The things that you know how to do well may be a good way for you to help someone. Consider your talents and any special skills that you possess and that you could put to use to help someone. Some things that might be useful to others include:   Knowledge of tax preparation to help someone do their taxes. Writing abilities to help someone craft a good resume. Knowledge of a subject to help someone prepare for a test. Knowledge of home repairs to help someone fix something in their home. If you have the financial freedom to help someone with things like food, rent, utility costs, or other necessities, then this may also be a great way to help. Think about your financial situation and figure out how much money you could potentially give someone who is in need of help.   For example, if you usually have enough money left over from your basic expenses to save $200.00, then you might consider using this money to help someone buy groceries or pay their heating bill for one month. Don’t worry if you do not have much money to help someone with. Even a small amount, such as $5.00 may be a huge help to someone. However, there are other ways to help if you can’t give money at all. Owning certain resources may give you opportunities to help people in need. Take stock of what you own that might be useful to someone else. Some things you might use to benefit someone else include:  A spare room in your home. Extra clothes and shoes that you can loan or donate to someone. A car that you can use to provide transport for someone who is without a means of transportation. A lawnmower to help someone care for his or her lawn. You might have some other ways that you can help someone who is in need of help. Try to think about any other skills or assets that you can use to benefit others. Some other ways you might help someone include:   Spending some of your spare time with someone who is lonely, such as an elderly friend or relative who is living alone or in a nursing home. Offering to run errands for someone who is housebound. Providing free child care to a single mother who cannot afford a babysitter.

Summary: Identify any special talents and skills that you possess. Assess your financial situation. Consider your other resources. Note anything else that you have to offer.


Skin tags in dogs can be confused easily with warts, which are more dangerous because they can grow into malignant tumors. Unlike warts, though, skin tags have a narrow stalk that is attached loosely to the skin. They may be flat or teardrop-shaped and can move or dangle, and they are the same color as the dog’s skin. If there is hair around the skin tag, clip it. Clean up any stray hairs that remain after clipping. This will help you ensure that the area is clean. Disinfect the area around the skin tag with 70% isopropyl alcohol or 10% povidone-iodine. Soak a cotton ball with at least 5 milliliters (a spoonful) of either substance, then swipe the tag itself and the area around it. You need the dog to be still so that you can cut carefully. Enlist someone else to help you that the dog likes, so that the person can effectively keep the dog calm. Sterilize a pair of curved mayo scissors if you are going to cut the skin tag. Sterilize a piece of string or floss if you want to tie off the skin tag instead. You can use any shallow plastic pan (or even a lunch box!) for this purpose. Place 250 milliliters of water in the pan, plus 10 milliliters of 10% povidone-iodine. Immerse the scissors in the pan for a full minute to sterilize them. Using curved scissors is important, as they will help ensure that the skin tag’s stalk is cut as close to the skin as possible.

Summary: Identify the skin tag. Clean the area around the skin tag. Disinfect the area. Have someone else hold and calm the dog. Prepare a sterilization pan.


Just like eating, thinking is something we need to do to survive, so it is sometimes hard to judge when you are doing too much of it. However, there are several red flags that you are doing too much thinking for your own good. Here are a few of them:  Are you consumed by the same thought over and over again? Are you not making progress by thinking about this particular thing? If so, this may be a sign that you should move on. Have you analyzed the same situation from a million angles? If you've found too many ways to look at something before you decide how to act, you may be being counterproductive. Have you enlisted the help of your twenty closest friends in thinking about a particular thing? If so, then it's time to realize that you can only ask for so many opinions about the same idea before you drive yourself insane. Are people constantly telling you to stop over-thinking things? Do people tease you for brooding, being a philosopher, or staring out of rainy windows all the time? If so, they may have a point. . If you feel like you don't know how to stop thinking, you need to learn what it's like to "let go" of your thoughts, so that it's something you can do deliberately. Imagine that thinking is like breathing; you do it all the time, without even realizing it. But if you need to, you can hold your breath. Meditating will help you learn how to release your thoughts.  Just spending 15-20 minutes meditating every morning can make a dramatic impact on your ability to stay in the present and let go of all of your nagging thoughts. You can also meditate at night to help yourself wind down. Running or even walking vigorously can help you take your mind off of all of those annoying thoughts and to focus on your body. Participating in something particularly active, like power yoga, martial arts or beach volleyball, will have you so focused on your body that you won't have time for your thoughts. Here are some great things to try:  Join a circuit gym. Having to switch to a new machine every minute when you hear that bell ring will keep you from getting lost in your thoughts.  Go hiking. Being around nature and seeing the beauty and stillness around you will keep you more focused on the present moment.  Go swimming. Swimming is such a physical activity that it's even harder to swim and think. Once you've said everything aloud, even if you're talking to yourself, you've begun the process of letting go. Walk around and pace if you have to. Once you've put your ideas out there, you've begun the process of putting them out into the world and out of your thoughts. You can say them aloud to yourself, your cat, or to a trusted friend. . You may have exhausted your own thinking power, but someone else might be able to offer a different perspective that makes the decision clearer. This can help let go of your troubling thoughts. Your friend can make you feel better, can ease your problems, and can also make you realize when you're spending way too much time thinking. Besides, if you're hanging out with a friend, you're not just thinking, right? That's something.
Summary: Accept that you're thinking too much. Meditate Exercise. Say your ideas out loud. Ask for advice