Don’t Lose Yourself in Being a Mom

Being a mother is hard, no question about it. There are new challenges everyday, and no matter what you’ve learned, children change as they grow and you are continually learning how to care for them. On top of caring for children, many women are also juggling a relationship and a job. There can be so much going on in a woman’s life that she loses time for herself, and identities can become so wrapped up in children, or relationships, or jobs, that mothers can lose their sense of self. Not only is this bad for the mom, but children and partners benefit from mother’s who are happy and healthy.

What can a Mom do to Keep her Sense of Self?

One of the most important things a mother can do is to identify ways to relax and things that she enjoys doing on her own. From hobbies like art or exercise to taking relaxing baths or getting massages, keeping stress low and taking time for oneself reduces stress on the whole family. If you feel like you’re being selfish, just remember that the entire family benefits from you taking time for yourself. Prioritize – make sure the things that need to get done get done, but don’t sweat the small stuff. Spending your entire day worrying about the kids or whether you’ve ironed today just makes you unhappy and doesn’t make you any more productive.

How do I Keep it a Priority?

It’s very important to communicate your needs with those around you. Oftentimes people don’t realize that those that they love are struggling, and it can be difficult to explain that you’re losing your sense of self. Ignore the self-doubt, and make sure you’re communicating your needs clearly. If you need time for yourself, make sure people know that. If you need a day off, if you’re burnt out, others can help you get through it. Keeping your sense of self through motherhood can be a real challenge, but if you make it a priority, you can get through it.

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Tags: moms, mother

Too Many Choices in Online Christian Chat

Single Christians who want to look online for someone with whom they can share a relationship may find online chat rooms to be monolithic and intimidating at first. They should take the time to carefully sort out their options before signing up, logging on and jumping into a conversation with people they don’t know. This is especially so for people who are looking to join an online chat room for the first time.

Digging Through The Haystack

It is a point of fact that a Google search for “Christian singles chatrooms” will yield over 1.75 million results. With an ocean of availability, a discerning eye is necessary to find which room will be the best fit with your future plans. After all, even though you will be in the safety and comfort of your own home, you will still have the social experience of being in a room with potentially dozens of total strangers (none of which is using his or her real name).

Pay To Play?

One must also choose between free chat rooms or rooms that require a fee. The pay-to-play sites are often connected with dating services. While a good number of people are interested in such match-making, most Christian singles are probably just fishing around online to see if they can “meet” any interesting people, and may not wish to have their love lives put on an assembly line.

Sometimes a single person, Christian or otherwise, is just looking to work out their “flirting muscles”. They prefer the anonymity of the Internet, which also takes so much of the legwork out of social interaction. If someone is truly just sticking a toe in the dating waters, and wishes to share their views on the Christian faith with no chance of actually meeting the other person, international chat rooms are the best way to go. The exposure to other cultures never hurt anybody, either.

Tags: chat room, christian chat, dating

In a Rush for Romance? Reveal the Real You!

When two people are dating each other, they often attempt to get to know each other by sharing childhood photos and telling stories about the past. Let’s face it, though, most babies look pretty much alike, and childhood stories are not that much different from each other. All kids do cute, silly things. Most of them have had a pet they loved and lost, played a sport, went to school, and lived in a house, etc.. You may feel lost as to how to truly explain to your partner who you were and who you are today – what these photos and stories mean to you, what they show about you – why you are important and why you matter. Considering most people end up dating people they never knew before – who missed so much of their lives already – it’s kind of sad to think you may never find a way to explain who you really are to who you’re with.

Appreciating You for Who You Are

“Who are you?” is such a difficult question to answer. You could say you’re male or female, list your age, your occupation, your college major, hobbies, maybe your relations to friends or family – but couldn’t those things make you any number of people? There are, for example, hundreds of cute men or beautiful ladies that look similar to you, are of similar age, have a similar job and hobbies and are friends to people, children to parents, siblings to siblings and parents to children. In a relationship, you don’t want the person you are with to be with you just because they’re lonely and “you’ll do.” You want them to realize how different you are from every other person, and to know and appreciate what makes you unique.

You Have to Know it to Show it

Let’s say someone similar to you in all the superficial aspects of your looks and personality came up to your partner and flirted with him or her. Would there be anything that would make you say, “Oh he (or she) doesn’t want that person! That person’s not ____ like me.” It should be a ridiculous thought to imagine someone being able to take your place. You should be that special, and know it! So what is that thing that fits into the blank above? What makes you so unique no one else could be like you? Think about the way “everyone else is,” and the things you’ve noticed that makes you different from them. This aspect may have been mistaken for a flaw – something that made you feel awkward and ashamed, something that you wanted to hide – but it’s this thing that makes you completely different from everyone else and unable to be replaced! If you can pinpoint this part about yourself, show it off, carry it with pride, and wear it like a banner – showing it in photos, expressing it in letters and conversations, and letting everyone around you know you’ve got it and they don’t – you’ll have finally revealed the real you! And once you’ve finally realized this characteristic, you’ll find it shows up in old photos from your childhood, in old drawings or paintings done as a child as well – you’ll find it in memories from your past and in things that happen currently to you also – and these are the stories and memories you’ll want to share with your partner. These are the ways he or she will really get to know you well. You are special. Know it and believe it. You can easily get the kind of romance that feels like magic; with someone who knows you so well, he or she can hear your thoughts and smile at them every time they do. There’s no better way of rushing romance than revealing the real you.

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Tags: date, dating, romance

A Hard Habit To Break

There are very few substances on Earth that are less addictive than nicotine. While smoking overall has been in decline for several years, in part because of the increasing number of states that have imposed bans on public smoking, those who are still hooked on cigarettes are face a difficult task as they try to kick the habit. Quitting "cold turkey" is almost unheard of, considering the number of nicotine replacements on the market.

Reinventing The Wheel

Even nicotine-replacement therapy, as exemplified by chewing gum or patches, are no safe bet when it comes to the cessation of smoking. This is due to the fact that they provide no relief from the "hand-to-mouth" fixation, nor do they simulate the flavor or cigarette smoke. The newest device to hit the market within the last few years has been the electronic cigarette (also known as "e-cigs").

High-Tech On Display

Electronic cigarettes work in much the same fashion as the vaporizers that marijuana users sometimes prefer over other smoking devices. Heat elements - activated either by the touch of a button or by an automatic sensor that reacts suction or air flow – atomize a liquid-based nicotine solution. The vapor resembles and tastes like smoke from a cigarette, with a tremendous array of flavored solutions available.

Still up for debate are questions over how effective e-cigs can be as a cessation device, and whether or not they will appeal to children as a “healthy” alternative to smoking cigarettes. The progress in reducing smoking is impeded by such narrow lines of thought, akin to banning root beer because it might be a “gateway” to alcoholism.

Tags: e-cig, smoking

Obama the New Celebrity

Now that Barack Obama is going to be the new President of the United States there's a real reason for him to be in the spotlight, but he's also somewhat of a celebrity in his own right, as well.

Before the election was even over Obama had attained celebrity status, and most of that came from his status as an African-American and the way that he rose through the ranks so quickly. No one thought that his candidacy had a chance, but when he did well in the primaries and when Hillary Clinton finally suspended her campaign, it began to look as though he had a real chance.

Many McCain supporters hung onto the idea that their candidate would win, but in the end Obama was far too popular and his ideas were far too interesting to people looking for change for him to do anything but win.

He will likely keep that celebrity status for some time, no matter how well he does in his actual duties as President because his election was so historic for the United States.

Tags: obama

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