Music Calms the Beast...

Having one of those busy, hectic, can’t seem to catch up with any of your work, kind of days? We all have them and it seems like there are more of those days than calm and peaceful days in our every so busy lives. Take just a couple of minutes out of your busy schedule, throw on some relaxing music (U2 always seems to do it for me) but whatever works for you, and just feel the music. Listen to the words, the instrumentals, the vocals, high and low pitches, and cherish the small portion of tranquility you are able to steal in a chaotic world. Something about music always seems to calm a person down and sooth the mind and body. There is practically any type of music that will fit any type of personality out there, simply find the one that suites you and go with it. In my experience, whether I am feeling happy, sad, frustrated, angry, etc. music always seems to calm the beast inside and I feel much better after I have taken those couple of minutes out of my day or week to simply sit and enjoy. Finding your ultimate serenity place can be difficult, but once found, wash, rinse, and repeat. Do what you can to keep visiting your serene state of mind, because it will do wonders to your mental and physical self.

Get up and Do...

There are many times in life when we decide that we are simply comfortable with our lives and have just fallen into that same old going through the motions routine. There is nothing wrong with having a regular routine for your day to day activities such as going to work, coming home, eating, sleeping, etc etc... These are obviously all essential parts of every one's life. I am talking about getting up and doing something that is not part of your norm. It doesn't matter if it's a weekday or not, just change something up every now and then to keep your mind and body active. Instead of sitting down and watching TV for 2-3 hours at night, go out for  a walk around the block. Go to a park and take a soccer ball or football with you. Or if you are not a big outdoors person, go to the mall and walk around there. If you take someone with you, it will make the activity much more enjoyable. If no one wants to go, then just do it yourself and take an iPod, the more you do it eventually your family will notice a change for the better and they will want to come along.

I suggest choosing a place/activity that is outside the house, there is nothing wrong with doing some type of activity within the house, it is just that a change of scenery does wonders for a person's mind. That being said, if you are always out of the house and constantly "doing," then try staying in a couple of nights and doign some type of activity at home. An active body/mind is healthy, but an overactive body/mind can have a reverse effect.

You do not have to do something every night, just try once or twice a week. It is a real stress reliever because for that moment you are not worrying about your day to day worries and situations, you are just enjoying the time out. In our ever so busy lives, it is important to take an hour and just get up and do something that will help you relax. Stress is a huge cause of many physical and mental problems and if all it takes is going out and doing something different to reduce your stress a couple of notches, then you have just made your life a little easier.

Feeding the Hungry

My wife and I have been cooking at home a lot recently because we are trying to eat a little healthier, however last night we decided we wanted to grab something quick and easy from outside. So we decided on going to Taco Bell. While going through the drive thru and placing our order, the Taco Bell employee asked if we would like to donate a $1 to end world hunger. At first I said no thank you (because these days "no" is such an automatic answer regardless of what the question is), but when I was pulling up to the window and actually had time to process what he had asked me, this was obviously a good cause. I told him go ahead and add the $1 onto my order. While waiting for our food, I saw a sign in their window that said $1 feeds four children... 4 children!!! And that's not even for 1 meal, that is for the WHOLE DAY! I had to read it a couple of times because I was in disbelief... Being a parent it breaks my heart knowing that there are so many children out there in the world that go hungry every day. If I can't even imagine how it must feel to have your child tell you that they are hungry and there is nothing you can do about it.

These days we, as a society, community, family, and an individual, take practically EVERYTHING for granted. Especially something like having the ability to choose what we would like to eat for dinner, rather than wondering if we might be eating at all that day. There are millions of people around the world that go hungry every day and until just last night, I never really took it into consideration when my mom would tell me when I was a kid, "eat your food, there are hungry people in Africa that would kill to have the choices you have." It really put things back into perspective for me and opened my eyes as to how much we waste while someone else could have benefited.

Just by googling "end world hunger" I came across a number of companies that donate food to various parts of the world through your donations. The one I liked the most was this site FreeRice.com You can actually play a vocabulary, math, science, etc type of multiple choice game and for every answer you get right they donate 10 grains of rice for FREE! Within about five minutes I donated 500 grains of rice and it did not cost me anything. Obviously this is such a small contribution, however if a lot of people did a small part, it ends up being quite large. They have a place on their website where you can donate if you wanted to give more. FreeRice has generated enough rice to feed millions of people since it started in October 2007.

Everyone has a different definition, perspective, view on what ultimate serenity means to them. For the hungry, their serenity is being able to have the something to eat.

Staying Composed in Frustrating Situations…

Last night my beautiful 10 month old daughter decided she did not want to sleep at her normal bed time of 9:30-10pm. From past experiences, my wife and I knew that if she did not sleep at her regular scheduled time, she will be overly exhausted, cranky, angry, and will be falling her toys playing before she will go to sleep. We tried our normal routine tactics as well as every other trick in the book to try and put her to bed, however she was quite adamant about not sleeping. The battle went on for nearly 4 hours from 9:30pm to about 1:15am (which was NOT the worst night we have had). Were we frustrated? Of course, but it is how you handle the frustration which will set you apart from being a good parent and being a great parent.

This post is not necessarily about my little monster of a daughter =) but it is more about the struggle and frustrations that every parent goes through in everyday situations, whether it may be with your children not falling asleep, not eating their vegetables, getting into trouble, or just simply bugging you. The most important thing to remember is they are children… They did not ask to be in this world, we decided to bring them here and therefore we should be patient and understanding at all times (even if it means losing some much needed sleep). Being able to maintain the level of frustration and anger during the rough times will lead you to that serene place we all so much desire.

In Search of Ultimate Serenity...

What does ultimate serenity mean to you? What about just serenity? Is there even such a state of mind that one can achieve TRUE serenity?

Serenity is not just a word, it is a state of mind, a way of life, a time out from all of the crazy things out in the world to where you can just, be. In a materialistic and technology based world, we are so caught up with Keeping up with the Kardashians or having the newest iPhone before everyone else does, we forget to take care of the most important thing, ourselves. This does not mean that materialistic items won't bring joy to your life, but it is a never ending cycle. That new purse, iPhone, video game, outfit, etc... that you just bought, it will all be old in a couple of months and you will be on the search again for something to fill that void.

Searching and finding ultimate serenity is simply a life change. Again, you do not have to stop buying things that you want and like, just simply do not put so much emphasis on how much you "NEED" them. Take a moment out of each day and simply slow it down a notch, go for a walk in the park, cook a healthy tasty meal, spend a little extra time with your family and friends. Do whatever you feel that will bring you back to a calm, peaceful, and tranquil state of mind that will lead you to ultimate serenity.