I have just seen a guy swallow a billiard ball. Now I had to ask myself “why would anyone do such a thing, and how would you find out you could do it in the first place?”

Now it wasn’t that he swallowed the billiard ball but he did some tricks as well. He swallowed half a cup of white sugar and then drank a glass of water. Nothing special in that, you say? Then he bought up the sugar again and it was dry as when it went down. He then swallowed a tiny balloon and a nail, popping the balloon with the nail (you could actually hear the balloon pop) he then regurgitated the popped balloon but lost the nail… he decided he would swallow the billiard ball so he did… this helped him find the nail which he then spat out before bringing up the billiard ball again… Unbelievable but true!!!

Now I come back to my original question… Why would you do this? Well I presume he gets paid but finding out you could do it is the scary part. Just imagine down at the local billiard room and picking up a billiard ball and thinking to yourself…”Hmmm I think I’ll have a go at swallowing this”

Makes you wonder about what we are capable of doing if we knew the correct technique.

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What makes news, news? Who decides what we will see or read as news and what makes that news more important than other news.

The reason I ask is because we had an abduction (or kidnapping) of a 3 week old baby, here in Australia the other day. It didn’t take long before the baby was found again, fit and well but there was a twist to this… the father was apparently seeing another woman and she had two children to him.

The story has turned from the kidnapping over to the father and this has become head line news. Look, I don’t agree with what has occurred but why is this classified as news and the kidnapping has gone?

There are staving children in every country on this earth and the news reported doesn’t focus on this travesty preferring to highlight one person transgressions or something else considered “newsworthy”

You have to wonder when programs like Sixty Minutes create a news story that portrays a particular slant on a story. It is shown as “news” but there is a bias that makes you wonder how much is “news” and how much is made to make one side of the ledger good and the other bad. A decision made in the back room rather than reporting the story just as it is!!!

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Do people deserve another chance, when they have caused you an upset or they have distressed you in some way?

Well this is a tough one at the best of times. On one side of the coin is the wish to protect oneself from it ever happening again and on the other is the wish to grant someone the forgiveness to work closely with you again. There are, of course, strong arguments on both sides.

How do you protect yourself from upset yet be relaxed enough to forgive? Sometimes you just can’t. Sometimes people are so angry that it is necessary to create a boundary around yourself that these people cannot cross. There is nothing wrong with you taking this position.

Lets face it. There are misunderstanding and if both of you are adult enough to say so and both your intention is to do your best, then forgiveness is pretty straight forward. Both parties can kiss and make up.

The problem comes when the intention of one party is to harm, distress or in any way cause counter production to any worthwhile cause. This is when measures such as boundaries or protection come into the frame. There is no need for anyone to harm another if both parties are working toward the same result. If you are feeling uneasy then you have to ask yourself where is the counter production coming from?

Sometimes it is easy to see and sometimes you have to be a little more diligent towards discovery but if you look for the person using general terms rather than specifics, you will be getting close to the mark. When you hear a comment like “Everyone thinks that…” or “all the technicians feel…” ask who is “everyone” or who are “all” You will usually find that there may be a couple but usually just one person who is creating the disruption.

These generalities can cause great upset to each of us as we can feel that the “whole world” is against us. It’s not till we discover who is meant by “everyone” that we will discover that “everyone” is just one person. This is far easier to deal with

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Quite often I am asked to come up with a solution to a particular problem someone is having… have you ever encountered that?

It is easy for us to give our opinion on how we see the result should be, it is a far better solution to ask how they see the result happening? This allows the person to take on that responsibility needed to bring about a solution. In a conversation you will see the efforts of the one with the problem trying to pass over the problem to the other person in the conversation.

If you watch carefully you will see the point where the problem is passed over and there will be a change in the physical appearance of both the parties. Try and listen in.. it’s a very interesting experience

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Have you ever thought about improving your surroundings and life but don’t know where to start?

Well here is something that might take your fancy. Its called the clean sweep program and is a 100 point checklist of things in your area you can shine up. It is easy to begin working on and it is free

Search for the Clean Sweep Program, you will find it

You have more natural energy when you are complete with your environment, well-being, money and relationships. The Clean Sweep program consists of 100 items which, when completed, give you the vitality and strength that you want. The program can be completed in less than one year.

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…and why is it that when a phone rings, everything else takes on less importance?

I was in a shop the other day about to buy some building hardware. I placed the materials on the counter and the teller was half way through adding up the total when the phone rang. He stopped serving me and picked up the phone, what happened next would have been quite hilarious, except that I was in a bit of a hurry.

He said “Hang on a minute Sir” … to the person on the phone, and he put the phone down and walked away from the counter. I looked at my watch. 2.35pm.

He returned a good minute later and picked up the phone again and said “I’m sorry sir, we don’t have that in stock right now do you want me to order it in for you?”… “Umm just a minute, I’ll check” and he pulled out a catalogue from under the counter and proceeded to thumb through until he found what he was looking for….

I butted in at this point saying that I was in a bit of a hurry and as he was half way through serving me did he think he could finish the job… he ignored me and went back to the phone “ah yes, its $7.55 a pair and you want two pair so that’s something close to $15.”

Now considering my purchase was in the vicinity of $120 and I was standing there waiting to pay, I would have liked to have made more of a commotion. My watch now said 2.46pm

When the teller walked away and returned with an order book, I decided enough was enough and so I started to walk out (I was in a bit of a hurry)

The teller sensed my dissatisfaction and shouted after me “I’ll only be a minute” I turned around and looked at my watch he continued talking on the phone and writing in the order book. He politely said good bye and tore out the page from the order book, screwed it up and threw it in the bin. My watch now read 2.47pm I had lost all patience so I left the teller with my un-purchased materials. I’m sure he thought I was an idiot but sometimes I am in a bit of a hurry.

Have a great week

Cheers… Bill