In or Out

I get very annoyed at today's society and the idea that everyone is supposed to be in this perfect happy love-movie like relationship. Here is my opinion on the particular topic: if being single makes you happy - be single! If being in a relationship makes you happy - be in a relationship!

Its pretty simple, yet for some reason the society we live in makes it so complicated. I hate the pressure that comes with the idea of relationships. Ideally, they should be easy, right?

If you ask me, you should date someone because you want to, not for any other reason. Date someone who makes you happy, that you look forward to seeing whenever you get the opportunity to, someone you want to share your successes with and who makes you laugh. Anything less than that should not be something you spend your time in if you aren't happy.

Then, on the other side I feel as if some people who are in relationships almost look down on those who are not just because they live different lifestyes. Here are two different articles I found on reasons why it is okay to be in a relationship, or out of one:

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/9-surprising-benefits-being-single.html

http://listdose.co/top-10-advantages-of-being-in-a-relationship/

Reading these articles could possibly change your outlook on the idea of dating versus not dating. I am a firm believer that everyone will find that person for them eventually, but that does not mean we all get lucky and find them right away.

Dating is a part of living and learning, and the world would be a much better place if we all understood that others might not necessarily be in the same place that we are, and that is okay.

Do what you want and be with who you want despite what society might say. Make yourself happy because that is what life is all about.

 

F00DIE

I feel like in today's society there is this huge negative outlook towards junk food. I swear some people act like you are going to gain 27 pounds and die of a heart attack if you eat one cookie. Who knows what those types of people would do if they saw me eat two cookies!

Personally, I have tried the whole "dieting" thing and I did not last long at all. Obviously no one enjoys dieting, yes they may enjoy the results of it, but I would love for someone to give me a valid argument on why it is fun to watch a group of people around you eat a piece of cake at a birthday party and you cant take one because "you're on a diet."

I recently read this article the other day that taught me a huge lesson when it comes to self image and being happy and healthy... http://greatist.com/health/diet-and-deprivation-enjoying-food

The whole idea of the 80/20 rule in that article is so spot on to me. Of course it is not advised to eat like crap 24/7 and never eat anything healthy, but, that's not to say you can't splurge every once in a while and reward yourself.

I have a bag of Skittles that I keep in my bedroom and never hesitate to delve into it when I feel necessary. After going through a few phases of worrying about becoming overweight or anything of that nature, I have finally realized that the actual key to being happy is to be healthy when you can, but never deprive yourself of the little wonderful things that life has to offer either. 

Cheating on your diet every once in a while is a good thing, you will be much happier and, believe it or not, will still be healthy.

Eat the cookie.

SnooZZzzzze

We have been hearing it our entire lives "You need to get more sleep" "Sleep is so important" "You should get at least 7-8 hours of sleep a night." Ever since being in college, I find myself wondering why in the world I hated naps so much when I was younger. Nowadays, I would kill for even a fifteen minute nap between classes! Sounds pathetic, I know. But doesn't anyone else feel like there is just not enough time in one day for everything we need to get done?

I struggle with this daily. No matter how hard I try to get my life together and go to bed at a decent time, somehow that 2am mark rolls around and there I am, still wide awake studying or rushing to get an assigment done. Its like a vicious cycle that I just can't figure out how to break.

I had a friend once tell me "You can sleep when you're dead" and ever since then, I just cant help but think of this every time a friend asks me to go out or to do something when I know I should get to bed early or be doing homework instead. I tell myself there is plenty of time to get all of my stuff done, but I am usually wrong about that.

I read this article the other day about the health benefits of getting enough sleep, and it made me realize just how much better I could feel about myself if I get more than five hours of sleep each night. http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20459221,00.html. I highly recommend reading this article, the benefits it lists just might be enough to encourage you to get your sleeping schedule in check.

I actually fell asleep sitting up in my desk chair today doing homework, and that was the real inspiration for this blog post. I have a hard time saying no to fun things, I hate being the person who has to miss out on something. A constantly being on the go and participating in fun activities with friends is a great way to live life, I think its time to start sleeping a bit more once I begin falling asleep sitting straight up in a chair.

Snoozing the alarm a few times can't be all that bad, just look at all the health benefits those extra five minutes of sleep could give you!

Procrastination Destination

It is officially every student's favorite week of the year...DEAD WEEK.

Okay, so the one word that I can directly correlate with dead with is procrastination. We all have those assignments or projects that we were supposed to be working on throughout the entire semester, but somehow find ourselves starting it the week or even the day before its due.

The question of why we as students make this deadly decision of procrastinating is one that I sadly cannot answer. One thing I have made it an effort to work on lately is a way to prevent, or make it less likely for ourselves to fall into the evil of procrastinating literally every responsibility we could possible have. The following is a link to a procrastination quiz you might enjoy: https://www.buzzfeed.com/katieheaney/how-bad-of-a-procrastinator-are-you?utm_term=.mvobaZdqD#.ab68Pznl7. Though it is by no means a serious evaluation, it provides some funny examples and I found myself easily relating to almost all of them.

So, on the topic of putting off all of life's responsibilities, how do we avoid this? Lately, especially during this week I have become aware of just how much I procrastinated the whole semester. Due to my lack of sleep in the past 72 hours I have decided it is time to make a change. Though its a little late in the semester to try and be organized for school, I can implement new organizational skills into my life that I can hopefully maintain for future situations and semesters.

There are three things I have promsied myself that I will begin to do:

1. Actually use my planner - Do I have one? Yes. Do I use it when I should? No. At the beginning of the semester I was great at using my planner and staying on top of things. I wrote down all of my assignments, tests, quizzes, etc. Looking at my planner now at the end of the semester, it is completely blank; not very helpful for finals.

2. Printing out my class/work schedules - Almost every class that I have taken provides an outline for the class on the syllabus. I have decided that it would benefit me greatly to print those out and hang them up in order to always know what is coming up in the next week. I receive a monthly work schedule which I also plan to print out which might help me avoid those "late to work" moments due to my forgetfulness.

3. Create goals - AKA dedicate specific days and hours each week to homework and studying, and make it a habit to follow through on using the time I set aside wisely.

Okay, so these three tactics may seem obvious, but although they are things that I know I should be doing, that does not mean I actually do them. In reality, I find myself slacking in these areas more often than not. Another helpful link that I feel many could benefit from is... https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_99.htm. This includes a quiz, as well as additional links to discover more information and coping tactics.

Procrastination is the evil we all participate in at some point in our lives, but now is the time to overcome it and become more organized. Good luck!

3 Things

Living in today's society can be a nightmare at times. School is hard, "adulting is hard, and people suck. It can be extremely easy to focus on all of the negatives in life and to dwell on them. Many times when something bad happens, that unfavorable event is one that might stick with you more than a positive time.

I personally have been experiencing this a lot in college, and I feel as if many college students can relate. There are a million things going on each and every day, friends and relationships come and go, you make mistakes and many times get into trouble. It can be very hard to experience so many negative events at such a stressful time in your life yet still maintain a positive attitude and be thankful for the good things, which brings me to the topic of this blog: gratitude.

Being thankful for the things we do have is something that most people like to think that they do. Although, chances are anyone who takes the time to sit back and reflect on all of the positive things they have in their life will come across some (if not many) that they take for granted. This is something I have come across frequently in the past semester, but really hit me a couple of weeks ago. I was awake at 2:00am working on homework and I realized just how bad of a mood I was in. I was tired, crabby, upset, anxious, everything under the sun that led me to feel so low.

At that point I realized that I had been feeling that way for a while, I had only been focusing on all of the bad and stressful things I was going through instead of remembering the good things I have. It was then when I decided to start the "3 Things" challenge that I had learned about in one of my psychology classes. For the next couple of weeks I created a section in my notebook and made it a priority to writing down 3 things I am grateful for every day.

Completing this exercise daily helped me to recognize the little things and just how much I have to be thankful for. Life is always going to have its ups and downs, but remembering to appreciate the little things can make a big difference in your overall attitude. I have continued writing things down before bed every night, and have already noticed a positive change in my happiness. Though this exercise may not work for everyone, I strongly encourage anyone who may be struggling with stress or life satisfaction to give it a shot, you might be surprised.

Building Your Bucket List

As the main idea or theme of my blog is self-improvement and happiness, I felt as if a post about bucket lists was vital. Creating a list of your biggest dreams is one of the best ways to improve your mood and excitement for life. If you don't have a bucket list of your own yet or haven't never at least thought about what you would put on it, I highly recommend making one. It is easy to find ourselves focusing on the negatives rather than the positives. Creating a bucket list is one thing that can help to remind you of the greater things in life and, even better, give you something to look forward to!

In my opinion, there should be no limits when it comes to your bucket list. No matter how crazy, far away, far fetched or out of your comfort zone something may be, if it is something you want to do and would make you happy, then go for it! Not sure where to start? Think of what makes you happy; what excites you, something that would give you that rush of doing something new.

I think it can be easily agreed upon that no one makes it a goal of theirs to live a life full of regrets. One of the worst feelings can be looking back and wishing you would have done something differently, or taken a chance when you had the opportunity but knowing that its too late now. Life is meant for building dreams and following them. Wealth, fame, material items, while these things might provide temporary happiness, truly being happy and satisfied with your life comes from doing the things you love with the people you love. You can deal with the mess later, but for now, focus on you, think of what you want to accomplish in your life and what you would love to see or do within the time you have here, and start that list.

 

http://www.scienceofpeople.com/2015/06/the-ultimate-guide-to-creating-your-bucket-list/

The above link is a story of a couple living life the way I believe we all should: fulfilling their dreams together, and doing crazy and spontaneous activities with no regrets. While my bucket list hasn't been updated in a while, I plan on adding to it quite a bit and not leaving out any ideas, no matter how crazy. When it comes to self-improvement, making yourself happy by fulfilling your dreams is extremely important, and a bucket list is one of the greatest ways to start, give yourself something exciting to look forward to!

Run Your Stress Away

Stress is something that affects each and every one of us at some point in our lives, some of us more than others. Just as stress affects every person differently, there is no one "correct" way to deal with it. It is easy to sometimes catch ourselves turning to stress outlets are not the most positive. It can be hard to know which way to turn, especially when we become desperate to feel better. For this post, I'd like to discuss exercise as a coping method for relieving stress.

It is easy to relate to the rush of frustration or anxiety that can come from a stressful situation. Both the physical and mental side affects can almost be exhausting, while at the same time almost surging you with energy or anger; what better way to exhaust this energy than going for a run or hitting the gym for an hour or so? By using exercise as a stress outlet, you are not only improving your mental health but physical as well, which in turn can also add to a more positive attitude and self-image.

As discussed in an article posted by the ADAA (Anxiety and Depression Association of America), exercise is vital to maintaining one's mental health. When your brain and mind become stressed out, the effects of this spread throughout your body, causing physical effects as well. Improvements in mood and sleep consistency, decreased levels of tension and higher self-esteem are all positive side affects of turning to exercise to exhaust your stress levels. These and other benefits, as well as other stress relieving tactics are discussed in further detail in the following article: https://www.adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/related-illnesses/other-related-conditions/stress/physical-activity-reduces-st