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On previous entries we explored the fascinating area of psychoneuroimmunology.
Very simply this field shows, that by focusing on negative emotions, we depress our immune system making illness more likely.
Every day right around the world, many people are off work due to colds or flu's – I often wondered particularly in recurring cases, whether or not this was a statement about their frame of mind.
New research from Carnegie Mellon University may provide the answer.
Sheldon Cohen, Ph.D., professor of psychology at Carnegie Mellon University, gave 400 people a questionnaire designed to quantify the amount of stress they were under. He then exposed them to nose drops containing cold viruses. About 90 percent of the stressed subjects (versus 74 percent of those not under stress) caught a cold. He found they had elevated levels of corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRY).
"That is likely the physical explanation why people under stress are more likely to catch a cold,” contends Dr Cohen.
All in all it is unlikely that paracetomal will solve the problem in the long term.
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 02:52 PM | Comments (0)
Nature exists but need not limit.
"Nature is what we were put on the world to rise above."
Katharine Hepburn in The African Queen
Laughter is the best medicine!
"A merry heart doeth good like a medicine."
Proverb
You are always right...in your world!
"Those who lack courage will always find a philosophy to justify it."
Albert Camus
Failure = Feedback
"Out of the two hundred light bulbs that didnt work, every failure told me something that I was able to incorporate into the next attempt."
Thomas Edison
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 09:52 AM | Comments (0)
Life is a cocktail and we have got to get the mix right!
Unhappy at work, ecstatic at home?
Unhappy at home, ecstatic at work?
As work and relationships are two of the biggest ingredients in our cocktail, both scenarios are highly unlikely – the negative energy in one is likely to spill over to the other.
A recent study conducted by Patricia Voydanoff of the University of Dayton, published in the Journal of Adolescent Research highlighted the dangers of negative work stress to your family’s development.
Parents who are short-tempered due to work stress, parents who send more negative messages to their family members because of problems at work, parents who are dismissive of their children's calls for affection because they are poisoned by the negative energy at work, are parents whose kids struggle in school and life.
The study focused in on how parent’s work, use of time, parenting behavior and stress impact their children's grades in school and problem behaviors.
Interestingly enough, no connection was found between parental time at work and the child’s grades and behavior.
The implication – spending quality time as opposed to watching the clock is what’s important in the context of the child’s development.
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 10:13 AM | Comments (0)
When asked what was the secret to her long and healthy life, ninety years old Delia, a keen bridge enthusiast answered, " I never entertain a negative thought."
Nine decades of wisdom in one sentence.
Take the Delia challenge today!
Meanwhile always remember it is never too late to learn:
"He never comes to school late. He never disobeys. He wears his uniform."
Jane Obinchu, head mistress of Kenya's Kapkenduiywa Primary School where 84 year old Nganga Maruge enrolled in first grade after the government said primary education would be free.
(As reported on Time Magazine.)
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 08:58 AM | Comments (0)
Yes, there is no such thing as reality, only our interpretation of it.
This is the reason why two people can see the exact same movie and come out with two different reactions.
The more we develop, the more we journey - the more we see the world as it truly is - one of unlimited possibilities.
This formed the basis of my presentation yesterday to Accord.
One participant shared the following two quotes to back up my belief:
"You dont see things as they are, you see things as you are."
Talmud
"You dont see whats in front of your eyes, you see whats behind you."
Chinese Proverb
Thus conflict is the byproduct of seeing through different eyes.
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 10:11 AM | Comments (1)
A recent meeting with a sales person motivated me to write the following entry!
This is what I expect form a professional sales person.
Energy
Enthusiasm
Empathy – the ability to walk in the other person's shoes – the ability to be able to listen/ be the silent witness etc.
Clarity – the person knows what they are offering and what’s different about it. Difference sells and get attention.
Remember people are hit with thousands of marketing messages a day. To get through this clutter the sales message must be different and…
Their offering must meet and exceed your expectations.
Recently, Frances, the contractor who built my house came by and asked what was I doing. When I gave the habitual response –“ not too much” he said “ you don’t mind if I paint your front door, it looks terrible!” This was one of the jobs we had not completed at that time. Was I impressed? Yes.
Presence - Congruence.
If I want to commission a motivational speaker for my meeting I was someone who has set daring goals, who has taken risks; yes I want someone who truly lives their philosophies.
Honesty which comes with congruence.
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 09:26 AM | Comments (1)
Heart patients who have someone close to confide in are less likely to suffer another cardiac attack; this is the result of a new study released this week.
Doctors at Manchester Royal Infirmary studied the habits of 600 people and monitored them for a year after they had a heart attack.
Their report says a close relationship with a lover, friend or relative can halve the risk of additional heart attacks.
This correlation remained in place regardless of the severity of the original heart attack and other risk factors.
Almost three quarters of the patients, with an average age of 60, were men.
Those without a close relationship were more likely to drink heavily, use illegal drugs, and to have had at least one previous heart attack before admission to hospital.
The importance of friendships, as highlighted on many previous entries should never be underestimated.
Also the belief that we are all one – interdependent, helps build better communities both at work and at play.
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 10:06 AM | Comments (0)
“Words are a symbol of your mental experience.” Aristotle
Have you ever been in conversation with someone who no matter what you spoke about managed to direct it to a negative conclusion?
Last week, I had such an opportunity. The weather was fantastic; a beautiful twenty seven degrees during the day, but the person was absolutely horrified at how cold it was at night. Their physiology was totally congruent!
When we moved the subject on to local success stories, the anticipated “yes, but!” was the order of the day.
Can we tell anything about this person from their consistent choice of words?
Do you know anyone who complains a lot about other people? If you listen attentively to their analysis of the annoying person, oftentimes they are describing themselves!
Are people who express gratitude, compassion, support and love more likely to live a life less limiting than others whose vocabularys in the main are negative?
Drawing on our recent research into the pysychology of gratitude and other areas - I think so.
So what is the message – watch your words – if you are looking for the real you, analyse your words for the day.
“Inherent in a tiny seed is the great banyan tree” is an old Hindu saying.
Your words are the seeds!
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 09:39 AM | Comments (0)
We have all experienced in our life the immeasurable calm that comes from immersing yourself in nature – it has always appeared that nature has the capacity to heal.
Recent research from Frances Kuo and her colleagues from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign has shown that “nature heals” is no myth – it is reality.
One study focused on children with attention deficit disorder. Parents of the 7- to 12-year-olds in that study reported less severe attention difficulties when their kids had spent playtime in a natural area, rather than other settings. The greener a child's play area, the less severe the attention problems, the data showed.
A complementary study, using subjects who were enlisted through the Internet, found that nature could exert its positive effect on a broad population of youngsters with attention-deficit problems. The benefits were detected in kids from 5 to 18 years old, in boys as well as girls, in every income bracket studied, across all ranges of symptom severity, and for children with a variety of co-occurring behavioral problems, Kuo said.
Also, the effect was found not just in big cities - where a patch of green can be a novelty - but in rural areas. "We found it pretty much everywhere we looked," Kuo said. The study's publication is pending in the American Journal of Public Health.
I cant but remember my own childhood where the direction from my parents was very simple – “get out the back and enjoy the fresh air!”
Kuo said people should experiment with daily doses of greenery. "We're seeing that amazingly you can detect effects even after not very much exposure. Even 20 minutes in a somewhat green place seems to be better than the same 20 minutes indoors."
Go for green today!
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 08:39 AM | Comments (0)
A belated Happy Easter to all!
I finally got a chance to see the much publicised movie “Passion of Christ” recently.
In recent entries, the power of the media was explored.
To recap, we argued that if you are sitting hypnotic like in front of a television for long periods of time on a regular basis, you can expect to see its influence surface over time.
In the context of “The Passion of Christ” – the movie, I believe we were shown just how powerful this medium is.
I have heard the story many, many times but I have to see I really have never truly sensed the pain, the agony.
I obviously knew that Jesus forgave his oppressors from the cross, but never truly realised how difficult that could be.
After the movie, you felt the pain and were inspired by Jesus ability to forgive after what he had gone through. His story challenges us to embrace the paradigm that life is a journey of forgiveness and more.
As the church struggles to satisfy its audience worldwide, it is ironic in a way that Hollywood has managed to deliver their message with impact.
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 10:52 AM | Comments (0)
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 01:58 PM | Comments (0)
As a speaker, it is imperative to honour all the different learning styles of your audience while executing a presentation. Visual aids, your own voice, background barely audible music, and various exercises should help you reach most of your audience.
At a retail level, window displays and shop layouts, advice and reassurance from the customer service personnel, background soothing music and the ability to try out a potential purchase, all help to create the right atmosphere conducive for the sale!
But now according to the New Scientist magazine, it is likely that marketers will go one step further to deliver you to the cash register – or should I say cannon you!
In the likely store of the future, an "air cannon" will track you as you walk around and then puff a smell at your nostrils –fresh coffee, luxury perfume, newly-baked bread, grilling meat, for instance - in the hope of prompting you to make a purchase.
It is so accurate, according to its inventors, that it can target a single individual while someone just 50 centimetres away will smell nothing.
The aiming is directed by a camera, which follows the target's eyes and delivers a sniper's shot of smell a couple of centimeters lower in order to place the molecules right under the nose.
The "cannon" was invented by scientists at the Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute in Kyoto, Japan.
Though there appears to be a few obstacles in its path, ie legal and health issues, the question is how far will we go to get that extra euro!
Posted by Kevin Kelly at 10:15 AM | Comments (0)