Shhh. Be quiet, or they’ll hear us…

“Shhh. Be quiet, or they’ll hear us,” she said in a whispered voice. I then exclaimed, “I have no shame!” Suddenly, she started talking in a normal speaking voice. I explained to her that sometimes I have volume control issues. She laughed it off, but she also realized that I was being serious. Throughout our conversation, she kept looking at me inquisitively as if she was repeating every word and questioning what I said back to herself in her own mind. Later that night, she surprised me by repeating something I had said back to me verbatim when I asked her for her opinion on something. It was her way of letting me know that she understood me. Most of all, this action told me that I mattered and I already had the answers to my own questions: even if I didn’t want to realize it. It seemed that our conversation had gone in a small circle, but it was slightly different this time around because of the small changes in the topic. The conversation flowed on its own without either of us feeling forced to say anything. Instead of small talk, I have yet to have a lackluster conversation with this woman. She understands me and doesn’t judge me for anything. Pure and unconditional acceptance allows us to talk about any topic without fear of embarrassment.

Have a meaningful conversation with someone today and actually listen to them rather than just hearing them. Active listening is a long-lost art form that should be practiced as often as possible.

via Daily Prompt: Conversation

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Daily Prompt: Focused

This is going to be a short post… Because I can’t stay focused… Go figure…

I can’t stay focused on almost anything at the moment. My mind wanders around in what seems to be aimless and endless thought. Every time that I think that I can be focused on something, such as writing, I always end up losing my focus and my attention drifts away to something else… Even if it’s for a brief moment, I seem to get stuck on the new train of thought rather than going back to the original one…

I need to find different methods and mechanisms to apply to myself when my attention drifts elsewhere.

 

via Daily Prompt: Focused

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克服

I decided to start this post with the Chinese text that I have tattooed on my arm. I had a crush on someone that was unrequited and I used the tattoo to “Overcome” the emotional barrier.

Now, I think that I should call upon the power in this tattoo to overcome some obstacles in my life. One of them is how I keep getting in the way of my own happiness. Why is it that I love the chaos that is created in my personal life?

So, to help me overcome this, I’m going to continue to do the following things:

  • Don’t start arguments, but don’t put up with those who do. In other words, be peaceful, but not a push over.
  • Don’t force anything from anyone or anything. If it’s meant to be, it’ll be. However, sometimes the Universe needs you to meet halfway, so be sure to do that.
  • Meditate daily
  • Write more often
  • Concentrate on those who make you happy
  • Find other things to do that make you happy
  • Try to connect with other people, even if it’s awkward at first.
  • Don’t isolate

 

via Daily Prompt: Overcome

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Can we be human in a digital age?

 

To have sympathy for another human is yet another expression of connection and of love in a way. I think that almost every situation that you’re currently going through, someone else has already gone through in some way or another… We all have broken hearts at some point. We all make mistakes. Sure some mistakes are larger than others, but in the end of it all, we’re human, so mistakes are inevitable. If you can’t have sympathy for anyone, then you don’t really care about them in any way.

To show compassion to people should be natural and not forced, why must we work to be compassionate or to have sympathy in some cases? The main problem is disconnectedness. We live in a society where we can obtain the world’s information from our phones, we can communicate with others across vast distances quickly and easily… However, it is causing problems in standard human interactions. For example, when is the last time you’ve gone to a newly moved in neighbor’s house to introduce yourself? When is the last time that you’ve gone on a date with someone without texting back and forth to set a time rather than just spontaneously saying, “hey, want to grab a coffee?”. We live in the digital age where we’re so disconnected from human interaction that I believe that we’re losing ourselves.

via Daily Prompt: Sympathy

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So many things that the list continues growing daily.

My friends laughter, being able to brighten someone’s day just by walking into their work. Being able to wake up with everyday being an opportunity to change my life and change the lives of other people for the better.

My family, my friends, the Internet, computers… The list grows every day. Let me explain some of these things.

My family has always been there for me, as have my few select friends. If it weren’t for my family, I wouldn’t be the person that I am today, nor who I cam become in the future. If I was put up for adoption or put into foster care as a kid (which was never a possibility, but if something bad like that had happened to me), I wouldn’t be able to hear, people would still consider me “stupid”, and I wouldn’t have the job that I have today.

How so?

Well, my grandfather let me use a spare computer of his when I was four. It taught me how to read and write. After about 5 years passed, he gave me the computer along with a modem. This opened up an entirely new world for me. I met one of my friends on a BBS (who I still talk with occasionally via FaceBook, she knows who she is). I met a mentor of mine on a BBS as well. He taught me about Linux and got me in contact with an ISP. I traded giving support for Linux for access to their T1 line… And this got me into the Internet.

If it wasn’t for my maternal grandmother, I wouldn’t hear as well as I do today. She paid for my surgery for tubes to be put into my ears… I don’t think that we had insurance at the time and I couldn’t hear (after being tested extensively, they figured out what was “wrong” with me).

My friends are people who I can call at almost any hour of the night and they’ll answer. We’ve had some great conversations and some of the best memories that I’ve had.

The Internet: it opened up an entirely new world of information for me to consume after I had already went through the entire encyclopedia that my grandfather had given to me. When the first graphical browser came out, I found myself “hooked”. This would eventually become my career… Now for “computers”, I think that I’ve already explained myself.

So there you have it… These are some of the things that are priceless to me… because you can’t put a price on them. Sure, you pay for computers and Internet access… but to me, these things should be considered human rights.

My cat because of her love for me. She’ll lay on my chest until I’m asleep. Lately, I can’t sleep that well unless she’s inside with me so she’ll cuddle… Unless I’m cuddling with a special friend (you know who you are, if you even read this).

Someone said, “your entire life can change with just a single decision.” So, if you keep making the decisions that are “right” for you and without hesitation, and you’ll be ok. I think that her name was “Mel” or something like that on a YouTube inspirational channel. (I don’t remember all of the details, so if you know who I’m talking about, please feel free to add a link to her/them on the comments section.)

via Daily Prompt: Priceless

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