TRYING something new!

When was the last time you did something you never did before? Making yourself a more well-rounded person is all about breaking out and experiencing things you've never done before.

For example, I joined a world drumming group here at school. We met for the first time today and it was a blast! I have never been any kind of drummer before, but now I am learning all about music of the rio de janeiro, and participating in an ensemble with a ton of other people who are also experiencing it for the first time!

Bonus points if you try something new & stick with doing it on a regular basis! (i.e. once every week)

EXTRA Bonus points if you drag someone else along with you :)

What will you do?

Learning Something New

AH! A BRAND NEW WEEK! Limitless possibilities! Let's start it out with some new knowledge, shall we? Below I've arranged what I think to be the very basics of Sign Language. (Because we've all looked away from the pastor at church to look at the woman doing sign language, because we've all seen a movie with a character who uses it to communicate, and because we love learning)

Half Credit: Go through all of the signs with your hands, if only once, just to get the feeling of them (it will be easier to remember them if you've seen them and done them)
Extra Credit: Go here and look at some other signs, maybe even try a couple.

On being honest...

Today's challenge involves HONESTY. Not only is it super important to be honest to yourself, but it's incredibly crucial to be honest with others. It's so easy to play mind games with people by hinting at things and hoping the message gets through to them. Why do we find it so hard to actually get down and dirty and say what we mean? A life without being true and honest to yourself and the people you care about will only lead to frustration and disappointment. There is some magical connection that happens between two people when they are sincere and honest.

Let's admit it, beating around the bush is great when you don't want to go out on that limb, but being honest and sincere will save you a huge waste of time and reap glorious benefits, such as tighter bonds and understanding, or at the very least, clarity and peace of mind in knowing that you said what you had to say and gave it your best shot. (Not to mention getting everyone on the same level is a great way to start uncomplicating your life, something I know I need to do.)

One of the best (if not the best) ways of showing that you care is by being honest to the people you love, whether it involves confessions or just telling someone else how much you appreciate their impact on your life. Whatever it is, you have to figure that out.

Don't compromise your relationships with other people - honesty really IS the best policy.

-->Half credit for at least writing down the things you would like to tell people

-->Bonus points for planning it out beforehand AND going through with it! :)

Feel free to share your thoughts & results (if you accepted the challenge).

Be Happy!

We don't want to be that person who sits around, moping and complaining when they could be helping themselves. Thankfully, we're not that person, but sometimes we get close, don't we? When you're in a bad mood, you don't really want to be in a bad mood. You want to be happy. So stop thinking that moping is going to be a yellow brick road to being happy again. Just-be happy! After all, you're the only one deciding how you feel. So whether you're cranky, irritable, angry, or feeling ho-hum, put a smile on your face (even if it's a small one at first), and cheer up!

And since I know it's hard to start... here are some pictures to help you out:

photo source

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Extra Credit: take a bunch of slips of paper (maybe sticky-notes) and after writing something happy on each of them (no repeats!), place them all over your place. You'll forget about them and find them over time. :)
Bonus points if someone else finds them, and it cheers them up too!

Be Courageous!

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." ~Anais Nin

Bravery to try new things and doing somethinig that could make you uncomfortable opens up so many possiblities for you. So don't be afraid, be brave and see where it gets you. :) Say YES to life!

The Lesson That Can Be Learned From Goldfish

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"Just Keep Swimming"
Give Elvis some love today.

You can post tomorrow, and then we will alternate days. Sound good?

-Heidi

Sending Yourself Subliminal Messages

How often during the day do you log on to your computer, and check your e-mail, school accounts, facebook, twitter, etc, not to mention every other website imaginable that uses accounts/usernames and passwords? My guess is fairly often, possibly "too many times to keep track of" even. What I'd like to address today is what kind of subliminal message your passwords are sending you.

According to Dictionary.com:

sub⋅lim⋅i⋅nal

  [suhb-lim-uh-nl] Show IPA

Use subliminal in a Sentence

–adjective Psychology.

existing or operating below the threshold of consciousness; being or employing stimuli insufficiently intense to produce a discrete sensation but often being or designed to be intense enough to influence the mental processes or the behavior of the individual: a subliminal stimulus; subliminal advertising.

That's right, your passwords. What I'm talking about are the various amounts of secret passwords that we type in and repeat in our mind and keep stored in our memory every time we log in to an account. Now, random passwords like "gF88cuq1" may not have much of an impact on our over-all mental health, but with how often we are typing in these passwords and going over them in our mind, think of how beneficial passwords like "BeYourself", "StayPositive", or "ILoveLife!!" could be. Today's happiness challenge involves changing all your account passwords to positive and upbeat phrases, things that you want to remind yourself daily, like how cute your butt is or how much you love your mother. I suggest making the passwords stronger by adding numbers and capitalization such as: "Il00kGR3AT!" or "sm1l3". I have to say I would much rather be repeating "Stay Motivated" over and over in my head during the day when I am logging in than "pudding 4" or "status92". The best thing is that once these new passwords are put into place and stored in your memory, you don't have to actually do anything differently than what you are doing now - but you are still reaping from the long-term benefits! There is definitely something to be said about keeping a positive attitude!

Bonus points for not using the same password for everything!

Summer

We are currently in the last days of summer. I know that classes have already started, but the school-free summer is not what I mean. Soon enough, it will be fall, leaves will be changing, and that beautiful summer sun will be tucked away until next year. So before you get too busy, I want you to do something to enjoy the season.

SUGGESTIONS: Go to a park, Sit outside while sipping lemonade, Check out the stars at night...

{ I checked your weather forecast, and it sounds perfect ;) }

-Heidi

Today's Inspiration

I told you I would do it, Amy.

I believe that this can be good for both of us, if we try. It's time to start living. And you had better start following this blog. It was made for you, you know. I promise to not let you quit on yourself. Maybe we can get over that commitment issue we both have.

-Heidi