Lifeaholics Anonymous

Its been a very demanding week.  Following the highs of this weekend it has been an extremely discouraging descent back to reality.  Long, frustrating hours at work. Fighting with loved ones. Not sleeping well. All week long. We’ve all had days, weeks, sometimes even months like that and there is not much fun involved.  Times when it seemed like there was no end in sight and unsure just how bad things were going to get.

I have a creative imagination so when these times come I quickly draw up some ugly scenarios. Unemployment, solitude and homelessness are among the notable ones.  This type of thinking is nuts, I know but it is hard not to feel that way when you have an overriding fear of failure.   Thinking this way only exacerbates the impact of the situation and my mental state quickly deteriorates.

A couple people very close to me are going through times like that right now.  There is something about this week!  My problems, fortunately, were able to be resolved with some hard work and knowledgable colleagues.   My friends’ problems are much more complicated than that.  But still the keys to getting through is the same for both them and myself.  Here are some that work for me.

• Know that all pain is temporary and eventually it will pass.
• Believe in yourself and tell yourself that you can get through it.
• Bad things happen to good people all the time and it really, really sucks.  Never let yourself feel defeated by the world, it can’t change who you are.
• Don’t forget who you are and let your situation shake your confidence. You are a great person.

Whew! That was a rough one. Thank god its over. Everything that could have went wrong seemingly did. Well maybe not everything but it sure felt like it. Good thing I made that happiness list last week or I would have been reeling. Yikes!

So anyway, I want to give props to Lifehacker.com  It is probably the best site on the internet because it just tells you about little things to make life a lot more convenient. I strongly recommend checking it out in rss format.  Todo.sh baby

I went to SF this weekend to attend this music festival and found way more than I expected. Never quite made it to the actual festival because it was way up in Sonoma. But thanks to a great friend I did get to see the coolest place I’ve been outside of Israel. Its Marin County or hippie land. But not the duuude kinda hippies. These hippies are my kinda hippies: rich, smart, in tune with nature. Whats great about marin is its just across the bridge from SF and its seriously like another world.  Its now my dream to make a lot of money and move up there. Anyone else been?

Ill just quote this article: According to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association, men almost never get HIV from women. A healthy man who has unprotected sex with a non drug-using woman has a one in 5 million chance of getting HIV. If he wears a condom, the odds drop to one in 50 million. And though it’s easier for men to infect women, the odds that an HIV-positive man will transmit the virus to a woman through sex are less than one in 1,000.

Now if we could only do something about those babies

Last night I was reading about fortunes best 100 places to work for and I got really confused. Google got rated number one because of all the free stuff that they give away. They have on-site dry cleaning, free gourmet food and a beach volleyball court. But how does that make it a better place to work? Personally, I would rather them just pay me more money and I could hire a conceirge service to do that stuff if I really wanted.

Balance is really important in life. Work, family, friends etc. We all have things we value in life and a fixed amount of time to devote to each one. I find that if I get too devoted to anyone, it decreases my happiness. It is no secret that google does these things to keep people at work longer, getting more out of them. So how does that make it a better job?

To me a great place to work is one that takes care of all of my needs that it can provide, and leaves me the time to take care of the ones that it does not. I like grocery shopping and cooking. I do not like being part of a cult . I love my independence, I thrive off of it. A great place to work challenges you, pushes you to achieve, is full of great people, pays well, affords you the time you need to take care of other matters and most importantly cares about its employees’ well being.

Oh and only 31% women and very little diversity? Yikes!

Sorry google, you’re nowhere near the top of my list

Heres a funny little thing to do to tell you if you’re racist or not.  Its a simple answer, we all are. But have fun and no I do not vouch for the ’science’ behind this.

I just took about 15 minutes and listed out some of the things that make me happy. It is a good idea to have these listed out on paper, and if you feel like you are unhappy for some reason, go out and do some. It has worked for me in the past when I feel the blues coming on or generally sluggish.  What does your list look like?

1. Walking instead of driving
2. Taking the stairs instead of the elevator (run up without skipping any)
3. Holding the door for people
4. Smiling at people
5. Saying good morning to everyone when you arrive to work
6. Catching up with friends you haven’t seen in a while
7. Reading news articles and reports about science, technology, entrepreneurship
8. Drinking lots of water
9. Eating fresh produce and nothing packaged
10. Playing sports
11. Riding a bike to commute
12. Complementing people
13. Planning for the future (near and distant)
14. Talking to my mother and aunt daily
15. Trying new software applications
16. Beating video games
17. Running
18. Being in the ocean (surfing and otherwise)
19. Reading magazines
20. Reading History books
21. Going to art museums
22. Telling and hearing jokes
23. Discovering new music
24. Talking about Israel
25. Talking about myself
26. Talking about ideas and principles
27. Going to bed early
28. Waking up well-rested and refreshed
29. Early mornings at the beach
30. Making decisions
31. Being independent
32. Taking responsibility of projects
33. Balancing work and life
34. Being a leader
35. Setting a good example
36. Playing with children
37. Playing with pets

Could it be?  $3.60 is just 40% of what the blokes are paying? Maybe things arent so bad after all.   Hmm…I think I’ll still put that order in for that shiny new bicycle.    more

Heres a great article in response to a book by a psychologist on happiness in our lives. I hope that you will read it and make some sense. We all determine our reaction to every situation in life. Its really true

This is the fastest knockout in the history of the universe. And most hilarious