"Cute" Can Be Good For Your Health

**************************************************
"SIMPLY SUCCESS" -- September 26, 2007
=======================================
>Helping You Create What Matters MOST in Life and Work
Bruce Elkin: Life/Work Renewal Coach
Personal - Professional - Organizational
http://www.BruceElkin.com
Sent to subscribers only. Names are never shared or sold!
To leave list or change email address, scroll to bottom.
**************************************************

Hi ,
The early morning fog is burning off and sunlight is streaming through. Mist rises off the pavement in the street outside. Birds are singing. The moisture on the turning leaves renders them spectacular. Ain't nature grand?

And looking at is good for your health -- even if it's just on TV.

In fact, "cute" videos such as the one I sent you a link to can help reduce stress and create positive emotions.

Recent studies have shown that people who watched 10 minutes of footage of small, cuddly animals experienced dips in both heart rate and blood pressure.

Watching such videos and ones such as the clip about Coach Mo helping the little girl with the National Anthem at the Blazer's game also produce positive emotions. Researcher Barbara Fredrickson says that we need a ratio of at least 5 to 1 positive to negative emotions to function optimally each day.

In societies where the "news" is always bad, and many people are struggling to keep their heads above water financially, a brief "cute" or positive video can help bump up our ratio of positive to negative emotions.

Try it. Here's a link from my friend Caspar Davis who says, "This is a very pretty and uplifting slide show. I think I'll bookmark it and use it as needed as a brief respite from the seamier side of life.

http://www.rekindering.com/peace/attheheartofpeace.html

I did the same thing. It's short. It's full of beautiful and peaceful shots of nature. And it's uplifting. Each time I watch it, I feel my pulse slow a little and my arteries relax. Ah, positive emotions and heart health, all from watching a 3 minute video.

Give it a try and see if your day doesn't slow down just for a few minutes and, after, that you don't feel a bit more positive and hopeful. And that's a good thing.
---------------------



> ARE YOU DOING WHAT YOU LOVE?
Would you like to create what truly matters to you in life/work?
=========================================
I work with capable people who are stuck, stalled, or struggling with complicated life/work challenges. I help them develop the SKILLS, STRUCTURE, and SUPPORT to make the complex simple, get going again on what matters, and turn visions into reality!

I can help you find what you love-and create a life that shows it!

> ONLY 100 DAYS LEFT IN THIS YEAR! So it is a great time to re-assess purpose, direction, and action. I have spaces open, and am interviewing for Oct/Nov now. Want to ramp up your game a bit before the year ends, and get a head start on 2008. I can help.

>If you would like my fr.ee 7-page info package, e-mail me with "Coaching Package" as the subject at Bruce@BruceElkin.com
---------------




>THIS WEEK'S QUOTES:
=================
"It is the exercise, moment to moment, of free will, of doggedly looking for beauty, joy, and possibility, that offers us the greatest hope for generating stories that will contain the creativity and inspiration we need to solve otherwise insurmountable challenges."
-- Nina Utne

"To love means loving the unloveable. To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable. Faith means believing the unbelievable. Hope means hoping when everything is hopeless."
-- G. K. Chesterton

"We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope."
-- Martin Luther King

'You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand.'
--Woodrow Wilson

"A vision without a task is but a dream
A task without a vision is drudgery
A task with a vision is the hope of the world."
-- Inscription on a church in Sussex, England circa 1730
-----------------------


Do you need help with clarifying what you love most? And creating a life that shows it. Let me know. I'm happy to help.

Watch the video. Bump up your ratio. All the best!
Bruce
**************************************************
> BRUCE ELKIN:
Personal, Professional, and Organization Renewal Coach
>Call: 250.388.7210 www.BruceElkin.com Or Skype Me!
**************************************************
> View the current issue of my full newsletter at
http://createwhatmattersmost.blogspot.com/
-------------------

The True Spirit of Coaching

**************************************************
"SIMPLY SUCCESS" - SHORT POST - September 20, 2007
=======================================
>Helping You Create What Matters MOST in Life and Work
Bruce Elkin: Life/Work Renewal Coach
Personal - Professional - Organizational
http://www.BruceElkin.com
Sent to subscribers only. Names are never shared or sold!
To leave list or change email address, scroll to bottom.
**************************************************

Hi ,
A rainy late summer day in Victoria, BC. But still warm enough to walk and cycle and enjoy the outdoors. And tomorrow, we are supposed to see the sun again. Good!

Part way through writing this week's newsletter, I got a post from a colleague on the Appreciative Inquiry list that moved me so much, I decided to put off what I was writing and share it with you.

Warning . . . even hard-hearted cynics such as me are likely to get a tear or two in their eyes. It's truly a moving story.

http://westallen.typepad.com/idealawg/2007/09/this-man-hasth.html

The link takes you to a story about a little girl who'd won a contest to sing the US national anthem at an NBA basketball game in Portland. And, the coach of the Portland Trailblazers who stepped in to help her when she stumbled on the words.

Now, I'm not a big fan of American nationalism, and would usually give this kind of thing a pass, but considering the sources I received it from, I decided to check it out. I'm so glad I did.

Down the page on the right is a picture of the coach, with his arm around the little girl, singing with her. That's also the link to the video. Do watch it. It's short, powerful, and will give you a rush of endorphins that will last all day.

The title of the story is "It Takes A Village," and I think you'll agree, after watching the video, that a sport's arena can turn into huge village focused on helping one small girl succeed at a dream.

Here's a quick excerpt from writer Albert Henslely, from blazers.com:

"Sure, I’d been at sporting events where the crowd sang along, but this was different. This was everyone uniting for one common good: to help that little girl. We weren’t going through the motions of singing the anthem, we were locked together as one, trying to get through one of the most difficult songs ever composed.

"The fans had let down their pre-determined thoughts about the Blazers . . . For a few minutes before the game, everyone was joined in one joyous pursuit. And as the song ended, and the fireworks erupted, the ovation was deafening. We were one big family, helping out another of us in need."

People helping people! The true spirit of coaching.
---------------------



> ARE YOU DOING WHAT YOU LOVE?
Would you like to create what truly matters to you in life/work?
=========================================
I work with capable people who are stuck, stalled, or struggling with complicated life/work challenges. I help them develop the SKILLS, STRUCTURE, and SUPPORT to make the complex simple, get going again on what matters, and turn visions into reality!

I can help you find what you love-and create a life that shows it!

> ONLY 100 DAYS LEFT IN THIS YEAR! So it is a great time to re-assess purpose, direction, and action. I have spaces open, and am interviewing for Oct/Nov now. Want to ramp up your game a bit before the year ends, and get a head start on 2008. I can help.

>If you would like my fr.ee 7-page info package, e-mail me with "Coaching Package" as the subject at Bruce@BruceElkin.com
---------------




> READING & TALK at the SAANICH LIBRARY, Sept 26, 7 PM
===================================
Next Wed, September 26, I'll be reading from and talking about my book Simplicity and Success at the Bruce Hutchinson Library in Saanich, BC. Here's the announcement from the Library website:

Bruce Elkin, author of Simplicity and Success
Before Oprah discovered a simplistic kind of simplicity in the form of The Secret, there was Bruce Elkin, an internationally respected life coach with over 20 years of experience. His book, Simplicity and Success teaches how to deliberately organize your life around purpose and values, about focusing on and creating what matters most to you in life and work. His book goes beyond merely decluttering: it helps you envision what you truly want to create when the clutter is gone. Applying Elkin's principles and practices will help you feel authentic, energized, full of vitality, and whole. Join us to hear Bruce Elkin speak and read from his latest book.
Bruce Hutchison Branch
Wednesday, September 26, 7:00-8:30 pm
>Please register by calling 727-0104 as seating is limited.
----------------



> USEFUL WEBSITE AND PLANNING TOOLS:
=============================
Thinking about creating or upgrading your website and marketing approach? I use these tools with great results and recommend them without reservation. And Robert has recently made some great updates to the Website Toolkit. Great stuff!

* For info or to purchase a copy of THE WEBSITE TOOLKIT,
please go to http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=73714

* THE ACTION PLAN TOOL KIT can make designing and
Implementing a marketing plan easier, effective, and fun.
Go to http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=73714
-----------------------



>THIS WEEK'S QUOTES:
=================
"One can never consent to creep when one feels the impulse to soar."
- Helen Keller

It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by helping others to succeed.
- Napoleon Hill

It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can
sincerely try to help another without helping himself.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Young children enjoy sharing; the challenge is helping them maintain their enthusiasm for giving as they grow older. But if you model generosity at every opportunity when your children are young, they are likely to grow up to be generous, thoughtful people too."
--Virginia Brucker, 'Gifts from the Heart: 450 Simple Ways
to Make Your Family's Christmas More Meaningful'

"Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you will help them to become what they are capable of being."
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
-----------------------


Do you need help with clarifying what you love most? And creating a life that shows it. Let me know. I'm happy to help.

All the best!
Bruce
**************************************************
> BRUCE ELKIN:
Personal, Professional, and Organization Renewal Coach
>Call: 250.388.7210 www.BruceElkin.com Or Skype Me!
**************************************************
> View the current issue of my full newsletter at
http://createwhatmattersmost.blogspot.com/
-------------------