Make These Little Changes and Improve Your Life….

 

The hardest part of adopting a new habit is beginning a new routine to shape that habit. A new habit can take some 30 days to establish, but once it’s assimilated into your life, it’s extremely easy to keep up. Here are 16 changes that you can make to become a better person:

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1. Use words that encourage happiness

A good example of this is to watch how you reply when someone asks how you are. Instead of replying in a neutral fashion by saying “I’m fine”, or “I’m okay”, try saying: “I’m fabulous!”, or “I’m great!” If life has blessed you with many things to be happy about, then you should acknowledge that through your choice of words. It’s a basic universal truth that positivity only serves to breed more positivity, so be conscious of that.

2. Try something new every day

The first time we do or experience something can impact us so profoundly that it stays with us for the rest of our lives. Obviously this isn’t true for every single new thing we do or experience, but trying something new can open doors to life-changing opportunities.

3. Do something selfless every day

Life rewards you for the effort you put in. If you make a positive impact on someone else’s life, you also impact your own life in a positive way. See how you can make someone happier, or lessen their suffering. Being selfless is extremely rewarding, and once you get into the habit, you’ll be hooked.

The first time we do or experience something can impact us so profoundly that it stays with us for the rest of our lives. Obviously this isn’t true for every single new thing we do or experience, but trying something new can open doors to life-changing opportunities.

4. Learn and practice one new skill each day

Being self-reliant is crucial for being able to live a vital, healthy and productive life. If we don’t master a basic set of skills, then we don’t get to have a mastery over our own lives. Think of learning a new skill each day as taking the steps needed to turn yourself into a jack of all trades. And besides, learning new skills is fun.

5. Teach someone something new every day

Strengths and talents differ from one individual to another, so enlighten someone with your uniqueness each day. Take note of what people ask you for help with on a regular basis. Are you good at math? Are you very creative? Try devoting some time each day to teaching someone the thing or things that you’re good at.

6. Dedicate an hour a day to your passion

What is the one thing in life that makes you tick? It could be anything – spirituality, collecting things, fighting for a cause you believe in – the list is endless. Indulging your passion on a daily basis will bring lots of added happiness and meaning into your life.

7. Treat everyone nicely

Regardless of whether someone is rude to you or not, just reciprocate as nicely and calmly as you can. Doing so doesn’t imply that you’re a fake person – it’s indicative of your emotional maturity. Treat everyone as you wish to be treated, namely with kindness and respect. Do this consciously, and you’ll see how the negativity around you will dissipate as if it was never there in the first place.

8. Be as positive as you can

Think of optimism as something to be sown and harvested. No matter how bad a situation is, true success is being able to find an opportunity when it seems like nothing good can come of it. Failure is a blessing, because you can learn and grow from it. If life doesn’t give you what you want right now, that only means that there’s something better for you right around the corner.

9. Acknowledge the lesson you’ve learned from a bad situation

Life continuously gives you lessons – from the people you meet, to the things you encounter and the experiences you go through. Whether good or bad, you should always look for and acknowledge the lesson you have learned. Once you’ve done that, keep it in mind and apply it to better tackle a similar situation or experience in future.

10. Pay attention and enjoy your life as it happens

In life, the past has gone and no longer exists, whereas the future hasn’t arrived yet. If you think about it, the present is all you ever have. Everything you’ve ever done, everything you’ve ever been through, has led up to this present moment. Seeing as that present is all you ever have, you should try living your life accordingly!

11. Get rid of one thing a day for 30 days

De-cluttering is good for the soul. Try getting rid of one thing every day for 30 days, and you’ll feel a tangible internal change. It might not be easy letting go of things at first, but it’ll get better with practice. By getting rid of physical things you don’t need, you’re opening up room for newer, positive things – both physical and abstract – to come into your life.

12. Create something brand-new in 30 days or less

Fashioning something using your hands and your own ingenuity is undoubtedly one of the most rewarding things you can do in life. Use the next 30 days to create something of your choosing – just make sure that it’s something you actually care about so you don’t lose interest in it. Find something you love and let your imagination run wild.

13. Wake up 30 minutes earlier each morning

If you’re in a rush in the morning, you’re setting yourself up for a bad day, because you’ll be constantly chasing the time you’re trying to make up. Try getting up 30 minutes earlier, and save yourself speeding tickets, being late for work and other stresses you don’t need to be dealing with. Make a pact with yourself to do it for 30 days straight and see the difference that it makes.

14. Don’t tell a single lie in 30 days

We all tell little white lies, and naively think they’re harmless. The truth is that a lie is a lie, no matter how big or small. Avoid deceiving yourself and those around you, speak from the heart and speak the whole truth.

 

 

Joke of the Day…” You people have a penchant for doing things wrong …” !!!

 

An American soldier, serving in World War II, had just returned from several weeks of intense action on the German front lines.

 

 He had finally been granted R&R and was on a train bound for London. The train was very crowded, so the soldier walked the length of the train, looking for an empty seat.

 The only unoccupied seat was directly adjacent to a well-dressed middle-aged lady and was being used by her little dog.

The war weary soldier asked, “Please, ma’am, may I sit in that seat?”

The English woman looked down her nose at the soldier, sniffed and said, “You Americans. You are such a rude class of people. Can’t you see my little Fifi is using that seat?”

The soldier walked away, determined to find a place to rest, but after another trip down to the end of the train, found himself again facing the woman with the dog.

Again he asked, “Please, lady. May I sit there? I’m very tired.”

The English woman wrinkled her nose and snorted, “You Americans! Not only are you rude, you are also arrogant. Imagine!”

The soldier didn’t say anything else; he leaned over, picked up the little dog, tossed it out the window of the train and sat down in the empty seat.

The woman shrieked and railed, and demanded that someone defend her and chastise the soldier.

An English gentleman sitting across the aisle spoke up, “You know, sir, you Americans do seem to have a penchant for doing the wrong thing. You eat holding the fork in the wrong hand. You drive your cars on the wrong side of the road. And now, sir, you’ve thrown the wrong bitch out the window.”

Source….input from a friend of mine

Natarajan

THAT TIME A FLYING PIG GROUNDED EVERY PLANE AT LONDON’S HEATHROW AIRPORT….

 

Imagine if you will that you’re sitting in an airport waiting to go on vacation. Suddenly and without warning you hear a voice over the tannoy system informing you that every single plane scheduled that day had been grounded. As your mind begins to think of all the horrible things that could have caused the delay, you hear the voice again informing you that flights have been grounded not by a freak storm, crash or technical glitch, but by an escaped flying pig.

flying pig

As unbelievable as it’s going to sound, this is genuinely something that once happened in London in the 1970s thanks to the band Pink Floyd and their gigantic pig shaped balloon.

In 1976, Pink Floyd recorded an album called Animals which drew inspiration from the 1945 novel Animal Farm, a thinly veiled allegory of Soviet communism that prominently features pigs as characters.

After the album was recorded, the band met with a design team called Hipgnosis to create the album’s cover. Despite being regarded by many as some of the best album designers of all time (working with and designing albums for the likes of AC/DC, ELO, Styx and Rainbow), all of Hipgnosis’ ideas fell flat with the band.

Battersea-Power-StationAfter some deliberation, bassist Roger Waters suggested to Aubrey Powell of Hipgnosis that they use Battersea Power Station as the backdrop for the cover. Waters later explained to Rolling Stone, “I’d always loved Battersea Power Station, just as a piece of architecture. And I thought it had some good symbolic connections with Pink Floyd as it was at that point. One, I thought it was a power station, that’s pretty obvious. And two, that it had four legs. If you inverted it, it was like a table. And there were four bits to it, representing the four members of the band…” (I’m getting a definite This is Spinal Tapvibe here… Just me?)

The band had recently commissioned a gigantic 40 ft. inflatable pig for their upcoming tour.  Putting two and two together, Powell stated in an interview that when the pair were discussing the power station idea, “Roger and I both looked up at the Station, and said, ‘let’s fly the pig between the chimneys’. Just like that.”

After applying for what we can only assume was an ungodly amount of permits to float a giant balloon shaped like a pig above an (at the time) operational major power station, the band with help from Powell picked out the best angle from which to shoot the cover. Other prep work included hiring an expert marksman who was given orders to shoot the pig down should it escape. The band then decided on a date on which to shoot the photo- December 2, 1976, a day which was supposed to be mostly clear with some cloud, which the band specifically wanted so that the sky didn’t look “boring”, or as boring as it could be with a giant floating pig in the middle of it.

However, on the day of the shoot, the pig wouldn’t inflate for reasons never explained in any interview we could find. This annoyed Powell to no end because, “that day there was the most incredible, Turner-esque sky. But for some reason, the pig wasn’t inflating. I shot the Station anyway, because the sky was so amazing.”

After trying and failing to inflate the pig for several hours, the band gave up and they agreed to come back the next day.

The group returned and, oddly, this time the pig inflated just fine. After painstakingly attaching the pig to Battersea’s southernmost chimney, disaster struck as the tether holding the balloon in place broke during a wind gust, causing the gigantic inflatable porcine to begin lazily drifting away.

The pig was loose.

So what happened to the sniper they hired for just such a bizarre event? Well, apparently the manager simply forgot to tell him or his gun that they required his services the next day. So he never showed up.

As the pig began to climb ever higher, rising to heights no pig, inflatable or otherwise, had ever hoped or dared to dream, a terrible realisation crept over those watching it sail toward the heavens- the pig was flying directly towards Heathrow airport. As panic began to set in, the band did what many would do in such a situation, according to Powell, “Pink Floyd left the site.”

Moments after the skyward swine escaped, Heathrow officials received several communiqués from pilots in passing planes matter-of-factly telling them that they’d just seen a giant pig float past their windows. After realising that the calls weren’t a joke, all flights from the airport were grounded.

As the pig danced around in the sky, police helicopters and eventually the RAF were called in to chase it down, but to no avail; by the time they arrived the pig was gone and, despite their sincerest efforts, they couldn’t find it.

With the pig off enjoying its freedom and the band having absconded the scene of the crime, this left Aubrey Powell to take the fall. After police arrived, according to Powell, he was promptly arrested and taken in for questioning.

Meanwhile the band, who’d managed to retain their freedom, set about trying to find the pig- giant inflatable pigs not being cheap, after all. Using their status as Pink Floyd, they were able to convince radio stations across the country to plead with listeners to keep their eyes peeled for a giant floating pig, providing a number they could call if they happened to see it.

Almost immediately this number was flooded with prank calls because, of course it was. However, at around 9:30 pm that evening, a phone call from an irate farmer in Kent (about 40 miles or 65 km away) came in, with the farmer sharply asking “Are you the guy looking for a pig?”

After having this fact affirmed, the farmer angrily told the group that such an object had landed on his farm and was currently scaring all his cows. After getting the man’s details, Powell, along with the police, went and collected the swine which was miraculously undamaged from its adventure.

pink-floyd-animalsSurprisingly, the police and officials at Battersea allowed the band to come back and re-shoot their album cover, with the proviso that they actually bring the sharpshooter along this time. Although Powell was able to get shots with the tethered pig, the sky that day was entirely clear and he ended up hating how they looked initially. However, he was able to get the shot he wanted by using a photo from the first day and superimposing the pig on top of it. Sans Photoshop, this did not look that great if you looked too closely at the picture.

As such, this all went against Waters’ original requirements that the “picture should be real”, rather than superimposing the pig, as Powell had at one point suggested before the whole debacle. This nevertheless all ended up working out for the band swimmingly. As Powell later noted, the escaped pig “was front-page news: Pink Floyd couldn’t have got better publicity if they tried.”

After its little adventure, the pig went on tour with the band later the following year.

Source…….www.today i foundout .com

Natarajan

 

 

Lessons one can learn from Negative thoughts….!

 

We all experience negative thoughts at times. Unfortunately, our social and environmental conditioning can lead us to treating them as things to be fought against, avoided, or a sign of our weakness. As a result, the negative thoughts are often coupled with anger towards ourselves. These negative thoughts can keep us “stuck in our own heads”, and hinder us from moving forward with our lives in a positive manner. With that being said, there’s much to learn from these so-called negative thoughts. They can teach us some very important lessons, and it is our fear of negativity itself that keeps us from learning these lessons. Next time your mind wanders into negative thinking, don’t try to suppress such thoughts. Instead, use them as a ladder to haul yourself back up. Here are the seven most important lessons you can learn from negative thoughts:

1. If you’re lost, negativity can be your compass

Being angry at yourself in times of crisis can cause you to become lost in a sea of thoughts, and even forget how you got to this state in the first place, thus preventing you from avoiding it next time. Instead, try using your negative thoughts as a compass – think of why you became angry in the first place to try and find the source of your frustration, as well as remind you where you want to be. You can guide your search with questions such as:

  • When did I become angry with myself?
  • Has this sort of thing happened in the past?
  • Were my reactions to this situation different last time?
  • If I acted differently, was I more or less frustrated?

Another way of using negative thoughts as a compass is by mapping out your fears or the obstacles in the way of you feeling better. Try asking yourself:

  • Am I mad at myself because there’s something I could have done differently?
  • If so, can I avoid this type of obstacle next time?
  • Are there other ways to approach this problem?
  • What can I do differently next time?

2. Falling into familiar holes doesn’t become less painful

Imagine walking down the street and suddenly falling into a hole. The first time it happens, you’ll be mad at the city for its negligence. The second time, you’ll be mad because it still hasn’t fixed the problem despite the risk. The third time, you’ll be mad at yourself because you didn’t remember that there’s a hole there. Why did you fall into that hole time after time? Most likely it’s because you weren’t looking where you were heading, and were too busy blaming others, thus avoiding your own responsibility.

The best way to deal with such “holes” in your life is in stages – by covering the hole if you can, finding a way around the hole while it’s still there, or looking forward to avoid falling into that hole (or others) in the future. Instead of blaming others for your predicament, take responsibility for what you can do differently, and do it.

3. Your best friend is you

Negativity turns you into your own judge, jury, and executioner. As proof, we still remember certain mistakes we made in the past that others have already forgotten. However, we tend to ignore the most important lesson that each negative thought carries with it – just as we are our own harshest judges, we are also our own best friends.

Instead of running in circles, finding yourself guilty time and time again, try looking at the problem impartially, as if a friend is telling you about their problem and asking you for your opinion. What your advice be? Is it really a problem that cannot be overcome? When you look at an issue from the sideline, you can often find a solution more easily. If you keep practicing this lesson, you’ll find it easier to connect with yourself, and stop judging yourself so harshly.

4. No one knows everything

Many of our negative thoughts originate from the false assumption that they are indisputable facts. We can be sure that there is only one reason for our failings, or that people act a certain way because of one specific reason. These assumptions can be completely wrong, making them into the feet we use to trip ourselves over when dealing with future problems.

If we think that a colleague has no time for us because they don’t like us, we won’t be able to communicate with them positively in the future, even if their reason was that they were busy, or weren’t feeling well when we approached them. Such an incident can lead us to analyze our relationship with others incorrectly, as well as causing us to make the same mistakes time and time again in future. In quite the same way, being rejected when applying for a job can make us think we’re not talented enough when that position may have been made redundant for a variety of reasons.

Try reminding yourself that in any negative situation, some things that you’re not aware of and are beyond your control may have taken place. Remember that nobody is omniscient, and that’s perfectly fine.

5. If you think you’re drowning in negativity, you’re probably wrong

Do you think that everything bad that happens to you is the result of personal malice, and that bad things keep happening to you all the time? It may be time to stop for a moment and remind yourself that the worst thing that is happening is what you’re doing to yourself. Every negative thought provides us with two options – to fall into despair, or to learn and grow. Sadly, most of us choose the first option.

In order to help yourself see the situation from a broader perspective, assign every negative thought a couple of new friends – factual proof, and a different interpretation. Factual proof forms the basis of assessing your situation (for example, if a friend is mad at you, what are we basing our understanding of that anger on?), at the same time, even if you’re sure that your interpretation is correct, train yourself to come up with an alternative, logical interpretation of the situation. It might just be the right interpretation after all.

6. Some positive thoughts are disguised as negative ones

Not all thoughts that begin in a negative tone are necessarily negative themselves. It may surprise you, but if you think about it, you’ll find out that it is indeed the case. You may be imagining the worst possible scenario about something that may happen to someone you hold dear, but this thought is actually a positive thought, originating from a place of love and care for that person.

Try and express as many negative thoughts in a positive way and you may find out that people who originally reacted to these thoughts in a negative way now react to them differently after they understand the source of your fears or anger.

7. To move forward, stop collecting trash

After you’ve sifted through your negative thoughts and learned as much as you can from them, you can divide them into negative thoughts that can help you, and those that are nothing but “trash”. In other words, don’t let the trashy thoughts take up space in your head – they’ll only slow you down and make you feel unhappy.

No one likes to live in a house that is filled with trash, and the same goes for you and your mental space. Instead of punishing yourself by preoccupying yourself with these unnecessary thoughts, which exact a heavy toll on your mental state, try disposing of them as soon as you can. If a negative thought pops up, treat it as a memo to clear your mind up and make room for positivity instead.

Source…www.ba-bamail.com

Natarajan

 

Joke of the Day…” Bill for Lab report and Cat scan ….” !!!

 

A woman brought a very limp duck to a veterinary surgeon. As she laid her pet on the table, the vet pulled out his stethoscope and listened to the bird’s chest. After a moment or two, the vet shook his head sadly and said, “I’m sorry, your duck, Cuddles, has passed away.”

The distressed woman wailed, “Are you sure?”

“Yes, I am sure. Your duck is dead,” replied the vet.

“How can you be so sure?” she protested. “I mean you haven’t done any testing on him or anything. He might just be in a coma or something.”

The vet sighed, turned around and left the room. He returned a few minutes later with a old dog. As the duck’s owner looked on in amazement, the dog stood on his hind legs, put his front paws on the examination table and sniffed the duck from top to bottom. He then looked up at the vet with sad eyes and shook his head.

The vet patted the dog on the head and took it out of the room. A few minutes later he returned with a cat. The cat jumped on the table and also delicately sniffed the bird from head to foot. The cat sat back on its haunches, shook its head, meowed softly and strolled out of the room.

The vet looked at the woman and said, “I’m sorry,  but as I said, this is most definitely, 100% certifiably, a dead duck.”

He turned to his computer terminal, hit a few keys and produced a bill, which he handed to the woman. The duck’s owner, still in shock, took the bill. “$150!” she cried, “$150 just to tell me my duck is dead?!?”

The vet shrugged. “I’m sorry. If you had just taken my word for it, the bill would have been $20, but with the Lab Report and the Cat Scan, it’s now $150.

Source………www.ba-bamail.com

Natarajan

வாரம் ஒரு கவிதை ….” ஒரு கவிதையின் டைரி ” !!!

 

ஒரு  கவிதையின் டைரி
…………………
  என் கவிதை சொன்னது …இது என் டைரி என்று !
ஒரு டைரியில்  கதை இருக்கும் …கவிதையும்  இருக்கும்
கவிதைக்கே   ஒரு டைரியா ? ! …. வியந்தேன்  நான் !
உன் கதை என்ன ….படிக்கலாமா உன் டைரி நான் ?
கேட்டேன்  கவிதையை !…. படிக்கணும் நீ கட்டாயம் …அது
என் கதை அல்ல …உன் கதை…உன்  முதல் கவிதை !
சொன்னது  என் கவிதை !..பிரித்தேன்…படித்தேன் …என்
கவிதை  டைரியை !… என் முதல் கவிதை அதில் முதல் பக்கத்தில் !
படித்துப் படித்துப் பார்த்தேன் …தேன் என இனித்தது என்
கவிதை…விண்ணில் பறந்தேன்  நான் … இந்த மண்ணில்
இல்லை என் கால் ! .. என்னுள்  ஒரு பாரதியும் கம்பனுமே !
சிரித்தது கவிதை … என் டைரி குறிப்பையும் மறக்காமல்
படி இப்போது …சொன்னது என் கவிதை ! படித்தேன்
அதன் குறிப்பை …” என்ன அய்யா கவிதை இது ? எதுகை
இல்லை …மோனை  இல்லை … ஒரு கவிதைக்கு சொந்தம்
சொல்ல சந்தமும் இல்லை .. இது என்ன கவிதை ? கவிதை
விதை விதைக்காத  ஒரு கதை அய்யா  இது” அதிர்ந்தேன் நான்!
இது  கவிதை …அது கவிதை  என்னும் நாளில் என்
புதுக் கவிதை  இதை   இதுவா கவிதை  என கேக்குதே என்
கவிதையே   தன்  டைரியில் !…. இது என்ன டைரியா ?
இல்லை கம்பன் வீட்டுக் கட்டுத்  தறியா ? !!!
நடராஜன்
8 june 2016

Joke of the Day…” Can you give me a push ….” ?

 

A husband and wife are in bed when there is a knock at the door. The husband rolls over and looks at his clock – it’s 3:30 a.m. He drags himself out of bed and goes downstairs.

When he opens the door, there is a drunk slumped there. “Hi ya,” slurs the stranger. “Can you give me a push?”

“Get lost,” says the man. “It’s half-past three.”

He slams the door and goes back up to bed. He tells his wife about the drunk.

She says, “Dave, that wasn’t very nice of you. Remember that night we broke down in the pouring rain and you had to knock on that man’s door? What would’ve happened if he’d told us to get lost?”

Shamefaced, the husband gets fully dressed, puts on his shoes and picks up all his tools then goes to his own car and takes out some cables.

Finally having all he needs to assist any problem the man may have, he opens the door and calls out, “Hey, do you still want a push?”

A voice answers, “Yes, please.”

“Where are you?” calls the man.

“I’m over here…” replies the stranger,

…on your swing set.

Source……..www.ba-bamail.com

Natarajan

Image of the Day…Sunrise stripes on Hospital Hill, Zimbabwe…!!!

 

At about 6.30 on the morning of May 28, 2016,, the sun rising over Mozambique projected some bright orange light through some layers of low cloud hanging in the Mutare Valley to produce a display of alternating light and dark sunrise stripes. One of these struck the summit of the nearby granite Kopje called Hospital Hill and then obliquely descended the slope facing me while narrowing and gradually fading away. The display lasted for just six minutes.

As a tripod was not immediately available, an impromptu series of hand-held camera images was taken using a Panasonic Lumix DMC TZ-60 in sunset scenery mode. Twenty of the most suitable for generating a time-lapse sequence were selected and adjusted in size to obtain good registration before being used to produce a time-lapse movie which loops five times.

A rare combination of light and shade, with Hospital Hill looking as I’ve never seen it before!

Source…….. Posted by  in www.earthsky.org

Natarajan

Jokes for the Day….!!! One liners !!!

 

. I recently got crushed by a pile of books, but I suppose I’ve only got my shelf to blame.
. A man knocked on my door and asked for a small donation for a local swimming pool. So I gave him a glass of water.
. I went to a really emotional wedding the other day. Even the cake was in tiers.

 I had to quit my job at the shoe recycling factory. It was just sole destroying.
. I was getting in to my car the other day and a man said ‘can you give me a lift?’ I said ‘sure, you look great, chase your dreams, go for it!’
  I’ve decided to sell my vacuum. Well, it was just gathering dust!
 What’s the best time to go to the dentist? Tooth-hurtie!
Never date a tennis player. Love means nothing to them.

 My wife and I have been happy for 20 years. But then we met.
 Why didn’t the lifeguard save the hippie? Because he was too far out, man.

I saw a documentary on how ships are kept together. Riveting!
. I was overcharged for velcro last week. What a rip off!
 I’ve been reading a book about anti-gravity. It’s impossible to put down.
. A train stops at a train station. A bus stops at a bus station. Now why is my desk called a ‘work station’?

 How do prisoners call each other? On their cell phones!
 The thing about dwarfs and midgets is that they have very little in common.
. Have you heard about the magic tractor? It turned into a field!
 To the guy who invented zero: Thanks for nothing!
. I hate Russian Dolls. They’re so full of themselves.
 I used to be a banker, but over time I lost interest.
 I was thinking about getting a brain transplant, but then I changed my mind.

 I can’t understand why people are so bothered about me not knowing what the word ‘apocalypse’ means. It’s not like it’s the end of the world!
 Why can’t a bike stand on its own? It’s two-tired!

 Did you hear about the man who lost his entire left side in an accident? He’s all right now.
. If I could only take one thing to a desert island, I probably wouldn’t bother going.
. I couldn’t work out how to fasten my seat belt for ages. But then one day, it just clicked.
. My first job was at a calendar factory. I can’t believe they sacked me, all I did was take a day off!
 I was going to tell my pizza joke but I think it’s a bit too cheesy.

 

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Natarajan