How Not to Be Offended Editor’s note: This post was written by Shemsi Prinzivalli. There is an ancient and well-kept secret to happiness which the Great Ones have known for centuries. They rarely talk about it, but they use it all the time, and it is fundamental to good mental health. This secret is called The Fine Art of Not Being Offended. In order to truly be a master of this art, one must be able to see that every statement, action and reaction of another human being is the sum result of their total life experience to date. Yes, this is psychodynamic. All of that said, almost nothing is personal. This frees us to be a little more detached from the reactions of people around us. This is also not to be confused with allowing ourselves to be hurt, neglected or taken advantage of. The great challenge of our world is to live a life of contentment, regardless of what other people do, say, think or believe. Source: “The Art of Not Being Offended,” from shemsi-prinzivalli.blogspot.gr
How Many Hours of Sleep Do You Really Need? I took a class taught by the Penn PI cited in this article, Dr. David Dinges, called "Human Chronobiology and Sleep". I also worked part-time for a company for which he was a consultant while I was a student. He's brilliant, truly one of the world's top authorities on sleep, with an extremely impressive, 112 page CV: [www.med.upenn.edu] One thing he emphasized in his class that really stood out for me is the inverse relationship between exposure to light (especially short-wave/blue light around 470nm) and melatonin production. If you're exposed to light (i.e. from a TV, computer, phone, etc) right before you try to sleep, melatonin production is inhibited, and it's going to be very difficult to fall asleep. EDIT: If anyone's interested, here's the syllabus for the course I mentioned: [www.sas.upenn.edu]
Bachelor's Degree Online - Compare 2013's Top Programs Sleepyti.me Calculates the Best Time to Go to Sleep So You Wake Up Refreshed There is no medical/scientific evidence to support the claims that this app will help. First of all, the "90-minute sleep cycle" idea is just that, an idea. Saying that people experience regular, 90-minute cycles is like saying all people have exactly 1.7 children since that is the national average, when, in fact, NOBODY has exactly 1.7 children. Also, sleep stages very by cycle dramatically, so waking up after 4.5 hours is very different from waking up after 7.5 hours. Finally, there is very little evidence to support the claim that waking up at the "end of a cycle" is any different than any other point in the cycle, especially if its a later cycle that consists mostly of REM and Stage 2 sleep. This is the second sleep-related article in the past couple of weeks on this site that has featured inaccurate, misleading information.
How Positive Thoughts Build Skills, Boost Health, and Improve Work Make 46 Meals for Under $100 in 4 Hours 10 EPIC Quotes from “Conversations With God” “Conversations With God: An Uncommon Dialogue” by Neal Walsh is one of my favorite books of all time, hands down. It is written from the point of view of god (but it’s not religion, so don’t scoff quite yet) telling man how he should live his life. I like to think of it as god’s hypothetical edits to the incredibly skewed, modern interpretation of the ‘The Bible.’ 1“Go ahead an do what you really love to do! 2“You are making a mockery of Me. 3“There is no coincidence, and nothing happens ‘by accident.’ 4“The purpose of a relationship is not to have another who might complete you; but to have another with whom you might share your completeness.” 5“The laws are very simple: 1. 6“Heaven–as you call it–is nowhere. 7“Know and understand that there will be challenges and difficult times. 8“If you want guarantees in life, then you don’t want life. 9“To live your life without expectation–without the need for specific results–that is freedom. 10“Never resist anything.
Four Ways to Figure Out What You Really Want to Do with Your Life You’ve Got Plenty Of Time Yes, you do. I’ve caught myself whispering this in my own ears frequently during the last few days. And it worked. It worked because it is true, despite how everything seems to indicate just the opposite. Let me explain. I am currently in the process of moving and it is amazing to see what little, seemingly unimportant things can trigger stress. I want my new place to be finished as soon as possible. I don’t remember where I read this, or if I made it up myself, but it was something along the lines of ‘the common denominator of stress is the felt experience of not having enough time‘. The more we worry about time, the more time is lost to worrying.Tweet Every single time I got annoyed that something wasn’t going as intended, the will I enforced upon the world seemed to be futile; I felt rushed and powerless. Why? But, I did! Yet, in the midst of this big task I selectively forgot that this was the case. This perspective changed the way I felt immediately.
How to Avoid Sounding Like an Idiot When Discussing Politics Just curious; do you consider attacking the character of a candidate to be an ad hominem? I've been forced to point out on a few occasions lately that right-wing types absolutely love the argument from ignorance fallacy, strawmen, slippery slopes, and - you forgot one, although it's closely related to slippery slope - simple fear-mongering. These all work like a charm on idiots (i.e. Being a lawyer, I sometimes can't resist pointing out that the structure of an argument - prior to even addressing any factual deficiencies or differences in opinion - is simply faulty. I realize my bend is showing, but I'm really not an across-the-board Democrat. I personally know both conservatives and liberals who do that, and I see it on both sides in the public arena as well. If it's personal rather than political, you bet.
Ten Lies You’ll Hear Before Pursuing Your Dream (photo: salty_soul) Unfortunately, just before you take your first step on the righteous journey to pursue your dreams, people around you, even the ones who deeply care for you, will give you awful advice. It’s not because they have evil intentions. So they try to protect you by shielding you from the possibility of failure, which, in effect, also shields you from the possibility of making your dreams a reality. As our friend Steve Jobs says: “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Here are ten ill-advised tips (lies) people will likely tell you when you decide to pursue your dreams and the reasons why they are dreadfully mistaken: 1. Someday? 2. Wrong! 3. Sure, I suppose. 4. It’s only impossible if you never do anything about it. 5. That’s because those lucky few got off their rear ends and did something about it! 6. Failures are simply stepping stones to success. 7. 8. You don’t need more money. 9. You are the sum of the people you spend the most time with.
15 Online Learning websites that you should check out Planning start something new in this year? You can start to learn online now. Online education is gaining popularity over the last few years, as it should. I have tried few of them last year and will share my experience with them in this post. So, here is a list of sites that you should visit before you make you make your choice. The italic text below the title are taken from the respective sites. Editor’s Note: The list is continuously updated as more sites come live and as some of them get closed down 1. Kick-start your programming projects We recently made the content publicly and freely available, so that it can reach and help out more people. JCG Courses 2. We’re the world’s online learning marketplace, where 8 million+ students are taking courses in everything from programming to yoga to photography–and much, much more. Udemy We have partnered with Udemy and bring you thousands of courses for $10 each ONLY! Grab the deal NOW! 3. Skillshare 4. Achieve your dreams and change the world. 5.
Alternative Sleep Cycles: You Don’t Really Need 6-8 Hours! Most people only think that there is one way to sleep: Go to sleep at night for 6-8 hours, wake up in the morning, stay awake for 16-18 hours and then repeat. Actually, that is called a monophasic sleep cycle, which is only 1 of 5 major sleep cycles that have been used successfully throughout history. The other 4 are considered polyphasic sleep cycles due to the multiple number of naps they require each day. How is this possible? Well the most important of every sleep cycle is the Stage 4 REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, which has been shown to provide the benefits of sleep to the brain above all other stages of sleep. This way, you still get the benefits of 8 hours of sleep without wasting all of the time it takes to get to REM cycles, resulting in a much more efficient sleep cycle. Uberman Cycle: 20 to 30 minute naps every 4 hours, resulting in 6 naps each day. Everyman Cycle: One longer “core” nap that is supplemented with several 20-30 minute naps. Dymaxion Cycle: Biphasic/Siesta Cycle: