Author: S.Z. Estavillo
Take a Vacay From Technology #4TechJunkies
Most of us are coming back from Memorial Day weekend, dragging our feet back in to work. Or maybe you’re the lucky one who was able to take an extra day or two so that you can really catch up on some rest and relaxation.
But how much of a vacation was it, really? Are you guilty of checking your smart phone for text messages and new emails while also taking a peek at any outlandish social media updates? Regardless of your ethnicity, gender, career or chosen profession most people in today’s 21st century technology-obsessed culture cannot live without their techy-vice. For most of us, our smart phone is our drug of choice. We’re addicted to our smart phones that do for us what we seemingly can no longer maintain for ourselves. Our smart phones bring us order, help us conduct research, provide ideas on where to eat, give directions when we’re lost, and connect us to the entire world with a click of a social media app. Read the rest of this entry »
How Well Do You Handle Stress?
Studies have shown that stress can wreak havoc not only on the body but also almost every area of your life. Unaddressed stress can cause sleep disturbances, poor eating habits, health problems, acne break outs, angry outbursts and even addictive behaviors.
One of the healthiest ways to combat stress is through exercise. When you exercise, natural endorphins are released that are said to be as potent as taking Prozac. That is right. According to a London research conducted in 2007, Mycobacterium vaccae, which is a bacteria found in soil, stimulates the precise neurons in the brain that Prozac does. So when out running trails, for instance, our feet kick up the soil and we absorb particles to provide our brains with a positive mood booster similar to that of antidepressant, psychotropic medication. Who would have ever thought? According to the article, when serotonin levels are low in our brains it can cause a number of mental ailments such anxiety, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), bipolar disorder, irritable bowel syndrome and fibromyalgia.
There’s More To Life Than Acquisition
This country was built on the American dream, where everyone is driven by the primary belief that if you could dream it, you could achieve it. And you never want to stop at where you are at. Our capitalistic society has taught us to look upon what others have and allow it to motivate us to want it, too. But, when did we allow things to consume us to the degree that nothing we acquire satisfies us?
Consider gambling. Some people get hooked on the rush, regardless if they win or lose. Once they get a taste, they keep chasing the high. They want it again and again, until either they’ve achieved it or they lost it all. Not to say that dreaming big means losing everything, but the insatiable bottomless pit of need can become a terrible addiction. Greed devours and always destroys. Nothing good can ever come from greediness, no matter how good the prize might look at the end. What greed creates, it destroys. When our monetary hunger is never satisfied, we are driven to achieve at all cost. Competitive people are full of greed, and most competitive individuals function best when they are outperforming everyone around them.
Rage-Aholics: Got some in your life?
Have you ever dealt with an angry person? Usually, angry people tend to have a track record. They’re the types that have gotten in to arguments with just about everyone in their life. If you ask them, it’s somehow the other person’s fault. If they haven’t gotten into an argument with anyone in their personal or professional circle, they’ll seek an altercation with the mail man or someone at the grocery store or someone in the parking lot. They’ll find someone to argue with because these people are hyper confrontational and critical in nature.
I’m not talking about being lectured by a parent; I’m talking about the angry person who walks around life with a magnifying glass. When they’re at a restaurant, they’ll find something about the food they don’t like and they’ll ask for it to be taken back. If they order food, their order is complicated. Filled with substitutes, the dressing on the side please. No this or no that because I don’t like it. They make Miranda Priestley’s (played by Meryl Streep) character in Devil Wears Prada, look like an angel. Read the rest of this entry »
How Much is Your Time Worth?
Are you a “Trekkie?” You know, a Star Trek fan? Then you are well aware that people for centuries have been theorizing ways to travel back through time or forward. You’re probably among them. From theories of bending gravitational fields to scrutinizing over black holes, everyone at one point has wished we could have changed one thing in the past.
And this is precisely why some of us value the one resource in our lives that we can never replace and get back— time. A tabloid recently posted an article claiming that Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt were both “racing against time” to try and look younger for their roles in “Go Like Hell,” their new movie that is in development. Though, it seems that time isn’t valuable simply because we want to grow old gracefully. Time is precious for all of us, especially being that most of us who live in the U.S. work longer hours than our counterparts in other countries. According to a recent ABC article, Americans work more than anyone. The Bureau of Labor Statistics tracked this trending through the 1990s and reported that a whopping “25 million Americans (20.5 percent of the total work force) worked at least 49 hours a week in 1999. Eleven million of those said they worked more than 59 hours a week.” Read the rest of this entry »
Writing With Hope 