Life Lesson; Live Life to the fullest before it's too late by Kate Johns

I suffered a stroke two days before my forty-eighth birthday, and six days before my daughter's tenth birthday. As I lay in my hospital bed, wondering if I would see morning's light, or my family ever again, I made a deal with God. I decided that if I lived I would be a better person.

I had a new lease on life.I decided over the days that became weeks of living until the next morning's light that I would be a more positive person and that I would live life in a more Christian lifestyle. I decided to give this thing called life one more shot. I decided to be more patient with people, and to try to be a better example for my children. I would no longer scream at other drivers and I would give it my best shot to smile and enjoy life.

It wasn't easy, but I knew I had to try to live life unhurried, and to stop and smell the roses. You see, I was always the person who rushed through everything and wanted complete satisfaction right now. But when you can't walk or use the left side of your body anymore, you see life from a different perspective.

I realized that God had spared me this time, and I had to make it through to stay alive and get better for my family. Once I made it through to a nearly complete recovery in a matter of eight months,I realized that I had a new lease on life. I started seeing things differently. Everything smelled and tasted better than it had before. Simple pleasures became fantastic. I had this overwhelming feeling that I wanted to live life. I wanted to call everyone I knew, and didn't know and yell, "I'm still alive!"

I started getting in trouble for being so overjoyed. I started babbling to my husband while he was at work, and to my son and my daughter. I started talking to strangers. My mother warned me many times when I was a kid not to talk to strangers and here I was babbling at them. I became Facebook friends with everyone I could think of. I also realized that everyone is too busy to smell the roses, and they need a new sensation to make them feel alive.

I am not saying that everyone needs to have a life- threatening event happen to him or her. But what you really need to do is stop and grab your loved ones. You need to realize that life is too short for all the drama, and escape remedies and numbing drugs. You need to feel life, to really live life to the absolute fullest.

I just wish I had learned this life affirming magic trick when I was in my twenties. Then I would have gone out and conquered the world. I also stopped feeling sorry for myself, which I had done for years. I felt overjoyed to be alive. It was enough to feel the sunshine on my face, the warm grass beneath my feet, and the love of my family. I tell my family members every day that I love them. I do my best to not yell at my kids anymore. I am also trying to reconnect with family members and old friends and new friends who don't realize that life is meant to live, not run through at hyper-speed.

Now, if only I can get my husband to slow down and take a vacation.

How to find out if a cat is a stray

My sister found a stray cat in our garage after school one day. No wait a minute, I've got that wrong, a stray cat found us one day. We were asking our parents for a new pet when a stray cat literally walked into our lives.

She became my best friend for about sixteen years, until she died from cancer. Our cat had been a stray, and I've always felt that it is very easy to identify a stray cat. A stray cat will be hungry, and may hide in the nearby bushes or meow at you to feed her. A stray can be very friendly because she is a pre-owned model. In other words, she may come running out of the bushes to meow at you as you walk to your backdoor, talking to your kids.

Or a stray may be scared, and shivering next to your backdoor, asking for the food she smells from inside your home. One method to tell if a cat is a stray or not is to check to see if she is wearing a collar that has any identification. A stray may or may not have i.d tags on her collar. Some people try to get rid of their cat when times are tough, by taking off the cat's collar, and letting the cat go into a nearby field, or out in the country.

When a cat doesn't have any identification tags, she still may have had a previous owner. Today animals are being outfitted with a global positioning device, (g.p.s.). You can take a stray to a nearby SPCA or an animal shelter to have them help you find the cat's owner. The shelter may be able to run a device over the cat to see if it has a g.p.s. chip in it, identifying the owner.

You can also identify whether a cat is a stray or not, by how the cat acts. Sometimes, the cat is a feral cat. That means that this cat will have been born in a wild situation, and is a wild cat. Feral cats, usually are skittish to humans, and can be very nasty. This is a cat that is not a stray, and has been living in a non-domesticated situation for it's entire life.

When you find a stray, ask neighbors if they lost a cat recently, and put up posters in your local area. If the cat does not have any identification, or a g.p.s. chip, you may have a new friend that can easily become part of your family. Copyright 2012, (c).

Things you should never reveal on Facebook

Things you should never reveal on Facebook---

Facebook has become one of the the most popular methods for socializing in the world. Having over 800 million users, Facebook commands the ultimate party scene. People can get carried away utilizing this social networking arena by giving away personal information to thousands of people, many of whom they do not really know. The rules of socializing still apply on Facebook, even though many of these are what your mom already told you.

NAKED PICTURES, OR VIDEOS

Having become firmly entrenched on Facebook, having a great time connecting with old friends and making new friends, this is not the time to show that birthday suit. In fact, a man was recently jailed for posting naked pictures of his girlfriend on Facebook as a get-back, when they broke up. The lesson learned here is, don't post naked pictures of anyone, a friend or even a foe on Facebook. The possibility exists that a person could go to jail, or become the subject of harassment, or bullying.

PERSONAL ADDRESS

Thinking safety comes in large numbers while searching, and commenting on the Internet is not true. Above all, Facebook users, do not include a personal address on the profile page. Anyone of the 800 million Facebook users can view a person's profile information. Do not include that vital piece of information, or only allow some profile information to be seen.The real life events of the Craig's List killer have already taken place, a person doesn't want to be the subject of the story, "The Facebook Killer"

PERSONAL CELL NUMBERS

Listing cell phone number means all of your Facebook friends can see it and have the potential to use it. Do you want everyone to have that personal information? That means a friend of a friend, or someone recently added to your friend's list has access to your personal cell number. Reconsider giving out a home, or cell phone number to a vast audience. Giving out a phone number to total strangers could mean getting harassing phone calls in the middle of the night, and receiving suggestive phone calls from a "weirdo".

WHEN GOING ON VACATION

Never reveal to Facebook users when you are going on vacation. Never reveal when you are going to be home alone or when you are going out, leaving the house empty, and don't tell Facebook viewers when older children will be home alone. It's a scary Internet world we live in today. Even when an address is not listed in the profile section of Facebook, people have other ways of discovering an address. Unscrupulous people may come to a home while you are having a great time in a warm, tropical locale, robbing your home.

SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS

A social security number is assigned to newborn babies, but that doesn't mean a sucker was born on the day you signed up with Facebook.Do not place your social security number on the profile section of Facebook. Do not fall prey to anyone asking for a social security number on Facebook either. Many times while applying for a job, a social security number is not needed, anymore.

The Internet can be a scary place, especially for younger children, who don't have the life experience to deal with Internet predators. Don't list personal information, or say or do anything you may regret on Facebook. Considering future employers are surfing Facebook looking to find what kind of employee you might be, don't do it..Stay safe out there in cyberland, Facebook users! Copyright(c)2012, written by freelance author Kate Johns

Swear words should be banned from the Internet

The other day I was so grossed out, when I looked up an article I had written years ago, asking the question when is it okay for teens to have sex? All I did was write two words into Google's search engine----"teen sex" There were thousands upon thousands of pages about every kind of teen sex known to man.That's why I was so grossed out. Topping the Google list was a four letter word I can't say here. On the bottom of the page Google had written: "One of the page views, has been deleted." Every kind of swear word naming all kinds of s-e-x was here, displayed on Google, for anyone interested to look it up. It seemed as though I had stepped into a male dominated sports team locker room where all the guys were super macho, hyped up on testosterone laden drugs.

I felt so grossed out, I thought of this blog entry and banning any pictures about underage kids doing the nasty. Swearing and pornography should be banned from the Internet. The Internet has slowly evolved into an arena for people of all ages to jump on to find friends, find a soul mate, sell their stuff, further their careers, and promote their lives and careers. Every age group is surfing the net, looking for something that may or may not be out there. But millions of kids under a certain age are perusing the Internet playground. Even regular TV still filters out several swear words. (Not many, but they still ban several swear words, and sexual situations.)

After all, our kids peruse the Internet. They can see and learn all the swear words on the Internet. When my oldest child was still in high school, he told me that whenever he went on the Internet at school, almost every site he tried to get on was blocked from view by the education system. I think I said, "Thank God." out loud. We as parents, should still be able to protect our kids against something in this world. Do we really need seven year olds wandering around parroting back swear words that they saw on the Internet while talking to their friends on Facebook?

Kids need to be kids! Our children don't have to grow up and face reality before they start middle school. Do little  kids really need to sound like high school aged kids before they are old enough to type those swear words into a computer?

The next questions are who will ban swear words from the Internet? This leads to how will they be banned?  This also leads to how will teens be banned from viewing sex, and pornography on the Internet? Why not utilize the creative talents of computer geniuses(kids), who can develop software making tools to be installed into every computer when they are sold in stores. This will create jobs, aiding the economy of the world. An agency will be commissioned to devise the word swearing ban.

Can you see teens asking for old computers for Christmas instead of brand new computers with all the new features? Copyright 2012, (c).

How to increase your energy levels in the morning

Isn't it strange how some people bound out of bed in the morning happy to be alive? You wonder where these people come from, and how they get  out of bed with a smile adorning their faces, as you pull the warm, comfortable, soothing blankets up to your chin. Although it might irritate you, you've probably wondered where they get all that energy so early in the day, and how you can acquire even a smidgen of that energy level in the morning.

THINK POSITIVE

Besides drinking a gallon of  coffee every morning, try thinking positive thoughts to increase your energy levels in the morning. Working a job you enjoy will of course help immensely.Thinking negative thoughts, and being a negative person places your body at risk for low energy levels and for having a bad day. Negative thinking makes life harder to live. Thinking positive thoughts is very much like turning on the spigot allowing sunshine to radiate throughout your mind and your body. Positive thinking allows for your day and your morning to be happier, easier and more enjoyable. That must be why, the old saying, "smile and the whole world smiles with you", is true.

SCHEDULE SOME ME TIME

Every day do something positive, fun, stimulating, or relaxing that you really want to do. Even if you have to lock yourself in the bedroom getting away from your life partner, and needy children, then go for it! You deserve to have something to look forward to every day. Therefore,schedule time to do something you want. This could be anything from exercising, going for a walk, bike riding, or reading a magazine. By giving your self something to look forward your morning will be filled with more energy as will your entire day.

EXERCISE IN THE MORNING

Increase your energy levels in the morning by exercising in the morning instead of at night. Experts agree that exercising gives a body more energy. When people exercise at night, they are gaining energy at the wrong time. That's why you should not exercise at night, because all those positive endorphins may be keeping you awake.But when you exercise in the morning, you will be waking your body up in a more natural manner, and you will be gaining more energy.

Increase your energy levels in the morning by going to bed at a regular time every night. Try eating a healthy breakfast, exercising, and drinking a caffeinated beverage of choice. Think happy thoughts, look forward to much needed me time, and enjoy your morning as well as your entire day! Copyright, 2012, (c).