Clearing Out the Old and Decluttering the Mind

I opened and closed my storage locker for the very last time.  It was a decision that saved me close to$70 per month and I imagine that this step made me rethink the reasons why we keep old possessions.
In fact, it didn't make much sense for me to keep a few boxes in a storage locker. There were very few items there and  it seemed rather ridiculous to keep a few clothes and household items in a locker that may never see the light of day.
As a society, we tend to keep too many things --things which have no emotion and yet possessions seem to make us happy and somehow superior. The more we have, the more we tend to feel  better about ourselves. I looked around at the storage facility and wondered why so many people keep things that they no longer need, or have no room to fill in their own homes. It seemed rather wasteful and also expensive.
After four months of keeping a few boxes in the storage locker, I decided to bale out. It was a good decision because I realized that whatever was in the boxes, needed to see the light of day. It was to be used now, not in the near future. A few things, like electronics, such as old phones. I left outside for binners to pick up and resell. Other things I decided to keep in the back trunk of my vehicle for the time being while I pondered which items I would keep and which ones I would send to charity.
I looked at Simba, the cat, and realized that he always seemed happy and this animal did not own a single piece of property. He was content just being the way he is. We can learn a lot from animals.
Simplicity is a good thing and I challenge other people to do the same thing and clean-up and declutter your mind.

Living the 4 -hour Work Week

It's been almost a year since I've read Timothy Ferriss' inspirational book,The 4-Hour Workweek. I'm a big fan of motivational books and this slightly over 300 page book reads fast and packs a whallop of good ideas.
But you'd think after one year, I would be living the dream life, working only four hours. Truth be told, living this kind of life-style does take some work and a mind that is both entrepreneurial and passionate about working for yourself.
A person should read this book with an eye towards self-improvement, even if some of the ideas in there seems a bit offbeat and strange, like lying down in the middle of a public area to demonstrate the idea of thinking outside the box. At times, too, his book seems a bit autobiographical, since he details his beginnings and the steps he took to become successful.
There are plenty of good tips in there for people who want to modify and simplify their life. Tips on speed reading will surely help students and professionals skim through huge reports and books.
I did enjoy his tips on websites that focus on searching for products to sell. His research on outsourcing agencies will definitely help companies gain more efficiency and save money. His plea to limit our intake of media is good information since we seem always to have time for television, newspapers and other forms of media and never enough time to spend with things that are important, such as family, etc.
Clearly, Ferriss makes a strong case that if you want to make money, you have to have a good product to sell. A person can easily read this book in one day, but I strongly recommend that you have a note pad handy to write down some useful websites and his encouraging tips. I can feel his energy already.

Making Sense of Dolphin Entertainment

Now that the summer holidays are on the horizon, people planning vacations should be careful about where they spend their vacations. If you're a person who loves animals and respects wildlife, it makes sense that a person should also be mindful of animals in captivity and stay away from places like Seaworld and Dolphin parks.
After watching The Cove, a movie about a group of activists/adventurers who set out to tell the world about the sad and secret treatment of dolphins at a cove in Taiji, Japan, I felt an urge to do my part by writing a piece about these beautiful creatures.
It is clearly wrong to imprison these intelligent marine mammals in a million dollar entertainment outfit designed to line the pockets of people who care little for animal welfare. Those who front outfits like Seaworld and other parks that showcase dolphins state that it is for the educational value of children and adults. Yet, the real value of showing the dolphins to the public is that dolphins make people money.
The filmmakers do a good job about showing how select dolphins are sold to entertainment parks for as much as $150,000 each; others who don't pass the mark are butchered and sold as meat. Some scenes in the movie are heart-renching, especially when the sounds of dolphins being butchered are heard, followed by an eerie sound of silence.
And yet the dolphins in the parks are not living a life of bliss. Despite their appearance, these dolphins must be forced to work for food, and life in a small, artificial pen that in no way duplicates their life in the real world. Dolphins are also separated from their families when they are cruelly wrenched from the sea for transport to a life of being in a sea circus.
It's time people around the world stop this terrible treatment of dolphins. One of the easiest steps is to boycott all Sea parks that operate dolphin entertainment and charge people a fee to "swim with dolphins."
Although we do not have the time or money to go to Japan to help stop the senseless killing and selling of these dolphins, we can do a large part by not going to these events. Eventually,  one hopes, these heartless outfits will lose money, close their complexes, and return these dolphins to the sea from which they belong.
For people who have yet to watch The Cove, it is highly recommended and so is the website, http://www.thecove.com/ which also provides information on how the average person can get involved in this crusade to stop the killing and selling of dolphins in Japan.
But on a global picture, we can also monitor our travel excursions and when travelling in a new place that offers dolphin entertainment, decline loudly.
Dolphins have had a long and interesting relationship with humans. They have been known to save swimmers from sharks and also have been known to encourage in co-operative human-dolphin fishing expeditions, dating from the pre-Roman era, thanks to accounts from the likes of the Pliny, the Elder.
Let's help stop the abuse, now!