A recent study published in theJournal of Personality and Social Psychologyand reported byEmotion Researchersurveyed nearly 1,300 American adults to better understand the relationship between accepting our emotions and mental health.

(Photo: ABC)

Iris Mauss, a professor of psychology at UC Berkeley and principal investigator in the study explained: "We found that people who habitually accept their negative emotions experience fewer negative emotions, which adds up to better psychological health."

While it's difficult to say exactly why that is, she think that when we accept negative emotions, we normalize them and give them less attention. According to Mauss, "if youre constantly judging your emotions, the negativity can pile up."

Those who resist their emotions or judge them are more likely to experience mood swings than those who accept feelings of sadness, disappointment and bitterness.

As Brett Ford, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, explains in an article available on the UC Berkeley site, "People who accept these emotions without judging or trying to change them are able to cope with their stress more successfully."

Three different tests were conducted on diverse groups of people, both in the lab and online, taking into account their age, gender, socio-economic status and other demographic variables.

"Its easier to have an accepting attitude if you lead a pampered life, which is why we ruled out socio-economic status and major life stressors that could bias the results," Mauss said.

In the first study, approximately 1,000 participants were given a questionnaire in which they had to rate how strongly they agreed with the following statement: "I tell myself I shouldnt be feeling the way that Im feeling." In general, those who did not feel bad about their feelings had higher levels of well-being.

In the second study, 150 people participated in a simulated job interview in which they had to describe their strengths and talents by giving a three-minute-long videotaped speech in front of a panel, after being allowed only ten minutes to prepare.

The participants then rated how they felt afterward. Those with a tendency to avoid their negative emotions had more difficulty with the test and showed higher levels of anxiety than those who were used to accepting their emotions.

Finally, over 200 people were invited to keep a journal about their most difficult experiences over a two-week period. Six months later, they were interviewed about their mental health, and no surprise those who had denied their emotions in regard to difficult experiences reported more symptoms of mood disorders than the others.

The next step for the researchers will be to examine factors such as culture and education to better understand why some people are more inclined to accept their emotions than others. As Mauss explained:

"By asking parents about their attitudes about their childrens emotions, we may be able to predict how their children feel about their emotions, and how that might affect their childrens mental health."

(Photo: ABC)

Read More->Meet The Woman Using Art To Open Up A Dialogue About Mental Health In Black Communities

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Accepting Negative Emotions Is Better For Mental Health, Study ... - Konbini

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Former swim champ May Ooi hoping to make a splash on ONE C'ship debut TODAYonline The conditioning, mental attitude and the discipline to train and eat right from my swimming days help a lot. I have gone through those things before and getting back into competitive sports now is second nature. Previously competing in smaller ... and more »

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Former swim champ May Ooi hoping to make a splash on ONE C'ship debut - TODAYonline

Multimedia personality, Toke Makinwa, has wowed fans with an act of benevolence as she is offering four lucky winners a sum of three million Naira.

Tagged #Imusthavemyown, Toke says the giveaway is her own way of saying thank you to her loyal supporters.

The On Becoming author made this known via Instagram, expressing her excitement over how she believes the project OnBecomingEmpowered would touch lives.

To stand a chance of winning the cash, participants are required to record and upload a one-minute video in which they are expected to pitch a creative business idea and state how the grant would help the business.

This project is very close to my heart thank you Jesus for the vision. Sooooo Im sure a lot of you have wondered what #OnBecomingEmpowered is all about, go to my YouTube page (bio in my link) and watch this weeks Vlog. I am giving out 3 million Naira to 4 people. It is my own little way of saying thank you, it is also a call to action to get our minds thinking right. #Imusthavemyown because life can happen at anytime and I have seen things change overnight, from losing my parents at the age of 8 to going thru the most heartbreaking divorce at 30! I keep thinking what if? What if I didnt have a job, a dream, purposeetc. We all must be prepared. It breaks my heart to see people on social media daily in need and I cant reach everyone. I feel a of people feel stuck and in order to become some more, we must empower our minds. Its not about the money, its about impacting lives and this year we will start with business ideas, next itll be education. I truly want those who genuinely need the money to win the grant so do a one min video with your ideas and make it creative. Have fun with it as its going to be a fun process so get your videos up and tag @onbecomingbytokemakinwa, the best videos will be uploaded there and we can can all choose together who makes it to the next round. More info will be released as we go along! Good luck guys

A post shared by Toke Makinwa (@tokemakinwa) on Aug 17, 2017 at 7:14am PDT

Giving her life as an example, she also pointed out the fact that life has so many uncertainties and many people are currently in need. However, with creative ideas, a positive mental attitude and financial support, she believes people can become some more.

While Toke has had a fair share of lifes hard knocks, (losing her parents at a tender age of eight and having to go through a painful divorce at 30), one can say she has managed to rise above her struggles.

From her career as a Nigerian radio personality to a television host, vlogger, recently a bestselling author and her buzzing social media presence, she has succeeded in building a much-admired personality and much more over the years.

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Toke Makinwa To Give Out N3m To Four Fans - CHANNELS TELEVISION

Baraboo football coach Steve Turkingtons new philosophy is simple: Tough people win.

The saying, shortened to TPW, is not only reiterated during practice, but the acronym is printed on the back of the teams practice shirts as a constant reminder that no matter what adversity you face, tough athletes can get through it.

The Thunderbirds have faced more than their share of adversity over the past decade, failing to make the WIAA playoffs since 2006. That drought almost ended last season, as Baraboo was one win away from a postseason berth. The T-Birds had two losses of five points or less, both to playoff-bound foes.

Baraboo has some big holes to fill as its leading passer rusher, and receiver were lost to graduation, but Turkington believes he has the players able to keep the teams progression going.

The season was just inches away from being something really magical, he said. So now this group came in, and theyre a different kind of group, but they worked so hard during the offseason that were really excited to see what happens.

Baraboo dropped a 28-27 heartbreaker early on to DeForest and was still clinging to a potential playoff berth when the T-Birds played Mount Horeb/Barneveld on the road in Week 8. Baraboo held a one-point lead at halftime, but missed out on a couple scoring chances and a roughing-the-passer penalty helped the Vikings escape with a 19-14 victory. While some teams would like to forget about the close games and move on, Turkington said the T-Birds are using them as motivation.

I obviously reflect on it every single day. You look at all the little details if we would have hit on some of these things, that would have been the difference in the DeForest game or the Mount Horeb game, Turkington said. Either one of those we could have won and would have been in the playoffs, but instead that kind of came back to bite us.

We use it as motivation to say were not going to skip out on anything. There will be no stone left unturned to make sure we make the playoffs this year and get those wins. Because those were ours.

It all goes back to TPW, a philosophy that Turkington hopes will push his team harder than ever before.

TPW is something we stole from a coach down in Texas, and the concept is more mental than physical, Turkington said. We want you to be physically tough, but mental toughness is really what were talking about. So when adversity strikes, youre going to push through it and youre going to come out a winner.

Its going to be our permanent thing, as long as Im here. We used it in baseball too. (Baseball coach and defensive coordinator) Steve Considine and I met this offseason, before baseball even started and started asking, What are we missing? Obviously weve got this kids working really hard. And weve got coaches, were teaching the game well, weve got fundamentals and all that stuff is being taken care of. What we were missing is the culture change across our sports. So we invested a lot of time and energy in culture.

Physically, the T-Birds will be tougher as well. Turkingtons Winning Edge workout program has seen record numbers.

I would say during the wintertime, Monday and Wednesday mornings wed have 50-60 kids in the weight room. And theyve never had that around here before, he said. Weve created this program where were going to make sure our athletes are doing it during the season and it becomes a year-round thing for our athletes.

You can see it in our kids. Were way bigger, faster and stronger than we have been in the past.

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PREP FOOTBALL: Baraboo's "Tough people win" philosophy bringing new attitude - WiscNews

Students and staff at Christleton Sixth Form are once again celebrating after receiving another excellent set of results in this years A Level examinations, with a 98.5% success rate across all 30 A Level subjects taught.

Over 65% of the 133 students taking A levels achieved one or more A*-B grades, with 11 students gaining at least three grade As. Overall, 47% of all grades were A*-B.

After many months of hard studying and weeks of nervous anticipation, it was a day of happiness for the sixth form students for whom today marked their first step on the way to university life, full-time employment, apprenticeship or internship.

Many students were delighted that they have been successful in their applications to prestigious Russell Group universities and will be taking up new challenges at institutions around the country.

Students enjoying exceptional success at A Level include: Freya McConnell (A*A*A*A*A*), Will Lannin (A*A*A*A*), Finlay Wojtan (A*A*A), Adam Stanworth (A*A*A), Katie Barker (A*AA), Jason Field (A*AA), Dominika Sadczuk (A*AA), Billy Walsh (A*AA) and Olivia Wood (AAA).

At the end of his first full year as head of Christleton Sixth Form, Mike Cosstick was glowing in his praise for the students achievements.

He said: It was fantastic to see so many happy faces as our students opened their results!

We had high hopes for this year group and this excellent set of results has more than met them. All young people today are under tremendous pressure to perform and such results can only be achieved by hard work and a really strong positive mental attitude and resilience.

Our students have been a pleasure to work with during their time with us and have consistently contributed a great deal to the everyday life of the school; today is the real reward for all of their efforts to be the very best they can be.

Headteacher Damian Stenhouse added: I really couldnt be more proud. As result of the combination of continued hard work by our students, great teaching and strong support from parents, I am so pleased that so many of our students have achieved what they deserved to.

On behalf of all of us connected to the school, I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate each and every one of them on their considerable achievements.

A large number of our students have once again secured places at prestigious universities or jobs with reputable companies. We wish them happy and successful futures.

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A Level results: Christleton Sixth Form students achieve exceptional success - ChesterChronicle.co.uk

You control your own destiny and dont let anyone tell you differently.

Dont believe for one minute that you dont have the power to achieve and become those things that you want. To think or act otherwise is just an excuse to justify your situational mediocre performance. To quote Cherie Carter-Scott, Ordinary people believe only in the possible. Extraordinary people visualize not what is possible or probable, but rather what is impossible. And by visualizing the impossible, they begin to see it as possible. As salespeople, we tend to see opportunity and success in terms of past performance influenced by our peers and their uninspired performance. We often think in these terms: If no one has excelled, then it must not be reasonable to expect anyone truly can. Let me describe three pillars of success, that when put in proper perspective and applied, will change your sales career.

BELIEF: Belief is the foundation of all we do. Human nature suggests we believe what we can see clearly. Missouri proudly displays the motto on their license plates, The Show Me State. Unfortunately, our beliefs are deeply rooted in our culture and past experiences. When you dont believe, you wont take action, and action is a fundamental measurement of success. You need to take time to discover what you believe is possible and then challenge yourself to do it. You can control your world by reprogramming the way you think. By changing your operating system you can discover the truth about your beliefs and then alter those beliefs to achieve what you want. Napoleon Hill, through his great insight into human perspective said, Any definite chief aim that is deliberately fixed in the mind and held there with determination to realize it, finally saturates the entire subconscious mind until it automatically influences the physical action of the body toward the attainment of the purpose. Belief is the key pillar for all sales success.

ATTITUDE: You can change your direction and condition in life by changing your attitude about your situation. As you rewrite your attitude, you are programming yourself for greater success in life. You will discover your attitude has a far greater influence on your success than your aptitude. Average people have achieved phenomenal feats due to their positive mental attitude. A persons life is truly what his thoughts make of it. Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, referring to this statement said, This is one of the greatest laws in the universe. Fervently do I wish I had discovered it as a very young man. There is a wonderful quote about attitude that I would like to share with you.

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company...a church...a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude...I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you...we are in charge of our ATTITUDES. Author Unknown

ACTIVITY: Daily activity is the outward expression of your beliefs and attitudes. If you dont believe, you wont take action. Activity is the vehicle of achievement, and that vehicle is powered by belief. The average person spends only half of the available time pursuing their beliefs. They neglect to plan and schedule meaningful activities that will lead to their success. This lack of planning diminishes both attitude and belief and thus creates a welcome host to the debilitating cancer we call complacency. You should plan and schedule activities each day that will lead you steadily closer to the achievement of those things you believe you can accomplish. You must monitor your progress daily to avoid the illusion of progress shrouded in the mirage of inactivity. If you cant measure your activity, there is a very strong likelihood that there isnt any. Put together a plan of action to achieve your beliefs and work on it daily. By taking action, you will discover what so few people have ever experienced The power that lies within.

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Sales tip: The three pillars of sales success - Utah Pulse

New position. New jersey number. New team dynamic.

Chesterton senior Sam Weller is welcoming all the challenges.

He moves to center midfield from central defender. He earned the illustrious No. 17 after having worn No. 21.

And he's one of two returning players who started in last season's Class 2A state championship game as the Trojans' lineup included nine seniors in a 2-1 loss to Evansville Memorial.

"It's been a lot different, but it's been good," Weller said.

As a junior in his first varsity season, Weller anchored a stingy defense that allowed 16 goals in 22 games. This season, his second as a captain, he'll shift to midfield.

With limited opportunities last season, Weller scored one goal. But over the summer and in the preseason, Chesterton coach James Sensibaugh liked what he saw from Weller in his more advanced role.

"Past teams needed him more as a defender than to put the ball away, but he has an uncanny ability to finish," Sensibaugh said.

Weller has played almost exclusively central defender growing up, including in club ball. But he got a taste of center midfield last year.

He also has drawn on the attacking experience of brother Trent, a former star forward/midfielder for the Trojans. Trent Weller's resume includes scoring a then program-record 23 goals as a junior in 2014, when he was named the Post-Tribune Boys Soccer Player of the Year.

"I've always asked my coaches how I should play or what they need me to do, and I try to do it," Sam Weller said. "We have guys in the back we can trust, and coach liked me orchestrating in the middle."

That type of selfless attitude helped lead the coaches to select Weller for the No. 17 jersey this season.

To honor the late Mitch Winey, the Trojans each season designate a player to wear the number of the 2014 graduate. Winey, a team captain and the class president, was a cadet at West Point when he lost his life in June of 2016 during a military training accident at Fort Hood.

Last season, Owen Hallas was the inaugural recipient. The former No. 8 scored a program-record 27 goals as he was named the state's player of the year, an All-American, the Region's first boys soccer player to win the Mental Attitude Award and the Post-Tribune Boys Soccer Player of the Year.

"I was just joking with him, it's OK, it's a prestigious deal, then the last player ended up having the season he did, so no pressure," Sensibaugh said of Weller. "But he was so honored in a genuine way."

Indeed, Weller takes it seriously.

"I have to step up in a big way," Weller said. "I'm not only playing for myself, but I'm playing for Mitch and for Owen a little, too. He represented the number very well and I have to prove myself.

"I met Mitch a couple times and he was one of the best people I ever met. He talked to me about being a leader and being a positive person. He always had a smile on his face and he always put a smile on my face. He was a happy and energetic person. I hope I can push his number on in a positive direction."

Sensibaugh has no doubt.

"Sam's lived in the shadow of his brother and now in the shadow of that number that comes with quite a bit of success," Sensibaugh said. "But he's managed to come along and make his own name.

"He's a kid willing to take on any challenge. He has respect for our program and history. He thinks beyond himself and sees a bigger picture."

mosipoff@post-trib.com

Twitter @MichaelOsipoff

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Chesterton midfielder Sam Weller flourishes amid changes for state runner-up - Chicago Tribune

Before Suzi Dent gave pageant life a good go, she was working as a television and advertising hair and makeup artist AND wardrobe stylist. She created the miniature wigs and wardrobe for the upside-down talking chin characters for World's Greatest Shave and has also worked with the Leukemia Foundation, The Cancer Council, Look Good Feel Better and The Starlight Children's Make-A-Wish Foundation.So, you could say she was already killing it.

Although Suzi worked in what seems like a glamorous world, her tomboy-ish ways meant shorts or pants and baggy tops or t-shirts were her go-to clothes of choice. Plus, dressing for practicality and comfort has always been Suzi's normal for decades,where working in a job where you're always on the go or in not-so-glam locations is your average work day. Armed with a whole lot of 'frock fear' and always feeling uncomfortable, insecure and exposed when trying on a dress meant being a dressed-down tomboy was her safety net.

But with life comes twists and turns, usually the kind you least expect. For Suzi, this meant being approached to compete in the Mrs Earth Australia pageant (which she won!) - which was a shock to her, but a clear sign it was time for change in her life.

A truly inspiring story, Suzi Dent was kind enough to let me ask her some questions about her journey to self-love and acceptance, her charity work and her advice for fellow Gold Coast women who are wanting to find confidence within themselves:

Winning the title of Mrs Earth Australia is such a huge achievement. What made you participate in the pageant?I am very grateful that I am a naturally positive and joyous person, but in August last year I wasnt in a great personal space anymore, as my husband and best friend of 26 years has been battling with depression and anger management issues for the last five years and to be quite honest, I wasnt coping with our lives very well anymore. I desperately wanted to help my husband and get my best friend back for us and our son. There was an element of sameness and almost daily gut-wrenching angry negativity in our lives that I needed to change, for all three of us, to save my family and our marriage! I did a lot of soul-searching and started watching and listening to motivational things all about having a positive mindset and manifesting the life and dreams you desire. One of the things I do know to be true about this life journey that we are all on, is that life will send you journeys to go on and it will throw situations in your path that will change your destiny, you just have to pay attention to the signs life sends you.

So, it was a huge surprise to me to be approached by the Mrs Earth Australia pageant to compete, especially at my age and it was so far out of left field, that after I picked myself up off the floor from laughter, checked out the pageant website and saw that they supported the charity Soles4Souls, I knew life was sending me a message and I was at the crossroads of having my very own sliding doors moment. If life wanted me to embrace wearing frocks and high heels to raise awareness for Sole4Souls to change my life and bring some positivity and change into my family, well I just had faith and trusted that that was what I should do and thats what I did!

What positive changes have you noticed within yourself since taking the leap to participate in Mrs Earth?Entering into the pageant world, apart from supporting my charity, has allowed me to kick some personal goals and overcome some personal fears and grow as a person. It provided me with a goal to work towards, a new world to be interested in and study, work experience opportunities and amazing and inspirational people to meet. Completely changing myself and my tomboy ways and embracing and experiencing wearing dresses, practicing and learning to walk in high heels for the first time in 30 odd years and having my self esteem lifted, experiencing looking glamorous with beautiful dresses and hair and makeup has been an amazing experience! I cant say that I am a tomboy anymore! Being a confident woman is something I have always been, however confidence and self-esteem are two different things. I now feel whole inside, like everything is all caught up with my soul and I am very grateful for this gift that life has given me.

How did your husband and son react when you told them you would be taking part in the pageant?My husband has always believed very strongly in my intuition and when I told him what I was doing and why, he was a little skeptical in the beginning, but as I was picking up sponsor after sponsor who believed in me and my journey, he knew, as did I that what I was doing was so much bigger than just me as a person. He is so proud of me and my journey and the fact that I now see myself how others see me. He is thrilled for me that my self esteem is at an all time high - without any ego attached - and he loves seeing me shine.

How proud are they now that you came 3rd in Mrs Earth? My husband and best friend of 26 years, Don, and our 15 year old son, Jack, are thrilled for me. It has changed the narrative of my marriage and saved our relationship. Embracing the pageant world and being able to bring something new and positive into our lives with my work for Soles4Souls has changed his mindset and our family dynamic for the better. He is very supportive of my journey and the positive self-esteem changes I have been going through and loves the new dress-wearing me! He has also scored brownie points from his mates for being married to a Mrs Earth Australia Beauty Queen!

What makes you so passionate about Soles4Souls?One of my passions is helping and educating humans about how to be eco-aware and charitable. Soles4Souls really appealed to me as it is such an easy way to teach people about eco-awareness and charity by donating their used or new shoes to go to another person to give them the ability to go to work so they can feed themselves and their family and for children to be able to go to school to receive an education.

Can you imagine walking around outside barefoot in a January summer in Australia, in a heatwave? When you can fry an egg on the footpath and cant walk on the sand to get to the surf to cool off? Without shoes you cant work or go to school! Did you realise that your old clothes and shoes, if not recycled, are one of the largest sources of landfill, take ages to break down and add to the pollution of our planet? This charity is so easy to donate to, we all have spare shoes tucked away that dont get worn.

For parents, how quickly do your kids grow out of their shoes? What a great way to teach your kids or your elders about charity and eco-awareness all at the same time! Soles4Souls were struggling financially and I knew that with the support of Bartercard Australia, opening up the doors of their offices around Australia to provide drop spots for people to donate their shoes was a great way to spread awareness about this very worthy cause and maybe help them to keep their doors open. I am ever so grateful to have had lots of press and public donations of shoes to support their cause by using my Mrs Earth journey. But unfortunately, I wasnt able to save the charity.

Whats next for you now that you have more of a fan base?My personal platform is ageing with a positive mindset. I am looking forward to my new career as a motivational speaker inspiring others to not pay attention to their age number and stop putting the brakes on their goals and dreams because all of a sudden they have reached a certain age - society dictates that it is all down hill from there! Age is just a number! I have just proved it by winning against women, including professional models, who I am old enough to have given birth to. Lets face it, 55 years young is perceived as pretty old to be competing in my first-ever beauty pageant!

I believe that age and the wisdom that our life journey brings should be celebrated, not scoffed at. The words we use to describe the ageing process and ourselves does have an effect on our minds and our attitudes towards ourselves and this is a generational attitude that must be changed. The women in my family all live until their late 90s, so I am barely halfway there!

I am hoping to inspire other women to stop paying attention to their age number and to be fearless about making changes in their lives! Advertisers should be using the over 50s who look fabulous! When you get to your fifties there are no fashion ranges specifically for us, no advertising for the over fifties and pre and post-menopausal women can often feel invisible and overlooked, old and used up. Not surprising really, as this demographic is barely visually represented in mainstream fashion advertising. We live in an ageist society and its time to let women over fifty know that they can change their lives, they are not old - age is a state of mind. Women age themselves out of life with a mental attitude. If you continually say to yourself Im old, then you will be old and you will get old!

I feel joyous, young and in the prime of my life and at 55, I want to help other women celebrate and embrace their age number too. Im a natural beauty, not a user of botox and fillers, and try to embrace a healthy mind and body, with regular exercise and good nutrition. I believe women shouldnt feel that to be accepted into society and be perceived as beautiful, that they need to have unlined skin. I believe that a positive ageing mindset is the most powerful ageing gracefully tool that anyone needs.

I am so proud and humbled to announce that I have just been named as the national Australian Ambassador for the charity Friends With Dignity! They are a national non-government funded organisation who proudly support victims of domestic violence rebuild their lives with purpose, dignity and hope by transforming houses into sanctuaries by relying on the generous donations of household and personal care items from the community.

The primary goal is to create a welcoming home for survivors of domestic and family violence who have literally left behind their entire lives (and everything they own) when they leave refuge and want to rebuild their lives. Their volunteers start collecting donated beds, bed linen, towels, crockery, basic kitchen appliances, white goods, TV, pantry items and toiletries etc. With these donated items that are received, by using call outs on social media, they are able - in just seven days - to transform an empty shell into a welcoming home and sanctuary for families to rebuild their lives with hope and dignity.

Finally, what advice would you give Gold Coast women who might be lacking in confidence?

To just go for it, whatever you want to do! Have faith in yourself and trust your intuition. Dont let the perception of others or society stop you living or achieving your dreams. Come to one of my seminars and I guarantee you will feel on top of the world after two hours with me! One of the things I love about the Gold Coast is the community here, there are so many different women's groups to belong to and Facebook groups where strangers just want to help you be alive and shine! You just have to believe in yourself and have faith that the universe will deliver.

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Suzi Dent: The Gold Coast Beauty Queen Making A Difference - Hit 107

Positive mental attitude (PMA) is a concept first developed and introduced in 1937 by Napoleon Hill in the book Think and Grow Rich. The book never actually uses the term, but develops the importance of positive thinking as a principle to success.[1] Napoleon, along with W. Clement Stone, founder of Combined Insurance, later wrote Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude which defines positive mental attitude as comprising "the 'plus' characteristics symbolized by such words as faith, integrity, hope, optimism, courage, initiative, generosity, tolerance, tact, kindliness and good common sense. [2]

Positive mental attitude is the philosophy that having an optimistic disposition in every situation in one's life attracts positive changes and increases achievement. Adherents employ a state of mind that continues to seek, find and execute ways to win, or find a desirable outcome, regardless of the circumstances. It opposes negativity, defeatism and hopelessness. Optimism and hope are vital to the development of PMA.[3]

PMA is under the umbrella of positive psychology. In positive psychology high self-efficacy can help someone to gain learned optimism which one ultimately leads to PMA. PMA is considered an internal focus of control that influences external factors. Research has shown that through emotional intelligence training and positive psychology therapy one's attitudes and perceptions can be modified to improve their personal and professional life.[4]

"The term self-help was not coined as a synonym for psychobabble. It has a long and rich tradition of usage in connection with far more reputable practices in the realm of law. Legal self-help refers to a raft of situation-specific remedies available to a complainant directlythat is, without involving lawyers or even courts. This facet of American jurisprudence, in marked contrast to the type of self-help this book mostly tackles, has always been about action, not words. Remedies of this nature are formal step-by-step procedures designed to bring about lawful satisfaction for the individual." Self-help law books have been around since at least 1687.[5]

The modern self-help industry has reached a far larger audience than just those in the legal field. "Self-improvement books now account for at least a $2.5 billion a year industry in the U.S. alone, increasing since 1972 to at least 2.5% of the total number of books in print. Approximately one-third to one-half of adults in the U.S. have purchased a self-improvement book at least once in their lifetime."[6]

The self-help industry was pioneered by Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard's Almanack and made popular by Napoleon Hills books as well as Dale Carnegie and his lectures and books. Now an entire industry of self-help books and motivational speakers such as Og Mandino and Tony Robbins are available. PMA is a main theme in most of the inspirational writings which have influenced the sales industry, especially in door-to-door sales and direct marketing businesses. Self-help material along with self-talk help employers to shape their employees to be more resilient to failure and become more positive and energetic salespeople.[7]

H.R., lead vocalist of the Washington, D.C. based band Bad Brains, has stated in the past that it was Hill's book, which was given to him by his father, that prompted him to advocate and use the phrase as a way to describe the positive message has wanted to expound through his music.

A study of Major League Baseball players indicated that a key component that separates major league players from the minor leagues and all other levels is their ability to develop mental characteristics and mental skills. Among them were mental toughness, confidence, maintaining a positive attitude, dealing with failure, expectations, and positive self-talk.[8]

Many studies have been done regarding PMA and its effects on health, specifically with people of serious illnesses such as cancer and kidney disease. Cancer specifically has received a lot of attention since Lance Armstrong, along with other survivors, have given their stories. People with PMA have a significantly higher chance of survival and recovery.[9] A study comparing people with chronic kidney disease with people kidney disease free showed that there was a significant difference between the groups. The kidney disease free group rated much higher in PMA. There was no difference found in spirituality and females with chronic kidney disease were found to be significantly more superstitious.[10] A study done with HIV-positive individuals found that a high health self-efficacy, a task-oriented coping style, and a positive mental attitude were strong predictors or a health-promoting lifestyle which has a significant effect on overall health (coping and surviving).[11]

Critics of PMA argue that it is not the secret to success but a by-product of success.[12] The "self-help" industry has been criticized as a scam for authors to make money due to its simplistic writing and principles. There is little evidence, however, that self-help books, life coaching, and motivational speaking are harmful; a study of 100 psychotherapy patients found that of the 43 patients reading books (e.g. PMA, religious texts, Alcoholics Anonymous texts, etc.) 4 reported "mild harm or distress" while 34 reported "benefit without harm".[13]

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Positive mental attitude - Wikipedia

The first football practice of the 2017 season at Corcoran High School started with a scolding.

Veteran coach Tyrone Fisher was fired up after nearly half of his players (14) weren't able to participate Monday because they didn't have the proper paperwork turned in.

"We talked all year about the potential in this room," he told players from last year's 5-4 playoff team that lost to Cicero-North Syracuse in the Class AA sectional semifinals. "I think you guys have been drinking the Kool-Aid ... Oh, Corcoran's going to be this, Corcoran's going to be that.

"I told you guys, we have proven nothing - nothing."

Fisher went on to talk for 10 minutes about trust, attitude, enthusiasm, hard work, competition, picking each other up, and mental toughness.

Here are the highlights from Fisher's talk.

Football practices across the state began Monday.

The Cougars open their season at home Sept. 1 against Fayetteville-Manlius.

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Corcoran's Tyrone Fisher preaches attitude, hard work, mental toughness as 2017 football season starts (video) - Syracuse.com