Brain power

via- College Humor

The 30 Most Haunting Abandoned Places On Earth

hese real life ruins offer an eerie glimpse into a world without humans. Their dark walls inspire a sense of wonder like I've never felt before.

1. Pripyat, Ukraine

Pripyat, a city of nearly 50,000, was totally abandoned after the nearby Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986. Due to radiation, it has been left untouched ever since the incident and will be for many thousands of years into the future. Nature now rules the city in what resembles an apocalyptic movie

2. Mirny Diamond Mine - Eastern Siberia, Russia

The world's second largest man-made hole, Mirny was constructed by Stalin to satisfy the Soviet Union's demand for industrial diamond. Further digging efforts were eventually abandoned when it became too difficult to continue digging this massive hole.

3. Ryugyong Hotel - Pyongyang, North Korea

The Ryugyong Hotel is a true display of North Korea's madness. Work started on this 105 story hotel only a few years before a massive famine plagued the country. Abandoned for 16 years, work once again began in 2008, when it was coated in $150 million worth of glass. Foreign guests have reported that although the structure now looks complete on the outside, a lot of the interior is still abandoned and incomplete.

4. Sanzhi UFO Houses - San Zhi, Taiwan

These homes were intended to be sold to U.S. military officers when construction began in 1978. In 1980, work was halted due to loss of investment.

5. Six Flags Jazzland - New Orleans, Louisiana

Severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina, Six Flags Jazzland has been abandoned since. Several of the rides still stand, a testimony to the resilience of New Orleans. Several companies have plans to develop the park, but until then it will remain as the perfect setting for a horror movie.

6. Bannerman Castle - Pollepel Island, New York

Bannerman Castle's owner, Francis Bannerman VI, built the structure as storage space after buying the American military surplus from the war with the Spanish. After 200lbs of ammunition exploded in 1920, much of the castle was destroyed and the rest abandoned.

7. Canfranc Rail Station, Spain

Canfranc Rail Station was part of an international railway route through Spain and France. An accident in 1970 destroyed a nearby bridge and ended international rail links between the two countires, leaving Canfranc deserted.

8. Chateau Miranda - Celles, Belgium

9. Abandoned Coal Plant - France

10. Eilean Donan - Loch Duich, Scotland

Located in the Highlands of Scotland, the Eilean Donan island sat abandoned until 1911, when it was restored by a prominent retired military officer.

11. Hashima Island, Japan

In the past Hashima Island was rich in coal, with over 5000 miners once living on the island. When petrol replaced coal as Japan's main source of fuel, the settlement was left abandoned. Now the once thriving town is creepily abandoned, with only shadows remaining.

12. City Hall Station - New York City, New York

City Hall Station was built in 1904 and closed in 1945 as only around 600 people used it only a daily basis.

13. Orpheum Auditorium - New Bedford, Massachusetts

This Auditorium opened on the same day that the Titanic sunk, April 15th, 1912. A supermarket now occupies some of the building, but the rest remains beautifully deserted.

14. Abandoned Power Plant - Belgium

15. Wreck of the SS America - Fuerteventura, Canary Islands

This former United States ocean liner was wrecked in 1994 after 54 years of service.

16. Underwater City - Shicheng, China

Shicheng has been under water for 53 years since the Xin'an River Hydro Plant flooded the area. The city was founded 1,300 years ago.

17. Red Sands Sea Forts - Sealand, United Kingdom

18. Overgrown section of the Great Wall - China

19. Michigan Central Station - Detroit, Michigan

Built through 1912 and 1913, Central Station served as the passenger rail depot for Detroit and was the tallest train station in the world. With the closure of the line in 1988, Central Station fell into disuse and all restoration plans have failed.

20. Dadipark - Dadizel, Belgium

A simple playground, Dadipark opened in the 1950s and closed in 2002.

21. Military Hospital - Beelitz, Germany

22. Wonderland Amusement Park - Beijing, China

Designed to be the biggest amusement park in Asia, Wonderland was never completed after financial issues. The land has since been cultivated by local farmers.

23. Częstochowa Train Depot - Poland

24. El Hotel del Salto - Colombia

Hotel del Salto was built in 1928 for wealthy tourists visiting the nearby Tequendama Falls. Eventually, the waterfall was contaminated and visitors lost interest, leading to the hotel’s abandonment.

25. Christ of the Abyss - San Fruttuoso, Italy

Guido Galletti built this statue of Christ in 1954 and placed it into the water at a depth of 55 feet.

26. Eastern State Penitentiary - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Operated from 1829 until 1971, Eastern State was one of the first modern penitentiaries. Now a national landmark, the prison was designed in a revolutionary wagon wheel shape which became a globally adopted style. Eastern State held the likes of Willie Sutton and Al Capone. If only walls could talk…

27. Nara Dreamland, Japan

Nara Dreamland was built in 1961 after Disneyland took the world by storm. The entrance to the park was almost identical to Disneyland and included its own version of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. The park closed in 2006 because of low visitor numbers.

28. Abandoned mill from 1866 in Sorrento, Italy

The Valley of the Mills, “The name Valley of the Mills, derives from the existence of a mill – functioning since the beginning of the ’900′s – used for grinding wheat. Attached to the mill, rose a sawmill which furnished chaff to the Sorrentine cabinet makers. Everything is completed by a public wash-house used by the women. The creation of Tasso Square, since 1866, determined the isolation of the mill area from the sea, provoking a sharp rise of the percentage of humidity, which made the area unbearable and determined its progressive abandon.”

29. Cooling tower of an abandoned power plant

Photographer Richard Gubbels out of Utrecht, Netherlands shot these amazing photos inside the cooling tower of an abandoned power plant.

30. Chemin de fer de Petite Ceinture, France

The “little belt railway” was a circular railway system built in 1852 to supply Paris’ fortifications. When the city outgew its defenses in 1934, the railway system was also left to run wild.

Sources: [distractify] , [whydontyoutrythis] , [awesomedaily]

10 Great Reasons Why You Need Some Time On Your Own

Most people don't really like spending time on their own. I think that's because they feel somewhat socially rejected if they are often alone. However, solitude and loneliness are not exactly the same thing. Solitude actually means that you choose to spend some time alone because you enjoy it.

Solitude can make you more self-sufficient, add to your confidence, and help you get to know yourself a lot better. If being alone scares you, bores you, or just isn’t your favorite thing, here’s how you can make your time more productive.

1. You can reboot your brain and unwind.

You certainly need to give your brain a chance to rest and replenish itself. Being by yourself with no distractions gives you the chance to clear your mind, focus, and think more clearly. It's an opportunity to revitalize your mind and body at the same time.

2. You can learn something new.

Learning is the most important aspect of living alone. It gives you something to talk about when you do have to actually enter society. Learning is also incredibly more efficient when you don't have social responsibilities like family to take care of, or a girlfriend or boyfriend to entertain. Learning isn't just exclusive to books (although they are a great source of knowledge). You can learn to do anything by just practicing - such as a new language.

3. You learn to be independent

Self-reliance is a worthy goal. Get closer to reaching it by increasing your time alone. Independence of mind and lifestyle can lead to productivity and fulfillment. Once you have a solid solo approach to things, there's nothing you won't be able to do. You will be able to follow your dreams - even if this means that you will have to do it on your own! You will become your own supporter.

4. You can become more creative

Your creativity flourishes when you are removed from outside influences.
If you want to paint your house, paint a picture, design something, write something, invent something, spend quiet time allowing your imaginative genius freedom to explore possibilities. It can be a most rewarding experience. Explore your abilities and interests. You may come up with something that will change your life.

5. You can set up new goals and see how to achieve them.

During your alone time, you can think about your dreams, set up new goals, see what you really want in your life and make a plan with clear steps to achieve them.

6. You can improve your relationships with others.

By spending time with yourself and gaining a better understanding of who you are and what you desire in life, you're more likely to make better choices about who you want to be around. You also may come to appreciate your relationships more after you've spent some time alone.

7. You will put things in perspective

Put your day, week and year in perspective by reflecting on where your life is headed. In the absence of other people's influence, you are free to reevaluate what's important to you, be it your job, your friends or your loved ones, and set yourself on the appropriate course of action. Think about what you want; then, follow through on your own time.

8. You can listen to your inner voice.

When your mind is calm, when there is no rush, you can hear your inner voice. You have time to listen to yourself, to discover your dreams, to believe in yourself and focus on your beauty.

9. You get to do whatever you want

Some people don’t hate being alone so much as they find it boring. When you’re with others, you have the advantage of multiple minds thinking of an enjoyable activity. When you’re alone, you’re left with the job entirely. Keep eyes and your mind open! ;)

10. Quiet time can help you sort through problems.

Just sitting down and thinking through a problem, thinking about what caused it and how best to resolve it can result in very effective solutions. But even if a solution is not forthcoming, just having taken the time to think things through and to understand the problem more thoroughly can bring peace and a certain courage to carry on.

Source: ThinkingHumanity

30 things to start doing for yourself

Marc and Angel are the authors of 1000 Little Things Happy Successful People Do Differently. Here’s their amazing list of 30 things to start doing for yourself. If you enjoy this, be sure to visit their website for more inspirational advice and tips for life.

#1. Start spending time with the right people. – These are the people you enjoy, who love and appreciate you, and who encourage you to improve in healthy and exciting ways. They are the ones who make you feel more alive, and not only embrace who you are now, but also embrace and embody who you want to be, unconditionally.

#2. Start facing your problems head on. – It isn’t your problems that define you, but how you react to them and recover from them. Problems will not disappear unless you take action. Do what you can, when you can, and acknowledge what you’ve done. It’s all about taking baby steps in the right direction, inch by inch. These inches count, they add up to yards and miles in the long run.

#3. Start being honest with yourself about everything. – Be honest about what’s right, as well as what needs to be changed. Be honest about what you want to achieve and who you want to become. Be honest with every aspect of your life, always. Because you are the one person you can forever count on. Search your soul, for the truth, so that you truly know who you are. Once you do, you’ll have a better understanding of where you are now and how you got here, and you’ll be better equipped to identify where you want to go and how to get there. Read The Road Less Traveled.

#4. Start making your own happiness a priority. – Your needs matter. If you don’t value yourself, look out for yourself, and stick up for yourself, you’re sabotaging yourself. Remember, it IS possible to take care of your own needs while simultaneously caring for those around you. And once your needs are met, you will likely be far more capable of helping those who need you most.

#5. Start being yourself, genuinely and proudly. – Trying to be anyone else is a waste of the person you are. Be yourself. Embrace that individual inside you that has ideas, strengths and beauty like no one else. Be the person you know yourself to be – the best version of you – on your terms. Above all, be true to YOU, and if you cannot put your heart in it, take yourself out of it.

#6. Start noticing and living in the present. – Right now is a miracle. Right now is the only moment guaranteed to you. Right now is life. So stop thinking about how great things will be in the future. Stop dwelling on what did or didn’t happen in the past. Learn to be in the ‘here and now’ and experience life as it’s happening. Appreciate the world for the beauty that it holds, right now.

#7. Start valuing the lessons your mistakes teach you. – Mistakes are okay; they’re the stepping stones of progress. If you’re not failing from time to time, you’re not trying hard enough and you’re not learning. Take risks, stumble, fall, and then get up and try again. Appreciate that you are pushing yourself, learning, growing and improving. Significant achievements are almost invariably realized at the end of a long road of failures. One of the ‘mistakes’ you fear might just be the link to your greatest achievement yet.

#8. Start being more polite to yourself. – If you had a friend who spoke to you in the same way that you sometimes speak to yourself, how long would you allow that person to be your friend? The way you treat yourself sets the standard for others. You must love who you are or no one else will.

#9. Start enjoying the things you already have. – The problem with many of us is that we think we’ll be happy when we reach a certain level in life – a level we see others operating at – your boss with her corner office, that friend of a friend who owns a mansion on the beach, etc. Unfortunately, it takes awhile before you get there, and when you get there you’ll likely have a new destination in mind. You’ll end up spending your whole life working toward something new without ever stopping to enjoy the things you have now. So take a quiet moment every morning when you first awake to appreciate where you are and what you already have.

#10. Start creating your own happiness. – If you are waiting for someone else to make you happy, you’re missing out. Smile because you can. Choose happiness. Be the change you want to see in the world. Be happy with who you are now, and let your positivity inspire your journey into tomorrow. Happiness is often found when and where you decide to seek it. If you look for happiness within the opportunities you have, you will eventually find it. But if you constantly look for something else, unfortunately, you’ll find that too. Read Stumbling on Happiness.

#11. Start giving your ideas and dreams a chance. – In life, it’s rarely about getting a chance; it’s about taking a chance. You’ll never be 100% sure it will work, but you can always be 100% sure doing nothing won’t work. Most of the time you just have to go for it! And no matter how it turns out, it always ends up just the way it should be. Either you succeed or you learn something. Win-Win.

#12. Start believing that you’re ready for the next step. – You are ready! Think about it. You have everything you need right now to take the next small, realistic step forward. So embrace the opportunities that come your way, and accept the challenges – they’re gifts that will help you to grow.

#13. Start entering new relationships for the right reasons. – Enter new relationships with dependable, honest people who reflect the person you are and the person you want to be. Choose friends you are proud to know, people you admire, who show you love and respect – people who reciprocate your kindness and commitment. And pay attention to what people do, because a person’s actions are much more important than their words or how others represent them.

#14. Start giving new people you meet a chance. – It sounds harsh, but you cannot keep every friend you’ve ever made. People and priorities change. As some relationships fade others will grow. Appreciate the possibility of new relationships as you naturally let go of old ones that no longer work. Trust your judgment. Embrace new relationships, knowing that you are entering into unfamiliar territory. Be ready to learn, be ready for a challenge, and be ready to meet someone that might just change your life forever.

#15. Start competing against an earlier version of yourself. – Be inspired by others, appreciate others, learn from others, but know that competing against them is a waste of time. You are in competition with one person and one person only – yourself. You are competing to be the best you can be. Aim to break your own personal records.

#16. Start cheering for other people’s victories. – Start noticing what you like about others and tell them. Having an appreciation for how amazing the people around you are leads to good places – productive, fulfilling, peaceful places. So be happy for those who are making progress. Cheer for their victories. Be thankful for their blessings, openly. What goes around comes around, and sooner or later the people you’re cheering for will start cheering for you.

#17. Start looking for the silver lining in tough situations. – When things are hard, and you feel down, take a few deep breaths and look for the silver lining – the small glimmers of hope. Remind yourself that you can and will grow stronger from these hard times. And remain conscious of your blessings and victories – all the things in your life that are right. Focus on what you have, not on what you haven’t.

#18. Start forgiving yourself and others. – We’ve all been hurt by our own decisions and by others. And while the pain of these experiences is normal, sometimes it lingers for too long. We relive the pain over and over and have a hard time letting go. Forgiveness is the remedy. It doesn’t mean you’re erasing the past, or forgetting what happened. It means you’re letting go of the resentment and pain, and instead choosing to learn from the incident and move on with your life.

#19. Start helping those around you. – Care about people. Guide them if you know a better way. The more you help others, the more they will want to help you. Love and kindness begets love and kindness. And so on and so forth.

#20. Start listening to your own inner voice. – If it helps, discuss your ideas with those closest to you, but give yourself enough room to follow your own intuition. Be true to yourself. Say what you need to say. Do what you know in your heart is right.

#21. Start being attentive to your stress level and take short breaks. – Slow down. Breathe. Give yourself permission to pause, regroup and move forward with clarity and purpose. When you’re at your busiest, a brief recess can rejuvenate your mind and increase your productivity. These short breaks will help you regain your sanity and reflect on your recent actions so you can be sure they’re in line with your goals.

#22. Start noticing the beauty of small moments. – Instead of waiting for the big things to happen – marriage, kids, big promotion, winning the lottery – find happiness in the small things that happen every day. Little things like having a quiet cup of coffee in the early morning, or the delicious taste and smell of a homemade meal, or the pleasure of sharing something you enjoy with someone else, or holding hands with your partner. Noticing these small pleasures on a daily basis makes a big difference in the quality of your life.

#23. Start accepting things when they are less than perfect. – Remember, ‘perfect’ is the enemy of ‘good.’ One of the biggest challenges for people who want to improve themselves and improve the world is learning to accept things as they are. Sometimes it’s better to accept and appreciate the world as it is, and people as they are, rather than to trying to make everything and everyone conform to an impossible ideal. No, you shouldn’t accept a life of mediocrity, but learn to love and value things when they are less than perfect.

#24. Start working toward your goals every single day. – Remember, the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. Whatever it is you dream about, start taking small, logical steps every day to make it happen. Get out there and DO something! The harder you work the luckier you will become. While many of us decide at some point during the course of our lives that we want to answer our calling, only an astute few of us actually work on it. By ‘working on it,’ I mean consistently devoting oneself to the end result. Read The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.

#25. Start being more open about how you feel. – If you’re hurting, give yourself the necessary space and time to hurt, but be open about it. Talk to those closest to you. Tell them the truth about how you feel. Let them listen. The simple act of getting things off your chest and into the open is your first step toward feeling good again.

#26. Start taking full accountability for your own life. – Own your choices and mistakes, and be willing to take the necessary steps to improve upon them. Either you take accountability for your life or someone else will. And when they do, you’ll become a slave to their ideas and dreams instead of a pioneer of your own. You are the only one who can directly control the outcome of your life. And no, it won’t always be easy. Every person has a stack of obstacles in front of them. But you must take accountability for your situation and overcome these obstacles. Choosing not to is choosing a lifetime of mere existence.

#27. Start actively nurturing your most important relationships. – Bring real, honest joy into your life and the lives of those you love by simply telling them how much they mean to you on a regular basis. You can’t be everything to everyone, but you can be everything to a few people. Decide who these people are in your life and treat them like royalty. Remember, you don’t need a certain number of friends, just a number of friends you can be certain of.

#28. Start concentrating on the things you can control. – You can’t change everything, but you can always change something. Wasting your time, talent and emotional energy on things that are beyond your control is a recipe for frustration, misery and stagnation. Invest your energy in the things you can control, and act on them now.

#29. Start focusing on the possibility of positive outcomes. – The mind must believe it CAN do something before it is capable of actually doing it. The way to overcome negative thoughts and destructive emotions is to develop opposing, positive emotions that are stronger and more powerful. Listen to your self-talk and replace negative thoughts with positive ones. Regardless of how a situation seems, focus on what you DO WANT to happen, and then take the next positive step forward. No, you can’t control everything that happens to you, but you can control how you react to things. Everyone’s life has positive and negative aspects – whether or not you’re happy and successful in the long run depends greatly on which aspects you focus on. Read The How of Happiness.

#30. Start noticing how wealthy you are right now. – Henry David Thoreau once said, “Wealth is the ability to fully experience life.” Even when times are tough, it’s always important to keep things in perspective. You didn’t go to sleep hungry last night. You didn’t go to sleep outside. You had a choice of what clothes to wear this morning. You hardly broke a sweat today. You didn’t spend a minute in fear. You have access to clean drinking water. You have access to medical care. You have access to the Internet. You can read. Some might say you are incredibly wealthy, so remember to be grateful for all the things you do have.

This is such a wonderful list. If we take little steps every day and practice these things, we can make great improvements in our lives. Share this post with your friends and loved ones.

Via: marcandangel.com,