short stories

http://www.englishdaily626.com/stories.php

Speaking activities

http://www.englishdaily626.com/conversation.php

Common Errors

http://www.englishdaily626.com/c-errors.php

Glossary of Correct Usage


1. accept, except. Accept is a verb : except is a preposition

They accepted my invitation.
Everyone attended the meeting except the secretary.


2. advice, advise. Advice is a noun; advise is a verb.

His advice was useful.
I was advised to purchase a more economical car.


3. affect, effect. Affect is a verb; it means " to influence." Effect may be a verb or a noun. The verb effect means " to cause to happen "; the noun effect means " the result."

Pollution affects everyone.
Your tears do not affect me.
Your tears have no effect upon me.
Doctors have effected a cure for polio.
The effect of drugs is well known.

4. almost, most. Most is used to form the superlative; it is used to modify nouns. Almost is an adverb.

Most people are honest.
He is the most unusual person I have ever met.
Almost everyone has a desire to succeed.
Almost all of the food was eaten.


5. already, all ready. Already means " before the time specified. " All ready means " completely prepared."

The movie had already begun by the time we arrived.
The members were all ready to hear the report.


6. altogether, all together. Altogether means " thoroughly." All together means " in a group."

The thought of a third world war is altogether frightening.
The children were all together on the bus.


7. amount, number. Use amount to refer to thing sin bulk or mass; number refers to the countable.
Wrong : I was amazed by the amount of people present.


Right : I was amazed by the number of people present.

Right : The amount of money needed was soon collect.

8. and which, which

Wrong : I found a lost dog and which needs a good home.


Right : I found a lost dog which needs a good home.


Wrong : My father is a good man and whom we all love deeply.


Right : My father is a good man whom we all love deeply and whom we admire.




9, anywheres, anywhere Anywheres is very informal

Wrong : We can talk anywheres.
Right : We can talk anywhere.

10. around

Wrong : He arrived around ten o'clock.

Right : He arrived about ten o'clock.

Fantastic Reading Practice

I am sure you will love it
http://christmascarol.esolebooks.com/

Collocations with Equipment

Adjectives + "Equipment"


The following list are adjectives that are commonly used with the noun 'equipment'. Each adjective has an example sentence to illustrate usage.

the latest

He always buys the latest fishing equipment to make sure he catches the most fish.

modern
They've got quite a bit of modern computer equipment in the house.

state-of-the-art
The lab uses only state-of-the-art equipment.



up-to-date
Our equipment is up-to-date, but not state-of-the-art.


high tech
I love browsing in stores with lots of high tech equipment.

sophisticated
We use sophisticated equipment to track weather across the region.


technical

Our technical equipment is equal to any task.

sensitive

Be careful when you use that equipment. It's very sensitive.


essential
Be sure to gather all the essential equipment before you begin the experiment.

faulty
We need to get rid of that faulty equipment and buy the latest.

gym
The school bought state-of-the-art gym equipment this year.

office
Office equipment manufacturers do billions in business each year.

scientific
The laboratory employs a wide range of scientific equipment.

electronic
The studio provides a wide range of electronic equipment for your needs.

Verbs + "Equipment"

buy, purchase
I've been saving to purchase the new equipment.

sell
Best Buy sells a wide range of audio equipment.

provide, supply
Our company supplies a number of leading hospitals with medical equipment.

install
You'll need to ask a specialist to install this equipment.

upgrade
We need to upgrade our scientific equipment.

operate
You don't need to be a genius to operate this equipment.

require
This profession requires a wide range of equipment.

"Equipment" + Verbs

consist of something
The required equipment consists of two transformers and a switch.

work
The equipment is working now.

malfunction
Unfortunately, the equipment is malfunctioning at the moment.

"Equipment" + Nouns

maker, manufacturer
There are a number of high tech equipment manufacturers in the area.

supplier, vendor
The best computer equipment vendor is down the street.

rental
It's best to go with equipment rental for that project. Buying that technical equipment is far too expensive.



Phrases + "Equipment"

the right
Don't try that experiment without the right equipment.

the proper
Make sure to have all the proper equipment before you begin.

http://video.about.com/esl/ESL--Question-Words-in-English.htm

http://video.about.com/esl/ESL--Question-Words-in-English.htm

Collocation

Collocation Lists - Introduction


.Vocabulary is generally used in groups of words that go together. This is often referred to as 'chunking', another common term for this is collocation. Think about the noun 'money':

'Money' combines with verbs:
save money
spend money
pay money

Money combines with adjectives:
prize money
play money
pocket money
etc.

Money combines with other nouns:
money management
money supply
money order
etc.


3 Verbs + Skis

put on
remove
rent

Example Sentences
Let's put on the skis and hit the slope.

I removed my skis and went into the lodge.

I rented skis for the weekend.



3 Adjectives + Skis

alpine
back-country
powder

Example Sentences

Most alpine skis are expensive.
Back-country skis are not very common these days.
You should buy powder skis if you plan to ski off the groomed trails.


Ski + 3 nouns

pole
resort
slope

Example Sentences

Make sure your ski poles are long enough.

We've never been to that ski resort before.

Let's go over to that ski slope and give it a try.


3 Verbs + Soccer


play
watch
enjoy

Example Sentences

He doesn't play soccer.

They like watching soccer on the weekends.

Do you enjoy soccer?



3 Adjectives + Soccer

amateur
professional
youth

Example Sentences

Amateur soccer is extremely popular in the US.

Professional soccer has yet to become successful in the US.

Are there any youth soccer teams in this town?



Soccer + 3 Nouns

ball
field
fan

Example Sentences

We need a new soccer ball.

The soccer field was very muddy.

The soccer fan sold his car to buy tickets to the World Cup.


2 Verbs + Tennis


play
watch

Example Sentences

I've played tennis for more than twenty years.

When I watch tennis, I usually want to go play.


3 Adjectives + Tennis

doubles
singles
competitive


Example Sentences

I play doubles tennis on Wednesday evenings.

Most singles tennis is more exciting to watch than doubles tennis.

Not everyone who plays competitive tennis earns money.


Tennis + 3 Nouns

ball

racket

court

Example Sentences


I'll buy a new can of tennis balls for the match.

Peter usually needs to buy a few tennis rackets every year.

Have you booked the tennis court for tomorrow?


3 Verbs + Golf


play
take up
watch



Example Sentences

Jerry has played golf since he was ten years old.

I took up golf three years ago.

I love watching golf on TV on the weekends.



3 Adjectives + Golf

mini
championship
pro


Example Sentences

Most people play mini golf with children.

Championship golf is only for the very rich.

Pro golf is extremely popular in South Africa.



Golf + 3 Nouns

course
club
glove

Example Sentences


There are four golf courses within five miles of our house.

Golf clubs can be very expensive.

Make sure to wear a golf glove when you play.


3 Verbs + Basketball


play
coach
watch


Example Sentences

Jane played on her high school basketball team.

Have you ever coached basketball?

My family enjoys watching basketball on TV.



3 Adjectives + Basketball

college
pro
varsity

Example Sentences
College basketball is extremely competitive in the US.

Pro basketball players can earn millions of dollars per season.

Varsity basketball teams receive a lot more money than junior-varsity basketball teams.



Basketball + 3 Nouns

court
player
team

Example Sentences

Our high-school has a new basketball court.

The basketball player was traded to a different team.

The local basketball team is awful.

Pronunciation

try this one ...

http://www.englishbaby.com/lessons/5411/music/_day_shift_and_night_shift_-_e-40

http://vanda51.blogspot.com
http://redocean01.blogspot.com

Mother's Day Is About Presence, Not Presents

Just enjoying having a mother is the most appropriate thing
by Barton Goldsmith
Published on May 8, 2010

This Mother's Day might be a challenge for some children who are used to honoring Mom with a lavish brunch or dinner, and perhaps a lovely gift. Unfortunately, this year has put a crimp in the budget of many who would love to hire a limo and take their mother to her favorite restaurant. A generous offering from anyone, but for right now, it may be a lot more practical (and fun) to get creative.

Here are a few ideas:

• Bring Mom breakfast in bed with all the trimmings. Use the good dishes, linen napkins, and a flower from the yard.
• Invite the entire clan over for a Mother's Day barbecue or go for a picnic at one of your mother's favorite places.
• Make coupons for future favors which can include car washes, housework help, foot massages, and back rubs, as well as cooking a meal (and cleaning up afterward).
• Interview all the family members on video and make her a memories disk.
• Make a card by hand or on the Internet. If you don't feel all that creative, there are plenty of websites where you can get e-cards. That being said, your own words will never disappoint the woman who brought you up.
• Use your camera and printer to make a family portrait, and put it in a nice frame. Your own artwork or a combined family piece will also be nicely received.

Some people mistakenly feel that if they can't make a big splash, they'd rather not participate. I wonder how you would have turned out if your mother had only accepted you when you were perfect. No one ever is, and life is always changing. This year, putting the focus on being fortunate enough to have a mother and be a family seems to be the most appropriate thing.

Appreciating the basics is one of the best lessons our mothers have taught us, and now would be a very good time to show her how well you've learned it. Just having the family together and healthy is a blessing. I know too many women who will spend the day alone because they no longer have a family.

It saddens me to think about all the love and strength it takes to raise a family and how sometimes we forget to appropriately honor the woman who gave us life. Even if you have some issues with your mom (and who doesn't?), use this day to show her you are grateful that she brought you into this world.

I truly believe that 99.9 percent of all mothers don't care about the dining experience or the gifts. What's important here is that you express your feelings in a way that will touch your mom's heart, because all she needs and what she deserves is that you make the day about her.

English Proverbs

A "proverb" is a short, traditional saying in general use. It usually expresses some obvious truth or familiar experience. Here are some proverbs that are well known in English, though some of them come from other languages. The meanings given are generally accepted meanings, though other interpretations may be possible.

"The best things in life are free."

We don't have to pay for the things that are really valuable, like love, friendship and good health.

"A stitch in time saves nine."

Repair something as soon as it is damaged. That's a small repair job. If not, you will have a much bigger and more expensive repair job later. Do it now and you'll need one stitch. Do it later and you'll need 9 stitches! (Why nine and not eight or ten? Because "nine" rhymes,approximately. with "time".)

* stitch (noun) = a link made with thread in sewing
* in time = not late

"Still waters run deep."

Some rivers have rough surfaces with waves. That's usually because the water is shallow and there are rocks near the surface. But deep rivers have no rocks near the surface and the water is smooth and still. "Still waters run deep" means that people who are calm and tranquil on the outside, often have a strong, "deep" personality.

* still (adjective) = calm, motionless
* deep (adjective) = going far down

"He teaches ill, who teaches all."

The unusual structure of this proverb may make it difficult to understand. It becomes easier if we change the structure to "He who teaches all teaches ill." The word "ill" here means "badly". So it means that the teacher who teaches students everything, does not teach well. A good teacher lets students discover some things for themselves.

* ill (adverb) = badly

"You can't take it with you when you die."

When we die we leave everything on earth. We don't take anything with us. Even the richest people cannot take their money with them after death. This proverb reminds us that some material things are not really so valuable as we think.

"Better untaught than ill taught."

This proverb drops the verb "to be". But we understand: "It is better not to be taught at all than to be taught badly." It's better not to learn something than to learn it badly. This idea is echoed in Pope's famous line: "A little learning is a dang'rous thing;".

* taught = past participle of verb "teach" (here used in passive voice)
* ill taught = badly taught

"Don't cross your bridges before you come to them."

Don't worry about problems before they arrive.

"Soon learnt, soon forgotten."

Something that is easy to learn is easy to forget.

"Even a worm will turn."

Everybody will revolt if driven too far. Even the lowest of people, or animals, will revolt and hit back at some stage. Even a worm, the simplest of animals, will defend itself.

* worm (noun) = small thin animal with soft body and no bones or legs
* turn (verb) = revolt, fight back

"It was the last straw that broke the camel's back."

There is a limit to everything. We can load the camel with lots of straw, but finally it will be too much and the camel's back will break. And it is only a single straw that breaks its back - the last straw. This can be applied to many things in life. People often say "That's the last straw!" when they will not accept any more of something.

* straw (noun) = dried stalk of grain (like dry piece of grass)
* camel (noun) = large long-necked animal used for riding and carrying goods in the desert

"The way to a man's heart is through his stomach."

Many women have won a man's love by cooking delicious meals for him. They fed his stomach and found love in his heart.

* way (noun) = path; route

"If the stone fall upon the egg, alas for the egg! If the egg fall upon the stone, alas for the egg!"

Life just isn't fair, and this realistic Arabic proverb recognizes that. The stone will always break the egg. Life's like that!

* alas = bad luck; pity; tough; regrettable

"Where there's a will there's a way."

If we have the determination to do something, we can always find the path or method to do it.

* will (noun) = strong determination, desire.
* way (noun) = path, method

"Marry in haste, and repent at leisure."

If we get married quickly, without thinking carefully, we may be sorry later. And we will have plenty of time to be sorry.

* in haste = quickly
* repent (verb) = feel sorry, regret
* at leisure = slowly, over time

"One tongue is enough for a woman."

Some people think that women talk too much. If they already talk too much, they don't need another tongue. One tongue is sufficient. This proverb is another way of saying that women talk too much.

* tongue (noun) = large, movable fleshy part in the mouth that we use for talking and tasting

"If you wish good advice, consult an old man."

Old people have a lot of experience. If you want to have good advice or recommendations, ask an old person, not a young one.

* wish (verb) = want, desire
* advice (noun) = recommendation as to what to do
* consult (verb) = ask; go to for advice or information

"The best advice is found on the pillow."

If we have a problem, we may find the answer after a good night's sleep. People also often say: "I'll sleep on it."

* advice (noun) = recommendation as to what to do
* pillow (noun) = cushion that you rest your head on while you sleep

"All clouds bring not rain."

We can rephrase this: "Not every cloud brings rain." And that's true. Sometimes there are many clouds in the sky, but it doesn't rain. Sometimes it's the same with problems, or what we think are problems.

"You can't tell a book by its cover."

We need to read a book to know if it's good or bad. We cannot know what it's like just by looking at the front or back cover. This proverb is applied to everything, not only books.

"Bad news travels fast."

"Bad news" means news about "bad" things like accidents, death, illness etc. People tend to tell this type of news quickly. But "good news" (passing an exam, winning some money, getting a job etc) travels more slowly.

"No news is good news."

This is like the proverb "Bad news travels fast." If we are waiting for news about someone, it's probably good if we hear nothing because "bad news" would arrive quickly.

"Live and let live."

This proverb suggest that we should not interfere in other people's business. We should live our own lives and let others live their lives. The title of the famous James Bond story Live and Let Die was a play on this proverb.

"Birds of a feather flock together."

"Birds of a feather" means "birds of the same type". The whole proverb means that people of the same type or sort stay together. They don't mix with people of another type.

* feather (noun) = part of the soft, light covering of a bird's body
* flock (verb) = gather in a crowd

"Tell me who you go with and I'll tell you who you are."

Similar to "Birds of a feather...", this proverb suggests that like minds stick together.

slang(hand)
hand over
pass on something
Before I leave, I have to hand over all my work

get out of hand
become impossible to manage
You'll have to deal with this problem before it gets out of hand

have your hands full
be very busy
I can't do anything about it now - my hands are full.

in hand
under control
The company report is in hand - you'll have it next week

live hand to mouth
only earn enough money for food
After he lost his job, he had to live hand to mouth for a couple of months

have someone in the palm of your hand
have influence over someone
He's got her in the palm of his hand

be caught red-handed
The children were caught red-handed picking the flowers

slang(finger)

butter fingers
be clumsy and drop things
You've dropped my vase! Butter fingers!

keep your fingers crossed
wish something for someone
Keep your fingers crossed for me tomorrow - it's my job interview

look through ones fingers
I looked through him finger when I saw him

under your thumb
control someone
She's got him under her thumb - he won't do anything without asking her first

slang(feet&legs)
put your foot in it
say or do something you shouldn't
I think I've put my foot in it - I told her about the party

have itchy feet
not able to settle down in one place
She's going off travelling again - she's got really itchy feet

keep someone on their toes
keep someone alert
Our teacher keeps us on our toes - we have to pay attention in class

stand on your own two feet
be independent
I don't need your help - I can stand on my own two feet

have two left feet
be awkward or clumsy
He's a terrible dancer - he's got two left feet

walk on eggshells
be careful about what you say or do
She's in a terrible mood - you'll have to walk on eggshells around her

foot the bill
pay the bill
He had to foot the bill for the party

slang(back)
go behind someone's back
do something secretly
She went behind my back and told my boss I wanted a new job

back off
stop trying to force someone to do something
Will you just back off and let me decide what I should do!"

back down
accept defeat
He finally backed down and let me buy a pet rabbit."

back someone up
support someone
Thank you for backing me up in the meeting

put your back into something
work very hard at something
She put her back into it and got good results

stab someone in the back
betray someone
Be careful of him - he'll stab you in the back if it gets him what he wants

Ebabay.com

slang(food)
be the apple of someone's eye
be someone's favorite person
She's the apple of her father's eye

be as nice as pie
be extremely nice and charming, so that you can fool
people
She can be as nice as pie, but don't trust her

eat humble pie
have to take back what you said, because you have been
proved wrong
He'll have to eat humble pie now. Serve him right - he
tried to make us all look bad

have your fingers in every pie
be involved in many different things
You can't do anything without him knowing - he has his
fingers in every pie

a piece of cake
be extremely simple
This program is a piece of cake to use

sell like hot cakes
sell quickly in large quantities
His book is selling like hot cakes

full of beans
be full of energy
You're full of beans today - it's nice to see you so
lively

beef about something
complain about something
He's always beefing about the pay

beef something up
give something extra appeal=increase in size or number
If we beef up the window display, more people might come
into the shop

be your bread and butter
be your main source of income
Although they run a taxi service, car sales are their
bread and butter

be like chalk and cheese
be completely different
I don't know why they got married - they're like chalk and cheese

cheesy
predictable and unimaginative
I don't want to see that film again - it's really cheesy

sour grapes
say something bad because you didn't get what you wanted
Don't listen to him complain - it's only sour
grapes
because you got the job and he didn't

to play gooseberry
go somewhere with a couple who would prefer to be on their own
I'd rather not come to the cinema with you two - I'd just
feel I was playing gooseberry.

a couch-potato
someone who never goes out or exercises
He watches TV all day - what a couch-potato

like butter wouldn't melt in your mouth
appear innocent
When I asked her about the missing money, she tried to
look like butter wouldn't melt in her mouth

bring home the bacon
earn money for necessary things, like food
He brings home the bacon in that family

the way the cookie crumbles
the way things are
I'm sorry I didn't get the promotion, but that's the way
the cookie crumbles

have someone eat out of your hand
have control over someone
He has her eating out of his hand - it's sad

eat someone out of house and home
eat a lot of food
Her children eat her out of house and home

eat into your savings
spend some of your savings
We can't afford a new car, unless we eat into our savings

eating for two
be pregnant and so eating more
Good news, darling. The doctor says I'm eating for two now

eat your heart out!
telling someone they should be jealous of you
I'm going on holiday to Jamaica - eat your heart out!

not your cup of tea
something that you don't like much
Football isn't my cup of tea

a square meal
a filling meal
You need a square meal after all that exercise

it smells fishy
something that is suspicious
He wants to do all the housework for you? That smells
fishy to me

small fry / small beer
something or someone unimportant
Sales last year are small fry compared to now - we're
doing really well.

roll out the barrel
prepare to have a good time
Roll out the barrel - we're celebrating our exam results

rhubarb, rhubarb
saying something completely unimportant There's that
politician again on television - rhubarb, rhubarb

Communication Confidence

http://www.articlesbase.com/videos/5min/170714567

TED.com

http://www.ted.com/talks/adora_svitak.html

 http://www.ted.com/talks/srikumar_rao_plug_into_your_hard_wired_happiness.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/james_cameron_before_avatar_a_curious_boy.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/daniel_kahneman_the_riddle_of_experience_vs_memory.html

 http://www.ted.com/talks/pawan_sinha_on_how_brains_learn_to_see.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/taylor_mali_what_teachers_make.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/kiran_bir_sethi_teaches_kids_to_take_charge.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_buettner_how_to_live_to_be_100.html

the_fringe_benefits_of_failure

http://www.ted.com/talks/jk_rowling_the_fringe_benefits_of_failure.html

Creative Teaching

May 12, 2010, Child Development

Do schools crush our creativity?

Published on May 12, 2010

http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/66

A beginner's guide to meditation

by Sarah McColl, Shine staff, on Wed Mar 17, 2010 8:07am PDT

Walking meditation
If you find that sitting still makes you antsy and anxious, a walking meditation might be more your bag. Instead of trying to still your brain chatter, you give your mind a point of focus --- in this case, walking --- that helps you to be more present in the moment and in your body. Go outside and give yourself 20 minutes. Begin walking at a normal pace, but focus your attention on the physical sensations: feel your feet strike the ground and roll to the toes, notice the way your arms and hips swing. Do a body scan by bringing your attention from the feet to the ankles up through every part of your body to the top of your head. As you notice any tension in the body, breathe awareness into it and then let it go. When your mind wonders to the sights around you, gently guide your focus back to sensations of walking. Don't get frustrated -- you may have to do this dozens of times, but that's part of the practice.

Active meditation
Truly, any activity can be a meditation as long as we bring a focus of mindfulness to it. What does that mean? It means being utterly in the moment while you're washing the dishes, brushing your teeth, or taking a shower. Use all your senses to keep your mind focused on the the task at hand: feel the warm sudsy water in the sink, notice the color of the soap as you squeeze it onto the sponge; be aware of the way the shampoo smells, how the toothbrush feels in your hand, or the sensation of the hot water hitting your back and shoulders. As you do this, try to keep your focus soft and diffuse, rather than lasering in on one thing. Bringing this kind of attention into small moments throughout the day is a challenge, but it brings with it a deep sense of peace.

Happiness may protect against heart disease

Feb. 21, 2010
Courtesy European Society of Cardiology
and World Science staff

Peo­ple who are usu­ally hap­py, en­thu­si­as­tic and con­tent are less likely than oth­ers to de­vel­op heart ill­ness, ac­cord­ing to a new stu­dy.

The scientists involved say the stu­dy, pub­lished in the Eu­ro­pe­an Heart Jour­nal, is the first to show an in­de­pend­ent rela­t­ion­ship be­tween pos­i­tive emo­tions and cor­o­nary heart dis­ease, the most com­mon type of heart di­sease. Pre­vi­ous stud­ies had linked hap­pi­ness with long life, but the ex­act rea­sons for that as­socia­t­ion are un­cer­tain.

Ka­rina Da­vid­son of Co­lum­bia Uni­vers­ity Med­i­cal Cen­ter in New York, who led the new stu­dy, said it sug­gests heart dis­ease might be in some de­gree pre­venta­ble through pos­i­tive emo­tions. But it would be prem­a­ture to make clin­i­cal rec­om­menda­t­ions with­out fur­ther stu­dy, she added.

“We des­pe­r­ately need rig­or­ous clin­i­cal tri­als in this ar­ea. If the tri­als sup­port our find­ings, then these re­sults will be in­credibly im­por­tant in de­scrib­ing spe­cif­ic­ally what clin­i­cians and/or pa­tients could do to im­prove health,” said Da­vid­son, who di­rects Co­lum­bi­a’s Cen­ter for Be­hav­ior­al Car­di­o­vas­cu­lar Health.

Over 10 years, Da­vid­son and col­leagues tracked 1,739 healthy adults, split about evenly be­tween men and wom­en, par­ti­ci­pat­ing in a study known as the 1995 No­va Sco­tia Health Sur­vey. At the start, trained nurses as­sessed the par­ti­ci­pants’ risk of heart dis­ease and, with both self-reporting and clin­i­cal as­sess­ment, they meas­ured symp­toms of de­pres­sion, hos­til­ity, anx­i­e­ty and the de­gree of ex­pres­sion of pos­i­tive emo­tions, which is known as “pos­i­tive af­fec­t.”

Pos­i­tive af­fect is de­fined as the ex­pe­ri­ence of pleas­ur­a­ble emo­tions such as joy, hap­pi­ness, ex­cite­ment, en­thu­si­asm and con­tentment. These feel­ings can be tran­sient, but they are usu­ally sta­ble and trait-like, par­tic­u­larly in adult­hood, ac­cord­ing to re­search­ers. Pos­i­tive af­fect is largely in­de­pend­ent of neg­a­tive af­fect, so that some­one who is gen­er­ally a hap­py, con­tented pe­r­son can al­so be oc­ca­sion­ally anx­ious, an­gry or de­pressed.

Af­ter tak­ing ac­count of age, sex, car­di­o­vas­cu­lar risk fac­tors and neg­a­tive emo­tions, the sci­en­tists found that in­creased pos­i­tive af­fect pre­dicted less risk of heart dis­ease by 22 per­cent per point on a five-point scale meas­ur­ing lev­els of pos­i­tive af­fect ex­pres­sion. “We al­so found that if some­one, who was usu­ally pos­i­tive, had some de­pres­sive symp­toms at the time of the sur­vey, this did not af­fect their over­all low­er risk of heart dis­ease,” Da­vid­son said. “As far as we know, this is the first pro­spec­tive study to ex­am­ine the rela­t­ion­ship be­tween clin­ic­ally-as­sessed pos­i­tive af­fect and heart dis­ease.”

“We have sev­er­al pos­si­ble ex­plana­t­ions” for the ef­fect, said Da­vid­son. “First, those with pos­i­tive af­fect may have long­er pe­riods of rest or re­laxa­t­ion phys­i­o­logic­al­ly,” mak­ing their bod­ies bet­ter able to reg­u­late blood pres­sure and heart rate. “Sec­ond, those with pos­i­tive af­fect may re­cov­er more quickly from stres­sors, and may not spend as much time ‘re-living’ them, which in turn seems to cause phys­i­o­log­ical dam­age. This is spec­u­la­tive, as we are just be­gin­ning to ex­plore why pos­i­tive emo­tions and hap­pi­ness have pos­i­tive health ben­e­fits.”

	"Long before it's in the papers" November 06, 2009 RETURN TO THE WORLD SCIENCE HOME PAGE Language learning may start in womb Nov. 6, 2009 Courtesy Cell Press and World Science staff From their first days, babies cry dif­fer­ently de­pend­ing on the lan­guage their par­ents speak—show­ing some learn­ing has al­ready started in the womb, ac­cord­ing to a new stu­dy. From their first days, new­borns cry dif­fer­ently de­pend­ing on the lan­guage their par­ents speak—show­ing some learn­ing has al­ready started in the womb, ac­cord­ing to a new stu­dy. (Im­age cour­tesy Vt. Dept. of Chil­dren & Fam­ilies) New­borns are cap­able of “dif­fer­ent cry melodies,” and they tend to pro­duce “mel­o­dy pat­terns... typ­i­cal for the am­bi­ent lan­guage they have heard dur­ing their fe­tal life, with­in the last tri­mes­ter,” said Kath­leen Wermke of the Un­ivers­ity of Würzburg in Ger­ma­ny, one of the sci­en­tists in­volved. “These da­ta sup­port the im­por­tance of hu­man in­fants’ cry­ing for seed­ing lan­guage de­vel­op­ment.” The find­ings were pub­lished on­line Nov. 5 in the re­search jour­nal Cur­rent Bi­ol­o­gy. Hu­man fe­tus­es can mem­o­rize sounds from the ex­ter­nal world by the last tri­mes­ter of preg­nan­cy, with a par­tic­u­lar sen­si­ti­vity to mel­o­dy con­tour in both mu­sic and lan­guage, ear­li­er stud­ies found. New­borns pre­fer their moth­er’s voice over oth­ers and per­ceive the emo­tion­al con­tent of mes­sages con­veyed via in­tona­t­ion in ma­ter­nal speech. Their pre­ference for the sur­round­ing lan­guage and abil­ity to tell apart dif­fer­ent lan­guages and pitch changes are based pri­marily on mel­o­dy, Wermke said. Al­though pre­na­tal ex­po­sure to na­tive lan­guage was known to in­flu­ence new­borns’ per­cep­tion, sci­en­tists had thought that the sur­round­ing lan­guage af­fect­ed sound pro­duc­tion much lat­er, the re­search­ers said, but it now seems that’s not so. Wermke’s team recorded and an­a­lyzed the cries of 60 healthy new­borns, 30 born in­to French-speaking fam­i­lies and 30 born in­to Ger­man-speaking fam­i­lies, when they were three to five days old. French new­borns tended to cry with a ris­ing mel­o­dy con­tour, where­as Ger­man new­borns seemed to pre­fer a fall­ing mel­o­dy con­tour in their cry­ing. Those pat­terns are con­sist­ent with char­ac­ter­is­tic dif­fer­ences be­tween the two lan­guages, Wermke said. This imita­t­ion of lan­guage “mel­o­dy con­tour” by in­fants does­n’t de­pend on skills in ar­ticula­t­ion, which tend to de­vel­op a few months af­ter birth, the sci­en­tists said. “New­borns are probably highly mo­ti­vat­ed to im­i­tate their moth­er’s be­hav­ior in or­der to at­tract her and hence to fos­ter bond­ing,” they wrote. “Be­cause mel­o­dy con­tour may be the only as­pect of their moth­er’s speech that new­borns are able to im­i­tate, this might ex­plain why we found mel­o­dy con­tour imita­t­ion at that early age.”

	"Long before it's in the papers" April 23, 2010 RETURN TO THE WORLD SCIENCE HOME PAGE Mostly-male book images may reduce girls’ science scores April 23, 2010 Special to World Science   Part of the rea­son boys tend to out­score girls in sci­ence clas­ses may be that most text­books show pre­dom­i­nantly male sci­en­tists’ im­ages, a small ex­plor­a­to­ry study has found. The stu­dy, on 81 young high-school stu­dents, saw the “gen­der gap” ap­par­ently re­versed when youths were tested based on a text con­tain­ing only female sci­ent­ist im­ages, in­ves­ti­ga­tors said. The gap re­turned in its usu­al form when ma­le-only im­ages were used—and van­ished when the pho­tos showed equal num­bers of men and wom­en sci­en­tists, re­search­ers said. Part of the rea­son boys tend to out­score girls in sci­ence clas­ses may be that most text­books show pre­dom­i­nantly male sci­en­tists’ im­ages, a small ex­plor­a­to­ry study has found. (Image courtesy Vir­gi­nia Dept. of Ed.) The in­ves­ti­ga­tors cau­tioned, based on the small sam­ple size and oth­er fac­tors, that it’s un­real­is­tic to ex­pect it would be so easy to erase the gen­der gap in real life. None­the­less, the find­ings hint that “pro­vid­ing stu­dents with di­verse role mod­els with­in text­book im­ages” may be an im­por­tant step, the re­search­ers wrote in re­port­ing their re­sults. The stu­dy, by Jes­si­ca J. Good of Rut­gers Uni­vers­ity in New Jer­sey and col­leagues, is pub­lished in the March-Ap­ril is­sue of the Jour­nal of So­cial Psy­chol­o­gy. Oth­er re­search­ers have pro­posed that so­ci­e­ty can wipe out the pe­r­for­mance gap—which has al­ready shrunk­en in re­cent years—by mak­ing stronger ef­forts to give both sexes si­m­i­lar re­sources and op­por­tun­i­ties. A 2004 re­port by the U.S. Cen­ter for Educa­t­ion Sta­tis­tics not­ed that the pre­vi­ous year, sci­ence scores for eighth-grade boys ex­ceeded those for eighth-grade girls in 28 out of 34 coun­tries sur­veyed. In the study on text­book im­ages, ninth- and tenth-grade stu­dents, 29 male and 52 fema­le, were asked to read a three-page chem­is­try text with one pho­to per page. Stu­dents were ran­domly as­signed one of three ver­sions of the read­ing: one whose pic­tures showed all male sci­en­tists, anoth­er with only female sci­en­tists and one with equal num­bers of sci­en­tists of both sexes. The text it­self was the same in all cases. The stu­dents, who had no pri­or for­mal chem­is­try train­ing, were next di­rect­ed to take a short test on the read­ing. Girls did sig­nif­i­cantly bet­ter when us­ing the text with wom­en-only im­ages, the in­ves­ti­ga­tors re­ported. Boys did bet­ter with the men-only im­ages, though the dif­fer­ence here did­n’t reach a sta­tis­ti­cally sig­nif­i­cant lev­el. Over­all, av­er­age scores were high­er for girls than boys among all stu­dents who got the wom­en-only ver­sion. The com­mon pre­dom­i­nance of ma­le-sci­ent­ist im­ages in text­books is a case of what some read­ers would pe­rceive as “stereo­type threat,” a phe­nom­e­non first de­scribed by re­search­ers at Stan­ford Uni­vers­ity in Cal­i­for­nia in the mid-1990s, ac­cord­ing to Good and col­leagues. Ster­e­o­type threat oc­curs when a test-taker is pre­sented with, or freshly re­minded of, a ster­e­o­type that re­flects neg­a­tively on his or her abil­i­ties in the sub­ject mat­ter at hand. Stud­ies have found that ster­e­o­type threats push down the test-taker’s score, in the same di­rec­tion the ster­e­o­type would pre­dict. Thus a pre­dom­i­nance of ma­le-sci­ent­ist im­ages in the ma­jor­ity of sci­ence text­books may re­in­force pop­u­lar no­tions that girls are worse at sci­ence, and then lead to re­sults in line with those ideas, said Good and col­leagues. Ster­e­o­type threats have been found to af­fect mi­nor­i­ties as well as fema­les. And the new find­ings sug­gest ster­e­o­type threat might work both ways—hurt­ing not only those dis­fa­vored by a com­mon ster­e­o­type, but those fa­vored as well. In par­tic­u­lar, al­though the pop­u­lar ster­e­o­type is that boys are the top pe­rformers in sci­ence, Good’s re­sults hinted that boys’ scores, too, might suf­fer if they saw pic­tures that cut against the flat­ter­ing ster­e­o­type. A sim­ple so­lu­tion that pre­s­ents it­self, though it re­quires more re­search, would be “mixed-gen­der text­book im­ages,” the re­search­ers wrote. These “may rep­re­sent a sim­ple and cost-ef­fec­tive way to rem­e­dy the neg­a­tive ef­fects of stereo­typic text­book im­ages.” They cau­tioned that not­with­stand­ing the lat­est re­sults, oth­er stud­ies have found that re­mov­ing ster­e­o­type threats does­n’t com­pletely elim­i­nate pe­r­for­mance gaps among dif­fer­ent groups, though it helps. How ex­actly ster­e­o­type-threat ef­fects work is un­known, Good and col­leagues said, al­though there is ev­i­dence that they ope­rate largely sub­con­scious­ly. Pos­si­ble rea­sons may in­clude anx­i­e­ty or in­tru­sive thoughts caused by the ster­e­o­type threat, they wrote. Anoth­er ex­plana­t­ion may be that there is a sub­con­scious ten­den­cy to con­form to so­ci­e­tal ex­pecta­t­ions. “Re­search should in­ves­t­i­gate the in­flu­ence of di­verse role mod­els pre­sented in text­books as a way of im­prov­ing pe­r­for­mance of mul­ti­ple ster­e­o­typed groups, not just wom­en,” the in­ves­ti­ga­tors con­clud­ed. “Although elim­i­nat­ing gen­der bi­as in text­books will most likely not erad­i­cate the gen­der gap in sci­ence in­ter­est and achieve­ment, it will beg­in to chip away at an ev­er crum­bling founda­t­ion.” * * *

The Father of Video Games

The Father of Video Games

In 2006 Ralph H. Baer was awarded the National Medal of Technology by the President of the United States for his “groundbreaking and pioneering creation, development and commercialisation of interactive video
games”.  In fact many believe he invented the gaming industry.  Quite an accomplishment.  Would it surprise you to learn that Ralph is 88 years old?
Born in Germany into a Jewish family and the son of a shoe factory worker life could not have been too easy.  At the age of eleven Ralph was expelled from school for being Jewish and in 1938 the his whole family left Germany for America just in time to avoid the anti jewish purge of Kristallnacht.  Once in America Ralph took a job in a factory on minimal wage, self educated himself and two years later graduated from the National Radio Institute in Chicago.  In 1943 with the world at war he was assigned to work for US military intelligence.  After the war ended Ralph went back to studying and chose the American Television Institute of Technology from which he graduated from in 1949 with a degree in Television engineering.  His future as the father of video gaming was beginning to take shape.

In 1949 he worked as chief engineer at a small electronic medical equipment firm responsible for making electrical surgical equipment.  Two years later he went to work as a senior engineer at a company that made equipment for the computer company IBM.  By the age of 30 he had changed jobs and moved up again and was the vice president for a company that made semi conductors.  Finally, four years later, he went to work for a US defense contractor that made aircraft electronic systems and he stayed there for the next 31 years until he retired.  It was while he was working here that he established his name in the video gaming history books.

In August 1972 the release of the ‘Brown Box’, or the Magnavox Odyssey, heralded the birth of the first home video game console.  Designed by Ralph Baer the Magnavox Odyssey predated the next video game console by 3 years.  Ralph saw his invention build up 24 game titles, he pushed for the development of sound but his idea was rejected.  So too was his idea to make an add on cartridge that you could use to ‘load’ games on to the console with.  However, some ideas were accepted and the first add on peripheral is credited to the magnavox - the light gun.  This was a plastic moulded gun that when pointed at the screen registered the light emitted from a television set.

Quite an impressive story but it was not over.  Ralph’s story of inventions goes on.  One of these was the single-chip micro-processor controlled handheld game called SIMON that became a cult hit in the 80s.  This game had four large coloured buttons that lit up in a random sequence starting with one colour and then adding one more each round.  The object of the game was for players to repeat the sequence by pressing the correct buttons and the game ended when a mistake was made.  Other inventions included a recordable talking doormat called the ‘chat mat’ and a talking speedometer for a bike.

Ralph has retired now and has donated all the original game units he owned to the Smithsonian Institution  This government run educational and research institute owns  just under twenty public access museums and if you want to see some of Ralph Baer’s inventions then you can go and visit them there.  Alternatively you can play any one of the half dozen home video consoles and appreciate the legacy that he has left.

Children Educate Themselves III: 

The Wisdom

of Hunter-Gatherers

How hunter-gatherer children learn without schools.

Published on August 2, 2008

For hundreds of thousands of years, up until the time when agriculture was invented (a mere 10,000 years ago), we were all hunter-gatherers. Our human instincts, including all of the instinctive means by which we learn, came about in the context of that way of life. And so it is natural that in this series on children's instinctive ways of educating themselves I should ask: How do hunter-gatherer children learn what they need to know to become effective adults within their culture?
In the last half of the 20th century, anthropologists located and observed many groups of people--in remote parts Africa, Asia, Australia, New Guinea, South America, and elsewhere--who had maintained a hunting-and-gathering life, almost unaffected by modern ways. Although each group studied had its own language and other cultural traditions, the various groups were found to be similar in many basic ways, which allows us to speak of "the hunter-gatherer way of life" in the singular. Wherever they were found, hunter-gatherers lived in small nomadic bands (of about 25 to 50 people per band), made decisions democratically, had ethical systems that centered on egalitarian values and sharing, and had rich cultural traditions that included music, art, games, dances, and time-honored stories.

 

To supplement what we could find in the anthropological literature, several years ago Jonathan Ogas (then a graduate student) and I contacted a number of anthropologists who had lived among hunter-gatherers and asked them to respond to a written questionnaire about their observations of children's lives. Nine such scholars kindly responded to our questionnaire. Among them, they had studied six different hunter-gatherer cultures--three in Africa, one in Malaysia, one in the Philippines, and one in New Guinea.

What I learned from my reading and our questionnaire was startling for its consistency from culture. Here I will summarize four conclusions, which I think are most relevant to the issue of self-education. Because I would like you to picture these practices as occurring now, I will use the present tense in describing them, even though the practices and the cultures themselves have been largely destroyed in recent years by intrusions from the more "developed" world around them.

1. Hunter-gatherer children must learn an enormous amount to become successful adults.

It would be a mistake to think that education is not a big issue for hunter-gatherers because they don't have to learn much. In fact, they have to learn an enormous amount.

To become effective hunters, boys must learn the habits of the two or three hundred different species of mammals and birds that the band hunts; must know how to track such game using the slightest clues; must be able to craft perfectly the tools of hunting, such as bows and arrows, blowguns and darts, snares or nets; and must be extraordinarily skilled at using those tools.

To become effective gatherers, girls must learn which of the countless varieties of roots, tubers, nuts, seeds, fruits, and greens in their area are edible and nutritious, when and where to find them, how to dig them (in the case of roots and tubers), how to extract the edible portions efficiently (in the case of grains, nuts, and certain plant fibers), and in some cases how to process them to make them edible or increase their nutritional value. These abilities include physical skills, honed by years of practice, as well as the capacity to remember, use, add to, and modify an enormous store of culturally shared verbal knowledge about the food materials.

In addition, hunter-gatherer children must learn how to navigate their huge foraging territory, build huts, make fires, cook, fend off predators, predict weather changes, treat wounds and diseases, assist births, care for infants, maintain harmony within their group, negotiate with neighboring groups, tell stories, make music, and engage in various dances and rituals of their culture. Since there is little specialization beyond that of men as hunters and women as gatherers, each person must acquire a large fraction of the total knowledge and skills of the culture.

2. The children learn all this without being taught.

Although hunter-gatherer children must learn an enormous amount, hunter-gatherers have nothing like school. Adults do not establish a curriculum, or attempt to motivate children to learn, or give lessons, or monitor children's progress. When asked how children learn what they need to know, hunter-gatherer adults invariably answer with words that mean essentially: "They teach themselves through their observations, play, and exploration." Occasionally an adult might offer a word of advice or demonstrate how to do something better, such as how to shape an arrowhead, but such help is given only when the child clearly desires it. Adults to not initiate, direct, or interfere with children's activities. Adults do not show any evidence of worry about their children's education; millennia of experience have proven to them that children are experts at educating themselves.[1]

3. The children are afforded enormous amounts of time to play and explore.

In response to our question about how much time children had for play, the anthropologists we surveyed were unanimous in indicating that the hunter-gatherer children they observed were free to play most if not all of the day, every day. Typical responses are the following:

• "[Batek] children were free to play nearly all the time; no one expected children to do serious work until they were in their late teens." (Karen Endicott.)

• "Both girls and boys [among the Nharo] had almost all day every day free to play." (Alan Barnard.)

• "[Efé] boys were free to play nearly all the time until age 15-17; for girls most of the day, in between a few errands and some babysitting, was spent in play." (Robert Bailey.)

• "[!Kung] children played from dawn to dusk. " (Nancy Howell.)

The freedom that hunter-gatherer children enjoy to pursue their own interests comes partly from the adults' understanding that such pursuits are the surest path to education. It also comes from the general spirit of egalitarianism and personal autonomy that pervades hunter-gatherer cultures and applies as much to children as to adults [2]. Hunter-gatherer adults view children as complete individuals, with rights comparable to those of adults. Their assumption is that children will, of their own accord, begin contributing to the economy of the band when they are developmentally ready to do so. There is no need to make children or anyone else do what they don't want to do. It is remarkable to think that our instincts to learn and to contribute to the community evolved in a world in which our instincts were trusted!

4. Children observe adults' activities and incorporate those activities into their play.

Hunter-gatherer children are never isolated from adult activities. They observe directly all that occurs in camp--the preparations to move, the building of huts, the making and mending of tools and other artifacts, the food preparation and cooking, the nursing and care of infants, the precautions taken against predators and diseases, the gossip and discussions, the arguments and politics, the dances and festivities. They sometimes accompany adults on food gathering trips, and by age 10 or so boys sometimes accompany men on hunting trips.

The children not only observe all of these activities, but they also incorporate them into their play, and through that play they become skilled at the activities. As they grow older, their play turns gradually into the real thing. There is no sharp division between playful participation and real participation in the valued activities of the group.

For example boys who one day are playfully hunting butterflies with their little bows and arrows are, on a later day, playfully hunting small mammals and bringing some of them home to eat, and on yet a later day are joining men on real hunting trips, still in the spirit of play. As another example, both boys and girls commonly build play huts, modeled after the real huts that their parents build. In her response to our questionnaire, Nancy Howell pointed out that !Kung children commonly build a whole village of play huts a few hundred yards from the real village. The play village then becomes a playground where they act out many of the kinds of scenes that they observe among adults.

Children Educate Themselves III: The Wisdom

of Hunter-Gatherers

How hunter-gatherer children learn without schools.

Published on August 2, 2008

The respondents to our survey referred also to many other examples of valued adult activities that were emulated regularly by children in play. Digging up roots, fishing, smoking porcupines out of holes, cooking, caring for infants, climbing trees, building vine ladders, using knives and other tools, making tools, carrying heavy loads, building rafts, making fires, defending against attacks from predators, imitating animals (a means of identifying animals and learning their habits), making music, dancing, story telling, and arguing were all mentioned by one or more respondents. Because all this play occurs in an age-mixed environment, the smaller children are constantly learning from the older ones.
Nobody has to tell or encourage the children to do all this. They do it naturally because, like children everywhere, there is nothing that they desire more than to grow up and to be like the successful adults that they see around them. The desire to grow up is a powerful motive that blends with the drives to play and explore and ensures that children, if given a chance, will practice endlessly the skills that they need to develop to become effective adults.

 

What relevance might these observations have for education in our culture?

Our culture, of course, is very different from hunter-gatherer cultures. You might well doubt that the lessons about education that we learn from hunter-gatherers can be applied effectively in our culture today. For starters, hunter-gatherers do not have reading, writing, or arithmetic; maybe the natural, self-motivated means of learning don't work for learning the three R's. In our culture, unlike in hunter-gatherer cultures, there are countless different ways of making a living, countless different sets of skills and knowledge that children might acquire, and it is impossible for children in their daily lives to observe all those adult skills directly. In our culture, unlike in hunter-gatherer cultures, children are largely segregated from the adult work world, which reduces their opportunities to see what adults do and incorporate those activities into their play.

Yet, in the next installment, I am going to argue that the same natural means of learning that work so well for hunter-gatherers indeed do work equally well for our children, when we provide an educational setting that allows those means to work. My next installment, which I expect to post on Wednesday, August 13, will be about a school in Framingham, Massachusetts, where, for the past 40 years, children and teenagers have been educating themselves with extraordinary success through their self-directed play and exploration.

Prescriptions for Life

Blogs

How to Attain Your Goals, Great and Small, and Create a Life You Love

by Susan Biali, M.D.

March 31, 2010, Happiness

5 Ways to Rediscover the Real You

How to be yourself (it's about time!)

Published on March 31, 2010

After I gave a workshop based on my book, Life a Life You Love: 7 Steps to a Healthier, Happier, More Passionate You, a participant sent me this anonymous comment, in response to the first step in the workshop, "Allow Yourself to be You":

"I would love to learn how to allow myself to be myself - but what does that mean and how do you do this?"

You'd be surprised how often people ask me this, often with tears in their eyes. Our culture doesn't encourage us to be ourselves. Quite the opposite - we're encouraged to follow a formula that's supposed to guarantee us happiness and wealth. Get an education in a traditionally approved field, get a "good" job, find "The One" (preferably one who society would approve of) and marry them, buy as big a house as you can, get two matching cars, go on vacation somewhere nice once a year, and if you're lucky you'll retire with a nice fat pension. Given the current economic climate, the latter items are slipping out of the grip of many.

The good news is that research shows that income and things beyond our basic comforts don't make us happier, and may actually have been making us unhappier. Particularly, in my opinion, if you've been squishing your real self down all along in order to create this picture-perfect "ideal" life.

When life is falling down around you, or if it just feels blah, lifeless or even hopeless, the quickest way to add hope and life back in is to re-connect with the real you.

Here are five ways to do this:

1) Look back and think of when you were happiest

When did you thrive the most in your life? Looking back, there were key joyous moments for me: practicing my "Solid Gold" dance moves in the basement when I was 8; traveling to visit European relatives in a jumbo jet with my parents; dancing all night in the disco during a Mexican trip with other students in 3rd year medical school; dancing and singing as a "Spice Nurse" in 4th year medical school's "Skits Night"...notice a couple of themes here? Dance, and travel. Small wonder that when I moved my base to Mexico and started a flamenco dance company in Cabo, my whole life changed. I laughed more, loved more, and felt filled with energy. I felt like I was finally truly alive.  That's not selfish, or silly - I was simply being who I was meant to be, all along.  Who are you meant to be?

2) Open your eyes and pay attention to what goes by

Instead of automatically just moving through each day, be on the lookout for things that light you up, or spark an interest. What movies capture your interest or move you the most? Do you never miss an episode of Dancing with the Stars? What activities do you observe someone else doing - whether in life, or in a book, or on TV - that you would love to try?

3) Notice what makes you mad or upset

What do you resent the most frequently in your life? If you're having a particularly grumpy day, what set you off? What's most likely to put you in a bad mood? If I don't have enough time to write or dance, I can get really irritable. If you find yourself feeling annoyed or jealous of something that someone else is doing, ask yourself why. Are they doing something you want to do? Are they preventing you from doing something you need to do? Emotions are great signposts, if you're willing to do the digging to find out what they're really about.

4) Write in a journal every day

For years I sensed that the real me was supposed to be doing something unrelated to my traditional job as a doctor. It showed itself through a deep frustration and even grief that set in after I finished a day's work or got back from vacation. At the time, I didn't really know who I was and wasn't sure how to figure that out. By journaling, day after day, surprises and clues began to show up on the page. I wanted to dance more. I wanted to perform professionally. I wanted to move to another country. I wanted to become a writer, and then a speaker. Through my journal, the real me found her voice and told the day-to-day me who she was and what she dreamed of doing. She turned my life upside down and I've never been happier since she finally had the guts to show up!

5) Listen to your body

Your body will tell you what resonates most with the real you, and when you've gone off your path or are betraying yourself. What makes you feel lighter and full of energy? What leaves you feeling drained? What makes you laugh? What makes you cry? (in a good way, and in a bad way) When do your neck and back ache? When do you get headaches? What makes your stomach churn with dread or unease? Pay attention to these physical clues - they will let you know when you're getting closer to, or farther away from, yourself.

As you pay attention to each of these areas, you'll discover more and more about the real you. Next, begin to act in ways that honor who you really are. Start doing more of those things that you've noticed move you, bring you alive, or give you more energy. Begin to avoid or change things that drain you, tense you up, or deaden your spirit. Over time, you'll be more and more yourself, and you'll be amazed by the experiences and circumstances that life will start to send your way.

It will be like God and Life were just waiting, all along, for the real you to finally show up and take the stage.

Useful WebQuest Resources

http://webquest.org/index-resources.php

Why don't students like school?

Use Up What You Have.

Clear the clutter and use it up!

Published on March 6, 2010

I'm working on my Happiness Project, and you could have one, too! Everyone’s project will look different, but it’s the rare person who can’t benefit. Join in -- no need to catch up, just jump in right now. I’ve found an easy way to expand my wardrobe, find more books to own and read, discover movies to watch, and unearth lovely objects to use – all without leaving my apartment or spending a penny.

How? I’ve resolved to Use up what I have. Why is this so hard to do? It’s so satisfying, when I do manage to make myself do it.

The most enigmatic of my Twelve Personal Commandments is to Spend out. I have a miserly, ungenerous nature; by spending out, I mean to stop hoarding, to trust in abundance, to put things in circulation – and to use what I already have.

This resolution comes up in several situations.

Sometimes, I don't use up what I have because I love to acquire. In most cases, I hate to shop, but I buy books, more and more books, even though I have a huge stack of unread books waiting for me. Before I was married, I was very disciplined about never having more than three unread books at a time. My husband didn’t observe this rule at all, and before long, I became a drive-by book-buyer, just like him. If I just read the books I already have, I would be set for months without a single purchase. I'm trying to do that.

Sometimes, I don’t make the effort to use up what I have. Instead of taking a minute to think creatively about how to wear all my clothes, I wear the same tired outfits over and over. I can expand my wardrobe just by wearing all my clothes.

And sometimes I find myself saving things instead of using them, even when that makes no sense. I buy new white t-shirts, then “save” them. I don’t use the lovely stationery my sister gave me for Christmas, I’m “saving” it. But not using things is the same as wasting them. I want to put things to work and use them up.

Using up what I have is a way to clear clutter, too. If I’ve read a book, I can consider giving it away (usually I keep my books, but not always). If I’ve really tried to wear a particular item of clothing, and just can’t do it, I can give it away instead of telling myself, “I should wear that!” and keeping it in my closet. If I’ve decided it’s time to buy a new toothbrush, I should throw away the old toothbrush instead of trying to “save” the new one.

The opposite of a great truth is also true, and it’s true that there can be great satisfaction in pleasing stores – the cozy feeling created by shelves stocked with all the things you need.

In some circumstances, I like having lots of supplies, but in general, I’m trying to use up what I have.

How about you? Does this ring true for you?

* I love New York City, so I loved this video capturing a day in the life of the city. Plus, my husband's former office building makes a cameo appearance, which is fun.

* The book The Happiness Project has been bouncing around at the top of the New York Times bestseller list for nine weeks now! – including hitting #1!