Articles

Bike on a Trail Challenges

How to Overcome the Fear of Guilt

As Lorean and I are raising our daughter Madelyn, the choices we make for her seem to be non-stop. With my ties to psychology and obsessions with neurological development, I am known to overthink decisions every once in a while. Okay, I overthink things all the time according to Lorean as well as reality. We are doing our best to provide a loving environment. We are doing our best to help our daughter maintain her sense of peace while experiencing the world around her. Decisions including:

Food: times, temperatures, quantities, introductions, allergies, etc. Read more “How to Overcome the Fear of Guilt” →

Self-Awareness

Self Awareness

Self-awareness is a general term which fully encompasses the topics I have specified within this blog. As this content continues to grow; more importantly, as you continue to learn, do not forget to step back and re-assess how the knowledge and content relates to your sense of self. Self-awareness is a cyclic process of continuous growth. As children, we experience these cycles for the first time. I am watching my daughter, Madelyn, begin to experience more physical potentials (sitting and crawling) followed by her emotional experiences in response to them. Eventually she will be able to talk about her actions, and one day she will ask about the purpose of learning her next task. Read more “Self Awareness” →

Girl in a Crib before sleep Challenges

Sleep Training

I recently posted an article comparing the CIO (Cry It Out) group supporters to the Co-Sleeping supporters, and briefly discussed our daughter’s experience with both sleep plans. We are now 4 weeks into implementing a successful CIO bedtime and nap-time routine for our 11-month-old daughter. I have not seen a detailed example of how CIO plans are implemented, so I have decided to share the specifics of our plan. Read more “Sleep Training” →

Challenges

How to Efficiently Save For Retirement

We all owe gratitude to a job that provides a paycheck to support yourself, your family, and the economy. Some of that pay is dedicated to state taxes, federal taxes, social security, life insurance, healthcare plans, etc, and there is a chance some is invested toward retirement. Sometimes a company matches a percentage invested up to 3–6%, and usually we select that percentage to invest toward retirement without much thought. Eventually, we assume that we will retire, and our retirement will be supported. Read more “How to Efficiently Save For Retirement” →

Broken Glass Challenges

How To Save Money On Your New Cell Phone

I am a longtime family member of a Verizon family cell phone plan. In the past it was less expensive to be in a family plan rather than pay for individual plans, and free phone upgrades were included every two years. After discovering that phone upgrades were no longer included in the plan, I held on to my Motorola Droid Mini cell phone for 4 years before damaging my phone beyond repair. My goal was to save money on my new phone. Therefore, I wanted to find a phone that was less expensive than their cheapest option. Read more “How To Save Money On Your New Cell Phone” →

Workout Routine Health

Resistance Training Motivation for Women

I have spent some time gathering resources to motivate friends and family to start a resistance training routine. I value many different forms of exercise. However, resistance training provides added benefits which are not as easy to attain via alternative exercise plans. I have decided to integrate several external references, mostly by female authors, within my plea to encourage resistance training.

Fitness Magazine asked a great question: Why aren’t more women lifting weights? The answer to that question, as you may already know, is that many women are not motivated to start a resistance training routine out of fear of ‘bulking up’. Read more “Resistance Training Motivation for Women” →

Looking Forward Self-Awareness

Connecting With Your True Self

As young children we inherently embrace the present experience and our true self. Therefore, our happiest and most free moments of existence are often tied to our childhood. As a child I remember following a daily routine of exploring the fenced horse field with my pet dog, and that field felt like it was my world of existence. This is not because I confined myself to that space, but because I only had a faint awareness of everything beyond that space. There was no reason to explore anything beyond the field because there was so much to learn within that area. It was a pure and complete experience of my true self. Read more “Connecting With Your True Self” →

Children playing with constant television background noise Challenges

Children and Television Background Noise

My recent post discussed the objections which the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has regarding TV watching experience for infants and children. I shared my personal perspective which sided with the AAP. Feedback from the post has inspired me to continue researching the topic with a focus on non-direct television exposure (TV background noise). This article will summarize a few research studies as well some additional thoughts and perspectives on the topic. Read more “Children and Television Background Noise” →

Parenting

Applied Meditation

Before our daughter was born, I meditated for at least 30 minutes per day. My wife and I would often follow a guided meditation including a few hand motions and about 20 minutes of calm background music. The meditation would then include the five Reiki precepts:

Just for today, I am free from anger. I am free from worry.
I am humble. I am honest. I am compassionate toward myself and others.

Now that practice has been reduced to about 30 minutes per week. I have chosen to title this post ‘applied’ meditation because I have found that I am still practicing components of meditation each day. Read more “Applied Meditation” →