Banned: Texting while walking

Posted by random olio

I keep meaning to write about texting. It came to me the other day – just a random thought while working – that kids today probably do not pass notes, they text during class. Someone told me that phones are not allowed in classrooms, but I know that most school kids know how to text without even looking at the phone screen or keyboard. So I imagine it is happening under desks and in pockets. Gosh, how that makes me feel old. The art and design of letters, color, drawings, and fold of the paper is lost. Now, the passed note is replaced with: “ROTFLMAO” – for those of you that need a translation: “Rolling on the floor laughing my ass off.” We have turned plain English words into acronyms. Why? Is it because it is easier? We are lazy? Who knows! I just hope that those who grew up sending 1000 text messages a day are still able to formulate real sentences.

Which is why I find the story about a town in New Jersey bizarre. Individuals walking in Fort Lee, New Jersey will have to stop to text, following the passage of a law that imposes $85 fines on walkers caught texting. I am not against a city putting such a ban in place. I just am fascinated that it is what was needed for those with texting addictions. What does that say about how engaged we are with our phones, apps, emails, and texts that we cannot even watch to ensure that we can make it safely across the street. What is interesting is that the ban is connected to texting, but really a person could be watching a YouTube video, playing Scrabble, updating Facebook all while walking. We are so connected to the Inter-world, that we cannot seem to disconnect in the outer world.

Be sure to look at the end of this Huffington Post article that has quite a few videos of individuals texting (we assume they are texting, maybe they just saw something funny on Facebook) while walking and what happens to them.

Do not even get me started on texting and driving. So I guess I will leave you by saying: *”SSEWBA”

Enjoy your day – and keep your head up!

*Someday Soon, Everything Will Be Acronyms

Do You Listen 100%?

Posted by random olio

A few months ago I came across “You Learn by Living” by Eleanor Roosevelt. I wish I had read it many years ago. She inspired me more than any other first lady. One idea (of the many I wrote down) was about listening. I feel that over the past few years we as a society have become horrible listeners. There are too many other things happening around us. Our phone is ringing, we are getting a text message, sending an email, or in the middle of a level of Angry Birds. We multi-task. I myself am just as much to blame. I am a hard-core multi-tasker. I of course feel like I do an amazing job at it, but do I really? I feel like I do, but I often wonder if I am just trying to make myself feel better about all that I am trying to do at once. This is what she says about listening:

“If such a search is to be successful, however, you will need two qualities which you can develop by practice. One is the ability to be a good listener. The other is the imaginative ability to put yourself in the other person’s place; to try to discover what he is thinking and feeling; to understand as far as you can the background from which he came, the soil out of which his roots have grown, the customs and beliefs and ideas which have shaped his thinking.” P. 136

Three short sentences that are jam-packed with ideas. Do you have an “imaginative ability to be a good listener?” To me that means going to extremes to make sure that the person you are engaged with knows you are listening, and that…you ACTUALLY are. What if you tried that for one week? What if you made sure that every conversation and interaction you had, you were focused 100%? I would like to try that over the next week and see if I can tell the difference in how I connect with others. Do I feel I understand them more, retained more information, and better executed on my part of the conversation? Did I tell someone I would follow through on something?

I also love where she says: “the imaginative ability to put yourself in the other person’s place; to discover what he is thinking and feeling” – it is something I try to do. See, I love learning about people. You could say people fascinate me. I always have the thought in my mind: “put yourself in their shoes.” I think it helps to relate to others who might be different from you, that might even have an opposite upbringing and life experience. I think it gives a person empathy when interacting with others.

So, are you with me? Do you want to try to listen 100% over the next week?

Go Away I’m Reading

Posted by random olio

Such a clever title for a book: “Leave Me Alone I’m Reading” by Maureen Corrigan. I was intrigued by the title, but found that the book itself was not as interesting to me. The author went between her own life and then experiences of characters from other books. I was more engaged when I read the parts about her life, her father and mother, and of course reading.

In my own life, reading has been a way to go into the world of others. Which is why I loved these quotes from her book:

“In our daily lives, where we’re bombarded by the fake and the trivial, reading serves as a way to stop, shut out the noise of the world, and try to grab hold of something real, no matter how small.” page xvii

Later on the same page she says:

“Reading offered companionship as well as escape.” page xvii

and:

“…but constant reading kept pulling me away from the world of my childhood, the world of my parents.” page xxviii

Lastly:

“Words can summon up a skyline from the dark; they can bring back the people you loved and will always yearn for. They can inspire you with possibilities you otherwise would have never imagined; they can fill your head with misleading fantasies. They can give you back your seemingly seamless past and place it right alongside your chaotic present. page 184

I can relate to all these quotes. There have been times when a good book has offered companionship while my husband was away on business travel, or when traveling on an airplane myself. At other times the story in a book has reminded me of my parents and grandparents and the experiences I had with them. Other books take me into the life of someone else and then jettison me back to my own childhood where I uncover experiences I did not ever remember. I then begin to piece together a memory that had never before surfaced. There are many ways to engage in a book, and countless ways to experience the story and memories – past, present, and future.

How do you experience books in your life?

Oh, shh. I am off to finish my book. Okay, I wish. I have to go to work instead.

Love what you have…

Posted by random olio

Do you enjoy your life? Do you work hard to meet some unattainable goal? Do you ever wonder why you try so hard, and whether you are missing out on some other aspect of your life in the process?

I woke up this morning (of course not wanting to get out of bed), with an immense amount of gratitude and appreciation for what I have today. It is so easy to look forward at what is next, to anticipate that x or y will happen, and in doing so we lose sight of what is NOW, what is today. What if you were able to only look at what you had to accomplish today? What if we had no capacity to wonder how we will ever accomplish what is on our ongoing plate of to-dos, and we could only do what was possible today?

For those of you that know me well, or who have been following my blog for a while know that I have an interest in personal finance. As I have grown up, I’ve been in situations where life has forced me to understand the steps to take regarding wills, estates, living wills, life insurance, etc. This has led me to want to know more and understand what we can do to set up our financial future for ourselves and family (or future family).

Due to my interest in personal finance, I follow the LearnVest newsletter each day. Recently I found a newsletter I saved from January that really spoke to me about gratitude. While I do not think I have Money Comparisonitis, this newsletter on “Money Comparisonitis” (specifically the 4th bullet) can cross over to any area of our life. I also think the following points in their newsletter are good reminders:

“Be grateful for the things you already have, whether that means your health, close friendships, the love of your family or your fulfilling career.”

Later it says:

“One way to better appreciate the good things is to make a gratitude list every day, which will remind you of everything in your life you’re already grateful for. And, ultimately, that’s the best way to keep comparisonitis at bay.”

What if we lived in present gratitude instead of moments of anticipation? What is on my gratitude list will be different from what is on yours, but nevertheless we all have a lot to be grateful for.

It is almost time for the weekend. What if we focused on gratitude and appreciation for the next few days?!

About To Kick Your Butt

Posted by random olio

For those of you that know me well, I am insanely competitive. I think it comes from being the youngest child of three. My brother is 6 years older and my sister is 4 years older than me. So as I grew up, I had to hold my own if I wanted to stay up late or if I wanted to be part of game nights when I was fairly young. To overcompensate I would try as hard as I could to learn the rules of the game, and figure out a competitive edge so that I could win. My thought was that if I could win, then I would be allowed to stay up and play with the rest of my family.

What I did not know was that by growing up and “trying” so hard to be a participant would mean that my competitive streak would not leave me. Yes, I admit it, I am still competitive while playing board games. I love Taboo, Cranium, and other similar type games. I am the one that yells and hollers and lets my mind go as fast as it can to participate and be part of the game. I think Jimmy Fallon must be the youngest, because he plays the same way on his show. If you have not watched him play games with his guests, watch a few shows and you will see what I mean.

So if you have the opportunity to play a game with me in the future, you now know in advance that I am competitive. I am still a kid at heart, and sorry in advance for being so overzealous about kicking your butt!