Mappy June!
In this letter:
MappyEverAfter: Make an easy $1100 or How to get started with Credit Card Bonuses
Experiment: We asked the 36 questions that make you fall in love
Health: How Dr. John E. Sarno is helping us end chronic pain and weakness
Money: Chase Bank offers $300 - $750 for opening a checking account
Eat: Dr. Andrew Weil’s Kale salad
Mental hack: In every situation, you only have three options
On MappyEverAfter.com
If you are an American and want to start earning credit card bonuses this story is for you. It’s a step-by-step, beginner guide on getting the maximum reward for the smallest minimum spending requirement on Chase Freedom cards. This year’s added perk is a 5% cash back on gas purchases.
You can use the points as cash for a statement credit, or you can start stashing them for future travel-hacking purposes.
Have a look at how easy it is and if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask. I’m here to help.
Read the story/tutorial on my MappyEverAfter website: Make an easy $1100 or How to get started with credit card bonuses
Experimenting with falling in love
You might have heard of the “36 questions that lead to love”. The experiment was created by psychologists Arthur and Elaine Aron, Ph.D., to see if two strangers can develop feelings of closeness and intimacy just by asking each other a series of increasingly personal questions. The answer was a resounding Yes.
So Markus and I started thinking - can one refresh “Old Love” using the same method?
The questions are split into three sets that can be done in one sitting but we made three sunset-on-a-porch-swing dates out of it. We sat down, got comfortable, drink in hand, and started asking and answering. Even after 20+ years together, we surprised each other with our answers. You might even find your own responses eye-opening.
After the experiment, we felt closer, more connected, and giddy, like you’d feel if you shared new secrets with your best friend.
Some instructions skip the last assignment, be sure to add it: Sit across from each other and stare in one another’s eyes for 4 minutes in silence. The eyes reveal more than words ever will.
Here are the questions if you want to give them a try: 36 Questions that Lead to Love
You may be able to cure your chronic pain, numbness, weakness, and a bunch of other woes with Dr. Sarno
The first time I heard of Dr. John E. Sarno (who died in 2017 at the age of 93) was in a book about anxiety and heart palpitations. It was written by a layperson claiming Sarno’s books helped him heal.
I’d just been through a battery of cardiac tests, none of which brought any clarity into my skipping heart, other than being possibly rooted in anxiety. Sarno got Markus’ attention too, since he’s suffered from chronic migraines, back and joint pain for the better part of his life, at times rendering him bed-ridden for months.
Dr. Sarno was a Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine at New York University School of Medicine, and an attending physician at the Howard A. Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, NYU Medical Center. His most notable (and vocal) patients have been the iconic radio shock jock Howard Stern, comedian Tom Scharpling, and creative TV legend Larry David.
Sarno coined the term Tension Myositis Syndrome (TMS). He claimed that many of us harbor unconscious rage, and from an evolutionary standpoint expressing rage lowers our survival odds. Our tribe members would ostracize us for screaming and shouting, yet being nice but in pain would get us sympathy and care.
Hence, the brain evolved to distract us by creating pain, or TMS. Groups of people that Sarno calls “goodists” (chronically helpful people-pleasers) and also high-achievers and perfectionists are the ones most prone to TMS. There is a myriad of diagnoses that might, upon closer examination, be caused by TMS: Bulging discs, fibromyalgia, hives, allergies, irritable bowel, headaches, heart palpitations, anxiety, ulcers, weakness - to name but a few.
This pain is very real, often debilitating, lasting weeks, months, or even years. It might respond to surgery or medication, but only temporarily. It either comes back or moves to another part of the body. And since fear is an excellent distractor, we avoid certain movements, activities, and exercises, and the fear of hurting ourselves overtakes our lives.
John E. Sarno wrote a few great books.
Here they are (pictures, not links). I got mine from the library.
Dr. Sarno recommends getting checked out by a doctor so that you don’t neglect a serious malady.
If you don’t find the answers you’re looking for, you might find clues in these books. The good news is that the cure is in the knowledge.
You don’t need to find the root cause of your unconscious anger and you don’t need to express it or change your personality. You just need to let your brain know that you are aware of the mischief it’s been up to. Many people get immediate relief from pain, and others take a few weeks or months to heal completely.
After following Sarno’s recommendations, my heart palpitations are gone. Markus still gets bouts of pain, but they last a few hours or days, not weeks or months like they used to. For us, it’s been a game-changer.
Chase bank’s $300 - $750 bonus offer expiring soon
You might very well qualify for a business checking account even without a business license or Employer Identification Number. If you have (or plan to start) a side-hustle, a business, or want to otherwise separate your income from your personal finances, you might be able to open a business checking account as a sole proprietor using your social security number. We opened our accounts in person (the online option didn’t work) in a Chase branch.
I got a targeted offer that I’d like to share with you just because I like you, no referral bonus for me on this one. Deposit between $2,000 and $20,000 into your new account in the first 30 days and use your new debit card 5x int he first 90 days to get a $300 - $750 bonus. Click on the picture to see this offer:
Kale Salad by Dr. Andrew Weil
We had this one at the True Food restaurant and were so smitten by it (how can something so healthy taste so delicious?) that we found a recipe and have been making it ever since. I use either breadcrumbs or croutons and if I don’t have Pecorino on hand, I use any hard cheese I have at home (recently Irish cheddar, yum). The ingredients are simple and few - Dinosaur kale, lemon, olive oil, garlic, cheese, breadcrumbs or croutons, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper.
Here’s the recipe: Dr. Weil's Kale Salad
Helpful mental hack:
In every unpleasant situation, we only have one of three sensible choices:
Accept it, Change it, or Leave.
Think about it. Is there any other option that’s helpful? Sure, we can complain, get angry, sulk, or distract ourselves, but that usually doesn’t solve anything.
If we can’t accept it, let’s change it. If we can’t change it, let’s leave. If we can’t leave, we need to accept it.
So there you have it. Hope you’re having a lovely June and getting into as many shenanigans as you can.
Be Mappy,
Mags
