Playtime & Happiness!

Eku ipalemo odun o! Wow, it`s December! Glad we made it so far! I can almost bet that your first impression about the word, Playtime is kids. Playtime is not only for children. It is important to your stress level and your happiness quotient. It is important that you should have at least one activity that you do regularly just for fun. Hobbies and other fun activities provide a fun way to sharpen skills, express your creativity, or just blow off steam. Also, when you get really engrossed in an activity you enjoy, you can experience a state of being known as flow, in which your brain is in a near-meditative state, which has benefits for your body, mind, and soul. Hobbies and fun activities can bring added joy and happiness to life. In fact, some people have even been able to turn their hobbies into careers at some point and end up with a lifestyle where their work is their play. Another benefit of fun is the lift in mood that it can bring. Beyond merely bringing positive feelings to your life, doing things that get you into a better mood can actually make you more resilient toward stress. Enjoying activities that are pure fun, known as pleasures, or activities that challenge you in just the right way, known as gratifications, can lead to an upward spiral. Playtime is important to you as an adult too! Finally, as it has been mentioned in all the posts so far especially this year, having fun with others such as your association can bring a sense of connection that strengthens relationships and builds social support. By bonding with others while having fun is good for you, and for those close to you. It's more than a frivolous pursuit; it's important for your overall wellbeing. If you are lacking in this area think about it and turn a new leaf from 2019. We celebrate with you if you were born in December! Wishing you and all a Divine December!

Olusegun,

YAJ President.

Thanksgiving & Happiness.

It`s November everybody! Unbelievable!

We should be counting our blessings and giving thanks to the higher being, friends, and family who have helped us in one way or another through the year. Researchers at several institutions have come up with evidence that simply showing gratitude may be among the most powerful -- and underused -- forces in our lives. It can strengthen relationships, and make us happier and more satisfied with our lives. There is compelling evidence that expressing gratitude regularly can change a person's life. A scientist said that giving gratitude is an emotional reaction and a way of looking at the world. Giving thanks is a sustainable approach to life that can be freely chosen for oneself. It is choosing to focus on blessings rather than burdens, gifts rather than curses, and people report that it transforms their lives. It also strengthens our relationships. The scientist said, not only do we get the internal, personal benefits but also the external relational elements that are less likely to happen if the gratitude stays silent. Giving thanks is good for the giver, as well as for the receiver. This has been documented in friendships, associations, romantic partners and spouses. One study showed that the mere expression of thanks more than doubled the likelihood that helpers would provide assistance again. Bottom line everybody will be happy. So, don`t let us find gratitude so difficult to express! With all that said, thank you all for reading the posts so far and for all your comments. If you were born in November congratulations! November is the only month with No, which means No more one~ step~ forward and 2~ steps~ backward for you and all and we celebrate with you. Have a wonderful month!

Olusegun

President, YAJ.

Engagement and happiness.

 Hello everyone,Eku deede iwoyio!

It`s October again everybody and the beginning of festivals till the end of the year! While we know that the pursuit of happiness is a universal human trait that crosses nations, it is believed that different cultures may vary in the ways happiness is attained and fulfilled. There have been many debates and cultural studies regarding happiness. Happiness arises most from these well-being constructs: Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning and Purpose, Accomplishment, Security (physical and financial) and Health. Let`s look at Engagement as almost all have been talked about in the previous posts.

Engagement here refers to a deep psychological connection i.e being interested, engaged, and absorbed to a particular activity, organization, or cause. Complete levels of engagement are known by psychologists as a state of flow, i.e. a state of single-minded immersion or an optimal state of concentration on an intrinsically motivating task. Awareness of time may fade when you are engaged and happy. Happiness is a constant work in progress as it goes through re-evaluation and never-ending negotiation and adjustments. We celebrate with you if you were born in October. Wishing you and everyone a fruitful October.

Olusegun

President, YAJ

Social Intelligence & Happiness

Hello everyone, eku deede iwoyi o

It`s September and glad we survived the hot and humid months depending on where you`re located.

While some people may seem to develop social intelligence without really trying, others have to work to develop it. Luckily, certain strategies can help a person build social skills. These tactics can help you develop social intelligence:

a.     Respect cultural differences.

b.     Practice active listening.

c.      Appreciate the important people in your life.

d.     Pay close attention to what (and who) is around you.

e.      Work on increasing your emotional intelligence.

Social intelligence isn’t easy to master—if it were, there wouldn’t ever be another awkward conversation at a party, friends, and families or anywhere. However, working toward a strong social intelligence can lead to a richer life, a happier life, or, at least an easier time making a few new friends and maintaining the old ones. Study of social situations and Pay attention to what people are doing well and mistakes you want to avoid. Afterward, think about what you want to do differently in the next social situation you enter. Get proactive about improving your skills and see how your community will be influenced by you.

We celebrate with you if you were born in September, we wish you and all a Successful September!

Olusegun

YAJ President

Friends vs. wellness, happiness and more.

Hello everybody, E ku deede iwoyio!

Remember the first message of the year (Jolly should be all the time). It stated that it is important to take time to nurture your relationships and have some fun. Take it a bit further, we all need a good friend in our lives—someone that isn’t family, that isn’t a lover, that we simply truly enjoy being around and who enjoys being around us, because who that person is can have more of an effect on your health, happiness, success etc. than you probably know. It’s well documented that a good friend truly improves your life. A good friend with an active lifestyle can encourage you to step out of laziness and complacency and try something physically challenging. Those with strong, positive social relationships have been shown to have lower blood pressure, better hormone function, stronger immune systems and even reduced inflammation. Nothing can replace the one-on-one connection between two good friends chatting about coding, astronomy, horticulture, filmmaking, or whatever is on the menu that day. Take a moment to consider how your association has improved or could improve your life, whether it’s intellectually, emotionally, spiritually, or physically. Good friends as a group or as an individual are a true gift that nothing else can beat.

It is a fact that some friends can bring you down, both energetically and emotionally, but what about the one that has helped you through the tough times? One that encourages you to be the person you’ve always dreamed to be? Our friends are hugely important to our wellness and success in life. When you surround yourself with good vibes and good people all the time, you`ll definitely be smart, healthy, successful and happy.

 We celebrate with you if you were born in August. Wishing you and everyone an Augustus visitation in this month!

Olusegun,

President,

YAJ 

The Effect of Social comparison

Hello everybody, E ku deede iwoyio!

Social comparison is a common human dynamic that first rears its head when children are very small, in the days of toddlers wanting whatever toy is in the hands of the kid next to them. It gains momentum in elementary school when kids follow fads, and it’s noticed when someone isn’t watching the same shows or playing the same games as everyone else. High school, the world of brand names, popular music, cliques and “fear of missing out” is when social comparison really takes hold, and it never quite goes away as people focus on getting into the better colleges, landing the better jobs, marrying someone their friends might envy, and building a picture-perfect life with them. Once we have kids, we rejoin the cycle through them. As adults, we face many of the same social comparison pressures as teens to one degree or another: comparing our looks, our social status, our material items, even our relationships. This is natural human behavior, and it’s designed to help us live together as a cohesive group, to help us learn from one another, and to keep us from falling too far behind our potential. It also helps us to define ourselves, to gauge how we’re doing in various areas of life based on what appears to be possible, and can even seem to help us feel better about ourselves in many cases. Hence, belonging to an association or more will in most cases have a positive influence in every aspect of your life and should be used to your advantage and to helping others in turn.

We celebrate with you if you were born in July! Wishing you and all a Jubilant JULY!

Olusegun

YAJ President 

Happiness, health, serenity and meaning in life.

Hello everyone or E ku deede iwoyio!

Sometimes life is brutally challenging, and there is no easy way to get over, under, or around it. This notwithstanding, we always have choices. We can focus our conscious attention more on our problems or on potential solutions. We can learn and practice how to become more aware of our thoughts and attitudes and use this awareness to shift our experience toward higher levels of satisfaction and happiness. The all-important space between what life presents to us and how we respond to it is ours alone. We can seek to avoid our emotional and physical pain or learn how to accept what we can’t change while building the skills to change what we can. If you want to be happier in ways that are more likely to endure, the most effective approach is to participate in activities that have meaning and value beyond your own self-interests. Such as being of service to families, friends, neighborhood and community, organizations, social causes, etc. The intriguing paradox of service is that through the act of giving, we receive. Research has shown that having purpose and meaning in life increase overall well-being, life satisfaction, and, yes, happiness.

We celebrate with you if you were born in June! Wishing you and everyone a Joyous JUNE!

Olusegun

President of YAJ

Learn to Enjoy Life with Your Experiences

 Hello everyone or E ku deede iwoyio!

It is known that those who appreciate their past experiences are better able to attach meaning to them, recognize the silver linings among the dark clouds, and enjoy these silver linings to the fullest. By healing the past and savoring your positive memories, you can maximize your past to enjoy life more in the present. The following tips can help you to enjoy life more daily and use your past as a springboard:

Remember And Relive: Remembering your fondest memories can help to bring the best of the past into the present.

Share Memories: You can bring your positive memories to life by discussing them with others.

Re-read Old Journals: If you were someone who has kept journals in the past, you may really enjoy re-reading them now, particularly if they are gratitude journals.

Let Go Of Past Resentments: As you are exploring your past, you may take opportunities to forgive those toward whom you may have anger or unresolved issues.  Holding onto past hurts can be a heavy burden, and working through them can be freeing happy and healthy life.

We celebrate with you if you were born in May. Our wish for you is that May all the desires of your heart be granted.

May this month bring peace, satisfaction, and joy to us all.

YAJ President

Olusegun.

Learn to Enjoy Life with Your Experiences

Be Happy!

It`s already April everybody!

Happiness is an age-old and sometimes elusive goal. Virtually all people want to be happy which is good, because happy people are better off, for reasons both obvious and subtle. Obviously, it feels good to be happy. But, looking deeper, happy people tend to enjoy benefits that unhappy people don’t, and, thanks to researchers, we know more about some of these subtle differences. For one thing, they tend to enjoy more successes in life. You may be thinking that happiness and success go hand-in-hand because success causes happiness, not the other way around. Researchers thought about this, too. Seeing that happy people tended to earn more money, display a superior performance, and help others more often,  they found happiness is indeed associated with (and precedes) several successful outcomes including higher earnings and greater performance, as well as behaviors that go along with success, like helping others. Their research found that the relationship goes both ways: Success brings happiness, but happiness actually does bring success, too.Another benefit that happy people share is good health. Studies have found that happy people experience lower blood pressure, lower ambulatory heart rate in men, and reduced neuroendocrine, inflammatory, and cardiovascular activity.Very happy people are found to be very social and have stronger social relationships with others than less-happy people.All this leads to greater health, which is definitely something to be happy about.

We celebrate with you and wish you an awesome birthday if you were born in April.Have a jolly April everyone!

Olusegun

Aare YAJ 

Anger Is Unhealthy

Good day everyone! Did you know that every time you get angry, your body rages with you so your pulses race, your mind scrambles, your blood boils, and your shoulders tense? Obviously, something is negatively impacting your health and wellbeing. To get a handle on your rage and taste the power of being in control, you need to fully understand the consequences of unchecked anger and where it may lead you. Headaches can be a result of tension and stress. The longer you sit alone with your angry brain remembering all that raged you, the more your sleep decreases. Unsolved fights can lead to a high blood pressure which can cause a heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, and many more. Anger and depression are strongly linked, particularly in men. When the anger is suppressed, depression kicks in. To sum it up, we often hear “happy people live longer”. Get rid of depression by associating and socializing. When you associate, try to adjust to team-working on a goal. Try to forgive that person that messed up with you some 100 years ago. You can understand and identify your anger. If you do, you`ll live a happy, jolly, healthier and longer life. 

We celebrate with you if you were born in March! Wishing you a Marvelous MARCH everybody!

YAJ President.

Stop this and stay healthy!

It is February everybody! Everybody seems to have been very busy from the beginning of the year, which is a good thing as long as we get the expected result while we stay healthy.

Talking about keeping healthy, from furthering your education and reducing cholesterol to quitting smoking and being open to new experiences, there are plenty of science-proven ways to stay healthy and add years to your life.

One of them is to stop checking your smartphone all the time, wow!

Comparing with say, eating a bad diet or a pack-a-day habit, checking your smartphone all the time may seem like a fairly innocuous pastime, but science disagrees. It turns out our smartphone addiction is more dangerous than we thought. Along with killing our mood, our manners, and our posture, studies have shown it also creates an imbalance in our brain chemistry. Not to mention of how many lives it has taken.

But there’s another problem. Our smartphone obsession is a massive drain on our most precious resource: our time. As you know that time is not only money, but time is life.

If you’re concerned and not sure about how to spend your new found free time, don`t worry. There are plenty of healthy alternatives to scrolling through your phone. Immerse yourself in real life, connect with people, take the time to actually enjoy your meal.

Like any addiction, ditching your smartphone habit won’t be easy right off the bat. Be patient with yourself. Take it slowly and stick with it. The more areas you deem smartphone-free zones, the jollier or happier and more liberated you’ll feel.

Best of all, you can revel in the fact that you’re staying healthy and adding years to your life. We celebrate with you if you were born in February.We wish you a fabulous birthday and a healthy year. Have a jolly month everybody!

Olusegun,

YAJ President

Jolly should be all the time.

Happy new year to you all! Now that the Holiday season has officially ended,or should I say after-party, and grudgingly prepare for the next day, the first work day of the New Year. During that day, everyone will talk about what they did on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. The stories will range anywhere from trip to Las Vegas, to "We just stayed at home."I`m sure no one ever asks,

"What are you planning on achieving this year?" "How much of that weight are you going to take off this year?" "What will you do differently in the coming year that you didn't do in the past year that will make you jolly all the time?"But yes, I wish you a Happy New Year.Yes, I hope it's a healthy one and a successful one.But that is just a wish.I suggest that we all take the things that we love about the holidays or other special times we enjoy and make them part of our everyday lives throughout the year.Here are my top six suggestions for bringing the "cheer" to the rest of the year.

1.      Listen to Music That Makes You Happy. Whatever your musical choices, the songs we play tend to get us into the moods we enjoy, bring back memories of other happy times and generally make us feel good.

2.      Decorate Your House to Bring Inner Peace. I’m not recommending that you keep a Christmas tree up year-round, but why not have a few decorations you bring out for various times of year or simply focus on maintaining a clean and organized home.

3.      Get Together with Friends All Throughout the Year and that means associating Even if you have an already-full schedule of work and family commitments (or, I should say, especially if you have a schedule full of responsibilities), it is important to take time to nurture your relationships and have some fun.

4.      Maintain the Spirit of Giving You don’t have to wait for December or for your birthday to enjoy a treat; you can work these things into the rest of your year.

5.      Feel Gratitude in the New Year, All Year- round! Living a life filled with gratitude is easy. We can absolutely engage in gratitude-enhancing activities at any time of year. And we are absolutely better off if we do so.

6.      Maintain Spirituality, Manage Stress Year-Round. There is also a spiritual component of the holidays that deeply touches many people. It definitely worth mentioning that this spiritual connection can bring stress relief, life satisfaction and deep feelings of peace. Spirituality may look different for everyone, but the benefits are clear.

The reality is for you to have a healthy, happy, jolly and successful New year, You are going to have to do more than you did last year. You are going to have to harness the power of your work effort and your intelligence, and do your best to turn it into financial gain too.

We celebrate with you if you were born in January. We wish you a Jovial January.

Have a jolly January everyone!

Aare YAJ

Olusegun