Breathing Life - Joshua Roy's Blog

Rang a friend and asked him what he was up to as I needed his help with something.  After contacting him I was informed that a 7 year old child – a family friend’s child was in hospital.  He told me that this young boy had a leaky heart.  This meant that his heart was not functioning properly.  I was informed that he had been unable to eat or drink anything for almost 3 weeks.  I could only imagine how tired and weak he felt.  To protect the identity of the individual and family I will call this boy Jeff.   At the hospital we found Jeff with his dad.  His father had spent the night with him, sleeping a in a second bed that had been prepared.  He did look weak but managed a smile when he saw that he had visitors.   He had been playing cards with his dad during the day and they had just been there together.  I was informed by the father upon arrival that the doctors had not given good news.  They had stated that he could be in the hospital for a long time, like 3 months.   I was with my…

The following paragraph is an excerpt taken from the internet that explains retention rates of learning through lectures and other forms of teaching.   “The experts generally agree that simulations boost learning retention rates dramatically. An often-cited study conducted by the NTL Institute for Applied Behavioral Sciences in Alexandria, Va., found that on average, students retain 5 percent of what they hear in lectures, 10 percent of what they read, and 20 percent of what they see and hear in audiovisual presentations. But add “practice by doing” and “teach others/immediate use” and retention rates shoot up to a jaw-dropping 78 percent.”   Much of traditional education is based on lectures.  The practical application of any learning is imperative to integrating that learning into one’s mind and heart.  The challenge from a teaching standpoint is to learn how to increase learning of the students to such an extent that massive change can occur in the shortest amount of time.   It is the nature of mankind to do things faster and better.  Improvements have been made in both travel and communication.  Once it took many months to send a message to the other side of the earth or to travel around…

Often we are the last to notice an internal change or “shift” that has occurred inside ourselves.  When I work with others I look for internal “shifts” and changes that occur.  The beauty about change is that it is visible, if one knows what to look for, and how change will manifest itself.  Predominately change will show up on a person’s face and in their physiology.   Due to the unique nature of human beings, the manifestation of psychological “shifts” shows up differently for each individual.  I have been observing “shifts” in people for many years now.  This awareness is learned and all can develop this ability.   In my occupation I often need to deal with aggressive and angry people.  I see the “shifts” happen in these individuals prior to their becoming aggressive.  There are signs that people give prior to ‘acting out’, that warn others of their intentions.  We can learn to become attuned to these signs and this is important if we want to remain prepared and safe.  Learning to read these signs comes with experience, and sometimes that experience is a result of pain and discomfort.  What we use in this instance is “sensory acuity”.  We…