#even your toxic co workers or acquaintances

[todaysbird]

i think that redemption and second chances are super important. but please also know that sometimes people are just Really Fucking Bad and you don’t need to give them their seven hundredth olive branch you can safely declare them as an asshole

#/not birds #not saying you’re in the wrong for doing so obviously especially with abuse #but also like #even your toxic co workers or acquaintances #stop giving them chances when they’re dickheads!

[astolary]

hi I hope you are doing well!! Can I please get sova x agent!reader where reader was discouraged after failing a mission? Like they think they are the one cumbering the team. I just met some toxic teammates from the previous play so guess some comfort will help

𝐍𝐄𝐖𝐒 𝐅𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐇! 𝐈 𝐅𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐈𝐃𝐄 𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓 .

( Synopsis ) Having a bad day wasn’t an excuse to lash out anger at others, why couldn’t some people understand that?

( Author's Note ) Sometimes I wish people stop acting like Valorant is their entire life :') Super late response, but I hope you've been getting better teammates!

( Pairing ) Sova x GN! Agent Reader

( Content Warning ) Reyna's cranky. Reader goes through a realization.

( Word Count ) 1.2k+ words // NOT EDITED! 

Mental health was a subject nobody touched upon. It was a weakness that crumbled when poked with a butterfly's wing, going as far as making walls between the agents when relationships were trying to be created.

So when Fade, or the blackmailer, suddenly attacked the Protocol; Chaos transpired within the ranks.

This didn't stop Brimstone from trying to complete missions though. (With one of the missions eventually leading to the choice of recruiting the blackmailer.)

—

"I refuse."

Brimstone rubbed his forehead in frustration, understanding where Reyna's answer was coming from.

He specifically asked the two of you to escort Fade to the headquarters. The Strike team— a team your boyfriend put together, was resting in the infirmary for the time being. Those acquainted with creating the 'portal' were still in the process of figuring out the gears. And with the majority out on their daily missions, it left you and Reyna to welcome the new agent.

You disregarded your co-worker's harsh response behind you and accepted the task.

"Don't worry. We'll come back safe and sound, commander." You wore a tight-quipped smile, dreading the day to come.

Reyna didn't approve of your answer, you could tell.

—

"Welcome to the Protocol, yay." You mumbled lightly, a complete contrast to yourself just this morning. "We'll be leading you to where you'll be staying during your time in the Protocol. Viper decided that you would be filling out the papers tomorrow morning."

The blackmailer, who you now knew as Fade, nodded. She was taking in the environment around her, but you thought little of it.

Fade ignored how the Mexican behind her looked like she was about to murder a poor soul. (Which was you.)

When the tension appeared to be a little too much for her, she stood in between the both of you, acting as a barrier.

Fade resolved to initiate conversation. "Bad day?"

Reyna's eyes resplendently gleamed for the both of you to see. If it was out of malicious intent, you pretended to act clueless. "Every day I am not on the battlefield is a bad day."

"I see." (You were going to die, someone please get you out of there.)

The three of you arrived in front of Fade's room, some of her belongings stacked neatly on top of one another. Mentally cheering to yourself, you thought, maybe you'll actually get to live another day.

"If you need anything, my room is on the far end of the hall." You hurriedly sauntered away from the two women, opposite the direction of your room.

"Your room is the other way," Reyna kindly reminded you.

You stopped in your tracks, debating if you should just tell the truth. "I was going to drop by Breach's room to check in on him. Raze just wanted me to make sure he was just alright."

"We both know that's not what you were planning to do." She walked towards you. The aura she possessed was impressive, but if anything it became even more impressive if it was even possible. She stood inches away from your figure, lifting your chin up with a finger.

You did your best to steer the conversation. But everyone knew Reyna always got what she wanted, for the better. "It's none of your business, get lost."

"Oh?" She smirked, "Can you say that a bit louder, I can't hear you from all the way down there."

You opened your mouth to say something back until the both of you heard footsteps rounding the corner. The both of you paused your small quarrel, knowing who owned that foot pattern.

Brimstone appeared, tipping his hat to greet the both of you. "Good evening. Glad to know you're both back, I happened to have some spare time so I decided to greet the new agent. Does she happen to be inside her room?"

You nodded, "She's right over here actually."

You turned around, expecting the agent you and Reyna escorted to be there, watching everything unfold before her eyes.

She wasn't there. (Nope, you're not going to live another day.)

"Brimstone! She escaped while Reyna and (Name) were having their childish dispute! I tried tracking her down through the cameras, but all her prowlers blocked my sights." Cypher's voice echoed through the hallway.

You paled. You just failed the easiest mission given to you. A team of two, against one. She was just there and took the chance to slip away while you were fighting with Reyna.

"What!"

Brimstone ran towards Cypher's direction. "Reyna, (Name), get to my office and stay there until I come back!"

Reyna audibly scoffed, bumping shoulders with you. You'll never forget how she glared at you 100 feet under. "Muchas gracias, for wasting my time."

You blanked out. The blackmailer that caused the protocol to go haywire was gone. She slipped through the tiniest of cracks in your grasp.

For a moment, couldn't help but think, that it was mostly all your fault.

News Flash! You failed the side quest.

—

When everyone was out of sight, you silently crept to Sova's room. Reyna's bitter comments to you during your small mission came back in your head, filtering away the positive energy. The waterworks were pushing the dams open, overflowing, ready to spill out. You knocked on his door gently with a pattern only you two know, then the door instantly opened.

"(Name)?" Sova's dulcet voice entered your ears. Sova went on full alert when he took note of your watery eyes. He ushered you to get inside, making sure nobody followed you.

Sova tenderly wrapped his arms around your figure and closed the door with his foot. He guided you to sit on his bed, delicately swinging you side-to-side.

"I heard what happened, is everything alright?" He murmured, thumbs wiping the falling gems from your eyes.

"I just feel defeated that I failed such a minor mission. Now we're going to have our sleep schedule messed with again." You confessed. Remorse crept through you, realizing just how tired Sova is. Fade snuck out of the headquarters, and who knew where she went. The plan was back to phase one; to track Fade down.

Sova said nothing of it, and you appreciated it.

"Did Reyna get mad at you? Sage admitted to me during dinner that Reyna was ranting inside her room."

"She did. She decided to vent her anger on me since our mission didn't include any fighting. News flash! It was just a small side-mission, and she still got angry." You scrunched your eyebrows. Sova stayed silent, trying to listen to your side of the story.

"Sorry for getting mad at something so small," You laid idly in his arms, getting lost in a canvas of thoughts. "I guess I'm just discontent that she treats most of our friends harshly from time to time. With the fact that Fade snuck away while I was arguing with Reyna, I feel it's all my fault."

"No need to apologize for telling me how you feel." Sova kissed the top of your head. "Thank you for trusting me to go as much as to share this with me."

"The reason I am pursuing her down is for all of our safety, especially yours. No need to fret over failing your mission, it took months to find a lead to Fade. There is no surprise that she easily crept away." You nodded.

"It was an unfortunate series of events, nobody could predict what transpired. Aside from Astra, of course."

"You can stay in my room for the evening, we'll talk about it tomorrow." Sova pulled you to lay on his bed. He wrapped an arm around you and brought up the covers.

"Thank you..."

[ star chosen: extra . ]

"Can I scream?"

"Be my guest."

"HJFAFHAJHFJAHGJAJ— "

astolary 2022 — do not edit, repost, or translate.

#（ ❁ଓ.° ） astro! valorant #valorant #valorant headcanons #valorant protocol #valorant x reader #sova imagines #sova headcanons #sova x reader #valorant sova x reader #valorant sova #sova valorant

[ecoamerica]

Watch the 2024 American Climate Leadership Awards for High School Students now: https://youtu.be/5C-bb9PoRLc

The recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by student climate leaders! Join Aishah-Nyeta Brown & Jerome Foster II and be inspired by student climate leaders as we recognize the High School Student finalists. Watch now to find out which student received the $25,000 grand prize and top recognition!

#ACLA24 #ACLA24HighSchoolStudents #youtube #youtube video #climate leaders #climate solutions #climate action #climate and environment #climate #climate change #climate and health #climate blog #climate justice #climate news #weather and climate #environmental news #environment #environmental awareness #environment and health #environmental #environmental issues #environmental education #environmental justice #environmental protection #environmental health #high school students #high school #youth #youth of america #school

[gyanfashion]

Are You In A Toxic Friendship? 7 Red Flags You Should Never Ignore

Don’t let jealousy turn into sociopathic behavior and have a negative impact on your life. (Image: Shutterstock) Communication, setting limits, and seeking support from a trusted therapist or friend can help you navigate these difficult emotions and maintain healthy relationships. Are you dealing with jealousy in your friends, acquaintances, or even co-workers? It’s a common emotion that can…

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[ggukkieland]

📕CURRENT READS (2020 November)

🌹 Almost done with the list except for a few and I am excited to curate fics that are fitting for merry December 🎅❄🎄🤶 woot woot! 

I enjoyed this month’s reads - a mix of cyberpunk au, android au, werewolf aus, slice of life, exes and those on the verge of breaking up, and lots of beautifully-written drabbles which ended up in my list of favorites. 

Please send these authors some love by reblogging their content =)

✅ -  done reading   | S (smut) F (fluff) A (angst) 

🥕[Ongoing Series - to check weekly] 

Still reading the ongoing series from October’s reading list, whenever there is an update 😊.

Onyx @springbean - JJK | ABO universe, omega!reader, rouge!Alpha!Jungkook, roommates, cyberpunk au | A, F (this is so fascinating)

[2/?] years after the war, Soketh has become a bustling electric city of life and death. a world now filled with mystery, danger, and rules, y/n finds herself rooming with her old friend while trying to find herself in the city of dangerous dreams. however, her world is turned upside down when a rouge alpha enters their life seeking refuge and help…

Vulgar and Divine @yeoldontknow - JHS | elf!hoseok au, enemies to lovers, arranged marriage,  fantasy au, horror, suspense | A, S

[1/?] The Elf King buys your hand in marriage as an act of political strategy - you, the Banshee Priestess and your ability to forewarn death in exchange for your people’s return to your original home in the River Lands. You hate him for the way his kind make a mockery of death. Even before you meet him, you decide you will not grieve his death - not even a little. But then, on the day of your wedding you begin to weep - and it is not out of love or rapture.

Kitchen Confidential @glitter-kookiedough - KSJ | chef au, slow burn, enemies to lovers | A, F, S

[3/?] After years of annoying the life out of you, your rival, Kim Seokjin, pushes you a step too far and he knows it. As angry and resentful as you are, you don’t realize that something has been brewing under the surface for years. This weekend, that will change. 🌟 new chapter🌟

enemiestolovers drabble series @sincerelyourfangirl - JJK | enemies to lovers, fwb, co-workers | S, A, F

[3/?] Maybe the line between love and hate is thin. Especially when you’re in bed with Jungkook.

Challenge Accepted | What Happens When You’re not Careful | Risky Business

The Lost Luna @hobisbeautifulass - KTH | werewolf au, soulmate au, rival clans | F, A

[2/?] One Luna is born per a hundred-year cycle or so and only appears after the previous one has passed away.  This Luna was forced into hiding for seventeen years, but now she’s back, bloodthirsty, and ready to reclaim her throne.

Mutual Help @personasintro - JJK | bestfriend au, fwb au, fake dating | A, S, F

[24/?] in order for you to pretend to be his girlfriend, he helps you with your sexual desires ⏤ he calls it a mutual help

Bite Me @cheeky-kookie - PJM | vampire au | A, F, S

[1/?] Growing up, you always learned to look over your shoulder at night, hoping to never run into the catlike gleam of a vampires eyes. Yet, one night on your way home you find yourself staring into the very things you feared most. Dangerously beautiful and undeniably confident, Park Jimin was everything you knew you needed to stay away from, but he had other plans.

Nut Jobs @ironicarmy - OT7 | slice of life, crack, humor, friends au | S

[5/?] Eight friends. One terrible idea. A whole lot of trouble. Welcome to No Nut November.

Cherry Pickers @kimnjss - JJK | social media au, smau, gamer, fuckboi, vixen!reader, virgin!reader | F, S, A

[4/?] [updates daily] known for your body and surrounded by rumors about your sex life… rumors that he doesn’t think to doubt. until he’s meeting you… forced to realize there’s much more to you then the thonged shorts and lacy costumes.

(or, you’re a video vixen with an assumed identity and jungkook manages to see past it.)

Across the Board @out-of-jams - KTH | 20s, gambling, mafia au, enemies to lovers | S, A

[1/?] And now you’re indebted to the city’s most dangerous mob boss, forced to pay your dues in blood one way or another. With a gun pushed into your hands and your life at stake; once you’re in, you’re in. You’ll never get out.

🥕[Completed AUs/Series/Drabbles -  to read]

Through Time and Space @taephilia - 10.6k | KSJ | F, A, sci-fi, time travel au, adventure, doctor who au 

re: Untitled @to-star-lake - 18.8k | JJK | A, S, F, ceo au, arranged marriage, childhood acquaintance turned enemies (one of my favorites this month 🥰)  

01 02 03 04  ✅

Moral of the Story @suhdays - 7.7k | JHS | A, F, S, strangers to loves, soulmate au, OC can tell if people are telling the truth (really interesting)  ✅

In the Margins  @bonvoyagenoona - 31k | MYG | F, S, A, writer au, humor, enemies to friends to lovers, slow burn, editor!reader, writer!yoongi [also on AO3] 

01: Winter (5k words)   ✅ 02: Spring (6k words)  03: Summer (7k words)  04: Fall (13k words) 

Into my Bones @inkofyoongi - 15k | MYG | S, F, A, fwb to lovers, slice of life-ish, non-chronological (this is awesome 🌟) ✅

A Human Touch @snackhobi - 39.1k | KTH | F, S, robot au, android!taehyung 

01 ✅ 1.5  02 (will finish the rest of the chapters; this is so good)

Supply and Demand @scribblemetae - 5.7k | MYG | S, A, supernatural au, telepathic!myg, strangers to lovers, enemies to lovers  ✅

More than Us @jeongi - 11.3k | KTH | F, S, college au, roommate au, best friend to lovers

Moirai @jimlingss - 46.9k | KTH | F, A, isekai au, fantasy au, reborn as a villain in a video game

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 

Taking Flight @rmnamjoons - 15.2k | KNJ | S, sci-fi, post-apocalypse, rivals to friends to lovers au

Lining’s Silver @sketchguk - 14.1k | MYG | S, F, College au, idiots to lovers, enemies to lovers 

Even a Forest Fire Dies Out @9uk - 6.6k | JJK | A, F, exes au (a re-read) ✅

Southpaw @starshapedkookie - 30k | JJK | A, S, F, childhood friends, college au, boxer au, kinda e2l-ish (a re-read, that fight scene was just exhilarating) 🔥🥊 ✅

All That We Had @starlightauroras-writes - 13k | JJK | Heavy A, S, F, exes au, reunion, ex-husband!JK ✅ (author said there’ll be Pt2)

After the Honeymoon Fades @onherwings - 13k | MYG | A, S, F, established relationship (on the rocks), producer!yoongi, professor!OC ✅

Cozy Thief @bratkook - 5.1k | JJK | F, S, roommates au, mutual pining ✅

Quiet Baby by bratkook - 3.2k | JJK | S, established au, pwp, exhibitionism✅

Come Over by bratkook - 7.2k | JJK | S, pwp, neighbors au, voyeurism ✅

Tear You Apart by bratkook - 17.4k | KTH | S, pwp, slight horror, paranormal

01  ✅ 02 (to read)

Breathe @ephemeralkookie - 6.9k | JJK | A, S, F, exes au, multiple break-ups   ✅

Shield @namgukgalore  - 18.6k | JJK | F, S, slow burn, security guard!JJK, co-workers au ✅

Imitation of Art by namgukgalore - 9.6k | KTH | F, S, romance, friends to lovers

High School Reunion @btsarmy9593 - 6k | MYG | F, reunion, second chances ✅

One Night Ride by btsarmy9593 - 3.8k | JJK | F, hints of S, college!JK, noona, one night stand au ✅

Off the Table @fakeleaves - 11k | KNJ | A, F, exes to lovers  ✅

By its Cover @crystaljins - 38.9k | JHS | F, A, enemies to lovers, demon au, magic/supernatural, witch!reader 

01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 ✅

Your Eyes Tell @njkbangtan - 40k | JJK | A, F, mild S, soulmate au, roommates au, enemies to lovers, slow burn, a bit sugar baby au, lawyer!reader, artist!jungkook 

01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15   ✅

Popular-ish (drabble series) @hansolmates - 16.1k | JJK | F, S, A, popular!JJK, normie!reader, college au, fwb-ish

01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09  10 11 12 13  ✅ 🥰

One More Time (Finale) - 7.3k | reunion ✅ 

No One @dfdph - 21k | JJK | A, extreme sports, slice of life, epistolary (in form of letters), heavy angst (not kidding! with trigger warnings; written so beautifully but angst may not be for all) ✅

Repercussions: Suspenders, Satin and Stockings @pars-ley​ - 3.1k | MYG | S, pwp, established relationship ✅

Have Faith in Me @aroseforyoongi - 6.4k | KTH | S, F, werewolf au, soulmates au, bestfriends to lovers ✅

The Art of Boxing @seokiie -  3.1k | JJK | S, pwp, boxing au ✅

Beautiful Confession @btsracket - 6.3k | JJK | S, F, fake dating, friends to lovers  ✅

Tongue Tied @btssavedmylifeblr - 12k | PJM | S, F, minor A,  crack, demon au, idol verse, established relationship, pwp  ✅

Infamous @sugaxjpg - 12.5k | KTH | S, A, secret relationship au, fuckboy au  ✅

Familiar Stranger @army-author - 7.3k | KTH | F, friends to lovers, high school au, mixed-up identity  ✅

Strangers Again @minniefilms  - 11.4k |  JJK | A, F, enemies to lovers, best friend’s boyfriend

01 02 03 04 drabble ✅

Ruin Him @kingsuckjin​ - 3.5k | JJK | S, pwp, virgin!JK, coworker au ✅

Sex Education @extravaguk - 12k | JJK | S, F, A, brother’s best friend, virgin!OC (actually came out fluffier than expected 🥰)   ✅

In your Eyes @sweetaesuga - 10.6k | JJK | S, F, A, college au, fratboy au, ex-fuckboy jk, friends to lovers ✅

Drabble Series: In Your Heart [4/11] ✅

Lunar Violence @taetaesbaebaepsae - 7.4k | JJK | S, rock band au, werewolf au, ABO dynamics, strangers to lovers ✅

A Fallen Bookmark on a Thursday Afternoon @cutaepatootie​ - 19k | JJK | A, F, S, strangers to lovers, takes the same train every Thursday 😭 ✅

There You Are @joonkookiemonster - 13.4k | JJK | F, S, ABO dynamics, werewolf au  ✅

Here I Come @jiminssthetic - 3k | JJK | S, pwp, college au, friends to lovers ✅

Morning Rush @atdawnsuga - 3.2k | JJK | S, college au, exhibitionism, strangers ✅

(in)Satiable @thatlongspringnight - 11.3k | JJK | S, F, incubus au, lucid dreams ✅

The Red Pool @ksmuttherapy - 3.1k | JJK | S, horror, vampire au, dusk til dawn vibes

inTOXICated @sugarjaee - JJK | A, S, toxic relationship, college au, fboi au  

01 02 03 04 05 06  ✅

Inebriated [Jungkook’s POV] - 7.4k, read after chapter 4 ✅

You’re so Creepy (drabble series) @whatifyoulivelikethat  - 2k per member | OT7 | F, crack, university au, creepy girl au, (actually cute) 

There’s always at least one campus creepy girl. Or seven. Part 1 (1st kiss) Part 2 (2nd meeting)

kim namjoon - part i | part ii (fave)  ✅

kim seokjin - part i | part ii (fave)  ✅

min yoongi - part i | part ii  ✅

jung hoseok - part i | part ii (fave)  ✅

park jimin  - part i | part ii (fave)  ✅

kim taehyung  - part i | part ii ✅

jeon jungkook - part i | part ii  ✅

🥕[Drabbles]

Feeling @sometimeinjoon - 2.3k | JJK | demon JJK, established relationship, a bit slice-of-life | love this so much ✅🥰

Warmth @artaefact - 306 words | JJK | fluff, fantasy au, incandesce couple ✅

Too Close @taestybae​ - 1.4k words | JJK | expecting parents au, boxer au, angst  ✅

“i’m yours, in every way you’ll have me” by taestybae - 0.8k | KTH | S, A, fwb au ✅

“Are you Sure?” by taestybae - 2k | KTH | S, F, brother’s best friend | love this!  ✅ 🥰

“The strings are attached already” @taetaespeaches - 1.8k | KNJ | angst, fwb ✅

Deep End @latetaektalk - 2.2k | MYG | angst, fuckboy au, a bit of fluff  ✅

Game Boy @suqakoo - 2.7k | JJK | S, gamer au, enemies to lovers, a bit of fluff ✅🔥

Reese’s It’s All for You @joonkookiemonster - 3.1k | JJK | F, demon au, roommate au, Driving me Wild Halloween Drabble ✅

Transparent @kingsuckin - 793 words | JJK | S, pwp, established relationship, see-through JJK shirt 😉 ✅🔥

Savage Love @whatifyoulivelikethat - | JJK | S, pwp, OC is yoongi’s ex 😬 ✅

🌹  Drabbles by @zephyoongist​  - I love the way these are written. Just beautiful. Truly fluffy (like butterflies in my stomach) and also gives off a deep/for keeps type of dynamics between the characters:

you and yoongi had an unusual friendship... - 665 words | MYG | fluff, mutual pining, friends to lovers ✅🥰

kim taehyung had only met you a few times… - 1.2k | KTH | fluff, accidental pregnancy au ✅🥰 (a fave)

there wasn’t any particular reason as to why min yoongi chose you to be his mate - his luna… - 840 words | MYG | fluff, werewolf au, slice of life ✅🥰

jung hoseok found you when you were about to make the biggest mistake of your life… - 1.5k | JHS | fluff, runaway bride, slice of life | really cute ✅🥰

#ggukkiereadinglist #bts fanfic #bts angst #bts smut #bts fluff #bts x reader #bts drabbles #namjoon fanfic #seokjin fanfic #yoongi fanfic #hoseok fanfic #jimin fanfic #taehyung fanfic #jungkook fanfic #jungkook x reader #yoongi x reader #taehyung x reader #jimin x reader #namjoon x reader #hoseok x reader #seokjin x reader

[bishwonathpaudel999]

In simple terms the body has two very different and complex systems of energy producing sources. As energy is vital to the very existence of human activity and survival the two energy style depend on each other for support. This post will shows you what foods give you the most energy.

It occurs so very frequently - we resolve to go on with a health and physical fitness program with zest and likely much fanfare too;

however in the first week of going into the plan, everything peters out.

Why is it that we don’t stick with the diet plans, the morning jogging plans, the physical exercise plans that we make?

And what may we do to ensure we keep going with these plans, for our own sake and for the sake of the individuals that are dependent on us?

Are you eating simply to satisfy your appetite or to make your taste buds happy? Or are you eating in order to take better command of your life? In this post, we see how you are able to make your life much more optimal simply by making a point that you eat correctly.

Eating Healthy

All The Info On Eating For A Healthy Life

Chapter 1:The Basics

Energy is needed for the various functions like maintenance of growth, daily activities, exercise and many other movements or functions that are often taken for granted. These are shared between the two energy systems.

In today’s world, seldom do any health and fitness plans work. What’s the reason for their alarming rate of failure?

The world is a lot less healthful than it was two decades ago. Much

this is attributed to the altered food habits of individuals.

The Basics:

The primary and first to be used energy system is the aerobic system. This system uses oxygen for the function of the muscles

and does demand quite a lot from the general body system.

This demand usually increases the rate and depth of breathing and

blood supply mainly because of the corresponding increase of the heart rate.

When the body requires more energy which cannot be met due to the elevated need for more oxygen then the body system automatically switched to the anaerobic energy system. This system is able to produce energy without the need to use oxygen.

All this energy is generated through the suitable or correct consumption of foods. The foods consumed dictate the types of energy levels each individual is capable of producing.

Muscle fatigue usually occurs when all the energy sources are exhausted which can be attributed to a variety of reasons; the most

compelling one depends very much on the types of foods consumed.

There are several categories of foods that produce various

beneficial elements for the human body system and noting the ones that create or enhance the energy generating sources is

definitely useful to know. Therefore this knowledge should help the individual choose the right types of foods.

The aerobic system works by breaking down the carbohydrates,

fatty acids and amino acids in the foods consumed while the anaerobic system releases energy from the foods stored in the

body, usually during intense activity bouts.

If we hear about the failure of diets or gym plans all around us,

commonly it isn’t their fault. Commonly it is the fault of the

individuals who started with much commotion about going

through these plans, telling all their acquaintances and co-workers

about it, and then didn't abide by those programs.

The individuals who abandon the exercise or diet halfway do not

see the advantages, naturally, and everybody blames the plan.

What the world needs nowadays isn’t a fresh health or fitness

program or a diet, but it requires motivation. It needs the correct

sort of mind-set to follow through with whatever plan they have chosen to the very end.

If they can do that, most of the health issues that are related to life-

style situations will get to be outmoded. And we don’t have to visit

the corners of the earth to discover this motivation. The motivation

lies right here, inside us; we simply need to search it out and utilize it.

One generation ago, individuals wouldn't dream of picking up

whatever junk food they could get in order to feed their faces.

Nowadays, we do that so very casually. “I'm hungry” commonly

means “I want a burger or a hot dog, likely with chips on the side

and some cola.” And, “I am on a diet” means “I am on a chemically

ridden pill which will defeat my hunger and deprive my body of vitamins.” It's genuinely no wonder that we are facing so many health issues today.

Our health is an indicator of what we consume. The sorry condition that we're living in isn't an individual problem; it's a global issue. The world as a whole is eating incorrectly. Six in every

ten individuals in the US is overweight, and the number is going to be eight in every ten individuals by the time we hit 2015. Are we truly thinking about this? We aren’t. Even as you're studying this post, you likely have a packet of chips on the side.

Do you know that what you spent on that package, which is filling your stomach with some of the most toxic chemicals known to humanity, could instead have fed an emaciated youngster in Ruanda?

But it’s not simply about being philanthropic. It’s about ourselves

too. Yes, we have to be selfish. With such appalling health figures, aren’t we heading for doom? We're definitely not eating right.

Whatever excess baggage that brings - obesity and the assorted ill

health in its wake - we have to be prepared for it.

So the next time you see that a program has failed or is receiving a

lot of criticism, remember that the criticism isn’t probably because

the program stands on shaky ground. In most cases, it is because

people began with great intentions and then did not follow the

program as they should have.

Chapter 2:The Way You Think About Food

The most crucial thing that you need to keep your health and fitness

program alive - even more crucial than an instructor or a doctor - is your own motive.

You have to be determined to scrutinize the situation. So, you're

overweight and are looking at casting off a few pounds. No gym

instructor from anyplace in the world will help you if you don’t take

adequate measures to have the right diet and to stick to your routine

exercise.

Even if you're sick and are looking at treatment, no physician will

help if you aren’t determined in following the treatment platform,

whether it's taking the medication at the correct time or abstaining from some foods.

#nutrition #positive quotes #spirituality #workout #wood #quotes #writers on tumblr #cardio #fitness workoutfitness motivationfitness dancefitness musicfitness songsfitness exercisefitness at homefitness and lifestylefitness at home #bodybuilding #health & fitness #healthy eating #health #fitfood

[ammapreker]

CELIA ST. CLEMENT 19 / theater actress

[ content warning for alcoholism ]

an inescapable need for more ∘ blurry memories ∘ waking up inexplicably bruised ∘ forgetting yesterday ∘ tangled limbs ∘ stage lights spilling across an empty stage ∘ crumbling flower petals ∘ shakespeare’s words caressing careful tongues ∘ empty wine bottles rolling against hardwood floors » a dramatic creature with a mercurial temperament / some days, her jovial moods can conjure only the bright beam she makes herself into; others, the shadows hang closer, shrouding her in darkness / her sister’s mirror image, only just noticing the spidery cracks crawling through the glass / widely considered the dark shadow to clara’s gleaming light, but perhaps it was always the other way around (or, better yet, maybe neither of them could ever have made a claim at innocence) / drowns her traumas in alcohol even before scarlet floods her palms, a symbol of her guilt that can’t be washed away / sobs harden in her throat, echoes of how could we have— silenced roughly before she speaks the final words, makes them real / life, she begins to believe, woozy with alcohol and drugs as her feet drag across a stage, has lost all sense of reality / regret seeps into her bones, flooding her senses until only two artifacts of her former life remain: the flask hidden within her pockets and the lie that keeps them safe—for now.

connections » clara st. clement [twin sister] / shiloh spencer [co-actor]

needs » the rest of the murder crew / theater actors for the shakespeare festival / former (and/or current) lovers / drinking buddies

DAWSON HUGO 35 / songwriter

piano notes spilling from a dark room ∘ whispered temptations ∘ subtle humor ∘ hidden desires ∘ script-filled notebooks ∘ creeping loneliness ∘ a toe stepped carefully over the line ∘ secrets locked behind sealed lips ∘ slipping into the darkening night » a lesson on monetizing the thoughts swirling in his mind, the temptations beating in his heart / a man who came from just above nothing and now has everything he’s ever wanted—or does he? / a former keyboardist in a band that never made it who’s risen on the back of his own penned verses / doesn’t feel pity for the bandmates whose lives he once knew as well as his own, rarely seeing them after their fall / he knows he’s gifted, talented, creative—perhaps too well / even so, he feels safer in the shadows—unremembered by crowds, sought by artists wishing to give voice to his scrawls / a dreamer who plucked his dreams and thrust them into reality before finding they’d lost their glimmer / unsatisfied, and reconciled with it (or so he thinks) / jumps from girl to girl and song to song so often, throwing himself into each before his interest wanes / finds a girl for keeps, or so he thinks until another comes his way / pleas of just this once slowly burning away every line he’s never crossed / he steps, and steps, and steps (he thought he was better than this) / he’s drunk on a girl he shouldn’t be, losing himself to the toxicity / addiction’s never felt so sweet.

connections » birdie barnes [roommate & songwriting partner] / daisy howard [girlfriend]

needs » his former bandmates who may or may not hate him for ending up with a songwriting deal even after they crashed and burned (he was the keyboardist) / a brother who never quite got over living in his shadow / exes he’s fooled around with and inevitably left due to prolonged disinterest / friends in the record industry / friends in general / singers he might have worked with in the past

FRANCESCA MANCINI 21 / croupier

[ content warning for murder, hit & run ]

a bookcase filled with whodunnits ∘ expired contacts littering the trash can ∘ waking to an early dawn ∘ fervent “i told you so”’s ∘ a tendency to over-prepare ∘ stepford smiles finally loosening their grip ∘ a desperation for salvation ∘ crippling paranoia ∘ a sudden recklessness ∘ too smart for your own good » the clever girl gone sour, gone cold, gone fearful / once, she might have convinced herself that the bright future she saw before her could remain as it was—true, pure, incapable of being tarnished by any deed she might commit / (she hadn’t known, then, what she’d be capable of) / one moment, they’d been light as air, flooded with victory; the next, a crash had left them plummeting to the ground with no safety net / they keep the secret, cover their tracks—they know how, after all / she thinks, then, of all the crimes she’s witnessed, solved; what would i have done, she’d wondered, to not get caught / perhaps she’d always known that she’d find herself on the opposing side, another criminal aching to bury her secrets / they don’t bury them deep enough; i know what you did, the letters say, promising retribution with words unspoken / all she can think: what will i do to not get caught. 

connections » ludovica mancini [sister] / audrey astor, luna graves & the rest of mystery inc. [best friends]

needs » scooby doo-inspired request / co-workers for the illegal gambling den she’s currently working undercover at (with plans to expose them) to feel less guilty / exes galore / friends outside of the scooby gang who she’s likely distanced herself from as a result of what happened / literally anything, she’s completely open!

LIAM HANLON 31 / paralegal

[ content warning for death ]

newspaper pages tossed aside in a flurry ∘ clenched jaws ∘ pulsing migraines ∘ eyes glued to a phone screen ∘ a life passing by, unnoticed ∘ grasping to self-assurance as the world collapses into ruins ∘ burnt coffee ∘ time ticking endlessly away on a watch face ∘ brisk strides ∘ this cannot go on » a man consumed with a future that’s not his own / wants and dreams glisten upon the ladder he’s thrust himself upon, certain that the top will provide everything he wants—a name, a position, a surge of support swelling beneath him as he makes his own political strides / if he ever reaches the top; if he ever manages to pull himself from the outskirts of history into its center / currently a paralegal with dreams of a brighter future that’ll never come to fruition / driving himself mad with impatience and jealousy / stares at the ring on his fiancée’s hand and wonders if it would be better to leave, better to break up the monotony with a complete abandonment of his current life / the death of her sister dismantles any actions he might have taken; their inheritance of a two year old with only an aunt left to claim her submits them to mere fantasies never to be made real / the pressure mounts—the baby’s cries, zara’s grief, his mother’s new book—until the cracks begin to show / it’s only a matter of time before he breaks.

connections » zara şensoy [fiancée]

needs » siblings who are equally f*cked up with a mother whose parenting books delved a little too deeply into their childhoods / exes galore / friends. he’s a lot but he needs them / especially friends with children because he somehow has a baby now???

ROSCOE RYAN 21 / student

unquenchable curiosity ∘ obedient tongues ∘ 20/20 peripheral vision ∘ whispers quieting after stepping foot into a room ∘ a diary full of words unspoken ∘ burying a past with dulcet lies ∘ unrelenting pride ∘ a villain casting himself in the role of the observer, nothing more ∘ imminent betrayal » a boy born to trailer parks and unappeasable parents no, let’s rewrite the story, shall we? / a boy born beneath the glistening stars of los angeles (true) with parents unaffected by his presence (true) and consumed by the monotony of their daily lives (true) as heirs to a fortune passed down from his grandfather (lie) / the moment he steps within the bounded gates of ucla, he reinvents himself, sprinkling importance and wealth into a past bereft of both / the collections of photographs that hang upon his walls impress upon the viewer two facts / the first: the frat he’s grown in, thrived in, means everything to him / the second: his life, as he’d prefer it, began three years prior with his steps upon the college lawns / perfection blooms in every scene, every pose, even as whispers threaten to tarnish the gilded legacy he’s built / did you hear? the students gasp amongst each other, their gazes sliding across every boy decked in the letters of sigma chi / the rumors—hazing, terror, oh my god, is he—spread like wildfire / still, the kid won’t speak / still, guilt hovers above them all, awaiting a place to rest.

connections » pierce griffin [fraternity brother] / bambi wheeler [former friend & neighbor]

needs » frat boy crew (request to come!) / miscellaneous hook ups / old trailer park acquaintances he’ll pretend not to know / someone to tell him his frat almost put the blame on him for the hazing incident

SILAS GRAVES 24 / vampire bartender

last night’s glitter clinging to your skin ∘ hollow laughter ∘ cheshire grins ∘ jumping into pools fully clothed ∘ fake blood recipes ∘ coffins are rather comfy, you know ∘ locking memories away ∘ empty wine bottles cluttered around sinks ∘ gathering fog ∘ dark streets slick with rain ∘ sink your teeth in » a boy who glorifies in bringing the traits of the undead into the land of the living / is it all real, or just an act? that’s a secret sealed behind reddened lips, one he’ll take to his grave / you can only guess as rants regarding edward cullen spill between the would-be vampire and his audience, compelled—by curiosity, by magic, who can say?—to listen the dulcet tones of his voice uninhibited by the fangs curling around his teeth / believes himself untouchable, untethered—free / still, his past clings to him, pulling him backwards at every turn even as he crushes the memories that seek to undo him / he’s nothing more than this—a glitter-clad man longing to be a monster known from fables / untouchable, untethered to the reality that everyone else finds themselves bound to / that, there, is true freedom. 

connections » oskar björk [employer] / fleur zhao [being catfished by her]

needs » additional coworkers for the horror bar / exes, currents (flings and flirts) / people for him to argue with about the merits of edward cullen’s popularity amongst vampires / more people for the adoptive graves fam / friends who either embrace or ignore his weirdnesses / literally anything else

SPENCER LINDSAY 23 / con artist

ghosting™ ∘ sharp stilettos clacking on a subway car ∘ longing for a stranger’s touch ∘ swollen lips ∘ empty houses ∘ discarded half-smoked cigarettes ∘ strawberry milkshakes ∘ silent screams ∘ hope lingering just out of reach ∘ a crunch of glass underfoot ∘ never look back » a ghost, haunting the remnants of her former life / past spencer lindsay: beautiful, popular, a bright future gleaming in her eager palms / current spencer lindsay: beautiful, nameless, stolen money and jewelry sparkling against the bright gleam of a street lamp / the division: a fortune nearly lost, a mother’s desperate act, a stepfather’s final breath / her father’s fraud charges and subsequent rush out of the us barely merited a recollection outside her social circle; her mother’s murder trial, however, summoned the attention of los angeles and it held her captive / her mother loses; she disappears in the night—door left open, a broken wine glass scattered in pieces on the living room floor, a closet full of clothes she couldn’t carry with her / no investigation can cease the steady stream of rumors even now—dead, killed, gone / she waits in the wings, knowing she should never have come back, unable to keep herself away.

connections » nicholas hawthorne [ex-boyfriend] / benji wyatt [ex-boyfriend] / chloe valentine [con besties] / willa de witte [former best friend]

needs » the o.c. crew (request coming shortly) / people to steal from / the bling ring crew (request to come!) / exes from her high school days / people to hook up with while she pines away / people she f*cked over back in the day / people she’s f*cking over now / someone who knows her by one of her other aliases and who she may or may not have stolen from (oops) / people who/whose families her dad stole from back in the day who might be holding a grudge

TRISTAN BENNET 22 / runaway

crooked smiles ∘ unspoken desperation ∘ dreams warring against doubt ∘ ripping away old skins ∘ the growing ease of a lie ∘ worn sneakers ∘ festering distrust ∘ crumpled bills stuffed into pockets ∘ rush of adrenaline ∘ being watched ∘ shoes pounding against asphalt » formerly a texas boy, he’s since shed his accent, his history, his very own name—the only truth he’s maintained is his sister / they stole away in the night on the eve of the wedding their parents had forced upon her, giving up their lives as they knew them for a chance at freedom / freedom is: devouring every matt damon and ben affleck movie they can get their hands on, learning the twists of the boston accents they’ve affected; bringing their sister back from the dead as their “connection” to los angeles, forcing their memories of her into the role of hopeful young actress dreaming of the big screen; learning to force smiles upon his lips as nerves eat away at the blessed happiness that had encompassed him upon their escape / it’s terrifying in its splendor, in its ephemerality / he thinks: if they find out. he thinks: they can’t. / spends his nights waking to every footstep outside the motel door and his days jumping at each and every craigslist ad he can get his hands on / the money he’d stolen as a second thought dwindles in his palms and he’s starved for safety, for survival / he thinks: what might i do, for that. 

connections » juliet bennet [sister] / the shakespeare theatre crew [he works part-time backstage]

needs » friends are likely in short supply since he tends to keep himself ~under the radar~, but he should have some anyway / maybe a drug dealer for him to get involved with to make more $$$ / people with some fun craigslist requests for interesting threads / potential make outs now that he’s ~free~ and able to explore his sexuality (he’s a virgin, please be gentle) before he ghosts them

#throwshaderp #m: development #please kill me if i make any more.

[ecoamerica]

Watch the American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 now: https://youtu.be/bWiW4Rp8vF0?feature=shared

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#ACLA24 #ACLA24Leaders #youtube #youtube video #climate leaders #climate solutions #climate action #climate and environment #climate #climate change #climate and health #climate blog #climate justice #climate news #weather and climate #environmental news #environment #environmental awareness #environment and health #environmental #environmental issues #environmental justice #environment protection #environmental health #Youtube

[heartbxnd-blog]

RULES: REPOST, DON’T REBLOG. JUST PICK A MUSE OF YOURS AND FILL IT OUT.

MUSE: Morty - Angelos dos Santos

BASICS

▸ IS YOUR MUSE TALL/SHORT/AVERAGE?   I’d say he is of an average height, for those around him in Johto!

▸ ARE THEY OKAY WITH THEIR HEIGHT?   Yes! Height has never been really a problem for him.

▸ WHAT’S THEIR HAIR LIKE?   It is a long straight golden blond color, stopping at the height of his shoulders. His hair feels incredibly smooth to the touch, and there is a large volume of it. Morty wears a bandana in order to prevent his hair from covering his face, and oscuring his view. His hair might be his favorite aspect about his looks - he takes immense pride in it, so he is oftenly tending to it. He sheds a lot of hair as well, but it grows pretty fast.

▸ DO THEY SPEND A LOT OF TIME ON THEIR HAIR/WITH THEIR GROOMING?   During the mornings - right after he wakes up, his hair looks quite fluffed up. Needless to say how much time, he tends to spend on it - in order to recover that straight look on himself.

▸ DOES YOUR MUSE CARE ABOUT THEIR APPEARANCE?   Morty is quite self conscious about his looks, it may not reflect in his fashion sense. But on closer inspection, the signs of someone who puts effort into caring for his appearance are clear. The first thing to notice is that, he doesn’t have any hair on his body - which gives him a younger look to himself.

▸ DOES YOUR MUSE CARE ABOUT WHAT OTHERS THINK ABOUT THEM?   To a certain extent. Most things and comments fly right past him, but there are a handful of others that can easily get under his skin. From comparing him to a medium, comments that make him look scary/terrifying to others (he has grown tired of hearing these things- you could say he feels burned out), point out his eyes, amongst a few others.

PREFERENCES

▸ INDOORS OR OUTDOORS?   Outdoors, but he is way more an urban person. So most things he likes to do, are within a city/town. He can go camping, no problem about these activities taking place within the wilderness - but it is far from something he would willingly subject himself for.

▸ RAIN OR SUNSHINE?   Sunshine! It is warm, and comforting. Even though he wouldn’t be basking himself within it or sunbathing. He tends to burn his skin and tan pretty easily.

▸ FOREST OR BEACH?   The beach.

▸ PRECIOUS METALS OR GEMS?  Gems, because they are way more eye catching for him.

▸ FLOWERS OR PERFUMES?   Smell is something that Morty can’t notice/pick up easily. As such, flowers and perfume need a very strong scent for him to even acknowledge it. He is extremely self conscious about his smell, he fears of others sensing something bad coming from him. So he tends to exaggerate on perfumes -  and very strong ones as well.

▸ PERSONALITY OR APPEARANCE?  It depends on the point of his life. Prior to the PWT, Morty is someone who values personality above anything else. But after that? When it comes to dates/flings, he is exclusively basing them all off the person’s appearance.

▸ BEING ALONE OR BEING IN A CROWD?   Being in a crowd, in fact. His biggest fear, is all about solitude.

▸ ORDER OR ANARCHY?   Order

▸ PAINFUL TRUTHS OR WHITE LIES?  Painful truths. In fact, most of the time - he is the one who delivers the harshest truths to others. He can’t tell lies.

▸ SCIENCE OR MAGIC?   Magic, even though he is skeptical about most things - deemed mythical.

▸ PEACE OR CONFLICT?   Peace, even though he is constantly butting heads with others - and generating conflicts.

▸ NIGHT OR DAY?   Day. Even though his pokemon are the strongest, during night.

▸ DUSK OR DAWN?   Dawn, he enjoys waking up early to watch the sunrise.

▸ WARMTH OR COLD?  Warmth, he loves Summer!

▸ MANY ACQUAINTANCES OR A FEW CLOSE FRIENDS?  Few close friends.

▸ READING OR PLAYING A GAME?  Reading, besides watching soap operas or contests during his free time. Morty loves reading ancient texts, about johtonian traditions and folklore.

QUESTIONNAIRE

▸ WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR MUSE’S BAD HABITS?   Morty tends to be quite envious towards others, be it because of their good relationship with their father or even being able experience life to its fullest. This fact is being covered up, by his general moodiness. If that wasn’t enough, Morty is a pretty toxic co-worker. Definetely someone who you wouldn’t want to have as a colleague.

▸ HAS YOUR MUSE LOST ANYONE CLOSE TO THEM? HOW HAS IT AFFECTED THEM?   Since the age of 13, he has been disowned from his family. Meaning all of his relatives, are pretty much lost for him. If that wasn’t enough, by the time PWT takes place - his Dunsparce (the very first pokemon he has ever had any contact and owned. Brought it alongside him, when he fled from home.) has passed away due to its age.

▸ WHAT ARE SOME FOND MEMORIES YOUR MUSE HAS?   Morty has lost a good chunk of his memories, since his incident with a wild Shedinja. But there are still a few left within him. Those include the very last good christmas he had with his family, watching for the very first time one of Wallace’s performances when he was still in the streets, being approved to take over the gym leader position, befriending Eusine and Zuki, his very first travel abroad - which was to Hoenn, his gym’s rebuilding, Ethan’s challenge battle.

▸ IS IT EASY FOR YOUR MUSE TO KILL?   It depends on the context. But in a sense, killing someone is at the very bottom of his a list of his options. He wouldn’t kill someone, unless it was the only way to prevent any further chaos/danger to those around him. As for his loved one? Depending on the story and development, he could be convinced/influenced to take someone’s life.

▸ WHAT’S IT LIKE WHEN YOUR MUSE BREAKS DOWN?   He breaks down because the pain within himself is unberable, this is the only instance where he will try to seek out solitude. Because he doesn’t want others to see him, in a vulnerable state and situation. Morty is in a crying and sobbing state, either laying down on a surface and curled up - or sitting with an evident defeated expression on himself.

▸ IS YOUR MUSE CAPABLE OF TRUSTING SOMEONE WITH THEIR LIFE?   Yes it is. People like Eusine, Zuki and his significant other - are the only ones who he would do such thing.

▸ WHAT’S YOUR MUSE LIKE WHEN THEY’RE IN LOVE?   Morty is full on dedicated to it, he fully embraces this feeling - which is something new for him. Morty wants to experience it all, to its fullest. He may come off clingy and quite nervous at times, but this is only at the start of their relationship. Morty is quite touch starved, so this is something he most definetely is seeking out the most in their early stages. He shows himself to be extremely loyal (perhaps too much?), trustworthy, supportive (definetely an enabler, tkae it as good or bad) and affectionate during the relationship.

tagged by: @aquaffensive​ TYSM <3333

tagging: @auraguardians​, @thetreeofbeginning​, @tm27s​, @littlesilverplatinum​, @trainerfromjohto​

#ooc / #; dash games #leveling up #thank you for the tag!

[honeygrip]

Untitled...

I haven’t written anything in a LONG time.

As cathartic as writing has always been for me, I grew fatigued by writing about bleak subject matter.

I staved off writing for as long as I could.

Today however, I felt this immense craving, it was time for me to say something.

I’ve been grappling with how to admit this, finding the right words to convey to the right “audience” of people who would be compassionate and nonjudgmental enough to understand, trying to come to terms with how in depth I wanted to go here with this subject matter altogether, because it is so personal to me. Because it is something, I’ve worked so hard to not have to acknowledge, and because I find most people really don’t “understand”.

Depression is not for everyone.

The Depression discussion isn’t for your casual acquaintances. Its not for your Facebook statuses. It’s not a conversation you want to have with your co-workers or your boss or your family or even your “closest” friends. It’s not an ice breaker. And It’s not how you reveal yourself charmingly in the early phases of a budding new relationship.

It’s not a dialogue you want to start when you’re unsure of how others are going to react. It’s not an exchange you want to engage in when you are anxiously terrified about what is happening to you but still polite enough to not want to worry anyone else around you.

I didn’t want to be babied. I didn’t want to be hospitalized. I didn’t want people to be afraid of me or worse- abandon me completely. There were times when I was scared for my life because I felt so hopeless. But in the next second, I would know, that I didn’t want to acknowledge that idea in any real way because once I did, I would be labeled and stigmatized.

ESPECIALLY WITHIN THE BLACK COMMUNITY.

And So, I isolated myself. It was time for me to put together a plan of action to save my own life. I reached out to my FB community very vaguely asking for help with finding a good (and affordable) therapist.

That was the easiest part of the last few months of my life. The QUEST that began to find a quality, licensed therapist inside of my network of shitty insurance who was taking new patients and wasn’t demanding all sorts of other large exorbitant payments from me on top of my copay was exhausting.

You’d think with all these health and mental wellness experts abound, that it would be easier-but it wasn’t. I am fortunate enough to have a decent paying job, and since I don’t directly benefit from any magical government subsidies, it seemed like it was harder to find adequate resources.

I was... NO, I am mentally ill. But since I haven’t had a complete mental breakdown, or done something so drastically dangerous to myself or someone else, I was... and am NOT considered- a high priority case.

I am a perfectly functioning adult, dying inside, right here in plain sight.

Truth is, I couldn’t afford a “mental breakdown” even if I tried. Although, a full on “mental breakdown” does sound glorious...

A few days locked up in a hospital, resting, highly medicated and regularly monitored actually sounds fucking delightful!

But I had life here, my beautiful 10 year old daughter, my bills and my commitment to my daily obligations to consider. If I stopped working, EVERYTHING in my life would stop working. That desperate realization alone was enough to keep going.

My pride and my misanthropic attitude made it difficult for me to find people “close” enough to talk to. It’s hard for me (personally) to ask for help. I understand everyone is busy, EVERYONE IS COPING. I’m an empath, so I already know this about other people and understand it well. I never want to be a burden to anyone. When you’re in the depths of a depression, like I was (I’m slowly coming out of it now) I wasn’t sure if I was really hitting bottom enough that I needed help. I just knew I was exhausted all the time, that my heart is completely broken and that I felt so stagnant that I just couldn’t figure out a good reason to go on.

I was so desperate. Something had to change, something had to stop, and it needed to happen quickly.

I couldn’t be fake about it anymore.

Couldn’t be preoccupied by a social life because I wasn’t living. I didn’t (still don’t) want to go out. I don’t want to be seen or social. And I didn’t want to let anyone in.

People say they are “always there” if you need them but they’re not. Especially when “there” is a dank, dark place that’s not particularly positive a majority of the time. So naturally, “Friendships” imploded.

Relationshits (not a typo) never existed to begin with.

I would get text messages occasionally that I couldn’t answer. I literally just could not (be bothered to) answer.

Some check-ins weren’t personal enough to tell them the truth.

Some were too personal to go into depth with.

If I tell you, I’m not doing too well and you press further (as a good friend would) how could I dance my way around delving deeper without offending you?

What about when I tell you and your response is as vague and generally unsupportive as some that I received...

I was at a complete standstill.

I didn’t and still don’t want prayers or positive mantras, suggestions on books to read, meditations to try. And Thank you!

But NO.

I needed definitive plans of action and new strategies to attack this and NO ONE could give me that but me.

Isolation is NOT good but I needed to be truly alone with myself. Not distracting myself with nonsense or nonsense people and not self medicating.

I thank God that I wasn’t truly suicidal, although some days, I wasn’t sure. For as hopeless as I felt, I was able to keep my wits about me for the most part, I was resilient enough to focus on getting into some sort of therapy and committing myself whole soul and heartedly to getting well.

My first few sessions with my therapist felt a bit pointless. I’d just sit here and talk and talk and talk. She’d say something wise, I’d cry like a blubbering lunatic and then she’d send me on my way.

My therapist was also adamant about me going to a psychiatrist and getting on medication. I was resisting because I didn’t want to admit that I needed antidepressants to be well and I also didn’t want to have to go back out on another QUEST to find another doctor in my network of shitty insurance who was taking on new patients and wasn’t going to charge me violent rates of $250-$350 an hour for a consultation.

Finding a psychiatrist in my network of shitty insurance took me another month and a half, which had me going to therapy wondering if it was ever going to work because I needed the 2 for 1 service to begin to feel relief.

I was suffering through insomnia every night. That tremendous pressure on my chest of wanting to cry but not being able to. Of wanting to breathe but not being able to, of wanting to STOP crying but not being able to.

Because I wasn’t sleeping, I’d be a zombie most of the day. So, I sleep whenever I can, and sometimes sleep comes when I should be the most present.

I’m checked out emotionally, mentally, physically and I hate everyone. Exhausted by frustration. When I tell my therapist I’m so tired, she always chastises me.

“You’re not “tired”- YOU’RE DEPRESSED.”

She tells me, I have to own it, not hide it.

And therefore, I am...

Although, I’m still not ready to “talk” about it. It’s become evident to me that I have to honor myself and my gift of writing by actually WRITING about it.

Writing and journaling is actually a part of my prescribed homework, even though I had sworn off writing about anything until I had found something happy or positive to talk about. Here I am—writing.

Writing from the deep beyond, the depths of heartbreak, in the midst of a self imposed Cold War. Little to no communication with the outside world. Rarely engaging with ANYONE, and releasing any guilt or shame I felt about not being social.

I hardly go on social media anymore, because it’s wildly triggering for me. I’ve blocked any relatively toxic person who could contact me. I live in an innocuous bubble of my personal daily routine.

What’s most peculiar is the randomness of the people who do reach out to me. Folks I don’t actually know, who DM’d me- “to check on me”. Those who still check in, no matter how sporadically I respond. Those truly understanding few who have left me alone completely and those who don’t AT ALL.

The longing in my heart for those I wish cared, the amount of time it’s taking me to sync the intellectual realities with my emotional fantasies or is it my intellectual fantasies with my emotional realities- at any rate- it fucking hurts knowing I’ve chosen- against my best self interest to care for people who do not care about me. And every so often, I get mad at myself for still even thinking about that fact.

There are things about myself and how I love and how I cope- that I am learning for the first time. There are new ways that I am learning how to love myself and understand myself for the first time as well. I’ve been on the precipice of all this before- but each time I discover how childhood traumas relate to present day wounds- and how they show up in my behaviors and I’m astounded in a new way.

I am reluctantly sharing all this because our people don’t talk about depression in the present tense. Most talk about it as if it’s something they’ve miraculously conquered but never as something they miraculously endure.

Depression may come to some in phases but it isn’t just a phase, and it’s okay to be depressed as long as you don’t give up completely. As long as you are seeking to find a way to conquer it, and not pretending your Cold War is over.

♥️

#depression #mental health #black women #self love #self care #therapy #personal #honeygrip

[happynessmee]

HOW EMPATHY SAVES WORK CULTURE FROM JEOPARDY

The humankind has, over hundreds of years, bonded over shared emotions- empathy. This was one of the key features in the advancement of our civilization.  Times have changed and have their share of good and bad. # happy workplace culture

One of the changes is in the work culture. At present, most corporates prefer their employees to check their emotional baggage off before entering the workplace. One’s emotions when viewed through the lens of efficiency are regarded as unrequired in the workplace. On the contrary, we, being humans, it is illogical to detach ourselves from our emotions in the workplace. Burying one’s emotions is akin to holding one’s breath underwater - the longer it is done for, the more one’s condition tapers. This hints at a pivotal reason why most pleasing imagery related to work is centred outside of it. As of late, the importance of empathy in the workplace has been gaining recognition and empathetic workplaces have shown greater employment retainment rates.

# happy workplace culture

A study by Business Solver shows that over 80% of 150 CEOs recognized empathy as a key to success. Only ¼ employees believe that empathy in their organizations is sufficient and in addition to the norm of keeping your emotions outside of the workplace, several aspects in the workplace setting such as stress from keeping up with deadlines and with the expectations can hinder employees from engaging in the understanding and sharing of emotions with their co-workers or team members which goes against the idea of an empathic workplace.

Inexpressive employees hinder growth, more so if they are within a team where clear communication isn’t practiced. Unhealthy relationships in the workplace between employees and their higher-ups can also lead to a toxic workplace. A relationship built on fear and negativity is building itself to eventually crumble.

Business Solver’s studies show that 68% of CEOs say they fear they will be less respected if they show empathy in the workplace. These factors, coupled with the inefficiency of the management can eventually lead to toxic work culture and subsequently high employee turnover.

From losing their minds at the morning alarm ringing to overthinking about their performance at work, an unempathetic workplace can have adversely negative effects on the mental health of employees and subsequently on their performance at work and these days, work culture is in dire need of empathy. From employee wellbeing to higher profitability, setting up an empathetic work culture is as substantial as ever. It encourages employees to unlock their true potential, improves their personal life and the combination of the two brings profits to the company.

An empathetic work culture would look like a place where the employees are happy to go to work, feel less stressed, are healthily acquainted with their higher-ups, communicate openly and freely and trust in their co-workers. This results in higher productivity rates and higher profitability rates for the company which is backed by a study from Harvard Business Review that found that empathetic companies outdo their rather callous counterparts by 20%. Empathy is the solution to toxic work-culture. The ways by which a more empathetic work-culture can be set up in a workplace are-

Active listening plays an important part in setting up an empathetic workplace where the employees engage in healthy communication with not only their higher-ups but also themselves. Introspection makes up a pivotal facet of healthy communication. The realisation that empathy is a two-way street by the employees and higher-ups is imminent for an empathy centred workplace. Measures like hiring a professional therapist, activities to increase trust and patience, and finding efficient and committed ways  like the Employee Voice 24/7 tool that enables you to actively listen to your employees in real-time.

Being aware of cultural backgrounds, gender and even the age of the person you are speaking within a work environment reduces the chances of co-workers being made uncomfortable through speech. Workshops conducted for the management as well as the employees can aid tremendously.

The business case for a flexible work model - the inclusion of remote work in addition to traditional offline work- is endorsed by a recent study by Business Resolver that reported that 2 out 3 employees feel they are more productive at home and agree that the quality of their work has improved. This encourages a more empathetic work-culture, as the same study reports that 89% of the employees who had the option to work remotely reported that satisfaction with their employer while 93% of employees that ability to work remotely showed an employer’s empathy.

While 85% of the CEOs who experienced a mental health issue reached out to someone at work, only 37% of employees did. Spreading awareness on the importance of mental health and setting up required infrastructure for everyone in the workplace to reach out to would result in the betterment in the mental health amongst them and promote empathy. Understanding and promoting a new perspective on empathy is vital. Listening and endorsing an open, stigma-free understanding of mental health is how a successful work-culture is made.

Toxic work-cultures can really hold a human back from being a human and can negatively impact the functioning of a company, too. Empathy is the key to save work-culture from jeopardy.

#happy workplace culture

[impulgy-blog]

What Anxiety Have Done to Me

All human have it, experienced it, and even worst die because of its stigma of commonness.

One sure thing I know about anxiety is that people will start to goggling it after feeling some uncommon symptoms, observing the condition and its treatment. 

Furthermore, they would courageously seeking help, from relatives, best friends, spouses, family, then periodically into some professional helps.

Nowadays, it's more simply-sound directive that people would be supportive and aware about it. But, do you know that is not easy as it say?

I am surely know that I can't say that I have anxiety disorder. It's too premature to diagnose some mental condition without professional helps--which I preferable say as it's a condition of human problem than disorder or illness, that's more logic for me to say I think.

One day, I told one of my best friends that I had recently searching about anxiety condition. I have excessive worry toward everything I work on, either in office or social situations. Scared to be judged, criticized by co-workers, and make mistakes--which is usually happened to be annoying to others, because I always ask how to do this and that properly.

Most of the time, I also have these irrational fears in every situations. Although, I may seems to be friendly and easy to hanging out with new acquaintances, and really loud sometimes. No, it does not.

Lately, I  have been so wrong and not feeling myself. This fear become toxic when I should be networking. My sweat comes easily, my heart bumps faster and hands would be cold as well. And what would happened with my head at that time? I would think that, "what should I ask this time? What would be the polite sentence if I wanna ask it? Did I offend him? Would she regret spending time talking to me? Do I look stupid?" et cetera.

When I start to over-think, I would prefer to keep silent. Not making any further conversation, or pretend to keep busy with my phone.

Shame.

I know. This is not the way I were too. I don't wanna walk on this kind of mediocre lives. Fear of its adventure and challenge.

Then, what would people suggest?

"Go make an appointment with some professional,"

"I'll recommend this psychiatrist to you,"

As I say before, I would love to. Yet, the fear itself doesn't make me to do it. My fear and anxiety think that even professionals are human, who would be highly have the same condition as I am.

Things I am concern about is people who related to my life. When I believe--or let's say I have been unconsciously suggested by what I read--that these uncommon feelings are similar to anxiety problem which also irresistibly affect my relationship. To whom I love and care the most in my life. My family, best-friends, S.O, my co-workers and relatives. It's overwhelming.

I remember Elizabeth Bernstein writes in The Wall Street Journal, titled "A Way Out of Depression," that she explained the ads of anti-depressant Cymbalta for a TV commercial had been stressed, "depression hurts." It may be just an ad, she implied. Yet, it's relate-able that you're not the one who is sick, but people who love you would hurt as well. 

And I could not be more agree of her arguments.

Because what?

There are so many aspects in my life that have been affected.I often would not excited or ready to meet new people, even tired of typing this writing and feel to take a break every minute because of the fear. The fear that this could not be inspiring people who experience the way I live.And it's absolutely affect on how people would see me, yes, mediocre.

God, No! I'm just scared! I really do wanna be an attractive and full of energy person. But most of the time... I'd rather stay on my space and unconnected to my social life. This is not what I want to be my personality. I'd rather stay out of conversation than being judged and said that I'm not smart enough to be chat with. This is not how I want to hurt anybody We also know that people commonly feel anxious if it's relate to jobs, social life, relationship et cetera

But what would happened if it affects every aspects of life and it will never stop haunt you? Even in your dreams?

What would anxiety affect my life more in the future?

#anxiety #mental condition #anxious #mental illness #psychology #note to self #confession

[sandradea]

Saturday in the Woods - The Discussion of Betrayal

BETRAYAL....

Just hearing or seeing this word, I immediately and always think of MacBeth. Greed, hunger for power, bloodshed, delusion then utter destruction and madness.

Destruction...always the end result of any betrayal - even the small ones.

We’ve all lived for more than a minute; we know betrayal. Betrayal comes from a family member, a friend or your mate. It doesn’t necessarily stop there. Business partners, community members, acquaintances...even strangers possess the ability to betray you on some level.

Living our lives..doing the busy work of brushing your teeth, making your bed, going to the grocery, feeding the cat, mowing the grass....going to work and accomplishing our tasks, meeting our goals, meeting goals pressed upon us, writing those reports or marketing your business. You stop to eat lunch, return a text, check social media, listen to your favorite song. You are existing in a world of 7.6 billion people attempting to be above average and tend to all the needs.

Then the thing happens....did your sister just reveal something you explicitly told her she to keep secret and now half your family is mad at you? Your co-worker Becky reveals she saw you buying three bottles of wine so now the whole office believes you are plagued by a drinking problem? Your best friend is now dating your ex? Your significant other cheated? Your child stole your debit card and spent hundreds of dollars? 

Some betrayals...so tiny they show up on no one’s radar but yours. These moments revealed in broken plans, broken promises, dismissed feelings and lies. They tell us little white lies, make us look like fools in front of others, discard us when there are others to give attention to or tell us one thing and then do another.

Some don’t possess what it takes to do the right thing. Either lacking love for themselves enough to be loyal to the person who gave loyalty unconditionally, wanting to play games or use people for whatever they need. The sad reality lies in this truth... some people will never value people because they do not value themselves or they highly and falsely value themselves although they continually reach for people to fill voids. 

A downfall tends to be inevitable when we care too much, empathize out of the bounds of reality, ignore red flags or character indicators. We see the red flags, the way they come to us when they need something, they way the will “love” you in private but ignore you in public. You gave them so much of you and yet, they were just too busy to give the same in return. We give them chance after chance and feed off of the crumbs they toss to us as if we are pigeons. We think because they are family or we have shared so much with them or because they have been a friend or part of our lives for so long that we have to tolerate the disconnect, disregard or toxic behavior. 

The reality tends to show itself as disappointment in small things not huge betrayals of life-changing proportions. The lack of quid pro quo within the relationships with people important to us propels us into a range of emotions from disappointment, frustration, sadness and confusion.

Now...you need to take ownership. Take a hard look and gain insight into how you contribute to these actions resulting in negative emotions within you.

Ask yourself - are you giving more than they are? Are you always there when they need you but they tend to be around when it’s convenient for them? Do you lift them up when they are sad, keep their secrets, offer advice, sacrifice time for them when you need to use that space, time and energy for yourself? 

Although there’s importance for you to hold space for this person to show your love and concern...but what happens when it’s you that feels empty that day or another day? You are sad about something and just need them to care but they are too busy talking about senseless things - lacking the ability to take your temperature and know you need your cup filled. Is this because they don’t have what it takes to be “deep” with you. It is your job to lift them up but not their job to give you any more than what they can trim off of their self-indulgence?

How can someone show so much interest in you and some concern of your happiness, and make you a part of their world then casually dance in and out of your life. When this happens, it is time to explain this - you are not a china doll to remove from a shelf for attention when it best suits them. 

The lack of interest in your detailed life, the lack of invites, the constant refusal of your invites yet, there they are reaching for you attention: brief moments and longer ones - whatever they need.

If you continue to allow someone to drink from your cup of energy, time and space and are denied to drink from their cup, it is time to set boundaries and place your resources somewhere else.

Life is tough. People are broken. Confusion and despair hold hands with insecurity and envy. People struggle to survive using any means necessary. Until each soul determines to do the icky work of understanding who they are, how they got there and determine a plan of action to become a better and stronger person experiencing mindfulness...betrayals will filter through our lives.

Fear of weaknesses discovered, a fake smile, a social media post that hides the truth all lead to a dead end. Eventually, these people are forced to turn around and either face the truth or continue down a false highway. Discovering someone’s nature doesn’t align with the illusion they created for you, drains us and makes us feel foolish. Chiseling away at the faith stone inside of us.

I wish I could say that I have only walked away from one friend who lied to me or betrayed me. In the past several years, as I became more self-aware, mindful and set on a journey of self-redemption, I side-lined or discarded several friends. Some refused to respect boundaries. Some drained me emotionally and mentally. Some turned on me when I refused to give what they requested. Does it hurt? Sure it does. We can act disregarding or attempt to shirk it off, but at the end of the day, we miss the connection we once shared. We long for the days when we held innocence of the truth of them or the misguided or selfish actions.

Now, that the party is over...here you go...

#betrayal #mindfulness #understanding life

[realisticperfectionist]

2017.09.04.

bgm: Growing Up - Phil Good

VOICES, LANGUAGES, WORDS

I’ve always been fascinated with voices. For the longest time, I’d been enamored by the idea that each individual has a distinctive voice that could be identified, be it spoken, sung, or written. One of the biggest reasons why I try so hard to keep writing is that I am proud of the voice I’ve established. I love that when people read something I’ve written, they can identify that it’s mine. I love that strangers identify me through my writing. I love that my writing voice, something so abstract and intangible, can establish a concrete image and identity because it’s mine, and mine alone.

Someone told me that my writing style is “classy with subtle kisses of sass.” I use a lot of commas and dashes, as to mimic the pauses I take to choose the right words out of the limitless possibilities- or that’s what I tell myself anyways. I like using parenthesis to hint at my thoughts (that I’d love to say directly but won’t because several reasons), and beautifully crafted poetic symbolisms and metaphors. I try to be direct but not too blunt- like the kisses with the perfect balance of bite and tenderness.

I like to believe that I know the importance of syntax and diction, and that I try to be meticulous with my words and thoughts. I get upset when people say things I know they don’t mean, and think of better ways that would have more accurately conveyed their purpose. I get easily offended by what others say because I believe that if they cared enough, they’d avoid using words and phrases that would hurt me. I guess I was blinded by pride and self-justification, and often times failed to see that I too, am human, and have said highly offensive and insensitive things to others.

It really hit me when I overheard one of my dearest friends say that “communication is about what they hear, not what you say.” Although it’s true that writing and talking are methods of individual expression (or “rugged individualism”, as I like to say), it’s also true that they are means of communication and community. Language is a social thing- your voice, no matter how unique you might think it is, isn’t just yours alone. It belongs to everybody who you share it with, and we are all connected because you speak through them, and they speak through you.

I write this because recently, I’ve been so full of anger. Be it friends, acquaintances, family, significant others, co-workers, or even, strangers, I’ve found myself getting angry because of what they’ve said, or how they’ve interpreted what I’ve said. I was constantly full of anger, and because I have a dangerous tendency to bottle that shit up, it consumed me and became toxic. I started blaming myself for everything that had been going wrong, even if it wasn’t something under my control. I blamed myself for broken relationships, friendships, and all the messy things in between- and I felt miserable. I felt responsible for all the misunderstandings, be it mine, or others.

I’m still learning that it’s no one’s fault that different interpretations and thoughts exist. This is why languages are so versatile and flexible- there’s no single “answer” to them. No one in particular is responsible for language- we all are. The collective interpretations and understandings create the language we use daily, and it’s important to realize that just like society, languages change and adapt to the surroundings. Although it’s important to establish one’s own voice, it’s also crucial to remember that it’s impossible to monopolize such a vivid concept. I am merely a part of this huge intricate web, and although I am a significant piece, I only have meaning when I am an integrated part of the whole.

I am learning to be okay with being misunderstood or minsunderstanding- it’s a natural part of languages, and although I take pride in my own voice, I also am starting to realize that I could only derive true meaning when I take into consideration the great number of interpretations that helped create the language I use every day.

#rambles

[bbhl-incporated]

How are sm stans who hate exo worse in comparison? Like, i know I got into the fandom relatively late but even then, just the vibes you get from the comment sections, blogs, etc. I feel like younger sm stans don't like sm's older groups? And I remember that SM's stans were known to have a familial bond between all the fandoms...

Sm groups do have a familial bond, and some fans recognize that and treat them accordingly. It's because of that fact that fans of sm groups who hate the group and the fans of that group, are worse than non-sm fans. It's worse because we know they don't dislike each other, they trained together (in many instances), they eat dinner together, and they work alongside each other.... etc.I haven't seen many new stans hating older groups except people hating various sj members (for valid reasons! If you can't stand the fact that someone had drunk driving incidents or that another is very sexist you are within your right, full stop.) But what I grew up with when entering the kpop fandom back in 2013, was actually the reverse: older fans of older groups hated the newer groups and the newer fans. People reeeeally hated exo l from 2012-2015 and you found antis among shawols, sones, even some ELF. And it's f*cking stupid because shinee and exo are best friends, sj and exo are best friends, there are close friendships among the groups, there are years-worth of histories between many people within smtown boy group or not... yet someone thinks they have the right to shit on the hoobae group because... well 🤷🏾 idk ! It was hip and trendy lmaoOkay one reason ended up being jealousy. (Whenever you describe it to unbiased parties they color it jealousy. That's just...it's a textbook example lol) They for some reason demanded exo take the exact same path their faves did. Exo didn't "deserve" their dome tour for example, because their fave took longer in their career to get to that point where it was "deserved." *eye roll* Never mind the fact that the Korean, Chinese and Japanese entertainment industries have shifted and changed a fuck ton over the past 12 years. It's the exact same reasoning that people aged 30+, 40+ have whenever someone suggests free college and student loan forgiveness for those in their 20s and below right now: "I had to suffer, I had to take all this time to do this, and they get this thing sooner / have less difficulty? Well what about ME? What do *I* get, huh? That's not fair!" It's so laughably childish, and that's all I can see when fans of sm groups hate the rest of the groups just because or due to their own subconscious jealousy. Disclaimer: this means actual, active hatred, not just ~not being a fan~ of their music. There's a lot more that goes into making an exo anti, like laughing mockingly when exo lost a member and saying they as a group deserved to lose that member, or the group is so bad at singing that's why x member left (don't get me started on how non-exo l went on for hours about how exo "couldn't sing" dhdudksksn), and many sm fans who are exo antis do do that. But the most common thread is a constant comparison to their own fave and how EXO ~isn't the same~ in one way or another. And it's in such a way that EXO is "worse," and their fave is always superior. And EXO is always trash.Always.And to have that kind of discourse among fandoms within the SAME company of artists, who nearly-annually tour the world or Asia and perform on the same stage, alongside each other, is a level of toxicity that I think surpasses the typical Big-3 "rivalry" discourse. Think about it this way: is it worse to have one's co-workers argue a lot and be condescending in the workplace, or is it worse to come home to your family members arguing within your home and being condescending there? Would you rather total strangers say insulting things about you, or would you rather have intimate friends and acquaintances say the same things -- with the same level of malice? Would you rather your partner's friends be supportive of you and your partnership, or would you rather they be malicious toward you and your partnership? Choosing the second choice of each of those questions is analogous to sm fans being toxic and anti fans toward fans of other sm groups. It's worse on a psychological level that typical ~fandom discourse~ doesn't reach. And that's why exo antis within SMTOWN are worse.

[sheminecrafts]

Instagram launches Threads, a Close Friends chat app with auto-status

What if Instagram could automatically tell your Close Friends you’re (home), (working), (on the move), or (chilling and might want to hang out)? That’s the idea behind Instagram’s new companion app Threads, a Close Friends-only messaging experience that opens to the camera with shortcuts for instantly sending specific people photos and videos. Threads offers two brand new features called Status and Auto-Status that allow you to manually set an emoji as an away message to show Close Friends what you’re up to, or opt in to letting Instagram select one automatically based on your location, accelerometer, and even your phone’s battery level.

Launching globally today on iOS and Android, this is Facebook and Instagram’s next big swing at Snapchat, specifically targeting its top use case: rapid-fire camera and text messaging with your best friends. Sick of randos in your inbox? Only people in your Instagram Close Friends list show up in Threads so you can trust its notifications are important. You can still just use Instagram Direct in the main app or the two in parallel, though.

What’s most unique is that Threads finally sees the launch the Facebook “Your Emoji” status feature we reported it was prototyping 18 months ago. Threads Status and Auto-Status offer conversation starters, contextual clues to why someone might not respond, and opportunities to meet up offline. But importantly, it leaves out a map or any exact location sharing to avoid being creepy and instead focus on what Close Friends are up to — which determines if they can chat or hang out more than where they are.

Threads offers “persistent connection”, Instagram’s Director of consumer product management Robby Stein tells me. It was designed with three priorities: the ability to “fully control who can reach you”, speed because “If most of your messages only go to a couple of people, why isn’t the experience built around that?”, and “Having more of a connection through the day . . . even if you don’t have time for a conversation.”

By building Threads as a separate app, Instagram has little to lose if it flops and could learn about what features to pull back into its main app. But if it succeeds, Threads cement itself as where you stay in touch with your favorite people, while pigeonholing other messaging options like SMS, WeChat, as Snapchat as noisy channels full of unwanted alerts.

Close Friends Only

Social networks have an inevitable problem. Eventually out of coincidence and courtesy, you add too many people as friends, filling the apps with people who’s content you don’t care about and who’s messages you don’t always want. Facebook, the catch-all network for everything from family to bosses to acquaintances. That leads people to feel uncomfortable sharing too much, and to distrust that the notifications they get are important.

Now Instagram is doubling-down on Close Friends which launched last November at TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin to let you secretly set a special group of best pals who get to see special Stories you set as visible to only them. Facebook had tried complicated Lists products in the past and never seen them gain significant traction because it’s too tough to keep track of who’s in each. Instagram nailed the concept with a single list you edit as needed, though people don’t know if they’re added or removed. I’m surprised Facebook doesn’t already have its own Close Friends feature and it’d be smart to build one.

Instagram already tried building its own standalone Direct messaging app, but shut it down after low usage since it didn’t offer anything beyond what you already got in the main app. Casey Newton of The Verge reported Instagram was building an app with automatic activity sharing in August.

Now with Threads, Close Friends creates the foundation for something different. The only entries in your inbox are Close Friends, which you can edit in the app with the list syncing with your list on Instagram. You can hide any of those chats or group chats with exclusively close friends if you don’t want to see them. You only need an Instagram account, not Facebook, to sign up. For some extra flavor, you can activate one of several dark mode-style themes for the app in color schemes like a yellower Sunrise or greener Aurora.

When you open Threads, you’ll see open immediately to the camera like Snapchat. At the bottom are “Camera Shortcuts” that show friends’ faces you can tap on to send a photo or tap and hold for a video. You can also tap the “default camera” shutter and the select everyone you want to message, or rearrange the order of the shortcuts. Since it’s focused on speed, there are no filters or augmented reality masks, just drawing and text overlays for off-the-cuff commentary on what’s going on around you.

Swiping up from the camera reveals the Threads inbox, where you can tap into a conversation for a full-featured messaging experience just like in Instagram Direct. There you can send GIFs, camera roll content, and more. Without unsolicited messages in your inbox, your most important people stay closer to the top. “I see more of my wife’s life now that we’re in this product” Stein tells me.

Passive Sharing With Auto-Status

Three years ago I wrote about “the quest to cure loneliness” through apps that help us meet up in the real world by breaking down the ambiguity of what friends are up to without requiring you to desperately ping them and feel embarrassed if ignored. Many products have tried and failed to make us less isolated through location broadcasting, passive sharing, and offline intent.

Foursquare let you say exactly where you were while its second app Swarm auto-shared it, but if you’re busy it doesn’t matter to me where you are and you probably don’t want me dropping in. Snap Map and Facebook Nearby Friends similarly focused too much on the where instead of the what. Down To Lunch let you post an emoji of what you’re doing but it lacked the necessary traction and built-in messaging to convert “hey we’re both available” to actually meeting up. The app Free was too complex.

To succeed, an app needed ubiquity, the privacy of only sharing this sensitive info with the right people, a focus on intention instead of location, and built-in chat for getting together. Instagram has the last three, so it’s a matter of either making Threads popular or rolling this feature into the main app.

With Status, you can set an emoji as your away message for one to four hours. You can select from pre-made ones with their own text tag lines, or define a new one from the full range of emoji. You can say you’re (free), (busy), (studying), or make something personal like (getting into trouble).

Meanwhile, Auto-Status defaults to off but can be turned on to give Instagram the ability to use data signals to choose an emoji for you. It will match your exact location to specific places like Home, Work, cafes, bars, traveling out of town and more. Your accelerometer lets it show if you’re biking or driving. And your phone battery can let it display that you’re low on juice or currently charging.

Why share my batter status? Stein tells me that if you’re charging your phone, you might not be next to it and could be slow to respond. Or if you’re low battery, you might suddenly stop replying all together. That’s helpful knowledge to share with Close Friends even if it’d be weird to post it more widely.

One problem is that who you want to message with often might include family or co-workers that you don’t want to have see your Close Friends Stories, but the list is used for both. At the same time, Threads could boost Close Friends usage, leading people to share more intimate and silly stuff on Stories which do help Instagram earn money thanks to the ads in between.

For now, though, Instagram tells me there’s no plan to monetize Threads directly or show any ads in it. In fact, Facebook won’t even use the exact locations pulled from the app to power ad targeting. Coordinates are only sent so it can match them to locations like a movie theater to show you’re at the movies. Facebook won’t store the locations and they only stay on your device for a short period before they’re deleted.

Still, Auto-Status is sure to rile some who think Facebook and Instagram are too creepy to give any more data. But if the convenience of knowing your friend is available to hang out or is probably too stressed for a chat outweighs the company’s toxic brand, Instagram could develop an important new social behavior. Even if it doesn’t monetize it directly, Threads could keep users locked into the Insta ecosystem where they’ll see plenty of feed and Story ads between message bouts.

Social graph bloat causes a chilling effect on sharing. It’s what Snapchat, Path, and other apps have tried to solve but ended up succumbing to. Instagram accepts that you’ll inevitably connect with people you don’t care much about out of social obligation, pity, or apathy. But by building whole products around just sharing with your favorite subset of people, it could unlock what we self-center — the real us.

The quest to cure loneliness

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[technicalsolutions88]

What if Instagram could automatically tell your Close Friends you’re (home), (working), (on the move), or (chilling and might want to hang out)? That’s the idea behind Instagram’s new companion app Threads, a Close Friends-only messaging experience that opens to the camera with shortcuts for instantly sending specific people photos and videos. Threads offers two brand new features called Status and Auto-Status that allow you to manually set an emoji as an away message to show Close Friends what you’re up to, or opt in to letting Instagram select one automatically based on your location, accelerometer, and even your phone’s battery level.

Launching globally today on iOS and Android, this is Facebook and Instagram’s next big swing at Snapchat, specifically targeting its top use case: rapid-fire camera and text messaging with your best friends. Sick of randos in your inbox? Only people in your Instagram Close Friends list show up in Threads so you can trust its notifications are important. You can still just use Instagram Direct in the main app or the two in parallel, though.

What’s most unique is that Threads finally sees the launch the Facebook “Your Emoji” status feature we reported it was prototyping 18 months ago. Threads Status and Auto-Status offer conversation starters, contextual clues to why someone might not respond, and opportunities to meet up offline. But importantly, it leaves out a map or any exact location sharing to avoid being creepy and instead focus on what Close Friends are up to — which determines if they can chat or hang out more than where they are.

Threads offers “persistent connection”, Instagram’s Director of consumer product management Robby Stein tells me. It was designed with three priorities: the ability to “fully control who can reach you”, speed because “If most of your messages only go to a couple of people, why isn’t the experience built around that?”, and “Having more of a connection through the day . . . even if you don’t have time for a conversation.”

By building Threads as a separate app, Instagram has little to lose if it flops and could learn about what features to pull back into its main app. But if it succeeds, Threads cement itself as where you stay in touch with your favorite people, while pigeonholing other messaging options like SMS, WeChat, as Snapchat as noisy channels full of unwanted alerts.

Close Friends Only

Social networks have an inevitable problem. Eventually out of coincidence and courtesy, you add too many people as friends, filling the apps with people who’s content you don’t care about and who’s messages you don’t always want. Facebook, the catch-all network for everything from family to bosses to acquaintances. That leads people to feel uncomfortable sharing too much, and to distrust that the notifications they get are important.

Now Instagram is doubling-down on Close Friends which launched last November at TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin to let you secretly set a special group of best pals who get to see special Stories you set as visible to only them. Facebook had tried complicated Lists products in the past and never seen them gain significant traction because it’s too tough to keep track of who’s in each. Instagram nailed the concept with a single list you edit as needed, though people don’t know if they’re added or removed. I’m surprised Facebook doesn’t already have its own Close Friends feature and it’d be smart to build one.

Instagram already tried building its own standalone Direct messaging app, but shut it down after low usage since it didn’t offer anything beyond what you already got in the main app. Casey Newton of The Verge reported Instagram was building an app with automatic activity sharing in August.

Now with Threads, Close Friends creates the foundation for something different. The only entries in your inbox are Close Friends, which you can edit in the app with the list syncing with your list on Instagram. You can hide any of those chats or group chats with exclusively close friends if you don’t want to see them.

When you open Threads, you’ll see open immediately to the camera like Snapchat. At the bottom are “Camera Shortcuts” that show friends’ faces you can tap on to send a photo or tap and hold for a video. You can also tap the “default camera” shutter and the select everyone you want to message. Since it’s focused on speed, there are no filters or augmented reality masks, just drawing and text overlays for off-the-cuff commentary on what’s going on around you.

Swiping up from the camera reveals the Threads inbox, where you can tap into a conversation for a full-featured messaging experience just like in Instagram Direct. There you can send GIFs, camera roll content, and more. Without unsolicited messages in your inbox, your most important people stay closer to the top. “I see more of my wife’s life now that we’re in this product” Stein tells me.

Ambient Sharing With Auto-Status

With Status, you can set an emoji as your away message for one to four hours. You can select from pre-made ones with their own text tag lines, or define a new one from the full range of emoji. Meanwhile, Auto-Status defaults to off but can be turned on to give Instagram the ability to use data signals to choose an emoji for you. It will match your exact location to specific places like Home, Work, cafes, bars, traveling out of town and more. Your accelerometer lets it show if you’re biking or driving. And your phone battery can let it display that you’re low on juice or currently charging.

Why share my batter status? Stein tells me that if you’re charging your phone, you might not be next to it and could be slow to respond. Or if you’re low battery, you might suddenly stop replying all together. That’s helpful knowledge to share with Close Friends even if it’d be weird to post it more widely.

One problem is that who you want to message with often might include family or co-workers that you don’t want to have see your Close Friends Stories, but the list is used for both. At the same time, Threads could boost Close Friends usage, leading people to share more intimate and silly stuff on Stories which do help Instagram earn money thanks to the ads in between.

For now, though, Instagram tells me there’s no plan to monetize Threads directly or show any ads in it. In fact, Facebook won’t even use the exact locations pulled from the app to power ad targeting. Coordinates are only sent so it can match them to locations like a movie theater to show you’re at the movies. Facebook won’t store the locations and they only stay on your device for a short period before they’re deleted.

Still, Auto-Status is sure to rile some who think Facebook and Instagram are too creepy to give any more data. But if the convenience of knowing your friend is available to hang out or is probably too stressed for a chat outweighs the company’s toxic brand, Instagram could develop an important new social behavior. Even if it doesn’t monetize it directly, Threads could keep users locked into the Insta ecosystem where they’ll see plenty of feed and Story ads between message bouts.

Social graph bloat causes a chilling effect on sharing. It’s what Snapchat, Path, and other apps have tried to solve but ended up succumbing to. Instagram accepts that you’ll inevitably connect with people you don’t care much about out of social obligation, pity, or apathy. But by building whole products around just sharing with your favorite subset of people, it could unlock what we self-center — the real us.

from Mobile – TechCrunch https://ift.tt/2oaK97X ORIGINAL CONTENT FROM: https://techcrunch.com/

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[robbiemeadow]

Self-Care Checklist

Excerpted from The Happy Healthy Nonprofit: Impact with Burnout by Beth Kanter and Aliza Sherman Copyright 2016 Wiley http://bit.ly/happyhealthynpbook 

Self-care is incredibly important for all our individual health, but not everyone knows what is or how to start. One first step to take is to start a self-care checklist! You can customize your own self-care plan to fit your own needs and personality.

Use the time you spend going through the list below to highlight actions that resonate with you to include in your self-care plan. You can assemble a mix of things you can do in the morning, throughout the day, and at night.

How to use the checklist:

As you go through the list, mark the practices that you really want to do with a star. Sometimes, it can be easier to start with things you are motivated to do rather than the “must do’s.” You’ve got to start somewhere!

Remember: These are all suggestions, and there can be some activities that you may not be able to or have the capacity to do. Just do what you can and whatever makes you the most comfortable.

Rating for Frequency (how often you practice each self-care habit):

3= I practice this self-care habit daily or almost daily

2= I practice this self-care habit occasionally

1= I practice this self-care habit once in a while

0= I never do this

Sphere 1: Relationship to Self

How you relate to and take care of yourself makes up your first sphere. Without prioritizing self-care, all other spheres can fall apart. Here are ways you can attend to your personal well-being.

_Seek medical care when needed and able

_Get enough sleep

_Eat healthy food

_Attend to personal hygiene

_Wear clothing I like

_Exercise or a physical activity

_Take a walk through nature

_Play a sport

_Have a spa day

_Take deep breaths during the day

_Take a nap

_Don’t put too much to do on my plate

_Take a mini vacation or weekend trip

_Go for a drive with no destination in mind

_Make time for self-reflection

_Watch a movie or TV show I love

_Make time to do needed chores

_Read a book

_Do something new or that I’m not an expert in

_Listen to music

_Solve a puzzle or brain exercise

_Set boundaries with toxic or negative people

_Give myself positive affirmations

_Allow myself to cry

_Keep a journal

_Meditate

_Try an artistic activity

Sphere 2: Relationship to Others

Your relationship to family, friends, and acquaintances offline and online makes up your second sphere. In life and at work, you cannot avoid interacting with others. Your behaviors, habits and well-being impact and influence others, and the reverse are true as well. Here are ways you can attend to your relationships.

_Schedule dates with my partner or spouse

_Schedule activities to do with my children

_Schedule time with my family

_Schedule time with my pets

_Stay in contact with friends near and far

_Stay in contact with important people in my life

_Ask for help if I need it

_Allow friends to do things for me if they want _Schedule time with a friend

Sphere 3: Relationship to Environment

The environment around you makes up your third sphere. Environment is a major force in your life, but you may not be aware of it tremendous effect on you every day. While you may not be able to significantly change your environment, you can make small changes, like those listed below, to create a cleaner, safer space for yourself to improve your health and well-being.

_Declutter my home

_Declutter my desk

_Clean something in my home I’ve avoided cleaning

_Add plants to my home or office

_Start a garden

_Use an aromatherapy diffuser (Be cautious of allergies)

_Take a different route to work

_Ride a bike

_Visit a park or zoo

Sphere 4: Relationship to Work and Money

Your fourth sphere takes up a lot of your time and attention and can cause stress when you don’t have good boundaries and emotions around work and money. Caring for your work relationships, and caring for yourself while at work can vastly enhance your wellbeing.

_Take a lunch break away from my desk

_Take time to chat with co-workers

_Make quiet time to complete tasks

_Get help from co-workers or boss when needed

_Have a system for effectively managing time and workload

_Set limits with clients, colleagues, and co-workers

_Arrange my workspace

_Take vacation time when earned

_Have a professional peer group from which to get support or inspiration

_Strive to juggle work, family, and personal activities

_See a financial advisor to map out a financial plan

_Open a savings account

_Bring lunch to work

Sphere 5: Relationship to Technology

Navigating the new sphere of your relationship with your technology can be challenging because you may already have developed bad habits around your tech. Here are some ways to implement tech wellness.

_Take technology breaks when needed

_Unplug from work email and social media for an evening or weekend

_Don’t check work email or social media first thing in the morning and/or right before bed

_Take breaks from the computer for stretching and moving around

_Get a standing desk

_Get a glare shield for my computer screen

_Unfriend negative people from my social media feeds

_Unsubscribe from email newsletters

_Use an app to track my habits, how often I check my phone, or how often I move around

Now that you’ve gone through the ideas in this list, try out the ones you want first, then what you think you need to do!

You can also take our “Do you think you’re practicing good self-care” quiz here. To be in a healthy relationship, we need time for ourselves and our own interests, but even when we’re single, our work or school schedules can get in the way of us truly taking the best care of ourselves. Just remember to do what you can, and do what makes you the happiest.

If you need some help with creating this plan or have any questions about self-care or your relationship, reach out to one of our Advocates. They are available 24/7/365 and completely confidential. You can call 1-866-331-9474 or 1-866-331-8453 TTY, text LOVEIS to 22522, or chat online by clicking the “Chat Now” button above.

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