What we consider “positive news” at our site spans the globe and the imagination. Positive news can include good news about things that were reputed bad…but we still like! You know, things like chocolate…or coffee!

Apparently, coffee (or any other hot beverage) creates a positive flood of emotions in our brains, merely by holding the cup in our hands:

It may seem unlikely, but simply clutching a warm cup of coffee can bring on a flood of warm feelings, U.S. researchers say in a finding that suggests a strong link between physical and emotional warmth.

“Physical warmth can make us see others as warmer people, but also cause us to be warmer - more generous and trusting - as well,” said John Bargh, a professor of psychology at Yale University in Connecticut, whose research appears in the journal Science.

Bargh and Lawrence Williams of University of Colorado at Boulder ran a series of experiments to test the ties between physical temperature and emotional warmth.

They asked people to briefly hold a hot or iced coffee. Then they were given a packet of information about another person and asked to assess his or her personality traits.

Those who had held the warm cup of coffee were far more likely to assign “warmth” as a personality trait than those who held the icy beverage.

In the second study, volunteers held ice packs or therapeutic heating pads as part of a product evaluation study. Then they were told they could receive a gift certificate for a friend or a gift for themselves.

Those who had held the hot pad were more likely to ask for the gift certificate, while those who held the frozen pack tended to keep the gift.

“These very subtle and relatively simple cues are capable of having a meaningful impact on people’s behavior,” Williams said.

He said imaging studies suggest temperature information - both physical and interpersonal - are processed in a region of the brain known as the insular cortex.

And he said these associations are likely formed in early childhood, noting that when an infant learns about love and physical closeness it typically happens while snuggling up to a parent’s warm body.

“Taking a warm bath. Drinking a cup of tea or coffee. Chicken soup. It’s not haphazard that we have a preference for these types of experiences,” he said.

Williams said it is no accident that people in Western cultures looking to build new relationships often do it over coffee. “It’s better than going out for ice cream,” he said.

Source: Reuters

One man’s tireless efforts make a big difference for children in need.

George Ouellette may be retired after 40 years as a salesman, but he still works up to six or seven hours per day walking through parks, hillsides, along busy roads and even rummaging through garbage cans to collect cans and bottles to help create smiles for children.

The 84-year-old collects enough cans and bottles to equal $250, reimbursable for five-cents each at the local recycling center and then writes a check to Operation Smile for the full amount. Since 2005, Ouellette has collected over 100,000 cans, raising a total of $4,440 and providing 19 surgeries for children suffering from clefts. He collects around 1,000 cans a week year-round.

Even the winter season in Chelmsford, Mass., doesn’t slow down his mission as he wears flannel-lined jeans to keep warm. Ouellette first started volunteering and supporting Operation Smile when he saw a television show on Operation Smile in 2005.

Ouellette could not believe that a child’s cleft lip or cleft palate could be repaired for only $240. “The work of Operation Smile struck a chord in my dad and he decided that this would be his job - his purpose,” said Sue Ouellette, his eldest daughter.

Ouellette also has the support of his four grown children, who buy him warm clothes and items for collecting cans and bottles as holiday gifts. “My dad was a hard-working salesman for many years. However, he felt like he had not done enough to give back to the world, even after raising and educating four children,” said Sue Ouellette.

“He’s not only an amazing father and volunteer; he’s an inspiration to anyone.”

Source: HappyNews.com

www.operationsmile.org

Okay, so I’m writing this from firsthand experience. I’m very ill with a flu. When I first realized I was coming down with it, I became very frustrated. I have work to do! I have people to see and places to be. This flu was going to cost me. (Little did I realize that that very attitude may have lead to my illness in the first place. We all try to squeeze so much into a day, that our immune system often pays a price.)

On the first day - the worst day - I realized I could do nothing. And I mean literally nothing. I tried to work but my focus was not there. I was too preoccupied by my own nagging physical discomfort. When I stopped trying to work, I realized that while I was sick, the day was mine, to do as I pleased. Of course, it was rather limited. I slept and read and sipped tea.

But the nice part? I never saw a day go by so slowly. The day ambled instead of feeling condensed and compressed. I had a chance to simply watch a day go by. Sounds like a crime in our day and age! We’re not supposed to watch a day go by! We’re supposed to be running, moving, shaking, doing.

So, though I was quite ill, it was one of the most relaxing days I’ve had in a while.

The next time you’re ill, think of it as a strange treat. An opportunity to watch a day go by. And remember, you can do that same thing when you’re not sick!

Facebook is all the rage. We’re getting in touch with old friends and schoolmates. It’s a powerful tool that is growing in vast proportions.

But its not just limited to humans. Nonja, the orangutan, has become quite the hit on Facebook:

Nonja lives in a zoo in Vienna Austria and uses a Samsung digital camera to snap the photos of herself and her other pals who live with her, which the camera then automatically uploads to her Nonja | Face book account, where Nonja has over 4,000 fans.

You may wonder what would motivate an orangutan to learn how to operate a camera? Well, since they are so much like humans, it comes as no surprise that Nonja’s behavior is tied to a reward. Nonja gets fruit in return for her efforts to photo herself and her cell mates. Evidently, fruit is her favorite food and she will do most anything to get it. Therefore, a contraption releases fruit for her each time she snaps a photo. No wonder, she’s doing it so often. I would do the same if I were offered my favorite food, chocolate. We all have our weaknesses.

According to Samsung Imaging’s website, Samsung gave the a digital camera as a surprise. Although the self shot photos are not very clear or in focus, it is quite amazing than an orangutan takes pictures of herself.

Though Nonja’s behavior and ability is going viral on Face Book, she is not the only orangutan with human like behavior that has made it to the media.

Artist at work: Nonja, a 33-year-old orangutan, examines her camera inside her enclosure at a Vienna zoo

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1232968/Monkey-business-Photos-taken-orangutan-prove-Facebook-sensation.html#ixzz0ZCRh6dOV

Music is powerful. We all know that. Even the most tone-deaf can be transcended by a beloved song. But did you know that music can literally transform your mind?

In an experiment comparing preschoolers who had taken music lessons to those who didn’t, researcher Laurel Trainor of the Institute for Music and the Mind at Ontario’s McMaster University discovered that the musically-trained kids had larger brain responses to certain sound recognition exams. Trainor’s findings reveal the possibility that musical education can actually modify the brain’s auditory cortex, leading to better overall learning skills.

The study’s results indicate that “musical training (but not necessarily passive listening to music) affects attention and memory, which provides a mechanism whereby musical training might lead to better learning across a number of domains,” Trainor said in a statement.

The effects of music education are even more pronounced in children with dyslexia and other language-related disabilities. “A music intervention that strengthens the basic auditory music perception skills of children with dyslexia may also remediate some of their language deficits,” said Gottfried Schlaug, who has also studied music education in relation to learning.

So, whether or not you can play a Tchaikovsky symphony part, it’s likely that your years of music lessons prepped your brain for all the presentations, emails and adult conversations that are part of your life today.

To help make sure that kids today have the same opportunities for music-inspired brain enhancement, help out by volunteering with or donating instruments to your school’s music education department, or contributing to a nationwide group like Little Kids Rock.

Source: Gimundo

It’s easy to shirk from cold weather. But have you ever tried embracing it? We are meant to be outdoors - even when its cold. By going out in the cold winter air, you strengthen your constitution and increase your circulation. Mentally, facing the elements, reminds you that you endure, you can withstand…and even enjoy cold weather, if you relax into it.

So go kiss the cold!

Convicted forger A. Schiller was serving his time in Sing Sing prison in the late 1800s when guards found him dead in his cell.

On his body they found seven regular straight pins whose heads measured the typical 47/1000ths of an inch or 1.17 millimeters in diameter.

Under 500 magnification, it was found that the tiny etchings seen on the heads of the pins were the words to The Lord’s Prayer, which is 65 words and 254 letters long. Of the seven pins, six were silver and one was gold - the gold pin’s prayer was flawless and a true masterpiece.

Schiller had spent the last 25 years of his life creating the pins, using a tool too small to be seen by the naked eye. It is estimated that it took 1,863 separate carving strokes to make it. Schiller went blind because of his artwork.

Source: The Nevada Lights

Just stumbled across this great site yesterday called Positive Perspectives. It includes

“Positive news, positive attitude stories, positive perspective, positive quotes by Lucy MacDonald, author of Learn to be an Optimist and Learn to Manage Your Time.”

She shares with us some great advice on how to keep the holidays stress-free and relaxing:

1. Avoid overscheduling yourself. Use an agenda to keep track of your holiday commitments so that you can physically see what you are committing yourself to. Along with your commitments to others make sure to include some downtime for yourself - even if it is half an hour here and there. Knowing that you have some personal time will help you to stay positive.

2. Lower your expectations  don’t strive for perfection, good enough is okay.

   Don’t expect your family to be perfect during the holidays. Be realistic about who they are and what your relationship is like with them all year around. That is especially true of step-families.

3. Make a budget and stick to it. The price of the gift is not equal to how much you love them. Focus on the people that you care about instead of the stuff that really doesn’t matter. Beware of the joy-to-stuff ratio: more stuff does not equal more joy.

4. Spread your socializing in the months after the holidays. Don’t try to pack a year’s worth of socializing into a few weeks. Start a new tradition with friends and make a date with friends for mid January or early February.

5. Get as much sleep as you can. Schedule one or two pyjama days for yourself or for the whole family - stay in your pj’s and stay home and give yourself permission to rest and enjoy some time together without rushing about.

Holidays are for celebrating what is truly important to you, your family, and friends. Make it the holiday you want it to be and chances are you will keep a positive attitude.

Pajama Time over the Holidays

What a wonderful idea during economically trying times. You go, Estonia. Where the heck is Estonia? Hmmm…will put in map at end of entry:

Estonians create a virtual “Bank of Happiness.”

Estonia, a small country in Eastern Europe, has been hit hard by the global recession. But while Estonia’s national bank is dealing with a catastrophic fall-out, Estonia’s Bank of Happiness is happily accepting new members.

The Bank of Happiness has no physical presence, but is merely an Internet portal where Estonians can register their contact details, along with details on what personal and professional skills they can use to help community members, as well as requests for what they’d like help with from others.

“I think young people would love to do this. Not everything has to be based on money,” 18-year-old student Evelin Tamm told the Times Online. “I love to clean and to babysit. Perhaps, in return, someone could help me with my maths and physics.”

The Bank of Happiness hasn’t officially opened for business yet, but Estonians are eager to register and start helping their neighbors. One of the Bank’s founders, Rainer Nolvak, believes that the idea has the potential to transform the small country.

“It is based on the assumption that doing good is good for you,” he said. “It will touch everyone with a conscience.”’

(Estonia is near Finland, apparently! And I think its COLD!)

Source: Gimundo