No E-Mail Address!

An unemployed man is desperate to support his family of a wife and three kids. He applies for a janitor's job at a large firm and easily passes an aptitude test.

The human resources manager tells him, "You will be hired at minimum wage of $5.35 an hour. Let me have your e-mail address so that we can get you in the loop. Our system will automatically e-mail you all the forms and advise you when to start and where to report on your first day."

Taken back, the man protests that he is poor and has neither a computer nor an e-mail address.  To this the manager replies, "You must understand that to a company like ours that means that you virtually do not exist. Without an e-mail address you can hardly expect to be employed by a high-tech firm. Good day."  Stunned, the man leaves. Not knowing where to turn and having $10 in his wallet, he walks past a farmers' market and sees a stand selling 25 lb. crates of beautiful red tomatoes. He buys a crate, carries it to a busy corner and displays the tomatoes. In less than 2 hours he sells all the tomatoes and makes 100% profit.  Repeating the process several times more that day, he ends up with almost $100 and arrives home that night with several bags of groceries for his family.

During the night he decides to repeat the tomato business the next day. By the end of the week he is getting up early every day and working into the night. He multiplies his profits quickly.

Early in the second week he acquires a cart to transport several boxes of tomatoes at a time, but before a month is up he sells the cart to buy a broken-down pickup truck.

At the end of a year he owns three old trucks. His two sons have left their neighborhood gangs to help him with the tomato business, his wife is buying the tomatoes, and his daughter is taking night courses at the community college so she can keep books for him.  By the end of the second year he has a dozen very nice used trucks and employs fifteen previously unemployed people, all selling tomatoes.  He continues to work hard.

Time passes and at the end of the fifth year he owns a fleet of nice trucks and a warehouse that his wife supervises, plus two tomato farms that the boys manage. The tomato company's payroll has put hundreds of homeless and jobless people to work. His daughter reports that the business grossed over one million dollars. Planning for the future, he decides to buy some life insurance. Consulting with an insurance adviser, he picks an insurance plan to fit his new circumstances. Then the adviser asks him for his e-mail address in order to send the final documents electronically.

When the man replies that he doesn't have time to mess with a computer and has no e-mail address, the insurance man is stunned, "What, you don't have e-mail? No computer? No Internet? Just think where you would be today if you'd had all of that five years ago!"  Ha" snorts the man. "If I'd had e-mail five years ago I would be sweeping floors at Microsoft and making $5.35 an hour."

Ego Defense Mechanisms

What Are Ego Defense Mechanisms?
When you accidentally injure yourself, your body automatically begins several self healing processes, aiming to restore your body to its original healthy state. But what if you're emotionally hurt? What if you face a sudden shock or a tremendous amount of stress? What if your anxiety becomes more than you can handle? What if you lose a dear one?

Just like how your body has defenses against physical wounds and injuries, it has its defenses against emotional shocks and wounds; they're called Ego Defense Mechanisms or Unconscious Defense Mechanisms.

Ego Defense Mechanisms
The following is an explanation of each of the ego defense mechanisms:-

• Denial: Denial is refusing to acknowledge the presence of the threat or the occurrence of the unpleasant event. Examples of denial would be refusing to acknowledge the death of a person, questioning the qualifications of the doctor who diagnosed the disease or going like: "Madness? This is Sparta!!" when threatened by a very large army. The problem with denial is that it blocks the road to acceptance; you won't be able to get over that event until you first accept it.
• Displacement: Displacement is transferring or discharging your emotions on a less threatening object. For example, shouting at your children or having a fight with your neighbor right after your boss shouts at you means that you are angry at your boss but taking it out on your kids. If your displacement ego defense mechanism gets fired, try to control yourself a bit and then work on identifying your real enemy. Don't attack innocent people just because someone you can't harm has emotionally hurt you.
• Repression: Repression is the complete memory loss of a painful event. In this case, your subconscious mind doesn't want you to remember what happened because it may negatively affect your mood.
• Projection: Projection is placing blame for the unwanted event upon others. Examples would be saying that you failed an exam because the teacher is racist.
• Rationalization: Rationalization is the act of rationalizing your wrong actions and creating a self serving explanation for what you did. Saying "I have the right to cheat on the exam because the lessons weren't well explained" is a basic example of rationalization.
• Sublimation: Sublimation is satisfying your socially unacceptable needs in a socially accepted way. So, by becoming a boxer you are able to satisfy your hidden need for violence.
• Regression: Regression is returning to a previous state of development. Crying instead of taking actions to solve your problems means you have returned to the stage of childhood.
• Identification: By identifying with something or someone else you can increase your sense of ego and self-worth. Saying that a famous singer is a friend of yours might make you admired and so cause you to feel better about your other problems.
• Undoing: This means trying to fix your mistake, like sending a SMS to apologize to a friend you've recently had a fight with.
• Fantasy: It's pretty much self-explanatory. Imagining yourself beating up your boss with a chair after he's shouted at you is you fantasizing to help make you feel better.
• Reaction Formation: This behavior has you taking actions that are the opposite of your real desires, like for example greeting one of your enemies warmly just to show that you don't hate him.
• Humor: Looking at the funny side of a situation can help you forget about the real problem.
• Compensation: Hiding your weaknesses by acting as a beacon of strength; saying something like "I'm never scared" after watching a horror movie.
• Affiliation: Affiliation is to seek another's help in getting over your problem.
• Suppression: In this case, you avoid thinking about that unwanted event.
• Dissociation: Dissociating yourself from reality and thinking that this is not happening to you is one of the means of emotional defense.

So, Are Ego Defense Mechanisms Effective?
Sometimes they are healthy and sometimes not. Some of them can help you, while others can make the problem even worse; whenever possible, try to consciously detect the presence of the defense mechanism and see if it is really beneficial. If you find that it is not, then try to avoid it and maybe alter it to your benefit.

Other interesting infos on Ego go HERE and HERE.

Train, Track and Children...

The story given here is quite interesting and really gives us an insight into DECISION MAKING. A group of children were playing near two railway tracks, one still in use while the other disused. Only one child played on the disused track, the rest on the operational track.

The train came, and you were just beside the track interchange. It was not possible to stop the train but You could make the train change its course to the disused track and saved most of the kids. However, that would also mean the lone child playing by the disused track would be sacrificed. Or would you rather let the train go its way?

Let's take a pause to think what kind of decision we could make...............

Analyse the situation………….

Think and reflect…….

Decided your answer !!!!

Now … go ahead

Most people might choose to divert the course of the train, and sacrifice only one child. To save most of the children at the expense of only one child was rational decision most people would make, morally and emotionally.

But, have you ever thought that the child choosing to play on the disused track had in fact made the right decision to play at a safe place? Nevertheless, he had to be sacrificed because of his ignorant friends who chose to play where the danger was.

This kind of dilemma happens around us everyday. In the office, community, in politics and especially in a democratic society, the minority is often sacrificed for the interest of the majority, no matter how foolish or ignorant the majority are, and how farsighted and knowledgeable the minority are.

The child who chose not to play with the rest on the operational track was sidelined. And in the case he was sacrificed, no one would shed a tear for him. To make the proper decision is not try to change the course of the train because the kids playing on the operational track should have known very well that track was still in use, and that they should have run away if they heard the train's sirens.

If the train was diverted, that lone child would definitely die because he never thought the train could come over to that track! Moreover, that track was not in use probably because it was not safe. If the train was diverted to the track, we could put the lives of all passengers on board at stake! And in your attempt to save a few kids by sacrificing one child, you might end up sacrificing hundreds of people to save these few kids.

While we are all aware that life is full of tough decisions that need to be made, we may not realize that hasty decisions may not always be the right one. Remember that what's right isn't always popular... and what's popular isn't always right.

Everybody makes mistakes; that's why they put erasers on pencils...

Blessed!!!

You are Blessed!

• If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep, you are richer than 75% of the people of this world!
• If you have money in the bank and in the purse, you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy persons!
• If you wake up this morning with more health than illness, you are more blessed than one million who will not survive this week!
• If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture or the pangs of starvation, you are more blessed than three billion people in the world!
• If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful, you are more blessed because you can offer healing touch!
• If you can read this message, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world that cannot read at all!

Count your blessings and pass this message to remind everyone else how blessed they are.

Life...

Life is a Rope that Swings us through Hope
Always believe Today is much Better than Yesterday and Tomorrow will be Better than Today!
Life gives Answers in Three ways,
It says YES and gives whatever u Want
It says NO and gives u something Better
It says WAIT and gives u the Best..

Value...

To realize
The value of a sister
Ask someone
Who doesn't have one.

To realize
The value of ten years:
Ask a newly
Divorced couple.

To realize
The value of four years:
Ask a graduate.

To realize
The value of one year:
Ask a student who
Has failed a final exam.

To realize
The value of nine months:
Ask a mother who gave birth to a still born.

To realize
The value of one month:
Ask a mother
who has given birth to
A premature baby.

To realize
The value of one week:
Ask an editor of a weekly newspaper.

To realize
The value of one hour:
Ask the lovers who are waiting to Meet.

To realize
The value of one minute:
Ask a person
Who has missed the train, bus or plane.

To realize
The value of one-second:
Ask a person
Who has survived an accident...

To realize
The value of one millisecond:
Ask the person who has won a silver medal in the Olympics

Time waits for no one. Treasure every moment you have. You will treasure it even more when you can share it with someone special.

To realize the value of a friend:
Lose one

Something to activate your brain cell...

1.       man
     -----------
        board

Ans. = man overboard



2.    stand
   -----------
       i

Ans. = I understand

ok?....get the drift?
Let's try a few now & see how you fare ???


3.  /r/e/a/d/i/n/g/

Ans. = reading between the lines


4.       r
        road
         a
         d

Ans. = cross road


5.    cycle
      cycle
      cycle

Ans. = tricycle


6.        t
          o
          w
          n

Ans. = downtown


7.     le /
          / vel

Ans. = split level


8.        0 !
    -------------
         M.D.
        Ph.D.

Ans. = two degrees below zero


9.    knee!
  ------------
      light

Ans. = neon light (knee on light)


10.        ii   ii
          ----------
            O   O

Ans. = circles under the eyes


11.      dice
         dice

Ans. = paradise


12.      t
         o
         u
         c
         h


Ans. = touch! down


13.     ground
     ---------------
         feet
         feet
         feet
         feet
         feet
         feet

Ans. = six feet underground

14.     he's / himself

Ans. = he's by himself


15.     ecnalg

Ans. = backward glance


16.   death / life

Ans. = life after death


17     THINK

Ans.  think big !! !

18 ababaaabbbbaaaabbbbababaabbaaabbbb....

  Ans.  long time no 'c'(see)

Points to Ponder...

Sometimes we must be hurt in order to grow,
Sometimes we must fail in order to know,
Sometimes we must lose in order to gain,
Because some lessons in life are best learned through pain...

Being defeated is often only a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent.
- Marilyn vos Savant

If you're never scared or embarrassed or hurt, it means you nevertake any chances.
- Julia Sorel

Lateral and Logical thinking...

Many years ago in a small Indian village, a farmer had the misfortune of owing a large sum of money to the village money lender. The money lender, who was old and horrible, fancied the farmer's beautiful daughter. So he proposed a bargain. He said he would forgo the farmer's debt if he could marry his daughter. Both the farmer and his daughter were horrified by the proposal.

The cunning money lender suggested that they let providence decide the matter. He told them that he would put a black pebble and a white pebble into an empty money bag. Then the girl would have to pick one pebble from the bag.

1. If she picked the black pebble, she would become his wife and her father's debt would be forgiven.
2. If she picked the white pebble, she need not marry him and her father's debt would still be forgiven.
3. But if she refused to pick a pebble, her father would be thrown into jail.

Standing on a pebble-strewn path in the farmer's field, the money lender bent over to pick up two pebbles. As he picked them up, the sharp-eyed girl noticed that he had picked up two black pebbles and put them into the bag. He then asked the girl to pick a pebble from the bag.

Now, imagine that you were standing in the field that day. What would you have done if you were the girl? If you had to advise her, what would you have told her?

Careful analysis would produce three possibilities:

1. The girl should refuse to take a pebble.
2. The girl should show that there were two black pebbles in the bag and expose the money lender as a cheat.
3. The girl should pick a black pebble and sacrifice herself in order to save her father from his debt and imprisonment.

Take a moment to ponder over this story. Experts use it to make people appreciate the difference between lateral and logical thinking.

The girl's dilemma cannot be solved with traditional logical thinking. Think of the consequences if she chose any of the logical choices. What would you recommend to the girl do?


Do not look at the answer yet, give your advise after 5 minute of your own lateral thinking .....

ANSWER

Well, here is what she did. She put her hand into the moneybag and drew out a pebble. Without looking at it, she fumbled and let it fall onto the pebble-strewn path where it immediately became lost among all the other pebbles. "Oh, how clumsy of me," she said. "But never mind, if you look into the bag for the one that is left, you will be able to tell which pebble I picked."

Since the remaining pebble was black, they had to assume that she had picked the white one. And since the moneylender dared not admit his dishonesty, the girl changed what seemed an impossible situation into an extremely advantageous one.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Most complex problems do have a solution, which you can find if you stretch your mind. If logic isn't working try lateral thinking. Lateral thinking is a creative exercise. Practice it every day.

The secret to success is to know something nobody else knows...

Good info...

For those who are REALLY SERIOUS about quitting the smoke... You can find it here... :-

QUIT SMOKING

THE MAYONNAISE JAR AND 2 CUPS OF COFFEE

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the 2 cups of coffee...

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was. The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was. The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous yes." The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed. "Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things -- your God, family, your children, your health, your friends, and your favourite passions -- things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house,and your car. The sand is everything else -- the small stuff." "If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls."

The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first -- the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand."

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee with a friend."

A Story that touches your heart !

A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year-old son waiting for him at the door...

Son: "Daddy, may I ask you a question"

Daddy: "Yeah sure, what it is?"

Son: "Dad, how much do you make an hour"

Daddy: "That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?"

Son: "I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?"

Daddy: "I make Rs. 500 an hour"

"Oh", the little boy replied, with his head down.

Looking up, he said, "Dad, may I please borrow Rs. 300?"

The father was furious, "if the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or other nonsense, then march yourself to your room and go to bed. Think why you are being so selfish. I work hard everyday for such this childish behavior"

The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door.

The man sat down and started to get even angrier about the little boy's questions.

How dare he ask such questions only to get some money?

After about an hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think:

"May be there was something he really needed to buy with that Rs. 300 and he really didn't ask for money very often!"

The man went to the door of little boy's room and opened the door. "Are you asleep, son?" He asked.

"No daddy, I'm awake," replied the boy.

"I've been thinking, may be I was too hard on you earlier", said the man, "It's been a long day and I took out my aggravation on you. Here's the Rs.300 you asked for"

The little boy sat straight up, smiling "oh thank you dad!" He yelled.

Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled some crippled up notes. The man, seeing that the boy already had money, started to get angry again.

The little boy slowly counted out his money, then looked up at his father.

"Why do you want money if you already had some?" the father grumbled.

"Because I didn't have enough, but now I do," the little boy replied. "Daddy I have Rs. 500 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you"

MORAL
It's just a short reminder to all of you working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts.

If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of days.

But the family & friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives. And come to think of it, we pour ourselves more into work than to our family....

A Woman Who Reads...

One morning a husband returns after several hours of fishing and decides to take a nap. Although not familiar with the lake, his wife decides to take the boat out. She motors out a short distance, drops anchor and begins to read her book. Along comes a game warden in his boat. He pulls up alongside the woman and says, "Good morning, ma'am. What are you doing?"

"Reading a book," she replies.

"You're in a restricted fishing area," he informs her.

"I'm sorry, Officer, but I'm not fishing, I'm reading."

"Yes, but you have all the equipment. For all I know you could start at any moment. I'll have to take you in and write you up."

"If you do that, I'll have to charge you with sexual assault, "says the woman.

"But I have not even touched you," says the game warden.

"That's true, but you have all the equipment. For all I know you could start at any moment."

"Have a nice day, ma'am," he said, and left.

Moral of this story: Never argue with a woman who reads.
It is likely she can also think.

MUST READ!!! - A Story of the Mouse...

Mouse Story: A message!

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package.

“What food might this contain?” The mouse wondered - he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap. Retreating to the farmyard, the mouse proclaimed the warning.

“There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!”

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said, “Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you, but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it.”

The mouse turned to the goat and told him, “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!”

The goat sympathized, but said, “I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers.”

The mouse turned to the cow and said “There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!”

The cow said, “Wow, Mr. Mouse. I’m sorry for you, but it’s no skin off my nose.”

So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer’s mousetrap alone.

That very night a sound was heard throughout the house — like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey. The farmer’s wife rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness, she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught. The snake bit the farmer’s wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital, and she returned home with a fever.

Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup, so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup’s main ingredient.

But his wife’s sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the goat.

The farmer’s wife did not get well; she died. So many people came for her funeral; the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.

The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness.

So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn’t concern you, remember — when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk.

You see, everyone seems to be going on about free speech, but that’s not the only issue here. There is also the issue about respect, courtesy, circumspection and discernment. Perhaps those editors ought to have been given a course in cross-cultural understanding and communication. They were supposed to be trying to show who were the enlightened ones. It is really silly of them to deliberately taunt and provoke those who just do not understand the West’s worship of liberty rights. Those who are championing the editors and cartoonists for their free speech rights have missed the point. Those who blame every Islam itself for the extremism of a few have fallen into the trap of gross generalization.

The problem with making generalized judgments over media reports, photos and newsreels is that these visions may portray a generalization that does not represent the view of the majority. Especially if you do not know anyone who is Muslim, and have never lived among Muslims. Maybe you think they are all like that.

And, those who think this is their problem, (whether they refer to the Muslims or the Europeans) need to rethink and see that we are all in this together. Whatever is going on, it is not going to be good for any one of us. May we learn the lesson from the story of the mouse.