If we require input we grow as the input increases our substance. However, I believe if we give, our capacities increase yet further because what we give is a seed to much greater fruit. Sow and reap.

The greatest benefit is to the one who gives, not the other way round. Raising your level of service will naturally raise you. A simple example to illustrate this is that many millionaires have become so because they give employment rather than take it.

Obviously because they would not want to harm their lungs with the deadly pollutants. Strangely, we often do the equivalent and far worse to ourselves.

We pollute our minds. We feed our mind on thoughts which are harmful, and continually ‘smoke’ ideas that do our lives no good whatsoever. What kinds of thoughts?

Negative ones.

We may smoke “can’t do”, instead of drinking “how can I do?” water, or draw on a pipe of “it’s no use” instead of downing a refreshing glass of  ”I’ll find a way”.

The neighbour of Negativity is one to move far away from. Replacing the negative inputs with positive ones, and ‘smoking’ these positive ideas many times daily will burn in a long lasting beneficial effect on the mind.

(* ‘smoking’ positive thoughts is good for your mental health)

What have you eaten today?

What do you plan to eat tomorrow?

Whatever you eat will become you. As for the physical, so for the mental. Whatever your mind eats will become your beliefs, and ultimately your destiny.

So Ill change the question around:

“What are you reading?”

“What have you read today?”

“What do you plan to feed your mind tomorrow?”

The thoughts you plant in your mind will grow into the fruits of your life. What tree are you growing?

Building increased fitness each and every day by a modest amount of exercise is a simple process.

You don’t have the time to go to the gym/workout/exercise/whatever-else? I have found that, if I replace the time spent thinking about this with action, I can actually do a modest amount of exercise . The effect of the exercise rapidly accumulates over a number of days.

Why make the investment in exercise? The return on the investment is quicker recovery time if injured, and better ability to deal with the stresses of life.

The stomach muscles are responsible for many body movements and by doing at least ten sit-ups per day I enable the tower to grow daily.

After getting up in the morning I’ve only nine more left to do.

With time we slowly lose the flexibility we once had, but the loss is gradual. So gradual in fact, that we may only notice the lack of flexibility when trying to do something we did a number of years before. Then we realise the gradual loss has accrued to quite a significant amount, such that we are now unable to complete the activity, or do so with increased difficulty.

With each passing day we lose a minute amount that the act of stretching will ensure we retain. Stretch each day and give the gift of flexibility to an elderly person – that is, to yourself in the future!

(A useful site with stretching exercises I stumbled into is http://www.thestretchinghandbook.com/ )

The first of these is a method of quickly tying shoe laces.

Sprintcuts: Speed-Tie Your Shoes

…my other shoes use velcro fastenings.

The type of risk I’m discussing has no moral danger, nor physical danger in its action. We don’t take such risks not because they have any danger inherent in the action but because we are afraid to do so. We are scared.
There at the bounds of our comfort lies our constraints. Doing that thing which scares us pushes back the envelope of comfort, and expands our horizon.

We fear that we may be scarred by a negative result of doing that thing. People may laugh at us. We may mess it up. However, it is far better to walk with a scar than to be paralysed from fear and die of regret. Even the scar itself reminds us our fears have been conquered. Take courage, take a risk and lose regret.

This is done by taking a new risk each day. Not the “jumping the red signal at the traffic lights” kind of risk, as that’s dumb. Just a simple risk that expands your life experience each day. Eating at a different location. Taking an alternate route to work.
The benefits are twofold. One, the cumulative effect is greater than the sum of the parts, creating a great deal of positive change. Two, you better appreciate what doesn’t work out and increase your ability to handle such change.

Yes, it may be risky, but a far greater danger is the risk of not having tried.

What? How can a dead battery power something?

A ‘dead’ battery can be hooked up to a Light Emitting Diode (LED) through a simple circuit to provide many hours of useful light. Such a light is very useful for a night light, and can run for days (yes, for days!) from an apparently ‘dead’ battery.

This device is commonly called a Joule Thief, as it extracts the last remaining joules of energy from the ‘dead’ battery. The following vid from Makezine shows how it’s done.

Make a Joule Thief

I’ve created a variation that houses the whole circuit inside tiny torch bulb. A normal filament torch bulb is removed from the screw in base, and replaced with an LED and circuit to make a Joule Thief. The beauty is that it can be used as a bulb replacement for standard torches. The result? Much better light efficiency, and far longer run times.

Help save the planet’s resources use a Joule Thief!