“If you could only sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to the people you may never even dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person.” Fred Rogers
Month: November 2019
Today’s Poem ~ I Am Not Alone
I Am Not Alone
Gabriela Mistral
The night, it is deserted
from the mountains to the sea.
But I, the one who rocks you,
I am not alone!
The sky, it is deserted
for the moon falls to the sea.
But I, the one who holds you,
I am not alone !
The world, it is deserted.
All flesh is sad you see.
But I, the one who hugs you,
I am not alone!
🖋 Writers’ Wisdom ~ Practice at Being Creative
A number of prolific artists have subscribed to this belief over the years, including novelist (and mother!) JK Rowling, comedian Jerry Seinfeld, autobiographical performer Mike Birbligia, and memoirist David Sedaris.
If you feel too fried to uphold your end of the bargain, pretend to go easy on yourself with a little trick Price picked up from music producer Rick Rubin: Do the absolute minimum. You’ll likely find that performing the minimum positions you to do much more than that. Your resistance is not so much to the doing as it is to the embarking.
🍎 Health Hack ~ Take a Nice, Big Yawn – It’s Good for You
Yawning
Yawning isn’t just a not-so-subtle signal to your friend that their story is boring you. This natural bodily inclination actually helps to regulate the temperature of your brain, according to the experts at the Smithsonian Institute.
“When we stretch our jaws, we increase the rate of blood flow to the skull,” they note. “And as we inhale at the same time, the air changes the temperature of that blood flow, bringing cooler blood to the brain.” And given how much work the brain does each and every day, this is a very important—and protective—function.
🤗 Feel Good Hack ~ Ignite the Dopamine
Jump Start Your Dopamine With Exercise
Dopamine, a chemical that plays a role in happiness, is a neurotransmitter in the brain that’s necessary for feelings of pleasure and happiness.
Many studies suggest that as we age, we’re constantly losing our stores of dopamine, which is why we need to constantly seek out experiences that release dopamine.
The best way to increase your brain’s dopamine production? Exercise. So run, lift, jump, play — and get happy.
Today’s Poem ~ If I Can Stop One Heart From Breaking
If I Can Stop One Heart From Breaking
Emily Dickinson
If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.
🍎 Health Hack ~ Small Choices – Big Differences
The day-to-day choices you make influence whether you maintain vitality as you age or develop life-shortening illnesses and disabling conditions like heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and stroke. You may understand exactly what you need to do to enjoy a healthier, happier life: carve out time to exercise, perhaps, or find a way to ratchet down stress. There’s just one hitch. You haven’t done it yet.
Often, the biggest hurdle is inertia. It’s true that it isn’t easy to change ingrained habits like driving to nearby locations instead of walking, let’s say, or reaching for a donut instead of an apple. However, gradually working toward change improves your odds of success.
💫 Inspiring Hack ~ The Sun’s Shining
“Behind the cloud the sun is still shining.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
🖋 Writers’ Wisdom ~ The Writing Process
The writing process is not just putting down one page after another-it’s a lot of writing and then rewriting, restructuring the story, changing the way things come together.
