How To Shake Off a Bad Mood

Original article posted by Debbie Mandel

Lately, getting stuck in a bad mood is pretty easy. Just tune into the dreary news, or pick up a magazine telling you how bad it’s going to get. Your senses are assaulted with a relentless anxiety-laden negativity based on “objective” reporting of the sorry state of the economy, but also laced with toxic speculation - a crystal ball of negativity. Sometimes there is a biological component to your bad mood, hormonally driven, lack of sleep, or poor eating habits. Some moods emanate from home, an angry argument. And others seem to have no specific trigger, out of nowhere a darker veil descends. Research from the University of Pennsylvania by Professor Sigal Barsade may explain: Bad moods are contagious.

Let's lift the veil and demystify the process to liberate your mind.

Barsade clarifies that you unconsciously mimic the people around you. If someone in your midst is negative, speaks loudly with an edge, or is tapping his foot impatiently, you will absorb that mood. As a result you will feel more irritable, less compromising and more likely to yell at someone or send that hostile email you wished you had never sent.

However, if you are infected by someone else’s bad mood and don’t even know it, what can you do to get over it?

* Start cultivating an awareness of other people’s body language, tone of voice and word choice. When you are near someone who is frowning, how do you feel? Practice developing radar for people’s energy. Self-awareness will break it.
* Don’t be afraid to shed other people’s toxicity by distancing yourself which includes the media like TV, especially if you are in eye contact which can become hypnotic. After all, you are careful about eating foods with pesticides and artificial ingredients, why should toxic people and toxic news be different? Change the channel.
* Exercise it away! While you move away from negativity, keep on walking to ease on down the road. Exercise will rebalance your neural circuitry and change your mood. Meditation, watching a comedy or calling up a positive friend will also positively change brain activity.

All bad moods are not created equal.

If your bad mood is in response to someone else’s, that’s easier to shake off. However, if you are in a negative loop, then you have to seriously de-activate the bad thought by logically exposing the distortion. Fill yourself up on good stories which inspire. Put up an affirmation on your screensaver or a photo of your last vacation, a loving family member or pet. Change them regularly based on the message you need to give yourself.

The next time you are in a bad mood, ask yourself: Is it you or them?

Make Your Own Luck

Original article from Tabby Biddle

“What are the odds that the next person you meet will change your day, your year, your life?” This is the opening line of an article I recently read in Oprah’s February issue of “O.” “Chance of a Lifetime” discusses whether or not we make our own DESTINY. Coincidentally (or maybe not), I was looking at that magazine in the offices of Oprah’s new network OWN, getting ready to pitch ideas to network executives.

I have always been a big believer in signs that the Universe provides to knock us onto our track or to assure us that we are indeed on the right track. For instance when I see a look-a-like of the dog I had as a child, I feel like the Universe is telling me that everything is okay…that I am on the right track. Then when I see TWO of these dogs at the same time, then I know things are REALLY good.

On the other hand, I have been a big believer in making things happen. For example, when I wanted to work for the National Geographic Society, I called every connection I had there, requested informational interviews, and did my NGS homework. I got the job.

I have vacillated between the theories and practices of making things happen and letting things happen throughout my life. Sometimes I am totally on side, sometimes on the other, and sometimes I embrace both. Lately I have been struggling with where I am now.

Colleen Seifert, PhD, who is featured in the O article and is a specialist in cognitive psychology (the science of why people think the way they do) shed some light on this battle of philosophies. “Chance favors the prepared mind,” Seifert says quoting Louis Pasteur. It sounds good to me, but what does this actually mean?

My interpretation of what Dr. Seifert says is that we are always exposed to randomness. By definition a chance encounter is a random event. Our actions however play a crucial role in the outcome. When you are mentally prepared for a chance encounter you give yourself the opportunity to change your behavior and take action. Life hasn't changed. It is still random. But you may have. So maybe Louis Pasteur had a good point. The prepared mind has a better chance of getting what it wants, or as many call it, "getting lucky."

Seifert isn’t alone in believing that if you prepare yourself to make the most of chance encounters, good things are waiting to happen. Apparently there is a real science to prove that while you can’t control the random events of life, you can indeed create your own luck. Take for example the research of Richard Wiseman, PhD.

Dr. Wiseman has spent more than a decade investigating why some people have more luck than others and argues that only 10 percent of life is truly random and that 90 percent is actually defined by the way we think, In his book, The Luck Factor, Wiseman says, “Luck is not a magical ability or a gift from the gods…instead, it is a way of thinking and behaving…Lucky people create, notice, and act upon the chance opportunities in their lives.” Another way to say this I think is that being in the right place at the right time is actually about being in the right state of mind.

As I sort all of this out, I think back to when I have had most success and what my strategy and state of mind was at the time. I have tended to think that chance encounters, fortunate circumstances and great successes have come from the friendly Universe. But maybe it is not chance after all. Maybe I really am making my own luck. I still feel gratitude to the Universe though when I see one of those dogs.

Do you think you can make your own luck?

The History of Valentines Day

The History of Valentines Day

Happy Valentines Day!

Daddy, How Was I Born?

Daddy, How Was I Born?

A little boy goes to his father and asks 'Daddy, how was I born?'

The father answers, 'Well, son, I guess one day you will need to find out anyway! Your Mom and I first got together in a chat room on Yahoo . Then I set up a date via e-mail with your Mom and we met at a cyber-cafe. We sneaked into a secluded room, where your mother agreed to a download from my hard drive. As soon as I was ready to upload, we discovered that neither one of us had used a firewall, and since it was too late to hit the delete button, nine months later a little Pop-Up appeared that said:


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'You got Male!'