the Secret SCROLLS

A Secret Scrolls message from Rhonda Byrne
Creator of The Secret and The Power 

You can make 2012 the best year of your life! And you can do it very easily, right now.
All you have to do is set the most powerful intention you can ever set in your life, which is that you will focus only on what you want, think only about what you want, and talk only about what you want. Decide right now that anytime you find yourself thinking or talking about what you don't want, you will stop and demand of yourself, "What is it that I want?" And with all your might, with all your strength, with all your willpower - you will focus on what you want!
This one intention, repeated daily until the New Year and reinforced through 2012, will ensure that you make 2012 the year that your dreams came true, and the greatest year of your life!
To help you have an even more magical year, I'm going to let you in on a secret... I have written a very exciting new book. It's called The Magic. It will be released within the early months of 2012!

Happy holidays, and a very, very Happy New Year!

 

May the joy be with you,

Rhonda Byrne
The Secret... bringing joy to billions

improve your world

Animals The top 11 animal stories of 2011 While 2011 was the Year of the Rabbit, it was a big year for lots of other animals, too. Here are 11 of the most interesting animal stories from the past 12 months.

The Last Passenger Pigeon

Ode to Martha, the last passenger pigeon

One of eastern North America's most iconic animals vanished forever on Sept. 1, 1914. Now, 97 years later, the passenger pigeon has become an icon for something else: manmade extinction.

 

PASSED AWAY: A stuffed passenger pigeon specimen at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca, N.Y. (Photo: Seabamirum/Flickr)

The last passenger pigeon on Earth died 97 years ago today. Housed at the Cincinnati Zoo and named "Martha," she was the final holdout of a species that went from one of the planet's most abundant birds to one of its highest-profile extinctions. And it all happened within a few decades, an early stage of what many scientists now agree is Earth's sixth mass extinction event.

 Martha was found dead in the bottom of her cage on Sept. 1, 1914, at the age of 29. She had been born in captivity at the Cincinnati Zoo in 1885, and scientists had tried frantically to breed her once the plight of her species became clear.

But it was too late, and Sept. 1 now marks the extinction of passenger pigeons, which had been one of eastern North America's most iconic animals. In 2010, the conservation group WildEarth Guardians declared Sept. 1 "Passenger Pigeon Day" in honor of Martha's death.

Passenger pigeons once accounted for up to 40 percent of the total bird population in the U.S., according to the Smithsonian Institution, with an estimated 3 billion to 5 billion of them occupying North America when European explorers first arrived. Many of those explorers reported seeing "countless numbers" and "infinite multitudes" of passenger pigeons flying overhead, with flocks said to be so large and dense that they sometimes blocked the sun for hours.

Yet by the early 1900s, the species had all but disappeared. Virtually no wild passenger pigeons could be found. Suddenly, Martha (pictured at right in 1914) seemed to be the last of her kind.

Martha's relatives had fallen victim to a familiar duo of threats that still haunt endangered species today: overhunting and habitat loss. Because passenger pigeons flew in such big, dense flocks, it was easy for colonists and settlers to shoot them. Professional hunters began killing and netting them en masse in the early 19th century, selling their meat and feathers in city markets. At the same time, the vast Eastern forests where passenger pigeons nested were being rapidly cleared for new farms and cities, further decimating the birds. Still, no conservation laws existed to protect them.

Wild passenger pigeons had grown scarce by the 1890s, spurring government officials to finally heed long-ignored warnings of conservationists. One of the last large nesting colonies was found in Petoskey, Mich., and the Michigan Legislature passed a ban on netting passenger pigeons within two miles of a nesting area. But according to Encyclopedia Smithsonian, the law was weakly enforced and led to few arrests. The state then passed a 10-year ban on all hunting of the birds in 1897, but by then hunters couldn't find many to shoot anyway.

From 1909 to 1912, the American Ornithologists' Union offered $1,500 to anyone who could find a nest or colony of passenger pigeons. No one ever did, and Martha died two years later, foreshadowing an extinction crisis that kept snowballing over the next century. The U.S. endangered species list now includes 1,987 total listings, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature lists 5,566 species as "endangered" worldwide, 68 percent of which are "critically endangered." Nearly 10,000 more are considered "vulnerable" to extinction, and 797 have become extinct in modern history.

All five of Earth's previous mass extinctions occurred long before humans evolved, but scientists say we're seeing one now — and we may also be causing it. The passenger pigeon, along with other early casualties like the dodo and the thylacine, is now seen as a canary in the coal mine for this crisis. It's too late to save Martha and her kind, but it's not too late to make sure their deaths weren't in vain.

In a timely sign of hope, the Smithsonian National Zoo announced today that one of the most endangered animals in the U.S. is now enjoying a "record-breaking year" of recovery, with 50 offspring born in 2011. The black-footed ferret was once thought to be extinct in the wild, but this month marks the 30th anniversary of the discovery of a small remaining group in Wyoming. And now, thanks to conservation efforts informed by Martha's cautionary tale, black-footed ferrets are making a comeback.

Below is a musical tribute to Martha by the late John Herald, a New York folk and bluegrass musician from the same ilk as Bob Dylan, Pete Seeger and Joan Baez:

Martha has long served as a symbol for the threat of extinction, but her profile is likely to grow even further over the next three years. That's because, as Project Passenger Pigeon points out, Sept. 1, 2014, will mark the 100-year anniversary of Martha's death — as well as a full century of lessons learned and implemented in her memory.

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A Secret Scrolls message from Rhonda Byrne
Creator of The Secret and The Power 

From The Secret Daily Teachings

"Give every person more in use value than you take from them in cash value."
WALLACE WATTLES (1860-1911)
The Science of Getting Rich

Remember this, and never take money from anyone without giving more in use value than the money you are receiving. In people's lives, this is one of the main causes of lack of money, unsuccessful job experiences, and failed businesses. Give more value than the money you are receiving; in your job, in your business, and in every part of your life.

 

May the joy be with you,

Rhonda Byrne
The Secret... bringing joy to billions

In the words of Steve Jobs



Stanford University
Photography by Maxie Weaver

"Your work is going to fill
 a large part of you life,
and the only way to be
truly satisfied is to do what
you believe is great work.
And the only way to do
great work is to love what you do.
If you haven't found it yet,
keep looking.  Don't settle.
As with all matters of the heart,
you'll know when you find it.
And, like any great relationship,
it just gets better and better
as the years roll on.
So keep looking until you find it.
Don't settle."

 Steve Jobs
-Stanford Commencement Address 2005

Steve Jobs

Buchart Gardens
Photography by Susan Wilde

"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.  Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important." 

Steve Jobs
February 24, 1955 - October 5, 2011
Palo Alto, California

WebMD on Weight Control

The Elusive Metabolism Boost

Boosting the metabolism is the holy grail of weight watchers everywhere, but how fast your body burns calories depends on several factors. Some people inherit a speedy metabolism. Men tend to burn more calories than women, even while resting. And for most people, metabolism slows steadily after age 40. Although you can't control your age, gender, or genetics, there are other ways to get a boost. Read on for 10 ways to rev up.

Build Muscle

Our bodies constantly burn calories, even when we’re doing nothing. This resting metabolic rate is much higher in people with more muscle. Every pound of muscle uses about 6 calories a day just to sustain itself, while each pound of fat burns only 2 calories daily. That small difference can add up over time. In addition, after a bout of resistance training, muscles are activated all over your body, increasing your average daily metabolic rate.

Step Up Your Workout

Aerobic exercise may not build big muscles, but it can rev up your metabolism in the hours after a workout. The key is to push yourself. High-intensity exercise delivers a bigger, longer increase in resting metabolic rate than low- or moderate-intensity workouts. To get the benefits, try a more intense class at the gym or include short bursts of jogging during your regular walk.

Fuel Up with Water

The body needs water to process calories. If you are even mildly dehydrated, your metabolism may slow down. In one study, adults who drank eight or more glasses of water a day burned more calories than those who drank four. To stay hydrated, drink a glass of water or other unsweetened beverage before every meal and snack. In addition, try munching on fresh fruits and vegetables, which are full of fluid, rather than pretzels or chips.

Have Your Drinks on the Rocks

Ice-cold beverages prompt the body to burn more calories during digestion. Research suggests five or six glasses of water on the rocks can use up an extra 10 calories a day. That might not sound like much, but it adds up to a pound of weight loss per year -- without dieting. You can get the same benefit by drinking iced tea or coffee, as long as you forego the cream and sugar.

Sinless Snacking

Eating more really can help you lose weight -- eating more often, that is. When you eat large meals with many hours in between, you train your metabolism to slow down. Having a small meal or snack every 3 to 4 hours keeps your metabolism cranking, so you burn more calories over the course of a day. Several studies have also shown that people who snack regularly eat less at meal time.

Spice Up Your Meals

Spicy foods contain chemical compounds that kick the metabolism into high gear. Eating a tablespoon of chopped red or green chili pepper can boost your metabolic rate. The effect is likely temporary, but if you eat spicy foods often, the benefits may add up. For a quick boost, spice up pasta dishes, chili, and stews with red-pepper flakes.

Power Up with Protein

The body burns many more calories digesting protein as it uses for fat or carbohydrates. Protein may require almost 25% more energy to digest compared to fat. Although you want to eat a balanced diet, replacing some carbs with lean, protein-rich foods can jump-start the metabolism at mealtime. Healthy sources of protein include lean beef, turkey, fish, white meat chicken, tofu, nuts, beans, eggs, and low-fat dairy products.

Booster Shot: Black Coffee

If you're a coffee drinker, you probably enjoy the increased energy and concentration that follows your morning ritual. Taken in moderation, one of coffee's benefits may be a short-term increase in your metabolic rate.

Recharge with Green Tea

Drinking green tea or oolong tea offers the combined benefits of caffeine and catechins, substances shown to rev up the metabolism for a couple hours. Research suggests that drinking two to four cups of either tea may push the body to burn 17% more calories than normal for a short period of time.

Avoid Crash Diets

Crash diets -- those involving eating fewer than 1,000 calories a day -- are disastrous for anyone hoping to quicken their metabolism. Although these diets may help you drop pounds (at the expense of good nutrition), a high percentage of the loss comes from muscle. The lower your muscle mass, the slower your metabolism. The final result is a body that burns far fewer calories (and gains weight faster) than the one you had before the diet.

Best Bets

The impact of different foods and drinks on the metabolism is small compared to what you need for sustained weight loss. Your best bet for creating a mean calorie-burning machine is to build muscle and stay active. The more you move during the day, the more calories you burn. And remember: working out in the morning has the benefit of revving up your metabolism for hours.