Soul Survivor
When I was a child, I believed in reincarnation. My parents told me if I
mistreated people, lied, or sinned in any other way, I'd become a snake in my
next life. This type of teaching worked for me. For fear that I'd turn into some
sort of weird animal, I behaved as morally correct as possible.
Sometime between college and high school, I decided it was a lie. Just like the
lie my mom told me on the airplane when I was six years old. I asked her why I
couldn't see angels in the clouds. She replied, "The angels will only show
themselves if you behave. So go to sleep." I immediately curled up into a ball
and went to sleep hoping to see an angel. Unfortunately, I never got to meet
them. Another time, my sister (who knew I hated eating shrimp) told me I'd become
a strawberry princess if I ate a few shrimp during dinner. Of course, I believed
her. And besides, I loved everything strawberry-related. Didn't happen.
Reincarnation didn't seem as much of a blind lie as the other two I mentioned.
But maybe someone really intelligent made that one up.
The reason why I ruled out reincarnation as a possibility to what happens after
death is because of the constant growth in population. If our souls/spirits got
recycled or reborn, then how do we count for these "new souls" over the years.
Where do they come from? You can argue someone creates them over time, but that
doesn't make sense to me. But if reincarnation didn't happen, wouldn't the
"spirit" world be a bit overpopulated by now? How many humans have died since
the beginning of time? Must be crowded on the other side...
I do believe in some type of an afterlife. I have yet to decide what I think it
will be like. I guess I'm still stuck on the idea that somehow you just become a
spirit floating around. A ball of energy with memories of a past life as data
floating around us everywhere.
Take a look at the following video. It is believed that a WWII pilot
reincarnated 60 years after his death.
Soul Survivor Video
Father of 'reincarnated' WWII pilot says Christian faith remains
"The Chai Story" (article)
...While chewing on the toy, a vacuum was created and it effectively sucked his tongue into the hole in the ball...
“Time Flies When You’re
Having Fun”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VAZtyQm6p0&feature=related
Think of your last vacation -- sipping a Piña Colada while
basking in the sun and listening to the waves gently splash onto the fine white
sand. It flew right by, didn’t it? Simply put, time flies when you’re having
fun. What happens when you’re not
having fun?
If I were to ask how many of you have ever felt threatened or
uncomfortable in front of an audience during a presentation, chances are most of
you would say “Yes.” The fear of public speaking is common in all walks of life.
According to Discovery Channel’s impressive program,
Human Body: Pushing the Limits, the
human brain processes approximately 100 trillion instructions per second, faster
than any computer in the world. Interestingly, in different circumstances, speed
maybe the last thing we need. As a product of evolution, our brain has the
ability to slow down time when necessary. This ability kicks into effect when we
feel threatened or uncomfortable and could be the difference between life and
death.
When we are calm, our brain sends information it collects from
the outside into the control center where it spends time studying and
reflecting. When our brain detects a threat, it redirects the information to the
disaster center which quickly alerts our body to react with a fight-or-flight
response. Normally, the human brain takes in about 30 frames of images per
second. Under stressful circumstances it takes in more images in less time to
create precious moments for escape. The result is the slowing of time. We call
this being in the “time warp,” when seconds feel like minutes and minutes feel
like hours. The embedded video demonstrates the process with firefighters in a
stressful situation.
To avoid getting sucked into time warp, give your brain the
information it needs before the disaster center kicks into motion.
Show your brain the escape route before it starts slowing time to plan
the flight path. Before you start speaking, scan the room of faces and locate
the exits. Phew! Now your brain can
relax knowing it doesn’t have to find a last minute escape route.
If you've had a personal time warp experience, please leave a
comment and we'll give you some feedback.
January 2, 2009 by Pearl
An average TV commercial lasts about 30 seconds. Creators of such short-lived entertainment must grab viewers’ attention within the first five seconds before they decide to change the channel. The sustained appeal should remain in the minds of viewers long after the span of the advertising campaign. The same holds true for any presentation or conversation.
The Government Employees Insurance Company, better known as GEICO, is an American insurance company that has mastered the skill of capturing minds of viewers with their catchy commercials. Most of us are familiar with the company’s talking gecko with an English accent. Since the company’s success with the GEICO gecko, it has launched another entertaining character. In 2004, the GEICO caveman was born.
A recent GEICO commercial starring the caveman at an airport serves as a perfect example of an attention-grabbing technique. In the commercial, the camera follows the caveman moving down an automated people mover with a plain white background. The boring background forces viewers’ eyes to focus on the caveman and their mind to wonder, what’s next? Within seconds, he encounters a large ad on the wall with the tagline "GEICO: so easy a caveman could do it," followed by his disgust with the stereotype of caveman stupidity.
After watching the commercial in its entirety, it held my attention. The scene is a striking resemblance to the opening scene to The Graduate, a classic movie directed by Mike Nichols in 1967. Dustin Hoffman playing character Ben Braddock is shown moving down a people mover in an airport against a plain white background. Again it forces the viewers’ eye to focus on Hoffman. Viewers can’t help but to wonder what’s going to happen to his curious looking young man. (Of course, we all know where the story leads...)
There is no coincidence in the striking resemblance of the GEICO caveman commercial to the opening scene of The Graduate. It has been increasingly popular for ad campaigns to search in classic films and music for familiar yet catchy ideas.
People pay attention to subjects they recognize, it creates a common ground. When you present, capture your audience’s attention right at the beginning.
If something worked well as an attention grabber before, it will most likely work again.