8 Creativity Lessons From An Animator
Whether it is sharing ideas, working hard and being persistent in your efforts, or having the ability let go of your own ego, amazing things can be accomplished when you allow yourself to become a true team player. Bernhard Haux, who has worked on blockbuster motion pictures such as 'Up,' and 'Monsters U', offers up some inspiring thoughts that can help everyone work together to achieve a common g... posted on Dec 26 2013, 29,897 reads

A Christmas Wish From Beyond The Grave
This Des Moines radio station had run a "Christmas Wish" program for over 20 years, but nothing had prepared them for Brenda Schmitz's request. The wife and mom of four lost her battle with ovarian cancer two years ago, at the age of 46. Then..."About a week and half ago we got [her] letter in the mail," shares station brand manager Scott Allen. Brenda wanted the station to do something wonderful ... posted on Dec 25 2013, 45,192 reads

How Sleep Makes You Smart
About one-third of our lives are spent in reverie, and yet little is known about how sleep is linked to intellectual and emotional intelligence. Researchers are unravelling this mystery and are finding that sleep - especially deep sleep - confers emotional balance, opens us to learning, cements memory, and strengthens our ability to make meaning of facts and experiences. Sleep, as it turns out, is... posted on Dec 24 2013, 70,289 reads

Six Life Lessons from Leo Tolstoy
Leo Tolstoy, the author of literary epics such as 'War and Peace' and 'Anna Karenina', is most often thought of as one of the 19th century's greatest novelists. However, "few are aware that he was also one of its most radical social and political thinkers. During a long life from 1828 to 1910, Tolstoy gradually rejected the received beliefs of his aristocratic background and embraced a startlingly... posted on Dec 23 2013, 179,543 reads

How To Make Stress Your Friend
Stress. It makes your heart pound, your breathing quicken and your forehead sweat. But while stress has been made into a public health enemy, new research suggests that stress may only be bad for you if you believe that to be the case. Health psychologist Kelly McGonigal urges us to see stress as a positive. If you believe that your body is energized and preparing you to take action, your physical... posted on Dec 22 2013, 10,702 reads

6 Boys, One Cop: A Story of Restorative Justice
In one of Frank Baum's Oz books, Dorothy winds up in prison in Oz and is treated to luxury, kindness and warm cookies. When she asks why, the guard says, "Why would we treat people meanly when we want them to be kind?" The prison system in the US often runs counter to this notion of kindness and rehabilitation. This article focuses on a town in Longmont, Colorado where restorative justice that pro... posted on Dec 21 2013, 26,074 reads

Are We Losing Our Focus?
Daniel Goleman, renowned author and psychologist, writes that the ability to focus on one task to the exclusion of others is a lost art for many. Yet the skill of focus is connected to greater happiness, better relationships, and increased productivity. He writes that balancing inner, other, and outer focus are keys to success. Inner focus involves paying attention to our values, intuition, and wa... posted on Dec 20 2013, 26,322 reads

An Awesome Way To Help Kids Be Less Self-Absorbed
Malala Yousufzai, Craig Kielburger, and Ryan Hreljac are some of the many young people in the world who are trying to transform the world in positive ways. However, research suggests that a large percentage of youth are becoming less empathic and more disconnected from others. Getting children and young adults to be less self-absorbed has also been a subject of research, and as Dacher Keltner expl... posted on Dec 19 2013, 108,615 reads

The Art & Science of Conquering Your Fears
Aristotle believed courage to be the most important quality in a man. "Courage is the first of human virtues because it makes all others possible," he wrote. Today, it's one of the more neglected areas of positive psychology, but recent research has begun to move toward an understanding of what courage is and how we might be able to cultivate the ability to face our fear and make decisions with gr... posted on Dec 18 2013, 0 reads

Saving the Kind Barber and His Street Cats
With two hefty sacks of cat food in her arms, Manuela Wroblewski can't stop smiling as she whisks toward the familiar shop. Hussein, the Turkish barber, clasps his hands in gratitude as he eyes the bags of food and the two hurry over to the tiny food dishes lined up in the alley. Soon the sound of kibble clinks against the bowls and several stiff tailed cats begin to appear. But Hussein was in tro... posted on Dec 17 2013, 186,554 reads