wise men say...

No Pain No Gain

noreply@blogger.com (sharmini) — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 20:02:00 +0000

Found a great book at the library which unfortunately I won't be able to scribble in or highlight for future reference, so....thought this would be a good way to store the information for further reflection & also to share it with any other interested parties :) enjoy...

No Pain No Gain

Martin's Law of Progress:
Desire/Pain = Progress. "Progress only occurs when the pain of effort is overcome by the force of desire."

If you look for the angles that are not immediately obvious to others, you create a world of opportunity that most are oblivious to.

If you continue to think on a small scale, the ideas that you conceive will be dwarf like. If you think on a large scale your ideas can become giants.

It is impossible for a bumblebee to fly. Thankfully the bumblebee doesn't know this! Up to this point there are many things that you have considered 'impossible' for you to achieve. Now it is time to re-examine these.

All of the great inventions from the light bulb to the motor car had to be pictured in someone's mind long before they could be seen by the human eye.

Enjoying the fruits of success are as important as achieving them. Without reward it would be pointless to make the sacrifice necessary to obtain those fruits.

There are six great pillars of fear that every person suffers from. The difference between the successful and non-successful people lies in the ability of the former to understand these fears and develop methods of overcoming them.
*Fear of death
*Fear of aging
*Fear of sickness
*Fear of poverty
*Fear of criticism
*Fear of rejection
Think about this-If you cannot overcome your fears, your own self-doubt and lack of confidence will paralyze your chances of success for life.

Any great step taken by mankind has only occurred when an individual has shaken off the shackles of self-doubt, looked the impossible square in the eye and refused to give up until lady success handed over the goods.

The road to success only begins with planned management of your thoughts, transferred into a definite plan of action and pursued with a single minded persistence.

Money can be made from infinite sources. It is the ability of the individual to set in motion and follow through the principles of success that really count.

Find your own role model and read everything you can find about them. If it wasn't for the great achievers of the past, there would be few great achievers today. Sometimes it takes just one individual to conquer the impossible before others follow in their footsteps. What is deemed impossible today may be totally realistic tomorrow.

Turn your disadvantage into an advantage.

Thoughts are great things. Accept the challenge to step outside the narrow tracks that confine you and dare to think great thoughts. A thought has no boundaries except for the ones that you set for them.

All something-for-nothing people, societies & cultures have failed on an extraordinary scale. The principles of success state that all achievements must be earned to have any real value.

Ask nothing of yourself and you will get it every time.

You'll miss all of the opportunities that you do not take.

Investing in yourself can produce dividends unmatched by any other system.

Remember, people are more persuaded by the depths of your beliefs than anything else you tell them.

Thoughts=Mental Attention
Plans=Mental Intention
First think. Then plan. Then do. Then don't EVER QUIT!

98% of people never become successful. Look around you. How many people do you meet in the normal course of business that sweep you off your feet with motivational inspiration? Successful people will always be a minority party.

One of the most exciting principles within the Law of increasing returns is that money has a magnetic pull towards other money of similar amounts.
If you possess several hundred rands in capital and you're working in units of R100, this is your trading unit.
When you put your capital to work you invested or traded units will earn you units of similar size.
Once you understand the principles of magnetic pull the only way to share in its workings are to progress your capital as far up the unit ladder as possible.

If you stand still, you cannot ask yourself the question: "Why am I not getting anywhere?"

You must first position yourself in the face of opportunity before you can expect to share in its fruit.

Man will always be two things: his own greatest asset and his own greatest limiting factor.

In every setback there is an equivalent seed of success.

Human faith mixed with persistence is greater than any force that wishes to contain it.

There will always be more people looking for help than the help available. Help yourself.

The world will lay down a red carpet for 'yes' people.

There is one sure fire way of upsetting everyone that you know. Become a success story. People hate to see in others what they would like to see in themselves.

You have got to think a lot of yourself first before others will think anything of you at all.

There will always be at least 10 more reasons to feel negative to every reason to feel positive. This is one of the fundamental reasons why it is easier to embrace negativity and accept its fruit of failure.

You are exactly what you tell people you are. Unless their experience of you tells them different.

When receiving advice from someone, look at them very carefully as the true value of that advice can be judged by what is standing in front of you.

Those without money have plenty of good ideas. Those with money are always in search of ideas. ....There are a lot of ways to access other people's money.

The seeds of success can only grow in a fertile mind watered frequently by positive thoughts. Conversely the weeds of negativity will choke your mind in the blink of an eye.

Never forget: The world largely consists of the average man. Therefore the trick is not to be the average man.

Work with your brains every time and employ others to use their hands to build your brain child. Herewithin lies your greatest restriction to wealth. Brain power pays infinitely more dividends than hand power.

The rich and famous experience as many set-backs, failures and disappointments as the rest of us, the only difference being that it costs them more.

A major reason why most people aren't successful is that they have never been able to control the vehicle that will take them there: themselves.

You simply cannot defeat anyone that will not accept defeat. You cannot beat anyone who won't quit.

The highest level of success can only be built by digging deep and secure foundations. Those foundations must be built from within.

Self-doubt is the most deadly cancer to success. For even a successful person who lets self-doubt enter his mind, the fall from grace will be swift and dramatic.

Anything obtained free of charge has no real value to the receiver.Acquire specialist knowledge and you will have a commodity to sell.

Wealth is the accumulation of the credit balance left between your income and expenditure. The wider the gap, the harder you push your foot down on the wealth accelerator. Once a large sum has been accumulated your capital will accelerate in relation to the law of increasing returns.

The advantage that successful people have over the rest of us is that they dare to think on a bigger scale. There's less competition in the league of big thinking, because there are less people there. The most competitive marketplace to operate in is that of small returns. Everyone's there.

Stop focusing on your limitations. Start concentrating on your potential.

You simply cannot grow a business to large proportions without other people becoming involved.

Most people are too busy working to make money.

The benefits of two or more people motivated individuals inspiring each other is immeasurable.

If negative people come in your way, run! Remember, negativity and depression are the common denominators that bind the poor and unsuccessful together. These people are easy to spot. They want to discuss inflation, price rises, bad weather, aches and pains, old age, and hard times. If these people come your way, run.

A lot of success stories occur when an individual has a good support mechanism in place. The mechanism is constructed of people who are your mental bakers, those who pick you up when you fall on your face and encourage you to carry on. No man is an island, so its important but difficult to build such a base.

Failure in any venture means only one thing: You are not doing it right! Change the plan, change the approach. Change everything, but experiment until you do get it right.

There are always more people wanting to ride on the back of a successful person, than any person can possibly carry.

Many people work long and hard throughout their lives and in the final analysis have little or nothing to show for it. The choice is yours: Make others rich or let others make you rich.

There's nothing more common than educated men who are unsuccessful and uneducated men who are.

The search for success is a fabulous journey, which if achieved, ends up with man finding himself.

You can achieve an ordinary level of success by targeting objectives that are accessible to you; or you can choose a more elusive target and shoot for the stars.

When all the ideas that you can think of amount to nothing, don't lose hope. Use someone else's idea and add something.

Every misfortune carries with it an equivalent benefit.

Ideas are a cheap commodity. They're everywhere and most people will freely tell youe very idea in their head if asked. The people who take an idea and put it into a plan of action are the only ones that really count.

Just because you're down, doesn't mean you've got to like it.

You must stay lean, mean & moody in your quest for success. Get in touch with that hard-done feeling. The road to success is paved with distractions. Avoid these pitfalls at all costs:
a) Frequent holidays b) Luxury goods c) High living d) Free spending = WIll reduce your opportunities to multiply your capital.

All success is based upon rising above the system that keeps you down.

Never underestimate the power of words. Words for the basis of all communication between people and the effect of badly chosen words can be immediately detected in the reaction of those that we speak to.

You must have faith in your ability, faith in your resolve to do the things that are right and important to you, faith in the controlling of your destiny to arrive at the point you want to arrive at.

One thing that every man knows how to do is quit.

To really see, you must open your mind, not your eyes.

If your level of success is greater than your expenditure than the scales will tilt in your favour as you will always be prepared for tomorrow's opportunity or disaster.

All success lies beyond the comfort zone.

If you don't truly desire success, something terrible happens-nothing.

The hard road to success only comes to an end at the intersection where the tough road to staying successful begins.

Syndromes: Any of these conditions can seriously affect your chances of success
1) Classic syndrome: It's the two steps forward, three steps back. An individual gets an idea, gushes with enthusiasm, pushes forward, encounters a setback, feels negative, looks for a way out and quits. The full circle is complete, but our man is a little worse off for the experience.
2) When my ship comes in syndrome
3) Something for nothing syndrome
4) Too old syndrome
5) Whatever happens happens syndrome: It applies to those who feel that life's a bitch and then you die. Shoot these people on sight.
6) In the hands of the gods syndrome: Applies to those who can't or wont take charge of their situation and would rather pray for luck than exert themselves on a positive plan of action to create their own good fortune.
7)I am not qualified syndrome
8)Don't get the breaks syndrome: It's another classic quitters phrase. The principles of success clearly state that quitters will achieve nothing, because nothing can be achieved by quitting.
9)My time will come syndrome: Is spoken by those who's time will run out waiting. Make your time come by putting your ideas into plans then action.
10)All words no action syndrome: Last night I made many resolutions, however this morning I went my same old way. Words cost nothing. Be known for your actions and before your words will carry great weight.
11)Only happens to me syndrome: Some people believe that destiny has chosen them to be the sole beneficiary of everything negative.
12)Always been unlucky syndrome: There is no such thing as luck. It is merely an expression. If you place yourself in the face of opportunity often enough you will command your share of it. Conversely you cannot hope to win if you don't have a ticket. Lady luck sides with the industrious.
13)I am only average syndrome
14)Some day soon syndrome:It refers to the hypothetical day that will never come otherwise it would have a date placed on it. If the day ever does come the people who chant this statement will never be ready for it anyway.
15)If I had confidence syndrome: Confidence is about placing a worth upon yourself and finding reasons through achievement to value the person that you are.
16)Whats the point syndrome: This applies to those who have never seen the point, wouldnt know what the point was if it hit them over the head and even if they discovered the point wouldnt know what to do with it anyway.

It is only the size of your commitment that will bring back to you the fruits that you desire, whether it be in business or relationships.

All of the people who really love their jobs have lost sight of what the end result should be.

Sales increase only at a reate equivalent to the products exposure to customers. The better the product, pricing or promotion the faster the acceleration.

The self-restrictive forces of fear can incapacitate an individual. Discipline yourself to implrment giant steps that will catapult your life into a new phase.

Spring clean your life frequently. Nothing will set your mind working like a large intake of new stimuli.

A mountain is only great in size when you stand in front of it and contemplate it. The greatness diminishes largely as you progress upwards.

The race for success is rarey won by the swift, but by those who keep on going.

If you give ten people a spade each, nine of them will start digging for worms. Will you be the one who will dig for gold?

This is to have succeeded...

noreply@blogger.com (sharmini) — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 14:12:00 +0000

"To laugh often and much;

to win the respect of intelligent people

and affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false frineds; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived, This is to have succeeded."

who r we

noreply@blogger.com (sharmini) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 09:21:00 +0000

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that frightens us.

We ask ourselves, who am i to be brilliant, gorgeous,
talented & fabulous?

Actually, who are we not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small doesn't serve the world.

There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that
other people won't feel insecure around you.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.

It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously
give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fears,
our presence automatically liberates others.

Source: A Return to Love by Marianne WIlliamson (as quoted by Nelson Mandela in his ainaugural speech, 1994)

why hesitate

noreply@blogger.com (sharmini) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 09:00:00 +0000

i really like this one...

Why hesitate?
Upon the plains of hesitation are the
bleached bones of countless millions,
who on the threshold of victory sat down

to wait, and in waiting they died.

- Author Unknown (this guy's pretty famous :))

not you...

noreply@blogger.com (sharmini) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 07:02:00 +0000

Let others lead small lives,
but not you

Let others argue over small things,
but not you

Let others cry over small hurts,
but not you

Let others leave their future in someone else's hands,
but not you.

- Jim Rohn

how far you go....

noreply@blogger.com (sharmini) — Mon, 19 May 2008 14:49:00 +0000

Every once in a while someone writes something in a birthday card that i don't really want to get rid of. Something that really makes sense & that i'd like to hold on to. I always wondered how i could keep the sentiment without having to harbour the cardboard.....yay, now i have a blog, it's the perfect place!
This time it was my dad-he wrote a pretty cool quote which i just wanted to keep. Here it is:

"How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young; compassionate with the aged; sympathetic with the striving; and tolerant of the weak and strong.
...Because someday in your life you will have been all of these."
-George Washington Carver-

How to think like a leader

noreply@blogger.com (simon) — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 16:54:00 +0000

A man big enough to be humble appears more confident than the insecure man who feels compelled to call attention to his accomplishments. A little modesty goes a long way.
Praise people for every effort they put forth. Praise is the greatest single incentive you can give people, and it costs you nothing.
Remember, the main job of the leader is thinking. And the best preparation for leadership is thinking. Spend some time in managed solitude everyday and think yourself to success.
In everything you do, show that you put other people first. Just give other people the kind of treatment you like to receive. You'll be rewarded.
Think progress, believe in progress, push for progress. Think improvement in everything you do. Think high standards in everything you do. Be sure the master copy is worth duplicating. Make this a personal resolution: "In life, if it's progress I'm for it."
There is magic in thinking big. But it is so easy to forget. When you hit some rough spots, there is a danger that your thinking will shrink in size. And when it does, you lose.

A. When little people try to drive you down, THINK BIG
To be sure, there are some people who want you to lose, to experience misfortune, to be reprimanded. But these people can't hurt you if you'll remember three things:
1. You win when you refuse to fight petty people. Fighting little people reduces you to their size. Stay big.
2. Expect to be sniped at. It's proof you're growing.
3. Remind yourself that snipers are psychologically sick. Be Big. Feel sorry for them.

Think Big Enough to be immune to the attacks of petty people.

B. When that "I-haven't-got-what-it-takes" feeling creeps up on you, THINK BIG
Remember: if you think you are weak, you are. If you think you are inadequate, you are. If you think you're second-class, you are.
Whip that natural tendency to sell yourself short with these tools:
1. Look important. It helps you think important. How you look on the outside has a lot to do with how you feel on the inside.
2. Concentrate on your assets. Build a sell-yourself-to-yourself commercial and use it. Learn to supercharge yourself. Know your positive self.
3. Put other people in proper perspective. THe other person is just another human being, so why be afraid of him?

Think Big Enough to see how good you really are!

C. When an argument or quarrel seems inevitable, THINK BIG.
Successfully resist the temptation to argue and quarrel by:
1. Asking yourself, "Honestly now, is this thing really important enought ot argue about?"
2. Reminding yourself, you never gain anything from an argument but you always lose something.

Think Big Enough to see that quarrels, arguments, feuds, and fusses will never help you get where you want to go.

D. When you feel defeated, THINK BIG.
It is not possible to achieve large success without hardships and setbacks. But it is possible to live the rest of your life without defeat. Big thinkers react to setbacks this way:
1. Regard the setback as a lesson. Learn from it. Research it. Useit to propel you forward. Salvage something from every setback.
2. Blend persistence with experimentation. Back off and start afresh with a new approach.

Think Big Enough to see that defeat is a state of mind, nothing more.

E. When romance starts to slip, THINK BIG
Negative, petty, "she's-(he's)-unfair-to-me-so-I'll-get-even" type of thinking slaughters romance, destroys the affection that can be yours. Do this when things aren't going right in the love department:
1. Concentrate on the biggest qualities in the person you want to love you. Put little things where they belong-in second place.
2. Do something special for your mate-and do it often.

Think Big Enough to find the secret to marital joys.

F. When you feel your progress on the job is slowing down THINK BIG
No matter what you do and regardless of your occupation, higher status, higher pay come from one thing: increasing the quality and quantity of your output. Do this:
Think, "I can do better." The best is not unattainable. There is room for ding everything better. Nothing in this world is being done as well as it could be. And when you thin, "I can do better," ways to do better will appear. Thinking "I can do better," switches on your creative power.

Think Big Enough to see that if you put service first, money takes care of itself. In the words of Publilius Syrus:

"A wise man will be master of his mind,
A fool will be its slave."

And that brings to the end our book summary of this book. I hoped it's changed you like it has me. To THINK BIG....

Use goals to help you grow

noreply@blogger.com (simon) — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 05:35:00 +0000

A goal is an objective, a purpose. A goal is more than a dream; it's a dream being acted upon. A goal is more than a hazy "Oh, I wish I could." A goal is a clear "This is what I'm working toward."
Without goals individuals just wander through life. They stumble along, never knowing where they are going, so they never get anywhere.
Goals are as essential to success as air is to life. No one ever stumbles into success without a goal. No one ever lives without air. Get a clear fix on where you want to go.
The individual who fails to set long-range goals will most certainly be just another person lost in life's shuffle. Without goals we cannot grow.
People these days are measured by the size of their dreams. No one accomplishes more than he sets out to accomplish. So visualize a big future.
"A man is not doing much until he cause he works for possesses all there is of him."
Desire, when harnessed, is power. Failure to follow desire, to do what you want to do most, paves the way to mediocrity.
All of us have desires. All of us dream of what we really want to do. But few of us actually surrender to desire. Instead of surrendering to desire, we murder it.
Throw away those murder weapons. It's never too late to let desire take over.
Successful people have their eyes focused on a goal, and this provides energy.
Goals, intense goals, can keep a person alive when nothing else will.
Use goals to live longer. No medicine in the world-and your physician will bear this out-is as powerful in bringing about long life as is the desire to do something.
The person determined to achieve maximum success learns the principle that progress is made one step at a time. Every big accomplishment is a series of little accomplishments.
Do this: Start marching toward your ultimate goal by making the next task you perform, regardless of how unimportant it may seem, a step in the right direction. Commit this question to memory and use it to evaluate everything you do: "Will this help take me where I want to go?" If the answer is no, back off; if yes, press ahead.
It's clear. We do not make one big jump to success. We get there one step at a time. An excellent plan is to set monthly quotas for accomplishment.
Examine yourself. Decide what specific things you should do to make yourself more effective. Make notes of the things you will do in the next thirty days. Then, when the thirty-day period is up, check your progress and build a new thirty-day goal. Always keep working on the "little" things to get you in shape for the big things.
Lots of conscious effort, invested day by day, made the person what he is. Building new positive habits and destroying old negative habits is a day-by-day process.
Create your first thirty-day improvement guide right now.
Ask yourself "Isn't my future worth this small investment?"

How to turn defeat into victory

noreply@blogger.com (sharmini) — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 09:40:00 +0000

We can turn setbacks into victories. find the lesson, apply it, and then look back on defeat and smile. Defeat is only a state of mind & nothing more.
Decide right now to salvage something from every setback. Being licked is valuable if we learn from it.
It is true that in this complex world others may trip us. But it is also true that more often than not we trip ourselves. We lose because of personal inadequacy, some personal mistake.
Condition yourself for success this way. Remind yourself that you want to be as nearly perfect as is humanly possible. Be objective. Put yourself in a glass tube and look at yourself as a disinterested third party would look at the situation. See if you have a weakness that you've never noticed before. If you have, take action to correct it. Many people become so accustomed to themselves that they fail to see ways for improvement. Have the courage to face your faults.
Being self-critical is constructive. It helps you to build the personal strength and efficiency needed for success. Blaming others is destructive. You gain absolutely nothing from "proving" that someone else is wrong.
Be constructively self-critical. Don't run away from inadequacies. Be like the real professionals. They seek out their faults and weaknesses, then correct them. That's what makes them professionals.
View your mistakes as "Here's another way to make me a bigger winner."
"A failure is a man who has blundered but is not able to cash in on the experience."
Stop blaming luck. Blaming luck never got anyone where he wanted to go.
All thoughts are magnetic. As soon as you tell yourself, "I'm beaten. There's no way to conquer this problem,"negative t6houghts are attracted, and each of these helps convince you that you are right, that you are whipped.
Believe instead, "there is a way to solve this problem," and positive thoughts rush into your mind to help you find a solution.
It's believing there is a way that is important.
When you hit a snag, don't throw up the whole project. Instead, back off, get mentally refreshed. Try something as simple as playing some music or taking a walk or a short nap. Then, when you tackle it again, the solution often comes almost before you know it.
Remember, there is a good side in every situation. Find it. See the good side & whip discouragement.

Get the action habit

noreply@blogger.com (sharmini) — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 08:35:00 +0000

Every big job requires a man who thinks action.
Think of it. Everything we have in this world, is just an idea acted upon.
As you study people-both the successful and the just average-you find they fall into two classes. The successful are active. The just average, the mediocre, the unsuccessful are passive.
We must be willing to make an intelligent compromise with perfection lest we wait forever before taking action. It's still good advice to cross bridges as we come to them.
We can't buy an insurance policy against all problems. Make up your mind to do something about your ideas. Ideas are important. Let's make no mistake about that. We must have ideas to create and improve anything. Success shuns the man who lacks ideas.
First, give your ideas value by acting on them. Regardless of how good the idea, unless you do something with it, you gain nothing. Second, act on your ideas and gain mind tranquility.
Someone once said that the saddest words of tongue or pen are these: it might have been.
Action feeds and strengthens confidence; inaction in all forms feeds fear. To fight fear, act. To increase fear-wait, put off, postpone.
The way to combat that kind of fear-yes any kind of fear-is action.
Build confidence,. Destroy fear through action.
Rather than wait for the spirit to move you, sit down and move your spirit.
Lots of good dreams never come true because we say, "I'll start someday," when we should say, "I'll start now, right now."
Live the advice of Benjamin Franklin: "Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today."
When you see something that you believe ought to be done, pick up the ball and run.

i believe....

noreply@blogger.com (sharmini) — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 09:07:00 +0000

In a cellar in Cologne, Germany after World War 2 were found these words on the wall:

I believe in the sun ,
even when it is not shining;
I believe in love,
even when i feel it not;
I believe in God,
Even when He is silent.

doctor small's activities

noreply@blogger.com (simon) — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 05:15:00 +0000

on that topic, Arwen also arose at 6:30 this morning, and i ordered her to read on her own, since i was still semi-comatose. she got up, grabbed her book, got back on the bed, and read a bit of the story to me: "Doctor Small looks in Ben's ear with an otoscope. He says that Ben needs to have an operation on his sore ear."
I lept out of bed. Not a moment to waste shaping the mind of this young prodigy.

arwen december/january

noreply@blogger.com (simon) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 09:27:00 +0000

this is what her art has evolved to of late

see my new slippers?

oh hey, i just came out and found her doing this. gloves n' all. i ran for the camera

duh, preparing for the under 3 chess championships...

scissors are a new fascination at the moment

i assure you, the surprise haircut is eminent any day now (mia knows all about that)

she is IN-LOVE with puzzles

think right toward people

noreply@blogger.com (simon) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 08:58:00 +0000

Success depends on the support of other people.
Take the initiative in building friendships-leaders always do.
When you make a pleasant remark to a stranger, you make him feel one degree better. This makes you feel better and helps you relax. Every time you say something pleasant to another person, you compensate yourself. It's like warming up your automobile on a cold morning.
Thoughts breed like thoughts.
The person who does the most talking and the person who is the most successful are rarely the same person.
Conversation generosity wins friends. Conversation generosity helps you learn more about people.
Don't be a conversation hog. Listen, win friends, and learn.
Make yourself lighter to lift. Be likable. Practice being the kind of person people like. This wins their support and puts fuel in your success-building program.
Accept human differences and limitations. Don't expect anyone to be perfect. Remember, the other person has a right to be different. And don't be a reformer.
Find qualities to like and admire in a person, not things to dislike. And don't let other's prejudice your thinking about a third person. Think positive thoughts towards people-and get positive results.
Practice courtesy all the time. It makes other people feel better. It makes you feel better too.
Don't blame others when you receive a setback. Remember, how you think when you lose determines how long it will be until you win.

the amazon

noreply@blogger.com (simon) — Sat, 12 Jan 2008 08:01:00 +0000

see...pink dolphins!

The Amazon Rainforest is a moist broadleaf forest in the Amazon basin of South America. The area, also known as Amazonia or the Amazon Basin, encompasses seven million square kilometers (1.2 billion acres), though the forest itself occupies some 5.5 million square kilometers, located within nine nations: Brazil (with 60 percent of the rainforest), Columbia, Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guina. States or departments in four nations bear the name Amazonas after it. The Amazon represents over half of the planet's remaining rainforests and comprises the largest and most species-rich tract of tropical rainforest in the world.

The Amazon River or River Amazon of South America is the largest river in the world by volume, with a total river flow greater than the next top ten largest rivers flowing into the ocean combined.
The Amazon River accounts for approximately 1/5 of total world's river flow, and it has the largest drainage basin in the world. There is an ongoing dispute regarding it's length and along with the Nile it is one of the contenders for the position as the longest river in the world. Because of its vast dimensions, it is sometimes called The River Sea (o rio-mar in Portuguese), and at no point is it crossed by bridges.

pink dolphins

noreply@blogger.com (simon) — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 08:07:00 +0000

did anyone else know there are pink dolphins in the amazon?
i'm going!

cake!!!

noreply@blogger.com (simon) — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 05:14:00 +0000

it was daddy's birthday yesterday, so we made a cake/employed the toddler for the afternoon.

made the mistake of telling her to smile...

aaand then she just wouldn't stop...

looks good huh!

well, they enjoyed it, that's what counts.

arwen's presents

noreply@blogger.com (simon) — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 09:57:00 +0000

arwen finally got to open her presents the other night, though her main present was just a tad hard to wrap, or hide for that matter, cause it was a trampoline. (tell us more they say...) don't worry, i hear the yawns. so i won't linger.

new years

noreply@blogger.com (simon) — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 09:48:00 +0000

our new year's was a blast. well it actually was. mainly because i got to bed on time & felt quite rested at the set of 2008. we reveled in a rapturous game of pick up sticks. haha. i seldom drink, so one beer got me good & wasted. then we kicked back with some episodes of friends. this may sound bizarre, but we enjoy doing this sort of stuff....

make your attitudes your allies

noreply@blogger.com (simon) — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 08:39:00 +0000

How we think shows through in how we act. Attitudes are mirrors of the mind. They reflect thinking. When our attitude is right, our abilities reach a maximum of effectiveness and good results inevitably follow. Right attitudes win for you in every situation.
To activate others, to get them to be enthusiastic, you must first be enthusiastic yourself.
Enthusiasm can make things 1,100 % better.
Results come in proportion to enthusiasm applied. Enthusiasm is simply "This is great!"
To get enthusiastic, learn more about the thing you are not enthusiastic about.
Use the dig-into-it-deeper technique to develop enthusiasm toward other people. Find out all you can about another person-what he does, his family, his background, his ideas and ambitions-and you'll find your interest in and enthusiasm about him mounting. Keep digging, and you're certain to find some common interests. Keep digging, and you'll eventually discover a fascinating person.
In everything you do, life it up. Enthusiasm, or lack of it, shows through in everything you do and say.
People go along with the fellow who believes what he says. Say it with life. Put vitality into your speaking.
And when you put life in your talk, you automatically put more life in you.
Life it up. Be sure everything you do and say tells people, "That fellow is alive." "He means it." "He's going places."
Broadcast good news. Good news does more than get attention; good news pleases people. Good news develops enthusiasm. Good news even promotes good digestion.
No one ever won a friend, no on ever made money, no one ever accomplished anything by broadcasting bad news.
Whenever you leave a person, ask yourself, "Does that person honestly feel better because he has talked with me?"
Good news gets good results. Broadcast it.
Broadcasting good news activates you, makes you feel better, Broadcasting good news makes other people feel better too.

Grow the "you-are-important" attitude.
This is a fact of paramount significance: Each human being, whether he lives in India or Indianapolis, whether he's ignorant or brilliant, civilized or uncivilized, young or old, has this desire: He wants to feel important.
The desire to be important is man's strongest, most compelling non biological hunger.
Make someone feel important, and he cares about you. And when he cares about you, he does more for you.
The big thinker always adds value to people by visualizing them at their best. Because he thinks big about people, he gets their best out of them.
When you help other's feel important, you help yourself feel important too.
Let's not kid ourselves. People who do not have a deep-down feeling of self-importance are slated for mediocrity. Again and again this point mist be driven home: You must feel important to succeed. Helping other s to feel important rewards you because it makes you feel more important. Try it and see.
Practice appreciation. Make it a rule to let others know you appreciate what they do for you. Never, never let anyone feel he is taken for granted. Practice appreciation with a warm, sincere smile. A smile lets others know you notice them and feel kindly toward them.
Practice appreciation by letting others know hos you depend on them.
Practice appreciation with honest, personalized compliments. People thrive on compliments-whether two or twenty, nine or ninety, a person craves praise. He want sot be assured that he's doing a good job, that he is important. Don't feel that you should hand out praise only for big accomplishments. Compliment people on little things: their appearance, the way they do their routine work, their ideas, their loyal efforts. Praise by writing personal notes complimenting people you know on their achievements. Make a special phone call or a special trip to see them.
A person, whether he is a garbage collector or company vice president, is important to you. Treating someone as second-class never gets you first-class results.
Practice calling people by their names. People like to be called by name. It gives everyone a boost to be addressed by name.
Don't hog glory, invest it instead.
Remember, praise is power. When you share praise, your subordinates know you sincerely appreciate their value.

Want to make money? Then get the put-service-first attitude.
It's perfectly natural-in fact, it's highly desirable-to want to make money and accumulate wealth. Money is power to give your family and yourself the standard of living they deserve. Money is power to help the unfortunate. Money is one of the means to living life fully.
Once criticized for urging people to make money, the great minister Russel H. Conwell, author of Acres of Diamonds, said, "Money printed your Bible, money builds your churches, money sends your missionaries, and money pays your preachers, and you would not have may of them, either, if you did not pay them."
The person who says he wants to be poor usually suffers from a guilt complex or a feeling of inadequacy. He's like the youngster who feels he can't make A's in school or make the football team, so he pretends he doesn't want to make A's or play football.
Money, then, is a desirable objective. What's puzzling about money is the backward approach so may people us it trying to make it. Everywhere you see people with a "money-first" attitude. Yet these same people always have little money. Why? Simply this: People with a money-first attitude become so money conscious that they forget money can't be harvested unless they plant the seeds that grow the money.
And the seed of money is service. That's why "put service first" is an attitude that creates wealth. Put service first, and money takes care of itself.
Put service first, and money takes care of itself-always.
Money seeds, of course, grow money. Plant service and harvest money.

make it count...

noreply@blogger.com (sharmini) — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 09:07:00 +0000

what is new years to most people? okay duh most people go out, get sloshed, act like idiots for the whole night & forget to go to sleep then recover for the next few days when they finally realise that their life is pending.
some of my sisters and i aren't that psyched about that whole scenario & normally avoid it altogether, opting for more sensible forms of entertainment. ooh yes we're such geeks.
someone recently made a comment to one of my sisters when she told them that she'd prefer not to start the new year off with a big hangover, - they said: "oh yeah, its much better to start it with sobriety & goals..." albeit the mocking tone should be eminent. i've temporarily branded him the village idiot....
sobriety & goals.... what an absolutely flipping good idea! i wish it occurred just a little less seldom. that way i wouldn't feel a responsibility to practice sobriety and goals solo with my tiny group of like minds annually & we could actually guiltlessly kick back with a beer.
but anyway, all that to say, stop and think about what the new year means for you. i've heard that if you keep doing what you're doing, you'll end up where you're headed. where's that for you? you're the michaelangelo of your life, and the david you're sculpting is you! will it be a masterpiece? a classic work of art forever etched in history? only you can decide. make this one count. let's kick ass this year!

"Cherish your visions and your dreams as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements." -- Napoleon Hill

I heard the bells on Christmas day...

noreply@blogger.com (sharmini) — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 09:00:00 +0000

I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

Till ringing, singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.”

Merry Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (sharmini) — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 08:29:00 +0000

Hi guys, I hope you had a wonderful & joy-filled Christmas & did all those special things that Christmas time brings....

The Christmas photo collection was a bit shocking, but i managed to find a few that were mildly tolerable.

Arwen was feeling especially mischievous

manage your environment: go first class

noreply@blogger.com (sharmini) — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 02:04:00 +0000

Your mind is an amazing mechanism. When your mind works one way, it can carry you forward to outstanding success. But the same mind operating in a different manner can produce a total failure.
The mind is the most delicate, most sensitive instrument in all creation.
The mind reflects what it's environment feeds it just as surely as the body reflects the food you feed it.
You are a product of your environment.
Environment shapes us, makes us think the way we do. Try to name just one habit or one mannerism you have that you did not pick up from other people. Relatively minor things, like the way we walk, cough, hold a cup; our preferences for music, literature, entertainment, clothing - all stem in a very large part from our environment.
Prolonged association with negative people makes us think negatively; close contact with petty individuals develops petty habits in us. On the bright side, companionship with people with big ideas raises the level of our thinking; close contact with ambitious people gives us ambition.
Experts agree that the person you are today, your personality, ambitions, present status in life, are largely the result of your psychological environment. And experts agree also that the person you will be one, five, ten, twenty years from now depends almost entirely on your future environment.
You will change over the months and years. This we know. But how you wll change depends on your uture environment, the mind food you feed yourself.

Recondition yourself for success
The majority of people are convinced deep down inside that they haven't got what it takes, that real success, real accomplishment, is for others who are lucky or fortunate in some special respect.
Rationalizing yourself in to a rut, which incidentally has been described as a grave with both ends open, can be as bad as wandering aimlessly, hoping opportunity will somehow, someday hit you in the face.
Many talented, intelligent people who elect to crawl through life because they are afraid to stand up and run.
People who tell you it cannot be done almost always are unsucessful people, are strictly average or mediocre at best in terms of accomplishment. The opinions of these people can be poison.
Develop a defense against people who want to convince you that you can't do it. Accept negative advice only as a challenge to prove that you can do it.
Be extra, extra cautious about this: don't let negative-thinking people-"negators"- destroy your plan to think yourself to success. Negators are everywhere, and they seem to delight in sabotaging the positive progress of others.
Negators are everywhere. Some negators, are well-meaning folks. But others are jealous people who, not moving ahead themselves, want you to stumble too. They feel inadequate themselves, so the want to make a mediocre person out of you.
Be extra careful. Study negators. Don't let them destroy your plans for success.
Birds of a feather DO flock together. How we think is directly affected by the group we're in. Be sure you're in the flock that thinks right.
In every group there are persons who, secretly aware of their own inadequacies, want to stand in your way and prevent you from making progress. Many ambitious fellows have been laughed at, even threatened, because they tried more efficient and produce more. Let's face it. Some folks, being jealous , want to make you feel embarrassed because you want to move upward.
Ignore such negative thinkers in your midst.
For often the remarks made in your direction aren't so personal as you might at first think. They are merely a projection of the speaker's own feeling of failure and discouragement.
Don't let negative thinkers pull you down to their level. Let them slide by, like the water from the proverbial duck's back. Cling to people who think progressively. Move upward with them.
You can do it, simply by thinking right.

Make it a rule to seek advice from people who know
Thinking must be given additional nourishment if we want to get better results.

Here are a few simple "do's" to help make your social environment first class:
1) Do circulate in new groups. Restricting your social environment to the same small group produces boredom, dullness, dissatisfaction; equally important, remember that your success-building program requires that you become an expert in understanding people.
Make new friends, join new organizations, enlarge your social orbit. Then too, variety in people, like variety in anything else, adds spice to life and gives it a broader dimension. It's good mind food.
2) Do select friends who have views different from your own. In this modern age, the narrow individual hasn't much future. Responsibility and positions of importance gravitate to the person who is able to see both sides. Get to know people of different religious faiths. Associate with opposites. But just be sure they are persons with real potential.
3) Do select friends who stand above petty, unimportant things. Guard your psychological environment. Select friends who are interested in positive things, friends who really do want to see you succeed. Find friends who breathe encouragement into your plans and ideals. If you don't, if you select petty thinkers as your close friends, you'll gradually develop into a petty thinker yourself.

Conversation is a big part of our psychological environment. Some conversation is healthy. It encourages you. It makes you feel like you're taking a walk in the warm sunshine of a spring day. Some conversation makes you feel like a winner.
But other conversation is more like walking through a poisonous, radioactve cloud. It chokes you. It make s you feel ill. It turns you into a loser.
Go first class: that is an excellent rule to follow in everything you do.

scorpio

noreply@blogger.com (simon) — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 08:42:00 +0000

okay, i realise we are out of scorpio already, but honestly i just didn't give it it's due....i think these guys are very fascinating....and, i get them. scorpios are generally very cool people & i love them to bits. hey you guys, rock on....

How to Recognize SCORPIO

"The question is . . . which is to be master- that's all."

An encyclopedia describes a scorpion as a nocturnal arachnid that attacks and paralyzes its prey with a poison injected by the long, curved tail, used for both defense and destruction. Its sting is sometimes fatal.
You'd better learn how to recognize the sign. In self-defense perhaps-or because you seek a really superior human being. Scorpio likes to travel incognito. Thanks to his well-controlled nature he usually succeeds, but there are a couple of short cuts which will make it easier to penetrate his disguise at midnight or at noon.
Look at the eyes. They can be green, blue, brown or black, but they'll be piercing with hypnotic intensity. Most people feel nervous and ill at ease under Scorpio's steady gaze. You'll have to break the spell and look away first. He'll outstare you every time. It's a foolproof identification
of the Pluto personality. Scorpio eyes bore deeply into you, mercilessly, as if they're penetrating your very soul. They are.
Next, listen to him speak. The tone can be velvety soft, husky or sharply cutting, the speech slow and measured or clipped and staccato, but what he says will never be self-effacing. Scorpio has total ego. He knows what he is and he knows what he is not, and nothing anyone else thinks will change this knowledge. Insults roll right off his back, and compliments don't move him a fraction of an inch. He needs bo one to tell him his vices or his virtues. At best, he'll calmly agree with your appraisal; at worst, he'll suspect your motives.
Such mastery of the personality has to be envied. No matter how his emotions are stirred, you'll rarely see them reflected on Scorpio's frozen, immobile face. These people proudly and consciously practice a blank expression. They command their features to remain firm, and their
features obey. (They wouldn't dare disobey a Scorpio.) You'll seldom see Scorpio give himself away by blushing or flushing, frowning or grinning. Smiles are rare, but genuine. The body follows the same orders as the face. There will rarely be any jumping, sudden starts or nervous
mannerisms.
He'll never flinch with embarrassment or swell up with pride. Reaction is always kept at a bare minimum, because Scorpio's art is to probe your nature and motives relentlessly, while remaining inscrutable himself, and he's an expert at it.
It's important to remember that there is a particular type of Scorpio who moves and speaks rather quickly, and appears to have an open, friendly manner. Look deeply into his eyes and really think about some of his past actions, his true behavior. He's really just playing a game with all his happy talk. Inside, he's as tough and determined as the more typical, poised Pluto people. Perhaps he's even a shade more dangerous because his disguise is better, and he fools you more easily. Start treating him as Charlie-nice-guy, who's completely harmless, and you may be courting some trouble. Be on guard with all Scorpios. I don't mean they're wicked.
They're just not soft or naive. Some Scorpios, realizing that their eyes expose their inner intensity, wear sunglasses frequently, even at night.
If you're sensitive, don't ask his opinion or advice. You'll get the naked, brutal truth. You asked him, hell tell you. Scorpio will not pay a false compliment to gain a point or win an ally. It's beneath him to flatter. When he says something nice to you, treasure it. You can be sure it's
sincere and unvarnished. If he says you have a good voice, stop singing in the shower and grab a microphone. If he says you have a great voice, you can safely audition for the Met. He may even effortlessly move a few mountains out of your way to help you along. Don't believe everything
you hear about Scorpio selfishness. Instead, listen to some of the grateful people who have been on the receiving end of his wise counsel and generosity. Scorpio naturally attracts either fiercely loyal and dedicated admirers, or envious and spiteful enemies. But even the latter give him
grudging respect, and you'll notice they're careful not to challenge him openly. The examples of the few who did are vivid and painful reminders that caution is required in an attack against Scorpio and his planet, Pluto.
Remember that Pluto rules nuclear power.
Yet, there's a haunting sweetness about these people, and often a gentle sympathy with the sick or despairing. Scorpio's touch can be cool and tender, as well as hot. His Sun position gives him several paths to follow.
He can imitate the nocturnal scorpion, who will sting others and even gong himself to death for the pure pleasure of stinging- or he can imitate the glorious, soaring path of his symbolic eagle, who rises above earthly limitations, and uses his strength wisely and justly. Great generals like
MacArthur, presidents like Theodore Roosevelt and scientists like Madame Curie and Jonas Salk are eagles. More United States presidents have been born under this sign than any other.
As for the nocturnal scorpions, you may have been stung by a few yourself. Ancient astrology refers to them as serpents. It's not hard to guess which category the ones you meet belong to. A few Pluto people fall somewhere between the eagle and the stinging scorpion, victims of their own black magic. These are the gray lizards. With them, supreme self sacrifice becomes neurotic concern about the self, and psychic abilities become fearful apprehensions of the lurking evils which may strike at any moment. Forceful courage twists itself around, and instead of seeking the ruthless revenge of the stinger scorpions-or rising above such bitterness like the eagles-they bitterly withdraw in tangled hatreds at each minor injury, hoping fate will punish their enemies, almost unconsciously willing destruction without direct action.
The gray lizards fail to draw on the power of Pluto in their natures-power that could lift them high above all the unfortunate circumstances that surround them. In the very teeth of tragedy, this awesome inner strength could give them a new life in the sunlight. But they seek the dark
shadows and lie dormant, a pathetic waste of the brilliant potential of their birthright. Still, Scorpio can never slide deep enough into the slime of bitter depression to completely lose the power of Pluto. It's never too late for the gray lizard to transform himself into an eagle. That kind of deep magic belongs exclusively to every person born under the Sun sign of Scorpio. All they need do is to call on it. Typical eagles have no fear. In battle they'll lead their men into the very face of death without a tremor. Even the average Pluto man or woman bravely faces anything from physical pain and poverty to ridicule and failure with a proud contempt and complete confidence in an inner ability to overcome any blow.
Scorpio is intensely loyal to friends. "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." Some of them do this literally, for friends, relatives or loved ones-in battle or in a civilian crisis. The Scorpio soldier leaps instantly, instinctively, to brave the
bullets and drag his buddy to safety. The Scorpio fireman gives his life to rescue the child in the burning building. Sometimes it seems Pluto people unconsciously seek violence deliberately, as a challenge to their strength.
Scorpio never forgets a gift or a kindness, and it's richly rewarded. Conversely, he also remembers an injury or an injustice, but there are different ways of reacting. The eagle will crush the enemy so the enemy leams never to hurt him again, win the fight, and leave the defeated to go his own way. The deadly nocturnal scorpion will first sting, then plan
destruction, then sting again. He's not content with merely evening the score. He must totally destroy the enemy, or at least top him. The typical scorpion stinger will lie awake nights figuring how to get even. If a neighbor deliberately scrapes his fender, he'll scrape two fenders on the
neighbor's car the next day, and maybe drive over his carefully pruned hedges for good measure. These scorpions are seldom content with forcing the shoe on the other foot to teach enemies how it feels. They glue the sandal on with cement. However, with the gray lizards, Pluto
revenge takes the form of bitterness held inside for years, which inevitably causes deep melancholy or actual, lingering physical illness.
Seething Scorpio resentment, turned inward and never expressed, poisons with deadly certainty. Turned outward, it can create guilt, because the stinger scorpion is ashamed to harm the defense-less, when all is said and done. Therefore, it should be turned neither way-inward nor outward. It should be conquered by looking up and forgetting, like the eagle- never by looking back in anger and retaliation.
The Scorpio health picture is typical of his nature. He can destroy his body with excesses, melancholy or hard work. But he can also built it back at will from a critical illness. Pluto's power is that strong. Scorpios are seldom sick, but when they are, it's usually serious. A long rest and a
change of attitude, with peaceful acceptance replacing burning resentment, are the best cures. They can't let well enough alone, and of course, they know more than the doctor and all the nurses.
Scorpio is deeply interested in religion, intensely curious about all phases of life and death, passionately concerned with sex and violently drawn by a desire to reform. Yet he's also heroic, dedicated to ties of family and love, and gently protective of children and weaker souls. He can be a saint or a sinner. He can experiment with the darkest mysteries this side of Hades, or he can scathingly revile sin and decadence. Whether he emotes from a pulpit, at a business meeting, or from a stage, his hypnotic appeal pierces through his audience, literally transfixing or transfiguring them. It's really rather frightening. Even if the Scorpio has temporarily allowed bitterness, drink or melancholy to drag him into the Bowery, you can bet your old copy of Dante's Inferno that the other bums will clear a path when they see him coming.
He's fiercely possessive of what he believes to be his, including success, but his ambition is never obvious. He quietly waits for the chance to move ahead all the while he serves, knowing he is qualified for the position above him. He takes control slowly, but very surely. Scorpio can
do just about anything he wants to do. If he really wants it, it's most definitely no longer a dream. The dark, magical and mysterious power of Pluto turns desire into reality with cool, careful, fixed intent.
Although a morbid desire to know the worst of sick and depraved humanity can create a gray lizard who dabbles in drugs and cruelty, he can reverse the path to a life of medicine, where drastic treatments with the same symbols have a deep fascination for him. Although many of the
rumored sadistic surgeons are Scorpios, it's equally true that many of the finest medical men in the entire world are inspired by Pluto to heal both the mind and the body, diagnosing and treating with strange, inscrutable knowledge.
Scorpio was born knowing the secrets of life and death, and with the ability to conquer both if he chooses. But astrology constantly advises him that "he must know that he knows." The ancient mysteries fascinate his brilliant mind. Out of his powerful empathy with human nature grows
the outstanding detective, the composer of great musical works, literature of depth and permanence, or the actor who projects with unusual dramatic intensity. Sometimes
he lives alone, near the sea, as strong and as silent as the tides. Sometimes he faces the public, wearing a mask of calm reserve and control, to hide his intense desire to win. He can be a
politician or a television star, an undertaker or a bartender, but he'll manage to top all his competitors.
And hell do it so effortlessly it will seem like an act of fate rather than his own powerful will.
November's thistle is dangerous, yet it grows entwined with the heavy, languid beauty of the Scorpio honeysuckle. Have you ever inhaled that sweet, overwhelming fragrance on a still midsummer's night? Then you will know why there are those who brave the thistles to seek the gentleness of Scorpio-exquisite gentleness. The explosive passion of Pluto has the rich, dark red wine color of the bloodstone. But Scorpio steel is tempered in a furnace of unbearable heat until it emerges cool, satiny smooth-and strong enough to control the nine spiritual fires of Scorpio's
wisdom.
(article taken from linda goodman's sunsigns.)