I am now making guest "appearances" on Sonoma's community radio KSVY, 91.3 on the FM dial. If you life outside the Sonoma Valley area you can stream the show at KSVY.org. Join us every Monday at 9:30am for discussions of how Dianetics and Scientology provide real solutions to every day life.

Today I was talking about DrugFreeChildren.Org. This is an informational web site with the purpose to educate parents, teachers and interested people about the alternatives that are available for helping children that have been told they have ADD or ADHD.

Whether or not there is a clinical illness called ADHD or not, many teachers and parents have trouble helping some children that are very active and that sometimes have short attention spans for subjects being addressed.

This site links to many other web pages, some governmental, that offer insights and direction to helping such children. Many of our brightest stars were very active children who walked their own path, and as adults help to create many of the innovations we enjoy today.

Take the time to investigate and decide for yourself the path you will take with your child or family member. We all owe it to our children to be well informed and do our best.

Write me, let me know your thoughts!

Donna

L. Ron Hubbard has asked the question many of us ask, "Isn't it better to be mean?" I have sometimes asked myself if I shouldn't handle some difficult situation with being tougher. Maybe I'm just too soft and accomodating...
when am I going to learn to stand up to _____and just say no!

I have found for myself that those times when I wasn't nice enough, didn't extend that olive branch or wasn't kind are the times from which I've really suffered.

Sometimes it looks like being mean gets someone ahead, but drat not true.

Yes, I should demand (and help) others to stand on their own feet. But to even be able to communicate to them I have to do it in a nice way.

Being kind and decent is really what I want my friends and family to remember about me. Having fun and supporting them in their tough times is my goal.

Can't say I've always met this standard, but I have established for myself a "kindness" policy that I strive to live up to.

Donna

When I was in school I studied about man’s inhumanity to man. Wars, crime, poverty - we can look around our world and see these things everywhere on our planet.

Yet what is it that I can do– after all what can one person do about the truly awful things of “life”? Iraq, Africa, what is it that we, I, can do? As I look around me I think I can come up with something. Not big, but even big things start small.

I can be kinder.
I can have more patience.
I can think about another and help them in some way.
I can be honest with myself.

As Eleanor Roosevelt, the chief architect of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights, said “Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home – so close and so small that they cannot be seen in any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm or office where he works….Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.”* And so it truly is in our own lives. We are the architects of ourselves, and must be the one to do something about it.

L. Ron Hubbard wrote in the article What is Greatness:

“The real lesson is to learn to love.

He who would walk scatheless through his days must learn this.

Never use what is done to one as a basis for hatred. Never desire revenge.

It requires real strength to love man. And to love him despite all invitations to do otherwise, all provocations and all reasons why one should not.

Happiness and strength endure only in the absence of hate. To hate alone is the road to disaster. To love is the road to strength. To love in spite of all is the secret of greatness. And may very well be the greatest secret in this universe.”*

As the year draws to an end and the New Year is about to start, I challenge you to decide to do something, anything creative or constructive, about yourself, the family, neighborhood or town around you. Lets see what we can do.

* excerpts from What is Greatness? L. Ron Hubbard
* excerpts Eleanor Roosevelt, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, ratified by the United Nation in 1948

It's been some time since I've written here. Scientology has been in the news recently. Newsweek has an article about religions of the 60s - and noted that Scientology is an applied religious philosophy that helps you in your everyday life. This is different from many religions, though certainly most work to help their members and others in need.

Making a change now, starting from a recognition that each of us is a spiritual being, now that I think more about it, is why one whould join a any religious group. And why groups prosper and grow. There is a basic truth that Scientology acknowledges which is each one of us creates our life and is fully responsible for it. We likewise create our Church and our groups, our families and so forth. Sometimes we do a good job, and other times it's a bit rocky. Good news - we are creating it so we can do something about it. Bad news - if we try to point the finger at someone else being the "blame" we can't doing anything except protest against it.

I'm sticking with the good news.

More about this topic can be seen on the page for answers to common questions - section on Ethics.

Ok, what exactly does that mean! Religious philosophy in my view is a way of looking at life from a spiritual perspective. All religions have a philosophy - a way of looking at life.

Scientology has as a basic tenet that man is basically good. Under all the barriers and difficulties he is ethical, playful and considers the good of all.

So, OK, there are a lot of barriers! I'll give you that....one only needs to read the local paper. Well, maybe not in Sonoma, which is a bit of heaven. But city, national, world news. This is where the applied comes in. How to uncover the basic person, and give him tools on how to live in harmony with others and the planet.

An example is the Communication Course. Some of us talk too much, some are poor listeners, can't face certain subjects (money? bills? job??) and so forth. There are exercises to practice each of the skills to better communication. Common sense.

What about the "spiritual part"? How can you "apply" common sense to the spirit. Disclaimer here - this is an educated opinion of my own. A Code of Honor that only you can decide is right, and that can't be forced on you is deeply spiritual. Click on link for Real Solutions - see Chapter on Honesty and Intergrity to read the Code of Honor and decide yourself.

People often ask me this question, and because Scientology is an applied religious philosophy it covers almost all areas of human experience. My favorite explanation is that it is a way to observe what you are looking at, and seeing the truth know for yourself what you are observing. Sounds simple....how many times have you asked yourself "why did I trust him?" or say "I didn't see that coming". Yet a friend or family member could see it.

Sorting out what is true for yourself, and getting rid of the barriers to your observation of life gives you the freedom to be yourself, and set your own goals.

Everyone can remember a day they felt bigger and at peace with themself - maybe a day at the beach, or an evening with good friends. It's easy to talk to others, everything is bright and your senses are acute and real. This is you, without the barriers.

My own experiences are that I remembered these days, and wouldn't settle until I could experience this all the time. To me nothing else was more important to me than to know myself as a spiritual being. Of course I loved my family and friends, worked and set goals, but I myself knew I needed to achieve this. At my first lecture in Scientology, which I went to as a college student prepared to make fun of, I recognized ideas I had already been thinking. This data agreed with me! To this day I feel this way - this agrees with what I know to be true.

I support anyone looking and deciding for themself about Scientology and Dianetics. It is only as useful as you find data that is true for you and you can use to reach your own goals in life.

Think for yourself.

Hi,
I was out of town, right after posting the blog! Not great planning, but happy to be back and I'll be updating my blog now.

There is a awesome web site that promotes the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: www.youthforhumanrights.org.

There are PSAs on this site that communicate these rights in a way I've never seen before.

Eleanor Roosevelt, the principal architect of the Declaration, described the importance of these rights with these words:

"Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen in any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm or office where he works...Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world."

I'm excited about these PSAs - please if you agree with them tell others.

Donna