Month: February 2023

Feeling Good ~ Your Health on Kindness

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No Surprises Here – Being Kind Brings Big Health Benefits

Being there for others comes with its own rewards: kindness toward others boosts your well-being and happiness levels. Studies show that volunteers experience a boost in their mental health; they feel happier and more satisfied with their lives. And volunteering later in life has been shown to boost cognitive function and slow cognitive decline.

Our brains release oxytocin (known as the love hormone”) when we’re happy, and we become happy when we show kindness toward others. As a bonus, oxytocin further boosts kindness and generosity.

Oxylocin can help reduce blood pressure and risk of cardiovascular disease. It inhibits inflammation, promotes wound healing, and reduces the risk of immune disorders caused by stress. Your immune system benefits from frequent doses of the happiness hormone too. Oxytocin is not the only brain chemical released through kindness. Dopamine, the pleasure neurotransmitter, also floods our bodies, causing a feel-good state called “helper’s high. Dopamine can also affect immune cells and regulate normal immunity, Simply put, kindness strengthens your own ii-nmune system!

Source: Alive: Canada’s Natural Health & Wellness Magazine

Today’s Positive Thought ~ It’s Time to Start Living

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“To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.” Nhat Hanh

The day one accepts him or herself as he or she is and loves what he or she is becoming is the day one starts living.

Today’s Health Tip ~ Undergoing a Major Life Change?

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5 Ways to Cope with Major Life Changes

Major life changes shift you off balance. Painful events, like a job loss, death in the family, or the end of a relationship, create deep feelings of loss. They also cause fear and uncertainty because your brain doesn’t like any changes – good or bad. That’s why joyful events like bringing home a new baby, starting a job, or getting married can also make life feel different and unfamiliar. To help your brain adapt, it helps to check in with your mental health. Here are 5 ways to find balance during major life changes:

  1. Give yourself time to accept the change – Life changes, both good and bad, take time to process, and that’s okay. Time is necessary. Your brain needs a chance to ease out of protective mode, learn, and adapt to your new circumstances.
  2. Acknowledge the change and your feelings – Whether it was unexpected or you knew it was coming, it is essential to acknowledge the change and your feelings. It helps to talk with someone you trust or seek professional care.
  3. Give yourself regular mental health checkups – Checking in with your feelings helps you assess your mental health. Ask yourself the kinds of questions you’d ask a loved one if you saw them struggling.
  4. Carve out a path forward – Planning, lists, action items, and goals help you – and your brain – feel more in control and adapt to significant life changes.
  5. Take a break from processing significant changes – Using creative outlets to process your feelings gives your brain a much-needed break.

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Today’s Joke

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Joe: “I went to the market and  I asked the cashier to check me out.”

Pete: “What did she say?”

Joe:  “She said, ‘You can afford to lose ten pounds.'”

Today’s Photo ~ Your Spring will Come

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Your spring will come. As the sparrow in this photo waits patiently for spring, your spring will come.

Today’s Power Thought ~ Is It Time to Learn Something New?

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“I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.” Pablo Picasso

Learning something new is hard work. It takes patience, discipline, and desire. Those who choose to continually learn discover  wonderful unintended consequences, they become emotionally healthier, happier, and confident.

Feeling Good ~ Is Money the Answer to Happiness?

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Not So Fast, Money is Not Going to Make You Happy

Earning a lot of money or winning awards are certainly cause for celebration but what will make people genuinely happy is having strong relationships with family and friends. That’s what Robert Waldinger, co-author of “The Good Life: Lessons from the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness,” found. Waldinger is director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, a study of happiness first started in 1938—84 years ago. . . .Get rid of feuds, like grudges. Grudges take a toll on the people who hold them. Find ways to work them out. Step away from them. It really drags people down. I think people shouldn’t avoid problems. All relationships end up having disagreements, but we find people with the strongest relationships talk about [problems] rather than pretend they don’t exist.

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Today’s Positive Thought ~ You’ll See Dawn Break

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“When you look ahead and darkness is all you see, faith and determination will pull you through.” ~ Drake

We’ve all experienced the dark night of the soul. It’s not pretty. During those moments reach deep inside and grab hold of the seeds of faith that exist within and push on. You’ll discover the strength to walk through the darkness and see dawn break.

Feeling Good ~ A Pathway to Happiness

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Aim For Just the Right Amount

FINNISH PEOPLE tend to subscribe to the Nordic philosophy of lagom, or “just the right amount,” says Jukka K. Savolainen, Ph.D., a professor of sociology at Wayne State University. How that’s related to happiness makes sense: If your basic needs are met, there’s no great drive to strive for more, which makes contentment and happiness more attainable. That may be a reason this country topped the U.N.’s 2021 World Happiness Report. “It’s ‘unseemly’ to want more than what’s ‘just right,'” Savolainen says of the Finnish mindset. “It’s the opposite of being flashy. Less is more.”

If “keeping up with the Joneses” is embedded in your thinking, try tapping into gratitude. There’s a long history of research on the link between gratitude and feelings of well-being. When you appreciate what you have, you won’t be so inclined to feel the pressure to achieve more–or the disappointment when you fall short.

Source: Men’s Health(Vol. 37, Issue 3).

Today’s Poem ~ Dear March – Come In

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Dear March –  Come In

Emily Dickinson

Dear March—Come in—
How glad I am—
I hoped for you before—
Put down your Hat—
You must have walked—
How out of Breath you are—
Dear March, how are you, and the Rest—
Did you leave Nature well—
Oh March, Come right upstairs with me—
I have so much to tell—

I got your Letter, and the Birds—
The Maples never knew that you were coming—
I declare – how Red their Faces grew—
But March, forgive me—
And all those Hills you left for me to Hue—
There was no Purple suitable—
You took it all with you—

Who knocks? That April—
Lock the Door—
I will not be pursued—
He stayed away a Year to call
When I am occupied—
But trifles look so trivial
As soon as you have come

That blame is just as dear as Praise
And Praise as mere as Blame

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