Month: December 2023

Thinking Out Loud: Where Do You Want to Go with Your Life?

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Learning to Appreciate. A look at appreciative inquiry. Excerpts are taken from, Appreciative Inquiry Handbook (2003) by David Cooperrider, Diana Whitney, and Jacqueline Stravros.

The appreciative inquiry principle of simultaneity recognizes that inquiry and change are not truly separate moments they can and should be simultaneous inquiry is intervention the seeds of change are in the things people think and talk about, the things people discover and learn, and the things that inform dialogue and inspire images of the future they are implicit in the very first question asked. p. 8.

Note: “Where should we go out for dinner?” This simple question changes your life. It demonstrates how inquiry, the question about going out for dinner, and change occur simultaneously. Change occurs since you perhaps planned to kick off your shoes, enjoy a glass of wine, and when you feel right, hope there are leftovers in the fridge for two. By going to the restaurant life is changed. It’s changed by the way you travel, the people you’ll see, and the conversation you’ll have. The questions we ask have the power to determine our destination. Where do you want to go with your life? Are the questions you’re asking the right questions to get your there?

Today’s Inspiring Photo Encourages Us to Inspire Hope

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It’s Time to Exercise Your Brain – Take the Anagram Challenge 

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Today’s mind sharpening anagram is a two or three word phrase. Can you unscramble the anagram to discover the two or three word phrase? It’s time to exercise your brain! 

Today’s Anagram:   Erie shippon

Love Has 20/20 Vision

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Love does not see with the eyes, but with the soul.

William Shakespeare

DYN the Physical, Mental, and Social Benefits of Laughter?

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Laughter is The Best Medicine

Laughter relaxes the whole body. A good, hearty laugh relieves physical tension and stress, leaving your muscles relaxed for up to 45 minutes after.

Laughter boosts the immune system. Laughter decreases stress hormones and increases immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies, thus improving your resistance to disease.

Laughter triggers the release of endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals. Endorphins promote an overall sense of well-being and can even temporarily relieve pain.

Laughter protects the heart. Laughter improves the function of blood vessels and increases blood flow, which can help protect you against a heart attack and other cardiovascular problems.

Laughter burns calories. Okay, so it’s no replacement for going to the gym, but one study found that laughing for 10 to 15 minutes a day can burn approximately 40 calories—which could be enough to lose three or four pounds over the course of a year.

Laughter lightens anger’s heavy load. Nothing diffuses anger and conflict faster than a shared laugh. Looking at the funny side can put problems into perspective and enable you to move on from confrontations without holding onto bitterness or resentment.

Laughter may even help you to live longer. A study in Norway found that people with a strong sense of humor outlived those who don’t laugh as much. The difference was particularly notable for those battling cancer.

Source

Today’s Joke: Joe Wonders if Was Adopted

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Joe: “I asked my dad if I was adopted.”

Pete: “What did he say?”

Joe: “He said, no I wasn’t, but when I was young they put ads in paper to see if they could get any takers.”

Thinking Out Loud: Open Up to Unlimited Possibilities

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Learning to Appreciate. A look at appreciative inquiry. Excerpts are taken from, Appreciative Inquiry Handbook (2003) by David Cooperrider, Diana Whitney, and Jacqueline Stravros.

The most important resource for generating constructive change is the cooperation between the imagination and the reasoning function of the mind. . . . Appreciative inquiry is a way of reclaiming imaginative competence. P 8

Note: We can apply this appreciative inquiry principle to our everyday lives. Appreciative inquiry at its essence is all about relationships. It is about the generative conversations that occur when two or more people work together to solve challenges. Imagine you and your partner are having a conversation about where to go on an extended weekend break. Both of you have ideas for great get aways, yet your destination ideas are different. In some cases, both people may become fixed in their opinions, an argument occurs, and the result is no weekend getaway. If they decide to set aside their opinions and begin a conversation about what they want out of a weekend getaway without initially naming a destination, their conversation takes on a different hue. As their conversation evolves they can begin to ask, what places satisfy what we want? An important learning point is the set aside. When we set  aside preconceived opinions, we allow our minds to open to unlimited possibilities.  

Today’s Inspiring Photo: Grow Your Own Garden: It’s Your Life

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It’s Time to Exercise Your Brain – Take the Anagram Challenge 

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Today’s mind sharpening anagram is a two or three word phrase. Can you unscramble the anagram to discover the two or three word phrase? It’s time to exercise your brain! 

Today’s Anagram:   

QUIZ START

Inspiring Quote by Shakespeare on Sorrow

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Laughing faces do not mean that there is absence of sorrow!
But it means that they have the ability to deal with it

William Shakespeare

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