The truth does not change based on your ability to accept it.
I do my best to live life in a way that I am aware of what I do, while also trying not to chase things that are outside of my control.
Here are some of those truths that help me stay in control of my life.
Alexander the Great. Even though he lived on this Earth for only 33 years, some 2,300 years ago, we have yet to forget his name and legendary battles.
During his short life, nothing stopped him. Nothing. Huge armies with elephants, impregnable fortresses, vast distances over mountains and rivers and deserts, hunger, thirst, the sea itself, the uttermost extremes of physical hardship and war. His body was littered with scars; everywhere that is, except his back. That’s because the world’s greatest commander never retreated, and he never lost a battle.
Most of his portraits, sculptures, and coins reflect a kind of upward gaze as if he were staring into the very heavens, yearning for something unreachable.
He dedicated his life to the struggle against insurmountable odds. And he became great because he surmounted them all.
“History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.” ― Winston S. Churchill
For those of you who don’t know much about me: my name is Cristian Mihai, I am 27 years old, live in Constanta, Romania, and I have been writing for over fourteen years. Also, I do enjoy long walks (on the beach or not) and I have been blogging for more than six years.
But how did I become a writer? How did I decide to be one? What steps did I take? What happened along the way? Why didn’t I quit? What made me keep on keeping on when all hope seemed to be lost? Continue reading
There are more blogs in existence than ever, yet more and more people are seduced by the idea of sharing their thoughts and ideas with the rest of the world.
As a matter of fact, it does seem as if there’s a war out there. Everyone is fighting for attention, there are so many things to learn and master. So many social networks, marketing techniques. There’s even an awful lot of content on blogging itself, which makes it even more frustrating.
How do you write a great blog post?
Find out here.
Let’s be honest for a moment. There’s no substitute for hard work, dedication, time, energy, and passion, and those of you who want a shortcut will be disappointed by this guide.
Of course, there are some things that you must do in order to be successful as a blogger.
So, yeah, let’s get down to business. Continue reading
Disclaimer: this is going to be a long and (somewhat) harsh post about certain realities of life most of us are trying to evade by all means possible.
I am not writing this post out of empathy. I am not writing this post because I read some articles and now I am trying to pass along the knowledge.
I am writing this article because I understand.
I understand the difference between the burning pain of suffering deeply and the general apathy and hopelessness of depression. The emptiness. The lack of interest, joy, passion. I understand the despair, the loneliness, the reluctance to discuss about it all, the very fatiguing job of hiding it all behind a smile, or an “I’m fine” delivered in the worst way possible. Continue reading
Five years. Five years of daily blogging. Five years since I decided to never give up, no matter what. To keep writing, to keep blogging, to just keep at it for as long as it took.
And what a ride it has been. Around the world, indeed. 200 or so countries. Lots and lots of people, lots and lots of stories… Continue reading
What’s your motivation?
To be happy, we must become happy with who we are; we must accept ourselves, recognize the good, accept the bad, and come to see our flaws and shortcomings as proof of us being human.
But if you’re like me, there’s always something you want to change — fine tuning daily habits to help you reach your goals.
The problem is, many people just don’t believe they can actually do it — they have a negative self-image, and that negativity will stop them from achieving their goals every single time.
So today’s post is about this simple concept:
Fake it until you make it.
So, all the spots for this month have been sold, but…
You can purchase reblogs for June.
$69.99 instead of the usual $99.99.
But, wait, it gets better.
Purchase 2 reblogs and you only pay $49.99 per reblog.
Purchase 3 reblogs and you only pay $39.99 per reblog.
The more, the better…
Of course, there are only 5 spots available, so you’ve got just one chance to buy those 3 reblogs for such a low price.
If you have a blog post you are proud of and would like it to be read by over 137 thousand people, now it’s your chance.
What are reblogs?
Well..
I’d call them trailers for blog posts.
Let’s say you write a blog post. So, I choose a short snippet of that post (usually the first lines) then add a link to your post. I put this on my blog.
This way, over 137, 000 people get to see this short preview. Those who want to read more, click on the link and go to your blog.
It’s a way to gain exposure.
“Cristian Mihai’s reblogging of each chapter of my novel Redwood Summer onto his site allowed me to reach a wider audience of new readers that I would not have found otherwise. Thank you!” – Robert Kirkendall
“Putting things off is the biggest waste of life: it snatches away each day as it comes, and denies us the present by promising the future. The greatest obstacle to living is expectancy, which hangs upon tomorrow and loses today. You are arranging what lies in Fortune’s control, and abandoning what lies in yours. What are you looking at? To what goal are you straining? The whole future lies in uncertainty: live immediately.” – Seneca
Somehow I believe that it’s human nature to dream, to imagine a better life. It’s how we evolve and develop. But dreaming is one thing, striving to achieve that dream another.
But it’s difficult, right?
To find the energy, the time, the motivation to pursue your dreams…
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”
~ Albert Einstein
Every now and then, I am drawn into another realm, a wonderous and boundless kingdom where the only factor limiting the possibilities is the scope of my thoughts. I don’t need to go anywhere physically to enter this other world. I could be sitting on my outdoor lounge beneath the sun, or at the beach digging in the sand with my children as they play near the shore. I could even be punching the letters on my keyboard, just as I did when producing this article. It doesn’t matter where I am or what I’m doing, I always have access to this rich and magical endowment that I can channel anytime and anywhere I choose – my imagination.
“Thirty years ago my older brother, who was ten years old at the time, was trying to get a report written on birds that he’d had three months to write, which was due the next day. We were out at our family cabin in Bolinas, and he was at the kitchen table close to tears, surrounded by binder paper and pencils and unopened books about birds, immobilized by the hugeness of the task ahead. Then my father sat down beside him put his arm around my brother’s shoulder, and said, “Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.” – Anne Lamott
There are some psychologists who believe over-thinkers to have highly specialized brains; their minds are great at solving complex problems. Where most people give up easily enough, they keep thinking and trying to find a solution. They spend more time on a certain task that anyone else.
But over-thinkers often get stuck. Their minds keep trying to fix something that can’t be fixed, no matter what. And this slowly kills them inside.
A solution to overthinking is to think of what’s next to be done. That is, actually, a good way to keep you distracted from most of the miseries of life.
Doing what you can, then the next thing, and the next, is how all great things are built. This is how you get from doing what is easy, to what is difficult, to what is impossible.
I am writing this post one word at a time. And, no matter how hard I or anyone else tries, you can only write something one word at a time. Continue reading
“If you saw Atlas, the giant who holds the world on his shoulders, if you saw that he stood, blood running down his chest, his knees buckling, his arms trembling but still trying to hold the world aloft with the last of his strength, and the greater his effort the heavier the world bore down upon his shoulders – What would you tell him?”
“I…don’t know. What…could he do? What would you tell him?”
“To shrug.” – Ayn Rand
For those of your who are into hitting the gym, lifting weights, I say this: when it feels like the weight of the world is on your shoulders… squat.
To the rest of you: massive action.
That’s it.
I used to play the victim because of all the bad things that happened to me. I was depressed and anxious and in poor health and poor and pessimistic. The world was a terrible place.
Why did this had to happen to me? Continue reading