Listening happens to be a key strength of good communicators.

PLASTIC POLLUTION

Good morning Monday,

Dan and I are getting back slowly to sociability by going to our favorite coffee shop on our walks. We bring our spray and spray down the seats and ourselves (BRIOTECH).

I keep our masks in my purse, if needed, along with gloves. Dan and I also stay social distanced and sit outside. For now, this will be the new norm! Since Dan’s treatments in Mexico, we have been in airports, public bathrooms, in restaurants, hotel and clinic; with all we have been precautions of our surroundings and protection.

We have been listening to the news and other sources everyday on what is going on with the virus. Still there is uncertainty. No one really can tell us why, where, when?

Sometime the focus is on what we will reply rather than actually listening to what people are saying. Listening is an integral part of every relationship, including the one with ourselves.

"It's a mistake to think we listen only with our ears. It's much more important to listen with the mind, the eyes, the body, and the heart. Unless you truly want to understand the other person, you'll never be able to listen." Mark Herndon

Listening is a skill, and here are some reasons we should all strive to improve our listening abilities. Some of these quotes will even tell you how to be a better listener.

After all, “Listening is often the only thing needed to help someone.” I think that often times, that someone might be ourselves!

“When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.” ― Ernest Hemingway

Keeping with the topic that I have been blogging on for over a month, pollution the silent killer.

The topic is going to be corona virus, which has worsened the ocean plastic pollution problem. A drastic increase in use of masks and gloves, plus a decline in recycling programs, is threatening the health of the seas. Eight million metric tons of plastic waste enter the oceans every year. This equates to one garbage truck’s worth of plastic being dumped into our oceans every minute. The total weight is the equivalent of 90 aircraft carriers. On top of that, models project that by 2050, there will be more plastic by weight than fish in the oceans.

This is tragic for many reasons. Whales, fish, seabirds, turtles and many other animals are eating the plastic and dying in masses. There are many studies in process exploring the relationship between human health problems and consuming fish that contain micro-plastics (bottles and other single-use items that have broken down). Oceanic ecosystems around the world have been ravaged by plastic waste.

All said and done this, of course, was all pre-corona virus days. It seemed that there might be an environmental silver lining to the global pandemic. With social distancing keeping people off the roads and out of the skies, air quality has seen drastic improvements around the world. Carbon emissions are projected to fall by 4 percent in 2020 compared to 2019.

In China, the extended shuttering of factories temporarily cleared the country’s infamous smog and significantly lowered pollution rates. Perhaps an even more enduring result of the corona virus may be wildlife conservation efforts in Asia, thanks to enhanced scrutiny of wet markets (where it’s suspected the virus made the leap to humans). Vietnam, one of the biggest offenders, has recently banned all wildlife imports and closed all of its wildlife markets.

The same cannot be said for our oceans, which have been hard hit in recent months. The corona virus triggered an estimated global use of 129 billion face masks and 65 billion gloves every month. If we stitched together all of the masks manufactured already, and projected to be produced, we’d be able to cover the entire landmass of Switzerland.

The practical problems with gloves and masks finding their way into our rivers and oceans is that they can easily be mistaken for jellyfish, a favorite food of sea turtles. Because of their elastic components, masks also have increased risks of entanglement for a wide variety of fish, animals and birds.

This is something we need to be aware of and think about!

Yesterday SHERRY'S kitchen shown you on the blog for brunch, triple decker gluten free blueberry- banana pancakes🍌 first layer strawberries, second layer blueberries and third layer bananas.

Here is the recipe:

INGREDIENTS: use the instructions on whatever mix you use; I use a gluten free mix. Create your pancakes (you can make them large or small), I like to make them small. Strawberries, blueberries, bananas, walnuts, olive oil.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Mix your pancake mix following directions on the box plus add blueberries.

2. Then put olive oil in a frying pan and place a small blob of the mix into the pan.

3. As this is cooking, place a little bit of water into another pan and place some strawberries into pan and cook.

4. Check and flip the pancake to make it golden brown on both sides. (as you make the pancakes, store onto a plate and keep warm until all pancakes are done).

5. Once the strawberries are cooked, take out of pan and put into a dish to keep warm. Repeat with the blueberries and bananas.

6. Next, all the ingredients should all be ready to put together.

7. Place a pancake on a dish, then add a little bit of strawberries, repeat by putting another pancake on top and on each pancake add another fruit. Topped off with some walnuts.

Yummy, Bon Appetite

Until tomorrow, learning is not just about reading books or listening to lectures.

It is about finding ways to apply what you have just learned and how you can use that knowledge in order to improve your situation and help others around you.

ACHIEVING OBJECTIVES 🏖️

Good day Monday, with greater confidence in yourself and your abilities, you will set bigger goals, make bigger plans and commit yourself to achieving objectives that today you only dream about.👀 have a great beginning of the week.🦋