Source of Happiness...

[HoosierHelen]

I do believe GOOD thoughts & stories are well worth sharing....

I have always believed that the happy person is not happy because he has a good life but because he wants to be happy.

I was told of a story about two twins one was always happy and the other always sad. The parents decided to for one moment have the two boys be alike so they took the sad boy and put him in a room with every kind of toy they could find. The other boy they put in a room filled with horse manure. After leaving the two boys for the day when they came back the boy that was always sad was upset because the toy he had been playing with was hard for him to get to work. When they went to the room with the happy boy they found him laughing and digging in the manure. They were shocked because they thought he would never be happy in horse manure. When they asked him why he was so happy he answered " With this much horse manure there has to be a horse somewhere."

You choose your outlook on life. It is about perspective and I believe that we, the local and global community, must find in times of crises an opportunity to put human ingenuity to work out creative ways to address our problems.

Hopefully, we have other members with some happy reflections to share?

[HoosierHelen]

I realize there are many great charities doing great things for our communities out there. This is just ONE of those stories.

In 2005, Bruno and his mother, Caterina, visited the Boys and Girls Club of Anaheim, where his mother noticed that there was a 6-year old boy eating potato chips for dinner, because his family couldn't afford a proper meal. Caterina insisted that Bruno make some pasta for the child. They soon realized that there were many more of these hungry 'motel children', so Bruno begun making pasta for 72 children, 5 nights a week. Today, that event has now expanded to feeding nearly 300 kids, 7 nights a week and over a quarter of a million meals to date.

Caterina's Club holds luncheons every few months where guests are greeted with Champagne, served a gourmet meal and dine while viewing a fashion show sponsored by local Anaheim boutiques. 100 percent of net proceeds of these luncheons go directly to Caterina's Club. These generous donations of Caterina's Club luncheons have allowed the program to donate a 12 passenger van to transport the children from where they live in local motels to the Boys & Girls Clubs. This transportation was also extended to their families so that they may go to and from a medical clinic in Santa Ana.

Caterina's Club has also contributed to a free dental clinic as well as piano lessons for the Boys & Girls Clubs members. The children have been provided with one-on-one tutoring on a daily basis, allowing them to achieve better in school. In addition to the tutoring, upgraded computer software was also provided to aide the children in furthering their education. Caterina's Club along with the help of Anaheim Ballet began a program introducing ballet to the kids.

A more complete story regarding the good things Caterina's Club are accomplishing is here: http://www.thecaterinasclub.org/

[HoosierHelen]

What We Need is Here

Geese appear high over us,
pass, and the sky closes. Abandon,
as in love or sleep, holds
them to their way, clear
in the ancient faith: what we need
is here. And we pray, not
for new earth or heaven, but to be
quiet in heart, and in eye,
clear. What we need is here.

Wendell Berry

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/what-we-need-is-here/

[HoosierHelen]

In the era of big boxes, a day for the little guy
POSTED: 01/25/2012 01:03:18 AM MST
UPDATED: 01/25/2012 05:32:52 AM MST
By AMY SANCETTA Associated Press


CHAGRIN FALLS, Ohio—It began quietly, as an email to 40 friends.
But when a steady stream of customers began coming through the door before the family-owned Chagrin Hardware had even opened for the day on Saturday, it was clear that it had turned into much more than that.
The idea started with Jim Black, a resident of Chagrin Falls, a close-knit village in Cleveland's eastern suburbs that is part artist colony and part bedroom community. Black posted the email to a group of his friends. "Let's show our support for one of our local businesses," he wrote. "I challenge everyone to spend AT LEAST $20 at the hardware on the 21st."

Although his email referred to the idea of a "Cash Mob" or the notion to "Occupy CF
In this photo taken Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012, Megan Johnson counts money from a sale at Chagrin Hardware in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. Megan is the daughter of one of the store's owners, Susie Shutts Johnson. Hundreds of people poured into the Shutts family store in a self-proclaimed "Cash Mob" to spend and support the hardware and it's owners. ((AP Photo/Amy Sancetta))
Hardware," he really had no political agenda. And it wasn't meant as a protest against the big-box stores that have created an ever-tightening circle around the community.
It was just a way to thank Chagrin Hardware's owners for a beloved shop that has been a fixture in the village since 1857.

These are good people who needed our support," Black said. "It's just that simple."
The store, overlooking meandering Riverside Park and the Chagrin River in the middle of town, has been run by the Shutts family for the last 72 years. It passed from uncle to father to older brothers Rob and Kenny and the three youngest, Steve, Susie and Jack, who run the store today.
Black's note was forwarded and forwarded and forwarded again. Calls started coming in from folks out of state who wanted to make a purchase over the phone.

And when the day came, so did the shoppers—one by one, with dogs on leashes and children in tow, hour after hour until the hardware was teeming with customers.

The rest of the story here: http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_19816216

[HoosierHelen]

Caitlin Crosby an actress, singer and songwriter tells a wonderful story about her experience with the ‘Giving Keys’.

It started in a New York motel. The key to my room was old and rusted. And I immediately loved it. So I 'permanently borrowed' it, put it on a chain, and slipped it over my neck. The rush of compliments that key received completely surprised me. After all, it was just a key. Or so I thought....

Read the rest of Caitlin's story here:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/caitli...b_1199754.html

[HoosierHelen]

We know Abe Lincoln came from a poor background. He made one HE** of a difference for our USA. I carry hope for these children, their futures, and believe we may find some future positive leaders in our world should this program continue to succeed. I especially enjoy the idea of the gift of a goat or a sheep to these young girls.

OPINIONATOR
January 19, 2012, 10:00 PM
A Boost for the World’s Poorest Schools
By TINA ROSENBERG
Since the turn of the millennium, the world has made stunning progress toward the goal of universal primary education. In sub-Saharan Africa, enrollment in primary school has risen by 18 percentage points; in Asia and Latin America there has been more limited progress. While globally, 69 million school-age children do not attend school now, in 1999 that figure was 106 million. This is a huge achievement.

The aim of having all children in school by 2015 is one of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals that will come closest to achievement. Countries have made progress by abolishing school fees, building schools in remote areas, switching the language of instruction to the one the children actually speak and giving families incentive to send children to school with school food. In some countries, parents who keep their girls in school get sacks of food from the World Food Program. One Ethiopian program that encourages girls to stay in school gives each girl who does so a sheep or goat.

The rest of the story here: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/19/118675/

[HoosierHelen]

Such is the Force of Happiness

Such is the Force of Happiness—
The Least—can lift a Ton
Assisted by its stimulus—

Who Misery—sustain—
No Sinew can afford—
The Cargo of Themselves—
Too infinite for Consciousness'
Slow capabilities.

Emily Dickinson

[HoosierHelen]

I realize pulling a story from a Berkeley newsletter (the liberal center of the USA) will be a major turn-off to our conservative members. Personally, I believe this article to be correct and timely. Whether we are conservative or liberal, I do believe we share the same goal of living a peaceful, happy life. I am hopeful others will also find it worthy of a read.

Just One Thing: Admit Fault and Move On
By Rick Hanson | January 30, 2012

We’re pleased to present the latest installment of Dr. Rick Hanson’s Greater Good blog, featuring posts from his Just One Thing (JOT) newsletter, which offers simple practices designed to bring you more joy, more fulfilling relationships, and more peace of mind and heart.

Have you ever watched two people quarrel, or otherwise be stuck in a conflict with each other? Usually, if either or both of them simply acknowledged one or more things, that would end the fight.

Recall a time someone mistreated you, let you down, dropped the ball, made an error, spoke harshly, was unskillful, got a fact wrong, or affected you negatively even if that was not their intention. (This is what I mean, very broadly, under the umbrella heading of “fault.”) If the person refuses to admit fault, how do you feel? Probably dismayed, frustrated, uneasy, distanced, less willing to trust, and more defensive yourself. The interaction—and even the relationship—gets stuck on the unadmitted fault and is shadowed, dragged down, and constrained as a result.

On the other hand, if this person had admitted the fault, how would you have reacted? Probably pretty well! When someone admits fault (always broadly defined, in my usage here) to me, I feel safer, on more solid ground, more at ease, warmer toward them - and more willing to admit faults myself.

Turn this around, and you can see the benefits in admitting faults to others. It cuts to the heart of the matter, reduces a cause of their anxiety or anger, let you move on to other topics (including your own needs), takes the wind out of their sails if they’re lambasting you, and puts you in a stronger position to ask them to admit fault themselves. And as part of admitting fault, it’s natural and important to sincerely commit to avoiding this fault as best you can in the future.

Then you can get beyond the hassle and bad feelings of the unadmitted fault, and move on to something more positive.

The rest of the story here:
http://greatergood.berkeley.edu/arti...t_and_move_on/

[HoosierHelen]

Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be
Abraham Lincoln

[HoosierHelen]

I imagine there are 3500 happy faces in France this week.

Crédit Municipal de Paris forgives 3,500 clients loans

Just as France was being chastised for excessive national borrowing with a sovereign debt downgrade, thousands of lucky French people had their financial obligations forgiven after the country's oldest bank decided to simply wipe their slate clean.

Granted, it's a small slate. The 3,500 clients who benefitted from the bank’s largesse had debts of 150 euros or less (about $190) with the Crédit Municipal de Paris, also known as the "Mont-de-piété," the bank of the poor, which has for centuries allowed the needy to get loans against their valuables—a kind of ethical pawnshop, or the original microlender. The small kindness was welcome for many.

"I'm very happy, it's the first time I get something for nothing," said Geneviève, an elegant woman in her fifties who was at the bank to get back a gold coin and a small wedding band she had pawned three years ago. "There came a point when I needed money. They're not worth much but they're important to me."

The rest of the story here: http://www.good.is/tag/credit-municipal-de-paris

[HoosierHelen]

Will this discovery yield new insights into biogeochemically important elements in one of the most extreme naturally occurring environments on our planet? geochemist Doug Connelly of the NOC, who is the Principal Scientist of the expedition is hopeful.

British Scientific Expedition Discovers Deepest Known Undersea Vents
JANUARY 11, 2012
National Oceanography Centre

A British scientific expedition has discovered the world's deepest undersea volcanic vents, known as 'black smokers', 3.1 miles (5000 metres) down in the Cayman Trough in the Caribbean. Using a deep-diving vehicle remotely controlled from the Royal Research Ship James Cook, the scientists found slender spires made of copper and iron ores on the seafloor, erupting water hot enough to melt lead, nearly half a mile deeper than anyone has seen before.
http://noc.ac.uk/news/british-scient...lcanic-vents-0

[HoosierHelen]

Reunion between an injured soldier and his puppy
Wednesday, Jan 25, 2012 | Updated 1:50 PM EST

For a wounded soldier home from Afghanistan, It was a special reunion a long time in the making.
A puppy he adopted on the front lines is now with him again in Bethesda, Maryland.

Donny Eslinger, 20, encountered the dog while on tour of duty in Afghanistan. He traded three cigarettes to become the dog's owner. He named the dog Smoke Pup Barbarian because of the transaction.
A mortar attack critically wounded Eslinger in September of 2011. He was in treated at the Kandahar Airfield Hospital for a broken leg, broken ribs, and multiple internal injuries. When Eslinger was later flown to Germany and then the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for more treatment, Smoke was left behind.

A group called Puppy Rescue Mission heard about Smoke Pup when Eslinger's squad leader sent a letter telling Eslinger's story. The group printed part of that letter on their website:
"Smoke was the only bit of moral that made these kids forget were they were and cope with the tragedy we just experienced. It is amazing how therapeutic a little creature can be. Donny took care of that dog up until he was injured. Many of us in his Platoon would love nothing more than to see Smoke reunited with Donny. It would be the only decent thing we would see come from this place. "

Through the efforts of Puppy Rescue Mission, the dog arrived in Orlando, Florida last week.

The dog was then transported to Bethesda on Tuesday, where he was reunited with Eslinger.

Pictures and article here: http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/lo...138031653.html

[HoosierHelen]

Reading this story today brought a happy smile to my heart. Very proud to know of Rev. Dr. Thomas Sagendorf's participation in such an important part of our nation's history. Thank you KPC for reporting this story!

Angola man marched twice with MLK

by Jennifer Decker jdecker@kpcnews.net
Tuesday, January 17, 2012, 1:00am

ANGOLA — The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King was a voice who drew many to his marches in the 1960s prior to his assassination.

One who was drawn to the civil rights leader was the Rev. Dr. Thomas Sagendorf, Ball Lake.

Sagendorf marched twice with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and also met with him during the turbulent 1960s.

“His voice couldn’t be dismissed,” Sagendorf said about the civil rights leader.

But Sagendorf is quick to say he didn’t march against ending racial segregation, discrimination or ending the Vietnam War to be labeled a hero. “I was acting on my conscience,” Sagendorf said.

Sagendorf spoke about his time with King during part of Sunday’s sermon at the First United Congregational Church of Christ in Angola. Sagendorf is an ordained Methodist minister, but is pastor in residence at UCC.

King was a clergyman and civil rights leader, who used nonviolence to work toward ending racial segregation and discrimination in the U.S. King was assassinated April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tenn. Martin Luther King Jr. Day was established as a U.S. federal holiday in 1986 and was observed Monday across the country.

Sagendforf joined King on a march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala., in March 1965. At the time, Alabama State Troopers beat marchers with clubs, whips, dogs and mace. Shortly after that, King appealed for the nation to join the march.

At the time, Sagendorf was a senior at the Methodist Theological School in Ohio, where it was decided he and seven other students and two professors would join the march.

“Married less than two years, I phoned my dad before I left and said, ‘Dad, I’m going to Alabama to march with Martin Luther King. You have my insurance policies. If I don’t come back, please take care of Judie (his wife),’” Sagendorf said.

His group intersected the march outside Montgomery. At that time, marchers gathered for instructions at a Roman Catholic compound, St. Jude’s. While the compound was circled bypickup trucks flying the Confederate flag, shot guns pointed at them.

“We were told that we might be cursed, stoned, spat upon and even physically attacked. All of these things happened somewhere along the route,” he said.

Despite the fear, the group still marched, sang songs of freedom and justice. National guardsmen stood on street corners and rooftops, carrying rifles.

“Our group was a block back from the capitol steps. There were many speakers, but when Dr. King spoke, there was complete silence. A true prophet of the Lord, it was like hearing the voice of God,” he said.

After the event ended, Sagendorf and his integrated group wanted to get out of Alabama quickly, as they feared for their safety. Sagendorf drove the lead car in a three-vehicle caravan and they were followed several miles by a station wagon with its sides and back windows covered in brown paper. Sagendorf said they assumed it was the Ku Klux Klan, but eventually, the station wagon sped off into the night. Later they learned that Violet Liozzo, a Detroit woman, had been shot and killed by the KKK when she was driving marchers back to Selma. Sagendorf said it’s likely that would have been his group’s fate had there not been three cars in the caravan.

Sagendorf said the Selma to Montgomery March resulted in President Lyndon Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act into law with King standing at his side.

Sagendorf’s second encounter with King was in April 1967 during a New York march against the Vietnam War that reportedly drew a crowd of 400,000 to Central Park.
“It would seem like marching in such a throng on the streets of Manhatten would be a relatively safe thing to do, but it wasn’t,” he said. Objects like bags of sugar or flour were dropped on heads of marchers from those in buildings overhead.

“As in Montgomery, the voice of Dr. King was like listening to the voice of God. And again, it was an instance of hands, feet, voices and enormous risk, confronting the powers of evil,” he said.

In 1968, Sagendorf met with King at a Cleveland meeting of 10 people of Operation Bread Basket. They strategized how to combat the abuse of police power and how to get food into poor sections of the city.

“In that meeting, I was most impressed by the Martin Luther King I saw,” he said. “No booming voice. No attempt to take over the agenda. Just a Baptist preacher with a soft, gentle demeanor. He’s so often crying into the wilderness. He spoke (conversationally). In none of those encounters did he sound defeated.”

Sagendorf was eating at a restaurant in Cleveland with wife Judie when they received word King was assassinated in 1968 in Memphis.

“It was an act of unconscionable cowardice and brutality. Suddenly, our food turned sour and we felt anger and intense grief. But this awful event didn’t kill the vision or the quest for peace and social and economic justice. Not at all,” he said.

Sagendorf said Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday, was just a day off to some, but to others, it held great meaning.

“I think the dream is still alive — not just with Christians,” he said. “The world is shaped by the kingdom of God.”

http://www.kpcnews.com/index.php?opt...ticle&id=24866

[HoosierHelen]

A very fortunate young man and many good people all in the same location on this day:

Dangling boy lands safely at ski hill
Updated: Tuesday, 31 Jan 2012, 8:34 AM CST
Published : Monday, 30 Jan 2012, 2:38 PM CST
• Ben Krumholz, FOX 11 News
TWO RIVERS - A boy dangling from a ski lift at Hidden Valley Ski Area in Manitowoc County is safe after falling into a group of waiting skiers.
Very lucky young man in this rescue. Reassuring to see so many people

Matt Roeser of Green Bay took pictures of the tense moments on Sunday afternoon. Roeser says the boy was dangling about 25 feet in the air for more than a minute. The ski lift was shut down at the time.
"It was pretty dramatic," said Roeser.

Roeser says the boy was shaken up after landing safely. He also doesn't believe anyone was hurt in the incident.

"It's just something you don't see every day," said Roeser.

It is unclear what caused the boy to be dangling from the ski lift.

A more complete story here:

http://www.fox11online.com/dpp/news/...ly-at-ski-hill

[HoosierHelen]

So VERY happy to read of this good news for St. Joe. Best wishes for their success ... keep us posted on their needs and also their progress!


Youth center coming to St. Joe
By Jeff Jones jeffj@kpcnews.net
Tuesday, January 17, 2012, 12:01am


ST. JOE — A local group is working to bring a youth center to St. Joe.

The Foundation Youth Center would be located in the Curie Block building, 207 Washington St., according to board president Nicki McKean.

“We want to see our community come together, for the glory of God, to teach families how to be families again and for neighbors to be neighbors again,” McKean said.

The organization’s mission is to “build our community, one child at a time, through Christ,” according to its literature.

“We’re nondenominational,” McKean explained. “We want this to be the entire community coming together.”

The board, which includes McKean, secretary Andrea Herzberg and treasurer Krystal Bergeron, hopes to open the center in mid-March. The board is working to secure its not-for-profit status so it can pursue grants.

McKean said she and her husband, Ben, had discussed the idea for some time.

“We had been thinking about this since July,” she said. “One night, I had a fire lit in me, and I started writing down ideas.”

The board began its search for a location, and as it turned out, building owners Joe and Laura Graves were looking for a tenant.

“We had been trying to find each other, but our paths weren’t crossing,” McKean said. The 1,000-square-foot building will work just fine, she added.

As a start-up organization, the Foundation Youth Center is starting with nothing, but community support seems to be building.

An anonymous donor came forward to pay the electricity deposit. Another anonymous donor made a deposit on the building. Gibson Heating & Plumbing donated a furnace.

“Things came together so perfectly,” McKean said.

Hours will be 1-8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturdays.

The board plans to have a variety of activities, including movie nights for children and families, games and entertainment, monthly missions, guest speakers, a mentor program and an exercise program.

“We want to provide as many services as we can,” McKean said.

The board estimates its first-year budget to be $35,000, including two full-time employees.

“We want to be transparent to donors,” McKean said. “We want them to know to know where their money is going.”

More information may be found at thefoundationyouthcenter.org.

[HoosierHelen]

Dorrie Aber Noyek briskly maneuvers the halls of Memorial Regional Hospital picking up and delivering mail. There are no signs of slowing down – not even on this, her 105th birthday.

“Volunteering has been important to me as long as I can remember. I feel I want to give back," she said. "I think I’m very fortunate, very lucky, very blessed."

She has never driven. Walking is her preferred mode of transportation.

“From when I was quite young, all my life in England, anyway, we never had a car, not at all. And I’ve always walked. I’ve always walked miles.”

The hospital, where Aber Noyek been volunteering for 38 years, celebrated this latest milestone. Her 77-year-old daughter Audrey Steinhauer came from Toronto and marvels at her mother.

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/1...139050854.html

[HoosierHelen]

Nothing like a baby to spread a smile across my face.

Loved this video today...hope a few others enjoy her also:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...tml?ref=comedy

[HoosierHelen]

I know we have had massive coverage of Whitney Houston this past week. This story & video is far more about a 90 yr old grandmother who made me smile so big just now. I hope I still have this grandmother's spirit when I hit 90. Bless her (and her grandson)!

Whitney Houston tributes continue to flood the Internet in the wake of the superstar's tragic death Saturday, with fans creating music, artwork and videos in remembrance of the talented singer and actress.
But fans are starting to catch on to one tribute that's sure to top them all -- a home video of dancing machine Jeanne, a 90-year-old grandma who's not letting her age stop her from busting a move.

In her lastest music video, Jeanne rocks out to Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody," a video she decided to make in honor of Houston.
"This video was her idea," her grandson, caretaker and videographer Adam Forgie said in the video's description. "She wanted to pay tribute to Whitney Houston."
Jeanne's moves are even more impressive after reading the short biography Forgie posted to Facebook.

According to the Facebook fan page "My 90-Year-Old Grandma," Jeanne is legally blind, nearly deaf, and has a steel hip replacement.
Or, in her grandson's words, "100% DANCER."


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...?ref=good-news

[HoosierHelen]

Happy The Man

Happy the man, and happy he alone,
He who can call today his own:
He who, secure within, can say,
Tomorrow do thy worst, for I have lived today.
Be fair or foul or rain or shine
The joys I have possessed, in spite of fate, are mine.
Not Heaven itself upon the past has power,
But what has been, has been, and I have had my hour.

by John Dryden

[HoosierHelen]

10 Incredibly Nice Robbers.

1. The thief who returned stolen laptop contents on USB stick. The contents on this laptop contain 10 yrs of this professors research.

2. An armed robber who held up a babysitter at gunpoint in Lower Saxony was shamed into leaving empty-handed by the two young children of the house, who offered him their pocket money. The man had rung the doorbell of the house in the northern town of Schwanewede near Bremen, Germany, and forced his way in. Wearing a balaclava and a long black coat, the man was holding the terrified babysitter at gunpoint, when the children she was looking after came downstairs. When they offered him their savings, he was obviously overcome with shame and left the house without a word – or a cent.

All 10 stories can be found here:
http://www.oddee.com/item_98107.aspx