Great words to live by….
“Have great hopes and dare to go all out for them,
Have great dreams and dare to live them,
Have tremendous expectations and believe in them”
~Arthur Ashe~
Blog Archives
Stay Positive…It’s Your Right To Be Free + You Deserve to Be Happy.
We are inundated with negativity. Negativity has not only become the norm but also an epidemic and the media supplies a steady flood of it quite regularly. We all experience the negative effects of things that impact our lives or the world around us. The economy, gas prices, food prices, world hunger, famine, war, sickness, chronic illness, disasters, human trafficking, child slavery, crime, murder, stress, anxiety. When we look at it as a whole it appears that our world in turmoil and as a result people are angry and sometimes full or rage. Good manners, customer service and appreciation are quickly becoming things of the past. It’s becoming less about people and relationships and more about going through the motions. Common business transactions have become just that. People no longer take pride in their jobs, or concern themselves with a job well done. They take your money without even making eye contact or saying thank you. Many have a blatant disregard for common courtesy and could care less about pleasantries. There are aggressive drivers and road rage. Parents bringing harm to children, so their own children can get ahead. People are hurting and they’re feeling guarded. Many are suffering either physically or emotionally. In a world where we once had a strong sense of pride, people lack of self-worth, have low self-esteem and have no hope. One person feels badly about themselves and they attempt to drag others down with them, so the negativity spreads. When we continuously encounter rude behavior, confrontation, judgement and negativity, we can easily become desensitized. We can easily slip into a frame of mind where we can begin to feel defensive wanting to match the negativity around us and to what avail? Should we remain in this cycle of negativity or do we become the change that we’d like to see in the world around us? 
We can not change other people and their ways of thinking, but we can change our attitudes toward the negativity that we encounter. It helps when we are able to focus on what’s right in our own lives and on the many ways that we can “be positive” and on the many ways in which we can remain positive. In spite of the awful things that are going on around us. Being positive does not come at this risk of ignoring the realities of life, or our own personal struggles. Taking on this positive frame of mind is actually a way of giving ourselves hope. Allowing us the opportunity to find enjoyment in life and perhaps sharing some of that joy with others, so be positive, remain hopeful….stay positive! It’s your right to be free & you deserve to be happy!!
“Don’t Quit” A Poem About Perseverance
Sending Out A little Positive Energy From The Positive Pear:
Don’t quit even in your darkest hour. Maintain that positive attitude & wonderful spirit!
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit-
Rest if you must, but don’t you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a fellow turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow -
You may succeed with another blow.
Often the goal is nearer than
It seems to a faint and faltering man;
Often the struggler has given up
When he might have captured the victor’s cup;
And he learned too late when the night came down,
How close he was to the golden crown.
Success is failure turned inside out -
The silver tint in the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It might be near when it seems afar;
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit -
It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.
~Unknown~
Arthur Ashe: A Positive Attitude In Spite of Great Difficulty & Adversity!
Arthur Ashe, the legendary Wimbledon player from USA was dying of AIDS which he got due to infected blood he received during a heart surgery in 1983. From world over, he received letters from his fans, one of which conveyed: “Why does GOD have to select you for such a bad disease”? To this Arthur Ashe replied: “The world over – 50 million children start playing tennis, 5 million learn to play tennis, 500,000 learn professional tennis, 50,000 come to the circuit, 5000 reach the grand slam, 50 reach Wimbledon, 4 to semi final, 2 to the finals, when I was holding a cup I never asked GOD “Why me?” And today in pain I should not be asking GOD “Why me?”
Happiness keeps you Sweet, Trials keep you Strong, Sorrows keep you Human, Failure keeps you humble, Success keeps you glowing, but only Faith & Attitude Keep you going.
Cheerful & Happy In Spite Of…..
“I am still determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may be, for I’ve learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions and not on our circumstances.” First Lady ~ Martha Washington~
Can Good Vibes Impact Your Experiences or Level of Physical Pain?
Apparently the answer is yes, according to new research..Article re-blogged from “How to ease the sting with good intentions” by Laurie Tarkan @ foxnews.com/health
Is a root canal less painful when your dentist is kind rather than aloof? Does your dinner at a restaurant taste better when the waitress is genuinely nice versus smiling for the tip?
New research seems to suggest that yes, the good intentions of others can alter your perception of pain, how foods taste, how much you enjoy a gift and how relaxing a massage feels.
“The way we read another person’s intentions changes our physical experience of the world,” said Dr. Kurt Gray, assistant professor at the University of Maryland and author of the new study published in the online version of the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science.
In his study, Gray wanted to test whether a person’s good intentions can ease or improve your experience. The reverse has already been shown–that malicious intent can worsen pain and experiences.
The study consisted of three experiments. In the first, three groups received electric shocks by a partner. People in the first group thought they were being shocked accidentally, without their partner’s awareness. The second group thought they were being shocked on purpose, for no good reason. The third group also thought they were being shocked on purpose, but because another person was trying to help them win money. Participants in the third group—the “benevolent” group—experienced significantly less pain than people in the other groups.
In the second experiment, people who sat in an electric massage chair felt more comfort when the chair was operated by a caring partner rather than being controlled by a computer. And in the third experiment, subjects were given candy with a note attached. In one group, it read: “I picked this just for you. Hope it makes you happy.” In the other group, it read: “Whatever. I just don’t care. I just picked it randomly.” The candy not only tasted better to the benevolent group, but it also tasted significantly sweeter.
So what are the implications of this study?
• When relating to your partner or friends, make sure the person knows you care. ”Just doing nice things is not enough, you have to let them know that you really want them to benefit from your actions,” said Gray. Even small gestures will become more meaningful if you say or act like you really care.
• If you’re helping a sick family member, don’t just deliver tea to their bedside. Say something to let them know you care about them, you feel badly that they’re sick and you want them to get better soon. Likewise, if you have to give a yucky medicine to a child or they need a vaccine, reassure them you’re doing it for their best interest, and you are there for them.
• On the receiving end, try to give people the benefit of the doubt and assume they mean well. “To the extent that we view others as benevolent instead of malicious, the harms they inflict upon us should hurt less, and the good things they do for us should cause more pleasure,” Gray wrote in his study.
• If you’re a health care provider, a better bedside manner can actually make people feel less pain.
