"Two men look out through the same bars: One sees the mud, and one sees the stars."- Frederick Langbridge, A Cluster of Quiet Thoughts

If you’ve placed second in a writing contest, will you jump for joy and push for better results the next time or will you be discouraged and find an excuse not to join again?

In life, you are always filled with choices. You may opt to have a pessimist’s view and live a self-defeated life or you may decide to take the optimist’s route and take a challenging and fulfilling life.

So why nurture an optimist’s point of view? And why now?

Well, optimism has been linked to positive mood and good morale; to academic, athletic, military, occupational and political success; to popularity; to good health and even to long life and freedom from trauma.

On the other hand, the rates of depression and pessimism have never been higher. It affects middle-aged adults the same way it hits younger people. The mean age of onset has gone from 30 to 15. It is no longer a middle-aged housewife’s disorder but also a teen-ager’s disorder’ as well.

Here’s how optimists are in action and researches that back up why it really pays to be an optimist:

Optimists expect the best

The defining characteristic of pessimists is that they tend to believe bad events, which will last a long time and undermine everything they do, are their own fault.

The truth is optimists are confronted with the same hard knocks of this world. What differs is the way they explain their misfortune---it’s the opposite way. They tend to believe defeat is just a temporary setback, that its causes are confined to this one case.

Optimists tend to focus on and plan for the 'problem' at hand. They use 'positive reinterpretation.' In other words, they most likely reinterpret a negative experience in a way that helps them learn and grow. Such people are unfazed by bad situation, they perceive it is a challenge and try harder.

They won’t say “things will never get better,” “If I failed once, it will happen again” and “If I experience misfortune in one part of my life, then it will happen in my whole life.”

Positive expectancies of optimists also predict better reactions during transitions to new environments, sudden tragedies and unlikely turn of events. If they fall, they will stand up. They see opportunities instead of obstacles.

People respond positively to optimists

Optimists are proactive and less dependent on others for their happiness. They find no need to control or manipulate people. They usually draw people towards them. Their optimistic view of the world can be contagious and influence those they are with.

Optimism seems a socially desirable trait in all communities. Those who share optimism are generally accepted while those who spread gloom, panic and hysteria are treated unfavorably.

In life, these people often win elections; get voted most congenial and sought for advice.

When the going gets tough, optimists get tougher

Optimists typically maintain higher levels of subjective well-being during times of stress than do people who are less optimistic. In contrast, pessimists are likely to react to stressful events by denying that they exist or by avoiding dealing with problems. Pessimists are more likely to quit trying when difficulties arise.

They persevere. They just don’t give up easily, they are also known for their patience. Inching their way a step closer to that goal or elusive dream.

Optimists are healthier and live longer

Medical research has justified that simple pleasures and a positive outlook can cause a measurable increase in the body's ability to fight disease.

Optimists’ health is unusually good. They age well, much freer than most people from the usual physical ills of middle age. And they get to outlive those prone to negative thoughts.

So why not be an optimist today? And think positively towards a more fulfilled life.

Why not look forward to success in all your endeavors? Why not be resilient? Like everybody else you are bound to hit lows sometimes but don’t just stay there. Carry yourself out of the mud and improve your chances of getting back on the right track. And why not inspire others to remove their dark-colored glasses and see life in the bright side?

Mick Jagger is one of the most recognisable and influential British musicians of the modern era. As lead singer and songwriter for The Rolling Stones, a prolific and much sought-after collaborator, a successful producer and a lauded solo artist in his own right, Mick has set and maintained the gold standard for popular performance and creativity for nearly five decades.

Michael Philip Jagger was born in 1943, in Dartford, Kent. A good student, Mick attended grammar school and then won a place at the prestigious London School of Economics. As has been well documented, he was a childhood friend of future Stones bandmate, guitarist and co-writer Keith Richards, with whom he lost touch during adolescence, before a chance meeting on the platform of the local railway station in 1960 brought them back together in their late teens. Discovering a shared passion for American rhythm and blues and rock’n'roll, they started hanging out, playing records and then making music.

[mickjagger.com]

Flowers epitomise emotion and can have a very beneficial impact on people. They are sent to communicate their feelings to their nearest and dearest. Wouldn’t it be even better if people were able to confidently buy sustainable, ethically-sourced flowers to communicate their feelings? After all, ethical commitment is an emotion as well! However, buying sustainable, ethical flowers is a niche activity in the UK, with only a handful of florists offering produce which is truly ethically sourced.

First of all, some numbers:
The total market for cut flowers and house plants in the UK is estimated to be £2.2 Billion and is expected to exceed £3 Billion by 2011. Despite the incursion of mutiple alternatives including gifts, chocolates and wines, people are still saying it with flowers, although the UK lags behind the rest of Europe in annual per capita spend on flowers.

There is a perennial debate regarding industry standards for flowers, as consumers have historically been confronted with confusing symbols of ethical quality. The Kenyan Flower Council which accounts for much of the imports into the UK, is governed by Fair Trade, which regulates the code of conduct for more than 1,000 farms in Kenya, although only about 25 large farms supply over 75% of Kenya’s flower exports. Ever since its introduction to the flower industry in 1999, Fair Trade has done an excellent job of supporting more than 10,000 workers in developing nations, by setting ethical standards to improve working environments. However, in the intervening years the industry has grown considerably and the competitive landscape has evolved. In particular, fair trade initiatives tend to work best in highly fragmented industries such as fruits and vegetables, which are crowded with numerous small producers, but less well in more consolidated industries, such as the flower industry. This is because fair trade initiatives can benefit larger organisations disproportionately, thus effectively disadvantaging the development of smaller producers within the competitive environment.

Fair Flowers Fair Plants (FFP) is a European initiative which addresses historic shortcomings by creating a level playing field for all producers by setting uniform, global standards. One of the unique features of FFP is its emphasis on auditing the entire supply chain to regulate the use of pesticides, land, energy and the working environment. Furthermore, it also offers flexibility to florists to source their produce either from flower auctions or directly, through FFP compliant growers. This latter approach guarantees fresher floral produce, reduced wastage and a happier customer (key!). In the longer term, FFP’s aim is to unify all existing standards to make it simple for growers, traders and consumers.

As in all free markets, if there is demonstrable consumer demand then that will stimulate growth in supply. If no-one wants FFP-accredited flowers, then they simply won’t be grown. It is estimated that 18.1 million Fair Trade stems were sold in the UK in 2005 so there are clearly people willing to buy ethically-sourced flowers. The challenge for FFP is to get into the national consciousness when Fair Trade is already the de facto standard in most peoples’ minds. One thing that people most love to hear is that FFP-accredited flowers typically cost no more than non FFP flowers; so being a good egg doesn’t have to mean a dent in your pocket as well!

In 2004, Toyota showcased its trumpet-playing robot. Toyota has been developing multitask robots destined for elderly care, manufacturing, and entertainment. A specific example of Toyota's involvement in robotics for the elderly is the Brain Machine Interface. Designed for use with wheelchairs, it "allows a person to control an electric wheelchair accurately, almost in real-time", with his mind.The thought controls allow the wheelchair to go left, right and forward with a delay between thought and movement of just 125 milliseconds.

Protecting your computer from a virus is getting harder and harder each day. While it may border on the paranoid, it goes without saying that you can’t leave your guard down for one second. Even corporate giant Microsoft has found its own systems compromised on more than one occasion.

Remember the “good old days”, before the advent of the Internet and downloadable programs? Life was simple then in terms of computer viruses. With the primary way in which a virus could be transmitted being limited to floppy disks, the ability to catch and eradicate the virus was a lot easier. By today’s standards, it used to take quite a while before a virus was able to infect a computer and slow down the system. The antivirus software of that time was typically able to identify and eradicate viruses before they caused too much damage. Additionally, computer users were pretty savvy on how to protect themselves in terms of scanning all floppy disks before copying them to our desktop.

The Internet helped change all that. The Internet provided a conduit by which viruses could move from host to host with lightening speed. No longer could a computer user just worry about floppy disks as points of entry, but they now had to worry about email, email attachments, peer-to-peer file sharing, instant messaging, and software downloads. Today’s viruses can attack through multiple entry points, spread without human intervention, and take full advantage of vulnerabilities within a system or program. With technology advancing everyday, and the convergence of computers with other mobile devices, the potential of new types of threats also increase.

Protecting Your Computer
Luckily, the advancement of antivirus software has kept pace with current virus threats. Antivirus software is essential to a computer’s ability to fend off viruses and other malicious programs. These products are designed to protect against the ability of a virus to enter a computer through email, web browsers, file servers and desktops. Additionally, these programs offer a centralized control feature that handle deployment, configuration and updating.
A computer user should remain diligent and follow a few simple steps to protect against the threat of a virus:

1.Evaluate your current computer security system.
With the threat of a new generation of viruses able to attack in a multitude of ways, the approach of having just one antivirus software version has become outdated. You need to be confident that you have protected all aspects of your computer system from the desktop to the network, and from the gateway to the server. Consider a more comprehensive security system which includes several features including antivirus, firewall, content filtering, and intrusion detection. This type of system will make it more difficult for the virus to penetrate your system.

2.Only install antivirus software created by a well-known, reputable company.
Because new viruses erupt daily, it is important that you regularly update your antivirus software. Become familiar with the software’s real-time scan feature and configure it to start automatically each time you boot your computer. This will protect your system by automatically checking your computer each time it is powered up.

3.Make it a habit to always scan all new programs or files no matter from where they originate.

4.Exercise caution when opening binary, Word, or Excel documents of unknown sources especially if they were received during an online chat or as an attachment to an email.

5.Perform regular backups in case your system is corrupted. It may be the only way to recover your data if infected.

Are you ready to swipe your credit card for the very first time? Really? Or are you already on your way to your second credit card? By the way, do you know it takes ages for you to get your credit card processed?

Well, for starters let’s look into the credit card processing stage of your application and why does it take you ages to have that other card.

The first thing that your bank looks into in the stage of credit card processing is the account that you have in other credit card companies. Normally this part of the credit card processing stage—this is where people in banks get down and dirties with their records and other companies’ records. This would also include how long was the credit card processing stage when you applied for your other cards. This usually means that your bank is trying to find out how much your worth really is. This is the part where they categorize you in subgroups. This also usually means that it’s either you’re a good payer or they would have a have time chasing after you state to state.

If this happens in the credit card processing stage, the bank would usually require you to give them an alternate address where they send you the bill, by the way this just means that they want to be sure that you are going to pay! And if you get past this stage of the credit card processing with minor injuries to your ego, the next step will be to find out if you have any unpaid balances or other credit card processing with other banks. This just means that they are trying to find out how cards are able to for and you’ll be able to pay for theirs once you’ve passed the credit card processing stage. They usually do this to counter check if you do have the capacity of paying for a number of credit cards so they won’t get stuck a person that cant. And when you get passed this stage, still with minimal damage to your ego, the next step in the credit card processing stage is to verify your identity as a US citizen.

Because of the US Patriotic Act, everyone trying to get anything in the US is required to have their identities verified because they don’t want terrorist getting anything inside US soil especially getting past credit card processing. And the last part of getting past the credit card processing is to have all the things they need to check in order and to meet the standards of their company, in a nutshell, to get a credit card and to get through credit card processing, you must have other credit cards that are active. Two, you must be a good payer and three you must not have a last name that sounds like you are from Afghanistan—that is. Anyway, you might be having problems when it comes to your credit card processing, most it the time, it’s worth the wait. Credit cards is great financial tool is used correctly and properly. It will enable the credit card holder to manage his or her finances. Having a credit card also ensure not only your money and your life as well because it is very convenient compared to carrying cash or checks every time you have to buy or pay for something.

It can be disarmed by the operator using a remote technique. Most car or truck proprietors nevertheless come across the aftermarket installment much better simply because they get a probability to pick the protection method that they would like to have from a vast variety.

A Peugeot auto warning process is the finest way to continue to keep your motor vehicle and other belongings safe and sound from theft. You acquire peace of mind when you are sure that your investment is risk-free. Superior is the most essential aspect when searching for a auto alarm technique. The internet is the best put to discover higher top quality notification techniques. It incorporates many varieties with lots of different attributes to allow you make a decision from a extensive assortment. You can uncover alarm devices with the most affordable prices and of significant top quality. A very poor good quality alarm program will not deliver you with the safety that you need. Investing in significant superior security systems makes sure that your car is effectively safeguarded thus providing you worth for your money.

The degree of protection that you get on your Peugeot vehicle is dependent on the functions that the alarm process has. Most of the after current market warning techniques have extra characteristic than the factory fitted car alarms simply because they give the proprietor a opportunity to include as lots of features as feasible. The proprietor can also have exclusive alarm seems by recording his unique sound. Most factory settings are not flexible simply because you have to stick to the alarm technique that has by now been arranged whether you are impressed with it or not.

Keeping your Peugeot car safe will enable you to aim on other significant things when you depart your motor vehicle at the packing. It retains your mind at peace knowing that in case an intruder comes near to y our car you will be alerted by the alarm promptly. Thieves will no extended maintain you worried when you have a vehicle theft prevention program. Installing the alarm method of your alternative is simple with easy instructions that will not take considerably of your time. Invest in a motor vehicle alarm equipment at this time and upgrade the safety procedure of your automobile.

At good deal of decisions are involved in the purchase of an car. Some of individuals selections entail digital gizmos like a stereo or GPS. Most car or truck prospective buyers invest a lot more on adornments than the internet charge of the true car. These extras are very interesting to motor vehicle thieves due to the fact they are far more easily pawned than the whole motor vehicle.

In these challenging financial days, vehicle burglaries are on the rise and will keep on to escalate. It's no longer a large metropolis crime and it will be coming to a neighborhood close to you. Car thieves have discovered their trade properly and they strike quite swiftly. An auto is an straightforward target for criminals and an uncomplicated way to achieve possession of your valuables left within.

There are various possibilities that you, as a vehicle operator, can do to assistance safe your vehicle or at least present a more difficult target for a burglar. The very best selection is to install an automobile alarm program.

BY: Rex Nelson

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