A New Branch of Psychology Called Positive Psychology Focuses On The Bright Side

You might not be able to buy happiness, but there's a good chance you can learn more about it on a college or university campus. There's a relatively new branch of psychology known as positive psychology, and it looks at people who enjoy good psychological health. A 2008 article in Business Week likened positive psychology courses to self-help books that have become so popular among people in search of personal growth and fulfillment.

Some Intro to Psychology courses, such as one offered by an Ivy League university in Connecticut, introduce students to positive sides of psychology as well as to anxiety and clinical depression. Another Ivy League institution, this one in Boston, at the time of the Business Week article offered an undergraduate course in positive psychology. According to the Business Week article, the course was the university's most popular.

In Pennsylvania, the web site for a university with a Positive Psychology Center suggests that positive psychology is founded on the belief that people want to live lives that have meaning and fulfillment. Those who are happiest, a 2002 USA Today article notes, measure themselves according to their own standards, make use of their strengths, seek out intimacy, show forgiveness and gratitude and surround themselves with friends and family. Students at the Pennsylvania university can do more than learn about this new branch of psychology through a course - they can work towards a Master's degree in applied positive psychology.

The Intro to Psychology course in Connecticut, which is provided free online, includes a video lecture on "The Good Life: Happiness." In it, the instructor provides the Biblical example of a king with great possessions that failed to make him happy. The instructor also cites theories like that of the USA Today article, suggesting that focusing on friends and family could hold keys to happiness.

Others have different theories with regard to individual happiness. Author and radio host Deepak Chopra, who co-founded the Chopra Center for Well-Being, wrote about positive psychology in a November 2010 article in the Huffington Post. He suggests that poor self-image, depression, anxiety and other traits and disorders can lead people to make choices that limit their happiness. Chopra suggests that there are people who opt to remain in a bad situation rather than risk the unknown. He also suggests that it's possible to become happier by envisioning that happiness.

Chopra, along with the Positive Psychology Center in Pennsylvania, have related this new study of psychology to areas such as peacefulness, wisdom, creativity and compassion. It also has been associated with tolerance, civility, leadership, productivity and more. Still, the idea of this new branch hasn't gone without criticism.

A November article in Psychology Today points toward a best-selling book entitled, " Bright-Sided: How The Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America," and an October article in Harper's, "The War on Unhappiness: Goodbye Freud, Hello Positive Thinking." The Psychology Today article mentions points of view that have to do with research on positive psychology that might not always be scientific. The article also notes the thoughts of those who say that blind optimism isn't the answer and that pessimists are better at some things than optimists are.

Benefits of Temping

Some people still regard temping as a stop-gap. It is something that students do or young people who have just entered the workplace, whereas other people don't do it, according to this myth. But in fact this concept of what temping is, is just so old fashioned. It is in fact a great way to work and can offer so much flexibility.

If you are temping then you will be able to go to all different kinds of jobs, meet lots of new and interesting people and if you are signed up with a reputable recruitment agency, then you will also be able to flex your wings a little and try out different types of jobs. And if you don't like a position, then you try somewhere else. Or if the employer decides that they don't like you, for whatever reason, then you can just pick something else up.

True, you don't have a permanent contract, but in the economic climate of today, no job is safe. So why sit in the same old office, with the same old people, when you could be getting all different kinds of paid work experience, meeting new people and seeing life from different angles. Why it is almost a 'no brainer'.

And the fact that you don't have a permanent contract means that you can actually get paid a little more, so even though your job security is not quite so good as if you were an employee, the extra ready cash in your pay packet certainly makes up for it.

So you can forget all the preconceived notions about temping. It is a great way to make a living, to experience real variety and to have a flexible and adaptable approach to work. Really everyone should be made to temp, just to stop themselves from getting stuck in a rut!

How Empathy Can Reduce Your Anger

Jim, a 42-year old engineer was teaching his eight-year-old son how to fly a radio-controlled airplane. As the airplane was taking off, Jim instructed his son to push the control stick on the radio to the right. He did and the airplane turned to the right.

This was repeated several more times until the airplane turned full circle toward the son, ready to land. "Push the stick to the right," said Jim. This time, however, the plane turned left. "Push the stick left," Jim said. Now the plane turned right, as if it suddenly had a mind of its own.

"I'm confused," said the son. "How do I know which way to push the stick when the plane behaves differently depending on if it's flying away from me or toward me?"

"It's simple," said Jim. "Simply imagine you're in the plane and push the stick accordingly." This cured the problem.

What a great lesson in empathy - the ability to experience the world from another perspective, often the perspective of another person.

As an anonymous English author wrote: "To empathize is to see with the eyes of another, to hear with the ears of another, and to feel with the heart of another."

Why is empathy important? The real world bottom line is that lack of empathy leads to poor communication and a failing to understand others. Lack of empathy leads to all sorts of problems in our world. Nations go to war, people are killed, couples divorce - all for a lack of empathy and understanding.

It is natural to become angry when frustrated or irritated with people who do or say things at variance with our worldview.

To manage anger, it often helps to see our anger as a combination of their behavior and our lack of empathy. While we cannot control other's thoughts, feelings or behaviors, we most certainly can increase our empathy skills.

To control our anger with increased empathy, three basic skills are required: listening, self-awareness and acceptance.

Empathic listening is a type of listening that goes further than ordinary listening. This type of listening uses another person's point of view to see the world as others see it. It provides a higher level of understanding of how others feel.

Self-awareness occurs as you better understand your own thoughts and feelings. You are then better able to understand the thoughts and feelings of someone else. The more open we are to our own feelings, the more skilled we become at reading someone else's feelings, and generally the less angry we feel toward them.

Acceptance, on the other hand, is the ability to see that others have a right to their "ridiculous" feelings. We must allow people to have feelings without telling them how they should feel. W cannot stop others from having feelings.

Empathic people understand that feelings are difficult to control. When we accept others as they are, it simply means that we understand that they are doing the best they can at the time. Remember, if they could do any better, they probably would.

Acceptance of others' feelings is not easy when people act differently than we do. We all have difficulty with those who are different. By learning the skill of empathy, we will be better able to understand ourselves and others.

Here are five simple rules to be more empathetic.

1. Pay attention to the feelings that others express. Watch for both verbal and nonverbal clues. Try to understand the message behind the words and actions.

2. Place the feelings of other's ahead of your own. Put aside your own needs and ideas long enough to listen to another's point of view.

3. Communicate your understanding. Respond or give answers to the messages you receive to show you understand them.

4. Do not interrupt. Let speakers finish what they are saying before you talk.

5. Ask for more information. If you still don't understand, ask more questions until you fully understand.

The Big Sky by AB Guthrie

The plot of the story is set in the landscape of the mountains and the early days of the fur trade. During those days men left the comforts of their own homes to set out for the West trusting their instincts and the directions of the rivers.

From Missouri to Yellowstone and on through the caldera of the geysers where the birth of the snake begins to wind it's way to the Teton ranges, it was the beaver that drew them, but it became something else that held them, something that is still there.

The "Big Sky" written by Guthrie is not just a tale of outcasts and renegades. It is a work that deserves accolades for its beautiful portrayal of history. The book is about the wisdom that people used to have, the wisdom one gains through the need to survive where "nature favors no man" and every opportunity is valuable as it may knock only once at your door. It is about the emotions of jealousy, love and friendship that occurs at every step of the journey. It is a tale about the passions of youth and the energy that fuels it. All of these feelings show themselves without any restraint and survival, for each day is the only thing that actually matters and everything that follows is secondary.

The protagonist of the story is Boone Claudill who abandons his home for the unknown land of the West after an altercation with his father. With a vague idea of an uncle who had also left for the West a long time ago, he decides to set out with the faint hope of finding him. The character has no idea about the difficulty that awaits him on his journey into the unknown.

As he sets out on his quest, he meets another man who turns into his trustworthy friend, that is until an unexpected tragedy happens. As we read through the book, we see him grow from a clumsy person who lacks confidence into a mentally strong mountain man flying towards his destiny. On his way he encounters a beautiful girl whom he recognizes from his childhood, his is infatuated and hopelessly in love with her. For me the big sky is storytelling at it's finest and most honest, a love affair with the unspoiled wilderness and the early travellers.

Creative Ministry Growth - Publish a Book to Spread Your Message

Most ministries are involved with edifying the lives and minds of the people to whom the ministry is to. These ministries many times use various methods to deliver their message to their audience. Publishing a book that displays the message of your ministry is a smart, savvy, and powerful way to reach your audience.

A book can say more to your following than you can say in one sitting. You can develop your message and show attention to details in a book that you couldn't possibly do when you speak on television, radio, or in person. Once a person has your book in their hand, they will be able to learn your message intimately, and in their own time. When you speak you do realize that people don't take all that you say. People will generally only remember a small percentage of what you said. Yet when they can see it and digest it at their own learning pace, you become successful at being an effective teacher. And isn't that what you're trying to be?

There are not too many people that are in ministry or are passionate educators that couldn't be more effective at their mission with a book.

Even if your ministry isn't a teaching one but an activity based one, the ultimate goal of any ministry is the changed life of a human being. So after you've fed, clothed, or treated a person, you can hit a home run if you were to give that person a book that teaches the doctrine, philosophy, and heart of your organization and spirit.

I believe that it's impossible to be successful at accomplishing your goals in ministry without being a doer and leading by example. But after or as you do that it's also equally important to bring understanding to the people to whom you minister. You should never be presumptuous and think that someone will be changed simply because you did a good deed for them. People will consume all that you have and leave away completely un-changed and not be spiritually affected in the least. You and I know that reaching the spiritual man is the ultimate goal. If that's true then you need to have a book. It will take your ministry to a new level and/or make it more productive and effective.

DivX and Movie Downloading - What, How, and Why?

Most films that are downloaded at present,are in the DivX Format,and by using this method of compression/decompression, a Movie can typically be compressed to about one tenth of its original size and downloaded without noticeable loss of quality to a users PC. Here it can be stored on a Hard Drive or burnt onto a CD/DVD and viewed on a DivX compatible Media Player.

Due to the massive popularity of Movie Download networks, DivX has become a very popular video compression technology (it was initially derived from MPEG-4) ,and is doing for video what MP3 did for music.

In practise DivX is used in the form of codec software,(a codec is a compressor/decompressor).

When a DivX encoded Movie is played out from its storage media (DVD/CD/Hard Drive),it is decompressed by the DivX software and relayed on to a DivX compatible Media Player such as Windows Media Player for Viewing.

For example,a Movie containing several Gigabytes of data can be compressed to several hundred Megabytes of data,and downloaded via the internet to a PC in about 2 hours using a typical 512kb DSL connection,this compares to about 20hrs for an uncompressed Movie!

For reference :

1GB =1000 Million Bytes 1MB = 1 Million Bytes A typical DVD can store about 4.7GB A typical CD can store about 700MB