Minimizing Stress

Lately I haven't been having the best of times, so I have been trying to find simple little ways to keep myself from stressing out over the small things in life. So far I've tried meditation, funny websites, music, watching tv, and drawing to keep myself from blowing up at the nearest bystander.

But the most simple thing I have found that helps as a sort of preemptive strike against the stress demons at bay is what you are seeing to the left.

Simply by turning my phone all the way down I have effectively removed myself from whatever drama can creep up into my life from friends or family who know my phone number.

It was so simple!

I'm not sure as to why I hadn't done this before. I am constantly bombarded with passive aggressive texts from people on a daily basis. But this phone, this $50 hunk of crap, is mine. Why should I allow myself to be exposed to that sort of negativity? So, All Sounds Off it is.

On the topic of meditation: I am not good at this yet. I still have a tough time fighting for my little inner voice to just be silent for a few minutes. It's as though every time I sit down and close my eyes, I get through the first few moments of silence...and suddenly am interrupted by an echoing voice in my head babbling about something interesting that happened a few months ago. And from that thought comes another, and another, and another, until I find it completely impossible to focus--or, not--on anything at all. I realize that it takes a lot of dedication and practice, but I think it may be a while before I can even go 30 seconds without my inner voice bubbling up like an excited child at a parade.

Once I do manage to do this, though, I feel like I will be much more prepared to deal with the negative energies that come from others. Even if it just gives me time alone, I will see it as a huge victory, and may have to reward myself for my patience.

-Manda-

.. ／l、
ﾞ（ﾟ､ ｡ ７
　l、ﾞ ~ヽ
　じしf_, )?

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Facebook Keeps-A-Changin'

Facebook.

You all know it. You all (probably) use it. If not, then

good on ya.

I'm one of those many who were sucked into the fascination that Facebook seems to hold for those who liked MySpace, but didn't care for the way it operated. Yep. Facebook has got something for everyone. Status updates? Check. Sharing websites, images, and videos with your friends? Check. Groups dedicated to anything and everything? Got it. Games you can play? Sure thing. Blogging? Sure, that's what Notes are for.

I like Facebook. I may not be one of those people who updates every 5 seconds on what they're doing, like those who Twitter, but hey if I want to leave something under my name that says what movie I'm watching, at least I can do that. But some things have been changing lately, and I'm not to certain I like what's been happening.

Mainly it's just the News Feed thing. When bored, I liked to scroll through this long, long list of what my old high school friends who I've since disassociated from were up to. Oh, they had a baby! Heyy, they added so-and-so as a friend! Neat, that person is into that sport! Though it is interesting to read every once in a while, I try not to get too caught up in the happenings of my News Feed.

A few days ago I noticed that my Feed was a bit shorter than usual. It confused me, but after playing around on the site a little bit, I found that if I wanted to see more posts, I had to click the "View Live Feed" link at the top of the screen. Lo and behold, there it was. All the juicy gossip I'd missed for the past few hours.

That small victory was bittersweet. I had conquered my problem: not being able to see what my friends had been doing; but I noticed that another problem had bubbled to the surface: I had been getting upset about not being able to see their updates. I had let Facebook get to me!

I guess it's normal for this age, though. Nothing is private anymore, nothing is sacred from prying eyes. If someone wants to know what you're up to, they have many ways to find out if you're on of the many who utilize websites such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc. It just goes to remind you that you've got to be especially careful of what you put out there. I mean, there are all sorts of people out there, who would jump at the chance to catch you off guard if they found that you were "out to so-and-so store lolz." So let's be careful, shall we?

Just a thought.

-Manda-