Amidst the ongoing wars, rebellions, battle skirmishes and acts of terrorism that continue to plague our world. There is the prevailing cry for peace- family peace, social peace, religious peace and world peace.

The following is a short treatise on how you (we) can advance the cause of peace in our communities and nations and expanding into the world.

            If an effort to simplify and provide straightforward counsel, here is a list of what we think are the most critical components of decision making by any self-aware manager:
            If you’re a line manger, you’ll find yourself spending from 75% to 95% of your time with people or dealing with people problems- like it or not. Many times, people problems will be mixed with technical questions. Don’t be frustrated by all this talking and listening.

           The essence of managerial skill is to “keep moving” learn to tolerate short, but frequent interactions, to tolerate not finishing a subject, to tolerate having to go back to individuals again and again. People problems are rarely solved forever. Objective: Keep them within limits. Keep making contacts. Easy give-and-take is the only guarantee of reasonably good interpersonal relationships. You can’t have that without constant listening and talking.

            Find good people, and support them with backup and encouragement. The right person, well motivated, will perform significantly better than the average person.
            Satisfaction with earnings is almost entirely related to what other relevant people are earning. Comparison, not absolute amounts, count.

            Job relationships are more predictable and less upsetting than many family or community relations. 

            Earning one’s way and having a job are the sources of great personal satisfaction. Grousing is not a measure of discontent. Often the most committed are the most critical, and the least committed are often the most indifferent.
            Boundaries are the most important elements of a job. How does performance fit into the needs of other jobs? In selecting and appraising people, consider their capacity for relating to the other

people upon whom their jobs impinge. Technical knowledge is secondary.

           Organization productivity results, not from speed and sweat, but from jobs smoothly intermeshed one with the other, a minimum of argument over who should do what and how. Continuity and regularity comprise the only reliable   source of cost saving.

           You and your subordinates will almost never see a problem the same way. Your experiences and perspectives are different. Stop before you delegate or discipline. Find out by good interviewing how the other person perceives an issue before you do anything about it.

          Before you get progress or agreement on an issue involving another person, there must be agreement that there is a problem. Spend your time getting agreement on the nature of the problem. Explore solutions together. A solution that needs conflicting needs.

          Feedback on performance and positive encouragement are the sources of improved motivation. Ignorance of results and / or a climate of criticism are the two most common sources of apathy and lack of motivation.

One is growing; evolving being by law and not a creation by accident and cause and effect is as absolute and undeviating in the hidden realms of thought as in the world of visible and material things. A noble and god-like character is not a thing of favour or chance, but is the natural result of continued effort in noble thinking and is the effect of long cherished association with God-like thoughts. An ignoble and bestial character, by the same process, is the result of the continued harbouring of grovelling thoughts.

One is made or unmade by oneself as in the armory of thought is forged the means by which one elevates or destroys oneself but fashions the tools with which creates heavenly mansions of joy and strength and peace. By the right choice and positive application of thought, one may ascend to the Divine Perfection; by the abuse and wrong application of thought, one descends below the level of the beast. Between these two extremes are all the grades of character and we are their maker and master.

Of all the beautiful truths pertaining to the soul which have been restored and brought to light in this age, none is more gladdening or fruitful of divine promise and confidence than this that one is the master of thought, the moulder of character, and the maker and shaper of condition, environment, and destiny.

As a being of Power, Intelligence and Love, and the lords of our thoughts, one holds the key to every situation, and contains within that transforming and regenerative element by which one may become what is willed.

One is always the master, even in our weakest and most abandoned state; but in our weakness and degradation is the foolish master who misgoverns their “household.” When one begins to reflect upon this condition, and to search diligently for the Law upon which our being is established, one then becomes the wise master, directing and focusing their energies with intelligence, and fashioning thought to fruitful issues. Such is the conscious master, and one can only thus become by discovering within oneself the laws of thought; which discovery is totally a matter of application, self-analysis and experience.

Only by much searching and mining are gold and diamonds obtained, and one can find every truth connected with their being, if they will dig deep into the mine of their soul; the grand realization that one is the maker of character, the moulder of life, and the builder of destiny, one may unerringly prove, if they will watch, control, and alter their thoughts, tracing their effects, upon others and upon their life and circumstances, linking cause and effect by patient practice and investigation, and utilizing their every experience, even to the most trivial, everyday occurrence, as a means of obtaining that knowledge of oneself which is understanding, wisdom, power. In this direction, as in no other, is the law absolute that “one that seeketh, findeth, and to them that knocketh the door shall be opened“; for only by patience, practice, and ceaseless importunity can one enter the door of the temple of enlightenment.

Gossip as a function of human behavior has been with our species as long as recorded history. In our everyday human encounters, at various functions, at work, at business and social activities and where we find ourselves at a myriad of other human situations, most of us at some time or another are engaged in and participate in gossip.

The various medias, the internet, television, radio, magazines and newspapers are the usual purveyors of gossip. TV programs such as E-Talk and Entertainment Tonight and other celebrity oriented shows are notorious in their spreading of showbiz personality gossip.

In fact we are inundated with the cult of celebrity gossip and with our preoccupation with what celebrities are wearing (especially the women). And what they are doing, thinking, where they are going, their latest movie, TV programs, books, songs and often accompanied by outrageous behaviors.

Why are we interested? Is this preoccupation genetically hard wired into our brains or does it serve as having some kind of sublime social interactive benefit?

What kind of conversations do you participate and involve yourself in? Do you spend much of your time with others talking about other people and their idiosyncrasies? Do you talk about important issues relating to the world and its social and political ideological problems?  Are you part of the problem or part of the solution? Are you functioning and behaving in a way that can bring about a more enlightened humanity or are you just going on with much of the nonsense or what so many others are doing?

In essence what can we do or you do to make a more positive difference in your interactions and conversations with others.

Let us start to take steps to make a positive difference instead of spending so much time on needless gossip that leads to undermining our self respect by putting down and telling falsehoods and talking badly about others.

             
            Can fiction come true? In the annals of ocean disasters throughout the centuries none is more perplexing than the saga of the “unthinkable” luxury liner the RMS Titanic in her maiden voyage to America in 1912.

            Few are still alive who remember this tragic episode. However, the story and events surrounding this fatal disaster was preempted some 14 years earlier in a book titled “Futility” written by a novelist Morgan Robertson.

            Robertson’s story concerned a floating palace which sailed from South Hampton, England in 1898. She was the biggest and grandest liner ever built and the wealthy elite basked in her luxury as she crossed the Atlantic. However, the fictional ship never reached her destination as her hull was ripped open in a collision with a giant iceberg and sank with a heavy loss of life.

            The fictional name of the ship was Titan and both the fiction and fact converged 14 years later in 1912 when a real luxury ocean liner set out on the same maiden voyage. The Titanic was also laden with rich passengers and she too rammed an iceberg and sank. Prophetically the loss of life was enormous because of the lack of life boats.

            In many ways the similarities between the Titan of Robertson’s novel and the Titanic are almost identical. They were roughly the same nautical speed and carried approximately 3000 passengers. Both were considered to be unsinkable. And both  sank  in exactly the same spot in the North Atlantic.

            But the remarkable coincidence does not end there. The famous journalist W.T. Stead published in 1892, a short story which also proved to be an uncanny, preview of the “Titanic” disaster.  Stead was a Spiritualist and failed to help his own psychic intuitions as he was one of the 1,513 people who perished when the Titanic went down to its watery grave at the bottom of the Atlantic ocean.

Do time portals exist that permit us to glimpse into the future through our imagination or was this a “Jungian” example of “intuitive convergence” of a short or just coincidence? 

Write and let us know what you think!

Today, many of us are preoccupied and concerned with the issues of aging.  We want answers on how we age and how we can slow down the process of aging so that we may continue to enjoy good Health and Wellness and maintain an active lifestyle that provides meaning for living.

One of the primary agers that affect us is stress and the manner and attitude we adopt and hold on to in coping with life’s stress factors.

Aside from common sense activities that we can engage in such as cultivating friendships, exercising, eating healthy well balanced meals, flossing and taking a vitamin-mineral capsule everyday.

Here is a practical 10 step program to slow down and reduce your real age.
            1. Take your vitamins.  Regularly talking vitamin C (1,200 mg/day) Vitamin E (400 iu/day) calcium 1000-2000 mg/day,       vitamin D (400-800 iu/day), foliate 400 mg/day and vitamin B6 (6mg/day) can help you to look years younger.
            2. Stop smoking and stay away from passive smoke.  Smoking over many years makes you look years older.  All you have to do to confirm this is look around you at those with smoke.  Save your money or spend it on more worthwhile things.
           3. Know your blood pressure.  A person with a blood pressure of 115/75 mmHg.
           4. Reduce your stress.  Not managing bad stress can also raise your age many years higher than your real age.  Build positive social networks and learn stress reducing strategies and you will look and feel years younger.
          5. Floss your teeth.  Flossing and brushing daily (after meals if possible) can reduce your real age 6-7 years.
          6. Get active.  Exercise even a minimum amount for about 20 minutes a day can reduce your real age by 3-4 years, go dancing, take walks, go bowling cycling, swimming etc.  Get together with others and participate in interesting activities.
          7. Be a lifelong learner: people who take an interest in what is going on around them and in the world and who remain interlocutory   enjoy a 2-5 year more youthful edge.
         8. Get your fiber fill.  Get at least 25 grams of fiber per day to keep yourself regular and maintain good digestion.
         9. Smile and laugh a lot.  Laughter reduces stress and strengthens the immune system and releases feel good endorphins in the brain.  You’ll not only look good but feel great in the process.
      10. Maintain a positive mind and attitude in your daily activities true your actions with family, friends and associate.  Look around for ways in which you can continue to serve your community.  And how you can make a positive difference in your life and in the life or others.

In realizing and practicing the above lifestyle change suggestion you will empower yourself to put more meaning in your life and more life in your meaning.