Saturday 1 August 2015

[www.keralites.net] ( a long, but a must read) 10 PAINFULLY OBVIOUS TRUTHS EVERYONE FORGETS TOO SOON

 

10 PAINFULLY OBVIOUS TRUTHS EVERYONE FORGETS TOO SOON
 

 

You know how you can hear something a hundred times in a hundred different ways before it finally gets through to you? The ten truths listed below fall firmly into that category – life lessons that many of us likely learned years ago, and have been reminded of ever since, but for whatever reason, haven't fully grasped.
This, my friends, is my attempt at helping all of us, myself included, "get it" and "remember it" once and for all…


1. THE AVERAGE HUMAN LIFE IS RELATIVELY SHORT


We know deep down that life is short, and that death will happen to all of us eventually, and yet we are infinitely surprised when it happens to someone we know. It's like walking up a flight of stairs with a distracted mind, and misjudging the final step. You expected there to be one more stair than there is, and so you find yourself off balance for a moment, before your mind shifts back to the present moment and how the world really is.
LIVE your life TODAY! Don't ignore death, but don't be afraid of it either. Be afraid of a life you never lived because you were too afraid to take action. Death is not the greatest loss in life. The greatest loss is what dies inside you while you're still alive.8 Be bold. Be courageous. Be scared to death, and then take the next step anyway.

2. YOU LIVE THE LIFE YOU CREATE FOR YOURSELF


Your life is yours alone. Others can try to persuade you, but they can't decide for you. They can walk with you, but not in your shoes. So make sure the path you decide to walk aligns with your own intuition and desires, and don't be scared to switch paths or pave a new one when it makes sense.
Remember, it's always better to be at the bottom of the ladder you want to climb t8han the top of the one you don't. Be productive and patient. And realize that patience is not about waiting, but the ability to keep a good attitude while working hard for what you believe in. This is your life, and it is made up entirely of your choices. May your actions speak louder than your words. May your life preach louder than your lips. May your success be your noise in the end.
And if life only teaches you one thing, let it be that taking a passionate leap is always worth it. Even if you have no idea where you're going to land, be brave enough to step up to the edge of the unknown, and listen to your heart.

3. BEING BUSY DOES NOT MEAN BEING PRODUCTIVE


Busyness isn't a virtue, nor is it something to respect. Though we all have seasons of crazy schedules, very few of us have a legitimate need to be busy ALL the time. We simply don't know how to live within our means, prioritize properly, and say no when we should.
Being busy rarely equates to productivity these days. Just take a quick look around. Busy people outnumber productive people by a wide margin. Busy people are rushing all over the place, and running late half of the time. They're heading to work, conferences, meetings, social engagements, etc. They barely have enough free time for family get-togethers and they rarely get enough sleep. Yet, emails are shooting out of their smart phones like machine gun bullets, and their day planners are jammed to the brim with obligations. Their busy schedule gives them an elevated sense of importance. But it's all an illusion. They're like hamsters running on a wheel.
Though being busy can make us feel more alive than anything else for a moment, the sensation is not sustainable long term. We will inevitably, whether tomorrow or on our deathbed, come to wish that we spent less time in the buzz of busyness and more time actually living a purposeful life.

4. SOME KIND OF FAILURE ALWAYS OCCURS BEFORE SUCCESS

Most mistakes are unavoidable. Learn to forgive yourself. It's not a problem to make them. It's only a problem if you never learn from them.
If you're too afraid of failure, you can't possibly do what needs to be done to be successful.6 The solution to this problem is making friends with failure. You want to know the difference between a master and a beginner? The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried. Behind every great piece of art is a thousand failed attempts to make it, but these attempts are simply never shown to us.
Bottom line: Just because it's not happening now, doesn't mean it never will. Sometimes things have to go very wrong before they can be right. (Read The Success Principles.)

5. THINKING AND DOING ARE TWO VERY DIFFERENT THINGS


Success never comes to look for you while you wait around thinking about it.
You are what you do, not what you say you'll do. Knowledge is basically useless without action. Good things don't come to those who wait; they come to those who work on meaningful goals. Ask yourself what's really important and then have the courage to build your life around your answer.
And remember, if you wait until you feel 100% ready to begin, you'll likely be waiting the rest of your life.3

6. YOU DON'T HAVE TO WAIT FOR AN APOLOGY TO FORGIVE

Life gets much easier when you learn to accept all the apologies you never got. The key is to be thankful for every experience – positive or negative. It's taking a step back and saying, "Thank you for the lesson." It's realizing that grudges from the past are a perfect waste of today's happiness, and that holding one is like letting unwanted company live rent free in your head.
Forgiveness is a promise – one you want to keep. When you forgive someone you are making a promise not to hold the unchangeable past against your present self. It has nothing to do with freeing a criminal of his or her crime, and everything to do with freeing yourself of the burden of being an eternal victim.

7. SOME PEOPLE ARE SIMPLY THE WRONG MATCH FOR YOU


You will only ever be as great as the people you surround yourself with, so be brave enough to let go of those who keep bringing you down. You shouldn't force connections with people who constantly make you feel less than amazing.
If someone makes you feel uncomfortable and insecure every time you're with them, for whatever reason, they're probably not close friend material. If they make you feel like you can't be yourself, or if they make you "less than" in any way, don't pursue a connection with them. If you feel emotionally drained after hanging out with them or get a small hit of anxiety when you are reminded of them, listen to your intuition. There are so many "right people" for you, who energize you and inspire you to be your best self. It makes no sense to force it with people who are the wrong match for you.

8. IT'S NOT OTHER PEOPLE'S JOB TO LOVE YOU; IT'S YOURS


It's important to be nice to others, but it's even more important to be nice to yourself. You really have to love yourself to get anything done in this world. So make sure you don't start seeing yourself through the eyes of those who don't value you. Know your worth, even if they don't.
Today, let someone love you just the way you are – as flawed as you might be, as unattractive as you sometimes feel, and as incomplete as you think you are. Yes, let someone love you despite all of this, and let that someone be YOU. (Read Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It.)

9. WHAT YOU OWN IS NOT WHO YOU ARE


Stuff really is just stuff, and it has absolutely no bearing on who you are as a person. Most of us can make do with much less than we think we need. That's a valuable reminder, especially in a hugely consumer-driven culture that focuses more on material things than meaningful connections and experiences.
You have to create your own culture. Don't watch too much TV, don't read every fashion magazine, and don't read too many newspapers. Find the strength to fill your time with meaningful experiences. The space and time you are occupying at this very moment is LIFE, and if you're worrying about Kim Kardashian or Miley Cyrus (most obvious examples) or some other famous face, then you are disempowered. You're giving your life away to marketing and media trickery, which is created by big companies to ultimately motivate you to want to dress a certain way, look a certain way, and be a certain way. This is tragic, this kind of thinking. What is real is YOU and your friends and your family, your loves, your highs, your hopes, your plans, your fears, etc.
Too often we're told that we're not important, we're just peripheral to what is. "Get a degree, get a job, get a car, get a house, and keep on getting." And it's sad, because someday you'll wake up and realize you've been tricked. And all you'll want then is to reclaim your mind by getting it out of the hands of manipulative media that wants to turn you into the perfect consumer that buys everything that isn't needed to impress everyone that isn't important. It's a hamster wheel, think about it.

10. EVERYTHING CHANGES, EVERY SECOND


Embrace change and realize it happens for a reason. It won't always be obvious at first, but in the end it will be worth it.
What you have today may become what you had by tomorrow. You never know. Things change, often spontaneously. People and circumstances come and go. Life doesn't stop for anybody. It moves rapidly and rushes from calm to chaos in a matter of seconds, and happens like this to people every day. It's likely happening to someone nearby right now.
Sometimes the shortest split second in time changes the direction of our lives. A seemingly innocuous decision rattles our whole world like a meteorite striking Earth. Entire lives have been swiveled and flipped upside down, for better or worse, on the strength of an unpredictable event. And these events are always happening to someone else right this second.
However good or bad a situation is now, it will change. That's the one thing you can count on. So when life is good, enjoy it. Don't go looking for something better every second. Happiness never comes to those who don't appreciate what they have while they have it.

 


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Posted by: Pramod Agrawal <pka_ur@yahoo.com>
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[www.keralites.net] 10 most dangerous nations in the world

 

10 most dangerous nations in the world


 
A couple runs away from tear gas used by riot police to disperse demonstrators during a protest. Photograph: Huseyin Aldemir/Reuters
 
The ninth edition of the Global Peace Index, which ranks the nations of the world according to their level of peacefulness, has ranked Syria as the most dangerous country in the world.
The world is less peaceful today than it was in 2008, says the report. Last year alone it is estimated that 20,000 people were killed in terrorist attacks up from an average of 2,000 a year only 10 years ago.
The Global Peace Index is a composite index comprised of 23 qualitative and quantitative indicators that gauge the level of peace in 162 countries. The index gauges global peace using three broad themes: the level of safety and security in society, the extent of domestic and international conflict and the degree of militarisation. The figures based on 23 different metrics, including factors like murder levels, perceptions of criminality, terrorism and military expenditure, have been collated to form a single figure, the Global Peace Index.
India:
India ranks low at 143 in the Global Peace Index with a regional ranking of 5 in South Asia. India spends around $342 for cost of containment of violence and ranks 5th the world in this category. The other countries with the largest violence containment expenditure include the United States, China, Russia and Brazil. These countries account for 54 per cent of total violence containment expenditure while also accounting for 45 per cent of world GDP and 46 per cent of the world's population.
The report states that the number of casualties from internal conflict has risen in
India "where a Maoist insurgency stills runs rife." But it also says that the downgrade in India's score is tempered by an improvement in political stability.
The least peaceful countries in the world are;
1. Syria
Kurdish People's Protection Units fighters take up positions inside a damaged building in al-Vilat al-Homor neighborhood in Hasaka city, as they monitor the movements of Islamic State fighters who are stationed in Ghwayran neighborhood in Hasaka city, Syria. Photograph: Rodi Said/Reuters
 
Syria remains the world's least peaceful country, followed by Iraq and Afghanistan. The burgeoning regional influence of ISIL, the Sunni jihadist group, was an important factor behind the worsening scores in particular in Libya, Yemen, Iraq and Syria. ISIL made significant territorial gains across western and northern Iraq in 2014, adding to its presence in Syria, which remains locked in a bloody stalemate between government forces loyal to the president, Bashar al-Assad, and numerous rebel groups fighting against it.
Syria is among the countries where the number of deaths from organised internal conflict experienced the most marked increase. It has the largest total number of refugees and displaced people with an estimated 43 per cent of the population being displaced, equating to approximately 9.55 million people. 2014 was the worst year so far in the Syrian civil war and was also the deadliest conflict in the world in 2014, resulting in at least 72,000 civilian and battle-related deaths.
2. Iraq
An Iraqi soldier carries a child as displaced Sunni people, who fled the violence in the city of Ramadi, arrive at the outskirts of Baghdad. Photograph: Reuters
 
At the number 2 position in the world's most dangerous countries in Iraq with a ranking of 161. Since the start of the Iraq war, the Middle East has been descending into deeper levels of violence. The conflict in Iraq deteriorated significantly in 2014, with the number of fatalities more than doubling from 8,256 in 2013 to 18,489 in 2014 and the indicator for intensity of internal conflict reaching the worst possible score.
ISIL made significant territorial gains across western and northern Iraq in 2014. A third of people displaced by conflict inside their own countries in 2014 are in Iraq and Syria alone. Iraq is among the countries that experienced the most marked increase in death toll in the Middle East. The report states that there is a link between conflict and displacement, with Iraq recording large increase in refugees and IDPs due to the deteriorating conditions of conflicts. Violence in Iraq has escalated in part due to the concentration of power under Nouri al-Maliki's largely Shia government which disenfranchised the Sunni, leading to grievances and the expansion of violent groups such as ISIL.
3. Afghanistan
Smoke rises in the sky after a suicide car bomb attack in Kunduz province in northern Afghanistan. Photograph: Reuters
 
The most substantial change in the index was recorded for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) which now ranks as the most violent region, overtaking South Asia (which includes Afghanistan) from last year's GPI.
Against the backdrop of the withdrawal of most international forces from Afghanistan, the number of deaths from internal conflict in the country rose last year in tandem with an increase in political terror.
The impact of terrorism indicator also deteriorated, with terrorism being closely linked to conflicts in Syria, Iraq, Nigeria and Afghanistan, the report states. The level of terrorism has grown steadily over the last decade, and shows no sign of abating. Eighty-two per cent of these deaths occurred in just five countries: Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria and Syria.
4. South Sudan 
Refugees from South Sudan jostle for the queue to attend the celebrations to mark World Refugee Day at the Kakuma refugee camp in Turkana District, northwest of Kenya's capital Nairobi. Photograph: Thomas Mukoya/Reuters
 
South Sudan's ranking declined by only three places, but this was on top of by far the sharpest fall in the 2014 GPI. It remains embroiled in the civil conflict that broke out in December 2013, and which has thus far proved immune to numerous peace efforts. South Sudan also fell for its third consecutive year, slipping a further 3 places to 159. The country remains embroiled in a civil conflict between forces loyal to the president, Salva Kiir, and those fighting on behalf of his former deputy, Riek Machar. Faced with a protracted conflict, the government has increased military expenditure, and increased the number of armed service personnel, leading to deteriorations in these scores. At the same time, tensions remain high with Sudan.
5. Central African Republic
An anti-Balaka soldier holds a handmade gun as former child soldiers wait to be released in Bambari, Central African Republic. Photograph: Emmanuel Braun/Reuters
 
In 2008, there were only three countries in the GPI that had a score worse than 3.0 (Somalia, Iraq and Sudan) and no countries had a score worse than 3.5. However, in 2015 there were nine countries with scores greater than 3.0 including Central African Republic. This demonstrates how the least peaceful countries accounted for the majority of the fall in peacefulness.
The two countries with the biggest change in violence containment expenditure as a per cent of their GDP between 2008 and 2014 are Central African Republic and Syria. Their increased costs have been derived from four main areas: increased IDPs and refugees, deaths from internal conflict and GDP losses due to conflict and terrorism.
6. Somalia
A boy holds his toy gun near former Somali parliament during the celebration after attending Eid al-Fitr prayers to mark the end of the fasting month of Ramadan in Somalia's capital Mogadishu. Photograph: Feisal Omar/Reuters
 
The Somalian government has been unable to keep control of the entirety of its nation, meaning insurgent groups have been able to travel and trade weaponry. The majority of Somalia's costs in violence containment stem from IDPs and refugees and homicides. Refugee and IDP populations alone account for 54 per cent of Somalia's total costs.
7. Sudan
People gather to look at vehicles and weapons of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) rebels that were on display, after victory celebrations by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), in Niyala Capital of South Darfur. Photograph: Reuters
 
Ranking 156 on the Global Peace Index, Sudan faces tensions with its neighbour South Sudan. Although Sudan's president has expressed qualified support for his South Sudanese counterpart, both sides continue to allege that the other government is offering support to rebel groups, and there are periodic cross-border attacks, contributing to a decline in the score for external conflicts fought. Violence and civil conflict have displaced millions in Sudan. Non-state conflicts also intensified in Sudan with skirmishes between tribesmen, farmers and ethnic clans.
8. DR Congo
Protesters erect a barricade during demonstrations in Burundi's capital Bujumbura. Photograph: Jean Pierre Aime Harerimana/Reuters
 
Due to their low levels of positive peace, increased urbanisation poses the greatest risk for safety and security in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zimbabwe, the Central African Republic, Nigeria, Haiti and Bolivia.
Countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo have very low militarisation, which, combined with poor positive peace, leads to an inability to maintain security in their territory or prevent outbreaks of internal violence. 
 
9. Pakistan
Security officials and rescue workers check the site of a bomb blast in Quetta, Pakistan. Photograph: Naseer Ahmed/Reuters
 
Deaths caused by terrorism increased by 61 per cent in 2013, which resulted in almost 18,000 people being killed in terrorist attacks. Of those deaths, 82 per cent occurred in just five countries: Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nigeria and Syria.
Pakistan's score has similarly deteriorated, on the back of a worsening of its perceptions of criminality; as a result, the country remains second from the bottom in South Asia. The country's dire domestic security situation continues to be hampered by the presence of Islamist militant groups. Even though the number of deaths from internal conflict did not worsen significantly over the past twelve months, Pakistan suffered a handful of high-profile incidents -- most notably the separate attacks on Jinnah International Airport and an army-run school in Peshawar.
10. North Korea
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (C) gives field guidance to the newly built Sinchon Museum. Photograph: Reuters
 
High levels of political terror and militarisation puts the secretive and totalitarian state of North Korea in the list of top 10 least peaceful countries.
The countries that have seen the biggest proportional change in violence containment expenditure have had high levels of internal conflict. North Korea has seen a significant increase in violence containment expenditure as a per cent of their GDP between 2008 and 2014.

 



 

 


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Posted by: Pramod Agrawal <pka_ur@yahoo.com>
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