75 Ways to find inspiration today!

Are you burnt out after a long winter?  Feeling a little blahhh about your daily routine of work and other obligations?  We all can feel bored, frustrated, or down in the dumps sometime, but there's a lot you can do to turn it around and get inspired again.  Here are 75 things you can do today to help you feel inspired, motivated, and positive once again!

1. Spend time with family.
2. Look through old photos.
3. Jump in the car and take a day trip.
4. Volunteer for your favorite charity.
5. Do yoga, whether at home or at your local yoga studio.
6. Take a hike.
7. Go to church.
8. Get outdoors and enjoy nature.
9. Take your dog to the dog park or spend time with your pets.
10. Take out your camera and take a few photos of your friends, family, home, and neighborhood.
11. Invite a good friend over for dinner.
12. Call up a friend or relative you haven’t spoken to for some time and chat for a while.
13. Write a letter to a loved one.
14. Write a letter of gratitude – listing 20 things you are thankful for.
15. Practice meditation or deep breathing ever day.
16. Declare tonight movie night and snuggle up on the couch with popcorn while watching your favorite films.
17. Watch old comedies for a great laugh.
18. Put on the headphones or crank up the stereo and listen to your favorite music.
19. Don’t forget to dance!  Dancing is one of the best stress relievers!
20. Try your hand at drawing or painting.
21. Dedicate yourself to learning to play an instrument.
22. Get out of your comfort zone and try something that scares you!
23. Brainstorm a list of things you’d love to do or dreams to chase.
24. Write out your goals.
25. Teach someone something that you know and love.
26. Read a great book by your favorite author.
27. Write out a bucket list.
28. Create a vision board.
29. Submit your resume to a few dream jobs that you think are out of reach.
30. Wake up early and watch the sunrise from a great outdoor venue.
31. Go online and leave a few positive review for books, articles, blogs, or movies you’ve enjoyed.
32. Play with your children or nieces and nephews, etc.
33. Go to a museum.
34. Or just go shopping for art or view beautiful and famous works of art online or in a book.
35. Go shopping for used books, records, or fun clothes at a thrift shop.
36. When you go to stores, restaurants, etc. and an employee gives you good service or is friendly call over the manager and give great positive feedback.
37. Compliment someone!
38. Get some sunshine – the vitamin D will help your serotonin levels and always make you feel better.
39. Go swimming.
40. Go visit the ocean and play on the beach.
41. Read biographies about inspiring people or watch documentaries about their lives.
42. Take a long, relaxing bath with a glass of wine and music.
43. Play chess.
44. Light a fire in your fireplace (or just a lot of candles!)
45. Plan a trip.
46. Smile and laugh!
47. Join a club, group, or community.
48. Sign up to be a Big Brother or Big Sister.
49. Volunteer to help out at the Special Olympics.
50. Get together with or call an old friend and reminisce over fun times.
51. Go through your closest and donate clothes to charity.
52. Do the same with your kitchen.
53. Cook food and bring it to some homeless people.
54. Spend time with an elderly person who appreciates the company.
55. Organize or participate in a community cleanup day.
56. Call up or visit someone who is going through a hard time.
57. Turn OFF your social media and TV for a day!
58. Go play sports with friends or join a recreational sports league.
59. Go hit the gym!
60. Plant a tree, flowers, or a vegetable garden.
61. Buy flowers for a stranger.
62. Give a stranger a compliment.
63. Pay for someone else’s meal anonymously.
64. Repaint a room in your home or do a quick one-day redesign.
65. Take a class at your local learning annex or adult ed center.
66. Try cooking a new fun recipe.
67. Start a journal you write in every day.
68. Forgive someone from your past – write a letter to them but don’t send it.
69. Get on YouTube and search for inspirational or motivational videos – there are literally millions! 
70. Look on Twitter for #motivation #inspiration or #positivity
71. Repost, retweet, and share positive videos or news
72. Read inspiring, positive blogs.
73. Write or shoot one of your own and share it!
74. Join online forums or communities of people with similar interests or desires.
75. Read and share inspirational quotes.

Here are some great online resources where you'll find inspiration, motivation, and positive news:  

Ted.org

40 Inspirational Speeches in 2 Minutes.

Tiny Buddha

GoodNewsNetwork.org

DailyGood.org

Huffington Post Good News

HappyNews.com

Today Good News

Gimundo

Beliefnet 

Fun and interesting facts about March Madness.

It's that time of year again - the NCAA tournament, heaven for college hoops enthusiasts all over the country.  To celebrate this year's sure-to-be exciting madness, let's look at some fun and interesting facts about the tournament.

Oldest coach to win a championship: 
In 2011 the 68-year old coach, Jim Calhoun led the University of Connecticut Huskies to a championship when they beat the Butler Bulldogs 53-41.

Youngest coach to win a championship:
In 1940, Emmet B. “Branch” McCracken won the big dance at the age of 31.  His Indiana Hoosiers beat the Kansas Jayhawks 60-42.

Presidential fan club:
Several Presidents have been hoop fans but none bigger than Bill Clinton, who was in attendance as his Arkansas Razorbacks beat Michigan in 1994 and again when they beat Duke to win the championship.

Prime time TV:
The first NCAA game that was broadcast on prime time TV on Monday night was in 1973.

Only eight:
The first NCAA tournament had only eight teams in 1939, with Oregon winning.  In 1951 they expanded to 16 teams, 32 teams in 1975, and 64 teams in 1985.  In 2011 they expanded from 64 teams to 68.  

Largest margin of victory:

In 1963, Loyola Maramount beat the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles by 64 points, 111-47, a record that still stands.

Big Game Bill:
Bill Walton had perhaps the biggest March Madness performance on the biggest stage during that same game, when he scored 44 points on 21 of 22 shooting in the title game to lead his UCLA Bruins over the Memphis State Tigers in that game.

When ya gotta go…
In the 1990 title game against the UNLV Running Rebels, Duke’s Bobby Hurley was on the free throw line when nature called, so he quickly ran off the court to the bathroom in the locker room!

Pioneers:
John Thompson became the first African American coach to win an NCAA tournament in 1984 when his Georgetown Hoyas beat the Houston Cougars 85-74.


Perfection:
Seven times in history a team has won the national championship with a perfect record: the 1956 U of San Francisco Dons, 1957 North Carolina Tar Heels, 1964, 1967, 1972, and 1973 UCLA Bruins (wow!), and the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers.

Double the Championships:

In 2004 the University of Connecticut Huskies men’s hoops team beat Georgia Tech 82-73 to win the national championship.  The next day, UConn’s women’s basketball team beat the Tennessee Volunteers 70-61 to win their crown, making UConn the only team ever to win two Division 1 basketball titles in one year.

Titles as player and coach:
Only three men have ever won a title as a player and then also as a coach, Bib Knight with Ohio State and then Indiana three times, Dean Smith at Kansas and then North Carolina twice, and Joe B Hall, both at Kentucky.

March Madness:
The term ‘March Madness’ was coined in Illinois in 1908 by H.V. Porter, who used it to describe the state high school tournament.  The NCAA started using the term in 1939.  The “Big Dance” is another common name for the tournament.

Most points in the tournament:
Glen Rice of the Michigan Wolverines scored the most points in tournament history in 1989 with 184 in 6 games, including 27 three pointers!

Most points in a game:
Austin Carr of Notre Dame put up a record 61 points in 1970 in a first round win over Ohio.  The next game he had 52 points, 4th all time.  David Robinson scored 50 points in 1987 for Navy but still Carr’s record stands.

School with the most titles:
UCLA has the most titles by far, winning 11.  An astounding 10 of those titles came between 1964 and 1975 when they had Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Walton.  North Carolina is second with 8 titles, and Indiana and Kentucky have 5.

Number 1's aren’t a sure thing:
All four number 1 seeds have made the Final Four only once, in 2008 when Kansas, North Carolina, UCLA, and Memphis made it.

Don’t bet on the longest shots:
A number 16 seed has never beaten a number 1 seed!  Since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, number 16 seeds are 0-112 against number 1’s!

The lowest seed ever to make a Final Four:
Three times a number 11 seed made the Final Four; George Mason in 2006, VCU in 2011, and LSU in 1986.

The lowest seed ever to win it all:
Villanova won the championship as an 8 seed in 1985.

Scandal:
In 1950, the City College of New York became the only team ever to win the NCAA tournament and the NIT in the same year.  However, the following year several of the players were arrested for taking bribes from gamblers and shaving points.  The point shaving scandal grew to 30 players at 7 colleges, 4 of them in New York City.

NIT glory:
The NIT, National Invitational Tournament, used to be the NCAA tourney’s prestigious big brother, and started one year earlier.

Perfect Bracket?
The odds of filling out a perfect bracket are 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 to 1. That’s nine quintillion to one!

More bracketology:
The average fan takes 75 minutes filling out their brackets, and men spend an average of 30 minutes more on selections than women.

Fans fill out an average of 4.5 brackets, with 14% completing six or more.

1 in 7 fans have called in sick to work to watch the NCAA tournament!

Actually, that sounds like a great idea!  (Cough! Cough!)  Sorry – I think I’m coming down with something so I think I’ll call in sick…and my alma mater, UConn, just happens to be playing!

Will inquiries and credit pulls hurt your credit score?

Are you shopping for a home loan?  Sending a child to college so you’re applying for student loans?  Or did you just come from your favorite store where they offered a discount if you take out one of their store credit cards.  Every time you apply for new credit it shows up as an inquiry on your credit report – and done wrong, that could even lower your score.  However, some people become so afraid of having their credit pulled that they don’t adequately shop for the best loans, losing a lot of money in the end.  What you don’t know can hurt you, so today we’re going to explain the process of credit inquiries and the impact they have on your score.

Every time a vendor, bank, or merchant requests to see your credit report, it registers as an inquiry, an event visible on that report.  But will these inquiries actually lower your FICO score?  

 The short answer is: it could, but not too much.  But it’s based on two factors: what kind of credit trade line you’re applying for, and the timing of those inquiries.  Remember that the whole basis of credit reporting and credit reports is to give lenders an accurate metric to measure the risk of granting you a loan.  So when a consumer registers multiple inquiries (and the wrong kind) it sets off a red flag to risk for lenders.  Why?  They’re worried about the consumer applying for credit or loans out of financial desperation or overextending themselves with debt.  So the larger the number of credit applications and inquiries the greater the risk, and therefore their score could drop.  In fact, people with six inquiries or more on their credit reports are statistically 800% more likely to file for bankruptcy!

Now here is the fine print – not all credit inquiries are treated equally.  Some are a logical function of consumers shopping for the best rates or terms, especially with big-ticket items like auto loans, mortgages, and student loans.  The credit bureaus expect consumers to submit several applications (and have their credit report pulled) in order to get quotes from multiple sources when it comes to those loans, so those inquiries are less likely to adversely affect a credit score, if at all. 

However other types of loans are seen as clear indicators of risky consumer behavior, so the more credit inquiries, the bigger the hit to their credit score will be.  These include credit card applications, store credit cards, payroll advances and other inquiries that mark irresponsible financial behaviors.  Typically, your FICO score can go down about 5 points per inquiry if you have your score pulled too much by the wrong vendors.  The drop could be greater if you have few accounts or a short credit history without seasoned, positive factors to compensate.

The second component of this equation is timing.  The more “bad” inquiries that appear on your credit report within a short time, the harder the hit to your score.  For instance, if you apply for 5 new credit cards within a two-week period, it definitely is seen as risky to the credit bureaus, and your score will drop accordingly.  But just like there are compensating factors for big-ticket types of loans like mortgages, the timing of those is also factored in.  Shopping for the best rate on one loan (not simultaneously applying for multiple loans) means getting your credit score pulled several times within a short period, and that will not hurt your credit score.  The bureaus usually just count this group or batch of inquiries as one if they’re within a 30-day period.  So the lesson here is that you absolutely shop around for the best rates on big, important loans without worrying about multiple inquiries on your credit report, but try to contain them to within a 30-day period, but avoid multiple credit pulls on other kinds of debt that signal risk.

The different types of credit inquiries are broken down in two general groups; hard inquires and soft inquiries.  Hard inquiries occur when a bank, financial institution, lender or credit card accesses your credit report for the purpose of making a lending decision.  Hard inquiries may lower your score nominally, only by a few points, and stay on your report for two years.  Of course the negative impact diminishes and disappears over time.

Soft inquiries, on the other hand, are when a person or company checks your credit report.  Usually these come from when an employer checks your credit, preapproved credit card offers, and when you pull your own report.  Soft inquiries can happen without you giving permission, so they typically don’t affect your score at all. 

Hard inquiries:

• Applying for auto loan, student loan, business loan, or personal loan
• Applying for a credit card
• Applying for a mortgage

Soft inquiries:

• Checking your own credit score
• Pre-approved credit and loan offers
• Background checks employers

Sometimes hard sometimes soft:

• Applying to rent an apartment
• Verification of identity by a financial institution like credit union or stock brokerage
• Renting a car
• Getting cable TV or internet account
• Opening a checking, savings, or money market account

The bizarre and tragic case of Rachel Canning.

From the bizarre world of can-you-believe-this tabloid headlines comes a news story that has parents all over America shaking their heads…and keeping their attorney on speed dial.  That’s because Rachel Canning, an 18-year old student from a (formerly) happy home in New Jersey has sued her parents.  Canning v. Canning isn’t about any sort of abuse or wrongdoing, thank goodness, or even her teen-angst driven quest for emancipation.  Instead, she’s suing her parents for continued financial support and college tuition.  That’s right, at 18 years old she’s a legal adult, able to vote or enlist in the military, but she’s still attempting to legally compel her parents to keep paying up, claiming they abandoned her.

To be clear, this is not a landmark case.  It won’t set any precedents or achieve anything important.  In fact, it will most certainly be thrown out of court unceremoniously, as Rachel Canning’s requests were already thrown out in an initial hearing.  Of course, there may be some copycats cases - teens filing injunctions against cleaning their rooms, going to arbitration to over post-prom curfew, and requesting witness protection from embarrassing family Christmas photos. 

But, if nothing else, it might make a statement on the dangers of entitlement.

Last week, Superior Court Family Division Judge Peter Bogaard heard the case in Morristown, New Jersey and denied all of Canning’s complaints.  There is another hearing date set for April 22 to consider other issues in the case, such as Canning’s legal status as a minor since she’s still in school, but those are expected to make no headway, also.

So what’s the story behind the court transcripts?  Why would a daughter from a nice middle class family sue her own family?  All was well only a few months ago.  Rachel was a senior Morris Catholic High School, on the honor roll, a cheerleader, played lacrosse, and had earned a $20,000 scholarship to the University of Vermont.  But things seemed to have taken a turn for the worse.  She was suspended a couple times, caught drinking, lost her role as captain of the cheerleading squad, and was kicked out of the campus ministry.  The rift with her family initially began over a new boyfriend who the Canning’s didn’t approve of (isn’t that always to blame with teens?!)  She since moved out of their home and is living in Rockaway Township with the family of her best friend, classmate Jaime Inglesino.  She filed the lawsuit not long after.

In December, her parents’ attorney responded with a letter stating that her parents were happy to pay for her health insurance and give her any and all money from a college fund that had been created for her.  But that wasn’t enough – she wanted them to pay for college tuition and living expenses – so the lawsuit proceeded. 

When looking at this case, it’s easy to do two things:

1)  To chastise Rachel Canning as a greedy, entitled, unappreciative gold digger in the making.

2)  The other side of that coin is that she’s just 18, and maybe mentally or emotionally still not fully aware of the implications of her actions, though legally she is an adult. 

But I place blame squarely elsewhere.  In fact, the father of the classmate, Jaime Ingelsino, she’s living with has his grimy fingerprints all over this case.  John Inglesino happens to be an attorney and former Morris County Freeholder.  Reports have it that he heavily influenced Rachel in her decision to sue and is funding the lawsuit himself, including hiring her attorney.  The lawsuit included a request that the elder Cannings pay his legal fees, so far totaling over $12,000. 

We're being sued by our child, I'm dumbfounded,” said Sean Canning. “So is my wife, so are my other daughters. I know Rachel is a) a good kid, b) an incredibly rebellious teen, and she's getting some terrible information.”

Rachel Canning will have to live with this the rest of her life – the estrangement from her family, the shame and embarrassment of being clowned on Page 6 of every tabloid, and the scary reality of being ostracized from any school who doesn’t want the media circus she’ll bring or any employer, who will question the permanent stain on her character and litigious nature.  Already, her name is being buffooned with countless fake social media pages.  That is the real tragedy, and she’s just beginning to pay the price for her actions.  But John Inglesino gets to live on, the puppet master, probably out $12,000 but mowing his lawn and raising his family and practicing law as if nothing had ever happened.  Heck, his manipulation on an impressionable and confused 18-year old may even land him a few new clients.  

Patriotism vs. the bottom line. Should big U.S. companies be allowed to evade taxes by keeping profits overseas?

U.S. companies are making unprecedented profits, but don’t expect Americans to benefit from the taxes they pay on those sums.  That’s because more than ever corporations have elected to stash their earnings overseas, effectively sheltering their loot from the I.R.S.  It may be legal, but is it ethical?  Are they fleecing the American people by dodging  their domestic tax obligations?

In a report released by J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. analyst Dane Mott, 600 out of 1,000 U.S. multinationals are retaining foreign profits overseas at a rate of about $588 billion a year, or approximately 60% of their total earnings.  That’s a significant number when you consider that only about 30% of that revenue was actually made abroad. 

But the plot thickens if we zoom in on the biggest offenders, “big” both in their overall profits and how much they shield in offshore tax havens, many of which are island nations “with a lot of coastline,” banking systems set up specifically for the purpose of multinational evasion. 

These companies, and many others, are stashing their flow abroad at rate that’s steadily climbing.  Comparing 2007 to 2012, U.S. corporations held an additional $130 billion in foreign banks, totaling near $1.45 trillion as they buffer against a faltering U.S. economy and stagnating labor market. 

Citizens for Tax Justice, a liberal-leaning research group, states that at least 18 companies are guilty of stashing profits in those international tax havens, where loose regulations and laws allow them to pay little or no taxes.  Here’s the part that stings: if those companies followed the letter of the law and brought those earnings back to the U.S., where they’re required to pay taxes on it, the result would be about a $92 billion boon to our tax base. 

Nike, Microsoft, and Apple have been named as big offenders, to name a few, but the list is long and distinguished.  Apple was slammed during a Senate hearing for paying just 2% in taxes on the $74 billion in profits it made last year, which it holds in an Irish subsidiary bank that doesn’t have official residency anywhere in the world.  Apple argues that they’re not directly violating any laws, just utilizing a loophole in the tax codes, and that their presence and ability to shift funds abroad creates a lot of U.S. jobs and stimulates our economy. 

The SEC has released a list of 235 companies who are on its watch list, withholding funds abroad that would be taxed about $1.35 trillion if that money was re-patriated.  Here’s the mind boggling part – those are just the companies who have complied with the SEC’s profit and tax estimate disclosure process, because another loophole allows them to basically “opt out” of such documentation, citing that those calculations would be too complicated. 

To over simplify, when a company makes money abroad or makes money in the U.S. but shelters those profits in foreign national banks, they are only required to pay taxes in those nations, not the United States.  But many of these countries with tax haven banking systems charge little or nothing.  If the company moves their money back to a United States bank, they’ll be required to pay the standard corporate tax rate on the money, about 35%.  If they’ve already paid taxes on the money abroad, then they’re just required to pay the difference between 30% and what was already paid. 

The U.S. government has concluded that the current tax system discourages repatriation of funds from U.S. companies and lowers our tax base, but CEO’s, businessmen, and Congress can’t seem to figure out a fix.  The Obama administration has tabled a proposal to lower the tax rate to 28% but expand the tax reach to all income earned or held overseas.   Lawyers for these companies, however, argue that nothing less of complete free reign to move profits into and out of the United States without tax consequence would be the best for the American people – and their balance sheets.

So is this just smart business?  Counter to the interests of the U.S. public, akin to tax treason?  If the U.S. people are expected to pay their taxes, should big corporations be obligated to do the same?  Or do they legitimately create enough jobs and contribute to our economic growth that they should receive lawful tax amnesty?  We’d love to hear your opinion.

Here’s a list of the top firms holding profits overseas:

Apple

Total Cash: $137.1 billion


Industry: Technology


Percent Overseas: 69%

Microsoft

Total Cash: $68.3 billion


Industry: Technology


Percent Overseas: 89%

Google

Total Cash: $48.1 billion


Industry: Technology


Percent Overseas: 65%

Pfizer

Total Cash: $46.9 billion


Industry: Healthcare/Pharma


Percent Overseas: N/A

Cisco

Total Cash: $46.4 billion


Industry: Technology


Percent Overseas: 85%

Oracle

Total Cash: $33.7 billion


Industry: Technology


Percent Overseas: 80%

Qualcomm

Total Cash: $28.4 billion


Industry: Technology


Percent Overseas: 65%

General Motors

Total Cash: $27.4 billion


Industry: Automotive


Percent Overseas: N/A

Amgen

Total Cash: $24.1 billion


Industry: Healthcare/Pharma


Percent Overseas: $78%

Ford Motor Company

Total Cash: $22.9 billion


Industry: Automotive


Percent Overseas: N/A

Ask the experts: The top 5 questions about credit score.

Why are credit scores so confusing?

Credit scores may seem confusing but once you understand what it is and what parties are involved the role they play, it all becomes clear.  Your credit score shows your history of using credit, including accounts you have opened and closed, credit limits, payment history amounts owed, and defaults.  A credit score is tallied based on these factors and more, so your credit history determines your credit score.

Your credit score is determined by an algorithm developed by the Fair Issue Corporation (hence its other name of FICO score). Three corporations, called “credit bureaus”, specialize in collecting and reporting on financial histories. Those three companies are Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.  While their calculations are secret, we do know that the basic building blocks of your credit score are founded on: Inquiries, Mix of Credit, Age of Credit, Debt Ratio, and Delinquencies. 

How do you get your FICO scores?

www.myfico.com is the only way for consumers to actually get their FICO scores.  All other sites will be "educational credit scores".  Currently costing about $20 per score.

Most of us have been charged to pull our credit report at some time, or go onto one of those “free” sites, only to be hit with a $15 hidden fee to see the full report.  But according to the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (the FACT Act), you are eligible to receive a free copy of your credit report once each year from each of the three major credit bureaus by going to www.annualcreditreport.com.  This will show your credit history, not your score, but at least you’ll be able to monitor your credit activity and make sure you’re on track.  You can also receive a copy of your credit report through a company like Blue Water Credit or a mortgage lender when applying for a loan.

What does your credit score predict?

A credit score is the statistical prediction of one's likelihood to pay late over the next two years. The higher the score, the less likely one is to have a late payment. The bank then uses this number to assess the amount of risk involved with lending someone money. Banks are a lot like casinos in a sense, they like to place bets where they feel they will win.  Credit scores are trying to predict the same basic thing: the likelihood of a consumer being 90 days late on any payment within the next 24 months.  Credit score isn’t only used for mortgage loans anymore, now insurance companies utility companies, and even employers look at credit as an indicator of timely payments and responsible behaviors.

Why are all three credit scores different?

Determining a credit score is a tricky business since there are many credit scoring models in use, each fitting a consumer into their particular model. Some of the credit scores in these models go up to 990. While there are multiple formulas for calculating credit scores, the formulas introduced by the Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO) are the most widely used. This score ranges from 300-850.

How many credit bureaus are there?

There is actually 5 bureaus now: Equifax, TransUnion, Experian  are the big 3 we all know of.  Innovis and CoreLogic are attempting to compete but are not recognized by FICO.  Equifax, TransUnion and Experian are the three independent bureaus that each report a consumer’s credit separately and which FICO looks at to create a score.  People often see all three bureaus reported on one report, so they don’t realize it’s not all the same.  Since the bureaus each formulate a FICO score differently, your scores can vary based on credit bureau.

 

Why are all three credit scores different?

You have three different credit scores because there are three major credit bureaus and they each have different algorithms for calculating your credit score.  There are usually similarities but each bureau reports independently so it’s important to monitor and manage each one.  Equifax may have something reported incorrectly while TransUnion has it right, so your scores will vary based on errors, duplicates, and their formulas. Credit bureaus like Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax don’t ever make decisions about if you get credit.  They do, however, collect data about your use of debt and compile a credit score to share that with banks, lenders, or retailers who are considering lending you money so they can better gauge risk.