Be a Positive Thinker - Learn About - and Change
- How You Think

"A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes."
Mahatma Gandhi.

"Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will."
Zig Ziglar - Personal development guru.


These are two powerful quotes. Combined, they tell us that if we think positively, we're likely to enjoy positive results. Negative thinking, on the other hand, can lead to outcomes that we don't want.

Positive and negative thoughts can become self- fulfilling prophecies: What we expect can often come true.

If you start off thinking that you'll mess up a task, the chances are that you will: You may not try hard enough to succeed, you won't attract support from other people, and you may not perceive any results as good enough.

Positive thinking, on the other hand, is often associated with positive actions and outcomes. You have hope and faith in yourself and others, and you work and invest hard to prove that your optimism is warranted. You'll enthuse others, and they may well pitch in to help you. This makes constructive outcomes all the more likely.

When it comes down to it, positive, optimistic people are happier and healthier, and enjoy more success than those who think negatively. The key difference between them is how they think about and interpret the events in their life.

So, how do you think about your successes and failures? Do you have a predictable thinking pattern?

BE THE BIGGER PERSON

Author: Sensei Nick

This month I will be writing about being the bigger person in life. Everyone gets angry and wants to fire back at someone. Everyone gets hurt, or has someone that talks about them. Everyone will lose someone they thought was a friend.

What do we do when it happens to us?

Fasting

Carlos Gracie, the creator of the Gracie Diet, believed that fasting for one day (24 hours without eating) was a very effective cleansing method for the body. Here are some things you should know about fasting in accordance to the Gracie Diet:

40 Years Old:
Carlos believed that fasting had the greatest impact on individuals over 40 years old. Fasting before the age of 40 was not seen as necessary.
How to Start: It is usually best to start the fasting process after a large cooked meal (Group A). It is recommended that you don't consume anything for 24 hours unless you absolutely have to, in which case a glass of water is okay.
Relaxation: It is recommended that you fast on a day that you will not be required to exert much energy.
How to End: After 24 hours without consuming anything it is recommended that you end the fasting process with a fruit meal (Group C).

For the complete Gracie Diet check out - Gracie Jiu- Jitsu The Master Text

We'd like to remind everyone we will be holding our May belt exams during the last weekend of the month.

Belt Exams will be conducted on the NEW split schedule;

Children: Lil Dragons & Goshin Juniors
will test on Friday 30 MAY 2008

Adult Martial Arts & Jiu Jitsu
will test on Saturday 31 MAY 2008

Please review the testing schedule, exam roster, and upcoming events to see how it may affect you by visiting our website
@ http://www.americanblackbelt.org/student.html

We'd like to take a moment to thank all of the students, parents, and friends that have been so very supportive of all the great activities we've been involved with lately.

Your generous support and participation in the Memorial 5K Run for the family CPL Joshua Reeves was heart warming and fantastic.