EFFECTIVE WRITING MADE SIMPLE

About the book:

Many people have to write, yet they don’t really like to write; some even hate it! Despite their aversion to writing, they may have to write letters, memos, proposals, reports, or e-mails in their work. Whether they like it or not, writing may be a part of their daily task. Are you one of them? If yes, why not make a virtue out of necessity, and learn the basic skill of effective writing?

Writing is about the written word. Not only is the written word part and parcel of daily life, but also has continued to hold its place in the contemporary world—just as Byron, the famous English poet, once said:

But words are things, and a small drop of ink,

Falling like dew, upon a thought produces

That which makes thousands, perhaps millions

Think.

According to Byron, words are all powerful. But you have to make them powerful, and this is what effective writing is all about. Writing is basically a communication skill—just like any other life skills. Why not master it to give yourself personal satisfaction in being able to communicate your ideas effectively so others will understand exactly what is on your mind?

Is writing such a difficult and daunting task? Not really. Is writing skill learnable? Absolutely!

Today, many books on how to write effectively are readily available. If you walk into any bookstore, you will find a collection of books on how to write well.

What separates EFFECTIVE WRITING Made Simple from other books on how to improve your writing skill?

First, this book is presented in a simple and easy-to-follow format: it is easy to read and understand. Second, this book is comprehensive: it covers every aspect of good writing—from basic grammar, correct sentences, effective use of words, paragraph development, to style and usage. With many examples and illustrations, this book is like a handy manual at your fingertips for easy reference. Effective writing is an essential communication skill in inter-personal relationships and in almost every profession.

A sample of the book:

Writing is putting ideas into words in order to communicate them to your readers. Words can be very powerful if the writing is effective.

Effective writing begins with a desire not only to write but also to write well. Desire galvanizes your efforts to improve your writing skill no matter what.

First of all, embrace the right attitudes to learning effective writing:

 

• Improving your writing skill takes time and effort. You cannot master it overnight.
• Overcome any negative attitude you may have, such as “I’m not good in English” or “English is never my strong subject.” Negative thinking may adversely affect your mindset and mental capability to write effectively. Always be positive about your ability to write well. After all, it is just a skill, and it is learnable.
• Dispel the myth that a writer is born, not made. Writing is no more than a skill that can be acquired, learned, and taught.
• Develop self-confidence that you, too, can acquire effective writing through the following:

 

o      Learning the basics of writing

o      Following clear instructions

o      Looking at samples of effective writing

o      Practicing writing regularly

With confidence, you will become more willing to express yourself, instead of worrying about making mistakes. It is better to write with mistakes than not to be able to write at all. Remember this: a creator is worth all the critics.

Get Some Basic Tools

Effective writing requires lifelong learning and finding answers to all your questions about writing. Accordingly, you need to get some basic tools for your effective writing:

A dictionary

 

• Use a dictionary to find out what words mean and to make sure that words mean what you think they mean.
• Use a dictionary to see a word in context so that you have better understanding of how that word should be used in your own writing.
• Use a dictionary to find out the preferred spelling of a word because the same word can be spelled differently.
• Use a dictionary to determine the usage of a word, such as the preposition that normally goes with it.

A thesaurus

A thesaurus may help you find the right word to use. Sometimes you cannot recall a certain word that you may wish to use; in that case, a dictionary may not be able to help you. A thesaurus provides words and phrases that are close in meaning.

Why You Should Write

You write not just for your teachers or your readers, but, more importantly, for yourself. There are several reasons why you should write:

 

• Writing may be a part of your job description. Writing letters, memos, reports, minutes of meetings, and sending e-mails may be your daily tasks at your workplace.

 

• Writing affords you an opportunity to explore yourself—your thoughts and feelings. Writing is often a journey of self-discovery: you begin to find out more about who you are, and what your values are. Writing is more than an expression of self: it creates the self. To that end, you can write a diary or journal for self-expression. Regular journal writing not only improves your writing skill but also expands your thinking.
• Writing helps you organize your thinking. Effective writing requires you to put your random thoughts into a coherent pattern. Through writing, you learn to mentally articulate your ideas in a more logical and systematic way. Writing regularly improves your logic and sharpens your power of reasoning.
• Writing enhances your ability to use language for specific purposes. You begin to realize how some writers use manipulative language to persuade others. Accordingly, you learn to “read between the lines” as well as to recognize the truths from the myths.
• Writing is an effective means of communication with others. Even when you write an e-mail to your friends, you have to make yourself intelligible by writing what you mean and meaning what you write.
• Writing is an important communication skill. Reap all the benefits of writing by learning how to write. Make a virtue out of your necessity.

How to Succeed in Writing

There is no formula for success in writing. The key to success is “practice, practice, practice.” After all, writing is a skill; like any other skill, you must practice it before you can master it. You learn from your mistakes, and practicing writing improves your writing. If you write everyday, you will become a more competent and proficient writer. If you learn the mechanics and techniques of writing, your writing will become more effective. It is just a matter of time. And it is just that simple.

Writing is a learning experience for all. Anybody who wants to write learns how to write. One learns how to write by writing—just as one learns how to walk by walking. Everybody can write, as long as the heart is willing to learn and master the skill of writing.

EFFECTIVE WRITING MADE SIMPLE

The Importance of Happiness in Aging

 The Importance of Happiness in Aging

Are you happy or unhappy? If you are not happy, then why not?

Why is happiness important? It plays a pivotal part in the art of living well? The mind plays a critical role in shaping your personality, which is responsible for your happiness or unhappiness. In other words, your personality is all your own thinking, just as Descartes, the famous French philosopher, once said: “I think; therefore I am.”

Erik Erikson, the famous psychologist, also stated that the evolution of our personality is affected by different life stages of changes and experiences we have gone through, resulting in who and what we have now become. Understanding those life stages may help us understand how we have become happy or unhappy.

Trust and Mistrust

In this first stage, from birth to age one, we may  experience and develop trust or mistrust that affects how we feel about the benevolence of the world around us.

Independence and Doubt

In the toddler stage, we begin to develop our self-trust,  which leads to independence. With self-trust, we begin to learn how to walk. In this stage, however, we may also develop self-doubt that leads to shame later in life. This may be the underlying cause of failing to take risks in later life, missing some golden opportunities to improve our lives, and thus making us feel unhappy and unfulfilled.

Creativity and Guilt

In preschool years, we begin to exercise our minds to acquire initiative and express creativity. The capability to express freely our initiative and creativity helps us develop the playful and positive side of our nature. Under restraint, on the other hand, we may develop guilt, lack of self-confidence, and inability to get close to others.

Industry and Inferiority

From age five to eleven, we experience fulfillment in accomplishment or disappointment in failure. This is often a result of acquiring our society’s work ethics. We begin to believe in our abilities and feel motivated to work hard. On the other hand, if we become lazy, we develop poor work habits that may adversely affect our careers later in life.

Identity and Diffusion

In adolescent, we begin to explore ourselves, finding out who we are and what we want out of life. We may channel our energy into a field we love, and derive pleasure from seeing what we have accomplished. This growth in our sense of self determines whether or not we have an “identity crisis.”

Intimacy and Withdrawal

In early adulthood, we develop intimacy, which is a quality of an individual, and not the couple. The ability to develop and maintain a long-term relationship is an asset. However, many of us may experience difficulty in achieving closeness with others, or even maintaining a long-lasting relationship, resulting in inner loneliness that causes us to doubt even our own remarkable accomplishments in life.

Compassion and Selfishness

In middle age, we become more connected to future generations, as evidenced by being parents, mentors, and supervisors. However, we may also become self-focusing, alienating ourselves from the next generation, and thus creating the “generation gap.”

Ego and Despair

In old age, by letting go of the ego, we accept both our successes and failures, and thus have a healthy perspective on life. However, we may also look back at our own past experiences and the world in general with disdain and regret, and thus we become despaired and unhappy.

Remember, nothing is set in stone. Even if you have formed your own personality over the years, you can still change it to make you become a better and happier person if you have the wisdom and the know-how.

Human happiness or unhappiness is no more than a perception of the human mind, based on an individual's own life experiences. You think, and your perceptions then become your "realities"; with profound wisdom, you can change how your mind processes your perceptions. Change your mind to change your realities, and live your life as if everything is a miracle! Your life journey is uniquely yours.  Make your own happiness recipe from the happiness ingredients of ancient wisdom, conventional wisdom, and spiritual wisdom. Continue your life journey with your own happiness recipe.

The Happiness Wisdom

Stephen Lau 

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

BOOKS BY STEPHEN LAU - A NEW BLOG

BOOKS BY STEPHEN LAU

A New Blog about the 43 Books Written By Stephen Lau in the past three decades.

His books include books on Chinese Wisdom and Spiritual Wisdom, as well as books on Learning English, American Idioms, and English Slang and Colloquial Expressions.  Some of his books also focus on health, such as Autoimmune Diseases, Vision Health, and Longevity Living.

The Blog gives a brief Book Description and a Sample from each of the 43 books to help you see if any of them is suitable for you.

Go to: BOOKS BY STEPHEN LAU.

  

YOUR GOLDEN YEARS AND SANTA CLAUS

 The description of the book:

This 252-page book is about the wisdom in living in the golden years. This is a comprehensive book on the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of successful aging. The book covers frailties and challenges encountered by many seniors in their golden years, such as vision loss, falling, memory impediment, breathing problems, health and money issues, among others. It shows you the wisdom to overcome or cope with them. In addition, it opens the doorway to making new waves to live a meaningful and purposeful life in your golden years. The wisdom is in using Santa Claus as your role model to believe in yourself, to think, and to act like Santa Claus.

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A sample of the book:

The Shady Side of the Golden Years

The golden years are one of the last phases of life, if not the very last. To be in the golden years is having passed the milestone of 65.

In this phase, many are burdened with memory loss, physical impairment, and sexual inactivity. Nutritional deficiency due to a dysfunctional body, a weakened heart and hardened arteries resulting in less blood being pumped into the body organs and systems, compromised immunity response leading to virus infections and diseases, a troublesome digestive and elimination system causing constipation, toxin buildup, as well as bladder, kidney, and liver problems—they all play a pivotal role in the gradual and steady decline and deterioration in health and overall well-ness of the body, the mind, and the spirit. In the end, what are left behind are aches and pains. In this phase, many are also emotionally devastated by loss and bereavement of their loved ones, haunted by their own regrets and frustrations in the past, and plagued by fear and despair of the future.

The golden years may not be “golden” for everyone. Aging, like death, is something that can be denied or even ignored but, ultimately, cannot be avoided.

How do you feel about your own aging? Are you happy about your golden years?

If you really think growing old sucks, just look at Santa Claus in his golden years. He is cheerful, robust, and energetic. He is enjoying every minute in giving presents to children. He is having fun and a good time while riding his sledge and going through chimneys. Just think about all his new and exciting adventures!

Subjective Perception

Feeling about old age is no more than a subjective perception of self. It is always the “glass is half full or half empty” attitude of looking at life. More specifically, it is how you view your own life “in the eyes of the beholder” who is yourself.

If you have strong self-efficacy, which is your self-belief, you will retain control of your life at any age; you will feel competent and capable to seek any opportunity to better your life; you will develop empathy and compassion for all those around you. Most importantly, you will overcome worry, which is self-disabling and self-destructive pessimism, a common attribute of the elderly. According to a study of the Harvard School of Public Health, Americans are pessimistic about their health. To illustrate, according to the study, 40 percent of Americans believed  they would get breast cancer  at some point  in their lives, but only 10 percent actually got the disease. A case in point, actress Angelina Jolie had her breasts removed out of her belief in the reality of becoming yet another breast cancer victim.

Negative Stereotypes

To change any negative subjective perception of aging, you must first of all remove all negative stereotypes associated with aging or the elderly. Aging is not a disease, neither is it only despair and disability. You should not view aging as a personality homogenizer, that is, at some point in time, like everybody else, you will lose your individuality and fall into a common category known as the elderly, or the senile and the decrepit.

 

Myths and Truths about Aging

 

You inevitably feel much older as you advance in years. Quite the contrary, according to a 2009 Pew Research survey, many seniors feel they are as many as 10 to19 years younger, not older, than their chronological age.

Dementia is inevitable in life. But dementia is only one of the many symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. If you don’t have the disease, you may only have senior moments, which are just momentary memory lapses. Use it or lose it. If you regularly use and exercise your brain, you will have fewer senior moments. Of course, if you do have the Alzheimer’s disease, then it is something else.

You can no longer exercise your body and mind in your 50s, 60s, and beyond.  Nothing is further from the truth than this. It is never too late to exercise, despite your aches and pains. As a matter of fact, immobility only aggravates muscle weakness and inflexibility, and thus creating a vicious circle of inactivity and pain.

If you think you are too old to give up your nicotine, think again! Research studies have indicated that most seniors are able to give up their lifelong habit of smoking in their golden years.

You can never teach an old dog new tricks. Scientists have found that the cognitive reserve in the human brain enables learning new things in the latter half of life. Whether you wish to continue to empower yourself with new knowledge in your golden years is your personal choice, and it has little to do with your mind power or your age.

Women in senior years are more likely to develop depression than men. According to National Women’s Health Resources, women in their golden years become more adventurous and more ready to look for new opportunities in life than men do. It is also a myth that depression will impair an aging body and mind. The truth of the matter is that depression is a treatable medical condition. Don’t stigmatize yourself!

Western cultures perpetuate the perception and the negative stereotypes of the elderly. Do not buy into all the negative and erroneous beliefs about growing old. If you can only remove all your negative stereotypes and myths of aging, you are well on the way to the sunny side of your golden years. 

YOUR GOLDEN YEARS AND SANTA CLAUS

THE TAO OF HEALING MYASTHENIA GRAVIS

Introduction of the book:

Millions and billions of people worldwide are suffering from autoimmune diseases, including myasthenia gravis which is only one of the many different autoimmune disorders that are causing anxiety, fear, pain, mental confusion, and even suicidal thoughts in some of those afflicted.

According to Western medicine, there is no known cure for autoimmune diseases due to the complexity of their causes. Understandably, patients afflicted with autoimmune diseases are seeking healing from many different healing modalities, such as the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the Ayurvedic medicine, and among many others. In addition, they are desperately looking for help from herbs, fruits, and all kinds of natural nutrient supplements, as well as from physical exercises and spiritual practices, to rejuvenate their failing health due to their weakened immune systems.

The TAO may play a pivotal role in the healing process of any autoimmune disease, including that of myasthenia gravis.

The TAO is the profound wisdom of Lao Tzu, the ancient sage from China more than 2,600 years ago, who was the author of the immortal ancient classic Tao Te Ching on human wisdom.

The word “TAO” (道) in Chinese originally meant “road.” Later, it came to mean “way” and hence “the Way.” The TAO is “the Way” of looking at the world with a certain attitude of the mind, which is totally different from that of the West, and that is why it is so intriguing and fascinating, as evidenced by the fact that Tao Te Ching (道 德 經), the book of the TAO by Lao Tzu, is one of the most translated books in the world.

The TAO may provide self-inspiration and self-intuition for those who have to confront all the changes and challenges when diagnosed with myasthenia gravis or any autoimmune disease.

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A sample from the book:

The Healthy Brain 

This is how you may keep your brain healthy:

• Keep yourself hydrated because 80 percent of your brain is water. Drink at least 7-8 cups of water per day.
• Keep healthy gums, and floss your teeth regularly to prevent any gum disease.
• Enhance and improve blood flow to your brain with your 30-minute exercise at least several times a week.
• Eat a healthy diet: high-quality lean protein; low-glycemic and high-fiber carbohydrates; natural and not processed foods.
• Avoid inflammation and the formation of free radicals in your body.
• Avoid sugar and sugary drinks, including all sodas and diet sodas.
• Quit smoking, and limit your alcohol consumption to no more than 5 glasses per week.
• Manage your blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels.
• Maintain healthy levels of nutrients, e.g. vitamin D and omega-3s.
• Maintain healthy hormones of the thyroid and the testosterone.
• Promote good mental health, and avoid anxiety and depression.
• De-stress yourself with correct breathing and daily meditation.
• Get quality sleep of at least 7-8 hours a night without the help of medication.
• Develop meaning and purpose in your life.

In addition to having a healthy brain, you must learn how to empower your thinking mind to seek and acquire the knowledge to heal your myasthenia gravis.                                   

The Questions and the Answers

Asking many relevant questions and seeking the answers from those questions asked is the way to empower your thinking mind.

There is an old proverb that says: “He who cannot ask cannot live.” Life is all about asking questions and seeking answers from the questions asked—and that is empowering the human mind for knowledge and information.                                                

After a devastating myasthenia gravis diagnosis, it is not uncommon for the patient to ask the question: “Why?” Asking this pivotal question can have either a negative or a positive impact on the patient. The question “Why me?” often leads to negative emotions, such as anger, anxiety, frustration, hopelessness, and even unfairness; while the question “Why do I have myasthenia gravis?” may result in the intent to do something positive about the causes of the disorder, leading to healing.

In the Bible, Jesus said: “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find” (Matthew 7:7) In real life, we must always ask ourselves many thought-provoking questions at all times. Asking questions is self-introspection, which is a positive process of self-intuition and self-reflection, without which there is no self-awareness and hence no personal growth and development. Therefore, asking questions is self-empowering the thinking mind to get the knowledge, which is a tool necessary for any healing process.

Remember, the kind of questions you ask determines the kind of life you are going to live. Your questions often trigger a set of mental answers, which may lead to actions or inactions, based on the choices you are going to make from the answers you have obtained. Your life is always the sum of all the choices you have made in the process. No matter what, life is a journey of self-discovery, a continual process of asking questions and seeking self-awakening answers from all the questions asked. The more questions you ask, the more powerful your thinking mind will become, and the more ready you will be to receive the self-intuitive answers.

The most important thing in questions-and-answers is to experience everything, not just to pursue the knowledge. As a matter of fact, knowledge can help, but it can also hinder. When you only follow what you know, and forget how and what you feel, you can easily be led down the wrong path. Extensive knowledge and even logical reasoning may not necessarily compound true human wisdom.

The bottom line: live every question you are going to ask yourself, and live in its full presence; be patient toward all those questions that you cannot find the answers right away. But true enlightenment may dawn on you one day when you find yourself asking fewer or even no more questions because by then you may already have got all the answers—that is the ultimate self-awakening.

Therefore, continue the process of self-reflecting all the questions you are going to ask yourself; without this self-reflection, you may continue to exist in the trauma of your myasthenia gravis diagnosis. Now,  start asking questions to put yourself on the right path to intuiting the TAO of healing myasthenia gravis.    

THE TAO OF HEALING MYASTHENIA GRAVIS

YOU CORRECT THE INCORRECT

 Why You Should Want to Write 

You write not just for your teachers or your readers, but, more importantly, for yourself. There are several reasons why you should want to write.

Writing may be a part of your job description. Writing letters, memos, reports, minutes of meetings, and sending e-mails may be your daily tasks at your workplace.

Writing may afford you an opportunity to explore yourself—your thoughts and your feelings. Writing is often a journey of self-discovery: you begin to find out more about who you are, and what your values are. Writing is more than just an expression of self: it creates the self. To that end, you can write a diary or journal for self-expression. Regular journal writing not only improves your writing skill but also expands your thinking.

Writing helps you organize your thinking. Effective writing requires you to put your random thoughts into a coherent pattern. Through writing, you learn to mentally articulate your ideas in a more logical and systematic way. Writing regularly improves your logic and sharpens your power of thinking and reasoning.

Writing enhances your ability to use language for specific purposes. You may begin to realize how some writers use manipulative language to persuade others. Accordingly, you learn to “read between the lines” as well as to recognize the truths from the half-truths or the myths.

Writing is an effective means of communication with others. Even when you write an e-mail to your friends, you need to make yourself intelligible by writing what you mean and meaning what you write.

In short, writing is an important communication skill. Reap all the benefits of writing by learning how to write. Make a virtue out of your necessity.

The main objective of this book is to help you write with confidence. To do just that, you need to avoid making sentence errors as much as possible. That is, correcting the incorrect. When you have greater confidence in your writing, then you must write more, and much more, in order that you may write well.

A Sample of the Book:

Which of the Following Sentences Are Incorrect?

(1) It can say that the construction industry is still booming.

(2) This carpet is red in color.

(3) Here is the question: what to do next?

(4) The examination was easy everybody passed.

(5) The pig is lazy.

(6) Woman is man’s mate.

(7) Formally voters were not granted a secret ballot.

(8) As far as I know, he is a gentleman.

(9) I didn’t sleep any last night.

(10) Because the roads are covered with ice, school has been cancelled.

The Incorrect

(1) It can say that the construction industry is still booming.

(2) This carpet is red in color.

(4) The examination was easy everybody passed.

(7) Formally voters were not granted a secret ballot.

(8) As far as I know, he is a gentleman.

(9) I didn’t sleep any last night.

Look at the sentences again to find out why they are incorrect.

The Explanation

(1) It can say that the construction industry is still booming. (incorrect)

“The construction industry is still booming.” (correct) Avoid “it can say”; even “it says in the Bible or in the paper” is bad usage.

(2) This carpet is red in color. (incorrect)

“The carpet is red.” (correct: “in color” is redundant)

(4) The examination was easy everybody passed. (incorrect: the two independent sentences are put together without any conjunction or punctuation mark)

“The examination was easy: everybody passed.” (correct: the use of “:” explains how “easy”)

“The examination was easy, everybody passed.” (incorrect: joining two independent sentences with a comma is incorrect)

“Because the examination was easy, everybody passed.” (correct: “the examination was easy” becomes a subordinate clause with the addition of “because”)

“The examination was easy and everybody passed.” (correct: the two coordinating sentences are joined with a conjunction)

(7) Formally voters were not granted a secret ballot. (incorrect: “formerly”, meaning at an earlier time, should be used instead of “formally” which means in a formal or an elaborate manner, e.g. “We were formally introduced to the President.”)

(8) As far as I know, he is a gentleman. (incorrect: “as far as” refers to distance, e.g. “I can walk as far as the train station.”)

“So far as I know, he is a gentleman.” (correct: “so far as” implies a limitation, e.g. “To the best of my knowledge, this is correct.”)

(9) I didn’t sleep any last night. (incorrect)

“I didn’t have any sleep last night.” (correct)

“I didn’t sleep at all last night.” (correct)

(3) Here is the question: what to do next? (correct: the “:” joins two independent sentences, and explains what the question is)

(5) The pig is lazy. (correct: “the” is used before a singular noun to represent a class or group)

(6) Woman is man’s mate. (correct: not “the woman” and “the man” as in (5))

(10) Because the roads are covered with ice, school has been cancelled. (correct: a subordinate clause “Because the roads are covered with snow” attached to a coordinate clause)

Go and get your copy: YOU CORRECT THE INCORRECT

 

NO EGO NO STRESS

    Stress is your body’s response to increased tension. Stress is normal. You need stress to do many things, such as accepting challenges, concentrating on doing a difficult task, and making important daily and life decisions, among others. Indeed, stress can be even conducive to your health, such as stress from having sex, which increases both your pulse rate and heartbeat, as well as stimulates your brain cells to keep your brain younger and healthier for longer. In many ways, stress can be enjoyable, such as the mental and physical challenge in competitive sports and games.

After the initial stress-induced stimuli, your body should be able to relax, slow down, and return to its original state of balance and equilibrium. If that does not happen, you may become distressed or over-stressed. Too much stress can also increase your production of hormone epinephrine, and thus wearing out your hormonal glands. Dysfunctional hormone production may lead to many health issues: your blood sugar elevation to produce more energy; your breathing rate acceleration to get more oxygen for your lungs; your muscle tension; your pulse rate and blood pressure increase; and your excess sweating to cool down your body, among many other health issues. In that respect, stress can be damaging to your overall health and wellness.

It is okay to stay slightly stressed every now and then, but avoid distress—which is alienation, anxiety, fear, frustration, and even depression. When stress continues over long periods of time, it may become chronic stress, which is harmful and damaging to the body, the mind, and the soul over the long haul.

DAMAGE AND DEVASTATION OF STRESS

Chronic stress, which causes the body to maintain physiological reactions for long periods of time, especially with respect to the release of hormones, particularly DHEA (a hormone critical to anti-aging and longevity), can lead to depletion of vital nutrients in the body, vitamin C, and the B-complex vitamins.

During stress, the body overuses its DHEA supply, and thus impairing the normal functioning of its hormonal glands. According to scientific research, an individual’s DHEA levels decrease with age. Therefore, stress only adds insult to  injury in the aging process.

Another interesting study showed that men who meditate (an anti-stress mental strategy) regularly have significantly more DHEA than those who do not, and the difference is even much more significant in the case of women (maybe women do have more stress than men do).

Indeed, stress can accelerate the aging process. According to Robert Sapolsky, author of Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers, people in general lose their capability to cope with stress as they continue to age, due to their tendency to have elevated blood pressure, which adversely affects hormone secretions. That is how stress can become a vicious circle.

If you wish to remain younger and healthier for longer, do not allow stress into your life.

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF STRESS

Are you stressed? Some typical signs and symptoms of a distressed body and mind may include: aggression and anger; breathing difficulties and problems; indigestion and eating disorders; excess sweating; chronic fatigue; frequent headache; memory loss; muscle tension; poor concentration and indecision, among others.

Remember, stress is one of the key factors contributing to aging. Anxiety and depression—often the byproducts of stress—are often the precursors to autoimmune diseases, such as diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis, among others. By accelerating breathing, elevating blood pressure, and constricting blood flow, stress may also be the culprit of heart diseases. Even cancer can be affected by distressed emotions.

ORIGIN OF STRESS

Stress originates from the mind. It is all in the mind. The intensity of stress is a perception of the mind. Stress is no more than your own perceptions of it. That is to say, it is your own attitude or personal reaction to certain events and experiences in your life. In other words, what is stress to you may not be stress to another person.

William Shakespeare once said: “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” John Milton, the famous English poet, also had this to say: “The mind is its own place, and in itself can make Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven.” Both spoke volumes of the perceptions of stress.

Therefore, subconscious energies of the mind play a pivotal role in stress management.

The bottom line: Learn how your TAO wisdom can take away your ego and then de-stress you.

     The book NO EGO NO STRESS is divided into four parts:

PART ONE The Introduction to Stress: How and where stress comes from; the damage and devastation of stress to human health.

PART TWO The Conventional Wisdom: The major life stressors come from career, money, relationship, adversity, and time. The conventional wisdom offers many strategies for stress relief, such as exercise, herbs, medications, meditation, and psychotherapies, among many others. The conventional wisdom may reduce stress levels, but it does not eradicate stress completely. The conventional wisdom only complements the ancient TAO wisdom for ultimate stress relief.

PART THREE The TAO Wisdom: This part not only explains what the TAO is all about, but also contains the complete translation in simple English of all the 81 short chapters of “Tao Te Ching.” Going through the whole script, interpreted and translated by the author, will enable you to understand the essentials of the TAO for stress-free contemporary living.

PART FOUR No Ego No Stress: Stress originates from the human mind: how it perceives and processes life experiences. What is stress to one individual may not be stress to another. This part explains in detail how having no ego can eradicate stress related to career, relationship, money, adversity, and time.

Go and get your copy: NO EGO NO STRESS

THE WISDOM OF LETTING GO

The Book Description:

To live well, one must ask questions about life; after all, life is about asking questions and finding answers throughout one’s life journey. True human happiness comes from human wisdom to ask the right questions and spiritual wisdom to get answers to the questions asked.

The human ego is composed of different attachments to the physical world, such as careers, emotions, memories, money, and relationships, among others. The human ego is unreal; it is only a distorted reflection of the real self. The human ego not only confuses the mind but also prevents it from finding out the realities about the self, others, and what is happening around. True human wisdom comes from knowing who you really are, not who you wish you were, and what you really need, not what you want or desire. Attachments are just emotional distractions in the mind from confronting changes in an ever-changing world. Let go of all attachments to see the absolute truths of all things.

The ancient TAO wisdom from China provides a blueprint for nourishing human wisdom: an empty mind with reverse thinking, mindfulness for clarity thinking, living in the present with no expectations of the future, no picking and choosing, accepting and embracing everything that comes in the natural cycle of change—what goes up must always come down. True human wisdom is the ability to understand that attachments are no more than distractions of the mind from letting go of anything and everything that is impermanent in the material world.

You are a two-in-one person: your ego-self and your spirit. They always co-exist and are in constant struggle with each other. The more attachments you have, the more assertive and dominant your ego-self is over your spirit, which provides spiritual wisdom to help you live in the material world.

The human flaw comes from attachments of the ego-self. To overcome this flaw, human wisdom alone may be inadequate; it requires the complement of spiritual wisdom, which is turning to the Creator with trust and obedience—that is, letting go to let God control the uncontrollable in life.

THE WISDOM OF LETTING GO

A sample of the book:

Human unhappiness comes from the human flaw, which is human attachment to the many material things in the physical world they are living in. Attachment is only natural and instinctive, but too much attachment may also become a burden to the mind and the soul—the human flaw that leads to asking the wrong questions and thus receiving the wrong answers. Letting go of human attachment may help knowing the right way to finding both human wisdom and spiritual wisdom, which may ultimately point the pathway to attaining true human happiness.

It is also important to know that we all have a body, a mind, and a soul living in the physical world. They are all inter-connected and inter-dependent on one another for co-existence in order to live and survive in the physical world. The mind, the body, and the soul all work together as a system of life energy. The free flow or stagnation of this life energy is dependent on the “state of being” of the body, the mind, and the soul at each moment. It is this moment-to-moment alignment in the body, the mind, and the soul, as well as their alignment with one another, that creates the unique state of being, which is a miracle in itself.

On the other hand, the misalignment of the body, the mind, and the soul may stem from the human flaw of attachment, which may adversely affect the body; given the close body-mind connection, the mind contaminated by the body may ultimately infest the soul too.

The body is like a wild horse, unbridled, running here, there, and everywhere. The mind is like the horseman, riding on its back, trying to rein it in and bringing it back on the right track; to do just that, human wisdom is required of the horseman. The soul, existing in a totally different dimension with its inherent spiritual wisdom, supervises both the horse and the horseman, providing the latter with a compass and a roadmap so that both the horse and the horseman may continue the journey on the right track and reach their final destination.

What role does the human flaw play?

The human flaw may negatively affect the behavior and personality of the horse, and thus challenging the skill and horsemanship of the rider. This may lead both the horse and the rider onto the wrong track and get lost. 

The bottom line: without the wisdom to know what true happiness is, we will never find it no matter how hard we may try; without the wisdom to understand who we are, we will never be happy because true happiness comes from the true self with both human and spiritual wisdom.

 THE WISDOM OF LETTING GO