What You Didn't Know

If you yelled for 8 years, 7 months and 6 days you would have produced enough sound energy to heat one cup of coffee.
(Hardly seems worth it.)

If you passed gas consistently for 6 years and 9 months, enough gas is produced to create the energy of an atomic bomb.
(Now that's more like it!)

The human heart creates enough pressure when it pumps out to the body to squirt blood 30 feet.
(O.M.G .!)

A pig's orgasm lasts 30 minutes.
(In my next life, I want to be a pig.)

A cockroach will live nine days without its head before it starves to death. (Creepy.)
(I'm still not over the pig.)

Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories a hour
(Don't try this at home, maybe at work)

The male praying mantis cannot copulate while its head is attached to its body. The female initiates sex by ripping the male's head off.
(Honey, I'm home. What the...?!)

The flea can jump 350 times its body length. It's like a human jumping the length of a football field.
(30 minutes. lucky pig! Can you imagine?)

The catfish has over 27,000 taste buds.
(What could be so tasty on the bottom of a pond?)

Some lions mate over 50 times a day.
(I still want to be a pig in my next life...quality over quantity)

Butterflies taste with their feet.
(Something I always wanted to know.)

The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.

(Hmmmmmm......)

Right-handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left-handed people.
(If you're ambidextrous, do you split the difference?)

Elephants are the only animals that cannot jump.
(Okay, so that would be a good thing)

A cat's urine glows under a black light.
(I wonder who was paid to figure that out?)

An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
( I know some people like that.)

Starfish have no brains
(I know some people like that too.)

Polar bears are left-handed.
(If they switch, they'll live a lot longer)

Humans and dolphins are the only species that have sex for pleasure.
(What about that pig??)

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Happiness Is a Moral Obligation

One of the people that I admire, in regards to his clarity and stance on happiness, is Dennis Prager. He is a conservative talk show host. I do not agree with much of his political or social ideology, but my site is not for either political or social debate. There are many sites that take care of that very well. My site is dedicated to the pursuit, capture, care and feeding of a positive mental attitude. Happiness fits dead center!

This particular essay was written on Townhall.com. As both a writer and an aggregater of essays on Attitude, this one is a natural to reprint.

Happiness Is a Moral Obligation
By Dennis Prager

For much of my life, I, like most people, regarded the pursuit of happiness as largely a selfish pursuit. One of the great revelations of middle age has been that happiness, far from being only a selfish pursuit, is a moral demand.

When we think of character traits we rightly think of honesty, integrity, moral courage, and acts of altruism. Few people include happiness in any list of character traits or moral achievements. But happiness is both.

Happiness -- or at least acting happy, or at the very least not inflicting one's unhappiness on others -- is no less important in making the world better than any other human trait.

With some exceptions, happy people make the world better and unhappy people make it worse. This is true on the personal (micro) and global (macro) planes.

On the micro plane:

Consider the effects of an unhappy parent on a child. Ask people raised by an unhappy parent if that unhappiness hurt them.

Consider the effects of an unhappy spouse on a marriage.

Consider the effects of unhappy children on their parents. I know a couple that has four middle-aged children of whom three are truly extraordinary people, inordinately well adjusted and decent. The fourth child has been unhappy most of his life and has been a never-ending source of pain to the parents. That one child's unhappiness has always overshadowed the joy that the parents experience from the other three children. Hence the saying that one is no happier than one's least happy child.

Consider the effects of a brooding co-worker on your and your fellow workers' morale -- not to mention the huge difference between working for a happy or a moody employer.

We should regard bad moods as we do offensive body odor. Just as we shower each day so as not to inflict our body odors on others, so we should monitor our bad moods so as not to inflict them on others. We shower partly for ourselves and partly out of obligation to others. The same should hold true vis a vis moods; and just as we avoid those who do not do something about their body odor we should avoid whenever possible those who do nothing about their bad moods.

The flip side of the damage unhappy people do when they subject others to their unhappiness is the good that people do when they are, or at least act, happy. Just think of how much more you want to help people when you are in particularly happy mood and you realize how much more good the happy are likely to do.

On the macro plane, the case for the relationship between happiness and goodness is as apparent.

It is safe to say that the happiest Germans were not those who joined the Nazi Party. Nor did the happiest Europeans become Communists. And happy Muslims are not generally among those who extol death. The motto of Hamas and other Islamic groups engaged in terror, "We love death as much as [Americans, Jews] love life," does not appeal to happy Muslims.

Cults, hysteria and mass movements all appeal to the unhappy far more than to the happy. It is one more example of the genius of America's Founders to include "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" in the Declaration of Independence. No other major civilization so enshrined happiness as a core value. This American belief in the moral and societal merit in pursuing happiness is a major reason America has developed differently than Europe. The American emphasis on happiness is one reason no fanatical political or religious movement, Left or Right, has been able to succeed in America as such movements have repeatedly succeeded in Europe.

The pursuit of happiness is not the pursuit of pleasure. The pursuit of pleasure is hedonism, and hedonists are not happy because the intensity and amount of pleasure must constantly be increased in order for hedonism to work. Pleasure for the hedonist is a drug.

But the pursuit of happiness is noble. It benefits everyone around the individual pursuing it, and it benefits humanity. And that is why happiness is a moral obligation.

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Happiness Vs. Human Nature

So many of us tie happiness to the fulfillment of "more." The concept of "more" is one of the basic characteristics of "human nature." Happiness is not a function of human nature; it should not be tied to it.

The basis of Human Nature is "not to be satisfied." Human nature is to seek pleasure, to fulfill desires, to accomplish, to better our world, to never quit, to persevere, to constantly strive for "more." whatever the aspects of human nature that we strive for, we will never be satisfied. Insatiability, and the drive to be satisfied are at the heart of human nature. You can never have enough intimacy, food, love, accomplishment, money, success, etc. The problem that we run into is that many of us feel that we would be happy "if." For such a small word, so much can hang on it. "If" is considered a condition. As an example; polls show that people in general state that they would be happy "if" they had 50% more salary. Then, after that goal was reached and they were polled again, they would be happy with 50% more again. No matter how much we have, we want "more."

To want "more", in and of itself, is not a bad thing, in fact it is a great thing. To desire "more" is what has produced all of the great inventions and discoveries of our civilization; not to mention artwork and the overall betterment of the human condition. "Human nature," unfortunately, has also created what is "bad" in this world, like Hitler, Mussolini, street gangs, wars, man's inhumanity towards man, etc.

Where we go wrong is to base happiness on the attainment of accomplishment, or the achievement of a goal, or on any level of success (however we define it.) The result of this behavior is the assurance that we will never be happy.

If you have read my postings, then you know my basic philosophy of happiness; “Happiness is a decision.” Actually, happiness is a decision to be grateful for what we have, no matter how much, no matter how little. Happiness can be had by rich and poor alike. If you practice this philosophy "happiness is a decision to be grateful," you can be happy most every day of your life, while still striving for “more.”

Basing happiness on any aspect of human nature is a recipe for disaster; you assure yourself of never being able to attain happiness no matter how much you have or how much more you get.

To better understand how "happiness" and "Human Nature" can exist side by side I have created this following quote: “Human nature is what drives us, happiness is what sustains us." Think of two perpendicular lines, one pointing up and the other pointing sideways. The one pointing up represents human nature, a constant up-hill battle to achieve. The one pointing sideways represents happiness; we have the ability to maximize happiness no matter where we are on the vertical line, by the simple process of choosing and the power of gratitude. On the other hand we also have the ability to choose misery and sadness.

There are those who state that the world has so much pain and hardship, wars and evil, and that knowing this, "how can we be happy?" At the end of the day, it comes down to individual choice as to what we do with this knowledge. The vertical line that represents achievement can also represent the desire to change the world around us.

My constant companion is Reinhold Niebuhr’s Serenity Pledge: “God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change; Courage to change the things I can; and the Wisdom to know the difference.” If we can apply this to everything we do, the ability to choose happiness becomes a lot easier.

The one thing to remember from this is that the "choice is yours!"

Copyright © MondayMorningPower, All rights Reserved

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Are You Prepared For Success? (Section II - Installment #4 "Solitude" - Male and Female)

(If this is your first time on this site, please begin with "Are You Prepared For Success?" [Introduction])

Solitude

Laugh and the world laughs with you;

Weep, and you weep alone;

For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth,

But has trouble enough of its own.

Sing, and the hills will answer;

Sigh, it is lost in the air;

The echoes bound to a joyful sound,

But shrink from voicing care.

Rejoice, and mankind will seek you;

Grieve, and they turn and go;

They want full measure of all your pleasure,

But they do not need your woe.

Be glad, and your friends are many;

Be sad, and you lose them all--

There are none to decline your nectared wine,

But alone you must drink life's gall.

Feast, and your halls are crowded;

Fast, and the world goes by.

Succeed and give, and it helps you live,

But no one can help you die.

There is room in the halls of pleasure

For a large and lordly train,

But one by one we must all file on

Through the narrow isles of pain.

(Based on a poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox)

I strongly suggest that you write down your immediate reaction, after passionately reading this poem.

• In your life, think of the people that you really like. Why do you like them?
• How do you feel when you are around them?
• How do people react to you when you are happy? And when you are sad?

Go to Installment #5, (Male & Female versions)

Keeping Negative Energy at Bay

Our lives today are constantly bombarded with negative material and messages from the media, on the evening news, newspaper headlines, radio stories, to angry co-workers and more. It is difficult to go through a day without being faced with world, national or personal disasters. No matter whom we are, where we go or our intentions, it is difficult to avoid all of the negative sources of information.

Our mind is completely undiscerning when it comes to the information we give it. That is, it takes all the information, whether positive OR negative, and uses it as a resource from which to make decisions. In a sense we are unwittingly programming our mind with negativity.

We all face the constant danger, over time, that these negative messages become our own negative thoughts and often we do not even realize it.

We go throughout the day with other people’s negative thoughts and outside events influencing our own thinking. These negative thoughts soon become our reality and our life is seemingly filled with negative thoughts, energy and behaviors.

The way to combat this negative energy is to be aware of its existence and to take responsibility for our own actions and our own lives - by controlling the messages we receive. We must reverse the negative programming. (By the way, I have developed a process that addressees this subject “Are You Prepared For Success?” This process is completely laid out for you on this site.)

The solution is in taking control of our own destiny and controlling the type of messages that our mind receives. We must purposefully place positive, motivating, inspiring messages in both, our subconscious and conscious mind. This site “MondayMorningPower” is strewn with motivational quotes, empowering poems, essays and articles and positive energy. Let’s not forget a heaping dose of humor. Read the quotes; read the poems; read the essays; engross yourself in positive energy.

The result will be a more positive, pleasant, happy output with less stress and more productivity. As an individual, your thoughts become more positive. You become in charge of your life and its destiny. Your life becomes more empowered and powerful in expression.

In order to effect change in our lives, whether it is just a commitment to be a little more positive in our outlook or to make a radical change in the way we look at life, we must OWN the process. (I must clearly state that I am not leading you towards the purchase of anything. Everything that I talk about, including the “Process”, is laid out on this site.)

Both in my “Process” and in my essays I talk about ownership of these positive messages by the use of PASSION, PLEASURE & REPETITION, or as I call it the “Empowerment Triad.” When reading the quotes, or the poems, or the essays, speak it out loud; say it with Passion; feel the Pleasure of knowing that a change is imminent; and Repeat them often. What I do is to take a quote that has particular significance for me and repeat it out loud about 10 times in the morning before I start my day. It becomes totally energizing.

An added benefit of looking through motivational quotes is that you end up internalize by simply looking through the quotes in order to find the one that has the most meaning for you that day.

Can you imagine the impact it would have if everyone around you were positively motivated first thing in the morning? Take responsibility for your life and the reality you create by doing something positive for YOU! Take care of yourself first and many of life’s struggles will take care of themselves.

As I have dedicated this site to the “Pursuit, Capture, Care and Feeding of a Positive Mental Attitude,” you should dedicate your life to the “Pursuit, Capture, Care and Feeding of a Positive Mental Attitude.” You will be surprised at how the rest of your life seems to just fall into place.

By Mel Kaye

Copyright © MondayMorningPower, All rights Reserved