How a Behavioral Therapist Would Make a Good Spy

 They Can Withstand Torture

You may not know what a behavioral therapist does, or what they might go through in a day, but the main goal of a behavioral therapist is to help an individual to decrease negative behaviors and to increase positive ones. When using ABA therapy, a therapist has to ignore negative behaviors, including aggressions, and act as if it is not affecting them at all. If a behavioral therapist was thrown into a spy situation in which they had to withstand torture. They would be able to without even batting an eye. They would never divulge the sensitive information; they would instead ignore the pain.

They Can Keep a Calm Demeanor in High Stress Situations

There are several times when a behavioral therapist may find themselves in a high pressure situation. A child may need medical attention, a fellow therapist may need medical attention, or a child may be attacking another therapist and need to be restrained. In all of these cases it is the therapist’s duty to remain calm and assist as quickly and efficiently as possible following certain protocols. A Spy may find themselves in similar types of situations on a regular basis, making this another reason why a Behavioral Therapist would  make a good Spy.

They Would Jump Into a Dangerous Situation to Protect their Asset or Partner

A Behavioral Therapist working in a center or school setting would jump in to help another therapist being attacked in order to protect the therapist and the individual attacking. Behavioral Therapists have each other’s backs and protect each other. If thrown into a spy situation in which they had an asset or a partner, a Behavioral Therapist would do anything to protect that asset or partner even if it meant getting injured or hurt themselves. 

They Are Strong Emotionally and Physically

A Behavioral therapist does strength training every day and therefore has built up their muscles to become stronger than most. They may lift adults or children in and out of wheel chairs, off of trampolines, or up off the ground several times a day. This gives them the physical strength to be a spy. They also may deal with physical aggressions and verbal abuse from their clients which has caused them to become emotionally strong. They look past these instances and ignore them as if they were never phased. 

I bet the FBI or the CIA  never thought to look to Behavioral Therapists for Spy work, but now they have a new place to search for recruits!

 

The Mid-Life Crisis

According to Hilary Charlesworth who wrote The Mid-Life Crisis of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights talks about how people usually hit the mid-life Crisis age in their fifties, but now the age is dropping even younger, and is sometimes occurring in people as young as age 40. A mid-life crisis is something that really can affect anyone. It happens when you look back at your life and you look forward and you start to wonder if you are on the right path, or you start to realized how short life is and that you have so much that you want to accomplish before you die. You may feel that you are running out of time or you may start to feel anxious or depressed about your current state of living.  Think about it, how you define yourself right now. If you are not happy with where you are in your life right now, what things do you want to change? Most people struggle with this and it can be overwhelming and can leave you feeling like you are suddenly out of control of your own life.

Elaine Wethington, the author of Expecting Stress: Americans and the “Midlife Crisis” refers to this time as a transition. It is often when big decisions are made and goals are re-visited. Think about it this way, let’s say that your whole life, all you wanted to do was to be a writer and to publish a fiction novel. Let’s say that you are now looking back at your life and noticing that you never even finished a book let alone published that novel. Instead you’ve been working at a job that you’re not excited about, and you’ve been focusing on other things like family in your spare time. Now it’s time to re-evaluate your goals. Figure out what would truly make you happy and make some changes in your life so that you can get to where you want to be. It’s never too late to do what you have always wanted to do. It’s time to make it happen!

To Buy or Rent: That is the Question

Sometimes it’s hard to make the decision between buying or renting a house.  There are pros and cons to each.  In this article we will explore both options in depth to help you choose the best option for you.

Renting a House or an apartment

Renting can be frustrating. You have to have to make sure you have good credit and that you have pay stubs to show that you have a job and that you will be able to afford the monthly rent. You will also have to deal with a landlord.  Depending on the landlord, this can be a good or a bad thing.  If your Landlord is hard to get a hold of then you will may have trouble getting rent to them or asking them questions about the rental.  If they are a good landlord they will be around and available to answer your questions and to make sure that repairs are made.  If you rent a condo or an apartment you will be dealing with roommates as well, which again can be a good thing or a bad thing.  If you have good neighbors they can be helpful and respectful, but there is always a chance that you will be stuck with loud or disrespectful roommates around you.  The one good thing about renting, is that you have more freedom.  Many people feel as if they are stuck where they are when they have a house. With a rental, if you decide to travel for a while, you can either sublet, or wait until your contract is up and put your stuff in storage until you get back.

Buying a House

Having a house is important to some people. It shows sense of responsibility and gives you a home base that you will always be able to go to.  It also offers tax benefits and allows you to choose whether you want to deal with roommates or not.  When buying a house you will be stuck paying a monthly mortgage for several years depending on the price of the home, but once the house is paid it will be yours for as long as you choose to own it.  The other upside to owning a house is that you can remodel or change whatever you want.  With an apartment, condo, or house rental you have to have permission to change anything and often have to change it back to the way it was before you leave.  There are also lots of options for renting out your home these days as well.  Which means that if you did decide you wanted to travel for a while, you would be able to rent out your house for as long as you want and then be able to come back and live in it if you choose do to so.

All in all, I think that it really is up to your living style.  You have to decide if you have long term plans to stay in one place, or if you plan on moving around a lot. Renting makes a lot more sense when you are moving all of the time, but owning a house makes more sense if you want to raise a family and stay in one place for a while.

How To Lose Weight the Lazy Way

Lose Weight By Being Lazy in 10 Steps!

1. Spend 45 minutes a day watching your favorite show. Doesn’t sound like it is going to help you get in shape does it? For this 45 minutes you will not just be watching a show, you will be doing 50 situps, 20 pushups, and you will be lifting free weights. Watching television while working out distracts you from the pain and helps you to work out harder. If you have a gym membership or a workout machine at your house, I strongly suggest watching your favorite 45-60 minute television show during your workout.

2. Go to the store. Purchase pre-cut vegetables and hummus or a different healthy dip or lowfat dip. Also purchase fruit. Throw out the salty snacks and sweets and only have those on special occasions. This way when you are in the mood for a snack you can just go to the fridge grab your pre-cut veggies and dip or a piece of fruit and you barely moved from your couch to do so.

3. Do lunges on your way to the kitchen. You are feeling kind of famished, you think you might need some water. On your walk to and back from the kitchen do lunges. This will help you tone your legs and get those muscles in shape especially if you start to do it every time.

4. Workout when you are already up for something else. If you have to get up and go to work, find time during your work shift to workout a little. For example, if you work with kids you can run around with them in the gym, or do lunges and squats while they are playing. If you work at an office job, get an exercise ball and make it your chair. Not only will you improve you poster by doing this but you will improve your balance and strengthen your muscles.

5. Do sit ups with a friend. Let’s say you are getting together with a good friend to talk. Sit on the floor with them facing each other, hold hands and do situps. You are pulling your friend up and they will pull you up. This will tone arms and stomach muscles and you are doing two things at once.

6. Eat lots of fat burning items. If you are spending the majority of your time being lazy, you want to stick to the food items that help you burn fat the fastest. Stick to whole grains that are high in fiber, lean meats, lowfat dairy products, green tea (helps make your metabolism higher), lentils, peppers, broccoli, garlic, citrus fruits, and berries.

7. Put your legs on the automan or balance ball if you have one, put your hands on the couch and lift your body up. Do this 10 times for at least 3 reps while watching television. This is an exercise that can tone the entire body.

8. Run in place. A lot of times when we are spending a lot of time watching television or not moving, and eating while we are doing so, we get random surges of energy. Instead of ignoring these surges of energy. Jump up off of the couch and run in place until that surge of energy is gone.

9. Make sure you do not eat anything two hours before you go to bed. Depending on what you eat, while you sleep it will turn into sugars which could keep you up and will go straight to your waistline over-night.

10. Do your exercises daily. This is the lazy way of losing weight, so you have no excuses. Just do it. It will be fun and you will get in shape at the same time!

Five Tips to Keep Your Dog Warm in the Winter

Water Proof Booties

I bet you didn’t even know that water proof booties existed for dogs! Well, they do and they are great for keeping your pet’s feet warm as well as keeping your house dry. Just put them on when you let them outside and take them off as soon as they come back in! They are also great for winter walks. This way your pet won’t have tiny snowballs stuck to their fur. This can make their skin hurt, just like it would hurt us to have our skin covered in snow, it is also very uncomfortable for them.

Sweaters or Jackets

If you are a dog lover you may have already purchased a sweater or a jacket for your pup.  When you live in an area where it gets very cold, it is important to keep your dog warm when they go outside in this kind of weather.  Dogs can get colds just like humans can. You want to keep them warm on walks, car rides in the cold, and when they go outside to do their duty.

Wrap Them in a Blanket

Maybe you decided buying your dog a coat or sweater just wasn’t in your budget.  Well, no problem! When your dog gets inside and is shivering, dry them off with a towel and then snuggle up with them in a fleece blanket until they stop shivering. They will get warm and will help keep you warm as well!

Keep Them Dry

Make sure that when they are wet from being outside or from having a bath that they get dry as quickly as possible.  Especially when it is cold outside!  Take a blow dryer and dry them fully before they go outside again. This will help keep them warm and prevent them from getting a cold.

Keep Them Active

As you know, when you keep your blood flowing you keep yourself warm.  The same goes for our furry friends.  Play chase around the house, play fetch or catch with them as much as possible.  Grab a rope or dog blanket and play tug of war! Anything that will get them moving and get the blood flowing.

6 Ways To Enjoy Returning to Work After the holidays

#1. Bring in extra food or treats that you have left over. Not only will this help you not add the extra calories to your body, but your co-workers will appreciate it!

#2. Put Hot Chocolate in your coffee! Chocolate is a stimulant as is coffee. This will give you that extra nudge of happiness that you need to push through the work week after all of those holiday festivities.

#3. Send out a funny e-card to lift the spirits of those around you. This will brighten your day as well as theirs. Get people to laugh and keep their spirits up! 

#4.  Missing your time off already?

Plan your next vacation or weekend getaway. Having something planned for the future will help you focus on the tasks at hand. It is often just knowing that we will get another break eventually that allows us to stay focused.

#5. Does your job hate you?

Or maybe you hate it! I think this means that it is time for a change… don’t you? If you cannot find ways to enjoy your job and you just want to scream or cry, then write a pros and cons list about your job. If you have more cons then pros it’s time to start applying for new positions. Then you might have such a hard time returning to work after a break.

#6. Keep It Real

Sometimes coming back to work after a long vacation makes us day dream or forget what our job is about. Try to remember why you are with the company you are with and what your position there is. Try to stay out of dream land as much as possible. You don’t want your email to a client to say “and make sure that dragons don’t breathe fire on you and burn you to death” do you?