hen life gets you down how do you try to climb your way back to the top? Ive done a lot of reading and research on various theories concerning the way we think and how that affects the way we live. If you are negative you bring negative things to you, if you are positive you bring positive things to you...it all sounds good in theory, but is it true?Sometimes I get angry to think I bring bad luck or negativity to myself...I would rather believe its just random--not due to my thinking...but just a random thing...like water falling from the sky during a rain storm...no one can predict how much rain will fall or exactly where it will land...we know its coming but how intense is it going to be?I used to not allow myself to get happy, thinking that soon a non happy time would follow and those thoughts didn't help me to feel better when the hard times came, only made it worse...so now I try to live in the moment...try to enjoy that moment, and push whatever may be giving me reason to become unhappy back far away from my NOW moment. This way I'm not experiencing the negative...preferring to stay in the positive as much as possible and if and when I'm drawn out of that happy state, I wish to get back to a state of balance as quickly as possible!My Mom has suffered with depression much of her adult life...for one reason or another. She often picks the sad parts of life and dwells on that. I try to fix up sad things and make them better, so whatever is making me sad will be more in alignment with my happiness than the other way....bringing me into alignment with the sadness. If you chose to draw it in, then you have to own it, but you can change the way you see it. The recent event of the dog not getting proper feeding....my Mom chooses to feel really bad for the dog and experience sadness, I chose to make a call to animal control and try to change what is making me sad into an opportunity to make a difference to another being. Whether my action will have a positive result remains to be seen, but I don't feel sad, I feel good about my action. Positive thinking can be undermined by forces working against us. Negative people will try to sway you to their camp...but don't let that happen--If you have to make new friends...ones that make you feel good and support who you are. Accentuate the positive!
HEN I get out of debt! I say that all the time, and Ive done it a few times and I guess I have been like so many others and tried to have more than I deserve! I get angry when I think about things like this-
An Internet friend is trying to quit smoking. A hard thing to do, a very powerful addictive drug to break away from. Nicotine is more addictive than heroin yet its legal? That always blows my mind. Well this friend of mine is not a rich woman, she has a disabled husband, and although she has not said so he has a respiratory disease that could be related to smoking. So they have his disability income and she runs a small shop in a flea market.
She has a very active blog she enjoys keeping up and she loves photography and so she uses her computer for most of her fun activities...and now its giving her problems. She has made the decision to try and quit smoking, kick her own habit, to save money!...How much money can she save...Check this out! TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS A MONTH...
Now let me just be the devil here and point out how so many Americans complain that the medication they are prescribed can cost as much as $200 a month...And yet there are some of those very same Americans purchasing cigarettes and they say nothing about how much it costs...let alone the costs of health care to try and offset the damage done to their lungs costing consumers trillions of dollars!
I know smokers make all kinds of excuses for their destructive behavior...they say things like,
"It's my body, I can do what I want."
"Everyone has some vice, this is mine."
"It's my business not yours."
There are many more, but the truth is they are hurting themselves and they are part of the driving force in rising health care costs to the Medicare and Medicaid system. Billions and Trillions of dollars! The reason I can say all this is Im an X-smoker!
If it were up to me, I would Ban smoking---NOW before you go writing me letters, lets just think about it. Its only legal because it brings money into the system by way of taxes and jobs..but it takes out just as much in health problems and costs to individuals and health care organizations. People say its not harming anyone---but it is--smoking causes cancer adds to heart disease, causes lung disease, birth defects, and second hand smoke can cause problems for non smokers! People use money that could be earmarked for other uses in their budgets for cigarettes! It is costing most smokers about $3000 a year to pay for their habit! Imagine if that $3,000 was put into general circulation, groceries, movies, clothing stores, books, games, computers...the list is endless, in fact that's the price of an individual retirement account! Its a credit card debt paid off!
The CEO of RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co's salary for 2008 was ---
$1, 190, 350 dollars, and a bonus of $4, 243...
Wow...someone was blowing a lot of smoke!--so my friend spends $200 a month for the cheap cigarettes, thats $2400 a year, she could put that in a money market account and when she retires in 10 years she would have a nest egg of $24,000 dollars+ interest!
here have all the good times gone? That's a question I ask myself more and more lately, wondering how people in this day and time are enjoying life? It seems every one has to work 24/7 just to make ends meet! Unless you are in love with your job, where does that leave the inner you? Families are hard put to keep up with everyday living and there seems to be very little money for vacation, entertainment, and many other parts of life that we used to think of the good things. Movies, shows, travel, dinners out with friends...its almost out of reach for the average family.
Make use of reward and sky miles points to get free stuff and free travel. You have to pay your cell phone bill and buy food anyway so why not use a card that pays reward points for your trouble...just be sure to keep close track of your spending so you can pay it all at the end of the month! The idea is save money not pay interest or late fees! Rewards points can be used to purchase gas, gift cards, and so many other good things. Sky miles add up fast too! One car repair job cost me $385, I paid with my sky miles partner card and that gave me another 385 miles added to the kitty! Since some charges are good for double miles take advantage of it whenever possible! Pay for work related travel with your own sky miles card and get reimbursed, this can help rack up even more miles.
Singles are looking for freebies which is a great idea and a way for everyone of us to continue to enjoy the Good Life! Movies are expensive but matinees are still cheaper than prime time, rent a video, add a bowl of popcorn, make a pitcher of iced tea, chill a bottle of soda pop, or a pitcher of koolaide and for a few bucks you can enjoy an evening with as many friends as your living room can hold!
Everyone wants to go to the party, but why should one person or one couple have to foot the bill? Invite your friends and make sure they know you plan to pass the plate for contributions to help pay the expenses! With everyone chipping in a few bucks its a great cheap night out!
A new word this year is the Staycation---or stay at home vacation. Maybe you enjoy camping, or backpacking, well it's practically free to enjoy these outdoor activities. KISS should be the motto of anyone who wants to enjoy life but not pay a high price! Keep it simple stupid could include a visit to a no fee park where you can enjoy wildlife watching, photography, hiking, picnicking, and many more activities. Some parks have boat rentals for as low as $5 an hour...you could bring along your fishing gear or your sweetheart and make an afternoon of it.
What about free entertainment? Almost every community has something FREE going on, don't forget to check your local news section of the paper and local TV station websites keep track of many community events for you, all you have to do is click! Whether its Art in the Park, a Free Summer Concert Series, or Street Festivals there is always something interesting going on, and if you KISS it wont cost you a dime!
We all want to stay fit---but Gym Fees are getting up there and most want you to sign contract! Wow-that can add up! A bike is a great way to get a workout and if you live within biking distance to your job why not ride to work, it saves money, you get a workout, and you help the environment too--what a deal! You can get everyone on board and organize weekend bike events! Arrange a meeting place, map out a course and have a cooler of chilled drinks waiting at the end, sounds like fun to me!
A yoga mat can be a great investment in your health, yoga is a great way to tone up and reduce stress that makes you healthier to boot. Put on your favorite CD and work out at home, invite a friend to join you and make it even more fun. Taking a walk with fido or a companion is another way to beat the price of a gym membership. A good brisk walk 3 to 4 times a week can do wonders for high blood pressure, and to help shed unwanted pounds. Bring along a refillable bottle of cold water and enjoy!
Another great form of exercise is gardening! The physical labor can get pretty intense with digging, raking, hoeing, weeding, pushing the wheel barrow around, loading and unloading bags of compost and you get beautiful flowers and delicious veggies for your trouble...more money in the pocket and less out!
Lastly...just a backyard picnic and a dip in your own backyard splash pool can seem like a vacation when you've had a really hard week of 21st century stress. Bring out all your favorite festive picnic-ware, get a big watermelon and cool it in a tub of ice and dust off the BBQ, invite some friends and ask them each to bring an item, the beer, the buns, the veggie burgers, and don't forget the onions!
Hopefully we can still find the good times in 2009!
hat is fear why do we have it and why does it control so much of our thinking process and why do we make decisions out of fear?
I looked up fear--and it is worth noting that fear is a response to help us escape danger and anxiety always relates to future events, such as worsening of a situation, or continuation of a situation that is unacceptable. Anxiety is a state of fear--and fear falls in the same category as joy, and happiness! So right in the same box of emotions we can choose fear, anxiety, joy, or happiness! But why do we let fear force us into a state of mind we don't want to be in? I always ask this question--what's the worst that can happen? Unless my answer is Death...then should I still have fear and be in a state of anxiety? Stress leads to fear and that leads to anxiety and that's a circle complete...-Stress to Fear--Fear to Anxiety--Anxiety builds more Stress...and on and on.
Fear is a way to protect ourselves, control others, and is not a good state of mind to be in. When we are in a state of fear or anxiety, our heart rate is increased by adrenaline, a hormone secreted from the adrenal gland and also known as Epinephrine...its one of the neurotransmitters. I had to learn all this when I attended the Methodist Hospital's Paramedic Training Program, in 2002 in Brooklyn, NY. As a medic student we had an A & P course same as Doctors it was one very intense year of training. I remembered much of my Anatomy & Physiology from high school, I always loved science and biology...but learning how Epi affects our body was an eye opener for me!
Not only does it increase heart rate, it constricts arteries throughout the skin and digestive tract and floods the core of the body with blood. (this is why anxiety gives you numb feet and hands) It also elevates blood sugar and glucose levels and suppresses the immune system!.. SO being in a state of fear can cause tachycardia, palpitations, arrhythmia's, anxiety, headache, tremor, hypertension, hyperglycemia, pulmonary edema and other symptoms and illness!
Fear symptoms can mimic other problems! Many times I responded to calls of chest pain to find a patient really stressed and having a panic attack! Sometimes just the calm demeanor of me and my partner helped the patient and they began to have relief from the attack.
But why should paying car insurance, putting a kid through college, dealing with our mate cause fear and anxiety? Can we control this ? The fear of not being where we need to be in life can cause a stroke, heart attack, hyper anxiety, and can lead to suicidal thoughts!..THESE are good reasons to chill out! Think about what you can let go and what you must deal with and deal with it as soon as possible to relieve the anxiety and let go of the fear. Don't take everything so seriously...and by all means simplify your life to include down time!!!
We can control stress, fear, and anxiety if we really choose our thoughts...pushing back negative emotions or thoughts can keep fear in controlled levels. This is another thing I learned while working as a paramedic---allowing calm to overtake fear--in order to think more clearly and not allow adrenaline to rush through my system and put me in a hypersensitive state of mind, I choose to remain as calm as possible.
When we allow stress and fear to control us we are in a constant hyper-state! Our heart is racing, yet its not an aerobic workout --we get very little physical benefit from this state...we get headaches due to the crash that comes after an epi-high--the epi hangover! Some people have to stop and rest for a long period of time to recover from this hyper-elevated state of being. This can bring on PTSD in soldiers and Paramedics,...and its why I got out of the Emergency Medical Field...
To beat fear and stress...I walk, spend as much time in nature as possible, I have pets to help keep me in sync and I do believe Yoga is a great way to handle stress, although lately Ive been a real slacker with that---just writing this encourages me to get back to dealing with stress and not allowing it to become fear.
~Let each be his own and you be your own, and let us share who we are~
