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Dear Fellow Adventurers


IS THERE SOMETHING STOPPING you from moving on? What is it? Can you name it? Dr Patch Adams’ advice to all who want to follow their big dreams seems to suggest that you don’t need to know what is stopping you because all you have to do is to decide to be the person you want to be. “Decide – and then become an architect of yourself, a composer, a designer – however you like to call it.” A.C. Ping’s advice seems to go hand in


hand with that: “Real growth, real life, comes when you stop making excuses and ask instead – what do I really want? and how do I need to be to have that? When you get to that point, then you have the opportunity to claim your freedom by choosing how you want to be.” Kathy Wong, our cover woman, has also


found that to be the case in her own life. Read her fascinating story about growing up in Sydney as a ‘banana’, an Australian- born Chinese person, and then see how she got to a certain point in her life when she was not satisfied with outer success and woke up one day knowing she was meant to be contributing to the welfare of others. Kathy’s life was not without trials (whose


is?), but she realised along the way that she was okay not to be okay. A.C. Ping says that too: “Stop beating yourself up! Lift your head up high! Accept your failures and choose to love and accept yourself unconditionally.” Juliet Gorrie, who writes about life


after divorce, has experienced that out of her personal disaster there is growth: “I may struggle, but to this I am holding – that even in the midst of winter a work is in progress. Beneath the surface of circumstance, inner seeds of change are growing. New character is emerging.” All of these stories are about the human


condition and show the pain and the glory of being incarnate. You and I both understand this first-hand. Why do we need to read more stories about it? Apart from the very precious gem that


everyone has to share, their uniqueness, their slant on life, their response to sometimes devastating circumstances, there is always a lesson to be learned from someone else. For me, there is strength, grace and


fervour in the words that some people use to state their case. Harking back to Juliet’s experience of divorce, look at these powerful words: “I have stood, as if naked, before the world, my emotions raw and my voice quiet. ‘Why is this pain not moving?’, I have whispered to the Universe.” Raw and courageous, isn’t it? Especially


when you see that she comes to the conclusion that, “Maybe this is the time that I grow into the woman I was destined to be – a woman that can stand.” Don’t you feel honoured to be invited


into her personal world? Some people have a very painful


personal life bruised by abuse. It’s often, but not always, perpetrated by the man of the household, and Dr Steven Stosny says, “The sole purpose of your husband’s anger and abusive behaviour is to defend himself from feeling like a failure, especially as a protector, provider, lover or parent. In truth, most men feel inadequate about relationships. We learn to feel adequate by providing what all relationships require: support and compassion.” How insightful. More than that, Dr Stosny gives us solid advice on how to heal the situation and therefore stop the perpetual cycle. Another important article in this issue


is by Martin Oliver and he reports on nano-technology and how in Australia the


TGA won’t let people promote that they are ‘nano free’. So we have to work it out for ourselves, and of course the easiest way to do this is to buy organic. In case you’re tempted to gloss this over, see this: “... its ingestion causes double-strand DNA damage and inflammation in mice. These results are supported by a 2011 Swiss-French study that concludes that its inflammatory action in the lungs is similar to that of asbestos.” What’s worse is that it is “in a wide


range of personal care products, including soap, toothpaste, cosmetics, mouthwash, deodorant, and shaving cream.” Are you ‘sold’ on your favourite modality


or spiritual practice? That’s great, but remember also that meditation, yoga and other practices are “simply the warm-ups to living life as spirit instead of clay. Those practices are there to tune us in to the frequency that we might otherwise miss.” These words are by Steve Ray, and the rest of his article, including his usual wisdom and insightful examination of life, can be found in our Lunch Special. Remember to look at the huge variety


of wonderful courses and workshops advertised this month in the feature, and to also consider entering the course giveaway – details on page 31. If you’d like to contribute a reader story


about festive dining for the December issue, please email me at editor@livingnow. com.au by 10th November. With love


Elizabeth Jewell Stephens


Five more amazing career courses to be won! Would you like a unique & valuable


6 NOVEMBER 2014


course to enrich YOUR life in 2015? See page 31 for more details


IMAGE COURTESY OF ONA HENDERSON


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