Back in the stone age of the sixties, congress mandated that to get US government subsidies medical schools had to fill 10% of their entering classes with women. That was exactly what my class had, 11 women and 99 men.
Now, the average is about 50% women to men.
Today, China launched its 1st manned space vehicle with 2 men and 1 woman. The world is slowly, like a country governed by a democracy, heading towards a brighter future. Liu Yang , a 33-year-old pilot, is the the star of the mission.
A Chinese spokeswoman said, “Generally speaking, female astronauts have better durability, psychological stability and the ability to deal with loneliness.”
As intelligence and psychological strength take the place of muscle mass and the gonads to kill a wild beast with a club, we all have a much better chance to improve our planet. Who would have thought that we’d have a black president, a woman Secretary of State and even a few white guys in the NBA?
Forget race, nationality and sex. Go for quality! Go crazy, think for yourself and break down the mind-numbing social rules that keep us all captive. It’s even happening in the Middle East!
That’s how psychotherapy works. Among other things, it’s an examination of how the past continues to torture us in the present. Why not apply the concept now? Think about why you do what you do. If it doesn’t make sense, think about it again, and decide what does make sense. Don’t just do something because you were told to do it. Change is scary. It usually entails taking a risk. Blast off and take that risk. Start a new line of thinking. It might spread to your family, your friends and maybe even the world.
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Art Smukler, MD - Books & Thoughts 
Great post! Change is scary, but so necessary. I took a leap of faith 8 months ago and tried yoga for the first time. I had a lot of fears, zero expectations, and zero flexibility. I walked away fom my first practice feeling more alive than I had ever felt. Today I am joined by 2 friends who had never considered yoga, my body and mind are 10xs more fleible than they were, and my fears of changing have almost vanished. It’s amazing what a simple change can do. And how it CAN impact the people in our lives without even realizing it. (All I did was share my experience in my blog, and two of my friends asked to join me. They’re hooked now, too!) Baby steps. 🙂
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Interesting thoughts….but it’s knocking on the heads of those who won’t change that cause many of our own headaches. It will be a fine day when we don’t have to identify someone’s race or sex when we say ‘a job well done’. I’ve been around long enough to appreciate the changes but we’re a long way off from getting to the perfect place. With each change we create another problem. History repeats itself…struggles continue…what a boring world if we have nothing to reach for.
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Enjoyed the post, Art as it can be applied personally as well as politically.
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Art,
In a different century when I was protesting against Nixon bombing Cambodia and for civil rights…..all I can say is who woulda thunk it 🙂
Mike
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Great post, Art!
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