Rules for Living

I came across this article last night and made me open my eyes...


Here are a few signs you aren’t in control:

You don’t like your job – Maybe you picked something because it was easier or safer than your ideal career. Worse, maybe you’re just doing what your family pressured you to do.

You’re living paycheck to paycheck – The problem usually isn’t money, but your priorities. It isn’t hard for the stuff you own to turn around and own you.

You feel obligated to do things you don’t want to do. Your first duty is to yourself. You can’t save the world while you’re miserable.

Leading your life isn’t easy. It means freeing yourself from many different assumptions. That freedom can be initially terrifying and painful, which is why so few people do it. It is far easier to just follow the assumptions of society, even if it leaves you unfulfilled.

Here are 7 rules that can help you start building a life worth living:

Rule One: Never let another person dictate the terms for living your life.

Not your parents. Not your spouse. Not your kids. Leading your life means you can accept the input of other people, but the final decision is yours. This means that career choice, relationships, beliefs and way of life are to be judged by you, not anyone else.

This rule holds especially when you have doubts. Don’t let your moment of doubt become a weakness to be exploited by others. Not sure what you want to do with your life? Don’t sit passively and let other people decide for you.

Rule Two: Don’t allow yourself to be chained by consumerism.

The world is filled with stuff. Don’t let stuff get in the way of what is important. When you become chained to your stuff, you are no longer leading your life. Ask yourself: if you had to give up 90% of your net worth tomorrow to pursue your dream, could you do it effortlessly? If you hesitated, perhaps your ability to lead your own life has been weakened by your attachment to stuff.

Rule Three: Rule money. Don’t let money rule you.

Money is a resource that can be applied when leading your life. You can use it to reduce discomforts, focus on meaningful work and apply it to help you learn and improve. But if you’re living paycheck to paycheck, the money is in control.

Here are some goals to put yourself in a position to rule the money in your life:

* Maintain one year of emergency funds in the bank.
* Your lifestyle should expand at a slower rate than your income grows.
* Be able to drastically reduce your expenditures if needed.

Financial freedom doesn’t mean the ability to buy everything you could desire or live in luxury. It means that money becomes a tool and not a distraction in leading your life.

Rule Four: You come first in relationships.

Do you know people that can’t stand being single? They get out of one bad relationship only to jump into the next.

Why? Because they put too much of their needs dependent on that other person. Without emotional and possibly financial support, they can’t survive.

In any relationship you need to be the person that comes first. That means that while you might enjoy the relationship, it doesn’t become the major purpose in your life.

Your purpose and leading your life must come before any relationship you enter. The surprising fact is that when you do this, you are able to have healthier personal and intimate relationships because there is no need for jealousy or possession.

Rule Five: Never outsource your thinking.

“You can split up food between men, but each man must digest it individually.” – Howard Roark in The Fountainhead.

Leading your own life means leading your own beliefs. It means never accepting anything unless you can filter it through your reasoning and find it to be true. Think critically about everything in life. Chances are there are a lot of indigested thoughts floating around trying to bypass your mind and go straight to your gut.

Rule Six: Anything you lack can be trained.

Never accept a fatalistic view of life. So you’ve been told you lack the intelligence, willpower, strength or charisma to do something? Ignore them. So you’ve told yourself that you lack the talent? Ignore yourself.

Begin with the assumption that anything can be trained and you’ll find few exceptions. I used to be a shy, introverted kid. Recently some friends described me as an extreme extrovert, being unafraid to meet new people and having honed my abilities to speak in front of crowds. Begin with the belief that you have no idea where your talents are until you train them.

Rule Seven: Purpose comes from your creative faculties.

Want to know what your purpose in life is? Simple. Hold your hands in front of you. Now look at them. There is your purpose and means to do it.

Purpose is your ability to take the creative energies you have and communicating them with the world. You and I might pick different mediums, but the act of purpose is exactly the same. You could be a manager crafting the art of dealing with people, a programmer crafting the knowledge of algorithms or an entrepreneur crafting the art of a business.

Don’t worry if you haven’t found the right medium. Once you feel that great purpose for your life and it comes from within, that is your greatest asset. With that belief you are the leader of your own life.

Article from: Pick the Brain

Avocadoooooo

I love avocados!

Avocados are great as guacamole, in salads, alone with a little salt and pepper, in sandwhiches, etc. Here are some avocado facts:

1) Avocados are a fruit, not a vegetable, belonging to the genus Persea in the Lauraceae family.
2) Avocados are sodium- and cholesterol-free and have only five grams of fat per serving, most of it the monounsaturated kind.
3) Brazilians add avocados to ice cream
4) Filipinos puree avocados with sugar and milk for a dessert drink.
5) Avocado is a corruption of the Spanish word aguacate, which is in turn a corruption of the Aztec word ahuacatl.

Some tips on selecting a ripe avocado:
*The best way to tell if an avocado is ready for immediate use is to gently squeeze the fruit in the palm of your hand. Ripe, ready-to-eat fruit will be firm yet will yield to gentle pressure.
*Color alone may not tell the whole story. The Hass avocado will turn dark green or black as it ripens, but other varieties retain their light-green skin even when ripe.
*Avoid fruit with dark blemishes on the skin or over soft fruit.

I wish I had known all this when I bought some very unripe avocados. I went to go open one and it was as hard as a rock. I am still waiting for the other to ripen. :o(

buddha pears, how amazing!

"Buddha shaped pears are seen in an orchard in Weixian county, Hebei province September 10, 2009. Hao Xianzhang, a local famer, spent six years to perfect the process by growing the pears inside moulds, local media reported. The pears cost around 50 yuan (7.32 USD) each. Picture taken September 10, 2009."

I would never have imagined this was even possible. Too amazing!

new flickr photos shortly

This evening some new flickr photos will be put up. SO look out for them, there will be some nice ones from the countryside in Uruguay. Gracias!

Spring

It is Spring and I am loving it! The days are longer and warmer. Everyone seems so much happier. I definitely walk with a little more spring in my step. How could you not? Summer is my favorite season, but I must admit, there is something about Spring. To me it represents life, hope, expectations, peace, joy, and love.

the fear

Imagine now being affraid of failing or of consecuences. What if we just went for what we wanted in life with total confidence and certainty that things will workout in the end? Or even better than what we could ever imagine. Last few days I have come to a realization. Life is amazing and we are able to do anything we set our minds and hearts on. We just need to believe in ourselves and not doubt ourselves for even a minute. We need to believe in ourselves 100%! If you really want somthing and it will make you happy you have to go for it, before it is too late. because there will come a time when it will be "too late" and that is when regret sinks in and contaminates you.

Fear is something that should never hold you back from anything. Ever!

This realization has brought me a lot of peace and hope. I am optimistic.

This is what I'm talking bout'

Haruki Murakami is by far my favorite author, I can relate to his work in a way I have not been able to with other writers. He is a genius. "What I Talk About When I Talke About Running" is easy to read and words soak into me as if I were writing the book. I would reccomend anyone to ready this and any book by him. His work is poetry.

Acupuncture

Acupuncture, originally uploaded by Lorena Espiga.

This is what it is all about! Acupuncture is changing my life. I wish more people would try it. I will post some information on this incredible new found experience.

Cupcakes

CUPCAKES

Creative cupcakes. I am fascinated by the designs people are doing on cupcakes now a days. They are even being used as a "cake" for weddings and big events. They have something about them, they are so small and cute and fluffy, that you can't help but want to bite into one. YUM!

When I was in New york last year (exactly one year ago) I went to Billy's Bakery and as soon as I walked in almost died with the heavenly smell. When you walk in this warm, sweet, and almost magical air envelopes you and makes you feel like you are in heaven. It is hard to choose just one to eat, so the safest thing to do is to at least get 2. Smooth and fluffy and creamy. Delicious!

When I was younger I remember cupcakes were around but they were at a different level, they were plane and simple. Chocolate or vanilla cupcakes with chocolate or vanilla icing. Cupcakes are definelty in! All I can honestly say is that they have not only gotten prettier and more creative, I think they are more scrumptous!

Here we go...I am starting a whole new take on my blog, I will leave what I have put up for now and as I change the themes and feel of my blog I will later delete this. I have been inspired by a lot of other blogs on the web and would really like to show people how I see the world, and maybe this will also help me to see things in another light. Change my perceived perception.

I am looking forward to mixing things up and adding arty things, photography, animals (especially dogs and cats), and keep everyone up to date on my latest photography project. Tonight will be my first first official new themed blog, so look out for it. :o) Exciting!! I added the photo above, it is on my Flickr page if any of you want to take a look at some things I have already done. Here is the link: Lorena's Flickr Page Thanks! C u all later.

baby step

Step like a baby (little steps.)

I have started actually my path twards what I have been wanting for a while. Just the fact that I have gotten positive feedback from people is exciting and motivating to me. I feel alot more free and calm about it, but at the same time positive and enthusiastic.

I have tons of creative ideas going on in my head with regards to projects and personal growth. The fact of the matter is I don't want to conform to the cultural ideal of having a 9 to 5 job, a car, a house, etc. I don't want that for myself, maybe one day I will give in to it, but for now I am looking for something else, something more spiritually feeding. I need to prove that life isnt about that and that if someone wants something bad enough and they work hard at it they can make anything happen. I truly believe it is like this, and I feel this inside me so I am going to follow this feeling and just go with it. If it doesn't work well, at least I can say I tried. As I have realized, life is about the journey, enjoying the NOW as much as possible, and surrounding yourself with people you love, respect and are positive.

Lore

ana lu ir

ana lu ir, originally uploaded by Loreeña.

I miss the summer time :o(

Oh well....it will come around in no time again. I have uploaded new photos on Flickr. The picture above is one of them. I am quite pleased with the response I have gotten from my friends. Thanks guys. It makes me want to keep on going forward with photography and showing you that I can be really good. :o)

I really enjoy photography but I have realized that "fear" has been holding me back a lot. Fear of the photographs not being "good enough," fear of not being able to get better....fear in general. But I have come on top and put my Flickr page link on Facebook and hopefully I will be more at ease as time goes by. I want to update photos every week, add new ones and take new ones and get all excited about editing them and posting them. Little steps will lead to big changes I think. So I have already started to do "something" and that is a big deal for me.
Starting my 28 years of age on a good note.

Thank guys for the positive comments.

Luv ya!

Decision TIME!!!

OK! So I am at work right now, probably not the best place to be blogging considering I should be "working" but we will forget about that for now.

I have been thinking for the past 2 days regarding my status right now, work status. I don't like what I am doing, I haven't been doing anything I like at all since I am 17. I will be 28 in a week. I am only doing it as a means to an end. I need to get something new, a new plan, do something I truly love and have a passion for. I know what that is, or what they are. :o) So...I am going to get a plan together, give myself a budget, time frame, study time, etc. If I don't want to end up doing jobs I hate till the day I die I need to get my act together, and FAST!

I think in life sometimes we postpone things, but I don't think i can do that anymore. Time is passing by so fast, I am not going to get it back. If I don't do it now I don't see how I can ever do it. So in the next week a plan will come about and you will find out about it. So....stay tuned.

Chau!