With the extensions of cuts in income tax, a cut in social security taxes, easier access to loans and a more sympathetic government, things are looking up for workers in the U.S.. As a result of this good news more businesses are hiring. The economy will grow 3.2 percent this year, compared with 2.7 percent that was forecast in October. That’s more than last year’s 3 percent. Employers will hire a total of 2.2 million workers by the coming year. Could we have any better news considering the last few years?

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In spite of this good news employment will still be high. Economists tell us that it will be 2016 before unemployments drops to the normal rate of about 5 percent. That’s not bad after this recession that came near to being as bad as the Great Depression. As the economy gets stronger interest rates will pick up. As people are able to buy high interest Treasury notes, the buyers will profit and it will help get our national debts down. Consumers and businesses are in a better position to spend more freely and that will help us move forward.

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President Obama still has skeptics who disapprove of how he has handled the crisis. Yet there may be a change of attitude as the economy strengthens and rights itself. The gains this year will be moderate but a good step in the right directions. With progress moving us out of the quagmire of the recession we have reason to be thankful.

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The UN’s food price index, which covers items such as wheat, corn dairy, meat and sugar, has risen to the highest point since it began tracking trends in 1990. This places it even higher than in 2008, a year that record high food prices led to riots and political unrest in many nations. Food prices have steadily risen for 6 straight months now, causing food experts to worry about a repeat of the events of 2008.

Crop failures due to extremes in weather and the increasing demand for food from the growing world population are immediately to blame. Many scientists directly link these events to global warming. Jerry Nelson, a senior research fellow at the International Food Policy Institute has noted that although you cannot link any one climatic event to global warming “but I can say there is every expectation we will see more of these weather events in the future and that these events certainly have an impact,”

The spike in the price of wheat is directly tied to Russian wildfires and an Australian drought, as well as flooding in Pakistan. In Russia, there is also concern that fires may have damaged seed stock for the next crop. Aggravating factors also include speculation on food commodities and bans by Russia and India on food exports, both of which drive prices even higher.

Eating habits in nations that are economic “up and comers”, such as China, also play a role in long term price trends. As China’s economy continues to expand, individual Chinese switch to eating more meats and pultry, which take more resources to produce than plant based foods.

The main cause for hope is that this particular spike has been more gradual than the one seen in 2008. It is hoped that the gradual nature of the price increases, combined with the biggest area of price increase in commodities such as sugar (rather than cereal) will make the jump easier to take.

As previously, the spike is also directly tied to increases in the price of oil. Oil has become a main factor in agricultural costs, so that an increase in oil prices directly causes an increase in food prices. The long term outlook for food prices, barring another economic slump, is for further increases in food prices. 

Beyond our genetic limitations, we may have a lot of say so over our aging process. This process started long before we were born and, physically, will terminate about the same time we do. However, what happens during the time between your birth and demise may have a lot to do with how long you live and how you live.

There are many who espouse the principal of exercise, hard work, etc, and then we have those who depend on a good and steady diet of healthy foods. Is this enough? Is this necessary, or is something missing? What if, and I only suggest, what if, it is our outlook, attitude and relationships that give us the greatest strength in a long and very happy life?

Each week as I write to my children, and they may have aged beyond my recognition, I often think about what is the most important thing I have to pass on to my children before I meet the sickle man at harvest time. It’s not money, it’s not property and it’s not anything I can hand over. I am not sure what it is, but if I had to guess, I would say, it might be a positive outlook and a great attitude. These ingredients just might be the key to a long and happy life, because without the proper lifestyle, without the use of honesty, integrity, hope and helpfulness to name only a few, you might find you don’t have a positive attitude and your life is shortened. But, again, I can’t just hand these things over to you, they must be earned.

I am asked almost every week, why I am so happy all the time, why do I feel good all the time, and why don’t I have problems like others my age and place in life. This is not to say problems won’t crop up tomorrow and not to say I haven’t felt the pressure of problems in the past, but unlike most of those asking the questions, I don’t seem to let the past bother me nor do I feel I am making problems here in the future. As I am not perfect, I have tripped and stumbled from time to time, but so has everyone else and if the truth were known, probably Mother Teresa and the Pope as well. But it is how we handle our pressures, our obligations, and our integrity that matters. Then too, it is not so much how others perceive us, but how we perceive ourselves.

It is not enough to tell yourself you are going to have a good attitude or outlook, but you must believe it and live it. That’s why I know I am on the right track when people ask me right out of the blue, “Why I am always happy.”  It is mainly because I believe I am happy. I was actually shocked some thirty five years ago when someone asked me why ”we” were so unhappy. It came as a shock, because I didn’t even know it.

Somehow, I believe I have always been happy, not as happy as I am today, because this has been a growing condition and it has stayed with me.

When someone points out that only a crazy person would be happy all the time and not see the world in the light of disaster, destruction, and decay. I always answer the same way, “if I live a crazy life, I am glad I got the happy one.”

It might be that I don’t see the problems as serious as they are, or it might be that in terms of eternity, I see my problems are less than any generation before me or any civilization for that matter. It might be I see a greater picture than taxes, potholes in the road, or any imaginable event that might get most people down.

I suggest that each and every person has the right to be happy and content, but getting there takes some doing. Happiness doesn’t just walk into our lives one day, it takes a lifelong effort and one that almost everyone can achieve. Since we are all different, there is no one cut and dried answer, but I urge each person reading this to think about how they can make their lives and the lives of those around them happier.

Do your best, work your hardest and give of what you have to those who are in need and this includes happiness.

Dr Robert E McGinnis

Author of:  In Search Of Paradise

Wouldn’t it be such a waste of time and energy if we continued to do a work which we feel we weren’t destined to be doing? One problem is when we do things that are exactly the opposite of what we dreamed of doing. And personally, this is what I think: The root cause is that in the first place, we didn’t know what we wanted!

It’s just like going somewhere but without a purpose – Going some place without a map – Or even going to a location without even knowing the name of your destination.

So first, be know for yourself and be sure where you are headed – that, must be the right key right? Because in the end we wouldn’t want to regret striving to be someone we never wanted to be.

To start with, we can choose jobs from these fields: education, labor or people management relations, government and civil service, communications and media, health-care, science and medicine, business, environmental career, and peace and religious or ecumenical or efforts – which has been said to be the best careers of “spheres of influence.” Working in these specializations could give us a unique chance to shape the world in positive ways, giving us a special opportunity to reach people, and influence the present or the future, but, only as long as we perform them with integrity, character, and compassion for others. It must be everybody’s dream to be of some value to the world.

In the end, don’t we want our jobs to be more than just the paycheck? We do want to make a difference, and in doing the job we love and which also matters to others, there is a difference – a difference when we look forward everyday to go to work and makes us feel fulfilled, satisfied. And if we carried this outlook, wouldn’t it be contagious to the people around us and make them think that they too can make a difference in their jobs? And where does the BEST QUALITY of work come from but from this kind of attitude?

So there it is, the next factor in being happy with our jobs must be – having the right vision towards our jobs – embracing it wholeheartedly, putting our faith in it, and letting our spirits work while we do our work. Doesn’t this thinking, or spirituality, influence the jobs we chose and the way we do them?

There must be job out there that would be a good fit, if not the best fit for us. And if we are not sure of what God really wants for us, I think we could instead consider what we want for ourselves, but, as Proverbs 16:3 says, “Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.”

Last of all, the way best to look at our careers is to perform it as a vocation – We could do this by first recognizing our gifts and talents, and then considering how we can best share them to others though our jobs. How generous it would be if we did our jobs as if it we’re always doing it in the service of others!

If we think that our jobs also matter to other people, then it too will matter all the more for our personal satisfaction. How fulfilling it is if we did our jobs unselfishly – offering it to God and to others. I think that – will make us feel the fulfillment we yearn so much from our jobs.

By: Ae Dechavez

Read Also: Making a Difference In and Outside the Workplace

Primarily our world had been divided into two major categories based on the quality of life-developed and developing.The problem in the”Developed” is this that most of the countries have not attained this status without damaging the environment. Every element of the environment, be it land or water, has been exploited.
In order to progress every country needs to set up industries for manufacturing essential commodities. Both developed and developing countries have extensive set-up of such industries that cause more pollution than any other thing on the planet.

The amount of carbon dioxide has already reached dangerous levels. Carbon dioxide which is a greenhouse gas, is the main cause of global warming. It has been reported that the average global surface temperature has been risen by 0.56 degree C. Which has resulted in melting of antarctic ice-caps thereby making sea-level rise.
If people understand their duties and change their outlook a bit, the problem can be readily solved.

The second trait that has lead to the damage of the environment is self-centredness. The motto of people now goes like ” If it suits you, carry on and forget about everything else”. Unfortunately the word “everything” in that seems to refer to the environment because it is that one thing which everyone tends to forget about, so it should not be surprising that after enduring so much, the environment also runs out of patience sometimes. And then it’s fury is unleashed in forms of natural-disasters.

It is the time man undid the damage done to his surroundings. Both the developed and the developing nations should come together to protect the environment.
At the end of the day we must understand that maintaining the balance would not only help us but more importantly, would ensure he very existence of life on earth.

There are those that blame themselves for everything bad that happens and when something bad does happen, their lives will be ruined forever.  Some people find solace in the thought that sickness that is not serious enough to worry about,  will normally take its course and must, sooner or later, disappear, and that complaining about it unnecessarily, can be psychologically harmful.

Pessimists believe that the cause of any unpleasant event will be around for quite some time and that it will affect many aspects of their life.  Optimists, on the other hand, do not blame themselves. They expect the consequences to be minor and of short duration.  Pessimists end up being sick more days in any given month, as well as go to the doctor more frequently.

Why does a dark outlook on life affect a pessimistic person’s health?  The answer is pessimists feel more stress, since they wait for disaster to strike. They cannot sit back and relax, and enjoy life.  It is clear that that how you feel, under certain circumstances, depends on your outlook on life.

Bear in mind that mood fluctuations can exert an influence on your immune strength.  For instance, you may be a cheerful, carefree and well-adjusted person, but if you happen to be angry, upset or just negative before you run your hand along a stairway railing that harbors a flu virus, you are more likely to get a cold than if you were happy-go-lucky and calm when you came into contact with the bug.

No one feels good all the time. Here are ways to improve your mood when you feel unnecessarily depressed:  l)When you do not feel like getting off the couch, taking a shower, and going to the theater, try to combat the bad feeling and do it anyway. 2) Do not spend too much time with other complainers, doubters and other pessimists.  Pessimism is a psychologically contagious disease.  3) Vent your repressed, emotionally charged feelings. Talk frankly about what is bothering you.  4) Grin or smile. The nerves connected to your face’s smile muscles project into parts of your brain that determines mood, sending a signal to your brain that you are happy. 5) Prolong your pleasure. 6) Be humorous — quick to laugh. 7) focus on the positive.

The process of undoing the negative wiring takes a little effort. It’s just like breaking any bad habit. Here are some little secrets to taking control of your mind and re-wiring your mind to be receptive to more positive experiences.

Eliminate negative people from your life. That is obvious enough, but it is not always possible. When you cannot help being around other people, try not to internalize everything they say that you might find hurtful. Try to understand what motivates their speech. Sometimes people say things just to have something to say. They parrot things that they have heard from other sources and do not think about the full impact of their words.

Avoid unpleasant things as much as possible. Sometimes it is the small things in life that are the most unpleasant. If those everyday things bother you, try enlisting the help of a friend to go along.

Seek out good people. Some people find solace at a church or doing charity work. If that isn’t your cup of tea, then start your own interest group. Even if it is only an online groups, at first, arrange to have people around you who have similar interests.

Surround yourself with nature as much as possible. Enjoy a sunset or some moonlight. Plant seeds and flowers. If possible, find a serene place near water. These things are all life-renewing.

Don’t underestimate the benefits of exercise. If you can, do a little bit of exercise every day. If you feel safe walking outside, then do so. If not, make sure you get some indoor exercise on an exercise machine. Increase your strength with basic weight training.

Remember to breathe. Every once in a while, remember to take a deep breath. Hold it for a count of ten. Release it. Repeat. If you are unable to exercise, this is another way to increase your physical strength. Tense your muscles as you breathe in. Relax as you breathe out. Soon you will be on the road to recovery both physically and mentally.

Get plenty of rest. Your mind will work better when it and your entire body is fully rested. Try a meditation tape at night, particularly one that utilizes NLP (neuro-linguistic programming) techniques for positive thinking.

Eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. Even better, get a quality juicer and drink your vegetables, at least, once a day. Fresh juices contain life-giving enzymes.

Try to find, at least, one thing that gives you hope. It may be a business plan you want to execute, a book you want to write, or a special vacation spot you would like to visit. Keep that plan firmly in your mind.

Whenever you begin to have a negative thought, simply stop. Have a pre-determined pleasant thought that you will use to replace the negative thought with. Soon it will be automatic. The negative thought will enter your mind and you will banish it with your pre-determined pleasant thought.

Not all of this advice is practical for everyone. But, if you can find one thing in any of these tips that helps you rewire your mind, then you are on your way to an upward spiral, rather than a downward one. Soon you will discover your own personal secrets of more positive thinking.

1. Bear in mind that the truth that life is tough. Justice is good but infrequent. High expectations of any kind will directly lead to disappointment and unhappiness.
2. Learn to acknowledge your human assets as well as your human liabilities.
3.  Learn to distinguish self-hate both inside and outside yourself.
4.  Make maximum use of compassion in accepting all aspects of yourself so that you can achieve happiness.
5. Remember that happiness is everyday living. “Feeling good” is what happiness is all about. It is found in eating, exercising, breathing, seeing, loving, and talking.
6.  Believe in yourself. Stop thoughts that are self-doubting and belittling. Recall past successes.
7.  Trust yourself. Listen to your intuition and follow your hunches.
8.  Schedule “fun” time and “alone” time.
9.  Make a list of things you like and those you don’t like.
10.  Meditate, exercise, and pray often