Not spending a penny for 300 days: An experiment

Control of household and discretionary spending is a crucial step for relationships and lifelong success. I want to share my transformative journey with you. I experienced a paradigm shift after making the decision to buy any non-necessary item for myself for 300 days.  

The idea to start this journey came to me while reading an article on minimalist living by some modern Japanese families. Initially, the journey did not originate from the idea of saving money but rather to learn self-control and appreciation of those things that bring value to my life.  Moreover, I was also moved by another article that addressed over consumption and the pressure placed on the environment. The mountains of trash accumulated in our daily lives and the resources used to produce goods and services have an irreversible impact on earth.

I began by restricting myself from buying shoes and clothes. This step forced me to look for old clothes in my wardrobe where I found many blouses and pants those weren’t worn from a long time. To my surprise that I found myself in a pile of clothes, a few of which I have not worn even once. I became aware of the valuable items that I already possess and was determined to put them to good use. The pile of unused outfits exhibited my insatiable quest for buying things without even knowing the utility of those items.  Next, I decided that I would not buy cosmetics (lipsticks, nail paint, eye liner and toiletries). I had an ample supply of that would last over 300 days without a need to purchase additional shampoos, conditioners, soaps or lotions. This was an example of how consumerism can become addictive.

I admit that I had a strong impulse to buy items that were appealing to my eyes such as a nice looking graphic t-shirt on sale. After starting my journey, I began to ask myself, “Is it a “nice-to-have” thing or a necessary thing?” When the answer was “nice-to-have” I continued along my way without purchasing that item.

I realized that nothing changed when I made the decision not to buy that item. My health, my daily life and above all happiness were not affected by saying no to the purchase.

After practicing this concept for four months, I realized that how consumerism can lead to compulsive shopping where I would purchase of things that I did not need. I found myself driven by the advertisements, coupons and sales to make buying decisions not based on need but a superficial desire.  The compulsory behaviors lead to an accumulation of non-necessary items or junk where I spent an enormous amount of money to follow trends. This was a vicious circle the resulted in an increase desire to purchase more things of the same variety.

 

The sad truth is that consumerism can lead men and women to measure success by the amount of money spent but not the overall value of the purchase. Instead of focusing on usefulness, people may become fixated on having things, whether or not the things contribute to healthy relationships and a stable life.

My goal for this winter holiday season is to use my energy, time and money for the people and causes that are important to me. Furthermore, I will develop a plan to divest myself of the desire of having more and seeking happiness from external things. I have discovered during this journey that happiness is not born from things you buy but those you care about.

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You are what you think about

The way to a healthy life begins with a healthy mind. How we think determines everything in our life. I am going to talk about the things which are not new but, the things that we all tend to forget and ignore altogether. All of us must try to have a control over our thoughts because they play a crucial role in deciding how our life is going to be. Too often we try to get things done in our way, get others to see things as we do them, seek to change the world around us and look to correct situations. We typically see problems and challenges happening to us only. We usually complain " Why do bad things happen to me only?" or "Why its me only who is suffering?". This is because we only tend to focus on what is going around.

We waste our energy in thinking and perceiving things in outside world. Rather than blaming things around us, we need to be more focused on what is going within us. 

Continue reading - http://www.articlegrow.com/You-are-what-you-think-about/a8966_1

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Soy- A health food?

You might have read that soy is very good for health. You will be surprised to know that around 100 years back it was considered unfit for eating. It has been found that soy is actually very hard on our body system, especially on the hormonal system. Soybean was considered as one of the sacred grains among wheat, barley, millet and rice in China centuries ago. It was considered sacred because it was very useful in crop rotation. The roots of soybean fix atmospheric nitrogen into useful nitrogen compounds which maintain the level of nitrogen in the soil for the growth of other crops. At that time soybean was not eaten. The soybean found it useful as food only after fermentation was discovered in the form of fermented food like soy-sauce and miso. 

The soy was not consumed before fermentation was discovered because Chinese found that soybean has got many natural toxins and these toxins cannot be destroyed in conventional cooking.

Continue reading-http://www.articlefit.com/Soy--A-health-food/a8968_1

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Why online courses should meet Accessibility guidelines

Accessibility/universal design means a service/product or an environment is usable by everyone to the greatest extent possible. This ensures equal access to learning material for students including ES Learners, those with disabilities, different learning styles, background and age.

Universal design ensures that all students have same opportunities to achieve an optimum level without using any adaptive devise. 

Universally designed learning environments are created to be accessible to everyone from the beginning. If  an online product/website meets the accessibility/UD criteria it will be automatically be ranked higher in search engines and get noticed in market/preferred by teachers.

Some features of universal accessible online product :

• Usable with assistive technology
• Navigation and Keyboarding(motor co-ordination disabilities)
• Customization of Graphics and Sounds(visual disabilities)
• Accessible search features
• Accessible Web pages(slow internet/ dial-up network)

The  federal legislation regarding accessibility of education:

• the guidelines of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 
• Sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act 1998 (P. L. 102-569).