NARA’S NOTEPAD
VOLUME 14
JANUARY 2018
NUMBER 1
SUPPORTED BY READERS LIKE YOU
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU
Friday, January 12, 2018
MEMO FROM NARA
We appreciate people who perform
better than others. So appreciation is considered as the reward for them. In
fact, everyone likes to be appreciated because appreciation brings both
happiness and encouragement. Sometimes it acts as a tonic. Sportsmen and women
do their best in National and International competitions and get appreciated by
gold/silver/bronze medals. Similarly teachers who train students and make them
knowledgeable and responsible citizens of our country also get great
appreciation. Thus all kinds of activities deserve appreciation which is
expressed in various forms. The activities are recognized, respected, admired
and awarded. In everyday life we see people appreciate the good deeds done by
some and also talk high about the good qualities of such personalities of
repute.
Appreciation is not communicated in
words or expressed explicit but only felt within the mind. On the other hand,
nowadays appreciations are expressed openly by offering a certificate of
appreciation or mementos or cash prize.
Competition in sports and games is
recognized by offering millions of dollars for the winning person or teams.
Such awards are offered to appreciate the outstanding achievements. The
services of a person are appreciated at the time of his/her retirement.
Personalities who have contributed
to the well-being of human society are highly appreciated. Authors of good books
are also appreciated by the readers of those books. Music, dance, painting,
acting, teaching, treating patients, designing are some of the professions
where people excel and achieve greatness. They deserve appreciation.
Likewise, nature, flowers, gardens,
monuments, art etc. are also being appreciated. Beautiful things are generally
appreciated at least by saying they are good, excellent, awesome, and fabulous
or super. In fact, I find such comments from friends for my postings in
Facebook. Such appreciations encourage me to post more of interesting messages
and photos. So a person who is appreciated will certainly do more than what is
expected from him/her.
The joy one
derives from the appreciations received from others – known or unknown – is
immense. It is more so with children. Every activity they do has to be
appreciated. That makes them happy and keeps them encouraged. Indeed, it is a
motivation! Such appreciations go long way to shape the future of children.
This mantra is known to mothers and teachers. So appreciation is a wonderful
tool; it recognizes what is excellent in others and us as well.
It is better to know a few things which are good and
necessary than many things which are useless and mediocre. What a great treasure
can be hidden in a small, selected library! A company of the wisest and the
most deserving people from all the civilized countries of the world, for
thousands of years can make the results of their studies and their wisdom
available to us. The thought which they might not even reveal to their best
friends is written here in clear words for us, people from another century.
Yes, we should be grateful for the best books, for the best spiritual
achievement in our lives. – R. W. Emerson
HOW TO BE SOCIAL?
1.
Give your energy level a boost.
It’s hard to be friendly, and to focus on others, if you’re feeling really
tired and would rather be in bed. To keep going, grab some coffee or a bite to
eat, or go outside for a few minutes, and get some cool, fresh air.
2.
Have some tactics at the ready if you
don’t know the people – or if you have to be with people
you would rather avoid. For example, if you don’t like the people, ask a friend
to go with you … and have a great excuse for leaving once you’ve done the
minimum.
3.
Plan ahead to avoid conflict.
Aim to stay in control of your reactions and emotions – and resist the pressure
to take part in arguments.
4.
Control your contribution.
If you’re quiet and introverted then value you who you are. Don’t expect
yourself to be a party animal. Show respect for yourself by taking time out if
you need to, and only talk to people that you want to be around.
5.
See it as a chance to practices a
few social skills. Take the pressure off yourself by practicing your social skills.
For example, ask a few open questions, and keep the focus on the speaker. Try
and come across as friendly through your use of body language – like making
good eye contact and smiling while you talk.
COGNITIVE BEHAVIORAL THERAPY (CBT):
It
is based on the principle that thoughts influence feelings, feelings influence
actions, and actions influence results, or life circumstances. In other words,
situations don’t make us feel certain ways. People don’t make us feel certain
ways. It’s how we interpret (or think about) situations or things people say or
do that influences how we feel.
Thursday, January 11, 2018
JUST TO LAUGH
Patient to his doctor: I have forgotten
so many things lately, and it’s getting worse. What can I do?
Doctor: Yes, this is a known illness, unfortunately it has no cure. I’d also like to remind you about the Rs. 1000 that you owe me?
Doctor: Yes, this is a known illness, unfortunately it has no cure. I’d also like to remind you about the Rs. 1000 that you owe me?
Judge: “Why did you steal the car?”
Man: “I had to get to work.”
Judge: “Why didn’t you take the bus?”
Man: I don’t have a driver’s license for the bus.
Man: “I had to get to work.”
Judge: “Why didn’t you take the bus?”
Man: I don’t have a driver’s license for the bus.
I’ve read so many horrible things about drinking and smoking recently that I made a new, firm New Year’s resolution: NO MORE READING!
THE THREE Is
IMAGINATION: A child’s imagination is a wealth of
ideas and innovations. This contributes to creativity, flexible thinking and
endless inspiration extending into adulthood. It requires time for personal
reflection and free play through tasks that the children are personally
interested in.
INQUISITIVENESS: Creative people are inquisitive
enough to identify problems and then persistently explore them until they come
up with new solutions. Children should be encouraged to be curious and always
ask “why” and “why not” instead of losing that spark as they grow older and
learn that answers are more important questions.
INTERCONNECTIONS: According to neuroscience, innovation
draws on the whole brain. School curriculum should drive students to “join the
dots” and make rich, deep and unexpected links between the different things
they learn. Much innovation happens when unexpected skills collide across
different fields.
LINES I LIKED
A kind word will give more
pleasure than a present.
Ø A large majority of people are
controlled by their habits.
Ø A lawyer makes an asset out of
his lie-ability.
Ø A liar needs a good memory.
Ø A lie told with good intention is
also truth.
Mindfulness means paying attention to what you are thinking and
feeling and being aware of how you respond to people and events. When you
become more mindful your mind becomes quieter and you see things more clearly. You
are less likely to speak and act hastily. Mindfulness deepens your
understanding of yourself and the world around you. It’s a vital step towards
greater confidence and self esteem.
Tuesday, January 2, 2018
Notice
Dear Readers of NARA’S NOTEPAD,
Wish you a Happy New Year....
The January issue will be uploaded after 10 of January 2018...Sorry for the delay...
NARA
Wish you a Happy New Year....
The January issue will be uploaded after 10 of January 2018...Sorry for the delay...
NARA
Thursday, November 30, 2017
MEMO FROM NARA
Plunging world economy, civil
war in Syria , waves of
refugees into Europe , terrorist attack all
over the world, climate change are some of the problems faced by the world
today. Leaders of the nations meet at various places discuss the situations and
disperse. The follow-up is not encouraging at all. Media highlight the everyday
incidents caused by these problems. In fact, it is not easy to tackle such
problems, as they are as complex as they are. Disagreement among national
leaders is one of the reasons to make the problems more complex. Every country
thinks of its own interest first. If it is beneficial, then it supports the
point of view of other countries, otherwise not. After the summit meets, no one
knows how the problems are dealt with. Diplomats and secretaries make umpteen
visits to various countries and make further attempts to implement the
agreements made by the political leaders. Sometimes they are successful but
most of the time they are not successful because of the internal problems of
each country.
How to solve
these problems? Delay it! By the time new problems arise and new summit meets
are planned. Thus the story continues. It is a never ending process faced by
the world. In between, apart from the man-made problems nature-made problems
like drought, flood, earthquakes, land slides, forest fires etc. occur. Good
lot of money and effort is spent on these. Human lives lost in these calamities
are lost for ever. Destructions were reconstructed by spending quite a lot of
money. Thus solutions are found for natural calamities.
In the final
analysis there is no life without problems. For some problems solutions are
found, few have partial solutions and very few problems have no solutions at
all. So we have to live with the world problems taking appropriate step to
manage them.
SMARTPHONES
We are now living in the Planet of the Smartphones.
The ubiquitous device has changed the way we live, mostly for the better, but
not without the risk in the near future of human beings suffering from any of
the unintended and unplanned consequences of this stupendous march of
technology.
As the fastest selling device in history the
smartphone is headed north, with predictions of five billion people and 100
billion devices connected to the Internet by 2020. About half of the adult
population of the world has a smartphone now and by the end of the decade 80%
of adults can be expected to be brandishing this very personal device that
takes precedence over any other gadget or gizmo like the laptop, now looking
decidedly old-fashioned except to the professionals and the sleeker tablets
that were all the range for the few years.
The
device landscape is changing so fast already and analysts are now predicting
that the device might also shift from our pockets to overlays on the iris of
our eye and a concept that may have been more in keeping with science fiction fantasy,
may be put into practice in the not so distant future with smartphone chip as a
brain implant. You could connect to a wearable device.
Not a
day goes by now without a bank offering us services on the mobile for
transactions we would do only on laptops or iPads till now. The nagging
question is how safe is the new tech going to be in preserving our identities,
our personal information, our e-mails and our bank accounts. The priority should
however be security.
JUST TO LAUGH...
“What should
I do?”
yelled a panicked client to the receptionist at our veterinarian’s office. “My
dog just ate two bags of unpopped pop corn!” Clearly not a alarmed as the
worried pet owner, the receptionist responded coolly, “Well, the first thing I
would do is keep him out of the sun.”
As a student
nurse, I
had to give an injection to a 79-year-old male patient. I asked which hip he
preferred the shot in. He wanted to know if he really had a choice. I told him
he did. He looked me straight in the eye and said, “Yours!”
SECRETS OF HAPPINESS
1. Have a good core group of friends.
2. Build some adventure
into your life. Don’t fall into “the same old, same old”.
3. Research confirms
that “stuff won’t make us happy” so clear out the junk – and only keep what you
love.
4. Work on establishing
balance in your life. Don’t be too busy or you’ll wind up depressed.
5. Give in to temptation
every now and again. Too much discipline is boring in the end.
6. Like and appreciate
yourself. Take time to notice and affirm your strengths.
7. Start living in the
moment – don’t doubt every move. Accept your decision as the best one for right
now.
- Man is superior to
other animals because he can think reason and discriminate.
- Man is the architect
of his own fate.
- Man should try to
remain calm in face of both, pleasure and pain, success and pleasure.
- Man suffers because
he cannot or does not control himself.
- Man suffers because
ha has too many desires.
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