Mountain Climbing Over Molehills

Someone has said that the greatest cause of ulcers is mountain-climbing over mole-hills! Is that the way you get your exercise? Many folks allow themselves to be thrown off course by minor or imaginary threats. Often they interpret these as life-or-death, or do-or-die situations. They put so much energy into their worries that there is none available for progress. Some even believe that worrying demonstrates caring. This is misguided, too.

The use you make of your energy is your choice. Simply use it consciously and constructively. Worry is neither.

Bertrand Russell, philosopher and mathematician, tells of a technique he used on himself to calm down his worries and excessive negative excitement: "When some misfortune threatens, consider seriously and deliberately what is the very worst that could possibly happen. Having looked this possible misfortune in the face, give yourself sound reasons for thinking that after all it would be no such very terrible disaster. Such reasons always exist, since at the worst, nothing that happens to oneself has any cosmic importance. When you have looked for some time steadily at the worst possibility and have said to yourself with real conviction, 'Well, after all, that would not matter so very much,' you will find that your worry diminishes to a quite extraordinary extent. It may be necessary to repeat the process a few times, but in the end, if you have shirked nothing in facing the worse possible issue, you will find that your worry disappears altogether and is replaced by a kind of exhilaration." Now that seems worth having, doesn't it? Exhilaration brings energy to push through difficulties and level mountains as well as mole-hills.

This strategy for approaching your concerns can help you to maintain an aggressive, goal-directed, self-determining attitude even in the presence of very real and serious threats and dangers. Denial is not advocated! Positive action is!

Keep It in MIND!

Stiff - the Curious Life of Human Cadavers

Do you know why cadavers look swollen after they rot? That is thanks to all those little flesh eating creatures we call maggots and bacteria. They too have secretion system. The only different is, when we die, our muscle stops working (d'oh!) thus OUR secretion system fail to dispose any garbage within our body. Voila! We become their toilet.

Have you seen Wizard of Oz? One of the characters "melts" when she dies. That's what happens to cadavers too. They simply melt after awhile.

Human is supposedly still alive even after the bodies are separated from their heads, they will stay alert and aware of their surroundings, and most probably still able to feel pain.

There's and old tradition in China that daughter in laws should show their respect to their mother in laws, by providing some of their own meat and serve it as soup for the mother in laws when they fall ill.

THOSE are some of the stuffs you'll learn from Stiff, The Curious Life of Human Cadaver.

It's been around for quite sometimes, so I was late reading it.

The writer's style is totally cool and funny. If you think you'll be reading a boring texbook-like book, you're absolutely wrong. I giggle while reading it. And for that, I earn a name of "Girl with weird taste of books."

It is written by Mary Roach a columnist in among others Vogue and GQ magazines.

Drop by to the excerpts page for some quick peek.

Totally recommended!! As long as you don't get nauseous easily.

The Secrets Behind Cheap Rugs For Sale

Don't get carried away by the lure of savings that cheap rugs present. You have to remain a responsible and educated consumer when browsing through affordable rug options, whether online or in brick and mortar stores. Cheap rugs for sale are a dime a dozen. Quality products are hard to find. Knowing this, you will have to be very critical about the material, construction, texture and appearance of the rug you buy so you do not end up with a substandard product.

Rugs are usually made from a variety of materials. The most common of which is wool, a natural fiber, highly regarded for its durability, strength and softness. High-quality varieties are usually imported from Tibet and New Zealand as the sheep's there produce high levels of lanolin. Lanolin, in turn, enhances the fiber's texture and strength, thereby ensuring the finished product's perseverance. Regardless of this feature though, wool is known to be prone to shedding and fading. As such, they are not advised to use in areas with high traffic. Another popular material used in making rugs is silk. This protein fiber is typically blended with other rug fabrics to pair up its distinct softness with sturdiness. But what makes it more appealing, albeit the difficulty in maintenance is that it refracts light and shimmers when exposed. Cotton is another widely utilized material in rug creation and it is preferred by homeowners because it is affordable, easy to clean, and eco-friendly. However, it does attract dust easily and hardly equals wool and silk when it comes to durability. Grass fibers are probably as resilient. But they are less popular because of their coarse grain. Last on the list are synthetic fibers, namely acrylic, viscose, nylon and polypropylene. They are also durable. And since they do not require collection and harvesting, they are cheaper than other types of rug materials.

As far as construction goes, most modern day rugs are still made through the same techniques used by ancient weavers. Some are hand-knotted, tufted, hooked and braided while others are flat woven. However, there are currently rugs that are machined made and processed, which explains their marked down prices. See, usually it takes about a month to three to dye, weave and pattern a rug. And sometimes, more than one person is involved in its creation. It is because of this that they fetch high prices.

It is possible that the cheap rugs you are eyeing are actually just manufactured in some factory without that much time investment put into it as well as attention to detail. Not that they are unreliable when it comes to fulfilling their protective and decorative purposes. But handmade rugs are obviously better as far as craftsmanship goes. Still, if you can secure robustness, there's nothing wrong with getting a low-priced model. Anyways, it might not even be the construction or material that's compromised in this deal. Shipping fees, taxes and money conversions also play a part on why certain products are expensive or economical. Thus, it is not impossible to find cheap rugs for sale that are hand-crafted from reliable and smart retailers.

Back Massage - What A Relief!

After a long week at work wouldn't it be nice to get a good back massage-or to be able to give one to your spouse or significant other? Before you get started you might want some instruction on how to make this a great massage; one that will leave the recipient relaxed and comfortable rather than tired and tense. A massage that is not done correctly can actually cause even more pain than the person had before the massage. Giving a back massage is not difficult but it does take a little bit of know-how.

A Few Pointers:

For a general massage of the back, have the person lay on their stomach and sit by their head. Their head should be turned to the side and their arms should be resting at their sides. With your fingers just below the neck, slide your hands slowly down both sides of the back bone and then back up the sides of the body, and out over the shoulders. For the next part of the back massage, begin at the base of the neck again and rub in circular motions out toward the shoulders. With your thumbs make a rolling motion all over the bottom of the neck and top of the back to finish the job.

Lower Back

The lower back is the one most commonly injured and sore and benefits greatly from a back massage. Using your pinky and index finger on each hand, and sitting to the side of the recipient move your fingers along either side of the spine, moving one hand over the other in small rhythmic movements. For the next step of the back massage, you should start at the base of the spine, and using massage oil, make movements up the spine and down the sides of the body. Then, after you have done this with the oil, make rough rubbing motions from the bottom of the spine up to the rib cage. Finally for the last step of the back massage, make big gliding motions over the spine and lower back and then to the hips which should also be given a deep massage with large circular motions.

Upper Back

The upper back massage is accomplished by putting the recipients arm behind their back with the elbow bent, and one had cupped on the shoulder blade while the other hand massages around the shoulder blade in upward motions.

Remember

When you are giving any massage, you should be careful not to rub too hard on the backbone, or just rub to the sides of it. All movements in the back massage should be gentle and not too fast even when you are moving from one part of the body to another. You should also make sure that the recipient has adequate body support with pillows under the upper chest, the ankles, and under the breasts (for women.) Then your back massage should be a great success.

Cleaning Historic Houses

There are numerous cleaning tasks that require specialists in order to produce a successful and efficient outcome. The exterior cleaning of historic houses is one such task.

The various historic houses and stately homes of the UK add greatly to the country's rich heritage. Making sure that they appear as they should, looking clean and pristine, is not always an easy job.

While many of us might attempt to do our own cleaning, this is usually not an option with historic buildings. Given the nature of the structures, cleaning the buildings often involves a combination of precision and conservation.

Simply hosing down a timber-framed building, for example, can have disastrous consequences.

The cleaning of historic houses is now approached by building cleaning experts in a very specific manner. They look to clean buildings quickly and efficiently, while also ensuring that the structure and appearance of the building are protected at all times.

Unfortunately, the approach to cleaning hasn't always been as sensitive to the needs of the building as it is today. The use of abrasive cleaning techniques was once fairly common, often causing long term damage to some of the country's most beautiful historic houses.

The problem with abrasive techniques is that they often produce results that initially look impressive. They can be used to clean a large building very quickly. The problem is that the damage that they cause becomes evident over time, sometimes leading to hefty repair bills in the future.

UK specialists are increasingly using a new set of techniques, that involves less abrasive action and a reduction in the chemicals used as part of the overall process. These new techniques have led to an improvement in the quality of building cleaning.

A key component has been that historic houses can still be cleaned quickly and efficiently, but without doing any damage to the underlying structure.

Many of our historic homes are not simply to be lived in - they are to be treasured.

By taking an environmentally friendly, sensitive approach to cleaning them, we can ensure that they will be enjoyed by future generations.

Some Conditions Helped by Homeopathic Treatment

Homeopathic treatment is a natural form of medicine with little to no side effects that some people swear by. Following are just some conditions homeopathic treatment can be used for.

Anxiety

If left untreated, the problems caused by anxiety can become very troublesome to a persons health, leading to eventual problems such as high blood pressure and stress, which could even lead to a heart attack, and so possibly death, in the most severe of anxiety cases.

Thankfully there is anxiety treatment that does aim to rule out many of these possible health complications, so even those individuals who suffer with the most severe forms of anxiety can receive treatment to help them to overcome their problems.

Anxiety can be triggered by many forms so in each case it is important to look into an anxiety sufferers exact problem as they can all vary so widely. Some people may be anxious about losing their job, and possibly are afraid of losing money and maybe eventually their home, whereas others may suffer from anxiety when having to give presentations in front of large groups.

Other anxiety treatment can involve therapy in which a counsellor can talk to the sufferer and try to find out any underlying problems, while other treatments could involve simply eating or drinking specific plants or vitamins which are said to reduce the symptoms of anxiety and to relax the sufferer.

IBS

IBS or irritable bowel syndrome is actually a very common illness suffered by people, with the main symptoms being gas, an uncomfortable stomach, and excessive trips to the toilet. IBS is usually brought on by the consumption of specific kinds of foods, with dairy products such as milk and cheese one of the most popular types of irritant. Ways to reduce the effects of IBS involve trying to analyse the diet to find out exactly what forms of food are causing the irritation, whereas medication and even bowel surgery are other possible IBS treatment methods.

Headache

Probably the most commonly complained of health condition has to be that of a plain old headache - something that probably everyone has suffered from at one point in their life, with some people apparently more susceptible to having them then others. Headaches can vary wildly in severity, with migraines being one of the worst forms, whereas other times it can simply feel like a slightly dull ache in the forehead area. They can be brought on by many things - a lack of sleep, over-activity, too much loud noise, stress, and so on. Unfortunately they're not always easy to get rid of and that's why homeopathic treatment is so popular, but alternatively by using paracetamol or ibuprofen, two common forms of painkillers, they can often be lessened or ceased.

Insomnia

Insomnia treatment can involve trying to analyse what it is that is causing a sufferer to be unable to sleep, which is never an easy task. Many people complain of having insomnia at some point in their lives, and it can be such a frustrating condition to suffer from, with sleep being such an important part of life. Finding people who offer insomnia treatment can be quite a task in itself, with the illness being so hard to research, but thankfully with modern medicines there are some ways of at least alleviating the suffering and to help people to overcome their insomnia and get some sleep though these have some side effects.