Six Reasons You're Not as Happy as You'd Like to Be (and What You Can Do About It)

No one ever said that life was easy, and none of us ever assumed that we'd get all that we desire without hitting at least a few obstacles along the way. But come on! Does everything have to always be so hard? If this sounds like you, take heart; you're not alone. And believe it or not, the answer to that question is no, it doesn't. Things don't have to always be so difficult. So why are you hitting all those brick walls? And more importantly, what can you do to stop hitting them?

You're Not Organized

Now don't take offense?I'm one of the most unorganized people you'll ever meet, a talent I come by naturally. And I can tell you with great certainty that it most definitely affects my ability to be as productive as I'd like to be. After all, it's not easy to conquer the world, tame the universe, and be all that you can be when you're surrounded by clutter and chaos.

Being unorganized creates unwanted stress. It makes it difficult to concentrate, and it almost guarantees that your schedule won't run smoothly. When I'm not organized, I'm forgetting things. I'm misplacing things. And I'm almost always moving in high gear because I'm running late. It's exhausting. All of these things suppress the creative flow and thus, your ability to problem-solve, daydream, and get things done. As a result, even the smallest of tasks can become monumental challenges, and by the time you've finally muddled your way through, you're no longer operating in that peak state where the really good stuff happens.

How do you fix it? If like me, your organization skills are lacking, it might be time to find a way to remedy that situation and instill a little order into your life. You may not ever become the poster child for neat and tidy, but even the smallest steps can make a difference and you'll be amazed how much you can accomplish when it doesn't take you three hours just to find a matching pair of socks.

You're Overwhelmed

In addition to struggling with organization, I also have a knack for taking on more than I can handle or, as my mother used to say, "spreading myself too thin." It's not that I want to operate at such a high stress level?it's just that I get excited about new projects and can't wait to get started.

As a result, I frequently have several projects running simultaneously at any given time and before I know it, I have too much going to really concentrate on any one thing. And if you can't give something your full attention, it won't reflect the benefits of all your brilliance. Stay in this state for too long, and you'll find that your motivation leaves you completely. You're no longer just feeling the anxiety that comes from being so "stretched" - you'll actually lack the inspiration to tackle even the smallest of tasks and when you do force yourself to take action, it will never be your best work.

How do you fix it? The solution, of course, is to stop and take inventory of where you are. Get your priorities in order and force yourself to work from that list, so that you stay focused and on track. If that feeling of being overwhelmed is due more to the size of your projects rather than the number, then concentrate on breaking those big jobs down into several doable chunks. You should also seriously consider learning how to say "no" or at the very least, "later," so that you can manage your time more effectively and avoid that "where do I start?" feeling from creeping in and slowing you down.

You're Not Following Your "Bliss"

Plain and simple?if you don't like what you're doing, you're not going to thrive while you're doing it.

Now, we all have times when we "have to do what we have to do." And that's perfectly OK. I've taken jobs that offered little in the way of personal fulfillment but went a long way in helping us make ends meet and when you're faced with that kind of situation, well, you do what you have to do. But all too often, we resign ourselves to that goal of "just getting by." The temporary fix becomes a permanent safety net and we forego our dreams in exchange for predictability and security.

How do you fix it? If you're spending your time selling insurance or typing memos or installing bath fixtures and your passion lies somewhere else, you'll never feel the satisfaction and fulfillment that you're seeking, which means you need to take steps to figure out what your passion is, and then find a way to follow it.

You're Not Taking Enough Risk

Speaking of safety nets, you'll never know what you're capable of if you always insist on playing it safe. That doesn't mean that you can't take precautions and that doesn't mean you shouldn't do your research or ask questions or weigh your options. It just means that sometimes, you have to take a chance.

How do you fix it? You have to be willing to venture out into the unknown if for no other reason than just to see what's there. Sometimes you have to be willing to assume a little risk because you know the reward is worth it. And if the reward is moving you closer to the life you were really meant to have, well, what could be more worthy than that?

You're Too Serious

Doctors' visits are serious. So are taxes and wars and meetings with your boss. Life in general? Not so much. Yes, life can have some pretty somber moments, but it's not meant to be lived in such a solemn state all the time.

How do you fix it? Learn to relax. Learn to loosen up. Have some fun and forget about all those serious aspects that are weighing you down, at least for a while. Don't worry about looking silly, and don't worry about what the neighbors will think. In fact, if they're thinking anything at all, it's that they wish they had the time or the energy or the nerve to get out there and have some fun like you.

You're Stuck in a Rut

Albert Einstein once said that insanity was "doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results." Yet, that's often exactly what we do. We might dream of new adventures and doing great things, but we cling tightly to the bubble of predictability that we've built around us. Our lives become routine?we eat the same meals, wear the same clothes, and continue to perform the same activities, day after day after day. Is it any wonder that we have a hard time creating change?

How do you fix it? Instead, try shaking things up. It doesn't have to be big?in fact, even the smallest of changes can set some exciting things into motion. Try going into work early if you're someone who's usually "just on time," or turn off the TV and spend that time learning a new skill or trying your hand at a new hobby. If you normally start a job search by mass mailing resumes, try calling first instead. If you scour the want ads for job postings, try just picking out companies you'd like to work for and applying direct. If you normally have cereal for breakfast, try oatmeal or toast. If you consistently go to bed at 9 o'clock, try staying up till 10:00 or turning in at 8:00.

No, none of these changes on their own are likely to suddenly bring destiny knocking at your door, but the exercise of changing your routine opens you up to other, potentially more potent changes. The point is, if you're not where you'd like to be, then try walking a different path to get there.

6 Reasons You're Not as Happy as You'd Like to Be | Wise Bread

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Kate Luther is a city-girl turned country-girl who traded in the corporate 9 to 5 for a home office and a life as a freelance writer. Read more from her here.

Illustration by Tina Mailhot-Roberge.

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Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/JyMU6e4QpLU/six-reasons-youre-not-as-happy-as-youd-like-to-be-and-what-you-can-do-about-it

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Chevron fined nearly $1M for Calif. refinery fire

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Chevron was fined nearly $1 million by the state on Wednesday in connection with a fire last year at the company's San Francisco Bay area refinery that sent a cloud of gas and black smoke over residential areas.

Investigators found "willful violations" in Chevron Corp.'s response before, during and after the Aug. 6 fire in Richmond caused by an old, leaky pipe in one of the facility's crude units, said Ellen Widess, chief of the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health.

"Our ... investigation showed that Chevron had repeated warnings and recommendations from its own metallurgists and pipe inspectors about the condition of this pipe," Widess said.

"Chevron was in a unique position to really know the hazards that they deal with from their dynamic technologies and processes, many of which are proprietary. They alone were in position to have addressed these hazards."

The agency filed 25 citations against oil giant, and said the $963,200 in fines were the largest allowed by state law. The company said it planned to appeal some of the violations.

Among the findings, the agency said the company didn't follow recommendations of its own inspectors and scientists made in 2002 to replace the corroded pipe that ultimately ruptured and caused the fire.

"Chevron had pervasive violations in its leak repair procedures throughout the refinery," the agency found. "Investigators identified leaks in pipes that Chevron had clamped as a temporary fix. In some cases the clamps remained in place for years, rather than replacing the pipes themselves."

Cal-OSHA also cited Chevron for not following its own emergency shutdown procedures when the leak was first spotted, and said the company exposed workers to harm by not ensuring they wore proper safety equipment when going back into the burnt out crude unit following the blaze.

No workers were seriously injured in the incident.

Eleven of the violations have been classified as "willful" because investigators found that Chevron had not taken actions to eliminate dangerous conditions for employees, including replacement of the pipe that ruptured.

The investigation also cited the company for failing to file in writing its mandated "thorough review" of a new type of pipe that it wants to use in replacement of the old one that failed.

Company spokesman Sean Comey said Chevron disagreed with some of the violations.

"Although we acknowledge that we failed to live up to our own expectations in this incident, we do not agree with several of the (Cal-OSHA) findings and its characterization of some of the alleged violations as 'willful,'" he said in an email. "Chevron intends to appeal."

Smoke and gas from the fire prompted thousands of people to seek medical treatment, with many complaining of eye irritation and breathing problems.

The fire was caused by a decades-old pipe that the company had neglected to replace, even after inspecting areas near the segment that failed less than a year earlier.

Chevron has paid $10 million in connection to nearly 24,000 claims from residents and to nearby hospitals and local government agencies in Richmond and Contra Costa County, the company said in a report filed earlier this week.

Most of that money went to the hospitals to pay for medical exams and treatments following the incident.

While the fines may not be a major deterrent for a company that earned an estimated $25 billion in 2012, the agency said industry is often more sensitive to a violations classification, such as "willful," than monetary penalties.

"There's a huge stigma to willful violations with all industries," Erika Monterroza, a Cal-OSHA spokeswoman.

Chevron's El Segundo refinery and its oilfield near Bakersfield are also under investigation by Cal-OSHA.

___

Follow Jason Dearen on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/JHDearen

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chevron-fined-nearly-1m-calif-225158143.html

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Small businesses kept on hold by telecom customer service: ACCAN

Nearly a third of small business owners suffer from significant customer service issues with phone and broadband providers, according to a Market Clarity report (PDF) released by the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN).

Market Clarity interviewed 260 small businesses with less than 20 staff across 14 vertical industry segements. Many reported ?significant customer service problems such as difficulty in contacting their provider, being on hold, getting a problem resolved or having to call multiple times?.

Such problems were reported by 46 per cent of fixed services users, 29 per cent of VoIP users, 32 per cent of fixed broadband users, 33 per cent of mobile voice users, 21 per cent of mobile broadband users and 11 per cent of Eftpos users, the report said.

Still, most business customers said they were mostly satisfied with their telecom services, the report said. Satisfaction was reported by 88 per cent of fixed voice users, 90 per cent of VoIP users, 88 per cent of fixed broadband users, 88 per cent of mobile voice users, 89 per cent of mobile broadband users and 95 per cent of Eftpos users.

?However, study findings suggest that factors beyond service reliability feed into respondent?s overall service satisfaction,? the report said. ?In a number of cases, respondents reported overall service satisfaction even where they experienced regular service faults (at least monthly), which would have the potential of a severe or catastrophic business impact if the outage lasted for a full day.?

Also, the report found that half of the small businesses interviewed had no backup plan in the case of broadband outages, even though 32 per cent said that even a one-hour fixed broadband outage would have a ?catastrophic? impact on business.

?This is clearly an area where education could reduce small business? risk exposure,? said Market Clarity's chief executive, Shara Evans. ?For instance, small businesses could buy a mobile broadband ?dongle?, or consider getting a fixed broadband service from multiple providers, across diverse technologies.?

ACCAN said the report highlights unacceptable customer service problems for telecom used by small business.

?While the majority of small businesses are satisfied with their telecommunications services, they are experiencing higher levels of faults than is ideal,? ACCAN said in a foreword to the report.

?These outages ? even if they are for a short duration ? can have a catastrophic impact on a small business. Compounding these issues are the problems that some small business owners have in resolving faults when they arise, even though most are paying for business grade services.?

Follow Adam Bender on Twitter: @WatchAdam

Follow Computerworld Australia on Twitter: @ComputerworldAU, or take part in the Computerworld conversation on LinkedIn: Computerworld Australia

Source: http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/452140/small_businesses_kept_hold_by_telecom_customer_service_accan/

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Philips sells off home entertainment business | The latest news from ...

Electronics firm Philips is set to exit the home entertainment sector, selling its Audio, Visual, Multimedia and Accessories divisions to Funai Electrics of Japan for over??150m, plus licence fees.

The company now plans to focus on health and well-being.

Philips chief executive Frans van Houten commented:?"Today we announced that we have signed an agreement with Funai to transfer our Philips Audio, Video, Multimedia and Accessories businesses.

"This transaction will leverage Philips? strong brand, strength in innovation, and leadership position in these businesses, with Funai?s strong presence in America and Japan, and its supply and manufacturing expertise. I am confident the deal will give this business a great future, with continuity for our customers. We have taken an important step in transforming Philips into the leading technology company in health and well-being.

"While we have made significant progress in 2012, there is still much more to be done to unlock and deliver the full potential of Philips. Going forward, by executing on our Accelerate! program, we will continue to relentlessly drive operational excellence and invest in innovation and sales development to deliver profitability and growth.

"The challenging economic environment in 2012, notably in Europe and United States, has impacted our order book, and hence we expect our sales in 2013 to start slow and pick up in the second half of the year. We remain confident in our ability to further improve our operational and financial performance, enabling us to achieve our 2013 financial targets?.?

You can read more here.

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Cabin Renovation: Simple Green Living | this time - this space

Thirty years ago my husband and I were city dwellers still spending most of our time working? for someone else.? Then we made a life changing decision, a decision to make our simple dream come true.? We moved to where we wanted to live,? purchased a home, committed to voluntary simplicity and built our own business from the bottom up.

A decade later we purchased a larger piece of land and built our own green home and business space on it in the same building.? Throughout two decades we repaired and painted as every home owner does, until last summer when my hubby announced it was painting time. Well, that project morphed into Green Home Renovation Lessons?Learned.

This summer we will be helping another couple with their green home? renovations on their small summer cabin.? They are also into simple green living. And,? I?m using the royal ?we? as my hubby is a qualified carpenter and tradesman, who has building skills that I don?t have. I?m merely a consultant and assistant but we work very well together and we come as a package deal.

Our friends won?t expand the square footage of the cabin beyond adding a covered deck but they will make better use of the space they have.? There are non-bearing walls that will be removed to create an open house plan. There will be major changes when it comes to flooring, solar panels, heating and lighting.

As winter rain drips down my friends are sending us green renovation ideas and concepts from many sources. We are discussing them by email and? telephone and longing to store our umbrellas so we can get to work. This summer is when the project will begin but I?m looking forward to spring. That?s when we will be traveling to view some other green cabin renovations and incorporating what we can into the green cabin reno project.

Graham Hill, Writer, designer is the founder of TreeHugger.com travels the world to tell the story of sustainability. He asks: Can having less stuff, in less room, lead to more happiness? He makes the case for taking up less space, and lays out three rules for editing your life.

Graham Hill: Less stuff, more happiness

We?ve got to cut the extraneous out of our lives, and we?ve got to learn to stem the inflow. We need to think before we buy. Ask ourselves, ?Is that really going to make me happier? Truly?

1.? Edit ruthlessly ? cut the extraneous from your life.

2.? Recognize small is sexy and space efficiency is key.

3.? Multifunctional spaces, furniture and housewares.

Some inspiring articles:

Declutter 101: Where Do I Start?
Declutter 101: Strategies To Cut Clutter
Declutter 101: Staying Clutter-Free
25 ways to make the most of a small space
5 Strategies for Decluttering a Small Space
Ultimate Pallet Furniture Collection: 58 Unique Ideas
Cabin Renovation Ideas

Our green renovation priorities were keeping it simple by improving comfort and flow. Our friends are setting the same priorities for their green cabin renovation. When it comes to renovating your living space what priorities will you set?

Related articles

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Source: http://thistimethisspace.com/2013/01/29/cabin-renovation-simple-green-living/

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Obama and police chiefs discuss assault rifles, background checks

During President Obama's meeting with police chiefs and sheriffs today, the law enforcement officials focused on the need for background checks and closing the gaping reporting holes.

By Nedra Pickler,?Associated Press / January 28, 2013

(L-R) Minneapolis Police Chief Janee Harteau, Hennepin County Minnesota Sheriff Richard W. Stanek, and President Barack Obama met today with other representatives from the Major Cities Chiefs Association and Major County Sheriffs Association to discuss President Obama's policies to reduce gun violence.

Carolyn Kaster / AP

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Law enforcement leaders who met with President Barack Obama Monday urged him to focus on strengthening gun purchase background checks and mental health systems, but did not unify behind his more controversial gun control efforts.

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The message from sheriffs and police chiefs gathered at the White House reflected the political reality in Congress that the assault weapons ban in particular is likely to have a hard time winning broad support. The president appeared to recognize the challenge of getting everything he wants from Congress as well, participants in the meeting said.

"We're very supportive of the assault weapons ban," as police chiefs, said Montgomery County, Md., Police Chief J. Thomas Manger in an interview with The Associated Press. "But I think everybody understands that may be a real tough battle to win. And one of the things that the president did say is that we can't look at it like we have to get all of these things or we haven't won."

Opinions over an assault weapons ban and limits on high capacity magazines ? two measures the president supports ? were divided in the room. While Manger said the police chiefs from the large cities support that kind of gun control, some of the elected sheriffs who were in the meeting may not.

"I think what was made clear was that gun control in itself is not the salvation to this issue," said Sheriff Paul Fitzgerald of Story County, Iowa, one of 13 law enforcement leaders who met with the president, vice president and Cabinet members for more than an hour, seated around a conference table in the Roosevelt Room.

Among the participants included three chiefs that responded to the worst shootings of 2012, including Aurora, Colo., where 12 were killed in July; Oak Creek, Wis., where six died in an assault on a Sikh temple, and Newtown, Conn., scene of the most recent mass tragedy that left 20 first-graders dead.

The White House recognizes that police are a credible and important voice in the debate over guns that has developed following last month's elementary school shooting in Connecticut. Obama opened the meeting before media cameras and declared no group more important to listen to in the debate.

"Hopefully if law enforcement officials who are dealing with this stuff every single day can come to some basic consensus in terms of steps that we need to take, Congress is going to be paying attention to them, and we'll be able to make progress," Obama said.

Obama urged Congress to pass an assault weapons ban, limit high capacity magazines and require universal background checks for would-be gun owners in a brief statement to the reporters. But participants said after the media was escorted from the room, the focus was not on the assault weapons ban.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/nUP3ixYLhB0/Obama-and-police-chiefs-discuss-assault-rifles-background-checks

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Penicillin, not the pill, may have launched the sexual revolution

Jan. 28, 2013 ? The rise in risky, non-traditional sexual relations that marked the swinging '60s actually began as much as a decade earlier, during the conformist '50s, suggests an analysis recently published by the Archives of Sexual Behavior.

"It's a common assumption that the sexual revolution began with the permissive attitudes of the 1960s and the development of contraceptives like the birth control pill," notes Emory University economist Andrew Francis, who conducted the analysis. "The evidence, however, strongly indicates that the widespread use of penicillin, leading to a rapid decline in syphilis during the 1950s, is what launched the modern sexual era."

As penicillin drove down the cost of having risky sex, the population started having more of it, Francis says, comparing the phenomena to the economic law of demand: When the cost of a good falls, people buy more of the good.

"People don't generally think of sexual behavior in economic terms," he says, "but it's important to do so because sexual behavior, just like other behaviors, responds to incentives."

Syphilis reached its peak in the United States in 1939, when it killed 20,000 people. "It was the AIDS of the late 1930s and early 1940s," Francis says. "Fear of catching syphilis and dying of it loomed large."

Penicillin was discovered in 1928, but it was not put into clinical use until 1941. As World War II escalated, and sexually transmitted diseases threatened the troops overseas, penicillin was found to be an effective treatment against syphilis.

"The military wanted to rid the troops of STDs and all kinds of infections, so that they could keep fighting," Francis says. "That really sped up the development of penicillin as an antibiotic."

Right after the war, penicillin became a clinical staple for the general population as well. In the United States, syphilis went from a chronic, debilitating and potentially fatal disease to one that could be cured with a single dose of medicine.

From 1947 to 1957, the syphilis death rate fell by 75 percent and the syphilis incidence rate fell by 95 percent. "That's a huge drop in syphilis. It's essentially a collapse," Francis says.

In order to test his theory that risky sex increased as the cost of syphilis dropped, Francis analyzed data from the 1930s through the 1970s from state and federal health agencies. Some of the data was only available on paper documents, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) digitized it at the request of Francis.

For his study, Francis chose three measures of sexual behavior: The illegitimate birth ratio; the teen birth share; and the incidence of gonorrhea, a highly contagious sexually transmitted disease that tends to spread quickly.

"As soon as syphilis bottoms out, in the mid- to late-1950s, you start to see dramatic increases in all three measures of risky sexual behavior," Francis says.

While many factors likely continued to fuel the sexual revolution during the 1960s and 1970s, Francis says the 1950s and the role of penicillin have been largely overlooked. "The 1950s are associated with prudish, more traditional sexual behaviors," he notes. "That may have been true for many adults, but not necessarily for young adults. It's important to recognize how reducing the fear of syphilis affected sexual behaviors."

A few physicians sounded moralistic warnings during the 1950s about the potential for penicillin to affect behavior. Spanish physician Eduardo Martinez Alonso referenced Romans 6:23, and the notion that God uses diseases to punish people, when he wrote: "The wages of sin are now negligible. One can almost sin with impunity, since the sting of sinning has been removed."

Such moralistic approaches, equating disease with sin, are counterproductive, Francis says, stressing that interventions need to focus on how individuals may respond to the cost of disease.

He found that the historical data of the syphilis epidemic parallels the contemporary AIDS epidemic. "Some studies have indicated that the development of highly active antiretroviral therapy for treating HIV may have caused some men who have sex with men to be less concerned about contracting and transmitting HIV, and more likely to engage in risky sexual behaviors," Francis says.

"Policy makers need to take into consideration behavioral responses to changes in the cost of disease, and implement strategies that are holistic and longsighted," he concludes. "To focus exclusively on the defeat of one disease can set the stage for the onset of another if preemptive measures are not taken."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Emory University.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Andrew M. Francis. The Wages of Sin: How the Discovery of Penicillin Reshaped Modern Sexuality. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 2012; 42 (1): 5 DOI: 10.1007/s10508-012-0018-4

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/sOD_sCZNhYA/130128082906.htm

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