Pursuit of Happiness

Happiness 

We humans are always in search of peace and happiness. As there are different meanings to the term "love" so is for happiness. For few, earning lots of money is happiness. For some, fulfilling their dreams is happiness. For some, having their loved one's smiling is happiness and so on.

There are many aspects of happiness. All people desire to have them and those who work with their full potential are able to achieve them. But some give up their hopes on the way. 

All we human have is the result of our deeds. If we are sad, it might be that we haven't worked enough. Our happiness might be because of our good deeds. All our life all we want is happiness for ourselves, for our loved one's, for family etc. but don't think of working hard. For the ultimate happiness, working hard is equally important. A potter tries very hard to present a perfect pot, a craftsman works very hard to bring out the most of a design. 

All of them work hard as they realize happiness isn't simply granted, it is earned. In the hard pace of life, running for the artificial satisfaction, we have forgot to live for ourselves. Happiness is living for ourselves, fulfilling our desires, getting our dreams fulfilled. Happiness is a mental or emotional state of well-being defined by positive or pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy.

 In addition to making us feel good, studies have found that happiness actually improves other aspects of our lives. Here is an overview of some of the good stuff that research has linked to happiness.

• Happiness is good for our health: Happy people are less likely to get sick, and they live longer.
• Happiness is good for our relationships: Happy people are more likely to get married and have fulfilling marriages, and they have more friends.
• Happy people make more money and are more productive at work.
• Happy people are more generous.
• Happy people cope better with stress and trauma.
• Happy people are more creative and are better able to see the big picture.

Rakshyabandhan- a festival to celebrate

Rakhi festival of siblings

Rakhi is the festival of siblings celebrated in asian countries like Nepal, India etc.. On this occasion, sisters tie a sacred thread in brothers hand and wish for their's security. It is a major occasion here in Nepal and India. In simple words, Raksha bandhan means "Bond of Protection". This symbolizes the sister's love and prayers for her brother's well-being, and the brother's lifelong vow to protect her. The festival falls on the full moon day (Shravan Poornima) of the Shravan month of the Hindu lunisolar Nepali calendar. Raksha Bandhan is primarily observed in northern and western India, Mauritius and major parts of Nepal. It is also celebrated by Hindus in parts of Pakistan, and by some non-resident Indians and non-resident Nepalis around the world.

Raksha Bandhan in Sanskrit literally means "the tie or knot of protection". The word Raksha means protection, whilst Bandhan is the verb to tie. It is an ancient Hindu festival that ritually celebrates the love and duty between brothers and their sisters. The sister performs a Rakhi ceremony, then prays to express her love and her wish for the well being of her brother; in return, the brother ritually pledges to protect and take care of his sister under all circumstances. It is one of the several occasions in which family ties are affirmed in India. 

The festival is also an occasion to celebrate brother-sister like family ties between cousins or distant family members, sometimes between biologically unrelated men and women. To many, the festival transcends biological family, brings together men and women across religions, diverse ethnic groups and ritually emphasizes harmony and love. It is observed in the Hindu calendar month of Śrāvaṇa, and typically falls in August every year. 

In Nepal, Raksha Bandhan is celebrated on shravan purnima. It is also called Janaeu Purnima (Janaeu is sacred thread and purnima means full moon). A sacred thread is tied on wrist by senior family members and relatives. Nepalese people enjoy this festival, eating its special food "Kwati", a soup of sprout of seven different grains.

This day, in Nepal, people change Janai (जनै), which is a cord made of cotton threads worn diagonally on the torso, a Vedic ritual. People pay homage to deity Shiva and go on pilgrimage to places such as Gosainkunda, Budhanilkantha, Pashupatinath, Kumbheshwor Temple among others.

 One of the earliest examples of a Rakhi prayer is found in Book V, Chapter V of Vishnu Purana; it is the prayer that Yasoda says while tying a Raksha Bandhan amulet on Krishna's wrist. An abridged form of the prayer is:

May the lord of all beings protect you,

May the one who creates, preserves and dissolves life protect thee,

May Govinda guard thy head; Kesava, thy neck; Vishnu, thy belly;

the eternal Narayana, thy face, thine arms, thy mind, and faculties of sense;

May all negativity and fears, spirits malignant and unfriendly, flee thee;

May Rishikesa keep you safe in the sky; and Mahidhara, upon earth.

Secrets to Stay Young

18 Till I Die

Being healthy and fit is a choice.  A choice that requires commitment, dedication and…just as important…the right attitude.  Too many people associate exercising, working out and eating healthy as a chore and something they have to do in order to lose weight and look a certain way. 

Looking older than you actually are is the most difficult thing a person can take to himself. All of us want that soft and cute skin a new born baby has. We want to look young forever. Many beauty products are tried upon to cover the aging but we forget about healthy and beautiful inner soul. Having beautiful and healthy soul, will never let you grow old.

Everyone wants to have the same body they used to have in their youth. The secret doesn't lie in the beauty products but in the inner belief. Few of the most common tips that one can follow on his/her busy schedule are listed below.

1. Take a break: We all have that feeling when living further seems to have no meaning at all. That particular moment is caused by stress.  Recent studies show that stress causes physical changes in the body that can accelerate aging. Surges of the hormones adrenaline and cortisol cause blood pressure to rise and the heart to beat faster. These days, when our stressors seem unrelenting (a steady stream of job pressures, traffic jams, money problems), chronic doses of adrenaline and cortisol take a heavy toll on our physical and emotional health.The most effective way to halt this destructive chain of events is to meditate. The technique involves repeating a mantra — a word, sound, phrase, or prayer — for as little as 10 minutes a day. A 2005 study conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston showed that meditation helped prevent age-related changes in the brain.
2. Desire: Desire has become a dirty word in our society. It conjures up pictures of couples in a 1950’s movie clinging to each other with a look of desperation in their eyes. Desire has acquired a bit of a stink to it. Which is a great pity. Desire is the energy that propels us forward. It makes us want to stick around to see what happens next. Even a monk who desires nothing is driven by a strong desire—to desire nothing and connect with his higher Self. Nurture your desires. They serve as the canon which continuously launches you into life.
3. Exercise: Not only does regular exercise help you lose weight, tone muscles, build healthier bones, and boost mood, it can also help you think clearly. Studies cited by the National Institute on Aging demonstrate a connection between physical exercise and better brain power. Walking for just 10 minutes a day lowers your risk of Alzheimer's by 40 percent. Physical conditioning reduces stress and anxiety, which wipe out your memory bank.
4. Do Yoga: Yoga means union in Sanskrit. More energy, better posture, greater flexibility, improved mood, and less stress are just some of the rewards of this mind-body workout. "Through conscious yoga breathing, you become aware of the connection between mind and body." That translates into major anti-aging advantages. Yogic breathing has been shown to oxygenate the cells, ridding them of toxins, helping prevent illness, and making skin radiant.
5. Make Love: Anyone who's ever fallen head over heels or discovered an activity that makes them eager to jump out of bed in the morning knows that passion is a powerful drug. The ability to embrace life boosts self-esteem, fuels the immune system, and improves cardiovascular health. Passion in bed can be particularly beneficial: Loving touches release hormones, including oxytocin, that reduce stress and anxiety. Doubling your amount of satisfying sex can add up to three years to your life.
   

Any way, staying young has many things to do with your activities and the happiness you get through your life. Stay happy, stay healthy and look 18 till you die.

How to become successful?

Success and Satisfaction

The meaning of success varies from individual to individual. For some, earning lots of money and having a huge house might be success but to some other it might just be a small step to success. Some might want to become famous for doing something great they consider while for some others doing something for someone secretly might be success. But in any of these cases, the most important part of success is satisfaction. You might be filthy rich but no satisfaction then whats the point of having that wealth. While there are some people who don't have anything to show pride on, but seem very happy as they are satisfied with whatever they have with them. Eventually satisfaction leads to success and success to happiness.

Its really very simple to talk about success, satisfaction, happiness and all that but very hard to achieve even any one of those. The only thing that works in this path is dedication, will power and patience. Getting successful isn't a days job, it takes time and patience. With positive mindset and true dedication, anything and everything is achievable. 

Everyone needs a good mentor, proper guidance and a supportive partner to even become determined for the way s/he is gonna choose for future. Most of us might have some or all of them but who don't, seek help from friends and other sources. I, my friends, will share my views towards success. What ever I think will gonna bring success to you, I will be sharing with you today. Most of us might not know the proper ways, some of us might know them but don't follow them, then its time now that you boost yourself up and head your way to your dreams. 

One dictionary defines success as “the satisfactory accomplishment of a goal sought for.” To be successful, you must achieve the goal and be satisfied with the outcome. With this definition one wonders if “success” that does not include personal satisfaction–a sense of well-being–is really true success at all. 

Keys to success

There are several factors that determine success. Consider few of them:

1. Positive self-concept: No one but you yourself are your biggest friend and foe. You choose what you want to be. With a positive mind, you are sure to choose that's good for you but having negativity and doubt on yourself, you are going to ruin yourself. Of course, some people think so highly of themselves that their egos become problems. Nevertheless, many psychologists agree with Dr. Joyce Brothers when she says, ” . .  a strong, positive self- image is the best possible preparation for success in life.”
2. Define goals: Identify things that provide joy to you. Find out things that you love to do and would do every single day happily. Make your dreams your goal. Find the inspiration for you goal and follow them with all your heart. Be focused on your goals and stick to it.
   
3. Hard work: Any successful athlete knows that there would be no glory on the athletic field without hard work on the practice field. A true test of character is not just how well you perform in front of a crowd, but how hard you work when no one notices-in the office, in the library, in practice. President Calvin Coolidge believed “nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not … Genius will not … Education will not … Persistence, determination, and hard work make the difference.” Success requires hard work. Of course you can overdo it and become a workaholic. One workaholic businessman had a sign in his office that read, “Thank God It’s Monday!” We all need to balance work and recreation, but hard work is essential to success.
4. Use technology, but to limit: Technology can be incredibly powerful; it connects us with people around the world in the blink of an eye; it computes algorithms accurately and quickly; it makes mundane tasks, like data entry, easier and less painful. But technology can be a burden if you let it. It can sap your energy and productivity, leading to wasted opportunity. The beauty and the bane of the internet, specifically, is that TED Talks can turn into watching Ted the movie quicker than you can say "ADD."
5. Take risks to limit: Failure has always been considered as the pillar of success. Many great personalities had faced failures more than anyone could take these days. In this era where people wish to have their problem before even they could speak of it, taking failure as inspiration in inevitable. But past has showed us ways that learning for failures is the best way to achieve success. So it is perfectly practical to take risks as if it works, you will have something to enjoy on and failure will bring you another chance to work on it with more passion.

Suggesting someone is the most easiest and simplest work to do. Being able to follow them is the most difficult part. So my suggestions might bot be accurate to some people whereas few might find it very interesting and working. Any way it is, don't stop to follow your dream, work with full dedication and make yourself proud. Be happy and satisfied with what you have got...  

iPhone 7

iPhone 7 is the most anticipated smartphone of the year, and Apple fans across the world are counting down to when the smartphone and its variants will be launched. Alongside, the rumour mills just keep churning out fresh details about the smartphone. The iPhone 7 is anticipated to launch at its now traditional September event, and as we approach the date, more pieces of the iPhone puzzle are being fleshed out. There are some significant changes that are worth a mention. We compile all the rumours and leaks that have surfaced online so far, and give you a comprehensive list of all that is expected to come with the iPhone 7 this year.

• 32GB base storage variant
• 256GB top storage variant
• Dual camera
• 3GB of RAM
• Larger battery
• Force Touch home button
• No 3.5mm headphone jack

Great homemade chicken

Slow Cooker Lemon Pepper Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 (2 to 3 pound) whole chicken, giblets removed
• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon lemon pepper
• 1 (1-inch thick) slice of lemon
• 2 cloves garlic, lightly crushed, or more to taste

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons seasoned salt
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• cracked black pepper to taste (optional)

• Rinse chicken, pat dry with paper towels, and use your fingers to loosen the skin over the breast and thighs.
• Stir butter and lemon pepper in a small bowl and insert seasoned butter beneath the loosened skin using a teaspoon. Push butter from spoon using the skin. Place lemon slice and garlic cloves into the chicken cavity.
• Place chicken into a slow cooker. Rub skin with olive oil and sprinkle seasoned salt, thyme, and cracked black pepper over the bird.
• Cook on High for 3 hours; reduce heat to Low and cook until chicken is very tender and an instant-read meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of a thigh, not touching bone, reads at least 160 degrees F (70 degrees C), 2 to 3 more hours. If desired, cook bird on Low setting 6 to 8 hours.

Abs workout

Great toned abs

Everybody wants great abs. Toned physique helps inject confidence in one's body. The person seems very well managed and attractive to everyone. Everyone admires that person. Though people would thing its really difficult to sculpt one's body, it is not that difficult. The requirements are very simple: a portion of daily busy schedule, discipline and dedication towards your ambition. Having these things in mind, you will see its not as hard as people claim. 

But most of us live a very busy life and its not even possible to give much of the time for gym, so I bring to you some of the basic home exercises for abs.

1. Tummy Vacuum: These are a simple, yet powerful core-conditioning exercise. They’re essential for anyone first starting out, especially for women who have had children, people who haven’t been active, or for those who sit for long periods of time. Tummy vacuums help recondition the TVA (transverse abdominals) to brace the spine during movement. Basically, your TVA is an internal “weight belt” that needs to engage when you attempt to move or lift anything.
   
2. Front Plank: Get on your knees and forearms with elbows directly under your shoulders and fingers interlaced. Stretch your legs long, and raise up on your toes into plank position; hold for 15 seconds.
   
3. Leg Drop: Raise both legs toward the ceiling. Breathe in and tighten your abs. Exhale and slowly lower your legs until they’re about four inches above the floor (or as low as you can go without lifting the small of your back). Pause and breathe in. Breathe out as you raise your legs to the starting position. Repeat 10 times.
   
4. Shoulder Tap: Start with a push-up position, lift one hand and touch your another shoulder then return to start position. Do it alternatively for both hands. Repeat 10-12 times for single side.
   

Perform 4 sets of each exercises daily, you will start noticing changes in yourself. Be disciplined and motivated, there's nothing you can't achieve.

Quotations

Thought of a post just with quotations..

Work hard

Time passes by so fast that we don't get to live our life to its fullest. All of us are struggling in some areas of our interest. But do you wanna struggle rest of your life just to find out what's the proper way to achieve your goals or live atleast rest of your life in satisfaction of you achieved what you dreamt of.

But with your views and support, i can assure you that in your struggle of life, I will do help you in every single way to get the most out of your dream.

Just give me some ideas what your dreams are and what you are struggling with, i guarantee that i will come up with something special for you that surely gonna help you with your goal. i might be a normal guy and you might just be another normal guy but history has some solid proof that two guys had changed the way world seems to be. 

It might be just another opportunity for me to be of some help to you. Just comment below what you would love to hear from me and I will come up with ideas that will change the way you were gonna start 2017. I can assure you the start of 2017 will be awesome as still 4 months are left for 2017 but starting from now, you can make it lot more fun and prosperous. 

Do remember to comment your topics I can write about. Take care . Work hard for rest of 2016 and your 2017 will be awesome.       

  

SELF EMPOWERMENT

Self-empowerment is the act of deciding what’s good for yourself. This involves recognizing that within each of us is the ability to live from our natural being state. The main characteristic of self-empowerment is peace. This sounds so obvious but many of us have failed to achieved inner peace. A question arise provided that u have the right tools and knowledge about achieving self-empowerment, will you be self-empowered?

There is this thin line between dull and stressful to happy and stress-free life. Many of us try, few of us succeed and rest don’t even believe upon themselves. Have you always thought of working under someone else commands? If not, few tips might help you grow.

Decide what you want out of your life:

Do you really know what you wanna do with your life? Many of us will say they do but is it really the thing? Mostly they are lying to themselves because they think of keeping others around them happy too. Forget about the world, they have life of their own and you have your own. Just answer to the question your heart asks to yourself.

Be aware:

Awareness involves recognizing your environment, yourself, and your power. To fully be aware, you must acknowledge that you can disengage from stressful things. Awareness is about defining why you disempower self from environment in the first place. Be aware of the power you possess inside to take back your life as your own.

Repeat affirmations:

Affirm that you can do what you want, repeatedly until it sticks. The more you say an affirmation, the more it will sink in and become true for you. Repeat a positive one until you believe it! Create your own affirmation. “I can do anything I choose.”

Don’t worry about the future:

There is a very fine line between future and self-empowerment. Being self-empowered, you decide what’s your future is gonna be like. Accept every challenges life throws at you as an event for empowerment that you can utilize for your way ahead. 

Find a mentor:

Search for an inspiration, can be any person, any character, anyone who gives you hope and shows you way familiar to your dreams and goals. You need an impartial person to work with you as you plan your goals and move forward on your self-empowerment journey. A coach or mentor will hold you accountable for what you do or do not do during that journey.

Be responsible:

To be more empowered, you must know exactly what you are responsible for in your life. Knowing this allows you to be guilt-free from life circumstances. Take responsibility for you and your life to be empowered and independent.

Be truthful:

When you lie, you feel guilty. Guilt leads to shame. Shame leads to feelings of worthlessness. Honesty is really the best policy when it comes to self-empowerment. Don’t treat yourself any differently than you treat others. Be truthful with yourself.

Speaking in Public

Anxiety and public speaking

Its obvious and normal to get nervous about public speaking. It's something you ought to get rid of but can even be used to overcome it. an average person ranks the fear of public speaking more than fear of death. You feel nervous, your palms sweat, your stomach ties itself into knots. You don’t want to do it. You would rather do anything else than talk to someone.

In business, it is essentially important for you to be able to get your point across. It is likely that all of us will one day have to speak in public. Whether we are giving a formal presentation to an audience, or simply asking our boss for a promotion, speaking skills are essential to getting ahead in a professional setting.

There are few specific ways that can be used as an guideline for yourself to be motivated before your next speech.

Let the fear not overtake you:

Let the fear drive you through you way but not take over you. Preparation and rehearsal take time and effort. We need to be motivated to do it – and fear is a great motivator. People without fear tend to skimp on preparation and rehearsal, they wing it. So they waffle and ramble their way through their minutes on stage.

Let your fear motivate you to prepare and rehearse and you’ll be a more effective speaker.

Choose how you can interpret you fear positively:

Consider an example where 2 patients who had their days counting to death were done an experiment. They were told that they were going to be given with portion of medicine and poison. One patient was given medicine and another poison but were told the other way. The scientist found interesting thing as the person who was given poison but told medicine survived few more days but the other one was found dead.

This study showed that with a fear of death, even medicine wasn’t able to work properly whereas even poison couldn’t kill other person as he believed he was going to live.

Hence choose the positive way even if the fear drives you away from it, eventually you will succeed.

Don’t overthink audience reaction:

There is sure to have some people in audience who is busy texting or yawning or bored, none of those has to matter with you. Don’t overthink that your speech is getting boring or it isn’t making any sense to them because sitting in audience is easy but stepping up and speaking to them in mass is difficult.

Use the adrenalin to fuel your passion:

A totally relaxed and laidback speaker is unlikely to show passion. To show passion you need to be full of energy and excitement about sharing your message with the audience. That comes from adrenalin. The same adrenalin that is making you nervous. Use that adrenalin to fuel your passion.

So don’t fight your nerves, make friends with them – and use them to make you a better speaker.

Healthy living for healthier life

Healthy being

No one has every willing over-weighted their body. Every person dream of themselves having those curvy figure like fitness models. Dreaming won’t solve the problem serious and strict steps should be taken to achieve whatever you have dreamt of.

Healthy living, healthy eating leads to a healthy life. Our body is our temple and we need to take care of it to have a healthy life. Today, your vital organs (kidney, heart, lungs, gall bladder, liver, stomach, intestines, etc) may be working well, but they may not be tomorrow. Don’t take your good health today for granted. Take proper care of your body.

Good health isn’t just about healthy eating and exercise, it also includes mental health, healthy self-esteem and a healthy lifestyle. Losing unwanted weight from your body might just be another step towards healthy body. Reliance on fad or crash diets is unhealthy and is not a long-term solution to weight problems. 

Some of the tips for healthy living are listed below:

Drink more water: drinking plenty of water is essential for our body to function properly. As we know, our body is over 60% water, it is very essential to carry out body function, remove waste and carry essential nutrients to parts of our body. Since we lose water every day through urine, bowel movements, perspiration and breathing, we need to replenish our water intake.

Enough sleep: When you don’t rest well, you compensate by eating more. Usually it’s junk food. Get enough rest and you don’t need to snack to stay awake. Also, lack of sleep causes premature aging, and you wouldn’t want that.

Exercise: Exercise daily for the healthy movement of parts of our body.  Research has shown that exercising daily brings tremendous benefits to our health, including increase of life span, lowering of risk of diseases, higher bone density and weight loss.

Eat less more often: eat every four to six hours, starting with breakfast soon after waking up. This prevents you from becoming too hungry and overeating and makes it easier to choose healthy foods at meal time.

Cut out certain drinks: Beverages such as soda, juice and sports drinks add a significant amount of calories and they are easy to overlook during weight loss efforts. While a glass of 100-percent fruit juice is certainly healthy, one glass a day suffices. Eliminating or strictly limiting other drinks that are little or nothing more than empty calories is beneficial.

Eat more fruits: Fruits are a plethora of vitamins and minerals. Taking in synthetic supplements are not the same as consuming the foods direct from nature. Fill your palate with these nutritious fruits: Watermelon, Apricots, Avocado, Apple, Cantaloupe, Grapefruit, Kiwi, Guava, Papaya, Strawberries.

Breathe deeply:  Oxygen is a vital source of life. You may know how to breathe, but are you breathing properly? Most of us don’t breathe properly – we take only shallow breathes and breathe to 1/3 of our lung capacity. Athletes are coached proper breathing techniques to get their best performance. A full breath is one where your lungs are completely filled, your abdomen expands and there’s minimum movement in your shoulders.

BUILDING SELF CONFIDENCE

Self Confidence

“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but everyone can start today and make a new ending.”- Maria Robinson

“From the quietly confident doctor whose advice we rely on, to the charismatic confidence of an inspiring speaker, self-confident people have qualities that everyone admires.”

Nothing is more important than your thoughts towards yourself. Everything relies on how you think and feel about yourself.

Self-confidence is extremely important in almost every aspect of our lives, yet so many people struggle to find it. Sadly, this can be a vicious circle: people who lack self-confidence can find it difficult to become successful. 

But it is true that self-confidence really can be built-up. Confident people inspire confidence in others: their audience, their peers, their bosses. And gaining the confidence of others is one of the key ways in which a self-confident person finds success.

But the question remains the same: How can we build self-confidence? It doesn’t have to be a miracle for one to have confidence in himself, rather it is the result of his self-belief and faith. There are few key points that when kept under consideration is sure to boost a person on his way to success.

Few points are:

Identify your negative thoughts: Be sure that your negative thoughts don’t bring you apart from the goals that you have set in life. Inner sounds like “I can’t ”, “I will surely fail”, are your voices that dominate you.

Turn your weakness into strength:  Turn your negative thoughts to positive by just flipping the words they spell. “I can’t ”, “I will surely fail” will then turn to “I can” and “ I will surely succeed”. 

Maintain positive support network: Get closer to anyone who holds the capability of uplifting your perspective. Never leave people who grab your hands and pull you out of depression.

Set small goals and achieve them : It is all lot better to divide your goals in smaller portions and achieve them in portions.  Stay on top of that positive thinking, keep celebrating and enjoying success, and keep those mental images strong. 

As long as you keep on stretching yourself enough, but not too much, you'll find your self-confidence building apace. What's more, you'll have earned your self-confidence – because you’ll have put in the hard graft necessary to be successful!

Key Points

Self-confidence is extremely important in almost every aspect of our lives, and people who lack it can find it difficult to become successful.

Two main things contribute to self-confidence: self-efficacy and self-esteem. You can develop it with these three steps:

1. Prepare for your journey.
2. Set out on your journey.
3. Accelerate towards success.

Goal setting is probably the most important activity that you can learn in order to improve your self-confidence.