This week Awesome Stories brings you healthy habits, passion, blessings, and kinder teaching.
Healthy Habits
Alex Korb, a UCLA neuroscientist, offers us four healthy habits that can create more happiness in our lives. Alex suggests that we use these habits daily to create a cycle of well-being in our lives by boosting our brain chemistry. The 4 rituals are asking questions when you feel down, identifying feelings, making decisions, and giving and receiving touch. The article gives lots of good tips on how and why to use each of these habits to improve your life. My favorite tip (and most needed) is touch. I’ve heard others sources suggest that 5-7 hugs a day can help build our immune system. Have you had your daily dose of touch?
Passionate Purpose
Passion is the magic that unlocks the door and then drives you to become that best that you can become. ~ Greta
Greta Pontarelli is clearly a woman who has found passion in her life. She had always been active, and tried to revisit gymnastics at age 55 but was injured. After almost giving up, she discovered pole dancing and transformed her body and life. Greta is now a 5 time World Master in pole dancing for people over 50. She loves to inspire others to move beyond their fears and not let age be a limiter. She has also competed on America’s Got Talent and America Ninja Warrior! As her quote shows, she believes finding our passion is the magic elixir for creating health and happiness. If you’d like to learn more about Greta or her passion for inspiring others, check out her Aerial Zen website.
Count Your Blessings
Hannah Brencher makes a fun and persuasive argument that we can change the world with hot cocoa. She offers a poignant reminder that small acts of kindness matter and the best way to create large-scale change is by making consistent small steps in the direction that we want to go. Hannah suggests that we research fun ways to be a blessing to others and then start doing them. Then we might just change the world! For her part, Hannah created the More Love Letters movement to help make love famous by bringing back the art of writing love letters! I love the idea and will contribute with more blog posts about love. 🙂
Kinder Teaching
I love this approach to teaching and discipline. Researchers have found that punishment is the worst thing we can do for kids who act out. What these kids need is help with coping skills. Psychologist Ross Greene has developed a more collaborative approach to teaching and parenting that is growing a faithful following and even being adopted in schools and detention centers. His approach turns teachers and staff into allies instead of adversaries and is being used to help kids with cognitive or development challenges develop better problem solving and coping skills. The methods range from addressing the specific needs of children with behavioral issues to the setup and structure of the classroom activities. Early results are very promising with schools reporting up to an 80 percent drop in disciplinary referrals, suspensions, and incidents of aggression. I hope this kinder approach to teaching is widely adopted.
Let’s spread more kindness and love!
Here’s to a life of happiness for all!
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A grand vision! Thanks Annette. 🙂
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Wow… What great topics.. 🙂 And that is one amazing lady at 66 🙂 And I so agree with the teaching skills too… We so easily damage the confidence of young children .. Many thanks for sharing.. 🙂
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You’re most welcome Sue. Hannah and the collaborative teaching are the stories that most touched me this week too. May we learn to collaborate and be kind with everyone.
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Exactly xxx
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🙂
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Excellent title man!! Keep it up.
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Thanks Johnny, and welcome to the community. Brad
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Appreciate it. And thank you
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You’re welcome.
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Awesome stories. I feel can be a open book. Because people around the world can share their life experiences and people can then give their advice on how a person can make things better. But most importantly it’s good to here a person life story. Just take it as an example if anyone see freedom writers , that’s a great illustration of close to about 313 stories, because all the kids went through something. And in the end they became successful, and pursue what they wanted to do. Just by Mrs. Gruemoll setting a positive example or a role modelship into their life.
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Thanks Johnny. I agree that by sharing our stories, we inspire and help each other. Together we rise. Blessings, Brad
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Absolutely.
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As always good stories to bless and ponder. 🙂 ❤
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Thanks Natalie. 🙂
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You’re welcome Brad😊❤
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Thankyou Brad amazing stories of being happy… love the inspiration of the lady, my daughter who is in her early 40’s has also started pole dancing, she loves it too and swears it’ll keep her forever young and active… much love barbara x
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Wonderful Barbara. Maybe we’ll try pole dancing too! XD
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It would be funny…
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🙂
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Those numbers are encouraging. Great hope in this post.
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Agreed. Thanks Tom & Audrey!
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It’s hard to deny the truth and conviction behind Greta’s quote about passion driving us to heights we otherwise wouldn’t attain when seeing this young-at-heart woman pole dancing her way to success. It’s also a great reminder to keep exploring those things that most people would raise their eyebrows at and dismiss.
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Agreed Gabe, though I haven’t really found anything that I get that passionate about. 🙂
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Me either. But if I could find the right leotard, I’d be willing to give tap dancing a try 😉
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LOL. I want to see pictures!
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Thank you for inspiring stories, Brad! I love the story of Greta Pontarelli especially. Age should not be the limit to achieve our dreams!! ❤ Have a great week!
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Agreed Indah. Greta is a great model of following our dreams and passions.
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Wonderful stories that show the tenacity and capacity for joy in the human spirit. Greta is quite the athlete! And all the other projects and articles just warm my heart. 🙂
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Wonderful Cynthia. I’m happy that my stories have touched your heart. hugs,
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You don’t call it awesome stories for nothing…great collection this week of really good ideas…as always…keep at it and thanks for sharing!!
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Thank you Kirt. I hope the stories fill your mind and heart with inspiration.
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Thank you for another week of awesome stories! I was enjoying the article about gratitude and hugs and seeing Greta’s incredible spirit in action. I’m all for reading Pablo Neruda out loud. A collaborative approach to teaching works. Again, thank you, for a wonderful collection of uplifting stories.
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You are most welcome Ka. May we share our stories, follow our passions and collaborate!
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Loved the pole dancing story, Brad! Although I’m not planning to take on aerial zen…ground feels a little safer 🙂
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Thanks Helen. I’m intrigued by the whole pole dancing thing. And I’ve seen fun variations with a large double hoop that you roll and play with. 🙂
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I really enjoyed that Hannah Brencher article. I’m a fan of her writing, and the more love letters idea. Thanks for this reminder. Am also inspired by this kinder approach to teaching, and it made me think of a piece in an Alice Walker book, which I can’t find right now, but the basic idea was that in this community, when someone did something ‘wrong’ the whole community would gather around them, and each person would share a specific example of something they appreciated about that person. How beautiful. How sensible! How radical, considering our society’s normal response to ‘wrong’ doing. Thanks for another wonderfully life affirming and hope inducing collection Brad. Blessings, Harula xx
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Thanks Harula. I love that practice from Alice Walker’s book. I’ve heard of a similar practice in African tribes when someone commits a crime or injury to another. They gather and support the person! Have an inspired week my friend.
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