Thought

Life is thought.

When we cease to think, there is no life.
How we think, is the kind of life we live.
Since we are able to control our thoughts, we can determine the course of our life and the way we feel during our time here.
It is very important to establish good thinking guidelines and follow them.
Placing thoughts of peace and happiness in our mind will help to make our lives peaceful and happy.
If we do not set our thoughts properly, we will be dragged through life by the nose.

"We are what we think." - Buddha (BC)
"It is the mind that maketh good or ill, that maketh wretch or happy, rich or poor." - Edmund Spenser (1552-1599)

Our daily life includes thoughts associated with responsibilities concerning work, other people, and handling problems.
If possible, try not to think of too many different things, and don't move or think too quickly. Start out your day with a plan to come through to bedtime relaxed, contented, and ready for a restful night's sleep.

"Your own mind is a sacred enclosure into which nothing harmful can enter except by your permission." - Arnold Bennett (1867-1932)

Reflect about things that can improve your lot - learning, completing tasks and duties, pleasant and relaxing experiences, kind words.
Think about your happiness, goals, life and it's pleasures, your principles and your conduct. Think about enjoying the moment.

"Garner up pleasant thoughts in your mind, for pleasant thoughts make pleasant lives." - John Wilkins (1614-1672)

What are you thinking about?

Why Being a Vegetarian?


"Animals are my friends-and I don't eat my friends." (George Bernard Shaw)

Do you know these facts? Vegetarian foods are a major source of nutrition for most people in the world. Vegetarians have lower rates of heart disease and some forms of cancer than non-vegetarians. Vegetarian diets can be simple and easy to prepare.Broadly defined,
a vegetarian is a person who does not eat meat, poultry, and fish. Vegetarians eat mainly fruit, vegetables, legumes, grains, seeds, and nuts. Many vegetarians eat eggs and/or dairy products but avoid hidden animal products such as beef and chicken stocks, lard, and gelatin. (http://www.famousveggie.com/quotes.cfm)
People are vegetarians for many reasons, including concern for personal health and the environment, economic and world hunger concerns, compassion for animals, belief in nonviolence, food preferences, or spiritual reasons. People may become vegetarians for one reason, and then later on adopt some of the other reasons as well. Most of the people want to improve their health and loose weights. Experiments have shown that vegetarians are at lower risk for developing: heart disease, colorectal, ovarian, and breast cancers, diabetes, obesity and hypertension (high blood pressure). This is because a healthy vegetarian diet is typically low in fat and high in fiber. However, even a vegetarian diet can be high in fat if it includes excessive amounts of fatty snack foods, fried foods, whole milk dairy products, and eggs. Therefore, a vegetarian diet, like any healthy diet, must be well planned in order to help prevent and treat certain diseases.

Most of the vegetarians give up meat and fish because they do not morally approve of killing animals or because they object to the ways in which animals are kept, treated and killed for food. They think that eating meat is against the universal principle of not wanting to be killed. With the growing awareness of the importance of healthy food, many people are also becoming vegetarian because it matches the kind of low fat, high fiber diet recommended by dieticians and doctors. Concern about the environment is another factor as people become more aware of the effect raising animals for their meat is having on the environment. Or you may be concerned about wasting world food resources by using land to raise animals for meat instead of growing crops that can feed more people directly. (Some of the famous vegetarians are Leonardo Da Vinci, Charles Darwin, Socrates, Plato, Sir Isaac Newton, Thomas Edison, Mark Twain and Sadegh Hedayat.)
Today, modern society has emphasized on well balanced diet, exercise and healthy lifestyle habits. And because vegetarian diet is an effective way to ensure healthy living, many individuals choose this pattern. In fact, eating vegetables and fruits
are physically and ethically right. Human have been created biologically to eat vegetables and fruits.

poverty

Poverty is a world wide problem, where people are dying from a lack of food, and clean water. Some richer countries take advantage of what they have, but don't take advantage of what they don't have.

The Stats

- Half the world - nearly three billion people - live on less than two dollars a day. source 1

- The wealthiest nation on Earth has the widest gap between rich and poor of any industrialized nation. source 6

- 20% of the population in the developed nations consumes 86% of the world's goods. source

- The developing world now spends $13 on debt repayment for every $1 it receives in grants. source 13

- A few hundred millionaires now own as much wealth as the world's poorest 2.5 billion people. source 14

- "The 48 poorest countries account for less than 0.4 per cent of global exports." source 15

- According to UNICEF, 30,000 children die each day due to poverty. source 21

- The richest 50 million people in Europe and North America have the same income as 2.7 billion poor people."The slice of the cake taken by 1% is the same size as that handed to the poorest 57%."

- Number of children in the world 2.2 billion Number in peoerty 1 billion (every second child)

poverty is the reason of many social and personal problems.

The Perfect Girl


A friend asked a gentleman how it is that he never married ?
Replied the gentleman, "Well, I guess I just never met the right woman ... I guess I've been looking for the perfect girl."
"Oh, come on now," said the friend, "Surely you have met at least on girl that you wanted to marry."
"Yes, there was one girl .. once. I guess she was the one perfect girl .. the only perfect girl I really ever met. She was just the right everything .. I really mean that she was the perfect girl for me."
"Well, why didn't you marry her," asked the friend.
"She was looking for the perfect man," he said.

A Wish Cocoon

Along a dusty road in India there sat a beggar who sold cocoons. A young boy watched him day after day, and the beggar finally beckoned to him. "Do you know what beauty lies within this chrysalis? I will give you one so you might see for yourself. But you must be careful not to handle the cocoon until the butterfly comes out."The boy was enchanted with the gift and hurried home to await the butterfly. He laid the cocoon on the floor and became aware of a curious thing. The butterfly was beating its fragile wings against the hard wall of the chrysalis until it appeared it would surely perish, before it could break the unyielding prison. Wanting only to help, the boy swiftly pried the cocoon open.Out flopped a wet, brown, ugly thing which quickly died. When the beggar discovered what had happened, he explained to the boy "in order for the butterfly wings to grow strong enough to support him, it is necessary that he beat them against the walls of his cocoon. Only by this struggle can his wings become beautiful and durable. When you denied him that struggle, you took away from him his only chance of survival."May the walls of your cocoon, be just thick enough, to allow you to struggle, just long enough, TO EMERGE, The beautiful person, I already know you to be."

Munir Fasheh (2000)Director, center for middle eastern studies, Harvard University

About Me...

I'm studying English Literature at Azzahra University.I worked as an English teacher for three years.Sociology is my favorite field of study that I want to continue.Being an idealist and perfectionist,I try to do my best all the time.I'm not satisfied with my present state, because I think there are much unknown areas to travel in.My dreams and goals are accompanied with making a happy,meaningful life for myself.All the time I thank God for his blessings and say:"God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,the courage to change the things I can,and the wisdom to know the difference."

In this special moment in life ...

Think freely.
Practice patience.
Smile often.
Feel deeply.
Forget trouble.
Forgive an enemy.
Hope.
Grow.
Count your blessings.
Look for rainbows.
Gaze at stars.
See beauty everywhere.
Work hard.
Be wise.
Try to understand.
Take time for people.
Make time for yourself.
Laugh heartily.
Spread joy.
Try something new.
Slow down.
Believe in yourself.
See a sunrise.
Listen to rain.
Cry when you need to.
Trust life.
Have faith.
Have good ideas.
Make some mistakes.
Learn from them.
Celebrate life.

Jan Michelson