Gene’s Blog

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Note: To view Gene’s Blogs posted before November 2011, just visit the “Articles” and “Odds ‘N Ends” sections of NuPathz at http://www.nupathz.com/

Download Free – James Allen’s “AS A MAN THINKETH” See below for info…

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Life can be downright scary - sometimes more than others.  Probably all of us are wandering through life afraid of something – maybe a situation, an event or other people.  Because we’re individuals with differing backgrounds and experiences, our fears vary from person to person.  Some people have no problem parachuting from an airplane while others of us think that’s a really dumb idea and our insides get all stirred up even thinking about it.  Some of us rather enjoy standing in front of a group of people teaching or just BS’ing while others of us toss our cookies immediately at the idea.

So how did we learn to be skeer’d of all this different stuff?  Even though there are likely some foundation survival, self-preservation instincts in all of us, most of the rest of our fears come from our life learning experiences – our programming.  If your mother dove under the bed every time there was an electrical storm, there is an excellent chance that you’ll be tempted to do exactly the same thing.  If your older sibling was deathly afraid of the monsters in the closet or under the bed, there’s a good chance that you will have absorbed this apprehension.  We’ve learned what we’ve learned and dutifully filed it away in our subconscious.  Then, unless we’ve been really aware of what has happened to start up these fears in the first place, we’ve probably put out a bunch of effort to make sure they’ve been solidly reinforced.

It’s not uncommon for us to get things twisted up, however.  Here’s a quick example.  Regress to childhood for a minute (for those of you who make a habit of living there, this should be a snap).  Since as early as you can remember, Uncle Harold has always showed up at your house at least once a week.  Uncle Harold looks funny – he’s short, fat, balding and smokes super stinky cigars.  Uncle Harold is a real pain in the ass.  Every time he gets close to you, he either pinches you really hard on the butt – or gives you a painful swat.  Uncle Harold is an obnoxious, aggravating asshole.  You do everything you can to keep your distance from Uncle Harold, but he always finds you.  Your life is miserable when he’s around.

So did our stupid subconscious simply file away the information that Uncle Harold is a bad person and that we hate to be around him?  No way.  In time, our wonderful, well-meaning memory bank extrapolated this basic concept to “Short, fat, balding men are dangerous!  Keep away!  Keep away!  Do not trust them!  And watch out for cigar smokers, too!  Danger!  Danger!”  It would take more than a few positive interactions with a super nice, short, fat, bald guy before we decided it was OK to do some reprogramming.

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Note: To view Gene’s Blogs posted before November 2011, just visit the “Articles” and “Odds ‘N Ends” sections of NuPathz at http://www.nupathz.com/

Download Free – James Allen’s “AS A MAN THINKETH” See below for info…

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OLE BLUE

A young cowboy from Miles City, Montana goes off to college, but half way through the semester, he has foolishly squandered all his money.

He calls home.   “Dad,” he says, “You won’t believe what modern education is developing!   They actually have a program here in Bozeman that will teach our dog Ole Blue how to talk!”

“That’s amazing,” his dad says.  ”How do I get Old Blue in that program?”

“Just send him down here with $1,000″ the young cowboy says.  ”I’ll get him into the course.”  So, his father sends the dog and $1,000.   About two-thirds through the semester, the money again runs out.  The boy calls home.

“So how’s Ole Blue doing, son,” his father asks.

“Awesome, Dad, he’s talking up a storm,” he says, “but you just won’t believe this -  they’ve had such good results they have started to teach the animals how to read!”

“Read!” says his father, “No kidding!  How do we get Old Blue in that program?”

“Just send $2,500. I’ll get him in the class.”  The money promptly arrives.

Our hero has a problem.  At the end of the year, his father will find out the dog can neither talk, nor read.  So he shoots the dog.

When he arrives home, his father is all excited.

“Where’s Ole Blue?  I just can’t wait to see him read something and talk!”

“Dad,” the boy says, “I have some grim news.  Yesterday morning, just before we left to drive home, Ole Blue was in the living room kicked back in the recliner, reading the Wall Street Journal, like he usually does.  Then he turned to me and asked, ‘So, is your daddy still messing around with that little redhead who lives in town?”

The father exclaims, “I hope you SHOT that son of a bitch before he talks to your Mother!”

“I sure did, Dad!”

“That’s my boy!”

The kid went on to be a successful lawyer.

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Note: To view Gene’s Blogs posted before November 2011, just visit the “Articles” and “Odds ‘N Ends” sections of NuPathz at http://www.nupathz.com/

Download Free – James Allen’s “AS A MAN THINKETH” See below for info…

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In past blogs – and in articles in the NuPathz site – we have presented a whole pile of information related to doing those things that can help make your life better and in general, more enjoyable.  OK, so there are a bunch of silly things scattered indiscriminately throughout the server too, but that’s a different story.  I think it has something to do with my addiction to coffee but I’m not really sure about that.

In an attempt to simplify these self-help (or self improvement, personal growth, whatever you want to call it…) concepts that I – and a whole gob of other people and organizations – have been bombarding you with, here are five basic principles that have worked well for me.

1. Learn to think differently:  We are who we are and do what we do because of how we think about stuff.  Because of our experiences and life influences so far, our minds have learned to respond – or react – to situations and events in a set way.  To change our life, we need to change the way we think about these things.  We need to change our perspective of life.

This principle is the foundation for every – I repeat… every – valid self-help program or concept that has ever existed.  Once we accept that as being true, we can start working on the details.

2. Adopt a positive approach to life:  Positive thoughts, attitudes and inputs (from any source including the people we spend time with) will influence our life in a positive way.  Our positive thoughts and words about events, other people and especially ourselves will accelerate our transition to a better life.  Positives help produce more positives.  It’s just the way it works.

3. Look for life’s lessons:  We all have a lot to learn about ourselves, other people and the world we live in.  Life will, without fail, provide us with the opportunity to learn – especially from the uncomfortable events or situations.  It just makes sense to pay attention to the things that are happening to us and learn from them as quickly as possible so we can move on to the next (and perhaps, easier) lesson.

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Note: To view Gene’s Blogs posted before October 2011, just visit the “Articles” and “Odds ‘N Ends” sections of NuPathz at http://www.nupathz.com/

Download Free – James Allen’s “AS A MAN THINKETH” See below for info…

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IN GENERAL…

1. Never take a beer to an interview.

2. Always identify people in your yard before shooting them.

3. It’s considered tacky to take a cooler to church.

4. If you have to vacuum the bed, it’s time to change the sheets.

5. Even if you’re certain that you’re included in the will, it’s rude to drive a U-haul to the funeral.

DINING OUT…

1. When decanting the wine from the box, make sure you tilt the paper
  cup and pour slowly so as not to ‘bruise’ the fruit of the wine.

2. If drinking directly from the bottle, always hold it with your hands.

ENTERTAINING IN YOUR HOME…

1. A centerpiece for the table should never be anything prepared by a taxidermist.

2. Do not allow the dog to eat at the table, no matter how good his manners are.

PERSONAL HYGIENE…

1 While ears need to be cleaned regularly, this job should be done in private using one’s own truck keys.

2. Even if you live alone, deodorant is not a waste of money.

3. Use of proper toiletries can only delay bathing for a few days

4. Dirt and grease under the fingernails is a social no-no, as they tend to distract from a woman’s jewelry, and alter the taste of finger foods.

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Note: To view Gene’s Blogs posted before October 2011, just visit the “Articles” and “Odds ‘N Ends” sections of NuPathz at http://www.nupathz.com/

Download Free – James Allen’s “AS A MAN THINKETH” See below for info…

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The heaviest bull testicles ever recorded weighed in at 14.3 lbs.  These were retrieved from “Stud”, a Texas Longhorn upon his death at the age of 22.

Bumblebees got their name because their erratic flight pattern and the fact that they frequently bump (or bumble) into each other.

The longest word in the English language without a vowel is skzqrbznp.  It is an antiquated word derived from Norse and means “without a shield”.

Pigeons, pound for pound, have the smallest brains of all birds.

Instead of causing warts, rubbing the secretions of a South American frog known locally in its normal habitat as “scondero” (the healing one) will actually cause warts to dissolve within a week.

The lima bean is a member of the pea family and was commonly used by the Native American Indians of the Southwest as an aphrodisiac.

The floccule is the smallest known rodent in North American.  It builds nests from its wooly coat, normally in the upper-most branches of conifers along the Washington coast.  Its diet consists solely of pine nuts.

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Note: To view Gene’s Blogs posted before October 2011, just visit the “Articles” and “Odds ‘N Ends” sections of NuPathz at http://www.nupathz.com/

Download Free – James Allen’s “AS A MAN THINKETH” See below for info…

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Just a reminder from the archives to start off the New Year…

THE RULES FOR BEING HUMAN

1. You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it will be yours for the entire period this time around.

2. You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time, informal school called life.  Each day you will have the opportunity to learn lessons.  You may like the lessons or think them irrelevant and stupid.

3. There are no mistakes - only lessons. Growth is a process of trial and error and experimentation.  The “failed” experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiment that ultimately “works”.

4. A lesson is repeated until it is learned.  A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it.  When you have learned it, then you can go on to the next lesson.

5. Learning lessons does not end. There is no part of life that does not contain its lessons.  If you are alive, there are lessons to be learned.

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Note: To view Gene’s Blogs posted before October 2011, just visit the “Articles” and “Odds ‘N Ends” sections of NuPathz at http://www.nupathz.com/

Download Free – James Allen’s “AS A MAN THINKETH” See below for info…

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Since this seems to be the time of year when a bunch of folks are seriously considering losing at least a few pounds that crept on during the holidays (yours truly included), I thought it would be appropriate to pull this out of the archives…

GENE’S DIET PLAN

Hot dang!  If a few hundred other folks can peddle a plan to help people lose weight, there’s no reason I can’t jump on the bandwagon too!  So, here’s my plan.  All you need to do is send me a certified check for $495.94 and I’ll let you in on my “Secrets to Successful Weight Control”.  How’s that sound?

You want a personalized plan?  I can do that.  You want charts and graphs?  I can do that.  You want weekly e-mail encouragement and special diet tips?  I can do that. 

Shall I wait in breathless anticipation for the deluge of checks that are sure to start arriving in the next week or so?  No?  I am soooo disappointed! 

While I’m waiting though, I might as well pass along a few of my personal thoughts on the subject of weight control.  Let’s reinforce the “personal thoughts” part of the last sentence.  I’m not a physician or a dietitian so I’m not in a position to recommend diddly-squat.   These are just opinions…

1. Genetics and your early environment both have a lot of influence on whether you’ll have a tendency to put on the pounds.  If either of your parents (and maybe grandparents) were (are) fluffy, you may have a life-long weight battle on your hands.  This is the result of the ability of your body to absorb nutrients, inherited metabolic rates and lots of other stuff including basic eating/snacking habits.

2. A tendency to continually graze (snack, munch) may be a just a habit (personal programming) or it may be due to mental/emotional influences such as stress, boredom, anger, uncertainty, fear, lack of confidence, or just don’t give a fat rat’s ass any more.  Identify your trigger(s) and with professional help if necessary, work to solve the foundation problem.  (If you automatically associate watching TV with popcorn, chips, cookies, soda, beer, etc. – it’s probably a habit/addiction thing.)

3. To maintain a given weight, you need to “burn” energy (calories) at the same rate you’re taking them in.  To lose weight, you’ll need to burn more calories than are sneaking into your bod.  The bottom line – eat less and exercise more.

4. Toss out the scales and get weighed once a year during your physical.  Translate this to mean that first you need to involve a physician if you’re severely overweight.  Second, focus on how you want to look, not how much you want to weigh.  Muscular (or even well-toned) folks can pack a lot of weight into a small frame and look great.  Besides, watching the scales show minimal loss or even slight gains from time to time can puncture your incentive to keep doing what you’re doing.   If your clothes are getting baggy, you’re losing weight.

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Note: To view Gene’s Blogs posted before October 2011, just visit the “Articles” and “Odds ‘N Ends” sections of NuPathz at http://www.nupathz.com/

Another Note: You can now catch me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/geneatnupathz  (You may need to copy and paste this into your browser window to actually get there…)  OK, whatever…

Download Free – James Allen’s “AS A MAN THINKETH” See below for info…

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Are you tired of making the same resolutions year after year that you never keep? Why not promise to do something you can actually accomplish? Here are some resolutions that you can use as a starting point:

1. Gain weight.

2. Exercise less.

3. Read less.

4. Watch more TV.

5. Procrastinate more. Starting tomorrow.

6. Not date any super models or sports celebrities.

7. Spend more time at work surfing the Web.

8. Check out the motor oil display at Wal-Mart.

9. Not vacation in Ajo, Arizona.  (That’s pronounced “ah’–ho” folks… and no, there’s nothing wrong with Ajo.  Some very nice people live there!)

10. Not pack a smoked possum sandwich in your lunch.

11. Not have eight children at once.

12. Fall asleep periodically in the recliner or on the couch.

13. Start being superstitious by refusing to say the word “flatus”.

14. Eat fast food at least once.

15. Not wrestle with Hulk Hogan.

16. Purchase something with a credit card.

17. Drink an alcoholic beverage.

18. Not purchase a python for a pet.

19. Eat a gigantic hamburger… with fries.

20. Watch a reality show on TV.

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Note: To view Gene’s Blogs posted before October 2011, just visit the “Articles” and “Odds ‘N Ends” sections of NuPathz at http://www.nupathz.com/

Another Note: You can now catch me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/geneatnupathz  (You may need to copy and paste this into your browser window to actually get there…)  OK, whatever…

Download Free – James Allen’s “AS A MAN THINKETH” See below for info…

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No, I don’t do New Year’s resolutions. However, I am not above stea…uh, borrowing… another’s thoughts on the subject. So in the interest of further promoting self-help and personal development, read on. (I really don’t need to tell you to not to take these too seriously, do I? Nah, I didn’t think so…)

In the words of Dr. Sultanoff…

It is a time of resolutions. I made one resolution many years ago and I have stuck to it. I resolved to no longer make resolutions. The following are some alternative affirmations for a new year.

At the end of one year and the start of another, many of us will renew our commitment to living with daily affirmations. I know the power of affirming my truth, over and over, everyday! While these may not suit everyone’s taste, here are some “possible” affirmations to consider!

1. As I let go of my feelings of guilt, I am in touch with my inner sociopath.

2. I have the power to channel my imagination into ever-soaring levels of suspicion and paranoia.

3. I assume full responsibility for my actions, except the ones that are someone else’s fault.

4. In some cultures what I do would be considered normal.

5. My intuition nearly makes up for my lack of wisdom and judgment.

6. I need not suffer in silence while I can still moan, whimper, and complain.

7. When someone hurts me, I know that forgiveness is cheaper than a lawsuit, but not nearly as rewarding.

8. I am at one with my duality.

9. Blessed are the flexible, for they can tie themselves in knots.

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*****

Note: To view Gene’s Blogs posted before October 2011, just visit the “Articles” and “Odds ‘N Ends” sections of NuPathz at http://www.nupathz.com/

Another Note: You can now catch me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/geneatnupathz  (You may need to copy and paste this into your browser window to actually get there…)  OK, whatever…

Download Free – James Allen’s “AS A MAN THINKETH” See below for info…

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Twas the Night before Christmas

‘Twas the night before Christmas and Santa’s a wreck…

How to live in a world that’s politically correct?

His workers no longer would answer to “Elves”,

“Vertically Challenged” they were calling themselves.

And labor conditions at the north pole

Were alleged by the union to stifle the soul.

Four reindeer had vanished, without much propriety,

Released to the wilds by the Humane Society.

And equal employment had made it quite clear

That Santa had better not use just reindeer.

So Dancer and Donner, Comet and Cupid,

Were replaced with 4 pigs, and you know that looked stupid!

The runners had been removed from his sleigh;

The ruts were termed dangerous by the E.P.A.

And people had started to call for the cops

When they heard sled noises on their roof-tops.

Second-hand smoke from his pipe had his workers quite frightened.

His fur trimmed red suit was called “Unenlightened.”

And to show you the strangeness of life’s ebbs and flows,

Rudolf was suing over unauthorized use of his nose

And had gone on Geraldo, in front of the nation,

Demanding millions in over-due compensation.

So, half of the reindeer were gone; and his wife,

Who suddenly said she’d enough of this life,

Joined a self-help group, packed, and left in a whiz,

Demanding from now on her title was Ms.

And as for the gifts, why, he’d ne’er had a notion

That making a choice could cause so much commotion.

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