Joy is a Choice

Joy is not a feeling; it is a decision. We become joyful by having someone or something respond to us in a positive way. Joy can only be created in relationship with another person, animal, or object.  Joy is a spiritual value which can only be tapped into when we are connected to the source. Joy is one of the fruits of the Spirit.  Joy is more than happiness.  Joy comes from inner contentment and delight.  It is an attitude which we can influence with our mind.  It is not dependent on external circumstances or a time frame.  We experience the greatest joy when we have our own children who resemble us.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

~ Galatians 5:22-23

From an energy point of view, joy is one of the highest frequencies.  In his book Power Vs. Force  David Hawkins (1913-2012) declares only peace and enlightenment as higher vibrations.

“We change the world not by what we say or do, but as a consequence of what we have become.”

~ David R. Hawkins

In the Divine Principle we learn:

“Let us first examine how joy is produced. Joy is not created by the individual alone. Joy comes when we have an object, whether invisible or visible, in which our own character and form are reflected and developed, thus enabling us to feel our own character and form through the stimulation derived from the object.

For example, man feels joy as a creator only when he has an object; that is, when he sees the product of his work, whether it be a painting or sculpture, in which his plan is substantiated. In this way, he is able to feel his own character and form objectively through the stimulation derived from the product of his work. When the idea itself remains in the objective position the stimulation derived from it is not substantial; therefore, the joy derived from it cannot be substantial either. God's joy is produced in the same manner as man's. Therefore, God feels joy when He feels His original character and form objectively through the stimulation derived from His substantial object.”

~ Divine Principle – Purpose of Creation – Sect. 3:2

How does all of this apply to our everyday life?

Joy, being our purpose, becomes a very desirable experience.  I find myself most joyful when I am grateful, content, compassioned and forgiving.  When I am in that state of mind I can easily relate to others, and the activities of the day flow in harmony.  It doesn’t bother me when my granddaughter throws a fit because she wants a cookie before lunch, the car in front of me pulls in my parking lot or that my husband has a different idea on what to eat for dinner.  I can tolerate my environment better, relate to my fellow man and every tasks gives me fulfillment.  I don’t need a certain response in order to be happy because I have the joy inside me, the higher frequency can absorb all kinds of lower vibes.

“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.”

~ Nikola Tesla

How do we plug into this joy?

Be aware of your feelings, watch for negative repetitive emotions; transform them into great experiences
Be compassionate
Be creative: bake a cake, paint a picture, or sing a song
Be grateful
Be honest with yourself; live authentic with integrity
Be in awe, appreciate nature
Be inspired (read scriptures, pray, meditate)
Be joyful, laugh, be silly, have fun
Be open to new ideas, possibilities
Be patient, be silent; the answer will come

“Ancient Egyptians believed that upon death they would be asked two questions and their answers would determine whether they could continue their journey in the afterlife. The first question was, 'Did you bring joy?' The second was, 'Did you find joy?”

~ Leo Buscaglia



Create awareness, be mindful; pay attention to the present moment
Create belonging (family, friends, and community) be around people who love and respect each other
Create peace and calm for yourself
Create purpose and meaning for your life
Do things you love
Don’t criticize or judge
Face fears, avoid stress
Follow a dream, ideal: live your values

“This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

~ Psalm 118:24 

Get rid of old belief systems, check your core beliefs
Have positive attitude, be a good-finder
Imaging beautiful things
Let go of hurts and pain, don’t hold grudges; after the darkness there is always light
Listen to harmonious music
Listen to other’s stories, be understanding
Reach out, be kind to others

Because joy is so crucial to a happy life, some people have created the The Joy Project.

Amanda Gore, founder of the Joy Project sees joy as an iceberg - the largest part of the iceberg is the foundation on which joy is built - the tip is what you see!  The website gives many ideas on how to create joy and participate with others in the creation of it.

I am sure there are many more ways to create joy and add them to the above list.  I believe a key to finding joy in one’s life is to connect directly to the source of joy which is in God, the creator of it all.  Let’s spread the joy!

 

Smile – It Makes You Happy

Nobody can resist a smile; smiles are contagious, they make us feel better.  Did you know that smiling can even be good for your health?

“Smiling stimulates our brain’s reward mechanisms in a way that even chocolate, a well-regarded pleasure-inducer, cannot match.”

There are both emotional and physical health benefits. Smiling is like a natural drug, it boosts the immune system, lowers blood pressure, relieves stress, changes our moods, and even prolongs life. 

“We shall never know all the good that a simple smile can do.”
~ Mother Teresa

Even if you have to fake a smile at first, practicing smiling will benefit you and give a positive signal to the brain which will give you a feeling of joy.  Continuous practice of smiling can even prolong your life.

Garrison 3 months

I just received a picture of my grandson who is now smiling so sweetly at 3 months.  Babies are actually born smiling and they will responds to you with a big grin often.  It is actually easier to smile (using less facial muscles) than to frown. 

"The powerful emotions triggered when someone important in our lives smiles at us and we smile back changes our brain chemistry.”

~ Dr. David Lewis – The Language of Success
 

Mona Lisa

Apparently, Charles Darwin had a lesser-known theory, that smiling can make us feel better.  When you feel happy you smile more, but it also works the other way around: smiling can cause us to be happy.

Have you ever wondered why the painting of the “Mona Lisa” by Leonardo da Vinci is so famous?  Everybody is mystified by her sweet smile.

We all know that it is easier to be around people who smile and are friendly.  Some people can light up a whole room with their positive attitude and sociable smiles.  Here are some more fascinating facts about smiling and its health benefits.

With a little bit more awareness we all can smile more and not only please others but to bring happiness to ourselves.

Chocolate’s many Flavor Notes

I am not talking about a beautiful melody you can serenade your sweetheart with on Valentine’s Day, nor am I referring to love letters, nor the money you buy the diamonds for: I am talking about the many flavors of chocolate.

Last Thursday, we had a very pleasant meeting at our Standing Room Only Toastmaster gathering this month.  Our area governor came and introduced a “Chocolate Tasting.”  We tasted different dark chocolates which are my favorite anyway.  I learned about the different aromas, textures and tastes of chocolate, its origin and how it is made, which inspired me to research some more on the background of this heavenly food.  The literal translation of the cocoa plant which is “theobroma cacao,” means food of the Gods.

 

Part of our tasting session was to detect the various flavor notes which are composed by their origin of location, the way of fermentation, and the process of roasting.  Obviously, there is no right or wrong conclusion which of the chocolates one prefers.

 

History of Chocolate

Cacao plants can only grow in tropical countries.  It requires a hot, rainy climate and will only bear fruit in countries within 20 degrees of the equator. Though it needs warm temperatures to thrive, it must be shielded from direct sun, and grows best under the shade of taller trees.

Each tree only produces about 2 pounds of bittersweet chocolate a year.  The delicate process of harvest, fermentation, and the roasting requires a lot of personal attention, that’s why cocoa is produced mostly on small farms.

Just like with wine, the unique flavor notes found in chocolate depend on its country of origin. The taste of a cacao bean, like a wine grape, depends on the soil, growing conditions and type of plant from a particular place. Local harvesting and fermentation practices also affect flavor.

From a delicacy for kings to everyone’s favorite treat, from a sacred and revered health food to a modern scientific wonder, the history of chocolate is rich, varied, and never boring.

 

Books on Chocolate

The food of the Gods “Theobroma cacao,” has been written about from all different angles.  Cacao is used in all forms of cooking, baking and sweets.  Cocoa by itself is bitter and almost chalky but with added milk, sugar and (cocoa) butter, it becomes irresistible.  The chocolate industry has created many different types of chocolates from white, to milk and dark chocolates.  Additionally, candy contains anything from nuts, coconut, fruits, liqueurs, or even peppery spices.  In the recent years chocolate has been advocated as health food, especially dark chocolate with a cocoa content of more than 35-95% because of its high antioxidant content.

 

"It's not that chocolates are a substitute for love. Love is a substitute for chocolate. Chocolate is, let's face it, far more reliable than a man."

~ Miranda Ingram

 

Chocolate in Romance

Chocolate is by many standards considered an aphrodisiac; that’s why chocolate is popular as gifts for Valentine’s Day. For that occasion hearts are wrapped in red and pink foils.

 

Health benefits of Chocolate

Chocolate is considered a superfood which means if you only have that one food, you could survive for quite some time on it.  It is rich in antioxidants, fiber, trace minerals and nutrients beneficial to heart health, antidepressant, and stress-relief.

 

Harvest of Cocoa beans

Here is a link to a video that show the process of harvesting cocoa pots.

Here is another video link to how chocolate is made or an account of how the process works.

 

Did I stir your curiosity to go out and buy some chocolate or participate in a chocolate tasting?  Or better yet, get some candy for someone you love and share it together to savor the different flavor notes.  Maybe you will discover that there is more to chocolate than the bars in the check-out isles.  Enjoy the simple bars and delight in the various flavor notes and maybe you will detect which notes are combined in your favorite choice.  Remember, dark chocolates are meant to be savored for their deliciously bitter underlying citrus, caramel, or tobacco like notes.

 

Do You Sudoku?

I have always loved numbers; and MATH was my favorite subject in school.  A few years ago, a friend introduced me to Sudoku puzzles.  I have been solving some here and there, but recently, I developed more interest in this past time.  Do you think I am hooked?

What is Sudoku?

Sudoku is a number puzzle.  Numbers from 1-9 are placed into a grid of 9x9 squares so that each number only appears one time in each row.  Additionally, each 3x3 grid also allows each number to appear once.  The challenge is that each given puzzle shows only a certain random amount of numbers.  There are three levels of difficulty where the more difficult puzzle has less numbers to start with.  The creator of the puzzle provides only a partially completed grid, which allows only one solution.

There are no special math skills required to solve the puzzle.  Only logic and persistence, if nothing else, you can spend hours with this intellectual entertainment.  Like everything else, practice brings better and faster results.

Some people like Jean-Paul Delahaye, call Sudoku a science.

“Solving a Sudoku puzzle requires no math, not even arithmetic. Even so, the game poses a number of intriguing mathematical problems.”

~ JEAN-PAUL DELAHAYE , French mathematician, born 1952.

History of Sudoku

There are several stories of the history of Sudoku.  It is an American invention but has a Japanese name.  The word Sudoku means "single number" in Japanese. It seems to be developed based on  the tradition of magic squares which first appeared in China during the 7^th century BC.  From there the information traveled through India and the Arabic world.

In modern times, during the 18^th century, a Swiss mathematician named Leonard Euler, put together number puzzles and transformed magic squares into Latin squares.

The prototype of modern Sudoku was the puzzle “Number Place” created by Howard Garns.  In 1979, Garns was an American architect who had retired from the Daggett architecture firm in Indianapolis.

A retired Hong Kong judge, Wayne Gould, was a fanatic Sudoku fan.  At the end of 2004, he developed a computer program which generates Sudoku puzzles of all different difficulty levels for which he didn’t asked any money.  The rest is history; you find them now in every newspaper, magazine and online.  There are even championships and international competitions.

Benefits of Sudoku

Sudoku has truly become an intercultural game.  It is the puzzle for everybody, old and young, men, women and children of all educational ranks.  It is a solitary game, and can be played on paper, online or just about anywhere.

* It helps with critical thinking and develops logic.

* It helps to develop patience because sometimes the solution is not as obvious.

* It helps with focus and organization; and also challenges creativity, if you want to develop faster and easier solutions. 

* Some researchers believe that it can slow the progression of brain disorder conditions such as Alzheimer's.

* It helps to develop both parts of the brain; the left side supports the logic, and the right side helps with the creative juices.

* It is called "the Rubik's cube of the 21st century" and is the "fastest growing puzzle in the world".

Have you played Sudoku today?

 My favorite sites for FREE Sudoku puzzles:

http://www.economist.com/node/3992476 down load for print and online.

http://www.sudokushark.com/sudoku.php online

Principled Counselor Technique

 A few nights ago I had a dream.  In the dream I had tied a few balloons filled with helium on strings and let them fly like a kite.  When it was time to pull in the balloons, I noticed that there was an object tied to the strings of the balloons.  As I pulled the object closer and it became bigger and bigger, the object became a white Mercedes.   I could clearly see the Mercedes symbol, even though the shape of the car was different than any I had ever seen.  The car was white, with a square shaped top.  There were four people in the car and as it landed on the ground, the doors opened and they came out.  I awoke from my dream at that time.

I wondered about the meaning of this dream, as I had never “pulled anything from the air.”

When I read a few days later about the “Invisible Counselor Technique by Napoleon Hill” I took that as a hint for me to be more visionary.

I remember reading about this technique in his famous book “Think and Grow Rich.”  In the 14^th chapter of the book Mr. Hill talks about the sixth sense.  He dedicates a whole paragraph on “Let Great Men Shape Your Life.”  He admits that he didn’t do it out of hero-worship; rather his admiration for the men in his counsel became so “real” that they not only became a great source of inspiration and advice for him but as he puts it, “they took on a life of their own.”  Mr. Hill conducted these counsel sessions for years to build his own character and to overcome various insecurities based on his youth.  It became a task of rebirth and contributed greatly to the enormous success he encountered later in his life.

I have since then set up my own “Invisible Counselors.”  Every night now, I envision my circle of influence:  The True Parents, Father and Mother Moon, in the center of the circle.  On the male site, I have seated: Jesus,  my ancestor Christian who lived during the 18^th century and Napoleon Hill.  On the female site, I have: Mother Teresa,  and my grandmother Elisabeth who became 97.

I tell them my desire is to become a more wholesome person who wants to discover her true passion and how to apply it to serve others. 

My focus is to be more assertive (accept my feelings in the moment without getting arrogant or self-righteous), fun-loving, passionate, to better communicate (be expressive and creative) and be energetic (full of life and even take risks).  That’s quite a mouthful but in our imagination we can envision anything we want.
I will add more people to my circle as needed.  I am hoping that they can supply me with internal wisdom and guidance beyond my imagination and allow me to live a purposeful life.

Another self-help guru, Brian Tracy, suggests that when you begin to dream big dreams, your levels of self-esteem and self-confidence go up immediately.  You feel more powerful about yourself and your ability to deal with what happens to you.  The reason so many people accomplish so little is because they never let themselves lean back and imagine the kind of life that is possible for them.

This inspired me to dream again.  It also reminded me of the “Pink Bubble Technique,” which Shakti Gawain described in her book “Creative Visualization:”

This meditation exercise is simple and wonderfully effective.

Sit or lie down comfortably, close your eyes, and breathe deeply, slowly, and naturally.  Gradually relax deeper and deeper. 

Imagine something that you would like to manifest.  Imagine that is has already happened.  Picture it as clearly as possible in your mind.
Now, in your mind’s eye, surround your fantasy with a pink bubble; put your goal inside the bubble.  Pink is the color associated with the heart, and if this color vibration surrounds whatever you visualize, it will bring to you only that which is in perfect affinity with your being.

The third step is to let o of the bubble and imagine it floating off into the universe, still containing your vision.  This symbolizes that you are emotionally “letting go” of it.  Now it is free to float around in the universe, attracting and gathering energy for its manifestation.
There is nothing more you need to do.

Let’s explore more possibilities of spiritual growth and infinite learning.

WARNING:  You can look for certain outcomes but don’t be disappointed if you are focused on a specific goal and it wouldn’t appear the way you imagined.  Always allow things to happen for your ultimate good.  (Infinite intelligence – God – knows best what is beneficial for you in the long run).

Minnesota Humor

On a recent trip to Minnesota, I was introduced to Minnesota Humor. Minnesota is known for its 10,000 lakes and mosquitoes.

Minnesotans are a hardy breed of people who have learned to adapt to a variety of weather conditions, and a geography that supports four distinct ecosystems. They do so with a sense of humor and sophistication that’s uniquely their own. 

You’ll find many influential and famous people that were born here, many successful Fortune 500 companies that were started here, lots of interesting places to visit, and a great many traditions and outdoor activities that take place year around.

Minnesotans many ancestors came from the Northern European countries, thats why they identify with the Vikings (see picture right, a statue by the museum in Alexandria, Minnesota).

Many people have also heard of Garrison Keillor, of A Prairie Home Companion fame, and his cool wit.

Here is some of the ways you know you are from Minnesota:

You say "You betcha" instead of you are right.

Your daily meals are breakfast, dinner, and supper.

You drink POP, not SODA.

You laugh out loud every time you see a news report about a blizzard shutting down the entire east coast.

Down south to you means Iowa.

The only reason you go to Wisconsin is to get fireworks, to fish, or to buy beer on Sunday.

You've gone trick-or-treating in 3 feet of snow.

You know about Ole and Lena jokes. 

You know how to spell: M-i-s-s-i-s-s-i-p-p-i because the big river starts here.

Some other fun facts:

Minnesota was named after the Dakota Indian word "minisota" meaning sky tinted waters.

Minnesota is the 12th largest state at 84,068 square miles.

We have more than 10,000 lakes! There are 15,291 lakes that are over 10 acres in size.

On March 3, 1849, Minnesota was designated a U.S. Territory.

The Minnesota state bird is the loon.

The skyway system in Minneapolis allows people to live, eat, work and shop in nearly five miles without ever going outside.

The Mall of America in Bloomington is over 9.5 million square feet in size.

Because of its thousands of lakes, Minnesota has 90,000 miles of shoreline, more than California, Florida and Hawaii combined.

Lake Itasca, the source of the Mississippi River, was discovered and named by Henry R. Schoolcraft in 1832.

Here is Mac’s original story:

I was driving back home one night early October after I got a car wash in town. As I drove around the bend down by the lake I saw a police car which turned around and started flashing his lights behind me. I pulled over, and the officer appeared by my car window. He said: “Can I see your driver’s license, sir?” He started asking: “Mac, why are you driving so fast? Do you know that you were driving 72 miles/hr. in a 45 mile zone?” Mac’s answer: “Officer, you would not believe me if I told you.” Officer: “Try me.” Mac: “I got a car wash in town, and since there was no traffic out here I wanted to dry off the car before getting home.” The officer, who didn’t know Mac from town, started walking back to his police car, checking Mac’s records. He came back, handing back Mac’s license. He said, “Mac, I checked your record, and you have a clean record but can I give you some advice? Next time, find a better method of drying your car.” And he let him go.

Obviously, the officer had a good sense of humor.

You can see that I had a good time in Minnesota and enjoy the Minnesotan humor.

Two Weeks with my Daughter

Our daughter Kim was born in Minnesota.  She loves that state and is crazy for her relatives. She had just returned from a one-year-stay in Germany as a Fulbright Scholar. While in Germany, she discovered her roots and fell in love with the country of her ancestors. Together with her husband, they decided to stay another year.  None-the-less, she returned to a home visit. 

One night at the end of July she returned for her vacation, my husband and I picked her up from the airport. From that very moment our family was again engaged in a whirlwind of excitement, talking, singing and a lot of laughter. She was telling us about all the differences between Americans and Germans.  Her report: "Americans are loud and outspoken, while Germans are more reserved, except for the World cup."

We spent two wonderful weeks together. Both she and I are coffee lovers. We discovered Caribou’s coffee and the many positive quotes they put on their coffee cups.

Positive words on a Caribou coffee cup:

life is short, stay awake for it

sleep under the stars

dream big, act bigger

take a seven day weekend

sip it, sip it good

max out your passport

stir emotions

hold hands, not grudges

run your feet, not your mouth

follow your heart

make today special

sing out loud

you are as wonderful as your dog thinks you are

smile first, asks questions later

As we were traveling, Kim took out her camera every time she saw a meaningful quote,

It didn’t matter where she saw it: at some relative’s house, in an antique store, at a rummage sale, at a gift store or in somebody’s window. It became quite a game. Along with hunting for positive quotes she also recorded her grandpa’s jokes and funny sayings. We discovered again his Minnesotan wit and humor which she never missed a beat to respond to. It was quite entertaining since neither one of them wanted to give up the last word, but most of the time she graciously surrendered to her grandpa.

Here are a few positive quotes:

If you begin the day with love in your heart, peace in your nerves, and truth in your mind, you not only benefit by their presence but also bring them to others, to your family and friends, and to all those whose destiny draws across your path that day.
~ Author : Unknown

When you realize how perfect everything is, you will tilt your head back and laugh at the sky.
~ Buddha

Three small rules for a happy life:
1. Start each day with a grateful heart.
2. Focus on the positive aspects of every person you encounter.
3. End each day with a grateful heart.
~ Lucy MacDonald

It’s time to start living the life you’ve imagined.
~ Henry James

Confidence on the outside begins by living with integrity on the inside.
~ Brian Tracy

If you have the courage to begin, you have the courage to succeed.
~ David Viscott

It is not what we get. But who we become, what we contribute… that gives meaning to our lives.
~ Anthony Robbins

We are each gifted in a unique and important way. It is our privilege and our adventure to discover our own special light.
~ Mary Dunbar

Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant.
~ Robert Louis Stevenson

A person who sows seed of kindness enjoys a perpetual harvest.

~ Anonymous

Well, that's it for the quotes. The inspiration behind lays mainly with the energy and the presence our daughter brought back into our lives. She is gone now again, visiting with others whom she is going to entertain with her happy spirit and positive sayings. Our memories together will have to sustain us again for another year. In the meantime, I am happy to have had the two weeks with our daughter Kim.

For The Love of Food ...

Food played always an important part in my life. When I grew up in East-Germany, we never went hungry but we had to be satisfied with just the basic foods like bread, potatoes, some sausage, and cooked vegetables. We didn’t have refrigeration in the early 50’s, so the only conservation was canning and pickling. We did alright as a family since we had a big garden and grew some delicious fruits and some vegetables.
I started to experiment with cooking during my teenage years. By that time my parent had fled with our family to West Germany and we enjoyed during the winters fresh citrus fruits and more variety of food choices.

My mother is a very good cook but she could not teach me because she never measured her portions. So I learned mostly from cookbooks and in home economics. I very much enjoyed making international dishes with names I could neither pronounce nor really knew what they were supposed to taste. My family was not always excited to eat what I had cooked, especially when it included strange things like nuts in a gravy or spices they had never heard off.

Before I came the U.S. I had never opened a box to make a meal or bake a cake. I had made everything from scratch and still do when I have enough time. The flavor and spices I use are just not in the frozen dinners or come in a boxed cake.
When I later traveled to France and Italy, and very much later to the U.S. and the orient, I came to appreciate international foods.
To give myself a treat this week, I invited my daughter to watch to movie “Julie & Julia.” I have only one thing to say, it was hilarious, I laughed so hard because I could relate to so many situations in the movie and was comforted when Julia scraped potato pancake from the stove and put it back in the pan or when Julie overslept the timer and forgot to take out her “Boeuf à la Bourguignonne.”
It’s amazing how one women, Julia Child, changed to whole kitchen scenery in the U.S. and brought American women back into the kitchen. And Julie, bless her heart, went through all the trouble, in making all the 524 recipes from the “The Mastering of Art of French Cooking” without getting the approval or acknowledgement of the master chef herself. But why was she sad when Julia passed away in 2004? In her own words: she had grown to unite with Julia in spirit and action during the year she committed to the cooking project and even though they never met, she felt as if she had know her.
View one of the official trailors:



Bon Appetit! Enjoy!