INPUT ARTICLE: Article: While stains are one thing, taking time to care for your carpet as a whole will ensure it gets its best possible longevity. Getting your carpet cleaned every 12-18 months is optimal. You can either hire a professional cleaning company or buy a carpet cleaning machine.  It's generally recommended you hire a pro if you can afford the expense. A professional job will ensure the carpet is as clean a it can be, and minimizes the risk of complications. The best way to solve a stain is to prevent it outright. Unlike a carpet, a mat can be easily thrown into the laundry or cleaned by hand. Placing mats in areas with a high risk for stains and you may well save yourself time and stress in the future.  The front door to your home is a choice area to place a mat; not only is it one of the most highly-trafficked areas in your home, it'll also come with the threat of dirt and mud trailed in from the outside. Placing mats beside kitchen and bathroom sinks is a good way to trap water. The same goes beside baths and showers, as anyone using the shower will track water and suds with them when they get out. If you have carpets, vacuuming is an absolute must. Dust and dirt can get trailed in and make your carpet feel gritty pretty fast. Vacuuming every day or two will ensure your carpet's always looking and feeling its best.  If you don't have the time to vacuum regularly, investing in a robotic automatic vacuum is relatively inexpensive and a great way to keep your carpets clean without having to invest a great deal of time into it. Left for more than 24 hours, wet or damp carpet will encourage mildew and bacterial growth. Needless to say, this isn't the sort of thing you want in your home. A dehumidifier will help suck up excess moisture if your home has a tendency for such. Stains become much more permanent the longer they're left unattended. If you solve them as soon as they first happen, you'll be saved a lot of trouble in the future.

SUMMARY: Get your carpet cleaned every year. Place mats in high-risk areas. Vacuum frequently. Keep a dehumidifier running in your house. Clean all prospective stains immediately.


INPUT ARTICLE: Article: A major indicator of the victim mentality is the tendency to place blame on outside sources for the state you are in. Maybe you blame your spouse because you stopped going out with friends and ended up feeling socially isolated. Maybe you blame your parents for not exposing you to certain opportunities in life that would ensure your future success. No matter where blame is directed, it’s essentially useless. When you blame others, you give them power over your life instead of taking your destiny into your own hands. What’s more, you also push people away in the process. Do you spend most days of the week lamenting to any who will listen about your problems or inadequacies? Do you notice friends slowly not taking your phone calls or people avoiding you at work? Even the best relationships have trouble surviving when one person always has something bad to share. Complaining can be a tempting behavior and nonstop venting may seem to make you feel good on the surface. However, constant complaining sends the message to your brain to look for the negative, which only makes you feel worse in the long run. Feeling inadequate and not good enough is at the core of the victim mentality. A self-loather often views him/herself negatively and is always nervously waiting for others to spot all their inadequacies.  This kind of person is terribly hard to be in a relationship with because they cannot accept praise or compliments. Someone else may say “Wow, you did a great job on this project!” and the person pushes away the compliment with “Oh, no it was Tommy who did all the work.” One way to stop self-loathing is to accept the reality that how you see yourself isn’t the only or right way for you to be. Recognize that others' perceptions of you may be different, but, at least to them, they may also be accurate. Another clear sign of being a victim is living in the past. You may constantly reflect back on your earlier years and regret decisions or actions that you didn’t take.  Dwelling in the past is pointless since you can never go back there. Do you find yourself falling into the shoulda, woulda, coulda trap? If so, you must recognize that you are wasting time today focusing on what’s already done. Instead turn to the present and see what you steps you can take to improve from here. If you find yourself always examining the lives of friends, family, or other acquaintances and thinking about how great they have it, you are keeping yourself stuck in misery and failure. Theodore Roosevelt argued that “comparison is the thief of joy” because it’s virtually impossible to be content with your own life when you are always busy measuring yourself up to others.  In some instances, comparisons can spark competition to improve yourself. For example, you notice that a coworker is well on his way to earning a promotion, you may then be inspired to work equally as hard.  Yet, if it is not used wisely and carefully, it can backfire and leave you miserable. Keep a careful watch on your comparing nature, and remind yourself that even people that seem to have it all together also deal with trials and tribulations just like you. Having an internal locus of control means that you feel like you can influence the outcome of your own situation. However, having an external locus of control means that you feel like you cannot influence the outcome of your situation because the situation controls you. This is a sign of victim mentality.  For example, if your boss is unsatisfied with your performance and gives you a negative review, then you might think to yourself, "He is impossible to please. Guess I am going to get fired." This would indicate an external locus of control and a victim mentality. On the other hand, someone who has an internal locus of control might respond to a negative performance review more proactively, such as by thinking, "Okay, that sucked, but what can I do to improve my performance, ensure that my boss is happy, and secure my job?" Work on developing your sense of control over your life circumstances and events to overcome this aspect of victim mentality. In general, taking on a victim mentality is unhealthy for you personally and socially. However, there are some situations when feeling like a victim is warranted, particularly in situations when you have been harmed physically or emotionally.  For instance, almost anyone is bound to feel sorry for themselves after being betrayed or cheated on by a lover. Or, after having a serious car accident that results in you having to use a wheelchair. In spite of these circumstances, it's still important for you not to wallow in self-pity or ruminate about how bad your situation is. Taking the positive route is an overall healthier and more adaptive approach and can improve your self-esteem in the long run.

SUMMARY:
Look for signs of blame. Determine if you are always calling others to complain. Identify self-loathing. Decide if you are hung up by past mistakes. Spot comparisons. Identify an external locus of control. Know legitimate reasons for feeling like a victim.