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WHOSE JOB IS IT?

LIs — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 21:47:28 GMT

WHOSE JOB IS IT?

This is an old, widely told story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody.

There was an important job to be done and Everybody was asked to do it.

Everybody was sure Somebody would do it.

Anybody could have done it but Nobody did.

Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody’s job.

Everybody thought Anybody could do it but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t do it.

It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when nobody did what Anybody could have.

There is a lesson to this story of course and you may have thought of it already.

In vital matters such as these the big question of course is, who will carry out the task?

Anybody could have told you what Everybody knew.

That this was something Somebody would have to do.

Nobody was unwilling and Everybody had the ability.

Nobody believed it was their responsibility

It seemed to be a job that Anybody could have done if Anybody thought he was supposed to be the one.

Since Everybody recognized that anybody could,

Everybody took for granted that Somebody would.

Nobody told Anybody what he was supposed to do,

Nobody took care to see if it was followed through,

To do what Everybody thought Somebody would do.

When what Everybody needed so did not get done at all, Everybody was complaining that someone dropped the ball.

Anybody could see it was an awful crying shame when Everybody looked around for someone quick to

Blame.

Somebody could have done the job and Anybody might have,

In the end Nobody did what Anybody could have.

“Am I a Duck or an Eagle?”

nicky — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 17:42:16 GMT

"Am I a Duck or an Eagle?”

An interesting thing happened to me the other day. I came across a story that Harvey Mackey , a motivation writer, tells about different approaches to life. It is important how we look at life because it defines who we are as a person and can well determine the amount and value of our success. In other words, how we look at ourselves can determine how we look at life.

What image in your mind appears when you see a duck? A duck waddles, quacks, swims around in circles with no real solutions or positive results. The quacking may sound a lot like endless complaining with out offering anything positive.

Consider the eagle. What pictures do your mind present? Perhaps a soaring bird with purpose, seeking possibilities with some definable purpose? Is he always looking for the best pray, better materials for his nest or even perhaps a higher more defensible nest for his family ?. He worries not about yesterday for it is long gone. He thinks only about today and how he can preserve the future.

Now the question becomes, which one are you? The duck will probably never change because ducks are ducks and they do what they do. The good news is people are capable of change. They can set a new course and create new and positive missions. That is of course if you really don’t want to be like a duck and would rather soar like the eagle!

The People Who Inspire Me

gta_from_ryazan — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 16:24:47 GMT

There are people whom I trust and respect. So I can name some persons who I don’ know well, but they’re good examples for me. The first person is a German politician and Chancellor of the German Empire, who built this state from disunited and feudal German lands. I’m speaking about, of course, Otto von Bismarck. I’m greatly impressed by his purposefulness and resolution in achieving such an important and difficult task, as the creation of the German Empire.

As I’m a great fan of football, there is a person who’s an excellent example of human courage and firmness’s of human spirit. I mean, a Czech goalkeeper, Peter Cech, who was very seriously injured during a football match in 2006. The injury was so terrible that Chelsea’s manager, Jose Mourinho, said "He’s lucky to still be alive”. Also some people thought that it’d be the end of his career saying that his returning into sport could be fatal for Peter. But due to the proper treatment and his own firm will, he returned on the field in a year. But because of the injury, he had to wear a special rugby style headguard. And because of this headguard, now he has a nickname "Tankman”. So his strong will is something that I can learn from Peter.

Alas! The holidays are over....

Dubrovskaya — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 13:29:10 GMT

So well, the holidays are over. Christmas lights, trimmings and decorations will be taken away and put into old boxes and hidden somewhere on the shelves till next year. It is always a sad process, but life goes on and next year this holiday, one of my favorite ones will come again.
I like this holiday very much and it is but natural - everybody does. For children pleasant expectations of presents are connected with this holiday and even more, than the presents themselves they are looking forward to the magic way these presents will appear under the christmas tree. They believe in Santa Clause, in his generosity, write letters to him and believe he will make all their dreams come true.
For grown ups it's also a lovely time - they make plans for the coming year, buy present and tasty things for the holiday table.These troubles though tiresome are still so pleasant!
I suppose the main attraction of this holiday is in its anticipation. The holiday itself is extremly short - it lasts only for 12 seconds while the clock is striking, but the period of preparation is the longest of all the holidays - some people start preparations a month in advance! And this period of anticipation givesthe holiday its main charm. And if it is said that happiness exista neither in the present nor in the past, New Year holiday with its the longest period of anticipation is the best encarnation of happiness.
And it is also a holiday of great hopes, because we all believe that all our problems and misfortunes will be left in the past and next year will bring us only happiness and wealth and wisdom.
That's why I love this holiday.
And you? Why do you like it? What does it mean for you? Do you feel depressed when the holiday is over? What do you do to overcome it?

YOUTH PROBLEMS

mishka — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 17:04:18 GMT

Youth is the time when a person discovers the world and tries to determine the place in the universe.
On the one hand, youth is a period of life which is of utmost importance in the life of man. This period is usually associated with problems: young people 'struggle' to fit themselves into society. Difficult decisions and adjustments face young people in today's society. There are several problems the young generation face. They are the eternal problems of choosing a career and getting education, the problem of independence and money, the problem of unemployment of young people, the generation gap. Young people have many problems of emotional and personal character which may look silly and unimportant in the eyes of grown-ups but appear to be extremely important to the young. They are the problems of friendship and loneliness, as well as the problem of the first love.
On the other hand, many youths may not be mature enough to cope with such problems, that is why they get involved in crime, drugs, vandalism, drinking etc. Often, young people are forced either consciously or unconsciously to become involved in Surely, it would be wrong to say that youth is the most awful period in a person's life. No one can deny that youth is the time of many happy moments, thrilling experiences and wonderful discoveries, but I am sure that what young people need is their parents' supervision and understanding. All in all, adults should help young people solve their problems and overcome all difficulties.

SELF ACCEPTANCE

Kapa — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 16:01:26 GMT

Self acceptance
In this short article I would like to discuss how important self acceptance is and how you can improve your life by accepting who you are. Why is self-acceptance so important? It is so important because if you do not accept yourself for who you really are, you will create a number of problems in your life. Some of these problems are internal affecting you personally, and some will affect how others treat you. Let's quickly look at some of these problems:
 Living a lie - if you do not accept yourself, you may push yourself to be what you are not and the result is a false life. If you feel that you are living a life which is not you, perhaps you have this problem.
 Unhappiness - you will not be enjoying life as you are ignoring your inner voice and your heart .What happens when you accept yourself for who you are? Self-acceptance means that you understand who you are and where your strengths and weaknesses lie. You know what you want. This will allow you to be comfortable with your place in the world.
If you can build your self confidence, you will live a life free of self criticism and you can begin to face the challenges in your life and succeed. Imagine being at ease with people, being able to speak in public and feeling good about yourself, no more shyness or fear. If you accept yourself you can also value yourself and tell others that they should respect who you are. You will also be able to accept others and not demand that they try to reach your standards.

UNIVERSAL MILITARY SERVICE OR CONTRACT ARMY?

Tatmaks — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 05:30:00 GMT

The problem of the universal military service is urgent nowadays because more and more young people do not want to become soldiers after school. However, in some countries young people serve in the army, navy or air force earning money on a contract basis.

There is no doubt that the government of each country should decide what army to have. For example, our Motherland has both the contract army and the universal military service. It is right because of several reasons. Firstly, every citizen of our country should perform the soldier's duty. In the army, young school-leavers become real men and acquire such good qualities as bravery, courage and the sense of responsibility. Secondly, in case of the declaration of a war, there will be the general mobilization of all present and former soldiers. The number of country defenders will be great.

On the contrary, the contract army cannot be numerous because it is too expensive to prepare professional officers, those people who agree to risk their lives in different areas of military operations. In the US young people refused to serve in the army after the Vietnam War, so the contract army appeared. It is a good alternative for the universal military service because there are no soldiers who are afraid of the army where more experienced officers offend the newcomers. Therefore, the contract army is more suitable for smaller and richer countries.

Summing up, I should say that we cannot imagine our world without weapons. So, each country chooses the way to defend itself. All kinds of armies have their advantages and disadvantages. (265 words)

PLAGARISM

slavchick — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 21:04:44 GMT

Plagiarism as borrowing of somebody’s ideas is a very widely-spread phenomenon. Writers take other's thoughts in order to create their own compositions. Scientists steal the results of other scientific works. Pupils copy well-made assignments of other students. Even your good joke can be plagiarized by your friends. Is plagiarism good or bad?
Everybody has their own way of thinking. When you create something new, you are proud of your unique imagination and brain. Sometimes, our idea is born as a result of grate efforts and work. So, for us our achievement is like a baby for a mother. It’s awful when somebody steals our property. It goes without saying it’s immoral and illegal.
But on the other hand there’s a positive side of plagiarism. I’m speaking about people who plagiarize. For example, students use the works of their friends. This practice is very popular in schools and universities. Using a classmate’s work is not believed to be plagiarism as it is. It is accepted that friends must help each other. As a teacher, I can say it supports friendship. Moreover, copying the homework or test done by his/her classmate, the pupil automatically remembers things or gets acquainted with another point of view.
Everybody plagiarizes in his life though it is not honest. And sometimes to borrow somebody’s successful thought seems to be the only way out. I really believe that it is not awful to steal an idea of another person in case you don't abuse it.

REALITY TV SHOWS

irina — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 16:09:23 GMT

Reality TV shows.
There have always been arguments about the influence of reality TV shows. Some people stick to the point that these programmes are senseless and useless. Others like them very much and consider them to be a good way of spending free time. I think that each group is right in some way because there are some advantages as well as disadvantages of reality TV shows.
First of all, reality TV shows really help to spend your leisure time. When you have nothing to do, you can switch on TV and watch these programmes.It is always very easy to understand what is going on there even if you`ve never seen this show. Secondly, it is rather amusing to trace other people`s lives. While watching reality shows, you can learn much about different people and their behaviour. You can also see how they survive being always on cameras.
On the other hand, there are a lot of drawbacks of reality TV shows. Some of them teach young people bad manners. That happens because everything that is said there is shown. Sometimes, it is really disgusting. Moreover, participants of such programmes often use bad language which can influence people, especially children.
Furthermore, people can become addicted to watching reality shows and forget about more interesting and helpful things.
To sum up, it is really difficult to say exactly if reality TV shows teach us good or bad examples.

THROUGH THE EYES OF A CHILD

nicky — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 17:20:50 GMT

Christmas is a time for children and I couldn’t help but think about the scripture passage "unless
we’re like children, we will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” What makes children so special that
they should merit such stature and praise? I thought about that question it came to me that children
display four things that stand out as the foundation for success.
The first is curiosity. Children are by their very nature curious. Kids ask a million questions. You think
they’re through and they have a million more. A child’s curiosity is what helps them reach, learn and
grow and develop.
The second is children are excited! Children are so excited they hate to go to bed at night. They
can’t wait to get up in the next morning. I believe if you’re too old to be excited you’re too old.
The third is faith. Faith is childish. Adults, often have a tendency to be over skeptical. Some adults
even have a tendency to be cynical.
The fourth is trust. Have you heard the term "sleep like a baby”? Childish trust. After they have
done their very best for the day they leave the rest in someone else’s hands.
If we keep these four childish traits through adulthood, we too may someday secure that heavenly
kingdom. It was Ralph Emerson who said "Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful,
we must carry it with us or we find it not.”