I found this ebook that gives step by step instructions on how to Grow a Square Watermelon. I could not help but smile. This was something that I had not seen before. I was curious. Could you really make a change that would alter a natural growth pattern?

What do I mean by this? Well… This guy learned to alter the way a watermelon grows and forced it into a shape that it would not grow into naturally. I think this is something that can be reflected upon each of us.

As a human, we naturally choose (consciously or unconsciously) the easiest route… the path of least resistance. Instead of cleaning the house like we know that we should, we lie on the couch and watch television. Then when we have people over, the house is a mess and very difficult to clean from weeks of neglect. OK, that is only one scenario (One that I have been known to commit). There are many others.

So my thought is… If we can force a watermelon into a square, why can’t we force ourselves into a more responsible lifestyle? Success and Happiness… That is all I want for everyone.

Hmmmm….

I am going to have to ponder on this subject a bit more. Maybe I will write a series of blog posts about molding oneself. Let me know what you think.

August 25, 2005 - I have come to the conclusion that I really need to find a way to get in shape. I sit in front of the computer for nearly 50 hours a week at work and don’t do anything all that physical when I am at home. I eat entirely too much and don’t get near enough exercise. I am just a lazy sloth.

Don’t get me wrong… I am really only about 20 pounds overweight. I just feel that my cardiovascular system and heart rate are in dire straits. This is because I don’t really do anything to exert myself on a regular basis.

So… To remedy this feeling, I am going to attempt to work my way up to 200 pushups per day. If I can do this, I will be able to build some upper body muscle and get my heart rate up to where it needs to be.

To do this I am going to start with 5 sets of 10 strenuous pushups each and every day. I will probably string them out over the course of the day, that way I can give my body time to adjust. After a few weeks of this I believe I will be able to increase the number of pushups per set. Eventually I will be able to do them all in one set.

I am going to come back to this blog about once every week to report on my progress. Please feel free to join me in the effort. Make a comment and let me know how you are doing.

21 Keys to a Happy Life

1. Compliment three people every day.
2. Watch a sunrise.
3. Be the first to say “Hello.”
4. Live beneath your means.
5. Treat everyone as you want to be treated.
6. Never give up on anybody; miracles happen.
7. Forget the Jones’.
8. Remember someone’s name.
9. Pray not for things, but for wisdom and courage.
10. Be tough-minded, but tender hearted.
11. Be kinder than you have to be.
12. Don’t forget that a person’s greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated.
13. Keep your promises.
14. Show cheerfulness even when you don’t feel it.
15. Remember that overnight success usually takes 15 years.
16. Leave everything better than you found it.
17. Remember that winners do what losers don’t want to do.
18. When you arrive at your job in the morning, let the first thing you say brighten everyone’s day.
19. Don’t rain on other people’s parades.
20. Don’t waste an opportunity to tell someone you love them.
21. Keep some things to yourself and don’t promote havoc by hurting people you love.

7 Keys to a Happy Life - There is an explanation for each of the following points. Make sure you go read them. There is a lot of insight on this page.

1. Do not act in order to receive a payoff.
2. You are the only judge of your life and what you will judge in the last moment of your life, is how well you loved.
3. You are perfect, were perfect, and always will be perfect.
4. You act based on what you know.
5. Fear is your biggest enemy, and can only be conquered by faith.
6. No action is involuntary, including your thoughts.
7. Gratitude is the antidote for unhappiness.

10 simple keys to a Happy life - Each of the following points have great explanations on the page provided. please read them.

1. Wealth
2. Desire
3. Intelligence
4. Genetics
5. Beauty
6. Friendship
7. Marriage
8. Faith
9. Charity
10. Age

The Key to Dying Happy - I really like this particular blog article. It actually goes into how to create purpose in your life.

• To die happy, you must live life with that end in mind. Live a life of purpose.

The Diary Of A New Buddha: Five Keys To Becoming Happy: There are some great explanations to the following points on this blog.

1. Happiness begins with a vow.
2. Happiness is overcoming unhappiness.
3. The solution to your problem lies within.
4. Don’t compare yourself with others.
5. Be in the here and now.

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It seems that there is a common theme among the different key to a happy life. (These are my keys to a happy life at the moment)

1. Do not live for yourself. Live to help others. (Have a Purpose)
2. Do not live for money or material things.
3. Live as though you won’t have a tomorrow. (What will people say at your funeral. How will you be remembered) 
4. Have a goal (or set of goals) and a plan to achieve those goals. Then focus on that plan.

I just discovered a podcast called “I Should Be Writing” by Mur Laferty. I started listening to it from the beginning and was able to catch the first three episodes on the way home from work. If you are an aspiring writer and find yourself in the need of support when you get down and out about writing, this is a podcast that you cannot miss.

In one of her rants, Mur stated that to be successful at anything, you must be persistent. You must make it a point to do whatever it is you are striving to do on a regular basis. In this case, writing is something that should not be put down and picked up whenever you take a notion. You should write every single day, even if it is only for fifteen minutes. You might only be able to get one paragraph on paper, but that is enough to keep those creative juices flowing.

I personally have found that if you do not write on a regular basis, your vocabulary suffers. When you try to write after a hiatus, you find yourself struggling to find the words that best fit the scene.

I have also found that this same persistence is important in other endeavors. One of them is this weblog. I have found that if I don’t write every day (or at least several time a week) people start to get bored and don’t come back to read what I have to say.

I have also noticed a trend in the podcast realm that if you are consistently on time, you will be successful. Podcasters who put a show out whenever they feel like it start to loose their following. Podcasters who post a show everyday like Richard Vobes or every week like JC Hutchins and Scott Sigler create a die hard following who will actually follow them into the 7th level of Hades.

Any kind of freelance adventure that you might embark upon will benefit from this persistence. When you set a goal, make a point to set specific times to work on accomplishing that goal. As for me, I have found a small amount of time early in the morning before everyone wakes up to do my writing for this blog and on the novel that I am desperately trying to finish a first draft of. Who knows, if I can keep up my persistence, maybe I can release a podcast novel for you all to enjoy.

You are an Analyst:

Your attention to detail, confidence, sense of order, and focus on functionality combine to make you an ANALYST.

You are very curious about how things work, delving into the mechanics behind things.

Along those lines, how well something works is usually more important to you than what it looks like.

You find beauty and wonder mainly in concrete, functional, earthly things.

You are very aware of your own abilities, and you believe that you will find the best way of doing things.

Accordingly, problems do not intimidate you, as you believe in yourself.

You trust yourself to find solutions within the boundaries of your knowledge.

You don’t spend a lot of time imagining how things could be different—you’re well-grounded in the here-and-now.

It is important for you to follow a routine, and you prefer the familiar to the unknown.

You’re not one to force your positions on a group, and you tend to be fair in evaluating different options.

You prefer to have time to plan for things, feeling better with a schedule than with keeping plans up in the air until the last minute.

You do your own thing when it comes to clothing, guided more by practical concerns than by other people’s notions of style.

If you want to be different:

Try to embrace the imaginative, creative part of your personality more often.

Try moving beyond the things that you find comfortable—open yourself up to a broader range of experiences.

how you relate to others
You are Respectful

Your reserved nature, understanding of the world, and faith in others make you RESPECTFUL.

You trust those around you to do the right thing, so you tend not to get involved in other people’s affairs.

You have fewer friendships than some, but the relationships you do have are very meaningful and important to you.

Your careful and practical observation of your environment has led you to understand that others’ situations can be very complex.

Because of this, you are slow to pass judgments on others, even if sometimes you can’t see what it is about certain things that upsets them.

You tend to enjoy the world through ideas and reflection, which allows you to get a lot out of the time you spend alone.

Your friends would describe you as laid-back and easy-going.

As someone who is calm and centered, you aren’t likely to rush into things—this patience allows you to see many different perspectives and options.

If you want to be different:

Try letting your insight into the world and trust of others allow you to understand the feelings of those around you.

While you know how much can be learned from observing your world, remember that much of life can be lived by experiencing it, not just understanding it.

Have you ever looked at the food label on your food and wondered what all those different fats were doing to your body. So have I. I took a little time to do a little research and found some brief info about each of the fats that we consume on a daily basis. I kept it short and sweet. If you want to learn more about these fats, there are links at the bottom of this post.

1. Polyunsaturated Fat - Helps your body get rid of newly formed cholesterol. It is good to consume in normal quantities. Like anything, if you eat too much, it can also be harmful. You can find this type of fat in safflower, sesame, soy, corn and sunflower-seed oils, nuts and seeds

2. Monounsaturated Fat - This fat can also help lower cholesterol, just not as fast as Polyunsaturated fats. Lower your consumption of Saturated fats and eat more fruits, vegetables and nuts. You can find these oils in olive, canola and peanut oils & avocados (avocados are my personal favorites. Cut one in half, sprinkle on some salt and pepper, dig out the meat with a spoon and eat).

3. Saturated Fat - The Main Cause (by food intake) of High Blood Cholesterol. If you want to lower your Saturated Fat Intake, lower the amount of Animal Products you consume. This includes meat, dairy & eggs. While high in protein, they are also high in saturated fats.

4. Hydrogenated Fat - This is also a bad fat, raising your cholesterol. It is created when companies hydrogenate products like margarine, shortening and all the products these fats are cooked in.

5. Trans Fat - This fat is usually created when a product is Hydrogenated (or partially hydrogenated) and is actually a type of Hydrogenated Fat. It has been seen in studies to have a worse effect on cholesterol than Saturated fat. Stay away from this if you can. I am sorry to say that a lot of the snack foods that we enjoy so much carry this dangerous fat within them. You will find it in cookies, crackers, cakes, French fries, fried onion rings, donuts and so many other favorites. Look at the labels of your foods before you buy them.

Links:
1. AmericanHeart.com
2. Harvard
3. Medical Encyclopedia
4. Wikipedia

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Throughout my life, I have suffered with some of the worst allergies I think anyone has ever had (At least that is how I perceive them. I am sure there are a lot of people who have it worse, but I am the center of my universe). My allergies usually make themselves known in the spring and fall months when pollen and dust are at their highest. My nasal passages will full up and drain back down into my throat. I even think there is a little chamber back there where the snot holds it raves and block parties. Sometimes the blockages in there are so tight and compact that I get these massive headaches that seem just shy of what I believe to be migraines. If that wasn’t bad enough, I moved from Florida to South Carolina. It seems that the pollen count is much higher up here and my allergies have escalated to the point that I feel like my head is going to explode.

My wife has some of these same issues. In fact I think she suffers from more headaches than I do because of it. She did some research online one day when she had some extra time and emailed me with this fabulous new product (at least new to us). The product is called Sinus Buster.

This stuff is amazing. It is made out of hot pepper oils and you spray it up your nose. You should have seen me when I used this stuff for the first time. I knew it was going to burn so I was really careful. I sprayed it into one nostril, but didn’t suck it up like the directions on the bottle instructed. It was a little uncomfortable, but I was like, “OK, this isn’t so bad.” Then I sprayed it up the other nostril and sucked it back, deep into my nasal passages (like I was supposed to). After a moment, my sinuses started to burn, my eyes started to water and my face turned bright red. My wife laughed at me. She thought my reaction to this stuff was hilarious.

After about 2 minutes, I found out that I wasn’t just torturing myself. This stuff really DID what it was advertised to do. I blew my nose and everything that was blocking my passageways came flying out. The hot pepper oils seemed to have worked loose the mucus and detached it from the sinus cavity walls, so when I blew my nose, everything that was causing all the problems were evacuated.

Now, you may be saying, “I don’t want to deal with that burning sensation.” But I personally feel that the uncomfortable feeling I was put through was well worth the relief I was given after using this product. I did notice that the burning affects were not as extreme the second and third times I used it. I do think it will be uncomfortable every time I use it, but it will never be like that first time. At least my wife got a little entertainment out of the whole ordeal.

If you would like to try Sinus Buster, you can find it here.