Thinks I find along the way
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Today’s the greatest day you’ve ever lived.
Today’s the only day you’ve ever lived.
The past is gone, the future is far, nothing else matters, except where you are.
AWESOME!
Wow! The Book of (Even More) Awesome debuts at #1 in paperback!
Live in Toronto? Join me on Wednesday!
Thank you to the talented Misty Harris for a great tribute to 1000 Awesome Things.
Photo from: here
You know the guy I’m talking about. He spends hours into the night playing video games and surfing for pornography. He fears he’s a loser. And he has no idea just how much of a loser he is. For some time now, studies have shown us that porn and gaming can become compulsive and addicting. What we too often don’t recognize, though, is why.
In a new book, The Demise of Guys: Why Boys Are Struggling and What We Can Do About It, psychologists Philip Zimbardo and Nikita Duncan say we may lose an entire generation of men to pornography and video gaming addictions. Their concern isn’t about morality, but instead about the nature of these addictions in reshaping the patten of desires necessary for community.
If you’re addicted to sugar or tequila or heroin you want more and more of that substance. But porn and video games both are built on novelty, on the quest for newer and different experiences. That’s why you rarely find a man addicted to a single pornographic image. He’s entrapped in an ever-expanding kaleidoscope.
There’s a key difference between porn and gaming. Pornography can’t be consumed in moderation because it is, by definition, immoral. A video game can be a harmless diversion along the lines of a low-stakes athletic competition. But the compulsive form of gaming shares a key element with porn: both are meant to simulate something, something for which men long.
Pornography promises orgasm without intimacy. Video warfare promises adrenaline without danger. The arousal that makes these so attractive is ultimately spiritual to the core. Get more here: Fake Love, Fake War: Why So Many Men Are Addicted to Internet Porn and Video Games – Desiring God.
“REMEMBER WHAT ONE DREAM CAN DO. YOU ARE UNSTOPPABLE!!!!”
via Song of the Week: “Unstoppable” « Arianna’s “Random” Thoughts.
Anderson Layman’s Blog via Apps………………..
notsalmon. Read more here: How To Bounce Back From A Vortex.
Having launched Global Awesomeness Report just a week ago, we were thrilled when we came across this TED Talk from last year, which speaks our language on positivity (it also has our favorite word “Awesome” in it so we couldn’t resist!).
Neil Pasricha uses the power of blogging to spread a little optimism each day about the awesome things that make life worth living – and it is the simple things that count. In this entertaining yet enlightening video, he shares what he calls the 3A’s of Awesome.
Do check it out, and if you too are ready for a change in attitude and want to delve head-first into positive feel-good news, then hop on over to our Global Awesomeness Report Facebook page and get happy! via The 3A’s of Awesome – A Feel Good Video | FinerMinds.
Another excellent post, Kristin! To ‘no blaming’ I add ‘no shaming’ although that might be covered by point 1. We have used Nonviolent Communication effectively as a tool in our relationship to help us keep all these rules and the results have been stunningly good. Thanks for sharing these timely thoughts…
Baroque music stimulates everything that needs stimulating. This is what I listen to during my morning computer routine…
Lately, I have been thinking a lot about the word ‘right’ in my life. In my professional life, I am a thought leader in the internet marketing space. I have strong opinions about ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ when it comes to strategy, tactics and tools. I am learning lately that being right or thinking I am right can lead to disastrous consequences…
I have found fertile thinking in this quote from Nietzsche; “You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.” When I think I am right, I think I HAVE rights and expectations. I think I know, however, that there is only one place disappointment comes from; false expectations…
Ponder this:
“There are/can be many disapointments in life and sometimes they can’t be avoided. Living up to what we expect is a big one. Whether it be in someone else or in ourselves. Our expectations can be “too high” unreasonable or unrealistic. No one is perfect nor can they be in this crazy world.
Sometimes we expect more from a person than they are able to give..at a particular time. Sometimes we expect a person to do more than they are capable of doing, or to be more than they are capable of being. Therefore we are the ones who wind up getting frustrated, angry, hurt, impatient and disapointed. We are the ones effected by our own actions. We are the ones who set ourselves up for disapointments.
Sometimes our approach can be critical, overbearing and destructive. Even when we simply suggest something or give an opinion it does’nt go over well. It can be viewed as an attack on ones charactor even tho that was not the intention. This should never be taken personally because we all have things we are trying to cope with from our past and present situations and we shut down.
Even when we simply try to point something out to someone they can go into the defend mode, protective mode because they are not ready to deal with “the problem” yet. They are still battling with it therefore they are consumed by it and it has power over their well being. Everyone needs to be comfortable in their own skin. Like no body states in one of my comments below..it must be the right message, from the right source, at the right time, by the right person (edified properly) or it will not be received in the way it was intended to be received. Otherwise it can be misinterpreted.
Our expectations, opinions and suggestions can sometimes be veiwed as attacks on self worth and competency. Therefore conflict, separation and alienation occures and the door is shut on communication. Then our relationships are compromised. I watched Charles Stanley‘s program last Sunday and he ministered on how “Words” can have a profound, everlasting effect on us and our well being, our growth and our lives. They can have a tremendous effect and sometimes we say things we later regret.
No one can live up to anyone’s” standards. It’s not that what everyone is doing is right or that we don’t have a big heart in wanting whats best for them, it’s just that our expectations may be overwelming.
A lot of people feel like failures because they can’t live up to the expectations they put on themselves or that others put on them. We can make others feel like failures because of our expections being “To high”> Expecting too much. Too much attention can be put on expectations and not on acheivements/accomplishments.” via Expectations.
Thinking I have rights as a husband leads me to expectations and the expectations lead to disappointment and frustration. Somehow, focusing on being friends with my wife is making a radical difference in my life and happiness has come from leaving ‘right’ behind…
I heard Dr. Phil say “would you rather be happy or right”. I choose happy and as for right? It really doesn’t exist according to Nietszche and only leads to sad for me. What do you think about this?
More Melody Beattie:
“Love yourself into health and a good life of your own.
Love yourself into relationships that work for you and the other person. Love yourself into peace, happiness, joy, success, and contentment.
Love yourself into all that you always wanted. We can stop treating ourselves the way others treated us, if they behaved in a less than healthy, desirable way. If we have learned to see ourselves critically, conditionally, and in a diminishing and punishing way, it’s time to stop. Other people treated us that way, but it’s even worse to treat ourselves that way now.
Loving ourselves may seem foreign, even foolish at times. People may accuse us of being selfish. We don’t have to believe them.
People who love themselves are truly able to love others and let others love them. People who love themselves and hold themselves in high esteem are those who give the most, contribute the most, and love the most.
How do we love ourselves? By forcing it at first. By faking it, if necessary. By acting as if. By working as hard at loving and liking ourselves as we have at not liking ourselves.
Explore what it means to love yourself.
Do things for yourself that reflect compassionate, nurturing, self love.
Embrace and love all of yourself – past, present, and future. Forgive yourself quickly and as often as necessary. Encourage yourself. Tell yourself good things about yourself.
If we think and believe negative ideas, get them out in the open quickly and honestly, so we can replace those beliefs with better ones.
Pat yourself on the back when necessary. Discipline yourself when necessary. Ask for help, for time; ask for what you need.
Sometimes, give yourself treats. Do not treat yourself like a pack mule, always pushing and driving harder. Learn to be good to yourself. Choose behaviors with preferable consequences – treating yourself well is one.
Learn to stop your pain, even when that means making difficult decisions. Do not unnecessarily deprive yourself. Sometimes, give yourself what you want, just because you want it.
Stop explaining and justifying yourself. When you make mistakes, let them go. We learn, we grow, and we learn some more. And through it all, we love ourselves.
We work at it, and then work at it some more. One day we’ll wake up, look in the mirror, and find that loving ourselves has become habitual. We’re now living with a person who gives and receives love, because that person loves him or herself. Self-love will take hold and become a guiding force in our life.
Today, I will work at loving myself. I will work as hard at loving myself as I have at not liking myself. Help me let go of self-hate and behaviors that reflect not liking myself. Help me replace those with behaviors that reflect self-love. Today, God, help me hold myself in high self-esteem. Help me know I’m lovable and capable of giving and receiving love.
From The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie ©1990, Hazelden Foundation. All rights reserved.” via the language of letting go | Tumblr.
Warning! Video: NSFW…
The Meta Picture via It happens for a reason….
Hmmmm…
“Why are we getting so fat? The conventional wisdom is that we are getting fat because we eat too much and exercise too little. There’s ample evidence to support this view, but lately an alternative explanation for the obesity epidemic has gained currency.
Gary Taubes, a prominent science writer, and Dr. Robert Lustig, a UCSF Professor of Pediatrics, among others have suggested that all calories aren’t equal. They attribute the rapid rise in the prevalence of obesity to the increased sugar and refined carbohydrates in our diets.
Taubes suggests that calories from fructose, a type of sugar, have a greater impact on weight than calories from other sources. Fructose effects insulin which determines fat accumulation. Fructose is metabolized primarily by liver cells. Some of the fructose is converted into fat which accumulates in the liver making it more resistant to the action of insulin. This leads to elevated levels of insulin and the accumulation of more fat in the fat cells. Thus obesity is the result of fattier fat cells after consuming foods containing fructose.” via A Calorie Is a Calorie, Or Is It? | Psychology Today.
Want to know more about the dark side of the American food system? The government subsidizes corn growers who produce high fructose corn syrup which causes health problems ‘fixed’ by Obamacare. Am I the only one who can connect these dots? Watch this:
We’re always looking for something better. Something nicer or faster or newer or shinier or bigger. Something more. Something else.
The remote control made this kind of searching easier than ever. You can search a thousand channels without leaving your couch, flipping endlessly through channel after channel after channel until you find something better.
But television isn’t the only place in which we constantly search for something better. We flip through every aspect of our lives—food, relationships, entertainment, work—all the while looking for anything other than what’s in front of us.
The problem is that, in a world of unlimited choices, there actually is always something better somewhere on another channel. So, even when we find something we like—something we enjoy—it’s never enough, and we begin to yearn for something else.
The key, then, is to be happy with the channel you’re watching. If you’re not happy, take action, change the channel—work hard to change your situation. But once you find something you like, enjoy it. You needn’t search in perpetuity.
Once you enjoy your life, you will grow, and eventually the channel will change on its own. via The Minimalists | Channel Surfing.
Amen!
“What you think upon grows! You’ll attract more of what you focus upon whether is positive or negative. It’s your choice. Focus on what you have and what’s right, not on what you don’t have and what’s wrong. And say thank you for what you have as often as possible, it will change your life!”
Bright, shiny objects! 
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