Here are a few tips I came up with to make some positive news into you life, your home and your community:

1. Pick up Trash - It may seem small but every time you do it, you’re displaying a sense of concern and pride for your community. Others may notice and realize that people do care.

2. Sing a song - Singing is a natural way to shift your energy. Like dancing, you can only feel so down when you sing. Sing around others - don’t be shy. The more we’re able to openly express ourselves, the more it gives others permission to do the same.

3. Clean up your Mess - Cleaning a messy area in your house does wonders for your mind and soul. Purging old stuff, airing out a room, refreshing a space - all can do more than hours with a therapist!

4. Listen - We often have a tendency to overthink, our minds whirring away like a blender. When you talk to somebody today, genuinely listen to what he or she has to say. Give your mind a break. Validate others. Listening is a practice that opens us up and quiets the mind.

5. Share good news - even if it feels forced, tell someone about a positive event or thought you had today. By doing this, you set a trend - being positive, even about something small, creates a ripple effect. Positivity can be contagious.

Here’s my example today:

My friend Vince came over for coffee today. I forgot how nice it is to sit down and chat with someone in the morning about any old thing. It gave me a chance to reconnect with a friend and enjoy those smaller moments in life. Plus the coffee was delicious!

That’s my positive news! Nothing earth-shattering, right? But I wrote about it. I experienced it. You read it. Its that trajectory that can change the world, I do believe.

This story is a great example of people making the most of out of difficult economic times as well maximizing space in a trying real estate market. What can you do to make the best of a limiting situation in your life? How can you think outside of the box and optimize your space better?

They spent a lot more than a penny doing it up, but turning the public toilets into a home was a true labor of love.

For nearly a century the Victorian WC was used as a loo by visitors to the beach at Scarborough.

Now the distinctive building has been transformed by Tracy Woodhouse and her partner Graham Peck into a cosy house, with magnificent views overlooking the North Sea.

Now named Lookout, the single story building, built into the cliff overlooking the resort’s famous North Bay, is widely admired by local residents who have witnessed its reincarnation.

Miss Woodhouse, 45, said: “Some people joke about it. At work they’ll say things like, “Oh yes, you’re the couple who live in a lavatory.”

“But we now have a lovely little house with a sea view that used to be a loo. We understand the amusement it causes. It tickles us, too.”

The public loo, which became an ammunition store during the war, was closed down in the 1990s and for a few years became a seasonal cafe.

When the lease became available five years ago, the couple, both factory workers, decided it would make a perfect home. A local architect produced plans which maintained the character and style of the building and the council backed the scheme.

The Lookout has stunning views out over the North Bay in Scarborough

Boarded up: The delapidated public toilet before being bought and converted

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1271229/Scarborough-couple-convert-15k-public-toilet-seaside-home.html#ixzz0nXoSY4Rs

Researchers Ed Diener and Robert Biswas-Diener, Stanford psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky, and ethicist Stephen Post have studied people all over the world to find out how things like money, attitude, culture, memory, health, altruism, and our day-to-day habits affect our well-being.

So without further ado, ere are 10 scientifically proven strategies for getting happy.

1. Savor everyday moments. Pause now and then to smell a rose or watch children at play. Study participants who took time to “savor” ordinary events that they normally hurried through, or to think back on pleasant moments from their day, “showed significant increases in happiness and reductions in depression,” says psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky.
2. Avoid comparisons. While keeping up with the Joneses is part of American culture, comparing ourselves with others can be damaging to happiness and self-esteem. Instead of comparing ourselves to others, focusing on our own personal achievement leads to greater satisfaction, according to Lyubomirsky.
3. Put money low on the list. People who put money high on their priority list are more at risk for depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem, according to researchers Tim Kasser and Richard Ryan. Their findings hold true across nations and cultures. “The more we seek satisfactions in material goods, the less we find them there,” Ryan says. “The satisfaction has a short half-life—it’s very fleeting.” Money-seekers also score lower on tests of vitality and self-actualization.
4. Have meaningful goals. “People who strive for something significant, whether it’s learning a new craft or raising moral children, are far happier than those who don’t have strong dreams or aspirations,” say Ed Diener and Robert Biswas-Diener. “As humans, we actually require a sense of meaning to thrive.” Harvard’s resident happiness professor, Tal Ben-Shahar, agrees, “Happiness lies at the intersection between pleasure and meaning. Whether at work or at home, the goal is to engage in activities that are both personally significant and enjoyable.”
5. Take initiative at work. How happy you are at work depends in part on how much initiative you take. Researcher Amy Wrzesniewski says that when we express creativity, help others, suggest improvements, or do additional tasks on the job, we make our work more rewarding and feel more in control.
6. Make friends and treasure family. Happier people tend to have good families, friends, and supportive relationships, say Diener and Biswas-Diener. But it’s not enough to be the life of the party if you’re surrounded by shallow acquaintances. “We don’t just need relationships, we need close ones” that involve understanding and caring.
7. Smile even when you don’t feel like it. It sounds simple, but it works. “Happy people . . . see possibilities, opportunities, and success. When they think of the future, they are optimistic, and when they review the past, they tend to savor the high points,” say Diener and Biswas-Diener. Even if you weren’t born looking at the glass as half-full, with practice, a positive outlook can become a habit.
8. Say thank you like you mean it. People who keep gratitude journals on a weekly basis are healthier, more optimistic, and more likely to make progress toward achieving personal goals, according to author Robert Emmons. Research by Martin Seligman, founder of positive psychology, revealed that people who write “gratitude letters” to someone who made a difference in their lives score higher on happiness, and lower on depression—and the effect lasts for weeks.
9. Get out and exercise. A Duke University study shows that exercise may be just as effective as drugs in treating depression, without all the side effects and expense. Other research shows that in addition to health benefits, regular exercise offers a sense of accomplishment and opportunity for social interaction, releases feel-good endorphins, and boosts self-esteem.
10. Give it away—give it away now! Make altruism and giving part of your life, and be purposeful about it. Researcher Stephen Post says helping a neighbor, volunteering, or donating goods and services results in a “helper’s high,” and you get more health benefits than you would from exercise or quitting smoking. Listening to a friend, passing on your skills, celebrating others’ successes, and forgiveness also contribute to happiness, he says. Researcher Elizabeth Dunn found that those who spend money on others reported much greater happiness than those who spend it on themselves.

We’re cutting loose day. Getting wild. That’s right. C-R-A-Z-Y.

As Seal so aptly put it, “we are never gonna get by unless we get a little crazy.”

So here are some non-traditional, wacky and unusual quotes meant to inspire your inner lunatic.

“Ever wonder if illiterate people get the full effect of alphabet soup?”
John Mendoza

“Whatever I want to be known for I need to be doing.”- Unknown

“Beware of the young doctor and the old barber.”
Benjamin Franklin

“Some days it’s not worth gnawing through the straps.” - Unknown

“Insanity: a perfectly rational response to an insane world.” - Unknown

“I have a grip on reality, just not this particular one.” - Unknown

“A question that sometimes drives me hazy: am I or are the others crazy?”
- Albert Einstein

“My psychiatrist told me I was crazy and I said I want a second opinion. He said okay, you’re ugly too.”
- Rodney Dangerfield

“There is a thin line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line.”
Oscar Levant

“Sometimes we reach the boiling point before we realize that the stove is on. Become aware of your feelings – keep your eye on the stove.”
Karen Dougherty

“Life is a short, warm moment and death is a long cold rest. You get your chance to try in the twinkling of an eye: Eighty years, with luck, or even less.”
Pink Floyd

“Show me a sane man and I will cure him for you.”
Carl Gustav Jung

That’s right - after years of debating and in-house feuding, the United States of America has passed a healthcare reform:

The US House of Representatives has narrowly voted to pass a landmark healthcare reform bill at the heart of President Barack Obama’s agenda.

Under the legislation, health insurance will be extended to nearly all Americans, imposes new taxes on the wealthy and bars restrictive insurance practices such as refusing to cover people with pre-existing medical conditions.

They represent the biggest change in the US healthcare system since the creation in the 1960s of Medicare, the government-run scheme for Americans aged 65 or over.

President Barack Obama:

“It’s a victory for the American people.”

Damn straight.

President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and senior staff, react in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, as the House passes the health care reform bill, March 21, 2010. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Source: BBC News

This Wednesday, we’re going down the easy road. That’s right - this week’s quotes are just funny. Hope you appreciate. And feel free to send us some suggestions on possible themes for quotes. We’d love to hear from you!

A celebrity is a person who works hard all his life to become well known, then wears dark glasses to avoid being recognized.  ~Fred Allen

Say what you will about the Ten Commandments, you must always come back to the pleasant fact that there are only ten of them.  ~H.L. Mencken

A compromise is an agreement whereby both parties get what neither of them wanted.  ~Author Unknown

A gentleman is a man who can play the accordion but doesn’t.  ~Author Unknown

Don’t worry about the world coming to an end today.  It is already tomorrow in Australia.  ~Charles Schulz

All generalizations are bad.  ~R.H. Grenier

All my life, I always wanted to be somebody.  Now I see that I should have been more specific.  ~Jane Wagner, The Search For Intelligent Life In The Universe, performed by Lily Tomlin

I have six locks on my door all in a row.  When I go out, I lock every other one.  I figure no matter how long somebody stands there picking the locks, they are always locking three.  ~Elayne Boosler

Man was predestined to have free will.  ~Hal Lee Luyah

Maybe this world is another planet’s hell.  ~Aldous Huxle

The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us.  ~Bill Watterson, Calvin and Hobbes

Today is the last day of some of your life.  ~Author Unknown

It’s always darkest before the dawn.  So if you’re going to steal your neighbor’s newspaper, that’s the time to do it.  ~Author Unknown

You can’t have everything… where would you put it?  ~Steven Wright

He’s turned his life around.  He used to be depressed and miserable.  Now he’s miserable and depressed.  ~Harry Kalas, on Garry Maddox, 1981

I plan on living forever.  So far, so good.  ~Author Unknown

As to the Seven Deadly Sins, I deplore Pride, Wrath, Lust, Envy and Greed.  Gluttony and Sloth I pretty much plan my day around.  ~Robert Brault, www.robertbrault.com

There’s no such thing as fun for the whole family.  ~Jerry SeinfeldThe universe is merely a fleeting idea in God’s mind - a pretty uncomfortable thought, particularly if you’ve just made a down payment on a house.  ~Woody Allen

My doctor says that I have a malformed public-duty gland and a natural deficiency in moral fiber and that I am therefore excused from saving Universes.  ~Douglas Adams

A great name for a new country song:  If I’d Shot You Sooner, I’d Be Out of Jail by Now.  ~Author Unknown

Lead me not into temptation; I can find the way myself.  ~Rita Mae Brown

Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes.  That way, when you criticize them, you’re a mile way and you have their shoes.  ~Author Unknown

How do the angels get to sleep when the devil leaves the porch light on?  ~Tom Waits, “Mr Siegal,” Heartattack and Vine

Duct tape is like the force.  It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together.  ~Carl Zwanzig

Can we actually “know” the universe?  My God, it’s hard enough finding your way around in Chinatown.  ~Woody Allen, Getting Even, 1971

All my life I’ve wanted, just once, to say something clever without losing my train of thought.  ~Robert Brault, www.robertbrault.com

I learned law so well, the day I graduated I sued the college, won the case, and got my tuition back.  ~Fred Allen

Just because you’re not paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get you.  ~Colin Sautar

She’s the kind of girl who climbed the ladder of success wrong by wrong.  ~Mae West

If you cannot answer a man’s argument, all it not lost; you can still call him vile names.  ~Elbert Hubbard

If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?  ~Author Unknown

This story is a great reminder that sometimes even facts lie. Sometimes things are still living, just barely there, when we’re sure they’re long since gone. Sometimes miracles do happen:

An elephant gave birth to a calf at Sydney’s main zoo on Wednesday, surprising vets and keepers who two days earlier declared the baby had died in the womb.

“When the keepers learned the calf had survived this morning, the looks of disbelief on our faces were quite a picture. We couldn’t believe that this could be true,” said Taronga Zoo’s elephant manager Gary Miller.

Officials said they now believe the calf was in a coma throughout the labor. They said the calf had since taken its first steps, but it was too early to know if it would survive.

The Asian elephant mother delivered the male baby in the early hours of Wednesday in what Taronga Park Zoo officials said was “unbelievable good fortune”.

“Dedicated keepers reported the amazing news early this morning that the calf had been born and was showing signs of life,” said zoo director Cameron Kerr.

On Monday, Kerr said despite an expert team of vets who had prepared for every eventuality, the calf had not survived after six days of labor, and ultrasounds found there was no chance of a successful birth.

(Reporting by James Grubel, editing by Miral Fahmy) Source: Reuters

World, meet “Mr Shuffles”

To be upset over what you don’t have is to waste what you do have.  ~Ken S. Keyes, Jr., Handbook to Higher Consciousness

Defeat is not bitter unless you swallow it.  ~Joe Clark

The only disability in life is a bad attitude.  ~Scott Hamilton

If you aren’t fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm.  ~Vince Lombardi

My riches consist not in the extent of my possessions, but in the fewness of my wants.  ~J. Brotherton

There is nothing so easy but that it becomes difficult when you do it reluctantly.  ~Publius Terentius Afer

I don’t like that man.  I must get to know him better.  ~Abraham Lincoln

Just because you’re miserable doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy your life.  ~Annette Goodheart

In the depth of winter I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer.  ~Albert Camus, Lyrical and Critical Essays

Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.  ~Buddha

There are no menial jobs, only menial attitudes.  ~William J. Bennett, The Book of Virtues

Source: QuoteGarden

I was reading a Newsweek article a while back that spoke of the growing need for positive news. Apparently, it’s a real commodity. Go ahead - do a search for “positive news stories.” You’ll be surprised how little you find, relatively speaking.

But guess what? It’s gradually increasing. People can only take traditional, negative news for so long. Our minds and souls have a natural pull toward positivity. It’s good for us!

The best reason to get a healthy dose of good news is that it’s good for you. Studies show that a calm and optimistic mind can have health benefits, like lower blood pressure and deeper sleep.

Which explains why it’s not just me; good news is a pretty hot commodity these days. Of course it’s impossible to find a positive spin on every bit of depressing information that comes across on the cable-news crawl. But organizations that dish up unreported or unnoticed positive stories are becoming hot commodities.

Ode’s circulation (currently just above 100,000) has more than quadrupled in the past year, and Geri Weis-Corbley, who runs a Web site called the Good News Network on a pay-what-you-think-it’s-worth model, says people are definitely in the giving mood.

NBC recently got in the game when they began asking viewers for positive stories to feature on their evening broadcast, which had, like everything else, been thick with depressing recession stories since last fall. They got an overwhelming response.

Source: Newsweek

So it looks like we’re really on to something! Let’s “pay it forward” this 2010 and bring up the positivity level. Remember, it starts with you. A smile, a kind gesture, a hug, a gift, some time, listening, forgiveness, taking care of your environment, being kind to animals - making your own positive news!

You never know where you’ll find love. It comes in strange places and unpredictable times. It comes when you’ve lost all hope. It comes when you’re barely even looking for it. It comes and it goes and it comes back again.

This story reminds us of all the wonderful intricacies of love:

On January 15th, 2009, a flight took off from New York City’s LaGuardia airport—but it didn’t get very far. As you probably know by now, a flock of geese jammed up the plane’s engines, stalling it in mid-air. The plane seemed destined for a fatal crash, but the pilot, Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger kept a cool head and steered the aircraft down for a smooth landing in the Hudson River. Everyone on board survived the crash.

Minutes later, the passengers and crew were loaded onto rescue boats, leaving the sinking plane behind. Ben Bostic was on one boat; Laura Zych was on board another. Though Bostic had noticed Zych before they’d boarded the fateful flight, he never spoke with her that day, too rattled by their mutual near-death experience.

But months later, the survivors of Flight 1549 reunited to share their story on 60 Minutes, and many became friends. Then, in July, one of the passengers arranged another get-together at her home in Charlotte, North Carolina. Bostic and Zych were both in attendance, and Zych, who lived in the area, offered to let Bostic spend the night on her couch. Instead, they ended up talking until 6 in the morning. They’ve been a couple ever since.

Having come so close to death, the happy couple never takes their luck for granted. Every evening, they dance together to their favorite songs. “We do that as part of our decompressing and loving life,” Zych told New York Magazine. “Just so that your day ends on a good note.”

Next month, the couple plans to attend yet another reunion for Flight 1549 passengers and crew, this time in New York City. Though all of the survivors agree that the experience was traumatic, their meetings are always joyous occasions. “Even the first time you meet someone from that flight, it’s like you’re instantly bonded,” said Zych. “You can’t be around this group of people and not feel good.”

Source: Gimundo