1. coloring (yes, grown-ups can do it, too)
2. crisp cotton sheets
3. soft skin
4. old family recipes
5. the first daffodils of spring
6. sleeping in
7. an exercise endorphin high
8. window boxes
9. a perfect cup of coffee
10. a genuine compliment (giving or receiving)
11. the way babies smell
12. a handwritten letter
13. waking up in a good mood…for no real reason
14. singing in the shower
15. finding a couple forgotten dollars in your pocket
16. doing something nice for your neighbor
17. a home cooked meal
18. laughing
19. movie theater popcorn
20. playing hookey
21. a bubble bath
22. swimming
23. an afternoon nap
24. street musicians
25. your favorite song
26. saying thank you
27. helping someone in need
28. old fashioned photo booths
29. fresh whipped cream
30. inspiring blogs
31. a glass of wine
32. rainy afternoons
33. the funny things kids say
34. a novel you can get lost in
35. finding the perfect piece of clothing…on sale
36. clean laundry
37. the wind in your hair
38. treating the person behind you at the drive-thru
39. sharing an umbrella
40. the smell of lavender
41. a long walk that clears your head
42. a bear hug
43. The Beatles
44. smiling at a stranger
45. eating with chopsticks (Chinese food optional)
46. butterflies
47. staying in your pj’s all day
48. singing along to the radio and knowing all the words
49. fresh herbs
50. ordering in pizza
51. happy endings…even if they’re fictional
52. flying a kite
53. puppies
54. root beer floats
55. holding open the door…
56. …or having someone hold the door for you
57. fountain soda
58. white, fluffy towels
59. sunshine
60. spending an afternoon at a museum
61. really great advice
62. green lights all the way home
63. the sound of rain hitting the windows
64. sitting in a booth
65. holding hands
66. a great hair day with no effort
67. building a fort with your kids
68. when someone falls asleep with their head on your shoulder
69. fireflies
70. the perfect taco
71. geraniums on a windowsill
72. slow dancing
73. the smell of fresh-baked bread
74. cheesy, uplifting musicals
75. great stories
76. the smell of gasoline
77. the cold side of the pillow
78. love letters
79. old friends…
80. …new friends
81. a pull-through parking space
82. a baguette — crisp on the outside, airy on the inside
83. when a dog licks your hand
84. sitting at the counter at an old-fashioned diner
85. using your favorite dishes
86. reading your child a bedtime story
87. Girl Scout Cookies
88. flossing
89. kissing someone you love
90. the smell of onions and garlic cooking
91. hot chocolate
92. jumping in puddles
93. old photographs
94. birds hopping on the sidewalk
95. Ella Fitzgerald
96. a spoonful of peanut butter straight from the jar
97. your softest t-shirt
98. a new magazine in the mail
99. fireplaces
100. having exact change
101. bacon and pancakes cooking on Saturday morning

Last week, a group of Somali pirates attempted to board a boat to hijack. The pirates thought it was going to be an easy steal but failed to realize that what they were racing towards was a Dutch warship. The warship fired off two warning shots in the air, which the Somali pirates ignored, and as they got closer they realized that they made a “rather silly mistake” according to Commander John Harbour. The Dutch warship chased the pirates as they fled and arrested the pirates. If only the pirates had stayed away, maybe they would have avoided trouble.

This story is much like the scripture in Luke 14:31-33

“Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? ³²If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. ³³In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”

The difference between the story of the Somali Pirates and Jesus’ example is that Jesus illustrates the positive outcome. He explained that the smaller army should ask for peace while it is still far away. In their greed, the pirates, ended up advancing the wrong ship.

Here is the link: Somali pirates attempt attack on Dutch warship

2. Smile, giggle, snicker, or chuckle! Smiling releases serotonin in the brain, which instantaneously gives your mood a lift.

3. Dream big in every area of life. Set your life in motion and manifest your heart’s desire.

4. Shut the doors and the windows tight! And then put on your favorite song and sing out loud. Let it rip!

5. Cook a healthy, delicious meal. Serve it up pretty and savor the flavor, one bite at a time.

6. Expect a miracle. Believe that something wonderful will happen for you today. The universe is waiting to shower happy blessings on you.

7. Meditate, pray and chant. Research shows that people who are spiritual tend to be happier and healthier than those who are not.

8. Pull up your best pair of warm socks. Wiggle your toes and enjoy a cozy kind of bliss.

9. Sleep baby sleep. Seven or eight hours each night should increase your energy and decrease your moodiness.

10. Count your blessings daily. Gratitude, the emotion of thankfulness, is one of the key ingredients for living a happy life. Make gratitude a habit and happiness will be yours.

11. Wake up early! Start the day off on a happy foot, with a happy thought. The morning hours are full of spiritual energy and prana (life force).

12. Let the sun shine in. 20 minutes of sunlight per day improves mood and wards of Seasonal Affection Disorder (SAD).

13. Take a hot bath. Feel the tension melt away as you sink into a pool of happiness.

14. Say “Good Job!” Give yourself permission to pat yourself on the back. Recognize your accomplishments and positive qualities.

15. Happiness is contagious! Surround yourself with happy, positive people who share your values, your goals and dreams.

Here is the link: 15 ways to be more joyful

The article, as seen on MSN (Photo is from Google): The photo on the right obviously doesn’t show what an organized person looks like but it does show what an organized person’s room is like. Anywho, below are the 10 habits that could turn your household’s living room into the picture shown!

1. Walk away from bargains
Just because you can buy a cashmere sweater for $20 or three bottles of ketchup for the price of one doesn’t mean you should. “Ask, ‘Do I have something similar?’ and ‘Where am I going to store it?’ before making a purchase,” advises New York City professional organizer Julie Morgenstern, author of Shed Your Stuff, Change Your Life.

2. Make peace with imperfection
Efficient people give “A-level effort” to the most important projects (say, work assignments or a kitchen redesign), and for the rest they do just enough to get the job done, says Renae Reinardy, PsyD, a psychologist who specializes in hoarding disorders. Maybe you give yourself permission to bring store-bought cookies to a school bake sale or donate a bag of stuff—unsorted!—to Goodwill. “Trying to do every task perfectly is the easiest way to get bogged down,” says Reinardy.

3. Never label anything “miscellaneous”
You put a bunch of things into a file or box and write this catchall across the front. “But within a week you’ve forgotten what’s in there,” says Morgenstern. Instead, sort items into specific groups—”electric bills,” “lightbulbs,” and so on.

4. Schedule regular decluttering sessions
Rather than wait until an industrious mood strikes (we all know where that leads), have a decluttering routine in place—whether it’s spending 15 minutes sorting mail after work or tackling a new project every Sunday afternoon.

5. Stick with what works
“I have clients who will try every line of makeup, every cell phone—it’s exhausting,” says Dorothy Breininger, president of the Delphi Center for Organization. Don’t waste time (and money) obsessively seeking out the best thing.

6. Create a dump zone

Find a space to corral all the stuff that you don’t have time to put away the moment you step in the door, says Breininger. Once you’re ready to get organized, you won’t have to hunt all over the house for the dry cleaning or your child’s field trip permission slip.

7. Ask for help
“The organized person is willing to expose herself to short-term embarrassment and call for backup,” says Breininger. Which is to say, that elaborate four-course dinner you planned? Change it to a potluck.

8. Separate emotions from possessions
It’s healthy to be attached to certain items—a vase you picked up in Paris, your grandmother’s pearls. But holey concert tees or cheap, scuffed earrings your husband gave you years ago? Just let them go.

9. Foresee (and avoid) problems
You wouldn’t leave the house on a gray day without an umbrella, right? People who appear to sail through life unruffled apply this thinking to every scenario, says Breininger. Have a cabinet packed with leaning towers of Tupperware? Organized folks will take a few minutes to short-circuit an avalanche before it happens. (In other words, rearranging that cupboard now is easier than chasing after wayward lids as they scatter underneath the fridge.)

10. Know where to donate
It’s easier to part with belongings if they’re going to a good home. Identify a neighbor’s son who fits into your child’s outgrown clothes, or choose a favorite charity. “It will save you from searching for the perfect recipient every time you need to unload something,” says Morgenstern.

Here is the link: 10 Habits of Highly Organized People

In a nutshell, adults are fooled by visual illusions and children were not.

This is interesting because I want to know what else do kids see that adults are confused by?

Matthew 10:42 “And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.”

Here is the link: Children not easily fooled

Edited for length: This article provides info on what you could do when lonely.

We’re used to hearing about people spreading colds and flu. But according to a new study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, there’s another human condition that’s equally contagious: loneliness.

“Loneliness spreads across time,” says John Cacioppo, a neuroscientist and psychologist at the University of Chicago and one of the authors of the study. “It travels through people. Instead of a germ, it’s transmitted through our behaviors.”

“When people get lonely, they’re more likely to interact negatively with others they encounter,” says Cacioppo. “If you have two neighbors and they’re friends and one becomes lonely, they’ll start to treat the other less friendly. Ultimately, they’re less likely to be friends.”

Ironically, loneliness can not only make you feel more socially isolated, it can make you more anxious, more shy and cause you to believe you have poor social skills. Cacioppo says previous research also shows that loneliness can make people less trustful of others and can make the brain more “defensive.”

“Your brain tells you people are rejecting you,” he says. “Loneliness may warp the message that you’re hearing.”

“Society tends to think of it as an individual characteristic — there are just loners,” he says. “But that’s the wrong conception of what loneliness is. It’s a biological signal motivating us to correct something that we need for genetic survival. We need quality relationships. We don’t survive well on our own.”

Studies, in fact, show loneliness can actually be harmful to both mental and physical health, leading to depression, high blood pressure, increases in the stress hormone cortisol, and compromised immunity.

Unfortunately, quality friendships can sometimes be difficult to find or maintain in our busy, BlackBerried society.

“I get lonely sometimes but I tend not to seek people out to do things because they’re all married or committed or need to find a babysitter and then it just turns into a circus,” says Tina Kurfurst, a 46-year-old database coordinator from Seattle. “I went out to dinner with some people from work the other night and one of the women kept saying, ‘Wow, you’re funny, why don’t we hang out more often?’ And I just thought, ‘Well, because you have a husband and a 12-year-old and a 17-year-old and it just doesn’t happen. You don’t have time for me.”

Stephanie Smith, a clinical psychologist with a private practice in Erie, Co., says she tries to encourage her lonely patients — which can range from college students to stay-at-home moms to high-powered CEOs — to find at least one friend in their same situation.

“If you have kids, know at least one other person who has kids,” she says. “Or if you don’t, find someone who doesn’t. It’s important to have people in your life who share your interests and your stage of life.”

But you don’t have to have a slew of BFFs.

“Sometimes people get overwhelmed and think ‘I need to have 15 best friends,’” she says. “But it doesn’t need to be that big. One friend, one relationship, can be very powerful.”

“If you’re isolated due to a disability or a spouse with Alzheimer’s, then Facebook can be a real boon,” says Cacioppo. “But if you’re spending your time on Facebook rather than face-to-face with friends, it increases your loneliness. It’s about quality. Lonely people use social networks as a substitute; non-lonely people use them to synergize the relationships they already have. The person with 4,000 friends on Facebook may well be a very lonely person.”

The secret, says Cacioppo, is realizing loneliness is nothing more than your body sending you a signal.

“All normal humans feel lonely at some point in time, just like they feel hunger and thirst and pain,” he says. “But while we have cupboards filled with food, taps for water and medications for pain, we don’t have anything comparable for loneliness. I’m not saying you need a cupboard full of friends, but if you feel lonely, pay attention and take the time to repair it.”

Here is the link: Lonely

Provided by Prevention

Stress hormone can interfere with total recall

Ever flubbed a job interview, suffered a memory lapse during a presentation, or forgotten the boss’s husband’s name at the company picnic? Stress hormones may chemically block the ability to recall some information–just when you need it most.

Researchers asked 36 people to memorize a list of 60 nouns, then tested how much they could recall that same day and again 24 hours later. To simulate the effects of the stress hormone cortisol, participants received a cortisone pill or a placebo at one of three times: before seeing the list, immediately after seeing it, or 1 hour before they were to recall it. (Cortisone is used by the body in the production of cortisol.)

Those given the cortisone 1 hour before they had to recall the list had the faultiest memories (Nature Neuroscience, Apr 2000).

If you’re faced with a stressful event that requires you to call on your memory, stop cortisol confusion with these strategies:

Practice, practice, practice. If you can’t rely on notes, “try rehearsing the information extensively,” says study author James McGaugh, PhD, director of the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory and professor of neurobiology and behavior at the University of California, Irvine. “The better the preparation, the stronger the memory,” he says.

Sip a cup of tea or java. Animal studies suggest that moderate amounts of caffeine may enhance long-term memory when taken shortly after learning.

Review at the last minute. In the study, memories weren’t affected by cortisone on same-day tests. It’s likely that the “freshness” of the memory overcame the stress.

Take a deep breath–or two. Try to relax. A short stroll, a friendly conversation, or deep breathing before the big event could help keep stress hormones in check, Dr. McGaugh advises.

Here is the link: Help with your memory