fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
I wish may be,,
By: Hina Vahidy
Tags: Humanity, Mental Health Awareness, Self Worth, Suicide, Covid 19

Hope Captured by Nighthawk Shoots (Unsplash)

I thought Covid-19 was cruel but what I have suffered in first wave, in between and in second wave, it feels like I am crossing storms,

I wish it was so easy to tell what it feels like to live without any desire to live,

I wish I don’t need to tell again and again I AM SANE AT LEAST 10%?

I wish it was so easy to tell what its like to be different from others,

I wish in this so abnormal world, mental health is not stigmatized,

I wish there were more people in my life that can make a single call besides my uncle,

I wish I don’t have to pose fake happiness,

I wish people never judged me on my suicide attempts,

I wish we are less cruel to each other,

I wish that my heart stops wishing,

I wish I was not told that i am IRON LADY but accepted as only normal human,

I wish to be happy but its just I can’t help with it,

I wish I had some friends from my uni but how can be they mine as I was so introvert,

But at the end I wish I was alone as I need to go alone,

I wish nothing make sense at all anymore,

Is it a crime to live, to ponder, to speak for your rights, to tell the difference what is right and wrong, to tell yes you hurt me, to tell i am a human being, to tell I am not a victim of any mental illness but a fighter of it,

Is it a crime to even breath, to smile, to laugh, to weep, to be low

I think its not- WE ALL ARE FIGHTING BATTLES OF UNBEARABLE PASTS. No doubt we all will pass it but lets hang in there with each other for a little while. May be may be there will be no more pandemics in near future. May be we don’t need more vaccines. May be we all start valuing what its like to be out. What its like to be even human,

I wish may be,,,,,,,,
Obsession
By: Zachary Phillips
Tags: Depression, Therapy, Poetry, Suicide, Poem

Obsession

Using words for expression,

A curing pain session,

My inner mind’s compression,

With anxiety, rumination, and depression,

It’s an obsession,

A self-destructive messin’

Around, with pills or a knife,

Ideation of death is rife,

Friends and family feeling my strife,

I got them worried ‘bout my life,

But I am fine,

Words help me shine,

No longer stuck in a confine,

Like a farmer’s favourite bovine,

That’s escaped the plot,

Mental clarity I’ve now got,

Pen in hand, my afflictions are shot,

Now I’m free to write my own plot,

Dream following,

Ego swallowing,

Heart opening,

Pain forgoing,

With a pen in hand,

And paper I brand,

Myself anew in this land,

Here I stand.
Spiraling Into Darkness
By: Zachary Phillips
Tags: Depression, Mental Health, Poetry, Suicide, Poem

The clarity of the past is blinding,

With ill-conceived words

And deeds now binding.



Longing for a change inside and out,

All I’m left with now is doubt.

Spiraling into darkness,

The void is all I see,

The world is falling down,

Dropping on top of me.

Any feeling is a good feeling,

Bleeding just for the sensation,

Bleeding to feel alive again.



I’m sick of all the trying,

Sick of all the crying,

Sick of everything that I ever was.

All I want to do is let it go,

Not let it show and forget about the rest.

Spiraling into darkness,

The void is consuming me,

The world crashing down,

Tumbling towards me.

What is right or wrong no longer matters,

Black and white look the same in darkness.



You think I care, but I don’t,

You think I’ll cry but I won’t.



The problems we once shared

Mean nothing to me now.

Your vanity is shameful,

Your ignorance boundless.

Spiraling into darkness,

The void has engulfed me;

The world has been brought down

And is now smothering me.

Take me away, get me out of myself,

Just one moment of respite is all it will take.

I can only be stretched so far,

Pushed until I break.



To the memories that shape me,

To the memories that remind me,

To the memories that haunt me

To the scars that remain



I’m done.
How I managed to read 100 books this year and why I should never do it again
By: Mikko Hakkarainen
Tags: Books, Life Hacking, Audiobooks, Reading, Literature

What I learned and how it felt

It’s possible! I regard myself a somewhat slow reader so it was mostly about putting in the hours now that there were suddenly more hours to put in. This is one of the reasons why we weren’t hanging out so much this year, if you were wondering. (I acknowledge that everyone’s situation can’t be as fruitful for this challenge as mine was this year.)

Everything’s connected. One of the most exciting things about reading this much is noticing how the stories and the human fates start to intertwine between books and form almost magical intertextual links time and time again.

Memory works in weird ways. Going through the list of books I read this year I notice I remember quite clearly the places where I read or listened to each of them. A book can hijack your attention 100% yet you can still be so aware of your surroundings that a permanent link of sorts is created. Like when in July I was sitting under an oak tree in the Finnish archipelago while death cleaning Karl Ove’s dad’s shit in Kristiansand, Norway. Also, it feels like this year lasted a hundred years, but reading probably didn’t have anything to do with it.

Audiobooks work with working out. Now, I couldn’t have read this many books if I hadn’t had one book in paper going on at the same time as one in audio. Before I’d had problems with finding the time and the place for audiobooks, but connecting a listening habit to a running/biking workout or walks with the dog pushed me out and about more than before.

Clueless about podcasts. It seems to be either or for me: when I’m in a podcast phase, I don’t listen to audiobooks and vice versa. I have no idea what’s good this year in the podcast sphere, so please hit me with your favourite series and I’ll kick off the new year with it.

Support your local. Based on the publishing houses’ financial numbers it seems like I wasn’t the only one reading this year in Finland. Let’s make sure it’s not only the big industry players winning by reading books from smaller publishing houses as well as buying and lending from local bookstores and libraries (shout-out to my favourites Nide and Rosebud in Helsinki).

By the way I wonder if others share a vague sense of melancholy after visiting a bookstore or a library? One thing I’m definitely happy about this year is that I’ve managed to shed this feeling of inadequacy caused by a lack of time to read. Now visiting libraries and bookstores feel like it should: they are places to celebrate curiosity and gateways to infinite worlds.

Never again! To be honest, at times the challenge felt like an uphill battle and the reading felt forced. I’ll continue reading of course, but instead of quantifying pages and books I’ll look for meaning in the actual words.
Act For Others
By: Stig Terrebonne
Tags: Leadership, Self Improvement, Life Hacking, Life Lessons, Sunday

There is so much garbage on the internet.

Text messages (in all forms) constantly fly over wires and annoy people with notifications. We are on the hook 24/7, and I’m not even talking about the passive variety like Twitter or YouTube comments.

Here I am making more.

Everyday I send messages to friends and coworkers that in hindsight, sound pretty stupid.

Talking through technology: we do it all freaking day, and it feels a little lawless.

So what is a human supposed to do?

As is common with this newsletter, I like to talk strategy rather than tactics.

In that vein ~ the message itself is not important.

What’s important is our intention.

When we know what our purpose is, the actions will fall into place.

I have started to ask two things:

What impact will this message have?

Will this message uplift and make this person better?

We need a goal when we communicate and the last thing we need is to drag each other down. Success is making others successful.

So take a few seconds before you hit send. It does wonders.

And all this to say that every interaction is an opportunity to make someone’s day. To uplift them.

If we all acted for others, I’m 110% sure we will build a culture we want, maybe even need.

If you want a lesson every week, sign up for the newsletter here
- Delse Sebastian
By: Delse Sebastian
Tags: Life Hacking, Life, Relationships, Family, Life Lessons

No regrets about the past no worries about the future because I am living in the present.
How Gratitude can Change our Life Upside Down
By: Dharmender Ahlawat
Tags: Lifehacks, Life Hacking, Life, Happiness, Lifestyle

Get ready for awesomeness in life

According to the dictionary definition, Gratitude is simply a “state of being grateful or thankful”. However, it is a deeper appreciation for someone (or something) that produces longer lasting positivity.

Gratitude towards the people we have in our lives and towards the things we have in our life takes us a long way to happiness. We should be thankful that we have something to look forward to in our life. Gratitude helps in the belief that our lives are of abundance not of scarcity.

So what if we have had a failure in our career or a relationship. We are present here and thriving in this world because we are overall net positive. We can not take periods in isolation and declare that in this period, We failed to achieve so and so milestone.

What if the person has learned a hell of a lot from the failure and he dwelling upon his learnings can achieve huge success in the time to come. So our success or failure should always be taken to date and future potential successes should also be taken into account.

Photo by Jackson David on Unsplash

We can not compare two different persons in life and declare one as the winner and the other as the loser. They both have their own lives and different factors and mindsets steering their lives. They might have started their lives from different points. Their paths on this journey of life may be different as well.

One person's path may be shorter and incredibly hard, demanding sacrifices or compromises. Other person's path may be long and winding but easy to travel without losing anything. It is more than fine that they are giving their best and not racing and comparing or keeping up with each other.
The sacred SEVEN promises of love
Tags: Marriage, Friends, Life Hacking, Love, Promises

The traditional marriage in Hindu culture impose on 7 feras with fire as symbol of witness to take oaths for lifetime as being life partner signifies new life beginnings. Marriage being cherished journey of love involves deep trust and faith in each other where commitment plays a key role to make it successful.

The sacred seven promises of LOVE

1. Never leave the lover in any situation and always support each other’s relation of love in a constructive way.

2. To search the entire world for lover who’s lost and justify the bond of love till eternity irrespective of troubles in the path of love.

3. To love a person’s soul and not body as body is perishable and will age with time but soul exists forever cherishing the love.

4. To stop a lover from taking wrong path at any cost with all efforts and guide them for righteous path.

5. To know and realize each of the lover as separate living beings in reality and not impose expectations on each other giving the required space to grow.

6. Distance shouldn’t matter in love as one rules the heart where pain and joy is equally shared.

7. To do anything for sake of lover against all the odds and face everything with courage and firm determination ensuring the relation of pure love.
5 Real Ways You Can Save Money on Groceries Right Now
By: Free Livin
Tags: Money, Life Hacking, Credit Cards, Save Money, Grocery Shopping

1. Use Cash Card by Cash App

I’ve been wanting to yell “You can save $7.50 every week by using Cash Card!” into the intercom of my local grocery store for quite some time.

Cash App is a PayPal-like app that allows you to request a Cash (Debit) Card that is linked to your account. And much like credit card offers, you can apply “boosts” to your Cash Card including one in the grocery stores category. The boost gets you 10% off of one purchase at any grocery store with a max discount limit of $7.50 — meaning you get 10% up to $75 worth of groceries.

The boost has been reappearing every week for the past few months I’ve been using the card, so I’ve been able to save during my weekly trip to the grocery store. There are also other boosts that change from week to week including 10% off of DoorDash, McDonald’s, and Starbucks orders as of this week.

Get your own Cash Card + $10 by using my referral code DCNCKHQ or by registering using my referral link.

This all sounds too good to be true? Cash App is developed by Square, Inc., the payment processing company that coffee shops use to process your credit card. Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, is one of the co-founders of Square, which is also listed on New York Stock Exchange with a ticker symbol SQ.
A Simple Method I Use to Regain Focus
By: Calvin Cheung
Tags: Life Hacking, Life, Inspiration, Life Lessons, Motivation

It’s time to pick yourself back up.

Life is never smooth, and we experience success and frustrations no matter the direction we take. It doesn’t matter how much we plan moving forward, well, the more the better, but we will inevitably come across periods in life where we lose the focus to continue onward. The most important thing then, in my opinion, is to adopt methods to pick yourself back up so you’re able to minimize the downtime as much as possible.

How Can This be Done?

There are many tips and tricks if you do a quick search on Google, but I’m going to talk about one method that resonates with me the most, and it might be unorthodox to some of you reading this.

Think and envision the future you want to be in. I’m not talking about having it in your head simply for a few minutes, but instead, really close your eyes, transfer your body and thoughts to that future self you wish to achieve to become in the next five or ten years.

Find a space or do whatever it is that enables you to let go of your surrounding distractions. Whether it’s sitting down in an open room or going for a walk, the choice is yours. The most important part of this phase is learning to let go because you’re probably in a state of distress. Once you know how to lower your mental resistance, you’ll then stop struggling, trying to hold back troublesome thoughts that will inhibit your ability to create that vision of your future. Anyway, I’ll dive deeper into controlling emotions in another article.

Step-by-Step Guide:

Find a space and action where you can focus. Try and let go of any worries, because this will enable emotions to flow through your body. Envision yourself having achieved the ultimate aspiration in life. Act it out within your head and try to experience it “virtually.” By then, you’ll have created a massive incentive to push on. Create systems, achieve smaller goals, and finally work toward that dream of yours.

Once you’re able to create that vision, you’ll then be reminded of what’s essential in your life, and it’ll help you start focusing on the small goals while removing all the unnecessary worries that are slowing your progress.

Photo by Denys Nevozhai on Unsplash

What it provides is a truly transformative experience that is better justified through action than words. When Imagining the future, it has allowed me to act out the entire experience, and it serves as the ultimate incentive for me to push on whenever I’m at a loss for motivation.

Give it a go. At the very least, I promise there will be no adverse effects in doing so. After all, and vision aside, it’s always good to occasionally take time off distractions because it provides you with some headspace, and it allows you to focus on the critical thoughts.

Thanks for stopping by this brief article, and I truly hope this can benefit your life.

Take care, and I’ll see you all soon!

Calvin
Reflection On Amal Totkay
By: Asad Ali
Tags: Life Lessons, Amal Totkay, Life, Life Hacking

The following five Amal Totkay I have found very splendid and mind-blowing,

SELF-TALK

self talk

Self-talk is an amazing Totka of Amal where I have found that I am the Judge and Advocate of myself and only I am responsible for my career. Self-talk show us our weaknesses and strengths through which we can improve ourself

2. GET OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE

Comfort zone

From AMAL TOTKAY this is my favorite one because when we kick out ourselves from our comfort zone then success automatically follows us. So guys come on, leave your bubble, and make history.

3. CREATE NEW HABITS

new habits

I will suggest to all my readers if they want to live and updated with the modern world then try to create new habits and turn their minds into a growth- set mind it will help them a lot

4. ASK PEOPLE FOR HELP

Ask for help from those people only, who really want to do your help, never ask for help from everyone.

5. FAKE IT TILL YOU MAKE IT

fake it till you make it

Fake it till you make it means doing acting of a role that you want to be in real, it will impact a lot on your personality and gives you confidence.

So my dear fellows if you will adopt these five Amal Totkay then you will never fail in life and success will kiss your feet on every step of life.
5 Unique Mobile Applications that can completely change your life
Tags: Mindset Shift, Life Hacking, Mobile Apps, Unique, Pondr

From fantasy games to simple reminder apps, Playstore offers a plethora of applications as per the user’s liking, need and demand. However, among millions of apps available today, many unique apps go unnoticed.

Memrise: Learning languages is an extremely tedious task and can be made easier if the process become natural conversational way. Memrise is just such an app via which you can learn a language with thousands of video clips of real native speakers, fun and effective games to practice your skills. It has also won the best app award.

Crownit: You go to restaurant, eat, pay our bill and upload the image of that bill to Crownit. You will get reward points and discounts on your bill, it is that simple. You can also try playing the in-built games for more rewards point.

Pondr. : This app is an open platform for curious minds to discover and share powerful ideas and write bite sized articles that fit your mobile screen. The user-interface is highly addictive because of the swipe feature that let’s you access a new article with every swipe up. The platform is uniquely designed for readers to find quick, insightful and dynamic articles to inculcate a healthy reading habit. This is any writer’s paradise as there a unlimited topics to write upon which their readers can follow. This app enables you to convey meaningful content in a condensed format! If you would like to ponder on this, do it on Pondr

Better Help: It is a free therapy and counselling app to take care of your mental health. The online services are provided through web-based interaction as well as phone and text communication. BetterHelp has grown to become one of the largest online therapy platforms with over 12,000 licensed therapists and more than one million patients so far. So the next time you complain about not taking care of your mental health because therapy is expensive, think twice.

Tunity: This mobile application truly is a work of art. Essentially, it allows your phone to act as a temporary TV tuner for any TV. So, let’s say you’re at the bar watching the game, and everyone is being loud and obnoxious while all you want to hear is the commentary. Open Tunity, point it at the TV, and Tunity will use a scanned image to locate the program and then stream the audio directly to your phone.
5 steps to reach successful position
By: Sakthi S
Tags: Positive Psychology, Positive Thinking, Successful Position, Life Hacking, Positivity

step1: Go to bed early and wake up early in the morning.

step2: Do meditation .When we do meditation our brain will work on peak performance.

step 3: Tell your self like that you are an achiever and you can do your goal. It will increase your positive energy.

step 4: Daily do exercise. It will helps you to be a physically strong person.

step 5: Do your work continually without expecting rewards.

That’s all. If you do above 5 steps everyday you will become an achiever in your life soon.
There’s No “Right Answer”
By: Eran Dror
Tags: Design Sprint, Life Hacking, Design Thinking, Design

A few days ago, I released my interview with Dave Evans, the founder of the Life Design Lab at Stanford University, about designing a joyous life. There is too much wisdom in this one short interview to discuss it all here — about life and about product design — but I find myself going back to Dave’s most insistent point, which is that there are no right answers. That we as humans and designers should be way-finders, not navigators.

I’ve also heard the same point from Kathy Davies, Dave’s collaborator at the Life Design Lab, in our wonderful conversation a couple of months back, in the context of why major career decisions are so daunting.

Having Faith in the Process

The more I sit with it, the more I recognize that at my best moments — way finding is precisely what I do. Accepting uncertainty and ambivalence and stepping into a new product adventure or a new project with faith that a solution can be found. It’s not unlike the famous expedition of Lewis and Clark: heading deep into uncharted and unknown territory, trusting in themselves, their team, and their equipment to see them through — being open to new experiences and tackling new challenges as they appear.

Compare this to how your GPS approaches driving your daily route — the contrasting example that Dave gave — it knows every turn, road, building. It charts the most efficient path through well-explored and understood territory.

“There’s no GPS for life”, Dave said, and indeed there are any number of things there’s no GPS for. Starting a business, creating a new product, writing a novel, launching a podcast. There’s no GPS because there are no right answers. There are only experiments, iterations, and localized challenges.

No Perfect Plan

As a product designer, I realize, this is often the number one point of friction with clients. Clients who come from more well-ordered fields either think they have the perfect plan, or think that I should have the perfect plan.

The greatest challenge is to get them out of this way of thinking entirely. When it comes to the massive complexity of humans, markets, and products — there are any number of wrong answers, but there isn’t a single right one. Only the next likely experiment, and the next good idea to try.

Design Sprints, etc.

I realize now that this is a major reason why I am attracted to Design Sprints as a methodology — sprints respect the complexity and interdependent nature of reality. No one person is assumed to have all the answers and all the relevant knowledge; no plan is deemed perfect — only good enough to test; No solution is considered by itself, in a vacuum, without many alternatives.

In life — there are moments where I am tempted to ask myself what’s the “right” decision: stay in Israel or move back to the States? Build a business or pursue a Phd? Write a book or launch a product?

I should consult my designer self about these matters. He’ll remind me to stop looking for the one right answer, and to get creative.
I’m So Hungry I Could Eat A Horse…Or My Feelings (Newsletter)
Tags: Eating Disorders, Life Hacking, Mental Health, Weight Loss Tips, Life Lessons

In my country, Venezuela, we have a saying when things don’t go quite right, which seems to be most day for me, but especially Mondays, god I hate Mondays, oh and Tuesdays, Wednesday’s too, sometimes, anyway back to what I was saying, which is, funnily enough, a saying, that goes like so

“se juntaron el hambre y el deseo de comer” which means: hunger and the desire to eat came together.

Have you ever noticed when you’re hungry, like really really hungry and…

…well sometimes, when this desire to eat overtakes me, I find myself (I’m a little embarrassed as I type this) doing a heist of my refrigerator, just two hours after having lunch or dinner, and then someone walks by the kitchen and asks me “are you hungry?” and I think: “not really” while I stare at the bottom of the refrigerator waiting for a Big Mac to appear spontaneously. Come on Elon, I’m sure one of your companies has the tech to make the Big Mac button a real thing — must come pre-installed on all fridges, and must be eco friendly too (obviously).

Read more

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Don’t Leave Home Without it!
By: Paolo Cuomo
Tags: Life Hacking, Quickfire, Productivity, Work, Quickfire Tips

Quick fire tip #55: Dial into conference calls.

Yes, there are ways to improve your desk set-up. But even better is to get up and go for a walk.
How to Transcribe Audio Files to Text Yourself
By: Valencia Mendoza
Tags: Life Hacking, Advice, Guides And Tutorials, Work, Ideas

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

A huge area of interest within audio is transcribing audio files to text. It’s easy to let speech recognition software understand and recognize voice automatically. But how do you help those many other people who don’t have access to speech to text converter software to get what they need?

I want to note that patience is also a big part of transcribing audio to text before I give you the step-by-step tutorial. Do not panic if the procedure is long at first. With practice, you’ll get better.

The method of transcribed audio or speech to text is not difficult, but you can make it far less effective if you’re not set to succeed. Next, allow yourself quick access to both your word processor and audio files. You’re rewinding regularly, and you don’t want to add minutes to your process by constantly flipping tabs and losing your location. Listen and type what you hear in your audio file. Some stuff, including the names of the speakers, can continuously recur when you are transcribing the audio file. For these stuff that you know you’re going to type over and over, make a fast shorthand reference. If you’re the only one using the transcript, you’ll know what the abbreviation means. If you intend to share the file with more people, when you’re finished, you can either give them the list or easily find it and substitute it with the real term. Take one more listen to your audio file until you’re finished with your transcription to correct any mistakes you may have missed. Be careful to search for any names, references or meaning that you may have overlooked, particularly if you concentrated on just typing word for word what was said.

Obviously not all of the options on offer are perfect, but many are worth trying out. What do you recommend?
How To Host a Hit Virtual Party They’ll Never Forget
By: Tim Ebl
Tags: Life Hacking, Covid 19, Party, Family, Travel

Listen. We know what we need to do. Be responsible, safe and healthy. Stay away from big gatherings and don’t spread the Covid around with our holiday cheer.

It’s a downer for everyone. You feel like you’re flushing all the holiday traditions and missing out on something sacred. No big family get-together. No one cooking a feast in the kitchen while we socialize and spend time catching up.

Grandma isn’t going to see her grandchildren. Auntie Vi won’t be able to hand out life advice.

We don’t get to see Uncle Carl pass out after supper while we play cards.

We can’t see people’s faces as they open that special gift we picked out for them. There’s no chance to play board games or have a few drinks with our loved ones as we close out this year.

Okay. So let’s move on and see what we can do. Christmas is still going to happen.

“A lovely thing about Christmas is that it’s compulsory, like a thunderstorm, and we all go through it together.” — Garrison Keillor

Have you considered a virtual party? Let’s look at how this can work out for you so you can still have that get-together.
Jump Start Your Body With A Morning Slap Of 🥶!
By: Morning Slap
Tags: Motivational, Life Hacking, Self Improvement, Motivation

Pretty sure you have heard about people taking cold showers to jump-start their body when they wake up or feel drowsy, but is that the only thing it does?

Morning Slap: Cold Cold Cold

Cold showers have long been known to have a lot of health benefits and a study published in 2007 called “Adapted cold shower as a potential treatment for depression” tells that a cold shower maybe even more effective than antidepressants.

I wish it was true but it isn’t, I still get depressed 😂 even after a nice cold shower that makes me up for the upcoming day.

What I personally think a cold shower helps is to get out of my comfort zone. Right after I wake up, I always think a nice warm shower is going to feel amazing but that’s me telling myself that it's my comfort bubble and I should stay in it.

If I take the courage and turn the nob warm to cold, it takes me out of my comfort zone and allows me to face the harsh truth which is, after a cold shock of getting out of your comfort zone, you end up getting amazing benefits which you wouldn’t have gotten if you didn't take the leap of faith!

From my perspective, this is an amazing way to realize that, there are many opportunities out there but you just have to get out of your bubble.

Oops, this should be an article about benefits! So let's get back to it but if you liked what I said above, please give some love by giving it a 👏.

So here are 4 benefits of a cold shower.

Benefit 1: Energy Booster

Morning Slap: Boost me up, Scotty

When you take a cold shower you end up breathing faster which allows more oxygen intake and you get an amazing feeling of freshness right afterward.

Healthier than a MONSTER.

Benefit 2: Treat For The Skin

Morning Slap: That Glow!

A cold shower makes the skin look healthier because they tighten up your pores and prevents them from getting dirt in them. A great example of this is that when people go to the sauna to open the pores and then wash the dirt away with a nice cold shower.

Benefit 3: Men Booster

Morning Slap: Run Run Run

Many articles have published the fact that a cold shower also increases testosterone in the body.

Benefit 4: Muscle Recovery

Morning Slap: Muscle Recovery

You see a lot of athletics take a cold shower or an ice bath right after they have done competitive sports or a heavy workout. The cold allows the muscle to relax and repair themselves.

That's it, folks! Hope you start taking a Morning Slap of Cold Shower!

Comment below, if a cold shower has ever benefited you or is benefitting you at the moment.
PUNK ROCK SAVED MY LIFE, NO IT ACTUALLY LITERALLY DID SAVE MY LIFE
By: Fakeorange Creative
Tags: Near Death Experiences, Lifestyle, Life Hacking

I Could attribute this to my stubborn attitude, my iconoclastic counter culture nature, my affinity for ripped up distressed clothing. or my hatred of mainstream music. ok this this is how it happened….

I was staying at my aunts hotel in the balkans, in a small but beautiful country in which i was born called Montenegro. Let me explain that eastern European culture is not the kind you want to stand out in. you don’t want to be an outlier. you don’t want to question the way things are.

It is a very difficult culture to grow up in as a women when your entire being is microscopically scrutinized.

That being said on this particular morning i was supposed to be catching

a 12 hour bus ride to visit my author aunt in Croatia. When i came downstairs from my room i was wearing shorts and ratty torn up Ramones t shit. My aunt looked at me shaking her head.

“you cant wear that it has holes, its all ripped up”

me dumbfounded anyone would care

“so what. i dont care about strangers on a bus”

my aunt said in a more quiet serious tone

“THEY WILL LAUGH AT YOU”

This pissed me off a little to which i replied

“listen you arent going to change me, my core values, my beliefs what i think important enough in my life to take up thoughts or headspace. Why would you think you could? why would the opinions of strangers i wont interact with and never in my life see again even be a thought ME personally would have? you have met me havent you?”

by the time our argument was over i had missed the bus to Croatia.

but it was ok another was coming in 20 minutes or so.

i got on that one and took the bus where i met my author aunt in split she gave me an unusually emotional teary eyed hug. “we have to call your mom “

I didn’t understand what the commotion was about. Well it turns out that first bus? the one i missed while arguing with my other aunt?

It drove off a cliff, and there were no survivors. NONE.

I was left stunned. I felt happy that I didn’t get on the bus but sadness for the people. Almost like survivors guilt.

But never wavering in who you are sometimes in small ways and sometimes just emotionally

that

that will save your life.
One thing that I want to convey to my daughter
By: Masako Oda
Tags: Lifehacks, Life Hacking, Life, Life Lessons, Meaning Of Life

One day, I suddenly recalled something very important, why I was born. I remember I have had desperately wanted to have a physical body for a long time since I didn’t have it back then before I was born. I couldn’t have forgotten all the pleasure I had when I had a physical body. Most of all, I had been bored up there. It’s so peaceful and tranquil. Nothing’s happening but I was fulfilled.

They have been married for 18 years and craved for a baby. Husband was already in his mid-forties, honest, a hard-working man. I liked his wife pretty much. She looked so happy. She seems to be enjoying every single day from the bottom of her heart. I was so sure that they were capable of being my parents.

I was right. I had a good time with them for over 50 years. Now they both are gone back to where they used to be. And I am surviving my life without them and not knowing how my daughter is doing or where she lives. But it’s alright because I remember everything now. I don’t have to worry about anything. You, neither.

After all, we are a part of something huge. We are here because we would experience and enjoy our life on behalf of it. Our body will wear out in 100 years or so. It’s a temporary. But we are immortal. In fact, this life is just a diversion. When we die, we will be back to where we belong to. There are no exceptions. Everthing will be alright there. So, we should enjoy our life as much as we can. No worries.

I miss you every seconds.
How Procrastination Makes You a Better Writer
By: Anirban Kar
Tags: Self Improvement, Life Hacking, Writing Tips, Procrastination, Writing

Being a writer is easier said than done. You have to come up with new topics, delivering something moving and meaningful. Besides, you have to keep it engaging and enticing also. Now add the constant demand to keep up with the deadline and stay on board with the editor’s feedback, and you get a world of pain a writer needs to go through every day.

Above all, there is you!

Or should I say, the voice in your head!

It keeps telling you that the last piece you wrote was a piece of junk — all of your past works were. And even if some of it made a mark — you can’t possibly do it again.

It keeps you anxious and hustling for relevance. As a result, you deny yourself any room for thinking about your path without stressing about it. And you end up repeating the same mistakes again and again until you reach the rabbit hole of burnout.

Now, what if I tell you that there is a way out?

As the title suggests, I am talking about procrastination.

Pay the utmost attention to what I say for the next few minutes. It can change your way ahead as a writer.

I also want you to be critical of everything you are about to read from now on. Do not, and I repeat, do not take anything for granted! Look it up, check my sources, and most importantly, evaluate it yourself.
Priceless Gift Ideas for Boss
By: Olivia Marlene
Tags: Christmas Gifts, Gifts, Life Hacking, Gift Ideas, Unique Gift Idea

Christmas gift-giving can be a source of stress for someone who doesn’t have a knack for the tradition. It becomes even more complicated to decide what gift to give your boss. What else can you give when you are well aware that your boss has all the material things? Your small token may wind up competing for space in a plethora of gifts sent to him or her this year.

It is also awkward to give a gift that your boss can guess the price. The boss will tend to return the favor by giving you a gift with a higher price tag. But receiving back was never your intention. You have been wanting to tell him or her your appreciation and this holiday season is the perfect time to do it.

So what to give? Give them priceless gifts. Give them gifts from your effort. Give them gifts of love.

Below are 5 gift ideas that you can prepare in the comforts of your home. They cost nothing. Simply put in a little bit of time, effort, and lots of love. Any of these gifts will warm the heart of your boss in this cold holiday season.
5 Unfit and Unusual Uses For Dumbbells
By: Tim Ebl
Tags: Workout, Life Hacking, Parody, Humor, Fitness

When everyone got locked down in 2020, we all went out and bought weights for our home gym. We picked up dumbbells, kettlebells, stretchy elastic bands, and exercise mats. The store was sold out of every weight set.

Signing up for online classes and watching workout videos, we used them like there was no tomorrow.

Then, tomorrow arrived.

Motivation waned. Inertial set in. We stopped using our fitness gear.

Now, many of these exercise items are just lying around collecting dust. They are a sunk cost. No returning a used, sweaty dumbbell.

Don’t toss it in the corner with all those beanie babies yet, though. It doesn’t belong with the fondue set, ouija board, and the travel luggage. Let’s repurpose those babies and get them working around the house!

“My workout regimen at the moment is nonexistent. I wake up in the morning and brush my teeth. My toothbrush and deodorant are my only dumbbells. That’s about it.” — Josh Bowman

Not only will they become contributing items of usefulness, but you will see them on a daily basis. That makes it a lot more likely that you will remember to pick them up and do a workout. Especially if their other home was under the stairs in your Harry Potter bedroom.

Try out these 5 unfit and unusual ideas to use dumbbells, kettlebells and other home fitness gear in your home instead of letting them sit in the garage beside the cardboard box the TV came in 2 years ago.

Disclaimer: I accept zero responsibility for your decisions, especially if they include jail time!
3 Quotes 3 Ideas
By: Stig Terrebonne
Tags: Self Improvement, Leadership, Life Hacking, Life Lessons, Sunday

Good morning/afternoon/night all!

This week I’m going to test a different format.

I have hundreds of quotes saved by this point (because list making is life), and I’ve been at a total loss of what I should do with them.

Keeping them to myself seems selfish, so below are a few and what they mean to me. Which is arbitrary.

The thing about quotes is that they only hit you when it’s the perfect information you are missing in your life, so I have been hesitant until now to toss them out there.

Well, fuck it. Tell me what you think.
The Unexpected Virtues Of Doing Nothing (Newsletter)
Tags: Rejuvenation, Life Hacking, Relaxation, Mental Health, Life Lessons

Have you ever met someone who started running, taking it seriously, like really seriously, getting the latest, arch-supporting, heated, toe-hugging shoes, the latest clima-cool running outfit that moulds to the contours of your body, and then just won’t stop talking about it? Or that one person, there’s always that one person, that *friend* who joins CrossFit and suddenly becomes a spokesperson for burpees? And tried to convince you every day to join in? I really value my knees, John, but thank you very much.

I have noticed that these days the new runners or CrossFitters are popping up everywheeeere, and they just will not stop talking about productivity. Be productive! Be productive! Be productive! Do all your tasks every day, read a hundred books a month, never rest. You must be productive or you will not achieve success. At first, I didn’t think there was something inherently wrong with that, this “culture of productivity” but during the COVID-19 quarantine, I discovered how damaging this way of thinking can be, *can* being the operative word here.

At some point, I saw some Tweets that professed things like, “If you didn’t learn a new skill, or read at least one book or discovered a new element in the periodic table during quarantine you are doing it wrong.” I can’t begin to explain how many things are wrong with that.

Read more

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The Slow Unraveling Of A Good Life Turning Bad
By: Nicolas Cole
Tags: Life Hacking, Habit Building, Habits, Life Lessons, Lifestyle

Most people’s lives don’t derail because of a single moment.

But we imagine that’s how it goes because those are the moments that get sensationalized in movies, books, plays, musicals, music, and pop culture. It’s very dramatic to see someone living a normal life — and then all of a sudden decide to murder their neighbor, or overdose, or cheat on their spouse, or rob a liquor store, or do something that can cause catastrophic consequences.

However, those are not the majority.

Not by a long shot.

Most people’s lives derail in a slow, torturous sort of way.

Their habits begin to wither. They start choosing what’s easy instead of what’s going to help them grow.

The dynamic of their friendships flip. Instead of looking for ways to support others, they only focus on the ways others aren’t supporting them. (Taking instead of giving.)

They no longer invest their time into things they’re curious about, or want to get better at. Instead, they spend their time consuming — rather than building or creating.

Little things in their lives begin to shift. And at the time, these choices inconsequential. They seem so small, so meaningless, that no one ever stops to wonder what the long-term consequences will be.

And then 20 years later, they suddenly wake up feeling an immense amount of regret.

They didn’t pursue what they really loved in life.

They didn’t end up with someone they were madly in love with — they settled.

They didn’t ever live in another country, didn’t live somewhere they had always wanted to experience.

They didn’t pursue any of their passions. They never improved at the things they said they loved.

They didn’t maintain a sense of child-like wonder. They didn’t push themselves out of their comfort zone enough. They didn’t ever find their community of like-minded people.

They didn’t grow into the person they imagined they could become.

That’s a very difficult realization to come to later in life.

And most people don’t know how to deal with it.

They feel regret. They feel shame. They feel disappointment. Depression. Worthlessness.

They feel purposeless. They feel as though they’ve wasted their life.

And the hardest part about it?

There’s no “single moment” you can point to.

There’s no one-defining-moment. There’s no big bang when it all went combust.

It was a slow, torturous burn.

And it’s more common than most people are willing to admit.
Tired of Being Your Partner’s Mother?
By: S. Angell
Tags: Life Hacking, Advice, Relationships, Home, Household Chores

No grown adult wants a nagging mother. They want a partner. If you are with a mature partner, they are going to take care of themselves. They won’t expect you to cook all the meals, do all the laundry, make the bed, clean the house, manage the finances, nor manage their emotions. Unless you have agreed to split the day to day responsibilities and you agree to do laundry and cook meals, you are essentially mothering your partner if you are doing it all. No respectful and mature partner is going to expect you to pick up after them.



We want to live in a world where we are empowered and independent, even within our relationships. Yet, so many of us still go into a maternal mode in our relationships. There is nothing wrong with caring for those we love, but doing something for our partners by our own will and doing something because our partner is falling short are two different things. Instead of advising you to leave your relationship or tell you a story about my experiences mothering my partners, I’m going to give you some advice on how to get your significant other to start acting like your partner instead of a teenager when it comes to household responsibilities.



Number One: Set your boundaries.



Let your partner know what you are willing to do and what you would prefer not to do. Make a list if you have to.



Number Two: Ask your partner what they are interested in doing.



Make a list of household tasks that you and your partner can choose from.



Number Three: Create a weekly calendar of tasks and set reminders.



This is a good way to get you both into a routine of doing chores.



Number Four: Be mindful.



Your partner might have more demands on their time with work, or you might spend more time running errands, managing the finances, etc. Try to balance out the workload so that neither of you will become resentful.



Number Five: Try to refrain from micromanaging your partner’s tasks.



If your partner has chosen their tasks, allow them to do them their way. If they ask for advice, then offer it, but don’t hang over their shoulder and act like a dictator.



Number Six: Choose some tasks to do together.



Choose some tasks that you both enjoy and do them together, such as preparing a meal or gardening together. It will bring you closer and allow you to appreciate each other’s efforts.



Number Seven: Be your partner’s confidant, but refrain from trying to manage their emotions or calm their temper.



If your partner expects you to manage their emotions, they are not emotionally mature enough to be in a relationship. You might want to consider couples therapy or ending the relationship. Otherwise, go back to Number One: Set your boundaries.
Quick fire tip #55: Dial into conference calls.
By: Paolo Cuomo
Tags: WFH, Life Hacking, Productivity, Watm, Work Life Balance

Quick fire tip #55: Dial into conference calls. Most office workers continue to be ‘work-from-home’. This brings challenges of sitting endlessly in front of the screen doing calls on Zoom, Teams, or Webex.

Yes, there are ways to improve your desk set-up. But even better is to get up and go for a walk.

When there’s no important document being shared, and you don’t need to see your colleagues faces then why not just dial in as a phone call.

As was normal until a year ago!

This gives you the flexibility to go places without decent data connections, look at the landscape instead of the phone, and not trip over.

Try it out. Today!