Spreading good cheer contagious

Could spreading good cheer, especially in uncertain times, be contagious? According to Brett Westcott, a junior from Plainfield, Ill. it is. His comrade Cameron Brown, a junior from Toledo, Ohio, does also believe it can help people to get in a better mood. This Summer together they kicked off their RV road trip on Monday (July 20) in the Big Easy tour ending August 7 in Rochester, N.Y..

It is a well know fact that people can have strong effects — both positive and negative — on one another’s mental health. Today a lot of negativism is infecting the world. It goes around as a wild virus in this crisis world. Nothing seems to be sure any more, and lots of people have lost trust in their government and even in their environment, not sure any more of the bond of friends. Ordered things have shown the tendency to become disordered sooner or later, however natural. The same applies to human behaviour, however genetic. A new study by a University of British Columbia researcher finds that some people are genetically predisposed to see the world darkly.

The study, published in Psychological Science, finds that a previously known gene variant can cause individuals to perceive emotional events–especially negative ones — more vividly than others.

“The ability to regulate emotions is essential to both mental and physical well-being. Conversely, difficulties with emotion regulation have been postulated as a core mechanism underlying mood and anxiety disorders.”

It is interesting to see that the human mind which is considered to be the most ordered and conscious system in the world is not left untouched by the negative effects of the environment. Negativity is all-pervasive, it seems. today it is possible to identify and distinguish between the different emotions which go through our brains. Negative emotions helps us address the problem that led to those emotions in the first place. But while some people can tell the difference between feeling angry and guilty, others may not be able to separate the two and may become depressed, feeling they can not cope with it any more.

People around us can contribute al lot to our mood; They can make us happy, sad or even make us depressed. Those who know the blessings of the world would do better to let others also feel the goodness of this world. They’ll better share their happiness and good mood.  They better take care that the right virus contaminates their environment they’re living in. Jesus asked his follower to spread the Good News. But before people can spread that good news they themselves should feel good. They themselves should be radiant, full of sunshine. they should not be so much concerned about themselves, but should be willing to live more for the others around them. Noticing them and encouraging them. by giving compliments to others they can contribute the first step to more happiness.

When Westcott started giving compliments on the Purdue campus almost a year ago he never expected it to be so well received all over the world. Though lot of the compliments they gave where on material things that cost money. It looked a missed change to give compliments on the better and more important things in life, like having a smile on the face, feeling bright. An appropriate remark by environmentmatters was:

“I wonder how these compliments or lack of compliments affect people who can’t afford nice hoodies, shoes, bookbags, etc.?”

Dishwalla Candle does find:

“the idea maybe great, but i guess randomly complimenting on any object they could see on a person may not be a good one..what if that person hates that object? they’ll be so offended that it’ll turn to be a mockery or an insult rather than a compliment.”

The trip was undertaken to allow the two guys to share the same good feelings with people around the country that they had exchanged at Purdue.

Westcott and/or Brown stood at the heart of Purdue’s campus for two hours every Wednesday afternoon last school year giving out free compliments to thousands of passersby. Initial suspicion of their motives quickly melted in face of their enthusiasm and earnestness. The Compliment Guys’ ability to make people smile prompted Kodak to sponsor the national tour.

“There is absolutely nothing else I prefer doing than making people smile,” Brown said. “It’s amazingly easy to do if you take the very short amount of time to notice what is special about those around you.”

People may forget that it does not take big, grand gestures to make a positive impact on someone else’s day. Being around, having some smile on the face, saying “Hello”, giving a few simple courtesies, they all can contribute to making a day better for the person we pass. In ourselves we do have the power to make the difference and for ourselves and for the others. The greeting on the streets may have already gone a long time, but why should we not take up such an attitude from the old days when the villages or towns where smaller? It is true in a city we could not say to every person we pas “Good morning”, but for sure there are enough people to whom we could say “Hello”, like the porter, the man in the tube or train station, the bus driver. to others we can show them we are feeling happy, so that out smile on our face can transform their face as well. In case more people would not mind to make an effort to go out there and prove that chivalry is not dead, the world could become a nicer place to live. Being gallant and respectful, should not be things out of date. They  are traits that will never go out of date or out of style.

Be that person who will make life easier for the people around you.


Read more about it: Purdue Compliment Guys hit the road for national tour



Give joy to the world, keep smiling, keep giving love and Spread the Good News of the coming Kingdom of God.

Be a messenger of happiness, love and peace.

Peace Love WriteYou too may be a Blogger for peace
and join a movement willing to bring others that brotherly love and peace.


Of interest:

  1. Articles on Social environment
  2. Bringing Good News into the world
  3. Do the appropriate for a friend
  • Contagious Happiness (rascoecam.wordpress.com)
    Happiness is contagious. Your smiles promote others to smile. The joy you emit is transmittable to those around you. Catchy is positive encouragement and optimism.
    Where’s the Love?
    The love is inside of you, the love for doing what it is you do, the love for the ability to do it. Acclaim, applause and admiration may come in gallons and then drips but it doesn’t matter much if you continue to do it for the right reasons… the love.
  • Is Your Message Contagious? (veelhoedenconsulting.wordpress.com)
    Whether  you’re  trying  to  get  people  to  buy  something you provide, persuade  them  to  do  something,  or  simply  inform  your  audience  about something, one thing is certain—you want it to build momentum and carry itself forward without you having to push it non-stop.
  • The contagious smile bursts through Sizo (chefsvsangels.wordpress.com)
    Late last night Alex was released on bail . To see that beautiful contagious smile burst through the doors of Sizo was emotional to say the least.
    She was obviously overwhelmed with happiness but poised, full of strength and devoted to save the Arctic for future generations. I too am struggling to contain the joy I feel today knowing that at this very moment my lovely, brave cousin is in a hotel room,sleeping with a little relief and comfort having spoken to her family.
  • 19 Simple Things Everyone Can Do To Make Life Easier For Each Other (lifehack.org)
    You don’t have to create big, grand gestures to make a positive impact on someone else’s day. A few simple courtesies can spell the difference between an awful day and an awesome one. Unfortunately, there are days where it seems that common courtesies are not so common anymore.
  • Fat Talk Free Compliments (tiffanydawn.wordpress.com)
    Sometimes I have to ask myself — are outward appearances the only thing I compliment people on? Because they shouldn’t be.
    Sometimes in our culture we compliment people based on weight. For example, “You are so skinny, that outfit looks great on you!” Well doesn’t that just reinforce our cultural idea that skinny is better?
    Or are we truly encouraging and inspiring people to be a person who makes a difference in the world — not just a person who looks a certain way.
    Screen Shot 2013-10-22 at 10.46.15 AM
  • Watch out! It’s contagious! (bumpbabyproducts.wordpress.com)
    It seems entrepreneurialism is contagious! Whilst it is undoubtedly nerve-wracking, terrifying and demanding on your time, energy and money, it seems that an increasing number of my friends and acquaintances are also making that leap of faith.
  • Gloomy Thinking Can Be Contagious (namisouthbay.com)
    One of the things he was interested in was how different students respond to adversity.
    “These thinking styles were contagious,” he says. “If you came to college and your roommate had a very negative thinking style, your own thinking style became more negative.”
    The Reason Some People Always Focus On The Negative
    In the study in Clinical Psychological Science, researchers looked at 103 pairs of college-freshmen roommates’ “cognitive vulnerability,” which is the tendency to think that negative events are a reflection of a person’s own deficiency or that they will lead to more negative events. Those with high cognitive vulnerability are at an increased risk of depression, studies have found.
    “This is the first study to find that this genetic variation can significantly affect how people see and experience the world,” says Prof. Rebecca Todd of UBC’s Dept. of Psychology. “The findings suggest people experience emotional aspects of the world partly through gene-coloured glasses — and that biological variations at the genetic level can play a significant role in individual differences in perception.”
  • Alliance Missions and The Contagious Chain of Missionary Zeal (christeien.com)
    Christian and Missionary Alliance Missions seeks to spread the message and power of Jesus throughout the world where many others won’t go. Our passion is not just knowing and following Jesus, but helping others know and follow Him. This begins with those God has placed in our spheres of influence and flows to those who are searching desperately for meaning, significance, security, and love in other cultures.
    Even just one life burning brightly for the gospel can ignite the hearts of hundreds of others for generations to come.What a powerful thing it is to contemplate that reality in the history of missionary work! Consider, for example, the following chain of gospel influence: John Elliott; David Brainerd; Jonathan Edwards; William Carey; Charles Simeon; Henry Martyn; Anthony Norris Groves; George Müller; James Hudson Taylor; C. T. Studd; “The Cambridge Seven”; Student Volunteer Movement for Foreign Missions; D. L. Moody; Arthur T. Pierson; Amy Carmichael; Eric Liddell; Elizabeth and Jim Elliot

Some one or something to fear #2 Attitude and Reactions

Fear to use a name of a ghost, person or group

2. Not done

In certain countries it is just not done to speak with strangers about politics or religion. But in the social environment often it is not liked to have conversations about a God who would have created earth and heaven.

The ability to recognize danger leading to an urge to confront it or flee from it (also known as the Fight or Flight response) is really necessary. But in extreme cases of fear (terror) a freeze or paralysis response is possible.

3. Perceived emotions

Some psychologists such as John B. Watson, Robert Plutchik, and Paul Ekman have suggested that fear belongs to a small set of basic or innate emotions. This set also includes such emotions as joy, sadness, and anger. Fear should be distinguished from the related emotional state of anxiety, which typically occurs without any certain or immediate external threat. Additionally, fear is frequently related to the specific behaviours of escape and avoidance, whereas anxiety is the result of threats which are perceived to be uncontrollable or unavoidable.[1]

Actress demonstrating initial reactions of fea...

Actress demonstrating initial reactions of fear and panic. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

According to surveys, some of the most common fears are of: ghosts, the existence of evil powers, cockroaches, spiders, snakes, heights, water, enclosed spaces, tunnels and bridges, needles, social rejection, failure, examinations and public speaking. In an innovative test of what people fear the most, Bill Tancer analysed the most frequent on-line search queries that involved the phrase, “fear of…”. This follows the assumption that people tend to seek information on the issues that concern them the most. His top ten list of fears consisted of flying, heights, clowns, intimacy, death, rejection, people, snakes, success, and driving.[2]

4. Others thinking about us

The fear which concerns us most is the people have for the thinking of others. Because people learned that when they speak about humankind, its beginning, the reasons why, they felt they came on a dangerous slippery ground. They do not want to sink in the marsh of the unmentioned items. People develop specific fears as a result of learning, and they noticed generation after generation that you better do not speak about God. This makes that even those who love God or often afraid to speak about Him in the open.

[1] Öhman, A. (2000). Fear and anxiety:Evolutionary, cognitive, and clinical perspectives. In M. Lewis & J. M.Haviland-Jones (Eds.). Handbook of emotions. (Pp.573–593). New York: The Guilford Press.

  • Fear Only A Small Set Of Basic Or Innate Emotions (ouroboricsmallbones.wordpress.com)
    Fear is frequently related to the specific behaviors of escape and avoidance, whereas anxiety is the result of threats which are perceived to be uncontrollable or unavoidable.
    All people have an instinctual response to potential danger, which is in fact important to the survival of all species. The reactions elicited from fear are seen through advantages in evolution.
  • Approach anxiety 2 (ivonechovski.wordpress.com)
    Approach anxiety is a fear many men have when they should start talking with unknown and attractive women. It’s a frustration due to combination of: 1)The mind subconscious thoughts; 2)False ego which gives the fear of eventual rejection.
  • The Shrink’s Links: The Plutchik Emotion Circumplex (keithwilsoncounseling.wordpress.com)
    Robert Plutchik’s theory of emotion is, my opinion, the most reasonable classification of emotions there is. He considered there to be eight primary emotions: angerfearsadnessdisgustsurpriseanticipation,trust, and joy. These ‘basic’ emotions are biologically primitive and each is the trigger of behavior with high survival value.
  • Interesting study about fear (catmoonsonia95.wordpress.com)
    Anxiety is a vague unpleasant emotional state with qualities of apprehension, dread, distress, and uneasiness. In addition it is object-less. Fear is similar to anxiety except that fear has a specific object. When some optimal level of stimulation or arousal is exceeded, one experiences anxiety. It can be an adaptive healthy response or a debilitating one.
  • Fear Factor (sarahtannerinspiredliving.com)
    We perceive a threat to ourselves such as getting hurt; failing or making a big mistake – and to protect ourselves we quickly pull away from the situation or decision and hide. Fear is a survival mechanism.Yet our survival is not as threatened as it once was. But we still have the mechanism, and our mind still finds a way to utilise it.
  • Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself (71junebug.wordpress.com)
    Nothing in life is impossible if you believe you can do it. Nothing. (Well, almost nothing. I could believe all day that I am turning into a beautiful butterfly, but that’s not going to make it happen.) It is possible to overcome fear. To conquer those things that we are afraid of we have to give them a name first; they have be tangible. It’s not enough for someone to ask “What are you scared of?” and for your reply to be “I don’t know.” When this is your reaction, you are letting fear take control.
  • Plutchik’s Wheel of Emotions (ritholtz.com)
    Robert Plutchik also created a wheel of emotions. This wheel is used to illustrate different emotions compelling and nuanced. Plutchik first proposed his cone-shaped model (3D) or the wheel model (2D) in 1980 to describe how emotions were related.