How to Experience Endless Love

“It takes courage to love, but pain through love is the purifying fire which those who love generously know. We all know people who are so much afraid of pain that they shut themselves up like clams in a shell and, giving out nothing, receive nothing and therefore shrink until life is a mere living death.”

APPRECIATION IS THE BEST FOREPLAY

"The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard, but must be felt with the heart." — Helen Keller
I've loved Meg for more than 30 years now, but I've not always been a great appreciator of her. In fact, for many years, I took her for granted. She was a pleasant, welcome and steady part of my life for more days than I can count, but so was our house, the kids and the dog. I expected her to be there every day when I came home from work, and she was. I sold us both short by not actively enjoying being with her.
In recent years, I've learned to fully appreciate her. For me, appreciation begins with deeply noticing: really focusing and drinking in some particular aspect of her being: the way her earrings match her eyes; the warmth of her body; or the smell of her hair. When I actively notice, I become more alert to her being. I'm tuned in and turned on.
Then I tell her how much I appreciate her. I offer more than a lazy "You look nice today." Instead I get very specific about what I am noticing, and how I feel. High quality appreciation is specific, to the point, and measurable -- whether it's in the office or in the bedroom. And, it's one of the three things we discovered was lacking in our relationship when we took a good look at it.
For years, I have also brought her coffee or tea in bed every morning. She tells me that simple move created connection even in the times when we've felt distant.

MAN UP

"The best love is the kind that awakens the soul; that makes us reach for more, that plants the fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds. That’s what I hope to give you forever." — The Notebook

My wife is a super capable and strong woman -- she raised three kids by herself for long periods while I was wrapped up in my career. And, she still loves it when I take the wheel, whether that's cooking dinner or planning the vacation or cleaning the basement. One of the best turn-on lines I know is: "I've got this handled" -- and then following through.
Taking responsibility means looking at what I can do to create the situation I want -- whether that's a clean kitchen, higher income or great sex -- and then taking action. It means dropping complaints and picking up the slack. It means looking for what's needed at any moment and then supplying it.

THE TRUTH WILL TURN YOU ON

"You know when you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams." — Dr. Seuss
One thing that is guaranteed to create distance between people -- whether at work or in the boudoir -- is keeping a secret. People just know when we are holding something back and it kills trust. And if you're really going all the way with someone at work or in bed, you've got to trust them.
My favorite way to think of intimacy is with the mnemonic "into-me-see." The more I allowed Meg to see into me, the closer we became, and the more energetic our connection grew.
I started small, like letting her know I actually hated broccoli (a frequent dinner staple) and then admitting to some poor spending decisions. I eased into the bigger things that I was truly afraid to reveal for fear they would tear us apart. They didn't, and in most cases Meg had already figured out the secrets anyway. Revealing those secrets was like splitting the atom: it released huge amounts of energy that had gone into concealing and put it to use for loving.

"And remember, as it was written, to love another person is to see the face of God." — Les Miserables
“The power of a glance has been so much abused in love stories, that it has come to be disbelieved in. Few people dare now to say that two beings have fallen in love because they have looked at each other. Yet it is in this way that love begins, and in this way only.”
― Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

The Art of Happiness

The Art of Happiness

The concept of Happiness has long been mistaken as a satisfaction derived from mundane things . Abraham Lincoln denies this premise by quoting “Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be. It is something you cultivate from the inside"

Martha Washington quotes “ I am determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever situation I may find myself. For I have learned that the greater part of our misery or unhappiness is determined not by our circumstance but by our disposition.”

Proverbs 16:20 "He that handles a matter wisely shall find good: and whoever trusts in the LORD, happy is he".

In the book ‘The art of Happiness’ the writer states, “We most acknowledge the concepts that the purpose of life is happiness, that happiness is determined more by the state of one’s mind than by one’s external conditions, circumstances, or events—at least once one’s basic survival needs are met and that happiness can be achieved through the systematic training of our hearts and minds”.
Training the mind: In this context includes intellect and feeling, heart and mind. “By bringing about a certain inner discipline we can undergo a transformation of our attitude, our entire outlook and approach to living”
We need to see happiness as an objective: people setting goals and working to achieve them thus creating happiness in oneself.

“If you harbor hateful thoughts or intense anger deep within yourself, then it ruins your health; thus it destroys one of the factors for happiness”

We are born into a certain state of mind about happiness, but we can change our outlook by being happier in each moment. For example, we can find more happiness with ourselves through self-worth. Self-worth is having a source of affection, compassion, and a sense of dignity . We need a strong sense of contentment to feel happier without obtaining objects, which assists in finding self-worth.

Try not to want!!!. If you know something may tempt you avoid it.
Psalms 23 of the Holy Bible resonates this “The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing, thy shall not want”. Positive desires are good.

“We have to maintain an attitude of friendship and warmth in order to lead a way of life in which there is enough interaction with other people to enjoy a happy life”. The purpose isn’t to create tension but a positive atmosphere. This gives our life meaning, which leads to overall happiness. That positive atmosphere can be found through closeness and compassion.
Define compassion as a state of mind that is nonviolent, nonharming, and nonaggressive. "Cultivating compassion and joy is not a linear process; it's organic, like growing flower”. If you work regularly at decreasing your compulsive desires and narcissism while also striving to develop compassion, it is like weeding and then planting, fertilizing, and watering seeds in your garden.
Big results do not come immediately. However, if you choose a few of these methods and practice them each day or each week for a while, gradually you will see beautiful results. “There is nothing more marvelous than the flowering of compassion in our hearts and relationships." These wise words come from Lorne Ladner.
In one of the most startling chapters, Ladner points out that gratitude and sensing one's own inner wealth are important practices for developing happiness and compassion. Some of the obstacles to its cultivation are the compulsive desire to be liked and accepted by others, not taking care of ourselves, and self-hatred
Compassion creates self-acceptance, forgiveness, well-being and lays the foundations for developing an adaptable happiness that cannot be swayed by life circumstances and challenges.
Compassion helps you be more connected to the world, more present, less afraid. “It rewires brains and heals prejudice” Christopher Hansard
Accepting another's suffering brings that person a sense of connectedness and gives us a willingness to reach out for others. Associating oneself with this type of fundamental rights generates love and compassion. “the feeling of genuine compassion is much stronger, much wider [and] has a profound quality” . Using genuine compassion creates a special connection that you cannot achieve with associating compassion with attachments. “Compassion provides the basis of human survival”

“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude”.
Denis Waitley.

Don’t worry, Be happy and stay blessed.

I Am the American Flag

May 26, 2008

I Am the American Flag

By Robert H. Schuller

Twenty-nine years ago today I delivered a message entitled, "I Am The American Flag." The world has changed dramatically in these years, but the sentiment is as strong now as it was then. The American Flag makes a statement...

I am the American Flag. I will speak from the wisdom of a long life. I first felt the vigor of wind in my multi-colored face when I unfurled my thirteen stars over two hundred years ago. I look down to see horses with their clattering hooves pulling rattling carriages over cobblestone streets. Since then I have looked up to see silver jets streak across stunning skies of blue.

I have known over forty presidents. I have unfurled my pride on sailing ships, steamers and mighty vessels of armed power to bring peace and freedom to oppressed people of the world. I have traveled far — farther than any other flag in history. Across continents, oceans, deserts and on the chilly snow-white tip of a mighty Saturn with its blazing engines until I stood proudly to soar through the silent seas of space and stand on the gray surface of the shinning moon.

100 things we didn't know before 2013

100 things we didn't know last year

News snippets Sliced and diced for your convenience

Continue reading the main story

Interesting and unexpected facts can emerge from daily news stories and the Magazine picks out such snippets for its weekly feature, 10 things we didn't know last week. Here's an almanac of the best of 2013.

1. It would have taken 2.5 million seagulls to lift James's giant peach into the air, not the 501 that Roald Dahl suggested.
Find out more (Guardian)
2. Hot drinks taste different according to the cup colour.
Find out more (Discovery News)
3. It's easier to pick wet things up with wrinkled fingers - suggesting an evolutionary reason for getting "prune fingers" in the bath.
Find out more

4. There are two firms in the world cloning polo ponies.
Find out more (Economist)
5. Two per cent of Europeans lack the genes for smelly armpits
Find out more (Scientific American)
6. Horse-eating is called Hippophagy.
Find out more
7. "Russian flu" got its name because of the Cold War rather than because it originated in Russia.
Find out more
8. Women look their oldest every Wednesday at 3.30pm.
Find out more (Daily Telegraph)
9. Prince Charles did not use the London Underground between 1986 and 2013.
Find out more (Reuters)
10. The House of Lords has a rifle range.
Find out more (Daily Telegraph)
11. Wines with animals on the label are known as "critter wines" in the US.
Find out more (Guardian)
12. Female hawksbill turtles can store sperm for 75 days.
Find out more (Science Daily)
13. Fidgeting is good for men's concentration but bad for women's.
Find out more (Daily Mail)
14. Workers at Amazon's warehouse in Rugeley walk past a life-sized cardboard image of a blonde woman who says: "This is the best job I have ever had!"
Find out more (Financial Times)
15. William is the surname that has decreased the most since 1901.
Find out more (Daily Express)
16. 1980s pop star Glenn Medeiros is the vice principal of a high school in Hawaii.
Find out more (Daily Mail)

17. Haribos are so-named because of founder Hans Riegel and his hometown Bonn.
Find out more (Monocle)
18. Drone operators experience post-traumatic stress at the same rate as combat pilots.
Find out more (New York Times)
19. Nigel Farage writes a column for Total Sea Fishing magazine.
Find out more (The Times)
20. Monkeys avoid selfish people.
Find out more (Scientific American)
21. "Aunt" is the most popular pornographic search term in Syria.
Find out more (Daily Telegraph)
22. Plants lace their nectar with caffeine to keep pollinators loyal.
Find out more (New Scientist)
23. South Korean media often refer to national politicians using only their initials.
Find out more (Yonhap News Agency)
24. Sarah Greene used to bite Peter Duncan's ankles to distract him during Blue Peter cookery demos.
Find out more (Guardian)
25. South Africa was included in the BRICS as it made for a better acronym than Nigeria.
Find out more (Economist)
26. There are more deer in the UK now than at any time since the last Ice Age.
Find out more
27. Some Norwegians feel strongly about whether firewood is stacked bark up or bark down.
Find out more (New York Times)
28. Tears do not fall in space.
More details (Daily Telegraph)
29. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak belonged to a group of hackers and hobbyists called the Homebrew Computer Club.
Find out more
30. At a Swedish dinner party you should never fold your napkin and put it on the table before the hostess has done so.
Find out more (The Local)

31. Bill Bailey bought a live owl in a Chinese restaurant to take it off the menu.
Find out more (The Guardian)
32. Women really are satisfied by deep, husky voices.
Find out more (Daily Mail)
33. Midsomer Murders is massive in Denmark.
Find out more (The Guardian)
34. "Lucifer" and "." (full stop) are banned baby names in New Zealand.
Find out more (Daily Telegraph)
35. Birmingham City Council blocks the word "commie" from incoming email.
Find out more (Daily Mirror)
36. Using "don't" and "won't" correctly in online dating messages boosts response rates by more than a third.
Find out more
37. The French call a walkie-talkie a talkie-walkie.
Find out more
38. Philip Hammond used to be a Guardian-reading goth.
Find out more (Daily Mail)
39. 6x8 is the multiplication children get wrong most while 9x12 takes longest.
Find out more (Times)
40. Time doesn't fly when you're having fun (we just remember a lot more detail than normal after enjoying something so think it went quickly).
Find out more (Daily Mail)
41. Babies learn to grimace in the womb so they can show they are unhappy after birth.
Find out more (Daily Mirror)
42. Sleep deprived men think women are more amorous than they actually are.
Find out more (Daily Mail)
43. Until recently the US Navy had a requirement that all official messages be sent in capital letters.
Find out more
44. "God's bones" was the sweariest expression in medieval times.
Find out more (The Times)
45. Quantas' Sydney to Dallas service is the world's longest commercial flight at 8,568 miles (13,790 km).
Find out more (Economist)

46. The pigment gene SLC45A2 causes tigers to be white
Find out more
47. It's not the "Spending Review", it's the "Spending Round".
Find out more (Gov.uk)
48. The French had no official word for French kissing… until now. It's "galocher".
Find out more (CBS)
49. The film Life of Brian remains banned in parts of Germany, but only on Good Friday.
Find out more
50. Ampersand was once an actual letter which followed the letter Z in the Latin alphabet.
Find out more (The Times)
51. There are only two escalators in the entire state of Wyoming. Elevators are more commonly used.
Find out more (The Atlantic)
52. The Eurythmics' Sweet Dreams is the most frequently misquoted song in the UK.
Find out more
53. McDonald's drive-thru staff won't serve people on horseback.
Find out more
54. You could drive on the left or right in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Find out more (Financial Times)
55. The least common PIN code is 8068.
Find out more (Daily Telegraph)
56. Bookshop customers are six times more likely to buy romance or cookery titles when they can smell chocolate.
Find out more (The Guardian)

57. Scientists still don't really know how bicycles work.
Find out more (New Statesman)
58. Women who fear being forced to marry abroad are advised to hide a spoon in their underwear.
Find out more (The Guardian)
59. There's a Kenyan tradition of running naked at night.
Find out more
60. The first recorded incorrect use of the word "literally" was in 1769.
Find out more (Daily Telegraph)
61. Chimpanzees and orangutans swim a form of the breast stroke.
Find out more (New Scientist)
62. Polyamorous people have invented a word to indicate the opposite feeling of jealousy - compersion.
Find out more
63. Wearing camouflage clothing is an offence in Barbados.
Find out more
64. You need an 8ft-high table to ensure toast lands butter side up when dropped.
Find out more (Daily Mail)
65. Justin Bieber and Will.i.am used to live next door to each other.
Find out more
66. Glaswegians are starting to sound like Cockneys because of EastEnders.
Find out more
67. Men with wide faces make people around them more selfish.
Find out more (Science Daily)
68. Shy male birds build closer friendships than bolder birds.
Find out more
69. Bill Clinton was taught a jujitsu move by his aides to prevent Yassar Arafat hugging him for the cameras.
Find out more (Public Radio International)
70. Cuban rescue workers use sniffer rabbits to find people in collapsed buildings.
Find out more

71. People pour more white wine into a glass than red.
Find out more (Daily Telegraph)
72. The Soviet Union published a children's book of Stalin's five-year plan.
Find out more (Financial Times)
73. Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall won't eat the brown bits in bananas.
Find out more (The Times)
74. Some species of marsupials mate with such vigour and intensity that it kills them.
Find out more
75. Medieval French cookery book Le Viandier de Taillevent contains a recipe for plucking and basting a live chicken, which is then rocked to sleep and placed on a platter beside two roasted chickens.
Find out more (Financial Times)
76. Morrissey was asked to perform Smelly Cat on Friends.
Find out more (Time Out)
77. A universal law of urination means that elephants, cows, goats and dogs all take roughly 21 seconds to empty their bladders.
Find out more (New Scientist)
78. In Scrabble, a Benjamin is a three-letter extension to the front of a five-letter word.
Find out more (Daily Telegraph)
79. A man's walking pace slows by 7% for wives and girlfriends but not for other women, and increases if walking with another man.
Find out more (the Times)
80. The word "get" went out of fashion in books between 1940 and the 1960s.
Find out more (Daily Telegraph)
81. Red underwear is popular in Wales, while those in North-West England buy a lot of thongs.
Find out more (The Economist)
82. Amazon's original name was to be Relentless - and the URL relentless.com still redirects to the company website.
Find out more (Financial Times)
83. Nervous dogs wag their tails to the left, and happy dogs to the right (from the dog's point of view) - and fellow canines pick up on this lop-sided tail language.
Find out more
84. The most effective time to drink coffee is between 09:30 and 11:30.
Find out more (The Australian)
85. Lee Harvey Oswald still has an overdue library book from Dallas public library.
Find out more (Dallas News)
86. Wayne Rooney's voicemail password was Stella Artois.
Find out more (Metro)
87. There's only one sneeze in the bible.
Find out more (Daily Telegraph)
88. John Wayne coined the phrase "the Big C" to avoid naming cancer.
Find out more
89. There's a twins-only military unit in Russia.
Find out more

90. The pope used to work as a bouncer.
Find out more (Catholic News)
91. A hummingbird's brain accounts for 4.2% of its bodyweight, the highest of any bird.
Find out more (PBS)
92. Americans pronounce gifs as "jifs".
Find out more
93. Victorian students put crocodile skins on their walls.
More details
94. The mathematical chance of meeting your soul mate is one in 10,000.
Find out more (The Times)
95. A long-term lover is known as a "small house" in Zimbabwe.
Find out more
96. In Brazil barbecuing is a form of public protest.
Find out more (Financial Times)
97. Urban blackbirds grow up faster than their country cousins.
Find out more
98. Hemingway never used a Moleskine notebook.
Find out more (Guardian)
99. Mothers think the youngest child is shorter than they really are despite correctly estimating the height of their other children.
Find out more (New Scientist)
100. Until May 2013, "being an incorrigible rogue" was a criminal offence.

Nestlines

Logitech’s LifeSize Aims for Android Video Soon

Logitech’s LifeSize division expects to bring one-way video streaming to Android devices in a few months and introduce a two-way videoconferencing system to tablets and smartphones later this year

Nestlines

Twitter buys location tracker start-up Mixer Labs

The micro-blogging website Twitter is buying the location tracking start-up Mixer Labs for an undisclosed sum.

Mixer Labs, founded by two former Google employees, makes an application for Twitter called GeoAPI.
Twitter chief executive Evan Williams said the deal would allow Twitter users to show people where they are when they post updates to the site.
The application will also allow users to search where an event is happening, the firm said.
On the company's blog, a statement said: "We want to know what's happening, and more precisely, where is it happening.
"As a dramatic example, twittering 'Earthquake!' alone is not as informative as 'Earthquake!' coupled with your current location".
Twitter is a social networking site in which users write messages of no more than 140 characters.
An estimated 58 million people use Twitter around the world.

10 Ways to Go Green and Save Green

How can we live lightly on the Earth and save money at the same time? Staff members at the Worldwatch Institute, a global environmental organization, share ideas on how to GO GREEN and SAVE GREEN at home and at work.

Climate change is in the news. It seems like everyone's "going green." We're glad you want to take action, too. Luckily, many of the steps we can take to stop climate change can make our lives better. Our grandchildren-and their children-will thank us for living more sustainably. Let's start now.

We've partnered with the Million Car Carbon Campaign to help you find ways to save energy and reduce your carbon footprint. This campaign is uniting conscious consumers around the world to prevent the emissions-equivalent of 1 million cars from entering the atmosphere each year.

Keep reading for 10 simple things you can do today to help reduce your environmental impact, save money, and live a happier, healthier life.

 

1. Save energy to save money.

State of the World 2009:
Into a Warming World

• Set your thermostat a few degrees lower in the winter and a few degrees higher in the summer to save on heating and cooling costs.
• Install compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) when your older incandescent bulbs burn out.
• Unplug appliances when you're not using them. Or, use a "smart" power strip that senses when appliances are off and cuts "phantom" or "vampire" energy use.
• Wash clothes in cold water whenever possible. As much as 85 percent of the energy used to machine-wash clothes goes to heating the water.
• Use a drying rack or clothesline to save the energy otherwise used during machine drying.

 

2. Save water to save money.
• Take shorter showers to reduce water use. This will lower your water and heating bills too.
• Install a low-flow showerhead. They don't cost much, and the water and energy savings can quickly pay back your investment.
• Make sure you have a faucet aerator on each faucet. These inexpensive appliances conserve heat and water, while keeping water pressure high.
• Plant drought-tolerant native plants in your garden. Many plants need minimal watering. Find out which occur naturally in your area.

 

3. Less gas = more money (and better health!). 

World Watch Magazine

• Walk or bike to work. This saves on gas and parking costs while improving your cardiovascular health and reducing your risk of obesity.
• Consider telecommuting if you live far from your work. Or move closer. Even if this means paying more rent, it could save you money in the long term.
• Lobby your local government to increase spending on sidewalks and bike lanes. With little cost, these improvements can pay huge dividends in bettering your health and reducing traffic.

 

4. Eat smart.
• If you eat meat, add one meatless meal a week. Meat costs a lot at the store-and it's even more expensive when you consider the related environmental and health costs.
• Buy locally raised, humane, and organic meat, eggs, and dairy whenever you can. Purchasing from local farmers keeps money in the local economy.
• Watch videos about why local food and sustainable seafood are so great.
• Whatever your diet, eat low on the food chain [pdf]. This is especially true for seafood.

 

5. Skip the bottled water.
• Use a water filter to purify tap water instead of buying bottled water. Not only is bottled water expensive, but it generates large amounts of container waste.
• Bring a reusable water bottle, preferably aluminum rather than plastic, with you when traveling or at work.
• Check out this short article for the latest on bottled water trends.

 

6. Think before you buy. 

Low Carbon Energy Report

• Go online to find new or gently used secondhand products. Whether you've just moved or are looking to redecorate, consider a service like craigslist or FreeSharing to track down furniture, appliances, and other items cheaply or for free.
• Check out garage sales, thrift stores, and consignment shops for clothing and other everyday items.
• When making purchases, make sure you know what's "Good Stuff" and what isn't.
• Watch a video about what happens when you buy things. Your purchases have a real impact, for better or worse.

 

7. Borrow instead of buying.
• Borrow from libraries instead of buying personal books and movies. This saves money, not to mention the ink and paper that goes into printing new books.
• Share power tools and other appliances. Get to know your neighbors while cutting down on the number of things cluttering your closet or garage.

 

8. Buy smart. 

Climate Change Reference
Guide

• Buy in bulk. Purchasing food from bulk bins can save money and packaging.
• Wear clothes that don't need to be dry-cleaned. This saves money and cuts down on toxic chemical use.
• Invest in high-quality, long-lasting products. You might pay more now, but you'll be happy when you don't have to replace items as frequently (and this means less waste!).

 

9. Keep electronics out of the trash.
• Keep your cell phones, computers, and other electronics as long as possible.
• Donate or recycle them responsibly when the time comes. E-waste contains mercury and other toxics and is a growing environmental problem.
• Recycle your cell phone.
• Ask your local government to set up an electronics recycling and hazardous waste collection event.

 

10. Make your own cleaning supplies. 

Join the Million Car Carbon Campaign by purchasing your Earth-Aid kit today.

• The big secret: you can make very effective, non-toxic cleaning products whenever you need them. All you need are a few simple ingredients like baking soda, vinegar, lemon, and soap.
• Making your own cleaning products saves money, time, and packaging-not to mention your indoor air quality.

 

11. Bonus Item!
• Stay informed about going green. Sign up for our weekly newsletter or subscribe to World Watch, our award-winning magazine.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_living

Thanks to members of SustainUS, the U.S. youth network for sustainable development, for contributing their ideas on how to go green and save green at home and at work.