Robert Emmons was shocked. The University of California psychologist found that after just ten weeks, people who kept a gratitude journal were 25 percent happier than people who didn’t. People who were reminded to say “thank you” at least once a day were healthier and spent more time exercising. As he writes in an essay for the Greater Good Science Center, “This is a massive difference. The gratitude group participants also experienced fewer symptoms of physical illness than those in either of the other two groups.”
Digital Gratitude Journal for the World Launched by UC Berkeley Center
Self-Taught Boy Genius From Sierra Leone Impresses MIT
15-year-old Kelvin Doe is an engineering whiz kid in Sierra Leone who has invented or manufactured his own batteries, generators and transmitters for radio broadcasting using spare parts he gathered from trash bins.
Completely self-taught, the boy was invited by MIT to visit America recently to expand his horizons.
Kelvin is always trying to help his community, where most days people cope without electricity.
Self-Taught Boy Genius From Sierra Leone Impresses MIT
15-year-old Kelvin Doe is an engineering whiz kid in Sierra Leone who has invented or manufactured his own batteries, generators and transmitters for radio broadcasting using spare parts he gathered from trash bins.
Completely self-taught, the boy was invited by MIT to visit America recently to expand his horizons.
Kelvin is always trying to help his community, where most days people cope without electricity.
Facebook Groups Reunite Jersey Shore Families with Photos, Items Lost in Storm
At least four Facebook pages were created to reunite people with photographs, kayaks, wedding invitations and other cherished mementos they thought were lost during Superstorm Sandy.
The sites have reunited a woman with her wedding dress, an urn containing cremated ashes with a loved one, a mother with a baby album and the congregation of St. Elisabeth’s Chapel-by-the Sea in Ortley Beach, which was destroyed by the storm, with a plaque bearing names.
The “For Shore” Project was set up by a woman who found remnants of other people’s lives in her yard. She wanted to reunite those photos with their owners. The “Hurricane Sandy’s Lost Treasures” page allows thousands of members to post about things they’ve found and storm victims to browse with hope. There are more popular sites that also feature news and information about the region’s restoration, where lost-and-found posts are helping families get their possessions back.
(READ the AP story at USA Today)
No Person Shot, Stabbed, or Murdered in NYC Monday – Part of a Trend
For a blissful 36 hours beginning on Sunday night, there was no gun or knife violence reported in New York City.
Officials couldn’t remember the last time that happened. But it may not be as rare in the future. Homicide rates in the Big Apple have fallen continuously since the 1990’s.
This year may hit a record low annual rate of just over 400 murders, a number not seen since about 1960.
No Person Shot, Stabbed, or Murdered in NYC Monday – Part of a Trend
For a blissful 36 hours beginning on Sunday night, there was no gun or knife violence reported in New York City.
Officials couldn’t remember the last time that happened. But it may not be as rare in the future. Homicide rates in the Big Apple have fallen continuously since the 1990’s.
This year may hit a record low annual rate of just over 400 murders, a number not seen since about 1960.
Young People Cheating Less These Days, Report Finds
Cheating, lying and stealing among American students are all less prevalent nowadays, according to a new report.
The 2012 “Report Card on the Ethics of American Youth” suggests that young people’s morals have improved in recent years. The survey, conducted every two years by the Los Angeles-based Josephson Institute of Ethics, found that 51 percent of students in 2012 admitted they cheated on an exam in the past year, which is down from 59 percent in 2010.”
College With Record Enrollment Cuts Tuition by $9,000
Belmont Abbey College will cut its tuition by $9,000 joining a new national trend, said officials at the private school in North Carolina today.
“Fees in the United States have increased more than 440 percent.”
“That’s not sustainable for the average American family so it’s time to reverse the trend.”
Buoy Your Days With Appreciation and Gratitude
A montage of sparkling people and places found around the globe is a fitting background for this gentle and wise reminder of how to see your life in a new way.
Make each day fresh with thoughts of gratefulness and appreciation for the coolness that is life on planet Earth.
Giant of Medicine Dies at 93: Tribute to a Transplant Pioneer
Dr. Joseph E. Murray, the Nobel laureate who conducted the world’s first successful organ transplant, died Monday at the Boston hospital where the pioneering surgery was performed.
On Dec. 23, 1954, in Operating Room 2 of the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, Dr. Murray took the healthy kidney of Ronald Herrick and sutured it into the donor’s dying identical twin, Richard. With that 5½-hour operation, Dr. Murray and his team saved a life and opened medicine to a new frontier.
Within a decade, Dr. Murray’s clinical work and his collaboration with scientists on drugs to prevent rejection of donor organs had expanded the pool of transplant candidates beyond identical twins. Dr. Murray was also credited with the first successful transplantation of a kidney from a nonidentical twin and from a cadaver.
But the doctor led a fascinating life outside of science, as well.
(READ the powerful tribute in the Boston Globe)
Swedish Energy Company Offers Light Therapy in Bus Shelters
To help combat the mild depression commuters may experience when the sun only rises for five hours per day in one northern Swedish town, a local energy company has installed ultra-violet lamps at about 30 bus stops.
“This is so people can get a little energy kick as they are waiting,” said a spokesperson for Umea Energi.
Rise in US Orders for Core Capital Goods Best in 5 Months
Orders by U.S. companies for core capital goods like machinery, considered a proxy for business investment, rose 1.7 percent in October, the best showing since a 2.3 percent rise in May, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.
U.S. factory activity also grew in October for a second straight month, according to the Institute for Supply Management.
Krispy Kreme Worker Knows Customer Service (Video Goes Viral of her Super Service)
Jia Jiang has designed a unique type of therapy to address his fear of rejection. As a young businessman, he wants to toughen himself for the inevitable “No’s” that await him in the future.
For 100 days he is aiming to endure one rejection per day by making all types of crazy requests, such as asking a stranger if he can borrow $100. (The stranger said no.)
“My goal is to desensitize myself from the pain of rejection and overcome my fear,” he wrote on his website, www.entresting.com.
He is also wearing a hidden camera which makes it a very entertaining blog.
The second day he requested a “burger refill” at a restaurant.
But the third day, he was destined to meet Jackie Braun, a shift leader at a Krispy Kreme with such kindness and can-do spirit, that he was never going to get a ‘no’ from her, if the request involved doughnuts.
His angle here was to ask her to make him 5 interlocking pastries resembling the Olympic rings. Surely this wacky request would succeed in coaxing from her a ‘no’.
Or, it might teach some other valuable lesson for business owners.
Braun, who was determined to please, grabbed a piece of paper and started imagining how she might create the custom order and even googled the image to find out what colors to use on the rings.
Jiang, was so impressed by her effort that he launched a Facebook page called “Give Jackie at Krispy Kreme a Raise.” He also later returned to the Austin, Texas store to thank her again.
The story has elicited cheers from everyone who views it.
(WATCH the video below)
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Krispy Kreme Worker’s Super Customer Service Goes Viral
Jia Jiang has designed a unique type of therapy to address his fear of rejection. As a young businessman, he wants to toughen himself for the inevitable “No’s” that await him in the future.
For 100 days he is aiming to endure one rejection per day by making all types of crazy requests, such as asking a stranger if he can borrow $100. (The stranger said no.)
Hero Dog Pushes Boy Out of Path of Speeding Truck, Taking the Brunt
A brave German Shepherd puppy was badly injured after he pushed a boy out of the path of a runaway truck and took the impact himself.
Eight-month-old Geo has been hailed a hero by his adoring family after he averted tragedy on a family walk in Clacton-on-Sea, England.
Carly Reiley, 28, who was out walking the dog with their three young children, has now run into expensive medical bills for the dog’s care and has set up a Facebook page and is accepting donations.
Companies That Were ‘Naughty And Nice’ In 2012
Consumer Reports unveiled its third annual Naughty & Nice List featuring companies whose policies attracted either nasty stares or gleeful praise. The companies were picked based on specific practices that the magazine’s editors and subscribers found particularly worthy of either a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down”. Facebook fans also joined in voicing their complaints and compliments.
Companies That Were ‘Naughty And Nice’ In 2012
Consumer Reports unveiled its third annual Naughty & Nice List featuring companies whose policies attracted either nasty stares or gleeful praise. The companies were picked based on specific practices that the magazine’s editors and subscribers found particularly worthy of either a “thumbs up” or “thumbs down”. Facebook fans also joined in voicing their complaints and compliments.
Tenants in Posh Building Help Concierge Raise Money for his Village
Jean Kabre is the concierge and event planner at 101 Constitution — a place full of people focused on power, influence, and Congressional lobbying.
But when word got out that Kabre was helping support dozens of family members in his home village in Burkina Faso, the people whom Kabre had come to know as his friends, pitched in at astounding levels.
It started several years ago with small individual efforts such as writing a check to buy a goat. Then employees banded together to raise enough money to build a well to provide safe drinking water for the village.
Recently, Kabre was offered the use of a luxurious space and veranda across from the U.S. Capitol for a fundraiser that will create even more progress for his village this fall.
(READ the story w/ great photos in the Washington Post)
Thanks to Craig Withers for submitting the link!
Young Girl Inspires Kids To Send 10,000 Letters To Troops
It all started when 11-year-old Savannah Ogden’s friend learned she would lose the daily contact with her father that most kids take for granted. He was being deployed to Afghanistan for a year. Savannah wanted to help ease the pain of military families who are separated from their loved ones.
The girlfriends decided to write letters to soldiers thanking them for their service. Mailing personal letters from home — around thirty a week — led to a campaign to rally school children in every part of the country.
“Savannah’s Soldiers” has already encouraged kids to send thousands of letters to the troops in Afghanistan.
Workers Find $300,000 in Gold Dust Beneath Floor, Give it to Homeowners
A Sacramento homeowner is now $300,000 richer thanks to workers who unearthed a dozen jars of gold dust while installing heating and air conditioning under the floor.
Steve Ottley and his colleague at Clark & Rush stumbled upon the valuable stash sealed in twelve baby food jars.
The workers turned over the gold dust to the homeowners, who had no idea it was beneath their feet all these years.