ThirstyFountains

Sometimes you need to take a break, right? It is essential to laugh! For one, you'll breathe easier. “Ninety percent of laughs involve deep exhalations,” says Dr. Dacher Keltner. “When you exhale, your heart rate and blood pressure go down and you enter a calmer state. This effect may very well be the reason you feel a sense of relief from laughing.” You'll bond better. "Partners who tell kind, lighthearted jokes and share laughter to defuse tension, tend to have better marriages,"  says Dr. John Gottman.  "It could be as easy as establishing a word or phrase that’s funny (and random) enough to automatically end any argument – like “pork chop!” You'll beat stress. Just the anticipation of laughing decreases the stress hormones dopac, cortisol, and epinephrine by 38, 39, and 70 percent respectively, according to researchers in California. And when researchers at the University of Maryland showed short movie clips to study participants, those...

Nature's first green is gold, Her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf's a flower, But only so an hour. Then leaf subsides to leaf; So Eden sank to grief. So dawn goes down to day. Nothing gold can stay...   --Robert Frost       .  .  .  .  .      The evening chill reflected what she felt within her heart. Stepping out of the car, she inhaled slowly as she rested her head against the frame. Swallowing tears, she turned and approached the walkway guarded by two blood-red brick pillars. She tried to bury the memories and pretend that she was walking into a garden instead of a cemetery.  "A garden of souls," was her thought. Shaking her head abruptly, she touched her foot to the grass. Hesitating only a fraction of a second, she continued. Her legs could no longer hold her so she sunk to the ground. She knelt then, not caring if she stained her clothes on the slightly damp grass. Folding herself into an ...

     Are you a prism where God can shine through? Do you smile at how your life is great (even though you are suffering) just because you are letting Him use you? Or are you an opaque person who wanders around wondering what is missing from your life? Or are you neither? (What? What does she mean "neither?" There's a third option?)      Yes there is. I mean: do you know Who you need and what you need to do to get Him, but are afraid? You could be afraid of giving up control, what others will think, rejection, being a disappointment to Him, or something else. Figure out what is holding you back.      "Do not be afraid to welcome Christ." It is put so simply. It almost seems that they do not know the struggles of letting go. These words are stated so clearly "do not be afraid." Why does the author say it like it is one of the easiest things to do?  Because it is.      It is not the act of not being...