Anti-Bullying Challenge: Make Someone Smile Today!

How To Stop Bullying

Sadly, we’ve all dealt with bullies in one form or another. When we’re young, it’s usually the kid on the playground or the mean girl in algebra class. As adults, these mean-spirited people can take the form of co-workers and the random Internet commenter — I see you, Anonymous!

It’s no fun to be on the receiving end of such hate. We all know this. But what we sometimes forget? What’s most important is how we react in these situations. Sure, our first instinct might be to “fight fire with fire,” as it were, but it won’t make us feel better or solve the problem; all we’ll be doing is sinking down to the bully’s low, low level. And that won’t get anyone anywhere.

So, on World Day of Bullying Prevention, let’s all do something different. Let’s change the conversation and spread some much-needed positivity. To get us started, here are 10 ways you can make someone smile…

1. Give someone a compliment: You’d be surprised at what a seemingly little vote of confidence can do.

2. Take your best friend to the movies: Ahhh, there’s nothing like enjoying a movie with a fresh box of Junior Mints.

3. Treat your mom to lunch: It’s amazing just how happy my mom gets from a simple lunch from Subway.

4. Volunteer at a homeless shelter: Every month, my family contributes a dish for dinner at our local homeless shelter.

5. Cookies, cookies, cookies: I’ve said before, but cookies make everyone happy.

6. Send someone a card: No one sends snail mail anymore, so why not surprise a loved with with a cute card?

7. Visit a children’s hospital: Trust me, days in the hospital can seem endless sometimes. Breaking up the monotony would surely brighten a child’s day.

8. Give someone a hand: See someone struggling with a huge stack of library books? See someone drop something? They’ll more than appreciate your kind gesture.

9. Spend some time with the elderly: When I was in middle school, I belonged to Grandparents Club. Every week, we’d visit residents in a senior living community. We all loved getting together and you could tell how happy it made everyone.

10. Tell your family how much you love them: Saying those three words never goes out of style and it’s such a nice way to make their day. It’s SO important to let the people in your life know just what they mean to you.

What do you think of this list, friends? What have you done lately that has made someone smile? What has someone done for you? Anything you’d add to the list? Get out there and spread the positivity!! xoxo

[Photos via We Heart It]

Let’s Try: The trick to perfect sleep

Do you ever have trouble falling asleep? I never used to give much thought to falling asleep. Usually, my head would hit the pillow and I’d be out like a light — surely, there was no tossing and turning for me. Even now, as I’ve gotten older, sleep is still one of those things that comes relatively easy. But I’ve noticed one change lately: The way I sleep is different. Even if I’m bone tired, I have trouble just falling into bed and getting comfy. I always lie down on the left side of my bed and fall asleep on my left side. That is my magic sleep spot, and there’s even an indentation in my bed to prove it!

New York magazine recently interviewed a sleep expert (doesn’t that sound like an awesome job?), who said that sleeping with your feet outside of your blankets could help you sleep better and fall asleep faster. Scientists have speculated that cooler temperatures cause sleepiness, and the feet-outside-the-blankets theory might work the same way, says Natalie Dautovitch, a spokesperson for the National Sleep Foundation and a psychology professor at the University of Alabama.

“I think it’s likely in service of trying to cool our bodies down because we’ve gotten too warm to sleep,” she said. The feet also have the perfect vascular structure to help dissipate body heat, so “sticking your toe out or your foot out could bring you to a more restorative sleep.”

Sleep yet, friends? Do you sleep with your feet peeking out? Does it work? Any other sleep tricks that have worked? I’d love to hear them, and here’s to peaceful slumbers! xoxo

P.S. Tracking your mood, Prancercise, Internet-free Thanksgiving, honest selfies and the 24-Hour No-Complain Challenge! :)

[Photos via We Heart It]

Four things I learned from not complaining for 24 hours…

Truth time: I can get going on a good complaining kick with the best of ’em. In fact, given my competitive nature, if I’m provoked, I just might turn the whole thing into one giant sport. So maybe that’s why I challenged my mom a few weeks ago to go a full 24 hours without complaining. I was up for the challenge (who couldn’t benefit from a little less negativity in their lives?), but I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect. Could we do it? Would we even last a day? A morning? Breakfast?

Well, I’m happy to report that we, indeed, did last the whole day, without too much under-our-breath huffing or pulling our hair out in sheer frustration. In fact, just yesterday, my mom remarked that we could probably benefit even more from doing the 24-Hour No-Complain Challenge again, and I can’t help but agree. I’ve been thinking about the big lessons I learned from this seemingly little exercise. Here are four of those big lessons that stand out…

You have more control over your life than you think
True, there are just some things in life that are out of your control, and you just have to come to terms with that. But how you react to the things that happen to you? A lot of that is well within your control. You control how you look at it. You chart your own course, and no one can do that for you. I’m always telling my mom to “take back your power” when she gets herself all stressed out, and I think the same thing applies here.

There is a fine line between observing and complaining
Several times during the day, my mom and I found ourselves on the verge of uttering a not-so-very-positive sentence, so to try and rein ourselves in, we tried to re-frame said sentences as mere observations. Why? Because it’s a very slippery slope from an observation (i.e. “it’s hot outside…”) to the black hole of complaining (i.e. “I hate this hot weather. I think it’s going to kill me…and my day us ruined…”). See what a fine line it is? You want to stay on the right side of it, obviously.

Turns out, Abe Lincoln was right
Our 16th president was famous for saying that “folks are usually about as happy as they make their minds up to be” and if you think about it, there’s a lot of truth in that. If you choose happiness in one aspect of your life, chances are that it will carry over into other areas. It’s almost like the ripple effect — one teeny, tiny pebble of happiness could be felt all around you. Can you feel the calm yet?

My shoulders felt noticeably lighter
When I let all that complaining go, I felt as though a heavy weight had been lifted off my shoulders. You don’t fully realize how much extra useless baggage you’re carrying around until, well, you’re not carrying it around anymore. It’s one of the rare moments in life when simply not caring is quite possibly the greatest feeling in the world. When it comes to complaining, never underestimate that!

Did you take part in the No-Complain Challenge? What was the experience like? Was it what you expected? What did you learn? Will you be doing it again? Here’s hoping you’re relaxed and calm on this summer Monday, friends! xoxo

[Photos via We Heart It]

Let’s Try: The 24-Hour No-Complain Challenge

Think about this for a minute, friends: How many times do you catch yourself complaining every day? Think hard about this one. Why? Because we probably all complain a lot more than we realize. It could be something as little as grumbling as you get out of bed in the morning (which I did today because I overslept!) or something as big and monstrous as stressing over family issues or a looming work deadline. Yes, whether we like it or note, the act of complaining is hard-wired in the fabric of our DNA.

And as it turns out, science isn’t on our side. Stanford studies have shown that being exposed to just 30 minutes of complaining every day is enough to cause physical damage to the brain; it damages the neurons in the brain that are responsible for problem solving and cognitive functioning. That’s not all. Even if you’re not the one doing the actual complaining, just listening to someone complain quickly zaps your energy — I think we’ve all been in a situation like this, haven’t we?

Yikes! Well, NO MORE! After seeing a No-Complaining Challenge posted on Facebook, my mom challenged my sister and me to see if we could go 24 (whole!) hours without complaining. And each time we do complain, we have to write it down. So we’re going to try it! Tomorrow is the big day! We were joking all weekend that we’d better get all of our complaining out of our systems while we had the chance — trust me, we did!

I’d love for you to take part too, friends, so let’s make this a blog challenge, shall we? I’ll be sure to take notes of my experience — and of course, all those time I *accidentally* complain — and post a write-up next week! Are you game? Let’s goooo!! xoxo

[Top photo via We Heart It]

Let’s Try: Take an honest selfie

Confession time: You know those new types of photos all the young, hip kids are taking these days? Those self shot, I think they call them. Oh, they’re called selfies? So you do know what I’m talking about then. Well, believe it or not, but I unknowingly contributed to the rise of their popularity. Yup, that’s right, friends. I pretty much invented the art of the selfie. Like Edison and the light bulb. Like Bell and the telephone. Like Psy and Gangnam Style.

I know, I know…that’s probably somewhat of an exaggeration. But I did find a few photos recently that would seem to support my claim. Take the two photos above, for example. I couldn’t have been more than 10 or 11, but I remember loving that camera. And back then, it was always of the disposable variety. Put one of those babies in my hand, and I’d just go to town. Snapping those photos of genuine moments made me feel free and gave me the opportunity to be myself. It was a chance to capture such a real second.

Maybe that’s why I’m so impressed with Dove’s new short film, the aptly titled Selfie. Premiering at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, the short film helps mark the 10th anniversary of Dove’s Real Beauty campaign and explores how one group of girls takes selfies and what that says about beauty standards and girls’ confidence in today’s society. It’s sad at first, to see all the self-editing that goes on with the girls and their photos, but as the girls begin to take “honest selfies” — along with their mothers — a beautiful dialogue opens up. You can watch the full film here, and below is the short three-minute version…

So, all this body-positive honesty got me thinking: How awesome would it be if we all took honest selfies for the whole world to see? Wouldn’t that send a wonderful message? Such a life-affirming activity, don’t you think? And even better, why not do it on So About What I Said?

Here’s my idea: I invite you to snap an honest selfie of yourself (and don’t tell me you never take photos of yourself…I’ve seen lots of your cool pics on Instagram!) and send it to me, along with a couple sentences about what you love about yourself or how your photo is a good representation of yourself. Feel free to send your submissions to mellow1422 [at] aol [dot] com. I’ll share all your wonderful photos in a celebration post. Sound fun? Are you game, friends?

[Thanks, ELLE]