saturday morning cheer

A young lady confidently walked around the room while leading and explaining stress management to an audience; with a raised glass of water, and everyone knew she was going to ask the ultimate question, 'half empty or half full?'.....

She fooled them all...

"How heavy is this glass of water?", she inquired with a smile.

Answers called out ranged from 8 oz. to 20 oz.

She repl ied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter.

It depends on how long I hold it.

If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem.

<If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm.

If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance.

In each case it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."

She continued, "and that's the way it is with stress. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on."

"As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again.

When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden - holding stress longer and better each time practiced.

So, as early in the evening as you can, put all your burdens down.< o:p>

Don't carry them through the evening and into the night...

pick them up tomorrow.

Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment.

Relax, pick them up later

after you've rested.

Life is short.

Enjoy it and the now 'supposed' stress that you've conquered!"

1. Accept the fact that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue!

2. Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.

3. Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.

4. Drive carefully... It's not only cars that can be recalled by their Maker..

5. If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague

6. If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it..

7. It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.

8. Never buy a car you can't push.

9. Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on.

10. Nobody cares if you can't dance well.
Just get up and dance..

11. Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late..

12. The second mouse gets the cheese.
13. When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.

14. Birthdays are good for you.

The more you have,

the longer you live.

15. You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.
16. Some mistakes are too much fun to make only once.
17. We could learn a lot from crayons.Some are sharp, some are pretty and
some are dull. Some have weird
names and all are different colors,
but they all

have to live in the same box.
18. A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour..

19. Have an awesome day and know that someone

thought about you today.

20. It was me, your friend!

Save the earth -- It's the only planet with chocolate!

women and money

What is your relationship with money?

Experts say that for women is all about the emotions, just how you feel about yourself. The way we spend, save and invest is often dictated by deep-seated psychological issues relating to self-worth, security and status. Women when they are miserable, they hit the stores to compensate for something lacking in their life, these are the women who shop themselves into debt and even if they are on generous salaries borrow money to pay bills.

Then there are those women who through overly austere measures use money as a security blanket, who account for every last cent and deny themselves the smallest of luxuries and as such do not enjoy the money they earn.

Women have a heavier emotional involvement with money than men, and we have more worries, fears and anxieties connected with it. ‘Women have less confidence in their financial expertise than men, but if they can get beyond their fear, they are often better at investing because they take a more long-term view,’ says Emily Haisley, a behavioural finance specialist at Barclays Bank.

Focus is critical if your money is to meet your needs for the long term future and the way the world economy is heading and our own personal relationship with men is heading this financial focus is now more important than never before.

currency manipulation

the Aussie market has had to compete with cash rates of around 6 per cent. So asset prices have stayed low in order to attract buyers. Further price falls from here will make equity prices attractive relative to cash. That’s especially the case if you choose to ignore 95 per cent of the economists out there and believe that interest rates will fall in Australia later this year or early next.

-- Currency manipulation, just another potent ingredient in this horrible global cocktail of bad policy decisions, is one major reason why the RBA won’t be raising rates anytime soon.

--We’re in a crisis of government. The whole apparatus needs an overhaul and more than anything we need a return to sound money so people can conduct business in a stable environment.

-- That reality is still some time away. In the meantime, don’t look at the market as crashing, look at it as getting cheaper. Because as a value investor, we think this market is beginning to look very cheap.

Sharemarket turmoil

I am sure that most smart entrepreneurs will have spent the weekend thinking about how their business will withstand the inevitable drop in consumer and business confidence that we are going to see in the next few months as a result of the sharemarket turmoil.
While a recession in Australia looks extremely unlikely, the spending strike we've seen in the last 12 months will deepen as consumers retreat further into their shells.
That points to a tough few months. New customers may be harder to find, deals are likely to get harder to close and clients could reduce their typical spend. Cashflow is a particular danger at times like this and business owners and managers should be extra vigilant about late payers.
But while the confidence of business and household consumers is likely to take a beating, this is not the time for entrepreneurs and their teams to retreat into their shells.
The reason? Australian SMEs come into this rough patch much better placed than they entered the GFC.
Here are 10 reasons why:

• The lesson of the GFC – too much debt kills – has been well-learned by SMEs, who have trimmed their borrowings and scaled back financing requirements in recent years. This will give SMEs flexibility and options if the economy slows further.
• SMEs appear to be running reasonably lean – another learning of the GFC. While skills shortages are affecting some businesses, SMEs have been cautious about hiring. This should mean overheads are relatively low.
• Australian SMEs delivered strong growth during the GFC and over the last two years. In 2009, for example, our Smart50 list delivered average growth of 91% and created 900 jobs.
• While households are not spending, they are actually reasonably well placed to do so. Thanks to a savings spree, household balance sheets are in much better shape than during the GFC.
• The RBA upgraded its growth forecast for 2011-12 by a quarter 0.25% to 4.5% on Friday. The first half of calendar 2012 should see the economy accelerate.
• Australia's unemployment rate is at 5% and is unlikely to rise very far. Remember, in the US they are dealing with unemployment above 9%.
• Australia does not have the sovereign debt issues of the US or Europe. Our debt is tiny compared with these nations, so the sort of austerity measures likely in the northern hemisphere won't be seen here.
• Australia's Federal Budget is in good shape. If the Government needs to stimulate the economy (and it probably won't) it has lots of scope to do so.
• Australia is perfectly positioned to ride the continued growth in China and other parts of Asia. While the mining sector is the biggest beneficiary of this, we're much better off tied to Asia than Europe or America right now.
• Australian SME entrepreneurs are smart, nimble and flexible. We have the capabilities and skills to adjust to the changing needs of markets and customers and have proven this time and time again.

This last point is very important. SME business leaders have shown they can deal with turmoil and grow their business.
Consumer confidence might be sinking, but entrepreneurs have good reason to be confident in their ability to deal with this challenge.

Ready or not here's Eftpos tax!

New tax is here what retailers are calling the big banks' new "Eftpos tax".
Eftpos begins a new advertising offensive this week to tell us that shoppers "are better off with Eftpos".
But shoppers who use "Australia's favourite way to pay without cash" could soon be subjected to higher prices or even merchant fees for paying with Eftpos.
The company that runs Eftpos, EPAL, has given banks until next month to opt in to its new, higher interchange fee structure.
"Banks are about to start charging for something they previously provided for free," said Jost Stollmann, chief executive of a rival player in the debit-card payment industry, Tyro Payments.
"In fact they supplied this service for less than free: they paid 5c each time someone used Eftpos."
"Now EPAL has reversed that subsidy and created a new 5c fee to acquirers, which will flow through to retailers and merchants."
The Australian Newsagents' Federation say the new Eftpos fee regime will impose fees of up to 21c for each Eftpos transaction, up 110 per cent on existing fees.
"No retailer can negotiate the interchange fee with his bank. The new EPAL regime is all about raising bank fees," the federation says in a new advertising campaign.
"Big banks will slap an extra 10c interchange fee and 1c EPAL scheme fee increase on Eftpos transactions starting October 1, 2011."
This is the first change to Eftpos interchange fees since the debit card payment system was introduced to Australia 23 years ago.
"Cardholders will ultimately pay with higher prices through less competition," the newsagents' group said.
Mr Stollmann said the new fees would benefit big international card companies over Australia's own domestic debit payments system.
"A new Eftpos tax - that's what merchants and people in the industry are calling this," Mr Stollmann said.
"We know banks are under fee pressure in other areas, but I am unable to ascribe a motive as to why they are doing this.
"This will make Eftpos less competitive compared to Visa and Mastercard, and will make Eftpos difficult to offer for some small retailers.
A lot of merchants will simply not offer Eftpos any more."
Business owners are also being slugged by higher bank fees on their loans, accounts and credit cards, according to recent Reserve Bank of Australia data.
"All categories for bank-fee revenue increased for business products, except for deposit accounts due to exception fees (going down)."
Bank fees levied on business loans and credit facilities rose 21 per cent - and by 52 per cent on bank bills for business! OMG!
The big banks maintain families are paying less for banking services than ever.
Australian Bankers' Association chief Steven Munchenberg said average weekly bank fees paid by households fell by $2.13 to $9.73 last year."And households are paying less for banking even though they are using banking services more often," he said. as they should say I.
"Customers are completing more transactions on more accounts, and are buying more products and services from banks. Also, customers are choosing lower-cost accounts."Banks have cut a range of fees on accounts and credit cards, so if you think you are paying too much for banking, call your bank and see if there's a better product which suits the way you want to transact."
Googled EPAL and came up with nothing other than dating site which doesnt fit in with the context of this article. So who runs this? where from? is it a fictional smokescreen, what is going on behind the scenes and in the halls of power? how much more manipulation can those who aspire to greatness or some form of mastery at least in life put up with? why is this still being permitted to happen? is there nobody who can deflect this insanity and mass control?

Women on Boards

Few Women in Oil and Gas

The 29 public U.S. companies with no women among top executives or the board of directors cover a diverse selection of industries. One-third of the companies are in oil and gas, and Diamond Offshore Drilling which all declined to comment. According to Bloomberg Rankings, the oil and gas sector has the lowest percentage of women directors, at 9.6 percent.In some cases, the argument is that there simply aren't enough qualified women to earn a seat on a specific company board. If you want a board that has oil and gas experts, then you're picking from the same pool.
Lacking Technical Knowledge
the corporate secretary for Pioneer Natural Resources, Mark Kleinman says: "There is some challenge, because our board looks for deep industry experience and technical experience where it can find it. You have to look back to where this industry looked 30 years ago. That was a time when it was not heavily populated with women in the leadership."Terry Savage, who sat on the board of Pennzoil-Quaker State for six years—says there are women qualified to sit on the boards of oil and gas companies."The fact is that more than half the employees of that hugely industrial corporation were women," Savage says. "I did not have to be an expert on drilling to be on that board. There is always something that a woman can contribute.
Tokenism
The number of women on boards grew throughout the 1990s and 2000s, but that growth has leveled off in recent years. Experts and female board members interviewed for this story say that when boards have only one woman, it's often just a token gesture of gender diversity.The vast majority of board members are men, and just 2.6 percent of board chairmanships are held by women, according to Catalyst, a nonprofit that focuses on women and business. Only three companies in the S&P 500 have women who hold more than 40 percent of the board seats: Avon Products, Estée Lauder, and Macy's. There is a concern that some of the initial progress was tokenism, so the company can check that box off they now have quote unquote gender diversity.
Diversity by Law
Numerous European companies have tried to enforce equality by creating quotas for corporate boards. Norway, Spain, and France have imposed legal quotas to increase board seats held by women. Currently, 37.9 percent of directors at Norway's largest companies are women, with the 40 percent target legally required by 2017 for companies with 500 employees and annual sales of more than $71 million."If you only have one woman on a board then it can be difficult," says Alvarez, who notes that the experience can be "isolating and intimidating." She continues: "If you have at least some numbers, then you feel more empowered about opening up and expressing your doubts."

Women stress and spending

As women around the world enjoy broader opportunities and expanding roles, they're also experiencing one other increase in their lives — stress.

In one of their latest reports, Women of Tomorrow, Nielsen released stats that revealed where the most stressed-out women in the world reside, and how they behave in consequence.
Nielsen's study, which was conducted from February to April of 2011, polled almost 6,500 women throughout 21 developed and emerging countries including those in Asia, Europe, Latin America, Africa, and North America (note Australian women were not included in this poll). The study was done in an effort to better understand women's consumer habits, but yielded some fascinating conclusions about what causes stress in women around the world.

Reuters also finds that women around the world were largely more stressed than those of the past, but also found that women in emerging economic and social markets were more stressed than those in developed countries. “While women in emerging markets see tremendous growth in the opportunities for their daughters, a plateau of hope is evident in developed countries," said Susan Whiting, Nielsen's vice chair, in a statement.
The results of the polls showed that an astounding 87% of Indian women claim feeling stressed most of the time, with an additional 82% asserting they had insufficient time to relax.
Here are the top 10 most stressed countries, at least for women. The percentages indicate the percentage of women claiming to be stressed most of the time.

India (87%)
Mexico (74%)
Russia (69%)
Brazil (67%)
Spain (66%)
France (65%)
South Africa (64%)
Italy (64%)
Nigeria (58%)
Turkey (56%)

Another interesting finding correlated degree of stress with spending and consuming habits. Interestingly, Indian women, while claiming to be the most stressed, were also most likely to spend disposable income on themselves. Upwards of three quarters of Indian women admitted they would spend on beauty and health items, while 96% said they would buy clothing.

Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/07/13/study-for-women-india-is-the-most-stressful-country-on-earth/#ixzz1S2qLybDw