Osama (Usama) Bin Laden was claimed by the American Government to have been killed this week. U.S president Barack Obama announced earlier this week that a special operation was conducted by U.S Army which killed Obama. I don’t buy his story.
Many of the Americans believe it as true and are cheering slogans of victory near White House. The mainstream media and newspapers are also agreeing with Obama and telling the general public as being true. I , however, think that Osama Bin Laden has been dead now for more than a decade. He died of natural causes and U.S government has his corpse frozen. They are using it to run a campaign for their election.
Clinton, Bush and now Obama they are all liers. I don’t trust any words they speak.
The Americans have been lied to since 911 and most of the people are totally unaware of what the truth really is. 911 was an inside job, it was a false flag operation. The same technique used by Hitler in the world war and the same technique now being used by the American Presidents to go to war with Iraq, Afghanistan and other middle-east countries.
This is the ninth time the U.S have claimed that Osama is dead. They should stop lying to the public and held accountable for misleading the public for so long. Its been too long the ruling elite have been controlling the masses and we the people should stand up for our rights.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Dealing with Depression
Depression is one of the most debilitating diseases in society today. Unfortunately, most people have no idea about the
effects of depression or what someone that actually suffers from this diseases is going through. Many people, both friends and family members, can be quite cruel by not even trying to understand how someone with depression feels. As a matter of fact, many people tend to think that it's something that can just be "turned off" instantly, but it doesn't work that way at all.
Depression attacks many people from all walks of life. It's not particular about who it affects. Many people in different professions including doctors, teachers, police officers and people from practically all walks of life are not immune to the effects of depression. Some people suffer from mild depression which may last for a few weeks at a time and go away. Others may suffer from what is known of major depression, where their symptoms may last for several months at a time and be deep and dark. Sufferers of major depression have symptoms such as mood swings, sometimes violent, suicidal thoughts, feelings of hopelessness, irritability, isolating themselves and may also have a tendency to use alcohol and drugs as an escape from their symptoms.
Another form of depression is called bipolar disorder, which is also known as manic depression. Manic depression is one of the most difficult types of depression to diagnose. Unfortunately, this type of disorder has many of the same symptoms of other forms of depression, but can include its own unique symptoms such as self mutilation, in addition to violent tendencies, in some people. Bipolar disorder can be controlled as long as the person continues to take medication. Lithium is one drug that has been prescribed for sufferers of bipolar disorder and has been found to be effective for many people.
Researchers have come up with many different types of antidepressant medications. Each person tends to be unique as to how they react to these medications, therefore it's not always possible for doctors to prescribe the correct medication on the first try. Sometimes it may take several attempts or different combinations of medicines in order to become effective for each individual patient. Also, it can take as much as three to four weeks for these medicines to be sufficiently absorbed into a persons system to know whether they're working or not. In some cases, the patient must gradually reduce the dosage in order to wean themselves off of the medicine, because stopping it cold turkey could prove to be dangerous.
The next time that you run across someone who suffers from depression, whether it be friend, family member or stranger for that matter, try to have a little bit of patience and compassion. No one is immune to this debilitating disease. Who knows, it may even happen to you someday.
Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/tips-for-dealing-with-people-that-are-depressed-154012.html
effects of depression or what someone that actually suffers from this diseases is going through. Many people, both friends and family members, can be quite cruel by not even trying to understand how someone with depression feels. As a matter of fact, many people tend to think that it's something that can just be "turned off" instantly, but it doesn't work that way at all.
Depression attacks many people from all walks of life. It's not particular about who it affects. Many people in different professions including doctors, teachers, police officers and people from practically all walks of life are not immune to the effects of depression. Some people suffer from mild depression which may last for a few weeks at a time and go away. Others may suffer from what is known of major depression, where their symptoms may last for several months at a time and be deep and dark. Sufferers of major depression have symptoms such as mood swings, sometimes violent, suicidal thoughts, feelings of hopelessness, irritability, isolating themselves and may also have a tendency to use alcohol and drugs as an escape from their symptoms.
Another form of depression is called bipolar disorder, which is also known as manic depression. Manic depression is one of the most difficult types of depression to diagnose. Unfortunately, this type of disorder has many of the same symptoms of other forms of depression, but can include its own unique symptoms such as self mutilation, in addition to violent tendencies, in some people. Bipolar disorder can be controlled as long as the person continues to take medication. Lithium is one drug that has been prescribed for sufferers of bipolar disorder and has been found to be effective for many people.
Researchers have come up with many different types of antidepressant medications. Each person tends to be unique as to how they react to these medications, therefore it's not always possible for doctors to prescribe the correct medication on the first try. Sometimes it may take several attempts or different combinations of medicines in order to become effective for each individual patient. Also, it can take as much as three to four weeks for these medicines to be sufficiently absorbed into a persons system to know whether they're working or not. In some cases, the patient must gradually reduce the dosage in order to wean themselves off of the medicine, because stopping it cold turkey could prove to be dangerous.
The next time that you run across someone who suffers from depression, whether it be friend, family member or stranger for that matter, try to have a little bit of patience and compassion. No one is immune to this debilitating disease. Who knows, it may even happen to you someday.
Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/tips-for-dealing-with-people-that-are-depressed-154012.html
Satisty the hunger: Acceptance, Approval and Appreciation
Source: http://www.youmeworks.com/sathunger.html
A HIGH SCHOOL CLASS was graduating in 1901 and among the graduating students was valedictorian, Charlie Ross. As he stepped up to receive his diploma, his English teacher, Tillie Brown, the most loved teacher in the school, came up to congratulate Charlie personally with a kiss.
Some of the other graduates felt left out; they wanted special recognition too. After the ceremony, a group of them came over to talk with Miss Brown. But she stood her ground. Charlie had worked hard and deserved special recognition. When they had done something worthwhile, she would have a kiss for them too.
Charlie went on to accomplish a great deal. He worked hard and eventually became the White House press secretary, personally chosen by President Harry Truman. And one of the first tasks President Truman gave to Charlie was to call Charlie's high-school English teacher and deliver a message from the President: "How about that kiss I never got? Have I done something worthwhile enough to rate it now?" Harry Truman was one of the kids that approached Miss Brown after the graduation ceremony, and he hadn't forgotten her promise.
Les Giblin, in his book, How to Have Confidence and Power in Dealing with People, says that people are hungry for acceptance, approval and appreciation. This should come as no great shock to you. I want these three things from my fellow humans; you want these three things; everyone wants them. All the techniques you'll find in Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People have one aim in mind: to feed this deep human hunger.
"Put out a T-bone steak on your back door step," wrote Giblin, "and you don't have to ride herd on the dogs in your neighborhood to get them to come. They'll be there. And when word gets around that you have in stock the three basic foods…[acceptance, approval, appreciation] people will be attracted to you in the same way."
If you conduct your practice of people-skills from this perspective, from this originating principle, your practice will be respectful of both yourself and of others. If you do not, the practice of people-skills can easily devolve into simply manipulation of others to get what you want, or even worse, as a form of groveling to get others to like you.
To the outside observer, all three of these different motivations may seem to manifest in the same way; in other words, from the outside, these all may look the same to the casual observer — calling people by name, refraining from criticizing others, going out of your way to praise people. But the feeling of practicing people skills with the intention of giving people what they hunger for is a totally different feeling from the other two (manipulation or groveling). It not only feels different to you, but the ultimate result is much better.
People are usually capable of perceiving your real motivations, and they will not respond well to either manipulation or groveling. They will resist and reject manipulation and distrust you. And they will not respect anyone who grovels to get people to like them.
But if you see the real situation — that everyone has some degree of social anxiety, and that what they crave for reassurance is acceptance, approval, and appreciation — you can practice people-skills with respect for yourself and others. Everyone wins. When you treat people with this intention, you will get good responses from people, but don't focus on what you're getting. Focus on helping people feed their hunger. Honestly and respectfully.
It is fairly easy to slip into dishonesty: Praising things or expressing approval for things you do not actually approve of or appreciate, because that's the easy way. Feeding that deep human hunger with honesty requires practice and skill. It requires looking for what you actually approve of and appreciate. It requires you to refrain from judging people, not only outwardly, but also in the privacy of your mind. Practicing people-skills in this way will make you a better person. Let's now look at the three human hungers in a little more detail.
ACCEPTANCE
As Giblin points out, we want people to accept us as we are. That's the definition of a friend: Someone you can be yourself with. We all have a bandwidth of acceptance. For some people, this bandwidth isn't very wide at all. It is a narrow range, and everyone outside that corridor is disapproved of. They don't approve of the way you're dressed or the way you talk or your religion or your skin color, etc. It is much more comfortable and satisfying to converse with someone who accepts us as we are and does not excessively judge and condemn us at every opportunity. And we all feel the same way. So when you learn to simply accept people as they are, you help feed their hunger. They crave acceptance, and all their lives they have been shunned by some, disapproved of, and it makes them feel somewhat hesitant to just be themselves around people for fear of being hurt. When they discover they can be around you and you accept them exactly as they are, it is like being welcomed into a warm home after wandering the snow-covered Siberian forest for days, frozen and hungry. This is not as much of an exaggeration as you might first think. We do not talk too much about the pain of disapproval because we fear more disapproval. But disapproval is painful. So people keep themselves hidden.
You can free people from their self-imposed prison by simply accepting them as they are. "Don't set rigid personal standards of how you think other people ought to act," says Giblin. "Give the other person the right to be himself. If he's a little peculiar, let him be. Don't insist that he do everything you do and like everything you like. Let him relax when he is around you."
Acceptance breeds acceptance. Intolerance breeds intolerance. So in a small way, your simple acceptance of people makes them more likely to accept others, and it can ease tensions between people to spread this soothing balm of acceptance and tolerance in the world.
APPROVAL
If these three are food for the human hunger, acceptance is the appetizer, approval is the main course, and appreciation is dessert. Approval goes farther than acceptance. It is more active. When you accept something, you tolerate it. When you approve of something, you like it. And to find something you like in a person — besides the obvious things like looks or a melodious voice — you have to actively seek it. That is one of the ways of practicing people skills. How good are you at finding things about other people you approve of? Do you even look? That should be always one of the parameters you seek in any conversation: "What about this person can I heartily approve of?"
"You can always find something to approve of in the other person," says Giblin, "and you can always find something to disapprove of. It depends upon what you're looking for."
You don't have to find big things to approve of. People are so hungry for approval, they are satisfied with any approval they can get.
APPRECIATION
This again, goes further even than approval. Approval is about what you like. Appreciation, as the word implies, is about what you value. And it has mainly to do with what people do rather than what they are. You can be much more specific with appreciation and that's one of the things that makes this such a great thing — people can't dismiss what you say if you are specific enough and you're talking about tangible reality.
Appreciating people is a skill, which means you can get better at it. You'll find some things that work better than other. Some ways of communicating your appreciation will be brushed off. People are cynical. They are used to others faking their appreciation to get something out of them. A boss praises their good work in order to get the person to keep working hard. Salespeople praise a color choice to get the customer to buy. So it takes some skill and ability to get through to people and really get them to feel appreciated, but when you do, it can warm a person's heart for years, so rare is effective appreciation, and so hungry people are for it.
A HIGH SCHOOL CLASS was graduating in 1901 and among the graduating students was valedictorian, Charlie Ross. As he stepped up to receive his diploma, his English teacher, Tillie Brown, the most loved teacher in the school, came up to congratulate Charlie personally with a kiss.
Some of the other graduates felt left out; they wanted special recognition too. After the ceremony, a group of them came over to talk with Miss Brown. But she stood her ground. Charlie had worked hard and deserved special recognition. When they had done something worthwhile, she would have a kiss for them too.
Charlie went on to accomplish a great deal. He worked hard and eventually became the White House press secretary, personally chosen by President Harry Truman. And one of the first tasks President Truman gave to Charlie was to call Charlie's high-school English teacher and deliver a message from the President: "How about that kiss I never got? Have I done something worthwhile enough to rate it now?" Harry Truman was one of the kids that approached Miss Brown after the graduation ceremony, and he hadn't forgotten her promise.
Les Giblin, in his book, How to Have Confidence and Power in Dealing with People, says that people are hungry for acceptance, approval and appreciation. This should come as no great shock to you. I want these three things from my fellow humans; you want these three things; everyone wants them. All the techniques you'll find in Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People have one aim in mind: to feed this deep human hunger.
"Put out a T-bone steak on your back door step," wrote Giblin, "and you don't have to ride herd on the dogs in your neighborhood to get them to come. They'll be there. And when word gets around that you have in stock the three basic foods…[acceptance, approval, appreciation] people will be attracted to you in the same way."
If you conduct your practice of people-skills from this perspective, from this originating principle, your practice will be respectful of both yourself and of others. If you do not, the practice of people-skills can easily devolve into simply manipulation of others to get what you want, or even worse, as a form of groveling to get others to like you.
To the outside observer, all three of these different motivations may seem to manifest in the same way; in other words, from the outside, these all may look the same to the casual observer — calling people by name, refraining from criticizing others, going out of your way to praise people. But the feeling of practicing people skills with the intention of giving people what they hunger for is a totally different feeling from the other two (manipulation or groveling). It not only feels different to you, but the ultimate result is much better.
People are usually capable of perceiving your real motivations, and they will not respond well to either manipulation or groveling. They will resist and reject manipulation and distrust you. And they will not respect anyone who grovels to get people to like them.
But if you see the real situation — that everyone has some degree of social anxiety, and that what they crave for reassurance is acceptance, approval, and appreciation — you can practice people-skills with respect for yourself and others. Everyone wins. When you treat people with this intention, you will get good responses from people, but don't focus on what you're getting. Focus on helping people feed their hunger. Honestly and respectfully.
It is fairly easy to slip into dishonesty: Praising things or expressing approval for things you do not actually approve of or appreciate, because that's the easy way. Feeding that deep human hunger with honesty requires practice and skill. It requires looking for what you actually approve of and appreciate. It requires you to refrain from judging people, not only outwardly, but also in the privacy of your mind. Practicing people-skills in this way will make you a better person. Let's now look at the three human hungers in a little more detail.
ACCEPTANCE
As Giblin points out, we want people to accept us as we are. That's the definition of a friend: Someone you can be yourself with. We all have a bandwidth of acceptance. For some people, this bandwidth isn't very wide at all. It is a narrow range, and everyone outside that corridor is disapproved of. They don't approve of the way you're dressed or the way you talk or your religion or your skin color, etc. It is much more comfortable and satisfying to converse with someone who accepts us as we are and does not excessively judge and condemn us at every opportunity. And we all feel the same way. So when you learn to simply accept people as they are, you help feed their hunger. They crave acceptance, and all their lives they have been shunned by some, disapproved of, and it makes them feel somewhat hesitant to just be themselves around people for fear of being hurt. When they discover they can be around you and you accept them exactly as they are, it is like being welcomed into a warm home after wandering the snow-covered Siberian forest for days, frozen and hungry. This is not as much of an exaggeration as you might first think. We do not talk too much about the pain of disapproval because we fear more disapproval. But disapproval is painful. So people keep themselves hidden.
You can free people from their self-imposed prison by simply accepting them as they are. "Don't set rigid personal standards of how you think other people ought to act," says Giblin. "Give the other person the right to be himself. If he's a little peculiar, let him be. Don't insist that he do everything you do and like everything you like. Let him relax when he is around you."
Acceptance breeds acceptance. Intolerance breeds intolerance. So in a small way, your simple acceptance of people makes them more likely to accept others, and it can ease tensions between people to spread this soothing balm of acceptance and tolerance in the world.
APPROVAL
If these three are food for the human hunger, acceptance is the appetizer, approval is the main course, and appreciation is dessert. Approval goes farther than acceptance. It is more active. When you accept something, you tolerate it. When you approve of something, you like it. And to find something you like in a person — besides the obvious things like looks or a melodious voice — you have to actively seek it. That is one of the ways of practicing people skills. How good are you at finding things about other people you approve of? Do you even look? That should be always one of the parameters you seek in any conversation: "What about this person can I heartily approve of?"
"You can always find something to approve of in the other person," says Giblin, "and you can always find something to disapprove of. It depends upon what you're looking for."
You don't have to find big things to approve of. People are so hungry for approval, they are satisfied with any approval they can get.
APPRECIATION
This again, goes further even than approval. Approval is about what you like. Appreciation, as the word implies, is about what you value. And it has mainly to do with what people do rather than what they are. You can be much more specific with appreciation and that's one of the things that makes this such a great thing — people can't dismiss what you say if you are specific enough and you're talking about tangible reality.
Appreciating people is a skill, which means you can get better at it. You'll find some things that work better than other. Some ways of communicating your appreciation will be brushed off. People are cynical. They are used to others faking their appreciation to get something out of them. A boss praises their good work in order to get the person to keep working hard. Salespeople praise a color choice to get the customer to buy. So it takes some skill and ability to get through to people and really get them to feel appreciated, but when you do, it can warm a person's heart for years, so rare is effective appreciation, and so hungry people are for it.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
How to be articulate
How to Be Articulate
Being articulate gives people the impression of a solid, full education and cultured mind. It can also make you look like a snob. Choose your speaking habits carefully.
Steps
1.Know your subject. Speak on matters where you are able to bring more clarity to others or help add to the discussion. Speaking from a desire to add something or just get your voice heard, will not add to your perceived level of articulateness. Let others speak about things that they are an expert in and add to that discussion through articulate questions. Do your research and know the alternative perspectives but be willing to quit sharing when you move outside your current knowledge.
2.Eliminate verbal pauses. Words such as um, a, like, etc... degrade and detract from what you say. They disturb the flow of a sentence and make it detached. A nonverbal pause is much better. When floundering for words, a nonverbal pause, placed correctly, gives the listener the effect of a dramatic or studied thought. It confirms your control over what is being said.
3.Think before you speak. This helps to eliminate the verbal pauses and may prevent you from saying something that does not make sense.
4.Expand your vocabulary. Using a plethora of words that mean that same thing creates more interest and color in your speech. Reading aids this effort and elevates your intelligence. If you do not understand the words you read, consult a dictionary or thesaurus.
5.Use real words. Shun slang and contractions. Instead of hi, use hello, instead of yea, use yes. Never use huh, huh-ah unless in the context of a story or event....
6.Use correct grammar. Study the proper uses of the words following words: I, me, him, his, he, no, not. They are commonly used incorrectly in cases such as double negatives and when listing people. When reiterating a fact you already stated, always say "as I said", never, "like I said".
7.Try to work on being more concise. Saying more by saying more can make some people shut down or quit listening. Add content to discussions that is as condensed as possible without being vague. Talking until you get to your point will insure half of your audience has already tuned out. State your point up front and people will know what you are trying to elaborate about.
8.Have patience. Reforming the way you speak takes a great deal of time and effort.
Tips:
+Keep up to date with current events and know your history. This is not mandatory, but assists in intelligent conversation. What use is your speaking ability if you have nothing to speak about?
+If you find it difficult to stop saying 'um' etc out loud, try thinking the word instead.
+Know the difference between sounding articulate and just trying to sound educated. Using big words = educated. Using words that everyone understands = articulate. Adding unassociated statistics = educated. Knowing the small details of your position = articulate.
Warnings
+Avoid profanity. Crude language never heightens anybody's opinion of you, unless they're a preteen boy. (You shouldn't be worried about impressing them.)
+Avoid rambling. If you do not have anything to say, sit down! No one has ever complained about a meeting that ended early.
Being articulate gives people the impression of a solid, full education and cultured mind. It can also make you look like a snob. Choose your speaking habits carefully.
Steps
1.Know your subject. Speak on matters where you are able to bring more clarity to others or help add to the discussion. Speaking from a desire to add something or just get your voice heard, will not add to your perceived level of articulateness. Let others speak about things that they are an expert in and add to that discussion through articulate questions. Do your research and know the alternative perspectives but be willing to quit sharing when you move outside your current knowledge.
2.Eliminate verbal pauses. Words such as um, a, like, etc... degrade and detract from what you say. They disturb the flow of a sentence and make it detached. A nonverbal pause is much better. When floundering for words, a nonverbal pause, placed correctly, gives the listener the effect of a dramatic or studied thought. It confirms your control over what is being said.
3.Think before you speak. This helps to eliminate the verbal pauses and may prevent you from saying something that does not make sense.
4.Expand your vocabulary. Using a plethora of words that mean that same thing creates more interest and color in your speech. Reading aids this effort and elevates your intelligence. If you do not understand the words you read, consult a dictionary or thesaurus.
5.Use real words. Shun slang and contractions. Instead of hi, use hello, instead of yea, use yes. Never use huh, huh-ah unless in the context of a story or event....
6.Use correct grammar. Study the proper uses of the words following words: I, me, him, his, he, no, not. They are commonly used incorrectly in cases such as double negatives and when listing people. When reiterating a fact you already stated, always say "as I said", never, "like I said".
7.Try to work on being more concise. Saying more by saying more can make some people shut down or quit listening. Add content to discussions that is as condensed as possible without being vague. Talking until you get to your point will insure half of your audience has already tuned out. State your point up front and people will know what you are trying to elaborate about.
8.Have patience. Reforming the way you speak takes a great deal of time and effort.
Tips:
+Keep up to date with current events and know your history. This is not mandatory, but assists in intelligent conversation. What use is your speaking ability if you have nothing to speak about?
+If you find it difficult to stop saying 'um' etc out loud, try thinking the word instead.
+Know the difference between sounding articulate and just trying to sound educated. Using big words = educated. Using words that everyone understands = articulate. Adding unassociated statistics = educated. Knowing the small details of your position = articulate.
Warnings
+Avoid profanity. Crude language never heightens anybody's opinion of you, unless they're a preteen boy. (You shouldn't be worried about impressing them.)
+Avoid rambling. If you do not have anything to say, sit down! No one has ever complained about a meeting that ended early.
Friday, September 21, 2007
How to Win Friends and Influence People
How to Win Friends and Influence People
This is Dale Carnegie's summary of his book, from 1936
Table of Contents
1. Fundamental Techniques in Handling People
2. Six Ways to Make People Like You
3. How to Win People to Your Way of Thinking
4. Be a Leader: How to Change People Without Giving Offense or Arousing Resentment
Part One
Fundamental Techniques in Handling People
1. Don't criticize, condemn or complain.
2. Give honest and sincere appreciation.
3. Arouse in the other person an eager want.
Part Two
Six ways to make people like you
1. Become genuinely interested in other people.
2. Smile.
3. Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
4. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
5. Talk in terms of the other person's interests.
6. Make the other person feel important - and do it sincerely.
Part Three
Win people to your way of thinking
1. The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.
2. Show respect for the other person's opinions. Never say, "You're wrong."
3. If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically.
4. Begin in a friendly way.
5. Get the other person saying "yes, yes" immediately.
6. Let the other person do a great deal of the talking.
7. Let the other person feel that the idea is his or hers.
8. Try honestly to see things from the other person's point of view.
9. Be sympathetic with the other person's ideas and desires.
10. Appeal to the nobler motives.
11. Dramatize your ideas.
12. Throw down a challenge.
Part Four
Be a Leader: How to Change People Without Giving Offense or Arousing Resentment
A leader's job often includes changing your people's attitudes and behavior. Some suggestions to accomplish this:
1. Begin with praise and honest appreciation.
2. Call attention to people's mistakes indirectly.
3. Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person.
4. Ask questions instead of giving direct orders.
5. Let the other person save face.
6. Praise the slightest improvement and praise every improvement. Be "hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise."
7. Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to.
8. Use encouragement. Make the fault seem easy to correct.
9. Make the other person happy about doing the thing you suggest.
This is Dale Carnegie's summary of his book, from 1936
Table of Contents
1. Fundamental Techniques in Handling People
2. Six Ways to Make People Like You
3. How to Win People to Your Way of Thinking
4. Be a Leader: How to Change People Without Giving Offense or Arousing Resentment
Part One
Fundamental Techniques in Handling People
1. Don't criticize, condemn or complain.
2. Give honest and sincere appreciation.
3. Arouse in the other person an eager want.
Part Two
Six ways to make people like you
1. Become genuinely interested in other people.
2. Smile.
3. Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
4. Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
5. Talk in terms of the other person's interests.
6. Make the other person feel important - and do it sincerely.
Part Three
Win people to your way of thinking
1. The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.
2. Show respect for the other person's opinions. Never say, "You're wrong."
3. If you are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically.
4. Begin in a friendly way.
5. Get the other person saying "yes, yes" immediately.
6. Let the other person do a great deal of the talking.
7. Let the other person feel that the idea is his or hers.
8. Try honestly to see things from the other person's point of view.
9. Be sympathetic with the other person's ideas and desires.
10. Appeal to the nobler motives.
11. Dramatize your ideas.
12. Throw down a challenge.
Part Four
Be a Leader: How to Change People Without Giving Offense or Arousing Resentment
A leader's job often includes changing your people's attitudes and behavior. Some suggestions to accomplish this:
1. Begin with praise and honest appreciation.
2. Call attention to people's mistakes indirectly.
3. Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person.
4. Ask questions instead of giving direct orders.
5. Let the other person save face.
6. Praise the slightest improvement and praise every improvement. Be "hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise."
7. Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to.
8. Use encouragement. Make the fault seem easy to correct.
9. Make the other person happy about doing the thing you suggest.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
How To Make Friends At School
The social scene in school can be a nightmare. Finding friends you have something in common with and then building those friendships is really important, but it's not always easy to do. VideoJug gives you some top tips on school friendships.
________________________________________
Step 1:
Be friendly
If you want to get to know people, make sure you smile a lot. Look people in the eye and be approachable. Ask lots of questions and show an interest in what people have to say.
________________________________________
Step 2:
Find common interests
A great way to meet people is to join clubs, sports and activities. This will give you common ground to talk about. It's possible to break into existing cliques and groups if you find that you have something in common with them.
________________________________________
Step 3:
Be a good friend
Make sure that you are trustworthy. If someone shares a secret with you, keep it to yourself.
________________________________________
Step 1:
Be friendly
If you want to get to know people, make sure you smile a lot. Look people in the eye and be approachable. Ask lots of questions and show an interest in what people have to say.
________________________________________
Step 2:
Find common interests
A great way to meet people is to join clubs, sports and activities. This will give you common ground to talk about. It's possible to break into existing cliques and groups if you find that you have something in common with them.
________________________________________
Step 3:
Be a good friend
Make sure that you are trustworthy. If someone shares a secret with you, keep it to yourself.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
The Ten Rituals of Radiant Living.
"The Ten Rituals of Radiant Living."
1>>>>"The first strategy was known to the sages as the Ritual of
Solitude. This involves nothing more than ensuring that your daily
schedule includes a mandatory period of peace."
The Ritual of
Solitude works best when you practice it at the same time every
day."
2>>>Which brings me to the second
ritual. This is the Ritual of Physicality."Take some time every single day to
nourish the temple of your body through vigorous exercise. Get
your blood circulating and your body moving.(YOga)
3>>>>"If you like that, then you will love the Third Ritual of Radiant
Living," said Julian."Which is?"
"The Ritual of Live Nourishment."Basically, live foods are those which are created through the
natural interaction of the sun, air, soil and water. What I'm talking
about here is a vegetarian diet. Fill your plate with fresh
vegetables, fruits and grains and you might just live forever."
4>>>>"If I have sold you on the Ritual of Live Nourishment, I think
you will love the fourth one."
"Your student is still holding his empty cup."
"The fourth ritual is known as the Ritual of Abundant
Knowledge. It centers around the whole notion of lifelong learning
and expanding your knowledge base for the good of yourself and
all those around you.""Read regularly. Reading for thirty minutes a day will do
wonders for you. But I must caution you. Do not read just
anything. You must be very selective about what you put into the
lush garden of your mind. It must be immensely nourishing.
Make it something that will improve both you and the quality of
your life."
5>>>"Okay, what's the Fifth Ritual of Radiant Living?"
"It is the Ritual of Personal Reflection.
When you read Ben Franklin's
biography you will see what I mean. Every evening, after a full day
of productive work, he would retire to a silent corner of his home
and reflect on his day. He would consider all of his actions and
whether they were positive and constructive or whether they were
of the negative sort, in need of repair. By clearly knowing what he
was doing wrong in his days, he could take immediate steps to
improve and advance along the path of self-mastery.
6>>>>>>>"How about thinking about the Sixth Ritual for Radiant
Living: the Ritual of Early Awakening."
7>>>>"And this brings me to the seventh of the Rituals of Radiant
Living: the Ritual of Music."
8>>>"Okay. The eighth ritual is the Ritual of the Spoken Word. The
sages had a series of mantras which they would recite morning,
noon and night. They told me that this practice was immensely
effective in keeping them focused, strong and happy."
9>>>"Which leads us into the Ninth Ritual of Radiant Living quite
nicely. This is the Ritual of a Congruent Character.
Perhaps Yogi
Raman articulated the formula best when he stated: 'You sow a
thought, you reap an action. Reap an action, you sow a habit. Sow
a habit, you reap a character. Sow a character, you reap your
destiny.'"
"They are, simply stated: industry, compassion, humility,
patience, honesty and courage.
10>>"And the final ritual?"
"This is the all-important Ritual of Simplicity. This ritual
requires you to live a simple life.
1>>>>"The first strategy was known to the sages as the Ritual of
Solitude. This involves nothing more than ensuring that your daily
schedule includes a mandatory period of peace."
The Ritual of
Solitude works best when you practice it at the same time every
day."
2>>>Which brings me to the second
ritual. This is the Ritual of Physicality."Take some time every single day to
nourish the temple of your body through vigorous exercise. Get
your blood circulating and your body moving.(YOga)
3>>>>"If you like that, then you will love the Third Ritual of Radiant
Living," said Julian."Which is?"
"The Ritual of Live Nourishment."Basically, live foods are those which are created through the
natural interaction of the sun, air, soil and water. What I'm talking
about here is a vegetarian diet. Fill your plate with fresh
vegetables, fruits and grains and you might just live forever."
4>>>>"If I have sold you on the Ritual of Live Nourishment, I think
you will love the fourth one."
"Your student is still holding his empty cup."
"The fourth ritual is known as the Ritual of Abundant
Knowledge. It centers around the whole notion of lifelong learning
and expanding your knowledge base for the good of yourself and
all those around you.""Read regularly. Reading for thirty minutes a day will do
wonders for you. But I must caution you. Do not read just
anything. You must be very selective about what you put into the
lush garden of your mind. It must be immensely nourishing.
Make it something that will improve both you and the quality of
your life."
5>>>"Okay, what's the Fifth Ritual of Radiant Living?"
"It is the Ritual of Personal Reflection.
When you read Ben Franklin's
biography you will see what I mean. Every evening, after a full day
of productive work, he would retire to a silent corner of his home
and reflect on his day. He would consider all of his actions and
whether they were positive and constructive or whether they were
of the negative sort, in need of repair. By clearly knowing what he
was doing wrong in his days, he could take immediate steps to
improve and advance along the path of self-mastery.
6>>>>>>>"How about thinking about the Sixth Ritual for Radiant
Living: the Ritual of Early Awakening."
7>>>>"And this brings me to the seventh of the Rituals of Radiant
Living: the Ritual of Music."
8>>>"Okay. The eighth ritual is the Ritual of the Spoken Word. The
sages had a series of mantras which they would recite morning,
noon and night. They told me that this practice was immensely
effective in keeping them focused, strong and happy."
9>>>"Which leads us into the Ninth Ritual of Radiant Living quite
nicely. This is the Ritual of a Congruent Character.
Perhaps Yogi
Raman articulated the formula best when he stated: 'You sow a
thought, you reap an action. Reap an action, you sow a habit. Sow
a habit, you reap a character. Sow a character, you reap your
destiny.'"
"They are, simply stated: industry, compassion, humility,
patience, honesty and courage.
10>>"And the final ritual?"
"This is the all-important Ritual of Simplicity. This ritual
requires you to live a simple life.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Must Read Book-The monk who sold his ferrari by Robin Sharma
This is one of those books you can help but feel "wow".I read this 208 pages long wonderful fable.I absolutely loved it.I teaches you how to live in this world and how to control you mind to reach self-enlightement.I recommend this book more than anybook out there are self improvement.Thank U Robin Sharma for this wonderful book.I read it in the computer..I found this book on esnips.com.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Life is.......
source:aastha channel
1>Life is a journey-enjoy the process
2>Life is a garden-enjoy the fragrance
3>Life is a song-sing it
4>Life is a dance-dance with joy and enthusiasm
5>Life is a prayer-have faith in the almighty God
6>Life is a book-read it
7>Life is a challenge-Accept it and face it
8>Life is a drama
9>Life is a mirror
10>Life is an experience
1>Life is a journey-enjoy the process
2>Life is a garden-enjoy the fragrance
3>Life is a song-sing it
4>Life is a dance-dance with joy and enthusiasm
5>Life is a prayer-have faith in the almighty God
6>Life is a book-read it
7>Life is a challenge-Accept it and face it
8>Life is a drama
9>Life is a mirror
10>Life is an experience
Sunday, August 12, 2007
How To Give And Receive Compliments
Source:videojug.com
Step 1:Be sincere
The key to giving compliments is sincerity. There is something about a fake compliment that is easy to spot, and is embarrassing for both giver and receiver.
A good compliment is a little outburst of enthusiasm and positivity, and as such should be delivered spontaneously and simply. If you prepare compliments in advance, or think too much about what you are going to say before you say it, you may end up sounding too smooth or too polished, which is suspicious.
So the rule should be, as soon as you are moved to say something nice, do so.
Step 2:Be simple and specific
Be specific and concentrate on a single achievement rather than making a generalization. This shows sincerity because you realize the importance of that achievement. For example, instead of saying 'you are an excellent cook', compliment them on a specific dish, 'That quiche was simply delightful'.
Be wary of damning with faint praise, so don't qualify your statement by saying 'That quiche was excellent - considering the state of your kitchen'. Do not compare their achievement to somebody else's, or some other achievement. A compliment needs to flatter the receiver on it's own merits.
Step 3:Be timely
Giving a compliment in a timely manner is just as important as the sincerity of your compliment. So aim to deliver the compliment very soon after the achievement you are complimenting has been attained.
A compliment given in front of others conveys the fact that you want witnesses to hear proof of its sincerity.
If for some reason you miss the window of opportunity to make a spontaneous compliment, you can always come up with an excuse to write a note afterwards- a card saying thanks for dinner for example- and include your compliment within it.
Step 4:Receiving a compliment
When someone compliments you, the simple steadfast rule is to smile and say thank you. Do not shrug off a compliment or disagree with what they are saying as this will show that you think the other person's judgment is poor, and dissuade them from complimenting you in future.
Another important rule is to not upscale a compliment. For example if someone says to you: "The board of directors liked your presentation today" Do not say something like: "Liked it? They absolutely loved it. It blew them away."
Another thing you should avoid if you have been given a compliment, is to immediately reply with one back. This can sound insincere, even if you mean what you say.
Step 1:Be sincere
The key to giving compliments is sincerity. There is something about a fake compliment that is easy to spot, and is embarrassing for both giver and receiver.
A good compliment is a little outburst of enthusiasm and positivity, and as such should be delivered spontaneously and simply. If you prepare compliments in advance, or think too much about what you are going to say before you say it, you may end up sounding too smooth or too polished, which is suspicious.
So the rule should be, as soon as you are moved to say something nice, do so.
Step 2:Be simple and specific
Be specific and concentrate on a single achievement rather than making a generalization. This shows sincerity because you realize the importance of that achievement. For example, instead of saying 'you are an excellent cook', compliment them on a specific dish, 'That quiche was simply delightful'.
Be wary of damning with faint praise, so don't qualify your statement by saying 'That quiche was excellent - considering the state of your kitchen'. Do not compare their achievement to somebody else's, or some other achievement. A compliment needs to flatter the receiver on it's own merits.
Step 3:Be timely
Giving a compliment in a timely manner is just as important as the sincerity of your compliment. So aim to deliver the compliment very soon after the achievement you are complimenting has been attained.
A compliment given in front of others conveys the fact that you want witnesses to hear proof of its sincerity.
If for some reason you miss the window of opportunity to make a spontaneous compliment, you can always come up with an excuse to write a note afterwards- a card saying thanks for dinner for example- and include your compliment within it.
Step 4:Receiving a compliment
When someone compliments you, the simple steadfast rule is to smile and say thank you. Do not shrug off a compliment or disagree with what they are saying as this will show that you think the other person's judgment is poor, and dissuade them from complimenting you in future.
Another important rule is to not upscale a compliment. For example if someone says to you: "The board of directors liked your presentation today" Do not say something like: "Liked it? They absolutely loved it. It blew them away."
Another thing you should avoid if you have been given a compliment, is to immediately reply with one back. This can sound insincere, even if you mean what you say.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
16 Ways to Eat Healthy While Keeping it Cheap
Source:getrichslowly.org
This is a guest post by Mehdi, author of StrongLifts.com. If you enjoy this post, check out his site.
Eating healthy is important. Eating healthy:
Lowers disease risks
Increases productivity
Gives you more energy
Makes you stronger
You probably think eating healthy is expensive. I’ll be honest — it is. But there are tricks to keep it low cost. Here are sixteen ways to eat more healthy while keeping it cheap.
What is Healthy Food? Before we start, let’s define healthy food. It consists of:
Protein. The building blocks of muscles, needed for strength.
Fat. A balanced intake of omega 3, 6 & 9.
Veggies. All kinds, especially green fibrous veggies.
Fruit. Full of vitamins.
Water. 1 liter per 1000 calories you expend.
Whole grain food. Oats, rice, pasta, breads, …
On with the tips.
1. Switch to Water. I drank huge amounts of soda daily for more than 15 years. Then I started Strength Training and switched to water:
It’s healthier
It’s cheaper
Quit the soda & drink water. Take a bottle wherever you go.
2. Consume Tap Water. Check the price of water on your tap water bill. Now check the price of bottled water. Quit a difference, isn’t it? So why are you buying bottled water?
Cleaner? Not necessarily.
Better taste? No, simply a matter of Adaptation.
Bottled water companies get their supply from the same source you do: municipal water systems. It’s like selling ice to Eskimos. If you don’t trust the quality of tap water, filter it yourself. I use a Brita Pitcher. One $7 filter cleans 40 gallons water.
3. Eat Eggs. I always have eggs at breakfast:
Full of vitamins
High in proteins
Low in price
Don’t believe the Eggs & Cholesterol myth. Dietary cholesterol is not bound to blood cholesterol. Want to make it cheaper? Buy a chicken.
4. Eat Fatty Meats. Fatty meats are cheaper & more tasty than lean meats. You think it’s not healthy? Check the Fat Myths:
Fat doesn’t make you fat, excess calories do
You need a balanced intake of fats: omega 3, 6 & 9
I’m on the Anabolic Diet, I buy beef chuck instead of sirloin.
5. Get Whey. The cheapest source of protein. 70$ for a 10lbs bag lasting 4 months. Nothing beats that. Use whey in your Post Workout Shake to help recovery.
6. Tuna Cans. Canned tuna is cheap & contains as much protein as meat. Alternate tuna with eggs, meat & whey. You’ll easily get to your daily amount of protein.
7. Buy Frozen Veggies. I mostly buy frozen veggies:
Take less time to prepare
You don’t waste money if not eaten in time
Can be bought in bulk for discounts & stored in your freezer
If you can afford fresh veggies, then do it. I go frozen.
8. Use a Multivitamin. Pesticides lower the vitamin levels of your fruits & veggies. Two solutions:
Buy organic food. Expensive.
Use a multivitamin. $10 a month.
Choose what fits your wallet best. I take the multivitamin.
9. Fish Oil. Omega-3 is found in fish oil. Benefits of omega-3 consumption include:
Lowered cholesterol levels
Decreased body fat
Reduced inflammation
You need to eat fatty fish 3 times a week to get these benefits. Time consuming & expensive, I know. Try Carlson’s Liquid Fish Oil with Lemon flavor. One teaspoon daily. You’ll be ok.
10. Buy Generic Food. The box might be less attractive, it’s certainly more attractive to your wallet. Brand-name food will always be more expensive. You’re paying for the name. Get real. Food is food. Go generic.
11. Buy in Bulk. Think long-term. Buying in bulk is more expensive at the cashier, but cheaper in the long run:
Gets you discounts
Saves time
Saves car fuel
Invest in a big freezer. Buy meats & veggies in bulk and freeze them.
12. Go to One Grocery Store. This grocery store is cheaper for meat, that grocery store is cheaper for veggies, the other grocery store is cheaper for fish… How many grocery stores are you going to, trying to find the cheapest food? Think!
Time is money. Stop losing a day shopping.
Cars don’t run on water. Lower your fuel expenses.
I get all my food in a big grocery store near my place. It hasn’t the cheapest price for all foods, but it saves me time & fuel.
13. Make a Plan. A classic, but worth repeating. Everything starts with a plan.
Make a list of what you need
Eat a solid meal, don’t go hungry
Go the grocery, get what’s on your list & get out
No need to take your partner or kids with you. This is not a recreational activity. Just get your food & get back home.
14. Take Food To Work. Ever counted how much money you throw away buying food at work daily? Start preparing your food for the day on waking up:
Get up earlier
Eat a solid breakfast (like Scrambled Eggs)
Prepare your food for work in the meanwhile
Total time 30 minutes. No stress during the day about what you’ll be eating & you get healthy food while sparing money.
15. Eat Less. This one is obvious. The less you eat, the lower your grocery bill. If you’re overweight, get on a diet. Your health & bank account will thank you.
16. Don’t Buy Junk Food. The last one. Stop buying anything that comes out of a box, it’s:
Unhealthy
Expensive
If you actually find junk food that is cheaper than whole food, think long-term. Health implications.
Mehdi is author of StrongLifts.com, a blog about Strength Training, nutrition, lifestyle & attitude. His articles include the Anabolic Diet & the Beginner Strength Training Program. Join him at StrongLifts.com for the fascinating journey toward more strength, bigger muscles, low body fat & a better health.
This is a guest post by Mehdi, author of StrongLifts.com. If you enjoy this post, check out his site.
Eating healthy is important. Eating healthy:
Lowers disease risks
Increases productivity
Gives you more energy
Makes you stronger
You probably think eating healthy is expensive. I’ll be honest — it is. But there are tricks to keep it low cost. Here are sixteen ways to eat more healthy while keeping it cheap.
What is Healthy Food? Before we start, let’s define healthy food. It consists of:
Protein. The building blocks of muscles, needed for strength.
Fat. A balanced intake of omega 3, 6 & 9.
Veggies. All kinds, especially green fibrous veggies.
Fruit. Full of vitamins.
Water. 1 liter per 1000 calories you expend.
Whole grain food. Oats, rice, pasta, breads, …
On with the tips.
1. Switch to Water. I drank huge amounts of soda daily for more than 15 years. Then I started Strength Training and switched to water:
It’s healthier
It’s cheaper
Quit the soda & drink water. Take a bottle wherever you go.
2. Consume Tap Water. Check the price of water on your tap water bill. Now check the price of bottled water. Quit a difference, isn’t it? So why are you buying bottled water?
Cleaner? Not necessarily.
Better taste? No, simply a matter of Adaptation.
Bottled water companies get their supply from the same source you do: municipal water systems. It’s like selling ice to Eskimos. If you don’t trust the quality of tap water, filter it yourself. I use a Brita Pitcher. One $7 filter cleans 40 gallons water.
3. Eat Eggs. I always have eggs at breakfast:
Full of vitamins
High in proteins
Low in price
Don’t believe the Eggs & Cholesterol myth. Dietary cholesterol is not bound to blood cholesterol. Want to make it cheaper? Buy a chicken.
4. Eat Fatty Meats. Fatty meats are cheaper & more tasty than lean meats. You think it’s not healthy? Check the Fat Myths:
Fat doesn’t make you fat, excess calories do
You need a balanced intake of fats: omega 3, 6 & 9
I’m on the Anabolic Diet, I buy beef chuck instead of sirloin.
5. Get Whey. The cheapest source of protein. 70$ for a 10lbs bag lasting 4 months. Nothing beats that. Use whey in your Post Workout Shake to help recovery.
6. Tuna Cans. Canned tuna is cheap & contains as much protein as meat. Alternate tuna with eggs, meat & whey. You’ll easily get to your daily amount of protein.
7. Buy Frozen Veggies. I mostly buy frozen veggies:
Take less time to prepare
You don’t waste money if not eaten in time
Can be bought in bulk for discounts & stored in your freezer
If you can afford fresh veggies, then do it. I go frozen.
8. Use a Multivitamin. Pesticides lower the vitamin levels of your fruits & veggies. Two solutions:
Buy organic food. Expensive.
Use a multivitamin. $10 a month.
Choose what fits your wallet best. I take the multivitamin.
9. Fish Oil. Omega-3 is found in fish oil. Benefits of omega-3 consumption include:
Lowered cholesterol levels
Decreased body fat
Reduced inflammation
You need to eat fatty fish 3 times a week to get these benefits. Time consuming & expensive, I know. Try Carlson’s Liquid Fish Oil with Lemon flavor. One teaspoon daily. You’ll be ok.
10. Buy Generic Food. The box might be less attractive, it’s certainly more attractive to your wallet. Brand-name food will always be more expensive. You’re paying for the name. Get real. Food is food. Go generic.
11. Buy in Bulk. Think long-term. Buying in bulk is more expensive at the cashier, but cheaper in the long run:
Gets you discounts
Saves time
Saves car fuel
Invest in a big freezer. Buy meats & veggies in bulk and freeze them.
12. Go to One Grocery Store. This grocery store is cheaper for meat, that grocery store is cheaper for veggies, the other grocery store is cheaper for fish… How many grocery stores are you going to, trying to find the cheapest food? Think!
Time is money. Stop losing a day shopping.
Cars don’t run on water. Lower your fuel expenses.
I get all my food in a big grocery store near my place. It hasn’t the cheapest price for all foods, but it saves me time & fuel.
13. Make a Plan. A classic, but worth repeating. Everything starts with a plan.
Make a list of what you need
Eat a solid meal, don’t go hungry
Go the grocery, get what’s on your list & get out
No need to take your partner or kids with you. This is not a recreational activity. Just get your food & get back home.
14. Take Food To Work. Ever counted how much money you throw away buying food at work daily? Start preparing your food for the day on waking up:
Get up earlier
Eat a solid breakfast (like Scrambled Eggs)
Prepare your food for work in the meanwhile
Total time 30 minutes. No stress during the day about what you’ll be eating & you get healthy food while sparing money.
15. Eat Less. This one is obvious. The less you eat, the lower your grocery bill. If you’re overweight, get on a diet. Your health & bank account will thank you.
16. Don’t Buy Junk Food. The last one. Stop buying anything that comes out of a box, it’s:
Unhealthy
Expensive
If you actually find junk food that is cheaper than whole food, think long-term. Health implications.
Mehdi is author of StrongLifts.com, a blog about Strength Training, nutrition, lifestyle & attitude. His articles include the Anabolic Diet & the Beginner Strength Training Program. Join him at StrongLifts.com for the fascinating journey toward more strength, bigger muscles, low body fat & a better health.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Friday, July 20, 2007
Rethink your value system
LIVING WITH A PURPOSE
All of us are put on this planet for a purpose. We are part of a big picture. But very few people discover their purpose in life. Most of us just exist and keep counting our days rather than making our days count.
Dr. Albert Einstein was once asked, "Why are we here?" He replied, "If the universe is an accident, we are accidents. But if there is meaning in the universe, there is meaning in us also." And he added, "The more I study physics, the more I am drawn towards metaphysics."
I would rather fail in a cause that will ultimately succeed than succeed in a cause that would ultimately fail.
--Wood row Wilson
WHERE DO WE LEARN OUR VALUES FROM?
I recently read the story of a high-school values clarification class conducted by a teacher in Teaneck, New Jersey. A girl in the class had found a purse containing $1,000 and returned it to its owner. The teacher asked for the class's reaction. Every single one of her fellow students concluded the girl had been foolish. Most of the students contended that if someone was careless, they should be punished. When the teacher was asked what he said to the students, he responded, "Well, of course, I didn't say anything. If I come from the position of what is right and what is wrong, then I'm not their counselor. I can't impose my views."*
If we do not learn values from our parents and teachers, who do we learn them from?And when they don't teach us values, we pick them up by default from television and other such undesirable sources. No wonder society gets messed up. The teacher such as in the example above is not only irresponsible with distorted values but does not deserve to be teaching our kids.
All of us are put on this planet for a purpose. We are part of a big picture. But very few people discover their purpose in life. Most of us just exist and keep counting our days rather than making our days count.
Dr. Albert Einstein was once asked, "Why are we here?" He replied, "If the universe is an accident, we are accidents. But if there is meaning in the universe, there is meaning in us also." And he added, "The more I study physics, the more I am drawn towards metaphysics."
I would rather fail in a cause that will ultimately succeed than succeed in a cause that would ultimately fail.
--Wood row Wilson
WHERE DO WE LEARN OUR VALUES FROM?
I recently read the story of a high-school values clarification class conducted by a teacher in Teaneck, New Jersey. A girl in the class had found a purse containing $1,000 and returned it to its owner. The teacher asked for the class's reaction. Every single one of her fellow students concluded the girl had been foolish. Most of the students contended that if someone was careless, they should be punished. When the teacher was asked what he said to the students, he responded, "Well, of course, I didn't say anything. If I come from the position of what is right and what is wrong, then I'm not their counselor. I can't impose my views."*
If we do not learn values from our parents and teachers, who do we learn them from?And when they don't teach us values, we pick them up by default from television and other such undesirable sources. No wonder society gets messed up. The teacher such as in the example above is not only irresponsible with distorted values but does not deserve to be teaching our kids.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
'You've got to find what you love,' Jobs says
This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005.
I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.
The first story is about connecting the dots.
I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?
It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.
And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.
It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:
Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.
None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.
Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.
My second story is about love and loss.
I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.
I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.
I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.
During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.
I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.
My third story is about death.
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.
I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.
This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.
Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.
Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.
Thank you all very much.
I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.
The first story is about connecting the dots.
I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?
It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.
And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.
It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:
Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.
None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.
Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.
My second story is about love and loss.
I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.
I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.
I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.
During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.
I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.
My third story is about death.
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.
I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.
This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.
Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.
Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.
Thank you all very much.
How much water do u need a day?
Water is an important structural component of skin cartilage, tissues and organs. For human beings, every part of the body is dependent on water. Our body comprises about 75% water: the brain has 85%, blood is 90%, muscles are 75%, kidney is 82% and bones are 22% water. The functions of our glands and organs will eventually deteriorate if they are not nourished with good, clean water.
The average adult loses about 2.5 litres water daily through perspiration, breathing and elimination. Symptoms of the body's deterioration begins to appear when the body loses 5% of its total water volume. In a healthy adult, this is seen as fatigue and general discomfort, whereas for an infant, it can be dehydrating. In an elderly person, a 5% water loss causes the body chemistry to become abnormal, especially if the percentage of electrolytes is overbalanced with sodium.One can usually see symptoms of aging, such as wrinkles, lethargy and even disorientation. Continuous water loss over time will speed up aging as well as increase risks of diseases.
If your body is not sufficiently hydrated, the cells will draw water from your bloodstream, which will make your heart work harder. At the same time, the kidneys cannot purify blood effectively. When this happens, some of the kidney's workload is passed on to the liver and other organs, which may cause them to be severely stressed. Additionally, you may develop a number of minor health conditions such as constipation, dry and itchy skin, acne, nosebleeds, urinary tract infection, coughs, sneezing, sinus pressure, and headaches.
So, how much water is enough for you? The minimum amount of water you need depends on your body weight. A more accurate calculation, is to drink an ounce of water for every two pounds of body weight.
I am 60 kg so i need 1980ml or 1.98litre
if I am 25kg i need .83litre
if i am 80kg i need 2.64litre
The average adult loses about 2.5 litres water daily through perspiration, breathing and elimination. Symptoms of the body's deterioration begins to appear when the body loses 5% of its total water volume. In a healthy adult, this is seen as fatigue and general discomfort, whereas for an infant, it can be dehydrating. In an elderly person, a 5% water loss causes the body chemistry to become abnormal, especially if the percentage of electrolytes is overbalanced with sodium.One can usually see symptoms of aging, such as wrinkles, lethargy and even disorientation. Continuous water loss over time will speed up aging as well as increase risks of diseases.
If your body is not sufficiently hydrated, the cells will draw water from your bloodstream, which will make your heart work harder. At the same time, the kidneys cannot purify blood effectively. When this happens, some of the kidney's workload is passed on to the liver and other organs, which may cause them to be severely stressed. Additionally, you may develop a number of minor health conditions such as constipation, dry and itchy skin, acne, nosebleeds, urinary tract infection, coughs, sneezing, sinus pressure, and headaches.
So, how much water is enough for you? The minimum amount of water you need depends on your body weight. A more accurate calculation, is to drink an ounce of water for every two pounds of body weight.
I am 60 kg so i need 1980ml or 1.98litre
if I am 25kg i need .83litre
if i am 80kg i need 2.64litre
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Conversation with a Philosopher
Source:nepalnews.com
“We are living in interesting times,” says Yogi Vikashananda when asked what he makes of the current situation of the country. “This is the most beautiful period in Nepalese history.” Maybe a wishful thinking given the current crisis facing the country, but for those who have had the pleasure of attending Vikashananda’s sermons or talking to him in person, this statement of his hardly come as a surprise. He has always been an optimist and always encourages others to be a positive thinker like him.
A philosopher above all, if you think you’ve seen Swami Vikashananda, a bright, very meditative and sage-like man, somewhere, you probably have. If you haven’t seen him then you must have certainly heard of the Manokranti movement he champions or seen the inverted question mark like symbol painted on the walls about the city. When he’s not preaching his mostly young disciples about positive thinking and manokranti darshan (literally meaning psychological revolution, the name he has given to his principles) or enthralling his audiences during his weekly discourse at the Darhara Party Palace in Sundhara, Vikashananda travels around the country giving reiki and yoga classes to thousands (his teaching centers have been established in Pokhara, Butwal, Dang, Dharan, Itahari, Banepa and Nepalgunj), teaches small workshops on how to be a positive thinker, and takes out time to appear on Television and FM radio shows where he delivers rapid fire speeches on almost every aspects of life and other philosophical issues. Besides this, the other means he resorts to in order to get his voice and teachings to the mass is through writing. He has till now authored more than 70 books, mostly on philosophy and art of living; but some are also poetry and autobiographical stories about his own life, and they have all been a complete sell out.
The mission of his philosophy is, in his own words (and which has become the motto of the Manokranti movement he started): “….strive to change the world, but start by changing yourself.” But before delving into his philosophy, lets first start with his life. As if it had all the makings of a Shakespearean tragedy in it, the story of his life began in the year 1962 when a woman called Maili Bajai found a baby lying abandoned near the Ganesh Temple in Chhetrapati, Kathmandu. The baby was Vikashananda and obviously he was deserted by his parents. Feeling sorry for the poor child, Maili Bajai hands him over to a childless couple who readily adopts him. And in this way his eventful life starts from a rather sad note.
As a boy, Vikashananda, or Ekduntaman, as he was then known, never dreamed of the selfless philosophical path he would eventually take. Rather, in Bal Lila, a memoir about his childhood years, Vikashananda writes how when he was young he was one of the most notorious children in his neighborhood. He had a difficult childhood: his father always used to come home drunk (he later died of excessive drinking) and how the regular family quarrels prompted by alcohol made him more reckless and violent as he grew. He started avoiding school and this seriously hampered his studies. When he was 10 his parents divorced. But the most painful part of his childhood years was the feeling of being found in a temple, of the sense that his true parents abandoned him. The question as to who were his real parents used to always ring in his mind and this remained a sore wound for a long time. “But later when I embarked on a journey of philosophy and knowledge, that was when I was 20 years of age, this thing about my childhood greatly encouraged me to pursue my philosophical journey and it proved to be a turning point in my life. It gave me an entirely new perspective to life and things in general. I felt that my birth had infact liberated me from the narrow boundaries of caste, creed and color and that it had purely made me a human being only”.
Vikashananda could have probably made his name as an artist, if not a philosopher. He started to train formally to become an artist under the guidance of legendary painter Chandraman Singh Maskey at the tender age of 12. He immediately started showing the signs of becoming a promising young artist. Later in the year 1979, at the age of 17, his art took him to the former Soviet Union, where he participated in an art conference. There he was exposed to communist philosophy and was greatly impressed by the life and works of Lenin and Marx. He still has leftist leanings.
After Vikashananda returned to Nepal his grim and desperate struggle against poverty and frustration started all over again. To shield himself from this he took to reading the works of great philosophers. First it was Osho, and then J Krishnamurthy greatly impressed him. His reading widened to Nietsche, Kahlil Gibran, Vivekananda and then Buddha. This all helped him to mature and take up the humble philosophical path he would later champion. During the same time he also started writing poetry.
But even as he was intellectually growing, his health greatly suffered due to poverty. He got inflicted with the tedious if not dangerous form of stomach ailment. He consulted many doctors, tried all sorts of medicines and went to many hospitals, but all to no avail. He started feeling that his personal life was slowly crumbling. Eventually he turned to Yoga and it helped him recuperate from both his physical and mental anguish. Through yoga and meditation Vikashananda learned that there is immense power and possibilities inside human beings and he thought if he could bring it out from him then it would not only help him but others as well.
This transformation in him, much like prince Siddhartha 2500 year ago, egged him to run away from home and devote his entire life to yoga and meditation. He was 21 years of age then. He moved alone to Banaras in the Northern part of India where he learnt yoga and different forms of meditation while, at the same time, studied Bachelors of Arts in philosophy and Sanskrit from Sampurananda Sanskrit University.
In 1987, after a six year long sojourn in India, Vikashananda finally returns to Nepal, sets up Ananda Yoga Center, and starts giving yoga classes to mostly foreign enthusiasts. Arogya Ashram, a yoga center run by Swami Kashinath, was already there. But Yoga wasn’t much of a vogue in Nepal during that time and he failed to catch the attention of the people here. Then with the objective to make people healthy, both emotionally and physically, Vikashananda introduced other healing and self-improvement techniques in Nepal like Reiki, super-learning and psycho cybernetics, and they soon caught the public’s imagination here. Ironically, although he started with yoga, it was through western healing and self-improvement techniques that he became more popular in his country.
Fast forward to present, sitting in his Samakushi located Ashram, Vikashananda launches into an opening monologue on his philosophy and how it would one day bring about a change for good in the country. “If you can control your mind then no matter what happens in the world, no matter what disaster strikes the world, it won’t make a least bit difference to you. But if you don’t have any control over your mind and emotions then even if there is peace and tranquility around you, you would still suffer,” he said, adding, “The problem is with the mind of the people here, not the country’s situation. If we start to think positively then it would certainly bring about positive changes.” He paused and again continued: "there is a hint of change in the air. Nepal is going through a phase like the way a mother passes through labor pain to give birth to a baby. And, I think it would definitely usher in something pleasant.” And why altogether snub the idea that this is the most interesting period in the history of Nepal; he may just as well be right!
“We are living in interesting times,” says Yogi Vikashananda when asked what he makes of the current situation of the country. “This is the most beautiful period in Nepalese history.” Maybe a wishful thinking given the current crisis facing the country, but for those who have had the pleasure of attending Vikashananda’s sermons or talking to him in person, this statement of his hardly come as a surprise. He has always been an optimist and always encourages others to be a positive thinker like him.
A philosopher above all, if you think you’ve seen Swami Vikashananda, a bright, very meditative and sage-like man, somewhere, you probably have. If you haven’t seen him then you must have certainly heard of the Manokranti movement he champions or seen the inverted question mark like symbol painted on the walls about the city. When he’s not preaching his mostly young disciples about positive thinking and manokranti darshan (literally meaning psychological revolution, the name he has given to his principles) or enthralling his audiences during his weekly discourse at the Darhara Party Palace in Sundhara, Vikashananda travels around the country giving reiki and yoga classes to thousands (his teaching centers have been established in Pokhara, Butwal, Dang, Dharan, Itahari, Banepa and Nepalgunj), teaches small workshops on how to be a positive thinker, and takes out time to appear on Television and FM radio shows where he delivers rapid fire speeches on almost every aspects of life and other philosophical issues. Besides this, the other means he resorts to in order to get his voice and teachings to the mass is through writing. He has till now authored more than 70 books, mostly on philosophy and art of living; but some are also poetry and autobiographical stories about his own life, and they have all been a complete sell out.
The mission of his philosophy is, in his own words (and which has become the motto of the Manokranti movement he started): “….strive to change the world, but start by changing yourself.” But before delving into his philosophy, lets first start with his life. As if it had all the makings of a Shakespearean tragedy in it, the story of his life began in the year 1962 when a woman called Maili Bajai found a baby lying abandoned near the Ganesh Temple in Chhetrapati, Kathmandu. The baby was Vikashananda and obviously he was deserted by his parents. Feeling sorry for the poor child, Maili Bajai hands him over to a childless couple who readily adopts him. And in this way his eventful life starts from a rather sad note.
As a boy, Vikashananda, or Ekduntaman, as he was then known, never dreamed of the selfless philosophical path he would eventually take. Rather, in Bal Lila, a memoir about his childhood years, Vikashananda writes how when he was young he was one of the most notorious children in his neighborhood. He had a difficult childhood: his father always used to come home drunk (he later died of excessive drinking) and how the regular family quarrels prompted by alcohol made him more reckless and violent as he grew. He started avoiding school and this seriously hampered his studies. When he was 10 his parents divorced. But the most painful part of his childhood years was the feeling of being found in a temple, of the sense that his true parents abandoned him. The question as to who were his real parents used to always ring in his mind and this remained a sore wound for a long time. “But later when I embarked on a journey of philosophy and knowledge, that was when I was 20 years of age, this thing about my childhood greatly encouraged me to pursue my philosophical journey and it proved to be a turning point in my life. It gave me an entirely new perspective to life and things in general. I felt that my birth had infact liberated me from the narrow boundaries of caste, creed and color and that it had purely made me a human being only”.
Vikashananda could have probably made his name as an artist, if not a philosopher. He started to train formally to become an artist under the guidance of legendary painter Chandraman Singh Maskey at the tender age of 12. He immediately started showing the signs of becoming a promising young artist. Later in the year 1979, at the age of 17, his art took him to the former Soviet Union, where he participated in an art conference. There he was exposed to communist philosophy and was greatly impressed by the life and works of Lenin and Marx. He still has leftist leanings.
After Vikashananda returned to Nepal his grim and desperate struggle against poverty and frustration started all over again. To shield himself from this he took to reading the works of great philosophers. First it was Osho, and then J Krishnamurthy greatly impressed him. His reading widened to Nietsche, Kahlil Gibran, Vivekananda and then Buddha. This all helped him to mature and take up the humble philosophical path he would later champion. During the same time he also started writing poetry.
But even as he was intellectually growing, his health greatly suffered due to poverty. He got inflicted with the tedious if not dangerous form of stomach ailment. He consulted many doctors, tried all sorts of medicines and went to many hospitals, but all to no avail. He started feeling that his personal life was slowly crumbling. Eventually he turned to Yoga and it helped him recuperate from both his physical and mental anguish. Through yoga and meditation Vikashananda learned that there is immense power and possibilities inside human beings and he thought if he could bring it out from him then it would not only help him but others as well.
This transformation in him, much like prince Siddhartha 2500 year ago, egged him to run away from home and devote his entire life to yoga and meditation. He was 21 years of age then. He moved alone to Banaras in the Northern part of India where he learnt yoga and different forms of meditation while, at the same time, studied Bachelors of Arts in philosophy and Sanskrit from Sampurananda Sanskrit University.
In 1987, after a six year long sojourn in India, Vikashananda finally returns to Nepal, sets up Ananda Yoga Center, and starts giving yoga classes to mostly foreign enthusiasts. Arogya Ashram, a yoga center run by Swami Kashinath, was already there. But Yoga wasn’t much of a vogue in Nepal during that time and he failed to catch the attention of the people here. Then with the objective to make people healthy, both emotionally and physically, Vikashananda introduced other healing and self-improvement techniques in Nepal like Reiki, super-learning and psycho cybernetics, and they soon caught the public’s imagination here. Ironically, although he started with yoga, it was through western healing and self-improvement techniques that he became more popular in his country.
Fast forward to present, sitting in his Samakushi located Ashram, Vikashananda launches into an opening monologue on his philosophy and how it would one day bring about a change for good in the country. “If you can control your mind then no matter what happens in the world, no matter what disaster strikes the world, it won’t make a least bit difference to you. But if you don’t have any control over your mind and emotions then even if there is peace and tranquility around you, you would still suffer,” he said, adding, “The problem is with the mind of the people here, not the country’s situation. If we start to think positively then it would certainly bring about positive changes.” He paused and again continued: "there is a hint of change in the air. Nepal is going through a phase like the way a mother passes through labor pain to give birth to a baby. And, I think it would definitely usher in something pleasant.” And why altogether snub the idea that this is the most interesting period in the history of Nepal; he may just as well be right!
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
9 Great Reasons to Drink Water, and How to Form the Water Habit
- contributed by Leo Babuata
We all know that water is good for us, but often the reasons are a little fuzzy. And even if we know why we should drink water, it's not a habit that many people form.
But there are some very powerful reasons to drink lots of water every day, and forming the habit isn't hard, with a little focus.
The thing about it is, we don't often focus on this habit. We end up drinking coffee, and lots of soda, and alcohol, not to mention fruit juices and teas and milk and a bunch of other possibilities. Or just as often, we don't drink enough fluids, and we become dehydrated -- and that isn't good for our health.
I've made drinking water a daily habit, although I will admit that a couple of years ago I was more likely to drink anything but water. Now I don't drink anything but water, except for a cup of coffee in the morning and once in awhile a beer with dinner. I love it.
Here are 9 powerful reasons to drink water (with tips on how to form the water habit afterwards):
Weight loss. Water is one of the best tools for weight loss, first of all because it often replaces high-calorie drinks like soda and juice and alcohol with a drink that doesn't have any calories. But it's also a great appetite suppressant, and often when we think we're hungry, we're actually just thirsty. Water has no fat, no calories, no carbs, no sugar. Drink plenty to help your weight-loss regimen.
Heart healthy. Drinking a good amount of water could lower your risks of a heart attack. A six-year study published in the May 1, 2002 American Journal of Epidemiology found that those who drink more than 5 glasses of water a day were 41% less likely to die from a heart attack during the study period than those who drank less than two glasses.
Energy. Being dehydrated can sap your energy and make you feel tired -- even mild dehydration of as little as 1 or 2 percent of your body weight. If you're thirsty, you're already dehydrated -- and this can lead to fatigue, muscle weakness, dizziness and other symptoms.
Headache cure. Another symptom of dehydration is headaches. In fact, often when we have headaches it's simply a matter of not drinking enough water. There are lots of other causes of headaches of course, but dehydration is a common one.
Healthy skin. Drinking water can clear up your skin and people often report a healthy glow after drinking water. It won't happen overnight, of course, but just a week of drinking a healthy amount of water can have good effects on your skin.
Digestive problems. Our digestive systems need a good amount of water to digest food properly. Often water can help cure stomach acid problems, and water along with fiber can cure constipation (often a result of dehydration).
Cleansing. Water is used by the body to help flush out toxins and waste products from the body.
Cancer risk. Related to the digestive system item above, drinking a healthy amount of water has also been found to reduce the risk of colon cancer by 45%. Drinking lots of water can also reduce the risk of bladder cancer by 50% and potentially reduce the risk of breast cancer.
Better exercise. Being dehydrated can severely hamper your athletic activities, slowing you down and making it harder to lift weights. Exercise requires additional water, so be sure to hydrate before, during and after exercise.
How to form the water habit
So you're convinced that water is healthier, but you'd like to know more about how to make drinking water a daily habit.
Here are some tips that have helped me:
How much water? This is a debatable question. What's clear is that the old recommendation of "eight 8-ounce glasses a day" isn't right, for several reasons: that amount includes all dietary water intake, including food and non-water beverages; it also ignores a person's body weight, which is an important factor in figuring the amount; it also varies if you are sick or exercise. It's also not good to just drink when you're thirsty -- you're already dehydrated by then. Best is to form a routine: drink a glass when you wake up, a glass with each meal, a glass in between meals, and be sure to drink before, during and after exercise. Try to generally keep yourself from getting thirsty.
Carry a bottle. A lot of people find it useful to get a big plastic drinking bottle, fill it with water, and carry it around with them all day. I like to keep a glass of water at my desk, and I drink from it all day long. When it's empty, I fill it up again, and keep drinking.
Set a reminder. Set your watch to beep at the top of each hour, or set a periodic computer reminder, so that you don't forget to drink water.
Substitute water. If you would normally get a soda, or an alcoholic beverage, get a glass of water instead. Try sparkling water instead of alcohol at social functions.
Filter. Instead of spending a fortune on bottled water, invest in a filter for your home faucet. It'll make tap water taste like bottled, at a fraction of the price.
Exercise. Exercising can help make you want to drink water more. It's not necessary to drink sports drinks like Gatorade when you exercise, unless you are doing it for more than an hour. Just drink water. If you're going to exercise, be sure to drink water a couple hours ahead of time, so that it will get through your system in time, and again, drink during and after exercise as well.
Track it. It often helps, when forming a new habit, to keep track of it -- it increases awareness and helps you ensure that you're staying on track. Keep a little log (it can be done on an index card or a notebook), which can be as simple as a tick mark for each glass of water you drink.
We all know that water is good for us, but often the reasons are a little fuzzy. And even if we know why we should drink water, it's not a habit that many people form.
But there are some very powerful reasons to drink lots of water every day, and forming the habit isn't hard, with a little focus.
The thing about it is, we don't often focus on this habit. We end up drinking coffee, and lots of soda, and alcohol, not to mention fruit juices and teas and milk and a bunch of other possibilities. Or just as often, we don't drink enough fluids, and we become dehydrated -- and that isn't good for our health.
I've made drinking water a daily habit, although I will admit that a couple of years ago I was more likely to drink anything but water. Now I don't drink anything but water, except for a cup of coffee in the morning and once in awhile a beer with dinner. I love it.
Here are 9 powerful reasons to drink water (with tips on how to form the water habit afterwards):
Weight loss. Water is one of the best tools for weight loss, first of all because it often replaces high-calorie drinks like soda and juice and alcohol with a drink that doesn't have any calories. But it's also a great appetite suppressant, and often when we think we're hungry, we're actually just thirsty. Water has no fat, no calories, no carbs, no sugar. Drink plenty to help your weight-loss regimen.
Heart healthy. Drinking a good amount of water could lower your risks of a heart attack. A six-year study published in the May 1, 2002 American Journal of Epidemiology found that those who drink more than 5 glasses of water a day were 41% less likely to die from a heart attack during the study period than those who drank less than two glasses.
Energy. Being dehydrated can sap your energy and make you feel tired -- even mild dehydration of as little as 1 or 2 percent of your body weight. If you're thirsty, you're already dehydrated -- and this can lead to fatigue, muscle weakness, dizziness and other symptoms.
Headache cure. Another symptom of dehydration is headaches. In fact, often when we have headaches it's simply a matter of not drinking enough water. There are lots of other causes of headaches of course, but dehydration is a common one.
Healthy skin. Drinking water can clear up your skin and people often report a healthy glow after drinking water. It won't happen overnight, of course, but just a week of drinking a healthy amount of water can have good effects on your skin.
Digestive problems. Our digestive systems need a good amount of water to digest food properly. Often water can help cure stomach acid problems, and water along with fiber can cure constipation (often a result of dehydration).
Cleansing. Water is used by the body to help flush out toxins and waste products from the body.
Cancer risk. Related to the digestive system item above, drinking a healthy amount of water has also been found to reduce the risk of colon cancer by 45%. Drinking lots of water can also reduce the risk of bladder cancer by 50% and potentially reduce the risk of breast cancer.
Better exercise. Being dehydrated can severely hamper your athletic activities, slowing you down and making it harder to lift weights. Exercise requires additional water, so be sure to hydrate before, during and after exercise.
How to form the water habit
So you're convinced that water is healthier, but you'd like to know more about how to make drinking water a daily habit.
Here are some tips that have helped me:
How much water? This is a debatable question. What's clear is that the old recommendation of "eight 8-ounce glasses a day" isn't right, for several reasons: that amount includes all dietary water intake, including food and non-water beverages; it also ignores a person's body weight, which is an important factor in figuring the amount; it also varies if you are sick or exercise. It's also not good to just drink when you're thirsty -- you're already dehydrated by then. Best is to form a routine: drink a glass when you wake up, a glass with each meal, a glass in between meals, and be sure to drink before, during and after exercise. Try to generally keep yourself from getting thirsty.
Carry a bottle. A lot of people find it useful to get a big plastic drinking bottle, fill it with water, and carry it around with them all day. I like to keep a glass of water at my desk, and I drink from it all day long. When it's empty, I fill it up again, and keep drinking.
Set a reminder. Set your watch to beep at the top of each hour, or set a periodic computer reminder, so that you don't forget to drink water.
Substitute water. If you would normally get a soda, or an alcoholic beverage, get a glass of water instead. Try sparkling water instead of alcohol at social functions.
Filter. Instead of spending a fortune on bottled water, invest in a filter for your home faucet. It'll make tap water taste like bottled, at a fraction of the price.
Exercise. Exercising can help make you want to drink water more. It's not necessary to drink sports drinks like Gatorade when you exercise, unless you are doing it for more than an hour. Just drink water. If you're going to exercise, be sure to drink water a couple hours ahead of time, so that it will get through your system in time, and again, drink during and after exercise as well.
Track it. It often helps, when forming a new habit, to keep track of it -- it increases awareness and helps you ensure that you're staying on track. Keep a little log (it can be done on an index card or a notebook), which can be as simple as a tick mark for each glass of water you drink.
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