Take Concrete Action
When you feel inspired or enthusiastic about something, take concrete action even if it's a very small step.
Sometimes we might hear an inspiring talk or read an inspiring article or book and feel fired up. If we push off taking action until we have enough time or knowledge or energy to do a proper job, we might lose our feelings of inspiration or enthusiasm. If, however, we start taking some action, then there is a greater likelihood that one action will lead to another and we will continue doing more.
This is from my friends at Israel365,com
Dear Yehuda
We are working to develop the Israel365.com store. Anything having to do with Judaica, IDF, end of days, Hebrew language, Judaism, etc. is great.
Happiness Hall of Fame
Aish.com author awarded for radiating the power of joy.
by Rabbi Shraga SimmonsThe Happiness Hall of Fame boasts among its inductees Deepak Chopra, Muhammad Ali, and a pantheon of authors, sports stars and inventors.
Plus one rabbi: Zelig Pliskin of Aish HaTorah.
How did an observant Jew from Baltimore become a leading expert on joy?
"Classical Jewish sources speak extensively about happiness," says Rabbi Pliskin, "starting with the Torah itself which instructs us to 'rejoice in all the goodness that God has given you' (Deut. 26:11)."
When Pliskin was 12 years old, quarterback Johnny Unitas led his hometown Baltimore Colts to an overtime win in the NFL Championship Game. "That was a huge thrill at the time and connected me with the power of joy."
He realized, however, that it was a superficial joy. One year later, the famous Ponevitcher Rav, Rabbi Yosef Kahaneman, attended Pliskin's Bar Mitzvah in Baltimore. Rabbi Kahaneman had built numerous schools in his native Lithuania – which were all destroyed in World War Two. "Despite the hardships he endured," Pliskin recalls, "his entire being radiated with overflowing love and joy. I remember the way he hugged my father, and this became my lifelong role model."
Joy releases spurts of positive chemicals in the brain.
Pliskin applied himself diligently to the task of mastering happiness. "Happiness is a skill that can be learned," he says. "Maimonides wrote nine centuries ago that the way to develop any positive trait is to practice doing that trait over and over again. When it comes to happiness, the more a person does positive acts of kindness, the more joy becomes part of our nature."
Pliskin cites research that joy sparks the production of four "pleasure chemicals": Dopamine, Serotonin, Oxytocin and Endorphins. "When you speak and act joyfully, you get spurts of those positive chemicals in the brain," he says.
Pliskin discovered that with mental discipline, he can frequently access positive states. "I assign code names to my most positive and meaningful experiences – then can access that joyful state anytime, anywhere." (His groundbreaking work on "collecting states" was featured in the NLP journal, "Anchor Point.")
Happy Career
Rabbi Pliskin's happiness career began in earnest in 1974, when Rabbi Weinberg started Aish HaTorah with the motto: "We'll teach you how to be happy." Rabbi Pliskin became one of Aish's first teachers.
A few years later, he compiled his best "joy tools" in a practical guide, Gateway to Happiness. The book became a classic for those seeking to increase their level of happiness, peace of mind and self-esteem – while decreasing negative emotions such as sadness, anger, worry, and anxiety.
Lionel Ketchian, founder of the Happiness Club with over 100 branches worldwide (including one that Rabbi Pliskin leads in Jerusalem), calls Gateway to Happiness "the most comprehensive book on happiness I've ever read."
What is Rabbi Pliskin's number one tool for living in a constant state of joy?
Act happy and you'll feel happy!
"Happiness is a choice," he says, citing the adage of 18th century Rabbi Moshe Chaim Lutzatto: External movements arouse inner feelings. "Even if you don't feel happy, act happy," says Rabbi Pliskin. "You'll begin to feel happy!"
He explains: "The secret is an 8-word mantra. Joyful thoughts. Joyful feelings. Joyful words. Joyful actions. By repeating these words enthusiastically, 10 times a day for 5 seconds, you can constantly upgrade your attitude and become a master of happiness."
"Rabbi Chaim Shmulevitz taught that we always have something to be joyful about," he says. "If a person's glass object would fall and break, and at that moment they receive the news of having won the lottery, would they be upset about the glass breaking? Of course not. So too, the joy of being alive should override anything we may find to complain about."
"Whenever I need a quick pick-me-up, I smile and wave to the mirror. It always smiles and waves back to me!"
Rabbi Pliskin's distinguished career includes lectures around the globe, the popular "Daily Lift" series on Aish.com, and dozens of books on topics of self-improvement.
Though not one to be wowed by honors, Rabbi Pliskin sees the Happiness Hall of Fame "as good publicity to positively impact people's lives," and acknowledges that the award "would make my mother proud."
Pliskin is being inducted in November 2015 with a distinguished group that includes three-time Super Bowl champion Bubba Paris. "We could form a happiness team and call it Bubba and Zeidy," he jokes.
In his Hall of Fame acceptance speech, Rabbi Pliskin delineates "Nine Habits of Happiness," culled from decades of joyful living. Watch it below:
Some very unique photos. Enjoy.
Photographs hold memories, stories, and fascinating ideas. That is exactly what these incredible photos are intended for. These should definitely help stimulate a curious mind.
1. X-ray showing before and after treatment of scoliosis.
2. This is where the great wall of China ends.
3. This is what a pug looked like before selective breeding, quite the difference.
4. The lava lake of the continuously active volcano Erta Ale, Ethiopia.
5. A FedEx Boeing 757, without any cargo.
6. This is the clearest photograph of Mercury that has ever been taken.
7. When a prison is overcrowded in El Salvador, this is what it looks like.
8. These things are octopus eggs.
9. What the Northern Lights look like from space.
10. Bavarian town of Nordlingen built in a 14 million year old meteor impact crater
11. This is an illustrated grocery list Michelangelo would create for his illiterate servants.
12. This is a view from Mars.
13. Inside one of Google � s data centers.
14. A look at Hitler's office.
15. These are the teeth of George Washington.
16. A ginormous statue of Genghis Khan in Mongolia.
17. A comparison showing fat vs muscle.
18. This is the desk of Albert Einstein just a few hours after his death.
19. This is Daytona Beach in 1957.
20. Climbers going up Mount Everest in 2013.
21. Cancer cells under microscope.
22. Bagger 288, the largest land vehicle in the world.
23. An aerial view of a tire dump.
24. A watch belonging to Akito Kawagoe which stopped at 8:15, the exact time of the Hiroshima bombing in 1945.
25. A 360 rainbow, which was captured from an airplane.
26. A zoomed in view of the human tongue.
27. A huge dust storm just before it hit Australia in 2013.
28. A geyser just barely before it erupted.
29. A cross-section of an undersea cable
Is your body aging faster than you?
How might your biological age affect your health? To find out we asked four people to take a series of tests.
Read the full story:
14 November 2015
'Ultrapower' laser hotter that the SUN could revolutionise energy
The technique, developed by theoretical physicists from Imperial College London, could heat certain materials to ten million degrees in much less than a million millionth of a second.
Read the full story:
14 November 2015
Injecting white blood cells with a protein KILLS the disease
Scientists at Cornell University injected liposomes - a type of white blood cell - with a special protein, which causes the cells to hunt out and target cancer cells, causing them to self-destruct.
Read the full story:
Article title: Breaking: Eiffel tower area in Paris evacuated, heavy police activity witnessed
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4725495,00.html
Click the link above to go to the article.
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