A story worth reading

A young lady was waiting for her flight in the boarding room of a big airport. As she had a long wait, she decided to buy a book to spend her time. She also bought a packet of cookies.

She sat down in an armchair in the VIP room at the airport to rest and read in peace. Beside the armchair, where the packet of cookies lay, a man sat down in the next seat, opened his magazine and started to read.

When she took out the first cookie, the man took one also. She felt irritated, but thought nothing. She just thought "How rude!"

For each cookie she took the man took one too. This infuriated her, but she didn't want to make a scene. This continued until there was just one cookie left.

With only one cookie remaining the woman thought "What will this horrid man do now?'

Then, the man took the last cookie, divided it in half, giving half to to her and eating the other half himself.

Ahh, that was too much. She was furious now. In a huff, she grabbed her things and stormed off to the boarding area.

When she got on the plane and sat down in her seat, she looked into her purse to get her eyeglasses, and to her surprise, her packet of cookies was there, untouched, unopened!

She felt so ashamed.. She had forgotten that she had put her cookies in her purse.

The stranger had said nothing when she took his cookies, and shared them happily with her, without a word, while she become enraged inside, thinking he was so presumptuous in helping himself.

And now there was no chance to explain herself, or to apologize..

So.

There are four things you cannot recover:

1. The stone, after the throw.
2. The word, after it is spoken.
3. The occasion, after it is passed
4. The time, after it is gone
__________________

Chinese Man Shows World What Real Love is by Carving 6,000 Steps Up a Mountain for Wife

A weird love story has come out of China recently and managed to touch the world. It is a story of a man and an older woman who ran off to live and love each other in peace for over half century.

Over 50 years ago, Liu, was a 19 years-old boy, fell in love with a 29 year-old widowed mother named Xu. At the time, it was unacceptable and immoral for a young man to love an older woman.

To avoid the market gossips, the couple decided to elope and lived in a cave in Jiangjin County in Southern ChongQing area.
In the beginning, they had nothing, no electricity or even food. They had to eat grass and roots they found in the mountain, and Liu made a kerosene lamp that they used to lighten up their lives.

Started the second year of living in the mountain, Liu began, and continue for over 50 years, to hand carve the steps so that his wife could get down the mountain easily.

A half century later in 2001, a group of adventures were exploring the forest, they surprisingly found the elderly couple and the over 6,000 stairs of hand carved ladder.

“My parents loved each other so much, they have lived in seclusion for over 50 years and never been apart a single day.” Liu MingSheng, one of their seven children said, “He hand carved more than 6,000 steps over the years for my mother’s convenience, although she doesn’t go down the mountain that much.”

The couple had lived in peace for over 50 years until last week. Liu, now 72 years-old, returned from his daily farm work and collapsed. Xu sat and prayed with her husband as he passed away in her arms.

So in love with Xu, was Liu, that no one was able to release the grip he had on his wife’s hand even after he had passed away.

“You promised me you’ll take care of me, you’ll always be with me until the day I died, now you left before me, how am I going to live without you?” … …

Xu spent days softly repeating this sentence and touching her husband’s black coffin with tears rolling down her cheeks.

In 2006, their story had became one of the top 10 love stories from China, collected by the Chinese Women Weekly. The local government has decided to preserve the “love ladder” and the place they lived as a museum, so this love story can live forever.

Sometimes it pays to keep your mouth shut.

How to De-Stress in 1 Minute By Laurel Kallenbach

Picture this: Sixty seconds of inner quiet. Of not trying to multi-task a thousand responsibilities. Of not projecting yourself into the future. Sixty seconds of listening instead of talking — or lovingly wrapping a gift rather than Grinching your way through the chore.

Believe it or not, a focused 60-second meditation stops the forward momentum of anxiety and nervousness that's so pervasive in our world. And anybody, regardless of schedule, can do it with some practice. "Take just a moment of quiet — even one brief minute of serenity is powerful," says busy mom, leadership trainer, personal development coach and spiritual counselor Dawn Groves, author of Meditation for Busy People. "You don't have to set aside a whole day for meditation," she adds. "Instead, grab what's fresh and useful from a short meditative break, and take that calm into the continuing action of your life."

Are You Too Busy?
The speed of our culture has trained us to multi-task, juggling many activities in hopes that we're being efficient.

"Busy people tend to worry about tomorrow rather than being in the here and now," says Groves. "As a result, they lose the color and freshness of life. Good things like eating a juicy apple or hearing a great piece of music happen in the moment, not tomorrow. If we're always projecting, we miss the joy of present time."

Busy-ness also induces stress and makes it hard to effectively communicate with others because you're not focused on the moment. Fortunately, meditation is a natural antidote for a busy lifestyle since it:

• Retrains you to live in the present.

• Gives you the focus to concentrate on one thing at a time.

• Helps you deal with immediate, concrete problems rather than being distracted by nebulous worries.

• Teaches you to slow down and cope with the non-specific anxiety that plagues most of us.

• Helps you respond more creatively to pressures that usually elicit habitual, knee-jerk reactions.

• Trains you to be comfortable with a quieter, more serene mind.

You can enjoy an oasis of peacefulness even in the midst of the busiest schedule. "We think meditation has to be hard or take a long time to achieve to make a difference in our lives," says Groves. "It's the 'feel the burn' mentality, but it's not applicable here." Instead, a moment or two of stillness helps clear your thoughts before a difficult phone call, calm you before a presentation, or maintain your equilibrium before facing hordes of Christmas shoppers.

"If you open yourself to a new way of viewing life, even for 60 seconds, you've made an enormously powerful start," Groves notes. First, in order to achieve a moment of serenity from the whirlwind, practice some meditation basics such as focusing on your breath.

Three Steps to Nirvana
Once you've been able to take 60-second calming meditations on a relatively regular basis, try Groves' three-step Meditation for Busy People. She recommends spending three or four minutes on each step. But if you're new to meditation or find it hard to relax, try meditating in tiny increments — two or three minutes total — and gradually increase the time you practice.

1. Relax: Slowly scan your body, releasing muscle groups one at a time. After a week or so, this process becomes easier as your body remembers how to relax automatically. Once that happens, you're ready to practice it in a 60-second scenario. Just take a couple of deep breaths and your body will unwind within seconds.

2. Center: Focus your attention completely on each inhalation and exhalation. If your thoughts wanders, bring them back to the breath. This mindfulness will calm you and bring you into the present moment.

3. Release: During this meditation wrap-up, return to waking consciousness by gradually coming back into awareness of your body and surroundings. Take a deep breath and wiggle your fingers and toes. Acknowledge yourself for taking time out and consider what you've accomplished with the experience. Now you're ready to continue your day with fresh insight.

Regardless of duration, Groves suggests you follow a structure such as the above to stay focused.

The Power of Being in the Moment
Commit yourself to this practice for at least a month, then continue from there, says Groves. "Meditate for 10 minutes a day, even if you have to shut yourself into the bathroom to do it," she urges. "Learning to meditate is like developing any new skill like playing the piano or learning how to skate. There's a clumsy, awkward growth stage when you have to be patient with yourself. Remember, you have to go slowly to achieve change." Stick with the 10- to 20-minute meditations, she promises, and you'll soon be ready to do effective 60-second meditations following the same three steps - calming, watching the breath, and releasing - whenever stress rears its head.

Finally, give meditation a chance. You may not feel results immediately, but as you practice it more, you'll notice that you're not as caught up in daily dramas and you're able to step back from stressful situations and see your path more clearly. Perhaps you'll cultivate patience when you're stuck in traffic, or you'll find the resources to creatively redirect your kids' energies when they're quarreling.

"Through meditation, we develop appreciation for the process of living, not just the end result. It's the getting there that counts - the actual practice itself," Groves emphasizes. "The decision that you're going to take time every day to meditate builds character and the skills that enhance your life."

10 Amazing Architectures in China

With the Olympics just less than one year to go, China is on a building spree in Beijing and Shanghai. They have invited a number of leading overseas architects to do the designs - with some controversial, but impressive results.

1. Beijing National Stadium

The Beijing National Stadium is the home for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games athletics and opening and closing ceremonies. It has been dubbed the ‘Bird’s Nest’ by local residents.

2. National Swimming Center

The National Swimming Center was built along environmentally friendly lines inline with the goals of the Beijing Olympics. The exterior is made from teflon, with solar energy being used to heat the pools. Pool water which is normally dumped as waste, will be re-used. Rainwater will be stored in tanks to fill the pools.

3. Beijing International Airport

The new terminal of the Beijing International Airport will make it one of the biggest in the world covering over 1 million square meters. In terms of passenger numbers, it will soon be in the top ten airports of the world, handling 43 million passengers a year initially and 55 million by 2015.

4. National Grand Theater

The new National Grand Theater built not far from Beijing’s historic Forbidden City, had been likened to a huge shimmering UFO. It is a 490,485 square-foot glass and titanium building that was built to be kept lower than the nearby National People’s Congress. It was designed by French architect Paul Andreu, known for Paris’s Terminal 2E building which collapsed and killed four people.

5. CCTV building Beijing

The CCTV building with two towers leaning inwards has redefined thinking as to how skyscrapers can be built.

6. The Commune Building Beijing

The Commune is built alongside the Great Wall of China. It comprises of 12 buildings designed by Asia’s leading architects with a budget of $1 million for each house. It is currently being run as a hotel.

7. Shanghai World Financial Center

Located on former marshland, in the futuristic Pudong, Shanghai, the new skyscraper will become the world’s tallest building with 101 floors.

8. Linked Hybrid, Beijing

The Linked Hybrid building will house 2,500 Beijing residents in a mammoth 700 apartments. It will have the world’s largest geothermal heating and cooling systems, with water being pumped up from 100 meters below the earth.

9. Dongtan Eco City , Dongtan

The complex will house 50,000 people and will be targeted for completion by the 2010 Shanghai Expo. It will be built along eco-friendly lines in terms of water usage, waste and renewable energy.

10. Donghai Bridge, Shanghai/Yangshan Island

One of the world’s longest bridges crossing the sea, the Donghai Bridge connects Shanghai to Yangshan Island. It was built to the tune of $1.2 billion.

Luggage Limit

Warren Buffet

A recent interview over CNBC reviewed how simple Warren Buffet, the second
richest man in the world is. He has donated close to $31 billion to charity. Here are some very interesting aspects of his life:

1. He bought his first share at age 11 and he now regrets that he started too late!
   
   
2. He bought a small farm at age 14 with savings from delivering newspapers.
   
   
3. He still lives in the same small 3-bedroom house in mid-town Omaha that he bought after he got married 50 years ago. He says that he has everything he needs in that house. His house does not have a wall or a fence.
   
   
4. He drives his own car everywhere and does not have a driver or security people around him. He never travels by private jet, although he owns the world's largest private jet company.
   
   
5. His company, Berkshire Hathaway, owns 63 companies. He writes only one letter each year to the CEOs of these companies, giving them goals for the year. He never holds meetings or calls them on a regular basis.
   
   
6. He has given his CEO's only two rules. Rule number 1: do not lose any of your share holder's money. Rule number 2: Do not forget rule number 1.
   
   
7. He does not socialize with the high society crowd. His past time after he gets home is to make himself some pop corn and watch Television.
   
   
8. Bill Gates, the world's richest man met him for the first time only 5 years ago. Bill Gates did not think he had anything in common with Warren Buffet. So he had scheduled his meeting only for half hour. But when Gates met him, the meeting lasted for ten hours and Bill Gates became a devotee of Warren Buffet.
   
   
9. Warren Buffet does not carry a cell phone, nor has a computer on his desk.

His advice to young people: 'Stay away from credit cards and invest in yourself and
Remember:

• Money doesn't create man but it is the man who created money.
  
  
• Live your life as simple as you are.
  
  
• Don't do what others say, just listen them, but do what you feel good.
  
  
• Don't go on brand name; just wear those things in which u feel comfortable.
  
  
• Don't waste your money on unnecessary things; just spend on them who really in need rather.
  
  
• After all it's your life then why give chance to others to rule our life.

Marilyn Monroe

Logic and the English language

Have you ever wondered why foreigners have trouble with the English Language? Let's face it

English is a stupid language.

There is no egg in the eggplant

No ham in the hamburger

And neither pine nor apple in the pineapple.

English muffins were not invented in England.

French fries were not invented in France.

We sometimes take English for granted

But if we examine its paradoxes we find that

Quicksand takes you down slowly

Boxing rings are square

And a guinea pig is neither from

Guinea nor is it a pig

If writers write, how come fingers don't fing.

If the plural of tooth is teeth

Shouldn't the plural of phone booth be phone beeth

If the teacher taught,

Why didn't the preacher praught.

If a vegetarian eats vegetables

What the heck does a humanitarian eat!?

Why do people recite at a play

Yet play at a recital?

Park on driveways and

Drive on parkways

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy

Of a language where a house can burn up as

It burns down

And in which you fill in a form

By filling it out

And a bell is only heard once it goes!

English was invented by people, not computers

And it reflects the creativity of the human race

(Which of course isn't a race at all)

That is why

When the stars are out they are visible

But when the lights are out they are invisible

And why it is that when I wind up my watch

It starts

But when I wind up this observation

It ends.