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Mar 02

Movie vs. book: Which one do you prefer ?

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by Slavko

I wrote about this one on couple of forums some time ago, and each and every time an interesting discussion developed between the members. I myself have always been fan of the two, and learned to appreciate each of them by what they have to offer in terms of entertainment, as well as in terms of provoking powerful emotions, carrying a strong message, challenging you in a way so mysterious, yet so seductive. So what will you go with?
A movie or a book ? Which one do you prefer ?
 
Although it is always quite interesting to take a side on this one just for the sake of the argument, one can clearly see the extraordinary in both sides of the fence. You are a movie fanatic, and never quite had the time to catch up on your reading? Or you are quite the literate kind of fella, and short with movie titles? Well either way, it’s your loss.
 

Copyright (c) 123RF Stock Photos


 
Now first let us be clear with something; when I say movie, and try to compare with the realm of the written word, you are probably guessing that I’m not talking about some packed with action and tech effects blockbuster. No, god forbid. I’m rather talking about something that can at the least provoke some second thought.
 

Movie

 
So, you have your movie which is packed with great acting (the one that stays remembered), clever shooting, top notch directing, lines that literally leave you without words and all of that brings certain chemistry on the screen, captivates you in a way and engages you further on in giving some thought. It can provoke some deep emotion, raise some rather serious questions, and feed your intellectual as well as your curious nature. When you add the great story behind all of this, that’s it; you are hooked. Entertainment always comes as a great plus, and you’ve learned to love the thing.
 

Book

 
Now on the other hand you have a book. Now I’m not talking about a book that is the foundation upon which this movie was made, but a completely different thing (I’ve never quite understood the comparison between a book and a movie that share the same story- I mean, there cannot be any comparison whatsoever. The thing is that the both are good only when you take them as a separate thing, and the sharing of the story just ruins the whole idea. Ok, I must admit with some exceptions to this of course).

Oh yes, the book. Well, here you have pages and pages of lines and words that are open to interpretation, and of course most of all fantasy. With a book in your hands you have the freedom to go from one place to another in expanding you imagination, and that’s not even the extend of it. The written word can uplift your imagination to the point where new thoughts and ideas are rushing through, and you are enlightened in a way. Now the same goes here as with the movies- forget about the cheap lame publishing that goes for the low and cheap of emotions. We are talking about quality work here people.
 

Or both

 
It is always interesting how with only one reading you can embed the whole thing in your head for years and years to come. The emotions it provokes, and the ideas it forms in your head can be that powerful indeed. On the other hand, you have to see a movie like couple of times throughout the years in order to truly squeeze all the juices. Ok, sometimes maybe not, but my point is that a book can be more of a something you remember longer, when on the other hand a movie can make you far more engaged and provoke you more in a certain way when it comes to the shorter time frame. It can act as a quick injection that delivers the effects right away, as opposed to the book which is more of a slower, harder to digest kind of thing.
 
Here you come into the game. With a book you must engage yourself furthermore by giving some second thought, and in turn you get more thought provoked and after all satisfied, wanting for more at the end. The movie can act the same way, but it is more easily digested, and the time span of the emotions it awakes can be rather small. It can in turn be more powerful packed with all that music, and scenography that the book can never serve. In terms of aesthetics it can be the jewel, and bring you some new views which are always great.
On the other hand the book can supply you with the best of words, make you became more literate, gives you the upper hand on forming your ideas and thoughts more thoroughly. That’s way I cannot distance myself from one at the dispense of another.
 
Have you ever thought about that? What do you like more; a movie or a book? Which one tends to bring you more in terms of ideas, powerful lasting emotions and leave your intellectual as well as curious nature more satisfied?
 
 
 
 

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Feb 28

The little pieces add up to your understanding of success

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by Slavko

It’s a known practice for many, if not all of us to keep a close track on our progress in many aspects of life. However, the ones that we really focus on are not necessarily the most important ones when it comes to deciding priorities in life in general.
 
We all focus on finances, career, but somewhere along the way they know to hypnotize us per say, and make us forget about all the other aspects of life that we should be focusing on.
 
It is a picture that is most of all forced upon us by society, mass media, corporate way of thinking. And even though hard to believe, they somehow succeeded in embedding this picture in the minds of people for generations to come. And not trying to fight that mindset is what pushes us towards fully embracing it.
 
It is good to advance in these aspects of life, make no mistake about that; but we should be more selective when deciding our priorities. It plays a big part on the long run. Eventually over time we tap into some higher awareness and figure it all out, but doing that sooner can result in more versatile, yet fulfilled lifestyle and life in general.
 

Changing the focus for a better perspective

 
But how to actually change that mindset for good, and learn to appreciate it and therefore strive towards more important things in life? How to find that satisfaction in something that’s been off the radar for so long? How to start tilting towards more important things in life while ditching the addiction to society restrains?
 
Well the way I see it, we should start changing our priorities by simply focusing on smaller things in life. Start to appreciate the things you almost always put in the basket labeled ‘not important’ or just try to acknowledge them day by day in order to gain a better perspective.
 
Go and reminisce in retrospect about the things that you thought were not that important, and try to recognize them as success. Glimpse back for one month, maybe even more, and try to find something that is worth mentioning that you simply didn’t notice back then. You will come to realize that you’ve done a lot, and never even gave yourself the credit for that. You or maybe society decided that those things were not that important.
 
But here they are wrong. It’s the little things that sometimes make the progress, it’s the success in multiple aspects of life, some even though considered not important, that makes the big picture. And by acknowledging and doing so chances are you will start to appreciate things in life you never looked upon that way, and in a way have new found respect for yourself. That alone will in turn change you so much, that you will start to see yourself as very successful in life.
 
Start appreciate smaller scale success (at least what you now think that is), and you will learn how to impose the picture of success upon you, and see yourself in a different light. Than you will not only start to see things from a better perspective, but also have this believe that you can do whatever that is that you want.
 
Here is an exercise for you to do right away even today. Before you go to bed this night, try and think about five things that you did today which are worth mentioning. And you should not limit yourself for nothing. Anything and everything that you can recognize as being good. Everything that made your life better in any way.
 
Appreciate your healthy habits, your getting up early and going for some run, your planning of the weak ahead… Going out, meeting someone, playing on the piano just for yourself, finishing that book, seeing the progress you’ve made on the scale, solving the Rubik’s cube… Literally anything that pops on your mind. This way you will at least for a second shift your focus from the things you found important so far, and learn to search for every little thing in life that can make even the mildest of difference. It is a refresh worth taking. Over time you will learn to appreciate everything more, and hopefully have a more objective view on your goals, and at the end feel more successful in general.
 
 
 
 

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Feb 27

How to be healthy

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by Slavko

A roller coaster - that’s what life looks like in nowadays modern societies. Trapped in the same routine many people want to know how to be healthy, while squeezing most out of life. But it’s a process of trial and error, where we chase our tails around the maypole. Simply put, trying to live healthy nowadays is such a demanding process that in a way many are compelled to even try.
 
The food we are exposed to, the same regime of unhealthy habits we are more and more acquiring over time; the way society tilts towards unhealthy behavior; the way young people perceive the whole healthy living idea as something foreign to them; the high amounts of stress accumulating over time…
 
It’s like I said, a roller coaster. A disharmony of things overlapping each other in a way that should, but somehow is not compelling to most. Is it a general lethargy? Or a more linear approach towards problem solving nowadays? Really no one knows. But the thing is that once the benefits of healthy living are felt, the whole thing is seen from a different angle, and that first step seemed worth taking.
 
Being healthy is the most important thing of all. And to achieve that a healthy lifestyle is implied. You see those people eating right, jogging, swimming, going for a hike in the weekends, and think “well, it is not for everyone”, or “how they are pulling this off?” The thing is that one can in fact live healthy while having time for everything else in the world.
 

So how to be healthy?

 

  • Eating right

     
    This is really a cornerstone of health and wellbeing. You know the one “everything you put inside will reflect on you”. That’s really so. Imagine that your body is a temple, and in that temple you allow only the good things to enter. It’s more than hard, nowadays, to restrain from all that exposure to unhealthy food, and distance ourselves from the way everyone eats. But, doing that one step at a time will in turn result in healthy eating habits, that will improve your life more than you ever thought. Eat fruits and vegetables most of all, center your main meals on protein intake, and drink lots of water. Try and avoid anything that contains chemicals of any kind, and you will be amazed of the results.

    •  

  • Physical activity

     
    The second thing when someone asks how to be healthy is to be physically active. And here there is no excuse. We all have a lot going on; all of us claim that there is no time. But no matter how busy anyone is, taking less than an hour to make room for some exercise is crucial if we want to be healthy. Everything may go under this banner. Jogging, long walks, some stretching in the comfort of your own room… You name it, it really doesn’t matter. Everything that makes your hearth go faster will do the trick. Here is a link to “how important exercise really is” if you want to read more on the subject.

    •  

  • More time for yourself

     
    No, this does not imply solitude, but rather spending some time just for you. And what to do in this time frame? Well, you name it. Breath, meditate, read some book, let your thoughts drift away… What you find most suiting, really.

    •  

  • Rule out stress

     
    Yeah right, like you’ve never heard this before. But the thing is that many of us are presented with countless ways how to achieve this, and still doesn’t apply any. Try and do this for a change:
    Do something that will help you fight whatever stress you have even today. Go on the net and find something that helps, and instead of postponing it for tomorrow or some next day, do it today. It’s the first step that will pave the road.

    •  

  • Positive outlook on life

     
    Things are the way you see them. And that’s really it. The way you perceive everything around you will have a huge impact upon your wellbeing. And make no mistake; this is a fundamental rule about how to be healthy. Here is a trick - go and search for people that will contribute to your positive outlook upon the world. Find them, surround yourself with them, and this will make your views upon the world even more believable and real.

 
Wanting to live healthy is one thing, but doing so is completely another. However, the first step is to want that enough, and then learn how to do it. When you ask how to be healthy the answer is really simple. Just go and learn about it, and then implement your knowledge. And then it’s easier than you think. Here is homework for you- just go and see if you can implement some of the things above for starters. Chose something that you are more likely to stick to, and then you will come to realize that living healthy is not that hard at all. Before you know you will doing all the things mentioned above, and that will answer your question about how to be healthy.

 
 
 
 

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Feb 24

Work related stress

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by Slavko

work related stressWhen talking about stress related problems, the first thing one assumes is their connection with the work or work environment respectively. And more or less that’s really the case. No matter whether it is only general concern or something more complex, the thing is that every problem that occurs within the work space can affect people more than for example something happening outside of work.
 
So the focus falls on work related stress. Or at least some minor changes in mood that can for sure develop more and more if passed unaddressed.
 
On one hand jobs that are considered to be more complex, important and at some extent more volatile are known to be more stressful according to studies, than jobs that are seen as more laid back and less paid. But on the other hand, the same less stressful jobs are more risky, and more often than not poorly paid.

 

Study shows that less demanding jobs can bring the same amount of work stress

 
A study published last year in the journal “Occupational and Environmental Medicine” points out that exactly these kinds of jobs are the ones that give high amounts of stress, but in a slightly different way. The risk that comes along with having such poorly paid and supported job is the same as the one of having your head spinning from the efforts you put into high paid and more complex professions. Here maybe not directly, but the job is again effecting your well-being and.

 

Make some changes

 
In order for you to cope with this problem of stress management at work, few things are recommended. The Huffington post advises more free time for yourself. I agree completely with that, and may also add that spending time with your family, friends, or only your significant other may help quite a lot in relieving the stress.
 
Exercise can also come in handy, and if done on regular basis can in fact diminish your stress related problems and the excessive amounts of work stress. In general you should try and change your habits, Improve your lifestyle by diversifying it, try out things that will make you more relaxed. By doing that not only you will change your lifestyle, but rule out stress for good.
 
 
 
 
 

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Feb 22

Jogging towards a healthier lifestyle

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Posts, Sports and recreation

by Bojan

Jogging is really just a fancy word for a form of running, consisting of slowly and steadily focusing on maintaining a similar rhythm during longer distances, with intentions on building up stamina and resistance, while also a highly effective way of burning calories and to some extent losing weight, among the whole other number of positive stuff.
 
The role of jogging in one’s quest for a healthy lifestyle along with the eternal question “How to be healthy“, was rapidly popularized during the second half of the last century, probably as a counterweight against the almost parallel increase of the obesity rates in the world’s most developed countries.
 
So, the running i.e. jogging from a second nature of the earliest humans, crucial for their survival, through the ancient world and the mythical runner Pheidippides considered as a father of the marathon, through the middle ages, to this modern time, descended to a level where people have to constantly explain the benefits of jogging as one of the simplest, natural, elementary form of exercise. Isn’t that just downright sad…
 
But the cool thing is: it’s never really too late for you to engage in this fun activity. Although with age the bone structure and the bone connecting ligaments lose their strength and flexibility, the jogging as a light exercise for maintaining the form and the fitness, is not only totally safe, but also recommended. Of course, with considerably lower intensity and duration.
 
As for the others, younger ones, there is just no excuse for you not doing it already.
Why? Well, let’s see:
 

The benefits of jogging

 

    Sheer satisfaction of doing a favor to your body.

  • It’s no secret that after long jogging, you feel satisfied, almost proud of yourself, while also keeping the positive mood, ending with a smile on your face. It’s all caused by a certain chemicals called endorphins, which can cause that cheer euphoria at the end. So, getting high while doing something truly good for you, what are you waiting for?

    • Burning a lot of calories and possibly losing weight.

  • Jogging is in fact one of the most effective way of burning the excessive calories, and it’s certainly a funny one, ok, maybe not as funny as swimming, but still, while this fact alone, also puts you on good track with losing that extra pounds in your body, to achieve this you must do just one little simple and paradoxically, herculean, task, try to keep the number of calories you burn, higher than the ones you consume. If that condition is not fulfilled, not even running for three years like Forrest Gump is going to help here.
    With that in mind, mixing jogging with short sprinting is one of the best methods possible for fat loss. This high intensity interval exercise will additionally aid you in your battle with that annoying excessive fat.

    • Building up your stamina and resistance level while also toning the muscles.

  • There is not whole much explaining here, obviously the more you jog, the better for your stamina and body resistance, e.g. increased duration for the next jogging session.

    • Significantly lowering the triglyceride level, high blood pressure and blood sugar.

  • It’s well known that jogging has a positive effect on these conditions, in fact it’s the one of the recommended exercises for this purpose.

    • As a cardio work out.

  • Your hearth will pump more blood and oxygen, which makes you feel fresh and full with energy. Just a little fact you already probably know, also closely related to the first point I made in this list.

 
Unfortunately, nothing is perfect, (apparently :|), so you should also take a look on the few potential bad things.
 

The potential health hazards:

 

  • There are multiple recommendations against running excessively long distances, i.e. more than 40 miles, as there are high risks for an injury. Simply said, DON’T jog more than that. Try to listen to your body signals, your body knows best when you should take a break.
  • Fainting can be caused by high intensity jogging, complemented with a lack of water and oxygen. It’s really just a simple matter of passing over your body limits again.
  • Joints pain, in your knees and/or ankles, the most common form of jogging injury. Something that can be quite painful, and really common amongst joggers.

 

Fortunately, one can always take some recommended precautionary measures in order to put the risk of injuries to the minimum. Which are they? Read along.

 

Minimizing the chance of any injury:

 

  • Regular hydration, small amounts of water every 15-20 minutes. Keep in mind that too much water before or during the jogging can cause some discomfort.
  • Breathing regularly, you should try finding your rhythm and synchronize the breathing with the speed of jogging.
  • Warming exercise before and after. For beginners it’s usually best to start the jogging with some walking, gradually speeding up and maintaining the tempo to the end, with a similar gradual slowing down, and walking for a couple of minutes until the final stop.
  • Everyone with some past injuries, especially on knees and ankles, should ask for doctor’s permission, because of the ever present risk of aggravating the injury. Or maybe consider starting it slow on a treadmill, should be considerably safer. But, again, your doctor’s opinion on the matter should come first.
  • Running shoes can lessen the impact of the foot with the ground and probably save you from some injuries or pain on the long term. Especially if you’re jogging on rough terrains.

 

And that’s about it. The first couple of weeks can be the most difficult, feeling somewhat uncomfortable that period, while the brain and the body are still accustoming to the new routine. The best thing you can do is to take somebody with you, jogging with someone else is so much funnier than jogging alone. Although, there are certainly a bunch of people who prefer jogging alone, listening to music or some motivational speech on their phones or iPods… In the end, it doesn’t really matter, whatever rocks your boat.
And remember, it’s not just an opportunity for a better lifestyle, it’s an obligation towards your body, ergo yourself.

 

Have you been jogging before? How do you feel after it ?
Share your opinion with us in the comments below.
 
 
 
 
 

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