Genesis - Hold On My Heart

Paulo Coelho quotes

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Lottery-imaginations

Buying a lottery-ticket can undermine your self-control and activate materialistic thoughts.
The idea of gaining money without working or earning it have been considered by many as a form of greed. Now research shows that buying a lottery ticket also can make you spend more money (or eat more chocolate!) even if the winner is not even revealed yet.

  "The problem, according to a study published in the Journal of Consumer Research, is that for most people, a lottery ticket leads to thoughts of the wonderful things you would buy if you hit the -jackpot. That focus on concrete, specific items—a type of thinking psychologists call “low-level construal”—makes it very difficult to exercise self-control."....
"“...Self-control is perhaps one of the most important attributes that a person needs to succeed,” he adds. “Materialism has a negative impact on it, and that is of concern to not only individuals, but also society.”
Money flies!
The study also show that people who rather thinking of traveling instead of buying material things have more abstract and long term thinking, and for this reason are less negatively affected according to self control.

“Lottery-induced self-control failure is not universal,” Kim concludes. But his research suggests it is “predominant.” He adds that plenty of other activities also activate “a burst of materialistic thoughts,” including “media filled with lavish consumption.”

That’s why you can’t stop snacking on Bon-Bons as you leaf through Vanity Fair.

So catalysts creating a materialist mindset are all over, and purchasing a lottery ticket is a strong one. If you do so, go right home afterwards—and keep the computer off. Some of those online sales will probably look pretty enticing."

..You can read it here!

More about how to avoid buying too much : Awake Magasine June 2013

Muse - unintended

Chick-wisdom

The Road

Take this my shivering heart  be careful with it from the start  scars and wounds must heal I will carry you like a seal Always and forever? Who knows what time will bring Moving forwards from that light summer rain to this thunderstorm that now beats in my vein it messes with my brain The lightning will strike  on  the highest peak Please don't burn me down I want to make it on my own Then the road will open  the horses can come on My soul is shaking  The road is waiting L.T.

Do you know your limits?

A very interesting article in Scientific American shows how our abilities can expand beyond what we would think of, only by the expectations of it.
The placebo-effect in medicine is well known to us, but this studies take us further into the world of imagination:
"There seems to be a simple way to instantly increase a person’s level of general knowledge. Psychologists Ulrich Weger and Stephen Loughnan recently asked two groups of people to answer questions. People in one group were told that before each question, the answer would be briefly flashed on their screens — too quickly to consciously perceive, but slow enough for their unconscious to take it in. The other group was told that the flashes simply signaled the next question. In fact, for both groups, a random string of letters, not the answers, was flashed. But, remarkably, the people who thought the answers were flashed did better on the test. Expecting to know the answers made people more likely to get the answers right. "

(Maybe this do not mean that people that always think they are right actually is closer to the truth but it could have some interesting potential in some levels.. )

.."Our cognitive and physical abilities are in general limited, but our conceptions of the nature and extent of those limits may need revising. In many cases, thinking that we are limited is itself a limiting factor. There is accumulating evidence that suggests that our thoughts are often capable of extending our cognitive and physical limits..."
...
"Expectancies, such as expecting that one’s work will bring about health benefits, are capable of producing physiological outcomes. Learned associations, such as the association between being an Air Force pilot and having good vision, can alter other cognitive processes, such as visual perception. Meanwhile, placebo effects observed in clinical research work via expectancies and learned associations created by fake operations, sham drugs, etc. Such expectancies and learned associations have been shown to change the chemistry and circuitry of the brain. These changes may result in such physiological and cognitive outcomes as less fatigue, less immune system reaction, elevated hormone levels, and less anxiety. The interventions that resulted in better performance in a knowledge test or better vision are placebos outside of the clinical context. However, the chemical and neural mechanisms by which they operate are probably similar."

In other words, having low expectations will make us perhaps do a lower performance as this effect goes both ways. Other studies have indicated that we are more likely to fail if others or/we expect us to fail. ("others" may be the parents, friends,co-workers or spouses) 
If you find yourself in a environment where little or nothing is expected from you it could also be damaging your self-esteem. This may be at work or school where the tasks is not in proportions to your real skills, or in other specific situations like if you are ill and others "overdo" things to help you out.  

We can not always count on our thinking-power to solve all kinds of challenges, but it sure make a difference on the outcome in many cases. That brings to my mind the words of Jesus from Luke 17;5,6 :"Now the apostles said to the Lord: “Give us more faith.”Then the Lord said: “If ​YOU​ had faith the size of a mustard grain, ​YOU​ would say to this black mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea!’ and it would obey ​YOU."  

The proofs that our faith actually makes a difference should make us think a little longer into the ways to achieve more faith.