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41 Best Buddha Quotes On Change, Happiness And Spirituality

June 26, 2019 by Power of Positivity

The Buddha is a shining light for those who walk the spiritual path to enlightenment. There are many Buddha quotes out there. They can help you through difficult periods on your journey and answer some of life’s most profound questions.

So, what makes these Buddha quotes so special? First, let’s take a look at their source.

Who was Buddha?

Buddha is translated in Sanskrit as “the one who is awake.”

During the 6th and 4th centuries BCE (Before Common Era), Siddhartha Gautama Buddha lived in India. He spent his time teaching people about the mysteries of life. The best Buddha quotes came from his time there.

He spent several years in deep meditation underneath the Bodhi tree. During that time, he pondered the meaning of life. That’s when Buddha realized that the roots of unhappiness are desire and attachment. He broke free from the illusions that veil life’s realities.

Buddha quotes often address this subject among others. For instance, he often speaks about Nirvana. The Buddha believed that this blissful state can only be achieved when your mind is free from attachment, full of compassion, and focused on your present state.

He believed that people should be free from greed, ignorance, and impurities. Buddha taught them to live clean and healthy lives by nourishing their bodies and souls. By keeping the physical body healthy, he believed the mind would remain clear and focused.

After a while, people started following him. Eventually, his teachings became the religion and philosophy that we call Buddhism.

As his teachings spread, they eventually made it to the west. People began using tools like meditation and yoga to find balance. Now, people across the globe also use his words as a guide to happiness and peace.

His insights have been inspiring people for centuries in these wise Buddhist quotes.

Buddha Quotes for Life

Life can get the best of us down. Modern living causes all kinds of anxieties. Buddha quotes can help us get through these times with wisdom and ease. Sometimes, these small reminders are all we need to feel better and continue living our best lives.

A good life is full of many unique facets. The Buddha teaches us that we must live compassionate, present, and unattached lives to be happy. Many of his famous quotes teach us to go with the flow and be grateful for the way things are.

In these Buddhist quotes, he talks about living in the present moment and how this can lead to pure contentment. After all, accepting the things you cannot change is a great way to live worry-free.

He spoke about every issue under the sun, including:

Change
Happiness
Spirituality

Subjects like these cause all kinds of issues. For instance, many people cling to their pasts. However, change is inevitable. This fact of life can be a hard pill to swallow, but sometimes holding on hurts worse than letting go.

Happiness is another vital part of life.

Without it, we have no reason to live. People like to chase happiness, but it’s not something that can be attained. It just is.

This brings us to spirituality. Now, this means many different things to people, but it’s always free from the constraints that often exist within strict religions. Spirituality is more about following an enlightened philosophy and being in touch with your true essence.

Buddhism is a popular form of spirituality. Buddha’s words gave inspiration to those who needed it most.

Hopefully, these quotes will bring you wisdom and inspire you too.

Uplifting Quotes on Spirituality, Change, and Happiness

Best Buddha Quotes on Spirituality

1. “Every morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.”

2. “It is better to travel well than to arrive.”

3. “Be where you are; otherwise you will miss your life.”

4. “No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.”

5. “Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.”

6. “If you find no one to support you on the spiritual path, walk alone.”

7. “When you realize how perfect everything is, you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky.”

8. “Meditation brings wisdom; lack of meditation leaves ignorance. Know well what leads you forward and what holds you back, and choose the path that leads to wisdom.”

9. “Just as a mother would protect her only child with her life, even so, let one cultivate a boundless love toward all beings.”

10. “Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love. This is the eternal rule.”

11. “We are shaped by our thoughts; we become what we think. When the mind is pure, joy
follows like a shadow that never leaves.”

12. “There is nothing so disobedient as an undisciplined mind, and there is nothing so obedient as a disciplined mind.”

Best Buddhist Quotes on Change

13. “Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.”

14. “Every morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.”

15. “Just as a snake sheds its skin, we must shed our past over and over again.”

16. “Endurance is one of the most difficult disciplines, but it is to the one who endures that the final victory comes.”

17. “You only lose what you cling to.”

18. “Ambition is like love, impatient both of delays and rivals.”

19. “Chaos is inherent in all compounded things. Strive on with diligence.”

20. “There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. Doubt separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships and breaks up pleasant relations. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts … a sword that kills.”

21. “If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.”

22. “You yourself must strive. The Buddhas only point the way.”

23. “She who knows life flows, feels no wear or tear, needs no mending or repair.”

24. “One moment can change a day, one day can change a life, and one life can change the world.”

Best Buddha Quotes on Happiness

25. “One who acts on truth is happy in this world and beyond.”

26. “A man asked Gautama Buddha, ‘I want happiness.’ Buddha said, ‘First, remove I. That’s ego. Then remove want. That’s desire. Now you are left with only happiness.'”

27. “There is no path to happiness. Happiness is the path.”

28. “Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.”

29. “It is in the nature of things that joy arises in a person free from remorse.”

30. “A disciplined mind brings happiness.”

31. “Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship.”

32. “Generosity brings happiness at every stage of its expression. We experience joy in forming the intention to be generous. We experience joy in the actual act of giving something, and we experience joy in remembering the fact that we have given.”

33. “To live a pure unselfish life, one must count nothing as one’s own in the midst of abundance.”

34. “If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change.”

35. “Happiness comes when your work and words are of benefit to yourself and others.”

36. “Happiness is a journey, not a destination.”

37. “If you are quiet enough, you will hear the flow of the universe. You will feel its rhythm. Go with this flow. Happiness lies ahead. Meditation is key.”

38. “Routinely train yourself to attain peace.”

39. “The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart.”

40. “To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one’s family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one’s own mind. If a man can control his mind, he can find his way to enlightenment. All wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him.”

41. “You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your own love and affection.”

Final Thoughts on Buddha Quotes

These Buddha quotes have enormous power. Though he lived over 2,600 years ago, his words are timeless. They still apply to almost every area of today’s world.

We get so stuck in our little ruts. It’s easy to become preoccupied with our worries and obligations. It’s important to take some time to gain inspiration.

We’re all looking for peace. These Buddhist quotes help get you one step closer. After all, the key to happiness lies within you. You just have to let it be.

31 Best Quotes About Loneliness

June 26, 2019 by Power of Positivity

Loneliness needs no introduction. Because we all face it, we all know its power and its pain. According to an article in Psychology Today, feeling lonely actually can have a physical impact on health as it can suppress the immune system, and it even can be as dangerous as cigarette smoking!

An article in The New Republic even goes so far as to call loneliness ‘lethal.’ But loneliness also can be quite useful. Great minds have weighed in on the usefulness of the feeling of being alone in the world.

American actor, writer, and radio host Henry Rollins wrote of it, “Loneliness puts a special burn on sunsets and makes night air smell better.”

What a unique and wonderful perspective on the value feeling lonesome can bring! It can be a tool that helps us see the beauty in the world around us; it can teach us about ourselves, our lives, and our choices; and it can help us to progress toward a more affirmative and fulfilling future.

Instead of looking at feeling alone as a bad thing, consider these famous quotes about loneliness and its resulting benefits that can help lead you to a better life.

Best Quotes About Loneliness

Quotes about loneliness as a shared community

No one gets through life without feeling, at one time or another, like they’re completely alone in the world. But feelings of isolation don’t have to be overwhelming, and they don’t have to bring you down. These emotions can be a mechanism of powering your life and moving you forward. When you’re feeling lonely, remember that everyone feels lonely sometimes. Use those lonesome feelings to find your place in a community that’s right outside your window.

Quotes about loneliness as a teachable moment

As thinking humans, we can learn from anything. We can even learn from those moments when we feel most alone. Depression and feelings of being alone don’t have to overwhelm us. In fact, it’s in these moments when we can discover the most about ourselves, particularly about how to be good to ourselves. Read here about how to learn from depressive feelings of ‘aloneness,’ how to face them, and how to learn to treat yourself with kindness in those instances. It’s also helpful to look at your feelings of isolation from a new angle. Consider looking above and beyond your feelings of seclusion by remembering all the things you have to be thankful for in your everyday life.

Quotes about loneliness and how it can spur creativity

Feeling lonesome can be an effective weapon against boredom and even mediocrity. Creative people often feel alone, but the most successful creative types often are able to use those lonely feelings to heighten their inventiveness in order to garner positive results in work and personal lives.

Quotes about feeling lonely as a call to action

Necessity is the mother of invention, and the need to abolish loneliness can be a powerful and practical device. There’s nothing like sitting alone at home, feeling alone in the world, that can move a person toward success and happiness. Successful people all start somewhere.

And whether they start out with nothing or they’re born into riches, they all have one thing in common: feelings of being alone at times on their journeys toward achievement. Consider Dale Carnegie’s words on how to overcome your fears and ‘aloneness’ on your way to success.

31 Loneliness Quotes

1) “Life is full of misery, loneliness, and suffering – and it’s all over much too soon.”

–Woody Allen

2) “Pray that your loneliness may spur you into finding something to live for, great enough to die for.”

–Swedish diplomat Dag Hammarskjold

3) “Loneliness expresses the pain of being alone, and solitude expresses the glory of being alone.”

–Lutheran-Protestant theologian Paul Tillich

4) “We are all born alone and die alone. The loneliness is definitely part of the journey of life.”

–Video game designer Jenova Chen

5) “Negative emotions like loneliness, envy, and guilt have an important role to play in a happy life; they’re big, flashing signs that something needs to change.”

–American writer Gretchen Rubin

6) “We can all fight against loneliness by engaging in random acts of kindness.”

–Scottish writer Gail Honeyman

7) “You always know. You have basic needs, and when they aren’t met, your body sends signals. Hunger, loneliness, exhaustion, thirst, and fear are all signals that something is missing, and you need to act on it now.”

–American on-air CNN commentator Mel Robbins

8) “We have all known the long loneliness, and we have found that the answer is community.”

–American journalist and social activist Dorothy Day

9) “Loneliness is proof that your innate search for connection is intact.”

–Best-selling author Martha Beck

10) “Loneliness comes with life.”

–American singer Whitney Houston

11) “I kind of crave loneliness.”

–Scottish actor

12) “When so many are lonely as seem to be lonely, it would be inexcusably selfish to be lonely alone.”

–Critically acclaimed author Tennessee Williams

13) “Don’t try to hog loneliness and keep it all to yourself. Share it with a special someone.”

–Humorist Jarod Kintz

14) “If I’m alone in bed, I will go to the window, look up at the sky, and feel certain that loneliness is a lie, because the Universe is there to keep me company.”

–Brazilian lyricist and novelist Paul Coelho

15) “If you’re lonely when you’re alone, you’re in bad company.”

–French philosopher and playwright Jean-Paul Sartre

16) “The worst loneliness is not to be comfortable with yourself.”

–American author Mark Twain

17) “I have to be alone very often. I’d be quite happy if I spent from Saturday night until Monday morning alone in my apartment. That’s how I refuel.”

–American actor Audrey Hepburn

18) “It would do the world good if every man in it would compel himself occasionally to be absolutely alone. Most of the world’s progress has come out of such loneliness.”

–American author and politician Bruce Barton

19) “When I get lonely these days, I think: So BE lonely, Liz. Learn your way around loneliness. Make a map of it. Sit with it, for once in your life. Welcome to the human experience.”

–American author and biologist Elizabeth Gilbert

20) “People are lonely because they build walls instead of bridges.”

–American Baptist Minister Joseph Fort Newton

21) “Loneliness is the unloneliest feeling in the world, as everyone has experienced it.”

–Humorist Jarod Kintz

22) “Why do I write? It’s not that I want people to think I am smart, or even that I am a good writer. I write because I want to end my loneliness.”

–American novelist Jonathan Safran Foer

23) “I live with the people I create and it has always made my essential loneliness less keen.”

–American poet Carson McCullers

24) “Loneliness is designed to help you discover who you are, and to stop looking outside yourself for your worth.”

–Unknown

25) “Loneliness is better than bad company.”

–George Washington

26) “If you learn to really sit with loneliness and embrace it for the gift that it is… an opportunity to get to know you, to learn how strong you really are, to depend on no one but you for your happiness… you will realize that a little loneliness goes a long way in creating a richer, deeper, more vibrant and colorful you.”

–American author Mandy Hal

27) “I find it wholesome to be alone the greater part of the time. To be in company, even with the best, is soon wearisome and dissipating. I love to be alone. I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.”

–American poet Henry David Thoreau

28) “A man can be himself only so long as he is alone; and if he does not love solitude, he will not love freedom; for it is only when he is alone that he is really free.”

–German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer

29) “Accept your own aloneness and stick to it, all your life. And then accept the times when the gap is filled in, when they come. But they’ve got to come. You can’t force them.”

–English novelist D.H. Lawrence

30) “You cannot be lonely if you like the person you’re alone with.”

–American motivational speaker Wayne W. Dyer

31) “If you are alone, you belong entirely to yourself. If you are accompanied by even one companion you belong only half to yourself.”

–Accomplished Renaissance polymath Leonardo da Vinci

Embracing Alone Time As a Chance to Recharge

Perhaps loneliness needs no introduction – but it does need clarification. It even needs imagination. Loneliness can be looked at from many perspectives, and the most positive angle arguably is the best.

For, as author Thomas Wolfe once wrote, “The whole conviction of my life now rests upon the belief that loneliness … is the central and inevitable fact of human existence.” Yes, if you live, you feel lonely. So when feelings of loneliness begin to overwhelm, use these to your advantage. Do as Audrey Hepburn would do – use it as a time to refuel.

Consider that, when you’re lonely, you’re part of a shared community, a member of the universe. Use it as a teachable moment to get know yourself better. Let it spur your creativity. And, finally, use your loneliness as a call to action.

Researchers Reveal How Vaping Causes Brain and Lung Damage

June 26, 2019 by Power of Positivity

Vaping has only grown in popularity over the years. You’ll rarely be able to go anywhere without seeing someone puffing away at their little vape device. It is regularly touted as a “safe” and “healthy” form of smoking.

But surely inhaling all that smoke can’t be good for you, right? As it turns out, science definitely thinks so, and vaping may not be as safe as many people seem to believe. In fact, it can have somewhat severe long-term effects on your health!

Researchers Reveal How Vaping Causes Brain And Lung Damage

1. What Is Vaping?

Vaping is the act of “smoking” through the use of e-cigarettes. They typically consist of a kind of liquid known as e-liquid, which is used to create the flavor of the cigarette. These cartridges of liquid can then be refilled or disposed of and replaced, depending on the type.

E-cigarettes are powered through the use of a rechargeable battery which, when turned on, activates a heating system within the product that turns the liquid inside it into vapor. A user will then inhale that “smoke” through a mouthpiece at the top.

E-cigarettes come in countless different forms. Some mimic the look of the tobacco products they are based on, like cigars and cigarettes. Others look less conspicuous, appearing as pens or even thumb drives. They go by many other names, including:

E-cigs
E-juices
ANDS (alternative nicotine delivery systems)
Vape pens
Vapes
ENDS (electronic nicotine delivery systems)
Vaporizers
Mods
Tank systems
E-hookahs
Juuls (after JUUL, a popular e-cigarette brand)

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officially classifies e-cigarettes as tobacco products. However, it should be noted that there is no tobacco content within any vape system – hence its attractiveness to the population.

Popularity of Vaping

In fact, vaping has gained millions of fans globally since its inception back in the year 2004, where it first popped up in China. Now, years later, countless people are using them – around 3.2% of American adults in the year 2016.

It seems like a small number, but vapes are also increasingly popular among teenagers and high school students. In fact, between the years 2011 and 2015, the usage of juuls among students in high school skyrocketed by 900%. The number of youths – who go to middle or high school – who have tried vape pens numbered two million in the year 2016 alone.

While many adults vape in order to overcome dangerous smoking addictions, many of the younger adults up to the age of 24 have never smoked before trying out an e-cigarette – around 40% of them, to be exact.

The act of vaping not to aid addiction recovery but just for the sake of it is becoming increasingly worrisome as science reveals negative links between health and vaping.

2. Understanding E-Liquid Vapor and Its Dangers

When you think of the word “vapor,” it’s easy to brush it off, as it sounds like water. But this is far from the case – and it is this vapor that “smokers” are inhaling whenever they use an e-cigarette.

Here are some of the components found within e-liquid that are less than positive for the body: (1)

· Nicotine

You may know nicotine as the substance found in cigarettes that makes them addictive. The content may be a little lower, but it is still easy to get hooked. This means that vaping can be just as addictive as smoking – and nicotine is especially harmful to the mental development of teenagers.

While this allows vapes to be great for those looking for a safer alternative to their smoking addiction, it also means that people who have never smoked before can wind up addicted to vaping. So if you’ve never smoked but are curious about vapes, this is your warning not to start.

In addition to that, if you’re looking to stop smoking through the use of vapes, there is a much lower chance of you kicking the smoking habit altogether. Those who have never smoked cigarettes before are also more likely to start if they begin vaping.

· Volatile Organic Compounds

Volatile organic compounds, known also as VOCs, are responsible for a lot of health issues. They irritate your nose, eyes, and throat, and they put you at risk of nervous system damage. It can also lead to kidney disease, liver disease, and side effects like nausea and headaches.

· Glycol or Glycerin

In order for the vapor to appear very smog-like and thick, special chemicals have to be added to e-liquid. (Just compare the drama of a vape pen’s fog to the much thinner smoke that comes out of a cigarette.)

To create this effect, e-liquid contains either vegetable glycerin or propylene glycol – or, in some cases, both! These components can both cause irritation to your airways, including your lungs, leading to coughing and possible infection.

· Benzoic Acid

This preservative is often found in certain e-cig brands, including the famous JUUL brand. Benzoic acid may work well in preserving a product, but it also has links to a variety of problematic health issues, such as hyperactivity and asthma. You may also wind up with skin and eye irritation, nausea and vomiting, throat problems, and abdominal pain.

· Formaldehyde

Most people already know how dangerous inhaling formaldehyde can be. It isn’t in e-liquids, to begin with, but when a vape pen becomes overheated, it can release this substance.

This can also happen when insufficient e-liquid remains, causing a “dry puff.” Formaldehyde is known to increase the risk of cancer.

· Heavy Metals

According to a recent study, heavy metals were found in certain vapors from e-liquids in toxic amounts. Although not a majority, this indicates there is a good chance that you will come into contact with e-juice that contains too many heavy metals if you are a heavy vaper.

Heavy metals in toxic amounts are linked to liver disease and also to lung cancer, with both issues arising when you inhale them.

· Flavors

Lots of juuls contain interesting flavors that make them more palatable to users. This is what makes them so popular, especially among the younger crowd. Unfortunately, these flavor chemicals are not regulated, and some can be significantly toxic.

One such flavor is the type that contains diacetyl, which has been proven to be linked to bronchiolitis obliterans – a type of lung disease. Diacetyl is most commonly found in popcorn and butter-flavored juuls.

There are also other flavors that are dangerous, so don’t just avoid popcorn tastes while looking to the others with positive thinking! Fruit-flavored e-cigarettes tend to have high acrylonitrile content. Acrylonitrile is a known carcinogen. (2)

Cinnamon flavored products are also dangerous thanks to their cinnamaldehyde content. The same goes for honey flavors, known as pentanedione, and vanilla flavors, known as O-vanillin. All of these flavoring chemicals can negatively affect white blood cells.

But that’s not all. Menthol, strawberry, and coffee juuls are also bad for you because they are significantly dangerous to the cells of your lungs, according to research.

There is a possibility that, in the future, the FDA will begin to regulate the types of chemicals used in e-cigarettes. For now, though, there is nothing preventing manufacturers from using chemicals that can be harmful in the long term – and many do not disclose the full list of chemicals that they use.

3. The Flip Side

To some degree, these findings have been taken out of context and used to spread frightening misinformation. It is crucial that these misunderstandings are cleared up in order to avoid the further spread of incorrect, non-scientifically proven facts.

A lot of the information currently spreading involves lung cancer, but studies have explicitly discovered that vaping doesn’t actually lead to increased lung cancer risk. In fact, most vapers use it as a method to help them quit smoking – a method that has had positive effects and been effective for many. (3)

In addition, the most famously cited study that links cancer to vaping tested primarily on mice, and they used an extremely high concentration of the e-liquid components – a concentration that you would never encounter if you are actually vaping.

With that being said, this isn’t to say that vaping cannot cause cancer at all. It is a relatively new phenomenon, after all, and it is impossible to see its effects until the young population using it ages. As such, only time will tell how dangerous vaping can be.

Vaping as an alternative to smoking

Clearly, vaping isn’t exactly a healthy habit due to all the chemicals it holds. It can definitely cause damage to non-smokers who take up the habit. However, it has proven a good option for smokers looking to kick their tobacco habit. This is because:

Juuls and e-cigarettes do not contain tobacco, which is what causes cancer.
Studies indicate vaping helps smokers to quit smoking tobacco.
There is a reasonable amount of nicotine within juuls that helps smokers fulfill cravings in a more healthy manner.
Evidence suggests that secondhand vaping – or inhaling the “smoke” from someone’s juul or e-cigarette – is not dangerous.

Once again, we’d like to emphasize that this information applies specifically to those who are already smoking cigarettes. If you have never smoked before, vaping increases your risk of disease because of the addictive nicotine and the extra chemicals. However, this risk is low compared to real cigarettes.

Final Thoughts On How Vaping Can Cause Brain And Lung Damage

Is vaping dangerous? Current research isn’t enough to tell us for certain, but we do know one thing – it is less dangerous than cigarettes. Unfortunately, that isn’t a very uplifting idea, to begin with.

Due to the beginnings of research surrounding juuls in all their forms, we are beginning to see that there is harm that may come from regularly vaping, especially if you have never smoked before. The chemicals contained within many e-liquid brands are definitely no joke, and many are noticeably toxic.

Is there a chance that vaping products will be FDA-regulated in the future, allowing for “safer” vapes? Possibly. But until then, if you’re not a smoker, it’s best to steer clear of this hip new trend. It may be a lesser evil as far as vices go, but it is still a vice, and a vape addiction is an addiction nonetheless – no matter how much you spin it with positive thinking.

Science Explains How to Learn Anything Faster

June 26, 2019 by Power of Positivity

Continuous learning is a profitable endeavor in today’s society. Yet, for many of us, the notion of taking time out of an already busy day to fill our mind with more information seems crazy – and darn near impossible.

Much of this thinking stems from the “old” way of learning. The old way being repetition, repetition, and more repetition. There is, indeed, a “newer” way of learning.

Learning how to learn, if you will.

Not to say that repetition is useless. Far, far from it. The axiom, “Repetition is the mother of all learning,” exists for a good reason. The issue is that the repetitive cramming of information is, to put it lightly, not the ideal way to learn anything. (And is usually the result of procrastination, which only adds to the stress of taking in new information and finding it difficult to retain that info.)

There are better ways to learn. We say ways because there are multiple learning methods that, which properly and regularly implemented, produce better results. In this article, we’re going to focus on two of these methods as well as provide some tips for learning anything faster according to science.

Why Learn New Skills?

“If they don’t reform their education system, countries will create a time bomb.” – Alain Dehaze, CEO of Adecco Group (source)

We live in a society and economy that is quickly becoming automated. More data and information are being produced today than at any other time in history. In a May 2018 Forbes article, the author writes, “There are 2.5 quintillion bytes of data created each day.” He continues, “Over the last two years alone 90 percent of the data in the world was generated.”

Read that again if you must. Keep in mind that the article was written a year and a half ago.

Most countries are now in the early phases of the “knowledge economy.” In this economy, the intellectual capital one possesses will determine their monetary value and, ultimately, their future. In other words, the phrase “knowledge is power” is far more applicable today than even a couple of years ago.

Per the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), knowledge-based capital includes “a broad range of intangible assets, like research, data, software and design skills, which capture or express human ingenuity.” Alan Wyckoff, the Director for Science, Technology and Industry at OECD, writes, “The creation and application of knowledge is … critical to the ability of firms and organizations to develop in a competitive global economy and to create high-wage employment.”

How to Learn Any Skill Faster

Tip #1: Think of “Skill-Gaining” As a Set of Dominoes

While a good-sized paycheck provides some security, one’s bank account is far from the only benefit of newly-acquired skills. Per a study by researchers at Cornell University, learning a new skill leaves a measurable impact on the brain’s learning capabilities.

Perhaps the most surprising outcome of the study is the radical transformation to the brain’s makeup brought about by learning a new skill. Astoundingly, these radical changes are not limited to areas of the brain associated with the specific skill. Instead, the 38-study meta-analysis finds that the brain’s executive functions – those involved in attention, effortful control, and planning – appear to operate more effectively.

More specifically, the brain reconfigures its cellular networks to speed up the rate at which the brain processes information. These alterations of the brain are so powerful that scientists are analyzing the study’s data for use in treating neurological conditions. Interventions being considered include those used to improve brain functioning in aging individuals, as well as in patients suffering from brain injury or disease.

What does this all this research mean for you? Two things: (1) learning a new skill may result in a drastically more efficient brain, and (2) once that new skill is acquired, adding more skills becomes much easier. Point number two actually serves the dual-role of a caveat to all of these benefits. One must be willing to embrace lifelong learning as a lifestyle to maintain this sharper mind. Moreover, all of these beneficial changes are kickstarted by deciding to learn a new skill and becoming more proficient.

Tip #2: Accelerate Learning By Taking Regular, Short Breaks

“Everyone thinks you need to ‘practice, practice, practice’ when learning something new. Instead, we found that resting, early and often, may be just as critical to learning as practice.” – Leonard G, Cohen, M.D., Ph.D. (source)

We’ve discussed this a bit already in the opening, but it bears repeating; trying to cram information into the brain is a bad idea. It’s stressful, inefficient, and not at all conducive to how to brain learns best.

Okay, so maybe you know this stuff already. But what you may not know is that resting may speed up learning faster than the learning itself! Yeah! Here it is again: resting – that is, not trying to learn anything – may speed up skill learning faster than the actual learning.

(Yes, you read that correctly.)

This astounding finding was discovered in a study by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and published in the journal Current Biology. Subjects in the study, wearing a capped brain scanner, were asked to type a series of numbers with the left hands for 10 seconds before being asked to take a 10-second break. The participants repeated the work and rest cycle another 35 times. The thought process for rest was simple: to reduce mental and physical fatigue. It turns out that the rest periods did something else:

“I noted that … (the) brain waves seemed to change much more during the rest periods than during the typing sessions,” says Dr. Marlene Bonstrup, a postdoctoral research fellow at NIH. This observation flies in the face of multiple years of research studies citing the rapid brain activity preceding rest – when the brainwaves presumably became less active.

What does this all mean? Two things:

Performance improves significantly following short periods of rest.

According to Dr. Bonstrup, short rest periods led to much higher measures of performance improvement than practice. This analysis underscores the critical role that rest plays when it comes to learning any new skill.

Short rest periods should be scheduled when learning anything new or performing important tasks.

Neuroscientists, performance experts, and others have been saying it for years; short periods of rest between extended work periods are essential for producing quality outputs.

Final Thoughts: Elon Musk’s Advice

As is apparent by now, lifelong learning is a profitable endeavor; however, it needn’t be too stressful or overwhelming. We’ve discussed how to learn any skill faster through two methods:

Optimizing and taking advantage of short breaks
Always keeping your mind engaged by learning something new

But there are certainly other ways to accelerate your learning and pick up new skills. There is perhaps nobody on the planet better qualified to answer discuss this than the polymath and serial entrepreneur, Elon Musk. In a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything), here’s what Musk had to say:

“I think most people can learn a lot more than they think they can. They sell themselves short without trying. It is important to view knowledge as sort of a semantic tree – make sure you understand the fundamental principles, i.e. the trunk and big branches, before … the leaves/details or there is nothing for them to hang on to.”

Words from a wise (to put it mildly) super-genius.

31 Best Inspirational Quotes That Will Make You Grateful

June 25, 2019 by Power of Positivity

Feeling a bit lazy? Lack of motivation to go about your daily tasks? If you’re in need of a bit of inspiration, we’ve got just the thing for you; Inspirational Quotes! When I’m feeling not up to the task of the day, I find reading inspirational quotes to be a great way to get myself in gear.

Inspirational quotes can come from anywhere really; A short story, a poem, novel, or just from our daily conversations. Some of the greatest inspirational quotes have come from literature, and we’ve sifted through hundreds to bring to you the best inspirational quotes to get yourself in gear!

Continue reading for some of the greatest inspirational quotes you’ll likely ever read:

31 Of the Best Inspirational Quotes Ever Written:

INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES ABOUT LIFE

1. “When we love, we always strive to become better than we are. When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.”
–Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

2. “If you’re reading this…
Congratulations, you’re alive.
If that’s not something to smile about,
then I don’t know what is.”
–Chad Sugg, Monsters Under Your Head

3. “It is good to love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is well done.”
–Vincent Van Gogh

4. “And still, after all this time,
The sun never says to the earth,
‘You owe me.’

Look what happens with
A love like that,
It lights the Whole Sky.”
–Hafiz

5. “You need to learn how to select your thoughts just the same way you select your clothes every day. This is a power you can cultivate. If you want to control things in your life so bad, work on the mind. That’s the only thing you should be trying to control.”
–Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love

6. “Attitude is a choice. Happiness is a choice. Optimism is a choice. Kindness is a choice. Giving is a choice. Respect is a choice. Whatever choice you make makes you. Choose wisely.”
–Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES ABOUT LOVING EACH OTHER

7. “If you treat an individual as he is, he will remain how he is. But if you treat him as if he were what he ought to be and could be, he will become what he ought to be and could be.”
–Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

8. “I read once that the ancient Egyptians had fifty words for sand & the Eskimos had a hundred words for snow. I wish I had a thousand words for love, but all that comes to mind is the way you move against me while you sleep & there are no words for that.”
Brian Andreas, Story People: Selected Stories & Drawings of Brian Andreas

9. “The reason it hurts so much to separate is because our souls are connected. Maybe they always have been and will be. Maybe we’ve lived a thousand lives before this one and in each of them we’ve found each other. And maybe each time, we’ve been forced apart for the same reasons. That means that this goodbye is both a goodbye for the past ten thousand years and a prelude to what will come.”
Nicholas Sparks, The Notebook

INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES ABOUT PURPOSE:

10. “Be grateful for what you already have while you pursue your goals.
If you aren’t grateful for what you already have, what makes you think you would be happy with more.”
–Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

11. “Live the Life of Your Dreams: Be brave enough to live the life of your dreams according to your vision and purpose instead of the expectations and opinions of others.”
–Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

12. “The only thing standing between you and your goal is the bullshit story you keep telling yourself as to why you can’t achieve it.”
–Jordan Belfort

13. “For me, I am driven by two main philosophies: know more today about the world than I knew yesterday and lessen the suffering of others. You’d be surprised how far that gets you.”
–Neil deGrasse Tyson

INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES ABOUT LETTING GO OF REGRET

14. “Tomorrow will be better.”
“But what if it’s not?” I asked.
“Then you say it again tomorrow. Because it might be. You never know, right? At some point, tomorrow will be better.”
Morgan Matson, Amy & Roger’s Epic Detour

15. “Do not let the memories of your past limit the potential of your future. There are no limits to what you can achieve on your journey through life, except in your mind.”
Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

MOTIVATIONAL QUOTES ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS

16. “Don’t let the expectations and opinions of other people affect your decisions. It’s your life, not theirs. Do what matters most to you; do what makes you feel alive and happy. Don’t let the expectations and ideas of others limit who you are. If you let others tell you who you are, you are living their reality — not yours. There is more to life than pleasing people. There’s much more to life than following others’ prescribed path. There is so much more to life than what you experience right now. You need to decide who you are for yourself. Become a whole being. Adventure.”
Roy T. Bennett

17. “I’ve been in love before, it’s like a narcotic. At first it brings the euphoria of complete surrender. The next day you want more. You’re not addicted yet, but you like the sensation, and you think you can still control things. You think about the person you love for two minutes then forget them for three hours. But then you get used to that person, and you begin to be completely dependent on them. Now you think about him for three hours and forget him for two minutes. If he’s not there, you feel like an addict who can’t get a fix. And just as addicts steal and humiliate themselves to get what they need, you’re willing to do anything for love.”- By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept”
Paulo Coelho

INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE ABOUT SELF-WORTH

18. “You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.”
Sharon Salzberg

INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES ABOUT THE WORLD AROUND YOU

19. “Do stuff. be clenched, curious. Not waiting for inspiration’s shove or society’s kiss on your forehead. Pay attention. It’s all about paying attention. attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. stay eager.”
Susan Sontag

20. “The animal merely makes a bed, which he warms with his body in a sheltered place; but man, having discovered fire, boxes up some air in a spacious apartment, and warms that, instead of robbing himself, makes that his bed, in which he can move about divested of more cumbrous clothing, maintain a kind of summer in the midst of winter, and by means of windows even admit the light and with a lamp lengthen out the day.”
Henry David Thoreau

21. “There is freedom waiting for you,
On the breezes of the sky,
And you ask “What if I fall?”
Oh but my darling,
What if you fly?”
Erin Hanson

MOTIVATIONAL QUOTES ABOUT LIFE LESSONS

22. “Why do they always teach us that it’s easy and evil to do what we want and that we need discipline to restrain ourselves? It’s the hardest thing in the world–to do what we want. And it takes the greatest kind of courage. I mean, what we really want.”
Ayn Rand

23. “I have been and still am a seeker, but I have ceased to question stars and books; I have begun to listen to the teaching my blood whispers to me.”
Hermann Hesse, Demian. Die Geschichte von Emil Sinclairs Jugend

24. “The greatest disease in the West today is not TB or leprosy; it is being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for. We can cure physical diseases with medicine, but the only cure for loneliness, despair, and hopelessness is love. There are many in the world who are dying for a piece of bread but there are many more dying for a little love. The poverty in the West is a different kind of poverty — it is not only a poverty of loneliness but also of spirituality. There’s a hunger for love, as there is a hunger for God.”
Mother Teresa, A Simple Path: Mother Teresa

INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES ABOUT FINDING MEANING

25. “Music has always been a matter of Energy to me, a question of Fuel. Sentimental people call it Inspiration, but what they really mean is Fuel. I have always needed Fuel. I am a serious consumer. On some nights I still believe that a car with the gas needle on empty can run about fifty more miles if you have the right music very loud on the radio.”
Hunter S. Thompson

26. “Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature — the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.”
Rachel Carson, Silent Spring

27. “Listen with curiosity. Speak with honesty. Act with integrity. The greatest problem with communication is we don’t listen to understand. We listen to reply. When we listen with curiosity, we don’t listen with the intent to reply. We listen for what’s behind the words.”
Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

MOTIVATIONAL QUOTES ABOUT THE QUEST FOR HAPPINESS:

28. “Even if you cannot change all the people around you, you can change the people you choose to be around. Life is too short to waste your time on people who don’t respect, appreciate, and value you. Spend your life with people who make you smile, laugh, and feel loved.”
Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

29. “Do not set aside your happiness. Do not wait to be happy in the future. The best time to be happy is always now.”
Roy T. Bennett

30. “Sometimes you have to lose all you have to find out who you truly are.”
Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

31. “The more you feed your mind with positive thoughts, the more you can attract great things into your life.”
Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

FINAL THOUGHTS ON THE BEST INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES

After reading through these 31 great inspirational quotes, you’ll likely have found plenty of motivation to get going with your day’s activities. Literary quotes, and especially inspirational quotes are imbued with great wisdom and can be used as an excellent tool to get things done when you’re just not feeling up to the task.

31 Self Care Tips For A Better You

June 25, 2019 by Power of Positivity

Self care is the mantra of the year, yet many self care tips floating around don’t have any science behind them. Others come across as so farfetched they can’t be right.

We want our self care tips to work for us. After all, we only have so many hours in the day, and self care often pushed to the bottom of our to-do lists. There’s no time to do things that don’t help our wellbeing.

Fortunately, we don’t have to waste time. This list of 21 science-backed self care tips will have you feeling the positive effects in no time flat. When you feel better, you’ll do better in life!

31 Self Care Tips

Tip 1 – Surround Yourself with Scents

Scents, in this case, can be natural or artificial. Practices like aromatherapy actually trigger different parts of the brain. Each scent has a different effect, so try out several.

Regular kitchen rosemary has the power to increase memory, for example. (1)

Tip 2 – Go Outdoors

Whether you prefer to go hike a mountain or sit in the garden, being outdoors is great for your health. Science shows that being outside actually helps your brain relax and increases your mental energy. (2)

Tip 3 – Dance Like No One is Watching

Who doesn’t love a good dance party? Now we know that dancing ourselves silly every day has health benefits beyond the obvious calorie count due to its requirement to interconnect various parts of the brain. (3)

Tip 4 – Declutter Your Spaces

No one likes clutter, but we often find ourselves putting off organizing. New research suggests that office, home, and digital clutter affect our inner peace. Office clutter can even prevent you from getting promoted, so pick a time to declutter.

Tip 5 – Explore Your Spirituality

As humans, there’s no one guiding spirituality principle. However, adding a little bit of what you believe in your everyday life does have health benefits, including reducing stress. It also helps you ground and connects you with the world. (5)

Tip 6 – Indulge Yourself

Getting a massage is one of the ultimate indulgences. Often it feels as though all the tensions rub away over the course of a session. It also improves muscle performance and blood flow.

Tip 7 – Cuddle It Out

Humans need physical contact on a chemical level. Our bodies produce a hormone called oxytocin, which counteracts stress. One of the best ways to get that contact is to cuddle. Cuddling benefits both the giver and the receiver in the hormonal release.

Tip 8 – Laugh Often (It’s great self care!)

We all know laughing puts us in a better mood. Did you know it also stimulates many responses inside our bodies? Indeed, each laugh stimulates your organs and circulatory system.

Tip 9 – Unplug Your Notifications

You wouldn’t think to leave home without your phone these days. However, being constantly reachable and bombarded with social media is not the healthiest habit. Instead, it’s time to turn off the notifications, especially if it’s causing mental health issues.

Tip 10 – Learn about Biofeedback

Biofeedback is a practice using electronic monitoring to teach someone how to control natural bodily functions. You practice bio-feedback when you breathe purposefully, however, the practice goes beyond that. Over time, biofeedback teaches us how to trigger certain automatic body reactions when we’re stressed.

Tip 11 – Cook Something

We all know there’s something rather therapeutic about vigorously chopping something into tiny pieces. There’s preliminary research that cooking helps confidence levels and mood as well. All those benefits while making something good for us?

Tip 12 – Meditate

We’ve heard about the benefits of meditation for years, but somehow the benefits are a little foggy. The big benefit is the inner peace many find with meditation. However, regular meditation may be useful for decreasing blood pressure as well.

Tip 13 – Catch More Zs

In the age of everything, we forget that our bodies need rest. While the minimum recommendation for sleep in adults is seven hours, many find that’s simply not enough. You can create good sleep just like you would any other habit, by sticking to a schedule.

Tip 14 – Supplement Away

Depending on the season, we lack certain vitamins. Many people come up with a vitamin D deficiency in the winter, and that affects their mood. By adding a supplement (or consciously choosing foods every day that contain it), people improved their cognitive performance and mood.

Tip 15 – Just Move

Any kind of movement will do for this one. Movement increases circulation and muscle use, which counteracts the negative side effects of a sedentary lifestyle. Many of us live sedentarily without realizing it on account of the work we do.

Tip 16 – Reconnect with Friends

We’ve all had spells where we felt alone in the world. However, these spells have a cure in reconnecting with our friends. Just talking to them boosts our self-confidence and relieves stress.

If you’re worried about upsetting your friends, start with a simple hi, how are you, and let the conversation go from there.

Tip 17 – Eat the Rainbow

Our mothers always told us to eat our vegetables. As it turns out, she was right. Eating all the colors in the rainbow in vegetables is good for us.

Each vegetable and fruit produces slightly different nutrients. However, we can group these nutrients into colors. If you eat the rainbow every week, your body gets the incredible array of nutrients it needs to function properly.

Tip 18 – Take Up a Hobby

Hobbies are things we do in our free time for fun. If a hobby is fun, it reduces our stress levels over time.

Tip 19 – Read More

There’s more to reading than gaining new knowledge. Reading has actually been shown to reduce stress levels and provide mental stimulation over time. It doesn’t even have to be a nonfiction book for you to benefit.

Tip 20 – Plan Something Fun

Even if it’s a day trip, planning something fun helps recharge our batteries. With each trip, we feel a little better. In between trips, remember to take coffee breaks if possible, that helps too on a small scale.

Tip 21 – Use All the Hot Water

Whether you’re a bath person or a shower person, warm water does wonders for how you feel. It loosens muscles, which in turn makes it more difficult to feel the tension.

Tip 22 – Revisit Nostalgia

In this case, nostalgia is all about revisiting simpler times. Whether it’s music or TV shows, old favorites take your mind back, and it reduces stress.

Tip 23 – Practice Positivity

Positive thinking affects your health in many ways. Even back in 1993, researchers have been looking into this as a method to increase resilience and treat illness. Try it by reframing negative circumstances as positive opportunities.

Tip 24 – Journal Regularly

Journaling as a practice helps us sort through our thoughts, feelings, and experiences. As a self care tool, that is invaluable for processing the world. Journaling also helps us release stress.

Tip 25 – Stretch Everything

Not only does stretching feel good, but it can also be preventative. Today’s jobs are mostly sitting and working for specific muscle groups. Adding a set of stretches to get everything moving helps keep your body going.

Tip 26 – Perform an Act of Kindness

Not only does paying it forward feel good, but it also helps you connect. People who perform random acts of kindness tend to find themselves happier and in a stronger support network than those who do not.

Tip 27 – Get It On

Sex is a possibility for both immediate and long-term stress relief, providing it is between consenting adults. As a pleasurable activity, it activates the reward centers in our brains. This, in turn, releases stress-fighting hormones.

Tip 28 – Take a Run

Runners high is a legitimate thing. When running, the long-term exercise creates a feedback loop in our brains, so the release of stress-reducing chemicals continues.

Tip 29 – Write Affirmations

Affirmations written for a few minutes a day can show a dramatic effect. Affirming intrinsic items works better than external things, so focus on internal areas of improvement over time.

Tip 30 – Disappear for a Weekend

When the stress gets to be too much, sometimes the best way to handle it is to unplug and go somewhere for a weekend. There are a lot of options near you for places to visit and just unwind.

Tip 31 – Challenge Your Brain

Whether crosswords, sudoku, or brain training is the theme of the day, all of them challenge your brain to think creatively. While this may not sound like self care, solving puzzles offers the brain a break from regular stress.

Final Thoughts on Self Care

Self care is essential to our overall wellbeing as humans. Without it, life becomes more depressing and overwhelming. So let’s fix that.

Pick an item off our self care list to try and spend 10-15 minutes a day doing it over the course of a week. Let us know what self care practices worked for you!

Who was Buddha?

Buddha Quotes for Life

Happiness is another vital part of life.

Uplifting Quotes on Spirituality, Change, and Happiness

Best Buddha Quotes on Spirituality

Best Buddhist Quotes on Change

Best Buddha Quotes on Happiness

36. “Happiness is a journey, not a destination.”

Final Thoughts on Buddha Quotes

Best Quotes About Loneliness

Quotes about loneliness as a shared community

Quotes about loneliness as a teachable moment

Quotes about loneliness and how it can spur creativity

Quotes about feeling lonely as a call to action

31 Loneliness Quotes

–Woody Allen

–Swedish diplomat Dag Hammarskjold

–Lutheran-Protestant theologian Paul Tillich

–Video game designer Jenova Chen

–American writer Gretchen Rubin

–Scottish writer Gail Honeyman

–American on-air CNN commentator Mel Robbins

–American journalist and social activist Dorothy Day

–Best-selling author Martha Beck

–American singer Whitney Houston

–Scottish actor

–Critically acclaimed author Tennessee Williams

–Humorist Jarod Kintz

–Brazilian lyricist and novelist Paul Coelho

–French philosopher and playwright Jean-Paul Sartre

–American author Mark Twain

–American actor Audrey Hepburn

–American author and politician Bruce Barton

–American author and biologist Elizabeth Gilbert

–American Baptist Minister Joseph Fort Newton

–Humorist Jarod Kintz

–American novelist Jonathan Safran Foer

–American poet Carson McCullers

–Unknown

–George Washington

–American author Mandy Hal

–American poet Henry David Thoreau

–German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer

–English novelist D.H. Lawrence

–American motivational speaker Wayne W. Dyer

–Accomplished Renaissance polymath Leonardo da Vinci

Embracing Alone Time As a Chance to Recharge

Researchers Reveal How Vaping Causes Brain And Lung Damage

1. What Is Vaping?

Popularity of Vaping

2. Understanding E-Liquid Vapor and Its Dangers

· Nicotine

· Volatile Organic Compounds

· Glycol or Glycerin

· Benzoic Acid

· Formaldehyde

· Heavy Metals

· Flavors

3. The Flip Side

Vaping as an alternative to smoking

Final Thoughts On How Vaping Can Cause Brain And Lung Damage

Why Learn New Skills?

How to Learn Any Skill Faster

Tip #1: Think of “Skill-Gaining” As a Set of Dominoes

Tip #2: Accelerate Learning By Taking Regular, Short Breaks

What does this all mean? Two things:

Performance improves significantly following short periods of rest.

Short rest periods should be scheduled when learning anything new or performing important tasks.

Final Thoughts: Elon Musk’s Advice

31 Of the Best Inspirational Quotes Ever Written:

INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES ABOUT LIFE

INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES ABOUT LOVING EACH OTHER

INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES ABOUT PURPOSE:

INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES ABOUT LETTING GO OF REGRET

MOTIVATIONAL QUOTES ABOUT RELATIONSHIPS

INSPIRATIONAL QUOTE ABOUT SELF-WORTH

INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES ABOUT THE WORLD AROUND YOU

MOTIVATIONAL QUOTES ABOUT LIFE LESSONS

INSPIRATIONAL QUOTES ABOUT FINDING MEANING

MOTIVATIONAL QUOTES ABOUT THE QUEST FOR HAPPINESS:

Rise and Shine On!
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