A SIMPLE EXERCISE TO FIGHT HEART DISEASE

· TO QUIT SMOKING

· TO SMILE MORE OFTEN

· TO GET ENOUGH SLEEP

· TO GIVE UP FRIED FOODS

· TO GO EASY ON THE SWEETS

· TO TAKE A 30-MINUTE WALK EVERY MORNING

· TO CHECK MY CHOLESTROL REGULARLY

· TO KEEP MY COOL WHILE DRIVING

· TO EXERCISE REGULARLY

· TO PLAY MORE OFTEN WITH MY DOG

· NOT TO BRING WORK HOME

· TO HOLIDAY EVERY YEAR WITH MY FAMILY

· TO CHECK MY BLOOD PRESSURE REGULARLY

· TO KEEP MYWEIGHT UNDER CONTROL

· TO USE THE JOGGING TRACK IN THE COMPLEX

· TO MEDIATE FOR 20 MINUTES EVERY DAY

· TO KEEP MY DIABETES UNDER CONTROL

· TO EAT MORE FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

· TO SPREAD THE MESSAGE OF BETTER HEART-HEALTH

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Qualities of Courageous HR Executives by Johnny C. Taylor, Jr. and Gary M. Stern

This excerpt from "The Trouble with HR: An Insider's Guide to Finding and Keeping the Best People" offers eight attributes that HR leaders should have.

So what exactly do I mean by a courageous HR executive? What are some of the qualities and attributes that need to be demonstrated to show courage from an HR leader?

1. Act as a leader.

Most HR executives follow. They follow trends, other HR people who've always done it a particular way, and other business leaders who tell them what to do. Trends are good as a data point, but not to be followed. Other HR leaders may be doing it right and probably aren't, so following them doesn't generally make sense. And if you are simply taking orders from other business leaders (e.g., the CFO, CMO), you are not the HR expert - they are. Let me be clear here: If your HR leader is following, your organization is not getting the best HR advice and counsel.

2. Create a culture that works.

Every company creates its own corporate culture. Southwest Airlines differs from American Airlines. Microsoft is distinctive from Yahoo and Google. IBM and Accenture (formerly Andersen Consulting) have different cultures. The courageous HR leader takes ownership in culture - working closely with the CEO - and plays a major role building a climate that can make the difference between winning and falling behind the curve.

The HR executive at Apple, for example, contributed to creating a culture where people could innovate, take risks, and be rewarded. The HR executive at Research In Motion (RIM) hired designers who invented the BlackBerry and created a technological culture all its own. The HR leaders at Goldman Sachs have always hired not just bean counters but financial innovators. Part of the success of those companies stems from HR executives who had an eye for talent and a strategy to snare people.

3. Consider future goals.

Most HR executives just try to get through the day unscathed. If the CEO hasn't attacked them and senior managers belittled them, it's been a decent day. But the courageous HR executive isn't just focused on today; this HR leader considers long-term goals, connects with future strategies, and builds revenue for the future, not just the next quarterly earnings report.

The courageous HR leader knows HR decisions today could well impact the organization for years to come. As such, many HR initiatives have long-term payoff and should be openly described to the senior management team. It takes a lot of courage to ask people to spend $10 today and not get a return for five years, but HR leaders do this in business every day.

4. Possess the courage of your convictions.

Many HR executives second-guess themselves. Unsure of their own beliefs, they wait for signals or orders from the CEO and senior management team. Courageous HR executives have a strategy and game plan in place of how to lead human resources, what kind of people they want to hire, and how to gain their organization' s competitive edge through hiring. And, like Nike put it best, courageous HR leaders "Just do it!"

5. Adapt to a changing business environment.

Some HR executives are stuck in the past. This is the way it was done yesterday, and we'll continue to do it this way. That kind of intransigence won't work in a changing business environment. HR executives who act courageously consider new strategies based on global conditions, new competitors, introducing new product, and rising or declining market share. The best leaders I know have accepted two truisms. First, there's no such thing as staying in the same spot in business; you're either advancing or falling behind. And second, it's sheer lunacy to continue doing the same thing and expect different results. The business world is changing so quickly that HR executives who do not fully embrace change will fail themselves and the organizations they serve.

6. Hold HR staff accountable.

Despite popular belief, courageous HR executives don't always act as Mr. Nice Guy or Ms. Friendly. The HR function is mission-critical and therefore requires the absolute best HR staff to pull off the work. Gone are the days when the guy who failed in finance or the woman who didn't quite cut it in marketing could find a home in HR.

Courageous HR leaders go to the best colleges and universities to recruit their stars, and they recruit seasoned professionals from the list of 100 Best Companies to Work For in America. In short, even the most well-prepared and well-intentioned HR executive can't lead a team of subpar HR professionals to success. Holding people accountable is part of the job.

7. Operate with minimal fears.

Old-style HR executives were riddled with fears. Anxious about losing their job, uncertain about their role in the organization, and often viewed as outsiders, these HR managers operated from a defensive posture. But courageous HR executives lead with a clear direction, set strategy, work with others, believe in their own skills, and can face disagreement. Fear is not the motivating force, but doing what's best for the organization and creating a strong strategy to deal with change are.

8. Balance two needs simultaneously.

One of the toughest parts of the HR job is to balance expectations from the senior management team that you will do what is best for the company and the equally strongly held belief of the employees that HR is supposed to watch out for their interests and serve as their advocate. Having personally been in this position often, I can assure you it's no easy task to master.

But I believe what the effective HR leader does is put the employees first and still manages to balance the company's interests. If, for example, it becomes necessary for the business to lay off employees, the HR executive must manage the process in as thoughtful and humane a way as possible, always understanding that people (the people who were there for the organization in good times) must be taken care of as much as reasonably and fiscally possible.

[Excerpt from The Trouble with HR: An Insider's Guide to Finding and Keeping the Best People by Johnny C. Taylor, Jr. and Gary M. Stern.]

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MIND CONTROL

YOU MAY CONTROL A MAD ELEPHANT;

YOU MAY SHUT THE MOUTH OF THE BEAR AND THE TIGER;

RIDE THE LION AND PLAY WITH THE COBRA;

BY ALCHEMY YOU MAY EARN YOUR LIVELIHOOD;

YOU MAY WANDER THROUGH THE UNIVERSE INCOGNITO;

MAKE VASSALS OF THE GODS; BE EVER YOUTHFUL;

YOU MAY WALK ON WATER AND LIVE IN FIRE;

BUT CONTROL OF THE MIND IS BETTER AND MORE DIFFICULT.

E N J O Y

FRUITS OF ALL PIOUS ACTIONS,

FRUITS OF ALL EVIL ACTIONS

IN THIS LIFE ITSELF,

YOU HAVE TO FACE IT YOURSELF.

ACCEPT THIS KNOWLEDGE, BE AWARE,

ONE MAY DO ANYTHING, GO ANYWHERE,

LUST, ANGER, GREED AND ATTACHMENT DESTROY DEVOTION,

BEING UNDER CONTROL, THESE SENSES,

MISS NOT YOUR DESTINATIONS.

IN PLEASURE AND PAIN DO NOT FALTER,

KEEPING ALL THOUGHTS OF MINE AND THINE,

ALSO ESCHEWING DUALITY OF ALL KINDS,

SERVE ALL EQUALLY WELL,

ENJOY HEARTY JOYOUS SPELL.

LAUGH AND BE MERRY

LAUGH AND BE MERRY, REMEMBER BETTER THE WORLD WITH A SONG.

BETTER THE WORLD WITH A BLOW IN THE TEETH OF A WRONG.

LAUGH, FOR THE TIME IS BRIEF, A THREAD THE LENGTH OF A SPAN.

LAUGH AND BE PROUD TO BELONG TO THE OLD PROUD PAGEANT OF MAN,

LAUGH AND BE MERRY, REMEMBER, IN OLDEN TIME,

GOD MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH FOR JOY

HE TOOK IN RHYME

MADE THEM AND FILLED THEM WITH THE STRONG RED WINE OF HIS MIRTH;

THE SPLENDID JOY OF THE STARS, THE JOY OF THE EARTH,

SO WE MUST LAUGH AND DRINK FROM THE DEEP BLUE CUP OF THE SKY,

JOIN THE JUBILIANT SONG OF THIS GREAT STARS SWEEPING BY,

LAUGH, AND BATTLE, AND THE WORK AND DRINK OF THE WINE OUTPAINED

IN THE DEAR GREEN EARTH, THE SIGN OF THE JOY OF THE LORD,

LAUGH, AND BE MERRY TOGETHER, LIKE BROTHERS AKIN.

GUESTING AWHILE IN THE ROOMS OF A BEAUTIFUL INN,

GLAD TILL THE DANCING STOPS, AND THE LILT OF THE MUSC ENDS

LAUGH TILL THE GAME IS PLAYED, AND BE YOU MERRY MY FRIENDS.

THE BUTTERFLY

A man regularly observed a butterfly cocoon lying next to his window. One fine day he finally saw a small opening emerging on the cocoon. He waited patiently to watch what happens next. After few minutes, he finds, a butterfly struggling to force its body out of that little gap;. For several hours, the butterfly gave great effort to come out but as it failed to do so, it stopped making any progress further. It seemed like the butterfly tried as much as it could and cannot go further.

So, the man decided to help it come out. He took a pair of scissors, and slowly snipped off the remaining bit of cocoon. The butterfly freed itself easily. It had a swollen body and shriveled wings.

The man continued to watch the butterfly and waited to see the beautiful insect to flap and fly away. But that never happened and the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings

It was the mistake of the man. In his well intentioned sympathy and haste, he did not understand that the restricting cocoon and struggle made by the butterfly to get through the opening was actually God’s way of forcing a fluid out from the butterfly’s body into its wings, so that it could be ready for flight as soon as it comes out of the cocoon.

For us, it is exactly the same. Struggles are compulsory in life. If God allows us to lead a life without any obstacles, it would cripple us

Noone can avoid the difficulties and sufferings in life. Fight against them and move up the ladder to fetch the triumph.

“Sometimes, struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If we were to go through our life without any obstacles, we would be crippled. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. Give every opportunity a chance, leave no room for regrets”

All of us have to struggle a little to fly up high

THE DANCE OF LIFE

Elephants are the only animals that cannot jump and much less dance. Nevertheless, they go on to live for a long time. Friends, dance of life does not mean that one has to dance through life. It is just finding some rhythm in life. In nature, everything is rhythmic. Planets revolving round the Sun, seasonal changes, flow of rivers, waves of the ocean, blooming of flowers and in millions of other things we find that rhythm. Commanded by unseen divine order every other form of life seems to be following the laws of nature to live in total harmony and peace. But when it comes to man, unfortunately he has to be told to live in harmony, in peace and find his own rhythm. Why ? Is sit because man’s mind is filled with greed, hatred and jealousy ?

Yes, and also, today’s man tends to take things for granted. Influenced by various factors, he has developed unnatural habits of eating, sleeping and wrong thinking. Unless an immediate vision correction is initiated, man will not only destroy himself but destroy all forms of life on this planet. Our scriptures have described life as ‘SAMSARA SAGARA” and to keep oneself afloat in that ocean, one needs to find his own rhythmic dance and not just dance. In any case, Life forces everyone to dance irrespective of one’s likes, capacity or talent. The comedy is – the vicissitudes of daily life will make even a professional dancer to crawl.

As rightly said, there are a million things affecting a million people in million ways. Where does this dance of life figure ? Is sit possible to have a rhythm under all circumstances ? Is it just a physical phenomenan? Or are there other shades to it like mental, intellectual and spiritual ? True there are many shades to it. At physical level, an athlete can excel in sports only if he has found his inner rhythm. At mental level, a person can emote and connect prop;erly only if he has understood or found the inner rhythm. At intellectual level, only a learned person can take a correct decision at crucial moment if he has some connection with his inner self. The goal of every spiritual person is to merge with his inner self. This can never happen unless he has found his inner rhythm. There can also be few occxasions/or persons where/to whom the above divisions blurs and to fit them in anyone specific group becomes difficult. Nevertheless, everyone is striving in their own field of activity to achieve a semblance of inner rhythm.

A doctor can claim himself successful if he is able to cure many who have lost health and natural rhythm in their bodies. Some people spend their entire life time in collecting some old obscure items like coins, stones, stamps and many such things which absolutely has no practical value. Few renounce the world to pursue spiritual goals against all temptations. While some go into the wild and play with dangerous reptiles and mammals as if they are their cousins, there are many more bizarre activities people indulge in. What prompts people to risk their lives and engage themselves in variety of activities ? Obviously, they are not satisfied with whatever they have and whatever they are in support of this argument once a great revolutionary and a thinker opined that most of the human activities, unlike in animals, is more than just surviving or staying alive. It is aimed towards realization of his inner self. Superficially, a thief trying to seal something might appear to a layman as an act of aggression or violence. But in the ultimate sense, it is said that he too is actually moving towards realizing his self. When viewed with a larger perspective it is just a minor aberration on the vast canvas of life.

The problem arose when man, on his journey towards finding that inner rhythm, thought it lies outside of him. Thus the struggles to subjugate, plunder, loot people and the natural resources began. After exploring and exploiting regions under his control, he occupies neighboring lands belonging to others. And thus killings/wars began. When not able to win others byphysical force, he tries to win them over through religion and political ideologies. He totally forgot the reason for starting his journey. But somewhere along the way, some wise men showed up on the horizon and said,: “Look, that peace, beauty and harmony is within you and not outside you”. Few listened and found that inner rhythm while many just heard and preferred preaching . We all know it is very easy to preach than practice.

Let us all make a serious and sincere attempt in finding out own rhythm. First, we only need to understand the basics. It is said, the strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.. A lot of dancing can be avoided if one knows the means to control the tongue. So many books, saints and seers have impressed upon mankind to have control over this particular organ in our body to avoid all unnecessary steps which sends rhythm for a six in our dance of life. Similar is the case with other sense organs too. How to achieve it ?

Leading a simple healthy life, keeping good personal hygiene, reading proper books, keeping the company of the good, being tolerant, being humble, acknowledging the help of others, not indulging in the activity of stealing and gambling, not boasting, not hurting others are but a few starters listed on the menu card of the famous restaurant called – DANCE OF LIFE. After sincerely trying all these, the eligibility to start the inner journey comes. There lies a vast ocean of subtle nuances suiting individual likes and dislikes. To take a plunge into that deep ocean is like obtaining passport for radical and complete transformation of one’s self. Are we ready for it ? Honestly, No. Unless an immediate vision correction is initiated, man can never ever desire for that inner self and till then all his activities in trying to find his inner rhythm will go in vain. So, let us first have a desire for a higher life and give it a honest try. Only then all our activities will have beauty, meaning and purpose.