Relationship Addicts

be⋅tray⋅al –noun
[bi-trey-ul]
1. the act of being unfaithful in guarding, or fulfilling: a trust.
2. the act of disappointing the hopes of; being disloyal to: one's friends.

Everyone has someone in their life. Everyone craves someone in their life. More often than not people seek out others to give them purpose. To befriend. To care for and pay attention to. It happens all the time and it is due to loneliness. What everyone is seeking is companionship. And the moment something better comes along, or the moment your usefulness as a companion starts to waver, you are brushed to the side. Your days as a temporary distraction are over.

Everyone has this friend. The moment they are in a relationship you never hear from them again. And the second they are out of it you get a phone call or an email asking how everything is going. You once again become their temporary distraction until something better comes along.

These relationship addicts.

People like me enjoy our independence. We have embraced our loneliness. Sure we crave contact and companionship, we are human after all, we just don’t require it to survive.

You see these relationship addicts going through their withdrawal. These addicts who cannot stand to be alone with themselves. These addicts who seek out companionship the way a junkie looks for their next fix. You become their crutch for a short period of time until they can get their hands on what they need. And then you never hear from them again. They are off enjoying their high. But because they have no control, because they cannot stand to be alone by themselves, the high does not last long. You see them start to come down. The arguments start. The fighting begins. The break-up ensues…

And then there they are again, looking for companionship.

Looking for you.

Looking for their temporary distraction.


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Things To Do Inside In The Winter

win⋅ter –noun
[win-ter]
1. the cold season between autumn and spring in northern latitudes
I awoke the other morning to find that Autumn was gone and Winter was finally here. About four centimetres blanketed my yard, and I was not sure how to react. Do I rejoice at how clean everything looks, being blanketed by a layer of white? Do I get excited at the memories of flying down a mountain at 40 kilometres per hour? Or do I dread the next six months of being confined to the indoors?

As a bit of a recluse I already spend most of my days indoors, but the option to spend the day outside was always there. With winter temperatures hovering around 40 degrees below Celsius it will be much harder to persuade myself to go outside. In the advent that I end up succumbing to this mind trap, and keeping in mind my ever pursuit of Chasing Distractions, I developed a top four list of things to do indoors this winter.

(1) Finish Unfinished Projects
Everyone has an unfinished project, whether it is organizing pictures, editing a movie, painting a room, fixing a window, whatever it is - finish it.

(2) Watch MoviesYou can sit around and waste you life watching movies, or old television episodes. It is not very creative, but hey, it is an escape. Here is a good site to stream some free movies and television shows: SurftheChannel.com

(3) Learn to Cook/Bake
Learn a recipe and cook or bake something you never thought you could. AllRecipes.com has a cool function where you enter the ingredients that you have and it will provide a list recipes. You would be surprised what you can make with a fridge full of condiments and no food.

(4) Read/Write a Book
Books are amazing vehicles that can send you away from your surroundings and teleport you to destinations you never thought possible. Reading or writing a book, it all adds up to the same thing. Isaac Asimov is credited to writing and editing more than 500 books and when asked why, "Escape" was his only answer. I always thought Asimov had written the most books, but it turns out this guy takes the prize with over 200,000 books.

Of course there is always solitaire, or you can just 'suck-it-up' and go outside and play in the snow.




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Grammar 101 - sure vs. surely

gram⋅mar –noun
[gram-er]
1. the study of the way the sentences of a language are constructed
2. a set of rules accounting for these constructions
I was never one for rules - so as a consequence, grammar never really took. In my ever pursuit of Chasing Distractions, I have decided to revisit the rules of the wordsmith. In this first installment I will discuss Adverbs and Adjectives.
Often people confuse the use of some adverbs and some adjectives. Adjectives modify nouns or pronouns. Adverbs modify verbs, adjectives or other adverbs. For this installment I will use the adjective sure and the adverb surely.
Instructions: Choose the correct form for each of these sentences.
1. You seem very (surely, sure) of yourself.
2. Ila (surely, sure) is tired from work.
3. The milk (surely, sure) tastes sour.
4. Are you (surely, sure) this is the right road?
5. This story (surely, sure) is exciting.


The Grammar Police informed me that the correct answers are:
1. sure
2. surely
3. surely
4. sure
5. surely


(Each answer in which you used 'surely' could be substituted replaced with the other adverbs 'really' and 'certainly' and still make sense.)
Surley I will now be able to write better blog posts. I am sure of it.
(I hope I got that right)




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Source: Daily Grammar.com

Things To Do On The Introweb When You're Bored

bore⋅dom –noun
[bawr-duhm, bohr-]
1. the state of being bored; tedium; ennui.

Most people blame boredom on the circumstances, but psychologists say this emotion is highly subjective and rooted in aspects of consciousness—and that levels of boredom vary among people. Some individuals are less—and others considerably more—likely to be bored than others. Boredom is not a unified concept but may comprise several varieties, including the transient type that occurs while waiting in line and so-called existential boredom that accompanies a profound dissatisfaction with life.
I am bored at the moment, both the existential and transient kind, so I thought I would look for some boredom resources:

• Bored.com
• I-Am-Bored.com
• Very-Bored.com
• Help I Need Help I Am Bored

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Source: Scientific American

Insomnia = Chasing Distractions

in·som·ni·a –noun
[in-som-nee-uh]
1. inability to obtain sufficient sleep, esp. when chronic; difficulty in falling or staying asleep; sleeplessness.

Insomnia is a sleep disorder that is characterized by difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or a combination of both. You know you are suffering from insomnia if you have one or more of the following symptoms:

• Difficulty falling asleep
• Waking up often during the night and having trouble going back to sleep
• Waking up too early in the morning
• Feeling tired upon waking
  

Insomnia is classified into two types based on how long it lasts and how often it occurs. You can suffer acute insomnia (short-term) or chronic insomnia (long term). It can also come and go, with periods of time when you do not have any sleep problems at all. Acute insomnia can last from one night to a few weeks. Chronic insomnia happens when you have sleep problems at least three nights a week for a month or longer.

Sleep hygiene, or good sleeping habits, can help you to beat insomnia. Here are some tips I found:

• Try to go to sleep at the same time each night and get up at the same time each morning.
• Try not to take naps during the day because naps may make you less sleepy at night.
• Avoid caffeine, nicotine, and alcohol late in the day. Caffeine and nicotine are stimulants and can keep you from falling asleep. Alcohol can cause waking in the night and interferes with sleep quality.
• Get regular exercise. Try not to exercise close to bedtime because it may stimulate you and make it hard to fall asleep. Experts suggest not exercising for at least three to four hours before the time you go to sleep.
• Don't eat a heavy meal late in the day. A light snack before bedtime, however, may help you sleep.
• Make your bedroom comfortable. Be sure that it is dark, quiet, and not too warm or too cold. If light is a problem, try a sleeping mask. If noise is a problem, try earplugs, a fan, or a "white noise" machine to cover up the sounds.
• Follow a routine to help you relax before sleep. Read a book, listen to music, or take a bath.
• Avoid using your bed for anything other than sleep or sex.
• If you can't fall asleep and don't feel drowsy, get up and read or do something that is not overly stimulating until you feel sleepy.
• If you find yourself lying awake worrying about things, try making a to-do list before you go to bed. This may help you to not focus on those worries overnight.
  

In case you are still fighting to get to sleep, here are three more insomnia related resources:

• The Facts on Insomnia
• eMedicineHealth - Insomnia
• Insomnia: How to Get a Good Night's Sleep

I am starting to sink into another bout of chronic insomnia. For the past two weeks I have only been able to get approximately two hours of sleep per night. When you have insomnia you are never really asleep and you are never really awake. It is hard to concentrate and be motivated to get things done during the day.

Thankfully I work from home, so when insomnia drops the hammer on me it is a little easier to cope. I did not always work from home, I too used to have a real job and work in the real world, and let me tell you it was very difficult to trudge through the day running at thirty percent efficiency.

I have a self-diagnosed case of depression and anxiety, which I think is the main cause of my insomnia. When the black shroud of depression begins to creep over me I try to make busy. I will clean my apartment. I will read a book. I will write a short story. I will go for an aimless drive in my car. I will do anything to distract myself from the feelings brought on by depression. Anything to avoid the haunting of my memories. That is why I decided to create this blog. I am on an ever pursuit of distraction.

I am constantly Chasing Distractions.

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Source: WebMD

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