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Should Adult Play Like Kids?

Kid's lives are fun. They play.

Adults' lives are serious. We work. We have responsibilities.

Many psychologists and psychiatrists question this widely-held dichotomy. They think that kids should play a lot and continue to play into childhood.

They claim that the most likely path toward a successful, happy life -  a life in which one can have his cake and eat it too - is guided by intrinsic motivation. You may have heard of the concept of euphoric "flow" experiences. These are intense moments of intrinsic motivation applied toward a goal, and they combine extreme happiness with great accomplishment. Click the image below to see the book Flow, by Mihaly Csikszentmihaly.

When children play freely, they are manifesting intrinsic motivation on its purest form. According to psychiatrist Peter Gray, "activity oriented toward intrinsic goals, almost by definition, is play."

Children do exactly what they want to do and learn a lot, and they have a great deal of fun in the process. By playing freely, the book Flow states, children "acquire the skills and attitudes required for successful adulthood."

So, it seems, we should be encouraging adults to be more like kids, to be more playful. Instead, we've been encouraging kids to be more like adults, foisting responsibilities and stress on them. Researcher Jean Twenge finds that children are experiencing significantly more emotional problems than did children of decades ago, and she attributes this trend to a change in childhood from intrinsic motivation to extrinsic motivation.

Another wide range study of children's emotional problems concludes, "Approximately ONE in EVERY FOUR to FIVE YOUTH in US MEETS criteria for a MENTAL DISORDER with SEVERE IMPAIRMENT across their LIFETIME."

"Severe impairment across their lifetime." "One in every four or five...Wow..."

What the heck are we doing to our kids? Pink and Csikszentmihaly says adults need to be more childlike, more intrinsically motivated, to be more successful and happy. Twenge and others say kids are depressed unprecedented numbers because they are not intrinsically motivated enough.

We need more childish play from childhood through to adulthood. Childhood should be the foundation for adulthood, not the other way around.

Read more: http://www.care2.com/greenliving/should-adults-play-like-kids.html#ixzz1j9aEFbn3

Benefits of Time Management

Being able to manage to manage your 24 hours per day is a gift. Most people are unable to manage their time, and end up messing up their life. The worse thing is that they end up blaming their surrounding for all the mishaps that take place along the way in a typical day.

First and foremost, when you manage your time well, you have automatically reduced all the unnecessary frustration and stress and given your day a good kick off. These frustrations are normally due to delay, cancellation, lateness and guilt due to unable to keep up to time and complete a particular task.

For example, when you wake up early to work, you leave to work early. You have naturally avoided the peak hour jam. You have plenty of parking space to choose and you don't have to queue up to get into the life. You also don't have to queue up to get your breakfast. These are all unnecessary time waster.

When your morning has start off in order, you feel more confident to more further into the day. Your mind is more in peace. You don't have to curse someone for walking slowly out of the lift because your are late and they are causing more to the delay. Thus, your conscience are also clear. 

You can start work on time and have the satisfaction of completing the all your task on time. You will be liked by many and most probably you are the one who will be selected to get a pay raise.

Remember, that we all have the same amount of time. How, we use our time on a daily basis is what makes us in the next 10 years. We have to learn to life our life to the fullest on a daily basis.

When you learn to manage your time more effectively, you will learn not to procrastinate and prioritize.   Prioritizing will assure that you have done the most important task for the day. You will feel good that you have completed your task and will be free from the guilt of not completing the task.

When you feel good and more complete, you have one step closer the a healthier and happier life.

Remember, Donald Trump, Bill Gates, Obama, you, me, a drug addict, a thieve, a straight a student, an athlete, a dog, a bird and every living being on this Earth have the same amount of time. 

What makes some to be better than others, some is more complete than others, some is more successful than the other....

It is all purely due to Effective Time Management.....

Defining Destiny - What Oprah Knows for Sure

In 1992, I decided to change the slant of The Oprah Winfrey Show from confrontational TV aimed at getting ratings to shows that took a "higher road" aimed at connection. I wanted to help people think differently about themselves and pursue ideas about spirit and balance and the possibility of a better life. It was a decision that was bigger than money or material interest. It was a paradigm shift - to use TV instead of being used by TV. To use it as a tool for good. That shift led to the creation of this magazine. And Oprah Radio. And OWN.

Using my voice as a force for good: It is what is meant to do.

And I got here by listening to the still, small voice that I felt so strongly one evening on my grandmother's back porch when I was a girl.

All my life I have looked to God for guidance. In the early 90's, I started to recognize that I would not survive if I continue to play the TV game my competitors were playing. One day while vacationing in Colorado, I went into the woods to quiet the noise of the world and contemplate my next move. I remember standing among the golden aspens and asking the voice that has been a comfort for so long: " What would you have me do?"

The answer came as it had when I was a girl: "Take the high road."

The decision to listen to this voice - against the advice of many of the stations that carried my show - is the reason I still have a show. If i had ignored it, I would have disappeared into the void of defunct broadcasting. There's a long, long list of talk shows that have come and gone since I started.

What I know for sure: Often we do not even realize who we are meant to be because we are so busy trying to live out someone else's ideas. but other people and their opinions hold no power in our destiny.

What has made me successful is the ability to surrender my plans, dreams, and goals to a power that's greater that other people an greater than myself.

Before making any major moves, I first ask: "What would you have me fo? Who would you have me be?"

And then I try to live the answer.

Read more at http://www.oprah.com/omagazine/What-Oprah-Knows-for-Sure-About-Destiny#ixzz1j9nQQ2RH

Building Credibility

People often exaggerate to make a good strong point or story. A friend of mine opened the lid of the toilet bowl in her bathroom to discover a swimming squirrel. Slamming the lid down, she called a pest control agency to come to rescue.

And it was amazing, she later acknowledged, how large that squirrel seemed when she first saw it compared to how small it actually was when the pest control representative pulled it out.

Likewise, in a serious business setting, exaggeration happens in numerous ways. What is the difference between lies, half-truths, omissions and cover-ups?

True - but incomplete – statements can lead to false conclusions. Literal truth, when offered without complete explanation, can lead to literal lies. Knowing smiles accompanied by long silence can elicit wrong conclusions.

Intentions are on the centre stage here. Ultimately, questionable intentions in your communications cast doubt about character and culture – yours and that of your organisation.

There are other ways to lie unintentionally – through outdated data, opinions and stereotypes. With information overloaded, data more than two or three years old cannot support your decisions or product designs. Consequently, you have to re-collect, re-survey and to re-test to stay current.

Sometimes, the better you understand something, the worse job you do in explaining it – your familiarity makes you careless in describing it.

Ambiguity creeps in when you least expect it. Meanings depend on context, tone, timing, personal experience and reference points.

Back in the days when copier equipment was said to “burn copies”, an army colonel hand carried an important document to his new assistant and asked her to burn a copy.

When the paper did not resurface on his desk in a few days, he discovered that the assistant has recently transferred from a high – security division. She had had the document incinerated.

The best test of clarity is the result you see. Doublespeak is intentionally meant to obscure rather than enlighten with convoluted details and irrelevant facts creating a confusing image.

A financial consultant related this situation to me about her firm: “We have two boilerplate formats for our reports to clients. When we go into banks and find several ways we can help them, we use the first format. That report gives our findings and list of recommendations right up front.

“But if we go into banks and can’t find much wrong – we don’t have many recommendations for improvements and have charged them a big fee for the audit – then we use the boilerplate.

“We begin the report with background on our company, the credentials of our auditors, the various audit procedures used, and then we finally get around to the findings and recommendations.”

She ended with: “But I don’t think we fool anybody.”

She is right. Confusing people only brings into questions one’s intentions. As a person of integrity, you need to put aside lying – in all its forms. Your challenge is to be complete, be current and clear. The result? Credibility.

Article by Dianna Booher, keynote speaker who specialises in communication and life – balance issues.

To be a trusted organisation, you need the 3Cs. Be complete, current and clear.

How to Manage Allergic Rhinitis?

Management

The diagnosis of allergic rhinitis is often straightforward, with its features of swelling and blockage of the airway, congestion, excess mucous production, sneezing, and runny nose. Other symptoms include itchiness and watery eyes.

Sometimes, allergic rhinitis has to be distinguished from a cold or influenza. There is no fever with allergic rhinitis last for weeks and even months, but that of a cold or influenza seldom last more than a week.  Patients with allergic rhinitis may have itchy eyes and nose but not those with a cold or influenza.

The identification of the allergen is important in managing the condition. If the cause of allergic rhinitis is doubtful, allergy tests are carried out:

·        Skin prick test:

This is involves placing the allergens on the arm and pricking the skin to introduce the allergen into it. If the skin becomes itchy, red and swollen, it is a possible reaction.

·        Blood test:

This involves measuring the level of lgE antibody produced in the blood in response to a suspected allergen.

The doctor will prescribe treatment after taking into consideration the type, frequency and severity of the symptoms, patient’s preference for oral tablets or a nasal spray, and whether there are allergic conditions like conjunctivitis or asthma.

The medicines prescribed include antihistamines and corticosteroids. Antihistamines block the action of the histamine released during an allergic attack. They can be taken as tablets, as nasal sprays, or drops. The earlier antihistamine has drowsiness as a side effect. The newer antihistamines do not usually cause drowsiness, although some people still get this side effect.

Special precautions are necessary if antihistamines are used in children and pregnant women.

Corticosteroids act by affecting the body’s response to the allergen. It takes a longer time to act but lasts longer. The side effects, although rare, include nasal dryness and irritation and nose bleeds.

It is not advisable to use nasal decongestants for more than a week as they can worsen the congestion. Nasal decongestants cannot be used if one is taking the group of anti – depressants called monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI).

There are occasions when a referral will be made to a specialist, particularly if the response to treatment is unsatisfactory. After an evaluation, the specialist may prescribe different medicine or suggest immunotherapy. This treatment is only suitable for certain types of allergic rhinitis. It involves increasing the patient’s exposure to the allergen gradually so that the patient becomes less sensitive to it, and decreases the likelihood of an adverse reaction when exposed to the allergen in the future.

This treatment has to be done under medical supervision as there is a small risk of anaphylactic shock, which is potentially life threatening.

Surgery is rarely recommended. However, if there are nasal polyps which worsen the allergic rhinitis, surgery may be beneficial.

Prevention is always better than cure. The avoidance of the allergen will prevent the allergic rhinitis. A discussion with the doctor will be helpful on the prevention of exposure to dust mites, animal flakes and pollen.

By Dr Milton Lum

What causes Allergic Rhinitis?

Causes

There are many substances in the environment which when inhaled cause allergic rhinitis. They include;

1.     House dust mites, which are found in mattresses, pillows, beds, and carpets. It is not the dust mites that cause rhinitis, but rather a chemical in their excrement. Dust mites are present all year round.

2.     Pollen from trees, grass, and weeds.

3.     Animal fur, hair, and their urine and saliva. Household pets, such as dogs and cats, are common culprits, but some people are affected by horses, rabbits, and rodents, such as guinea pigs and hamsters.

4.     Cockroaches

5.     Allergens in the work environment, such as wood dust, flour dust, or latex.

Aggravating factors

Some people have a genetic predisposition to allergic rhinitis, but it is the exposure to environmental factors that increases the risk of getting the condition and its subsequent severity. The environmental factors can be indoor or outdoor, and occupational.

The indoor factors include tobacco smoke, nitrogen dioxide from gas fired ovens, and formaldehyde in building materials. The home environment (like carpets) enhanced the survival of house dust mites. Outdoor factors include exhaust fumes from motor vehicles, particularly diesel, carbon monoxide, nitric oxide, and ozone.

Occupational pollutants include compounds like isocyanates and hexachloroplanates.

Associated conditions

There is a strong association between allergic rhinitis and asthma. About three quarters of patients with asthma also have allergic rhinitis. Allergic rhinitis frequently worsens asthma.

Sinusitis, which is an infection of the cavities inside the forehead and cheek bone (sinuses), is a common complication of allergic rhinitis. The normally air – filled with mucous instead, and if it is not drained away, infection from bacteria and viruses can ensue.

The allergen which affects the nose can also affect the sinuses. The usual symptoms are pain in the forehead, face or teeth, blocked or running nose, greenish or yellowish nasal discharge, coughing, and even fever.

Infections of the middle (orititis media) occur because the ear is connected to the nose by the Eustachian tubes, which can get infected. This condition is more common in children who have earache and even fever.