“Help Your Brother’s Boat Across, And Your Own Will Reach The Shore.”
A kind waiter noticed a hungry disabled homeless man outside of the restaurant where he worked, and he felt compassion for him.
The waiter paid for a meal with his own money, and then went outside and fed the food to the homeless man with his own hands, something that is customary in India and shows love and connection with another human being.
Someone close by witnessed the heartwarming experience and took a picture to share how beautiful their day had become after seeing it take place.
When seeing someone who is homeless, or hungry, it’s important to understand how life is from their perspective, and to realize that if we had been given the same circumstances and childhood as that person, we likely would have turned out the same.
It is in this understanding that we are able to feel compassion for them, and to do our best to help alleviate their suffering in any ways possible.
Our hearts always speak to us, and they open to tell us how much love we feel for others. It’s vital each day to listen to the quiet whispers of our hearts, as these are often messages from our deepest and truest selves trying to reach us. When all is said and done, the love we experienced from helping others will be our greatest memories to cherish.
If you notice someone in your area this week who could use a hand, consider buying some extra food for them and sharing a smile. Your kindness might brighten their day enough to keep them pushing on through their difficult lives.
Motivation is the force that initiates, guides, and maintains goal-oriented behaviors. It is what causes us to take action, and the driving forces that are beneath different types of motivation can be biological, social, emotional, or cognitive in nature.
In this fun quiz, look at the picture and remember what you see first, then read below to see what it says about you:
Psychology has mapped out a few solid theories explaining human motivation:
Instinct
According to the instinct theory of motivation, people are motivated to behave in certain ways because they are evolutionarily programmed to do so
Incentive
The Incentive Theory of Motivation states that people perform actions for external rewards, such as money for going to work.
Drive
According to the drive theory of motivation, people can be motivated to action to reduce the internal tension that is caused by unmet needs.
Arousal
The arousal theory of motivation says that people take certain actions to either decrease or increase levels of arousal; such as going to the gym when arousal levels are low, or looking to relax when arousal levels are too high.
Humanistic
Humanistic theories of motivation are based on the idea that people also have strong mental reasons to perform various actions. Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is one example of this, which presents different motivations at different levels.
Expectancy
The expectancy theory of motivation suggests that when we are thinking about the future, we think of and imagine different expectations about what we think will happen.
The key to taking action is the belief in a successful result.
Which image did you see first in the picture? An Apple? Or a Butterfly? Read below to reveal a secret about what motivates you:
The Apple
If you first saw the apple when looking at the picture, you are a person who tends to wear their heart on their sleeve and also sees the best in everyone. You’re wonderfully loyal and tend to be very devoted when you’re in a relationship. You value unconditional love greatly, and sometimes even go beyond your own boundaries of self-care and self-protection in order to help those you love. You’re able to forgive the people in your life, and you act as the glue that holds everyone together.
When it comes to people, trust is one of the main motivating factors that can keep you going and can keep life flowing smoothly. You greatly value the bonds you have with others, and when you trust each other, your bonds and love are able to deepen and grow, whether it is in a relationship or a friendship. When trust is developed, you’re also able to hear and understand what others are saying to you much easier, and they are able to listen to and understand you as well.
To be able to trust another, it’s important to stay true to your nature and continue believing the best in everyone, and also to give them the benefit of the doubt. When people sense you trust them, they tend to live up to your expectations too, so it has a wonderful compounding effect. On the other hand, if someone’s actions contradict what they tell you quite often, you may need to have a serious conversation with them or move on, because trust is something you need to be empowered.
The Butterfly
If you first saw the butterfly in this picture, then you are a person of immense hope and great faith. You know that the sun will rise tomorrow, no matter how dark the night gets, and this deep understanding gives you a brilliant and bright optimism that causes people to really, really like you.
You are also capable of great transformation, and likely have been through difficult times in your life, but emerged to become the beautiful and loving person that you are today.
Your key and secret to motivation is always remembering what you profoundly love, most deeply within your heart, as this is your shining light through any challenging times. If you’ve spent time in meditation, yoga, or spiritual practices, you have found a connection within your heart to something extraordinary, and you know it. When you quiet and relax your mind, and bring your attention to the quiet whispers and sensations of your heart, you find a dear, gentle, and tender openness and softness, and being immersed in this energy brightens every aspect of your being. To stay motivated, stay in your heart, and you’ll always find your way through life to the morning light that always exists and will soon shine on you.
You are loved.
Watch this beautiful video of a kind student giving three bags of clothes to a bullied classmate who wore the same outfit each day:
If you’ve been to the beach lately, it’s likely that you’ve seen the large amounts of trash and garbage that are continuously washing up on them from the ocean. Scientists have estimated that within the next 50 years at our current rate, the amount of plastic in the oceans will exceed the amount of fish, which is quite an alarming fact.
With 165 million tons of plastic already in the ocean, it is quite challenging to think of a much needed solution in order to protect our oceans and life on Earth. As much as 90 percent of all seabirds worldwide now consume plastic as part of their diets, according to a 2015 study. It’s even a problem in Antarctica.
When only 16 years old, the compassionate Boyan Slat decided he wanted to do something to make a difference, even if it was something small. He began studying where plastic comes from that goes into the oceans, what happens to the plastic once in the oceans, and how can we remove that plastic from the oceans.
Boyan discovered that the plastic on the oceans tend to collect on shorelines, and also in circular currents within each of the world’s oceans. He created a team, and him and his friends spend years mapping the great Pacific garbage patch, which is a collection of circulating plastic in the Pacific ocean between the size of Texas and Russia.
Img Credit: Wikipedia
Boyan discovered that he could cleanup the plastic, but they needed a way for all of the plastic to come together so that it could be extracted. He found that the easiest way to do this, is to create a large artificial shoreline of floating barriers at the center of each of the world’s plastic garbage patches. These allow the plastic to build up at certain spots, where then boats can come by and collect all of the plastic easily.
The plastic is then brought back to recycling plants, and melted down into small plastic beads that can be sold to plastic companies to use again.
After receiving more than $2 million in funding from people who understood and loved his brilliant idea, he’s started to make amazing progress in terms of saving the oceans for all of us and our children. This Compassionate 22-Year-Old Has Created A System To Remove 50% Of The Pacific Ocean’s Plastic Within 5 Years!
With the younger generation growing up in a world which has been ravaged by industrialism and materialism, we are so lucky and extremely grateful to have bright young activists and problem solvers such as Boyan Slat.
Watch the video below for a short but very well done documentary of Boyan’s project The Ocean Cleanup.
This week try to help clean up some local trash in your area, and begin to recycle if you haven’t already started. Our planet needs wonderful people like you to help out in little ways so that we can make a big difference together. You are loved.
While not always talked about, there are many reasons why women choose to stay single for long gaps of time in their lives. They might have no interest in seeking out a partner at this time in their life, they might be taking healthy and valid steps to make themselves happy before they try to be happy inside of a relationship, or they might just be highly aware and able to realize quickly when a relationship is not destined to work out in the long run, so why waste valuable time and energy?
Many women are perfectly happy and successful on their own, and they choose not to buy into traditional cultural stereotypes that say a woman needs a partner in order to be good enough, or that they should feel uncomfortable for not being in a typical serious relationship.
To understand it another way, women who choose to intentionally remain single are not motivated by making their lives easier in giving up the search for a partner, but instead already really enjoy their lives just they way they are. Their energy goes towards their passions and drive for life, which to them is the priority over settling down into a daily routine. These independent women are not scared by the idea of never getting married, and certainly don’t need a partner to support and take care of them.
When they do choose to enter a relationship, it is usually with an equally strong and self-sustaining partner who uplifts, pushes them, and when together inspires her to reach new heights with even greater success in life. It usually ends up being another person who is also completely happy being on their own, and who also after getting their own ducks in order, is ready for a healthy and interdependent relationship, which ends up being on a whole new level from the relationships of the norm.
Here are some of the most common reasons why these unique and voluntarily single women choose to stay single for large gaps of time:
1. First Things First
They know their priorities and dating is not one of them.
2. They’re Not Desperate
They don’t settle for anything less than they deserve. They only look for meaningful and deep connections with people, and are already happy with how things are.
They value deep and meaningful relationships with friends that last for years over relationships that tend to be superficial and end in not speaking with each other.
4. Too Busy To Date
They often are busying achieving their own dreams and feel that dating would only takeaway from their limited and valuable time.
5. They Have High Standards
They are strong women with high standards that not every man can meet.
6. They Are Already Satisfied With Their Life
They have great friends, great family, a great lifestyle, and they simply don’t need a partner to improve anything.
7. Not Easy To Impress
The standard ideas of materialistic beauty, wealth and ideals do not appeal to them. They prefer to be around people who have grown on a deep heart level themselves, and are also strong and independent; people who do not spend each and every day hunting for their next mate, so they are difficult to impress.
Women who choose to stay single for large gaps of time have often learned the importance of self-growth and have found that they don’t need another person in order to achieve their life dreams. Here’s to strong women; may we know them, may we be them, may we raise them.
Researchers have begun studying how scents are connected to personalities and to the buying habits of individuals. In the study The Cool Scent of Power: Effects of Ambient Scent on Preferences and Choice Behavior conducted by Madzhrov, Block and Morrin (2015), researchers found some interesting connections between how various aromas could affect the behaviors of individuals.
Before we explain what they found, first pick your top choice scent from the picture
Researchers found that the human mind relates and associates scents with warm and cold temperatures. Warm scents would be similar to vanilla and cinnamon, while cool scents are similar to peppermint and eucalyptus. Research on social density and warm scents suggests that when people perceive social density to be very high they tend to experience less control over their social environment. In addition, when people experience less power (control) they automatically adopt a power-compensatory behavior in an attempt to regain power. A percentage of people will increase the amount of things they buy in order to gain back a sense of control when smelling warm scents.
Another study by Spangenberg, Sprott and Zidansek (2012) suggests that people will spend up to 20% more money when shopping in an area with a simple organic scent, such as citrus and flowers, as opposed to no particular scent or a more complicated perfume.
While the scents we choose don’t reveal everything about our personalities, it’s interesting and fun to see if anything rings true for you.
Read below and see what your favorite scent reveals about your personality:
1. Coffee, Chocolate, Buttery Croissants
You prefer meeting friends in smaller groups as compared to larger groups. You often maintain a positive and optimistic attitude and try to see the best in everyone. It’s very important to you that you treat your friends right, and that they treat you right in return. While able to have a great time with your close circle of friends, spending prolonged periods of time with others can be exhausting at times. You tend to need relax time to recharge your batteries and to refresh yourself.
While you could be seen as a perfectionist when it comes to things you’re passionate about, you have a kind heart and have many wonderful abilities similar to those of an Empath; someone who can deeply feel and sense the feelings of others. Stay rooted in your heart, and the love within will always take care of you.
2. Forests, Fresh Pine Trees, Woodsy Smells
Staying positive is very important to you, yet you sometimes can be a bit too hard on yourself. Wonderfully creative and artistic, you deeply appreciate things of beauty, and can see beauty in objects which others may say are ordinary. Exploration and travel are more appealing to you as compared to going to crowded events with unpredictable energy.
Your kind heart always knows what to say to help those you love when they’re struggling, but sometimes you forget to give yourself the same kindness when you’re struggling within. It’s important to remember that love, kindness and compassion all begin from within, and that first showing kindness and compassion to ourselves is needed to be able to feel good enough to be there for others. Others at times in your life may have mentioned to you how they admire your ability to remain calm even in stressful circumstances. Self-compassion can give you strength and help to release beautifully creative ideas from your heart into your mind.
3. Citrus Fruits, Freshly Sliced
Patience is one of your virtues, and when it comes to learning new skills and abilities, you’re able to persist and succeed. You know the value of hard work and it has helped you to exceed above the fold in many areas in your life. You tend to enjoy the little things in life, and are always there to help a friend when they ask. You also are okay with asking others for help, as you have deep friendships with those you love and can count on each other for anything.
When you’re passionate about something, your opinion can be quite strong to say the least, and you make sure your voice is heard. While your success in your personal life or career usually keeps you busy, remember to spend a portion of your week volunteering, helping a charity, or engaging in random acts of kindness. The actions you do seem to have a multiplying effect, so when you give goodness, it continues on exponentially to help others, eventually making its way back to you. If enough people with your kind of ability were to dedicate themselves to a good cause, major and wonderful things would happen. Give it a try.
4. The Smell Of The Ocean
You seek clarity, calm and stillness of mind in your daily life, while you may not always know it. Inner peace is deeply satisfying to you and gives you much needed rest from the worries of life. You usually like knowing things for certain, and experience insecurity from time to time, but your hopeful and optimistic attitude always bounces you back to your cheerful self.
Sometimes you feel trapped in routines, your career or lifestyle, and are unsure about if you’re making the right decisions in life that will make you ultimately happy. It’s important during these times that you spend time in silence and calm, and listen to the quiet whispers of your heart. Your heart always knows exactly what you want and what you’re looking for, so pay attention to what causes your heart to open and soften in a very deep, quiet and gentle way within: these are related to your true calling in life.
You’re a very lovable and likable person, and could be described as gentle, intelligent and reflective. You prefer to observe and learn things first rather than jumping straight into them. When it comes to social activities, you can both be entertained going to a concert and also reading a book while cozy at home. Nervousness and anxiety is experienced from time to time, which is very normal, and you’ve grown in ways that allow you to handle it smoothly.
While deeply desiring connections with others, you also enjoy spending time with yourself. This sometimes leads to conflicting feelings, but remember that it’s possible to integrate both healthy relationships, as well as recharging personal times in order to live a balanced and healthy life. Remember to remind yourself often that you are lovable and good enough, just the way you are, and that you deserve every good thing that you want in life. Like a butterfly, you can’t easily see how beautiful your wings are, but the rest of us can.
6. Flowers, Roses, Lavender
Passionate and sensual, you are deeply in touch with your feelings and know what you want in life. You tend to enjoy the little things on a day to day basis, and your artistic nature helps you to surround yourself with a unique and fashionable living space. You feel more comfortable in smaller groups and while you enjoy life in the city, you find peace close to nature.
Love is your strength, and it’s important to remember that it first comes from within; something that you give to yourself, before you can give it 100% to others. The upside to being passionate is you are deeply motivated to do certain things, and the downside is that sometimes you lose your sense of inner balance. Remember to get enough sleep, to exercise regularly, and to get as healthy as you can. Yoga could be a wonderful way for you to maintain a healthy balance of mind, body, and spirit.
