Niklas Rosenberg

We shouldn’t take our human rights for granted, as they have not come without sacrifice. Throughout history, people have fought and died for the cause of human rights, and as the world changes and evolves, we must be vigilant in defending our human rights.

Today is my birthday and as I was contemplating what to write on my blog, it struck me that I could just share my daily journal entry with you all.

There’s always something ominous lurking around the corner and the corporate media (or some politician) will always be eager to point it out for us. After all, they need to get your attention, and we all know that bad news sells better than good news.

While I do think it’s occasionally beneficial to think about all the bad stuff that could happen to us, I don’t think it’s healthy to constantly worry about disastrous things. I hope the media would also adopt this philosophy.

It’s no wonder that the sound of ocean waves is often used as a background in guided meditations. Apparently there’s something called alpha waves in the brain, which are induced by ocean sounds, and interestingly they seem to be linked to states of mental clarity and creative thinking.

But here we are, the counties will be established and councils will be elected, and there’s not much to be done about it right now. Except to vote. Because let’s face it, if you live in a representative democracy and you’re handed the right (but not obligation) to vote, it would be arrogant, lazy, and stupid not to vote.

I’ve been really, really frustrated about the gym closures, because hitting the gym 2-3 times a week has been very important for me. Dealing with this frustration got me thinking about the dichotomy of control, a Stoic practice that basically states that some things are within our control and others are not. It gives us a framework to be effective at solving problems by dividing them into segments – things we can control and things we can't.

How does it feel when a weekend doesn’t kick off with after-work beer or a glass of red wine? Does it feel uncomfortable attending a dinner party (or any other social event for that matter) completely sober? Will there be any alcohol cravings after a few weeks?

I’ve decided to go through January without any alcohol. This challenge is known by many different names, e.g. Dry January in the UK and Dropless January in Finland. It’s not my first time doing this, but I’ll have to admit it’s been many years since the last time.

The reason for going through a voluntary one-month drought is quite simple. I think it’s useful and healthy to occasionally stop and think about your alcohol consumption habits, and perhaps to some extent also re-evaluate your relationship to alcohol, our social drug of choice.

There’s a special place in hell for the person who invented the snooze button. It’s a terrible invention and if there’s one within arms length when an alarm goes off, I will surely hit it. Early mornings have always been a struggle for me. That’s why I’ve developed my own version of the snooze proof wake-up strategy.

One might think that a person with my background would welcome any new racquet sport with open arms. Unfortunately, that was not the case with me and padel. Despite the fact that padel came to Finland already in 2003, I never came around trying it until today. I always thought it looked a bit funny, almost childish, and I had a hard time regarding is at a “true racquet sport”, whatever that means.

Once again I took a long and unwanted break from blogging and as August kicked in I thought it’s high time to get back on track. Not just with blogging but with other positive habits as well.