10 Life Lessons Learned in Grade School
Grade school was an impressionable time for everyone. It’s when we became immersed into a mini-society, learning valuable life lessons that have remained through adulthood. If you think about it, many comparisons can be made between life in grade school and life in the real world. For example, back then, we had to learn to coexist with our peers – for better or for worse. And for many, it has proven to be a never-ending learning process; though you’re hopefully better at it now than you were as an 8-year-old. Here are a few life lessons we learned during that fun yet trying time, when the world was fresh and we were a bit more resilient.
- Pay attention
When you’re a kid and possess the attention span of a fruit fly, paying attention isn’t the easiest of tasks. This was especially the case when you first entered elementary school. No longer was there naptime or extended periods of time to expend your massive amounts of energy – recess wasn’t nearly long enough. In junior high, the opposite sex served as a constant distraction – if not an obsession. Read the Rest of This Article »
The Key To An Effortless Life
A few months ago I had a toothache and so I went to see a dentist. He had a look at the problem and then knocked off a bit of my tooth and smoothed the rough edge down. I can feel it now as I’m writing this. He told me that he could try to build the tooth back up, but that a basic rule of dentistry is that removal strengthens and addition weakens.
I am not a Buddhist and I don’t know much about Buddhism. But one thing I know – and I think it’s probably all I need or care to know – is that Buddhism teaches a simple truth: suffering comes from attachment, and the end of attachment is the end of suffering. So whenever you can feel yourself feeling bad, you know you’ve become attached to something. Something matters to you.
There is no end to the list of things you can be attached to, no end to the things that can matter to you, things that you care about, things that have meaning for you. People sometimes talk about the ‘meaning of life’ – in the Buddhist view, meaning means suffering. So the way to stop suffering is to relinquish meaning. Let it go. Surrender. Read the Rest of This Article »
4 Things You Must Do To Get Things Done!
Getting things done is a topic of many websites out there these days, and they all say different things. How is a person supposed to get anything done when there are so many sites to read on how to get things done?!? I don’t subscribe to any specific guru out there, but here are a few ways that I have stayed productive for the last several years. These methods might not be ground breaking, but they work for me, and I think they will work for you too.
Create Small Lists
I take an 8 1/2×11 sheet of paper and fold it in half three times, and use one side to make my list. This accomplishes a few things. First it keeps my list short, which requires me to only put my high priority items on the list. Second, I can carry it around with me easily during the day so I can mark things off of the list. This is very motivating. Finally it saves paper; I just refold it for the next list! Keeping a small list makes the to-do list less overwhelming and more manageable. Read the Rest of This Article »
How to Deny the Devil of Procrastination
A couple of days ago, sadly, shockingly, one of my dear friends took her own life. I will miss her largely, and will treasure her joy, laughter, incredible energy, savory jokes, smile, and her love of people. She was a special jewel, and I hope she knows how special she was, even in her afterlife.
When these unforgettable and unexpected events occur in life, I struggle to understand “the lesson.” I believe that my girlfriend is in a more peaceful place, so the lesson is really for me.
My friend was on a roll. But it wasn’t a good roll; it was a downward roll, worsened by procrastination. There were other things involved of course, but I feel that the “devil of procrastination” ultimately took her down. Others may say it was “finances,” or “depression,” but I think her finances could have been mended and the depression would have lifted, had procrastination not been running amuck. It all snowballed and grew into the ultimate procrastination…the procrastination of living, and then…the end of her life. Read the Rest of This Article »
5 Ways To Escape Overwhelm
Ever had one of those days when you’ve got such a ridiculous amount of stuff to do that even the idea of unpacking the groceries makes you feel frazzled and teary? When you frantically flit from task to task, never quite completing anything and in most cases not really doing anything useful at all? When by night-time it’s hard to escape the somewhat depressing fact that although you’ve been stupidly busy all day you’ve actually accomplished precisely zip? Read the Rest of This Article »
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