The Story: The Weight of the World

 

Once, a psychology professor walked around his classroom full of students holding a glass of water with his arm straightened out to the side. He asked his students, “How heavy is this glass of water?”

The students started to shout out guesses ranging anywhere from 4 ounces to one pound.

The professor replied, “The absolute weight of this glass isn’t what matters while I’m holding it. Rather, it’s the amount of time that I hold onto it that makes an impact.

If I hold it for, say, two minutes, it doesn’t feel like much of a burden. If I hold it for an hour, its weight may become more apparent as my muscles begin to tire. If I hold it for an entire day–or week–my muscles will cramp and I’ll likely feel numb or paralyzed with pain, making me feel miserable and unable to think about anything aside from the pain that I’m in.

In all of these cases, the actual weight of the glass will remain the same, but the longer I clench onto it, the heavier it feels to me and the more burdensome it is to hold.

The class understood and shook their heads in agreement.

The professor continued to say, “This glass of water represents the worries and stresses that you carry around with you every day.  If you think about them for a few minutes and then put them aside, it’s not a heavy burden to bear. If you think about them a little longer, you will start to feel the impacts of the stress. If you carry your worries with you all day, you will become incapacitated, prohibiting you from doing anything else until you let them go.”

Don’t carry your worries around with you everywhere you go, as they will do nothing but bring you down.

Put down your worries and stressors. Don’t give them your entire attention while your life is passing you by.

The Moral:

Let go of things that are out of your control. Don’t carry your worries around with you everywhere you go, as they will do nothing but bring you down. Put your “glass down” each night and move on from anything that is unnecessarily stressing you out. Don’t carry this extra weight into the next day.    

Make a Perfect Cup of Tea Every Time

The Tea Expert's Method

• Warm the pot
  Whether using tea bags or leaf, a quick swirl of hot water means the cold doesn't shock the tea.
• Use a china teapot
  Why, because it is traditional and part of the ritual.
• One per person and one for the pot
  Still, the golden rule when using a loose-leaf tea.
• Freshly boiled water
  Boil the water fresh, (not re boiled) for good oxygen levels.
• Stir
  Stirring the tea leaves or bags helps the tea to infuse.
• The Time
  3 to 4 minutes is the time needed for optimum infusion.
• Milk?
  Milk first or last is an age-old question. Originally milk first was to avoid cracking delicate china cups with hot tea but adding milk after is a good way to judge the strength of the tea. However, it is each to their own.

Instructions for Perfect Cup of Tea for One

• Add 1 cup/200 mL of freshly boiled water to your tea bag (in a mug)
• Allow the tea bag to brew for 2 minutes
• Remove the tea bag
• Add 10 mL of milk
• Wait 6 minutes before consumption for the cuppa to reach its optimum temperature of 140 F/60 C
www.thespruceeats.com

Fashion repeats. Style remains.

Beautiful Woodwork - Where you find quality, you will find a craftsman, not a quality-control expert~Robert Brault,.

 

Healthy Chocolate Frosting:

 Ingredients:

·         1 ripe avocado

·         1/4 cup raw local honey

·         1/3 cup raw cacao powder

·         4 Medjool dates

Directions:

Place dates in the blender first with the raw, local honey. Pulse until smooth. Then add avocado. Process until smooth. Finish with the raw cacao and blend until well incorporated and has a frosting-like consistency. Frost as normal! Firms up great in the refrigerator and can last up to one week.

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Positive quotes for motivation

 

1. “Don't look at your feet to see if you are doing it right. Just dance.” ―Anne Lamott

1. “Someone's sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.” —Warren Buffet

1. “True freedom is impossible without a mind made free by discipline.” ―Mortimer J. Adler

1. “Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.” ―A.A. Milne

1. “There is a vitality, a life force, an energy, a quickening that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist through any other medium and will be lost.” ―Martha Graham

1. “Small is not just a stepping-stone. Small is a great destination itself.” ―Jason Fried

1. “He that can have patience can have what he will.” ―Benjamin Franklin
2. “The only one who can tell you “you can’t win” is you and you don’t have to listen.” —Jessica Ennis

1. “Set your goals high, and don’t stop till you get there.” —Bo Jackson

1. “Take your victories, whatever they may be, cherish them, use them, but don’t settle for them.” —Mia Hamm

Portuguese Custard Tarts Recipe - Pasteis de Belem

 

Ingredients

Filling:1/2 cup of water1 and 1/2 cups of sugar2 tablespoons of flour2 cups of milk7 egg yolks2 eggs1 lemon peelPastry:3 and 1/2 cups of flour (400gr)1 and 1/4 cups of water1 and 1/2 cups of butter1 pinch of salt

Directions

Pastry:

1. Mix all the ingredients (except for the butter) the butter is added later. 
2. Make a ball of dough, cut it in the shape of a cross on top, cover and let it stand 10 minutes.
3. In the meantime, place the butter on parchment paper and beat it with a rolling pin so that it has the same touch consistency as the dough.
4. After 10 minutes, stretch the dough as much as you can with a rolling pin. Place the butter in the center and fold the dough over the butter.
5. Stretch the dough again and fold it in 3.
6. Turn it over and repeat the stretching process.
7. At the end, brush the dough with water and form a roll where you will cut pieces of the dough about 1cm each and put them in the tart forms, spreading it through the center until they cover each cup.

 

Filling:

1. Preheat the oven to 215ºC or 425ºF.
2. Boil the milk with the lemon peel.
3. Remove a little of the milk and dissolve the flour. 
4. Beat the yolks and the whole eggs without foaming it.
5. Then add the boiled milk and the flour dissolved in milk (make sure to remove the lemon peel). 
6. In a pan put the sugar and water, bring to a boil and then add to the previous preparation and stir. 
7. Fill the cups up 3/4 of the way (if you fill them too much, it will spill over and not cook properly). 
8. Bake for 30 minutes at 215ºC or 425ºF.
9. Unmold the tarts when you remove them from the oven.

Recipe Credit: soniameirinho1988.blogspot.pt *

Photo Credit: postcity.com