Lots about Lucky Lottery Numbers !

They really do take time to appreciate the little things. How to be Happy: Savoring small, positive moments throughout the day can make a big difference in overall happiness: Flourishing—a state of optimal mental health—has been linked to a host of benefits for the individual and society, including fewer workdays lost and the lowest incidence of chronic physical conditions. The aim of this paper was to investigate whether and how routine activities promote flourishing.  The authors proposed that flourishers thrive because they capitalize on the processes featured in the broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions, specifically by experiencing greater positive emotional reactivity to pleasant events and building more resources over time. To test these hypotheses, the Day Reconstruction Method (DRM) was administered to a prescreened community sample of adults (n = 208), and they were recontacted two to three months later.  Results showed that relative to those who di...

For Happiness Say Yes “Yes” creates opportunity. Saying yes a lot makes more things happen. And research shows that lots of little good things are the path to happiness. Spending money on many little pleasures beats rare big positives. One researcher, for example, interviewed people of all income levels in the United Kingdom and found that those who frequently treated themselves to low-cost indulgences— picnics, extravagant cups of coffee, and treasured DVDs— were more satisfied with their lives. Other scientists have found that no-cost or low-cost activities can yield small boosts to happiness in the short term that cumulate, one step at a time, to produce a large impact on happiness in the long term. Saying yes to activities and events keeps you busy — and studies show you’re happier when you’re busy. The happiest people are those that are very busy but don’t feel rushed: Who among us are the most happy? Newly published research suggests it is those fortunate fo...

 A scientifically validated way to get smarter, happier, healthier and calmer? Stop reading this right now and go for a walk. ---------- Exercise Powers The Body — And The Mind ---------- They used to say you don’t grow new brain cells. They were wrong. ---------- As an illustration of just how new this territory is, I’ll go back to the story of neurogenesis, the once-heretical theory that the brain grows new nerve cells throughout life. “Ten years ago people weren’t even convinced that it happened,” says neurologist Scott Small. It was at his Columbia University lab, in 2007, where they witnessed telltale signs of neurogenesis for the first time in live humans. “Five years ago people said, OK, it might happen, but is it really meaningful? Now there isn’t a week that goes by where there’s not another study that shows neurogenesis has some kind of effect on the brain.” What really feeds those baby brain cells? Hitting the gym. ---------- A 3 month exercise regimen incr...

Happiness with 4 P’s. Purpose Perspective People Play Work those into every day and you’ll be smiling more. Purpose This one gets short shrift in the modern era so we’ll put it first. You don’t need to live and die by the Bushido code but the best lives have purpose. Studies of older Americans find that one of the best predictors of happiness is whether a person considers his or her life to have a purpose. Without a clearly defined purpose, seven in ten individuals feel unsettled about their lives; with a purpose, almost seven in ten feel satisfied. - Lepper 1996 This can be religion or a set of ethics or goals. But your vision of your life needs structure. Research on the effect of religion on life satisfaction found that regardless of what religion people affiliated themselves with, those who had strongly held spiritual beliefs were typically satisfied with life, while those who had no spiritual beliefs typically were unsatisfied. – Gerwood, LeBlanc, and Piazza 19...

$16 million lottery ticket expires in Florida A $16.6 million cut of a winning Powerball jackpot expired without a claim Thursday night in Florida, the 180-day deadline passing without the lucky ticket holder coming forward. The ticket was purchased at a Carrollwood Market, a convenience store in Tampa, Fla., in May. When 2, 6, 19, 21, 27 and a Powerball of 25 were drawn on May 25, the holder was entitled to a third of a $50 million jackpot. Two other winners claimed their shares in Delaware and Louisiana. In a case where a jackpot ticket is not claimed, “the funds to pay a jackpot that goes unclaimed will be returned to the lottery members in their proportion of sales for the jackpot rollover series,”  according to the site . In Florida, current law requires 80 percent of all unclaimed prizes to be transferred to the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund, a fund that provides educational benefits to the state such as scholarships and school construction projects. The rest ...

Lottery jackpot: Hundreds of millions unclaimed every year More than a half a billion dollars went missing last year — in glove compartments, washing machines, desk drawers and sometimes even literally in the trash. That's because big lottery jackpots that go unclaimed or come close to expiring get plenty of attention, but people fail to cash out on millions in smaller prizes every year — especially casual players who only jump in when the jackpot swells as big as Tuesday’s Mega Millions drawing, which was hovering around $640 million. NBC News reached out to the 43 states that participate in Mega Millions and Powerball to find out just how much money is left unclaimed at the end of the year. More than 30 states responded, and the results were staggering. In 2013, there was more than $500 million in unclaimed lottery prizes from scratch-off games, Lotto and daily games. While the number fluctuates each year, it can sometimes total more than big Mega Millions and Po...

Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Scott Adams created a multimillion dollar empire. That empire is more commonly known as”Dilbert.” I mentioned him on this blog before because he gave some of the simplest, most profound advice for getting along with people that I’ve ever heard: Be brief and say something positive. If you’ve read Dilbert, you know Adams understands a great deal about human nature. (Then again I probably relate more to Calvin and Hobbes than most of the western canon.) His new book, How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big: Kind of the Story of My Life, has a number of useful insights about life. And what’s really fascinating is they line up with a lot of the research I’ve posted about before. Here are 5 great life lessons he gives and the research I’ve posted that backs them up: Have A System, Not A Goal This is such a powerful distinction. Losing 20lbs is a goal, eating right is a system. Which one do you think provides a better path t...