Why Is Your Happiness Important

by: Deanna Mascle Have you ever wondered where you fall on the happiness scale? Are most people happier or less happy than you are? According to a Scripps Howard/Ohio University survey of 1,007 U.S. adults, about 52 percent of Americans say they are "very happy" with their lives, with 43 percent reporting they are "fairly happy," 3 percent said they are "not too happy" and 2 percent undecided. In Britain, Gallup polls show that only 36 percent claim they are "very happy" which is down from 52% in 1957.

Now that you know, I want to tell you that simply do not matter. Many people who are not to happy or only fairly happy struggle with personal happiness simply because they do not rate their personal happiness as very important. However, our personal happiness is very important and should rate among your top priorities. In fact, it really is not selfish to consider your own happiness as your top priority for the following three reasons. You are important It is true. You are an important person. I don't care about your profession, employment status, or income. You are important. Look back at your past. Think about how different the world around you might be if you had not been born. How has your life impacted others? Don't dismiss small contributions as unimportant because the truth is that it is often these many small changes that lead to a greater good. Now think about your life right now.

How many people depend on you among your family, friends, and community? If you stayed in bed tomorrow how many lives would be impacted by your absence? Now think about your future. What potential exists for your life to impact the lives of others? Think about your home and family, your friends and community, and your professional life. Don't think about probabilities but rather possibilities. You have the potential to change many lives just by being you and living your life. You are important because you are the sum total of all these effects: your past, your present, and your future. What you have done, what you are doing, and what you can do in the future are all the elements that make you an important and valuable person who deserves to be happy.

Your happiness affects your family and friends While your family and friends should not depend on you to make them happy it is very true that if you are unhappy you can make it much more difficult for others around you to be happy. There is an old saying that frequently crops up on sit-coms and tee shirts, "If Momma Ain't Happy, Ain't Nobody Happy." This is often good for a laugh but we all know it is true. If a parent is unhappy then often the rest of the household will be unhappy too. It only take one bad apple to spoil the whole barrel, as another old saying goes, and this is true whenever any group of humans gathers together. If one friend or family member is not happy then their unhappiness can spread to infect the others in the group. You deserve to be happy for yourself but you should also strive for happiness so if you are going to spread a mood then it will be a good one. Your happiness affects the world How many times have you been simply going through life, not really in a good or bad mood, and then someone took a moment to give you a smile. What happened to your mood? Did you smile back?

Another old saying is that smiles are contagious and this may be a very powerful argument for your own personal happiness. Can you imagine possessing the power to spread smiles? You do not need to imagine it because you already possess that power. You simply need to get yourself into the habit of smiling. Smile at your loved ones, smile at your friends, and smile at strangers on the street, and soon you will be making a strong contribution to making the world a happier place. Your happiness is important because you are a significant person, your mood impacts your family and friends, and your happiness affects the world.

About The Author Deanna Mascle shares more inspirational writing through her free ezine Words Of Inspiration Online. Find issues at http://WordsOfInspirationOnline.com/blog

Allowing And The Law Of Attraction

by: Wendy Betterini As we learn more about using the Law of Attraction consciously in our lives, we become masters at visualizing, affirming, and attracting what we desire. We learn how to infuse our desires with emotion and power, we learn how to raise our vibrations through joyful thoughts and align ourselves more fully with the circumstances we want to bring about. However, most of us forget one crucial step in the process: allowing. Allowing is a multi-faceted phase in the creation process, and it can be confusing for those of us who haven't had much exposure to the concepts. In generations past, hard work was a way of life. In some cases, it was the ONLY way of life. Like many of you, I come from a long line of hard workers: Maine lobstermen and fishermen, lighthouse keepers, factory workers, seamstresses, midwives, housekeepers, and public servants.

My ancestors were proud of their ability to roll up their sleeves and put in a hard day's work to keep food on the table and clothing on their children's backs. Hard work was simply a fact of life, not something to be resented, just something that must be done, like breathing or sleeping when the sun went down. Through the examples of my forebears, I was taught that nothing comes freely in life. If I want something, it's up to me to put my nose to the grindstone and work for it. This isn't a bad thing, and I don't want to diminish the accomplishments of those who paved the way for us. However, the more deeply we delve into Law of Attraction principles, the more we realize that there is another way. Some would call it a better way, but let us see it simply as an alternate path to a similar destination. What is this alternate path? ALLOWING. As we just covered, action is needed at the beginning stages of conscious creation. We know we need to visualize our desires, affirm our belief in a new reality, raise our vibrations (thoughts) and come into alignment with the end result so it can manifest in our lives. What most of us do then is take further action to encourage our new circumstances to form physically. We might work harder to make more money, or we might join a dating service to meet the partner of our dreams.

There is nothing wrong with these actions, except the belief that we need to "do" anything to make our desires manifest. That's where allowing comes in. What if, after we've visualized, affirmed, and expressed our desires to the universe, we simply let go? What happens then? Most of us are under the impression that nothing would happen. Ah, but we can ALLOW the universe to manifest exactly what we desire. That's the beauty of the Law of Attraction. We don't HAVE to make things happen, we can simply allow the universe to deliver our desires fully formed and neatly wrapped in a beautiful package with a bow on top. So how do we allow? There are three key parts to allowing: 1) Let go of the "how." This seems to contradict the creation process, because isn't the whole point to control the outcome? It may seem so at the beginning, but as most of us go along, we eventually realize that the more we try to control the outcome, the less circumstances seem to work in our favor. By consciously letting go of HOW the universe will manifest our wishes, we affirm that our desired outcome is already a done deal.

There's no need to beg, manipulate, or control the situation because it already exists in perfect form. We simply need to let go and trust that the universe will deliver it to us in the most beautiful and beneficial way possible. 2) Let go of the "when." This is one of the most difficult things to do because we want what we want right NOW. We don't want to wait for divine timing or anything else. Unfortunately, our very impatience can delay the process. Why? Because by wanting it right now, we place emphasis on the "wanting." Remember, we create what we focus on the most! If we focus on wanting, we create more want. By affirming that our desires will manifest at exactly the right time, we automatically focus more on trust and faith. We believe that our deepest heart's desires are on their way to us, and guess what happens? They come more quickly. 3) Appreciate. It can be hard to appreciate what we have when we're not happy with our lives, but once again, it's all about what we focus on and what we attract. The more appreciative we can be about our existing circumstances, the more we will attract things to appreciate. If you have to, start with something small and obvious. Each morning when you awake, say something like, "I appreciate the opportunity to live another day. I appreciate the bed I slept in all night.

I'm grateful that I can take a hot shower and put on clean clothes today." As you go about your day, take a moment to appreciate everything you can, no matter how small and insignificant it may seem. Over time, this puts you in a gratitude mindset and will begin to attract more and more things to appreciate - and more often than not, those things continue to get bigger and bigger the more you keep up with this practice. So, does this mean that we never have to work hard again? We can just sit back and "allow" the universe to give us everything we want? Yes, and no. There is one more important point that ties in to the concept of allowing, and that is taking inspired action. Occasionally, after we have expressed our desires to the universe and we've begun "allowing" them into our lives, the universe will provide a way for US to bring about what we want, rather than simply plopping it into our laps fully formed. In this case, we will usually feel a nudge in a certain direction. We might be inspired to start a business, buy a lottery ticket, attend a lecture, read a particular book, or any number of other actions.


If we act immediately on these nudges, circumstances usually shift and opportunities appear. These opportunities usually create an opening that can help us to manifest our desires simply and easily, and often quickly. However, remember that inspired action shouldn't be painful or difficult. It should feel wonderful and inspiring. You will feel excited about it, and eager to do it. That's how you can tell whether you are being inspired to take a particular action, rather than feeling like you "have to" do it in order to get what you want. Simply let go, relax, and allow the creation process to unfold exactly as it will. If you feel inspired to act, act. If not, just trust that the universe has your highest good in mind. Believe that, and let it guide your every step!

About The Author Wendy Betterini is a freelance writer specializing in self-improvement and personal development concepts. Visit her website, http://www.WingsForTheHeart.com for free articles on positive thinking, goal-setting, self-esteem, personal growth, and more.

Acknowledging the Existence of Your Soul

By: John Sherman Talking about your “soul” and the deeper things in life is so frequently considered as spun out or weird in modern, take-away-eating, order-it-on-the-internet life, but if you are one of these people, you’ll find that letting go of socialistic trends like these will free you in a way that you simply cannot be freed in a materialists world. The end result is inner peace that no material possession could ever come close to. No, really. How do I acknowledge its existence? It starts by simply observing your own nature, or the actions and reactions you exhibit to different situations. Your thoughts from day to day, loves and hates, etc. Ask questions. Not about the happenings of creation, but internal questions. Question your nature, and in doing so you will gain a greater knowledge of self. Your soul is the part of you that makes you unique. Remember, your body is quite common. There are over 6 billion examples on the planet at this particular point in time, and at least on a biological level, they all function in the same way.

It is your mind that separates you from those around you, and mind is manifest. Your mind is your souls mind, and your strongest link to your soul. Meditate. It's simple. Just quiet yourself and allow thoughts to bubble to the surface. Don’t dwell on them. Let them go and move on. Clearing your mind will open your eyes to the existence of your own soul and those of the people around you. To be conscious of your soul is to be on a higher level of consciousness. Why would I want to acknowledge its existence? To put it simply, the world we live in is at least as spiritual as it is physical. If you are confined within the boundaries of just one then you are missing out on at least half of what life has to offer. By simply acknowledging your soul, you're enabling yourself to become aware of the greater things in creation and life. So many people move around from day to day only believing what they see and hear around them.

Life to these people is temporary. Their meaning is to acquire as many physical possessions as possible, as this life -- consisting of but one lifetime -- has no definite meaning and hence they are forever filled with a sense of why. Why am I here? Why do I feel empty? Why do I have everything yet have nothing at the same time? Those who make happiness and the betterment of the spirit the central goal of their life can recognise the fact that there is more to life than the physical sense of the word. This brings a 3rd dimension to life, which is more than emotions can express. It is a bliss that surrounds you from day to day, when you realise that there is something else out there. Meaning starts to appear in what you do day-to-day. People who are unaware of their spiritual side and focus on the attainment of possessions as their central goal hardly experience a moment of contentment, and when they are confronted with the fact that their lives seem to be meaningless they are cast into a pit of despair.

If they had been aware of their spiritual side then their minds would be more evolved to see that life is just a series of lessons, educating you in the subtle laws of creation and bringing about an understanding of your own nature. Nothing more, nothing less. So, acknowledging the existence of your soul enables you to bring meaning to your life -- even where there are no material possessions. You soon see that you don’t need material possessions to advance on a spiritual level as it is what's inside of you that does the growing, not what's on the outside. Letting go of the material confines of society and allowing yourself to believe that there is a deeper side of life -- and that it's ok to believe that this will grant you inner peace -- will truly help you find a solid grounding of happiness and calmness that you may never before have experienced.

About The AuthorJohn Sherman is currently studying and practicing Neuromuscular therapy and metabolic typing at the Institute of Human performance. John is also an avid Martial artist, recently completing his "Uchi Deshi" (Live in student) - 2 years living, training and breathing Koyokoshin Karate. He is also one of the newest AccomplishLife resident authors. Keep an eye out for more from John on http://www.accomplishlife.com or contact John at john@accomplishlife.com.

Feng Shui

Yoga

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Yoga As Exercise

Here are some yoga basics and background information that will help you to use yoga in your life. The practice of yoga will help you decrease stress and enhance your lifestyle, your physical health and your mental well-being. You DO NOT have to be a contortionist to practice yoga, just relax and breathe.

Before you begin, it is important to recognize the capabilities of your body. Never force your body into a posture or try to go beyond your limit. Yoga is not a competitive sport. Progress may be slow, but with time your body will become flexible. Ease yourself gently into each position, and when you are holding a pose, check the body to see if you can feel tension building up anywhere. If you do, try to relax that tension. Many of our regular daily activities tend to emphasize the use of one part or side of the body. To achieve a healthy and harmonious balance, it is important to keep all parts of the body equally strong and flexible. Yoga exercises make each group of muscles work equally on the left and right sides of the body to achieve equilibrium. To achieve body balance, always exercise both sides of the body equally. Moving from one pose to another without breaking form is called sequencing. This method of practice allows for a balanced workout regardless of practice length. Sequences can consist of related poses for the purpose of energizing or relaxing the body or working on specific areas such as the hips, shoulders, or feet.At the end of your practice it is important to take 5 to 10 minutes to relax your body. Relaxation is a state of total receptivity where, through deep breathing, the body can replenish and rejuvenate itself as the natural potential of the body to heal itself occurs. Regard yoga as an ongoing process rather than a single accomplishment. Some people are genetically less flexible or have tighter muscle groups than others.

e patient with yourself. Yoga can be a life-long pursuit, but persistency, consistency and discipline are required to gain the many lasting benefits yoga offers.Yoga is a slow and steady path of bringing balance to your whole self, physically, mentally, and spiritually. Because yoga will help you get in touch with the deepest core of your well-being and cause you to feel better overall, start by doing the following beginning yoga postures: SIT/EASY POSITION: A starting position that helps focus awareness on breathing and the body; helps strengthen the lower back and opens the groin and hips. Sit cross-legged with hands on knees. Focus on your breath. Keep your spine straight and push the sit bones down into the floor. Allow the knees to gently lower. If the knees rise above your hips, sit on a cushion. This will help support your back and hips. Take 5-10 slow, deep breaths. On the next inhale, raise your arms over your head. Exhale and bring your arms down slowly. Repeat 5-7 times.DOG AND CAT: Increases flexibility of spine.

This is really two poses, one flowing into the other. Begin on your hands and knees. Keep your hands just in front of your shoulders, your legs about hip-width apart. As you inhale, tilt the tailbone and pelvis up, and let the spine curve downward, dropping the stomach low, and lift your head up. Stretch gently. As you exhale, move into the cat by reversing the spinal bend, tilting the pelvis down, drawing the spine up and pulling the chest and stomach in. Repeat several times, flowing smoothly from dog into cat, and cat back into dog. MOUNTAIN: Improves posture, balance and self-awareness. Stand with feet together, hands at your sides, eyes looking forward. Raise your toes, fan them open, then place them back down on the floor. Feel your heel, outside of your foot, toes and ball of your foot all in contact with the floor. Tilt your pubic bone slightly forward. Raise your chest up and out, but within reason - this is not the army and you are not standing at attention. Raise your head up and lengthen the neck by lifting the base of your skull toward the ceiling. Stretch the pinky on each hand downward, then balance that movement by stretching your index fingers. Push into the floor with your feet and raise your legs, first the calves and then the thighs.Breathe. Hold the posture, but try not to tense up. Breathe. As you inhale, imagine the breath coming up through the floor, rising through your legs and torso and up into your head. Reverse the process on the exhale and watch your breath as it passes down from your head, through your chest and stomach, legs and feet. Hold for 5 to 10 breaths, relax and repeat.THE COBRA: Stretches the spine, strengthens the back and arms, opens the chest and heart. Lie down on your stomach. Keep your legs together, arms at your side, close to your body, with your hands by your chest.Inhaling, slowly raise your head and chest as high as it will go. Keep your buttocks muscles tight to protect your lower back.

Keep your head up and chest and heart out. Breathe several times and then come down. Repeat as necessary.Follow the steps above. When you have gone as high as you can, gently raise yourself on your arms, stretching the spine even more. Only go as far as you are comfortable. Your pelvis should always remain on the floor. Breathe several times and come down.THE SUN SALUTATION: The Sun Salutation is a series of 12 postures performed in a single, graceful flow. Each movement is coordinated with the breath. Used as a warm up, the Sun Salutation builds strength and increases flexibility. A single round consists of two complete sequences, one for the right side of the body and the other for the left. *MOUNTAIN: Begin by standing in Mountain pose, feet about hip-width apart, hands either by your sides or in prayer position.

Take several deep breaths.*HANDS UP: On your next inhale, in one sweeping movement, raise your arms up overhead and gently arch your back as far as feels comfortable and safe.*HEAD TO KNEES: As you exhale, bend forward, bending the knees if necessary, and bring your hands to rest beside your feet.*LUNGE: Inhale and step the right leg back.*PLANK: Exhale and step the left leg back into plank position. Hold the position and inhale.*STICK: Exhale and lower yourself as if coming down from a pushup. Only your hands and feet should touch the floor.*UPWARD DOG: Inhale and stretch forward and up, bending at the waist. Use your arms to life your torso, but only bend back as far as feels comfortable and safe. It is okay to keep your arms bent at the elbow.*DOWNWARD DOG: Exhale, life from the hips and push back and up.*LUNGE: Inhale and step the right foot forward.*HEAD TO KNEES: Exhale, bring the left foot forward and step into head-to-knee position.*HANDS UP: Inhale and rise slowly while keeping arms extended.*MOUNTAIN: Exhale, and in a slow, sweeping motion, lower your arms to the sides. End by bringing your hands up into prayer position. Repeat the sequence, stepping with the left leg.
Even if you never take any formal yoga classes, the beginning poses above will get you started on a yoga program of your own. These poses are simple and they relax your mind and your body. You will be amazed at how good you feel.

By: Chris Chenoweth
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If you would like additional health, exercise and nutrition-related information, check out the DO-IT-YOURSELF HOME, HEALTH & MONEY GUIDE, 500 pages of household tips, home remedies, diet and nutrition information, health issues and thousands of recipes!

Yoga Tips

You are Made up of your Thoughts

You are made up of your thoughts
Electrical Deficiencies

By Natasha Ashwe
Our feelings are perceived by means of our sensors, our sensors are designed to detect conductors of energy that have the power to stir our feelings.It is this power we long for in particular individuals that manage to stir these responses in us, whether they manage to match their negatives with our positives or vice versa, generating a current we are unconsciously plugged into and are likely to become hooked on like junkies, particular currents determined by our electrical weaknesses and deficiencies, and the energy levels and forms we actually need to complement and supplement this malnutrition.

Everybody I need is a supplement for one of my electrical deficiencies, and the images and fancies stirred in my mind and body and interpreted in the emotions of companionship, goodwill, romance, excitement, joy, misery … are plugs I stuck into my holes. Everything you feel will tell you a little more about your state of mind.And perceptive people will be able to determine your state of mind by testing you with different electrical impulses. It’s the mind reading thing I wrote about [that Skatto lost last semester!].

By intercepting and interpreting the currents generated from your polar states and the environment created, pictures, languages depicting your state of mind, are produced. It is simple chemistry and physics, simple science.Human beings are a composition of chemicals and forces. If litmus paper is stuck into a solution and it turns pink the solution is an acid. If heat is connected to an object and there is a change in its density as its molecules likewise heat up, then it is a conductor of heat … possible expansion … possibly a metal. Life revolves around science and perceptive people are scientists in a laboratory when people surround them.Which is why the key to unraveling everything else is the knowledge of yourself. Yourself, as in, the primal, unaffected human being.

Take yourself up as a case study, the first experiment, then formulate the rules as you proceed, testing others by testing yourself, gathering knowledge from your own experiences, relating them to others, and relating the experiences of others to your primal, unaffected self. 90% of the time you will be correct.You are made up of your thoughts … your thoughts are made up of your experiences … your experiences are made up of your journey and orientation through life … your journey and orientation through life is made up of your position on the earth and the state of matter around you … and your position and the state of matter is made up of time.Your thoughts determine your decisions … your decisions determine your actions … your actions relate with other peoples thoughts, decisions and actions and determine their perception of you and your perception of them.

Thomas Jefferson Quotes

17 Favorite Thomas Jefferson Quotes to Celebrate His Birthday by Noel Jameson

The Thomas Jefferson quotes recorded throughout history provide us with priceless wisdom still today. Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13th of 1743 and no one could have known how important the words would be that this child would speak. This month we celebrate his birth with these 17 famous Thomas Jefferson quotes:

1. "It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world."
2. "An injured friend is the bitterest of foes."
3. "Be polite to all, but intimate with few."
4. "No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden."
5. "It is error alone which needs the support of government. Truth can stand by itself."
6. "A democracy is nothing more than mob rule, where fifty-one percent of the people may take away the rights of the other forty-nine."
7. "The Creator has not thought proper to mark those in the forehead who are of stuff to make good generals. We are first, therefore, to seek them blindfold, and then let them learn the trade at the expense of great losses."
8. "There is a natural aristocracy among men. The grounds of this are virtue and talents."
9. "We may consider each generation as a distinct nation, with a right, by the will of its majority, to bind themselves, but none to bind the succeeding generation, more than the inhabitants of another country."
10. "Where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe."
11. "Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter."
12. "War is an instrument entirely inefficient toward redressing wrong; and multiplies, instead of indemnifying losses."
13. "Sometimes it is said that man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he, then be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the form of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question."
14. "Only aim to do your duty, and mankind will give you credit where you fail."
15. "I'm a great believer in luck and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it."
16. "I am mortified to be told that, in the United States of America, the sale of a book can become a subject of inquiry, and of criminal inquiry too."
17. "I was bold in the pursuit of knowledge, never fearing to follow truth and reason to whatever results they led, and bearding every authority which stood in their way."
Let these wise Thomas Jefferson quotes not only remind us of what this wonderful nation was built upon, but that trials of today are not so very different from the trials of our past.

About the Author
For more leadership quotes, check out the popular leadership quotes section of Famous-Quotes-And-Quotations.com, a website that specializes in 'Top 10' lists of quotations in dozens of categories. http://www.famous-quotes-and-quotations.com/leadership-quotes.html

Thomas Jefferson was the third President of the United States