Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Positive Thinking - You Are What You Think

Positive thinking is a mental attitude that anticipates happiness, success and favorable outcomes in every situation or action you do. The thoughts get registered in your subconscious mind and you start taking action to create favorable change.

A positive outlook can help you to cope better with stressful situations and can change your life for the better.

Why Think Positively?

Ever wondered why some people find learning an enjoyable and exciting experience?

Why are some people disinterested and find learning an unpleasant experience while others use it merely as a road to fetch a good job?

The difference between these people lies in their attitude and their approach towards life.

Your mindset plays a huge role in every aspect of your life.

Your mind can control your body for better or for worse. A negative mindset can mar your life while a positive mindset can make your life happy and peaceful. The choice is yours!

Ways To Develop Positive Thinking


You cannot change your thoughts and attitude over night. Positive thinking takes practice.

Persistence would make your mind to think positively and ignore negative thoughts.

Benefits Of Positive Thinking

· Decreases stress.

· Helps you cope better in stressful situations.

· Strengthens your Immune System and reduces the risk of certain diseases.

· Improves your self-esteem and confidence.

· Brings inner peace, happiness and a sense of well-being.

· Motivates you to accomplish your goals.

· Helps you have greater inner strength and energy.

· Helps you live longer.

Listen To Your Inner Voice


Listening to your inner voice or instincts is one of the most common ways to develop positive thinking.

Whenever any negative thoughts enter your mind, try to replace it with a constructive one. For example, "I won't be able to do it" will be put forward as "I will do it".

Practice this regularly and you will soon be able to master your mind.

Learn To Meditate


Meditation calms your mind and relaxes your body.

Meditation gives you inner strength, peace of mind, relaxation and a sense of bliss, which will help you to think positively.

Always See The Brighter Side Of Life


Try to believe that everything happens for a reason and embrace the concept that something good will come out of every situation that momentarily seems bad.

Always look on the bright side of life and it will work wonders for you.

Learn To Communicate Effectively

Not saying the things you feel can give a sense of frustration, anxiety and anger, thus giving way to negative thoughts. Hence, communication is an important aspect of positive thinking.

Believe In Yourself

Believe in yourself and your capabilities to become more confident.

Make a positive commitment to your self and to the people around you.

Praise yourself and be enthusiastic.

Tips To Positive Thinking

· Be optimistic and expect favorable outcomes in every situation.

· Cultivate the habit of reading inspiring books.

· Find reasons to smile more often. It's a great stress buster.

· Try to use positive words, e.g. "I can", "it will be done", "it is possible" while thinking and talking.

· Engage yourself in enjoyable recreational activities.

· Interact with people who have a positive outlook in life.

Finally…

Positive thinking needs consistent effort as you are creating a new habit.

On the other hand, negative thoughts can rip your focus from your goal.

There is no greater joy than living a healthy and positive life.

So take charge of your mind and think positive. Remember, you are what you think

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

The Internal Clock: Biorhythyms


The Secrets of Our Body Clocks by Susan Perry and Jim Dawson, discusses biological rhythms. Everyone's clock is unique, and some may peak at 11 a.m. instead of 12 noon, but even extreme morning people and extreme night people are no greater than 2 hours apart with their circadian cycles. Some of the conclusions of the book may help us manage our time more effectively.

1. Most of us reach our peak of alertness around noon. So perhaps delaying lunch until 12:30 or 1:00 p.m. might capitalize on our most productive period.

2. There's a sudden drop in the early afternoon that lasts until about 3:00 p.m., at which time our mental alertness once again begins to rise. Schedule the mundane, low-energy tasks for that part of the day.

3. Short-term memory is best during the morning hours, so studying for a test that morning or reviewing notes of a meeting would be a good idea. But long-term memory is best in the afternoon, so that's the time to study material for the following week - or for that training session for the new employee. How well you remember things depends on when you learn them, not when you recall them.

4. Mornings are a great time for creative sessions or meetings where tough decisions must be made. But don't let them run into the early afternoon doldrums.

5. Just because you're a morning person, don't expect everyone else to be the same way. Biological rhythms are innate, and we should organize our lives so as to work with them, not against them.

In general, morning people should do all their heavy thinking and creative work in the morning and reserve the late afternoons for the routine. Night people, although similarly alert at 11 a.m., do not experience the same late afternoon sag.

Confidence, Trust & Hope


CONFIDENCE
Once all village people decided to pray for rain .On the day of prayer all
people gathered and only one boy came with an umbrella, that's confidence...........

TRUST
Trust should be like the feeling of a one year old baby
When you throw him in the air, he laughs......
Because he knows you will catch him......

HOPE
A human being can live for
40 days without water
8 minutes without air
But not even 1 second without hope....
SO ALWAYS HAVE CONFIDENCE, TRUST OTHERS AND NEVER LOSE HOPE

One Minute can save your life!

He almost killed somebody, but one minute changed his life. The beautiful story comes from Sherman Rogers' old book, FOREMEN: LEADERS OR DRIVERS? In his true-life story, Rogers illustrates the importance of effective relationships.

During his college years, Rogers spent a summer in an Idaho logging camp. When the superintendent had to leave for a few days, he put Rogers in charge.

"What if the men refuse to follow my orders?" Rogers asked. He thought of Tony, an immigrant worker who grumbled and growled all day, giving the other men a hard time.

"Fire them," the superintendent said. Then, as if reading Rogers' mind, he added, "I suppose you think you are going to fire Tony if you get the chance. I'd feel badly about that. I have been logging for 40 years. Tony is the most reliable worker I've ever had. I know he is a grouch and that he hates everybody and everything. But he comes in first and leaves last. There has not been an accident for eight years on the hill where he works."

Rogers took over the next day. He went to Tony and spoke to him. "Tony, do you know I'm in charge here today?" Tony grunted. "I was going to fire you the first time we tangled, but I want you to know I'm not," he told Tony, adding what the superintendent had said.

When he finished, Tony dropped the shovelful of sand he had held and tears streamed down his face. "Why he no tell me dat eight years ago?"

That day Tony worked harder than ever before -- and he smiled! He later said to Rogers, "I told my wife that you first foreman in deese country who ever say, 'Good work, Tony,' and it make her feel like Christmas."

Rogers went back to school after that summer. Twelve years later he met Tony again. He was superintendent for railroad construction for one of the largest logging companies in the West. Rogers asked him how he came to California and happened to have such success.

Tony replied, "If it not be for the one minute you talk to me back in Idaho, I keel somebody someday. That one minute, changed my whole life."

Effective managers know the importance of taking a moment to point out what a worker is doing well. But what a difference a minute of affirmation can make in any relationship!

One minute. Have you got one minute to thank someone?

A minute to tell someone what you sincerely like or appreciate about him/her?

A minute to elaborate on something he did well?

One minute. It can make a difference for a lifetime.

Love Changes Everything

Our Dream Project
 
A long time ago in China , a girl named Li-Li got married & went to live with her husband and mother-in-law. In a very short time, Li-Li found that she couldn't get along with her mother-in-law at all.
Their personalities were very different, and Li-Li was angered by many of her mother-in-law's habits. In addition, she criticized Li-Li constantly.
Days passed, and weeks passed. Li-Li and her mother-in-law never stopped arguing and fighting.
But what made the situation even worse was that, according to ancient Chinese tradition, Li-Li had to bow to her mother-in-law and obey her every wish. All the anger and unhappiness in the house was causing Li-Li's poor husband! d great distress.
Finally, Li-Li could not stand her mother-in-! law's bad temper and dictatorship any longer, and she decided to do something about it! Li-Li went to see her father's good friend, Mr. Huang, who sold herbs.
She told him the situation and asked if he would give her some poison so that she could solve the problem once and for all.
Mr. Huang thought for awhile, and finally said, "Li-Li, I will help you solve your problem, but you must listen to me and obey what I tell you."
Li-Li said, "Yes, Mr. Huang, I will do whatever you tell me to do."Mr. Huang went into the back room, and returned in a few minutes with a package of herbs. He told Li-Li, "You can't use a quick-acting poison to get rid of your mother-in-law, because that would cause people to become suspicious Therefore, I have given you a number of herbs that will slowly build up poison in her body. Every other day prepare some delicious meal and put a little of these herbs in her serving.
Now, in order to make sure that nobody suspect you, when she dies, you must be very careful to act very friendly towards her. "Don't argue with her, obey her every wish, and treat her like a queen." Li-Li was so happy.
She thanked Mr. Huang and hurried home to start her plot of murdering her mother-in-law.
Weeks went by, and months went by, and every other day, Li-Li served the specially treated food to her mother-in-law. She remembered what Mr. Huang had said about avoiding suspicion, so she controlled her temper!r, obeyed her mother-in-law, and treated her like her own mother.
After six months had passed, the whole household had changed. Li-Li had practiced controlling her temper so much that she found that she almost never got mad or upset. She hadn't had an argument with her mother-in-law in six months because she now seemed much kinder and easier to get along with.
The mother-in-law's attitude toward Li-Li changed, and she began to love Li-Li like her own daughter. She kept telling friends and relatives that Li-Li was the best daughter-in-law one could ever find. Li-Li and her mother-in-law were now treating each other like a real mother and daughter.
Li-Li's husband was very happy to see what was happening. One day, Li-Li came to see Mr. Huang and asked for his help again She said, "Dear Mr. Huang, please help me to keep the poison from killing my mother-in-law. She's changed into such a nice woman, and I love her like my own mother. I do not want her to die because of the poison I gave her."
Mr. Huang smiled and nodded his head. "Li-Li, there's nothing to worry about. I never gave you any poison. The herbs I gave you were vitamins to improve her health. The only poison was in your mind and your attitude toward her, but that has been all washed away by the love which you gave to her."

The Day My Father Cried



When I was younger, I thought that boys and grown men should not cry, much less show that they can be reduced to tears. The tears were signs of being weak and a sissy, which a man is not supposed to be, supposedly. This was even reinforced in my young mind when the Cure came out with the song, Boys Don't Cry, in the early 1980s.

But just this last June, I discovered that courage is not all about trying to keep all the pain inside in check. Courage is not all about trying to hide the tears. It is the opposite -- the tears reinforce the heart's courage. And I saw this in my father.

My 18-year old sister eloped and with it, I saw how vulnerable my father's heart was. My siblings and I were used to seeing him as an imposing figure and an iron-willed, authoritarian father.

For three days after my sister eloped, he would not talk. He would just sit quietly outside our house in the dark. On the fourth night, I sat beside him and asked him to tell me what he feels about everything.

It has been years since I have laid my hand on my father's shoulder as we have drifted farther and farther apart while I was growing up. That night though, I sensed my father trying to control his pain and I wanted him to be able to let it out. We have all cried over what happened except him. All of us except him.


The simple touch and my words, "Dad, it is not your fault" broke my father's dam. In the darkness, he began to cry. I felt his shoulders shaking as he whispered, "Where did I go wrong? All I ever wanted was for my children to grow up right. Why couldn't your sister wait?"

I understood then why he preferred to be in the dark. By being there, he hoped to spare his family of a father's pain. His tears, though we did not see them before that night, were there all the same. I saw his courage, that night when my father cried with my hand on his shoulder, and understood his pain.

Alexander's TEN Questions

While in India, Alexander took ten of the Brahmins 19  prisoner.  These men had a great reputation for intelligence, so Alexander decided to give them a test.  He announced that the one who gave the worst answer would be the first to die, and he made the oldest Brahmin the judge of the competition.

Which are more numerous, Alexander asked the first one, the living or the dead?  "The living," said the Brahmin, "because the dead no longer count."

Which produces more creatures, the sea or the land? Alexander asked the second.  "The land," was his answer, "because the sea is only a part of it."

The third was asked which animal was the smartest of all, and the Brahmin replied: "The one we have not found yet."

Alexander asked the fourth what argument he had used to stir up the Indians to fight, and he answered:  "Only that one should either live nobly or die nobly."

Which is older: day or night? was Alexander's question to the fifth, and the answer he got was:  "Day is older, by one day at least."  When he saw that Alexander was not satisfied with this answer, the Brahmin added: "Strange questions get strange answers."

What should a man do to make himself loved? asked Alexander, and the sixth Brahmin replied: "Be powerful without being frightening."

What does a man have to do to become a god? he asked the seventh, who responded: "Do what is impossible for a man."

 The question to the eighth was whether death or life was stronger, and his answer: "Life is stronger than death, because it bears so many miseries."

The ninth Brahmin was asked how long it was proper for a man to live, and he said: "Until it seems better to die."

Then Alexander turned to the judge, who decided that each one had answered worse than another.  "You will die first, then, for giving such a decision," said Alexander.  "Not so, mighty king," said the Brahmin, "if you want to remain a man of your word.  You said that you would kill first the one who made the worst answer."  Alexander gave all of the Brahmins presents and set them free, even though they had persuaded the Indians to fight him.

  You have squeezed yourself into the span of a lifetime and the volume of a body, and thus created the innumerable conflicts of life and ...