Posted on August 5th, 2011 by admin
“You can tell more about a person by what he says about others than you can by what others say about him.”
Leo Aikman
The Geography of Bliss
Posted on August 1st, 2011 by admin
The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World
Eric Weiner
EAN:978-0446698894
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Twelve
Published in: United States
Published: January 2009
Fortified with Eeyoreish fatalism—I’m already unhappy. I have nothing to lose—self-confessed grump Eric “Whiner” took a yearlong tour of a very unusual assortment of countries (sample: Holland, Qatar, Bhutan and Iceland), most of which have been chosen because they are home to some of the happiest resident populations in the world, (although a couple are chosen to present a contrast). Weiner is confronted with a few inconvenient truths. Contrary to expectations, neither greater social equality nor greater cultural diversity is associated with greater happiness. In the end, he realized happiness isn’t about economics or geography. Maybe it’s not even personal so much as relational. There are some interesting conclusions drawn about what does and doesn’t make for happiness, about the importance of democracy and wealth (so revered in the US) and how they are part of the answer but far from being the solution.
In the end, Weiner’s travel tales provide great happiness for his readers. Weiner has a lovely turn of phrase (reminiscent of Bill Bryson) and although The Geography of Bliss wasn’t as laugh-out-loud funny as I expected (more dryly amusing), it is both immensely readable and packed to the gills with fascinating nuggets of information.
If you’re looking for a definitive answer to the book’s premise, i.e., that happiness is about place, you might be disappointed. If, however, you are game for a journey about exploring that concept, Eric Weiner’s book is for you. At once intelligent and witty, Geography of Bliss takes the reader to unfamiliar places to meet strangely familiar people. That’s because the essence of what makes us happy (or unhappy) is basically the same everywhere, alloyed only by our culture and circumstances. Weiner has studied the scientific literature on happiness, too, and weaves it into his narrative, which he leavens with a steady stream of clever quips. It’s a book that will make you think and laugh on the same page. And, it might just make you happy.
The book can teach Americans some valuable lessons and I recommend it big time.
It takes a chapter or two to decide you like him, and another to realize that you like him a lot, but by the time the trip is over, you find yourself hoping that you’ll hit the road together again someday. The Geography of Bliss is a journey too good to be rare.
This book is also available from
Four Natural Parenting Tips to Help You Maintain Your Sanity
Posted on June 9th, 2010 by admin
Are you into “natural parenting”? Do you parent according to the principles of “attachment parenting”? Regardless of your label of choice, deciding to embark on a non-mainstream parenting lifestyle means making yourself vulnerable to all of its one hundred and one challenges.
When you choose to use cloth diapers, co-workers will call you “strange.”
When your two-and-a-half year old son is still nursing, your dentist will refer to it as “bad.”
Forbid your child to eat candy, and your neighbor may accuse you of “taking away her childhood.”
When your four-year-old is still sleeping with you and your spouse, friends will tell you that “it’s going to ruin your marriage.”
I have not been a “natural parent” for very long; just a little under three years as I write this. But in that short space of time, I have learned some important lessons that I would like to pass on to anyone who feels at all overwhelmed by trying to do the natural parenting thing “right.”
With that in mind, here are four natural parenting tips that will help you to maintain your sanity.
Where’s Waldo?
Posted on June 9th, 2010 by admin
Remember when you were a kid and you read Where’s Waldo books?
“Where’s Waldo? Where’s Waldo? Where’s Waldo ?!?” The fun of the books was not in the story line, but scanning the complex illustrations to find your friend in a red striped shirt hiding in the crowd.
During the process, your level of awareness skyrocketed. You noticed things that you would have never noticed at first glance. You noticed what color balloons the little girl was holding. And how many chickens the farmer was chasing after. And the funny pants worn by the flower delivery man. In fact, you noticed just about everything on the page. Your antenna was up, and you processed every nook and cranny of the page.
Think about what would happen if you brought that same Where’s Waldo level of awareness with you to work, and specifically to your own Creative Challenge.
Secret Recipes Revealed
Posted on June 8th, 2010 by admin
Make something different for dinner tonight.
Get inside the hidden cookbooks of America’s favorite restaurants including Red Lobster, Olive Garden, TGI Friday, PF Chang and many more!
The secret recipes for your favorite restaurant dishes have now been revealed in this best-selling new cookbook.
Prepare dishes you know they’ll love and save money by easily making them at home.
For the full list of secret recipes – go to: bit.ly/defFeY
Thought for the day
Posted on June 8th, 2010 by admin
In the confrontation between
the stream and the rock,
the stream always wins.
Not through strength,
but through perseverance.
H. Jackson Brown
When Networking Doesn’t Work, but Real Connections with People Do
Posted on June 7th, 2010 by admin
Last week’s blog about networking events not working, got me thinking about the word ‘networking’ itself. I have often thought it a rather unfortunate choice of word for a people skill deemed so important in business. Whilst you may hear that ‘networking’ may help you to run your business successfully, this word really doesn’t convey the power of people and strong relationships in business.
Indeed ‘net-working’ can at times seem slightly contrived and manipulative especially when people only start to network because they desperately need new customers or a new job. Whilst stop-start networking activities also can also add to the feast and famine syndrome in business, networking itself may be unsuccessful when speed seems of the essence. Frequently people simply fail to grasp that good relationships just cannot be rushed!
My New Years Resolutions
Posted on June 7th, 2010 by admin
I want to be happy for no reason this year except that I am here and alive and I claim this moment as my own. It’s mine. Its got my name on it!
This year, I want to spend more time in nature, not on the path near my home, with its iPods, and cell phones and incessant chatter, but deep in a forest, where the earth recognizes my step, and the ground kisses my feet as I walk.
This year, I want to say no, more often, and not feel guilty, and say yes, more often, and not feel embarrassed.
I want to take the time to grieve fully this year, for those people that I have lost and mourn those things that I shall never have or be again.
I want to hear the sounds of creation and I can’t tell you what those sounds are, because I have never really heard them before. I ‘ve been too busy for that. But their music beckons to me in the stillness when I have finally given up my need to control.
I want to see, really see the sights of the universe and I can’t tell you what those sights are, because I have never really seen them before. I’ve had my eyes closed. But their vision haunts me in my dreams and gently calls forth to me in my waking hours.
I want to take the child in me out to play more this year and step in mud puddles, get my feet wet, eat cotton candy, build a snowman, talk to strangers, kiss furry dogs and chase mangy cats.
This year I want to eat my spaghetti with a fork and forget about the spoon and get my face really dirty.
I want to get to know my teddy bear more this year. After all, he is really the only one who has always been there for me, in my darkest hour, comforting me and whispering sweet messages into my heart, that were more accurate than any psychic ever could be.
I want to see the world with new eyes this year, as if I have never seen it before, like an alien on an unfamiliar planet, and not take anything for granted.
This year, I want to talk less and say more. I want to taste more and eat less.
I want to write more about those things that really matter to me, with passion, the things that I know in my gut, the things that stir up my soul, and not give a damn about keywords or tags or where I rank in Google.
I want to sit with a flower this year and watch it bloom, and know what it feels like to finally surrender to life, to succumb to a purpose bigger than my own.
I want to talk to the moon and bask in the sun and gaze at the stars for hours and hours.
I want to be much more silly this year, and care much less about what people think of me. I have forgotten just how much fun being silly can be.
I want to laugh, harder than I have ever laughed before. And cry less for all of the pain and suffering that I think I can’t fix, because I know that I can. Every time that I make the choice to be free, there is less suffering in the world, not a world with less pain, but less pain in the world.
I want to love more this year, not the sappy, greeting card kind of love they sell on Valentine’s day cards, but a love that surpasses all distance, time, space and differences.
This year, I want to make friends with those parts of me that I am afraid of and attempt to do those things that still scare me to death. Well, at least some of them.
I want to appreciate more and complain less, accept more and judge less, forgive more and blame less. I want to ultimately do nothing and allow everything.
This year I want to break open the windows of my life and knock down the doors, remove the shackles and stare down the illusion until it sets me free.
So you won’t find goals here or projects or timelines or objectives or plans or directions or bucket lists or targets.You’ll only find me.
Veronica Hay
Veronica Hay is the author of In a Dream, You Can Do Anything. An extraordinary collection of writings that will uplift you, motivate you, inspire you, and gently guide you along the inner path of your life.Go to: http://www.insightsandinspirations.com or feel free to email your comments about today’s message to: veronicahay@telus.net
Fly … like a Butterfly
Posted on June 6th, 2010 by admin
Motivational and uplifting quotes on the most amazing butterflyes photos by David Fingerhut with the music of Yanni.
Training webinar – How to avoid death by PowerPoint
Posted on June 5th, 2010 by admin
Whether you’re presenting inside or outside of your organization, your success depends on preventing Death by PowerPoint. Find out the many ways you can succeed and discover how to make over slides for better results!
Learn the top no-no’s (what audiences hate the most!) and how to avoid them
Keep your audience’s attention by making your content relevant to them
Discover the secrets of not going over your allotted time
Find out how to avoid the bullet trap and make your slides crystal clear
Learn professional delivery techniques that make you look like a pro
Access the webinar here….
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Pivotal Inspiration
