Author: Mush

Maria Amelia Lopez – 97 years old blogger!

Mush Life, Motivation ,

0906 Maria Amelia LopezMaria Amelia Lopez was the oldest blogger when she died on May 20, at the age of 97. She started posting on a blog that his grandson created for her as a birthday gift two years ago. Her online journal, amis95.blogspot.com (roughly translates to ‘my 95 years’) soon became a worldwide sensation, reaching more than 1.5 million readers from the comfort of her seaside home in Spain!

Maria set an example for all those who think they are too old to use computers, Internet or blogging. She showed that the Web is not just for the young but for anyone who is interested in interacting with the world. ‘Communicating with others wakes up the brain‘, Maria wrote in one of her last entries on the blog. Read her interview here.

5 Most Popular Posts

Mush Happiness, Health, Life, Motivation, Productivity , , , ,

Following are links to the five most popular/favorite posts on this blog so far – considering the number of views, forwards and comments:

  1. How to improve the quality of life, one day at a time: Have a great day!
  2. The top three excuses for not exercising, and how to handle these: What’s your excuse?
  3. Lesson in patience, persistence and positive attitude from a uni student: Must read if you are in sales!
  4. A book recommendation with an excerpt: Make Today Count!
  5. Too much to do and too little time? Then this one’s for you: Do less, get more done!

I’ll look forward to your comments.

Make Your Day!

Mush Happiness, Life, Motivation, Relationships ,

One of the easiest ways to make your day is to make someone else’s day. It’s not possible to make someone else happy and not feel great about it yourself. And it doesn’t take much to make someone happy, especially strangers. Try a genuine compliment or a thank-you e.g.

  • Wow, very clean taxi!
  • You guys are really good; the queue is moving so fast! (Check-in counters at the airport)
  • Good job. Thank you! (Try that with a toilet cleaning staff and see what happens)
  • The food was nice, service was great and prices were OK too! (Ever asked to see the manager at the end of a great dining experience?)
  • Thank you so much; I really appreciate that!

Most people haven’t been complimented (or even talked to by a customer) in a long time, so it would mean the world to them. And how would you feel seeing that you have had such a positive impact on someone’s day/life? Of course, there will be some people with such low self-image that they won’t believe you or think you are being funny.

If you are fortunate enough to be in love with someone, remember the power of the three magic words. I love you! can help switch negative emotions to positive ones in a heartbeat.

Try it today. And tell us about your experience with compliments – both giving and receiving.

Don’t Eat the Marshmallow, Yet!

Mush Happiness, Life , ,

In this short talk Joachim de Posada shares a landmark experiment on delayed gratification – and how it can predict future success. With priceless video of kids trying their hardest not to eat the marshmallow.

Who/What Do You Blame?

Mush Life, Relationships , , ,

Ever noticed how so many people blame somebody or something for the problems in their lives? I think most commonly blamed parties are:

  1. Upbringing – parents, teachers, school, college, university…
  2. Country – lack of opportunities, education, wealth…
  3. Circumstances – not luck, no money, no resources, no connections…
  4. Age – too young, too old…
  5. At work – industry, company, products, boss, colleagues…

If you are using one of these as excuses for not living your best life, think again! If you often find yourself saying: ‘I am late because of traffic’ or ‘I am overweight because of my genes’ or ‘I don’t have the time for _ because of _’ then you are the type who likes to fix the blame or give excuses instead of accepting responsibility.

“Be the change you want to see!” (Mahatma Gandhi)

Favorite Quotes: Paulo Coelho

Mush Happiness, Life , ,

“When every day seems the same, it is because we have stopped noticing the good things that appear in our lives.” The Alchemist

“Profound commitment to a dream does not confine or constrain: it liberates. Even a difficult, winding path can lead to your goal if you follow it to the end.” Maktub

“When there is no turning back, then we should concern ourselves only with the best way of going forward.” The Alchemist

Price of Starbucks coffee can feed many!

Mush Happiness , , ,

povertyOn my recent visit to Manila, I stopped at a Starbucks on my way from the airport to the hotel. I bought one latte for the driver too. Besides being extremely grateful, here’s what he told me:

  • The price of that cup of coffee was equivalent to his weekly salary – USD3.5!
  • The last time he had coffee from Starbucks was over six months ago, under a similar situation. And had longed for another one ever since!

I was reminded that over 1 billion people live below the international poverty line, earning less than a dollar per day! About 25,000 people die every day due to poverty and hunger-related causes. That’s one every 3.5 seconds!

That helps put our problems in prospective, doesn’t it?

Do You Live in the Past, Present or Future?

Mush Happiness, Life , , ,

Most of the advice we get from experts is that we should live in the present, because ‘past is gone and nobody has seen the future’. I think thinking about all three is equally important:

Thinking of your past successes can boost your self image in times of disappointments. Reliving the happy memories of the past can provide instant happiness and shift your emotions. Going back in time and forgiving anyone who ever hurt you can be very liberating!

Living in the present allows you to notice the good things in your life, right now. It makes you grateful. Staying focused on what needs to be done right now, today, is the only way to achieve your goals. The only way to change your future is to change your present!

Dreaming of the future is vital too. That’s the only way to set and achieve meaningful goals in life. The most common success formula is still: dreams, goals, plan and action!

Where do you spend most of your thoughts: past, present or future?

John Francis’ 22 Years of Walking and 17 Years of Silence!

Mush Life, Motivation , , ,

Take out 20 minutes of quiet time and watch this:

Relationships Make Us Happy!

Mush Happiness, Relationships , , , , , ,

Our poll on What Makes You Happy? has got over 200 votes so far. And ‘relationships’ has continued to be the winner, followed by health and career. Interesting, isn’t it? Question is, why most of us don’t spend most of our time, energy and money trying to enhance our relationships?

happiness-results

Hamza’s Recommendations

Mush Happiness, Productivity , , , ,

I wait for, and read with great interest, Hamza’s weekly recommendation of reading material. Here, I have expanded parts of few of last week’s recommendations:

From Uncluttered Aphorisms:

  • The less you own, the less you have to clean. This applies to quantity of objects as well as square footage in your home.
  • One in, one out. If you buy something new, you need to get rid of whatever it’s replacing.
  • If you get it out, put it back. An especially great rule to implement to keep your home and office orderly.
  • Guilt is not a reason to keep something. This one is self explanatory.

From 9 Lists to keep Updated:

Gift Ideas list: If I think of something that would be a great gift for a person I might some day buy a gift, I write down something like “Mom – Rollerblades”. That way, when my Mom’s birthday comes up and I realize I haven’t been paying attention for a whole year, I’ve got some backup ideas. This one, more than all the other lists here, has come in handy over and over in my life.

Watch, Read, Listen List: Another critical one for me, as a music and movie junkie. If a movie gets suggested to me, or I’m told I absolutely have to hear a particular band, they go on the list. If I have some time, I’ll go through the bands and see if there’s anything good. If I’m in need of another book, I try to pull one from my list rather than just reading whatever is nearby. These lists are populated by friends, blogs, and any other source you can think of, and they’ve provided me with a ton of great movies, music, and books.

I dreamed a dream by Susan Boyle

Mush Motivation , , ,

47 Year old Susan Boyle wows the judges with her performance in the auditions for Britains Got Talent, singing I dreamed a dream from Les Miserables. Watch the expressions of the judges before, during and after. Can’t embed it but you must watch it here.

Bahrain World Trade Center generates 675kW of wind energy!

Mush Uncategorized , , ,

0904-bahrain-wtcI had a beautiful panoramic view from my room in Ramada Hotel Bahrain – sunset over the city, a busy soccer ground and the Twin Towers that I had never heard about! I was intrigued by the three turbines mounted over the bridges connecting the two towers. So I Googled and found the story:

Each of the three turbines hold a capacity of 225kW, totalling to 675kW of wind energy production. These turbines, each measuring 29 m (32 yd) in diameter, face north, which is the direction from which air from the Persian Gulf blows in. The sail-shaped buildings on either side are designed to funnel wind through the gap to provide the maximum amount of wind passing through the turbines. This was confirmed by wind tunnel tests, which showed that the buildings create an ‘S’-shaped flow, ensuring that any wind coming within a 45° angle to either side of the central axis will create a wind stream that remains perpendicular to the turbines. This significantly increases their potential to generate electricity. The wind turbines are expected to provide 11% to 15% of the towers’ total power consumption. This is equivalent to providing the lighting for about 300 homes annually. The three turbines were turned on for the first time on 8 April 2008! The building has won many awards for sustainability.

Swine Flu – expert advice

Mush Health ,

Here’s some advice from an expert I trust:

“All this media attention to swine flu is a little bit confusing. True it is a new strain and appears to have a higher mortality rate than existing strains, but annual deaths from existing influenza worldwide are estimated to be around 500,000. In the US alone about 36,000 people die every year from influenza; mostly the young, the sick and the elderly.

The best advice to prevent infection is common sense. Have a flu shot, eat a balanced diet, get plenty of sleep, avoid extremes of weather and temperature and, as much as possible, avoid places where there are crowds of people in confined spaces (airplanes!!!). Frequent washing of hands is always a good idea to minimize the risk of contamination.

It is also expected that a swine flu vaccine will be available in a few months, and when it does become available be early in the line.”

The Power of a Dream – true story of faith and courage!

Mush Life, Motivation, Relationships , , , ,

I received this essay through a friend of this family:

On 21st January, 1991, my parents were overjoyed on the arrival of their first baby, my elder brother. But the happiness was short-lived as within a few hours of delivery my mother noticed that his eyes were prominently protruding and were dull grey in colour. The doctor gave the terrible news that my brother was suffering from Congenital Glaucoma. This disease is incurable and with each passing day he would lose his sight if the eye pressure was not under control. My mother was totally shattered but she had to accept Naqi’s problem as a challenge. My mother had a dream that Naqi should go to normal school and never pity himself nor be pitied by others. So from that day she took up this challenge to accomplish her dream.

In Pakistan there were very few facilities for visually impaired children and I saw mother struggle since the beginning even though in the early years I was too young to understand the circumstances. My mother’s family is in India which meant that she had no support and it seemed to be very difficult to cope with Naqi’s problem. My mother went to all good schools but they refused to admit Naqi as he had a great difficulty in facing light or recognizing colors. She was determined and fortunately went to one of the best schools in Pakistan, Springfield where they offered her a job plus admitted Naqi on a trial basis. Continue reading →

Eat Slowly; Get Slimmer!

Mush Health , ,

0910 saladThe risks of speed eating were recently published in the British Medical Journal:

“Japanese researchers queried nearly 3,300 people about eating habits and discovered that those who reported eating quickly until they felt full were three times as likely to be overweight as slow eaters who stopped before they were full.”

I find it interesting that this study was done in Japan, because in Okinawa, a place known for its healthy and long-lived populace, there is a saying – hara hachi bu – which loosely translates “Eat until 80% full.” If you have a tough time slowing your pace of eating, do what the Okinawans do. There’s no guarantee, but you have nothing to lose but weight.

LIFE by Paulo Coelho (Selected Quotations)

Mush Happiness, Life , , ,

lifeA book full of selected quotes from Paulo Coelho’s many top selling books, including The Alchemist, The Zahir, Brida and Manual of the Warrior of Light. Some of the quotes from the chapter, The Path:

  • In order to have faith in his own path, a warrior does not need to prove that someone else’s path is wrong.
  • In order to arrive you must follow the signs. God inscribed on the world the path that each man must follow. It is just a matter of reading the inscriptions he wrote for you.
  • When we postpone the harvest, the fruit rots, but when we postpone our problems, they keep on growing.
  • In order to live fully, it is necessary to be in constant movement, only then can each day be different from the last.
  • There are moments in life when we need to trust blindly in intuition.

Taj Samudra Hotel, Colombo – plug in!

Mush Work, Business , , , ,

Most business travelers carry a notebook computer, mobile phone and a digital camera amongst many other things. Then why is it that most hotels, including five stars and top brands, can’t provide 3-4 power outlets near the writing desk. There are usually only two power outlets hidden under the table and one of them is connected to the table lamp. So I often end up charging my phone and camera by unplugging the TV or the fridge or the standing lamp if I am lucky enough to be able to move them and find the hidden power outlets!

Taj Samudra in Colombo is one of the very few hotels that understand their customers’ needs. When I checked in tonight, not only there was a power extension fitted right above the desk with four outlets, it could take different power plugs! WOW!