Reader’s Digest Australia & New Zealand – May 2019

READER’S DIGEST

May• 2019 | 35

criminal.OneofthebestthingsI
learnedwastokeepa cheapfour-litre
juganduseanoutdoortaptobathe
everyfewdays.Abarofsoapcanlast
youmonthsthatway.Beingcleancan
makethedifferencebetweenbeing
allowedtositinawarmfast-food
restaurantfora fewhoursnursinga
coffeeorgettingkickedout as soon
asyouwalkinthedoor.

Beinghomelessdoesn’t
havetobea lifesentence

Aboutfiveyearsago,I decidedI was
donebeing homeless.I wasable
tostartasidebusinessthatI could
doonline,fromanywhere,helping
peoplegetonrealityTVandgame
shows.Thismoneyallowedmeto
starta newlife.ButI’mtheexception
totherule.Escapinghomelessness,
once you’re trapped in the cycle, is

incrediblydifficult,andresourcesto

helpthehomelessareterriblyunder-

fundedandunderserved.If I’mbeing

totallyhonest,I stillfeellikeI’mjust

onemistakeawayfrombeingouton

thestreetsagain– and that’s terrifying.

Howtohelp

Peopleoftenaskmewhattheycando

tohelpthehomelessandI alwayssay,

“Justlookaroundyou!”Whensome-

onehassolittle,it doesn’ttakemuch

tohelp.Youcanstartbynotjudging

thehomeless.Don’tsaythatthey

deservetobeinthatsituation– no

humanbeingdeservesthat.After

that,donatetocausesthatsupport

thehomelessinyourcommunity.If

you’ddonatetosomeoneaftera

naturaldisaster,donatetoa home-

lessperson,theyarelivinga natural

disaster every single day.

DOGSPUTTOTHETEST

Researchersin Hungaryfoundthatnormalweightandoverweight

dogsbehavedifferentlyin tasksinvolvingfood,andsuggestthe

dogs’responsesmightbesimilartohumanbehaviour.

Twobowlswereplacedin frontofa seriesofdogs,onehelda

goodmeal,theotherwasemptyorheldlessattractivefood.

Thecanineswithnormalweightcontinuedtoobeyinstructions

tocheckthesecondbowlforfood,buttheobesedogsrefused

aftera fewrounds.Theobesedogswereunwillingtoinvest

energytosearchforfood– forthemthemainthingwastofind

therightfoodwithleastenergyinvolved.Thestudysuggests

dogs couldbeusedasmodelsforfutureresearchintothe causes

and impacts of human obesity.REUTERS