How I Wish the Homosexuality Debate Would Go Just once, I’d like to see a TV interview go more like this: Host: You are a Christian pastor, and you say you believe the Bible, which means you are supposed to love all people. Pastor: That’s right. Host: But it appears to me that you and your church take a rather unloving position when it comes to gay people. Pastor: Of course. Host: But you said there, “We’re a place for sinners.” Pastor: Yes, I do. Host: So how do you reconcile the command to love all people with a position on homosexuality that some would say is radically intolerant? Pastor: (smiling) If you think my position on homosexuality is radical, just wait until you hear what else I believe! Host: But Jesus didn’t condemn homosexuality outright, did He? Pastor: He didn’t have to. Host: You say he condemned adultery, but he chose not to condemn the woman caught in adultery. Pastor: That’s right, but He did tell her to “go and sin no more.” Pastor: Who am I? Host: But you are judging. Pastor: I’m not singling out gay people.
How to Develop Gratitude for Mindfulness Gratitude is considered by some as the greatest of all emotions that can be cultivated for mindfulness. Recent studies are beginning to show that gratitude has a unique relationship with wellbeing, and can explain aspects of wellbeing that other personality traits cannot. An attitude of gratitude goes hand in hand with mindfulness. You’re grateful when you’re aware of what you do have rather than what you don’t. The effect of this is an opening of the heart. Gratitude is a skill that you can develop. Think of something you’re ungrateful for.Perhaps you’re ungrateful in your job, a relationship, or your place of residence.Now think of all the things that are good about it. When someone has hurt you, or you’ve done something wrong, you have a conflict in your mind. Try this approach to begin allowing in forgiveness: Understand that hating someone else doesn’t actually hurt that person at all.List all the beneficial things that have emerged from a situation.
De ce ne plac ritualurile de Crăciun Kathleen Vohs, de la Universitatea din Minnesota, a explorat modul în care ritualurile afectează experiența. Unui grup de subiecți i s-a dat un baton de ciocolată: jumătate din membrii grupului au fost rugați să-l mănînce cum au chef, cealaltă jumătate a fost supusă unui ritual (au rupt ciocolata în două și i-au scos fiecărei părți ambalajul, pe rînd). Pregătirile de dinainte au avut un efect dramatic – cei care s-au concentrat pe ritual au evaluat experiența ca fiind mult mai plăcută decît ceilalți. Experimentul a fost repetat și de fiecare dată grupul care a performat ritualul a considerat experiența mai plăcută. În cartea sa, The Symbolic Species, Terrance Deacon spune că ritualurile au apărut înainte să se dezvolte limbajul; comportamentele regularizate țineau loc de simboluri.
The NFL Would Never Let This Ad Air On The Super Bowl, So We're Gonna Show You It. It's Important. The NFL's rules for the Super Bowl ads state that no activism ads are allowed. The NFL is also notorious for protecting its brand. While this commercial wasn't submitted to the Super Bowl for consideration, you can see clearly why they never would allow it to air, which is why Change the Mascot timed the release for the Super Bowl. Which brings me to the R-word. 10 Reasons To Stop What You're Doing & Start Clearing Your Clutter Collecting and being consumed by clutter on a grand scale is a relatively modern concept. Our ancient ancestors didn’t have a supermarket at nearly every corner, malls and online shopping at every turn. When life was less complicated, there were not nearly as many ways to accumulate excess, the unwanted stuff we call “clutter.” In feng shui, there's a concept of energy flow and vitality known as “chi,” or “qi”. Clutter can be found in an array of places, and can be cleared on many levels. Clothes that don’t fit, or that you don’t like in your closet A refrigerator or pantry filled with expired foods or food that affects you negatively Books you don’t want to read on the shelf Excess paper clutter in offices Email overwhelm and social media clutter of messages Purses, wallets Storage units, attics and garages And the list goes on. Clearing clutter is also an emotional process for many people, especially when the clutter is extreme. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Photo Credit: Stocksy.com
Mapping Emotions On The Body: Love Makes Us Warm All Over : Shots - Health News People drew maps of body locations where they feel basic emotions (top row) and more complex ones (bottom row). Hot colors show regions that people say are stimulated during the emotion. Cool colors indicate deactivated areas. Image courtesy of Lauri Nummenmaa, Enrico Glerean, Riitta Hari, and Jari Hietanen. toggle caption Image courtesy of Lauri Nummenmaa, Enrico Glerean, Riitta Hari, and Jari Hietanen. People drew maps of body locations where they feel basic emotions (top row) and more complex ones (bottom row). Image courtesy of Lauri Nummenmaa, Enrico Glerean, Riitta Hari, and Jari Hietanen. Close your eyes and imagine the last time you fell in love. Where did you feel the love? When a team of scientists in Finland asked people to map out where they felt different emotions on their bodies, they found that the results were surprisingly consistent, even across cultures. The scientists hope these body emoticons may one day help psychologists diagnose or treat mood disorders.
A Man’s Guide to Black Tie: How To Wear A Tuxedo Nothing makes a man feel as sharp and debonair (and makes the ladies swoon) as when donning a tuxedo. Unfortunately, “black tie” is an often misunderstood dress code, leading men to end up looking more like Lloyd and Harry in Dumb and Dumber than 007. You can thank rental outlets and high school proms for a lot of the misconceptions. When you’re in the business of renting tuxedos, you want people to believe that they are appropriate for all kinds of events, and that means they can sometimes be turned into a novelty item. Fun for the whole family and good for some laughs, no doubt — but it’s certainly not the refined elegance needed for a true black tie event. While seeing “Black Tie” on an event invitation can be intimidating, the good news is that getting black tie right isn’t hard! In fact, the strictness of the dress code makes it one of the easiest outfits you’ll ever plan. Black Tie Basics First, a few things you need to know about black tie attire: 1. 2. 3. The Tuxedo Jacket The Trousers
Flow (psychology) Concentrating on a task is one aspect of flow. In positive psychology, flow, also known colloquially as being in the zone, is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and enjoyment in the process of the activity. In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does, and a resulting loss in one's sense of space and time. Flow shares many characteristics with hyperfocus. However, hyperfocus is not always described in a positive light. Just as with the conditions listed above, these conditions can be independent of one another. Ideas similar to flow have been recognized throughout history and across cultures. Flow theory postulates three conditions that have to be met to achieve a flow state: Schaffer (2013) proposed 7 flow conditions: Young child, painting a model Flow may occur in challenging sports such as eventing. Csikszentmihályi writes about the dangers of flow himself:
A village of 70 folks might have the secret to living sustainably. Igiugig, Alaska. Population: 70. Yes, 70. Also known as Igyaraq in the Central Alaskan Yup'ik language, Igiugig is a city that is going down an incredible path I hope more cities will follow. What does that mean? They grow their own food — basil, cauliflower, cabbage, tomatoes, zucchini, squash, you name it. In short: Igiugig relies on locally grown food and local energy sources. They don't rely on supermarkets, energy companies, or any external entities to survive. Seriously, what can't they do? Well, funny question... As awesome as they are, the Igiugig residents still face a lot of obstacles that are out of their control. They're not superhuman, and there are forces much stronger than them affecting the land they live on. Still, they should be an inspiration for the future. "I felt like I had the greatest childhood here in Igiugig. But it's a VILLAGE of 70 people. So, as you watch the video, ask yourself, "Why don't we try to give this a shot?"
MeditationHowTo Welcomes You The Ten Most Revealing Psych Experiments Psychology is the study of the human mind and mental processes in relation to human behaviors - human nature. Due to its subject matter, psychology is not considered a 'hard' science, even though psychologists do experiment and publish their findings in respected journals. Some of the experiments psychologists have conducted over the years reveal things about the way we humans think and behave that we might not want to embrace, but which can at least help keep us humble. That's something. 1. The Robbers Cave Experiment is a classic social psychology experiment conducted with two groups of 11-year old boys at a state park in Oklahoma, and demonstrates just how easily an exclusive group identity is adopted and how quickly the group can degenerate into prejudice and antagonism toward outsiders. Researcher Muzafer Sherif actually conducted a series of 3 experiments. 2. The prisoners rebelled on the second day, and the reaction of the guards was swift and brutal. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
The Power of Habit: Make & Break Habits with the Habit Loop For better or for worse, our habits shape us. A good habit is a strong ally in our journey to becoming the men we want to be, while a bad habit acts like a millstone around our necks. (Want to know why? Read this Manvotional.) Fortunately for me, a book was published earlier this year that highlights the latest research by psychologists and neuroscientists on the science of habit formation. Below, we take a look at the science of habits and how we can hack the Habit Loop in our lives to break bad habits and make better ones. Our Brain on Habits Just beneath our gray and squiggly cerebral cortex sits a small piece of neural tissue called the basal ganglia. The inspiration came after researchers noticed that mice with injured basal ganglia developed problems with learning how to run through mazes. During the first maze runs, mental activity in the mice’s cerebral cortex was high. The Habit Loop Cue. When something is a habit, our brain strongly associates certain Cues with certain Rewards.