giggling

It was the night before Halloween.  Before going to bed I usually like to drink some skim milk as it helps me fall asleep.  I turned off my computer and walked to the kitchen. I switched on the light at the entrance, and the sight at what I saw next froze me in my tracks. I was shocked since I had never seen this before. There on my kitchen counter were Roa and Ches lying on top of each other, shamelessly making out, on my clean kitchen counter!

I couldn’t believe it! How did these bastards get in here? Completely uninvited and have the nerve to use my kitchen counter for their gratification? I can understand now why she is always giving birth to another baby. They were so into what they were doing that even when I turned the light on, they didn’t move or stopped, or saw me standing there.  I felt anger rising in my body, and before I explained what I did next, I want to tell you a little about the family of Roa and Ches.

 The family of Roa and Ches

This is a family of Scum Bags. And they are international. You can find them in almost every country and city. Some more so than others. They are freeloaders, homeless bums and don’t care where they hang out. Since they are always looking for free food and drink some of them live around sewage systems, and garbage dumps.

It doesn’t matter whether you are rich or poor if there is a colony of these nasty beings in the neighborhood, you can expect to somehow cross their paths, or see one or two of them around. They try to find shelter into people’s basements and that is how they manage to get into other people’s home. They have been caught hiding even in Restaurants and food establishments ofcourse because these are places where they can find food. Also in unoccupied apartment buildings, as these provide protection from the cold outside.

They are very fast reproducers of their kind, the females are always pregnant and their small children follow in their parents footsteps. This has resulted in a good thing for our economy inspiring many to become entrepreneurs in developing products and providing services to help curb their reproduction. Today you can find entire supermarket aisles full of products designed specifically for the Roa and Ches family. All kinds of can foods, bottled drinks, and specialty foods to keep these freeloaders out of people’s homes. There has even been special hotels and motels built just for them. 

Some young men make a good living by selling their products and services one on one to different families that had trouble with them. But no matter what has been done some of them continue to remain on the loose, to bypass their own hotels and foods while preferring to remain homeless and sneak around, steal and find ways into people’s homes, eating whatever they can put their dirty hands on. Because they hang out in dirty areas like sewages, and around garbage dumps they are full of diseases and can infect others. Can you imagine these nasty scummy dirty beings nibbling on your food and drink?

I couldn’t help thinking on all the little children whom might be eating goodies on Halloween night that Roa and Ches may have been nibbling on.

As I stood there frozen at the entrance of my kitchen I couldn’t help thinking on all the little children that will be tricker treating around the neighborhood on Halloween night accepting candies and different kinds of goodies from complete strangers.  Many of them not even knowing whether Roa and Ches have been sneaking around in their homes and putting their germy hands on these goodies. This can make those children sick and their parents will never know what caused their illness.

With all these thoughts going through my head, my anger rising, and Roa and Ches disrespectfully continuing to make out on my kitchen counter, I carefully grabbed my big heavy straw broom, and banged them both into their heads, several times until I was sure they were dead. After that I had the horrible task of removing their remains and disposing of them.

I know I had committed murder, but I felt justified and relieved that I had done so. If anyone in the neighborhood and the Police Department finds out, they would all thank me for helping them in removing one more pair of these disgusting scum bags from the neighborhood. After cleaning up my kitchen counter with bleach disinfectant, I drunk a small glass of milk and went to bed.

I felt no shame over what had just happened, as a matter of fact I felt happy instead that I had at least helped some families in the neighborhood and the city of New York in getting rid of another pair of disgusting ROACHES.

Why roaches are bad for us, and you should do everything to get rid of them if you see them around

According to the National Pest Management Association, there are nearly 33 different kinds of bacteria, six kinds of parasitic worms, and at least seven other kinds of human pathogens carried by cockroaches. Cockroaches walk through sewage and decaying matter and transmit bacteria into your home.

Cockroaches have been shown to transport a number of pathogenic bacteria and viruses on their legs and bodies. They carry the pathogens that cause tuberculosis, cholera, leprosy, dysentery, and typhoid, as well as over 40 other bacteria (like salmonella) or viruses that can cause disease.

Cockroaches will eat almost anything: left-over human food, wood, leather, cigarette butts, tooth paste, milk, sugary materials, coffee grinds, glue, so if any of the above is left open and we use them we can get sick from their left over germs.

Tips to help keep Roaches away

 Even though I do all these tips below myself somehow some roaches still manage to get into my apartment. Usually if there is a colony of them in the neighborhood, they can get into even clean apartments. So if you have not seen any in your home yet, it is good to try the below tips if you are not already doing so, to help keep them away.

• Always sweep your floors at night, making sure no crumbs or any food at all is left on the floors. Make sure all garbage is put out at night. Vacuum your carpets if you have such often. Vacuuming sucks up any eggs that roaches lay, and stop their reproduction. 

• Always wash your dishes, never leaving dirty dishes in the sink, and after drying put them away. Leaving them out somehow still attracts roaches, looking for food and water. 

• Never leave any food or drink uncovered, either in your refrigerator, on the stove, or kitchen counter. 

• Find some sort of roach bait, I use the small black baits, and put them around in different areas of your kitchen and under the sink, in corners of cabinets, under the stove, and around any cracks in the walls. Also in the bathroom, remember they are always looking for water, so the kitchen and bathroom are their favorite places.  Don’t eat in your bedroom as this might also attract them into that room. 

• If you have small children, be careful about leaving them on the bare floor, put them on a blanket or something. You never know if roaches were crawling on the floor unknown to you. Children pick up germs faster than adults.   As a general rule always make sure your home is clean and free of clutter. Disinfect often as this kills germs.  

• And if you happen to see any in sight like I did, kill them on the spot. Sometimes I see one or two crawling on the bottom of my bathtub. I kill them by turning the hot water faucet on and blasting them to death with hot water.

Yes, if you think about all the little children that could be eating roach infected candy on Halloween night you will also be happy that I killed Roa and Ches on the night before. Who knows if they were planning on going somewhere else to nibble on some goodies and those were later given to these children to eat?

 Written and Illustrated by: Glenda Brill ©   

All  fear disappeared!

When I was brought home, that is when I was faced with the challenge of getting into my building. I could feel fear gripping my heart. There are 6 stairs leading up to the front door.  I broke down and start crying as I was wondering : “how am I going to get up those stairs on one foot using crutches? This is impossible, I can’t do this.”  But I knew I had to get into my apartment, I couldn’t stay out on the sidewalk forever, so it means finding a way to get up those stairs on crutches. With determination I slowly put the crutches on the bottom stair and hopped onto that stair, and then did the same with the other one, and finally reached the top of the stairs to the front door.

I couldn’t believe it, I had actually climbed those stairs on one foot using two crutches. I did the same thing while going down the stairs, placing the crutches on one stair then hopping onto it, and the same until I got all the way down to the street. By the end of the 2 months that my right foot was in a cast I had become an expert at climbing those stairs on one foot using two crutches.

All fear had disappeared. And I thought that I couldn’t do it. But I did. Now when I see other temporary disabled people using crutches to get around, I admire their courage because I know how it feels. And that we can do whatever we need to do in whatever situation we find ourselves in if we just let go of fear. 

Count your blessings, appreciate what you have.

So if you really have a strong heart desire to do something that you really love or to serve other people, and you feel that you can’t do it, just reflect back on these few examples given above. Some people with only half a body accomplishing so much. And watch this video below with your music speakers on.

After seeing this and if you are a full able-bodied man or woman, just count your blessings. Appreciate what you have, and use it to the full. It is amazing to see what these two disabled young people do and accomplish it so well. You will conclude that our bodies whether we are full able-bodied, or disabled are only following something deeper that is the motivating force behind what we can accomplish, which is the heart. (See previous post: Courageously putting your heart into it, your body will follow..).

 So whether you think you are too old, young, fat, thin, tall, ugly or too whatever all these excuses, fears or barriers you put up around your heart, if you replace them with the right attitude and put your heart’s desires up front, it will motivate you to do your best,  and you can successfully accomplish anything that might seem impossible. YES YOU CAN DO IT!

Written by: Glenda Brill(C)

Our heart is the seat of all emotions

We often hear these phrases concerning the human heart: wholehearted, with all my heart, heart desire, take to heart, or hurt at heart, feeling sickened at heart, cold hearted and so many many other phrases or expressions involving the human heart. But why is the heart used so often in describing so many different situations?  Because our heart is more than just a pump that keeps our blood flowing, but it keeps us warm, and responsible for our very life. 

It is the seat of motivation, of all of our activities and attitudes, joys, loves, feelings, enjoyments, moral character, speech, conduct, all emotions. It is what causes us to express laughter, enthusiasm, courage and everything that we do with our bodies. A whole hearted person is complete, fervent, supportive, has a keen interest in wanting to do something well.

Here is an example to show how our hearts is indeed the seat of our desires and motives.  A couple of years ago I heard about a middle aged woman who needed a heart transplant and was giving the heart of a young 19 year old football player and motor cycle rider. He died in an accident on his way to a football game. But he stopped to eat at a fast food restaurant before going to the game. Unfortunately he died before getting there. His heart was transplanted into this middle aged woman. When she came out of surgery, to the surprise of her doctor and family she asked for french fries and hamburger and started talking about football!

A transplanted heart still keeps its original desires.

This woman had never had any interest in football or cared about fast foods before ever in her life. Understandable her doctor and family were shocked when they realized that her new heart was full of desires different from what she had or even what she was. It was the desires of the dead young man whom heart she now had to live with. His heart was into fast foods and football like most 19 year olds, and it was very interesting that his heart survived with all his desires impact and now operating in another person.

It wouldn’t be surprising either if she later started actually playing football, since this was what the young man’s heart was into, and now operating in her. This would indeed take a lot of courage to go through with these new desires in her new heart. It is funny imagining a middle aged woman playing football. Maybe later on the heart was trained to fully adapt to her own desires if possible. I never heard anything more about what happened later on with this story.  But it really shows how our heart operates. 

 Our heart is the finall decision maker 

The heart makes decisions, either for good or bad. Our eyes take pictures of things around us, sound and information goes through our ears, our mind and brain take all this information, assimilate it and pass all this on to the heart.  It makes the final decision, moving the body to act on whatever direction it gives. So in reality we “see and listen” with our heart, the eyes and ears are only channels to this important decision making organ. That is the reason why a blind man can say: “I see”, or a deaf person can communicate back even in sign language “Yes I hear what you say”. Their hearts see and hear.

Both persons blind or deaf if they were born that way have never seen light, or heard a single sound or whisper.  A blind person can’t see the beauty of things including other people around them, or the deaf hear their voices, or music. Yet some of them become singers, musicians, dancers, communicators, all because their courageous enthusiastic hearts are into what they do. Their bodies just follow what their hearts hear and see and this motivates them to action, performing, serving or giving back to others.

 Learning to love what you do so you can serve others

And this is another key to putting your heart into something you are doing or want to do: Learning to love what you do so that you can serve people or give back to others. Many people go through life half hearted, they hate their jobs, or if in school they hate school and studying. They complain about everything, only going through the motions without enthusiasm, or zeal. Some people go to some jobs just to get a paycheck, can’t wait for the weekend. Their hearts are not into it, there is no real interest in serving and the body can’t follow by expressing joy, enthusiasm, good energy, or a good attitude. Therefore a half hearted person becomes unhappy, and unhealthy.

Even a monotonous job can be enjoyable if your heart is into it. I see this all the time. Every week I go to this Fish Market in my neighborhood to buy fresh fish. They have 3 men standing behind the area where they clean the fish. One of them is always humming, whistling or singing while working cleaning fish. “Who can be happy working in a smelly place like this?” I wondered.  “And what is so interesting about cleaning fish?” I approached the counter one day and asked him: “You look like you really love your job, how long have you been doing this? “It is going to be 15 years this year, and I love it!”, he enthusiastically replied.

Love it? Now this man looks pretty young, maybe in his late thirties. Why couldn’t he have gone to school and studied for something else? And how much money can you make cleaning fish? I stood there wondering to myself as I waited.  He continued talking and said how enjoyable it was for him to meet and serve so many hundreds of people that come to the fish market every week. Just to be able to imagine all they can do in preparing their fish meals and know he had a small part in helping them by giving them cleaned fish to start with. Now that is a great attitude to have. His heart is really into what he does, and his body performs the same service for years from an enthusiastic heart because he loves serving people by cleaning fish, and this makes him happy.

 Not a very glamorous job, but when you think about it don’t we need all kinds of services? Somebody goes fishing and another person cleans the fish. We need them both, otherwise we wouldn’t have fish to eat, which is a contributor to our health. What about other professions whose jobs are much more sophisticated and valuable? A medical surgeon working in a hospital duties may be similar in some ways.  The only difference is that he is cutting people open, and getting paid more money. But still both of them can be equally happy if their hearts are into what they do and realize that they are both doing a job for the preservation of people’s lives, one providing food to eat while the other keeping people alive so they can eat.

It takes courage to put your heart into something inspite of difficulties

And it takes courage to persist in putting your heart into something. Courage means to persevere inspite of difficulties, to hold one’s own, or keep up one’s morale, to hold to a good spirit even when faced with failure. I am sure it must be tiring and difficult standing on your feet all day cleaning fish, or being a surgeon performing the same duties each day. And there is always the possibility of failure, not doing something right, making mistakes, but if the courageous heart is into what it does, it keeps the body performing at its best, never letting fear cause it to pull back.

And that is the main reason why some people never put their hearts into anything. Fear. Fear of failure, or being hurt, or of what other people might say or think. Being rejected or fear of so many imagined difficulties. Fear is one of the negative emotions that can cripple or paralyze the heart preventing the body from taking courageous action. Many people are afraid of starting a business for fear of failing, or from some sales jobs because it might involve public speaking. There are so many barriers that we sometimes put up from putting our hearts into what we really love or want to do, preventing our bodies from following.

Most of us have good health, all our senses, our full body, and circumstances, but still letting fear keep us from putting our best heart forward. I already gave some examples of people that were born blind or deaf and are courageously putting their hearts into what they do to serve people. In my next post I will give some more examples of others, some of them with severe disabilities but successful in doing what might seem impossible because they put their hearts into whatever they do.

Written by Glenda Brill (C)