Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Just Because

Just because I am quiet doesn’t mean that I don’t have anything to say!
Just because I appear happy doesn’t mean everything is okay!
Just because I forgive doesn’t mean you can take me for granted!
Just because I am not like you doesn’t mean I am weird!
Just because I don’t say anything doesn’t mean I am afraid!
Just because I laugh a lot doesn’t mean I don’t take things seriously!
Just because I don’t keep in touch all the time doesn’t mean I don’t care!
Just because I am gullible doesn’t mean you can lie to me!
Just because I am stubborn doesn’t mean I expect you to change for me!
Just because I don’t show my feelings doesn’t mean I don’t have any!
Just because I don’t say “I love you” doesn’t mean I don’t!

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Top 10 Communication Hurdles for Women

Toughest Communication situations based on analysis of more than 800 circumstances…
Confronting or criticizing others
Not being taken seriously
Feeling self-conscious
Dealing with other people's anger
Speaking in front of a group
Controlling one's emotions
Receiving criticism
Getting cooperation
Setting limits Taking the floor

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Carrot Egg or Coffee?


A young woman went to her mother and told her about her life and how things were so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up, She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed, as one problem was solved a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil; without saying a word. In about twenty minutes she turned off the burners.

She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl.
She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl.
Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.

Turning to her daughter, she asked, "Tell me what you see."
"Carrots, eggs, and coffee," daughter replied.


Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hardboiled egg.  Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its rich aroma.

The daughter then asked, "What does it mean, mother?
 

 Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity: boiling water.
Each reacted differently.

The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting however, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak.

The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.

The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

When the hour is the darkest and trials are at their greatest, do you elevate yourself to another level? How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Nothing is written - lesson from the film “Lawrence of Arabia”

Nothing is written - lesson from the film “Lawrence of Arabia”

My all-time favorite film is “Lawrence Of Arabia” and, if I have a favorite scene from the movie, then I guess it is the one of Lawrence’s triumphal return from the Nefud desert, having gone back to rescue the Arab Gasim. The crossing of the Nefud desert is considered impossible, even by the local Arabs, but Lawrence persuades them that, in this way, they can take the Turkish port at Aqaba from the rear.

Having carried out the superhuman feat of traversing this furnace, it is discovered that one of the Arabs, Gasim, has fallen off his camel and is no doubt dying somewhere back in the desert. Lawrence is told that any idea of rescue is futile and, in any event, Gasim’s death is “written”. When Lawrence achieves the impossible and returns with Gasim still alive, Sheriff Ali admits to him: “Truly, for some men nothing is written unless they write it”.

As an impressionable teenager when this film was first released, I was stunned by Lawrence’s courage and unselfishness in going back into the hell of the Nefud to attempt to find a man he hardly knew among the vast expanse of a fiery terrain and I was so moved by the sense of purpose of a man who is determined to take nothing as “written” but to shape his own destiny. This sense of anti-determinism and this belief that anything is possible has stayed with me always and continues to inspire me in small ways and large.

By - Roger Darlington