NASA Kicks off Real Life Version of “Bio-Dome”

So you may or may not remember the 1996 gem of a motion picture entitled “Bio-Dome” that featured the talents of national treasures Pauly Shore and the little Baldwin brother. If you skipped this one on your journey to find the utmost quality in cinematics, I’ll understand. The plotline is: Moronic best friends get themselves locked inside the Bio-Dome, a science experiment, along with a group of environmental scientists for one year. Well, I guess someone at NASA has seen that movie because they are embarking on a real-life Bio-Dome, minus the “moronic best friends”.

The year-long project will include 6 people being locked in a dome that is 20 feet tall and only 36 feet in diameter on the dormant volcano of Mauna Loa in Hawaii. The Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation, or HI-SEAS, is the longest U.S. isolation experiment to date, and is designed to record the effect of extreme isolation for future planned missions to Mars. The team members: Carmel Johnston, Christiane Heinicke, Sheyna Gifford, Andrzej Stewart, Cyprien Verseux, and Tistan Bassingthwaighte will all have their own tiny little private room, but most of the living will be communal.

The team consists of a physicist, an astrobiologist, a soil scientist, a pilot, an architect, and a doctor. Ideally, NASA wants to see what the long-term effects will be on people are when they are put in a small space without access to fresh water, food or air. Yep, you read that correctly, the dome is air tight – so if you want to go outside you have to put on a space suit. The total cost of the project is $1.2 million dollars, which principle investor Kim Binsted says is “really inexpensive compared to the cost of a space mission going wrong.”

Sheyna Gifford, who is the health science office/journalist for the experiment said in her blog, Live From Mars, “In less than a generation, if we set our minds to it, we will be packing a group of people off to the 4th planet from the Sun,” she wrote. “The same species who landed on the beach in Normandy in 1944, on the Moon in 1969, and a comet in 2014 now brings you: #occupymars.”

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In Memory of Dr. Wayne Dyer – 21 of his Greatest Inspirational Quotes

On August 29th in Hawaii, Dr. Wayne Dyer quietly passed away in his sleep and the world lost of one the most inspirational influences that it has had in the last 75 years. Dr. Dyer is considered to be the “father of motivation” by his fans and was a pioneer in the field of personal development. In his career he wrote over 40 books, 20 of which were New York Times Best Sellers, and raised over $250 million dollars for public television through PBS.

Dr. Dyer has been a personal inspiration of mine ever since I read Your Erroneous Zones, and I highly recommend reading anything he has ever written. We are all lucky to have had him be a part of our universe and sharing his wisdom. You will be missed, sir. As Dr. Dyer once said, Good luck and safe travels on the next part of you journey, wherever it takes you.

Here are 21 of my favorite quotes from Dr. Dyer:

“How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours.”

“Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.”

“Friends are God’s way of apologizing for your family.”

“With everything that has happened to you, you can either feel sorry for yourself or treat what has happened as a gift. Everything is either an opportunity to grow or an obstacle to keep you from growing. You get to choose.”

“When you judge another, you do not define them, you define yourself.”

“You cannot be lonely if you like the person you’re alone with.”

“You are not stuck where you are unless you decide to be.”

“Passion is a feeling that tells you: this is the right thing to do. Nothing can stand in my way. It doesn’t matter what anyone else says. This feeling is so good that it cannot be ignored. I’m going to follow my bliss and act upon this glorious sensation of joy.”

“All blame is a waste of time. No matter how much fault you find with another, and regardless of how much you blame him, it will not change you. The only thing blame does is to keep the focus off you when you are looking for external reasons to explain your unhappiness or frustration. You may succeed in making another feel guilty about something by blaming him, but you won’t succeed in changing whatever it is about you that is making you unhappy. ”

“Your reputation is in the hands of others. That’s what the reputation is. You can’t control that. The only thing you can control is your character.”

“When the choice is to be right or to be kind, always make the choice that brings peace”

“I am realistic – I expect miracles.”

“You have everything you need for complete peace and total happiness right now.”

“The more you see yourself as what you’d like to become, and act as if what you want is already there, the more you’ll activate those dormant forces that will collaborate to transform your dream into your reality.”

“Conflict cannot survive without your participation”

“Circumstances do not make a man, they reveal him.”

“You’ll see it when you believe it.”

“If you knew who walked beside you at all times, on the path that you have chosen, you could never experience fear or doubt again.”

“Heaven on Earth is a choice you must make, not a place you must find.”

“you don’t need to be better than any one else you just need to be better than you used to be”

“Begin to see yourself as a soul with a body rather than a body with a soul.”

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Conscious Relationships: A New Way to Love

An overwhelming number of people these days say that they are unhappy in their marriages and relationships. An overwhelming number of people these days say that they are unhappy in their marriages and relationships. According to one survey, 6 out of 10 people asked if they were happy in their relationship said “no”.” target=”_blank”>According to one survey, 6 out of 10 people asked if they were happy in their relationship said “no”. Just like with anything else in life, when traditional norms break down, something new takes their place. In the instance of relationship, the new emerging trend is the Conscious Relationship, and in my opinion, they are an amazing thing to strive for.

The Problem with Traditional Relationships

“Working” on the Relationship
Too often, because traditional relationships are designed for personal gratification, the focus is “working” on keeping the relationship going. The “work” that has to be done is usually a matter of one of the partners in the relationship changing to appease the other. Over time, we lose sense of who we are because of who we have had to become to maintain the relationship. So you make all of these changes to keep the relationship going, only to find that once you’ve established the relationship, you’ve become a completely different person in the process – someone you might not want to be.

Emphasis on Comfort
In traditional relationships, we worry so much about pleasing our partner that we tend to stifle ourselves. This includes everything from life dreams to sexual fantasies. We feel like we cannot express our feelings, desires, and aspirations to our partner for fear of judgement. The same can be said about expressing our pasts, fears, and apprehensions. We have all been hurt at some point, and we all have our hang-ups. The compromises that we often have to make to maintain a traditional relationship involve making compromises to ourselves.

Focusing on the Outcome
Traditional relationships tend to be all about moving the relationship in a perceived direction. There is a premium that is placed on getting to the proverbial “next level”. When you approach a relationship as if there is a destination in mind, what do you do when you get there? This is why marriages fail. People work to get to the point where they get married, and once they are there, there is nothing left to do.

Maintaing a “Conscious” Relationship?

In a conscious, relationship the focus is growth -physically, mentally, spiritually. You have to let go of your concept of a “comfort zone”. People think that a relationship is supposed to be all sunshine and sparkles so at the first sign of trouble, they automatically assume something is terribly wrong. Growth is not an easy process, but when you have two people that are dedicated to it, it becomes a team effort instead of a constant struggle to figure out who you are. You have to let go of the belief that expressing who you are will put your relationships in danger for the fear of judgement from your partners. In a conscious relationship expression of who you are and what you want is the point. In a conscious relationship love is not the final destination, it is the fuel for the journey. As two people move forward together with the joint sense that they are doing so as two people looking to be 100% themselves, they will find love in ways they never knew they could.

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3 Keys to Becoming a “Super Achiever”

Dr. Suzzane Gelb spends a lot of time with some very successful people. Over the years, she has determined that these “super-achievers” share some common key characteristics. In an article on themuse.com, Dr. Gelb raises the question, “These kinds of “super-achievers” have the same number of hours in the day as the rest of us, but somehow, they always seem to get more done. How do they do it?”

Dr. Gelb noticed that all of the people whom she considered to be “super-achievers” had specific things in common that lead to their consistent success. No matter what level of success you are striving for, these 3 key principles can help you become the “super-achiever” that we all have the potential to be.

Maintain Your Focus

Every day we all face a myriad of distractions. Thanks to our inboxes, social media profiles, smartphones, co-workers, and the universe in general – it is amazing anyone gets anything done. Whatever it is that you choose to accomplish, you have to commit to it with a laser beam focus. Dr. Gelb uses the example of watching an Olympic hurdler as an instance of focus leading to greatness. All it takes is one little distraction to send your thought process tumbling off the track. As much as some people consider multi-tasking to be an effective way to get things done, in reality trying to do three or four things at once just assures you that you’ll get none of those things done well.

Mind the Company You Keep

Anytime I am talking about the types of people you should surround yourself with, I am always reminded of two quotes from Gen. Colin Powell:

“With some people you spend an evening: with others you invest it. Be careful where you stop to inquire for directions along the road of life. Wise is the person who fortifies his life with the right friendships. If you run with wolves, you will learn how to howl. But, if you associate with eagles, you will learn how to soar to great heights.”
and
“The less you associate with some people, the more your life will improve. Any time you tolerate mediocrity in others, it increases your mediocrity. An important attribute in successful people is their impatience with negative thinking and negative acting people. As you grow, your associates will change. Some of your friends will not want you to go on. They will want you to stay where they are. Friends that don’t help you climb will want you to crawl. Your friends will stretch your vision or choke your dream. Those that don’t increase you will eventually decrease you.”

I don’t know that it can be said any better than that.

Keep your Emotions in Check

Of all the things you can do to be more successful in life’s endeavors – this one is the hardest, in my opinion. People will always say things like “don’t take it personally, it is just business,” it is hard to separate the two. I’m not suggesting that you have to be a robot to be super successful, what I AM saying is that you have to balance those emotions and not let them take over your productivity. See a failure as a learning experience and a way to become better at whatever you originally failed at. Take criticisms, no matter how harsh, as a doorway to improvement and not a reason to hide in the bathroom and cry for an hour. Handling your emotion constructively is a process but it is a process that will lead to success.

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Engineers at Dartmouth Create a Brilliant New Dummy

As a former football player and coach, I can tell you that one of the most important aspects of the game is tackling. It is also the hardest skill to teach because it is hard to practice. From a coaching standpoint, teaching players how to tackle properly has less to do with making them more effective at their position – it has to do with teaching players how to tackle without hurting themselves. That being said, Having players repeatedly hit each other on the practice field is a rough way to learn a critical skill of the game. A football player gets hit more in practice than they ever do in a game because of the repetitive nature of drills and instruction. As a player who had their knee destroyed by a teammate in practice but understanding the importance of technique drills, I ask the question: “how do you teach proper technique without the risk of injury?”

Engineers at Dartmouth college have answered that question with their “Mobile Virtual Player” or MVP. This 5’11” 200+ mobile tackling dummy can be remotely controlled to simulate an opponent – and the best part is that you can’t hurt it. Dartmouth has been an innovator in the past when it comes to tackling drills in practice. 5 years ago their head coach, Buddy Teevens implemented a no-tackling policy in Dartmouth’s practices, which is still the only known program in place in Division I college football. Teevens said, “To my knowledge, no one else does it at the Division I level. It was not received well to be honest with you because [tackling] is sort of fundamental, but I was committed to it.”

Then came along engineering students Elliot Kastner and Quinn Connell. Kastner, who is a former football player himself, and Connell, who played ruby, both understand the importance of proper tackling technique without the risk of injury. “This is going to allow football players to practice tackling safely,” Kastner said. “I was fortunate enough to never have a concussion, but players on my team missed weeks after sustaining a blow to the head. And those injuries can affect you for the rest of your life.”

Currently, there are 2 MVPs in operation at Dartmouth with plans to build a third. At a price tag of about $3,500 a piece, they really do seem like a worthwhile investment in player safety. The current models are remotely controlled, but there are plans to make the pre-programmable. Check out the MVP in action:

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The Art of Aging Gracefully

I was blessed to have had the opportunity to grow up with my great-grandfather, Cletus Augustus Bristol – who lived to be 105 years old, as a part of my life. The knowledge that he shared with everyone around him was irreplaceable. I mean, imagine a man who was born in 1902, lived through the great depression in Texas, and was too old to fight in World War II. One of my favorite tidbits of Texas-inspired knowledge he shared was when someone asked him how many cattle he had. He simply said, “if you know how many cows you have, then you don’t have enough.” Think about it…

I think if I took one lesson from my great-grandfather, it was that if life is anything – it is an amazing journey. Aging is a part of that journey that no one can avoid. It is a process that has nothing to do with wrinkles or grey hair; aging is about enjoying the journey for what it is. In the Canadian Broadcasting Company’s final episode of the popular radio show called Wiretap, host Jonathan Goldstein said, “It’s all about growing up and how that process never ends.” WireTap put together this beautiful farewell video, that stands to remind us of how aging is just another beautiful aspect of the beautiful journey that is life.

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Meaning over Glory: The Paradoxical Commandments

It was Mahatma Gandhi who said, “you must be the change you wish to see in the world.” In 1968, Kent M. Keith was a sophomore at Harvard University. On his website, Keith recalls, “I saw a lot of idealistic young people go out into the world to do what they thought was right, and good, and true, only to come back a short time later, discouraged, or embittered, because they got negative feedback, or nobody appreciated them, or they failed to get the results they had hoped for. I told them that if they were going to change the world, they had to really love people, and if they did, that love would sustain them. I also told them that they couldn’t be in it for fame or glory. I said that if they did what was right and good and true, they would find meaning and satisfaction, and that meaning and satisfaction would be enough. If they had the meaning, they didn’t need the glory.”

Keith wrote a book in 1968 called The Silent Revolution: Dynamic Leadership in the Student Council that included a list of 10 “Paradoxical Commandments.” The commandments were aimed at inspiring young people to be good, no matter what. Keith said, “I laid down the Paradoxical Commandments as a challenge. The challenge is to always do what is right and good and true, even if others don’t appreciate it. You have to keep striving, no matter what, because if you don’t, many of the things that need to be done in our world will never get done.”

I personally have a printed copy of the Paradoxical Commandments on the wall in front of my desk. Every single day, I glance at these words and try my best to adhere to them.

The Paradoxical Commandments

by Dr. Kent M. Keith

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.
Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.
Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.
Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.
Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.
Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.
Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.
Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.
Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.
Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth.
Give the world the best you have anyway.

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Simple Things You can do Every Day to Make Yourself Smarter

Intelligence, as it is measured, is not a finite resource. Our brains have the capability to do amazing things and hold a vast wealth of knowledge. So why is it that most people reach a certain age and just quit learning? Sure, we learn little things like new recipes or crafty DIY projects from Pinterest, but what about acquiring real knowledge?

With access to new information being a basic part of life these days, it seems people are getting dumber, not smarter. Your brain is like a muscle: the more you use it the stronger and more efficient it gets. Just like sitting on a couch doesn’t help you lose weight, not using your brain doesn’t help you get smarter. Here are 6 tips to help you gain knowledge and increase your intelligence. After all, intelligence is sexy!

1. Keep Learning, and Keep Track of What you Learn
There are thousands of websites dedicated to learning new skills and languages. The key here is, just like you’d keep track of your progress in a gym or on a track, keeping track of what you’ve learned. The practice of tracking what you learn makes your results tangible. You don’t need to write a thesis paper everytime you read an interesting article, but at the end of the week having a list of things to look back on that you’ve learned can be rewarding.

2. Use the Internet Wisely
Yes, I love cat videos as much as the next person, but downtime on the internet can be so much more fulfilling. With online series like the Ted Talks and resources like EdX – where you can take free online courses from universities around the country, your options for VALUABLE internet conten is limitless.

3. Hang Out with Smarter People
Epictetus, a Greek philosopher, once said “The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.” That statement ring truest when you consider the people around you and the influences they have on your brain.

4. Read More
There are dozens of reasons why people should read more. On top of the benefits of reading for your mind, body, and soul – again, there are countless online resources for free books.

5. Relax
Again, sticking to the theory that you brain is like a muscle, it needs rest. This is especially true if you lead a hectic lifestyle. Now, I am not just talking about sleep – but times throughout the day when you can clear your head, and recharge your brain’s batteries. Things like meditation or exercise can go a long way to letting your brain cool down and reboot.

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Could There Really Be a Train Full of Nazi Gold in Poland?

Last week the headline reporting that a “Lost Train Full of Nazi Gold” inspired memories of every Indiana Jones movie I’ve ever seen. “Surely,” I thought to myself, “there can’t really be a train full of gold that has been missing for over 70 years.” Well, as it turns out, CNN reported that Polish officials are starting to think that the train exists.

The original news story was a report that two treasure hunters claimed to have found the train, and that it was full of “Nazi gold.” Supposedly, the train went missing in 1945 at the end of WWII as the Russians closed in on Berlin. The men that found the train were holding out on revealing the location of the train until a finder’s fee had been negotiated. Can you blame them? If I found a train full of Nazi Gold, I’d want a reward too!

Initially, the Polish government didn’t do much in light of the men’s claims, but now it seems they are pretty interested. Arkadiusz Grudzien, assistant to the mayor of Walbrzych District in Poland, released a statement saying:”At the moment, the train has not been located, but we believe the evidence presented to be strong enough to look into the matter seriously.” He was also very quick to say, “Also I would like to add that that this ‘find’ belongs to the National Treasury legally.” No wonder the treasure hunters wanted a guarantee of the finder’s fee, which under Polish law, is 10%. It is amazing to think that such a treasure could go missing and stay hidden for over 70 years.

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Powerful Insights from Viktor E. Frankl that can Change the way You Look at Life

The first time I read the line “Live as if you were living already for the second time and as if you had acted the first time as wrongly as you are about to act now!” I was in a very trying time in my life. Those words sparked a fire in me that got me through those dark times and I was forever grateful. But, at the time, I had no idea where those words came from. So years later, I looked it up. That is when I discovered Man’s Search for Meaning, and the amazing story of Viktor E. Frankl.

Frankl was a successful Jewish psychologist in Vienna, who in 1942 was arrested and placed into a concentration camp along with his family. 3 years later when that concentration camp was liberated, most of Viktor’s family was dead. Including his pregnant wife.

In 1946 Viktor wrote Man’s Search for Meaning, which detailed his time in the camp where he worked as a therapist. Imagine that scenario: a Jewish therapist in a concentration camp. When I first started reading the book, I couldn’t think of a more soul-crushing experience…and then I got to this:

“A thought transfixed me: for the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets, proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers. The truth — that love is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire. Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love. I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved. In a position of utter desolation, when man cannot express himself in positive action, when his only achievement may consist in enduring his sufferings in the right way — an honorable way — in such a position man can, through loving contemplation of the image he carries of his beloved, achieve fulfillment. For the first time in my life I was able to understand the meaning of the words, ‘The angels are lost in perpetual contemplation of an infinite glory.'”

Those words changed my life. In honor of Viktor E. Frankl, I have chosen some of my favorite passages in the book, and I hope they touch your soul the way that they have touched mine.

“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing; the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”

“Don’t aim at success — the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one’s personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one’s surrender to a person other than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it. I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of your knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long run — in the long run, I say — success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think of it.”

“In some way, suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning, such as the meaning of a sacrifice.”

“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”

“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.”

“It is well known that humor, more than anything else in the human make-up, can afford an aloofness and an ability to rise above any situation, even if only for a few seconds.”

“Man’s main concern is not to gain pleasure or to avoid pain but rather to see a meaning in his life.”

“The more one forgets himself — by giving himself to a cause to serve or another person to love — the more human he is and the more he actualizes himself. What is called self-actualization is not an attainable aim at all, for the simple reason that the more one would strive for it, the more he would miss it. In other words, self-actualization is possible only as a side-effect of self-transcendence.”

“Man’s search for meaning may arouse inner tension rather than inner equilibrium. However, precisely such tension is an indispensable prerequisite of mental health. There is nothing in the world, I venture to say, that so effectively helps one to survive even the worse conditions as the knowledge that there is a meaning in one’s life.”

“Man does not simply exist but always decides what his existence will be, what he will become in the next moment.”

“One should not search for an abstract meaning of life. Everyone has his own specific vocation or mission in life to carry out a concrete assignment which demands fulfillment. Therein he cannot be replaced, nor can his life be repeated. Thus, everyone’s task is as unique as is his specific opportunity to implement it.”

“Love is the only way to grasp another human being in the innermost core of his personality. No one can become fully aware of the very essence of another human being unless he loves him.”

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DNA Analysis Deepens the Mystery Surrounding the Paracas Elongated Skulls

In 1928, Julio Tello discovered something amazing on the Southern coast of Peru: a tomb filled with the 3000-year-old bodies of what appeared to be humans with extremely elongated skulls.

 

Initially, the skulls were thought to be an example of a cranial deformation – whether genetic or intentional. The problem has always been that when deforming a skull intentionally through binding in cloth or with pieces of wood – the actual cranial volume doesn’t change and neither does the bone density. The Paracas skulls are 60% heavier than a human skull and have 25% more cranial volume. The Paracas skulls also only have one parietal plate, where human skulls have 2. Those facts alone indicate that these are potentially not human skulls.

So, What Are They?

That is exactly what author and expert on the elongated skulls, Brien Foerster, is trying to find out. Recently, the owner of some of the skulls allowed samples to be taken for DNA analysis; including skin, hair with a root, and a tooth. The preliminary results are shocking, to say the least.

According to Forester, the geneticist who did the analysis and who had no idea where they came from said, “Whatever the sample labeled 3A has come from – it had mtDNA with mutations unknown in any human, primate or animal known so far. The data are very sketchy though and an LOT of sequencing still needs to be done to recover the complete mtDNA sequence. But a few fragments I was able to sequence from this sample 3A indicate that if these mutations will hold we are dealing with a new human-like creature, very distant from Homo sapiens, Neanderthals, and Denisovans. I am not sure it will even fit into the known evolutionary tree. The question is if they were so different, they could not interbreed with humans. Breeding within their small population. they may have degenerated due to inbreeding. That would explain buried children – they were either low or not viable.”

This initial DNA test is just one of many planned to corroborate the findings, including testing other skulls to get the same result. As quick as some scientists are to write off the skulls as a genetic malformation or an intentional act, the mysteries of the Paracas skulls remain just that: mysteries.

Check out the full interview with Forester with Ancient Origins:

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What Watching Porn Does to Your Brain (It’s Not Good)

There is an old joke where a father catches his son with a dirty magazine and says “Now son, these dirty magazines will make you go blind.” To which the boy replies, “uh, dad…I’m over here.” As it turns out, that joke might have some truth to it. In our digital age, gone are the days of the common “nudie magazine” and in rushes the age of internet porn. Research in the United States has shown that 66% of men and 41% of women consume pornography on a monthly basis. An estimated 50% of all Internet traffic is related to sex.

But could porn really be bad for your brain?

If you just said “no way porn could be bad for my brain,” you might be wrong.

In an study published in JAMA Psychiatry in 2014, researchers have shown that it is possible that watching porn can literally shrink your brain. According to the report’s authors Dr. Simone Kühn and Dr. Jürgen Gallinat: “We found a significant negative association between reported pornography hours per week and gray matter volume in the right caudate (P < .001, corrected for multiple comparisons) as well as with functional activity during a sexual cue–reactivity paradigm in the left putamen (P < .001). Functional connectivity of the right caudate to the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was negatively associated with hours of pornography consumption.”

Now for the really bad news: porn consumption actually makes you less receptive to sexual stimulation. The part of the brain that was shown to shrink in the research above was the striatum – which is the part of the brain associated with motivation and reward. According to Kühn: “Since the striatum is part of the brain network that is known to respond to sexual cues, one can assume that this reflects a blunting of the reaction to erotic stimuli.” The report goes on to say, “Therefore, we assume that pornography consumption, even on a nonaddicted level, may have an impact on brain structure and function.”

On top of your brain shrinking, both sexual intercourse and watching porn release dopamine into the brain, and our brains build up a tolerance. This is not unlike the responses in the brains of drug and alcohol addicts who need more and more of their substance of choice to get the same results over time. In essence, your brain becomes desensitized, requiring more and more sexual stimuli to achieve the same results.

The report goes on to conclude: “Taken together, one may be tempted to assume that the frequent brain activation caused by pornography exposure might lead to wearing and downregulation of the underlying brain structure, as well as function, and a higher need for external stimulation of the reward system and a tendency to search for novel and more extreme sexual material.” Although the report is somewhat inconclusive, it sheds light on what is happening to your brain when you watch porn…and gives you yet another reason to go read a book.

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Constant Contradictions: 6 Things Only INFJs Understand

Of the 16 personality types in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), the rarest of them is the INFJ. Only 1% of the people who take the MBTI fall into this personality type, and if you happen to be one of these rare souls, you know how hard it can be for other people to understand you – or even to understand yourself. One of the defining characteristics of the INFJ is an almost constant internal contradiction. 16personalities.com describes the INJF as having a “very unique combination of traits: though soft-spoken, they have very strong opinions and will fight tirelessly for an idea they believe in. They are decisive and strong-willed, but will rarely use that energy for personal gain – INFJs will act with creativity, imagination, conviction and sensitivity not to create an advantage, but to create balance. Egalitarianism and karma are very attractive ideas to INFJs, and they tend to believe that nothing would help the world so much as using love and compassion to soften the hearts of tyrants.”

To get an idea of what I am talking about, here are 6 things that other INFJs will agree with me on (even if they don’t admit it).

1. Most of your favorite people are fictional. In fact, most of the time you feel a real connection to another INJF, it is typically in a book.

2. You find it easy to convince people that you’re an extrovert one minute, and an introvert the next. You understand that it confuses people when you shift gears, but you also know that sometimes you just want to be alone. You want relationships in your life and they make you happy, but you also need a lot of alone time to be happy. It’s a constant juggling act.

3. As much as you hate working for money, you’re realistic about needing money to pay bills, rent, etc. It’s a constant battle between being responsible and being free. You can, at the same time, imagine a utopian society – and know that it will never exist.

4. Your intuition will often times play out exactly how a situation is going to go for someone in your head. But, at the risk of offending someone, you just let it play out, and let them make the mistake that you saw coming all along. This is compounded by the fact self-destructive people are drawn to you like a moth to a flame, and you generally care about their problems more than they do. A lot of times, you create standards for other people in your heads based on how you would treat others (including yourself), or what you would do if you were them. You then find yourself severely disappointed when others don’t meet your made-up standards.

5. Sometimes you get a thought in your head that you can’t put into words that other people will understand. Typically, when you try to explain it – you end up confusing them even more. Most of the time, this situation revolves around telling someone how you feel. You either reveal as little about yourself as you possibly can or you reveal WAY too much and end up feeling like an idiot after the fact. After you’ve gone through this cycle enough times, you often end up apologizing for any expression of emotion at all. Social media doesn’t help at all with this one.

6. You have the ability to fit in everywhere, without feeling like you fit in anywhere. As gifted as you are as an intellectual, you can be miles away from the world around you. This usually leads to a realization that most of the world doesn’t live inside of their own head like you, and that seems weird to you. Often times this leaves you feeling like you are in tune with everyone else’s feelings except your own.

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Scientist Believe they have the Ability to ‘Turn Off Cancer’

Although there may not be a “cure” for cancer, researchers at the Mayo Clinic in Florida believe they have found a way to stop, and even reverse cancer cell growth. In a recent study these researchers made an amazing discovery: there is a way to stop cancerous cells from multiplying uncontrollably. According to Dr.Panos Anastasiadis, Ph.D., chair of the Department of Cancer Biology at Mayo Clinic’s Florida campus, “We have found a new mechanism by which normal cells undergo transition to become tumorigenic.” In Anastasiadis’ own words, this is “an unexpected new biology that provides the code, the software for turning off cancer”

The process involves delivering microRNA molecules to cancerous cells. These biological microprocessors are responsible for controlling the “glue” that hold cells together. MicroRNA uses a very specific protein (PLEKHA7) to regulate cell growth. The breakthrough came when the researchers figured out that if you denied cells the microRNA they would become cancerous, and start growing abnormally. The process also works the other way around – if you introduced the microRNA to cancerous cells, they would return to normal. “These [cancer] cells are already missing PLEKHA7. Restoring either PLEKHA7 levels, or the levels of miRNAs in these cells turns them back to a benign state,” Anastasiadis said, “I think for therapy it is very important because it shows the way we can turn cancerous cells back to a more normal state.”

Check out this video for a full interview with Dr. Anastasiadis:

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How to Choose Music for Optimal Productivity

Music has such an incredible ability to bind your soul to whatever it is that you are doing. The right song can turn everyday life into an experience. Music inspires memories and awakens our hearts. As important as music can be to paint the pictures of our lives, there is one very important thing music can enhance: productivity. Now, keep in mind: there is science behind the music that is most beneficial to productivity. It’s not as simple as throwing on the latest Taylor Swift album, and dancing your way through your day like I often do. There are some very specific elements to the perfect productivity playlist.

1. Music You Like
As obvious as this one seems, I mention it only because there are a lot of people that tollerate certain styles of music, but do not truly enjoy them. The reasoning here is that music you enjoy makes you happier. Teresa Lesiuk, an assistant professor in the music therapy program at the University of Miami has done several studies where people were allowed to listen to their own music when working on a task versus people who didn’t. The people that listened to music they preferred out-performed the others, according to Lesiuk, because they were in a better mood. “When you’re stressed, you might make a decision more hastily; you have a very narrow focus of attention. When you’re in a positive mood, you’re able to take in more options,” she says.

2. Meaningless Songs
There is a paradox of sorts when it comes to music that you like and the potential productivity benefits. Research has shown that people who listened to songs that they truly loved were actually more easily distracted. This makes sense if you think about it, because if you have strong connections to a song your mind is more likely to wander off to those memories, or more likely to make you sing along.

3. Instrumental/Lyricless Music
A recent study done by Cambridge Sound Management found that speech was responsible for the distraction of 48% of the participants. Song lyrics work the same way that an overheard conversation of a co-worker does when it comes to taking your mind off-task. For optimum productivity, it might be time to break out the techno music.

4. Specific Tempos
Tempo is a very important aspect of music as it pertains to productivity. The more upbeat the tempo is – the more upbeat you tend to be. Believe it or not, there was actually a study done by the University of Maryland in Baltimore, Harbor Hospital in Baltimore, and the University of Pennsylvania Health System in Philadelphia on the effects of Baroque music on their radiology techs. Apparently Baroque is great for improving productivity. Tempo can have the opposite effect, too. Another study showed that music that had a tempo of less than 60 beats per minute gave participants a feeling of relaxation and reduction of stress.

5. Mind the Volume
Now that you have some ideas of what you should listen to, it’s time to think about how you listen. As easy as it is to plug those ear buds in and drown out the world, research from several universities has shown that medium volume is actually ideal. In fact, loud music actually impairs your brain’s ability to process information.

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These Unbelievable Caterpillar Transformations Will Remind You How Magical Nature Is

Are You Smarter Than An Average College Student?

Heart of a Warrior: 15 Timeless Quotes of the Samurai

Over 300 years ago, Yamamoto Tsunetomo dictated the quotes and wisdom that would become the book Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai. The book is described as “a window into the samurai mind, illuminating the concept of bushido (the Way of the Warrior), which dictated how samurai were expected to behave, conduct themselves, live, and die. While Hagakure was for many years a secret text known only to the warrior vassals of the Nabeshima clan to which the author belonged, it later came to be recognized as a classic exposition of samurai thought.” One amazing aspect of this book is the time in which it was written: long before Western influence on Japan. In Tsunetomo’s time, bushido was a code that related heavily to the Zen concept of “muga”, or the “death of the ego”. As time went on, the Samurai way of life became less of a mystery and different interpretations of bushido were made by many people. As old as the knowledge may be, the concept of Bushido is truly timeless.

“Life is not so important when forced to choose between life and integrity.”

“If one is overly strict, his subordinates will become untrustworthy. If he over-trusts, his subordinates will become unruly.”

“Once a person has reached enlightenment in one thing, he will have an enlightened mind and understand many things.”

“I’ll give you the answer to the question “What is most important to the heart of a warrior?” The answer is, “To desire with one’s very soul every second of every day to accomplish one’s aim.”

“A warrior is worthless unless he rises above others and stands strong in the midst of a storm.”

“If you are caught unprepared by a sudden rainstorm, you should not run foolishly down the road or hide under the eves of houses. You are going to get soaked either way. Accept that from the beginning and go on your way. This way you will not be distressed by a little rain. Apply this lesson to everything.”

“You will know who your true friends are when you get sick or distressed. If one you thought was your friend keeps his distance from you during trying times then he should be considered a coward.”

“The secret to a happy marriage is this: Treat your spouse all of your life as you did when you first met and there will never be room for discord.”

“To find a retainer with a loyal heart one need look no further than the house of a warrior who is faithful to his parents. A warrior should remain committed to his parents from the depths of his soul, or else after they have passed away he will be filled with regret for what he should have done.”

“Wisdom comes from paying attention to wise people. Love comes from always striving for the good of others and placing others before oneself. Bravery is developed by simply gritting one’s teeth and with determination crashing through any barrier in one’s way without regard to the circumstances.”

“There is certainly nothing more important in life than what we do at the present moment. A person’s entire life consists of nothing more than one moment piled on top of another, over and over again. Once enlightened to this, the warrior has nothing else to worry about, because he realizes that he has only to live in the present moment with the utmost intensity.”

“A man’s life is only a vapor that vanishes in an instant. One should spend his life doing that which he enjoys. As short as life is, it is foolish to spend it doing only the things one hates.”

“If you keep your sword drawn and wield it about then no one will dare approach you and you will have no allies. But if you never draw it, it will dull and rust and people will assume that you are feeble.”

“As time passes and men age and deteriorate, set your pace to catch those ahead of you and start living healthy and you may fulfill your dreams of long servitude to your lord. When everyone excels it is hard to stand out, but as others start to decline it becomes much easier to achieve greatness.”

“Every morning a warrior should recommit himself to death. In morning meditation, see yourself killed in various ways, such as being shredded by arrows, bullets, swords, and spears, being swept away by a tidal wave, burned by fire, struck by lightening, dieing in a earthquake, falling from a great height, or succumbing to overwhelming sickness. An elder warrior said, “Once out of your front door you are surrounded by death. Once you leave your gate you are surrounded by enemies.” This saying is not merely a parable, but a way to prepare for your fate.”

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5 Important Habits to Achieve Real Mental Toughness

I think one thing in life that is crucial to any level of success in this world is true mental toughness. That being said, mental toughness is one of those things that is much easier defined than acquired. It’s like someone telling you what the top of the mountain looks like without teaching you how to climb it. Granted, when it comes to something like mental toughness, there isn’t a roadmap to an end point you can just show up at. Just like physical toughness, mental toughness is a process – not a destination.

1. Compliment, not Criticize
Complaining, criticizing, and whining are all ways to bring yourself down. As powerful as your words can be towards others – they have the exact same effect over you. Taking the time to recognize good work or success in others is more beneficial to your own psyche than you think it is. People always talk about that “silver lining” – find it.

2. Give Up what You Can Not Change
Worrying about things that you cannot change makes about as much sense as trying to move a literal mountain. That energy that it takes to fret over the things in life outside of our control is energy that can be used to change the things that we do have under our control. Remember, life is about energy and effort, so by focusing your energies on the things that you can change is the best way to achieve whatever it is that you want to accomplish.

3. Let the Past Be a Lesson – Nothing More
Think of your life as a book. If you’re constantly re-reading the early chapters, you’ll never learn what happens next. Until the advent of a time machine comes along, you’ll get nothing out of worrying about the past. It is a lesson, nothing more.

4. You are in Control
Live your life like you are the director of a movie. Of course, you can’t control 100% of the world around you, but you can roll with the punches as if you were calling the shots. It is a mentality.

5. Impress One Person: You
There is only one person on this planet that you absolutely have to make happy, and that is you. Forget what other people think about your accomplishments. Give up what the trolls on social media sites think. Live your life for yourself. At then end of the day, the goal should be to reflect on yourself and your life, and truly love what you see.

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6 Scientifically Proven Parenting Tips for Raising Successful Children

As a parent, we always want the best for our children. Not only in their current situations but in their lives as they grow. Unfortunately, as we all know, children do not come with an instruction manual. How great would it be if they did? In the absence of an instruction manual, modern psychologists have put together a few things that the parents of the most successful people have all have in common when it comes to how they raised their children.

1.Have High Expectations
Professor Neal Halfon from the University of California recently did a study that involved a national survey of 6,600 children born in 2001. His team’s finding found that the higher a parent’s expectations were of their children, the more those children achieved. According to Halfon, “Parents who saw college in their child’s future seemed to manage their child toward that goal irrespective of their income and other assets.”

2. Teach Social Skills
A recent 20-year long study done by researchers at Duke University and Pennsylvania State University found that children who had good social skills as kindergartner were more successful 20 years later. Kristin Schubert, program director at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation says, “This study shows that helping children develop social and emotional skills is one of the most important things we can do to prepare them for a healthy future. From an early age, these skills can determine whether a child goes to college or prison, and whether they end up employed or addicted.”

3. Working Moms
The Harvard Business School did extensive research on the benefits of children who grew up in a family where the mother worked outside of the home. What they found was that both male and female children showed significant benefits from having a working mom. Daughters of working moms went to school longer, and sons of working mothers showed an increase in housework. According to professor Kathleen L. McGinn, “Role modeling is a way of signaling what’s appropriate in terms of how you behave, what you do, the activities you engage in, and what you believe.” She also went on to say, “There are very few things, that we know of, that have such a clear effect on gender inequality as being raised by a working mother.”

4. Teach Math Early
In 2007, researcher Greg Duncan found that early development of math skills was an incredible precursor for a successful child. His analysis showed: “The paramount importance of early math skills — of beginning school with a knowledge of numbers, number order, and other rudimentary math concepts — is one of the puzzles coming out of the study. Mastery of early math skills predicts not only future math achievement, it also predicts future reading achievement.”

5. Higher Education
Several studies have shown that parents who have completed higher education tend to raise children that also graduate from college. One study in 2014, found that out of 14,000 children born between 1998 and 2007, those who were born to teen mothers were less likely to finish high school or attend college. In another study, Dr. Eric Dubow’s research showed that: “parents’ educational level when the child was 8 years old significantly predicted educational and occupational success for the child 40 years later.”

6. Develop Relationships
In 2014, a study conducted by researchers at the University of Minnesota found that children who had strong relationships with their parents were more successful as adults. The keys to this success came from responding to children “promptly and appropriately” which provided a strong foundation for children to grow and explore. According to the co-author of the report, Lee Raby, “This suggests that investments in early parent-child relationships may result in long-term returns that accumulate across individuals’ lives.”

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Scientist are Closer to Proving that We Are All Part of One Conciousness

Imagine, if you will, that every human being on this planet is actually a cell in the organism that is humanity. Roger D. Nelson, a professor at Princeton University, is aiming to prove that very idea, and he has made some amazing findings. Dr. Nelson, who holds a Ph.D. in Experimental Cognitive Psychology, has figured out a way to prove that we are all exactly what ancient mathematicians have always claimed us to be: one.

As challenging as the concept that all humans are the planet are one collective being is to prove, Dr. Nelson has figured out a way to do just that. Through his Global Consciousness Project (GCP), Dr. Nelson has definitive data that suggests that the world’s combined consciousness is measurable. At the heart of the GCP’s burden of proof is the Electrogaiagram (EGG).

The EGG is actually a network of one hundred computers spread all over the world that are linked back to a central supercomputer at the University of Princeton. The 100 remote computers emit a signal of ones and zeros in a pre-defined code, and the central computer analyzes these signals looking for anomalies. The remote computers operate 24 hours a days a week and the theory is: with no outside interference the patterns should be exactly perfect. The interesting thing is that they aren’t.

The theory is that the anomalies that exist are a result of tangible thought. The data that supports these theories is what is truly amazing. The anomalies in the data directly correspond to major events in our recent history. For example, in the time preceding the September 11th terrorist attacks, the New York computer signal ratio of ones and zeros in the pattern shifted from 50:50 to 1:35.

Scientists know that the signals in our brains are electric in nature, so could it be that when enough of our brains are focused on one thing – there is a measurable collective consciousness? The New York anomalies of September wouldn’t be as significant if similar anomalies weren’t recorded in Spain in 2004 and London in 2005, both surrounding major terrorist attacks.

Although Nelson admits that there is a long road ahead to have the findings corroborated, the idea still exists that we are all cells in the giant organism that is humanity.

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6 Shortcuts Everyone Should Avoid in Life

No matter where you are trying to go in life, you won’t get there any quicker by taking shortcuts. It takes a dedicated and diligent effort to create something worthwhile, but it is worth it in the end. Of course, there is a big difference between taking shortcuts and working more efficiently. You should always be efficient any chance you can, but a shortcut is more likely to set you back. Don’t use other people’s success as a barometer of how quickly you should achieve whatever it is you are shooting for. People may seem like they reached success quickly, but you don’t know how long they spent doing related work or what they had to endure to get there. These are the most common shortcuts that people take that could sell yourself short.

1. Take the Easy Route
Struggles are going to happen throughout your life. But when you look back on it, the things that challenged you the most are going to feel like your biggest accomplishments. Take those challenges and turn them into lessons and experiences; you will only grow more quickly because of it.

2. Follow the Crowd
If you follow the crowd, then there’s a good chance that you won’t get lost. However, why would you want to follow others when you have your own path to pave? Be brave enough to take some risks and be courageous when doing so. Following your own intuition instead of someone else’s will help you grow as a person.

“If you follow the crowd, you will likely get no further than the crowd. If you walk alone, you’re likely to end up in places no one has ever been before. Being an achiever is not
without its difficulties, for peculiarity breeds contempt. The unfortunate thing about being ahead of your time is that when people finally realize you were right, they’ll simply say it was obvious to everyone all along. You have two choices in life. You can dissolve into the mainstream, or you can choose to become an achiever and be distinct. To be distinct, you must be different. To be different, you must strive to be what no else but you can be.”
― Alan Ashley-Pitt

3. Cut Corners
Whether you are talking about your job, relationships or anything else, it can be easy to cut corners once you get comfortable. Eventually, you may stop feeling appreciated, but it’s important to rekindle the fire and let others know how you feel. Cutting corners in any relationship will only damage it, or even worse, cause you to lose trust in one another.

4. Procrastinate
A lot of people procrastinate without looking at the big picture. Of course, you can procrastinate on a couple of things and still get them done on time. However, procrastination could become a lifestyle if you aren’t careful. Set goals every day to help you become more productive. If you wake up in the morning thinking that you are going to dominate the day, and continue to tell yourself that throughout the day, then you will likely become much more productive. Like Pablo Picasso said, “Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone.”

5. Settling
The worst thing that happens to people is settling for mediocrity. We have so many opportunities available to us, so settling will just limit your potential. If you know you are capable of being more than what you are now, then take action to change it. The change won’t happen overnight, but if you take small steps forward every day, then you will eventually improve yourself to the point where you won’t accept settling.

6. Avoid Confrontation
What happens if you go to bed leaving an argument unsettled with your significant other? Chances are you will wake up angry and won’t have a good attitude throughout the day. You need to find a way to forgive people who hurt you instead of avoiding them all together and thinking it will go away. Even when you think you’ve forgotten about it, there’s still something in the back of your mind that will resurface occasionally. When that happens, you are limiting your happiness and your potential to grow as a person.

Albert Einstein is quoted as saying, “Genius is 1% talent and 99% effort.” You can’t take shortcuts to get anywhere worth going. If you want anything to improve, you have to work at them. Sitting back and relying solely on faith will only get you so far. Faith should be high on your list, but working hard to back up that faith will get you where you’re going at a faster rate.

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5 Habits of a Successful Household

Most people define success differently, whether it’s at work or at home. People say they want to be a successful parent or spouse, but they don’t really know what that means when they try to define it. How many times have you heard someone say, “We are just doing the best we can”? While that at least indicates they are trying, it doesn’t really tell me that they know what they are shooting for. Our families are too important to just shoot in the dark and hope something good comes out of it. Here are a few things that you can try to help you create a “successful” relationship with your family at home.

1. Love Unconditionally
This goes without saying, but you will be happier as a family if you love each other unconditionally. Your spouse or kids are going to make you upset occasionally. It’s ok to get angry sometimes, but you can never forget that you love them and only want the best for them. Sometimes you may not like each other, but you shouldn’t have to remind yourself that you love them.

2. Set High Expectations
By setting goals and expectations amongst your family, you can avoid slipping into the mundane and routine lifestyle that can get stagnant after a while. Love each other enough to set high expectations for each other in all aspects of life. If you improve as individuals, then you will improve as a family. The higher the expectations that you set for each other, then the more everyone will feel accountable because they don’t want to let anyone down. This is a great way to become closer as a family and talk about goals and expectations instead of sitting around watching TV or playing around on social media.

3. Be Truthful
If there’s something bothering you, then be truthful about it. Whether something within your family or outside of the family is weighing on your chest, then get it off as soon as possible. Be truthful to one another and expect that the rest of your family is being truthful as well. If you or someone else happens to break that trust, then try to rebuild it as quickly as possible and give others a chance to rebuild it as well.

4. Be Supportive
Support each other in each endeavor that takes place. The old saying goes that family needs our presence more than our presents. This just means that you being there for them is more meaningful than giving them something. Time can be an investment, so why not invest some of your time into your family?

5. Never Give Up
Successful families aren’t the ones that are perfect at everything. In fact, it is mostly the opposite. Families that are imperfect, but refuse to give up on one another, are the strongest and most successful families in the world. Celebrate when things are good and cry with each other when things are bad. It may seem like the world is against you at times, but make sure that you know that your family is on your side.

Life is a beautiful gift that should be cherished by you and your family. Life is also a lot better when you do it with your family. Never compromise your integrity with your family to achieve popularity outside of your family. And just remember that the success that you achieve at the expense of your family isn’t really success after all.

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Which Of The 6 Types Of Dreamers Are You?

5 Tips to Gain and Maintain People’s Respect

The world is full of shady people nowadays, so it’s human nature to be skeptical when talking to a stranger. But it’s those shady people that ruin everything for us honest folks out there. Whether you are looking to increase your network, build a business or just want to make some new friends, you have to be likable. Trying too hard can make you sound pushy and not trying enough makes you seem apathetic. Finding the happy medium will go a long way in getting where you want to go. Here are five things to practice when you want to be liked, believed and respected.

1. Be Honest
It goes without saying that you have to tell the truth if you want someone to believe you. It can take years to build up enough trust with someone, but it only takes a few minutes or one situation to completely destroy that trust. If you’re working on your business credibility, then even the smallest lie can be detrimental to your success. No one likes a liar, so just tell the truth. You should rather be disliked for who you are rather than be liked for someone you’re not.

2. Admit Mistakes
Everyone makes mistakes, but not everyone admits them. You can earn yourself a lot of credibility just by admitting that you made a mistake on something. This could include misspeaking as well. No one likes a person that thinks they are right about everything. Admitting mistakes shows that you are human and you are acknowledging that. Not only will you be more likable, but people will approach you more as well.

3. Consider Others’ Opinions
This goes along with admitting mistakes. You have to understand that you won’t always have the best opinion on everything. It would be a pretty boring life if that were the case. You still need to voice your opinion, but also take into consideration the thoughts and feelings of other people. Work together on whatever situation you are in and you will strengthen the bond with that person.

4. Keep your Word
If you aren’t able to keep your word in a professional situation, then you may face irreparable circumstances. You can sometimes get breaks if you realize that you can’t keep your word, and inform the person accordingly ahead of time. But repeated actions like that are just as bad. No one likes a person who says they will do something and not do it. Or be somewhere and not show up on time. Be punctual and do what you say you’re going to do when you say you’re going to do it.

5. Be Levelheaded
Show people that you are emotionally stable. You can do this in a variety of ways.
-Don’t get frustrated at the smallest things
-Don’t curse
-Handle conflicts gracefully
-Don’t talk bad about others
-Think before you react

How you handle different situations will reveal your true character. People can see right through others who are fake. That doesn’t mean you have to wear your emotions on your sleeve at all times, though. Honesty and integrity will go a long way in becoming a more likable, believable and respectable person. Practice these five points diligently and you will start noticing people gravitating toward you more often in different situations that you face.

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What This Sales Rep did for a Cancer Patient Brought me to Tears

As grim as the internet can be, occasionally you come across something that can completely restore your faith in humanity. One such example comes from Eric Frey III, Arizona.

One afternoon Eric was at his local Costco, Eric Saw a Vitamix representative talking to a woman about the benefits of their product and juicing in general. The representative, Jeremy, and the woman both spoke of the antioxidants in fresh fruits and vegetables. The fact that the woman was clearly going through chemotherapy in her battle against cancer made the conversation that much more important. According to Eric, he could tell that the woman was clearly interested in the product, but at a price of over $400 dollars, she couldn’t afford it.

A few minutes later Eric found himself standing behind the woman in line to get refreshments. That’s when Jeremy walked up to her and handed her a Vitamix, along with the receipt for it. The woman was in shock and hugged him as hard as she could. The woman showed Eric the receipt, showing him that Jeremy had paid for the Vitamix in full.

Eric found Jeremy on his way out the door and personally thanked him for what he had done. Jeremy simply said, “It was just a split second that God touched me and I knew that I had to buy it for her.”

As Eric put it, “We need more Jeremys in the world.” That sort of kindness and compassion is such a beautiful thing. If you ever happen to be at the Costco at the intersection of Wilmont and Grant in Tuscon, Arizona – PLEASE find Jeremy and give him a great big hug. He is a special guy.

Here is Eric’s Original Post

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What this NASA Robot did on Mars is Surprisingly Human

After its 140 million mile journey and just over 3 years of wandering around Mars, NASA’s Curiosity rover did something that people here on earth do every day: it took a selfie.

Before you ask, No, the picture was not for the robot’s online dating profile.

The low-angled image was actually a result of the rover extending its robotic arm to start a drilling project aimed at collecting samples from a rock formation known as “buckskin”. I guess that is understandable – drilling on Mars is a big thing, I’d take a selfie, too. Keep in mind: Curiosity isn’t just a little remote controlled car. It’s actually the size of a small SUV. According to Space.com, “It is 9 feet 10 inches long by 9 feet 1 inch wide (3 m by 2.8 m) and about 7 feet high (2.1 m). It weighs 2,000 pounds (900 kilograms). Curiosity’s wheels have a 20-inch (50.8 cm) diameter.” With a price tag of just over $2.5 billion dollars, taking selfies is far from all this rover can do.

As a matter of fact, Curiosity made a pretty significant discovery shortly before the selfie was taken. According to NASA, “The ground about 1 meter beneath the rover in this area holds three or four times as much water as the ground anywhere else Curiosity has driven during its three years on Mars.”

So just think about this next time you take 63 pictures of yourself in a mall dressing room trying to get the perfect selfie: A robot traveled 140 million miles, drove for 3 years, discovered significant proof of water on Mars, and it only took ONE selfie.

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A Waitress Doodled On A Receipt, She Opened Facebook 2 Hours Later And Almost Fainted

Tim Young and Paul Hullings from New Jersey are hearty firefighters that live for their work.

They recently worked tirelessly for 12 hours to clear out a fire. After which, being completely exhausted, they went to a cafe around 6 a.m to request the strongest cup of coffee the barista could muster.

Their waitress that day was Liz Woodward and she just happened to overhear the two firefighters discussing their tiresome battle. Eventually, when Tim and Paul went to pay, they were greeted with a nice surprise. Instead of their bill, they were given this message.

 

Emotionally, they thanked the kind waitress for her warm gesture. On Facebook, Tim recounts the event : “Such a selfless and kind act. I definitely urge my friends to make a trip out and support the business, and if Liz happens to be your waitress, tip big.”

But the story doesn’t end there. The firefighters learned that Liz’s father, Steve, is quadriplegic and has been paralysed for five years. Liz set up a donation page in winter to fund a wheelchair accessible vehicle so that she can take her father places. Tim urged people on Facebook to donate to Liz’s crowd-fund : “Turns out, the young lady who gave us a free meal is really the one that could use the help…”

Within a few days, she had gathered more than $70,000 – far more than the $17,000 needed for a wheelchair accessible van.

Liz and her family couldn’t be more grateful to the two firemen : “All I did was pay for their breakfast. I didn’t expect anything more than a smile,” says the waitress “It goes to show that you just have to be kind to each other and that even the smallest gesture can change a life.”

This story is proof that kindness pays off – sometimes a thousandfold, good on everyone involved in this.
Source:womansvibe.com,viralthread.com

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Daughter’s Gift for her Father is Nearly Priceless

In life, there are so many things that we take for granted – little things, every day. Take for instance the ability to see the colors of a sunset. That is one of those little things that we often don’t consider. Now imagine that you are color blind and have never seen the amazing array of colors that comes with a sunset? That is a reality for many people all over the world. Well, it WAS a reality, thanks to the EnCHroma glasses.

According to the EnChroma Website, “EnChroma lenses look like ordinary tinted lenses, but when you look through them something amazing happens: your experience of color vision is fundamentally transformed. Colors appear more vibrant, saturated, full, and yet without compromising the accuracy or color balance of the scene. Colorful objects, such as flowers, colorful paint and fabrics, food, and traffic signs suddenly “pop” with a heightened purity and intensity. Experiences like a rainbow or a sunset, seen for the first time with EnChroma, are magically transformed beyond any rational description.”

Color blindness occurs when the light receptor cone cells in your eyes experience an overlap. As EnChroma explains, “Normally there are three distinct classes of cone cells: one class absorbs mainly red light (called the L-cones), another absorbs mainly green light (the M-cones), and another absorbs blue light (S-cones). But, in a person with red-green color blindness, one of those is anomalous. For example, the L-cone absorbs too much of the green light (a condition called a PROTAN deficiency), or the M-cone absorbs too much of the red light (DEUTAN “doo-tan” deficiency).”

Enchroma lenses work like a liter to correct the overlap, allowing people with red-green color blindness to see colors with astounding new clarity. Take for instance Emily Murray, who bought her father a pair of the glasses. Watch his reaction as he tried them on for the first time, and see how amazing something as common as a sunset can be to someone who has never seen one with the same clarity we often take for granted:

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What to Expect this Fall in the UK

After a wet Spring and a moderately warm Summer, this Fall residents in the UK may see an influx of a certain unwanted house guest. No, I’m not talking about your in-laws, I am talking about mouse-sized, horny house spiders.

Yes, you read that correctly: Mouse-sized, Horny Spiders.

(spider found in UK House)

According to Dr. Claire Rind, “The males are on the hunt for females. And after a wet spring and lovely summer there are more insects around, which provide food for the Giant House Spiders, which have grown quicker and bigger. Some could have leg spans the size of a tiny mouse, though their bodies are actually quite small – I’ve some big spiders the size of a rat and their bodies are huge by comparison. But I think the fact that they are very leggy is what people don’t like.”

I think people don’t like the idea of ANY spider, let alone a “leggy” one, looking for warmth and spider-loving in their home, but what do I know? If you are worried about the presence of giant, horny spider in your home, Dr. Rind has some advice for you: “Males sometimes sample the silk that females leave behind, tasting it to see if it is from the same species, and if it is following them – so it’s a good reason to dust.”

Dr. Rind also says there is nothing to fear from house spiders in the UK: “There’s only one species of spider in the UK with a toxin in their venom that would do any real harm to anyone and their fangs are probably not strong enough to pierce anyone’s skin. A fear of spiders is not a rational fear – though the idea of them crawling across your face when you’re asleep, even I don’t like that and I don’t mind spiders.”

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Cannabis Oil Helps 6-Year-Old Girl Take Her First Steps

Bella Chinonis was born with a very rare medical condition know as “1p36 Depletion Syndrome“. This condition is a result of a small amount of genetic material missing from chromosome 1. It’s a genetic disorder that can lead to moderate to severe intellectual disability, delayed growth, hypotonia, seizures, limited speech ability, malformations, hearing and vision impairment, and distinct facial features. Bella also had several holes in her heart, kidney failure, and was unable to walk.

Then came Bella’s miracle: cannabis oil.

After hearing about the benefits that other children had seen with cannabis oil, Bella’s parents tried to get her a prescription. Her original neurologist refused to prescribe medical marijuana to a minor. To meet the minimum requirements in Michigan, where she lives, her parents had to get two recommendations from doctors to get the prescription. After a doctor in Michigan and a doctor in Texas both agreed that CBD oil could be beneficial for Bella, she began treatments.

Almost immediately there were visual improvements in Bella’s health. According to her mother, Ida Chinonis, “She can stand now. She responds to voices and she loves the movie ‘Frozen’. She didn’t do that before and the only thing different we are doing is giving her medical marijuana.”

Bella will always require constant care for her unique condition, but the important thing here is that her quality of life is dramatically improved. The number of seizures she was having has been reduced, and she is beginning to develop more rapidly than expected.

What amazes me is that in Michigan there are only 150 children that have been approved to use medical marijuana. That being said, there are thousands of cases of children who’s lives have been significantly improved by the use of cannabis oil. It makes you really wonder why you can’t but it at your local pharmacy…

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According to New Research: Octopuses are “Basically Aliens”

A recent study in the scientific Journal Nature into the genome of the common octopus has concluded that our eight-armed, three-hearted, color-changing buddies are “something like an alien.”

Clifton Ragsdale, a neurobiologist of the University of Chicago said “The octopus appears to be utterly different from all other animals, even other molluscs, with its eight prehensile arms, its large brain and its clever problem-solving capabilities. The late British zoologist Martin Wells said the octopus is an alien. In this sense, then, our paper describes the first sequenced genome from an alien.”

One of the strangest things that the scientists couldn’t figure out was: “how the cephalopods, a class of free-floating molluscs, produced a creature that is clever enough to navigate highly complex mazes and open jars filled with tasty crabs.” The octopus genome is almost as complicated as the human genome and is unlike any other creature on earth. According to neurobiologist, Benny Hochner at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the study is aimed at gaining “insights into how the sophisticated cognitive skills of octopuses evolved.”

Clifton Ragsdale went on to say, “The octopus genome makes studies of cephalopod traits much more tractable and now represents an important point on the tree of life for comparative evolutionary studies. It is an incredible resource that opens up new questions that could not have been asked before about these remarkable animals.”

Check out this incredible animal in action:

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“I am a Woman First of All.” 22 of the Greatest Quotes from Anaïs Nin

Anaïs Nin, although largely ignored in her early career, is considered to be one of the most influential female authors of the 20-th century. Nin’s diaries and novels have since become a source of inspiration for women who challenge conventional gender roles. She says in her original diary, “It’s all right for a woman to be, above all, human. I am a woman first of all.” The following quotes are taken from many of her works and are some of the truest expressions of life, love, and what it is to be a woman.

“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.”

“It is the function of art to renew our perception. What we are familiar with we cease to see. The writer shakes up the familiar scene, and as if by magic, we see a new meaning in it.”

“Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don’t know how to replenish its source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of witherings, of tarnishings.”

“Each friend represents a world in us, a world possibly not born until they arrive, and it is only by this meeting that a new world is born.”

“Reality doesn’t impress me. I only believe in intoxication, in ecstasy, and when ordinary life shackles me, I escape, one way or another. No more walls.”

“Human beings can reach such desperate solitude that they may cross a boundary beyond which words cannot serve, and at such moments there is nothing left for them but to bark.”

“Ordinary life does not interest me. I seek only the high moments.”

“Nothing too long imagined can be perfect in a wordly way.”

“To withhold from living is to die … the more you give of yourself to life the more life nourishes you.”

“Worlds self-made are so full of monsters and demons.”

“When others asked the truth of me, I was convinced it was not the truth they wanted, but an illusion they could bear to live with.”

“In the world of the dreamer there was solitude: all the exaltations and joys came in the moment of preparation for living. They took place in solitude.”

“To lie, of course, is to engender insanity.”

“Anxiety is love’s greatest killer. It makes one feel as you might when a drowning man holds unto you. You want to save him, but you know he will strangle you with his panic.”

“All those who try to unveil the mysteries always have tragic lives. At the end, they are always punished.”

“My life is slowed up by thought and the need to understand what I am living.”

“One handles truths like dynamite.”

“Oh, God, I know no joy as great as a moment of rushing into a new love, no ecstasy like that of a new love. I swim in the sky; I float; my body is full of flowers, flowers with fingers giving me acute, acute caresses, sparks, jewels, quivers of joy, dizziness, such dizziness. Music inside of one, drunkenness. Only closing the eyes and remembering, and the hunger, the hunger for more, more, the great hunger, the voracious hunger, and thirst.”

“Shame is the lie someone told you about yourself.”

“Passion gives me moments of wholeness.”

“The final lesson a writer learns is that everything can nourish the writer. The dictionary, a new word, a voyage, an encounter, a talk on the street, a book, a phrase learned.”

“Art is the method of levitation, in order to separate one’s self from enslavement by the earth.”

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