Be a Rat

A L O H A !

" Do good work 

and do it because it is a gift to the world.

  No matter how inconsequential

others may feel 

about the value of your contribution,

it is the giving that matters. 

The surprise here

  will be that the beneficiary

who gains most . . . is you. "

James Woods

" Cherish the dead

you once loved

so carelessly.

They still live

in your heart. "

James Woods

" The more perfect we are
 the more gentle and quiet
 we become
 towards the defects
 of others. "

Joseph Addison

( ´_?`)

Researchers

at the University of Chicago were surprised

at the consistency of their results;

Again and again, lab rats freed

a fellow rat.

To make it interesting,

scientists added tempting chocolate

to the situation.

23 of 30 rats

opened that cage door

for the other rat first.

"Basically they told us

that freeing another rat

is as important

as eating chocolate."

"In some case, rats first 

took the chocolate chips 

but didn't eat them,

they freed the other rat

and shared. "

Peggy Mason, PhD,

Some of the male rats,

7 of 24 tested,

didn't free the other rat.

"There were days when the male rats

took the day off

from helping their trapped partner,

but the females never did. "

Peggy Mason

study author

 in the journal

Science.

"If rats can be so caring and helpful

there's a sense of optimism.

It's something we could be. "

Jeff Mogil PhD

McGill University

So empathy is not a disadvantage,

but a characteristic we have preserved

as useful to survival.

Thank YOU freeing me

from the cage of my 'alone-ness'

today.  Leave a chocolate comment;

Be as sweet . . . As a RAT!

                                                Fondly, cloudia

Here's an amazing liberation: