• Overcoming Depression

    Identifying Depression
    Depression, like most mental illness runs the continuum of severity. It can be mild or major. It can last from weeks to months. It can involve anxiety symptoms as well. Depression is primarily characterized by sadness and/or loss of pleasure in nearly all activities. Additionally, there may be symptoms such as changes in appetite, sleep patterns, and psychomotor activity (changes in both mental and physical responsiveness and/or activity).

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    A depressed person may struggle with feelings of low self worth, recurrent thoughts of dying, as well as difficulty concentrating or making decisions. In children and adolescents the mood is often manifested as irritability rather than sadness. Some people may deny having feelings of sadness; instead they may report feeling numb or having no feelings at all.

    Taking Action
    First, it is important to look at how severely one’s functioning may be impaired. If the person’s level of functioning has been significantly impaired, i.e. they are having difficulty performing their daily routine, seek professional help immediately. A trip to the family doctor to rule out any medical conditions that might be causing the mood disorder is a good place to start.

    Second, assess whether there have been any significant changes in circumstances, relationships etc. that may be contributing to the depression.

    Third, if your loved one indicates they have a plan or intentions to harm themselves, take action immediately to get help. Call a mental health professional that you have been referred to by a reliable source or check your phone book for community mental health services.

    Don’t Wait – Get Help
    One of the biggest reasons people do not seek help is the shame they feel about having a mental illness. The reality is that our minds are vulnerable to illness just like our bodies. There is no shame in developing the flu or some other medical condition, so why is there with the mind? Those who avoid seeking help because of the shame they feel only languish longer than necessary.

    Are you tired of motivating people or staying motivated? Start seeing motivation like never before concept with a single shift in perspective.

    The Ultimate Book of Motivation will help you:
    • Take responsibility for your life
    • Be unstoppable on the face of failure
    • Turn self-defeating thoughts around
    • Change your outlook on life
    • Motivate anyone to do anything

    Buy The Ultimate Book of Motivation to start motivating today.

    How Counseling Can Help
    A counselor can help a person gain perspective about their illness; resolve problems that may be contributing to the depression and assist the person in developing coping skills.

    However, in addition to counseling, depending on the severity of the depression, medication may also be a treatment option. You can discuss this with your counselor, who could then refer you to a psychiatrist to prescribe and manage the necessary medication.

    Relief is available for difficulties that plague our minds. It is truly the wise that seek out the help, wisdom and counsel of those whom God has equipped to facilitate the healing of the mind.

  • Have You Checked Your Self-Talk Lately?

    Did you know that you talk to yourself all day long? No, not the mental chatter about activities and chores that you need to remember throughout the day. That’s a form of self-talk too, but I’m referring more to the things you say to yourself on a regular basis; and more importantly, the tone in which you say them.

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    When you make a mistake, do you berate yourself angrily? Do you put yourself down or call yourself derogatory names? When you have a hard time making positive changes in your life, do you bemoan what a “worthless” person you are and conclude that you’ll never do anything right?

    Negative self-talk can be incredibly damaging to your self-esteem, especially if it’s a big part of your daily life. When you keep saying things like that to yourself, eventually you begin to believe them!

    Most often these messages begin as statements uttered by the adults in your life when you were a child. They may have said something negative about you when your actions displeased them, or perhaps they had a habit of saying unkind things even when you didn’t deserve it. As painful as these experiences can be, even worse is when you pick up where they left off and keep repeating the same negative messages to yourself over and over!

    The good news is that you can change your self-talk any time you want. You just have to know how to become aware of the tone of your messages and consciously replace them with more encouraging ones.

    Would you like to tap into your full potential? Discover the 99 questions that can help you realize the superhuman in you.

    This workbook will help you:

    • Discover your latent talents and hidden strengths
    • Learn how to create instant emotions of happiness and abundance
    • Improve every area of your life
    • Tap into unlimited source of power
    • Create a future you like

    99 Questions to Self is a comprehensive self-development workbook. If you like modern, practical, and interactive books, then you’ll love Manhardeep Singh’s self-help workbook.

    Buy 99 Questions to Self to start your journey of self-discovery today!

    Try these simple steps for starters:

    1) Develop awareness of your self-talk. It may take practice, but if you keep “listening” in to your inner voice, you’ll begin to notice when you talk negatively to yourself.

    2) Challenge the negative messages. When you notice yourself saying something negative such as, “You’re such a screw-up, you can’t do anything right” – stop yourself and challenge that belief. Is that really true? Maybe you mess up sometimes, but do you ALWAYS mess up? Probably not.

    3) Replace the negative messages with positive messages. When you realize you’re saying unkind and untrue things to yourself, simply turn it around in your mind. Using the above example, you might say, “Wow, that’s not true at all! I do plenty of things right. It’s true I make mistakes, but so does everyone. I’m a good person and I try my best. That’s good enough for me.”

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    Over time, your efforts will pay off in the form of stronger self-esteem and respect for yourself and your capabilities. It probably won’t happen overnight, but the more you work at turning your self-talk in a more positive direction, the better you’ll feel about yourself.

  • Boost Your Leadership Skills By Disciplining Yourself In The Way Of The Question Mark

    I’m often asked to come in to organizations and give a motivational speech to their employees. I reply that I’m not a motivational speaker. Never have been. Never will be. Don’t want to be. I do something else. I teach their people how to become motivational leaders. That’s a far more productive endeavor.

    The concept and application of motivation are misunderstood in most organizations. The motivational industry is based on a fundamental contradiction; because the focus of motivation is misplaced. After all, leaders (salespeople included) should be motivated. If they aren’t, they shouldn’t be leaders.

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    Here’s where the focus should be: not on the leaders themselves but on the people they lead. Can those leaders transfer their motivation to other people so those people are as motivated as they are about the challenges they face?

    Furthermore: Can those people who “catch” the motivation of their leaders then go out and motivate others — and those others go out themselves and motivate still others … and on and on?

    Finally, can people at each phase of this “cascading of cause leaders” translate motivation into action that achieves results — and not just average results but more results faster on a continual basis?

    I have written many articles on motivation and how to transfer your motivation to others.

    But there is another way of transforming your motivation to others that doesn’t take much explaining. It’s surprisingly simple, easy to use, and effective. Yet few leaders I’ve encountered use it, and those who use it, don’t use it well.

    It’s the Way of the Question Mark. A “way” is a course of life one undertakes to advance in a particular discipline.

    So it is with the Way of the Question Mark. It is not simply a technique; you’ll find it is actually a disciplined course of life. (I’ve been using it for years and am still a long way from mastering it. Because the question mark is often particularly appropriate in a highly charged emotional situation. However, in such situations, when strong emotions are getting the better of me, it takes practice and discipline to step back, gather my thoughts, and ask a question.)

    Are you tired of motivating people or staying motivated? Start seeing motivation like never before concept with a single shift in perspective.

    The Ultimate Book of Motivation will help you:
    • Take responsibility for your life
    • Be unstoppable on the face of failure
    • Turn self-defeating thoughts around
    • Change your outlook on life
    • Motivate anyone to do anything

    Buy The Ultimate Book of Motivation to start motivating today.

    Practicing the Way of the Question Mark can enhance your relationships with the people you lead so you get a lot more results as a leader.

    From now on in all your leadership endeavors, make a conscious effort to put a question mark at what would otherwise be declarative sentences.

    Asking the question rather than using a declarative is usually more effective because it gets people reflecting upon their situation. We can’t motivate anyone to do anything. They have to motivate themselves. And they best motivate themselves when they reflect on their character and their situation. The question prompts people to answer, and when they are answering, they may engage in such reflection. You may not like the answer; but often their answer, no matter what it is, is better in terms of advancing results than your declaration. Also, their answering the question may prompt them to think they have come up with a good idea. People are less enamored of your great ideas than they are of their ideas, even if those ideas are simply average.

    For instance, your organization needs to have people to from point A to point B. An order leader might say, “Go from A to B.”

    Practicing the Way, one might ask: “Tell me what you think about going from A to B?” or “What’s the best way for you to go from A to B?” or “Tell me how I can support you going from A to B?” or “How will you take leadership of others going from A to B?”

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    Mind you, I’m not talking about pandering to people’s whims. I’m talking motivation, motivating people to get more results faster on a continual basis. (In fact, you can’t order people to get more results faster continually. Only motivated people can do it.) I’m talking about challenging people to undertake extraordinary things, to be better than they think they are.

    The question mark, as opposed to the simple declarative, opens up a world of results-producing possibilities. And it’s a world predicated on their choices.

    Make the Way of the Question Mark your way. Discipline yourself to ask questions rather than make statements. You’ll start getting more results.

  • 20 Essential Traits Needed For All Sales Executives

    It has long been my conviction that the dominant factor in success is the set of mental habits possessed by the individual. Of no vocation is this truer than that of the salesman. “As a man thinketh . . .” applies to him in an all-important way. The techniques and skills, methods of approach, demonstration and closing are matters of demanding study and practice.

    These things are cold, mechanical, wooden and ineffective except as they are warmed, energized and implemented by the dynamics of a positive personality. A positive personality is never found apart from deep conviction, genuine belief in the fundamentals, the “copybook virtues” known and honored by men and women of character in all generations.

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    This conviction was strengthened in me some time ago when there came to hand a report of a questionnaire circulated among the members of a Sales Executives Club. These men and women are “top brass” in the sales departments of big business. They have responsibility for the distribution of their firm’s product; have in some cases hundreds, even thousands, of sales managers and salesmen under their guidance and direction. The recruitment, training and management of these forces are their daily concern.

    The question asked to these sales executives was: What are the qualities or traits of character you value most in salesmen? This is the list they offered, the traits being stated in the order of importance attached to them by these sales executives. There is food for thought here. Note for instance that “persuasiveness” is toward the end of the list. Most people would list the art of persuasion as perhaps synonymous with salesmanship but according to these sales executives there are other more import traits, they are listed below.

    1. Dependability was chosen as the most important.

    2. Integrity was next. With this trait the salesman is incapable either of being false to the trust his company places in him or to the real interests of his customer.

    3. Knowledge of product is one of the three fundamentals of success in the field of selling.

    4. Self Time-management Perhaps no vocation gives a man a greater degree of latitude. He must be a good “boss” for himself and exact a high degree of self-discipline for selling.

    5. Work organization is efficiency in self-management. Much of a salesman’s time is wasted by the prospect. He must guard the balance and make every minute count.

    6. Sincerity excludes falsification of every shade. It must be real, few can “pretend” with success.

    7. Initiative is the salesman’s spark plug.

    8. Industriousness is devotion to the job, never being unemployed during work hours.

    9. Acceptance of responsibility for the car, for the sales material, records, samples and above all for the company’s good name and the customer’s good will.

    10. Understanding of buyer motives this being another of the big three fundamentals of selling.

    Are you tired of motivating people or staying motivated? Start seeing motivation like never before concept with a single shift in perspective.

    The Ultimate Book of Motivation will help you:
    • Take responsibility for your life
    • Be unstoppable on the face of failure
    • Turn self-defeating thoughts around
    • Change your outlook on life
    • Motivate anyone to do anything

    Buy The Ultimate Book of Motivation to start motivating today.

    11. Sales ethics. No longer is the slogan “caveat emptor” (let the buyer beware) but “caveat vendator” (let the seller beware).

    12. Judgment is not inherited. It can be developed as a habit. Logic is a subject that should be a “must” for sales people.

    13. Care of health, mental, physical, spiritual, financial.

    14. Courtesy is more than politeness. It is consideration for others, deference to their opinions, their rank, their sex, their age.

    15. Determination is a dogged adherence to a carefully worked out and settled program and purpose. The will to carry through. Unwillingness to compromise with anything less than your best performance.

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    16. Aggressiveness requires self-confidence and the language of assurance in all interviews. It is pressure applied without offensiveness.

    17. Friendliness involves feeling of warmth, a positive type of cordiality that does not involve back-slapping or wise-cracking.

    18. Resourcefulness. Wide knowledge, curiosity, retentive memory, wide-awakeness. Quick thinking in the clinches.

    19. Persuasiveness goes beyond the realm of reasoning, an appeal to feelings, desires, and emotions.

    20. Appreciation of selling as a profession and as the road to personal success. Awareness of the fact that the field of “distribution” offers more in money, satisfaction, opportunity for service, and personal growth in all of the inner virtues and faculties than any other calling, especially more than anything in the field of “production.”

  • The Path to Happiness

    Happiness is something that so many people strive for each day and yet many times it eludes them. Often, they feel that happiness can be theirs if only their situations were different. Have you ever felt like that?

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    So often we get caught up in what I call the “if only’s”. If only my husband were nicer to me. If only I had a better job. If only the children were grown and out of the house. The list can go on and on.

    We can waste so much of our precious time dreaming of the “if only’s”. So many people fall into this trap and end up miserable most of their lives.

    The problem is that they are looking for happiness to come to them somehow. As if it were something that could be possessed. When happiness does happen to come it seems so fleeting that it quickly passes away.

    People erroneously think that happiness is just a feeling like some passing fancy. I am here to tell you that happiness is not a feeling, it can be a way of life. Happiness can be yours on a daily basis if you will only follow some basic principles.

    First, you must live in the NOW. Yesterday is gone and tomorrow is not promised to us so you need to be present in the now.

    Secondly, you must control your thinking and the thoughts that pass through your mind. Happiness can be called a state of mind and the way to happiness is bringing your mind into its proper state.

    Ready to take yourself to the next level? Find 101 ways that can work as a launchpad. These nuggets are delivered to you one page at a time. Implement it, see the result, repeat!

    These nuggets can help you:
    • Be goal-driven vs emotion-driven
    • Be strong on the face of criticism
    • Handle difficult situations smoothly
    • Increase likability among peers
    • Be irresistibly charismatic

    Buy 101 Nuggets for Life to take every area of your life to the next level today!

    If I live in Texas and I want to be in California I need to change states. In order for me to be in that State I need to make some changes. In this analogy we will decide to take a train. The train must be going in the proper direction and we will arrive at our destination. We must know which train we are on, or we may end up where we don’t want to be.

    Think of this train as your thoughts. That’s right, your train of thought. If you don’t want to stay in Texas you have to get on the right train. If you let any train of thought into your mind then you will be taken to and fro and never arrive at the destination you want.

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    The question then is how do we get on the right train?

    The ticket to getting on the right train is called gratitude. Gratitude is an attitude and as we look to all that we have to be thankful for instead of dwelling on what our problems are we will find that we too can be whisked away to the state that we wish to be in.

    There is a path to happiness and that path is gratitude.

  • How to Avoid Panic Attacks

    Anyone who has ever had a panic attack knows how life stopping these events can feel. A panic attack can seriously hurt your quality of life by causing you become terrified of a repeat episode. This terror is just another negative side effect of panic attacks, and you should learn to think of it as such so that you can get on with your life without the constant fear of a panic attack hanging over your head. Worrying about having a panic attack all the time might even cause you to trigger panic attacks later.

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    Panic attacks feel a lot like heart attacks. A panic attack might cause your heart to race, and it might cause you to become short of breath. You might find that you feel dizzy or light headed, and they are characterized with the feeling of life or death importance. It is not uncommon to believe that you are dying or about to die when you are having a panic attack. Fortunately for sufferers, they are usually not of a long duration, and will stop when they have run their course, usually a few minutes, or when the cause of the panic is removed.

    If you are terrified that you might have another panic attack, you may just end up cutting yourself off from everything in order to avoid having another. You might hide from the world, or otherwise separate yourself from the friends and family who might otherwise be able to help you. If this sounds familiar to you, then you need to consider seeking professional help to empower you to dispel the threat of panic attacks that hangs over your head.

    You may also be able to help yourself by avoiding the situations that cause you to have your panic attacks in the first place. One of the biggest causes of panic attacks is stress, and if you are constantly in stressful situation, then you will be at a much higher risk for panic attacks in the future. This stress is not necessarily the stress that comes over a few days over a particular event; panic attacks are triggered by constant stress over a period of months or sometimes even longer. This stress is often too much for people to bear, and even if we do not realize that, our bodies do, and they rebel.

    Panic attacks can also be caused by certain situations. If you get a panic attack every time you are running late, or stuck in traffic, or going over a bridge, then you need to make sure to avoid those situations to prevent these same events from triggering more panic attacks in the future. You can take a different route to work, leave early, and avoid roads that you know will be snarled with traffic or even head to a local place for dinner after work before facing the drive home.

    If you practice avoiding panic attacks and chart where you were, what you were doing, and how you felt immediately prior to each panic attack, then you can use this information to avoid the things that trigger you. You may be able to save yourself a lot of trouble with your mental and even your physical health later down the road.

    Are you tired of motivating people or staying motivated? Start seeing motivation like never before concept with a single shift in perspective.

    The Ultimate Book of Motivation will help you:
    • Take responsibility for your life
    • Be unstoppable on the face of failure
    • Turn self-defeating thoughts around
    • Change your outlook on life
    • Motivate anyone to do anything

    Buy The Ultimate Book of Motivation to start motivating today.

    Panic attacks do not just feel remarkably like heart attacks; recent studies have linked experiencing panic attacks with an increased likelihood of actually having a heart attack later. Keep your odds low and keep your stress levels down to avoid panic attacks and to remain as healthy as possible. No one likes to suffer, and panic attacks certainly fall into the category of suffering.

    If you are at risk for panic attacks or you have had them in the past, then you should examine the past causes of your panic attacks so that you can help yourself to avoid similar situations in the future. You should also get in contact with your doctor to find out if you may need medication or therapy to help you take charge of your life and get away from the panic attacks. It can be difficult to determine exactly the best means of preventing panic attacks, but you may get better results when pairing the practice of avoiding triggers with medication to help you feel calmer. A therapist can also help you learn mental tricks to help you ride through the panic attacks without completely losing your cool the next time you feel one coming on.

  • Happy Father’s Day
    Dad: A son’s first hero, a daughter’s first love.
  • Looking for Happiness? Stop Looking in Your Neighbor’s Yard

    We’ve all heard the cliché ‘The grass is always greener in our neighbor’s yard’. What they don’t tell you is that his grass still has to be mowed, watered, weeded, raked and fertilized.

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    The Buddha was the first to recognize that emotional pain can be just as real and debilitating as physical pain. Through careful observation he determined that people were good at spending time on their physical hygiene, but spent little or no time on mental hygiene. He believed that the key to finding happiness was in relieving one’s emotional suffering and that the best way to reduce this suffering was by controlling our emotions.

    Just as a good mother watches where her children go, the wise man watches where his mind goes. One of the harmful emotions that the Buddha taught we need to watch is envy.

    Envy is time spent wanting what our neighbor has instead of time spent enjoying what we have. Now it’s true that when used properly envy can be a terrific motivator. The problem is that real envy — always wanting more and then discovering that more still isn’t enough — is difficult to control.

    The Buddha taught that the way to achieve happiness begins with turning negative thoughts in to positive ones. The successful landscaper knows that for his lawn to thrive it needs to be weeded and fertilized. The person seeking happiness can begin by following his example and weeding out any negative thoughts and then planting positive ones.

    Many people believe that happiness is just a winning lottery ticket away, but true happiness is not based on how much we have, but on how little we need. Happiness is accepting, appreciating and enjoying what the world has to offer. True happiness can only be achieved if we spend more time weeding out envious thoughts rather than in trying to match or better our neighbor’s lawn.

    Ready to take yourself to the next level? Find 101 ways that can work as a launchpad. These nuggets are delivered to you one page at a time. Implement it, see the result, repeat!

    These nuggets can help you:
    • Be goal-driven vs emotion-driven
    • Be strong on the face of criticism
    • Handle difficult situations smoothly
    • Increase likability among peers
    • Be irresistibly charismatic

    Buy 101 Nuggets for Life to take every area of your life to the next level today!

    Just because an elephant is the biggest doesn’t mean he’s also the best animal in the jungle.

    Sometimes it is as simple as taking the time to look back at how far you’ve come instead of always looking ahead to where you want to be. When was the last time you took a moment to pat yourself on the back for the things you have accomplished?

    Besides, maybe your neighbor works harder at his yard than you do, or maybe he’s just luckier. Is matching or bettering your neighbor’s accomplishments really that important? We all get to choose how we spend our time.

    Stop looking at your neighbor’s yard and start enjoying your own, that’s what it’s there for. Weed out the envy and you’ll find your whole outlook improving. Happy gardening.

  • The Sound of Soul

    Have you ever wondered if soul has a sound? We may experience the sound of soul more than we know. Any time you move your attention to the inner dynamics of what lies behind your body and your mind, your soul will reveal itself to you.

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    Soul can be experienced outside your body and your mind as well. Just the other day, I was riding in my car with my friend. We drove by an old barn that was caving in upon itself.

    At some point, this barn stood upright. It was strong and enclosed many vehicles and animals for years. As with people, this barn aged over time. What once was a structure capable of containing many experiences of life, now, became a broken reflection of moments filled with life suspended in time.

    You and I are a structural mind/body system that holds experiences within us just like this barn. As we recall these memories, these past experiences move our awareness toward an expression of experience where stillness allows us to re-live soulful memories filled with life and vitality. These inner visions, feelings, and experiences are our soul’s way of speaking to us.

    In silent reflection, our attention moves into expressions of living that are eternal. It is the part of us that is aware of our awareness. The part of us aware of our awareness and not identifying with the need to compete, become successful, or any other manifestations of the material world.

    Our soul is the identification with what lies behind all appearances of separateness. This part of us needs no eyes to see, no ears to hear, no hands to touch, no tongue to taste, and no nose to smell. Our soul is completely free of any expression of our world. Our soul is the part of us that infuses all these qualities of attention.

    Our soul is the silent spaces between every thought, word, and deed. It is a pregnant silence, all pervading, all knowing, and filled with eternity. Our soul is a connecting point from the world of flesh and the world of Spirit. The sacred human relationship between the form and formless states of our being create a spacial quality of existence within and beyond us whereby infinite possible correlations become the path of our soul.

    Would you like to tap into your full potential? Discover the 99 questions that can help you realize the superhuman in you.

    This workbook will help you:

    • Discover your latent talents and hidden strengths
    • Learn how to create instant emotions of happiness and abundance
    • Improve every area of your life
    • Tap into unlimited source of power
    • Create a future you like

    99 Questions to Self is a comprehensive self-development workbook. If you like modern, practical, and interactive books, then you’ll love Manhardeep Singh’s self-help workbook.

    Buy 99 Questions to Self to start your journey of self-discovery today!

    Try this exercise:

    The next time you wake up in the morning, listen to your surroundings, just listen and do not analyze any sound. Let your attention be drawn into the sounds around you. Notice how far they are from you or how close. Do not try to define anything – just notice. You may hear birds, cars on the street, or the sounds of your home. Now, notice the part of you noticing all these sounds. What does this part of you sound like?

    There is another sound within you. It is the part of you constantly speaking, analyzing, and judging. This part of you begins to plan your day, organize, and worry. It is the part of you that drives you out of silent witnessing all the events taking place around you. This part of you will get you out of bed in the morning.

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    At this point, learn to integrate the two consciously. They are going on anyway. This way ordinary events in your life will become sacred human awareness and a life filled with gratitude for every moment. Did you notice the difference between these two sounds? One moves your attention into the material world. The other moves you deeper into silence – the part of you aware of life’s inner qualities the Sound of Soul.

  • Endorphins, the Happy Hormone

    Endorphins are natural hormones that your brain releases when it senses happiness. These endorphins give you a sense of happiness, satisfaction and well-being; they tell you all is well with your body.

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    It’s that relaxed sense after a good meal, a good workout, a good laugh or great sex.

    Endorphins are produced in the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus gland and release an opioid-like secretion that masks pain with a natural analgesic and tells the body that all is fine with the world.

    Acupuncture has been found to have the ability to release these compounds and relieve pain, at least for the short term, and to leave you with a wonderful sense of wellbeing.

    Exercise, extreme happiness, good food and orgasm releases natural endorphins, and endorphins make you feel happy and satisfied with life.

    The more often you can stimulate your brain to release these natural hormones, the better you will feel, and the easier it will be to put yourself into this happy state of being.

    Endorphins cannot be bought; only through your own effort can you bring them into being.

    There is no downside to putting yourself into the position of happiness, either through laughter, sex, food or exercise.

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    Happy creates happy; it is a cycle that you should never break and you should take every chance to spur these hormones on. Let them do what they do naturally; light their fire and reap the benefits!