Smile: [smahyl]  verb – to express amusement, pleasure, moderate joy or love and kindness, by the features of the face; to laugh silently.

Why is it so hard for people to smile? Even if it’s a fake smile, researchers have proven that a smile, fake or not, will automatically boost your mood. Why? Humans associate emotions with phyiscal activity or contact. If you are walking around sluggish and angry, you emit a negative energy around you. So what do you think would happen if, let’s just say, you smile? Duh! Positive energy all around.

So, I have  a social experiment for everyone this month: smile at a stranger. Scenario: you’re taking your dog for his morning walk. You are about to cross paths with a someone you don’t know who is also walking their dog. For some people this is awkward so they look away, or may even whip out their cell phone to pretend to look busy (I may be guilty of this one). Try and fight these urges and just offer a quick and harmless smile. Chances are you will receive a smile back. Now was that so hard? Smiling is contagious, it takes little effort and it’s free! What’s better than a free gesture? A smile can turn someone’s bad day into a slightly happier one.

Don’t just think of this as helping others. Think of this as helping yourself. By smiling you are sending yourself the message that you are a positive individual. And remember, “smile and the whole world smiles with you.” You can thank me later.

So where does all of this extra salt come from? According to Heart Healthy Magazine, “Roughly 10 percent of the salt in our diet comes from the salt we add ourselves (the salt we season with while cooking or sprinkle at the table) and 10 percent is naturally occurring. The vast majority of salt—amounting to about 80 percent of daily intake—comes from processed foods. Salt is added to processed foods to achieve a (very salty) taste profile. In many situations adding salt is what makes cheap, un-tasty food palatable. Salt also is added for stability and preservation reasons. But the amount of salt added is clearly above and beyond what’s required for the safety and function of the food supply. The simple math leads to the conclusion that going easy with the salt shaker is hardly going to put a dent in the unhealthy amount of salt in the typical American diet. It’s also hard to trust our taste buds when salt is involved. Some foods taste quite salty because the salt is on the surface, while other sodium-saturated dishes don’t taste salty at all because other flavors and textures (namely, lots of fat and sugars) cover up the salt.”

You can add great flavor to any of your dishes without salt. Here are just a few suggestions and alternatives to your meals. Getting active is another great way to keep your heart strong. Grab some friends and head to the park. Not only is this a great way to get your heart pumping (safely and within your limits), but you can also catch up on the latest gossip, a great stress reliever! President Obama has proclaimed February as American Heart Month. February 5, 2010 was National Wear Red Day, I hope you all wore red to show your support. But wearing red to show your support is not limited to one day a year. Wear red and share your ideas and tips with everyone, everywhere.

2.Get up and do something! Go for a walk and check out your neighborhood, window shop at the mall, take your dog for a jog at the park or join a gym and take advantage of their exercise classes. It doesn’t matter where you are or what you do, just get active. Get your heart pumping for at least 45 minutes each day.

3.Everyone needs time to wind down, especially after a stressful day. Find a hobby! Try learning to play a new instrument, cooking an unfamiliar dish, knitting, bird watching…etc. The possibilities are endless!

4.Laugh and smile! Laughing increases the levels of endorphins in your body making you less stressed and with a healthier immune system. Pop in a funny movie that will get you laughing in no time. Studies have shown that with just 15 minutes of laughter (even fake laughter) will burn 10 to 40 calories, depending on weight. Ever heard of laughter yoga? Pretty interesting.

5.Be positive. Living your life with the, “Why me?” attitude will only weigh you down. Life is a beautiful and precious thing. Don’t sweat the small stuff! Instead of questioning yourself and your self worth, question what you can do to make it better? There is always room for improvement.

6.Cut out the toxins – smoking, drugs and excessive alcohol consumption.

7.Adopt a pet! I can’t think of another way to get active. Pets are wonderful and loyal companions and they will show you unconditional love 24/7. Plus, you will always have an excuse to get out of the house to take them for walk. It’s a win-win situation!

8.Avoid these 5 ingredients as much as possible.

9.Track your ticker! 8.6 million women die from heart disease each year, worldwide. Get your blood pressure checked regularly and follow a heart healthy diet. Just by reducing your sodium intake and exercising everyday, you are on your way to a healthier heart.

10.Get those ZzzZzz! Try to sleep 6-8 hours every night. Everyone is busy, but your body needs time to recharge. By getting the recommended hours of sleep you will feel refreshed and energized in the morning. This will set your mood for the whole day.

Designed by a former NASA engineer, Reeboks EasyTone running shoes were created to tone your butt, thighs and hamstrings by 28 percent. Unlike the MBT’s (the original ‘rocker style’ shoes) and Sketchers Shape-ups, the EasyTone’s are more streetwear ready and definitely don’t look like weird alien shoes. The soles of the shoes are basically two pod-like pads, one is on the heel, the other is on the ball. Having only two pads requires much stability and balance (two qualities that I have yet to master).

One of my favorite fashion blogs, Adventures in the Stiletto Jungle, did a three part review of the EasyTone’s:

“I’ve been wearing Reebok EasyTone sneakers for the past couple of weeks now– mainly on my weekend walks around the neighborhood and when I run errands, such as trips to the grocery store or Target. While I initially felt that my legs were a little more tired after walking in EasyTone sneakers than normal athletic sneakers, I can now confirm that the feeling intensified with more wear. There is definitely something going on with these new Reeboks!”

I think I know what I’m asking Santa for this year!

“You know the feeling. You’re walking to the market, to the store, to meet a friend, all caught up in the plodding forward of your day…and then suddenly, you take notice of where you are. The light on a wall, the expressions on people’s faces, the feeling of the weather. A distinct sense of place creeps over you, and for a moment you feel like a traveler.

And yet sometimes, the desire (Overwhelming! Insatiable! Get me on a freaking bus to Belize!) for that novelty and spark of travel is overwhelming. Sometimes a sense of …” Continue reading

Without a doubt, I am rejuvenile, not to mention too, that I have some weird connection with Weeds. There are just so many references that I can relate to, or that I already know about like the game “Carcassone,” which was incorporated into an episode. How many people even know or CARE about that? I know about it! And Dinah? They have free internet so I go there when I’m in town. Not too crazy about the food, however. Anyway, maybe it’s because I’m originally from L.A. that I simply see all of the stuff I grew up around. I haven’t lived in L.A. for a long time but it’s always fun to see my home town, a crazy wacko kooky village as it may be.

Back to Rejuvenile. Here’s an excerpt from Publishers Weekly: According to journalist Noxon, rejuveniles-adults who use childhood past-times as “a way of maintaining wonder, trust, and silliness in a world where these qualities are often in short supply”-are proliferating, and unlike other books on the topic of “kidults” (aka “twixters,” “boomerangers,” and “generation debt”), his book says this is largely good. Viewing the bright side of oft-bemoaned evidence showing increasing numbers of young adults living with parents and postponing marriage, Noxon has made an entertaining but incomplete read. In appropriately playful prose, he considers successful adults who play in rock n’ roll nursery rhyme cover bands, attend Disney World without kids, and happily plunk down 10 bucks to see Spongebob Squarepants: The Movie. Avoiding “The Downside of Now” until the end, Noxon almost admits that he isn’t telling the whole story of the rejuveniles: although it’s “nice to think of rejuveniles as freethinking romantics,” which he theretofore does, “it’s clear that outside forces also have a hand in shaping who rejuveniles are.” Those outside forces? Not crushing student loans, a stagnant job market or political age-bias, but “the media.” Of course, Noxon would probably just as soon leave worrying to grown-ups of the old school-he’ll be on the kickball field instead.

Want to get the book? Click the link below.

Rejuvenile: Kickball, Cartoons, Cupcakes, and the Reinvention of the American Grown-up

The book has quite a bit going for it:

1. Beautifully made, illustrated and laid-out, this book is meant to last and be used readily and often. Typical Dorling Kindersley quality.

2. An eye-friendly typeface and bright, semi-gloss pages make this easy reading.

3. The shear breadth of the information here is outstanding. Packed into 306 letter-sized pages are the following chapters:
*The Meaning of Self-Sufficiency
*Food from the Garden
*Food from Animals
*Food from the Fields
*Food from the Wild
*In the Dairy
*In the Kitchen
*Brewing & Wine-making
*Energy & Waste
*Crafts & Skills
*Things You Need to Know

4. Good specifics on all the categories of info listed above. You should be able to get started on your way to being people of the soil. Need to know how to kill, gut, and prepare your cattle? It’s in here. Got a hankering to get off the electrical grid altogether? Helpful windmill buying advice is here. Can’t tell rye from barley? You will after reading this book.

5. A helpful list of contacts and companies that can get you started on your dream are included.

This is a fine primer on self-sufficiency. Anyone looking to escape the rat race could hardly do better than to pick up a copy of “The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It.”

[source: amazon]

Get it now

“Digging into retirement accounts before retiring is a big no-no. Americans should heed two methods to safeguard savings: set aside a liquid cushion and buy disability insurance.

Concerned about being laid off this year? Hey, it’s a legitimate worry. David Wyss, chief economist for Standard & Poor’s, believes as many as 750,000 Americans will lose their jobs in 2008. That’s why financial planners always advise keeping at least six months’ worth of expenses in a liquid account, like a money-market—advice astonishingly few Americans take. Have you ever worried about becoming disabled? Surprisingly, few Americans have disability insurance either, another huge concern.

Nearly 1 in 5 Americans will become disabled for one year or more before the age of 65, according to the Life Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping consumers make smart financial decisions. The number of workers who become disabled has risen by 35% since 2000, according to the Social Security Administration.

Because more Americans know of someone who has been affected by a disability, there is increasing concern about this issue. In fact, a recent survey by Berkshire Life Insurance found that 25% of Americans are worried about losing their jobs within the next six to 12 months because of weakening economic conditions, while 28% are concerned about losing their income because of an accident or illness that would make them unable to work.

The study also revealed that 41% of employees with 401(k) or similar retirement accounts would be willing to borrow from such accounts to cover lost income.

“Taking money from your retirement accounts before you retire is like robbing yourself to pay yourself,” says Larry Hazzard, a senior vice-president at Berkshire Life. “It’s generally not a good idea to stop contributions to your retirement accounts because you….” RRead the rest

From rd:

“When you think “millionaire,” what image comes to mind? For many of us, it’s a flashy Wall Street banker type who flies a private jet, collects cars and lives the kind of decadent lifestyle that would make Donald Trump proud.

But many modern millionaires live in middle-class neighborhoods, work full-time and shop in discount stores like the rest of us. What motivates them isn’t material possessions but the choices that money can bring: “For the rich, it’s not about getting more stuff. It’s about having the freedom to make almost any decision you want,” says T. Harv Eker, author of Secrets of the Millionaire Mind. Wealth means you can send your child to any school or quit a job you don’t like.
According to the Spectrem Wealth Study, an annual survey of America’s wealthy, there are more people living the good life than ever before—the number of millionaires nearly doubled in the last decade. And the rich are getting richer. To make it onto the Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans, a mere billionaire no longer makes the cut. This year you needed a net worth of at least $1.3 billion.

If more people are getting richer than ever, why shouldn’t you be one of them? Here, five people who have at least a million dollars in liquid assets share the secrets that helped them get there.

Set your sights on where you’re going
Twenty years ago, Jeff Harris hardly seemed on the road to wealth. He was a college dropout who struggled to support his wife, DeAnn, and three kids, working as a grocery store clerk and at a junkyard where he melted scrap metal alongside convicts. “At times we were so broke that we washed our clothes in the bathtub because we couldn’t afford the Laundromat.” Now he’s a 49-year-old investment advisor and multimillionaire in York, South Carolina.

There was one big reason Jeff pulled ahead of the pack: He always knew he’d be rich. The reality is that 80 percent of Americans worth at least $5 million grew up in middle-class or lesser households, just like Jeff.

Wanting to be wealthy is a crucial first step. Says Eker, “The biggest obstacle to wealth is fear. People are afraid to think big, but if you think small, you’ll only achieve small things.”

It all started for Jeff when he met a stockbroker at a Christmas party. “Talking to him, it felt like discovering fire,” he says. “I started reading books about investing during my breaks at the grocery store, and I began putting $25 a month in a mutual fund.” Next he taught a class at a local community college on investing. His students became his first clients, which led to his investment practice. “There were lots of struggles,” says Jeff, “but what got me through it was believing with all my heart that I would succeed.”

Educate yourself
When Steve Maxwell graduated from college, he had an engineering degree and a high-tech job—but he couldn’t balance his checkbook. “I took one finance class in college but dropped it to go on a ski trip,” says the 45-year-old father of three, who lives in Windsor, Colorado. “I actually had to go to my bank and ask them to teach me how to read my statement.”

One of the biggest obstacles to making money is not understanding it: Thousands of us avoid investing because we just don’t get it. But to make money, you must be financially literate. “It bothered me that I didn’t understand this stuff,” says Steve, “so I read books and magazines about money management and investing, and I asked every financial whiz I knew to explain things to me.”

He and his wife started applying the lessons: They made a point to live below their means. They never bought on impulse, always negotiated better deals (on their cars, cable bills, furniture) and stayed in their home long after they could afford a more expensive one. They also put 20 percent of their annual salary into investments.

Within ten years, they were millionaires, and people were coming to Steve for advice. “Someone would say, ‘I need to refinance my house—what should I do?’ A lot of times, I wouldn’t know the answer, but I’d go find it and learn something in the process,” he says.

In 2003, Steve quit his job to become part owner of a company that holds personal finance seminars for employees of corporations like Wal-Mart. He also started going to real estate investment seminars, and it’s paid off: He now owns $30 million worth of investment properties, including apartment complexes, a shopping mall and a quarry.

“I was an engineer who never thought this life was possible, but all it truly takes is a little self-education,” says Steve. “You can do anything once you understand the basics.”

Passion pays off
In 1995, Jill Blashack Strahan and her husband were barely making ends meet. Like so many of us, Jill was eager to discover her purpose, so she splurged on a session with a life coach. “When I told her my goal was to make $30,000 a year, she said I was setting the bar too low. I needed to focus on my passion, not on the paycheck.”

Jill, who lives with her son in Alexandria, Minnesota, owned a gift basket company and earned just $15,000 a year. She noticed when she let potential buyers taste the food items, the baskets sold like crazy. Jill thought, Why not sell the food directly to customers in a fun setting?
With $6,000 in savings, a bank loan and a friend’s investment, Jill started packaging gourmet foods in a backyard shed and selling them at taste-testing parties. It wasn’t easy. “I remember sitting outside one day, thinking we were three months behind on our house payment, I had two employees I couldn’t pay, and I ought to get a real job. But then I thought, No, this is your dream. Recommit and get to work.”

She stuck with it, even after her husband died three years later. “I live by the law of abundance, meaning that even when there are challenges in life, I look for the win-win,” she says.

The positive attitude worked: Jill’s backyard company, Tastefully Simple, is now a direct-sales business, with $120 million in sales last year. And Jill was named one of the top 25 female business owners in North America by Fast Company magazine.

According to research by Thomas J. Stanley, author of The Millionaire Mind, over 80 percent of millionaires say they never would have been successful if their vocation wasn’t something they cared about.

Grow your money
Most of us know the never-ending cycle of living paycheck to paycheck. “The fastest way to get out of that pattern is to make extra money for the specific purpose of reinvesting in yourself,” says Loral Langemeier, author of The Millionaire Maker. In other words, earmark some money for the sole purpose of investing it in a place where it will grow dramatically—like a business or real estate.

There are endless ways to make extra money for investing—you just have to be willing to do the work. “Everyone has a marketable skill,” says Langemeier. “When I started out, I had a tutoring business, seeing clients in the morning before work and on my lunch break.”

A little moonlighting cash really can grow into a million. Twenty-five years ago, Rick Sikorski dreamed of owning a personal training business. “I rented a tiny studio where I charged $15 an hour,” he says. When money started trickling in, he squirreled it away instead of spending it, putting it all back into the business. Rick’s 400-square-foot studio is now Fitness Together, a franchise based in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, with more than 360 locations worldwide. And he’s worth over $40 million.

When extra money rolls in, it’s easy to think, Now I can buy that new TV. But if you want to get rich, you need to pay yourself first, by putting money where it will work hard for you—whether that’s in your retirement fund, a side business or investments like real estate.

No guts, no glory
Last summer, Dave Lindahl footed the bill for 18 relatives at a fancy mansion in the Adirondacks. One night, his dad looked out at the scenery and joked, “I can’t believe we used to call you the black sheep!”

At 29, Dave was broke, living in a small apartment near Boston and wondering what to do after ten years in a local rock band. “I looked around and thought, If I don’t do something, I’ll be stuck here forever.”

He started a landscape company, buying his equipment on credit. When business literally froze over that winter, a banker friend asked if he’d like to renovate a foreclosed home. “I’m a terrible carpenter, but I needed the money, so I went to some free seminars at Home Depot and figured it out as I went,” he says.

After a few more renovations, it occurred to him: Why not buy the homes and sell them for profit? He took a risk and bought his first property. Using the proceeds, he bought another, and another. Twelve years later, he owns apartment buildings, worth $143 million, in eight states.

The Biggest Secret? Stop spending.
Every millionaire we spoke to has one thing in common: Not a single one spends needlessly. Real estate investor Dave Lindahl drives a Ford Explorer and says his middle-class neighbors would be shocked to learn how much he’s worth. Fitness mogul Rick Sikorski can’t fathom why anyone would buy bottled water. Steve Maxwell, the finance teacher, looked at a $1.5 million home but decided to buy one for half the price because “a house with double the cost wouldn’t give me double the enjoyment.”

It’s not a fluke: According to the 2007 Annual Survey of Affluence & Wealth in America, some of the richest people “spend their money with a middle-class mind-set.” They clip coupons, wait for sales and buy luxury items at a discount.

No kidding! Talk show host Tyra Banks calls herself the Queen of Cheap and keeps perfume samples from magazine ads in her purse for quick touch-ups.

Sara Blakely, founder of the $100 million shapewear company Spanx, gets her hair trimmed at Supercuts.

And Warren Buffett, the third richest person in the world, according to Forbes, lives in the same Omaha, Nebraska, home he bought four decades ago for $31,500.”

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When she was a child, people thought Lorna was retarded because she did not seem to be focussing on the world around her. Lorna remembers seeing not just the world around her but seeing equally vividly angels and spirits. For many years she assumed everyone saw the same.

As Lorna tells the story of her life, growing up in a poor family, later working in Dublin, marrying and experiencing family tragedy, the reader meets, as she did, the creatures from the spirit worlds who also inhabit our own – mostly angels of an astonishing beauty and variety – including the prophet Elijah and an Archangel- but also the spirits of people who have died.

Today, it is not only the sick and troubled who come to visit Lorna, looking for healing and consolation, but theologians of different faiths and the head of a religious order in Rome are asking her for guidance too.

This remarkable document is the testimony of a woman who sees things at the far end of the spectrum, beyond the range of our everyday experience.

More about Angels in my Hair

“A group of islands with the potential to develop into a tourist paradise has been named as the country least equipped to withstand the effects of climate change.

The Comoros Islands in the Indian Ocean, between Mozambique and Madagascar, are a small nation of sparkling blue lagoons and picture-postcard beaches. But the country is politically unstable and a report published today says it is the world’s most vulnerable country to the future impacts of global warming such as increased storms, rising sea levels and agricultural failure.

At the other end of the scale, Canada is the best place to move to if you want to be a climate change survivor in the decades ahead (although Britain is also a good place to be as a warming atmosphere takes hold).

The best-to-worst rankings are revealed in the first-ever climate change vulnerability index, produced by Maplecroft, a British consultancy which specialises in the mapping of risk. Its study, The Climate Change Risk Report, looks in great detail at global warming risks in 168 countries.

Africa is the most vulnerable region, and eight of the 10 most vulnerable countries are African, with the Comoros Islands followed by Somalia and Burundi in second and third places. Only five non-African countries are in the 20 most vulnerable. They are Yemen, Afghanistan, Haiti, Pakistan and Nepal.

As might be expected…”

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The 24-Hour Pharmacist- is the perfect pill for anyone seeking insight on overall health from a resource that is thorough and fun to read. With chapter titles such as “Frazzled, Frustrated and Freaked Out: Coping with Anxiety and Stress” to “More Jiggle, Less Joint Pain: What You Can Do About Arthritis” you get the sense that the author well knows what course to recommend but also truly enjoys educating others. One feature I found especially enlightening were the sections in each chapter entitled “Suzy’s Secrets From Behind The Counter”. Here is where she (Suzy) offers great little insights to live by with a perspective that only a pharmacist can give. One good example of this is in the chapter about weight loss where she explains that some drugs can make you hungry. Included in her list are sedatives and tranquilizers, antidepressants, allergy pills, female hormones and diuretics. Wow, who knew?

Read more about it here: The 24-Hour Pharmacist

1. Change yourself.

“You must be the change you want to see in the world.”

“As human beings, our greatness lies not so much in being able to remake the world – that is the myth of the atomic age – as in being able to remake ourselves.”

If you change yourself you will change your world. If you change how you think then you will change how you feel and what actions you take. And so the world around you will change. Not only because you are now viewing your environment through new lenses of thoughts and emotions but also because the change within can allow you to take action in ways you wouldn’t have – or maybe even have thought about – while stuck in your old thought patterns.

And the problem with changing your outer world without changing yourself is that you will still be you when you reach that change you have strived for. You will still have your flaws, anger, negativity, self-sabotaging tendencies etc. intact.

And so in this new situation you will still not find what you hoped for since your mind is still seeping with that negative stuff. And if you get more without having some insight into and distance from your ego it may grow more powerful. Since your ego loves to divide things, to find enemies and to create separation it may start to try to create even more problems and conflicts in your life and world.

2. You are in control.

“Nobody can hurt me without my permission.”

What you feel and how you react to something is always up to you. There may be a “normal” or a common way to react to different things. But that’s mostly just all it is.

You can choose your own thoughts, reactions and emotions to pretty much everything. You don’t have to freak out, overreact of even react in a negative way. Perhaps not every time or instantly. Sometimes a knee-jerk reaction just goes off. Or an old thought habit kicks in.

And as you realize that no-one outside of yourself can actually control how you feel you can start to incorporate this thinking into your daily life and develop it as a thought habit. A habit that you can grow stronger and stronger over time. Doing this makes life a whole lot easier and more pleasurable.

3. Forgive and let it go.

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”

“An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”

Fighting evil with evil won’t help anyone. And as said in the previous tip, you always choose how to react to something. When you can incorporate such a thought habit more and more into your life then you can react in a way that is more useful to you and others.

You realize that forgiving and letting go of the past will do you and the people in your world a great service. And spending your time in some negative memory won’t help you after you have learned the lessons you can learn from that experience. You’ll probably just cause yourself more suffering and paralyze yourself from taking action in this present moment.

If you don’t forgive then you let the past and another person to control how you feel. By forgiving you release yourself from those bonds. And then you can focus totally on, for instance, the next point.

4. Without action you aren’t going anywhere.

“An ounce of practice is worth more than tons of preaching.”

Without taking action very little will be done. However, taking action can be hard and difficult. There can be much inner resistance.

And so you may resort to preaching, as Gandhi says. Or reading and studying endlessly. And feeling like you are moving forward. But getting little or no practical results in real life.

So, to really get where you want to go and to really understand yourself and your world you need to practice. Books can mostly just bring you knowledge. You have to take action and translate that knowledge into results and understanding.

You can check out a few effective tips to overcome this problem in How to Take More Action: 9 Powerful Tips. Or you can move on to the next point for more on the best tip for taking more action that I have found so far.

5. Take care of this moment.

“I do not want to foresee the future. I am concerned with taking care of the present. God has given me no control over the moment following.”

The best way that I have found to overcome the inner resistance that often stops us from taking action is to stay in the present as much as possible and to be accepting.

Why? Well, when you are in the present moment you don’t worry about the next moment that you can’t control anyway. And the resistance to action that comes from you imagining negative future consequences – or reflecting on past failures – of your actions loses its power. And so it becomes easier to both take action and to keep your focus on this moment and perform better.

Have a look at 8 Ways to Return to the Present Moment for tips on how quickly step into the now. And remember that reconnecting with and staying in the now is a mental habit – a sort of muscle – that you grow. Over time it becomes more powerful and makes it easier to slip into the present moment.

6. Everyone is…

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“Why bother? That really is the big question facing us as individuals hoping to do something about climate change, and it’s not an easy one to answer. I don’t know about you, but for me the most upsetting moment in “An Inconvenient Truth” came long after Al Gore scared the hell out of me, constructing an utterly convincing case that the very survival of life on earth as we know it is threatened by climate change. No, the really dark moment came during the closing credits, when we are asked to . . . change our light bulbs. That’s when it got really depressing. The immense disproportion between the magnitude of the problem Gore had described and the puniness of what he was asking us to do about it was enough to sink your heart.

But the drop-in-the-bucket issue is not the only problem lurking behind the “why bother” question. Let’s say I do bother, big time. I turn my life upside-down, start biking to work, plant a big garden, turn down the thermostat so low I need the Jimmy Carter signature cardigan, forsake the clothes dryer for a laundry line across the yard, trade in the station wagon for a hybrid, get off the beef, go completely local. I could theoretically do all that, but what would be the point when I know full well that halfway around the world there lives my evil twin, some carbon-footprint doppelgänger in Shanghai or Chongqing who has just bought his first car (Chinese car ownership is where ours was back in 1918), is eager to swallow every bite of meat I forswear and who’s positively itching to replace every last pound of CO2 I’m struggling no longer to emit. So what exactly would I have to show for all my trouble?

A sense of personal virtue, you might suggest, somewhat sheepishly. But what good is that when virtue itself is quickly becoming a term of derision? And not just on the editorial pages of The Wall Street Journal or on the lips of the vice president, who famously dismissed energy conservation as a “sign of personal virtue.” No, even in the pages of The New York Times and The New Yorker, it seems the epithet “virtuous,” when applied to an act of personal environmental responsibility, may be used only ironically. Tell me: How did it come to pass that virtue — a quality that for most of history has generally been deemed, well, a virtue — became a mark of liberal softheadedness? How peculiar, that doing the right thing by the environment — buying the hybrid, eating like a locavore — should now set you up for the Ed Begley Jr. treatment.

And even if in the face of this derision I decide I am going to bother, there arises the whole vexed question of…”

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Now’s your chance to inspire the world and make the planet a greener place.

Are you under 18 and thinking green? Show us what you’re doing to be a part of the Whole Earth Generation. Are you recycling at your school? Planting trees? Forcing your parents to go green? Get in front of the camera and tell us about it.

Sing a song, rap, shoot a documentary, whatever – just send us a short video response showing how you’re making a difference. If we pick yours it’ll be featured leading up to Earth Day. You might even get to co-host one of our Whole Earth Generation Podcasts sponsored by Whole Foods.

Whole Earth Generation Details:
* Keep your video under two minutes.
* Be original and express your green self – we just want to see you being you.
* Keep it clean. No violence, profanity or direct attacks on individuals.
* Your video must be original and cannot infringe on any third party rights.
* Your video cannot have been previously published, broadcast, or otherwise publicly distributed.
* Winners will become “Green Ambassadors” and be featured as hosts in upcoming Whole Earth Generation podcasts.
* Make sure you follow YouTube’s Terms Of Service: http://www.youtube.com/t/terms

How to submit your video:
* Log in to YouTube. If you don’t have an account already, it’s easy and only takes a minute or so.
* Go to the YouTube video where our host is introducing the contest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpGoOwRC1uU
* Under “Comments and Responses” click on “Post a video response”.
* If you haven’t uploaded the video you’d like to submit for the contest to YouTube yet, do so by going to “Upload a Video”.
* If you have uploaded the video already, select it by going to “Choose a Video”.

OFFICIAL RULES
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY

ELIGIBILITY
Contestants must be between 8 years and 17 years of age and a legal resident of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia or Canada at the time of their audition to be eligible. All submissions become the property of the Sponsor and will not be returned. Officers and employees of Whole Foods Market, their respective affiliates, subsidiaries and agents, and the immediate family members of the foregoing, are not eligible to enter. Sponsor is not responsible for late, lost, destroyed or misdirected entries. Odds of winning will depend on the total number of eligible entries received. Each entry must be submitted with a Submission Agreement to be eligible.

Full rules and regulations:

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/weg_rules.html

To see a video about what you need to do to enter the contest, click here.

Forget White White Dresses
You might not know that many people die because of the toxic chemical process used to make wedding dresses that sparkly white. Also, there are 300,000+ illnesses (and mortalities) related to non-organic cotton farming practices (pesticides and other harmful toxins). I personally find that shiny whitey white, ugly. Anyway, get a dress that is natural, not chemically treated, not made in a sweatshop, but is made with earth-friendly materials and fabrics like: organic silk, organic wool, hemp silk, organic cotton, tencel and bamboo are the main fabrics available. You can still find eco-friendly white, that is much more natural looking than the chemical white counterparts. A note: many famous fashion designers use sustainable fabrics to make fabulous wedding dresses.

Simplicity – If you’re not into ultra fancy fashion, keep it very simple. Get a simple dress and make personal embellishments and designs yourself.

Shop Locally – Yes, this doesn’t just apply to veggies! Buy a dress from a local designer. You’ll save on transport costs and contributing to the local economy. You might also want to check out fashion design school budding students, who can make you a unique beautiful dress that will cost a fraction of what you’d spend if you’d bought a designer gown.

Lastly, about tuxes: Make sure tuxes are not chemically (dry) cleaned. Do try to find sustainable tuxedos.

PALENQUE, Mexico (AP) — North American Indians assembled in the shadow of ancient Mayan pyramids Monday discussed how their tradition wisdom could help save the planet, and were told that even indigenous cultures have struggled with environmental abuse.
More than 200 leaders from 71 American Indian nations in Mexico, the United States and Canada came together in this Mexican jungle to find indigenous solutions to pollution and ecological problems threatening the planet.
“Our Mother Earth is being polluted at an alarming rate, and our elders say that she is dying,” said Raymond Sensmeier, a Tlingit leader from Yakutat, Alaska. “The way the weather is around the world … a cleansing is needed.”
The conference began with a pre-dawn ceremony that included fire, copal incense, chants in Lacandon Maya and blasts from a conch shell.
Speakers reminded attendees that even Indian cultures have battled with environmental abuse and pointed to theories that deforestation contributed to the collapse of the Maya who built the temples at Palenque.
“As we stand here, very near Palenque, I am mindful that some scholars have suggested that environmental stressors contributed to the decline of the Mayan civilization,” said U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regional administrator Elin Miller. “The planet-wide stress on the environment today means that collaborative efforts … are not just good things. They may well be essential for our survival.”
But, as Bill Erasmus, a representative of the indigenous people of Canada’s Northwest Territories noted, “part of our role is to wake up the world. It is very obvious to us all that the climate is changing.”
Mexico’s environment secretary, Juan Elvira Quesada, said the gathering is meant “to present the teachings of the original peoples of North America.”
“In this way, the indigenous communities can become the natural guides to restoring balance and harmony in the world,” he said.
The lessons they have to teach are simple – based on reviving Indian notions about ownership, use, compensation and respect.
“I sometimes talk to scientists,” said Sensmeier, “and they compartmentalize things, put things in boxes and disconnect them, and doing so promotes disharmony and imbalance.”

Researchers at Toronto’s University Health Network found that curcumin, the active ingredient in turmeric, both prevents and dramatically reverses enlargement of the heart in mice.

Enlarged hearts can lead to cardiac failure, a common and often fatal condition where the organ is unable to pump enough blood to keep the body functioning properly.

If similar results were one day duplicated in humans, the widely available spice could repair heart damage in a way no drug is able to do now, say researchers behind the study, to be published Friday in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. Curcumin has the added benefit of causing virtually no toxic side effects in even relatively large doses.

Despite their earlier hopes for the ingredient, researchers were taken aback by the scope of the improvement it actually made to the mice hearts.

“That was quite a surprise,” said Dr. Maral Ouzounian, a research fellow at the network’s Peter Munk Cardiac Centre. “It was quite dramatic.”

The next step is to try to ….”

Read more

Others will spend today watching depressing movies, perhaps love stories with the most sad endings ever imagined by some wicked French film maker that can’t resist concluding a film with everyone dying at the end, or at least one person jumping out the window.

Anyway. Don’t do that. If you’re date-less today, gather some of your other solo Valentines and watch happy romantic comedy movies together. That way, you’ll feel good and it’ll give you some hope that there IS hope! In any case, just have a fun, lighthearted day today and you won’t feel the need to eat crazy fattening foods.

Here are some happy love story movies (romantic comedies mostly) suggestions:

1. Death at a Funeral
2. Rushmore
3. Shakespeare in Love
4. Annie Hall
5. Serendipity
6. French Kiss
7. The Wedding Singer
8. Roxanne
9. Meet the Parents
10. Splash
11. Much Ado About Nothing
12. Reality Bites
13. Amelie
14. Moonstruck
15. Shall We Dance?
16. Notting Hill
17. Sleepless in Seattle
18. Muriel’s Wedding
19. So I Married an Axe Murderer
20. Music and Lyrics

Garlic – Probably best not to eat this just before your Valentine’s date. However, garlic contains allicin, which is an active ingredient that increases blood flow to both your sexual organs, resulting in a stronger erection in guys and better orgasms for guys and girls.

Damiana Tea for him – Damiana tea contains a South American herb that will stimulate his nether regions. with an active ingredient called gonzalitosin. This induces a feeling of mild euphoria and a tingling sensation in the penis. So what if your man doesn’t drink tea, tell him about this and he’ll be saying, “put the kettle on. right. now.”

Cinnamon for him - Cakes and buns with cinnamon will actually repel my sweetie because he HATES cinnamon but usually (for normal guys) the smell of cinnamon is one of the most arousing smells for men. I’ve heard that the smell arouses the guy and sends that much needed blood flow to the penis.

Coffee for her - I normally am so against coffee but once in a while might be good for your sex life! Scientists discovered that coffee boosts the female libido. This works best for girls that don’t drink coffee regularly. Yay me!

Chocolate - Lucky for us we LURRRRVE chocolate to bits! Forget the white or milk chocolate, and instead, head for the decadent, dark rich yummy bar with at least 70 percent cocoa solids. Cocoa contains phenylalanine, an amino acid that is known to boost arousal and enhances your mood.

St. John’s Wort – This herb really needs to be renamed because don’t most people NOT want to consume the wort of St. John? I don’t! Back to this herb. It’s commonly known to lift a sad mood, but did you know it can also do wonders for a lowly libido?

Gingseng - Ancient Asian secrets do not tell a lie. Gingseng enhances the libido now and has for more than 7,000 years. It gets blood flow to the genitals, as well as perking up your mental and physical energy.

Ginkgo Biloba for him - Taking Ginkgo Biloba will boost the blood flow enough to help maintain an erection, if you’ve been having issues with that.

Other aphrodisiacs: The following foods will get your body GOING: asparagus, cucumbers, onion, garlic, leeks, oysters, ginger, chives, scallion, black pepper, honey, cinnamon, avocado, cayenne pepper, carrots, cardamom, fennel, bananas, anise, horseradish and tumeric.  Lastly, foods containing high concentrations of essential omega 3 fatty acids can boost your body’s sex drive.

Since we’re all in agreement that a good night’s sleep is one of the best things you can do for your health and mood, pick three of these tips to follow each night until you get the night’s sleep you so desperately crave.

New Video on Factory Farming From The Humane Society – The Humane Society of the United States just released a new video documenting the horrible truths behind America’s factory farming industry and our incessant hunger for meat (I know, only some of us). The video, narrated by James Cromwell, is certainly an eye-opener.

Cash carrot for obese people to lose pounds – The government in England plans to pay obese people to lose weight!

The 247 lb. Vegan – NFL star Tony Gonzalez is out to answer a question: Can a football player live entirely on plants?

“Efforts continue to ban this deadly excitoneurotoxic carcinogenic drug that is addicting the public and triggering so many symptoms and diseases from MS and lupus and seizures to Parkinson’s, diabetes and obesity and even blindness and death. An aspartame documentary, Sweet Misery: A Poisoned World, explains how Don Rumsfeld got this marketed when the FDA said no. Masquerading as an additive it’s a deadly drug that interacts with other drugs and vaccines.

No one can forget the gallant efforts of Senator Gerald Ortiz y Pino who sponsored the Senate bill to ban aspartame in New Mexico. One picture that remains in my mind is addressing the Senate with Senators sipping Diet Coke. Dr. Ken Stoller said “It’s hard to believe we are going to get anywhere with you drinking this but consider the children.” Aspartame is a teratogen triggering birth defects and mental retardation, reducing IQ, and triggering all types of behavioral and psychiatric problems….”

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Learn how aspartame affects pregnancies (this is a .mov file, a movie clip)

When people have mental health issues, particularly with depression, it takes a huge effort to get better and recover, but the greatest challenge remains in trying to stay well from that point on.

With Optimism software, users actively learn about their depression. They monitor patterns in their life and begin to see the various internal and external factors that affect their health. Once these factors are realized, it makes it easier to take control and leave depression far behind them. Users will no doubt learn a great deal about what really triggers depression. Maybe it’s a certain food or lack of sleep. Perhaps it’s from watching disturbing films or from a stressful work environment. Optimism helps people focus on specific triggers and they’ll know what to avoid if possible. Users will learn so many important things about themselves, and this will help them control their lives better.

Optimism features:
* Prompts users to keep a health record of all things that impact their mental state of being, both positive and negative. From there, it helps find strategies to stay healthy.

* Charting Changes – Optimism charts users’ triggers, symptoms and healthy activities to be able to identify relationships between the three in a simple, visual way.

* Reports – Optimism generates reports that document the triggers, symptoms and healthy activities so users can print records or helpful history to email to their health provider.

Optimism is quick and easy to use, only taking 2 to 3 minutes each day to enter data, and only a little bit longer to look more closely at the charts.

People, work on getting rid of (if not controlling) your depression, and stay mentally healthy. Try out this software and plan your health. Create a “Stay Well Plan,” which can be seen as a dynamic document that you adjust as you learn more about managing your illness. Print or email it to your health provider or aids, so they know how to help you stay on track.

Download the free demo now (for Mac)

NOTE: PC version should be released some time next month (February). I’ll post it when it’s available.

1. Be present – I don’t just mean be there in attendance, I mean make yourself fully present in a mindful way. A “present” state of mind will mean that you are focused on the now. You are committed to the present moment and that means that when you’re interacting with people, you are more absorbed in what they are saying right now. You need to be present to be a good manager or employee. You give meaning and purpose to those around you. In business, if you are “present” you will usually get what you need. If you aren’t present, you miss your task or you miss what someone is saying – and those things could be very important.

2. Give full attention to your activities – This is also a state of mindfulness. Concentrating on tasks gives meaning to that task. It helps you get your task done in an efficient way because you are focused on it, even on the smallest task – This activity requires very focused attention and when you are mindful of your concentration to your work, you cannot be more efficient with your task. This ends up with the best work you can offer.

3. Make sure your state of mind is optimal before entering a meeting – This point is very important. How can you assess your state of mind? Before your meeting, go to a quiet place so you can determine your state of mind. You need to be aware of what is happening and how you feel; you need to be in a state of mind where your emotions are calm and positive. You should be in a positive state but if you’re not, try to divert your negative feelings and thoughts aside by focusing your thoughts on happy, wonderful things. Words are powerful, so say to yourself, “I am calm, positive and will have an efficient, productive meeting.”

4. Be aware of your relationships with colleagues – Say, for instance, you are a manager and you don’t get along with your employee. Figure out why, and try to change it to a more positive relationship. Once you can see possibilities of problematic issues between the two of you, you can go from there. If you are mindful, you will realize the weaknesses, the conflicts and the differences in personalities. These things shouldn’t prevent you from having a decent relationship. When you are mindful and fully aware of all aspects involved in employee/manager relationships, you can work it out so that you have the relationship that is necessary to have an efficient and happy office environment. Listen to your colleagues and employees and be in the present. Give them value and value what they have to offer. Try to understand where they’re coming from. The results of this behavior will astound you.

5. Laugh – Try not to take yourself so seriously. Have fun when you can. While laughing and goofing around may not be appropriate for some circumstances, at the right moments, it’s the best thing an office can have for morale.

6. Know Yourself – Knowing yourself helps you to make the right choices about how you respond to people and situations.

All know the Way, but few actually walk it.

If you don’t find a teacher soon, you’ll live this life in vain. It’s true, you have the buddha-nature. But without the help of a teacher you’ll never know it. Only one person in a million becomes enlightened without a teacher’s help.

If, though, by the conjunction of conditions, someone understands what the Buddha meant, that person doesn’t need a teacher. Such a person has a natural awareness superior to anything taught. But unless you’re so blessed, study hard, and by means of instruction you’ll understand.

About Bodhidharma
Bodhidharma was born in Kanchi in the Southern Indian kingdom of Pallava around year 440. At the instruction of Prajnatara he travelled to China by ship and arrived around 475. He is associated with the Shaolin temple, and is honored as the founder of kung fu. He is also credited with bringing tea to China. He is said to have cut off his eyelids to stay awake in meditiation, and so is usually depicted with bulging eyes. He is also credited with bringing Zen to China, even though he had few disciples in his lifetime.

Mind Training, The Great Collection (Library of Tibetan Classics) is an English adaptation of the first anthology of techniques for cultivating altruistic thoughts and coping with the inevitable challenges of everyday life. Presenting 44 of the original texts — including seminal works such as “Leveling out All Preconceptions” and “Eight Verses on Training the Mind” — Mind Training combines eloquent translations and historical commentaries to demonstrate how anyone can learn to exude love, compassion, and perseverance.

Click here for more information

1. When you find yourself having a terribly negative attitude leading to grumpville, slap yourself with a large trout. (figuratively speaking, of course) Just stop yourself. It’s you who has control over your emotions. If you cannot control your own emotions, seek professional help.

2. During these times of unpleasant thoughts, try to examine WHY you feel that way. What is the evidence and proof that you should be able to feel this way. If you can find vast reasons to substantiate your negative feelings and attitudes, try to beckon your compassion. Try to laugh. Try to smile and even force yourself to think the opposite. How? Just understanding you’ll feel better, should be a great incentive.

3. When jumping into negative attitudes, try to conjure up different scenarios for why something is happening. Try to envision that all is happening for a better future outcome. Imagine that things will get better. Example: You break your leg on the ski slope. No one is immediately around to help you so help is delayed. Don’t jump into the conclusion that you’ll die. Don’t jump to the conclusion that your leg won’t heal correctly. Look for reasons that will help you not to do that again! Maybe you need ski lessons. You know that won’t happen again. That’s positive, right?!

4. Think about a positive attitude as much as you can, if not all the time. Even say out loud, “I have a positive attitude!” Words are powerful and you’ll be amazed at how that can change your life.

5. Remember that a positive attitude makes you feel good. ‘Nuf said.

“People ask me how I afford all this camera stuff. Easy: I beg, borrow, and sometimes even buy it. I certainly don’t still own everything I’ve reviewed here since 1999. I’ve also had real jobs for many years which pays for what I do buy, and I live like a hermit otherwise.

That’s the easy answer, but then I realized that I’ve always had a knack for buying expensive toys long before I’d ever had a job. Hopefully my cheapskate tricks can help you, too, which is why I write this.

I bought my first expensive single-lens reflex camera when I was an 11 year old kid. I saved my allowance, and still couldn’t afford film. My dad was kind enough to buy me a roll every month or so if I was good.

When I was in college I bought one of the world’s first digital audio recorders to record my music gigs. I had never had a real job in my life. This was in 1981, two years before the CD came out and back when digital audio was beyond the means of most professional recording studios. Digital audio recorders cost the same as a house back then!

I was 19. I bought the then-revolutionary new Sony PCM-F1, which sold for the amazingly low sum of $1,900 in 1981 ($4,400 in today’s money). The next cheapest recorder had cost $50,000 the week before. I also had to buy a Betamax video recorder on which to save the data, an additional $1,100. Back in those days, VCRs were still as exotic as helicopters. This cost me a total of $3,000 in 1981 dollars, or $7,000 in today’s money.

How the heck could I do that? For comparison, my car had cost only $650!!!

If a kid can afford toys more expensive than Nikon D3s, using their own very limited funds, anyone can.

When we were little kids, my brother asked my dad “How come Kenny always can buy expensive things, but I can’t, and we get the same allowance?” My dad responded that it was because my brother insisted on going out and buying everything as soon as he wanted it, but that I waited, saved, and did my homework to find the same things for less.

Today that same brother, who has never had a real job as far as we know, has been traveling the world ever since he was in college. When asked how he does it with no particular source of income, he responds that “most people are too stupid to be poor.” By that he means that most people waste what money they do have on stupid things, like new cars and eating in restaurants, and don’t instead buy their food at the grocery store while traveling. He travels by carefully checking auctions for other peoples’ unused weeks of time shares, so he will travel when he can bag a week in Paris or Tobago for just a couple of hundred dollars. He has to be ready to travel on a moment’s notice when he wins these auctions, another advantage of having no real job.

Our ability to buy expensive toys has nothing to do with how much money we do or don’t earn. Like everything in life, it has everything to do with how well you use what you have.

Sorry if this article starts to read like a self-help video, but honestly, if you can’t afford these things today, you’re going to have to make some changes in your life if you want to. It doesn’t take money. It takes the guts to be a cheapskate.

What I’ll describe has always worked for me. I hope it helps you. Everyone’s situations are different, but hopefully my skinflint lifestyle will give you the idea. This is all about prioritization and not wasting what you do have, so if you prioritize differently or enjoy spending money on something I consider wasteful, go right ahead. I certainly don’t intend to offend anyone.

Prioritization

Half of being able to afford what you want is to spend your money on what you really want.

This should be obvious, but most people are suckered out of their biggest chunks of money by blowing most of their cash on the wrong things. People spend money on the wrong things because the people who take that money make it so comfortable and easy.

Never Buy a…“

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What Joseph Campbell says may shock some: These shattering moments of your life are exciting. They feed you. They are your sustenance. You need them to grow and so you should be happy about your suffering.

Usually when I’m suffering, I’m so not happy about it.

But I understand what he means by that. When you reach your lowest points, you cannot but wonder why these things are happening. You wonder what is the point? How can you live your life to the fullest? How can you grow personally? Who are you? Why are you here?

While the bad times are some of the most miserable times of your life, I encourage you to celebrate them. They are these moments that push you toward that personal transformation that will ultimately lead you to happiness and peace with yourself.

Nothing is exciting
if you know
what the outcome is going to be.
~ Joseph Campbell from Reflections on the Art of Living

From Slacker Manager:

“It’s that time of year again when most companies have holiday parties, which means most managers have to make an appearance and show their best side, at least for a few minutes. Being an office holiday party veteran, and having not always been as savvy about things as I am now, I thought I’d share my tips for surviving the holiday party. Share your favorite tips, or horror stories, in the comments section.

1. Moderation is the key – Don’t eat too much, don’t drink too much, and for heaven’s sake, don’t dance too much. Just be moderate and have a little bit of everything. Pukers are losers, so keep the amount of everything you do in moderation. If you’re even a little sick, be especially careful. A few year’s back I went to a holiday party and was sick, had a few too many appetizers, and wretched my guts out for over an hour. Oddly, I haven’t been invited to join that group for another event. I wonder why. NOT!
2. Fred Flintstone Can Dance at a Christmas Party! Smile at everyone – Nobody likes an office grump especially not at the holiday party. Take some time and smile and folks and folks will smile at you.
3. Give thanks – Think about your interactions over the past year with the person you’re standing next to. Did you work with them? Did they help you out? Did they win an associate of the month award? Anything specific is great, but even a nice “Thanks for all your help this year” goes a long way to building a great relationship for next year. Every year I make time to find the folks that help my team and me the most and to remind folks how much I appreciate their help…”

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The holidays are here, ready or not. For some, it’s a festive, merry time of year and all is neato and chill, in an endless happiness. For others, unfortunately, it’s the dreaded time of the year filled with sugar plum psycho madness with a ginormous slice of hell and anguish and a side of stress attack.

This post is for the latter group, those of you who find this time of year the Grumpy Solstice, the “I’d rather be under a rock” holiday season and well, “I wish I wish I wish it was over!” kind of folks.

Many things can lift your mood so here is a quick suggestion:

Mood Lifting Gift Basket contains tasty organic and natural treats (popcorn, ginger chews, fruit leather, chocolate chip granola bar, vegetarian chicken flavored noodle soup, peppermint water), Yogi Calming herbal medicinal tea, Kava Kava and Ginko Biloba supplements, organic lemonade lip balm, tissue to wipe away the tears, and a teddy bear. How can this NOT lift your mood? Get this gift for yourself or for someone you know, who might appreciate its purpose.

When someone you care about hurts you, you can hold on to anger, resentment and thoughts of revenge or embrace forgiveness and move forward.

Why do we hold grudges and become resentful and unforgiving?
The people most likely to hurt us are those closest to us — our partners, friends, siblings and parents. When we’re hurt by someone we love and trust — whether it’s a lie, betrayal, rejection, abuse or insult — it can be extremely difficult to…”

Read the full article

Be You TV

With a divorce rate in this country approaching 45 percent, many couples are wondering how they can stay married once they get married. Often it seems easier to find love than to maintain it. After the initial high of new love wears off — and it always does — every couple needs tools to keep and nurture their love. Here are five tips to consider when working toward longevity in your relationship.

5. Treasure your “life history.” When you stay together with someone you love, it inevitably means that you build something together. This “something” is something invaluable and irreplaceable — a life history. No other person will know you as intimately and intensely for these years of your life: Who else will share your happiness and disappointments as fully, love your children the way you do and hold the same memories of your family? These commonalties are often underrated by couples and then sorely missed when they are gone. Value, nurture and hold on to your life history, because it will be a tremendous source of pleasure to you both.

[source]

You may think this is a TOTAL waste of time but if you do, you’re an idiot. Oops! Sorry for being rude and calling you an idiot. heehee. Anyway, any small gesture that puts a perk in your step, is good for you – so take as many opportunities as you can to feel good. Try not to browse too much at work. You may get fired, and then you might feel really, really bad.

Don’t fret, I say that with a smile! haha.

If you try to smile more often, it will make a huge difference in your life. 1) People will react more positively toward you; maybe those people were grumpy (for whatever reason) and when you approached them all happy and everything, it changed their outlook. it can oftentimes cause a happy chain reaction; 2) Forcing yourself to smile may make you feel ridiculous especially if you don’t happen to feel like it but by doing so, it creates a sort of chemical reaction that will uplift your whole being. Why DON’T you want to smile, anyway. Just try to do that more often and you’ll see the positive results.