travel bag duffel bag trolley bag
A team of US psychologists have found that talking to another person for 10 minutes a day improves memory. Researchers discovered that "socializing was just as effective as more traditional kinds of mental exercise in boosting memory and intellectual performance," lead author Oscar Ybarra, a psychologist at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, said in a statement. In one investigation, they analyzed data on 3,610 people, ages 24 to 96. They found that the higher their level of social interaction, the better their cognitive functioning. Social interaction included getting together or having phone chats with relatives, friends and neighbors. In another experiment, the researchers conducted lab tests on 76 college students, ages 18 to 21, to assess how social interactions and intellectual exercises affected the results of memory and mental performance tests. The students were divided into three groups: The social interaction group had a discussion of a social issue for 10 minutes before taking the tests; the intellectual activities group completed three tasks （including a reading comprehension exercise and a crossword puzzle） before the tests; and a control group watched a 10-minute clip of the Seinfeld television show. "We found that short-term social interaction lasting for just 10 minutes boosted participants' intellectual performance as much as engaging in so-called 'intellectual' activities for the same amount of time," Ybarra said. The study was expected to be published in the February 2008 issue of the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
2008年12月11日星期四
Female Stress Diet travel bag
travel bag duffel bag trolley bag This is a specially formulated diet, designed to help you copewith the stress that builds up during the day:BREAKFAST:1 grapefruit1 slice whole wheat toast1 cup skim milkLUNCHSmall portion lean, steamed chicken with acup of spinach1 cup herbal tea1 chocolate biscuitAFTERNOON TEAThe rest of the chocolate biscuits in the packet 1 tub of Rocky Road ice cream with Choc-ice topping1 jar nutellaDINNER4 bottles of red wine2 loaves garlic bread1 family size supreme pizzaLATE NIGHT SNACKWhole frozen Sara Lee cheesecake (eatendirectly from freezer)DIET RULES:1. If no-one sees you eat something, it has no calories2. When drinking a diet-coke with a chocolate bar, the fat in thechocolate bar is cancelled out by the diet-coke.3. When you eat with someone else, caloriesdon't count if you do not eat more than they do.4. Food used for medicinal purposes does NOT count. (for example:chocolate, toast, cheesecake and vodka)5. If you fatten up the people around you,you will look thinner.6. Cinema-related foods have a zero calorie count as they are partof the entertainment package and not counted as food intake.(this includes: popcorn, minties, maltesers, jaffas and frozen cokes)7. Biscuit pieces have no calories because breaking the biscuits upcauses calorie leakage.8. Food licked from knives and spoons hasno fat if you are in the process of cooking something.9. Foods that are the same colour have the same amount of fat.Examples are: spinach and peppermint ice-cream;apples and red jelly snakes.10.Chocolate is a food-colour wildcardand may be substituted for any other colour.11.Anything eaten while standing has no calories due to gravityand the density of calorie mass.12.Food consumed from someone else's plate has no fat as itrightfully belongs to the other person and the fat will cling to his/her plate.And remember:STRESSED SPELT BACKWARDS IS DESSERTS
People Born in Autumn Live Longer travel bag
travel bag duffel bag trolley bag People born in the autumn live longer than those born in the spring and are less likely to fall chronically ill when they are older, according to an Austrian scientist. Using census data for more than one million people in Austria, Denmark and Australia, scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in the northern German town of Rostock found the month of birth was related to life expectancy over the age of 50. Seasonal differences in what mothers ate during pregnancy, and infections occurring at different times of the year could both have an impact on the health of a new-born baby and could influence its life expectancy in older age. "A mother giving birth in spring spends the last phase of her pregnancy in winter, when she will eat less vitamins than in summer," said Gabriele Doblhammer, one of a team of scientists who carried out the research. "When she stops breast-feeding and starts giving her baby normal food, it’s in the hot weeks of summer when babies are prone to infections of the digestive system." In Austria, adults born in autumn (October-December) lived about seven months longer than those born in spring (April-June), and in Denmark adults with birthdays in autumn outlived those born in spring by about four months. In the southern hemisphere, the picture was similar. Adults born in the Australian autumn - the European spring - lived about four months longer than those born in the Australian spring. The study focused on people born at the beginning of the 20th century, using death certificates and census data. Although nutrition at all times of the year has improved since then, the seasonal pattern persists, Doblhammer said.
Happiness and Wealth travel bag
travel bag duffel bag trolley bag
Living standards have soared during the twentieth century, and economists expect them to continue rising in the decades ahead. Does that mean that we humans can look forward to increasing happiness?
Not necessarily, warns Richard A. Easterlin, an economist at the University of Southern California, in his new book, Growth Triumphant: The Twenty-first Century in Historical Perspective. Easterlin concedes that richer people are more likely to report themselves as being happy than poorer people are. But steady improvements in the American economy have not been accompanied by steady increases in people‘s self-assessments of their own happiness. "There has been not improvement in average happiness in the United States over almost a half century----a period in which real GDP per capita more than doubled," Easterlin reports.
The explanation for this paradox may be that people become less satisfied over time with a given level of income. In Easterlin‘s word: "As incomes rise, the aspiration level does too, and the effect of this increase in aspirations is to vitiate the expected growth in happiness due to higher income."
Money can buy happiness, Easterlin seems to be saying, but only if one‘s amounts get bigger and other people aren‘t getting more. His analysis helps to explain sociologist Lee Rainwater‘s finding that Americans‘ perception of the income "necessary to get along" rose between 1950 and 1986 in the same proportion as actual per capita income. We feel rich if we have more than our neighbors, poor if we have less, and feeling relatively well off is equated with being happy.
Easterlin‘s findings, challenge psychologist Abraham Maslow‘s "hierarchy of wants" as a reliable guide to future human motivation.
Maslow suggested that as people‘s basic material wants are satisfied they seek to achieve nonmaterial or spiritual goals. But Easterlin‘s evidence points to the persistence of materialism.
"Despite a general level of affluence never before realized in the history of the world." Easterlin observes, "Material concerns in the wealthiest nations today are as pressing as ever and the pursuit of material need as intense." The evidence suggests there is no evolution toward higher order goals. Rather, each step upward on the ladder of economic development merely stimulates new economic desires that lead the chase ever onward. Economists are accustomed to deflating the money value of national income by the average level of prices to obtain "real" income. The process here is similar----real income is being deflated by rising material aspiration, in this case to yield essentially constant subjective economic well-being. While it would be pleasant to envisage a world free from the pressure of material want, a more realistic projection, based on the evidence, is of a world in which generation after generation thinks it needs only another 10% to 20% more income to be perfectly happy.
Needs are limited, but not greeds. Science has developed no cure for envy, so our wealth boosts our happiness only briefly while shrinking that of our neighbors. Thus the outlook for the future is gloomy in Easterlin‘s view.
"The future, then, to which the epoch of modern economic growth is leading is one of never ending economic growth, a world in which ever growing abundance is matched by ever rising aspirations, a world in which cultural difference is leveled in the constant race to achieve the goods life of material plenty, it is a world founded on belief in science and the power of rational inquiry and in the ultimate capacity of humanity to shape its own destiny. The irony is that in this last respect the lesson of history appears to be otherwise: that there is no choice. In the end, the triumph of economic growth is not a triumph of humanity over material wants; rather, it is the triumph of material wants over humanity."
Living standards have soared during the twentieth century, and economists expect them to continue rising in the decades ahead. Does that mean that we humans can look forward to increasing happiness?
Not necessarily, warns Richard A. Easterlin, an economist at the University of Southern California, in his new book, Growth Triumphant: The Twenty-first Century in Historical Perspective. Easterlin concedes that richer people are more likely to report themselves as being happy than poorer people are. But steady improvements in the American economy have not been accompanied by steady increases in people‘s self-assessments of their own happiness. "There has been not improvement in average happiness in the United States over almost a half century----a period in which real GDP per capita more than doubled," Easterlin reports.
The explanation for this paradox may be that people become less satisfied over time with a given level of income. In Easterlin‘s word: "As incomes rise, the aspiration level does too, and the effect of this increase in aspirations is to vitiate the expected growth in happiness due to higher income."
Money can buy happiness, Easterlin seems to be saying, but only if one‘s amounts get bigger and other people aren‘t getting more. His analysis helps to explain sociologist Lee Rainwater‘s finding that Americans‘ perception of the income "necessary to get along" rose between 1950 and 1986 in the same proportion as actual per capita income. We feel rich if we have more than our neighbors, poor if we have less, and feeling relatively well off is equated with being happy.
Easterlin‘s findings, challenge psychologist Abraham Maslow‘s "hierarchy of wants" as a reliable guide to future human motivation.
Maslow suggested that as people‘s basic material wants are satisfied they seek to achieve nonmaterial or spiritual goals. But Easterlin‘s evidence points to the persistence of materialism.
"Despite a general level of affluence never before realized in the history of the world." Easterlin observes, "Material concerns in the wealthiest nations today are as pressing as ever and the pursuit of material need as intense." The evidence suggests there is no evolution toward higher order goals. Rather, each step upward on the ladder of economic development merely stimulates new economic desires that lead the chase ever onward. Economists are accustomed to deflating the money value of national income by the average level of prices to obtain "real" income. The process here is similar----real income is being deflated by rising material aspiration, in this case to yield essentially constant subjective economic well-being. While it would be pleasant to envisage a world free from the pressure of material want, a more realistic projection, based on the evidence, is of a world in which generation after generation thinks it needs only another 10% to 20% more income to be perfectly happy.
Needs are limited, but not greeds. Science has developed no cure for envy, so our wealth boosts our happiness only briefly while shrinking that of our neighbors. Thus the outlook for the future is gloomy in Easterlin‘s view.
"The future, then, to which the epoch of modern economic growth is leading is one of never ending economic growth, a world in which ever growing abundance is matched by ever rising aspirations, a world in which cultural difference is leveled in the constant race to achieve the goods life of material plenty, it is a world founded on belief in science and the power of rational inquiry and in the ultimate capacity of humanity to shape its own destiny. The irony is that in this last respect the lesson of history appears to be otherwise: that there is no choice. In the end, the triumph of economic growth is not a triumph of humanity over material wants; rather, it is the triumph of material wants over humanity."
Microsoft finds inside resistance travel bag
travel bag duffel bag trolley bag
Some Microsoft Corp shareholders say the software maker's 44.6 billion U.S. dollars bid for Yahoo! Inc may backfire and reduce its ability to compete with Google Inc in Internet consumer services and advertising."This is a stupid deal, and I'm not happy," said Jane Snorek, who helps manage more than 70 billion dollars in assets at First American Funds in Minneapolis. She told Bloomberg News that the firm began selling much of its Microsoft position on Thursday when the stock dropped 6.6 percent, the most since April 2006. "I'm expecting slow market-share erosion from Microsoft and Yahoo!"
Microsoft announced an unexpected 44.6-billion-dollar bid for Yahoo Friday. Some Microsoft Corp shareholders say the software maker's bid for Yahoo! Inc may backfire and reduce its ability to compete with Google Inc in Internet consumer services and advertising. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer is attempting the biggest technology takeover on record after his own efforts failed to narrow the gap with Google.Acquiring Yahoo! would still leave Microsoft with a smaller share of the Web search market, and Ballmer would face the distraction of combining the businesses, said Colin Gillis, an analyst at Canaccord Adams in New York."Sergey and Larry are going to have no problems sleeping," Gillis said, referring to Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page. "I don't see them tossing in their beds tonight."Gillis recommends buying Google shares, has a hold rating on Yahoo!, and doesn't cover Microsoft. He doesn't own shares in the companies.The 31-dollar--a-share bid of cash or Microsoft stock is 62 percent more than Yahoo!'s closing price on Thursday. Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, fell 2.15 dollars, to 30.45 dollars on Friday in Nasdaq Stock Market trading.Ballmer, 51, has presided over a 44 percent drop in Microsoft shares since taking over as CEO in January 2000.
Yahoo!, which reported its eighth straight quarter of declining profit this week, had dropped 18 percent this year before the offer was announced. The shares rose 9.20 dollars, or 48 percent, to 28.38 dollars on Friday.Holders of Yahoo! stock would be able to choose to take 31 dollars in cash or 0.9509 of a Microsoft share for each Yahoo! share. Microsoft will pay for half the purchase with cash and half with stock, the company said.Yahoo!, based in Sunnyvale, California, has also failed to break Google's hold on the market, losing Internet search users and share of the online ad market. The stock had lost almost half its value in the past two years before the deal was announced."Yahoo! has struggled mightily to compete against Google," said Dave Stepherson, a fund manager at Hardesty Capital Management in Baltimore, which holds about 281,000 Microsoft shares in its 650 million dollars under management. "That is not going to change just because they're pairing up with Microsoft."
The price is "incredibly expensive," and Microsoft may have done better by making smaller purchases to build out its own business, he said.Ballmer himself told analysts in July 2006 that buying Yahoo! wouldn't help Microsoft improve its search business, because only Google has a better quality product than Microsoft.
Some Microsoft Corp shareholders say the software maker's 44.6 billion U.S. dollars bid for Yahoo! Inc may backfire and reduce its ability to compete with Google Inc in Internet consumer services and advertising."This is a stupid deal, and I'm not happy," said Jane Snorek, who helps manage more than 70 billion dollars in assets at First American Funds in Minneapolis. She told Bloomberg News that the firm began selling much of its Microsoft position on Thursday when the stock dropped 6.6 percent, the most since April 2006. "I'm expecting slow market-share erosion from Microsoft and Yahoo!"
Microsoft announced an unexpected 44.6-billion-dollar bid for Yahoo Friday. Some Microsoft Corp shareholders say the software maker's bid for Yahoo! Inc may backfire and reduce its ability to compete with Google Inc in Internet consumer services and advertising. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer is attempting the biggest technology takeover on record after his own efforts failed to narrow the gap with Google.Acquiring Yahoo! would still leave Microsoft with a smaller share of the Web search market, and Ballmer would face the distraction of combining the businesses, said Colin Gillis, an analyst at Canaccord Adams in New York."Sergey and Larry are going to have no problems sleeping," Gillis said, referring to Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page. "I don't see them tossing in their beds tonight."Gillis recommends buying Google shares, has a hold rating on Yahoo!, and doesn't cover Microsoft. He doesn't own shares in the companies.The 31-dollar--a-share bid of cash or Microsoft stock is 62 percent more than Yahoo!'s closing price on Thursday. Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, fell 2.15 dollars, to 30.45 dollars on Friday in Nasdaq Stock Market trading.Ballmer, 51, has presided over a 44 percent drop in Microsoft shares since taking over as CEO in January 2000.
Yahoo!, which reported its eighth straight quarter of declining profit this week, had dropped 18 percent this year before the offer was announced. The shares rose 9.20 dollars, or 48 percent, to 28.38 dollars on Friday.Holders of Yahoo! stock would be able to choose to take 31 dollars in cash or 0.9509 of a Microsoft share for each Yahoo! share. Microsoft will pay for half the purchase with cash and half with stock, the company said.Yahoo!, based in Sunnyvale, California, has also failed to break Google's hold on the market, losing Internet search users and share of the online ad market. The stock had lost almost half its value in the past two years before the deal was announced."Yahoo! has struggled mightily to compete against Google," said Dave Stepherson, a fund manager at Hardesty Capital Management in Baltimore, which holds about 281,000 Microsoft shares in its 650 million dollars under management. "That is not going to change just because they're pairing up with Microsoft."
The price is "incredibly expensive," and Microsoft may have done better by making smaller purchases to build out its own business, he said.Ballmer himself told analysts in July 2006 that buying Yahoo! wouldn't help Microsoft improve its search business, because only Google has a better quality product than Microsoft.
2008年12月5日星期五
Reason, Season and Lifetime travel bag
travel bag duffel bag trolley bag
People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.When you figure out which it is, you know exactly what to do.When someone is in your life for a REASON,it is usually to meet a needyou have expressed outwardly or inwardly.They have come to assist you through a difficulty,to provide you with guidance and support,to aid you physically, emotionally, or spiritually.They may seem like a godsend, and they are.They are there for the reason you need them to be.Then, without any wrong doing on your partor at an inconvenient time,this person will say or do somethingto bring the relationship to an end.Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away.Sometimes they act up or out and force you to take a stand.What we must realize is that our need has been met,our desire fulfilled; their work is done.The prayer you sent up has been answeredand it is now time to move on.When people come into your life for a SEASON,it is because your turn has come to share, grow, or learn.They may bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh.They may teach you something you have never done.They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.Believe it! It is real! But, only for a season.LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons;those things you must build uponin order to have a solid emotional foundation.Your job is to accept the lesson,love the person/people (anyway);and put what you have learned to use in allother relationships and areas of your life.It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.
People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.When you figure out which it is, you know exactly what to do.When someone is in your life for a REASON,it is usually to meet a needyou have expressed outwardly or inwardly.They have come to assist you through a difficulty,to provide you with guidance and support,to aid you physically, emotionally, or spiritually.They may seem like a godsend, and they are.They are there for the reason you need them to be.Then, without any wrong doing on your partor at an inconvenient time,this person will say or do somethingto bring the relationship to an end.Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away.Sometimes they act up or out and force you to take a stand.What we must realize is that our need has been met,our desire fulfilled; their work is done.The prayer you sent up has been answeredand it is now time to move on.When people come into your life for a SEASON,it is because your turn has come to share, grow, or learn.They may bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh.They may teach you something you have never done.They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.Believe it! It is real! But, only for a season.LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons;those things you must build uponin order to have a solid emotional foundation.Your job is to accept the lesson,love the person/people (anyway);and put what you have learned to use in allother relationships and areas of your life.It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.
Three Peach Stones travel bag
travel bag duffel bag trolley bag
Observe a child; any one will do. You will see that not a day passes in which he does not find something or other to make him happy, though he may be in tears the next moment. Then look at a man; any one of us will do. You will notice that weeks and months can pass in which day is greeted with nothing more than resignation1, and endure with every polite indifference. Indeed, most men are as miserable as sinners, though they are too bored to sin-perhaps their sin is their indifference2. But it is true that they so seldom smile that when they do we do not recognize their face, so distorted is it from the fixed mask we take for granted3. And even then a man can not smile like a child, for a child smiles with his eyes, whereas a man smiles with his lips alone. It is not a smile; but a grin; something to do with humor4, but little to do with happiness. And then, as anyone can see, there is a point (but who can define that point?) when a man becomes an old man, and then he will smile again. It would seem that happiness is something to do with simplicity, and that it is the ability to extract pleasure form the simplest things-such as a peach stone, for instance. It is obvious that it is nothing to do with success. For Sir Henry Stewart was certainly successful. It is twenty years ago since he came down to our village from London , and bought a couple of old cottages, which he had knocked into one. He used his house a s weekend refuge5. He was a barrister. And the village followed his brilliant career with something almost amounting to paternal pride. I remember some ten years ago when he was made a King's Counsel6, Amos and I, seeing him get off the London train, went to congratulate him. We grinned with pleasure; he merely looked as miserable as though he'd received a penal sentence. It was the same when he was knighted; he never smiled a bit, he didn't even bother to celebrate with a round of drinks at the "Blue Fox"7. He took his success as a child does his medicine. And not one of his achievements brought even a ghost of a smile to his tired eyes. I asked him one day, soon after he'd retired to potter about his garden,8 what is was like to achieve all one's ambitions. He looked down at his roses and went on watering them. Then he said "The only value in achieving one's ambition is that you then realize that they are not worth achieving." Quickly he moved the conversation on to a more practical level, and within a moment we were back to a safe discussion on the weather. That was two years ago. I recall this incident, for yesterday, I was passing his house, and had drawn up my cart just outside his garden wall. I had pulled in from the road for no other reason than to let a bus pass me. As I set there filling my pipe, I suddenly heard a shout of sheer joy come from the other side of the wall. I peered over. There stood Sir Henry doing nothing less than a tribal war dance9 of sheer unashamed ecstasy. Even when he observed my bewildered face staring over the wall he did not seem put out10 or embarrassed, but shouted for me to climb over. "Come and see, Jan. Look! I have done it at last! I have done it at last!" There he was, holding a small box of earth in his had. I observed three tiny shoots out of it. "And there were only three!" he said, his eyes laughing to heaven. "Three what?" I asked. "Peach stones", he replied. "I've always wanted to make peach stones grow, even since I was a child, when I used to take them home after a party, or as a man after a banquet. And I used to plant them, and then forgot where I planted them. But now at last I have done it, and, what's more, I had only three stones, and there you are, one, two, three shoots," he counted. And Sir Henry ran off, calling for his wife to come and see his achievement-his achievement of simplicity.
Observe a child; any one will do. You will see that not a day passes in which he does not find something or other to make him happy, though he may be in tears the next moment. Then look at a man; any one of us will do. You will notice that weeks and months can pass in which day is greeted with nothing more than resignation1, and endure with every polite indifference. Indeed, most men are as miserable as sinners, though they are too bored to sin-perhaps their sin is their indifference2. But it is true that they so seldom smile that when they do we do not recognize their face, so distorted is it from the fixed mask we take for granted3. And even then a man can not smile like a child, for a child smiles with his eyes, whereas a man smiles with his lips alone. It is not a smile; but a grin; something to do with humor4, but little to do with happiness. And then, as anyone can see, there is a point (but who can define that point?) when a man becomes an old man, and then he will smile again. It would seem that happiness is something to do with simplicity, and that it is the ability to extract pleasure form the simplest things-such as a peach stone, for instance. It is obvious that it is nothing to do with success. For Sir Henry Stewart was certainly successful. It is twenty years ago since he came down to our village from London , and bought a couple of old cottages, which he had knocked into one. He used his house a s weekend refuge5. He was a barrister. And the village followed his brilliant career with something almost amounting to paternal pride. I remember some ten years ago when he was made a King's Counsel6, Amos and I, seeing him get off the London train, went to congratulate him. We grinned with pleasure; he merely looked as miserable as though he'd received a penal sentence. It was the same when he was knighted; he never smiled a bit, he didn't even bother to celebrate with a round of drinks at the "Blue Fox"7. He took his success as a child does his medicine. And not one of his achievements brought even a ghost of a smile to his tired eyes. I asked him one day, soon after he'd retired to potter about his garden,8 what is was like to achieve all one's ambitions. He looked down at his roses and went on watering them. Then he said "The only value in achieving one's ambition is that you then realize that they are not worth achieving." Quickly he moved the conversation on to a more practical level, and within a moment we were back to a safe discussion on the weather. That was two years ago. I recall this incident, for yesterday, I was passing his house, and had drawn up my cart just outside his garden wall. I had pulled in from the road for no other reason than to let a bus pass me. As I set there filling my pipe, I suddenly heard a shout of sheer joy come from the other side of the wall. I peered over. There stood Sir Henry doing nothing less than a tribal war dance9 of sheer unashamed ecstasy. Even when he observed my bewildered face staring over the wall he did not seem put out10 or embarrassed, but shouted for me to climb over. "Come and see, Jan. Look! I have done it at last! I have done it at last!" There he was, holding a small box of earth in his had. I observed three tiny shoots out of it. "And there were only three!" he said, his eyes laughing to heaven. "Three what?" I asked. "Peach stones", he replied. "I've always wanted to make peach stones grow, even since I was a child, when I used to take them home after a party, or as a man after a banquet. And I used to plant them, and then forgot where I planted them. But now at last I have done it, and, what's more, I had only three stones, and there you are, one, two, three shoots," he counted. And Sir Henry ran off, calling for his wife to come and see his achievement-his achievement of simplicity.
Catch the star that holds your destiny travel bag
travel bag duffel bag trolley bag
Catch the star that holds your destiny, the one that forever twinkles within your heart. Take advantage of precious opportunities while they still sparkle before you. Always believe that your ultimate goal is attainable as long as you commit yourself to it.
Though barriers may sometimes stand in the way of your dreams, remember that your destiny is hiding behind them. Accept the fact that not everyone is going to approve of the choices you've made. Have faith in your judgment. Catch the star that twinkles in your heart and it will lead you to your destiny's path. Follow that pathway and uncover the sweet sunrises that await you.
Take pride in your accomplishments, as they are stepping stones to your dreams. Understand that you may make mistakes, but don't let them discourage you. Value your capabilities and talents for they are what make you truly unique. The greatest gifts in life are not purchased, but acquired through hard work and determination. Find the star that twinkles in your heart?for you alone are capable of making your brightest dreams come true. Give your hopes everything you've got and you will catch the star that holds your destiny.
Catch the star that holds your destiny, the one that forever twinkles within your heart. Take advantage of precious opportunities while they still sparkle before you. Always believe that your ultimate goal is attainable as long as you commit yourself to it.
Though barriers may sometimes stand in the way of your dreams, remember that your destiny is hiding behind them. Accept the fact that not everyone is going to approve of the choices you've made. Have faith in your judgment. Catch the star that twinkles in your heart and it will lead you to your destiny's path. Follow that pathway and uncover the sweet sunrises that await you.
Take pride in your accomplishments, as they are stepping stones to your dreams. Understand that you may make mistakes, but don't let them discourage you. Value your capabilities and talents for they are what make you truly unique. The greatest gifts in life are not purchased, but acquired through hard work and determination. Find the star that twinkles in your heart?for you alone are capable of making your brightest dreams come true. Give your hopes everything you've got and you will catch the star that holds your destiny.
2008年12月4日星期四
Be an optimist travel bag
travel bag duffel bag trolley bag
If you change your mind---from pessimism to optimism - you can change your life.
Do you see the glass as half-full rather than half empty? Do you keep your eye upon the doughnut,not upon the hole? Suddenly these cliches are scientific questions, as researchers scrutinize the power of positive thinking. Research is proving that optimism can help you to be happier, healthier and more successful.Pessimism leads, by contrast, to hoplessness, sickness and failure, and is linked to depression, loneliness and painful shyness. If we could teach people to think more positively, it would be like inoculating them against these mental ills.
Your habits count but the belief that you can succeed affects whether or not you will. In part, that's because optimists and pessimists deal with the same challenges and disappointments in very different ways. When things go wrong the pessimist tends to blame himself." I'm not good at this." " I always fail." He would say.. Negative or positive, it was a self-fulfilling prophecy. If people feel hopeless they don't bother to acquire the skills they need to succeed.
A sense of control is the litmus test for success. The optimist feels in control of his own life. If things are going badly, he acts quickly, looking for solutions, forming a new plan of action, and reaching out for advice. The pessimist feels like fate's plaything and moves slowly. He doesn't seek advice, since he assumes nothing can be done. Many studies suggest that the pessimist's feeling of helplessness undermines the body's natural defenses, the immune system. Research has found that the pessimist doesn't take good care of himself. Feeling passive and unable to dodge life's blows,he expects ill health and other misfortunes, no matter what he does. He munches on junk food, avoids exercise, ignores the doctor, has another drink.
Most people are a mix of optimism and pessimism, but are inclined in one direction or the other. It is a pattern of thinking learned at our mothers' knees. It grows out of thousands of cautions or encouragements, negatibe statements or positive ones .Too many" don't I" and warning of danger can make a child feel incompetent, fearful-and pessimistic. Pessimism is a hard habit to break---------but it can be done.
If you change your mind---from pessimism to optimism - you can change your life.
Do you see the glass as half-full rather than half empty? Do you keep your eye upon the doughnut,not upon the hole? Suddenly these cliches are scientific questions, as researchers scrutinize the power of positive thinking. Research is proving that optimism can help you to be happier, healthier and more successful.Pessimism leads, by contrast, to hoplessness, sickness and failure, and is linked to depression, loneliness and painful shyness. If we could teach people to think more positively, it would be like inoculating them against these mental ills.
Your habits count but the belief that you can succeed affects whether or not you will. In part, that's because optimists and pessimists deal with the same challenges and disappointments in very different ways. When things go wrong the pessimist tends to blame himself." I'm not good at this." " I always fail." He would say.. Negative or positive, it was a self-fulfilling prophecy. If people feel hopeless they don't bother to acquire the skills they need to succeed.
A sense of control is the litmus test for success. The optimist feels in control of his own life. If things are going badly, he acts quickly, looking for solutions, forming a new plan of action, and reaching out for advice. The pessimist feels like fate's plaything and moves slowly. He doesn't seek advice, since he assumes nothing can be done. Many studies suggest that the pessimist's feeling of helplessness undermines the body's natural defenses, the immune system. Research has found that the pessimist doesn't take good care of himself. Feeling passive and unable to dodge life's blows,he expects ill health and other misfortunes, no matter what he does. He munches on junk food, avoids exercise, ignores the doctor, has another drink.
Most people are a mix of optimism and pessimism, but are inclined in one direction or the other. It is a pattern of thinking learned at our mothers' knees. It grows out of thousands of cautions or encouragements, negatibe statements or positive ones .Too many" don't I" and warning of danger can make a child feel incompetent, fearful-and pessimistic. Pessimism is a hard habit to break---------but it can be done.
2008年12月2日星期二
Write Your Own Life laptop bag
laptop bag computer bag travel bag
You couldn't see how much ink it had. It might run dry after the first few tentative words or last just long enough to create a masterpiece (or several) that would last forever and make a difference in the scheme of things. You don‘t know before you begin.
里面究竟有多少墨水看不出。或许在你试探性地写上几个字后它就会枯干，或许足够用来创作一部影响深远的不朽巨著(或是几部)。而这些，在动笔前，都是无法得知的。
Under the rules of the game, you really never know. You have to take a chance!
在这个游戏规则下，你真的永远不会预知结果。你只能去碰运气！
Actually, no rule of the game states you must do anything. Instead of picking up and using the pen, you could leave it on a shelf or in a drawer where it will dry up, unused.
事实上，这个游戏里没有规则指定你必须要做什幺。相反，你甚至可以根本不去动用这支笔，把它扔在书架上或是抽屉里让它的墨水干枯。
But if you do decide to use it, what would you do with it? How would you play the game?
但是，如果你决定要用它的话，那幺会用它来做什幺呢？你将怎幺来进行这个游戏呢?
Would you plan and plan before you ever wrote a word? Would your plans be so extensive that you never even got to the writing?
你会不写一个字，老是计划来计划去吗？你会不会由于计划过于宏大而来不及动笔呢?
Or would you take the pen in hand, plunge right in and just do it, struggling to keep up with the twists and turns of the torrents of words that take you where they take you?
或者你只是手里拿着笔，一头扎进去写，不停地写，艰难地随着文字汹涌的浪涛而随波逐流？
Would you write cautiously and carefully, as if the pen might run dry the next moment, or would you pretend or believe (or pretend to believe) that the pen will write forever and proceed accordingly?
你会小心谨慎的写字，好象这支笔在下一个时刻就可能会干枯；还是装做或相信这支笔能够永远写下去而信手写来呢？
And of what would you write: Of love? Hate? Fun? Misery? Life? Death? Nothing? Everything?
并且你又会写下些什幺呢：爱？恨？喜？悲？生？死？虚无？万物？（Great!）
Would you write to please just yourself? Or others? Or yourself by writing for others?
你写作只是为了愉己？还是为了悦人？抑或是藉替人书写而愉己？
Would your strokes be tremblingly timid or brilliantly bold? Fancy with a flourish or plain?
你的落笔会是颤抖胆怯的，还是鲜明果敢的？你的想象会是丰富的还是贫乏的？（Great!）
Would you even write? Once you have the pen, no rule says you have to write. Would you sketch? Scribble? Doodle or draw?
甚或你根本没有落笔？这是因为，你拿到笔以后，没有哪条规则说你必须写作。也许你要画素描，乱写一气？信笔涂鸦？画画？
Would you stay in or on the lines, or see no lines at all, even if they were there? Or are they?
你会保持写在线内还是线上，还是根本看不到线，即使有线在那里？嗯，真的有线吗？
There‘s a lot to think about here, isn‘t there?
这里面有许多东西值得考虑，不是吗?
Now, suppose someone gave you a life...
现在，假如有人给予你一支生命的笔...
You couldn't see how much ink it had. It might run dry after the first few tentative words or last just long enough to create a masterpiece (or several) that would last forever and make a difference in the scheme of things. You don‘t know before you begin.
里面究竟有多少墨水看不出。或许在你试探性地写上几个字后它就会枯干，或许足够用来创作一部影响深远的不朽巨著(或是几部)。而这些，在动笔前，都是无法得知的。
Under the rules of the game, you really never know. You have to take a chance!
在这个游戏规则下，你真的永远不会预知结果。你只能去碰运气！
Actually, no rule of the game states you must do anything. Instead of picking up and using the pen, you could leave it on a shelf or in a drawer where it will dry up, unused.
事实上，这个游戏里没有规则指定你必须要做什幺。相反，你甚至可以根本不去动用这支笔，把它扔在书架上或是抽屉里让它的墨水干枯。
But if you do decide to use it, what would you do with it? How would you play the game?
但是，如果你决定要用它的话，那幺会用它来做什幺呢？你将怎幺来进行这个游戏呢?
Would you plan and plan before you ever wrote a word? Would your plans be so extensive that you never even got to the writing?
你会不写一个字，老是计划来计划去吗？你会不会由于计划过于宏大而来不及动笔呢?
Or would you take the pen in hand, plunge right in and just do it, struggling to keep up with the twists and turns of the torrents of words that take you where they take you?
或者你只是手里拿着笔，一头扎进去写，不停地写，艰难地随着文字汹涌的浪涛而随波逐流？
Would you write cautiously and carefully, as if the pen might run dry the next moment, or would you pretend or believe (or pretend to believe) that the pen will write forever and proceed accordingly?
你会小心谨慎的写字，好象这支笔在下一个时刻就可能会干枯；还是装做或相信这支笔能够永远写下去而信手写来呢？
And of what would you write: Of love? Hate? Fun? Misery? Life? Death? Nothing? Everything?
并且你又会写下些什幺呢：爱？恨？喜？悲？生？死？虚无？万物？（Great!）
Would you write to please just yourself? Or others? Or yourself by writing for others?
你写作只是为了愉己？还是为了悦人？抑或是藉替人书写而愉己？
Would your strokes be tremblingly timid or brilliantly bold? Fancy with a flourish or plain?
你的落笔会是颤抖胆怯的，还是鲜明果敢的？你的想象会是丰富的还是贫乏的？（Great!）
Would you even write? Once you have the pen, no rule says you have to write. Would you sketch? Scribble? Doodle or draw?
甚或你根本没有落笔？这是因为，你拿到笔以后，没有哪条规则说你必须写作。也许你要画素描，乱写一气？信笔涂鸦？画画？
Would you stay in or on the lines, or see no lines at all, even if they were there? Or are they?
你会保持写在线内还是线上，还是根本看不到线，即使有线在那里？嗯，真的有线吗？
There‘s a lot to think about here, isn‘t there?
这里面有许多东西值得考虑，不是吗?
Now, suppose someone gave you a life...
现在，假如有人给予你一支生命的笔...
A Simply Truth About Happiness laptop bag
laptop bag computer bag travel bag
After I gave a talk on the subject of happiness，a woman in the audience stood up and said， "I wish my husband had come．" "Much as I loved him，" she explained， "it wasn't easy being married to someone so unhappy．" This woman enabled me to put into words what I had been searching for -- altruistic， as well as the personal， reasons for taking happiness seriously．I told her that each of us owes it to our spouse， our children，our friends to be as happy as we can． I was not a particularly happy child，and like most teenagers， I took pleasure in my anguish．One day， however， it occurred to me that I was taking the easy way out． Anyone could be unhappy； it took no courage and effort． True achievement lay in struggling to be happy． The notion that we have to work at happiness comes as news to many people． We assume it's a feeling that comes as a result of good things that just happen to us， things over which we have little or no control． But the opposite is true： happiness is largely under our control． It is a battle to be fought and not a feeling to be awaited． To achieve a happy life，it's necessary to overcome some stumbling blocks， three of which are： Comparison with Others Most of us compare ourselves with anyone we think is happier -- a relative， an acquaintance or， often someone we barely know．I once met a young man who struck me as particularly successful and happy． He spoke of his love for his beautiful wife and their three daughters， and of his joy at being a radio talk-show host in a city he loved． I remember thinking that he was one of those lucky few for whom everything goes effortlessly right． Then we started talking about the Internet． He blessed its existence， he told me， because he could look up information on multiple sclerosis -- the terrible disease afflicting his wife． I felt like a fool for assuming nothing unhappy existed in his life． Images of Perfection Almost all of us have images of how life should be． The problem， of course， is that only rarely do people's jobs， spouses and children live up to these imagined ideals． Here's a personal example： no one in my family had ever divorced．I assumed that marriage was for life．So when my wife and I divorced after five years of marriage and three years after the birth of our son， my world collapsed．I was a failure in my own eyes． I later remarried and confided to my wife that I couldn't shake the feeling that my family life had failed． She asked me what was wrong with our family now(which included her daughter from a previous marriage and my son)． I had to admit that， aside from the pain of being with my son only half the time(my ex-wife and I shared custody)， our family life was wonderful． " Then why don' t you celebrate it?" she asked． That' s what I decided to do． But first I had to get rid of a "perfect" family． "Missing Tile" Syndrome One effective way of destroying happiness is to look at something and focus on even the smallest flaw． It's like looking at the tiled ceiling and concentrating on the space where one tile is missing． As a bald man told me，"whenever I enter a room, all I see is hair． " Once you've determined what your missing tile is，explore whether acquiring it will really make you happy． Then do one of the three things: get it， replace it with a different tile， or forget about it and focus on the tiles in your life that are not missing．We all know people who have had a relatively easy life yet are essentially unhappy． And we know people who have suffered a great deal but generally remain happy． The first secret is gratitude．All happy people are grateful． Ungrateful people cannot be happy． We tend to think that being unhappy leads people to complain， but it's truer to say that complaining leads to people becoming unhappy． The second secret is realizing that happiness is a byproduct of something else． The most obvious sources are those pursuits that give our lives purpose -- anything from studying insects to playing baseball． The more passions we have， the more happiness we are likely to experience． Finally， the belief that something permanent transcends us and that our existence has some larger meaning can help us be happier． We need a spiritual faith， or a philosophy of life． Whatever your philosophy， it should include this truism： if you choose to find the positive in virtually every situation， you will be blessed， and if you choose to find the awful， you will be cursed． As with happiness itself， this is largely your decision to make．
After I gave a talk on the subject of happiness，a woman in the audience stood up and said， "I wish my husband had come．" "Much as I loved him，" she explained， "it wasn't easy being married to someone so unhappy．" This woman enabled me to put into words what I had been searching for -- altruistic， as well as the personal， reasons for taking happiness seriously．I told her that each of us owes it to our spouse， our children，our friends to be as happy as we can． I was not a particularly happy child，and like most teenagers， I took pleasure in my anguish．One day， however， it occurred to me that I was taking the easy way out． Anyone could be unhappy； it took no courage and effort． True achievement lay in struggling to be happy． The notion that we have to work at happiness comes as news to many people． We assume it's a feeling that comes as a result of good things that just happen to us， things over which we have little or no control． But the opposite is true： happiness is largely under our control． It is a battle to be fought and not a feeling to be awaited． To achieve a happy life，it's necessary to overcome some stumbling blocks， three of which are： Comparison with Others Most of us compare ourselves with anyone we think is happier -- a relative， an acquaintance or， often someone we barely know．I once met a young man who struck me as particularly successful and happy． He spoke of his love for his beautiful wife and their three daughters， and of his joy at being a radio talk-show host in a city he loved． I remember thinking that he was one of those lucky few for whom everything goes effortlessly right． Then we started talking about the Internet． He blessed its existence， he told me， because he could look up information on multiple sclerosis -- the terrible disease afflicting his wife． I felt like a fool for assuming nothing unhappy existed in his life． Images of Perfection Almost all of us have images of how life should be． The problem， of course， is that only rarely do people's jobs， spouses and children live up to these imagined ideals． Here's a personal example： no one in my family had ever divorced．I assumed that marriage was for life．So when my wife and I divorced after five years of marriage and three years after the birth of our son， my world collapsed．I was a failure in my own eyes． I later remarried and confided to my wife that I couldn't shake the feeling that my family life had failed． She asked me what was wrong with our family now(which included her daughter from a previous marriage and my son)． I had to admit that， aside from the pain of being with my son only half the time(my ex-wife and I shared custody)， our family life was wonderful． " Then why don' t you celebrate it?" she asked． That' s what I decided to do． But first I had to get rid of a "perfect" family． "Missing Tile" Syndrome One effective way of destroying happiness is to look at something and focus on even the smallest flaw． It's like looking at the tiled ceiling and concentrating on the space where one tile is missing． As a bald man told me，"whenever I enter a room, all I see is hair． " Once you've determined what your missing tile is，explore whether acquiring it will really make you happy． Then do one of the three things: get it， replace it with a different tile， or forget about it and focus on the tiles in your life that are not missing．We all know people who have had a relatively easy life yet are essentially unhappy． And we know people who have suffered a great deal but generally remain happy． The first secret is gratitude．All happy people are grateful． Ungrateful people cannot be happy． We tend to think that being unhappy leads people to complain， but it's truer to say that complaining leads to people becoming unhappy． The second secret is realizing that happiness is a byproduct of something else． The most obvious sources are those pursuits that give our lives purpose -- anything from studying insects to playing baseball． The more passions we have， the more happiness we are likely to experience． Finally， the belief that something permanent transcends us and that our existence has some larger meaning can help us be happier． We need a spiritual faith， or a philosophy of life． Whatever your philosophy， it should include this truism： if you choose to find the positive in virtually every situation， you will be blessed， and if you choose to find the awful， you will be cursed． As with happiness itself， this is largely your decision to make．
订阅：
博文 (Atom)
