The other day, I was sitting in the drive-thru to get my daily Starbucks fix. When I got up to the window, the worker informed me that the car ahead of me had payed for my drink. I was floored. I couldn't believe I didn't have to pay. I just got a free cup of coffee! It truly was the highlight of my day. I got home and realized that I probably should have payed for the person behind me, to keep the chain going. I made a note to myself that next time I would pay for the person behind me. So I did, and it felt so good. I made a promise to myself that I would start doing random acts of kindness more often. Right now, with the holiday season starting up is the perfect time to start giving. To give without expecting someone to reciprocate. There are so many east little ways to brighten someone's day. Hold the door for someone, even if they still have a ways to walk. If you notice something you like about someone, tell them. Who doesn't love a compliment? If you want to take it a step farther, why don't you try mending some of your relationships with people? Is there someone that you just don't get along with very well? Or someone you used to be close with, but aren't anymore? Or maybe there's someone that you haven't really ever talked to, but you would like to get to know better? Whoever it is, I challenge you to make your peace with them. There's no better time then the holidays to fix your relationships.
I encourage all of you to do one random act of kindness. The feeling you get afterwards is indescribable. You never know when someone's having a bad day. And you don't know the effect one simple smile could have on a person. xx Lizzie Leu
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A lot of people associate running with pain, exhaustion, and total misery. I have to admit that when I first started running in 7th grade, I felt the same way. I was sore all the time, and I absolutely dreaded going to cross country practice. But the more I ran the more endurance I built, and before long I couldn't wait to go to practice. I finished my cross country season, and continued running after that. It almost became like a drug; I couldn't go a day without running. It may be hard at first, but you just have to keep building up that endurance. You can only benefit from running. Even if you don't do it every day, I encourage you to try to run at least one time. Even if you just run up and down your street a few times, something is better than nothing. Among the many health benefits of running, it also has psychological benefits. I've noticed that I'm always much happier after I go for a run. This is because when you run, your body releases endorphins, which give you a strange sensation known as a runner's high. If you need to clear your mind, go for a run. I always feel much less stressed after I go for a run. I'll probably be running a lot during midterms. I've noticed that running hasn't just improved my physical endurance, but also my mental endurance. Being able to run a race, with lots of pressure to compete well has helped me when it comes to handling stress. I'm much better at dealing with stressful situations, and pressure. The only thing that holds me back from running is weather. When you live in a place where half the year is freezing cold most of the time, it can be hard to go out and run in the cold. And running on the treadmill is not the same as running outside on your sidewalk, or a trail. I encourage anyone who reads this to go out and run when they get the chance. Even if you do it every once in a while, there's nothing bad that can come from it, except maybe a few sore muscles ;)
xx Lizzie Leu Not eating meat? That's crazy, right? This may be so, but it also could be very beneficial to you're personal health and happiness. Read on to learn about the benefits of a meatless diet. 1. Take care of your heart. Meats are high in saturated fat, and saturated fat increases your cholesterol and risk for coronary heart disease. Diets with large amounts of meat also increase your risk for death by cardiovascular disease. Limiting your intake of meat can do wonders for your cardiovascular system. Ours hearts work so hard to keep us alive, the least we can do is take good care of them.
2. Lower your risk for Cancer. More and more studies have shown a link between meat and cancer. Vegetarians are 40% less likely to develop cancer. Reasons for this include: nutritional deficiencies in meat, and cancer causing fat compounds contained in meat. Cancers related to meat consumption include: breast, colon, prostate, pancreatic, and gastric. Learn more. 3. Link to Diabetes. Diabetes arises when the body's ability to maintain glucose levels through insulin secretion is weakened, or when the production of insulin is lessened. Research has proven that a daily serving of red meat increases the risk for diabetes by 19%. Processed meat increases the risk by a scary 51%! Reasons for this include high percentages of saturated fat, sodium, nitrites, and iron contained in meat. It keeps coming back to that saturated fat doesn't it. Learn more. 4. Fight your fat genes. There is a pretty clear link between diets with high quantities of meat and obesity. With all the sodium, and saturated fat contained in red meat how could there not be? Meat is not very nutrient dense. Protein is really the only nutritional benefit provided by meat. But there's no amount of protein that meat contains, that the body cannot obtain from a vegetarian diet. If you would like to lower your percent of body fat, simply limit your intake red and processed meat. 5. Prevent Arthritis. There are many factors that increase your risk for arthritis. One of them is having a diet high in fats and meats. Eating meat does not directly cause arthritis, but it's not doing anything to help prevent it. Meat can lead to high uric acid levels increasing your risk for a flareup gout, a form of arthritis. People with Arthritis noticed significant improvement after ditching their meat-rich diets, for a more plant based diet. Once again, just limiting your intake of meat, can prevent this condition. These are only a few of the numerous health benefits of a meatless diet. I hope I've enlightened your view on vegetarianism. Thanks for reading :) |