These offenses are violations of the way you think people should act. And so it burns you up. Don’t worry, I’m the same way. If you just keep letting these offensive people get to you, you’ll always be mad or annoyed. Life won’t be very good. But it’s something you can learn to deal with.

Get Big

Sure, that’s easy for us—we have a bigger perspective. But when someone offends us, we have a small perspective. This little offense is the biggest thing in the world, and it makes us very angry. We throw the equivalent of a 2-year-old fit. But if we get a bigger perspective ("Get Big"), we can see that this little thing matters very little in the bigger picture. It’s not worth being angry over. So remind yourself to "Get Big," then widen your perspective.
  
Float Down the Stream

Give Them a Mental Hug

This little trick can transform the way I feel about someone who makes me angry. Let’s say someone has just said something rude to me. How dare they! Don’t they have any consideration for my feelings? But of course, in this reaction, I’m not having any consideration for their feelings—only mine matter. So I try to empathize with this rude person, and realize that they’re angry, or scared, or both. They are being rude as a coping mechanism for their fear. And so, mentally (and once in a while physically), I give them a hug. I have compassion for this scared person, because I too am often scared. We’re the same. We need a hug, some compassion, a little love. Remember the movie Munnabhai MBBS and his move "Jaado ki Jhappi" just like that!

A little boy got angry with his mother and shouted at her, "I hate you, I hate you." Because of fear of reprimand, he ran out of the house. He went up to the valley and shouted, "I hate you, I hate you," and the echo returned, "I hate you, I hate you." Having never heard an echo before, he was scared, and ran to his mother for protection. He said there was a bad boy in the valley who shouted, "I hate you, I hate you." The mother understood and she asked her son to go back and shout, "I love you, I love you." The little boy went and shouted, "I love you, I love you," and back came the echo. That thought the little boy a lesson - that our life is like an echo: We get back what we give.

Is procrastination eating into your valuable study time? Does it stop you from making the change to a healthier lifestyle or affecting your performance at work?
We all have our lazy, unproductive moments, when we really don’t feel like doing anything. The problem is, when these lazy moments become too frequent and actually stop us from moving our life forward.

Here are 5 powerful, butt-kicking ways to stop laziness, beat procrastination and get more done.

Uncover the true reason behind your laziness
The answer to ‘How to stop laziness’, starts with the underlying factors behind it. Laziness just like procrastination can be caused by deep psychological emotions such as feeling overwhelmed, stuck, afraid of failure or simply uninspired. Not every task or activity is exciting and fun to do.
Frequently, we may find ourselves stuck with tasks that seem complex, time-consuming and boring. It’s absolutely normal to resist doing them, but it helps to know what causes this resistance, so that you can figure out the best way to deal with it.

Find your ‘hot buttons’
Discover what really motivates you. Not in a ‘blah-blah find your passion’ way, but here and now.
What usually helps you to spring into action? Is it an approaching deadline? The sense of responsibility? Tony Robins’s inspirational video on YouTube? The thought of an upcoming vacation? A little reward that you promised yourself? Or the fear of looking like an underachiever in the eyes of your colleagues and your friends?
We all have these ‘hot buttons’, based on either moving towards something pleasant or avoiding something highly unpleasant (like a stern look from  the boss or a parking ticket).
When you find what motivates you, it will be much easier to use this knowledge to your advantage and stop laziness.
List 3 things you want to accomplish before you go to bed
It’s that easy. You don’t need to write a laundry list of things that you want to get done. You just have to pick 3 tasks and write them down. Putting something in writing is a sign of commitment. It’s like a contract that you sign with yourself, promising that you will finish these tasks before you go to bed (even if it means staying up an extra hour).
When you get in a habit of listing 3 things and getting them done, you will no longer have to worry about laziness or procrastination.  Just three small, but consistently met tasks a day can add up to some jaw-dropping positive life changes by the end of the year!

Work in blocks of time and take breaks
We often procrastinate, because we are physically and mentally tired, not because we don’t want to try harder. Seemingly unrelated things such as lack of sleep, a heavy meal at lunch, or too many hours spent sitting in front of the computer, have a huge impact on our productivity, concentration and performance.
You may push and you may pull, trying to keep up with your expectations and the expectations of other, but eventually you will wear yourself out. So don’t push yourself to the point where your body and mind are crying out for a break. Schedule your procrastination by allowing yourself to take 10-15 minute breaks after every 40 minutes of work. Get up, move around, breathe some fresh air, change your surroundings and you’ll notice that it is much easier to create momentum when you get back to work.

Allow yourself One Lazy day
If you force your body on a strict diet, it will go into starvation mode. Which means that every time you eat something caloric, your body stores these calories as fat, trying to protect itself from starving again in the future. The same mechanism may be triggered by pushing your mind and body to work harder, instead of letting yourself relax, rest and recharge. They will take their down time whenever they can (even if it means procrastinating at work).
Don’t force yourself into ‘down time starvation mode’. Slow down. Let yourself enjoy one lazy day and just do nothing, without feeling guilty or stressed out about it. It may go a long way towards stay productive throughout the rest of the week.

  

 If you are a designer in this day and age you are probably designing for handheld devices like smartphones and tablets. We live in a polarizing world where on one side we have native apps and on the other the web, with responsive sites and web apps. Designing in this environment requires understanding of the context you will be designing for, therefore, testing on devices. There are several ways to create prototypes, from paper to motion in After Effects. For me, basic HTML, CSS3 and JavaScript do the best job because they allow me to test on the phone with an incredible level of accuracy.

In this post I will start sharing some tips on how to create basic HTML/CSS3/JS prototypes. The idea is to enable you to test your designs on phones, tablets or web. I will also assume that you know a little bit of HTML and CSS, but of course you can learn that online or doing the reverse engineer. So in this first post I will show you how to create a simple prototype with a few icons and basic transitions. You can then apply to your own designs. The coolest thing is that you can create a super smooth prototype with this simple technique.

Introduction

The first thing is to start an HTML document and make sure you have the structure done.
For prototypes, the simplest way to create them is by having all screens you want to test in the same file, that way there won't be any lagging between screens. Remember, we are creating a prototype, not a web app.
The way I organized my HTML is that every screen will use a "DIV" tag with an "ID" and a "CLASS='SC". That way I can use CSS to make them work the same way.
For each screen I used the "HEADER" tag to create the header of the screen. Below is the full HTML file of the prototype.

 <!doctype html>
<html>
    <head>
        <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1, maximum-scale=1">
        <meta charset="utf8">
        <title>Prototype</title>
    </head>
    <body>
        <div id="home" class="sc selected">
            <ul>
                <li class="link none" page-load="screen1"></li>
                <li class="link slideup" page-load="screen2"></li>
                <li class="link slideleft" page-load="screen3"></li>
                <li class="link slideright" page-load="screen4"></li>
                <li class="link slidedown" page-load="screen5"></li>
                <li class="link 3dright" page-load="screen6"></li>
                <li class="link 3dleft" page-load="screen7"></li>
            </ul>
        </div>
        <div id="screen1" class="sc">
            <header>
                <a class="back link none" page-load="home">Back</a>
                <h1>Screen 1</h1>
            </header>
        </div>
        <div id="screen2" class="sc">
            <header>
                <a class="back link backdown" page-load="home">Back</a>
                <h1>Screen 2</h1>
            </header>
        </div>
        <div id="screen3" class="sc">
            <header>
                <a class="back link slideright" page-load="home">Back</a>
                <h1>Screen 3</h1>
            </header>
        </div>
        <div id="screen4" class="sc">
            <header>
                <a class="back link slideleft" page-load="home">Back</a>
                <h1>Screen 4</h1>
            </header>
        </div>
        <div id="screen5" class="sc">
            <header>
                <a class="back link backup" page-load="home">Back</a>
                <h1>Screen 5</h1>
            </header>
        </div>
        <div id="screen6" class="sc">
            <header>
                <a class="back" page-load="home">Back</a>
                <h1>Screen 6</h1>
            </header>
        </div>
        <div id="screen7" class="sc">
            <header>
                <a class="back" page-load="home">Back</a>
                <h1>Screen 7</h1>
            </header>
        </div>
    </body>
</html>

Step 2

For the icons, notice that I created a list using "UL" and "LI". Also notice that there are other classes like "LINK", "NONE", "slideup", "slideleft" and more. I will cover those in a few, but for now let's focus on the design of the screens and the icons.
The first line you can see that I am reseting the CSS, that's an easy way to clear all properties and styles that browsers have. I am using the Eric Meyer's CSS Reset. You can find it at http://meyerweb.com/eric/tools/css/reset/
For the screens, this is the CSS:

@import "reset.css";
html, body{
    width: 100%;
    height: 100%;
}
body{
    padding: 0;
    margin: 0;
    width: 100%;
    height: 100%;
    position: relative;
}
.sc{
    width: 100%;
    height: 100%;
    position: absolute;
    display: none;
    z-index: 10;
}
.sc.selected{
    display: block;
    z-index: 11;
}

Icons

For the icons, we will use a basic "display:inline-block". We could have used the new and fancy flex model, however it doesn't work in Safari, so for now let's wait till iOS7.

 #home ul{
    width: 100%;
    height: 100%;
    text-align: left;
}
#home ul li{
    height: 72px;
    width: 72px;
    background: #fff;
    display: inline-block;
    margin: 22px 0 0 22px;
    border-radius: 6px;;
}

Screens

Each screen will have a different color background. Below you can see the CSS.

 #home{
    background: #333;
}
#screen1{
    background: #2C3E50;
}
#screen2{
    background: #E74C3C;
}
#screen3{
    background: #3498DB;
}
#screen4{
    background: #ECF0F1;
}
#screen5{
    background: #2C3E50;
}
#screen6{
    background: #E74C3C;
}
#screen7{
    background: #3498DB;
}

jQuery

Now it's time for the most important part, how to make things work. How to make the links open a different screen. To do that we will use Javascript with jQuery. We will use jQuery because it's easier for beginners to understand how Javascript work.
To use jQuery we will have to make sure we are loading it in our HTML. To do that, use this code withing your "HEAD" tag. We are basically loading jQuery from its servers.

 <script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-1.10.1.min.js"></script>
        <script src="http://code.jquery.com/jquery-migrate-1.2.1.min.js"></script>

Removing the 300ms lag
Every time you click/tap something using a mobile phone, there will be a 300ms second if you use regular Javascript events like "onclick". To get rid of that there are some plugins online. The one we will use is based on Google Fast Button, but it's a jQuery version. You can read more about it at https://github.com/alexblack/google-fastbutton
Download the ZIP file and copy the .js files to the folder of your HTML file. Then add these lines right after the previous "script" tags that you used load jQuery.

<script src="google.fastbutton.js"></script>
<script src="jquery.google.fastbutton.js"></script>

Animations

CSS animations are the best way to create silk smooth animations for mobile prototypes. You can create animations using the keyframe technique, however there's an amazing jQuery plugin that helps. The plugin is the jQuery Transit - CSS3 transitions and transformations by Ricard Cruz http://ricostacruz.com/.
Same thing as before, let's load the plugin. Just add the code like the example below.
 <script src="http://ricostacruz.com/jquery.transit/jquery.transit.min.js" type="text/javascript"></script>

Basic transition

For the basic transition, that's hiding the current screen and showing the new one we will use CSS classes. Notice that theres a ".sc" and a ".sc.selected". For the basic ".sc" we have a "display:none", that means all screens will be hidden. Then for the one selected ".sc.selected" there's a "display:block". So basically, the idea is, the screen that's visible, it will have a class "selected". By removing the class and adding to another screen, we make a simple transition.
Below you can see the code.

 $(document).ready(function() {

    $(".link").fastClick(function () {
        screen = "#" + $(this).attr("page-load");
        if($(this).hasClass("none")){
            $(".sc").removeClass("selected");
            $(screen).addClass("selected");
        }
    })

})

The code above is basically, when the user clicks on a tag with the class ".link" it will get the screen to show, that is in the "page-load" from the link. We will create a variable called "screen" to have this value, but we will add the "#" symbol, that is the one used to represent the "ID".
If the link has a class "none" that is for different animations, we will basically remove the class "selected" to all ".sc" tags. Then we will add the class "selected" to the one we want to show.

Slide from Right to Left

To create a simple slide transition, we will pretty much follow the same idea, the only difference is that we will position the screen to load off the current viewport and then animate it in. Below you can see the code.

if($(this).hasClass("slideleft")){
$(".selected").addClass("previous");
$(screen).css({x:$(window).width() + "px"}).addClass("selected");
$(".previous").transition({x:"-" + $(window).width() + "px"},300,"ease");
$(screen).transition({x:"0px"},300,"ease",function () {
$(".previous").removeClass("selected");
$(".previous").removeClass("previous");
$(".sc").removeAttr("style");
});

}

So the code below will first add a class "previous" to the current screen, that's already selected. Then it will position the screen to show off the screen using "$(screen).css({x:$(window).width() + "px"})" that means, the screen will be position in the width of the window "$(window).width()" to get the value and move it in the X axis to that point. Example, if your screen is an iPhone, it will move the new screen at 640px. Then the class "selected" will be added in order to make it visible. At this point you will have 2 screens with the class "selected".
The second part is the animation using jQuery Transit. So we will basically animate the screen that was on the right to the 0 position using "$(screen).transition({x:"0px"},300,"ease",function ()". The time of the animation will be 300ms and it will use "ease" to make the speed not linear. Once the animation ends, we call a function to remove the "selected" class from the "previous" tag. Then we remove the "previous" class too. At last we remove any "style" attribute to make sure that there won't be any issue in the other animations.

More Animations

Below you can see different transtions type. We have SlideUp, SlideDown, SlideLeft, SlideRight, BackDown, Backup.

if($(this).hasClass("slideup")){
    $(".selected").addClass("previous");
    $(screen).css({y:$(window).height() + "px"}).addClass("selected");
    $(screen).transition({y:"0px"},300,"ease",function() {
        $(".previous").removeClass("selected");
        $(".previous").removeClass("previous");
        $(".sc").removeAttr("style");
    });   
}
if($(this).hasClass("slidedown")){
    $(".selected").addClass("previous");
    $(screen).addClass("selected");
    $(screen).css({y:"-" + $(window).height() + "px"});
    $(screen).transition({y:"0px"},300,"ease",function() {
        $(".previous").removeClass("selected");
        $(".previous").removeClass("previous");
        $(".sc").removeAttr("style");
    });   
}
if($(this).hasClass("slideleft")){
    $(".selected").addClass("previous");
    $(screen).css({x:$(window).width() + "px"}).addClass("selected");
    $(".previous").transition({x:"-" + $(window).width() + "px"},300,"ease");
    $(screen).transition({x:"0px"},300,"ease",function () {
        $(".previous").removeClass("selected");
        $(".previous").removeClass("previous");
        $(".sc").removeAttr("style");
    });   
   
}
if($(this).hasClass("slideright")){
    $(".selected").addClass("previous");
    $(screen).css({x:"-" + $(window).width() + "px"}).addClass("selected");
    $(".previous").transition({x:$(window).width() + "px"},300,"ease");
    $(screen).transition({x:"0px"},300,"ease",function () {
        $(".previous").removeClass("selected");
        $(".previous").removeClass("previous");
        $(".sc").removeAttr("style");
    });   
   
}
if($(this).hasClass("backdown")){
    $(".selected").addClass("previous");
    $(screen).show();
    $(".previous").css("z-index","24").transition({y:$(window).height() + "px"},300,"ease",function() {
        $(".previous").removeClass("selected");
        $(".previous").removeClass("previous");
        $(screen).addClass("selected");
        $(".sc").removeAttr("style")
    });   
}
if($(this).hasClass("backup")){
    $(".selected").addClass("previous");
    $(screen).show();
    $(".previous").css("z-index","24").transition({y: "-" + $(window).height() + "px"},300,"ease",function() {
        $(".previous").removeClass("selected");
        $(".previous").removeClass("previous");
        $(screen).addClass("selected");
        $(".sc").removeAttr("style");
    });   
}

Using the animations

With this basic code you can simply add a class "link" to any tag to make it clickable. Once it's clickable you can choose the transition by using another tag. In our case you can use:

• slideup - eg.
• slidedown - eg.
• slideleft - eg.
• slideright - eg.
• backdown - eg.
• backup - eg.

Conclusion

It might look confusing, but as any new thing we want to know there's a learning curve. The secret is to go little by little, with small little achievements in order to get easy and quick rewards, that way we keep ourselves motivated.
You can also download the files and check on your phone (recommended)

Download Files

John, a woodcutter, worked for a company for five years but never got a raise. The company hired Bill and within a year he got a raise. Then John resented Bill's getting a raise after only a year and went to his boss to talk about it. The boss said, "You are still cutting the same number of trees you were cutting five years ago. We are a result-oriented company and would be happy to give a raise if your productivity goes up." John went back, started hitting harder and putting longer hours but he still wasn't able to cut more trees. He went back to his boss and told him his dilemma. The boss told John to go talk to Bill. "Maybe there is something Bill knows that you and I don't." John asked Bill how he managed to cut more trees. Bill answered, "After every tree I cut, I take a break for two minutes and sharpen my axe. When was the last time you sharpened your axe?"

When was the last time you sharped your axe? Past glory and education don't count for much. We have to continuously sharpen the axe.

Andrew Carnegie came to America from Scotland as a young boy. He started out by doing odd jobs and ended up as one of the largest steel manufacturers in United States. At one time, he had 43 millionaires working for him. A million dollars is a lot of money today, but in the 1920s it was worth much more!
Someone once asked Mr. Carnegie how he dealt with people. Andrew Carnegie replied, "Dealing with people is a lot like digging for gold: When you go digging for an ounce of gold you have to move tons of dirt. But when you go digging you don't go looking for the dirt, you go looking for the gold."
Andrew Carnegie's reply has a very important message. Through sometimes it may not be apparent there is something positive in every person and every situation. We have to dig deep for positive.

What is your focus? Search for the gold. If you are looking for what is wrong with people or with things, you will find many faults. What are we looking for? Gold or dirt? Even in paradise, fault finders will find faults.Most people find what they are looking for.

        

There was a man who made his living selling balloons at a fair. He had balloons of many different colours, including red, yellow, blue, green and many more. Whenever business was slow, he would release a helium-filled balloon into the air. When the children saw the balloon go up, they all wanted one. They would come up to him, buy a balloon and his sales would go up. All day, he continued to release a balloon whenever the sales slowed down. One day, the balloon man felt someone tugging at his jacket. He turned around and a little boy asked, "If you release a black balloon, would that also fly?" Moved by the boy's concern, the man replied gently, "Son, it is not the colour of the balloon, it is what's inside that makes it go up."

The same principle applies to our lives: It's what's inside that counts. And what's inside of us that makes us go up is our attitude.

Every single rupee counts, especially during downturn; adopting a method to your purchasing and spending pattern could indeed help you manage your household better.

 Every household is in India is feeling the pulse of the changing economic dynamics. While investing carefully during these testing times is one aspect that every woman of a house pays utmost attention to, listing things that will make life simpler is another aspect that would ease the tension off on how money flows out of your bank account.

Here's how to avoid spending more money?

• Buy things that you would need the most and most important, buy things that you are going to use the most.
• Cut down on your lifestyle needs which do not come under bare necessities.
• Plan your weekly budget instead of a monthly one. This would give somewhat clear picture of what exactly you are thinking of spending on.
• Don't buy toiletries and groceries in bulk as you used to do. Calculate how much of each stuff you are going to need and then make purchases accordingly.
• Similarly, avoid stocking frozen food stuff in large quantities. Ditto for vegetable shopping. Planning vegetable purchases and frozen food purchases according to one's needs on a weekly or a daily basis would not lead to wastage, especially of vegetables.
• Think economy and don't look for exotic vegetables which cost a bomb. 
• Reduce your spending on cosmetics that you can do away with till good time arrives.
• Pay a careful watch on electricity consumption. Use the minimum of your microwave oven, electric rice cooker and also geyser. Refrigerator is a basic necessity, so you can't avoid that. However, you can save some units by lowering the coolness level according to the season. If the weather is pleasant and the atmosphere is cool enough, you can also do without the AC.
• Cut short of your movie going and dining out spree. Arrange for a gourmet dinner and experience the fun of watching a movie at home with a homemade popcorn - unlimited fun and good sleep, good food and good life - that should be the priority in life, albeit with a well drafted list of dos and donts.

Phailin has the potential to be one of the deadliest storms on Earth for the past several decades. It’ll strike India’s east coast within the next 24 hours.

The Cyclone Phailin is about half-INDIA'S size! Then think how much destruction it can cause.
Cyclone Phailin is a very severe cyclonic storm that has affected Thailand, Myanmar and the Indian provinces of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal. The system was first noted as a tropical depression within the Gulf of Thailand, to the west of Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. Over the next few days, the system moved westwards within an area of low to moderate vertical wind shear, before as it passed over the Malay Peninsula, it moved out of the Western Pacific Basin on October 6. The system emerged into the Andaman Sea during the next day and moved west-northwest into an improving environment for further development. The system was subsequently named Phailin on October 9, after it had developed into a cyclonic storm and passed over the Andaman and Nicobar Islands into the Bay of Bengal. After it was named, Phailin rapidly intensified and developed an eye, and became a very severe cyclonic storm on October 10, equivalent to a category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale (SSHWS). Later that day, Phailin became equivalent to a category 4 hurricane on the SSHWS before it underwent an eyewall replacement cycle and formed a new eyewall early on October 11. This new eyewall subsequently consolidated and allowed the system to intensify and become equivalent to a category 5 hurricane on the SSHWS later that day.
Officials said around 12 million people may be affected, 600 buildings have been identified as cyclone shelters, and people are being evacuated from areas near the coast, including Ganjam, Puri, Khordha and Jagatsinghapur districts in Orissa. 


Cyclone Phailin is a major hurricane (specified as a Super Cyclonic Storm) with wind speeds at 160 miles per hour, making it a Category 5 storm on the Saffir Simpson scale. The storm is not projected to weaken much as it slams into parts of eastern India late Saturday according to Indian clocks (Saturday morning U.S. time). The last time a Category 4 or 5 storm struck the eastern coast of India was back in 1999, when Cyclone Odisha struck killing over 10,000 people. A major disaster appears to be in the making, with at least one Indian meteorologist commenting that Phailin has the potential to be “worse than Katrina.”
Indeed, Phailin has the potential to be one of the deadliest storms on Earth for the past several decades. Phailin is expected to make landfall in northeast India, approximately between Visakhapatnam and Puri, within the next 24 hours.
Cyclone Phailin is currently spinning away in the Bay of Bengal. It is a large cyclone and is almost covering up nearly all of the Bay of Bengal. The last time a Category 4 or 5 storm struck the eastern coast of India was back in 1999, when Cyclone Odisha struck killing over 10,000 people. The residents that live off the coast of India are vulnerable to storm surge, flooding, and extreme damage from tropical cyclones. If you throw into the mix a Category 4 or 5 storm, that spells major problems. The storm is super large, meaning storm surge will likely be greater.
Phailin has already had an eyewall replacement cycle, meaning that it could intensify prior to making landfall in eastern India. The storm is very symmetric and is going over very warm waters and perfect atmospheric conditions that are very favorable for an intensifying storm.
Cyclone formation in the Northern Indian Ocean is typically a rare event. That part of the world usually sees 3 to 6 systems per year. Since 2000, the Bay of Bengal averages roughly two cyclones each year. Some of the most active years in the Northern Indian Ocean occurred in the 1970s when the basin averaged roughly five storms each year. 1998 and 1999 were active seasons that each had 3 storms make landfall in India with two of them at hurricane intensity (64 knots or 74 mph or stronger). According to weather experts, 26 of the 35 deadliest tropical cyclones in world history have been Bay of Bengal storms. Also, 42% of Earth’s tropical cyclone-associated deaths have occurred in Bangladesh.  

India is vulnerable to tropical cyclones. According to Dr. Marshall Shepherd, President of the American Meteorological Society and Professor at the University of Georgia, we have to focus on how communities are vulnerable to weather extremes.

Vulnerability is a function of the disaster itself (e.g. storm strength), the socio-economic vulnerability of those affected, and the adaptive capacity or resilience of those affected. Many of the 40 million people in the path of Phailon have are highly socio economically vulnerable with low adaptive capacity = human disaster. Katrina or Andrew times a factor of perhaps 100 or more…

India is already evacuating and preparing for Cyclone Phailin. However, the outer rain bands of the storm is already over land, and the weather is expected to continue to deteriorate. Storm surge of 20 feet or higher is possible. Flooding is very likely as the system is very large. This storm will likely be extremely devastating for their economy along the coast. 


Cyclone Phailin is an extremely dangerous storm that is going to hit the eastern coast of India within the next 24 hours as a high end Category 4 or Category 5 storm. The last time a storm of this intensity hit this region, over 10,000 people died. Conditions will continue to deteriorate over the next 24 hours as the storm brings 150+ mile-per-hour winds, storm surge greater than 20 feet (6 meters), and significant flooding. I wish there was good news to share, but this setup looks almost catastrophic. Prayers go out to those affected by this storm.

Here's what you need to keep in mind when choosing one.
Sofas have always been and will be the focus of attention in living rooms, and so needs attention in both purchase and maintenance. Here's how you should go about selecting the ideal one for your home...
 
Size wise 
It is important to first determine the sofa dimensions that will fit into the space in your room. Before you purchase, you must know the approximate width and length of your living room or hall.

What is the difference between winning and being a winner? You all would be thinking that why I am making a similar post like the last time. Don't worry in this post I will be telling about some inspirational persons who did not won the race but they were winners. Being a winner is a spirit but winning is an event. Winners have kept winning in perspective based on their value system.

THREE INSPIRATIONAL WINNERS

Lawrence Lemieux   

The Olympics is a lifetime event. Lawrence Lemieux stopped racing in an Olympic Yacht Race to help a fellow competitor who was in trouble. The whole world was watching. His priority of safety and concern for other people's lives was greater than his desire to win. Even though he had not win the race, he was a winner. He was honored by kings and queens all over the world because he kept the spirit of the Olympic alive. 

Reuben Gonzalez

Reuben Gonzales was in the final match of a racquetball tournament playing for the world title. In the final game, at match point, Gonzalez played a super shot. The referee and the linesman both confirmed that the shot was good and he was good as he was declared the winner. But Gonzalez, after a little pause and hesitation, turned back to shake his opponent's hand and said, "The shot was faulty." He lost the serve and eventually the match. Everyone was stunned. Who could imagine that a player with everything official in his favor, with winning in his pocket, would disqualify himself and lose. When asked whu he did it, Gonzalez replied, "It is the only thing to do in order to maintain my integrity." He lost the match, yet he was a winner.

Unknown

A group of salespeople left town for a meeting and told their families they would be back home Friday evening for supper. But with meetings the way they are, one thing led to another and the meeting didn't end on time. They had to catch their flight back home, but arrived at the airport with oly a few minutes to spare. They ran, with tickets in hand, hoping to be able to board the plane. While running, one of them hit a table knocking over a fruit basket. The fruit scattered and lay bruised all over the floor but they didn't have time to stop. They made it to the plane just in time to board. All of them breathed a sigh of relief that they had made it, expect for one. He got up, said good-bye to his friends, and returned to the table with the fruits. What he saw made him glad that he had come bavk. Behind the table was a ten-year-old blind girl who was selling the fruits to make a living. He said, "I hope we haven't ruined your day." He pulled out ten dollars from his wallet, handed to her and said, "This will take care of the fruits" and left. The girl couldn't see what was going on; but as the footsteps faded away, she shouted from behind, "Are you God?" The salesman missed his fight but was he a winner? You bet.

One could be a winner without a winner and one can be a loser with a medal if winning is not kept in perspective.    

We all have hundreds of thousands of thoughts running through our brain every minute. Most of us get so caught up in our daily lives that we don’t take time step back, relax and breathe. This is exactly where the practice of yoga comes in. Yoga literally means to unite [the mind and body] – a practice that helps you get in touch with yourself, cultivate stillness and change your life. I am also a fat boy but now I am going to try yoga from now on (because of my autumn breaks.)

1. Yoga helps you learn about your body. 

Are you an avid reader? A book worm, who loves collecting books? But do you get depressed every time you take a look at your teeming book-shelf.

If you want to be a proud bibliographer and maintain all those precious books you've collected over years, here are a few tips on how to neatly arrange your book shelf.

 In the current times home design and styling has become intrinsic to this expression of the self, almost becoming a story told through design. The home space is being passionately converted into an 'object' or possession reflecting the social status of the owner and his personality. To cater to this new-age demand, developers, architects and interior designers are continuously raising the bar, by adhering to international standards in terms of architectural and landscape design, amenities, facilities and services offered to the consumer.

There is no doubt that an increase in the trend of luxury living has lead to an influx of high end projects, luxury brands and cutting edge designs. In fact, this is one sector which was least affected during the economic slump, in the past couple of years. One of the most encouraging outcomes of this 'hip and new' mindset, has been the development of innovative concepts in interior design.
Homes have graduated from being just comfortable living spaces into the luxury segment that was earlier associated only with the hospitality industry. Newer and innovative materials are being explored in ways never done before. Furniture has been transformed into pieces of art, while art is increasingly used and adapted to define and help modify the space to add elegance, chutzpah and style to the end-product.
When it comes to luxury homes, it has become essential to design and finish one's space as per the latest, trendiest and most exclusive finishes, fixtures and fittings, furniture, furnishings etc. Easy availability and access to hi-end, custom- made designer furniture, furnishings, modular kitchens, a wide range of bath fittings and concepts and latest technology ensure that one's home can be modified into an ultra luxurious space, created to reflect one's social standing.

Also, with increasing double income, nuclear families, it has become much easier to afford designer homes. Additionally, the present generation has the ability to recognize, acquire and put together an ideal collection of unique, hand-picked objects (furniture, artifacts, art, knick-knacks, furnishings etc) that reflect ones personal style, taste and hence social status. Subtle yet classy personal touches not only enhance the home interior, but speak volumes about your actual personality, profession and position in society.
For example, little knick-knacks collected from all over the world immediately portrays the fact that the owner of the house is a well travelled, informed individual who would not hesitate to loosen his purse strings if the object of desire were to enhance his social standing amongst his peers. The younger generation are not afraid to live comfortably, flaunt their eclectic style and explore new aspects of design. They are well-informed and would not hesitate to go the extra mile to express their lifestyle choices.

Google Inc has overhauled its search algorithm, the foundation of the Internet's dominant search engine, to better cope with the longer, more complex queries it has been getting from Web users.

Amit Singhal, senior vice president of search, told reporters on Thursday that the company launched its latest "Hummingbird" algorithm about a month ago and that it currently affects 90 percent of worldwide searches via Google.
Google is trying to keep pace with the evolution of Internet usage. As search queries get more complicated, traditional "Boolean" or keyword-based systems begin deteriorating because of the need to match concepts and meanings in addition to words.
"Hummingbird" is the company's effort to match the meaning of queries with that of documents on the Internet, said Singhal from the Menlo Park garage where Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin conceived their now-ubiquitous search engine.
"Remember what it was like to search in 1998? You'd sit down and boot up your bulky computer, dial up on your squawky modem, type in some keywords, and get 10 blue links to websites that had those words," Singhal wrote in a separate blogpost.
"The world has changed so much since then: billions of people have come online, the Web has grown exponentially, and now you can ask any question on the powerful little device in your pocket."
Page and Brin set up shop in the garage of Susan Wojcicki -- now a senior Google executive -- in September 1998, around the time they incorporated their company. This week marks the 15th anniversary of their collaboration.

At some point in the various journeys we embark on in our lives, we get to a part where we feel like giving up. Sometimes we give up before we even start and other times we give up just before we are about to make that huge break-through that we have been putting so much effort in to achieve.
I am a school student. I had my exams going on last week. And you know my first exam was of Mathematics (my enemy, because I hate Maths very much, really very much) I gave my best, but when I stood up to get results I was really disappointed. I thought of giving up Maths, but I got some inspiration from my friends, family and teachers (which I am going to share now.) I decided to work more harder on Maths because I get good results in all other subjects (or you can say excellent results.)
The number one reason people don’t get what they want is because they give up too soon. That’s a true stat that I just made up, but I would venture to guess it’s not far off. You’ve probably given up on a lot of things before.

• You did your best in your exam, but not got the results - so you gave up.(my reason)
• You didn’t get the first job you wanted – so you gave up.
• The first business you started working on failed – so you gave up.
• The first time you went out for a run, you puked – so you gave up.
• The first time you sent in a writing piece, you got turned down – so you gave up.

It could be anything, but chances are whatever it is, it boiled down to this: you didn’t get what you wanted right away so you gave up.

STOP GIVING UP.
Perseverance, next to adaptability is the most important skill you can have.  And it’s just that, a skill. Like any other skill in the world, you might be born with a more natural ability to persevere than others, but you can learn to stick with things and persevere if you want to. In fact, the one thing that sets people I know who succeed in the long run over the people who don’t is the ability to persevere, keep going and never give up.

The goal of this article is to get you to stop giving up!

I have created this list of 12 reasons why you should never give up and I hope that you will find it before you give up, so that I can inspire you to keep going and some killer strategies for never giving up!




1- As Long As You Are Alive Anything Is Possible
The only valid excuse you have to give up is if you are dead. As long as you are alive (and healthy and free) you have the choice to keep trying until you finally succeed.
 
2- Be Realistic
The chance of mastering something the first time you do it is almost non-existent. Everything takes time to learn and you will make mistakes. Learn from them.

3- You Are Strong
You are stronger than you think. One little setback is not enough to stop you from achieving your goals. Neither are 10 or 100 or 1000 setbacks.

4- Prove Yourself
You don’t want to be known as someone that is weak and gives up. Go out there and prove yourself to the world and to yourself. You CAN and WILL achieve what you set out to do. The only time you fail is when you give up.

5- Has It Been Done Before?
If someone else can do it then so can you. Even if it is only one other person in the world that has achieved what you have set out to achieve, that should be reason enough for you to never give up.

6- Believe In Your Dreams
Don’t sell yourself short. In life there are going to be many people who will try to bring you down and tell you what you want to achieve is not possible. Don’t let anyone destroy your dreams.

7- Your Family and Friends.
Let the people you love and who mean the world to you be your inspiration to persist and persevere. Maybe you need to try a different angle, study more or practice more but don’t give up!

8- Because I Tell You To.
Not that I am any sort of guru or Godly figure, but if you want to give up then don’t. Just because I’m telling you not to.

9- There Are People Worse-Off
Right now there are many people who are in a worse situation and environment than you are right now. Are you thinking about giving up running 5 miles a week? Think about the people who are unable to even walk and how much they would give to be able to run 5 miles every day.

10- Improve Our World
When you achieve whatever you set out to achieve you can use your success to make a difference to the world or other peoples lives.

11- Let The Haters Hate
There will always be haters. There will always be plenty of naysayers  and people who try to tear you down. Don’t pay attention to them and don’t take what they say to heart. Let the haters hate and you keep believing in yourself.

12- You Deserve To Be Happy
Don’t ever let anybody tell you otherwise. You deserve to be happy and you deserve to have success. Keep that mindset and never give up until you reach your destination!

Want ME to give you some inspiration?

 

1- Michael Jordan
Arguably the best basketball player of all time. He attributes his success to all his failures. He just never gave up even when he knew he had missed over 300 shots and had missed the  winning shot of the game many times. Every time he got knocked down he got back up again.

2- Lance Armstrong
Lance was diagnosed with serious cancer that had spread throughout his entire body. He had cancer cells the size of golf balls in his lungs. Despite all odds he overcame the cancer and set out to win the Tour de France 6 Consecutive years in a row.

3- Muhammad Ali
“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee”. Muhammad Ali is one of the best boxers the world has ever known. He suffered only 5 losses while having 56 wins and was the first boxer to win the lineal heavyweight championship three times. This is a guy who literally knows how to get knocked down and get back up.

4- The Man Who Created The Marathon
Very long ago an Athenian herald was sent to Sparta to get help when the Persians landed in Greece. It was said that he ran 240km in 2 days and after that he ran 40km to announce the victory of the Greeks only to collapse and die on the spot from exhaustion. If you ever feel like things are difficult, imagine what it would be like to run 240km in 2 days. (Don’t try that because you might die from it, but use it as an inspiration).

5- Chris Gardner – The Pursuit of Happiness
Have you seen the movie “The Pursuit of Happiness”? It is based on the life story of Chris Gardener, a man who went for the lowest of the lows in an environment where most people would give up (no money, no job) to the highest of the highs (A millionaire with his own investment firm). If you ever think about giving up, watch this movie!

6- Kanye West
I’m pretty sure you have heard of the rapper Kanye West. Read his story. He is a big inspiration for me and proves that you can go from having very little to being among the most famous and respected people in the world.

7- Nelson Mandela
Campaigned for justice and freedom in his South Africa. Spent 20 years in jail for his opposition to apartheid. On release he healed the wounds of apartheid by his magnanimous attitude toward his former political enemies.

6 Killer Strategies for Never Giving Up!!



Luckily, like everything, not giving up is a skill you can learn. Here are some strategies for never giving up to help you the next time you want to quit.

1. Go Workout

A long run can clear your mind in ways that few other things can. Same with a solid session of throwing around a lot of heavy weight. Get moving. Go do something different. Push yourself physically. The best way to get past imaginary limits is to make them as physical as possible and then physically smash them into pieces. When you do that it reminds you that the limits that seem so real in your mind, aren’t real at all. When you’re in the weight room, the iron never lies. It shows you exactly who you are and that with solid hard work you can overcome something you used to think was impossible to do.

2. Forget About It

You got rejected, turned down or met some other minor setback? Forget about it. Literally just forget about it. Move on to something else instead and put that out of your mind.
In my mind sometimes, I think things were really, really easy, because looking back on things I tend to forget all the hard parts. I look at whatever I did and think “well that wasn’t so hard.”
Of course it’s wasn’t now that you’re done with it!
But there were a ton of times along the way that things were difficult, but I just put them out of my head. It turns out, I have a very short term memory of all the times I’ve screwed up, failed, and been rejected. It’s not that they didn’t happen – it’s just that I didn’t let them stop me. I put them out of  my mind and kept going, with whatever added wisdom I picked up from that experience.
For example: When I first started writing online, I sent a bunch of samples to a few blogs that I thought were great, only to get rejected time after time after time. I’d spend a week on an article only to get a “no thanks” back from a blog I thought was amazing. So I quit, packed up my laptop ran to my room, cried for a few months and never wrote another thing again, right?
Well, actually I just made my own site and started writing. And I still wasn’t any good. I was bad when I started (really bad), but I’ve gotten less and less bad as time goes on. As I’ve improved I realize those sites that I thought were amazing, weren’t that amazing after all. They were good, and they were right (the pieces I sent them weren’t great) but they weren’t blogging Gods and their judgment of wherever I was at the time, didn’t mean I couldn’t improve and get better. I still get rejected all the time, but I just keep going.
If you’re facing a setback, rejection, or failure, sometimes it’s easy to turn on your short term memory and continue anyways.

3. Reframe Your Story

Reframing your story is one of the most powerful things you can do.
Rethink the lens you’re looking at your life through. Instead of worrying about the struggle you’re in the midst of, remind yourself you’re a character in a story. Characters experience conflict and the conflict you’re going through is part of what’s going to make your story so great in the end.
Your current circumstances are not final outcomes. 
Your circumstances define the conflict, but not the final result. The harder the struggle, the greater the story. The more triumphant it is in the end when you overcome the conflict you find yourself immersed in.
When other people give up, you keep going and remember that there’s more to the story than what you’re experiencing right now.

4. Keep Your Head Up.

The crap you’re going to seems so immense because you’re focused directly on it – looking directly into and analyzing every piece of crap that flies your way. When you raise your head up, you look beyond the mess you’re stuck in right now and see the bigger picture and sometimes that’s all you need. Keeping your head up allows you to see the simple solution to the problem that you used to think was ridiculously complex.

5. Make Quitting Not An Option

Just decide that you’re not going to quit. This is so effective, and so simple, but hardly anyone does it. Just decide you’re not going to quit.
No matter what. Period. End of Story.
If you get punched in the face. Keep going. If you go bankrupt. Suck it back up and keep going. If you get laughed at, mocked or pushed down. Just get back up. Get back at it and keep going. Be relentless.
Decide that quitting is not an option and, no matter how many times you fail, it won’t be an option.

6. Watch Someone Do Something Impossible

What can you do? You’re just a little tiny person on earth. Good thing people are capable of doing incredible things.
When it feels like you can’t do anything, it can be helpful to be reminded by others who have done amazing things despite the annoying hindrance of being merely human.

• One person can start a movement that changes a country.
• One person went from getting cut from his high school team to the greatest basketball player ever.
• One person helped start Apple – the world’s most valuable company.

“Everything around you that you call life was made up by people who are no smarter than you.” – Steve Jobs

Go watch someone do something impossible. Then go do something impossible yourself. One person can change the world. Be that person.

There you go, 6 strategies for persevering and not giving up. Now go do something impossible and don’t quit!
Did I miss anything? Any strategies that work for you, that you’d like to add?