Best Christmas/New Year MP3 Gifts

Monday, December 27, 2010

NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS--MODEL RESOLUTIONS


People usually make only ten New Year Resolutions! Neither 7 nor 8.
 
Usually these Resolutions contain many common points cutting across age, sex, and nationality.
 
So, what are these 10 top New Year resolutions or 10 best or most popular New Year resolutions?
 
Based on various 10 great New Year Resolutions and my own view-point and philosophy of life and universe, I would recommend these 10 top New Year resolutions regarding the higher values of life:
 
  1. RESOLVE TO BE HAPPY!: If we consider deeply the aim of human life is to Be Happy! God created the world, and human beings added many things for people to Be Happy! Even when we go through hardships for some aim that also is a sort of happiness. Nirvana, Moksha, Liberation, are noting but eternal and permanent happiness. This includes such resolutions as enjoying life more, traveling, having more quality time with your family and friends, etc.
  2. RESOLVE TO BE HEALTHY!: To enjoy this happiness we must be healthy. Here health is defined in its wider mental, physical, spiritual, and social, etc. context. We cannot Be Happy! without healthy body and mind. In fact, we cannot Be Successful! also without health. This includes all your resolutions like reducing fat, being less stressed, joining a gym, etc.
  3. RESOLVE TO BE SUCCESSFUL!: Life is incomplete without realizing your full potential and being successful. However, the definition of success may vary from individual to individual. Whatever your definition is, you must resolve to be successful in life. Success is great tonic for happiness and health. This includes your resolution to earn more money, set up a new business, time management, and organizing oneself.
  4. RESOLVE TO EMPOWER OTHERS TO BE HAPPY! BE HEALTHY! AND BE SUCCESSFUL!: No person is an island. One does not live for himself or herself. One cannot be happy without others around being happy. If one is happy, healthy, and successful, it is also because of the family and society at large. It is our moral duty and debt to make others also realize the goals of happiness, health, and success. This includes doing charitable work.
  5. RESOLVE TO EMBRACE CHANGE: New Year resolutions are all about change. If you are not ready to change why resolutions? Change yourself, change your environment, if necessary, and change your relationships. Don’t be afraid of change. Change your routines, change your habits, change your working habits (organize workplace and home), if necessary, change your job, your priorities, and the way you have been living. This includes learning something new, being tech savvy (utilizing full potential of computer, internet, social media, emails, mobile phones, etc.)
  6. RESOLVE TO BE ADDICTED TO, OBSESSED WITH, POSSESSD BY YOUR TOP PRIORITY RESOLUTION: This is a must for success of New Year Resolutions. Be in touch with them constantly. Write them down, read them often, substitute your morning and bed time prayer and meditation by praying to God for realizing them and meditation on them. Review constantly and revise, if need be. Above all don’t abandon them if forgotten for some time. There are many New Year days in a year (various religions and nations have their own New Year days). Utilize them and festival holidays to review your New Year resolutions.
  7. RESOLVE TO DO BETTER TIME MANAGEMENT: The key to success is hard work and working more time than others. However, time is limited and distributed equally to all (so that in a competitive situation all have equal time allotted). Better time management can give us the required edge over others. Organize and better manage time. Generally, one can save much time by limiting or altogether eliminating time spent in reading newspapers, seeing TV, or surfing internet. Organize your work space, computer, etc. Even organize your thoughts.
  8. RESOLVE TO SET YOUR PRIORITIES AND ACT ON THEM: Even after making our New Year Resolutions, we fail to implement them because we don’t find time to do them! If I have made writing a novel my top New Year Resolution, I may be so much busy with other things that I may not even start writing!
  9. RESOLVE TO PERIODICALLY REVIEW NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS AND CHECK PROGRESS MADE: Our New Year Resolutions may be too ambitious. A few weeks into the year and we will realize what is possible and what not. We may review our resolutions.  Similarly, we must periodically check progress made. In case of total failure, we must remake our resolutions. The more time we resolve, the more there are chances of success.
  10. RESOLVE TO BE READY TO ABANDON YOUR WORLDLY AIMS TO HIGHER VALUES AND THINGS IN LIFE: Sacrifice all your resolutions regarding worldly progress to higher things in life. For love forsake everything. For family forsake everything. Our New Year Resolutions should not be unadulterated to selfishness and self-centric life.
 
The second set of New Year Resolutions should be totally different from the first set which deals with the bigger general questions of life. The second set is for personal life and the goals set for it. However, most of the people will ignore to formulate the first set. Therefore, I will include some overlapping goals in the second set so that it in itself is complete without the first set.
 
Here is the second set of goals:
 
  1. RESOLVE TO START YOGA OR WALKING/JOGGING IN THE MORNING: Yoga is more than physical exercise. It is for physical, mental and spiritual development and a way of life. With yoga peace of mind, happiness, success, health will follow automatically. Our way of life and dietary habits will change drastically. Morning walking/jogging is the easiest yet very beneficial physical activity and it is generally easy to stick to this routine as in the morning there is hardly any distractions/engagements. One could combine both yoga and morning walking/jogging or set, for example, three days for yoga and three days for walking/jogging. One day rest is recommended. Of course, these activities can be done in the evening also.
  2. START SOME OUTDOOR GAME/SPORT: Outdoor games/sports are easy to follow than exercise routine like gym etc. One enjoys games/sports and if part of a partnership/team one is bound to be regular. Any game/sport is good depending on your personal choice. Apart from playing game/sport, be generally active during the day.
  3.  EAT BALANCE AND NUTRITIVE DIET: Enjoyment of food is a matter of habit. We enjoy food eating which we have grown up. Variety is also enjoyed. Junk food can be enjoyed only occasionally. One can not, and of course, should not eat junk food regularly. If one becomes health conscious food habits automatically improve.
  4.  DEVOTE MAXIMUM TIME AND EFFORT TO YOUR SINGLE OVERARCHING PASSION: This is the main goal and aim of making New Year Resolutions. What do you want to do specially in life apart from eating, drinking, and be merry and working hard and earning money? Is there a writer, painter, or musician within you desperately trying to express him/her? Don’t commit feticide. Resolve here that you will write ten pages of your novel daily or you will write your novel this year.
  5.  ORGANIZE YOUR THOUGHTS, PLANS, COMPUTER AND HOUSEHOLD: Disorganization is the thief of time and energy. One wastes lots of energy in finding information and things if one is disorganized and works in haphazard way. Resolve to organize your life and things.
  6. TIME MANAGEMENT: Though time is the most precious commodity in the world, most of us do not manage it properly. Are you wasting too much time in activities which are not related to your New Year Resolutions? Is newspaper, TV, or email/internet wasting too much of your time? Are you bogged down with the small issues of life never finding time for bigger and really important issues of your life.
  7.  BE ON TOP OF YOUR OFFICE/EMPLOYMENT WORK AND RESPONSIBILITIES AND MAINTAIN GOOD RELATIONS WITH YOUR BOSS AND COLLEAGUES: Generally office does not find a prominent spot in our New Year Resolutions. It is, in most cases, because in most work places just doing what is required is enough. In bureaucratic set up promotions and salary increases are time bound rather than efficiency bound. Office life becomes important only for those working in private sector where efficiency is demanded and rewarded. However, both in public and private sector not being able to cope with one’s work and colleagues creates great tension and may not be good for one’s health and personal goals.
  8.  VALUE HAPPINESS, HEALTH, FAMILY AND FRIENDS MORE THAN MONETARY CONSIDERATIONS: New Year Resolutions are generally for success. That is OK. However, don’t make monetary gains the only measure of success. Be after success but at the same time don’t sacrifice your happiness, health, family and friends on the altar of success. A fine balance is to be kept. On the other hand don’t blame your family and friends for your failure or make them scapegoat. Here you should also be willing and ready to help others, especially the needy and poor. The more you are successful, the more you have a responsibility towards them.
  9.  WRITE DOWN YOUR NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS: A written thing is a commitment. If you write down your resolutions you commit to them. In writing you organize your thoughts and decide your priorities. You can refer to them time and again. Write them in your diary, write them in your Notes in your computer or desktop so that they are instantly available.
  10.  MEASURE YOUR PROGRESS OR ADHERENCE PERIODICALLY AND DON’T BE DISCOURAGED: This is very important. Making New Year Resolution is one thing, following them another. Measure your progress and adherence periodically. Revise your resolutions, if needed. Recommit yourself. Don’t be discouraged if you fail. Making New Year Resolutions and trying is better than not making them at all. Don’t develop the mentality of all or nothing. Follow your New Year Resolutions to whatever extent you can.
 
 
WISHING YOU A HAPPY, HEALTHY, AND SUCCESSFUL NEW YEAR!
LIVE THE LIFE BEAUTIFUL!
BE HAPPY! BE HEALTHY! BE SUCCESSFUL!
TODAY, TOMORROW, FOREVER!

Sunday, December 26, 2010

NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS--HOW TO MAKE


NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS—HOW TO MAKE

I am an avid New Year’s Resolutions writer! In fact, I write them often. May be two or three times in a year! My success rate with them is mixed. I am more or less disciplined and hard working person. So I keep on pushing ahead. But my Resolutions are too ambitious, you may say impractical, to be fulfilled. For example, I may write, ‘during this year I will write 3 novels, three non-fiction books, 50 articles, 50 short stories, and 50 poems!’ At the end of the year, I may not have completed even a single novel, a single non-fiction book, and written only a Few articles, short stories, and poems!
 
My experience with New Year Resolutions has taught me some lessons which I am sharing with you.

Don’t leave New Year Resolutions for the last moment to write! If you do, on the last day of the year you may end up hurriedly writing down something not better than a shopping list. Spend some time and energy in writing them. At the same time, if you fail to write them before the New Year commences, don’t think that now it is too late. Write in the first week of the year or later. It is better writing late than never. In fact, every religion and, therefore, most of the countries, have different New Year days. India alone has more than half a dozen New Year days depending upon which religion you belong to or which calendar you followed!

Before writing the New Year resolutions, think about the bigger questions of life: God, creation, life, death, etc. Is life pre-determined? Is there an after life? What is the aim of life? Is rat race for success good? What is the place of happiness, health, family and friends in our life? You need not be or become a philosopher; but do give these questions some pondering. Before writing about the New Year and future, cast a glance at your past and the old year also. How has your life been? What are your successes and failures? What are your regrets? How was the old year? Did you keep your resolutions? If yes, to what extent? If not, why? Given another chance, how would you plan and live the old year. Have a vision of the future. How would you like to see yourself after one year or thereafter? Base your resolutions on this analysis.

Make new year resolutions a vehicle for change. While we are comfortable with status quo, we want to change our life too. Everybody thinks that he is in a rut. He or she would have been happier in another job, in different circumstances, in new places. But we fear change. Don’t just foolhardily jump into change, but plan for it.
 
Plan for new and exciting things in life. Learn something new—dancing, playing a musical instrument, a new language, tennis, web-designing, or writing poetry. If you have never loved, love. It is an exciting thing. If you are in love, get married. It is intoxicating.

Write down specific goals rather than general. Instead of writing, “I will reduce weight,” specify how many pounds or kilograms you want to reduce within which period and by what means. So write, during the year I will reduce my weight by 30 pounds. I will aim at reducing 10 pounds every quarter (so that I have some extra time towards the year-end). I will regulate my diet (be specific about diet too), will exercise or play some game, go for morning or evening walk, start yoga, and lead an active life.

Break down bigger whole year aims to smaller quarterly and monthly aims. In fact, each week write down the aim for that week also. Of course, also keep a daily to-do list (to be written at the start of the day or one day in advance). Revise the monthly and quarterly targets in the light of progress made and aims abandoned and new aims added. In fact, write down a continually evolving list of to-do for the year. Whatever you want to do in the year, just add to this list and Do when the right time comes.

Supplement the Resolutions list with other lists: Daily Prayer in which you may pray to God for giving you happiness, success, and health, etc. Daily Affirmations, in which you may use the power of affirmations. Daily Do’s in which you may fix your daily routine which may be helpful in fulfilling your Resolutions, Daily Don’ts, things you should not do.

Use positive power! Most of our resolutions fail because they are about negatives rather than positives. We want to reduce weight or quit smoking, or drinking. But all these are negatives. We will surely be defeated fighting against them. Instead, if we decide to start playing tennis, it would be a positive thing. Little by little we will get interested in it. We will get addicted to it. We will not be able to stay at home when it is play time, whether it is at 5 a.m. or 5 p.m. We will have to go when our partner calls us. If we are over-weight, we will jog, eat less and sensibly. If we get fatigued easily, we will quit smoking and drinking. We would like to be at the top of our tennis team! We will reduce weight, quit smoking and drinking easily (because our game of tennis demands it!).

Don’t forget the taken for granted important things in life! When we write our Resolutions we concentrate what we want to achieve in worldly sense. But we fail to mention other important things in life, like: I will be happy, I will love my family, and I will enjoy nature, etc. These unwritten resolutions are more important than the written ones. If we fulfill them and even fail at achieving the written aims, we have still won. If we succeed at both, that is superb! For this, I would suggest, make two lists of New Year resolutions—one for important basics of life (happiness, love, etc.) and another for worldly success (you may like to make one separate one for your job or office life, if required).
 
Don’t forget others! New Year resolutions are not for and about you only. They concern others too. Make resolutions concerning others also. Resolve that you will give more time and love to your family and friends. You will help the unfortunate and poor people. You will give a fraction of your gains back to the society who made your worldly success possible in the first place. These resolutions may be a part of your other (I would say first) list mentioned in last paragraph.

Now write down your resolutions!
 
WISHING YOU A HAPPY, HEALTHY, AND SUCCESSFUL NEW YEAR!
LIVE THE LIFE BEAUTIFUL!
BE HAPPY! BE HEALTHY! BE SUCCESSFUL!
TODAY, TOMORROW, FOREVER!
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Now, please, also read (coming soon): NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS--MODEL RESOLUTIONS

Friday, December 24, 2010

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!





MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!

WE WISH YOU
MERRY CHRISTMAS
AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!
MAY YOU LIVE
THE LIFE BEAUTIFUL!
THE BEAUTIFUL LIFE!
MAY YOU
BE HAPPY!
ENJOY ALL THE HAPPINESS IN LIFE
BE HEALTHY!
ATTAIN PERFECT BODY, MIND AND SOUL
BE SUCCESSFUL!
REALIZE SUCCESS IN ALL ENDEAVORS
MAY YOU
BE HAPPY! BE HEALTHY! BE SUCCESSFUL!
TODAY, TOMORROW, FOREVER!
MERRY CHRISTMAS
AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!


Sunday, December 19, 2010

THE GIFT OF THE MAGI


SHORT STORY

Here is a classic love story on the theme of gift and Christmas by a master story teller.

THE GIFT OF THE MAGI

One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies. Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one's cheeks burned with the silent imputation of parsimony that such close dealing implied. Three times Della counted it. One dollar and eighty- seven cents. And the next day would be Christmas.
There was clearly nothing to do but flop down on the shabby little couch and howl. So Della did it. Which instigates the moral reflection that life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating.
While the mistress of the home is gradually subsiding from the first stage to the second, take a look at the home. A furnished flat at $8 per week. It did not exactly beggar description, but it certainly had that word on the lookout for the mendicancy squad.
In the vestibule below was a letter-box into which no letter would go, and an electric button from which no mortal finger could coax a ring. Also appertaining thereunto was a card bearing the name "Mr. James Dillingham Young."
The "Dillingham" had been flung to the breeze during a former period of prosperity when its possessor was being paid $30 per week. Now, when the income was shrunk to $20, though, they were thinking seriously of contracting to a modest and unassuming D. But whenever Mr. James Dillingham Young came home and reached his flat above he was called "Jim" and greatly hugged by Mrs. James Dillingham Young, already introduced to you as Della. Which is all very good.
Della finished her cry and attended to her cheeks with the powder rag. She stood by the window and looked out dully at a gray cat walking a gray fence in a gray backyard. Tomorrow would be Christmas Day, and she had only $1.87 with which to buy Jim a present. She had been saving every penny she could for months, with this result. Twenty dollars a week doesn't go far. Expenses had been greater than she had calculated. They always are. Only $1.87 to buy a present for Jim. Her Jim. Many a happy hour she had spent planning for something nice for him. Something fine and rare and sterling--something just a little bit near to being worthy of the honor of being owned by Jim.
There was a pier-glass between the windows of the room. Perhaps you have seen a pier-glass in an $8 flat. A very thin and very agile person may, by observing his reflection in a rapid sequence of longitudinal strips, obtain a fairly accurate conception of his looks. Della, being slender, had mastered the art.
Suddenly she whirled from the window and stood before the glass. her eyes were shining brilliantly, but her face had lost its color within twenty seconds. Rapidly she pulled down her hair and let it fall to its full length.
Now, there were two possessions of the James Dillingham Youngs in which they both took a mighty pride. One was Jim's gold watch that had been his father's and his grandfather's. The other was Della's hair. Had the queen of Sheba lived in the flat across the airshaft, Della would have let her hair hang out the window some day to dry just to depreciate Her Majesty's jewels and gifts. Had King Solomon been the janitor, with all his treasures piled up in the basement, Jim would have pulled out his watch every time he passed, just to see him pluck at his beard from envy.
So now Della's beautiful hair fell about her rippling and shining like a cascade of brown waters. It reached below her knee and made itself almost a garment for her. And then she did it up again nervously and quickly. Once she faltered for a minute and stood still while a tear or two splashed on the worn red carpet.
On went her old brown jacket; on went her old brown hat. With a whirl of skirts and with the brilliant sparkle still in her eyes, she fluttered out the door and down the stairs to the street.
Where she stopped the sign read: "Mne. Sofronie. Hair Goods of All Kinds." One flight up Della ran, and collected herself, panting. Madame, large, too white, chilly, hardly looked the "Sofronie."
"Will you buy my hair?" asked Della.
"I buy hair," said Madame. "Take yer hat off and let's have a sight at the looks of it."
Down rippled the brown cascade.
"Twenty dollars," said Madame, lifting the mass with a practised hand.
"Give it to me quick," said Della.
Oh, and the next two hours tripped by on rosy wings. Forget the hashed metaphor. She was ransacking the stores for Jim's present.
She found it at last. It surely had been made for Jim and no one else. There was no other like it in any of the stores, and she had turned all of them inside out. It was a platinum fob chain simple and chaste in design, properly proclaiming its value by substance alone and not by meretricious ornamentation--as all good things should do. It was even worthy of The Watch. As soon as she saw it she knew that it must be Jim's. It was like him. Quietness and value--the description applied to both. Twenty-one dollars they took from her for it, and she hurried home with the 87 cents. With that chain on his watch Jim might be properly anxious about the time in any company. Grand as the watch was, he sometimes looked at it on the sly on account of the old leather strap that he used in place of a chain.
When Della reached home her intoxication gave way a little to prudence and reason. She got out her curling irons and lighted the gas and went to work repairing the ravages made by generosity added to love. Which is always a tremendous task, dear friends--a mammoth task.
Within forty minutes her head was covered with tiny, close-lying curls that made her look wonderfully like a truant schoolboy. She looked at her reflection in the mirror long, carefully, and critically.
"If Jim doesn't kill me," she said to herself, "before he takes a second look at me, he'll say I look like a Coney Island chorus girl. But what could I do--oh! what could I do with a dollar and eighty- seven cents?"
At 7 o'clock the coffee was made and the frying-pan was on the back of the stove hot and ready to cook the chops.
Jim was never late. Della doubled the fob chain in her hand and sat on the corner of the table near the door that he always entered. Then she heard his step on the stair away down on the first flight, and she turned white for just a moment. She had a habit for saying little silent prayer about the simplest everyday things, and now she whispered: "Please God, make him think I am still pretty."
The door opened and Jim stepped in and closed it. He looked thin and very serious. Poor fellow, he was only twenty-two--and to be burdened with a family! He needed a new overcoat and he was without gloves.
Jim stopped inside the door, as immovable as a setter at the scent of quail. His eyes were fixed upon Della, and there was an expression in them that she could not read, and it terrified her. It was not anger, nor surprise, nor disapproval, nor horror, nor any of the sentiments that she had been prepared for. He simply stared at her fixedly with that peculiar expression on his face.
Della wriggled off the table and went for him.
"Jim, darling," she cried, "don't look at me that way. I had my hair cut off and sold because I couldn't have lived through Christmas without giving you a present. It'll grow out again--you won't mind, will you? I just had to do it. My hair grows awfully fast. Say `Merry Christmas!' Jim, and let's be happy. You don't know what a nice-- what a beautiful, nice gift I've got for you."
"You've cut off your hair?" asked Jim, laboriously, as if he had not arrived at that patent fact yet even after the hardest mental labor.
"Cut it off and sold it," said Della. "Don't you like me just as well, anyhow? I'm me without my hair, ain't I?"
Jim looked about the room curiously.
"You say your hair is gone?" he said, with an air almost of idiocy.
"You needn't look for it," said Della. "It's sold, I tell you--sold and gone, too. It's Christmas Eve, boy. Be good to me, for it went for you. Maybe the hairs of my head were numbered," she went on with sudden serious sweetness, "but nobody could ever count my love for you. Shall I put the chops on, Jim?"
Out of his trance Jim seemed quickly to wake. He enfolded his Della. For ten seconds let us regard with discreet scrutiny some inconsequential object in the other direction. Eight dollars a week or a million a year--what is the difference? A mathematician or a wit would give you the wrong answer. The magi brought valuable gifts, but that was not among them. This dark assertion will be illuminated later on.
Jim drew a package from his overcoat pocket and threw it upon the table.
"Don't make any mistake, Dell," he said, "about me. I don't think there's anything in the way of a haircut or a shave or a shampoo that could make me like my girl any less. But if you'll unwrap that package you may see why you had me going a while at first."
White fingers and nimble tore at the string and paper. And then an ecstatic scream of joy; and then, alas! a quick feminine change to hysterical tears and wails, necessitating the immediate employment of all the comforting powers of the lord of the flat.
For there lay The Combs--the set of combs, side and back, that Della had worshipped long in a Broadway window. Beautiful combs, pure tortoise shell, with jewelled rims--just the shade to wear in the beautiful vanished hair. They were expensive combs, she knew, and her heart had simply craved and yearned over them without the least hope of possession. And now, they were hers, but the tresses that should have adorned the coveted adornments were gone.
But she hugged them to her bosom, and at length she was able to look up with dim eyes and a smile and say: "My hair grows so fast, Jim!"
And them Della leaped up like a little singed cat and cried, "Oh, oh!"
Jim had not yet seen his beautiful present. She held it out to him eagerly upon her open palm. The dull precious metal seemed to flash with a reflection of her bright and ardent spirit.
"Isn't it a dandy, Jim? I hunted all over town to find it. You'll have to look at the time a hundred times a day now. Give me your watch. I want to see how it looks on it."
Instead of obeying, Jim tumbled down on the couch and put his hands under the back of his head and smiled.
"Dell," said he, "let's put our Christmas presents away and keep 'em a while. They're too nice to use just at present. I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs. And now suppose you put the chops on."
The magi, as you know, were wise men--wonderfully wise men--who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents. Being wise, their gifts were no doubt wise ones, possibly bearing the privilege of exchange in case of duplication. And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest. O all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi.

[O. Henryâ€Â”William Sydney Porter (1862-1910)]

[Reproduced with acknowledgements and thanks]
NOW YOU GET YOUR GIVE YOURSELF, YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS THE GIFT OF THE MAGI: BE HAPPY!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

CHRISTMAS GIFTS IDEAS--SUCCESS


Success contributes a great deal towards happiness and health. It is so because success provides a mental state of satisfaction and the physical means to happiness; this mental state and physical means also contribute towards good health. Of course, it is not necessary that all successful men and women are in good health. The rat race for success is often full of stress and indigestion! Still, looking at the opposite face of the coin, it becomes evident that it is very difficult to maintain good health and happiness when one is unsuccessful in life.

As success is the main reason why we make New Year Resolutions in the first place, and Christmas is immediately followed by New Year, it may be a good idea to give the gift of success on this Christmas to yourself and others.

Before we proceed further, we my like to know the fundamentals of Success:

1.Have a Do or Die Desire to Be Successful!: For Success it is very essential that you have a do or dies desire for success.  Decide this moment to be successful in all circumstances.  Every morning decide that you will be successful and nothing and nobody would and could spoil your success.

2.Condition Your Mind to Success:  Success comes to those who think in terms of success.  Use affirmations and resolutions to condition your mind to success as if you have already achieved the success.

3.Have a Fixed, Definite, and All-Exclusive Aim of Life:  Without a clear and over-powering air of life nothing is possible to be achieved.  This aim should be like an obsession driving your life like crazy.

4.Plan for Success:  No journey can be successfully completed without a road plan.  Here road plan includes writing down ones aim (s), making resolutions and affirmations, periodically checking ones progress, and sticking to it despite failures.

5.Work Hard:  Nothing can succeed without hard work.  In addition to hard work one should work smart also.  Working smart means going the extra mile, always being one step ahead in knowledge, innovation, and application of latest ideas, and keeping ones mind open.

6.Use Your Time Optimally:  Make a To-Do list according to importance of task.  Dont waste best productive time on routine matters like flipping through newspaper, magazines, and TV channels, checking and replying to routine emails, gossiping, telephoning, etc. 

7.Keep Best Company:   Keep the company of the best of the best.  If you are a writer or scientist surround yourself with the best of them and become member of the best writers or scientists group.  If you are a CEO employ the best available brains.

8.Be Happy! and Be Healthy!:  Happiness and good health are also very essential for success.  Many people with great potential for success leave their   pursuit of success mid-way owing to falling health.  Of course, life is more important than success, but if one follows Be Healthy! Fundamentals of Good Health, he or she will not have to be a failure due to bad health.  Similarly, a person with happy attitude towards life keeps good health and can work better.   He or she is liked by others which also contributes towards success.

9.Stick with it despite Failures:  Success comes after repeated failures.  Sometimes success keeps on awaiting us just a step ahead where we stumble.  It is best to get up a move on. 

10.Meditate and Pray:  Develop the habit of meditation.  Meditation fills the whole being with peace and calm.  If you are religiously minded pray.  Prayer also gives peace and calm and inner strength.

I would recommend following success gifts for this Christmas:
 
Books, Audios, Videos, and MP3: Success depends a great deal on the inner motivation and inspiration. Success is a sort of burning desire, an addictive-possessive passion, and a haunting dream. The fire of this desire are fanned and directed by good inspirational books, audios, videos, and MP3s. Give the gift of these and the recipient will be thankful to you for his (successful) life.
Subliminal and Hypnotic Messages: The latest inspirational and motivational means are subliminal and hypnotic messages which can be had as MP3 downloads. These are the ultimate in inspirational and motivational helps. The best thing with these is that they can be downloaded, from some sites, in MP3 format.
 
Digital Reading Devices: Digital Reading Devices or Electronic Reading Devices are no longer the future of reading. They are the present! A successful person takes his library of reading material with him or her. There are thousands of public domain books which can be freely downloaded. Digital books etc. can also be downloaded to PC, Mobile. iPad, iPhone, Mac, Android, etc.
 
Magazines: A successful person remains up-to-date on issues of general interest and on his subject of business or speciality. He or she, therefore, reads appropriate magazines and newspapers. Subscription to these could be given as a much appreciated gift.
 
Electronic Items: A successful person uses the latest and smartest gadgets to remain on top of the world and ahead of his or her competitors. He or she has, therefore, the latest and slimmest laptop, mobile, and ipod. If your budget permits such gifts could also be given.
Personalized and Home-Made Gifts: Successful persons seem to have everything and sometime it becomes difficult to decide what to give them, especially if one’s budget is tight. In such cases, it is best to give something the value of which is derived from its being personalized or home-made. You may give something very costly to a rich person and it may not be appreciated. But to the same person if you give something on which his or her name is engraved, it may become a proud possession!
 
Jewelry: Well, every woman dies for them. They may be perfect gifts for women and young girls, specially for one’s sweet heart. Nothing can beat a jewellery item. Of course, great care and discernment is needed in the selection of the right item.
 
Golf Set: Successful men blend leisure with business and golf is the game par excellence which successfully allows to do it. It also does not require great physical strength or fitness or contact and impact of other games. Best of all, it gives ample time and opportunity to socialize. Because of these, golf is increasingly becoming a very popular sport and business tool among executives. A golf set, therefore, is one of the choicest gift for successful men and women.

Unsuccessful Men and Women: Success requires hard work and persistence. However, some still don’t succeed despite years of hard work. Some people are successful because of birth or circumstances—the son or daughter of a film star is very likely to land his first role as the hero of a film; the son of a king is very likely to become a king, the son or daughter of a politician can easily inherit his or her parent’s constituency seat, etc. On the other hand, a competent person may only rise up to a certain height depending on where from he or she started the upward journey. Furthermore, some people’s life values may be different. Their definition of success may be different. An artist may prefer to remain poor and also risk not being successful in chosen field as well, than to run after money. So, unsuccessful men and women are not necessarily less deserving. They also deserve some good gifts. So don’t forget them! 

LIVE THE LIFE BEAUTIFUL!
BE HAPPY! BE HEALTHY! BE SUCCESSFUL!
TODAY, TOMORROW, FOREVER!





    
 
 
 
 






Friday, December 10, 2010

CHRISTMAS GIFTS IDEAS--HEALTH AND FITNESS


Health is the foundation of both happiness and success. It is rare and extremely difficult for an unhealthy person to either be happy or be successful.

During Christmas and Christmas gift giving, it is true, we hardly think of health. We, however, do think a lot of love and merry making, which are very necessary for good health. But immediately after Christmas, we think a lot about health and fitness. It is so because New Year follows Christmas closely and when we think of New Year Resolutions health and fitness is our top priority. To go for walking, jogging, swimming, to start playing a game, to join a gym, to be more active and near the nature, to eat balanced food, etc. are some of the New Year Resolutions which people make for good health and superb fitness.

Before we discuss what Christmas gifts we could give for health and fitness, let us see the Fundamentals of Health and Fitness. These are:

[If you are in a hurry and need some GOOD DEALS (these are not so called misleading OTO-One Time Offer-offers which remain there today, for months and years) which may go away before you finish reading this page. So, if you like something for yourself/gift just grab it fast!]

  1. Decide to Be Healthy!
  2. Condition Your Mind to Health
  3. Eat Healthy
  4. Exercise Regularly
  5. Be Active
  6. Live naturally and near Nature  
  7. Fast at least once a week
  8. Be Happy
  9. Adopt a Regular Life Style
  10. Keep away from Bad Habits
So, as with happiness, so with health and fitness also. Mind plays great role in keeping us healthy and fit.
Christmas gifts relating to health and fitness would be appreciated very much. Some gifts which we could give are as under:

Yoga Books and Accessories:I have put yoga books and accessories at the top because yoga is a health system par excellence. Of course, yoga is not just a health system. It is a complete way of life. But it harmonizes body, mind, and soul and for perfect health and fitness this is very necessary. Yoga can be done indoors or outdoors, singly or in a group, nearly any time of the day, and by persons of any age. So, give the gift of yoga this Christmas.

Games and Sports: I have put games and sports in the second place after yoga as games and sports keep us active and interested. If we play some game, we are to a great extent addicted to it. We will make sure that we go to play. In some other activities this sort of commitment is difficult to maintain. Furthermore, most of the games and sports involve partners and teams and, therefore, it becomes sort of an obligation to be present. In a sense, every activity could be termed as games and sports, and many of the following activities could come under this heading, here by games and sports I mean activities like football, hockey, golf, tennis, badminton, etc.

Outdoors Activities: Most of the games and sports are outdoor activities. On the other hand, nearly all the outdoor activities are sports and games. Football is an outdoor activity as well, and skiing is a sport also. However, by outdoor activity I mean such things as camping, hunting, mountain climbing, fishing, and trekking, etc. Being outdoor means being near the nature. Being near the nature means health and fitness, and also peace of mind. Though nature is free (sun, moon, river, forest, mountain, cool breeze, sky, etc. are free) and one could enjoy them freely, most of the outdoor activities require special equipment which may be little costly. Giving a gift of such equipment to an outdoor enthusiast would be appreciated very much.

Gym/Swimming Club etc. Subscriptions: Gym and Swimming Club etc. subscriptions are excellent gifts. They are long lasting also (they would last, at least, the period of subscription). Personally, I have observed, that it is sometime difficult to keep up with such activities. People lose interest. So, such gifts are to be given to the right person if you don't want it to go waste.

Home Exercise Equipments: These are gaining popularity now-a-days as people are hard pressed for time. They want to include exercise also in their routine of shaving, taking a shower, and eating breakfast. A jogging machine in the bathroom is very convenient. Here also, unfortunately, people lose interest. However, it is still good as the equipment is at home and sooner or later some family member would benefit.

Health and Personal Care Products: These include diet and nutrition, health and personal care, medicines and household medical equipments, etc. These help in keeping good health and personal care. These are also good health gifts.

Accessories and Clothes: Every sports and game and activity require accessories and clothes. A good jogging suit, sneaker, or swim suit is not only necessary, they also inspire to undertake the activity. Giving such gifts is a signal to the recipient to start the activity. They also motivate.

Books, Audios/Videos, and MP3 Downloads: As with happiness gifts, so with health and fitness gifts also, books, audios/videos, and MP3 downloads are very important to inspire and motivate. They also teach. For example, yoga and exercise videos are very popular and many people do their exercise session following them.

Memorabilia and Allied Products: In games and sports memorabilia and allied products are very important. The possessor of an autographed baseball bat or world series mascot or cards would be very proud and happy. Such memorabilia is available as gift items and would be appreciated very much.

Sports and Games Items to the Needy: It is true that many would be great sports persons could not realize their potential as they had no money to buy even the bare minimum equipments. In the developing countries the conditions is very pathetic. Only rich and well-to-do persons could afford the expenditure. So is the case with health. What to talk of sports equipments many don't have even enough to buy medicines or food. Hunger is the greatest enemy of good health. Please also think of in this direction also while giving Christmas gifts of health and fitness.

For a full list of smart health and fitness gifts items, please, visit: The Life Beautiful! Health Store. You maay also like to search items using the Search boxes on the right maargin.

LIVE THE LIFE BEAUTIFUL!
BE HEALTHY AND FIT!
TODAY, TOMORROW, AND FOREVER!

Please also read previous pages:
CHRISTMAS GIFTS IDEAS
CHRISTMAS GIFTS GIFTS IDEAS--HAPPINESS





BE HEALTHY AND FIT!

Sunday, December 05, 2010

CHRISTMAS GIFTS IDEAS--HAPPINESS

CHRISTMAS GIFTS IDEAS--HAPPINESS

I hope you have already read my webpage on Christmas Gifts Ideas. If not just go to Christmas Gifts Ideas and read it first. If you have already read, a second reading would not hurt.

Christmas is all about happiness! Aristotle said, "Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence." Gifts, in general, give happiness to both the giver and the receiver. However, the happiness of the receiver is greater. It can be enhanced many fold if the gift is liked, and, furthermore, is specially intended to increase happiness.

"The purpose of our lives is to be happy"
--Dalai Lama

And,

"Being able to give happiness brings happiness. That is the purpose of life."
--Trungram Gyaltrul Rinpoche

So, the purpose of life is to Be Happy! Give others happiness, which in turn will make you happy.

So, how do we increase happiness of others by giving Christmas gifts?

Before we go into the details of this, let us see what the Fundamentals of Happiness are.

The sources of happiness are: Mind (our positive and happy attitude towards life, others, and the world), our body, family and friends, society, nature, human created things (books, music, dance, arts and crafts, films, food, transportation, etc.), love and care, Niskam Karm (action without undue anxiety about its fruits), yoga, and, last but not the least, meditation.

Now, what is the ideal gift which enhances happiness?

This is not an easy question.

Why?

Because, there are many dimensions to happiness. Nature does give happiness; but somebody may be happier in the company of books. Then gifts have also many aspects. Should it be useful, in the practical sense, or should it be gratifying to our senses only?

Some of the characteristics of an ideal gift would be: It should be useful; it should be long lasting; it should be desirable; it should be something 'cool' and the latest in-thing; it should be unique, if possible; it should be a proud possession; it should be something which one was dreaming of possessing one day, and, last but not the least, if possible, it should be life changing, etc.

Now, taking into consideration the Fundamentals of Happiness and Fundamentals of an Ideal Gift, what would I suggest as the Best Happiness Gifts?


Happiness Gifts of Love and Care: "There is only one happiness in life, to love and be loved"--George Sand.

Hecato wrote, "If you would be loved, love."

Christmas is nothing but the Celebration of Love! Intangibles are more important than tangibles. Give your company and understanding to your family and friends; show your love; help them and generally be around them. Your family and friends need your love and care more than any material things you could provide. Providing your family all the material comforts without giving them love and care is useless. On the other hand, even if you are poor but you love and care for your family and friends, they would be happy and would love you in return.

Happiness Gifts Unto This Last: There are many unfortunate brothers and sisters who have neither near and dear ones for solace to the soul, not food, clothes and shelter for bodily needs. They don't dream of fancy gifts. Your Christmas party leftover food and your discarded clothes would be enough to make them happy this Christmas! One can never be happy without the higher emotions of love, care, sympathy with and empathy for the poor, and philanthropy.

Happiness Gifts of Motivational/Inspirational Books/Audios/Videos and: "We are as happy as we make up our minds to be"--Abraham Lincoln. MP3 Downloads

Milton in Paradise Lost said,

"The mind is its own place, and in itself
            Can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven."

Happiness is in the mind. It is our mind which is in the way of our happiness, health, and success. Freedom from stress, anxiety, depression, lack of confidence, fears and phobias, etc. is also necessary. Here is help utilizing your mind power, which, ultimately, is the greatest power for happiness, health, and success, through hypnosis alone.

[Here you may also like to download The Life Beautiful's ebook Guide Be Happy! which is all about to Be Happy! Today, Tomorrow, For Ever! We consider it the Best Happiness Book in the Universe! You are invited to check it out at a very special surprise Christmas price to enable you to Be Happy!]
Happiness Gifts of a Day Out or Vacation Trips: Happiness is to be with your near and dears in the lap of the nature. Most of the sources of happiness are free: nature, our healthy body and mind, and love and care. Take your family and friends out in the lap of nature. In this way, you are near God created sources of happiness (nature, yourself and family and friends, and your soul). What better gift there could be than a vacation trip to some exotic location! Being in the sun, sand, and sea, with one's family and friends, relaxing or reading a book, or swimming, and then gorging on sumptuous feast, is the ultimate dream. Fulfill it for yourself and your near and dears.

Happiness Gifts of Health and Sports: Our body and its health is the foundation of happiness. Without a sound body we cannot Be Happy! Christmas is, fortunately, just one week before the New Year. People are already making their New Year Resolutions. One of the foremost Resolutions is often regarding health and fitness. You could give them health and fitness gifts. I would recommend giving equipments for a team game or a game where a partner is required has all the likelihood of being continued as, firstly, the game itself is enjoyable (while Gym routine may be "workout", and second, one sometimes stick to it as there is the obligation not to ditch the partner.

Happiness Gifts of Human-Made Things: God has created a beautiful world full of things for our enjoyment and happiness. However, human beings have also made innumerable things for our enjoyment and happiness. In fact, we value these things only and gift giving is mostly limited to these only. Some of these are:

Happiness Gifts of Books and Kindle: Books not only make us happy, but some books are on happiness too. It would be obvious that it imminently qualifies as the best happiness gift on above criteria of happiness and ideal gift. It is useful, long lasting, desirable, 'cool', the latest in-thing, unique, a proud possession, and life changing, as good books are. Reading is an eternal joy par excellence.Kindle is not a book or book reading device, it is a portable library! Of course, Kindle books can be read on other devices like Blueberry, PC, Android, Mac, iPad, and iPhone, etc. after downloading necessary App for free.

Happiness Gifts of Music and MP3s:
                                    "Music, when soft voices die,
                                    Vibrates in the memory,"--Percy Bysshe Shelley

music CD and now MP3 downloads are great gifts. Even though music is universal, people like different kinds of music and songs. So, you need to be a bit careful regarding the liking of the gift recipient.

Other human-made gift items may be:

Jewelry, etc.
                                   
Happiness Gifts of Personalized/Home-Made Items: Gifts which are something which one was secretly wishing for are the best. One can also give something which one needs but does not have. For example, a diabetic may be given the latest self sugar level checking gadget. Then personalized gifts are much appreciated, one could give a personalized set of wine glasses. The most appreciated gifts are home-made gifts. For example, one can knit a woolen muffler for one's boy friend.             

Happiness Gifts of Yoga Items: The ultimate aim of Yoga is eternal bliss. Most of the Yoga followers are concerned with health and fitness only. That too is good as sound body is the home of sound (blissful) mind. However, this eternal bliss or Moksh or Nirvan could be achieved in this world itself through Yoga. Even if we don't reach up to the ultimate goal of eternal bliss, great happiness can be achieved through Yoga (and meditation, which is a part of it).

Finally, don't give Unhappiness Gifts (Gifts which will Make the Recipient Unhappy). Great sensibility is needed to give appropriate gift. Don't give a person who is a little obese motivational/Inspirational book/audio/video or MP3 Download on fat reduction. Don't give your framed photo; don't give used things; don't give something received as gift (especially if there is chance of getting caught); don't give cigarettes to non-smoker, alcohol to teetotaler; glue bottle or paint bucket is not a gift item; a two piece swim suit is not for a man, etc.

For a full list of smart happiness gifts items, please, visit: The Life Beautiful! Happiness Store!

LIVE THE LIFE BEAUTIFUL!
BE HAPPY!
TODAY, TOMORROW, AND FOR EVER!

BE HAPPY!

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