Mind Body Spirit 123

Arun Pal Singh asked:




It was long time back when I was still in my MBBS years. One of my friend was reading ’7 Habits of Highly Successful People’. He was quite impressed with the book and recommended that to me.

“I do not need all this improvement stuff”, I replied, I am quite content with the way I am.”

As the time passed I could not help at introspection. Slowly my ego humbled and I found the flaws with myself. I was arrogant. I was poor at time management. I was hesitant to start a conversation. I never scheduled my goals. I was more emotional than practical.

I was always a good student. I was best in my school days. I was competitive. I did strive to do the best.But the very best was always determined by my surroundings. It is a different when you perform at local school level in a countryside school.But it is different when you compete at national level to enter into medical college.

I failed first time.

It was the first failure that I had encountered.

I did make it second time. I needed to study more. I did.

The MBBS is 5 and 1/2 years long course.The goal of pursuing postgraduation comes at the end of the course. Nothing stops one from early goal setting. But I said I was not that practical. Another failure. Another push. I was into my post graduation.

Post graduation was totally different game. You are a doctor who is student at the same time. You need to interact a lot with the patients, colleagues, seniors, staffs, technicians.Suddenly you find that you need to improve upon yourself.

I looked for directions and help. I observed the successful & effective clinicians. I observed good and not so good surgeons and their habits.I imbibed and learnt.

Of course everything can be learnt. You need only to stress that fact upon yourself.

I learnt a very important fact.

One needs to be open in order to improve.

It was a kind of irony. I was open to learn from the surroundings but I was not ready to accept that a self improvement book can help me. This kind of duality had always existed as I analysed myself retrospectively.I had always responded to my surroundings but always shut my eyes whenever I had a chance to look beyond. This needs to be resolved. This needs to solved.

Reluctantly I picked the book my friend recommended long time back. It was a good book.

It may sound ridiculous but as we grow up we start loving our weaknesses instead of mending them . We show our pride in them. Somehow we convince our minds that we are unique because of the qualities we possess. And when we say qualities we also mean our weaknesses.

But we hardly realize that.

How often have you heard these kind of statements-

I think with my heart.

I do not like to interact much. I am a kind of introvert . Who needs too much money.Why should I work more!

And so on

But somewhere in our minds each of us wants success. Each of us wants to get rich. Yet we keep on our denial because it does not match our personality we have created for ourselves. We want to achieve but we are not ready to follow the path success demands. I was blind as a goat when it comes to self improvement books.

I always believed nobody can teach you to become better. But at the same time I was learning from my available milieu. I was learning from somebody. Knowingly or unknowingly somebody was teaching me.

I was open to that idea but closed myself at the mention of the subject. Slowly I have killed that irrational pride. I am an open person now. One can learn from anywhere one wants. Same goes for self improvement stuff. Moreover it is not the stuff that teaches us. It is we who learn from that stuff.

The world of today demands a lot of interpersonal interaction. It is no more a place towered by eminence. The society today demands some basic qualities in order to achieve. Just one talent or quality cannot carry you for. You need to have a set of qualities.

Even if a reading can provoke single thought in our mind it is worth it.

Trevor Johnson asked:




Think it is impossible to get whatever it is you want: money, better job, or even love. What if it is as simple as positive thinking? Many people are now opening their minds to this new idea, called cosmic ordering. Cosmic ordering for beginners is a very simple process of opening your mind and learning something new.

To begin with, start thinking differently. There is a concept that whatever you put out into the universe will be returned to you, even your thoughts. So, the idea that positive thinking can bring all things good into your life is not so farfetched. Cosmic ordering works with a positive thought you are sending out into the universe void of all negativity. Focus on what it is you are wanting to happen, and not on what you “don’t” want to happen. Make all negative words positive. Erase any worry or anxiety from what it is that you want or need. The cosmos or universe will then deliver what your looking for in some form.

How do your thoughts reach the cosmos? Many people think writing them down makes it more real. This can be a good idea if you want to make sure your thoughts go down in the most positive way. However, they are still your thoughts. Whatever is going on inside your mind still effects your cosmic order. That is why trying to think in positive ways about all things is very beneficial.

Is this something you need to pay for? No, not at all. A lot of websites will try to make you believe that you need to buy their book or take their seminar, but that is simply not the case. Cosmic ordering is all about you. It is all about having a positive and open mind. If you, however, want to purchase a book to increase your knowledge about cosmic ordering then that is a good reason to spend money.

Bring everything you deserve into your life with cosmic ordering. Everyone is worth it, and everyone deserves to be happy. Cosmic ordering will even eventually just make you a happier person because of all the positive thinking in general. So, try it out. It may be one of the best things you do for your life.

Trevor Johnson asked:




You may have heard a lot about advanced cosmic ordering and asked what it was and how it worked. It’s a little difficult to explain how this method works especially if you are skeptical about it and I will show you just why in a moment. It is a new age kind of thinking that brings a person whatever they want by merely thinking about it in appositive way.

As with any other thing in this world there are skeptics and then they are people who believe in the system however the difference between this and any other system is the fact that skeptics wont be wrong if they think it does not work while on the other hand supporters of the system will get significant benefits from the system. The reason this happens is because the system will only work for people who believe in the system and not for people who don’t so for skeptics they are right because it won’t work for them.

Since skepticism and negativity really means that you are becoming an obstacle in your own way. People who are able to put away their skepticism will actually learn that ordering things from the cosmos can really do wonders.

People who have got their information about advanced cosmic ordering online need to bear in mind that using this process is not like ordering a pizza it’s not instant and is mainly centered around your positive thoughts. What really happens when you order items from the cosmos is your mind begins to change things around you because your positive thoughts begin to take affect in the real world. Quantum physics has proven that the world is how your mind perceives it.

Your subconscious mind does the hard work because it’s programmed to do certain things like placing a cosmic order. Being positive requires practice and time but once you get a hang of it placing a cosmic order can be simple.

nicole C asked:


For spirit week at my school, the overall theme is decades. My class chose the 1940s. We have to decorate a hallway and a mini-float (4×4 ish). Does any one have any suggestions on how to decorate?

Alan Pritchard asked:




This article explores the importance of reflective practice as a tool for school self-improvement by looking at the relevance and implications of the reflective practice cycle.

The article is structured under the following headings:
- ON REFLECTING
- THE RELEVANCE OF REFLECTIVE PRACTICE
- WHAT IS THE REFLECTIVE PRACTICE CYCLE?

- WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS OF RP FOR A SCHOOL?
- CONCLUSION

ON REFLECTING …

Have you ever, having returned from a date with someone new, sat down and dissected the events of the evening in minute detail? Perhaps you have wondered whether a comment you made could have had an unintended meaning or was perhaps misunderstood.

Have you ever worried whether you have misread your date’s body language or – particularly if the date goes awry, pondered over what went wrong and how to avoid making the same mistakes next time?

This is perhaps an overly negative view of a possibly lovely evening, but it does serve to highlight the fact that we all, in our everyday lives, take time to ponder and reflect on things that have happened during our day.

Whether this is done consciously or unconsciously, we all respond to circumstances by thinking about them and processing the events through memory and recall. And more often than not, these thoughts create decisions and these decisions create choices which determine future actions.

Thus, we may return from a holiday, armed with photographs and tales, and while reflecting, may decide to return there again next year, or perhaps, because things went horribly wrong, opt for a better travel agent, or different destination.

Or perhaps, as a parent returning from a tour of a few prospective schools for your child, you have sat down to discuss the options open to you. You recall each school visited, and remember the impact each may have had. You weigh the pros and cons of each, consider each scenario from a range of perspectives, and finally make a decision that is not rushed into.

Think of times, recent and past, where you have stopped to reflect and think about an experience. Here “thinking about” and “remembering” are not synonymous: when we remember we recall events and details; when we “think about” them we employ our critical thinking faculties, using analysis and evaluation, synthesis and reasoning. We ask questions and attempt to find answers; we plan and construct possibilities; we process, deconstruct and assess the outcomes of ideas and strategies. From this, we are able to articulate choices that need to be made and possible ways of implementing those choices.

So, in an attempt to find a reasonable definition of the process of reflecting, let us use this simple formula:

REMEMBERING AND THINKING ABOUT + MAKING CHOICES AND PLANNING = REFLECTING

We all, in some form or another, think about our experiences. Reflective Practice, however, is a means of providing EVIDENCE for such thinking and reasoning. It is a RECORD of the ways that you have thought about and reflected on an experience.

THE RELEVANCE OF REFLECTIVE PRACTICE

I would like to make the assertion that school improvements would be more profound if all schools adopted reflective practice as daily habit.

I am not alone in my thinking:

“Critical reflection upon experience continues to be an effective technique for professional development.” Kettle B., & Sellars, N. (1996). The development of student teachers practical theory of teaching. Teaching and Teacher Education, 12(1), 1-24. EJ 526 790

“By its nature, the reflective practice cycle causes teachers to step back and critically reflect not only on how they teach, but also on why they teach in a particular way.” Schon, D.A. (1996). Educating the reflective practitioner: Toward a new design for teaching and learning in the professions. San Francisco: Jossey

“Next year is my final year and I feel moreonfident and motivated in my studies since completing this module and have learnt a lot about myself and my learning style, through keeping the journal and I am going to start keeping one permanently so my reflective learning process can be enhanced. I now know the skills that graduate employers will be looking for and I must have them to get a good job – my action plan will help me to do this.” Student, Napier University

“The primary benefit of reflective practice for teachers is a deeper understanding of their own teaching style and ultimately, greater effectiveness as a teacher. Other specific benefits noted in current literature include the validation of a teacher’s ideals, beneficial challenges to tradition, the recognition of teaching as artistry, and respect for diversity in applying theory to classroom practice.” Freidus, H. (1997). The telling of story: Teachers knowing what they know. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), Chicago, IL. ED 409 274

“The ability to think about what one does and why–assessing past actions, current situations, and intended outcomes–is vital to intelligent practice, practice that is reflective rather than routine.” Journal article by Hilda Borko, Paul Michalec, Jean Siddle, Maria Timmons; Journal of Teacher Education, Vol. 48, 1997

“The primary benefit of reflective practice for teachers is a deeper understanding of their own teaching style and ultimately, greater effectiveness as a teacher. Other specific benefits noted in current literature include the validation of a teacher’s ideals, beneficial challenges to tradition, the recognition of teaching as artistry, and respect for diversity in applying theory to classroom practice.” Hurst, B., Wilson C., & Cramer, G. (1998). Professional teaching portfolios. Phi Delta Kappan, 79(8), 578-82. EJ 563 868 “If schools are to change for the better, they need to become places where teachers can be reflective” At the Heart of Teaching: A Guide to Reflective Practice (McEntee, et. al., 2003)

“In order for a teacher to grow, learn and excel, she must periodically stop and examine herself, her educational goals and her teaching practices. She must ask herself and her students questions and struggle with them to find answers. Inquiry & reflective practice are instrumental tools for teachers to change, improve and hone their philosophy and teaching practices. It also serves as teaching method that capitalizes on student interests, curiosity and the idea that students learn better when they construct their own knowledge.” GEMMA CLASING, M.A.Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) Masters of Education program. “Being reflective is a key aspect of professional development. For it to be effective this reflective process needs to be cyclical.” [http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/] Practitioner action research creates a greater knowledge of self and situation
[http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/]

There is a wealth of documentation supporting the notion that reflective practice is key, not only to professional development, but also to raising standards. Even a cursory search of the Dfes Standards

Site website will return 500 references to recent policy making and government initiatives confirming, not only the value of reflective practice, but also the need for both students and teachers to be involved in the reflective practice process.

Assessment For Learning programmes all over the country will have to, at some point, acknowledge the importance of reflection and review.

It is impossible to separate AFL from reflection, as the ability to reflect will very much influence key areas like self and peer-assessment. But reflective practice is not confined to AFL: all components of school life can be improved through RP – from the teaching support staff to the administration team and the governing body. Everyone involved in the process of RP can use that process to improve conditions of work, to determine attitudes and morale, to concentrate attention to detail and use introspection as a means of self improvement.

Copyright (c) 2009 Positively MAD

Edward Geordie Moore asked:




We all need self storage for different reasons. We may have run out of space in our homes, could be moving between homes or just need better security for some of our more expensive belongings. While companies provide all kinds of storage units including moving storage, mini storage and even climate controlled self storage, there are some common mistakes that a customer should try to avoid when leasing a self storage warehouse.

If a person is intending to move house, it is best to hire moving storage services i.e. companies that do moving as well as storage. This ensures that you deal with a single vendor which turns out to be cheaper and more convenient. Most importantly, only one vendor is accountable for your house-hold items. They ensure that your precious items reach their destination safely.

It is always a good idea to check out the quality of the self storage building or at least the security of the self storage warehouses. Self storage buildings should ideally have 24×7 surveillance to avoid burglary. They should also have an early alarm in case of other possible hazards to self storage. Also try and avoid a facility that is too far from your home or place of work since commuting costs can run high in the long run.

Take only the amount of storage that you need. Mini storage usually suffices and more mini storage units can be added as requirement increases. It is better to invest money in the quality of the self storage rather than the size. Climate controlled facilities are great for ensuring better shelf life of stored items. A customer may not realize it but safe storing does not necessarily guarantee that objects will not spoil. In extreme temperatures or humidity, most things rot easily. Temperature controlled units may cost marginally extra to begin with but ensure better chances of survival for delicate objects.

answering_machine asked:


I thought that the spirit perfume smelled like the store cause everyone said so.

But once I got it, it smells nothing a like and is wayy too strong.

What do they spray on their clothes?

Carolyn Clayton asked:




Isn’t it the same thing as just simply wanting something, and hoping that we get it?

Have people really benefited from simply writing out their cosmic order and waiting for the Universe to deliver it? Read on!

Noel Edmonds didn’t just appear on our TV screens again after a long absence, according to him he ‘ordered’ it!

After reading the German best-seller “The Cosmic Ordering Service – A guide to realising your dreams” by Barbel Mohr (it sold millions in Germany alone) he was motivated to create his wish list. He asked for a ‘new challenge’ and got it in the shape of ‘Deal or No Deal’ and is back on our screens as the host of this very successful show. He had also put on his shopping list a villa (which he got) and some other things that he doesn’t talk about – (ooh would love to have been a fly on the wall for those – oh and by the way I am not cosmically ordering that!).

It would be silly and irresponsible to suggest that we simply sit down and let everything magically come to us without effort or engaging ourselves in the challenges of everyday life. However creating this Cosmic wish list has something in it.

How many times have we really thought we want something but when getting it, just wasn’t what we really wanted or when asking for something to empower our life we have felt undeserving and uncomfortable about asking for it.

What impresses me is the actual clarity that you need to have when creating your wish list. Writing it all down makes the individual very focused about what they are asking for and it stops us fudging the issue.

Oftentimes you ask someone what they want and the first thing that they do is tell you what they don’t want. This doesn’t create a focus on bringing anything into our lives, just allows us to dwell on the negative, rather than the virtues of positive thinking.

So what’s involved, well very little actually, just write down clearly what you want, the date that you want it and if money is involved exactly how much!

You can order as many times as you wish but only if it is for positive purposes. Anything that is harmful to others or ourselves doesn’t get a look in (lets order that!). If it hasn’t got a loving or empowering purpose then forget it.

If I got one thing from it, was to show me how foggy my thinking was with some of the things that I thought I wanted. When trying to write down what I wanted to manifest I was hit by more doubts than a juggler in a small tent. This realisation really help me sort out how to be directed and clear about what I was ordering into my life.

We all presume everyone wants a lot of money or a big house but that actually isn’t true. Whether you want to bring in a new relationship, career or simply have more money, be specific. Remember, be careful what you ask for, you just might get it!

The Cosmic Ordering Service – A guide to realising your dreams. Barbel Mohr. ISBN 1-57174-272-7.The Ultimate Guide to Cosmic Ordering – Empower your destiny: Take control of your life. Andronicos Andronicou. ISBN 0-9554-6690-3.

Cosmic Ordering Guide: Where Dreams Can Become Reality. Stephen Richards. ISBN 1-902578-24-4.

Warren Peters asked:




In the past 20 years or so, folks have been buying self-help and self-improvement books like the world was coming to an end. You have got to wonder what people did to survive all that time before self-help books came out. It seems there’s a simple guide out there for every possible human condition, problem or lifestyle crisis.

Now, I know that sometimes we really need some guidance, but I think that too much self-improvement and too many self help books can make you crazy. Doesn’t anyone know how to do anything anymore without some stranger telling them it’s okay to be to do it that way?

Maybe, I’m being a bit hard on self-help and self-improvement books. I know there are some really good ones out there. I also know from personal experience that there are some that are just plain worthless. What’s funny about this is, the ones that are useless are usually the ones that seem to be the bestsellers.

There are hard things that happen to everyone in life. Hard times, emotional upsets, life crushers and sometimes you need a book to get you through. I think it’s wonderful that you can get a self-improvement or self-help book to help you deal with grief, job changes, divorce and the life…

However, there are some things that take just common sense. You don’t need a book to tell you how to deal with your neighbors dog crapping on your lawn. You just go over and talk straight to your neighbor. Giving yourself a chance to think things through might be all that you need. If, every time something bad happens to you, you reach for self-help book you’ll never start thinking for yourself.

I have a number of self-help and self-improvement books that I bought myself, and some of them have really been good to read and have provided me with excellent information that I can take out to the real world. Some of them have made me sad, and since I was already sad, it was the last thing I needed to read. Some self-help books I’ve read are just common sense basics, and it really didn’t take a book to figure it out. It was simply redundant.

I have also found some exceptionally good self-help and self-improvement books out there that I would give to anyone if they were in need. For instance, if you’re living with someone who’s abusive or has an alcoholic or life altering illness, there are plenty of self help books out there that would apply. You might need a self-help and self-improvement book to help you deal with what’s going on.

If you have a shyness problem, inferiority complex or are wardrobe challenged, there are plenty of good self improvement guides on the market that will make a huge difference. These are some of the situations and problems that really aren’t something we know how to handle.

In many specific instances, a self-help or self improvement guide comes in handy. You probably think you need all the help you can get, but many times it is just not true. If you can’t specifically define what you need help with, it might be better to wait and figure out what the self-improvement topic will cover.

There are certainly a lot of good self-help books out there, as well as a ton of self-improvement books. They have worked wonders for the people who’ve read them. You just have to know which one to look at and whether or not it’s really doing you any good or just wasting your time.

Elga Mackie asked:




The Cosmic Ordering Service, a book by Barbel Mohr has sold over 1 million copies and is still going strong. In this day and age where we’ve come to expect everything to be if not instant, at least delivered by the next day, it is hardly surprising that people demand an immediate solution for all their problems.

Cosmic Ordering makes sense in that we are asking the Universe, of which we are all a part of, to present us with our wishes.

The problem is that most people will buy the book and try it out, find that it isn’t working and abandon the idea. It’s more a case of knowing who we are, not who we think we are. At the subconscious level we structure and bring our lives into existence. Chances are if our lives are blessed with good relations and financial comfort we are not looking to change too much and our Cosmic Ordering has been very kind to us. However, if our relationships, job or financial situation are in a disastrous state then doing more Cosmic Ordering without first restructuring our beliefs, is probably going to bring forth more of the same.

A good place to start is to look at not just at your material possessions, but your relationships with family, work colleagues and friends. How do you relate to your family? Do you dread receiving bills? Are there confrontations at work? Be honest if areas of your life are not ideal.

You’ve been Cosmic Ordering for most of your life, we all have. And that’s exactly why we are all where we are today. If we want different things we actually have to start believing differently. That’s where it gets uncomfortable for most people. We think everything is ‘out there’, separate from ourselves and lay blame on events and people as being the cause of a less than ideal life. In fact there is nothing ‘out there’ except that which we, through our senses, have projected ‘out there’.

It may not be as simple as asking for a big house or a new car or someone special in your life. Your subconscious will simply say ‘yeah right’ and merrily carry on sabotaging your life just as it has been programmed to do. Psychologists call it cognitive dissonance, where people hold opposing beliefs but remain unaware they are doing so.

Your mind is an incredibly powerful tool. The Law of Attraction always works. To eliminate our self limiting beliefs we need to know how to access the subconscious mind through meditation on a regular basis.

Developed over two thousand years ago, well before Prozac, meditation has been demonstrated many times with BioFeedback and MRI scans to work as a marvellous way to overcome fears, lift depression and create a a real and lasting sense of happiness. It will, if used regularly, put you on the right wavelength for the very best in Cosmic Ordering.