Life Insurance Lowdown

If you’re like most people, you probably spend about 8 hours a day sitting at your desk. It’s no secret that this is bad for your health: it can lead to weight gain, deep vein thrombosis, lethargy and a number of other issues. Fortunately, it’s possible to earn a living without wrecking your health. Check out these tips for ways to exercise at your desk, transportation options, gadgets that can help you get moving, and more.

Getting there

1. (Re)cycle those extra pounds: If you live a few blocks away from your workplace, leave your car at home. Take your bike to work, or if it’s just a matter of a few blocks, walk the distance. You’ll not only burn calories, but also save money and do your part to keep the environment clean.
2. Park away, far, far away: If you have to take your car to work, do the next best thing. Park as far away from your office building as you can. Those extra steps will add up as the days go by.
3. Step it up: Make it a point to avoid using the elevator in your office building; take the stairs, coming up or going down. You may find yourself breathless in the beginning, but if you stick to the plan, you’ll find yourself getting fitter every day.
4. Pace yourself: If yours is a job that ties you down to your desk, set aside time every couple of hours to walk about, either to the restroom or just to talk to a co-worker across the room.
5. Get up, get fresh: Instead of using the restroom on your floor, use the one either two floors above or below. Don’t forget to take the stairs!
6. Go wireless: Get  a wireless headset that allows you to walk around as you make phone calls.
7. Memory loss, fitness gain: Leave something in your car every day so you will be forced to run out and get it in the middle of your work day.
8. Make your approach directly: Need to brief a co-worker or just pass on a message? Don’t reach for the phone or type out an email; get up and get moving by delivering the message in person.

Take matters into your own hands

9. Wrist twists: Do you type a lot? Keep Carpal Tunnel Syndrome at bay by rolling your wrists regularly.
10. Put your hands together: If you’re just reading something on your screen, your hands are free to exercise. Hold your hands together with the palms facing each other; pull up with one and down with the other simultaneously.
11. Hand(some) tricks: Stretch one arm out in front of you at shoulder level with palm facing downwards, use your other hand to hold this one and pull downwards. Repeat with other hand.
12. Prayer for good health: Put your hands together in front of your chest with elbows extended parallel to your shoulders. Now rotate your wrists so that your fingertips point towards the floor. Repeat.
13. Hands up: Inhale as you raise your arms above your head, bring your shoulders closer to your ears, then exhale as you push your shoulders back.
14. Outstretched hands help: Hold a water bottle or similar object with one hand, then raise it to shoulder level with your arm outstretched. Hold this position and repeat with your other hand.
15. Head over hands: Lace your fingers together behind your head with your elbows stretched out and press your elbows behind. Hold for a few seconds and repeat.
16. Palm your pain away: Put your right palm against your right cheek, and try and bend your head towards your right with your right hand resisting the bend.
17. Rotation helps: Hold your hands outstretched in front of you with your wrists closed. Rotate them clockwise a few times and then counterclockwise.
18. Fly there: Hold your hands outstretched to your sides with palms facing up. Move them in small circles first, one way and then the other. Repeat, moving your hands in progressively larger circles.   
19. Hands down: Stand straight, look ahead, and hold your hands behind you. Lift your arms up with hands held together as far as they can go. Hold for a few seconds, then bring down and repeat.
20. Hand work: Stand in front of your desk with your palms flat on them, fingers pointing towards you. Stretch your lower arms and wrists.

Flex at your desk

21. Just sit on it: Instead of using a run-of-the-mill office chair, try a stability ball. It’s a little unconventional, but you’ll work your abdominal and back muscles by using one.
22. Sit tight: At regular intervals, clench your stomach and buttock muscles as your sit at your desk.
23. Put your feet up: Instead of keeping your feet flat on the floor all the time, life them up so they rest on the balls of your heels. Do repetitive sets of this workout at regular intervals.
24. Lift yourself up: Sit straight, lift your arms straight above your head, and hold your hands together with palms facing upwards. Now, bend sideways to one side as you exhale and inhale as you straighten up. Repeat on the other side for one set.
25. Legs up: Lift one leg and stretch it out in front until it’s parallel to the ground. Hold for a few seconds until you feel your thigh and calf muscles stretching, then repeat with the other leg.
26. Marching forward: Lift your leg up with your thigh held parallel to the ground, as you would when you march. Repeat with the other leg.
27. Put the squeeze on: Hold a full water bottle between your thighs, then press together while clenching your abdominal muscles. Repeat a few times.
28. Hip way to relax: If you have a few minutes to spare, stand with your hands on your hips, stretch your upper body backwards, and hold for a few minutes.
29. Get off your butt: Lift your bottom a few inches from your chair and hold the position for a few seconds.
30. Sidekicks matter too: Stand straight with arms on your hips. Lift one leg to one side in a kicking motion, hold, and bring back to attention. Repeat with other leg.
31. It matters (to) squat: Try this one only if your chair is steady; you don’t want to end up on the floor. Put your hands close to your hips on the chair, move your hips forward and off the chair until your elbows form right angles. Hold this position for a few seconds before you resume a sitting position.
32. Up in arms: Hold a bottle of water with one hand and a bended elbow. Lift your hand over your head, hold for a few seconds, then bring it back to position. Repeat with your other hand.
33. Cross your heart: Cross your hands in front of your chest, pull in your stomach and bend down towards your hip. Repeat a few times.
34. Weighty stuff: Your bottle of water can serve as a dumbbell. Hold it sideways in your hand, then flex your biceps by lifting your forearm to your shoulder. Repeat with your other hand.
35. Push out: Put your hands behind your head and slowly push your head backwards; use your hands to resist your head’s movement.
36. Elbow your way to good health: Put your hands on your shoulders and rotate your arms forward and backward a few times.
37. Push the walls aside: Stand with one palm flush against a wall and your arm horizontal to the ground. Turn your torso to the other direction until you feel your body stretching. Repeat with your other hand.

Posture matters

38. Get heads to turn: Need to stretch your neck muscles? Don’t roll your head; instead, turn from side to side and flex your head forwards and backwards.
39. Back it up: If you tend to hunch over your keyboard, take time out to stretch your arms wide, pull your shoulders back, and rotate your wrists as your arms are outstretched.
40. Add some more lift: Sit with your shoulders straight. Lift them up to your ears as you inhale, bring them down as you exhale.
41. Twisting turns: Sit straight, put your right hand behind your right hip and bring your left hand to touch your right.  on the other side.
42. Backing up your efforts: Bend down as you sit, bringing your head to your knees and hands to your ankles as you exhale. Inhale as you straighten up. Exhale again as you lift your hands straight above your head. Repeat to relax your back.
43. Shoulder on: Sit straight, put your hands on your shoulder, keep your elbows down and push your shoulders back. Hold for a few seconds and repeat.
44. Stand tall: Stand with your head and shoulders thrown back and arms on your hips; pull in your stomach and lift one leg so that your thigh is parallel with the ground. Hold for a few seconds and repeat with the other.
45. Bend backwards to good health: Stretch your arms out in front of you while sitting at the edge of your chair; pull in your abdomen and move your upper body behind. Hold for a few seconds.

Gadgets that get you thin

46. Hand Gripper: If you find one hand free in the course of your work, squeeze a gripper to strengthen your forearms.
47. Elastic band: Use one of these to stretch your hands; you’ll strengthen and build your muscles.
48. Geek-a-Cycle: A computer table with its own pedals, this gadget lets you exercise your legs as you get some work done.
49. Walking Workstation: If you’re skilled at typing or maneuvering the mouse even as you walk, this is the perfect toy for you. It’s a walking workstation that allows you to burn calories even as you work at your computer.
50. Webble: A skateboard-like gadget, the Webble can be used to exercise the lower half of your body even while remaining seated. Rest your feet on the Webble, and you’ll get exercise as you move them randomly.

Greetings! Welcome to the 15th edition of the Carnival of Life, Happiness & Meaning. we have selected 13 posts for this edition. I request to all carnival participants to give a link back to this carnival at their earlierst convenience. Without further ado, here are the posts in the order they were received.

Warren Wong presents Why You Should Invest For The Long Term posted at INTJ Personal Development. Are you buying and selling stocks a lot? Here’s why you should invest for the long term.

Phil presents 13 Steps to be Productive « Phil for Humanity posted at Phil for Humanity. Ever wonder why some people are so productive all of the time while other people never accomplish anything?

Charles H. Green presents The Dark Side of Trust? Not! posted at Trust Matters. Harvard claims the key to trust is micromanagement; but the reality is that you can improve your personal and business relationships by letting go enough that trust has room to flourish.

Warren Wong presents The Key To A Healthy Relationship posted at INTJ Personal Development. Are you in a healthy relationship? Do you know what makes a relationship healthy? Here’s the key to a healthy relationship.

Karen Halls presents Planning Your Life Around Your Alcoholic Anonymous Meeting Schedule posted at Addiction Recovery Blog. You will come up with every reason to either be late or simply not attend alcoholic anonymous meetings. If you do not follow your schedule, you are setting yourself up for a significant setback.

Wenchypoo presents Book Review: Healthy At 100 posted at Wisdom From Wenchypoo’s Mental Wastebasket. If you care at all about healthy living, you MUST read this book!

Anmol Mehta presents How to Make a Baby the Right Way- With Illustrations! posted at Mastery of Meditation, Enlightenment & Kundalini Yoga. Our adventures in how we made our little ones.

John Hill presents Self Sabotage posted at Universe Of Success. You may be sabotaging yourself without being aware of it.

John presents Do Opposites Attract? posted at Attracting People.com. Do opposites really attract?

Millionaire Mommy Next Door presents How to Treat Affluenza: Spend Less and Live a Happier Life posted at Millionaire Mommy Next Door. The number of “very happy” people peaked in 1957, and has remained fairly stable or declined ever since. Even though we consume twice as much as we did in the 1950s, people were just as happy when they had less. 86% of Americans who voluntarily cut back their consumption feel happier as a result.

FitBuff presents Foods High in Protein: Top 10 Healthy Choices posted at FitBuff.com’s Total Mind and Body Fitness Blog. Foods high in protein should be a staple of everyone’s diet. Besides being absolutely essential in helping your body build big, bulging muscles, a new study proves that even Grandma needs protein to preserve her healthy (no matter how small) muscle mass.

Alvaro Fernandez presents The Ten Habits of Highly Effective Brains posted at Brain Fitness Blog. Some tips to keep our brains sharp.

Charles H. Green presents It’s a Dog Eat Dog World, Isn’t It? posted at Trust Matters. People often live up—or down—to others’ expectations of them. And if we can learn that about ourselves, then we have gained the keys to our freedom.

That concludes the 15th edition of the Carnival of Life, Happiness & Meaning. Next edition of this carnival will be hosted here on 04 September 2007. You can submit your posts using the Blog Carnival Submission Form.

Greetings! Welcome to the 14th edition of the Carnival of Life, Happiness & Meaning. We have selected 22 posts for this edition. I request all carnival participants to give a link back to this carnival at their earliest convenience. Without further ado, here are the posts in the order they were received.

Warren Wong presents Stop Waiting For The Phone To Ring posted at INTJ Personal Development. Are you waiting for him / her to call you? Here’s why you should stop thinking about it and do something productive.

Charles H. Green presents Don’t Believe What They Say About Listening and Sales posted at Trust Matters. Too often we listen and hear what a person says they need, without realizing that really listening would tell us what they actually want.

James presents Overcoming Shyness: Tips for making effective eye contact posted at you shy devil you. Eye contact is one of the most fundamental forms of body language. Here are 5 1/2 tips on making more effective eye contact.

Cindy Posey presents Reinventing the Before Shot | Go Workout Mom posted at Go Workout Mom. Creating a happy image of the before shot in fitness is an opportunity to see all the good things about yourself while striving for healthy improvements in your life.

Paula presents What if Money is Just Like Water? posted at Queercents. How does it feel when you allow money to flow in and out of your life effortlessly? Empowering? Energizing? Don’t you just feel at ease with it all? Now, imagine when times are tight. You grab, hoard, and hold onto any penny you can. How does that feel? Toxic? Scary?

Warren Wong presents How To Pick A Good Stock posted at INTJ Personal Development. Do you know how to pick a good stock? Here’s how to find a good long term investment!

Ellesse presents Want To be More Productive? Play More posted at Goal Setting College. If you want to be more effective and produce quality work for your major projects, spend more of your time on leisure and recreation activities.

Vahid Chaychi presents For Robust Emotional Health Read This! posted at Healthoma.com. The more you have or possess in terms of materialistic possessions and luxuries, the more happy will you be, is not how it actually works.

Karen Halls presents Drug & Alcohol Addiction Treatment posted at Addiction Recovery Blog. Different rehab centers have different drug rehabilitation services, facilities, costs and credentials. Many of us have no idea as what are the things that we are suppose to look for in a rehab center.

Millionaire Mommy Next Door presents Memories are made of the things we DO, not the things we BUY posted at Millionaire Mommy Next Door. Should we buy a boat? Or would we rather go fishing?

Edithyeung presents The Money Series – How to Manage and Maintain your Bank Account? posted at Edith Yeung.Com: Dream. Think. Act.. Edith says, “When I pay for something I would use this ATM card. Or if I use a credit card, I would review my statement every month and sum up which spending belongs to which account. I then pay my credit card company using online bill pay through the 5 accounts.”

Craig Harper presents Weight-Loss Bullshit. posted at Renovate your life with Craig. While exercise, food, lifestyle and education are indeed important variables in the process, without doubt, the biggest determinant of weight loss (or gain) is what’s going on in that nine pound (four kilo) thing sitting on the top of our shoulders.

Chris presents Essential Tips For Self-Sustainable or Permanent Travel posted at nomad4ever. It’s best to have several sources/streams of passive income (rent, dividends, interest) besides the option of your labour. This is what can make sustainability very easy!

Marc and Angel presents Force of Character: Taking Ownership of Your Actions posted at Marc and Angel. It’s easy for someone to take ownership of success, but when the headlines read “failure” only those possessing “force of character” have the influential capacity to shine.

Tupelo Kenyon presents Take Time for You posted at Tupelo Kenyon. Don’t put yourself at the end of the list. You deserve to be first, at least some of the time. Don’t let your entire life slip by with everything else (and everyone else) getting preferential treatment over your most important priorities. Their needs are important, but yours are important too. Celebrate life by taking time for YOU!

Warren Wong presents Make People Comfortable By Greeting Them Right posted at INTJ Personal Development. Do you know how to make people comfortable when you meet them? Here’s a couple of tips to make them feel right at home.

Phil presents Five Motivational Tips « Phil for Humanity posted at Phil for Humanity. On a daily basis, I struggle with motivation issues. Heck, I am even struggling right now for a reason to write this article. I think this is because laziness is a fundamental cornerstone of the human mind, yet I believe I figured out five sure fire ways to quickly become motivated.

John Wesley presents 8 Moves to Make When the Chips Are Down posted at Pick the Brain. Taking the easy road is nice for a while, but for talented, motivated people it isn’t enough. To find satisfaction you’ll need to set ambitious goals, solve challenging problems, and develop strengths you may not know you have.

FitBuff presents Lose Belly Flab, Earn Cash: Would you drop 10 pounds for $350? posted at FitBuff.com’s Total Mind and Body Fitness Blog. Here’s an interesting experiment that an Italian mayor is using to get his town’s population in tip-top shape. Would you drop a few pounds for a cool $350? Check out the article for the details on exactly what you would have to do to score your payday.

Dave presents Miss(ed) Manners: The Merry-Go-Round « Miss(ed) Manners posted at Miss(ed) Manners. It’s cyclical, this life thing. As people pass on from this world, smaller people pass into it. I’ve always thought it was funny that babies are often just as wrinkly as old people. Like God saying, “just in case you had any doubt about Buddhism, here’s a reminder: you’re pruny at both ends.”

Alvaro Fernandez presents Brain Training Games and “Games” posted at SharpBrains: Your Window into the Brain Fitness Revolution. Explaining how to navigate through the growing number of “brain training” claims.

Tyler Lloyd presents 2 Essential Ingredients to Accomplishing Anything Worthwhile posted at Tyler Lloyd.com. A bit on the two ingredients that must be there if you want to accomplish anything worthwhile.

That concludes the 14th edition of the Carnival of Life, Happiness & Meaning. Next edition of this carnival will be hosted here on 25 August 2007. You can submit your posts using the Blog Carnival Submission Form.

Greetings! Welcome to the 13th edition of the Carnival of Life, Happiness & Meaning. We have selected 38 posts for this edition. I hope you will enjoy reading these. Here are the posts in the order they were received.

Ellesse presents Little Known Ways of Tackling Difficult Goals posted at Goal Setting College. Message from the article: Being realistic is one of the cornerstones of SMART goal setting.

Warren Wong presents Taking Risks posted at INTJ Personal Development. Are you afraid to launch your own business? Are you afraid of losing what money you have? Here’s why you shouldn’t be.

Nneka presents Spiritual Leaders and Teachers posted at Spirituality Blog. Is there a difference between a spiritual leader and a spiritual teacher? Find out…

Dianne M. Buxton presents Healthy Office Space Workouts posted at manifestingsuccess. A method to keep healthy in a sedentary lifestyle, improving muscle tone, weight maintenance and production of endorphins.

Darren presents It’s the little things in life – a 100 little things posted at where thought escapes. It only takes a little thought to realize that life is wonderful.

SJ Yee presents 10 Secrets to Happiness I learnt from Andrew Matthews posted at Personal Development for the Book Smart. Don’t make happiness your goal unless you want to be forever miserable. Choose to be happy NOW!

Anna Ross presents Returning to Now posted at From Anna’s F-R-E-E-Writing. From Buddha to Eckhart Tolle, author of The Power of Now, one of the best spiritual books of the last decade), wise people have known that the secret to happiness is returning to now — the moment we are in.

Shaheen Lakhan presents Genetic Discrimination: A Real Threat? posted at GNIF Brain Blogger. Whatever your genotype, it’s the phenotype that already has found its way into a system of discrimination globally. For issues related to race and sexual orientation, how can genetic information make any further negative contribution to the current situation?

Stephanie West Allen presents Friday’s lighter wisdom — GIFTS FROM YOUR INNER DONKEY posted at idealawg. Most of us have an inner Eeyore. To indulge it can bring release and laughter and freedom. To be the absolute worst whatever-it-is-you-want-to-be lets loose in you a power that has been spent in resisting it. A power that brings many benefits.

Dr. Hal presents Four Miraculous Phrases posted at North Star Mental Fitness Blog. Interpersonal conflicts escalate, often times, when feelings and opinions are expressed. Expressions of values on the other hand reduce conflicts.

Phil presents How to Really Increase Your Self Confidence « Phil for Humanity posted at Phil for Humanity. Almost everyone needs a boost in their self confidence, yet few of us know how.

Millionaire Mommy Next Door presents Can Money Make You Happy? posted at Millionaire Mommy Next Door. “The last place you want to be is in a first class seat on a plane going somewhere you don’t want to go.”

Peter25 presents Reaching Your Satisfaction posted at Business School. If you want to be successful, they say that you always have to reach higher and to not be average and life everyone else. It is true, you will not become a millionaire by having a job like everyone else. You need ambition, you need plans, and you need the heart to complete your projects and attain your dream life.

Scott Lee presents Parenting the Capable and Achieving Child posted at Scott Free Thinking. Scott says, “I have said such things as that you should not ‘baby talk’ your children, you should get them listening to Mozart, Canon B, in the womb because proper musical exposure aids in their intellectual development, and that teenagers are actually biologically more intellectually capable than adults”.

Edithyeung presents Know How to Ask for What you Deserve and Break the Glass Ceiling posted at Edith Yeung.Com: Dream. Think. Act.. This article is dedicated to those of you who are tired of waiting for opportunities and are ready to take some action to get what you want.

Tupelo Kenyon presents Don’t Take it Personally posted at Tupelo Kenyon. Why do people criticize? It’s not about you – it’s about them. When you get criticized, here’s what to do with it – don’t take it personally. Praise can be just as harmful (but sneakier) – don’t take it personally. If you’re a habitual critic, here’s how to stop . . . but don’t take it personally. (Enjoy soothing instrumental music as you read plus songs with lyrics related to each article – all free.)

John Hill presents Law of Vibration posted at Universe Of Success. Everything in the universe vibrates…

Anmol Mehta presents Embrace Reality and Let the Universe Fulfill Your Desires posted at Mastery of Meditation, Enlightenment & Kundalini Yoga. Anmol says, “My experience of how when I go with the flow, the flow goes with me.”

Ruby presents The Truth About The Secret, aka The Intention-Manifestation Model of Life posted at Advice and Rants. If you don’t believe in your goal, you won’t achieve it. If you don’t believe in yourself, you won’t get what you want. Belief somehow does get conveyed to the universe. And, belief makes you work harder and smarter, and to think things through properly.

Kristie Watson presents Be Happy Where you Are posted at Watching Clouds. Too many people put off happiness until some point in the future. They will be happy when they get a promotion, when they are able to buy a house, or when they lost 30 pounds.

Madeleine Begun Kane presents The Five-Second What??? posted at Mad Kane’s Humor Blog. Madeleine says, I guess I must have led a very sheltered existence. Why do I say that? Because I’d never heard the phrase “five-second rule” until my husband Mark used it as an excuse to eat some treat he’d just dropped on the floor. (And yes, we’re still married.) …”

Jane Chin PhD presents A Danger of “Too Much Experience” posted at On Careers and Life. How often are you the victim of your own knowledge and experience?

Alex Blackwell presents Keep an open mind posted at The Next 45 Years. Once you have made the choice to make the commitment to pursue your dreams, you will soon see something wonderful begin to happen in your life - the Universe will actually begin to help you achieve it.

Isabella Mori presents what’s your learning edge? posted at change therapy. Isabella says, “let’s come out from under our little rocks and think BIG!”

Craig presents My Journey thus Far posted at Second Chance to Live. Craig says, “During my lifetime, I have been confronted with challenges, obstacles, and disappointments. In the scope of this brief autobiography I will share some of these events and circumstances.”

Karl Staib presents Do You Want to Know Your Future? posted at Karl Staib and the Pursuit of Happiness. The future validates our present actions. Are you a good mother? We’ll see in twenty years. Were you a good business man? We’ll find out in thirty years. This is also a mistake. Why wait 10, 20, 30 years to feel good about your life? You try your best to make good decisions now, but in ten years when you have more wisdom you might look back and laugh at your naïve self.

Therapydoc presents Intimate Opportunities posted at Everyone Needs Therapy. Therapydoc says, “I’m thinking about opportunities to connect and simply be with people, the ones that will make a difference years from now.”

Scott Lee presents Design Your Life, Like a Paint Brush posted at Scott Free Thinking. As we grow up, things tend to be a little less extravagant. We no longer desire to be rock stars, because we do not see that as really being that feasible. We no longer desire to be Hollywood actors, because we can now see what a ridiculous amount of competition there is for that area.

Silicon Valley Blogger presents Cheap Barbecue And Safe Fireworks: Our Fun Family Extravaganza posted at The Digerati Life. Silicon Valley Blogger says, “We snapped some fine images of our 4th of July celebration at our house, which saw our usual gathering of a subset of our family which numbered 17 people. If attendance had included my entire family plus close friends, that number would easily double.”

JennyHow presents God’s Coffee posted at JennyHow eBay Tips Blog. Take a break in your life, sit down, relax and most importantly, read this article. It helps to realise what is the thing in life that we should aim for.

Anna Farmery presents Belief is what we need posted at Widows Quest. To overcome the period of mourning, to overcome the hurt we need a great deal of inner belief.

Adam presents Weekend Entrepreneur: If You Really Want Something Done, Find a Busy Person To Do It posted at Queercents. The notion of balance requires the presence of opposites. Opposites suggest the presence of competition. Work is the opposite of play. Career is the opposite of family.

Tupelo Kenyon presents Facing Fear with Deliberate Awareness posted at Tupelo Kenyon. Fear is over-rated. We do it to ourselves. Fear has no reality other than our attention to it. Deliberately steer your attention to pictures in your imagination that emphasize what you want to happen – (instead of what you most dread) . . . and the fear dissipates. (Enjoy soothing instrumental music as you read plus songs with lyrics related to each article – all free)

James presents The Three Fundamentals of Dealing With People posted at you shy devil you. One of the sources of social anxiety is not understanding how to handle social situations, what to say, etc. This is a three post series on the fundamentals of handling people, based on Dale Carnegie’s work over 70 years ago.

Gary van Warmerdam presents Don’t Be Optimistic posted at Happiness. In the best selling book Good To Great Jim Collins advises us of the perils of being optimistic. The key is to have the awareness to discern the good optimism from the dangerous optimism. Awareness keeps you from ending up in emotional denial and making poor choices for your life.

Warren Wong presents Stop Checking That Stock posted at INTJ Personal Development. Are you constantly checking your stocks? Here’s why you should stop doing that and live your life.

Ian Welsh presents My Friend Peter posted at The Agonist. Ian says, “I never saw Peter act meanly, or unkindly. I never saw him treat anyone but with dignity. I never saw anyone who needed a kindness Peter could give who didn’t get it.”

Mike Elias presents Buddha and the Essence of God posted at Enlightenment, Sex, and Sweeet Guitar. Our egoic brains are duality machines. We see the difference between hot and cold, good and evil, male and female, what we want and what we don’t want, joy and sadness, by noticing the differences between the two opposites. This is why, when you tell yourself something, whether it’s true or not, your brain will automatically generate an opposite.

That concludes the 13th edition of the Carnival of Life, Happiness & Meaning. Next edition of this carnival will be hosted here on 17 August 2007. You can submit your posts using the Blog Carnival Submission Form.

–By Sushma Pradhan

Are you in trouble with your claims? Is your claim taking a toll on you? If you agree to it, be sure you have hit the right site and you are reading the right article.

There is no doubt that resolving a claim or its adjustment is a long and a difficult process, but trust me it is not an impossible task at all.

Here are few steps that you need to follow, when you need to adjust a claim so that you maximize your effort of success.

Step One: Take out the statement document of your insurance coverage.

Step Two: Focus on the exclusions sections and read out everything carefully.

Step Three: If you find out that a certain point relates for the denial of your claim, be it even remotely, make it a point to highlight it.

Step Four: Put together all the claim denial notices and all the important statements, such as notes, documentation etc. Then, circle the invoice number dates, and reference numbers.

Step Five: Armed with all the documents call the customer care department of your related grievance.

Step Six: Speak confidently but do not be rude, while asserting why you feel that the claim should be granted.

Step Seven: Keep a note of all your calls, for example the time, the date, the full name of the representative of the company, with whom you had the conversation, the extensions, and the outcome of the conversations.

Step Eight: One more point that you have to keep in mind is the punctuality of follow up. When you speak to the customer representative, do make it a point to ask the representative for the date by which the claim will be resolved, and patiently wait until that date. In case the resolution has not occurred by the assigned date, do call up the representative by that date.

Step Nine: Once your claim has been paid or settled make sure the settlement is as per terms, in case it is a settlement for some amount of money do check that the company pays the stipulated amount or percentage.

Explanations

On a whole, there are certain things that we tend to overlook initially and many a times these points become the loopholes for us. Review the rules that are there in the document. There may be certain point that we may assume as clear, but later this ambiguity may be troublesome. In case, you find difficulty understanding a point and you do not find the answer in the provided literature or on their website, take out time to call the customer service.

Take for example you are looking for a health insurance claim. If your claim is not paid in full or is denied, whereas you think that it should not have happened so. Call the health plan for justification, the denial could be due to some administrative error.

Do remember to place all the paperwork in front of you when you make that call. However, remember to be polite, but reasonable. Do not use authoritative tone, your voice should convey the message that the two of you are enough to resolve the problem.

Further, you must also know when to request for a formal review. In case the customer service is of a little help to you, you may go ahead and file an appeal to the health plan. In many cases, you may need to do the writing within sixty days of receipt of all the original benefits explanation. Nevertheless, remember to send your appeal only via a certified mail.

Carefully examine all your documents. If you have made a determination for a formal review, there may be a chance of your gaining access to documentation that is necessary to determine the benefits.

Here are Tips and Warning once again:

1. Carefully read the explanation of the claim denial. Reading the document carefully throws a lot of light on where the loophole lies. You never know the required professionals must have failed to provide the necessary detail to the insurance company. If it is so then call the concerned authorities.

2. Know what you are speaking and yes know it well. Do not blabber. If you exhibit a complete knowledge about the coverage, you will get every chance of more attention from the representative of the company.

3. Yes! Start early in the day, if you feel that your calls are left on a hold for a long period.

4. Mind your language! Do not unnecessarily be rude to the service representatives of the company, after all they are not the ones who make rules for the denial of the claim.

5. Be firm and persistent in your resolution to reach a solution. See that the claim is either paid or provided with a proper explanation and furthermore, let everything come in writing, especially if the claim is not payable.
      

6. You may ask to direct your claim to a supervising claim adjuster for further consideration, if you feel that your claim is a exceptional case or needs more consideration than the customer service representative in the frontline.

7. It is vital to document all your calls as this will help you later a lot in resolving the claim dispute.

8. If your claim is for health insurance, make it a point to talk to your physician. Ask the physician to help you resolve the claim if the denial uses the terms such as ‘unconventional’ or ‘nontraditional’ or ‘unconventional’ for justification.

9. New procedures and coverages are updated, especially those of the treatments and medication, so do not get upset and lose hope at one go when your claim is not adjusted initially.

10. Do not lose your cool, most importantly do not lose your temper, neither shout nor lecture on the way the things should have been, while conversing with the service representative of the company.

11. If the company tells you that something that was covered earlier is no longer covered now, do not accept until and unless there is a logical explanation. If needed try to acquire the explanation in writing.

12. Remember slow and steady wins the race. Many insurance providers wait until the time you give up after fighting for a long time. So understand the twist of the story and be persistent.