10 Tips to Improve Your Speaking Voice

One of the most important components of public speaking is the sound of your voice. It influences the impact of your message, and might even make or break the success of your speech. Fortunately, for many people, good voice quality can be learned.

Instructions :

Breathe from your diaphragm - Practice long and controlled exhales. When you speak, use breath to punctuate your point. For example, take a breath at the end of each phrase whether you need to or not. Use that opportunity to pause and let the listeners absorb what you say.
Use pitch - Lower pitches generally are more soothing to hear. However, modulating your pitch for emphasis will keep your listeners engaged. Develop your pitch by practicing humming.
Moderate your volume - Find out if you speak too loudly or too softly. When you begin speaking, ask your audience how your volume is (each situation is different). Try to stay at the appropriate volume throughout your speech.
Moderate your pace - This one is also closely related to breath. If you speak too quickly, people can’t keep up. If you speak too slowly, people will lose interest. Record your speech to determine if you need to change your pace. Get feedback from others.
Articulate - Try exaggerating your lip movement to reduce mumbling. Practice articulating tongue twisters and extending and exaggerating vowel sounds. Become an expert at articulating tongue twisters as quickly and crisply as possible. Focus on the ones you find difficult.
Practice your speech in advance and determine where you want to pause for a breath. For more emphasis, pause for more than one breath. Mark your breathing points in your notes.
Loosen up before you begin. Look side to side. Roll your head in half-circles and roll your shoulders back. Shift your rib cage from side to side. Yawn. Stretch. Touch your toes while completely relaxing your upper body, then slowly stand up, one vertebra at a time, raising your head last. Repeat as needed.
Posture - Stand up straight and tall to allow full lung capacity and airflow.
Record your voice repeatedly using different ways of speaking. Determine which one is most pleasing.
Practice breath control - Take a deep breath, and while you exhale, count to 10 (or recite the months or days of the week). Try gradually increasing your volume as you count, using your abdominal muscles—not your throat—for volume. Don’t let your larynx tense up.

How to Make Money Speaking

Imagine if you could make good money talking about something you love. Well, it is definitely possible! Almost any subject can be a good foundation for building a speaking business. And, you can do it even if you have little or no capital or experience.

The following tips should put you on the right path!

Starting Small - You can start public speaking as a part time thing at the start and later as you gain recognition, lots of big offers and opportunities will crop up automatically!
Choosing Subject - Choose a subject to speak about. Whatever area of expertise you have, it’s likely that there are people who would like to hear you speak. Make sure that, whatever subject you choose, you know enough to sustain an intelligent, useful presentation and to answer any questions your audience might have. You’ll also want to choose a subject you love – neither you nor your audience will enjoy your speech on photography if you hate snapping pictures.
Create your Marketing Plan - There are many different options as far as earning money as a speaker is concerned. You can directly market yourself to organizations that might hire you. You could approach companies that have employees that could benefit from your knowledge. These days many companies are looking for motivational speakers on various topics like improving employee morals and even talks on improving their employees public speaking skills! There is always a great demand for good speakers.
Hold your own seminars - While this can be done on a national basis, the easiest place to start is locally. You either rent use of a facility to hold the seminar or perhaps partner with an entity with a facility and then promote the event. You can use traditional advertising methods like newspapers and radio or if you have a target audience that is identifiable, you may want to use direct mail. Have you ever been to a seminar on something like wealth building that was promoted in the newspaper? These are always been packed with hundreds of people.
Use a bureau -Additionally, there are speakers’ bureaus that work as an agency who can procure speaking engagements for you. While many of these bureaus specialize in celebrity speakers, there are others that book speakers for less prominent events where a speaker only needs to be well qualified to do the presentation. A search on a major Internet search engine with a key term like “speaker’s bureau” is a good place to start.

If you have an existing product/service that you would like to promote, then effective public speaking can also help you attract a lot more client -

Showcases your Knowledge - Speaking is effective because it showcases your knowledge before groups of people who eagerly show up to hear it. Your prospects may tune out advertising, but they’ll pay attention to your talk because it presents your knowledge in polished form to people who think it will help them.
Visibility - Speaking gives you tremendous visibility and credibility that increases over time. Whenever you are in the front of a room, you get noticed. People will remember who you are and what your business does. The more people see you speak and see your business name, the more successful people think you are.
Marketing Reach - Speaking is a marketing strategy you can immediately embrace to get in front of potential customers. Speaking puts you within handshaking distance of your best prospects, many times helping you close sales before you leave the room. Speaking can help you reach dozens, and sometimes hundreds of your best prospects every time. Speakers report that speaking regularly continuously fills their prospect pipelines, ensuring a steady stream of new clients and customers.

How to Be Prepared for Impromptu Speaking

On occasion we find ourselves in situations where we must speak extemporaneously. It could be a business meeting, a gathering, or an issue of importance to us personally at the city council level. There are ways to be prepared for such moments.

Things You Will Need:

Practiced Articulation
Anger Control
Knowledge of the Subject
Self-confidence

Step 1:
Practice articulation daily - When speaking, enunciate so you can be understood. Avoid mumbling and using extra words or pauses like er and ah. If you have a fondness for four letter words, try to eliminate them from your daily speech. This builds your confidence in your ability to speak in a proper manner.

Step 2:
Practice speaking calmly and knowledgeably about a topic - In your daily life, practice keeping calm when people press your hot buttons. The more you practice at home and at work, the better you will become at anger control. When someone hits your hot button, take a deep breath or two before you respond. You may also need to give yourself a slow count of three before your respond. Deep breathing gives oxygen to your brain and is a quick release for rising anger.

Step 3:
Be Prepared and keep Learning - When you put yourself in a situation of a group at a gathering, at work or at a meeting, you should prepare so you will be able to address the subject at hand intelligently. This means putting a little study into your life. As long as we live we should be learning. This is an opportunity to learn whether or not you are called on to speak. When uncomfortable, you can always state that you do not have enough information on this subject to speak knowledgeably.

Step 4:
Exude self-confidence - Self-confidence comes from preparation and knowing you are able to meet the challenge of speaking on a particular subject.

Worst comes to Worst learn to gracefully decline. If you are not prepared, there is no shame in turning the floor over to someone else who is prepared. Of course, if you were asked in advance to speak, then this is not extemporaneous and you should meet your obligation.

Just Read it once Very important

In the wake of two shocking incidents that took place in Bangalore and Hyderabad, couples committing suicide because of extra-marital affairs with their colleagues, I just thought of writing a small article on how to avoid such incidents. This is really a serious matter and if not dealt on at an early stage could lead to such incidents in our personal life too. I have done research on human behavior and psychology and am trying to put-in some text which may (or may not) be helpful to you. Never-the-less I feel it's worth knowing such things and if possible every individual can make a conscious effort to more or less follow the same.

Some people don't take advice but taking good advice may do you no harm. Thos who are not married this is the best article as before starting a new relationship if you are ready for it, will only help you to lead a happy life.

Read on..
We spend 40/45/50/60 hours a week with our colleagues. This is the most we spend with any members of our family. So it's obvious they are an integral part of our life. Good, understood. But an important point to remember is colleagues are colleagues and not friends and if you think they are friends then you are highly mistaken. Imagine working together for 9 hours a day together and then returning home and continuing to talk with your colleague on phone. This is what happened with that Infosys guy who could not stand this behavior of his wife and killed her and committed suicide. Which husband would like his wife talking on phone with her colleague and that too male counterpart? Or which wife will like her husband doing the same? Just keep yourself in that situation and see. Anger will creep in within you.
So whatever gossip or topic you want to discuss with your colleagues do it during office hours and once you are out of office forget about your work and your colleagues unless it's official matter.

Just check this unnecessary talk…
A guy and her colleague walking out of office at 6.30p.m. At 7.30 or 8.00 the guy calls that female,
Guy: Hi, how are you? Where have you reached? (Don't you know how she is and where she must be at this time)
Lady: I am fine. Reached home.
Guy: What are you cooking today?
Lady: So and so (Now here the lady knows that the guy has called to flirt with her and the call is unnecessary. It's the duty of the female to say something to avoid that guy. If she doesn't at this stage then this call will be going for another 30-45 mins and questions like 'When will you be taking bath? What time you will sleep? What will you bring for me for breakfast for tomorrow will creep in?' and imagine the state of the family members of that lady at this point.
They expect the lady to come and talk with them for sometime but here this lady is enjoying a talk with the guy with whom she has been working since morning. No wonder such people will have a horrendous married life.

A simple thing to think about. Say you are not married. You go to office and come back say at 6.00 in the evening. You have so much of time left. Can't you read some books and increase your knowledge rather than spending one-two hours on mobile. Girls can start experimenting with new dishes. Main thing to understand is such gossiping on calls becomes on habit and bad habits die-hard. You will be addicted to talking and this can be bad as time goes on. One you start working you have to come out of college life. In college you could enjoy, flirt, do anything you wanted. But this is real life. Be responsible or else you will be responsible for your terrible life and the life if your husband/wife.
Any person no matter who he/she is would never like his/her wife/husband having such relationship with her/his colleagues.

Last year 90% of divorce happened because of Extra-Marital Affairs and in that 80% because of relationships with colleagues. And we would not like this to happen with us. So start from now.
Guys see to it that you don't put an habit of calling you female-colleagues after office hours or on weekends or holidays, even if they provoke you or give missed calls. Let them spend time with their family members or other friends. You also do the same. Good girls don't give missed calls. And girls who give I need not say what kind of girls they are. Stay away from them. You can talk as much as you want in office. And gals, if any guy calls you then it's not bad to say 'No, Let's talk in office' or 'I am busy, talk with you tomorrow' to that guy. Do it twice and they will automatically stop calling. Guys have this habit of flirting and you allowing them to flirt will only help them do more. Relationships can always be maintained in right manner. Never succumb to emotional pressure like 'You don't want to talk with me or what' or 'You can call him but you can't call me' or 'You talk for so and so time with her but with me only this much'. Some people fall for this because they don't want to lose a friend. Again I say colleague is not a friend. They are just here to work and keep on moving in their life. They go to other company, go for growth and so on. They will not wait for you in the same office to be with you forever. So don't be emotionally attached with your colleagues. They are competitors and always on their toes to show you down in front of seniors and managers. You may not realize now but this is a fact, be ready for it.
Imagine a girl getting married and someone says to her to be husband, that guy over there is the one who regularly calls your wife or your wife gives missed calls or calls that guy. Always this thing will remain on the back of his mind. Similarly someone tells the bride that your groom always keeps calling that girl or vice-versa…. Imagine yourself at that place. Situations arise because we allow them to. No one can lead ideal life but we can always make an sincere effort to lead one.

Another note to be taken about: (strictly male to female and female to male contexts)
If your colleague calls you. Just check out whether if he calls others also. If he doesn't then find out why? No guy will call other girl if he is not interested in that girl. In a group there can be five females but it's not necessary that a guy calls all five. He will only call the one on whom he is interested.
Similarly, a girl will not give missed call to everyone. If she gives then she must be really lonely. Stay away from them or you will be caught in their loving talk. Guys normally fall for girls because of their beauty or their talk. So if a guy colleague comes to you and proposes you then it's not his mistake completely, it's more of yours because you were the one who used to give him that space.
Also you become a topic of gossip among your fellow colleagues if they come to know that one of their colleague is calling you and not calling others. And there is nothing more dangerous than office gossip. It can cost you your job and just remember how easily you got this job.

So please keep your office and it's people at office and lead a normal happy life. For your good and for the good of your spouse. Send it to your colleagues, friends, relatives, parents and everyone and avoid incidents like the one mentioned at the beginning of this article. If you feel anyone is doing anything mentioned above then just go and tell him/her. You will be helping someone in their life.

Role of laughter in anti stress therapy.

A couple of years ago, it was shown that laughter lowered the blood pressure, though the reasons remained obscure.

Since then, researchers have begun to see a link between laughter and the suppression of those stress-hormones that appear to damage the heart, predispose towards diabetes and weaken the immune system. One test showed that the mere anticipation of laughter could achieve this effect.

A group of men were told that they would be shown a comic film. Immediately their bodies' production of two major stress chemicals - cortisol and adrenaline - dropped by about half.

Attention is starting to centre on the fascinating idea of a 'humour zone' of the brain, though there may be more than one of these. Laughter is known to be one of our survival-emotions, buried deep in the brain's primal region.

But neurologists are only now starting to trace the complex pathways that link the respiratory aspect of laughter with the satisfaction/reward reflex and the release of mood-elevating hormones.

Equally obscure is the mechanism by which laughter can help to protect the heart. But it seems that deep, prolonged laughter lowers the level of cortisol, the stress-hormone which can attack the protective lining of the blood-vessels and lead to cardiac problems.

Laughter has also been shown to boost the antibodies that reduce the deposit of atheroma in the arteries.

Although these research findings are recent, there is nothing new about laughter therapy, which can be traced back to Buddhist Forced Laughter (yogic asana), but both psychologists and 'new-worlders' have been quick to harness the beneficial effects of laughter for purposes of therapy.

Humour therapy may be conducted on a group basis, sharing humorous experiences, however, as one person's sense of humour may differ from the next person's, it has been found more effective on a one-to-one basis.

This enables a personal humour profile to be built up from the client's own background, and a programme of laughter-inducing exercises to be constructed.

One branch of meditation also utilises laughter, though it treats laughing and crying as two halves of the same emotional response.

The main part of this programme is a slow-motion laugh, starting with a gradual smile and climaxing with a deep belly-laugh that may turn to tears under the emotional charge. As this is not spontaneous, some find it awkward to perform in a group.

Others prefer the communal atmosphere, and in India, many yoga practitioners incorporate laughter into their routines. China has also seen an explosion of laughter-related movements.

POWER OF WORDS

Words have far greater power

Than this world will ever know,

For they can heal the broken-hearted

And cause the small and weak to grow.

They give hope to the tired and discouraged,

When said with a warm, loving smile,

And they can strengthen the step of the weary

As they travel that last rugged mile.

Yes, words can lift up the spirits

Of those who are bowed with despair,

For words can fill them with courage,

Because they show them how much you care.

Gentle words spoken at just the right time

Can soften a cold, hardened heart,

And in the dark times of doubt and of fear,

Strength, joy and peace they impart.

So think carefully about each word that you speak,

And how somebody may be affected,

For words can also kill and destroy,

If by love they have not been perfected.

So speak only words that encourage

And cause others in God's love to grow –

Yes, speak only words of hope and of life

So the power of God's love will show.

ARE TOU IN PIECES OR AT PEACE ?

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” (John 14:27)

Jesus spoke these words to His disciples as He was preparing to die on the cross. I had heard these words before but never knew what that peace was or how it felt. In fact there was a time in my life when I didn’t have any peace at all. My life had fallen apart all around me and I experienced a breakdown. I found myself sitting in a hospital wanting to commit suicide. I believed there was no hope for me in this life.

During my hospital stay I met a counselor who tried to reach out to me. She attempted to help me find peace, but all I could do was cry. Each moment of the day was a challenge in itself to just stay alive. The sad part was I had given my life to Jesus 15 years earlier. I had gone to church, said the prayer and believed everything would be fine in my life after that. Now I was learning I really didn’t know the Lord at all, I knew about Him, but He was not truly my Lord and Savior.

One day when I was in the hospital I sat and talked with the counselor. I remember her trying to get me to share all that I was feeling inside. I was unable to do that. I explained to her that if I started to let go of even the smallest hurt I was feeling, that part of me felt like I would break into a million pieces on the floor, right in front of her. She was quick to console me. She assured me I was in the right place. They would be able to put me back together again. I was too scared. My heart was in a million pieces. I wasn’t ready to trust anyone else with my pain. I thought to myself, I am just like the guy in the nursery rhyme, you know, Humpty Dumpty, that even though everyone was trying, there was no one who could put him back together again. I left the hospital after a few weeks still in pieces. I made a decision in my heart to not allow anyone else to see all those broken pieces inside of me. I proceeded to carefully tape myself back together. I told myself that I would protect myself from any further pain by keeping everything I was feeling inside, protected from the world. Little did I know that the same thing I was trying so hard to protect was the same thing I needed to let go of, my heart.

For two years I walked around in depression constantly fighting suicide thoughts. Thankfully I had friends who did know the Lord and even though I didn’t know it at the time they were interceding for me. One special friend urged me to spend time with her minister. I didn’t think it could hurt so we went together to meet with him. The minister took time to explain the love of Jesus. We spoke about anger, resentment, and bitterness. We spoke about forgiveness. I began to see all the open doors in my life where the enemy had room to come in and destroy. The minister prayed with me and for me. He helped me to give those burdens to the Lord. He let me know Jesus was the One who could put my life together again. He encouraged me to read the Word of God. When I left his office I knew something had changed. I knew I was going to be okay.

I began to read the Bible and learn about Jesus and His awesome love. I learned that He came to give us life not to take it away. I learned He was a man acquainted with my sorrows and that he knew what it was to be betrayed. He desired to be in a relationship with me and more than that He desired to put my life back together again. I learned to take all those burdens; all those past hurts and all those shattered pieces and give them to the Lord. I had to give Him my heart and trust that He would care for it with gentleness. And so I did. Little by little, day-by-day I began giving all those broken pieces to God. In exchange He gave me peace in a way I never thought possible.

I am still a work in process and He is still there for me every time I go to Him with another broken piece. I thank God that unlike Humpty Dumpty, I have a King that is able to put me back together again. His name is Jesus and His desire is for us to be at peace both now and forever.

MENTAL HEALTH

Mental health is how we think, feel and act as we cope with life. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others and make choices. Like physical health, mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.

Everyone feels worried, anxious, sad or stressed sometimes. But with a mental illness, these feelings do not go away and are severe enough to interfere with your daily life. It can make it hard to meet and keep friends, hold a job or enjoy your life.

Mental illnesses are common – they affect about one in five families in the U.S. It is not your fault if you have one. These disorders – depression, phobias, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and many others - are real diseases that you cannot will or wish away. Fortunately, they are often treatable. Medicines and therapy can improve the life of most people with mental illnesses.

Mental Health: Keeping Your Emotional Health

What is good emotional health?

People who are emotionally healthy are in control of their thoughts, feelings and behaviors. They feel good about themselves and have good relationships. They can keep problems in perspective.

It's important to remember that people who have good emotional health sometimes have emotional problems or mental illness. Mental illness often has a physical cause, such as a chemical imbalance in the brain. Stress and problems with family, work or school can sometimes trigger mental illness or make it worse. However, people who are emotionally healthy have learned ways to cope with stress and problems. They know when they need to seek help from their doctor or a counselor.

What about anger?

People are sometimes not aware of what causes their anger, how much anger they are holding inside or how to express anger. You may be angry about certain events or your own or other people's actions. Also, many little things can build up to make you feel that life is unfair.

If you find yourself becoming increasingly irritable or taking unhealthy risks (like drinking too much or abusing drugs), you may have a problem dealing with anger. It's very important to talk with your doctor or a counselor about getting help.

What can I do to avoid problems?

First, notice your emotions and reactions and try to understand them. Learning how to sort out the causes of sadness, frustration and anger in your life can help you better manage your emotional health. The box to the right gives some other helpful tips.

How does stress affect my emotions?

Your body responds to stress by making stress hormones. These hormones help your body respond to situations of extreme need. But when your body makes too many of these hormones for a long period of time, the hormones wear down your body -- and your emotions. People who are under stress a lot are often emotional, anxious, irritable and even depressed.

If possible, try to change the situation that is causing your stress. Relaxation methods, such as deep breathing and meditation, and exercise are also useful ways to cope with stress.

Can emotional problems be treated?

Yes. Counseling, support groups and medicines can help people who have emotional problems or mental illness. If you have an ongoing emotional problem, talk to your family doctor. He or she can help you find the right type of treatment.

3 Natural Depression, Anxiety and Stress Management Techniques

If you're enduring a harrowing episode of stress, depression or anxiety,
then seeing light at the end of the tunnel can be difficult. You just want
the torment to stop. Here are three easy depression, anxiety and stress
management techniques you can take today to find natural relief from
stress, depression and anxiety:

1. With many changes in life, the first step is the hardest and taking the first
step towards beating stress, depression and anxiety is no different. It's
accepting that where you are now is solely down to you. This took me so
long to realize and for years, I believed circumstances caused my anxiety,
such as the timing of events, the number of events and the people involved.
I also thought that because these circumstances were beyond my control, I
couldn't do anything to change. This thinking deepened my anxiety. But
accepting that where you're at right now is solely down to you is so important.
Initially, accepting it can seem overwhelming but in fact, it's liberating.

Why?

Because when you accept that you are responsible for where you are now, you
also accept that logically, you are the one who can get you out of it. There are
always events outside ourselves that we can point to as being the reason for
our plight. But doing this won't help. Instead, say: "No matter what happened,
no matter what others did or didn't do. I and I alone am responsible for where
I am now and therefore, I will get myself out of it." Doing this will remove the
power external events and other people have over you and will empower you
instead. And please don't confuse this with blame. This is accepting responsibility
and developing the power to change and is vastly different from blaming yourself.
One is destructive, the other is constructive and the difference between them is
crucial.

2. Make a firm decision to get rid of stress, depression and anxiety. Say:
"I want to conquer stress/depression/anxiety. These things are no longer
acceptable and I'm going to take action to beat them. I want them out of my life
and I deserve to be free of them."
This is another great step to take. From now on you will control these problems
they won't control you. There are many actions you can take and there are many
skills you can have in your power that will effectively diminish the torment stress,
depression and anxiety inflict upon you. And when you have them in your power,
the quality of your life will improve dramatically. In taking this step, you
acknowledge that stress, depression and anxiety aren't problems that you have to
put up with and instead, you have the power to conquer them. You also realize that
you deserve to live a happy and enjoyable life and that stress, depression and
anxiety WILL NOT take that away from you. Indeed, you have a right to be happy
and you will no longer allow anything or anyone to take that away from you.

3. The self-improvement gurus have been sharing a secret with their clients for
years. It is a powerful secret that has helped millions of people around the world to
change their lives. As my clients will testify, I don't believe in magic bullets to
conquer stress, depression and anxiety as they rarely work. But this is a magic
bullet that really does work and it will yield big results for you.

So what is their closely guarded secret and how can it help you find relief from
stress, depression and anxiety? It's this:-

If you change your thoughts you will change your life.

It's a simple sentence but my word does it hold power! Because the way you think
about your life - and I mean everything in your life from your looks, your abilities,
relationships, work, to events and circumstances you are faced with - affects how
you feel.

When you're suffering a stressful, depressive or anxious episode, assigning negative
meanings and outcomes to your situation is performed habitually. Continually
brooding upon negative and even catastrophic outcomes is performed by all
sufferers and these flawed modes of thinking are the fuel that maintains stress,
depression and anxiety.

The more you think in negative ways the deeper your suffering becomes. But if you
apply the secret of the self- improvement gurus, you can change your life too.
Because if you carry on doing the same things - thinking in the same way - your life
will carry on in the same way. But if you change your thoughts, you will change your
life and you will emerge from the tunnel into a brighter, happier future. It's true -
change your thoughts, change your life!

I hope this eases your stress and depression level however if you want to continue some readings please link to www.conqueringstress.com for references.

Personally you should eat well sleep well and meditate and all your stress will go........now get up and say to yourself this is not going to stop me from exploring my life and there you are this postive note will bring a smile on your face.......

USEFULL POINT FOR LIFE!!

1 . Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully.
2 . Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.
3 . Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.
4 . ! When you say, "I love you," mean it.

5 . When you say, "I'm sorry," look the person in the eye.

6 . Be engaged at least six months before you get married.

7 . Believe in love at first! sight.

8 . Never laugh at anyone's dreams. People who don't have dreams don't have much.

9 . Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.

10 .. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.

11. Don't judge people by their relatives.

12 . Talk slowly but think quickly.

13 . When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, "Why do you want to know?"

14 . Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

15 . Say "bless you" when you hear someone sneeze.

16 . When you lose, don't lose the lesson.

17 . Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; and Responsibility for all your actions.

18 . Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

19 . When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

20 . Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.
21 . Spend some time alone.!

A Very Beautiful Message

Mum's Love

When you were 1 year Old,She fed you and bathed you.
You thanked her by crying all night long.

When you were 2years old,she taught you to walk.
You thanked her by running away when she called.

When you were 3years old she made all your food with Love.
You tahnked her by tossing your plate on the floor.

When you were 4years old,she gave some crayons.
You thanked her by coloring the Dining room table.

When you were 5years old,she dressed you for the holidays.
You tahnked Her by plopping into the nearest.

When you were 6 years old,she walked you to school.
You thanked Her by screaming "I M NOT GOING".

When you were 7 years Old,She bought you a baseball.
You thanked her by throwing it through the Next-Door-Neighbor's window.

When you were 8 years old,she handed you an ice-cream.
You thanked her by dripping it all over your Lap.

When you were 9 years old,she paid for piano lessons.
You thanked her by never even bothering to practice.

When you were 10years old,she drove you all day,from soccer to gymnastic to one birthday party after another.
You thanked her by jumping out of the car and never looking back.

When you were 11years Old,she took you and your friends to the
Movies.
You thanked Her by asking her to sit in a different row.

When you were 12 years old,she warned you not to watch certain
TV Shows.
You thanked her by waiting until she left the house.

When you were 13years old,she suggested a haircut.
You thanked her by telling her she had no taste.

When you were 14 years old,She paid for a month away at
summer camp.
You thanked her by forgetting to write a single Letter.

When you were 15, she came home from work,looking for a hug.
You thanked her by having your bedroom door locked.

When you were 16,she taught you how to drive her car.
You thanked her by taking it every chance you could.

When you were 17she was expecting an important, call.
You thanked her by being on the phone all night.

When you were 18, she cried at your high school graduation.
You thanked her by staying out partying until dawn.

When you were 19, she paid for your College,tuition,drove you to
campus carried your bags.
You thanked her by saying good-bye outside the dorm so you wouldn't
be embarrased in front of your friends.

When you were 20,she asked whether you were seeing anyone.
You thanked Her by saying, "It's none of your business".

When you were 21,she suggested certain careers for your future.
You thanked her by saying," I don't want to be like you".

When you were 22,she hugged you at your college graduation.
You thanked her by asking whether she could pay for a trip to Europe.

When you were 23,she gave you furniture for your first apartment.
You thanked her by telling your friends it was ugly.

When you were 24,she met your fiance and asked about your plans
for the future.
You thanked her by glaring and growling "Muuhh-ther.please!"

When you were 25,she helped to pay for your wedding and she cried
and told you how deeply she loved you.
You thanked her by moving halfway across the country.

When you were 30,she called with some advice on the baby.
you thanked her by telling her "Things are different now."

When you were 40,she called to remind you of a relative's birthday.
You thanked her by saying you were "really busy right now"

When you were 50,she fell ill and needed you to take care of her.
You thanked her by reading about the burden parents become to
their Children.

And then,one day,she quietly died.And everything you never did
came crashing down like thunder on your HEART.

IF SHE'S STILL AROUND,NEVER FORGET TO LOVE HER
MORE THAN EVER...
AND IF SHE'S NOT,REMEMBER HER UNCONDITIONAL LOVE
AND PASS IT ON..
ALWAYS REMEMBER TO LOVE THY MOTHER,BECAUSE
YOU ONLY HAVE ONE
MOTHER IN YOUR LIFETIME!!!!!

Parable Of The Pencil

The Pencil Maker took the pencil aside, just before putting him into the box.

"There are 5 things you need to know," he told the pencil, "Before I send you out into the world. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best pencil you can be."

"One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in Someones hand."

"Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you'll need it to become a better pencil."

"Three: You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make."

"Four: The most important part of you will always be what's inside."

"And Five: On every surface you are used on, you must leave your mark. No matter what the condition, you must continue to write."

The pencil understood and promised to remember, and went into the box with purpose in its heart.

Now replacing the place of the pencil with you. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best person you can be.

One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in God's hand. And allow other human beings to access you for the many gifts you possess.

Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, by going through various problems in life, but you'll need it to become a stronger person.

Three: You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make.

Four: The most important part of you will always be what's on the inside.

And Five: On every surface you walk through, you must leave your mark. No matter what the situation, you must continue to do your duties.

Allow this parable on the pencil to encourage you to know that you are a special person and only you can fulfil the purpose to which you were born to accomplish.

The Best We Can Be - Honouring Our Children

Everything we do and say in the presence of our children makes an impression on them.

We may think we can get away with swearing or gossipping in front of them when they can’t talk, but we have forgotten that just because they can’t talk doesn’t mean they don’t hear.

They are sensitive sponges absorbing their environment in ways we will never know.

Even if the words don’t make sense to them, they make an impression, as does the energy behind the words.

We Honor our children when we acknowledge that they are fully present from the very beginning and when we offer ourselves to them in ways that model the best of what humans can be.

When we bring a child into the world, a great welling up of love and hope fills our hearts.

We unequivocally want the very best for our children, and we want to be the best parents a child could ever want. We begin to see ourselves and our lives in a different light, and things that seemed okay before we had a child suddenly reveal themselves as problematical.

This can lead to a somewhat mincing review of our habits of speech, thought and feeling, our relationships, and our physical habits.

We may feel that we have put ourselves under a microscope, which can be stressful.

However, it can also lead to a great healing of our own unresolved issues and, in turn, it enables us to be good parents to our children. Talking to other conscious parents about this life transformation can be very helpful.

Our desire to become the best we can be is often strongest at the very beginning of a child’s life and sometimes loses its intensity as we grow accustomed to their presence.

However, it is never too late to look at ourselves and notice whether we are offering our best to our children.

That original welling up of love and hope can inspire us throughout our lives to be the best we can be.

Greed

A holy man was having a conversation with the Lord one day and said, 'Lord, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like.'

The Lord led the holy man to two doors.

He opened one of the doors and the holy man looked in. In the

middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the

table was a large pot of stew, which smelled delicious and

made the holy man's mouth water.

The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very

long handles that were strapped to their arms and each found

it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful.

But because the handle was longer than their

arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths.

The holy man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering.

The Lord said, 'You have seen Hell.'

They went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly

the same as the first one.

There was the large round table with the large pot of stew which made the holy man's mouth water. The people were equipped

with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were

well nourished and plump, laughing and talking. The holy man

said, 'I don't understand.'

It is simple,' said the Lord. 'It requires but one skill. You see

they have learned to feed each other, while the greedy

think only of themselves.'

__._,_.___

How to Convince People Effectively

The ability make others believe what you believe is important for success in many fields. There is often a fine line between convincing somebody your views are valid and annoying them. In this article we’ll look at some of the techniques you can use if you want to convince another individual to believe what you believe.

Steps

Do the homework. Make sure you understand your own viewpoint. If you are going to try to convince somebody that the Eiffel Tower is taller than the Statue of Liberty, find out the facts first, don’t make assumptions.
Learn the field. For certain areas you will need to know more than just the facts, as some subjects are subjective. For example, if you wanted to convince somebody that the Statue of Liberty was prettier than the Eiffel Tower you will need to know enough about architecture and aesthetics to argue about that subject, as well as the facts, like how tall they are. If you are selling something, like a car, you will need to know all there is to know about the car you are selling. Likewise, you will need to know all about the other cars that are in competition with your vehicle.
Engage the person politely. Maintain eye contact where possible, but don’t be annoying about it.
Establish mutual respect. You will never convince anybody of anything if they believe you do not respect them, so show the person you respect them and be good enough to gain their respect.
Gain trust. To convince people of most things you will need their trust. They don’t have to trust you as a person, but they do need to trust that what you are saying makes sense, that you know your “stuff”. The best way to do this is to do your homework and fieldwork, that way you know a lot about the subject.
Listen carefully to what your debate partner has to say. Respond thoughtfully to their point of view.
When you can, back up what you say with real facts. Lying will only convince somebody until they find out about the lie, then you will never be able to convince them of anything again.
Be willing to be convinced. Sometimes accepting one point from the other person and showing that you can change your mind when you are wrong will help them to be the same, and change their mind about the subject you care about.
Practice active listening. Active listening helps you control a conversation and keeps it on track. Active listening techniques include:

Non-verbal feedback. Nodding your head as the other talks etc.
Paraphrase what the other person has said to make sure you understand it.

Make sure you understand the other person’s objections and respond to them in an intelligent manner.
Keep vigilant about your belief, but always respectful of the beliefs of others. Explain why your belief is important to you.
Understand the other person’s motivations. If you know what another person wants, you are more likely to be able to give it to them.
Rephrase your beliefs in a way that the other person is better able to understand.
Follow up. Ask questions to make sure the other person understands their new views completely.

Tips

To hold the eye of a crowd select individuals in the crowd and hold their eyes on-and-off through your presentation.
Never lose your cool. Nothing lacks conviction more than a raving idiot.
Always be friendly and respectful even if the other person does not change their mind.
Beliefs fade. You may think you have changed somebodies mind but find that in a day or two, perhaps a week, they are right back to where they were before.
Buy and read some books on sales techniques.

The Three Secrets to Happiness

We all know that money can’t buy happiness … but many times we act as if we’d be happier with a bit more money. We are conditioned to want to be rich (when we know the rich aren’t happy either); we are trained to want the latest gadget or style that television tells us to want; we want to earn more money because then we’ll have the good life.

But none of that will bring us happiness. No matter how much we earn, no matter how much we have in the bank, no matter how nice our clothing or cars or toys, none of it will make us happier. And the sad thing is that it could take us decades of pursuing wealth and luxury items before we realize this.

So what will bring us happiness? Luckily, it’s three things that don’t cost a thing. These three things have been proven by research — surveys of hundreds of thousands of people about what they have, what their lives are like, and how happy they are.

Here they are, the Three Secrets to Happiness:

Good relationships. We have a human need to be close, to be intimate, with other human beings. Having good, supportive friendships, a strong marriage or close and loving relationships with our family members will make us much more likely to be happy. Action steps: Take time, today, to spend time with your loved ones, to tell them what they mean to you, to listen to them, and develop your relationship with them.
Positive thinking. I’m obviously a big proponent of positive thinking as the best way to achieve your goals, but it turns out that it can lead to happiness too. Optimism and self-esteem are some of the best indicators of people who lead happy lives. Happy people feel empowered, in control of their lives, and have a positive outlook on life. Action steps: Make positive thinking a habit. In fact, this should be one of the first habits you develop. Get into the habit of squashing all negative thoughts and replacing them with positive ones. Instead of “I can’t” think “I can”. It may sound corny, but it has worked for me, every time.
Flow. This is a popular concept on the Internet these days — the state we enter when we are completely focused on the work or task before us. We are so immersed in our task that we lose track of time. Having work and leisure that gets you in this state of flow will almost undoubtedly lead to happiness. People find greatest enjoyment not when they’re passively mindless, but when they’re absorbed in a mindful challenge. Action steps: Find work that you’re passionate about. Seriously — this is an extremely important step. Find hobbies that you’re passionate about. Turn off the TV — this is the opposite of flow — and get outside and do something that truly engages you.

You’ve been given the Three Secrets to Happiness. Don’t waste them!

How to Stop Procrastinating

Procrastination can lead to many problems — tests failed, weight gained, relationships weakened.

But you can change your ways.

Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday. ~Don Marquis

Here are some tips and steps to get you going!