週五(10/4)1.要快樂嗎? 跟陌生人聊聊 2.下流老人在日本

板區橋文化路一段421巷11弄1號 (陽光甜味咖啡館)

新埔捷運站1號出口 旁邊7-11巷子進入20公尺 看到夏朵美髮左轉    PM 7:00--9:30

要快樂嗎? 跟陌生人聊聊

Want To Feel Happier Today? Try Talking To A Stranger

Paul Nicolaus

The mood boost of talking to strangers may seem fleeting, but the research on well-being, scientists say, suggests that a happy life is made up of a high frequency of positive events. Even small positive experiences — chatting with a stranger in an elevator — can make a difference.

Many of us tend to do just about anything to avoid conversation or even eye contact with strangers. And smartphones make it easier than ever to do that. A recent study found that phones can keep us from even exchanging brief smiles with people we meet in public places. But a body of research has shown that we might just be short-changing our own happiness by ignoring opportunities to connect with the people around us.

Several years ago, University of British Columbia psychologist Elizabeth Dunn and her colleague Gillian M. Sandstrom tested whether short conversations with strangers could lift moods. They asked participants to enter a busy coffee shop and grab a beverage — half would get in and get out, and half would strike up a conversation with the cashier.

"We found that people who were randomly assigned to turn this economic transaction into a quick social interaction left Starbucks in a better mood," Dunn says. "And they even felt a greater sense of belonging in their community."

The same researchers found that these seemingly trivial encounters with the minor characters in our lives — the random guy at the dog park or the barista at our local coffee shop — can affect feelings of happiness and human connection on a typical day.

One day, during a daily train ride, he noticed something paradoxical. People — social creatures — were basically ignoring one another. Why, he wondered, if connecting with others makes us happy, do we so often avoid it?

Either solitude really is more enjoyable than talking to strangers, he figured, or we have mistaken assumptions holding us back.

His curiosity led to a series of experiments revealing that train and bus commuters who interacted with other passengers experienced a more pleasant ride — even when they believed they would prefer the solitude of, say, reading a book.

It is fear that the person sitting next to us won't enjoy talking to us that makes us keep to ourselves, Epley found. But when we do talk to each other, those social interactions with strangers tend to be both less awkward and more enjoyable than most people predict.

If striking up small talk with a stranger sounds daunting, you might be relieved to hear that even something as simple as making eye contact offers benefits.

No one likes feeling invisible when someone walks past. The Germans even have a term for it — wie Luft behandeln, which means "to be looked at as though air."

Kipling Williams, a Purdue University psychologist, studied how people felt when a young woman walked by them and either made eye contact, made eye contact while smiling, or completely ignored them. Even brief eye contact increased people's sense of inclusion and belonging.

"Just that brief acknowledgment, that brief glance — with or without a smile — made them at least temporarily feel more socially connected," Williams says. And it works both ways. Those that had been "looked through" felt even more disconnected than the control group.

So, how can we dodge the risks of loneliness and stop short-changing our own happiness?

It might be easier than you think.

"It takes very little to acknowledge somebody's existence," Williams says.

Start with folks like the cashier in a grocery store or the barista at your local coffee shop, Dunn says. You've got to interact with them anyway, so you might as well make an effort to turn it into a friendly exchange.

And be mindful that using your smartphone sends a signal that you're not interested in interacting with the people around you. Put it away and you easily remove that barrier, she says.

The mood boost of talking to strangers may seem fleeting, but the research on well-being, Epley says, suggests that a happy life is made up of a high frequency of positive events, and even small positive experiences make a difference.

 

下流老人在日本

Poverty among elderly in Japan

by Floro Mercene Tempo Online

Despite the concentration of the nation’s huge household savings among Japan’s elderly, poverty among the post-65 population is also rising. The data shows that people 65 or older account for more than half of the nation’s households living on welfare due to financial difficulties.

Japan is the world’s most rapidly aging society as older Japanese continue to live longer lives and younger Japanese continue to put off having children. As of 2016, elderly people accounted for 26.7% of Japan’s 127.11 million citizens. About 90 percent of the welfare-dependent elderly households consisted of a single member, meaning senior citizens living alone, possibly with no relatives they can turn to for help.

Data shows the steep gap between the haves and have-nots among the elderly population, and large numbers of senior citizens who live below the poverty line do not apply for welfare benefits.

The annual white paper on crime by Japan’s Justice Ministry reflects official concern over rising criminality among the country’s growing ranks of retirees, which have doubled in the last decade. Mostly petty crimes like shoplifting and theft committed by elderly, many of who live alone, secluded, and with meager savings.

One researcher says that the spike of petty crime can be traced to a number of factors. Those elderly are feeling lonely, bored, and unafraid of the legal ramifications. Many have even come to see as an upgrade from their daily lives. “If you are arrested, you still get a roof over your head, you’re fed three times a day and you get health checkups. So it’s sort of a win-win situation either way”, she said.

The Japanese government has set aside nearly $500, 000 to hire additional nursing staff to the country’s 70 prisons.

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周六(9/28)1.台灣排名世界第四有錢---錢與成就感2.代餐包 真地好嗎?

星期六 聚會時間 晚上7:00-9:00

板橋區文化路一段421巷11弄1號 (陽光甜味咖啡館)

新埔捷運站1號出口 旁邊7-11巷子進入20公尺 看到夏朵美髮左轉

台灣排名世界第四有錢---錢與成就感

Taiwan ranked No. 4 in world in net wealth | Taiwan News

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan has risen to rank as the fourth-richest country in terms of net financial assets and the second-richest in Asia in the last wealth report by the Allianz Group.

According to the German multinational financial services company's latest report, titled "Allianz Global Wealth Report 2019," net financial assets, which correspond to financial assets minus liabilities, decreased globally by 1.9 percent and in Asia by 6.7 percent in 2018, due in large part to a 10.6 percent year-on-year drop in Chinese household net wealth.

The U.S. leads the world with net financial assets of 184,410 euros (US$203,000), followed by Switzerland at 173,840 euros, Singapore at 100,370 euros. Taiwan is not far behind in fourth place with average financial assets of 97,850 euros.

In Asia, Taiwan is in second place, trailing only Singapore. Taiwan overtook Japan for the first time, which is now in third at 96,310 euros.

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The focusing illusion    spring.org.uk

People with more money and status are just more satisfied with their lives, not happier.Nobel-prize winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman and colleagues put forward the idea that the reason people continue to think money makes them happier is that chasing it leads to conventional achievements (Kahneman et al., 2006). Conventional achievements include things like getting that coveted promotion or being able to afford that big house – in other words things that say loud and clear: hear I am and this is what I can do.

So, when people ask themselves whether money brings happiness, they immediately think of the big promotion and the big house. They conclude that because they have these things, they must be happy. In fact, people with more money and status are just more satisfied with their lives, not happier (before you scoff at this think about whether you’d rather be satisfied or happy).

But how do we know people aren’t happier with more money? Well, psychologists have a trick up their sleeves. That trick is called moment-by-moment sampling. The conventional way of asking people about their happiness is using an overall measure. There’s evidence that this is inaccurate and ends up tapping satisfaction more than happiness. Instead psychologists have started asking people how they’re feeling many times each day, in that precise moment, then adding up these reports.

Higher earners were more likely to experience intense negative emotions and greater arousal during the day.In one example of this type of research 374 workers at 10 different sites in a variety of different jobs were asked how happy they were every 25 minutes over a whole workday (Schnall et al., 1998). The correlation between happiness and income was so tiny, it wasn’t statistically significant. Worse, higher earners were more likely to experience intense negative emotions and greater arousal during the day. These types of findings have also been seen in other studies on how earnings affect happiness.

It appears, then, that the focusing illusion might partly explain why we think money makes us happy, when actually it doesn’t. This explanation, though, only goes so far. This is because many people know that a more high-powered job means more stress, and perhaps even understand that it won’t make them happier, and yet they will still choose the money and the high-powered job. Why? To answer this question we need to zoom out from psychology to social theory.

 

代餐包 真地好嗎?

Do meal replacement shakes help you lose weight?

Olivia Willis

A meal replacement diet is, well, exactly what it sounds like.

The idea is to replace your regular meals with low-kilojoule powdered shakes and snack bars to reduce your overall energy intake and subsequently help you lose weight.

If you can stomach shakes and bars for breakfast (and in some cases, lunch and dinner too), there's evidence meal replacements may be a feasible weight-loss strategy in the short term.

But they're not a permanent fix, and before you start any weight loss diet, you should check in with your GP.

Here are a few things you should know before swapping out ordinary food for packaged soups and smoothies.

How do they work?

Meal replacements are kilojoule-controlled products designed to facilitate rapid weight loss and at the same time conserve lean body mass (that's your muscles and organs).

The formulas are largely protein based (from the milk or soy-based powders that are mixed with water or skim milk), usually contain few carbohydrates, and are supplemented with vitamins and minerals.

"What meal replacements try to do is cover the body's protein requirements in as few kilojoules as possible," says Clare Collins, professor of nutrition and dietetics at the University of Newcastle.

Meal replacement products can be found in just about every supermarket health-food aisle and pharmacy.

But not all shakes and bars are supplemented appropriately (for a low-kilojoule diet) — some are particularly high in sugar, and not suitable when trying to lose weight.

To ensure what you're buying contains the necessary vitamins and minerals, look for products labelled "formulated meal replacement". These are governed by food standards set out by Food Standards Australia and New Zealand.

Why we should forget losing weight

Very low energy diets

Like any diet that encourages an energy deficit, the idea of meal replacements is to take in fewer kilojoules (or calories) than you use in exercise and daily activities.

To achieve this, meal replacements were originally designed to replace all daily meals, as part of what's known as a "very low energy diet".

The average person needs around 8,700 kilojoules per day to maintain their current body weight. On a very low energy diet, you're limited to about a quarter of that: 1,800 to 2,500 kilojoules per day.

When your total kilojoule intake is restricted, the fuel stores in your muscles — called glycogen — start to run low. Once this runs low, your body has no choice but to turn to its fat stores and burn fat for fuel. This process is known as ketosis.

Very low energy diets are more likely to be recommended to adults with obesity who need to lose a substantial amount of weight in a short period of time. This is usually for health reasons, such as ahead of bariatric surgery, or to improve specific medical issues.

Usually, this involves replacing all meals with meal replacements — except for the addition of a small bowl of salad or vegetables each day (to boost fibre and other nutrients) and a small amount of oil (to keep your gall bladder working) — for approximately six weeks.

This type of fasting requires medical supervision with frequent monitoring by a GP and dietician or specialist nurse.

Partial meal replacements

Meal replacements can also be partially incorporated into your diet — replacing one or two meals per day, or used during particular fasting periods (for example, on the 5:2 diet, where people severely restrict their energy intake two days a week).

Again, this is generally suitable just in the short term, and needs to be carefully managed as part of a broader approach to healthy eating, Professor Collins says.

"You need to get enough fibre, folate, B vitamins, iodine, iron, zinc and other essential nutrients, so that you don't end up with some sort of nutrient deficiency because your diet is so restricted."

"You probably need to have a blood test, check your liver function, get a referral to a dietician, and talk to your GP about monitoring your health while you are on a weight loss diet," she says.

The National Health and Medical Research Council also recommends that anyone who uses meal replacements as a weight-loss strategy enlists the help of a healthcare professional to ensure they manage the diet safely and without adverse health effects.

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週五(9/27)1.笨蛋! 沒有所謂的完美時機 2殭屍進食法! PM 7:00-9:00

板區橋文化路一段421巷11弄1號 (陽光甜味咖啡館)

新埔捷運站1號出口 旁邊7-11巷子進入20公尺 看到夏朵美髮左轉    PM 7:00-9:00
您應沒聽過 "殭屍進食法?" 今晚為您介紹 哈! ----

笨蛋! 沒有所謂的完美時機

Stop Waiting for the Perfect Time: There Isn’t One

observer

    “Do not wait: the time will never be ‘just right’. Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command and better tools will be found as you go along.”― Napoleon Hill

There is never a perfect time for you to take action. There is never a perfect time for you to launch that project, to spend time with your family, to write a book. Once you acknowledge this, you will get a lot more meaningful work done everyday.

Kill the excuses!

    “The only thing standing between you and your goal is the bullshit story you keep telling yourself as to why you can’t achieve it.” ― Jordan Belfort

I’m too tired. I don’t have the time. I am not capable. Someone else will do it. It’s too late now. Now is not the right time. I am not talented. I am not ready. I’m too scared. Nobody will help me. What if I fail. I don’t feel motivated. I’d rather do nothing. I don’t have the money..yet!

It’s easy to come up with excuses and justify not getting started. The longer you fill your head with rationalizations and empty excuses, the less time you have to take action.

It’s easy to say, “I will start when I have more experience, money, time and resources”. By this time next year, you will have a lot more excuses. It’s a cycle. And once you get caught in the loop, it, can be difficult to break free and do something meaningful you care about.

Many people are living their entire lives without ever standing up and stepping out. But it’s exciting to witness the rare few who dare themselves and step out of their personal bubbles to make a change.

Most of use live with the stubborn illusion that we will always have tomorrow to do today’s work. We consistently hold on to this belief and keep procrastinating until work becomes a heavy burden.

Left unchecked, we always default toward a more comfortable path. Your comfortable zone provides a state of mental security. You can understand why it’s so hard to kick your brain out of your comfort zone.

It pays to be an outlier!

    “Outliers are those who have been given opportunities — and who have had the strength and presence of mind to seize them.” — Malcom Gladwell

Outliers are those who seize opportunities and run with them. People who realize how little time they have and are driven to make the absolute most of it. Those are the ones who really live.

Getting past the biggest hurdle!

The biggest hurdle for many of us is simply getting started. Making that important decision to take a step. You can be as big and successful as you can possibly imagine if you build that mindset you need to step outside the safe zone. You just don’t trust yourself enough yet.

You have everything you need to make an impact in the world if you can get past the excuses. You don’t even have to start a new project. What you need is something you can emotionally and deeply connect with.

 

殭屍進食法!

'Zombie Eating': 88% Of Adults Dine While Staring At A Screen, Survey Finds

studyfinds

NEW YORK — So many of us spend a great deal of time each day staring at screens; from computer desktops at work to smartphones or television during our free time, the average American is spending more time staring at a screen than ever before. Now, a new survey of 2,000 adults has found that a whopping 88% are so-called “zombie eaters” who stare at some type of screen while eating.

The survey, commissioned by Pretzel Crisps, aimed to shed some light on American eating habits. The results indicate that Americans are so glued to their screens, they rarely stop staring even to eat. In fact, the average U.S. eater will stare at their phone twice over the course of any given meal, and will only have five screen-free meals per week.

It’s clear from the survey’s findings that “zombie eating” is an almost universal practice in today’s culture; 91% of respondents reported watching television while eating a meal or snack, and 49% say they watch TV while eating on a regular basis.

Evidently, many people are very picky about what they watch while eating as well, with 83% of respondents reporting that they’ve had food go cold while they deliberate on what to watch. Sometimes whatever is on the screen takes precedence over the food that is right in front of us; 86% of respondents say they’ve even forgotten to eat their meal because they were preoccupied by a screen.

So, what is keeping Americans so busy that they can’t unglue themselves from a screen to eat? According to the survey, the number one reason (50%) Americans stay on their smartphones while eating is to read or send emails. Additionally, 48% stay on their phones to check out social media, 37% watch YouTube videos, and 36% say they focus on work-related activities.

“Zombie eating is something most of us can relate to – we’re busy, we’re productive, and we’re constantly on the move,” says Syreeta Norwood, a Senior Brand Manager at Pretzel Crisps, in a statement.

Interestingly, this “zombie eating” phenomenon also seems to be impacting where Americans are eating. The office lunch break has always been considered a welcome relief from the monotony of office life, but 67% of respondents say they now take their lunch breaks in the office so they can stay connected. A total of 22% even say they eat lunch right in front of their computers, and the average respondent reports eating three meals per week sitting at their desk.

All of this screen staring is cutting down on the time Americans spend in the place where most meals are traditionally eaten, or at least used to be: the kitchen table. The average American only eats three meals per week at their kitchen table. Most of that time that used to be spent at the kitchen table is now being spent on the couch (79%), standing on the kitchen counter (64%), in bed (61%), and on the floor (48%).

This propensity to stare at a screen during every free moment has also lead to many respondents (26%) reporting that they spend much more time “grazing” throughout the day – or eating smaller portions more frequently and avoiding larger meals. 

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周六(9/21)1.跳出個人泡泡圈?2.滿足感與快樂感之不同

星期六 聚會時間 晚上7:00-9:00

板橋區文化路一段421巷11弄1號 (陽光甜味咖啡館)

新埔捷運站1號出口 旁邊7-11巷子進入20公尺 看到夏朵美髮左轉

跳出個人泡泡圈?

How to Find Your Life Purpose? Escape Your Bubble

Leo Babauta

It's simply this: learn to get outside your personal bubble.

Your personal bubble is the small world you live in (we all have one), where you are the center of the universe. You are concerned with your wellbeing, with not wanting to look bad, with succeeding in life, with your personal pleasure (good food, good music, good sex, etc.).

This is the bubble we all live in most of the time, and people who say they don't are trying to prove something.

When someone tells you you look fat, this only hurts because you're in your personal bubble. You take that statement (a colleague who says you look fat) and believe that it's about you, and feel the pain or embarrassment of how the statement affects you. It matters a lot, because in your bubble, what matters most is how everything affects you personally.

I'm the same way, and so is everyone else.

There are some other problems caused by this personal bubble:

    In our bubble, we're concerned with our pleasure and comfort, and try not to be uncomfortable. This is why we don't exercise or why we don't only eat healthy food.

    This fear of being uncomfortable is also why we get anxious at the thought of meeting strangers. It hampers our social lives and our love lives.

    Because we don't want to look bad, we are afraid of failing. So we don't tackle tough things.

    We procrastinate because of this fear of failing and fear of discomfort.

    When someone does or says something, we relate that event with how it affect us, and this can cause anger or pain or irritation.

    We expect people to try to give us what we want, and when they don't, we get frustrated or angry.

Actually, pretty much all our problems are caused by this bubble, including the difficulty in finding our life purpose. But more on that in a minute—I ask for your patience here, because this is important.

What Happens When We Get Out of the Bubble

If we can learn to get outside this personal bubble and see things from a less self-centered approach, we can discover some amazing things:

    When someone says or does something, it's not really about us—it's about the pain or fear or confusion that they're feeling, or a desire they have. Not us.

    When we have an urge for temporary pleasure (like TV, social media, junk food, or porn), we can see that this urge is a simple passing physical sensation, and not the center of the universe.

    We can start to see that our personal desires are actually pretty trivial, and that there's more to life than trying to meet our pleasures and shy away from our discomfort. There's more than our little fears. Including the pain and suffering of other people and compassion for them. Compassion for all living beings. Wanting to make the world better.

    We can tie our daily actions, like learning about how our minds and bodies and habits work, or getting healthy, or creating something, not only to our personal satisfaction and success (trivial things) but to how they help others, how they make the lives of others better, how they might lessen the suffering of others.

We become less self-centered and begin to have a wider view when we step out of our bubble. Everything changes, from letting go of fear and anger and procrastination, to changing our habits and finding work that matters.

How does this relate to finding our life purpose? Let's explore that.

The Wider View, and Our Life Purpose

Illustration for article titled How to Find Your Life Purpose? Escape Your Bubble

Once we get out of the bubble, and see things with a wider view, we can start a journey along a path like this:

    We can start to see the needs of others, and feel for their suffering.

    We then work to make their lives better, and lessen their suffering.

    Even if we aren't good at that, we can learn skills that help us to be better at it. It's the intention that matters.

    As we go about our daily work, we can tie our actions to this greater purpose. Learning to program or become healthy (for example) isn't just for our betterment, but for the betterment of others, if only in a small way. This gives us motivation on a moment-to-moment basis. When we lose motivation, we need to get back out of our bubble, shed our concern for our discomfort and fears, and tie ourselves to a bigger purpose.

In this path, it doesn't matter what specific actions you take or skills you learn to make people's lives better. What career you choose is not important in this regard—what matters is the bigger purpose. You can always change your career and learn new skills later, as you learn other ways to fulfill this purpose. You'll learn over time.

 

滿足感與快樂感之不同

Difference Between Happiness and Satisfaction

Happiness’ vs ‘Satisfaction’

What makes a person happy? What makes him feel satisfied? Will he experience satisfaction even if he is not happy, or will he find happiness even if his wants and needs are not satisfied?

We all search for things that will make us happy, and we have wants that need to be satisfied. What is ‘happiness’ and what is ‘satisfaction’? Do they always go together, or is their fulfillment separate from each other?

‘Happiness’ is defined as both a state of mind and an emotion. Man can choose to be happy. It is relevant to note that even people who are poor can be happy despite the fact that not all their needs are met, even the most basic ones.

‘Satisfaction,’ on the other hand, is the state wherein your desires are met. You will find it in the possession and enjoyment of things that you desire. In effect, it, too, is a state of mind wherein you find contentment knowing that your demands and desires are made possible.

Meeting the desires of your heart and the demands of your needs will not necessarily make you happy despite the fact that you will never want for anything when you are satisfied.

Everything actually depends on your beliefs. If you see poverty as a blessing rather than a curse and be content with what you have, then your chances of being happy are greater than the person who sees material things as a necessity in life.

They will never feel happy unless all their desires are fulfilled which is next to impossible since man’s needs, wants, and desires will never stop at the fulfillment of each one.

To be happy, one has to find himself first and know who he is and what he wants to be. Then he will be able to discover the things that really matter to him and which would give him satisfaction.

Positive psychologists state that there are three kinds of happiness:

Pleasure, which is a positive sensory experience.

Engagement, which can involve one’s family, work, hobbies, and romance.

Meaning, which is the use of one’s strengths to serve a purpose in life.

These feelings are felt when endorphins are released as the result of exercise, religious involvement, and being with happy people. Recent studies suggest that religious people are happier than people who are not. Perhaps this is due to their involvement in religious activities which can give them a high degree of satisfaction because, as they help others, they become more worthy of the glory of God.

Summary:

1. Happiness is a state of mind while satisfaction is the absence of want.

2. Happiness is an emotion while satisfaction is not.

3. Although both happiness and satisfaction can go together, one can be happy even if his wants are not met while he can be satisfied without necessarily being happy.

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