Table of Contents

• Inner Peace: Seeing Problems in Perspective
• Inner Peace: The are No Mistakes Only Lessons
• Health and Healing: How Stress Affects Your Health
• Inner Peace: Overcoming Inferiority Complex
• Ecology: Start a Tree Nursery
• Global Peace: Homicides and Firearms
• Parenting: Parents: Find Time for “Wasted” Days
• Health: Ways to Reduce Fat Intake
• Peace Work: Self-Transformation for Peace
• Personal Helps: Finding Your Mission in Life
• Parental Tips: What Happens When a Baby is Not Breastfed
• Health and Healing: Reduce Pesticide Exposure
• Personal Effectiveness: How Decisive Are You?
• Interpersonal Relationships: Sixteen Examples of People with Low Self-Esteem
• Interpersonal Relationships: Are You Intimate with Each Other
• World Peace: Martin Luther King on Gandhi
• Resources: Peace Quotes
• Personal Growth: How to Make Changes in Your Life

INNER PEACE
Seeing Problems in Perspective
When we are so absorbed with our problems, we often need perspective to put the difficulty in its right place. One way of gaining a wholesome perspective is to use humor.
Use the following exercise to gain perspective, as suggested by humorist Allen Klein, and adapted from the work of a laughter therapy specialist, Annette Goodheart:
Think of some irritation or small problem. Now state out loud the problem: (Example: “My husband never puts his dirty clothes in the hamper.”) Then, immediately after, repeat one of the following phrases: “Hee, hee,” “Ha, ha,” “Ho, ho,” or “Tee, hee.” It is important to say these phrases with a lot of expression.
Your statement will come out like this: “My husband never puts his dirty clothes in the hamper, tee hee!”
If you feel silly stating your problem and then making fun of it, then you got the point. You will create a distance from your problem, and you will find it easier to let it go.
Allen Klein, The Healing Power of Humor. Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam Book. G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 200 Madison Ave., New York, NY 10016, U.S.A.
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INNER PEACE
There are No Mistakes, Only Lessons
Do you (or somebody you know) feel that you are a failure, or feel frustrated for your blunders and defeats? If so, then perhaps you have not learned an age-old lesson that there is really no such thing as failure, only temporary setbacks. These setbacks are valuable for the growth of the soul.
In a recent book, If Life is a Game, These are the Rules, author Cherie Carter-Scott restates this insight as one of the “ten rules of being human.”
Growth comes from trial and error. Sometimes we win, sometimes we become disillusioned. But these so-called failures are in fact valuable for our growth. We learn more from them than our perceived “successes.”
View “failures” then as opportunities to learn. Emerson wrote: “Every calamity is a spur and a valuable hint.” Here are further thoughts by Dr. Carter-Scott:
Every situation in which you do not live up to your own expectations is an opportunity to learn something important about your own thoughts and behaviors.
Every situation in which you feel “wronged” by another person is a chance to learn something about your reactions.
Whether it is your own wrongdoing or someone else’s, a mistake is simply an opportunity to evolve further along your spiritual path.
When you consider your hardships in life and shift your perception to see them as opportunities for learning and growth, you become empowered. You can take charge of your life and rise to its challenges, instead of feeling defeated, victimized, or cast adrift.
Source: Cherie Carter-Scott, Ph.D., If Life is a Game, these are the Rules. Hodder and Stoughton, 338 Euston Road, London NW1 3BH, UK.
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HEALTH AND HEALING
How Stress Affects Your Health
Researches have found that people who are under stress become more susceptible to illness.
A study in 1991 published in the New England Journal of Medicine, shows that people under stress were more susceptible to the common cold.
Another study showed that people who were exposed to 77 hours of noise and sleep deprivation had a weaker immune system in the body.
The same research found that people whose spouse had recently died had lower immune systems.
Another study also showed decreased immune function during the final exams in medical students.
Source: Joan Budilovsky and Eve Adamson, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Meditation. Alpha Books, Simon & Schuster Macmillan Co., 1633 Broadway, New York, NY 10019-685, U.S.A.
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INNER PEACE
Overcoming Inferiority Complex
Perhaps nothing so plagues and harasses human beings, says Norman Vincent Peale, as the crippling, misery-producing feeling of personal inadequacy. Here are some of his suggestions to cure yourself of this malady:
Stamp on your mind a mental picture of yourself succeeding. Your mind will seek to develop this picture. Never think of yourself as failing. This is most dangerous, for the mind always tries to complete what it pictures.
Whenever a negative thought about yourself comes, voice a positive thought to cancel it out.
Do not build up obstacles in your imagination. Difficulties must be studied to be eliminated, but they must be seen for only what they are and must not be inflated by fear.
Do not be awestruck by other people and do not try to copy them.
Make a true estimate of your own ability then raise it 10%. Do not become egotistical, but develop a wholesome self-respect.
See a competent counselor to help you understand yourself. Learn the origin of your inferiority feelings. Self-knowledge leads to a cure.
Source: Norman Vincent Peale, Inspiring Messages for Daily Living. Prentice-Hall, Inc., Engewood Cliffs, N.J., U.S.A.
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ECOLOGY
Start a Tree Nursery
Children can be taught how to take care of forests and the environment by giving them the opportunity to get involved in conservation while they are young. In Chaparral Middle School in California, the students of sixth grade put up their own tree nursery using money collected by recycling aluminum. These seedlings can later be planted elsewhere where they can grow into trees. Such projects can also be undertaken by youth clubs, scout troops, etc.
There are agencies, government and private, which will be happy to provide seedlings for such projects practically without costs. If you need assistance in looking for seedlings in the Philippines, contact the Green Earth Foundation, Inc., 1 Iba Street, Quezon City, Philippines. Tel. (2)741-5740; Fax 740-3751. Green Earth can help you get in touch with a seedling donor.
Source: Patricia Adams and Jean Marzollo, The Helping Hands Handbook. Random House, New York, N.Y., U.S.A.

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GLOBAL PEACE
Homicides and Firearms
In a study by the United Nations in 1998, Singapore and Fiji had no incidence of homicide using firearm, while Brazil, Colombia and Peru ranked highest in the use of firearms in homicide cases. The United States comes forth.
For homicide cases, Colombia had the highest deaths at 71 persons per 100,000 population, while Burkina Faso, Guinea and Japan had the lowest homicide rates.
Below is a chart on selected countries included among those having the highest or lowest incidence of homicides and firearm-caused homicides.
Country
Homicide per 100,000
% of homicide using firearms
Colombia
70.92
76.13
South Africa
64.64
41.20
Jamaica
31.60
57.69
Brazil
29.17
88.39
Estonia
22.11
27.66
Moldova
17.06
3.70
Philippines
16.89
21.39
Zambia
10.74
50.00
United States
8.95
69.75
Costa Rica
5.52
46.56
Romania
4.32
2.75
Croatia
4.26
58.85
Malaysia
2.13
9.58
Singapore
1.62
0.00
Peru
1.41
75.07
United Kingdom
1.40
9.14
Greece
1.33
41.73
Vietnam
0.77
14.94
Japan
0.60
4.52
Guinea
0.34
8.00
Burkina Faso
0.04

Source: United Nations International Study on Firearm Regulation. New York, NY, U.S.A.
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PARENTING
Parents: Find Time for “Wasted” Days
When Samuel Johnson was a young man, he was asked what was his happiest childhood memory.
“I remember the day my father took me fishing,” he said. “the two of us spent a whole day together.”
His father had kept a diary, and years later, when he died, someone looked up the entry for that day. “Took Samuel fishing,” it said, “another wasted day.”
Source: Rex John and David Swindley. Creating Confidence: The Secrets of Self-Esteem. Element Books Ltd., Shaftesbury, Dorset SP7 8BP, United Kingdom
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HEALTH
Ways to Reduce Fat Intake
Fat is the cause of a lot of health problems. Here are simple ways of cutting down on your fat consumption:
Limiting fried foods
Eating more vegetables, breads, buns, and fruits
Eating less meat and dairy products
Sauteing onions and other vegetables in just a small amount of oil; or even using water instead of oil
Using mustards, tomato sauces, or vegetable spreads rather than fatty gravies, butter, mayonnaise, or margarine
Using apple butter or all-fruit jams on bread instead of butter, margarine, or cream cheese
Being aware that saturated fats are the worst culprits. These include tropical oils, all meats, dairy fats, and eggs.
Source: John Robbins, Diet for a New World. Avon Books, Hearst Corporation, 1350 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019, U.S.A.
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PEACE WORK
Self-Transformation for Peace
World peace cannot be realized unless individuals achieve peace in their personal life. So long as people are insecure, prone to anger, to irritation and resentment, then lasting social peace will remain a dream.
To help achieve inner peace, the Peace Center of the Theosophical Society in the Philippines has been conducting Self-Transformation Seminars for teachers, principals and supervisors to attain inner harmony and integration as a basis for outer harmony. The following exercises are done:
Review of Map of Reality
· Clarification of Values
Self-mastery
Transcendence
For more information, please contact the Peace Center, Theosophical Society in the Philippines, 1 Iba Street, Quezon City. Tel. 741-5740; 743-1181; Fax 740-3751; Email: tspeace@mnl.sequel.net.
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PERSONAL HELPS
Finding Your Mission in Life
Knowing the purpose of our life is one of the most crucial insights we can have. But it is not an easy one to discover. The people around us, especially the elders, tend to consciously or unconsciously impose upon us their own values and missions, that many of us get confused as what our life mission really is.
Here are five things that can be done to help find one’s life mission, according to Dr. Mark Thurston in his book Soul-Purpose, a work based on the teachings of Edgar Cayce:
Review your biography. List down events that crated a special feeling for you, those that make you feel that the “real you” is coming through, that you are doing something right. What does the list look like? Do you recognize any pattern in these events, like the use of certain talents, or involving interactions of a certain type?
What is your fantasy of an ideal day? Not the day when you are in vacation, but an ideal day in the midst of activities and responsibilities. What talents are being used? What are the things meaningful to you?
How do you want to be remembered after your death? What accomplishments and qualities do you wish to known for? If there is a brief biographical description of you after your death, what would you like it to contain?
How can your talents best work together? If you have four key talents, how can these talents work together like a team?
Make use of dreams to help uncover your life mission. Dreams can be doorways to deeper levels of our consciousness that will allow your inner self to manifest itself. You can deliberately prepare for this by thinking and writing about your life mission before going to sleep. Then ask certain questions to yourself, such as “what is my mission in life?” As you are drifting to sleep, keep these questions in your mind. Upon awakening, write down your dreams and see whether there is anything relevant to your question. If not, try again another evening.
From the above, you may be ready to write down your mission statement in this life. Before writing it, enter into a meditative frame of mind. Your first attempt may be a tentative one. Review it later and improve upon it.
Mark Thurston, Ph.D., Soul-Purpose. St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010, U.S.A.
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PARENTAL TIPS
What Happens When a Baby is Not Breastfed
Millions of mothers assume that it is the same if she breastfeeds her baby or feed her with formula milk. Researches have revealed that this is not the case. Here are some data from scientific studies that may surprise you:
Children who are exclusively breastfed for at least six months are half as likely to develop cancer before the age of 15 than children not breastfed.
Children breastfed for longer periods showed higher IQ scores than those who were not.
Children who were fed with cow’s milk before the age of 2 months are twice as likely to develop diabetes.
Non-breastfed infants are almost 3 times more likely to be victims of sudden infant death than breastfed infants.
At 4 months and at 36 months, children who are breastfed have better vision than those fed artificially.
Mothers who breastfeed for at least 3 months have reduced risk of premenopausal cancer by one-half.
Mothers who breastfeed for at least 2 months per child reduces the risk of epithelial ovarian cancer by 25%.
When the mother is fully breastfeeding her baby, she is 98% protected from a pregnancy for the first 6 months and 96% after 6 months and as long as she has no return of menses.
Geneva Infant Feeding Action, Post Box 157, 1211 Geneva 19, Switzerland
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HEALTH AND HEALING
Reduce Pesticide Exposure
Pesticides are poisons which are supposed to eliminate pests, but they are often found in the food we eat. We have to be conscious of ways of avoiding exposure to such chemicals. Here are some suggestions:
Buy unsprayed or organic food whenever possible.
Discard the outer leaves of commercially grown leafy vegetables like lettuce and cabbage, and wash the inner leaves.
Wash all the leaves of commercially grown greens.
Peel or very thoroughly scrub commercially grown potatoes, carrots, cucumbers, apples, peaches, tomatoes, and pears.
Wash thoroughly commercially grown eggplants, peppers, green beans, cherries, grapes, strawberries, cauliflower, broccoli, and spinach.
Avoid commercially grown imported produce, because toxic chemicals are often found at notoriously high levels on these products.
Discuss with the owner or manager of the store where you buy fruits and vegetables regarding your concern about pesticide contents, and ask his or her help in avoiding products which have been exposed to pesticides.
Source: John Robbins, Diet for a New World. Avon Books, Hearst Corporation, 1350 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10019, U.S.A.

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PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS
How Decisive Are You?
Life imposes upon us many circumstances that need decisions. When we are unable to make decisions at the right time, pending issues pile up until we reach a point when we feel worried, burdened or overwhelmed. It is a good habit to dispose of pending issues as quickly as the need arises

. If you have a problem about making decisions, consider these three questions:
Clear Values. Are your values and priorities clear? If you are a sales supervisor and your salesman tells you that it will be much quicker to get an account by bribing the purchaser, is it easy for you to respond to the salesman? When your friends invite you on a weekend, and you know that your wife or husband will mind it, is it easy for you to say yes or no to your friends?
Adequate Information. Do you have enough information to make a sound decision? If not, then obtain the needed data.
Awareness of fears. Are you afraid to make mistakes? Or take risks? Do you fear criticism? Realize that fears such as these can paralyze us from making decisions. Be aware of them and undertake a program to overcome these fears.
Source: Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., Peace Center, 1 Iba Street, Quezon City, Philippines
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INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS
Sixteen Examples of People with Low Self-Esteem
Low self-esteem can ruin one’s life, creating unhappiness and failures. It can prevent people from achieving their life’s potential. Below are sixteen indicators of low self-esteem, according to authors Rex Johnson and David Swindley:
The Critics. People who have done little with their lives take perverse pleasure in belittling successful people.
The Shrinking Violets. They avoid the attention of other people, and would belittle themselves if they are recognized.
The Complainers. They are habitually bemoaning about something. Whatever happens, they seem not to be happy.
The Addicts. They suffer from eating disorders, phobias, smoking, alcoholism. Psychotherapists realize that the habit will melt away once a person’s self-confidence is restored.
The Mice. They are too timid due to fear of rejection by other people.
The Sheep. They attempt to follow the herd, to follow the latest trend. They don’t trust their own individuality enough to go their own way.
The Big Mouths. These people cannot stop talking, and they come in two kinds: the first is worried that he won’t get another chance to say his piece. The second is an inveterate braggart, with little consideration for the truth.
The Put-Down Experts. They want to “put people in their place”; to impress others by putting others down.
The Begrudgers. Jealous individuals who feel that anyone who has something he wants does not really deserve it. They do not have sufficient self-confidence to be able to say “Well done, I’m pleased for you,” and mean it.
The Blamers. They always look for scapegoats. If the team loses, the referee is to blame. When they are to blame, they do not have enough self-esteem to acknowledge responsibility.
The Comedians. People with a sharp wit for every situation, no matter how serious, are often trying to cover up a self-image problem. They don’t feel they will get attention unless they turn everything into a joke.
The Shirkers. They shirk responsibility for making decisions and exercising control of their subordinates.
The Gossips. Gossips fear that they have nothing of interest to say, so they indulge in sensationalism, hoping to attract approval and attention.
The Walking Wardrobes. Some attire themselves to attract attention; others do the opposite — to dress down as if they don’t want to draw attention to themselves.
The Apologetics. They apologize for almost everything. Such self-effacing attitude is a typical reaction of an unconscious feeling of unworthiness.
The Firsts to the Bar. Trying to please others by ordering drinks for others even if they cannot really afford it; children always lending their toys in order to make friends.
If you are one or more of the above types, the first thing to do is to admit it honestly to yourself and then set to work and turn things around, says authors Johnson and Swindley. Make a list of things you must stop doing, and write next to them all the new behaviors you must adopt.
Source: Rex John and David Swindley. Creating Confidence: The Secrets of Self-Esteem. Element Books Ltd., Shaftesbury, Dorset SP7 8BP, United Kingdom
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INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS
Are You Intimate with Each Other?
Do you enjoy intimate relationships with people – spouse, children, friends, relatives? Here are questions that will help you find out about the level of intimacy in your relationships, according to counselor Earnest Tan:
Are you capable of honest communication with each other?
Intimate relationships find great ease in freely and spontaneously sharing with each other. Both show great interest and generosity in listening. We can fully express our deepest feelings, such as “I was hurt and disappointed with what you did.”
Are you capable of respect and acceptance for each other?
I do not have to force you to think like me. I see you as a separate and unique individual, and our differences need not hamper our relationship.
Are you able to negotiate your needs and expectations with each other?
It is natural to have needs. Persons intimate with one another feel comfortable in expressing such needs and honestly assessing whether they can meet such needs or expectations. Through negotiations, you sometimes give in to the other; at other times, it is a healthy compromise; in some occasions, it is teaching the other to learn to live with your limitations.
Are you comfortable in showing appropriate affection to each other?
It can be a handshake, an affirming word, a hug, a kiss, as long as it is appropriate to the relationship. Our culture often discourages us from reaching out in love. Leo Buscaglia wrote: “What kind of a culture would we have if we are producing people who are love-starved. If culture teaches us that showing affection is not all right, then people will be prevented from doing so. We successfully teach ourselves to fear closeness.”
Are we at home with giving and receiving feedback from each other even if this means confrontation?
One sure test of intimacy is when the other party can comfortably tell you – “You’ve got bad breath.” When one can say things that may even hurt the other for the sake of making them grow, then there is true intimacy. And when the other can take it, even if it hurts, then the relationship becomes truly binding. But feedback should be both positive and negative.
Is there some form of assurance of promise and commitment in your relationship?
Somehow, there can never be true intimacy when there is no promise of a personal investment and of a future. When I say I am intimate with you, I cannot just appear and disappear in and out of your life without notice. There is a need for mutual assurance.
Can your relationship last through time?
Are we patient enough to allow time for our relationship to grow? It is important that we are willing to give each other time to grow.
Source: Earnest L. Tan, How to Attract Love. Spiritus Works Publication, P. O. Box 24, Murphy District Post Office, 1110 Quezon City, Philippines
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WORLD PEACE
Martin Luther King on Gandhi
During the Montgomery bus boycott against discrimination towards Negro passengers, Martin Luther King had believed that “the only way we could solve our problems of segregation was an armed revolt.”
After reading about the life of Mohandas Gandhi, however, the outlook of King drastically changed. He saw in Gandhi’s approach the essence of Christianity. In his book Stride Toward Freedom, King wrote that “Gandhi was probably the first person in history to lift the love ethic of Jesus above mere interaction between individuals to a powerful and effective social force on a large scale.” The effect on him of Gandhi was such that he decided to go to India for more than a month studying more deeply the life and teachings of Gandhi.
“I came to see for the first time,” wrote King, “that the Christian doctrine of love, operating through the Gandhian method of nonviolence, is one of the most potent weapons available of an oppressed people in their struggle for freedom.”
“I believe in some marvelous way,” he wrote further, “God worked through Gandhi, and the spirit of Jesus Christ saturated his life. It is ironic, yet inescapably true that the greatest Christian of the modern world was a man who never embraced Christianity.”
Eventually, nonviolence became a way of life for Martin Luther King, who was later awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace.
Source: Donald T. Phillips, Martin Luther King, Jr. on Leadership. Warner books, Inc., 1271 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020, U.S.A.
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PERSONAL GROWTH
How to Make Changes in Your Life
Bestselling inspirational author Anthony Robbins suggests these five steps in making changes in your life:
Write down four actions you need to take that you have been putting off. Do you want to lose weight? Stop smoking? Wake up early?
Under each action, write down your answer to this question: Why haven’t I taken action? What pain is linked to taking this action? If you think there is no pain, think a little harder, it may be as simple as not wanting to upset your present schedule.
Write down all the pleasure you have had in the past by indulging in the unwanted habit or behavior. For example, you may not have gone on a diet simply because you enjoy ice cream. Or can’t wake up early because you enjoy the late TV shows.
Write down what it will cost you if you don’t change now. What may be the consequence five years from now if you don’t stop smoking? Or not lose weight? What will it cost you in terms of self-esteem or relationships? How does that make you feel? It is important that you feel the pain of the unwanted consequence.
Write down all the pleasure you’ll receive by taking the actions right now. Make this a long list of things that will excite you if you make the change, such as “I’ll gain the feeling of really being in control of my life. I’ll gain a new level of self-confidence. I will live my dream.”
Pain and pleasure are two of the most powerful motivating factors in our lives. Make use of them to achieve what you want in your life.
Source: Anthony Robbins, Awaken the Giant Within. Simon & Schuster Ltd., West Garden Place, Kendal Street, London W2 2AQ, UK.
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RESOURCES
Peace Quotes
ONLY those who do not seek power are qualified to hold it.
PLATO
paraphrased by Donald Phillips

WHOEVER is out of patience is out of possession of his soul. Men must not turn into bees, and kill themselves in stinging others.
FRANCIS BACON

WHEN one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us.
ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL

IF there is righteousness in the heart there will be beauty in the character. If there be beauty in the character, there will be harmony in the home. If there is harmony in the home, there will be order in the nation. When there is order in the nation, there will be peace in the world.
CONFUCIUS
PERSEVERANCE is more prevailing than violence; and many things which cannot be overcome when they are together yield themselves up when taken little by little.
PLUTARCH

A PEACE that comes from fear and not from the heart is the opposite of peace.
GERSONIDES

IF they want peace, nations should avoid the pin-pricks that precede cannonshots.
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE

PEACE is rarely denied to the peaceful.
JOHANN VON SCHILLER

ALL violence, all that is dreary and repels, is not power, but the absence of power.
RALPH WALDO EMERSON

If we are to live together in peace, we must come to know each other better.
LYNDON BAINES JOHNSON
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Prepared by:
Peace Center
Theosophical Society in the Philippines
tspeace@info.com.ph