Easy English and Short Stories

TIPS For Speaking Test Part 1

2011-11-16T07:45:00.000+08:00

IELTS - Tips for the Speaking test

The speaking part is usually a conversation about you, your plans for the future, your past studies, the reason for which you are taking the IELTS, your country, your town. Therefore be prepared for these subjects. You should prepare something to say about them. In addition, the examiner will show you a card with an argument you are supposed to discuss about. The thing you have to remember is: use easy words and expressions if you are not very confident and everything will go well. To be able to communicate what you think is far more important than doing it with a perfect English accent. Therefore, don't wary if your pronunciation is not exactly a British one. That's not the main point. Your understanding of what the examiner says and the ability to communicate without grammar mistakes is more important. The conversation lasts usually 15-20 minutes and will be recorded. Don't panic about that!!

The Speaking part of the test have been changed on July 1, 2001. It is now made up of three parts :-

In Part 1 the candidate answers general questions about themselves, their homes/ families, their jobs/studies, their interests, and a range of similar familiar topic areas. This part lasts between four and five minutes.

In Part 2 the candidate is given a verbal prompt on a card and is asked to talk on a particular topic. The candidate has one minute to prepare before speaking at length, for between one and two minutes. The examiner then asks one or two rounding-off questions.

In Part 3 the examiner and candidate engage in a discussion of more abstract issues and concepts which are thematically linked to the topic prompt in Part 2. The discussion lasts between four and five minutes.

adapted from : http://www.aippg.com

General Tips For IELTS Test

2011-11-09T13:13:00.005+08:00

General Tips

Success in the IELTS exam requires a candidate to know the test format and the specific techniques for answering questions. Make sure you are fully equipped with this knowledge. ( Please see Resources on the Internet and Books )

Don't believe people who tell you that IELTS needs no preparation if your English is good. Even if it is, you still need to learn the right skills for the test. I would suggest a period of two weeks as preparation time, though this would vary depending on your level of familiarity with English. The test fees are high and if you don't get the band score you need, you have to wait for three months before you can take the test again.

Like in all other exams, practice is the key to doing well in the IELTS. Make sure you have plenty of it before you appear for the test.

Answer all questions. There is no negative marking for incorrect answers.

Preparing for the test

Start by familiarizing yourself with the test format. Then read the online resources I have suggested. After that you could start with Step Up to IELTS to build the basic skills that you will need to do the test. Lastly, go on to doing the 4 tests in Cambridge IELTS 3 under test conditions. This should get you ready to take on the IELTS.

The British Council offers preparatory courses for IELTS. A placement test is held first to assess the candidate's level of English. This costs Rs 400/-. A four day intensive course is held before the date of the test. This costs Rs 5600/-. If you can afford the fees, the course might be a good idea as it gives you an insight into IELTS along with lots of practice. I think it would not help those whose level is very poor (possibly they would not do well in the placement test itself) or very good (they may not need the course). It would be most useful for those who lie somewhere in the middle of the spectrum.

Test day

Make sure you have visited the venue of the test a few days before the test date. Arrive at least half an hour earlier than the reporting time specified. Arriving late could send your tension levels soaring and the exam requires you to be absolutely relaxed and ready to give of your best.

There is no break between the four components of the test. This means that for around 3-3.5 hours, you can't eat, drink or visit the restroom. However, water was provided in the test hall where I took the exam and students were allowed to visit the restroom, but only while the test was in progress ( not in the period between different modules ). Since time is such a crucial factor in the exam, no one would want to waste time going to the toilet in the middle of the test. Make sure you visit the restroom before the test starts.

Carry your original and valid passport as it is mandatory. Also take the letter which gave you the venue of the test and your roll number. The receipt for the IELTS fee is another document that is sometimes asked for. Take it too.

Take a number of sharpened pencils, a pencil sharpener, an eraser and pens. Do all the components of the test in pencil. For listening and reading, use of a pencil is mandatory. For writing, it is much easier to erase what you write in pencil when you want to modify a sentence. If you use a pen, deleting sentences or words creates a mess.

Time is a crucial factor in the test. Make sure you take a watch that works and shows the correct time. Keep it in front of you on the desk as you work. It is all too easy to forget how much time has elapsed.

You can write anything you like on the question sheet. It is not read by the examiner. You can underline words, jot down your ideas for the writing test or write the answers for the listening test.

At our center (Delhi - INDIA), the Listening, Reading and Writing tests were held on one day and the Speaking test on the next day. The venue and time for the Speaking test are provided on the first day. Listen carefully to the instructions and remember to take the slip kept on your table which has the time for the Speaking test mentioned on it. You have to bring it along for the test. At some centers, all components of the test are held on the same day. This information is provided in the letter sent to you which gives you your roll number and the test venue.

Taken from http://www.aippg.com

Mother

2011-08-19T11:14:00.000+08:00

A man stopped at a flower shop to order some flowers to be wired to his mother who lived two hundred miles away.
As he got out of his car he noticed a young girl sitting on the curb sobbing.

He asked her what was wrong and she replied, "I wanted to buy a red rose for my mother. But I only have seventy-five cents, and a rose costs two dollars." The man smiled and said, "Come on in with me. I'll buy you a rose."

He bought the little girl her rose and ordered his own mother's flowers. As they were leaving he offered the girl a ride home. She said, "Yes, please! You can take me to my mother."

She directed him to a cemetery, where she placed the rose on a freshly dug grave.

The man returned to the flower shop, canceled the wire order, picked up a bouquet
and drove the two hundred miles to his mother's house.

" Have you tell your loved one that you love them TODAY?? "
" Have you said "I am sorry Mom" to your Mother and give her A Lovingfull HUG?? "
If you do still have a Mother...Go to her and tell her how much you love her so much and how lucky you are, that you still have a mother. Before you can't do it any more...even though you want to hug your mother so much...Because I still want to hug my mother but she is already passed away on May 10th 2009, 2:30 am....

FOR THE BEST MOTHER IN WHOLE WORLD IN MY LIFE....Thank You Mommy...
I Love You....Thank You ALLOH...^_^ ... T_T

THE PINK DRESS

2010-03-17T08:34:00.001+08:00

THE PINK DRESS

December 1, 2003

There was this little girl sitting by herself in the park. Everyone passed by her and never stopped to see why she looked so sad. Dressed in a worn pink dress, barefoot and dirty, the girl just sat and watched the people go by. She never tried to speak. She never said a word.

Many people passed by her, but no one would stop. The next day I decided to go back to the park in curiosity to see if the little girl would still be there. Yes, she was there, right in the very spot where she was yesterday, and still with the same sad look in her eyes.

Today I was to make my own move and walk over to the little girl. For as we all know, a park full of strange people is not a place for young children to play alone.

As I got closer I could see the back of the little girl's dress was grotesquely shaped. I figured that was the reason people just passed by and made no effort to speak to her. Deformities are a low blow to our society and, heaven forbid if you make a step toward assisting someone who is different.

As I got closer, the little girl lowered her eyes slightly to avoid my intent stare. As I approached her, I could see the shape of her back more clearly. She was grotesquely shaped in a humped over form. I smiled to let her know it was OK; I was there to help, to talk. I sat down beside her and opened with a simple, "Hello."

The little girl acted shocked, and stammered a "hi," after a long stare into my eyes. I smiled and she shyly smiled back. We talked until darkness fell and the park was completely empty. I asked the girl why she was so sad.

The little girl looked at me with a sad face said, "Because, I'm different."

I immediately said, "That you are!" and smiled.

The little girl acted even sadder and said, "I know."

"Little girl," I said, "you remind me of an angel, sweet and innocent."

She looked at me and smiled, then slowly she got to her feet and said, "Really?"

"Yes, you're like a little Guardian Angel sent to watch over all those people walking by."

She nodded her head yes, and smiled. With that she opened the back of her pink dress and allowed her wings to spread, then she said "I am. I'm your Guardian Angel" with a twinkle in her eye.

I was speechless -- sure I was seeing things.

She said, "For once you thought of someone other than yourself. My job here is done."

I got to my feet and said, "Wait, why did no one stop to help an angel?"

She looked at me, smiled, and said, "You're the only one that could see me" and then she was gone.

And with that, my life was changed dramatically. So, when you think you're all you have, remember, your angel is always watching over you.
--- Author Unknown

The Mind and the Stormy Ocean

2010-03-17T08:23:00.000+08:00

The Mind and the Stormy Ocean

Swamiananda and his disciple Ranga were strolling on the beach by the ocean. It was a cold day and the wind was blowing strongly over the ocean, raising very high waves.

After walking for some time, Swamiananda stopped, looked at his disciple and asked: "What does the choppy ocean remind you?"

"It reminds me of my mind. Of my rushing and restless thoughts," answered Ranga.

"Yes, the stormy ocean is like the mind, and the waves are the thoughts. The mind is neutral like the water. It is neither good, nor bad. The wind is causing the waves, as desires and fears produce thoughts," said Swamiananda.

"I wouldn't want to be on a boat, in the middle of the ocean, in a storm like this," said Ranga.

"You are there all the time," responded Swamiananda and continued, "Most people are on a rudderless boat in the middle of a choppy ocean, even if they do not realize it. The mind of most people is very restless. Thoughts of all kinds come and go incessantly, agitating the mind like the ocean's waves."

"Yes," Ranga interrupted him, "You don't have to tell me. This is the reason I am with you. I want to calm down the waves of my mind."

Swamiananda looked at Ranga for a while, smiled and said: "You don't calm the ocean by holding the water and not letting it move. What is necessary is to stop the wind. The wind is made of your thoughts, desires and fears. Don't let them rule your life. Learn to control them by controlling your attention, and then the ocean of your mind becomes calm."

"And how do I do that?"

"Suppose it is possible for the ocean to disregard the wind, what would happen then?" asked Swamiananda.

"The waves would cease. But no one can stop the wind."

Swamiananda looked at him with a mysterious smile and said: "Why not? The wind, the ocean, and thoughts are all within the mind. When you can control the mind, you can control everything within it. But first you have to control your mind, which means you have to control your attention."

--- By Remez Sasson --- Submitted by Kiran Shinde --- India

IN MY FATHER’S FOOTSTEPS

2010-03-01T09:08:00.002+08:00

IN MY FATHER’S FOOTSTEPS
by Chris Rose
This is the day. Today’s the day.
Andy knew it the moment he woke up that morning. This was the day he had to make a decision. The sun came in slowly through the red curtains in his bedroom and made him wake up earlier than he wanted to. It didn’t matter. It didn’t matter because today was the day. Andy stayed in his bed for some time, thinking about what he should do.

It didn’t matter – he had lots of time – he had woken up very early this morning. He lay in his bed thinking about the day that was to come. He lay there thinking about what he should do. The sun shining in through his red curtains became stronger and stronger and eventually he got up, stretched, yawned and went into the bathroom to get washed.

When he was in the bathroom washing his face he looked at himself in the mirror. “What shall I do today?” he asked his reflection in the mirror. “Should I stay at home, like every Saturday, or should I go?” His reflection didn’t reply to him. He looked at his face, his hair, his eyes. He thought about how much he looked like his father. He was now 32 years old. This was the same age that his father was when Andy was born. 32 years old. Was today the right time to make the journey? When Andy’s father was 32 years old he had already made that journey hundreds of times. For Andy, it was going to be the first time.

Andy went back into his bedroom and carefully took his clothes out of his wardrobe. He had made the decision. Yes – his lucky shirt. And then, his favourite trousers. He hoped his trousers were going to be lucky trousers too. Then he went into the kitchen to make himself a cup of tea and some toast for breakfast. As he was eating he thought about other people in other parts of the world who went on journeys like the journey he was going to do today.

He was still thinking about it when he went out of his house and walked down the road to the train station. Such an ordinary beginning for such a special day! he thought. This day, he thought, was more than any ordinary journey. Today was a pilgrimage. Today – for Andy – was a day like going to Rome, or sick people to Lourdes, or the people walking to Santiago de Compostela, or even Mecca.
Perhaps this was a wicked thought, but that’s how he felt. He thought about his father and he felt how extremely important this day was to him.

The train arrived and he saw a lot of other people getting on the train who were also making the same pilgrimage as he was. Even though he didn’t know them, they smiled at each other and nodded their heads at each other in a greeting. They recognised each other even though they didn’t know each other. The train started to move out through the town where he grew up – he saw the school where he went when he was little, the park where he played football with his father, and eventually the cemetery where his father was now buried.

His father had made this pilgrimage many times, but Andy had never gone with him. Andy hadn’t had a good relationship with his father when he was alive, but since he had died a year ago Andy found himself thinking more and more about his father. Now he was going to make the same pilgrimage that his father made so many times because he wanted to understand and remember his father. His father had made this pilgrimage, and his father’s father before that. And now he was doing it. It was a tradition which he felt happy – no, more than happy – he felt proud to be a part of.
Andy smiled again at the other people on the train. One man smiled back at him. “I haven’t seen you here before”, he said, “Is this your first time?”

“Yes, yes it is” replied Andy.

“I’ve been coming here for years” said the man. The train arrived at the station and they all got off. Now there were hundreds – no, more than hundreds – there were thousands of people there. They were all dressed in the same colours. They were all walking in the same direction.

“Makes you feel proud, doesn’t it?” said the man to Andy. He was right – Andy did feel proud. They walked together out of the station and onto the main road. The place of pilgrimage was there in front of them, only a few hundred metres away now. The thousands of other people became tens of thousands of people, everybody walking in the same direction, everybody together, lots of people singing old songs. Andy remembered his father singing some of those songs. He was happy now that he had come. He knew he had made the right decision.

As the tens of thousands of people walked slowly together along the road, Andy finally understood why his father and his grandfather had made this journey so often. It wasn’t the object of the journey that was important – it was the journey itself that was important. It was important to do the same things with lots of other people sometimes, to feel a sense of a shared faith, and shared ideals. Andy turned round and smiled at the man beside him. The man smiled back at Andy. Even though these two men didn’t know each other, they could see that they had something in common. They were walking in Andy’s father’s footsteps.

They walked in and up the concrete stairs. The noise of the tens of thousands of people was so loud that it was deafening. Andy started to laugh. He had made the right choice this morning. He was happy that he had come. He could almost feel his father standing there beside him. The teams ran out onto the pitch. There was a huge cheer.

The match was about to begin.
THE END

Download The Audio Here ^_^

EAGLES IN A STORM

2010-02-15T06:54:00.001+08:00

EAGLES IN A STORM
Did you know that an eagle knows when a storm is approaching long before it breaks?
The eagle will fly to some high spot and wait for the winds to come. When the storm hits, it sets its wings so that the wind will pick it up and lift it above the storm. While the storm rages below, the eagle is soaring above it.

The eagle does not escape the storm. It simply uses the storm to lift it higher. It rises on the winds that bring the storm.

When the storms of life come upon us - and all of us will experience them - we can rise above them by setting our minds and our belief toward God. The storms do not have to overcome us. We can allow God's power to lift us above them.

God enables us to ride the winds of the storm that bring sickness, tragedy, failure and disappointment in our lives. We can soar above the storm.

The God Gives us a problems in our daily live just to make us a better man just like a teacher gives you a home work, like giving your body to excercise and make it strongger and look better.

Remember, it is not the burdens of life that weigh us down, it is how we handle them.

THE BIRTH OF A STAR

2010-02-13T09:56:00.001+08:00

THE BIRTH OF A STAR

by Chris Rose

June 5th 2006
Henry looks carefully into the telescope which lets him see far, far away, as far away as the distant nebulae on the far edges of the Milky Way. Henry is an astronomer. He looks at the sky, and at stars in particular. Even though he spends much of his time looking at detailed computer reports, which are just lists and lists of numbers, his favourite thing about his job is looking through the telescope. And today he is very excited. He isn’t sure yet, but he thinks he has seen a dense cloud which might be the beginning of a new star.

July 5th 2006
Henry is still looking for a tiny point of light in the sky. He checks the lists and lists of numbers that his computer produces, and tries to make sense of them. He tries to turn the basic data into an image, a picture of the star he hopes to see, but it is not yet possible.
He arrives home feeling tired. His wife Anna sits down next to him. “I’ve got some news…” she says.

August 5th 2006
Henry is so excited about being a father that he has forgotten about his star. Anna is feeling sick and tired. Henry is no longer thinking about nebulae and clouds and gases. He is thinking about pushchairs and nappies.

September 5th 2006
Anna and Henry go to the doctor. Anna has an ultrasound scan. Henry is used to seeing distant images of planets and stars and clouds, and now he looks at this image. It almost looks like a cloud, but it is much clearer. He can see the outline of a head, the features of a face. And he realises that this means much more to him than the distant stars he is used to looking at.

October 5th 2006
Anna finally starts to get fatter. Henry is feeling terrified. For the first time now, he realises exactly what it means. In a few months time, he will be a father.

November 5th 2006
Anna looks at her tummy and now starts to feel that there is another living person inside her. She thinks about Henry’s job, and remembers how excited Henry was a few months ago when he thought that he could see a new star.

December 5th 2006
Henry thinks that Anna looks a bit like a whale, but that she is very beautiful anyway. He thinks that next Christmas everything will be very, very different.

January 5th 2007
Anna feels like she wants to sleep all the time. She feels like the baby already wants to come out. The baby is kicking her from inside. She feels like a football. She can’t wait to become a mother. Henry calls her ten times a day on her mobile phone.

February 5th 2007
It can take as long as ten million years for a star to form, but Henry doesn’t care about seeing his star any more. He knows that although he may be the first person to see a new star, it is impossible for him to see the birth of a star, from its beginning to its appearance. But he doesn’t care because a new star has just entered his life.
“But we haven’t thought of a name!” says Anna, holding the tiny baby in her arms.
“I have” says Henry. “I’ve got a beautiful name for her.”
“What is it?”
“Stella. Let’s call her Stella.”

Download The Audio Here ^_^

NOT A DROP TO DRINK

2010-02-08T06:34:00.000+08:00

NOT A DROP TO DRINK

by Chris Rose
Two thousand years ago the Romans tried to turn this desert into an oasis, a place full of rivers and lakes and canals. The Romans wanted to build big white temples and big houses under the hot sun. They wanted to turn this desert into a new paradise, full of trees and flowers and fields. They planned to sail their ships across the desert. But they failed.

The Romans failed because they looked only at the surface of the land. They tried to make the desert into a paradise with water and trees by digging canals and building aqueducts. They dug canals to connect the sea and the rivers. They built their aqueducts, long pipes to carry water, for many miles across the desert, to carry water from one town to another.

Now, I can still see some of the old aqueducts. There are a few white stone arches under the hot sun in the dry desert. They are falling down. The water in the aqueducts dried up. There is nothing left of the Roman canals. The water in the canals disappeared and the canals filled up with sand again, but if you look carefully it is still possible to see where they were. There are lines across the desert that look like very old roads.

In 1777 a Portuguese explorer called Emanuel de Melo Pimento came to this desert with a plan to turn it into an oasis. At that time in history, everybody was very excited by new discoveries in science and technology and engineering. Emanuel de Melo Pimento was a man of his times, one of the new scientist-philosopher-engineers who believed that all the problem of people in the world could be solved by science and philosophy. He believed that he could turn the hot, dry desert where nobody had enough water to drink into an oasis, into a utopia. He wanted to build a completely new city here, he wanted to build a completely new country. He wanted to call it “Pimentia”, named after himself, of course.

Emanuel de Melo Pimento had a lot of money. He had a lot of money because a lot of rich people in Portugal and Spain gave him money to go around the world and explore. These rich people invested in Emanuel de Melo Pimento’s journeys of exploration and discovery. Now they had given him money to build a new city, a new country, a utopia, to create an oasis in the desert. These rich people hoped to become even richer. Emanuel de Melo Pimento took their money and used it not to try and change the surface of the land, like the Romans, but to change what is under the surface of the desert. Emanuel de Melo Pimento wanted to dig canals under the desert, to make big underground rivers where the water would not dry up under the heat of the sun.

He failed, of course.

Some of his plans still survive. I have some of them here in my office in the Institute of Hydrogeological Research where I write this. They are very beautiful works of art. But not one of his plans was ever completed – they needed too much money, more money than even the rich people in Portugal and Spain gave to Emanuel de Melo Pimento. Instead, Emanuel de Melo Pimento spent all the money on building beautiful buildings where he could live and dream of his new city.

From where I write in my office in the Institute I can still see one of the old buildings that Emanuel de Melo Pimento lived in before he went mad and died here. He failed because he tried to look only under the land. The Romans failed because they looked only at the surface of the land. Now, I will succeed, because I am not looking at the surface of the desert, or under it. I am looking up above the desert. I am looking up at the sky.

Now, at the beginning of the 21st century we have the ability to go up into space. We have the ability to build satellites. Some people have said that I am mad, just like Emanuel de Melo Pimento, but I know that I will succeed. I have spent many years making plans to build satellites that can not only forecast the weather, but change it.

The first of the satellites went up into space last week, and now, using a computer here in my office, I am telling it what to do. The programmes I spent many years planning and designing all work perfectly.

I look up at the sky, and it is starting to rain.

It has now been raining for three weeks. It has not stopped raining for 21 days. At first, the people were very happy to see so much rain. Now the desert has flooded. Where before there was only sand, now there is water. Where there was desert, now there is sea.

But the rain that has come down from the sky has destroyed many houses. Some people now have nowhere to live. The rain was stronger and heavier than I planned. I was right to look up above the desert, not at its surface or under the sand, but I did not expect the force of nature to be so strong.

Have I too failed? I do not know. Will people in the future think of me as I now think of the Romans and of the failed mad scientist Emanuel de Melo Pimento?
I have turned the desert into a sea. We can now sail ships across the desert, like the Romans dreamed. But the people do not thank me. They have water, but they have nothing to drink.

THE END

Download The AUDIO here ^_^

FAIRY TALE MAGIC

2010-02-04T04:44:00.003+08:00

FAIRY TALE MAGIC

Cinderella

Cinderella lived with her stepmother and two stepsisters, who were jealous of her and treated her very badly. She had to spend all day, every day doing work around the house.
One day an invitation arrived from the prince, who was having a ball. Cinderella had to help her stepmother and stepsisters make beautiful dresses for the ball, and on the night they went off and left the poor girl alone.
She was very sad, but suddenly her Fairy Godmother appeared and turned Cinderella’s old clothes into a beautiful gown. She turned a pumpkin into a golden coach and some mice into lovely black horses and a rat into a coachman. So Cinderella went to the ball, but her Fairy Godmother warned her that she had to leave the ball by midnight.
When the prince saw Cinderella he thought she was so beautiful that he danced with her all evening. Suddenly the clock began to strike twelve, and Cinderella remembered what her Fairy Godmother had told her. She ran out of the palace and was in such a hurry that one of her glass slippers came off as she was racing down the stairs.
The prince found the slipper and ordered his servants to go out into his kingdom and make every girl try the slipper on until they found its owner. Eventually they arrived at Cinderella’s house and discovered that the slipper fitted her.
They took her back to the palace and she married the prince and they lived happily ever after.

Jack and the Bean Stalk

Jack lived with his mother and they were very poor. Jack went to market to sell their cow, but exchanged it for some magic beans. His mother was angry and threw them out the window. Next morning a giant plant was growing up into the sky.
Jack climbed up into the clouds where there was a magic land. He saw a huge castle and so went there. The castle belonged to a giant, who was out hunting. The giant’s wife let Jack come in, and when the giant came home she hid Jack. After dinner the giant brought out a hen that laid a golden egg. When the giant fell asleep Jack stole the hen and went back home.
For a while Jack and his mother were happy as they had money, but then Jack decided to go back up the beanstalk. He returned to the giant’s castle and this time when the giant fell asleep Jack stole two bags of money. When he got home his mother was ill, but cheered up when she saw him.
Again they were happy for a while and again Jack decided to go back up the beanstalk. This time the giant got out a magic harp after dinner, which played beautiful music all by itself. When the giant fell asleep Jack stole the harp, but the harp woke the giant, who started chasing Jack.
Jack raced back down the beanstalk, took an axe, and as the giant was climbing down he chopped it down. The giant fell all the way to the ground and was killed. And Jack and his mother lived happily ever after.

Pied-Piper of Hamelin

The town of Hamelin was suffering from a terrible plague of rats. The town council tried everything to get rid of them, but couldn’t. At last, the Mayor promised a big reward to anybody who could put an end to the plague.
A stranger dressed in bright clothes arrived and said he could rid Hamelin of the rats. At night, the stranger began playing a tune on his flute, drawing all the rats out of the houses and barns and into the river, where they drowned.
The Mayor would not pay the piper because he said that playing a flute was not worth the reward. He ordered the piper to leave Hamelin.
But the piper came back one day, and started to play his flute. This time, all the children followed him, and he left the village towards the mountains. Suddenly, a cave opened in the mountain and the piper and all the children went in. The cave closed behind them and the children were never seen again in Hamelin.

Puss in Boots

When a poor old man died he left his only three possessions to his three sons. The oldest boy got his mill, the second got his donkey and the youngest one got his cat.
The young boy was disappointed until the cat began to speak to him and asked him to give him a bag and a pair of boots. Then the cat went and caught a rabbit, put it in the bag and took it to the King, saying that it was a present from his master, the Prince of Carabas. After that the cat caught many more animals, and each time offered them to the King with the same message.
One day the King went for a ride in his coach near the river, and the cat told the boy to go for a swim. When he was in the water the cat hid his clothes, and then went up and told the King that his master – the Prince of Carabas – was swimming when some thieves had stolen his clothes. The King gave the boy some new clothes.

The boy got into the coach with the King and his daughter, the princess, and went for a ride. The cat ran ahead and tricked all of the people to tell the King that the land they were working on belonged to the Prince of Carabas, so the King thought that the boy was very rich.
Near there was a castle owned by a horrible ogre. The cat knew all about the ogre, and went to the castle. There he asked the ogre if it was true that he could turn himself into any animal. The ogre said that it was true, and to prove it he turned himself into a lion. The cat then asked the ogre if he could also turn himself into a small animal, like a mouse. The ogre did this, and the cat then ate him.
When the King, the princess and the boy arrived at the castle the cat said that it belonged to the Prince of Carabas. The King was so impressed that he offered the boy the hand of the princess in marriage. So they were married and live happily ever after.

Rumpelstiltskin

There was once a poor man who, in order to make himself seem more important to a king, told him that his daughter could spin straw into gold. The king ordered the girl to be brought to him, and he locked her in a room full of straw. He said he would return next day, and if the straw had not been spun into gold she would be killed.
The girl did not know what to do, but then a little man appeared and told her if she gave him a present he would spin the straw into gold. She gave him a necklace and he did what he had promised and then disappeared. The king was very pleased to see all the gold, but because he was greedy he put the girl into a bigger room full of straw and again threatened her with her life if she didn’t spin it into gold. Once more the little man appeared, she gave him a ring this time, he spun all the straw into gold and then disappeared.
The greedy king wanted still more gold, so he repeated the whole thing one more time. The little man appeared, but the girl didn’t have anything to offer him, so he said that the would spin the straw into gold if she promised to give him the first child that was born to her. The girl agreed and he spun the straw into gold and disappeared.
When the king saw all the gold he asked the girl if she would marry him, and she said yes. Some time later the Queen gave birth to a baby, and suddenly the little man appeared again and said that she had to give him the child. She was horrified, and begged the little man to let her keep her child, but he said that she had promised and so had to keep her promise. The Queen began to cry and the little man took pity on her and said that if she could find out her name in three days then she could keep the child.
Each day the little man returned, and each day the queen guessed his name, but each time he said no. Finally, just when the queen began to think that she would have to give the little man her child, one of her servants returned and said that he had seen a little man dancing around and singing that his name was Rumpelstiltskin.
So when the little man returned again on the third day the queen knew his name and so could keep her child, and they all lived happily ever after.

Sleeping Beauty

Once upon a time a King and Queen had a beautiful daughter, and held a big party to celebrate. They invited all the fairies in the land to come to the party, but they forgot to invite one old fairy.
On the day of the party all the fairies granted the princess wonderful wishes, except the old fairy, who had come even though she didn’t have an invitation. She cast a spell on the princess, saying that when the baby grew into a young lady, she would prick her finger and die of the wound. Luckily, all the other fairies got together and changed the terrible spell, so that instead of dying, the princess would fall asleep for a hundred years when she pricked her finger, and then be awoken by the kiss of a prince.
The King and Queen tried to make sure that there was nothing sharp in the palace, but one day when she had grown up she found a needle and pricked her finger. She immediately fell into a deep sleep. The fairies then cast another spell, which made all of the people in the palace except the King and Queen also sleep for a hundred years, until the princess awoke.
So a hundred years passed by and then one day a prince was riding his horse when he came across the palace. Going in he discovered everyone asleep. When he saw the princess he knelt down and kissed her, and she immediately woke up, as did all of her servants. They were married and lived happily ever after.

Snow White

Snow White was the daughter of a beautiful queen, who died when the girl was young. Her father married again, but the girl’s stepmother was very jealous of her because she was so beautiful.
The evil queen ordered a hunter to kill Snow White but he couldn’t do it because she was so lovely. He chased her away instead, and she took refuge with seven dwarfs in their house in the forest. She lived with the dwarfs and took care of them and they loved her dearly.
Then one day the evil queen was told by her talking mirror that Snow White was still alive, and she changed herself into a witch and made a poisoned apple. She went to the dwarfs house disguised as an old woman and tempted Snow White to eat the poisoned apple, which put her into an everlasting sleep.
Finally, a prince found her in the glass coffin where the dwarfs had put her and woke her up with a kiss. Snow White and the prince were married and lived happily ever after.

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What Will Your Day Be Like?

2010-01-29T06:37:00.002+08:00

What Will Your Day Be Like?

HOW TO HAVE A BAD DAY:

Wake up late, in a panic
Rush to get ready
Dress hurriedly
Don't eat
Drink lots of coffee
No spiritual reflection
No exercise
Don't plan your day
Focus on your failures
Never smile
Be selfish and unfriendly
Criticize, blame, complain
Think negative thoughts
Dictate, direct, command
Don't forget to nag
Don't overlook mistakes
Grumble
No time for lunch
Harbor resentment
Keep rushing
Don't communicate
Keep it all to yourself
Worry about tomorrow
Be rigid and cranky
Retire with bad thoughts and a full stomach

*ask your self, how many times a day you done that?? and what are the result??

HOW TO HAVE A GOOD DAY!

Wake up early - don't rush
Breath slowly and deeply
Exercise
Take 5 minutes to reflect
Greet everyone
Smile a lot
Compliment often
Communicate
Listen more - talk less
Beware of giving advice
View your work as a privilege
Express appreciation
Do your best
Welcome change
Relax your neck muscles
Plan time for relaxation
Throw away negative feelings
Let go of anger and guilt
Leave work at work
Review your accomplishments
Plan pleasurable events
Eat well at night
Recognize your blessings
Lots of love

*ask your self, how many times a day you done that?? and what are the result??

Taken from www.motivateus.com

Personal Empowerment

2010-01-28T06:33:00.001+08:00

Personal Empowerment

Use Empowering Words When You Talk to Yourself
(whether you are speaking out loud or silently)

How do you talk to yourself?
Do you use the words "can't", "won't", "don't need to", "why try"?
Many people do.

Do you find that what you say to yourself turns out to be true?

Why is this?

You see your brain is like a computer that you feed each day. It doesn't know always know what's real or not unless you tell it.

Example: If someone you love has hurt you, you may tell yourself that all people who love you will probably hurt you too.

Your brain just files this information for reference, it's data, little zeroes and ones and no column that asks "true or not true?" Now your brain thinks, based on what you told it, that everyone you'll ever love will hurt you.

How do you think you will respond the next time you get hurt? Right!!

Now, what if we instead told our brain:

"Okay this person ripped my heart out - but that's only one person. I'm lovable and have many loving people in my life who are not out to hurt me. I know that the right people are coming into my life all the time. If someone hurts me, I will forgive them and bless them on their way."

Words can be empowering.

I can
I love to
I want to
I will
I must
I am

We can reach a new level of living, if we feed ourselves empowering words and practice saying them until they become a habit.

I know first hand that it takes time.

And I also know that it's worth it.

Try it for a week.

Catch yourself saying, "I can't", when you don't really mean it and instead try, "I can", and see how you think and feel about yourself.

Remember, the words you use to empower yourself will have a lasting effect, only if you practice them and they become a habit (an acquired behavior pattern regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary).

They say it takes at least 28 days to develop a habit. After a week, you will see that it becomes easier. It's a mindset and you can control your thoughts.
Be proactive and not reactive - give yourself some good words.

Dream big and empower yourself! Believe you can and you will.

by: Marlene Blaszczyk, Source Unknown

BIRTH

2010-01-28T05:35:00.001+08:00

BIRTH

by Jo Bertrand

It is difficult to think about this word without first considering the enormity of it’s meaning. Without birth we would not exist. It is a fundamental starting point of life which implies creativity and the beginning of something positive.
The birth of a child is without a doubt one of the most inspiring facts of life and one which allows us to continue into the future. Not only is this word extremely meaningful when used alone, it also has several collocations which expand its significance. I have chosen just a few to explore briefly here.

Birth certificate This is more than just a piece of paper. It is an integral part of our identity. It gives us a sense of belonging and can be a source of pride. Having dual nationality, and so having two birth certificates, can link you emotionally to both countries. Most certificates have the name of both the father and the mother although it is possible that the one or other of the biological parents decides to remain anonymous.

Birth control In England there is a charity called the fpa (Family Planning Association). Their objective is to advise and provide assistance to people, young and old, who need help with birth control or sexual health. One of their aims is to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies and trying to limit the number of teenage pregnancies through communication and making guidance available to young people in schools.

Birthday It depends on what family you come from but many families celebrate birthdays in a big way. In our family when we were younger we always had a homemade cake covered with candles. We don’t have saint’s days in England like they do in France so our birthday is the one day that is focused on us. It is the day when we are really allowed to self-indulge. Nowadays most people receive cards and presents and organise a party or celebrate their birthday with friends in other ways. Mine is the 29th November if you want to make a note in your diaries!

Birth partner Nowadays the father-to-be is often in the delivery room assisting his wife while she gives birth. This is not however always the case and sometimes there is a third or even fourth person who accompanies the mother-to-be through labour, both physically and emotionally. Around the world there are mid-wives and other professional birthing assistants who play an important role in the birth process.

Birth Place Famous birthplaces include the house where Shakespeare was born and lived in Stratford-Upon-Avon, England. In the South of Wales you can find the birth places of many famous singers, actors and poets such as Tom Jones, Anthony Hopkins (Silence of the Lambs), and Dylan Thomas. In London and other big cities in England you can often see plaques on the outside wall of buildings stating that a famous person was born there.

Birth plan This is a very Anglo-Saxon concept. When asked what her birth plan was a French friend of mine replied that she planned to travel to her to her parents’ village a month before the birth. It wasn’t quite the answer that the doctor was expecting. A birth plan is what the expectant parents write and present to the delivery team explaining how they would like the birth of their child to be carried out. This can include details such as having the lights turned down low, music playing in the background to more medical aspects such as refusal of pain relief medication. However, what is written in a birth plan and what happens in reality are often two contrasting stories.

Birth rate At the moment Japan has the lowest birth rate with the highest life expectancy in the world which could mean that in years to come the ageing population may not have enough people working to pay for their pension funds. China’s birth rate is high and remains a potential source of financial problems for the country. This explains the government’s efforts, dating from the 1990s, to restrict how many children people have so that they can keep the birth rate down.

Birth rituals In China the mother and baby stay at home for the first month without washing to preserve the purity of the child and to protect him from the outside world. Elsewhere, Hindu rituals include feeding a newborn baby honey and whispering the name of God into his ear. They also attach a lot of importance to the baby naming ceremony. A strange ritual that apparently takes place in India during a difficult childbirth is to give the woman a glass of water to drink in which her mother-in-law has put her toes! This is supposed to speed up the birth.

Birth stone The day we are born corresponds to a zodiac sign and supposedly a colour, number and precious stone all of which are meant to reveal something about our personality. With my birthday in November my birth stone is topaz which, according to Polish tradition, signifies fidelity. Our zodiac sign is determined by the rotation of the earth and I am a Sagittarius and am therefore supposed to be frank, honest and am meant to like travelling. Most of this is true!

To give birth This is for me the most significant word association. Having been through this experience twice I can easily say that it is one of the most amazing moments of my life. The rush of emotion when you are presented with your newborn baby is indescribable. Many years ago giving birth was a perilous event for women. Nowadays the risks are much more limited and it is a wonderful event.

Re-birth According to some religions such as Buddhism, when we die it is only our physical body that ceases to exist. Many people believe that our soul continues to live on and will be reincarnated in the form of an animal or another human being. This makes life a cyclical process rather than a linear one.

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AWARDS

2010-01-23T07:00:00.010+08:00

by Chris Rose
The Nobels are the originals, of course. Alfred Nobel, the man who invented deadly explosives, decided to try and do something good with all the money he earned, and gave prizes to people who made progress in literature, science, economics and – perhaps most importantly – peace.

Not all awards are as noble as the Nobels. Even though most countries have a system for recognising, honouring and rewarding people who have done something good in their countries, there are now hundreds of awards and awards ceremonies for all kinds of things.
The Oscars are probably the most famous, a time for the (mostly) American film industry to tell itself how good it is, an annual opportunity for lots of big stars to give each other awards and make tearful speeches. As well as that there are also the Golden Globes, apparently for the same thing.

But it’s not only films – now there are also Grammies, Brits, the Mercury Prize and the MTV and Q awards for music. In Britain, a writer who wins the Booker prize can expect to see their difficult, literary novel hit the bestseller lists and compete with the “Da Vinci Code” for popularity. The Turner Prize is an award for a British contemporary artist – each year it causes controversy by apparently giving lots of money to artists who do things like display their beds, put animals in glass cases or – this year – build a garden shed.
Awards don’t only exist for the arts. There are now awards for Sports Personality of the Year, for European Footballer of the year and World Footballer of the Year. This seems very strange – sometimes awards can be good to give recognition to people who deserve it, or to help people who don’t make a lot of money carry on their work without worrying about finances, but professional soccer players these days certainly aren’t short of cash!
Many small towns and communities all over the world also have their own awards ceremonies, for local writers or artists, or just for people who have graduated from high school or got a university degree. Even the British Council has its own awards for “Innovation in English Language Teaching”.
Why have all these awards and ceremonies appeared recently? Shakespeare never won a prize, nor did Leonardo da Vinci or Adam Smith or Charles Dickens.
It would be possible to say, however, that in the past, scientists and artists could win “patronage” from rich people – a king or a lord would give the artist or scientist money to have them paint their palaces or help them develop new ways of making money. With the change in social systems across the world, this no longer happens. A lot of scientific research is now either funded by the state or by private companies. Perhaps awards ceremonies are just the most recent face of this process.
However, there is more to it than that. When a film wins an Oscar, many more people will go and see it, or buy the DVD. When a writer wins the Nobel prize, many more people buy their books. When a group win the MTV awards, the ceremony is seen by hundreds of thousands of people across the world. The result? The group sell lots more records.
Most awards ceremonies are now sponsored by big organisations or companies. This means that it is not only the person who wins the award who benefits – but also the sponsors. The MTV awards, for example, are great for publicising not only music, but also MTV itself!
On the surface, it seems to be a “win-win” situation, with everyone being happy, but let me ask you a question – how far do you think that publicity and marketing are winning here, and how much genuine recognition of achievement is taking place?

Taken from BBC Radio

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A Clever King

2010-01-19T13:13:00.000+08:00

A Clever King

There was a country long time ago where the people would change a king every year. The person who would become the king had to agree to a contract that he will be sent to an island after his one year of being a king. So, one king finished his term and it was time for him to go to the island and live there. The people dressed him up in expensive clothes and put him on an elephant and took him around the cities to say goodbye to all the people. This was the moment of sadness for all the kings who ruled for one year. After saying goodbye, the people took the king with a boat to the remote island and left him there. On their way back, they discovered a ship that had sunk just recently. They saw a young man who survived by holding on to a floating piece of wood. As they needed a new king, they picked up the young man and took him to their country. They requested him to be a king for a year. First he refused but later he agreed to be a king. People told him about all the rules and regulations and that how he will be sent to an island after one year.

After three days of being a king, he asked the ministers if they could show him the island where all the other kings were sent. They agreed and took him to the island. The island was covered with thick jungles and sound of vicious animals were heard coming out of them. The king went little bit inside to see how it was and discovered the dead bodies of all the past kings. He understood that as soon as they were left in the island, the animals came and killed them.

The king then went back to the country and requested the people to provide him with 100 strong workers. He was provided with 100 workers and he took them to the island and told them to remove all the deadly animals and to cut down all the trees. He would visit the island every month to see how the work is progressing.

In the first month, all the animals were removed and many trees were cut down. In the second month, the whole island was cleaned out. The king then told the workers to plant gardens in various parts of the island. He also took with himself useful animals like chickens, ducks, birds, goats, cows etc. In the third month, he ordered the workers to build big houses and docking stations for ships. Over the months, the island turned into a beautiful place. The young king would wear simple clothes and spend very little from his earnings. He sent all the earnings to the island for storage. Nine months have passed like this. The king called the people and told them that "I know that I have to go the island after one year, but I would like to go there right now." But the people didn't agree to this and said that he have to wait for another 3 months to complete the year.

3 months passed and now it was a full year. The people dressed up the young king and put him on an elephant to take him around the country to say goodbye to others. However, this king is unusually happy to leave the kingdom. People asked him, "All the other kings would cry at this moment and why are you laughing?" He replied, "Don't you know what the wise people say? They say that when you came to this world as a baby, you were crying and everyone was smiling. Live such a life that when you are dieing, you will be smiling and everyone around you will be crying. I have lived that life. While all the other kings were lost into the luxuries of the kingdom, I always thought about the future and planned for it. I turned the deadly island into a beautiful abode for me where I can stay peacefullly."

The 3 Rs to save the Planet

2010-01-15T11:56:00.004+08:00

The 3 Rs to save the Planet

Worldwide, the rate at we use up for raw maerials and generate waste from it is increasing. The climate is changing, the winter is cooler, the summer is hotter, raining season and hot season cycle is messed up. One district is flooding, and the neighboring district is draught. The storm is getting wider, longger and wider. Crops are failing, bees do not return to their home. The everlsting snow is melting on the Himalayan mountain, the ice on the Poles are cracking and melting, the corals are bleaching, uncontrollable forest fire and bush fire, and there’s still a lot more sign that you can see in your sorroundings if you spare your time to think for a while. We can only change this if we can all act together as a Human race not as a dividing country and race, not for in the name of economy, for the sake of human race and for the God who lend us this world for us to take care. We must do more harder to reduce, re-use, and recycle OUR waste, yes our or should you said to your self “My waste”, so start thinking about what you can do, not what others can do.

We have to reduce, re-use, recycle ( the three Rs) because:
1. We produce too much waste.
2. It is expensive to dispose of it.
3. The raw materials we use will eventually run out.
4. Throwing things away is a waste of our resources.
5. It takes more energy to create new products from raw materials than it does to
recycle from existing materials.

In other words, there are significant envomental as well as economic costs associated with waste management. The governments already pay considerable amounts of money for waste collectionand disposal. In the long term, money can be saved if new ecycling waste are introduced. Orginising collection schemes and subsidising reprocessing plants also help to recycle waste more efectively the top down approach. But most importanly, as individual we have to take esponsibility of our own waste. So, how do we reduce, re-use and recycle?

Reduce
By Things that have minimum packaging. Choose package that can be recycled at the end of their useful life. If a shop assistant asks whether you need another plastic bag to carry your shopping, say No and tell them to save it!

Re-use
Seond-hand and repaired item can be used again and again. Donating clothes to charity shops or selling them on as second-hand or through car boot sales is a good way of recycling unwanted clothes. Discarded clothes can also be transported to countries ravaged by war or natural disaster.

Recycle
Make waste useful in some other form. Compost raw kitchen waste at home and use it in the garden. Participate in or help to set up a local recycling schemes. Choose washable nappies over disposable ones. We can also take steps to reduce the amount of junk mail we receive through the post.
In many countries, there are an increasing number of local collection schemes for recycling paper (newpapers, magazines, junk mail, etc), glass (usually bottles, jars), aluminium (drink cans, foil, bottle caps) and tin (usually food cans). Other schemes for recycling plastics, cardboard, and garden waste are also common. In some countries, the people are not educated by thheir government to dospose their waste properly. Or sometimes their people want to dispose the waste properly, but their goverment don’t give them enough resource to support their people to dispose waste properly.
We cannot afford a short term, disposable approach of waste management, because as populations grow and become more affluent, the associated programs will worsen. If we all take responsibility for our own waste, we can all make a difference. The three Rs will improve the world in which we live, and the world we leave for our children.
Ask your self:
1. What have you done to save your place.
2. How many times in a week that you go on shopping and came home with abundance of little and big plastic bags.
3. Did you unplug your recharge adaptor when you are done using it?
4. If the world is not suitable for human beings any more...where will you live?
5. The water you drink is not dribkable any more?
6. The crops that grown is drying because of intense heat or get flushed away by the flood, what will you eat?
7. The trees are all cut down and exploited, what will you do??

The BRICK

2010-01-13T11:46:00.000+08:00

About ten years ago, a young and very successful executive named Josh was traveling down a Chicago neighborhood street. He was going a bit too fast in his sleek, black, 12 cylinder Jaguar XKE, which was only two months old.

He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and slowed down when he thought he saw something. As his car passed, no child darted out, but a brick sailed out and - WHUMP! - it smashed Into the Jag's shiny black side door! SCREECH..!!!! Brakes slammed! Gears ground into reverse, and tires madly spun the Jaguar back to the spot from where the brick had been thrown. Josh jumped out of the car, grabbed the kid and pushed him up against a parked car. He shouted at the kid, "What was that all about and who are you? Just what the heck are you doing?!" Building up a head of steam, he went on. "That's my new Jag, that brick you threw is gonna cost you a lot of money. Why did you throw it?"

"Please, mister, please. . . I'm sorry! I didn't know what else to do!" Pleaded the youngster. "I threw the brick because no one else would stop!" Tears were dripping down the boy's chin as he pointed around the parked car. "It's my brother, mister," he said. "He rolled off the curb and fell out of his wheelchair and I can't lift him up." Sobbing, the boy asked the executive, "Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He's hurt and he's too heavy for me."

Moved beyond words, the young executive tried desperately to swallow the rapidly swelling lump in his throat. Straining, he lifted the young man back into the wheelchair and took out his handkerchief and wiped the scrapes and cuts, checking to see that everything was going to be OK. He then watched the younger brother push him down the sidewalk toward their home.

It was a long walk back to the sleek, black, shining, 12 cylinder Jaguar XKE -a long and slow walk. Josh never did fix the side door of his Jaguar. He kept the dent to remind him not to go through life so fast that someone has to throw a brick at him to get his attention. . . Some bricks are softer than others. Feel for the bricks of life coming at to you. For all the negative things we have to say to ourselves, God has positive answers.

ECHO

2010-01-13T11:38:00.000+08:00

MOUNTAIN STORY

"A son and his father were walking on the mountains.
Suddenly, his son falls, hurts himself and screams: "AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"
To his surprise, he hears the voice repeating, somewhere in the mountain: "AAAhhhhhhhhhhh!!!"
Curious, he yells: "Who are you?"
He receives the answer: "Who are you?"
And then he screams to the mountain: "I admire you!"
The voice answers: "I admire you!"
Angered at the response, he screams: "Coward!"
He receives the answer: "Coward!"
He looks to his father and asks: "What's going on?"
The father smiles and says: "My son, pay attention."
Again the man screams: "You are a champion!"
The voice answers: "You are a champion!"
The boy is surprised, but does not understand.
Then the father explains: "People call this ECHO, but really this is LIFE.
It gives you back everything you say or do.
Our life is simply a reflection of our actions.
If you want more love in the world, create more love in your heart.
If you want more competence in your team, improve your competence.
This relationship applies to everything, in all aspects of life;
Life will give you back everything you have given to it."

YOUR LIFE IS NOT A COINCIDENCE. IT'S A REFLECTION OF YOU!"

DETERMINATION

2010-01-07T10:30:00.000+08:00

DETERMINATON

In 1883, a creative engineer named John Roebling was inspired by an idea to build a spectacular bridge connecting New York with the Long Island. However bridge building experts throughout the world thought that this was an impossible feat and told Roebling to forget the idea. It just could not be done. It was not practical. It had never been done before.

Roebling could not ignore the vision he had in his mind of this bridge. He thought about it all the time and he knew deep in his heart that it could be done. He just had to share the dream with someone else. After much discussion and persuasion he managed to convince his son Washington, an up and coming engineer, that the bridge in fact could be built.

Working together for the first time, the father and son developed concepts of how it could be accomplished and how the obstacles could be overcome. With great excitement and inspiration, and the headiness of a wild challenge before them, they hired their crew and began to build their dream bridge.
The project started well, but when it was only a few months underway a tragic accident on the site took the life of John Roebling. Washington was injured and left with a certain amount of brain damage, which resulted in him not being able to walk or talk or even move.

"We told them so."
"Crazy men and their crazy dreams."
"It`s foolish to chase wild visions."

Everyone had a negative comment to make and felt that the project should be scrapped since the Roeblings were the only ones who knew how the bridge could be built. In spite of his handicap Washington was never discouraged and still had a burning desire to complete the bridge and his mind was still as sharp as ever.
He tried to inspire and pass on his enthusiasm to some of his friends, but they were too daunted by the task. As he lay on his bed in his hospital room, with the sunlight streaming through the windows, a gentle breeze blew the flimsy white curtains apart and he was able to see the sky and the tops of the trees outside for just a moment.

It seemed that there was a message for him not to give up. Suddenly an idea hit him. All he could do was move one finger and he decided to make the best use of it. By moving this, he slowly developed a code of communication with his wife.
He touched his wife's arm with that finger, indicating to her that he wanted her to call the engineers again. Then he used the same method of tapping her arm to tell the engineers what to do. It seemed foolish but the project was under way again.
For 13 years Washington tapped out his instructions with his finger on his wife's arm, until the bridge was finally completed. Today the spectacular Brooklyn Bridge stands in all its glory as a tribute to the triumph of one man's indomitable spirit and his determination not to be defeated by circumstances. It is also a tribute to the engineers and their team work, and to their faith in a man who was considered mad by half the world. It stands too as a tangible monument to the love and devotion of his wife who for 13 long years patiently decoded the messages of her husband and told the engineers what to do.
Perhaps this is one of the best examples of a never-say-die attitude that overcomes a terrible physical handicap and achieves an impossible goal.

Often when we face obstacles in our day-to-day life, our hurdles seem very small in comparison to what many others have to face. The Brooklyn Bridge shows us that dreams that seem impossible can be realised with determination and persistence, no matter what the odds are.

Even the most distant dream can be realized with determination and persistence.

How Poor We Really Are

2009-12-25T06:56:00.002+08:00

One day a wealthy family man took his son on a trip to the country so he could have his son see how poor country people were.

They stayed one day and one night in the farmhouse of a very humble farm. On the way back home at the end of the trip the father asked the son, "What did you think of the trip?"

The son replied, "Very nice, Dad."

The father then asked, "Did you noticed how poor they were?"

The son replied, "Yes, I guess so."

The father then added, "And what did you learn?"

To this question, the son thought for a moment and answered slowly, "I learned that we have one dog in the house and they have four. We have a fountain in the garden and they have a stream that has no end.

"We have fancy lanterns in our garden, while they have the stars. Our garden goes to the edge of our yard, but for their back yard they have the entire horizon!"

At the end of the son's reply, the rich father was speechless. His son then added: "Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we really are."
-- Author Unknown

Is it What You Expected?

2009-12-24T05:39:00.003+08:00

A young man was getting ready to graduate college. For many months he had admired a beautifull sports car in a dealer's showroom, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted.

As Graduation Day approached, the young man awaited signs that his father had purchased the car. Finally, on the morning of his graduation his father called him into his private study. His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him. He handed his son a beautiful wrapped gift box.

Curious, but somewhat disappointed the young man opened the box and found a lovely, leather-bound Al-Qur’an. Angrily, he raised his voice at his father and said, "With all your money you give me an Al-Qur’an?" and stormed out of the house, leaving the holy Qur’an.

Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business. He had a beautiful home and wonderful family, but realized his father was very old, and thought perhaps he should go to him. He had not seen him since that graduation day. Before he could make arrangements, he received a short messege service telling him his father had passed away, and willed all of his possessions to his son.

He needed to come home immediately and take care things. When he arrived at his father's house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart.

He began to search his father's important papers and saw the still new Qur’an, just as he had left it years ago. With tears, he opened the Qur’an and began to turn the pages. As he read those words, a car key dropped from an envelope taped behind the Qur’an. It had a tag with the dealer's name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had desired. On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words...PAID IN FULL.

How many times do we miss ALLOH’s blessings because they are not packaged as we expected?

Success Quotations

2009-12-21T08:47:00.001+08:00

Along with success comes a reputation for wisdom.
Euripides

They can because they think they can.
Virgil

Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.
Thomas Jefferson

Keep steadily before you the fact that all true success depends at last upon yourself.
Theodore T. Hunger

We are all motivated by a keen desire for praise, and the better a man is, the more he is inspired to glory.
Cicero

Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.
Robert Collier

The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen.
Frank Loyd Wright

A failure is a man who has blundered, but is not able to cash in on the experience.
Elbert Hubbard

There is only one success--to be able to spend your life in your own way.
Christopher Morley

The secret of success is to know something nobody else knows.
Aristotle Onassis

The greatest results in life are usually attained by simple means and the exercise of ordinary qualities. These may for the most part be summed in these two: common-sense and perseverance.
Owen Feltham

Failures do what is tension relieving, while winners do what is goal achieving.
Dennis Waitley

The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack in will.
Vince Lombardi

I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure--which is:
Try to please everybody.
Herbert Bayard Swope

Success does not consist in never making blunders, but in never making the same one a second time.
Josh Billings

The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes.
Earl of Beaconsfield

Success is the good fortune that comes from aspiration, desperation, perspiration and inspiration.
Evan Esar

The surest way not to fail is to determine to succeed.
Richard Brinsley Sheridan

If you wish success in life, make perseverance your bosom friend, experience your wise counselor, caution your elder brother, and hope your guardian genius.
Jospeph Addison

Impatience never commanded success.
Edwin H. Chapin

The talent of success is nothing more than doing what you can do, well.
Henry W. Longfellow

To climb steep hills requires a slow pace at first.
Shakespeare

Try not to become a man of success but a man of value.
Albert Einstein

The man who makes a success of an important venture never wails for the crowd. He strikes out for himself. It takes nerve, it takes a great lot of grit; but the man that succeeds has both. Anyone can fail. The public admires the man who has enough confidence in himself to take a chance. These chances are the main things after all. The man who tries to succeed must expect to be criticized. Nothing important was ever done but the greater number consulted previously doubted the possibility. Success is the accomplishment of that which most people think can't be done.
C. V. White

And one quote just for fun.....

If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There's no use being a damn fool about it.
W.C. Fields

Inspirational Quotes

2009-12-18T06:16:00.016+08:00

Try not to become a man of success but a man of value.
Albert Einstein

If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be.
Now put foundations under them.
Henry David Thoreau

Inspiration and genius--one and the same.
Victor Hugo

To find what you seek in the road of life,
the best proverb of all is that which says:
"Leave no stone unturned."
Edward Bulwer Lytton

If you would create something,
you must be something.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Every artist was first an amateur.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

The more difficulties one has to encounter, within and without, the more significant and the higher in inspiration his life will be.
Horace Bushnell

Do we not all agree to call rapid thought and noble impulse by the name of inspiration?
George Eliot

No great man ever complains of want of opportunities.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Men do less than they ought,
unless they do all they can.
Thomas Carlyle

Let thy words be few.
Ecclesiastes 5:2 from Words of Wisdom

Happy are those who dream dreams and are ready to pay the price to make them come true.
Leon J. Suenes

The power of imagination makes us infinite.
John Muir

First say to yourself what you would be;
and then do what you have to do.
Epictetus

Giving Compliments

2009-12-16T05:59:00.004+08:00

In every culture, giving compliments is a very common thing to do. However in some ways they differ from each others, from culture to culture.

In Indonesia if we see one of our friends wearing a beautiful new dress, Most of us tend to keep silent and say nothing about the dress rather than expressing our admiration. For the English people, however, tend to express it by giving compliments.

E.g: 1. You look handsome with your new
car.
2. I like the model o your new Hotel
design.

It also differs from the way we respond to compliments. For Indonesians, in many cases, it is common to see people refusing a compliment by saying, "Tidak! Baju ini sudah lama". As a consequence when we speak in English we tend to respond the compliments the same way and say, "No! It's an old dress, i bought it lasr year".

In that case, such a response is not appropriate in English culture. The Native speakers tend to accept a compliment, particularly if it is a sincere one, by saying thank you plus add one or two other statements supporting it.

E.g: "Thank you. I like it very much. I just love the color and the style".

In responding to a compliment, most Indonesian speakers, tend to be quite, do not give any comments, and tend to refuse the compliments with a few disagreeing statements.

These are the examples

Indonesian speakers:
Conversation 1
A: What a beautiful garden you have!
B: No, it is a mess, actually I haven't got enough time to look after it.

Converstaion 2
A: This rendang is very delicious. You really are a Master cook.
B: No, it's rather tasteless. I don't have that great skills, I'm still learning how to cook.

Native speakers
Conversation 1
A: What a beautiful garden you have!
B: Thank you. I Like gardening so much and i spend a lot of time to look after it.

Conversation 2
A: This rendang is really delicious. Your really are a Master cook.
B: Thank you. I spent the whole afternoon preparing all of these. I tried to do my best, of course.

Does it mean that English people never refuse a compliment? Well, it depends how we give the compliments, if the compliment is not sincere, they will refuse it as well. They might say, for example:
• Don't try to flatter me.
• I don't like flatterers.
• You're just kidding me.
• Flattery will get you no where.
• You're just fooling around, aren't you?
So, we need to be able to judge whether our friend is sincere or not when giving a compliment. We can do that through our experince in getting along with them for sometime.
So do not refuse a good compliments, it may become a good prayers for the future, because you already inspire other people to have great day... ^__^

Taken from: Eudia Grace and Th.M.Sudarwati

What is Beauty

2009-12-15T07:18:00.011+08:00

Images of beauty are all around us: in movies on television, in magazines, and on the internet, the scenery of the sea, the sky, the mountain, the savana, the jungle, and many others. However, the ideal of beauty for human changes through the centuries and varies from culture to culture.

Thousands of years ago, men liked healthy women who could have children with them. Women liked strong, healthy men who would be able to hunt for food and protect the family. Among the Olmec Indians, for example, women liked men with broad nostrils, thick lips, and full cheecks.

The ancient Egyptian's ideal of beauty is similar to the modern, Western ideal-a slim body, muscles, and broad shoulders for men; small waist, flat stomach, and long, thick hair for women.

During the sixteenth century in England, the ideal woman had snow white skin and red cheecks and lips. Women during those days applied very white make up to their faces and their necks. But elizabethan women did not take baths very often!

In burma, a beautiful woman is one with a very long neck, Girls from the age of five or six wear metal rings around their necks to make them longer. As the neck grows longer, more rings are added.

In Asian cultures, small, thin lips are considered attractive, but in Western cultures, large, full lips are preferred. Some movie stars and models even have cosmetic surgery to make their lips larger!

But, is physical beauty that important? Leave your comments.

Ispired from: Postcards 2