Launch your career at CareerFest 2017

The Morning Thing shared some information about the upcoming CareerFest 2017.

It will be held on Friday, February 3 from 10am – 2pm at the Ohio Expo Center, 717 E. 17th Ave. in Columbus.

Find a job, internship, or graduate school at one of Ohio’s largest career fairs.

Gary Swisher from the Mount Vernon Nazarene University Career Development Office talks about how to get registered for this event and the benefits for students.
Click HERE to hear his conversation with Morning Thing co-host Jenna Potts.

January 24, 2017 0

It is Global Belly Laugh Day! Let’s LAUGH!

January 24 is Global Belly Laugh Day. Today we can celebrate the GREAT Gift of Laughter.

Join The Morning Thing today for the “Belly Laugh Bounce Around the World”.
Today, at 1:24 p.m. (local time) smile, throw your arms in the air and laugh out loud.
When you join this Global Belly Laugh, please record it and send your video to wnzr@mvnu.edu
We would LOVE to keep sharing the laughter with you.
Laughs and smiles are sunshine that transform our moments 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on the 7 continents. Click HERE to read more about how to connect, create and celebrate laughter.

Today, Marcy, Dan and Andy shared some laughs with you as they told Christian jokes.
Click HERE for a list of these silly jokes.
Click HERE to hear these 3 silly radio DJs tell jokes and laugh. 🙂

What happens when we laugh?
We get the fuel to thrive and flourish when we laugh.

(From www.bellylaughday.com)

A Good Hearty Laugh

Even looking forward to having a good laugh can boost your immune system and reduce stress. University of California-Irvine study shows that even knowing you will be involved in a positive humorous event days in advance reduces levels of stress hormones in the blood and increases levels of chemicals known to aid relaxation.
Laughter appears to cause the tissue that forms the inner lining of blood vessels, the endothelium, to dilate or expand in order to increase blood flow.
Playful laughing fuels positive energy, creativity and connection.
Boosts immune functions.
Increase’s pain tolerance.
Exercises facial, abdominal and chest muscles.
Oxygenates the blood.
Improves brain functioning.
We are more alert, creative, we think better after a laugh.
Laughing changes our mood. Boosts Positive Emotions.

A Sense of Humor

How Does Your Sense of Humor Impact your heart?
The University of Maryland laughter research
A sense of humor fuels positive energy, connection and creativity.
Use humor during challenging times to transform situations.
Use humor to arouse curiosity and engage in divergent or creative thinking.
“‘Humor in children has been correlated with higher intelligence, creativity, sociability, empathy, self-esteem, and problem solving.
Louis Franzini, Ph.D.
author of Kids Who Laugh: How to Develop Your Child’s Sense of Humor
“Humor is a powerful force that can nourish children’s growth, development, health, and sense of well-being.”
Amelia J. Klein, editor
Humor in Children’s Lives: A Guidebook for Practitioners

Smiling

Smiling is Million Dollar Habit.
“There are five habits you can develop to assure wonderful
human relationships, both at home and work.
They are: acceptance, appreciation, admiration, approval, and attention.
The simplest way to express acceptance of another person
is simply to smile each time you see him or her.”
Brian Tracy, Million Dollar Habits
Malcolm Gladwell writes in Blink pages 206, “Ekman said, “What we discovered is that that expression alone is sufficient to create marked changes in the autonomic nervous system.”
Increase activity of the zygomatic muscles (the smiling muscles)
creates positive emotions. The corregator muscle, the muscle of frowning and startle responses increase negative emotions.
page 191
Dr. Bob Arnot, The Biology of Success
“Children are so receptive to a smile that if a parent could make just one change in a thirty day period to vastly improve their parenting style, I would suggest smiling more often at their children and offering more hugs and affection.
Read the Big Smiling Oath at breakfast with your family, and share stories at dinnertime each evening – and there will be stories.”
Diana Loomans
What All Children Want Their Parents to Know:12 Keys to Raising a Happy Child

Laughter can help our health! Click HERE for the entire article about 7 benefits of laughter.

1. LOWERS BLOOD PRESSURE

People who lower their blood pressure will reduce their risk of stroke and heart attack.

2. REDUCES STRESS HORMONE LEVELS

By reducing the level of stress hormones, you’re simultaneously cutting the anxiety and stress that impacts your body. Additionally, the reduction of stress hormones may result in higher immune system performance.

3. WORKS YOUR ABS

One of the benefits of laughter is that it can help you tone your abs. When you are laughing, the muscles in your stomach expand and contract, similar to when you intentionally exercise your abs.

4. IMPROVES CARDIAC HEALTH

Laughter is a great cardio workout, especially for those who are incapable of doing other physical activity due to injury or illness. It gets your heart pumping and burns a similar amount of calories per hour as walking at a slow to moderate pace. So, laugh your heart into health.

5. BOOSTS T-CELLS

T-cells are specialized immune system cells just waiting in your body for activation. When you laugh, you activate T-cells that immediately begin to help you fight off sickness. Next time you feel a cold coming on, add chuckling to your illness prevention plan.

6. TRIGGERS THE RELEASE OF ENDORPHINS

Endorphins are the body’s natural painkillers. By laughing, you can release endorphins, which can help ease chronic pain and make you feel good all over.

7. PRODUCES A GENERAL SENSE OF WELL-BEING

Laughter can increase your overall sense of well-being. Doctors have found that people who have a positive outlook on life tend to fight diseases better than people who tend to be more negative. So smile, laugh, and live longer!

January 24, 2017 0

It is National Pie Day! Yummy! The Morning Thing 1/23/17

It’s National Pie Day!

Everybody loves pie, arguably one of the greatest and most versatile food structures known to mankind. Sweet, savory, filled with gravy or sauce, pies come in all shapes, sizes and flavors. Why not celebrate this Pie Day by making a pie from scratch, using your favorite fillings? If you have a recipe that you would like to share with us, email it to wnzr@mvnu.edu

We found 10 super creative pie recipes for your celebrations!
Click HERE to access these yummy recipes.

Marcy’s favorite is a cake/pie – Red Velvet Fudge Pie.
Click HERE for the recipe.

Dan’s favorite is a recipe for S’mores and Marshmallows Pie
Click HERE for the recipe.

January 23, 2017 0

Celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day – celebrate his legacy.

(picture from www.biography.com)

Today is a special day in the United States – it is Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
(From www.nationaldaycalendar.com)
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is on the third Monday in January. Martin Luther King Jr
(January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American clergyman, activist and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience. King has become a national icon in the history of American progressivism. Hundreds of streets in the U.S. have been renamed in his honor.

Click HERE for more on this special day. Plus check out the dates for this special day for the next several years.
DATES
January 16, 2017
January 15, 2018
January 21, 2019
January 20, 2020

How much do you really know about Martin Luther King Junior?
We found a list of 10 interesting facts about this amazing man from www.history.com

Click HERE to see the list and get to know Martin Luther King Jr. even better.

January 16, 2017 0

A Look Back At 2016

Today on the Morning Thing, we focused on taking a look back at this year.

We shared some interesting events that happened throughout the year, including:

Jan 6 “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” breaks North American box office record, passing the $760.5m taken by “Avatar”
An unprecedented $1.6 billion Powerball jackpot that became a national fascination was split three ways, by mystery winners in Florida, Tennessee and California on January 13th
Jan 16 First ever flower grown in space – a zinnia aboard the International Space Station using NASA Veggie system
Feb 28 Actor Leonardo DiCaprio (finally!) won the Oscar for Best Actor
Mar 20 Barak Obama becomes the first US President to visit Cuba since 1928, arriving for a 2 day tour
On April 20 Harriet Tubman, an African-American abolitionist born into slavery, will be the new face on the $20 bill.
On April 21st Queen Elizabeth II — Britain’s oldest and longest-serving monarch — celebrated her 90th birthday
In May, NASA announced the Kepler mission has verified 1,284 new planets — the single largest finding of planets to date
On May 28 – A special Cincinnati Zoo response team shot and killed Harambe, a beloved 17-year-old western lowland gorilla, that grabbed and dragged a 4-year-old boy who had fallen into the gorilla exhibit moat.
The Rio Games, the first in South America, were a 16-day spectacle that combined numerous highlight reel moments with ugly and even bizarre episodes. American gymnast Simone Biles asserted her dominance with four golds, swimmer Michael Phelps added five more to up his staggering total to 23 and the world’s fastest man, Usain Bolt, put on his usual show with three golds just days before turning 30 years old.

You can find more of this years top headlines by clicking here and here.

We also honored some of those who passed away this year, including David Bowie, Prince, John Glenn, and Carrie Fisher. For a complete list of those we lost this year, click here.

We wrapped up the show by talking about some of the most watched TV shows and movies of the year. To see who topped the charts, head over here and here.

Have an awesome Wednesday!

December 28, 2016 0

It’s Look on the Bright Side Day! The Morning Thing helps you beat the holiday blues. 12/21/16

It is “Look on the Bright Side Day” – a day to look on the positive side of life and beat the holiday blues.
Click HERE to read more about the history of this special day.

A positive mindset can actually help in many different ways.

• Increased life span.
• Lower rates of depression.
• Lower levels of distress.
• Greater resistance to the common cold.
• Better psychological and physical well-being.
• Reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease.
• Better coping skills during hardships and times of stress.

In honor of “Look on the Bright Side Day”, we shared 10 different ways to beat the holiday blues.
Click HERE for the full article from http://meanttobehappy.com/

10 WAYS TO HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS

1. CONNECT TO THE DEEPER MEANING OF THE SEASON

By connecting to the deeper meaning of the season, your Christmas celebration can itself be deeper, more meaningful, and therefore more perspective-shifting and happiness-inspiring.

2. SERVE SOMEONE

Sadness is inward-looking. Service is its opposite. So go make someone else’s life better, and watch what happens to yours. Joy will start to replace sorrow. Meaning and purpose will begin to reinsert itself into the holiday experience. Self-pity will give way to a growing appreciation for the bounty of life.

3. CELEBRATE THE SEASON WITH FORGIVENESS

Of all the gifts you give this year, perhaps the most meaningful and life-changing will be the gift of forgiveness you offer someone who has offended you. And here’s the surprise: You will likely benefit the most from forgiving than the person you forgive; it’s as much a gift to yourself as it is to the offender.

4. MAKE IT FUN AND FESTIVE

Get out the lights. Put up the tree. Blast the tunes. Decorate. Dance around the house. Invite others over to dance with you. Sing carols. Pop some popcorn. Watch a funny holiday movie (Elf is our favorite). Laugh out loud.

Get into the season. Don’t wait around for the season to get into you!

5. CREATE A NEW “FAMILY”

If sadness overwhelms the holidays because of loss or divorce or estrangement or distance, start now to create a new “family” of friends you can celebrate Christmas with. If you don’t make friends very quickly, join a club and volunteer to participate on special projects. It’s often in such settings where people with shared interests and values engaged in meaningful service that relationships grow fastest.

6. DO WHAT YOU LOVE

Sometimes when we feel down, we mope around the house feeling sorry for ourselves and wonder why others don’t come by and pull us out of our funk. Well, stop waiting! Be your own funk-breaker! Paint. Run. Climb. Sing. Swim. Serve. Learn. Play. Give. And watch what starts to happen to your holiday spirit.

7. BECOME THE NEIGHBORHOOD’S SECRET SANTA

Bake some cookies. Buy some gift-cards. And start secretly making your neighbors’ day. Put a plate of cookies on a doorstep or put Christmas cards on the windshields of cars in your community. Or, of course, personally deliver the cookies or cards to your neighbors yourself.

8. LIST ALL THE THINGS THAT ARE WONDERFUL IN YOUR LIFE

We often tend to over-exaggerate the negative and under-accentuate the good. We’re just funny that way. But taking the time to write down all that’s sweet in life can act to underscore the good and paint a picture that’s not quite as dour as we would otherwise believe.

Gratitude is contagious. So do all you can to catch it. Then spread it. Liberally! I guarantee a happier Christmas season for the effort.

9. GET UP, GET DRESSED, GET OUT!

Some of the symptoms of depression include oversleeping, staying in bed, undressed, un-showered, self-ostracized. But such behaviors also cause the blues. They feed each other. When we’re down, we don’t get up and dressed. But when we don’t get up and dressed, we often feel worse.

So stop the cycle. Get up. Clean up. Shave. Put on your best duds and go somewhere and do something. Anything. But do it without alcohol. The blues and alcohol (a depressant) is not a match made in heaven.

10. PUT YOURSELF ON SANTA’S “NICE” LIST

As you’re out doing good to others, spreading Christmas cheer, spread some to yourself as well. Buy yourself a gift. Make it meaningful. Enjoy it. Be grateful you can afford it (no matter how inexpensive it may be). Believe you deserve it. Have fun with it. And then believe you were worth every penny you spent … and then some!

BONUS #11: HAVE NO EXPECTATIONS

Our biggest cause of disappointment is when our expectations are not met. If you go into the season thinking this time things are going to be different, that no one will argue or get drunk or make offensive comments, that this Christmas will be the best one ever, and it’s not, the day will be a letdown, even if it was still mostly pretty okay!

December 21, 2016 0

It is GO Caroling Day – celebrate with The Morning Thing 12/20/16

It is GO Caroling Day!
Today, The Morning Thing talked about this fun and meaningful tradition.

Click HERE for some tips and ideas for fun Christmas caroling with your kids! It is easy to do and will create lifelong memories.

Plus, do you know the custom and history of Christmas Caroling? Click HERE for some fascinating history behind this fun custom.

We also shared the best songs to use on your Christmas Caroling adventure.The Huffington Post came up with a list of the top 15 Christmas carols of all time.
Click HERE to see the list and some videos that you can sing along to.

Here is another link for a sing-along. Click HERE for some fun Christmas Karaoke.

December 20, 2016 0

Parking Lot Etiquette (for those last minute shoppers).

There are 6 shopping days left for Christmas (counting today)! The malls and store parking lots will be FULL all this week. How well do you know parking lot etiquette?
We found some great advice from Etiquette Moms!

Click HERE to see the 10 important rules to remember when using a parking lot.

Picture from Aaron Miller’s “DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO PARKING LOT ETIQUETTE”
(Note – there is some inappropriate language in this article)

December 19, 2016 0

Practical Christmas gifts that your friends and family will actually USE! The Morning Thing 12/16/16

Today, The Morning Thing shared a list of Christmas gifts that will actually be used by your family and friends.

These are unique gift ideas and very creative products from http://www.lifebuzz.com/ .
– A portable Crock-pot for the people who are always bringing food to gatherings and pot lucks.

– A portable humidifier cap that can turn any water bottle into a humidifier.

– Bed risers not only creates more space for someone’s room but also gives them more electricity outlets.

– A USB mini-fridge so that you can keep your drink cold the entire time you’re at your desktop.

Click HERE to see the entire article.

For our Morning Thing Fave 5, we shared 5 of our favorite Christmas jokes. Hopefully, these will make you laugh today.

What do you call an old snowman? WATER!

Who gives puppies Christmas presents? SANTA PAWS!

What do snowmen eat for breakfast? FROSTED FLAKES!

Why are Christmas trees like bad knitters? THEY BOTH DROP NEEDLES!

What did one snowman say to the other? I SMELL CARROT!

December 16, 2016 0

Themed Christmas Basket ideas – GREAT Christmas gifts! The Morning Thing 12/15/16

Are you looking for some gift ideas for Christmas?
The Morning Thing is here to help! We found 50 different themed Christmas basket ideas from www.thedatingdivas.com

Click HERE to see the complete list of 50 unique and creative ideas!

13 Christmas Gift Baskets for Kids & Teens
12 Christmas Gift Baskets for Women
13 Christmas Gift Baskets for Men
12 Christmas Gift Baskets for Families

We are sure that you will find several great ideas.

December 15, 2016 0

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Launch your career at CareerFest 2017