18 rules to make your life suck less...

Granted, they're not guaranteed to make your life suck less. I believe that a lot of our own happiness or unhappiness in life is based on how we handle things, how we look at them, how we react, how we feel and how we move on from them. I'm not saying you can be happy just by deciding you're going to be happy because it's not that easy but I believe perspective and your own behavior and thought process plays a part in it.

While doing some blog reading one a break during a split shift at work, I saw this on Another Suburban Mom and decided to steal it for my blog. I liked it that much.

ASM found a blog called The Everyday Minimalist and found a post where she quotes the Dalai Lama on his 18 rules for a better life and after reading them, I decided I liked them and wanted to share. This was the first time I've read that but a lot of the things in the list of 18 are things I already apply to my life regularly. While only a few points made in his list are things I haven't heard or thought of before, it's still a good list and a little reminder of things we might not take into account regularly is never a bad thing. So, enjoy. :)

1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.

3. Follow the three R's:
a. Respect for self
b. Respect for others
c. Responsibility for all your actions
4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.

5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.

6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

8. Spend some time alone every day.

9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.

10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

11. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll be able to enjoy it a second time.

12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.

13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.

14. Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality.

15. Be gentle with the earth.

16. Once a year, go someplace you've never been before.

17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.

18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.

Happy Thursday!

Little things..

I love when I need to cut something and the scissors glide through the paper perfectly without me actually having to do any cutting because the blades are that sharp.

Popping bubble wrap is so simple and mindless yet it makes me happy.

Laying in bed all warm and cuddly with someone while watching a movie is a really wonderful way to spend a night.

I love the energy and the high I get going to a hockey game. The smell of the arena, the excitement of the game, the noise and pretty much everything. Electric. Amazing.

When my shampoo and my conditioner bottles run out at the same time? That's fucking awesome. Too bad it doesn't happen more often.

When there's a Sharpie in my hand or anywhere near me, I feel an urge to write or draw on EVERYTHING. Thankfully, I can control my impulses. Sometimes. =)

I love when one of my best friends texts me randomly, just to see how I'm doing, when I'm feeling down or upset. It *always* happens and it's almost always one of three people. <3 Reese's peanut butter cups are good for your soul. I'm sure of it. Kind of like music and ice cream. True story.

I love the feeling that I get during a concert. I feel music to my very core and I never feel more right than when I'm standing there, listening to an amazing band play music I love.

Those days that happen once in a while where you can stay in pajamas all day are awesome.

Watching 10 Things I Hate About You always makes me smile.

Finding money unexpectedly in the pockets of things you haven't worn in a while or tucked away somewhere random rocks.

I wish I could see myself the way my boyfriend sees me. Since I can't see myself from his point of view, I ask what he sees once in a while. The answer always makes me smile. I just wish I'd remember the stuff he says better, then maybe it would stay in my head.

Sitting in your bedroom wrapped in a towel after a shower is one of the most comfortable things ever.

Wonder....

"I am strong and smart and willing to do whatever it takes to make the world right, even when I am undervalued and underestimated at every turn. I am beautiful, I am resolute, and I am capable of more love than you could ever imagine. I am your sister, your daughter, your wife and your best friend. I am ancient and I am naïve. I am your grandmother and your Baba Yaga; I am the bones of your civilization and the memory of all that’s come before. I am stories by the fireside and promises of the future. I am your brightest hope for a better tomorrow."

That is a paragraph lifted out of a poem written by a beautiful, intelligent, wonderful woman known as sroxy. To read the full poem, which you should do because it's lovely, go visit her blog.

Quotes; change & growth.

Alan Cohen:

"It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power."

Alice Walker:

“No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow.”

Anais Nin:

“We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another; unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in the present. We are made up of layers, cells, constellations.”

“When we blindly adopt a religion, a political system, a literary dogma, we become automatons. We cease to grow.”

Andy Warhol:

“They say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.”

Anne Frank:

“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”

Eleanor Roosevelt:

“People grow through experience if they meet life honestly and courageously. This is how character is built.”

Epictetus:

“It is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows.”

Franklin D. Roosevelt:

“When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.”

Margaret Mead:

“Never doubt that a small, group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

Pearl S. Buck:

"A good marriage is one which allows for change and growth in the individuals and in the way they express their love."

Ralph Waldo Emerson:

"Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow."

Stephen R. Covey:

"We can never really change someone; people must change themselves. But we can help. We can be a resource. We can nurture, encourage and support."

Thomas Hardy:

"Time changes everything except something within us which is always surprised by change."

Tryon Edwards:

"He that never changes his opinions, never corrects his mistakes, and will never be wiser on the morrow than he is today."

Woodrow Wilson:

"If you want to make enemies, try to change something."

William Shakespeare:

"We know what we are, but know not what we may be."

Messages Of The Day & Rambling

^ From here.

To see the sources these pictures were lifted off of, just click the pictures. While these images are all very much Safe For Work, what you'll find on the Tumblr's they're lifted from is NOT very Safe For Work, lol.

Some random rambling now...

Boyfriend & I are going to the Stars/Islanders game tonight. We better fucking win. We lost our last two games. We haven't lost three games in a row so far this season. Hopefully we stick with that and win tonight. Go Stars!

I think I'm getting sick. Which sucks. It's this stupid "arctic" weather going on right now. It's 13 outside right now according to stupid weatherbug with a windchill of 2 degrees. Yeah, yeah... I know, you people up North have colder weather. You live up North though so it's expected. You also have clothes and what not to deal with this because you're used to it. I live in Texas however and don't have the clothes to handle this. I don't even have a winter coat because shit, I don't normally need one. I'm not dying or anything but it sucks.

I know it doesn't seem like I do but I only want what's best for you. I wish you would realize how toxic you're being. I love you. Not the way you want me to but the way you need me to. It hurts you because you think I'm being mean, spiteful, harsh, cruel. It hurts me because you can't see that what you're doing is so harmful to you. One day, I think you'll understand that and be okay. You're one of my best friends and we have gone through so much but I can't help you and I can't watch you destroy yourself anymore. I know you're mad at me now but one day, I know you'll understand and forgive me. When you do, I'll still be there for you. If you're still alive for me to be there for.

I need a new cell phone. Thankfully, mine is still working decently enough because I sure as hell can't afford a new one, lol. It's just a minor annoyance right now. Hoping that it keeps on working well enough until I can afford a new one.

It's amazing how people surprise you sometimes. Which isn't always a good thing. Sometimes, it's rather disappointing. Especially when it comes to people you care deeply for.

I'm going to try to start blogging more. I haven't the last few months. I don't have as much time. I'm also keeping all my thoughts and feelings locked away. Recently, a person I used to be really good friends with got back in touch with me and we've been talking pretty regularly again. It's nice and I remember why we used to be such good friends. Part of the reason is that he's easy to talk to and can carry a conversation well. I don't ever get a two or three word response out of him because he always has something to say t whatever I said and he makes me think about things in unique ways. It's nice having him to talk to again and oddly enough, I think it will help with me blogging more regularly again because I'm letting things out and that's helping me not be so full of emotions and not be in such a weird head space.

I love music so much. Nothing is better when I need a change in my mood.

Happy Friday.

The Big Quote Post!

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Just like a circus...

First I want to encourage y'all to go read something and then go vote. Go to Mojo's blog and read this post. That post will take you here and PLEASE go vote in the most inspiring blog category for Violence UnSilenced. VU is an amazing blog giving survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault an avenue to speak out and more importantly, reach out to others. They offer help resources as well. It's a wonderful blog and it's been nominated for a most inspiring blog award. I think it totally deserves the nomination. Check out Mojo's post on the nomination and then go vote! Check out VU's website as well. It's worth all the effort it will take. Besides, it shouldn't take more than a couple minutes. =)

Anyway......

I take pretty quick showers. If I take a long shower, it's a 15 minute shower. I can't really stand staying in there much longer. Which is odd because I love being in water and I actually love taking a shower. It's almost like a sanctuary for me. I sing, I clean, I do some deep thinking. I relax and enjoy but I don't like being in there for all that long. I'm good with about 10 minutes usually. When I'm in hotels though, I take long ass showers. I'm talking 30 minute showers or longer. I have no idea why I like to take such long showers in hotels. It's not because I'm not paying for the water. I don't pay a water bill now. It's not because the shower or bathroom is all that much nicer than one I have at home. It's definitely not that the mini shampoo, conditioner and body wash provided by the hotel are better than the expensive, awesome products that I buy for myself. I really don't know why but get me in a hotel shower and I'll take way too long in there, mostly just standing under the water thinking and stretching.

I love the smell of fresh baked bread. I love the taste of fresh baked bread too. Fresh baked scones rock pretty hard too. Yum.

I found out the complex pools won't be open until the end of fucking June. Seriously. They have to drain them and have some work done on them and it will be end of June possibly before they can get them filled and open again. Now I have to find somewhere else to go swim. Grrr. Seriously, why did they not get the work done all Winter? Or hey, start it when Spring started? Why wait until the end of MAY to start getting the work done? Lame. Hehe.

Okay so I took like a hundred little quizzes on Blogthings because I was bored and haven't messed around on there forever. They're amusing enough and sometimes they're even accurate... ish. ;)

You Are Medium Maintenance

Like everyone else, you have some things you are particular about. You're not too annoying about it, and you're able to go with the flow most of the time. You've learned to stand your ground on what matters but also make compromises from time to time. You have good taste. Too bad not everyone shares it.

Are You High Maintenance?

You Are a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich

You life your life in a free form, artistic style. You are incredibly creative and at times, quite messy. Deep down, you are a kid at heart. And you aren't afraid to express it. Your best friend: The Grilled Cheese Sandwich Your mortal enemy: The Club Sandwich

What Kind of Sandwich Are You?

For the next one, I tried to pick between the ones I liked the best but it came down to two and I just couldn't pick the one I liked better than the other, lol. So I picked both of them and this is what I got:

You Are Highly Spiritual

You may not have found the meaning of life, but you try to approach it with as much optimism as possible. You are always enthusiastic and grateful for every day you have. You are cheerful and energetic. You are a do-gooder who likes to keep busy. You are outgoing and carefree. You embrace life to the fullest.

The Watercolor Test

You Are Highly Authentic

You're as real as they come... and quite modest too. You are very self-assured, and you have a healthy amount of self-esteem. You feel confident that you can take on the world. You are have a great sense of humor, especially when it comes to laughing at yourself.

The Watercolor Test

This is kind of cool because the description works but I don't like this sundae at all. I've had two before. One when I was a little kid, hated it. Tried it again a few months ago, still hated it. Weird because I love most of what's in one but meh, I just don't like it all together, lol.

You Are a Banana Split

Fruity, flavorful, and diverse. Who can beat a true superstar?

What Kind of Sundae Are You?

You Are Champagne

Your holiday personality is celebratory. In other words, you love to drink! For you, the holidays are a time to let loose and enjoy yourself. You figure they only happen once a year, so why restrain yourself?

What Holiday Drink Are You?

Your Psyche is Red

You are bright, bold, energetic, and intense. Your upbeat, zany energy inspires those who are down. Spontaneous and playful, you also have a courageous and fearless side. When you are too red: you are angry, overprotective, and truly scary. When you don't have enough red: you are depleted and lifeless.

What Color Is Your Psyche?

Your Passion is Yellow

You're a total sexual shape shifter. You possess a complex sex drive and are very adaptable. Of all the colors, you are the most likely to be bisexual. While you the most passionate, you are also very open minded.

What Color Is Your Passion?

You Are Thick-Skinned

People may not always love you, but that's totally fine. You're happy with who you are, and you don't really crave outside approval. You love yourself, and that's the most important thing. You have high self esteem. And because you don't care what other people think, they tend to like you a lot!

Are You Thin Skinned or Thick Skinned?

You Are Bicycling

You are an energetic, driven person. You try to live a good life. You are industrious and determined. You happily and willingly do hard work. You are deeply philosophical. You are concerned with doing things the best way. You love freedom to explore and experiment. You don't like rules.

What Type of Transportation Are You?

You Are Raspberry Chocolate Lip Gloss

You tend to approach life as a fun game - being playful at every turn. You're a flirt with flair, and your the type most likely to surprise your date. But you're popularity doesn't stop with guys... you've got a great group of girlfriends too! You're fresh, aggressive, and more than a little sassy. The tangy taste of raspberry and watermelon goes great on your lips.

What Flavor Lip Gloss Are You?