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
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
It’s quite simple, actually.
The way I see it, a habit actually leads to a goal.
For example, if you want to have a clean body, you must develop the habit of washing yourself regularly. If you want to lose weight, you might develop the habit of working out.
What you do today influences what will happen with your long term goals.
This is the trick that eludes most people, when starting out, the goal is not the goal, but rather the goal is to create the habit(s) that will allow you to achieve your goal. Your first goal is to focus for as long as it takes to create a habit.
Once you’re on autopilot, it will be far more difficult to give up on working out, no matter what. Continue reading
Hi guys,
As you probably know, I am a full time blogger, which means that I make my living through my blogs.
That being said, I am setting up a budget for 2020, and selling advertising space for the entire year at a heavy discount.
If you become a sponsor for 2020, you will get:
The cost? Well, usually, 12 reblogs would cost at least 720 dollars if purchased separately. The sponsored posts? Add another 360 dollars. That’s 1,080 dollars if you were to purchase a reblog and a sponsored post each month.
But what if you purchase all of these right away by becoming a sponsor for 2020?
Well, the cost would be only $349.99. That’s it. Yup. Pay only $349.99 for an entire year of advertising, and save over 65%.
Isn’t that a great deal?
If you want to become a sponsor for 2020, help me keep this blog alive, and also get more readers, you can purchase one of the five spots available (last spot left) on my e-store here.
As usual, payments are secured via PayPal.
“Many people seem to think it foolish, even superstitious, to believe that the world could still change for the better. And it is true that in winter it is sometimes so bitingly cold that one is tempted to say, ‘What do I care if there is a summer; its warmth is no help to me now.’ Yes, evil often seems to surpass good. But then, in spite of us, and without our permission, there comes at last an end to the bitter frosts. One morning the wind turns, and there is a thaw. And so I must still have hope.” – Vincent van Gogh
For something so essential to us, hope seems to be endless. It is renewed again and again.
Yet there was a time in my life when I had lost all hope.
How did I lose it all?
It happened fast. Or so it seemed. It happened in such a way that, as everything around me went crumbling down, all I could do was stare blankly. Like watching TV. Like being the observer of your own life. Like being in a car with an unknown driver taking you to a place you never even knew existed.
I had failed in love, in business, and in life in general. I had no friends, no money, and struggled with debilitating health issues. I thought this was the beginning of the end. And I just didn’t feel like going on. Continue reading
The
motto of American Express, familiar to millions, used to be Don’t leave home without it. Now it’s Don’t
live life without it. While not
quite a bait-and-switch, the new motto does resemble a sleight of hand. At one time, home was the domain of family; there were boundaries between the
home and the marketplace. Now it’s all
one and the same ostensibly due to the internet, but advancements in technology
are not to blame for the erosion of the hearth.
Behold trickle-down theory in practice: hardly a distribution of money
but most certainly a dissemination of values.
I
have an American Express card and at times find it useful. But life-defining? The presumption, indeed the audacity of this
idea makes me want to do away with my Visa and MasterCard as well. But is this course of action even possible?
In
today’s digital society cashless transactions have…
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One of my favorite quotes goes like this: “Courage is not the absence of fear but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.”
Ambrose Redmon wrote that.
Fear is an impulse, or like the tattoo on my arm states, “Fear is the mind killer.” Frank Herbert wrote that.
What does fear have to do with anything? Well, it has a lot to do with how I became a writer. Continue reading
So, Christmas is all around the corner, and I decided to sell this month’s advertising slots for a low, low price.
$39.99 instead of the usual $99.99.
If you have a blog post you are proud of and would like it to be read by over 139 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 139, 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
“Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.” – Henry David Thoreau
You huddle under the warmth of the blanket, cursing the alarm. It is chilly outside. There’s no point. In any of the things you are about to do. Yet, you have to get up. You have to wash yourself, get dressed, get to work. And you have to sit there, bored out of your mind, doing graceless tasks that have to be done because your boss said so. Because otherwise, you’d be unable to pay the bills or afford to buy food.
The nine to five. The lunch break. The grave ticking of the clock that slices your life away carelessly. The habit of grasping for a bit of comfort once you get home. The days when you can Netflix and chill your life away. The restless resignation that you are unable to do more than this.
Let me tell you one thing: the monster of insecurity is born out of our childish desire for comfort and security. Continue reading
