:Forest Folk

Have you tried creative loafing? It is a good excuse to relax, and also a great way to come up with new ideas and solutions to problems. How does one creatively loaf? Just relax, open your mind, and use one of the many idea-generating techniques.

A Creative Loafing Technique

My favorite technique is one that is best for generating new ideas rather than solving specific problems. It can be used in any area of life. It is simply the imagining of new applications for existing ideas.

Once, while laying on the couch, I saw an advertisement for a company that uses a dog to find mold in your house. You may know that dogs can be trained to sniff out almost anything. There was even a news story a year or two ago about a dog that could detect if you had cancer.

What was my first thought? “I wonder what else dogs could find by smell?” The first idea that came to mind was to use dogs to find other pets. They find lost people so well, so why not have a service to find lost pets? just one sniff of the cats favorite rug, and the dog is on the trail.

A Creative Loafing Example

You can certainly use your relaxing times to just randomly ponder things, but why not put creative loafing together with a good idea-generating technique. Then you can lay under a tree and have an endless stream of creative new ideas. For this “new-application technique,” just start with the essence of the idea, and look for new ways to use it.

For example, you might lay there and think about the pneumatic tubes that deliver your money and papers at a bank’s drive-through. The essence is a cartridge that delivers things through a tube using air pressure. I imagine the same thing would work for human transport. Could you ride “the tube” to the next city, or maybe make this into an amusement park ride?

Look other aspects of an idea too. For example, these tubes allow several customers to be waited on at once. Where else do they need this? A fast food drive through comes to mind. Perhaps pneumatic tubes would spill drinks, but the idea of multiple car lanes can be used. Several drive-through windows, radiating out like spokes, at different angles, would allow three different lines of cars.

If you want to practice using this technique, just lay back and…

- Imagine three new uses for pedal-power.

- Imagine two new uses for magnets.

- Think of a new application for Darwin’s theory of natural selection, outside of biology.

Can you see how easy it is to come up with new ideas? Why not learn a few more techniques? Then apply them to personal problems. Finally, to make the best use of your creative loafing time, keep a notebook or tape recorder ready.

Steve Gillman has been studying brainpower and related topics for years. For more on How To Increase Brain Power, and to get the Brain Power Newsletter and other free gifts, visit: www.IncreaseBrainPower.com

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You are your thoughts, All that arises, arises from our thoughts, We make the world with our thoughts. - Buddha. There is a Hindu story about a man, lost in a forest, who, late in the night, comes across an abandoned house. When he enters the one room building, he is sees a small cot highlighted by the light of the moon. As he lays down to rest, he notices in the dim light, a chair in the far corner and on the chair - a small coil - a snake. The stranger stays as quiet and motionless as possible. Several times he thought the snake was beginning to slither and hiss - his heart pumps faster and faster - he has trouble breathing. With the dawn, the owner of house returns and finds the stranger dead. He removes the coil of rope from the chair and goes about preparing the body for cremation. That may be an extreme example, but the story illustrates the power of our thoughts - we are what we think and many people think the worst. Much of the problem is caused by the blanket of negativity that covers us everyday of our lives - the doom-boom in today’s media, pessimistic friends, unenthusiastic colleagues and the worst source of all - ourselves. A recent study in the United States shows that Americans spend three days out of ten in a bad mood - all that negativity. The problem is we never take the time to be aware of our thoughts, we allow the river of negativity to constantly flow through our minds. The first step in building a dam to stop this flow of negative thought is be aware of your thoughts - you must make a determined effort to take notice when you think in the negative. To help you become more aware of your negative thinking, for several days - carry a notepad and pencil and jot down all your negative thoughts - find out how many times your thought process has to deal with negativity during your waking hours - if you are honest in your note-taking, you will likely be surprised and alarmed. Once you have taken this first step to be aware of your negative thoughts, you can use the art of visualization as the cement to hold the negativity dam together - with visualization you’re setting up a powerful see and think one-two punch for positive thinking. Example - if you’re at your computer as you read this, look down at your keyboard. First, zero in to the delete key. - focus hard - burn the picture of the delete key into you mind. Think about deleting negative thoughts. Next, focus on the control key on your computer keyboard - control for taking control of your life. Use the theater of your mind to help you switch from negative to positive. Remember,be aware to your thoughts then control them though visualization - repetition and persistence is the key to positive thinking. We become what we believe. - Sanskrit proverb

Dave Wright is a retired television reporter and editor of www.pppretirementplans.com> PPP Retirement a site dedicated to the development of Positive, Productive and Profitable creative challenges to take you into and through retirement. He is also the producer of www.quotationmovies.com> Quotation Movies - mini-movies featuring a series of motivational quotations over spectacular landscape pictures.

Copyright © 2006 PPP Dave Wright - Reprints allowed but must include Resource Box.

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Are People Scribbling On Your Dreams?

I recently took my kids to a movie titled “Shark Boy and Lava
Girl”. In the movie, a boy named Max dreamt of a planet where
children could have endless fun. He called it Planet Drool. He
recorded all his dreams in his dream journal. So real were Max’s
dreams that he actually dreamt the planet into existence until
one day when the class bully, Linus stole his dream journal and
scribbled all over its pages. As a result of Max’s dream journal
being defaced with scribbles, Planet Drool was thrown into
danger of destruction, so Shark Boy, Lava Girl and Max had no
choice but to try and save Planet Drool which they obviously did
in the end.

It was an entertaining movie, especially for the kids, but there
was one important lesson in the movie that we can all learn.
Every idea or dream starts out on the beautiful canvas of our
minds, but how it ends up depends very much on who you choose to
share your dream with.

When you share your dreams with the wrong people, you get a lot
of “buts” - “but you know…”, “but I don’t think”, “but are you
really sure….?”, “but what if….”. They begin to scribble on
your dreams with their negativity. You start to factor all this
negativity into the already confusing equations of your dreams
and chances are you’ll end up shelving that fantastic idea in
the back of your mind, together with the thousand other ideas
that have suffered the same fate!

Sharing your dreams with the right people has the exact opposite
effect. Instead of “buts”, you get encouragement and support to
help you transform your empty canvas into a masterpiece! It’s
easy to find scribblers - they’re everywhere - but when you find
people to share your dreams with who will dream with you,
treasure them, and learn from them!

Here are some tips on how to keep people from scribbling on your
dreams :

Reality check!

Know yourself - know what you’re good at and what you’re not.
Know what drives you and what you’re passionate about. When you
do what you’re passionate about, the sky’s the limit.

Do your homework

Find out everything you can about your dream before your share
it with the world. Visit the library. Scour the Internet. Ask
people who are already doing it or have done it. Mind you, make
sure they’ve been successful, otherwise they’re going to
scribble all over your dream.

Don’t walk with turkeys

There’s a saying “you can’t fly with eagles when you keep
walking with turkeys”! People will always give you their
two-cents worth, without realizing the effect their words have.
Every negative word you hear has the potential to scribble its
way into your subconscious. If you keep company with turkeys,
your dreams are going to end up burnt to a crisp and served on
the thanksgiving table.

Fly with eagles

Keep company with eagles - people who know what it takes to make
dreams come true, people who are positive! Keep your heart and
mind fixed on your goal. If you’re sure a dream is workable,
then find ways to work it! Seek guidance and support from the
eagles in your life. Never be afraid to ask questions and seek
help.

Make your dreams real

The best way to do this is to write down every dream or idea you
have. Writing them down makes your dreams something tangible you
can see and work on. Vocalize your dream. Visualize you reaching
your goal everyday. Keep them in your heart and make sure you
jealously guard your dreams against the scribblers.

Persistence and patience

If a dream is worth dreaming, it’s worth struggling for.
Problems WILL arise. Take them in stride and keep your eyes
fixed on your goal. Break every problem into smaller tasks and
solve them one by one. Remember… “How do you move a mountain?
One stone at a time, one rock at a time, one boulder at a time”.

I wished I had learnt this truth twenty years ago. Whether it’s
setting up your own home business or making a million dollars or
something that’s never been done before, dreams and ideas are
the seeds of your future. Never, ever let people scribble on
your dream! Protect them and nurture them as you would a young
tree and watch it turn into a forest of all that you desire!

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Who is the happiest person in America? USA Today featured Happiest Person in a cover story in its USA Weekend magazine. Bad news: it’s not you. Nor is it me.

Just how did they find Happiest Person and determine that he is indeed the happiest person in America? The USA Today research team appears to have used an elegantly simple three-step process.

First, they identified “the world’s leading authority on happiness”, Martin Seligman … which must have come as a wee bit of a surprise to several of his equally well-known and equally well-respected peers. How they picked Seligman remains more of a mystery than how a land-locked nation of mountains and yodeling became home to the holy grail of yachting, but we are working feverishly to crack the code.

Next, they asked Seligman to name six principles of happiness. Seligman listed couple strengths, a win-win approach, savoring success, playing to one’s strengths, opening doors to opportunity and finding meaning in life.

Finally, they applied Seligman’s principles to determine who best matches them. Naawww, just kidding. That would make way too much sense. Instead, USA Today created a make-believe process of its own that stands out from Seligman’s list like the Jolly Green Giant at a dwarf convention. Here is the USA Today process.

Geography. It seems that Happiest Person must live in the best place to live, which is Virginia Beach, in case you didn’t know. If somebody even happier than Happiest Person lives in San Francisco or Vermont, the USA Today research team does not want to know.

Why confine their search to one town? Could geography be the secret to happiness that Seligman failed to mention? True, research does show that people living in free societies tend to be happier than others, but there is no evidence that where you live within the free world makes a difference.

Sex. Women are prone to higher emotional highs and lower emotional lows, whereas men are prone to more constant emotions. So Happiest Person must be a man, concludes USA Today. While the science does hit the bull’s eye, the conclusion misses the barn wall. I suppose they’ll be telling us that Seattle is the sunniest spot in America because the weather fluctuates less than in The Sunshine State.

Family. Happiest Person is married, has children, and is healthy. People with intimate relationships do tend to be happier, and marriage is a fairly good indicator (especially for men). And health is important. These may not be among Seligman’s six principles, but let’s not argue against good health.

Money. Happiest person has a “good, dependable job” as a stockbroker, a 2,300 square foot house (with an eat-in kitchen and a deck!). The truth comes out - money does buy happiness, according to the USA Today research team.

In fact, studies show that money makes a difference only if it elevates a person above the poverty level. When a person has means enough not to struggle for basic necessities, money rarely buys happiness.

Brand-awareness. This one must have made the big ad agency tycoons drool in their Corn Flakes. Happiest Person is for real because he likes all the right brands! He “digs” Coca-cola, so he must be the real thing. And he loves Craftsman tools and Dell computers. Say no more.

Where does the USA Weekend exposé leave the rest of us? If you are a little old lady enjoying retirement in Atlanta or a student conquering new fields of knowledge in Ann Arbor, you clearly are not happy enough for USA Today. But cheer up, even The Happy Guy eats “donuts” rather than “Krispy Kremes”.

About The Author

David Leonhardt is the Happy Guy, author of “Climb your Stairway to Heaven: the 9 habits of maximum happiness”. Sign up for your free “Daily Dose of Happiness” at http://www.TheHappyGuy.com/daily-happiness-free-ezine.html, or visit the Self-actualization Resource Center at http://www.TheHappyGuy.com/self-actualization-articleshtml.

info@thehappyguy.com

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Memorials are landmarks, occasions, celebration, or even
institutions and organization put up to pay tribute to important
events or personalities. These memorials can be found in every
culture and in every generation.

Man has always been a sentimental lot. Every culture places
great importance on the memorable events and personalities that
grace their history. However, man is also a forgetful lot. This
leads him to erect monuments and feast days to make sure that
these important memories do not fade into obscurity.

In the early days, memorials would take the simple form of a
pile of rocks that symbolized some important event. Often, these
landmarks would also mark the grave of a loved one.

As man settled down in cities, the monuments he built as
memorials grew in size and complexity. The ancient Egyptians,
for example, built the Pyramids as a memorial to its departed
kings, who were regarded as gods.

Around 90 of these pyramids were built to house the remains of
the various pharaohs and statesmen that lived in Egypt. Pyramids
usually towered 50 stories height and were made from around 2.5
million block, each weighing about 2.5 metric tons. If ever
there was a memorial that was truly enormous in magnitude and
significance, this was it.

The Hebrews were also known for elaborate feast days to
commemorate many different occasions such as victory in war, and
important historical events.

The Mayan culture depicted its kings in battle on stone
monuments called stelae. As with most cultures, the glories and
miseries of battle are a favorite theme for memorials.

The Romans were more deliberate (and political ) in their
establishment of monuments. The Empire’s senate would usually
commission artisans, craftsmen, and masons to periodically build
monuments sometimes out of sheer whimsy and out of the rich
coffers of the State.

The Taj Mahal in India is one of the most beautiful examples of
a memorial in existence. The Taj Mahal was built by the Mughal
emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal.

Construction of the edifice started a year after Mumtaz’ death,
which was in 1631. It took, in all, 21 year for the Taj Mahal
and its surrounding gardens to be completed.

Today numerous memorials, like the Lincoln Memorial which houses
a huge sitting statue of Abraham Lincoln, dot the American
Landscape. And only fitting so, since America is a land rich
with historical significance.

In many countries there exist monuments to the fallen brave
during war. This is quite a departure from the ancient monuments
that showed victorious kings trumping through battle.

Today’s society is more sympathetic to the sacrifices of the
gallant soldiers who offered their lives in battle for their
motherland.

But not all memorials take tangible form. In most cultures,
there exist yearly memorial dates and feasts. Dates such as
Thanksgiving Day, Christmas, Labor Day, Independence Day
populate the country’s calendar year after year.

There are also memorial dates that come once in a decade or a
century. An example of such is the 50th anniversary of the
bombing of Pear Harbor.

Memorials are a part of history and self-determination. As said
once, those who do not pay attention to history are doomed to
repeat it. These memorials are a testament to the human
experience and are a sentimental proof to its value of history
and culture.

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