Happily Biased

This topic of the optimism bias theory is becoming more popularly discussed in the field of psychology and the sub-fields related. By a quick Google or yahoo search you will find articles from TIME and The Huffington Post, and a TED presentation, all by Tali Sharot. I highly recommend reading and viewing these materials on this topic, because I will not approach this topic as she and many neuroscientist will by looking at statistical data.

My goal in this article is to attempt to dictate that happiness makes us bias, and how optimistic stimuli is extremely difficult to rationalize effectively.

First, in my opinion, statistics cannot help right now in this study of the optimist, but does a small job of pointing us in the right direction. Why? The paradigms revolving around such studies are new, they did not exist before this century. Thus, for those interested in psychology, must philosophize over what makes themselves, in fact, biased. Truly, it is highly likely in their own research of cognitive biases that these researchers are performing the very biases they are cataloging; whether it be in the community or individually. I wish to approach this philosophically while using few terms crafted by contemporary scientist.

The idea of the optimism bias is simple; what are the most important factors for our future happiness depends how our brain will/does construct beliefs, thoughts, and overall the connectivity in relation to those positive stimuli.

The following example for optimism manipulating cognitive abilities will be depicted in a religious practitioner who is active in their religion's community. I will introduce the idea of groupthinking, and will make the argument G.T. is a prime factor in this examples optimistic irrationality. No formal religion is insisted upon in example.

For sake of argument, our practitioner of religion will be Julia, and her religion is Athenianism. Julia is known among her friends, that are not Athenian, that she is very fundamental about her beliefs. In fact, she reads her religious text nightly before bed and volunteers with her fellow Athenians to preach lessons at local colleges every Tuesday. Julia has been part of this religion since she was a child, her parents were fundamental about the practice as well, and most of her friends were apart of the same religion (except those she made in college).

One day a nonreligious person approaches Julia's group while they are preaching in the college's quad. The person claims no one can know, as of this point in time, how the universe and life began. This directly refutes a big part of Julia's religion, and they begin to argue. No need for dialog, but they go at it heavily with all of the common arguments anyone can find that a religious vs. nonreligious person will bring up. Long story short, Julia is not convinced. After hours of arguing, Julia will still not even allow herself to attempt to look at the argument from the other person's perspective. And although the challenger was willing to admit s/he could see where Julia was coming from, Julia refused to give back the same attitude. When finally asked why Julia cannot, just a little, see it from his perspective she responded "I just have faith I am right."

Now, the analysis; that 'faith' is what I had wanted the example to build up to, for good reason. This 'faith' is not created by chance or accident, her fundamental belief or 'faith' has been developed through a variety of stimuli in her life time of developing cognitively. We have her family, religious community, friends and educational materials that all through a life time have created this faith-filled attitude. My biggest point I will try and come back to; to refute all of these groups and educations, even for one moment of an argument, could cause dysphoria to that person, to Julia.

Julia's anxiety of the future is preventing her from ever suggesting she is wrong about her faith. Her developed brain is in part insisting she maintain her faith. She would, in a sense, be telling herself she has been wrong on a multitude of dimensions. Her family is wrong; the people who have raised and loved her, her entire life would have been teaching her lies or misguided truths. Her religious community in which she would have memories of making friends, picnics, charity events, and other fun activities from her childhood. Finally, her education, she has read volumes of books about what she and her family/friends have traditionally believed in as a group. All of these positive experiences are tied to that faith, and if at any point that faith is effected in the negative, Julia can find herself being depressed. (Note: In my opinion, this is perhaps why philosophy circles back to nihilism and existentialism as priority to metaphysical concerns.)

All of these groups and materials being wrong, is unacceptable to Julia and any fundamentalist or at least intensely difficult to conform as being false, if it is in fact false (which is not the point of the example). The point is whether or not a person will even be able to accept they are wrong, or even slightly wrong. The religion as example is easy because that is more casual in our society today, but this faith-like behavior can be seen in a lot of different areas. Sport fans, politics, athletes, artist, and scientific communities even can be very hardheaded when attempting to gain a new perspective on something they hold very fundamentally sound to their practice of science. At any point information challenges what we know or our stability to be happy - we may find our optimism firing into how we should formulate thoughts!

Now, it is not merely just optimism in which prevents a person like Julia to allow herself to approach alternative ideas and ideals when involving her faith. Due to the groups she is associated with through nurture, nature, by chance and by choice, Julia has a lot of even not-so positive stimuli to guide her anxiety of the future (which is her developing cognition). But, rather than talk about pessimism biases, we will discuss what has already been circled around; groupthinking.

Julia is not the only one she shares these fundamental beliefs with, in fact, her knowledge involved in her faith is overlapped heavily by her family, friends, and religious community. Groupthink theory suggest, exactly what it sounds like; we are prone as people to look towards the group for consensus of how to think and behave. If at any point our group is challenged, we become threatened individually as we will identify ourselves with our group or groups.

The bandwagon bias is the same thing as G.T. but I regard the differences as being momentary, rather than constantly effective. "Oh, 2 million people love pizza over tacos, I am going for the pizza!" Is a lame example of bandwagon bias, but, because although that person's taste buds would actually prefer the taco, s/he will go with pizza due to what the group suggestion that it is the best choice.

Take a moment... When have you submitted to the group due to sheer numbers? When have you sided with a group, due to their history of behavior rather than current behaviors of the group? Can you describe a time where the optimism of the group was given to you; to encourage you into following the group or group's ideals?

The groupthought factor, in considering Julia's faith, is immense. Another bias that will be performed due to the optimism and the groupthink, would be the confirmation and belief biases. Rather than get into detail of these biases, I suggest they are vastly similar. Both biases suggest that a person are more likely to accept information that has no conflict with their immediate beliefs systems and knowledge. I add these biases momentarily due to the fact, they assist in future development of the person's psyche. If at any point we become more acceptable to information, purely because no other information we know can conflict with the new data - is irrational. If you do not know anything about the material being told to you, just listen and examine the facts later before conforming to the information.

Consider your idol, inspiration, or respected third party - telling you that there is a new cure for a disease, you begin to report this information to whom will ever listen without ever researching. You are told you are wrong, now, depending on who you are; you will either be fundamental and argue that you are correct due to the fact this person told you, angry if you will -and/or- you will become confused and upset.

I would love to get into how emotional intelligence could be an ample part to this conversation, but I will conclude with a summary and reflection, but suggest to do a little wikipedia search on that new series of theories in cognitive studies; emotional intelligence.

I guess, I wanted to do two things with this paper; 1. I wanted to try and simplify how a person can be completely irrational, but be perfectly content with their lives. 2. The reasoning behind a person being irrational is not just a simple formula or at least it is still not able to become a simple one solution, today. The reasoning is fuzzy, it takes a lot of factors and details that go into what makes someone irrational in order to determine such. But of course the most important concern, that makes any of this even a semi-valid article is to constantly question; what is rational? No bias? One bias? Ten biases? Twenty?

While optimism can make us bias, it can also create the potential for longevity and goal orientation. However optimism does not guarantee tolerance of other people's belief and ideas, so perhaps, in this culture that is in the pursuit of happiness we should be more in the pursuit of questioning happiness.

To end, I would like to make a reflective note:

A mini-theory about attachments: Everyone wants to involve themselves with others - to love, to hate, to teach, to learn from, to pair with, to share with, to honor, to respect... These are attachments, and they are the basis of emotions. This is apart of our mimetic nature; our nature of rerepresenting/copying others in order to create a self identity. But what is the self, because really I would argue, we are two things; a self and a metaself. The metaself is our physiological natures/nurtures and our individualistic psychological experiences. While the self is the person reading this; the consciousness.

Reflect on what makes you bias.
Reflect on the emotions you have; especially the negative.
Reflect on what you attach yourself to naturally.
Most importantly, reflect on what it means to be your'self'

This news article is brought to you by HUNTING - where latest news are our top priority.

Happily Biased

This topic of the optimism bias theory is becoming more popularly discussed in the field of psychology and the sub-fields related. By a quick Google or yahoo search you will find articles from TIME and The Huffington Post, and a TED presentation, all by Tali Sharot. I highly recommend reading and viewing these materials on this topic, because I will not approach this topic as she and many neuroscientist will by looking at statistical data.

My goal in this article is to attempt to dictate that happiness makes us bias, and how optimistic stimuli is extremely difficult to rationalize effectively.

First, in my opinion, statistics cannot help right now in this study of the optimist, but does a small job of pointing us in the right direction. Why? The paradigms revolving around such studies are new, they did not exist before this century. Thus, for those interested in psychology, must philosophize over what makes themselves, in fact, biased. Truly, it is highly likely in their own research of cognitive biases that these researchers are performing the very biases they are cataloging; whether it be in the community or individually. I wish to approach this philosophically while using few terms crafted by contemporary scientist.

The idea of the optimism bias is simple; what are the most important factors for our future happiness depends how our brain will/does construct beliefs, thoughts, and overall the connectivity in relation to those positive stimuli.

The following example for optimism manipulating cognitive abilities will be depicted in a religious practitioner who is active in their religion's community. I will introduce the idea of groupthinking, and will make the argument G.T. is a prime factor in this examples optimistic irrationality. No formal religion is insisted upon in example.

For sake of argument, our practitioner of religion will be Julia, and her religion is Athenianism. Julia is known among her friends, that are not Athenian, that she is very fundamental about her beliefs. In fact, she reads her religious text nightly before bed and volunteers with her fellow Athenians to preach lessons at local colleges every Tuesday. Julia has been part of this religion since she was a child, her parents were fundamental about the practice as well, and most of her friends were apart of the same religion (except those she made in college).

One day a nonreligious person approaches Julia's group while they are preaching in the college's quad. The person claims no one can know, as of this point in time, how the universe and life began. This directly refutes a big part of Julia's religion, and they begin to argue. No need for dialog, but they go at it heavily with all of the common arguments anyone can find that a religious vs. nonreligious person will bring up. Long story short, Julia is not convinced. After hours of arguing, Julia will still not even allow herself to attempt to look at the argument from the other person's perspective. And although the challenger was willing to admit s/he could see where Julia was coming from, Julia refused to give back the same attitude. When finally asked why Julia cannot, just a little, see it from his perspective she responded "I just have faith I am right."

Now, the analysis; that 'faith' is what I had wanted the example to build up to, for good reason. This 'faith' is not created by chance or accident, her fundamental belief or 'faith' has been developed through a variety of stimuli in her life time of developing cognitively. We have her family, religious community, friends and educational materials that all through a life time have created this faith-filled attitude. My biggest point I will try and come back to; to refute all of these groups and educations, even for one moment of an argument, could cause dysphoria to that person, to Julia.

Julia's anxiety of the future is preventing her from ever suggesting she is wrong about her faith. Her developed brain is in part insisting she maintain her faith. She would, in a sense, be telling herself she has been wrong on a multitude of dimensions. Her family is wrong; the people who have raised and loved her, her entire life would have been teaching her lies or misguided truths. Her religious community in which she would have memories of making friends, picnics, charity events, and other fun activities from her childhood. Finally, her education, she has read volumes of books about what she and her family/friends have traditionally believed in as a group. All of these positive experiences are tied to that faith, and if at any point that faith is effected in the negative, Julia can find herself being depressed. (Note: In my opinion, this is perhaps why philosophy circles back to nihilism and existentialism as priority to metaphysical concerns.)

All of these groups and materials being wrong, is unacceptable to Julia and any fundamentalist or at least intensely difficult to conform as being false, if it is in fact false (which is not the point of the example). The point is whether or not a person will even be able to accept they are wrong, or even slightly wrong. The religion as example is easy because that is more casual in our society today, but this faith-like behavior can be seen in a lot of different areas. Sport fans, politics, athletes, artist, and scientific communities even can be very hardheaded when attempting to gain a new perspective on something they hold very fundamentally sound to their practice of science. At any point information challenges what we know or our stability to be happy - we may find our optimism firing into how we should formulate thoughts!

Now, it is not merely just optimism in which prevents a person like Julia to allow herself to approach alternative ideas and ideals when involving her faith. Due to the groups she is associated with through nurture, nature, by chance and by choice, Julia has a lot of even not-so positive stimuli to guide her anxiety of the future (which is her developing cognition). But, rather than talk about pessimism biases, we will discuss what has already been circled around; groupthinking.

Julia is not the only one she shares these fundamental beliefs with, in fact, her knowledge involved in her faith is overlapped heavily by her family, friends, and religious community. Groupthink theory suggest, exactly what it sounds like; we are prone as people to look towards the group for consensus of how to think and behave. If at any point our group is challenged, we become threatened individually as we will identify ourselves with our group or groups.

The bandwagon bias is the same thing as G.T. but I regard the differences as being momentary, rather than constantly effective. "Oh, 2 million people love pizza over tacos, I am going for the pizza!" Is a lame example of bandwagon bias, but, because although that person's taste buds would actually prefer the taco, s/he will go with pizza due to what the group suggestion that it is the best choice.

Take a moment... When have you submitted to the group due to sheer numbers? When have you sided with a group, due to their history of behavior rather than current behaviors of the group? Can you describe a time where the optimism of the group was given to you; to encourage you into following the group or group's ideals?

The groupthought factor, in considering Julia's faith, is immense. Another bias that will be performed due to the optimism and the groupthink, would be the confirmation and belief biases. Rather than get into detail of these biases, I suggest they are vastly similar. Both biases suggest that a person are more likely to accept information that has no conflict with their immediate beliefs systems and knowledge. I add these biases momentarily due to the fact, they assist in future development of the person's psyche. If at any point we become more acceptable to information, purely because no other information we know can conflict with the new data - is irrational. If you do not know anything about the material being told to you, just listen and examine the facts later before conforming to the information.

Consider your idol, inspiration, or respected third party - telling you that there is a new cure for a disease, you begin to report this information to whom will ever listen without ever researching. You are told you are wrong, now, depending on who you are; you will either be fundamental and argue that you are correct due to the fact this person told you, angry if you will -and/or- you will become confused and upset.

I would love to get into how emotional intelligence could be an ample part to this conversation, but I will conclude with a summary and reflection, but suggest to do a little wikipedia search on that new series of theories in cognitive studies; emotional intelligence.

I guess, I wanted to do two things with this paper; 1. I wanted to try and simplify how a person can be completely irrational, but be perfectly content with their lives. 2. The reasoning behind a person being irrational is not just a simple formula or at least it is still not able to become a simple one solution, today. The reasoning is fuzzy, it takes a lot of factors and details that go into what makes someone irrational in order to determine such. But of course the most important concern, that makes any of this even a semi-valid article is to constantly question; what is rational? No bias? One bias? Ten biases? Twenty?

While optimism can make us bias, it can also create the potential for longevity and goal orientation. However optimism does not guarantee tolerance of other people's belief and ideas, so perhaps, in this culture that is in the pursuit of happiness we should be more in the pursuit of questioning happiness.

To end, I would like to make a reflective note:

A mini-theory about attachments: Everyone wants to involve themselves with others - to love, to hate, to teach, to learn from, to pair with, to share with, to honor, to respect... These are attachments, and they are the basis of emotions. This is apart of our mimetic nature; our nature of rerepresenting/copying others in order to create a self identity. But what is the self, because really I would argue, we are two things; a self and a metaself. The metaself is our physiological natures/nurtures and our individualistic psychological experiences. While the self is the person reading this; the consciousness.

Reflect on what makes you bias.
Reflect on the emotions you have; especially the negative.
Reflect on what you attach yourself to naturally.
Most importantly, reflect on what it means to be your'self'

This article is brought to you by MATCHMAKING.

How Can I Be Happy?

People are continuously asking the same question; How can I be happy? What they don't realize is that the answer is quite simple, and it should be.

Why should finding happiness be difficult when the definition includes feeling emotions of positive, pleasant emotions and joy?

Here is a list of 8 simple actions you can do daily to be a happy person.

1. Start your day with positive affirmations.

If you wake up in a bad mood, expect your day to be down in the dumps. The good news is you can change the outcome of your day in an instant, and the sooner the better. Tomorrow morning before you even get out of bed, tell yourself that you are going to have an amazing day. Tell yourself you are going to hear great news all day long. You will be happier all day, just thinking that good things are on the way.

2. Smile, Smile, Smile.

One way to make you feel better inside is to smile. It's simple and it's free. Science proves that is will boost your mood and increase your potential for long term happiness. If you don't smile regularly, force it until it becomes natural. Seriously, try it now, I bet you'll feel better already!

3. Surround yourself with only things you love.

Jot down a list of things that make you feel good inside. Keep this list on you and read it every day. It could consist of music, people, or pets. The options are endless, but only YOU know what makes YOU feel good inside. Once you have your list, try and surround yourself with only those things. Keep the positive energy flowing.

4. Give someone a compliment.

It's human nature to think that receiving a compliment is the best thing for us, but it's actually complimenting others that makes us feel better inside. Complimenting or helping others is where we find true happiness in ourselves. Try to compliment someone at least once a day. You'll be happy knowing you just made their day.

5. Stop complaining. It's bringing you down!

You may not even realize you are doing it. Complaining and whining are constantly bringing your inner emotions down. Instead of asking "Why can't I ever win?" or "Why does this happen to me?", try re-wording it into a positive question. What can I do next time to help me win? What can I do better to make sure this doesn't happen again. Talking negatively will limit your happiness, so learn to speak positive.

6. Act like a child.

Do you remember how it used to feel when you were a kid playing outside? No worries in the world, just enjoying the sunshine on your face running barefoot in the grass. Try to do this more often. We often forget that it's the simple things in life that give us the most happiness.

7. Laugh Often.

Laughter is one of the best feelings in the world. It expresses pure joy. Figure out what makes you laugh the most, and surround yourself with it. It could be a person, or a social environment. Laughing is also important in happy relationships. Stop being so serious all the time!

8. Get a dog or cat, or both.

The amount of joy you will get from a dog or cat is off the charts. You will never feel lonely and they will love you unconditionally. I myself have 2 cats and a puppy. The house is always full of life.

My father convinced himself that he hated cats. Well, that was until my brother rescued and brought a kitten home. It's now his best buddy. He even told my brother that when he moves out, the cat stays.

* * *

I strongly believe these are the most important things you can do on a daily basis to not only increase your happiness, but erase negativity in your life.

Good luck!

How Can I Be Happy?

People are continuously asking the same question; How can I be happy? What they don't realize is that the answer is quite simple, and it should be.

Why should finding happiness be difficult when the definition includes feeling emotions of positive, pleasant emotions and joy?

Here is a list of 8 simple actions you can do daily to be a happy person.

1. Start your day with positive affirmations.

If you wake up in a bad mood, expect your day to be down in the dumps. The good news is you can change the outcome of your day in an instant, and the sooner the better. Tomorrow morning before you even get out of bed, tell yourself that you are going to have an amazing day. Tell yourself you are going to hear great news all day long. You will be happier all day, just thinking that good things are on the way.

2. Smile, Smile, Smile.

One way to make you feel better inside is to smile. It's simple and it's free. Science proves that is will boost your mood and increase your potential for long term happiness. If you don't smile regularly, force it until it becomes natural. Seriously, try it now, I bet you'll feel better already!

3. Surround yourself with only things you love.

Jot down a list of things that make you feel good inside. Keep this list on you and read it every day. It could consist of music, people, or pets. The options are endless, but only YOU know what makes YOU feel good inside. Once you have your list, try and surround yourself with only those things. Keep the positive energy flowing.

4. Give someone a compliment.

It's human nature to think that receiving a compliment is the best thing for us, but it's actually complimenting others that makes us feel better inside. Complimenting or helping others is where we find true happiness in ourselves. Try to compliment someone at least once a day. You'll be happy knowing you just made their day.

5. Stop complaining. It's bringing you down!

You may not even realize you are doing it. Complaining and whining are constantly bringing your inner emotions down. Instead of asking "Why can't I ever win?" or "Why does this happen to me?", try re-wording it into a positive question. What can I do next time to help me win? What can I do better to make sure this doesn't happen again. Talking negatively will limit your happiness, so learn to speak positive.

6. Act like a child.

Do you remember how it used to feel when you were a kid playing outside? No worries in the world, just enjoying the sunshine on your face running barefoot in the grass. Try to do this more often. We often forget that it's the simple things in life that give us the most happiness.

7. Laugh Often.

Laughter is one of the best feelings in the world. It expresses pure joy. Figure out what makes you laugh the most, and surround yourself with it. It could be a person, or a social environment. Laughing is also important in happy relationships. Stop being so serious all the time!

8. Get a dog or cat, or both.

The amount of joy you will get from a dog or cat is off the charts. You will never feel lonely and they will love you unconditionally. I myself have 2 cats and a puppy. The house is always full of life.

My father convinced himself that he hated cats. Well, that was until my brother rescued and brought a kitten home. It's now his best buddy. He even told my brother that when he moves out, the cat stays.

* * *

I strongly believe these are the most important things you can do on a daily basis to not only increase your happiness, but erase negativity in your life.

Good luck!

This article is brought to you by FREE DATING SITES.

Are We Truly Free And Independent?

The dictionary defines "independent" as:

• not influenced or controlled by others in matters of opinion, conduct, etc.; thinking or acting for oneself: an independent thinker.
• not subject to another's authority or jurisdiction; autonomous; free: an independent businessman.
• not dependent; not depending or contingent upon something else for existence, operation, etc.
• not relying on another or others for aid or support.

As I consider this definition, I realize we are not truly independent.

We are regulated by our government. We're influenced by the news media, other people, and television. And while we always have freedom of choice, are we really exercising it on a daily basis?

I would argue that most people tend to follow more than lead.

We've been taught to model others--that's the fastest path to success-instead of being truly independent, finding our own voice, sharing it, and following our own path.

If you're a business owner, you're business is influenced by the economy, the marketplace, and the whims and bank accounts of your clients and prospects. You rely on technology, banks, credit card processors, and website hosting companies to keep your business running smoothly. You may work for yourself but you need other people and services to make your business work.

No, the reality is we are not independent in the most literal sense of the word.

But I'm not sure we would want to be independent in that way.

We need each other to live happy, fulfilling lives.

We need technology to communicate and operate our businesses and to get along in the 21st century.

We rely on others... because most things are easier, or we can do better, with help.

The independence we CAN have.

I believe the independence we can have, and should strive for, is more mental than physical. To think freely and independently and live our lives as we choose. And, to exercise our freedom of choice...

• To choose NOT to follow the masses but instead follow our own path.
• To choose to be happy today instead of buying into all the marketing messages telling us we need more stuff or more money to be happy.
• To choose to be grateful for all that we do have, instead of focusing on what we don't.
• To choose to stop comparing ourselves to others and celebrate our lives, exactly as they are.

Yes, freedom and independence are an inside game.

When we embrace our internal independent self we can mentally free ourselves from the things in this world that make us feel not good enough, or keep us striving for more in order to be happy.

The Declaration of Independence promised us "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." I disagree that happiness is a pursuit. Rather, we all have the choice to be happy right now, exactly where we are. And I believe when you make that choice, you are truly free.

This news article is brought to you by SAVING MONEY - where latest news are our top priority.

Are We Truly Free And Independent?

The dictionary defines "independent" as:

• not influenced or controlled by others in matters of opinion, conduct, etc.; thinking or acting for oneself: an independent thinker.
• not subject to another's authority or jurisdiction; autonomous; free: an independent businessman.
• not dependent; not depending or contingent upon something else for existence, operation, etc.
• not relying on another or others for aid or support.

As I consider this definition, I realize we are not truly independent.

We are regulated by our government. We're influenced by the news media, other people, and television. And while we always have freedom of choice, are we really exercising it on a daily basis?

I would argue that most people tend to follow more than lead.

We've been taught to model others--that's the fastest path to success-instead of being truly independent, finding our own voice, sharing it, and following our own path.

If you're a business owner, you're business is influenced by the economy, the marketplace, and the whims and bank accounts of your clients and prospects. You rely on technology, banks, credit card processors, and website hosting companies to keep your business running smoothly. You may work for yourself but you need other people and services to make your business work.

No, the reality is we are not independent in the most literal sense of the word.

But I'm not sure we would want to be independent in that way.

We need each other to live happy, fulfilling lives.

We need technology to communicate and operate our businesses and to get along in the 21st century.

We rely on others... because most things are easier, or we can do better, with help.

The independence we CAN have.

I believe the independence we can have, and should strive for, is more mental than physical. To think freely and independently and live our lives as we choose. And, to exercise our freedom of choice...

• To choose NOT to follow the masses but instead follow our own path.
• To choose to be happy today instead of buying into all the marketing messages telling us we need more stuff or more money to be happy.
• To choose to be grateful for all that we do have, instead of focusing on what we don't.
• To choose to stop comparing ourselves to others and celebrate our lives, exactly as they are.

Yes, freedom and independence are an inside game.

When we embrace our internal independent self we can mentally free ourselves from the things in this world that make us feel not good enough, or keep us striving for more in order to be happy.

The Declaration of Independence promised us "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." I disagree that happiness is a pursuit. Rather, we all have the choice to be happy right now, exactly where we are. And I believe when you make that choice, you are truly free.

This article is brought to you by FREE DATING SITES.

Sleep: A Simple Tool To Increase Your Happiness

One of the simplest ways to increase the amount of happiness you feel is to get more high-quality sleep. Today, I'll be sharing the science showing why you should give up some of that precious evening time and hit the pillow a little earlier each night.

The research on sleep and mood

If you're human, you've experienced first-hand the crappy days that can result after a poor night's sleep; you're grumpy, spacy, forgetful, annoyed or some combination. Science strongly confirms your experience and shows how sleep deprivation affects mood. For example:

A study from the University of Pennsylvania showed a marked increase in anger, stress, sadness and mental exhaustion in a group that got less than 4.5 hours of sleep a night for a week. There was a dramatic improvement in mood when they resumed a normal sleep schedule.

A large study by Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman showed that:

Increases in sleep quality is associated with very large increases in reported enjoyment in daily activities. A poor night sleep was one of two factors that most upset daily mood at work. (the other, by the way, was tight deadlines) Functional brain studies showed that those who are even moderately sleep deprived are 60% more reactive to negative emotional stimuli. "It's as if the brain is reverting to more primitive behaviors in terms of [the amount of] control they normally have over their emotions" says Richard Walker, the UC Berkeley researcher who headed up the study.

A study out of the University of Michigan showed that an additional hour of sleep had more effect on happiness than a $60,000 raise!

Are you sleep-deprived?

Our go-go-go culture is one where we tend to stay busy and stimulated for hour after hour. It is really easy to adapt to having too little sleep; we just get accustomed to those feelings of tiredness and it becomes our new normal.

But there are some clear indicators when you need more sleep. Ask yourself these questions:

Do you sleep less than 6 hours per night? Do you need an alarm clock to consistently wake up on time? Do you often find yourself 'nodding off' during boring meetings, while watching TV or anytime you are in a quiet space? Do you fall asleep within 5 minutes of going to bed?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are not getting enough quality sleep.

If that's true, what can you do? Set yourself a bedtime

Kids need lots of sleep, so they get a bedtime. But do you do the same for yourself? Waiting until you feel tired makes it easy to get carried away by those shiny distractions - reading one more chapter, watching one more show, sending one last email or finishing one last quest/mission (you know who you are... ).

We manage what we measure. Locking in a bedtime will help you keep that commitment. And if you stay up later, those feelings of being up 'past your bedtime' can often encourage you to get horizontal sooner than otherwise.

This news article is brought to you by HAPPINESS - where latest news are our top priority.

Sleep: A Simple Tool To Increase Your Happiness

One of the simplest ways to increase the amount of happiness you feel is to get more high-quality sleep. Today, I'll be sharing the science showing why you should give up some of that precious evening time and hit the pillow a little earlier each night.

The research on sleep and mood

If you're human, you've experienced first-hand the crappy days that can result after a poor night's sleep; you're grumpy, spacy, forgetful, annoyed or some combination. Science strongly confirms your experience and shows how sleep deprivation affects mood. For example:

A study from the University of Pennsylvania showed a marked increase in anger, stress, sadness and mental exhaustion in a group that got less than 4.5 hours of sleep a night for a week. There was a dramatic improvement in mood when they resumed a normal sleep schedule.

A large study by Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman showed that:

Increases in sleep quality is associated with very large increases in reported enjoyment in daily activities. A poor night sleep was one of two factors that most upset daily mood at work. (the other, by the way, was tight deadlines) Functional brain studies showed that those who are even moderately sleep deprived are 60% more reactive to negative emotional stimuli. "It's as if the brain is reverting to more primitive behaviors in terms of [the amount of] control they normally have over their emotions" says Richard Walker, the UC Berkeley researcher who headed up the study.

A study out of the University of Michigan showed that an additional hour of sleep had more effect on happiness than a $60,000 raise!

Are you sleep-deprived?

Our go-go-go culture is one where we tend to stay busy and stimulated for hour after hour. It is really easy to adapt to having too little sleep; we just get accustomed to those feelings of tiredness and it becomes our new normal.

But there are some clear indicators when you need more sleep. Ask yourself these questions:

Do you sleep less than 6 hours per night? Do you need an alarm clock to consistently wake up on time? Do you often find yourself 'nodding off' during boring meetings, while watching TV or anytime you are in a quiet space? Do you fall asleep within 5 minutes of going to bed?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are not getting enough quality sleep.

If that's true, what can you do? Set yourself a bedtime

Kids need lots of sleep, so they get a bedtime. But do you do the same for yourself? Waiting until you feel tired makes it easy to get carried away by those shiny distractions - reading one more chapter, watching one more show, sending one last email or finishing one last quest/mission (you know who you are... ).

We manage what we measure. Locking in a bedtime will help you keep that commitment. And if you stay up later, those feelings of being up 'past your bedtime' can often encourage you to get horizontal sooner than otherwise.

This article is brought to you by MATCHMAKING.

Forgiveness, One of Our Greatest Blessings To Help Us Grow Up Healthy

Forgiving is such a crucial function, whose importance is often is not given the credit that it is due. There are many people who actually relish the thought of being mad at someone, so that they can begin to prepare to avenge a wrong which they felt that they that they suffered. Just the thought of being able to top their misdeed with a greater misdeed of your own, is such a joy for some people. We often never stop to think if the perceived act was actually intended as a slight against you. There's always the possibility that the act was an accident or meant as a joke which was interpreted as callous or a simple misunderstanding.

We are all very different and unique people who look at the world through a different set of eyes.We process data differently, our vocabularies are different, we are raised in different environments and cultures. There are so many situations that could cause a misunderstanding that the possibilities are endless. It would be such a shame to cause a major conflict just because of a miscommunication or a misunderstanding. The best action to solve an issue is to first communicate.

When we choose to handle our differences by taking aggressive actions, we are doing harm to others, but more importantly we are doing harm to ourselves. The harm that we are doing to ourselves is far worse than the misdeed that we've done to someone else. We are exerting negative energy which only produces negative actions. Negative thoughts start occupying space in our head which could be used for positive thoughts and actions. Space that could be used do something constructive or bring pleasure to you or someone else.

Some people harbor grudges for years and years. There are certainly many reasons for the grudges, but none of them are worth the discomfort that you cause yourself. Whatever the deed was that caused you such anger, it is now over and cannot cause you any more harm, other than the harm that you inflict upon yourself. Life is short and certainly could be better spent if you're in a positive frame of mind.

The best solution to help live a happy life is the willingness to forgive, Remove all the negative energy that you're carrying around and direct it toward positive activities. The brain is too powerful to have dead space occupied by negative thoughts. Free up that potential greatness in your head and find something good to do with it. Even though the Bible doesn't say that you must forget when you forgive, it would certainly be easier to permanently free up that space if you could forget after you forgive.

This news article is brought to you by PET-FRIENDLY-RENTALS - where latest news are our top priority.

Forgiveness, One of Our Greatest Blessings To Help Us Grow Up Healthy

Forgiving is such a crucial function, whose importance is often is not given the credit that it is due. There are many people who actually relish the thought of being mad at someone, so that they can begin to prepare to avenge a wrong which they felt that they that they suffered. Just the thought of being able to top their misdeed with a greater misdeed of your own, is such a joy for some people. We often never stop to think if the perceived act was actually intended as a slight against you. There's always the possibility that the act was an accident or meant as a joke which was interpreted as callous or a simple misunderstanding.

We are all very different and unique people who look at the world through a different set of eyes.We process data differently, our vocabularies are different, we are raised in different environments and cultures. There are so many situations that could cause a misunderstanding that the possibilities are endless. It would be such a shame to cause a major conflict just because of a miscommunication or a misunderstanding. The best action to solve an issue is to first communicate.

When we choose to handle our differences by taking aggressive actions, we are doing harm to others, but more importantly we are doing harm to ourselves. The harm that we are doing to ourselves is far worse than the misdeed that we've done to someone else. We are exerting negative energy which only produces negative actions. Negative thoughts start occupying space in our head which could be used for positive thoughts and actions. Space that could be used do something constructive or bring pleasure to you or someone else.

Some people harbor grudges for years and years. There are certainly many reasons for the grudges, but none of them are worth the discomfort that you cause yourself. Whatever the deed was that caused you such anger, it is now over and cannot cause you any more harm, other than the harm that you inflict upon yourself. Life is short and certainly could be better spent if you're in a positive frame of mind.

The best solution to help live a happy life is the willingness to forgive, Remove all the negative energy that you're carrying around and direct it toward positive activities. The brain is too powerful to have dead space occupied by negative thoughts. Free up that potential greatness in your head and find something good to do with it. Even though the Bible doesn't say that you must forget when you forgive, it would certainly be easier to permanently free up that space if you could forget after you forgive.

This article is brought to you by DATING SERVICE.

How to Be Happy Regardless of Your Circumstances

Did you know that happiness comes in 'threes?'

When we think our life is on a downward slope we often regard ourselves as a victim of it. We act as if happiness is somewhere out there, and react as if we are at the mercy of our circumstances. With this perspective we experience one rough spot after another. Some of us manage to deflect despair by employing the old belief that things come in "threes." Our solution is that if we can maneuver through the succession of mishaps, our luck is sure to turn around.

There is little truth to this superstition. However there may be some value in the theory of 'threes' that can be applied to durable happiness and help us to be more than merely a victim of our circumstances.

There are three facets to happiness:

1. The Pleasurable Life

Happiness and positive emotion derived from material things and conveniences.

Although these types of pleasures are enjoyable, alone they offer a sense of fulfillment that is often fleeting, leaving us wanting more.

2. The Good Life

Happiness generated by a sense of engagement, passion, and flow inspiring us to work hard for a particular cause that leads us to deep satisfaction from a hard-earned goal. This was the motivation for the contributions made by Edison, Einstein, Salk, astronauts and mountain climbers.

3. The Meaningful Life

Happiness built upon positive core values and a sense of purpose that supports the common good and where joy is accessible regardless of circumstances. Examples of this facet of happiness include Mother Teresa and the Dalai Lama.

Durable happiness is ours when we balance these facets.

The keys that assist us in creating this balance come in another set of 'threes':

1. Choice

The first key is to know that we are not victims of life and can choose where we place our focus. We may not always be able control our circumstances, but we always have control over how we view them.

2. Accountability

The second key is to be accountable by having our words, actions and intentions match. This means that we must get clear about our own definition for success, our own values, and our own self-worth before we balance them with the expectations of others.

3. Response - ability

The third key is one's ability to respond rather than react to life's challenges. It is our responsibility to develop compassion, patience, forgiveness, and acceptance to live a more meaningful life.

Simple reminders come in 'threes' to help us apply what we have discovered about authentic happiness:

1. Focus on what's working in your life rather than what is not, empowered by knowing you have a choice.

2. Make it a point to love yourself as much as you love others, knowing that to be authentic you cannot give from an empty cup. Use gratitude as your antidote for worry as you count your blessings often, trusting that love is the answer to every question.

3. Life is not by luck or by chance, you are not a victim of your circumstances and the best things in life aren't things. Happiness is yours not only when you reach a specific destination or goal. It is durable through a three-fold journey of pleasure, flow, and meaning. The choice is yours to savor it every step of the way.

And, remember, third time's the charm.

How to Be Happy Regardless of Your Circumstances

Did you know that happiness comes in 'threes?'

When we think our life is on a downward slope we often regard ourselves as a victim of it. We act as if happiness is somewhere out there, and react as if we are at the mercy of our circumstances. With this perspective we experience one rough spot after another. Some of us manage to deflect despair by employing the old belief that things come in "threes." Our solution is that if we can maneuver through the succession of mishaps, our luck is sure to turn around.

There is little truth to this superstition. However there may be some value in the theory of 'threes' that can be applied to durable happiness and help us to be more than merely a victim of our circumstances.

There are three facets to happiness:

1. The Pleasurable Life

Happiness and positive emotion derived from material things and conveniences.

Although these types of pleasures are enjoyable, alone they offer a sense of fulfillment that is often fleeting, leaving us wanting more.

2. The Good Life

Happiness generated by a sense of engagement, passion, and flow inspiring us to work hard for a particular cause that leads us to deep satisfaction from a hard-earned goal. This was the motivation for the contributions made by Edison, Einstein, Salk, astronauts and mountain climbers.

3. The Meaningful Life

Happiness built upon positive core values and a sense of purpose that supports the common good and where joy is accessible regardless of circumstances. Examples of this facet of happiness include Mother Teresa and the Dalai Lama.

Durable happiness is ours when we balance these facets.

The keys that assist us in creating this balance come in another set of 'threes':

1. Choice

The first key is to know that we are not victims of life and can choose where we place our focus. We may not always be able control our circumstances, but we always have control over how we view them.

2. Accountability

The second key is to be accountable by having our words, actions and intentions match. This means that we must get clear about our own definition for success, our own values, and our own self-worth before we balance them with the expectations of others.

3. Response - ability

The third key is one's ability to respond rather than react to life's challenges. It is our responsibility to develop compassion, patience, forgiveness, and acceptance to live a more meaningful life.

Simple reminders come in 'threes' to help us apply what we have discovered about authentic happiness:

1. Focus on what's working in your life rather than what is not, empowered by knowing you have a choice.

2. Make it a point to love yourself as much as you love others, knowing that to be authentic you cannot give from an empty cup. Use gratitude as your antidote for worry as you count your blessings often, trusting that love is the answer to every question.

3. Life is not by luck or by chance, you are not a victim of your circumstances and the best things in life aren't things. Happiness is yours not only when you reach a specific destination or goal. It is durable through a three-fold journey of pleasure, flow, and meaning. The choice is yours to savor it every step of the way.

And, remember, third time's the charm.

This news article is brought to you by MOVIES - where latest news are our top priority.

How To Be Happy At Work

The best way to maximize your productivity on the job is to be happy at work. No other factor comes close to giving you the boost in efficiency than really enjoying your work.

There are dozens of practices you can do to boost your productivity while at work. These include better planning, writing better to do lists, spending less time on your email, keeping meetings short, etc.

However, none of these things measures up to the effect that happiness has on our productivity.

• Happy people accomplish more on the job.
• Happy people are more creative. If one is in a good mood, creative thoughts flow much better.
• Happy people fix problems more readily instead of complaining about them.
• Happy people are more optimistic; they accomplish more and are more successful.
• Happy people have more energy and therefore get more done.
• Happy people get sick less often. They are less vulnerable to stress and burnout.
• Happy people are more relaxed, and they learn faster and become more productive employees.

It is important that the employer creates an environment for the employee to function at peak efficiency. Sometimes a person has many jobs that could be divided with other employees. Nora talked with her boss and they decided to give some routine duties to Sarah, who had a lighter work load. As a result, Nora was free to do more creative work, and her overall productivity skyrocketed.

Fun is underrated in the workplace. A good manager creates opportunities to have fun. It can be pizza in the staff room, ice cream in the park, or a boat ride on a lake. It does not have to be anything fancy. The purpose is to create a chance to relate in a different way. People will find common interests when they have time to talk in a relaxed atmosphere.

When a team has accomplished a long term goal together, it is really healthy to have a party to celebrate. It serves as a milestone. Members reinforce the idea that all of us are in this company or department together. The leader has an opportunity to congratulate everyone for their hard work.

How do you get happy on your job? There are dozens of things you can do. You need to decide to be a happier person. No one can do this for you. It is definitely up to you, and the rewards are well worth the effort.

This news article is brought to you by SAVING MONEY - where latest news are our top priority.

How To Be Happy At Work

The best way to maximize your productivity on the job is to be happy at work. No other factor comes close to giving you the boost in efficiency than really enjoying your work.

There are dozens of practices you can do to boost your productivity while at work. These include better planning, writing better to do lists, spending less time on your email, keeping meetings short, etc.

However, none of these things measures up to the effect that happiness has on our productivity.

• Happy people accomplish more on the job.
• Happy people are more creative. If one is in a good mood, creative thoughts flow much better.
• Happy people fix problems more readily instead of complaining about them.
• Happy people are more optimistic; they accomplish more and are more successful.
• Happy people have more energy and therefore get more done.
• Happy people get sick less often. They are less vulnerable to stress and burnout.
• Happy people are more relaxed, and they learn faster and become more productive employees.

It is important that the employer creates an environment for the employee to function at peak efficiency. Sometimes a person has many jobs that could be divided with other employees. Nora talked with her boss and they decided to give some routine duties to Sarah, who had a lighter work load. As a result, Nora was free to do more creative work, and her overall productivity skyrocketed.

Fun is underrated in the workplace. A good manager creates opportunities to have fun. It can be pizza in the staff room, ice cream in the park, or a boat ride on a lake. It does not have to be anything fancy. The purpose is to create a chance to relate in a different way. People will find common interests when they have time to talk in a relaxed atmosphere.

When a team has accomplished a long term goal together, it is really healthy to have a party to celebrate. It serves as a milestone. Members reinforce the idea that all of us are in this company or department together. The leader has an opportunity to congratulate everyone for their hard work.

How do you get happy on your job? There are dozens of things you can do. You need to decide to be a happier person. No one can do this for you. It is definitely up to you, and the rewards are well worth the effort.

This article is brought to you by PERSONALS.

Busy Moms: How to Reconnect With YOU

The problem today is that as a working mom you are so busy taking care of everybody else that you often lose connection with YOU and with your soul. The good news is that you can reconnect though and you can do it without shortchanging anyone else and without feeling guilty. Please know that the brighter your inner light shines the brighter the inner light of those around you will shine. So, it is vital to care for yourself, too!

I am going to share with you three easy solutions you can use to reconnect with your soul and shine your inner light brighter.

1. Start to reconnect with your soul by giving yourself three to five minutes every morning to sit quietly with your eyes closed and focus solely on your breathing. Inhale and exhale slowly relaxing your neck and shoulders with each breath. Continue to relax all the muscles in your body traveling down your arms, your stomach, your hips, your legs and your feet. Repeat this for three to five minutes every night as well. Excuses are not going to help you, so remove them from your life. If you need to set your alarm five minutes earlier, do it. If you need to go to bed five minutes earlier, do it. Do it for you and for those you care about.

2. Reconnect with your soul by making a list of three to five things that you loved doing as a child. Tape this list on your bathroom mirror or maybe on your calendar or save it on your phone. Now, commit to finding a way to enjoy one of those activities in some way once a week. If you loved to read, take time to read a few paragraphs in a good book. If you loved to dance, boogie around the house while doing the laundry or while walking the dog. You might even just take a couple of minutes to read the list each morning, close your eyes and reflect on happy memories with gratitude. Gratitude will also help you get back in touch with YOU.

3. Going a step further you can collaborate with your soul by listening to your intuition. Listen to your gut, to your inner voice. Once you begin to reconnect with YOU, with your soul, you can learn to collaborate so that you can live a more fulfilled life and trust that you are moving along on the right path. You may be wondering how to enhance your intuition. The biggest way to do that is to pay attention to those little inner voices, the little inner knowings and your physical gut reaction to things. Separating messages from your soul and just human reaction takes practice, but you can't get there if you don't start.

This article is sponsored by medical case study.

Busy Moms: How to Reconnect With YOU

The problem today is that as a working mom you are so busy taking care of everybody else that you often lose connection with YOU and with your soul. The good news is that you can reconnect though and you can do it without shortchanging anyone else and without feeling guilty. Please know that the brighter your inner light shines the brighter the inner light of those around you will shine. So, it is vital to care for yourself, too!

I am going to share with you three easy solutions you can use to reconnect with your soul and shine your inner light brighter.

1. Start to reconnect with your soul by giving yourself three to five minutes every morning to sit quietly with your eyes closed and focus solely on your breathing. Inhale and exhale slowly relaxing your neck and shoulders with each breath. Continue to relax all the muscles in your body traveling down your arms, your stomach, your hips, your legs and your feet. Repeat this for three to five minutes every night as well. Excuses are not going to help you, so remove them from your life. If you need to set your alarm five minutes earlier, do it. If you need to go to bed five minutes earlier, do it. Do it for you and for those you care about.

2. Reconnect with your soul by making a list of three to five things that you loved doing as a child. Tape this list on your bathroom mirror or maybe on your calendar or save it on your phone. Now, commit to finding a way to enjoy one of those activities in some way once a week. If you loved to read, take time to read a few paragraphs in a good book. If you loved to dance, boogie around the house while doing the laundry or while walking the dog. You might even just take a couple of minutes to read the list each morning, close your eyes and reflect on happy memories with gratitude. Gratitude will also help you get back in touch with YOU.

3. Going a step further you can collaborate with your soul by listening to your intuition. Listen to your gut, to your inner voice. Once you begin to reconnect with YOU, with your soul, you can learn to collaborate so that you can live a more fulfilled life and trust that you are moving along on the right path. You may be wondering how to enhance your intuition. The biggest way to do that is to pay attention to those little inner voices, the little inner knowings and your physical gut reaction to things. Separating messages from your soul and just human reaction takes practice, but you can't get there if you don't start.

This article is sponsored by medical case study.

Expressing Gratitude: Your Ticket to a Happier, Joy-Filled Life

Having an attitude of gratitude is one of the quickest and easiest ways to ratchet up the level of happiness in your life. Gratitude means being thankful or appreciative for benefits you have received or are expecting to receive and the desire to return the kindness or favor. It has long been a focal point of several of the world's major religions, but has only just come under the scrutiny of psychologists in the 21st century. This is understandable given psychology's traditional focus on problems and distress rather than positive states of being. Here's how gratitude can play a positive role in your life.

Expressing gratitude can reinforce desirable behaviors. One interesting study tracked the results of a jewelry store's interactions with its customers. When the jewelry store took the time to call customers just to thank them after they had been in the store and made purchases, there was a subsequent 70% increase in purchases. If the store called customers to thank them and make them aware of an upcoming sale, there was a 30% increase in purchases. Customers who were not called at all did not display any increase whatsoever. A similar study revealed that waitresses who wrote "thank you" on their customers' checks received bigger tips. What a simple and yet powerful tool to shape and reinforce the behaviors you'd like to see more of in other people!

Learn to express gratitude for better well-being. Many studies have now been conducted that prove the expression of gratitude has a tremendous positive impact on your overall well-being. Grateful people are happier, less depressed; less stressed, more satisfied with their lives and relationships and have more control over their environment, personal growth, life purpose and self acceptance. Grateful people tend to have more positive coping skills when faced with challenges and setbacks, are more likely to spend time planning how to deal with the problem, seek needed support from others and see how they are growing through the experience. Grateful people are more likely to think positive thoughts at bedtime, resulting in higher quality sleep. Oddly enough, gratitude seems to be the best indicator of overall well-being, beating out more than 30 other commonly studied personality traits. Not surprisingly, grateful people also tend to be more generous and altruistic.

Here are 3 strategies for cultivating your own attitude of gratitude;

Given that gratitude has powerful positive effects on everyone involved, actively cultivating an attitude of gratitude seems like a win-win proposition. But gratitude is an emotion. How do you make yourself feel it? Like anything in life, you have to learn how to do it, practice it to get better at it, and exercise it to keep it going. Here are some strategies based on scientific studies that will help:

1. Gratitude Thinking. One study showed that immediate well-being benefits were recorded in people who were asked to spend time just thinking about someone for whom they were grateful. Think about different people who have helped you without being asked (teachers, nurses, pastors, etc.).

2. Gratitude Visits. In a study about various therapeutic interventions to increase people's quality of life, the biggest short-term benefits were obtained by a gratitude visit where the participant wrote and delivered a letter of gratitude to a person in their life. The jump in happiness scores (10%) lasted as long as one month after the deed.

3. Gratitude Journals. In the same study, the intervention resulting in the longest-lasting impact was keeping a gratitude journal where participants wrote down three items each day for which they were grateful, including good things that happened to them that day. With just one week of journaling, their happiness scores began increasing and continued to rise for quite some time, with peak benefits occurring some six months after treatment began.

For some additional perspectives on gratitude and kindness, watch the 2005 movie Pay It Forward, visit the Pay It Forward Movement and Foundation and check out The Newton Project that tries to quantify the benefits of a Pay It Forward kind of system.

As you can see, gratitude is one amazing emotion. We would all be much better off if we learned how to regularly indulge this powerhouse of happiness. If I were to start a gratitude journal today, taking the time to learn and write about expressing gratitude would be the first entry!

Expressing Gratitude: Your Ticket to a Happier, Joy-Filled Life

Having an attitude of gratitude is one of the quickest and easiest ways to ratchet up the level of happiness in your life. Gratitude means being thankful or appreciative for benefits you have received or are expecting to receive and the desire to return the kindness or favor. It has long been a focal point of several of the world's major religions, but has only just come under the scrutiny of psychologists in the 21st century. This is understandable given psychology's traditional focus on problems and distress rather than positive states of being. Here's how gratitude can play a positive role in your life.

Expressing gratitude can reinforce desirable behaviors. One interesting study tracked the results of a jewelry store's interactions with its customers. When the jewelry store took the time to call customers just to thank them after they had been in the store and made purchases, there was a subsequent 70% increase in purchases. If the store called customers to thank them and make them aware of an upcoming sale, there was a 30% increase in purchases. Customers who were not called at all did not display any increase whatsoever. A similar study revealed that waitresses who wrote "thank you" on their customers' checks received bigger tips. What a simple and yet powerful tool to shape and reinforce the behaviors you'd like to see more of in other people!

Learn to express gratitude for better well-being. Many studies have now been conducted that prove the expression of gratitude has a tremendous positive impact on your overall well-being. Grateful people are happier, less depressed; less stressed, more satisfied with their lives and relationships and have more control over their environment, personal growth, life purpose and self acceptance. Grateful people tend to have more positive coping skills when faced with challenges and setbacks, are more likely to spend time planning how to deal with the problem, seek needed support from others and see how they are growing through the experience. Grateful people are more likely to think positive thoughts at bedtime, resulting in higher quality sleep. Oddly enough, gratitude seems to be the best indicator of overall well-being, beating out more than 30 other commonly studied personality traits. Not surprisingly, grateful people also tend to be more generous and altruistic.

Here are 3 strategies for cultivating your own attitude of gratitude;

Given that gratitude has powerful positive effects on everyone involved, actively cultivating an attitude of gratitude seems like a win-win proposition. But gratitude is an emotion. How do you make yourself feel it? Like anything in life, you have to learn how to do it, practice it to get better at it, and exercise it to keep it going. Here are some strategies based on scientific studies that will help:

1. Gratitude Thinking. One study showed that immediate well-being benefits were recorded in people who were asked to spend time just thinking about someone for whom they were grateful. Think about different people who have helped you without being asked (teachers, nurses, pastors, etc.).

2. Gratitude Visits. In a study about various therapeutic interventions to increase people's quality of life, the biggest short-term benefits were obtained by a gratitude visit where the participant wrote and delivered a letter of gratitude to a person in their life. The jump in happiness scores (10%) lasted as long as one month after the deed.

3. Gratitude Journals. In the same study, the intervention resulting in the longest-lasting impact was keeping a gratitude journal where participants wrote down three items each day for which they were grateful, including good things that happened to them that day. With just one week of journaling, their happiness scores began increasing and continued to rise for quite some time, with peak benefits occurring some six months after treatment began.

For some additional perspectives on gratitude and kindness, watch the 2005 movie Pay It Forward, visit the Pay It Forward Movement and Foundation and check out The Newton Project that tries to quantify the benefits of a Pay It Forward kind of system.

As you can see, gratitude is one amazing emotion. We would all be much better off if we learned how to regularly indulge this powerhouse of happiness. If I were to start a gratitude journal today, taking the time to learn and write about expressing gratitude would be the first entry!

This article is brought to you by MATCHMAKING.

Making a Living - Not Making a Life? Time to Reflect on What's Important in Your Life

Wow - what went wrong? Maybe you started out OK but now you have realised that you don't actually like your life - or at least elements of it.

For some of us it's a gradual awareness that creeps up on us as we go about our daily lives. We might moan and be despondent but it takes a while to wake up to the truth that this is not the "happy ever after" we had planned. We gradually realize that we're not content with our "lot" in life, and want something more or something different.

For some there is just something missing in our otherwise contented lives and for others we feel that nothing is going right. Many people don't even realize that they are unhappy. They get so used to living miserable, frustrated lives that this becomes the norm and they forget that they once aspired to have anything more. For these people, it's often outsiders who see that they are down; although their advice may be just to tell them to "snap out of it" or to "pull themselves together" both of which are extremely unhelpful!

For others an external, unforeseen event brings us to an abrupt halt, which leads us to rethink what we want from life. That external event might be a health scare, losing your job, your home or your partner, that forces you to change how you live and what you do.

For me it was a double-whammy - within a ten-month period I was diagnosed with breast cancer and then lost my job after 24 years! Clearly, life was trying to tell me to change! I didn't get the message after the first wakeup call as I returned to work after my treatment - but had no choice when I left my job; I had to make changes.

The great news is that in hindsight, both of these life changing events taught me valuable lessons and I have finally learnt how to make a life and not just a living. My life has changed beyond recognition and I've found real contentment and inner peace which others find hard to understand.

Have you noticed how many unhappy people there are around you? You only have to read a paper or watch television to see misery at every turn. But why is that? Bad news sells papers and in our culture, good news is rarely big news. There are loads of tabloid talk shows that only exist to exploit unhappy people but if the rest of us didn't enjoy watching, there would be no market for such shows. Maybe it makes us feel better, because the lives of those featured are even more of a mess than our own! What a sobering thought!

Sadly, there doesn't seem to be a market for programmes where people are happy - in every soap opera on television, it seems that as soon as someone finds happiness, the script writers have to kill them off or create a new nightmare for them to be thrown into! Did you know that since 1985, there have been over 60 deaths in Eastenders - the British TV soap set in East London? Sixty deaths in one small residential square - great TV maybe but fortunately not representative of real life!

It's important to remember that our lives are not for the amusement or entertainment of others - they are for us to live, the way we want to live. Do keep that in mind when you start deciding how you want to live your life.

I saw this on Facebook recently and to me, it reads like a checklist of things we should think about:-

"We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little and watch TV too much. We have multiplied our possessions but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom and hate too often. We've learned how to make a living but not a life. We've added years to life, not life to years" George Carlin 1937- 2008.

How many of these "too's" apply to your life? In order to change your life for the better, you need to understand where you are starting from so take time to go through George's list and see which ones you need to change. You don't need to stop all of these completely, but some small changes could be the first steps towards the better, happier life you yearn for.

Don't put it off, start now to make changes - because you only get one life!

This news article is brought to you by DESTINATION-TIPS - where latest news are our top priority.

Making a Living - Not Making a Life? Time to Reflect on What's Important in Your Life

Wow - what went wrong? Maybe you started out OK but now you have realised that you don't actually like your life - or at least elements of it.

For some of us it's a gradual awareness that creeps up on us as we go about our daily lives. We might moan and be despondent but it takes a while to wake up to the truth that this is not the "happy ever after" we had planned. We gradually realize that we're not content with our "lot" in life, and want something more or something different.

For some there is just something missing in our otherwise contented lives and for others we feel that nothing is going right. Many people don't even realize that they are unhappy. They get so used to living miserable, frustrated lives that this becomes the norm and they forget that they once aspired to have anything more. For these people, it's often outsiders who see that they are down; although their advice may be just to tell them to "snap out of it" or to "pull themselves together" both of which are extremely unhelpful!

For others an external, unforeseen event brings us to an abrupt halt, which leads us to rethink what we want from life. That external event might be a health scare, losing your job, your home or your partner, that forces you to change how you live and what you do.

For me it was a double-whammy - within a ten-month period I was diagnosed with breast cancer and then lost my job after 24 years! Clearly, life was trying to tell me to change! I didn't get the message after the first wakeup call as I returned to work after my treatment - but had no choice when I left my job; I had to make changes.

The great news is that in hindsight, both of these life changing events taught me valuable lessons and I have finally learnt how to make a life and not just a living. My life has changed beyond recognition and I've found real contentment and inner peace which others find hard to understand.

Have you noticed how many unhappy people there are around you? You only have to read a paper or watch television to see misery at every turn. But why is that? Bad news sells papers and in our culture, good news is rarely big news. There are loads of tabloid talk shows that only exist to exploit unhappy people but if the rest of us didn't enjoy watching, there would be no market for such shows. Maybe it makes us feel better, because the lives of those featured are even more of a mess than our own! What a sobering thought!

Sadly, there doesn't seem to be a market for programmes where people are happy - in every soap opera on television, it seems that as soon as someone finds happiness, the script writers have to kill them off or create a new nightmare for them to be thrown into! Did you know that since 1985, there have been over 60 deaths in Eastenders - the British TV soap set in East London? Sixty deaths in one small residential square - great TV maybe but fortunately not representative of real life!

It's important to remember that our lives are not for the amusement or entertainment of others - they are for us to live, the way we want to live. Do keep that in mind when you start deciding how you want to live your life.

I saw this on Facebook recently and to me, it reads like a checklist of things we should think about:-

"We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little and watch TV too much. We have multiplied our possessions but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom and hate too often. We've learned how to make a living but not a life. We've added years to life, not life to years" George Carlin 1937- 2008.

How many of these "too's" apply to your life? In order to change your life for the better, you need to understand where you are starting from so take time to go through George's list and see which ones you need to change. You don't need to stop all of these completely, but some small changes could be the first steps towards the better, happier life you yearn for.

Don't put it off, start now to make changes - because you only get one life!

This news article is brought to you by SINGLES - where latest news are our top priority.

A Lesson on Finding Happiness From the Wasp in the Window

Not too long ago while in my living room, I spied a wasp clinging to the window. Not liking wasps all that much I went over to see if he was on the outside or the inside of the window. As it was, he was trapped between the glass window and the window screen. He had obviously flown onto the screen while the window was open and when it was closed, it trapped him.

I had no idea how long that wasp had been there. And while the wasp was not something I wanted around my house, I had no desire to see him suffer so I opened the window so he could fly away. I stood there, window open, waiting for the wasp to fly away... but the wasp didn't leave. Instead, he stayed clinging to the screen for dear life. There was a whole wide world open to him right behind him if he just looked in a different direction. Finally, when I had just about lost patience with the wasp he started to crawl up, down, sideways, looking for a way to get out. He was struggling to get free... he wanted to... but he couldn't seem to leave the screen even though right behind him was a world of opportunity.

After watching the wasp a little while longer I was coming to the point where I either had to close the window on the wasp or take drastic action. I took drastic action. I banged on the screen with my hand to scare him. He jumped away from the screen, hesitated a moment, and then figured out he could fly and he was off. A happy ending for both of us.

The image of that wasp's plight has stayed with me because it's such a big reminder of how we often cling to what's comfortable and what's known rather than take those leaps. As with the wasp, there are wonderful things waiting for all of us if we just do something differently. Everything we could possibly want is ours... if we are willing to change our way of thinking, our behavior, or our circumstances. We all have things we want from this life but too often what we want would cause us to have to take a risk, change something, or face a great fear: the fear of the unknown. So we wait... we wait until we have the money, or the timing is right, or the economy gets better, or a hundred other reasons we come up with as to why we can't go after what we want now. But will the time ever be right? I remember years ago wanting to start my own Company and, like the wasp, clung to my full-time job until I thought the way was "safe". Safe meant when I had the money, after I had gone to night school long enough, when I felt that I knew enough about the areas I wanted to work in. The truth is that day was never going to come and if I had waited until I had acquired what I felt was enough money and knowledge to start my business, I still wouldn't be in business. I'd still be working full time and miserable.

You can have what you want if you're willing to take a risk. All change requires risk... some big, some small. What keeps us stuck is we want to wait for the reward before we take the risk... thereby eliminating the risk. Unfortunately, the Universe doesn't work that way. You take the risk, and then you are rewarded, not the other way around. The reward may not be exactly like the picture in your head, but it will be a reward. My experience in this life is that the Universe rewards action. In-action just gets you more of the same old stuff you're complaining about in the first place.

So what's a person to do? Take a risk. If there is something in yourself or your life you aren't happy with then change it. Will it be easy? No. Will there be risk? Yes. Will it be worth it? Absolutely! And before you go off saying to yourself "yes, well, I can't divorce my spouse" or "I can't change jobs in this economy", or whatever else it is you think you can't do, my answer to you is YES! You can. You just have to want to. You just tell yourself you can't because you don't like what comes with the change. If you want to leave your spouse you will have to have a difficult conversation or two, there may be unpleasant emotions, people will be upset, and it may cost money, time and hurt feelings. But you can leave your spouse. You don't because you don't want to risk the unpleasantness.

You can change jobs in a bad economy if you want to, people are still hiring. If you want to find a new job you can start to look. Why don't you? Because you're afraid, that's why. You don't want to risk finding another job and not making as much money, or not liking it, or having them not like you... or a hundred other reasons. You can find another job, one that you would be happier at... if you really want to.

Of course there is more to it than this. It's not easy, and you need support, but you can start small. Take small risks. Do something different, whether it's having a conversation you don't want to have, or going on the internet and looking at employment websites. Step out of your comfort zone once a day. Start to get comfortable with the unknown. You never know, just like that wasp you might hesitate for a moment and find that it's not as scary as you think and you can, in fact, fly! I certainly didn't go from homeless to where I am today by accident. I did it by taking risks, doing things that scared me, and stepping out of my comfort zone on a regular basis. For me, the ultimate risk is not taking risks, because then I risk not knowing how great my life can be.

A Lesson on Finding Happiness From the Wasp in the Window

Not too long ago while in my living room, I spied a wasp clinging to the window. Not liking wasps all that much I went over to see if he was on the outside or the inside of the window. As it was, he was trapped between the glass window and the window screen. He had obviously flown onto the screen while the window was open and when it was closed, it trapped him.

I had no idea how long that wasp had been there. And while the wasp was not something I wanted around my house, I had no desire to see him suffer so I opened the window so he could fly away. I stood there, window open, waiting for the wasp to fly away... but the wasp didn't leave. Instead, he stayed clinging to the screen for dear life. There was a whole wide world open to him right behind him if he just looked in a different direction. Finally, when I had just about lost patience with the wasp he started to crawl up, down, sideways, looking for a way to get out. He was struggling to get free... he wanted to... but he couldn't seem to leave the screen even though right behind him was a world of opportunity.

After watching the wasp a little while longer I was coming to the point where I either had to close the window on the wasp or take drastic action. I took drastic action. I banged on the screen with my hand to scare him. He jumped away from the screen, hesitated a moment, and then figured out he could fly and he was off. A happy ending for both of us.

The image of that wasp's plight has stayed with me because it's such a big reminder of how we often cling to what's comfortable and what's known rather than take those leaps. As with the wasp, there are wonderful things waiting for all of us if we just do something differently. Everything we could possibly want is ours... if we are willing to change our way of thinking, our behavior, or our circumstances. We all have things we want from this life but too often what we want would cause us to have to take a risk, change something, or face a great fear: the fear of the unknown. So we wait... we wait until we have the money, or the timing is right, or the economy gets better, or a hundred other reasons we come up with as to why we can't go after what we want now. But will the time ever be right? I remember years ago wanting to start my own Company and, like the wasp, clung to my full-time job until I thought the way was "safe". Safe meant when I had the money, after I had gone to night school long enough, when I felt that I knew enough about the areas I wanted to work in. The truth is that day was never going to come and if I had waited until I had acquired what I felt was enough money and knowledge to start my business, I still wouldn't be in business. I'd still be working full time and miserable.

You can have what you want if you're willing to take a risk. All change requires risk... some big, some small. What keeps us stuck is we want to wait for the reward before we take the risk... thereby eliminating the risk. Unfortunately, the Universe doesn't work that way. You take the risk, and then you are rewarded, not the other way around. The reward may not be exactly like the picture in your head, but it will be a reward. My experience in this life is that the Universe rewards action. In-action just gets you more of the same old stuff you're complaining about in the first place.

So what's a person to do? Take a risk. If there is something in yourself or your life you aren't happy with then change it. Will it be easy? No. Will there be risk? Yes. Will it be worth it? Absolutely! And before you go off saying to yourself "yes, well, I can't divorce my spouse" or "I can't change jobs in this economy", or whatever else it is you think you can't do, my answer to you is YES! You can. You just have to want to. You just tell yourself you can't because you don't like what comes with the change. If you want to leave your spouse you will have to have a difficult conversation or two, there may be unpleasant emotions, people will be upset, and it may cost money, time and hurt feelings. But you can leave your spouse. You don't because you don't want to risk the unpleasantness.

You can change jobs in a bad economy if you want to, people are still hiring. If you want to find a new job you can start to look. Why don't you? Because you're afraid, that's why. You don't want to risk finding another job and not making as much money, or not liking it, or having them not like you... or a hundred other reasons. You can find another job, one that you would be happier at... if you really want to.

Of course there is more to it than this. It's not easy, and you need support, but you can start small. Take small risks. Do something different, whether it's having a conversation you don't want to have, or going on the internet and looking at employment websites. Step out of your comfort zone once a day. Start to get comfortable with the unknown. You never know, just like that wasp you might hesitate for a moment and find that it's not as scary as you think and you can, in fact, fly! I certainly didn't go from homeless to where I am today by accident. I did it by taking risks, doing things that scared me, and stepping out of my comfort zone on a regular basis. For me, the ultimate risk is not taking risks, because then I risk not knowing how great my life can be.

This news article is brought to you by MEMORY-TRAINING - where latest news are our top priority.

Getting the Love Back

These days, when I wake up in the morning the first thing I do is smile. I open my eyes and slowly gaze around me-at my room, the light filtering in the window, this beautiful world we have been given to live in. And I smile.

Then I think for a moment about what kinds of adventure, what small, surprising moments of joy this day will bring. And I get up, excited to face the day. I look forward to every moment of the day that is coming.

It hasn't always been this way. When I was working in a profession that I didn't love, my mornings were the opposite of joyful. I remember feeling regret that it was morning and I couldn't stay in bed any longer. Couldn't hide from the day.

I had lost the passion in my life. Perhaps you also know what this feels like. A day without passion feels so long and tedious. The surprising things that happen feel stressful rather than exciting. You forget to look for opportunities for success or happiness, because you don't expect them.

This happens when we lose the love. We can lose the love in many ways. We can lose the love in our jobs, in our business ventures. We can also lose the love for ourselves and others. We can get stuck in a routine, fearful of trying anything new, frustrated with others because they just don't seem to understand us.

It happens gradually, just one bad day at a time. Eventually it can feel like those bad days are all we remember. It can feel like those bad days are all that we have to look forward to.

But what if I told you that getting the love back into your life was incredibly simple? I used to think it seemed impossible. I thought that being passionate about my life was something I had lost forever. I thought I was doomed to never experience true success and that real happiness was a thing of the past.

I turned to self-help books and motivational seminars, trying to get the passion back into my life. But nothing sounded quite right. I picked up some valuable information along the way, but nothing really changed until I had my epiphany: It really is, actually, about love.

Even success in business will not bring you true happiness if the love isn't there. If you don't love what you're doing, you miss out on experiencing happiness in your work.

Work and happiness don't have to be separate things! In fact, when you get the love back, you can't tell the difference between work and play. Everything you do feels joyful!

Start Getting the Love Back-Right Now!

1. Practice forgiving yourself. The next time you make a mistake, try this: Instead of immediately spiraling into feelings of self-anger, say to yourself, "In the big scheme of things, this is a small matter. The Universe knows that, and it's going to be ok." Then breathe that self-anger out as you exhale. These small moments of forgiving yourself add up to more love in your life every day.

2. Practice forgiving others. Often, we are angry and resentful of other people's mistakes or what we perceive as their unfairness to us. But holding onto anger and resentment against others leaves us holding the bag, literally. We just end up carrying these negative feelings-and how could that possibly be good for us? Next time you feel tempted to hold onto anger at another person, try forgiving them instead. You will be amazed at how much better this feels.

3. Honor your own little gifts. It really is a fact that we all have distinct natural gifts and talents, even if they seem small to us. Often, we aren't using them enough in our daily lives and we forget what they are. Take stock of one or two things that you know you do well. Create an opportunity to practice that thing today, if only for a few minutes. Maybe you're an excellent cook but you haven't prepared a meal in a while. Make it happen! Doing something you know you're good at validates you and invites love into your life.

There are so many ways to get the love back into your life! And with the love comes more passion, success and happiness. You will be so happy to wake up in the morning! I guarantee it.

For more detailed, surefire ways to get the love back in your life I invite you to download for free the first chapter of my book, Actually, It's About Love! The Five Steps to Live the Live You Deserve, Now!

Getting the Love Back

These days, when I wake up in the morning the first thing I do is smile. I open my eyes and slowly gaze around me-at my room, the light filtering in the window, this beautiful world we have been given to live in. And I smile.

Then I think for a moment about what kinds of adventure, what small, surprising moments of joy this day will bring. And I get up, excited to face the day. I look forward to every moment of the day that is coming.

It hasn't always been this way. When I was working in a profession that I didn't love, my mornings were the opposite of joyful. I remember feeling regret that it was morning and I couldn't stay in bed any longer. Couldn't hide from the day.

I had lost the passion in my life. Perhaps you also know what this feels like. A day without passion feels so long and tedious. The surprising things that happen feel stressful rather than exciting. You forget to look for opportunities for success or happiness, because you don't expect them.

This happens when we lose the love. We can lose the love in many ways. We can lose the love in our jobs, in our business ventures. We can also lose the love for ourselves and others. We can get stuck in a routine, fearful of trying anything new, frustrated with others because they just don't seem to understand us.

It happens gradually, just one bad day at a time. Eventually it can feel like those bad days are all we remember. It can feel like those bad days are all that we have to look forward to.

But what if I told you that getting the love back into your life was incredibly simple? I used to think it seemed impossible. I thought that being passionate about my life was something I had lost forever. I thought I was doomed to never experience true success and that real happiness was a thing of the past.

I turned to self-help books and motivational seminars, trying to get the passion back into my life. But nothing sounded quite right. I picked up some valuable information along the way, but nothing really changed until I had my epiphany: It really is, actually, about love.

Even success in business will not bring you true happiness if the love isn't there. If you don't love what you're doing, you miss out on experiencing happiness in your work.

Work and happiness don't have to be separate things! In fact, when you get the love back, you can't tell the difference between work and play. Everything you do feels joyful!

Start Getting the Love Back-Right Now!

1. Practice forgiving yourself. The next time you make a mistake, try this: Instead of immediately spiraling into feelings of self-anger, say to yourself, "In the big scheme of things, this is a small matter. The Universe knows that, and it's going to be ok." Then breathe that self-anger out as you exhale. These small moments of forgiving yourself add up to more love in your life every day.

2. Practice forgiving others. Often, we are angry and resentful of other people's mistakes or what we perceive as their unfairness to us. But holding onto anger and resentment against others leaves us holding the bag, literally. We just end up carrying these negative feelings-and how could that possibly be good for us? Next time you feel tempted to hold onto anger at another person, try forgiving them instead. You will be amazed at how much better this feels.

3. Honor your own little gifts. It really is a fact that we all have distinct natural gifts and talents, even if they seem small to us. Often, we aren't using them enough in our daily lives and we forget what they are. Take stock of one or two things that you know you do well. Create an opportunity to practice that thing today, if only for a few minutes. Maybe you're an excellent cook but you haven't prepared a meal in a while. Make it happen! Doing something you know you're good at validates you and invites love into your life.

There are so many ways to get the love back into your life! And with the love comes more passion, success and happiness. You will be so happy to wake up in the morning! I guarantee it.

For more detailed, surefire ways to get the love back in your life I invite you to download for free the first chapter of my book, Actually, It's About Love! The Five Steps to Live the Live You Deserve, Now!

This news article is brought to you by GOING GREEN NEWS - where latest news are our top priority.