Sunday, February 16, 2014

It's The Circle of Stress and It Hurts Us All!

"It's the circle of life and it moves us all!" we all know that song from Disney's the Lion King, and if you haven't, look it up cause its an awesome song, one of Disney's finest.

Anyways, the song talks about "the circle of life", how we live, we die, and how from our death new life begins, in this never-ending cycle; all that good stuff that kids need to know. Well, as inspirational as that is, there is another seemingly another never-ending circle that we tend to find ourselves in: the circle of stress.

The circle of stress is not a good circle to get caught in for it is the no.1 way of keeping one from reaching happiness.

Yet we all find ourselves caught in this cycle at some point in our lives. I'm one of the worst at finding myself stuck in it, and I can tell you it is detrimental towards a person's health. 

But what is stress exactly?

According to www.stress.org, stress, as defined by Hans Seyle in 1936, is "the non-specific response of the body to any demand for change."A simple definition for a not so simple concept. 

Guys, stress can cause so much harm to a single individual, it can even kill:

"There are numerous emotional and physical disorders that have been linked to stress including depression, anxiety, heart attacks, stroke, hypertension, immune system disturbances that increase susceptibility to infections, a host of viral linked disorders ranging from the common cold and herpes to AIDS and certain cancers, as well as autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. In addition stress can have direct effects on the skin (rashes, hives, atopic dermatitis, the gastrointestinal system (GERD, peptic ulcer, irritable bowel syndrome, ulcerative colitis) and can contribute to insomnia and degenerative neurological disorders like Parkinson’s disease." - www.stress.org 

We have to be careful, and not let stress get us down. We have to break out of its circle! This is a hard challenge, I know that I am fighting my way out of it as well.

When one is worried, he or she needs to sit down and take a deep breath and ask: what is the worst outcome that can happen in this situation that I'm stressing out about? Once one figures out the worst and accepts it, the stress lessens and one feels instantly better.

Once one breaks out of the circle of stress, he or she is that much closer to happiness.

Here is a link for those wishing to learn more about stress: http://www.stress.org/

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Watching the World Around You

Today was a gorgeous day! It was one of those days were you wanted to run around and lie on the warm grass at the same time. If you haven't already guessed, that's exactly what I did.

And that's what I want to focus on today, not me running around, but enjoying days like today and how it ties back to pursuing happiness. We are going to call it: Watching the World Around You.

It's amazing what you can witness when you just take the time to sit down and watch the goings on around you. 

Whether its "people watching" where you just watch the people around you, or just watching the clouds in the sky, it can be very relaxing and pleasing to the soul.

Getting a little deep here guys so bear with me. We are always rushing now a days thanks to today's technology; we live to be instantly satisfied. 

It's because of this lifestyle that people always feel stressed out and in a sense, never satisfied with themselves or their lives.

We need to have times where we just lie on the ground on a sunny day, and just release the stress that floats around in our minds. If we don't we'll just explode, and I'm not kidding, I've seen it happen before and it's not a pretty sight!

By taking the time to sit and watch the world, you can see some of the most beautiful things created by nature.

Here are some of nature's masterpieces that I've been lucky to have had my phone to take a picture of:





Pop in some music, take a friend(s), or even better, take a friend that can play a guitar and go outside and watch the world around you, there I challenge you! Go do it people!

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Keep Calm and Hobby On

Hello again! I hope everyone has enjoyed the past week with all the snow and the days off from school.

I, during all of it, was constantly pouncing around in the snow like a child who drank way to much soda, or like a psychotic cat that started spazzing out, take your pick.


Moving on from that, today I am going to blog about hobbies! Yay! People be excited because I am!


Hobbies are activities that one regularly does for the sake of self fulfillment, or, you guessed it, to make one feel happy. Hobbies include, and are not limited too: reading, fishing, creating art, listening to music, writing, cooking, dancing, singing, scrap-booking, woodworking, taxidermy, KNITTING (for Kayak Girl), to infinity and beyond the hobbies go on and on.


The ones listed above are examples of healthy hobbies. Partying all night and day may be a regular hobby for some and it may bring temporary joy, but it harms more than it helps when it comes to having a happy healthy lifestyle. Make good choices people!


If you have a hobby don't stop, continue on with it and don't let anyone bother you about it. Its your hobby, use it when you need it. Kayak Girl, never stop knitting! 


For those who don't have a hobby, find one! Imagine if "happiness" was a giant Hershey bar (or whatever candy bar you enjoy), a hobby would be getting a piece of that amazing chocolate bar every time you partake in it. Sounds pretty awesome right? Well it is! 


Finding a hobby that always puts a smile on your face is another way of helping you find confidence in yourself and enjoy life a little more. It also helps connect you with others who think and act just like you, and who doesn't want that?


Sometimes in life we bogged down and fall into the dark hole of despair, and it feels like the way out is impossible, having a hobby gives people a ladder to climb out of the hole. Hobbies renew our hopes and dreams (not to sound cliche or anything) and to once more open our hearts to others. I think it should be a requirement of humanity to at least have one hobby.


So, I know many of you have heard the saying "Keep Calm and Carry On" right? Well I have new motto that I challenge all of my readers to follow: keep calm and hobby on. If you want happiness, finding a hobby is the best way to start.


If you have a hobby you want to talk about, please share by commenting below because I love hearing about other peoples hobbies!