Health was regarded as a primary responsibility of the individual, and disease as a mistake in lifestyle. The greatest value traditional Chinese health care holds for modern medicine lies in the many simple but effective methods Chinese physicians developed for cultivating mental and physical health, balancing essence and energy, preventing disease and degeneration, and prolonging life. They recorded their discoveries in the medical archives of ancient China, which remain as valid today as they were then.

Longevity not only enables you to enjoy the other fruits of your practice, such as health, vitality, clarity, and equanimity, it also supplies you with the extra time and experienced required to traverse the highest paths of spiritual development and take a shot at the ultimate goal of enlightenment, or ‘spiritual immortality’.

‘The reason people die so young these days,’ states the Classic of the Plain Girl, ‘is that they no longer know the secrets of the Tao.’

That was written over 2,000 years ago as China entered its ‘modern age’ and people began to ‘lose the Way’.

Straying far from the Great Highway of health, longevity, and spiritual awareness, people prefer to wander down the dead-end byways of worldly desires, where they’re snared by the emotional machination of the “Chief Hooligan” and deceived by the sensory tricks of the “Five Thieves”. Ever since civilization divorced man and woman from nature, human life has lost its natural harmony.

According to the Taoist view, nature designed the human body to live an average life span of about 100 years, and if we take measures to prolong our lives, we should be able to extend our life spans to 150 years or more.

There are many examples in Chinese history of Methuselah’s who lived even longer than that, the most recent case being a Taoist adept and master herbalist from southwest China named Lee Ching-yuen, who lived to be over 250 years old.

Lee Ching-yuen was born in 1678, during the seventeenth year of the Manchu emperor Kang Shi’s reign. He left home at an early age and traveled around southern China with a group of itinerant herb traders, from whom he learned the basics of herbalism. Subsequently, Lee had the good fortune to meet several highly accomplished Taoist masters, who taught him internal alchemy and Tee-Jung, and showed him how to utilize diet and herbal supplements for health and longevity.

Though not a strict vegetarian, Lee consumed very little meat and also limited his intake of grains and root vegetables.

His daily diet consisted primarily of lightly steamed vegetables, fresh fruit, and tonic herbs. The herbs he recommended most highly for promoting health and prolonging life were ginseng, gout kola, polygon, multiform, and garlic.

Nor was Lee Ching-yuen celibate: over the course of his long life he married fourteen times, and by the time of his death in 1930, he counted almost 200 living descendants within his extended family.

After his death, modern scholars confirmed his identity, traced his life all the way back to the year of his birth, and conclusively verified his life span.

Lee Ching-yuen’s life demonstrates how well Taoist longevity techniques work when properly practiced. The point here is not only to add years to your life, but also to ‘add life to your years”, i.e., to maintain your health and vitality until the very end of your days.

Lee Ching-yeun continued to take long hikes in the mountains until the final years of his life, remained sexually active for over two centuries, never became senile, and died with all his own teeth and most of his hair. These days, few people even reach the age of sixty in that condition.

Modern Western medicine like to claim that it has extended the human life span by over twenty years since 1900, but this claim is based entirely on a dramatic decline in infant mortality, not on better health or longer life for adults.

Several studies have shown that the average beggar in India and peasant in Mexico are healthier than the average American college student, and few people in Western societies today reach old age with their bodies and minds intact.

While it is true that thanks to live-saving medical technology, a baby born in American stands a better chance of survival than in Africa or the Middle East, the USA now ranks thirty-seventh in the world for the life expectancy of a twenty-year-old person.

In an article published in the New York State Medical Journal, Dr. Norman Joliffe points out that ‘although in America the life expectancy at birth is near the best of any civilized country in the world- at the age of 40 life expectancy in American is near the bottom’.

The overall health of the entire population of America- from children to the elderly – is appallingly poor and continues to deteriorate.

Production

Production of DHEA from Cholesterol
Comprehensive overview of Steroidogenesis, showing dehydroepiandrosterone at left among the androgens.

DHEA is produced from cholesterol through two cytochrome P450 enzymes. Cholesterol is converted to pregnenolone by the enzyme P450 scc (side chain cleavage); then another enzyme, CYP17A1, converts pregnenolone to 17α-Hydroxypregnenolone and then to DHEA.[6]
[edit] Role

DHEA can be understood as a prohormone for the sex steroids. DHEAS may be viewed as buffer and reservoir. As most DHEA is produced by the zona reticularis of the adrenal cortex, it is argued that there is a role in the immune and stress response.[who?]

As almost all DHEA is derived from the adrenal glands, blood measurements of DHEAS/DHEA are useful to detect excess adrenal activity as seen in adrenal cancer or hyperplasia, including certain forms of congenital adrenal hyperplasia. Women with polycystic ovary syndrome tend to have elevated levels of DHEAS.

Effects and uses

Depression

DHEA is a cortisol antagonist. Research studies indicate that DHEA supplementation has an anti-depressant effect and protects from cortisol overconcentration over long time scales.

Memory

DHEA supplementation has been studied as a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, but was not found to be effective.[11] Some small placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial studies have found long-term supplementation to improve mood and relieve depression[12][13] or to decrease insulin resistance.[14] However, a larger placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial reported in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2006 found that DHEA supplementation in elderly men and women had no beneficial effects on body composition, physical performance, insulin sensitivity, or quality of life.

In contrast to the non-beneficial effects of DHEA on memory in the elderly, a randomised UK study[16] found that a 7-day course of DHEA (150 mg twice daily) improved episodic memory in healthy young men. In this study, DHEA was also shown to improve subjective mood and decrease evening cortisol concentration, which is known to be elevated in depression.[17] The effect of DHEA on memory appeared to be related to an early activation of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and it was suggested this was due to neuronal recruitment of the steroid sensitive ACC that may be involved in pre-hippocampal memory processing.

Consistent with this hypothesis are DHEA-S data from several studies of military special operations units. In these studies, warfighters who exhibited higher levels of DHEA and higher DHEA/cortisol ratios during extreme stress were those who also exhibited superior hippocampal and prefrontal dependent cognitive abilities during stress.

Physical performance

DHEA supplements are sometimes used as muscle-building or performance-enhancing drugs by athletes. However, a randomized placebo-controlled trial found that DHEA supplementation had no (statistically significant) effect on lean body mass, strength, or testosterone levels.

Cardiovascular disease and risk of death

A 1986 study found that a higher level of endogenous DHEA, as determined by a single measurement, correlated with a lower risk of death or cardiovascular disease. However, a more recent 2006 study found no correlation between DHEA levels and risk of cardiovascular disease or death in men. A 2007 study found the DHEA restored oxidative balance in diabetic patients, reducing tissue levels of pentosidine—a biomarker for advanced glycation endproducts.

Cancer

Some in vitro studies have found DHEA to have both anti-proliferative and yet also apoptotic effect on cancer cell lines. The clinical significance of these findings, if any, is unknown. Higher levels of DHEA and other endogenous sex hormones are strongly associated with an increased risk of developing breast cancer in both pre- and postmenopausal women.

Diabetes and carotid atherosclerosis

A 2005 study, measured serum DHEA in 206 men with type-2 diabetes, and found an inverse relationship between serum DHEA and carotid atherosclerosis in men. The authors say the study “supports the notion that DHEA, which is sold in increasing amount as a food supplement, is atheroprotective in humans, and that androgen replacement therapy should be considered for men with hypogonadism.”
[edit] Men over 65

A 2006 study supplemented DHEA to men of average 65 years of age, and found that the men experienced significant increases in testosterone and cGMP (Cyclic guanosine monophosphate), and significant decreases in low-density lipoprotein (LDL). The authors say that the “findings…suggest that chronic DHEA supplementation would exert antiatherogenic effects, particularly in elderly subjects who display low circulating levels of this hormone.

Longevity

A 2008 study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, June 2008, measured serum DHEA in 940 men and women ranging from age 21 to 88, following them from 1978 until 2005. The researches found that low levels of DHEA-s showed a significant association with shorter lifespan and that higher DHEA-s levels are a “strong predictor” of longevity in men, even after adjusting for age, blood pressure, and plasma glucose. No relationship was found between serum DHEA and longevity for women during the study period. The study did not find a significant difference in longevity until the 15-year follow-up point, which the researchers note may explain why some past research that followed men for less duration found no relationship.

“No reason to prescribe”

An anonymous 2002 review, in the French journal Prescrire, concluded: DHEA plasma levels are so low in most animals that they are difficult to measure, hindering studies on DHEA and aging. DHEA had not yet, at the time of writing, been linked to any specific health disorder. Side effects are linked to its androgenic effects, unfavorable lipid metabolism effects, and “possible growth-stimulating effect” on hormone dependent malignancies. “In practice, there is currently no scientific reason to prescribe DHEA for any purpose whatsoever.

Disputed effects

In the United States, DHEA or DHEAS have been advertised with claims that they may be beneficial for a wide variety of ailments. DHEA and DHEAS are readily available in the United States, where they are marketed as over-the-counter dietary supplements. A 2004 review in the American Journal of Sports Medicine concluded that “The marketing of this supplement’s effectiveness far exceeds its science. Because DHEA must first be converted to androstenedione and then to testosterone in men, it has two chances to aromatize into estrogen – estrone from androstenedione, and estradiol from testosterone. As such, it is possible that supplementation with DHEA could increase estrogen levels more than testosterone levels in men.

Side effects

As a hormone precursor, there has been a smattering of reports of side effects possibly caused by the hormone metabolites of DHEA.Some of these include possibly serious cardiovascular effects such as heart palpitations.

Increasing endogenous production

Regular exercise is known to increase DHEA production in the body.Calorie restriction has also been shown to increase DHEA in primates. Some theorize that the increase in endogenous DHEA brought about by calorie restriction is partially responsible for the longer life expectancy known to be associated with calorie restriction.

But then Google came along and started to recognize the unique and original content that these trite little sites presented and the rules of the game suddenly changed. After all, unique content is what makes the Google world go round, and what better way to command the attention of Google than by creating a dynamic environment with content that is solely your own.

At this stage, a whole new SEO world emerged and in the process, brought with it traffic opportunities like never before. People began blogging on more than what they had for dinner last night. They started to blog about new products, exciting travel adventures and all things related to online commerce.

The evolution quickly continued and today, with RSS feeds, sites like pingoat.com and many other content clearinghouses, blogging is big business and not to be overlooked by hungry entrepreneurs looking to establish a web presence.

What currently makes blogging so attractive is the sheer speed with which blogs and blog posts are able to get indexed in the search engines. It is a simple matter of static versus dynamic and the search engines love the dynamic.

Let’s take two different scenarios to see how traditional websites and blogs differ in their index-ability:

Scenario One:

One person creates a website to advertise gardening products and services. Each page of the site contains the traditional information about the company; it’s founders, the services they offer and the products they sell. Maybe, at best, the site has articles and content that is updated with some small frequency that are relevant to the avid gardener. When visitors arrive at the site, they have the option of signing up for the company newsletter and receiving valuable tips and new offerings.

In this scenario, the Webmaster or business owner will need to tend to many SEO related tasks in order to get and maintain high search engine ranking for a tight list of selected keywords related to the gardening niche. Not only will this activity require great skill, it will also involve many hours to achieve the intended results.

Scenario Two:

The same business owner as above also creates a blog to supplement their company website. Now, instead of focusing on simply one set of tightly selected keywords, the blog itself remains a broad overview of the gardening niche, while each individual post reflects a drilled down topic within that same niche.

So when the business owner writes a blog post about the benefits of “organic vegetable gardening in backyard containers,” this individual post becomes a keyword rich, targeted wonder and when indexed by the search engines has a far greater opportunity to bringing highly targeted traffic to the blog based upon that single post.

Through time, the blog expands with many similar posts that are targeted to sub niches within the broader gardening niche and can even be categorized from inside the blog structure itself. What has now been created in Google’s eyes is an extremely dynamic, naturally evolving site that is content rich and niche specific.

When properly constructed and promoted, each time the business owner posts to the blog, that individual post can get indexed in anywhere from two to twenty four hours on average. This opportunity is far greater than any options available at the static website.

Additionally, when the business owner endeavors to have a visitor signup for a newsletter, further segmenting can occur and subscriber lists can be refined and targeted. And because the blog is the front-end showcase to the original website, each blog post has the opportunity to link back to specific and relevant products at the main site.

When properly structured, blogs are the biggest SEO asset to a website that currently exists. The wise business owner will recognize these benefits and when implemented, will enjoy many opportunities that do not currently exist with traditional websites alone.

“The electrons have to move down the tube and hit a target without bumping into air molecules. Pumping out the air gives electrons a good shot at the target,” Gay explained.

Polarized, or magnetized, electrons have potential in many applications, such as improving computers and electronics or creating more energy-efficient light bulbs, and in answering fundamental questions.

With National Science Foundation funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), Gay uses these atomic particles in basic and applied research. For example, in the experiment above he uses polarized electrons to answer intriguing questions about the origins of life, such as why all DNA molecules spiral clockwise. The answer may have to do with cosmic rays — a natural source of spin-polarized electrons.  In the process, he’s learning a lot about how polarized electrons behave.

Electrons naturally spin in random directions, cancelling out each other’s magnetic energy. That’s why most things are not magnetic. But when all electrons spin in the same direction, they become magnetized. Known as spintronics, this approach opens many new applications. While scientists are learning to harness electron spin, creating polarized electrons remains complex and time-consuming.

Gay aims to change that. His team is developing a simple, easy-to-use method for producing spin-polarized electrons. A turnkey source of polarized electrons could provide new analytical tools for industry and research.

Whether he’s exploring fundamental questions or developing new technologies, Gay involves his students. He has trained at least 85 undergraduates in his lab. “I really view the mission of these experiments as half physics and half training tomorrow’s high-tech workforce,” he said.

Pump it: Members of the French hip-hop dance group Wanted Posse dazzle the audience with acrobatic moves during the show Transe at Taman Ismail Marzuki cultural center’s Graha Bhakti Budaya on Wednesday.

Those expecting to see just a few “pop-locking” and acrobatic “windmilling” moves left the show with more than they bargained for. The group showed just how far the limits of the human body could be stretched in a gracious yet powerful 40-minute choreography.

Wanted Posse’s performance, Transe, created in 2005, is an expression of the psycho-physiological state of trance in the form of theatrical hip-hop dance. It represents madness, anger and possession, the group says.

It is also the embodiment of the group’s sense of rhythm, physical strength and stamina.
The show started with seven dancers in oversized white shirts moving, giving out otherworldly facial expressions, and shouting peculiar sounds.

They quickly huddled and did a synchronized top rock, a move consisting of a string of steps executed while standing, with some dancers suddenly leaping out from the formation only to be caught by the others.

Later on in the show, Wanted Posse’s power-moves masters Junior “B-boy Junior” Bosila and Arthur “Artson” Grandjean, challenged each other to a “swipe” duel — a swipe being hip-hop dance vernacular for standing on one’s hands while thrusting one’s legs up in the air and rotating the torso 180 degrees.

The group that hails from the suburbs of Paris has been in Jakarta since Saturday, giving hip-hop
dance workshops to children in the city.

Their visit to Indonesia is part of Le Printemps Francais (French Spring), the cultural festival organized by the French Cultural Center (CCF). After Jakarta, the group is slated to perform in Bandung, Yogyakarta, Surabaya and Balikpapan.

Wanted Posse, which won the 2001 Battle of the Year — the b-boy’s version of the world cup — is considered as one of the best hip-hop dance groups in the world.

Wednesday’s performance only saw seven of the nine members of the group perform. Kim “Kimson” Na’ sellu, the tall Wanted Posse member injured his shoulder while performing in EX Plaza, while Soria “Babyson” Rem, the only female in Wanted Posse could not join the team to Indonesia as she is three-months pregnant.

No limits: Two dancers from the French hip-hop dance group Wanted Posse do a simultaneous freeze. Ibrohim “Joyson” Njoya does a handstand, while Mame “Mamson” Diarra is in a boat pose. Behind, another Wanted Posse member lies on his side.

Kim said dancers were prone to injury when b-boying. Hip-hop dancers prefer calling their art b-boying, from the initial name of the dance that came about in the 1970s. The media reportedly dubbed b-boying “break dancing” when the dance became a fad in the 1980s.

“Injuries are common. However dancing is our way to express emotions, more than talking,” Kim said with the help of a translator.

“It’s hard to see my friends dance while I can’t join them,” he said during rehearsal prior to Wednesday’s performance.

And one certainly needs upper body strength and flexibility to carry out hip-hop dancing moves. What the small yet bulky B-Boy Junior did in Transe would be impossible without a high level of skill, strength and endurance.

B-boy Junior continued to amaze the audience throughout the show with his jaw-dropping moves: A floating plank pose on top of other Wanted Posse dancers’ back, a perfect hollowback — a still motion in which he leaned backwards in an extreme arch from a handstand, and walked using his elbow while keeping his feet up in the air.

Kim explained that all of the members of Wanted Posse were choreographers, with each of them contributing their ideas to Transe. Oosman “Babson” Sy said it took them a year to produce the show.

One of the audience members in a Q&A session after their performance asked why the piece was
so short.

“It feels short because you enjoyed it so much,” Babson said jokingly.

The show ended with an encore — each of the Wanted Posse doing a solo routine, and local b-boys performing on stage. One of the locals demonstrated his style blending b-boying with Jakarta traditional Ronggeng dance moves.

Babson praised local talents for their energy and unique style mixing the traditional and modern. “Technical skills can be learned but it’s important to have your own style,” he said.

Just like Wanted Posse, Kim added. While they learned from international experts, they also incorporated their own background into their group.

Kim is of Sierra Leone-Laos descent, while Babyson is a French national with Cambodian blood, and B-boy Junior moved to Paris from Zaire when he was five.

Babson said there was an African and Asian influence in their dancing.

B-boying started in France in the 1980s, Kim said. The dance phenomenon found its roots in 1970s New York, becoming a global trend on the back of the film Flashdance in the 1980s.

Nowadays, besides the US and France, b-boying has caught on in countries such as Japan, South Korea, Russia, and the UK.

It is only in France, however, that hip-hop dance groups brings b-boying to the theater, Kim said. And a good job they did.

things that you usually do not do. This will enrich your life experience.

These 5 items are just examples:

1. Buy a gift for other people especially the one you care

2. If you are an introvert, just throw a big party invite your friends. If you are an extrovert , outgoing person, just have one nice dinner alone where you can do self reflection on the important moments in your life, from the day you were born up to now.

3. Be a kid, remember when you were still small. Do exactly what you did.

4. Call as many OLD friends as possible. Just to say HI without telling that it is your birthday.

5. Do something you are afraid of doing for example: Bungy Jumping, surfing, glider, learn to drive a big bus, learn to fly a helicopter etc.

For me, this year I plan to do one SIMPLE thing. I plan to do Off site yearly planning on the top of mountain where I can get pure supply of oxygen.

This activity gives me the opportunity to experience my self and do a self reflection when I am not enggaged in the planning session.

So what do you do on your birthday?:)

note: on Jan 5,2009, I’d like to add one more fun things: create your own blog:) or you create for a blog or portal for other people.:)

note: on jan 1,2010 I added : to take a slow walk for about 5 miles to flash back from your current birthday to the day you were borne.

http://bodymindspiritintegration.com/new/?p=85 Walking exercises 7 hours  a week can prevent us from Diabetes ?

What Good Does It Do?
Breast Cancer: 20% reduction Article
Diabetes: 50% reduction Article
Heart Disease: 30-40% reduction Article
Colon Cancer: exercise reduces risk Article
Stroke: exercise reduces risk Article
Reduces Death Risk by 27%
More Health Benefits of Walking

Problem-solving often involves decision-making, and decision-making is especially important for management and leadership. There are processes and techniques to improve decision-making and the quality of decisions. Decision-making is more natural to certain personalities, so these people should focus more on improving the quality of their decisions.

People that are less natural decision-makers are often able to make quality assessments, but then need to be more decisive in acting upon the assessments made. Problem-solving and decision-making are closely linked, and each requires creativity in identifying and developing options, for which the brainstorming technique is particularly useful. See also the free SWOT analysis template and examples, and PEST analysis template, which help decision-making and problem-solving. SWOT analysis helps assess the strength of a company, a business proposition or idea; PEST analysis helps to assess the potential and suitability of a market. Good decision-making requires a mixture of skills: creative development and identification of options, clarity of judgement, firmness of decision, and effective implementation. For group problem-solving and decision-making, or when a consensus is required, workshops help, within which you can incorporate these tools and process as appropriate. Here are some useful methods for effective decision-making and problem-solving: First a simple step-by-step process for effective decision-making and problem-solving.

See also the decision-making facilitative questions template.

And definitely see the ethical decision-making quick guide.

decision-making process

1. Define and clarify the issue – does it warrant action? If so, now? Is the matter urgent, important or both. See the Pareto Principle.
2. Gather all the facts and understand their causes.
3. Think about or brainstorm possible options and solutions. (See brainstorming process)
4. Consider and compare the pros and cons of each option – consult if necessary – it probably will be.
5. Select the best option – avoid vagueness or ‘foot in both camps’ compromise.
6. Explain your decision to those involved and affected, and follow up to ensure proper and effective implementation.

Decision-making maxims will help to reinforce the above decision-making process whether related to problem-solving or not, for example:

“We know what happens to people who stay in the middle of the road. They get run down.” (Aneurin Bevan)

“In any moment of decision the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” (attributed to Theodore Roosevelt – more maxims on the quotes page)

JFDI – Just Frigging Do it (polite version). The decision-maker’s motto. There are usually several right answers when you are faced with a complex decision. When you’ve found the best solution you can find, get on with it, make it work, and it most probably will. (More useful rules, acronyms and training ideas on the acronyms page)

pros and cons decision-making method

Another simple process for decision-making is the pros and cons list.

Pro means ‘for’, and con means ‘against’. In other words, advantages and disadvantages.

This method also applies to all sorts of problem-solving where issues and implications need to be understood and a decision has to be made.

Some decisions are a simple matter of whether to make a change or not, such as moving, taking a new job, or buying something, selling something, replacing something, etc. Other decisions involve number of options, and are concerned more with how to do something, involving a number of choices. Use the brainstorming process to identify and develop options for decision-making and problem-solving.

1. First you will need a separate sheet for each identified option.
2. On each sheet write clearly the option concerned, and then beneath it the headings ‘pros’ and ‘cons’ (or ‘advantages’ and disadvantages’, or simply ‘for’ and ‘against’). Many decisions simply involve the choice of whether to go ahead or not, to change or not; in these cases you need only one sheet.
3. Then write down as many effects and implications of the particular option that you (and others if appropriate) can think of, placing each in the relevant column.
4. If helpful ‘weight’ each factor, by giving it a score out of three or five points (e.g., 5 being extremely significant, and 1 being of minor significance).
5. When you have listed all the points you can think of for the option concerned compare the number or total score of the items/effects/factors between the two columns.
6. This will provide a reflection and indication as to the overall attractiveness and benefit of the option concerned. If you have scored each item you will actually be able to arrive at a total score, being the difference between the pros and cons column totals. The bigger the difference between the total pros and total cons then the more attractive the option is.
7. If you have a number of options and have complete a pros and cons sheet for each option, compare the attractiveness – points difference between pros and cons – for each option. The biggest positive difference between pros and cons is the most attractive option.
8. N.B. If you don’t like the answer that the decision-making sheet(s) reflect back to you, it means you haven’t included all the cons – especially the emotional ones, or you haven’t scored the factors consistently, so re-visit the sheet(s) concerned.

You will find that writing things down in this way will help you to see things more clearly, become more objective and detached, which will help you to make clearer decisions.

pros and cons weighted decision-making template – example

This example weighs the pros and cons of buying a new car to replace an old car.

The weighted pros and cons are purely examples – they are not in any way suggestions of how you should make such a decision. Our decision-making criteria depend on our own personal situations and preferences. And your criteria and weighting will change according to time, situation, and probably your mood too.

Use whatever scoring method you want to. The example shows low scores but you can score each item up to 10, or 20 or 100 – whatever makes sense to you personally. Or you can use an ‘A/B/C’ or three-star scoring method, whatever works for you.

In the above example, on the basis of the pros and cons and the weighting applied, there seems to be a a clear overall (and quantifiable) advantage in the decision to go ahead and buy a new car.

Notice that with this decision-making method it’s even possible to include ‘intangible’ emotional issues in the pros and cons comparison, for example ‘it’ll be a load off my mind’, and ‘decisions scare and upset me’.

A decision-making pros and cons list like this helps remove the emotion which blocks clear thinking and decision-making. It enables objectivity and measurement, rather than reacting from instinct, or avoiding the issue altogether. Objective measurement helps in making a confident decision.

The total weighted scores are the main deciding factor rather than the total number of pros and cons, although there is not a scientific ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to consider the total number of pros and cons compared with the total weighted scores.

If the weighted scores are indicating a decision which makes you feel uncomfortable, then check your weightings, and also check that you’ve not missed out any factors on either side of the table.

If the decision makes you feel uncomfortable and this is not reflected in the table, then add it as a factor and give it a score.

Seeking feedback or input from a trusted neutral friend can be helpful in confirming your factors and their scores.

blank pros and cons decision-making template

You should be able to cut and paste this template into a text editor or spreadsheet. Add more rows as required.

complex problems and decisions

For more complex decisions and problems involving more than two possible options you can use several pros and cons tables in conjunction, to compare the overall weight of each option.

In such cases the wording of the options is important, for example, if considering the best path for one’s own career and work development the options might be:

• be employed, working for a big company
• be self-employed, working as a consultant or freelancer from home
• start a business, with premises and staff

A situation like this can be approached by completing three separate pros and cons tables and then comparing the net effects (difference between weighted pros and cons) of each one.

While this won’t necessarily evaluate and compare all possible inter-related aspects of the whole situation, it will help to give great clarity and detached objectivity (detached as in unemotional), which can be very difficult to find when confronted with a complicated and big challenge offering several options.

Also consider that some decisions and challenges are difficult because you don’t have the necessary knowledge or experience, in which case you need first to decide if the decision or challenge is actually appropriate and necessary for you at this stage.

Some decisions have to be made whether you are ready or not. Others might not be as pressing as you imagine.

Do not be forced into a change-based decision if having considered the implications carefully you decide that it’s not the best thing to do.

The decision to do nothing different, in the right way for the right reasons, is often a perfectly good option.

Whatever you do – try to be as objective as you can be.

Well prepared decisions are easier to make and to implement, and generally produce the best results.

A University professor at a well known institution of higher learning challenged his students with this question. “Did God create everything that exists?”

A student bravely replied, “Yes he did!”

“God created everything?” The professor asked.

“Yes sir, he certainly did,” the student replied.

The professor answered, “If God created everything; then God created evil. And, since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then we can assume God is evil.”

The student became quiet and did not answer the professor’s hypothetical definition. The professor, quite pleased with himself, boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth.

Another student raised his hand and said, “May I ask you a question, professor?”

“Of course”, replied the professor.

The student stood up and asked, “Professor, does cold exist?”

“What kind of question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?”

The other students snickered at the young man’s question.

The young man replied, “In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-460 F) is the total absence of heat; and all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat.”

The student continued, “Professor, does darkness exist?”

The professor responded, “Of course it does.”

The student replied, “Once again you are wrong sir, darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact, we can use Newton’s prism to break white light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color.

You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn’t this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present.”

Finally the young man asked the professor, “Sir, does evil exist?”

Now uncertain, the professor responded, “Of course, as I have already said. We see it everyday. It is in the daily examples of man’s Inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil.

To this the student replied, “Evil does not exist, sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God’s love present in his heart. It’s like the cold that comes when there is no heat, or the darkness that comes when there is no light.”

The professor sat down.

The young man’s name – Albert Einstein