Commentary

Want To Save Money? Buy Your Groceries More Often.

December 9, 2019 By Fort Collins Mediation

In today’s struggling economy, everyone is looking for a way to save money wherever they can. One should look to their grocery shopping as a way to trim money from their expenses. Americans often purchase more food than needed, throwing away 1,500 dollars each year in food waste. To save money, one should increase their grocery shopping and buy fresh food which will help you maintain healthier eating habits. stop producing too much food waste, and also lower the mount you spend on groceries.

Key Takeaways:

Raising the frequency you shop for groceries saves a person money.
Planning meals and using substitutions are two ways to reduce the amount of food you throw away.
Buying only what you need will result in healthier eating habits.

“We simply buy more food than we need, and shopping for fresh food more often can help stop that.”

Silence of the Klaw: Trauma and Emotional Processing

November 27, 2019 By Fort Collins Mediation

In this life, most of us will experience some form of trauma. However when this happens can affect us more then what happens. The example was of Kawhi and his father who was murdered when Kawhi was only 16. If someone experiences trauma as a child or young person, the affects can last throughout adulthood. One that experiences trauma at a young age may have difficulty showing emotions to various situations in general. Usually they don’t give any sign of happy or sad but a dazed and confused reaction. More research needs to be done on overcoming childhood trauma.

Key Takeaways:

LA Clippers basketball star Kawhi “The Klaw” Leonard won a tense, high-adrenaline game for his team, but fans focused on his apparent lack of excitement or elation over his high-profile moment.
Traumatic experiences — like the murder of Kawhi’s father when he was a teen — can make the brain less responsive to positive stimuli.
People exposed to trauma in their youth often have more difficulty dealing with emotional conflict.

“You can’t tell if he just won a playoff atmosphere battle or just ate a decent bowl of cereal.”

Teen Girls and Dating? Nope. Never. No Way. Okay, Maybe.

November 25, 2019 By Fort Collins Mediation

When a teen girl comes forward and asks if she can start dating boys, we as parents, imagine the worst. In actuality most boys have food on their mind and are afraid of girls. You need to pick the age your daughter dates based on maturity level. Talk to your daughter about what dating looks like. Adults have a different view than teenagers. They might just want to hang out and get an ice cream. Start with Group dates, not one on one dating, and it never hurts to be the chaperone for the group.

Key Takeaways:

The subject of dating offers an opportunity to talk in depth to your teenager about relationships, values, and the social and cultural world in which they live.
Letting your teens go on group dates — but not solo dates — can be a happy medium between socialization and safety.
While pop culture and folk wisdom paint teenaged boys as obsessively focused on sex, reality is often less lurid than fiction.

“In my view, groups of young teens shouldn’t be out and about without an adult nearby—there’s too much opportunity for things to go sideways.”

Technology and the Road to Self-Improvement

November 23, 2019 By Fort Collins Mediation

In this study we discuss premium verses sub standard. It was once thought that those that invested more money into upscale top of the line digital products etc… preformed better then those using lower quality products. The results were very shocking as those that used premium, high quality products actually preformed worse then those using sub standard products. This gives pause to what goes on subconsciously. So now, one must look at these products as mere tools and not masters of an outcome.

Key Takeaways:

The E-Learning sector is expected to triple between 2015 and 2025, to a projected total of $325 billion.
Several studies have indicated that people using “prestige” brands experience a drop in objective measures of performance but an increase in self-perception of their performance.
E-Learning is most useful when students perceive it as a tool, rather than viewing themselves as subordinate to it.

“The great promise of all this technology is that it will allow us to improve our performance and, ostensibly, ourselves.”

The Hidden Power of a Family-Style Meal

October 21, 2019 By Fort Collins Mediation

The Eastern philosophy of a shared meal has been lost in today’s Western world. Families used to sit around the table, sharing the same dishes, taking only what they needed. This created a bonding experience, and research even shows that these large, family-style meals promote cooperation within the group, and even allow people to recognize the needs of other members of the group, instead of the needs of just the individual. All in all, the family that eats together, stays together.

Key Takeaways:

Many cultures eat meals at a round table with individual servings of shared dishes, unlike the Western practice of everyone ordering their own entree at a restaurant.
In one recent test, it was found that “union” and “management role players reached settlements more quickly when they snacked from a shared plate — with similar experiments getting similar results.
The researchers think that “family style” meals force us to think more about the needs of others, and how our actions impact them.

“Interestingly, cooperation was not explained by an increased feeling of closeness, as sharing the crackers did not increase closeness.”

Rethinking Love

October 17, 2019 By Fort Collins Mediation

Love is a tough emotion to define, but as a society, we tend to take the Hollywood view of love, like that of Romeo and Juliet. Although, in real life, that’s not the case. The emotion of love may be more about how well we relate to each other, not some romanticized, over-the-top emotion about two halves making a whole. As individuals, and as a society, we need to rethink love, and do some much needed cultural advancement.

Key Takeaways:

The idea of love has grown over recent years, and our society should accept that.
The cinematic view of romantic love is based on projection, not true connection.
In essence, it may be only possible to love as much as the degrees of connection with one another.

“Men project more feminine parts of themselves onto women, and women do the reverse. The result has been a reliable kind of magnetism.”

Relationship Fatigue? Try Something New

October 15, 2019 By Fort Collins Mediation

Some relationships tend to stagnate when couples do the same routine day in and day out. If a connection with a partner seems to be bland, it may be time to try heading out on a new adventure together. Couples that spend quality time experiencing novel events tend to bond together in through the learning process, and afterwards, come out closer and stronger. It’s important to hold dear to the time spent together as a family and the more smiles, the better.

Key Takeaways:

Couples should venture out of the norm to obtain new milestones in their relationship.
Doing new things together creates a tight-knit bond between couples, as they are both experience something novel together.
In today’s political climate, the only thing that should be kept together is family.

“The more you can smile together, the better your interactions will be.”

A Healthy Mind Needs a Healthy Heart

October 13, 2019 By Fort Collins Mediation

Dementia is a major issue, especially for the growing elderly population, yet there is no real cure. One form of dementia is vascular dementia, which is caused by lack of circulation to certain parts of the brain, sort of similar to a stroke. As of now, the best way to prevent dementia, as someone would prevent a stroke, is to remain physically and mentally active throughout life. By feeding the brain with knowledge, one might be able to ward of dementia.

Key Takeaways:

It’s hard to treat a stroke, so it’s important to stay proactive to prevent these type of brain injuries.
Vascular dementia and strokes combine for the highest leading causes of death, behind heart disease and cancer.
While there is no known medical cure for dementia, people should focus on increasing blood circulation to the brain my staying physically and mentally active.

“What I can tell you is this: If you want to keep a brain, particularly an aging brain, healthy, you need to feed it.”

Beyond Empathy: The Power of Compassion

October 11, 2019 By Fort Collins Mediation

There is so much divisiveness among people today that it is always heartening to hear of or see acts of kindness and compassion. Recently during the U.S. Open Naomi Osaka who is 21 years old defeated a popular young contestant Coco Gauff who is 15 year old. After the match Gauff was understandably shaken. Osaka not only consoled her but also invited Gauff to the post match interview usually reserved only for the winner. Osaka also spoke with Gauff’s parents to let them know how much she knew the hard work and effort the parents have put in to support Gauff as a player. It has been shown that such expressions of compassion benefit both the one showing it and the one receiving it. There are also consequential benefits including instances of reduced stress, longer life and overall well-being. Compassion consists of truly wanting to relieve someone else’s suffering or misfortune as opposed to empathy which involves sharing and understanding the feelings of someone else. Compassion can be as small as providing a needed smile or gesture at a time when someone else is feeling low. It can also involve providing assistance to someone who simply needs help. Researchers have found that compassion is not only innate to someone’s personality but can actually be studied and learned through meditation.

Key Takeaways:

Expressing compassion towards someone allows for both mental growth, and even physical well-being.
For those that don’t know how to show compassion, it’s good to begin by performing acts of kindness for others.
It’s possible to gain compassion through meditation, as one can like inside themselves to teach compassion.

“The fact that they had taken time from their own lives to be with me during this darkest time, to be present with me in my pain, was something I never forgot.”

What is a Marital “Tune Up?”

October 9, 2019 By Fort Collins Mediation

Marriages aren’t always smooth sailing, so it’s important to have regular check-ups with each other to ensure a healthy, strong relationship. It’s like bringing a car in for maintenance: if the driver ignores the problem too long, than it can fester into larger issues that may appear seemingly unfixable. Therefore, at the first signs of any trouble, couples should seek help from a professional, like a therapist, to tune up, and set their relationship back on the right track.

Key Takeaways:

Relationships, especially marriages, need to go through routine maintenance in order to thrive.
The longer that people in a relationship ignore a major problem, the worse it is going to get.
At the first signs of marital troubles, it’s imperative that couples see a therapist to talk out the issues.

“When an issue comes up with our car, most of us bring it to the shop so that the problem doesn’t get worse. Why isn’t the same concept used with problems in the marriage?”