Monday, April 9, 2018

What I've learned since moving to D.C. (some of which should be obvious): 0130

6451.  One might expect single people to be less risk-averse than their married counterparts, but the opposite is true.  Married people, for example, are more willing to make risky financial investments than single people.  The outcomes of success can also be seen in marriage studies with married men earning about twenty percent more than unmarried men;
6452.  4 rules for strategic givers: 1.  Don’t break the bank: The amount of money you spend doesn’t matter.  It’s what you spend it on.  Here are two words to guide your gifting: practical luxuries.  Most of your gift recipients are (more than likely) extremely high-powered.  They don’t need an $80.00 watch because they could afford to purchase an $8000.00 watch.  So if you have $80.00 to spend, gift something useful that the recipient might never buy for themselves.  Make it both practical and top-of-the-line.  Spend the $80.00 on a custom coffee mug.  Or on a pair of zebra wood headphones.  Or on an engraved cheese knife (i.e., American-made, guaranteed forever and sold by college students).  If your recipient says, “I would never buy this for myself, but I absolutely love it!” then you’re on the right track; 2.  Use the crucial ITY’s: A good gift shouldn’t live in isolation.  It can’t live in isolation.  Worthy recipients today are likely to be worthy recipients tomorrow, so set yourself up for success.  Not by putting your logo on everything, but by adhering your gifting to the three crucial ITY’s: A) Visibil-ITY gifts are things that’ll be seen by others.  Conversation starters.  Make your recipient look good and they will love you forever; B) Continu-ITY gifts are those you can buy in a series.  Today you send the leather belt, next month the leather travel bag and so on; and C) Qual-ITY gifts are things that last forever.  Nothing says, “You don’t really matter to me” like mediocre quality; 3.  Don’t be an ABC gifter:  ABC gifters limit their strategic giving to Anniversaries, Birthdays and Christmas.  Your goal is “surprise and delight,” you should know that ABC gifting thoroughly eliminates the “surprise” part of the equation.  Better to change your giving calendar to reflect those months, dates and days when your recipient least expects it.  “I was having the worst Tuesday and then I got your package in the mail!  Thank you!  Where did you find this thing?”  Shock and awe just isn’t the same without the shock; 4.  Follow up without attachment: You should follow-up and ask “How’d you like the gift?”  It doesn’t make you tactless.  The only way to become tactless is to make the follow-up about you.  “How’d you like the gift?  Great!  Hey, I was wondering if you could do me a favor;”
6453.  In 2011, as part of the Science of Generosity Initiative at the University of Notre Dame, W. Bradford Wilcox headed up a survey of 1,630 married couples designed to home in on a single factor in after-the-nuptials happiness: marital generosity.  In a 2013 article for the Journal of Marriage and Family, Wilcox and coauthor Jeffrey Dew define this generosity as “giving good things to [one’s spouse] freely and abundantly,” including “regularly engaging in small acts of kindness, expressing affection, expressing respect and forgiving one’s spouse;”
6454.  One of the worst feelings you can get is that feeling of stagnation.  When your life stagnates, it starts to affect other areas of your life.  You might feel uninspired, unmotivated, like you’re in a rut that you can’t get out of.  You feel bored . . . bored of everything;
6455.  (I can say) I witnessed Alexander Ovechkin’s 602nd (regular-season) NHL goal making him the 19th all-time NHL goal scorer (by surpassing Jari Kurri on the all-time list);
6456.  Morning sex . . . check . . . snow day . . . (double) check;
6457.  (Instant) oatmeal (specifically maple & brown sugar) made with (black) coffee is actually (pretty) good;
6458.  Dining room table . . . check . . . raw dog buggery . . . (double) check;
6459.  Making out in the car . . . check;
6460.  (Getting) a body trimmer is a worthwhile purchase;
6461.  New opportunities, new experiences are always found outside (of) your comfort zone;
6462.  The key to feeling good is to decide to stop feeling bad;
6463.  This day, I vow to myself to love myself, to treat myself as someone I love truly and deeply, in my thoughts, my actions, the choices I make, the experiences I have, each moment I am conscious, I make the decision I love myself;
6464.  Darkness is the absence of light.  Any negative thought is darkness.  How do you remove it?  Do you fight fear or worry?  Do you push or drown away sadness and pain?  Doesn’t work.  Instead, imagine you’re in a dark room and it’s bright outside.  Your job is to go to the window, pull out a rag and start cleaning.  Soon enough, light enters naturally taking the darkness away;
6465.  If you had a thought once, it has no power over you.  Repeat it again and again, especially with emotional intensity, feeling it, and over time, you’re creating the grooves, the mental river.  Then it controls you;
6466.  The chicken tender sub at Publix (Publix.com) is (pretty) tasty;
6467.  Calming meditation: 1.  Put on music . . . something soothing and gentle, preferably instrumental . . . a piece you have positive associations with; 2.  Sit with your back against a wall or window.  Cross your legs or stretch them out, whatever feels natural; 3.  Close your eyes.  Smile slowly.  Imagine a beam of light pouring into your head from above; 4.  Breathe in and say to yourself in your mind, “I love myself.”  Be gentle with yourself; 5.  Breathe out and along with it anything that arises . . . anything thoughts, emotions, feelings, memories, fears, hopes, desires or nothing.  Breathe it out.  There is no judgment or attachment to anything.  Be kind to yourself; 6.  Repeat steps 4 and 5 until the music ends.  When your attention wanders, notice it and smile.  Smile at it as if it’s a child doing what a child does.  With that smile, return to your breath.  Repeat steps 4 and 5; and 7.  When the music ends, open your eyes slowly.  Smile.  Do it from the inside out.  This is your time.  This is purely yours;
6468.  “I love myself” mediation: 1.  Set a timer for 5 minutes; 2.  Stand in front of a mirror with your nose a few inches away.  Relax.  Breathe; 3.  Look into your eyes.  It helps if you focus on one . . . your left eye.  Relax.  Breathe slowly and naturally until you develop a rhythm; 4.  Looking into your left eye say, “I love myself.”  Whether you believe it that moment or not isn’t important.  What’s important is saying it to yourself and looking into your eyes where there is no escape from the truth.  Ultimately, the truth is loving yourself; and 5.  Repeat, “I love myself,” gently, pausing occasionally to watch your eyes;
6469.  If a painful memory arises, don’t fight it or try to push it away.  Struggle reinforces pain.  Instead, go to love.  Love for yourself.  Feel it.  If you have to fake it, fine.  Feel the love for yourself as the memory ebbs and flows.  That will take the power away;
6470.  Fighting fear doesn’t work.  It just drags us in closer.  One has to focus on what is real . . . on the truth.  When in darkness, don’t fight it.  You can’t win.  Just find the nearest switch and turn on the light;
6471.  James Altucher talks about how he stops negative thoughts in their tracks with a simple mind trick.  “Not useful,” he tells himself.  It’s a switch, a breaker of sorts, it shifts the pattern of the fear;
6472.  When fear arises, remember that it is a hallucinated snake, that it’s not useful or that it’s not real.  There are many more.  As long as it works, it’s valid;
6473.  The key is, when in darkness, have a light switch you’ve chosen standing by;
6474.  It’s easy to wish for health when you’re sick.  When you’re doing well, you need just as much vigilance;
6475.  If I loved myself truly and deeply, what would I do?  The answer is: I’d fly . . . fly as high as I possibly can.  Then, I’d fly higher;
6476.  Often the price for not being present is pain;
6477.  Whenever you notice fear in your mind, instead of pushing it aside or using it as fuel, say to yourself, “It’s okay,” a gentle “yes” to yourself, to the moment and to what the mind is feeling;
6478.  Real growth comes through intense, difficult and challenging situations;
6479.  Fear strengthens the ego.  Love softens it;
6480.  The women you’ll see in the lobby of LIV (Nightclub) (LIVNightclub.com) in Miami is ridiculous;
6481.  What’s a great place to meet women in Miami?  The answer is: The lobby of LIV (Nightclub);
6482.  Apparently, you should put your Molly under your “junk;”
6483.  Putting your Molly in the waistband of your boxers works too;
6484.  Don’t take the 3rd pill . . . just don’t;
6485.  (The feeling of) too much Molly reminds me of lucid dreaming;
6486.  100/150 mg and then 100/50 mg 3-4 hours later is (probably) about right (for most people);
6487.  (I can say) I saw Swedish House Mafia play (at Ultra Music Festival) in Miami;
6488.  Apparently, Floyd Mayweather likes to go to LIV (Nightclub) in Miami;
6489.  Ice cream made with (liquid) nitrogen is very creamy;
6490.  The 10 minute rule: It’s really easy to put off tasks that seem daunting, but there’s something that works.  Promise yourself you’ll put just 10 minutes into the task.  Once you get in the flow, you’ll pick your head up two hours later with a large chunk done.  Getting started is the hardest part so don’t give yourself a choice;
6491.  How do you get 2,000 free (frequent flyer/airline) miles from American Airlines?  The answer is: Have a kid throw up on you on the plane. . . . It’ll also get you a free (alcoholic) drink and your dry cleaning paid for;
6492.  Babe Ruth was born in Baltimore;
6493.  Hospitals are cheap(er) places to park in the Inner Harbor (in Baltimore);
6494.  (I can say) I’ve been to Opening Day at (Oriole Park at) Camden Yards;
6495.  Apparently, I smell “salty;”
6496.  It seems (that) the kid’s dog (i.e., $1.50) is a better value than a regular hot dog (i.e., $5.00) at (Oriole Park at) Camden Yards. . . . You can buy three kid’s dogs for less than the price of one regular hot dog;
6497.  Going to a strip club with a girl you’re seeing . . . check . . . bonus, (in that) it was her idea;
6498.  Something you don’t see every day . . . (a woman with) a dog (i.e., Chihuahua) at a strip club;
6499.  Apparently, Elizabeth is “falling” for me;
6500.  If you don’t want to be mistaken for a(n) Lyft/Uber (driver) in D.C., don’t drive a gray (Toyota) Corolla;

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