Guidelines on Being Wise and Successful

Health:
01. Drink plenty of water.
02. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a pauper
03. Live with the 3 E’s: Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy.
04. Make time to pray.
05. Play more games.
06. Read more books than you did in 2010.
07. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
08. Sleep for 7 hours each day.
09. Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

Personality:
10. Know your limits.
11. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
12. Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip.
13. Dream more while you are awake.
14. Envy is a waste of time; you already have all you need.
15. Forget issues of the past don’t remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
16. Life is too short to waste time hating others.
17. Make peace with your past and accept your mistakes. We’re only human.
18. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
19. Smile and laugh more often.
20. You don’t have to win every argument, agree to disagree.

Society:
21. Call your family and friends more often.
22. Each day give something good to others.
23. Forgive everyone for everything, even thought it’s hard!
24. Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
25. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
26. What other people think of you is none of your business. Who cares?

Life:
27. Do the right thing!
28. TIME heals everything.
29. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
30. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

- from Jenni Epperson's blog http://www.welovejenni.blogspot.com/

21st Century Friendship

Friendship can be defined in a whole myriad of ways these days. Technology can either be a deterrent or a promoter of human relationships. With the advent of web-based relationships, things like Facebook, Twitter or even the humble email can either make or break a friendship.

I've always been one who's had a visible online presence. I've got 2 email accounts (Yahoo! and Gmail), I had 2 Friendster accounts (had to make a 2nd account because I had exceeded the then-500-friend limit), Multiply, Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. Name it and I've probably been there, done that.

But recent times have made me think twice about this. I've since deleted my Friendster and Facebook accounts. Why? Let me digress.

People - friends, in particular - don't talk anymore these days. So-called friendship is now based on what your status says and what you've been up to as posted on online photo albums. That's how we keep track of friendships these days. Nobody bothers to call or text anymore. There's no more use of catching up over coffee because that conversation has been replaced by your Facebook status. The saddest part about this is that people think this is enough. But I strongly disagree. Hence my drastic stance and delete my Facebook account. Tell me, do people really put EVERYTHING on Facebook? Facebook gives the user the liberty to update and upload only the things you want other people to know. Facebook gives the user the ability to screen one's life and give out this fabricated image of what you want others to think of you. But what about sad and not-so-good times in your life? The kind of times when you need a friend to look you in the eye and tell you everything's going to be fine? Is that kind of frienship/relationship now obsolete? Gone are the times when you don't say anything but when a friend sees this look on your face and know that something's not right.

I've taken a stance. I don't expect anyone else to follow or to understand but this is what I'm doing. I've gotten rid of Facebook and if I want to talk to a friend, I'll call. If I want to catch up, I'll organise coffee or dinner. It's also a good way to gauge who my real friends are. Those who'll actually call or text me to catch up and not simply hope that their Facebook status is enough to keep the friendship alive.