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February 14th has long been celebrated as Saint Valentine’s Day when lovers exchange cards and gifts as tokens of their love for each other. The origins of this holiday are disputed by many experts.

Some experts feel that the origins of Valentine’s Day may be traced to the ancient Romans and their February celebration of Lupercalia, although this celebration had nothing to do with romance. This festival was held on February 15th and was closely associated with fertility. Roman men would run naked through the streets, striking out into the crowd with shaggy thongs. As it was believed that to be struck could help a woman become pregnant or aid a pregnant woman in childbirth, these females would purposely step into the path of these blows. The word Lupericalia comes from lupus (wolf) and is closely connected with the she-wolf that suckled Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome. This festival was only local to Rome and was abolished by Pope Gelasius I in the 490s.

There are several Christian martyrs who bear the name Valentine and whose saint day is February 14th. There was Valentine of Rome who suffered martyrdom in AD 269 and was buried on the Via Flaminia. His relics are located at the Church of Saint Praxed in Rome and at Whitefriar Street Carmelite Church in Dublin, Ireland. Due to the location of the latter relic, this Valentine may have been well known on the British Isles. Another Valentine was Valentine of Terni, who was martyred in AD 197 and is buried in a different section of Via Flaminia. Since his relics are present at the Basilica of Saint Valentine in Terni, he was probably not as well known in northern Europe. Neither of these Valentines had anything to do with love or romance. Other than their names and the date of their saint day, these saints have no connection to Valentine’s Day.

The idea that this celebration is associated with lovers seems to have been introduced by Geoffrey Chaucer in 1382 in his work Parlement of Foules. This poem was written to honor King Richard II upon his marriage to Anne of Bohemia. As Chaucer refers to birds mating, it seems likely that he was not writing about February 14th as English winters were cold and the birds would probably not have been present. Another St. Valentine had his saint day on May 2nd, which would be a more reasonable time for birds to be mating.

The conception of Valentine’s Day as a day for lovers began in the United States in the 1840s by Esther Howland whose father owned a large stationery store. She began to mass produce valentines that lovers could send to each other based on an English valentine that she had received. The purchase of these cards has led to Valentine’s Day being the second largest holiday for card manufacturers, second only to Christmas.

Since the 1950s, lovers have been giving gifts as well as cards. These gifts include roses and candy. The diamond industry began to promote jewelry as the perfect Valentine’s gift in the 1980s. Today, flowers and candy are still given, as well as jewelry and various gift baskets which can be filled with chocolate or wine and cheese.

While many people may think that Valentine’s Day is an ancient celebration, the association that the holiday has with lovers turns out to have been developed as a commercial venture. Perhaps we should stick with the story about the ancient tradition. Sometimes fiction is much more romantic than the truth.

We have baby gift baskets that are cute and practical. Perfect for the newborn and new moms. For more information, visit this article on baby gift baskets.

Have you ever asked yourself this question: Do you wonder if the life you are living right now is as good as it gets?

So many of us question our happiness or our lives and wonder if this is the real thing or if we could improve upon it in any way. The fact of the matter is that a lot of people are happy and you have the ability to be happy, as well. That’s right, you have the ability to be happy, meaning it’s an active choice you have to make.

Being happy is being able to find contentment in your life. Using happiness affirmations you may be better able to realize that you have every reason to be happy. It doesn’t mean that life is perfect, but when you are able to focus on the good things in your life, it makes the not-so-good things more tolerable. Incorporating free positive affirmations into your life can help you realize how happy you actually are.

What are Happiness Affirmations?

Happiness affirmations are something that a lot of positive people use to remind themselves that life is good! It’s easy to focus on the things that stress us out or make us mad, but in the moment, where you could allow these things to overcome you, you could instead use free positive affirmations to remind yourself of all of the good things in your life. Happiness affirmations give you the power to make any situation a positive one.

Not sure that happiness affirmations are for you? Many people feel silly using affirmations when they first get started, so don’t think you are alone in that. You don’t have to be obvious about using them to change your life. Instead, you can find free positive affirmations that work well for you or speak to you and you can say them to yourself when you get up in the morning or when you are having a bad day. Other people write them down and put them next to their mirror so they see them each morning or on their desktop wallpaper background on their computer. These simple happiness affirmations may be strange to you when you get started, but after awhile you will have proof that they work and you will likely be a bit more open about it!

If you are having a hard time finding anything to be happy about, why not give happiness affirmations a try? When you learn how to think and reflect about your life, you will find that you have a lot of great things that have gone uncelebrated for far too long.

A lot of us just get caught up in the stresses of daily life and we have a tendency to focus on the negative things instead of the positive things. You can use free positive affirmations to help you make the most of the good things in your life, which will make the imperfections pale in comparison. And once you realize just how unimportant these imperfections are, it will be so much easier to transform a negative outlook into a pleasant, positive one.

When you use happiness affirmations you are putting out into the world what you want to get back, which is happiness, and it works!

Ronnie Nijmeh is an accomplished author, speaker and coach. He is the president and founder of ACQYR.com, a inspirational resource with free motivational wallpapers, powerful affirmations, inspirational articles and much more. Learn more about ACQYR’s free positive affirmations.

We live in a fast paced world and most of us have so many responsibilities on an every day basis that it’s often hard to find a moment of peace each day. If you feel like your world is spiraling out of control there is still a chance to find peace in your day. How? Well, it as simple as using peaceful affirmations each and every day.

Using affirmations can help you find the peace in your life, even if it is only for a few moments every day. You’ll feel grounded and focused on what really matters in your life.

Free positive affirmations are not hard to come by and they can help you cope with all of the demands on you.

How Peaceful Affirmations Work

If you have never used peaceful affirmations before you might find that they are easier to incorporate into your daily life than you would think. Peaceful affirmations are just little statements that you can say to yourself whenever you are in need of a bit of tranquility. Finding peace in your day may be as simple as reciting free positive affirmations to yourself on your way to work in the morning or before you go to bed at night. Reciting these things often creates a lifeline to peace that is very much needed by a lot of people.

Peace is often hard to come by when your boss is demanding things of you, your spouse is nagging you, and the kids are in need of attention. Instead of getting frustrated with the lack of peace surrounding you, why not create it for yourself? You can pause for just a few seconds and repeat peaceful affirmations that will help you feel more peaceful from within. When you are putting peaceful statements out there, your body and mind are opening up to receive that peace. After all, the only thing you can control is yourself and your thoughts. So if you choose peace, peace is sure to come back to you.

You’ll find that when you start using free positive affirmations on a regular basis that you feel better and are able to find a bit of peace in the most intense moments of your life. Not only will you benefit from this, but the people around you will be able to, as well. Because you feel more peaceful or have something to lean on in those crazy moments, you will be able to handle these situations with a more positive nature. When you approach situations like this everyone will realize it, and as a result they will likely be more positive and peaceful, as well. After all, it’s not just the bad attitudes that rub off on others - positive feelings can, too!

As you can see, peaceful affirmations are not just good for you, but they are good for those around you. If you find even one or two free positive affirmations that you can put to use, you’ll find that you are a lot more at peace and better able to handle the stresses that you deal with every day.

Many people believe that peace cannot be found, but this is not at all the case, sometimes you just have to create your own inner peace and this can easily be done with peaceful affirmations.

Ronnie Nijmeh is the Chief Inspiration Officer at ACQYR.com - a resource that provides free positive affirmations motivational articles, and free desktop wallpapers. Get inspired!

Do you ever feel like you simply can’t deal with all of the pressure that is placed on you on a daily basis? Are you being pressured to complete many different tasks at the same time? Are you having a hard time getting anything done because the pressure is like the weight of the earth on your shoulders?

We have all been in situations like this and, instead of letting the pressure get the best of you, you need to choose positivity. You can stay positive and combat the pressure with pressure affirmations.

What are Pressure Affirmations?

“Pressure affirmations” are positive statements that will help you get through high pressure or intense situations more easily. Sometimes you just need a little help believing in yourself and believing that you can get done what needs to get done. Other times you need to choose a positive attitude so you can deal with the people around you who are stressing you out.

Free positive affirmations are things that you can easily make a part of your daily life so that you are able to control those high pressure situations without letting your emotions get the best of you.

Transform Negative Energy into Positive Power

When you make use of pressure affirmations you will find that you can take the negative power out of these situations and turn it into power that you can use to push yourself. When you break down situations in this way, you will find that you can use the wasted energy (spent worrying) for good, and you will likely be able to get through high pressure situations much easier. Free positive affirmations help you look at your life and the situations that you encounter in a more positive light.

You may not realize it, but having pressure placed on you is actually a good thing and when you begin using pressure affirmations you will see this for yourself. If you didn’t feel pressured to get something done, you likely won’t even bother trying, in fact you may not even set your alarm so you could get up in the morning and get things done.

Through free positive affirmations you will realize that pressure and stress can be a good thing, it’s just how you deal with it. Pressure affirmations simply help you take the pressure and use it for good instead of allowing it to break you down or make you feel inadequate.

Free positive affirmations are not hard to come by, in fact you may already be using pressure affirmations and not even realize it. The problem is that many of us don’t listen to these little positive messages that we say to ourselves, and so they are not as effective as they should be. If you use power affirmations and you allow them to truly change the way you live, they can help you deal with the pressure that you encounter every day and make good use of it! Why not start using positive affirmations today to see how they can help you change your life and be more productive and positive?

Ronnie Nijmeh is the Chief Inspiration Officer at ACQYR.com, a motivational website with free positive affirmations, motivational articles, and free wallpaper downloads. Learn how you can get inspired today.

Are you going through one of those times in your life where it feels like pressure and stress is coming down on you from every direction? The saying “when it rains it pours” is often a good description of the way we feel when we are stressed out. It can be easy to decide that you simply cannot deal with the excessive pressures that have been placed on you, but giving up like this is the easy way out. You deserve better from yourself!

You can fight back against the pressures using affirmations targeting excessive pressures. Free positive affirmations will help you look at the pressures that you are struggling with and make them have a purpose.

It may not feel like it right now, but did you know that pressure is a good thing? It’s true that excessive pressure can make the best of us crumble, but it doesn’t have to. You just have to learn how to deal with the pressures that are placed on you in the most positive way. The way that you can do this is by learning some pressure affirmations. These seemingly simple statements can help you break down the overwhelming sources of pressure so that you can deal with them in a more constructive way.

There’s a Purpose to Excessive Pressures?

Pressure affirmations remind us that there is a purpose behind the pressure, usually to keep us going. When you begin to look at all of the pressures that are raining down on you in this way you will find that they can actually motivate you, which will make getting through this hard time a lot easier. Free positive affirmations can help remind you that you are a strong person and you are capable of taking on anything. When you give the excessive pressures in your life a purpose you will find that they are not as cumbersome as they once were!

What if you could turn the crippling pressures in your life into motivation to push forward, would you do it? Are you thinking that this may not be possible because the weight of the world is on your shoulders?

The fact is that anyone can use free positive affirmations and take whatever is stressing them out, pressuring them, or tearing them down physically and emotionally and make it work for them. These short little sayings will remind you that you have the power to control these pressures. You have the power to harness these pressures and use them to move you forward.

Instead of simply throwing your hands up in the air and giving in to excessive pressure, learn and use a few free positive affirmations instead. Repeat positive statements to yourself constantly, such as: “I am confident and capable of tackling anything that comes my way.”

You will be surprised what these positive thoughts can do to help you move forward and make what seemed like an insurmountable task much easier. Life isn’t easy and you are going to encounter high stress and excessive pressures from time to time, but how you deal with them will determine how successful you are under pressure. Use free positive affirmations to your advantage every time, you’ll be better for it!

Ronnie Nijmeh is the president and founder of ACQYR.com - a resource that provides free desktop wallpapers, motivational articles, and inspirational affirmations. Read more free positive affirmations.

Procrastination can do away with the best laid plans, yet we are all guilty of procrastinating from time to time. This is just the way the human mind deals with some things, be it because they are overwhelming or just require more focus or energy than we are willing to give at any one time. If procrastination is something that you want to do away with, you don’t have to only wish for it to be, you can make it a reality through procrastination affirmations.

That’s right, affirmations can help you tackle your procrastination!

Free positive affirmations can be incorporated into your daily life to remind you that you choose not to put off tomorrow what you can do today. The problem with procrastinating is that, while we put things off to make today easier, we are actually making tomorrow more difficult. Simple, isn’t it?

What Procrastination Affirmations Can Do For You

Procrastination affirmations can remind you that today is a great opportunity to relieve the stresses of tomorrow. After all, each day is inter-connected! Through these free positive affirmations you can teach yourself to think about things in a whole new manner, which will allow you to do away with the idea of procrastination altogether.

There are many different procrastination affirmations out there for you to choose from; in fact you may be able to create your own based on what you know about yourself and how procrastination affects your daily life. If you cannot create one on your own, don’t worry, there are plenty of free positive affirmations. You should incorporate these into your life at every turn, as this will help you change your mindset much faster.

Some people repeat these procrastination affirmations to themselves when they get out of bed in the morning and others say them before heading off to work or attempting to do things that they know that they are likely to put off otherwise.

You can stop procrastinating today with the help of procrastination affirmations. Remember, we tend to do and be what we think of ourselves. It’s essentially a self-fulfilling prophecy. So think and be positive, and you’ll feel and act it too!

Many people say of their procrastinating that it is simply part of who they are and they can’t change it, but this can’t be further from the truth. Don’t settle for a life made harder by putting things off when they can be done today, instead, put free positive affirmations to work for you and see how you can change your life, starting right this very moment.

If procrastination is something that you want to stop doing, seize the moment and don’t put off making free positive affirmations a part of your life. Find one of the many procrastination affirmations that work for you and apply it right this moment. If you wait, you may put off using procrastination affirmations, and how much sense does that make?

You can truly change your life just by giving yourself positive reminders every day that your life is what you make of it, so make the most of today! Make yesterday the last day you’ll put off something ’til tomorrow that can be done today!

Ronnie Nijmeh is the president and founder of ACQYR.com, a motivational website with free wallpaper downloads, positive affirmations, motivational articles and much more. Visit now to read some free positive affirmations and personal reflections.

There are millions of students world-wide enrolled in psychology degree programs at this very moment. Spending years of their lives learning basic structures and principles of how the human mind processes feelings and events. Do all people actually fit into the framework of a set standard?

A fairly new phenomenon is starting to sweep across the globe, Life coaching. This reasonably new form of coaching ties its roots to executive coaching. The basic aim is to help realize, time-line, and achieve your personal goals. Sounds simple enough to do on our own, doesn’t it?

When you take into consideration the normal work load of an up and coming professional and then add to it the daily stress of everyday life, some aspect of his/her life will suffer.

This is where our life coach can become useful. Unlike psychologists, sociologists, and other degree holders, life coaches try to find the answers from within the person.

There are four self-accreditation bodies that are internationally recognized: the International Coaching Council (ICC), the International Coach Federation (ICF), the International Association of Coaching (IAC), and the European Coaching Institute (ECI). Each of these is privately-owned and is not monitored by an independent supervisory board.

They do, however, all follow the same industry standard. Mentoring, behavior modification, and goal-setting, are the core values of their teachings.

Many successful persons in the business world are believers in the positive affect that life coaching offers. We employ coaching strategies into most aspects of our daily lives. It can be as simple as a plan for the supermarket, progressing into something as intricate as a 10-year plan for our future.

In most psycho analytic professions, the past and why we are who we are is the main focus. Life coaching, on the other hand, looks into the clients’ future and tries to help them become the person they want to be.

The main plan of most life coaches is to ask their clients questions and teach them how to find the answer from within themselves. The majority of coaches believe that the persons they mentor have the tools to achieve their individual goals, but are focusing too much energy in the wrong places.

To simplify all of this into easier terms: imagine yourself as a car and your life coach as your steering wheel, you are the one in control of how fast or slow you go. Does that make sense to you?

Now, think of your career, your family, your goals, your successes, and your failures, as the road that lies ahead. Every road that we drive on always has hills and some bumps, but the majority of us always make it to our final destination just fine.

This is where a good life coach comes in handy again. It’s a good idea to have someone in the passenger seat when the road in our life comes to a fork. Do you turn right or do you turn left? Your mentor is there to help you understand what lies down each of those roads, but to let you make the decision for yourself which one to take.

Believe Lifestyle Centre offers life coaching services in Melbourne Australia. Please visit our website for more information.

Stress at work is not a new phenomenon. These days, in modern lifestyles, the nature of work has gone really stressful. One needs to do a lot in order to stay ahead in competition.

Most people don’t even realize that they are undergoing a lot of stress in their life. They don’t have time to realize that they are under stress.

Work stress is a type of chronic disease. It is caused by different conditions in the workplace that negatively affect an individual’s performance. This also affect overall well being of body and mind of the person.

In certain cases, job stress can even be quite disabling. According to a study, one must go for psychiatric consultation. This will let him or her validate the reason and degree of stress related to work.

Sometimes working on a project also causes a lot of stress. The early stages of job stress are not much irritating as it can enhance the performance due to the efforts put in to the whole thing.

However, in case, the condition goes unchecked the body faces stress on a regular basis the body tends to get affected adversely.

If you want to know whether you suffer from work stress, here are certain symptoms you need to look for:

• Insomnia or sleeplessness

• Family conflict or constant dispute

• Lack of mental concentration

• Anxiety

• Depression

• Extreme anger

• Frustration

• Physical illnesses such as migraine, stomach problems, headaches, heart disease and back problems.

• Substance abuse

• Absenteeism on a frequent basis without any regular reason

There are several causes of work stress. Here are some of the visible ones that would let you know how to handle work stress.

1) Insecurity at work place

These days, one requires to do a lot at job in order to survive the tough competition. There is a lot of reorganization, mergers, takeovers, and downsizing. All these situations lead to stress for employees. They need to work hard to survive and let their organization survive the competition.

2) Demand for performance

Today, employers, managers and team leaders keep unrealistic expectations and set unrealistic goals for their employees. This results in unhealthy and unreasonable pressures on the employee.

Now, this can be really tremendous and the person may suffer from serious depression. Big targets make employees work for long hours and physically stressed out. They may also require to travel a lot and too much time away from family results in emotional stress.

3) Balance

For woman, it becomes really difficult to strike a balance between work and home. After spending stressful work hours, it becomes difficult to work at home. There may be situations where women face sexual harassment at work place.

It is easy to cope up with stress at work if you want to. You can do a lot of things to keep yourself away from stress. Here are some tips:

• Don’t give in to alcohol

• Don’t cheat on your spouse

• Develop positive attitude towards stress

• Find time to refresh yourself whenever you get time

• Take a short leave and enjoy with your family.

For more Articles, News, Information, Advice, and Resources about STRESS please visit STRESS TIPS and FREE FROM STRESS and MEDITATION ADVICE

Stress management has become an important factor in an individual’s life, these days. This is because most of us feel stressed out more frequently. When stressed out, it is natural to look out for some options that would make us feel relaxed. Stress management is something that would provide us the kind of relief we want from our lives.

Stress is unavoidable and hence, it is very important to find out different ways to stay away from incidents full of stress and reduce the amount of negative reactions to stress.

Here are some tips that you can follow to make your life beautiful and stress free.

• Be aware of stressors and your reactions toward them

You should notice your distress. Never ignore it. Try to make out what tends to distress you more. Notice the way your body responds to stress.

• Stay away from negative self talk

Most of us don’t realize but we tend to become pessimistic at most situations. A lot of stress is created from what we talk to ourselves. Our ‘should’ and ‘musts’ tend to put us in great trouble. You should take out some time for yourself and listen to the messages coming to you from your inner self.

Whenever, you happen to engage yourself in negative self talk, replace the thought instantly and replace the thought with a realistic one. The whole process may take some time but it is worth practicing. In the long run, you would be benefited a lot from these exercises.

• Face the reality

You should know exactly what you can change and what you cannot. Building a sense of control within yourself can reduce a lot of stress. Some situations are away from our personal influence. Hence, it is important to accept. Believe in the phrase ‘whatever happens, happens for the best.’

• Build up your physical reserves

You need to exercise. This will improve your cardiovascular fitness. Walk, swim, cycle or jog. These exercises will help you maintain a healthy body and also work towards relieving stress.

• Diet

Focus on your diet. Eat a well balanced but nutritious diet. This will let you maintain your ideal weight, avoid nicotine and excessive in take of coffee.

• Don’t make a fuss about little things

Making maintains out of molehill will only increase stress level in body.

• Be kind

You need to talk to your friends and be kind to yourself in order to remove stress in your life.

• Loosen your body

Stop frowning. Just laugh. It is better to have laugh lives on your face rather than frown lines.

• Let others pitch in

Don’t bother to do everything by yourself. Let others help you in doing certain tasks.

• Walk

If you can’t join a fitness program, don’t worry. You can walk away your stress via going for short or long walks in your leisure time.

Stress management is not a difficult task. It is easy if you follow all the useful tips mentioned above. All the best!

For more Articles, News, Information, Advice, and Resources about STRESS please visit STRESS TIPS and FREE FROM STRESS and MEDITATION ADVICE

A stress ball can be defined as a malleable toy. It is about seven centimeters in diameter. It is squeezed in the hand and then manipulated by the fingers. This exercise helps a lot in relieving stress as well as the muscle tension. This is also a good exercise for hand muscles.

Many types of stress balls are available on the market, these days. Some of them are available in the form of a closed-cell polyurethane foam rubber.

This kind of stress ball is created by injecting liquid components of a foam into a mold. The chemical reaction that results forms bubbles of carbon dioxide and ultimately comes out in the form of a foam.

Stress ball recommended for physical therapy contain gel of various densities. The gel is placed inside a cloth or rubber skin. There is another type of stress ball that is made via using a thin rubber membrane that surrounds a fine powder.

A stress ball can also be made at home via filling a balloon with baking soda. Some balls look like foot bag and are marketed and used widely as stress balls.

The name ‘Stress ball’ may indicate that the shape of this substance is spherical. However, these are available in various amusing shapes, spot printed or screen printed. Some are also available with corporate logos. These make great gifts to clients and employees.

Stress balls can play a major role in decreasing stress injuries. Due to the shape these balls are available in; they are known as stress relievers and also make a great corporate promotional product.

Stress balls are wonderful options to relieve stress. Whenever the hand is turned in to a fist, you would notice certain muscle tension. This muscle tension may also be experienced if you don’t have anything in the palm. As soon as the grip of fist is released the muscle tension eases.

The cycle of creating a muscular tension and thereafter releasing it in the basic principle that works with stress balls.

It is better to have something in hand instead of making an empty fist and releasing it frequently. These days, stress balls are very famous with computer professionals.

You can also make your own stress balls at home. The activity will be fun and help you to reduce a lot of stress.

Balloon Stress Ball - Instruction

i) Blow a small thick balloon half way.

ii) Pinch and hold the balloon tight about one inch from the hole.

iii) Place a small funnel inside the opening of the balloon.

iv) Now pour cornstarch in to the funnel.

v) Now gradually release the top of the balloon so that the cornstarch slides in to balloon

vi) Keep adding cornstarch until the balloon is 3 inches in diameter.

vii) Now tighter the end of the balloon and let the air come out slowly.

viii) Tie the balloon tightly near the cornstarch.

A stress ball is a great tool to manage stress. Buy one for yourself now or make one on your own.

For more Articles, News, Information, Advice, and Resources about STRESS please visit STRESS TIPS and FREE FROM STRESS and MEDITATION ADVICE