Heart.

I hate that I use my heart too much - I think and feel strongly with it about almost everything in my life. But I love that I have great friends to help me think with my head and get me grounded. I have the heart and they are my head. Without them it would be terrifying. And so I am grateful to have them in my life and thankful to God for giving them.

Most people would say that about their family instead but truth be told, I'm a better friend than a sister or daughter. Nevertheless, I am learning to become the better for all. Family does come first in any case.

I Think I Am So.

Was surfing the internet and reading stuff when I came across the word "introvert". I've never really fully get the meaning of being an introvert before, and so I googled it up and found this..

Introvert Definition:

Contrary to what most people think, an introvert is not simply a person who is shy. In fact, being shy has little to do with being an introvert! Shyness has an element of apprehension, nervousness and anxiety, and while an introvert may also be shy, intoversion itself is not shyness. Basically, an introvert is a person who is energized by being alone and whose energy is drained by being around other people.

Introverts are more concerned with the inner world of mind. They enjoy thinking, exploring their thoughts and feelings. They often avoid social situations because being around people drains their energy. This is true even if they have good social skills. After being with people for any length of time, such as at a party, they need time alone to "recharge".

When introverts want to be alone, it is not, by itself, a sign of depression. It means that they either need to regain their energy from being around people or that they simply want the time to be with their own thoughts. Being with people, even people they like and are comfortable with, can prevent them from their desire to be quietly introspective.

Being introspective, though does not mean that an introvert never has conversations. However, those conversations are generally about ideas and concepts, not about what they consider the trivial matters of social small talk.

Introverts make up about 60% of the gifted population but only about 25-40% of the general population. Source here

So are you an introvert? I think I am so, slightly. Wouldn't consider myself as a full fledged introvert, because while reading this it immediately reminded me of one of my close friends here (for which we are quite the opposites in nature). I think she needs to read this. I don't see being an introvert is a bad thing though, I wish I were an introvert. Introverts seem cooler to me.

I found something else too that is interesting. It's a..

Chart Comparing High Achievers, Gifted Learners and Creative Thinkers.

A High Achiever...	A Gifted Learner...	A Creative Thinker...
Remembers the answers	Poses unforeseen questions	Sees exceptions
Is interested	Is curious	Wonders
Is attentive	Is selectively mentally engaged	Daydreams; may seem off task
Generates advanced ideas	Generates complex, abstract ideas	Overflows with ideas, many of which will never be developed
Works hard to achieve	Knows without working hard	Plays with ideas and concepts
Answer the questions in detail	Ponders with depth and multiple perspectives	Injects new possibilities
Performs at the top of the group	Is beyond the group	Is in own group
Responds with interest and opinions	Exhibits feelings and opinions from multiple perspectives	Shares bizarre, sometimes conflicting opinions
Learns with ease	Already knows	Questions: What if...
Needs 6 to 8 repetitions to master	Needs 1 to 3 repetitions to master	Questions the need for mastery
Enjoys the company of age peers	Prefers the company of intellectual peers	Prefers the company of creative peers but often works alone
Understands complex, abstract humor	Creates complex, abstract humor	Relishes wild, off-the-wall humor
Grasps the meaning	Infers and connects concepts	Makes mental leaps: Aha!
Completes assignments on time	Initiates projects and extensions of assignments	Initiates more projects that will ever be completed
Is receptive	Is intense	Is independent and unconventional
Is accurate and complete	Is original and continually developing	Is original and continually developing
Enjoys school often	Enjoys self-directed learning	Enjoys creating
Absorbs information	Manipulates information	Improvises
Is a technician with expertise in a field	Is an expert who abstracts beyond the field	Is an inventor and idea generator
Memorizes well	Guesses and infers well	Creates and brainstorms well
Is highly alert and observant	Anticipates and relates observations	Is intuitive
Is pleased with own learning	Is self-critical	Is never finished with possibilities
Gets A's	May not be motivated by grades	May not be motivated by grades
Is able	Is intellectual	Is idiosyncratic

Flat Feet

Just found out the other day that I'm suffering from "flat feet". Yes, I have flat feet. I know it sounds funny but it's not funny when you have it! LOL. Anyway, those who have no idea what is this flat feet problem, you'd probably be thinking of penguin feet.. well, it is kinda like that in a way. haha.. sighs. Just to give an idea of what's it all about, this picture might just explains it all:

See that? That's my foot right there, the one with flat arch. Flat feet (or fallen arches) is caused by over-pronation. But there's also the reverse case of under-pronation where the foot has high arch - higher than the normal arch. But, you can google that yourself. Now it's about my flat feet. LOL. Here's the better English explanation of flat feet:

Over-pronation is a common biomechanical problem that occurs when the arches collapse while walking or standing. This condition hampers our natural walking pattern, causing an imbalance, and leading to wear and tear in other parts of the body with every step we take.

Whether you suffer from over-pronation like most of the population, or you have a true flat foot, in both cases your poor walking pattern may contribute to a range of different complaints. As we age, poor aligment of the feet causes very common conditions such as heel pain or knee pain.

Over-pronation has different causes. Obesity, pregnancy, age or repetitive pounding on a hard surface can weaken the arch, leading to over-pronation. Over-pronation is also very common with athletes, especially runners, who most of them nowadays use orthotics inside their shoes. Here's the link for this text

So, notice the words in bold? Those are the problems I'm having. They didn't mention back pain there though, but I read somewhere that it does cause back pain. And playing a lot of netball worsens my feet condition as well as my ankles. My ankles now are slightly inwards and they hurt whenever I do a lot of running or walking. Now I know why I'm having these back, foot and ankle pains. If I had known of this problem, I would have taken care of my feet properly. OH okay2 I was browsing through the internet about this while blogging and I found something that would explain about my ankle with illustrations too (nice):

When a foot is walking or running, it goes through a sequence of motions. In an ideal situation, when your foot lands on the ground, it rolls inwards – pronates – on the big toe side with the arch flattening a little to absorb the shock of the foot-fall. As you begin your next step, your foot rolls back towards the center (in a neutral position) to allow you to push off from your toes, more or less evenly across all the toes. The series of illustrations below show how this might look.

When someone has flat feet, they tend to roll inwards too much when their foot lands on the ground. This is known as over-pronation. Because the foot over-pronates, it doesn’t roll back to the neutral position quickly enough as you begin to push off for your next step. This misaligned foot-fall affects the position of the lower leg, the knee, thigh and hip so that the force of your foot-fall is not absorbed in the best possible way. Some parts of your body like your lower back may bear more strain than it should, leading to back pain. Original Source here

Spot on. It even mentions the back pain. Anyway, I googled some more the other day whether I could regain the arches. Well apparently I can - what a relief. Some massaging or practice can help regaining the arches. Practice such as picking up things using my feet or walking properly. I also found out that walking barefooted could actually help too. I love walking barefoot, no problem there ;).

AND lose weight. I bet this would help A LOT as well. Why can't fats just go away as I please. Haha... sheesh. Hopefully I could get my hands on those orthotic insoles or orthotic sandals (tried them on and it really made much difference, it felt really really good and comfy) but they're quite costly. Still, it's a good investment for the long run.

Alritey, guess that's it about my flat feet. These pair of flat feet are hitting the bed. Goodnight!

Observed, and Hope to Learn From It

You'd think people get smarter and wiser as they grow older, but I've seen the opposite so far. Watching them makes me wonder whatever happened to "ethics" and "morale". God, please give me the good sense of mind and let me remember this forever and learn from them in the future. I don't want to be like them. It's very sad to see.