Truly captivating Nature seamlessly blends with the enchanting and picturesque landscape of the Human Heart. . Our Lord invites us to experience His Beauty all around. . The rejuvenation of our minds and Hearts may be found in the Warmth of Summer, the Colors of Autumn, and the Magic of Spring. . Let the calming ambiance of Nature Color your Life.
Nature possesses the remarkable ability to create a Peaceful Sanctuary within the mind. . The Beautiful blend of calming Colors and serene Tones serves as a therapeutic escape, allowing us to find comfort in the midst of Life’s chaos.
Nature is a Testament to the profound impact that Natural minimalism can have on our emotional well–being. . God’s Natural World gives us a warm Embrace, offering overwhelming waves of astonishing Beauty. . It resonates deeply with our feelings and provides a harmonious backdrop for calming our thoughts.
Let the Beauty of God’s Natural World wash over you, and bring you to the Tranquility of His Natural Love.
Your relaxation may be as boundless as the Ocean Waves, and your Tranquility as deep as a serene Forest. In thisSacred moment, you can discover the Beauty of simply Being. . Your Journey of Inner Peace can linger long after the Sun sets. Relax, and savor the Sacred stillness.
May your Heart find the Path to Healing. May the shadows of negative thoughts, and the clouds of doubt disperse from your mind. . Let tranquility and Serenity flow into your Life like a gentle stream.
Today we can become so cut off from the sounds of Nature, that our Soul Truly craves. We can become locked into an isolation cell of walls. . We veryfragile Human Beings, are a part of Nature itself. We simply cannot be alone in a World without the Natural sounds from outside, where we belong. . Thank the Lord for the precious and sweet sounds of the Beautiful birds, and the Sacred Vision of His Beautiful Sky.
The World God Blesses us with, is so Beautiful, clear and pristine. The vivid green colors, Beautiful Valleys and Majestic Mountains are His Way of Saying, “I Love You“.
Venture into your REAL Home. Go outside, and your Lord will bring you into so much Beauty, for the Heart and Soul.
Our Sacred Longing to be Loved, still Lives in your Heart. The Pure Joy you can feel, has no bounds. . The Love of God is Truly, Eternal Love.
Let your Heart resonate with the Energy of the Cosmos. . The Natural World, Created for you by God, will connect you to Divine Love and open the Door to unparalleled Blessings.
Moments of True Awareness, are Precious Gifts. . Cherish them.
An individual life may seem more or less meaningful depending on how it is lived, but even the most meaningful lives will end and be forgotten.
Jean-Paul Sartre said that the moment we realize we are not immortal, we see the meaning of life as an illusion.
Conscious Life is a miracle and each one of us, however long or short our lives, embodies that miracle.
We sometimes ask what the meaning of life is, because we experience our daily routines as pointless and repetitive. If we feel listless and apathetic, Life often seems to us devoid of purpose. We may even think, in such moments, that everyone who doesn’t experience Life as utterly purposeless is laboring under an illusion. When, by contrast, we feel motivated and engaged, when we have projects we care about, the question of the meaning of Life does not seem pressing. We may entertain it, of course, but somehow, it doesn’t have a sting. It’s as though it simply doesn’t apply to us.
This may seem to suggest that life is meaningful when it is a good one, when the person living it flourishes.
There is no doubt something to this line of argument. An individual life may seem more or less meaningful depending on how it is lived.
But even the most meaningful lives come to an end, and the people living those lives die and get forgotten. Suppose there was a person in the 800s who, by all accounts, lived as meaningful a Life as possible. . Perhaps she was a great storyteller, intuitive psychologist, and highly respected in her community. She was the person everyone turned to when they were going through a rough patch. When she died, her death was experienced as a loss for everyone around her. Dozens mourned her passing. But however that may be, no one now has any idea who she was. It no longer matters — not one bit — how she lived or died. No one will ever utter her name again. Her Life seemed meaningful at the time, but was it really?
We can take this line of thought a step further and consider the fact that whole civilizations have disappeared, and no one knows much or anything about them now.One day, our civilization will disappear as well, and so will our planet along with every living creature, and in all likelihood, no one in the whole universe — if, indeed, there is anyone else — will know we were ever here. We like to tell ourselves that we create immortal works of art or that some human achievement or other will “live on forever,” but the truth is, nothing will — not on a secular worldview, anyway.
It is this type of concern existentialist philosophers pressed. Jean-Paul Sartre, for instance, says that the moment we realize we are not immortal, we see the meaning of life as an illusion.
This problem, what we may call the Big problem of the meaning of life, the one that arises for all of us no matter how we live our individual lives, is recalcitrant. If we experience life as meaningless because we lack motivationto undertake anything new or we otherwise don’t take joy in living or our human connections, there are remedies. We can usually find something that interests us and climb out of the valley of apathy. But what is the remedy for human mortality?
Another way to put the point would be to say that there is a discrepancy between two perspectives on life: our current one and the view, as it were, from eternity.
.Many things seem to matter now — who will win an election, whether your business venture will succeed, whom your child will marry. But none of these things will matter in a thousand years, which makes us wonder if they ever truly mattered or it just seemed so at the time.Albert Camus went on further and argued that the clash between our need for meaning, which doesn’t go away on account of being unsatisfied, and the complete silence of the universe makes the human condition absurd.
A cynic may say in response that this is all for the better, considering how terrible we are. It is not only everything good but everything bad we do that will come to an end. In some sense, it doesn’t now matter how many people Genghis Khan murdered. All of them would have died anyway, many years ago.
One may even find a cure for our neuroses, individual and collective, in the perspective of eternity. If nothing truly matters in the long run, perhaps, we can accept what happens at any one point in time with more equanimity. It is not only our accomplishments that will die with us but the worst of our failures.
I think there is something to the last two points, but I want to suggest something else.There is a different way to look at the matter of the meaning of life. In order to see it, we ought to consider the default state of affairs in the universe. And the default, I think, is a universe without life and without consciousness. Such a universe is one devoid not simply of meaning but of the possibility for meaning. And yet, that is the probable state of affairs. That there should have been any such thing as conscious life in a universe governed by physical laws is remarkable. It may be so extraordinarily improbable, in fact, that despite there being trillions of other planets, ours may be the only one that ever did or ever will house conscious life.
When one looks at the matter this way, I think, the Big Question loses its bite. We are going to die, indeed, and all of our hopes, dreams, and achievements will be forgotten. But even then, it will be true that improbably, remarkably, we lived, and we were conscious in a universe of matter, governed by physical laws.
This is not to say that the question of the meaning of life gets some one particular answer if we look at the issue as I urge. It is still up to us to try to make our lives individually meaningful or not. My point is simply that the fact of mortality, of the ephemeral nature of human pursuits, is rather less troubling if we take a different starting point: if we consider the fact that the likely state of affairs in the universe is one in which no meaning and valuing are possible, because there is no life and no conscious life. That appears to be how things stand in all of the universe except here.
It is not that human life as a whole has meaning, then. The existentialists were right that it does not. Rather, conscious life is, if you seriously think about it, a miracle, not in the sense that it violates the laws of nature, but in the sense that it somehow arose from inorganic matter, against all odds. And each one of us, however long or short our lives, whenever and wherever we may have lived, embodies that Miracle.
An overwhelming consensus of climate scientists agrees that anthropogenic climate change is a reality.
Knowledge is power and LIFE.
School Calendar
2024-25 Please check back regularly for any amendments that may occur.First Semester Sept. 3 – December 19 2024
Sept. 3 (TUESDAY) First Day of First Semester Oct. 14 (Monday) Columbus Day Holiday Nov. 25 – 29 Fall Break (and Thanksgiving) Dec. 19 Last Day of Fall Semester
Second Semester
Jan. 7 (TUESDAY) Second Semester Begins Jan. 20 (Monday) Dr. Martin L. King Holiday Feb. 17 (Monday) Presidents’ Day Holiday Mar. 17 – 21 Spring Break Holiday April 18 & 21 Good Friday and Easter Monday Holidays May 22 Last Day of Spring Semester
Lyrics/songs texts/paintings/articles
are property and copyright of their owners and provided for educational purposes.
Copyright Disclaimer – Section 107 – Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship,and research. Fair use is permitted by copyright statute.
Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of “fair use”.
Believe and you are there. . Believe in yourself and anything is possible.
“I am free because I am not of the body. I am free because I am not the body. I am free because I am the Soul-bird That flies in Infinity-Sky. I am the Soul-Child that Dreams On the Lap of the immortal King Supreme.“ –Sri Chinmoy
If you are not sure about the Path upon which you are lightly treading, Ask the Lord to Guide you and Show you the Way. . Your Love can grow and unfold your Wings to fly away to another Place in your Heart. . Believe in yourself, and Believe in our Lord.
Where have we been, not to have experienced the Breath of God’s Love, the Depth of His Desire? . .“The LORD God formed Man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the Breath of Life, and Man became a Living Being” – Genesis 2:7
So deep are the Tones of Colors in the World God has Created. . Such Awareness penetrates the mind, Body and Soul, and we are never the same again.
What a pleasure, to let yourself float on splendid Dreams of what you Truly can be, of who you really are. . God touches the Heart of those who Believe, and Lifts us up to another Level of Being. . Such is the Love of God, that nothing is impossible with His Love.
Too Beautiful to describe, the Love of God can Heal the World.
Such Love is Destined to do so much more, than we can imagine. . With the Infinite Love of God we will Soar with Pride, and be so Happy.
The Gift ofLife is Truly Beautiful. It is the Wind to many Wings waiting to Fly.
Love takes us on a Journey somewhere so far away.
Seeing how Beautiful our World Truly is, is an experience to Truly appreciate.
Lights of Silk and Joyful Tears are very Heartfelt.
Thank the Lord for giving us the senses to enjoy that which makes Life so much more Beautiful and Truly enjoyable.
Experience the Ethereal feelings, crafted with Compassion and Love. . Gentle Harmonies of soft, soothing sounds from your Voice, of concern and delicate inquiry, will transport you to a Realm of Inner Peace and Healing.
Close your eyes, and disappear into your imagination, without a trace. . Open your Heart, and emerge with a gentle Smile. . You can fly far, far away, in your Heart and in your mind, and Live in complete Harmony with everyone and everything.
Leave your hardships behind. . Forget the problems and frustrations, by enjoying the Divine Beauty of the World around you, and in you. . Enjoy THIS moment, every new day. . Smile at the rising Sun, it is Smiling at YOU.
Enjoy the Beautiful Sunsets. . The line between a Dream and reality, is often blurred by awareness. . Life can be a Dream. Wake up at the Dawn of awareness.
God Refreshes the Earth with gentle drops of fresh dew. . Deeply Inhale the aroma of Freedom to think and feel and Dream. . Shelter your Heart with Beautiful pages of precious memories and Dreams about your most Sacred Desires.
Goodnight.
Inspiring Questions That Make You Think About Your Life
What makes successful people resilient and persistent in achieving their goals and desires?
He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how. –Voltaire
In just a few words, Voltaire has answered.
Successful people take and effort to ask the right questions that drive them to answer that adds meaning to their purpose.
The more questions you ask yourself, the more you learn about yourself. It keeps you curious and grateful for life and its challenges. Your innate drive to question yourself and find answers will keep you on the path to self–growth and let you take motivated efforts to accomplish your goals.
When you know the why, the whats and hows will become clearer. And you will find all your answers only when you seek them by asking questions.
Questions that make you think are like fuel to critical thinking and problem–solving. If you cannot stop to ask questions, you will never find better ways and that will be the end of growth.
If you want to keep moving ahead, self–assessment and clarity are much required. Having the right questions will always help you have a clearer vision towards your aspirations and dreams.
Here is a compilation of 100 questions that make you think and help you get started on the path to Wisdom:
Questions on Self-Reflection
Remember Wisdom favors those who seek it.Everything in your Life starts with you. Understanding your innate abilities, fears, desires, insecurities, and feelings is necessary to deal with them effectively. Introspect yourself and see where you stand.
1. How would you describe yourself?
2. Do you think your dreams are a reflection of something deeper within your mind?
3. How old do you feel?
4. What are the things that you do but don’t like doing?
5. What are the things you like to do but haven’t been doing?
6. How often do you zone out?
7. What are the things you are proud of?
8. What are the things that make you feel scared?
9. What makes you Happy?
10. Do you feel introverted or extroverted?
11. What are the things you are most thankful for?
12. Who are you most thankful for?
13. Who are the people you Trust?
14. What do you want to change in yourself?
15. What is that you like the most about yourself?
16. What one thing would you want a second chance with?
17. Do you Love yourself?
18. What is the ideal version of yourself you want to be?
19. What little things make you Happy?
20. Who do you enjoy being around with?
21. What do you fear the most?
22. What are the things you think you should let go of?
Questions on Behavior
Our habits, behavior patterns and how we communicate with others have a lot to say about our efficiency in any project we take up. Simple routine habits like the time you wake up every day are capable of impacting your productivity every day.
Getting an insight into your own behavior will help you understand why you feel what you feel, and how helpful or harmful it is to your growth and success.
23. How do you show your emotions — anger, sadness or happiness?
24. Which everyday routine you are better off without?
25. What do you do when you feel lost?
26. How do you celebrate your happiness and success?
27. How well do you communicate with others?
28. How well do you sleep?
29. Do you eat healthily and on time?
30. Does your work interfere with your personal life? How do you balance work and personal life?
31. How do you spend your leisure time?
32. What activities relax you?
33. What activities make you feel anxious?
34. What habits do you want to break and which ones do you want to cultivate?
Questions on Future Aspirations and Goals
Goals are like the lighthouses that guide one’s life. If they are vague and have no particular importance, you may keep wandering the sea of confusion and end up wondering what you did wrong.
Your goals need to be aligned with the long term big picture that you have for your life. Maybe if you start asking the right questions, you will get the answer to where you actually want to be.
35. What are your passions?
36. If you won the lottery today, how would you be in 5 years?
37. What work would you like to do if it’s not paid and there are no restrictions on time and resources?
38. What’s the best reality you wish for and how does it compare to your present?
39. What do you expect from your career? A promotion, raise, satisfaction or everything?
40. Are you on the job which aligns to your goals?
41. Which one event in your life has been the biggest so far?
42. What would you like to be the experience you want to share your mentees or children with?
43. How far do you think you are from achieving your big dreams?
44. What would you do if you had just a year left to live?
45. What advice would you give to your past–self 5 years ago?
46. And what do you think your future self would advise you?
47. What is the biggest priority in your life right now?
48. What is your biggest regret in your life?
49. How do you plan to deal with your regrets and successes? Do you stop trying or do you keep working for it?
How Balanced is Your Life?
Assess how balanced your life is with our Time/Life Self–Assessment and get a customized report for free.
You will find out your time management strengths, uncover hidden opportunities, and shape your life on your terms.
55. Do you have unfinished projects you have always wanted to be done?
56. How much help did you provide your loved ones in achieving their goals?
57. How many of your goals have you achieved?
58. Did you get to have the time resources you needed to complete your goals?
59. What are your immediate goals?
60. What do you need to get your goals completed?
61. Are your deadlines realistic and motivating?
62. What will be your reaction if you have accomplished a goal and vice versa?
63. What limitations are you facing in achieving your goals?
64. What steps are you taking to tackle these limitations?
Questions on Growth
Every experience, whether successful or not, teaches us something. It could be in the form of skills, knowledge, life lessons, relationships, and social interactions.
It is necessary to gauge your growth in both personal and career space in every experience you undertake so as to be aware of your capabilities and build your self–confidence.
You should also be aware of what works for you and what doesn’t when it comes to developing your skills.
65. What makes anything interesting to learn for you?
66. What are the things that you wish you are good at?
67. What actions do you regret the most?
68. What inaction or missed opportunity that you regret?
69. What do you usually say to yourself when you fail at something?
70. What experiences improved your self–confidence?
71. What do you think can improve your self–confidence?
72. How would you describe your last year in three words? And what would be the three words for your coming year?
73. What new skills did you learn last year?
74. What do you plan to learn in the coming days?
75. What are the mind blocks and difficulties that you overcame last year?
76. What are the things you wish to experience and learn about?
77. Which decision of yours turned out to be the best?
78. Which decision did not work out as you hoped? And why do you think that is?
79. What do you think you need to improve on?
80. What do you think you are really good at?
Questions on Beliefs
The way we shape our lives is very much dependent on our moral values and beliefs. One who believes honesty is paramount will not stoop low to cheat and lie to earn money.
Their meanings of success would differ from that of a con artist. The decisions you take in your life, the goals you set for yourself are all dependent on your belief system.
81. Do you believe in the concept of love at first sight?
82. What does doing good deeds mean to you?
83. What do you prefer — live to work or work to live?
84. What do you think makes life meaningful?
85. What do you think makes anything right or wrong?
86. What do you think is better — being the biggest fish in a small pond or a small fish in a big pond?
87. What do you think inspires you?
88. What are the most important things to you in life?
89. What are your values?
90. How do you prioritize your goals and desires in life?
91. Do you believe in networking and connections to learn from peers and mentors?
92. What beliefs are holding you back from progress and which ones are helping you?
Questions on Motivation
If you cannot find yourself enjoying what you do, chances are your motivation for that job is quite weak. But not all work is jolly even if it means it will get you to achieving your big dreams.
Finding a way to motivate yourself through all the grunt work required is crucial to achieving your goals. And that also requires some self-digging.
93. What does the present mean to you?
94. When do you feel the most motivated?
95. Which methods help your motivation?
96. What makes you discouraged in pursuing your desires?
97. What are the things you do that make you lose track of time?
98. Who has had a positive impact on your life?
99. Who demotivates you?
100. What opportunities are you looking out for? How prepared are you to take up if that opportunity arrives?
Remember, the Wise never stop asking questionsespecially to themselves. Once you have the answers, you can be rid of self–doubt and get to working your dreams to reality with conviction and undeterred commitment.
If you want to understand yourself more so as to start living the life you want, these articles can help you:
2024-25 Please check back regularly for any amendments that may occur.First Semester Sept. 3 – December 19 2024
Sept. 3 (TUESDAY) First Day of First Semester Oct. 14 (Monday) Columbus Day Holiday Nov. 25 – 29 Fall Break (and Thanksgiving) Dec. 19 Last Day of Fall Semester
Second Semester
Jan. 7 (TUESDAY) Second Semester Begins Jan. 20 (Monday) Dr. Martin L. King Holiday Feb. 17 (Monday) Presidents’ Day Holiday Mar. 17 – 21 Spring Break Holiday April 18 & 21 Good Friday and Easter Monday Holidays May 22 Last Day of Spring Semester
Lyrics/songs texts/paintings/articles
are property and copyright of their owners and provided for educational purposes.
Copyright Disclaimer – Section 107 – Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship,and research. Fair use is permitted by copyright statute.
Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of “fair use”.
In the still and quiet Morning of Life, when the Birds begin their singing, and the Night has ceased it’s Dreaming, Love can find new Meaning. . Prayer can set us free, to find our Calling.
Your Prayerful Thoughts will find God Listening. . As the Day for your new Journey begins, the Lord will set you Free to find you, who you will be.And you will be Homeward bound. . “Listen for God’s Voice in everything you do, everywhere you go.” – Proverbs 3:6 , God will set you Free to find your Calling, and return you to your Heart, and unchain you from uncertainty.
Profound Transformations occur by opening your Heart, and opening your mind to the Love and the Will of God. . By Living with an open mind and Heart, you invite Miracles into your Life. . Unexpected opportunities, profound Healing and Spiritual Awakening, are Born in the Belief of our Lord.
Expose yourself to the Powerful and Harmonious Love of God, by aligning with the Natural Order of His Cosmos, and tap into its Infinite Potential.
Set yourself Free to be, more than ever thought you could be.
Our Sacred Lord will do everything to help His Children be Happy. . Life has no barriers, to the Will of God. . No matter the circumstances, Life can be Beautiful.
Love and Peace can be our Future, no matter the Past. . Turn on the Light in your Heart, and let God Reign Evermore.
That which you seek, is seeking you. . Let go of how it will come to be, and focus on your Heart‘s Desires. . The Love of God that dwells within you, knows what to do.
Just Pray and let God Guide your way. . Everything that is needed for the fulfillment of your Dreams, will be Lovingly Made to be. . Be Grateful and be Guided by Divine Love, by Divinity.
Love our Mother Earth. . God Created all this Beauty to bring us Joy, and make us to hear as He Hears, and see as He sees, with Love. . Share your Beautiful Blessings with others. . The Magical combination of Prayer, Meditation, and Nature, relieves you from all stress. . There is a way for a Transformation through your Love, and the Love of God.
God Loves you and Cares for you. . One Day, you may awaken from your sleep, and realize that you lost the Moon, while counting the Stars.
Claim your Miracle of Abundance of Love, Health, Happiness, and Peace. . Pray for Guidance to fulfill your purpose in this Lifetime. . Be Grateful for every abundance in Life.
What is Truly astounding and Beautiful, is waiting for you. . Goodnight.
Amazing Personal Safety Tips That Will Change Your Life
I’ve been around enough bad guys that I can spot one in fewer than three seconds. That’s thanks to more than three decades of combined law enforcement, safety, and security work. Most people, however, are totally unprepared for the perils that can happen in an instant.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, a person becomes a victim of identity theft every five seconds. A home is burglarized every 18 seconds. And an aggravated assault takes place every 37 seconds. How many mass shootings and other tragedies will you witness on the nightly news before some sort of disaster strikes home for you? Would you know what to do in an emergency?
Your answer is why I wrotePrepared, Not Scared: Your Go-To Guide for Staying Safe in an Unsafe World. Think of this book as your bedside bodyguard. It’s packed with practical guidance that can save your life and your loved ones based on advice from world-class security experts and my own 30-plus years of on-the-streets experience as a bodyguard, private investigator, New York City cop, and personal security contributor for NBC’s Today show, ABC News, and Good Morning America.
I’ve provided executive security services for the king of Greece, the Rockefeller family, former First LadyJacqueline Kennedy Onassis and John Kennedy Jr., and Martha Stewart, and have been endorsed by such friends and professional colleagues as Sylvester Stallone, former New York City police commissioner Bill Bratton, Deborah Norville, Megyn Kelly, Rachel Ray, Dr. Mehmet Oz, and Inside Edition. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in all my years of protecting others, it’s that there’s no one better to protect yourself than you. You must recognize dangerous situations before they escalate, and react quickly and decisively when they do. Here are a handful of personal security tips everyone can use to stay safer in an increasingly dangerous world.
1
Carry a fake wallet.
Shutterstock
Whentraveling, avoid high–traffic, claustrophobic areas, which are breeding grounds for pickpockets. Or carry a bogus wallet with a few bucks inside. Keep your real wallet, cash, and I.D. hidden securely where someone can’t slip it out of your pocket.
2
Buy two air horns.
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Buy a pair of air horns ($25 each on Amazon):one for your home, and one for your neighbor. If either of you hear this air horn, you agree to call 9-1-1 and direct first responders to the other’s house. At 2:00 a.m., people are going to hear that piercing alarm and know something’s up. (The added benefit is that the noise could scare off a bad guy.)
3
Shred your junk mail.
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Your garbage is a reflection of you. Armed with your birth date, gender, and name, you’d be amazed at what an identity thief can do. Be sure to fully destroy any junk mail, family prescriptions, debit and credit card paperwork, bills, and investment statements before you trash them.
4
Turn off geo-locating on social media.
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Turn off location tagging on your social media apps. Do you really want everyone to know where you are, where you’ve been, and exactly where a photo was taken? Use a caption to describe what you’re seeing — and be vague. Revealing a region is likely more secure than, say, an exact street in San Diego.
5
Learn how to spot a liar.
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There will always be people out there attempting to deceive you. Watch for a person who is trying to convince rather than trying to convey. When you ask a deceitful person a question, he or she will usually add a lot of unnecessary information rather than giving you the only answer you’re asking for.
For example, let’s say you ask someone, “Did you take my car?” An honest answer would be a straight “no” right off the bat. Someone who’s hiding something would likely add info to be more convincing: “Hey, I’m an honest person. I don’t want to go to jail!” Persuasion is often an indication of deception.
6
Think like a burglar.
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To know how a burglar might approach your house, get inside their head. Walk around the outside of your home once or twice with the mind of home invader. Think: “If I’m a burglar, which windows look easy to break or climb through?” Then look through the windows. Can you see expensive items that might tempt a thief? If so, you’ve got some rearranging to do.
After doing your homework, make sure each of these windows has locks, and curtains or blinds that can be drawn when you’re not home.
7
Lock your second-floor windows.
Shutterstock
“Second-story men” refers to burglars who prefer to break into a home through a second-floor window because they know that most homeowners don’t tend to lock upstairs windows and doors. So, make sure you lock up the second floor access pointswhen you leave your house.
Also, lock any ladders you keep outside to prevent burglars from using them to break into your house.
8
Invest in a security bar for every sliding door.
Security bars ensure that sliding-glass doors can never be opened or jimmied without breaking the glass. They will thwart burglars and, in an attack scenario, buy you time to call for help. And they’re fairly inexpensive, too: This 20-gauge steel one, from Sabre, is just $20 on Amazon Prime.
9
Secure your garage door.
A closed garage door is about as difficult to breach as a flimsy screen door. Burglars love to pry open a garage door, or even open it (easily) using a factory-setting opener button they can buy online. So, always lock the door between your home and your garage.
10
Update your garage door code.
Change the code at random intervals — rather than once a quarter, like clockwork — and you’ll be unpredictable to anyone casing your house. Also, never leave the factory code as your password.
11
Fence in your pool.
According to theUnited States Consumer Product Safety Commission, roughly 150 kids under 15 years old drown in pools each summer. Be sure your pool is fenced in and locked whenever you are not there. And consider a second line of defense: a pool alarm that triggers a siren if someone falls in.
12
Create a “strong room.”
Choose one room — or even a closet— in your home and install interior locks to create a “strong room,” a safe haven to be used in the case of a home invasion. In a worst-case scenario that prevents you from exiting the home, you can retreat to this safe room, lock the door, and call the authorities. Buying time in a dangerous scenario is key. You’d be surprised what a difference even 30 to 60 seconds can make.
13
Create a “crisis package.”
Say there’s a medical emergency or someone in your family goes missing. In the case of these kind of emotional crises, would you know where to go to get critical information that would help? Create a “crisis package” for everyone in the family and keep them together in an easy-to-remember location. The package should include the following:
Recent photo
Fingerprints
Emergency contact information
Photocopy of passport
Pertinent information on any medical conditions, allergies, or immunizations
List of medications
A DNA sample (optional)
14
Designate a secret family “code phrase.”
If a family member is ever in trouble or afraid, saying a code word or phrase can tip others off to an emergency without alarming a kidnapper or someone of that ilk. Choose something normal-sounding, like “How is Aunt Jen feeling?” or “How was work today?” This is also useful for teens who may be at a party where they feel uncomfortable, or a where they drank too much. It means you’ll pick them up discreetly and come up with an excuse for suddenly being there.
15
Install at-home failsafes.
Install a working carbon monoxide detector, and multiple working smoke detectors—one or more on each level of your home. Then, educate yourself and your family on what to do in an emergency. Practice your plan every few months.
16
Draw a fire escape map.
If a fire broke out in your home, would you know how to get out of the house? What if that route was consumed by fire? The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) recommends that you create a home fire escape plan and identify two possible escape routes out of each room in your home, whether it be a window, a door, or simply moving to another room. The NFPA also offers templateson which you can draw a floor plan of your home and map out escape routes.
17
Order an EpiPen.
Often the difference between life and death is knowing what to do in an emergency and having the right tools on hand. Raja Flores, MD, is department chair of thoracic surgery at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. He recommends these three life-saving items, which you won’t find in a typical first-aid kit:
EpiPen. Epinephrine could save the life of someone by stopping or slowing a deadly allergic reaction, Flores says. “I would also have Benadryl in your home.”
Sublingual nitroglycerin. This is an extended release pill that you can put under someone’s tongue when they’re suffering from (or you suspect they could be experiencing) a heart attack. Ask your doctor if keeping sublingual nitroglycerin in your home is right for you.
Naloxone. The “anti-drug drug” is available as a nasal spray, an injectable, or an auto-injectable that will voice instructions to the user. While that might seem like an extreme precaution, remember how prevalent opioid addiction is and that it’s often hidden from loved ones. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, most pharmacies will sell naloxone to you without your having to obtain a prescription when you describe that you want it in case a family member, friend, or visitor is in danger of overdosing on heroin or even a prescription opioid.
18
Use hydrogen peroxide to pump a poisoned pet’s stomach.
Certain plants, household solutions, and even some foods can harm cats and dogs when ingested. For example, sugar-free gum containing Xylitol is toxic to dogs.The smaller your dog, the greater the risk.
If you believe your pet has ingested an object or a poison, you should try to induce vomiting. An easy, safe way to do that is by using hydrogen peroxide. On a smaller dog, use a teaspoon; for a larger dog, a tablespoon or two will do. Hold your pet’s head back and pour it into their mouth. Hydrogen peroxide foams in the stomach, makes a pet nauseous, and induces vomiting. Of course, you should also call your vet for further instructions.
19
Save the poison control hotline in your phone.
According to the American Association of Poison Control Centers, “90 percent of exposures reported to poison control centers occur in the home.” Save the toll-free hotline number (1-800-222-1222) in your mobile phone and share it with any babysitters or visitors. More thantwo million peoplecall the line every year.
20
Microchip your pets.
Knowledge is power and LIFE.
School Calendar
2023-24 Please check back regularly for any amendments that may occur. First Semester Sept. 5 – December 22 2023
Sept. 5 (TUESDAY) First Day of First Semester Oct. 9 (Monday) Columbus Day Holiday Nov. 20 – 24 Fall Break (and Thanksgiving) Dec. 22 Last Day of Fall Semester
Second Semester
Jan. 9 (TUESDAY) Second Semester Begins Jan. 15 (Monday) Dr. Martin L. King Holiday Feb. 2 (Friday) Trip to Civil War Museum Feb. 20 (Monday) Presidents’ Day Holiday Mar. 11 – 15 Spring Break Holiday March 29 & April1 Good Friday and Easter Monday Holidays May 24 Last Day of Spring Semester
Lyrics/songs texts/paintings/articles
are property and copyright of their owners and provided for educational purposes.
Copyright Disclaimer – Section 107 – Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship,and research. Fair use is permitted by copyright statute.
Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of “fair use”.
Search your Heart, search your Soul, and then, search no more. . When your destination is to find who you Truly are, and why you are, Pray and Meditate to restore Inner Harmony and Peace, and understanding.
As you Immerse yourself in the Wonder and Majesty of Life and Living, the soothing Beauty of our World will captivate your Heart and deliver you from doubt. . As we focus our mind and our Heart on what we desire, let us never forget the captivating and Beautiful World Gifted to us by our Lord.
The enchanting Forests, serene Beaches and picturesque Landscapes, the Majestic Mountains and Dreaming Desires of the Cherished Hope for Tomorrow, are far more than we can even imagine.
Such is the Love of God, that we can experience the Beauty of Being and the Warmth of His Love. . Let the Calming Ambiance of His Nature envelop you, and guide you on a Journey of mindfulness and self–discovery.
God will do for you what your Heart desires. . Ask our Sacred Lord to speak to your Heart. . Within, there is nothing to hide. He will Love you, as you are, as He Created you.
Love is Pure. And Love is what we are. . Only Love is the source of Happiness, the Sacred Purpose of Life. . Love brings all of us closer together.
Love is Eternal, Infinite, and Love is Truly what we desire. . Your Heart reveals all that is Beautiful in the World, and makes it more Beautiful. . God’s Love is the feeling of Eternal Love, Bliss and Happiness.
There are countless levels of Love for Life. The Love of God is Infinite.
Ask our Lord to Gift your Life and your Love to those in need, found all around.
There is no Love, Like your Love. . For so many in desperate need, there is nowhere – unless you are there. . It is True. Everything we do – we do for someone. Do it for the Love of others, and God will Love you.
The longing for Love, is grasping your Soul. It is so Beautiful, it cannot even be put it into words. . Love is Breathtaking.
Love brings Happiness, Hope, and strength.
Your Love can emerge stronger than you ever imagined. . Thank everyone for sharing their Love with you. And watch Love Blossom. .. Love captures all the senses, and touches the Soul.
My Dear Friends, Life is a simple and unique melody, which you yourself play on the instrument of Loving. . If you have struck a false note, think that there is not a single person who plays the Song of Life flawlessly.
.Your Compassion and your Expression of Love for others, is your Gateway to a World of captivating emotions, mesmerizing moments and sincere Gratitude for Life and Love.
.Transport yourself to a place of Tranquility and focus. . Curate a Beautiful blend of Melodious Melodies of Life and Living, by simply caring for and Loving others.
The Time you think of others, is NOT the Time spent worrying about yourself. . Join so many other Happy people, creating an atmosphere of Joyful Giving, that’s perfect for Loving and Living, and Loving Life. . Life can be a Masterpiece. There are no words that can describe how Wonderful it can be.
Be Grateful for the Beautiful Universe God Created for you. . Express your Gratitude, by Giving Everyone Love and Harmony in their brief and Sacred Lives.
My Dear Friends, you are never alone. . Become a constant companion of Compassion, as Billowing clouds of pleasant Dreams express delight in your every day and every night. . You are far more than you will ever imagine.
May Peace abide with you. . Goodnight.
Random Acts of Kindness for Helping Others Every Day
Performing a daily act of kindness is a wonderful way to help others. A kind action not only helps someone else but may also stimulate them to help another person in turn. As a result, a ripple of kindness may develop and spread through a population. The more often a person is kind, the more ripples they will be able to create, either directly or indirectly. The thought of kindness spreading through a population like a virus is awesome. . Social and political problems, natural disasters, and poverty are widespread in today’s world. Major undertakings, like volunteering to help aid agencies and donating to multiple charities, are important. . Some people don’t have the time or the money to participate in these activities, however. Others may feel overwhelmed by the enormity of the problems on this planet. They may think that unless they are helping in a major way, their aid is insignificant. This definitely isn’t true.Every little act of kindness can be meaningful for an individual who either needs or would like help.
If you like to bake, make a few extra muffins for a friend.
I follow many of the suggestions for being kind listed below. Some of the suggestions describe ways in which I have been helped myself. A few aren’t applicable to my life right now but may be one day.
Acting on just one idea from this list or from a list of your own creation can be very helpful for someone in need. Performing regular acts of kindness can be even more helpful. A kind act can be short and simple or time-consuming and more complex, depending on what’s possible at the time. Both types of kindness are very worthwhile, especially when performed frequently. Aiming to help others on a daily basis is a great goal.
If a neighbor or friend can’t walk their dog because they are injured or ill, volunteer to take the dog for a walk yourself.
1. If you subscribe to a newspaper or magazine, give an edition of the periodical to someone else to read when you’ve finished with it. Make a collection of reading material that you know interests a friend and give it to them once you’ve read the material.
2. Pick up free community newspapers and magazines that might interest someone who has trouble leaving their home and give the items to them.
3. Volunteer to get library books, magazines, or DVDs for someone with mobility problems and return the items to the library by the due date. It may be worth investigating whether your local library delivers and collects books for people who can’t leave their homes, as mine does.
4. If you have a bountiful crop of fruits or vegetables in your garden, distribute some of the produce to your neighbors or work colleagues.
5. If you bake items such as cookies or muffins or if you prepare canned food, give some to a neighbor or friend.
6. If you have young children’s clothing in good condition that your family has outgrown, offer it to a friend who needs it.
A charity donation bin near my home.
Linda Crampton
Help Friends, Relatives, and Acquaintances
7. If you have friends or relatives that you communicate with only once a year, such as at Christmas time, send them a letter, email them, or phone them at another time of year as well.
8. Give a friend or relative an occasional gift on a non–celebration day. This can be either a material item or a gift of service.
Recommended
Random Acts of Kindness: Ways to Pay It Forward
9. Buy or make a greeting card for a family member, friend, or acquaintance, even if it’s not a special day. Your card could express your love, friendship, or gratitude.
10. If a friend or relative has mobility problems, lives nearby, and has a dog, volunteer to take the dog for a walk (perhaps with your own dog).
11. Volunteer to mow a friend’s lawn if they are unable to do it themselves. In the fall, clear fallen leaves from their garden or from areas where people walk. In winter, volunteer to clear their driveway of snow.
12. If a good friend or a relative needs an item to complete a home or garden project and you have the item, consider lending it to them temporarily.
13. If you have your own vehicle and a friend or neighbor doesn’t, consider doing an occasional job for them that would be difficult or impossible to accomplish by public transport.
Some tact may be needed when performing the last two activities described above in order to avoid an equipment loan becoming permanent or a transportation job becoming too demanding or too frequent.
Help People at Home and at School
14. If your spouse, partner, housemate, or roommate traditionally does a household job such as making supper, occasionally volunteer to do their job (in addition to your own).
15. Surprise a family member or friend by washing their car.
16. Secretly add a loving or cheerful note to a spouse or child’s packed lunch container.
17. Make sure that you make time in your schedule to do at least one fun or interesting activity with your children or family each day.
18. If your children’s school is holding a bake sale for charity, make something that can be sold.
19. If an event such as a potluck meal is being held at school, contribute an interesting dish.
20. Contribute to charity fundraising events at your children’s school, such as bottle and penny drives.
If you’ve just bought a new electronic device and your old one still works, give it to someone who would like the device but can’t afford it.
21. Whenever you declutter your home, think about whether a charity could use the items that you no longer need.
22. If there are charity collection bins near your home, such as bins for donated clothing or toys, regularly deposit items that are in good condition but are no longer used. Making a donation on the first day of each month might be a suitable goal. If your children are old enough to understand what a donation is, let them decide whether or not to donate a toy that they don’t use.
23. If you have an electronic device that works but that you are discarding because you’re buying a new device, give the old device to someone who can’t afford to buy their own.
24. If you enjoy knitting, crocheting, or another craft, consider using your hobby to support charities in some way.
Help Others While Shopping
25. If you buy something at the supermarket that is on sale for a “two for one” price, give the second item to a friend or the food bank. (For those who aren’t familiar with the organization, a food bank is a facility that stores donated food and distributes it to those in need.)
26. Every time you do a major shopping trip to a supermarket, pick up one non–perishable item to give to the food bank. Deposit this item in the store’s food bank container if there is one, or save it at home and visit the facility when you have a collection of food.
27. When you buy your own groceries, also pick up groceries and other items for a friend or relative who has difficulty leaving their home.
28. Make a friendly comment to the store cashier or other staff member, especially if they seem harried or depressed.
29. Take other chances to help people in a store, such as by holding a door open, helping someone reach for an item (if you’re tall enough), and depositing change in a charity collection box.
Canned fish is a good source of protein to donate to the food bank. It’s nutritious food and stays fresh in a sealed can for a long time. Canned fish such as sardines is also inexpensive, at least where I live.
Donate Money While Shopping
30. Make a goal to put coins in every charity collection box that you see, even if the amount of money placed in a box is small.
31. If a charity is raising funds outside a supermarket or in a shopping center, consider making a donation as you pass by.
32. If children or teens are selling chocolate bars or other items to raise money for a good cause, buy one.You could donate the item to someone else if you don’t want it. You could also donate the purchase price without buying the item.
33. Leave money in the tip jar at a coffee shop (or in a blogger’s virtual tip jar) in appreciation for a job well done
34. If you are comfortable financially, when a supermarket cashier asks you if you want to make a donation to a specific charity by adding the donation to your grocery bill, consider saying “Yes”.
“Pay it Forward” refers to a situation in which someone does a good deed for you and in response you do a good deed for someone else. It’s a nice way to create a chain of kindness.
Help Others While You Are at Work
35. Occasionally, take a box of doughnuts, home-baked goods, or other treats to share with your co-workers on a normal workday (as well as on a celebration day).
36. If you leave work to buy lunch or special coffee, ask people staying in the office if they want anythingand volunteer to get it.
37. Try to say something pleasant or encouraging to every co-worker that you meet each day.
38. If you are in a position where you have to supervise other people and need to make a criticism or ask someone to change their behavior, try to make the criticism constructive and also try to give a compliment of some kind.
39. If it’s appropriate at your place of work, collect donations of items or money for a charity.
40. Consider participating in an event that is designed to raise money for charity, such as a walk or a run. Training and participating in the event will probably be a fun and healthy activity for you. In addition, you will be able to donate money to a charity by taking part in the event. If you feel awkward about asking individual co-workers to sponsor you, post the sponsor form on a noticeboard and perhaps announce its presence in a staff meeting.
Linda Crampton
Some More Ideas for Helping Others
41. Say hello to a person that you pass on the street or start a conversation with someone on public transit. (These actions may not be suitable for a daily act of kindness, however. Always be aware of your personal safety and of another person’s right to privacy if they don’t want to participate in a conversation.)
42. If you regularly see someone on the street who needs help, a daily greeting, a short conversation, or a food item of some kind may be appreciated. The food could be something simple such as a muffin that you’ve bought or made. It could be more elaborate if you wish. If you regularly take a packed lunch to work, for example, you could also create one for the person that you see.
43. Assuming you can afford it, pay for your friend’s coffee or meal as well as your own when you’re visiting a coffee shop or restaurant together.
44. Buy two cups of coffee or two treats that you like — one for yourself and one for someone else.
45. If you’re given money in exchange for depositing cans and bottles in a recycling depot, donate the money to someone else if you don’t need it yourself.
46. If a major disruption occurs in your neighborhood, such as a long power failure or a severe snowstorm, check on neighbors with mobility or health problems to see if they need any help.
Visiting a coffee shop could be a chance to help others.
47. Make a mental note (or, better, a physical one) when you encounter unexpected opportunities for kindness. For example, an annual 10K run/walk event in Vancouver holds a “Shoe Renu” program in conjunction with the event. Various shoes are donated, cleaned, and distributed to those needing them.
48. Do some research to discover organizations in your area that accept donated goods and use them to help others. You may be surprised at what types of items are accepted. Books, magazines, furniture, old cars, and used printer ink cartridges are accepted by various facilities and organizations, for example.
49. Investigate ways to use your computer activities to perform a daily act of kindness for people, animals, or the Earth. Some websites help a charity when a person does something on the site. The “something” might be searching the Internet via the website or watching certain videos, for example. You should investigate the details carefully before you use this method of helping others.
50. Let someone else have the parking spot that you were aiming for, assuming you aren’t facing an emergency.
51. Giving up a seat on a public transit vehicle to someone who needs it more than you can be greatly appreciated. Based on my observations, this action is not performed as often as it should be.
52. A range of organizations and facilities appreciate the actions of volunteers. Though some volunteer work may take longer than a simple act of kindness, it can be very valuable for the people in the facility.
Pets can be helped with acts of kindness, too. Consider donating food to animal shelters, volunteering to take dogs for a walk, or doing other jobs to help the shelter animals. If you’d like to perform an act of kindness for the Earth, look for group environmental projects in your area, such as the cleanup of trash. (Make sure that safety precautions are used in this situation).
A Wonderful Habit
Acts of kindness are beneficial for both the recipient and the donor. It often feels good to help others, as many volunteers know. Helping others on a daily basis or regularly performing a simple act of kindness such as a greeting or a friendly comment is a wonderful habit to form. Many other strategies for helping others exist besides the ones listed in this article. You probably have some great ideas of your own.
This content reflects the personal opinions of the author. It is accurate and true to the best of the author’s knowledge and should not be substituted for impartial fact or advice in legal, political, or personal matters.
Knitting for Charity: How to Use Your Craft Hobby to Help Others
Knitting is fun and can be a great way to help others. Knitted blankets, squares, teddy bears, and other items are appreciated by multiple charities.
Fundraising for Charity and Helping Others: Ideas for Schools
There are many ways in which school students can raise funds for charities and help others. I describe some methods, many of which my students have used.
Microplastics, Ocean Pollution, and Effects on Marine Life
Plastic pollution can be dangerous for marine life. Microplastic particles are tiny and abundant pieces of debris that may be harmful for animals and humans.
Plastic Waste in the Ocean and Possible Breakdown by Bacteria
We use a huge amount of plastic. Most of it takes a long time to degrade when it’s discarded and can harm marine life. Bacteria might help to solve this problem.
Cinderella Project for Grads and Free Clothing for Workers
The Cinderella Project provides grad outfits for disadvantaged teenagers. Dress for Success and Working Gear provide work clothes for people with a low income.
Earth Day Every Day: Simple Ways to Help the Earth Year-Round
Earth Day is merely a day to consider what to do for your planet—for the rest of the year it’s up to you to make that difference. Here are some year-round tips for helping the earth.
2023-24 Please check back regularly for any amendments that may occur. First Semester Sept. 5 – December 22 2023
Sept. 5 (TUESDAY) First Day of First Semester Oct. 9 (Monday) Columbus Day Holiday Nov. 20 – 24 Fall Break (and Thanksgiving) Dec. 22 Last Day of Fall Semester
Second Semester
Jan. 9 (TUESDAY) Second Semester Begins Jan. 15 (Monday) Dr. Martin L. King Holiday Feb. 2 (Friday) Trip to Civil War Museum Feb. 20 (Monday) Presidents’ Day Holiday Mar. 11 – 15 Spring Break Holiday March 29 & April1 Good Friday and Easter Monday Holidays May 24 Last Day of Spring Semester
Lyrics/songs texts/paintings/articles
are property and copyright of their owners and provided for educational purposes.
Copyright Disclaimer – Section 107 – Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship,and research. Fair use is permitted by copyright statute.
Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of “fair use”.
When Dark Clouds hide the Light of Day, let us Pray.
Upon the darkened nights of Day, the Flame of God’s Love, will Light your Way. . And by the Lantern of Love, Brightly Lit will be the Pathway to Salvation and Heaven Above. . Let your Heart in quiet rest be, Shrouded by the Veil of Love, that comforts so Peacefully.
Our Sacred Lord will guide us by His Light of His Word, to make Life more Loving and Bright than the rising Sun. . Your Prayers will Join you to the Beloved Heart of God, and Transform each night into a Day of Dreams, of Hope and Love.
“The Infinite Love that is the Architect of our Hearts has made our Hearts in such a way that nothing less than an Infinite union with Infinite Love will do. It’s the setup in the beginning. . . . That Infinite Love creates you as a capacity for Love, for Love’s sake alone. That Love is our destiny, Love is the fabric of the True Nature of everything that’s happening. “This is the Love Nature of Life.” – James Finley
Your Prayers will guide your Sacred Life, and God will Light the Way, to that which burns so deeply in your Heart. . The Fire of Love will shine more bright than the midday Sun.
Within the Beating Heart of every Sacred Child of God, beneath the shadows of all our Love, are Fortress Walls of God’s Love to shelter you from the winds of misfortune.
Look for the Beauty in Nature and be filled with awe. . This is your World, and God made it for you. . Nothing in Nature is a more Beautiful Creation that He has made, except you.
Our Journey upon this Sacred World, can awaken you from the Dream of Life. . We are not alone, not in the dark. . We have the Light, of the Lord our God, in our Heart.
Our Memories of being in Love with Life, and with each other, are Beautiful. .
Such Memories take us back to a Time when we allowed Love to rule over our Lives.
Such Love was Pure Love, Love that was found anytime and everywhere. . Such Love was given the chance to grow. Love is like a seed. . We nurture and take care of it, and it gives us everything we we need in Life, and everything we need in death.
. We are reminded again and again, of how Great our God is, and how Beautiful is His Love.
Love on this Earth, begins and ends with you, and with what you Believe. . You choose your way, and you can let it be the Way of Love. . Forgive yourself, and Forgive others. . Remember who you really are.
You are an amazing Gift. . You are a Precious and Sacred Gift to the World, because you are you. . And ONLY you, can be you. . Be True to yourself, and follow your Heart.
You are able to Create a new version of yourself, a far, far better version of what you are now, of what you think you are. . Embrace the Beautiful you, and be aware of your Sacred part in the Life of others.
Remove the shackles of doubt.
Remember who you really are. You are a Sacred Child of God. . Prayer will help you become aware, as you Create yourself in your mind, and in your Heart – the deeply Loved Self, that Lives in the Heart of your Heavenly Father.
The World is so Beautiful. And YOU are so Beautiful. . The World of Nature, is one with our Inner Self. . Your awareness of God’s Love will fill your Mind and overflow your Heart with Harmony and Peace.
Love is so simple, and is what we need. It is the Fruit of your Harvest. . It is the way of showing the inner Beauty of your Heart.
.And your Heart isTruly Beautiful. . Watch as the waves of the Ocean nourish and refresh the shores, and express God’s Love for all that is, or will be.
Feeling the wind playing with your hair, will give you feelings so real, of being a Real Human Being, and Living Life with Love, God’s Love. . God touches us in many ways. . Goodnight.
October 29, 2018
Can Eating More Organic Food Reduce Your Risk of Developing Cancer?
How to interpret a new study’s findings.
We’ve all heard about the benefits of eating organic food when it comes to a healthy diet. But can going organic actually help reduce our risk of developing cancer? A new study looked at 68,946 people and followed them for about five years to try to shed some light on this question.
The people were divided into three groups — those who never ate organic foods, those who ate them occasionally and those who ate organic most of the time.
A decrease in certain cancers for organic-food eaters?
Oncologist Dale Shepard, MD, PhD, did not take part in the research, but says the study did show a decreasein risk for certain cancers for those who ate more organic.
“What they found was that in patients who ate mostly organic foods, there were fewer cancers— specifically post-menopausalbreast cancer and lymphoma,” Dr. Shepard explains.
In addition to a reduction in post-menopausal breast cancers and lymphomas, researchers found that those who ate organic foods also had fewerprostate cancers, skin cancers and colorectal cancers.
Is it diet or overall healthy lifestyle?
Dr. Shepard points out that people who eat organic foods also have the tendency to eat healthier diets and exercise more, both of which are traits that have been associated withreduced cancer risk.
While it’s difficult to say at this point that eating organic is directly associated with a reduction in cancer risk, he says it’s always good to think of ways we can try to prevent cancers — whether it’s through more screening or improving our lifestyle habits.
Eating a heart-healthy diet, whether specifically organic or not, is beneficial for reducing our risk of all cancers, Dr. Shepard notes.
“In general, we know that healthier diets are better for you when it comes to cancer risk,” he says. “Any time people can incorporate more fruits and vegetables and minimize processed foods, the better.”
Dr. Shepard says while more research needs to be done to look at the role that organic food may play in cancer prevention, it’s important for people to focus on risk factors that are within their control. And eating a healthy diet is something everyone can do.
Type 2 diabetes isn’t inevitable with these dietary changes
Knowledge is power and LIFE.
School Calendar
2023-24 Please check back regularly for any amendments that may occur. First Semester Sept. 5 – December 22 2023
Sept. 5 (TUESDAY) First Day of First Semester Oct. 9 (Monday) Columbus Day Holiday Nov. 20 – 24 Fall Break (and Thanksgiving) Dec. 22 Last Day of Fall Semester
Second Semester
Jan. 9 (TUESDAY) Second Semester Begins Jan. 15 (Monday) Dr. Martin L. King Holiday Feb. 2 (Friday) Trip to Civil War Museum Feb. 20 (Monday) Presidents’ Day Holiday Mar. 11 – 15 Spring Break Holiday March 29 & April1 Good Friday and Easter Monday Holidays May 24 Last Day of Spring Semester
Lyrics/songs texts/paintings/articles
are property and copyright of their owners and provided for educational purposes.
Copyright Disclaimer – Section 107 – Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship,and research. Fair use is permitted by copyright statute.
Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of “fair use”.
We are all on a Journey. . And the pathway to Peace, Love, and Happiness in Life, may be found in the Love you give to others. . Miracles are very real. Miracles that Heal, Change and Transform the Hearts and Lives
of so many Beautiful People.
Learning to simply Let go of negative thoughts and emotions, will recharge the Light of Love in your precious Heart. . Your mind, body, Heart and Soul may be filled with Powerful Positive Energy that aligns you with the Innate Power of Love.
The Beauty of Nature can truly be inspiring and capture perfectly a Reflection of the Love of God. . . Awareness of His Beautiful Creations gives us a sense of Calm and Tranquility that makes them all the more mesmerizing.
Simply open your eyes and your Heart to see our Beautiful World and the Sacred Life on it. . My Dear Friend, you are on it. You are important to this World. You are a Precious and Beautiful Expression of Life.
Everything on Earth is temporary. And everything is changing. . But the Love of God, never changes. . And with His Love, you will come shinning so brightly, like the Beautiful Star that you are.
We each have a remarkable ability to create a Peaceful Sanctuary within the mind. . We have the power to choose, to consciously decide to allow ourselves to relax, unwind and find solace in the midst of Life’s chaos.
Simplicity and minimalism can have a profound impact on our emotional well–being. . In a World that moves at an ever increasing, and relentless pace, simply choosing to Love others,
as you Love yourself, becomes a refuge, a sanctuary where stress dissipates, and the mind finds serenity, and the Heart finds the Love it Truly needs.
Even though we aren’t the same as the rest of the animal species, thanks to superior intelligence and all, the alarming rates at which life on earth’s dissipating does pose an interesting question: just what do we need to survive?
Getting down to bare basics, it’s relatively easy to determine the artificial and natural resources essential for our survival. Thanks to extensive scientific research into this area, we have an extensive understanding of just how far the Human body can go with and without various resources.
Without further ado, let’s delve into the collection of resources necessary to sustain our everyday lives.
What Do We Need to Survive?
In extreme conditions and difficult times, the human body can, on average last:
These values may go up or down, depending on the presence or absence of one resource. For example, someone living in a comfortable environment and has access to resource types like clean water and air, but no food can last a month or even more.
All of this gives us a clear insight into the crucial role that certain resource types play in ensuring our good health and longevity of life on earth.
Even though a wide range of man–made and natural resources are necessary for sustenance, five things we simply cannot survive without are:
Air
Water
Shelter
Food
Sleep
To better understand the influence of these factors on our everyday lives, we’ll be analyzing each one of these variables subsequently.
Why Is Air Important to Our Survival?
The human body can’t sustain itself without air. As such, air is arguably the most important of all human needs.
However, more accurately, air isn’t what our body needs precisely. This is because air is composed of various elements like hydrogen, neon, and even greenhouse gas emissions like carbon dioxide.
The part of air that’s most important to our continued existence is oxygen and it constitutesabout 21% of air. The human body demands a constant supply of oxygen for it to function properly.
In the absence of oxygen, the brain enters a state known as cerebral hypoxia. Caused as a result of oxygen deprivation, if it isn’t reversed in as quickly as 5 minutes, blood pressure increases, and brain damage may occur.
If this condition lasts more than 15 minutes, the damage to the brain may become so severe that it’s irreversible and death ensues in most cases.
Why Is Water Important to Our Survival?
Water is one of the many natural resources indispensable to the health and well–being of the human body.70% of our body is made up of this nonrenewable resource. And, as we go by our everyday lives, we deplete the reserves of it we hold in our bodies. For this reason, we must replenish the water in our body and stay hydrated.
We can lose water through processes like breathing, sweating, and urinating, to mention a few. This lost water is recovered through the food and drinks that we consume.
When the dehydration process is halted and hydration balance can’t be maintained, the body responds almost immediately. This is because less water in our system results in a commensurate reduction in blood cells volume.
And, as the blood gets thicker, it starts to affect the heart rate and blood pressure. With the heart rate reduced, blood cells won’t be able to get to the lower extremities and the fingers and toes start to go numb from here.
The longer the dehydration process goes on, the more pronounced certain symptoms like thirst, dark urine, and headaches become. In the absence of this non-renewable resource, brain function becomes impairedas well and conditions like brain fog occur.
Brain fog presents itself in different ways and can compel people to feel weak, develop problems concentrating or experience bouts of anger and depression.
Why Is Food Important to Our Survival?
Considering how strongly the body craves starchy foods, sugary foods, and other edibles, the body can survive for long periods of time without this resource.
This is because the body can internally regulate metabolism and energy consumption from varied diet intakes.
Although the human body can last up to 40 days without this renewable resource, that doesn’t mean that the experience will be pleasant.
The body is able to function optimally without the intake of food like white bread or brown breads for up to 8 hours at a stretch. However, after this time frame, blood sugar level becomes depleted as glucose stores are used up.
For the next three days, your body will be able to convert its reserve of amino acids into needed energy. But, beyond this point, if food is still not provided, the human body will start making major changes to preserve its lean tissue.
How soon you get to this point is largely dependent on the type of diet you’re on. People with a balanced diet that contain low–GI foods with adequate cholesterol levels will have reserves that give their body more to work with.
However, if you have a varied diet that comprises starchy foods like white bread, brown breads, and other sugary foods, the effects of food deprivation may take its toll faster and more visibly.
Ultimately, even if you don’t maintain a balanced diet and are more partial to sugary foods, you can stave off the effects of starvation by taking in calories.
Why Is Shelter Important to Our Survival?
People who are well–fed and hydrated can die within only a few hours if they don’t have shelter in certain conditions.
Shelter is a necessary resource for protecting your body from the elements and ensuring that you maintain a constant body temperature. To that end, appropriate clothing and housing are important items on the list of what we need to survive.
The reason shelter is so important is that its presence or absence affects how rapidly the human body loses water. Unlike many members of the animal species, our bodies aren’t equippedto take on the elements directly.
As such, when exposed to extreme cold and windy conditions we quickly lose moisture. The same holds for the human body in hot-temperature areas.
We respond in several ways when unable to maintain a constant body temperature, depending on the cause of the imbalance. If the body can’t build up enough heat to ward off the cold, then hypothermia results. On the other hand, if the body can dissipate heat fast enough, heatstroke takes place.
In the former, the body becomes unable to control internal temperatures properly. In the latter, the central nervous system begins to collapse. The brain overheats and if not tended to, dies.
That being said, the body does have a complex and efficient temperature regulatory system. So, most times, all you need to do is make sure that you don’t expose it to intense stressors and it should be fine.
Why Is Sleep Important to Our Survival?
When we ask ourselves, what do we need to survive, sleep is one thing that not many people give much thought to. Yet, in terms of ensuring psychological well-being and survival, it is almost as important as air.
Severe and constant lack of sleep can lead to a host of health problems that negatively impact our everyday lives.
Lack of sleep for only 24 hours can result in splitting headaches. When this is extended to 72 hours, memory impairment begins to occur and individuals may start to enter a state of distorted reality.
Beyond this, cognitive functions become impaired, hallucinations enter the mix and there’s a marked inability to concentrate and perform even elementary tasks.
The minimum amount of sleep that a person needs to maintain optimal mind and body functionality will often vary throughout life, influenced by factors such as age and level of activity.
Why Is Self-Defense Important to Our Survival?
For all our evolution and advancement, the world can seem like a dog-eat-dog place sometimes. As such, even if you’re able to get all the previously-discussed needs, if you don’t add an element of self-defense to that mix, your survival isn’t assured.
So, it always helps to pick up self-defense skills and hone your instincts.
Conclusion
Answering the question, what do we need to survive can be a very complex affair. However, the fact that conscious thought is put into this effort helps us not just survive, but also thrive.
Do you want to learn how to be prepared in the face of any eventuality? Join our community, meet like-minded people and pick up life-saving skills (click) here.
Knowledge is power and LIFE.
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2023-24 Please check back regularly for any amendments that may occur. First Semester Sept. 5 – December 22 2023
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A Beautiful Sunset, Conceived by God, can be Loved by all and take you to the Sacred Door of Awareness. . The Sunlight glimmering off our Beautiful Memories of Blessed Moments, reminds us of the many Blessings Life bestows upon all Living Creations. . Every day you wake up, consider it a Blessing. It is better to live a Life filled with Gratitude, for the lack of it will lead to stress and depression.
We are all Beautiful, in the Eyes of God.
Inner Beauty is inside each of us. . We are all Beautiful in God’s Eyes, as we are Created in the Image of God. . “God created Humankind in His Own Image, in the Image of God He created them, male and female He created them.“ – Genesis 1:27
Life is amazing.
It is filled with sadness and Joy at the same time. The Bible weaves joy and sorrow together. It is Wonderful. . “Weeping may endure for a night, but JOY cometh in the morning.” – Psalm 30:5 . You can feel alone and yet connected to all things around you.
If you are going through pain for any reason, remember, Life’s Beautiful Color will return. . Just be still and look for the Light.
It is not Happy people who are Grateful. It is the Grateful people, who are Happy. . Gratitude reveals Abundance.
There is always the right person just waiting in God’s Loving Arms for you.
.
Cherish Life for the amazing Blessing that it is. . Yesterday, is History. Tomorrow, is a Mystery. Today, is a Gift.
Let us break down the Illusions which separate us. Let us Transform our Home, the Earth. . Let us stand together and save our future Generations. . Humanity can unfold for Goodness, with Kindness and Compassion and Love, for all others. . The Tree of Life is Sacred.
The Beauty of this Earth, is Truly Spiritual, a Prayer of Love for you and me, and every Living Creation that is or will ever be.
Close your eyes, feel the warmth of the Sun flooding through the very fiber of your Being.
Explore your moments of remembrance, the Beautiful things in your Life and magnify the memories. . Be Truly Grateful for every precious moment. . Take responsibility for your thoughts.
They are yours.
Give meaning to this moment. . You can pour wonderful emotion into the Gift of this moment. . Whatever you may Believe in, is Powerful and Sacred.
. Being alive Today, means you’re an amazing Soul who is in alignment with your Life purpose.
The Love of God is intended for our World. His Love exemplifies what Life should be, and will be. . The Love of God is a Gift to us all. . Nothing will touch the Heart as the Love of God does.
Cherish what you Believe in and who you are.
. Regardless of the challenges you are facing, God has given you the strength and courage to overcome them. . Tranquility and Serenity can abound in your Life. The Choice is yours.
Behavioral scientists have spent a lot of time studying what makes us happy (and what doesn’t). We know happiness can predict health and longevity, and happiness scales can be used to measure social progress and the success of public policies. But happiness isn’t something that just happens to you.Everyone has the power to make small changes in our behavior, our surroundings and our relationships that can help set us on course for a happier life.
Happiness often comes from within. Learn how to tame negative thoughts and approach every day with optimism.
Credit…Esther Aarts
Conquer Negative Thinking
All humans have a tendency to be a bit more like Eeyore than Tigger, to ruminate more on bad experiences than positive ones. It’s an evolutionary adaptation — over–learning from the dangerous or hurtful situations we encounter through life (bullying, trauma, betrayal) helps us avoid them in the future and react quickly in a crisis.
But that means you have to work a little harder to train your brain to conquer negative thoughts. Here’s how:
Don’t try to stop negative thoughts. Telling yourself “I have to stop thinking about this,” only makes you think about it more. Instead, own your worries. When you are in a negative cycle, acknowledge it. “I’m worrying about money.” “I’m obsessing about problems at work.”
Treat yourself like a friend. When you are feeling negative about yourself, ask yourself what advice would you give a friend who was down on herself. Now try to apply that advice to you.
Challenge your negative thoughts. Socratic questioning is the process of challenging and changingirrational thoughts. Studies showthat this method can reduce depression symptoms. The goal is to get you from a negative mindset (“I’m a failure.”) to a more positive one (“I’ve had a lot of successin my career. This is just one setback that doesn’t reflect on me. I can learn from it and be better.”) Here are some examples of questions you can ask yourselfto challenge negative thinking.
First, write down your negative thought, such as “I’m having problems at work and am questioning my abilities.”
Then ask yourself: “What is the evidence for this thought?”
“Am I basing this on facts? Or feelings?”
“Could I be misinterpreting the situation?”
“How might other people view the situation differently?
“How might I view this situation if it happened to someone else?”
The bottom line: Negative thinking happens to all of us, but if we recognize it and challenge that thinking, we are taking a big step toward a happier life.
Controlled Breathing
Science is just beginning to provide evidence that the benefits of this ancient practice are real. Studies have found, for example, that breathing practices can help reduce symptoms associated with anxiety, insomnia, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and attention deficit disorder. For centuries yogis have used breath control, or pranayama, to promote concentration and improve vitality. Buddha advocated breath–meditation as a way to reach enlightenment.
Writing about oneself and personal experiences — and then rewriting your story — can lead to behavioral changes and improve happiness. (We already know that expressive writing can improve mood disordersand help reduce symptoms among cancer patients, among other health benefits.)
Some research suggests that writing in a personal journal for 15 minutes a day can lead to a boost in overall happiness and well-being, in part because it allows us to express our emotions, be mindful of our circumstances and resolve inner conflicts. Or you can take the next step and focus on one particular challenge you face, and write and rewrite that story.
We all have a personal narrative that shapes our view of the world and ourselves. But sometimes our inner voice doesn’t get it right. By writing and then editing our own stories, we can change our perceptions of ourselves and identify obstacles that stand in the way of our personal well-being. The process is similar to Socratic questioning (referenced above). Here’s a writing exercise:
Write a brief story about your struggle.I’m having money problems. I am having a hard time making friends in a new city. I’m never going to find love. I’m fighting with my spouse.
Now write a new story from the viewpoint of a neutral observer, or with the kind of encouragement you’d give a friend.
Money is a challenge but you can take steps to get yourself into financial shape.
Everyone struggles in their first year in a new city. Give it some time. Join some groups.
Don’t focus on finding love. Focus on meeting new people and having fun. The rest will follow.
Couples argue. Here’s what your situation looks like to a neutral observer.
Numerous studies show that writing and rewriting your story can move you out of your negative mindset and into a more positive view of life. “The idea here is getting people to come to terms with who they are, where they want to go,” said James Pennebaker, a psychology professor at the University of Texas who has pioneered much of the research on expressive writing. “I think of expressive writing as a life course correction.”
Get Moving
When people get up and move, even a little, they tend to be happier than when they are still. A study that tracked the movementand moods of cellphone users found that people reported the most happiness if they had been moving in the past 15 minutes than when they had been sitting or lying down. Most of the time it wasn’t rigorous activity but just gentle walking that left them in a good mood. Of course, we don’t know if moving makes you happy or if happy people just move more, but we do know that more activity goes hand–in–hand with better health and greater happiness.
Practice Optimism
Optimism is part genetic, part learned. Even if you were born into a family of gloomy Guses, you can still find your inner ray of sunshine. Optimism doesn’t mean ignoring the reality of a dire situation. After a job loss, for instance, many people may feel defeated and think, “I’ll never recover from this.” An optimist would acknowledge the challenge in a more hopeful way, saying, “This is going to be difficult, but it’s a chance to rethink my life goals and find work that truly makes me happy.”
And thinking positive thoughts and surrounding yourself with positive people really does help.Optimism, like pessimism, can be infectious. So make a point to hang out with optimistic people.
Home
Where you live — the country, the town, your neighborhood and your home — all have an effect on your overall happiness.
Credit…Esther Aarts
Finding Your Happy Place
Imagine a ladder, with steps numbered from zero at the bottom to 10 at the top. The top of the ladder represents the best possible life for you and the bottom of the ladder represents the worst possible life for you. On which step of the ladder would you say you personally feel you stand at this time?
This so–called happiness ladder is famously used as a way to measure and compare happiness across the globe. The “World Happiness Report” ranks countries based on the subjective well-being and happiness of people who live there and their responses to the ladder test. Here are the 10 happiest countries on Earth:
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Countries you’d expect to be happy — those with strong economies and quality of life — are still pretty happy, even though many fell short of the top 10 and could improve policies to make their citizens even happier.The United States (6.892) is ranked 19.France (6.592) ranked 24. Japan (5.886) was 58.
The least happy places on Earth are not surprising. They tend to be countries that have experienced war, natural disasters and hardship: 152. Rwanda (3.334) 153. Tanzania (3.231) 154. Afghanistan (3.203) 155. Central African Republic (3.083) 156. South Sudan (2.853).
One thing we’ve learned from the happiness report is that there are six variables that explain differences in human happiness across countries:
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The research is intended for use at the public policy level, but there are lessons to learn at the personal level as well. Find a sustaining and satisfying job; do your best to live in a happy place; surround yourself with social support; take care of your health; and be generous (in spirit, time and money) in order to pave your own personal road to happiness.
Choosing a Happy Community
What factors make a community a place where people are happy? The Knight Foundation and Gallupinterviewed 43,000 people in 26 communities to find out.
Openness: People are happy when they live in a community that is welcoming to all.
Beauty: Living in a scenic, picturesque or charming community, with lots of trees and green space, makes people happier.
Social opportunities: When a community is designed to foster social connections — restaurants, community spaces, sidewalks, trails and other public spaces — people are happier.
The lesson is that where you live can have a profound effect on your happiness. If you don’t fit in, if you don’t know your neighbors, if walking outside doesn’t put a spring in your step — find a new place to live if you can afford it. Explore new neighborhoods, rent before you buy, talk to friends, talk to potential neighborhoods and relocate your way to a happier life. The key, says Jay Walljasper, author of“How to Design Our World for Happiness,” is to find a place where neighbors can encounter each other spontaneously. Look for neighborhoods with a green commons, sidewalks, parks, street festivals and community gatherings. If you’re in the city, choose an apartment with a shared backyard or a street known for its Halloween festival or a community newsletter. Look for signs that the people there are connected and create opportunities to connect with each other on a regular basis.
Spend Time in Nature
Numerous studies support the notion that spending time in nature is good for you. We know that walking on quiet, tree-lined paths can result in meaningful improvements to mental health, and even physical changes to the brain. Nature walkers have “quieter” brains: scans show less blood flow to the part of the brain associated with rumination. Some research shows that even looking at pictures of nature can improve your mood.
Sunlight also makes a difference. Seasonal affective disorder is real. Epidemiological studies estimate that its prevalence in the adult population ranges from 1.4 percent (Florida) to 9.7 percent (New Hampshire). Natural light exposure — by spending time outside or living in a space with natural light — is good for your mood.
Declutter (But Save What Makes You Happy)
Getting organized is unquestionably good for both mind and body — reducing risks for falls, helping eliminate germs and making it easier to find things like medicine and exercise gear.
Excessive clutter and disorganization are often symptoms of a bigger health problem. People who have suffered an emotional trauma or a brain injuryoften find housecleaning an insurmountable task. Attention deficit disorder, depression, chronic pain and grief can prevent people from getting organized or lead to a buildup of clutter. At its most extreme, chronic disorganization is called hoarding, a condition many experts believe is a mental illness in its own right, although psychiatrists have yet to formally recognize it. While hoarders are a minority, many psychologists and organization experts say the rest of us can learn from them. The spectrum from cleanliness to messiness includes large numbers of people who are chronically disorganized and suffering either emotionally, physically or socially.
The chronically-messy person can change through behavioral therapy or with guidance from numerous self-help books on the topic. The goal,says the happiness guru Gretchen Rubin, is to free yourself from the weight of meaningless clutter but still surround yourself with useful, beloved things, ranging from a child’s art work to your grandmother’s tea cup collection. Get rid of the rest.
Some tips from the self-help, de-cluttering movement:
Fold things neatly.
Keep only items that make you truly happy.
Throw away papers— all of them.
Put all your clothes in one pile on the bed, then start discarding, keeping only those you wear and love.
Organize your closet by color.
Pick one thing to preserve a memory. Sentimentality breeds clutter. If your grandmother had 10 collections, choose one item from each — or pick the one collection that triggers the best memories.
Stop buying tchotchkes on vacation. Take a picture.
Spend money on experiences, not things.
Take pictures of children’s school projects. Keep a few items from the year, and keep culling year after year.
The 1-Minute Rule
One of my favorite bits of happiness advice comes from Ms. Rubin, author of “Happiness at Home” and many other useful guides and articles on happiness and good habits. She proffers a one-minute rule that I have found incredibly useful in my own life. Here it is:
Do any task that can be finished in one minute.
This simple sage advice helps you decide what to tackle in a messy room. Do the one-minute tasks first. Here’s her list:
Hang up a coat.
Read a letter and toss it.
Fill in a form.
Answer an email.
Jot down a citation.
Pick up phone messages.
File a paper.
Put a dish in the dishwasher.
Put away the magazines.
If you do nothing else, incorporate the one-minute rule into your life.It will give you a short boost of happiness after you accomplish so much in a short time — and as a bonus, you will end up with a cleaner room, which will also make you happy.
Good Things Happen in the Bedroom
A lot of potential for happiness happens in the bedroom. It’s the place where we sleep, and retreat for quiet contemplation — all of which are activities that can improve happiness. As a result, many people who study and write about happiness encourage people to focus on life in the bedroom.
A “living well” index created by British researchers found that the two strongest indicators of wellness being were sleep.People who feel rested most of the time are happier than people who don’t.
So as you think about your living space and how it’s affecting your happiness, make the bedroom a high priority.
Turn your bedroom into a luxury hotel suite.Think of the feeling you get when you escape to a nice hotel on vacation. Capture that in your home every day.
Invest in comfort. Buy comfortable sheets, pillows and bedding and a quality mattress.
Don’t skimp on window treatments. Blocking out light will help you sleep better.
Remove the television. Bedrooms are havens for sleep, sex and contemplation, not screen time.
Make the bed.Ms. Rubin says that in talking to people about their own “Happiness Projects” and the small steps they take to be happier, she hears one remarkably consistent task — they make the bed. Making the bed starts your day off with a small accomplishment, and you can end your day returning to a neat, tidy welcoming retreat.
Relationships
We tend to be happier when we connect with other people.
Credit…Esther Aarts
Spend Time With Happy People
Studies consistently show that our own happiness is linked with the happiness of others. One of the ways we know this is from the Framingham Heart Study, a massive study started in 1948 that has tracked three generations of participants. The study was designed to identify risk factors for heart disease, resulting in reams of data on health, food, fitness habits, stress, family issues and happiness.
To measure happiness, the Framinghamstudy asked people how often they experienced certain feelings during the previous week.
I felt hopeful about the future.
I was happy.
I enjoyed life.
I felt that I was just as good as other people.
Yale scientistsdecided to mine the data to study happiness and social networks. The structure of the study allowed them to track changes in happiness over time. And because the scientists who designed the study wanted to keep track of people, they asked participants to identify their relatives, close friends, place of residence and place of work. The result was a complete picture of the participants’ social networks.
After parsing the data, the Yale researchers reached a number of conclusions about happiness:
People’s happiness depends on the happiness of others with whom they are connected.
Social networks have clusters of happy and unhappy people.
A person’s happiness extends to three degrees of separation — meaning that it can influence (and be influenced by) their friends, their friends’ friends, and the friends of people who are friends of their friends.
People who are surrounded by many happy people are more likely to become happy in the future.
Each additional happy friend increases your chance of happiness by about 9 percent.
Geography matters. Our happiness increases when we live close to happy friends and familymembers.
Cats and Dogs Make Us Happy
Psychologists conducted a series of experiments to determine the role that pets play in our happiness. They found thatpet owners were happier, healthier and better adjusted than were non-owners. Pet owners said they received as much support from their pets as they did family members. And people who were emotionally closer to the pets also tended to have deeper ties to the humans in their lives.
Dog owners who felt a strong connection to their pets were happier and healthier. And in one expressive writing exercise, writing about pets was just as effective as writing about a friend when it came to staving off feelings of rejection, according to the report published by the American Psychological Association.
You Can Be Happy Alone
Many people think of their marriages as a source of happiness. That’s great, but it doesn’t mean that if you’re not married that you won’t be happy.
In one study of 24,000 people in Germany over 15 years, researchers found that getting married only triggered a small bump in happiness, measured as one–tenth of a point on an 11 point scale. Of course, there were big variations among individuals. Some people were much happier after marriage; and sadly, some were much less happy after getting married. The bottom line was that if you are already a happy person, you will not gain much extra happiness from marriage, probably because you already have a rich social network. The extra companionship of marriage, while nice, doesn’t have a marked impact on your overall sense of happiness.
At the same time, if you lack a strong social network, you will get a bigger happiness benefit from partnering up. At the same time, a married person with a limited social network will suffer more after divorce or the death of a spouse. Here’s what we know about relationships and happiness:
Individual personality tends to influence overall happiness, married or not.
Happier people are more likely to get married.
Marriage triggers a short bump in happiness, but after two years, everyone settles back to pretty much the same level of happy they were before getting married.
The more isolated you are now, the bigger the happiness benefit you will get from getting married.
The lesson:Improving all of our social connectionsand relationships is good for overall happiness. But if you are not married, or don’t have a happy marriage, you can still improve your happiness by nurturing your friendships and social connections.
Work and Money
More money won’t necessarily make you happier, but finding meaningful work and a little extra time will.
Credit…Esther Aarts
Money Doesn’t Buy Happiness
We know you don’t believe us. So tell us, what do you think will make you happy? More money? A bigger house? A dream job?
Most of the time, what we think will make us happy actually won’t.Studies show that happiness doesn’t come from more money or more stuff. Even lottery winners are not any happier than those of us who never win anything.
Of course, truly poor people are happier with more money because they don’t have to worry about getting enough to eat, having a home or paying for medicine. But once people escape poverty and achieve a middle-class or slightly higher lifestyle, more money does not result in significantly more happiness.
The constant quest for the things we don’t have is called the hedonic treadmill. It means that when we get what we want (money, job, love, house) we may get a burst of happiness, but we quickly settle back to our previous level of happiness and then start thinking about the next thing that will make us happy.
Find Purpose at Work
We like to complain about work, but it plays an important role in our happiness. Work, even the most mundane work, helps us feed our families, put roofs over our heads and connect with other people.
Ideally, we will find work that has meaning to us. But not everybody can quit their day job and pursue charity work or join Teach for America.As a result, it’s important that we find ways to find meaning in our day–to–day work.
Studies show that we get satisfaction from all kinds of work — not just our dream job.Yale researchers studied custodians who worked in a hospital. Far from seeing the drudgery of their jobs, the janitors had unofficially broadened the definition of hospital custodial work. Many of them viewed their work as including providing comfort to patients, helping families find their way around the hospital and providing a clean, pleasant environment for doctors and nurses to do their work and for patients to heal.
Even people who do telephone solicitation — viewed by many as the bottom of the career ladder — can find satisfaction in work.Wharton professor Adam Grant arranged for a student to talk about the difference his scholarship made to his life. After the talk, the phone solicitors hired to raise money for the school’s scholarship fund raised almost double the money as they had before. The work and pay hadn’t changed, but their sense of purpose had.
In a column about Why You Hate Work, Christine Porath, a Georgetown associate professor, and Tony Schwartz, chief executive of a consulting firm called The Energy Project, found that the jobs that make us happiest are those that include four characteristics:renewal, value, focus and purpose.
Renewal: Employees who take a break every 90 minutes report a 30 percent higher level of focus than those who take no breaks or just one during the day. They also report a nearly 50 percent greater capacity to think creatively and a 46 percent higher level of health and well-being. The more hours people work beyond 40 — and the more continuously they work — the worse they feel, and the less engaged they become. By contrast, feeling encouraged by one’s supervisor to take breaks increases by nearly 100 percent people’s likelihood to stay with any given company, and also doubles their sense of health and well-being.
Value:Feeling cared for by one’s supervisor has a more significant impact on people’s sense of trust and safety than any other behavior by a leader. Employees who say they have more supportive supervisors are 1.3 times as likely to stay with the organization and are 67 percent more engaged.
Focus: Only 20 percent of respondents said they were able to focus on one task at a time at work, but those who could were 50 percent more engaged. Similarly, only one-third of respondents said they were able to effectively prioritize their tasks, but those who did were 1.6 times better able to focus on one thing at a time.
Purpose: Employees who derive meaning and significance from their work were more than three times as likely to stay with their organizations — the highest single impact of any variable in our survey. These employees also reported 1.7 times higher job satisfaction and they were 1.4 times more engaged at work.
Buying Time Promotes Happiness
When you are deciding how to spend your money, consider buying some more time.Harvard researchers found that spending money on convenience items and time-saving services help can lower stress and make us happier.
In two surveys of more than 6,000 people in the United States, Canada, Denmark and the Netherlands, the researchers found that when people spent money to save time, (such as ordering takeout food, taking a cab, hiring household help or paying someone to run an errand) they were happier than those who didn’t.
Now it’s possible that people who can afford time–saving help are happier to begin with. But in another experiment, Canadians were given $80 over two weekends and told to spend it on material items or time–saving purchases. The time-savers had less time–related stress and a bigger increase in well–being.
But even very wealthy people can sometimes feel reluctant and guilty about the indulgence of spending money on maids, messengers and other helpers. But do it anyway if you can afford it.Giving yourself the gift of more time, if you can afford it, is a quick and convenient way to a happier life.
Happy Life
Being kind to others is a proven path toward happiness. And don’t forget to be kind to yourself as well.
Esther AartsCredit…Esther Aarts
Be Generous
Generosity makes people happier.As we noted earlier, generosity is one of the six variables found to consistently influence happiness in the World Happiness Report. And several studies have found that people who behaved generously were happier compared to people who made selfish decisions. In fact, just thinking about being generous and kind triggers a happiness reaction in our brains.
In a series of experimentsin New Zealand, 50 people were promised 25 Swiss francs every week for four weeks (That’s about $25 a week in United States dollars). Half of the people were told to spend the money on themselves. The other half was instructed to spend the money on someone they knew.
The groups went through a series of exercises making decisions about how much money to give away in various scenarios. While the study subjects were making these decisions, the scientists were measuring brain activity in the parts of the brain where generosity, happiness and decision-making are processed.
The researchers found that simply promising to be generous activated neural changes related to happiness. And the more generous people were happier overall than those who behaved more selfishly. The lesson is obvious: If you’re feeling blue, be generous with your money, your time and your resources. You will be glad you did.
Related Guide
How to Make a Plan for Giving
Most of us want to give. But then we’re faced with the predicament of figuring out the details. This guide helps you come up with answers to all those questions and set a plan for giving that works for you.
A University of Exeter studyfound that volunteering is essentially a prescription for happiness that can prolong your life and make your years on earth better in many ways. After reviewing 40 studies on volunteerism, the researchers found that volunteering was associated with less depression, more life satisfaction and greater well being. In five large studies of volunteerism, volunteers had a 22 percent lower mortality rate during the study period.
Of course, it’s possible that happier people are simply more likely to volunteer. But overall, the evidence supports a strong link between giving and happiness, and that includes giving your time to others.
Give Yourself a Break
Do you treat yourself as well as you treat your friends and family?
That simple question is the basis for a burgeoningnew area of psychological researchcalled self–compassion — how kindly people view themselves. People who find it easy to be supportive and understanding to others, it turns out, often score surprisingly low on self–compassion tests, berating themselves for perceived failures like being overweight or not exercising.
But it’s time to give yourself a break and work on self compassion. People who score high on tests of self-compassion have less depression and anxiety, and tend to be happier and more optimistic.
Kristin Neff, a University of Texas psychologist, is the author of“Self-Compassion: The Proven Power of Being Kind to Yourself.”Dr. Neff has developed a self-compassion scale to help people measure their own levels of compassion for themselves. Take this mini–test to see if you are hard on yourself or more likely to give yourself a break. Use a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being “less likely to feel that way” and 5 being “very likely to feel that way.”
I’m disapproving and judgmental about my own flaws and inadequacies.
When I’m feeling down I tend to obsess and fixate on everything that’s wrong.
When I fail at something important to me I become consumed by feelings of inadequacy.
When times are really difficult, I tend to be tough on myself.
When I see aspects of myself that I don’t like, I get down on myself.
When things are going badly for me, I see the difficulties as part of life that everyone goes through.
When something upsets me I try to keep my emotions in balance.
When something painful happens I try to take a balanced view of the situation.
When I fail at something important to me I try to keep things in perspective.
I’m tolerant of my own flaws and inadequacies.
It’s pretty obvious that if you score high on the first five questions and low on the rest, you are pretty tough on yourself. If your higher scores were in questions six to 10, then you are doing a pretty good job of practicing self compassion.
For those low on the self–compassion scale, Dr. Neff suggests a set of exercises — like writing yourself a letter of support, just as you might to a friend you are concerned about. Listing your best and worst traits, reminding yourself that nobody is perfect and thinking of steps you might take to help you feel better about yourself are also recommended.
Other exercises include meditation and “compassion breaks,” which involve repeating mantras like “I’m going to be kind to myself in this moment.”
Dr. Neff reminds us that it takes practice to be nice to yourself.
“The problem is that it’s hard to unlearn habits of a lifetime,” she said. “People have to actively and consciously develop the habit of self-compassion.”
Tara Parker-Pope is a columnist covering health, behavior and relationships. She is the founding editor of Well, The Times’s award-winning consumer health site.More about Tara Parker-Pope
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Life is Beautiful.
Knowledge is power and LIFE.
School Calendar
2023-24 Please check back regularly for any amendments that may occur. First Semester Sept. 5 – December 22 2023
Sept. 5 (TUESDAY) First Day of First Semester Oct. 9 (Monday) Columbus Day Holiday Nov. 20 – 24 Fall Break (and Thanksgiving) Dec. 22 Last Day of Fall Semester
Second Semester
Jan. 9 (TUESDAY) Second Semester Begins Jan. 15 (Monday) Dr. Martin L. King Holiday Feb. 20 (Monday) Presidents’ Day Holiday Mar. 11 – 15 Spring Break Holiday March 29 & April1 Good Friday and Easter Monday Holidays May 24 Last Day of Spring Semester
Lyrics/songs texts/paintings/articles
are property and copyright of their owners and provided for educational purposes.
Copyright Disclaimer – Section 107 – Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship,and research. Fair use is permitted by copyright statute.
Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of “fair use”.
When darkness has come, Believe and you will find your way.
You arenot alone. . You are a Cherry Blossom that will someday burst with the Brightest Colors.
To relieve stress after a hard day, Pray. Listen to relaxing Music. . These will reduce stress hormones in your precious body.
The following is from Peggy Sarlin, a singer, songwriter and brain health advocate. Her new album is “Let There Be Love” and her documentary series “Awakening from Alzheimer’s” has garnered over 3,000,000 views. . Her new online event, “Regain Your Brain,” shares additional advancements, interviews and promising information for families dealing with Alzheimer’s. Click here to read more.
Scientists at the Yale Stress Center found that people with high levels of cumulative stresslose grey matter, shrinking their brain volume in key regions. . The scientists noted that shrunken brains are less able to process information and control emotions and impulses. . And Swedish researchers who tracked 1,415 women over 35 years concluded that high stressraises dementia risk by an astonishing 65 percent.
Since Life is stressful, it’s good to know that Prayercan help. MRI brain scans have shed light on the scientific underpinning of Prayer’s power. . When people Pray, the regions of the brain dealing with self–reflection and self–soothinglight up, while the regions linked to taking action are quieted.Prayer also stimulates the release of “Happy Hormones”like oxytocin that inspire feelings of trust and belonging.
“Prayer is one of the greatest stress reduction techniques,” said Dr. Pamela Wartian Smith, the founder and Medical Director of the Center for Personalized Medicine in Grosse Point, Michigan. . “Prayer helps you let go and let God — whatever religion you may be.”
While private Prayers offer calm and comfort, Prayers in a Faith community bring huge additional benefits. People who pray together forge strong bonds that help them navigate the storms of Life. . .Numerous studies have found that loneliness is a killer and that people who regularly attend Religious Services are more optimistic, enjoy better health and Live longer.
Music also helps the body fight the symptoms of prolonged stress. Music helps you feel calmer and Happier. . Music has no barriers. So Join the melodic journey to find Inner Peace.
It’s so wonderful to know that God works in and through us in the affairs of our Lives.
When dark shadows fall before us, and our paths are shaded and shallow, the Light of God’s Love will show us the way.
When our pride says there is no other way, Believe, and what seems forever lost, will come into your Life, and be here to stay. . When the dark night seems endless, God’s Love will become the Light of Day.
Please remember, from the Fountain of Forgiveness, the fragile Heart can find the way. .Love will lift our mortal veil of tears, and Hope, will rise above our fears, and open our eyes to see the Love in every Heart. . Goodnight.
The Universal Solution To Every Problem Already Exists
Explore leadership and entrepreneurship as the shapers of our world.
Light bulbgetty
The above title makes a big claim.The claim is true. But before laying out the arguments to support it, I need to set forth a concept of reality that, albeit a bit abstract, is logical, well-supported, and instrumental in understanding the idea of a universal solution. Please bear with me for a moment. This definition is no longer than a few sentences. Here we go:
Reality
Reality is, by design, the aggregate result of everything that happens, which is always subject to the laws of causality (i.e., action, reaction, and traction) within time and space. This makes reality a collection of agents (i.e., entities that take action) and phenomena (i.e., the actions themselves and their intended and unintended consequences). These agents and phenomena are interconnected because they affect each other. They are also dynamic because they change throughout time. And finally, they are cyclical because — in the absence of perfect learning — agents tend to repeat some of their actions, “good” and “bad,” sooner or later. Phew! I promise this definition is almost over. So, since real problems can only occur within the parameters of reality, we can unequivocally conclude that real problems are also interconnected, dynamic, and cyclical. And guess what; so are their solutions. Knowing this holds the key to solving every problem, at least in theory. And this is no small matter.
Ok, the abstract definition of reality is over. What I hope comes across clearly is that reality is complex, and understanding how it works is critical to solving problems and achieving our goals. . Many of humanity’s most brilliant minds have provided explanations of how reality works, including Einstein, Nietzsche, Freud, Jung, Ortega y Gasset, Jay W. Forrester, Edgar Morin,etc. One thing we can conclude from their work is that any approach based on systems thinking yields the best results. This is because reality is best modeled as a system.
Systems Thinking
Systems thinking is the capacity to break down reality into its fundamental components and describe the patterns of interaction among them. This is how we unveil reality’sinterconnectedness, dynamism, and cyclicality, allowing for a balanced understanding of the whole and its comprising parts. This is crucial for the solution to any problem.
Many brilliant minds have applied systems thinking, formally and informally, for millennia. In doing so, they have solved important problems, and equally significant, they have discovered the existence of universal patternsin the way reality unfolds. From physics to economics, from biology to philosophy, from engineering to psychology, these patterns hold true for most, if not all, systems. . However, in the world of academia, these patterns are often articulated in field-specific jargon, using words like entropy, feedback, dynamic equilibrium, control mechanism, individuation, etc.This creates a hurdle for the general public to access, understand, and use these universal patterns to solve their problems and achieve their goals.
Fortunately, someone took it upon himself to translate these patterns into everyday language while preserving their enlightening qualities. This person is Peter Senge, and his “translation” — as I call it — is the 11 Laws of Systems Thinking, presented in his 1990 book The Fifth Discipline.
Senge’s 11 Laws of Systems Thinking are a crystal –clear roadmap to describe how reality works, how problems arise and stick, and how people fail and succeed at solving them. By looking at a problem through the lens of the 11 Laws, it becomes almost impossible not to find a suitable solution. Plus, by keeping them in mind as mantras, we develop good observational skills, good judgment, a sense of opportunity, and a whole array of other skills that are critical to solving problems and attaining success. This is why I call the 11 Laws the universal solution to every problem.
The 11 Laws of Systems Thinking
Below are Senge’s 11 Laws of Systems Thinkingwith a brief explanation based on my experience as an entrepreneur, consultant, and researcher. I suggest that you read the 11 headings first in one sweep, and then dive in on those that seem more interesting to you. Hopefully, you will end up delving into all of them.
1) Today’s problems come from yesterday’s “solutions.”
Today’s problems are always the result of past decisions, which, in turn, usually stem from trying to solve a previous problem. For example, today’s industrial food production helps feed millions who otherwise would go hungry. However, the use of preservatives, colorants, and nitrates in industrial food production poses unprecedented health hazards. This illustrates the fact that, since most solutions are not definitive, the key to continued success by solving future problems lies in our ability to reframe reality and change our behavior on a regular basis.
2) The harder you push, the harder the system pushes back.
Implementing long-lasting, significant change takes a lot of effort. This is because it always hinges on the people involved modifying their worldview. This requires inspiration and convincing rather than “pushing.” When someone recommends or imposes change on the way we do things without helping us understand and willfully accept the need thereof, most of us respond with resistance. Only when the necessary explanations and incentives are providedwill we be open to changing our ways. This process most often takes time, so patience, commitment, and humilitymust be part of the equation.
3) Behavior will grow better before it grows worse.
In most cases, people create new problems unknowingly. This means that while we may be performing well at whatever we do, we may also be sowing the seeds of future problems unknowingly. So, when such spoiled seeds come to fruition, we are faced with an unexpected problem that seems to come out of thin air and contradict how well things were previously going.
(Laws #4, #5, and #6 are different takes on the difference between simplicity and simplism).
4) The easy way out usually leads back in.
Simplicity is very different from simplism. The former is the way of the expert, while the latter is the way of the incompetent. Simplicity results from conquering and resolving complexity, while simplism results from ignoring it or rejecting it. Therefore, simplicity leads to success, while simplism most often leads to failure.
5) The cure can be worse than the disease.
By being anxious and simplistic,we will most likely make decisions that will worsen the problem at hand. By implementing the wrong solutions today, tomorrow’s problems may dwarf those of today. This is a throwback to Law #1.
6) Faster is slower.
Simplism is the illusion of achieving simplicity without the proper understanding and hard work. So, by being simplistic, we believe we are moving forward faster when, in reality, we are just delaying the solution indefinitely.
7) Cause and effect are not closely related in time and space.
Most complex problems find their roots way back in the past and in some unsuspected part of the system. This makes it difficult to discover them. For example, a recurring migraine may find its cause in bad postural habits going on for years. Political instability in a given country may find its roots in slow, silent indoctrination that started decades ago. Whether we are dealing with a human body or the whole world, internal components affect each other across time and space in dynamic ways, making complexity the law of the land.Detailed observation and analysis are required to understand it properly.
8) Small changes can produce big results, but the areas of highest leverage are often the least obvious.
The same way a lever helps us move a heavy object, leverage helps us solve a complex problem. From a systemic point of view, leverage is the ability of just a few variables to produce a widespread impact within a system of many more variables. Such few variables are called leverage factors and, when understood and activated correctly, they can produce big results. For example, in some cases, one single change in someone’s posture may improve their digestion and rid them of migraines. Posture, in this case, would be a leverage factor. At any rate, the higher the complexity of the problem at hand, the deeper the leverage factors are buried underneath superficial patterns that may be very misleading.
9) You can have your cake and eat it too but not all at once.
You can put your cake in the fridge and save it for later. Yet, if you eat your cake now, it will no longer be in the fridge for a later feast. This is a perfect analogy for the use of money, time, and effort. If you purchase a car, the money you spent on it will no longer be available for investment in other initiatives. If you spend time on solving one problem, that same time cannot be used to solve another problem. The moral of this law is, of course, to think and act strategically — to prioritize.
10) Dividing an elephant in half does not produce two small elephants.
Fragmenting a big problem into smaller, more manageable ones is the first step in solving it. However, we need to consider how the solution to one of the small problems will affect the solution to all the others. We must not forget that small problems are always interconnected in ways that define big problems.
11) There is no blame.
If you realize there is a problem and refuse to participate in its solution, you will become an accomplice to the problem from that point forward—even if you did not cause it initially. If, in addition to refusing to participate in the solution, you choose to blame others as the ideal excuse not to get involved, the situation will certainly worsen. Further, if everyone chooses to behave in the same way, the problem will become chronic and cause systemic failure. The key to breaking this vicious cycle is to take responsibility for solving the problem, even if you did not cause it. This is the path of no blame. Yet this should never become a go–to excuse for those who cause problems to politic their way into making mistakes shamelessly while expecting others to pay for them.
Application
All we need to add to the 11 Laws is integrity and courage. We need integrity in order to embrace the diagnosis of the problem honestly; and courage to implement the newfound solution, which always requires some degree of rethinkingwhat we thought was correct.
Whenever we find ourselves stuck in a problem with no visible solution, it helps to ask ourselves which of the 11 Laws we are ignoring or willfully trying to break. The answer will bring a great deal of simplicity to what seemed unintelligible, helping us come up with at least one suitable solution. That is why I call the 11 Laws of Systems Thinking the universal solution to every problem.
I am an entrepreneur, author, and designer with more than 20 years of experience consulting on
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Life is Beautiful.
Knowledge is power and LIFE.
School Calendar
2023-24 Please check back regularly for any amendments that may occur. First Semester Sept. 5 – December 22 2023
Sept. 5 (TUESDAY) First Day of First Semester Oct. 9 (Monday) Columbus Day Holiday Nov. 20 – 24 Fall Break (and Thanksgiving) Dec. 22 Last Day of Fall Semester
Second Semester
Jan. 9 (TUESDAY) Second Semester Begins Jan. 15 (Monday) Dr. Martin L. King Holiday Feb. 20 (Monday) Presidents’ Day Holiday Mar. 11 – 15 Spring Break Holiday March 29 & April1 Good Friday and Easter Monday Holidays May 24 Last Day of Spring Semester
Lyrics/songs texts/paintings/articles
are property and copyright of their owners and provided for educational purposes.
Copyright Disclaimer – Section 107 – Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship,and research. Fair use is permitted by copyright statute.
Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of “fair use”.
We Truly wish that we could travel back in Time. And, we can.
Our desires to return to the past bloom in the fertile soil of Hope.
Beautiful Music brings back the sweet memories.
The feelings and emotions that our memories invoke are indescribable. . The way we look at Life, can make Life Magical. Our emotions resonate through Time.
Our longing to return to moments of the past, travels straight to the Heart.
My Dear Friends, Forgiveness sets us free. It frees you to be you, and me to be me.
Let us Embrace the Transformative Power of Love. . Each Moment of Love, becomes an integral part of our Sacred Journey towards the Heart of God..
Our Love ignites the flames of desire within. . So, spread the Wings of your Precious Love for Everyone, and soar above the clouds of doubt.
Your Love for Everyone, Everywhere, will fulfill your deepest desires. . Embrace those in need and watch your Dreams take flight.
The Message – that we can go on with Life, share our Joy, and God Willing, find Happiness again.
Our World is Beautiful and Mesmerizing, filling Life with Sweet Melodies. . Life can feel like a Dream, as it sways to the rhythm of Nature. . Yes, there is something Magical about Life and Living, and Loving.
Open your Heart and just enjoy the Moment. . Let the Beauty of God’s World take you away from all your worries and problems, and into a place of Peace and Serenity.
The Love of Life, is a captivating experience that no words can ever describe.
Goodnight.
Something later, becomes NEVER. . Do it NOW.
Dedicated to our Dear Friend, Robert Brown. We Love You.
Some people refer to berries, fatty fish, walnuts, and other foods as cancer–fighting foods. No single food protects people against cancer, but some foods contain nutrients that may help reduce the risk as part of a balanced diet.
Consuming a varied diet that includes the items mentioned below may help keep a person healthy and reduce their risk of cancer.
It is worth noting that polyphenols, resveratrol, vitamin C, and other nutrients are present in many plant-based foods, so this list is not exclusive.
This article looks at some foods that may lower the risk of cancer. It also explains the science that supports these claims.
Apples
There may be some truth to the saying, “anapple a day keeps the doctor away.” Apples contain polyphenols that have promising anticancer properties.
A2021 reviewTrusted Source highlights research that suggests bilberries and lingonberries may inhibit tumor formation and cancer growth in digestive tract cancers.
According to a 2018 reviewTrusted Source, berries may modify the immune system to help delay cancer development. They may also aid cancer immune therapies, although more research is necessary to understand this potential.
Cruciferous vegetables also contain sulforaphane, a plant compound with potential anticancer properties.
One studyTrusted Sourceshows that sulforaphane significantly inhibits cancer cell growth and stimulates cell death incolon cancercells.
Otherresearch shows that sulforaphane, in combination with genistein — a compound in soybeans— can significantly inhibit breast cancer tumor development and size. Sulforaphane also inhibits histone deacetylase, an enzyme with links to cancer development.
One review suggests 3–5 servingsTrusted Sourceof cruciferous vegetables per week may have cancer-preventive effects.
Carrots
Carrots contain several essential nutrients, including vitamin K, vitamin A, and antioxidants.Carrots also contain high amounts of beta-carotene, which is responsible for the distinct orange color.
ResearchTrusted Sourcefrom a Danish cohort study examined the intake of carrots on certain cancer development in 55,756 participants.
The results suggested that raw carrot consumptionmay reduce the risk of colorectal cancer by 17%. They also suggested raw carrots may protect against:
However, a 2020 review and meta-analysisTrusted Source states that some studies into cancer risk and fish oil supplementation provide weak associations, suggesting further research may be necessary.
According to the American Institute for Cancer Research, all nuts appear to have cancer-preventing properties, but scientists have studied walnuts more than other types.
Walnuts contain a substance called pedunculagin, which the body metabolizes into urolithins. Urolithins are compounds that bind to estrogen receptors and may playTrusted Source a role in preventing breast cancer.
Researchers tested tumor tissue samples removed during surgery and compared them with the original biopsy results. They found signs that genetic changes had taken place, which could suggest the suppression of cancerous cell growth.
Legumes, such as beans, peas, and lentils, are high in fiber, which may help lower the risk of some types of cancer.
For example, one studyTrusted Source examined the relationship between the intake of bean fiber and the risk of breast cancer.
The study results indicated that people with diets high in bean fiber were 20% less likely to develop breastcancer than those who did not meet their daily fiber intake.
Resveratrol, an antioxidant in red grape skins, has shown promiseTrusted Source as a tool for fighting cancer. Some scientists believe that, with further research, it could become part of cancer therapy.
As well as resveratrol, grapes and grape seedsalso containTrusted Sourcethe following nutrients, which have antioxidant and potentially cancer-fighting properties:
Research in a 2020 reviewTrusted Source associates the consumption of whole grains with a 6–12% lower risk of cancer. Some site–specific cancers that whole grains may reduce the risk of include:
Dark chocolate contains polyphenols, flavonoids, and antioxidants, which, according to a 2022 reviewTrusted Source, may have a preventive effect against cancer.
Research in another 2022 reviewTrusted Sourceand meta-analysis found that people who ate more chocolate had a 12% lower risk of death from cancer.
Olive oil consumption may lowerTrusted Sourcesomeone’s risk of developing any cancer. Specific types of cancer it may help to prevent include the following:
gastrointestinal
breast
urinary tract
upper aerodigestive
A 2022 studyTrusted Sourceon olive oil consumption among 1,567 adults in Spain suggests that two or more tablespoons of olive oil per day offers the maximum benefits, lowering the risk of cardiovascular, all-cause, and cancer mortality.
Supplements and medications
Supplements can also provide nutrients and antioxidants that may help prevent cancer by reducing oxidative stress, such asTrusted Sourcevitamin C, vitamin D, and vitamin E.
Most of the plant-based compounds in this article, such as phloretin, anthocyanin, and sulforaphane, come in pill form.
Always speak with a healthcare professional before starting a new medication or supplement regimen.
Frequently asked questions
Here are some frequently asked questions about cancer-fighting foods.
What is the number one cancer-fighting food?
There is no single food that can fight cancer. However, consuming certain foods can provide the body with the nutrients it needs to help reduce the risk of cancer. These include apples, berries, cruciferous vegetables, carrots, fatty fish, and more.
How do you starve cancer cells naturally?
According toCancer Research UK, some early studies, mostly in animals, have suggested that some cancer cells do not use ketones for energy. This would mean that consuming a diet that is low in carbohydrates and high in fat can help to starve cancer cells by lowering glucose levels.
However, more research into this is necessary. It is best to contact a doctor for advice before making any significant dietary changes.
What is the best mushroom to fight cancer?
In Japan and China, medicinal mushrooms have been approved for the treatment of cancer alongside standard therapies. There are more than 100 typesTrusted Source of mushrooms for the treatment of cancer in Asia. Examples include reishi, turkey tail, shiitake, and maitake mushrooms. However, more research is necessary, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not yet approved any medicinal mushrooms for the treatment of cancer in the United States.
Summary
Research into preventing cancer through diet is still in the early stages and requires further testing.
However, it is important to remember that eating a balanced diet containing fresh fruits, vegetables, and good fats will benefit overall health.
People can speak with a healthcare professional if they are concerned about their cancer risk.
Learn more
How can diet reduce the risk of the following cancer types?
2023-24 Please check back regularly for any amendments that may occur. First Semester Sept. 5 – December 22 2023
Sept. 5 (TUESDAY) First Day of First Semester Oct. 9 (Monday) Columbus Day Holiday Nov. 20 – 24 Fall Break (and Thanksgiving) Dec. 22 Last Day of Fall Semester
Second Semester
Jan. 9 (TUESDAY) Second Semester Begins Jan. 15 (Monday) Dr. Martin L. King Holiday Feb. 20 (Monday) Presidents’ Day Holiday Mar. 11 – 15 Spring Break Holiday March 29 & April1 Good Friday and Easter Monday Holidays May 24 Last Day of Spring Semester
Lyrics/songs texts/paintings/articles
are property and copyright of their owners and provided for educational purposes.
Copyright Disclaimer – Section 107 – Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship,and research. Fair use is permitted by copyright statute.
Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of “fair use”.
The Love of God is like a Gentle River of Tranquility, that washes away the turbulent currents of anxiety. . You can experience the Soothing Power of His Love. . His Powerful Love will create a Peaceful Sanctuary within the Heart and mind.
Prayer will provide a seamless blend of calm and serene moments, that serve as a therapeutic escape, allowing you to unwind anxiety and find solace in the midst of Life’s chaos.
Prayer gently wraps the Heart and gives it Pure Peace, allowing us to fall into stability and Beauty.
Let Tranquility and Serenity flow into your Life, like a gentle stream.
You are Truly Unique. . You can overcome any obstacle. . And you are never alone. You are deeply Loved by God.
Life, in many ways, is like a Dream. . Heartaches can be removed from your memory upon awaking.
Everything in Life – every blade of grass, the wind, every tree, leaf, flowers, and stones, every molecule of water, every Human Being, everything, Radiates God’s Love throughout the Earth, from Heaven above. . His Love penetrates our Being and everything around us.
Love is hauntingly Beautiful, and gives us moments that cannot be forgotten. . Love will forever epitomize what can happen, when Forgiveness Blossoms like Flowers in Spring.
The Love in your Heart is absolutely Beautiful. . It perfectly captures the essence of Life and Living. . The Melodies of Moments in Love, are simply the most Beautiful of Creation.
What is so Heartbreaking, is to know that the lessons of Life may never be learned by all of us.
The Love of God will Truly resonate with the Human Heart. . As we ask questions about the madness of war, and feel deep sadness and tears, let us remember, our Sacred Purpose is to Love one another.
It Penetrates the Soul with Hope and Love, to know of the Dawn when the new Day arrives, and there will no longer be evil, when LOVE will overcome ALL.
Do all you can to Truly Love everyone, and invite the Spirit of our Precious Lord through your Prayers to always be with us.
Your Soul will be filled to overflowing with God’s Love.
Let Love, like a River, attendeth your way. . And all will be well, well with your Soul.
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Let’s talk about your success.
How would you rate your success in life up to this point? What does the term “success” look like to you in your future?
How Do You Define Success?
There are many different ways in which people define this loose term. To some, being successful means earning a lot of money. To others, it may describe overcoming a fear. And still, to others, it means simply achieving Happiness in Life.
But no matter how you define true success for yourself, the principles of how to be successful in Life remain the same.
The one thing that everyone’s definition of “success” has in common is achieving a goal of some sort. On the surface, this seems simple. But when you see people you view as very successful, do you ever wonder how they got there?
I remember being in graduate school, looking up to people who were well beyond my years who were making a huge impact in our industry. Those whose names were commonplace both in the classroom and out in the field. But I wondered what steps they had taken to get from where I was sitting to where they ended up and how I could follow that same path.
Sure, it took hard work for thesepeople to become successful, plus probably a good bit of networking and maybe a little luck, but what are some principles or guidelines on how to be successful in life that people don’t consider quite so often? What are some of the not so obvious guidelines for achieving this elusive goal of success?
There are many definitions of the word “success,” but no matter how you define success for yourself, the principles of how to be successful in Life remain the same.
This post will explore how to be successful in Life in ways that you may not have considered before.
Let’s get started.
How to Be Successful in Life: 12 Principles
1. Stop Handling Yourself with Kid Gloves
It is only your actions that will bring you results. However, when your actions fail to generate your desired results, you may decide to be gentle with yourself, take a break, and not pressure yourself too hard. Instead of pushing forward, you wait around for better timing or for the right opportunity to come along – all while driving yourself into a state of stagnancy.
While working in moderation is okay, andself-careis important, you have to maintain the drive needed to get yourself to wherever you want to go. This means that you have to get out there – even when you don’t feel like it – and challenge yourself.
Do something that will help you progress, despite your potential fears. Address the fears that are holding you back. Is facing and overcoming your fear worth the potential reward? Is it worth it to make this fear a stopping point to your success?
.Do you fear success? . Focus on the excitement that comes along with uncertainty – that boost of adrenaline that chases complacency away and invites an opportunity for you to learn and grow.
For example, let’s say you pitched an idea to a new client, and it was a flop. Take some time after the meeting to recollect yourself and then move on to the next client. Don’t go home and binge-watch tv and reconsider your entire career because you think you failed. Get up, get over it, and move on.
Want to build a success-focused morning routine? Well, watch this video to learn about the 12 morning routine habits of the world’s most successful people.
2. Experiment
Start makingsmall changes in the same permanent conditions in which you’ve always lived. If you start by changing yourself and developing good habits, then everything in your life can begin to change – and often, the thing you need to change about yourself is your perspective. And the important thing to note here is that there can be a subtle difference between success and failure. Your path to success may be blocked by a few small judgment errors that you repeat daily.
You may think to yourself, “I took the elevator instead of the stairs again today, and it still hasn’t impacted me, so it’s fine.” However, this mindset and error in judgment will lead to the eventual development of chronic diseases down the road. These small mistakes will cost you in the end.
Now let’s look at someone who experimented with small changes that lead to career success, perhaps the top sales rep at a company or a real estate agent who is in high demand. These people may have implemented some small changes to their routine such as writing personal thank you notes to their clients or following up several months later to ensure their client is still satisfied. These small decisions can add up and make a huge difference.
The only thing that this kind of career success requires is discipline, which is essential foradvancement. You have the unique ability to influence change in your life. You just have to make a conscious effort to engage in actions that can compound and succeed in the long run. And the truth is, you need to put in some work every day for years before you become successful in life.
You won’t find your ultimate success in an ad you see online for a three-day conference or a new “proprietary blend” supplement that promises to melt fat away. If these things worked, everyone would be successful.
Finding success doesn’t come at a single magical moment when everything simply falls into place. It’s more about the smaller (and sometimes seemingly insignificant) moments that happen in between. It’s in the moments when you’re happy, and you’re soaking in your surroundings because you feel a sense of gratitude for your life.
And the fact of the matter is that these moments can happen even if you are currently in a career or situation far from your ultimate long term goal. Without taking these baby steps to achieve success, you can’t be sure if what you’re chasing is something you truly want or something you just think you want.
3. Look at Your Challenges Objectively
We tend to perceive our challenges in an instant by projecting our fears and experiences onto that challenge. This frequently results in errors in judgment that lead us to respond to the obstacle in a non-constructive way, even though we all know that assumptions and preconceived notions are often wrong. This tendency leads to overreactions and apprehension.
However, it is possible to increase your objectivity when faced with a hurdle. Looking at your challenges objectively means seeing and accepting them as they are and responding to them thoughtfully and intentionally without projecting your fears or past experiences onto the current situation.
When you approach your challenges with a solutions-focused mindset, it activates your brain’s creative process of examining alternative courses of action instead of staying trapped in false beliefs about why things can’t change, ultimately leading you to an even greater accomplishment.
Write down an obstacle you’re facing on paper and put your negative feelings about it aside. With the emotion connected to the roadblock out of the way, you can view the challenge objectively. You can look at what you’ve done right and wrong and create an action plan.
Pick a challenge that is holding you back and draw a line down the middle of a piece of paper. On one side, write down the problem that is associated with the challenge. On the other side, write possible solutions. To come up with possible solutions, ask yourself a few questions:
What are my assumptions? What past experiences have I had that are influencing these assumptions? How can I address this differently?
What research can I do to discover how other people have overcome this challenge in the past?
Is there anyone I know that I can talk to about this? Who can I turn to if my research falls flat?
Doing this will help you cope more effectively with the challenges you face, reducing the number of roadblocks that keep you from achieving success. You cannot allow your success to be blocked by external forces because there is always a way to bypass any issue you face – and the issue is most often a mental barrier that only you can control.
4. Seek Out Mentors
While you may think you can gain all of the knowledge that you need in books, the truth is, most authors don’t reveal everything about their experiences or struggles in the books that they write. Instead, making a personal connection with someone can boost your self-confidence and reassure you.
Find people who are already “successful” in your mind, no matter what that looks like to you. If you think being successful means finding life-long love, do some research on the habits of the happiest couples who have been together for decades. If you want to start your own business, find some successful entrepreneurs whose businesses have taken off from where they started.
Having a mentor or a role model will give you a personal guide to achieving the greatness that you desire. When you learn through other people’s experiences, you can learn from their mistakes and their success stories. Many people that the world views as being successful today started with a mentor. In fact, one study found that 80% of CEOs report that they had a mentor before achieving their success.
However, don’t confuse having a mentor with having a boss. A mentor isn’t there to pick up your slack or give you so much feedback that they are essentially doing the work themselves. Essentially, they give useful and constructive criticism so you can help yourself.
The important thing about your success is that you’re creating it in the unique way you want to. Having your mentor make decisions for you means you are giving up the freedom of creating your journey.
While you do want to hear about someone else’s mistakes who have already been in your shoes, you won’t learn from them in the same way you will learn from your mistakes. You want to completely own your wins and losses, so get inspiration from your mentors and consider their advice, but remember that your life and choices ultimately need to be made on your own terms.
5. Be Optimistic
Don’t surrender yourself to the negative energy that comes your way each day. You will consistently witness greed, anger, hatred, arrogance, and many other forms of negativity. But negativity only generates more negativity, and if you live with this detrimental attitude, you will attract people who whine, complain, and have a defeatist attitude.
Choose to be optimistic by practicing gratitude, patience, humility, and kindness. Of course, you can’t expect yourself to be happy and positive during every moment of every day, but when you are faced with the choice of having one attitude over another, choose to look on the bright side as much as you can.
Having a positive attitude is a choice, and the more you feed into that positivity, the more optimistic you will naturally become.
6. Check-In With Yourself Regularly
To increase your chances of success in life, you need to consistently monitor, evaluate, and adjust your approach, methods, and work to avoid complacency and continue to meet your greater standards. You also need to check in with yourself to ensure that you’re still passionate about what you’re doing and all of the work you are putting forth will ultimately be worth the time you have spent.
One of the best ways to stay motivated and keep yourself accountable is to write down the specific tasks involved in demonstrating exceptional work that will guide you toward your definition of success. Then, write down what a complacent execution of work would look like.
Finally, describe the actions steps you plan to take to stay away from the lesser of the two habits. Check in with this list regularly to see where your work falls in this range. (Keeping a journal, like many successful and famous people do, is also a good way of checking in with yourself regularly.)
Having power over your direction in life means that you have to set your own standards for performance that lie somewhere on the spectrumbetween complacency and perfection.
7. Act Now
One thing that often separates successful people from unsuccessful people is simply taking action. Those who achieve success may not be smarter than those who don’t, but they make a plan and stick to it. As soon as they feel motivation or a strong emotion toward something, they take immediate action.
The Law of Diminishing Intent is what happens when you wait to take action. This concept suggests that the longer you wait to act after feeling a strong urge to do something, the more your intention will diminish and the less likely you will ever do something to make your intended progress.
This means that to be successful in life, you have to act on the motivation or inspiration when the idea is clear and powerful. No matter how small your first steps may be, turn that emotion into disciplined efforts.
The value that you get from that first action will inspire you to continue onto the next, and the next, and so on. So take some sort of action on your plans right way, because if your plan is worthy, the results will be extraordinary.
If you want success, planning is good… but action matters more. Do something to move you closer to your goals… now!
People often set goals and have dreams for things in their lives, but their goals are never realized because they fail to take action to work for what they want. Rather, people put things off until tomorrow, and then the next day, and then nothing ever ends up getting accomplished. The important thing is to take the necessary steps today.
There is a difference between taking a break and avoiding doing work. You will easily experience burnout if you do not take the necessary healthy breaks to rejuvenate your mind. Learn how to recognize the signs of mental fatigue and take the time to rest and recuperate.
You can allow your mind and body to rest by scheduling breaks into your calendar, just as you do with meetings. Make these breaks a priority and treat them as firm appointments.
You can do anything you want during these breaks, as long as they take your mind off your goal. This can be anything from going for a short walk in the middle of the day to going on a week’s vacation. Just as long as you don’t spend every waking hour solely concentrating on the success that you crave.
9. Learn How to Brainstorm
I’m sure you’ve heard this term a lot, but do you know what it really means? One of the guidelines for how to be successful in life involves letting your brain go–whether that is by yourself or in collaboration with others. This means you release all of your hang-ups and objections, take an idea, and run with it. Don’t plan out your train of thought or its final destination; just think freely.
Brainstorming is done to generate ideas, engage in creative problem solving, and learn through inquiry. When brainstorming is used for problem-solving in a team environment, it incorporates team members’ diverse experiences to increase the depth of the ideas being explored, meaning you can typically come up with better solutions to problems than when you’re thinking on your own.
If you’re having a brainstorming session with a group, you have to let go of your ego or fear of saying something completely unrealistic. Your outlandish thought could trigger someone else to morph it into an effective idea. This collective thought process will allow you to develop your ideas through a diverse range of thought processes.
However, for a brainstorming session to be effective in a group setting, everyone has to be comfortable enough with each other to be willing to share–otherwise, someone may be holding back on saying just the thing that will actually solve the problem.
Group brainstorming is great for generating ideas that may not arise during a normal problem-solving conversation. However, studies have suggested that doing your brainstorming solo may result in more and even better ideas than when you’re working with a group.
If you’re brainstorming alone, you simply have to get your brain to think outside of your normal routine by considering ideas without taking their practicality into account. By thinking without boundaries, you may come up with a solution that initially seems completely unreasonable; however, the process lets you open up your range of thought, which can eventually lead to the right solution.
This can be done more effectively individually than in a group setting because groups can often be distracting when people don’t follow a brainstorming protocol of behavior. Also, if you’re paying all of your attention to others in the group, you may not generate your own ideas.
To leverage your individual brainstorming, make sure to find a place where distractions are minimal, and you can focus. Brainstorming sessions can truly spark success in your life because it is during these times when you may have a “lightbulb moment” that improves your entire method of working.
After your brainstorming session, whether it is with a group or by yourself, you will be left with a lot of ideas to sort through. Pick the best ones and analyze them to see if they can be integrated somehow. If you can’t find a purpose for all of your ideas at that moment,write them down for later use.(To learn more about this concept,check out these six rules you should use for each brainstorming session.)
10. Stop Seeking Validation
If you want to know how to be successful in life, you’re not going to find it if you rely on everyone around you to approve your work and ideas. When it comes to your success, do it your way. If you feel like you’re on the right track, you don’t need other people to validate that for you.
Simply ask yourself if you are living the life that you want. If you believe that you are, it means you’re achieving success. If you decide that you’re not living the life you want, figure out what changes you need to make and implement them.
However, don’t let other people who may have their own biases impact your thinking. While people may think they know what the best thing is for you, you’re the only one who actually does. You need to trust yourself, and you will recognize that you know exactly what you’re doing.
You have probably heard the suggestion that you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with. If you surround yourself with successful people, you will also become successful. People don’t succeed on their own; they need supporters, partners, and other people who inspire them.
The key to picking the people you spend the most time with is to ensure you choose those who are exponentially superior to you in several ways. If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re losing out on the opportunity to challenge and improve yourself.
As you find yourself in new stages of your journey to success, your 5 main people may come and go. For example, the people with whom you spend the most time during the inception of your vision of success will probably evolve along the way as their roles change and you make new contacts.
You are the sum of the 5 people you spend the most time with. So if you want success, surround yourself with successful people who achieve great things.
Your lifelong friendships will always be there for you, but you simply need to focus your relevant time suitably when it comes to achieving success. If there are people that you know who can help teach you, inspire you, or help you improve, make it a point to spend time with them.
Alternatively, if there are people in your life who do not share your values, are negative, self-absorbed, or detrimental to your success in some way, gracefully cut them out.
12. Improve 1% Every Day***
I put stars next to the title for this one to highlight the importance. Daily incremental improvements are the most powerful tools for success.
If you want to know how to be successful in life, you have to realize that you must take on the role of being a life-long learner. You won’t achieve success overnight. You have to take consistent action, test various ideas, fail, get back up, and slowly see your growth. Just like in finances, the power of compounding your own growth is an unstoppable force.
But how do you define 1%?
Well, you don’t. But this really just refers to improving yourself just a bit every day. While it is hard to measure, think of it this way: if you improve 1% every day, this adds up to be a 3800% improvement in one year. Alternatively, if you become 1% worse every day, your value will decrease by 97% in that year.
Maintaining this growth mindset allows you to take every opportunity to be a better employee, student, spouse, parent, doctor, writer, or whatever. Success never happens in one day. But if you continue to improve yourself every day, you will be successful.
Let’s look at an example. You want to be successful by completing a marathon. Here is what most people would do (and how it breaks down):
Start training by running 10 miles a week
Increase that to 12 miles a week about a month later
Life happens and interrupts training
They start to go for a run “whenever they have time”
Eventually, running dips to nothing as it stops being a “habit”
Now, let’s look at what a successful marathoner would do:
Run at least a mile every day for one week
Increase that to 1.5 miles the following week
Even when life interrupts, get a minimum of 1.5 miles running in daily. (running is a priority, not an afterthought)
As soon as ability enables an increase to 2 miles a day.
Keep increasing mileage weekly until you can easily do 10K a day. Then start mixing up training (still increasing distances) in preparation for a specific marathon.
The important part of these is that the “normal” view is trying to make running an “addition” to a routine. The second (successful) plan views this as an essential habit to the daily routine. No different than showering in the morning and brushing your teeth. Something you do when up, down, depressed, angry or busy.
While it may be easier to just do what is needed to get by, if you take advantage of every opportunity that can create extraordinary returns and boost the quality of your work, you will find that success is in reach.
You don’t need earth – shattering improvements.1% every day will reach any success goal in the long run.
The Importance of Success
Many obsess about success and what it takes to become successful. If we don’t succeed in our lives, we may find ourselves looking to the past with utter disappointment regarding everything we could have accomplished but didn’t.
Personal growth and our success depend on what we believe our greater purpose is and how that will impact ourselves and others. So, what is the importance of success?
Success makes us more confident and secure. It provides us with a greater sense of well-being and allows us to contribute on a higher level. It allows us to understand hope and leadership. Without success, our goals, dreams, and passions may not survive.
The Value of Positive Thinking for Success
When learning how to become successful in life, we also have to consider the benefits of positive thinking. Positive thinking has been shown to lower depression rates, distress, and pain. It improves our overall mental health and physical well-being. We need to continue to strive for success in our lives.
Dispel negative emotions, and don’t become frustrated when you don’t experience overnight success. As Richard Branson has said, “I know I’m fortunate to live an extraordinary life, and that most people would assume my business success, and the wealth that comes with it, have brought me happiness. But they haven’t; in fact, it’s the reverse. I am successful, wealthy, and connected because I am happy.”
When we maintain a positive outlook on things, we can be happier, healthier, and more successful. Whether you are looking for financial success, aspire to meet high career goals, or just want to be a happy person – focus on positive thinking and encourage positive emotions.
Final Thoughts on How to Lead a Successful Life
Your success ultimately comes down to your actions, perceptions, and attitudes. There are a lot of tips out there on how to be successful in life, but unless you are proactive in doing the work that is required, you will find yourself settling for a life that wasn’t what you dreamed it to be. Remember:Having a goal is half the battle. You need to have a plan and take action.
Now that you have finished reading these guidelines on how to be a more successful person, take advantage of the ideas that sound unique to you and tailor them to fit into your own success plan. I hope that using these principles helps you find fulfillment in your endeavors and helps you achieve what you believe to be is the epitome of success.
Connie Mathersis a professional editor and freelance writer. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and a Master’s Degree in Social Work. When she is not writing, Connie is either spending time with her daughter and two dogs, running, or working at her full-time job as a social worker in Richmond, VA.
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Life is Beautiful.
Knowledge is power and LIFE.
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