Have we Lost the Plot?

Have we as a world lost the plot in any way?

What is going on in our world today that does not make sense?

Do we stop and question if we are on track?

Where are we all heading?

Are things really changing?

Are our politicians really making the right decisions for us?

  • Why is illness and dis-ease getting worse?
  • Why is diabetes going to bankrupt the NHS?
  • Why are our young kids having their teeth pulled out?
  • Why do we love sugar when we know it harms our body?
  • Why do we smoke when we know the damage it causes?
  • Why are so many people addicted to drugs and alcohol?
  • Why is social media growing so fast?
  • Why do our soccer stars get paid such vast sums of money?
  • Why are nurses and teachers not paid enough?
  • Why is there slavery in 2016 under a new name called ‘human trafficking’?
  • Why does the media not report on the drug wars?
  • Why do we have so many suicides daily?
  • Why is sleep problems such a big issue?
  • Why are there wars in the name of religion?
  • Why do we take our own family to court?
  • Why do we overeat and then blame the food industry?
  • Why is obesity related illness predicted as bigger than cancer?
  • Why do we become obsessed with plastic surgery?
  • Why is cyber abuse on the rise and ruining lives?
  • Why are prisoners re-offending?
  • Why do we like blaming anything or anyone if something isn’t right?

Are we doing something wrong?

Is there another way?

Have we lost the plot somewhere, somehow or what?

If we don’t ask questions then nothing will change.

Do we care enough to want change?

Does that care have to start with our own Self Care?

Could it be possible that if we start to take Responsibility for our own self-care then we may just stop and ask these questions?

Could it be possible that if we get our own life back on track, we will not feel that we have lost the plot?

Could it really be that simple?

 

 

 

Share

Comments 94

  1. Yes, I feel that if we start taking true care of our selves, we will not be so exhausted and we will have the energy to say NO to all these things that we deep down KNOW is wrong and start to make true choices to change them.

    1. You make a good point here Ken Elmer. The thing is it comes down to that word RESPONSIBILITY. Many of us do not want to take Responsibility and take care of ourselves and so that means we never get to truly address our exhaustion. We tend to live with dis-honesty about this and that in our life and then we see that dis-honesty in the world and do nothing, say nothing and wonder why nothing ever changes. Things are getting from bad to worse in our world and we are not here to ra ra, campaign or shout from rooftops. Just simple everyday living basic lifestyle changes would confirm that we are doing our bit and the tides are turning, albeit slowly.
      Imagine if I did not write the blogs on this site? One digital footprint taking Responsibility consistently can and will make a difference.

      1. Thank you Simple Living Global for standing up and saying something is wrong, and suggesting a possible solution. I have always known our world was not working right, but felt lost as to what I could do about it. No more fooling around, we need to start doing something different!

        1. To be honest Ken this blog is not really offering a solution. We all know solutions are not going to work long term.
          What this blog is presenting is another way of living that works. It has been lived by the author and the claim is there across all blogs on this website. It holds a quality that is unwavering in the commitment to self and humanity. For those who know this can be felt and it holds value. It comes down to that word Responsibility. Maybe we need to write a blog about that word as it speaks volumes.

    2. Ken, what you say is so true. Being tired causes this sense of ‘can’t be bothered, don’t have the energy’ which affects so many little things which turn into big things: the sugary breakfast selection, the cup of coffee, the ‘I’ll skip my walk today’, the angry reaction on the bus, the stodgy lunch, the bad day, the argument with your partner, the ‘just one more episode of the box set even though it’s late’ etc. Yet the opposite is also true: a good night’s sleep, a healthy breakfast, get off the bus early to walk for a bit, helping someone out at work, taking time to eat with your partner, going to bed early… and so the cycle begins again, whether it’s a virtuous or a damaging one. It’s like what we do on a single day is the foundation for our next day. Or perhaps it’s even what we do in a single evening going to bed that lays the foundation for the next day. And if self care is at the core of all of it, then wow, what an opportunity.

  2. I would say a definite yes, it is that simple. With all the questions above you pose it makes so much sense for each one of us to take that responsibility and really care for ourselves, profound changes come from this, I have had these changes with my own health and energy levels .

    1. So there you go – You are saying Ruth Ketnor that taking care of ourself does make a difference and you are living proof. What seems to be normal these days is everyone looks and feels exhausted and they are making choices that are not really and truly taking care of themselves. Over time the body cannot cope and it breaks down and sometimes it takes a while before the symptoms come to light, so to speak.
      What is happening is the next fix, band aid, solution or book, pill, tablet or whatever medication is there to relieve the symptoms and get back to ‘business as usual’. This means we never really truly stop and feel that maybe, just maybe we had a hand in all of this and why things are going wrong inside our body.

  3. So simple and clear to be asked questions! If we start to truly self-care, we cannot but start to care about these questions and what is happening around us. The less you care about your life the less you care about the life of others. If you have a messed up life, you contribute to the mess in the world. If you tidy up you life (and no perfection is sought here, just an open an honest approach in consistency) you exactly contribute this to the world. And then you realise what great influence you have on your life and those of others.

    1. What a great comment here Sonja Ebbinghaus – thank you.
      I agree with what you are saying that if we start to care about ourself then things do change and we contribute that to the world. The less we care then we add that to the world mess and lets face it the world is in a real mess right now.
      You say “..you realise what great influence you have on your life and those of others”.
      this is a game changer and a life changer.
      Who would have guessed a website like this would even be possible for someone who was a master at self neglect and disregard. In other words a medical and welfare statistic. Yes I had officially ‘lost the plot’.
      It really does come down to our choices and that word you use Sonja “consistency”.
      We can change and contribute in another way to this world. Always a choice.

    2. I love this comment Sonja great wisdom, as this makes so much sense – that how we live either contributes to the mess of the world or helps tidy it up. This is NOT our common way of thinking and in that regard we have definitely lost the plot. Benevolence is always seen as the way and we are always looking at how we can do good, but if we’re doing good at the expense of caring for ourselves it is completely a waste of time and is no good at all.

      1. I agree and we have the choice to contribute to the mess we can see in our world or take action and by that I mean take Responsibility. I used to want to campaign about this and that and always felt helpless as the task was too big so sitting and moaning was about as far as I got.
        Now I don’t feel helpless at all. In fact the opposite. I know me doing my bit does make a difference and the tides are turning. OK small I know when you got billions going the other way but nevertheless with commitment and consistency change is inevitable.
        By the way Actions speak louder than words as we have all heard before and for me that means, ‘get on with it’ and this website so far – early days is confirming that they are ‘getting on with it’. You can feel they have not lost the plot and are committed to weekly blogs and working behind the scenes to present and deliver more. Watch out world.

        1. Self care is a crucial component of our living, but is it mis-interpreted or mis-represented?

          Mis-interpreted for instance in the sense that it is the weekend so let’s go on a bender.
          Holiday time so go on cruises that has ridiculous amounts of restaurants and alcohol to drink and then spend post holiday blues complaining of the weight that has piled on.

          Mis-represented in that let’s exercise or do extreme sports and push our bodies beyond the point of exhaustion (I did that once).

          I loved the statement made by Sonja “tidy up your life (and no perfection is sought here, just an open an honest approach in consistency)” is a great starting point.

  4. This blog makes sense to me; what I get is that what brings the true and lasting change we all want comes from the inside and expands outward. I know now, by experiencing how much a true role model can inspire me to change, that if I want the world to be more loving (as I know it should and could be) I need to take care of myself and be more loving with myself in every way. The more I develop my foundation the more I can bring a person who is NOT spent, strung out, discouraged beyond words but one who is vital, aware and loving to the world and this way will naturally spread as this is inspiring for others as a reminder of our common nature and loving way to be.

    1. I agree Jo – true change has to come from inside of us or else its someone else telling us and we make changes in reaction. For the record, done that and it does not work and never will. Reflection means we can make a difference to another by not ramming it down their throats or preaching, teaching or imposing what we want for them but to simply BE who we truly are and they get to feel that. This is where true change will happen.
      A classic example that comes to mind is where you get a new book out telling you this and that but if the person writing does not live that true quality inside day in and day out then how can we the reader have lasting change. There is an incongruence and this is where the word Responsibility comes in. If we are sharing something we know works then at least makes sure you are LIVING that consistently before you go making it into something and posting it online or off line. That is Responsibility.
      How we live in every moment has a Responsibility and maybe that needs to be a blog one day.

  5. I love the title to this article – have we lost the plot? I used to keep to myself and be only interested in my life and my family and my house thinking that if I stayed behind my white picket fence then I wouldn’t have to deal with the world and its issues. However it doesn’t work like that, I can’t bury my head in the sand because things are happening in my own backyard! Family members having trouble sleeping, a sister with a drug issue, a father who drinks too much, a work colleague diagnosed with diabetes, a friend who tried to kill himself, other friends with mental health issues, marriages breaking up and a mother who has had cancer. In amongst the mess in my own backyard I have made a choice to self care which is what I have been doing for a few years now. I am taking responsibility for my life and have begun to look beyond my white picket fence and see that there is a whole lot of care needed for the world in which we live. In beginning to care for myself I can look to truly care and support others as well.

  6. I agree Sally – I also love the title and it is sometimes just this simple way of saying things that could make someone want to read this amazing blog.
    I know what you are saying about being only interested in you, your family and your life and is this not how most think and live these days?
    It takes a world disaster for people to forget that it is just about them and their family and look beyond the ‘white picket fence’ and come together in true brotherhood. By that I mean seeing each and everyone as EQUALS and knowing that in Truth, we are all one and it is time we started to make this a way of life. Having a good life that is better than others leaves an ‘unrest’ in your body if you ask me. We all know deep down we are not comfortable with that and the proof is we want to do something when there is an earthquake on our doorstep. We forget all the things we acquired and held onto and suddenly the open heart and sharing and being with the ALL in one-ness is there. Hello is anyone reading this? This is huge if you get what I am saying.

  7. Yes, it really could be that Simple. To truly care for others, we first have to truly care for ourselves. As a race of beings, we have certainly lost the plot. You only have to look at the dynamics of a typical family and then magnify that for the whole world to see what a mess we have created for ourselves. Truly caring for ourselves will give us the impulse needed to start us asking the questions to precipitate the changes that humanity so needs. Any journey we take always has to start with that first step. It will never be too late to make the choice to start to self-care and take responsibility for our own lives.

    1. This comment about family as a microcosm of the world hit me straight in the eyeballs. If that is true then the possibility massively opens up for each of us actually to influence the bigger picture of the human race. If we look at how we have personally lost the plot and truly work on that, then I can totally see how that would influence our family and those around us – if we really start caring for ourselves then everyone sees that and has the opportunity to do the same. Then that would influence more people and then they would influence more people… etc. etc. Imagine if that was actually the answer to us finding the plot again on a global scale. Talk about ‘going viral’!

      1. Nothing else is making sense so how about we look at things another way and as you say here JS in your comment, first to look at how we have personally lost the plot and that could include – in what areas are we not being absolutely honest and then seeing how this affects our closest like family.
        Influence could be interpreted as a force and making another choose what they may not want or be truly ready for.
        What works is when our living way INSPIRES another. That means they get to feel in their lungs an expanding breath and rise from where they are at by their own choice and in that feel a sense of freedom as it came completely from them and not the influence of another. Trust this is making some sense.
        To keep it simple – being inspired by another has long lasting change.
        I know that from lived experience.

    2. A great comment Tim and some wise words that would benefit us all in the long term.
      Yes ‘the dynamics of a typical family’ is the microcosm of the world family – the macrocosm and it starts with us all as individuals.
      We all tend to feel helpless and powerless with what is going on in our world and yet each of us make up this world so change starts with us.
      It all comes down to choice and that word RESPONSIBILITY. That is the game changer and we can make a difference.
      As the author of this amazing website I was bumming around and had totally lost the plot and yet today with RESPONSIBILITY as my priority I am no longer overwhelmed or stressed about the state of the world. All I know is how I live is not adding to the mess and it comes down to making responsible choices every single day.

  8. This is such a great question and one that just jumped out at me – “Do we care enough to want change?” Very few people, if in fact anyone will say they like the world as it currently is so the real question is what are we prepared to do about it and do we in fact have enough self care to bring the change needed. We cannot provide a way forward if we do not first live it ourselves so to bring any kind of change we have to change how we are living ourselves. For example, if we see disregard and disrespect in the world then we have to ask ourselves how much are we allowing disregard and disrespect in our own lives? This has to stop first before we can even want to bring change on a grander scale.

    1. A grand comment here Elizabeth Dolan and thank you for pointing this out.
      It would be true to say that to bring any kind of change we first need to change our living ways and that is what will make a difference.
      I once read a blog by Dr. Howard Chiltern, a paediatric consultant in Australia and he said that when we live in a way that is true, others feel it by a vibration, a quality that they know is true. When someone just spouts off from a book or what they hear but do not leave the words are simply empty. This stuck with me and it makes sense.

  9. UK Charity Commission have published income of over £8 million pounds for a trust that is a group of monks.

    …So here is a so called “religious charity” earning most of its immense wealth by making and selling caffeinated alcohol to people…
    Have they lost the plot?
    Have we ALL lost the plot to accept and even glorify them the way the media recently did, where the radio presenter and producer of the show were endorsing this “drink/drug” by drinking it themselves?

    What about looking at the meaning and importance of “impartial reporting”?
    More importantly what about the responsibility each of us has to be open and honest in feeling into what is going around, being promoted or generally accepted as to whether it is truly helpful or harmful in our bodies, families, lives and world?

    It is clear to me that these members of a religious community living under vows of poverty, chastity and obedience have not been out amongst people, honestly and openly willing to see and feel the harm associated with alcohol (let alone alcohol mixed with caffeine) in people and their families.

    I feel it is also time to revisit the true meanings of the words “religious” and “charity” both; I know what they truly mean and I do not sense either being lived or offered here, but those words (in their re-interpretation) are a great moral cover and tax break in one…

    1. Jo I heard about this in Australia – what is really going on with the world?

      We MUST be losing the plot. There are now hangover clinics in Sydney and the media did a news report focusing on what the clinic had to offer, doctor, nurses, IV fluids etc for people who were suffering from hangovers. They spent just a fraction of time on the individual taking responsibility for the quantity of alcohol consumed in the first place.

      So the world is not in a good place if people are not wanting to take responsibility or accountability and placing it on others to fix the abuse they have placed upon themselves.

  10. We have breakfast cereals oozing with chocolate,
    and I see more and more food items containing chocolate and coffee every week…

    Wait just a minute.
    Can we have a stop moment and look at this together?
    If we (consumers) are needing these things we must be exhausted.
    If we keep finding solutions so we can keep going, although nothing has changed…
    what will happen?
    If we continue to run on empty won’t we inevitably break down?
    Is this what chronic fatigue is?
    Could this lead to auto immune disease where the body is literally eating itself?
    If we are exhausted don’t we hold a responsibility to find out why and address it?

  11. I have avoided going to meetings most of my life. Part of it was because I was avoiding interaction with people. But the other reason is thst I felt most meetings were a waste of time. Their seemed to be little focus on what the meeting was for. It was just a venue for a person to hear themselves talk or a chance to chat and drink coffee and eat donuts.

    I have been listening to presentations from Universal Medicine for 6 years now. They have presented things that have truly inspired me in all areas of my life. Levels of communication that I have been missing all my life. Talking about real things that the rest of the world are avoiding dealing with. Things this website are presenting.

    These “meetings” have supported me to transform my life, (I have traveled to the UK to attend them), and I feel this is the way for humanity to get back on track.

  12. This blog came to mind yesterday at work when I walked in and two of the female staff came right up to me with the big phone screen. Photo of a naked man with the largest penis – so big it was like a trunk and over his shoulder.

    What was interesting is how they were looking for a big reaction and did not get one from me. They told me this was all over the news and as I am hot on the news, I told them I had never seen this in the news I choose to read.

    The point is HAVE WE LOST THE PLOT?
    What are we choosing to talk about with work colleagues?
    Are we just interested in the media sensationalist stories?
    Are we getting hooked out with images that are clearly extreme?
    Are we avoiding what we all need to talk about?

    This website alone confirms that our world is seriously in a mess and we most certainly need to talk about stuff so that’s what brings more public awareness.

    My lack of engagement in this naked man yesterday was simply because I cannot feel purpose. Joining on the bandwagon with two female colleagues is not my style and never will be.

  13. An article in the Huffington Post, 5th May 2017, talks about how ‘science’ is now saying that swearing is good for us.

    The article gives us seven reasons why swearing is good for us:

    1) It means we are more honest – a University of Cambridge study found that people who swear more frequently are less likely to be telling lies or trying to deceive others about how they feel.
    2) It will improve our gym game – it will allegedly boost our muscle strength by letting out a loud curse word as you step on the treadmill. A new study revealed that swearing led to significant improvements in performance.
    3) It gives you greater stamina – according to scientific research, swearing does actually improve our stamina. Psychologists conducted tests in which volunteers had to swear before intense sessions on an exercise bike or squeezing a device that measures hand grip strength.
    4) It increase pain tolerance – Dr. Richard Stephens from the University of Keele, who led the study, said: “We know from our previous research that swearing makes people more able to tolerate pain.”
    5) It doesn’t prove a lack of intelligence – the study from Yale University claimed: “These findings show that although cursing may not be socially desirable, it is not a predictor of intelligence or the lack thereof.”
    6) It is your human right (or so they say) – When Salford City council adopted a Public Space protection order that outlawed expletives in March 2016, human rights campaigners were the first to leap to defend our right to swear in public. Human rights group Liberty wrote to the council to express concern over the “chilling effect on freedom of expression” the order could have.
    7) It makes being an adult a little less boring – Regardless of what science says, all adults know that between paying your bills, commuting and trying not to murder everyone you work with, there aren’t that many fun privileges adults have that children don’t. They get naps all day and having their meals cooked, so we’ll take booze, sex and swearing thanks very much. We’ve damn earned it.

    1) Is it possible we are actually being LESS honest by not expressing how we truly feel in several words rather than letting one word say everything?

    2) Is it possible that the only thing we will boost is the other gym user’s intolerance?

    3) Is it possible that the perceived increase in strength and stamina is due to the increase in adrenaline because we have pumped ourselves up and made ourselves artificially angry by having to swear?

    4) Is it possible that increasing our pain tolerance will assist us in overriding our bodies when it is trying to tell us something?

    5) It possible that swearing IS a lack of intelligence in that we only swear because we are not willing to deal with our emotions?

    6) Is it possible that banning swearing is not a freedom of expression issue but rather a social and common decency issue?

    7) Is it possible that swearing actually makes people more boring?

    Are scientists really asking us to stay angry to be more honest, increase our strength and stamina, increase our tolerance of pain or to make us more intelligent?

    What is the dictionary definition of a swear word?
    An offensive word, used especially as an expression of anger.

    Let’s take a look at the ‘F’ word:

    How can one word communicate so much?

    We use it when we are angry, miserable, happy, drunk, sad, injured, playing sports, the weather, practically every situation we are in.

    Is it possible that we use the ‘F’ word because we are unable to express, in truth, how we are really feeling?

    Is it possible that we use the ‘F’ word because we can’t be bothered to use more than one word to express how we are feeling?

    Is it possible, we actually harm ourselves by not expressing in full as what we don’t express stays in our body until it then explodes for no apparent reason?

    Number 7 on this list says that swearing makes adults less boring – from someone that used to swear quite a bit to not swearing, I can honestly say that it feels so much better in my body.

    If not swearing makes me boring – so be it!!

    1. What you express here Tim makes way way more sense to me and my heart than what these few scientists have put together.

      Until the age of 11 I was constantly asking my family not to swear because it did not feel right to me, it actually ‘hurt’ when somone swore.

      What I see (and have done myself) is that when we ‘want’ to do something, despite that feeling inside telling us it is disharmonious, we are ready to accept without question any voice we like to deem “respectable” (from the scientist to the guru) which helps us rationalize the harmful behavior, from using caffeine, drinking a glass of wine a day to swearing.

  14. In my younger years I recall seeing a halved grapefruit with a little spoon as part of the hotels breakfast or a starter in a restaurant.

    An article in ‘The Week’ magazine, 13 May 2017, talks about how, these days, we never see grapefruit being served at restaurants or hotels because of the fact that Britain has become the statins capital of Europe and that statins do not react kindly to grapefruit juice.

    I had heard of statins before but didn’t know what they were.

    ‘Statins are the name given to a group of cholesterol lowering medicines available on prescription in the UK. Statin therapy is recommended for adults at high risk of cardiovascular disease (heart attack, stroke or peripheral artery disease) and also those who already have a history of cardiovascular disease.’

    ‘Cholesterol is a waxy substance found naturally in the blood. Predominantly produced in the liver, but also found in foods such as red meat, high fat cheese, butter and eggs, Cholesterol is essential for maintaining good health and only becomes a problem when the level in your blood is too high.
    Raised cholesterol is a common problem and a risk factor in the development of coronary heart disease, however a visit to your GP and following a healthy diet and lifestyle can help to lower cholesterol levels and will significantly reduce the risk.’

    So what are the pros and cons of the grapefruit?

    The pith is loaded with healthy soluble fibre, vitamins and anti-oxidants that have been linked to the reduction of high cholesterol.
    Pink and red grapefruit contains vitamin C, lycopene, potassium and choline which all contribute to heart health.
    Grapefruit is very hydrating as it is 91% water.

    Grapefruit juice is acidic and can have an effect with our tooth enamel.
    Grapefruits can have negative interactions with certain allergy medications and can also cause havoc with other prescription medications.

    The negative interactions stem from a specific enzyme known as CYP3A4, which can heighten the breakdown of drugs in the body and cause poisoning.

    So, from what I can see, apart from the juice being acidic, which can be resolved by drinking water afterwards, is that grapefruits are not good for us because we have some form of illness or disease.

    Can we not see the irony here?

    We have a food that is beneficial to us, yet we cant eat it because we are ill and it will cause us more harm.

    We may read this and say to ourselves that it is just a grapefruit, it’s no big deal, but are we then, missing the point?

    Is it possible that all of our illnesses and diseases are a result of our diet and lifestyle?

    If so, is it possible that changing our diet and lifestyle is going to have an effect on any illness or disease we have?

    It may well be a grapefruit now that we can’t eat but the fact that we are ill in the first place due to diet and lifestyle means there are probably a lot more foods that we can’t or shouldn’t eat.

    Simple diet and lifestyle changes lowers cholesterol levels and reduces the risks of developing heart disease.

    Surely thats got to be worth it and the bonus is that we may get to have our grapefruit after all.

    1. It is incredible to me that so many people take statin drugs that grape fruit is no longer part of a routine hotel breakfast in Britain… especially when the side effect of this particular drug are often so horrendous.

      Sometimes we do need medicine but have we lost the plot when we put more focus on and faith in pills than in the power of changing our own choices that got us sick in the first place?

      Our brain is close to 75 percent water and 60 percent fat… so is it possible that a drug designed to slow the livers production of fat could have a poor effect on our brain? I don’t know the answer but I do know a lot people who felt extremely miserable while on statin medication.

      My father had a serious heart condition and was on statin drugs for a while, during this time his complexion was grey, his balance was gone, he felt sick all the time and was so weak he could scarcely get around.

      My father decided that feeling that sick was worse than the fear of going against the warnings of his doctors, so he stopped taking the statin drug to see what would happen and found that he returned to feeling like himself again; the statin had made him feel worse than the heart attack which left him with only a third of his heart functioning.

      He worked on changing his life style and continued to do better to the point that his cardiologist admitted that he should keep doing what he was doing and not go back on any statins.

      We have lost the plot when we make choices out of fear, when we give up on feeling our own truth and just want someone else to tell us what to do instead of listening to the incredibly good common sense of our own body.

  15. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-28/guacamole-costs-to-jump-as-avocado-shortage-sparks-record-prices

    Have we noticed that avocado prices have doubled and are skyrocketing?
    Check this news story for the ins and outs in detail.

    They say the trend is not just as it’s a healthy fruit but because we now have an avocado sandwich spread.

    Whatever the fad – have we lost the plot?

    Are we aware that avocado tress are alternative bearing crops and that means a large harvest one year and smaller one the next.

    2015 – Mexico supplies to the USA 1.76 billion pounds of avocados
    That is one country and what about the rest of the world?

    That is a huge amount to one nation and it is one tiny portion on their menu.

    Have we as consumers lost the plot?
    What are we demanding really that our suppliers then deliver?

    WHY do we in the west want what is not naturally grown in our own country?
    WHY are we so reliant on produce from another country?

    Have we ever considered that whatever our body truly needs, can be found on our own land and all this price war and demand for more of any food, does not need to be there?

    Is this a way off comment or is there some truth here for us to ponder on?

  16. An article from 9News.com.au talks about how a teenager was auctioning her virginity so she can buy a new car.

    A website offers a section dedicated to virgins to ‘sell’ their virginity.

    At present there are 8 girls listed and the site claims that all girls are ‘inspected’ by a doctor to ensure they are still virgins.

    One 18 year old from Romania sold her virginity for $3.2m to a Hong Kong businessman.

    Whilst appearing on a UK breakfast TV show, she says, “I am thinking it is strictly business not emotional. I will drink a glass of wine and go through with it.”

    She said she would use the money to help her family despite her parents threatening to disown her if she went through with it.

    The website takes a 20% cut from each auction.

    This young woman knew what she was doing wasn’t the truth as the fact that she needed to have some alcohol before, shows she just wanted to numb herself out.

    On reading this story, I am sure there will be a lot of different reactions and judgments on these young women as to why they would even consider going down this road but the bigger questions that need to be asked are:

    Why have the authorities allowed someone to produce a website that offers this kind of service?

    Where is the responsibility of the people that have created this website?

    However this is dressed up, it is simply another form of prostitution but is it possible that this way is a lot more insidious as it allows these young women to believe that they are in control and making the choices?

    However tempting it is for these young women to make a lot of money very quickly, the fact is, they will then have to live with their decision for the rest of their lives.

  17. We have lost the plot when people refer to an organization or individual who eats according to what their body needs, lives with a deep level of self honesty, speaks their truth and are lovingly committed to life, work and humanity as “alternative”.

    If this is alternative than why do we covet what we have instead, in general society?

    Why have there always been some who feel threatened by the few who choose something different for themselves; something different to the misery and discord that is considered the ‘norm’ of the times?

    Could it be that others always show us something about ourselves but that we don’t always like what we see when we look in the mirror?

  18. To put it simply – Have we lost the plot here?

    This article from ‘The Fresh Toast’ talks about the sums of money that will come from the legalization of medical and recreational marijuana.

    https://thefreshtoast.com/cannabis/the-us-is-set-to-be-left-out-of-the-7-2-billion-marijuana-industry/

    Mexico and Canada are two countries that are looking to legalise marijuana.

    Mexico has just passed a bill to legalise medical marijuana and Canada, which has had legalized medical marijuana since 2001, has just presented a bill to legalise recreational marijuana by 2018.

    If the bill is passed, it will be the second country in the world to fully legalise the use of marijuana with Uruguay being the first.

    Mexico’s legalization of medical marijuana is expected to bring in around $1bn-2bn over the next 10 years.

    Canada’s medical marijuana is expected to bring in around $1bn and the legalization of recreational marijuana is expected to bring in a staggering $22.6bn.

    Once both countries are up and running they will be able to trade with each other – there is already in place a world first, cannabis-focused exchange traded fund on the Toronto Stock exchange.

    In the USA, there are pharmaceutical companies, doctors and patients asking for restrictions on medical marijuana research to be eased but 9 states in the US, including Washington DC, have already legalized recreational marijuana and a total of 29 states, again including Washington DC, have already legalized medical marijuana.

    What’s very interesting here is the fact that the Federal Government, based in Washington DC, is against legalizing marijuana at all with the US Attorney General saying that he “rejects the idea that America will be a better place if marijuana is sold in every corner store.”

    Okay, so we are all aware of the illegal trade in marijuana and the deaths involved in the consequential drug wars and I am sure there will be many people who think the legalisation of this drug to stop all of these deaths will be worth it. And of course the money generated from the sales of marijuana will be a big incentive for any government.

    But the fact is, marijuana is a very harmful and addictive drug.

    Like any drug, it alters our natural state and when our natural state is altered we open ourselves up to any potentially harming behaviour from committing various crimes, violent behaviour, domestic violence, workplace absenteeism, injuries, driving offences or simply just being rude, being disrespectful or even not caring about ourselves.

    With the legalization of marijuana – is it possible that there will be increased pressure on health, police, fire, ambulance and social services?

    Is it possible that the money earned from the legalization of marijuana will be offset by the exponential increase of the above issues?

    Is it possible that money is the driving factor here?

    Is it possible that making a harmful, addictive substance legal for everyone to use is putting money before peoples health?

    One of the questions the author of this blog asks is:

    Are our politicians really making the right decisions for us?

    I know what my answer is!!

  19. An article in the Daily Mail, 3rd June, talks about a new designer handbag that has space for an inbuilt pouch that is able to hold 1.5 litres of wine, the equivalent of two bottles.

    The wine can then be dispensed from a tap that is concealed behind a fashionable flap on the outside of the bag. All you need to bring is a cup or glass of some sort.

    One of the designers who is a co owner of a company that designs accessories and gift packaging for the wine and gourmet food industry said, “This is a social accessory to be shared with friends, so one bottle wasn’t enough and boxed wine would be too heavy.”

    At the risk of plagiarizing the title of this blog – ‘Have we Lost the Plot?’

    Leaving aside the fact that alcohol is a scientific proven poison, lets look at the common sense side of this.

    Is it possible that this idea will just make it easier for someone to take those first steps to alcoholism?

    Is it possible that this idea will have repercussions at work due to making it easier to disguise the fact that some people drink at work?

    Is it possible that there will be a temptation to drink and drive?

    Is it possible that young children or teenagers may accidentally, or not so accidentally, find a way to get the wine when no one is looking?

    Is designing this sort of gimmicky bag an acceptable thing to do in this day and age?

    Whether or not we feel drinking alcohol is right or wrong, are the designers of this bag, and those that will eventually use it, being truly responsible?

    As a society, do we really need instant access to a substance that has the potential to cause great harm?

  20. Apparently a roller coaster got stuck mid-ride last week and the passengers were left hanging upside down. They were all wearing virtual reality headsets and didn’t realise what was happening or that they were hanging mid-air.

    Isn’t this a seriously lost the plot moment?

    That you can surrender yourself so completely to a form of moving entertainment. And that you can be so disconnected from your body that you can’t feel you are upside down.

    1. This is a great comment JS and thank you for sharing something that has just happened as this website is big into real life stuff.

      This is serious and we can read the news, have our mouths open with shock for a moment and leave it at that.
      OR we can at least start a discussion about what on earth is going on if our body is suspended on a roller coaster ride in mid air upside down.

      HELLO
      Could we just ask the medical experts here what this would do to the blood, organs and that includes the brain?
      How dis-connected are we if we have virtual reality headsets on and have no awareness that we are hanging upside down?
      What are these headsets supporting us to do?

      Are we bothered, concerned or worried about the consequences?
      Are we simply just interested in the ‘ride’ with zero regard for the precious body we have been given to walk this life until our last breath?
      Are we accepting these moments as something we want in our life, above the human body that cops all our ill choices?

      Would it be true to say if we are truly intelligent then WHY are we not picking up on any signal that we are upside down in mid-air?

      Is there something else running the show in our mind, that over-rides and negates what our body feels?

      Is this the type of question that the world now needs to be asking, as this dis-engaging from our body maybe telling us we have lost the plot?

  21. The latest craze in entertainment is 4D cinema.

    While you are watching the movie, you get a load of sensory experiences at the same time. So if there is a splash of water on screen, you will get sprayed in your seat for real. If there is a crash or earthquake, your seat will shake. If there is a jolt, you will jolt in your chair or get a ‘punch’ in the back. Windy scenes will mean a breeze on your face in the theatre.

    This 4D stuff is so popular, there is huge investment in it by cinemas all over the world.

    What is happening that we want more and more ‘immersive’ experiences?

    Why do we want to surrender ourselves even more to what is not real?

    What is this showing us about how we live and feel about our lives?

  22. This is so interesting.

    Could it be that harmful things in our lives, like cyber abuse, actually boil down to how much we are taking care of each other, which actually comes from how much care (or in fact not) we are taking of ourselves?

  23. Have we lost the plot when we have news stories of people wearing adult diapers so they don’t have to stop gaming? (link below)

    This same news story describes one of China’s many gaming boot camps… one solution the government has come up with to combat gaming addiction.

    https://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/news/addicted-gamers-wearing-diapers-avoid-pause-video-/3041133/

    Have we lost the plot when some gaming addicts get blood clots or experience heart failure due to sleep deprivation and lack of movement and actually die; die from playing games?

    A father of three just died 22 hours into a 24 hr livestreaming gaming marathon charity benefit. (link below)

    Did no one step in and say ‘hey man, I noticed you’ve been playing a lot lately and your not looking so well. I’m concerned you might have lost the plot.”?

    Knowing how strong our fight for survival is, how far have we come when we will push ourselves to the point of playing a ‘game’ to death?

    What about this mans family?
    How did regular gaming effect other areas of his life?
    Did he care about himself as he gamed for charity?
    What were his motivations for being part of this fund raiser?
    What are our priorities and do we still think the money he raised is a “good” thing?

    The article in the link below mentions Twitch; a massive gaming community comprised of gamers and game watchers. Nearly 10 million people tend the site daily. They talk about games and can donate money to over 2 million people who compete in livestream game competitions.

    Game Quitters is a foundation founded by Cam Adair. It is the largest online community offering support for people with, what is now officially called, ‘gaming addiction’.

    Have we lost the plot when we know that many millions of people spend so much time gaming every day when we (personally and societally) have so many issues and areas of life that need our focus and attention before we will have a fulfilling personal, family and/or a societal culture we can say we want to be a part of?

    http://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-39232620

  24. On the train today in busy London and this bit of news got me to seriously question
    Have we Lost the Plot?

    A 60 year old Eastern European man having sex with a cow and got caught.

    What does society do? Fine him £8,900 for animal abuse and trespassing. The End.

    But is this how we need to take action?
    Or is there something else here for society to look at and address?

    What changes, if we make a migrant pay who is on disability benefits?

    Are we getting to the root cause of WHY this happened in the first place?

    Does a news story like this give us, the general public, a bit of sensationalism?
    Is there more we could say and do about stuff like this that goes on?

    Where is our Intelligence if this is going on in our modern day 21st Century?
    https://simplelivingglobal.com/what-is-intelligence-part-2/

  25. Another example of lost the plot behaviour: cliff jumping in Norway with your jumpsuit deliberately set on fire for dramatic effect.

    Why are we taking increasingly extreme risks in the name of entertainment? What is it showing us?

  26. Why is that guy from the cow story not receiving psychological treatment for such disturbing behaviour?

    How is a fine going to address what is going on inside his head for him to have done that?

  27. An update on the rise of acid attacks.

    Police patrols in the UK are now carrying acid attack response kits because of the surge in attacks.

    Police are calling for restrictions on buying acid and for carrying acid to become a crime, to make it easier for them to prevent attacks.

    Apparently, use of acid is increasing because of a police crackdown on guns and knives and because repeat gun/knife offences now carry an immediate jail sentence.

    What on earth is going on in our world that throwing acid on people has become a common occurrence?

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/jul/24/london-acid-attacks-police-given-1000-emergency-response-kits

  28. We have lost the plot when there is a demand for training potties and infant seats with i-pods installed in place of a view of the family…

    As I feel a bit sick seeing how far away from listening to our inner knowing that a baby needs to be engaging with our faces, not be plugged into a screen…

    I realize that I have to understand the part I have played in creating a world which values everything outside of us OVER what we feel and know inside by not honoring myself and at times giving up on being truthfully me in this world…

    ..this world that so needs us to take the courage to LIVE the-truth-we-know-from-the-inside.

  29. An article in The Telegraph talks about how “HS2 track plans: Brand new homes to be bulldozed as final plans are revealed.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/07/17/brand-new-homes-will-bulldozed-final-hs2-track-plans/

    A housing development in Yorkshire is to be bulldozed to make way for the HS2 route.

    Houses on the development, which was built in 2012, are worth between £99,995-£190,000.

    HS2 claims the new route will affect fewer houses overall, save more than £1 billion and enable people to travel to London form Sheffield in 79 minutes instead of 120 minutes.

    The DfT, Department for Transport, has confirmed that 16 properties would be demolished on the new estate. Some respondents to government consultation had argued that the plans should take into account all 216 homes originally planned at the site.

    HS2 is a new high speed railway line starting from London, which will operate at 250mph (440kph) – faster than any current rail network in Europe.

    Initially the line will be from London to the West Midlands and then the second phase will be split, going from Birmingham to Manchester and Birmingham to Leeds with additional stops in the East Midlands and South Yorkshire.

    The first phase, London to Birmingham, is due for completion in 2026. The second phase, Birmingham to Manchester and Birmingham to Leeds, is due for completion in 2033.

    There will be 350 miles of new track laid and the projected cost is £55.7 billion.

    With government projects historically costing much more than their original budget, the £55.7 billion is likely to be much higher.

    The people that live close to the proposed routes have been told that the government will buy their homes at the market value with some able to claim compensation depending on their circumstances.

    In 2015, a natural history journalist walked the planned route of phase one, meeting people whose lives would be affected by the rail line. “To many residents, HS2 has come to symbolise a country run against the interests of the many and in the interests of the few”, he wrote as their opposition became clear.

    People will lose their homes and their businesses. Farmland and 59 ancient woodlands will be blighted or even obliterated.

    One man talked about how he will lose his home and business. The irony is, that his home is a Grade II listed building, which took 10 years of rebuilding and required lots of approval from the planning authorities, will now be bulldozed to make way for HS2.

    HS2 Ltd, the government-funded company that is developing the railway has gone to great lengths to publicise the fact that the trains will travel at 250mph.

    With the Japanese Shinkansen’s at 198mph, the French TGV’s at 200 mph and the Chinese Maglev’s at 268mph, is it possible that the focus on speed is driven by an attitude of ‘look at us, we can go fast too’?

    Seriously, have we lost the plot here?

    Why do we feel we need to travel at such high speeds?

    Why do we feel we need to get somewhere so quickly?

    Do we really need a high speed train?

    Are we willing to pull down perfectly good housing to make way for a train line?

    What about the people that don’t want to sell up and move?

    Are we prepared to dig up the countryside and reduce farming land?

    The ramifications of HS2 go far beyond the billions of pounds this is going to cost.

    Is it possible that with the shortage of staff, mainly because of low wages, in our national emergency services, wouldn’t the £55.7 billion plus, be better spent on increasing the wages for nurse’s, police officers, fire fighters and prison workers?

  30. An article in the ‘Economist’ talks about how a football player has just been signed by a Qatari owned French football club for over £200 million, dwarfing the previous record of £91 million.

    https://www.economist.com/blogs/gametheory/2017/08/football-transfers?fsrc=gnews

    Football transfer fees have come a long way:

    The first fee in 1905 for Alf Common was for £1000.

    The first £1 million fee in 1979 was for Trevor Francis.

    Diego Maradona was sold in 1982 for £3 million.

    The previous highest fee was for Gareth bale in 2013 for £91million.

    With this new record of £200 million for 5 years, the footballer will be on a salary of £500,000 a week after tax, which translates to:

    £26 million a year
    £2,166,666 a month
    £71,428 a day
    £2,976 an hour
    £49 a minute

    Many people will understandably make comparison about the wages of footballers and the poverty that abounds the world and will wonder how these wages can be justified.

    The transfer fees for footballers are ever increasing and there is sure to be a lot of shock, incredulity and even hostility towards this player, but is the player the one to blame here?

    The drive and desire of the fans for their club to bring home the trophies is fuelling the clubs to sign the biggest talents of the day which obviously fuels the wage increases with the consequence that the costs of the match tickets and all of the paraphernalia that goes with that club increases exponentially.

    The irony here is that football fans continually complain about the fact that the prices are too high and they are always going up. If their team loses, they then lament the fact that ‘THEY’ have just spent £millions to buy that top player.

    Yes, we can look at this scenario and say that paying this much money for one player is obscene when there are people in the world starving, when there is so much poverty around the world, where people have to live on the streets, but is it possible that we are the ones that perpetuates this endless merry-go-round of making, not only football players, but all of the top players in their respective sports, into heroes, into so-called ‘role models’ that our youth look up to and want to emulate?

    Even if we are not die-hard football fans and never go to matches or actively support any team, but are quite OK with watching football on TV, is it possible that by not saying anything and just standing by, we actually contribute to the sort of money that top players currently get and contribute to it as being acceptable?

  31. An article in the Daily Mail, 22nd April, talks about how “Sociable souls could get drunk more quickly.”

    The study done by a team from the University of Maryland in the USA found that people, when surrounded by friends at a party, got merry a lot quicker.

    They say that spending time with others makes you more sensitive to alcohol.

    The interesting thing here is that the study was carried out on CRAYFISH.

    I use the word ‘interesting’ tactfully here because…..

    Ridiculous
    Are you kidding me?
    Seriously?
    Really?
    Are you joking?
    Why?…..
    may come across as a tad judgemental.

    This comment could have gone on a number of blogs from the Simple Living Global website, from:

    The Real Truth About Alcohol.
    What is Our Priority?
    Are We a Careless Society?
    Bored with Life
    What is Intelligence?

    Or my favourite chosen one:

    Have We Lost the Plot?

  32. I read an article in a UK paper this week about a crime involving a woman who pretended to be in distress so her accomplice could steal a car.

    The coverage was about how ‘hot’ and ‘good-looking’ the woman was.

    What on earth is going on? A pre-meditated crime with a distressed victim, and yet the press coverage is about how one of the criminals could be a catwalk model.

    Have the journalists completely lost the plot?

    Is this what sells newspapers so they are in fact serving our demand?

    Is this what we want the future of journalism to be?

  33. The Week – Issue 1144 dated 30 September 2017

    60 NHS Trust chief executives were forced to join in a chant saying “we can do this” by a senior NHS official, who told them it would help them improve their A & E treatment targets in advance of what is predicted to be a tough winter for the NHS.

    These executives described the exercise as “bullying, humiliating and unhelpful”.

    With due respect to those in positions of power who are on the front foot and making a real difference in organisations – could we agree that SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT?

    Have we lost the plot if we think that one man has the power to lay the law down, so to speak on senior members of a health system that is on its knees with so many issues at every level?

    Would it be worth asking WHY not one of the 60 chief executives in their authority challenged this at the outset and stamped it out so it never made it to a news story?

    How does this type of news about a country’s national health system sit with the citizens of that nation who rely on this much needed service?

    How can a mantra, chant or any affirmation with words actually change anything that is going to have long lasting results?

    Is it high time we stopped using methods to get us something and take a good look at what on earth we are demanding of others when we hold a position of grand Responsibility?

    Next – do we all as individuals need to question anything and everything so that we can learn to never lose the plot?

  34. A new entertainment is emerging – battling giant robots.

    The talk is of it becoming so popular it will turn into a billion dollar sports league.

    The companies involved say they hope focusing on entertainment combat and sports will accelerate the development of robotics technology that will help in human disaster recovery.

    This story gave me pause for thought about what we think is important and how we go about achieving that.

  35. I had an experience this week about using drugs to medicate ourselves out of our troubles.

    The first was in a conversation with someone about their anxiety. We were talking about the power of the breath to centre and steady yourself. Another person in the conversation said ‘if that doesn’t work, try marijuana oil, it’s legal and not a narcotic and it’s been found to take the edge off really well’.

    Is this the best wisdom we can bring to these problems?

    Is there any common sense in saying mind-bending drugs are good for us?

    Is drugging people/ourselves really the answer or are we losing the plot here?

  36. Front page News Headlines – Daily Mail – 21 October 2017
    HAVE OUR POLICE LOST THE PLOT?

    This news story is saying Police chiefs are being urged to abandon ‘silly stunts’ and get officers back on the beat. Their bizarre gimmicks are undermining the job of tackling crime. Policer offices in painted nails, red high heels and animal masks to get the message across were the pictures that went with this story.

    “They have forgotten what their purpose is” – Mick Neville said who is a retired Senior Scotland Yard detective.

    Has he got a point?
    What is the purpose?
    What are we doing here if there is no real purpose?
    If there is a purpose, how come many are against this?
    Are we really truly getting the message across?
    Are we actually harming by sticking animal masks on uniformed police?
    Are we all making the law and the justice system a bit of a laugh?
    Are we moving away from how serious the job is of the police?
    Are we aware that this gives a message out to everyone in our world?

    Is this a form of REDUCTIONISM?
    In other words we have lost the plot, because we are reducing the enormity of our crime problem by diluting it and presenting it as not that big, but something we can laugh about.

    Who on earth would ever take a police officer supposedly in authority in full uniform wearing shiny red high heels and blue nail varnish?

    Who is really having the last laugh here and at what cost to society?

    Is it time to take the law seriously and if not are we going to see more of this REDUCTIONISM in other areas that do matter to our country and our world?

  37. Just read a news story in The Week – Issue 1142 dated 16 September 2017

    Japanese company marketing a robot dog that will tell the owners if their feet smell by wagging its tail if it smells fresh feet, barking if there is a smell and falling over in a dead faint if feet really stink.

    So we could all sit and laugh out loud about this or we could ask HAVE WE LOST THE PLOT ?

    What I feel is super clear is we seem to have an Intelligence that creates anything but what is the purpose?

    Are we looking at ways to spend $1000 just to tell us if our feet are smelling or is this just a modern day joke?

    Who comes up with stuff like this and WHY, is what we need to be asking.

    I for one think we have a serious issue on this planet and that is, we as human beings are really not aware of the mess we are in and we seem to find ways to distract ourselves to somehow not look at what is really going on.

    As the main author on this website, I am committed and dedicated to making sure I keep expressing and bringing awareness to topics that the world may be interested in, as let’s face it, we are as a world a 911 emergency right now and there does not seem to be any signs of things getting better.

  38. An article in the Metro, 27th October 2017, talks about how “BLOODHOUND ON TRAIL OF 1,000MPH RECORD.”

    A British car designed to reach 1,000mph has been tested in public for the first time as its team plot to break the land speed record.

    Fitted with a typhoon aircraft engine, Bloodhound has been described as a mix between a fighter jet, a Formula One car and a spaceship.

    It was driven on the runway at Cornwall airport, Newquay, by a former RAF pilot, who set the previous record of 763mph in 1997.

    More than 3,000 spectators saw it accelerate from 0-200mph in 8 seconds.

    Is it possible that the only question that needs to be asked here is – WHY?

    What exactly is the purpose behind this?

    What is the need for these sorts of speeds?

    Apart from showing that man can make something go fast, where are they going with this.

    What’s next – a car that can do 2,000mph?

    Where will this end?

    As a race of beings, why are we putting time, energy, money and resources on something that will only serve a few people?

    There are so many issues that the world faces, from illness and disease, starvation, child abuse, human trafficking, poverty, homelessness, abuse against women, war, water and air pollution, drug problems, obesity, corruption, greed, religious hatred, intolerance, etc. etc. etc.

    Is something like this necessary or even acceptable?

    How does something like this help humanity?

  39. This website does not yet have a blog about money, so this is probably the most appropriate blog for this news article.

    Daily Mail – 9 December 2017 has a double page spread about ‘What to buy for the billionaire in your life’.

    A pair of stiletto open toe shoes costing £11.5 million have been made for an unnamed middle eastern client for his daughters 30th birthday.

    The leather shoes are sprayed with 24-carat gold, stitched with 18-carat gold thread and decorated with rare pink and blue diamonds, as well as 4 three-carat white diamonds.

    Seriously – a lot of money for a Birthday bling gift.

    So have we lost the plot?
    Have we lost the sense of reality?
    Are we in touch with what is going on in our world right now?
    Is this a wise choice to make knowing how bad things are on earth?

    Are we busy fantasising hoping we can have this one day?
    Are we envious that others have copious amounts of money to spend on a pair of shoes?

    What if gold and diamonds, no longer held any value in this world of ours?

    How would that change the game for people investing in the rare stuff on earth?

    What message are we putting out into the world with this type of news in our media?

    Where is the responsibility of the media when it brings out stuff like this?

    Is it because we want this sort of news as it suits us and reading about real life stuff disturbs us too much and we don’t want to know or even think about it?

    1. I saw this article too Simple Living Global and it confirms to me that we have definitely Lost the Plot.

      The things that we spend money on and place as our priority are becoming outrageous.

      Why would we choose to have a handbag subscription of £40,000 per year so that we can have a new handbag every month?

      Why spend £15,000 on a perfume that is specially formulated for us and takes up to six months to process?

      Do we need golf clubs encrusted with gold and crystals costing £110,000?

      Do we need princess room for our children costing £52,000?

      Why pay £75,000 for a doorbell or a new bed, regardless of who makes them?

      Or £750 for one pair of socks.

      If we just add up the figures quoted above we have a startling – £292,750.

      In the UK alone we have a National Health Service that will go bankrupt in the next few years, due to the rising rates of illness and disease.

      Have we considered that the money that we are spending on frivolous items, ‘because we can’ would be much better placed investing in our health services and really looking at why things are in the mess that they are.

      Spend six months on formulating a perfume?

      Or six months conducting research on:

      Why we get sick?
      https://simplelivingglobal.com/why-do-we-get-sick/

      Why the rates of mental health problems are increasing?
      https://simplelivingglobal.com/world-mental-health-day/

      Why more people, including children and doctors are committing suicide?
      https://simplelivingglobal.com/world-suicide-prevention-day-10-september/
      https://simplelivingglobal.com/international-youth-day-2017/
      https://simplelivingglobal.com/what-is-intelligence-part-2/

      Which would be of use?

      We have more than enough resources in the world to deal with the rising rates of illness and the disease. The fact that we have enough money to spend on expensive items like these and that there is a demand for them, really show us where our priorities lie and why things are getting worse.

  40. We were watching the Coasts episode of David Attenborough’s Blue Planet and it showed amazing footage of 40ft waves.

    The power of the ocean was palpable.

    Then it showed a surfer surfing an impossibly huge wave in dangerous, freezing conditions.

    I was astounded at the craziness of this and said out loud ‘why would they do that?’ My husband said simply ‘because they can’.

    Isn’t that so true?

    Because we can, we do.

    Because we want to, we do.

    Because we have something to prove or ‘nothing to lose’.

    For how much of human behaviour can that be said?

    Regardless of the sense or consequences.

  41. I have noticed how we lose the plot over food.

    At a Vietnamese restaurant we watched a large family come in, order and then devour their food in complete silence, apart from loud eating noises.

    They were so focused on the food it was like they were possessed and couldn’t engage with anything else. They didn’t look up. They didn’t talk. They just ate – heads down near their plates.

    It made me aware of when I or my family do something similar, albeit perhaps less extreme.

    When all you can think of is the food and spooning it in, wanting more of the tastes. Not aware of how your body is receiving the food or your digestion or anything, for that matter, other than the food.

    It made me want to be even more aware when I am eating – more aware of my movements; making sure I stay connected with myself and those around me.

  42. An article in the ‘Omaha World-Herald’, 6th April 2014, describes how “Nebraska gets a cut of illegal drug revenue, in an artful way.”

    http://www.omaha.com/news/nebraska-gets-a-cut-of-illegal-drug-revenue-in-an/article_99e65742-3e1c-5640-b05c-720cb8135776.html

    A group of police officers sat in a bar asking the owner about a piece of artwork on the wall.

    The poster shows a skull resting against a headstone with a marijuana joint and a syringe laid into crossbones.

    The bar owner gives the answer that it is an obscure piece of the Nebraska tax code inspired by the war on illegal drugs. The artwork is a replica of Nebraska’s $100 drug tax stamp.

    The stamps are offered in denominations of $10, $50, $100, $500 and $1,000.

    Nebraska began issuing the stamps in 1991 following the passage of a tax on illegal drugs signed into law and they can be bought at Nebraska’s Department of Revenue Offices across the state.

    Drug tax laws, which exist in 20 states offers a way for those states to collect money on illicit transactions. If you possess illegal drugs, Nebraska law requires that you have a stamp on your drugs.

    A stamp doesn’t legalise the product, but a person can be charged for not having one.

    In Nebraska, the law was intended as another way to punish drug dealers. The state has collected $544,588 from evaders of the drug tax since 1991, according to State Tax Commissioner.

    Since the stamps were first offered, 625 of them have been sold in Nebraska’s revenue offices, bringing in $10,220, most likely from collectors of the stamps rather than drug dealers or users. No name is required for drug tax stamp purchases because buying them might entail a form of self-incrimination.

    Many drug dealers and buyers find out about Nebraska’s tax only after being charged with a crime.

    The tax is $100 per ounce of marijuana; $150 per gram of a controlled substance such as cocaine and $500 for each 50-dose unit or portion of a controlled substance not usually sold by weight such as LSD or steroids.

    Those who have less than 6 ounces of marijuana, less than 7 ounces of a controlled substance or less than 10 doses of a drug are not required to have a stamp.

    5% of the tax proceeds go toward funding administration and enforcement of the tax. Half of the remaining money is devoted to law enforcement and drug education programs in the county where the drugs were found, while the other half goes to the Nebraska State Patrol.

    Being caught without a stamp means the person must pay the drug tax and a fine for not paying it. People also face a potential Class IV felony, which carries up to five years in prison and a separate $10,000 criminal fine.

    The Hall County attorney said he’s never heard of a drug runner actually having the stamps on his drugs.

    An Omaha criminal defence attorney said taxing an illicit product doesn’t make sense.

    In Kansas, attorney’s stopped filing tax drug tax charges in routine cases after the State Supreme Court ruled a defendant convicted of marijuana possession cannot also be convicted of not having a stamp.

    Without doubt, we have definitely lost the plot here.

    They may get a few people like the occasional drug user that will buy these stamps, but to get someone that actually deals in the drugs and potentially bring themselves to the attention of the law, is another matter.

    The article states that this tax law was intended as another way to punish drug dealers by fining them for not buying a stamp and that they could also get five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

    Wouldn’t it make more sense to just increase the fines of those they convict rather than giving the drug dealers a licence to sell?

    However we want to look at this, it is saying that these drugs are illegal and you will be punished if you are caught with them, but on the other hand, if you pay the government some money, we will ‘turn a blind eye’ and we will let you buy or sell these drugs.

    Is it possible that this is just condoning the use of illegal drugs?

    Is it possible that this is just encouraging the use of illegal drugs?

    Is earning a few thousand dollars in tax revenue really worth the potential increase of people using drugs?

  43. Great to hear on the BBC news today that retailers in the UK are finally ending the sale of acid to under 18s.

    A fifth of acid attackers identified in 2016-17 were under 18 years old.

    There nothing to stop a single retailer stepping out alone as soon as they see action is needed, but this voluntary change makes you realise what can be achieved if there is a will and a coming together.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42585208

  44. Reading here that you can now pay £5.75 to have a selfie reproduced onto the froth of your cappuccino.

    An article in the Week (issue 1158, p15) reports the cafe offering this service says it is driven by people wanting to post pictures on social media.

    This struck me as a lost the plot moment.

    The fact that someone has had this idea and then produced a machine that can turn your photo into froth art.

    Is it time to have a deeper look at what we are spending our time, innovation and money on?

  45. Breaking news – its official, mankind has lost the plot!!

    An article in The Telegraph, 6th February 2018, talks about how NHS patients should be allowed to vape indoors and even in their bed, public health body advises.

    Hospitals have been told to start selling e-cigarettes and letting patients vape indoors and in their beds if they had single rooms.

    Public Health England (PHE), said every smoker struggling to quit, including pregnant women, should be encouraged to take up e-cigarettes.

    Officials urged hospitals to replace smoking shelters with vaping lounges.

    And they said the devices should be given out by GP’s on prescription to encourage wider take-up.

    The calls came as PHE published an independent review into the evidence surrounding e-cigarettes.

    The report by, experts from Kings College London and the UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies, the University of Stirling and Cancer Research UK, suggests e-cigarettes are helping 57,000 smokers a year to quit.

    And it restated previous claims that vaping is at least 95 per cent less harmful than smoking.

    In November 2013, a health warning from the EU, seeked to ban all currently available e-cigarettes.

    In January 2014, the Government’s chief medical officer said: “We do not yet know the harm that e-cigarettes can cause to adults let alone children, but we do know they are not risk free. E-cigarettes can produce toxic chemicals and the amount of nicotine and other chemical constituents and contaminants, including vaporised flavourings, varies between products meaning they could be extremely damaging to young people’s health.”

    In the new report, PHE throws its weight behind vaping, stating that anyone struggling to quit smoking should be advised to try e-cigarettes.

    They called on NHS hospitals to lead the way in “making it easy” for vapers to find somewhere to enjoy e-cigarettes within their building while enforcing a total ban on smoking anywhere on hospital grounds.

    The PHE tobacco control lead said hospitals should consider setting aside single occupancy rooms for vapers. “We would certainly encourage them to make at least some single occupancy rooms where people can vape.” He also called for the creation of shared lounges for vapers.

    The Director for Health Improvement at PHE said: “Every minute someone is admitted to hospital from smoking, with around 79,000 deaths a year in England alone.”

    A spokesperson from Patient concern expressed unease about the plans. “Hospitals are packed out as it is, a lot of them don’t have an inch to spare with far too many patients being treated in corridors. If they can find any spare rooms they should be using them to treat patients, not turning them into vaping areas.”

    What is going on here?

    On one hand we have PHE telling us that e-cigarettes aren’t harmful while on the other hand we have the chief medical officer saying that e-cigarettes are toxic and extremely damaging to people’s health.

    On one hand we have hospitals enforcing a total ban on smoking and on the other hand we have PHE saying that it wants hospitals to provide spaces where people can smoke.

    On one hand we have PHE saying they want hospitals to provide single occupancy rooms to allow people to vape and on the other hand we have hospitals that already have a lack of beds for other patients.

    There is a lot of contradiction between those in authority here.

    PHE is saying that there is only a minimal risk from vaping. Even if that were so, it seems incomprehensible that those in authority would even entertain an idea like this in a place where there should be no toxic chemicals allowed.

    And what about the staff that have to work in this ‘vaping’ environment?
    What about the other patients who don’t smoke that may get caught up in ‘passive smoking’?

    Is it possible that we are pushing the agenda of getting people on e-cigarettes, even though they are trading one harmful substance for a slightly less harmful substance, because it will reflect better on the figures if less people are dying?

  46. Talking to a taxi driver last night about how it is for him after the terrorist attacks.

    He said that every day he is aware of the fear running through London and through him.

    He gave an example of a SUV that made a quick manoeuvre in front of him earlier that day, pulling over on the kerb. The driver jumped out and 2 male passengers jumped out and rushed around to the boot. He said he felt adrenaline and his heart beating out of his chest. As he drove past, he was watching in his rear view mirror to see what they would get out of the boot and whether he needed to act because a terrorist attack was unfolding.

    In fact it was a mini cab, pulled over illegally to let the passengers out.

    He said this was just one example of how on edge he is. And he says he can feel it in the city. He feels it in his passengers and in how pedestrians behave on the street.

    He said he has zero trust on the streets now as a cab driver.

  47. Daily Mail – 10 March 2018

    TITLE – The Blingtastic Mothers’ Day gifts for the super-rich that beg the question…
    Which lucky mum’s getting an £800,000 solid gold vacuum cleaner!

    So we got Mothers Day today and the weekend newspaper has a double page spread and here are a few of the items mentioned:

    £44,800 Lipstick

    £3,395 Sunglasses

    £10,000 Perfume

    £5,000 24-carat gold Facial

    £2,000 Gin – small bottle

    £44,000 Pillow

    £1.4 million Handbag

    If we stopped to just take a reality check for one moment – who actually subscribes to this?

    Is a solid gold vacuum cleaner actually needed and would a woman with that amount of wealth be doing her own carpets?

    How is Mount Everest air pressure going to make a gin more refined in elegance at £70 a shot?

    Can we say as a world, we have officially lost the plot?

    I for one was in the LOST THE PLOT CLUB for a few decades and lived in an unreal ‘me me me world’ where the focus was on what I could have that others could not and cost did not come into it. So there would not be a £800,000 solid gold vacuum cleaner but there would be gadgets and items that were way beyond my budget. No surprise I wrote the blog “Champagne Lifestyle, Lemonade Money”.
    https://simplelivingglobal.com/champagne-lifestyle-lemonade-money/

    Anyway, back to this comment – could it be possible that our sleep would not be enhanced if we had a pillow costing more than a car or more than what most earn in a year?

    What is it about us humans that have this insatiable appetite for wanting more and thinking that if we have more money than others it is solely for our own use?

    What if money is not a bad thing at all if it was used to truly support our health and well-being and helped to grow people? In other words use it for true purpose.

    I know that as the founder of this website, it is an honour and a great joy to use my money to hold this website and keep expanding it, paying attention to the costs and knowing it is here to grow people and nothing more and nothing less.

    Gone are my crazy days of spending in excess as that stimulation is simply not needed because I have a Commitment to Life in Full and a true connection to Purpose.

    I can officially say I am no longer a member of the LOST THE PLOT CLUB and it has been over 12 years, so a clear confirmation to me that there is no going back.

  48. An article in The Week magazine, 16th December 2017, says: ‘Trust experts, not online reviewers’.

    One thing about our modern life is the constant demand to write a review of things we buy online.

    You need only take delivery of a parcel to get a text or an email asking us to rate our “service experience”.

    A young journalist, who admitted that he used to make a living writing fake reviews for a review site, decided to expose the “chicanery of online reviewing”.

    He first claimed that he had set up an “appointment only” restaurant, which was actually his garden shed – aided by photos of its ‘mood-inspired food’, (shaving foam and bleach tablets), and posted breathless reviews of it on a well known review website.

    Eager customers clamoured to book a table but he ignored their calls and in no time the website had classed ‘The Shed’ as London’s top restaurant…even though it didn’t exist.

    The journalists exposing is a timely reminder not to put your faith in the “wisdom of the crowds”. Too many of us have learnt to game the system. Place your trust in experts and friends. He says: “They are our only protection against fake reviews in an ocean of fake news.”

    How on earth did we get by with going to new places or buying products before the introduction of review websites?

    I am sure we learnt by the experience of going there and finding out for ourselves or we listened to family and friends who had been before.

    Why are we listening to people’s reviews instead of making our own minds up?

    Considering that firstly, every review is always going to be subjective and secondly, the person making the review may have a hidden motive like being paid by the company, be in competition with another company or just have a grudge.

    Some of us may feel that putting this comment on ‘Have we Lost the Plot’ blog may be the wrong blog to put it on, but if someone can manipulate their non-existent ‘restaurant’ to be classed as London’s top restaurant, we have to consider the fact that we have definitely lost the plot here.

    Is it possible that posting reviews has now become an ‘I’m in with the crowd’ thing?

    Is it possible that posting reviews is now seen as a social media must have?

    If we could trust that every review was objective and truthful, then review sites would obviously be a good thing but clearly the review procedure, as it is now, is open to abuse.

    This journalist has admitted to writing fake reviews for a well-known review website.

    This is just one person, so it is safe to assume there will be more people doing this.

    Why are we making these review sites so important?

    As with all supply and demand, it is us that are creating the reality of these sites.

    What is wrong with the good old fashioned way of going to the restaurant or shop and finding out for ourselves what the experience is all about, instead of relying on someone else’s interpretation?

  49. Daily Mail – 7 April 2018

    Some banks in UK are blocking family members to pay in cash into their partners or relatives’ accounts.

    This is to do with a crackdown on criminal gangs who launder cash through bank accounts.

    The news story mentions a man who was refused to pay in £20 into his wife’s account.

    HAVE WE LOST THE PLOT?
    What is this telling us – the average citizen on the street?

    WHY do our policy makers take things to extreme?
    WHY do we lose sense of our wisdom and common sense?

    When I was working in the banking world a few decades ago, I had this need to always question things and one of them was WHY on earth are we selling long term investment plans to the elderly and who really benefits?

    Back then it was all about profits and investment companies pay huge profits if you can lock in a lump sum or regular payments for long term because it guarantees them that money is around and not going to be whipped out soon.

    Back to the news story – an MP on the Treasury Select Committee says it seems to be about the banks as they do not want the costs for handling small amounts of cash.

    Good old fashion pay in with a book and watch your savings grow is on its way out.

    In with plastic and other ways, but not cash, seems to be the cost effective way.

    Whatever it is – what would be a wise move for all who make these decisions on behalf of society, is to ensure TRANSPARENCY. By this I mean be open, upfront, absolutely honest so that everyone can feel the truth of what is being communicated.

    This means staff at the front end who deal with the public are not left feeling that they have to nod and agree to something they can feel is totally unrealistic and unnecessary because common sense tells them so.

    It would also means the end of all this speculation and misinterpretation, when we all know the truth – SOMETHING IS NOT RIGHT.

  50. On a flight, a woman with a broken leg had booked an emergency exit seat. Only the able bodied can man an exit row and so the plane could not take off unless she moved.

    Drama unfolded.

    The passenger was angry and appalled that she would have to move. No one else wanted to move to accommodate her.
    Another woman started laying in to the steward about her unrelated experience booking the flight.

    There was no regard for decency in communication or for the impact the situation would have on the steward, those on the plane and all the flights queued up after it.

    When the same steward made her take off announcement over the tannoy you could hear the tension and upset in her voice.

    She told me later this type of thing happens every day. More than once.

    She said just because she works for a low cost airline, it doesn’t mean people have the right to talk to her like that.

    She has coping mechanisms and she acknowledged they are not pretty: cigarettes, coffee and making sure on her days off she sees no one.

    It was a reminder of the impact our choices have on others and of the responsibility we all have.

    And it made me think – what if a flight is simply a microcosm of what is happening all around us every day?

    We are all in it together all the time. Being in a small metal box with wings just brings that into sharper focus.

  51. Metro News – 3 May 2018

    We have now created a paint which converts walls into surfaces that sense taps or swipes.

    It can replace light or volume switches and thermostats.

    If a film or video game is projected on to the wall, it could be controlled by sensory buttons.

    It also picks up electromagnetic signals from devices such as hairdryers or food blenders.

    So have we seriously lost the plot here or do we call this evolution?

    Has man evolved because he has come up with yet another advancement?

    Would it be true to say that we keep creating new stuff because there is a demand?

    What if we all used this so called intelligence that keeps coming up with new ideas, to sort out the real mess our world is in?

    In other words, find the root cause of Diabetes, Cancer, Heart Disease and once we get that nailed let’s go for Liver and Kidney Disease and then let’s not stop and get to WHY anyone wants to drink a scientific proven poison called Alcohol and then let’s end the harm of Tobacco.

    Would that be REAL evolution for a race of beings, who let’s face it has lost the plot?

  52. Brixton station in London on a Sunday morning is an interesting place to be.

    You can see the spectrum of wayward human behaviour.

    People coming down from drugs in their clubbing clothes, heading home from a night out.

    Drifters and homelessness.

    People starting the day with a can of lager.

    A gang of youths kicking litter.

    Beggars getting the best spot.

    The place is filthy.

    Could stations such as these be a barometer for our collective wellbeing – the success (or not) of our society?

  53. Thank you for sharing this Jacob as I have never heard of this dance.

    I have now just read a news article about it and one school in Devon have actually banned ‘The Floss’.

    The reason being they are concerned of The Floss’ being linked to a violent video game.

    To answer your question as to why it exists – it is a dance that is done at the end of the game as a victory dance for the winner. The school have banned the dance due to the violent nature of the game and the addictive nature of video games.

    The headteacher is quoted as saying –

    We want our school to be one where human beings treat each other with kindness and appreciation.

    She goes on to say that the game is about the mass killing of humans and that the dance is an award if one is successful.

    ‘…playing violent video games is associated with real-life aggressive behaviour and mental health issues.’

    And that some of the children in their school had been using the dance to surround and intimidate other children.

    Whether you knew this information or not you had already picked up that this dance was not healthy and I understand why. If something has been created to harm others, even if it is on screen it is no good and therefore these movements in the human body will be unnatural and very harming.

    What if by doing the dance our bodies are moulded to then move in a way that is unnatural for us, not just when we are doing the dance but also thereafter?

    Is it possible that we could end up doing things that we would not normally do – like be intimidating and aggressive to others even when we are not doing the dance?

    Is this the real reason why the dance was created?

  54. An article in The Week magazine, 30th September 2017, talks about ‘Emails sent by thought’.

    Wristbands that enable wearers to write and send emails just by thinking about what they want to say could be on the market within three years.

    While tech giants invest millions in complex brain machine interfaces involving helmets and implants, a team in New York is working on something simpler: an electromyography armband that intercepts signals travelling from the brain to the muscles in the hand – including those instructing the fingers to type.

    The idea is that people just have to tap their fingers on any surface – or simply think about the action – and the device will pick up and interpret the signals and produce the text.

    The chief science officer on the project says: “Just as you don’t think about which muscles you activate when you speak, you won’t have to think about how you communicate text to a computer”.

    Seriously folks, are we losing the plot here?

    We have gone from smoke signals, pigeons carrying messages, letters being sent by riders on horses, letters sent by postal systems, faxes and emails.

    Why do we now need a wristband to type?

    We can’t even use the argument that with this wristband we will be able to text or email in any location at any time because we already have smart phones or other gadgets that do that.

    Why do we feel the need to constantly find ways to improve technology that, in truth, we don’t need?

    Where are we going with all of this technology?

    Is it possible that all of this technology, although they say it brings us closer, is actually pushing us further and further away from each other?

    Is it possible that we are becoming less and less connected with others the more improved our technology becomes?

    Why are we championing these technological advances when there are so many issues that the world is facing from poverty, famine, war, corruption, greed, genocide, etc, etc?

    Is it possible that these so called tech giants would benefit humanity more by investing in something that actually helps all people rather than satisfy the whims of a select few?

    Is it possible that we have lost the plot here?

  55. Is it me or have tattoos become the norm?

    I live in London and not a minute seems to go by without seeing a tattoo. Particularly on young people.

    Not only do more people seem to have tattoos but more people seem to have more tattoos.

    Sitting across from a young woman on the tube just this morning, each of her legs was wrapped in one.

    It made me wonder what that was like for her; hours of pain. Why did she go through that? Did it give her what she wanted?

    If this is indeed a trend, is it worth asking what is going on that underlies it?

  56. Metro News – 22 August 2018

    A famous singer is championed eating a feast at his local café and then having a cigarette.

    All done to avoid paying the bill.

    The fry up is offered for free if the customer can eat everything in 20 minutes.
    4 eggs | 4 bacon slices | 4 sausages | chips | hash browns | onion rings | bubble and squeak | baked beans | mushrooms | toast

    Is it really to avoid paying when this person is certainly not short of money?

    Does it bring a form of attention and recognition in his local town and beyond, as he appears in news stories which would not have happened if he did not partake in this excess eating?

    Have we stopped to think for a moment what this would do to our breathing, our heart and our digestive system, or the strain it would put on our body to process such vast amounts of food in a short space of time?

    What is the real knock on effect of this kind of behaviour and how many followers want to be like this man and have the fame and everything that goes with that?

    The photo in the newspaper is clear that this person is not healthy and in fact is famous for having that ‘unkempt’ look. They are smoking and we all know the harmfull effects of that.

    My take on this is that the café could only come up with this if they knew the demand would be there and it clearly is.

    In the US they have TV shows where people compete and eat way over the top in a short space of time.

    Serious question – HAVE WE LOST THE PLOT?

    We need to ask this because what is the purpose here?

    Have we bothered to study what actually happens to our physiology, when we consume vast amounts of food in a short time span?

    What sort of world have we become where we are championing eating to an audience, excess amounts of unhealthy food within a time frame and IS IT WORTH IT?

    I reckon if we asked our body and it could talk back it would say “no way, no thanks, just stop”.

    Finally, it would be worth studying the impact in the longer term when people choose to live in this way. In other words, track them over a ten-year period and keep a close observation on their lifestyle choices and where it all seems to be heading.

  57. A colleague told me today about a well known fast food company that offered to give free food to people in a poor country if they got the brand name tattooed on their body.

    They pulled the offer when hundreds of people with brand tattoos arrived at outlets across the country, asking for free food.

    Have we got to a point where getting a tattoo is such a flippant act that we think little of it?

    And/or is there a deep level of manipulation going on that we are responding to instead of calling out?

  58. An article in The Week magazine, 1st September 2018, talks about how antisocial passengers on crowded trains go to great lengths to keep the train seat next to them free.

    An American company has come up with a product to make it easier for them to do this.

    It is called the ‘Seat Saver’ and you can buy a fake spillage made entirely of plastic – anything from an oozing ice-cream tub, overturned coffee cup, a dribbling ketchup sachet or a sloppy slice of pizza.

    Seat Savers cost between $4.50 and $45 and the company says they make “great gifts”.

    There seems to be no end to our desire to be free of human contact.

    There have been many ways that we have created to separate ourselves from each other, the digital age being one of those.

    Is this just another avenue that is separating us from each other, or is there something more insidious going on here?

    Have our tolerance levels got so low that we have to make up excuses to prevent others from ‘getting in our space’?

    Of course, we cannot blame the company for these products. They are only fulfilling a demand from us, so do we need to look at how far we are prepared to go with this?

    It seems a shame that we are willing to go to these lengths to avoid human contact.

    What would our world be like if we put as much effort into inviting others in instead of pushing them away?

    Spending up to $45 to avoid having someone sit next to you – Have we lost the plot?

  59. At dinner with some lawyers this week, one was sharing, incredulous, what he had recently seen on TV.

    A dating game show where the contestants were completely naked standing behind a screen. The screen lifted up slowly and the person choosing selected a date based on the naked body they liked the most.

    The chooser then came back on stage completely naked themselves.

    The (clothed) host made various comments about the contestants’ body type and genitals.

    The lawyer just could not believe what he was seeing and that the show was behaving like this was totally normal – like something out of a dystopian movie about the future.

    He said it was hideous and compelling at the same time. He said he felt bad he had added to the show’s viewer ratings.

    Another said ‘that’s it, press the self destruct button on the human race, we failed, let’s start again’.

    There was much head shaking.

    And I agree.

    But are we really that surprised? Is this not an obvious extension of the trajectory we know we are on?

    And what is the antidote?

    It feels like this is about reconnecting with what intimacy actually is. Going back to basics on our relationships.

    Maybe thinking more ‘old school’ again – taking things slow, valuing what’s on the inside, rejecting the images and ‘norms’ society throws our way, choosing where we put our attention and energy.

    Not only when dating, but also in friend and family relationships and with ourselves.

  60. Just listening to BBC Radio 2 news – I did not get round to switching it off instantly, so I heard the presenter Jeremy Vine mention the fact that the glass found at Duke of Edinburgh’s car crash last week was being sold on e-bay.

    HAVE WE LOST THE PLOT?

    Before we go up in arms, act surprised or express our horror at this type of nonsense – let us consider this…

    There must be the punters out there wanting to buy the glass from a car that was owned by the Queen’s husband. If there was no interest, then it just would not be worth selling.

    We have become a world that is big into sensationalism of any kind.

    Those who were there at the scene of the crash had these crazy thoughts and acted on them. The majority of us think it is so way off and weird, but the truth is it is happening and we need to question WHY.

    As an old friend of mine says to me when she hears such nonsense
    YOU COULDN’T MAKE IT UP

    I agree – I could not even imagine, create or make up anything like this.

    I always say “It is official, we have lost the plot”.

  61. Tourists will be able to stay on the International Space Station for the first time at the cost of $35,000 a night.

    2 people could stay for up to 30 days with trips proposed for next year.

    Travel firms would be responsible for ensuring training and medical requirements for spaceflight.

    So here we have a new experience for man which is out of this world as some would think.

    A return ticket for £39 million and 478,000 air miles.

    Most of us are restless and bored on a short haul flight, so how will we cope with that amount of travel wearing special gear as we are going outside our earth plane?

    Was our human body designed to hang out for a month on the moon, which has no atmosphere, no weather and no oceans of water?

    The surface of the moon is in a perpetual vacuum and the moon’s gravity is one sixth of the Earth’s gravity.

    We could only survive 15 seconds because of the lack of oxygen, so we need to keep the spacesuit on.

    Have we considered this, or do we have the millions which gives us the passport to do what we like and in this case an out of the world experience that the whole world will get to know about?

    Dear World,

    Have we considered what this is really all about and why we have even had the thought of sending tourists out to the moon?

    Do we really think we are advancing and is this what we call evolution?

    Are we honest enough to admit that as a race of beings we have created a mess here on earth and we need to look at that first?

    For example, we are yet to know the root cause of Diabetes, Heart Disease, Cancer and many other dis-eases that are escalating.

    We have a global 911 and this website has the facts telling us so.
    This means we cannot just ignore it, as it is a wake up call for all of us.

    Are we busy creating ways to get out of earth when we have yet to master earth life and the ills we have created in human life here?

    Is it worth asking after reading this – Have we Lost the Plot?

  62. Metro – 13th August 2019
    Parents are hit by £134 bill for children’s back to school gear

    Parents spend an average of £134 on uniforms and shoes for their children in a back to school spend worth a total £1.6 billion.

    A research company said the annual spend rose 36 per cent in 2018 from 2017.

    It is the third largest retail event after Christmas and Black Friday.

    Last year families spent:
    • £510 million on shoes and uniforms
    • £130 million on technology
    • £100 million on stationery

    Nearly half the families say the pressure to buy fashionable items has increased.

    £1.6 billion on going back to school – Seriously have we lost the plot here?

    To some extent we can understand that there will be a cost in technology and stationery because the schools do not and cannot provide everything that a pupil will need like calculators, highlight pens, colouring pens etc. but since when has going back to school turned into the third largest retail spend?

    The biggest expenditure is obviously school uniforms and shoes but why does a school need a uniform?

    I went to a large mixed comprehensive school that had no uniform and there were other schools I knew of that didn’t have uniforms and the school right next to where I lived, which my younger brother attended, did have a uniform and as far as I could tell, there were no advantages to having to wear a uniform.

    £510 million on shoes and uniforms – for what purpose?

    Does wearing a uniform make a pupil learn better?

    Is it just because a pupil will be easily identified if they are wearing a uniform?

    Is it possible that having to buy a new uniform every year puts a tremendous amount of unnecessary pressure on families that can ill afford this expense every year?

    Is it possible that schools have a vested interest in their pupils buying the uniforms because they have a deal with the manufacturer of the uniforms?

    If a school wants their pupils to wear uniforms, is it possible that they should be supplying them?

  63. Thrillist News – 29 January 2020

    A famous donut chain is opening a flagship store to join the carnival of brands in Times Square, New York City.

    4,500 square feet is the size of this store and it comes with a glaze waterfall, a “doughnut theatre experience” and stadium style seats.

    Men in tuxedos will supervise 20 foot long chocolate dispensers and the iconic US milk chocolate purveyor will have its employees serve from an authentic camper.

    For those New York City natives who are not interested in this tourist destination, the donut giant plans to open five other locations in Midtown, the Financial District, the Bronx, Harlem and the Upper West Side.

    We could just stop here and say with a serious tone – have we LOST THE PLOT?

    We have a global obesity epidemic and the majority of us know sugar is a drug killing the human frame, as it was never designed for human consumption. Fact.

    Most of us have some form of sugar in our diet daily and this donut organisation is growing fatter in profits because we, the consumers demand we want more of this stuff.

    Let us not be fooled or start blaming companies who want to offer us a doughnut theatre experience because it simply would be shut down if we did not buy it in the first place.

    We could say we have lost the plot and we could also say that there seems to be an utter dis-regard for what we choose to shove in our mouths, to get the hit of sugar or whatever it is that we need in that moment.

    Why are we so enamoured and enchanted by 20 foot long chocolate dispensers?

    Where does our fantasy of this come from and what is behind it?

    In other words, what is the driving force that gets us into a donut place where we can go nuts and buy up and eat up whatever we want without giving any thought whatsoever to the consequences?

    The fact that the flagship store is not going to do it for the residents, they have big plans to open up all the extra stores which for the record sell donuts only. ALL types of doughnuts and all sizes and fillings we could ever imagine.

    Could it be possible that this money making business cannot stop growing, because it profits from our bad eating choices that are not going to make them stop and start trading fresh broccoli and other greens? Sounds a bit way off but this is actually the reality.

    Would any business take less profit and say No because it affects the health of humanity?

    Most businesses are in it for the money and very few have the code of conduct where they say PUT PEOPLE BEFORE PROFITS.

    Simple Living Global most certainly has in its Code of Conduct that it will always put PEOPLE before profits.

    This may seem like they are just empty words, but this is not the case for Simple Living Global.

    How we operate our business is we walk the talk. We really LIVE those words in our business and in our personal lives.

  64. Insider.com – 30 March 2020

    https://www.insider.com/arizona-baker-makes-toilet-paper-lysol-coronavirus-cakes-desserts-2020-3

    A baker in Phoenix, Arizona is making toilet paper cakes and Lysol cakes as these are both highly sought after items for Americans in lockdown.

    A pizza place in Vietnam is selling corona burgers and a bakery in Germany is selling toilet paper shaped cakes.

    A pastry chef in France is making chocolate versions of what the virus looks like under a microscope.

    We could say “Have we Lost the Plot” or we could see it as restaurants and bakeries all over the world finding ways to “spread cheer” through their food during this pandemic.

    Whatever our views are – could we for one moment look at the entertainment value that we are seeking here?

    Could this be another distraction – a stimulation from the mundane staying indoors, nothing to do, bored and seeking something new or different?

    We cannot blame the suppliers as they simply deliver to the demand.
    We – the general public want, ask and seek this type of edible fantasy and they supply.

    What we need to all be asking at this time is what is the purpose and was it worth it?

    Without the need to be silly or push this comment aside as too serious – is it worth considering why is it that we need this type of extreme and new style sugary foods that we all know are not great for the human body?

  65. We could say this is Citizen Journalism – a small observation and conversation on the streets.

    https://simplelivingglobal.com/citizen-journalism/

    However, it feels appropriate to put a comment on this blog.

    Out for my walk, I see the man on the streets who empties the rubbish bins.

    We get talking and he tells me the council will get rid of him soon as they have done it 4 times already. He then applies for the same job and gets it back.

    He says he cannot see the point and at his interview he is told to demonstrate how to take the rubbish bag out and place a clean one back in the bin.

    We agreed that our local government who run the show have seriously lost the plot.

    What is the point and what is the purpose of stopping a job to then start it again and hiring the same guy over the years?

    Think about the resources and the un-necessary stress and tension this man has, to be told he no longer has a job, then to be told he can re-apply and see if he gets lucky.

    Tony thinks his luck may run out as they are always looking to cut corners and his job is one such that may be superfluous to requirements.

    I hear these types of non-sensical stories, confirming to me that our society has lost the plot and nothing is making sense. Gone are the old fashion values that had a strong element of simplicity running through and in comes super complications and a PhD literally to understand policy and procedures that in many real life cases are not followed through.

    Back to mr Tony – what I sensed was that he became more settled after expressing to a member of the public who came with no agenda and met him and asked how he was going?

    I often wonder what would happen in our neighbourhoods and in our communities if we made the effort to just stop and talk to what we call a ‘stranger’.

    To me they are not strangers at all – they are the same as me, so why on earth would I bring a division in there to separate us when I know in truth we are just one and the same, regardless of job spec, colour, race, religion etc.

  66. What is it about us that wants to look for more ideas that make no sense?

    Who is behind these weirdo creations for foods that entice our insatiable appetite for something unusual, different or away from the ordinary?

    We are bombarded with new recipes in those newspaper weekend supplements with the latest being wontons with strawberry chilli sauce, mackerel with strawberries and a desert with black pepper and strawberries. All because it is strawberry season.

    Next – chickpea meringues with poached rhubarb.

    What on earth are we doing with food and where is simple basic cooking going now with the millions of recipes, food shows and social media giving us the next download of what we can eat?

    Have we lost the plot?

  67. Reading about a celebrity buying a puppy for their just turned teenager – age 13.

    Are we all up to date with what’s out there for our dogs – shampoo and conditioner, toys and dog perfume?

    As we all know our pets are becoming like a human for many owners and we want to give them the best and we forget they are actually a different species and have their own evolution that requires us to let them get on with it.

    From mince pies at Christmas to having their own bedroom and the rest, have we lost the plot or what?

    Let’s not point fingers or blame these shops and suppliers for selling all this stuff because the truth is, we the customers are asking for this so that means the demand is there first and then it is supplied.

    Do we need to get real and get honest about what on earth is actually going on or do we continue to behave as we want because the masses just accept it and so it becomes our normal, even though it is far from a normal way of being and living?

  68. Daily Mail – 22 August 2020

    In the UK during the pandemic, retired doctors were asked to return to the frontline and support the NHS. Of course this makes sense and why not? We know that they have years of experience and are the best people we could employ for the job.

    Next – a British Medical Association survey estimates that it could take more than a year to clear waiting lists for routine elective procedures. This is because millions could not get treatments because the national health service was focused only on the pandemic.

    How many of us are aware that the reason many doctors left the NHS early was because of tax penalties that they faced on pensions had they chosen to stay on and continue working?

    So the country lost their wisdom, expertise and above all hands on experience amounting to decades. We could call this the stuff that no textbook could ever teach.

    On that note – have we Lost the Plot and WHY is none of this making any sense?

    We have doctors who would not have stopped working if it had not been for the money aspect of their future – the pensions penalties.

    It makes no sense and yet most of us remain unaware and oblivious to these facts.

    How many of us would welcome the opportunity to have a long term experienced doctor taking care of decisions for our health?

    How many young new trainee doctors would benefit from the practical skills and knowledge that comes with years of working, so that they are more equipped in their new roles?

    Would it be true to say we have seriously Lost the Plot as this type of legislation has a long term effect that may not have been even considered by those who make the rules and then tell us to follow them through?

  69. Metro News – 24 November 2020

    It looks like we have really LOST THE PLOT

    We now have a music album of airport sounds that has been made to help people who are missing the feeling of going on holiday.

    Tracks featuring boarding announcements, luggage carousels, planes taking off and a suitcase zip are all included on the recording.

    With our new world reality, where we are forced to stay at home and not travel, we want and need these sounds to stimulate our senses and fool us into feeling the holiday mode we crave.

    Seriously – do we need boarding announcements, a suitcase zip and planes taking off sounds in our ears and will it really do the job, or will it support us to escape from the reality of real life that is in our face, which we clearly do not want and hence we seek outer distractions like this one?

  70. Daily Mail – 19 December 2020

    A 42 year old man in the United States sues his parents for throwing away his porn collection.
    It was said to be a trove of pornography and an array of sex toys.

    The guy had returned home following a divorce and the judge has said they had no right and the attorney is applying for treble damages.

    The parents feared that the ‘worst of the worst’ was illegal and did not want to report that, so they hid it in a safety deposit box. Later the police reviewed and found no evidence of illegality.

    Have we lost the plot?

    The guy has porn and yes it was his personal stuff and we live in a world that allows us to subscribe and align to whatever we want and then we have our rights. The law states it is his and they had no right, but we do not question any further. It was pornography and of course most parents would be shocked or in reaction if/when they discover their adult son is into this kind of entertainment or vice, call it whatever we want.

    This website has yet to publish a blog about Pornography but for now we can say that the masses are now endorsing porn and are visiting websites and this industry has grown exponentially in recent years and with online being the main reason – are we surprised?

    Where did good old fashion common sense go and why do we not have that to hand when we have situations like this?

    Our law would benefit from listening to the elders of the communities that would say and agree a good talking to and some common sense, would work instead of a court case like this news story.

    1. New York Post – 27 August 2021

      https://nypost.com/2021/08/27/judge-orders-parents-to-pay-45k-for-tossing-sons-porn-collection/

      A federal judge ordered the parents to pay $45,000 for trashing their sons pornography collection and sex toys. This amount included $14,519 to their sons attorney.

      The value of the porn collection was estimated by an expert, which included dozens of boxes of films, magazines and sex toys.

      Whatever our personal opinions and judgements are – if we apply good old fashion common sense and that was our law today, our world would be in a far different place than it is.

      A court case like this confirms the current state of where our world is.

      We therefore do need to ask the question – Have we Lost the Plot?

  71. Daily Mail – 24 April 2021

    This is about the celebrity awards in the film industry where the red carpet comes out.

    It is well known for the most prestigious and famous awards in the entertainment industry around the world.

    Guess what they got inside the party bags for the nominees this year?
    Well its worth $250,000 so for most of us that’s the cost of a house.

    The ‘bizzare mix’ includes:
    GPS for Pets
    3 nights at a Lighthouse in Sweden
    Hammer to break out dogs left in hot cars
    Lifestyle Guidance for a year
    Treatment at a Cosmetic Surgery Clinic
    Digital Artwork
    At-Home Vitamin Infusion
    Happiness Planner Journal
    Molecular Hydrogen Water
    Vegan Trainers
    Intimate Hemp Oil

    That’s a lot there and we could start with saying HAVE WE LOST THE PLOT ?

    Why give the Lifestyle Guidance for a year when they can have it for FREE – check out this website…
    Over 230 articles about Lifestyle and by the time they read, consider and apply what is being presented, there will be more and more which will take a lifetime, not a year – so that is great value. By the way, these nominees, whoever they are will not have any need for a happiness journal planner thing as they only have to read the happiness blog FREE on this website and they will understand that it may not deliver what they got in mind.

    Instead of trying out the fancy water, they can read our drinking water blog and learn another way that is simple and FREE once again.

    If they move on to our Perfect blog again FREE, they may not want the cosmetic surgery.

    If they read our blog called The Real Truth about Marijuana they will know that if they want to get intimate with the drug we call cannabis then this is what is on offer. On that note, our whole world is not in agreement and have not yet reached a one-unified truth about cannabis, weed, hemp, pot, marijuana – all the same just different names. This could be the clear sign WHY some countries including the UK class it as an illegal drug. However, we seem to have this form of Reductionism when we offer it like in a goodie bag when in truth it is a drug in the form of an oil.

    What if we did apply what this website presents and see if the changes for example in the Sleep category knock out the need for at home vitamin infusions?

    What if we applied everything in a practical way that the whole sleep category is presenting and it leads to never forgetting our dog has been left in a hot car?

    Enough said, our world is seriously off the mark if we are giving away a quarter million bucks worth of so-called party bags that are practical and bizarre at an awards ceremony for the rich and famous.

  72. Hello Dear World

    Do we need to question our world records that we break with our super human behaviour?

    A recent news story about a rollercoaster fanatic breaking the world record by riding a terrifying rollercoaster 64 times in 6 hours. For the record – this man suffers with Vertigo.

    He is quoted in the news as a ‘thrill seeker” and this particular ride had a 3.5 G-force.

    Our media report this as ‘remarkable’ because he suffers from vertigo – an inner ear problem which causes extreme dizziness. For him this is a medical condition that stops him from driving a car and he says “Everyone thinks I am nuts for going on rollercoasters”.

    He says that after the ride he felt like he had been on a very heavy night out. Referring to excess alcohol intoxication – ‘spinning and dizzy but I managed to beat the record.’ (his words).

    What on earth is going on here that the desire to ‘beat the record’ overrides everything literally?

    If everyone he knows is telling him not to go on rollercoasters, why is this man not listening?

    If his body is communicating through the symptoms of vertigo, why is he not listening?

    The fact that he cannot legally drive because of his condition – why is he not listening?

    What on earth is going on behind the scenes?

    In other words what is the force coming through his mind telling him it is ok to ride 64 times in 6 hours when the start point is he has vertigo and excess roller-coasting will ADD to that condition?

    What is the impact on the body following this ‘world record breaking’ event?

    Is the claim to fame, recognition, identification and all that it brings worth it?

    What will we see exhibit next in his body if he continues on this path?

    Our world endorses and fosters extreme behaviours like this without any regard or consideration of what it is actually doing to the human frame. We could say we have seriously lost the plot.

    As long as there are those who get something from others doing crazy behaviour, the demand remains and guys like this will be there, ready to partake, without any consideration or responsibility about the consequences of their choices.

  73. Where are we as a world when we have a national newspaper advising us on the following:

    How to gamble responsibly

    How to party safely this summer with drugs –
    Go slow to start with as your tolerance may have dropped in lockdown

    How to reduce the risk of harm when you take illegal drugs like cocaine
    Best not to combine with alcohol or other drugs as it’s more dangerous

    Get the drugs tested first
    Be conscious about sniffing utensils because of covid
    Best to get the powder finely crushed
    Take care of your nose after a sesh – rinse out with sterile water

    We get warned of the dangers and nowhere is it mentioned that this stuff is illegal.
    We get told it is a choice if we take drugs.

    We also get told that cocaine can cause serious harm to our mental health and worsens existing conditions like depression, psychosis and anxiety.

    And of course, we have the medical staff ready and waiting to support us if we have a drug related emergency.

    Dear World

    How on earth have we got to this point today in our so-called intelligent world?

    A licence to do what we want, even if it is illegal and super harmfull to the body.

    Go ahead and know that we are not going to stop you in any way, let alone educate you, so please continue and we’ve got an overworked, exhausted health system, where staff have reached burnout in many cases, but hey ho we know you will just do what you want and we will be there, regardless of this ‘emergency’ coming from your own choices.

    If we go back and re-read the above – most of us would say we have seriously LOST THE PLOT.

  74. 5 November 2023

    Metro

    If we want a hoodie that is full of holes that costs more than the average price of a rental property then one designer has this covered.

    The brand, popular with famous footballers, is selling dark red ripped up hoodies for £1,250, and khaki and faded black ones for £1,090.

    To put that into perspective, the average price of a rental property for regions outside of London hit record highs of £1,231 per month in July, according to figures released by Rightmove. If you are in London, that number rises to £2,567.

    The hoodies are described as having a ‘destroyed effect’ and have the designer logo stamped on the chest.

    There are also matching destroyed effect Bermuda shorts for £850 and destroyed effect T-shirts for £750 to complete the look.

    All of the ripped garments have to be handled with care, because they cannot be tumble-dried and can only be washed at 30c on a ‘delicate’ cycle.

    Luxury brands love selling ‘distressed’ items, like another designer brand who has a ‘destroyed’ pair of trainers at £1,290 covered in holes and dirt from last year.

    Mule versions are also available with the backs cut off for £350.

    Sitting here all agog with one word trying to escape – Wwwhhhaaaatttt!!!

    Have we totally lost the plot here?

    Have we really nothing better to spend our money on than clothes that look like they need to be recycled, thrown away or burnt?

    No blaming the fashion designers for bringing these items onto the market as it is us that ‘think’ clothes like this look good.

    What next?

    Paying thousands of pounds for ‘invisible clothes’?

    The Emperor’s New Clothes anyone??????

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *