Turning Fear into Gratitude


Gratitude is a fantastic way to not only ease turbulent emotions like fear, but it can actually help
you to better appreciate your life as it is right now (problems and all), as well as continuously
keep attracting better experiences. There are endless ways to use gratitude, but here are a few
that should be useful relating to fear:
Focus on something you appreciate.
When locked into a fearful state of mind, you automatically focus on the bad things that are
either happening now or could happen in the near future. those fearful thoughts have a way of snowballing out of control in no time at all.
You can reverse this process by instead focusing on something you can feel genuine appreciation
for. This might be a cherished figurine your mother gave you, a favorite chair in your living
room, or a love letter from your spouse. Spend a few minutes looking at this object, and feel
grateful that you have it. Think about the reasons why you like it (or love it) so much, and let
those happy feelings flow through you for several minutes.
If there are no objects you can appreciate nearby, try taking a slow walk outside and appreciate
the trees, flowers, animals and people you see. Focus on something positive about them, and
soon you will find other positive qualities coming to your attention.
Focus on someone you love.
You can also do this with people (or pets) that you care for. Simply call them to mind and think
about how much you love them, how much you love spending time with them, and the many
ways they add joy and happiness to your life. The person or animal does not have to be living
either – you can look at old photos of your grandparents, your first pet, or childhood friends and
relive happy memories you shared with them.
Focus on the positive side of your problems.
Gratitude can also be a powerful pathway to seeing your problems and challenges in a new light.
Rather than focusing on the bad aspects and feeling fearful about them, shift your focus and try
to find one or more positive aspects. For example, a frightening diagnosis may seem
overwhelmingly bad – but you could affirm the fact that you are being given a new chance to
take better care of your body; or that overcoming the illness will help you and your loved ones to
become stronger and closer. Give thanks for the lessons and opportunities that are always hidden
in every challenge. Here is a simple script to help you shift into an attitude of gratitude:
Another Simple Way to Release Stress Now
 
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7 Myths About Getting Old

courtesy of http://www.lifeinsurancequotes.org

Our country is getting grayer. The number of senior citizens in the U.S. has increased in the past decade to the point where baby boomers — those born between 1946 and 1964 — now account for a quarter of the population. And life expectancy, along with what doctors describe as our "active lifespan," is predicted to increase by another two years in the next decade. There are also more seniors in the workforce as boomers elect to continue working past retirement age, although this is due in part to the recent economic downturn, as well as the financial shortcomings of Social Security. The welcome presence and valuable contributions of elderly Americans is helping to debunk some common myths regarding seniors and the aging process. Here are seven such myths that have been disproved.

  1. Old people are either cranky or depressed:

    The grumpy old man is a caricature we can't help but laugh at, even as we ourselves continue to grow older and turn into that man. But interestingly, the age group that is most prone to stress and depression is the 20-something demographic, whereas many studies confirm that people actually become happier as they age. Older adults understand how much less stressful life is when you "don't sweat the small stuff" and are adept at letting go of disappointment and regret. As people age, they also often make a conscious effort to participate in life-affirming activities and to be among people who lift their spirits.

  2. Growing old means getting sick:

    The human body does slow down as it ages. However, sickness, especially serious sickness, is not part of the aging process. In fact, a recent study of a group of seniors by the New England Centenarian Study at Boston Medical Center showed that more than 40% of those who lived to be 100 did not suffer from age-related sicknesses until they reached the age of 80. And 15% of those studied had no age-related illnesses at all by the time they hit 100.

  3. Senility is inevitable:

    Senility is a broad, ultimately unhelpful term used to stereotype the behavior of senior citizens. At best, it may describe the symptoms of dementia, a non-specific syndrome that actually affects people of all ages. Alzheimer's disease is a form of dementia that predominantly, but not exclusively, develops in old age. After the age of 65, the risk of developing Alzheimer's doubles every five years. However, dementia is often misdiagnosed as part of the aging process, when in fact symptoms of dementia can be caused by medications, malnutrition, alcohol abuse, and thyroid, kidney, and liver disorders. While it is true that one in eight older Americans have Alzheimer's disease, dementia is not an inevitable result of getting old.

  4. Old folks don't have sex:

    Well, OK. After the age of 75, you're going to slow down just a bit, no matter what Hugh Hefner would have you believe. But getting older doesn't mean you stop having sex entirely. Seniors can have healthy sexual relations as long as they wish. Given the fact that regular exercise and a healthy diet benefits the libido, and in turn, sexual relations make for a healthier, less stressful life, shouldn't folks interested in (ahem) longevity make every effort to keep getting it on in their golden years?

  5. Seniors are incapable of learning anything new:

    When it comes to experience, seniors are a great learning resource for younger people. And thankfully, there's nothing about the aging process that impairs a senior-aged person's ability to learn something new as well. The brain is not wired to retire, but to instead welcome new challenges and explore new ideas. The number of senior-aged entrepreneurs in the workforce attests to this, as well as the number of innovative leaders over the age of 55 in the worlds of business, technology, and especially the creative arts.

  6. Older workers are less productive and can't keep up:

    There is a stereotype that exists in the business world that pegs older workers as being slower, less productive, and unable to keep up with their younger co-workers. But older workers are often more efficient with their time, and have higher standards and a stronger work ethic in place than some of their younger counterparts. Add to that a willingness to embrace and become comfortable with developing technologies, as well as listen and learn, and a senior can be a formidable member of any business's team.

  7. Memory loss is inevitable:

    How many times have you listened to a grandparent recount, in great detail and entirely from memory, an incident from their childhood, something that occurred 50 or 60 years ago? Growing older does not cause memory loss. However, physiological changes can affect the speed with which memories are retrieved. And just like any other muscle, the aging brain does need regular exercise in order to stay healthy. Brain exercises, like crosswords and Sudoku, as well as physical exercise, a good diet, and a lively social life, including visits from and interactions with the grandchildren, will help keep the aging mind fit.
 
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Feed Your Mind with Inspiration and Wisdom

Have you ever noticed that your thoughts tend to ―snowball‖ the
more you focus in a particular direction? The more you focus on
things that make you feel frightened, the more those fearful
feelings will continue to grow.
On the other hand, if you can distract yourself from those fearful
thoughts – even for a few minutes – you will notice that you
automatically start focusing in a more positive direction. Even
better, this snowball effect can last for hours, long after you have
stopped deliberately focusing on positive thoughts.
For this reason, deliberately feeding your mind with positive
material from books and films can have a powerful calming effect
on fear. Some of the best sources of inspiration and wisdom are
works of inspiring literature, empowering non-fiction books, and
films that deliver messages about courage, strength, and joy.
Not only can you absorb positive thoughts by reading the books and watching the films, you can
take it a step further and jot down a few insights about them in a blank journal and explore how
they might apply in your own life.
(and of course every week as a subscriber of Evolution Ezine you'll get free inspirational and
educational art, articles, downloads, videos, audios, poetry, comedy, music, games and more! –
Click here to subscribe for free)
 
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Exploring Who You Truly Are




If I were to ask you right now to describe how you think the world sees you, what words would you use?
What if I ask you how your friends or family see you, would it be different?
What about if I ask you how you see yourself?
What about if I challenge you to describe to me how you really, honestly, truly are?
Just like a group of people can view the same painting and come away with very different impressions and feelings, people also view and judge each other in different ways. The challenge is to be able to separate the views of yourself, others and the truth.
My purpose here is encourage you to explore the difference between your self view, how you believe others see you and the real you. Although some people struggle with an inflated ego, more often the problem is that people discount the true and positive aspects of themselves.
If you have paper handy, write down in one column words that you believe the world thinks about you.  In the next, write what words you think your family would use to describe you.  In the third column, write down words you use to describe yourself. And in the fourth column, write down words that truly describe who you are.
For example, you may feel like the world views you as a college drop-out. Your family may see you as a slacker. You may see yourself as a loser. In reality, you're trying the best you can while dealing with severe anxiety.
If you've been around the internet on social media sites enough, you've probably come across memes that are a collection  of photographs that look something like this:
These memes are a great example of the differences in perspective between what others see what we see, and what is reality.
If you're feeling creative, go to this site which is a very cool meme builder, where you can add your own pictures and text. If you're feeling brave, you can even share it with others in your life.
We all have moments when we see pictures of ourselves that we think look nothing like us. The reality is that the picture simply doesn't represent what we believe ourselves to look like.
Sometimes we need to step away from ourselves to see who we really are. And once that happens, we are free to make deliberate choices about how we want to grow and change.
 
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Fw: The 10 Most Impressive Mental Athletes Alive Today



While most of us are proud if we can remember all the state capitals or the bones in the human body, some serious mental athletes out there go above and beyond when it comes to pushing their brainpower. Able to remember dozens of random words and calculate numbers out to thousands of digits, these mental athletes put the average good memory and mental prowess to shame. Yet while these skills are impressive, the top mental athletes claim that anyone can do what they do with the right training and dedication. Read on to learn more about the impressive feats of some of the world's leading mental athletes and how you can emulate their methods for superior memory and mental abilities.

  1. Wang Feng:

    Chinese memory champ Wang Feng is only 22, but his young age hasn't slowed his meteoric rise to the top of world memory rankings. Feng won the 2010 World Memory Championships with a record-breaking score of 9,486 points, moving him to the top of the world rankings, a spot he continues to hold. He is able to memorize 300 digits of spoken numbers, 500 digits of written numbers, and can read off the order of a deck of cards in just 24.22 seconds. Feng uses a combination of rhymes and pictorial associations to remember such large amounts of data. He associates numbers with a rhyming word (in Chinese) and the image that goes along with it. Feng has said that this system comes naturally to him, as it is often used in his native Chinese language as a memory device. While the system may be most conducive to Chinese, a similar method could be used in any language to help individuals remember numbers, names, or other information.

  2. Simon Reinhard:

    Simon Reinhard holds two of the fastest times ever recorded for memorizing a 52-card pack of playing cards, both just over 21 seconds. He also holds top-10 honors in a wide range of other memory tasks from remembering names and faces to reciting random words. This German national began competing in memory competitions in 2005 and has never looked back. In order to attain his impressive records, Reinhard uses a technique called the method of Loci, creating memory places and images to help him recall vast amounts of information. It's a mnemonic device that dates back to Roman times, perhaps still popular because of its obvious effectiveness. Numerous books and studies have been done on the process, and it's likely that with proper training, most people will be able to master the basics in about an hour.

  3. Johannes Mallow:

    According to world rankings, Johannes Mallow has the third best memory of anyone in the world. Mallow took top honors at the Cambridge Memory Championship in 2011 and the Swedish Open Memory Championship, as well as placing second in the World Memory Championship in 2009 and 2010. He holds the top records for 30-minute numbers, 5-minute historical figures and dates, as well as placing in the top five in a large number of other memory trials. Along with memory champ Simon Reinhard, Mallow also uses the method of Loci to help him remember. For example, every three-digit combination of numbers gets a unique image in his mind. Similarities in their methods may be because both Mallow and Reinhard are closely associated with the German group Memory XL, which helps anyone, even those with average memories, boost their skills.

  4. Ben Pridmore:

    Ben Pridmore is one of the best-known mental athletes in the world today. He has been competing since 2000 and his long career has netted him a number of top honors in competitions around the world, including three first place World Memory Championship wins and five back-to-back UK Open Memory Championships. He boasts the No. 1 score in six different memory trials and held the world record for card memorization until his record was broken in 2010 by Simon Reinhard. Pridmore isn't just a champ for memorization, however, as this accountant has also taken top honors in mental calculation. Pridmore's methods are fairly similar to that of other top memory competitors. He begins by creating a mental story, creating a sequence of images that he remembers, each representing groups of numbers or playing cards. Pridmore often uses his old grammar school as the setting for these memories, though others wishing to copy his methods could use any familiar place.

  5. Gunther Karsten:

    As of 2011, Gunther Karsten held the fifth best score at the World Memory Championships. Since 1998, Karsten has taken home first and second place honors at dozens of memory championships, including winning first place in the World Memory Championships in 2007. He excels at memorizing binary, recalling 3,570 digits with only 30 minutes to prepare. This German champ is a chemist and biotechnologist when he's not competing and also teaches classes on mental learning and memory training for the general public. Karsten is another proponent of mnemonic methods of memorization, showcasing his skills on television and even in a movie about his life. Along with other German memory champs, he is a member of Memory XL, which we have previously mentioned, and uses many of the methods they teach to attain his own titles.

  6. Astrid Plessl:

    Astrid Plessl is the most highly decorated female memory champ in the world today. She ranks first in the world for memorizing poetry and sixth for memorizing cards, holding a number of other top positions as well for her memory abilities and capturing a number of memory championships, as well as two second place wins in the World Memory Championship. Plessl is currently retired from the memory competition circuit, but still comes out for certain festivals and events. While Plessl does use mnemonic devices for memorizing things like cards and numbers, the same methods don't work as well when memorizing poems, what she holds the world record for. She has never revealed her exact method, but some believe that it's a combination of natural memory and using mental imagery to help tell the story of the poem. No matter how she does it, the benefits of memorizing poetry can be numerous, and it should perhaps be one of the first avenues of building a better memory that individuals pursue.

  7. Dominic O'Brien:

    Dominic O'Brien is an eight-time world memory champion, perhaps best known for his Guinness record-breaking performance in 2002 when he memorized the order of 2,808 playing cards with only eight errors. O'Brien became inspired to take on memory-related challenges in 1987 when he saw a BBC television program on record-breaking abilities and has since turned his interest into a thriving career. O'Brien is more than happy to share his methods with others, developing the Mnemonic Dominic System, which has been the basis for several books he has written on boosting memory power. Similar to many mental champs on this list, O'Brien uses a mnemonic method, the guidelines for which he shares through his company, Peak Performance Training.

  8. Nelson Dellis:

    Two-time winner of the U.S. Memory Championship winner Nelson Dellis didn't get the title by luck. Dellis is able to memorize the full order of a deck of shuffled cards in 63 seconds and more than 300 numbers in under five minutes, breaking several records at the 2011 championships. Yet Dellis says these abilities aren't the result of a photographic memory or any kind of inborn abilities. In fact, he believes that anyone can do what he does, provided they train and practice just as if they were competing in any other physical event. Inspired by the memory loss he saw his grandmother, who suffered from Alzheimer's, endure, Dellis began researching memory improvement methods. He uses a number of mnemonic methods to help him remember everything from cards, to numbers, to names, and believes that anyone with average memory abilities can do the same.

  9. Michael Glantz:

    Nicknamed "The Tank" for his power lifting prowess, this young memory champ (he's just graduated from high school) is both a formidable physical and mental force to be reckoned with. Despite an emergency appendectomy in 2011 just weeks before the USA Memory Championships, Glantz was on his game, capturing top honors in poetry memorization, finishing third overall, which is commendable against older, more experienced competitors. He would also help lead his high school to top honors in the team competition, the fourth consecutive win for the school. In this year's competition he would come out on top in both poetry and names and faces and is proving to be a name to watch in memory championships. How does he do it? Glantz uses many of the same mnemonic methods as other memory champs, associating words, numbers, or cards with images in his mind.

  10. Priyashi Somani:

    When it comes to mental calculations, there is perhaps no better brain in the world today than that of Priyashi Somani. What is even more impressive is that Somani was just 11 years old when she captured the Mental Calculation World Cup. She was the youngest participant in the cup's history, and the only one to ever have 100% accuracy in addition, multiplication, and square roots, and set a new world record for calculating square roots. As for being able to copy her methods, that might prove a bit difficult. Unlike other mental champs on this list, her skills seem to be natural, and she only practiced for a few months before heading to and capturing the win at the MCWC. While average people may never be able to match her impressive abilities, a few mental calculations here and there can't hurt to boost your mental power.



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