motorcycle_toy_collection
Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2007 8:21 am
This group seems to be varied and open to a variety of topics. The
lead is motorcycles and the end is a comment on the weekend toy
collection effort in the Dallas & Ft Worth Texas area. My friend
does not ride motorcycle but I think it would be good therapy if he
did.
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I have a college roommate I talk to every night (night shift from
6:00 PM to 2:30 AM). He is 65 and has turned out to be a scrooge.
Partly due to wife, his family background, and much to working alone
at night for 13 years. I have tried to help him out and suggested
that he has not many more Christmases (due to death or loss of
awareness) to share or experience. Below is part of a letter I sent
him this week, trying to encourage him to exert himself
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Doing some work on a letter to a friend this week, I came across
this article on giving. It seem appropriate to pass it along after
last Sunday there were approximately 60,000 to 65,000 motorcyclists
and an estimate of 90,000 people involved this year in collecting
and giving present for Christmas. The paper said last year about
65,000 riders donated $1 in toys and $100,000 in cash. This year
the paper estimated the toy value at $800,000 and the donation to be
$90,000
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Science Museum of Minnesota, By Thor on Dec. 14th, 2006 in
Scientific Inquiry
http://dev.smm.org/buzz/buzz_tags/ebenezer_scrooge
Happy Scrooge: At the conclusion of "A Christmas Carol," Ebenezer
Scrooge is on a huge Helper's High, the feeling of euphoria that can
come with doing good works and helping people.
It took the visits of three ghosts to turn Ebenezer on to wonders
of the Helper s High. But by the end of A Christmas Carol, the
formerly uptight tight-wad was jumping, hugging and giving to
everyone and anyone he met. Is this the far-fetched work of
fiction? Not really. More and more scientific evidence is point to
the real health and emotional benefits from giving of our time and
money V also known as the Helper s High.
John Hopkins Magazine recently detailed the works by Allan Luks, who
has studied Helper s High for quite some time. He describes the
effect as being similar to a runner s high after a workout. There is
a release of endorphins in the giver s body the lead to a feeling of
elation followed by a feeling of calm. And unlike exercise, there s
evidence that the helper can actually get a small Helper s High in
recalling helping or charitable acts long after they re finished.
Luks research also shows that of the 95 percent of study
participants who have felt a Helper s High, nine out of ten graded
their health condition better than those who haven t experienced a
Helper s High. That s led to Luks postulation that volunteering or
giving helps ease stress in the body, which can then lead to these
beneficial health factors:
X In separate research, a 10-year study of the physical, health and
social activities of 2,700 men in Tecumseh, Michigan, found that
those who did regular volunteer work had death rates two and one-
half times lower than those who didn't.
X Another study done at Harvard looked at what researchers there
dubbed the "Mother Theresa effect." Students watching videos of the
late Mother Theresa helping the poor in Calcutta actually had their
immune system response kick in.
X And recently on ABC News 20/20, the stories of Duke University
Medical Center heart patients showed stunning effects of the
Helper s High. Recovering patients were asked to visit current heart
patients X no particular agenda, just to listen and lend support. By
doing that, the volunteers had better health after their heart
attacks. In fact, the helper s recovery rate was 60 percent faster
than those who chose not to help other pa