When you enter into a new group situation , try not to be as socially cautious as you often are. There’s no need to be intimidated! A little quick reasoning will tell you that you have plenty of things in common with these people, so if you are at a loss for what to talk about, start there! Conversation is an art, but you have your own special twist on it — don’t be afraid to strike up conversations, today. People will be more receptive than you think.

Some quick reasoning will help you figure out how to start a tough conversation.

From WikiHow:

1. Relax. Lighten up. Don’t take yourself too seriously. Try not to over analyze things. Stress can cause many mental, physical, and spiritual problems in your life. One of the major causes of stress is worrying about things that are out of your control. Learn to recognize these things and if you can truly do nothing about them, then just let them go. Take time to laugh at yourself and the situations you find yourself in. Laughter is a powerful, positive medicine and the calmer and more peaceful you can take things, the happier your life will be. It wouldn’t be life if some bad things don’t happen.
2. Smile You would be surprised how much of an immediate difference physically smiling has on your mood, if you smile and force a little laugh you will feel your mood lighten and you won’t have to force it next time.
3. Take the good with the bad. No one is happy all the time. Everyone has something of sorrow intermingled with the gladness of life. The trick is to make the laughter outweigh the tears. We cannot change the past, but we can enjoy today, and look to the future. If we are prepared to take ownership for the past and accept that everything that’s happened in our life, good and bad, has made us the person we are - the battle is half won.
4. Be thankful. A key component of happiness is acceptance - learning to be grateful for what you have. A lot of people know it but don’t keep it in their minds. Comparing your life with others’ is dangerous. Accept the gifts you have and know that no one is better than or less than anyone else’s. Keep a “gratitude journal”. Every day, write down a few things that you are thankful for and then review what you have written in past entries. It’s a great way to remind yourself to be thankful for what you have and to boost your mood.
5. Be yourself. Much criticism is caused by people who are discontented with themselves, not with you. One way to get in touch with yourself is through journaling, diaries or (lately) blogs. Your goal may be to open up completely to yourself and learn to be your own best friend by being completely honest with yourself. What do you want out of life? What makes you truly happy? Who do you want to be?
6. Pursue goals that make you happy. Strive for long term goals rather than short term satisfaction. It’s very easy to gain short term satisfaction–a quick high, a fast relief from your current problems (such as drugs, alcohol, sex). But it is what it is, a “short term” satisfaction, and the effects die out very soon, leaving you with an empty feeling that is sometimes worse than before. Set long term goals, goals which take time, thought, and effort to achieve. This will make you continually work towards improving yourself bit by bit and will give you the satisfaction of bringing a permanent change in your life.
7. Focus on the Objective. If the thoughts you are thinking are not giving you that ‘good feeling’, then think about something else that will make you feel good in that moment. Observe your thoughts and ideas consistently throughout the day (diary/journal if possible). Sometimes this may not be as easy as you think if you are stuck in a “destructive” train of thought and your brain chemicals are getting fired up and forming “anxiety or anger” thoughts. Anxiety, fear and anger patterns can be interrupted by focusing on something else. This will dissipate the rush of chemicals that are making you feel bad. Immediately then go back to picturing scenes/remembering things/imagining, planning stuff that makes you feel good.
8. Develop healthy relationships.
   • Family. If you want a stronger relationship with your family, you’re going to need to be honest with them. Tell your family about your life and don’t insult them - it hurts them just as much as it hurts you to be insulted. If you are in an abusive family, you must find a way to stop the abuse and that may include separation.
   • Have a healthy relationship. If you’re dating, get involved with activities that reflect who you are, and get to know people who like the things you do. Get involved with someone who loves life and pursues happiness the way you do. If you’re in a relationship, strive to make that relationship healthy.
   • Choose your friends carefully. Nearly everyone needs someone who cares for them and treats them well. If you have friends who are treating you badly, or are not supportive of you and your goals to improve your life, then ditch them and find friends that do care about you. If you can’t find any friends like that in your current circumstances, then look elsewhere. If you’re feeling sad, there’s nothing like going out with your friends to make you feel better. Surround yourself with friends who are beneficial, encouraging, and helpful. We all need this continuing, nurturing encouragement to make solid desired progress in life.
9. Make someone else happy. When you’re feeling powerless to create happiness in your life, do something to make someone else–anyone–happy, and you’ll remember how easy it really can be. Isn’t it true the happiest people we know are typically the ones who for some foolish reason are always ready to give you the clothes off their back? And frequently it is true that the most discontented people are the ones who are selfish, demanding, and inconsiderate of others. The happiest days of our lives, when we really dig down deep, is when we see the smile on the face of a person who we care about. Even helping a stranger can remind you of how much you really have, because of how much you can give. Serve at a rescue mission and you will learn the meaning of “I cried because I had no shoes and then I met a man who had no feet.”

Tips:

• Try thinking of a creative vow and write it down. Make it something like: I vow to give at least one compliment to someone each day and I’ll try to control my anger by counting in my head before reacting.
• Don’t think of happiness as a mood, but as a philosophy of life.

Warnings:

• Happiness requires balance. Don’t become so caught up in your own happiness that you forget about everyone else’s. And don’t base your own happiness on making others feel good; people-pleasers are usually very unhappy on the whole.
• Even in the most terrible times, do not turn to alcohol, drugs, or anything else that is addictive, abusive to the health of you or others. Bad habits grow like weeds - they are easy to get, but hard to get rid of. Many addictive “solutions” can make your problems much worse.

Related article “How to Enjoy Life”

1. Learn to be positive! If you keep moaning about your life, other people will only notice the bad aspects of your character and categorize you as a person who is ‘Boring’ - or worse!
2. Make a list of all the things you want to do and do them! If you’ve always wanted to audition for theater, then go ahead and do it! This will help to reduce ‘hanging around’ and wishing. This even applies if you want to be an astronaut : you might not effectively become one, but becoming savvy in astrophysics and space will make you realize that you’re capable of it.
3. Keep trying. One of the key things that you need to remember is to never be discouraged; failure is a part of life, and it happens naturally. If you are so disillusioned that you never want to try again, at least be comforted by the fact that you made an attempt.
4. Stop doing things that you do not enjoy. Make a list of the things that you are doing that you don’t enjoy, and try to stop doing them. Naturally, this shouldn’t mean that you should drop out of school if you don’t like studying, but you might consider working for a new company if you are constantly stressed and pressured by your job. If it’s not possible to stop, try to see the positive side of those things and find ways to make them entertaining.
5. Find a hobby. might take up collecting stamps or coins, or you might learn more about photography or art. You don’t have to spend your entire life doing it; the whole purpose of the hobby is to vary your routine and do something worthwhile.

• Ask others about how they spend their time. If you feel like doing something that they do, then join them! Don’t be afraid to ask!
• Get organized. You’ll feel more in control and happier.

• Don’t be fooled into thinking that drinking alcohol or taking drugs will make your life any enjoyable than it is now. These only provide a brief and unhealthy means of enjoyment. Placing too much reliance on alcohol or drugs can lead to addiction, which will ultimately deconstruct your ability to enjoy life.

From WikiHow.

1. Set a realistic but challenging/inspiring goal. Take a big dream, like “I want to be famous”, and break it down into smaller, more manageable steps, like “I want to star in a science fiction movie”, “I want to go to three auditions a week”, “I want to move to another city” and “I want to save $5000 so I can move.” Make the goal big enough to challenge and excite you, but not so big that you hesitate to take the first steps.
2. Plan ahead. Once you’ve broken down your goal into pieces, write down the steps on a piece of paper to make sure you have everything thought out. One of the worst things that can happen is you’re almost to the point of your goal, but you’re not sure what to do next. Also, give yourself deadlines for each step. Otherwise, you’ll end up procrastinating and never achieving your dream.
3. Brainstorm ideas. Are there different ways to reach your goal? Write everything down that you can think of in three minutes, no matter how silly or impossible it may seem. For example, you could go to acting school, or maybe you could land a spot in a reality show that would get you started.
4. Ask. No one can tell you exactly what you should do to achieve your goal, but one of the best sources for guidelines is to ask those who have done what you hope to achieve. Learn from the experience of others without trying to imitate them.
5. Define and describe your goal. Write down when you want to achieve it. Write down the reasons why you want it. Write down what it would feel like after you have achieved it. Figure out exactly what it will take to get it. Be realistic about the time things will take. Many people don’t allow themselves enough time, and give up too soon.
6. Be positive. Your goal should be written and have positive intent about what you want to bring into your life. This is very important, since the focus of your goal should not be centered around describing a problem you want to eliminate.
7. Make contingency plans. Never forget about the problems that might come up on the way, and prepare for them. Positive thinking is important, but preparedness is better than being shocked or devastated when obstacles appear.
8. Learn from mistakes. Making mistakes should be a subject at school to teach all children how to learn from them, instead of trying to avoid them. In the pursuit of a goal, you are likely to make some mistakes. Don’t see them as bad or get angry. They are important to correct you and to lead you to success.
9. Draw on all your past achievements that are relevant to your goal. No matter how small you perceive your achievements, list them anyway. It could be something small, such as joining a healthy eating mailing list, to coming home from work late, yet preparing a tasty nutritious meal for your family in under 30 minutes. Once you review your list, you will be amazed at how all those small achievements soon add up, and how much you are really capable of doing.
10. Visualize. Close your eyes and imagine yourself accomplishing your goals. Where are you? How did you get there? How do you feel? Do this often. Don’t get swayed easily with the noise and happenings going on outside. Put your attention on what you are trying to achieve. Remember the goal, and you will have control over the discomforts and difficulties. A good way to visualize is to practice self-hypnosis.
11. Listen to your internal dialogue. What you are saying inside affects you physically, emotionally and mentally. Is your defense system inside trying to make you stick to your past, limiting beliefs and perceptions? Take over and challenge your inner critics. Monitor any excuses you might be making in relation to your goal. For example, saying “I don’t finish work until late and won’t have time to cook!” You must recognize that if you are truly passionate about your goal, it is up to you to make time.
12. Make a list of your personal strengths in relation to your goal. For instance, if you have a healthy eating goal you might want to consider strengths such as your level of commitment to eating healthily, or the fact that you enjoy cooking and experimenting with new recipes or even that you are an excellent cook. The list of personal strengths you can draw up is endless.
13. Seek help. Find the information, skills and knowledge that you need from other people, books, and audio or video programs. Speed up your learning process by emulating what other successful people have done. You save time and get results faster. Self-hypnosis audios are a powerful way to help you get fast, permanent results.
14. Create benchmarks or milestones. A benchmark is something you can use to measure your progress and know you’re on track. For example, you can write “The first stage of reaching my goal will be done when I’m in the Entertainment section of the newspaper!” or “I’ll know I’ve reached my goal of being famous when I’m a guest on Oprah.”
15. Make a timeline. Draw a horizontal timeline with a dot at each end. The left end represents now, and the right end represents a point in the future. Specify what you want to happen and when, from now until then.
16. Be passionate. Striving towards a goal without passion is like a fire which slowly runs out of fuel to burn. Get excited; this will mean that you will love what you are doing. Methodically check your behaviors against impassioned dreams developed as a child. Always share the child within amongst your potential peers. This empowers the Law of Attraction that shapes the dreams of the child into the creative force of the adult.
17. Revisit, evaluate, and if necessary, adjust your goals. Keep a written record of your goals in a place where you’ll remember to read them every day. They’ll change and adjust over time as your life does, so keep them up-to-date.
18. Consider new opportunities and options that come your way. Sometimes things have a way of unintentionally leading you exactly where you want to go.
19. Start working towards your goals today. Ask yourself, “What can I do today to get one step, however small, closer to achieving my goals?”
20. Persevere. Now that you’ve got the momentum going, don’t let it stop! Some steps may seem less exciting than others, but make sure to stick to your plan until the end!

You need to develop a more analytical attitude, especially when it comes to people you don’t like. If they rub you the wrong way, so what? Do they really have an impact on your life and on your opportunities? If so, then you need to address it once and for all — establish what your relationship will be with them and then never look back. But if they don’t matter to your life, then don’t let them matter! Move and don’t give them the power to affect you anymore.

I have discovered two schools of interest in the web. They are:

FNRI Nutrition School

WikiHow Writing University

Both are free so start learning and enjoy!

Lately, I have been preoccupied with what to do with my three other blogs. Must I self-host them or not?

I have found these helpful article which says:

“Blogging is becoming more and more popular on the internet these days. Blogging can be an easy way for unexperienced (and experienced) users to put their thoughts and ideas online. If done correctly, a blog can be a great way to make money of your web page and/or add content value to an existing web site. However, this can only be taken advantage of if you are hosting your own blog

If you are using an existing blog network such as blogger or wordpress.com there is no way to monetize your blog. All the advertisements are controlled by your blog host and you cannot receive any of the advertising revenue generated by your site. Not only that, but any page rank(value of your blog to a search engine) is absorbed by the blog network.

When you are hosting your own blog, you have complete control over every aspect of your blog - including ad revenue. While it can be complicated and expensive to host it yourself, the advantage of self hosting your blog far outweighs this. In fact, if your site receives enough traffic, the cost to host your own blog will be covered many times over by ad revenue it has the potential to generate. Check out google adsense if you are interested monetizing your blog. It is very simple to use and can be easily integrated into your blogs’ theme. Another advantage of a self hosted blog is that you can add search value to your web site. Blogs are highly optimized for search engines and because of that, some blogs rank higher than the main web site it is incorporated with. You can use your blog to pass search value to other areas of your web site by linking your blog to specific pages of your web site.

If you are unsure of how to self host a blog, try and find a good web hosting company that provides blog web hosting. Some companies even offer auto installation of certain blog software such as WordPress. This can be really helpful if you don’t know the technical part of configuring the blog on a web server.”

I am thinking of moving all my wordpress blogs to blogger where self-hosting is not complicated. But what about all the works I did for my wordpress blogs and my few but precious readers???

From another article:

“Few bloggers ever find much success hosting a blog on a free site. Blogger and Wordpress are great sites for beginning bloggers, but I recommend making the switch SOONER rather than LATER.

These are just a few of the many reasons to switch from a free blog host.

Let’s say that somehow you hit the big time using a free blogging software… GOOD FOR YOU! It’s awesome to reach those blogging milestones like the first day with a hundred

hits, or the first day with 1,000 page loads. But guess what, if Darren from ProBlogger decided to host on a free platform, his site would be closed in a day. You are limited to how much traffic you can have per day by the free sites. Take up over a certain amount of overall bandwith for their site… You get shut down! It’s free; what do you expect?

Reputation -

It’s extremely difficult to build a reputation as a serious blogger on a free site. Do you think that anyone would take John Chow seriously if his site was www.johnchow.blogspot.com? I doubt it.

Customization -

Hosting your own blog gives you the full freedom to customize your blog in any way imaginable. Want to add a forum? Done! Want to add a few more pages? Done!

Search Engine Rankings -

Statistically speaking, free blogs don’t fare as well in search engine rankings as paid ones. I couldn’t find the exact reason, but if someone wants to weigh in on this… let me know!

Google PageRank -

It is MUCH harder to build a respectable PR with a free blog. The reason? Google PR is largely based on your number of incoming links (along with many other things). As I mentioned above, you don’t get a lot of respect with a free blog… so incoming links are harder to get.

Leverage -

This is by far the most important reason to switch to a domain. Building a blog is like building a business. It’s all about leverage. If you want to attract advertisers… it takes leverage. If you want to build your reader base… it takes leverage. A good example of leverage comes from free blogs. Lets say you generate X number of incoming links on your Blogger account. Leverage right? WRONG! You don’t own these incoming links. It benefits you very little while it stands to help Blogger quite a bit (PR, traffic, etc.). Advertising is another example of leverage. Advertiser A wants to advertise on your domain. That is leverage. You have something he wants! Your traffic. So you Leverage your traffic to increase your ad revenue from Advertiser A.

Time - You put a lot of time into your free blog right? You post great articles, you are starting to generate a bit of traffic, and you might even have a Google PR by now! That’s great! But when you want to take the next step so that you can be taken seriously as a blogger… GUESS WHAT? You have to do all of this over again. A lot of people think that they just post a link on the old blog, directing people to the new domain and they magically follow… WRONG. I started with a Blogger account. When I moved here, I had to start all over and generate the traffic that wasn’t following me. And that Google PR? Doesn’t exist on your new site… you start with a 0. The incoming links? Gone too! Start from square one.

I was lucky enough to have readers tell me the benefits of moving to a domain early on. I was only generating a couple of hundred page views a day, and didn’t have a PR or a bunch of incoming links. So starting over was relatively easy.

Bloggers take my advice! Move your blog NOW! The longer you wait, the harder it becomes to move your blog without starting from scratch.

If you are interested in moving your blog to a domain. Check out the banner below. Go Daddy is the largest domain and hosting service on the web. They have millions of satisfied customers (and I am one of them). They have great deals on domain registration, and web hosting. Setting up your account couldn’t be easier and with the 24/7 tech support. You’ll always have someone to answer your questions.”

What more should I need to hear???

They say you will not forget your first love and it’s true, even when it goes to my first-loved TV show. I just won’t stop until I have it on DVD! The show is called Relativity. Sadly, it only lasted one season and I was not even able to watch the last episode. So now I am in the quest of finding it on DVD. Unfortunately again it is not even on DVD. How come TV shows like this get canceled while some senseless ones keep striving? I just wonder why…

Has anyone watched it? It was aired here in the Philippines when I was in college so that would’ve been around 1996-1997. The plot goes like this: Isabel Lukens (Kimberly Williams) while taking a trip to Italy to unnerve herself from her upcoming marriage, met Leo Roth (David Conrad) a man . For the few short days they were there, they get to know each other and found love. But then reality strikes and they both have to go home and get on with their lives. They live in two different worlds, while ironically living in the same neighborhood. Isabel decided to break up her engagement and live with Leo. From there on you’ll see a lot of clashes and how they will try to resolve them. And just like how drama shows end on the first season - the two did break up.

“Relativity” begins with the simplest premise of all — boy meets girl, and vice versa — and shows all the resonances and ripples such an elemental moment can generate. It’s another smart, sensitive drama about closely watched humans from the producing team that did “thirtysomething” and “My So-Called Life,” and it definitely bears watching. - The Washington Post

If anyone knows any site for relativity or where i can buy DVD or watch the show please let me know. Please! Please!

The best Relativity sites I’ve found are :

Bedford falls

Relativity episode guide

Alfredo’s Relativity Homepage

Relativity.wav page

A Review on the Pilot episode

David Conrad on the Season ender of Relativity

What made me like the TV show more is I just love Kimberly Williams and David Conrad!

We don’t always get what we want.  Oftentimes we get discouraged after the first try.  But life is not all about acquiring what we desire. I’ve learned now that  life is all about getting the lessons from our failures and moving on.

Always go to the next level.    What if you don’t get that job you have always wanted after a long, long try?  Try another field of interest! What if you do not get that dress or shoes you’ve been craving for?  Material things come and go; you might have a better-looking pair of shoes tomorrow, who knows?  What if your crush has his attention focused on your best friend?    He has to deal with the consequences of not having you with him in the future.

If it just not meant to be, you have to let it go.  Never expect that things will always happen as you plan. Have a Plan B for everything.

Personally, I expect a lot from people and from myself, and oftentimes that brought me more misery than a reason to celebrate.

I am not saying that everytime things do not go your way you quit.  What I am trying to point out is get a better perspective of things happening in your life.  Surely dreams do come true, if your passion stems from deep inside of you plus hardwork.  But there are just moments when what you are chasing for is not really meant for you to have.

Life gives us roadblocks.  These don’t mean we are not good enough.  They mean we are better (so much more) for something else (or someone else).

I love chick flicks! And even the teeny bopper ones I must admit I am a fan of ( Lizzie McGuire, HighSchool Musical, and all the other Hilary and Lindsay teen movies.) Now I’m liking this direct to DVD release film ” Another Cinderella Story”. Selena Gomez knows how to strike a move and Drew Seeley is just so cute! I hope you can see it (just don’t mind the age gap:Drew is 26 is Selena is 18; in this time who does right?). I am thinking of getting dance lessons now, so I can dance like her! Hmmmm…..back to earth shasha!

• wordpress2u.com
• 100 wordpress themes
• 83 wordpress themes
• free blogger and wordpress themes
• free blogger templates

I found out that before I can use custom themes my blogs should be self-hosted.

My blogger is self-hosted so I don’t have a problem with that. How about my wordpress blogs? How do I self host them? Anyone???

If I read this, this might help…

1. I now realize it would be impossible for me to receive my first paycheck thru blogging by December this year. So I am putting off my mind monetizing my mind til next year. For the mean time I still need to get used to networking my site, increasing my readership and making meaningful excellent posts. Better yet I am now officially changing it to: I will improve my blogging skill, write excellent posts, and increase my readership. I am giving myself a full year to do this. Therefore I will not be expecting any pay until December next year. Is that right???
2. I bought 2 new cook books for this goal and I took out my recipe compilation.
3. I need to enrol to a driving school by next week…
4. I decided to wait because I have to do #5
5. …which I can now well do with little help.
6. next year…
7. I know 2: ciao and pronto, that’s it. I am cutting it down to 15 instead of 50! hehehe! Sumuko agad?!
8. wala pa akong naayos maski isa sa mga requirements! What I need to do is call HPC first that’s top priority!
9. wala pa din akong na sa save
10. malabo to! hehehe!
11. I need to do this talaga para ma improve ko writing skills ko.
12. hay naku so far feeling good pa din!