Just Some Wise Musings and Life Hacks

1. Your shoes are the first thing people subconsciously notice about
you. Wear nice shoes.
2. If you sit for more than 11 hours a day, there's a 50% chance you'll
die within the next 3 years.
3. There are at least 6 people in the world who look exactly like you.
There's a 9% chance that you'll meet one of them in your lifetime.
4. Sleeping without a pillow reduces back pain and keeps your spine
stronger.
5. A person’s height is determined by their father, and their weight is
determined by their mother.
6. If a part of your body "falls asleep", You can almost always "wake it
up" by shaking your head.
7. There are three things the human brain cannot resist noticing - food,
attractive people and danger.
8. Right-handed people tend to chew food on their right side.
9. Putting dry tea bags in gym bags or smelly shoes will absorb the
unpleasant odor.
10. According to Albert Einstein, if honey bees were to disappear from
earth, humans would be dead within 4 years.
11. There are so many kinds of apples, that if you ate a new one every
day, it would take over 20 years to try them all.
12. You can survive without eating for weeks, but you will only live 11
days without sleeping.
13. People who laugh a lot are healthier than those who don’t.
14. Laziness and inactivity kills just as many people as smoking.
15. A human brain has a capacity to store 5 times as much information
as Wikipedia.
16. Our brain uses the same amount of power as a 10-watt light bulb!!
17. Our body gives enough heat in 30 minutes to boil 1.5 liters of
water!!
18. The Ovum egg is the largest cell and the sperm is the smallest cell!!
19. Stomach acid (conc. HCl) is strong enough to dissolve razor
blades!!
20. Take a 10-30 minute walk every day & while you walk, SMILE. It is
the ultimate antidepressant.
21. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
22. When you wake up in the morning, pray to ask God's guidance for
your purpose, today.
23. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that
is manufactured in plants.
24. Drink green tea and plenty of water. Eat blueberries, broccoli, and
almonds.
25. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
26. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip, energy vampires,
issues of the past, negative thoughts and things you cannot control.
Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
27. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a college
kid with a maxed out charge card.
28. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
29. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Forgive them for
everything.
30. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
31. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
32. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
33. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their
journey is all about.
34. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
35. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: 'In five years, will
this matter?'
36. Help the needy, Be generous! Be a 'Giver' not a 'Taker'
37. What other people think of you is none of your business.
38. Time heals everything.
39. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
40. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends
will. Stay in touch.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. Each night before you go to bed, pray to God and be thankful for
what you accomplished, today. What if you woke up this morning and
only had what you thanked God for yesterday? DON’T FORGET TO
THANK GOD FOR EVERYTHING.
43. Remember that you are too blessed to be stressed.
Now: Think about sharing this with friends to help them lead a happier
and healthier life, too!

35 Quotes On How To Care Less About What Others Think

As kids we have to listen to our parents because we care. Soon our various relatives, friends, mentors and even people we barely know tell us how to live our lives, because we care. If you want to swim right, they tell you left is the way. And then begins the flurry of doubt that maybe what you want to do, or are doing, is wrong. As if all the self doubt wasn’t enough. So here we bring to you 35 quotes that will lead you to where you want to be, all the time telling you to take that leap of faith. Don’t care about what they want. Worry about yourself today. After all, self-care is the best kind of care that you can give.

  
1.    “The eyes of others our prisons; their thoughts our cages.” ― Virginia Woolf

2.   “A dame that knows the ropes isn’t likely to get tied up.” ― Mae West

3.    “You have no responsibility to live up to what other people think you ought to accomplish. I have no responsibility to be like they expect me to be. It’s their mistake, not my failing.” ― Richard P. Feynman

4.    “Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner.”—Lao Tzu

5.    “Never dull your shine for somebody else.” ― Tyra Banks

6.    “If being an egomaniac means I believe in what I do and in my art or music, then in that respect you can call me that… I believe in what I do, and I’ll say it.” ― John Lennon

7.    “I do not care so much what I am to others as I care what I am to myself.” ― Michel de Montaigne

8.    “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.”— Dr. Seuss

9.    “Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will. “― Suzy Kassem

10.    “Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else’s opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.”— Oscar Wilde
   
11.    “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.”—Steve Jobs

12.    “Some people say, “Never let them see you cry.” I say, if you’re so mad you could just cry, then cry. It terrifies everyone.” ― Tina Fey

13.    “Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds. The mediocre mind is incapable of understanding the man who refuses to bow blindly to conventional prejudices and chooses instead to express his opinions courageously and honestly.”— Albert Einstein

14.    “Some people say you are going the wrong way, when it’s simply a way of your own.”— Angelina Jolie

15.    “I don’t care what you think about me. I don’t think about you at all.”— Coco Chanel

16.    “Don’t worry about who doesn’t like you, who has more, or who’s doing what.” ― Erma Bombeck

17.    “There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do.” ― Marianne Williamson

18.    “Believe in yourself and there will come a day when others will have no choice but to believe with you.” ― Cynthia Kersey

19.    “No name-calling truly bites deep unless, in some dark part of us, we believe it. If we are confident enough then it is just noise.” ― Laurell K. Hamilton

20.    “When it comes down to it, I let them think what they want. If they care enough to bother with what I do, then I’m already better than them.” ― Marilyn Monroe

21.    “Don’t waste your energy trying to educate or change opinions; go over, under, through, and opinions will change organically when you’re the boss. Or they won’t. Who cares? Do your thing, and don’t care if they like it.” ― Tina Fey

22.    “I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself.” ― Charlotte Brontë

23.    “I want to be around people that do things. I don’t want to be around people anymore that judge or talk about what people do. I want to be around people that dream and support and do things.” ― Amy Poehler

24.    “You probably wouldn’t worry about what people think of you if you could know how seldom they do.” ― Olin Miller

25.    “There is nothing more attractive than confidence, once she sees her own beauty, everyone else will.” ― Habeeb Akande

26.   “Few and mean as my gifts may be, I actually am, and do not need for my own assurance or the assurance of my fellows any secondary testimony.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

27.    “People who repeatedly attack your confidence and self-esteem are quite aware of your potential, even if you are not.” ― Wayne Gerard Trotman

28.    “So many people along the way, whatever it is you aspire to do, will tell you it can’t be done. But it all it takes is imagination. You dream. You plan. You reach.”― Michael Phelps

29.    “Well, laddie, if you’ve let an old buzzard like me hurt your confidence, you couldn’t have had much in the first place.” ― Tamora Pierce

30.    “Most people just want to see you fall, that’s more reason to stand tall.” ― Emma Michelle

31.    “There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing.” ― Aristotle

32.    “He thinks himself rather an exceptional young man, thoroughly sophisticated, well adjusted to his environment, and somewhat more significant than any one else he knows.” ― F. Scott Fitzgerald

33.    “When I was growing up I always wanted to be someone. Now I realize I should have been more specific.” ― Lily Tomlin

 34.   “One day, in retrospect, the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful.” ― Sigmund Freud

35.    “My dear, I don’t give a damn.” ― Margaret Mitchell

This article was first found in lifehack.org by Kasturi Roy

15 Self-Care Ideas for When You’re Feeling Down

I suck at self-care. I don’t get it. Am I supposed to take care of my physical biological needs? I already do that. Am I supposed to go buy myself a coffee, sit down and journal for an hour each day? Who’s supposed to watch my kid during this? Get a pedicure? As if I can afford that. Rub my own feet? Unsatisfying. I’ve had many counselors and friends explain and re-explain the importance of self-care to me, and I’m finally begin to understand how significant it really is for my emotional well-being.

1. Write

Get a journal that you keep handy to write whatever you need to. Sometimes it’s helpful to slow down and write about a problem, fear, struggle, or memory. Writing by hand will help you to slow down and process your situation more fully. But sometimes you might not want to write about the struggle or pain. It’s too difficult. So if you’re feeling like it’s too raw to process, just write about your day or make a list of your favorite candies or movies. Just write.

2. Talk to a friend, family member or even pet!

Verbalize your pain. Making yourself speak out loud about your emotions will help you to not isolate yourself or allow yourself to spiral into an emotional tsunami that is hard to escape from. If the situation feels too personal, just share it will your dog! I’m certain Spot will keep your secret, and in my experience, my dog is sometimes the very best comforter. (And she’s certainly the least judgmental listener I know!)

3. Cry

Let the tears flow. The best way to take care of yourself is to let yourself feel the emotions you need to feel. Bottling up your sadness or anger is not going to help you move past it. If you plant pain, you grow bitterness.

4. Move your body

You’ve heard it before: exercise releases endorphins and “endorphins make you happy, and happy people just don’t shoot their husbands!” (Elle Woods, Legally Blonde) If you can get yourself to do some yoga or go for a run, then you will seriously be doing yourself a service. But sometimes, just a walk around the block is enough to care for yourself when you’re feeling emotionally raw.

5. Shower

The shower is a place to be alone and focus on yourself without forcing yourself to engage the deep stuff if you don’t want to. You can mull over your parents’ divorce in the hot water, or you could focus or lathering up your shampoo. You need both and both are good you.

6. Make food

Don’t just eat, but make food. Cooking is a tactile and productive activity that will nourish your body and mind. The physical act of caring enough to make yourself a meal is a practical way to show yourself some love.

7. Blow bubbles or color

As juvenile as it sounds, blowing bubbles or coloring in a coloring book are simple, easy ways to ground yourself in the reality of your situation and relieve some stress. Allow yourself to return to childhood activities and feel a lightness return to your spirit. These are also great activities to engage in if you experience panic attacks or PTSD related flash backs.

8. Deep breathing

Practice breathing in for 8 seconds through your nose and exhaling for 8 seconds through your mouth. This conscious effort to slow down is a great start to gaining perspective. Plus, the added oxygen to your brain will help you calm down, lower your heart rate and quell rising stress levels.

9. Interact with an animal

Scientific studies have shown that interacting with an animal will lower your heart rate, drop your blood pressure and reduce stress. Care for yourself by caring for your pet! Your pet will thank you for it, and you will benefit greatly as well!

10. Sleep

It is not uncommon for people to slog through life on five hours of sleep or less. Our bodies are not created to thrive on so little sleep. We need a chance to turn off and recharge and if we aren’t given that opportunity in sleep, our physical and emotional health will struggle. I am extremely guilty of not giving my body the rest it needs. If I’m having a bad day or my emotions are getting the best of me, I can almost always point to the poor sleep I got the night before as the culprit. Make rest a priority and give yourself the gift of sleep.

11. Have boundaries

Boundaries are not popular in today’s culture. We often over schedule ourselves and over commit out of a sense of obligation to others. But if you aren’t able to bring your best self to the table then you aren’t doing anyone a service by overexerting yourself. Establish healthy boundaries with your calendar, your work and your relationships. Give yourself the time you need to take care of yourself so you can better take care of others.

12. Cultivate a hobby

Teach yourself to knit. Buy a scrapbook. Start a blog. Attend a class where you drink wine and paint. Create a hobby that is just for you and brings you joy. Having an intentional activity in your life that serves no end other than to bring you happiness will go a long way to foster healthy self-care.

13. Try something new

You can care for your mental health by challenging your mind to learn and expand. You will give yourself a boost by pushing your boundaries and stepping outside your comfort zone. Take a new route home from work. Go to an ethnic restaurant you’ve never tried. Learn a language with Rosetta Stone. Challenge your mind and it will be grateful for it.

14. Meditate or pray

Accessing your spirit/soul through meditation and pray is essential to holistic human health. Allowing yourself to really think about your values and beliefs will help you to feel more solid in your identity. Even if you don’t unlock the Truth of the Universe, or completely understand God or Divinity, giving yourself to space to engage with those big questions will go a long way in your emotional and spiritual life. It’s okay to not have all the answers, but you have to start letting yourself ask the questions.

15. Hug someone

Hug someone, or hold hands with a loved one. We need physical touch. We are hardwired to physically encounter other people, and our culture is becoming more and more digitized which is eliminating opportunities for essential non-sexual human contact. Let yourself linger in a hug from a friend or ask your partner to give you a non-sexual back rub. We need more of this kind of contact in order to be healthier and happier people.

This list is just a start! Begin the practice of consciously taking care of yourself and you will never regret it.

This article was first found in lifehack.org by Emily Myrin