A Free Ride - Should I Pay for My Child’s Education?
By Paul Bremer, for Revive Your Life
Photo by Richard Lawrence Cohen
In an economy driven by the almighty buck, you can only hope to get what you’re willing to pay for. We live in a “show me the money” world where luxuries and necessities alike are attainable only when we have the cold hard cash to fork over. As a society, we have no choice but to accept the dire situation we’ve been placed in despite lamenting the fact that something such as the human right to quality healthcare is now a privilege that over 46 million Americans are unable to afford.
The harsh reality is that nowadays, nothing comes without a price, and if you want something bad enough it has to be earned no matter how entitled we may feel.
A college education can be likened to healthcare in the sense that many firmly believe it should be free. Unfortunately, it costs to provide such services, and for now we must learn to deal with it. However, thousands of college students are in fact receiving their education at no charge to them, but rather at their parents’ expense.
The National College Board reported the average cost of tuition for 2008-2009 was approximately $6,500 annually for a public institution, a 6.4 percent increase from the previous year. With room and board, one can expect to pay roughly an additional $7,000. … Read More »
Is Big Food Profiting at the Expense of Our Health?
By Jacob Inman, Revive Your Life Executive Editor
Photo by rcoder
The health of America is failing dramatically. On average, adults are gaining weight at an alarming rate. Children are now being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes -a disease previously reserved for middle-aged, overweight adults. We’re all aware that the poor nutritional-quality food we eat each day lends itself to these disturbing trends. Considering this fact, should we rely on the food producers and our government health agencies to change the detrimental products and policies that they’re pushing, or are we on our own?
Unfortunately, the largest food producers and related organizations, often referred to as “Big Food”, play a critical role in the cost, quality, and amount of the foods eaten in the U.S. each day. Even more unsettling is the fact that Big Food uses its strong lobbying power to influence food legislation that is meant to protect the health and welfare of the general public. Food industry lobbying groups are asked to participate in professional nutrition conferences, attend Agriculture Department meetings, and provide insight into recent legislation surrounding childhood obesity and the responsibility of schools. Big Food also uses their heavy hand to influence the outcome of nutritional research and to control more localized policy setting efforts such as those taking place in our schools.
Those products that you and I consider “junk food” represent pure gold for the food producers - high profit margin products which can be sold en masse. The organizations that comprise Big Food have mastered the art of pitching junk food to a very specific consumer demographic - children and teenagers - in much the same way Big Tobacco has in the past. It’s been estimated that the food industry spends in excess of $10 billion per year to influence the eating behavior of children. On average, children see thousands of food advertisements per year with the vast majority (95%) marketing candy, fast food, soft drinks, and sugary cereal. … Read More »
Stop Complaining! A Conversation Hostage Plea
By Paul Bremer, for Revive Your Life
Photo by a God's Child
Perhaps the only thing more useless to anyone than inclement weather on a leisurely day off from work is the time wasted bemoaning mother nature’s cruel agenda. Yet as the rain falls ceaselessly in maniacal water bombs that flood your yard and dampen your mood, you feel compelled to share with anyone in close proximity your overwhelming hatred for spring showers and how you can never seem to catch a break.
Not exactly stimulating conversation for either party, complaining manages to compose much of the discussions we have with people throughout our day. Whether storms have forced a beach trip cancellation or you’ve been cut-off by a highway road rager, people tend to lose their cool when things don’t go their way. Instead of making lemonade from lemons and brushing off such misfortunes as normal daily hazards, we insist on spreading the word of our misery for all to hear.
Complaining most likely stems from an inherent human need to externalize things that drive us crazy so we don’t feel isolated in our own silent anger. Similar to therapy, expressing such feelings to a captive ear cleanses your mind of the irritant so you can begin to move past it. But we’ve all known or been that person who seems to have nothing to say if they don’t have something to complain about.
One can’t help the occasional rant with a friend when a frustrating situation arises, however, at what point does complaining simply become an adults excuse to whine? And furthermore, does complaining ever have a legitimate place in social conversation beyond the casual side remark? … Read More »
Winner of the Self-Improvement Book Bundle
by Jacob Inman, Revive Your Life Executive Editor
Photo by TuTuWon
Congratulations to Maureen Ruble - the winner of the Self-Improvement Book Bundle!
Thank you to all who entered this contest and to those who have provided positive feedback on the site in the process. I sincerely hope that you enjoyed your interaction with us here at Revive Your Life - we will strive to continue delivering useful and interesting content.
This was our second contest here at Revive Your Life, both of which were very successful. We plan to offer more exciting giveaways over the coming year, so please subscribe to receive free email updates which will include these contest announcements.
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iPhone and iPod Apps to Make You Healthy
By Erin Giebler Hill, for Revive Your Life
Photo by Don Hankins
An iPhone App that can make me healthy? No way. Impossible.
Well, you’re right - you need to take some action and put these Apps to use to actually see any health benefits. You can browse all the health and fitness Apps in iTunes by searching the Healthcare and Fitness App category, but be sure to check out these free or inexpensive, but totally beneficial, Apps:
Workout Apps
iFitness ($1.99) is one of the most popular healthcare and fitness Apps on iTunes, iFitness provides you with over 200 exercises complete with instructions, images and video to help you through your workouts using free weights, cables, gym equipment or no weight at all. You can choose from these workouts to create your own custom workouts or use the routines provided with the App, including full body workouts and targeted exercises. You can also track and view your progress. If you don’t feel like looking at your device for each new exercise, you have the ability to print out your workout on a computer by e-mailing it to yourself. iFitness provides you with all the important tools you need to workout anywhere.
With Yoga STRETCH ($0.99), which uses the Vinyasa flow, you can predetermine the length of your workout by choosing and organizing your favorite poses into a practice. You even get to choose what music accompanies your practice. Each pose has an image and a description and it’s up to you whether you want the instructor to guide you throughout your practice or not. This App is so helpful to those who like a class setting and aren’t too familiar with yoga, but will eventually grow in their practice without the need for too much guidance.
GymTrainer ($.99) provides you with over 30 workouts with videos and instructions. You can also enter your own workout if you’ve found one you like outside of the App and use the App to track the sets, weight and repetitions you perform. No more big notebooks and pencils to get left behind at the gym.
Tracking Apps
WeightTrack ($.99), if you can believe it, tracks your weight. Actually, you can track more than one person’s current weight and other information, such as starting weight, goal weight, starting date, BMI, weight lost so far, how much is left to be lost and how many days are left to your goal based on a deadline you enter. The App is extremely easy to use and takes seconds to enter in your weight and see your progress. If you join the Web site, OKCMillion.com, you can view a chart that maps your progress. … Read More »
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