Girl With a Purpose (GWAP)

GWAP Blog Surpasses 20,000 Visitors!

Festival of hibiscus 8 | Pink propeller
Originally uploaded by from eye to pixel

Today, we at Girl With a Purpose (GWAP) Blog are celebrating like crazy...

We are doing our celebratory dance and have selected a special Hibiscus flower...just for the occasion... 

Why are we doing all of this? 

...because of you!

Because of you, our loyal friends, we have surpassed 20,000 Visitors.

We are now at 20,060 visitors with 21.4% of you returning, each month.

And you have come from far and near, from countries like:

Antigua and Barbuda,  Australia, Austria, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belgium, Benin, Canada,Cayman Islands, China, Croatia, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Finland, France, Germany, Indonesia,  Israel, the Ivory Coast,Jamaica, Japan, Lithuania, Malaysia, the Netherlands,  New Zealand, Norway, the Philippines, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Trinidad & Tobago,the UK, Ukraine, the USA, Venezuela and Vietnam.

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We promise to continue to bring you content that will:

1) Make you think critically and creatively, so that you can make better life decisions!

2) Awaken and refresh you spiritually and from this basis, inform your relationship, education and career choices.

Thanks ever so much for your visits and continued visits!

Please accept our gift of a virtual Hibiscus Propeller flower, as a special token of the GWAP love we're feeling right now. (Hibiscus plants are used to beautify many gardens in Jamaica).

...Here's to you!!!

(I would like to thank from eye to pixel for the use of his Flickr inset photo above, of a Pink Propeller Hibiscus flower).

Yours Sincerely,

Gillian Campbell - Owner, Editor - Girl With a Purpose (GWAP) Blog

Alicia Keys' - "Doesn't Mean Anything", is Heating Up the Charts!

 

You know, Alicia Keys is one of my absolutely, favorite artists!

"Doesn't Mean Anything" is her first single from her soon-to-be-released album, "The Element of Freedom".

It has that hip-hop + grunk (fusion of indie/grunge/punk/rock) beat that we've become accustomed to, since Alicia's last album, "As I Am"...

But she fuses hip-hop, grunk and soft rock, to get this delectable R&B hit!

The song was released on September 18 and the video on October 19...

...And I tell you, the official video's been viewed over 250,000 times!

(According to Wikipedia.org, the song debuted on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs at number 32,making her highest debut in that chart.  It has also debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 61, another highest debut for Keys since "No One" debuted at number 71. It also appeared on the Canadian Hot 100 at number 66).

But listen to the words...keenly, friends!

She's saying that material things pale in comparison to love...and she speaks about moving on after a broken heart...or does she want to?...

Hmmmh...:)

Good stuff...absolutely good stuff!

This young lady takes her craft seriously and as fans, we are always excited to know what she's going to put out next.

If this song, is the appetizer, I can't wait to taste the main course...

This song has Grammy written all over it!

Thanks Ricky, for sharing this with me via Facebook!

(The lyrics for "Doesn't Mean Anything", can be found here.

I would like to thank J Records, a unit of SONY BMG MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT, for the use of the YouTube video above of "Doesn't Mean Anything").

Gillian 

Sources Include

1) Alicia Keys - "Doesn't Mean Anything" Lyrics from MusicLoversGroup.com

2) "Doesn't Mean Anything" Review on Wikipedia.org

Drug Rehabilitation Resources for our Loved Ones on Drugs

In our previous post, we dealt with the consequences of having too much to drink...

We looked at the circumstances surrounding the arrest and jailing of Marlon King, a talented footballer, now sentenced to 18 months in prison, due to unwise overconsumption of alcohol/alcohol abuse.

Continuous abuse of alcohol and any other substance, is called an addiction.

Addiction starts with one act:

A person tries a drug, out of curiosity, "need", or force and finds that they cannot do without it.

["Need" of a drug occurs when a person abuses the use of prescribed drugs (by prolonging their use after the prescription has finished), or feels that he/she needs to take drugs to lessen the pain of trauma being experienced in his/her life].

However, the substance/drug being sought after, distorts the pleasure centres of the brain, so that the body is tricked into believing that it needs the substance in order to function properly.

The pleasure center of the brain is that delicate of area of our central nervous system that releases pleasure-hormones called endorphins (our feel-good hormones), whenever we are stressed-out or feeling pain.

Endorphins have the effect of causing euphoria or relaxation, so that the body maintains balance when stressed-out or in pain.

Because the drug/substance has the same effect on the brain, as do endorphins, the addict feels that he/she needs to have it in order it to be happy, relaxed, in control, or to function properly.

As a result, addicts are tricked into believing that the drug actually enhances performance - whether in school or on the job, but in reality, continuous use of the substance:

1) Actually degrades performance

2) Causes damage to not only the brain, but other organs of the body.

E.g. alcohol abuse causes liver damage.

The liver is the organ of the body that breaks down fats, converts glucose to glycogen - (a substance readily used by muscles to produce energy), filters harmful substances from the blood and makes certain amino acids (the building blocks of proteins - out of which our cells are made).

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Anyone can be an addict, be it your brother, sister, son, daughter, niece, nephew, mother, father, aunt, friend, neighbour and in the work-place: your co-worker or boss (associate).

In our highly-stressed and "pleasure-now" world, people who are un-informed about the reality of pain, are highly susceptible to drug use.

The reality is that pain occurs in every human being's life. Sometimes the pain is as a result of our own doing, other-times because of the actions of others, whilst at other times, as a result of trauma in our lives.

For persons who are severely burdened down by pain, or who lack the ability to effectively deal with it on their own, psychologists, psychiatrists, trained ministers of religion, counsellors, etc., are effective at, not only helping them understand the root causes of it, but helping them to develop coping mechanisms, to lessen the pain.

Unfortunately, many people (including our loved ones) who feel pain, don't go to a trained professional - they try to self-medicate, by taking drugs.

For those of us with loved ones on drugs - there is help, however.

There are trained professionals and websites that can help you to:

1. Identify what drug your loved one is on.

   
   

   E.g. Addictionac.com describes the more common drugs, and how to identify if your loved one/associate is taking one, or a combination of them.

   
   

2. Get the assistance of professionals who can intervene in your loved-one's drug-related behaviour:

   
   

   ChristianIntervention.com is a drug intervention site, whose toll-free number, 866-408-6859, is answered by Drug Intervention specialists.

   
   

   They also call your loved one...All you have to do is fill out their form online and they'll get back to him/her. These trained professionals, in a non-judgmental manner, help your loved one to:

   
   

   a) Recognize and accept that he/she really does have a problem (drug addicts seldom think they have a problem and thus often refuse help)

   
   

   b) Understand how their drug use is affecting their families and/or associates

   
   

   ...And thus motivate them to seek help.

   
   

3. Help your loved one to recover from drug-related behaviour patterns, so that his/her appetite for the drug is diminished (also known as drug treatment and rehabilitation).

   
   

   E.g. eDrugRehab.com has an extensive drug rehabilitation directory of drug rehab centres across the USA.

   
   

   (Drug treatment and or/rehab centres provide a safe and supportive environment for your loved one/associate to recover from drug addiction or alcohol dependency).

   
   

   eDrugRehab.com also has numerous links to alcohol and drug dependency addiction specialists who can facilitate the drug intervention and rehabilitation process.

   
   

   I especially like this site because their specialists:

   
   

   a) Are trained at treating adolescent drug addicts

   
   

   b) Will even come to your workplace, to help you deal with drug use there. 

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Visiting, researching and making use of the afore-mentioned sites, will give you a wealth of information and assistance, when it comes to effectively dealing with your loved ones and/or associates, on drugs.

My humble advice is to make full use of these resources and recommend them to others.

As usual, when we list resources, we'd like to find out from you, how you and/or your loved ones have benefitted from them...so please feel free to comment below this post, or email me to give me this feedback, re this ok?

Thanks in advance.

(I would like to thank eDrugRehab.com, for sponsoring this post).

Gillian

Sources Include

1) Functions of the liver from MamasHealth.com