INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Before you do this, make sure the bag has enough air so the betta can breathe. Letting the bag float at the top of the betta’s new tank will allow the water in the bag (with the betta in it) to match the temperature of the water in the tank.  This process is known as “floating” the betta. Let the bag sit in the tank for 10–15 minutes. Once the bag has floated in the fish tank for about 15 minutes, you can start to expose your betta to the water in the fish tank. Use scissors to cut a hole in the bag. Using a baster or a small cup, pour about a cup of the tank water into the bag. You’ll need to stand there and hold the bag upright during this time. If you release the bag or let it tilt too far to one side or the other, the water will spill out into the tank. Your betta needs this time to slowly adjust to the temperature, pH level, and mineral hardness of the water in the tank. If you rush these steps and do not give your betta time to acclimate to the water, it will be harmful to the fish’s health.  Repeat the step one more time: mix another cup of tank water into the bag with the betta. Continue to hold the bag in the tank during this time. Make sure to keep the cut in the bag facing upright. After acclimating the fish for roughly 30 minutes, take the bag, turn it sideways, and allow the betta to swim out. Your betta may take some time to get used its new surroundings, but it should be comfortable living in the water of its new tank at this point.  If the water in the betta’s bag is dirty, minimize the amount that gets into the fish tank. Dirty water in your tank is never a good thing! After the fish has been acclimated, you can also take an aquarium net and gently place your betta in the tank. Do not feed your betta right away. The fish will probably not eat for the first day it’s in a new tank. Some bettas will refuse to eat for the first three days, sometimes even a week.

SUMMARY: Float the bag at the top of the fish tank. Mix the water from the tank with the water in the bag. Let the water sit for 15 minutes. Release the betta into the fish tank.

In one sentence, describe what the following article is about: Counseling can help to change your thinking, automatic assumptions, negative evaluations, and distorted expectations. Ask your counselor about cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), which can improve how you evaluate yourself and others. It can also help change your feelings of envy by helping you evaluate your feelings and subsequently changing your behavior. These people are your rocks, your champions. They are not the naysayers or detractors. They support you in your endeavors and genuinely want you to be happy. When you spend time with someone who is preoccupied with how much money he makes compared to other people, or the kind of car he drives, you might start to find yourself also comparing yourself to others. You might not intend to do so, but this person’s constant attention to these matters can rub off on you, sparking your envy.
Summary: See a mental health professional. Surround yourself with supportive people. Avoid spending time with people who compare themselves to others.

While it's great to want to please your parents, understand that if you grew up with particularly controlling or high pressure parents you may have fallen into a habit of people pleasing. People-pleasing can have negative effects longterm.  People pleasers often bend over backwards to accommodate other people. In the process, they lose sight of their own needs and wants. When your feelings of pleasure and self-worth are completely rooted in the approval of others, you end up not knowing who you are and become totally unable to nurture or care for yourself.  Oftentimes, people become people pleasers due to high-pressure parents. If your parents imposed strict expectations on your growing up, you may have learned that your value comes from what others expect of you. Carrying the desire to please into adulthood can have negative effects. People pleasers tend to have an intense fear of failure and rejection. They tend to be more high stress than others. This increased level of stress results in people-pleasers becoming less organized and productive than other people. People pleasers are also more easily affected by loneliness as their self-worth is rooted in making others happy. If you feel your desire to please your parents is rooted in compulsive people pleasing, there are ways you can get beyond this personality trait.  Getting beyond people-pleasing is a gradual process that takes a lot of personal effort. You need to acknowledge you're too much of a people pleaser and work at consciously getting to know yourself and giving yourself the time and care you need in addition to the people around you. Patience, restraint, and discipline is important to this process.  It is helpful to seek out a therapist as you try to work away from people pleasing habits. A therapist can help validate you and your feelings and help you work away from destructive patterns. You can usually find a therapist through your insurance provider. Many big cities have low or no cost clinics available for people with poor coverage or without insurance. If you're a college student, many colleges and universities provide free counseling to students. If your parents expect too much of you, you can have a frank talk with them about your need for some independence.  Plan what you're going to say ahead of time as your parents may become defensive. It can help to write out your issues or make an outline to follow during the conversation. Be reasonable. Tell your parents you're happy to keep them up-to-date on your life, but you need them to understand you need to make decisions for your own sake and not theirs. If you live at a distance, sometimes it's easier to simply omit information. If you might be up for promotion, for example, don't say anything until you know one way or another. That way, your parents cannot pressure you with an onslaught of questions and advice.
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One-sentence summary -- Understand the dangers of people pleasing. Learn how to get beyond people pleasing. Talk to your parents about your need for privacy and independence.

INPUT ARTICLE: Article: Once you realize that comparing yourself to others doesn’t work in your favor, you’ll look for additional measures of your success.  If you start to feel and express gratitude for the gifts that you do have, you will shift your focus from others to yourself. Spend more of your time focusing on the positive and good in your life. You may find that you start noticing more of it when you're not busy comparing yourself to others. A gratitude journal is a way to remind yourself of what you have. This will help you look at things that you may have taken for granted. Then, you can give appreciation to them. Think about several of your best memories. They can be things you did, places you went, friends, you spent time with, whatever makes you most happy. Focus on being grateful for those things.  By keeping a gratitude journal you can increase your chances of success.  However, just going through the motions without motivation will work against you. You need to force yourself to look at things you may have taken for granted and give appreciation to them.  Make the decision to acknowledge the depth of your gratitude and enhance your life. Write in depth. Instead of just making a laundry list of things, give a thorough explanation of a few things that make you feel grateful. Write about surprises or unexpected events. This will give you a chance to savor the good feelings that you experienced. You don’t need to write every day. In fact, writing a couple of times a week might be more beneficial than writing every day. By being kinder and less harsh with yourself, you will encourage yourself to go the extra mile and to try harder. It is tough to resist comparing yourself to others. But you are ultimately in control of your life. You make choices to lead your life in a particular way. You make decisions that are best for you, not for anybody else. It doesn’t matter what other people do or have. You are the one that matters in the course of your life.

SUMMARY:
Focus on what you have. Keep a gratitude journal. Be kind to yourself. Understand that you are in control of your life.