Prayer should be allowed in Public Schools Essay Example for Free

Prayer should be allowed in Public Schools Essay The issue regarding the constitutionality of mandatory school prayer in schools in hinged on the separation between the church and the state that has been decreed by the constitution. On one side, there are those who argue that prayer in public school classrooms should be declared unconstitutional because it involves â€Å"excessive entanglement,† which is prohibited under the doctrine of separation of church and state (Clark 35). The other view is based more on the argument that such act is permissible because even the Pledge of allegiance contains the phrase â€Å"under God. (Clark 35)† It is humbly submitted in this position paper, however, that the more correct view remains to be that prayer in classrooms should be tolerated as long as it is not mandatory. In arriving at a better understanding of this issue, it is first important to define the constitutional issue at hand. The phrase, â€Å"separation of Church and State†, is actually from a letter that was written by one of the founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson, to a group that called themselves the Danbury Baptists (Busher 13). In the letter, Thomas Jefferson wrote that, â€Å"I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between Church and State. † This was of course in reference to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution (Whitsitt 186). The basic precept of this doctrine is founded on a firm belief that religion and state should be separate. It covers a very wide spectrum, as mentioned in the previous sections of this discussion, ranging from the secularization or elimination of the church to theocracy wherein the state works in tandem with a religion in order to govern over the acts of people (Bradley 199) The problem is that while the church and state do maintain that there is indeed a necessity to abide by the doctrine of the separation of church and state there is no clear way of delineating the boundaries between the spheres of these two institutions (Bradley 199). There are still certain acts that require entanglement between the church and the state because of the duty of the government to cater to the welfare of its people who invariably belong to some form of religion, in most cases. One of these instances is when prayer is allowed in public school classrooms. To argue that prayer is unconstitutional would be to deny the people the right to their rich American history. The first settlers were Pilgrims and even the first thanksgiving meal, though not seemingly a prayer by conventional means, was actually an act of thanking the almighty God for all the blessings (Bradley 199). If prayer is to be considered as a religious affirmation that is offensive to the constitution then other forms such as the pledge of allegiance and the â€Å"In God We Trust† declaration on the dollar bill must also be struck down (Bradley 199). It cannot therefore be argued prayer in public school classrooms is a clear violation of the establishment clause when even the humble dollar bill has the sign â€Å"in God we trust† written on it. If it is to be argued that prayer is a violation of the establishment clause then so must the dollar bill be struck down as a violation (Bradley 199). Yet time and again the almighty dollar has prevailed. The reason for this is because such a declaration is not an endorsement of a single religion, which is exactly what the establishment clause prohibits, but rather it is a declaration by the American people of their belief in a superior being. This argument is not limited to a single God but to all Gods of whatever beliefs. The beauty of the American democracy is that it empowers instead of stifles. It encourages instead of denies. To argue that prayer should not be allowed is unpatriotic, it is un-American. A prayer is a sign of thanks for everything that has been given to everyone. A single word or phrase isolated and taken out of context does much to remove the original intent from it. Reciting a prayer in public school classrooms does not further the cause of any single religion. Instead, it serves to show the rest of the world the pride that Americans have for their great nation. It shows unity. It shows strength. It shows the American way. References: Clark, James R. (1965). Messages of the First Presidency. Brigham Young University, Department of Educational Leadership Foundations. Retrieved on 2007-1-30. Fighting the Establishment (Clause). Bradley, Jennifer, The American Prospect, September 1, 1996. Available at: http://www. prospect. org/print/V7/28/bradley-j. html Religion in the Public Schools: A Joint Statement of Current Law. The American Civil Liberties Union, 1996. Available at: http://aclu. org/issues/religion/relig7. html West Encyclopedia of American Law. West Group, 1998. Busher, Leonard (1614). Religious Peace: or, a Plea for Liberty of Conscience. Whitsitt, Dr. William (1896). A Question in Baptist History: Whether the Anabaptists in England Practiced Immersion Before the Year 1641?. C. T. Dearing, pp. 69-70.

Teleological Argument on the Existence of God

Teleological Argument on the Existence of God In todays society there are many arguments surrounding the question does God exist?. One of these is the teleological argument. The world around us is very intricate, from snowflakes to plain old rocks, much like the items we ourselves create. Many people nowadays and throughout history (myself included) noticed this trend and think about how our world is structured and detailed in a way that when studied closely, looks as though it mustve been designed in order to exist at all. Nothing we create that is complex (a computer chip/watch) is there by chance, they had to be designed, it had to be intricately placed together in order to create said object. If this is true of manmade objects, then surely everything that surrounds has to be created by an intelligent being too? These thoughts were brought together by William Paley and form what is known as the teleological argument in philosophy. A rock is just as complicated and mosaic like as a watch that has been painstakingly designed by hand when viewed on a quantum level, this idea is fully explained and examined in the watchmakers analogy which suggests that if a watch was designed, then surely all that is intricate in nature must surely have an ultimate creator. Paley himself began to consider this argument while thinking about religion, how God fits into the creation of the universe and everything in it. The theory that all things must be created, otherwise known as the intelligent design theory, has been debated and supported by numerous philosophers throughout the ages, from St Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century, through the movement in the 16th and 17th centuries led by the likes of William Derham, to modern day philosophical theorists and evolutionary biologists such as eminent atheist Richard Dawkins. The earliest cited versions of this argument are associated with Socrates in ancient Greece, although it has bee n argued that his ideas were influenced by earlier philosophical arguments. Plato, his student, and Aristotle, developed complex methodologies around the idea that the universe has an intelligent designer. William Paley was an English churchman and Christian apologist who lived in the mid-18th century to the early 19th century, his treatise and lectures (that were delivered to such notable philosophers as John Locke) on moral philosophy, concerned themselves with proving the existence of God. He believed that the complexity and order of all things could not have come about as a matter of chance, and that all things within the universe seem to have been designed with a purpose in mind. In Paleys mind the only thing that would make sense in order to explain this would be a God, the Christian God of his religion. This is in direct opposition to Darwins theory of natural selection and evolution. Using the watchmakers analogy Paley suggested The marks of design are too strong to be got over. Design must have had a designer. That designer must have been a person. That person is GOD. In this theory the watch is a metaphor for the universe; God is to the universe as Watchmaker is to the watch. Even if we didnt know where the watch from the analogy came from, we could still infer that it was made by someone or something with a specific purpose in mind because of its complexity and function. This can be transferred to the origin/creation of the universe and things we cant yet explain and since we have no definitive answers as to how to universe was created, we can assume the same. Paley did not accept that the existence of things such as natural disasters or immorality in the world as a counter argument for his theory or as evidence of a creators malicious intent or bad design. After all, even the most intricately designed things can be broken or go wrong in certain circumstances. A watch, despite its intricate design might sometimes malfunction which does not disprove the fact it had been created with intent and purpose. He believed that everything in the universe (natural or man-made) has an order. For example, the galaxy orbits its centre, just as the planets orbit the sun and an electron orbits an atom. Everything has a pattern, a structure, no matter how simple or intricate it is; they are in everything you look at or do. This order, Paley argued, is proof of his argument saying that God exists and is the ultimate creator of everything. The Scottish philosopher David Hume, who was a relative contemporary to Paley, disagreed with the idea of the intelligent design argument being proof of Gods existence, which he thought had a complete lack of evidence. Hume strongly believed in empiricism (that everything comes from our senses) and thought that rational thought and the laws of nature proved that miracles werent a possibility. He also argued that an orderly universe was not proof of a creator and that even if there was a God, supreme deity or designer we couldnt possibly know anything about it or prove its existence. He thought that if there was a creator, why did it have to be God? Could there be more than one creator/God? The design argument does nothing to prove the existence of God in the traditional sense, that being a God who is omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence (all good, all knowing and always there). Perhaps this deity isnt the ultimate being and the design argument does nothing to either prove or di sprove the existence of an all-powerful God. The fact that evil exists in any form and is everywhere, suggests that God is either all-powerful but not completely good or he has good intentions but is not able to eradicate evil and isnt all-powerful. Hume uses this as counter-argument to the idea of an omniscient God as an all-good and kind god wouldnt inflict needless pain on people/sentient beings that have done nothing wrong. It doesnt make sense, why would God make us with the ability to choose good or evil in order to allow us to receive eternal life and then punish us as soon as we make our own choices? If God existed (in the traditional sense) then the existence of evil, even in the tiniest amount, would contradict what the traditional Christian God is known as and stands for because you cannot be all-good, all-powerful and all-present if you allow evil and suffering to occur. Whilst Paleys theory attempts to explain the existence of an ordered and complex universe via his intelligent design argument many other philosophers have disagreed and came up with their own theories (Hume) which counter what Paley argued and tried to explain. Hume doesnt deny that there is a God or intelligent designer, but he discredits Paley by talking about rational thought and the problem of evil which seems to further pull apart Paleys already rather flawed argument. He also disputed the assumption that everything that exists must have a creator or a cause for existence. Primarily, Hume argued that a theory represented as a best possible explanation, such as Paleys, showed a complete lack of evidence to support it and instead raised many more questions than it answered. To conclude, I do not believe that the teleological argument proves or disproves the existence of God, I do however believe that it is a matter of perspective and personal judgement when it comes down to which side to believe/be on. Humes argument seems to me to be the more logical argument between the two, as it has less loopholes and flaws when compared to the teleological side. However, contrary to his reputation as The Great Infidel, Hume did nor categorically deny the existence of God, but argued that it cannot either be proved, nor disproved, which allows room for interpretation depending on your viewpoint.

AIDS :: AIDS Essays

AIDS is the final, life-threatening stage of the infection with human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV. AIDS stands for acquired immunodeficiecy syndrome. The name refers to the fact that HIV severely damages the patient’s disease-fighting immune system. Cases of AIDS were first identified in 1981 in the United States, but scientists have traced cases to as early as 1959. Millions of AIDS cases have been diagnosed worldwide. HIV can be present in the body for 2 to 12 years without producing any outward signs of illness, yet there are definite symptoms. Infection with HIV appears to be lifelong in all that become infected. People infected with HIV eventually develop symptoms that also may be caused by other, less serious conditions. However, with HIV, these symptoms are prolonged and much more severe. They include enlarged lymph glands, tiredness, fever, loss of appetite and weight, diarrhea, yeast infections, and night sweats. HIV is commonly connected with a "wasting syndrome," which results in substantial weight loss, a general decline in health, and, in some cases, death. The virus also infects the nervous system. There, HIV may cause dementia, which is a condition characterized by sensory, thinking, and/or memory disorders. HIV infection of the brain may cause movement or coordination problems. HIV’s disruption of the immune system makes infected people susceptible to illnesses that are not normally serious. These diseases are called opportunistic illnesses because they take advantage of the damaged immune system. With the onset of several of these illnesses, an infected person is considered to have AIDS Researchers have identified three ways in which HIV is transmitted: sexual intercourse, direct contact with infected blood, and transmission from and infected mother to her fetus. The most common way of becoming infected in through sexual contact. In the United States, sexual transmission has occurred mainly among homosexual and bisexual men, but it is becoming more frequent among heterosexual men and women. HIV is transmitted through all forms of sexual intercourse, including genital, anal, and oral sex. Treatments have been developed, but cures for HIV and AIDS have not yet been found.

FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE :: Essays Papers

FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE In my 205 I was asked to consider how and why my writing changes from one community to another. This essay represents the results of that exploration. My writing style changes greatly between the communities of academia and newspaper journalism. In both academic and newspaper writing I am compelled to include as much information as possible, yet the two call for completely different styles. I think this difference exists because the two forms of writing have different objectives. The general objectives of a newspaper article are to examine a story or issue, to introduce the public to the issue, and to provide a forum for others' opinions. With a few exceptions, newspapers don't have the time or the space to delve into an issue; instead they introduce it and possibly follow it up later with another story. The general objective of most academic writings I have done is to comprehensively answer a question. This involves a far more exhaustive exploration of an issue. Often in academic writing, the question itself provides the objective and defines the content of the writing. The fundamental differences in purpose between newspaper and academic forms of writing manifest into more clearly defined differences. The most obvious difference between the two forms of writing is structure. By using the term "structure," I am referring to the length and context of the piece of writing. Structure is an important factor because it sets the ground work for my writing. In academic writing, I try to cite numerous examples or personal experiences to illustrate a point. Newspaper writing requires that I condense my points. The writing is supposed to be simple, yet informative, and is crammed into a few inches of type. Writing to fill six inches of type is quite different than filling six double-spaced pages. Structure also translates into differences in word usage. Because of space constrictions, every word counts when writing for a newspaper. The key is to say as much as possible in the fewest words possible. There is a specific "newspaper style" which calls for short paragraphs, constant attribution of information, active voice, and numerous other writing guidelines. According to newspaper style, paragraphs should be one or two sentences long, with each paragraph including a complete statement or thought. This allows the reader to move from point-to-point quickly, without becoming bored and losing interest in the story. Information in newspaper articles must always be attributed.

diversity management: case study Essay -- essays research papers

Nightmare on Wall Street   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This case is all about facts and incidents about the harsh truths that lie behind the discrimination and harassment against women in the workplace. Males have predominately rules the workplace on Wall Street and had the perception of having no women take their glory. For years women were filling suits with the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) about the way men were treating them. Women were getting mistreated, demoted, harassed or even fired in some incidents for reasons beyond their control.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Robert Thomann is a good example of the mistreatment that was being laid on the female brokers. Thomann was out on 8 weeks maternity leave and when she came back, her branch manager which was known as the tyrant demoted her. Cueno, her branch manager, said that any sexual harassment charges would be deliberated in the Boom, Boom Room which was located in the basement of the firms building. It was a room decorated like a fraternity with a toilet seat hanging on the ceiling. After I read that, I could not believe it. The way the men were acting and treating women is unbelievable. Something needs to change at Thomann and other women keep filling suits against these male dominated managers that were not scared of any repercussions of the way they were acting. They did not think that they were doing anything wrong because their mindsets were all about the males in that industry were better su...

Dixie Chicks Among Esteemed Outlaws Essay

â€Å"Dixie Chicks Among Esteemed Outlaws,† by Ashley Sayeau is about the ordeals the Dixie Chicks endured particularly among the Nashville music establishment because of a statement made by lead singer Natalie Maines on the eveof the Iraq war. The author argues the the Dixie Chicks are just one of many artist who have been snubbed by the Country Music Association. To make her point the author compares the controversial lyrics of the Chicks to other â€Å"esteemed outlaws† in the genres history. Johnny Cash one of many vocal critics who was not ostracized because of his beliefs on war, or to his lyrics of â€Å"Men In Black.† Willie Nelson is another artist who was not personalized for his controversial beliefs or lyrics. One of our rights as American Citizens entitles us to â€Å"freedom of speech.† Therefore we should not be condemned for our beliefs. Male artist are not the only one before the Dixie Chicks to speak out on decisions made by the government. As the author points out women artist in the extended history of Country music have been vocalizing their beliefs and opinion that sometimes contradict their record labels and conservative fan base.Loreatta Lynn for example was a pretty controversialwomen’s advocate. She wrote her most memorable lyrics in the song â€Å"Dear Uncle Sam,† which was a early anti-Vietnam protest song. The Country Music Association acts in a cowardly and antithetical way when confronted with its â€Å"outlaws.† My personal beliefs os that of the authors. It is a atrocity on the Country Music Association to ostracize the Dixie Chicksconsidering how antipodal it is to the genre’s history.

Positive Psychology and Depression

Positive Psychology in the Treatment of Major Depression Positive psychology is a strengths-oriented, positively focused approach to human behaviors and thoughts that is relatively recent to the overall field of psychology. Previous schools of thought had always focused on the abnormalities, weaknesses, and pathologies of people. Positive psychology is an exceptionally new branch of psychology and aims at making life more fulfilling, enjoyable, and happy instead of just tolerable; they wish to promote mental health and well-being instead of only treating disorders.This research paper will address the roles that hope, gratitude, forgiveness, resilience, optimism, and self-efficacy play in one’s life, and how these characteristics can be utilized in a way to maximize one’s positive affect. One of the most common mood disorders is depression. Depression comes in many forms and there are also different depressive disorders such as major depression, bipolar disorder, and dys thymic disorder. (NIMH, 2009) For the sake of this paper, major depression will be examined. Related article: Approaches to Promoting WellbeingSymptoms of a major depressive episode include feelings of sadness or unhappiness, irritability or frustration, loss of interest or pleasure in normal activities, reduced sex drive, insomnia or excessive sleeping, changes in appetite, agitation or restlessness, angry outbursts, slowed thinking or speaking, fatigue, tiredness, loss of energy, trouble thinking or concentrating, frequent thoughts of death or dying including suicide, crying spells for no apparent reason, and unexplained physical problems such as pain (Mayo Clinic, 2012).One does not have to have every one of these symptoms, they must have at least five symptoms, they must persist for at least two weeks, symptoms cannot be caused due to drug or alcohol consumption, are not caused by bereavement or last longer than two months, and they must cause a significant amount of impairment in the person’s everyday life functioning (DSM-IV-TR, 2000). Major depressive disorder has a lifetime prevalence rate of 11. 2 percent in young adults with 3. 3 percent of those cases deemed severe, and a twelve month prevalence rate of 6. percent in adults with 30. 4 percent of those cases diagnosed as severe. People ages eighteen to twenty-nine are seventy percent more likely to have experienced depression compared to those over the age of sixty, people between thirty to forty-four years old were 120 percent more likely, and forty-five to fifty-nine year olds were 100 percent more likely. Women are seventy percent more likely than their male counterparts to experience depression during their lifetime and whites are forty percent more likely than blacks to experience depression.Compared to 2 percent or less for most other disorders, major depression is quite common. (NIMH, 2009) Positive psychology interventions in cases of major depression focus on increasing positive emotions, positive experiences, subjective well-being, and beneficial engagements. This differs fro m traditional interventions by not focusing on the depressive, negative symptoms and instead trying to focus on the good aspects of one’s life. Positive psychologists do not ignore the fact that mental illnesses are abnormal and the fact that things do go wrong in peoples’ lives.Instead, they want to take a closer look at the good things that happen in peoples’ lives and what makes and keeps people content or happy. In one study, conducted by Seligman et al, positive psychotherapy exercises delivered through the internet were shown to relieve the symptoms of depression for a minimum of six months whereas traditional treatments lasted less than one week. In subjects suffering from severe depression, reduction in mild-to-moderate depressive symptoms was observed.It was also observed that subjects who had been suffering from major depressive disorder and underwent positive psychotherapy had a higher reduction in symptoms than those who underwent traditional treatme nts and those who underwent traditional treatments combined with medications. The hypothesis of this study stated that â€Å"depression can be treated effectively not only by reducing its negative symptoms, but also by directly and primarily building positive emotions, character strengths, and meaning. It is possible that directly building these positive resources may also buffer against their future reoccurrence. (Seligman et, al. , 2006) Logically, major depression would be well treated when using a positive psychology oriented approach. People who suffer from depression experience anhedonia – an inability to experience pleasure in activities which it is usually produced. They lack positive affect, show a lack of engagement in meaningful activities, lack of feeling of purpose, and lack of feeling of meaning. These people no longer find any interest in things such as sex, food, bonding with friends, favorite past times, and work. (Brynie, 2009) A study by Barnaby D.Dunn, pu blished in July of 2012 also found that people suffering from depression also do not experience anticipation or recognize positive emotions the way those unaffected do. (Dunn, 2012) The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines anticipation as â€Å"1: b. the act of looking forward; especially: pleasurable expectation. 2: a mental attitude that influences a later response. †(Merriam-Webster, 2012) From this, it is understood that people suffering from depression, and therefore anhedonia, not only miss out on the pleasure normally experienced during enjoyable activities, they also do not even look forward to any of these pleasurable activities.It is as if they do not see the possibility of an experience producing positive outcomes. Positive psychology, on the other hand, is primarily focused on creating and building-upon positive emotions, helping people find meaning in their everyday lives, and promoting an overall increase in mental health. Positive psychology has its roots in self -efficacy, optimism, and hope. Self-efficacy is the belief that you have the skills and self-control necessary to achieve the goals you set for yourself.This is a learned way of thinking, predicted by previous successes, observing others with high levels of self-efficacy, the ability to imagine oneself achieving a successful outcome, verbal persuasion by other strong and trustworthy individuals, and ability to control negative emotions. Optimism is a person’s tendency to look at a situation from the best possible point of view, or too expect the best possible outcome in any given situation (Merriam-Webster, 2012). Optimism can be predicted by a childhood environment which provided safety, coherence, secure attachments, and there is also a genetic component to optimism.Television, however, is one of the main culprits in promoting pessimism – the opposite of optimism. The final main building block of positive psychology is hope. Hope is the combination of the belief that one can reach his or her goals and has the ability to find alternate routes to these goals should they be presented with adversity. (Snyder, 2011) Key steps and aspects of combating major depression with positive psychology were outlined by Seligman, Rashid, and Parks in their 2006 article.Since depression is associated with a lack of positive realizations in one’s life, clients were asked to take steps to help them recognize their signature strengths, ways to utilize these signature strengths, good things that happen to them every day, things and people in their lives that they are thankful for, and also to forgive others and themselves for past transgressions. To help clients recognize their signature strengths as well as help them to see the way they view themselves, clients were instructed to write stories describing what they believe to be their character strengths.The client and therapist discuss how apathy and the absence of positive emotions do nothing but maintain t he cycle of depressive episodes. Next, clients were instructed to take the VIA-IS strengths finding questionnaire and then use those results in an assignment stating how they could best utilize their strengths to improve their everyday lives. Afterwards, clients were to recall past situations in which they have successfully used their identified strengths to their advantage. Pleasure, engagement, and meaning as pathways to happiness are discussed during the client’s session and their role in overcoming depression is outlined.All of these steps help lead to the realization of the client that they have strengths that are unique to themselves, they have control over situations that happen to them, and they are not helpless. (Seligman, 2006) The next set of steps focuses mainly on engagement. Clients were asked to keep Blessings Journals in which they recorded at least three good things which happened to them each day. They are also encouraged to write about three bad things that have happened to them and to go into depth about their emotions surrounding these events and how the events influenced their depression.The therapist will inform the client of the ways in which retaining negative feelings such as anger and bitterness can compound the effects of depression and prevent recovery. Clients were encouraged to talk about negative experiences and vent about these experiences rather than ruminate on them. Clients were then to write at least one forgiveness letter. They describe an incident with a wrong-doing, the emotions experienced along with the event, and they also promise to forgive to transgressor; even if it was himself or herself. Seligman et al, 2006) Forgiveness is a freeing from a negative attachment to the source that has transgressed against a person. There is less desire to avoid the person or seek revenge, and an increase in positive feelings or actions towards the individual. There is a realistic assessment of the harm done, an acknowledgeme nt of the perpetrator’s responsibility, a cancelation of debt between the victim and perpetrator, and then a self-removal from the category of victim.Forgiveness is important in a person’s life because it helps to break the cycle of violence when one person is harmed and seeks revenge and then the initial transgressor seeks revenge as well which initiates and maintains said cycle of violence. When a person displays a willingness to forgive others, it is not only beneficial to that person, but also to all of the people surrounding said incident. It produces positive feelings as well as an inclination to also be forgiving in future situations. This is a form of positive role modeling between peers. Snyder, 2011) Another important step is expressing gratitude. Clients are encouraged to express their gratitude to someone they never properly or fully thanked either in person, through a letter, or via telephone conversation. (Miller, 2008) One way gratitude is experienced is when another individual acts in a way that is costly to himself or herself, provides value to the recipient, and was done intentionally. Another way gratitude can be experienced is when someone survives a catastrophic event, a threat to his or her health, or a dangerous situation.Gratitude is a highly valued character trait in many cultures due to its beneficial nature and tendency to increase a person’s tendency to perform altruistic tasks. Those who are high in gratitude are generally less concerned with material goods, more spiritual, more satisfied with life, and more empathetic. (Snyder, 2011) Using the concept of primary prevention, psychologists can help their clients to prevent depressive symptoms from occurring in the first place, or lessen the severity of depressive symptoms during the next depressive episode.Some positive psychology interventions in Seligman, Rashid, and Parks’ 2006 study that dealt with primary prevention were being more physically active, socializing with more people or more often with people who were already friends, engaging in meaningful work such as volunteering and helping the less fortunate, bonding more with loved ones and forming deeper connections, lowering expectations of oneself and others, and making one’s own happiness a priority.In the same study, Seligman and his fellow researchers randomly assigned six hundred volunteers to one of six intervention activities online. Five of these activities were from a more positive psychology focused list of exercises, and one was a placebo. The placebo exercise required participants to write down their earliest memories every night for a week which had only temporary effects on that group. The volunteers assigned to groups 1, 2, and 4 showed pointedly lower depressive symptoms and much higher levels of happiness when compared to the lacebo and two other control-like groups. The volunteers in the successful group also had result which lasted at least six mont hs whereas the people in the other groups had either no results, or results that were only fleeting. (Seligman et al, 2006) Group 1 was required to take the VIA-IS strengths questionnaire and then considers ways in which they could utilize their results to help them in their everyday lives. Group 2 had to write down at least three good things that had happened to them that day and why they thought these things had happened to them.Group 4 had to conduct a gratitude visit, much like the one previously mentioned, in which they composed a letter of thanks to someone who had positively impacted their life in some way, shape, or form but they had never fully thanked and then read said letter either in person or over the phone. The two control-like groups’ assignments were to take a strengths test questionnaire alone, or to write an essay about themselves in a moment when they were at their best. Seligman et al, 2006) These last findings show that the positive psychology activities used in the Seligman et al study can also be used as a form of secondary prevention. Secondary prevention addresses a problem after it has already appeared; just as these online participants were already showing signs of extreme depression. After participating in the three blessings per day exercise their depression scores went down showing that this exercise not only could help prevent depressive episode as previously shown, it could also lessen a depressive episode that had already begun.As a spin-off from this study a website, www. reflectivehappiness. com was created. This was a social website community centered on positive psychology. New exercises and interventions were posted each month, a book club was formed, a newsletter was published and sent out, and a discussion board dedicated to positive psychology. During the first month of operations, it was found that fifty of the site’s subscribers who took pretests for the Center for Epidemiological Studies – Depre ssion Scale, scored in the range that would qualify as extremely depressed.After completing the exercise involving recording three blessings each day for two weeks, the average score for this group of people dropped from 33. 9, to 16. 9. This showed that ninety-four percent of these people were less depressed and fell from the extremely depressed range to the mildly to moderately depressed range. This website is no longer functioning the same way, it has moved to a mobile network which only works on iPhones and now runs under the URL www. happiness. com. Another important part of positive psychology and the ability of a person to remain positive, optimistic, and hopeful is resiliency.Resilience is the ability to bounce back from adversity and to successfully adapt to the demands of stressful situations (Tugade et al, 2004). People who are seen as resilient are more likely to be described as self-efficacious, confident, and determined and can also be expected to generate a more posit ive self-talk, boost their self-image, and promote self-agency (Mak et al, 2011). All of these characteristics are those of someone with a very positive outlook on life as well as a positive view of themselves.These people show a much lower susceptibility to mental disorders and behavioral problems such as depression, anxiety, violence, and substance abuse (Lillehoj et al, 2004). People who are more resilient also show more optimism and a higher level of hope when thinking about the future. The broaden-and-build theory of positive emotions suggests that â€Å"positive emotions expand what an individual feels like doing at any given time. †(Snyder, 2011) This is referred to by Fredrickson as a broadening of one’s thought-action repertoire.Emotions such as joy, interest, contentment, pride, and love all have the ability to expand you potential action options. Joy can create more creative, playful behaviors while interest creates the desire to explore, expand, and experie nce new things. One of the most important in positive psychology is pride. Pride creates the desire to share good news and envision oneself doing even bigger and better things. The opposite happens in any life threatening situation; your thought-action choices narrow to provide a smaller list of options to try to conduct a speedy, potentially life-saving choice. Frederickson, 2001) This research proves that when a person is feeling depressed and are lacking the positive emotions described above, they do not have an expanded thought-action repertoire and therefore do not see all of the possible paths to their goals which, in turn, leads to feelings of hopelessness and a lack of self-efficacy. Other health benefits of promoting positive emotions are increased laughter, decreased heart disease, increased longevity, positive emotional disclosure, and overall increased psychological health.Laughter has been proven to be a cyclical cause and effect of positive emotions which in turn impro ves immune system functioning, and help maintain a stable positive emotional state. Elderly people who had been hospitalized for an incident involving heart disease and kept up a positive attitude had a much lower readmission rate than those who displayed a negative outlook. Also, people who tend to be more positive throughout their lives, participate in emotional disclosure, and upholding an optimistic and hopeful outlook have a propensity to live longer than those who did not.Positive emotions and an expanded thought-action repertoire not only help people emotionally avoid depression, they also help people to be more physically active and thus further avoid depressive symptoms. The reasons why exercise helps to alleviate depressive symptoms is not completely understood, but it is believed to happen on a few different levels. First of all, exercise is thought to release beneficial neurotransmitters and endorphins which are essentially ‘feel good’ chemicals for your bra in and body. These chemicals are thought to activate the opioid receptors in the brain creating feelings of happiness and optimism.Another way exercise is thought to help create positive emotions in those who exercise is by lowering certain chemicals released by the immune system which can also prolong depressive feelings. Finally, exercise increases body temperature which is thought to have a calming effect on individuals. The more direct, less scientific ways that exercise can help people avoid depression are by acting as a distraction from everyday life and taking a person’s mind off of things, increasing social interactions and therefore increasing positive interactions, and improving physical appearance and thus increasing confidence. Mayo Clinic, 2011) A study also found that speed walking for thirty five minutes per day for five days each week, or sixty minutes per day three times each week had a significant effect on decreasing depression. (Harvard Medical School, 200 9) All in all, having a positive outlook on life can be beneficial to one’s life in countless ways. The study of positive psychology helps people to take steps towards developing better skills to take advantage of their ability to think positively, act positively, and avoid or decrease their depression.Through a few very simple steps, such as gratitude letters, blessings journal keeping, and skills and strengths assessments, one can increase their sense of self efficacy, increase resilience, increase their sense of hope, and by doing this decrease major depressive symptoms. Works Cited: American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed. , text rev. ). Washington, DC: Author. Anticipation. 2012. In Merriam-Webster. com. Retrieved November 26, 2012, from http://www. merriam-webster. com/dictionary/anticipationBrynie, F. (2009). Depression and Anhedonia. Brain Sense. December 2009. Dunn, B. D. (2012). Helping Depressed Client s Reconnect to Positive Emotion Experience: Current Insights and Future Directions. 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