~ Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully ~

~ Memorize your favorite poem ~

~ Don’t believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want ~

~ When you say, “I love you”, mean it ~

~ When you say, “I’m sorry”, look the person in the eye ~

~ Be engaged at least six months before you get married ~

~ Believe in love at first sight ~

~ Never laugh at anyone’s dreams ~

~ Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it’s the only way to live life completely ~
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Positive psychology is an emerging field recognized by the American Psychological Association, and many experts who design stress-control programs harness its principles. It focuses on determining and promoting the factors that permit people to thrive. Rather than search for the roots of unhappiness, research coming out of this field investigates the ingredients of a good life and weighs the effects of traits like optimism, humor, and even eccentricity.

Optimists, for example, tend to do better than pessimists when coping with stressful situations. They are more likely to put a positive spin on stressors, look for ways to make the best of a bad situation, and use problem-solving strategies to tackle difficulties. Some studies indicate that optimists often fare better physically, too. A long-term study of more than 830 Mayo Clinic patients published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings in 2000 found that those classified as pessimists had a 19% higher risk of mortality over the course of 30 years than those who were optimists. A 10-year study of 1,300 men based on data drawn from the Veterans Affairs Normative Aging Study was reported in Psychosomatic Medicine in 2001. It suggested that a sense of optimism may protect older men against developing heart disease.

If you’re not a natural optimist, this information could merely fuel your pessimism. Don’t let it. Take a deep breath and relax. Evidence suggests avoiding pessimism is more important than boosting optimism. It’s true that there are people with naturally sunny natures, but it’s equally true that the way you handle yourself emotionally owes a great deal to nurture. With practice, your current outlook and behaviors can change for the better.

You may already have tried some techniques used in positive psychology. They include cognitive restructuring and journal writing, as well as emphasizing the importance of intimate bonds. Other techniques help people tap into a sense of gratitude and thankfulness or simply a sense of humor. All of these therapeutic approaches focus on amplifying the positive.

While research backing some positive psychology approaches is still preliminary, there have been many intriguing studies on humor. Researchers have found laughter boosts immune system activity and lowers the amount of circulating stress hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol. No wonder many mind/body practitioners prescribe laughter. They often urge patients to rent funny movies, spend time at comedy clubs, peruse amusing books, and embrace the absurd in daily life.

Source

Most people feel badly about themselves from time to time. Temporary feelings of low self-esteem may be triggered by being treated poorly by someone else recently or in the past, or by a person’s own judgments of him or herself. This response is normal. However, low self-esteem is a constant companion for too many people, especially those who experience depression. If you go through life feeling bad about yourself needlessly, low self-esteem keeps you from enjoying life, doing the things you want to do, and working toward personal goals.
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“What does money like? Money likes speed.
That’s the secret few know about money.
Money comes to those who act fast. If you think,
wonder, question, doubt, plan, meet, discuss, or in any other
way drag your feet, money goes to the next person in line.”
— Joe Vitale: A motivational author and coach

“Man is a magnet, and every line and dot and
detail of his experiences come by his own attraction.”

— Elizabeth Towne

Creating a passion for reading is one of the greatest gifts you can give to an African American child. The African American Child book can be the key to enabling enthusiasm for reading in the community. I came to this conclusion not from formal training in any the educational sciences (as matter of record my background is in technology and project management) but as a parent who just happened to be a Sci-Fi fan. Science Fiction opened my eyes to the cross synergies between the African American reading gaps and African American images.

In today’s world media comes at you from all directions. The internet the PC, cable TV, Video Games, IPODs etc. The exposure to all of this media for today’s African American Child is a given fact, you can not avoid it, the fact that is not so obvious is how this impacts African American reading gaps.

CASE IN POINT

I am a Sci-Fi media fan. One day while I was enjoying a episode of Star Trek – The Next Generation on TV with my then 6 year old in my lap when she turned to me and said,

“Daddy why do the black people on the show look strange?”

Before I tried to explain to my daughter that Worf was a Klingon and he hailed from a different planet and that Geordi was blind and his funny looking glasses allowed him to “see” I paused and asked myself

“Why DO the Black people on the show look strange?”

I then tried to look at the screen from the point of view of a 6 year old African American child.

I see 2 black faces and 1 white face on the TV screen:

* The African American character named Worf has the physical facial features of an animal and is from a race of warriors that loves to fight (violent) .
* The African American character named Geordi job is to “fix” and maintain things on the ship (the maintenance man)
* The 2 African American lead actors do not look human (see picture).
* I see the whitest face on the show (character Lt. Data the android ) is the strongest and most intelligent character on the show.
* The android actor who is not human “looks” human.

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In walking meditation, the primary object of attention is the process of walking itself. In other words, to sharpen awareness and train the mind to concentrate, you pay close attention to the physical act of walking, the way you take one step after another. Thus the object is more obvious and tangible than in the more refined meditation techniques, such as focusing on the breath or a mantra, which are often used in traditional sitting meditation. Focusing the mind on this more obvious object helps to avoid sleepiness (or restlessness) that meditators sometimes experience during their sitting meditation.

The guidelines for walking meditation are similar to that of sitting meditation: Choose an appropriate time and decide how long to meditate; for beginners 15 to 30 minutes may be suitable. The walking path can be either inside or outside, depending upon your preference and the area available. Also, whenever possible, it is better to practice in bare feet, although this is not essential.

Stand at one end of the path and hold your hands gently together in front of your body. The eyes remain open, gazing down along the path about two yards ahead. The intention is not to be looking at anything in particular but simply to see that you remain on the path and know when to turn around.

You should now try to center yourself by putting aside all concern for the past and future. In order to calm the mind and establish awareness in the present, abandon any preoccupation with work, home, and relationships, and bring the attention to the body. The meditation exercise is simply to walk at a slow, relaxed pace, being fully aware of each step until you reach the end of the path. When you arrive at the end of the path, stop for a moment and check to see what the mind is doing. Is it being attentive? If necessary, reestablish awareness. Then turn and walk back to the other end in a similar fashion, remaining mindful and alert. Continue to pace up and down for the duration of the meditation period, gently making an effort to sustain awareness and focus attention on the process of walking.

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Contrary to popular belief, you are in control of our life. You may believe, based on what you have been taught, that other people have at least some control over your destiny.

We want you to understand that this is not the case…unless you allow it to be.

You may have learned to expect life to be difficult, limiting, and unrewarding. Now is your chance to unlearn that, grow, and succeed.

The following list will help guide you through taking back control over your life. It’s a lot of information so I would suggest printing it out or bookmarking it so you can return on a regular basis and remind yourself what you are trying to accomplish.

1. Don’t Exist to Survive, Exist to Flourish
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Anger tells you that you are hurt and you don’t want to be hurt.

Anger is a valid, healthy emotion.

Anger is an emotion that can help set limits and boundaries in relationships.

Anger is a tool to help identify needs and wants.

Anger is powerful and needs to be used with respect.

When you know how to respond to your anger positively, you can tap into an unlimited source of personal power. This personal power can in turn enable you to speak for yourself and to learn to manage the fear of shame or criticism.

Anger Alternatives

by Brian Vaszily, founder of IntenseExperiences.com

You have already had a far better day than you realize.

For starters, you woke up. Don’t underestimate that – many people throughout the world didn’t. Maybe they’ve gone on to an even better place such as Heaven, maybe not. Maybe maybe maybe. But fact is, you did. You woke up and have the gift of another day to sing poorly but jubilantly in the shower, to feel the sun or rain or snow on your face, to laugh at the antics of a child or a pet, to build something, to experience the mystery called people, and to just be.

Furthermore, chances are very good you’ll wake up tomorrow, too, and receive all of this potential yet again. That’s more great news among a bunch of other great news for you.

You’re a lucky duck.

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