20 Things To Start Doing in Your Relationships, and other Weekend Reads

Here are this week's reading diversions for your personal enlightenment. Have a lovely weekend!

Dennis Merritt Jones: The Power of Silence: Learn How to Drop the Rock

I have been a devoted fan of silence for many years. Silence plays such an important role in our lives and yet we take it for granted; that is to say, we seldom anchor ourselves in the present moment long enough to listen and appreciate what silence brings. As an example, have you ever been in a conversation with someone who never seemed to take a breath -- they just pummeled you with rapid fire words? It's times like that when I think a new recovery group called, "On-and-on-and-on" might be worthwhile.

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A Link Between Alzheimer's and Cold Sores - Oprah.com

The sores are triggered by the herpes virus—most often, herpes simplex virus type 1 (not to be confused with HSV-2, which predominately causes genital herpes). In recent years, a growing body of research, much of it championed by a British scientist, has begun to suggest a startling fact: The same virus known for sabotaging people's social lives could be responsible for the majority of Alzheimer's cases.

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5 Best Bone Builders | Lifescript.com

How healthy are your bones? Osteoporosis, which literally means “porous bones,” affects 28 million Americans and leads to more than 1.5 million bone fractures each year. The condition, which stems from a combination of genetic, dietary, age-related, hormonal, and lifestyle factors, results in fragile bones that are extremely susceptible to breakage.

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7 Habits of Highly Frugal People

If you are tired of living paycheck to paycheck, of having your phone regularly cut off or having to make excuses to skip dinners with your friends if the money has run out before the end of the month then you can use the seven habits of highly effective people to take control of your money situation and live a more frugal lifestyle, and a happier one.

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Heart Health Month: 8 Surprising Heart Facts We Learned Over The Last Year

If you already exercise regularly, eat a nutritious diet full of heart-healthy foods and keep stress levels in check, you're on the right path toward a tip-top ticker. But there's always more research evolving to teach us more details about what keeps a heart healthy for life. Here's a look at some of the most surprising, uplifting and promising results that surfaced since the last American Heart Month.

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10 Alzheimer's warning signs - latimes.com

The Alzheimer's Assn. has compiled a list of 10 warning signs of Alzheimer's and how they differ from mental glitches that shouldn't faze you. They include:

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5 Foods That Can Trigger a Stroke | Caring.com

Few things feel more terrifying and random than a stroke, which can strike without warning. And fear of stroke -- when a blood vessel in or leading to the brain bursts or is blocked by a blood clot, starving brain cells of oxygen and nutrients -- is well founded. After all, stroke is the number-three killer in the U.S., affecting more than 700,000 people each year. Here are five foods that cause the damage that leads to stroke.

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12 Relationship Truths We Often Forget

It’s easy to make your relationships more complicated than they are.  Here are twelve simple reminders to help you keep them on course.

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20 Things to Start Doing in Your Relationships

Family isn’t always blood.  They’re the people in your life who appreciate having you in theirs – the ones who encourage you to improve in healthy and exciting ways, and who not only embrace who you are now, but also embrace and embody who you want to be.  These people – your real family – are the ones who truly matter.

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Patient Communication Study Shows Doctors Regularly Withhold Truth

According to a new study, published Wednesday in the journal Health Affairs, some physicians are not always forthright when it comes to patient communication, withholding information about medical errors, relationships with drug companies and severity of a person's prognosis.

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Valentine's Day — History.com Articles, Video, Pictures and Facts

The history of Valentine's Day--and the story of its patron saint--is shrouded in mystery. We do know that February has long been celebrated as a month of romance, and that St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. But who was Saint Valentine, and how did he become associated with this ancient rite?

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7 Things You Didn’t Know About Charles Dickens

Born in 1812 to middle-class parents in the English city of Portsmouth, Charles Dickens—like several of his protagonists—entered the workforce at a young age. When his father was sent to debtors’ prison, 12-year-old Boz (Charles’ childhood nickname) helped support his family by pasting labels on shoe polish bottles in a factory. He later landed a job at a legal firm before covering the House of Commons as a reporter.

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