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Cultivate Well-roundedness
Here we are: Number 365. And it's a doozy: Cultivate Well-roundedness, the fifth and last of our "Five Cultivates."
It seems the happiest people I know can whoop it up with friends on Saturday night and attend church with great conviction on Sunday.
They can chat with equal amiability with college professors and construction workers, with police officers and prostitutes, with ministers and mine workers.
They can have fun in a disco or on a mountain trail, can be at peace in traffic or in tranquility.
They are all things to all people.
They are, as the Tao recommends, as soft and yielding as water, yet, as it also says, their strength has no equal.
Anyone who sounds one note might not fit the bill.
And yet, in all these situations, happy people are always themselves, never sacrificing who they are for the sake of others.
They contain multitudes.
So that is the final Secret. Look back over the other 364, and find out what sides of yourself might need development. If you only have one tune, master some more. If you only have one way to deal with adversity, learn some others. If you only have one friend, make more!
And, for the last time: You'll be happier.
Posted by James at 9:00 AM 1 comments Links to this post
Cultivate Peace
This brings us to the fourth of our "Five Cultivates," Cultivate Peace.
In many ways, peace is both the end and the means of our quest. What I have been calling "happiness" for nearly a year is really a sense of peace, or well-being. It is a lack of turmoil, tsuris, dukkha.
And how do we attain it? We start with it. We end with it. Borrowing and adapting from a couple of traditions, let us say:
Peace before me
Peace behind me
Peace above me and under my feet
Peace within me
Peace around me, and in all whom I meet.
With peace may I walk.
With peace before me, may I walk.
With peace behind me, may I walk.
With peace above me, may I walk.
With peace below me, may I walk.
With peace all around me, may I walk.
It is finished in peace.
Cultivate Peace, and you'll be happier.
Cultivate Gratefulness
The third of our "Five Cultivates" is Cultivate Gratefulness.
Yes, I've written about this before, but as we're in the Final Five, it bears repeating: The key to abundance, and therefore happiness, is to be grateful for everything you get. You may or may not get more as a result of this attitude; but if you're truly grateful for what you have, who needs more?
I am what is known amongst English speakers in Asia as "a templer," one who visits temples (Buddhist, Daoist, etc.) fanatically.
When I visit, I "pray." When asked the gist of my "prayers," I can sum them up in two words: "Thank you."
Thank who? Whoever's listening. It's not the "receiver" that's important in giving thanks, it's the heart of the sender, the position of acknowledging our dependence on others, on the universe.
So give thanks. Be appreciative. Cultivate Gratefulness. Your life will be fuller and richer for it, and, yes, you'll be happier.
Here's the second in our series of "The Five Cultivates": Cultivate Compassion.
This word "compassion" is widely misunderstood. It's often thought to mean merely "pity" or "kindness."
It is so much more.
At its highest cultivation, compassion becomes an identity with those who are suffering. Lest you think this is some high-falutin' Buddhist idea, just remember the words of John Donne:
Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls it tolls for thee.
When one suffers, we all suffer.
So for pity's sake (!) Cultivate Compassion. You (and all sentient beings) will be happier.
Cultivate Mindfulness
As we come near the end of our 365 (this is number 361), I have been emphasizing a few points that have run through the series. Now I want to end with a "definitive" (ahem) list. Let's call them "The Five Cultivates" (a naming convention borrowed from China, where I live).
The first one is: Cultivate Mindfulness.
Be mindful of the people around you, of the places where you spend time, of the way you live your life.
Which ones are making you happy? Which ones are making you not so?
Be mindful of your attitudes, towards things, towards people, towards life itself.
What mental furniture makes you the happiest?
In short, pay attention.
Socrates said it: "The unexamined life is not worth living." I think he was talking about being mindful.
So there's Number One: Cultivate Mindfulness. And you'll be happier.
It's standard wisdom in economics: Don't put all your eggs in one basket; instead, diversify.
So why wouldn't the same be true of happiness?
No less an expert than Sigmund Freud said, "Just as a cautious businessman avoids investing all his capital in one concern, so wisdom would probably admonish us also not to anticipate all our happiness from one quarter alone."
If there's someone (or something) in your life that constitutes your "everything," you run the risk of severe unhappiness in the case of loss. Think of it this way: As happy as that person or thing makes you, whatever heights you rise to, that's how low you'll go if you ever suffer a loss.
So spread those eggs around. Find multiple sources for the happiness in your life. Start a hobby, get a pet, create something, find a special place. But don't let all your happiness come from one source.
Diversify. You'll be happier.
British journalist Holbrook Jackson once wrote, "Happiness is a form of courage."
Conversely, I guess, those without the courage to take hold of happiness are doomed to be miserable.
If I have learned one thing in the past nearly-a-year of writing about happiness, it's that happiness is hard work. (If I've learned a second thing, it's that it's useless to actually work toward happiness. Which leads to a third thing: that virtually everything we say about happiness is paradoxical.)
Anyway, it's true that happiness is available only to those who have the courage to take hold of it. Some of my friends (and I myself, when I was single) plan their own birthday parties. If no one else does it, why not? It's a bold, and to some, self-serving, move. And yet, if it makes you happy, why not?
So grow some cojones. Have some nerve. Be bold and seize some happiness.
Know How to be Abased, and How to Abound
Every life has its ups and downs, the flux symbolized by the "Wheel of Fortune" (the medieval symbol, not the game show--although that has ups and downs, too!)
Knowing how to handle both conditions is an essential Secret of Happiness.
The Christian apostle Paul put it well when he wrote to the Philippians: "I have learned to be content in whatever state I'm in. I know both how to be abased, and how to abound; I have been instructed every where and in all things both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need."
This same sentiment was voiced by the Roman Stoic philosopher Seneca, who said, "Happy is the man who can endure the highest and lowest fortune. He who has endured such vicissitudes with equanimity has deprived misfortune of its power."
How to achieve such a state? Paul attributed his strength to Christ, a "higher power." Seneca's stoic philosophy sought to attain equanimity through "moral and intellectual perfection."
Either way, the goal is to set one's eyes on the prize, not being ruffled by setbacks and successes, but always aiming at something higher.
That's it. Learn to accept the good with the bad.
Work Toward Gross National Happiness
Many have found the current economic woes to be a blessing in disguise, turning us away from rampant consumerism and a rat-race mentality toward simplicity, self-development, and work that satisfies.
More and more people, through choice and necessity, are living in smaller spaces, driving smaller cars, preparing for caring careers, and just generally conforming their lives to a more human scale. A 2007 study in the UK showed that "more that than one in two Britons wanted a second, more compassionate career for the last two decades of their working life," aiming to "put satisfaction before success."
This sentiment was voiced back in 1972 when the former King of Bhutan said, "I care less about the gross national product and more about the gross national happiness."
What a noble sentiment! And how unfortunate that it took a crisis to move us in that direction.
But, perhaps, a new day is dawning. A day when compassion trumps greed, when kindness overcomes anger, and when wisdom prevails over ignorance.
Wouldn't it be nice?
So as you evaluate your life and where it's going, consider the cause of "GNH"-- Gross National Happiness.
Promote it, and you (and everyone around you) will be happier.
Practice "The Four Immeasurables"
As we come near the end of this project (just ten Secrets to go!) you'll notice that I'm leaning more and more toward lists. We had Goethe's last time, and I'll be giving you my own "summa" over the final few days.
But today's list is a corker. The Buddha taught four principles in his "higher teaching" (not for the weak at heart), and these were so supreme that they have been called "immeasurable," or even "Brahma Viharas"--the dwelling-places of the divine.
They are, in short:
Loving-kindness: wishing happiness for all (including not just people but all sentient beings)
Compassion: desiring a decrease in suffering for all (again including all sentient beings)
Sympathetic Joy: rejoicing in the success of all (including you-know-what); the very opposite of jealousy
Equanimity: avoiding distinctions like "friend" or "enemy," "success" or "failure," "praise" or "blame," etc., and reacting to all phenomena with detached acceptance
And how do we attain these exalted states? Through meditation, calming the mind, quieting the raging ego.
Try it. If you can do that (and no one is saying it will be easy), you'll be happier.
Go with Goethe
Today's guest blogger is the German genius Johann Wolfgang von Goethe--I think. I haven't really verified this quote, but it's so good, I just thought I'd steal it. (I have also added the numbers and the italics.)
Nine requisites for contented living:
1. Health enough to make work a pleasure.
2. Wealth enough to support your needs.
3. Strength enough to battle with difficulties and overcome them.
4. Grace enough to confess your sins and forsake them.
5. Patience enough to toil until some good is accomplished.
6. Charity enough to see some good in your neighbor.
7. Love enough to move you to be useful to others.
8. Faith enough to make real the things of God.
9. Hope enough to remove all anxious fears concerning the future.
So go with Goethe.
Be Seized
When I was a kid, there was a candy bar jingle that ran:
"Don't fight it!
"Surrender to a Peter Paul Almond Cluster..."
A wickedly effective campaign.
There are some things in life that won't be denied: love, death, a certain madness in springtime, and yes, a good candy bar.
When was the last time you just "surrendered"?
Give in to something bigger than yourself. Surrender. Be seized.
Don't Wait 'Til Too Late
I recently saw a wonderful bit by the great Alan Watts. In essence, he said, the point of a piece of music is not the finale. If it were, then he who conducts the fastest would be considered the best conductor!
No, the point of a piece of music is the enjoyment throughout.
But in Kindergarten, we can't wait for first grade, and so on through our school years. Then university, the first job, the bigger house and car and so on. We spend all our lives pursuing "success."
Is that the point?
Hear the words of the clever French novelist Colette (author of Gigi, among others): "What a wonderful life I've had. I only wish I had realized it sooner."
Realize it now. Don't wait 'til too late.
Detox Your World
When I lived in Tokyo, I really felt the effects of the density of city dwelling. For one year, I was able to keep a regimen of juicing once a week, living on fruit and vegetable juice instead of solids.
It made a huge difference.
What's toxic in your environment? Do you smoke? Stop. Does someone around you smoke? Find a way to neutralize the effect.
Are you eating purely? Stop the junk, the additives, the artificials. Get back to basics, eating what's fresh, and unprocessed.
Air. Water. Food.
Once you've done that, consider your visual and sonic environments. Are you greeted by pleasant views and soothing sounds at home? If not, fix it.
The modern world can be a toxic place. The more we can detox it, the happier we'll be. We can't all live in Bali, but we can make where we are a bit more like paradise.
Try it. You'll be happier.
Burn Some Incense
Simple pleasures.
I can't tell you how happy it makes me when I walk into my living room and my wife has been burning incense. or cooking rice.
Or when I'm walking down a path and suddenly smell osmanthus.
For some, it's hot coffee. Or baby powder.
I once heard that if you were trying to sell your house, you should cut apples before prospective buyers came. The smell triggers a "home" reaction.
So pay some attention to your olfactory environment. Sweeten up the smells around you. Burn some incense.
Cross Your Eyes
That wily philosopher Anon. once said, "Being happy doesn't mean everything is perfect. It means you have decided to look beyond the imperfections."
Try this some time: instead of inspecting every minute detail of your appearance in a mirror, just cross your eyes a little. Blur the image. That's about how close most other people will look at you.
Try it in other spheres, literally and metaphorically. Instead of focusing in on some problem you're having, take in the whole of your life. You may discover it's just not that bad.
Stop zeroing in on the negatives, and take a more blurred view of things.
Cross your eyes.
Sit by the Sea
The first key component of the Perennial Philosophy (the basis of my personal belief system) is that "there's something bigger than us."
Most of the time, we can't see it. But there are moments: sitting by the silent, impersonal, immense sea; looking down on the angelic clouds during a flight; attaining the summit of a mountain, and gazing back over the range traversed: all of these are "intimations of immortality," visible manifestations of that "something bigger."
So sit by the sea. Cross a vast plain. Climb a mountain. See yourself as the speck that you really are, but more than that, a part of the whole.
A couple of decades ago I got divorced, and lemme tell you something: Divorce is nowhere near as much fun as it looks. Neither is the death of a loved one, the loss of one's health, nor any of the other "thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to."
(I know; they don't look like fun at all. And they're even less fun than that.)
But you know what? Here I am, happy again. I am one of the millions, nay, billions, of "walking wounded," those who have gone through a traumatic experience and come out the other side.
Somebody said, "Happiness is not the absence of problems but the ability to deal with them."
You can do it. Whatever it is, cope with it.
You'll be happier. Someday.
When I think of the Masters of Happiness, names like "Jean-Paul Sartre," "Albert Camus," "Franz Kafka," "James Joyce," and "Friedrich Nietzsche" don't usually spring to mind.
Yet these keen observers of life had much to say about how to live--and isn't that what happiness is all about?
Take Nietzsche, for example. Most famous, perhaps, for his declaration that "God is dead," and his misappropriation by the Nazis, he also said homier, more accessible things, like these:
"Ah, women. They make the highs higher and the lows more frequent."
"A pair of powerful spectacles has sometimes sufficed to cure a person in love. "
"There is more wisdom in your body than in your deepest philosophy. "
And the saying that gave us today's "Secret":
"Believe me! The secret of reaping the greatest fruitfulness and the greatest enjoyment from life is to live dangerously!"
Seriously. The Road to Happiness requires us to flee the comfort zone and go out on a limb.
Do it. Live dangerously.
You may have heard it said that "The journey is the destination."
How does that relate to happiness? Well, American author Margaret Lee Runbeck wrote, "Happiness is not a station you arrive at, but a manner of traveling."
All aboard! You'll be happier.
Give Something Back
Recently I've been in several discussions about the practice of celebrities showing up at disasters or adopting children or starting foundations, and then saying, "I just want to give something back."
Reactions to this amongst my friends run from admiration to cynicism.
But the fact is, we've all been given more than we deserve. We all are obliged to "give something back" to our families, our teachers, our communities, our nations.
And yes, to those in immense need.
Let's take a page, though, from the Bodhisattva Practice. This does not look at "the other" with pity; rather, it sees the other as oneself, and recognizes that in "giving back" we are in fact giving to all sentient beings (including ourselves). There is no glory in that; it is just what any mindful person would do.
So do it. Give something back.
Reorganize a Workspace
Heaven knows, I'm not one of those people with an excessively neat workspace; quite the contrary, I subscribe to the maxim that "A clean desk is the sign of a sick mind."
However, I do need to be able to lay my hands on things in a hurry. There is a place for everything, and everything's (usually) in its place. It just doesn't look it.
But from time to time, it gets out of hand, and I have to re-organize. I hate doing it, but when it's all done, I feel good.
Give it some thought. Is your "system" slowing you down, making tasks take longer and thus keeping you from doing the things you really enjoy?
Maybe it's time to get organized.
If you do, you'll be happier.
Worry Wisely
I wonder how many people realize that Bobby McFerrin's "Don't Worry, Be Happy," was meant to be satirical?
You've lost your bed and your house; you have no cash. But don't frown, because that would make others feel sad! He can't be serious.
Nevertheless, a lot of us expend useless energy on worrying. It's not that worrying itself is bad; it's just that most of us do it wrong.
Problem: worrying about how my boss does her job.
Problem: worrying about inevitabilities, like death.
Problem: worrying about Acts of God.
What do these things have in common? They're not under our control.
If you're going to worry, worry about those things you can do something about. Then your worry can become productive.
And, of course, worry toward solutions, not just running in circles like Chicken Little.
And when a solution is reached, act on it. Check off that item on your "to worry about" list and start worrying about something else.
Pretty soon, you'll be happier.
Do What You Love (and Love What You're Doing)
Lots of TV shows have been built on the premise that people will do some pretty distasteful things for the chance to win money (think "Fear Factor"). It's easy to laugh at them, right? I mean, who would do something they didn't like, just to get money?
Ummm... Most of us?
I've written before about working less, even if it means less money. "Money can't buy happiness," they say. And yet it seems a lot of people trade happiness in order to get money. Why not reverse that: give up some money to get increased happiness?
My dad (like most dads and moms) is a hero in many ways. One thing stands out, though: when my older brothers started school, my dad was working "swing shift," and realized that he wouldn't see my brothers most of the week. So he changed jobs, taking a significant pay cut, just to work "days" so he could see "his boys" (and after me, a girl).
That's heroic.
Or, how about doing something you love even if it means less money?
Find something you love to do and, no matter the pay, you'll come out on top. As Albert Schweitzer said, "If you love what you are doing, you will be successful."
So do what you love (and love what you're doing).
Pluck the Treasures of Unhappiness
It's true: Most of us cannot sustain happiness all the time. So here's something from the great Canadian novelist Robertson Davies:
Happiness is always a by-product. It is probably a matter of temperament, and for anything I know it may be glandular. But it is not something that can be demanded from life, and if you are not happy you had better stop worrying about it and see what treasures you can pluck from your own brand of unhappiness.
Wow. Read it again. Then put it into practice.
Back in 1969, Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross wrote about the stages of grief in her book, On Death and Dying.
The well-known stages (with example statements from Wikipedia) are:
Denial – "I feel fine."; "This can't be happening, not to me."
Anger – "Why me? It's not fair!"; "How can this happen to me?"; "Who is to blame?"
Bargaining – "Just let me live to see my children graduate."; "I'll do anything for a few more years."; "I will give my life savings if..."
Depression – "I'm so sad, why bother with anything?"; "I'm going to die... What's the point?"; "I miss my loved one, why go on?"
Acceptance – "It's going to be okay."; "I can't fight it, I may as well prepare for it."
Once upon a time, I was trained in the diagnosis of problems in schoolchildren based on this model.
But the woman who did the training was a person of faith (I was a church elementary school principal at the time), and she added one more step to these fearsome five:
Yes, beyond mere acceptance, beyond the shrug and the "Oh, well, what the hell," comes genuine belief in the benevolence of the universe and the promise of the future.
So if you're in grief, look forward to Hope.
Remember, Well Begun is Half Done
The Nazarene Teacher admonished his followers to "count the cost" before undertaking to follow Him.
"Suppose you wanted to build a tower," he said. "Wouldn't you sit down and figure out the cost, then make sure you have enough to complete it? Because if you lay the foundation and then can't finish it, you'll be a laughingstock."
So yes, before you "jump in," be sure that everything's in order. The old folks said, "Well begun is half done." Count the cost, then just do it.
There's an old story about the fish who set off on a quest to find out what water was...
Joseph Campbell quotes a Polynesian proverb about "standing on a whale fishing for minnows."
Or, more elegantly, this, from Albert Camus: "You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life."
On the meaning of life, Campbell again: "People say that what we're all seeking is a meaning for life. I don't think that's what we're really seeking. I think that what we're seeking is an experience of being alive..."
Yes. Stop looking for meaning, stop seeking the "secret of happiness."
Call off the search and just live and be happy.
You'll be happier (natch).
Deal With Your Achilles Heel
Achilles' heel brought him down. If only he had found a way to turn it into a strength.
Artists, stand-up comedians, social activists: many of these are people who have taken their weaknesses, their shortcomings, their pain, and turned them into something beautiful.
Why can't we do the same?
So what's yours? And how can it serve you? Find a way and you'll be happier.
This week I've had my students peer-editing each others' writing. It's amazing how much easier it is to find problems with the work of others than to find our own faults!
The problem, as I've written before, is that we aren't always so good at detecting our own blind spots (that's why they're called "blind spots"). The most professional of doctors will often call for a second opinion; why shouldn't we do the same?
Not sure what to do at work? Run it by a colleague, or the boss.
Quandary in your personal life? Discuss it with a trusted friend or family member.
Got a DIY project going? Call on that contractor buddy for advice.
Heck, here in the Internet age, post it on a forum, or put it in a tweet, or ask your Facebook friends. There'll be no shortage of opinions! And they may think of something you missed.
Of course, this brings up another very important point: The final decision is yours. Sort through the advice you're given and find the nuggets of gold; wash away the rest.
"Two heads are better than one": use 'em both, and you'll be happier.
A common saying amongst my Indian friends is, "You can't stay in second grade forever." (OK, the grade varies, but the idea is the same.)
I mean, can you imagine a 45-year-old sitting in one of those little chairs at one of those little tables, knees up around his ears?
So why do so many of us hang onto old ways, old attitudes, old problems, and simply refuse to grow?
I recently learned that the late Pearl S. Buck, author of The Good Earth, was born and grew up just a few miles from the Buddhist monastery in Jiangsu Province where I lived for most of a year. Because of this, I took a second look at Buck and her works.
And in doing so, I found this gem: "Growth itself contains the germ of happiness."
The corollary sounds even more convincing: stagnation leads to unhappiness.
So grow already.
I spend a lot of electrons writing about the importance of what we think. But there's an old saying that "Action precedes attitude." What we do often shapes what we think.
Tell a kid to stop littering. And tell him, And tell him. And...
Or, take him on a roadside clean-up activity. He'll probably stop littering.
Want him to become generous? Have him give. Want him to be selfless? Have him volunteer.
Now, imagine that kid is you. What attitudes do you want to develop? And what actions can you do to help shape them?
Decide what you kind of person you want to be, and do what it takes to make you that person.
Control Your Self
When I was a kid, the comedian Flip Wilson was a big hit with his catchphrase, "The devil made me do it!"
It was funny when he said it. But isn't this a common cop-out? The idea that there is some outside force called "Evil" that makes us do bad things?
Here's what Buddhism says. In The Dhammapada, we read:
By oneself evil is done, by oneself one suffers;
By oneself evil is left undone, by oneself one is purified.
Purity and impurity belong to oneself,
No one can purify another.
And as for the results of our misbehavior? The great English Buddhist Christmas Humphries (love that name!) wrote, "Christians are punished for their sin; Buddhists are punished by their sin."
There's no one to blame but ourselves.
So take charge and control your Self.
Remember, No One Gets Out Alive
There are lots of clever ways to say this, but they all point to one thing: you're going to die.
In Catch-22, one character says, "I'm going to live forever, or die trying."
Robert Herrick in "To the Virgins, to make much of Time," put it more beautifully:
Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying:
And this same flower that smiles to-day
To-morrow will be dying.
So, what's the point?
Live. Just live.
"Be All That You Can Be"
No, I'm not proposing that you go join the Army (though that's a possible route to happiness for some).
I mean, maximize.
Mark Twain said, "The man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them."
Meaning? If you have the ability, or the opportunity, to do something, and you don't do it, you are in no better a position than the person who has no such possibilities.
So figure out what you've got, and use it. Figure out what you can do, and do it.
Go Insane
For those of you haven't done so already, it seems that losing your marbles is one secret to happiness. Take the word of no less a madcap than good ol' Sam Clemens, better known as the uber-whack Mark Twain: "Sanity and happiness are an impossible combination."
Think about it. Were you ever happier than when you first fell in love? And as another philosopher, the sometimes donkey-headed Bottom in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, says: "To say the truth, reason and love keep little company together nowadays."
The newly-in-love may be happy, but they sure-as-shootin' ain't stable!
The same is true of anyone in fits of ecstasy, whether a young one at Disneyland or an old one given a reprieve by the doctors. Ultimately happy is ultimately screwy.
Who was happier than Roger Rabbit at his most manic?
So go nuts. Lose it. Go off the deep end. Lose your marbles. Go insane.
Be a Cheapskate
As the old song goes, "The best things in life are free." The song gives us a list: the moon, the stars, flowers in spring, the robins that sing, the sunbeams that shine, and the Greatest Gift of All, Love.
But what do we want? Money. Or stuff. Or money and stuff.
So the great American philosopher, Henry David Thoreau (who knew a thing or two about getting by on the cheap) suggested we adjust our sights: "That man is richest," he said, "whose pleasures are cheapest."
This just turns everything upside down. We think the person who takes pleasure in going to Club Med, wearing a Rolex, driving a Ferrari, is the rich one.
Thoreau says it's the guy who takes pleasure in walking in the woods, wearing a Timex, and taking the bus.
So downgrade a little. Learn to take pleasure in simple things. Be a cheapskate.
Individuate
A horse is a horse.
But not every human being is a human being, according to some schools of thought. There is a process, they suggest, by which we become human.
As someone who has been a teacher for nearly 30 years, I agree.
The Jungians call this process "individuation." Here's some (regrettably heavy) stuff from Wikipedia:
According to Jungian psychology, individuation is a process of psychological integration, having for its goal the development of the individual personality. "In general, it is the process by which individual beings are formed and differentiated [from other human beings]; in particular, it is the development of the psychological individual as a being distinct from the general, collective psychology."
OK? Or maybe you'd rather hear a more mundane version from that Sage of the Vaudeville Stage, Guru George Burns: "Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family in another city."
In a limited sense, it's about cutting the apron strings.
Look, a child is embedded in a family, without much choice in the matter. Then adolescence comes, and the child roams away. When he or she comes back, the healthy person makes choices as to how to relate to the family.
The benefits? Again, from Wikipedia:
Besides achieving physical and mental health, people who have advanced towards individuation tend to be harmonious, mature and responsible. They embody humane values such as freedom and justice and have a good understanding about the workings of human nature and the universe.
Sounds like "happiness" to me.
So leave the nest, break free, individuate.
Find a "Spiritual Buddy"
Once in a blue moon, something really cool happens.
A person comes along who sees things as you do, who has the same spiritual priorities, who is positioned to join you on your path.
When that person comes along, hold on, and don't let go!
It may be someone at your church, or in a club; someone you met on the internet; or, for us lucky few, a spouse or loved one.
And the result is: fellowship, what one waggish pastor described as "a bunch of fellows in the same ship."
The Biblical Book of Proverbs says, "As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another."
I couldn't have said it better myself. A "spiritual buddy" can share readings with you, support your efforts, and--when the relationship deepens--point out your blind spots, all in the name of "sharpening" your spirituality. Money can't buy the growth that results from that kind of friendship.
So find a spiritual buddy to walk the path with.
Be an Early Adopter
Dueling proverbs: "Change is good."
And "Change hurts."
Which is true?
One reason we often resist change is because, in the past, change has led to discomfort at least, and often great pain.
Yet, there is great freedom, pleasure, and yes, happiness, in being an "early adopter." Remember the old come-on? "Be the first one on your block!"
So when you see something good--a new technique, a new attitude, a new product--that you think will make you happier, don't wait! Act now! Tomorrow may be too late!
And you'll be happier.
Keep Your Promises
Think of a time when someone made you a promise, and then broke it.
How did it feel? Hurt, didn't it?
Back before the lawyers got involved, back before "non-performance" and "breach of contract," there was a time when a person's word was his or her bond.
We, too, had that "golden age" in our childhood: "Cross my heart and hope to die / Stick a needle in my eye..."
Just remember what it was like when someone reneged.
A simple rule: If you're not sure you can keep it, don't make that promise. A promise isn't a technique for wiggling out of a tight spot ("I promise, I'll do it later"); it's a building block in a wall of trust.
So keep your promises. You (and the people around you) will be happier.
Master Your Thoughts
That early-20th-century Happiness Guru, Dale Carnegie, echoed the wisdom of the ages when he wrote:
"It isn't what you have, or who you are, or where you are, or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about."
The Dhammapada (again!) starts out on the same note. The first two verses read:
1. All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him, as the wheel follows the foot of the ox that draws the carriage.
2. All that we are is the result of what we have thought: it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him.
Yep. It's all in your head!
Remember that, and you'll be happier.
Remember, It's Not Whether You Win or Lose...
The last lines from an old poem:
For when the One Great Scorer comes to mark against your name,
He writes - not that you won or lost - but how you played the Game.
This came to mind recently when I read this in the Dhammapada, one of the greatest collections of Wisdom (and therefore, Happiness) maxims ever:
Victory breeds hatred, for the conquered is unhappy. He who has given up both victory and defeat, he, the contented, is happy.
This is inherent in the idea that all of life is lila, a sort of game (and, coincidentally, my wife's name).
So learn how to play your best without thought of the outcome.
Avoid the "Seven Deadlies"
I've talked often of Buddhism's "Three Poisons"--Greed (or Desire), Anger (or Hatred), and Ignorance (or Delusion)--as sure-fire ways to become unhappy.
But recently, I led a discussion on Christianity's version of the Poisons: The Seven Deadly Sins.
Can you name them? (I can name the Seven Dwarfs, but the Seven Deadly Sins aren't as easy). In fact, it's kind of a trick question, as the list has changed over time. As taught today, they are:
Lust: Call it "sexual intemperance." The Opposite Virtue is Chastity. Certainly a failure to behave well in the area of intimate relationships can be a great source of unhappiness.
Gluttony: Intemperance in consumption. We could throw in materialism, addiction to drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, etc.--anything that violates the Opposite Virtue, Temperance.
Greed: Like desire out of control. The Opposite Virtue is Charity, or Generosity.
Sloth: This one is not mere laziness, but is a special meaning of the word. It has to do with lack of Diligence (the O.V.) in spiritual things. The original word was "acedia" (look it up), and described things like monks not getting out of bed for prayers.
Wrath: Like Buddhism's Anger; the Opposite Virtue is Patience.
Envy: This goes beyond mere jealousy (wanting what others have) to actually wanting them to not have it (somewhat like "begrudging"). That's why the Opposite Virtue is Kindness, a willingness to rejoice in their success.
Pride: Though last on the list, this "vaunting of self" may be the root of them all (as the last Poison mentioned, Ignorance, is the root of the others). The Opposite Virtue, Humility, is an abasing of oneself.
There they are. And their pertinence to happiness?
Simple. Avoid these Seven, which are Deadly to happiness, and guess what?
A few years ago, a friend and I were hosting a Wednesday night social meeting. One week, I was scheduled to give a talk on "The Secret of Happiness." (Yes, only one; but you get 365!)
At the time, I also ran a mailing list called "The Laughing Buddha." My cohort and I swapped lists, to make sure that everyone received our announcements.
A member of his list sent him this letter in reply to our invitation (unedited except for the names):
Hi R---, i shall not be attending any more of these "club meetings" and please don't send me any "laughing budda" e-mails. I don't wish to receive any kind of religeous material. Be they writings, beliefs or any of the like.
Also, you may not know it, but i have a degrees' in sociology, psychology and philosophy. I don't wish to be preached to by some half-baked ideailst, who believes he has found the secret to happiness...
"Happiness comes from within." That's all there is to it!
Regards R---
Do you catch the tone here? This is an angry person. Something as minor as this email set him off in a fit of name-calling and self-righteousness.
Doesn't seem very happy, does he?
And yet, he knows the secret of happiness: "Happiness comes from within."
So this guy knows the secret, but is still manifestly unhappy.
My point? Knowing isn't enough. You have to BE happy.
You can know what wealth is, and not be wealthy.
You can know what peace is, and not be peaceful.
You can know what happiness is, and not be happy.
So that's today's secret. It's not enough to have the idea of happiness. You have to BE happy.
And then (somewhat redundantly) you'll be happier.
Keep Swimming
They say that, because of a peculiarity of their biology, sharks have to keep swimming to keep the water flowing over their gills to gather oxygen. If they stop swimming, they die.
Keep swimming.
Close Your Mouth
Following up on "Sit Still"...
It sounds like a scold from a parent, doesn't it? "Sit still. Close your mouth."
But listen again.
Ah yes, listen. Someone said, "You can't listen with your mouth open."
And Mark Twain, or Abe Lincoln, or somebody famous, said, "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt."
So there you have the two benefits of the closed mouth: (a) it's a listening aid, and (b) it makes you look wise!
Talk less; listen more; be wise.
Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote: "Happiness is as a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but which if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you."
You know, everyone makes a big fuss about "Zen." Meditation classes are big business, and gurus become international superstars.
But, as one of my wise old teachers used to say, "When you sit, just sit."
You're not trying to get anything; in fact, the harder you "try," the longer it takes.
Just sit.
Sit in a garden, or sit at your desk at work. Sit in the bus. Sit on a stairway during break time.
Sit mindfully, of course. Good posture, breathing deeply. Don't slouch, or pant.
But seriously, all you need to do is sit.
Meet Your Guardian Angel
Back when I worked in a "real" school, the headmaster wisely booked a series of "scholars in residence," one per year. Parker Palmer, Peggy McIntosh, and other first-class thinkers left their mark on my thinking.
But one idea, from Harvard educational sociologist Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot, really stuck in my mind.
Think of the student that bugs you the most, she said. Watch that student closely, and guess what? The thing that is bugging you is likely to be one of your own weak points.
The student is always late for class; do you show up for meetings on time? The student's homework is often late, and incomplete; how about your grades, and other required paperwork?
Dr. Lawrence-Lightfoot called this student "your guardian angel." He or she is there to remind you of areas that you could stand to improve.
So, who's your guardian angel? Who drives you nuts? And what is that person's effect on you telling you about yourself?
Meet your guardian angel. Get to know him or her well. And find out what it is you're meant to learn.
Be "Without Wax"
There's a popular etymology--almost certainly not true--for the word "sincere."
It's said that the Romans would find old Greek statues with cracks and flaws. They'd patch them with wax, paint them over (classical statuary was in fact painted) and sell them as flawless. One good, hot day would bring the wax running out, ruining the perfection.
So, they say, statues that were actually whole and flawless were sold as "without wax": sine cere in Latin.
Alas, as I mentioned, this explanation is bogus.
Nevertheless, I love the image, and so today's "secret" is this: Be "Without Wax." Do not gloss over your flaws. Fix them, or revel in them, but be sincere.


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Osoby o tym nazwisku:
 Andreas Mikkelsen – norweski kierowca rajdowy
 Brian Mikkelsen – duński polityk
 Ejnar Mikkelsen – duński odkrywca, autor książek o tematyce arktycznej i dziennikarz
 Jákup Mikkelsen – farerski piłkarz
 Henriette Mikkelsen – duńska piłkarka ręczna, olimpijka
 Lars Mikkelsen – duński aktor filmowy i telewizyjny
 Mads Mikkelsen – duński aktor filmowy
 Mads Boe Mikkelsen – farerski piłkarz
 Ragnhild Mikkelsen – norweska panczenistka
 Tobias Mikkelsen – duński piłkarz
 Vern Mikkelsen – amerykański koszykarz

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Jayne Finch, WASMA's Kalgoorlie Branch's treasurer, contracted meningococcal as a 21-year-old student and lost 80 per cent of her hearing overnight, but it has not stopped her smashing career goals in the mining industry.
Ms Finch was close to finishing her geology degree when she contracted meningococcal.
The rare but serious infection of the membrane around the brain and spinal cord resulted in her losing most of her hearing, and at the time there was no hearing aid on the market to assist her.
"I have severe high frequency deafness, so no matter how loud those frequencies get, I'll never hear them," Ms Finch said.
Ms Finch started working as a driller's offsider and progressed quickly.
"I'm five foot two and about 55 kilos and I had to move manual drill bits to be a driller's offsider," she said.
Over the years Ms Finch has turned her hand to many different jobs in the industry.
"I worked on bomb crew, the voids team, I've driven a truck, which was really challenging," she said.
When Ms Finch worked as a truck driver, her boss at the time asked her to drive a pink truck.
"He said it was probably safe for everyone, because if the person in the pink truck wasn't responding to the radio, everyone knew why," Ms Finch said.
Ms Finch researched technology that would assist her, sourced it from Sweden, and determined that a bluetooth streaming system would assist her in hearing the radio.
But Ms Finch has encountered many challenges during her career, and not just because of her hearing impairment.
Being a woman working in the mining industry, she has seen the role of women in the industry evolve.
"When I did my first vacation work 20 years ago, the only other female employee then was the cleaner," she said.
Ms Finch said some of the change that needed to happen was in the way employees were chosen.
"I think there's that quota debate waging, where people say if we have targets and KPIs around employing females that we'll see change," she said.
"But there's so many females that I know that would never feel comfortable getting a job just to tick that box and meet the diversity target.
Ms Finch said looking at the skillsets required for a particular job rather than the traditional pathway to reach that job could help to address gender imbalance in the workplace.
Ms Finch said it was important never to underestimate someone with a disability.
"I think the hardest thing for me and some of my [hearing impaired] friends is that you're written off before you're given a chance," she said.
Ms Finch said until recently, she had tried to keep her hearing impairment a secret at work for as long possible, because it meant she was often labelled as disabled, but all along she knew she was equally capable and competent.
She said more workplaces should be open minded when hiring hearing impaired employees.
"I think they should give hearing impaired people a go. We find ways around things, we're naturally flexible and we can tell you how we can make it work," she said.


Yusuf Pathan also not included in the Baroda squad for the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 tournament.
Baroda selectors have been once again overlooked the veteran all-rounder Irfan Pathan for the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy –a Twenty20 cricket domestic championship in India.
Previously, the talented player was dropped by Baroda for the recently concluded Ranji Trophy season 2017-18 despite his decent performance while leading the side.
Now, Deepak Hooda will lead the Baroda side in the T20 tournament organized by Indian Cricket Board (BCCI), which is scheduled to start from January 7 in Rajkot.
The Baroda Cricket Association (BCA) secretary –Snehal Parikh refused to talk about the omission of Irfan Pathan while speaking to Times of India recently.
Yusuf Pathan is not part of the squad and Snehal reveals that Pathan was on medication and he had sent the prescription to the BCCI and about that he was informed the BCA.


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Afghanistan Analysis
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Watching 'The Patience Stone' in Kabul
The cold Friday night was well suited for landi – the dried, preserved meat dish – most commonly served in the winter. Someone from my extended network of cousins had somehow procured an illegal copy of the movie on his thumb drive. So there was the landi delicacy, the movie, cards to play and an unceasing flow of green and black tea. The night was set.
The French-made film started with a deceptive simplicity, a calm that is so at odds with the typical Hollywood movie that aims to dazzle with action, graphics, sound, movement or a combination thereof. As the film went on, it was interspersed with scenes of war and destruction, but the screen adaptation of the book fell somewhere short of being impressive.
The principal actors, mostly Iranians, failed despite their best efforts to mimic the Dari accent. The screenwriters – I don't know who they are – failed despite their best efforts to produce a genuine Dari screenplay. The use of Karzai-era Afghani in a scene supposedly depicting Jihad-era Afghanistan was a subtle but obvious indicator of how disconnected the filmmakers are from Afghanistan. The random kid with the kite – obligatory in most Afghan-themed films after The Kite Runner – was cliché and unconvincing.
I was focused on these details, but my cousins had other things to focus about the movie. It was raunchy, but everyone kind of knew to expect (and enjoy) that.
In one scene, the female lead's soliloquy discusses Prophet Muhammad and his relationship with his beloved wife, Ayesha. This is where the first critical note came from the group. Someone said the filmmaker shouldn't have gone there; it's sacred space after all. Someone else retorted that the story wouldn't have won any wards had it not been deliberately provocative.
In that way, the film had the typical European artistic irreverence to it. This "irreverent" attitude could not only offend Muslim sensibilities but also thoroughly anger Afghans because it appears to them as though the artist deliberately sets out to offend an entire people.
The female lead seems connected with her sexuality and is vocal about it in a way that's taboo for Afghans to imagine – much less talk about or depict on screen. At one point, she reveals that her brother- and father-in-law forced themselves on her regularly when her husband was away on jihad; she also engages in sex for money with a young jihadi fighter and initiates him in the ways of love. She connects with her aunt, a prostitute, and reveals how she, an "infertile" woman, supposedly conceived her two daughters through sex with a "healer" in a dark room. At one point she asks her husband, who is in a vegetative state, what God has done for him after all the years of fighting for His sake?
Afghan familial relations are governed by a sense of pious honor. It should come as no surprise, then, that the movie's rancid depiction of the family could elicit indignation and vehement protest once it premiers in Afghanistan (if it ever does). There's no lack of constituency that the movie could offend: the mujahideen, the mullahs, the religious Afghans or, at the very least, the manly Afghan man who prides himself on the sacredness of the Afghan family and the superior purity of the Afghan society.
Protests against films and subsequent bans on those films are not new in post-Taliban Afghanistan. The precedent began with the Bollywood production, Kabul Express, which was banned after protests from Hazaras who felt offended by its portrayal of the ethnic group.
But perhaps because The Patience Stone does not have a cohesive ethnic or linguistic constituency, it will be met only with scoffs and righteous indignation. (The book is set "somewhere in Afghanistan or elsewhere," but the movie doesn't make that clear.)
None of the people in the audience with me seemed much troubled by the provocative aspect of the movie.
An interesting comment came from a wholly unexpected quarter. One of my cousins, in his 40s, had been a village mullah in the late 90s and early 2000s. Mullahs are expected to lead their congregations toward goodness and away from sin. This cousin launched into a think-out-loud session that yielded some interesting remarks.
"When I was a mullah, I condemned – or if within my powers, prohibited – people from watching things that even portrayed women without a headscarf. But now it has all become so common that any such objection from me will make very little sense," he said.
"Maybe because uncovered female hair and other things are so common now, people don't feel carnal pleasure seeing them on TV," he continued.
"And maybe because people don't derive pleasure, it's not a sin to watch these things."
He was a mullah when the Taliban were in power (he didn't have any connections with them). With these comments, he was stepping well beyond the limits of what is proper for mullahs and adopts views that are openly contrarian and blasphemous by the standards of the conservative religious orthodoxy.
Afghans and some foreign observers claim that Afghanistan is a vastly different country now than it was under the Taliban. Few of these observers can tangibly explain exactly what they mean by this change apart from pointing to the number of students in school, the proliferation of TV channels and the improved road networks.
But, as this mullah's comments indicate, it's the evolution in thinking and expectations that has made Afghanistan such a different place now than it was a mere 10 years ago.
And that is a truly sustainable development that will outlast the international community.
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Mads Oyen | October 9, 2013 at 8:57 am | Reply
Thank you, very thoughtful.
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Sydney airport grows revenues to $800m by slashing jobs & wage theft, says TWU
15 Aug 2019 12:34 pm AEST Date Time
The Transport Workers' Union has criticised Sydney Airport for slashing jobs and profiting unfairly from the wage theft of airport workers, who struggle on part-time jobs and low rates.
Half year results show the airport cut jobs by 8%, while revenues rose and shareholders are set to be paid dividends.
"Sydney Airport is today in its report trying to sell itself as a 'sustainable leader' yet nothing could be further from the truth. It has sacrificed jobs and allowed wage theft to continue right under its nose while it grows its revenue. Workers at Sydney Airport are being ripped off with low rates, forced to struggle on part-time hours and even forced to sleep at the airport because of gruelling split shifts. Airports like Sydney and the airlines operating at them are the central cause of this jobs crisis: they demand lower contract prices for work from aviation companies resulting in workers being ripped off. Airports and airlines at the top are profiting from this unjust dynamic," said TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine.
Workers will protest at Sydney Airport and other airports around the country next Wednesday to highlight the inequity and will call on the airport authorities to take responsibility for low wages and poor conditions.
Workers have served claims on Sydney and all main airports, calling for the same pay for the same job, regardless of which company engages workers; secure work with well-trained permanent full-time jobs; safety and security as a number one priority, rather than a focus on contracting work at the lowest cost possible. The claim is part of the plan announced recently by the TWU for widespread industrial action next year as 200 enterprise agreements covering 38,000 transport workers expire.
Two weeks ago the Fair Work Commission terminated the 2012 enterprise agreement of scandal-ridden Swissport, a ground services company, because its rates and conditions were below the award. The company has been exposed over its workers on split shifts forced to sleep at Sydney Airport and safety issues which sees high injury rates among staff.
"For seven years Swissport have been ripping their workers off and this is linked to Sydney Airport's profits. It is time this wage theft ended and that airport workers are treated fairly. Safety and security are also at risk daily because of deliberate under-staffing and a high turnover rate which results in a lack of experienced, trained staff who have full security clearance," Kaine added.
Baggage handlers, ramp workers, caterers, airline cleaners and check-in staff are forced to struggle on as few as 60 hours guaranteed a month.
At Sydney International Airport there were 134 injury incidents among a Swissport staff of 326.
Security incidents are also common, including passengers at one airport allowed airside to collect their baggage after a baggage handler was left alone to unload an entire aircraft
For video and pictures of breaches at Swissport/Aerocare: https://www.twu.com.au/companies/aerocare/aerocare-workplace-conditions-and-safety-breaches/
Tags:agreement, aircraft, airline, airport, award, commission, crisis, jobs, profit, security, sustainable, Sydney, theft, Transport Workers' Union, video


Who should have sounded the alarm bell for investors?
A suspicious mood has settled on Wall Street in the wake of the Enron bankruptcy.
The collapse of the company feted by investment bankers and politicians has led many to question why no one saw it coming.
As the US Congress debates the role of those who kept the energy giant company, attention is also turning to the credit-rating agencies.
The Enron collapse has highlighted the role of these agencies, who provide guidance to investors on a borrowers' creditworthiness.
"Lots of people were there at the time beyond auditors. There were rating agencies reporting up to a very short time before the collapse of Enron," Andersen UK's managing partner John Ormerod told the BBC's World Business Report.
While Andersen's excuses may seem lame, as the auditor tries to deflect attention from its own role, other critics are making similar noises.
The analysis provided by rating agencies is influential in determining the interest rates that borrowers pay on their debt.
Rating agencies such as Moody's, Standard & Poor's and Fitch grade borrowers - both companies and countries - as to their creditworthiness.
How much attention do markets pay to rating?
For much of October and November, Enron had been in financial difficulties but the major agencies only downgraded Enron to "junk" status on 28 November.
If they were doing their job properly, surely they should have acted sooner?
"They [Enron] had evolved from an energy company to a broker and as a result in the context of a financial institution or a broker that loses confidence, these things can happen relatively quickly," Fitch's chief credit officer Bob Grossman said.
His view - that they acted quickly in a fast-changing situation - is echoed by the other agencies.
Volatile markets and recessionary times means it is likely that future ratings changes will either be "more dramatic than in the past" or more sudden, he added.
Moody's dismisses suggestions they were in a better position to know than other analysts.
"Largely, the financial information on which we base our ratings is publicly filed information," Moody's Fran Laserson said.
"We also have meetings with the issuers, who may choose to share issues with us, it is up to them, they will choose their level of disclosure," she added.
The three big agencies have already indicated that they are looking at tweaking the way they do business.
Even as the job descriptions are being tweaked, Fitch's Bob Grossman is clear that agencies provide "leadership."
But in rumour-driven markets, prices rise and fall, and it can seem that rating agencies take their lead from traders, rather than the other way around.
"If they are only reacting to changes of risk that markets have already priced in, they become less useful," Bank of America's Juliet Sampson said.
The agencies - more highly visible than other analysts and hence more vulnerable to criticism - cannot be seen to be reacting to market whim.
The tricky point for the agencies is that we have been here before.
The rating agencies also faced criticism for acting too slowly at the time of the Asian and Russian crises.
Bank of America's Ms Sampson believes that country rating changes have less impact than before, partly due to "a loss of credibility in the last round of crises" in Russia and Asia.
For some investors, the agency's word is a rubber stamp and nothing else.
"Most city analysts don't think much of rating agencies is the truth of the matter they use rating agencies as an insurance device," one seasoned market watcher said.
"If things go sour, the pension fund adminstrator can say we checked with the rating agency and they gave it a clean bill of health, in other words it is not our fault."


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What is the capital City of Virginia?
Founded in 1819, regarding high bluffs above the Alabama River and 330 miles through the gulf, Montgomery, Alabama rapidly became the heart associated with the condition's plantation economy. By 1846 Montgomery was named Alabama's capital. In 1861, 9, 000 men and women lived in the town, considered the wealthiest because of its dimensions in the country. Montgomery was a transportation center, with steamboats planing a trip to mobile phone, stagecoaches traveling east, and a railroad operating northeast and southwest.
On January 11, 1861, their state of Alabama seceded from Union. Lower than 30 days later on, during the early February, the Alabama secession convention invited delegates for the other seceded says to meet up in Montgomery to form the newest Confederate country. Delegates from six of seven seceded states (the Texans appeared belated) published a constitution when it comes to Confederate States of America in only four times; the following day they elected Jefferson Davis the Confederacy's president. In belated February, Davis took the oath of workplace while looking at the portico of the state capitol in Montgomery.
Montgomery's three resort hotels and numerous boarding houses had been crowded with government officials, politicians, troops, and newspapermen. It became a lot more of a metropolis than a quiet town, along with its roads crowded with carriages and ponies, and people on hunt for gossip, argument, and discussion. Every person admired the town's beauty.
But by might the summertime's humid temperature in addition to mosquitoes changed many individuals's minds about Montgomery. Then when the newly seceded Virginians supplied their particular condition and unique capital because the seat of the Confederacy, many were desperate to accept the provide. Mary Boykin Chesnut noted in her own diary that her husband, a former U.S. Senator, ended up being against the move. However, she remarked, "i do believe these uncomfortable resort hotels will move the Congress. Our statesmen love their particular simplicity."
Jefferson Davis was at first opposed, believing the administrative centre should live in the Deep Southern, where in fact the feelings for secession had been many fervent. But the Confederate Congress accepted the move and adjourned might 21, and scheduled to meet up in Richmond 8 weeks later. As Dr. James McPherson writes in Battle Cry of Freedom, "Virginia introduced crucial sources into Confederacy. The woman populace ended up being the South's biggest. Her manufacturing ability was almost since great as compared to the seven original Confederate says combined. The Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond had been really the only plant inside Southern effective at manufacturing heavy ordnance. Virginia's heritage through the generation of Washington, Jefferson, and Madison provided her immense status..."
The Confederacy's Many Permanent Capital:
Davis left Montgomery might 26 during the orgasm for the fervor after the fall of Fort Sumter and Lincoln's call for 75, 000 troops. Arriving in Richmond, the main city of Virginia, on May 29, he had been met by crowds on railway section and throngs across the streets toward Spotswood Hotel.
Richmond had been a much larger metropolis than Montgomery. One's heart regarding the South's industry, Richmond was also market city focusing on flour and slaves. It had been an attractive town found during the foot of the Great Falls of this James River and on seven hills. Its residents contrasted it to Rome. Between 1861 and 1865, its population swelled to 100, 000 and much more. Much to its residents' dismay, most new residents had been rowdy, noisy, and problematic. Besides, considering that the town had been the Confederate capital, it became the focus of Union attention. The risk of capture by Federal forces ended up being constant.
Richmond in the beginning thrived as the capital of Confederacy. After that starved. After that burned whenever, eventually, Robert E. Lee's causes had been obligated to retreat, leaving the town defenseless.
The Final Capital: Danville, Virginia
Located in south main Virginia, perhaps not far from the vermont border, Danville was the western terminus associated with the Richmond and Danville Railroad and an important Confederate offer base. Jefferson Davis along with his government traveled to Danville as Richmond fell to your Federal military. The town was the seat for the Confederate federal government for only eight times, April 3-10, 1865.
Danville's quartermaster, Major William T. Sutherlin, offered their home to Davis in addition to Confederate federal government. Davis occupied an upstairs bedroom, while the Confederate case met inside Sutherlin living area. Davis delivered his last proclamation to your Confederate nation through the house on April 4.
Davis thought that Danville was only a short-term location for the government. He thought that the Confederacy had "entered upon a period of challenge" where battle wouldn't be tied to the defense of urban centers, but taken to the mountains in guerrilla warfare.
But Lee's decimated army could not hold on. The pantry was sitting at dinner when word-of Lee's surrender at Appomattox achieved Danville. The Confederate federal government would have to go instantly. They'd initially intended to relocate to Lynchburg, but with no army operating in Virginia, the federal government would need to move south, toward Joseph Johnston's military. Davis nonetheless had hope the Confederacy could endure the current a number of catastrophes. He left Danville, Virginia for Greensboro, vermont, in the rain.
• Chesnut, Mary Boykin. A Diary From Dixie. Edited by Ben Ames Williams. Harvard University Press, 1980.
• McPherson, James. Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. Oxford University Press, 1988.
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Charles Hedrich, the skipper of the monohull Objectif 3, came out of his silence this morning to announce his retirement from the Vendée Globe. The decision was made following a difference of opinion between Hedrich and the owner of the boat.
Better news for the Austrian Norbert Sedlacek (formerly Austria One) who has just closed a deal with his partner Brother, enabling him to fully prepare his boat ready for the race. The 60ft Austria One now bears the name Brother.


Nuts TV will air for 12 hours a day when it launches on Sky and Virgin in the Spring, it is announced.
Nuts TV will increase its daily air time from four hours a day to 12 when it launches on Sky and Virgin in the Spring, it has been announced.
The four-hour live block, produced by ETV, is expected to remain. The rest is likely to be other content owned by Nuts operator Turner Broadcasting System, plus acquisitions and repeats.
Casey Harwood, Turner's senior vice president for digital media, told a Broadcasting Press Guild Lunch that Nuts would move towards more long-form shows with the change.
Harwood spoke about the experience of running Nuts on Freeview since September: "The launch has moved us out of our comfort zone as we'd never done ad-funded or participatory programming before.
"It's been an interesting trial to find out what's working. It's been about learning a new set of skills through live format-based studio production."


text:
#include <irtkSparsityConstraint.h>

// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
irtkSparsityConstraint::irtkSparsityConstraint(const char *name)
:
  irtkTransformationConstraint(name)
{
  _ConstrainPassiveDoFs = false;
}

// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
void irtkSparsityConstraint::Gradient(double *gradient, double step, bool *sgn_chg)
{
  this->EvaluateGradient(gradient, step, this->_Weight, sgn_chg);
}

// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
void irtkSparsityConstraint::GradientStep(const double *, double &min, double &max) const
{
  const int ndofs = Transformation()->NumberOfDOFs();

  double norm    = .0;
  int    nactive = 0;

  for (int dof = 0; dof < ndofs; ++dof) {
    if (_ConstrainPassiveDoFs || (Transformation()->GetStatus(dof) == Active)) {
      norm += fabs(Transformation()->Get(dof));
      ++nactive;
    }
  }

  if (norm == .0 || nactive == 0) return;
  norm /= nactive;

  if (min < norm) {
    min = norm / 128;
    max = norm;
  }
}

// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
double irtkSparsityConstraint::Evaluate()
{
  const int ndofs = Transformation()->NumberOfDOFs();

  double penalty = .0;
  int    nactive = 0;

  for (int dof = 0; dof < ndofs; ++dof) {
    if (_ConstrainPassiveDoFs || (Transformation()->GetStatus(dof) == Active)) {
      penalty += fabs(Transformation()->Get(dof));
      ++nactive;
    }
  }

  return (nactive > 0 ? (penalty / nactive) : .0);
}

// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
void irtkSparsityConstraint::EvaluateGradient(double *gradient, double, double weight, bool *sgn_chg)
{
  const int ndofs   = Transformation()->NumberOfDOFs();
  const int nactive = Transformation()->NumberOfActiveDOFs();
  if (nactive == 0) return;

  const double norm = weight / nactive;

  double value;
  for (int dof = 0; dof < ndofs; ++dof) {
    if (_ConstrainPassiveDoFs || (Transformation()->GetStatus(dof) == Active)) {
      value = Transformation()->Get(dof);
      if      (value < .0) value = - norm; // = w * x / |x|
      else if (value > .0) value = + norm;
      gradient[dof] -= value;
      // Disallow sign change of parameter value if caused by sparsity gradient
      if (sgn_chg && (gradient[dof] * value) < 0) sgn_chg[dof] = false;
    }
  }
}

// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
void irtkSparsityConstraint::EvaluateGradient(double *gradient, double step, double weight)
{
  this->EvaluateGradient(gradient, step, weight, NULL);
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Implement a rule that bus and van companies must have a calling system that contacts parents when bus/van will be late.
Many parents work and have rigid schedules. They deserve to have notice of pickup/drop-off changes so they can make appropriate arrangements for their children to arrive at school or to be picked up from their stop. Some do not have cars and walk with their child(ren) in very cold/hot weather to wait. Not having notice, in most cases, can be a huge inconvenience to parents and dangerous for students. Anyone who has a child or relative who is transported by the Pittsburgh Public School Transportation Department has a stake in the notification of bus/van schedule changes.
Pittsburgh Public Schools Transportation Department: Implement a rule that bus and van companies must have a calling system that contacts parents when bus/van will be late.
Diana Woodbury needs your help with "Pittsburgh Public Schools Transportation Department: Implement a rule that bus and van companies must have a calling system that contacts parents when bus/van will be late.". Join Diana and 316 supporters today.


text:
The Last Samurai (2003)
Top Gun (1986)
Risky Business (1983)
Valkyrie (2008)
Knight and Day (2010)
Rock of Ages (2012)
Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
Mission: Impossible—Rogue Nation (2015)
American Made (2017)
Mission: Impossible—Fallout (2018)
The Invasion (2007)
Happy Feet (2006)
Bewitched (2005)
The Interpreter (2005)
Batman Forever (1995)
The Hours (2002)
Just Go with It (2011)
The Paperboy (2012)
Boy Erased (2018)
Bobby Deerfield (1977)
Three Days of the Condor (1975)
The Quiet American (2002)
X-Men: First Class (2011)
159 min. . Director: Stanley Kubrick. Cast: Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Sydney Pollack, Marie Richardson, Rade Serbedzija.
Eyes Wide Shut. The title names several states— the lucid dreaming of contemporary manners, the shadow world of our dreams and nightmares, and perhaps the most powerful state of all: a conscious denial of what we know to be true about ourselves...we are less than we want to be. After a 12-year wait, director Stanley Kubrick has delivered his final film, and, ironically, it is everything Kubrick wanted his films to be. With characteristic self-knowledge and seemingly unwavering confidence, Kubrick crafted his last masterpiece. Arguably, Kubrick is the finest filmmaker the young medium of cinema has ever seen, and Eyes Wide Shut offers no small testament to his legacy.
It would be criminal to reveal any more about what Warner Brothers has cautiously referred to as a "story of jealousy and sexual obsession" than that stars Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman play a husband and wife who face a crossroads in their marriage. Suffice it to say that the story incorporates elements of several genres: sexual thriller, black comedy, tragedy, and dream play. Kubrick effectively paints--and make no mistake about it, Kubrick paints every frame with elegant detail--a picture that goes far beyond domestic drama and into biblical allegory.
Kubrick makes films that capitalize on all of the potential of the art. They have the themes, imagery, and characterization of great dramatic literature. They have the breathtaking imagery of the most audacious and challenging art (though here, Kubrick sublimates his wilder visual impulses to attack the subconscious with simpler but prolific images). They have music and rhythm. Most importantly, they have the marriage of these elements into an astonishingly cohesive whole.
Kubrick's elliptical advertising turned out to be a clear and concise statement of the film he created. "Baby did a bad, bad thing," Chris Isaak intones in both the trailer and the film, and these transgressions put the married couple into the mirror: literally, in a much-publicized image from the film (and the film's poster art), and figuratively, in the seductive need to see an illusory, shallow image of one's self that is, at the same time, a reflection of reality.
All site content © 2000-2020 Peter Canavese. Page generated at 01/18/2020 12:31:16AM.


John Snyder was born July 5, 1841 in Bedford County Pennsylvania and came to Calhoun about 1861, changing his name to Snider. His father was David (who drowned in Webb's Mill Pond in 1861) and Mary Swager-Snyder. John Snider had the first cabin and timbered near Nobe and later enlisted in Co. C, 11th Infantry (Union) at Smithville, Ritchie County VA (WV) on August 15, 1866. John Snider married Caroline Collins, daughter of J. Hezekiah and Roanna Maze-Collins, one of the founders of Freed.
Snider died January 17, 1915 and is buried at Saunder's Cemetery, Calhoun County. He has many descendants who once lived and later moved from Calhoun.


The dollar has been weak this year which is a significant factor in why gold is rising. There isn't a lot of conviction at the moment. People were thinking things are going to get better, but they are wrong. We will need $1400 to get things into a new gear.
Mr. Schiff thinks the inflation rates will begin to climb upwards of 3 or 4 percent. When inflation was at two percent, they were concerned. They have created a problem, and eventually, they will have to raise rates.
Gold stocks are moving just not as rapidly as one would expect. They are performing considerably better than the general market. When gold breaks out they will need to recover lost ground so there will be spectacular moves.
Peter feels cryptocurrencies aren't any better than government-backed currencies. He feels Bitcoin itself has no real value. It's only based on faith as opposed to commodity-based currency systems.
Bitcoin doesn't have the characteristics of a commodity. It simply has the "faith" that others will accept it in the future just like the dollar. The dollar, unlike Bitcoin, has been around for a long time and everything is denominated and understood in dollars. He feels people should be buying gold as a safe hedge.
• Those long the dollar are having a bad year and gold shorts are next.
• US Stock markets may be held up by a falling dollar since they are priced in USD.
• Gold will keep going up and if the cryptocurrency bubble pops it may be good for gold.
• He discusses Goldmoney and why we will have a future gold standard.
Peter Schiff is one of the few non-biased investment advisors to have correctly called the current bear market before it began and to have positioned his clients accordingly. As a result of his accurate forecasts on the U.S. stock market, economy, real estate, the mortgage meltdown, credit crunch, subprime debacle, commodities, gold and the dollar, he is becoming increasingly more renowned. He has been quoted in many of the nation's leading newspapers. He is the author of the best-selling book, "Crash Proof: How to Profit from the Coming Economic Collapse".
Mr. Schiff began his investment career as a financial consultant with Shearson Lehman Brothers, after having earned a degree in finance and accounting from U.C. Berkeley in 1987. A financial professional for over twenty years he joined Euro Pacific in 1996 and has served as its President since January 2000. He is also Chairman of SchiffGold a precious metals dealer based out of Manhattan. An expert on money, economic theory, and international investing, Peter is a highly recommended broker by many leading financial newsletters and investment advisory services.


text:
Plans to transform Eastgate Retail Park recommended for refusal
There are concerns that adding more units to the busy retail park could be detrimental to The Galleries and Broadmead
Kate WilsonPolitical Editor
Plans to refurbish part of Eastgate Retail Park and build additional shop units has been recommended for refusal by city planners.
The proposals would see the current Burger King on site demolished and replaced with a smaller restaurant on the retail park which sits next door to Ikea and Eastgate Tesco.
Park owners CPG Wilmslow Limited, also want to introduce an additional 14,000 square feet of retail space - comprised of two small pod units and a bulky goods retail warehouse.
The units would be connected to form a "retail terrace".
Major city centre development featuring 230 homes and 900 square metres of shops at end of M32 to be decided
A total of 15 objections have been submitted to Bristol City Council - with may of the concerns relating to a number of trees that would need to be removed it the scheme went ahead.
Burger King wants to downsize
Bristol Civic Society has also objected to the plans as it claims it would be "harmful to the successful functioning of the city centre shopping area to permit an expansion in retail floorspace of this magnitude at Eastgate".
The Civic Society said that there are "significant vacancies" in Broadmead and the Galleries and that it is important that the city centre shopping offer is encouraged so that it is an effective counter attraction to Cribbs Causeway.
Concerns were also raised about the additional strain on traffic in the area - including the nearby M32 junction.
But the applicants have said Burger King is looking to "downsize" into a smaller unit at Eastgate to conform with its "current corporate design standards".
Travel nightmare for eight months as Broom Hill roadworks gets underway
Owners CPG Wilmslow Ltd submitted the plans to the council via estate agent Savills. In a letter to the council Savills said the new shops will help make Eastgate a "key retail destination in the hierarchy of Bristol's retail offer, particularly serving its local residents."
They promised the new retail spaces would create 40 additional jobs in a part of the city which badly needs them. The new development will also include a charging point for electric vehicles.
Plans submitted for vast 12-storey block near Grade I listed St Mary Redcliffe Church
Although the scheme has been recommended for refusal by officers it will be for members of the city council's development control committee to make the final decision on Wednesday (May 16).
Bristol City Council


text:
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Getting outside and out of our homes is an essential makeup of who we are. Generally speaking, the majority of us use a car to get around. It makes it very easy to get from point A to point B. However, there are a lot of situations where having a bike comes in handy. A bike makes …
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Riding a bike is an essential part of a lot of people's lifestyles. Whether it's taking a bike ride during a camping trip or for everyday use, it's an all-around great way to get around. Not only is it extremely beneficial for us health-wise, but it's great for the environment as well. A bicycle is …
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No matter where you live in the world, you have a general understanding of bicycles. You understand why people use them, the benefits that are tied to them, and how they've been a part of society for a lot longer than most of us realize. When it comes to getting to a specified location or …
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Since the emergence of technology, there has been an abundance of new products in the world of mobility. Typically, when we think of movement, aspects like cars, buses, and bicycles pop into our minds. Bicycles have been around for a long time, and their popularity remains just as popular as they once were. They're a …
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How to display two questions in the same line?
On a separate note. Is it possible to create a multi-column layout to display 2 questions on the same line? Many of the questions we have are short and if we could add 2 or more to 1 line it would help to shorten the form significantly.
It will help you to display the fields in the same line, if this does not help or you need to achieve something different, please let us know and we will be glad to help since this perhaps would need to inject some CSS codes.


This section contains articles relating to our club athletes.
[acidfree:3795 title=" " rotate=right size=120 align=right]Updated with a cleaner set of GCH times for the series to date (see attachment). There are photographs from the Tuam 5K available on the Athenry AC web-site compliments of race-series coordinator Mick Rice - enjoy!
[acidfree:3795 title=" " rotate=right size=120 align=right]Updated with some final adjustments and additions. Of the 173 GCH athletes registered for the series, 131 ran in Athenry on Tuesday last.
The Galway 5K race-series got off to a flying (if somewhat damp) start for 2010 last night in Newcastle, Athenry.
[acidfree:3752 title=" " size=120 align=right]The AAI Games & Track & Field Relay Championships for 2010 will be held on Sunday, 16th May this year, in Castleisland, Tralee, Co. Kerry. GCH intends to enter a number of teams this year to boost our presence at this level of competition in T&F.
A relay entry form, list of events for male/female athletes (senior/masters) together with a provisional timetable are available here for full details.
Craughwell 2010 - Better Late Than Never!
[acidfree:3654 title=" " align=right size=200]There's an interesting side-story to the photograph that accompanies this article from last Sunday's fantastic inaugral 10-mile road-race in Craughwell. The photograph clearly shows GCH stalwart Martin McEvilly crossing the start-line at the very back of the field, not the usual starting position we would expect to see from such a fine runner in any race.
Read more about Craughwell 2010 - Better Late Than Never!
A large number of the club are in action competing and taking part in events this weekend. Nenagh is hosting the National Combined Events and Relays Championships Saturday and Sunday.
Three of GCH's top T&F athletes Sean Breathnach, Eanna O'Cathain and Cliff Jennings are competing. Sean and Eanna are combining for the 2x56lbs and the 2xShot. Cliff is on tomorrow in the 60m, LJ, HJ and Shot.
[acidfree:3399 title=" " rotate=right size=50 align=right]The following road-race was yet another casualty of the bad weather over Christmas/new year. Gerry Carty advises that it has been re-scheduled as follows.
[acidfree:1634 title=" " align=right size=200]For those of you taking part in this year's Fields of Athenry 10K road-race on St. Stephen's day (26th December), GCH will organise a bus to and from the event if there are sufficient numbers interested.
Read more about Bus To The Fields!
[acidfree:3206 title=" " align=right size=150]Most of the time I don't like writing about my own running experiences - it's much easier to comment on other people's running and racing after all. However, now that the dust has settled on the Dublin marathon, I'm prepared to make one great exception here. I half-committed that if all went reasonably well and I didn't blow-up spectactularly (or at all) on my second day out at the marathon distance in Dublin, I would share some of my thoughts, those being the thoughts of a mid-pack, but hopefully very enthusiastic (ahem!), marathon-runner.
[acidfree:3208 title=" " rotate=right size=130 align=right]GCH's Andy Power travelled to Dublin last Monday to debut at the marathon distance. Here's his own personal account of the struggle and pain involved, but more importantly, much, much more importantly, the triumph and sense of achievement at getting over the marathon course and completing the distance successfully. Well done Andy and welcome to the marathon club!


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We also do all other Seat Car Repairs from Clutch Replacements, Brake Replacements, Engine Problems and we don't compromise parts used, we also have a fast parts ordering system so if the part is not in stock we will have it with us in no time at all.
Seat Car Servicing Canford Cliffs also offers you a Pick up and Collection Service, just give us a call and we shall come to either your home or work place, collect your car and then deliver it back to you again either at your home or work, which will save you time and money.
Even if you would just like advice regarding your Seat, just pick up the phone a member of our helpful team will be able to help.
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In The Naked Truth the Transketeers answer questions posed by followers, acquaintances or friends, in a short, shareable form. In this series, we answer everything you have always wanted to ask a transgender person, but didn't dare to.
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Mature and experienced Live Out Nanny Housekeeper required for a family in Redbridge, London to help the family to care for their toddler and baby as well as help the family in maintaining their property. Hours for this position will be from Monday to Friday, full time with a flexibility to work during Saturday morning.
The family would ideally like a flexible Nanny Housekeeper that can also stay for occasional babysitting when needed.
The family would ideally like the Nanny Housekeeper to start as soon as possible. To learn more about this role, please complete the form below and a consultant will contact you with more information.