14 Reasons To Be Happy

I'm not sure how legit any of these things are, but hey, they don't sound too unbelieveable.

By Kelly Marages

Read these and smile!

WHO KNEW? ALCOHOL IMPROVES YOUR MEMORY.
Moderate alcohol consumption actually sharpens your mind and decreases the risk of dementia as you age. Warning: Swigging the entire bottle of wine, however, will most likely lead to forgetting the events of the night. 

Keyword: MODERATE

PAINFUL STILETTOS? HISTORY!
An adjustable high-heel shoe has been created by a student at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY: Press a button and it goes from high heel to midheel to flat. Somewhere, vertically challenged boyfriends are cheering. 

This actually sounds pretty cool. I'd get one if I knew where to find one. That last part doesnt make sense though.

YOUR ODDS OF BEATING BREAST CANCER ARE BETTER THAN EVER.
Early detection and treatment has dramatically increased survival. Your world is actually improving! We dug deep for the good news about chocolate, sex, your paycheck, and more rates of breast-cancer patients since the 1990s. More than 90 percent of cases are now caught in the first and second stages, which yield 98- and 80-percent survival rates for five years, respectively. 

Hooray =]

LESS MONEY EQUALS MORE HAPPINESS.
Mr. and Mrs. Jones, take note: Happiness researchers (yes, they exist) have found that as long as your basic needs are met, more wealth does not make you happier. In fact, it can actually trigger anxiety. 

I think I have anxiety lol. Also, I wonder if those happiness researchers came from NYU Gallatin...

THE HOLE IN THE OZONE IS SHRINKING.
Environmental awareness and action are finally starting to pay off. The hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica has actually shrunk 20 percent since 2003. 

Wow, I'm shocked. I thought we'd have to SLOW DOWN, STOP, then REVERSE all the bad we did BEFORE any holes in the ozone can start shrinking. But yay, go us!

YOUR GUY LOVES YOU JUST THE WAY YOU ARE. REALLY. 
An impressive 92 percent of guys wouldn’t want their girls to get boob jobs, Harlequin’s romance report revealed. Tragically, the news comes too late for Tara Reid. 

Who is Tara Reid? I'm sure there are more well-known females who've  gotten boob jobs that they could've referenced. That or I really do live under a rock =[

YOU’RE SAFER NOW THAN LAST YEAR. 
According to the Department of Justice, rates of violent crime (homicide, rape, and aggravated and simple assault) have reached the lowest levels since 1973—the year the department started keeping track— and have fallen a whopping 33.4 percent since 1994. 

That's nice to know. I'm still scared to walk home at night though :x well... only if it's like past midnight or something. Anytime earlier and I think I can deal xD

BOTOX CURES WRINKLES - AND INCONTINENCE!
Smooth skin? Check. Sweat-free armpits? Check. Now, researchers have discovered even more uses for Botox: soothing migraines, improving speech, and taming an overactive bladder. Our one concern: Just where exactly do they stick that needle? 

Botox just sounds bad, period.... but I guess they're making better medical advances?

SEX MAKES YOU HAPPIER THAN SNAGGING $49,999.
Thought you couldn’t put a price on a good sex life? Two economists did it. They calculated that, in terms of happiness, having sex more often is equal to getting a $50,000 raise. Now, if only we could charge our men overtime . . . 

How do you even calculate something like that in terms of money??

YOU CAN EAT CHOCOLATE WITHOUT THE GUILT.
Ecco Bella has created “functional” chocolate. One bar relieves cramps and other PMS symptoms; another improves skin (healthbychocolate. com). We’ll really be impressed when they make a “functional” doughnut. 

I've always known chocolate was good for you ;D

PANDAS ARE DOING BETTER THAN WE THOUGHT.
You probably haven’t lost sleep over Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing lately, but according to an official survey by the World Wildlife Fund and the State Forestry Administration of China, the giant-panda population is 40-percent higher than previously thought. 

Go Pandas!

SEEDLESS LEMONS ARE NOW A REALITY.
How many times have you silently (or not so silently) cursed as you choked on those annoying seeds in your lemonade? Good news—someone was listening. A California agricultural company has acquired the rights to our favorite citrus, sans seeds. Buy them at limoneirafresh.com. 

This reminds me of a great scene in The First Shop of Coffee Prince where one of the customers requested the waiter to take out all the seeds in his kiwi drink xD

OUR GALAXY HAS A SPARKLING FUTURE. 
Astronomers have discovered that some planets in the Milky Way may contain enough carbon to produce an entire underground layer of diamonds. Bonus: As the galaxy ages, diamond planets will form more frequently. Beam me up, Scotty. 

That's insane. That sounds like it'll be a while before production will yield any results. Also, who's Scotty?? Lol

IF YOU LAUGH A LOT, YOU CAN SKIP THE GYM.
After having subjects watch a 15-minute segment of the Woody Harrelson comedy Kingpin, cardiologists concluded that laughter creates the same increase in blood flow as aerobic exercise. Proof that our DVD collection was a better investment than our treadmill. Also proof that cardiologists need to see funnier movies: Kingpin??

You also work out your abs xD

Minus the botox thing, the other 13 reasons to be happy sit pretty well with me.

Western vs Eastern Culture ;D

Something Celsius showed me today:

Icons by Liu Young [born in China, educated in Germany]

Blue: Westerner 
Red: Asia

Opinion:

Way of Life:

Punctuality:

Contacts:

Anger:

Queue When Waiting:

Sundays On The Road:

Party:

What's Trendy:

Travelling:

Handling of Problems:

Three Meals A Day:

Transportation:

Elderly In Day-To-Day Life:

Moods And Weather:

The Boss:

In The Restaurant:

Children:

My favorite are Anger, What's Trendy, Handling of Problems, and The Boss xD

By the way, I really want Fu An and Dong Jie to get together in Easy Fortune Happy Life, but I know it's not gonna happen cause he's friend-zoned -.-' also. Celsius' comment on episode 8 :D "-sigh- yan da feng...should fall into a hole" xDD

The Fantastic Blue?

Lol it's Fahrenheit. Not sure what this is exactly but I found it on my desktop today when I was going through their old pictures xD

A Short Story

Chun's Wisedom: That’s LIFE, and LOVE 

Credit: aiwa@frh globa1

That’s LIFE, and LOVE (a story posted by Chun)

My husband is S/W Engineer by profession, I love him for his steady nature and I love the warm feeling when I lean against his broad shoulders.

Two years of courtship and now, five years into marriage, I would have to admit, that I am getting tired of it.

I am a sentimental woman and extremely sensitive when it comes to a relationship and my feelings. My husband is my complete opposite; his lack of sensitivity, and the inability of bringing romantic moments into our marriage has disheartened me about LOVE.

One day, I finally decided to tell him my decision, that I wanted a divorce.

"Why? " he asked, shocked.

"I am tired. There are no reasons for everything in the world !" I answered.

He kept silent the whole night, seemingly in deep thought. My feeling of disappointment only increased. Here was a man who was not able to even express his predicament, so what else could I expect from him?

And finally he asked me: "What can I do to change your mind?"

Looking deep into his eyes I slowly answered: "Here is the question.

Let's say, I want a flower located on the face of a mountain cliff, and we both are sure that picking the flower will cause your death. Will you do it for me?"

He said: " I will give you your answer tomorrow...." My hopes just sank by listening to his response.

I woke up the next morning to find him gone, and saw a piece of paper with his scratchy handwriting that goes....

My dear, "I would not pick that flower for you, but....please allow me to explain the reasons further.....

This first line was already breaking my heart. I continued reading.

"When you use the computer you always mess up the Software programs, and you cry in front of the screen. I have to save my fingers so that I can help to restore the programs.

You always leave the house keys behind, thus I have to save my legs to rush home to open the door for you.

You love traveling but always lose your way in a new city. I have to save my eyes to show you the way.

You always have the cramps whenever your "good friend" approaches every month. I have to save my palms so that I can calm the cramps in your tummy.

You like to stay indoors, and I worry that you will be infected by infantile autism. I have to save my mouth to tell you jokes and stories to cure your boredom.

You always stare at the computer, and that will do nothing good for your eyes. I have to save
my eyes so that when we grow old, I can help to clip your nails and help to remove those annoying white hairs. So I can also hold your hand while strolling down the beach, as you enjoy the sunshine and the beautiful sand...

Thus, my dear, unless I am sure that there is someone who loves you more than I do... I could not pick that flower yet, and die ... "

My tears fell on the letter, and blurred the ink of his handwriting...

That's LIFE, and LOVE. When one is surrounded by love, the feeling of excitement fades away, and one tends to ignore the true love that lies in between the peace and dullness.

Love shows up in all forms; even in very small and cheeky forms. It has never been a model. It
could be the dullest and most boring form ...

Flowers, and romantic moments are only used and appear on the surface of the relationship. Under all this, the pillar of true love stands... AND THAT'S LIFE

People often goes for romantic gestures, surprises and sweet words whispered into their ears. We fall in love and feel loved because of these so called romantic moments.

But the truth is romantic moments cannot show how much a person loves you. They merely create the feeling of being loved. 

Aiwa's Comment: 
omg..it's so touching T_T Chun wants to remind everyone that when people are in love, they forget about it and take it for granted, and would complain that they don't get enough love, but they don't realize they are being loved the whole time...so cherish your loved ones, and be thankful of what you have, cuz you're actually happier than you think

Celsius' Comment:
agrees with aiwa~ very nice story ~ more touching than the ones shown on tv. I like how it defies the cliche thinking of dying for love. If you die, whose going to take care of your "other"? Anyway, the bigger message here is stated by aiwa. Happiness is when you learn to cherish things you have.

Kiwi's Comment:
Sigh...... I guess all of that makes a lot of sense. Though I don't like how the message it conveys has a negative connotation to it -- like it's telling us that after the initial excitement of love (which is all an act apparently because it fools your mind into THINKING that you are loved), dull boring days follow it and romance fades away... making life.. evermore depressing.