Giving up the game. When do you need to cut your losses in marriage

 It's something we all grapple with in an emotional sense. We all have issues in relationships, but there are certain times when it gets too much. We can feel like we have to stay with someone because we've given them so much of our lives but when the time is up and you have to cash in your chips, it can be difficult to know the signs. But when do you actually need to cut your losses in a marriage or a long-term relationship?

Here are a few things to consider.

There Are Other People Out There.
We feel like we're in a bubble when in a relationship, but there is a point when that bubble becomes a bit too stifling. There comes the time when you begin to realize there are other people out there, other people that will treat you better than your partner!

 You're In Denial No doubt your friends can see it, but you can't. If you are denying to yourself that everything is going wrong, and you're working hard to make it better, but it's beyond the point of no return, denial can be one of those emotions that is hard to accept. It seems that we can justify a lot to ourselves so you don't have to do the inevitable, but we need to trust our gut instinct, and this is something we ignore a lot of the time. You need to listen to your true feelings, as opposed to pushing them down.

 You Are Unhappy Not only this, but you are more unhappy than you are actually happy. Yes, we all experience bad times throughout the course of a relationship, but if you find yourself feeling negative about everything, not just the relationship, you need to ask yourself if it's the relationship that's dragging you down. We all experience these things from time to time, but if your emotions consist of unhappiness and it's not to do with your career, or any other life problem, it's time to address these issues head-on.

 What Are Your Options? How long is a piece of string? Because you have issues in your relationship, you may want to make it work, by marriage counselors and the like, or if you have both worked hard at the relationship to make it work, but it's still a lost cause,  it's time to find a lawyer that is sympathetic to your needs. There are numerous divorce lawyers that have been through this a million times before, and it can be a very painful process, but if you have the right person to help mediate the issues, it will make for a more honest and transparent separation.

 Ending a relationship doesn't mean admitting you're a failure, it really means that you were not compatible, and even though you tried hard, there are times when it is so unhealthy for you that you need to give up the ghost and walk away.
This is very difficult to come to terms with, but at the very end, it is for the best, for your mental and physical health.

Aaptiv

This App Will Help You Achieve Your Fitness Goals

While everyone knows it’s important to exercise regularly, most people aren’t aware that the benefits of working out regularly can be no less than life changing. Here are just some of the few:

1) People who make time for the gym regularly have lower blood pressure, resting heart rate, and healthier cholesterol levels than those who don’t.

2) Exercise makes you happy and the research shows it. Your brain runs on a chemical cocktail and when you work out, all the chemicals that make you feel good are released.

3) You’ll get sick less often. No one ever realizes how tortuous the common cold can be until they get it. But once they get it,  they think it’s the end of the world. Thankfully, exercise makes you much more resilient to and able to fight off bacteria and viruses, so you can spend your sick days on the beach instead of in bed.

4) Stay younger for longer. Imagine spending your golden years and not being able to lift a carton of milk. Sounds scary, right? Well, working out slows your deterioration to keep your body mentally and physically sharp.  

 

In fact, you need to make time for at least 30 minutes of physical activity every day of the week, or else after just one week your body goes through some pretty shocking changes. After just seven days of laying on the couch and eating potato chips, you’re already at an increased risk of developing type II diabetes, heart disease, losing muscle mass, and piling on body fat. Not to mention an increased risk of dementia and loss of gray matter mass. Scared yet?

While all those things are enough to frighten anyone into the nearest gym today, I know it can be hard to maintain motivation and dedication to stay fit in the long game, and there are always going to be weeks where you just won’t be able to find any time at all to get in a proper workout. This is why fitness apps are booming in popularity. Many people are using them to live a healthier lifestyle with their limited time and motivation.

There are very many smartphone apps available that help you become more fit, but Aaptiv in particular stands out among the rest.  This app skyrocketed to the top of Apple’s health and fitness category and grew their subscribers by over 10x since last summer to over 200,000 subscribers.

Whether you need help motivating from a trainer for inspiration, or need to find new ways to workout, Aaptiv has the perfect solution.

Aaptiv further sets itself apart from the competition by being the only fitness company that focuses exclusively on audio content. Most fitness companies offer trackers and graphs and text instructions that tell you what to do but do a poor job of really getting you to do it. Aaptiv stands out by giving you actionable, fun workout classes right in your ear.

                                                                                               

Aaptiv was formed in 2015 after their founder, Ethan Agarwal, gained some weight on the grind of business school. After graduating, like many studious business grads do, Ethan found himself in a fast-paced, demanding job that required a lot of travel and an unpredictable schedule. Ethan wanted to get back in shape but after evaluating his existing options, he came back empty-handed. Studio fitness classes had strict scheduling and cancelling policies, and Ethan was rarely in the same city long enough for a trainer to make sense for him. Aaptiv was his solution.

Today, Aaptiv has a team of seventy-employees and is growing quickly, bringing us #1 audio-fitness app. Aaptiv offers thousands of trainer-led, music-driven audio fitness workouts so you can work out when you want, where you want, the way you want. Take classes in treadmill, outdoor running, yoga, strength training, and much more.

The best part about Aaptiv is you can work out anywhere. Whether you’re at home or the office, many of Aaptiv’s classes require zero equipment. This makes Aaptiv perfect for anyone on a tight schedule that can’t afford a trip to the gym.

Here’s how it works:

You sign up for Aaptiv here and download the app.

Once that’s done, you’ll have access to all of Aaptiv’s trainer-led classes.

Aaptiv’s filter will help you find the perfect workout based on your type, difficulty, and the amount of time you have to dedicate to your workout.

Oh, and you can set to filter by trainer and genre of music too. Did I mention that each Aaptiv class is set to sweet tunes? And it’s not talking elevator music, Aaptiv uses top-tier artists like JT and Jay-Z.

And the experience really is just like have a trainer right next to you. Right in your ear will be a real-life person encouraging you to push on, keep taking deep breaths, and to correct your posture.

You’ll also never gotten bored with Aaptiv’s workouts. There are 15 active trainers who create more than 30 classes new classes every week, so you’ll never run out of a workout to do and can stay motivated. In summary, Aaptiv is a great audio-fitness app that you can use anywhere to help you achieve your goals and one that can’t come more highly recommended!

You can start your free trial with Aaptiv here.

We live in a society. 3 tips to do and feel socially good

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We all live in a society. When focused on our small considerations, or personal daily duties, it can sometimes be hard to remember this. We all live in large cities, large towns or simply areas populous enough where it would be impossible to know everyone. Even if you try and make an effort to do this with all the free time in the world, the human mind can only remember around 150 personal relationships at an absolute push, past that it can be impossible to manage everyone. This helps us forget about just how many people in the world there are.

Unfortunately, this also sometimes helps us forget about our impact on them and the world, even if we never act maliciously to anyone in any manner at all. This isn’t to say you should be a moral arbiter of planet Earth, or that you should do anything more than try in small ways to contribute to the overall good. It can also be frustrating when you’re trying and you see people who seemingly care little for anyone else. However, with small efforts, you tip the world a little further to Good with a capital G. It will also improve your mood to a significant degree.

Here are some small efforts for you to try:

Upcycling

Upcycling is a method of donating your goods, having them reformatted and resold, and for those proceeds to go to good causes, such as building homes for low-income families. This might sound appealing to you, especially if you have plenty of unwanted belongings otherwise waiting for landfill. Opting for this method via a service such as Habitat for Humanity habitathm.ca can help you achieve some real social good with a simple act - getting rid of clutter.

Volunteering

Volunteering can be of profound benefit to those who need it. This might be reading stories to children at a hospital. It might mean putting on a free class to help people learn photography. It could be helping out with a donation drive, or fundraising for a good cause. Volunteering could even technically fall under the umbrella of completing a sporting event to fundraise for charity, such as running a half marathon or even a full marathon if you’re feeling courageous. Anything you can put your labor towards for the sole purpose of helping people can be considered volunteering, and that will always remain admirable.

A Helping Hand

A helping hand can be a little more useful than you know. It might mean helping your neighbors move all their belongings, or accepting to look after a relatives children while they head out on a much needed evening of dining and a little wining. It could be complimenting someone you admire and letting them know. It might be telling your employees you really appreciate them, and that you would be less without them at your side. A helping hand can come in a million different ways, but as long as you make the day of someone else just that little bit brighter, you have achieved something on that date.

With these little tips, doing and feeling the pleasure of social help can be easier than you might think.

8 years!

I have never shared this full story on social media but feel to share.

8 years ago I walked into the mall with my daughter and I suddenly took a sharp pain on the right side of my chest and it was hard to breathe
I knew something was wrong so I went into pharmacy and asked if they had advice he said I need to go to ER as I didn't look well.

Called Andrew to come get me and he took me directly to ER where I breezed through triage and my vitals were wonky so I got right into a room.

They immediatly ordered tests and a dr came in but wasn't sure... He said something about leukhemia and I'm not sure what his words were exactly.

I was in panic mode because the L word scared me... I called my parents who drove 8 hours through the night to be here...

The next day it was confirmed I had a growth on my chest cavity blocking a breathing tube... They wanted to drain it but could not put me to sleep.. I will never forget laying on the OR bed couldn't move because one wrong move could puncture a lung.( I will spare the details of all I heard while it was being drained)

I got discharged the next day... They were sure I would be ok going forward...1 week later I am admitted again.

This time I was told lung surgery was being scheduled for me.

The surgery was Oct 6. I'll write about that at that time because that is quite the story.

So thankful for a God who saw fit to let me live and who gave me peace.

What can children learn from strategy games

What was the first time you ever played a game? Did it involve a bunch of pixels on a screen moving around? Was it in the playground with your friends? Chances are both of those were not, it's most probably when you were playing a board game with your family with your family. What are the most fun games at that age? Jigsaws are easy to figure out but once completed they get boring. Snakes and ladders are fun because it involves a dice roll each turn, therefore, there’s unpredictability at play. However, the games that have the most replayability are strategy games. Games that one can inject his or her personality into last a lot longer and remain fresh so long as the player can think of new ways of beating the opponent. Strategy games teach us to prepare ahead, think about the actions of others that could affect us personally, and to analyze what is the best move that we can make to win. What can children learn from this kind of play?
 The lessons of chess Chess is a game that’s been around and adored for thousands and thousands of years. It's quite simple to understand but to master it may take you several lifetimes. Children that are introduced to chess early learn about the brutality of sacrifice. There’s no way to win without losing pieces from your side. Therefore planning what is most valuable to you to achieve your goal takes a mental fortitude and skill. Magnus Carlsens name was heard all around the world when he was just a little child because he had become so amazing at chess from a young age. He understood that chess requires you to think in an almost transcendent way. You have to see the board from your opponent's perspective. This can be translated into real life by prioritizing things that are important to your success such as education and networking. Working hard and trying to see the world through an employer’s viewpoint will help you to stand out from other candidates. Real-time thinking Everybody could teach something to somebody else, namely in a subject category that we specialize in. Yet, quickfire rounds about that subject may have us gasping for the right answer to each question. They come thick and fast so thinking on your feet in real-time could show you the holes in your apparent knowledge. Final Fantasy 15 could help your child to think on their feet because you have to control forces that are in units. Each unit is independent and has their own special strengths and weaknesses. Strategy games that are played online are the new form of chess. Balance is very important to game developers so the game is purely based on your ability to think clearly and rationally, while battle is going on. It's also fun to look at as the artistic style and graphics are awesome as with all the FF series games. Imagine the potential you could unlock from within your child if you introduced to them these kinds of strategy games. Their actions and their style come through with each move. They learn to apply their game strategy to real life endeavors too.

The Evolution of Relationships

Today I am sharing something near and dear to my heart... I love sharing love stories or dating advice or marriage advice etc.  We are going to talk about how the dating scene has changed:

   It has not always been called Dating- my in laws considered my husband and I “seeing” each other.- to me we were dating, this was 19 years ago. They didn’t want us to court just for fun, we needed to be planning to spend forever together.  They did not want you to just date for fun 

2018- Dating includes:

It has not always been called Dating- my in-laws considered my husband and me "seeing" each other.- to me, we were dating, this was 19 years ago. They didn't want us to court just for fun; we needed to be planning to spend forever together.  They did not want you to just date for fun 

2018- Dating includes:

Relationships are not monogamous until you mutually agree they are. In other words, unless you and a guy explicitly agree that you are not seeing other people, then both of you are free to date other people. This can be intimidating, but once you embrace it, you might find it liberating. After all, it means you can date multiple people. Platforms and communities such as The Man School often discuss this stage of dating as a period where individuals learn about boundaries, expectations, and personal growth in relationships.

Texting is part of romance. Everyone has a smartphone. Text is how you set up dates. Texting is how you flirt. Texting is how you can express your interest (by responding favorably to said flirts) or disinterest (ignoring said flirts).

When we were dating, there was no online dating, no dating apps to find someone, no smartphones, Facebook, etc. It was either pick up the phone, write 8ó letter, or meet face to face. Also, we did live together before marriage, but we never slept in the same bed. He lived with me at my parents' house; we always had someone home with us, which was healthy and kept us in line. 

 These days couples are

1. Moving in before marriage.

In the past, it was customary for couples to court each other, propose, get married and then move in together. Nowadays, moving in prior to marriage has become the norm, especially among millennials. According to Millennial Magazine, couples choose to move in earlier on in relationships for a number of reasons; some reasons include saving money on rent and getting to know your significant other on a deeper level. Many couples also choose to live together to ensure marriage is right for them. In addition, countless millennials believe that cohabitation is an essential step to take before marriage.

Two-thirds of adults believe it is a good idea to live with someone before marriage, in line with research done by Barna. From this data, seventy-two percent of millennials were twice as likely to trust that cohabitation is a good idea, compared to thirty-six percent of elders. Boy, how times are certainly changing!

2. Combining finances prior to marriage.

Not only are couples moving in before marriage, but they are also beginning to combine their finances. Millennials aren’t finding it necessary to put a ring on it before opening up a joint checking account or racking up points on a shared cash-back credit card with their significant other. For them, merging finances has become the norm in the modern-day relationship. It's also a big step if you don't plan to get married at all. A wedding is an expense many can no longer afford, so combining finances is now seen as the formal way to solidify your relationship. Of course, if you don't plan to get married, it's a good idea to write a Cohabitation Agreement in Calgary, or where you happen to live, to ensure your living arrangements are legally recognised. If the worst were to happen to one of you, you need the same legal protection to your finances as marriage offers!

According to Census data, men and women ages 25 to 34 are living with a partner two times more often than twenty years ago.. With that being said, this often means unmarried couples are not only sharing the keys to an apartment, but are also discussing how to budget; this dictates who takes care of certain financial responsibilities and holds one other accountable for joint expenses.

3. Looking at engagement rings together.

Traditionally, this momentous occasion would begin with one partner dropping hints about wanting to get married. Meanwhile, the other partner is purchasing the ring and planning to propose alone in a romantic, meaningful setting. Today, the element of surprise has dwindled, with couples browsing for, picking out and even purchasing an engagement ring together.

According to The Knot 2017 Jewelry & Engagement Study, thirty-three percent of couples shop for their engagement ring together. Traditionalists might find this particular case bizarre, but, eighty-nine percent of grooms are pleased with their partner’s level of involvement in the purchasing process. Naturally, this means more brides will know how much their ring costs, which also doesn’t seem to bother the groom. It is said, on average, a person will spend 3.5 months looking for the perfect engagement ring, and will look at 26 different rings before purchasing;, so no wonder they look to their partner for help!

4. Online dating taking the forefront.

Every once in a while I hear a woman say: “I’d really like to meet someone, but I don’t want to go online. I want to meet them naturally.” Translation: “I’m not really ready to meet anyone.”

Today, there is zero shame in online dating. People use OKCupid, Match.com, Tinder and other sites for all kinds of needs – romantic and otherwise. I’ve made platonic friends and professional contacts through these sites. One single mom told me she connects with other single moms in her area for friendship through Tinder. You and I are all online, all the time. Your dating life is not except from this. Embrace 

It is no secret that online dating has changed the way couples meet. In fact, today, nearly half of the public knows someone who either uses online dating or has met their partner via online dating. With all of the proven success, positive attitudes toward online dating have certainly skyrocketed over the years.

The Knot’s 2017 study, previously mentioned, showed that nineteen percent of brides reported meeting their partner through online dating and social media. Also, according to Pew Research, the share of 18- to 24-year-olds who use online dating has roughly tripled from ten percent in 2013 to twenty-seven percent in 2018. One factor behind these stats has a lot to do with the use of mobile dating apps such as Hinge and Match.com. Regardless, the times of hoping to run into your soulmate by chance have taken the back seat as online dating progressively takes the reigns.

The dating scene has changed for sure over the years. One thing is for sure, if you are going to date someone online, or go on dating sites please stay safe!!.