52 Day Evolving Low Calorie Diet with Intermittent 4 to 5 Day Fast: Day #6. Is it a Low Calorie Diet , Relapse, Failure, Recovery or The Journey?

https://wordpress.com/post/bicolbillblog.wordpress.com/137


Still at it, however still making progress.

A lot has transitioned since my last post on this blog. More on that later.

I look about the same. weighing innate about 245, 21 % Visceral Body Fat, 49 in Girth.

Closed my Tai Ji School last February to get my Left KneeReplaced.

Have Fallen Down , Many Times, But, Still Get UP.

Am 63 going on 64, hope to make 104, but 84 is more realistic?

SO, This Blog will mirror the other.

V/R

Bill

Practice What I Preach Day 37

Happy October 6th, and Happy Autumn

Day 37 of Juicing over 2 months of vegetarian lifestyle. No meat, is not a big deal,avoiding carbs,like cheese, ect , more difficult. Obviously I am or have gotten off track as I am back to #262.2, Girth 48 ", VBF 23%. Issue is time management, and eating after I come home. Juicing is time consuming, often teh juice tastes disgusting, and if not has too many carbs(apples,carrots,beets). Working , domestic obligations, and not weight training and engaging in a dedicted aerobic conditoning program add to the backslide. I have been practicing my Qi Qong. Patinets whom I've offereda variation of the juiceing lifestyle/plan to, 2 to 3 times a week, and eating meat, low glycemic diet, have remarked they've had more energy.

Well I'll check back in in a month, and see if I can follow thru, not cheat, and actually Practice What I Preach.

Top 5 Goal:

1) Juice at least 4 days a a week

2) Wt Train 90 minutes  once a week

3) Swim  40 minutes Once a week

4) Walk one hour  twice a week

5) Practice Qi Qong 7 Hours a week

So, to get back on track , hows about I  start by  by following thru on  my little guide:

"How to Accomplish Almost Anything"

6 Basic Human Needs

1) Certainty

2) Diversity

3) Significance

4) Connectiveness

5) Growth

6) Contribution

Five Levels of Experience

1) I like it, it Is Good for me and Helps Others

2) I don’t like it, but it Is Good for me and helps others

3) I Like it, I am not sure it is good for me, but it does help others

4) I like it, but it is Not Good for me, and does not help others

5) I don’t like it, it is Not Good for me, and does not help others


7 methods to sabotage any process, DO the Reverse to Fix it

1) Have a negative attitude towards the process

2) Avoid an Abundant /Enthusiastic attitude/mentality

3) Don’t have a Strategy

4) Don’t follow that strategy thru

5) Rely entirely on experts

6) Fail to maintain a Vigil once successful

7) Allow crisis to turn into catastrophe, a lack of resilience


12 Methods to Solve any Problem

1 ) Manage your emotional state

2) Focus, 20 % on the problem, 80 % on the solution

3) Obtain and maintain momentum, write it down

4) Analyze the issue

5) Re assess, Redirect, your method/ solution

6) Recruit Role models to assist, people who’ve been there ,negotiated a similar problem successfully before

7) Reassess your relationship with this challenge

8) Find out what is good about this challenge

9) Find out what is not perfect yet, but could me

10) Find out what are you willing to do , to solve this challenge
11) Find out what you are no longer willing to do ,or continue doing to solve this challenge

12) Find out how you can deal with this challenge and enjoy, learn ,grow from the process


Below is my Wt Log since my last entry. No need for a new picture as no tmuch has changed.

 Day 18 Sat 9/17/11 Wt 254.2#

Day 19 Sun 9/18/11 Wt 255.8#

Day 20 Mon 9/19/11 Wt?!260#

Day 21 Tues 9/20/11 Wt 258#

Day 22 Wed 9/21/11 Wt 258#

Day 23 Thu 9/22/11 Wt 256.6#

Day 24 Fri 9/23/11 Wt 256#

Day 25 Sat 9/24/11 Wt 255.6#

Day 26 Sun 9/25/11 Wt 258#?

Day 27 Mon 9/26/11 Wt 260#?

Day 28 Tue 9/27/11 Wt 259#

Day29 Wed 9/28/11 Wt 258.6#

Day 30 Thu 9/29/11 Wt 256.6#

Day 31 Fri 9/30/11 Wt 256.4#
Girth 47" VBF 23 %

Day 32 Sat 10/1/11 Wt 257#

Day 33 Sun 10/2/11 Wt 258.6#

Day 34 Mon 10/3/11 Wt 262#!?

Day 35 Tues 10/4/11 Wt 262

Day 36 Wed 10/5/11 Wt 261.2

Day 37 Thur 10/6/11 Wt 262.2

Practice What I Preach Day 42, 14 Day ReBoot, Yeah!!

Day 42, 14 Day ReBoot, Yeah!!Wednesday.

So, today I completed my 1st ReBoot, 14 days, Juicing, mostly Green,alot of cheating, but No Meat, minimal Alcohol.

Celebrated by having a Salad, some cheese, and 3 glasses of wine, (back Tracking ,I know!) anyway,

Day 14 of my reboot, went from 264.6 #  to 253.8 , Visceral Body Fat from 23 % to 22 %, and Gith and bellly Button, 48 in to 47 ".

Below is my ReBoot Log, Diary,  Won't do that again. just record Wt, Girth VBF every 2 weeks till 25 Jan 2012, Water Daragon!

Cheating helps, results not as dramatic as my son Chris, (Not a Cheater) who lost 20# in 8 days, but he is Dizzy!)

Developed my Recipe for Jungle Juice Lena Green & Mean. Tha tis also Below, and wha tI mostly live on.

Some Nuts, some cheese, salad, CHines Vegies, and rarely ice cream, once in awhile., but 75% ,I am a Green Juicer till 1/25/12!!

So, Here we, go, Read below, see the Pics, Soon I'l do a Morph Vidoe, Thansk for the Support, Next ReBOot will be while Working


Jungle Juice


Required High End Juicer



Bremer or Champion



Review DVDs



www.sickfatandnearlydead .com



www.crazysexylife.com



www.nutritiondata.com



My Recipe:



Kale: 12 oz = 3 oz juice



Chard 12 oz = 4 oz juice



Spinach 11 oz = 5 oz



Bok Choy 12 oz = 9 oz



Cucumber 16 oz = 8 oz



Celery 15 oz = 9 oz



2 stalks green onion .5 oz



1 whole red beet = 2 oz



1 carrot = 2 oz



Wheat Grass.( frozen) e 4 oz



3 Pears 32 oz = 8 oz juice



2 green Apples = 6 oz juice



2 limes = 2 oz of juice



2 Halopeno peppers .5 oz juice



2 Tblspn Spirulina ( Protein)



Total with 12 oz of coconut water



= 75 oz Good for 1 day



Eat 12 oz black beans or lentils



if you are weight training



Eat an extra Carrot, Apple & Pear



If you are Dizzy , need to eat



A Gentle Cheat is :



Have a Salad with Vinegrette



and / or take Pulp from Juice



Mix with a bit of Cayenne, turmeric, salt, pepper ( brown Rice)

and fry up using PAM Or Bake.



That'll give you some Fiber and



few extra calories, rather than



Cheating , like usually do!



if you are walking/ 30 min Aerobics



Get 8 to 23 hours of Sleep Daily



Cost about $15



Good Luck

2 Week ReBoot.


food activity time Log

"A Perfect Day ! ,

is To Wake Up with a Goal,

and Go to Sleep a Dream"



Day 1, 8/31/11 Wed Wt 264.4#

Visceral Body Fat 23 %

Abd Girth 48 "



7 am

Rosary, awoke, cleaned up

went to Dentist 8 am to 9:30 am



9:30 am

phone calls



10 am

Home, juiced 2 liters chard,spinach,soybeans, cucumber,celery,apple,lemon,

Ginger,but spilled wasted .5 l

Cleaned Mess

Watched Henry

Fed Dogs mixed pulp in their food

Drank .75 liters Ok



12 pm attempt to nap, watch sesame St home videos with Hank



1 pm eat 1/2 an apple drink Jungle Juice .5 l , watch Elmo

with Hank



2 pm Watch & Nap with Hank & Leanna.



3:30 pm watch be with Kadin



5 pm Go with Hank, Kadin Von

to Wegmas & Lowes



7 pm 1 liter Jungle juice, eat 1/2 cup of chopped olives, 1 cup of Red Peppers, watch SF&ND with Chris



8 pm get Soring



8:30 get home 1cup of Garbanzo Beans Cook Chicken Mushroom Curry for Family. Watch Doc on Cocaine



10 pm work on paperwork , futlily work on computer.

complete daily Log



11 pm Go to Bed . small HA



Goal get up early get LapTop working or get ready for Work but 1st Swim Wt Train. Work , get Buisness Done, Juice for Day, Teach Tai Ji, clean/ organize office, do some charts, be with family, play with Harvey



Day 2 9/1/11 Thurs 262.2 #



7 am Rosary Sleep/ Dream



10:30am awaken

Take Bath with Soring



11 am watch babies, feed dogs, Make Jungle Juice 1 Beet,2 apples,3 endives, 4 stalks celery, 4 stalks Chard, 1 tablspn Spirulina, 1 bunch dandelions,

.5 liters coconut water, =2 liters, drink 1.5 liters



1 pm watch babies,

argue with Jon



2pm nap with Soring



3pm organize stuff, talk with Soring,Drink .5 liter JJ, 1/2 banana, 1/2 apple



4:30 pm Go to BACH close charts

drink 0.5 l water with Soring



5:15pm Teach Tai Ji/ Qi Qong



6:45 pm

shopping, chores, go home

Ate 25 peanuts & 10 watermelon seeds with shells



8 pm ate rice cakes 20 salted



8:30 pm watch Vampire Diaries, watch Babies, 1/2 apple



9:30 pm watch finding Nemo with Von & babies,

20 oz wine ,500 cal of popcorn



11 pm Check E Mail



12 am Take Meds, Go to Sleep



Tomorrows Goals:

Don't Cheat on program

Complete Day one Goals

Complete BAHC Training some Charts , Swim



Day 3 9/2/11 Fri 263.4 #



4:30 am Awake Rosary, rest



5:30 am get ready, drink 0.5 l JJ,do chores



6:30 am Go to YMCA 1 diet RedBull 1 energy



6:45 am YMCA

swam 400 yd/20min



7:30 am Go to BAHC Admin day

Coffee 8oz



12 pm home for lunch , 1/2 cup tomatoes & 1/3 cup guacamole

Rested



1 pm work



3:30 pm 8 oz V8, go home

check on / Feed Dogs, bring Von & Babies to FSK , get Oil changed, Chevy maintained.

Walk 1 mile in mall

10 pieces Vegie Sushi, Seaweed Salad, 4pieces Vegie tempura

16oz berry,soy,banana smoothies



8 pm Take Kadin home. Then go Home



8:30 pm home get Harvey watch TV with Soring

Ate 400 calRice Cakes.

1/4 cup ice cream one apple



12 am check email , you tube

Fu Jow Pai & Tai Ji Spear videos



1 am go to sleep



Tomorrow Goals:

Clean Desk, Office, Wt Train

Do Some Charts, Training BAHC

Don't Cheat on ReBoot, Walk



Day 4 9/3/11 Sat Wt 262 #

VBF 22 %

10 am Awake, help Von with Kids



10:30 Make 2 L Jungle Juice

Bitter Squash leaves ,Spinach,

Chard, Celery, Cucumber, Beet

Green Apples, pear, Lemon, Hot

Pepper, Wheat Grass, Spirulina

0.5 L Coconut Water, Water

Had 4 oz juice, a pear, an apple



11:30 amClean Up, Clean Kitchen



12:30 pm take Meds Go over

stuff and talk with Soring



2 pm Take a Nap



3:30 Take a Shower be with Soring, talk to Chris

1 L Jungle Juice



5 pm Go to CTS&RT



6 pm Have Vegie dinner

Spinach,Carrots. Mushrooms, Vegie Raviolli 1, Tea, 1 bread, tsp butter. Delicious but neither Soring or I could eat it All



7 pm Slots & Craps, lost $50



8 pm Waiting for Soring, check email, Text Review Stuff



8:30 pm . No Soring Yet

Threw Kua 42 to 61 Inner Truth Zhong Fu to Increase Yi about Jonathan & I, what to do, Don't Inflict the Consequence, he may Die. Wait, be Firm, Be Correct, he may see his mistakes , correct them and Improve



8:45 pm Stuck in Car,with Soring





10 pm Got Home fixed Car

1/2 cheese sandwich

Watch Star Wars . Had 4 oz

Jungle Juice, 20 Peanuts

BS fe Ed d

12 am Call Mel in PI

Take Medications



Tomorrows Goals

Work on Today's Goals

Don't Cheat on ReBoot



Day 5 9/4/11 Sun Wt 260,4#



8:30 am awake ,

Do Rosary Check Texts , Rest more with Soring



9:30 Get up, shower , drink 1 L Jungle Juice, leave with Chris & Kadin to get Carlie Go to RenFair



11:30 RenFest, walk 2 miles, ate

Fried MushRooms, Onion Rings,

Meade,12 oz Hard cider, 8 oz cider , lemonade, saw Johnny Fox, Medeival Babes, had Fun !!



18:30 left RenFest had 1 L JJ



7:30 Go To Frederick to shop



8 pm Home had Cheese sandwich 1 L water

Watch Medieval Babes DVD

1/2 cup chips 1 apple

Watch Joel Osteen

Watch True Blood



10:30 Take Meds Go to Sleep

Dream Request Wisdom and Will

to Surrender & Comprehend as Able Will of God.

Be more Single Minded in my

Purpose and Priorities



Day 6. Mon 9/5/11 Wt 258.8 #



Goals: Stretch Back, Do Yoga

Clean Office & Bathrm

Walk, Go to Zoo or Wt Train

Mail off info to Mr Laffer

Do 10 charts, Training at BAHC



8:30 Awake Do Rosary, rest



9 am get up be with Von & kids

Feed Dogs, make non dairy Corn

Chowder with left overs, Juice

Ate one apple



10:30 am Do Yoga Sword Form Stretch Back, watch babies Watch Army of Darkness Eat 2 cups of corn Chowder 2 apples



1 pm make CD of RenFest



1:30 pm dance with Babies



2 pm eat Portabella Mushrooms

1 cup of corn soup , 4 cups of Sprouts, 1tblspn Dressing, 1 oz cheese, 4 carrots

Watch Madea Show

Watch Babies

Make ( J J) Jungle Juice

Watch Win Win

Corn Chowder, pickles, 1 L JJ

Watch Drive Angry



1am Review Day

1:30 Go to Sleep



Day 7 Tues 9/6/11 Wt 259 #



Goals :Stay Focused Find/Get ID

Complete yesterday's Goals



7:30 am ,Awake Say Rosary Meditate, Look for ID

Drink 1.5 L JJ, Rest,Think



9 am Sky Drum, Dragon Qi Qong

12 Standing Postures Qi Qong

3rd Section Yang Set,

16 Tai Ji Spear, 1 cup Soy Milk



10:30 am Found ID,

Fixed Von's Amulet



11 am watch Babies Clean Medicine Cabinet Organize Papers, take a nap, eat can of Black Beans, steamed Vegies,

Make Leanna's Video



7 pm watch TV, watch babies, lemonade, work on chores



12 am Go to Sleep

Dream: Single Minded Purpose

Work on Goal Completion



Day 8 Wed 9/7/11 Wt 256.6#



9:30 awoke, up several times

Rosary done earlier, back to bed

Goals: complete prior day goals , go see Master Li



10:30 am Eat a Banana Check email do Buisness Get ready



12 pm Go to Acupuncture with Soring. Eat 3 cups of Grapes, small French Fries, 1/2 banana.



1:30 pm Acupuncture,cupping

Soring & I



4 pm Travel to Lottes to get

Veggies & Fruits, have lunch

Vegie noodle soup,Spring Roll. avocado Bean Sprout salad & Fruit Shake



6 pm shop for Vegies at Lotte's



8 pm Got home, watch babies, ate 1 pears, 1 banana, one Carrot, watch TV with Soring



10:30 pm take meds check email



11 pm Go to Sleep



Day 9 Thurs 9/8/11 Wt 255.6#



10:30 am Awake Do Rosary

11 am Sing Happy BD to Nancy

11:30 shower, take Meds

take Pic of self for Blog

12 pm Juice Jungle Juice

Have a pear



2 pm 1 L JJ, finished making Creamed Greens Pulp Sprout with mushrooms Eat 2 1/2 cups, rest



2:45 pm Get Kadin, have smallmeal, 1 pear,onion rings, cheese sticks, coffee,1 cookie, fedx business, teach Kadin Tai Ji, Qi Qong, Talk to Chris



7 pm Wt Train lift 29 K#



8:50 pm Go Home



9:15 pm Home Watch TV, play with babies, 1 bowl Greens, 2 cups Grapes, cheese sandwich, a few french fries



11 pm get ready to Sleep,check email,take Meds, stomach Burning, Wide Awake?? Still at



1:40 am go to Sleep



Day 10 Fri 9/9/11 Wt 258.6# ??



4 am Awake??Work on Web Site



5 am drink 8 oz Soymilk

16 oz of Jungle Juice , go to

Clinic /charts do Rosary in route



5:30 am Do Training, QA,email



10 am Go to Bank, drink (2) V8's

Go Home



10:30 am Home, Rest, organize office, drink 1 L JJ, 1 bowl Greens, take Nap



2:30 pm awake, eat a bowl of greens , get Kadin, Go do chores , come home /organize, watch babies, TV



8:30 pm organize, eat green beans, eggplant, watch babies



10:30 pm do Rosary, take Meds



11 pm Be with Soring go to bed



Day 11 Sat 9/10/11 Wt 255.2#.



9 am Awake Organize day

Feed Dogs, drink 1 L JJ



11 am Go with Chris to RenFest with Soren & Hank

V 8

12:30 pm Have Fun drink 6 oz of Mead & Hard Cider. 3 pieces Falafel

walk 2 miles

6 pm Home:

6:30 pm home rest 1 pear

8:00 pm chores shopping

9 pm eggplant. Sprouts. Asparagus. Portabella. Vets

fruit , Vegie juice, play with babies. TV



10 pm take Meds Go to Bed



Day 12 Sun 9/11/11 Wt 255#



11 am Awake do Rosary, take Meds, organize office



12 pm apples, eggplant, beans, sprouts , SoyMilk



1 pm feed dogs, watch babies, be with Rexie



4 pm rest



6 pm organize office

Watch TV with Soring, 1/2 cup mashed potatoes with gravy, 2 ears of corn



8pm eat beans, asparagus ,chips



10 pm organize office, talk to sisters, watch Moving Forward



11 pm take Meds go to bed



Day 13 Mon 9/12/11 Wt 256.2#



10:30 am Awake

, do Rosary



11 am take a bath, take Meds, drink 2 L JJ



12 pm go do chores eat Chinese Vegies, 1/2 cup fried rice, 2 small Vegie eggrolls



2 pm Home rest chores



3 pm get Kadin , go out do chores Teach Tai Ji



7 pm 2 L JJ. Chores, watch babies



8 pm mashed potatoes, apple.

2 cups ice cream? Watch TV



10 pm paperwork



11 pm take Meds go to bed



Day 14 Tues 9/13/11 Wt 256.4





4:30 Awake Do Rosary take Meds



5 am get ready, Do Admin Charts

Drink 1 L JJ,



8 am Dr Saba, bank, dr Zaidi

drink 1 L JJ, .5 L fruit juice



1 pm go to Dr Morrison



3 pm go to Gene Laffer

Says Change dep to 2

6 pm go home,get Meds,groceries

8 pm home, eat Greek Salad

watch TV,babies

11 pm take Meds go to bed



Day 15 Wed 9/14/11 253.8#??

VBF 22% Girth 47" lost 10.6 #



Do Blog tonite Continue till



23/ 25 Jan 2012 Year of Water Dragon.



Blog every 2 weeks with updated info but no daily Diary



Bill Swann D.O.

Practice What I Preach Day 17

Day 17, of PWIP. No real change this week, mostly because I didn't exercise, and cheated.




Didn't eat meat, but at grain and had a pint of Bailey's. It is all Physiology and Physics.



Success is all about planning, time management and vigilance. I did purchase a Champion Juicer with Greens and Mills Attachment.



SO now I know again the price of complacency, Stagnation.



My Wt. 260.2, Girth 47.5, VBF 23 %



Hopefully I will be more Vigilant and lessen my tendency to Procrastinate.



Epiphanies I have had over the last few years: From newest to oldest:



1) I am not responsible for the happiness of others, only my own.

2) If I can help, then good, but everyone must own that personal responsibility.



2) What is the purpose of studying martial arts? To protect the Karma of others. If that is my Intention, it comes from compassion.



3) I do not own my Reputation, that is an ephemeral perception of others. I do own my Integrity.



4) Do one's best, with the wisdom, mindset, abilities you possess at that given time, and environment, but do not attach yourself to the outcome.



5) Main purpose of being human, meaning for existence, Is to love and care or each other, and Play. To enjoy this universe and planet, while caring for it and others. All other activities are related to this. Loving ourselves, and each other, are the prerequisites,

to Loving God.



Well, till next week. Strength & Balance



Bill Swann D.O.

" Practice What I Preach"10 days down 245 days to go.

Well, completed a 10 day introduction to PWIP," Practice What I Preach" Program. Weight 260# (lost 4#) Girth is 47 in, (lost an inch), VBF, still 23 %. Completed a mostly Vegetarian, Fruit, Nuts Diet. Started back to weight Training, my program is below. Cheated some, a few drinks, a little ice cream, blended and juiced my food, but also has vegetable soups, salads and worked m 50 hour work week. Goal is to transition to mostly Juiced vegetable, fruits, No cheating. I am Off of work, from 31 Aug to 13 Aug, about 2 weeks, to accomplish this program. Will Reboot, with 10 day Juiced programs, every month from then on, and continue to avoid cooked foods except for an occasional soup, eat only fruits, (low Glycemic) an, Vegetables, and some soy and nuts. My program is compromise of the SexyKrazyCancer and the Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dad program.


I am up to 6 minutes for Cross Hands Standing Qi Qong Posture, Total Weight about #23,400 , up from #18,400, Swimming is 700 meters, in 25 min. SO, some progress.



I'll keep up my blog, calling it, "Practice What I Preach”, as I am always counseling my patients on fitness, diet, stress management, but am far from being the Poster Boy, of what I preach, but that will change.

Strength and Balance. Bill Swann D.O.

Fat Sick and Soon to be Nearly Dead

So

It has been a while since I made a post. Alot has occurred, Workng on 5 grandchildren, have a new job as an Internist at BAHC, Ft. Detrick, MD, gained #15.

ALot to be healthy and live for, alot of years attempting to walk the walk, waiting for the "physician to heal thy self" . So ,what better Venture, than to attempt to reproduce and commit to the "Reboot" ,as seen in Joe Cross's " Fat ,Sick and Nearly Dead" Follow his path, the path of Chris Karr of Sexy Krazy Cancer, and regain my Health, be an example , Not a warning? SO, here we Go. It is about 11:08 P, EST, I weigh, on my OMRON Body Composition Scale, 264#, 30.8% Body Fat, 23 % Visceral Body Fat, 69 1/2 inch tall, have a BMI of 38.5 % and an Abdominal Girth at teh Umbilicus of 48 inches. Unlike Joe and Phil who in about 60 days lost 82 and 91 # respectively,on a 100 % Vegetarian Fruit Juiced Diet, I am GOing to go 100 %, but about 0 % Juiced, using some Soy and and Lentil source for protein. Also, unlike my mentors, I will stillhave to work, and plan on swimming, weight training and practicing my Yoga, Qi Qong and Tai Ji Quan.

I will make weekly posts, accounting for calories, diet journaling, activity journal,lots of @#!*% and a epiphanies if they come and a few Pics of my progress. So, Lets, see if can transition from "One Who Knew , to One Who Would Do!"

Bill Swann D.O>

Using the I Ching

Well , before I begin this Quest, Let's start with a Poem ,by RUMI.

This Poem Connotes the Essence of an Attitude one may wish to have,regarding Change.


The Guest House


This being Human is a Guest - House
Every Morning a New arrival

A Joy, a Depression, A Meanness,
Some momentary awareness comes
As an Unexpected visitor.

Welcome and Entertain them All!!!
Even if they are a crowd of Sorrows,
Who Violently Sweep your house
Empty of its furniture.

Still,treat each Guest honorably.
He may be Clearing you out for some New delight,

The Dark thought, the Shame,the Malice,
Meet them at the door laughing,and Invite them in.

Be Grateful for Whoever comes,
Because each has been sent as Guide from Beyond.

RUMI


What is the I Ching?

There are So many answers /opinions to this question! The I Ching is an accumulated experience and wisdom, including one's own,of over 2,500 years.
For myself you use the I Ching as a reference, and a Guide. Not really as an Oracle as many do.

I use the I Ching to assist in answering one question:


How can I Best ... Deal with This Situation??

As Ann Rand asked the graduating class of West Point in, I believe, 1966,


Ask and Know the answers to these three questions:

1) Where am I?

2) How do I know this?

3) What am I going to do about it?

So, it is also with the I Ching ,we are asking ,"What is this Situation?"


"Where can it lead to?

The I Ching discusses the transitions and relationships of 64 situations.

64 Hexagrams, which Change,into any of the others. To garner an idea of here we are, where we were,and where we could go,"We throw a Kua, a Hexagram"

You'll See, the process is Profound, I've been studying it for 40 years,

"I've only just Begun"

Next time we will discuss how and what makes up a Trigram and a Hexagram.

For a Preview ,see the "Look Up Table"

See you then.

Bill Swann D.O.

Transitions, Graitude & the I Ching (Yi Ching)

So, this is the last of my "Gratitude" Blog entries, and , the 1st of my "New" Blog entries.

What am I grateful about? So,So Much!

1) Well for starters my oldest son, and his sweetheart, had a baby girl,

my first born "Grand Daughter" " Leanna Jane Swann" a Mestiza, her Mom is well after a C Section, (cord was around her neck)( Hera's Attempt to strangle her was foiled).

2) My Daughter, my 2nd love of my life, is home with my 2nd grandson( Hank), going into nursing and is due in 4 months with my 2nd grand daughter to be.

3) My 1st Grandson ,Kadin, a good Bow Shot, a lovely and Wise child,is 7 years old.

4) I grateful for having received the acknowledgment and the,

"Physician of the Year Award 2009" from the Maryland Osteopathic Association.

5) Last but not least , having received a Nurse Practitioner at my job, and having

such great Nurse Case Managers, to help me as the Chief Primary Care Manager

of the "Warrior Transition Unit" , and to have an opportunity to apply

for a job working with the VA as a physician only 12 miles from my home.


So, I begin a new year of Blogging, hopefully more consistent. The Theme is the

' I Ching" (Yi Ching) . I will review on each blog entry a brief discussion

on one of the 64 Hexagams, with links to online resources on the " Yi Ching".

My study f this book of wisdom, began about 39 years ago. I've read it about

3 or 4 times, used it to assist me in decision making and understanding ,

So many times. I will post a picute of the Chines Characters of each of these

hexagrams on each entry, then discuss the meaning review the Images, entries,ect.

I will learn alot, the task will take about 2 years. When I ist read the text,

and learned that Confucious didn't even start to read the text until he was in his

60's, I thought that was ridiculous. Well, I am 58 1/2, and am most likely

a bit arrogant to think I could "illuminate" anyone on the Wisdom, it contains.

However, the the throwing of it's "Kua's" has never steered me wrong. Possibly,

because I never asked for advice on the future, but rather , asked the question,

"How to I Best deal with a certain situation??",

This is how I believe the Yi Ching is to be used. Know the present, is my goal.

So, lets begin this quest together, learn together, OK. Good Luck.

Bill Swann D.O.

Swannanoa, Woodfin and Black Mountain North Carolina

So, Today would have been my Dad's 85th Birthday/He was born in the year of the Ox. He died in 1987, age 62,of CHF.

I am Grateful to my Dad, who lead a Tumultuous Life, but ended it as a grateful,compassionate,peaceful yet somewhat Sad Man. My Father Burned Off his Karma,in his own Life Time, he needed too,as between his being Bipolar and an Alcoholic, his Wife and Children Suffered. I am Grateful,However. I am Grateful to my Father ,whose Genes I carry. Who Gave me an Enduring Love of Family and of the Spiritual Life, both kinds of Spirits! I am Grateful for his giving me a Love of Learning and the ability to Work Incessantly for my Family. I am Grateful for the Value to Protect Family Friends and Others. I am Grateful that I only copied a few of his Faults, and most of his Virtues. Though there was emotional Carnage to Clean Up, and Given to me, Bill Swann Sr, ended his Life , a Compassionate Dragon,.


CHF is congestive heart failure,but he also had diabetes, Hypertension,alcoholism,and was Bipolar.Dad, known as "Buster" to his brothers and one Sister, and Mom,lead a complex life. His Mother was Betty Mae Jump, married to Lottie Swann, his father who left when he was ?5?, came back when he was 12 or much later/ My Dad got his nickname from haivng had been jumped on while litle,and playing causing a Hernia to"Bust" out. It was repaired when he was 12. He and his brother Charlie would run "Moon Shine" up and around "Black Mountain"
"Bill Sr", was in the CC camps, a Merchant Marine is WWII and a soldier for less than a year in the Korean Conflict,married my Mom,Rose Marion Johnson, when I was 3. He had 3 children over a decade with his 1st wife, Laura Thomas, divorced her, and married my Mom, when I was 3, but retained custody of my 2 step sisters, and one step brother. Rose had 4 more girls. Of all , myself , my eldest step sister, and my 2 youngest sisters still are alive and kickin./



My dad was Scotch/Irish/English and Cherokee/ my Mom Rose, was German and Swedish.
Laura was French/Scotch English ,not sure if she was Cherokee.

I always though Swann was an English Name, perhaps our lineage is of the Swann,which is an old VIking name, however, I am wondering now, if our name really comes from the Indian/Cherwah /Cherokee Suwa’li-nunnohi, whci later was anglicized to Swannanoa. Below is a bit of that history, Our History,Well, that is another Story.


Swannanoa is a census-designated place (CDP) in Buncombe County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 4,526 in 2007. The community is named for the Swannanoa River, which flows through the settlement. The Swannanoa River joins the French Broad at Asheville, North Carolina. The Cheraw Indians lived east of the Cherokee until they were obliged to join the Catawba people early in the 18th Century. Their name for themselves must have been something like “Suwala,” because de Soto called them Xuala and, to the Cherokee, they were Ani-Suwali ["they are Suwali"]. The Cherokee name for the route from the mountains to the Cheraw country was Suwa’li-nunnohi ["Suwali path"]. In English pronunciation, that became Swannanoa and was applied to the river and the mountains just east of Asheville. It is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Swannanoa is approximately located between Asheville and Black Mountain. I-40 passes through the main commercial area of Swannanoa, which is focused around Ingles supermarket and gas station. The old commercial area sits beside an empty lot where the old Beacon Blankets plant once sat. The Beacon Plant was the epicenter of the Swannanoa community, built by the late Charles D. Owen,Sr.

Swannanoa is located at 35°36′17″N 82°23′17″W / 35.60472°N 82.38806°W / 35.60472; -82.38806 (35.604808, -82.387921).[3]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 6.4 square miles (17 km2), of which, 6.4 square miles (17 km2) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.10 km2) of it (0.62%) is water.
About Our Town
Black Mountain was originally known as Grey Eagle to the Cherokee and Catawba Native Americans who lived and hunted here in great numbers. Early settlers of the area were lured by the adventure and rugged beauty of the surrounding mountains.

The Town of Black Mountain was founded in 1893. It was named for the Black Mountain range of mountains that border the Town to the north. At the time of incorporation, the Town of Black Mountain had become a major pathway for westbound immigrants, commercial trade, and the mountain railroad. This strategic location helped establish Black Mountain as one of the most prosperous and picturesque communities in the country.

Spectacular views have welcomed Black Mountain residents and visitors for over 109 years as they step from the quaint shops, prosperous businesses, and friendly neighborhoods into the great outdoors that serves as the centerpiece for a visual feast that continues to draw so many to this lovely valley. Black Mountain’s friendly character and graceful setting have long lured botanists, hikers, travelers, and others seeking to commune with the great outdoors. However, the magnificence of the mountains has drawn more than just those seeking to enjoy this graceful natural bounty. Our historic downtown shopping district, vital service sector and clean industry, all serve to attract fine people of every age and profession with backgrounds and interests as varied as the mountainous landscape that surrounds the Town. This special mixture of people and talent has created a lively community with varied assets and lifestyles

No Regrets, Week 46

Below are a Litany of Quotes on the Concept of "Regret"

I will lead the list with a Platitude of my Own, then a brief bit of explanation.

"When you change one thing, you change everything"

Bill Swann D.O.

Well, I did discover/ realize it,on my own,though I am sure in history many have done similarly. SO,when it comes to regret, be careful for what you wish for.
Our words and thoughts are like prayers, often sent before consideration of the consequences. For myself,a Life lived, ended, with No Regrets, is the Best Life.
Would I have changed this,or that, done this or that,in retrospect?
Well then would I have changed All of the ramifications of those actions.??
Doing my Best,with the Wisdom I had, /have but not attaching to myself to the
Outcome, that is what attempt to do. I do review my life, my decisions,actions,
but attempt to move on,not repeat what, I at that time, I consider misjudgment,
and learn. I think of Arthur Ashe, who died of HIV ,gotten from contaminated blood received during a transfusion after having a heart attack. When asked, did he regret his having this fatal disease, he answered,( and I am paraphrasing)

"If I changed this/take back this event, then I would have to do the same for all the good and blessed events of my life"

e do not get to pick and choose our destiny, our job is to fulfill that destiny.

And as Billy Pilgrim said,
"and so it goes".

Some Quotes from Arthur Ashe:

* "Success is a journey, not a destination."

* "True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost."

* "You are never really playing an opponent. You are playing yourself, your own highest standards, and when you reach your limits, that is real joy."

* "If one's reputation is a possession, then of all my possessions, my reputation means most to me."

* "I respected the way they stood tall against the sky and insisted on being heard in matters other than Track and Field -- on matters of Civil Rights and social responsibility. I couldn't help but admire them." --- on the Olympic athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos when they did the Black Power Salute at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City (as quoted by Samuel L. Jackson at the 2008 Espys)

* "From what we get, we make a living; what we give, however, makes a life." (paraphrasing Winston Churchill -"You make a living by what you get; you make a life by what you give")

* "I believe I was destined to do more than hit tennis balls"

* “If I were to say, God, why me? about the bad things, then I should have said, God, why me? about the good things that happened in my life.”



Some Quotes on "Regret"

"Have no regrets. The elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets." Author Unknown, from Dreams

Make the most of your regrets; never smother your sorrow, but tend and cherish it till it comes to have a separate and integral interest. To regret deeply is to live afresh. Henry David Thoreau

If you are patient in one moment of anger, you will escape a hundred days of sorrow." Chinese Proverb

Today I bent the truth to be kind, and I have no regret, for I am far surer of what is kind than I am of what is true. Robert Brault

I would rather regret the things that I have done than the things that I have not. Lucille Ball

Live in the present tense, facing the duty at hand without regret for the past or worry over the future. William de Witt Hyde, from Grammar

A man is not old until his regrets take the place of his dreams. Yiddish Proverb

The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone. Harriet Beecher Stowe

I have no regrets. I wouldn't have lived my life the way I did if I was going to worry about what people were going to say. Ingrid Bergman

We must all suffer one of two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret or disappointment. Jim Rohn

Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable. Sydney J. Harris

Looking back, I have this to regret...that too often when I loved, I did not say so. David Grayson

Regrets are the natural property of grey hairs. Charles Dickens


No Regrets
By Agnes Sligh Turnbull

There is only one thing about which I shall have no regrets when my life ends.
I have savoured to the full all the small, daily joys.
The bright sunshine on the breakfast table;
the smell of the air at dusk;
the sound of the clock ticking;
the light rains that start gently after midnight;
the hour when the family come home;
Sunday evening tea before the fire!
I have never missed one moment of beauty,
not ever taken it for granted.
Spring, summer, autumn, or winter.
I wish I had failed as little in other ways.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Regret Today
By Catherine Pulsifer, © 2007

How many times do we say something that we immediately realized was not the right thing to say?
How many times do we look back on an event and think, if only I had....
How many times do we do something that we wish hadn't done?

You can't change what has been said.
You can't change a past event.
You can't change what has been done.

Do you call it regret, sorrow, repentance?
Do you think about what might have been?
Do you relive an event the way it should have been?

Forget about regret, and focus.
Focus on today, not on the past.
Focus on what you can do, not what you didn't do.

The only thing to regret is living in the past
The only thing to feel sorrow for is not living each day to the fullest.
The only thing to do to repent is to sincerely say, I'm sorry. Don't live your life regretting yesterday.
Live your life so tomorrow you won't regret today.

Irish Twins Week 44

Irish Twins Week 44 of Gratitude Journal,Now ? Monthly ?/

The term “Irish twins” is used to describe two children born to the same mother within 12 months of each other or born in the same calendar year. Given that it is a somewhat derogatory term, it is generally not used in print or in polite society. As is the case with many terms with derogatory origins, some people use it without thinking about the implications of the deeper meaning. Learning about the roots of these terms and the meaning behind them can help people to decide whether or not they are appropriate for common use.


The roots of the idea behind the term are actually quite old, although no one knows when, exactly, people first began to talk about Irish twins. In both England and the United States, a massive influx of Irish immigration in the 1800s led to a negative connotation with Irish people and society. This often happens when a large immigrant group begins to settle in mass numbers in a new country. The Irish were accused of being backwards and uncultured, and it was assumed that they were uneducated, dirty, and a general pox on society. As a result, the use of the word “Irish” began to be pejorative.

A number of derogatory terms incorporating stereotypes about the Irish began to emerge, including “Irish confetti” for thrown bricks and “Irish kiss” for a slap. Irish twins fits into this vernacular, and is actually insulting on multiple levels.

Firstly, the term pokes fun at the stereotypical fertility of Irish Catholic families, which traditionally do not use birth control. In addition, it implies that the Irish lack the ability to plan ahead or control themselves, having children in quick succession rather than responsibly spacing them. Finally, it suggests that the Irish do not understand the medical definition of twins, which involves two children conceived and born together.

A variation on the term is “Irish triplets,” which means three children born within three years. Parents who have Irish twins or triplets often struggle with a variety of issues, since having two or three very young children to manage can be very stressful. As the children grow up, the parents may encounter other difficulties as well, such as the simultaneous payment of astronomical college tuition fees. However, Irish twins often end up being very close and affectionate with each other, since the space between them is so small, and it intensifies the sibling bond.


Yes , and No, they aren't necessarily Irish, or Twins, but my Wife and I had a Pair, my Daughter ,Yvonne, is to start hers,Her Irish Twin ,Jonathan, is to start his Singlet, and their Adventure Begins.

Following our Irish Twins, my Wife bore a our last son, who became a Lovely Young Man,a Lovely Young Father of our 1st Grandson,Kadin..

I am Grateful for my Three Children,Who almost, made is as Irish Triplets .
I am Grateful for my Wife ,who bore these 3 Jewels of my Heart.
I am Grateful for my grandchildren, and Hope they all have another set ,(except for my daughter, she'd go nuts,) of Irish Twins.

Bill Swann D.O.

Gratitude Journal Week 39 & Is It 4 or 5 Levels of Experience?

So, this blog has evolved into a weekly blog, almost.
I am Gratefull for Being able to maintan my composure most of teh time
I am Gratefull for Others who have taught me this virtue and for Others who are able to to do so as well
I am Gratefull for My Wifee's gardening Skills, she has turned our Garden inot a Paradise.

So, is it 4 or 5 levels of experience.?

Distilled from Tony Robbins "Personal Power"series there are
4 Levels of Experience.:

1) I like it, it Is Good for me and Helps Others

2) I don’t like it, but it Is Good for me and helps others

3) I like it, but it is Not Good for me, and does not help others

4) I don’t like it, it is Not Good for me, and does not help others


However I seem to have a found a 5th, a paradox in fact.

5) I Like It, It Helps Others, But It Isn't Good For Me

How's That?! Well, Like my job, like being a soldier on occassion,

We are helping others, at least the group we care for or protect

We enjoy in some fashion, to a degree or more the process,

However, the Job has Risks, Is Consuming, Not healthy

or in a Healthy Enviroment, or over time, Deleterious to One's Health.

So,What is one to Do?/

Well,Find a way to make it Good For You. At Least on a "Karmic" level.

There are sacrifices we make, but perhaps what appears

"Not to be Good for Us" is really a means ,method or form of discipline,

suffering,self denial, that is the long run ,is good for us.

Perhaps we need to be more resilient, then it will be good for us.

I Wonder>

Then what about the "Karmic Cost" of what we Do.?

Well, that is for another day and discussion.

Take Care

Bill Swann D.O.

Nurses Week and Five Famous Nurses

This Week 38 of my Gratitude Journal.

I am Grateful for the Existances of the Nursing Profession and Nurses.

International Nurses week (IND) is celebrated around the world every 6-12 May. This day is celebrated to remember all of the valuable contributions nurses make to society.

The International Council of Nurses (ICN) has celebrated this day since 1965. In 1953 Dorothy Sutherland, an official with the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, had proposed that then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower proclaim a "Nurses Day," but he did not approve it.[1]

In January 1974, the decision was made to celebrate the day on 12 May as it is the anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale, who is widely considered the founder of modern nursing. Each year, ICN prepares and distributes the International Nurses' Day Kit. The kit contains educational and public information materials, for use by nurses everywhere.

As Florence Nightingale is no longer seen as a role model in some parts of the world, demands have arisen, for example by the British public sector union UNISON, to transfer this day on another date.[2] 21 May, the birthday of Elizabeth Fry (1780–1845), has been suggested. Elizabeth Fry founded the Institution of Nursing Sisters and is also known for her work with prisoners.[3]

As of 1998, May 8th was designated as annual National Student Nurses Day. As of 2003, the Wednesday within National Nurses Week, between May 6th and May 12th, is National School Nurse Day.[4]

[edit] UK celebrations
Each year on 12 May service is held in Westminster Abbey in London. During the Service, a symbolic Lamp is taken from the Nurses' Chapel in the Abbey and handed from one nurse to another, thence to the Dean, who places it on the High Altar. This signifies the passing of knowledge from one nurse to another. At St Margaret's Church at East Wellow in Hampshire, where Florence Nightingale is buried, a service is also held on the Sunday after her birthday.[5]

Below are the Biographies of 5 ( Of Oh So Many,Most Unkown and UnNamed) Nurses in History:

NURSE HELEN FAIRCHILD
Nurse Helen Fairchild, RN was born on the 21st. November 1885 in Turbot Township, Milton, in central Pennsylvania and graduated as a nurse from Pennsylvania Hospital in 1913. One month after America declared war on April 6th. 1917, Helen volunteered to go overseas with 63 other nurses from Pennsylvania Hospital. She was assigned to duty as a Nurse on the 7th. May 1917 and nursed in Flanders during the Battle of Passchendaele (3rd. Ypres).

She had a history of abdominal pain after meals before she left for France and during November 1917 she suffered from a recurrence. By Christmas she was vomiting after every meal and a Barium meal X-Ray revealed a large gastric ulcer obstructing her pylorus. She underwent a gastro-enterostomy operation for the pyloric obstruction on the 13th. January 1918. Initially she did well but she became jaundiced on the third day postoperatively and deteriorated rapidly, dying in a coma at 11.20 AM on the 18th. January 1918.

Nurse Fairchild's cause of death was attributed to acute atrophy of the liver. A postmortem examination was performed and the report can be viewed at the end of this document by clicking on the link. The final cause of death was considered to be a result of hepatic complications of the chloroform used for her general anaesthetic.



She wrote 100 pages of letters during her time in France and her letters home have been collected by her niece, Mrs Nelle Fairchild Rote. A selection of these letters were originally published in an article in the Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine by Mrs Rote and they are reproduced here by kind permission of the author who can be contacted by E-mail at: elle12@ptd.net

Dr Geoffrey Miller



NURSE HELEN FAIRCHILD,
MY AUNT, MY HERO

By NELLE FAIRCHILD ROTE;

REPRINTED FROM DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION MAGAZINE, NOVEMBER 1997, VOL. 131, NO. 9



NURSE HELEN FAIRCHILD

As a little girl I knew how proud my father was of his sister who had been a nurse in World War 1. When the boys in the fourth grade said, "She doesn't count, she's a girl," I was stung by their unfairness. How could anyone say she was not a veteran too?

"Oh the stories I'll tell when I get home" wrote Nurse Helen Fairchild in 1917, while serving with the American Expeditionary Force in France. Aunt Helen, 32, volunteered to be one of the first to go overseas after the United States entered World War 1, April 5th, 1917. She volunteered to go to the "Front," July 31, 1917, to Casualty Clearing Station No. 4. Through her letters written to her family, which have been so lovingly preserved, Nurse Fairchild is at last telling her story:



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PENNSYLVANIA HOSPITAL UNIT, Saturday, May 8, 1917
Dear Brother,
Monday I got a telegram telling me to be here ready to go abroad by Friday, so here I am, waiting for the pokey old government to get things ready for us to go. I am grateful to be one of the ones to go, but feel sorry for Mother... if only she wouldn't worry so much. Don't feel uneasy about me, ever, for the folks at home will he notified immediately if anything should happen.

Heaps of love, and write me right away,
Lovingly, Sis

MIDLAND ADELPHI HOTEL, LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND, May 26, 1917
Dear Mother,
Someday I will write you all that has happened from the time we left New York last Saturday. We sailed at noon and by 6 o'clock pm I felt as if the floors were coming up to meet me, and the whole universe was whirling. You can see I didn't waste much time getting seasick, and I like to die all day Sunday and Monday. Then on Tuesday morn we had to have para-typhoid
vaccine. Everybody had to take it and everybody had quite a reaction. We were on the boat just eight days.

Heaps of love, your very own, Helen.

.I forgot to tell you that we wear uniforms all the time, and our street uniforms are heavy dark blue serge, made very military, one piece, with big broad pleats over the shoulders with rows of big, black buttons down both sides, and swirls, with panels front and back, made quite short little
white bands around the collar and sleeves, and sort blue hats. At first we didn't like the idea of having to wear uniforms all the time, but we have learned the wisdom of it now, for it gives protection, and everywhere we go they leave us in without charges whatever.

Waldorf Hotel, England, June 2, 1917

Dear Mother,

...in a restaurant the orchestra played the Star Spangled Banner, and maybe we didn't cheer! You never appreciate your own National Air until you hear it in some foreign land. Everyone living in London has been lovely to us, but the Americans living here are particularly so.

On Wednesday we had tea at the Astor country home, and yesterday six of us had tea with Miss Emily Sergeant, a sister of John Sargeant, who is considered America's most famous artist, so you can see we are getting well treated, but at that, I am ready to go back work.

Don't worry if you don't hear from me, for you will be cabled promptly if anything goes wrong.

Heaps of love, your very own, Helen

Base Hospital No. 10, Le Treport, France

Dear Mother,

The wind is whistling around the hut. I do not mind the rain so much, but the wind makes me cross, and it blows a perfect gale, even in perfect weather. You should see our clothes, no fancy things for us. I have 2 rain hats and 2 raincoats and a pair of rubber boots, so we never stay in on account of rain. One soldier said, "I didn't know American girls were so ugly."

After finding a rickety old Ford to take us, went shopping in Dieppe today on our half day off. I bought a knitted underskirt and a pair of the heaviest shoes l have ever had, great high ones too, cost fifteen dollars.

One has to pay well for everything here, but I am going to keep warm if possible. I had a notion to have you send me some shoes, as it is often impossible to find shoes here that we can wear, as they are such queer shapes.

Heaps and heaps of love, your very own,

Helen.


Nurse Helen Fairchild

THIRD BATTLE OF YPRES - PAASCHENDAELE, WORLD WAR I
The casualty clearing stations were frequently the scene of the most distressing sight which human eye can witness, that is the re-wounding and killing of already wounded men by an enemy's bomb dropped suddenly in the dead of night. There was hardly a moonlight night that the Hun did not visit our neighborhood and drop bombs. We dug below the level of the ground to form shallow graves, two by six, by eighteen inches deep, which were dug through the floor of our tents, and when the anti-aircraft guns were shooting and particles of the exploded shells were falling, we partly closed over a section of the floor of the tent which was hinged and which
had a piece of sheet iron nailed on the underside.

I was impressed with the bravery and fortitude of the women nurses. Night bombing is a terrifying thing, and those who are not disturbed by it possess unusual qualities. I believe the nurses showed less fear than anyone. In 1920 I had the opportunity to visit this casualty clearing station area again, where I found only a few of the metal huts standing, but was able to locate the nurses dug-out, and the holes in the ground where they slept,

Nurse Fairchild represented the truest type of womanhood and stood for the very best in the nursing profession.

Ida Downs, Pennsylvania Hospital, U.S.A.



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From Base Hospital No. 10, Paul B. Hoeber later wrote:

"Upon their arrival, sixty four American nurses were faced with a 2,000 bed hospital. The first hard experience came when an exceedingly large convoy of patients, overwhelmed by Mustard gas, and the picture of intense suffering, poured in on them in great numbers... 600 in less than 48 hours, and it was repeated for many a night.



Casualty Clearing Station No. 4, [Ypres-Passchendaele area]

August 1917

Dear Mother,

...I am with an operating team about 100 miles from our own Base Hospital, closer to the fighting lines. I'll sure have a lot to tell about this experience when I get home. I have been here three weeks and see no signs of going back yet, altho when we came we only expected to be here a few days. Of course, I didn't bring much with me. Had two white dresses and two aprons, and two combinations. Now can you imagine trying to keep decent with that much clothing in a place where it rains nearly every day. We all live in tents and wade through mud to and from the operating room where we stand in mud higher than our ankles. It was some task, but dear old Major Harte, who I am up here with, got a car and a man; to go down to our hospital and get us some things. He brought me six clean uniforms and aprons, beside heaps of notes from all the nurses, letters from home and all kinds of fruit and cake.

We made the trip up to this place in an auto-ambulance 100 miles through France. Oh I shall have books to tell when I get home.



Wounded soldiers at a Casualty Clearing Station, waiting to be taken to a Base Hospital.




Chief Nurse Julia Stimson was concerned for the nurses she sent for temporary duty at the casualty clearing stations.

Nurse Stimson wrote:

"...what with the steam, the ether, and the filthy clothes of the men...the odor in the operating room was so terrible that it was all any of them could do to keep from being sick...no mere handling of instruments and sponges, but sewing and tying up and putting in drains while the doctor takes the next piece of shell out of another place. Then after fourteen hours of this with freezing feet, to a meal of tea and bread and jam, then off to rest if you can, in a wet bell tent in a damp bed without sheets, after a wash with a cupful of water...one need never tell me that I women can't do as much, stand as much, and be as brave as men."



Base Hospital No. 10, October 1917

Dear Mother,

I hope by next summer I can be home to help eat the peaches Irma tells me you are putting up. One of the girls brought me some great big, dandy ones a day or two ago, but they were so bitter I couldn't eat them.

Just as soon as I get home I am going to get dresses all colors of the rainbow, but never again blue serge or a blue felt hat. Gee, now I know how the kids in orphan asylums must feel when they all have to wear the same kind of clothes.

Another of our operating team left for a place further up the lines this am. They went to relieve Dr. Mitchell, Dr. Packard and Miss McClelland, who have been up there since July 21st, and who are tired out. This team will take their place so they can come home.

Rained some last night and is frightfully windy and cold. I put on some woolen clothing for we do not have any fires in the hut yet, but in spite of two pairs of stockings my feet are cold. Right now I stopped writing and got two hot water bottles and have my feet on one and the other in my lap.

Please write letters often, they mean more to me than a package, for I get a little homesick sometimes.

Heaps and heaps of love and a big kiss to every one,

your very own, Helen.

THE LAST LETTER SENT HOME

Base Hospital No. 10, December 28, 1917

Dear Mother,

Had a letter from the States this week and was glad, for being sick this far from home is no fun, but everyone has been fine to me. My room is filled with flowers they bring me, and fruit galore. Miss Dunlop does everything she can to make me comfortable and came in and talked with me every couple of hours. She wanted me to come up in the cot in her sitting room, but I did not want to do that, for Wagner wanted me to stay in our own room where she could do things for me. Wagner sure is a friend indeed.

Dr. Norris was just in to see me and told me I could stop some of my medicine. He said my throat looked much better but I still can't go on duty "till I eat and get some color, so I see my finish, for as usual, I look like the wrath of Kingdom come, but I'll make them let me go back soon, for it's too lonesome here to be off duty.

Gee but I'll be glad to see you all by the time this war is over, but at the same time I am glad to be here to help take care of these poor men, and I'll be doubly glad when our own U.S. boys will be [in this part of France] with us, for they will be so far from home, and they will have no one but us American nurses to really take any genuine interest in them, for their own friends will not be able to reach them.

What the Red Cross and the YMCAs are doing for us here means so much to us. Really, it would be awful to get along without the things they send us. Most of the pleasure that the troops get are the ones provided by the YMCA.

If you could only see what the boys here have to go through sometimes, you would see they need all the comfort possible. Without the supplies sent to us by the Red Cross Society, we could not do half as much for them as we are.

Please tell me what it was that everyone seems to have heard concerning me at home. Of course, whatever it was, as you know, is not correct, for as I have told you often, anytime anything should happen, you would be notified.

Heaps of love, your very own, Helen.

War Department

Office of the Surgeon General

Washington, D.C.

January 24, 1918

Mr. Ambrose Fairchild

Allenwood, Union County, Pennsylvania

Dear Mr. Fairchild,

It is with regret that I have to inform you of the death of your daughter, Miss Helen Fairchild, RN, on January 18, 1918, while on duty with Base Hospital #10, American Expeditionary Forces, France.

D.E. Thompson, Superintendent Army Nurse Corps

The cause of Nurse Fairchild's death was "acute atrophy of the liver," according to General John J. Pershing. Exploratory surgery revealed a massive stomach ulcer, caused or made worse by exposure to Mustard gas and other gasses used by the enemy. The word was she gave her gas mask to a soldier. She was given a military funeral, a "most solemn and impressive ceremony, and buried in the uniform of an American Army nurse. Her funeral was attended by an entire garrison of English, Canadian, French and American officers, nurses and troops." Buried first in Mont Huron Cemetery, Le Treport, her body was removed to the Somme American Cemetery and Memorial, Bony, France; plot A, Row 15, grave 13.

Upon the organization of the Nurses' Post of the American Legion at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on October 14, 1919, it was named the Helen Fairchild Nurses' Post 412, of the American Legion.

Helen Fairchild is registered in Women In Military Service for America Memorial at Arlington Cemetery, Virginia. Helen's sister, Christine McFarland, at 92, had the pleasure of registering her in the Memorial. Aunt Chris died in 1993. She was grateful that the stories of all women veterans would be preserved, upon the completion of this great Museum and Memorial.

The Women In Military Service for America Museum and Memorial, WIMSA, planned to display Nurse Fairchild's artifacts in their World War I display, but World War II has been given priority for the opening in October. As funds become available, the World War I exhibit will be completed.

Anyone may register the name of any woman veteran or veteran health caregiver, and is urged to do so. Contributions are also needed to reach the goal. The address is: WIMSA, Dept. 560., Washington, D.C. 20042-0560.



Kathleen Hall RGN, RM
(1896 - 1970)

Kathleen Hall was born in Napier, New Zealand in 1896 and later moved to Auckland. There she trained at Auckland Public Hospital.

In 1922 she was accepted by the Anglican Society for the Propagation of the Gospel for missionary work in China. Before leaving New Zealand she successfully undertook midwifery training at St Helen's hospital in Christchurch.

In North China at that time there was one outstanding hospital where western medicine was practised, the Peking Union Medical College (PUMC). It was a very advanced institution, funded by the American Rockefeller Foundation and operated by British and American Protestant missions.

After several years language training and professional practice there, Kathleen was appointed Sister-in-Charge of a provincial hospital at Datong, later being transferred to the same position at Hejian and Anguo in Hebei Province.

She became acquainted with the deplorable living conditions in the Hebei mountains and in 1934 she obtained the permission of her Bishop to leave the cities and set up her own cottage hospital in the mountain village of Songjiazhuang.

In 1937 she had to return temporarily to take charge of the hospital at Anguo on the plains and she was in charge there when the Japanese invaded.

There was a great battle nearby, the Chinese were defeated and hers was the only hospital for hundreds of miles. The doctors fled and with a few Chinese nurses she was left to deal with many hundred casualties.

As the Japanese pushed southwards, she was able to return to her own hospital in the mountains, to find that it was now in "no-man's land" between the Chinese guerilla forces and the Japanese. With her British passport she could move comparatively freely, and before long she was making long journeys to Peking to purchase medical supplies, much of which she passed on to the Chinese army, until caught by the Japanese.

They put her on a ship for New Zealand, but she disembarked at Hong Kong and joined the Chinese Red Cross. She made a dangerous journey through inland China to rejoin the 8th Route Army. Eventually she was struck down with beriberi, and repatriated to New Zealand.

After the war the helped to establish a model leper colony in Hong Kong, and in her final years of service she worked with the Anglican Maori Mission at Te Kuiti and Waitara.

In retirement she devoted her life to telling New Zealanders the truth about China. She worked very hard to bring the various Friendship groups in Auckland, Hamilton, Napier, Wellington and Christchurch together to form the NZ-China Friendship Society, which was inaugurated in Wellington in 1958, with Kathleen as a member of the first National Committee.

She was able to revisit China twice more, in 1960 and 1964. She died in Hamilton in 1970.

In 1993 a delegation of friends and relatives carried her ashes back to China in accordance with her wishes.

In 1996 the local people of Quyang County celebrated the centennial of her birth by creating a beautiful marble statue and setting it up in the village of Songjiazhuang where she had established her clinic.

A China Today article published in 1997 describes this moving event, and gives more details of Kathleen's life.

In 2000, her clinic was rebuilt with a donation of $15,000 from our Society, which has been tripled by a subsidy from the N.Z. Government. The completion of the rebuilding project was celebrated in June 2000 and the clinic was officially reopened in July 2001. Click here to view pictures of both celebrations.

Margaret Sanger

Many don't realize the very short period of time in our history we as a society have been allowed to participate in using birth control. Many are also unaware that we contribute the advocacy and use of birth control to famed nurse Margaret Sanger. Her crusade to legitimize birth control and give women the right to choose was one that showed much opposition from not only the government but also the Catholic Church. But no one understood the importance of birth control more than Sanger. She was the sixth of eleven children, whose mother died while she was young and whose death was attributed to her many pregnancies. Sanger started her career working in the poor ghettos of New York City, seeing first hand the atrocities that came with complicated pregnancies and self-abortions. As a nurse, she realized the only way to combat these problems was to target the source of the problem: child birth. This would begin her crusade to educate the poor working class about birth control, in addition to several writings which discussed elements of growth for young women. Throughout her career she would be resisted by those who thought her teachings were lewd or pornographic, as in the early twentieth century it was not customary to discuss sexual relations in public. The Catholic Church also showed much opposition as her teachings went against the churches, but back down over time as they decided to focus on teaching abstinence to their followers as a means to control birth. Sanger would spent her later years spreading her message to the more elite in order to convince them of the needs of birth control and education in order to reach a much larger audience.

Margaret Sanger

Many don't realize the very short period of time in our history we as a society have been allowed to participate in using birth control. Many are also unaware that we contribute the advocacy and use of birth control to famed nurse Margaret Sanger. Her crusade to legitimize birth control and give women the right to choose was one that showed much opposition from not only the government but also the Catholic Church. But no one understood the importance of birth control more than Sanger. She was the sixth of eleven children, whose mother died while she was young and whose death was attributed to her many pregnancies. Sanger started her career working in the poor ghettos of New York City, seeing first hand the atrocities that came with complicated pregnancies and self-abortions. As a nurse, she realized the only way to combat these problems was to target the source of the problem: child birth. This would begin her crusade to educate the poor working class about birth control, in addition to several writings which discussed elements of growth for young women. Throughout her career she would be resisted by those who thought her teachings were lewd or pornographic, as in the early twentieth century it was not customary to discuss sexual relations in public. The Catholic Church also showed much opposition as her teachings went against the churches, but back down over time as they decided to focus on teaching abstinence to their followers as a means to control birth. Sanger would spent her later years spreading her message to the more elite in order to convince them of the needs of birth control and education in order to reach a much larger audience.

Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman (1819 – 1892): Few people realize that the famous poet was also a volunteer nurse. Whitman worked as a nurse at Army hospitals set up during the Civil War. Many of his observations during this time led to his “The Great Army of the Sick.” Whitman was known for his egalitarian views, as well as for his political interest and poems.
Walt Whitman, 1887
Born May 31, 1819(1819-05-31)
West Hills, Town of Huntington, Long Island, New York, U.S.
Died March 26, 1892 (aged 72)
Camden, New Jersey, U.S.

Walter Whitman (May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, journalist, and humanist. He was a part of the transition between Transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse.[1] His work was very controversial in its time, particularly his poetry collection Leaves of Grass, which was described as obscene for its overt sexuality.

Born on Long Island, Whitman worked as a journalist, a teacher, a government clerk, and a volunteer nurse during the American Civil War in addition to publishing his poetry. Early in his career, he also produced a temperance novel, Franklin Evans (1842). Whitman's major work, Leaves of Grass, was first published in 1855 with his own money. The work was an attempt at reaching out to the common person with an American epic. He continued expanding and revising it until his death in 1892. After a stroke towards the end of his life, he moved to Camden, New Jersey where his health further declined. He died at age 72 and his funeral became a public spectacle.[2][3]

Whitman's sexuality is often discussed alongside his poetry. Though biographers continue to debate his sexuality, he is usually described as either homosexual or bisexual in his feelings and attractions.[4] However, there is disagreement among biographers as to whether Whitman had actual sexual experiences with men.[5] Whitman was concerned with politics throughout his life. He supported the Wilmot Proviso and opposed the extension of slavery generally. His poetry presented an egalitarian view of the races, and at one point he called for the abolition of slavery, but later he saw the abolitionist movement as a threat to democracy.[6

Hazel W. Johnson-Brown:
The first African-American woman general in history, Hazel W. Johnson-Brown is also a skilled nurse. She served as the chief of the Army Nurse Corps. and served as dean of the Walter Reed Army Institute School of Nursing. She was introduced to the army while working at a Veteran’s hospital. It is hard to believe, considering her accomplishments, that she was first rejected for nursing school at the West Chester School of Nursing because of her race.
Hazel Johnson-Brown made military history when she became the first African American woman general in 1979. She entered the U.S. Army in 1955, shortly after President Harry Truman banned segregation in the armed services. When she retired from the military in 1983, the list of credentials Johnson-Brown had accumulated was impressive. Some of the positions she held included project director at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command in Washington, D.C.; dean of the Walter Reed Army Institute School of Nursing; and special assistant to the chief of the U.S. Army Medical Command in Korea. She reached the pinnacle of her military career when she was appointed Chief of the Army Nurse Corps, with the rank of Brigadier General.
Born in 1927 in Malvern, Pennsylvania and one of seven children, she was raised on her father’s farm in nearby West Chester. Inspired by a local white public heath nurse when she was 12, Johnson decided that she too would become a nurse. She applied to the West Chester School of Nursing, but was rejected because she was black. She did not, however, let this stand in her way. She left West Chester for New York City in 1947, and enrolled in the Harlem Hospital School of Nursing.

After graduating, she went to work at the Philadelphia Veteran’s Hospital in 1953. It was there that her colleagues noticed her natural leadership abilities, and suggested she join the Army. After one meeting with a recruiter, she enlisted for what she thought would be a two-year tour. Instead, she swiftly rose through the ranks, enjoying a remarkable military career that spanned almost three decades.

As the first African American appointed as Chief of the Army Nurse Corps, Johnson commanded 7,000 male and female nurses in the Army National Guard and Army Reserves. She also set policy and oversaw operations in eight Army medical centers, fifty-six community hospitals and one hundred forty-three freestanding clinics in the United States, Japan, Korea, Germany, Italy, and Panama.

While in the army, she continued her formal education, earning a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Villanova University, a master’s degree in nursing education from Columbia University, and a Ph.D. in education administration from Catholic University. Two years before retiring from the army in 1983, she married David Brown.

Following her retirement, Johnson-Brown enjoyed a distinguished “second” career in academia. She served as professor of nursing at Georgetown University in Washington D.C., and finally at George Mason University in Virginia. At George Mason University, she was instrumental in founding the Center for Health Policy, designed to educate and involve nurses in health policy and policy design.

She retired from teaching in 1997. She continues to live in the Washington area, serving on a variety of university and health administration boards.

Rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT), a Measured Response

Rational emotive behavior therapy (REBT),
REBT previously called rational therapy and rational emotive therapy, is a comprehensive, active-directive, philosophically and empirically based psychotherapy which focuses on resolving emotional and behavioral problems and disturbances and enabling people to lead happier and more fulfilling lives. REBT was created and developed by the American psychotherapist and psychologist Albert Ellis who was inspired by many of the teachings of Asian, Greek, Roman and modern philosophers. REBT is one form of cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) and was first expounded by Ellis in the mid-1950s; development continued until his death in 2007.

Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Theoretical assumptions
3 Psychological dysfunction
4 Mental wellness
5 REBT Intervention
6 Limitations and critique
7 Applications and interfaces
8 References
9 Further reading
10 External links
10.1 General
10.2 REBT Applications
10.3 Forums

[edit] History
Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) is both a psychotherapeutic system of theory and practices and a school of thought established by Albert Ellis. Originally called rational therapy, its appellation was revised to rational emotive therapy in 1959, then to its current appellation in 1992. REBT was one of the first of the cognitive behavior therapies, as it was predicated in articles Ellis first published in 1956,[1] nearly a decade before Aaron Beck first set forth his cognitive therapy.[2]

[edit] Theoretical assumptions
One of the fundamental premises of REBT is that humans, in most cases, do not merely get upset by unfortunate adversities, but also by how they construct their views of reality through their language, evaluative beliefs, meanings and philosophies about the world, themselves and others.[3] In REBT, clients usually learn and begin to apply this premise by learning the A-B-C-model of psychological disturbance and change. The A-B-C model states that it normally is not merely an A, adversity (or activating event) that contributes to disturbed and dysfunctional emotional and behavioral Cs, consequences, but also what people B, believe about the A, adversity. A, adversity can be either an external situation or a thought or other kind of internal event, and it can refer to an event in the past, present, or future.[4]

The Bs, beliefs that are most important in the A-B-C model are explicit and implicit philosophical meanings and assumptions about events, personal desires, and preferences. The Bs, beliefs that are most significant are highly evaluative and consists of interrelated and integrated cognitive, emotional and behavioral aspects and dimensions. According to REBT, if a person's evaluative B, belief about the A, activating event is rigid, absolutistic and dysfunctional, the C, the emotional and behavioral consequence, is likely to be self-defeating and destructive. Alternatively, if a person's evaluative B, belief is preferential, flexible and constructive, the C, the emotional and behavioral consequence is likely to be self-helping and constructive.

Through REBT, by understanding the role of their mediating, evaluative and philosophically based illogical, unrealistic and self-defeating meanings, interpretations and assumptions in upset, people often can learn to identify them, begin to D, dispute, refute, challenge and question them, distinguish them from healthy constructs, and subscribe to more constructive and self-helping constructs.[5]

The REBT framework assumes that humans have both innate rational (meaning self- and social-helping and constructive) and irrational (meaning self- and social-defeating and un-helpful) tendencies and leanings. REBT claims that people to a large degree consciously and unconsciously construct emotional difficulties such as self-blame, self-pity, clinical anger, hurt, guilt, shame, depression and anxiety, and behaviors and behavior tendencies like procrastination, over-compulsiveness, avoidance, addiction and withdrawal by the means of their irrational and self-defeating thinking, emoting and behaving.[6] REBT is then applied as an educational process in which the therapist often active-directively teaches the client how to identify irrational and self-defeating beliefs and philosophies which in nature are rigid, extreme, unrealistic, illogical and absolutist, and then to forcefully and actively question and dispute them and replace them with more rational and self-helping ones. By using different cognitive, emotive and behavioral methods and activities, the client, together with help from the therapist and in homework exercises, can gain a more rational, self-helping and constructive rational way of thinking, emoting and behaving. One of the main objectives in REBT is to show the client that whenever unpleasant and unfortunate activating events occur in people's lives, they have a choice of making themselves feel healthily and self-helpingly sorry, disappointed, frustrated, and annoyed, or making themselves feel unhealthily and self-defeatingly horrified, terrified, panicked, depressed, self-hating, and self-pitying.[7] By attaining and ingraining a more rational and self-constructive philosophy of themselves, others and the world, people often are more likely to behave and emote in more life-serving and adaptive ways.

Albert Ellis[7] posits three major insights of REBT:

Insight 1 - People seeing and accepting the reality that their emotional disturbances at point C only partially stem from the activating events or adversities at point A that precede C. Although A contributes to C, and although disturbed Cs (such as feelings of panic and depression) are much more likely to follow strong negative As (such as being assaulted or raped), than they are to follow weak As (such as being disliked by a stranger), the main or more direct cores of extreme and dysfunctional emotional disturbances (Cs) are people’s irrational beliefs — the absolutistic musts and their accompanying inferences and attributions that people strongly believe about their undesirable activating events.

Insight 2 - No matter how, when, and why people acquire self-defeating or irrational beliefs (i.e. beliefs which are the main cause of their dysfunctional emotional-behavioral consequences), if they are disturbed in the present, they tend to keep holding these irrational beliefs and continue upsetting themselves with these thoughts. They do so not because they held them in the past, but because they still actively hold them in the present, though often unconsciously, while continuing to reaffirm their beliefs and act as if they are still valid. In their minds and hearts they still follow the core "musturbatory" philosophies they adopted or invented long ago, or ones they recently accepted or constructed.

Insight 3 - No matter how well they have achieved insight 1 and insight 2, insight alone will rarely enable people to undo their emotional disturbances. They may feel better when they know, or think they know, how they became disturbed - since insights can give the impression of being useful and curative. But, it is unlikely that they will actually get better and stay better unless they accept insights 1 and 2, and then also go on to strongly apply insight 3: There is usually no way to get better and stay better but by: continual work and practice in looking for, and finding, one’s core irrational beliefs; actively, energetically, and scientifically disputing them; replacing one’s absolutist musts with flexible preferences; changing one's unhealthy feelings to healthy, self-helping emotions; and firmly acting against one’s dysfunctional fears and compulsions. Only by a combined cognitive, emotive, and behavioral, as well as a quite persistent and forceful attack on one's serious emotional problems, is one likely to significantly ameliorate or remove them — and keep them removed.

Regarding cognitive-affective-behavioral processes in mental functioning and dysfunctioning, originator Albert Ellis explains:[7]

"REBT assumes that human thinking, emotion, and action are not really separate or disparate processes, but that they all significantly overlap and are rarely experienced in a pure state. Much of what we call emotion is nothing more nor less than a certain kind — a biased, prejudiced, or strongly evaluative kind — of thought. But emotions and behaviors significantly influence and affect thinking, just as thinking influences emotions and behaviors. Evaluating is a fundamental characteristic of human organisms and seems to work in a kind of closed circuit with a feedback mechanism: Because perception biases response and then response tends to bias subsequent perception. Also, prior perceptions appear to bias subsequent perceptions, and prior responses appear to bias subsequent responses. What we call feelings almost always have a pronounced evaluating or appraisal element."

REBT then generally proposes that many of these self-defeating cognitive, emotive and behavioral tendencies are both innately biological and indoctrinated early in and during life, and further grow stronger as a person continually revisits, clings and acts on them. Ellis alluded to similarities between REBT and General Semantics in explaining the role of irrational beliefs in self-defeating tendencies, citing Alfred Korzybski as a significant modern influence on this thinking.[citation needed]

REBT differs from other clinical approaches like psychoanalysis in that it places little emphasis on exploring the past, but instead focuses on changing the current evaluations and philosophical thinking-emoting and behaving in relation to themselves, others and the conditions under which people live.

[edit] Psychological dysfunction
One of the main pillars of REBT is that irrational and dysfunctional ways and patterns of thinking, feeling and behaving are contributing to much, though hardly all, human disturbance and emotional and behavioral self- and social defeatism. REBT generally teaches that when people turn flexible preferences, desires and wishes into grandiose, absolutistic and fatalistic dictates, this tends to contribute to disturbance and upsetness.

Albert Ellis has suggested three core beliefs or philosophies that humans tend to disturb themselves through:[7]

"I absolutely MUST, under practically all conditions and at all times, perform well (or outstandingly well) and win the approval (or complete love) of significant others. If I fail in these important—and sacred—respects, that is awful and I am a bad, incompetent, unworthy person, who will probably always fail and deserves to suffer." "Other people with whom I relate or associate, absolutely MUST, under practically all conditions and at all times, treat me nicely, considerately and fairly. Otherwise, it is terrible and they are rotten, bad, unworthy people who will always treat me badly and do not deserve a good life and should be severely punished for acting so abominably to me." "The conditions under which I live absolutely MUST, at practically all times, be favorable, safe, hassle-free, and quickly and easily enjoyable, and if they are not that way it's awful and horrible and I can't bear it. I can't ever enjoy myself at all. My life is impossible and hardly worth living."
Holding this belief when faced with adversity tends to contribute to feelings of anxiety, panic, depression, despair, and worthlessness. Holding this belief when faced with adversity tends to contribute to feelings of anger, rage, fury, and vindictiveness. Holding this belief when faced with adversity tends to contribute to frustration and discomfort, intolerance, self-pity, anger, depression, and to behaviors such as procrastination, avoidance, and inaction.

REBT commonly posits that at the core of irrational beliefs there often are explicit or implicit rigid demands and commands, and that extreme derivatives like awfulizing, frustration intolerance, people deprecation and over-generalizations are accompanied by these.[4] According to REBT the core dysfunctional philosophies in a person's evaluative emotional and behavioral belief system, are also very likely to contribute to unrealistic, arbitrary and crooked inferences and distortions in thinking. REBT therefore first teaches that when people in an insensible and devout way overuse absolutistic, dogmatic and rigid "shoulds", "musts", and "oughts", they tend to disturb and upset themselves.

Further REBT generally posits that disturbed evaluations to a large degree occur through over-generalization, wherein people exaggerate and globalize events or traits, usually unwanted events or traits or behavior, out of context, while almost always ignoring the positive events or traits or behaviors. For example, awfulizing is partly mental magnification of the importance of an unwanted situation to a catastrophe or horror, elevating the rating of something from bad to worse than it should be, to beyond totally bad, worse than bad to the intolerable and to a "holocaust". The same exaggeration and overgeneralizing occurs with human rating, wherein humans come to be arbitrarily and axiomatically defined by their perceived flaws or misdeeds. Frustration intolerance then occurs when a person perceives something to be too difficult, painful or tedious, and by doing so exaggerates these qualities beyond one's ability to cope with them.

Essential to REBT theory is also the concept of secondary disturbances which people sometimes construct on top of their primary disturbance. As Ellis emphasizes:[7]

"Because of their self-consciousness and their ability to think about their thinking, they can very easily disturb themselves about their disturbances and can also disturb themselves about their ineffective attempts to overcome their emotional disturbances."

[edit] Mental wellness
As would be expected, REBT argues that mental wellness and mental health to a large degree results from a surfeit of self-helping, flexible, logico-empirical ways of thinking, emoting and behaving.[6] When a perceived undesired and stressful activating event occurs, and the individual is interpreting, evaluating and reacting to the situation rationally and self-helpingly, then the resulting consequence is, according to REBT, likely to be more healthy, constructive and functional. This does not by any means mean that a relatively un-disturbed person never experiences negative feelings, but REBT does hope to keep debilitating and un-healthy emotions and subsequent self-defeating behavior to a minimum. To do this REBT generally promotes a flexible, un-dogmatic, self-helping and efficient belief system and constructive life philosophy about adversities and human desires and preferences.

REBT clearly acknowledges that people, in addition to disturbing themselves, also are innately constructivists. Because they largely upset themselves with their beliefs, emotions and behaviors, they can be helped to, in a multimodal manner, dispute and question these and develop a more workable, more self-helping set of constructs.

REBT generally teaches and promotes:

That the concepts and philosophies of life of unconditional self-acceptance, other-acceptance, and life-acceptance are effective philosophies of life in achieving mental wellness and mental health.
That human beings are inherently fallible and imperfect and that they had better accept their and other human being's totality and humanity, while at the same time not like some of their behaviors and characteristics. That they are better off not measuring their entire self or their "being" and give up the narrow, grandiose and ultimately destructive notion to give themselves any global rating or report card. This is partly because all humans are continually evolving and are far too complex to accurately rate; all humans do both self- and social-defeating and self- and social-helping deeds, and have both beneficial and un-beneficial attributes and traits at certain times and in certain conditions. REBT holds that ideas and feelings about self-worth are largely definitional and are not empirically confirmable or falsifiable.
That people had better accept life with its hassles and difficulties not always in accordance with their wants, while trying to change what they can change and live as elegantly as possible with what they can not change.
[edit] REBT Intervention
As explained, REBT is a therapeutic system of both theory and practices; generally one of the goals of REBT is to help clients see the ways in which they have learned how they often needlessly upset themselves, teach them how to un-upset themselves and then how to empower themselves to lead happier and more fulfilling lives.[3] The emphasis in therapy is generally to establish a successful collaborative therapeutic working alliance based on the REBT educational model. Although REBT teaches that the therapist or counsellor had better demonstrate unconditional other-acceptance or unconditional positive regard, the therapist is not necessarily always encouraged to build a warm and caring relationship with the client. The tasks of the therapist or counsellor include understanding the client’s concerns from his point of reference and work as a facilitator, teacher and encourager.

In traditional REBT, the client together with the therapist, in a structured active-directive manner, often work through a set of target problems and establish a set of therapeutic goals. In these target problems, situational dysfunctional emotions, behaviors and beliefs are assessed in regards to the client's values and goals. After working through these problems, the client learns to generalize insights to other relevant situations. In many cases after going through a client's different target problems, the therapist is interested in examining possible core beliefs and more deep rooted philosophical evaluations and schemas that might account for a wider array of problematic emotions and behaviors.[4] Although REBT much of the time is used as a brief therapy, in deeper and more complex problems, longer therapy is promoted.

In therapy, the first step often is that the client acknowledges the problems, accepts emotional responsibility for these and has willingness and determination to change. This normally requires a considerable amount of insight, but as originator Albert Ellis[7] explains:

"Humans, unlike just about all the other animals on earth, create fairly sophisticated languages which not only enable them to think about their feeling, their actions, and the results they get from doing and not doing certain things, but they also are able to think about their thinking and even think about thinking about their thinking."

Through the therapeutic process, REBT employs a wide array of forceful and active, meaning multimodal and disputing, methodologies. Central through these methods and techniques is the intent to help the client challenge, dispute and question their destructive and self-defeating cognitions, emotions and behaviors. The methods and techniques incorporate cognitive-philosophic, emotive-evocative-dramatic, and behavioral methods for disputation of the client's irrational and self-defeating constructs and helps the client come up with more rational and self-constructive ones. REBT seeks to acknowledge that understanding and insight are not enough; in order for clients to significantly change, they had better pinpoint their irrational and self-defeating constructs and work forcefully and actively at changing them to more functional and self-helping ones.

REBT posits that the client must work hard to get better, and in therapy this normally includes a wide array of homework exercises in day-to-day life assigned by the therapist. The assignments may for example include desensitization tasks, i.e., by having the client confront the very thing he or she is afraid of. By doing so, the client is actively acting against the belief that often is contributing significantly to the disturbance.

Another factor contributing to the brevity of REBT is that the therapist seeks to empower the client to help himself through future adversities. REBT only promotes temporary solutions if more fundamental solutions are not found. An ideal successful collaboration between the REBT therapist and a client results in changes to the client's philosophical way of evaluating him- or herself, others, and his or her life, which will likely yield effective results. The client then moves toward unconditional self-acceptance, other-acceptance and life-acceptance while striving to live a more self-fulfilling and happier life.

[edit] Limitations and critique
REBT and CBT in general have a substantial and strong research base to verify and support both their psychotherapeutic efficiency and their theoretical underpinnings. A great quantity of scientific empirical studies have proven REBT to be an effective and efficient treatment for many kinds of psychopathology, conditions and problems[7][8].[9][10] A vast amount of outcome- and experimental studies support the effectiveness of REBT and CBT.[11][12] Recently, REBT randomized clinical trials have offered a positive view on the efficacy of REBT.[13]

In general REBT is arguably one of the most investigated theories in the field of psychotherapy and a large amount of clinical experience and a substantial body of modern psychological research have validated and substantiated many of REBTs theoretical assumptions on personality and psychotherapy[14].[9][13] Some critiques have been given on some of the clinical research that has been done on REBT both from within and by others. For instance originator Albert Ellis has on occasions emphasized the difficulty and complexity of measuring psychotherapeutic effectiveness, since many studies only tend to measure whether clients merely feel better after therapy instead of them getting better and staying better.[6] Ellis has also criticized studies for having limited focus primarily to cognitive restructuring aspects, as opposed to the combination of cognitive, emotive and behavioral aspects of REBT.[9] As REBT has been subject to criticisms during its existence, especially in its early years, REBT theorists have a long history of publishing and addressing those concerns. It has also been argued by Ellis and by other clinicians that REBT theory on numerous occasions has been misunderstood and misconstrued both in research and in general.[13]

Some have criticized REBT for being harsh, formulaic and failing to address deep underlying problems.[14] This has been cogently refuted by REBT theorists who have pointed out that a careful study of REBT shows that it is both philosophically deep, humanistic and individualized collaboratively working on the basis of the client’s point of reference.[3][14] They have further pointed out that REBT utilizes an integrated and interrelated methodology of cognitive, emotive-experiential and behavioral interventions.[3][9] Others have questioned REBTs view of rationality, both radical constructivists who have claimed that reason and logic are subjective properties and those who believe that reason can be objectively determined.[14] REBT theorists have refuted these claims by maintaining that REBT raises objections to clients irrational choices and conclusions as a working hypothesis and through collaborative efforts demonstrate the irrationality on practical, functional and social consensual grounds.[7][14] In 1998 when asked what the main criticism on REBT was, Albert Ellis replied that it was the claim that it was too rational and not dealing sufficiently enough with emotions. He repudiated the claim by saying that REBT on the contrary emphasized that thinking, feeling, and behaving are interrelated and integrated, and that it includes a vast amount of both emotional and behavioral methods in addition to cognitive ones.[15]

Seen as a quite controversial figure in some camps, Ellis has also received criticism that has arguably been more directed at him than his psychotherapy. These include his use of four-letter words and confrontational attitude.[citation needed][who?] In addition Ellis has himself in very direct terms criticized opposing approaches such as psychoanalysis, transpersonal psychology and abreactive psychotherapies in addition to on several occasions questioning some of the doctrines in certain religious systems, spiritualism and mysticism. Many, including REBT practitioners, have warned against dogmatizing and sacredizing REBT as a supposedly perfect psychological cure-all and panacea. Prominent REBTers have promoted the importance of high quality and programmatic research, including originator Ellis, a self-proclaimed "passionate skeptic". He has on many occasions been open to challenges and acknowledged errors and inefficiencies in his approach and concurrently revised his theories and practices.[7][14] In general, with regard to cognitive-behavioral psychotherapies' interventions, others have pointed out that as about 30-40% of people are still nonresponsive to interventions, that REBT could be a platform of reinvigorating empirical studies on the effectiveness of the cognitive-behavioral models of psychopathology and human functioning.[13]

REBT has generally in quite many ways been developed, revised and augmented through the years as understanding, knowledge and science about psychology and psychotherapy have progressed. This includes both its theoretical concepts but also its practices and methodology. Inherent in REBT as an approach has been the teaching of scientific thinking, reasonableness and un-dogmatism and these ways of thinking have been part of REBT's empiricism and skepticism.

[edit] Applications and interfaces
REBT is used with a broad range of clinical problems in traditional psychotherapeutic settings such as individual-, group- and family therapy. It is used as a general treatment for a vast number of different conditions and psychological problems normally associated with psychotherapy.

In addition, REBT is used with non-clinical problems and problems of living through counselling, consultation and coaching settings dealing with problems including relationships, social skills, career changes, stress management, assertiveness training, grief, problems with aging, money, weight control etc.

REBT also has many interfaces and applications through self-help resources, phone- and internet counseling, workshops & seminars, workplace and educational programmes, etc. This includes Rational Emotive Education (REE) where REBT is applied in education settings, Rational Effectiveness Training in business and work-settings and SMART Recovery (Self Management And Recovery Training) in supporting those in addiction recovery. In addition a wide variety of special treatment strategies and applications have been developed for different kinds of specialized groups.

Albert Ellis consistently used hypnosis as an adjunct to REBT throughout his professional life. He acknowledged a number of similarities hypnosis shares with REBT. (1986; 1993) For example, both Hypnosis and REBT are active and directive in therapist style. Additionally most traditional approaches to Hypnosis help clients to develop powerful coping statements which can impact the client's life positively. REBT similarly helps clients to dispute their irrational self-defeating beliefs and to replace them with rational self-supporting and constructive beliefs. A number of therapeutic models have emerged which attempt to combine the two therapies, such as Cognitive Behavioural Hypnotherapy (CBH).