Summer, wherever you are on this planet, is a time of rest and recreation. It’s a time of friendly gatherings and summer love. It’s a time out of time. Here are some quotes on the hottest of seasons!

Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it.  ~Russel Baker

A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining, the breeze is blowing, the birds are singing, and the lawn mower is broken.  ~James Dent

If a June night could talk, it would probably boast it invented romance.  ~Bern Williams

What is one to say about June, the time of perfect young summer, the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months, and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh young beauty will ever fade.  ~Gertrude Jekyll

In winter I get up at night
And dress by yellow candle-light.
In summer quite the other way
I have to go to bed by day.
~Robert Louis Stevenson

In June, as many as a dozen species may burst their buds on a single day.  No man can heed all of these anniversaries; no man can ignore all of them.  ~Aldo Leopold

Oh, the summer night
Has a smile of light
And she sits on a sapphire throne.
~Barry Cornwall

In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.  ~Albert Camus

There shall be eternal summer in the grateful heart.  ~Celia Thaxter

The summer night is like a perfection of thought.  ~Wallace Stevens

In summer, the song sings itself.  ~William Carlos Williams

Deep summer is when laziness finds respectability.  ~Sam Keen
People don’t notice whether it’s winter or summer when they’re happy.  ~Anton Chekhov
Summer has set in with its usual severity.  ~Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Just stumbled across this piece in the DailyGood.com and wanted to share it. Who doesn’t like quick and easy answers? Have a great weekend. Do something wild and wonderful.

Surprising ways to instantly improve your mood

by Gretchen Rubin

Being happier doesn’t have to be a long-term ambition. You can start right now. In the next 30 minutes, tackle as many of the following suggestions as possible. Not only will these tasks themselves increase your happiness, but the mere fact that you’ve achieved some concrete goals will boost your mood.

1. Raise your activity level to pump up your energy. If you’re on the phone, stand up and pace. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Put more energy into your voice. Take a brisk 10-minute walk. Even better…

2. Take a walk outside. Research suggests that light stimulates brain chemicals that improve mood. For an extra boost, get your sunlight first thing in the morning.

3. Reach out. Send an e-mail to a friend you haven’t seen in a while, or reach out to someone new. Having close bonds with other people is one of the most important keys to happiness. When you act in a friendly way, not only will others feel more friendly toward you, but you’ll also strengthen your feelings of friendliness for other people.

4. Rid yourself of a nagging task. Deal with that insurance problem, purchase something you need, or make that long-postponed appointment with the dentist. Crossing an irksome chore off your to-do list will give you a rush of elation.

5. Create a more serene environment. Outer order contributes to inner peace, so spend some time organizing bills and tackling the piles in the kitchen. A large stack of little tasks can feel overwhelming, but often just a few minutes of work can make a sizable dent. Set the timer for 10 minutes and see what you can do.

6. Do a good deed. Introduce two people by e-mail, take a minute to pass along useful information, or deliver some gratifying praise. In fact, you can also…

7. Save someone’s life. Sign up to be an organ donor, and remember to tell your family about your decision. Do good, feel good?it really works!

8. Act happy. Fake it ’til you feel it. Research shows that even an artificially induced smile boosts your mood. And if you’re smiling, other people will perceive you as being friendlier and more approachable.

9. Learn something new. Think of a subject that you wish you knew more about and spend 15 minutes on the Internet reading about it, or go to a bookstore and buy a book about it. But be honest! Pick a topic that really interests you, not something you think you “should” or “need to” learn about. Some people worry that wanting to be happier is a selfish goal, but in fact, research shows that happier people are more sociable, likable, healthy, and productive?and they’re more inclined to help other people. By working to boost your own happiness, you’re making other people happier, too.

Years ago, I frequently attended a movement class in Philadelphia held by Manfred Fishbeck and Group Motion. He still holds weekly movement classes and they are pure transformation. Live musicians supply the rhythms while a group of strangers move and dance and laugh and express. By the end of the night, you feel free, light and back to your core self.

You don’t need to know how to pirouette or tap; you just need to know how to move. We all know how to, though we often convince ourselves we’re cursed with “two left feet.” The truth is, movement is there at your disposal at any time.

So turn on some music. Close the curtains. And allow yourself to express yourself through YOUR form of dance. It doesn’t have to be right or pretty, just authentic. It can be slow, it can be erratic. Just let your body do the talking. After 10 minutes, evaluate how you feel. I’m going to lay money on “better. Much better.”

Photo Source: Jessica Florence at Flickr

Its not much of a stretch to see that singing produces a sense of pleasure and happiness. And not to worry - you don’t have to be a pro to experience those same feelings! Many people stop singing as they grow up, usually because they had one horror story. “My choir director told me to keep quiet because I was ruining the song.” “My mother said I must have the same tone deafness as she does.”

These words stick and keep us quiet, sometimes for a lifetime. It’s unfortunate, because something as simple as singing can free our minds and our souls. It can release old pain and build our sense of confidence. Choir singing in particular can have multiple positive effects.

Here’s some facts to back-up this claim:

All types of singing have positive psychological effects. The act of singing releases endorphins, the brain’s “feel good” chemicals. Singing in front of a crowd, a la karaoke, naturally builds confidence, which has broad and long-lasting effects on general well-being. But of all types of singing, it’s choral singing that seems to have the most dramatic effects on people’s lives.

A study published in Australia in 2008 revealed that on average, choral singers rated their satisfaction with life higher than the public — even when the actual problems faced by those singers were more substantial than those faced by the general public [source: MacLean]. A 1998 study found that after nursing-home residents took part in a singing program for a month, there were significant decreases in both anxiety and depression levels [source: ISPS]. Another study surveying more than 600 British choral singers found that singing plays a central role in their psychological health [source: ISPS].

But why? Could you just start belting out a tune right now in order to make yourself feel happy?

It’s possible. Some of the ways in which choral singing makes people happy are physical, and you get them whether you’re in a chorus or in a shower — as long as you’re using proper breathing techniques during that shower solo. Singing can have some of the same effects as exercise, like the release of endorphins, which give the singer an overall “lifted” feeling and are associated with stress reduction. It’s also an aerobic activity, meaning it gets more oxygen into the blood for better circulation, which tends to promote a good mood. And singing necessitates deep breathing, another anxiety reducer. Deep breathing is a key to meditation and other relaxation techniques, and you can’t sing well without it.

Physical effects, while pretty dramatic, are really just the beginning. Singing causes happiness for other reasons that have less of a biological basis.

Source: Discovery Health

Bella Voce Choir in Brooklyn, NY

Pets are so special, offering unconditional love, playfulness and exercise. Well, this kitty took the exercise aspect a step further!

Must watch kitty video

One day in 2008, New Jersey fitness trainer Michael Greenblatt was out for his daily run when he came across a stray black kitten. The kitten sat on the pavement and watched as he ran by. The next day, he saw her again. And the next day, and the day after that.

Finally, after several weeks, the kitten got tired of simply watching, and decided to run alongside Greenblatt. She kept pace with him throughout his run, and by the time he slowed down, he knew he couldn’t let this cat go.

“I was not looking for a pet,” Greenblatt told the Asbury Park Press. “She found me, and it’s been a blessing.”

Greenblatt named the cat Roadrunner, and she’s been his constant running partner ever since. “I train her like an athlete,” said Greenblatt. In the past two years, he’s led Roadrunner on speed drills, and her time has more than doubled with his guidance. Initially, Roadrunner would run the 150 yards to the end of the block and back in two minutes; now, the exercise takes her just 54 seconds.

Now, Roadrunner is something of a local phenomenon along the Jersey Shore. Spectators crowd around to see the “world’s only long distance running cat,” and a local author is now in the process of writing a children’s book about the one-of-a-kind cat.

Source: Gimundo

Perfection isn’t everything. Sometimes it’s too much! This beautiful choir embraces their imperfections and focuses on singing from the heart. And apparently, it’s really paying off. Today (and the rest of your life) venture into imperfection, embrace it. “Singing” from the heart is much more important.

They haven’t been nominated for anything, but the fifth-grade chorus members at Graniteville, Staten Island’s P.S. 22 are Oscar winners.

The chorus will perform at the 74th Academy Awards show, having been informed of the honor by co-host Anne Hathaway, who came to the group’s December concert to announce the news in person.

The kids are already YouTube sensations, racking up more than 27 million views to videos posted by their choirmaster, Gregg Breinberg. The chorus has performed at the White House, and Beyonce and Stevie Nicks are among its fans.

Breinberg leads his troupe of 10-year-olds through exuberant covers of songs from Eminem, Alicia Keys and indie faves the Freelance Whales.

“It’s an emotional experience, it’s a passionate experience,” Breinberg, himself a force of nature whose energy matches that of his pupils, told The Wall Street Journal. “There is a certain sound that you get by not singing properly, and I look for that sound. That’s a sound that I love.”

The 65-member chorus will sing “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” the 1939 Oscar winner for Best Song, as well as another piece.

The invitation to sing on a broadcast watched by millions is multiple dreams come true — if a trip to Los Angeles to appear on TV weren’t exciting enough, many of the kids have never been on an airplane before.

“I was really happy because I never thought it would really happen,” chorus member Aisha Okeowo told the Journal. “I wanted to be an actor when I grew up, and I didn’t know it was going to be that fast.”

The Academy Awards will be broadcast at 8 p.m. EST Feb. 27 on ABC.

MUST WATCH VIDEO OF CHOIR!

Heck yeah, it works. The beauty of it; your body doesn’t know the difference between fake and genuine laughter, so it releases all those wonderful endorphins and relaxes your body.

Here are some more pointers from HappyWaysHealing.com

Happy Ways Tip: Fake Laugh
I’ve taught fake giggles to hundreds of people in my healing laughter classes. This is fun to do with friends or family, but also works alone. The faking it laugh is a step by giggle process. Ready to try it? Here we go.

PRE-FAKE LAUGH WARM-UP

Let’s loosen up: (do this as gently, or as wildly, as is kind to your body)

• Shake out an arm. Shake out the other arm.

• Shake out a leg; shake out the other leg.

• Shake out your whole body.
–It can be fun to get your behind shaking out as part of this, whether you’re standing or sitting on a chair.

• Now, as you’re shaking out your whole body, add shaking out your voice. That’s it, just shake out your body and see what sounds want to come out.

• Take a deep breath and release it with a sign.

Thank you to the wonderful people at InterPlay for this great warm-up, get more energized exercise.

How To Do The Faking It Laugh

When we enjoy a belly laugh we do the following things. Do each one separately:

1. Practice smiling several times.

2. Make you eyes big – open them wide.

3. Make some laughter sounds – “ha, ha, ho, ho, hee, hee”

4. Hold your stomach and rock back and forth. When we are laughing hard, we hold our stomachs and rock back and forth.

5. Put it all together – smile, open your eyes wide, make some fake laugh sounds, hold your tummy and rock back and forth.

6. KEEP GOING – YOU CAN DO IT.

Wow! You just did the “I need to giggle” laughter challenge. Did you notice your giggle becoming at all real – even a little bit?

It has been my experience with fake laughter – that like many things in life — the more you practice it the easier it becomes. Then it’s no longer a laughter challenge, but simply an easier way you brighten up your day.

Regardless of what you’re doing, try adding an occasional faking it laugh. I find I get more energized if I stand up and get my whole body involved. While sitting at the computer, it can really help to loosen the neck and shoulders, if done periodically.

Fake laughter warning: Although faking it laughter is good for your health, it can look a bit weird. So use it when alone, or with other fake laugh users, or understanding people. If it’s inconvenient to use the faking it laugh – you can always use the, ever handy, fake smile. Even a small smile helps get your endorphins – your “happy hormones” flowing. I’ve also been practicing a silent internal sort of pretend laugh. You might want to play around with this idea and see if it works for you.

Have fun practicing your fake laugh.

Check out this page for more “just for laughs” tips.

Life often requires sacrifice. But as you’ll read in this story, sacrifice can help both parties.

But before you read this story, do you have an organ donor card? Is it on your driver’s license? Go check or visit this website:

Organ Donor Website

What others thought was just an exercise routine to lose weight was, for Chen Yurong, a way to save her son’s life.

The 51-year-old Hubei native knew she had to improve the condition of her liver in order for doctors to cut part of it out - and transplant it into her son’s body.

So in February she went on a diet and marched about 10 km a day.

The result, even broadcast yesterday by State television CCTV, was a successful 14-hour operation to save her son from a life-threatening liver disease.

“In order to give my young granddaughter a complete family, I’d like to do everything to save my son,” Chen said before the operation.

While Chen and her 31-year-old son, Ye Haibin, are now in stable condition at Tongji Hospital in Wuhan. He suffers from Wilson’s disease, or hepatolenticular degeneration. Health experts said a living organ donation was not the best way for Chen to save her son, given that about 1 out of 1,000 liver donors die after the transplant surgery.

“Living organ donation is just an alternative when there’s no suitable deceased organ donated,” said Chen Shi, an organ transplant expert with the Institute of Transplantation at Tongji Hospital.

“It’s kind of a dilemma facing transplant doctors worldwide whether to do living organ transplantations, which involve potential health risks for the donor, particularly in countries like China without robust voluntary organ donations after death,” he told China Daily yesterday.

Last December, when Ye was again rushed to hospital, doctors said that a liver transplant would be the only way to prolong his life. That’s when Chen made the decision to give part of her own, as it’s even harder and more expensive to get a match from others.

More than 1.5 million people in China need organ transplants each year. However, only 20,000 finally get one, official statistics show.

Last year, living transplants accounted for at least 40 percent of the nationwide total, experts estimated.

Vice-Health Minister Huang Jiefu previously warned that living organ donations involve risks for both donor and recipient.

In the worst cases, both could die, he noted.

“We have had such tragedies in China before,” he said.

“The best way is to set up a nationwide deceased organ donation system and encourage more people to donate organs for life-saving transplants after death,” he said.

In 2007, China issued the Regulation on Human Organ Transplantation to ban all forms of organ trade and request that living donations be restricted to spouses, blood relatives or people sharing family bonds.

Meanwhile, a nationwide deceased organ donation system held by the Red Cross Society of China and the Ministry of Health is being established.

Chen Yurong's worn-out shoes.

Source: People’s Daily Online

As someone who knows firsthand the power of the ocean and its never-ending abilities to free your spirit, this story hit home:

Away from Gaza’s troubled reality and beyond its polluted shore, Shorouq and Sabah Abu Ghanem surf in a world of their own.

The two girls, 13 and 12, learned how to swim at the age of three thanks to their lifeguard father.

They can swim up to 6 miles, dive to 25 feet and surf on plastic boards that they hope one day to trade in for competition-grade models.

“In the sea I find my freedom. I feel free of everything I leave behind on land,” said 13-year-old Shorouq.

“Gaza is under blockade. We lack surfboards, we lack diving gear. We lack many things. But out in the sea it doesn’t matter.”

During this year’s heat wave the shallow waters off the beach were no escape to Gaza residents. It is polluted in several spots because of insufficient sanitation and a crippled sewage treatment plant.

But the daughters of Rajab Abu Ghanem swim confidently out to the clean waves beyond the shoreline.

“My girls are like sea beasts. They are excellent swimmers and surfers,” says the father of seven, who has been surfing for 15 years and has won prizes in long-distance swimming events.

The Mediterranean waves are fickle and often modest, and surfing has never been a popular sport here.

Ismail Zaydah /  Reuters

Sabah Abu Ghanem surfs off the coast of Gaza City on Friday.

But in 2007, Dorian “Doc” Paskowitz, a Jewish surfing legend, brought 15 surfboards to Gaza after he saw a video of two Palestinians practicing on a shared, makeshift board.

Those boards quickly disappeared among the young men of Gaza’s Beach Refugee Camp and the girls never got a chance to try them.

Gaza Palestinians on the beach or at open-air restaurants by the seaside are surprised to see the two girls and their female cousins Kholoud and Rawand paddling out into the surf.

“Some people tell us we could drown, but we tell them they know nothing about us,” said 12-year-old Sabah. “When they watch us paddle right out of sight, they change their minds.”

Many Palestinian women in conservative Gaza, which is under the control of the Islamist movement, Hamas, are accustomed to bathe clothed, and find it offensive for girls to go surfing.

“They don’t deter us,” Shorouq said.

Source: MSNBC

Positivity is practical. No surprise there, right? I’m sure you already realize that a positive mindset directly impacts your health, for instance. Here are a few other vital facts, found in Barbara L. Fredrickson:  Positivity: Groundbreaking Research Reveals How to Embrace the Hidden Strength of Positive Emotions, Overcome Negativity, and Thrive.

The Six Vital Facts About Positivity

1. Positivity Just Feels Good – Positivity is light and buoyant.  It sparkles with good feelings.
2. Positivity Changes How Your Mind Works – It changes the boundaries of your mind and widens the span of possibilities that you are able to experience.
3. Positivity Transforms Your Future – Over time positivity brings out the best in you.  It builds up your emotional resources leaving you more resilient and able to withstand the challenges life throws at you.
4. Positivity Puts the Brakes on Negativity – Positivity can calm negativity like a reset button.
5. Positivity Has a Tipping Point – There is a point where the ratio of your positive to negative emotions tips you over into living a flourishing life.
6. You Can Increase Your Positivity – You have the power to control about 50% of your life’s emotional balance (the other 50% is genetic).

Read more detail at this fun and informative blog, The Rat Race Trap.