Before you put on a frown (皱眉)，make absolutely sure there are no smiles available.
—Jim Beggs
The last time my eighty-three-year-old mother visited, I asked how she was feeling. It's a valid question. She has,1, had two knee replacements, a metal rod placed in her femur, and arthritis (关节) is settling into her bones so 2 she can no longer roll the dough (生面团) to make her famous cinnamon crisps. She moves 3 and with precision (准确) to avoid another 4.
But she hasn't5moving. In fact, she and my father attended their first Jimmy Buffet concert this summer, where they sat on the lawn. Here's the thing about my parents: They6say no to an invitation or a new 7. If they can make it work, they're willing to8 just about anything. When we need them to come stay with the kids, we have to get on their9 far in advance.
They10 us daily.
When asked how she was feeling, my mother responded without an ounce (盎司) of11: "Well, almost everything hurts every day. Some days are better than others. But you know what I've discovered? It doesn't12 a bit to smile. So that's what I've decided to do...13at everyone I see. I may not be able to do all the things I used to do, but I can at least14 someone's day."
It is such simple wisdom, and such a profound shift.
Moving the15from what we don't have, from what we've lost, from how we've been burdened to what we can16others is the difference between living in the dark and giving off17. And illumination (光亮), of course, makes traveling so much easier for us and for others.
In chaos theory (混沌理论), the butterfly effect maintains that the18 breeze from a butterfly's wing can19the path of a hurricane halfway across the world.
Imagine, then, the possibilities that exist20 a single smile.
OUR PRODUCT RANGE
SKINCARE | HEALTH | NUTRITION |
Royal Nectar is the amazing skincare product that has taken the world by storm. It uses Bee Veno (毒液) to stimulate natural collagen (胶原蛋白) production in your skin. View Products | Nectar Ease uses Manuka Honey and Bee Venom to create a food rich in added benefits. Also known as the 'Aches and Pains Honey', it is ideal for people with joint problems. View Products | You probably already knew that we produce some of the purest Manuka Honey in the world, but did you know our other varieties may offer added benefits too? View Products |
WELCOME TO NELSON HONEY & MARKETING
For over 100 years the Cropp family have worked with nature, extracting the honey delicately, to bring you the finest quality New Zealand Honey. In 1973 third generation beekeeper Philip Cropp set up Nelson Honey & Marketing. His passion for bees, the many wonderful products they produce, have seen Nelson Honey grow from humble beginnings to a hugely successful company with a growing range of honey products sought after worldwide.
Philip's “Honey will fix it” approach is legendary among friends, neighbors and customers and has been the driver behind some of the revolutionary products he developed over the years like Nectar Ease and Royal Nectar.
Nutrition is all about our honeys. Manuka Honey, sourced from the Marlborough Sounds, Kahurangi National Park and throughout the top of New Zealand's South Island; West Coast Honey, a delicious multi-floral honey also described as the fruit bowl of honeys comes from the pristine (原始状态的) West Coast of the South Island; and finally Honeydew Honey which comes from the Beech forests of the Nelson Lakes areas. All our honeys are great as a food and may offer added benefits.
Health covers a range of different products, aimed at helping you feel great and stay healthy. Nectar Ease is our sought after Manuka Honey with added Bee Venom range. In this range you'll also find Propolis, Pollen, Manuka Oil and Apple Cider Vinegar with added Manuka Honey.
Finally our Skincare range is where you will find a range of Manuka Honey soaps as well as our world-famous Royal Nectar products; anything from the Original Face Mask to the new gift packs.
To read more about how it all started, check out the About Us section, or go straight to Products to order your own goodies.
We all know that listening to music can soothe emotional pain, but Taylor Swift, Jay-Z and Alicia Keys can also ease physical pain, according to a study of children and teenagers who had major surgery.
The research was carried out because of a very personal experience. Sunitha Suresh was a college student when her grandmother had major surgery and was put in intensive care (重症监护). This meant her family couldn't always be with her. They decided to put her favorite music on an iPod so she could listen around the clock.
It was very calming, Suresh says. “She knew that someone who loved her had left that music for her and she was in a familiar place.”
Suresh could see that the music relaxed her grandmother and made her feel less anxious, but she wondered if she also felt less pain. That would make sense, because anxiety can make people more sensitive to pain. At the time Suresh was majoring in biomedical engineering with a minor (兼修) in music cognition (认知) at Northwestern University where her father, Santhanam Suresh, is a professor of pediatrics (儿科).
So the father and daughter decided to do a study. And since Dr Suresh works with children, they decided to look at how music chosen by the children themselves might affect their tolerance for pain.
It was a small study, involving 60 patients between 9 and 14 years old. All the patients were undergoing big operations that required them to stay in the hospital for at least a couple of days. Right after surgery, patients received narcotics (麻醉药) to control pain. The next day they were divided into three groups. One group heard 30 minutes of music of their choice, one heard 30 minutes of stories of their choice and one listened to 30 minutes of silence via noise canceling headphones.
After a 30-minute session, the children who listened to music or books reduced their pain burden by 1 point on a 10-point scale. Sunitha Suresh says it's equal to taking an over-the-counter pain medication like Advil or Tylenol.
The findings suggest that doctors may be able to use less pain medication for their pediatric patients. And that's a good thing, says Santhanam Suresh, as children are smaller and are more likely to suffer side effects. So the less pain medication, he says, the better.
We have a problem，and the strange thing is that we not only know about it, but also celebrate it. Just today, someone boasted (自夸) to me that she was so busy she's averaged four hours of sleep a night for the last two weeks. She wasn't complaining; she was proud of the fact. She is not alone.
Why are rational (理性的) people so irrational in their behavior? The answer is that we're in the midst of a bubble (泡沫). I call it “The More Bubble”.
The nature of bubbles is that something is overvalued until—eventually—the bubble bursts, and we're left wondering why we were so irrational in the first place. The thing we're overvaluing now is the opinion of doing it all, having it all, achieving it all.
This bubble is being enabled by a combination of three powerful trends: smart phones, social media, and extreme consumerism (消费主义). The result is not just information overload, but opinion overload. We are more aware than at any time in history of what everyone else is doing and, therefore, what we should be doing. In the process, we have been sold a bill of goods: that success means being supermen and superwomen who can get it all done. Of course, we boasted about being busy—it's code for being successful and important.
And our answer to the problem of more is always more. We need more technology to help us create more technologies. We need to move our workload to free up our own time to do yet even more.
Luckily, there is a solution to asking for more: asking for less, but better. A growing number of people are making this change. I call these people Essentialists.
These people are designing their lives around what is essential and removing everything else. These people arrange to have actual weekends (during which they are not working). They create technology-free zones in their homes. They trade time on Facebook with calling those few friends who really matter to them. Instead of running to different meetings, they put space on their plans to get important work done.
So we have two choices: We can be among the last people caught up in “The More Bubble,” or we can join the growing community of Essentialists and get more of what matters in our one precious life.
I've learned that you have to make the choice if you want to get anywhere. If you just let other people decide what is going to happen for you, then all your goals and dreams may never be achieved.
Everyone always says that studying abroad in college can change your life. I made the decision to experience it for myself during my junior year. I chose to study in the Dominican Republic. As it got closer to the deadline, an advisor told me I had received a scholarship from an alumni (校友) family foundation.
During my first semester in the country I fell in love. I was becoming bilingual (双语的) but also learning so much about a new culture. I had begun working with a local grassroots organization, taking part in a project supporting an underdeveloped community just outside the city. My main role was to become aware of the issues facing populations such as these and support community education. I was in no way ready to leave this new life. I felt as if I needed more time to get what I wanted.
As the next semester began, I realized again that I needed to take a chance. I got involved with a local boarding school for girls living in poverty. I first approached the head of the school to volunteer to teach music classes, asking for money from my college church. I could have never predicted the results of this small action. Another volunteer and I were able to put together a benefit (义演) to show off what the students had learned. We invited community members, friends and other students from local universities to support the girls. We also sold art that the students themselves had created to increase the funding (资助) of the arts program. I felt good when I left, knowing that I had laid the foundation for a good cause and bettered the lives of young girls.
There will always be people that think they know what is best for you, but you ultimately know what you want in life. My time in the Dominican Republic changed my life by giving me the realization of how fortunate I am and the fact that there is always a chance to give back. You have to go after anything and everything you desire or there may be a missed opportunity. My trip to Santo Domingo taught me to take advantage of new possibilities.
The steady increase in women having babies later in life is undeniable. First-time mothers are more likely to be 35 or older than their counterparts (对应者) from two decades ago, according to the Pew Research Center. While the number of first-time moms between ages 20 and 24 falls, the number of births to women in their 30s and 40s keeps growing. In addition, recent wide-ranging studies have found significant long-term benefits in waiting to have babies. These benefits counterbalance (抵消) some worries about being an older mother and the effects it may have on children.
Longevity for women who wait
A study in the journal Menopause examined older mothers' life expectancy (寿命) and found that women who had their last child after the age of 33 are more likely to live to 95. In fact, researchers reported that these women had twice the chance of living to 95 or older than those who had their last child before their 30th birthday. The news for women having babies after 40 is equally promising.
Boosted brainpower for older mothers
It's also possible that later pregnancies (怀孕) protect against cognitive decline. Researchers at the University of Southern California found that women have better brainpower if they have their last baby after age 35. The researchers looked at the pregnancy history of a group of 830 women ages 41 to 92. Their research provides strong evidence of a positive association between later age at last pregnancy and late-life cognition.
Increased income over time
There's a measurable link between the age you have your first child and income gains and losses. Women who start their families when they are older are likely to increase their earning potential.
Educational and emotional support for children
Older parents who are less stressed about income or job security tend to be more patient and can spend more time with their children. Parents who have more secondary education can also offer more specific stimulation to their children, which can be helpful for development. An investigation of 8- to 12-year-olds explored how specific parenting beliefs and behaviors—such as reading, constructive play and emotional support—affected child development. The research published in the Journal of Family Psychology found that parent education and income positively affect child achievement.
Having babies later in life
Common phenomenon | It can't bethat the number of women having babies later in life is steadily . | |
Long-term in waiting to have babies | Longevity for women who wait | • with those who had their last child before 30, women givingto last child after 33 or even 40 are more likely to live to 95 or older. |
Boosted brainpower for older mothers | • Later pregnancies prevent late-life cognition from . • Research on 830 women proves that there is a association between later age at last pregnancy and late-life cognition. | |
Increased income over time | Older mothers have the potential of increasing their income in the future. | |
Educational and support for children | • more patience and more time, older parents with higher income and education can also offer specific stimulation to children. • Specific parenting beliefs and behaviors have influence on child | |
