emotional things. Each day write the next one on the list on an A4 piece of paper. Put that up somewhere you can see it many times during the day. When you can, close your eyes and actually visualise this thing or this thing happening or having this feeling. Do this at least a twice a day.

Soul: Have a listen to the video on "Who I am Makes a Difference" and tell someone who you think has made a difference that you appreciate them for being who they are. At the end of every day, before you go to sleep, give yourself some appreciation for being who you are. Being you is what makes the difference for yourself. If you find that difficult, then you are giving yourself a message. Use that message to help discover what it is about yourself that you are grateful for - even if there are some other things that you don't like. The things you don't like can be worked on, but you mustn't ignore the good things just because there are a few things to change!

How do I know you're an Expert?

Advertisers have been dressing actors in a white laboratory coat as they deliver a positive spin for some product or other for years. The 'snake oil' sellers would plant stooges in the audience to manifest a 'miracle cure' to convince the audience. Until we came to understand the nature of the 'placebo' effect and the nature of how emotional blocks can not only cause illness, but also produce what also seem like miracle cures when the emotional block is circumvented, it seemed that the miracle was from without. We are now beginning to understand that the miracle is within and, even more to the point, that the miracle is actually quite natural and normal.

Now we come across another Catch-22: we need to 'believe', to have faith, to trust, to be in a state of wonder and awe in order to manifest these natural 'miracles'. For a multitude of reasons that encompass culture, religion, social and personal development, there seems to be a pervasive concept that an individual is only able to do extraordinary things without some extraordinary assistance or intervention. To solve this dilemma, many people place their faith and trust in things outside of themselves and here we are back to experts again.

The video this week is an excerpt from the film, Any Given Sunday, directed by Oliver Stone and starring Al Pacino.
   I was directed to this video as the 'best motivational speech ever". Al Pacino is certainly one of the best actors of our generation and when you watch the film you can feel your emotions lift and your energy rise. I mean, these guys are the experts. What they say must be true because I'm feeling a real buzz. I can resonate with the whole thing. Surely my life will be better if I do what Al Pacino says? Wow, I know just what to do and how to do it and I'm going to get off my sorry backside and truly get on with it! Yeeha!

But is it true? Is it close to true? Is it partly true? Does it really relate to my experience? This speech is for players in a game of gridiron football. Is that the same as when I go to the office on Monday morning? What happens if I fight like a man possessed against my enemies that are trying to stop me from scoring a touchdown? According to the film, it doesn't matter what happens to the other guy. He's trying to beat you and so you are justly entitled to beat him first. Winner takes all. Survival of the fittest.

But, winner takes all what? If the fittest survive what happens to the other guy? What if the other guy watched this film too and plays just that little bit better than me? What if I do it right and then find that I don't really want the prize? When you're playing a game of football the prize is simple, uncomplicated, uncompromised, obvious. When you play the game of life, the prize is always complex, confusing, different for each person involved and far from obvious. This makes the motivational game very tricky.

Here is a different type of motivational film (thanks Andy). Very different. This film is not about winning so much as being
   It is about being a part of things, of life, of the experiences we share with others. It seems to me that this film talks about both teams and certainly not about taking the advantage and forcing the other team out - to defeat them.

There are 2 big issues here: who is right and how do I reconcile these 2 disparate presentations? Am I trying to figure out who is the real expert? Probably. Perhaps, however, the real question should be, What do I think about these 2 films? What do they make me think about? What are some of the ideas that pop into my head? What problems in my own life find something relevant in each or either of these videos?

To me, the secret is not about who is right and who is wrong, the secret is in what you choose to create out these experiences. There is no-one that can create your own experience other than yourself. You are the unrivalled expert in participating in your own life. What you do is always a stepping stone to the next thing you will do. For me the difficulty with Al Pacino's fine presentation is that it only takes me to the end of the game. Maybe that's all some of us want, but for the young boy in the second video, the end of the game is a very different place with very different consequences.

What do we learn when we experience, react and think? The answer is simple - we learn something. That something gives us added knowledge, added wisdom and greater expertise in the grand game of life. Little bit by little bit we become expert, but we must engage the miracles we hold within us rather than chase the glories that lie without. Being alive is a glory every moment of every day. Wow!

Share your thoughts and suggestions? richhill@iinet.net.au

This is a true image of a woman who cares for abused animals. This lion gives her a hug and receives a kiss. It may be a risk, but this woman made a big difference in the life of this lion.

(Please register me to receive this newsletter)

Looking forward to sharing more thoughts, suggestions, news and making a very Healthy Wednesday connection with you!

Take Care, Richard, Susie and The Healthy Wednesday Team