My Body is Really, Really Smart

I've realized over the past year that listening to my body is one of the best things I can do for myself. I can't believe it's taken me this long to figure out that my body is telling me what it needs, what it likes, and what it doesn't.

How I used to think about my body

• pimples: Why does my face want to humiliate me?
• stomach ache: I probably just ate too much chocolate. Whatever.
• tense shoulders: Schools give too much homework, otherwise I would never be hunched over like this.
• achy feet: Will companies ever make comfortable and aesthetic shoes?
• hair falling out: I don't know why my hair hates me.

I noticed that I blamed everything but myself for hurting my body. I blamed my homework, the shoe company, the grocery store. Sure, none of these symptoms were drastic enough to prompt a visit to the doctor, but they were definitely there.

While many events created this change within me (cue Wicked music), one of the biggest moments that changed the way I think about myself happened earlier this year. My friend, Maggie, asked me, "How do you feel?" I was confused. There was nothing overtly "wrong" with me, and I wasn't sure how to respond. She said, "I mean, how do you really feel?"

Ever since then, I have paid attention to how I feel instead of ignoring myself. This isn't just physically, but emotionally too. Especially because the two are linked, whether you like it or not. So I started to listen to my body, and I learned that my body is really, really smart.

How I think about my body now

• pimples: Have I been touching my face too much? What did I eat today that may have caused this?
• stomach ache: Am I anxious about something? Did I eat something bad today? I should avoid it tomorrow.
• tense shoulders: How did I sleep last night? Do I need to add some relaxation exercises throughout my day?
• achy feet: I'm donating those boots. I promise to only buy comfortable shoes.
• hair falling out: Have I changed my diet recently? What chemicals am I putting in my hair?

Turns out that asking myself these questions has drastically changed my lifestyle. I no longer buy uncomfortable shoes, I know what I am putting in and on my body, and I am in tune with my emotions. Once I became conscious of the choices I was making, I could figure out the causes of my problems. I felt healthier and happier. And most importantly, I accepted responsibility for I how feel.

You decide whether or not to see the signs your body is giving you. I suggest asking your body how it feels, because it's the only one you've got.

TL;DR: Your body is smart. Listen to it.

Apps for Lists

I AM A LIST-MAKER HEAR ME ROAR.

It's ever so slightly obsessive, but I absolutely adore lists. I wrote a post about making lists at night, but I thought I would share how my list-making has evolved. Maybe I can even convert some of you into to-doers and cross-off-ers. :)

The Apps I Use
Food on the Table
This one is for my groceries. It's nifty because it categorizes items by where they will be in the store. Without it, I walk in circles. Literally. It also is wired to some popular recipe sites, so if you find something you like, it can put the ingredients straight into your shopping list.

These ingredients will make eggplant parmesan lasagna. DELISH.

iProcrastinate
This one is for my long-term school assignments. I like it because I can prioritize my schoolwork, AND create steps for each task. It syncs with the app on my computer, too. I don't really write down daily assignments on here, unless they require multiple steps.

Reminders (built in iPhone)
This is the built-in iPhone app that connects to Siri. I use this one when I know I will forget something in the short-term. Printing papers, emailing someone, changing passwords--I am prone to getting immersed in something totally different and forgetting about it.

P.S. My phone is in Polish so I can practice and things. :)

Wunderlist
For all other categories :). I love Wunderlist because I can make tons of lists and organize them exactly the way I want them too. I use this one for everything from gift ideas for birthdays to what to pack for a trip. It also syncs with the app on my computer. And you can change the background. Hehe.

The Non-Apps I Use
Post-It Notes
So maybe I am getting excessive by using both digital AND paper lists, but I just like them, OK? I use these to plan out what I want to achieve during the day. They are mostly activities or hobbies. Or they remind me to do something that is on another list. :) Like packing.

Weekly Planner
I use my planner to write down my daily schedule, my work hours, and any meetings I have. Daily assignments for school also go here.

Notebooks
Notebooks are for specific goal setting. The best example of this is a workout regimen. I'll write the date and the exercises to do, then move up to more difficult exercises or more repetitions after a few weeks.



Yup. That's all. Usually. :)

And if you're like me, don't freak out when you don't cross off everything on your daily to-do list. If you don't get around to it, it's probably not a big deal. Set realistic goals. And include things that help you be appreciative!

TODAY

-smell the Spring air

TL;DR: If you couldn't tell, lists are awesome.

The Internet is a Vampire

Alternate title: What I Learned From Being Mildly Addicted to the Internet


Vampires                                                  Internet
drain your blood (aka life-force)                   yup
most powerful at night                                yup
turn into bats                                             maybe not so much
sparkly                                                      just kidding :)


I love the Internet. There is so much knowledge to be shared and to discuss. But there's one issue with it.

Reading about things on the Internet does not substitute experiencing said things.

I can read about all the face masks and exercises and sewing techniques and recipes I want. (Yes, I'm very cool.) This is awesome. But after 4 hours, I will still have participated in nothing. No interaction between myself and the physical world, other than a keyboard and a screen.

So I challenge you, Internet friends. Learn what you can from the Internet. And then go do it. As long as it's legal and ethical and things like that.



Yay!

How to Make Driving Fun

While I don't advocate driving just for the experience (unless you're learning, that's important), 75.7% of U.S. commuters drive alone to their job. Alone. Allll byyyy themselvesssss. And while I'm not trying to be depressing here, it is not only inefficient (you can carpool), it is a time that I hear commuters complain about regularly. Here are some ways you can make your commuting experience positive. Then when your coworkers are complaining about their commute, you can smile and send them to read this list.

1. Carpool. I know some people don't have this option. You may be the only _______ Co. employee in a three county radius. And you may have different positions, which might make having a set time to arrive and leave difficult. So that's fine. If you do happen to leave near someone though, suggest carpooling. It will give you someone to talk to, and at the same time you can split gas costs.
2. Grab an audiobook from the library. When I first started driving, I was unhappy because I couldn't read as a driver. Super lame that I have to keep my eyes on the road, right? But several months ago, I discovered the lovely benefits of borrowing an audiobook from the public library. I was wary of becoming drowsy while listening to it, but it actually kept me more alert. I do switch off between music, an audiobook, and silence, though. It keeps me more on my toes. :) See my "book resources" tab above for recommendations.



Note: I don't suggest wiggling your head so much.

3. Get some exercise. Move that booty! On long drives, when I don't want to stop to let the blood flow back to my bum, I play some music to squeeze my glutes to. (Against my better judgment, I am telling the world personal information because I don't want you to suffer "dead-butt." It's really uncomfortable when your butt falls asleep.) I also wiggle my arms around (always keeping one on the wheel) and do a small gecko groove.
4. Drive in silence. It may be weird at first, but I get to those points where I just need to be able to think in silence, and it's very enjoyable. If you have a crazy-busy world with a lot of noise, try this out, you might like it. It's also easier to think-out-loud if there's no audio playing. Which brings me to my next point.
5. Talk to yourself. Yeah, you might feel silly. You may also feel awesome! Sometimes I don't even realize that something is on my mind or bothering me, until I let it out. Warning: I don't recommend this if you are prone to crying (joy, sadness, it might still get you).
6. Notice something new on every commute. It's amazing what paying attention can do. I can't tell you how many times I've driven past something and not even processed it exists. Now, staring out the side window probably isn't the best idea, but try to remember one or two new restaurants or such every day. You'll also develop a better memory about the area, and perhaps even discover a new place to eat.

I sincerely hope you enjoy your time driving. It's time that can be fun, I promise.


TL;DR: Your commute is what you make of it. Make it fun!


Statistics taken from here.

The Idiot Who Cut Me Off

Sometimes I forget that people are people.

Does that make sense?

I was reminded this weekend to see a person in every person. A soul in every body. An individual in every human. And this is the most important rule that I hang on to.

There's something called the fundamental attribution error (FAE), which you probably have heard of if you've taken an introductory psychology course. (If you didn't hear about it in your class, you probably weren't paying attention, or your teacher was totally robbing you of important information.) Now, sorry to break it to you dear friends of mine, but humans make a lot of mistakes that we are not always aware of. The basic idea of the FAE is that we tend to overestimate how much someone else's personal attributes are influencing their actions, and we underestimate how much that someone's situation is influencing their actions. Por ejemplo...

Have you ever been cut off by that idiot during rush hour? He's a total a**hole, right? But here's another question, and be honest about this one. Have you ever cut someone off during rush hour? Chances are you have, and you probably don't consider yourself a bad person. If you have ever cut someone off, you may have had a perfectly good reason (the guy behind you was about to rear-end your car). Do you see what I'm getting at?

I've noticed that I become much less judgmental when I admit that I don't know the situations that people are in. The driver who I think is recklessly speeding may have a friend in the hospital. The teacher who I think is inconsiderate of her students may be going through a divorce. The person drinking the energy drink may have had to stay up all night with a sick child. It's really hard to give people excuses for their actions. But I'm not giving them excuses. I'm simply trying to put myself in their shoes, and acknowledging the fact that I will probably never know why the person in the suit is yelling over the phone. Perhaps they are really mean, but perhaps they are expressing their frustration at some unmentionable injustice. Perhaps it's a combination of the two.

It's the last day of 2013. Tonight, when you look around at the people at the party, or the restaurant, or even the TV, give them a chance to be a person.

Happy last day of 2013! :)


TL;DR: A person's a person, if only you notice.

The Human Community

Greetings fellow Earthlings.

I was talking to myself yesterday, and I came up with a question for you. Why are we called the human "race"? Is this like the arms race, or the space race? Who are we racing? Why are we racing each other?

I suppose there's a possibility that way back when, there was an urgent need to have babies, to survive, blah blah blah, so maybe it felt like a race against death, others, who knows (?). There you go, my budding sociologist friends. I'll leave that for you to research.

But honestly, let's think about this. Humans like their communities. We are social beings and generally like to keep friends and family around. We surround ourselves with people who have similar interests and views and hobbies. And we hate everyone else. Wait, no, that's just us bitter folk. But we do tend to not understand other groups and communities. This is very sad, dear Internet friend, for understanding leads to communication, respect, and fellowship. (Things that I believe our world is lacking. What a great word. Lacking.)

I would like to advocate that we should all be friends and stop racing each other! Yeah, I know. Not realistic. Think of your community. Maybe it's a school or campus, workplace or neighborhood. Maybe it's your circle of friends. You don't always like everyone, do you? But do you seek them out to make their lives unpleasant? If you're mean and stupid, then I suppose the answer is yes. But if you have better things to do than insult and provoke others, then the answer is no. There are parts of your community that you may not enjoy, but you tolerate.

Here is my plea/suggestion/epiphany. Can we start calling ourselves the human community? Yes, competition is beneficial, but having enemies is not. Yes, it's corny-sounding, but the starting point of any kind of change is a change in attitude. Example: If you want to change the way you eat, in order to be successful, you first have to change how you think about food.

So there is my thought for the day. I will try my best to update more frequently. Happy October!


TL;DR: We are all Earthlings, are we not? Let's have a party. Everyone's invited.


P.S. If we get along now, then we're all set for the possibility of aliens attacking us. Just saying.

Revolutionize Your Kitchen

Step 1.

Stop buying processed foods, immediately. During the few days (or a week for those of you hoarders) when you are revolutionizing your place of food storage, either live off what you already have, get (healthy!) take-out, and/or buy fruits and veggies.

Step 2. 

Take inventory. What, and how much, do you have? This could save you money--I recently found 3 bottles of the exact same seasoning. I recommend taking care of the fridge in one sitting. The pantry or cabinet can go one shelf per day if you need to. If you have a very busy schedule, don't panic, just make sure you mark where you left off the day before.

Step 3.
Is it expired? Throw it out. Empty bottles and recycle them. The easiest way to empty old salad dressing or sauce is to shake it first. If you can't find the expiration date, and no one remembers when it was bought, it's probably best to toss.

Step 4.
Check the ingredients. The fewer ingredients, the better. I cannot stress this enough. If the ingredient...

...is too hard for you to pronounce, get rid of it.
...cannot be easily spelled by anyone other than chemist, get rid of it.
...ends in -ose, it is most likely a sugar--get rid of it.
...is derived of corn or soy, get rid of it.
...is "emulsifier" (carrageenan is also one), get rid of it.

Why?

I (influenced by several food documentaries and articles) consider the simplest food to be the best for me. If I suspect an ingredient is highly processed, how am I supposed to know how my body (a body that has evolutionarily survived and thrived on foods found in nature, AKA natural foods) will derive nutrients from it? 

Ingredients ending in "-ose" are usually forms of sugar. The sugars you should be eating are the ones that are unrefined/unprocessed. Think that you're not eating that much sugar? Think again.

Gross!

Do you know how much corn products you consume? Probably way too many. Watch King Corn to understand how powerful corn is in American society.

Regarding emulsifiers, they are what keep your liquid/gooey products from separating. Seriously people? Have we gotten so lazy that we can't shake a bottle for two whole seconds? There are no proven health risks from emulsifiers, but there is no reason to be using them in the first place. Read. Key line: "Emulsifiers are necessary if you have oil- and water-based products. The real question would appear to be: do we need oil- and water-based products? Often, the answer is no." (Pat Thomas)

Whatever is left, keep!

Step 5.
Donate the food you are getting rid of. Yes, that means that someone else will be eating it, but in the end, artificial food is better than no food, and someone may not have the same opportunity you have to take the next step.

Step 6.
Go grocery shopping! If you are suddenly left with a few healthy jars of applesauce, almond butter, and coconut milk, here's your chance to change your life.

New and Improved Shopping List

• fruits
• apples!
• melons!
• berries!
• bananas!
• avocados!
• pomegranates!
• vegetables
• kale!
• spinach!
• carrots!
• beets!
• lettuce!
• radishes!
• cucumbers!
• seeds
• pumpkin!
• sunflower!
• chia!
• buckwheat!
• hemp!
• flax!
• nuts (and nut butters :) )
• almonds!
• walnuts!
• hazelnuts!
• cashews!
• macadamia!

My goodness people! There is so much DELICIOUS food out there. There are pinto beans and mushrooms (personally not my favorite) and lemons and zucchini. Don't put your body in extra stress from what you put in your mouth. The best part about this is that there are SO many options. You just need to find what you like, and the more looking you do, the more you will find. I promise.

A scrumptious snack of applesauce and cinnamon.

P.S. If you want a more gradual change into a fresh-food lifestyle, keep the processed foods you know you will eat. This way you can eat all the food you have and slowly introduce more unprocessed food! Yay!

What is Eco-Friendliness?

Like many other terms that sprout from movements, "eco-friendliness" is in danger of becoming distorted. Fortunately, it has not reached the dismal point of "feminism," which actually means the advocacy for women to have equal social, political, and economic equality to men. Now, there are people who just associate "feminism" with something negative, like women who have penis envy, are bitter, and want to kill all the men. Somewhere along the way, radicals and stereotypes ruined everything without even meaning to. Same goes for how people who practice Islam are now all assumed to be terrorists. I don't know about you, but I sure wouldn't want to be defined by people who identify with my religion, but went all crazy (i.e. Westboro Baptist Church).

Anyway, this makes me wonder where the term "green" is going. (Haha, get it? Green is going, like "going green"?) While being "green," or "eco-friendly," is by definition a positive concept, I'm afraid it will be warped by the advertising world (greenwashing). But since the environmental movement does not only fall upon the producers of "green" products, I like to focus on the things that I can do on a daily basis to produce less waste. See what I wrote about eco-friendly products here.

Por ejemplo, some guidelines:

• Lights out. You can say, "Oh, but I'm just getting a snack." Unless you are some kind of mutant that doesn't get distracted by everything on the way to the kitchen, you're probably not going to be back in that room for another 10 minutes. Let's be honest here. I even get distracted when I want to get a snack and I'm Skyping someone. There are just too many things to encounter! The dogs are cute, so I have to stop to pet them, we don't have any fruit at the moment, so I have to find something else, someone is watching TV and it turns out to be my favorite movie, etc, etc. Ten minutes later, I'm like, "Crap! What'stherface is waiting for me on Skype!" That leads me to...
• Unplugging. Electronics can suck up a lot more energy than you realize. Yes, I love the internet, but I realize it's better to put my computer to sleep, put down my phone, and go for a long walk with my dogs, and (unfortunately) clean my room. 

Goodnight sweet laptop, I will read you a story.

• Take quick, cool showers. OK, so you've heard of not wasting water before, but cool showers? WHY?! Just to convince you that I understand your indignance, let me tell you that when I was a wee little girl, I loved to take hour-long, hot showers. This desire was probably due to the fact that I get cold very easily, and I really don't like being cold. When I heard about taking cold showers, I thought, "No way in a million years!" Ah, how fickle the brain is. Other than not spending energy heating your water to a steamy 90 degrees, cold water is better for your health. Don't believe me? The easiest example is how athletes take ice baths. I also have a friend who is an esthetician, and when I told her I washed my face with hot water, she nearly had a heart attack. If it's not good for the skin on your face, why would it be good for the skin on the rest of your body? So I've been trying to make it a habit to turn down the heat, and I do like cool water more than hot water. Who knew? I still can't handle cold, unless it's right after a workout.
• Reduce, reuse, recycle. This is the big one that no one wants to hear about anymore. I won't go into detail, but I am often struck by how brilliant this plan is. I feel like an idiot, thinking how brilliant it is, because it's so simple! But it's so brilliant! Parallel to "I came, I saw, I conquered." (Get it? Parallelism? Any grammar nerds out there?)
• Are you getting enough sleep? If you need one more reason to get dreamy, use the environmental one! Think about it: humans only produce waste when they're awake. Unless you sleep-walk. Then I have no solution for you.
• Adjust your thermostat. Keep your home on the warmer side in the summer, and on the colder side in the winter. Why I support this: I don't want to have to change 50 times in one day. Summer scenario: I sit outside in my shorts and a t-shirt and when I come inside, I feel like I have contracted hypothermia. Winter scenario: I come inside in my coat, scarf, hat, gloves, and five more thick layers, and suddenly I feel like I'm in a sauna. I realize there has to be some kind of adjustment, but I really rather not break out my long pants and sweatshirts in the summer, just because I'm inside. Rawr.

You're probably thinking, "As if I haven't heard all of this before." Well then act on it! Don't just sit there and read me ramble about these things. If you like the earth in all its splendor and richness (if you don't, go away), then take care of it! I don't like the phrase "do your part!" Ugh, it makes me feel like I'm in elementary school and I have to clean up someone else's mess. I much rather motivate myself by knowing why I want to be green.

I'm still learning how to Photoshop. Don't make fun of me.

For me, the biggest part of being eco-friendly is paying attention to what I'm doing. When I realize I am doing something wasteful or unnecessary, I know it's time to stop or change something. Like that mantra we had to repeat in elementary school. "Stop. :) Think. :) Make a good choice. :D" Do teachers realize how much of an impact they have on us? Do they know we will have this sing-songy motto stuck in our heads for the rest of our lives?


TL;DR: I hope you at least enjoyed my green face. It took me forever to make it.

Rising With the Sun

“Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” Benjamin Franklin

Remember when, approximately a week ago, I said that I am a night person? Well, I'm not really a night person, or a morning person anymore. I'm in this weird transitional state that I never thought I'd reach, and I've found some benefits.

Environmentally, I am spending more time awake while the sun is providing natural light. This means that I use less energy on electricity. Yay! (Brings me back to the days when we had to use candles when the sun wasn't up. Wait. I kind of want to do that now.)

Time-wise, I don't have to rush to get somewhere on time. School starts soon, and I'm going to be able to work around the traffic. Less stress!

"The time just before dawn contains the most energy of all hours of the day. This has helped me become an early riser and an early doer.... When I wake to see that it's light out already, I feel the world has started without me." Terri Guillemets

Nutritionally, I am hungry when I wake up, but I don't want to eat (weird dilemma?) at 6 AM. Instead, I spend my time getting ready for the day, blogging, or reading, and drinking the full 24 oz bottle of water that I left for myself the night before. Vater eez gud.
I also have more time to prepare myself a sit-down breakfast, instead of grabbing a banana to go. 

Biologically, we are not creatures that have been primed to see in the dark. It would make sense that we spend the most time awake while the sun is up. There has been some speculation that going to bed early and rising early promotes better sleep because we are working with natural circadian rhythms, but I haven't found a study of that yet. The National Sleep Foundation has some interesting information though. (Who knew something like that existed? Amazing!)

Personally, I like to listen to morning sounds. :) Birds chirping, clocks ticking, airplane engines whirring, blenders blending. It is wonderful.


What spurred me to wake up so early, you ask? My boyfriend works an early shift, and I thought it would be easier to have the same sleep schedule so we can Skype. :) Love Skype. And my boyfriend too, I guess. 

How I did it without wanting to collapse in a pile of poofy blankets by 3 PM: I set my alarm clock half an hour earlier every day, and accordingly went to bed a tad earlier every evening. Does going to bed at 10 PM make me old? Nah, I still want to get my groove on till the wee hours of the morning. Just not regularly. (Especially since I'm usually not getting my groove on when I'm going to bed at 3 AM. I'm really just doing nothing.)


TL;DR: "Hi, I'm Emily, and I'm a night person." "Hi Emily." Ha! Not anymore!

Why I Make a To-Do List at Night

I am a night person. I always have been, and I was afraid I always would be. My highest levels of motivation come to me at 9 PM, and I have spent many nights leaving a half-finished de-cluttering project at 3 AM, only to have my room stay that way until the next time I felt like dealing with it.

I don't consider this healthy behaviour. I figure I have a few choices here:

1. I can embrace the fact that I am a night person, and change nothing.
2. I can accept the fact that I am a night person, and resist the temptation of starting a project at midnight.
3. I can change my sleep schedule, and try to accommodate a different lifestyle.

Ding ding ding! We have a winner.

When I look back at my high school years, when, how, and where I slept is really quite cringe-worthy. I actually believe my body is still recovering. Because I don't live at college, I have the luxury of being able to have a regular sleep schedule now, and I'm working on implementing that. I found that a to-do list written the night before helps loads.

Here's why.

First of all, I love lists. (Did you notice that before? I bet that you'll notice every time I make one now.)

Second of all, I love colorful things. I once bought multiple Post-It notes in different colors, and I'm still working through them. (Guess what? Post-Its are recyclable! Ha!)

Third of all, I am very slightly addicted to cool apps. Wunderlist. That is all.

Fourth of all, I always remember what I have to do the next day as I'm falling asleep. So if I write it down, I don't have any excuses in the morning!

Fifth of all, checking things off my to-do list feels incredibly (to the point that it's embarrassing) great.

     "Shower. Check."

     "Eat breakfast. Check."

     "Pet the dogs. Check." (OK, that was a joke. I don't put that on there. Kind of.)

          My sister laughs at me when I put everyday things on my list, but I would like to object. I get TO DO them, don't I? They have just as much right on my TO-DO list as anything else. So there.

The point is that I wake up knowing what I want to achieve every day. This is key to not being sucked into Facebook and such nonsense when I have down time. 

Something that I think is very important with to-do list making: be conscious of how much you list. Motivate yourself to get a good amount of tasks done, but don't make the expectations too high. If you don't finish everything, just put it on the next day's Post-It. No stress. The list is there to help you, not make you feel bad about yourself.

And if you are feeling really productive, try getting 3 things on your list done before noon. (Make them things that aren't daily, though. No cheating!)

TL;DR: Write down what you need to do tomorrow as you get ready to sleep. Lists are cool!

'Ello poppet!

Interaction with real people is something that plagues me on daily basis.

I suppose that's a tad dramatic, but I'm talking about people I don't know. Strangers, one may call them. Why are they called strangers? Are they strange? Who are they stranger than? Maybe this is an issue with definitions of words changing over time. My favorite of which is "awesome." Yeah! Awesome man! But I like to use it in the sense that something inspires awe (which, according to Google, is a "feeling of reverential respect mixed with wonder or fear"). Suddenly all of these people saying awesome is so much more intense!

This is not the point though. I was a very shy child, and it took a lot of time for me to be able to approach strangers and have a conversation. (Having a job REALLY helps with this.) Now, the feeling of human camaraderie is something I try to achieve every day. But since I am still not the most outspoken and extroverted person, my daily challenge goes something like this:

(at the grocery store)
OK Emily. You're going to pass the guy with samples of food soon. He's probably going to offer one. What  do you say? What do you say?! You're really close now! He's taking a breath, he's going to--

Him: "Good morning!"
Me: "Hi!" OK, that was the easy part.
Him: "Would you like to sample our freshly made salsa? It's made right in the store, and it's organic!"
Me: "No, thank you." Gahhhh why did he ask me?

And here's why I'm afraid of strange social interaction when it goes beyond "hello." Everything starts out great, each person is positive, because there's nothing negative about a "hello" (unless you say it really creepily, don't do that). After a "hello," there is either a statement offered ("it's so lovely today!") or a question asked ("isn't it lovely today?"). This prompts yet another response, which puts stress on the receiver of the offering, and at this point my heart is beating so hard I'm surprised the other person doesn't see my whole body heaving with anticipation.

HOWEVER, if I am the one saying "hello" first, then there is a smaller chance of questions being thrown at me.

Me: "Good afternoon!"
Stranger: "Why hello."

Lalala, we smile and go along with our lives.

I'm not saying that having a conversation with someone at the grocery store is a bad thing, or something to be avoided. I'm not saying that asking about your neighbor's dog because you heard it was sick is something that should make you feel stressed out. I'm just weird, and if you battle shy-ness like me, I want to encourage people to at least say "hello." And if you're a social butterfly with the entire world, go make someone get out of their comfort zone by, for example, striking up some small talk and offering to reach for the orange juice on the highest shelf. (I'm pretty sure the orange juice is never on the highest shelf, but I'm really in the mood for orange juice and you get what I mean).

We're all just people. We all have struggles and passions and fears. We all feel alone at one point or another. Is it really that hard to believe that a simple greeting can change someone's day for the better?



TL;DR: Go say hi to someone you don't know today! We are all furless, two-legged creatures, so let's acknowledge our fellows. :)

The Secret to a Happy Morning

There are an infinite number of scenarios that could occur every morning. You could be woken by...

...the extreme pressure in your bladder

...your regular alarm clock, the one whose goal is to pierce your brain with the most obnoxious noises

...the sun shining through your eastern-facing window

...your roommate-the-cook, banging utensils and plates as loud as humanly possible

...the pungent aroma of your dog's gas (so much for being cute and cuddly)



And your reaction every morning could go just about in any direction, depending on whether you are a morning person or not, you woke up in the middle of an REM cycle, and how quickly you realize what day it is.

To be honest, I have experienced all of the above situations, and it's not so easy to be a good sport with all of them. The secret to a happy morning may not work every morning, but it may just shift your daily attitude enough to positively change your perspective.

Don't get up. (Unless the scenario is the first one.)

Turn your alarm clock off, look at how brightly lit your room is, pretend the pots and pans are part of the awesome "Trashin' the Camp" song from Tarzan, and opt to breathe through your mouth. Stop thinking about the list of chores you must complete today, the crazy uncle you really don't want to see, the mess that your husband surely left in the kitchen last night.

Focus on how alive you are, how your toes and fingers twitch on demand, how messy your hair is, how the cloth of your blanket feels like heaven on your skin. Think about how majestic the workings of your body are, that your heart beats as you rest, that your kidneys filter your blood without conscious command, that your eyes remember to blink.

All you have to do each morning is take 2 minutes to appreciate the fact that you are alive, that it may not always be easy, but it sure could be easier if you have a good start.


TL;DR: You are alive! Enjoy it!