We Family Blog

Eight Free Gifts

2007-10-03T14:07:00.000-05:00

Eight Free Gifts
1) THE GIFT OF LISTENING...But you must REALLY listen. No interrupting, no daydreaming, noplanning your response. Just listening.
2) THE GIFT OF AFFECTION...Be generous with appropriate hugs, kisses, pats on the back andhandholds. Let these small actions demonstrate the love you have forfamily and friends.
3) THE GIFT OF LAUGHTER...Clip cartoons. Share articles and funny stories. Your gift will say, "Ilove to laugh with you."
4) THE GIFT OF A WRITTEN NOTE...It can be a simple "Thanks for the help" note or a full sonnet. A brief,handwritten note may be remembered for a lifetime, and may evenchange a life.
5) THE GIFT OF A COMPLIMENT...A simple and sincere, "You look great in red," "You did a super job" or"That was a wonderful meal" can make someone's day.
6) THE GIFT OF A FAVOR...Every day, go out of your way to do something kind.
7) THE GIFT OF SOLITUDE...There are times when we want nothing better than to be left alone. Besensitive to those times and give the gift of solitude to others.
8) THE GIFT OF A CHEERFUL DISPOSITION...The easiest way to feel good is to extend a kind word to someone, reallyit's not that hard to say, Hello or Thank You.
Friends are a very rare jewel, indeed. They make you smile and encourageyou to succeed. They lend an ear, they share a word of praise, and theyalways want to open their hearts to us.

Cancer

2007-09-14T08:38:00.000-05:00

Validation!! Please take the time to read this for yourself and your children. What we have been teaching for years finally validated from a 'respected authority'.
Thought you might like to take a look at this.

AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRY (TRY THE KEY WORD) AND ELIMINATE CANCER, JOHN HOPKINS IS FINALLY STARTING TO TELL YOU THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY . This is an amazing article that will encourage and inform anyone you know who might be dealing with these issues.

Cancer Update from John Hopkins

1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person's lifetime

3. When the person's immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors.

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle factors.

5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.

6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastro-intestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.

7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.

8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.

9 When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.

11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.

CANCER CELLS FEED ON:

a. Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal,Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in color. Better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt.

b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soya milk cancer cells are being starved.

c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.

d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains,seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment.About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts)and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).

e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine.Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer-fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.

12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines become putrified and leads to more toxic buildup.

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body's killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence,Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the body's own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body's normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, unforgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.

! 16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.

(PLEASE FORWARD IT TO PEOPLE YOU CARE ABOUT)

CANCER UPDATE FROM JOHN HOPKINS HOSPITAL , U S - PLEASE READ

1. No plastic containers in micro.

2. No water bottles in freezer.

3. No plastic wrap in microwave.

Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters. This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as well. Dioxin chemicals causes cancer, especially breast cancer. Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies. Don't freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic. Recently, Dr. Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Castle Hospital , was on a TV program to explain this health hazard. He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us.. He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers. This especially applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body. Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food. You get the same results, only without the dioxin. So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else. Paper isn't bad but you don't know what is in the paper. It's just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.

Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food. Cover food with a paper towel instead.

This is an article that should be sent to anyone important in your life.

Jaya's Kindergarten Class

2007-06-27T15:15:00.000-05:00

Hello from New Jersey!

2007-06-27T15:13:00.001-05:00

Hello from NJ!

Hello my family, I have been reading off and on all the messages on this blog. Just wanted to give you a quick update on Ravi and myself. School's over and this exhausted teacher is enjoying the first week of summer holidays. I am working part time doing some curriculum writing for the board and all is well. Ravi is doing well being recognized for his work in the ER for his clinical work. Frisco is getting bigger and more adorable each day. He is my shadow and workout buddy! So....the bad news is that Ravi and I will probably not be able to come to the Gosyne family picnic this year (conflicting events, weddings etc.) However, in August we are going to travel to Ireland our good news! All cousins are welcome to join, we will meet Kavita and Lakshmi there and a few of Ravi's friends may also come. It cost us about $530 US per ticket on an internet special. Well let us know, the more the merrier. Are you feeling the luck of the Irish?! Should be a good time. Well anyways here is a picture of my kindergarten po po's this year for their moving up ceremony (Hawaiian Luau theme)

Super Hero

2007-06-22T07:41:00.001-05:00

Super Hero
Nathaniel Bronner Jr.

Dr. Marilyn spoke at our staff meeting. She took us through exercises as she worked to get our minds and spirits adjusted to a more positive direction.

"Close your eyes and think back to when you were small. What did you want to be? What were your dreams? What did you want to do? Close your eyes and think back." she instructed.

I closed my eyes and thought back. I remembered what I wanted to be.

Dr. Marilyn then told of her early beginnings as a writer. She told of the articles and the publishing successes that she experienced but so many of them were punctuated by, "I didn't get paid for that."

Her words struck me.

I worked in a corner drug store when I was very small. I was below the age limit to work but the store made an exception. My father owned the store, thus the exception.

I worked long and hard. I treasured my lunch breaks. Not so much for the food or the rest, it was what I did during my lunch breaks that I treasured. I read comic books. I read the action books, not the romance or the comedies, action, pure action.

When I closed my eyes and thought back, I knew instantly what I had aspired to be.

A Super Hero!

Superman, Batman, Spiderman and Ironman were some of my heroes.

In all of the action comics that I read, there were two distinct patterns. Those two patterns were in every action comic book that I can recall.

First, there was always a battle between good and evil. The battle was always tough. The battle was always a close call. No matter how strong or how many powers the Super Hero had, evil pushed him to the very limit and most times almost defeated him.

Second, the Super Hero was never paid for his contribution to society; he always earned his living in his alter ego.

Superman made money as Clark Kent, a newspaper reporter.
Batman made money as Bruce Wayne, a rich industrialist.
Spiderman made money as Peter Parker, a photographer.
Ironman made money as Tony Stark, owner of Stark Industries.

None of them were paid for being a Super Hero and the contributions they made as Super Heroes.

As I listened to Dr. Marilyn state how she had never been paid for many things, a light popped on in my mind.

"The real Super Heroes don't get paid for the Super Hero stuff!"

I pastor a church and have never accepted a salary or taken up love offerings for myself. It's correct to be fairly compensated but I, like Paul, simply choose not to.

I am the editor of MountainWings and the AirJesus.com websites, and I don’t get any money for that either.

I realized as my eyes were closed that it is Super Hero stuff and my dream has been realized.

You've got Super Hero stuff too.

Parenting
Volunteering
Helping a stranger or friend in need
Doing anything beneficial that takes time, effort, energy or resources and where you expect no monetary return is Super Hero stuff.

Use your powers well.

We Are The Decent People

2007-06-22T07:33:00.000-05:00

We are the decent people of the world. We are in the majority, for men and women are essentially decent. We live in all nations, we live under all the flags that fly.

Decency is not determined by our economic status, our religion, the language we speak, the color of our skin, or the ideology under which we live. Human decency is a universal quality.

We, the decent people of the world, often have our voices drowned out by the shouts of leaders who misrepresent the things for which we stand.

We the decent people carry enough weight to tip the scale for decency if we will make ourselves heard...

We believe that war is the great indecency, that it kills and destroys all the higher sensibilities of man and leaves only death, suffering, and destruction in its wake.

We believe that this is a beautiful universe and that it is made for love and not for hate; for peace and not war; for freedom and not slavery; for order and not riot; for compassion and not violence; for happiness and not misery.

We believe that there is only one war to be waged in the name of human decency, and that is the war against all the common enemies of man... hunger, disease, poverty, ignorance, crime and failure.

We believe that every child should have the chance to grow up in an atmosphere of faith, not of fear.

We believe that the ultimate decency is to help men and never harm men, to lift men and not degrade men, and to respect the dignity of all men as individual human beings.

We the decent people of the world stand for the kind of life that will be good for all of the people, all of the time, everywhere."

The Thirty Second Quiz

2007-06-22T07:32:00.000-05:00

Don't bother getting a pen and paper... just read... if you can't
answer them, just keep going.

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.

2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.

3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America contest.

4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer prize.

5. Name the last five Academy Award winners for Best Actor and Actress.

How did you do?

The point is, none of us remembers the headliners of yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They're the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Now here's another quiz. See how you do on this one:

1. Name three teachers who aided your journey through school.

2. Name three friends who helped you through a difficult time.

3. Name five people who have taught you something worth while.

4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.

5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.

Easier?

The lesson?

The people who make a difference in your life aren't the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They're the ones who care.

(Wishing you a BEAUTIFUL day!)

Embracing the mystery

2007-06-22T07:31:00.001-05:00

When all the words have been written, and all the
phrases have been spoken, the great mystery of life
will still remain. We may map the terrains of our
lives, measure the farthest reaches of the universe,
but no amount of searching will ever reveal for certain
whether we are all children of chance or part of a
great design.

And who among us would have it otherwise? Who
would wish to take the mystery out of the experience
of looking into a newborn infant’s eyes? Who would
not feel in violation of something great if we had
knowledge of what has departed when we stare into
the face of one who has died? These are the events
that made us human, that define the distance
between the stars and us.

Still, this life is not easy. Much of its mystery is darkness. Tragedies occur, injustices exist. Bad things befall good people and sufferings are visited upon the innocent. To live we must take the lives of other species, to survive we must leave some of our brothers and sisters by the side of the road. We are prisoners of time, victims of biology, hostages of our own capacity to dream.

At times it all seems too much, impossible to accept.

We must stand against this. The world is a great mysterious place, and it’s possibilities are infinite, governed only by what our hearts can conceive. If we incline our hearts towards the darkness, we will see darkness. If we incline them toward the light, we will see the light.

Those of great heart have always known this. They have understood that, as honorable as it is to see the wrong and try to correct it, a life well lived must somehow celebrate the promise that life provides. The darkness at the limits of our knowledge; the darkness that sometimes seem to surround us is merely a way to make us reach beyond certainty, to make our lives a witness to hope, a testimony to possibility, an urge toward the best and the most honorable impulses that our hearts can conceive.

It is not hard. There is in each of us, no matter how humble, a capacity for love. Even if our lives have not taken the course we had envisioned, even if we are less than the shape of our dreams, we are part of the human family. Somewhere, in the most inconsequential corners of our lives, is the opportunity for love.

If I am blind, I can run my hand across the back of a shell and celebrate beauty. If I have no legs, I can sit in quiet wonder before the restless murmurs of the sea. If I am wounded in spirit, I can reach out my hand to those who are hurting. If I am lonely, I can go among those who are desperate for love. There is no tragedy or injustice so great, no life so small and inconsequential, that we cannot bear witness to the light in the quiet acts and hidden moments of our days.

And who can say which of these acts and moments will make a difference? The universe is vast and is a magical membrane of meaning, stretching across time and space, and it is not given to us to know her secrets and her ways. Perhaps we were placed here to meet the challenge of a single moment; perhaps the touch we give will cause the touch that will change the world.

Last Will And Testament

2007-06-22T07:28:00.001-05:00

Charles Lounsberry

In the pocket of an old ragged coat belonging to an elderly man in Chicago, there was found, after his death, a will. According to Barbara Boyd, in the Washington Law Reporter, the man had been a lawyer, and the will was written in a firm clear hand on a few scraps of paper. So unusual was it, that it was sent to another attorney; and so impressed was he with its contents, that he read it before the Chicago Bar Association and a resolution was passed ordering it probated. It is now on the records of Cook County Illinois.

I, Charles Lounsberry, being of sound and disposing mind and memory, do hereby make and publish this my Last Will and Testament, in order, as justly as may be, to distribute my interests in the world among succeeding men.

That part of my interests which is known in law and recognized in the sheep-bound volumes as my property, being inconsiderable and of no account, I make no disposition of in this, my Will. My right to live, being but a life estate, is not at my disposal, but, these things excepted, all else in the world I now proceed to devise and bequeath.

ITEM: I give to good fathers and mothers, in trust to their children, all good little words of praise and encouragement, and all quaint pet names and endearments; and I charge said parents to use them justly, but generously, as the deeds of their children shall require.

ITEM: I leave to children inclusively, but only for the term of their childhood, all, and every, the flowers of the field, and the blossoms of the woods, with the right to play among them freely according to the custom of children, warning them at the same time against the thistles and the thorns. And I devise to the children the banks of the brooks and the golden sands beneath the waters thereof, and the odors of the willows that dip therein, and the white clouds that float high over the giant trees.

And I leave the children the long, long days to be merry in a thousand ways, and the night and the moon and the train of the Milky Way to wonder at, but subject, nevertheless, to the rights hereinafter given to lovers.

ITEM: I devise to boys jointly all the idle fields and commons where ball may be played, all pleasant waters where one may swim, all snow-clad hills where one may coast, and all streams and ponds where one may fish, or where, when grim winter comes, one may skate, to have and to hold the same for the period of their boyhood. And all meadows, with the clover-blossoms and butterflies thereof; the woods with their appurtenances; the squirrels and birds and echoes and strange noises, and all distant places, which may be visited, together with the adventures there to be found. And I give to said boys, each his own place at the fireside at night, with all pictures that may be seen in the burning wood, to enjoy without hindrance and without any incumbrance of care.

ITEM: To lovers, I devise their imaginary world, with whatever they may need, as the stars of the sky, the red roses by the wall, the bloom of the hawthorn, the sweet strains of music, and anything else they may desire to figure to each other the lastingness and beauty of their love.

ITEM: To young men jointly, I devise and bequeath all boisterous inspiring sports of rivalry, and I give to them the disdain of weakness and undaunted confidence in their own strength. Though they are rude, I leave them to the powers to make lasting friendships, and of possessing companions, and to them exclusively I give all merry songs and brave choruses to sing with lusty voices.

ITEM: And to those who are no longer children, or youths, or lovers, I leave memory, and bequeath to them the volumes of the poems of Burns and Shakespeare, and of other poets, if there be any, to the end that they may live the old days over again, freely and fully without tithe or diminution.

ITEM: To the loved ones with snowy crowns, I bequeath the happiness of old age, the love and gratitude of their children until they fall asleep.

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Desperation

2007-06-22T07:25:00.000-05:00

franz
Fellow Traveler

Location: Philiphines

It was 3 a.m. in a winter morning. I felt the cold numb tingles on my feet. I was listening to "Queen" to stay awake. I was in my room- studying. Yes, that's right studying! You might think that I was pulling the one night stand on my exam. Well, it's more of a 16-nights-stand. Of course I slept too - 2 hours per night and an hour of power nap during the day.

Welcome to med-student living nightmare!

I'm Pierre and I got in to medicine. You see, I have never been quite that desparate ever before. But I was.

I was half-way around the world (Indonesian studing in New Zealand). My half-hearted dream was to be a psychiatrist. I went through terrible childhood experiences( e.g.my mum walked out off the family without a reason).
My other dreams were to be a world famous Jazz singer-like Sinatra- or open a three stars Michellin Restaurant-like Gordon Ramsay. But my lesson here was, " Life is about choices". I was brilliant in all those skills but I had also learn to realize that human is a slave of time so I decide, " Psychiatry! Chef n Jazz are for next time, next life or maybe heaven".

Anyway, back to how I got in to Med. Well, it took one year and my competition was 1500 med-student wannabe; there was 150 places. These students were born with books in their hands. They wanted it bad too. The course disqualifies you if you get a B- or below in any of your subjects. It was nuts! To see if you want to do it too, visit www.otago.ac.nz

You see, I had never studied! Ever! I was happy with getting E average in 1st grade or A+ in 10th grade but I had never ever studied at home. I pratically memorized and did my homeworks in classroom. One thing for certain, my results were not stable.

Until.... University!
I wanted to... one day... to be someone! Someone that contributed to human race in a good way. So I closed my eyes and slowly, I pictured myself the ME in future. Who was I?Who would I be with? Do I drive to work? Do I live in an apartment or the suburban?
I yelled," Yes! That's me!"
I wanted my dream badly, I wanted it so bad, it was what I dream about when I dreamt at night. I was desparate.
I gave away my TV to charity, I needed more time. I was chewing books everyday. I was a freak-geek but to me it was persistence. I had to stop chasing girls too!
Still, my hardwork only gave me B's(a very close call) eventhough I had been extremely certain to get A+ during the tests.

10 Months went by, there were good times and were bad times. At least, I was still qualified to get in. But 800 others were also qualified. I prayed so hard, I went crazy.
I wrote a passage in my mirror," My name is Pierre and I am going to be a Psychiatrist!" That words kept me awake when I took my 2 minute breaks between my 16-nights-stand.
I also noticed, my eyes were full of bloodshots with dark rings surrounds it. My lips were dry. I lost many hairs. I lost 8lbs of weight. Beforehand, I was very fit and healthy with a belly waiting to have a sixpack

Day 12, I woke up. Big thumping headache! I walked into the bathroom. Then, all went black- I fainted. It was dead-black, but I saw a being. It was my face, it was me in future. I heard a voice," gggegegge....gegeggeg...Get UP! Come On 4 more days! It's Nothing!" The voice repeated three times before I had the power to pull my eyelids apart. I was OK. I was lying on the floor but I was fine. I giggled and I laughed! I was too happy. I felt stupid but I was amazed. I felt if I had died trying, what a man I was! But I had more study to do.

When Exams were over, I came back to my room. I wiped out my mirror writings. Then, my body was as light as the air when I approached my wonderful bed. It was the best sleep I ever had.

But then, I had to wait and wait and wait for a long time of two months to see if I made it. If my craze was worth it. If Mother Mary had blessed me.

That morning, I heard a noise in the front door. I ran out. It was the pretty postgirl who brought me the letter of my life. I tore it quickly but carefully...
" Dear Pierre , bla bla.... here are the places that you're accepted in...1. Bachelor of Medicine/Surgery... 2....Dentistry... bla bla bla...."
....
...
..
...
I ran to the postgal and kissed her in the cheek and I said," Thank You! You are an Angel"

I'm in!

It's not that I am a psychiatrist now, but it's an easier life now. A more sane one I guess. It's still another 12 years of study but I had passed the highest hill.

My friends, I am not suggesting you to be crazy. My lesson here is that desparation can be enjoyable in a kind of quirky way. Desparation, by "doing IT"(action), is what we need to have that-full-life. When you gave it all and you succeed, it's a blissful experience (I was smilling 24/7 for a week after I had that letter). But if you failed, you can always turn back to fate- knowing that you gave it all and you lived a full life.

Notice, I wasn't a saint to be martyred but hey! I had spent my time wisely here. I used it to feel those strong feelings that I can't explain.

Go Crazy!
Life's unique- can you enjoy it fully?

Maithri
Good Friend

Location: Australia
Now Reading: Take the step, the bridge will be there - Grace Cirocco

My Congratulations to you Pierre,

May you be the willing and loving servant of all those who entrust their precious lives into your care.

Real Medicine is not about titles or degrees, nor is it about stethescopes and ward rounds and an endless pharmacy of pills...

The art of medicine is about learning to embody the spirit of servanthood - the spirit of kindness.

It is about consecrating our lives to the service of humanity.

In truth we are all healers. So the job of the doctor is simply to cultivate the conditions for health - and watch in humility as the ones we serve show us how miraculous this thing called life really is.

Stay passionate.

Be kind. Be tolerant and global in your thinking.

And have a wonderful career,

Maithri.

Death Cultivates Life

2007-06-22T07:21:00.001-05:00

Pollie
Fellow Traveler

Ohio Transplant :

From ages 11 to 23, I was most likely the ugliest person a human could encounter. My childhood was a book you would never want to read. My heart was made of stone, I was selfish and greedy. I hated the world and the people in it especially when it came to those who were socially middle to high classed, I loathed my own being. This is what was on the outside. Inside I was frail, afraid, tired.

Finally, I was too tired to fight, 23 I gave in to the devils calling. I took a bottle of pills and was relieved. My grandmother, whom I had stood up on a lunch date, came calling for me. She took me home and nursed me back to health. Jesus came to me that week and I turned my life over to him, that was the first step to recovery, he tought me I was worthy of love. He promised that things would get better, but we both knew it was not going to be easy. I had other lessons to learn.

2 years later I found myself married and a child on the way. She was the second step. Although I was married, I can honestly say that not alot of things had changed about who I was. Jesus was working in me but I was stubborn. My daughter showed me a love that I never knew was possible, and brought out in me a love I never knew I had. But that love never went beyond them. After that I had 2 more children who continued to fill me with love. But 2 months before my son was born my husband left me. Today I know that I was mostly to blame for this. Because I did not love him then. I only loved those three little babes I had. He was merely a means to an end. We co-existed, worked different shifts, lived different lives. I liked it that way. I was still in total controll.

1 year later I met a young man. He was kind and innocent. Never really had a relationship before and still lived at home. He was a free spirit. Fly by the seat of his pants kind of guy. His name was Pat. We dated and lived together for nearly 4 years. I was not as cruel to him as I was my first husband. He had put me on this pedastool, I did no wrong in his eyes. Finally I agreed to marry him, for I loved him far more than I ever loved my 1st husband, he he loved me more as well.

1 week before we were to be wed, God took him from me. WOW, I was devistated, for weeks I was disfunctional, perhaps months. And this was the final lesson, this is what completed the transformation. I realized, that I had loved this man with every once of my heart, and that he was perfect and that I had cheated him out of true love. Pat had died, never knowing how much he was really loved. Because I was afraid to love and be loved. I was protecting myself. At this point I realized that I could never keep that wonderful feeling hidden away.

It has been nearly 10 years, I and still I think of him, and the song by Tony Rich "Nobody Knows it but me". I am married now, I believe that I have the perfect relationship. In seven years, we have never fought, always laugh, always dance, always love, always talk. He has never once doubted how much I love him. And he knows how Pat had been that final step the most dramatic step, and that I will always love him. We only talk about him on the anniversary of his death, but his picture still sits on my dresser. I don't know that I would have ever completely changed if it were not for the guilt I felt, and the realization of love. And now instead of working in me, Jesus works through me.

So I say to Pat, I love you.....thank you........and mostly I am sorry.... you are my hero, my inspiration.

And I say to all of you. There is nothing in life worth holding you back. Beyond any darkness you may encounter you will see that life is great. Do not take lightly or for granted the things that surround you today, they may very well be gone tomorrow. Love with all your heart, laugh with all your sould, dance and sing and live every day with out regret, never have to say your sorry, believe in God, and always smile.

Love
Pollie

This Pastor has guts

2007-06-22T07:07:00.000-05:00

It seems prayer still upsets some people. Please read....
When Minister Joe Wright was asked to open the new session of the Kansas Senate, everyone was expecting the usual generalities, but this is what they heard;

"Heavenly Father, We come before you today to ask your forgiveness and to seek your direction and guidance.
We know Your Word says, "Woe to those who call evil good" But that is exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values.
We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.
We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
We have killed our unborn and called it choice.
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.
We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self esteem.
We have abused power and called it politics.
We have coveted our neighbour's possessions and called it ambition.
We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of speech and expression.
We have ridiculed the time-honoured values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.
Search us, Oh, God, And know our hearts today;
Cleanse us from every sin and set us free.
Amen!"

The response was immediate. A number of legislators walked out during the prayer in protest.
In 6 short weeks, Central Christian Church, where Rev. Wright is pastor, logged more than 5,000 phone calls with only 47 of those calls responding negatively. The church is now receiving international requests for copies of this prayer from India , Africa and Korea .
Commentator Paul Harvey aired this prayer on his radio program, "The Rest of the Story," and received a larger response to this program than any other he has ever aired.
With the Lord's help, may this prayer sweep over our Nation and wholeheartedly become our desire so that we again can be called "one nation under God."

Tis I ...again!!!

2007-05-21T23:18:00.000-05:00

SO.... my exams r dun! thanx Mata, jesus and britney spears! butthe drinking , r any part thereof has not begun as i got sik on sunday ( damn diseased indians in my school!!!) and i was informed by revered guruji that my music exams are soon .. so in summary , due to a lack of cleaning since the inception of brain and study programme for exams, i am now cleaning like a house wife on crack, and due to music, im singing like a starved african ( note: not a racial slur)
apart from that i have great hopes for the lime(S), summer loves and paychecks, LOL
our heat is still on aparently, and my melanin is still in love, but im avoiding the sun like a gym, and tryin to exist..... but i actually have strtd back the dietery pursuit ,for as we know, 'the MAS' is soon in coming :OP

say something people!!!

VISH OUT!

3 cheers to cousin Vishal!

2007-05-18T21:29:00.001-05:00

...for posting on our struggling family blog. I knew you had some interesting things to "blog" about- wrinkles named bob, and uni exams are pure entertainment to me (busts out the popcorn and lube-er-butter)...

Keep it coming!

-Roger

...And then there was I !!!

2007-05-18T12:27:00.000-05:00

Greetings! oh you people of frigid nations!
Finallyafternovelty has died, i have found a way , means to blog up the place!> giving this new found technology a new life and tanned shade! (shut up roger! i am only slightly technologically imbalanced :OP )
(btw... dont you find the word 'blog' to be obscene?????lol... i will find ways to place it inappropriately in sentences)

Firstly... i dont understand why the sight has soo much prayer/inspiration on it??? i thought i was on the wrong site at first... wher'd 'blog' that come from (notice the inappropriate use of the word blog!)....
Secondly, i greatly dislike that pic of me in t'go, as the 'bloggin' sun and my melanin became much too close of friends, as did my luv-handles and the food... i however was much opposed to both relationships!
and thirdly. do my posts ned to b g-rated?;O)

...but anyway,

how is all??? ...i is fierce, and doing ok in sunny tdad... we r presently experinceing a heat wave... it is a 'blogging'mess... you r sweating ten times as much as normal> WHICH IS NOT FUN! though it helps in the dietery pursuit!
i discovered a wrinkle last week and i felt that it was the end of my world... i have named it bob... you howver wont be able to meet him, as he will be eliminated(or blogged up!) by next week,,, I PROMISE!!!
i now look like ' a truk hit and drag meh by meh hair from port of spain to Scarborough... in d sun' due to the lovely exam experience i had this year... props to Univ. of London! .... thanx for askin ,,, exams were ok, i have one more on monday and then im dun ,.,,.. hopefulluy employment and paychks follow soon!

Apart from that, guruji is in Tdad, so i expect ill be uber busy from saturday, singing like a canary for my seeds! and helpin out with camp and all.... would anyone be able to make it for camp this yr? i spoke to surabhi and she said it shud be a landmark one .... jaya, itll b fab if u and rav could come ( hint hint hint)
my luv life seems pretty 'calm b4 the stormi'sh' for now ,and my social life is on pause till monday at 4:01 pm, when we shal 'blog' dong d place ... ie my exam is finishing at 4:00 pm , LOL

This blog thing is fun ... as is the word ... i'll try to do it more often!!!

(Is this how its done roger?)

vish!

2007-05-02T07:12:00.000-05:00

Before I was a Mom

Before I was a Mom
I made and ate hot meals.
I had unstained clothing.
I had quiet conversations on the phone.

Before I was a Mom,
I slept as late as I wanted
And never worried about how late I got into bed.
I brushed my hair and my teeth everyday.

Before I was a Mom
I cleaned my house each day.
I never tripped over toys or forgot words of lullabies.

Before I was a Mom
I didn't worry whether or not my plants were poisonous.
I never thought about immunizations

Before I was a Mom
I had never been puked on
Pooped on
Spit on
Chewed on
Peed on
Or pinched by tiny fingers

Before I was a Mom I had complete control of:
My thoughts
My body
And my mind.
I slept all night.

Before I was a Mom
I never held down a screaming child so that doctors could do tests
Or give shots.
I never looked into teary eyes and cried.
I never got gloriously happy over a simple grin.
I never sat up late hours at night watching a baby sleep.

Before I was a Mom
I never held a sleeping baby just because I didn't want to put it down.
I never felt my heart break into a million pieces
when I couldn't stop the hurt.
I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.
I never knew that I could love someone so much.
I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom
I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.
I didn't know how special it could feel to feed a hungry baby.
I didn't know that bond between a Mother and her child.
I didn't know that something so small
Could make me feel so important.

Before I was a Mom
I had never gotten up in the middle of the night
Every 10 minutes to make sure all was okay
I had never known the warmth
The joy
The love
The heartache
The wonder
Or the satisfaction of being a Mom.
I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much before I was a Mom.

Before I was a Mom I did not know how fortunate I was to be a daughter.
Love and Best Wishes to all my Sisters and Mom’s out there from Savitri Gosyne-Maraj.

~@~

2007-04-07T22:06:00.000-05:00

Illyria: I've nowhere to go. My kingdom is long dead. Long dead. There's so much I don't understand. I've become overwhelmed. I'm unsure of my place.

Wesley: Your place is with the rest of your people: dead and turned to ash!

Illyria: Perhaps...but I exist here. I must learn to walk in this world. I'll need your help...Wesley.

Wesley: If I were to help you find your way...you have to learn to change. You mustn't kill.

Illyria: You killed the Qwa'ha Xahn in defiance of your leader.

Wesley: He murdered the woman I love.

Illyria: And that made it just.

Wesley: No. It wasn't just... I'm probably the last man in the world to teach you what's right.

Illyria: But you will. If I abide, you will help me.

Wesley: Yes.

Illyria: Because I look like her?

Wesley: Yes.

Illyria: We cling to what is gone. Is there anything in this life but grief?

Wesley: There's love. There's hope...for some. There's hope that you'll find something worthy...that your life will lead you to some joy...that after everything...you can still be surprised.

Illyria: Is that enough? Is that enough to live on?
(Shells - 5.16 - Angel)

Hello All!

2007-04-04T11:55:00.000-05:00

How is all my family doing? I am studying for my GRE's taking the test tomorrow and enjoying my spring break. Well I thought I would give you some updated pictures of Frisco and our new garden in the back. Can't wait to have some visitors this spring/ summer?! So if you feel like taking a drive to NJ just give us a call. Jaya

OM Shanti OM - 7 steps to your Meditation- awakening your Atam Shakti

2007-04-04T08:51:00.001-05:00

These seven steps have become a part of my meditation....................so it is my pleasure to share them with you.
As we all grow in our own spirituality, please share these Steps with all who may benefit from them.

THANKING:
1) Thank & Recognize your creator. Acknowledge his divine power to influence all that is in this universe.
2) Recognize and Thank your parents, without whom you would not have been born. ( If they are no longer with you, thank their Atma)
3) Recognize and Thank the various devi's and Devtaas ( Gods and Goddesses) of the universe for running this complex environment that we all live in.: I personally thank
Suryia ( Sun ) devtaa
Vayu ( Air ) Devtaa
Jaal ( Water ) devtaa
Dharti MA ( Mother Earth )
and all other gods and goddesses who bestow upon us their blessing and manage this ever giving universe of ours.
It is a sad commentary for us human beings to not thank the universe ( Sansar ) for all it provides. Everything is given to us without asking for anything in return ( the Sun always shines and radiates our lives without asking for anything in return), yet we never take the time to acknowledge these universal gift(s).

FORGIVING
4) With the most sincere heart FORGIVE all who have hurt you knowingly and or unknowingly.
This should be done by taking specific names of people whose hurt you are carrying on your shoulders. The hurt that has emotionally tied you down, that has taken up free space in your heart and your head. FORGIVE ALL .....period. NO If's, buts or what ever...........just absolute forgiveness. I have been doing this now for a while and ...............I no longer waste my time and energy on people who have hurt me............... period.
5) The other part of forgiveness is to ask FOR FORGIVENESS from all those that you have hurt knowingly and unknowingly.
Ask for forgiveness for all your past and present life. Then turn around and ask for forgiveness from Param Pita Parmeshwar or the universe for all of your deeds that you are not proud of. Be as specific or as general u you want to be ............... its up to you.

ASKING:
6)Here in lies your HUMILITY.................ask for OTHERS Never for yourself.
If you know any one who is in need Name them and ask for his or her path of difficulties be cleared. If some one cannot find employment, ask for him or her, ask for everybody that u know who is suffering from, issues relating to health, finances,relationships....anything............ ask for longevity and great health for your mom and Dad............ask for your husband, kids......well being etc......................this asking should be not only limited to your family but should be for friends and acquaintances.
When u ask...it humbles you and you realize how well off you are, how insignificant your problems are. Also by asking for others, the universe (Your Atma ( Soul) that is now being aligned with the universe through these 7 steps knows of your needs) , thus you need not ask for your self.
7) Acknowledge his blessing for you and ask for continued guidance and his presence in your life.

Meditate on
"OM SHANTI OM"

Try and do this for 15 minutes 2 times a day. Do it sitting or while you are lying in Bed upon awakening and before you go to bed.
The universe is very accommodating.........what counts is your Bhavna (your intentions) not whether you sit up and pray or lie down and pray
By making the above a daily practice for the next 30 days, you will notice a change in your self (Your Atam shakti will start to awaken).
Remember the Atma (soul) is like a Hard Drive of the computer...........it is full of hurts and issues, the cleaner it gets, the easier will your life be.
The aim should be to wipe out the Hard Drive and start afresh.
For those of you reading this, I do not claim to know anything, I have no specific knowledge......all I know is that I was given the gift of spirituality by my parents for which I am ever so grateful ......As I journey through this life, in the end all I hope to attain is my............. Humility.
May you be blessed with his divine Blessings.
Namastae and God Bless

PS:
As you reflect on the above, meditating on "OM Shanti OM" , is after all our ultimate desire.................to be at peace within our selves and within his universe. When we attain that................. there will be no need unfulfilled and we shall be a step closer to Nirvana.

The Journey of a MOTHER

2007-04-04T08:45:00.000-05:00

The Journey Of A Mother

For those who are fortunate enough to still be blessed by having

your Mom with you, this is beautiful...For those who aren't...

it is even more beautiful. It takes my breath!

The young mother set her foot on the path of life.

"Is this the long way?" she asked.

And the guide said "Yes, and the way is hard. And you

will be old before you reach the end of it. But the end

will be better than the beginning."

But the young mother was happy, and she would not

believe that anything could be better than these years.

So she played with her children, she fed them and bathed

them, and taught them how to tie their shoes and ride a

bike and reminded them to feed the dog, and do their

homework and brush their teeth. The sun shone on

them, and the young Mother cried,

"Nothing will ever be lovelier than this."

Then the nights came, and the storms, and the path

was sometimes dark, and the children shook with

fear and cold, and the mother drew them close and

covered them with her arms, and the children said,

"Mother, we are not afraid, for you are near,

and no harm can come."

And the morning came, and there was a hill ahead,

and the children climbed and grew weary, and the

mother was weary. But at all times she said to the children,

"A little patience and we are there." So the children climbed,

and as they climbed they learned to weather the storms.

And with this, she gave them strength to face the world.

Year after year, she showed them compassion,

understanding, hope, but most of all...unconditional love.

And when they reached the top they said,

"Mother, we would not have done it without you."

The days went on, and the weeks and the months and

the years, and the mother grew old and she became

little and bent. But her children were tall and strong,

and walked with courage. And the other, when she

lay down at night, looked up at the stars and said,

"This is a better day than the last, for my children

have learned so much and are now passing these

traits on to their children."

And when the way became rough for her, they lifted her,

and gave her their strength, just as she had given them hers.

One day they came to a hill, and beyond the hill, they could

see a shining road and golden gates flung wide.

And mother said: "I have reached the end of my journey.

And now I know the end is better than the beginning,

for my children can walk with dignity and pride,

with their heads held high, and so can their children

after them. And the children said, "You will always walk

with us, Mother, even when you have gone through the gates."

And they stood and watched her as she went on alone,

and the gates closed after her. And they said:

"We cannot see her, but she is with us still.

A Mother like ours is more than a memory.

She is a living presence."

Your Mother is always with you.

She's the whisper of the leaves as you walk down the

street, she's the smell of certain foods you remember,

flowers you pick and perfume that she wore, she's

the cool hand on your brow when you're not feeling well,

she's your breath in the air on a cold winter's day.

She is the sound of the rain that lulls you to sleep,

the colors of a rainbow, she is Christmas morning.

Your Mother lives inside your laughter.

And she's crystallized in every tear drop. A mother shows

every emotion .happiness, sadness, fear, jealousy,

love, hate, anger, helplessness, excitement, joy, sorrow...

and all the while, hoping and praying you will only

know the good feelings in life.

She's the place you came from, your first home,

and she's the map you follow with every step you take.

She's your first love, your first friend, even your first enemy,

but nothing on earth can separate you.

Not time, not space...not even death!

PASS THIS ON TO ALL THE MOTHERS AND

DAUGHTERS AND SONS YOU KNOW....

MAY WE NEVER TAKE OUR MOTHERS FOR GRANTED.

"The best and most beautiful things cannot be seen or touched -

they must be felt with the heart."

Who would you invite?

2007-03-12T09:30:00.000-05:00

A woman came out of her house and saw 3 old men with long white
Beards sitting in her front yard. She did not recognize them. She said "I don't think I know you, but you must be hungry. Please come
in and have something to eat."

"Is the man of the house home?", they asked.

"No", she replied. "He's out." "Then we cannot come in", they replied.

In the evening when her husband came home, she told him what had
happened.

"Go tell them I am home and invite them in!"

The woman went out and invited the men in"

"We do not go into a House together," they replied.

"Why is that?" she asked.

One of the old men explained: "His name is Wealth," he said pointing

To one of his friends, and said pointing to another one, "He is Success,
and I am Love." Then he added, "Now go in and discuss with your husband
which one of us you want in your home."

The woman went in and told her husband what was said.
Her husband Was overjoyed. "How nice!!", he said. "Since that is the case, let us invite Wealth. Let him come and fill our home with wealth!"

His wife disagreed. "My dear, why don't we invite Success?"

Their daughter-in-law was listening from the other corner of the
house.
She jumped in with her own suggestion: "Would it not be better to invite
Love? Our home will then be filled with love!"

"Let us heed our daughter-in-law's advice," said the husband to his
wife.

"Go out and invite Love to be our guest." The woman went out and asked the 3 old men, "Which one of you is Love?
Please come in and be our guest."

Love got up and started walking toward the house. The other 2 also
Got up and followed him. Surprised, the lady asked Wealth and Success: "I
only invited Love, Why are you coming in?"

The old men replied together: "If you had invited Wealth or Success,

The other two of us would've stayed out, but since you invited Love,
wherever He goes, we go with him. Wherever there is Love, there is also
Wealth and Success!!!!!!"

MY BEST WISHES FOR ALL OF YOU...

MY TRINIDAD

2007-03-12T09:29:00.001-05:00

MY TRINIDAD
By Adonis

My Trinidad is not the Trinidad you read about in tourist magazines, with white sand beaches and hummingbirds floating among steeldrums. Or that brother who could limbo real good for the visitors to spend their money and have something to talk about when they get home.
If you come from dere you know, and if you never went, you have to go.

My Trinidad is running barefoot on the street before yuh mudda ketch yuh, or before yuh buss yuh toe on dat big stone in the middle ah de yard.

My Trinidad is playing rounders and pitchin marble in the dust with yuh eye close to show off for Leslie-Ann and dem. She mudda use to make a wicked soursop ice cream, and doh even talk bout sea moss.

My Trinidad is talking gibridge because yuh doh want yuh chirren to know what yuh sayin, and yuh could switch it too yuh know.

My Trinidad is climbing San Fernando hill jes so yuh could say yuh do it.

My Trinidad is rum and coconut water, eating dry biscuit and cheese and playing cards when somebody dead.

My Trinidad is pretendin to study for common entrance exam and cryin cause yuh didn't get into yuh fus choice.

My Trinidad is about four or five ah allyuh breaking beach and going down by the wharf behind the scout house to take a dip in the salt, and yuh frighten because Peter drown dey last year.
My Trinidad is climbing the neighbor ten foot fence to get at that Julie mango yuh been eyeing since last week when it jes start to look like it want to ripe.

My Trinidad is getting the sweetest cut ass from yuh fadda fuh nothing jes in case yuh behave bad, and make him shame when he gone to work. Jes in case he have to hear from Mr. Phillip that yuh didn't say good mornin and good afternoon to every single person from home to school to home again, because yuh have to respec yuh elders.

Yeah my Trinidad is something else. In my Trinidad gossip is called commess and anything yuh want to know yuh could aks Marva and Debra, de two sisters with a collective bottom that require a whole football team to wine on them for Joovay morning. Joovay morning, blow yuh whistle, blow yuh whistle. Joovay morning, knock yuh bottle, knock yuh bottle. Wining back and bending down, ketchin the spirit and making mas in the place, and dey could cook! Aks them to make a buss up shot, or a rice and peas with some mauby or sorrel an yuh go want to eat off yuh own hand. They could make a roti with some polouri and kuchela that could make a big man cry like he miss carnaval two years in a row. I telling you, yuh never taste a bake and shark like dey could make it. Even a cup a tea cudda make man bawl. If yuh come from dere yuh know, and if yuh never went yuh have to go. Yeah man, my Trinidad is something else. We doh know nottin bout ethnicity - a black man is a nigger man, a Indian is a coolie, a Spanish is a cocopayol. Any kind ah mix is ah mix, or a dougla, or a dos, and a white man is a white man or a whitey cockaroach. All de police black and dey always vex, and if yuh watch them hard, they turn colorblind and will buss yuh ass regardless. If yuh need counseling go and see the obeah woman or de pundit. They will tell yuh what to do. Cook some sweat rice and yuh man will never cheat again. Suck a penny and he will never hav sex again. Yuh will know if it woking if yuh see a bullfrog with a lock on he mouth. Yeah, my Trinidad is tiefing yuh cousin bike so yuh could do a wheelie for Angeline up de hill, and limin on de back step, singing American songs, and makin up de words if yuh doh know them. Laughing loud in de road at dat madman who does run amok when he hear de steam horn down in the City Council yard, where Choko and Blackie used to wok. Buh dey never do no wok, yuh know. Dey jes wanted to tell people dey had a job. And when dey go party, dey never have no money to buy nuttin, always aksing dey pardner, "Buy a beer fuh me nah boy, yuh musn't be so stingy!" Folk it was a bullerman who used to watch dem little boys in dey short pants. Buh he wasn't no problem after Dionne and Murdoch and Roger and George ketch him and beat him till dey couldna see him. Den dey beat him for hidin. They beat him like Collins used to beat a pan, and dat boy coulda beat a serious pan to make woman wine till dey forget dey have a man, and make man so bazoodie they eh even have time to get vex before wildman Mousie start pelting chop like chop going out of style, because he went and play he smoking weed with Sexy and them other rastas. When Abu Bakr stage de coup a few years back, police lock up de country so tight if yuh fart yuh get a headache, but in my Trinidad is curfew party from six in the evening to six in the morning and if yuh cyah reach home yuh stay until six the next morning. Is nuttin. Drinks flowing like water. 'Oman still wining when de sun come up. If yuh come from dere yuh know, and if yuh never went yuh have to go. My Trinidad is waiting for nationwide blackout to listen to yuh uncle talk bout lagahoo and douen and la diablesse and the white horse and lighting candle quick to have talent show in de dark with the neighbor children. Yuh remember Auntie Kay? She had a radio show with some ah de best and worst talent in Trinidad mix up like a pelau to feed my people on the nicest kind of soundbytes this side of the Atlantic.

My Trinidad is boiling ham in a pitch oil tin out in the yard on Christmas eve night to ketch dew and make it taste like it come from yuh grandmother kitchen. My Trinidad is midnight mass and fresh baked bread and black eye peas without salt for new years and aksing dem boys from town if dey hear the laytis calypso.
My Trinidad is going by de beach jes because yuh have nuttin to do in de house. Yuh cook up a saltfish dat sweeter than meat. When is time to eat, brudder, is sand an' all in yuh plate in yuh juice - all over the place.
But it tastin so good yuh doh even realize yuh eating more beach dan food. Dey used to say Miss Jack was a soucouyant, but ah go tell allyuh bout dat next time.
If yuh come from dere yuh know, and if yuh never went, yuh have to go ah gone.

Congrats Kavita...

2007-03-03T02:29:00.000-05:00

Hey Kavita, great to see you're doing well in "Jolly ole England"....smashing!

You gotta try the Fish & Chips at the "Shakespeare Restaurant"...Victoria Station stop...across from the Victoria Thistle hotel.

BTW...log on to:- www.eawaz.com on Sundays 5pm - 6pm EST/EDT & listen
(I guess it will be 10 or 11pm for you)

Cheers.

Uncle Suresh.

Hello From London England!

2007-02-27T14:39:00.000-05:00

Hi Everyone!

Just wanted to blog and say I'm ok. It's been about two weeks and a half and I've some how survived =) Things are going well. I'm in a flat with Stella and two other girls in Zone 2, Kennington. It's a cozy place but when I get an amazing job I'm sure Stella and I can afford better. It is clean and safe and I'm comfortable, strangely comfortable. Well I thought I would post my info:

I opened a UK email :k_gosyne@yahoo.co.uk (Please do not spam me)

Here is the address for BUNAC. They will collect mail for me no matter where I am, if I'm traveling or moving flats. They will not accept registered mail or fedex.

My mobile number is 07942 211 386

BUNAC,
16 Bowling Green Lane,
London,
EC1R 0QH
Telephone: (020) 7251-3472 (messeges only)
Fax: (020) 7251-0215

The address of my current flat is:

31 Wesley Close
London, England
SE17 3AU

Oh also, I'm working on my website but for the meantime you can check out pics on myspace: http://etherealchyld.spaces.live.com/
Has pics of my current flat etc.

Well that's it. I miss you all! Love you!
Kavita

> >Subject: re: Words of Wisdom

2007-02-27T08:15:00.001-05:00

> >Subject: re: Words of Wisdom
> >
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> The first day of school our professor introduced himself
> and
> > >> challenged us
> > >>to get to know someone we didn't already know. I stood up to look
> >around
> > >>when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned round to find a
> > >>wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit
> > >>up her entire being.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>She said, "Hi handsome. My name is Rose.
> > >>
> > >> I'm eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?"
> > >>
> > >> I laughed and enthusiastically responded, "Of course you may!"
> and
> >she
> > >>gave me a giant squeeze.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> "Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?" I asked.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> She jokingly replied, "I'm here to meet a rich husband, get
> >married,
> > >> and
> > >>have a couple of kids..."
> > >>
> > >>
> > > "No seriously," I asked. I was curious what may have motivated
> her
> >to
> > > be
> > >>taking on this challenge at her age.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> "I always dreamed of having a college education and now I'm
> getting
> > >> one!"
> > >>she told me.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>After class we walked to the student union building and shared a
> > >>chocolate milkshake.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > > We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months we
> >would
> > > leave
> > >>class together and talk nonstop. I was always mesmerized listening
> to
> > >>this "time machine" as she shared her wisdom and expe rience with
> me.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > > Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she
> >easily
> > > made
> > >>friends wherever she went.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > > She loved to dress up and she reveled in the attention bestowed
> upon
> >her
> > >>from the other students. She was living it up.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > > At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our
> > > football banquet.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > > I'll never forget what she taught us. She was introduced and
> stepped
> >up
> > > to
> > >>the podium. As she began to deliver her prepared speech, she
> > >>dropped her three by five cards on the floor.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> Frustrated and a little embarrassed she leaned into the
> microphone
> >and
> > >> simply
> > >>said, "I'm sorry I'm so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent and this
> > >>whiskey is killing ! me! I 'll never get my speech back in order
> > >>so
> >let
> > >>me just tell you what I know."
> > >>
> > >>
> > > As we laughed she cleared her throat and began, "We do not stop
> >playing
> > >>because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy, and
> > >>achieving success. You have to laugh and find humor every day.
> > >>You've got to
> >have
> > >>a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > > We have so many people walking around who are dead and don't
> even
> >know
> > > it!
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > > There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year
> > >> and
> >don't
> > >>do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am
> > >>eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do
> >anything
> > >>I will turn eighty-eight.
> > >>
> > >> Anybody can grow older. That doesn't take any talent or ability.
> >The
> > >> idea is to
> > >>grow up by always finding opportunity in change. Have no regrets.
> > >>
> > >>
> > > The elderly usually don't have regrets fo! r wha t we did, but
> >rather
> > > for
> > >>things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those
> > >>with regrets."
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > > She concluded her speech by courageously singing "The Rose."
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > > She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out
> in
> >our
> > > daily lives.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> At the year's end Rose finished the college degree she had
> > >> begun
> >all
> > >> those years ago.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > > One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > > Over two thousand college students attended her funeral in
> > > tribute
> >to
> > > the
> > >>wonderful woman who taught by example that it's never too late to
> > >>be
> >all
> > >>you can possibly be
> > >>
> > >>
> > > When you finish reading this, please send this peaceful word of
> >advice
> > > to
> > >>your friends and family, they'll really enjoy it!
> > >>
> > >>
> > > These words have been passed along in loving memory of ROSE.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > > REMEMBER, GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY. GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>We make a Living by what we get, We make a Life by what we give.
> > >>
> > >>
> > > God promises a safe landing, not a calm passage. If God brings
> you
> >to
> > > it. He will bring you through it.
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> Pass this message to 7 people except you and me. You will
> > >> receive
> a
> > >> miracle
> > >>tomorrow.
> > >>
> > >>
> > > If you choose not, then you refuse to bless someone else.
> > >>
> > >
> > >>
> > >>"Good friends are like stars.........You don't always see them,
> > >>but
> >you
> > >>know they are always there."
> >
> >

What is your take?

2007-02-27T08:13:00.000-05:00

It seems that an article was written to a well founded
> > >magazine by a Caucasian [white] woman who requested a response from
> >Indian men.
> > >she got what she asked for (and more)!!!
> > >
> > >This letter was written in response to an article:
> > >
> > >
> > >Dear Editor:
> > >
> > >I'm sorry but I would like to challenge some of your Indian male
> > >readers. I am a White female who is engaged to a Indian
> > >male-good-looking, educated and loving. I just don't
> > >understand a lot of Indian female's attitudes about our relationship.
> > >My man decided he wanted me because the pickings amongst Indian women
> >were
> > >slim to none.
> > >
> > >As he said they were either too fat, too loud, too mean, too
> > >argumentative, too needy, too materialistic or carrying too
> > >much excess baggage. Before I became engaged, whenever I went out I
> > >was constantly approached by Indian men, willing to wine and dine me
>and
> > >give me the world. If Indian women are so up in arms about us being
> > >with their men, why don't they look at themselves and make some
>changes.
> >I
> > >am tired of the dirty looks I get and snide remarks when we're out in
> > >public. I would like to hear from some Indian men about why we are
> > >so appealing and coveted by them. Bryant Gumbel just left his wife of,
> > >26 years for one of us. Charles Barkley, Scottie Pippen, the model
> > >Tyson Beckford, Montell Williams, Quincy Jones, James Earl Jones, Harry
> > >Belafonte, Sydney Poitier, Kofi Anan, Cuba Gooding Jr., Don
> > >Cornelius, Berry Gordy, Billy Blanks, Larry Fishburne, Wesley
>Snipes...I
> > >could go on and on. But, right now, I'm a little angry and that is why
>I
> > >wrote this so hurriedly. Don't be mad with us White women because so
> > >many of your men want us. Get your acts together and learn from us and
>we
> > >may lead you to treat your men better. If I'm wrong, Indian men, let me
> > >know.
> > >
> > >Disgusted White Girl, Somewhere in VA.
> > >
> > >Response:
> > >
> > >Dear Editor:
> > >
> > >I would like to respond to the letter written by A Disgusted
> > >White Girl.
> > > > >
> > >Let me start by saying that I am a 28-year old indian man.
> > >I graduated from one of the most prestigious universities in Atlanta,
> > >Georgia with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business Management. I have a
> > >good job at a major corporation and have recently purchased a house.
>So,
> > >I consider myself to be among the ranks of successful Non-White men.
> > >I will not use my precious time to slander white people. I just want to
> > >set the record straight of why Indian men date white women. Back in the
> > >day, one of the biggest reasons why Indian men dated white women was
> > >because they were considered easy. The Indian girls in my neighborhood
> >were
> > >raised traditionally. They were very strict about when they lost
> > >their virginity and who they lost it to. Because of our
> >impatience to wait, brothers would look for someone who would give it up
> >easy
> > >without too much hassle. So, they turned to the white girls. Nowadays,
> > >in my opinion, a lot of Indian males date white women because
> > >they are docile and easy to control. A lot of Indian men, because of
> > >insecurities, fears, and overall weaknesses, have become intimidated by
> > >the strength of our Indian women. We are afraid that our woman will be
> > >more successful than us, make more money than us, drive nicer
> > >cars and own bigger houses. Because of this fear, many Indian men look
> > >for a more docile woman. Someone we can control. I have talked to
> > >numerous Indian men and they continuously comment on how easy it is to
> > >control and walk over their white women. I just want to set the record
> > >straight. I want A Disgusted White Girl to know that not all successful
> > >Indian men date white women. Non-Whites like Ahmad Rashad, Denzel
> > >Washington, Michael Jordan, Morris Chestn! ut, Will Smith, Blair
> >Underwood,
> > >Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Samuel L. Jackson, and Chris Rock all
> > >married strong Non-White women. And, to flip the script, there are
> > >numerous white men, in and out of the spot light, who openly or
>secretly
> > >desire Non-White women over white women. Ted Danson, Robert DeNiro, and
> > >David Bowie to name a few. I just don't want a disgusted white girl to
>be
> > >misinformed.
> > >
> > >
> > >Stop thinking that because you are white that you are some
> > >type of goddess. Remember, when Non-White Egyptian Queens like
> > >Hatsepshut and Nitorcris were ruling Dynasties and armies of men in
> > >Egypt, you were over in the caves of Europe eating raw meat and beating
> > >each other over the head with clubs. Read your history! It was the
> > >Non-White woman that taught you how to cook and season your food. It
>was
> >the
> > >Non-White woman that taught you how to raise your children. It was
> > >Non-White women who were breastfeeding and raising your babies during
> > >slavery.
> > >
> > >It is the Non-White woman that had to endure watching their fathers,
> > >husbands, and children beaten, killed, and thrown in jail. Indian women
> > >were born with two strikes against them: being Non-White and being a
> > >woman.
> > >And,through all this, Still They Rise! It is because of the
> > >Indian women's strength, elegance, power, love and beauty that I could
> > >never date anyone except my Indian Queen. It is not just the outer
> > >beauty that captivates and draws me to them. It is not the fact that
> > >they come in all shapes, sizes, colors and shades that I love them.
> > >Their
> > >inner beauty is what I find most appealing about Indian women.
> > >Their strong spirit, loving and nurturing souls, their integrity, their
> > >ability to overcome great obstacles, their willingness to stand for
> > >what they believe in, and their determination to succeed and reach
> > >their highest potential while enduring great pain and suffering is why
> > >I have fallen in love with Indian women. I honestly believe that your
> > >anger is geared more toward jealousy and envy than snotty looks. If
>this
> > >were not so, then why do you continuously go to tanning salons to
> > >darken your skin?
> > >
> > >If you are so proud to be white, then why don't you just
> > >be happy with your pale skin? Why do you continue to inject your lips,
> > >hips, and breasts with unnatural and dangerous substances so you can
> > >look fuller and more voluptuous? I think that your anger is really a
> > >result of you wanting to have what the Non-White woman has.
> > >
> > >BOTTOM LINE: If I were looking for a docile woman, someone
> > >I can walk over and control, I would give you a call. But,
> > >unfortunately, I am looking for a Virtuous Woman. Someone that can be a
> >good
> > >wife and mother to my children. Someone who can be my best friend and
> > >understands my struggles. I am looking for a soul mate and;
> > >unfortunately, you do not and CANNOT fit the bill.
> > >
> > >No offense taken, none given.
> > >
> > >Signed,
> > >Indian Royalty

A good man is hard to find.

2007-02-27T08:10:00.002-05:00

A Guyanese woman was walking along the banks of the Georgetown Seawall Bandstand when she tumbled pon a old empty dutch bottle. She picked it up and rubbed it,( hoping) and lo-and-behold a smokey man (Genie)appeared. She talked with him awhile then the Genie told her he would grant her ONE wish. She said she heard from a cousin that she would get three wishes if she ever found a Genie.

The Genie said, "Nope, sorry three-wish genies are fo people who have all their teeth. For you just one. So... what'll it be?" The woman didn't hesitate. She said, "I want peace all over da world, Hindu and muslim must agree and muslim and Jews must live in peace . See this map, I want these countries to stop fighting with each other and I want all the Arabs to love Jews and Americans and vice-versa. It will bring about world peace and happiness. "

The Genie looked at the map and exclaimed, "Lawd Lady, a wah wrang wid yu? PLEASE BE REASONABLE! These countries have been at war for thousands of years. I'm out of shape after being in a bottle for five hundred years. I'm good, but NOT THAT GOOD!!! . I don't think it can be done. "PLEASE, man , make another wish and please, a beg yu... Be reasonable."

The woman thought for a minute and said, "Well, I've never been able to find the right Guyanese man... You know, one that is considerate and fun , likes to dance and helps with the cooking & house-cleaning, is great in bed and is always FAITHFUL. That's what I wish for... a good Guyanese man. The Genie let out a long sigh, shook his head and said, "Let me see that friggin' map again."

Using foul, denigrating language is a mindless habit for many, and few realize it's profoundly negative effects

2007-02-27T08:10:00.001-05:00

Using foul, denigrating language is a mindless habit for many, and few realize it's profoundly negative effects
By Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami.

Many people, even those who consider themselves religious, go through life using profane language to express their frustrations at each difficulty they meet. Do they know the effect of these negative mantras? Apparently not. People who swear--even if it is just under their breath--are cursing themselves. What does that mean? It means they are holding themselves back in life. They are demeaning themselves and making themselves unsuccessful. Their lack of success will create more frustrations within the home, and more swearing. Even thinking a swear word is a mantra.

Why do people repeat mantras? To generate a positive force for successful life. Why do people swear mentally, under their breath, or verbally, or at their children, or at their wives, or wives at their husbands? To vent their anger, spite or sarcasm, or just by mindless habit. But in the process, they unleash a negative force that will ruin their lives, break up their homes. Every time you swear, that swearing goes into your subconscious and hooks up with all the other swear words you've said since you were a kid.

Many people habitually say, "I'll be damned," "Damn you," or "Damn it" as figures of speech. But all speech has its effect. Such mantras block their future and bind them to what they wish on others or crassly blurt out. This is a good way to curse oneself, to be sure, to build a big balloon of negative energy. Under that negative force, they will never be able to relax or enjoy a vacation. Many people live together as a family, but their home is broken, their lives are broken, because they broke their own heart and took their own courage away simply by swearing a repeated mantra. Using profane language is a curse upon the system we call life.

What is even worse is knowing you shouldn't do something and then doing it anyway, even knowing why you shouldn't do it and doing it anyway, knowing why you shouldn't swear, why you shouldn't be abusive to the children, why you shouldn't be abusive to the wife, and then doing it anyway! It has a triple impact of force on the subconscious mind of the individual if he knows what he is doing to himself and to the minds of others, if he knows the law, and yet ignores the law of karma, the divine karmic law that he accepted.
Now, having heard this, if you continue to break the law, you bring a triple curse upon yourself! That is the built-in prayaschitta, the automatic penance. Those of you who know how the subconscious mind and the sub of the subconscious mind work can see the negative impact very, very clearly. And if you continue knowingly going against what you know is harmful to you, you will earn a bad birth.

I was on a United Airlines flight. A stewardess spilled something. She didn't use the "d" word, the "s" word or the "f" word. She kept a smile on her face and cleaned up the mess! Why didn't she swear? Because if you're an employee on a United Airlines flight, you don't swear or else you don't take the next flight! That's why. The motivation to change isn't that clear when, for example, someone is working at a construction site where everyone else is also swearing. But the motivation to stop swearing should be clear, because it takes its toll even if you don't realize it. It is simply taking longer to lose your job, because swearing will make you less productive, less functional, less liked by others. You'll be cheated, you'll make wrong financial decisions and your income will go down. Your inspiration will go down. You can count on it, because you are repeating mantras to destroy everything that you have. You won't be able to appreciate that sunset. You will be so confused on the inside that all you'll see is your own mind. Avoiding all that should be the motivation, but the effect is slow, insidious, and in most cases not appreciated.

People who are cynical are also expressing their anger and contempt with snide words. They may seem to be joking, but their sharp feelings come across anyway, which stimulates the chakras below the muladhara, until one day their cynicism will turn into real anger.

One of the greatest spiritual laws is saucha kriya, doing good. Now, what is doing good? Doing good is controlling your mind, really, because when the mind is out of control or when you allow it to be out of control, you are really under the control of the instinctive minds of other people. You are more or less like a puppet in their hands. Therefore, we teach,"Think before you speak, and speak only that which is true, kind, helpful and necessary." This is very, very difficult for most people to do. Like those who swear, those who gossip and backbite do not think. They pick up the low, seething vibrations of the instinctive mind of everyone around and, like stovepipes, emanate the smoke of the fire that is going on underneath.

Gossipping is like scratching an itch. Something is antagonizing your mind, so you gossip, and you go on and on and on until somebody changes the subject for you, or until somebody does something else that you can gossip about. Shall we say that backbiting and hurtful gossip are the dissipation of the creative, spiritual force? That's all they are, the dissipation of your great, God-given inner power. Anyone will tell you that to dissipate your energy is bad for you, but you do that when you gossip. By doing that, you are only the chimney, the smokestack, of the seething, instinctive mind, the ugly state of mind, of other people. You are not in control of your own mind. Have I painted a picture that is bad enough, gruesome enough, for you all to stop gossiping and backbiting and control your mind a little bit? Gossip invokes the asuric beings on the lower astral plane and makes new karmas for the gossiper, who will be gossiped about in the future when the karmas return.

Let's paint another picture. When you defile others, mentally and verbally, through backbiting gossip about the happenings in their lives, you are hurting them. You are actually making it difficult for them to succeed, to even persist where they are. They sense, they feel, the ugliness that you are projecting toward them. Many women gossip about their husbands over the telephone to other women while their husbands are at work. How can the husband be successful with the wife's mind, in which he presumably trusts, working and plotting against him in such a chaotic way?

It takes great sincerity in life to control the mind. And the power to be sincere is based on honesty. Honesty, arjava, one of the most important yamas, Vedic restraints, gives a great boon to you. It gives you stability. It makes you strong. It makes every atom in your being vibrate with an inner power. It gives you perspective; it gives you the eye to justice. But you must first be honest with yourself.

Each thought and each word has a form, an etheric form. That is why when a room is happy and you walk into it, you feel joyous. When a house is sad and you walk into it, you can sense that misery, for every thought you think and every word you speak takes form and shape in the ether. Prana is mental energy. When you use mental energy, you make mental creations. When you use physical energy, you can create physically. With your hands, you can build a house, you can cook a dinner; you can do many things with your physical energy and your physical body. With your mind, through the use of prana, you can also create for yourself. You would be surprised at the power that you have in your mind as an individual.

Suppose you are generating a thought for something good to happen, a positive circumstance you want to come your way. You concentrate upon it, you generate it and you make the picture just the way you want to see it. Then you are happy and joyous. You feel as if it has already happened. Now suppose you drop into a lower state of consciousness. You begin to gossip. You use foul language and backbite. You lose control of your mind. You don't put your intuitive mind first. You put the instinctive mind first and begin to think: "Oh, that can't possibly happen because of this.... " Or, "I can't possibly do this because of that..." You are building a negative pattern of fear, worry and doubt that covers up the beautiful picture and snuffs it out. Then, when it does not manifest, you say: "My prayers were not answered. God was too busy helping somebody else. He couldn't help me." But you were the creator. You preserved it on the mental plane for as long as you could, and without knowing it, you destroyed it before it manifested physically. That is one way you can go on through life; as so many, many people do, blaming others for their own self-created failures.

Do you know what all of that is? Confusion of the mind! So we have two alternatives: confusion or control. And we have all the spiritual laws to follow that help you control your mind. When the external mind is controlled, then the spirit, or inner being, the Reality of you, can shine forth. Shall we say that a confused mind is like clouds the sun cannot shine through? A controlled mind is like clear ether which the radiance of the sun can shine through.

Balgobin

2007-02-27T08:01:00.000-05:00

This is too funny..............

MATH

TEACHER: Balgobin, why are you doing your math sums on the floor?
Balgobin: You tell me to do it without using tables!

GO SLOW

TEACHER: Balgobin why are you late?
Balgobin: Because of the sign.
TEACHER: What sign?
Balgobin: The one that says, "School Ahead, Go Slow."

CROC

TEACHER: Balgobin, how do you spell "crocodile"?
Balgobin: "K-R-O-K-O-D-A-I-L"
TEACHER: No, that's wrong
Balgobin: Maybe. If yuh seh so. But you ask me how I spell it!

H2O

TEACHER: What is the chemical formula for water?
Balgobin: I know!! It's "HIJKLMNO"!!
TEACHER: What are you talking about?
Balgobin: Yesterday you said it's H to O!

WHO DISCOVER GUYANA
TEACHER: Balgobin, go to the map and find Guyana.
Balgobin: Here it is!
TEACHER: Correct. Now, class, who discovered Guyana?
CLASS: Balgobin!
VERY IMPORTANT

TEACHER: Balgobin, name one important thing we have today that we
didn't have ten years ago.
Balgobin: Me!

I

TEACHER: Balgobin, give me a sentence starting with "I."
Balgobin: I is...
TEACHER: No, no, Balgobin. Always say, "I am."
Balgobin: All right... "I am the ninth letter of the alphabet."
COINCIDENCE

TEACHER: "Can anybody give an example of COINCIDENCE?"
Balgobin: "Sir, my mother and father got married on the same day,

and

at the same time."

SAY YOUR PRAYERS

TEACHER: Now, Balgobin, tell me frankly do you say prayers before
eating?
Balgobin: No sir, I don't have to, my mom is a good cook.

MY DOG, YOUR DOG

TEACHER: Balgobin, your composition on "My Dog" is exactly the
same as your brother's. Did you copy his?
Balgobin: No, teacher! It's the same dog!

SMUDGE RESPONSE

The arithmetic teacher had written 10.9 on the blackboard and had

then rubbed out the decimal point to show the effect of
multiplying this number by ten.
"Balgobin," the teacher asked, "where is the decimal point now?"
"On the eraser!"

JUST A DOT

The kindergarten class had a homework assignment to find out
about something exciting and relate it to the class the next day.

When the time came for the little kids to give their reports, the

teacher was calling on them one at a time.
She was reluctant to call on little Balgobin, knowing that he
sometimes could be a bit crude. But, eventually, his turn
came....

Little Balgobin walked up to the front of the class and, with a
piece
of chalk, made a small white dot on the blackboard, then sat back

down.
Well,
the teacher couldn't figure out what Balgobin had in mind for his

report on something exciting, so she asked him just what that
was.

"It's a period," reported Balgobin.
"Well, I can see that," she said, "but what's so exciting about a

period?"

"Me nah know", said Balgobin, "but, this morning, me sister say
she miss one. Me Daddy get a heart attack. Me mother faint. And
the next

ting we know, the man next door shoot he self!"

FACES

Finding little Balgobin making faces at others on the playground,
Ms.
Sita stopped to gently reprove the child.

Smiling sweetly, the school teacher said, "Balgobin, when I was a

child, I was told if that I made ugly faces, it would freeze and
I would stay like that."

Balgobin looked up, shook his head and replied, "Well, Ms Sita,
you can't say nobody didn't warn yuh.
You should have listened!"

From the Universe

2007-02-23T13:50:00.000-05:00

Dearest Family Members,

I am writing to tell you just how wonderful you are. You spend time with each other, tease one another but best of all you support each other.

I am very proud of you all.

Live, love and be happy.

The Universe

A THIRD GRADERS EXPLANATION OF GOD

2007-02-23T13:46:00.000-05:00

Written by Danny Dutton, age 8, from Chula Vista, California, for his third grade homework assignment to "Explain God."

One of God's main jobs is making people. He makes them to replace the ones that die so there will be enough people to take care of things on earth. He doesn't make grown-ups, just babies. I think because they are smaller and easier to make. That way, He doesn't have to take up His valuable time teaching them to talk and walk. He can just leave that to mothers and fathers.
God's second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of this goes on, since some people, like preachers and things, pray at times besides bedtime. God doesn't have time to listen to the radio or TV because of this. Because He hears everything there must be a terrible lot of noise in His ears, unless He has thought of a way to turn it off. God sees everything and hears everything and is everywhere which keeps Him pretty busy. So you shouldn't go wasting His time by going over your mom and dad's head asking for something they said you couldn't have.
Atheists are people who don't believe in God. I don't think there are any in Chula Vista. At least there aren't any who come to our church. Jesus is God's Son. He used to do all the hard work like walking on water and performing miracles and trying to teach the people who didn't want to learn about God. They finally got tired of Him preaching to them and they crucified Him. But He was good and kind like His Father and He told His Father that they didn't know what they were doing and to forgive them and God said OK.
His Dad (God) appreciated everything that He had done and all His hard work on earth so He told Him He didn't have to go out on the road anymore, He could stay in heaven. So He did. And now He helps His Dad out by listening to prayers and seeing things which are important for God to take care of and which ones He can take care of Himself without having to bother God. Like a secretary only more important. You can pray anytime you want and they are sure to hear you because they got it worked out so one of them is on duty all the times.
You should always go to Church on Sunday because it makes God happy, and if there's anybody you want to make happy, it's God. Don't skip church to do something you think will be more fun like going to the beach. This is wrong! And, besides, the sun doesn't come out at the beach until noon anyway.
If you don't believe in God, besides being an atheist, you will be very lonely, because your parents can't go everywhere with you, like to camp, but God can. It is good to know He's around you when you're scared in the dark or when you can't swim very good and you get thrown into real deep water by big kids. But you shouldn't just always think of what God can do for you. I figure God put me here and He can take me back anytime He pleases.

And that's why I believe in God."

The Engineer

2007-02-23T13:20:00.000-05:00

An engineer dies and reports to the pearly gates. St. Peter checks
his list and says, "Ah, you're an engineer. You're in the wrong place,
fella." So the engineer disappointedly reports to the gates of Hell,
wondering what he did to deserve this.

Pretty soon, having accepted his fate, the engineer gets
dissatisfied with the level of comfort in Hell, and starts designing and
building improvements. After a while, they've got air conditioning, flush
toliets, escalators, etc., and the engineer is a pretty popular guy.

One day, God calls Satan up on his telephathic connection and
asks, "So how's it going down there in Hell?"

Satan replies, "Hey, things
are going great. We've got air conditioning, flush toilets and
escalators, and there's no telling what this engineer is going to
come up with next. We're having a wonderful time.

God replies: "What?!!! You've got an engineer? That's a
mistake -- he should never have gotten down there. Send him up
here."

Satan says, "No way! I like having an engineer on the staff, and I'm
keeping him."

God says, "Send him back up here or I'll sue."

Satan laughs uroariously and answers, "Yeah, right! And just
where are YOU going to get a lawyer.

Message from the Universe

2007-02-23T08:30:00.000-05:00

The following is NOT wishful thinking, it's the cold, hard truth: Once you form a desire for something to have or experience in your mind, IT BECOMES A REALITY in the world of thoughts. Then, because THOUGHTS BECOME THINGS... that reality immediately goes to work looking for expression somewhere in YOUR VICINITY. To facilitate this expression, UNDERSTAND that YOUR JOB has already been done... and that it's time to let the Universe takeover. This doesn't mean DO NOTHING, but it does mean that you can stop worrying, stop calculating, and stop second guessing, so that you can begin listening to the Universe through your own hunches and intuition. You're in AWESOME hands; just remember though, this works with all thoughts, your positive ones, and the other ones too.

Thai Food

2007-02-22T02:00:00.001-05:00

Good times. NYC 2005.

Dunno who posted the last one, but the brilliance of it would indicate that it was prolly Yogesh. Yogesh, only as I get older and go through life do I realise the truth in your words...You are wise beyond your years.

-Roger

2007-02-16T15:43:00.000-05:00

After awhile you learn
the subtle difference between
holding a hand and chaining a soul
and you learn that love doesn't mean possession
and company doesn't mean security.
And you begin to learn that kisses aren't contracts
and presents aren't promises and you begin to accept
your defeats with your head up and your eyes ahead
with the grace of an adult not the grief of a child.
And you learn to build your roads today
because tomorrow's ground is too uncertain for plans
and futures have ways of falling down in mid-flight.
After awhile you learn that even sunshine
burns if you get too much so you plant your
own garden and decorate your own soul
instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.
And you learn that you really can endure
that you really are strong
and you really do have worth
and you learn
and you learn...

It is better to light candles
than to curse the darkness.
It is better to plant seeds
than to accuse the earth.
The world needs all of our power
and love and energy,
and each of us has something that we can give.
The trick is to find it and use it,
to find it and give it away.
So there will always be more.
We can be lights for each other,
and through each other's illumination
we will see the way.
Each of us is a seed,
a silent promise,and it is always spring.

Whatever our hands touch -
We leave fingerprints!
On walls, on furniture
On doorknobs, dishes, books.
There's no escape.
As we touch we leave our identity.

Wherever I go today
Help me leave heartprints!
Heartprints of compassion
Of understanding and love.

Heartprints of kindness
And genuine concern.
May my heart touch a lonely neighbor
Or a runaway daughter
Or an anxious mother
Or perhaps an aged grandfather.

Send me out today
To leave heartprints.
And if someone should say,
"I felt your touch,"
May they also sense the love
that is deep within my heart.

Author Unknown
Language does have the power to change reality. Therefore, treat your words as the mighty instruments they are - to heal, to bring into being, to remove, as if by magic, the terrible violations of childhood, to nurture, to cherish, to bless, to forgive - to create from the whole cloth of your soul, true love.

Live for those who love me,
For those who know me true,
For the Heaven that smiles above me,
And awaits my spirit too;
For the cause that lacks assistance,
For the wrong that needs resistance,
For the future in the distance,
And the good that I can do.

Iwill greet this day with love in my heart. And how will I do this? Henceforth will I look on all things with love and be born again. I will love the sun for it warms my bones; yet I will love the rain for it cleanses my spirit. I will love the light for it shows me the way; yet I will love the darkness for it shows me the stars. I will welcome happiness as it enlarges my heart; yet I will endure sadness for it opens my soul. I will acknowledge rewards for they are my due; yet I will welcome obstacles for they are my challenge.

Lakshmi Gosyne

2007-01-31T09:28:00.000-05:00

Hey Junior,
Snowboarding on Thursdays should be okay, but next Thursday is better. Kav, is leaving on Wednesday February 7th, and we'll be dealing with last minute things. Is there anyone else out there interested? Would a Saturday or Sunday be better?

From Cheryl - AARON'S BDAY PLANS ALL INVITED

2007-01-24T17:39:00.001-05:00

Hi Everyone!!!

Tomorrow is Aaron's Birthday and we're thinking to celebrate on FRIDAY!!!

Soooooooooooo if you'd like to join in on Aaron aka Metro aka Trinidad aka PanMan's Birthday celebrations here's what's happening!

Friday night dinner at 8pm. I will confirm location but we're thinking either Jack Astor's or Moxie's at Scar town center and then according to Aaron he'd like to just have a "Lime" <-- yes Tasha laugh it up at the condo!

Soooooooo if you can make it for one or both let me know and I'll book the pool tables, ping pong tables, movie theatre or we can go skating or play games....second round of Balderdash????

Anyway ALL are invited so either give me a call or respond to let me know!!

K that's all for now!

>>

Music

2007-01-24T14:14:00.000-05:00

When i was in Trinidad i was lucky enough to get some CDs.

So here is what i have for 2k7.

Here is a Soca compilation of 80% all new stuff straight from the source. The other 20% is my late favs of 2k6, some u may have not heard also

Click here to download:

http://www.uploading.com/en/files/LUSXN41T/Soca_January_2k7.rar.html

Next is some chutney from trinidad. Well this is priceless cause soca is hard to find on the internet, but chutney is nearly impossible. So I have copied the cd that my cuz gave me and i added some yankaran tracks. I also added "Genie Wine" which is a Soca song i forgot to add to the soca compiltion.

Click here for the chutney download:

Coming Soon~

For more music check toronto-lime.com, which also happens to be probably the BEST west indian site i have found on the internet, and just happens to be run here in toronto. They have the top songs, fetes, etc etc from all around the world, toronto, trinidad, etc. they have news and much much more.

For chutney only, try chutneyzone.com! I personally check these sites maybe once a week to see whats new. I find that toronto-lime.com is a much better web experience tho. Well have a look for yourself. Toodles~

- Girish aka triple g etc etc

Snowboarding

2007-01-22T13:26:00.000-05:00

....last post was from JR

Snowboarding

2007-01-22T13:11:00.000-05:00

Lakshmi, great idea. I'd love to learn. Spoke to Danielle at the centre - she gives the snowboarding lessons - and she confirmed that the $40 includes the rentals, lift tickets and the lessons. She suggested we book at least a week in advance and she suggestes that Thursdays after work should be pretty good. So how's next Thursday...we need at least 3 . BTW its supposed to snow lots next week - but yuh never know -....and its a lot easier to fall in soft powder.

2007-01-16T22:52:00.000-05:00

Hey family bloggers...its...Uncle Suresh

Great job everyone. Cool idea!!

I'll be posting some pictures of Chandra's 50th Birthday soon...more of a tribute

Be good, Be safe, stay cool always...and God Bless!

Cheers.

Three Stories From My Life As delivered by Steve Jobs

2007-01-16T10:11:00.000-05:00

Hi Guys,

I wanted read this story and found it quite inspirational. I am sure you will as well. This is the very inspirational speech given by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, to the graduating class of Stanford University on June 12, 2005.

Regards,Savitri Gosyne-Maraj
January 16, 2007

Edited by Girish:

Savi all those words really scared me, LOL! So i searched for the vid and found it. I hope u dont mind me editing ur post, heres the vid and i must say it was an amazing speech! Hope u all like the video

WHO IS TALKING???

2007-01-08T12:27:00.000-05:00

Hi All....ok maybe I just don't get it, cuz I'm new to the blogging thing but please add who is talking so I know who the message is from??!! Or someone please tell me where to find out who left the message. It always says from "family".......

OK sooooooooooooo HAPPY B DAY ROGER and KEVIN is coming up next Tuesday!

Anywho.. YES I'm in for snowboarding...although I already have trouble balancing walking..but I'm in!

I start my new job as a supervisor next week, but I have to interview for my team this week.....ANYONE have any really good Interview Questions that they've had so that I can use them????

Lakshmi I will run with you fo sho! Training tho...right cuz i'm not brave enough yet to do the whole thing.. When and where!? I still want details from TnT...Kav??

Roger, how do you attach pics, I have the ones from Xmas and this past summer of the cousins..email me and tell me how so we don't clog up the blog.

RRROOOONNNNIIIEEEEE.....that was soooooooo mean in ur email from work....you can't go anywhere for months and not say goodbye properly... or did you go off and get married in La Belle Provence??

AS for Kavita, when's the going away bash?? When and Where..I'll be there!

Ok that's all for now..... FROM Cheryl!

Wiked Idea indeed

2007-01-08T06:13:00.000-05:00

Nice job Roger. Nice PICS from TDad Kav. Laks yes I am interested in Snowboarding. Kav we'll miss you alot. (a whole lote indeed) I think I'll have a drink to wish you all the best, well maybe :) Xmas and New years was great, enjoying the weather. Just got back from Montreal, lots of fun and mild as well. Take care all.

a few more pics

2007-01-07T19:56:00.000-05:00

I took the one above in a moving car

this is the last of them don't worry....

2007-01-07T18:27:00.000-05:00

Where are my pics?

Roger its broken

ok I see it now

Kavita's 2 cents

2007-01-07T18:18:00.000-05:00

Hi Guys,

This is much more efficient than our mass emails! Great job Roger!

For those of you who don't know I will be leaving for London England on Feb. 7. The ticket is booked. The duration of my stay will depend on how well things go there but I feel very positive about the trip. I plan to return in December but who knows. This blog will be great for me while I'm abroad.

Also I thought I would share a few pics from our trip to Trinidad for the holidays! Enjoy!

2007-01-07T18:15:00.000-05:00

guys, Eragon was actually a good movie. I walked right to the bookstore after watching it, and purchased Eldest (the sequel) and Eragon (so I could see what the movie left out). Recommended as a non-thinking movie

The Stent Revolution Continues...

Lakshmi Gosyne

2007-01-06T12:17:00.000-05:00

Hey guys!
I hope you got my email about running. Cheryl, I know that you didn't so just a quick recap: Rav and I are running and we're hoping to do some fun runs and then run a half marathon in October or so. I need people to run with me so I keep my motivation up. Kav, I promise I won't run with my ipod anymore :)

This post is for anyone who wants to go snowboarding (when the snow hits of course) there's a snowboarding and ski hill at Bathurst and Sheppard. They need a group of 3 or more, but the group gets a two hour snowboarding lesson for $39.95 each. I'm not sure if that includes equipment, but from what I read it says that the equipment and the lesson is packaged together.

Anyone interested?

De Boss Back!

2007-01-05T22:45:00.000-05:00

haha look at kavita:

http://www.newsday.co.tt/day/1,5842.html#foto

im now back in gloomy toronto. I bring with me food, which i shall eat, cds which i will copy, pictures that i will send, and other special anecdotes and things!

- Girish aka Triple G/ G-Rish/G Cubed or Squared etc etc

2007-01-01T20:10:00.000-05:00

Cool CHANGE THAT PICTURE THOUGH IT LOOKS STUPID!!!!

Please?

From: Yogesh Gosyne

HAPPPY NEW YEAR!!

2007-01-01T17:19:00.000-05:00

Hi every1 happy new year! This is really wicked roger! I hope u all had a wicked time for x mas by aunty virgin and a good time where ever u were for new years. I was in trinidad (beat dat biotches) @ some extended families house (my cousin neila's, husband's, sister's new house) for new years eve. Anywho i had a wicked time bringing the new years and x mas (x mas was even crazier) in with a trini style. TOBAGO IS AMAZING I THOUGHT I WAS IN A CORONA COMMERCIAL! well ill see u all soon ill be back on the 5th.

P.S. On saturday we went to see the "Temple on the sea" and the hanuman temple below that savi posted pics of. The hanuman was HUGE and the temple was the nicest ive ever seen, u feel as if u arent in trinidad when u go there.

P.S. x 2: I'm legal to drink in TnT!!!! YAY!

P.S. x 3: They have some wicked songs that have been blasting on the streets here, ill get a cd and bring them!

P.S. x 4: Dont go paintballing without me!

- Girish aka Triple G/ G-Rish/G Cubed or Squared etc etc

Savitri Gosyne-Maraj - ANJANEYA pictures

2006-12-29T14:09:00.000-05:00

Have a look at this different & Marvellous ANJANEYA pictures, located at West Indies ...............
LORD ANJANEYA's abisheka is performed by pouring holy Waters & Milk thru Helicopter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ITS THE HANUMAN TEMPLE THAT WAS CONSTRUCTED IN WEST INDIES.

CSSP - Cheryl Sita Sabrina Persad

2006-12-29T12:21:00.000-05:00

VERY COOL Roooooggeeerrr....

Ok soooo here's my first Blog thoughts:

CONGRATS to Kevin and Lindsey on their Christmas Day engagement!!!!!

1. The Pursuit of Happyness is WIICKKED....not a chick flick guys... it was reeaallly good...mom cried and talked to Wil Smith through the TV screen telling him "doh worry Chris, God go help you"

2. Sorry Savi I won't be making it to your place today.....TODAY IS ACTUALLY Lindsey's BDAY!!!

3. I CAN'T BELIEVE Tasha was at my place at 7:45AM on Boxing Day to go shopping....see Lakshmi I'm not that bad....

4. Balderdash was really funny at mom's house on Christmas....um Ravi&Jaskiran you guys need to always play as a team and Darren...what did confusious say about Morwong?? Aaron is still laughing.... TASHA good choice of games!!

5. We all have to go skating!!!!!!!

6. Kavita when are you leaving??? sniff sniff...we have to have a see you soon bash!

ok see everyone soon.

Ewwww! Broccoli?!

2006-12-28T23:14:00.000-05:00

Lodge 2006

-Roger

Stent Returns

2006-12-28T22:44:00.000-05:00

So the "Gosyne-Persad-Maharaj-Maharajh-Maraj-etc. Blog" Cometh. I can't say i'm surprised, it is about time.

As for the name "Stent"...after careful deliberation, I have decided that until a more suitable nickname can be found, "Stent" will have to do.

How have everyone's holidays been?

This is so cool

2006-12-28T22:22:00.001-05:00

Good job Roger! I think that this is just what this family needed. There were wayyyyy 2 many emails being passed around and I think this is a really good way to keep in touch and talk about the crazy things that we do ....like heart attenas. Now we can go off on tangents as much as we like and maybe keep the emails for more focused conversations.....

Tasha

Savitri Gosyne-Maraj

2006-12-28T22:20:00.001-05:00

The North coast of Trinidad has some attractive beaches in its abundant tropical vegetation. Some of these are readily accessible, but some require a bit of walking to reach them. There is a 30km. stretch of coast where no road has been constructed yet. It is this stretch which deserves some exploration. So we set off one morning from Blanchisseuse, a small village on the coast where the road ends, and walked along a dirt road that followed the coast.
Soon, we crossed the spectacular Silver Suspension bridge, over 100 years old, moving like a snake under the weight of the few cars passing it. The dirt road turned to a genuine hiking trail after some time, which made the sensation of walking in the jungle even more intense. Dense vegetation all around us, birds singing and shrieking, fruit falling directly from their trees (we ate a lot of mangoes like this), and various shades of green all around us.
And then, after less than 2 hours of walking, the canopy opened itself before us, and we ended up on the deserted beach of Paria Bay. The beach was full of traces of leatherback turtles, this was, after all, the season in which they lay their eggs. After some trouble finding the right way, we ended up at a waterfall with a deep natural swimming pool with cold water. Very welcome after the sweaty walking we did. We relived the pleasures of this hike again on our way back to Blanchisseuse.
Visited: July 2001
More pictures:

Trinidad & Tobago
A short drive outside the capital Port of Spain lies the Caroni Swamp, an area of dense vegetation, many little canals and some lakes, and a rich fauna. The best time to arrive is at the end of the afternoon. At the entrance you can choose from several guides and take a boat ride along the swampy waters in search of the scarlet ibis. The first animal we saw, however, was a snake curled up on a branch just above our heads.
As we proceed through the woods, we saw an occasional glimpse of a scarlet ibis, as well as other birds. The green canals were a sight in themselves - a heaven of peace with the tranquil waters and dense plants and trees all around and over them. The only unfortunate thing was that some people in the boat saw it merely as a perfect spot to talk about latest developments in their families, neighbourhood and friendships. This changed when we parked the boat in the corner of a little lake.
The guide asked us to be quiet, and so we did. He explained that the scarlet ibis spends the day in Venezuela, and flies back home at the end of the afternoon, to spend the night in the Caroni Bird Sanctuary at around 6 pm. And indeed, in a very punctual way, at around that time flocks of scarlet ibisses were flying in, above the green carpet of trees. The colour combination of the bright red of the birds and the deep, fresh green (it was the rainy season) of the trees made this sight a very intense colour sensation.
Visited: July 2001
More pictures:

http://www.traveladventures.org/continents/southamerica/caroni06.shtml

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After visiting Pitch Lake near San Fernando, we continued to drive further south through small villages and over quiet back roads. After the town of Point Fortin, roads become smaller and you enter the southwestern tip of the island. Here, you can take various side streets to end up at the seaside, or continue stil further. Ultimately, we ended up in enormous palm tree forests which stretch as far as the sea.
Here, we found silence, the only sound being the rustling palm leaves high above our heads. First, we continued through the palm forest to reach Icacos, the southernmost point of the island. From here, it is not more than 9 kilometres to Venezuela, which seemed very close indeed. Icacos is a small fisherman's village. While the fishermen were unloading there catch in a stench of fish, vultures were walking around nervously, hoping for some catch to be forgotten.
Then, we went to Columbus Bay, where the famed explorer is said to have stepped on the island, although only for a very short visit because he was not exactly welcomed by the original Trinidadians. Here, we spent some time on the beach, enjoying the view of the seemingly endless palm tree carpet reaching the shores and very quiet, although not clear, waters. From here, it is a mere two hours drive back to Port of Spain on the other side of the island.
Visited: July 2001
More pictures:

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Tobago is the small sister island of the country, and at least as far as beaches are concerned, the more beautiful one. Beaches are divided in Caribbean and Atlantic ones, and are nearly all extremely attractive - the tropical paradise beach that everyone imagines. White or yellow soft sand, quiet, waving palm trees, translucent turquiose waters, and all of this comes in almost private beaches.
We tried various beaches all around the island and discovered that each one of them had their own advantages. The beach at Englishman's Bay, for instance, was almost completely deserted, protected against the open sea by a narrow bay. Pigeon Point, where one has to pay entrance fee, was the most crowded, least romantic, but still most famous beach. Pirate Bay, near charming Charlotteville in the north, is a small beach, with the best snorkelling close by.
Since distances in Tobago are so small, it is also easy to combine a visit to one of the beaches with other activities. We several times did two dives in the morning and early afternoon, and spent some more hours on the beach afterwards. Or visited the island of Little Tobago or the Forest Reserve, after which we relaxed on another strip of sand. It seemed quite unbelievable that such quiet, archetypal tropical beaches were so readily available everywhere.
Visited: July 2001
More pictures:

Savitri Gosyne-Maraj
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History of Trinidad - Savitri Gosyne-Maraj

2006-12-28T22:18:00.000-05:00

Hi Guys,

I hope you enjoy the little history of Trinidad, please feel free to add to it and update it accordingly. Darren wanted me to stop spamming him - Thanks to Roger for taking us to the 21st century.

Regards,

Savitri Gosyne-Maraj

Sachin's Contribution - Free Will and Measuring Happiness

2006-12-28T17:15:00.000-05:00

This was a good idea Roger. I see there's another blog going on there but we're supposed to post to this one right? I saw the one on Trinidad which was interesting because Mom and I just came back from there.

Anyway I came across some interesting articles recently and just thought I'd share em. The first one has to do with whether or not we possess free will. I think I emailed something related to this months ago but its becoming a more important topic in neuroscience and I think its quite important as we shape our outlook on life:

http://economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8453850

The other article is related to the increasing trend in both economics and neuroscience to measure happiness. It also discusses the relationship between wealth and happiness. Is becoming wealthier and having more things making us any happier?

Affluence

Happiness (and how to measure it)

Dec 19th 2006
From The Economist print edition

Capitalism can make a society rich and keep it free. Don't ask it to make you happy as well

HAVING grown at an annual rate of 3.2% per head since 2000, the world economy is over half way towards notching up its best decade ever. If it keeps going at this clip, it will beat both the supposedly idyllic 1950s and the 1960s. Market capitalism, the engine that runs most of the world economy, seems to be doing its job well.

But is it? Once upon a time, that job was generally agreed to be to make people better off. Nowadays that's not so clear. A number of economists, in search of big problems to solve, and politicians, looking for bold promises to make, think that it ought to be doing something else: making people happy.

The view that economics should be about more than money is widely held in continental Europe. In debates with Anglo-American capitalists, wily bons vivants have tended to cite the idea of “quality of life” to excuse slower economic growth. But now David Cameron, the latest leader of Britain's once rather materialistic Conservative Party, has espoused the notion of “general well-being” (GWB) as an alternative to the more traditional GDP. In America, meanwhile, inequality, over-work and other hidden costs of prosperity were much discussed in the mid-term elections; and “wellness” (as opposed to health) has become a huge industry, catering especially to the prosperous discontent of the baby-boomers.

The things you never knew you wanted

Much of this draws on the upstart science of happiness, which mixes psychology with economics (see article). Its adherents start with copious survey data, such as those derived from the simple, folksy question put to thousands of Americans every year or two since 1972: “Taken all together, how would you say things are these days—would you say that you are very happy, pretty happy or not too happy?” Some of the results are unsurprising: the rich report being happier than do the poor. But a paradox emerges that requires explanation: affluent countries have not got much happier as they have grown richer. From America to Japan, figures for well-being have barely budged.

The science of happiness offers two explanations for the paradox. Capitalism, it notes, is adept at turning luxuries into necessities—bringing to the masses what the elites have always enjoyed. But the flip side of this genius is that people come to take for granted things they once coveted from afar. Frills they never thought they could have become essentials that they cannot do without. People are stuck on a treadmill: as they achieve a better standard of living, they become inured to its pleasures.

Capitalism's ability to take things downmarket also has its limits. Many of the things people most prize—such as the top jobs, the best education, or an exclusive home address—are luxuries by necessity. An elite schooling, for example, ceases to be so if it is provided to everyone. These “positional goods”, as they are called, are in fixed supply: you can enjoy them only if others do not. The amount of money and effort required to grab them depends on how much your rivals are putting in.

Some economists think the results cast doubt on the long-held verities of their discipline. The dismal science traditionally assumes that people know their own interests, and are best left to mind their own business. How much they work, and what they buy, is their own affair. A properly brought-up economist seeks to explain their decisions, not to quarrel with them. But the new happiness gurus are much less willing to defer to people's choices.

Take work, for instance. In 1930 John Maynard Keynes imagined that richer societies would become more leisured ones, liberated from toil to enjoy the finer things in life. Yet most people still put in a decent shift. They work hard to afford things they think will make them happy, only to discover the fruits of their labour sour quickly. They also aspire to a higher place in society's pecking order, but in so doing force others in the rat race to run faster to keep up. So everyone loses.

Yet it is not self-evident that less work would mean more happiness. In America, when the working week has shortened, the gap has been filled by assiduous TV-watching. As for well-being, other studies show that elderly people who stop working tend to die sooner than their peers who labour on. Indeed, another side of happiness economics busies itself studying the non-monetary rewards from work: most people enjoy parts of their work, and some people love it.

As for capitalism's wasteful materialism, even Adam Smith had a problem with it. “How many people ruin themselves by laying out money on trinkets of frivolous utility?” he complained. It is hard to claim that pyramid-shaped tea-bags (developed at great expense over four years) have added much to the sum of human happiness. Yet if capitalism sometimes persuades people to buy stuff they only imagine they want, it also appeals to tastes and aptitudes they never knew they had. In the arts, this is called “originality” and is venerated. In commerce it is called “novelty” and too often dismissed. But without the urge for material improvement, people would still be wearing woollen underwear and holidaying in Bognor rather than Bhutan. Would that be so great?

The joys of niche capitalism

If growth of this kind does not make people happy, stagnation will hardly do the trick. Ossified societies guard positional goods more, not less, jealously. A flourishing economy, on the other hand, creates what biologists call “a tangled bank” of niches, with no clear hierarchy between them. Tyler Cowen, of George Mason University, points out that America has more than 3,000 halls of fame, honouring everyone from rock stars and sportsmen to dog mushers, pickle-packers and accountants. In such a society, everyone can hope to come top of his particular monkey troop, even as the people he looks down on count themselves top of a subtly different troop.

To find the market system wanting because it does not bring joy as well as growth is to place too heavy a burden on it. Capitalism can make you well off. And it also leaves you free to be as unhappy as you choose. To ask any more of it would be asking too much.

Welcome to We Family Blog

2006-12-27T15:54:00.000-05:00

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