Why We Need Other People

Last night, I chat with a friend. Our topics range from wholesale apparel, gadgets, health, up to family relationships. I thanked him for that first and last chat. Why last? Because even before we met he is already determined to delete his profile last night. Well, at least I met him and learned something from him. Interaction with other people could help us grow and be better individuals. They help us learn lessons of life based from their experiences for us not to learn those lessons they shared in a hard way.

Aside from the fact that social interaction could help us grow through the lessons we can get out of socialization, we all need support  from others too. We need someone who acknowledges our efforts and let us know if we are on the right path and, or reminds us if what we are doing is not good for ourselves and for others. We are created as social being that lack of interaction with other people and of other living things could hinder our development.

Being In Tune With Surroundings

Taking time to relax in an outdoor furniture placed on patio could make you feel in tune with your surroundings while having the comfort of your own home. I myself love to relax like that while waiting for the sun to come out from the East with background of birds singing, declaring another morning has come and another chance to learn about life through experiences and taking time to interact with other people.

Living a healthy lifestyle does not just focus on self, on how you feel good and look better, but being in tune with surroundings as well especially with people you interact with. Through interaction and sharing who we are we build solid social ties that give us emotional benefits in times of stress or an emotional buffer against stressful events, and celebrate with us in times of joy. As they say, “No man is an island”. No matter how financially rich you are you will feel emptiness and as if incomplete if you do not take time to interact with other people because by nature humans are social beings.

Parent and child relationship is the most important social relationship that needs to be strengthened first for kids to interact well with other people. Parent should take time to have quality time with their kids, to guide them on how to interact well with their playmates and to community as a whole, and be a good model to their kids through their actions.

With parents’ guidance and modeling on how to interact with other people, it is as if a child is relaxing on a patio, experiencing the comfort of her own home while being in tune with her surroundings. Time will come that kids will explore the world by themselves, they may be aware or not they will carry and is carrying with them the lessons they will learn and have learned from their own home on how to behave as social being.

The Most Powerful Way to Strengthen The Immune System

What is the simplest but the greatest way to strengthen your immune system without even spending a single coin to buy a cheapest pill to boost it? LAUGHTER.

That is how powerful laughter is, it  could boost immune system, the thymus gland in particular. Thymus gland is a primary organ of our immune system that is closely linked to zygomaticus major, the smile muscle.

So, if you feel you are powerless in a high stress situation humor could help you not be engulfed by stress for it to produce depression, anxiety, a chemical imbalance in your body, or an evident illness by lowering your immune system. Old saying “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine” should be our motto and be religiously taken like taking a nutritious meal.

Positive thinking itself could boost serotonin-an antidepressant neurotransmitter. If you add smile or laughter to it, your Immunoglobuline Antibody A (IgA) level will increase as well. So, why choose to frown when problem arrives or suppress a chuckle when all the people around you are bursting to laughter if it has great impact in your physical and psychological health?

Why wait for you not to feel well before you practice the most powerful way to strengthen your immune system if you can do it several times a day? Wait no more. Spread it to people around you by giving a smile and a greeting to a stranger or by spreading the virus of laughter to your family and friends with your jokes.

The Importance of Relationships To Our Lives

The common saying “No man is an island” points us to the importance of relationships to our lives. As we will notice, close relationships molds us to become a better individuals regardless of our age.

Close relationships give us learning opportunities. Having time to interact with other people is opening ourselves to learning that sometimes we do not even noticed that we learned something from someone until we have done until circumstances pushed us to do what we have learned. Through face-to-face dealings with parents, infants learn. Kids learn from their fellow kids the more acceptable way to make friends. Teenagers and adults learn from other people how to act and do the right thing as a parent, lover, or as leader.

Aside from learning experiences we can get out of close relationships, we could also get social support out of it. Our need of support could be practical help or emotional. Stress as we all know is everywhere, with social support it is lessened. Depression is one of the psychological effects of lack of interpersonal relationships. If you do not want to suffer depression, have time to mingle with your family and friends. They need you as you need them.

Do not hesitate to post on comment section about things you can share about this topic.

How to Show Empathy

Everybody needs a listening ears and an understanding heart for us to live mentally and physically healthy. As we all know, mental and physical health go hand in hand.

We need not to become an expert or be somebody to show empathy to person who need it, concern and good communication will do. Empathy is shown only if you communicate with others, right? We need good communication skills to understand somebody’s concern and for us to convey that we understand the person’s feeling or difficulty.

While the person is pouring out his feelings or difficulties, listen without judging him, set aside your emotions and own opinion for you to think clearly and understand the person well. Sum up the things you have heard from the other person for you to know if you hear it right and understood it well. Most people just want a listening ears but if you are given the chance to say anything about the person’s concern, say your points without blaming, attacking or be in bad temper. State things clearly.

Grievances, anxiety, anger and other negative emotions could affect our health if it is not neutralized. And, one way of neutralizing it is saying it to a person with a person who can understand us. Why not show empathy to people who need it, you will reap not just friendship but lessons in life as well out of it.

Tips to Become a Good Listener

My friends talked about best day creams they’ve ever use yesterday. I listen to their basis why each one of them tell the group what made the day cream the best for them. I listen to them intently for me to learn more from them. That scenario made me decide to share some tips how to become a good listener.

We need to make an effort to listen when someone is talking to us. We need to give them our attention. For you to have a focus on what the speaker is trying to say, put yourself in the position of the speaker.

Make sure to understand what the speaker is talking about, and digest the message on the clearest way as possible for you to become more eager to hear more from the speaker.

Avoid giving an opinion until the speaker finished talking. Better reserve all your questions until the speaker finished giving his or her message of what he or she wants to convey.

Nonverbal messages like facial expressions and body movements are additional sources of message from the speaker, so be aware of it.

Do not just hear from what other people say, try to listen and learn from them.

Make Great Photo Effects!

Who doesn’t like Edward Cullen? He’s one of my best book and movie characters, that’s why I’ve decided to create this artistic photo effect with an old man sketching him. It’s cool, isn’t it? You can also create your own funny photo online using any picture of your selection and apply different effects to it. It was a friend who told me about it and so I’ve tried it too. You can use your own photos, your pets, friends, and print it out as funny cards. I’ll be printing out some later and give them to my friends.

I will be searching for funny photoshop pictures online that would surely make my friends laugh. Like what they say, laughter is the best medicine, and the best gift we can give to our friends who are going through sad times is a good laugh. You can make people smile without saying a single word, try it! I’m pretty sure they would appreciate your effort to make them smile, laugh even.

It’s so easy to make funny pictures with photos with websites like picjoke.com, you just upload a photo of your choice and apply a lot of great effects in no time. With over a hundred of new effects to choose from, there will be no dull moments and unlimited choices of funny photo-cards to print out or share with your friends in online social networking sites. Try to post one and see how many comments you will get from your family and friends.  Make someone smile everyday, share a good laugh!

Healthy Diet Tips In Celebrating The Holiday Season

Some practical healthy diet tips in celebrating the holiday season is my Christmas gift to all of you because lots of people  are more prone to diseases  during and after holiday season due to weak immune system because of simply forgetting to eat what their body needs.  How come? Most of the people eat lots of foods, particularly sweet ones and those that are made from processed ingredients as well.

When I was young, my mom always remind me and my siblings not to take in so much of sweet food and drinks to avoid tonsillitis. And, to drink plenty of water after we eat or drink something sweet. It has been a big “why” to me that time but now I realized that she has a point. Too much sweets could weaken the immune system’s activity. Our tonsils are the first line of defense that control the entrance of army of germs. When we take in too much of sweet food and, or drinks, it overworks the tonsils causing them to be inflamed.

I noticed that during Christmas season most people fail to eat vegetables which is so important to our health. Thus, I want to share to you a great combination of fresh vegetable juices that are not just palatable to taste but best to the immune system and health in general. You must not add sugar or any kind of sweetener and milk to it. For every 10 oz of freshly extracted carrot juice, you just need to add 3 oz of extracted beet juice and 3 oz of cucumber juice. So simple to prepare, right?

Following a healthy lifestyle is the best way to attain wellness. It does not mean that because you are health conscious person you can no longer celebrate the holiday season with gladness through gatherings with friends and loved ones. Instead of preparing sweet and processed foods, why not shift to healthy ones? Lessen some sweet foods and drinks, and serve more of fresh fruits and extracted fruits or vegetable juices instead. Fresh fruits and vegetables boosts the immune system rather than suppressing it. If you are the one who is invited, better choose the food to eat and remember to drink lots of plain water after.