Life Lessons

1 - Nobody can fight with someone who won't fight back. Therefore, if you don't want to fight - don't.

 

2 - Tantrums are a bid for attention. If you don't want the tantrum, don't reward it with attention.

 

3 - You can't control other people - what they think and say, or how they act. You can only control how you respond. No response is an option.

 

4 - Having the last word, if it's not a good word, is just being the last jerk.

 

5 - You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. It is entirely possible to be assertive, even demanding, while still being a courteous adult. You can even express a whole boat load of frustration with dignity. If you want your message heard, keep attention on the message and not on your delivery.

 

6 - Extreme anger has more to do with the person feeling anger than the issue to which it is attached. This one I didn't learn from my Mother - I learned it from the recovery crowd, Christy's therapist, her psychiatrist, etc. If something makes you jumping up and down mad, something that is just not that important in the scheme of your life, it's time to look at your life.

 

Anger hurts - physically. The person most hurt by anger is the angry person. High blood pressure, lowered immune response... It's pretty well documented.

 

When we post over-the-top anger we volunteer to ramp up those ill effects for ourselves. It's not a stretch that the flamer intends to inflict that on the target, which is childish at best. Worst of all, at least some of this anger spills over onto other readers, who just set out to read what sounded like an interesting thread. Even when you discipline yourself to click away, move on, etc - there's still that little zing, 'cause none of us is actually Buddha.

 

7 - Making amends will free your soul. An apology, when appropriate, is the gentle art of forgiving yourself for a misstep, redefining yourself as the person you wish to be, and inviting others to view you as your best self.

 

8 - An apology with a "but" attached is not so much an apology.

 

9 - Measure twice, cut once. Hmmm - on this forum I would rephrase as "Read three times, draft twice, post once". We've all done it, myself included - read something and smashed off a reply without taking the time to understand the question, check whether we're reading things in that are not there, etc.

 

10 - Other people's points of view are valid. Just because you don't agree doesn't make them automatically wrong. Just because their post has some anger, doesn't mean the premise is invalid.

 

11 - Two wrongs still don't make a right. Responding to a post you think is rude with one that's also rude is just extra rudeness.

 

The good news - amends are always an option! Really. A sincere apology is phenomenally freeing. Entire nations have had wars, called a truce, helped each other rebuild and become friends.

 

For all the moms out there :-D

1. My mother taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE .
"If you're going to kill each other, do it outside.. I just finished cleaning."

2. My mother taught me RELIGION.
"You better pray that will come out of the carpet."

3. My mother taught me about TIME TRAVEL.
"If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week!"

4. My mother taught me LOGIC.
" Because I said so, that's why."

5. My mother taught me MORE LOGIC .
"If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you're not going to the store with me."

6. My mother taught me FORESIGHT.
"Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you're in an accident."

7. My mother taught me IRONY.
"Keep crying, and I'll give you something to cry about."

8. My mother taught me about the science of OSMOSIS .
"Shut your mouth and eat your supper."

9. My mother taught me about CONTORTIONISM.
"Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!"

10. My mother taught me about STAMINA .
"You'll sit there until all that spinach is gone."

11. My mother taught me about WEATHER.
"This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it."

12. My mother taught me about HYPOCRISY.
"If I told you once, I've told you a million times. Don't exaggerate!"

13. My mother taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE.
"I brought you into this world, and I can take you out.."

14. My mother taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION .
"Stop acting like your father!"

15. My mother taught me about ENVY.
"There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don't have wonderful parents like you do."

16. My mother taught me about ANTICIPATION.
"Just wait until we get home."

17. My mother taught me about RECEIVING .
"You are going to get it when you get home!"

18. My mother taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE.
"If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going to get stuck that way."

19. My mother taught me ESP.
"Put your sweater on; don't you think I know when you are cold?"

20. My mother taught me HUMOR.
"When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me."

21. My mother taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT .
"If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up."

22. My mother taught me GENETICS.
"You're just like your father."

23. My mother taught me about my ROOTS.
"Shut that door behind you. Do you think you were born in a barn?"

24. My mother taught me WISDOM.
"When you get to be my age, you'll understand."

25. My mother taught me about JUSTICE .
"One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you!"

 

Celebrate You - Great Advice of the Day

"Don't look for someone to complete you… you're the only one who can do that."

What are you thankful for?

Comic characters on FB all week!!

After countless (mindless) posts about coloured bras and alcohol preferences, loved this new FB trend of having yr favourite comic character as your DP for a week!
Vive la childhood memories!

Garbage on Naples Streets

Roberto Salomone / AFP - Getty Images

A mother carries her child through uncollected garbage on their way back from school in the historic Spanish district of Naples on November 22, 2010. As piles of malodorous garbage continued to accumulate in the streets of Naples, the total amount of uncollected waste in the city was likely to reach 3,600 tons by the end of the day, the Italian press said.

Seems Kolkata is not only place on earth with garbage piled on the streets… L

 

The Royal Wedding on the Cards!

Prince William is finally engaged to his longtime sweetheart Kate Middleton.

 

The ring is a beautiful blue sapphire surrounded by diamonds, rumoured to have belonged to Princess Diana.

 

The wedding is expected to take place sometime in the spring or summer (in fact some tour operators are supposedly planning to  offer special “royal wedding” packages to witness the grandest wedding of the year!).

 

Read more about this wedding and other royal weddings on MSN @ http://glo.msn.com/beauty/fabulous-royal-weddings-6065.gallery?GT1=49006

Getting rid of junk

Am I the only person who's strangely obsessed with people who've left her in worst possible places in life?

How do I stop this?

How do I get over the obsession?

How can I be normal?

 

I hate the feeling I get when I am depressed and all I can do is just think of those people. Is there a way to zap these memories altogether?

And no, I don't want any of the good bits to stay either - since those are the bits that hurt most...

 

It should be as if that person NEVER existed... not like NEVER lived or breathed or whatever... I really do not wish that for them...

But at the very least, should NEVER show up even as a distant blip on my radar... EVER.

 

That should take care of a lot of heartaches, soul-searching, sadness, regret etc. etc. that have lately taken over (or taken over ever since those ppl left).

 

And even if it's not all of them - I wish I could forget EVERYTHING about one of them. That should be fine, right?

This is just to say - William Carlos Williams

I have eaten the plums that were in the icebox and which you were probably saving for breakfast Forgive me they were delicious so sweet and so cold

A Rose for Emily

Read one of Faulkner's short stories today. A horror story called A Rose for Emily. Written in a chatty style, it tells the story of Emily Grierson, an old southern belle who is discovered dead in her ancient antebellum mansion. The story talks of how she was never allowed to meet any men by her father and how after his death, she fell in love with a Northerner.

 

The story has an unexpected ending which definitely makes it worth a read.

 

Read the complete story here: http://www.eng.fju.edu.tw/English_Literature/Rose/el-text-E-Rose.htm

Oh, the Places You'll Go!

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.

You'll look up and down streets. Look'em over with care. About some you will say, "I don't choose to go there." With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet, you're too smart to go down a not-so-good street.

And you may not find any you'll want to go down. In that case, of course, you'll head straight out of town. It's opener there in the wide open air.

Out there things can happen and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you.

And when things start to happen, don't worry. Don't stew. Just go right along. You'll start happening too.

Oh! The Places You'll Go!

You'll be on your way up!
You'll be seeing great sights!
You'll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.

You won't lag behind, because you'll have the speed. You'll pass the whole gang and you'll soon take the lead. Wherever you fly, you'll be best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don't.
Because, sometimes, you won't.

I'm sorry to say so but, sadly, it's true that Bang-ups and Hang-ups can happen to you.

You can get all hung up in a prickle-ly perch. And your gang will fly on. You'll be left in a Lurch.

You'll come down from the Lurch with an unpleasant bump. And the chances are, then, that you'll be in a Slump.

And when you're in a Slump, you're not in for much fun. Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.

You will come to a place where the streets are not marked. Some windows are lighted. But mostly they're darked. A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin! Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in? How much can you lose? How much can you win?

And if you go in, should you turn left or right…or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite? Or go around back and sneak in from behind? Simple it's not, I'm afraid you will find, for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.

You can get so confused that you'll start in to race down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space, headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.

The Waiting Place…for people just waiting.

Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a Better Break or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants or a wig with curls, or Another Chance. Everyone is just waiting.

No! That's not for you!
Somehow you'll escape all that waiting and staying. You'll find the bright places where Boom Bands are playing. With banner flip-flapping, once more you'll ride high! Ready for anything under the sky. Ready because you're that kind of a guy!

Oh, the places you'll go! There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored. There are games to be won. And the magical things you can do with that ball will make you the winning-est winner of all. Fame! You'll be famous as famous can be, with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.

Except when they don't. Because, sometimes, they won't.

I'm afraid that some times you'll play lonely games too. Games you can't win 'cause you'll play against you.

All Alone!
Whether you like it or not, Alone will be something you'll be quite a lot.

And when you're alone, there's a very good chance you'll meet things that scare you right out of your pants. There are some, down the road between hither and yon, that can scare you so much you won't want to go on.

But on you will go though the weather be foul. On you will go though your enemies prowl. On you will go though the Hakken-Kraks howl. Onward up many a frightening creek, though your arms may get sore and your sneakers may leak. On and on you will hike. And I know you'll hike far and face up to your problems whatever they are.

You'll get mixed up, of course, as you already know. You'll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go. So be sure when you step. Step with care and great tact and remember that Life's a Great Balancing Act. Just never forget to be dexterous and deft. And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)

Kid, you'll move mountains!
So…be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray or Mordecai Ale Van Allen O'Shea, you're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!

- Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You'll Go!

Read the complete poem here: http://www.teamhope.com/seuss.htm

 

Objects d'Art: Funny Glasses

"Pee glasses" is a funny designer glasses range by the German Donkey Products. They nominate themselves as an international Design Label based in Hamburg.

Tears

A midsummer breeze blows

Warm, playful and teasing the tight buds to bloom

And lightly touches your cheek

Like some long forgotten lover's kiss

Tentative and invoking wistful memories of summers long ago

And leaves you with an ache

And an unbidden tear.

 

Brilliant Tea Board of India Ads

AGENCY: JWT, Kolkata, India
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Shibnath Sen, Sujoy Karmakar
ART DIRECTOR: Sujoy Karmakar
COPYWRITER: Broti Ganguly
PHOTOGRAPHER: Kiran Kumar

 

WHO'S YOUR IDEAL ROLE MODEL

This is remarkably clever and very accurate!!!    FIND OUT WHO TRULY IS YOUR ROLE MODEL.   DON'T SCROLL DOWN YET!! FIRST, DO THE SIMPLE MATH BELOW, THEN SCROLL DOWN TO FIND YOUR HERO.                         It's CRAZY how accurate this is!           1) Pick your favorite number between 1-9                      2) Multiply by 3 then                      3) Add 3                      4) Then again Multiply by 3 (I'll wait while you get the calculator.....)                      5 ) You'll get a 2 or 3 digit number....                      6 ) Add the digits together                      Now Scroll down  ...............                                  With that number, see who your ROLE MODEL is from the list below:                    1.  Albert Einstein  2.  Adolf Hitler  3.  Saddam Hussain 4.  Ronald Reagan  5.  Bill Gates  6.  Mahatma Gandhi  7.  Karl Marx  8.  Winston Churchill  9.  Keka De  10. JFK  11. Charles Darwin  12. Napoleon Bonaparte           I know.....I just have that effect on people.....one day you, too, can be like me.....Believe it!     P.S. Stop picking different numbers!! I AM YOUR IDOL, JUST  DEAL WITH IT!!!!!!

GARBAGE TRUCK

Got some fantastic advice through a forward this morning. Here's how it goes...

One morning, I hopped on a taxi for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a black car jumped out of a  parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his breaks,  skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean, he was really friendly. 

So I asked, "Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!" This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call, "The Law of the Garbage Truck."

He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally.

Just  smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home or on the streets. The bottom line is that successful people do not let garbage trucks take over their day.

Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so..... "Love the people who treat you right.. Pray for the ones who don't." 

Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it!

Tomar Khola Hawaye...

For Didinbhai.
It's been two years since you are gone and we miss you everyday.
I regret all the times I was not able to come and meet you... what
could have been so busy that I could not even call? Sorry for all the
times when other things seemed more vital, more important and thank
you for all the times you forgave everything with a smile.
Love you always.
10/11/2010

Brass Lamp

Dressing up the Goddess

Carrying Ma Jagadhhatri Home

Buddha in Laos...

A reclining buddha graces Xieng Khonane, the "Garden of the Buddhas" near the Laos-Thailand border. The concrete statues were built in the 1950s by a priest who combined Buddhist and Hindu influences.

Photograph by John William Banagan/Getty Images

"Laos is a poor, landlocked, and mountainous country in Southeast Asia. Agriculture, mostly subsistence farming, dominates the economy. Most people live in the valleys of the Mekong River and its tributaries, where rice can be grown on fertile floodplains. Soon after independence from France in 1953, the country fell into turmoil; in 1975 the communist Pathet Lao seized power with help from North Vietnam. Many fled the regime, and the U.S. resettled some 250,000 Lao refugees. One of the few remaining communist states, the economy is hampered by poor roads, no railroad, and limited access to electricity."

This is what Nat Geo says about Laos -

Devoutly Buddhist, the welcoming people of this quietly beautiful and largely undeveloped land maintain an easy, relaxed lifestyle that's in sharp contrast to that of their neighbors in hustle-and-bustle Thailand and Vietnam. • Vientiane, the waterside capital, is one of Asia's most laid-back, elegant, and atmospheric cities. • Tibetan monasteries, pristine snow-capped mountain peaks, exquisite colonial architecture, and the mysterious Plain of Jars merely top the list of this magical land's many appeals.

Would love to visit this amazing place... 2011 perhaps? :-)

 

Factoids:

Airport in Vientiane: Wattay

Language: Lao, French, English, various ethnic languages

Religion: Buddhist, animist, other

Currency: Kip

 

References:

http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/countries/laos-guide/

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/laos

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/laos/vientiane

Getting Older

"When you are five, you know your age down to the month. Even in your twenties, you know how old you are. I'm twenty-three you say, or maybe twenty-seven. But then in your thirties, something strange starts to happen. It is a mere hiccup at first, an instant of hesitation. How old are you? Oh, I'm--you start confidently, but then you stop. You were going to say thirty-three, but you are not. You're thirty-five. And then you're bothered, because you wonder if this is the beginning of the end. It is, of course, but it's decades before you admit it."

 

- from Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

The Hands that Rule the World

The artisan had just finished making the goddess' hands when I took
the photo. Such skill and such beauty!

Jagadhhatri Idol in the Making

Rocket Singh - Pataka of the Year!

 

Google Icon on the 115th Anniversary of the Discovery of X-Ray