To build a better relationship:

Remember to,
Eliminate hatred,
Learn to let go,
Accept if you made a mistake,
To feel better, forgive yourself and others and you will,
Incredibly feel the love of god, 
Open your heart and mind for him,
Never lose hope and faith and don't forget to,
Smile and share your,
Happiness, because it is contagious. You can be an,
Inspiration to others and finally, always,
Pray with your heart and thank god for everything.

By: Dora


THIS WEEKS WORD: LOVE

                What is love? I asked my grandma what love is and even she has a hard time describing it to me, you’d think she’s of old age and wise, but yet she says its indescribable, I had long hours of conversation with the topic of love with others and it’s just so hard to pinpoint into a few sentences. I guess it doesn’t really matter what age you are or how much you experienced because everyone will always have a different definition of what love is.

So what is love?:  that’s a question many of us ask and have a hard time defining, because the feeling of love is indescribable to put in a few simple words.

                The Google definition of love describes as:
-          An intense feeling of deep affection
-          A person or thing that one loves
-          A feel of deep romantic or sexual attachment

                To me and others, love can be described in several ways. Describing love can be received or given from a parent/grandparent, best friend/friend, sister/brother, wife/husband, your boyfriend/girlfriend, or even your pet dog, you name it, love can be received from many.
                Love can be simple as being passionate about something, simple as a hobby or job you love doing. Love gives you a sense of comfort, appreciation, stability, a feeling of having something secure like a treasure, but that treasure can be broken, taken away or lost. Love gives you butterflies, goose bumps and jitters, as you would go on a first date, or seeing your loved one after a long time, that’s love. It’s a sense of satisfaction that fills up your heart whole and you feel the need of not wanting anything else. Love lets you be yourself; it can make you smile for days. Love brings you trust, honesty, and believing in yourself, having faith and not giving up.
                Love can be scary and amazing, both positive and negative. Love is powerful like a magnet that you just don’t want to let go and is so hard to let go of. Love can be expressed in action, whether it’s a hug, kiss, an intimate moment between the two, when a mother gives birth to her child, a loving conversation with your family members, a laugh, a smile or touch, or even a gesture, simple as giving a gift or donating. Love can be a feeling of eternity, an infinite love which is never ending, and when it ends you feel your world just crashing down.
                Love is so many things, which sometimes we don’t realize it’s given to us in many ways, love is there. Many of us have those days where we feel no one loves us and we’re just in that mood, don’t ever feel that no one loves you because in the end of the day there is God, your family, friends, you’re partner, etc … Someone is always there to love you.
Love is special; it’s a gift that makes everyone come as one. Cherish it, thank it, and treasure it. And remember love starts from loving yourself and comes from within. Love is there.

Written by: Opola Karim


Have you ever gotten to a point in your life where you stopped to really think about what your passion is or even what your purpose in life may be? What does the word passion mean in the first place? Passion is when something or someone truly makes you happy and catches your heart. It is more than just enthusiasm or excitement; passion is ambition that is materialized into action to put as much heart, mind, body, and soul into something as is possible. 

As my journey in high school began, I wanted to discover what my passion was. Why am I here on this beautiful planet? What is my purpose? What truly makes me happy? Is it art? Is it playing sports? Is it singing or dancing? As I was experimenting with different things that made me happy; I came to the realization that what caught my heart the most was helping humans and animals in whatever way I can; that became my true passion. As a young woman of south Asian decent my parents and society as a whole expected me to become a Doctor or an Engineer as that is the norm for south Asian children. However, prior to discovering that my passion was to help people; I enrolled in an undergraduate program for Social Work. I can’t begin to tell you how many people tried to bring me down. They were very judgmental and very biased towards my decision of becoming a Social worker. My own family discouraged me by saying things like “it’s a shame that your not becoming an Engineer like the rest of your cousins.” I did not let their ignorance bring me down and stop me from following my true passion; within an year I will graduate as a proud Social Worker and be happy in knowing that I will make a positive difference in a persons life. ​

Anyways, what I am really trying to get at here is no matter what anyone tells you, no matter how hard circumstances in life may be; if something or someone truly makes you happy, if your passionate about a certain thing; get off that seat, take the wheel into your hands and start steering your life towards the destination that truly catches your heart. I know you will not regret it. Finding your passion isn’t just about careers and money. Its about finding your authentic self. The one you’ve buried beneath other people’s needs and societal pressures. Go on, follow your passion, be prepared to work hard and sacrifice, and above all, don’t let anyone limit your dreams. Spread your wings wide; and sore towards your passion; once you find it; you’ll be that much closer to feeling eternal happiness.

Gimhani Tennakoon. 
 

Gossiping is not cool! It can cause a lot to happen. 

Gossiping can lead to many different acts. It can lead to fights, suicide, self esteem, loss of friends, etc. whoever you are, you shouldn't have the right to talk negative about someone you do not even know. 

We as a society should put bad talking to a stop! We as people should respect each other. To everyone out there, think for a minute before you talk about another person, think about the future effects towards that person you are talking about. We should be able to set an example and make a difference! Saying one thing is so easy but taking it back is hard. Care for each other's well being.. 

Written By:
Mary Harroo & Anisa Ramjohn 
Move beyond the circumstances in your life

            No matter what the challenges we face, it’s important that we make every effort to ensure that the circumstances we find ourselves in don’t darken our hope or limit the future we see for ourselves. Not allowing anything to hold us back is easier said than done.
The biggest obstacle many of us face in changing our circumstances is not allowing ourselves the flexibility to make mistakes and still keep moving forward. If we recognize that more than one path can lead to success, we can allow ourselves to be more giving and open to take advantage of the opportunities and coincidences that happen every day..

Trust yourself to do the right thing.


By: F. Martin.
Are you usually punctual or late? Do you finish things within the time you stipulate? Do you hand in your reports/work on time? Are you able to accomplish what you want to do before deadlines? Are you a good time manager?
If your answer is “no” to any of the questions above, that means you’re not managing your time as well as you want. Here are 20 tips on how to be a better time manager:

  1. Create a daily plan. Plan your day before it unfolds. Do it in the morning or even better, the night before you sleep. The plan gives you a good overview of how the day will pan out. That way, you don’t get caught off guard. Your job for the day is to stick to the plan as best as possible.
  2. Peg a time limit to each task. Be clear that you need to finish X task by 10am, Y task by 3pm, and Z item by 5:30pm. This prevents your work from dragging on and eating into time reserved for other activities.
  3. Use a calendar. Having a calendar is the most fundamental step to managing your daily activities. If you use outlook or lotus notes, calendar come as part of your mailing software. Google Calendar is great – I use it. It’s even better if you can sync it to your mobile phone and other hardwares you use – that way, you can access your schedule no matter where you are.
  4. Use an organizer. The organizer helps you to be on top of everything in your life. It’s your central tool to organize information, to-do lists, projects, and other miscellaneous items.
  5. Know your deadlines. When do you need to finish your tasks? Mark the deadlines out clearly in your calendar and organizer so you know when you need to finish them.
  6. Learn to say “No”. Don’t take on more than you can handle. For the distractions that come in when you’re doing other things, give a firm no. Or defer it to a later period.
  7. Target to be early. When you target to be on time, you’ll either be on time or late. Most of the times you’ll be late. However, if you target to be early, you’ll most likely be on time. For appointments, strive to be early. For your deadlines, submit them earlier than required.
  8. Time box your activities. This means restricting your work to X amount of time. Read more about time boxing: #5 of 13 Strategies To Jumpstart Your Productivity.
  9. Have a clock visibly placed before you. Sometimes we are so engrossed in our work that we lose track of time. Having a huge clock in front of you will keep you aware of the time at the moment.
  10. Set reminders 15 minutes before. Most calendars have a reminder function. If you’ve an important meeting to attend, set that alarm 15 minutes before.
  11. Focus. Are you multi-tasking so much that you’re just not getting anything done? If so, focus on just one key task at one time. Close off all the applications you aren’t using. Close off the tabs in your browser that are taking away your attention. Focus solely on what you’re doing. You’ll be more efficient that way.
  12. Block out distractions. What’s distracting you in your work? Instant messages? Phone ringing? Text messages popping in? I hardly ever use chat nowadays. The only times when I log on is when I’m not intending to do any work. Otherwise it gets very distracting. When I’m doing important work, I also switch off my phone. Calls during this time are recorded and I contact them afterward if it’s something important. This helps me concentrate better.
  13. Track your time spent. Egg Timer is a simple online countdown timer. You key in the amount of time you want it to track (example: “30 minutes”, “1 hour”) and it’ll count down in the background. When the time is up,the timer will beep. Great way to be aware of your time spent.
  14. Don’t fuss about unimportant details You’re never get everything done in exactly the way you want. Trying to do so is being ineffective. Read more: Why Being A Perfectionist May Not Be So Perfect.
  15. Prioritize. Since you can’t do everything, learn to prioritize the important and let go of the rest. Apply the 80/20 principle which is a key principle in prioritization. Read more about 80/20 in #6 of 13 Strategies To Jumpstart Your Productivity.
  16. Delegate. If there are things that can be better done by others or things that are not so important, consider delegating. This takes a load off and you can focus on the important tasks.
  17. Batch similar tasks together. For related work, batch them together. For example, my work can be categorized into these core groups: (1) writing (articles, my upcoming book) (2) coaching (3) workshop development (4) business development (5) administrative. I batch all the related tasks together so there’s synergy. If I need to make calls, I allocate a time slot to make all my calls. It really streamlines the process.
  18. Eliminate your time wasters. What takes your time away your work? Facebook? Twitter? Email checking? Stop checking them so often. One thing you can do is make it hard to check them – remove them from your browser quick links / bookmarks and stuff them in a hard to access bookmarks folder. Replace your browser bookmarks with important work-related sites. While you’ll still check FB/Twitter no doubt, you’ll find it’s a lower frequency than before.
  19. Cut off when you need to. #1 reason why things overrun is because you don’t cut off when you have to. Don’t be afraid to intercept in meetings or draw a line to cut-off. Otherwise, there’s never going to be an end and you’ll just eat into the time for later.
  20. Leave buffer time in-between. Don’t pack everything closely together. Leave a 5-10 minute buffer time in between each tasks. This helps you wrap up the previous task and start off on the next one.
Do you have any tips to be a better time manager? Feel free to share in the comments area!



Sources: http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifehack/20-quick-tips-for-better-time-management.html 

"LOVE" (Everything you have been told was a lie)


What is Love? This video shows the Real meaning of the word.

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