Bridge 9 | Time to achieve

On every new year ever we are making wishes for the year to come. But when is the time for some actions? In fact, now.

In order to have the best use of our time we need to set goals and also set the right ones.

There is one very nice excercise I learnt when I was in Italy that can help you find some nice goals. Get a big paper, create 12 columns, on the top of each one write a month. Think of the last year and write down things you did last year (you can check your mails, calendar, emails, mobile phones, etc in order to remeber the most things possible). Then draw a line showing how good or not that good your mood was last year on each month.

Then check the time your mood was lowest and find the things that you have to do in order this year your mood not to fall if there are going to be same periods (eg if your mood falls during exams, set a goal to read some lessons during the previous months, etc.).

Then check the months your mood was set to high and do the opposite. Try to repeat the good stuff. After periods that your mood will certainly decrease (eg exams again) create a gift to yourself at the exact end of it that you can think of it during the low mood time (for example plan a trip).

Remember to set some goals for your health and body (workout, food you eat, exercises), for your future (studies, CV making, skills you want to acquire), your mental health (reading, movies, music, hobbies etc) and also add things that you have never done to do!

If you need some help on that you can find on the website www.43things.com Write things you want to achieve and check other people that want to achieve the same things as you. Get inspired by other people's achievements or things they want to achieve. If you log in through facebook you can see friends using the website!

Set goals, you will love achieving them!
Remember that every wish remains just a wish just till the moment you write it down and try to achieve it! Then it becomes a target!

aLifeWithoutBorders | 2010 Report!

The Top 5 posts* of aLifeWithoutBorders in 2010 were:

1. Selfborder 7 | Something wicked this week comes                  171 Readers

2. 8th Border | I am not a racist, do I?                                              144 Readers

3. Bridge 6 | People Love People                                                      140 Readers

4. Selfborder 4 | Procrastination                                                        131 Readers

5. 9th Border | A matter of respect                                                    118 Readers

                         *Posts published before September do not have counted posts. Readers counted on 1st January

My Undiscovered Top 3 Posts in 2010 are:

1. Selfborder 1 | Giving to the people the importance they need

2. 2nd Border | "Don't Be stupid" one

3. Bridge 2 | Grams of Love

Special thanks to:

My Brother Stamatis for promoting my blog to half population of Katerini and for even teaching English to his friends couldn't read my blog (:,

Larry Ioanninidis for promoting my blog in his (a-m-a-z-i-n-g) blog and for all the feedback, technology breakthrough etc. etc.,

Danai Angelopoulou and Elena Lamprou for being the first too readers to post on the blog (I am looking forward for more people),

Bora Mezetziou for her great ideas and suggestions on how to promote my blog in the future,

Eleana Terzaki, Anna Skryabina, Marianthi Milea for commenting, telling me how you like my blog and helping me being focused on that I am doing,

All my friends for reading, Like-ing and promoting my blog.

Last but not least thank YOU for reading this post.

I promise 2011 will be even more bright for aLifeWithoutBorders.

Bridge 8 | "Selling" Santa Claus to town

The moment we learn that our red-hat Santa doesn’t exist is the moment we lose our childhood.

It is the moment that the magic world we live in, with all the love-sharing heroes and kind elves comes to an end. It is the moment that fantasy becomes reality and the world around us looks a bit more like the world we know today. That’s why we should cater a lot for the bridge from childhood to adolescence.

These days I am always thinking the way I learnt about Santa Claus. I think my parents did the best work in that and I want to share it with you briefly.

Few years before, I had a fight with my friends in school, where half of us were claiming that Santa was true and the rest claiming that Santa is a totally made up story. I was left aside, a bit of sad, wondering why parents didn’t meet in a conference or something to decide which story to tell to their kids and prepared my words in order to show them that I am not a child and as an adult I demanded the truth I deserved. (:

My mam told me then that unfortunately many many years before Santa did live and was a real giving person. And that was the reason people got inspired and continued his service under the mask of Santa Claus. They asked me sorry for telling that lie to me, but they told that it is important to Santa the kids to believe in him.

P.S. My side effect was to dream to become a Santa on day, but don’t worry, I woke up early!

Selfborder 7 | Something wicked this week comes

Merry Christmas! Happy Birthday and Happy New Year...

Why do in two out of three happy occasions we cherish the day and not the year?

To be honest I cannot find a single (pervert) reason that we do it. But for sure I find it wicked.

Who’s that person haven’t ever heard someone saying: “I don’t do Christmas, every Christmas I get depressed” or “Sorry for not picking up the phone on my Birthday, I was feeling a bit of under the weather”?

Our massive societies and economies are functioning like huge Military Services of Happiness. Anyone who’s not happy gets a strange look in the eyes from the people around or a huge tag as “Depressive” or “Melancholic” in a way that becomes almost discriminative.

If we open our eyes, we will see that people, without even understanding that, are naturally going against this order. Check most selling Hollywood movies and you’ll see that the feelings on sale are fear, excitement and painful tears. Is it happening accidentally that these are the feelings we are hiding when in public?

I am not sure if it is the Marketing Economy that pusses us to “Happiness”.

“Come on it’s your birthday, let’s buy alcohol till getting wasted!”!

Successes and happiness have a lot to celebrate while tears are for private parties.

What I am seeing is that people are in need of Feelings. Check all art pieces around and they scream pain, fear and anxiety. I am not sure if it is because we are trying so immaturely to hide these feelings or because we feel blunt when we do not have them.

What I am trying to say is that it is not important if we do not have a kiss on Christmas, it is not important if we will not party hard on our birthday and it is not at all important to have the most unforgettable New Years’ Eve. The important is our life to have the people, the level of joy and unforgettable experiences we want to.

We should not feel bad for ourselves or for the people who spend their “Big Days” of the year alone. We should feel bad when we/they are spending the whole year alone.

Readers Post 2 | No words from Elena Lambrou

Bridge 7 | 3 Seconds

Some days before I was in a conference that while discussions were held there was a strange rule that made my mind go bright!

Every time a speaker was finishing talking the whole table had to wait and count silently for 3 seconds. After a while, as we were used to that we started thinking about what had the other person really talked about.

It was like a mirracle! I found a small bridge for Selfborder 3 | Our brains have no bluetooth attached.

What if we stopped thinking about what we want to say and waiting for 3 seconds in all of our discussions?

Reader Post 1 | Random Thoughts from Danai Angelopoulou

I started writing this after a conversation I had about family.How important it is in our lives, how much they influence us while growing up, if we will keep the same model for creating our own family even if we know that something didn't work out, if we always seek for a ''family'' when we feel alone and we are away from home...

Thinking about being away from home, made me wonder how important adjustment is. Is it the same easy/difficult for a person to change house/country/language/friends/colleagues? Is it bad when somebody needs more time or even is reluctant to sacrifice his/her coziness and convenience for something better..or not...for something different, for a risk.

Thinking about time and risk. When do we settle down? Is there an age limit where someone should get married, have a permanent job etc. No there isn't, I am sure that is the right answer. Then why do people gossip about you if you don't follow these society norms?

Thinking about society norms. Why do many people give up doing what they want, saying what they think just because the others will criticize them? How strong can we be against the mass? Do we want to be against the mass? How sensitive or fearless are we against the ''rumours''?

Too many questions and random thoughts...

Danai has also posted on her facebook profile: 

«Βιώνουμε μια κρίση διότι χάσαμε την επαφή με την πραγματικότητα. Αντιμετωπίζουμε τους ανθρώπους και τα χρήματα σαν να παίζουμε βιντεο-γκέιμ. Είμαστε πιο ευγενικοί με τους γείτονές μας μέσω της οθόνης του υπολογιστή, παρά όταν τους συναντούμε στο δρόμο»

Translation: "We are experiencing a crisis because we have lost touch with reality. We treat the people and money like playing video games. We are more kind to our neighbors through the computer screen than when they meet on the street"

10th Border | What we never say cause it's private

Have you ever had a discussion that made you feel like the lyrics of Linkin Park song say: "I discovered I was not the only person with those things in mind?"

This post has to do with what we never discuss openly about Sex. I had an exciting discussion lately and understood that no matter if we discuss 24/7 about sex nobody gets to the point.

It seems probable to me that West-Cristiano civilization has created millions of taboos that seem to be a current reality. If we look time from a distance we can see that ethics was unfortunately a matter of religious perception and not a matter of intelligence and thinking.

We consider Human beings as progressed but I think that either we are just unable to think free or we are hypocrites.

A good example could be masturbation.

Who does talk about masturbation with friends?

Who does masturbate?

I never suggested to anyone to go out and tell in public about them private life, but my question is why we never share it with anyone? Why are we ashamed and why do we consider specific things as private?

Try, if you want, to have a chat with a friend of yours openly about your masturbation routines and you will see that pleasure can also be fun. 

9th Border | A matter of Respect

Our lives would be different if the word “Respect” would not exist. We wouldn’t leave our seats in the metro in order the elder to sit, we wouldn’t greet people with expressions reflecting health, we might never be standing up when professors were entering the place and we would eat all our food before dad reaches home.

Nevertheless, we all have thought about respect. The question I want to ask is: Should we expect others to respect us when we do not respect ourselves? Are we supposed to expect respect for our stuff, places, homes, cities, countries when we do not respect them?

Seldborder 6 | Intentions VS Outcomes

A lot of times we judge people, companies and everyone around, not for their actions but for their intentions. This is the new modern life. We judge not for what we see but for what we think lies behind actions.

This is cool. If we can do it correctly, we are The People 2.0. But what, if not?

What if it is just correct when a company starts a green campaign and no one says: “They do it to make more money! They are pretentious!” What if it is just correct when someone supports everyone and no one thinks: “This is the only way to have more friends!”

Wouldn’t in that case our lives be nicer? Wouldn’t we be better people and wouldn’t we have more and more people not doing good things because they would be criticized on their behavior wrongly?

Maybe yes, maybe not.

By the way check the new video of Katy Perry. Maybe her intentions will never be known but the outcome looks good.