Category Archives: Inspirational

Anatomy of a Laugh

Better Living, Did You Know, Inspirational, Inspirational short films, , ,

Anatomy of a Laugh

Your whole body gets a kick out of a good chuckle. Here’s what happens when you laugh, according to research.

  • Your heart and lungs are stimulated.
  • your heart beats faster and your blood pressure rises temporarily.
  • You breathe deeper and oxygenate more blood.
  • Your body releases endorphins, your own natural pain killers, and you produce more immune cells.
  • You burn seventy-eight times as many calories as you would in a resting state.
  • Your diaphragm, facial muscles and internal organs all get bounced around a message sometimes called “internal jogging”

After you’ve laughed, your muscles and arteries relax. That’s great for easing pain. Also, your blood pressure lowers and your pulse drops below normal. Some reachers think all this aids digestion.

A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.
Proverbs 17:22

The New Engish Bible translation of that verse says that “a merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, but low spirits sap a man’s strength.

Happy Birthday Mr. Fish

Better Living, Inspirational, , , , , ,

Today is my birthday. It is fun to see the nice things people can do for you. Modern technology has made it very easy to reach out to people. My wife will usually send me a very nice Facebook message with a picture of me. I think it very sweet of her. Many people will reach out to me with kind words.

One year one of the lunch ladies at my school saw a birthday post my wife sent me, then replied with her own message that read, “Happy Birthday and beware today! When I left to go to work I was surprised with two pieces of cake from my wife on the front seat of my car to take to work with another sweet note. She is so thoughtful. By the time I got to work I went from having a great day to a spectacular one.

When it was time for lunch to start the lunch lady made me a poster that said “Happy Birthday Mr. Fish with balloons. When each grade level was lined up waiting to get their food she said “make sure you say happy birthday to Mr. Fish today.” So out of 730 students at the school I think I heard Happy Birthday 900 times. When the fourth grade students came into the lunchroom they spontaneously started singing “Happy Birthday,” I was touched. It was very fun talking, and interacting with students.

I got to thinking about this experience when I realized how important it is to treat people how you want to be treated. Some of the students I talked to have never talked to me before, and several students wanted to give me a hug. Many years ago I decided to always give students respect even when you don’t feel they are respecting you. This simple act of kindness has paid off many times over. I love the students, and I know they love me.

Flower Seeds

Better Living, Inspirational, The moral of the story, , , ,

·An elderly woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which she carried across her neck.

One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water.

At the end of the long walks from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water..

Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments.

But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream.

‘I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house.’

The old woman smiled, ‘Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot’s side?’

‘That’s because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them.’

For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table.

Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house.’

Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it’s the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding.

You’ve just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them.

SO, to all of my cracked pot friends, have a great day and remember to smell the flowers on your side of the path! God Bless You all!!!

  UKNOWN

   Rumi

Our Stuff

Better Living, Inspirational, , , , , , , , ,

The truth is, that all of the “STUFF” here on earth we work so hard to buy and accumulate..does not mean a thing. At the end of the day…people will be cleaning out our “STUFF”, going thru our “STUFF”, figuring out what to do with all of our “STUFF”….this “STUFF” we’ve accumulated in our life. The only thing of value that remains are the memories and what we deposit into others. May we all learn to spend less time accumulating “STUFF” and spend way more time making memories.

A Mindful Christmas

Better Living, Inspirational, ,

Great story! We are more the same than different with religions of the world.

The Bray Meditation Space

dickens-scrooge_2070905b

It seems unlikely Charles Dickens knew anything about the buddhist practise of ‘sati‘ when he wrote a Christmas Carol in 1843. It was still a few years before the terms was translated into English as ‘mindfulness’ by victorian Pali scholar Rhys Davids. Surprisingly though, Dickens may have unwittingly defined mindfulness in a way that is often missed in contemporary western teachings.

Whenever sati is mentioned in the buddha’s teachings it is understood as a quality of remembrance or recollection. Too often today mindfulness gets either misunderstood as a form of concentration or at best a sort of broadening of present moment awareness. There is no harm in developing either of these qualities; they are skills of the mind that are worth fostering, however, in not getting to grips with the proper practise of sati we loose what is at the very heart of the buddha’s teachings. As the scholar Rupert Gethin…

View original post 485 more words

What is Your Love Language?

Better Living, Inspirational, Personal stories, , , , , , , , ,

If you can figure out what your love language is, and the love language of those people that are part of your life, it will help you understand why people do the things they do. Have you ever wondered why some people love to give you gifts, or why your husband can’t understand why you don’t give him praise? This chapter will help you understand this better. In his book The Five Love Languages, author Gary Chapman discusses how knowing the love languages of others can improve your relationships with them.
Words of Affirmation
: This is when you say how nice your spouse looks, or how great the dinner tasted. These words will also build your mate’s self image and confidence. This is my love language, so it is easy for me to give others praise.
Quality Time:
 Some spouses believe that being together, doing things together and focusing on one another is the best way to show love. If this is your partner’s love language, turn off the TV now and then and give one another some undivided attention.
Gifts
: It is universal in human cultures to give gifts. Gifts don’t have to be expensive to send a powerful message of love. Spouses who never give gifts to those who truly enjoy receiving gifts, will find themselves with a spouse who feels neglected and unloved.
Acts of Service:
 Discovering how you can best do something for your spouse will require time and creativity. These acts of service like vacuuming, cooking dinner, planting a garden, etc., need to be done with joy in order to be perceived as a gift of love.
Physical Touch:
 Sometimes just stroking your spouse’s back, holding hands, or a peck on the cheek will fulfill this need.

My Family’s Love Languages
My daughter Jessie, loves quality time. For many years we have had special times when it is just the two of us. We have gone to the Utah State Fair, rode bikes, and have gone to the sand dunes. I cherish our time we spend together.
Jessie loves little children. If you can’t find Jessie she is probably helping one of our neighbor’s kids. Jessie gets a gold star when it comes to acts of service. When the doorbell rings, most of the time it is a four year- old wanting to play with Jessie.
My son Daniel also loves doing acts of service. Every day without being asked he will clean up after dinner. Even when my wife Cassie will say, “I can wash the dishes” Daniel will say, “No mom you cooked, I am going to clean up.” What a blessing to have a son who is so considerate. Daniel also loves quality time. Every night the two of us will talk about our day before we go to bed. When everyone else has fallen asleep, we love this quiet time together talking about everything and anything.
My son Nathan loves gifts. Nathan loves it when Cassie buys him special treats, even just little things like orange juice, or getting him socks when his get holes in them. Nathan is great at randomly doing kind things for others. One thing that Nathan was wonderful at doing is,writing to us every week while he was in Mexico on his church mission. This was a huge act of service keeping connected with his family.
My daughter Stephanie also loves gifts. Last year we were at a boutique in a small town. Cassie bought her a bracelet for our granddaughter. This really made her day. Quality time is huge for Stephanie. Anytime she can get together with family and friends she does. Even when she lived in northern Utah she loved to come visit us every chance she could.
My son Rick really enjoys quality time. He loves doing anything that makes you laugh, Rick loves playing games or being in nature. My favorite thing to do with Rick is go hiking or just talking. Rick also likes words of affirmation. It is very easy for him to accept words of praise as well as giving others praise.
My wife Cassie loves physical touch. Anytime I can sense Cassie has had a rough day at work I will give her a neck or back massage. Cassie also loves to do random acts of service for others. I am very blessed to have such a caring person as my wife in my life. If anyone is sick in our neighborhood, Cassie is usually right there with dinner for the family.
As for myself, I love words of affirmation. I will do a lot of extra work just to hear someone say thanks for all you do. Those simple words are like music to my ears. I love it. If people don’t know your love language, let them know. I like to make it very clear that I like words of affirmation. Learn the miracle of the love languages. It will change your life, and the lives of others.

This is a post I wrote years ago yet still applies today.

Myself

Better Living, Inspirational, , , , ,

I have to live with myself, and so
I want to be fit for myself to know,
I want to be able, as days go by,
Always to look myself straight in the eye;
I don’t want to stand, with the setting sun,
And hate myself for the things I have done.

I don’t want to keep on a closet shelf
A lot of secrets about myself,
And fool myself, as I come and go,
Into thinking that nobody else will know
The kind of a man I really am;
I don’t want to dress up myself in sham.

I want to go out with my head erect,
I want to deserve all men’s respect;
But here in a struggle for fame and pelf
I want to be able to look at myself.
I don’t want to look at myself and know
That I’m bluster and bluff and empty show.

I can never hide myself from me;
I see what others may never see;
I know what others may never know,
I never can fool myself, and so,
Whatever happens, I want to be
Self-respecting and conscience free.

Edgar A. Guest