Tag: #SundayBlogShare

No, the Internet Has Not Killed the Printed Book

No, Technology Has Not Killed the Printed Book.
Books line the walls on at Common Grounds, in DeKalb, Ill., in August. KATIE SMITH / DAILY CHRONICLE, VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS

“Even with Facebook, Netflix and other digital distractions increasingly vying for time, Americans’ appetite for reading books — the ones you actually hold in your hands — has not slowed in recent years, according to a study by the Pew Research Center.

Sixty-five percent of adults in the United States said they had read a printed book in the past year, the same percentage that said so in 2012. When you add in ebooks and audiobooks, the number that said they had read a book in printed or electronic format in the past 12 months rose to 73 percent, compared with 74 percent in 2012.”

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Staying Humble

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Humility is not something that someone does once, but that one must strive to maintain if it is to be a consistent part of that individual’s life. As I thought of this, I also thought on how arrogance is not always boastful or typical of what we commonly associate with pride. There are many subtle ways to which a person can display a characteristic of pride.

Humility – a modest or low view of one’s own importance; humbleness

Assumption

It is a mistake to assume that people do not know what you know, or that they are any less intelligent than you are. Even if you are wise, remember that even a fool is considered wise when he just stops talking. I am sure we all have our own stories concerning people who were surprised to discover that we knew more than what was perceived by way of our silence or decision to withhold certain information. Assumptions cover a lot of ground as they are always based on preconceived notions and unanswered questions. It is always best to communicate with others to learn more about them, than it is to assume something about them. It may seem odd at first, but asking questions is a good thing because it helps us to understand and to get to know the individual.

Acceptance

This is a tricky one and comes through very subtly. At any time in our lives where we fight against acceptance, then we exhibit a form of pride. We must understand that stepping stones exist for a reason; they are bridges to the next level of our growth and for that we may not understand it when we first encounter it, whatever it may be. People who struggle with acceptance also have a habit of disagreeing with every single thing. This too is a form of pride. The person may not realize it, but they are expressing a form of arrogance. Why is it that you have something to say about every thing? How is it that everyone is wrong but you? That person needs to sit back and ask themselves why.

The thing to remember is that all is not meant to be understood in the moment, but to be accepted. In the words of Rainer Maria Rilke, “Do not now look for the answers. They cannot now be given to you because you could not live them.” Sometimes we are not in a place in our lives to understand, no more than a five year old understands how to safely handle a weapon, and for that we must accept the place we are in now until we can grow into the person who could. “At present you need to live the questions. Perhaps you will gradually, without even noticing it, find yourself experiencing the answer.” (Rainer Maria Rilke)

Asking

No, begging is different. But seriously, being afraid to ask for help is another subtle form of pride. It stems from our fear that others will either judge us or think that we do not know something. But you know what? So what! So what if you don’t know? No one knows everything and everyone has something to learn from someone. If you are afraid to ask for help when you need it, now is a good time to ask yourself why. Why does it matter how others perceive you? People talk a lot about keeping it real but being afraid to admit our wrongs, or our mistakes, or ask for help is not being real. That’s being fake.

Contentment

This one is like acceptance. Once you’ve accepted what is, then you can just be. Another subtlety, people who are not content express a form of arrogance. What you’re essentially saying is that what you have is not enough. I’ve learned that discontent is also a triplet, she has two identical sisters who accompany her everywhere that she goes. Now, I actually have a twin sister and though we look alike, we are also very different. For that, discontent has two twin sisters and although they can be very different, they are also very connected. Their names are covetousness and complaint.

When you’re not content in your present situation, you can be sure that a lot of complaining will accompany it and leading you to ultimately covet what you do not have. However, I’ve also learned that contentment is like this undercover miracle worker. When you are truly content in your life, all worry, stress, and depression leave you. I know that many of you are off on weekends and especially on Sundays.  Just take some time today and embrace the stillness, and to practice being content in all that you have.

Mistakes

Blog Post Mess Up

If you got it all together, there is no room for growth. If you know it all, there is nothing else to learn. If there is nothing else to learn, there is nothing to strive for. If there is nothing to strive for, there is no hope. If there is no hope, then it is all in vain. Vain. It means nothingness. producing no result. Useless. Are you useless? Let it not be that your existence here is pure poverty; a wasting away of flesh. A joining of bone and marrow, flesh and blood yet dull of emotion, of mistakes, or faults, of trial and error. When you started writing; when you started a blog; when you started school; a new relationship; a job; when you started whatever it is that you started, no one expected you to turn into a robot. Mistakes exist to be learned from and they make up our experience but, when you’re pinched, no one expects you not to feel. Having faith does not mean that you have to pretend as if it doesn’t hurt. If you want to be the best, then there is one thing you must be willing to do: Mess Up. That’s right, you must fall, trip, stumble. If you are to be the best, then you have to make all of the mistakes that are necessary in order to know the difference between what works and what doesn’t. So, fall. Break. Burst forth. This is not your destruction. This is your birth.

Author Spotlight – Yecheilyah Ysrayl

Yes, still on break. But, you know I have to share my latest Interview with the beautiful Aurora 🙂 (BTW, totally forgot to introduce myself… lol).

aurorajeanalexander's avatarWriter's Treasure Chest

Author PhotoWelcome!

 

Please introduce yourself.

 

  1. When did you start writing?

First, I’d like to thank you for this opportunity. My name is Yecheilyah Ysrayl (Yecheilyah pronounced e-see-lee-yah) but most people just call me EC, and I started writing when I was twelve years old.

 

  1. What motivates you to write? 

Reading is actually a big motivation for me to write and always have been. There’s something about looking at how others have written that makes me want to write too. But, more deeply, life in general is a big motivation for me as well; my experiences, good and bad, my journeys, my revelations, and my sorrows. I think these emotions and testimonies of ours on an individual level, is a very powerful tool to be used to create that bridge of commonality with the rest of mankind. Those things we encounter in our everyday lives as we journey…

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Don’t Compare

Let’s just be real for a moment shall we? There will always be times where you will feel inadequate. Times where you feel that your goals will always be too far to reach. Either your pockets are too thin or your faith just a few mustard seeds too small. In either event, we all have those moments were we second guess ourselves. Some people second guess their ability to be parents, some second guess that they are doing well at their jobs. Some of you even second guess your relationships. Will this last? Is it, is it real? That promotion? Maybe you second guess yourself there too.  Is this really what I am supposed to be doing? Am I supposed to be here? These times are bad enough, I do not need to explain. You’ve lived life. You understand. You don’t need my explanation of how doubt creeps underneath our skins and try altering our minds. What you do need is reassurance that comparing your situation to others is like slamming your head into the desk to try and heal a headache. OK, so maybe that was a violent example but it’s exactly what we do when we play the compare game. When I look at where I am in my life, personally, professionally, or otherwise I see  hope. But when I look at those who are where I am trying to go, personally or professionally, the colors don’t decorate the sky as much. And trust, I ain’t trying to reach for stars, but ain’t no rainbows either. We’ve all been here. The thing is, don’t compare. You can’t look at others to determine your growth because its yours. You’ve lived it and you’ve experienced it and unless someone somewhere know what its like to metamorph into someone else’s soul they can’t know what its like to walk in your shoes. Growth is the difference between who you are today and who you were yesterday. What can you see? It may not be a big rainbow people can see but I promise you there’s some lily’s and sunflowers down there some where, and some roses that grew from concrete. Always compare yourself up against yourself. Nothing more and nothing less. It’s the only way to win.

Keep growing.

Why I Set Blog Goals: A Message For Beginner Bloggers

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I don’t want to be stuck in the same place. I hear people talk a lot about how numbers don’t matter and to an extent yes, you don’t want your sole motivation of blogging to be riding on the back of followers and stats but at the same time, life is about evolving. As a student the idea is not for you to be forever learning at the foot of the professor. The idea is to learn, apply, and to grow. One of the greatest gifts a teacher can see is a student who has become a teacher. It shows that the student has applied the lessons and that the professor has done his or her job, for its one thing to know and an entirely different thing to pass on information so that others can understand it.

Why Do I Set Blog Goals? Because numbers don’t lie. They are not here to be ignored. And while they are also not here to lean too much on, they do serve a purpose in the end. That purpose is to market growth and development. This means that if we desire evolution then we must put those things in place that are necessary to get there. What I love about the blogging community is the excitement of seeing someone who has reached a certain viewership or follower number. I love this because if you don’t appreciate the little things in your life, then why are you deserving of more? You are not defined by your numbers, but they are there for you to measure improvement. Life in general is about learning and applying and evolving so it doesn’t make sense to me not to strive for excellence.

Deep down everyone knows that goals are the difference maker between so-so performance and stellar achievement.  Studies conclusively show that goal-setters routinely outperform their “wing-it” counterparts. – https://pushingsocial.com/3-goals-that-every-a-list-blogger-swears-by/

In no other area of your life can you grow or increase without a clear definition of where you want to go. You want to write a book but you have steps you need to get there. You want to start a blog. You want to grow a blog, but you need a clear vision of how you are going to get there. You can’t just sit back and wish for more interaction. Nor can you simply know what your goals are, but you need a clear plan on how to reach them. Setting a goal for your blog can be beneficial to increasing your number of views and subscribers, growing your brand, and taking you to that next level.

Quick Tip:

Selecting the right goals are just as critical as achieving them

https://pushingsocial.com/3-goals-that-every-a-list-blogger-swears-by/

There’s a lot I want to do with this blog, including purchasing a domain name for it. But, how do we get there? Some of you may wonder how to set goals for your blog and that’s a different post in itself because you don’t want to set just any goal. You want to set the right goals. Usually we say, “I want this many followers and this many views” or as I’ve just said, “I want my own domain name for my blog” but in my short experience as a blogger these are not the right questions, not in the beginning. Your first goal should be defining your audience. A bloggers strong understanding of their audience is a sure way to see results. Ask yourself: Who are they? What Problems do they have that my content offers (or will offer) solutions for? And as you go throughout the week, push the content that specifically answers these questions. These are the best posts and the ones of value. Just got high interaction on a post? Listen to it. Study it. What did it have that, let’s say your least successful post, did not?