happiness – Page 2 – Chronicles of a Blogaholic

“Memory… is the diary that we all carry about with us.”
Oscar Wilde

Jog Your Memory

Anyone who has gone without exercising for a while knows how it can fog up your brain. You may not even realize that your memory loss is due to lack of exercise. Most people chalk it up to senility.

A memory is made up of millions of neurons which your brain builds to make a connection so that you can have memories. As you age, your brain continues to develop neurons and build new connections. Research has proven that any type of cardiovascular activity when done for 20 minutes or more, three times per week will improve your memory.

You may ask yourself, how is this possible? Well, when you are exercising you are obviously raising your heart rate. The raised heart rate gets blood flowing to your brain. This blood flow enlarges the part of the brain which is responsible for brain memory. It also increases the secretion of a brain protein necessary for your long-term memory.

The brain may be an organ, but it works like a muscle and it’s one of the most important organs in your body. You can let it atrophy by sitting around all day. Or you can choose to get up and jog your memory.

Shine On

“Being happy
enables one
to be freed,
or largely freed,
from the domination
of outward conditions.”
Robert Louis Stevenson

Comedian, Jake Johannsen has a funny comedy routine about the subject of being happy. He tells about his little daughter who announces out of the blue, that she is happy. Life is just that simple, as this comedian points out. Life is about, being happy.

Being happy may sound simple and easy, but most people don’t even know what makes them happy. That’s why I believe there are so many people on Prozac. Some people believe that someone else can make them happy. Others believe that having lots of money will make them happy. I believe that everyone, first of all, needs to know what makes them happy, to become a happy person.

There are a lot of generous people that help less fortunate people and that’s what makes them happy. Volunteer work is a great way to give back and get back. The other way to give back is a “pay it forward” type of giving.

The concept of “pay it forward” goes back as far as ancient Athens in 317 BC. It was also written about by Benjamin Franklin in 1784. Not until the book and movie, “Pay it Forward” written by Catherine Ryan Hyde came out, did people begin talking about this concept.

In her book, the author describes “pay it forward” as: . . . an obligation to do three good deeds for others in response to a good deed that one receives. Such good deeds should accomplish things that the other person cannot accomplish on their own. In this way, the practice of helping one another can spread geometrically through society, at a ratio of three to one, creating a social movement with an impact of making the world a better place.

It’s always amazing to me how life can sometimes imitate art. Because of the impact of the novel and movie, an organization “The Pay it Forward Movement and Foundation” was founded in the USA helping start a positive ripple effect of kindness acts in many places around the world.

It doesn’t take much effort to be happy and to make others happy. A smile, a “how are you”, a nod of approval or just telling someone you love them, can make all the difference in someone’s life.

I feel very fortunate because I know what makes me happy. What makes me happy? Usually, they are little moments in the day, but those moments last a life time.

That’s why, “I’m Happy !”.

Shine On