Archive for » March, 2008 «

Mar
30
How To Improve Yourself And Why

Have you ever heard this saying:

“Learning to love yourself is the greatest love of all.”

This is one of the most important things in life: to get to be happy with yourself. Almost impossible at young ages, loving yourself can be your gate to happiness, if you manage to find the key to it.

How many times, as a teenager, have you though that you hate the way your hair looks, that you hate the fact that you don’t have white teeth like the movie stars, or that you cannot sing like a nightingale? Too many times perhaps.

Don’t envy other people for what they have or for what they are. Think what they had to do to become that person, or to have those things. Are you willing to do the same? If you do, then just start living your dream. If you don’t, find yourself another dream and leave other people alone, as you don’t need to live their life in order to be happy.

If you feel miserable, just get yourself a cat. Cats can be very good stress relieves, they are too good to be true. And they never treat you like you were a second rate human being. They treat you just like you were any other cat, but a bit bigger.

If you are in pain, think of the ones who are in bigger pain than you do. Only imagine lots of people caring for aging parents and having to endure all the misery of seeing their mind getting worse day after day, without any reversal possibility. Yes, we are all going to either die too young or to end up just like our old parents, but it still hurts seeing them losing their minds.

Category: Personal Growth  Tags: ,  Leave a Comment
Mar
25
Stress Management

Did you know that stress can be managed? Or did you know that you are subject to stress every single day of your life?
When you wait in line at the post office, you are subject to stress. When you wait one hour for the bus, you are stressed. When your kids do some naughty things at school and the teacher calls you, you are stressed. When you try to determine your partner to stop drinking, you are stressed. When you look at ten Coach bags for about one hour then buy none, you are stressed

And I’m not mentioning here the major sources of stress like divorce, or your partner’s death, or unemployment, or serious illness. These can have a major impact on our health, if we aren’t strong enough to get over them and continue our life.

What you can do to avoid stress? Simple:

1. Know that it exists. Be aware when you are nervous or anxious, and try to visualize a solution to your problems. There is always a way out.

2. Don’t think too much. Always choose action over thinking. You’ll be more relaxed afterwards.

3. Rest well. Sleep enough, eat several times a day and give up half of the coffees you use to drink.

You’ll see how good you’ll feel if you take one thing at a time, and don’t panic for all details. And life is full of details, you know?

Last but not least, a friend of mine just told me that her method of getting rid of stress is to go for a colon detox procedure every year. I’m not sure how that can help her be more relaxed, but she knows best.

Category: Personal Growth  Tags: , , ,  Leave a Comment
Mar
19
Rock Collecting: My Newest Hobby

Rock collecting just got me caught completely. It is an affordable hobby, as I can find pretty rocks an a lot of places, like on river banks, on the beach, or even in the forest. I like hiking in the mountains, and this is pretty much how my rock collecting hobby started. Once I was climbing some volcanic mountains, and I was impressed with the beauty of those rocks. I could not resist, so I took a few rocks with me back home. You can imagine how nice they were looking, in order to make me carry them in my already so heavy backpack. At home, I discovered that they were igneous rocks, which is the name for rocks that are formed by volcanic activity.

Another type of rock which is suitable for collecting is the metamorphic rock, which is in fact a common sedimentary rock which was exposed to big heat and pressure.

Best Rock For Collecting

But the most beautiful rocks to collect are crystals, minerals and gems. Pyrite and quartzite are my favorites by far, because they look so much like gold and diamonds.

For many folks, rock collecting means gathering rocks from many places and place them either in their house, in case of smaller rocks, or in their gardens, in case of big rocks. Rocks are carefully labeled with a permanent marker, stating the date of collection and the place where it has been found.

If you want to do more than a simple, souvenir type collection, or cool gifts for your friends, you need to identify the rocks and minerals you are collecting. Rocks have particularities according to the way they have been formed, and a little bit of instruction in this field will reveal you the beauty of your hobby.

When rock collecting, you cannot forget that the igneous rocks can look gorgeous.As an example, obsidian is an igneous rock that is very similar to broken glass. It is shiny and heavy, and it was used in old times for making arrowheads. Do you remember the bath stone you use to smooth your hills? This is pumice, another volcanic rock which is porous and light. It floats on water.

The true passionate of rock collecting travel in many places of the world, in order to gather a big variety of stones. The relief is different from place to place, for example the American Midwest is rich in sedimentary stones, rather than volcanic ones. Metamorphic rocks such as gneiss and schist can be found in the Carpathian mountains. Limestone can be found in Egypt. Now you see why I feel this superior to coin collecting, although I have to admit that I have a quite large ancient coins collection at home.

Wherever you live, you can enjoy rock collecting.

Category: Hobbies  Tags: , , , , , ,  One Comment
Mar
18
Stamp Collecting: Fun And Educational

Stamp collecting, or philately as it is also known, is a very popular hobby. Stamp collectors take their stamps from letters, or they buy them in specialized shops. Another solution is to do stamp exchange with other collectors. They are usually very fond of very old stamps, which most of the times have a good value in money as well. But their beauty exceeds the financial perks.

What Do You Need To Start Stamp Collecting

Starting a stamp collection is easy. All you need is a stamp album and special mounting tapes, which are named hinges. You’ll also need a pair of tweezers to grab the stamps, because you don’t want to leave your fingerprints all over them. You can start your stamp collection with stamps from your daily mail. You can easily remove the stamps from the letters if you soak them in warm water and pull them off gently. After that, use some absorbent paper to dry the stamps and place them inside a big, heavy book, so they flatten. Beware, if the stamp is not completely dry, it may adhere to the book pages, so you’d better put it between some non adherent foils.

Commemoratives are very nice to be added to a stamp collection. These are stamps issued on various commemorative occasions, such as 100 years from celebrating the independence, and they are to be found on the market for a very limited time. Take advantage and buy them, as you may sell them at higher price later on.

Besides, they have very interesting artwork, and are really nice to watch.

A good hint to get some really cool stamps for your collection is to find a few penpals from other countries. The more letters you receive, the more stamps you’ll have the chance to collect.

Stamp collecting is really fun and educational. However, if you don’t see it as a suitable hobby, you can always find ideas elsewhere, for example in books and movies: just buy Legend of Zelda and you’ll see what I mean.

Category: Hobbies  Tags: , , , ,  One Comment
Mar
17
Just To Reach Holland

“Netherlands is beautiful even from the planet” a friend of mine told me before leaving the country for a trip to Benelux, Paris and Prague.
“You will get to see the mills from above, the fields with multicolored tulips, an unforgettable image”, she said.
Following her advice, in the airport, I asked for a place by the window.
Few minutes after I occupied my place, a young Indian woman came to sit next to me. His friend stood on the foot, in front of the chair, waiting.
She asked me to change places, so they can talk during the flight. She showed me the chair where he had ticket for, and it wasn’t by the window.
I refused the proposal, thinking that they will ask the passenger next to the man, to change places. Nothing at the kind.
She started to move in such a manner so her hand will touch me, or be in front of my eyes. She looked like she was experiencing alcohol withdrawal symptoms.
No reaction from my part got her angrier.
After she finisher undressing, she stacked and pressed her elbow against mine.
I simply moved my arm on the other part of the chair’s handle, trying to not get in a fight with a person without brains and education.
She moved her arm again, so I had no space to rest my hand on the chair’s handle.
I pushed her arm away and, very calm, told her: “I will not move according to your desire and your mood”.
No? she asked very surprised and nervous.
No. You are looking for a fight and I don’t accept this.
All trips long, this rut woman, did nothing else, that disturbing me: she used a mint cream for the cold, witch smelled like all of you know; she constantly turned to her friend, to talk to, and hit my with her elbow; she sneezed without covering her mouth.
My friend didn’t anticipate a situation like this. She thought that I would have an excellent view of Holland from the air.
I wonder: it is so hard to ask for places on the same bench?
Or, maybe, she didn’t know that, in order to get them, you have to give the both passports in the same time.

Perhaps next time she’d better go for a Royal cruise, or one of those luxury ships like Voyager of the Seas, or Independence of the Seas, in the Caribbeans, to visit a few private islands or some well-known harbors within that area. Or maybe she’d enter straight into the Bermuda Triangle, if I think of how lucky she always is.

Category: Traveling  Tags: , ,  Leave a Comment
Mar
14
Allergy Relief

Finding a good allergy relief is the dream of every allergic out there. This desire gets stronger in the spring, when all trees are blooming, pollen is everywhere and bees start flying in their search for food. This is the hardest time for people who developed allergies to pollen, dust or insect bites. It is known that birch tree pollen and pampas grass are widespread allergens which give lots of trouble to allergy sufferers. Worst is that they can do very little about it, because not everybody can afford to stay indoors during a couple of months or so.

Why Allergy Relief And Not Allergy Cure?

You should know that allergies are usually incurable diseases, so all allergy treatments are meant to relief the symptoms and not to eliminate their cause. Contrary to the popular belief that repeated exposure to the allergen substance will de-sensitize an allergy sufferer, nothing can be worse than exposing yourself to the same allergy trigger again and again. It will only make your symptoms grow bigger and finally, it may cause you strong reactions like the anaphylaxis, or even death. So beware of allergens you know that you develop allergic reactions to, and avoid getting in contact with them by all means. One particular thing you need to be very careful with is the asbestos attic insulation. Make sure you are not allergic to asbestos before going for this operation.

Where To Look For Allergy Relief?

Although it may seem easy, allergy is a serious disease and it should be treated as such, by going to the doctor to seek for advice. A wrong allergy relief taken as a follow of a friend’s advice may lead to severe consequences, so you should never listen to the word-of-mouth specialists, not even if they have tried those allergy reliefs by themselves with good results. Allergy is a disease which is extremely customized, so each allergic patient is unique, therefore no cure will be suitable for all of them.

It is normal for you, as an allergy slave to be seeking for relief, but your physician is the best person who can diagnose you and indicate the most appropriate medication. Never hesitate to go to your doctor, or to an allergology and clinical immunology specialist whenever you may seek for an allergy relief.

Category: Allergy Thoughts  Tags: , , , , , ,  Leave a Comment