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Negative Attitudes
Positivity vs Negativity
Just the other day Piglet in Portugal left a comment about people with a negative attitude on Winners and Losers. I find people who are consistently negative somewhat annoying. This is what’s bugging me today.
It’s not the people like me who talk or rant about things and let you know up front that is what they’re doing. I’m talking about the ones where it doesn’t matter what you say they always have something negative to say. It could be as simple as when you’re talking about the weather. When you say ‘It’s nice and hot today’ they would reply with ‘It’s too humid today’.
As it happens, the very same day a friend posted an article Creating a Positive Winning Attitude on his website.
In it he talks about the challenges we all face in our daily lives and how we choose to view and deal with them.
Your attitude can make or break you. It’s virtually indisputable that your attitude determines how far you’ll go in life and a positive mental outlook can help you achieve optimal success.
Having a positive mental attitude helps you cope with challenges. When you’re put to the test, you’re more likely to find your inner strengths to overcome adversity, and that strength just might be your winning attitude. Whether or not you have the tools, skills, knowledge, or resources, your attitude can get you through tough times and come out on top.
There was a time when I wasn’t as positive as I am now, but thank goodness I came to realize this and what it was doing to me. I immediately took steps to correct this and life has been so much nicer since then.
As many of you know I have my health challenges that I need to deal with. Without the positive attitude I would probably be a hypochondriac and visiting the doctor every time I wasn’t feeling well.
An effective way to train your mind is to look at challenges as opportunities instead of obstacles. A problem is only a problem if you allow it to be one. With each challenge comes an opportunity to learn and improve. So if you search for solutions, you’ll find them.
- Would you describe yourself as a negative or positive person?
- Have you ever given any thought to how people perceive you?
Remember the old saying.
If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.
This is what’s bugging me today!
Quote for today
It takes 26 muscles to smile, and 62 muscles to frown.
Anonymous
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© 2010-2011 Things in life I find annoying
or not – Sundays With Mom
Make a Wish
Earlier this week the Daily Post topic suggestion was how would you spend a Sunday. Instead I want to share some memories of spending Sundays with my Mom. There is nothing bugging me today!
I grew up in a large family, Mom, Dad and 8 kids – I was number 7. There is a 20 year difference between the oldest and youngest in the family and I have a niece who is just 8 years younger than me.
As each grew up and eventually moved out, Sunday afternoons were usually spent at Mom and Dad’s.
One thing you need to understand is that Mom always prepared a big Sunday lunch, never dinner. Even during the holidays like Christmas and Easter it was always lunch and never dinner. Because of this every holiday felt like a Sunday at Mom’s.
For the holiday meals, food preparation usually started the day before and she was up at 5 or 6 in the morning preparing the food for the family lunch. At one point, it wasn’t unusual to have anywhere from 24 – 30 people for lunch with all the husbands, wives and grandchildren.
This meant a lot of cooking for her but everyone so enjoyed her meals that she loved to cook for everyone. There was always plenty of food to go around, Mom made sure of that! Leftovers were carefully packaged as each family member left the house. She had to keep buying storage containers because sometimes it would take forever before they finally made it back to her kitchen cabinets.
Seating such a large group was always a challenge and thank goodness the kitchen and dining room were side by side. We added the extra leaves to both tables but there still wasn’t enough room. Two or three kids would usually end up sitting at a small kitchen table that my brothers and I sat at when we were kids.
The table is over 40 years old and was well used. It is one of the old arborite ones and was ideal for Mom to sit at. Yes, she would sit on the small chairs at the table when she made her homemade salami and sausages. It was really the only table where she could attach her manual meat grinder.
We would have to gather chairs from all over the house and some always ended up sitting on stools. But no one complained as long as they had a seat to enjoy Mom’s food. There was also plenty of my Dad’s homemade wine to drink with several trips to the cold cellar to retrieve more.
Quite often, Sunday lunch turned into an all day affair and some of us would end up staying for dinner too! This meant no leftovers to take home but that was fine. All Mom cared about is that the food was eaten. She would say – Mangia! Mangia!
But it wasn’t enough to just eat the leftovers, Mom would slice up some of her homemade salami, bring out the cheese and olives and usually make a tomato salad.
There was always something to eat at Mom’s. She could put together a meal in no time. Ah, the memories – I miss you Mom.
There is nothing bugging me today!
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© 2010-2011 Things in life I find annoying
Housekeeping Again!!
This is becoming a weekly chore that I just can’t seem to get away from, but it is getting easier. This is what’s bugging me today!
I’ve come to learn that the blog needs plenty of maintenance to keep it fresh, looking good and working properly. Just last night I received an email that Alexy moved his blog to his own server. This meant I had to go through and update the links I had pointed at his WordPress blog to the new one. It wasn’t too difficult a task, but it’s done.
Chores for this weekend are to check the earlier ones to make sure I’ve done them. I know I finally tackled my About Me page and boy was that a relief. Thank you everyone for your comments on it.
I would like to say a special hello to Bob Zeller. Reading my About Me page gave him the idea to add a page to his own blog, Texas Tweeties. He’s an avid photographer with some great shots on his blog and his Mockingbird is one of my favourites.
A special welcome to two new Blogging Buddies over the past 24 hours. First to Barb19, a dear friend who I’ve finally convinced to join the WordPress Challenge for PostAWeek2011 with her new blog Passionate About Pets. Next is Julie, 1961Girl who is celebrating all year-long to mark a special day. Please stop by and say hello!
A special thanks to my first Blogging Buddy, Piglet in Portugal for choosing a recipe of mine for her Foodie Friday recipe challenge.
Earlier this week I realized that Housekeeping was going to be a weekly chore and should really have its own category. The posts were already tagged as housekeeping and WordPress came to the rescue with their tool to Convert Tags to Categories.
It’s still early and there weren’t too many posts I would have had to change but using the tool it was done with three simple steps. For those who aren’t familiar with it, you can find it under Tools – Import – Categories and Tags Converter.
This also brings to mind another housekeeping chore that should be done on a regular basis. I need to backup my blog should anything ever happen. I wouldn’t want to lose it all and I’m pretty sure none of you want to either.
Backup on WordPress in 4 easy steps.
- Tools
- Export
- Download Export file
- Save
Done – how simple is that? One thing I did do though is to prefix the file name with the word Backup. This makes it easier to find when you can’t remember exactly which folder you saved it to.
Now that’s an easy housekeeping chore to do. I just have to remember to do it on a regular basis! Another ‘todo’ to add to my ReminderFox.
Now that my backup is done there is one less chore for the weekend. Which is a good thing because there’s another chore I want to work on which is going to take some time.
Set up a new page where I can list the links to some of the sites and online tools I’ve mentioned that many have found helpful. Once it’s set up it will be easier to add new ones and it won’t be such a chore.
I think that’s enough for this weekend. Plenty of blogs to visit and read, bad me – I think I may have missed a few this week.
Housekeeping chores – this is what’s bugging me today!
Related Articles
- Housekeeping ‘IS’ a Chore
- Unfinished Housekeeping Chores
- Housekeeping Can Be A Chore
- Having To Write About Me
© 2010-2011 Things in life I find annoying
Trying to Find Topic Suggestions
Featured on The Daily Post at WordPress.com
Some like the Daily Post suggestions and others don’t care for them at all and let everyone know by leaving negative comments. There are those who seem to do it consistently and it does get a little annoying. This is what’s bugging me today!
I visit the Daily Post to read not only the topic suggestions to see what the offering of the day is but also the comments. Sometimes I like the topics and have been able to work them into my blog and other times I don’t care for them at all. But I don’t like to leave negative comments and just try to find another topic.
Everybody is allowed to have their opinion, but if you consistently don’t like the topics then it’s time to find other sources. There are those writing on their blogs just for fun and that’s fine. But there are others who have set up their blogs to improve their writing and need a better variety of topics.
Whatever the reason is, we all sometimes need ideas on what to write about – me included.
Some suggestions:
- How to – write a post on something you know
- Top 10 lists – on anything you like, great blogs or posts, favourite things
- Tips & Tricks – what are you good at
- Tell a story – reach back into your memories
- Reviews – movies, books, products, games
- Interview – someone or yourself
Just a couple of days ago Alexy Saltekoff used the interview technique to introduce a 6-part series Bringing Focus Back to My Daily Blog. He was trying to follow the Daily Post suggestions but found that it just wasn’t working for him and came up with his own plan. Read his latest post Finding focus: What’s your vision?
How many of you have used the Press This feature in WordPress? This could be used to link to another post you like. Write a short piece on why you like it, include an excerpt and then link back to the original page. It doesn’t have to be a blog posting, it could be anything you’ve read, even news stories.
Still not enough ideas. Use Google and search for – topic suggestions for blogs. I did this and came up with a few sites. I’ve listed some of them for you.
If you find a topic you’re interested in but are worried that the post might be too long, like this one is going to be soon, then create a series of posts similar to what Alexy has done. This will also help bring your visitor back to your blog to read the post and maybe even subscribe to your blog.
This is what’s bugging me today!
Related Articles
- or not – RandomBlog2011 Challenge
- PostADay2011 – Topic Suggestions are Suggestions!!
- or not – Another Day of Rest
© 2010-2011 Things in life I find annoying
or not – Winners and Losers
Here is something else I’ve had hanging around for a few years along with The Optimist Creed. There is nothing bugging me today!
I bring you “Winners and Losers” by Sydney J. Harris.
Sydney J. Harris was an American journalist for the Chicago Daily News and later the Chicago Sun-Times. His column, “Strictly Personal,” was syndicated in many newspapers throughout the United States and Canada.
Winners and Losers (1973)
1. Winners make commitments.
Losers only make promises.
2. Winners know what to fight for and when to compromise.
Losers compromise on what they shouldn’t and fight for what isn’t worthwhile.
3. Winners say, “There ought to be a better way”.
Losers say, “That’s the way it’s always been”.
4. Winners make a mistake and say, “I was wrong”.
Losers make a mistake and say, “It was not my fault”.
5. Winners listen.
Losers just wait their turn to talk.
6. Winners have a healthy appreciation of their abilities and an awareness of their limitations.
Losers don’t recognize their true abilities or their true limitations.
7. Winners work through problems.
Losers work around them.
8. Winners are sensitive to other’s feelings.
Losers are only sensitive to their own feelings.
9. Winners take a big problem and divide it into smaller parts so that it can be more manageable.
Losers take a lot of little problems and roll them together until they are unmanageable.
10. Winners work hard and find more time.
Losers are always “too busy.”
11. Winners show they are sorry by changing their actions.
Losers say, “I’m sorry,” but do the same thing next time.
12. Winners learn from their mistakes.
Losers only learn not to try again for fear of making more mistakes.
You can choose to be a winner!
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© 2010-2011 Things in life I find annoying
Having To Write About Me
I was determined to write my new About Me page and I can tell you that I struggled with it. I don’t like having to write about myself. This is what’s bugging me today!
Get me in a conversation and I can tell you all sorts of stories about me and my life. But to have to sit down and write about me in a few paragraphs I found difficult and I’m not scared to admit it. I thought I had it all done and then sat down to check it against the outline and I wasn’t happy with it. So then I started doing edits and just made a real mess of it. I decided to take a break from it and start writing this post. I still need to get back to it and see if I can make some sense of the mess I made.
I know I will get it done, because there are so many of you wanting to read it now! So I better make it good huh!
There’s a good time-lapse that happens here!!
After much deliberation, I finally finished my new About Me page. I tell you, that really was a chore for me but boy does it feel good now that it’s done. At least for now. I’m sure there will be some tweaking as I go along.
One less blog housekeeping chore to do.
Seeing as I’ve given you something else to read today, that’s it for this post.
Now I can say that there is nothing bugging me today!
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© 2010-2011 Things in life I find annoying
Unfinished Housekeeping Chores
It’s Tuesday morning and I can say that I managed to stay awake most of yesterday and get some sleep last night. But I still have so much of my weekend Housekeeping to do. It’s a short post and this is what’s bugging me today!
I still need to update my about page, but I’m still not quite sure how much I want to write. So I went to my Google Reader to see what I could find. I came up with a great post from Christopher at CreativeBlogger on How to Create Your About Page.
Here are some of the highlights from the post.
- Start With An Introduction
- Add A Profile Picture
- Build The Reader’s Expectations
- Recommended Reading
- Invite Your Reader To Connect
Let’s see how many of the points I manage to cover. I’m determined to finish it today and press the publish button when I’m done. I’ve done enough procrastinating on this.
This is what’s bugging me today!
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© 2010-2011 Things in life I find annoying
Sleeplessness
I can't sleep!
I’ve had trouble sleeping lately with a sleep schedule that is just down-right wacky. Add to that not feeling well and this is what’s bugging me today!
My sleep schedule has been off for a while now. It started about a month ago when I wasn’t feeling well and didn’t know why. I would take some Motrin and lay down for a short nap and wake up 6-8 hours later. That’s not a nap but a full night’s sleep for me.
For years now, I only get about 5-6 hours sleep and it seems to be enough. I know that everyone says you need a good 8 hours sleep but that’s something I just can’t do.
Yesterday was a real messed up day for sleeping. In the afternoon I wasn’t feeling well so I lay down for a nap and slept for a few hours. I still had to write today’s post and came to the computer. Read a few comments and posts and then found I was falling asleep reading. I was in no shape to sit and write and decided to lie down and sleep some more. I knew this meant I would be up in the middle of the night but there was no sense in fighting it.
So here it is, the middle of the night, or very early morning for some, and I’m just finishing off this post. I’m still not feeling too good, so that’s it for today. I still have plenty of housekeeping chores to do from the weekend and I should try to be well rested to tackle some of them.
This is what’s bugging me today!
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© 2010-2011 Things in life I find annoying
or not – Another Day of Rest
As another week comes to an end, it’s time for a little rest. Not a lot, but at least a bit to gather my thoughts and look forward to the coming week. There is still plenty of Housekeeping to do, both on the blog and at home. There is nothing really bugging me today!
Today is a day for sharing. Sharing things I have learned, sharing things I have found which could help some of my fellow bloggers, and to give thanks to those who have truly touched me, and praise to accomplishments this week.
My dear friend and fellow blogger, Piglet in Portugal, was Freshly Pressed this past week for her post on Gazanias in January.
My English Thoughts for being promoted from an intern job to Light House manager. I’ve missed her daily postings but I am so happy to see her so excited and following her passion.
A special hello and thanks to A Blog by PaPa Joe who has reminded me of what a Wonderfully Small World we live in. For reminding me how much clicking the Like button and leaving a comment can brighten a person’s day and put a smile on their face.
Special mention to Alexy Saltekoff for his post on Witnessing Bravery and bringing to my attention the short stories they have put into publications of “Portraits in Courage” about the men and women overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Those are some of the highlights of my past week. I’ve made new friends and look forward to getting to know them better.
Sharing new things is great when they can help others. Some of us struggle with our writing and are not so much worried about the spelling but by the grammar. One of my finds this week was PaperRater which is a free online tool.
- spelling and grammar checker
- plagiarism checker
- provides detailed report on your writing.
- plus many more with a final grade
This is definitely something worth checking out. Did I mention it is free!
reminderfox is an add-on for Firefox that sits on your Bookmarks tool bar
- Remember dates & todos
- Display reminders & alarms
- Subscribe to online calendars
Other handy Firefox Add-ons
That’s it for today, there is nothing bugging me today!
A Quote for Today
“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people
than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.”
Dale Carnegie
Recommended
© 2010-2011 Things in life I find annoying
Housekeeping ‘IS’ a Chore
It’s Saturday, which means it’s time for some blog housekeeping again. This is what’s bugging me today!
Last weekend was busy for me, as I decided to change my theme and there is still some work to do. I’ve seen a lot of updated blogs this week, with new pages, new themes and many of you have also updated your about pages and written a post on it. It’s a great way for us to get to know you.
I still haven’t done mine. Oh, I did a little update to it saying I would add more but just can’t seem to sit down and write about myself and put myself out there. It’s easy to do here on the blog because I’m usually telling a story about what is or isn’t bugging me and it serves a purpose. But I know I need to do it and give you a little more about myself.
I’m making a commitment to update my about page over the next few days, as long as I can hit the publish button when I’m done.
How many of you are in the same position as me?
It’s nice to see everyone is displaying the PostADay2011 & PostAWeek2011 badges proudly on their blogs. Did it feel good putting it there? I know it did for me.
Here are some of my housekeeping chores for the weekend.
- cleaning up my tags and settle on the main ones to use
- review my Categories
- review the blog and add links to other postings
The last one could take a bit of time, but it’s easier to do it now before the job gets so huge that I won’t want to do it. Why is this important? Linking to past articles and other pages on your blog increases your page views and keeps the reader on your blog.
This also helps to Improve Your Search Rankings and receive more visitors to your blog. Listing related articles at the bottom of your post is a great way to do it, but you can also link to other posts/pages within your posts by marking a word or phrase in bold and linking to it.
I have my work cut out for me this weekend.
This is what’s bugging me today!
Recommended Reading
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- Housekeeping Can Be A Chore
- or not – A Time to Rest
- PostADay2011 Bloggers – Click the Like Button Please
© 2010-2011 Things in life I find annoying
ClassyRose
I am not an angry person. Please click on the picture to read why I started this Blog.
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