You Don't Have to Be Optimistic All the Time

In our society everything seems to make us believe that we have to be optimistic and happy all the time. Pessimistic people often pictured as losers. They expect from us to smile no matter what and to say that everything will be just fine. They make us believe that we are either born optimistic or pessimistic.

The one-size-fits-all optimism doesn't really work and can be harmful sometimes. Optimism and pessimism are feelings about the future. Both optimism and pessimism act like energizers in certain situations. If we were only realistic about our future we wouldn't even try to do things saying "it's just impossible".

Optimism and pessimism can also be a mind-set to adopt certain situations. In some situations it's better to be optimistic in others better to be pessimistic. Optimism can help us not to give up and cope with difficulties. Pessimism can help us to prepare ourselves if we won't succeed. Pessimism can help to better protect ourselves. This is also called defensive pessimism.

Of course in many situations it's much better to be optimistic. Some examples are when you are looking for a job, start to date, want to lose weight or start a business. Optimism can work against you when you gamble, when you are an investor, when you think that you can always get what you want.

Pessimism can be of course a negative feeling too. When you think that you will never get a job, never find a boy or girlfriend or never will be able to lose weight. Pessimism is bad when it makes you sort of give up.

Pessimism is good when it protects you, when it prepares you to the "what if" situation. Whit a pessimistic mind-set you will able to handle stress better. Pessimism is good when you don't over-expand because you are not 100% sure about your job and/or income or as an investor you diversify. Pessimism is also somewhat good when you or someone close to you have an illness. It helps you to prepare yourself to the worse scenario.

Why Did I Join the Gym?

I have been regularly exercising a few years now. I bought a couple of equipment years ago and I set up an area for exercise in the basement. I enjoyed it for some time especially when I saw the benefits of it. It was convenient because all I had to do is to go down in the basement and everything was right there. I think the reason I started to exercise is to boost my energy. Later on I realized that an hour or so "pain" translates into measurable benefits. My cardiologist and family doctor noticed the changes and my blood test results came out better too.

I have been trying to exercise twice a week. Trying means that most of the time I only do it once a week. Usually they recommend exercising almost every day but from my experience I can tell that even one day makes a big difference.

Over the years exercising in my basement became boring. The same equipment all the time, by myself. It wasn't really as pleasurable as it used to be. Sometimes I even stopped doing it for weeks.

Then My boys wanted to lift weights and they didn't want to settle with some cheap weight bench, they wanted to join the gym. Then we realized that the whole family should join so we did the beginning of this year.

It's amazing how much equipment they have to work for any muscle. Usually I go late Sunday morning when it's not that busy anymore but there are still some good looking young women and that definitely helps to go thru my exercise routine.

Usually I start my exercise walking around an indoor track a couple of times then I spend about 30 minutes on an elliptical keeping my heart rate in the upper cardiovascular range.Then I spend about 20 minutes on the weight lifting machines. I use about 20 different machines every time I go. I couldn't afford all that having at home. And the young ladies, I can tell you that really helps. My boys of course go 3-4 times a week and I know it's a very good place for young men like them.

Going thru the exercise routine is somewhat a pain but well worth it. And when I'm done it feels good to say, yes, I did it again.

I Love Family Vacations

We’ve just got back from our summer vacation from Europe. I enjoyed every moment of it or maybe almost every moment of it. That’s because I don’t like to go thru or wait at airports.

This summer we went to Hungary. I like it since I was born there but my wife likes it too and she was born in New Jersey. My boys love it of course and it’s not only because the drinking age is 16 (for beer and wine) but also because they have lots of cousins to play with.

We spent most of the time in Budapest, where my family lives, on the Buda side in the suburbs. It is a very quiet and nice place, and there is no violence. Although people lock the front door all the time which usually has several safety locks. We stayed in a four bedroom apartment on the third floor. The only problem was that there was no elevator, but everything else was just perfect.

The weather was excellent warm, but not hot and without the humidity. Every day was sunny, nice and cool during the night which helped me to have deep sleeps.

We used public transportation which is very good in Budapest. The bus stop was right there where we stayed and we could be in the center city in just 20 minutes. We bought a weekly pass which was about $25 and it was good for all the public transportation within the city limits.

We spent one day at the Lake Balaton. We were lucky with the weather again. Lake Balaton is a fresh-water lake, about 77 km long and 3-12.5 km wide. It’s about 2 hours from Budapest.

I think the greatest thing in family vacations is that we do things together and all those great memories that nothing can erase. 

 

You Need to Escape from Multitasking to Relax Your Brain

It’s hard to imagine our lives without computers, cell phones, television, computer games. The use of technology is part of our daily life. We constantly check our emails surf the web, check the news, and watch our favorite shows or movies often in the same time. It’s only possible if we teach our brain how to multitask.

There are benefits of multitasking. We are more productive. Multitasking also gives a chance to escape from the present while doing something else. Sometimes multitasking can be dangerous for example driving and using your cell phone in the same time. On the other hand multitasking doesn’t teach us to focus. When you multitask you try to pay attention several things in the same time. But is it good if you really have to focus only on one thing?

With new technologies we are addicted to multitasking. We think that without those gadgets our life would be very boring. There was a time when none of these gadgets existed and people were not bored at all and they could accomplish great things in history.

We need to escape sometimes from multitasking and just do one thing to relax our eyes and brain. Even if it lasts only 10-15 minutes a day it could make a big difference. Take a walk, listen to soft music without doing anything else, read a book or just sit back in a quiet room closing your eyes for a few minutes.

How I Help My Kids to Relief Stress

We all have stress, adults and children. I can see it on my kids every day. There are different sources of stress for adults and children but there similar ways to relax regardless of your age.

I think children are too innocent to understand the sources of stress. As an adult I pretty much know where do they come from and I deal with it as soon as I can. For me listening to music, reading, writing, exercising, having a nice conversation is very relaxing.

When you observe your children you should really make a note what they like, such as music, movies, TV shows, and video games. I strongly believe that what they like reflects how they feel.

When I start to see that my kids listen to the kind of music and watch TV shows that I don’t care about I take them out for hiking.

Hiking is great, it’s very relaxing and in the same time you exercise. We often go back to the same place, a 15 minute ride from my house. It’s in a state park and it’s not too popular, we often see only a half a dozen people who are looking for the same thing we do, the beauty of nature.

We go to the same place but every time it’s a little bit different. The change of the seasons is breathtaking. We park at the top of the hill and climb down to a creek where we spend most of the time. My kids are throwing rocks or hopping from rock to rock to cross the creek.

I usually just sit there and watch them and take some pictures which I use as my screen saver when we get back.