Six months ago, I found myself drowning in a flood of easy information. The internet—and all the lovely things on it, things like Wikipedia, Twitter, podcasts, the New Yorker, email, TED Talks, Facebook, Youtube, Buzzfeed occasionally, and yes, even the Harvard Business Review—provide unlimited sources of delight at the touch of a finger.

The acts of kindness began at 7 a.m. Wednesday with a woman, her iced coffee and a stranger's caramel macchiato.

The woman paid for her own drink, then asked to pay for the drink of the person behind her in the drive-through. That person returned the favor and paid for the person behind, and so did that person, until the employees at the St. Petersburg Starbucks on Tyrone Boulevard began a tally on green laminated paper near the drive-through window.

By 1:30 p.m., the chain had reached 260 customers.

A man was spending his holiday in Africa. One day he watched the elephants passing by. To his great surprise these giant strong animals were being held only by a small rope, tied to their front leg. Obviously, they could easily run away any moment. However, they did not.

What makes people happy? Finding a definitive answer to this question could certainly make someone very rich (butwhether that would in turn make them happy is another matter). The problem is that happiness is especially slippery. While we know much about the consequences of happiness – that it can improve our health and well-being and how we get on in the world – much less in known about its causes, let alone how to guarantee its appearance.

Making happiness a goal, for example, often has counter-productive consequences that ultimately lead to less happiness overall. Finding happiness is, for many, akin to divining water: when we do find it we are often at a loss to explain how it happened.

There was a boy whose his father worked as a horse trainer which moving from stable to stable, from ranch to ranch, training horses. Thus, the boy‘s school career was constantly interrupted.

One day, when he was a senior, teacher asked him to write about what he wanted to be when he grew up. He did not hesitate a minute and wrote seven-page paper about his aim to be an owner of a horse ranch, he wrote many details and drew a location of buildings and stables and even a detailed house plan.

Once upon a time, there was an unfortunate poor man. His home was also very poor – a small and empty house, where mice made their nests and spiders made their webs. People tried to avoid coming into his house – why should they stick their noses into those poor ruins? And the poor man thought that poverty is the reason of his misfortunes – his eternal destiny.

So once, the poor man met a wizard and complained to him about his poverty and miserable life.

The wizard felt sorry for the poor man and gave him an unprecedented vase and said, “This is a magical vase that will save you from poverty.”

The poor man took the vase and wanted to sell it at first and then spend the money on alcohol, as usual, besides, why would he need such a beautiful thing?

One man was publicly offending Omar Chajam: “You’re an atheist! You’re drinker! Almost a thief!”

Chajam just smiled in response.

One dandy dressed in the silk trousers watching that scene asked Chajam: “How can you tolerate such offences? Do you not feel hurt?”

There’s one very important thing that everyone should do before heading into a JOB INTERVIEW, giving a big speech or attempting an athletic feat. According to Amy Cuddy, a social psychologist at Harvard Business School, everyone should spend two minutes power posing. What, you ask, is power posing? It is adopting the stances associated with confidence, power and achievement — chest lifted, head held high, arms either up or propped on the hips.

See the video below

Name: Christie Dougherty
Age: 21
Height: 5'2"
Before Weight: 230 pounds

How I Gained It: I grew up in a very healthy household. My parents have both run marathons and both were always very health conscious. But I rebelled against this lifestyle my parents tried to impose, for no reason except that I was a teenager and didn't want to be told what to do anymore.

Iron Dome operator: 'I witnessed this miracle with my own eyes'

MORE claims of divine intervention are being reported in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, with an operator of Israel’s Iron Dome missile-defense system saying he personally witnessed “the hand of God” diverting an incoming rocket out of harm’s way.

Israel Today translated a report from a Hebrew-language news site, which noted the Iron Dome battery FAILED three times to intercept an incoming rocket headed toward Tel Aviv last week.

The great benefit of living with, working for, or being related to people who have experienced more of life than you have is picking their brain for advice.

The most effective people learn from their own mistakes, and make a significant effort to learn from other people’s errors as well.

A recent Quora thread asked users for the best advice they’ve ever gotten.

Some people have a way of making the complex clear.  They know who they are, why they do what they do, and where they want to go. Because they have internalized all this, they are able to sharply crystallize ideas and vision. They speak in simple, relatable terms. And they can get a lot accomplished.

Creativity works in mysterious and often paradoxical ways. Creative thinking is a stable, defining characteristic in some personalities, but it may also change based on situation and context. Inspiration and ideas often arise seemingly out of nowhere and then fail to show up when we most need them, and creative thinking requires complex cognition yet is completely distinct from the thinking process.

As we can all recall, Chick-Fil-A was the center of controversy as they were accused of “forcing their religious views” on others when president Dan Cathy made his political leanings known regarding gay marriage.  You’ll never guess what the once demonized business is now forcing on others now – FOOD.  Yep, that’s right, food.

According to Fox News, a local Chick-Fil-A came to the rescue as a rare snowstorm in the South left citizens stranded on icy interstates and highways, including Highway 280 in Birmingham, Alabama.  Thanks to the kindness and generosity of the restaurant employees and owner, Mark Meadows, a good number of stranded motorists were able to find food and shelter from the storm.

Abigail with John and Susi.

"Our happiest server."

That's how the Lincoln, Neb., Cracker Barrel hostess described Abigail Sailors to the pair of gentlemen a little after 1 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 2. The men, who had originally requested to be served by the restaurant's grumpiest server, were informed the restaurant didn't have any "grumpy" servers. So, the hostess offered the men the opposite instead and seated them in Sailors' area.

Just up the road from my home is a field,
with two horses in it.

From a distance, each horse
looks like any other horse.

But if you stop your car,
or are walking by,

you will notice something
quite amazing....

 We were known in the markets of Zambia as Christmas. As our team of 12 walked through the stalls where vendors sold fresh mangoes, smelly dried fish, and other produce, they would call out to us, "Please give me Christmas. I also want Christmas!"

A year ago, our team leaders wife Moira wanted to bypass all the Christmas stress and clutter. She had read in Nehemiah 8:10, "Go home and prepare a feast, holiday food and drink; and share it with those who don't have anything: This day is holy to God. Don't feel bad. The joy of

Young King Arthur was ambushed and imprisoned by the monarch of a neighboring kingdom. The monarch could have killed him but was moved by Arthur's youth and ideals. So, the monarch offered him his freedom, as long as he could answer a very difficult question. Arthur would have a year to figure out the answer and, if after a year, he still had no answer, he would be put to death.

The question?....What do women really want? Such a question would perplex even the most knowledgeable man, and to young Arthur, it seemed an impossible query. But, since it was better than death, he accepted the monarch's proposition to have an answer by year's end.

He returned to his kingdom and began to poll everyone: the princess, the priests, the wise men and even the court jester. He spoke with everyone, but no one could give him a satisfactory