Well that's weird, I usually always have an idea of what I want to write on. Writing for me is a way to express what I feel inwardly. I usually write the best when I am the most sentimental about something, or at least when I feel the most on that specific subject. Right now I don't know what to say. This entire week has been one of those weeks where you feel so unproductive and so lazy. I feel like a movie junkie.
It's like I am sitting here waiting for my life to get started. When that will happen I have no idea. If you can't tell, I am being slightly sarcastic. I am very good at that. Ask any of my friends and they will tell you it's true. Actually they might just answer you back with sarcasm themselves. So that's where I get it. Hmm...
It's like my mom has always told me, vacations are good but eventually you have to get back on track. I want to get back on track, it's just a question of whether or not I choose to stop being lazy.
The problem is this, I often wait for circumstances to dictate whether or not I should work hard or just sit around. I keep telling myself that things will get better when I start work next week. Hmm... we'll see about that.
I have talked about this before. I just wrote a wonderful paper on how the mind can work to benefit the human body and that people have the ability to control and monitor the mind. I know very well that I can choose right now to get up off my butt and go do something. But will I? Why is it so hard for human beings to be happy? I mean that in the sense that we have such a hard time choosing to be happy and I will tell you right now that life was not meant to be absolute bliss. If we choose to let circumstance dictate our happiness then we are going to be miserable forever.
Sad as it is that's the way it will be. There's a reason God gave us free agency, the ability to choose. And there is a reason he gives us trials. Wouldn't you know it? Those things go hand in hand. Go figure. You can tie in everything if you really want to. He gives us trials so that we can choose to be happy.
There I have said it. I suppose that is the topic of what I am writing on today. Ok now to make myself feel slightly better, there will be hard times. There always are, but there are good times too and I think that when I remember the good and happy times I can be happy even when I am laying in bed wondering what to do with myself.
So maybe I will be more inventive next time. I know that this topic is the underlying theme in all of my blog posts so far. I would ask my readers to forgive me for that but know that maybe this is something I need to understand better.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Monday, December 14, 2009
Positive Thinking- Actual facts to support what I have believed in all along.
Thinking Positive
Human beings have always had the ability and the need to work and be industrious. As a species they are naturally inclined to want to accomplish something of worth, not only because it says something about their character but also because it is necessary for them to succeed in this highly competitive world. Because human beings have a natural desire to live in good situations, it is necessary for them to be surrounded by those things that are positive and uplifting. Individuals have the ability to affect their mental and physical well being with the way they perceive and react to different circumstances, as well as through their natural ability to accomplish more good by harnessing the mind’s power to generate a positive attitude.
Recent studies on the brain have shown that the human body feels and responds in a way that relates with what the mind is thinking. Researchers at Wake Forest University have discovered that the mind has the power to relieve pain. A study was done in which the researchers observed ten volunteers, each having a heat simulator applied to their legs, at the same time having their brains scanned to visualize the brain activity of each individual. Each volunteer was taught to anticipate different amounts of pain, whether mild or severe based on a signal given before each stimulus of pain from the heat simulator. On some of the severe stimuli, incorrect signals were given so as to make the subjects anticipate less pain than they would actually receive. On these occasions, each of the ten volunteers said that the pain was less because they had expected less pain (Daily Good, Positive Thinking a Pain Reliever). Pain, like all other responses of the body comes from the brain. The brain sends a signal to the nervous system and the response is a feeling of pain. These reactions are simply the brain responding to an outside force. What many people do not fully understand is the extensive power of the mind to control how the body reacts to certain things; even the physical wellness of the human body can be affected by the thought process of the human brain.
Although some experts doubt the ability of the brain to affect the immune system directly, many studies have shown otherwise. Recent studies have proven that people who maintain a high level of stress or depression are more likely to be susceptible to heart disease and have a higher chance of getting a cold or the flu (Goode, “Positive Thinking may have a Health Benefit, Study Says”). Naturally when a person is stressed about something, they become focused on that one thing, allowing it to consume them. In effect, not only does their outlook on other aspects of their life turn negative but it also affects their physical wellness when they allow themselves to become so wrapped up in a single problem.
People, who choose to be happy with life and to focus on the positive things that surround them, are more likely to be healthy and less prone to illness. The same goes for people who are exposed to positive things. A study done at the University of Wisconsin showed that people who experience negative emotions demonstrate a weaker immune response. They asserted that the greater the electrical activity in the right prefrontal cortex of the brain the more weak a person’s immune response was going to be. On the other hand, activity in the left prefrontal cortex predicted a stronger immune response. Dr. Davidson, one of the researchers at the university had found in a previous study that the regions of the right prefrontal cortex are active during those times when a person feels emotions of anger, fear or sadness. The regions of the left were more active when associated with positive emotions, such as enthusiasm or excitement (Goode, Positive Thinking may have a health Benefit, Study Says).
Because positive thinking can lead to such positive results, it is important and necessary that the human race experience good things that uplift the mind to think in positive terms. When a human being experiences positive emotions it changes them inwardly. The results can be astounding when a human being experiences this change that comes from exposure to good and uplifting things.
Doctor Masaru Emoto demonstrates this by experimenting with water. In his experiment he took bottles of water and exposed them to different words or phrases as well as to different pieces of music. He then photographed the resulting crystals that were created when the water was frozen. His first experiment was with music. By placing a bottle of water between two stereo speakers Emoto was able to create various crystals, based on the type of music that the water was exposed to. He stated:
The results astounded us. Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony, with its bright and clear tones, resulted in beautiful and well formed crystals. Mozart’s 40th symphony, a graceful prayer to beauty, created crystals that were delicate and elegant… All the classical music that we exposed the water to resulted in well formed crystals with distinct characteristics. In contrast, the water exposed to violent heavy metal music resulted in fragmented and malformed crystals at best. (Emoto xxiv)
Next, Emoto experimented with words by taping a piece of paper, with words written on it such as thank you or fool, around the bottle with the words facing inward. Of this experiment he wrote: “The results of the experiments didn’t disappoint us. Water exposed to “Thank you” formed beautiful hexagonal crystals, but water exposed to the word “Fool” produced crystals similar to the water exposed to heavy metal music, malformed and fragmented” (Emoto xxv).
From these experiments Emoto gathered that if water responds in such a positive way to good and uplifting things then why not a human respond in a similar way? He goes on to explain that the human body is made up of 70 % water and because of this the human body is just as much susceptible to reacting in the way that the bottles of water did, when exposed to different types of music and different words. Emoto states that throughout a human’s life they exist mostly as water, resulting in the fact that they are more likely to respond to an experiment of this nature, because it applies to each human being as they exist (Emoto xv). Emoto illustrates that the water in the human body physically changes when a person is exposed to positive and beautiful music, pictures, words or experiences. He asserts that people responded to his book with such enthusiasm because when they saw the pictures of the crystals, the water inside of them physically changed and responded to the photographs (Emoto 133).
The change in a person who chooses to respond to what life throws at them, in a positive way not only undergoes a change within themselves but they also experience a change on the outside. People notice the difference in someone who is happy vs. someone who is pessimistic in life. What people don’t realize is that they are seeing an actual physical, outward change. It’s not just in how the person acts or speaks, but there is a certain glow about them. When other people look at these types of individuals they, without realizing it, notice that there is certain brightness about those people who choose to perceive the world at its best.
Naturally the mind is a fascinating instrument that, if used properly and indefinitely, can accomplish anything. The mind is at the core of the body, and it has the power to control all of reality, within the mind sphere of an individual. People are what they believe themselves to be. If they believe that they are inferior and limited in their capabilities, then they are. If they believe they are limitless then it’s true, they can do anything.
A study done in 1989 on free throw shooting in basketball illustrated this concept. Various members of a basketball team were separated into three different groups. One of the groups was told to practice every day for twenty minutes, another group was told not to practice at all, while the final group was told to spend twenty minutes each day imagining themselves making every free throw. Of the three groups, the ones who did not practice didn’t improve at all, those who did practice improved their shots 24% while those who imagined themselves succeeding at each shot improved by 23% (Richardson 109).
This study shows the great power of the mind, in its ability to control how individuals perceive the reality that is around them. Because the players believed or imagined themselves succeeding at making every shot they improved by 23 %; simply because they imagined themselves being able to do it.
From personal experience, my parents have always stressed to me and my four younger siblings a vital truth, in that we as human beings are what we tell ourselves to be. I remember several occasions when I struggled to work on a math assignment, discouragement threatening to overwhelm me. My mother would sit at my side, encouraging me to move forward. I would reply in despair “I can’t do this.” My mother would always respond with a gentle but firm “if you tell yourself that you can’t, it’s true, you can’t do this assignment.”
I have since learned my capacity to accomplish anything that I set my mind to. Experiences such as running a race to the end or struggling with a specific fingering in a concerto that I am learning on my violin have all taught me to persevere. In the end I always find myself moving one step further as I accomplish task after task, simply by telling myself that I can, even when I feel as if I have no strength left to finish.
Author Jeff Gee suggests that a positive outlook on life is the basis for leading a successful life. He says: “If we have a great attitude about life, we can handle virtually anything that life throws at us… Sure life can be stressful… but if you decide that you are an amazing human being who can do anything, then the traffic, the weather, and your work won’t bother you (Gee qtd. in The Power of Positive Thought).
Having a positive outlook on life can enable a person to do anything that they want to do. As long as a person has the desire to succeed in life and has a positive attitude about it, they will find themselves with the ability to harness the mind’s power to create an existence in which they themselves are the ones who will determine their reality.
Works Cited
DailyGood. 5 September 2005. 10 December 2009.
Emoto, Masaur. The Hidden Messages in Water. Hillsboro: Beyond Words Publishing, 2004.
Goode, Erica. The New York Times. 2 September 2003. 9 December 2009.
Nealy, Michelle J. "Encylopedia Britannica." November 2006. Britannica. 10 December 2009.
Richardson, Brent. Working with Challenging Youth: Lessons Learned Along the Way. Philadelphia: Taylor & Francis, 2001.
Human beings have always had the ability and the need to work and be industrious. As a species they are naturally inclined to want to accomplish something of worth, not only because it says something about their character but also because it is necessary for them to succeed in this highly competitive world. Because human beings have a natural desire to live in good situations, it is necessary for them to be surrounded by those things that are positive and uplifting. Individuals have the ability to affect their mental and physical well being with the way they perceive and react to different circumstances, as well as through their natural ability to accomplish more good by harnessing the mind’s power to generate a positive attitude.
Recent studies on the brain have shown that the human body feels and responds in a way that relates with what the mind is thinking. Researchers at Wake Forest University have discovered that the mind has the power to relieve pain. A study was done in which the researchers observed ten volunteers, each having a heat simulator applied to their legs, at the same time having their brains scanned to visualize the brain activity of each individual. Each volunteer was taught to anticipate different amounts of pain, whether mild or severe based on a signal given before each stimulus of pain from the heat simulator. On some of the severe stimuli, incorrect signals were given so as to make the subjects anticipate less pain than they would actually receive. On these occasions, each of the ten volunteers said that the pain was less because they had expected less pain (Daily Good, Positive Thinking a Pain Reliever). Pain, like all other responses of the body comes from the brain. The brain sends a signal to the nervous system and the response is a feeling of pain. These reactions are simply the brain responding to an outside force. What many people do not fully understand is the extensive power of the mind to control how the body reacts to certain things; even the physical wellness of the human body can be affected by the thought process of the human brain.
Although some experts doubt the ability of the brain to affect the immune system directly, many studies have shown otherwise. Recent studies have proven that people who maintain a high level of stress or depression are more likely to be susceptible to heart disease and have a higher chance of getting a cold or the flu (Goode, “Positive Thinking may have a Health Benefit, Study Says”). Naturally when a person is stressed about something, they become focused on that one thing, allowing it to consume them. In effect, not only does their outlook on other aspects of their life turn negative but it also affects their physical wellness when they allow themselves to become so wrapped up in a single problem.
People, who choose to be happy with life and to focus on the positive things that surround them, are more likely to be healthy and less prone to illness. The same goes for people who are exposed to positive things. A study done at the University of Wisconsin showed that people who experience negative emotions demonstrate a weaker immune response. They asserted that the greater the electrical activity in the right prefrontal cortex of the brain the more weak a person’s immune response was going to be. On the other hand, activity in the left prefrontal cortex predicted a stronger immune response. Dr. Davidson, one of the researchers at the university had found in a previous study that the regions of the right prefrontal cortex are active during those times when a person feels emotions of anger, fear or sadness. The regions of the left were more active when associated with positive emotions, such as enthusiasm or excitement (Goode, Positive Thinking may have a health Benefit, Study Says).
Because positive thinking can lead to such positive results, it is important and necessary that the human race experience good things that uplift the mind to think in positive terms. When a human being experiences positive emotions it changes them inwardly. The results can be astounding when a human being experiences this change that comes from exposure to good and uplifting things.
Doctor Masaru Emoto demonstrates this by experimenting with water. In his experiment he took bottles of water and exposed them to different words or phrases as well as to different pieces of music. He then photographed the resulting crystals that were created when the water was frozen. His first experiment was with music. By placing a bottle of water between two stereo speakers Emoto was able to create various crystals, based on the type of music that the water was exposed to. He stated:
The results astounded us. Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony, with its bright and clear tones, resulted in beautiful and well formed crystals. Mozart’s 40th symphony, a graceful prayer to beauty, created crystals that were delicate and elegant… All the classical music that we exposed the water to resulted in well formed crystals with distinct characteristics. In contrast, the water exposed to violent heavy metal music resulted in fragmented and malformed crystals at best. (Emoto xxiv)
Next, Emoto experimented with words by taping a piece of paper, with words written on it such as thank you or fool, around the bottle with the words facing inward. Of this experiment he wrote: “The results of the experiments didn’t disappoint us. Water exposed to “Thank you” formed beautiful hexagonal crystals, but water exposed to the word “Fool” produced crystals similar to the water exposed to heavy metal music, malformed and fragmented” (Emoto xxv).
From these experiments Emoto gathered that if water responds in such a positive way to good and uplifting things then why not a human respond in a similar way? He goes on to explain that the human body is made up of 70 % water and because of this the human body is just as much susceptible to reacting in the way that the bottles of water did, when exposed to different types of music and different words. Emoto states that throughout a human’s life they exist mostly as water, resulting in the fact that they are more likely to respond to an experiment of this nature, because it applies to each human being as they exist (Emoto xv). Emoto illustrates that the water in the human body physically changes when a person is exposed to positive and beautiful music, pictures, words or experiences. He asserts that people responded to his book with such enthusiasm because when they saw the pictures of the crystals, the water inside of them physically changed and responded to the photographs (Emoto 133).
The change in a person who chooses to respond to what life throws at them, in a positive way not only undergoes a change within themselves but they also experience a change on the outside. People notice the difference in someone who is happy vs. someone who is pessimistic in life. What people don’t realize is that they are seeing an actual physical, outward change. It’s not just in how the person acts or speaks, but there is a certain glow about them. When other people look at these types of individuals they, without realizing it, notice that there is certain brightness about those people who choose to perceive the world at its best.
Naturally the mind is a fascinating instrument that, if used properly and indefinitely, can accomplish anything. The mind is at the core of the body, and it has the power to control all of reality, within the mind sphere of an individual. People are what they believe themselves to be. If they believe that they are inferior and limited in their capabilities, then they are. If they believe they are limitless then it’s true, they can do anything.
A study done in 1989 on free throw shooting in basketball illustrated this concept. Various members of a basketball team were separated into three different groups. One of the groups was told to practice every day for twenty minutes, another group was told not to practice at all, while the final group was told to spend twenty minutes each day imagining themselves making every free throw. Of the three groups, the ones who did not practice didn’t improve at all, those who did practice improved their shots 24% while those who imagined themselves succeeding at each shot improved by 23% (Richardson 109).
This study shows the great power of the mind, in its ability to control how individuals perceive the reality that is around them. Because the players believed or imagined themselves succeeding at making every shot they improved by 23 %; simply because they imagined themselves being able to do it.
From personal experience, my parents have always stressed to me and my four younger siblings a vital truth, in that we as human beings are what we tell ourselves to be. I remember several occasions when I struggled to work on a math assignment, discouragement threatening to overwhelm me. My mother would sit at my side, encouraging me to move forward. I would reply in despair “I can’t do this.” My mother would always respond with a gentle but firm “if you tell yourself that you can’t, it’s true, you can’t do this assignment.”
I have since learned my capacity to accomplish anything that I set my mind to. Experiences such as running a race to the end or struggling with a specific fingering in a concerto that I am learning on my violin have all taught me to persevere. In the end I always find myself moving one step further as I accomplish task after task, simply by telling myself that I can, even when I feel as if I have no strength left to finish.
Author Jeff Gee suggests that a positive outlook on life is the basis for leading a successful life. He says: “If we have a great attitude about life, we can handle virtually anything that life throws at us… Sure life can be stressful… but if you decide that you are an amazing human being who can do anything, then the traffic, the weather, and your work won’t bother you (Gee qtd. in The Power of Positive Thought).
Having a positive outlook on life can enable a person to do anything that they want to do. As long as a person has the desire to succeed in life and has a positive attitude about it, they will find themselves with the ability to harness the mind’s power to create an existence in which they themselves are the ones who will determine their reality.
Works Cited
DailyGood. 5 September 2005. 10 December 2009
Emoto, Masaur. The Hidden Messages in Water. Hillsboro: Beyond Words Publishing, 2004.
Goode, Erica. The New York Times. 2 September 2003. 9 December 2009
Nealy, Michelle J. "Encylopedia Britannica." November 2006. Britannica. 10 December 2009
Richardson, Brent. Working with Challenging Youth: Lessons Learned Along the Way. Philadelphia: Taylor & Francis, 2001.
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