Happiness in a Jar >A new New Year's tradition Carlos Bilan Staff Writer L°* be honest, 2016 did not seem like a pleasant year for many of us. If you feel the same and want to havea fresh start in 2017, then why don’t you try out this cool idea—make a happiness jar! The idea of a happiness jar is that you write down something that made you happy ona piece of paper with the day’s date, and you drop it ina jar. You do this every day until the year ends and on New Yeat’s Eve, you open that jar and read everything you have written down, so you are reminded of all the amazing things that made you happy over the whole year. If you miss a day, don't fret! You can always pick up where you left off and cover all the days you missed. You might have seen this idea floating around social media and this post usually comes up a few days before and after the New Year, but this project seems to be inspired by Elizabeth Gilbert, the author of the New York Times Bestseller Eat, Pray, Love. She posted a photo on her Facebook in 2012 of her happiness jar, and she has been encouraging people to do the same. There is no strict rule on how to make a happiness jar. You can make Get good a happiness bottle, a happiness piggy bank, a happiness box, or any container under the sun preceded by the noun “happiness.” The idea is that you just have a vessel and it is filled with all the things you have written down, or even physical things that made you happy. If you want to have a symbolic approach to ending the year and > Making the transition from console to PC Brittney MacDonald Life & Style Editor A® lifelong console gamer, there’s othing better to me than a sleek controller, a widescreen television, and some amazing surround sound. However, in recent years I decided to try to bridge the gap, and port my way over to PC gaming for a chance at more exclusives, and to play online with friends who were more Hewlett-Packard and less PlayStation. While nothing will replace my console craze, | will admit that PC gaming does have some advantages— however, actually making the change and not failing miserably when confronted with people who've been using a keyboard and mouse for years is not as easy as one might think. But rest assured, there are some things that can help. One of my biggest struggles when learning to play on PC was adapting to using a keyboard and mouse for my commands and range of motion. I hate to say it, but gaming keyboards are not usually designed with women in mind. Physically, women often have smaller hands then men, so this can make reaching all the various keys that control your skills while simultaneously using other keys to move around and dodge enemy attacks very difficult. People, both men and women, who have been using this method for years have the advantage of their hands becoming more flexible in regard to that range of motion. A PC gamer will develop more flexibility in their fingers, while a console gamer will develop it more in their thumbs. If you want proof of this, challenge a PC gamer to play any first person shooter with a controller. Most of the time they'll find it difficult to smoothly transition the camera, aim, and run at the same time. Not wanting to give up, I began looking into solutions to my problem. One EN -W-lOM(o(-t- Mich mB cela ee M lifeandstyle@theotherpress.ca QaQa Image via Thinkstock entering a new one, then it is a fabulous idea to use a breakaway bottle—one of the prop bottles which are safe to break and are used in acting—instead of a jar. You can even use a piggy bank and call it your happy piggy. In this way, you can smash it as soon as you scream “Happy New Year!” after the countdown, and read about all the amazing things Image via Peter Hellberg (peterhellberg) on Flickr such fix that I still use, despite the fact my hands are much more accommodating now, is a game pad. A game pad is an extension to a keyboard. Some gaming keyboards will come with one built in; other times, you can buy it as a device on its own. It is a duplicate set of buttons, but set in a specific way to better mimic the shape of a palm. This makes it much easier to reach all the buttons you need to, even if your finger dexterity isn’t the best. Nintendo Switch Lip service Beauty on a Budget: Covergirl Outlast All-Day Soft Touch Concealer and Matte Finishing Powder And more! that happened to you that year. The way I do it is with a multi- coloured memo block—which you can buy from Walmart for cheap—and that’s where I write all the good things that happen each day. In this way, my jar appears colourful, which can create a feeling of glee when looking at it. I also suggest you use light colours as they give a feeling of calmness and are pleasing to look at. Even when a day seemed uneventful, if I ponder enough, there is ALWAYS something that has made me happy. I write down everything and | have found that it has actually been therapeutic, and it has given me a more positive outlook in life. I use a jar, because on the days when I feel depressed, I can open the jar and read of all the good things that have happened in my life so far, and I feel comforted and more optimistic that I can experience that feeling again. Let’s face it, we all have bad days. Even the happiest people can experience sadness, and that’s totally natural. During these times, it is good to be reminded that the sadness is temporary, and you can be happy again. Reading about those awesome things that have happened to you can really help. Over time the game pad actually helped me develop the flexibility necessary to use the regular keyboard—though, when at home, I still prefer my game pad. Another big help was actually taking the time to assign hot buttons, and purchasing a mouse that had a couple extra buttons along its side specifically for that purpose. Though it doesn’t sound like much of a help, having those extra three or four buttons for quick access to health potions does mean a lot less dying—once you've gotten used to having them there, at least. This is also a great way to make sure you have easy access to the spells and skills you find yourself using the most, or ones that you know you'll use, but are outside of your fingers’ range of motion. Continuing with the mouse, I found that the oversized mousepads are a huge help. Restricting your movement to a small square that you'll repeatedly forget is there is not a good idea. Used to a grander range, console gamers have trouble remembering that there are physical limits to a mouse and by extension, a mouse pad. Removing that obstacle by either eliminating the mouse pad altogether or by getting an oversized one allows you one less annoyance when you should be otherwise occupied. Hopefully these few things will be at least a little bit helpful for you in making your dream of complete video game domination a reality.