10 Tips to Simplify Your Life

Over the last decade or so life has consistently been enriched because of more and more facilities, on-going gadgets inventions and day by day increment in luxuries. This is quite exciting however during the same period of time, people have increased their love for materialistic things abruptly which has directly or indirectly reduced their overall happiness index. Now a days, we have more luxuries but less delights and high stress levels. We have more sugar, blood and heart patients then it used to be a decade back. The reason for all the stress and anxiety is simple that we are not living a simple life.

Below are some tips which can simplify your life and may amplify the happiness scale of your life.

1-    Avoid getting influenced: You don't have to follow every single trend in society. If your friend has purchased a new BMW, you don't need to buy a Mercedes to impress. Live for yourself not for others. If you purchase a high-end luxury car today, your love for this will end soon and you will be selling it at considerable financial loss though I am not forbidding to purchase luxury things once in a considerable duration of time.
2-   Avoid impulse buying: You don't need to buy every single gadget instantly which you like in this shop. Do your Needs Vs Wants analysis. Buy only if it is really increasing your peace of mind. Remember that now a days the standard life of every gadget (phone, tablet, laptop, jewelry etc) is more or less 6 months because of new and new products release by several companies.
  3-   The 6 months Rule: Generally speaking, anything which has not been used in last 6 months will not be used in next 6 months most likely. Give such things (shoes, garments, toys, mobiles, house hold items) in charity. This will help spreading happiness in society and reducing your space at home.  

4-   Avoid Credit Cards Usage: Avoid this as much as you can. Debt is a silent stress and eating up your mental health slowly. Your brain might get old while you are young at heart. You might develop high BP or sugar because of stress due to credit. Live a credit-free life.
 5-   Learn to say No: Don't accept every single attractive offer from the bank representative or a car loan company. Do your "Needs Vs Wants" analysis. Careful spending is always recommended.
6-   Reduce too much social gatherings: Stay at home. Spend quality time with your spouse and kids for empoering relationships. You don't have to say yes every time to your friend who is coming to pick you from home to join another late night social get together. 
7-   Reduce your love for money: Careful spending and saving is important but don't allow your brain to keep doing the calculations all day long. You love for money is pulling your brain strings and damaging your peace of mind silently. Stay away from too much thoughts about your financials.
8-   Less TV more Books: It is proven that people who watch more movies generate high level of stress. Read quality books to learn wisdom and attain high degree of happiness.
9-   Spend time with Nature: Instead of going to cinemas and malls repeatedly, spend time in parks. This will relax your brain, body and soul.
10- Change your eating habits: why eating lavish foods by visiting costly restaurants again and again in a week. The purpose of food is to fill your belly for some hours. So the suggestion here is to go for simpler and healthier food. Remember, most of the food items in the market are fried which are increasing your cholesterol level silently hence making you a heart patient in the long run!

Work on your real wealth and live a happy life !!!

 

Deer, Lion and Forest Fire

In a forest, a pregnant deer is about to give birth.
She finds a remote grass field near a strong-flowing river.
This seems a safe place.
Suddenly labour pains begin.


At the same moment, dark clouds gather around above & lightning starts a forest fire.
She looks to her left & sees a hunter with his bow extended pointing at her.
To her right, she spots a hungry lion approaching her.


What can the pregnant deer do?
She is in labour!
What will happen?
Will the deer survive?
Will she give birth to a fawn?
Will the fawn survive?
Or will everything be burnt by the forest fire?
Will she perish to the hunters' arrow?
Will she die a horrible death at the hands of the hungry lion approaching her?


She is constrained by the fire on the one side & the flowing river on the other & boxed in by her natural predators.
What does she do?
She focuses on giving birth to a new life.
The sequence of events that follows are:
- Lightning strikes & blinds the hunter.
- He releases the arrow which zips past the deer & strikes the hungry lion.
- It starts to rain heavily, & the forest fire is slowly doused by the rain.
- The deer gives birth to a healthy fawn.


In our life too, there are moments of choice when we are confronted on αll sides
with negative thoughts and possibilities.
Some thoughts are so powerful that they overcome us & overwhelm us.
Maybe we can learn from the deer.
The priority of the deer, in that given moment, was simply to give birth to a baby.
The rest was not in her hands & any action or reaction that changed her focus
would have likely resulted in death or disaster.


Ask yourself,
Where is your focus?
Where is your faith and hope?

​​

In the midst of any storm, do keep it on God always.
He will never ever disappoint you. NEVER.
Remember, He neither slumbers nor sleeps...

Short Stories to Make You Learn Something

1. Today, I interviewed my grandmother for part of a research paper I'm working on for my Psychology class.

When I asked her to define "success" in her own words, she said:

"Success is when you look back at your life and the memories make you smile."

2. Today, I asked my mentor - a very successful business man in his 70's - what his top 3 tips are for success.

He smiled and said:

"Read something no one else is reading, think something no one else is thinking, and do something no one else is doing."

3. Today, after a 72 hours shift at the fire station, a woman ran up to me at the grocery store and gave me a hug.

When I tensed up, she realized I didn't recognize her.

She let go with tears of joy in her eyes and the most sincere smile and said:

"On 9-11-2001, you carried me out of the World Trade Center."

4. Today, after I watched my dog get run over by a car, I sat on the side of the road holding him and crying. And just before he died, he licked the tears off my face.

5. Today at 7AM, I woke up feeling ill, but decided I needed the money, so I went into work.

At 3PM I got laid off.

On my drive home I got a flat tire.

When I went into the trunk for the spare, it was flat too.

A man in a BMW pulled over, gave me a ride, we chatted, and then he offered me a job.

I start tomorrow.

6. Today, as my father, three brothers, and two sisters stood around my mother's hospital bed, my mother uttered her last coherent words before she died.

She simply said:

"I feel so loved right now. We should have gotten together like this more often."

7. Today, I kissed my dad on the forehead as he passed away in a small hospital bed.

About 5 seconds after he passed, I realized it was the first time I had given him a kiss since I was a little boy.

8. Today, in the cutest voice, my 8-year-old daughter asked me to start recycling.

I chuckled and asked:

"Why?"

She replied:

"So you can help me save the planet."

I chuckled again and asked:

"And why do you want to save the planet?"

"Because that's where I keep all my stuff," she said.

9. Today, when I witnessed a 27-year-old breast cancer patient laughing hysterically at her 2-year-old daughter's antics, I suddenly realized that I need to stop complaining about my life and start celebrating it again.

10. Today, a boy in a wheelchair saw me desperately struggling on crutches with my broken leg and offered to carry my backpack and books for me.

He helped me all the way across campus to my class and as he was leaving he said:

"I hope you feel better soon."

11. Today, I was feeling down because the results of a biopsy came back malignant.

When I got home, I opened an e-mail that said:

"Thinking of you today. If you need me, I'm a phone call away."

It was from a high school friend I hadn't seen in 10 years.

12. Today, I was traveling in Kenya and I met a refugee from Zimbabwe.

He said he hadn't eaten anything in over 3 days and looked extremely skinny and unhealthy.

Then my friend offered him the rest of the sandwich he was eating.

The first thing the man said was:

"We can share it."

The best sermons are lived, not preached.

I am glad I have you to send these to.

These are worth passing on... hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

SALT – A Wonderful & Versatile Chemical

SALT – A Wonderful & Versatile Chemical

-Sabur, M.A

1. If you drop a whole egg on the floor, pour salt all over the egg, let it sit for a while, then use dustpan, the egg will come right up, without all that mess.
2. Soak stained hankies in salt water before washing.
3. Sprinkle salt on your shelves to keep ants away.
4. Soak fish in salt water before descaling; the scales will come off easier.
5. Put a few grains of rice in your saltshaker for easier pouring.
6. Add salt to green salads to prevent wilting.
7. Test the freshness of eggs in a cup of salt water; fresh eggs sink bad ones float.
8. Add a little salt to your boiling water when cooking eggs; a cracked egg will stay in its shell this way.
9. A tiny pinch of salt with egg whites makes them beat up fluffier.
10. Soak wrinkled apples in a mildly salted water solution to perk them up.
11. Rub salt on your pancake griddle and your flapjacks won’t stick.
12. Soak toothbrushes in salt water before you first use them; they will last longer.
13. Use salt to clean your discolored coffee pot.
14. Mix salt with turpentine to whiten you bathtub and toilet bowl.
15. Soak your nuts in salt brine overnight and they will crack out of their shells whole. Just tap the end of the shell with a hammer to break it open easily.
16. Boil clothes pins in salt water before using them and they will last longer.
17. Clean brass, copper and pewter with paste made of salt and vinegar, thickened with flour.
18. Add a little salt to the water your cut flowers will stand in for a longer life.
19. Pour a mound of salt on an ink spot on your carpet; let the salt soak up the stain.
20. Clean your iron by rubbing some salt on the damp cloth on the ironing surface
21. Adding a little salt to the water when cooking foods in a double boiler will make the food cook faster.
22. Use a mixture of salt and lemon juice to clean piano keys.
23. To fill plaster holes in your walls, use equal parts of salt and starch, with just enough water to make stiff putty.
24. Rinse a sore eye with a little salt water.
25. Mildly salted water makes an effective mouthwash. Use it hot for a sore throat gargle.
26. Dry salt sprinkled on your toothbrush makes a good tooth polisher.
27. Use salt for killing weeds in your lawn.
28. Eliminate excess suds with a sprinkle of salt.
29. A dash of salt in warm milk makes a more relaxing beverage.
30. Before using new glasses, soak them in warm salty water for a while.
31. A dash of salt enhances the taste of tea.
32. Salt improves the taste of cooking apples.
33. Soak your clothesline in salt water to prevent your clothes from freezing to the line; likewise, use salt in your final rinse to prevent the clothes from freezing.
34. Rub any wicker furniture you may have with salt water to prevent yellowing.
35. Freshen sponges by soaking them in salt water.
36. Add raw potatoes to stews and soups that are too salty.
37. Soak enamel pans in salt water overnight and boil salt water in them next day to remove burned-on stains.
38. Clean your greens in salt water for easier removal of dirt.
39. Gelatin sets more quickly when a dash of salt is added.
40. Fruits put in mildly salted water after peeling will not discolor.
41. Fabric colors hold fast in salty water wash.
42. Milk stays fresh longer when a little salt is added.
43. Use equal parts of salt and soda for brushing your teeth.
44. Sprinkle salt in your oven before scrubbing clean.
45. Soaked discolored glass in a salt and vinegar solution to remove stains.
46. Clean greasy pans with a paper towel and salt.
47. Salty water boils faster when cooking eggs.
48. Add a pinch of salt to whipping cream to make it whip more quickly.
49. Sprinkle salt in milk-scorched pans to remove odor.
50. A dash of salt improves the taste of coffee.
51. Boil mismatched hose in salty water and they will come out matched.
52. Salt and soda will sweeten the odor of your refrigerator.
53. Cover wine-stained fabric with salt; rinse in cool water later.
54. Remove offensive odors from stove with salt and cinnamon.
55. A pinch of salt improves the flavor of cocoa.
56. To remove grease stains in clothing, mix one part salt to four parts alcohol.
57. Salt and lemon juice removes mildew.
58. Sprinkle salt between sidewalk bricks where you don’t want grass growing.
59. Polish your old kerosene lamp with salt for a brighter look. Remove odors from sink drainpipes with a strong, hot solution of salt water.60. If a pie bubbles over in your oven, put a handful of salt on top of the spilled juice. The mess won’t smell and will bake into a dry, light crust which will wipe off easily when the oven has cooled.