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4 Traits of People with a Positive Mindset

November 17, 2021 by Zane Landin

Do you believe you have a positive mindset? Recollect an experience where you were shoveling through adversity, trauma, or negativity. What helped you move past the time in your life? Do you think a positive mindset would have quickened that timeline?

What is a Positive Mindset?

There is a true nature of power that comes from a positive mindset. A positive mindset isn’t advocating a lifestyle of always being happy and joyful. This outcome is impossible to achieve, and setting yourself up with an unimaginable expectation like this will drive feelings of self-doubt, defeat, and a loss of purpose. A positive mindset is about approaching life from a positive angle and involves making the most out of any situation occurring in your life.

Four Compelling Traits of People Who Have a Positive Mindset

Those with a positive mindset have self-awareness and do not fear confronting and overcoming negativity.

Acknowledgment

Life is a constant adventure, and we don’t have a compass to navigate what that adventure will look like. Nothing in life will ever go as planned, and that is the first step to having a positive mindset. It is about acknowledging you will experience failure, mistakes, grief, hurt, etc. Don’t avoid the inevitable. It will happen. If you can view the world with the expectation that life is messy and will be hard, you will be more psychologically and even physically equipped and prepared to deal with the challenges that visit you.

It is also important to acknowledge these times are just visiting. They do not last forever, and with time, your scars will be able to guide you. This acknowledgment is a very hard step because it is challenging to acknowledge adversity and affliction.

Gratitude

Most people generally define gratitude as the express appreciation for what one has. It is a value free of monetary measures. One of the things people with a positive mindset tend to reflect on is what they are gracious for. This thankfulness can come through meditation, journaling, speaking with a psychologist, or even openly conversing with others about gratitude. But why is having gratitude so important? Picture the pain and shadows that may creep in momentarily. Instead of worrying and fixating your attention on the pain that feels out of your control, attempt to shift your thoughts to what you have. When you begin to appreciate what you have, you will learn you have so much to offer in your life, and it is worth living.

Mindfulness

Mindfulness is critical to achieving balance in your mind, body, and soul areas. It may feel intimidating to address mindfulness. However, the key is incorporating at least one activity per day that will support this balance. For your mind, it can take fifteen minutes a day to read something in solitude or watch a documentary on something you find interesting or stimulating. For your body, you can exercise daily, take a walk outside, or even pace while you work so you maintain some form of activity. Lastly, for your soul, you can self-reflect and meditate, journal your feelings and emotions, or even read social media posts from spiritual leaders. It all begins with taking the first step.

If you can treat your mind, body, and spirit with intentional, mindful energy, you will have an overall positive mindset about yourself, which translates to how you feel about the world. Finding happiness in the world isn’t easy if you can’t find peace within yourself.

Resiliency

Resiliency has been a common trope throughout the COVID-19 era. Millions of people have been resilient by experiencing loss, economic disadvantages, mental health problems, and a new world to they need to adapt to. It may seem like resiliency is just facing adversity head-on. But that is just the first step to being more resilient. Before we discussed acknowledgment and how it is important to accept life will bring misfortune. Although acknowledgment will help you in the long run, it is still incredibly hard.

Embrace your resiliency by learning from your scars. Some of the most successful people have a long journey of loss, failure, and redirection. Your scars are an essential guide that will help you in the future. But the choice is yours. You can reflect on the things that happen in your life. This is why resilience is essential for your growth and development. Enjoy the unexpected, even when it’s not what you initially wanted.

The science of positivity shows if you routinely have positive thoughts and actions, you rewire your brain to think differently. You have the power to transform how you think and change your life. A positive mindset can be tough to understand because it is easy to slip into negativity, but here are five traits of people who have a positive mindset. Before reading about the characteristics, developing a positive mindset is a slow and steady journey. Take it one day at a time and learn what a positive mindset means to you and how you can allow your positivity to enter and support your life.

7 Types of Rest Everyone Needs, According to Science

November 17, 2021 by Chris Butler

How is it with the world’s vast technological advantages that people seem even more tired? You have all those computerized gadgets that are supposed to save you time and energy, yet you feel chronically exhausted. Although your sleep may be okay, you may not be getting the types of rest you need.

Understanding the Differences in Sleep and the Seven Types of Rest

What could be more soothing than curling up in bed and sleeping after a long day? Your pillows and blankets are like fluffy clouds that embrace and lull you into a deep slumber. Without sleep, you couldn’t function, and your life would eventually be at risk.

While sleep is among the types of rest you need, the words aren’t synonyms. Humans, animals, and most life forms are biologically hard-wired to sleep. It’s during these hours that your brain recharges, and your body rests, repairs, and rejuvenates.

Did you know that you will spend approximately one-third of your life asleep? These are the findings of a study published in the Handbook of Clinical Neurology. The study says you’ll spend some of this time trying to get to sleep.

Not only do you need sleep, but you also need rest. During sleep, your body is mostly still, and your brain runs only vital systems. However, you can rest without going to sleep. Rest means that you’re taking a break from strenuous activity to do nothing or something different.

Seven Types of Rest Most People Overlook

Once you’ve discovered the difference between sleep versus rest, you may realize that you’re rest deprived. How can you create a healthy balance between waking and sleep while getting the rest you need? Here are seven types of rest your body craves.

1. Physical Rest

According to the Abrahamic religious cosmology, God created everything in the Universe in six days. On the seventh day, God rested and made the sabbath tradition, which is the day of rest. The word rest means that God ceased working, not just sleeping all day.

Your body can rest either actively or passively. An active way to take a break is to go for a nature walk or do gentle stretching exercises. Of course, a passive break can include an afternoon siesta on the couch.

Whichever of these types of rest you choose, you’re allowing your body to relax and rejuvenate. Consider taking a day out of the week to rest and enjoy time with family and friends. It will be healing for you physically.

2. Mental Rest

All the sleep in the world won’t refresh you if your mind is weary. You may be struggling with problems at home and work. Even after you finally fall asleep, your brain may ruminate and interrupt your sleep or create bad dreams.

Another type of rest you need is mental rest. You can only accomplish this with a diversion. When your brain is going at hyper speed all day, it needs some rest to recuperate. Taking an occasional break at work to rest your brain is a helpful idea.

Does your mind seem overwhelmed at night thinking about problems? Instead, schedule a worry session in the evening. List your worries on paper and fuss and fret until your 15-minute timer is up. Now, leave your problems and think about some positive things.

3. Sensory Rest

The same technology to help you work faster and more efficiently can also drain your energy. Think of the countless dings, bells, whistles, and lights produced by your technical devices. You’re inundated with emails, phone calls, and loud televisions.

All these noises and blinking lights are enough to give you sensory overload. Taking time away from them is among the essential types of rest. You can rest your senses by declaring technology-free meals and an occasional weekend break.

4. Creative Rest

Responsibilities at home, work, and in public are enough to wear down your mind. While you might enjoy solving problems and brainstorming, you have a human limit. Discovering the types of rest, you need can be the key to being more efficient in whatever you do.

The next time you feel snowed under with daily pressures, give yourself some creative rest. Go for a walk through the woods or in a park to enjoy the wonders of nature. Exercise your creativity with hobbies and other fun activities that revive your spirits.

5. Emotional Rest

Did you know that expressing your feelings requires substantial energy? Think of the string of emotions that flood you each day. If you’re an empathetic listener, you know how to mirror the speaker’s feelings, which also takes energy.

According to an article published by Leslie University, empathy can be either a cognitive or emotional response. Whereas the mental answer is a honed skill, emotional empathy stems from internal compassion. You may be a compassionate person who absorbs all the emotions in a room which overwhelms you.

No matter what type of empathy you have, you need a break from the emotional tidal waves. Of the seven types of rest, emotional rest may be close to the top. How can you settle your emotions?

Maybe you’ve always been a people pleaser and feel obligated to tell others what they want to hear. You say “yes” to all their unreasonable requests due to the fear of being rejected. So, you smile, hide your emotions, and try to be a “good” person.

People pleasers can find rest and relief by being true to their emotions. You have the right to politely decline requests and invitations that don’t fit in your schedule. Say goodbye to toxic people or relationships that are no longer working for you.

6. Social Rest

A social rest means that you disconnect from the world around you and take some time for self-reflection. In today’s society, it’s impossible to hide even for a bit. You’re always connected and can be reached at a moment’s notice.

While it’s good to be so connected to folks, it also has its downsides. There was an old song written by Hank Cochran in 1963 that said to make the world go away and get them off his shoulders. In fact, he was singing about something that everyone feels like this at some point or another.

Entering a phase of social slumber can mean different things depending on your needs and behaviors. For instance, if you’re constantly surrounded by people and have no solo time, then for you, this type of rest may be a fast of sorts from going out. This will give you time to recharge your batteries and spend time in silence.

For others, it means turning off computers, video games, and cell phones for a bit. It’s so easy to get bogged down by the cares of life, and when you’re in the social circles 24×7, you’ll hear and feel the burdens and pangs of others. Conversely, it is very healthy to unplug and unwind from everyone around you and focus on your needs.

Indeed, many insist that being an introvert is one of the best things ever, as these people know when to disengage and rest.

7. Spiritual Rest

One of the types of rest that you might forget is for your spirit. Humans are triune beings consisting of body, mind, and spirit and each component needs to rest and revive. When you’re chronically exhausted and nothing helps, your spirit may be conflicted.

You can do many things to enter into a stage of spiritual rest, which includes crying. Have you ever felt better after a good cry? It’s because you’re releasing all that internal stress and purging your soul. If you feel overwhelmed and spiritually weak, then crying it out to the Universe can help.

When you get your spirit man aligned with your physical and mental persons, you will experience a greater harmony within your body.

Final Thoughts on Getting the Right Types of Rest for a Healthier Life

Who knew that there were so many different variations of rest that a person needs and that sleep and rest are vastly different? How often have you uttered the words that you’re stressed out or so tired you feel like your soul is exhausted? These are common phrases today, yet few know how to counter these negative feelings.

Perhaps, understanding that there are many types of rest is the first step in getting the relaxation you need. How often have you gone to bed and slept for 6-8 hours and woke up feeling just as tired as when you laid down? This is all because you’re not getting the correct type of rest.

If you would change the way you look at rest and relaxation in your life, you can begin to purge some of these harmful habits that keep you worn out. You can sleep ten hours a day, but it’s not going to do a bit of good if the tiredness you feel is from the intense need for a social break. This information is life-changing; maybe you can finally get the relaxation your body craves.

6 Habits That Improve Positive Thinking In Unhappy People

November 16, 2021 by Kristen Butler

A famous quote states that people are only as happy as they decide to be. What if you could improve positive thinking and minimize pessimism in your life? There’s an excellent reason people describe pessimism as heaviness and feeling “down.”

It’s an oppressive state of mind that conceals your blessings and extinguishes hope. However, optimism is compared to the mountains, the sky, and higher thinking. You can overcome an attitude of defeat and self-loathing.

Practice Makes Progress

If you have a skill or a talent, it takes challenging work and practice to be your best. Did you know that you can practice optimism and rewire your brain to think more positively? It’s an acquired skill that you won’t regret.

Unfortunately, most people find it easier to be pessimistic rather than optimistic. Jill Suttie discusses this negative bias in her article published by Greater Good Magazine. Suttie mentions a book by Baumeister and Tierney which outlines the steps you can take to overcome prejudice and create optimism.

For example, say you and a coworker are vying for the same promotion. You may assume you won’t get it just because good things never come your way. Not only are you giving into toxic thought patterns, but you’re attracting more disappointment.

Make it a point each day to practice optimistic affirmations. Look in a mirror and sincerely tell yourself that you’re beautiful, loved, worthy, and more than enough. Learn to be compassionate and patient with yourself.

Habits to Improve Positive Thinking

The law of attraction says that you attract whatever you speak into the Universe. Some people also call it the law of sowing and reaping. If you plant corn in your garden, you’ll reap corn and not potatoes.

Improving positive thinking is as simple as changing your conversations with the Universe, God, or your higher self. As you speak optimistic affirmations, the Universe agrees and responds with the same. On the other hand, the Universe must also agree with your pessimistic assertions, and if you put negativity into the air, then you’ll reap nothing but sorrow.

Break the shackles of negative bias and try only to make uplifting affirmations. The Universe has your best interests at heart, but it can’t overrule your free will. Learn to speak life and blessings, and the same will return to you.

It’s encouraging to know that you don’t need a magic wand or a fairy godmother to change your viewpoint. Here are six habits that will help you improve positive thinking and allow you to receive the joy you deserve.

1. Get Up on the Right Side of the Bed

Have you ever awoke groggy and cranky, and your partner asked if you got up on the wrong side of the bed? It’s a funny idiom that means you’ve arisen in the morning with a bad attitude. You probably know from experience that such a morning mood creates the mindset for a terrible day.

One of the best ways to improve positive thinking is to start your day with uplifting thoughts. Stretch, step out of bed and visualize affirmative energy flooding your room like new rays from the sun. Yesterday is behind you, and you’re already thankful for the blessings waiting for today.

Some people boost their optimistic energy with morning exercise and meditation. Focus on the blessings in your life and determine to make a difference today. When you make this a morning routine, you’ll get used to thinking more optimistically.

2. Choose Joy

Most people use “happiness” and “joy” interchangeably, but they aren’t the same. Happiness is an emotion that’s as fickle as the weather. Unhappy people often erroneously think that one day they will finally be happy forever.

Although being happy and cheerful can make you feel more optimistic, you can’t depend on it. Joy is a decision and not an emotion. It’s not dependent on having everything you want or the thrill of the moment.

When you choose joy, you’re determined to have optimism regardless of your circumstances. You can improve your positive thinking, and it can help you cultivate joy. It’s a choice of confidence and acceptance.

When you’re overwhelmed with work, joy sees the paycheck that supports your family. The night may be dark and lonely, but joy anticipates the dawn. You can’t always change dire circumstances, but you do control your attitude.

3. Don’t Forget to Smile

In his article published by Forbes Magazine, Dr. Bryan Robinson discusses the link between smiling and positivity. Your smile reflects how you feel, and you can trick your brain if you feel blue. A beautiful grin can trigger neurotransmitters, and your brain switches to a more optimistic state.

You rarely see chronic pessimists smile. Even when they do, it’s often a sarcastic smirk that’s far from encouraging. Their sour demeanor can reflect their internal negativity.

If one of your goals is to improve positive thinking, then consider smiling more. You might not feel like it at the moment, but it can boost your mood. Let others see your pearly whites and watch how smiling is contagious.

While you’re smiling, why not add a dose of laughter? Kind humor goes a long way in healing a downcast attitude. If you can laugh and not take yourself so seriously all the time, you’re bound to increase your optimism.

4. Release Anger and Bitterness

Contrary to conventional wisdom, anger isn’t all bad. It’s only human to feel angry when you’ve been slighted or insulted. It’s how you cope with the emotion that makes the difference.

The ire you experience when you see the injustices of the world is understandable. Often it takes some righteous indignation to make changes for you and others. You can redirect your anger toward something beneficial.

However, chronic anger can deplete your body, mind, and spirit of energy. When anger is stored in your heart, it becomes wrath and bitterness that can destroy you. Holding a grudge will only hurt you overall, not the offender.

Releasing anger and ancient grudges are essential milestones to improve positive thinking. You learn to use anger as a constructive tool rather than a destructive one. Plus, you try to forgive others and get past the offense.

Remember that you’re not excusing offenders when they hurt you. Forgiveness frees your spirit and puts the ball in their court. If you’ve hurt someone, be quick to apologize, make amends, and determine you won’t repeat it.

5. Learn New Things

It’s easy to fall into a pessimistic pit when you’re bored. You do the same old things day in and day out. Instead of living your best life, you merely exist on autopilot. Did you know that your brain craves a challenge? It’s what helps people learn and grow.

You’re hardwired to seek opportunities and creative problem-solving. Are you bored with your simple existence and want to renew joy and excitement in your life? Make it a point to learn or do something new every day. Try to “reinvent” yourself with new hobbies and doing things you’ve always wanted to do.

Do you feel like you’re stuck in a rut and haven’t got the time to broaden your knowledge and skills? Optimistic people may not have the time, but they make it. Learning new things boosts your creativity and helps you to improve positive thinking.

Have you ever wanted to learn a foreign language and do some traveling? Maybe you’ve longed to play a musical instrument or do art and thought you would be good enough. Taking the challenge and following your dreams gives you more confidence to reach higher.

6. Watch the Company You Keep

Human emotions and moods are contagious. Just try to sit around a table of laughing people and not end up laughing yourself. This emotional mirroring is especially true if you are empathetic.

Yes, misery loves company, and pessimists use this point to their advantage. Not only do they have gloom and doom, but they want to share. Chronic pessimists can create a toxic atmosphere that brings down an entire crowd.

If you want to improve positive thinking, then surround yourself with like-minded folks. They are the ones who encourage, inspire, and bring out the best in everybody. When your circle includes optimists, you’re more likely to maintain an optimistic outlook.

Of course, there are some party poopers you must endure. You can’t easily avoid your grumpy employer or disown a nay-saying in-law. However, you can control their influence over you.

Be agreeable with your gloomy boss and try to keep your communications upbeat. Smile and be polite to that irritating in-law and exit the conversation with your first chance. Remember the law of attraction and keep company with those who attract affirmative energy.

Final Thoughts on How to Improve Positive Thinking

Nobody is perfect, and being an optimist is a work in progress. The good news is that optimistic thinking can be cultivated like any other valuable skill. It’s up to you to create your best life and relish it. When you train your brain to think positively, the negative thoughts will fall by the way.

5 Behaviors That Reveal Hidden Mental Health Struggles

November 16, 2021 by Chris Butler

People feel free in today’s society to talk about their medical conditions, such as diabetes, hypertension, and even cancer. However, the stigma around mental health struggles keeps individuals from mentioning bipolar, depression, and anxiety terms. It’s because they feel that mental matters make you weak, but physical problems can be explained.

If only things were so simple regarding mental illness, but many people don’t realize that your brain can become sick and tired just like the rest of your body. You must get the support you need when you’re suffering from a mental matter, as it can save your life. Do you feel confident to talk about troubles that plague your mind?

Many people suffer in silence with mental health struggles, but thankfully, the tide has changed a bit. People are starting to tear away the shame that lingers around mental matters, and they’re beginning to discuss these issues with doctors, friends, and family members. How do you know if you have a mental struggle that you need help with, and do you feel comfortable talking about it with others?

Five Telltale Signs of Hidden Mental Health Struggles

Just like with your physical health, there are times when your mind suffers from being overloaded. No one has any issues talking about burnout, but it’s one of the number one causes of depression and anxiety. When you take on too much for too long, it affects your psyche. Here are five behaviors or signs that indicate that someone might have mental health struggles to address.

1. Social Withdrawal or Isolation

One of the first signs that something is wrong mentally is that you begin to isolate yourself. Nothing good can happen when you stay behind four walls each day and don’t interact with others. While this can develop into a social anxiety disorder, it’s often the case that the person doesn’t want to face the world.

Let’s consider an example. Bonnie is a single parent with two teenage daughters. She works a hectic job trying to pay the bills. She recently lost her mother, who was her best friend. As a result of that trauma, she didn’t want to go out with friends anymore.

Something inside her died that day with her mom, and she was never the same after that period. She felt solace in her bedroom, and she didn’t come out unless she had to go to work. She would reject friends’ requests to join them for dinner or a movie, and she even began ignoring phone calls.

As things progressed, she found it hard to go to the grocery store. Just being inside with all those people sent her panic into a frenzy. She knew she had a problem, but her anxiety told her she was safe as long as she stayed within the confines of her home.

The worst thing in the world is for Bonnie to shut herself off from the outside world. She needed peer support and the guidance of a counselor. By isolating herself, she was only making matters worse. According to the National Library of Medicine, social anxiety can quickly turn into agoraphobia, which would make it nearly impossible for her to leave her home without treatment.

2. Hallucinations or Delusions

Everyday mental health struggles that many people don’t want to discuss are hallucinating or experiencing delusions. There is much confusion around these two occurrences, but they are not the same. A hallucination is seeing, hearing, or even smelling something that isn’t there.

According to the National Library of Medicine, a delusion is a false belief that you think is true. For instance, you can believe that you’re rich and go and write checks on the money you don’t have, but you’re only delusional. Both hallucinations and delusions can occur with many mental concerns such as bipolar disorder, depression, schizophrenia, psychosis, and even some neurological conditions like Parkinson’s disease.

These are severe mental concerns that must be addressed. If you’re seeing, hearing, or believing things that aren’t there or are false, it can get you in a lot of trouble.

3. Extreme Fatigue or No Energy

Fatigue is one of those things that many people visit the doctor for each year. Hundreds of things can cause it, but it’s often labeled depression when doctors cannot find a reason. If you feel like your batteries are drained more often than not, it can be a sign of serious issues. Some of the most common conditions that can cause extreme fatigue include:

Lupus
Cancer
Chronic fatigue syndrome
Rheumatoid arthritis
Multiple sclerosis
Depression
Anxiety
Sleep disorders or sleep apnea

The exhaustion that you feel may be an external sign of an internal problem. For instance, if you feel like it’s all you can do to get out of bed in the morning and take a shower, it’s a sign that something is amiss. Unless there’s a justifiable reason for you to feel tired, then it’s often linked to mental health struggles.

Additionally, fighting a battle like cancer when you’re going through detoxing the body can affect you mentally and physically. You’re a unique person that is comprised of mind, body, and spirit. When your physical being is sick, it’s also going to affect your mental wellbeing in ways that you may not understand.

4. Suicidal Thoughts

The emergency rooms across America saw an increase of 23 percent of people who tried to commit suicide in the summer of 2020. A startling report by the CDC shows that even the younger generation is struggling. If you have any thoughts of harming yourself or someone else, you must get help.

You should never feel ashamed of the feelings you’re having. The real shame is not getting treatment. Many people don’t understand that most folks don’t wake up one day and want to take their life, but it’s a progression that stems from feeling helpless and hopeless. There are many degrees of depression, and one person can feel blue, but they can still function and go to work.

However, some depressive folks cannot get out of bed or even get into the shower, as it just takes too much effort. If you ever think about taking your life or the life of someone else in your pangs of depression, you need to talk to someone and get the support you need. It’s a more common problem than what you think.

The goal is to get you to a better place mentally to address the underlying mental health struggles that have led you to this point. You can have issues like post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia, bipolar, or a major depressive disorder driving these thoughts and feelings.

5. Substance Abuse

When the pain of life is too much to bear, many people turn to drugs and alcohol to ease their angst. What started as one drink to take the edge off has now turned into a whole bottle. Soon, you will find that you can’t sleep, work, or even function without the numbing effects of alcohol in your system.

Many people try to hide their substance abuse issues, as their condition isolates them, and feel ashamed and alone. However, more than 20 million people in this country with a substance abuse disorder, according to statistics from the National Center for Drug Abuse Statistics. Why do so many people try to self-medicate the pain away, as it’s ineffective?

If you find that you’re drinking or taking drugs to get through the day, you need the support of friends and family. It would help if you also had a treatment center to handle a dual diagnosis like mental health issues and substance abuse. There’s no shame in having a problem, but the real issue is when you allow it to spiral out of control and don’t get the help you need.

Final Thoughts on Mental Health Struggles

Life is complicated, and even on the best days, there are times when you want to throw the cover over your head and stay in bed. However, you must have healthy coping skills to be able to handle whatever comes your way. No one’s life is a bed of roses, and one of the major issues that bring people down is trying to keep up with their neighbors or family members.

You need to learn to love and accept yourself for who and what you are in this life. If you find that life has dealt you an unfair hand that you struggle to handle, there’s always someone that can help. There are both online support groups as well as those that meet in person. Plus, the awareness of hidden mental health struggles in this country is becoming front-page news.

Folks struggle to make it, and the need to toss out the stigma that your brain can’t be sick needs to go. It’s not a sign of weakness to have a mental illness, but it’s a shame that many don’t feel strong enough to ask someone for help.

5 Reasons Hostility Exists In The World (And 5 Ways to Fix It)

November 15, 2021 by Chris Butler

Anger, hostility, and aggressiveness aren’t healthy for you or the world around you. These emotions have gotten people into trouble and caused a lot of damage to the world. Perhaps you’ve been around a hostile person and experienced their anger. If so, you may have wondered why people today are so angry. There are many reasons hostility exists in the world, but here are xx and five ways to fix it.

Health risks related to anger and hostility

Regular angry outbursts of anger, hostility, and aggressiveness contribute to health problems. Health risks, such as

Coronary Heart Disease(CHD): This heart problem is more significant in people who respond in anger or hostility.
Coronary atherosclerosis Disease (CAD): There’s a correlation between anger and hostility and increased risk of CAD
Hypertension: Angry expressions and negativity can contribute to hypertension.
Bulimia: Negative emotions are a cause of bulimia. The tendency towards perfectionism, neuroticism, and obsessive-compulsive behavior is impulsive and wants special attention. Researchers suggest that anger increases if there isn’t the expected attention, resulting in binge eating and vomiting.
Type 2 Diabetes: Although there was no overall angry trait and the risk of diabetes, people with higher levels of anger had a greater chance of getting diabetes than those who had lower levels of anger. This might stem from nervous overeating and weight gain due to the stress.
Risk of a car accident: If you are prone to hostility and anger, you are more likely to be in a road accident. Angry drives take aggressive and dangerous risks.

What’s the difference between anger and hostility?

Knowing the difference between these two emotions provides valuable insight into the root causes.

Anger

Rage is an emotion almost everyone feels. Anger tells your body to get ready to fight. When you’re angry, your blood pressure goes up, your heart beats faster, and you start to take quick breaths. Anger may be a positive driving force behind your actions, but it could be a more profound symptom of something else.

Hostility

Anger left unchecked can turn into hostility or aggressive behavior. It’s an attitude of being ready to fight anyone and anything. Hostile individuals may be impatient, stubborn, and have a defensive mindset. They may get into fights or hit things, or talk about pounding someone. Hostility isolates and keeps people at arms’ length.

5 Reasons Hostility Exists In The World (And 5 Ways to Fix It)

Now that you recognize the problem, what can you do?

1 – Overwork causes hostility

Feeling overworked can make you feel tired and irritated. Over time, you may struggle with anger at your boss or co-workers. Anger left unchecked may turn into hostility. You can become a hostile person. Here are some signs of hostility at work:

Public shaming
Verbal or non-verbal aggression or anger
Encouraging unhealthy competition
Scapegoating
Gossiping
Bullying
Unfriendly

If you or someone you know is being hostile at work, it may be time to pull back and get some help to deal with the hostility.

2 – Social isolation

Social isolation is solitude that is unwanted and unhealthy. People who are socially isolated don’t have close friends, family, or co-workers. They may suffer from anxiety and anger about their isolation. There are warning signs that someone is isolated. These people may

Avoid social interactions
Act unfriendly in social settings
Cancel social plans last minute
Feel anxiety or panic when they need to be socially engaged
Feel sad or distressed when they’re alone
Spend lots of time alone with little to no contact with others

People who are socially isolated are prone to feelings of depression and anger. If they don’t resolve these feelings, they can become hostile toward people they do come in contact with. If you feel socially isolated, be sure to get help to deal with your anger.

3 – Traffic and long commutes can create hostility

Long commutes and heavy traffic take a toll. It’s stressful to sit in traffic after working all day. If you’re prone to anger, you have a higher risk of getting into a car accident. If you have a long commute every day, try to let go of your anger, so you don’t end up acting negatively on the road.

4 – Watching too much news

News media sites broadcast 24/7 news reporting disasters, murders, and crises around the world. The shock factor is accurate, and it draws in viewers. Your brain absorbs this adverse reporting. The stress pushes your nervous system into a fight-or-flight mode as your body churns out cortisol and adrenaline. Negative programming affects your mood and can lead you to feel angry and fearful. They found that watching television news for just 14 minutes can increase feelings of sadness and anxiety. The negativity of the information combined with people’s life troubles weighed them down.

5 – Hostility may come from family strife

Some families are hostile in the way they interact. The parents may scream at the kids, who then vent frustration to the point of hostility. If you grew up in this type of family, you might struggle with anger and hostility in how you relate to your family. You may find it difficult to talk through issues without becoming a hostile person. Breaking the chain of hostility isn’t easy, but acknowledging the pattern of hostility you grew up with is the first step. Once you realize it, you can change how you relate to your family.

5 Ways to Fix Our Hostility and Anger

Of course, fixing anger and hostility won’t go away overnight. But there are ways to reduce the irritation in your life.

1 – Don’t vent anger or hostility–distract it

You may have been told to punch your pillow when you were angry, and you’d feel better. Guess what? Venting anger doesn’t reduce it but intensifies the emotion. Holding in your feelings of anger isn’t a good idea either. Believe it or not, one of the best ways to fix your anger is to distract yourself and think about something else. Because your brain can’t think about too many things at once, thinking about something else can take away your brain’s ability to dwell on being angry. Distracting yourself from a problematic mental task can help you get rid of bad feelings.

2 – Reappraise the situation

When you reappraise a situation, you tell yourself a different story about why you’re feeling angry. For instance, if someone frantically cuts you off in traffic, you feel mad at the person. But if you find out that this person’s child just went to the hospital, you’d respond differently to their crazy driving. The situation is the same, but the story you tell yourself now doesn’t make you feel angry. It’s thought that if something makes you feel angry that you can reappraise the situation to resist getting angry. Instead, tell yourself something like

Their reaction isn’t about me. That person is having a terrible day!

3 – Get rid of the “shoulds”

When you set up standards for how you think other people should act, you can feel frustrated when they don’t perform in the way you expected. You may not realize you’re doing this in your relationships until you get angry and talk about what people should have done. Here are some should you may say that is making you an unfriendly person and increasing your hostility. Avoid saying:

He should be nicer
They should say hi to me when I see them in the morning.
She should have done a better job.
He should treat his parents better.
He should be more loving to his wife.
I should get more respect from my kids.

If your expectations about how other people should live their life are causing you to get angry and hostile, it’s time to let go of these expectations.

4 – Strict goal setting

Goal setting is good. But if you get angry when you don’t each your goals, it may be time to ease up on those goals. Be sure you’re setting realistic goals. Feeling the need to put extreme plans may not be the best for your mental health. Reassure yourself that even small reachable goals are reasonable. No dream is worth becoming a hostile person.

5 – Finding faith to get rid of anger and hostility

Usually, your anger means you’re worried about losing things you love, like your reputation, getting your time infringed upon, or not getting the respect from your spouse you think you deserve. Basically, some of your anger may stem from the fact that you love yourself more than you should. It’s an age-old problem for all human beings. In ancient texts, it’s called sin or wrongdoing. According to some religions, you can ask God to forgive you and to ask him to help you get rid of your anger and hostility.

Final thoughts on shedding hostility and making the world a kinder place

Hostility and anger can be detrimental to your health. These emotions damage friendships and family relationships. If you believe you might be a hostile person, you can change. Hopefully, these five ways will help you find the path for better mental health and healing from hostility and anger in your life.

Melting Ice in Greenland Raises Alarms for Flooding

November 15, 2021 by Kristen Lawrence

New research by the University of Leeds found that Greenland’s rapidly melting ice raises global flood risks. In the past forty years, the world’s ice sheets have disappeared at alarming rates due to climate change. The increasing intensity and frequency of ice melting events raise sea level and flood concerns worldwide.

Scientists have documented the loss of three and 3.5 metric tonnes of ice from Greenland’s surface in the past ten years. All that ice melted into the ocean, which could theoretically engulf the UK with about fifteen meters of water. It could also swamp the whole city of New York with 4500 meters of melted ice.

The study by the University of Leeds marks the first to observe ice sheet runoff from space using satellite data. The journal Nature Communications published these findings on November 1, 2021.

The team discovered that Greenland’s melting ice increased by 21% throughout the past forty years. Additionally, they found that the meltwater runoff behaves 60% more erratically from one summer to the next. The scientists say this variability results from widespread fluctuations in atmospheric circulation due to global warming.

What the Expert Says

Lead author Dr. Thomas Slater, a Research Fellow in the Centre for Polar Observation and Modeling at the University of Leeds, said the following:

“As we’ve seen with other parts of the world, Greenland is also vulnerable to an increase in extreme weather events. As our climate warms, it’s reasonable to expect that the instances of extreme melting in Greenland will happen more often — observations such as these are an important step in helping us to improve climate models and better predict what will happen this century.”

The European Space Agency (ESA) funded the research in its Polar+ Surface Mass Balance Feasibility project. They obtained measurements from the ESA’s CryoSat-2 satellite mission for the study.

Melting Ice in Greenland Raises Flood Concerns Worldwide

Their research revealed that global sea levels had risen one cm during the past decade due to melting ice from Greenland. One-third of this sea level rise occurred in the scorching summers of 2012 and 2019 alone. Scorching weather shattered previous ice melting records, marking the worst melting events in the past forty years.

Global sea level rise caused by melting ice raises concerns about coastal flooding and food insecurity. Many indigenous communities depend on marine ecosystems in the Arctic Ocean, but melting ice could disrupt food chains. Additionally, ice loss could alter ocean and atmospheric circulation patterns, which would impact global weather.

In the last ten years, meltwater runoff from Greenland averaged around 357 billion tonnes per year. In 2012, melting ice broke a new record at 527 billion tonnes. Atmospheric pattern changes led to hot air sitting over the majority of the ice sheet. The 2012 average amounted to over twice the 2017 runoff levels of 247 billion tonnes.

Experts say that extreme weather events have caused these large-scale fluctuations in melting ice. Heatwaves continue to the intensity and occur more frequently, leading to massive ice loss worldwide, especially in Greenland. In fact, studies have shown that the Arctic is warming three times faster than the rest of the planet. Even more worrisome, it rained on the island for the first time in recorded history this past summer.

Dr. Slater said: “There are, however, reasons to be optimistic. We know that setting and meeting meaningful targets to cut emissions could reduce ice losses from Greenland by a factor of three, and there is still time to achieve this.”

How Satellites Will Improve Data on Melting Ice

The scientists said Greenland’s melting ice observations from space could help make climate models more accurate. Better simulations of ice sheet melting will improve predictions on sea level rise moving forward. As Greenland’s ice continues to disappear, it’s crucial to understand how it will impact extreme weather.

Study co-author Dr. Amber Leeson, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Data Science at Lancaster University, said:

“Model estimates suggest that the Greenland ice sheet will contribute between about 3 and 23 cm to global sea level rise by 2100. This prediction has a wide range, in part because of uncertainties associated with simulating complex ice melt processes, including those associated with extreme weather. These new spaceborne estimates of runoff will help us to understand these complex ice melt processes better, improve our ability to model them, and thus enable us to refine our estimates of future sea level rise.”

Lastly, the research proves that satellites can instantly provide accurate estimates of melting ice in the summer months. The findings solidify scientists’ efforts to enhance Greenland’s hydropower output. It also includes support for Europe’s launch of the CRISTAL mission, the successor of CryoSat-2. The European Space Agency plans to launch the mission in 2027 to “measure and monitor sea-ice thickness, overlying snow depth, and ice-sheet elevations.”

ESA’s CryoSat mission manager, Tommaso Parrinello, said:

“Since it was launched over 11 years ago, CryoSat has yielded a wealth of information about our rapidly changing polar regions. This remarkable satellite remains key to scientific research and the indisputable facts, such as these findings on meltwater runoff, that are so critical to decision-making on the health of our planet.

“Looking further to the future, the Copernicus Sentinel Expansion mission CRISTAL will ensure that Earth’s vulnerable ice will be monitored in the coming decades. In the meantime, it is imperative that CryoSat remains in orbit for as long as possible to reduce the gap before these new Copernicus missions are operational.”

Final thoughts on how scientists measured melting ice from space for the first time

Prior studies on melting ice have used regional climate models to provide estimates. University of Leeds researchers utilized satellite data to produce concrete measurements on Greenland’s meltwater runoff for the first time. They found that in the past forty years, runoff increased by 21%, much of this occurring in the last decade.

Current models show that melting icebergs in Greenland alone could lead to a 3-23 cm rise in global sea levels by 2100. This flooding would devastate islands and coastal cities around the world. However, scientists remain optimistic that we can curb the worst effects of climate change by reducing emissions.

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Health risks related to anger and hostility

What’s the difference between anger and hostility?

Anger

Hostility

5 Reasons Hostility Exists In The World (And 5 Ways to Fix It)

1 – Overwork causes hostility

2 – Social isolation

3 – Traffic and long commutes can create hostility

4 – Watching too much news

5 – Hostility may come from family strife

5 Ways to Fix Our Hostility and Anger

1 – Don’t vent anger or hostility–distract it

2 – Reappraise the situation

3 – Get rid of the “shoulds”

4 – Strict goal setting

5 – Finding faith to get rid of anger and hostility

Final thoughts on shedding hostility and making the world a kinder place

What the Expert Says

Melting Ice in Greenland Raises Flood Concerns Worldwide

How Satellites Will Improve Data on Melting Ice

ESA’s CryoSat mission manager, Tommaso Parrinello, said:

Final thoughts on how scientists measured melting ice from space for the first time

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