Hello friends,

This article is by Celestine Chua (celestinechua.com) Enjoy.

42 Practical Ways To Improve Yourself

Are you someone who likes to grow?  Do you constantly seek to improve yourself and become better? If you do, then we have something in common. I’m very passionate about personal growth. It was just 4 years ago when I discovered my passion for growing and helping others grow.  At that time, I was 22 and in my final year of university. As I thought about the meaning of life, I realized there was nothing more meaningful than to pursue a life of development and betterment. It is through improving ourselves that we get the most out of life. After 1.5 years of actively pursuing growth and helping others to grow through my personal development blog, I realize there is never an end to the journey of self improvement. The more I grow, the more I realize there is so much out there I don’t know, so much that I have to learn.  For sure, there is always something about ourselves we can improve on. The human potential is limitless, so it’s impossible to reach a point of no growth. Whenever we think we are good, we can be even better. As a passionate advocate of growth, I’m continuously looking for ways to self-improve. I’ve compiled 42 of my best tips which might be helpful in your personal growth journey. Some of them are simple steps which you can engage in immediately. Some are bigger steps which take conscious effort to act on. Here they are: Read a book every day. Books are concentrated sources of wisdom. The more books you read, the more wisdom you expose yourself to. What are some books you can start reading to enrich yourself?  Some books I’ve read and found useful are Think and Grow Rich, Who Moved My Cheese, 7 Habits, The Science of Getting Rich and Living the 80/20 Way. I’ve heard positive reviews for The Tipping Point, Outliers and The Difference Maker, so I’ll be checking them out soon.   Learn a new language. As a Singaporean Chinese, my main languages are English, Mandarin and Hokkien (a Chinese dialect). Out of interest, I took up language courses in the past few years such as Japanese and Bahasa Indonesian. I realized learning a language is a whole new skill altogether and the process of acquainting with a new language and culture is a totally a mind-opening experience.   Pick up a new hobby. Beyond just your usual favorite hobbies, is there something new you can pick up? Any new sport you can learn? Examples are fencing, golf, rock climbing, football, canoeing, or ice skating.  Your new hobby can also be a recreational hobby. For example, pottery, Italian cooking, dancing, wine appreciation, web design, etc. Learning something new requires you to stretch yourself in different aspects, whether physically, mentally or emotionally.   Take up a new course. Is there any new course you can join? Courses are a great way to gain new knowledge and skills. It doesn’t have to be a long-term course – seminars or workshops serve their purpose too. I’ve been to a few workshops and they have helped me gain new insights which I had not considered before.   Create an inspirational room. Your environment sets the mood and tone for you. If you are living in an inspirational environment, you are going to be inspired every day.  In the past, I didn’t like my room at all because I thought it was messy and dull. A few years ago, I decided this was the end of it – I started on a “Mega Room Revamp” project and overhauled my room. The end result? A room I totally relish being in and one that inspires me to be at my peak every day.   Overcome your fears. All of us have fears. Fear of uncertainty, fear of public speaking, fear of risk… All our fears keep us in the same position and prevent us from growing. Recognize that your fears reflect areas where you can grow.  I always think of fears as the compass for growth. If I have a fear about something, it represents something I’ve yet to address, and addressing it helps me to grow.   Level up your skills. If you have played video games before, especially RPGs, you’ll know the concept of leveling up – gaining experience so you can be better and stronger. As a blogger, I’m constantly leveling up my writing skills. As a speaker, I’m constantly leveling up my public engagement abilities.  What skills can you level up?   Wake up early. Waking up early (say 5-6 am) has been acknowledged by many (Anthony Robbins, Robin Sharma, and other self-help gurus) to improve your productivity and your quality of life. I feel it’s because when you wake up early, your mindset is already set to continue the momentum and proactively live out the day.  Seth recently wrote a waking up early series which you should check out to help cultivate this habit.   Have a weekly exercise routine. A better you starts with being in better physical shape. I personally make it a point to jog at least 3 times a week, at least 30 minutes each time. You may want to mix it up with jogging, gym lessons and swimming for variation.   Start your life handbook. A life handbook is an idea I started 3 years ago. Basically, it’s a book which contains the essentials on how you can live your life to the fullest, such as your purpose, your values and goals. Sort of like your manual for your life. I started my life handbook in 2007 and it’s been a crucial enabler in my progress.   Write a letter to your future self. What do you see yourself as 5 years from now? Will you be the same? Different? What kind of person will you be?  Write a letter to your future self – 1 year from now will be a good start – and seal it. Make a date in your calendar to open it 1 year from now. Then start working to become the person you want to open that letter.   Get out of your comfort zone. Real growth comes with hard work and sweat. Being too comfortable doesn’t help us grow – it makes us stagnate.  What is your comfort zone? Do you stay in most of the time? Do you keep to your own space when out with other people? Shake your routine up. Do something different. By exposing yourself to a new context, you’re literally growing as you learn to act in new circumstances.   Put someone up to a challenge. Competition is one of the best ways to grow. Set a challenge (weight loss, exercise, financial challenge, etc) and compete with an interested friend to see who achieves the target first. Through the process, both of you will gain more than if you were to set off on the target alone.   Identify your blind spots. Scientifically, blind spots refer to areas our eyes are not capable of seeing. In personal development terms, blind spots are things about ourselves we are unaware of. Discovering our blind spots will help us discover our areas of improvement.  One exercise I use to discover my blind spots is to identify all the things/events/people that trigger me in a day – trigger meaning making me feel annoyed/weird/affected. These represent my blind spots. It’s always fun to do the exercise because I discover new things about myself, even if I may already think I know my own blind spots — but then they wouldn’t be blind spots would they?   After that, I work on steps to address them.   Ask for feedback. As much as we try to improve, we will always have blind spots. Asking for feedback gives us an additional perspective. Some people to approach will be friends, family, colleagues, boss, or even acquaintances, since they will have no preset bias and can give their feedback objectively.   Stay focused with to-do lists. I start my day with a list of tasks I want to complete and this helps make me stay focused. In comparison, the days when I don’t do this end up being extremely unproductive.  For example, part of my to-do list for today is to write a guest post at LifeHack.Org, and this is why I’m writing this now! Since my work requires me to use my computer all the time, I use Free Sticky Notes to manage my to-do lists. It’s really simple to use and it’s a freeware, so I recommend you check it out.   Set Big Hairy Audacious Goals (BHAGs). I’m a big fan of setting BHAGs. BHAGs stretch you beyond your normal capacity since they are big and audacious – you wouldn’t think of attempting them normally. What are BHAGs you can embark on, which you’ll feel absolutely on top of the world once you complete them? Set them and start working on them.   Acknowledge your flaws. Everyone has flaws. What’s most important is to understand them, acknowledge them, and address them. What do you think are your flaws? What are the flaws you can work on now? How do you want to address them? Get into action. The best way to learn and improve is to take action. What is something you have been meaning to do? How can you take action on it immediately? Waiting doesn’t get anything done. Taking action gives you immediate results to learn from.   Learn from people who inspire you. Think about people you admire. People who inspire you. These people reflect certain qualities you want to have for yourself too. What are the qualities in them you want to have for yourself? How can you acquire these qualities?   Quit a bad habit. Are there any bad habits you can lose? Oversleeping? Not exercising? Being late? Slouching? Nail biting? Smoking? Here’s some help on how you can quit a bad habit. That’s the first 21 out of the way. Take a deep breath and get ready to dive in for 21 more!   Cultivate a new habit. Some good new habits to cultivate include reading books (#1), waking up early (#8), exercising (#9), reading a new personal development article a day (#40) and meditating. Is there any other new habit you can cultivate to improve yourself?   Avoid negative people. As Jim Rohn says, “You are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with”. Wherever we go, there are bound to be negative people. Don’t spend too much of your time around them if you feel they drag you down.   Learn to deal with difficult people. There are times when there are difficult people you can’t avoid, such as at your workplace, or when the person is part of your inner circle of contacts. Learn how to deal with them. These people management skills will go a long way in working with people in the future.   Learn from your friends. Everyone has amazing qualities in them. It’s up to us how we want to tap into them. With all the friends who surround you, they are going to have things you can learn from.  Try thinking of a good friend right now. Think about just one quality they have which you want to adopt. How can you learn from them and adopt this skill for yourself? Speak to them if you need to – for sure, they will be more than happy to help!   Start a journal. Journaling is a great way to gain better self-awareness. It’s a self-reflection process. As you write, clarify your thought process and read what you wrote from a third person’s perspective, you gain more insights about yourself. Your journal can be private or an online blog. I use my personal development blog as a personal journal too and I’ve learned a lot about myself through the past year of blogging.   Start a blog about personal development. To help others grow, you need to first be talking the talk. There are expectations of you, both from yourself and from others, which you have to uphold.  I run The Personal Excellence Blog, where I share my personal journey and insights on how to live a better life. Readers look toward my articles to improve themselves, which enforces to me that I need to keep improving, for myself and for the people I’m reaching out to.   Get a mentor or coach. There’s no faster way to improve than to have someone work with you on your goals. Many of my clients approach me to coach them in their goals and they achieve significantly more results than if they had worked alone.   Reduce the time you spend on chat programs. I realized having chat programs open at default result in a lot of wasted time. This time can be much better spent on other activities. The days when I don’t get on chat, I get a lot more done. I usually disable the auto start-up option in the chat programs and launch them when I do want to chat and really have the time for it.   Learn chess (or any strategy game). I found chess is a terrific game to learn strategy and hone your brainpower. Not only do you have fun, you also get to exercise your analytical skills. You can also learn strategy from other board games or computer games, such as Othello, Chinese Chess, WarCraft, and so on.   Stop watching TV. I’ve not been watching TV for pretty much 4 years and it’s been a very liberating experience. I realized most of the programs and advertisements on mainstream TV are usually of a lower consciousness and not very empowering.  In return, the time I’ve freed up from not watching TV is now constructively used for other purposes, such as connecting with close friends, doing work I enjoy, exercising, etc.   Start a 30-day challenge. Set a goal and give yourself 30 days to achieve this. Your goal can be to stick with a new habit or try something you’ve always wanted to do. 30 days is just enough time to strategize, plan, get into action, review and nail the goal.   Meditate. Meditation helps to calm you and help you become more conscious. I also realized that during the nights when I meditate (before I sleep), I need lesser sleep. The clutter clearing process is very liberating.   Join Toastmasters (Learn public speaking). Interestingly, public speaking is the #1 fear in the world, with #2 being death. After I started public speaking as a personal development speaker/trainer, I’ve learned a lot about how to communicate better, present myself and engage people. Toastmasters is an international organization that trains people in public speaking. Check out the Toastmaster clubs nearest to you.   Befriend top people in their fields. These people have achieved their results because they have the right attitudes, skill sets and know-how. How better to learn than from the people who have been there and done that? Gain new insights from them on how you can improve and achieve similar results for yourself.   Let go of the past. Is there any grievance or unhappiness from the past which you have been holding on? If so, it’s time to let it go. Holding on prevents you from moving forward and becoming a better person. Break away from the past, forgive yourself, and move on.  Just recently, I finally moved on from a past heartbreak of 5 years ago. The effect was liberating and very empowering, and I have never been happier.   Start a business venture. Is there anything you have an interest in? Why not turn it into a venture and make money while learning at the same time?  Starting a new venture requires you to learn business management skills, develop business acumen and have a competitive edge. The process of starting and developing my personal development business has equipped me with many skills, such as self-discipline, leadership, organization and management.   Show kindness to people around you. You can never be too kind to someone. In fact, most of us don’t show enough kindness to people around us. Being kind helps us to cultivate other qualities such as compassion, patience, and love.  As you get back to your day after reading this article, start exuding more kindness to the people around you, and see how they react. Not only that, notice how you feel as you behave kindly to others. Chances are, you will feel even better than you usually do.   Reach out to the people who hate you. If you ever stand for something, you are going to get haters. It’s easy to hate the people who hate us. It’s much more challenging to love them back. Being able to forgive, let go and show love to these people requires magnanimity and an open heart.  Is there anyone who dislikes or hates you in your life? If so, reach out to them. Show them love. Seek a resolution and get closure on past grievances. Even if they refuse to reciprocate, love them all the same. It’s much more liberating than to hate them back.   Take a break. Have you been working too hard? Self-improvement is also about recognizing the need to take a break in order to be able to walk the longer mile ahead. You can’t be driving a car if it has no petrol.  Take some time off for yourself every week. Relax, rejuvenate and charge yourself up for what’s ahead.   Read at least 1 personal development article a day. Some of my readers make it a point to read at least one personal development article every day, which I think is a great habit. There are many terrific personal development blogs out there worth reading.   Commit to your personal growth. I can be writing list articles with 10 ways, 25 ways, 42 ways or even 1,000 ways to improve yourself, but if you’ve no intention to commit to your personal growth, it doesn’t matter what I write. Nothing is going to get through.  We are each responsible for our own personal growth – not anyone else. Not your mom, your dad, your friend, me or anyone else. Make the decision to commit to your personal growth and embrace a life-long journey of growth and change. Kick things off by picking a few of the steps above and working on them. The results may not be immediate, but I promise you that as long as you keep to it, you’ll start seeing positive changes in yourself and your life.

By Celestine.

Celestine Chua

“To put away aimlessness and weakness, and to begin to think with purpose, is to enter the ranks of those… who think strongly, attempt fearlessly, and accomplish masterfully.”

James Allen

Don’t Take a Chance on Luck
By PJ McClure

I couldn’t help but listen in. RB, an upperclassman, was reveling in his “accomplishment” over the weekend.

“We found a gate into the pasture and drove out toward where they were sleeping,” he said, lowering his voice. “The first one woke up and ran off, just as we got close. We were trying to be quiet, but it was hard because we were laughing so hard! I think the final count was 15, and I was worn out. Pushing over that many cows is harder than you think!”

That’s right, RB had been cow-tipping. As the son of a dairy farmer, his story was especially interesting to me. That same weekend, I had spent an hour rounding up cows that had escaped through an open gate we never used. My dad called the veterinarian out, because 11 of the cows were obviously hurt and had blood in their milk. Turns out they had broken ribs and had to be removed from production. And for our small operation, those cows represented 14 percent of our producing herd.

More than 20 years later, I’m still blown away when I think about RB and his involvement in this idiotic pastime. How could he have been so shortsighted and selfish? His family owned the most successful dairy operation in the area. As a dairyman, he should have had a greater appreciation for what those big, dumb animals represented… cash and our way of life.

But now, after a decade of studying how people achieve and sustain personal success, I better understand RB’s actions. He lacked two of the critical factors necessary for a successful mindset:gratitude and purpose.

Without gratitude, without an appreciation for what is good and right about our own lives, we are unlikely to be sensitive to how our actions impact others. RB wasn’t grateful for his own lifestyle, so how could he have an appreciation for anyone else’s?

RB found that out the hard way when his family’s multimillion-dollar farm went broke within three years of his taking over. In the aftermath, he realized how self-centered he had been. I know that, because he applied for a job in the business unit I was running at the time. He shared his personal revelation with me and told me that he hoped to make a new start.

After some soul searching, I passed RB and two other candidates on to our company president. RB got the nod. For the next two months, I coached him. And though he was sincere in his attempt to take control of his life, I still needed to continually prod and motivate him to stay on track.

RB’s absence of purpose was just as fundamental to his old mindset as his lack of gratitude. I’m not just talking about some transcendental concept of purpose, but about a practical, down-to-earth purpose. “Why am I doing this and what do I hope to gain?” Answering that question brings focus and meaning to our lives. Without the answer, without a purpose for our actions, good decisions are accidents.

By asking RB some very pointed questions — by digging in with one “Why is that important?” question after another — I finally got him to the core of why he was starting over.

It was an emotional moment. RB actually cried.

The bigger the task or opportunity in front of us, the bigger our purpose for taking it on has to be. RB was uprooting his family, moving to a big city, starting a brand-new career… but hadn’t figured out why.

Before I started coaching him, he assumed he was doing it to make more money. But money, by itself, is never a strong enough motivator. As it turned out, it wasn’t even in RB’s top five of what was really important to him.

With his new found appreciation for life and a supremely powerful purpose for what he was trying to accomplish, RB became my most valuable colleague in less than six months. He made decisions quickly, accurately, and in alignment with what mattered most to the company. Our business unit grew from $600,000 per year to $8,000,000 during his first full year, and he had a big hand in that growth. He took over for me when I left the company, and was eventually recruited by our largest competitor.

At home, he made a similar transition, instilling in his wife and children the same principles I taught him.

One of his children was a 2010 Winter Olympian, and she considers “What my dad taught me about how to think” to be her biggest competitive asset. That makes me proud.

So, what were the keys to RB’s transformation from cow-tipping redneck to poster boy for success?

• A wake-up call. This is usually caused by an event that causes so much pain that you can’t ignore your need for change — but you can generate your own wake-up call with a little personal awareness.
• Gratitude. Being grateful is actually easier when the chips are down. When all of the things we take for granted are disappearing or gone, we give our attention to what is left. The trick is to maintain gratitude for what we have, while we have it.
• Purpose. It seems so fundamental… but how often do we set a goal, take on a task, or engage in an activity without knowing what we want to accomplish? Having purpose is one of the greatest keys to eliminating disappointment and increasing fulfillment in life.
• A mentor. I had the great privilege of being just the right person at just the right time for RB — but there is more at work here than good timing. First make up your mind that you are ready to learn and grow. When the student is ready, the teacher will appear.
• Never stop learning. Become a lifelong learner. Maintain a healthy sense of humility and fascination with the world. You never know where your next wonderful lesson may come from.

[Ed. Note: To understand how to achieve and sustain success long-term, check out PJ McClure's groundbreaking coaching program, The Mindset Formula. PJ is also offering 20 free videos about the Six Elements of Personal Choice and how you can build your foundational mindset for lifelong success. Check them out here.

PJ is a veteran of Early to Rise's 5 Days in July Internet Business-Building Conference. Come to this year's 5 Days in July Conference with nothing -- no website, no products, and no experience or technical knowledge -- and you'll leave with your own Internet business. Find out more about this event -- and sign up for updates and the chance to get in at the introductory price when it is launched –here.]

From Early to Rise Newsletter

My wife and I decided we were going to leave our Eastern Washington home and spend some time with our respective families but there was one problem. Our rv we had been living in. My father wanted us to just have the bank repo it because of the cost of moving it and the payments we would still face. He checked and found that the value was about 6000 dollars less than what we owed. This is when we put the Law of Attraction to work. We sent our intentions to sell this rv for what we owed plus 1500 cash. Kat was skeptical until we had a gentleman come by to look at it. He seemed very interested, but our credit union wouldn’t let him take over the payments because he wasn’t eligible for membership. A couple of days went by and there was no word from him, and in the meantime we received several other calls, and I turned in my notice at work figuring we had about a month to sell. The next day I received a call from him asking if we had sold it yet, and I replied, “no”, and he stated. “you have now, I got the loan from my bank”. It turns out we got 800 dollars to boot and we were very happy to sell the place. Our parents said it was an answer to prayer. I agree. Now off to the next manifestation.

Peace and Namaste friends.

Mark Victor Hansen and his friend, Jack Canfield, had an idea to write a book of short stories that would touch the souls of many people. After the book was written the title seemed to be not quite right. So he went into meditation and asked for guidance about a title. He wanted the book to be special, to captivate the imagination of the public, so the title was critical. He went to bed each night with the phrase in his mind: “Mega bestseller”.

 What Do You Do When You Are Turned Down 134 Times?

After a few days, Hanson woke up with the phrase “Chicken Soup” in his mind. He didn’t understand until he remembered that his mom had always made him chicken soup when he was sick. After more contemplation, the final title was born: “Chicken Soup for the Soul”. Everybody he shared this title with got goose bumps almost instantly.

However, even though a major breakthrough had been achieved with the title, bills were piling up, and his spouse got more nervous with each passing day. The title was there but the book was not selling. How could they continue to promote the book to publishers when real life was intruding so heavily?

Hansen received over 33 rejection letters even though he was not an unknown in his field. In the following weeks, he was turned down by 134 more publishers. Finally, a small printing company agreed to take on the project if the authors agreed to buy the first 20,000 copies!

Well, what are you going to do if this is your dream? You just keep the faith and keep on doing it. Hansen and Canfield agreed to buy the first 20,000 copies themselves, and the book hit the market in 1994. It did not make it to the first bestseller list until 14 month later. During all that time, the two men ceaselessly promoted the book by their own efforts.

Guess What Happened Next?
The book became the greatest top-selling success story in the history of nonfiction books with over 100 million books in print and over a billion dollars in combined sales!

 Your Dreams – The Source Of Infinite Power

If you love what you do, you can never fail! Why? Because you will never run out of juice. You will always be motivated. During the inevitable times when you are discouraged, you will find a way to simply acknowledge the state you find yourself in, take a break, and the juice will be back in no time. If you live your talents you will be empowered by the universal source—a source that is beyond your wildest imagination, and it is of infinite supply.

No argument can make you stop doing what you love to do. Many people have wonderful reasons for what they do and for what they want to accomplish. These reasons are as varied and personal as anything in the universe. If you take away these reasons and ideas, people fall into a black hole because there is then no longer any substance behind their reality—their dreams have been cut off at the source.

If there is only one important thing in your life, then surely it must be this: to find and live your dreams. Don’t waste any more time doing things you don’t like. Yes, you are taking a risk, but you will never want to go back once you have make this choice.

Story from Thomas Herold of Dream Manifesto

People are beginning to realize and embrace the interconnectedness and unity of race and gender. This has been helped along by social networking which has nurtured views of the world through very different eyes. Each culture allows us to learn how we are both different and the same. As different as we are, our similarity is that we are all made of energy. The same energy that makes up happiness, gratitude, money, stuff, etc. Let us all be honest, sincere, creative, and live the life we are meant to live. We have the power to do so.

Image judys mosiac supplies, Flickr.com

Peace and Namaste friends.

“Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill was published in 1937 during the height of the Great Depression. It was inspired by billionaire Andrew Carnegie, who at that time, was one of the richest men in the country. This book has sold over 30 million copies and its words are just as valuable today as they were in the 30′s. This book has been responsible for creating literally millions of millionaires. I personally recommend reading.

Here is an excerpt from “Think and Grow Rich” covering six essential steps for creating wealth.

1. Be definite as to the amount.
2. Determine exactly what you intend to give in return for the money you desire.
3. Establish a definite date when you intend to possess the money you desire
4. Create a definite plan.
5. Write a clear statement of the amount, name the time limit, what you intend to give in return, and describe the plan.
6. Read statement aloud twice daily. At bedtime and wake time.

As you read, see, and feel, believe you are already in possession of the money you seek.

Peace and Namaste friends

I’ve got a feeling, JW, that 2010 is going to be your kind of year. That you’ll be happier than you’ve ever been, laughing harder, smiling wider, standing taller, walking lighter, dancing crazier, hugging longer, living grander, loving louder, and if you want, selling the pictures to a tabloid to raise money for your new charity.

Can you feel it, too? 
    The Universe

P.S.

And, JW, you’re going to remember this email when Ellen’s interviewing you, right after you both dance like spring chickens, sitting on her couch, in front of 14 million viewers, and you’re going to tell her, “First, I got this Note from the Universe about hugging longer and loving louder… That’s RIGHT!!!! T U T dot C O M! You got the same one?”

 From tut.com

“He who cannot give anything away cannot feel anything either.”

- Friedrich Nietzsche

The Science of Giving

By Alexander Green

A few months ago, I received a phone call from George Rupp.

Rupp is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the International Rescue Committee (IRC). Founded by Albert Einstein, the IRC serves refugees and communities victimized by oppression or violent conflict. When thousands run from natural disasters, war, or repression, the IRC is there, providing food and water, shelter, healthcare, and education.

Every Thanksgiving for the past few years, I’ve been sending Oxford Club members a letter reminding them how incredibly rich our lives are and asking them to remember the IRC, the world’s recognized leader in humanitarian emergencies.

I had never heard of George Rupp, however, until I got that phone call. “I’m just calling to let you know how much you’ve inspired us – our whole organization – with your letter,” he said.

Embarrassed, I mumbled something in response.

“We’re planning to read it to Tom Brokaw and the other directors at the annual board meeting Wednesday. We’d also like to turn it into a national fundraising letter. Would that be all right with you?”

All right? I felt like I’d just been injected with 100 mL of pure dopamine. I love the IRC. I love sharing its mission.

By the time I got off the phone, my wife said I was acting so goofy I might as well take the rest of the day off. When I walked outside, the sky was bluer, the neighbor’s dog was friendlier, and the birds, I was sure, were singing in counterpoint. It was a weird feeling, really, and it left me scratching my head.

But now I’m beginning to understand it. New scientific studies show that we’re actually hardwired to feel good – and live longer – by helping others.

Dr. Stephen Post, a professor of bioethics at Case Western Reserve University’s School of Medicine, says, “The remarkably good news is that, over the past ten years, we have about five hundred serious scientific studies that demonstrate the power of [generosity] to enhance health.”

You’ve always known that giving is its own reward. Now science has discovered a slew of side benefits as well.

Here are just a few key findings:

• Those who start giving in high school usually experience better physical and mental health over the next 50 years.

• Giving reduces mortality later in life too. People who volunteer for two or more organizations have a 44 percent lower likelihood of dying – and that’s after sifting out other significant factors like age, gender, marital status, frequency of exercise, smoking habits, etc.

• Giving generates a sense of inner freedom, serenity, and peace that affects the quality of life.

• Giving reduces adolescent depression and suicide risk.

• Giving helps us forgive ourselves, promoting a sense of well-being and greater self-esteem.

• Giving reduces negative emotions, like spite, rage, and envy, that contribute to stress-induced psychological and physical ailments.

• And Columbia University psychologist Eva Midlarksy has found that through giving we gain a greater sense of meaning in our lives, cope better with our own stress by shifting our focus to others, feel more socially connected, enjoy a greater sense of competence and effectiveness, and are more likely to live an active lifestyle.

Not bad. And there are many ways to give. Money, of course, is how most organizations get things done. But there are effective ways to donate your time, as well:

Volunteer. According to Doug Oman of the University of California at Berkeley, “Volunteering is associated with substantial reductions in mortality.”

Create a Network of Giving. Find others who are isolated or ignored and invite them to join you. Studies show that all of you are likely to benefit.

Become a Mentor. Nothing is more beneficial to the young than connecting with a caring adult who inspires them.

Pass the Torch. As an older adult, you have accumulated a lifetime of wisdom and experience. Recognize your own value – and share it with others.

Biologist David Sloan Wilson says, “We have said since millennia – in fact, this has been a fundamental tenet of religion – that if you do good things, it will reflect back to you, not immediately, not every time, but in general. This is a deeply entrenched notion.”

And now science is confirming it.

Giving is a simple act. Yet studies show that generous behavior may do more to protect and extend your health than vitamin supplements, green tea, fish oil, or an aspirin a day.

Each of us is flawed in a hundred ways. But giving redeems us. It ennobles us. It helps us create a better version of ourselves.

In his book Why Good Things Happen to Good People Dr. Post writes, “You wish to be happy? Loved? Safe? Secure? You want to turn to others in tough times and count on them? You want the warmth of true connection? You’d like to walk into the world each day knowing that this is a place of benevolence and hope? Then I have one answer: Give. Give daily, in small ways, and you will be happier. Give and you will be healthier. Give and you will even live longer.”

[Ed. Note: Happiness is well within your reach. Learn how you can make your life richer - in both senses of the word - right here.

And be sure to join Alexander Green, Chairman of Investment U and Investment Director of The Oxford Club, as he tackles some of life's more difficult challenges in his free, twice-weekly e-letter Spiritual Wealth. Sign up here.]

This article appears courtesy of Early To Rise, the Internet’s most popular health, wealth, and success e-zine. For a complimentary subscription, visit http://www.earlytorise.com.

The key to love is understanding…
The ability to comprehend not only the spoken word,
But those unspoken gestures,
The little things that say so much by themselves.

The key to love is forgiveness…
To accept each others faults and pardon mistakes,
Without forgetting, but with remembering
What you learn from them.

The key to love is sharing…
Facing your good fortunes as well as the bad, together;
Both conquering problems,forever searching for ways
To intensify your happiness.

The key to love is giving…
Without thought of return,
But with the hope of a simple smile,
And by giving in but never giving up.

The key to love is respect…
Realizing that you are two separate people, with different
Ideas; that you don’t belong to each other,
That you belong with each other, and share a mutual bond.

The key to love is inside us all…
It takes time and patience to unlock all the ingredients that
Will take you to its threshold;
It is the continual learning process that demands a lot of
Work…but the rewards are more than worth the effort…
And that is the key to love.
(author unknown)

Posted by Serene Wright on Spirit Path

http://spiritpath.ning.com/forum/topic/show?id=916990%3ATopic%3A93133

Hello friends,

I found this article in some of my notes, and I’m sorry that I don’t know who wrote it, therefore I cannot cite the creator. If anyone knows of the author please let me know, and I will give them proper credit.

All of us know that laughter gives us the warm fuzzies, but fail to see the therapeutic value laughter brings. I was at the grocery store on a cold day, and there was an elderly woman standing next to me at the deli counter. She placed her hands on the warm glass, and as we both looked at each other, we started to laugh as she said, “Yes, I am trying to get warm.”

The story below touches base on some of the fundamentals of our greatest gift; the ability to laugh.

Enjoy

Peace and Namaste

Belly Laughs

As children, we laugh hundreds of times each day, delighted by the newness of living. When we reach adulthood, however, we tend to not allow ourselves to let go in a good belly laugh. Inviting laughter back into our lives is simply a matter of making the conscious decision to laugh. Though most of us are incited to laugh only when exposed to humor or the unexpected, each of us is capable of laughing at will. A laugh that comes from the belly carries with it the same positive effects whether prompted by a funny joke or consciously willed into existence. When our laughter comes from the core of our being, it permeates every cell in our physical selves, beginning in the center and radiating outward, until we are not merely belly laughing but rather body laughing.
Laughter has been a part of the human mode of expression since before evolution granted us the art of speech. Through it, we connected with allies while demonstrating our connection with people we didn’t know. In the present, laughter allows us to enjoy positive shared experiences with strangers and loved ones alike. Yet solitary laughter carries with it its own slew of benefits. An energetic and enthusiastic bout of whole-body laughter exercises the muscles, the lungs, and the mind in equal measure, leaving us feeling relaxed and content. When we laugh heartily at life’s ridiculousness instead of responding irritably, our focus shifts. Anger, stress, guilt, and sadness no longer wield any influence over us, and we are
empowered to make light of what we originally feared. Laughter also opens our hearts, letting love and light in, changing our perspective, and enabling us to fix our attention on what is positive in our lives.
It is easy to laugh when we feel good, but it is when the world appears dim that we most need laughter in our lives. Our laughter then resonates through our hearts, filling the empty spaces with pure, unadulterated joy. We regain our footing in the moment and remember that no sorrow is powerful enough to rob us of our inborn happiness. When we understand that uninhibited laughter is the food of the soul, nourishing us from within, we know instinctively that life is worthwhile.