An essay without a title - practicing writing Some people like changes, whereas others preffer to remain in stable, long-term commitments. What are precursors of living in a certain way? Do particular features of our character catalyze prosperity or misfortune? It is claimed that it's scientifically proved that there is a correlation between someone's personality and lifestyle. Extroverts, who are energetic people always looking out for more various experiences and for contact with others, are more likely to pursue short-term relationships and responsibilities. They tend to take up diffeent activities more willingly and their actions are often precursors to opening new avenues in numerous aspects of life. Introverts, on the other hand, preffer long-term engagements, both professional and personal. They seem to have habits they practice every day and sometimes even a slight change can put them off their stroke. But it is not said that we are condemned to living in a certain way only beacause we represent some 'described in a Dictionary of Psychology' features. We, as sensible beings, can and should decide about the way we live. For some people who had been choosing a slow pace of life for the first 30 or so years of their lives, something can suddenly change so they'll start living in a way that seemed strange to them before: they may start driving fast, eating more/less healthy, take up carate classes or start their own bussiness. Others may decide to slow down, take their time to consider what needs to be improved in their lives, which gaps need filling. So all in all I belive that it's an individual decision of our own that makes our lives what they are. If we blame labels for lack of success it is high time to disillusion ourselves and take full responsibility for our own well-being.

Poland's first female astronaut I have always liked to dream. And I have dreamed about impossible things which with time have turned into more achievable ambitions and become future plans. I wanted to be a spacewoman - Poland's first female astronaut. My space adventure, as I like to call it, begun when I was in high school. There was a phisics teacher I admired, who was fascinated with the possibility of life in other galaxies and often talked aboute different conspiracy theories he knew about. I picked up this obsession and after high school I studied science at the university and after a few interns I finally got my dream job in ESA - European Space Agency. The new job was very challenging. I spent hours with other people who also had the same ambitions like I did: we all wanted to go into space. I was one of two women there and at the beginning, after overhearing a few jokes about astro-women, I was a little afraid we'll be treated differently because of our gender, like less capable or weaker persons. But nothing like that happened. We made a very good team; despite the fact that we were competitors in getting that one job that had been on offer from NASA, we could cooperate and help each other willingly. Working there taught me a lot not only about my field, but also about myself and gave me the confidence that I am the right person to go into space and serve the humanity with the knowledge and skills I had. When I found out I got the job I jumped into the air screaming in an insane euphoria and I already felt as if I was beeing high. I was sent to The American Space Station where I trained to become a liaison officer. During my 15 years of joining the NASA team i have looked at our planet Earth from the distance of 300 000 kilometres many times. I have achieved what I wanted because I've always focused on positives and believed that this or another way I would be what I wanted to be. Being the first Poland's spacewoman is an honour and a priviledge. I was happy in every moment I spent up in the infinite blackness brightened by stars, but I also appreciate every step I take on Earth. I hope that by working as an astronaut I not only made* my own dreams come true, but also served my duty to our whole civilisation and inspired others to discover new lands and spaces. ________________________________________________________________ * I not only made... OR I didn't only make..... ? Which one is correct? Maybe both?

In pursuit of happiness I've read an article about materialism and our culture's tendency to choose 'to have' over 'to be'. Why do we decide to focus on material things and put our happiness and self-evaluation in them? The author of the article suggests that we very often want to show off to other people because we lack self-esteem or we try to compensate the lack of time we spend with our family by buying them expensive things. We also lay other peoples' opinions before ours. There are a few things we can do to change that. We should explore what we really need to be happy instead of just gathering newer, greater, popular stuff. Give carefull thought to our audience; think if we really do or get something because we want it or because we try to catch up with others or be in the centre of their attention. Who are the people from whom we seek acceptance and admiration? Are we putting our motivation outside of ourselves? Are we trying to be like someone else? On my journey through life I've discovered that it is wise to search for motivation inside us and not to follow the crowd. It's not about being a rebel or that original freak, it's about being honest with ourselves.

Afternoon nap I love sleeping. Whoever invented afternoon naps was a genius! But sleep disruption can be a nightmare. Both insomnia nad fatigue can be dangerous for our health. Sometimes we want to sleep and feel tired but we are not able to fall asleep or we don't get rejuvenated after resting. I start work at 8 am so I get up at 6.30 to get ready and travel to work. After work I'm very tired and usually I just eat something and dive under my duvet. I sleep for one to two hours and when I wake up I feel horrible. But after taking a shower I feel like a newborn. The problem is that if I rest in the afternoon, I can't sleep before midnight. So I feel great but have to go to sleep late, otherwise I just lie in bed with energy level up and my mind going on and on. But if I don't snooze in the afternoon my energy is low. It sometimes feels like there are two days in one. I don't know what's better/worse: being tired for half of the day and sleeping well at night, or sleeping during the day and missing that long, deep sleep during night.

E-cigarettes What does it mean to be a smoker? For me it means being a victim of my own positive belief about smoking. E-cigarettes contain water, proplene glycol, glycerin, some flavourings and of course nicotine. Some people calim that e-cigarettes have helped them to stop smoking. This made me curious about them so I decided to try how they'll work out for me. I have been smoking for a few years and stopped a few times during that time, but every time I started again it was harder to stop. I heve been smoking e-cig for about a week now and stopped 'normal' cigarettes. The main thing I dont like about this cigarette is that it makes me very sleepy. The fact that it last for so long also doesn't help to just put it away. Apart from that I'm glad I changed my habits and don't go for a fag during my breaktime or straight after work. All in all I'm determined to quit smoking, eat helthier and go for long walks a few times a week. I'm sure all this will contribute not only to my health, but also to gaining self-discipline and self-esteem. Thumbs up!

My annoying housemate Sometimes we get unlucky and we have to live with irritating people. My new housemate is a girl who is very noisy. She is trying to loose weight so she excercises a lot. Despite the beautiful weather she stays at home and does her jumps and aerobic in her room. The whole house is shaking but she doesn't care. When she uses the bathroom she tends to drop bottles on the floor, forgets to close the shower door or the toilet seat quietly. In the kitchen she bangs everything against everything. Is she just clumsy or is she angry?

Inattentional blindness Accidents on the road are quite common. Despite the fact that we have clear laws and rules for road users, there are always unpredictable situations happening, people who intentionally skip to follow the rules, and people who are just having a bad day. It is certain that one of the biggest distractions for a driver is talking on a phone. Experiments show that hands-free phones are not in any way safer to use while driving than handphones. Even though producers try to convince us about the advantages of hand-free phones over the handphones, the fact is that there's actually a lot of evidence against their claims. The problem with talking on the phone in a car is not the fact that we need to hold a phone close to our ear, which leaves us with only one hand on a steering wheal. The key issue here is our attention. We believe that we can easily devide our concentration between multiple tasks at the same time. As experienced drivers we know that when we talk on the phone we are still able to operate our vehicle, see and follow the signs on the road and so on. And this is true for many people. The problem arises when something unexpected happens. Most accidents happen because sudden events occur and we don't have enough time to react. Sometimes it's a matter of just one, two seconds. So the problem is with our limitations on motor control while we are distracted. Interestingly, it's a little diffrent whith conversations with our passengers. Different studies show that it is not as disturbing as talking on the phone. The clue here is that people who are with us in the car are aware of our environment. They can see what we see, they can warn us if they spot something worth our attention, like children playing a ball on a pavement, a motorcyclist, an animal crossing the road. They are not surprised when we suddenly stop talking and concentrate on the road. It's also important that we can hear and understand them better than people who we talk on the phone with, so we don't need to put so much effort into keeping up with the conversation. In summing up it can be said that driving while talking can be safe as long as we have an additional pair of eyes next to us. Being on the phone and carrying on with the conversation for social demand is something we should avoid for our own and other road users sake.

Driving and talking Accidents on the road are quite common. Despite the fact that we have clear laws and rules for road users, there are always unpredictable situations happening, people who intentionally skip to follow the rules, and people who are just having a bad day. It is certain that one of the biggest distractions for a driver is talking on a phone. Experiments show that hands-free phones are not in any way safer to use while driving than handphones. Even though producers try to convince us about the advantages of hand-free phones over the handphones, the fact is that there's actually a lot of evidence against their claims. The problem with talking on the phone in a car is not the fact that we need to hold a phone close to our ear, which leaves us with only one hand on a steering wheal. The key issue here is our attention. We believe that we can easily devide our concentration between multiple tasks at the same time. As experienced drivers we know that when we talk on the phone we are still able to operate our vehicle, see and follow the signs on the road and so on. And this is true for many people. The problem arises when something unexpected happens. Most accidents happen because sudden events occur and we don't have enough time to react. Sometimes it's a matter of just one, two seconds. So the problem is with our limitations on motor control while we are distracted. Interestingly, it's a little diffrent whith conversations with our passengers. Different studies show that it is not as disturbing as talking on the phone. The clue here is that people who are with us in the car are aware of our environment. They can see what we see, they can warn us if they spot something worth our attention, like children playing a ball on a pavement, a motorcyclist, an animal crossing the road. They are not surprised when we suddenly stop talking and concentrate on the road. It's also important that we can hear and understand them better than people who we talk on the phone with, so we don't need to put so much effort into keeping up with the conversation. In summing up it can be said that driving while talking can be safe as long as we have an additional pair of eyes next to us. Being on the phone and carrying on with the conversation for social demand is something we should avoid for our own and other road users sake.

Reasons for migration? Nowadays people migrate a lot. There are many reasons why we change place of living. Some of us look for employment, some move to be closer to their family, or we just feel the need for a change. As they say: "variety is the spice of life". It is very easy now to travel around the world. With internet based booking system we are just a few clicks away from getting ourselves a ticket to literally enywhere. All we need is a bank account and some money on it. I remember myself from before I settled down. I always wanted to travel. I imagined that I would never stay in one place for too long. I wanted to get to know places and people. I wanted to have a job in which I would be able to be on the go for the most of the time. And we all know that where there's a will there's a way. When I first went abroad I was very excited and couldn't wait to start the new job. That experience was mind-opening and brought new opportunities. But after a while I knew the role through and through and wanted something different, something new. So I decided to move on. I choose another country and found other possibilities for enriching my CV as well as achieving personal goals. I did different things, met wide variety of people and enjoyed taking myself into uncharted waters. I was at a crossroads a few times, feeling like I was going nowhere, but I always had someone to pull me out of trouble. All in all I must admit that last ten years have been very intensive and interesting thanks to my positive attitude and persistance in going where I really wanted to be. Now I'm taking a deep breath before new adventures which, I belive, await me.