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You are here: Home / Archives for News

Avoiding the Seduction of Negative Thinking

June 7, 2017 by Scott "Q" Marcus Leave a Comment

Each week, I find it more and more difficult to prevent the current news cycle from wrenching the reins of this column and hijacking it into the topic of current events.

If you have read my writing for a while – or I have had the pleasure of getting to know you in person – you know that I have very strong political views and believe that I can effectively argue for my causes, while still remaining respectful of those who respectfully disagree. So, it’s not that I think I should shy away from such discussions or that those topics don’t matter. Rather, there’s a place and time for them, and these 600-word missives are neither.

Having laid all that on the table, the state of the nation and world seeps into our collective consciousness; we cannot avoid it, even if we tried. There is no shield; nor is it wise to blind ourselves from what is happening around us. Yet, at times, I feel like I am marinating in a stagnant, slime-covered, putrid swamp and emerge as quickly as possible, begging to be purified.

The result to this onslaught of negativity and name calling is to wipe one’s hands of the whole repulsive situation, thinking,

“I’m done! Count me out! It’s never going to get any better. I can’t do anything about it. Why even bother to care?”

That attitude — even more than the events which triggered it — is the true, more pressing danger. We cannot allow ourselves the luxury of negative thinking. Sure, the negativity is enticing. It’s a simulated siren’s call, offering peace and quiet, cooing seductively, “Come here; forget your woes. Let me take care of you. You don’t need to think about it.”

“How is negative thinking a luxury?” you might ask.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Current Events, News, Newspaper Column, Power of Attitude Tagged With: attitude, frustration, Hope, News, politics, stress

Louisiana, Minnesota, Dallas from Multiple Angles

July 13, 2016 by Scott "Q" Marcus

Tumult reigns.

In Louisiana and Minnesota, police tragically killed two innocent black men. Later that same week, the city of Dallas was held hostage as a vile murderous reprehensible individual ripped asunder the hopeful futures of five brave police officers, who were ironically protecting the rights of a crowd protesting the deaths of the two aforementioned black victims. Of course these are not the only examples of violence tearing through our national fabric of late. As President Obama said while consoling a grieving, shocked city at the memorial, “I’ve been to too many of these.”

The loss of any life is a loss to more than one.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Beliefs, News, Newspaper Column Tagged With: black and white thinking, disagreement, perception is reality, perception of others, perceptions, vehement disagreement

What the Biggest Loser Report Misses about Weight Loss

June 22, 2016 by Scott "Q" Marcus

Since I’m thought of as “That Weight Loss Guy” (or so I’ve been referred to when people realize I’m the person who writes this column), it would seem appropriate that I follow the TV series most appurtenant to dieting: The Biggest Loser.

It might seem that way; but that’s not the case.

I’ve seen one half of one episode and that was enough for me.

First of all, it focuses too much on how fast one can lose weight rather than how long one can sustain a healthy lifestyle; the antithesis of my philosophy. Secondly, one of the trainers was browbeating a contestant to get her to make the necessary changes. I believe firmly that if guilt and shame were motivational, no one would be overweight. It doesn’t work. It never will. And, it’s just ugly to watch. Finally, me watching a show on weight loss is unnecessary. I live it 24/7. I can see my own program right in the mirror.

Having placed all that on the table, I’ve been approached several times by folks curious of my opinion about the study in the journal Obesity (and then reported by media) showcasing what has happened to contestants on that show. In case you haven’t heard, let me briefly recap.

The media’s main takeaways were that weight loss leads to permanent metabolic damage; and also that no one can maintain it long term.

These conclusions are based in large part on the fact that that the contestants’ resting metabolic rate (RMR) – which is how many calories your body needs per day to function – dropped while losing weight and never came back up when they put the weight back on. As for weight loss being futile, that hypothesis came to be because the average contestant lost about 125 pounds, and has so far regained about 90.

At first blush, it does seem alarming. But before you sell your treadmill and throw yourself into a box of donuts, consider these:

[Read more…]

Filed Under: News, Newspaper Column, Weight Loss Tagged With: biggest loser, effective weight loss, how to live a healthy lifestyle, how to maintain your weight, lifestyle change, myth, tv

How The Shootings Have Affected Us: Finding the Best in Each Other

June 16, 2016 by Scott "Q" Marcus Leave a Comment

There were a dozen of us scattered about the tables in the coffee shop.

Some were working on computers, others having quiet conversations; personally, I was preparing for a class later that day. Of course, there were a handful of baristas behind the counter.

No one — including myself — paid much mind when he opened the door to enter.

He looked “relatively normal;” forty-something, about five and half feet in height. His clothes and dark brown hair were slightly disheveled and somewhat dirty; both of those could have been attributed to him being a workingman ending a long day. What was not “relatively normal” was as he stood at the entrance, blocking others from coming or going, he raised his voice and started shouting at us, making direct eye contact across the room with me.

At first I wasn’t sure what he was saying; caught off guard by what is certainly not expected or standard behavior.

The gist of his tirade was we “had better change teams immediately” or we were all “going to pay.” His screaming was steeped with fury and rage and punctuated with a string of expletives culminating in a warning about how he was going to “f” us all up. Stunned, we sat; gawking and puzzled, until he lifted something from near his worn shoes, slammed shut the door, turned on his heels, and disappeared into the foot traffic flowing along the thoroughfare.

We – the patrons and employees – glanced at each other. One of the servers, about to leave for her break, commented, “I think I’ll wait a few minutes.” Several moments passed; heart rates returned to normal. Our behaviors returned to what they were prior the rude interruption.

I have to be honest; when he bent down, I flinched.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Current Events, Hope, News, Newspaper Column Tagged With: emotions, facing fear, News, overcoming fear, politics, sadness

There is No Situation That Love or Compassion will Worsen

June 13, 2016 by Scott "Q" Marcus Leave a Comment

We have been through a horrific weekend.

rainbow heart

Our hearts are heavy with hurt because of yet another mass killing. We feel for the victims and fo their families. We are saddened by the senseless loss of life – especially in such a hateful, violent, and meaningless fashion.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Motivational Monday, News Tagged With: compassion, forgiveness, radical forgiveness

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