Volunteering makes us happy

Hey everyone! It's me again. Been busy since the beginning of the year. Finally got some time to myself and decided to share some of it with you here. What's new in my life is that I'm looking for an opportunity to volunteer. I've just woken up one day and decided to do it. Actually, what happened is that for a few days, I was thinking about how I'm so busy I don't even know any more why am I doing what I'm doing, I'm loosing my ground and I could've sworn I was feeling like my life's purpose is slowly sleeping away. So, one day I just woke up with an idea of volunteering as a way of helping me find myself again. The more I think about it, the more it seems like a perfect idea. It's win-win situation. It would be beneficial for the community and for me as well.

 

Being regarded as good for your soul, a Canadian study suggests, volunteering is beneficial for your heart as well.
The research team at the University of British Columbia, in fact, found that volunteering improves cardiovascular health, mostly in those who are most altruistic, mentally healthy and have the greatest ability to have compassion.

 

So, doing good is good for you. If you're already volunteering good for you, if not, think about it. It might bring you more joy than you've ever hoped for.

New Year - Happier, Healthier You

Hi everyone! It has been more than a month since I wrote here. I missed you and the writing but I've been so busy. Hopefully you've had nice holidays and your year started the way you hoped for. I'm very interested to hear about your New Year resolutions. You can tell me all about them in the comments.

But let me tell you this, I completely understand how you feel about New Year resolutions. They are so much fun to make but very hard to maintain. That's exactly how I felt about them and still kind of feel. Following through is almost an art. Maybe I'll write about it here someday. It's hard to keep up the enthusiasm months after you've swept up the confetti, but it's not impossible. What you can do, you can pick only one of the resolutions from your list and stick to it for the rest of the year. It should be the one that you feel strongest about being able to maintain it.

 

 

Here are some worthy resolutions:

 

Be Sociable

 

It’s good for your health to reconnect with old friends and long lost family members. One research suggests that people with strong social ties live longer than those who don’t have them. And in today's Internet era, it’s never been easier to stay in touch, or rejuvenate your relationships, with friends and family, so fire up Facebook and follow up with in-person visits.

 

Don't Stress Out

 

A little pressure now and again won’t kill us; in fact, short periods of stress give us an energy boost. Problem occurs when stressing out becomes part of our everyday life. Stress is an inevitable part of life but it doesn't have to become our problem. This year allow yourself time to  relax, sleep, socialize,... take a vacation.  

 

Volunteer

 

We think our own bliss relies on bettering ourselves, but our happiness very much increases when we help others.

 

Get More Sleep

 

Good night’s rest can do wonders for your mood and appearance. So, from time to time take a nap and don’t feel guilty about it.

 

Travel

 

Traveling allows us to tap into life as an adventure, and we can make changes in our lives without having to do anything bold or dramatic. It’s another form of discovery and learning, and great for your body and your soul. It makes you feel rejuvenated and replenished.

 

 



'Tis the Season to Be Jolly

It is that time of the year again, when you are thankful for everything merry and bright. It’s the time of delight and I’m delighted about Your Cloud’s incredible community – our commenters, our growing number of Twitter followers and Facebook fans, our guest blogger (hopefully we’re going to have more guest blogging posts in the future) and all of our readers. I’m so filled with gratitude and counting my blessings, which, along with my family include this lovely community here. 

May joy and happiness snow on you this holiday season, may your world be filled with warmth and good cheer, and may the good times and treasures of the present become the golden memories of tomorrow.

Enjoy these dazzling displays of Christmas lights,

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Throw Away Your Negative Thoughts...for Real

Once in a while, it's important to "clear" our minds of negative thoughts. One of the effective ways to do that is to write those thoughts down on a piece of paper and thrown the paper away.

Although it sounds silly, this mechanism really works, claim experts who conducted several separate experiments in their study on this matter.

- Of course, even if you throw the thoughts in a garbage can or put them in the recycle bin on the computer, they are not really gone -- you can regenerate them. But the representations of those thoughts are gone, at least temporarily, and it seems to make it easier to not think about them - said the study leader, Richard Petty.

He added that the technique has a cathartic effect, and can be applied several times a day to soothe and calm oneself.

So, start writing your unwanted thoughts and throwing them away and let me know how you're doing.

I personally like it very much. I have been sick for few weeks now and it started taking it's toll. I started feeling down and depressed and decided to conduct this little experiment on myself.:) And it really works for me. I kind of feel cheerful now. So go ahead try it. It never hurts to try, right?:)

12 Phrases for Happiness and Inner Peace

In order to be able to love others, we must first learn to love ourselves.

Christine Hassler, psychologist, inspirational speaker, life coach and author, came up with 12 most essential phrases that we, as emotional human beings, who thrive on support and encouragement, need and deserve to hear but oftentimes don’t.

Daily repetition of these 12 phrases promotes positive thinking, brings confidence and builds an essential component of love in every person - the one towards oneself.

 

So 12 phrases that everyone wants to hear are:
- You are smart
-You are talented
-You are kind
-You are beautiful
- You are capable
- You didn’t do anything wrong
- You can do it
- You can let go
- You belong
- There’s nothing you need to prove
- Your dreams are worthy
- You are deserving

 

With these supportive phrases we can give an encouragement to ourselves, but also express our support, love and compassion to the people around us.

 

P.S. Happy 12/12/12. It is the last time, at least for sometime that the month, day and year are all the same number. So, enjoy your day today and read about it's magic and mysticism here.