TODAY IS THE OLDEST YOU'VE EVER BEEN,

YET THE YOUNGEST YOU'LL EVER BE,

SO ENJOY THIS DAY WHILE IT LASTS.

 

Observations on Growing Older

Your kids are becoming you, & you don't like 'em.

But your grandchildren are perfect!

Going out is good.

Coming home is better!

When people say you look "Great", they add . "for your age!"

When you needed the discount, you paid full price.

Now you get discounts on everything ...

Movies, hotels, flights . But you're too tired to use them.

You forget names, but it's OK because other people forgot they even knew you!!!

The 5 lbs you wanted to lose is now 15, & you have a better chance of losing your keys than the 15 lbs.

You realize you're never going to be really good at anything ... Especially golf.

Your spouse is counting on you to remember things you don't remember.

The things you used to care to do, you no longer care to do, but you really do care that you don't care to do them anymore.

Your husband sleeps better on a lounge chair w/the TV blaring than he does in bed. It's called his "pre-sleep".

Remember when your mother said,

"Wear clean underwear in case you GET in an accident"?

Now you bring clean underwear in case you HAVE an accident!

You used to say,

"I hope my kids GET married."

Now, "I hope they STAY married!"

You miss the days when everything worked w/just an "ON" & "OFF" switch.

When GOOGLE, ipod, email & modem were unheard of. And a mouse was something that made you climb on a table.

You tend to use more 4 letter words like "what?" & "when?".

Now that you can afford expensive jewelry, it's not safe to wear it anywhere.

Your husband has a night out w/the guys,

But he's home by 9:00PM. Next week it will be 8:30PM.

You read 100 pages into a book before you realize you've read it.

Notice everything they sell in stores is "sleeveless"?

What used to be freckles are now liver spots.

Everybody whispers.

Now that your husband has retired, you'd give anything if he'd find a job!

You have 3 sizes of clothes in your closet . 2 of which you will never wear.

But old is good in some things:

Old songs, old movies,

And best of all, OLD FRIENDS!!

 

 

It's Not What You Gather, But What You Scatter That Tells What Kind Of Life You Have Lived.

INDIAN CURRENT AFFAIRS 2011

FROGS

A group of frogs was traveling through the woods, and two of them fell into a deep pit. All the other frogs gathered around the pit.

When they saw how deep the pit was, they told the unfortunate frogs they would never get out.

The two frogs ignored the comments and tried to jump up out of the pit. The other frogs kept telling them to stop, that they were as good as dead.

Finally, one of the frogs took heed to what the other frogs were saying and simply gave up. He fell down and died.

The other frog continued to jump as hard as he could.

Once again, the crowd of frogs yelled at him to stop the pain and suffering and just die. He jumped even harder and finally made it out

When he got out, the other frogs asked him, "Why did you continue jumping
Didn't you hear us?" The frog explained to them that he was deaf. He thought they were encouraging him the entire time.

-----------------------------

This story teaches two lessons:

1. There is power of life and death in the tongue. An encouraging word to someone who is down can lift them up and help them make it through the day.

2. A destructive word to someone who is down can be what it takes to kill them. Be careful of what you say. Speak life to those who cross your path.

The power of words....it is sometimes hard to understand that an encouraging word can go such a long way. Anyone can speak words that tend to rob another of the spirit to continue in difficult times.

Special is the individual who will take the time to encourage another. May your words be a blessing to someone today.

-- Author Unknown

Stay away from Anger... It hurts ... Only You!!!

The Buddha explained how to handle insult and maintain compassion. One day Buddha was walking through a village. A very angry and rude young man came up and began insulting him. "You have no right teaching others, he shouted." You are as stupid as everyone else. You are nothing but a fake."

Buddha was not upset by these insults. Instead he asked the young man "Tell me, if you buy a gift for someone, and that person does not take it, to whom does the gift belong?"

The man was surprised to be asked such a strange question and answered, "It would belong to me, because I bought the gift."

The Buddha smiled and said, "That is correct. And it is exactly the same with your anger. If you become angry with me and I do not get insulted, then the anger falls back on you. You are then the only one who becomes unhappy, not me. All you have done is hurt yourself."

"If you want to stop hurting yourself, you must get rid of your anger and become loving instead. When you hate others, you yourself become unhappy. But when you love others, everyone is happy."

The young man listened closely to these wise words of the Buddha. "You are right, o Enlightened One, "he said. "Please teach me the path of love. I wish to become your follower."

The Buddha answered kindly, "Of course. I teach anyone who truly wants to learn. Come with me."

A Simple Quote:

If you are right then there is no need to get angry, And if you are wrong then you don't have any right to get angry.

Save Child..

A worried woman went to her Doctor and said :

'Doctor, I have a serious problem and desperately need your help!

My baby is not even 1 yr. old and I'm pregnant again. I don't want kids so close together.'
So the doctor said: 'Ok, and what do you want me to do?'
She said: 'I want you to perform an abortion, and I'm counting on your help with this.'
The doctor thought for a little, and after some silence he said to the lady:

'I think I have a better solution for your problem.  It's less dangerous for you too.'

She smiled, thinking that the doctor was going to accept her request.

Then he continued: 'You see, in order for you not to have to take care of 2 babies at the same time, let's kill the one in your arms. This way, you could rest some before the other one is born.  If we're going to kill one of them, it doesn't matter which one it is. There would be no risk for your body if you chose the one in your arms.
The lady was horrified and said: 'No doctor! How terrible! It's a crime to kill a child!

'I agree', the doctor replied. 'But you seemed to be ok with it, so I thought maybe that was the best solution.  The doctor smiled, realizing that he had made his point.

He convinced the mom that there is no difference in killing a child that's already been born and one that's still in the womb. The crime is the same!

Management Sories

Story # 1 

It's a fine sunny day in the forest and a lion is sitting outside his cave,
lying lazily in the sun. Along comes a fox, out on a walk.
Fox: "Do you know the time, because my watch is broken"
Lion: "Oh, I can easily fix the watch for you"
Fox: "Hmm... But it's a very complicated mechanism, and your big claws will only destroy it even more."
Lion: "Oh no, give it to me, and it will be fixed"
Fox: "That's ridiculous! Any fool knows that lazy lions with great claws cannot fix complicated watches"
Lion: "Sure they do, give it to me and it will be fixed"
The lion disappears into his cave, and after a while he comes back with the watch which is running perfectly. The fox is impressed, and the lion continues to lie lazily in the sun, looking very pleased with himself. Soon a wolf comes along and stops to watch the lazy lion in the sun.

Wolf: "Can I come and watch TV tonight with you, because mine is broken"
Lion: "Oh, I can easily fix your TV for you"
Wolf: "You don't expect me to believe such rubbish, do you? There is no way that a lazy lion with big claws can fix a complicated TV

Lion: "No problem. Do you want to try it?"
The lion goes into his cave, and after a while comes back with a perfectly fixed TV. The wolf goes away happily and amazed.

Scene :
Inside the lion's cave. In one corner are half a dozen small and intelligent
looking rabbits who are busily doing very complicated work with very detailed instruments. In the other corner lies a huge lion looking very pleased with himself.


Moral :
IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY A MANAGER IS FAMOUS; LOOK AT THE WORK OF HIS SUBORDINATES.

Management Lesson in the context of the working world :
IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY SOMEONE UNDESERVED IS PROMOTED; LOOK AT THE WORK OF HIS SUBORDINATES


________________________________


Story # 2
It's a fine sunny day in the forest and a rabbit is sitting outside his burrow, tippy-tapping on his typewriter. Along comes a fox, out for a walk.

Fox: "What are you working on?"
Rabbit: "My thesis."
Fox: "Hmm... What is it about?"
Rabbit: "Oh, I'm writing about how rabbits eat foxes."
Fox: "That's ridiculous ! Any fool knows that rabbits don't eat foxes!
Rabbit: "Come with me and I'll show you!"
They both disappear into the rabbit's burrow. After few minutes, gnawing on a fox bone, the rabbit returns to his typewriter and resumes typing.
Soon a wolf comes along and stops to watch the hardworking rabbit.
Wolf: "What's that you are writing?"
Rabbit: "I'm doing a thesis on how rabbits eat wolves."
Wolf: "you don't expect to get such rubbish published, do you?"
Rabbit: "No problem. Do you want to see why?"
The rabbit and the wolf go into the burrow and again the rabbit returns by himself, after a few minutes, and goes back to typing. Finally a bear comes along and asks, "What are you doing?

Rabbit: "I'm doing a thesis on how rabbits eat bears."
Bear: "Well that's absurd ! "
Rabbit: "Come into my home and I'll show you"
Scene : As they enter the burrow, the rabbit introduces the bear to the lion.

Moral:
IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW SILLY YOUR THESIS TOPIC IS; WHAT MATTERS IS WHOM YOU HAVE AS A SUPERVISOR.
Management Lesson in the context of the working world:
IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW BAD YOUR PERFORMANCE IS; WHAT MATTERS IS WHETHER YOUR BOSS LIKES YOU OR NOT

The Art of Giving

"Rivers do not drink their own water, nor do tree eat their own fruit, nor do rain clouds eat the grains reared by them. The wealth of the noble is used solely for the benefit of others? Even after accepting that giving is good and that one must learn to give, several questions need to be answered. The first question is when should one give? We all know the famous incident from the Mahabharata. Yudhisthir, asks a beggar seeking alms to come the next day. On this, Bhim rejoices, that Yudhisthir his brother, has conquered death! For he is sure that he will be around tomorrow to give. Yudhisthir gets the message. One does not know really whether one will be there tomorrow to give! The time to give therefore is now. The next question is how much to give. One recalls the famous incident from history. Rana Pratap was reeling after defeat from the Moghals. He had lost his army, he had lost his wealth, and most important he had lost hope, his will to fight. At that time in his darkest hour, his erstwhile minister Bhamasha came seeking him and placed his entire fortune at the disposal of Rana Pratap. With this, Rana Pratap raised an army and lived to fight another day. The answer to this question how much to give is "Give as much as you can! The next question is what to give. It is not only money that can be given. It could be a flower or even a smile. It is not how much one gives but how one gives that really matters. When you give a smile to a stranger that may be the only good thing received by him in days and weeks! "You can give anything but you must give with your heart! One also needs answer to this question whom to give. Many times we avoid giving by finding fault with the person who is seeking. However, being judgmental and rejecting a person on the presumption that he may not be the most deserving is not justified. “Give without being judgmental! Next we have to answer How to give Coming to the manner of giving, one has to ensure that the receiver does not feel humiliated, nor does the giver feel proud by giving. In giving follow the advice, ’ Let not your left hand know what your right hand gives? Charity without publicity and fanfare is the highest form of charity. 'Give quietly! While giving let not the recipient feel small or humiliated. After all what we give never really belonged to us. We come to this world with nothing and will go with nothing. The thing gifted was only with us for a temporary period. Why then take pride in giving away something which really did not belong to us? Give with grace and with a feeling of gratitude. When you help someone in need, give it before he asks for it; for if you place him under the necessity of stretching out his hand, you take away from him his self-respect which is worth more than the value of your alms. What should one feel after giving? We all know the story of Eklavya. When Dronacharya asked him for his right thumb as "Guru Dakshina", he unhesitatingly cut off the thumb and gave it to Dronacharya. There is a little known sequel to this story. Eklavya was asked whether he ever regretted the act of giving away his thumb. He replied, and the reply has to be believed to be true, as it was asked to him when he was dying. His reply was "Yes! I regretted this only once in my life. It was when Pandavas were coming in to kill Dronacharya who was broken hearted on the false news of death of his son Ashwathama and had stopped fighting. It was then that I regretted the loss of my thumb. If the thumb was there, no one could have dared hurt my Guru. The message to us is clear. Give and never regret giving! And the last question is How much should we provide for our heirs? Ask yourself 'are we taking away from them the gift of work'? - A source of happiness! The answer is given by Warren Buffett: "Leave your kids enough to do anything, but not enough to do nothing! I would conclude by saying: let us learn the Art of Giving, and quoting Saint Kabir: "When the wealth in the house increases, when water fills a boat, Throw them out with both hands"

MONEY AND "ME"

Quick-quiz. Match the place of residence given below to the following men.

World's Richest Man — Carlos Slim
World's Second Richest man — Bill Gates
World's Third richest man — Warren Buffet

World's Fourth richest man — Bernard Arnault

Where do they stay?

World's Largest House

World's 2nd largest house
World's 3rd largest house
World's 4th largest house

Answer: None of the answers given above matches the place of residence of the men given above. Isn't that so odd? The richest men not living in the biggest houses. Then, what is the use of having so much money?

The shocker: The 3rd Richest man in the world stays in a five bedroom house brought in 1958 and that today is valued at around USD 700,000 (although this works out to Rs 3.5 crore if we take the current exchange rates, it is only around a crore in PPP terms). Today almost 10% of Indians would be having a house in excess of Rs 1 Crore.

So does that mean that Warren Buffet is a miser? With over $50 Billion in wealth, he still stays in a 53-year-old house that too with "just" five bedrooms. He surely must be bluffing about his wealth, because, we know for sure he is not bluffing about the house! Or is he? Well not at all. His known public wealth is 50 billion dollars and growing.

So why does the world's third richest man stay in such a small house?

No, Warren Buffet is not stingy or miserly by any means; not anyone who donates 30 Billion to charity can be one. Rather, he has mastered the art of creating wealth.

Wealth is not created just by investing, but, also by avoiding unnecessary expenses. It's not called stingy, rather, it's called Frugality. This frugality has helped him grow his wealth year on year.

His logic is simple: An extra ten rooms in the house is not going to create any major difference to him. However, the same money if invested rightly (of which he is a master) can be made to grow to probably ten times the same amount.

Yes, it is not easy for all of us to be like him. Others might say that he can "afford" to be frugal because he already has so much wealth and does not need to worry about anything else. True, but he has stayed the same way even when he was poor!

If Warren Buffett can do it on such a large scale, we can at least do it on a smaller scale. The secret lies in falling in love: In love with growing wealth. If you can fall in love with the happiness that one gets by seeing his wealth grow, you will automatically start repelling the evil twin: spending.

Initially it may be very difficult and you may not even be able to follow. But, once you get accustomed to it. you realize that the pain of sacrificing current consumption is much smaller as compared to the thrill of creating long term wealth. The 20,000 Rupees saved by going for a simple phone (rather than a gold studded one) can in the coming years grow into Rs 200000/- and give you the power to be a giver.

 

"The fundamental is to make sure we give priority to the needs and minimize the wants. Happy frugality."

Cancel credit cards prior to death!

Note to self: 'Cancel credit cards prior to  death!    

Be sure and cancel your credit cards before you die! This is so priceless and so easy to see happening - customer service, being what  it is today!


 A lady died this past January, and she was billed for February and March for their annual  service charges on her credit card,  and then added late fees and interest  on the monthly charge. The balance had been $0.00, now is somewhere around  $60.00.

 A family member placed a call to the bank:

 Family Member:
 'I am calling to tell you that she died in January.' 

 Bank: 
 'The account was never closed and the late fees and charges still apply.'

 Family Member:
 'Maybe you should  turn it over to collections.' 

 Bank:
 'Since it is two months past due, it already has  been.'

 Family Member:
 So, what will they do when they find out she is dead?' 
   Bank: 
 'Either report her account to the frauds division or report her to the credit bureau, maybe both!'

 Family Member:
 'Do you think God will be mad at her?' 

 Bank: 
 'Excuse  me?'

 Family Member:
 'Did you just get what I was telling you . . . The part about her being dead?' 

  Bank: 
 'Sir, you'll have to speak to my supervisor.'

 Supervisor gets on the phone:
 Family Member:
 'I'm calling to tell you, she died in January.' 

 Bank: 
 'The account was never closed and the late fees and charges still apply.'

 Family Member:
 'You mean you want to collect from her estate?' 

 Bank: 
 (Stammer)  'Are you her lawyer?'

 Family Member:
 'No, I'm her great  nephew.'  (Lawyer info given) 

 Bank: 
 'Could you fax us a certificate of death?'

 Family Member:
 'Sure.'
 ( fax number is given )

 After they get the fax: 

  Bank: 
 'Our system just isn't set up for death. I don't know what more I can do to help.'

 Family Member:
 'Well, if you figure it out, great! If not, you could just keep billing her. I don't think she will care.' 

Bank: 
 'Well, the late fees and charges do still apply.'

 Family Member:
 'Would you like her new billing address?' 

  Bank: 
 'That might help.'

 Family Member:
 'Rookwood Memorial Cemetery ,
1249 Centenary Rd, Sydney Plot Number 1049.' 
   Bank: 
 'Sir, that's a cemetery!'

 Family Member:
 'Well, what do you do with dead people on your planet?'