Something Funny and Uplifting

This will TOTALLY CHANGE YOUR LIFE! You will never be the same again after reading this!

2012-05-01T05:52:00.000-07:00

Hello my friend! Ssshhhhhh, I want to share a SECRET with you. This is a secret that will CHANGE and TRANSFORM your Life! YOU WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN after reading this. Are you ready to receive THE SECRET? Sit back, watch & enjoy!

Receive and Watch The Secret!

Have you discovered THE SECRET? The Secret is the LAW OF ATTRACTION. Allow me to present to you the 10 PRINCIPLES OF THE SECRET to succeed in life, finance, relationships, health, career, job, and other areas in life.

1. You magnify what you focus on.

2. Thoughts become things.

3. Whatever is going on in your mind is what you are attracting.

4. We are like magnets - like attract like. You become and attract what you think.

5. People think about what they don't want and attract more of the same.

6. Choose your thoughts carefully .. you are a masterpiece of your life.

7. You have attracted everything in your life .. accept that fact .. it's true.

8. Your thoughts cause your feelings. You get exactly what you are feeling.

9. An affirmative thought is 100 times more powerful than a negative one.

10. Visualize! Rehearse your future! See it, feel it! This is where action begins.

It's not enough that you know and memorize them. You have to imbibe and integrate them in your life. Always bear them in your mind and heart. Always think, declare and act through them. I'm assuring you that you will succeed in all areas of your life. It happened to me and all people who embraced THE SECRET. It can happen to you. It's your time to shine! It's your time to bloom! It's your time to fly!

My friend, allow me to recommend to you an effective way how you can apply THE SECRET in your life. You attract what you focus on. Always think of positive thoughts. Everyday declare and affirm who you are. Shout to the world how good and beautiful you are! Always affirm yourself and communicate your beliefs and principles through your thoughts, words, deeds, clothes, accessories, etc. In doing so, you attract what you want and what you dream of.

17 Ways to Lift your Spirits

2011-11-27T05:28:00.000-08:00

17 Ways to Lift Your Spirits

There comes a point in all of our lives when we come to a stark realization: Life sometimes isn’t very fun. The realities of day-to-day existence are challenging, and setbacks common. Life may have been an eye-opening adventure in our youth, our teens, even our 20s, but as time passes, the glee of living gets harder to sustain.
Most of us cope just fine with this fact. With age, exuberance and excitement get replaced by a more subtle but deeper joy. We have families we love, jobs that are meaningful, friends that care, hobbies and vacations that provide real pleasure, accumulated wisdom that gives us a sense of value and uniqueness.
But rare is the person who doesn’t encounter times of major loss or challenge along the way. And for millions of people, the path of life occasionally takes us through the dark regions of depression. Often it is a negative event, or a sequence of events, that triggers this condition. Sometimes it is a shift in our attitudes — from a life half-full to a life half-empty — that brings it on.
And sometimes it is body chemistry itself — an imbalance in the chemicals of the brain that deprives you of the feel-good hormones and casts a long shadow on your moods and emotions.
Depression is a serious condition, demanding a doctor’s treatment. Here we aren’t trying to give you a diagnosis or treatment — that’s for professionals to do. But even if you are taking medication for depression, the following lifestyle tactics may increase the drug’s effectiveness. If you’re simply feeling low, they may give you the boost you need to pull out of it and help you avoid adding another expensive prescription to your list.
1. Spend at least one hour each week with a close friend. In a British study, when 86 depressed women were paired with a volunteer friend, 65 percent of the women felt better. In fact, regular social contact worked as effectively as antidepressant medication and psychotherapy. Regular social contact with a close friend may boost self-confidence and encourage you to make other positive changes that will help lift depression, such as starting an exercise program. Speaking of which — start an exercise program!
2. Eat seafood twice a week or more. A Dutch study found that people who consume diets rich in omega-3 fatty acids, a type of fat found in cold-water fish such as salmon and mackerel, were less likely to suffer from depression than people whose diets were low in this important fat. Another study, this one conducted in England, found that pregnant women who didn’t eat fish had twice the rate of depression as women who ate 10 ounces of fish a day. In fact, one reason researchers think the rate of depression has skyrocketed in this country is that we get so few omega-3 fatty acids in our diets. Another good idea for getting your omega-3s: Keep a container of ground flaxseed in the fridge. Use it to sprinkle on everything from ice cream to yogurt to cheese omelets. Mix it into muffin mix, shakes, and salad dressings. Flaxseed is an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids.
3. Play with a dog a few minutes every day. When non-pet owners played with a dog for just a few minutes a day as part of a University of Missouri study, blood levels of the brain chemicals serotonin and oxytocin — both mood elevators — rose. You don’t need to own a dog to experience these feel-good effects (although dogs are great antidotes to the kind of chronic stress that can result in depression). Pet your neighbor’s dog for a few minutes a day, volunteer at an animal shelter, or stop by your local pet store for some furry one-on-one therapy.
4. Take 600 milligrams of chromium picolinate a day if you have depression and insulin resistance. This mineral may improve function of the hormone insulin, which, in turn, may help normalize levels of the mood-boosting brain chemical serotonin. In a study completed at Duke University, people with atypical depression — characterized by mood swings, carbohydrate cravings, weight gain, and lethargy — boosted their mood and reduced their carbohydrate cravings and other symptoms when they began supplementing their diet with chromium. Consult your doctor first, though.
Take a Time Out
5. Eat a bowl of fortified breakfast cereal or take a multivitamin every day. This will ensure you consume the recommended amount (400 micrograms) of folate, an important B vitamin that may help lift depression. Folate and other B vitamins help maintain nerve and blood cells, used in brain reactions and essential for the production and function of a number of mood-boosting brain chemicals. In a Finnish study published in the Journal of Nutrition, participants with the lowest folate consumption were at the highest risk for depression. Another study, published in the Annals of Clinical Psychiatry, found this vitamin helps enhance the effectiveness of antidepressant medication. Another good source? Avocados. They’re one of the richest plant sources of B vitamins.
6. Get a 12-minute massage three times a week. It doesn’t have to cost a lot. Whether you pay a professional or ask a spouse or friend to rub your back, the result is the same: a natural mood boost. In a study of depressed dialysis patients, participants who received a 12-minute massage three times a week were less depressed than those who didn’t get the soothing rub. Another study of 84 depressed pregnant women found those who received two 20-minute massages a week from their partners reduced their incidence of depression 70 percent. Researchers suspect massage boosts serotonin levels (which jumped 17 percent in the women who received twice-weekly massages) and reduces levels of the stress hormone cortisol.
7. Pull an all-nighter. Staying up all night for one night — and therefore depriving yourself of sleep — has been shown to lift depression for as long as a month. Although researchers aren’t sure why it works, they speculate that one night of sleep deprivation may reset the sleep clock, enabling people who are depressed to sleep better.
8. Eat a whole wheat English muffin smothered with jam. When you consume high-carbohydrate foods — such as the muffin with jam — you encourage the amino acid tryptophan to flood your brain, boosting serotonin levels. A slice of whole wheat bread slathered with honey or a snack of air-popped popcorn will also produce the same effect. Why the emphasis on whole grain? White flour provides similar benefits, but the effects wear off quickly, taking you from peak to valley in an hour or so.
9. Just bang on something. Employees at a retirement community who took a drumming class felt more energetic and less depressed six weeks after the class than before they started it. Researchers speculate that drumming helps to relax your body. Whacking a few notes out on your desk may help, but joining a weekly drumming circle may help more, particularly since it provides camaraderie with others, which, as noted earlier, also helps with depression.
10. Take a 10-minute walk three times a day during the winter. Many people feel depressed during the winter months, when they travel to and from work in darkness and don’t get enough natural sunlight. Physical exercise, however, encourages the release of hormones and neurochemicals that boost mood, says Richard Brown, M.D., associate professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University and coauthor of Stop Depression Now. Walking outside during the day will give you a few short doses of sunlight, also shown to boost mood, particularly in the winter.

Welcome Change
11. First thing in the morning, lie on your back with your head hanging over the edge of your bed. Grip a 5- or 10-pound dumbbell with both hands and extend it behind your head, letting your arms hang down toward the floor. Take 10 deep breaths, trying to expand your rib cage as much as possible. Bring the weight back and place it on the bed beside you. Scoot onto the bed so your head is supported, and take another 10 deep breaths. Repeat three times. The stretch will open your rib cage and chest, making it easier to take a deep breath. “The most common unrecognized source of mild depression is restricted trunk flexibility that interferes with full respiration,” says Bob Prichard, a biomechanist and director of Somax Sports in Tiburon, California. “Most people with mild depression are shallow breathers because their chest and stomach are too tight to allow full, easy breathing,” he says.
12. Drink one to two cups of coffee or tea each morning. Regular, modest caffeine intake decreases the risk of depression by more than 50 percent, says Edward J. Cumella, Ph.D., a licensed psychologist and director of research and education for the Remuda Ranch Treatment Centers in Wickenburg, Arizona.
13. Look in the mirror and force your lips into a smile. “Research shows that the physiology of smiling actually makes you feel happy,” Dr. Cumella says. If you need a little extra help in the smile department, watch a funny movie, read the comics, buy a Peanuts or Calvin and Hobbes collection, or ask a friend to tell you one joke every day.
14. Sleep in a different bedroom. Many people with depression also have insomnia. Switching your sleep location can help, says Dr. Cumella. You can also reduce insomnia by getting up at the same time every day, never napping for more than 20 minutes, shunning caffeine after 3 p.m., and relaxing for an hour before bed.
15. Go easy on yourself. When something goes wrong, resist the urge to mentally beat up on yourself. “Give yourself permission to be a human being and not a human doing,” says Karl D. La Rowe, a licensed clinical social worker and mental health investigator in Oregon. When you catch yourself mentally berating yourself for some supposed failing, replace your negative thoughts with the phrase “I am doing the best I know how to do. When I know a better way and can do it, I will.”
16. Break out of your routine today. Sometimes being stuck in a rut is just that. Get out of it and your mood may come along with you. Take a day off from work and go explore a town nearby. Go out to a restaurant for dinner — even though it’s a Tuesday night. Take a different route as you drive to work, wear something that is totally “not you,” or take your camera and go on a photography hike. For a major blue mood, consider that it might be time for you to take a vacation.
17. Get a day of vigorous outdoor recreation, like hiking, canoeing, or biking. Let the combination of nature and physical activity work their magic on your mood.

Source: http://www.rd.com/health/17-ways-to-lift-your-spirits/

8 Steps to Be Happy

2011-11-23T08:27:00.000-08:00

1) Be optimistic. In the 1970s, researchers followed people who'd won the lottery and found that a year after they'd hit the jackpot, they were no happier than the people who didn't. They called it hedonic adaptation, which suggests that we each have a baseline level of happiness. No matter what happens, good or bad, the effect on our happiness is only temporary and we tend to rebound to our baseline level. Some people have a higher baseline happiness level than others, and that can be attributed in part to genetics, but it's also largely influenced by how you think. So while the remainder of this article will help boost your happiness, only improving your attitude towards life will increase your happiness permanently. Here are some excellent starting points for doing that:

2) Follow your gut. In one study, two groups of people were asked to pick out a poster to take home. One group was asked to analyze their decision carefully, weighing the pros and cons, and the other group was told to listen to their gut. Two weeks later, the group that followed their gut was happier with their posters than the group that analyzed their decisions. Now, some of our decisions are more crucial than picking out posters, but by the time you're poring over your choice, the options you're weighing are probably very similar, and the difference will only temporarily affect your happiness. So next time you have a decision to make, and you're down to two or three options, just pick the one that feels right, and go with it. Never regret the decisions you make though. Just live by the 3 C's of life: choices chances, and changes. You need to make a choice to take a chance or your life will never change.

3) Make enough money to meet your basic needs: food, shelter, and clothing. In the US, that magic number is $40,000 a year. Any money you make beyond that will not necessarily make you happier. Remember the lottery winners mentioned earlier? Oodles of money didn't make them any happier. Once you make enough money to support your basic needs, your happiness is not significantly affected by how much money you make, but by your level of optimism.
Your comfort may increase with your salary, but comfort isn't what makes people happy. It makes people bored. That's why it's important to push beyond your comfort zone to fuel your growth as a person.

4) Stay close to friends and family: Or move to where other members are- so you can see them more.We live in a mobile society, where people follow jobs around the country and sometimes around the world. We do this because we think increases in salary will make us happier, but the fact is that our relationships with our friends and family have a far greater impact on our happiness than our jobs do. So next time you think about relocating, consider that you'd need a salary increase of over $100,000 USD to compensate for the loss of happiness you'd have from moving away from your friends and family.But if your relationships with your family and friends are unhealthy or nonexistent, and you are bent on moving, choose a location where you'll be making about the same amount of money as everyone else; according to research, people feel more financially secure (and happier) when they're on similar financial footing as the people around them, regardless of what that footing is.

5) Find happiness in the job you have now: Many people expect the right job or the right career to dramatically change their level of happiness, but happiness research makes it clear that your level of optimism and the quality of your relationships eclipse the satisfaction you gain from your job. If you have a positive outlook, you will make the best of any job, and if you have good relationships with people, you won't depend on your job to give your life a greater sense of meaning. You'll find it in your interactions with the people you care about. Now that doesn't mean you shouldn't aspire towards a job that will make you happier; it means you should understand that the capacity of your job to make you happy is quite small in comparison to your outlook on life and your relationships with people.

6) Smile: Science suggests that when you smile, whether you feel happy or not, your mood will be elevated. So smile all the time! In addition having enough money to pay the bills allows you to focus your energies on more productive aspects of your life, such as the pursuit of happiness as opposed to keeping the 'wolves from the door'.

7) Forgive: In a study of college students, it was found that an attitude of forgiveness contributed to better cardiovascular health. You could say that forgiveness literally heals your heart. While it is unknown how forgiveness directly affects your heart, the study suggests that it may lower the perception of stress.

8) Make friends who share your interests or faith: In a 2010 study by Harvard researchers published in the journal American Sociological Review, it was discovered that people who went to church regularly reported greater life satisfaction than those who didn't.
Make friends who share your interests or faith: In a 2010 study by Harvard researchers published in the journal American Sociological Review, it was discovered that people who went to church regularly reported greater life satisfaction than those who didn't. The critical factor was the quality of friendships made in church. People who went to church and didn't have any close friends there were no happier than people who never went to church. When the researchers compared people who had the same number of close friends, the ones who had close friends from church were more satisfied with their lives. It's thought that the forming of friendships based on mutual interests and beliefs (and meeting consistently based on that mutual bond) is what makes the difference, so if church itself is not your thing, consider finding something else you're deeply passionate about and making friends who you can connect with regularly based on that.
Source:http://www.wikihow.com/Be-Happy

Want to be happier? Watch the video to find out how. Brought to you by HappyShirts.Org. The song is "Heavenly Day" by Patty Griffin.

Reasons to be Happy

2011-11-10T00:55:00.003-08:00

Reasons to be Happy

Being happy is often a challenge these days and staying positive can be hard in our modern world. Here are ten reasons to be happy and stay positive minded.
1. Being Happy is who you are!
You were not designed to be sad and you were not designed to lead a miserable life. By remembering your true essence the energy of happiness will once more flow through you and enlighten you; happiness is who you are.
2. You have infinite resources

Within you are all the resources necessary for you to lead a healthy, happy and abundant life. By realigning yourself with your essential self, you will realize the immense power that you have contained within you and around you. This resource is always and always will be with you.
3. There is no such thing as isolation
You are always connected to every corner of the Universe. Your mind can communicate with all things and your Eternal Source will never leave you.
4. You get what you receive
This is not a threat, it is actually very good news. This means that when you send out love, happiness and joy into the Universe it will come back to you. You will reap what you sow and therefore, sow seeds of abundance and prosperity and watch it come back in ways you never imagined.
5. You did not create yourself
This is good news because it means you are connected to an infinite Source of love, wisdom, peace, joy, abundance, health, prosperity and more! This Source is with you always and you can call upon it whenever you wish!
6. Hard times do end
No matter how hard things appear to be, they do change. The Universe shifts in circles, spirals and cycles of change. You see this in the weather, the financial climate and the stars. This comforts you as you realize that bad situations do have a beginning and therefore and end.
7. The World is full of goodness
We always over emphasize hard times and that is because we are taught to do so. Every time you switch on the TV, you are bombarded with disaster, war, financial collapse and so on. Actually, this is just a small part of what goes on. There are people doing charity work, miracle healing, angel sightings, families coming back together and more. Seek out the good news and watch your life transform.
8. Evil is not a separate entity
Evil is not a being that walks the earth causing suffering; evil is what happens when people hurt each other, act in selfish and greedy ways and declare war. Evil is also what happens when good people watch and do nothing. This gives us all an opportunity to make positive lasting change in this world.
9. You have a passion
There is a reason why you are here; there is a passion within you that needs to express itself and needs to create. You brought this passion with you when you came here. Find your passion and find your purpose.
10. You are a vital part of the Universe
The Universe needs every one of us as the sea needs every drop and the beached need every grain of sand. Stand tall and be happy that you are loved and respected for who you are!
Source: http://www.articleoutlook.com