Love Yourself First!

The Daily Love

via Visual Inspiration: Love Yourself First!.

American Minute for December 19th

Valley-Forge

Driven into Pennsylvania by the British, the Continental Army set up camp at Valley Forge, DECEMBER 19, 1777, just 25 miles from British occupied Philadelphia.

Lacking food and supplies, soldiers died at the rate of twelve per day.

Of 11,000 soldiers, 2,500 died of cold, hunger and disease.

A Committee from Congress reported “feet and legs froze till they became black, and it was often necessary to amputate them.”

Soldiers were there from every State in the new union, some as young as 12, others as old as 60, and though most were white, some were African American and American Indians.

Quaker farmer Isaac Potts observed General Washington kneeling in prayer in the snow.

Hessian Major Carl Leopold Baurmeister noted the only thing that kept the American army from disintegrating was their “spirit of liberty.”

In a letter written to John Banister, Washington recorded:

“To see men without clothes to cover their nakedness, without blankets to lay on, without shoes, by which their marches might be traced by the blood from their feet…

and at Christmas taking up their…quarters within a day’s march of the enemy…is a mark of patience and obedience which in my opinion can scarce be paralleled.”

via American Minute for December 19th.

Set a Deadline For Task Completion

30sec Tip: Set a Deadline For Task Completion..

 

How to set goals that will actually make you happy

Me, Myself, and I

AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com

via Me, Myself, and I.

What Factory Farms Are Doing to Fish

You might think this is a departure from my normal fare, but it’s all related to quality of life — especially if you live in a rural area like I do:

What to do with animal poop? It’s a question that plagues organic and factory farmers alike, and in areas with lots of factory farms (also called concentrated animal-feeding operations, or CAFOs), animal manure is accused of adding high levels of nitrogen and phosphorous to nearby waterways, robbing them of oxygen and killing the fish that call them home.

Animal-farm owners have attempted to solve the problem by selling all that manure off to farmers, who can apply the nutrient-rich manure from CAFOs to their fields as fertilizer. But in doing so, the farmers introduce another problem to the beleaguered streams, according to a new study in Environmental Science & Technology—that of too many hormones.

Full story at:  What Factory Farms Are Doing to Fish | Rodale News.

Our county only has about 20,000 people but thanks to the factory farms in our area, the county has a ‘poop equvalent’ of a city of 1.3 million people as cattle alone produce the effluent of 43 humans. There’s a double whammy for us here in Kewaunee County as a large part of our economy depends on sport fishing during the summer [we are the salmon and trout capital of the Great Lakes here in Algoma]. Concerned citizens need to ask if factory farms or CAFOs are killing a huge segment of the local economy [in addition to all the other damage they are doing] while lining their own pockets. Unconcerned citizens need to wake up!

5 peeps 1 guitar [and other hot videos]

YouTube Rewind 2012

Happy anniversary to us…

24 years ago today my wife and son and I were married in Zephyr Cove, Nevada and that has made all the difference in my world. I ask you, how could I have resisted this package?

CJ and Keegan

Mistletoe Kissing Prank to Make Your Heart Flutter

Mistletoe Kissing Prank to Make Your Heart Flutter | FinerMinds.

Thanks for sharing this, David…

Live & Learn's avatarLive & Learn

Portrait, Woman, Face, Black and White

“You don’t know anyone at the party, so you don’t want to go. You don’t like cottage cheese, so you haven’t eaten it in years. This is your choice, of course, but don’t kid yourself: it’s also the flinch.

Your personality is not set in stone. You may think a morning coffee is the most enjoyable thing in the world, but it’s really just a habit. Thirty days without it, and you would be fine. You think you have a soul mate, but in fact you could have had any number of spouses. You would have evolved differently, but been just as happy.

You can change what you want about yourself at any time. You see yourself as someone who can’t write or play an instrument, who gives in to temptation or makes bad decisions, but that’s really not you. It’s not ingrained. It’s not your personality. Your personality is…

View original post 297 more words

How Reality Works

Craig Harper says:

The Brief Version..

1. Stuff happens (to you, around you).

2. You tell yourself a story about the stuff.

3. Your story gives the stuff meaning and power (in your mind).

4. Your belief in (and response to) the story becomes your self-created reality.

What kind of stories are you telling?

via How Reality Works.

The best of ‘what I see’ for 12/17/2012

  1. Ask someone else how he knows when he’s done a good job.  For some people, the proof comes from outside.  The boss pats you on the back and says your work was great.  You get a raise.  You win a big award.  Your work is noticed and applauded by your peers.  When you get that sort of external approval, you know your work is good.  That’s an external frame of reference. For others, the proof comes from inside.  They “just know inside” when they’ve done well.
  2. And therein lies the answer.  If you aren’t growing, you are dying.  It turns out that happiness that is true and lasting is quite simply this: progress.  Progress = Happiness! If you are growing, and giving, you will be happy.  If you are moving forward in your life, if you are progressing personally, professionally, emotionally, spiritually—you will be happy.  It is only in stagnation that we wilt like a flower.
  3. It references once again Dr. Newberg’s theory that “the right words spoken in the right way can bring us love, money, and respect, while the wrong words – or even the right words spoken in the wrong way – can lead a country to war.”
  4. Codependent couples are usually out-of-balance. Frequently, there are struggles for power and control. There may be an imbalance of power or one partner has taken on responsibilities for the other. They’re often anxious and resentful and feel guilty and responsible for their partner’s feelings and moods. Then they try to control one another to feel okay and get their needs met. Rather than respect each other’s separateness and individuality, they can’t tolerate disagreement and blame one another for causing their problems without taking responsibility for themselves. Sometimes, what they dislike in their partner is the very thing they can’t accept in themselves. Despite their pain, they can feel trapped in the relationship because they fear that they can function on their own. Their mutual codependency and insecurity also make intimacy threatening, since being honest and known risks rejection or dissolution of their fragile self.
  5. jackiedumaine
    @toddlohenry GREAT! Thanks for this Todd (and love the John Lennon quote).
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    Don’t take praise OR blame personally! Define yourself from within! bit.ly/U6MSr1

recite-17859--1442384712-1dripfl

New Year’s Stupidity

feat-craigharper.pngCraig Harper writes:

Waiting…

Despite the fact that New Year’s Resolutions rarely lead to lasting change, millions of Australians [and Americans for that matter. ed.] will sit on their hands for the next two weeks waiting for January 1 to roll around so they can magically change their lives. Good grief. What a stupid habit. We wouldn’t take a drug that failed 98% of the time, so why are we so committed to such an ineffective and irrational ritual? Authentic and lasting transformation has everything to do with courage, commitment, attitude and resilience and nothing to do with some number on a calendar.

Tell someone to start their new program (diet, gym regime, running program, etc.) on December 30 (for example) and they’ll look at you like you’re a total idiot. Why on earth would anyone do that? Tell that same person to start two days later (the day with an overwhelming failure rate) and they’ll enthusiastically nod in agreement because the first day of the new year is the ‘right day’ to start.

Wow.

As my dad says; never let the facts get in the way of a good story.

Here’s a crazy idea… if you’re serious about changing some aspect of your reality, then start your journey of transformation now. Stop looking for comfort, convenience and cop-outs and simply do what success demands – today. Forget about the calendar, tradition and the expectations of others and stop giving yourself an escape clause.” via New Year’s Stupidity.

You’ll Make It When You Fake It

Smile 2
Psychology Today reports:

In a newly released study subjects were given stressful tasks while holding chopsticks in their mouths to form a smile, and another group was asked to maintain a smile while performing the stress task.  None of the subjects were not told the true objective of the study and when compared with a control group performing the same stressful activities, both smiling groups had lower heart rates and faster cardiovascular stress recovery than the non-smiling controls.

As Ekman had predicted, when we hold a facial expression reflecting a particular emotion, even when the expression of happiness is faked, we experience some of that faked emotion.   ‘Fake it till you make it’ takes more meaning in light of this and other research along these lines.

These findings suggest that there is a pathway connecting facial muscle activity to our ‘fight/flight’ response and that we can change our physiological and psychological states  by deliberately controlling our facial expressions.  So perhaps the quote by Mark Twain is true, “The world always looks brighter behind a smile.”

The next time you are feeling stressed, have a difficult task, or just wake up on the grumpy side of the bed, smile for a while and see how your mood can change for the better.” via You’ll Make It When You Fake It | Psychology Today.

I first heard about this reading Tony Robbin’s book ‘Awaken the Giant Within’ and yesterday I tried it and it actually worked for me!

I got sucked into being a timer for a swim meet with over 500 kids and 88 different events and multiple heats. First of all, I don’t even like competitive swimming — that’s my wife’s thing and my son was having his first meet. My wife had volunteered for a 4 hour shift and not only did a volunteer not come to relieve her but I became a backup timer and then a timer when other people left their shift. It was hot, wet and hard on the joints standing on a pool deck for 9 hours. I remembered what I had heard from Tony Robbins earlier in the week and put it into practice. Every time I started

Iceberg!

An iceberg’s seismic breakup, believed to be the largest ever caught on camera, is described by the person who filmed it as the equivalent of watching “Manhattan… breaking apart in front of your eyes.”

Filmmaker Jason Balog recorded the spectacular calving event while making his documentary “Chasing Ice” about global climate change. He had set up his camera on Greenland’s Ilulissat Glacier, which has retreated approximately 10 miles in the last 12 years.

Balog figures almost 2 cubic miles worth of the Ilulissat broke up over the course of 75 minutes.

“Pieces of ice were shooting up out of the ocean 600 feet and then falling,” he says in the film, which contains bass-thumping audio that makes it almost as impressive to listen to as watch.

“The only way you can really put it into scale with human reference is if you imagine Manhattan, and all of a sudden all of those buildings just start to rumble and quake and peel off and just fall over and fall over and roll around.”

via higher powered: Iceberg!.

 

Furry

AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com

via Furry.

#874 The Five Second Rule

Parents are very familiar with The Five Second Rule:

The Five Second Rule simply states that any food dropped on the floor is perfectly fine to eat as long as you pick it up in less than five seconds.

The rule has many variations, including The Three Second Rule, The Seven Second Rule, and the extremely handy and versatile The However Long It Took Me To Pick This Food Up Rule. But whatever version you use, there’s just no denying why it’s great:

Makes you look less disgusting. Because now when you eat that wet grape that rolled into the corner by the heating vent and collected some cat hair and a few old, dry toast crumbs, you’re not disgusting. No, you’re just a law abiding Kitchen Citizen. Big difference.

Saves time and money. Wait, wait, wait, don’t pull the peanut butter and jelly out again and make a whole new sandwich. No, we’ll just blow the floor spice off this one and maybe tear off the wet, soggy piece of crust that landed in juice puddle. It’s all good.

It’s scientifically proven. Well, actually it’s scientifically proven that if a floor is covered in salmonella or E. Coli, your food will be covered in salmonella or E. Coli, even if they touch for a split second. But, and here’s the kicker, the same study showed no significant evidence of contamination on public flooring in general. Good save, Science.

So people, I give you a friend and savior in these tough times: The Five Second Rule. Know it. Love it.

via #874 The Five Second Rule | 1000 Awesome Things.

Not so fast! Before you buy into the advice from 1000 Awesome Things, watch this:

Beethoven

Sunday Morning in Sabadell – Lead.Learn.Live..

Apparently, it’s not known when Beethoven was born — only when he was baptized.

A peer of Mozart and Haydn, he started becoming deaf at age 28, yet incredibly wrote some of the world’s most beautiful symphonies, concertos and sonatas.

This was Ludwig van Beethoven, baptized DECEMBER 17, 1770, in Bonn, Germany.

President Jimmy Carter noted while visiting Bonn, July 14, 1978:

“As the world’s people speak and work and live together, we all could well remember the poem of Friedrich Schiller, immortally put to music by the great Beethoven, a son of Bonn, the “Ode to Joy”:

“Alle Menschen werden Bruder Wo dein sanfter Flitgel weilt.” (“All mankind shall be brothers where thy gentle wings abide.”)

Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” is also used as the tune of Princeton professor Henry Van Dyke’s hymn “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee.”

In 1801, Beethoven, being deaf, wrote:

“No friend have I. I must live by myself alone; but I know well that God is nearer to me than others in my art, so I will walk fearlessly with Him.”

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