60 day PICS!

Sorry for the lack of post yesterday, thank you for following me anyway :) To make it up to you here are some accountability pictures!!! I'm so proud of myself!

Nothing is a better reminder to stay on track than accountability pictures!! I am the perfect example of an imperfect person and these pictures are after a week of missed work outs and poor diet planning... BUT the key is to start over EVERY DAY.. it's a life style change!

I have a little room left in my March challenge that starts next week! Email me if you're interested at jfollows89@gmail.com!

I can't wait for my next 60 day pics!! 

YOLO

Does YOLO have consequences?! Good or Bad?

The saying "YOLO" means You Only Live Once. This phrase has become a cultural sensation. 

But this is not a new idea, there are decades of research on how being aware of death impacts human behavior.

The Good of YOLO:

In psychology articles, this phrase is a type of "post-traumatic growth". Psychologists have explored how terminal illness diagnoses and near-fatal experiences influence people... After a period of initial shock, many people experience shifts in how they spend their time, their appreciation of life, and their general sense of happiness. Many of these indviduals feel like they never fully lived until they were diagnosed with a terminal illness. They also report devoting more time to what they most truly enjoy, and not worrying nearly as much about much of what had previously stressed them.

Research also shows that older people, closer to death than younger, focus more on pleasant aspects of the images or situations than unpleasant ones. When college students are reminded of death in experiments, they then spend more time looking at positive words than negative words. When people are aware that life is more scarce, they focus more on positive things, and less on negative things. These people also spend less time on things that make them feel negative and more time on things that make them feel happy and positive.

Take me for example, it took a traumatic death of a very close friend for me to look at the positive side of life and teach myself how to be happy... it's just how our little minds work. I made a Happiness blog and facebook page for heavens sake... :)

It is normal psychology to want something that is more scarce and that you know is ending soon, which is the psychology behind YOLO. Remind yourself that life can end at any moment so that you live it to the fullest. 

The Bad of YOLO:

There are several cases of "YOLO" being associated with unhealthy behavior. A person tweeted "YOLO" before crashing their car while driving drunk, and a woman tweeted "YOLO" after storming onto a college football field drunk and arrested...

I am guilty of this!! If I'm debating on eating something unhealthy, drinking alcohol, not studying for a test, or skipping a work out, in my head I'm like, "YOLO Joyce, you won't remember this on your death bed, go hang out with your friends". And while this can be a good thing, it can also promote unhealthy behavior.

 So, as with everything else in life, use YOLO in moderation. Make sure it isn't helping you make unhealthy decisions, but live life to the fullest everyday.

~ If you did die tomorrow, can you say you died happy? ~

You Stop Yourself

Dream BIG!

Most of us grew up with big plans and dreams. We might have hoped to become a professional athlete, a Nobel Prize winning scientist, a famous novelist, a movie star, or president of the United States. 

 

(my gorgeous niece!)

We dream very big when we are young. Why? We don't have anyone telling us we can't, we don't have limitations, we don't have bills to pay, we don't have responsibilities, and we don't have the Negative Nancys in our head telling us we can't.

Yet, over time, most of these childhood fantasies and dreams are not remembered. We get in touch with our limitations, responsibilities, and priorities... often settling for something less than we had hoped for when we were young dreamers.

So many people live with the disappointment that they 

“I could have been a ___”

"I should have ___"

"I wish I ___"

 SO should we have huge crazy dreams or small realistic ones? Should we hold onto those dreams we had as a child?

I remember being young and all I wanted was a cat, a trampoline, to go to Alaska, and to be a dolphin trainer. 

Then, as a pre-teen, all I wanted was naturally straight blonde hair, to be skinny, I wanted to be famous, a professional surfer, and I wanted to be a veterinarian. 

As I got older, I wanted a boy to like me, I still wanted to be skinny, I still wanted to be a veterinarian, and I wanted to have more friends. 

As a young adult, I still wanted to be skinny, I still want to be a veterinarian, I want to make alot of money, and I want to be happy.

(baby me and my sister!)

Don't forget who you dreamed of being as a child. While sometimes the dreams were unrealistic, like my desire to be famous or to be a dolphin trainer... some of them are still doable! I can be skinny, I can buy a trampoline, I already have a cat, I'm in veterinary school, I will find a way to make money, and I'm learning to be happy :)

Ask yourself, 

1. What were your dreams?

2. What are your dreams now?

3. What do you need to do daily to reach those dreams and goals?

4. MAKE A DREAM LIST (better than bucket) 

5. DO IT

... it really is that simple.

xoxox

Happy MoNdAy!

Facebook Friends = Real Friends?

"Facebook Makes Us All Sad Because Everyone is Happy But Us." 

This was the title of a real article I found.

Apparently, it's a human habit to overestimate others' happiness. It's also very human to compare ourselves with others. So, if we think other people are happy, and we're not happy, we get even sadder thinking about other people's happiness. Thinking that other people are happy and knowing we're not, we feel more alone in our suffering.

Facebook is yet another place, where we're constantly up against the "grass is always greener" mentality.  Facebook is a place to showcase our latest accomplishments and most flattering pictures and if someone else posts a bad picture you don't like, you can un-tag it. How safe is that?! 

What if we could delete or un-tag our real lives? Well, we can't, which is why facebook is so unrealistic.

By being able to see just the good stuff, scrolling down our Facebook news feed feeds into our misapprehension that other people's lives are perfectly happy.

Even before reading these articles, I know I am an example of this. I'm not quite at the point that I believe all of my friends are happier than I am. But, I've noticed that I don't usually post a status update when I have a bad day or a negative experience. 

 I use my facebook as the positive, happy, inspiring side of myself. OF COURSE there is also struggle, insecurities, and some sinicism in my life... otherwise, why would I need all of the encouragement? Why else would I think other people need the inspiration?

So, what can we do when friends are brave and do post the tough stuff online? When someone's status reflects a job loss or a breakup or a death in the family, there isn't a Facebook button that allows us to "Care." The virtual hug symbol ain't gonna cut it. You need to reach out to your "friends" IN PERSON!! 

Don't forget that the imperfect person you are in real life is what people relate to... not the perfect person with the perfect pictures on facebook.

 The increase in connecting through social media and technology is causing a loss of connections in person. This is what is changing our society. I like change, but I think this is a huge reason that things like depression, anxiety, obesity, and suicide have increased hugely over the last couple years. 

We are a new society of "alone together". We are close to each other, in the same room, but we forgot how to connect with people emotionally.

So if you are a great facebook or social media person like me, don't forget to talk to those people in person too!  

Let's create real life friends out of our "facebook friends".

Believe me, if people already know you through facebook, all it takes is a, "Hey girl, I see you on facebook all the time, just though I'd come say hi!". 

And just like that.. YOU just beat the social media loneliness bridge of our society... Maybe we can beat depression, anxiety, and obesity together next ;)

~ Are your facebook "friends", real friends?~

DO IT