Month: June 2018

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Positive thinking has a huge effect on our day to day lives. It affects how we perceive things and how we respond to them. It even affects our physical health- constant negative thinking can lead to depression which can lead to all sorts of physical and mental problems, but positive thinking and laughter reduce stress hormones and increase immune cells. Hence the old saying ‘laughter is the best medicine.’ In the fast paced business world, it can be hard to focus on viewing things positively, but you’re bound to be better off if you do.

An easy way to shift your focus toward the good things in life is to practice gratitude. Being grateful gives you an awareness of the huge size of your blessings and the smaller size of your troubles- in short, it gives you perspective. Try writing down one thing each day that you are grateful for. It can be as small as the stranger who smiled at you, or as big as a job offer, but I promise it will make a difference. You will start to pay less attention to the bad things in your life, and more attention to the good.

Another easy way to practice positive thinking is to smile. Even when you don’t necessarily feel like it, the simple act of smiling tricks your brain into thinking that you’re happy, and it has a huge effect on your mood. Don’t believe me? Go ahead- try it!

You have, I’m sure, heard of the saying ‘pay it forward,’ and this is yet another way to bring about a more positive lifestyle. Just be kind! Compliment a stranger, call a family member, feed the homeless, literally ‘pay it forward’ in the Starbucks drive thru- there are thousands of ways you can be kind in small ways on a daily basis. Try giving yourself a goal- do one act of kindness every day, then two, then three. Watch how quickly it affects your own happiness!

Life can most certainly be hard. However, our own perspective about our situation determines how we will react to it. Will we let hard times get the best of us and fall into sadness and anger? Or will we choose to take charge and make the best of everything life throws our way? As cliche as it may sound, no one can decide that except you. Though you may not have total power over your circumstances, you do have total and complete power over your mood, your reactions, and your happiness. So use it!

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We’ve all done it- spent an afternoon or an entire day binge watching way too much of our most recent Netflix find. There’s not much wrong with the occasional Netflix indulgence, but if binge watching becomes a habit, you’ll soon be facing health problems- mentally and physically. Books, on the other hand, are a mentally stimulating way to spend your time. A survey in 2015, however, found that only 72 percent of adults had read that year, and the numbers are only decreasing. As they do, mental illness- depression, anxiety- steadily increases.

People who read score consistently higher on cognitive tests, especially when it comes to language. They have a far more developed vocabulary, and a much higher ability for critical thinking. When you read, you’re forced to take in the information given to you, process it, and form an opinion about it- that is, you have to think. Television, however, is designed to be much more passive. You can turn on the TV and turn off your brain as you sit mindlessly watching a show with little or no real comprehension. All the information you need is given to you on the show, you don’t have to form opinions or ideas or thoughts about anything that is going on, you just absorb. And on top of that, watching TV is closely associated with eating large amounts of unhealthy food, once again, mindlessly.

Reading also heightens your attention span. Readers have are much more able to sit and listen to a speaker without getting bored. The rise of television has made the world think that we constantly need to be entertained, or else something is not worth our time. As television usage has increased, presidential debates, church sermons, you name it, have become much more about entertaining the watcher than presenting real content. Many people can’t handle content if it isn’t presented in an entertaining way.

That said, television is not bad, per se. It certainly has its place. It is a great tool for teaching. It also has a unique ability to convey emotion. The combination of a both visual and audible story can engage the watcher in an amazing way if it’s executed well. It may not be as mentally stimulating, but TV does have the potential to teach its viewers moral lessons extremely well.

So all in all, it comes down to balance. Watching quality TV is not a bad thing if it’s done on occasion and with the realization that you aren’t actively engaging your mind. And as long as you don’t totally give up on reading like many people today have chosen to do, you will continue to grow your mind in amazing ways!

 

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The ‘Dad Joke’ is a term for a painfully bad pun… one that, well, a dad would make. Dads are the masters of cringe worthy jokes, and we love them for it. Why is it just dads? Who knows, really. I guess it just comes with the job title. Moms can magically tell your temperature with the backs of their hands, and dads can all of the sudden make endless bad jokes. Everyone needs a few good puns in their life every once in a while, though, so here are some of the best dad jokes out there.

I’m reading a book about anti-gravity. It’s impossible to put down!

What’s Forest Gump’s password? 1forrest1

Don’t trust atoms. They make up everything!

I’m only familiar with 25 letters in the alphabet. I don’t know why…

You’re American when you go into the bathroom and American when you come out, but what are you when you’re in there? European.

What’s the loudest pet you can own? A trumpet.

Kid: I’m hungry. Dad: Hi hungry, I’m dad!

What’s the best time to go to the dentist? Tooth-hurty.

Why wasn’t the woman happy with the velcro she bought? It was a total ripoff.

What did the buffalo say to his son when he dropped him at school? Bison.

Why did the crab never share? Because he’s shellfish.

Did you hear about the kidnapping at school? It’s fine, he woke up.

Did you here about the restaurant on the moon? Great food, no atmosphere.

How does a penguin build its house? Igloos it together.

Why did the scarecrow win an award? He was outstanding in his field.

What did the grape do when he was stepped on? He let out a little wine.

The shovel was a groundbreaking invention.

The rotation of the earth really makes my day.

 

Well there you go- eighteen bad jokes straight from the dads of the world. You gotta give it to them, dads have a sense of humor even if it is…unique. Now you can turn the tables and use these jokes on your own dad!