When it talks about the basic needs of man, normally these are: 1.Food, 2. Shelter, and 3. Clothing.  Everything else is secondary because we can survive living with or without them—or can we? Other people contradict to this as they believe and wisely consider that the basic needs of man are: 1. Food, 2. Shelter; and 3. Sex. True enough, the first two are accepted conventionally, and the third makes fair point indeed in which we need sex to reproduce yet not in a perverted way. If these needs are not met immediately, we will fight irrationally so as to meet them.

Life before changed drastically up to this digital age. Technology keeps advancing and just can’t get enough of outdoing itself.  And so the needs grew and grew vastly as time goes by. How do you know how much you value something? Know how much you are willing to sacrifice for it. Other people might say that they know they need it because it is what they seek first thing in the morning. Well, case in point you wear eyeglasses or dentures, definitely you’d look for those first. But others will definitely consider smartphones the first thing that they will look for, and perhaps believe it as one of their basic needs. Take it from all the businessmen; they have to know every bit and piece of their business so they will be updated with what is going on. You will definitely see them having a phone pressed against their ears. But did you know, not only those who are businessmen find the need of having mobile phones? Of course we do need it, too, occasionally—all the more if we have our own boyfriends or girlfriends to keep in touch with. We even experience getting minor panic attacks that make us hold our breath every single time we misplace our precious mobile phones—awful lot. But there are a number of people who have a great need of mobile phones to the extent that losing it has become one of their greatest fears. This is termed as Nomophobia.

Nomophobia is said to be a psychological syndrome in which a person is afraid of being out of mobile phone contact. The term was coined by the UK Post Office on a UK-based research organization to look at mobile phone users who suffered anxieties, and it is an abbreviation that stands for “no-mobile-phone phobia”.  It does not just refer to losing your mobile phone. The fear can be induced by just merely running out of battery or credit or having no network coverage. Nomophobes then suffer from anxiety as they irrationally fight to meet their needs of being in mobile contact again. Other Nomophobic people even have more than one or two mobile phones in hand. They see to it that they will still have a way to contact in mobile when one of their phones’ batteries ran out of juice—pretty clever, huh?

Some people even get to buy cheap mobile accessories so as to experience the maximum potential of their mobile phones. This only shows that smartphones can be considered, personally—if not generally, as a basic need. Do you suffer anxieties, too, when your mobile phone got lost? Then you are a certified Nomophobic!

Believe it or not, there is a specific phobia for the fear of losing or even having your mobile device away from you in a certain time. It sounds a bit shallow indeed, but this one is actually a fact. Back in 2008, a group of researchers in UK coined the term “nomophobia” from no-mobile-phone-phobia. Nomophobics are those who feel extreme fear when separated from their mobile gadgets and devices. Just like any other fears, this one should be dealt with properly to get over it and live without any apprehension.

But first, you should admit to yourself that you are suffering from this certain condition. Upon admitting it, can there only be ways to make you face it. So, if you are fully convinced that you are indeed a nomophobic and it is already a bother, try doing these steps to get you over your nomophobia.

1.       Practice

No one can get over this overnight; you will be faced with a gazillion of hurdles before you can completely say that you are off your addiction and phobia. Therefore, you have to condition yourself first. Try a simple exercise everyday by having a “no cellphone time” for a couple of minutes. Let’s say that you allot 30 minutes of your day without your phone in your hands or any other gadget or gadget related items on sight like USB data cables, mobile earphones, chargers, and the like. Once you get used to that 30 minutes, make it an hour. When you get over an hour, make it two.

2.       Prepaid

Instead of getting a postpaid plan, use a prepaid plan, for this will give you a certain sense of control and limit from your mobile phone use.

3.       For smartphone users, it will be better if you turn off all your notifications. I’m quite sure that there are no such text messages or email that requires a fast reply. Believe me when I say that these emails and text messages can definitely wait. One more thing that you should turn off are your social networking site notifications. These are the primary culprit for anyone’s mobile phone addiction that leads to nomophobia.

4.       If your time and attention permits, keep your phone in a silent mode, so you will not be bothered at all times. This simple step has helped a lot of nomophobics in the world.

5.       Have a vacation. Unfortunately, your career had a big hand in turning you into a nomophobe. All the tasks to be accomplished and your boss reaching for you all the time are just some of the reasons why you can’t afford to be separated from your phone. On your vacation, try to stay away from your phone and your latest gadgets like your iPad  and just enjoy the new environment.

If you think about it, it isn’t that hard to get over nomophobia. All you need to have is self discipline, drive, and a strong motivation to push through.

Like it or not, there will always be a time when you will have a bad day. It’s true that you can’t control everything else around you, but this I know for sure; you can control yourself. Whether you’ve had a fight with your partner, scolded by your boss, broke your latest gadget, lost a hundred bucks, or simply felt like this is your unlucky day, then do the things listed below to turn your bad day around.

1.       Aromatherapy. According to Rachel Herz, an assistant professor of psychology at Brown University, “Odors do affect people’s mood, work performance, and behavior in a variety of ways.” Grab a grapefruit body wash or a cocoa butter lotion and take a deep sniff. Choose scents that have a soothing effect or something that will remind you of a tranquil setting.

2.       Wash your face. Splash cool water on your face to refresh yourself. Then get a warm washcloth and press it against your face to relax your senses.

3.       Look for an inspiring message. Grab a book to read or search an inspiring message using your smartphone. Understand the message clearly. Doing this will give you insights and allow you to ponder on new things.

4.       Look at the sky. Go out of the house for awhile and look at the sky. Take a deep breath and exhale slowly through your pursed-lip mouth. This will allow you to release the tension you’ve been keeping. You will then realize that your bad mood has just floated away—up in the sky.

5.       Call a friend. There’s nothing better than to have someone listen to you whenever you have hurts that you need to vent out. Call your confidant, whether your family or friend, and talk out your every concern.

6.       Reorganize your space. If you think that your mind is as messed up as your things, then reorganize. Keeping things in order might loosen your worries. This can also give you a chance to set your life in order.

7.       Check what the stars have to say. There’s nothing wrong in reading your horoscope from time to time. They actually provide you with some words to live by. Use those words of wisdom to garner some insight and guidance to help change your disordered perspective.

8.       Give yourself a treat. Satisfy your cravings if you have any. This will surely lighten up your mood.

9.       Take a nap. The time you’re awake only gives you a chance to think about the things that bothers you. Thinking about them will only get you sadder and sadder. Better yet, take a nap. You might be surprised that you will be waking up already feeling good.

10.   Cry. Never hesitate to let out your emotions and cry. It’s not good to keep your hurts within yourself. They might one day haunt you causing you more pain and misery. Cry them out to feel a sense of liberty.

It’s not everyday that you are happy. There will be times when things just seem not to go your way. Don’t let them bring you down. Instead, find a way to brighten up your mood by doing the tips above.

There are lies that are way hard to believe—evidently, too good to be true. But there are lies that we just find irresistible not to believe. If we are not careful enough, we can always be outsmarted by clever people who can suck all the benefits from you without you even knowing and noticing it. What’s worse is that you have figured it out when it is too late and you are left with all regrets. But what are the reasons why we buy lies? Let’s differentiate black from white as we uncover the dirty tactic lies we usually fall into.

#1: Paint a Picture.

Normally, through our own instinct, we can detect a lie by the use of our own senses. It may be either by visual on how a certain person moves or how he or she communicates that can usually be emphasized by the person’s eyes. But what makes us buy the lie is because of the picture. Take for example, you want to buy a cheap mobile phone and you have been searching high and low to find one. Although you want cheap ones, you are still more on quality. So you have seen a cheap phone with a picture on its side being advertised by one of your favorite public icons. Although it is not that sturdy, you bit the bait anyways because you have been lured by the advertiser. Get the picture?

#2: Say It Twice.

Persuading someone is hard—hard if what you want that person to believe is a fallacy. But people fall into this trap because first off, they don’t have enough concrete idea about the topic, and they just don’t know which side to take. One can be easily deceived by this second tactic: saying it twice. It’s like adding resolve to the lie. It can wash the doubt instantly as the victim, or the person being lied about, is being familiarized to the lie—thus, misleading them. That’s because people have the tendency to trust things that feel familiar. Case in point is when you are trying to buy a replacement part for your phone like a stylus. You have been torn between two stores. Have you noticed on how they keep repeating how good their products are? So they battle between how good they advertise the products.

#3: Make Some Sense.

Unless one is hyper vigilant and understanding, one can be mislead by the things that quite make some sense. This can be best exemplified by an alibi. An instance would be a crime scene. Of course, for the suspect to be discharged from the case he or she has been involved, he or she has to make an alibi that is believable so as to sound convincing to the people concerned. People then buys the alibi of the suspect as they have been convinced with the plot the suspect has concocted. But as it always has, there is no perfect crime.

We can lie as much as we want just as that we are sure enough the person we have been lying about wouldn’t know it. But then again, truth finds its way to be divulged so might as well don’t push your luck too much.




Related Articles

The Truth in Lies

Everybody Lies

Feelings and emotions change. As a human being, we are subjected to feel countless sensations. Some people might think that feelings and emotions can be used interchangeably but technically there is a nuance between them. You can consult dictionaries to look up to their meaning. But for our purposes, feeling is an emotional state or reaction while emotion is a natural instinctive state of mind deriving from one’s circumstances, mood, or relationships with others. For further enlightenment, a feeling is a reaction over a situation while emotion is something that can happen internally without the external influences.

Examples of Feelings and Emotions

FEELINGS

·         Your younger brother is in your room playing and he accidentally stepped on your mobile back case—evidently it breaks. It didn’t take much long for you to find out. And since you have just bought that case, you felt frustrated with your brother. With much discomfiture, you scolded at him.

·         It’s your birthday! What could be happier than to receive a gift from your dear ones? So you opened that colorful box with ribbons and card attached saying, From Mommy and Daddy with Love. You even shook the box to check if you could guess what’s in it. Then when guessing is not that good enough, you opened the box with all your heart’s content and voila! It’s one of the latest mobile phones you’ve been dying to have ever!

EMOTIONS

·         We just so love to be in love, don’t we? The moment we wake up we can’t efface that smile flashing throughout the day when we receive the first greeting from the person we truly, deeply love. And then you sing: Just the thought of you can make me smile. And you just couldn’t remove him or her out of your head and the fact that you will be seeing him or her any time sooner—ah! Never fails to make you all giddy-up inside.

·         You missed your ex… What torture? You are still haunted by the feelings from the past. You tried to move on but then again, you are drawn to just scroll on the messages on your smartphone—leaving you more nostalgic and all. What’s worse than soaking yourself up with tears is when you are fighting over the idea whether to resist your urges from texting or calling him or her just to confess to your ex that you are still in love or just brush of the idea and wipe your tears to have some dignity—or save the dignity that is left.

We have feelings; we emote. But not all feelings should be expressed as of demeanor protocol that could turn out to be—with just a fine line—a misdemeanor. Emotions come from the mind as we dredge up memories from the past. What’s good with it is we take a hold on memories that was good and yet when it talks about pain, it’s another story. It’s not wrong to look back and dwell on the past. Just give it a glance and then keep looking forward. Suppress feelings if necessary if you know in the end that it can cause you a lot of trouble. Pour it out for common good; keep it in for greater good.

Happiness is a state of being that, more often than not, is only in the mind. You can in fact control your mind into how you want to feel. This just proves the maxim, “Mind over matter.” There is no single person in this world who has no problems. Everyone does, may it be because he is about to be divorced, she was just fired from her job, he was left alone by his buddies, or simply because she is having a hard time choosing which cell phone accessory to buy. With all the life’s stresses we experience, often we forget how it is to be happy. Below are simple tips to turn your everyday into happy days.

1.       Take out the bad and bring in the good. Not everything that we experience can give us pleasure and comfort. There are those that will make us feel bad. Clear your mind and your heart of the things that does not make you happy. Also, you can do this in your own home. If the eBook accessory your ex gave you on your anniversary makes you nostalgic, just throw it away. Having a clear and clean mind creates a space to invite happiness into your life.

2.       Appreciate yourself. Every word that comes out of our mouths has power. Being consistently hard on yourself and claiming perhaps all the negative adjectives you can think of will only make you that way. Create a positive affirmation that can uplift your spirit like telling yourself “How a beautiful day this is,” and “Today’s going to be my day.” Believe in the power of words, for what we think, we become.

3.       Keep a happiness journal. Not everything that happens in our lives is stored in our brain. Due to the selective memory of humans, there are things that we will remember, and there are those that will just pop like a bubble in thin air. Whenever you feel happy, list it down. That way, you will be able to revisit your journal then reflect about how happy your life has become when the time comes.

4.       Meditate. The process of soul-searching requires complete serenity. Whenever you’re in a state of bewilderment, listen to your inner voice. The voice inside you can serve as your greatest companion to help you get through your darkest hours.

5.       Introduce change in your life. Nothing is more fun and interesting than having something new in your life every now and then. Truly, you take away the fun in things when you do them routinely. You therefore find nothing to be excited of anymore, or there’s nothing to look forward to. Simply put, too much of the same thing can cause dullness.

Happiness isn’t that hard to find; all you have to do is look around you, and there is so much to be happy about. You don’t have to take hold of the latest smartphone there is, even your cheap mobile phone can do for as long as you get to appreciate it. You may have heard this over and over again, but happiness is a choice. Only you can decide if you’re going to be happy or not.

Schools were established so people can build their own professional foundation. It is bound to end sometime so keep yourself intact for the time being. Although, after that will be another long list of expectations. I guess it’s not such a good thing after all then? This is the reason why it is very important that you don’t forget what you suffer...or rather, went through for a significant number of years facing the green board and nodding in silence to the words of your professor. No one wants to become a sore loser after school. What of the degree you earned? Is that just a paper proclaiming you are what you are not? Hurts the pride, doesn’t it?

The sad thing about this is that it can really happen, and if you don’t do anything about it, you will most certainly lose it sooner than you think. Hold up! Don’t panic just yet. Every problem has its solution. See those broken proprietary parts and/or accessories? Replacement parts were invented to solve the problem, so yeah, this is no exception.

Losing your mojo is like losing an arm or a leg. You simply cannot function without it. But unlike amputation, you can get it back in one piece.

1.       Don’t freak out. Everyone has to undergo this dilemma sometime in their life. Even the most brilliant of minds loses their greatest arms sometime in their life. Relax. You didn’t really lose it. No one can lose something they already possess. You are only wasting valuable energy by worrying for no reason.

2.       Remember what it is that gave life to it in the first place. I told you it is important that you are relaxed as possible because if you weren’t, then this next step will give you a tough time. Everything has its origin, so are your powers. Think of that particular event that triggered your ability. This event can be the day you almost met an accident after which you decided to go through self-defense classes which then made you best martial arts fighter in your town. Or it could be that it was the day your girlfriend broke up with you which led you to draw a design you showed a friend and eventually became the most wanted cell phone case design for all phone models! Hold on to that memory and move forward to the next step.

3.       Find the pattern. There is always a pattern. Every trick can easily be divulged once you discovered the pattern. When you finally have it, execute the pattern once more. You’ll find that this is something that is familiar to you. Soon you’ll get back what you originally lost.

Don’t fret because if this is a problem for us average ones, it is quite serious for the brilliant minds. Losing their mojo is close to losing air to breathe. Without their mojo, they have nothing.


Related Articles
Live Your Life and Learn from It
When You Only Have One Shot
Always Do the Don'ts