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Thursday, May 8, 2014

Beginnings 2!

In class we have been doing these so called "Beginnings" and we are left with our head to be creative as can be to tell how to end it. This was pretty fun and the spirit of the classroom rose and it was alive! This was in interesting way to go about our class setting and honestly I think it was a brilliant idea! I love it and I wish I could have a class as cool as this one for college but this creativity has led the young minds to explore on another level. This can be used in the debate of how solid education shall be. Letting the young mind explore our creativeness in writing is a great technique that clearly has worked and has proven itself. I overheard Dr. Preston telling a classmate, like 'wow! I didn't know you were such a creative writer!' That astonished him and me without even knowing. It brought out some a different view on how we write and how amazing it could be if one would really let us off the leash to be free and  let the mind run wild.

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Design!

Every high school classroom is the same! Who doesn't know that? Dr. Preston is letting us use his classroom and design it to be the way us students would feel comfortable learning in! like wow! Does that not amaze anyone because teachers don't usually let us do things like that! So my idea was to definitely talk more with the classroom in how and what we are going to put in the classroom because again everyone has their own perspective and feel of the environment they are comfortable learning in. I love the outdoors, maybe some nice big plants in a few of the corners of the room would be nice; a couch would be comfortable to chill and do homework or study on; instead of desks put a nice big spacious table in the middle of the classroom; Putting art up on the wall feels nice so we don't have to look up at white walls but they have to have meaning, some extraordinary art to wonder my thoughts to. I would love to know and hear what other people think on how else to design the classroom! :) So please feel free to comment.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Responce to: Recovery for whom?

This article makes more sense when I put two and two together. The high class individuals are living in more satisfaction than ever and the more they get wealth, the more the poverty line gets pushed down! This is a major problem I see in many cities, even the highest cost if living Sates. The millenniums of today are struggling more than years before, the morals of young people are falling apart and overall living the life is a struggle. There is only so much that could be 'sugar coated' until that coat fades away. Looking at all the data and evidence that supports what is being stated in the article is clear enough to be that there is a bigger problem than what it seemed! Please someone explain to me why and what needs to happen for the government officials, the states, senators, the congress to understand that this problem needs to be fixed NOW! Thinking of our future generations and how worse hasn't even started with unemployed and uneducated human beings, what potential does society have without the right tools in the economy to succeed at it's best and full potential? How does that benefit the world we live in today?

Monday, April 14, 2014

Responce to "Parental Involvement Is Overrated"

The studies done to support George W. Bush's No Child left Behind Campaign, was ideally the only correct way to help children academically. But come to find out that this evidence was not fully concluded and open for more studies because there is a controversy argument to it, is just astonishing. I thought that being more involved in the children's school studies would really improve their curriculum. Come to realize that it is complete opposite! How should we feel now? After so many years thinking that we had the right idea on how to help our children academically, come to a false reality? "In fact, there were more instances in which children had higher levels of achievement when their parents were less involved than there were among those whose parents were more involved." -Keith Robinson. As parents not always does it hurt to be involved in the child's academic studies and there is studies to support that idea. So with the knowledge shared, we need to start taking a look at the evidence and put two and two together if we want the best for our future generation of beautiful children!

Responce to "Raising a Moral Child"

After reading the article on how to raise a child right with the correct morals it was interesting to me that there was plenty of research to show the statements being made in the article were greatly supported. With that in tact I believe the author is correct on parenting styles and how we are unaware of how parents bring up their children.  Adults are the role models and there is a less chance for a child to learn when just being spoken to repeatedly to do something when the individual themselves are not corresponding their actions with their words. Raising a child is not in easy job and we all know this because no one is perfect but if we just come together to our senses and collaborate with people who have experience, finding an expert or local psychologist or read this article to get an idea on where to start, we could initially raise a child right! Think about it.

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

The Crossroads between SHOULD and MUST

Should is what people want me to do, what society has limited me to do, what is "normal" and Must is who I am, what I want to do, what I feel is normal. The article definitely emphasizes these two roads clearly and makes a great point for people who are stuck in their life right now or even board and need to be out of the robotic form of life because we should live the "normal" lifestyle that is set for people in the world today. In relation to what the article mentioned, I am currently directed toward the Should road and I know numerous individuals who are as well. What has been repeated and embedded is to basically live the form of lifestyle; Go to school-graduate-find a job that pays high in todays economy-get your own material things set-settle down with a family-live happily ever after and die! Without realization, this is exactly what many society's do no matter what part of the world we live in, and there are those dearly individuals who have completely devoted their lives to Must. I admire those whom, no matter what has had the strength to redirect themselves into the road of Must. I know I don't even know who I am because as I am still developing what I am taught is really embedded into my life from the moment I was born. I was born on crossroads of Should and Must, as I grow it seems like I'm automatically directed to the Should road as if there were no other roads to take. So it will take me time to think about whether I want to get near that cliff that is opaque and without visual of depth! If I dedicate myself to finding my inner self and finding who I am, what I want to do, I can see living down the road of Must with much pleasure.

Student Development Theory!

Student Developing Theory

Above is a link for students in college or even curious minds. Student Development is the application of human development concepts in settings so that everyone involved can master these three formal applications:

  1. Increasingly complex developmental tasks
  2. Achieve self-direction and
  3. Become independent    
 
This professor dives into many theorists involved in the Student Developing Theory and it is quite intriguing what he has to say! "We are advocates of the student." is his conclusion. In the beginning he asks us to think about,  'What guides our practice?' Think about it and if your interested I highly recommend this video as it was referred to me from my child developmental psychologist teacher, Mrs. Whitehead! =)

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Look at my BRAIN!

On today's reflection in class, we discussed about our masterpieces and spoke about being smart/intelligent and when it was okay to be that in public...
Some of the responses we had made were that some are afraid to share knowledge because they don't want to be looked at funny. This becomes a social stereotype in society. But in all honesty it is never EVER a bad time to show one's personal intelligence. Howard Gardner was mentioned and he discovered multiple sorts of intelligence, before it was 7 distinct of smart people but it has grown in to several other's.
Collaborating with other's and seeing their mistakes will build you into an expert. If someone chooses to not speak up and show they are smart than someone will and that person will be admired. Intelligence is how this world works in one way or another, everyone is smart in some area and collaborating with others just makes you even smarter!
So with our masterpieces we need to be more open on what were working on and speak up because guarantee there will be someone sitting right next to you who probably has some connection and mastermind like yourself thriving to show it off!
LET'S ROCK THIS!!!

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Preview of coming Attractions

There are many of us students who still have not yet found our ground just yet but I know if we keep fishing, there is potential within the treasury mind! I have heard many conversations on projects ad some my partner and I are planning to collaborate with. We still are learning how to put this project together and so far with the help of our peer's, it's going to be great!

S' Wonderful

Life is a wonder, what will be of it as we wake up each day, breath and within those 24 hours, what will we change in our lives? What will we make of it? I as a teenager am looking forward to graduating but it is intimidating to see what life holds in the adventure. I for one am making choices and learning how to deal with them and not run away from them! Teenagers are selfish, loud, ignorant, young, vulnerable, young minds, or at least that's what majority of society says. Everyone at one point lived their teenage life, 'don't forget where you came from.' Teenager's are the way they are for many reasons... Don't judge us because we are delicate, smart, maybe loud but living life on the pursuit of happiness! Amen

Monday, March 31, 2014

Raising Digital Awareness

"To Blog=to share, to connect, to create, to inspire."-Josh Taylors Blog
Blogs can be such a hobby for some people but the thing is, we need to know how to take control and make them stand out so they can be heard. It's so important to know people are listening to your blog because other wise what value is there in what you have put your time and effort in. An audience matters! Just being you and expressing it on your blog can be of value to others. For example I have interest on boxing and mixed martial arts, or the project my partner and I are working on about compassion can interest many others and can direct its value and importance in so many other directions one could not imagine. But it all takes my effort and valuable time to know what its all worth because I can simply put 100 blog posts but the content having no meaning or effort behind it. Now that is laziness and worthless! I have to work my but off and make my blog alive and by all means being just me can always interest that one person which can honestly have a life changing experience! It is an incredible feeling when I am just being me on my blog and the work I put on there, one person finds it interesting, then I know I am worth, my work, my time, my failures, have brought some sense in to the world in a positive manner.

Be Prepared:Earthquake

There has been quite a few earthquakes near and in Los Angeles, California. It is known to have been a magnitude of  5.0. So for those who are not yet aware here is a summary of things people will need to do incase of any more earthquakes hope it helps and god bless all...


Prepare for an earthquake:
1)Prepare food, water, light, phone, first aid kit, radio, batteries, blankets, clothes, and medicine should be part of the main things one should suit up and put aside incase of emergency.

2) Plan and talk about where one will meet up incase anyone gets separated or lost, one will at least know where to look for you.

3) Definitely think and talk about insurance on your home with a smart agent.

During an earthquake:
1)If indoors get under a table and hold on tight but be sure you are away from any glass or heavy furniture if ever to fall, you wouldn't want to get stuck!
2)If outdoors it is best to stay in an open area where there are no buildings, trees, or things like that.

If anyone needs or wants more detail on any of the topics of even to know what to do after an earthquake click on the link below...
http://www.consrv.ca.gov/index/earthquakes/Pages/qh_earthquakes_what.aspx


Friday, March 28, 2014

Literature Analysis #3

Literature Analysis #3
 

1) The trouble with BOYS- Peg Tyre is a non-fictional book who dedicates their research to the school boards, parents, teachers who have trouble educating boys in school.  In Peg's research she ha conducted enough evidence to say there is nothing wrong with the boys in the program, it's the school's who need to be more boy friendly!

2) The author presented this topic because she has boy's who have been through so many school programs and thought there was something seriously wrong with how they learn. As she researched more she found out that the nightmare was about to be over by digging deep with talking to school boards, teacher's, programs of education, and many other parent's over the problem with boy's and school.

3/4)I personally chose this book because I have a younger brother who majorly struggles in school and he's made it to high school with all F's! So, I was determined to find out whatever I could to help solve this situation. I am a big sister to him and I have a duty as a protector to do what I can to help him in his struggles. At first this book seemed stereotypical but as I read more of it, it really caught my interest and I found out things I didn't before. I would end up having reactions such as ,"Oh, that's why that is," or something. In the intro Peg exclaims her personal problem with her two boys so I really thought in my head that this woman is just like me, trying to get to the bottom of this boy problem.

People
 
1) The author does interpret things and certain events in her own way but I understand why. When someone feels betrayed, hurt, and emotional especially when something or someone messes with someone else's kids! The tone of her voice changes as she expresses her own that about how she views problem with schools for example but then the author will go back in a serious tone of just letting information flow so there is an amount of it being exclaimed to be known! So people understand what the ide is getting across.
 
2) Susan Horn is a character in the book that is an important part to the research of the author. She is an early education expert who wears her brown hair tucked behind her ears. 15 years spent in a classroom, ran Head Start program, and supervised early education program for an entire district. As a fictional character I could see her being a direct and sharp looking lady.
Trina Furgerson is the first character in the book described. She is a Pilates instructor, supportive for education and local school, and the mother of Chance Furgerson who had many "issues" in school. If she were a fictional character I could see her being very sweet, polite, and an open minded lady.
 
3)The two people I chose to write about are supportive evidence to the research the author has made. Susan is an important role because she is an expert and supports the hypothesis the author has. Trina Furgerson is the first story written in the book and is point blank on the main idea of the chapter and practically the whole book.
 
4) Indirect characterization: "I sat in so-called model classrooms where, for a full 50 minutes, the teacher led her girls in a lively discusiion of Zora Neale Hurston'd novel Their Eyes Were Watching God while the boys sat as still and silent as stones."-Author
"Lately, however, I've been getting the sense that lots of parents aren't willing to stand by silently anymore."
Direct characterization: "Dragseth is a plainspoken man with an even smile, which can disguise the fact, at least at first, that he's something of a visionary."
"In the last five years, Joyce Kenner, principal of prestigious Whitney Young Magnet High School in Chicago, has seen the downward spiral."
 
5) The author uses diction allot when speaking highly of professionals for example and syntax when telling a characters personal story.
 
6) After reading this book I felt connected and hooked so it left me wanting to do my own research. It has made an impact in my life which is positive and very helpful, I enjoyed this book as a blessing and I found some sort of contentment.
 
Style
 
1) The author used journalistic style as she wrote the book in first/second person I would say. Examples of this are when she says things like, "Let's take a look at how things have changed.," or "But developmentally appropriate isn't really the point."
 
2) Depending on the research described in the book, the author uses lengthy and descriptions but does meticulously look at experts background and what they have done to support the main point in the book. This gives the reader the impression that everything she has put into the research is factual and comes of very persistent to make the point after each reference.
 
3) The tone of voice the author uses is direct and persuasive to get the main point across.
 
4) The attitude toward the opposing arguments for example with the woman's rights in education, the voice was defensive but understanding and reversing the argument to make the authors point.
 
5) The author uses many resources such as graphs to represent data, interviews are done by the author, historical documents are mentioned and used, and this affected my thinking allot because it helped me view the points made more clear and understanding of why some things were chosen or said to represent the main point in the chapter.
 
This book has impacted me because I have a connection with it. The point and research done on this book has lead me to do my own research and therefore I have. I still am researching more information on boys education, I hope to find enough to help my family member's who struggle in school as well. The boy's aren't always the problem and I've known that for quite a while but the problem was not having any one to support my thought. Now that I have read and have been expressed to more knowledge on the subject it has made a big impact on my way of thinking and has lead me to strive for more on the topic. This book was presented to me by my Psychology teacher and I am thankful she did because this little thing in my life has impacted my knowledge in a way I never imagined. 

Thursday, March 27, 2014

SEEKING MENTOR

The EXPERT/MENTOR I have identified has to teach me how to approach change within that moment and for future purposes, how to keep an open mind as different situations approach my way. I understand that I may be an expert myself in some areas but having more input and other perspectives from another expert who thinks outside the box or has different views of how to handle challenging situations would be perfect for start up entrepreneurs.
Some questions to ask before selecting a mentor is to be sure they are most likely an expert in your background of course; same interest to lead and succeed; honest, creative, ethical, and authentic; a little more experience than myself. I would include what I value in my selected mentor and what I could bring to benefit the worth of them staying.

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

"The compassionate young boy"

The Compassionate Young Boy

Once upon a time, in a small village in Kenya, there lived a young boy with his step family. Due to the scarcity of water in the village, the young boy awoke early every morning, carried his pot and headed for the stream with the aim of fetching water for himself and his step family. Sadly for him, he alone had this task as a routine every morning and evening to fetch water froma distant stream while his step siblings were given other lenient tasks or even none. Yet, the young boy bore no grudge against his step family, loved them and carried out his task, diligently.
On his way back from the stream, he met an old man resting under a tree who beggedfor water to quench his thirst and he gave the old man. He met an elderly woman who begged for water and he gave the woman. This happens almost every time as he comes back from the stream; meeting peoplewho beg for thirst, yet he gave them despite his step mother’s torture on him for fetching half-filled pots that wouldn’t even be enough for the family.
One day, he couldn’t bear the torture from his step mum, so heswore never to give anyone water, but on his way back, he met a strange looking man who begged him for water. The strange man lay by the road sidewith an injury. The young boy remembered his vow – never to give anyone water – but contemplated for a moment and then gave the strange man some water.
When he got home, his step mum noticed the half-filled pots, and again pounced on him – this time with more cruelty. As she was beating this young boy, there was a knock on the door. It was the wounded strange man – a mail deliverer. Apparently, he came from the town with a letterfor the young boy. A letter containing a scholarship with additional cash gift for the young boy and would have died on the way if not for the boy’s help.
They say there is love in sharing…they say where there is love there is life. Your everyday good deeds are never in vain for they shall return to you even when you’re not expecting it.

Monday, March 24, 2014

THIS IS ONLY A TEST!

What does being compassionate do for you?

Do you know what compassionate is?

In what form have you proven yourself to be compassionate?

Here's the deal breaker, in order to be and understand compassion is to show rather than to speak. Lending a hand to other's is natural to human beings but some are brought up not understanding what that is. In order to test that, my partner Judith and I would consider presenting the value of compassion in one's own actions. As in our masterpiece we accumulate both understandings and collaborate in showing what the value in being compassionate really is, it's not a huge test as it is a norm that takes part of human form. So let us help you understand. Future presentation, coming soon.

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Testing Compassion!

Highlight Compassion in Your Medical School Application

Develop strong listening skills to demonstrate compassion in your medical school applications.

 

Friday, March 21, 2014

Preventing Child Abuse! Resource of March 21, Friday

http://www.brightfutures4kids.org/help/get-involved/

There are many cases of child abuse everyday, around the world or even near you! Wake up and give a helping hand to our future! Here is a website of an organization dedicated to helping prevent such child abuse cases, Interns are welcome starting from high school students if in need of a course credit! It's amazing how far one person can help change a life!

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Suicide Prevention Resource!

Please if anyone ever believes that a person may be in danger of harming themselves or you specifically need help... Please use this website as a resource Immediately!  Don't ever be afraid to speak up because it might just save a beautiful soul!




http://www.helpguide.org/mental/suicide_prevention.htm

Resource of the day: March 19, Wednesday

There have been questions struck my curious people on why we help each other? Is helping others a gene we carry? Is the only incentive to help others is for our own selfish reasons? Well most of these questions may be answered with the resource of the day of social psychology!
http://psypress.co.uk/smithandmackie/resources/topic.asp?topic=ch14-tp-02

Monday, March 17, 2014

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Resource of the Day: Video on mindfullness connection to compassion

Here is the link of a video of researchers coming together to explain how "Mindfulness cultivates compassion." The video is around 16 minutes long, hope you enjoy some knowledge!
 http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/gg_live/science_meaningful_life_videos/speaker/shauna_shapiro/how_mindfulness_cultivates_compassion/

I, Entrepreneur

My Entrepreneur model is Ronda Rousey! This young woman is incredible because lets start out with who her mother is...AnnMaria De Mars. She was the first American female to win Judo championship. So coming from this root Ronda was tough in and out. Ronda began with Judo because her mom began teaching her and believe me when I say Ronda was fresh! She went to the Olympics and won a bronze in Judo, this wasn't good enough for Rousey because in the end it wasn't a benefit to her life because she had to find a real job and face being in economic struggle for a while and lost on what to do next in life. She began to join mixed martial arts and her current trainer is Edmond Tarverdyan, who is such a talented fighter! He is skilled in Karate, Tae-Kwon-Doe, Wushu, Kung-Fu San-Chou, Draka, Shootboxing, Muay-Thai, Boxing, overall various types of mixed martial arts, just beautiful! Ronda has been elevating her popularity since her first fight against Sarah D'alelio. From there "Rowdy," has worked hard on her career and believe me when I say sweat and blood because I don't think this woman shed's tears. With her success she has coached with her mom focusing on young children many females which is awesome!
 I am not an entrepreneur myself because I have not completely pursued my passion to a reality. I am working to get there but not there quite yet.
Expertise are people with the knowledge and skill they have for something. The Entrepreneur part is where people have ideas about things and have a way to pursue it but at times doesn't work out or even be the best at it. But being an Expertise first then being an entrepreneur makes more sense that our culture should associates expertise with entrepreneurship.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Resource of the Day: Lending a Hand

Lend a Hand: How Helping Others Makes You Healthier

Study after study confirms that altruism not only makes us happier but actually improves our health. Yet we see a stranger’s struggle and still pass by
It was pouring rain at the bus stop, but under my supersize golf umbrella was an oasis of dryness. A man ran toward the stop. Then he stood next to me, head down and hands in pockets.
He obviously hadn’t checked the weather forecast that morning.
A part of me wanted to ask this stranger if he’d like to share my umbrella. Another part of me, however, didn’t want to stand that close to someone I didn’t know.
I argued with myself for seconds and then minutes. Eventually the bus came, and so did my guilt. As I sat on that bus and stared at that poor wet man, I couldn’t help but obsess. Here I was, a health journalist. If anyone knew about the healing powers of kindness, generosity, and altruism, it was me. On a spiritual level, I believed that world peace came from individual acts of kindness and generosity.
So why had I hoarded that umbrella? Why was my urge to help overpowered by my urge not to help?
And why do good people fail to do good?
WHY GOOD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE
According to Darwin’s theory of evolution and “the survival of the fittest,” the strongest survive to pass on their genes to the next generation. This is why even today our brains give us a rewarding hit of joy when we have sex (babies help a species survive) and devour high-calorie foods—today’s hedonistic delight once meant the difference between life and starvation.
It’s also why we feel good when we help others, says Dr. James Doty, the director of Project Compassion and a clinical professor of neurosurgery at Stanford.
“Kindness is our genetic imperative that has been there for millions of years,” he says. “When you look at humans and animals, science shows that it is the kindest and most cooperative who survive long term. The cruel and ruthless might get a short-term gain, but cruelty and ruthlessness are not good solutions for a species to survive.”
Countless studies show that helping others boosts levels of happiness-producing brain chemicals, providing a powerful rush of emotional coziness known as “helper’s high.” And this generosity-induced mood boost is contagious, as Sonja Lyubomirsky, a professor at the University of California at Riverside, found in a recent study of more than 100 workers at Coca-Cola. She designated some employees as givers, asking them to perform regular but anonymous act of kindness for three coworkers each. For 16 weeks, employees throughout the company kept track of their mood and stress levels. Both the givers and the receivers got happier, an effect that went viral. The generosity and happiness spread throughout the entire workplace, reaching employees who were not a part of the study and even to their friends and family who worked elsewhere.
“There was definitely a pay-it-forward effect,” says Lyubomirsky, author of The Myths of Happiness and The How of Happiness.
The mood boost, sense of connection, and stress reduction we get from giving translate into better health. Doing good can help you:
  • Use fewer painkillers. When patients with chronic pain help others, their pain diminishes.
  • Pump more iron. Study participants held a weight longer if doing so allowed them to raise money for a charity versus raising money for themselves.
  • Maintain sobriety. Alcoholics who help others are twice as likely to stay on the wagon.
  • Climb the corporate ladder. Altruistic teens were more likely to go on to graduate from college and have more successful careers than teens who were more self-focused.
  • Live longer. Doing good can have as big an impact on your health as eating healthful foods and exercising.
“Volunteering probably reduces mortality by a year and a half or possibly up to two years for people who are in their senior years,” says Stephen G. Post, a professor of preventive medicine at Stony Brook University School of Medicine and the author of The Hidden Gifts of Helping and Why Good Things Happen to Good People. “If you could put the benefits of helping others into a bottle and sell it, you could be a millionaire in a minute.”
TRIGGERING OUR INNER SCROOGE
So it’s not surprising that we often feel compelled to help others.
Here’s why we sometimes stand by and do nothing: That same neurological wiring that rewards us for doing good can also penalize us when our reptilian instincts sense we’re about to do good for the wrong people. For thousands of years, humans survived by forming tribes, alliances, and communities.
They protected and nurtured their neighbors, but they pillaged, enslaved, and murdered outsiders.
As a result, our fight-or-flight response gets tripped whenever we’re around people we perceive as different—whether they are of a different race, class, nationality, or political party, says Doty. That’s why it’s easier for a white, liberal middle-aged mother like me to share her umbrella with another white, liberal middle-aged mother I’ve known for years. It’s much harder to do the same for a young Asian man I’ve never met.
We also hold back for other reasons, including the messages of capitalism. “We’re conditioned to think that life is about pursuing and getting what we want, but the secret to happiness actually lies in giving and not in getting,” says Christine Carter, a sociologist at UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center and the author of Raising Happiness.
Interestingly, much of what we assume will make us happy provides very little happiness at all. Research consistently shows that spending money on ourselves—whether it’s to get the newest smartphone or go on a great vacation—results in mild and fleeting happiness at best. But spending even a small amount on others produces a potent and lasting sense of joy.
The more rushed we feel, the less likely we are to make time for others, too. Yet making time for others paradoxically makes us feel as if we have more time for ourselves, according to a series of experiments by researchers at Yale, Harvard, and the University of Pennsylvania. In one of the tests, a group of college students was asked to spend the last 15 minutes of a class editing essays for at-risk high school students. The other students were let out of class 15 minutes early. The students who donated their time editing essays later reported feeling as if they had more free time, while the students who were given 15 minutes off felt much more time starved.
“People consistently expect to feel more stressed and more harried and have less time if they spend some of their precious hours on someone else,” says ZoĂ« Chance, one of the study’s authors and an adjunct professor of marketing at the Yale School of Management. “In reality, people who spend time on others realize that they can get more done by doing something meaningful for someone else.”
DO GOOD…BETTER
Try these tips to harness the “helper’s high”:
  • Imagine helping someone else. Thinking about being good makes you feel good, and feeling good makes you more likely to want to do good, says Carter.
  • Maximize the high. Your brain gives you a bigger emotional reward if you help someone face-to-face than if you simply write a check and put it into an envelope, says Post. And the rush lasts longer if you summarize your helping experience, either by telling someone about it or writing about it in a journal.
  • Start small. Help just one person a day for five minutes a day.
  • Look for what you have in common. Perhaps you root for the same team, want the best for your kids, or ultimately want the same from life: happiness. “Once you notice a commonality, you can break down the barriers that separate you,” Doty says.
I like to think of goodness as a muscle that I strengthen with use. The more good I do, the better I feel. The better I feel, the more good I’m capable of doing. Sometimes it’s a “two steps forward, one step back” journey, but it gets easier and easier over time.
Not long ago, for instance, I was at the very same bus stop with the very same golf umbrella, and I didn’t just think about offering to share it with someone else.
I actually did it.
The stranger politely declined, pulling out his own umbrella from a briefcase. We shared a moment of connection.
And as I boarded the bus that day, I did so with a smile.

Alisa Bowman is a journalist and the author of Project: Happily Ever After. 
- See more at: http://spiritualityhealth.com/articles/lend-hand-how-helping-others-makes-you-healthier/page/0/1#sthash.VJB8J5s6.dpuf
- See more at: http://spiritualityhealth.com/articles/lend-hand-how-helping-others-makes-you-healthier#sthash.GBtKRu2o.dpuf

Monday, March 10, 2014

10 Questions

10 questions I would like to ask My Idol...

1)What were you like when you were a child?
2)What motivated you?
3) Did you ever think it can become a career so big?
4)How do you feel about your success?
5) While getting to your success what bumps did you find on the road?
6)What's one thing about yourself that you are proud of?
7)Do you have any advice for me?
8)Does your family roots have some of the same success as yourself?
9) What plans do you have for the feature?
10)Do you plan on retiring being the worlds #1 female champion of the world in M.M.A Era?

Help Please!

If anyone is willing to please leave a comment on how to embed our Masterpiece essay on blogger?! That would be soo much help thanks!

Friday, March 7, 2014

Random Resource!

Empowering Techniques for Adults, Young and Old
This is a one-hour talk for adults and parents on how they can help themselves, and their teen and young adult children, create sustainable, positive life results.
Did you know that “Millennials,” those aged 18-33, are the most stressed-out generation according to a recent American Psychological Association survey? The results found that 1 in 2 Millennial college graduates are either jobless or underemployed.  Other studies show that only 1 in 5 Americans enjoy their occupation.
This FREE talk provides easy, proven techniques for adults young and old, parents, and their older children (if they have any), to habituate better communication, relationships and life results.  Teens especially are in need of a solid footing in their upcoming launch into the difficult world that Millennials already face.
You will learn about current findings in neuroscience on thinking, feeling, and generating positive life results, and learn a simple, proven way to help yourself and your young person latch onto a positive lifestyle that will bolster success in relationships, educational pursuits and occupational success!
The speaker’s mission to support teens, young adults, adults and parents came about after witnessing the differences in results of her Millennial Children, one having lost his life while the other enjoys great success. Learn now what she learned too late.
You will be impressed by the Testimonials page on Callahan's website, www.BankYourGifts.comhttp://www.bankyourgifts.com/  .
Join us and be the first to know when new Meetups are scheduled

Resource Of the Day: Compassion

The Big Sun Foundations has a huge goal and has reached out to help millions of people and other organizations doing the same. Their Primary Goal is to help rebuild peoples lives and let them be to their full potential! How exciting to know there's incredible amount of people wanting to help human society better for the future. Their quote is this, "Big Sun Foundation…Shine a light
We help other people help other people." So basically , this nonprofit organization is not one on its own, it is connected to other organizations like themselves and deliver their knowledge and guidance to help those organizations do better.  Here is a short statement recently from the organization...

BIG WINS for BIG SUN PARTNERS

Posted in: Helping You Help Others, News, Others Helping Others, Partners

Tags: , , , , , ,

H2O_text
We couldn’t be more thrilled to announce that given the success of our fundraiser last week, we have completed our pledges to H2O for Life and Kusewera. It’s so amazing to be a part of bringing clean water to a community in Guatemala and education to children in Malawi.
H2O_thumb
We have also made a strong dent in our commitment to Camp Southern Ground and are excited to focus our energies toward completing that mission as well.

It has been an honor to take on their causes as our own for these last few months and reaching out to our wonderful community to champion the excellent work being done by these organizations.
Thank you everybody who donated money, time, and support in making these important goals come to life.

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Interesting and Helpful Resource of the day!

http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/201306/what-happy-people-do-differently

What Happy People Do Differently

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For psychologists who frequently fly cross-country, how we describe our career to seatmates—mentioning for example, that we are psychologists—determines whether we get five hours of airborne intrigue or inside access to a decaying marriage or more detail than you can imagine about an inability to resist maple-glazed Krispy Kremes. Even wearing oversized headphones often fails to dissuade the passenger hell-bent on telling her story of childhood abandonment (which is why it is handy for research psychologists to simply say we study " judgments"). For those of us who risk the truth and admit that we study happiness, there's one practically guaranteed response: What can I do to be happy?
The secret of happiness is a concern of growing importance in the modern era, as increased financial security has given many the time to focus on self-growth. No longer hunter-gatherers concerned with where to find the next kill, we worry instead about how to live our best lives. Happiness books have become a cottage industry; personal-development trainings are a bigger business than ever.
The pursuit of happiness is not uniquely American either—in a study of more than 10,000 participants from 48 countries, psychologists Ed Diener of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Shigehiro Oishi of the University of Virginia discovered that people from every corner of the globe rated happiness as being more important than other highly desirable personal outcomes, such as having meaning in life, becoming rich, and getting into heaven.
The fever for happiness is spurred on, in part, by a growing body of research suggesting that happiness does not just feel good but is good for you—it's been linked to all sorts of benefits, from higher earnings and better immune-system functioning to boosts in creativity.
Most people accept that true happiness is more than a jumble of intensely positive feelings—it's probably better described as a sense of "peace" or "contentedness." Regardless of how it's defined, happiness is partly emotional—and therefore tethered to the truth that each individual's feelings have a natural set point, like a thermostat, which genetic baggage and personality play a role in establishing. Yes, positive events give you a boost, but before long you swing back toward your natural set point.
True happiness lasts longer than a burst of dopamine, however, so it's important to think of it as something more than just emotion. Your sense of happiness also includes cognitive reflections, such as when you give a mental thumbs-up or thumbs-down to your best friend's sense of humor, the shape of your nose, or the quality of your marriage. Only a bit of this sense has to do with how you feel; the rest is the product of mental arithmetic, when you compute your expectations, your ideals, your acceptance of what you can't change—and countless other factors. That is, happiness is a state of mind, and as such, can be intentional and strategic.
Regardless of your emotional set point, your everyday habits and choices—from the way you operate in a friendship to how you reflect on your life decisions—can push the needle on your well-being. Recent scholarship documenting the unique habits of those who are happiest in life even provides something of an instruction manual for emulating them. It turns out that activities that lead us to feel uncertainty, discomfort, and even a dash of guilt are associated with some of the most memorable and enjoyable experiences of people's lives. Happy people, it seems, engage in a wide range of counterintuitive habits that seem, well, downright unhappy.

Image: Man eating entrails and wife frowning at them over a burger
The Real Rewards Of Risk

When anxiety is an optimal state
It's a Friday night and you're planning on meeting friends for dinner. If you want to ensure that you'll go home full, you grab pizza or burgers. If you instead pick a cuisine you've never tried before (Ethiopian—sure, why not?) you run the risk that you won't like your injera and wat that much—but you might also uncover a surprising delight.
Truly happy people seem to have an intuitive grasp of the fact that sustained happiness is not just about doing things that you like. It also requires growth and adventuring beyond the boundaries of your comfort zone. Happy people, are, simply put, curious. In a 2007 study, Todd Kashdan and Colorado State psychologist Michael Steger found that when participants monitored their own daily activities, as well as how they felt, over the course of 21 days, those who frequently felt curious on a given day also experienced the most satisfaction with their life—and engaged in the highest number of happiness-inducing activities, such as expressing gratitude to a colleague or volunteering to help others.
Yet curiosity—that pulsing, eager state of not knowing—is fundamentally an anxious state. When, for instance, psychologist Paul Silvia showed research participants a variety of paintings, calming images by Claude Monet and Claude Lorrain evoked happy feelings, whereas the mysterious, unsettling works by Egon Schiele and Francisco Goya evoked curiosity.
Curiosity, it seems, is largely about exploration—often at the price of momentary happiness. Curious people generally accept the notion that while being uncomfortable and vulnerable is not an easy path, it is the most direct route to becoming stronger and wiser. In fact, a closer look at the study by Kashdan and Steger suggests that curious people invest in activities that cause them discomfort as a springboard to higher psychological peaks.
Of course, there are plenty of instances in life where the best way to increase your satisfaction is to simply do what you know feels good, whether it's putting your favorite song on the jukebox or making plans to see your best friend. But from time to time, it's worth seeking out an experience that is novel, complicated, uncertain, or even upsetting—whether that means finally taking the leap and doing karaoke for the first time or hosting a screening of your college friend's art-house film. The happiest people opt for both so that they can benefit, at various times, from each.

Image: Happy man flying in a hot air balloon
A Blind Eye To Life's Vicissitudes

The benefit of seeing the forest but not the trees
A standard criticism of happy people is that they're not realistic—they sail through life blissfully unaware of the world's ills and problems. Satisfied people are less likely to be analytical and detail-oriented. A study led by University of New South Wales psychologist Joseph Forgas found that dispositionally happy people—those who have a general leaning toward the positive—are less skeptical than others. They tend to be uncritically open toward strangers and thus can be particularly gullible to lies and deceit. Think of the happy granny who is overcharged at the car dealership by the smiling salesperson compared with more discerning, slightly less upbeat consumers.
Certainly having an eye for the finer points can be helpful when navigating the complicated social world of colleagues, acquaintances, and dates—and it's something the less sunny among us bring to bear. In fact, Virginia Commonwealth University psychologist Paul Andrews has argued that depression is actually adaptive. Depressed people, the logic goes, are more likely than others to reflect on and process their experiences—and thereby gain insight into themselves or the human condition—albeit at an emotional price. A little attention to detail helps with a more realistic evaluation of the social world.
Yet too much attention to detail can interfere with basic day-to-day functioning, as evidenced by research from Queen's University psychologist Kate Harkness, who found that people in a depressed mood were more likely to notice minute changes in facial expressions. Meanwhile, happy people tend to overlook such second-to-second alterations—a flash of annoyance, a sarcastic grin. You probably recognize this phenomenon from interactions you've had with your partner. While in a bad mood we tend to notice the tiniest shifts and often can't seem to disengage from a fight ("I saw you roll your eyes at me! Why did you do that!?!"), whereas when we're in a good mood, we tend to brush off tiny sleights ("You tease me, but I know you love being around me"). The happiest people have a natural emotional protection against getting sucked in by the intense gravitational pull of little details.
Similarly, the happiest people possess a devil-may-care attitude about performance. In a review of the research literature by Oishi and his colleagues, the happiest people—those who scored a 9 or 10 out of 10 on measures of life satisfaction—tended to perform less well than moderately happy people in accomplishments such as grades, class attendance, or work salaries. In short, they were less conscientious about their performance; to them, sacrificing some degree of achievement seems to be a small price to pay for not having to sweat the small stuff.
This is not to say that we should take a laissez-faire attitude to all our responsibilities; paying attention to detail is helpful. But too much focus on minutiae can be exhausting and paralyzing. The happiest among us (cheerfully) accept that striving for perfection—and a perfectly smooth interaction with everyone at all times—is a loser's bet.

Image: Lady waiting at finish line of race to high five her friend
The Unjealous Friend

We're buoyed by others' good fortune
You've heard it a million times: The definition of a good friend is one who's there to lend a hand in times of need. In a recent Gallup World Poll, the biggest predictor of happiness at work was whether or not a person had a best friend they could call on for support. It makes sense, then, that we often assume that a good friend is the one who takes us out for beer and sympathy after we get passed up for a promotion—or that we're being one when we pick up our buddy at the bar after his post-layoff binge leaves him too drunk to drive.
Indeed, such support softens the blow of difficult life circumstances by helping the sufferer move past them. Still, new research reveals a less intuitive idea about friendship: The happiest people are the ones who are present when things go right for others—and whose own wins are regularly celebrated by their friends as well.
Support for this idea comes from psychologist Shelly Gable, of the University of California, Santa Barbara, and her colleagues, whose research revealed that when romantic partners fail to make a big deal out of each other's success, the couple is more likely to break up. On the flipside, when partners celebrate each other's accomplishments, they're more likely to be satisfied and committed to their relationship, enjoying greater love and happiness.
Outside of your primary relationship, however, why would capitalizing on others' success make you happier? Why should you support your born-lucky buddy by listening to him detail yet another sexual conquest when you're spending far too many Friday nights reading zombie comic books? For one thing, he really does need you. The process of discussing a positive experience with a responsive listener actually changes the memory of the event—so after telling you about it, your friend will remember that night with the model as even more positive than it was, and the encounter will be easier for him to recall a few years down the line when he's been dumped. But equally important, you'll get to "piggyback" on your friend's positivity. Just as we feel happier when we spend money on gifts or charitable contributions rather than on ourselves, we feel happier after spending valuable time listening to the accomplishments of friends.
In life, it seems, there are an abundance of Florence Nightingales waiting to show their heroism. What's precious and scarce are those people who can truly share in others' joy and gains without envy. So while it might be kind to send flowers to your friend when she's in the hospital for surgery, you'll both derive more satisfaction out of the bouquet you send her when she finishes medical school or gets engaged.

A Time For Every Feeling

The upside of negative emotions
The most psychologically healthy people might inherently grasp the importance of letting some things roll off their backs, yet that doesn't mean that they deny their own feelings or routinely sweep problems under the rug. Rather, they have an innate understanding that emotions serve as feedback—an internal radar system providing information about what's happening (and about to happen) in our social world.
Happy, flourishing people don't hide from negative emotions. They acknowledge that life is full of disappointments and confront them head on, often using feelings of anger effectively to stick up for themselves or those of guilt as motivation to change their own behavior. This nimble mental shifting between pleasure and pain, the ability to modify behavior to match a situation's demands, is known as psychological flexibility.
For example, instead of letting quietly simmering jealousy over your girlfriend's new buddy erode your satisfaction with your relationship, accept your feelings as a signal, which allows you to employ other strategies of reacting that are likely to offer greater dividends. These include compassion (recognizing that your girlfriend has unmet needs to be validated) and mindful listening (being curious about what interests her).
The ability to shift mental states as circumstances demand turns out to be a fundamental aspect of well-being. Columbia University psychologist George Bonanno found, for instance, that in the aftermath of 9/11, the most flexible people living in New York City during the attacks—those who were angry at times but could also conceal their emotions when necessary—bounced back more quickly and enjoyed greater psychological and physical health than their less adaptable counterparts.
Opportunities for flexible responding are everywhere: A newlywed who has just learned that she is infertile may hide her sense of hopelessness from her mother but come clean to her best friend; people who have experienced a trauma might express their anger around others who share similar sentiments but conceal it from friends who abide by an attitude of forgiveness. The ability to tolerate the discomfort that comes from switching mind-sets depending on whom we're with and what we're doing allows us to get optimal results in every situation.
Similar to training for a triathlon, learning the skill of emotional discomfort is a task best taken on in increasing increments. For example, instead of immediately distracting yourself with an episode of The Walking Dead or pouring yourself a whiskey the next time you have a heated disagreement with your teenage son, try simply tolerating the emotion for a few minutes. Over time, your ability to withstand day-to-day negative emotions will expand.

Image: Man walking on the smile of a smiley face like a tightrope
The Well-Being Balancing Act

Pleasure and purpose work together
Even the most ardent strivers will agree that a life of purpose that is devoid of pleasures is, frankly, no fun. Happy people know that allowing yourself to enjoy easy momentary indulgences that are personally rewarding—taking a long, leisurely bath, vegging out with your daughter's copy of The Hunger Games, or occasionally skipping your Saturday workout in favor of catching the soccer match on TV—is a crucial aspect of living a satisfying life. Still, if you're primarily focused on activities that feel good in the moment, you may miss out on the benefits of developing a clear purpose. Purpose is what drives us to take risks and make changes—even in the face of hardship and when sacrificing short-term happiness.
Working to uncover how happy people balance pleasure and purpose, Colorado State's Steger and his colleagues have shown that the act of trying to comprehend and navigate our world generally causes us to deviate from happiness. After all, this mission is fraught with tension, uncertainty, complexity, short bursts of intrigue and excitement, and conflicts between the desire to feel good and the desire to make progress toward what we care about most. Yet overall, people who are the happiest tend to be superior at sacrificing short-term pleasures when there is a good opportunity to make progress toward what they aspire to become in life.
If you want to envision a happy person's stance, imagine one foot rooted in the present with mindful appreciation of what one has—and the other foot reaching toward the future for yet-to-be-uncovered sources of meaning. Indeed, research by neuroscientist Richard Davidson of the University of Wisconsin at Madison has revealed that making advances toward achievement of our goals not only causes us to feel more engaged, it actually helps us tolerate any negative feelings that arise during the journey.
Nobody would pretend that finding purpose is easy or that it can be done in a simple exercise, but thinking about which activities you found most rewarding and meaningful in the past week, what you're good at and often recognized for, what experiences you'd be unwilling to give up, and which ones you crave more time for can help. Also, notice whether your answers reflect something you feel that you ought to say as opposed to what you truly love. For example, being a parent doesn't necessarily mean that spending time with your children is the most energizing, meaningful part of your life—and it's important to accept that. Lying to yourself is one of the biggest barriers to creating purpose. The happiest people have a knack for being honest about what does and does not energize them—and in addition to building in time for sensory pleasures each day, they are able to integrate the activities they most care about into a life of purpose and satisfaction.

There's More To Life Than Being Happy

Nobel Laureate Albert Schweitzer once quipped that "happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory." Despite the apparent luster of achieving a predominantly positive state of mind, critics argue that the pursuit of happiness is a misguided goal—it's fleeting, superficial, and hedonistic.
Research backs up some of these claims. Studies by psychologist Ed Diener show that people actually pay an emotional price for intensely positive events because later ones—even moderately pleasant ones—seem less shiny by contrast. (Sure, getting a raise feels terrific, but it might mean you fail to fully appreciate your son's performance in the school play that afternoon.)
Perhaps more damning is a series of studies led by University of California, Berkeley psychologist Iris Mauss, which revealed that people who place a premium on being happy report feeling more lonely. Yes, being happy might be healthy—but craving happiness is a slippery slope.
As well-being researchers, we don't deny the importance of happiness—but we've also concluded that a well-lived life is more than just one in which you feel "up." The good life is best construed as a matrix that includes happiness, occasional sadness, a sense of purpose, playfulness, and psychological flexibility, as well autonomy, mastery, and belonging.
While some people will rank high in happiness and social belonging, others will find they've attained a sense of mastery and achievement. This approach appreciates that not only do people differ in their happiness matrices—but they can shift in their own respective matrices from moment to moment.
For instance, your sense of autonomy might spike dramatically when, as a college freshman, you shift from living under your parents' rules to the freedom of dorm life—and then plummet a decade later when you become a parent and must sacrifice even the ability to choose your hours of sleep. Yet it would be a mistake to assume that coeds have greater well-being than new parents. Rather, each group is experiencing a unique flavor.
Parsing the good life into a matrix is more than linguistic trickery; shifting toward a mixed-bag view of well-being opens more paths to achieving a personally desirable life. Enjoying success in even one area of the matrix can be a cause for celebration.

Happiness By The Numbers

.62

Distance from home, in miles, at which point people's tweets begin declining in expressed happiness (about the distance expected for a short work commute).

40

The percentage of our capacity for happiness that is within our power to change, according to University of California, Riverside researcher Sonja Lyubomirsky.

85

Number of residents out of every 100 who report feeling positive emotions in Panama and Paraguay, the most positive countries in the world.

20

The percentage of the U.S. population wealthy enough that their feelings of happiness are not affected by fluctuations in Americans' income equality.

Monday, March 3, 2014

Resources of the Day: Psychology perspective

Copyright © 2006-2013 Mental Training, Inc. | Sports Psychology | Mental Toughness | Executive Coaching | Services Worldwide | Based in Dallas Texas All Rights Reserved

Sports Psychology for Athletes and Coaches

Over the past 50 years, sport psychology has become one of the most popular fields of study within the discipline of psychology. The term sports psychologist has been used to describe practitioners who teach sports psychology to performers, specifically how they can enhance their performance. MTI has trademarked the term Mental Trainer® to distinguish their performance enhancement services for other "rehabilitative counseling" services. Many sports psychology books have been written, including Roadmap to the Zone written by MTI Founder Dr. Robert Neff that offers a sports psychology consultation in a book.

Developing Mental Toughness

In the early 1980’s, Dr. Jim Loehr published a ground-breaking book called Mental Toughness Training for Sports. It was the first book that discussed mental toughness techniques in ways the average reader could understand. For years, Dr. Loehr wrote mental toughness articles in Tennis Magazine, which motivated others to apply his techniques to golf, gymnastics, figure skating, football, basketball, baseball, hockey, and now, to every activity that involves performance. Since then Dr. Robert Weinberg has become a prolific publisher of practical mental training information. Dr. Weinberg has joined Dr. Neff as an MTI Mental TrainerĂ‚® and shareholder.

Mental Training for Athletes and Other Performers

Sports psychology is a broad term used to describe the division of psychology related to the study of sport and exercise. Mental training is a more specific term used to describe the mental techniques necessary for consistent high performance. Mental training for athletes often includes goal setting, visualization, mental imagery, self-talk retraining, mind control training, emotion control and in general, ways to establish true ideal thoughts, images and emotions to enhance sports performance.

Performance Anxiety

Performance anxiety is perhaps the most common problem experienced by athletes. The athlete feels anxiety as the competition is approaching, or during specific times during the competition, that produces mistakes and errors in judgment. Mental skills have been developed specifically for this condition. Calm, confident and carefree are words used by athletes to describe how it feels during periods of high performance. The ‘zone’ is the opposite of performance anxiety and can be controlled by any athlete who has the discipline to learn and practice mental skills.

Mental Health Disorders

If you have a mental health disorder that you think might require a mental health therapist, we can help guide you in the right direction. In order to improve the performance of athletes who do not have mental health disorders, we need to be able to determine whether a disorder exists in the first place. We can then refer a person with psychological disorders (like anorexia, phobias, etc) to a specialist within the Texas mental health system. If the problem seems minor and more related to faulty thinking and bad habits, there are very effective Mental Trainer® solutions that we can teach.

Mental Strength Training

Mental strength training involves learning and practicing mental skills that strengthen the ability to control thoughts, emotions and performance. As an example, if there are certain thoughts that tend to cause nervousness, an experienced athlete will know what those thoughts are, be able to recognize them during competition, be able to get those thoughts out of the mind, and then insert the proper thoughts. The result is an emotion more ideally suited to optimal performance. Mental Strength is developed by a special type of "adversity training" implemented in practice that prepares the person for upcoming performances.
For more, click on the link below...
http://www.mentaltraininginc.com/

Resource Of the Day: Boxing History

Something I learn about fighter's back in the day is that all walk with pride and they may talk shit in the beginning but, "I'm not ashamed...Defeat comes to everyone."-Larry Holmes

Spinks, Not Holmes, Makes Boxing History : Light-Heavy Titlist Wins the Big One

September 22, 1985|RICHARD HOFFER | Times Staff Writer
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LAS VEGAS — Larry Holmes stood in the middle of the ring and grew old, round by round. Finally, he was as listed in the tale of the tape, a middle-aged man on the downslide. He was 35, slowed by a visible paunch and sadly confused in the face of a younger and smaller man. Finally, after seven years as heavyweight champion, this blinking shell of a former greatness was through.
Michael Spinks, the light-heavyweight champion of the world, had gained the International Boxing Federation's heavyweight title, scoring a unanimous and entirely unexpected 15-round decision over Holmes at the Riviera Hotel Saturday night. Even Spinks hadn't imagined it. "I never saw myself winning this fight," he admitted.
In doing so, however awkwardly, he created all kinds of history. Spinks, 29, became the first light-heavyweight to win a heavyweight title--eight had tried. He became the first brother to follow as such a champion--Leon Spinks had held a heavyweight title eight years ago. It was, as advertised, a "September to Remember."
Later, Spinks' promoter, Butch Lewis, tried to apply an even higher measure of achievement to the event. Never mind history. "These slayed the giant," he said, holding Spinks' gloves aloft. "Jack and the beanstalk, David and Goliath."
It was some, if not quite all, of that. But even so, it seemed more of an ending than a beginning.
Holmes had been denied his place in history; his quest for ring immortality ended in a forum that more dramatized his shortcomings than Spinks' strengths. His mission--to equal and then break Rocky Maricano's perfect record for victories by a heavyweight champion--had been halted. So he settles into retirement back in Easton, Pa., at 48-1, with no record to assure his place in history, nothing for him to recall when the waves of bitterness sweep over him, as they always do.
What was it he said after the fight? "Rocky Marciano couldn't carry my jockstrap," was among the comments used to profane the late champion. But factor in the disappointment. Holmes immediately apologized and then explained, "I just was looking forward to giving my people something to remember in my lifetime."
It was not a great fight, as historic and important as it may loom in later years. The undefeated Spinks (28-0), ducking and running, never hurt Holmes, though he did hit him more than expected. And Holmes, thought weighing 221 1/2 to Spinks' inflated 200 pounds, never damaged the blown-up light-heavyweight. Holmes continually cut off the ring, trapping Spinks in a corner or alongside the ropes. But then it was as if memory had failed him. He used to hit people in the head at this point. Yet he just stood there, blinking. There was no right hand forthcoming.
As Holmes always has in the past after a difficult fight, he explained this failure away by Spinks' awkwardness. "He wasn't that strong," he said, "he was just awkward. Styles make fights, and his was just too awkward. I couldn't get my right hand going, just couldn't get a shot. He was pulling away and turning, and I just couldn't get a shot."
Spinks didn't do much better, but he at least did it more often. Flashing furious on occasion, he managed to win eight rounds on the cards of Dave Moretti and Harold Lederman, and 10 on judge Larry Wallace's. His aggressive flurry in the final round actually won him the fight. Moretti and Lederman had it even until then.
 
Spinks said: "I rolled, and whenever he was close, I went off on him. What do you call it? An athletic fit. He likes to say he gets you drunk and then mugs you. He never got me drunk."
Although Spinks seemed to think that he fought according to a game plan with his rolling and bobbing--"I hypnotized and mesmerized him; he must have thought I was having a fit"--he never planned such a conclusion. "I know what happened," he said, "It just doesn't feel like I did it. I never saw myself winning the fight."
Nor did Holmes, who at least went down fighting in almost every respect. There was more than his 15th-round combination, in which the familiar snap of leather evoked memories of a younger Holmes. There was his bitter and familiar tirade afterward. Responding to comments from the Marciano family, Holmes ripped into the legend, saying: "I don't want to put him down, though I could do it easily. But I'm an old man fighting a young man, and he was a young man fighting an old man." This was in reference to Marciano's record-setting victory over Archie Moore, then in his late 30s.
Then Holmes attacked boxing fans, who he feels have denied him affection and respect. "Sometimes people light candles and pray for your defeat," he said, shrugging. But, as usual, he eventually backed off the bitterness, praising both Marciano and Spinks. Of course, he respected Marciano. "You should see how many pictures of his I have hanging in my hotel," he said. And of course, Spinks was a great fighter. "I lost my title to a great light-heavyweight champion," Holmes said. "I'm not ashamed."
One thing Holmes did was accept the fact that retirement from this sport was mandated. "It's my last fight--I'm going to quit," he said. "There will be no rematch, unless it's with my wife. I don't need no more boxing. I've made $65 million, have two Rolls-Royces paid for, I have a $6-million hotel and $99 million in the bank."
Is that enough? Maybe if some small amount of maturity is factored in, it is. Maybe Holmes will retire to his office, to repay his family for 18 years of boxing. Maybe he can accept defeat. "I'm sorry," he said later, "but defeat is something that comes to everyone."

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Super 5

My top Idols that introduce my passion are..

1) Ronda Rousey (Top female champion in the MMA Era)
2) Muhammad Ali (One of the fastest Boxer's known to history)
3)Tasha Morris (One of the best female MMA fighters of her time)
4)Bruce Lee (Founder of Jeet Kune Do- Martial Arts Instructor)
5) Rocky Marciano (One of the world's best boxer's and went undefeated in his whole career)

Vocabulary #3


Endorsement: Act of giving something or someone approval
Clinch: A clinch hold, which is also called clinching, is one of various holds that are called grappling holds, used in clinch type fighting and used in order to control the opponent in the fight.
Gracie: The most well known and respected family name in MMA. You certainly can’t deny the legendary abilities of the Gracie Brothers, from the oldest to the youngest. Gracies were instrumental in the beginnings of the MMA
Oma Plata: Jiu Jitsu/MMA grappling move –Shoulder Lock which is applied using the legs.
Catapulted: Hurl or launch
disenchanted: Dissapointed by someone or something that was once admired
Perk: to become more cheerful and alive
Dissertation: A written thesis based by original research
Immensely: Extremely big
Tangible: Possible to touch; be real or concrete