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.

I don’t know about you but Monday can be a tricky day for me. I don’t leap back into work mode. Instead, I kind of creep there. Mainly, I feel a little low energy. Luckily a friend sent me this article on ways to boost your energy. Strangely, it doesn’t include coffee!

1. Go outside into the sunlight; light deprivation is one reason that people feel tired. Research suggests that light stimulates brain chemicals that improve mood. For an extra boost, get your sunlight first thing in the morning. And while you’re outside…

2. Go for a brisk walk. One study found that even a ten-minute walk was enough to supply a feeling of energy and decreased tension.

3. Act with energy. We think we ACT because of the way we FEEL, but often we FEEL because of the way we ACT. Trick yourself into feeling energetic by moving more quickly, pacing while you talk on the phone, and putting more energy into your voice.

4. Listen to your favorite upbeat song. Hearing stimulating music gives an instant lift and is one of the quickest, most reliable ways to affect your mood and energy level. I’m always surprised by the effectiveness of this strategy.

5. Talk to an energetic friend. Not only do we gain energy from interacting with other people, we also – in what’s called emotional contagion — “catch” their emotions. Instead of infecting others with your draggy mood, try to lift yourself by catching the energy of a boisterous friend.

6. Tackle an item on your to-do list. Unfinished tasks weigh us down. So if you feel bad about never having had a skin-cancer check, or not having completed an over-due report, or not having faced this month’s bills, force yourself to tackle one thing that’s nagging you. It’s tough, but you will feel a HUGE rush of energy when you cross it off your list.

7. Clean up. I’m not sure why tidying makes such a huge difference, but when I feel like I can’t face the day, I just tidy up my desk, and I perk right up.

8. Eat — if you’re hungry. If you’re actually hungry, eating makes a huge difference to your energy. Both my children become very droopy and crabby when hungry, and I’ve learned the hard way to pay close attention to this; I suffer from it myself. During the workday, my husband will go far too long without eating, so I try to remind him to eat enough, as well. However, it can be tempting to eat a snack to try to get an energy boost even when you’re not hungry. If food isn’t the problem, other strategies to boost your energy may be healthier.

“Exuberance is beauty,” William Blake wrote, and it’s surprising how much sheer energy level can affect the quality of the happiness of a day.

Source: Happiness Project

Let’s hear it for our left-handed peeps! Found this over coffee this morning:

Left handed facts tend to be comical or negative in nature. These seven positive facts will not only make you smile, but should make you proud of being left handed.

1. When at school or any activity that you’re asked if you’re lefty don’t be embarrassed, but feel privileged because you will usually get one-on-one attention (that’s a good thing).

2. Time Magazine’s Person of the Century Albert Einstein was a left hander. His contributions to science and technology were without question, important advances for mankind. Throw his name out if someone’s making fun of us lefties.

3. If you’re a southpaw baseball player then when you bat and complete your swing you are already facing first base and thus have a head start over right handers. A left handed pitcher can keep an eye on first base during his wind-up and keep a runner from stealing second. A first basemen who is a lefty can cover a large amount of the field with their glove on the right hand and they also have an advantage when throwing to second base for a double play.

4. Some of the wealthiest people are left handed (i.e. Bill Gates and Oprah Winfrey continue to rank at the top of the richest people in the world and yes they are southpaws). A recent study revealed that lefties with college education earned 10 to 15 percent more than their right handed counterparts

5. New research suggests that left handed people often perform better than right handers at fast or difficult tasks that involve lots of information or stimuli. Lefties may be better at playing fast computer games, talking while driving in heavy traffic and flying a jet fighter - activities that need both hemispheres of the brain to process information quickly.

6. Southpaw drivers are apparently more successful at learning to drive than right handed people. As many as 57% of left handers pass their driving test first time compared with only 47% of right handers, a poll for the AA Driving School found.

7. Lefties have a tactical advantage in one-on-one competition. Studies suggests that because lefties are in the minority, right-handed opponents are not use to the way they fight, and the element of surprise gives lefties an advantage.

So there you have it, Seven Positive reasons for being Left Handed.

Source: http://www.BeingLeftHanded.com

Even ladybugs are affected by our ecological woes. But luckily, you can do you part! Read on:

A decade ago, a group of scientists set out to find out what was happening to the ladybug population, so that they could determine whether the bugs had simply moved to new regions or were truly vanishing. They created a non-profit and website called The Lost Ladybug Project, and they’re asking people all over North America for their support. The request is simple: if you see a ladybug in your region, simply take a photo and upload it to their website.

So far, they’ve collected over 7,000 ladybug photos, and are hoping to collect at least 100 more by the end of summer. Do your part for science by keeping an eye out for the spotted insects and snapping their photos—and check out their site for learning resources. It’s a fantastic way to get kids involved in the conservation movement!

Source: Gimundo

This story is a touching account of how dogs touch the lives - and in this case save the lives - of soldiers:

While Sgt. Chris Duke, a National Guardsman, was serving in Afghanistan, he and his fellow troops made good friends with a few of the stray dogs, who the soldiers named Sasha, Target, and Rufus. So when the dogs had a chance to defend the soldiers, they didn’t back down.

One February night, an insurgent covered in explosives tried to enter the soldiers’ quarters to kill the 50 men inside. But he didn’t count on the dogs: the three strays began barking and biting the suicide bomber, trying to keep him from harming the people inside. When his explosives detonated, he was killed, but all of the American troops remained safe.

Sadly, one of the dogs, Sasha, was severely injured by the bomb, and had to be euthanized. But both Rufus and Target survived the assault, and were celebrated as heroes by the soldiers they had saved.

When Duke finished his tour of duty and returned home the following month, he wanted to bring his loyal friend Rufus along—but military regulations wouldn’t allow it. So, after returning to Atlanta, Duke wrote to a veterans’ assistance group, Hope for the Warriors, asking for their help to bring the two dogs overseas.

“This was going to mean a lot to him,” the group’s president, Robin Kelleher, told CBS. “So whatever we needed to do to get this wish done we were going to do that.” Another grassroots group, launched on Facebook, raised over $21,000 to pay for the dogs to be flown to the United States.

Now, Target has been transported to Arizona to live with another soldier, and Rufus has just arrived in Atlanta, where he’ll live out the rest of his days with Duke and his family. Duke is thrilled to make the commitment to care for Rascal for the rest of his life—in his eyes, it’s the least he could do for his furry friend.

“I firmly believe I wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for him,” he said.

Check out the video.

Source: Gimundo