What about this?

Are there only three simple rules in life? Is life really that straightforward and uncomplicated? I hardly think so, but these three rules command us to take action and to be in charge of our own lives. It’s a rather egocentric outlook on life, but we all know that thinking about things doesn’t make them happen and that the best intentions are often times just not good enough. Being proactive on all fronts of our lives pushes us to be better and helps us to strive towards the lives we want. After all is said and done, we can only blame ourselves if our lives didn’t evolve the way we’d hoped.

#1 – Commercial Break Workout
Take action while you watch television. This is the best of both worlds – watching television and working out. I don’t watch a lot of television, but after viewing Heidi Klum’s Commercial Breaks workout and breaking out the exercise mat, I won’t  feel quite as guilty on the days that I don’t hit the gym!

#2 – Sending Text Messages From Your Computer
If you’re sitting at your computer and need to text message someone, say your child who only communicates via texts or your boss who is in a meeting, there’s no need to get out your cell phone. You can send a text message from any computer to any cell phone that has instant messaging abilities. Practically all cell phones have an established email/text address, but you must know the phone’s service carrier first to figure out its email address. This is a great way for my parents’ generation, who are computer savvy, but not text savvy, to get in touch with family in a jiffy.

To set up an email contact for a cell phone:  Create a new contact/new address in your computer’s email program, e.g., Jane’s iPhone. Add the email address which consists of the phone’s 10 digit cell phone number (without spaces or dashes) and its service provider’s email information.*  Jane’s iPhone carrier is AT&T, so her cell phone’s email address looks like this: 5303214567@txt.att.net.

*Every phone carrier has a unique email suffix (all the information after the @ sign), so you will need to know the service provider for each particular phone. Click here for a link to service carriers’ suffixes.

Now when you want to send a contact a text message, just type in the name and the corresponding cell phone email address will pop up. Shortly after typing in your message and sending it, the contact will receive an instant message alert on their cell phone.

#3 – Reusing Floppy Disks
Got Junk? Help out British artist Nick Gentry by sending it his way. Check out these interesting portraits he made by reusing computer floppy disks. Mr. Gentry states on his website: “The life and personality of these objects are a big part of each artwork. If you’ve got some old junk or floppy disks, feel free to send them my way. I try to use objects that have come to the end of their useful life.”

#4 – Icy Wisdom
Recently my cousin told me her son was going to have his wisdom teeth removed. I shared with her a tip that one of my sons used to reduce his post-surgery swelling and then decided it was a tip worth sharing with all of you. After I brought my son home from the oral surgeon’s office, he went to his room and put on a hoodie-type sweatshirt. He then went to the freezer, grabbed a couple bags of frozen peas and settled himself down on the family room sofa to rest. When I checked to see how he was doing, I saw the bags of frozen peas nestled in between the outsides of his cheeks and the hood of his sweatshirt. He had pulled the drawstring of his hood tight, so that the frozen bags contoured around his face and stayed in place. He figured this way he could ice four quadrants all at once. Clever boy that son of mine!  Of course, frozen gel ice packs or bags of crushed ice would also work!

#5 – Your Lot in Life
“The important thing about your lot in life is whether you use it for building or parking.” – Unknown

Have a beautiful weekend!

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