http://angelaadkins.wordpress.com/2011/12/26/30-things-to-start-doing-for-yourself/
So a while back, I posted about 30 habits that will change your life...this one is better. This list is a bigger picture view of things to really change your perspective on. I'm sure I've posted this somewhere before, but a lot of these things fall by the way side as time goes on--as life gets busy. Keep this list close by, and come back to it when needed. We all could use a little reminder from time to time...
http://angelaadkins.wordpress.com/2011/12/26/30-things-to-start-doing-for-yourself/
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It's easy to get distracted by Facebook, among other things. Unless you delete your account (which feels a bit extreme to me), it's impossible to avoid spending more time than anticipated creeping around on social media accounts. One of the better ways to manage your time is to anticipate craving for spending time on these sites, and plan for it throughout your day. Just make sure you only spend enough time on there to get your 'fix', then move along.
http://lifehacker.com/5954148/beat-procrastination-and-distractions-by-scheduling-time-for-them?tag=productivity When it comes to spirituality, I like to think that I have a profound amount of respect for beliefs that are different than mine. I don't believe that any one answer is right for anyone, and that there even is a right answer. I believe that people should have the freedom to believe whatever they want so long as it does not harm or disrespect others and their way of life. I've been a self-proclaimed atheist for over a decade now, open to hearing about religion, faith, and spirituality of others. I can be persuaded to believe something else if it makes sense to me.
It may sound cheesy, but I believe in love as my source of spirituality--loving oneself, loving each other, loving life. Part of my beliefs stem from the idea of being "holier than thou". I don't believe anyone is "holier" or better than anyone because of what they believe. But I do think there is a tremendous amount of respect due to those who put their words and beliefs into action. I found this picture online today, and it reminded me of how I have chosen to live my life over the years. Unlike many atheists, I don't have any hatred towards churches--I think it's a beautiful thing to be able to share your beliefs with others who have similar thoughts as you. It's a beautiful thing to build and create a community of unity. However, a lot of times I see religion as a source of dissonance between people who should have mutual love and respect for one another. I have no problem with people doing good unto one another regardless of the reason--religion, spirituality, something else, or nothing, but I can tell you that my views on spirituality and religion have not changed much in the past 12 years.
What do you believe? Why? (If you don't feel like commenting, shoot me an e-mail or Facebook message--I would love to hear your thoughts!) Also, if you have any idea who this Bob Beecher is, I'd love more information on him... I've had my battles with technology--anyone who knows me knows I'm kind of a tech geek. I love gadgets. What I don't love is gadgets getting in the way of living life. You see, until last week when my new roommate moved in, I didn't have a TV. I didn't have Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, or anything like that. There was a good reason for it. Sure, I might pop on an episode of a show to fall asleep to at night, but if I was going to dedicate time to watching a show, I wanted it to be a social thing for me. I would go to someone's house to watch a show, talk during commercials, and catch up on life.
I've become so hyper-aware of how people can be so addicted to technology that I have done what I can to prevent it from interrupting my life. Think about the last time you decided not to spend time with a friend because it was easier to stay home and watch TV. Or the time when you and a friend had dinner plans, but half of the time spent together was on your cell phones? When you finally put it down, did you set it on the table faced up, faced down, or did you actually take time to put it away? I do whatever I can to be present--not just on my phone. I'm by no means perfect, but I do hope that if I'm being the least bit rude because I'm tinkering with my phone instead of paying attention like I should be, TELL ME. And hopefully you won't be offended if I tell you, because I probably will! http://thoughtcatalog.com/2012/i-came-to-hang-out-with-you-not-your-smartphone/ I don't know if anyone else has a problem with food going bad more often than they'd like. I hate the idea of wasting food. Even more so, I hate the idea of wasting money. Lifehacker, one of my favorite sites, goes over how to better grocery shop--especially if you're cooking for 1-2 people.
http://lifehacker.com/5950082/how-to-grocery-shop-when-youre-cooking-for-one?utm_campaign=socialflow_lifehacker_twitter&utm_source=lifehacker_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow Fun fact of the day: did you know that you can freeze eggs to extend their shelf life? http://www.thekitchn.com/good-question-what-to-do-with-2-74352 Earlier this week I bumped into a friend of mine at the gym whom I hadn't seen in a while. We were catching up on the different things happening in our lives, when she told me she's thinking about going to Chile to teach English for five months. She said she's been wanting to step out of her comfort zone and really do something different. She said she feels like this is the only time she's going to be able to do something like this since she doesn't have a ton of commitments or obligations, which I agreed with. Then it made me think about all the things I've wanted from my life that have been on my bucket list:
I now realize that I've actually done a lot of the things on my bucket list. That's awesome. I hadn't actually thought about it in those terms. I feel so accomplished. Well, for now. This conversation is a healthy reminder that I need to keep adding things to this wonderful list!
I posted this story a while back on Facebook, but it recently came up in conversation with a friend of mine. People who know me well know that I very rarely drink. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love going out, dancing like there's no tomorrow, taking 8,000 pictures, and making my late night Taco Bell/Muchas run. I don't need to drink to have fun. I'll indulge in some fruity (and/or undeniably stiff) cocktail once in a blue moon, but the idea of getting schmammered so hard that I can't function for another 24-48 hours just doesn't seem like time well spent. There are only so many hours in a day, and feeling like death the morning after just isn't the best use of my time. I want to live in the now, so I will.
http://hellobubs.com/post/17052863136/i-havent-been-drunk-in-3-years-and-ive-been?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=pulsenews I met with the wife of the CEO/Co-founder of the company I work for this morning to pick her brain a bit about Portland, when we started talking about being balanced. She warned me that as I start to become more involved in the Portland community, it's a wonderful thing, but it's very easy to lose your balance and become too involved. Achieving balance in my own life has always been fairly important to me--the balance of work, play, self, and community--the balance of physical, mental, social, emotional/spiritual, and financial health is all very important to me.
I've taken some time to step back and look at what my life looks like--when I first started my job, that was the biggest priority, and in the past seven months, I've learned to prioritize my health. Now it's time to add in my community involvement. Overall, my "wheel of life" is decently well balanced, but I'm working towards one full circle. I'm on a mission to see if I can overlap some of these categories and be more effective in achieving all the things I want to do. What does your wheel of life look like? http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_93.htm I was at Burlington's two weekends ago looking for shoes when I overheard someone telling her friend, "If you need more money, just change your withholdings to 6 or 7. You get more money that way." Half true.
When you get your first job, nobody really explains what the W-4 form even is or what it means. Basically, when you earn income, you have to pay taxes. However, the government doesn't know how much income you'll make that year, so your withholdings are to help estimate how much they should take out of your check each time you get paid. If you set your withholdings to 0, that means that they will take out a larger amount from your check to hold onto for the year until you file your taxes. When you set your withholdings to 0, you will have more taxes taken from your check than you will owe, which will (typically, not always) result in a tax return. The higher the number you set for your withholdings, the less they will hold onto from your check. The lower the number, the more they hold onto. So the ideal thing to do is to neither owe the government any money, nor receive a huge refund (your refund amount is like a short-term interest-free loan for the bank). However, if you aren't as good with your money, or like to use your refund towards buying fun things for yourself, then set your withholdings lower. Basically, the W-4 gives you a worksheet to help you out, but really, you can write whatever numbers you want. Which do you prefer? A bigger check now with the potential of owing te government money, or giving a small loan to the government and getting a refund in the spring? |
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