Attention!

If it is boring then you are facing a mammoth task in paying attention. A lot research and studies have suggested that the human attention span is no more than 10 minutes and with the amount of information that is bombarded to us, it might be getting even shorter. Humans everywhere pay the greatest attention to three things only; food, threat and sex. It is primal. It is something that has kept enabled the human race to survive and thrive. Everything else is secondary.
But if we pay attention to only that three then life is going to get really tough. Attention to our daily business, work and other mundane things modern living offers is important and sometimes essential.

To keep our attention where it should, we can:

1. Start by having enough sleep.
2. Having a snack
3. Reading books
4. Shutting out distractions such as TV and the internet
5. Meditate

The best piece of advice I have read about getting things done was written by Frank Tibolt in his book The Touch of Greatness. The rules are simple, only two.

First, write down whatever you that you have to do from the most important to the least. Second, act on it and don't don't stop or move to the next item until you have completed the previous one.

You might want to try this yourself.

Before you call it a day at the office, do a list of things that you have to do tomorrow. Number it and put in on top of your desk before you leave. When you come back to the office the next day, start acting on that list and keep going. Keep at this habit and see the difference that it makes.

Letter To Yourself

When you let your conscious mind take a break from a task, your subconscious mind continues to process the information in the background. Sometimes, insightful ideas will flash into your mind. To encourage this, you can try this exercise.

Sit down and write a letter to yourself about the problem you are working on. Pretend that you are writing the letter to someone who knows nothing about the project; give a good description, including everything that you have done to date. Be as detailed as possible. Don't forget to mention any constraints that are imposed on the problem and what types of solutions are preferred. Then, give your subconscious a deadline. For example, you could write, "I expect a full report by the end of the week!" It may seem silly to write to yourself in this way, but give it a try. Now close up the letter and put it away.

Unbeknownst to you, your subconscious will continue to think about the problem. When the deadline approaches, open up the letter and read it. Chances are that by that point (or possibly earlier) you will have experienced a flash of insight that illuminates a potential solution.

Source: Braingle

What You See Is Not Always What You Do

This is interesting.

ScienceDaily reported  findings of a Dutch researcher' Hemke van Doorn cooperation between two separate visual systems; namely the visual observation system and the other that takes care of the movement. Read more here

Make an Error and Remember Longer

People remember things better, longer, if they are given very challenging tests on the material, tests at which they are bound to fail.

Research by Nate Kornell, Matthew Hays and Robert Bjork at U.C.L.A. that recently appeared in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition reveals at  have found this not too surprising finding.  We all know that if we have a made a mistake about something, more often than not we tend to remember the correct answer longer. This is because we attach an emotional value to the incident.

Another Reason to smile

Psychologists at the University of Cardiff in Wales found that people whose ability to frown is comp­romised by cosmetic botox inject­ions are happier, on average, than people who can frown. psychologists at the University of Cardiff in Wales found that people whose ability to frown is comp­romised by cosmetic botox inject­ions are happier, on average, than people who can frown.

“It would appear that the way we feel emotions isn’t just restricted to our brain—there are parts of our bodies that help and reinforce the feelings we’re having,” says Michael Lewis, a co-author of the study. “It’s like a feedback loop.” In a related study from March, scientists at the Technical University of Munich in Germany scanned botox recipients with fMRI machines while asking them to mimic angry faces. They found that the botox subjects had much lower activity in the brain circuits involved in emotional processing and responses—in the amygdala, hypothal­amus and parts of the brain stem—as compared with con­trols who had not received treatment.

The concept works the opposite way, too—enhancing emotions rather than suppressing them. People who frown during an unpleasant procedure report feeling more pain than those who do not, according to a study published in May 2008 in the Journal of Pain. Researchers applied heat to the forearms of 29 participants, who were asked to either make unhappy, neutral or relaxed faces during the procedure. Those who exhibited negative expressions reported being in more pain than the other two groups. Lewis, who was not involved in that study, says he plans to study the effect that botox injections have on pain perception. “It’s possible that people may feel less pain if they’re unable to express it,” he says.

Source: The Scientific American

Neurogenesis

Neurogenesis is a term that is used to refer to the birth of neurons in the brain. Neurons are the basic building blocks of the human brain. There are more than 100 billion of these cells in human brain. Each neuron has two or more protrusions called dendrites and axons. It receives inputs and produces outputs signals to enable us to live and interact with our surroundings. It was first established in the 1960s following work done by Dr Pasko Rakic of Yale University. Further research done over the years especially the last decade has shown that neurogenesis occurs throughout adult life.

The study of neurogenesis is important to find improved treatments for mental disorders such as Alzheimer, Huntington, epilepsy and traumatic brain injury.Researches have found that neurogenesis occurs in the hippocampus, an area that is associated with learning and memory, and the olfactory bulb, which is the area responsible for the sense of smell. Research shows that thousands of neurons are produced each day but most of these new cells die within weeks. In order for the neurons to survive it needs support from neighbouring glial cells, nutrients and also connection to other neurons.

Though there are many questions that unanswered about what actually triggers neurogenesis, scientists have experimental evidence that neurogenesis is enhanced by:

1) Physical exercise

2) Enriched environment

3) Specific types of learning

4) Certain drugs used as antidepressants

Current research is focused on learning about the new neurons’ contributions to the brain’s activities. Neurogenesis though is still an emerging field, thus far has provided insights about degenerative brain diseases.

Fallacy No3: Appeal To Authority

This is one of the most common fallacy of all time. It goes something like this:

1. Mr N is (claim to be) an authority on the subject S.

2. Mr N. makes a statement C about S.

3. Then C must be true.

Look out for this fallacy. We are more often than not fall for this.

Fallacy No2: Ad ignorantiam

Fallacy No2 :

Ad ignorantiam - basically states that a specific belief is true because we don't know that it isn't true.

This is a favourite fallacy of those who dabble in pseudoscience.

Fallacy No 1: Ad hominem

To be able to think clearly in a world where almost everything is layered with sensationalism and half truths is important. There 20 known fallacies and let us start with No1, the most used, Ad Hominem.

Ad Hominem, translated from Latin to English, means "against the man" or "against the person."And this how the argument will sound like:

Jane: The world is heading towards an environment disaster
John: Of course you will say that, you are member of Greenpeace.
Jane: What about the arguments I presented to support my case.
John: Like I said, you are Greenpeace activist and you have to say that. All you Greenpeace members ever do is cause panic and demonstrate. You people are good at nothing else.

Ad Hominem is a fallacy because the character, action and circumstances have no bearing to the truth or falsity of the claim being made.

Flu and Alzheimer

In a study at University of Tennessee, Memphis, and St. Jude’s Research Hospital, researches has found that the H5N1 flu strain - c0mmonly known as bird flu can penetrate deep into the brain and cause immune reaction which may contribute to neurodegenerative disorders. 

Read more here

Finding Peace at home

In an ideal world, our home is a place of peace away from the hectic outside world. Unfortunately, ideal worlds don’t exist!

In order to make your home a sanctuary, you have to put in a little effort, but thankfully, it’s easier than you think.

Here are ten ways you can find peace in your home:

1. Clear the Clutter. Many people never feel at ease when they’re at home because their home is disorganized. Of course, a cluttered environment leads to a cluttered mind, and a cluttered mind is a chaotic one. If you take one weekend to clear the clutter from your home, you’ll feel an immediate difference in your peace level.

2. Find a Hobby. Sometimes it’s boredom that gets the best of us when we’re at home. When you have a hobby to turn to, you’ll find that it’s a lot easier to feel peaceful and fulfilled.

3. Turn on the music. Listening to calming music will allow you to let go of the stress of the day and enjoy your time at home. Choose whatever kind of music you like, as long as it relaxes you.

4. Leave your work at work. If your home is an office away from the office, how can you ever find peace? Except for the rare occasion, leave your work at work, both physically and mentally. If you work from home, work in one dedicated space. Also, never work in the same room as you sleep, otherwise, you’ll associate your bedroom as a workspace.

5. Create time to decompress. Do you rush home from work and immediately take on more responsibilities and chores? Instead, allow yourself even 10 or 15 minutes to relax and unwind before you begin tasks for the home. Doing so will mark a clear separation in your mind between work and home.

* You might want to just lie on your bed for a few minutes, read a book, or take a shower. This short time will rejuvenate and refresh you.

6. Be considerate. Be mindful of your family and their daily stresses as well. Too often, we take their presence and contributions for granted. Remember that the people you live with are human, too. Show your gratitude for them.

7. Use positive reinforcement. When someone in your family does something to contribute to the peace, be sure to praise them to let them know you appreciate what they did. This will help foster more peace in the future!

8. Pick your battles. You could fight a lot about little, insignificant things, but is it worth it? Instead, choose only the most important transgressions to challenge.

9. Allow things to roll off your back. When something isn’t a big deal, just let it go. Instead, focus on maintaining your inner peace. You’ll be glad in the long run that you decided to go this route; it makes life so much easier!

10. Cool off. When you’re involved in a conflict at home, give yourself some time to cool off. Doing so will help you calmly talk about your feelings and come to a resolution. Or perhaps you just may realize that the issue wasn’t as big of a deal as you first thought.

Source : Super Mind Evolution

Your Body Literally Glows With Light

The human body literally glows, emitting a visible light in extremely small quantities at levels that rise and fall with the day.

Past research has shown that the body emits visible light, 1,000 times less intense than the levels which can be seen with the naked eye. In fact, virtually all living creatures emit very weak light.

To learn more about this faint visible light, scientists in Japan employed extraordinarily sensitive cameras capable of detecting single photons. Five healthy male volunteers in their 20’s were placed bare-chested in front of the cameras in complete darkness in light-tight rooms for 20 minutes every three hours.

The researchers found the body glow rose and fell over the day, with its lowest point at 10 AM and its peak at 4 PM, dropping gradually after that. These findings suggest there is light emission linked to the body clock, most likely due to how metabolic rhythms fluctuate over the course of the day.

Faces glowed more than the rest of the body. This might be because faces are more tanned than the rest of the body, since they get more exposure to sunlight.

Sources:

Live Science July 22, 2009

PLoS One July 16, 2009; 4(7): e6256 [Free Full-Text Article]

Selfish

It is difficult not to be selfish. It is native and not learned. The mind always looks out for "number one". It is however possible to learn to respect and be fair to the wants and needs of others.

Many a times in this blog, I have written about taking of one's own self and perhaps might be accused of narcissism, I truly believe we have to fair to others. After all there are about 7 billion humans on earth and all have the same right to live as you.

Here are ways we can learn to be more fair minded in your affairs.

• Am I being fair to ... right now?
• Do I put myself in another person's shoes when deciding things of mutual interest?
• Am I thinking broadly enough?
• Am I putting my desires ahead of others' right and needs?

Action

Action. No matter what you talk, who you know, how intelligent you are, how good you look and how talented you are; you will never be on top of your game without taking the right action. Act. And act now.

You and Your Circle - 3

Respect everyone.

Maintain good manners at all times.

Smile always.

And see your stock rise.

Washing Your Hands Properly Stops the Spread of Contagious Disease

Most people know that washing your hands can help to prevent passing on nasty viruses and bacteria. But how many people just flick their hands under a dribbling tap and think that will do? Now hopeless hand washers will be caught with glowing green fingers by a good hand-washing test.

A new hand-washing training kit uses a cream containing a harmless dye that glows green in ultraviolet light to show up shoddy hand washing. Demonstrators put a blob of cream on people’s hands and send them away to wash them. When they come back, they are often amazed at how much glowing green dye remains on their fingers. If the dye were a microbe, they would be standing a good chance of infecting themselves and passing it on to other people.

The glowing cream can also be used to show how viruses such as those that cause colds and flu can survive on hard surfaces and be spread from hand to hand. Just touching a doorknob that has had a little of the special cream applied to it can make people’s fingers turn green under UV light -- and then when they touch another person’s hand the green glow gets passed on.

Source: Science Daily June 3, 2009

You and Your Circle - 2

Listen to those around you. Listen, but never be influenced by what others say about anything. Only you know best. So you decide what is best for you. Only you had experienced what you been through. No one else. Everything about you is unique. So, you must evaluate for yourself everything that goes around you and make decisions that will serve you best.

You and Your Circle - 1

There are always people who will be negative towards you. You must learn to accept this. There is no point in trying to win this people over unless there is a real great reward in doing so or real pain failing to do so. There are two types of negative people. There are those who show directly that they do not think of highly you and there are those who outwardly appear as your friend but are subtlely putting you down.

Avoid the first type. Beware of the second.

Increase IQ - 8 Minor Mental Modifications

There are hundreds of modifications a person can make to boost their mental faculties. However, there are a few simple steps which you can start using right now, that will help to increase your intelligence quotient going forward:

1. Use mind calming techniques such as deep breathing and good body posture.
It is important to keep a silent and calm mind which is free of anger, stress and worry. This is because negative emotional states are a good way to cloud the mind of the clear thought it requires to think properly. It also allows thoughts of inspiration to become more easily recognised. An example of a good technique would be to maintain a good exposure, and to practise deep breathing throughout your day. This is a simple step, i know, but it will have a profound effect on the quality of your thoughts.

2. Make a habit to think through things in a positive light.
When you think positively, you are helping your mind to seek out opportunity and see the abundance in life, instead of the lack. This will therefore help you to focus on solutions in a situation as opposed to problems. So when you look at a complex mental task, you should look at finding the solutions, instead of worrying about how complicated the problem is and getting bogged down this way. This is a simple step, but it will have a profound effect on the number of mental problems you can solve and how efficiently your brain runs.

3. Put pen to paper and write your experiences, goals and ideas down.
When you begin to write things down, you are using the creativity parts of your brain which will help you to generate even more ideas about the idea or situation in question. From this, you gain an additional perspective which may lead to profound insights or solutions to the situation at hand. Also, writing your ideas down is the best practise you can have, because it promotes self discipline of the body and mind. When you can learn to effectively discipline your body and mind, you will have control over it, and your life. Your life is controlled by the way you use your body and mind.

4. Get good sleep.
This sounds obvious but you would be horrified to hear how little step the majority of people actually get. Sleep is vitally important to maintaining optimal mental function and should never be underestimated under any circumstances because it is a fundamental component of life. Most people can do with 7-8 hours sleep, but others need much less time. Its important also that you get into sleeping routines so that you always wake up refreshed. This works infinitely better than always sleeping at different times every evening.

5. Prioritise your time.
We all have the same 24 hours in a day, and some of us will make maximum use of this time by moving towards our goals, and investing the needed time and energy towards them. However, for the majority of people, almost 40-50% of the day can go down in the bin as a straight loss, in that we waste our time doing idle and useless things. By prioritising your time, you can therefore extract much more from your mind, and make your mind efficient. When you use your time wisely, you are building the discipline to get on with the important things you need to perform to achieve your objectives, and make your mind more responsive to your commands for even more efficiency.

6. Change your beliefs.
When we believe a particular thing about a situation (whether it be true or not), we will tend to automatically see things from the perspective that the belief is true. In other words, what you believe, you will see as being true no matter what. So using this, if you believe that you are intelligent, smart and mentally sharp, you will become it. When you believe that you can do a certain thing with all sincerity and strength of faith, you will do it. The actual reasons for this are extremely complex yet profound to enhance our lives: basically, your beliefs can very easily penetrate the deeper subconscious mind, so we only see the world as being true dependant on our beliefs. To create mental efficiency is therefore about believing the right things (ie that we are smart, clever etc) to promote these things in our life. If instead you believe you are a mental failure, what do you think will happen?

7. Exercise your mental faculties.
There are loads of ways to exercise your brain: You can learn new things. Become creative. Do crosswords and puzzles, play chess, do maths in your head etc etc There are a million and one things you can do to maintain and boost your mental faculties. Just make sure that you do something mentally stimulating on a daily basis and your mental acuteness will remain throughout your life and through old age. Everyday, we can go through the grind of boring and mundane jobs which do not stimulate our mental faculties properly, so we should never assume that our jobs are enough to keep us mentally fit. We need to take charge of our lives, and ensure our mental fitness on a daily basis.

8. Use intelligence increasing techniques.
This is by far the easiest way to increase your IQ. There is no reason why you should let your dreams slip into the bin whilst others achieve them with ease and brilliance. You are entitled to achieve your goals as much as anybody else. You still have the time to make an investment in yourself. When you have the discipline and desire to increase your intelligence, you will learn that your discipline and desire will build on top of its self to create a huge furnace of desire to reach your goal.

What To Expect
When you implement these simple steps to make an investment in yourself, you are opening the path to greater intelligence. Not only will you become more alert and focused throughout your day, but you will have a greater quality of life by which you can strive to achieve your dreams.
posted in : Self Help 101

Inspirational Writing #16

Lose this day loitering, 'twill be the same story,tomorrow, and the next more dilatory,
For indecision brings its own delay and days are lost lamenting o'er lost days,
Are you in earnest, seize this very minute, what you can do, or think you can, begin it.
Starting has genius, power and magic in it.
Take one step and the mind grows heated; begin it and the task will be completed.
Since the hardest part is always the start, a task begun is more than half done.

~ Goethe

Conquer Your World

But before you can do that you must conquer yourself. Only by conquering yourself first you can conquer everything else. You must conquer every feeling inside of you. You must conquer every sensation. Anger, love, hate, hunger, lust, boredom, euphoria and jealousy and passion….. and everything else that will pull and push you every day of your life. And how you can conquer your world? You do that by having courage.

You must develop the courage to conquer yourself. You must have the courage to stand-up to yourself. You must have the courage to be tough on yourself. You must have the courage to dream. You must have the courage to love others. You must have the courage to face the things that frustrates, things that requires drudgery to complete. And how you develop courage? You develop courage by perseverance.

By persevering you can overcome any challenges you face. You can triumph if you do not give up. You will win if you keep going.

To conquer your world, you must conquer yourself. To conquer yourself, you must have courage. And you develop courage by persevering. Thus, to conquer your world you must have perseverance.

Validation

Do not seek validation. You are the best judge of your own deeds. Seeking validation will make you weak and dependent. It has the power to demotivate and make you do things you don't want to do. It takes a strong person to achieve this but you must strive not to seek validation.

Learn to be your own judge. Learn to do your best at all times. Seek only to be effective and efficient. Seek to only please a higher power than mere humans.

Do Not be Intimidated

The big boys will try to intimidate you. Don't ever display fear.

In life, the big will always try to bully the small. And the big does it, among other others, by intimidating. Intimidation comes in many forms, some of it loud and clear, others quiet and subtle. Recognize it, and deal with it. Do not fear it, because that what intimidation is all about, instilling fear. The moment you show that you cannot be pushed around by fear, intimidation against you will stop. You see, a dog that barks rarely bites.

If you fear is real, then face it by pretending you have no fear.

Self Esteem and Behaviour

The following is a summary of the basic approach of the self in true experience and creation of human understanding as written by Clark E. Moustakas.

1. The individual knows himself better than anyone else.

2. Only the individual himself can develop his potentials.

3. The individual's perception of his own feelings, attitudes, and ideas is more valid than outside diagnosis can be.

4. Behaviour can best be understood from the individual's own point of view.

5. The individual responds in such ways as to be consistent with himself.

6. The individual's perception of himself determines how he will behave

7.Objects have no meaning in themselves. Individuals give meanings, reality to them. These meanings reflect the individual's background.

8. Every individual is logical in the context of his own personal experience. His point of view may seem iilogical to others when not understood.

9. As long as the individual accepts himself, he will continue to grow and develop his potentialities. When he does not accept himself, much of his energies will be used to defend rather than explore and to actualize himself.

10. Every individual wants to grow toward self-fulfillment. These growth strivings are present at all times.

11. An individual learns significantly only those things which are involved in the maintenance or enhancement of self. No one can force the individual to permanent or creative learning. He will only learn only if he wills to. Any other type of learning is temporary and inconsistent with the self and will disappear as soon as the threat is removed.

12. Concepts, ideas, symbols, and events can be denied or distorted but experience is experienced in the unique reality of the individual person and cannot be untrue to itself. If it threatens maintenance or enhancement of self, the experience will be of little relevance or consequence to the individual though it may temporarily stifle further growth.

13. We cannot teach another person directly and we cannot facilitate real learning for another person in the sense making it easier. We can make learning for another possible by providing the information, the setting, the atmosphere, materials, resources, and by being there. The learning process itself is a unique individualistic experience. It may be a difficult experience for the individual person even if it has significance for the enhancement of self.

14. Under threat the self is less open to spontaneous expression; that is, is more passive and controlled. When free from threat the self is more open, that is, free to be and to strive for actualization.

Inspirational Poem #1

If you can't be a pine on the top of the hill

Be a scrub in the valley--but be

The best little scrub by the side of the rill;

Be a bush if you can't be a tree.

If you can't be a bush be a bit of the grass,

And some highway some happier make;

If you can't be a muskie then just be a bass--

But the liveliest bass in the lake!

We can't all be captains, we've got to be crew,

There's something for all of us here.

There's big work to do and there's lesser to do,

And the task we must do is the near.

If you can't be a highway then just be a trail,

If you can't be the sun be a star;

It isn't by size that you win or you fail--

Be the best of whatever you are!

Douglas Malloch.

The Story of Mr. Boldt

George Boldt was a manager of a small hotel in Philadelphia.

One evening an elderly couple, plainly dressed, came into the hotel looking for a night's lodging. There was a large convention in town and all the hotel rooms were filled.

As the room clerk turned the old couple away, Boldt noticed them. Observing they were tired and worn out, and the woman was very weary and weak, if not actually ill, Boldt said to them, " You two look ill. And I'm afraid you won't find a room anywhere. But if you don't mind a small room, I'll be glad to let you have mine for the night."

The old couple, gratified and overjoyed, gave a sigh of relief, thanked Boldt profusely, and retired for the night.

The next morning the husband sought Boldt and said to him, " You're a kind of manager every hotel should have. You'd do credit to a really outstanding hotel. Would you be interested if I built you one?' His name was William Waldorf Astor. He built Waldorf Astor in New York and Boldt manager at a fabulous salary.

~ excerpt from A Touch of Greatness by Frank Tibolt

Talk To Yourself

You spend the most time with yourself, thus what you say to yourself is important. Don't engage in small talk or petty issues with yourself. Talk big, talk positive. Encourage yourself. Criticize yourself now and then but never talk down to yourself.

Talk to yourself. Motivate it. Encourage yourself do the best always.

Ask

Learn to ask.

If you think the world knows what you want, you are going to be really disappointed. The Russians have a proverb for this: "Those who do not ask, do not know how to live". Remember that everyone you know and all those you are going to meet in the future, thinks more about himself than anything else. Every single one of them.

We all have our own battles to fight. You have your, I have mine, my neighbour has his and so does his uncle. Your boss has his own battles and most times he is plotting about it. So the next time you want something in your job, do not assume he knows, you must ask.

The same goes if you are in a relationship. Do not assume your partner knows everything you desire. Such relationships are rare and takes a long time to build. To avoid heart ache, take time to ask.

Of course, there many ways to ask. We will talk more another day

Brain Facts

The human brain has amazed and baffled people throughout the ages. Some scientists and researchers have devoted their entire lives to learning how the brain works. Here are some facts about your brain.

Physical Attributes

The weight of your brain is about 3 pounds.

Your skin weighs twice as much as your brain.

Your brain is made up of about 75 percent water.

Your brain consists of about 100 billion neurons.

There are anywhere from 1,000 to 10,000 synapses for each neuron.

There are no pain receptors in your brain, so your brain can feel no pain.

There are 100,000 miles of blood vessels in your brain.

Your brain is the fattest organ in your body and may consists of at least 60 percent fat.

The Developing Brain

At birth, your brain was almost the same size as an adult brain and contained most of the brain cells for your whole life.

A newborn baby’s brain grows about three times its size in the first year.

Humans continue to make new neurons throughout life in response to mental activity.

The first sense to develop while in utero is the sense of touch. The lips and cheeks can experience touch at about 8 weeks and the rest of the body around 12 weeks.

Brain Function

Your brain uses 20 percent of the total oxygen in your body.

If your brain loses blood for 8 to 10 seconds, you will lose consciousness.

While awake, your brain generates between 10 and 23 watts of power -- or enough energy to power a light bulb.

The old adage of humans only using 10% of their brain is not true. Every part of the brain has a known function.

The brain can live for 4 to 6 minutes without oxygen, and then it begins to die. No oxygen for 5 to 10 minutes will result in permanent brain damage.

A study of 1 million students in New York showed that students who ate lunches that did not include artificial flavors, preservatives, and dyes did 14 percent better on IQ tests than students who ate lunches with these additives.

Psychology of Your Brain

You can’t tickle yourself because your brain distinguishes between unexpected external touch and your own touch.

There is a class of people known as supertasters who not only have more taste buds on their tongue, but whose brain is more sensitive to the tastes of foods and drinks. In fact, they can detect some flavors that others cannot.

The connection between body and mind is a strong one. One estimate is that between 50-70 percent of visits to the doctor for physical ailments are attributed to psychological factors.

Memory

Every time you recall a memory or have a new thought, you are creating a new connection in your brain.

Memories triggered by scent have a stronger emotional connection, and therefore appear more intense than other memory triggers.

While you sleep at night may be the best time for your brain to consolidate all your memories from the day. Lack of sleep may actually hurt your ability to create new memories.

Dreams and Sleep

Most people dream about 1-2 hours a night and have an average of 4-7 dreams each night.

Studies show that brain waves are more active while dreaming than when you are awake.

Some people (about 12 percent) dream only in black and white while others dream in color.

While you sleep, your body produces a hormone that may prevent you from acting out your dreams, leaving you virtually paralyzed.

Source

Nursing Assistant Central December 31, 2008

Read

Read good books. Make sure you guys do that. The best way to improve yourself is to seek knowledge and applying it wisely. Good books will help you grow as human. Reading and applying useful projects will boost your confidence. It is also therapeutic.

If you want to stay ahead your peers, you simply have to read more. If you want master anything at all, you must read. So guys, go and get good books and read em'.

Bait

Are you aware of what others can use to bait you? For many, it is money but not everyone can be bought. It may be philanthropy, bravery, self - sacrifice or charity. What is yours? If it is charity, then you must understand that can be used to bait you. Be cautious or you might just ended up like a fish out of the water.

Have a good day.

Living for the moment

I hope it is not too late to wish everyone a Happy New Year. It is 2009 and before you know it, it will be over too. Don't you feel the years seems to change faster when you are older. You don't hear kids complaining about it. And they treat every day like a New Year's Day. They don't carry yesterday's worries today and don't fear tomorrow's uncertainty. They are focus to live for the day. I feel we should learn from our kids. I don't mean that we should live without a care in the world. As adults we have our duties and responsibilities and we must strive to carry out both to the best of our ability. But once we have done our best, we should cease to worry about it. And move on.

Thinking about things past, kills the joy of the moment. Perhaps that is why Time moves forward. God don't want us to keep going back and keep correcting what we perceived as our mistakes. No progress will be possible and we will never grow as humans.

Worrying about the future is another joy killer. Keep figuring what the future holds should never be our business. Let God do his work and let him alone have the knowledge of the future. If you have done your best in whatever you do; with whatever you have, wherever you are, then there is nothing else you. So stop worrying about the future and seize the moment. Be grateful for it and live without a care in the world.