Things I should do to be happy

I am trying to find my center and utter happiness, I need to learn to do these 15 things.  Do you know true happiness?

1. GIVE UP YOUR NEED TO ALWAYS BE RIGHT

 There are so many of us who can’t stand the idea of being wrong – wanting to always be right – even at the risk of ending great relationships or causing a great deal of stress and pain, for us and for others. It’s just not worth it. Whenever you feel the ‘urgent’ need to jump into a fight over who is right and who is wrong, ask yourself this question: “Would I rather be right, or would I rather be kind?”Wayne Dyer. What difference will that make? Is your ego really that big?

2. GIVE UP YOUR NEED FOR CONTROL

Be willing to give up your need to always control everything that happens to you and around you – situations, events, people, etc. Whether they are loved ones, coworkers, or just strangers you meet on the street – just allow them to be. Allow everything and everyone to be just as they are and you will see how much better will that make you feel.

“By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who let it go. But when you try and try. The world is beyond winning.” Lao Tzu

3. GIVE UP ON BLAME

 Give up on your need to blame others for what you have or don’t have, for what you feel or don’t feel. Stop giving your powers away and start taking responsibility for your life.

4. GIVE UP YOUR SELF-DEFEATING SELF-TALK

 Oh my. How many people are hurting themselves because of their negative, polluted and repetitive self-defeating mindset? Don’t believe everything that your mind is telling you – especially if it’s negative and self-defeating. You are better than that.

“The mind is a superb instrument if used rightly. Used wrongly, however, it becomes very destructive.” Eckhart Tolle

5. GIVE UP YOUR LIMITING BELIEFS

about what you can or cannot do, about what is possible or impossible. From now on, you are no longer going to allow your limiting beliefs to keep you stuck in the wrong place. Spread your wings and fly!

“A belief is not an idea held by the mind, it is an idea that holds the mind” Elly Roselle

6. GIVE UP COMPLAINING

 Give up your constant need to complain about those many, many, maaany things – people, situations, events that make you unhappy, sad and depressed. Nobody can make you unhappy, no situation can make you sad or miserable unless you allow it to. It’s not the situation that triggers those feelings in you, but how you choose to look at it. Never underestimate the power of positive thinking.

7. GIVE UP THE LUXURY OF CRITICISM

Give up your need to criticize things, events or people that are different than you. We are all different, yet we are all the same. We all want to be happy, we all want to love and be loved and we all want to be understood. We all want something, and something is wished by us all.

8. GIVE UP YOUR NEED TO IMPRESS OTHERS

Stop trying so hard to be something that you’re not just to make others like you. It doesn’t work this way. The moment you stop trying so hard to be something that you’re not, the moment you take off all your masks, the moment you accept and embrace the real you, you will find people will be drawn to you, effortlessly.

9. GIVE UP YOUR RESISTANCE TO CHANGE

 Change is good. Change will help you move from A to B. Change will help you make improvements in your life and also the lives of those around you. Follow your bliss, embrace change – don’t resist it.
“Follow your bliss and the universe will open doors for you where there were only walls” Joseph Campbell

10. GIVE UP LABELS

 Stop labeling those things, people or events that you don’t understand as being weird or different and try opening your mind, little by little. Minds only work when open. “The highest form of ignorance is when you reject something you don’t know anything about.” Wayne Dyer

11. GIVE UP ON YOUR FEARS

Fear is just an illusion, it doesn’t exist – you created it. It’s all in your mind. Correct the inside and the outside will fall into place.
“The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself.” Franklin D. Roosevelt

12. GIVE UP YOUR EXCUSES

Send them packing and tell them they’re fired. You no longer need them. A lot of times we limit ourselves because of the many excuses we use. Instead of growing and working on improving ourselves and our lives, we get stuck, lying to ourselves, using all kind of excuses – excuses that 99.9% of the time are not even real.

13. GIVE UP THE PAST

I know, I know. It’s hard. Especially when the past looks so much better than the present and the future looks so frightening, but you have to take into consideration the fact that the present moment is all you have and all you will ever have. The past you are now longing for – the past that you are now dreaming about – was ignored by you when it was present. Stop deluding yourself. Be present in everything you do and enjoy life. After all life is a journey not a destination. Have a clear vision for the future, prepare yourself, but always be present in the now.

14. GIVE UP ATTACHMENT

This is a concept that, for most of us is so hard to grasp and I have to tell you that it was for me too, (it still is) but it’s not something impossible. You get better and better at with time and practice. The moment you detach yourself from all things, (and that doesn’t mean you give up your love for them – because love and attachment have nothing to do with one another,  attachment comes from a place of fear, while love… well, real love is pure, kind, and self less, where there is love there can’t be fear, and because of that, attachment and love cannot coexist) you become so peaceful, so tolerant, so kind, and so serene. You will get to a place where you will be able to understand all things without even trying. A state beyond words.

15. GIVE UP LIVING YOUR LIFE TO OTHER PEOPLE’S EXPECTATIONS

Way too many people are living a life that is not theirs to live. They live their lives according to what others think is best for them, they live their lives according to what their parents think is best for them, to what their friends, their enemies and their teachers, their government and the media think is best for them. They ignore their inner voice, that inner calling. They are so busy with pleasing everybody, with living up to other people’s expectations, that they lose control over their lives. They forget what makes them happy, what they want, what they need….and eventually they forget about themselves.  You have one life – this one right now – you must live it, own it, and especially don’t let other people’s opinions distract you from your path.

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Um, Yeah that...

"Mom she gives us too much work and I can't finish it", "Um Yeah that is in my desk at school, I just need to turn it in".  These are just some of the excuses I got yesterday while trying to find out why my son if failing Reading (of all things) and Social Studies (Why) and this is how Minion 1 got all of his privileges taken away, apparently he is to distracted by the things around him to do his work.  I know I have not been at fault with this,  busy in my own right, especially right now with finals, but we do have rules in place, and he should abide by them and the hubs and I as parents need to enforce them.

What do you do with a child that does only enough to get by?  His work is sloppy, unreadable most of the time, doesn't finish or does it so quick you wonder if he even read it.  How do you get him motivated to make good grades.  I tell him next school year, which he starts Middle School, is going to be much harder on him and the work more intense.  He just shrugs it off and goes about his merry way.  Do my readers have any words of wisdom for me, ideas to make him see that what he is doing is just setting him up for failure?

Everyone I know laughs at this saying but this weekend the hubs, me and Minion 1 are "having a Come to Jesus meeting" about his attitude toward things, school work, grades, what is to come and lay down yet again what is expected of him.  I think some tough love is in order, I hate to do it but something needs to change. Wish me luck!!! Please!

Do you Compost...

Apparently it is Compost Awareness Week, I have tried composting in the past, I just got out of the habit but I am getting back to is as I am about to start a garden and I want it to be as natural as possible.  I found this handy How-To article about Composting and though I would pass it on to you!

It’s International Compost Awareness Week and a perfect opportunity to “Give Back to the Earth” in the form of rich, healthy compost that will nourish it and your garden. Here are some do's and don'ts to consider for backyard composting success.

Why Compost?

Finished compost is a free soil amendment and fertilizer for the garden. It is mild and won't burn plants like chemical fertilizers. By adding compost you'll improve the overall texture of your soil enabling it to retain and drain water better.

Choose a Compost Bin

In the DIY Compost Bins post I collected some nice examples of homemade compost bins on the Internet. The post on Compost Bins for Small Spacesshowcased three commercially available compost bins for those who weren't born with the DIY gene and don't mind spending money.

Compost Bins as Pets.

Think of your compost bin as a pet. This will do two things: it will help you see it as a living thing that shouldn’t be neglected, and teach you to ‘feed’ it a balanced diet.

There are two main types of organic materials you can feed your compost bin: greens and browns. Greens are high in nitrogen and described as 'wet.' Browns are described as 'dry' materials and are high in carbon.

When feeding your compost bin try to maintain a balance of 50% greens and 50% browns by weight. Since greens are typically heavier, you should add 2 to 3 buckets of browns for every bucket of greens you add.

Green Materials to Compost.

Vegetable and fruit scraps. Coffee grounds and filters. Tea bags and leaves. Fresh grass clippings. Plant trimmings from your garden. Houseplants.

Brown Materials to Compost.

Dry leaves. Straw and dry hay. Woodchips and sawdust from untreated wood. Dried grass clippings, shredded paper. Egg and nut shells. Hair and animal fur. Paper, shredded newspaper (printed with soy ink to be safe) paper towels, and paper tubes.

DO NOT COMPOST!

Meat. Fish. Eggs. Dairy products. Oily foods or grease. Bones. Cat and dog waste. Diseased plants and seeds of weedy plants. Anything treated with pesticides.

Composting Tips.

Chop your materials into small pieces, which will break down faster. Always cover your layer of green material with a layer of brown material to cut down on flies and mask any odors. If you want fine compost, like in the picture above by normanack, run over it with a mulching lawn mower. When composting whole plants remove seed heads and seed pods. If possible avoid adding roots of plants to your compost pile that could generate a whole new plant.


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It's that time again...

Swimsuit season, UGH!!!!!  This season brings more fear to women than anything else.  What makes it that way, the lighting in the dressing room, not having lost those last few pounds?  Well mine is the weight thing.  I dread putting on a swim suit and I usually miss out on fun times with my kids because of it.  So women with fuller figures do you cover up or just go with the flow?

This swimsuit is gorgeous for women trying to hide a tummy.  They are both 2 pieces and really show off your assets.


Here is another example of a great swimsuit for full figures women.

It hides the tummy and hips but emphasizes the bust with the halter top.

I also love that swimsuit now come in separates.  I am full figured but my top is a size smaller than my bottom so I can customize my sizes.  So women if you are still afraid of swimsuit season cover up with a bright color pareo or sarong and get out there and enjoy the summer!

When Do I wake up...

Last weekend I ended up giving into the Hubs request for Blackout curtains in the bedroom.  It looks like this

in my room all the time now, I hate it. I need one of these to walk around in my bedroom even during the day.

I open the curtains he closes them, I don't really like the dark, never have never will and now I don't know when to wake up or rather wake up naturally because it is so dark in my bedroom all the time.  I say a compromise is in order but the hubs doesn't see it that way.  I say he should open them when he get ups to help me out or I will just stay in bed until 10 or so, he says they should stay closed to cut down on the heat entering through the windows.  Do any of my few reader that I have left have these on your bedroom windows, how do you wake up fully without an alarm of course?

Yes, I am old fashioned student.

 vs 

When it comes to academic reading, which right now for me has been all I have been reading, I need a actual physical book in my hand.  I tried the CourseSmart ebooks but there was too many things on the page distracting me- side bars, blinking advertisements, etc.- I couldn't concentrate on my reading.  I broke down and rented my textbooks, which costs like a third to half of the price of buying the book and there is free shipping for returns as long as you get it back by the due date.  I used Chegg.com, it was simple and easy, and I highly recommend it.  If you can read your textbooks online CourseSmart.com is a good resource and cheaper as well, I just couldn't hack it.

 

Fan Fic Friday

Welcome to Friday Fan Fic Lovers.  Today's recommendations are Little Buttons by ChocolateLover82 and On Pattinson Drive by 2546256

Little Buttons by ChocolateLover82 is a little gem.  It is sweet and fluffy with just enough angst to keep it interesting.  Edward is a Clothing Designer living in Paris.  Bella is living in Paris after running away from a bad situation.  They meet coincidentally and start a budding romance. This is a Work in Progress and 19 chapters in.



On Pattinson Drive by 2546256 is this authors first foray into the Fan Fic world.  It was cute and fresh and all the regulars are there and all eventually live in the same apartment building, which Mrs. Cope, a definite Cougar, owns.  Edward just got out of a bad relationship and when Emmett get traded to the Seahawks, Edward sees his chance to move as well.  Alice, who is Ed and Em's Sister, arranges the gang to meet at a local hang out and relationships start to commence with Edward and Bella's attraction is instant.

Like always if you take my Recommendations to heart, tell the authors where you found them and please leave reviews.

Happy Reading this weekend!