Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Celebrating New Years!

The New Year is upon us everyone and we are all about celebrating it. Think of the bright lights in Times Square, the laughter that chimes from your living room, or the cute boy (or girl) across the room from you at a New Years Eve party. Now think that any one from any of those celebrations could end up losing their life at the end of the night. A major factor can be alcohol. Statistics say "Every two minutes, a person is injured in a drunk driving crash."* With our celebration in action someone may pay the cost for someone else's mistake. "With an average of 140 deaths (based on statistics from 2002 to 2008), New Year's Day is the second most deadly day for drivers, according to Anne Fleming of the Insurance Institute For Highway Safety." A simple mistake of getting behind the wheel while intoxicated may end yours, or another person's, life. 

 These lost lives can easily be avoided. First, by making sure you have a designated driver at the beginning of the night. Pick someone you trust who will stay sober to drive you home. In case they didn't keep to the plan and had a few to drink, (if at a house party) sleepover; if you're in public, call a taxi or catch a ride with a friend who has a sober driver. If all else fails, there are drivers offered through AAA** (costs vary), just look up the number for your area to call. There are no reasons to have another lost life to drunk driving, designate a driver or call one up. Have a safe holiday, Happy New Year everyone!



sites & sources 
***driver listings for different areas across the country. 

Monday, December 15, 2014

Wait a Minute...


The post “The Sacred Pause” made me reflect on my own experiences. Everyday we are bombarded by stimuli and we don’t often get the chance to take a moment and consider what is going on. We are forced into the here and now, whether we want to or not, and that doesn’t leave a lot of time for us to think. When we are discussing regret or talking about the motivation behind a decision, we usually talk about what we could have done differently or what we “should” have done. Often we come to the conclusion of “if we only had more time.” The sacred pause is a moment we take to collect ourselves and bring ourselves back to the present. The beauty of it is we can rearrange our course of thinking and redirect our next decision, big or small. In the end, every decision we make adds up, and essentially makes an impact on our life as a whole. These moments we take can be more important and life changing than we may give them credit for.

 I know that personally I need a minute or two to myself every so often, and this article reminds me of why I do it. I am an easily overwhelmed person so taking a moment to think about things and to help me sort my mind really aids my overall decision making. It helps me focus and properly weigh out the consequences of my decisions. I encourage others to take a moment to stop and reflect, and here is why; when we take the time to think about our decisions, we can choose the better (or just different) choice for ourselves. In the article it says, “By disrupting our habitual behaviors, we open to the possibility of new and creative ways of responding to our wants and fears.” By stopping to think we can change the course of our decision making. The next reason is that when we pause we can, as I said before, bring ourselves back to the present. It helps us focus. The post states, “A pause is a suspension of activity, a time of temporary disengagement when we are no longer moving towards any goal.” This moment of being completely still will help us determine where we want to go in terms of that goal. Lastly, we can take the moment for ourselves just because. Life keeps moving so taking the moment will not mean the end of the world. We will end up relieved and clearer minded more so than before. We just need to remember to take the time to step out of the situation were in and focus on our mind; to bring ourselves back to the present.