I am personally quite fond of books. Though, I am often unable to read as often as I would like because life gets hectic sometimes. However, we should not forget to also enjoy these little things when you can. It can actually be quite beneficial to read a book every now and again. According to an article from Healthline.com titled “Benefits of Reading Books: How It Can Positively Affect Your Life” written by Rebecca Joy Stanborough there are many things you can gain from reading. Based off of Stanborough’s article, reading more can expand your vocabulary and decrease stress.¹ In my case Stanborough is correct in what she writes. While I can not say for certain that reading more books has expanded my vocabulary, consistent reading has introduced me to words that I now use on a day to day basis. One of my favorite aspects of reading because regardless of what I have spent my time looking for I may have gained something new from it either in the form of a word or knowledge. This also goes for destressing, when I read a book I like in my own time I find myself become much more relaxed. Reading for yourself and reading for school are two very different experiences. What is important to remember is that reading is meant to be fun so when going to read instead of seeing it as a school assignment treat it like a brand new show that just happens to be made on paper. This is how you make reading books a much more enjoyable experience allowing yourself to feel that you did not waste your time reading something that ended up being less fun because you became stressed trying to finish it. Another part of reading is actually getting a book which is difficult for some people. This is many because just as everything else’s prices double so do books making them quite expensive. The good news is that this is fixable through the source of online books. Many of these sites cost money to download certain books but there are also many free sources that allow you to view the books for free ranging from Shakespeare to pretty much anything you could think of. A source I found discussing what websites have these free resources was an article from Lifewire.com titled “18 Best Sites to Download Free Books in 2023” and written by Stacy Fisher. Fisher listed many options to look at, each with their own pros and cons list. The options that I saw to be worth mentioning had some of the least amount of cons out of the article including but not limited to Free-eBooks.net, Archive.org, and Google Play Books. ² However, some things that should be noted for each of these sites is that for Google Play Books you need to have an account, for Archive.org it is quite slow and a bit difficult to navigate, and lastly, Free-eBooks.net unfortunateley only allows you to download 5 books per month. While I have never used Free-eBooks.net and Archive.org they seem to be pretty good sources for finding books someone may want to read. I do however recommend Google Play Books in particular because out of the sites mentioned that is the one I am the most familiar with but you should try them all if you have the time. However, for many people reading is just not as fun to them and would much rather listen than to stare at a page. The good news is, there are many ways to enjoy books that are not just reading. According to an article from Codpast.org titled “Top 5 Alternatives to Reading” some examples of different ways to read included audiobooks, podcasts, and even TED Talks.³ To note though, I do not often use these forms of audio. So I am unable to speak of this from personal experience. Despite this, I can definitely say that this type of ‘reading’ is definitely helpful if you want to read something but are extremely busy and need to prioritize other parts of your life. While it is not required to read in your free time it can really be fun and a way to take a minute to pause from what may have been a stressful day. Consider picking up a book or maybe go look to see if you can find any e-books or even an audiobook. Something might just pleasantly surprise you. Cited Sources: 1- “ Benefits of Reading Books: How It Can Positively Affect Your Life” written by Rebecca Joy Stanborough from Healthline.com https://www.healthline.com/health/benefits-of-reading-books#increases-empathy 2- “18 Best Sites to Download Free Books in 2023” written by Stacy Fisher from Lifewire.com https://www.lifewire.com/download-free-books-3482754 3- “Top 5 Alternatives to Reading” written by The Codpast from TheCodpast.org https://thecodpast.org/2015/08/top-5-alternatives-to-reading-2/

Everyone knows what vaping is to a degree. It is practically everywhere you look. Especially in our generation we have seen an increase in the use of vapes, specifically in highschoolers. As of October 2022 the United States Food and Drug Administration in their “Results from the Annual National Youth Tobacco Survey” reported that 14.1% of highschool students or 2.14 million students had admitted to using a vape.¹ Now, at first that sounds ridiculous, I mean how can so many kids be vaping? Well it's surprisingly simple, it's the nicotine. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s article on “Vaping Devices (Electronic Cigarettes)” vapes are made of four parts: a cartridge that holds a liquid solution containing nicotine (some of the time) along with flavorings, an atomizer (turns liquid into gas), a battery, and lastly a mouthpiece.² It seems like such a simple device and if nicotine really is the cause for all of this what exactly is it. From an article by the Alcohol and Drug Foundation titled ,“Nicotine”, described nicotine as a stimulant drug that increases the messages that your brain sends to your body.³ What this mean is the chemical dopamine in your brain increases your happiness, so every time you take a hit off the little watermelon stick you’re becoming addicted. This is why vaping is currently seen as bad, it is considered to be highly addictive which is why it has become so much of a problem. You basically become dependent on a small device. How or why would someone come up with a device that makes people grow dependent on it? Now, you would probably think it was money but it was surprisingly not. Stated by Brittanica.com’s article titled ,“E-cigarette”, written by Bechara Choucair the e-cigarette also known as the electronic cigarettes was created by chinese pharmacist Hon Lik in 2003 intended to be an alternative to smoking.⁴ It is quite ironic to think that this device was meant to be a way to lean off of smoking and it ended up being just as addictive. But how exactly do people get access to this very addictive drug? How do people even get involved knowing the risk of addiction? According to an article from Rally Health titled, “Why Do So Many Teens Vape?”, written by Jennifer Thomas it is from misinformation, seeing others around them use it, and the flavors.⁵ Many people begin to vape because they think it is better than smoking but that is far from true. While it is true some vapes do not contain nicotine many of them do and the lure of flavors only entices that. Environment also plays a role, the people you associate yourself with often rub on you and for many that was how they were introduced to electronic cigarettes. The cool sounding flavors ads use to entice the reader into buying is also another factor, it looks and sounds appealing making most people, at first glance, think about it. Though there are federal regulations to stop children from being able to access these addictive vapes people will always find a way. If the idea of addiction did not show the grave consequences of vaping the National Institute on Drug Abuse even wrote in there own article on vapes was that those who started using it when they were younger were more likely to abuse other tobacco related products such as cigarettes.¹ Vaping is an addiction and is very prevalent in our current generation, if we do not attempt to slow the rate at which we abuse stimulants it will trickle down to the next. It is important to think about what you put in your body and how your choices may affect you or the others around you. End the cycle of vaping and instead of finding new methods try something more constructive instead of destructive. Cited Sources: 1- “Results from the Annual National Youth Tobacco Survey” written by the United States Food and Drug Administration https://www.fda.gov/tobacco-products/youth-and-tobacco/results-annual-national-youth-tobacco-survey 2- “Vaping Devices ( Electronic Cigarettes)” written by National Institute on Drug Abuse https://nida.nih.gov/publications/drugfacts/vaping-devices-electronic-cigarettes 3- “Nicotine” written by Alcohol and Drug Foundation https://adf.org.au/drug-facts/nicotine/ 4- “ E-Cigarette” written by Bechara Choucair from Britannica.com E-cigarette 5- “Why Do So Many Teens Vape?” written by Jennifer Thomas from Rally Health https://www.rallyhealth.com/quit-smoking/why-do-so-many-teens-vape

Everyone has had a moment in their life where things just do not seem to be going right. The feeling that despite being surrounded by people that love you a deep sense of loneliness remains. Now, why is that? According to verywell mind’s written by Kendra Cherry titled, “Loneliness: Causes and Health Consequences”, the feeling of loneliness is not just driven by actually being isolated but instead feeling that you are alone.¹ It is much more of how you internalize your feelings. These feelings can also be caused by external factors such as mental health and even physical health. For some people, being by themselves is preferable which is why they do not have this type of reaction. Loneliness can affect people in many ways and while sometimes they can be relatively positive and a lesson in self contentment it can negatively affect others. An example of how this could be negative would be to feel abandoned or rejected by friends because they are out partying and you are not. A useful skill to have would be to be able to be okay with being by yourself. While it is no fun to go through life without others, sometimes it is necessary and even good to have personal time to yourself. If we constantly look for companionship we would never have time to work on ourselves and become dependent on others to enjoy ourselves. An article from and written by Healthline titled, “The Beginner's Guide to Being Happy Alone”, detailed that some ways to attempt to start being more content by yourself were to think about the benefits of being on your own, take a break, and plan time to go out for you.² Like I said before being alone can sometimes just be an excuse for you to treat yourself. Everyone likes to have a little “me time” so instead of looking at a situation negatively you can think about how it can best suit you. You could take a break and even plan to go out somewhere by yourself. You virtually have the freedom to choose what you would like to do. I personally like to think of it as self care because sometimes people can just be too much for me. Healthline even goes on to suggest ways that you can even further this by switching up your routine, focus on growing your coping skills, and plan for the future.² Changing up your routines rattles your normal schedule which could add more enjoyment to your everyday life. While doing these methods of satisfying your own company you should also prepare to deal with situations where those feelings do come back but now you have ways for coping and managing them. To keep giving you the motivation to go forward you can also plan ahead, giving you things to look forward to. However, just because you have found a way to enjoy your own company it is still important to maintain your relationships. Taking time for yourself isn't a crime but forgetting about everyone else though not criminal, can still hurt. Always care for yourself and if you believe that what you are feeling could be an underlying or growing issue seek help from someone trusted or a medical professional. Cited Sources: 1-https://www.verywellmind.com/loneliness-causes-effects-and-treatments-2795749 “Loneliness: Causes and Health Consequences” written by Kendra Cherry from verywell mind 2- https://www.healthline.com/health/how-to-be-happy-alone “The Beginner's Guide to Being Happy Alone” written by Healthline

When I think about courage I usually think of facing my biggest fear which, to be frank, would probably be me bleeding out. For you it may be something worse or completely different. We all are afraid of things and that is okay. It is a part of us being human and it's not like the world would suddenly be a better place if we adopted the mindset of robots. If all we did was compute numbers where would we ever find the time to live, laugh, love. However what is exactly courage, even if it can not be fully defined we can still attempt to understand the concept. According to an article from BetterUp titled, “Bravery versus Courage: What is the Difference?” written by Shonna Waters, being courageous is doing something knowing it is scary or dangerous.¹ Well, to most of you reading this, you probably think being courageous is pretty stupid. However, what if you looked at in the way of how you perceive something as different from the usual. For me when I go to Starbucks I always order the same thing but every now and again I want to try something new. Now, the problem is I have no idea how this new drink I am trying will taste like. There is always the possibility in the back of my mind that this may be the worst thing I have ever tasted. But there is also the off hand chance that it may be the best thing I have ever had from Starbucks. I know there is a chance that something will go wrong but I go for it anyway despite being aware. This is what courage is in my own personal way. While it is small, trying a new drink is a courageous act to me because I am willingly taking a risk. Courage may be seen by people completely differently and that is fine. We all define certain things in different ways because everyone has a different perspective. Well now you may be asking yourself, if being courageous is as easy as that, how can I do that without regretting my actions later? A BetterUp article titled, “How to Be Brave: 9 Ways to Conquer Your Fears” written by Maggie Wooll wrote that it helps to confront your fear, embrace the failure, and being okay with trying it again.² While I liked the way Wooll listed the ways she suggested I am ordering them in a way that makes sense to me and hopefully for you too. When you think about confronting your fears it is also about recognizing that they are there in the first place. By coming to terms with your fears about a situation or an action you can then start deciding that if it goes wrong you will be okay. This also helps with not discouraging you from attempting it again. I think this setup makes much more sense and is easier to understand. To confront a problem you need to know it, be okay with the hypothetical of failing, and be able to feel comfortable that you can do it again. The saying of ‘be comfortable with the uncomfortable’ always confused me because I personally would rather make the uncomfortable comfortable to suit me to get used to a situation. By being comfortable with the uncomfortable would that not just be ignoring the problem instead of facing it head on? So instead of going around a problem, face it. Make that uncomfortable situation something you can handle by just acknowledging it. Cited Sources: 1- “Bravery versus Courage: What is the Difference?” written by Shonna Waters Bravery-vs-courage 2- “How to Be Brave: 9 Ways to Conquer Your Fears” written by Maggie Wooll https://www.betterup.com/blog/how-to-be-brave

Most people perceive school or work as being the things that complicate our lives. But are these not all good things that we will eventually benefit from? Well, yes, but not if it is causing detriment to another part of your life. Balance Through Simplicity explains this best from their article titled, “What Does it Mean to Simplify Your life?” written by Antonia. She said that our lives can be so complicated that many of us are arriving at the conclusion that we want something different.¹ With a more general context, Antonia is in a way describing burnout and how many of us will eventually decide that we need a break. This can come in many forms such as taking less responsibilities at school or at work, instead giving yourself a pause in your busy schedule. However, sometimes taking on more responsibilities is positive but only if you are willing and prepared mentally. We often get scared of big commitments because sometimes they are necessary for our self growth and as long as it is within our capabilities of completing them. No one is perfect and it is okay to admit when you are unable to do something or simply have no time to. So, what exactly are some ways someone can lessen their workload? According to an article from Lifehack.org titled, “77 Ideas to Simplify Your Life and Feel Better Today”, written by Leo Babauta this can be done in many ways. While Babauta had many great ideas, not all of them were completely different from one another. The ones I believed were important was to start saying ‘no’, spend more time on the things you care about, work on yourself, and to simplify your goals.² A part of ridding yourself of overcomplications is simply by saying no and prioritizing. We often get put into situations where we feel obligated to take responsibility or be the ones to do something but it does not have to be like that. If you are unable to do or complete something you should consider yourself first and understand your limits. This makes things much easier on yourself, unburdening your shoulders for however long you need. Now that you are not focused on the things that make your life more complex you can shift your attention onto the things you actually care about including time for yourself. Everyone from time to time forgets about themselves and for much of our lives neglect our physical and mental needs because something else happens to be seemingly a priority. Spending more time on yourself allows you to rework your goals to fit with your primary focus in life to maintain a balance. While for many people this may seem lazy or an excuse to not do more work it is not. Instead, it is just putting yourself first before other lesser important things. After all, the most important thing is taking care of yourself and making sure you are a priority even in moments where it feels easier to just forget. Cited Sources 1- Titled “What Does It Mean to Simplify Your Life?” written by Antonia from Balance Through Simplicity https://balancethroughsimplicity.com/what-does-it-mean-to-simplify-your-life/ 2- Titled “77 Ideas to Simplify Your Life and Feel Better Today” written by Leo Babauta from Lifehack.org 72-ideas-simplify-your-life-today.html

Procrastination is a very natural thing for most if not everyone. Sometimes we simply just do not want to do work at the moment and push it off leaving it for future us. But as all things do at some point it comes back and you are faced with a dilemma that is for the most part created by you. So why exactly do we procrastinate if it only ends in stress and rushed deadlines? Well, according to an article from Solving Procrastination titled, “Why People Procrastinate: The Psychology and Causes of Procrastination” written by Itamar Shatz it is very simple. Shatz described it as an imbalance between our drives of delay and action that commonly leads to procrastination.¹ While throughout the article he listed various causes of procrastination this was the root of most. Shatz had explained it as a drive in his article but a better way to see it is to instead visualize the scales of justice. On one side is your delay and on the other is your action. So let's say you get an assignment and you feel a bit demotivated or something has you in a bad mood, this incites more of a reason to delay completing the work instead of acting on it right then. While this scenario implies other factors are at play, the core root of it is in our willingness to act in the present depending on how we feel. However, if procrastination is most commonly caused by what we are feeling at any given moment, is there even any way to correct this detrimental habit? Just as most bad habits are correctable, procrastination is no different. An article from Lifehack titled, “How to Stop Procrastinating: 14 Practical Ways for Procrastinators” written by Celestine Chua puts it into 14 realistic and practical ways. However, to make it simpler I chose three of the methods she wrote about that I thought would be the most effective ways to begin ending serial procrastination. Chua in her article described that some of the most practical ways to stop procrastination were to break down your workload, to not overcomplicate the task, and to find someone to be motivated with.² I do think that these are great strategies to start out with as they are not necessarily complicated in concept. To start breaking down your work into smaller parts is probably something you already do for other parts of your life like cleaning. This strategy is meant to help you complete a task without feeling overwhelmed or stuck by taking it slow. If you give yourself enough time, quality work is likely almost guaranteed due to your approach to the task. This is also correlated with the next strategy which was to keep the task as simple as possible. Similarly, it is meant to help ease any stress or concern you may have with actually doing a task. By keeping it more or less straightforward it eliminates most worries and overthinking allowing for there to be no reason to delay completing it. However, there are some moments when we can’t muster any motivation to complete the work. Well, that's where Chua's third strategy comes into play. We can’t always rely on ourselves so sometimes it's necessary to find someone to help us become motivated. While this motivation buddy should not be relied on it is a great way to start finding ways to be motivated and eventually you will find your own reasons to motivate yourself. It also creates a sort of accountability aspect as this person can be the one to call you out when you are procrastinating. Though procrastination may seem like the easier way out of doing your work at that very moment, it does eventually catch up to you. This is why it is important to recognize that it is a problem if it negatively affects you and your work. Cited Sources: 1- https://solvingprocrastination.com/why-people-procrastinate/ “Why People Procrastinate: The Psychology and Causes of Procrastination” written by Itamar Shatz Solving Procrastination 2- https://www.lifehack.org/articles/featured/11-practical-ways-to-stop-procrastination.html “How to Stop Procrastinating: 14 Practical Ways for Procrastinators” written by Celestine Chua lifehack.org

What do you think of when you hear the term ‘self-help’? Most people think of it as crystal therapy, essential oils, and all sorts of unconventional methods of self treatment. While this can be true in some examples of self help, at its core it is mainly about improving oneself. Now, the self help industry is filled with all sorts of methods, but there are some things fundamentally flawed in this process. Mark Manson wrote an article titled, “5 Problems With the Self-Help Industry”, critiquing the industry of self-help. Manson describes the industry as contradictory, a way for avoidance, and even to an extent the enforcement of inferiority.¹ What he means by the industry being contradictory is that self-help is all about telling yourself that you are okay and can do this even if it is a path alone. However, the irony lies in once you do accept this the advice you consume or are given actually becomes useful. Self improvement is about betterment not replacement which is what often people get hung up on and then fall into the trap of unhelpful and sometimes harmful sources. Where instead of actually progressing on your journey of self improvement you are really just living through someone else's accomplishments. This also falls into how it also encourages avoidance. While not all problems can be fixed, self-help perpetuates that and instead of giving a solution it simply gives you a list of things you can do instead. Often giving the illusion of progress when instead you have just opted for the slightly nicer option instead of an actual solution. There are definitely things that can not be fixed by simply relying on yourself and letting people help or accepting that you need help is the better way to resolve those problems. Just as self-help attempts to strive for self improvement it unfortunately at its core enforces the feelings of inferiority. When you turn to this industry for help you are often wanting to become a better version of yourself. Manson in his article points out that for self-help to actually be useful is for the person to accept themselves as someone who is already good or a better person than who they were before who has made mistakes. However, due to people having the worldview that they are broken or fundamentally bad in some way, self-help does not work because instead of encouraging self improvement it enforces shame and the inferiority of being lesser than others. Mark Manson near the end of his article adds ,”Nobody else can be happy for you”, and how it is really up to the individual of how they can become better.1 Trust in yourself and decide what is best for you instead of letting what self-help dictates as helpful. Manson really broke down what exactly was wrong with the self-help industry but does that make self improvement bad? Not at all, it just means that there are certain parts of self-help that are glorified for things that they are not. So how exactly can we avoid this side of self-help while still caring for ourselves and striving to be better? According to a Verywell Mind article written by Kendra Cherry titled, “Can You Be Addicted to Self-Help” you should focus on accepting yourself, realize your strengths, and to reach out to a professional when you need to.² Just as Manson said prior by accepting who you are now and recognizing your flaws as something you can improve upon instead of feeling inferior because of it. It also helps in keeping your thoughts realistic when you are attempting to better yourself. Instead of striving for perfection your goal is instead the aspect of improving yourself. It is also important as Cherry wrote in her article to recall what is going well for you and your strengths. Oftentimes when we get stuck and see no sign of progress we tend to think negatively, becoming anxious that we will never change. Knowing the things that are going well can help you realize how far you have come, giving you the motivation to pull through. Sometimes life can get too much, making us feel lost at times. In moments like these it is important to know you are not alone and that you can reach out to professionals for help even if you are not lost. While parts of the self help industry are fundamentally flawed in its approach to self improvement it is not reflective of all the resources associated with self-help. However, what we should take from this is that a big part of growth is to accept who you are now so you can develop and become the person you wish to be. Cited Sources: 1- https://markmanson.net/self-help 2- https://www.verywellmind.com/can-you-be-addicted-to-self-help-5118241

Have you ever had your trust broken? If you have, it probably hurt and later made it hard for you to open up to others or be honest. But what exactly is trust and why can it affect us so much? According to an article from Better Up titled, “How to build trust in the workplace: 10 effective solutions” written by Maggie Wooll talks about this quite a bit. Wooll describes trust in the article as having a sense of security or confidence in a person, being able to predict someone, and finding them dependable.¹ While the writer focused more on trust in a work environment it can be easily applied in interpersonal relationships. Building trust in another person whether it is a friend, coworker, or teacher is always important not only for the other person but for you as well. Wooll writes in regard to teams or individuals ,”You want to create an environment where people feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and helping each other out”, which is something that I wholeheartedly agree with.¹ Now that you understand what trust is, how do you grow trust in others? This of course goes both ways for you and the other party. An article from Psychology Today titled ,“7 Ways to Build Trust in a Relationship” written by Andrea Bonior has some great suggestions. Mentions I thought that were the most notable was being able to give but also receive, respect, and honesty.² To give but also receive mostly pertains to allowing yourself to not only be comforted but to comfort. Bonior describes this in her article as a balance and how it is important to open yourself when you are trying to create connections with others. Respect is also another one and is relatively something that most people understand. However, when we get comfortable sometimes we show only our negative selves which is neither good for you nor the people you choose to be disrespectful too. I personally believe in the ‘treat others how you wish to be treated’ rule and if you want to be respected and seen as an ally a little kindness and respect goes a long way. Now honesty is probably the most obvious trait someone would think of when building trust. While honesty is important I don’t believe it is the number one thing you need to have a healthy relationship. It takes a long time for some people to share parts of themselves they are not sure will be accepted by open arms. However, the honesty of communication is what I believe is very important. Be honest about your feelings and all the things that make you feel uncomfortable or something you want to change. While you do not need to unload all your deepest feelings, it is necessary for any healthy relationship for things that bother you to be talked about and discussed. Even if there is a possibility that being honest can hurt the feelings of someone you care about unintentionally, it is important to be open and honest. This also goes both ways and if you are ever confronted by someone like this you have the responsibility to listen and try to do better if there is room for improvement in your behavior and relationship. Another article I found with a similar premise to Bonior’s article was from Positive Psychology titled, “10 Ways To Build Trust in a Relationship” written by Heather Craig. Though Craig listed 10 ways, I found two that were not already mentioned in the prior article including effective communication and acknowledging mistakes.³ When we talk about communicating effectively a part of it is feeling comfortable to share opinion and thoughts. Just as communication is about feeling like you can discuss things with your friend, coworker, or partner without feeling like you have to beat around the bush and lie. The same thing can be said about admitting mistakes. However, it instead helps to build trust and shows that you are willing to be vulnerable and admit your shortcomings as well. Even if it is embarrassing it goes a long way and displays to the other person that you are someone to trust. The ability to believe in others is hard for everyone to certain degrees but we can not always shut ourselves away forever. Building trust applies to many things you have either experienced or will experience and while it may make your interpersonal relationships healthier it will also help you grow just a little more. Cited Sources: 1- https://www.betterup.com/blog/how-to-build-trust “How to build trust in the workplace: 10 effective solutions” Written by Maggie Wooll from BetterUp (What is trust? Why is it important to trust?) 2- 7-ways-build-trust-in-relationship “7 Ways to Build Trust in a Relationship” Written by Andrea Bonior from Psychology Today (How to build trust?) 3-https://positivepsychology.com/build-trust/ “10 Ways To Build Trust in a Relationship” Written by Heather Craig from Positive Psychology (How to build trust?)

In today’s world we often forget the world around us and the people in it. This can make us tune everything out and oftentimes can make others perceive us as rude and make our lives generally more stressful. This is what becoming mindful is. But what exactly is mindfulness and how do you practice it? According to an article by Greater Good Magazine titled “What is Mindfulness”, being mindful is being aware of yourself and the things around you without judgment.¹ This is so important especially now when we seem to have lost our touch with the world and the people that surround us. But why exactly try so hard to make that connection? How exactly can practicing mindfulness help you, you may be asking. An article from the Mayo Clinic titled “Mindfulness Exercises” talks about many of these benefits. Some that I thought were pretty general benefits had been improving attention, sleep, and allowing for better acceptance in processing your emotions and thoughts.² Practicing mindfulness helps in parts of your life and more importantly yourself. Much of the time we find ourselves so caught up in things we forget to take care of ourselves, especially our mental health. So how exactly can you become more mindful or at the very least attempt to do so. According to an article from PsychCentral titled “7 Steps to Being More Mindful” some ways to begin are to realize what you want out of this and to clear clutter from your life.³ A part of mindfulness is meditation but there are also many ways to conduct it as well. But a big portion of doing any of these things is what you intend to get out of it. By giving yourself a motive it helps to push you forward and progress. It also is one of the core things about mindfulness, accepting instead of judging. Clearing clutter is also similar in the sense that it is a sign of progression. You are clearing the things from your life that have no purpose to you, allowing the focus to fall on things that are helping you. There are also other ways to begin a more mindful life. Another article similar to Psych Central’s from Very Well Mind titled “How to Become More Mindful in Your Everyday Life”. Some of the other ways this article mentions are to be more considerate of your actions, taking a moment to pause, and being more thoughtful of how you interact with others.⁴ Unlike the advice mentioned in the other article this more pertains to how we interact in our daily lives. When being considerate of your actions they are talking about being more focused on what you are doing and instead of viewing something you do not like negatively do so positively. This will make you more attentive of your surroundings and associate what could have been as boring or monotonous as more enjoyable. Now this may not work for everything, but it surely can be helpful in doing daily chores or homework. Being mindful will not be easy so taking breaks to remind yourself whether it be through mediation or doing something that grounds you. This will help to move from task to task while still being in a mindful state. Just as with interacting with the things around you it is also important to be mindful with others as well. But how exactly do you do that? Well, according to this article it is mostly about paying attention to whoever you are choosing to spend your time with and engage. No one likes to talk to a wall so instead of mindlessly nodding through dialogue try to respond mindfully and be that engagement. In the end, being mindful is more of you being a more considerate person and choosing to enjoy life rather than let it take over you hatefully. Being mindful is really up to you and whether or not you want to make your life a bit more enjoyable. Cited Sources: 1: “What Is Mindfulness?” written by Greater Good Magazine https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/topic/mindfulness/definition (What being mindful means) 2: “Mindfulness Exercises” written by Mayo Clinic https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/consumer-health/in-depth/mindfulness-exercises/art-20046356(benefits of mindfulness) 3: “7 Steps to Being More Mindful” written by PsychCentral https://psychcentral.com/blog/how-to-become-a-more-mindful-person#tips-to-be-more-mindful (reflection, clearing clutter) 4: “How to Become More Mindful in Your Everyday Life” written by Elizabeth Scott from Very Well Mind https://www.verywellmind.com/mindfulness-exercises-for-everyday-life-3145187(being mindful of your actions, pausing, be mindful of how you act)

When many people think of taking action, they immediately focus on making big changes. This is not always the best way to accomplish goals for most people. So, then what should be done when taking action? In an article from Berkeley’s Well-Being Institute titled “Taking Action: 8 Key Steps for Acting on Your Dreams” written by Tchiki Davis, he defines taking action as taking steps to get us somewhere. The way Davis defines what it means to be in action is to be in ‘motion’ but anyone can be in a state of action without actually going anywhere. So when you think of something you want to achieve, maybe a long-lasting goal, to reach it you would have to take the steps to make it there which is what taking action is. This type of mindset not only helps to reach your goals but makes fulfilling them a habit. Now that we understand what it means to take action, how do we start? An article from The Positivity Blog titled “How to Take Action: 12 Habits That Turn Dreams into Reality” written by Henrik Edberg described some ways to help get into the habit of taking action. Some of the things Edberg suggested included starting small, making it fun, not overthinking it, and holding yourself accountable. When trying to start out the steps you want to take to reach a goal, starting small is often the best way to begin. We often get overwhelmed seeing the bigger picture so doing this helps to relieve that anxiety. Just as with doing anything people are often motivated to do things when they find some sort of enjoyment in a goal. Incorporating fun things to do while working towards a goal often helps push people forwards. This could be something simple like adding music to your gym routine or celebrating after reaching a milestone. While you can have fun, it is still important to hold yourself accountable and remind yourself what you are working towards. There would be no use celebrating if you never accomplished your goals Arguably the most important thing to remember is to not overthink it. Most people think that when you have a goal you know exactly how to get there but that is almost never the case. From this, we can tend to overthink our actions when it is often quite straightforward what needs to be done. Taking action can come in many forms, but what should always occur is a change even if it is not necessarily a large one. Think of that one thing you have meant to do and just start it, and make a move towards taking action. Cited Sources: 1- Taking Action: 8 Key Steps for Acting on Your Dreams written by Tchiki Davis https://www.berkeleywellbeing.com/taking-action.html 2- How to Take Action: 12 Habits that Turn Dreams into Reality written by Henrik Edberg how-to-take-action

Halloween is just around the corner and no doubt many of you are excited to enjoy this spooky day of the year. However, just as it is something fun to look forward to there is also the opposite. One thing you can unfortunately expect from Halloween is an increase in danger. Attorneys Hartman, a legal firm in New Jersey wrote a blog post titled “Surprising Facts About Halloween Crime Spikes”. Attorneys Hartman describes why these things may occur more often during this time, including more alcohol and potential drug use. It is also interesting to note that because Halloween is a ‘prank’ holiday that may also be what is inciting petty or small crimes. There are also other issues. An article titled “Halloween Safety Tips” was written by Kelli Acciardo from Seventeen gives some great advice. Acciardo recommends to watch your drinks and to be careful on the road.6 Unsurprisingly, there is also more to watch out for, but instead of violence, it is what you wear. It is very likely you have seen some questionable Halloween costumes that could be borderline offensive. A Halloween article titled “Can I wear that? What to know about culturally insensitive Halloween costumes” from Spectrum News and written by Taylor Bruck discusses such a topic. Bruck wrote about how we wear costumes on the surface level and do not usually think about the deeper meaning behind certain looks. While dressing up may not seem like a big deal for many people certain styles or articles of clothing hold some sort of significance to them seeing it as a costume is extremely demeaning. A large part of this is ignorance and how we have demoted certain types of peoples and cultures into stereotypes. So what you can do instead is to attempt to become more aware of the costumes you choose to wear on Halloween and ensure that you are doing your best to not be culturally insensitive. If you see a friend that may be thinking about what they should wear and you notice them leaning into something that represents a stereotype, just let them know before suggesting something else. One of the other bigger issues in this category is sexualization and the objectification of womens’ Halloween costumes. An article from The Daily Nebraskan titled “BUCKLEY: Halloween costumes should not be subjected to gender stereotypes” written by Kim Buckley takes both genders into account. Buckley expresses how she feels it is a weird standard to have women be expected to be ‘sluts’ during Halloween while men are not.4 It is still important to not only realize how messed up this is in the sense of having one gender being expected to be ‘sexy’ while the other does not. Just as women during Halloween can be objectified so do men even if it is not inherent with what we connect with Halloween. This also brings up a larger issue in whole in regards to consent. According to an opinion article titled “More tricks than treats: Halloween’s sexual assault problem” written by The Pit News identifies a greater issue at large. The Pit News describes how especially during Halloween reports of assault, harrasment, and rape come to the forefront and how this is often because of drinking, partying, and people who unfortunately do not care about the idea of consent. However the thing that stood out to me from this article was the idea that what you wear does not represent giving verbal consent.5 The excuse “women are asking for it” sinks when you bring up the culture we live in, where sexy is expected but respect is never given. Just as this can happen to any woman, it could happen with any other man. To stay safe it would be best to hang around people you trust and let someone know where you are throughout your Halloween night. With so many dangers you might be asking yourself what you should do for your own safety so you can enjoy your Halloween night! With the end of that, have a Happy Halloween and stay safe!

We all have had a point in our lives where sleep was never a priority. Sometimes life gets busy and we forget to take care of ourselves and our rest. Now that we are back in school the urge to pull all-nighters to make up for procrastination is more common than ever. But is getting your work done at the crack of dawn worth losing those hours your mind and body could be resting? According to an article from the Sleep Foundation titled “Why do we Need Sleep?”, written by Danielle Pachello said it is not. Pachello wrote that when we are deprived of sleep we can get distracted more and our moods are much more easily influenced.¹ While some people may argue that being easily distracted or moody is just normal, it can seriously affect how you perceive the classroom. In the case of lack of sleep you can become easily off track which causes you to have a difficult time in class. The same can be said with mood, if you are not in the mindset to learn it is not only difficult for you to sit down in a classroom and try to understand a concept but for others as well. Oftentimes, our moods rub off on others so while it may not seem like your grumpy attitude is affecting your neighbor it most likely is. By attempting to get better sleep, you will not only be making your day but that of others. You will also feel well rested and as a result, you will not fall asleep in your classes allowing you to engage and finish homework in the classroom instead of at home. Doing all nighters is often the cause of procrastination which sleep deprivation contributes to as well. If you are well rested the next day you will have the willpower to do the work and hopefully finish all that homework and be able to go to bed early. While somewhat unrealistic in the article “Why do we Need Sleep?”, it is actually stated that teenagers should be getting eight to ten hours of rest.¹ I call this unrealistic purely for the fact that it is actually quite rare nowadays to find people that actually do rest this well. Even though this is not an impossible standard by any means it is more of that for us students there are other things we need to prioritize. Unfortunately for many of us, sleep is not one of them. Now, how do we get better sleep? Resting is sadly not a talent so to get into a regular sleeping schedule will be difficult at first. An article from Medical News Today titled “21 Ways to Fall Asleep Quickly and Naturally”, written by Aaron Kandola. Some of the things Kandola suggested included taking melatonin, practicing mindfulness, and avoiding caffeine. ² Personally I have tried all of these and they are all helpful in their own ways. When it comes to taking medication like melatonin, you should seek the advice of a medical professional or your parents. Sleeping medication can be easy to become reliant on so it is important to not use it long term and instead use it for times where you find yourself not sleeping as easily. In regards to mindfulness I imagine it can be anything that distracts from thoughts like listening to rain or practicing meditation. Avoiding caffeine sounds simple but for some of us that wake up early in the morning find it difficult to go without. If you were already on this type of schedule instead of outright removing it from your morning just have a smaller amount of caffeine. It also helps to have your caffeine earlier if you need it. Drinking coffee in the afternoon or before you plan to go to bed will likely keep you awake for the next few hours. Another source that I found to have great ideas was an article from Mayo Clinic titled “Sleep tips: 6 steps to better sleep”. Two ideas I found to be the most important were to avoid napping during the day and creating a sleep schedule.³ While napping in the daytime may seem to help rest however it instead makes you less tired when you are heading to bed. This will cause your sleep schedule to become less consistent because of the naps you have been taking. Which then leads into making a schedule, if you want to get better sleep it helps to have a somewhat consistent nighttime routine. If you have a set time to go to bed and then to wake up it gives your sleep a path to follow and enforces your body’s need to sleep and wake up. Without rest, we function completely differently and it often affects how we act and behave. Our bodies need sleep to function which is why we need to be getting better sleep regardless of homework or extracurricular. If you can, try to prioritize resting, see the difference in your performance and attitude. You will probably be surprised.