Show How Much You Care

I recently received a most gorgeous gift, a gold tissue-paper lined basket, containing jars of home-made jelly, chutney and a beautifully decorated home-made cake. I was blown away that someone had cared enough to think of me and go to such a lot of effort.

And it set me off reflecting on the many different ways we can let someone know that we're thinking about them, that we value our friendship and we care.

In these days of social media and selfies it's often the case that special moments become a blur and all merge into each other. Every outing and time spent together seems to be memorialised by someone somewhere. But certain dates and times are more special than others.

-Why not show how much you care by making a scrapbook or album of those people, dates and events that have especial relevance for them. A much-loved pet, the birth of a child, a landmark victory, the loss of someone special; all those could be collated in an attractive book. It would be treasured and revisited with affection, making them laugh or cry, no doubt providing hours of nostalgia, reflection and reminiscing.

- Making a personalised gift that utilises your special skills is another way to show how much you care. If you're an artist you might paint their favourite view, their pet, something you know they'll treasure. You'll be spending your time doing something meaningful for them whilst making a generous gesture, sharing your talent and giving of yourself. Other ideas could be perhaps providing support with admin, accounts, de-cluttering, decorating a cake or cooking your signature dish.

- Helping out with chores when someone's stressed and pushed for time can show how much you care. It's thoughtful of you to collect their children from school, help in the garden, with the ironing or by making a meal, and it can be a lifeline to assist them in this way when they're really pushed for time. Or maybe offer to babysit one evening so they can have a little time for themselves; then they can go out or do something really indulgent for a change.

- Showing how much you care can be as simple as picking up a flyer for a free talk, show or exhibition that you know would be of interest to them. It's another thoughtful gesture that says, 'I saw this and thought of you'.

- Setting aside time to pick up the phone and call them simply to chat, dedicating as much time as it takes, can be an insightful way to show you care, especially if the other person has a lot going on and is struggling to get out of the house. You could both make a drink, get comfortable and settle down to talk things through. Being listened to and feeling supported can make all the difference at stressful times.

- Asking, 'what can I do to help', and showing that you're genuine and serious about your offer can be important when someone is going through a particularly hard time. Knowing that you're on their team can make all the difference. Things don't seem as bleak when we're not alone, with someone to share it with.

- If you're partnered showing you care is not about the expensive gifts, but more about the day-to-day touches that demonstrate love and commitment. Drawing your partner a bath after they've had a stressful, busy day, cooking a meal, having a drink ready as they walk through the door, tidying up - all these can be much appreciated ways to show you care, and all cost nothing financially.

How wonderful that after receiving such a lovely, treasured gift it prompted me to reflect on the different ways we can show others how much we care. I daresay that you'll be able to add several of your own to the list. Please do!

Susan Leigh, counsellor, hypnotherapist, relationship counsellor, writer & media contributor offers help with relationship issues, stress management, assertiveness and confidence. She works with individual clients, couples and provides corporate workshops and support.

She's author of 3 books, 'Dealing with Stress, Managing its Impact', '101 Days of Inspiration #tipoftheday' and 'Dealing with Death, Coping with the Pain', all on Amazon & with easy to read sections, tips and ideas to help you feel more positive about your life.

Virtual Assistants: The Secret Behind Success of Executives, Start-Ups and Small Business

As an executive, you have lots of things to do and even more to achieve. Along with mainstream works, you also have several supporting tasks like online research, filings, necessary purchases, recruitment and bookkeeping. You want to concentrate on more profitable work but these petty tasks are consuming your time, and TIME IS PRECIOUS.

Here comes the Virtual Assistant. A virtual assistant is not a robot or machine like Google Assistant. he/she is a human being who understands urgency, grasps details, prioritize tasks, offers intelligent help for you to achieve your target.

Given below are a few important tasks that can be delegated to Virtual Assistants:

Organize Your Files & Data 

Every day we create and work on lots of files and folders. We compile reports and data that need to be referred to at some point of time later. Organizing files and keeping data in proper searchable format is a full time job. You may explain this to your VA and he/she will take care of this. They will organize your files; keep in proper folders, and save your time for more important works.

Customer Support 

You may need to contact some customer support and waste lots of time in waiting or being kept on hold. Ask the VA to do this job for you and save time.

On the other hand, you may also have some customers to support who are important and need to be given priority, but due to lack of time you are not able to spend enough time with them. Ask the VA to support these customers on priority, respond to them immediately, help them understand the product and resolve their queries at appropriate level or pass to the next level.

Bookkeeping 

You have lots of receipts and bills that need to be put in a spreadsheet or compiled properly. You may send your receipts, bills or other expense details to your VA to put in Excel or other tool and do the needful for you. If you leave these unattended for long time, they will cause unnecessary headache and stress.

Book Appointments/Online Shopping 

You may ask your VA to book appointments and reservations for you. The VA will make the reservations and update your calendar so you don't miss them. If a mutual trust develops, you may also ask them to do online shopping for you or for your small firm. The VA's will do the needful and share report with you.

Online Research: 

For any business or personal purposes, you may have to conduct an online research for a good app for your business, a wonderful product for your company, a great gift for your nears and dears, some material for writing, some articles to share with your colleagues, or anything other than this, you may simply give instructions to your VA and he/she will conduct the research for you and present the material in a professional and sophisticated manner, saving lots of time for you.

Business Presentations 

You have to make some presentation for your business but also have lots of other things to do. Give the idea to your VA and ask him/her to do research, compile and put in a PPT presentation for your review. You may make changes as per your need and this is DONE.

Recruitment & Team Support 

As an executive, you also need to hire and support your team. Take help from your VA in searching Resume DB, fix interviews and follow up with candidates. You can also ask your VA to support your team as and when needed and save collective time of your team.

Translation & Bi-Lingual Support 

If you or your business is located in a bi-lingual region or you have clients in foreign countries, you can take help of your bi-lingual VA to support you and your team with translation works and provide bi-lingual business documentation support.

Data Entry 

Data entry, for personal or business purposes, is required regularly but is also least productive and most time consuming work. You can't get rid of it, but definitely you can take help from your VA to complete the task for you.

Writing & Proofreading 

You may ask your VA to prepare material or write blogs and articles for you as per your needs. You may then give it your finishing touch and publish. Or you may write yourself and ask the VA to check grammar, sentence structure and other things. The VA may use tools like Grammerly and send you the finished article, ready to publish.

News Monitor, Summarize and Clipping Service 

Share your interests and needs, languages and locations, and the VA or his/her team will monitor the news, articles, essays published in that language and location and share summary with you. A language expert VA will do the clipping services for you. A lot of rich data and useful information can be collected for personal or business use.

What Is Digital Asset Management?

In short, digital asset management (DAM) is the organization, management, and distribution of any of your digital files - from images to text content and anything in between. A good DAM system will keep your files safe too. Let's look more into what digital asset management covers to help you decide whether you need it.

Content Creation

Creating content is a big part of marketing today. By creating a system that makes it easy to find the content you've already created and can use, it will save time by helping you repurpose the content more easily. Plus, you can add templates, branded assets, slide decks and any content that you need to use frequently to the files.

You won't have to sift through tons of ill-named files on your hard drive, in Google Drive or in your clients' files or co-workers' files. Instead, everything will be organized properly and be easier to find when you use good DAM processes and systems.

Management

When you have a good digital asset management system and processes, you can get so much more out of the digital assets you have created. Your productivity will increase because you're not spending time repeating work or looking for collateral that you can use.

Well-organized files means that you're not going to repeat work that you've already done. You're not going to spend extra time looking for things that aren't named appropriately. You'll be much more creative when you accomplish organizing your files properly.

Distribution

All your digital assets are now in one place and available for anyone that you want to have access to them. You can easily give access in a safe way to documents, images, and other files without concern. Most DAM systems offer version protection and more. A proper DAM system makes all this super-easy.

You may want to share brand guidelines with contractors, marketing campaign materials to your Facebook Ads manager, and writing guidelines for your social media marketing virtual assistant. When this information is easy to grab and use, it will be used and adhered to.

More than likely you'll simply share a link, and the user can grab the link to use the document or even edit the document or file. It's going to be so much easier with the right DAM system.

Preservation

The other key to a great DAM system is that you can preserve the files better and use them for their lifetime. You can also ensure that files that should not be used are archived so that you can preserve them for history's sake. Plus, you can include versioning, permissions, and so much more that makes the workflow easier.

Putting automatic systems like streamlining, outsourcing and automation to work in your business can make it more efficient and productive. 

Whilst You Don't Have To Like Everyone, You Can Still Be Civil To Them

External Situations Do Not Have Power Over Us

Think about a person in your life causing you distress. Try to get a sense of the emotions you feel when you think about them. Sit with these feelings as you read this article because I want you to revisit them at the end. It's no surprise, sometimes we encounter people we don't like and want out of our life. It is my experience that people find it difficult to be pleasant to those they dislike. This is understandable since the other person may cause us pain and suffering. But what I am proposing in this article is being civil to them irrespective of our differences. Even though we may not like the other person, we can at least be polite to them. Is this something you're willing to try? I realise it may be difficult, yet you can still be civilised towards others in the face of disagreement. This is the premise of the anonymous quote which reads: "If people respect you respect them back; if they disrespect, you respect them back. They represent their ideology you represent yours."

For example, I live in a quiet neighbourhood though I have a neighbour who is noisy. They play loud music almost nightly via speakers in their backyard. Their dog barks throughout the day and sometimes into the night. It makes it difficult to work from home and I often resort to wearing earplugs to cancel out the noise. However, on the occasions I see them in the street, I am pleasant to them and have a brief conversation without allowing my frustration to get the better of me. The point I'm trying to make is: We mustn't let others disrupt our inner peace otherwise we get dragged into their world. It is easy to get angry when we experience difficulties in our lives. Sometimes it is unavoidable, yet if we allow the feelings to pass and return to a state of peace, we find that external situations needn't overpower us. There is a lot to be upset about in the world nowadays. If we buy into this way of living, we are bound to get irritated and take to social media to voice our opinion. But do you really want to be that person? Do you want to let your anger get the better of you or would you prefer inner peace? These are difficult choices to make because it may seem we are relinquishing our power.

When They Go Low, We Go High

I felt that way with my neighbour's constant noise because I couldn't control it. But I had it all wrong because they have no awareness of what it's like to have inner peace. The important point here is: The people you have difficulties with are operating from a level of consciousness they are familiar with. They may be difficult to deal with but it would be better to give them the benefit of the doubt because as the motivational speaker Jim Rohn used to say: "People would do better, if they knew better." What are your thoughts about this? Do you believe some people are intent to make our life a living hell or are they operating from a limited awareness? People can only act from what they know and getting angry serves no one because they don't see what you see. It is why personal growth is valuable since we upgrade our consciousness to see more and become more.

We must cultivate good thoughts and nurture them daily to evolve. If we allow others to drag us down to their level, we become like them. Don't succumb to their ways. It is what the former First Lady Michelle Obama meant when she said: "When they go low, we go high." We mustn't allow others to drag us into the murky waters of despair and gloom. It is easy to succumb to negativity especially when we have been wronged against. Sometimes it will feel hopeless, however I invite you to think about what you've read so far and take the higher ground. The other person must be in pain to drag you down to their level. Therefore, refuse to give in to their ways but show them what it's like to be at a higher level, as Michelle Obama reminds us. Even if they cannot attain this level, at least you refuse to get dragged into their negativity. With this in mind, I asked you at the beginning to reflect on the individual causing you difficulty. Try to get a sense of what it would be like to maintain a higher ground with this person. Upon your next interaction, see if you can be courteous to them without giving away your power. Treat them politely without succumbing to their negative ways. You cannot fight fear and anger with more fear and anger. Peace and love cancels out fear every time. It is only once we can be civil to others that our pain and struggle give way to insights and freedom.

Do you want to lead a remarkable life? Are you committed to taking action despite your fears and doubts? If so, download your FREE copy of my eBook NAVIGATE LIFE right now, and start your amazing journey of greatness today!

Changing Your Daily Routine Can Lead To a Healthier Life Style

Did you know people living in the United States spend over $60 billion every year, according to some estimates. This includes the consumption of diet beverages and various weight loss programs. Many seek to reduce the amount of fat on their bodies spending money joining a gym. However there are a number of things you can do to loss weight and live a healthier life without spending a lot of money. This basically involves a change in life style.The two keys to this involves a change in diet and increased physical activity.

Increasing your physical activity doesn't require a membership in a gym. It will require changing your daily routine and a little discipline.This could start before you go to work. Many people go for a morning walk and some are in the habit going for a morning jog. Going for a morning walk is especially great if you own a dog as your fury friend needs the activity also. during the warmer months you could walk to work, assuming the distance is not to great and you live in a safe neighbourhood. If the distance is to far to walk, consider cycling. If you don't own a bike many cycling shops offer a number of used bikes for sale at reasonable prices.

Another thing you could do is develop a simple exercise routine. This might involve sit-ups, push-up, leg lifts, deep knee bends, light weights and stretching exercises to be done at the beginning of the routine. The use of a stationary bike could also be included in the routine and would be ideal for rainy days and the winter months. This routine could be done when you get home from work, before dinner. This would be a great way to freshen up after a long hard day at work or after a long commute through frustrating city traffic.

Changing your diet can also help you loss weight and live a healthier life style. Of course there are many diet plans available and have helped many people achieve their weight loss goals. Some of these include different carb reduced diets such at ketogenic and atkins diet. Another one to consider is the vegan diet.

There a few simple things you can do help without turning to the various diet plans that have been developed over the years. Reducing the amount of certain fast food you consume would be a good start. Reduce the amount of fatty red meat you eat. A good alternative to red meat would could be fish such sole, tuna or salmon. You also could switch from white to whole grain bread. Use whole grain bread for the sandwich you make for you lunch break. Include more fruits, vegetable and berries during breakfast and lunch. Eat high fiber foods in the morning. Include sliced bananas or strawberries on top of your cereal.

Losing weight and living a healthier life doesn't need to be complicated or expensive. But it will require some discipline and a change in your daily routine. Check the internet out for more ideas. Talk to your local health specialist or visit one the many health food stores for advice.

Best Regards

Losing weight will not be easy and will require disciple. A key component of achieving your weight goals will include a change in diet. There are many diets to consider. Different diets are more appropriate for certain people.

4 Reasons Why Digital Marketing Is Important for Small Businesses

83% of SMBs (small businesses) believe digital marketing (DM) is crucial for their businesses. Can you beat that? A simple "No". The modern world is increasingly driven by digital media. We are constantly hooked to the Internet for something or the other. Such a digitally-influenced space makes a digital presence more than compulsory for every business to reach the customers. Boosting sales figures is the prime goal for SMEs taking to DM today. Added to it, SMEs are also counting on online marketing for enhancing brand awareness, lead conversion, and improvement of website traffic.

The post below shares 4 significant benefits of digital marketing for small businesses.

Customers are online

80% of potential consumers take to online media for information. When we come across a new business or company, the immediate reflex is to search for digital marketing in the web world. Gone are the days when we used to visit a store physically or call it up to know about it. Thus, it's extremely crucial for a small business to have a strong presence online and digital marketing is the tool for it. Put simply, if your potential customer can't find you online, she will immediately go to your competitor.

To connect to the modern "smart" world

Mobile phones are no longer used for mere calling or texting. In fact, smartphones are one of the most important tools to browse the web world today. 91% American adults are in constant touch with their smartphones. When it comes to searching for a product or service, they will naturally prefer to make queries from their smartphone only. If your business is not present online, just imagine the huge chunk of potential leads you are going to lose!

More economical

Capital crisis is a major problem for most of the small businesses. And this is where digital marketing comes as a savior. Online marketing is any day cheaper compared to traditional marketing. In fact, some of the channels are even free of cost. For example, it costs you nothing to make your business page on social media and stay connected to your customers online.

Digital marketing also helps you to save money. There are many online marketing tools that are available for free like free website builder, free email marketing management tools and so on.

Better ROI

On one hand, DM helps you to reach your customers while keeping the costs low. On another hand, it helps you to save money for your business. The end result is better ROI for your business over time.

What Makes a Meditation Practitioner an Excellent Student to Teach Yoga for Wellness?

I have many friends in my circle who have practiced yoga seriously for decades without practising any yoga poses. My story is somewhat similar. I am always curious about how a person discovered yoga.

Meditation - An Inner Limb of Yoga

Many years ago I meditated and played with a yoga meditation group. I use the word "play" because even though meditation is seen as serious, we chose fun and fulfilling activities that morphed us into a service community. The experience was very fulfilling mentally and spiritually and we never practised yoga poses as a group.

In those youthful days we sat cross-legged on the floor easily and comfortably. So let me correct that statement about not practising yoga poses as a group. That ability to sit still on the floor and to stand upright and still I consider not one but two yoga poses!

One activity the group embraced was the generation of inspirational thoughts, big ideas, or provoking questions. Each day a new thought was written on a blackboard outside the meditation center and many stopped to imbibe drops of inspiration.

Recently a fellow meditator recalled her story about starting yoga, sharing, "I was feeling a loss, that something was missing in my life. I passed the virtue board each day, read it and it gave comfort, food for thought." She revealed that this was when she started analysing life instead of just existing day-to-day. She began to travel that route to work just to "read a board a stranger put out". Curiosity led her to the meditation center. That visit started her journey with meditation and strangers became her friends - a community.

The Meditator - A Promising Therapeutic Yoga Teacher

What would make a meditator with little or no experience with poses a good candidate to teach yoga for wellness? Although there are many benefits I will highlight three that lead me to this conclusion.

More receptive mind: This means having an increased ability to focus and concentrate. What a fertile environment for learning!

Less reactivity: Another valuable jewel in the jewelry box of the meditator is the ability to put some distance between herself and an emotion. She is less reactive to situations and people. This power can be seen as the ability to accept uncomfortable states without reacting automatically. That's benefit two.

Less stressed: From time to time situations that create stress pop up in a learning group. Someone with a more reactive nervous system experiences its fight/flight/freeze response more often and anxiety and depression. Learning requires receptivity. Benefit number three is the experience of less stress and more receptivity.

With a state of readiness and a willingness to learn and teach basic poses, in my opinion a meditator is indeed eligible to undertake therapeutic yoga teacher training.

How It All Started!

Hello girls!

I am not saying 'hello boys' because I think this is much of a girls story and you won't be able to think in our shoes until you wear them, but still if you want to continue reading, then, welcome guests...

Hello Girls and Boys!

I am a 27 year old girl working in an IT Industry at a quite good position, ummm, one should not blabber about herself so much, so, I am in an okay position. I own a bike, live in one BHK rented flat which I have decorated very much with all girls stuffs mostly in pink and green (both my favorite colors).

I have lots of friends and four best friends, every weekend we have a blast, sometimes this blast includes disc, boozing, dance, sometimes it includes cooking the best dishes that one can experiment at my place or some of my friend's place, sometimes putting a open air grill in my balcony and simultaneously having cold drinks with a feeling of beer (I don't allow alcohol in my apartment as it leaves a stinky smell behind... that's yuckk) sometimes driving in our bikes without knowing what is our destination, in short there are many sometimes and only one many a times and that is shoooppppinggg! But the sad part of this many a times is that, it lasts for only two weeks after our salaries are credited.

Summarizing my life, it was awesomely awesome when one fine day my friend Silvia said:

"I am getting married"

"WHattttt... you must be joking"

"Nooo, I am not, does my face look like I am joking, is there any smile you can spot on it" she sounded like a wild cat.

"How, why, when, where... " I was damn confused.

"There is a guy, he is an NRI, my family knows his family well, he will be going to US next month so, his parents want him to be married before he leaves, and now I am the one they have chosen... bingo, I am the luckiest girl of the millennium"

I was so confused that I could not figure out her bingo and luckiest girl of the millennium meant "Shoot, I am screwed" or was she really feeling lucky. Then it took seconds for me to understand and you will too don't worry!

"But he is going next month, how will you marry him in a month"

"Oh yeah, this is something you thought and I haven't been thinking" she roared on me like a tigress.

"Okay, calm down darling, what are your parent's thoughts"

"They have gone crazy, if they could, they will marry me tomorrow"

Now tell me, what can you tell to a girl when she says something like this, please keep in mind she was holding a disposal glass filled with tea, which we call here in Bangalore full cup tea and she haven't taken even a sip yet.

"Hmm.." I couldn't hmm for long, I had to say something, she was waiting for my inputs, but I had to think and speak after all she had a full cup tea in her hand. Where the hell are my other friends...

Say something, say anything, c'mon think of something, you have such a big head can't you think of a sensible word other than hmm.

"Hmmmm.." I said again, this time it was bit longer.

Dear do not laugh, it is a natural phenomenon, in a crisis situation one's brain stops working.

"What hmmm... are you doing? This is my life's decision I cannot take it in few minutes or few hours, I got to know that guy"

"Yeah... why don't you talk to that guy once, you will get to know him"

"Ohh Please, even a sex addict will also be nice to you when you talk to him for the first time"

"I am damn sure, he won't be a sex addict, your parents know him na"

"I am not saying he is a sex addict, OMG, what if he is?" she panicked.

"Do you want me to bring you a soda or something, as it is too hot in here, I dun think tea is a good idea at this hour of day" I said gulping my own saliva.

"Yes please, thank you so much" she said throwing the cup full of tea directly into the dustbin without even getting up.

"Relax, baby... I am sure, he would be a very nice guy. After all he is gonna be your husband" I said with a very big and flattering smile on my face.

"You think so?" said she with pity eyes.

"Ohh baby, definitely... talk to him once"

"Hey one sec, if he is traveling next month to US then what about you" I said again, but I do not know why I had to say this, for the first time in the evening she calmed down and boom... I lit the fire again...

"Yeah... exactly... and you know his parents have the solution for this too. You want to know what it is, the solution is that I will take a transfer from here to Chandigarh and stay with his parents while he is in US. I will be filing in for a dependent visa and once it gets approved I will have to quit my job and happily go live with him, cook for him, sweep for him and surely sleep with him too. You know what is a dependent visa right... I will not have a work permit, which means I will be jobless, totally jobless... " she was going crazy.

"Take a breath... calm down, everything is gonna be okay... calm down"

"Your parents must have thought over all of these, why don't you talk to them first" I said again.

"They want me to get married... am I such a burden on them... " and now she was crying. I felt bad.

"Come honey, lets go to my room"

We were about to leave when two of my friends came, their timing was just perfect like the Bollywood movie cops, after the show was over.

"Hey... what happened, why are you crying" said Joe.

"It's a long story, let us go to my flat and discuss" I said.

We drove to my flat which is in fourth floor and the lift was under maintenance so, Silvia had stopped crying in the journey from ground floor to fourth floor by stairs.

As I opened my flat, my other two friends the most vicious characters, rushed into to occupy the most puffed bean bags leaving behind two, among which one was okay to sit and the other was a mini bean bag that I got for free when I bought the other three big ones.

I, being the most generous and also self invited host of the evening offered Silvia to sit on the bigger one and sat on the lil one somehow adjusting my but.

"So, what's the big story?" said Addi, another friend of mine.

"Has someone again stolen her jeans from the terrace while she kept it to dry after wash" teased Joe.

"Guys, this is serious, Sil is getting married" I said

"Whatt... " both of them said together.

I narrated the whole story and firstly they were like 'Hawww' then 'hmmm' then, actually nothing after giving their two reactions they just kept nodding their heads.

"I have an idea, why doesn't Sil call that guy right now from here" Joe bursted.

"Whoa whoa... doesn't her parents should know this before she calls him" Addi said with concern.

"Okay, Sil, go ahead, tell your parents that you are going to call him now just because you need to know the guy you are marring" Joe said as if she would call Sil's parents if she doesn't.

"Don't you think she should wait for the guy to call first, won't she appear too desperate if she calls him first" Addi said again

"Baby, she has only thirty days and if you will exclude today, she has only twenty-nine days left, so, do you really think she has the time to waste on thinking who is desperate and who is not" I was so pissed.

"I am gonna call him now, where is my phone, give me my phone" Silvia panicked.

"Easy cat, easy... call your parents first and then call him. Talk nicely and please do not panic" I said, I was actually concerned, as she was behaving damn crazy.

She took her cell phone and went to the terrace.

In the mean time we decided that we will prepare pepper chicken for dinner but for the time being we settled for tea and some snacks.

We three started chit chatting, firstly with arrange marriages, then complained about our managers, gradually moved to scope of different technologies, current openings, hikes and usual daily stuffs, when our drama queen came back from the terrace after approximately two hours, yes two hours!

She came back with a very very big smile on her face and yeah unlikely to her behavior she was blushing too.

"Oye hoye, what happened, you seem too happy" I said.

"Girls, he is kinda cute and understanding too. I liked him. He listened to my aspirations; he even said he will get me a work permit so, that I can get a job there as well"

"Hon, isn't he a sex addict?" I said with a cunning smile on my face.

"Ohh, shut up, he is too cute to be that"

And that, ladies and gentleman was the fine moment when we lost our friend!

She used to be with us with her cell phone beeping constantly, need less to explain who beeped her.

In another twenty five days we were attending one of the our best friends marriage ceremony. Trust me those past twenty-five days were not easy. We have been shopping for the sarees, embroidered suits(very heavy embroidered yeah very, some of them had even golden work, some you can not even look directly to, you had to have sun glasses to look at, well, I won't deny some were nice which even made me think to marry, but only for few seconds not more than that!)

Oh! I forgot about shopping for shoes, bags, make up kit (these stuffs are so costly, that tiny velvety vanity box cost her ten grands, shit, what can we apply on hardly seven inches of face for ten thousand bucks!) and how can I forget about lingerie (buying them was fun).

On 8th March, 2014 our friend got married. We became three from four. Though there is no culture of Bride's maid in Punjabi families nor in ours but still we were self appointed three bride's maid dressed similarly in different colors.

That was the first time I went to a wedding where I didn't go only to eat or comment on the bride and the groom, it was the wedding of my friend. She looked like a princess yeah a princess loaded with gold!

"Do you believe our Sil is married" I said.

"I still don't believe she will no longer roam around with us all over the city again, she won't be there to have road side tea, go shopping with us, prepare her rajma chawal any more" Joe got upset and do did we.

We hugged each other and pledged, no matter whom we marry and where we go we will always be in contact.

"You know what, Silvia is too brave to fall into a marriage so soon. I am never gonna marry so fast, I need time" I said.

But girls, there is very common saying 'Never say Never' and the moment I said it, somehow somewhere in the universe there were meteors clashing, with huge lightening, some of the planets stopped for seconds, they changed their routes and finally my so did my FATE. Yeah my fate got Twisted, twisted as hell!

Unhappy People - Why Some People Would Rather Be Unhappy Than Happy

Do you know how to be happy on the roller coaster ride of life? No matter how well off some people are, they would rather be unhappy than happy. Do you know why? Read on to find out.

Here are a few reasons:

1) They have been wired to think negative from their childhood. They cannot change their attitude. They would rather remain unhappy which is ideal for them.

2) They had suffered from some trauma in their childhood and they cannot change their frown to a smile. They are unable to let go of the past.

3) They compare themselves to others without being aware of the fact that they have fewer problems than their neighbors. Nevertheless, they can't help envying their neighbors' assets, properties and their lot.

4) They have never known what peace of mind is. Their life has been a total turmoil and they have been going down with the abyss of darkness. They are unable to turn things around and have cluttered minds. Little do they know there is a way to getting what they want and have peace of mind.

5) They do not follow morning rituals unlike what so many people of modern day do. They like to be lazy and remain unhappy. They have never known the magic of morning rituals.

6) They do not believe in personal development and are rather of the older generation. Personal development has taken the world by the storm and everybody in the modern day wants to become their best version through self-help books and programs. But some people do not find interest in them, remain backward and experience unhappiness all the time.

7) For some people, happiness has no meaning for them. They would rather complain, grumble, blame others, lose their temper, behave badly and remain unhappy.

8) They do not know what would interest them to earn their living. So they stick to toilsome routine work which is not lively or interesting. They haven't known how easier and flexible it would have been if they found out what they loved to do passionately and monetize it, rolling in money more smoothly. Rather they would do something of monotony bearing no happiness or delight.

When people who remain unhappy cannot be helped, they become outcasts and aliens in the society. Yet probably these people would still like to remain old-fashioned, be out of reach of help and stay unhappy.

Under these circumstances, if an organization like NGO and/or volunteers took some measures to help and make them understand the reality, maybe there could be some fresh round of hope for this minority of unhappy people

Tips to Help You Recover Lost Data

Losing an important file is a loss that gives a lot of stress. However, you don't need to panic anymore as there are many ways to get that file back. We all have been there. You are almost done with your project and your computer crashes. Once it is up, you no longer see your file. If you want to recover your files, make sure you work carefully. Given below are a few tips that can help you get your lost data back. Read on to know more.
1. Check The Recycle Bin
This is a really important step. Make sure you do it first or you may end up wasting a lot of time for nothing. When you don't see your file in the relevant folder, the first thing you need to do is check the recycle bin. At times, we end up deleting an important file when we are working with a large pile of files. So, make sure you open up the recycle bin first. If the file is there, you can quickly restore it. Problem solved!
2. Check your Email Inbox or Cloud-Based Account
Often, multiple versions of the same files are found in the Sent folder in the email inbox. you may have sent the same files to your friends, colleagues, and family, for instance. You may also have the file on your cloud-based account.
Even if the file you have in your inbox is the older version, you won't have to start over. You can spend a few minutes to work on the file to update it. Don't forget to check your memory card either.
3. Run your Backup Program
It's a good idea to create backups of your libraries or hard drive in order to avoid losing your important business files. Usually, Windows OS comes with a backup application that can create a backup of your images and documents on a regular basis. The majority of programs can do incremental backups, which means you don't need to worry about losing your documents anymore.
4. Install a Data Recovery Program
You can choose from a lot of data recovery programs found on the Internet. They can scan your computer hard drives for lost or deleted documents. All you need to do is install one of these programs and hit the Scan button. As soon as you have completed the scan, you may get all your files back. You can search for the file by size, name or type based on your needs.
The process may take a lot of time depending upon how big your hard drives are. The recovery period also depends on the speed of your machine. Faster machines can complete the job quickly.
Long story short, if you are looking for a way to protect your data, make sure you have a computer that runs efficiently. If your computer is crashing over and over again, chances are that you will lose your files. Also, creating regular updates is also a good idea.

The Most Hated Asset Class

I've spent a lifetime pointing out potential risks - in our economy, in our real estate market and in our stock market. All too often, we pay only lip service to the safety of our assets while taking unnecessary chances.

But sometimes you have to consider the other side of the risk/reward coin, too. Every asset has a buyer - if the price is low enough.

And I think that's where the market's at with a large swath of commodities these days.

It's all about risk/reward.

Real estate prices are sky-high. Even insiders at the Federal Reserve say there's a bubble in commercial property. And you've heard plenty from us and others about concerns in the stock market.

When it comes to risk versus reward in those two sectors, well... the "reward" part, after more than six years' worth of gains, is about as used up as a champagne bottle on the morning after New Year's.

The Case for Commodities

Commodities are the other side of the asset coin. Sure, oil prices have doubled since the start of the year, and precious-metal prices are up around 20%, but neither is anywhere near its highs of even a few years ago. The rest of the commodities complex represents a similar mixed bag of results in 2016:

• Copper: +1%
• Soybeans: +8%
• Wheat: -15%
• Corn: -8%
• Sugar: +50%
• Nickel: +20%

And take a look at just about any commodities-tracking price index or exchange-traded fund, and you'll see what I'm talking about. For instance, the Dow Jones Commodity Index is up only 23% since bottoming earlier this year (primarily due to the rise in energy prices). But it's down by more than 30% since 2014.

It might seem odd to point to an underperforming asset class and say "put some money there," but that's exactly why it's worth looking at the commodities sector right now.

It offers the chance to diversify a portion of your wealth out of stocks and property. And best of all, commodities aren't correlated - meaning they don't march to the same drummer, going up and down lockstep in price - as stocks and real estate are.

But there's another way to think about all this. For instance, house flipping and day trading are both back in vogue. But say "I like corn. It's at its cheapest price in a decade," and all you'll hear are sounds of silence (and maybe crickets).

Yet there's a flip side to the old adage that "the best cure for high prices is high prices." The best cure for low prices across the board in the commodities complex? Yup - low prices. And it's leading growers, miners and other producers to pare back while waiting for demand to kick in again once again.

For instance, Texas farmers are on track to plant as much as 20% less wheat this fall (after cutting planting by 13% in the same period last year).

When it comes to risk versus reward, you can't find an asset class that your neighbors and cocktail-party friends are more indifferent about than commodities. That's a good thing. When an asset is unpopular, even hated, it means there's a potential for profit. The same can't be broadly said about stocks and real estate at current levels.

Digital Marketing and Blogging to Generate Affiliate Commissions

Digital Marketing and the benefits of Blogging.

Digital marketing is growing rapidly especially with affiliate marketing. Where over 95% of the people getting started do so completely unprepared. Or rather misdirected. Making money online is a calculated and time-consuming art. And the best way to get recognized as a professional is to offer outstanding content. Solutions to identified needs within your niche. Digital marketing is all about turning knowledge into a digital product. And competitive knowledge requires a lot of time researching. Do the research, find the problem and offer a solution. Even if it means weeks of research. Recognition requires sacrifice and maximum effort. There is no way to write really high quality content within a few minutes.

Unless it's copy/paste content. Which should really be avoided because Search Engines does not appreciate that. Make your content your own. From written to graphic content. And use that to create curiosity. Digital marketing at a professional level is not as "easy" as is often suggested. But fortunately there's nothing that time and research cannot remedy. But first you would want to know what to blog about right?

How to know what to blog about.

With digital marketing, also known as your profitable niche. The one thing you love doing most. And a hobby is often the best choice. If you truly love what you do it will be impossible to give up. The options are really vast with hundreds of different niches. From dieting to supplements and opportunities. But finding the profitable niche is where an alarmingly large percentage of newbies go wrong. Your blog needs to be targeted to specific keywords and search phrases. Best describing the content of your blog. If you love cycling then that will be your profitable niche. Perhaps reading or watching movies?

Find that one thing you would love to be able to do all day. As opposed to the usual 9 - 5 grind. But don't quit your job just yet. Because earning a few thousand dollars per month does not happen that fast. Find your passion and create inspiring content to attract both visitors and search engines.

Digital marketing and ranking basics for Search Engines.

The most important advantage of blogging with digital marketing is SEO. Because nothing on Earth drives converting web traffic like SEO. Without traffic there will be no sales even with the most impressive blog online. Simply because the visitor is already looking for "cycling gear" or "cycling advice" or even "how to start cycling". Therefore is already interested in your content. The blog targeted keyword must be the first word of both the domain name and blog title. Choose carefully and target keywords with a high search volume and low competition level. Use the Google Keyword Planner tool available in your Google Ads account. A really outstanding research tool by Google.

Another crucial tool to a successful blog is the Yoast SEO Premium plugin for WordPress. Because professional SEO is about a whole lot more than just strategic keyword placement. There's word, sentence and paragraph length. And also the presence of transition words to increase the readability score. Along with sub-headings (H2, H3, H4). H2 Heading is often also a blog post title. The blog title however is also known as the H1 Header.

Having the relevant compelling content in front of the right audience. All made possible through search engines and SEO. Because Google alone process over 63,000 searches per second. Which calculates to around 5.6 Billion searches per day. And that is precisely why blogging is so important with digital marketing. It's the perfect exposure tactic to generate sales online.

How to make money with your blog.

There are several ways to do that. Among the favourites is affiliate marketing. But more specifically affiliate product banner displays. But raw banner HTML code can reduce your blog SEO score in search engines. Where a Grade-A blog is required to score above 70%. Rather use a plugin called "WP Insert" to display banners in blog posts and pages. In fact there are hundreds of useful free plugins accessible at WordPress (dot) org. To display banners in blog side bars use an image widget. Then simply redirect the image to the cloaked affiliate link. A great affiliate link cloaking tool is another plugin called "Pretty Links Lite".

Testing and writing product reviews is a great idea for creating compelling content. Use tools like "Pixabay" for unlimited high quality royalty free images. Then turn that into professional graphic display with another great image editing tool called "Canva".

Your blog must stand out from a rather large crowd. Where the first impression is crucial. What does your visitor see when opening a link to your blog or blog post? Does the first impression target an identified need? But more importantly, does it suggest a solution? If the content is not sufficiently compelling to potential visitors. Then it may result in an alarmingly high bounce rate. And little to no sales at all.