Full Moon, May 13th, 1:52 AM EST
How are your math skills? As the American author and philosopher Eric Hoffer says, "The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings." That could be because we're too busy counting what we don't have, or what we feel we lack. But now there's scientific evidence that counting your blessings is actually good for your health!
In one study, some college students were divided into two groups and instructed to keep a diary. One group was told to write about the things they were thankful for each day, while the other group was told to write about any problems or simply routine events. Researchers found there were fewer illnesses among the thankful group, and that group also reported exercising more and being more supportive of others. Similar results were also found in other studies.
These experiments demonstrate the mind-body connection. Your thoughts can actually affect your body. When you are focused on the positive, counting the blessings in your life, your body naturally produces the "feel-good" chemical serotonin, resulting in a feeling of calm and well-being. But when you focus on your lack or the negative side of things, you are likewise draining your body of energy and no serotonin is released.
So, why not follow the lead of that old Irving Berlin song: When I'm worried and I can't sleep I count my blessings instead of sheep And I fall asleep counting my blessings.
Rochelle Gordon
rochelle@myhealthwealthandhappiness.com
The Present
The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, nor to worry about the future, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly.
-Buddha (563-483 B.C.)
Live the present moment. It sounds so simple, doesn't it? Yet we seem to have a very difficult time doing that, indeed! Right now, right where you are, focus on this moment, and this moment alone. Experience the wholeness of it, the completeness of it. When we are in present moment awareness, we are not worried, we are not stressed - we simple ARE.
Wisdom.com
8th May 2006 - 14th May 2006
A positive attitude to life is arguably the most important tool to success and happiness that we have. Of course I'm not suggesting that we smile in the face of disaster or fail to shed a tear when things go dreadfully wrong but when we meet a difficulty with resolve, see it as part of life not the whole of it, and know that we will come through wiser and stronger, as if by magic life begins to produce more roses than raspberries. I am reminded of this when I look at this week's curious astro-scape - on the one hand, it is full of pitfalls, betrayals and deception yet on the other it is encouraging us to look beyond the superficial and the ephemeral to what is true and lasting. Thus, there can be no failures now, only realizations that whatever or whomever has let us down simply wasn't made of the right stuff. Onward and upward.
Penny Thornton
http://www.astrolutely.com/index.php
posted by katya @ 8:56 AM
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