In This Edition:
1. Health and Well Being
2. Secret, Sinister Thoughts?
3. Randomness Happens
4. Eat and Drink What You Will

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This year, May holds unusual potential. All my gold coins might double in value. I’m scheduled for two cruises. The NBA playoffs might be spectacular. What potential does May hold for you?

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Health and Well Being

The book and accompanying DVD called “The Secret” are still making the rounds, many years after initial publication. While much of “The Secret” is valid, and the Law of Attraction is a viable concept for daily life, the notion that everyone always chooses their level of health or well-being bears scrutiny. Last month I discussed personal habits we can all adopt to improve our health. It is vital to recognize however that some people are born with pre-dispositions to certain illnesses. Viruses also exist, and on this planet, living in a vacuum is not an option.

Some people fall ill for reasons far beyond their control. Historian and tennis great Arthur Ashe did not ‘choose’ to incur AIDS and die at 47 leaving a wife and young daughter; he contracted the virus that causes AIDS from a blood transfusion during heart surgery.

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Secret, Sinister Thoughts?

The author of “The Secret” Rhonda Byrne has claimed in interviews that the victims of 9-11 each shared some kind of dark, sinister thoughts about their future and that is why they died. This is arrogance. Firefighters running into the World Trade Center did not want to die, but were prepared to risk their lives trying to save others. Accidents and misfortunes do happen to highly positive-minded people.

A Jewish baby born in Germany in 1939 did not come into the world seeking to suffer; the 12,000,000 Ukrainians that Stalin starved to death in 1930 did not die according to “plan.” Funny how all of the “universal” soothsayers from Wayne Dyer on up, never spent a minute of their lives under the reign of Pol Pot or Idi Amin.

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Randomness Happens

Randomness occurs in the universe; the same mass of gaseous clouds subjected to the same temperatures do not form the same planets. Tipping points are reached, or they are not. A baby born at midnight, straddling one year or the next, does not enter a school year because it was pre-ordained but rather what the hospital attendant signs on the birth certificate.

Indeed, as Will Durant explained time and time again in his series on civilization, much of history has unfolded on a twist or a turn. Moreover, the randomness of what happens on earth is minuscule compared to the randomness that has occurred and is occurring in the universe over countless millennia. New agers, irrevocably attached to giving higher meaning to everything, can never fathom this, but reality does not necessarily have an agenda.

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Eat and Drink What You Will

I saw a clever observation on the internet: The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans. On the other hand, the French eat a lot of fat and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.

The Japanese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans. The Italians drink excessive amounts of red wine and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.

Conclusion: Eat & drink what you like. It’s speaking English that kills you.