Music
It has always been said that music is the language of feeling and of passion, as words are the language of reason. Many things we love the most aren’t that good for us. However, music is
one definite exception to that rule. If we ate music, it would taste
like chocolate cake, but it’s actually nutritious—food for the soul, and
the mind. No one would turn down a slice of chocolate cake that made
you healthier, and not many people can say that they don’t enjoy music. Convincing your
child to play music instead of just listening to it may seem as
impossible as getting them to eat their broccoli, but the payoff is
inarguably sweet.
Music can be beneficial for anyone. Although it can be used
therapeutically for people who have physical, emotional, social, or
cognitive deficits, even those who are healthy can use music to relax,
reduce stress, improve mood, or to
accompany exercise. There are no potentially harmful or toxic effects.
Music therapists help their patients achieve a number of goals through
music, including improvement of communication, academic strengths,attention span, and motor skills. They may also assist with behavioral therapy and pain management.
Monday 2 May 2016
Media
Have you ever wondered how much effect does the media have on the mass audience? If you look at yourself or the ones around you, you will realize that in most cases you are a passive recipient who receives information from the TV or radio or the social media and accept it without any attempt to critically assess its authenticity. If you take the Lebanese media as an example, you realize that the Lebanese mass will be politically outraged for any incident that is put on the TV and this is reflected in the obscene language they direct to each other on the social media. Arabs in general are emotional. They can be manipulated by religion, politics and any other ideology that they have been previously programmed to accept. Also, media puts a lot of pressure on people in terms of certain standards of beauty for example. A teenager will enter into phases of depression because she has extra kilos of weight. The standard of beauty is for a girl to be skinny. Plastic surgery is another critical issue reflected in the media. All programs show girls with big lips and cheeks and other body parts the thing that puts pressure on other girls in the society who would want to challenge others in terms of beauty and to have a high self esteem so they subject their lives to danger and go for plastic surgery even though they don't need it. Another point is fortunetelling. Unfortunately, most people don't think critically and they pursue fortunetelling which is nothing but fraud and conning and they listen to them religiously forgetting about reason and logic. These are only some points that show the effect of media on us as audience. We should be aware and also raise awareness about the dangers of these points or else we will be leading our society to its doom.
Have you ever wondered how much effect does the media have on the mass audience? If you look at yourself or the ones around you, you will realize that in most cases you are a passive recipient who receives information from the TV or radio or the social media and accept it without any attempt to critically assess its authenticity. If you take the Lebanese media as an example, you realize that the Lebanese mass will be politically outraged for any incident that is put on the TV and this is reflected in the obscene language they direct to each other on the social media. Arabs in general are emotional. They can be manipulated by religion, politics and any other ideology that they have been previously programmed to accept. Also, media puts a lot of pressure on people in terms of certain standards of beauty for example. A teenager will enter into phases of depression because she has extra kilos of weight. The standard of beauty is for a girl to be skinny. Plastic surgery is another critical issue reflected in the media. All programs show girls with big lips and cheeks and other body parts the thing that puts pressure on other girls in the society who would want to challenge others in terms of beauty and to have a high self esteem so they subject their lives to danger and go for plastic surgery even though they don't need it. Another point is fortunetelling. Unfortunately, most people don't think critically and they pursue fortunetelling which is nothing but fraud and conning and they listen to them religiously forgetting about reason and logic. These are only some points that show the effect of media on us as audience. We should be aware and also raise awareness about the dangers of these points or else we will be leading our society to its doom.
Time
I have heard the proverb "Time is money" many times in my life and I couldn't agree less with it. If people, especially in the industrial world measure their hours with the amount of money they make, I measure the my hours by the amount of happiness I receive. If you are wondering how can one be happy without money, then you should review all your perspective about life. Look around you and you will find many rich people who are not happy and many poor people who are happy. Yes there are exceptions but one word in my opinion sums up all this and this word is "contentment." A piece of bread in the hand of a poor child draws a smile on his face and makes him happy all day because it satisfies him but a fancy toy in the hand of a rich boy doesn't make him happy for a long time because he will want the newer version soon. We want the top of the line phone, car, TV, food, play station, Ipad, etc and we are not satisfied. I will tell you something. we will not be satisfied unless we are aware that this does not bring us happiness. What brings us happiness is our contentment. Many rich people lack health and would give all their money to breathe or walk like you do. It is not until we know the worth of what we have that we realize that we are really rich. No, time is not money. Time is measured by the amount of happiness and satisfaction that you receive from this world before you leave to the other world.
I have heard the proverb "Time is money" many times in my life and I couldn't agree less with it. If people, especially in the industrial world measure their hours with the amount of money they make, I measure the my hours by the amount of happiness I receive. If you are wondering how can one be happy without money, then you should review all your perspective about life. Look around you and you will find many rich people who are not happy and many poor people who are happy. Yes there are exceptions but one word in my opinion sums up all this and this word is "contentment." A piece of bread in the hand of a poor child draws a smile on his face and makes him happy all day because it satisfies him but a fancy toy in the hand of a rich boy doesn't make him happy for a long time because he will want the newer version soon. We want the top of the line phone, car, TV, food, play station, Ipad, etc and we are not satisfied. I will tell you something. we will not be satisfied unless we are aware that this does not bring us happiness. What brings us happiness is our contentment. Many rich people lack health and would give all their money to breathe or walk like you do. It is not until we know the worth of what we have that we realize that we are really rich. No, time is not money. Time is measured by the amount of happiness and satisfaction that you receive from this world before you leave to the other world.
What does it mean to be human?
How we see ourselves is the foundation for our values, our choices, our relationships with each other, and our relationship with the rest of nature. Are there any common human actions across cultures that can provide us with some valuable insight on being human? One act that immediately comes to mind is the giving of thanks for family, daily food, supportive communities, a wonderful day, great gifts, an inspiring forest, the air we breathe, the climate that is the context of all our acts, and divine graces. Going to the mosque on Friday or to church on Sunday to practice your religious rituals makes you human. Sharing the happy moments with your family and gathering around a table for lunch as a part of a home tradition makes you different than other species. Sympathizing with the poor, respecting other creatures, obeying rules even when no one is watching makes you a human. There is this tendency that drives people to commit crimes and to abolish others for the sake of materialistic things that are transient, a thing that is depriving people from their humanity and putting them under the law of the jungle. It is not until we look at ourselves as part of nature and partners with other creatures, humans and animals, that we will be viewed in our own eyes as humans.
How we see ourselves is the foundation for our values, our choices, our relationships with each other, and our relationship with the rest of nature. Are there any common human actions across cultures that can provide us with some valuable insight on being human? One act that immediately comes to mind is the giving of thanks for family, daily food, supportive communities, a wonderful day, great gifts, an inspiring forest, the air we breathe, the climate that is the context of all our acts, and divine graces. Going to the mosque on Friday or to church on Sunday to practice your religious rituals makes you human. Sharing the happy moments with your family and gathering around a table for lunch as a part of a home tradition makes you different than other species. Sympathizing with the poor, respecting other creatures, obeying rules even when no one is watching makes you a human. There is this tendency that drives people to commit crimes and to abolish others for the sake of materialistic things that are transient, a thing that is depriving people from their humanity and putting them under the law of the jungle. It is not until we look at ourselves as part of nature and partners with other creatures, humans and animals, that we will be viewed in our own eyes as humans.
The Universe
Most of us have asked themselves the question whether or not we are the only people in this universe. Despite having no solid evidence that we are not alone, I believe that being alone in this universe is weirder than having other living organisms in its vast realms. Leaving religion aside and looking at the issue from a purely scientific perspective, we see that it makes no sense for us to be alone. Knowing that there are more planets in the universe than there are grains of sand on earth, with all the deserts and beaches involved makes the earth nothing but a small grain of sand that has no value in the universe. It has been proven scientifically that our galaxy, the Milky Way, is only one of hundreds of billions of other galaxies and each galaxy contains hundreds of billions of planets. The earth is 25 thousand light years away from the center of the Milky Way and this shows us how vast the universe is. Even the sun, which is one million times bigger than the earth is nothing but a dwarf compared to other stars. One day, when man invents a machine that travels more than the speed of light, i.e. 300 thousand km per second, we will be able to find life on another planet. Life on another planet does not mean people like us or the way we see them in movies. They might be bacteria or any form of living organisms.
Most of us have asked themselves the question whether or not we are the only people in this universe. Despite having no solid evidence that we are not alone, I believe that being alone in this universe is weirder than having other living organisms in its vast realms. Leaving religion aside and looking at the issue from a purely scientific perspective, we see that it makes no sense for us to be alone. Knowing that there are more planets in the universe than there are grains of sand on earth, with all the deserts and beaches involved makes the earth nothing but a small grain of sand that has no value in the universe. It has been proven scientifically that our galaxy, the Milky Way, is only one of hundreds of billions of other galaxies and each galaxy contains hundreds of billions of planets. The earth is 25 thousand light years away from the center of the Milky Way and this shows us how vast the universe is. Even the sun, which is one million times bigger than the earth is nothing but a dwarf compared to other stars. One day, when man invents a machine that travels more than the speed of light, i.e. 300 thousand km per second, we will be able to find life on another planet. Life on another planet does not mean people like us or the way we see them in movies. They might be bacteria or any form of living organisms.
Friday 22 April 2016
Public Speaking Skills
In fact , just the thought of standing in public in front of people makes you cringe and want to go hiding. But, chances are, if you want to promote your business to the next level, you’ll have to stand in front of a podium once, or twice.
Below are 8 tips to improve your public speaking skills:
In fact , just the thought of standing in public in front of people makes you cringe and want to go hiding. But, chances are, if you want to promote your business to the next level, you’ll have to stand in front of a podium once, or twice.
Below are 8 tips to improve your public speaking skills:
1) Personality of the speaker:
Accept it or reject it, a public speaker is always judged by his or her
audience not only on the basis of the content but also on the basis of
the personality. The way you dress and the way you carry yourself on
stage will have a huge impact on the quality of your presentation
2) Content & knowledge: You cannot speak that you do not know. There are a lot of people who speak a lot more than they actually know. Read as much as possible about the topic and from as many sources as possible. This will widen your perspective and will help in taking an intelligent stand.
3) Audience profile: As a public speaker you should be well aware of your audience- their background, profession, expectations and priorities. This exercise will provide you with valuable insights about how to structure the talk.
- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/life-style/8-tips-to-improve-your-public-speaking-skills/#sthash.rxLEdtuA.dpuf
2) Content & knowledge: You cannot speak that you do not know. There are a lot of people who speak a lot more than they actually know. Read as much as possible about the topic and from as many sources as possible. This will widen your perspective and will help in taking an intelligent stand.
3) Audience profile: As a public speaker you should be well aware of your audience- their background, profession, expectations and priorities. This exercise will provide you with valuable insights about how to structure the talk.
- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/life-style/8-tips-to-improve-your-public-speaking-skills/#sthash.rxLEdtuA.dpuf
1) Personality of the speaker: Accept it or reject it, a public speaker is always
judged by his or her audience not only on the basis of the content but
also on the basis of the personality. The way you dress and the way you
carry yourself on stage will have a huge impact on the quality of your
presentation
2) Content & knowledge: You cannot speak that you do not know. There are a lot
of people who speak a lot more than they actually know. Read as much as
possible about the topic and from as many sources as possible. This will
widen your perspective and will help in taking an intelligent stand.
3) Audience profile: As a public speaker you should be well aware of your
audience- their background, profession, expectations and priorities. This
exercise will provide you with valuable insights about how to structure
the talk.
4) Passion: People may forget what you say, but they rarely
forget your emotions about the topic. After spending years in
professional public speaking business, I can say one thing without any
doubt that it is possible to increase or decrease your emotional
intensity about any topic. How much you believe or do not believe in
the topic will be sensed by the audience to great extent.
5) Non-verbal communication: It is said that about 60% of any communication is done
non-verbally. The best public speakers pay a lot of attention to their
non-verbal communication- tonal quality and body language. A simple
message can be amplified by variation in tone and appropriate usage of
body-movement.
6) Fun & emotional
quotient: It has been proven that the
audience will remember a message only if it has one or more of the
following two elements- humour and emotional appeal. The best
presentations have both of these components.
7) Medium: Once you have done your research about the topic
and the audience profile, think about the best medium to convey the message
of your presentation. Do you really need a power-point or there is a
better way of communicating your ideas about the topic?
8) Practice: Repetition is the mother of all skills. More you
practice on your presentation, better are your chances of perfecting it.
Stand in front of a mirror and speak for few minutes on a different topic every
day. If possible record yourself on a phone camera. Public speaking is a
learnable skill and anybody can master this skill if they decide to.
1) Personality of the speaker:
Accept it or reject it, a public speaker is always judged by his or her
audience not only on the basis of the content but also on the basis of
the personality. The way you dress and the way you carry yourself on
stage will have a huge impact on the quality of your presentation
2) Content & knowledge: You cannot speak that you do not know. There are a lot of people who speak a lot more than they actually know. Read as much as possible about the topic and from as many sources as possible. This will widen your perspective and will help in taking an intelligent stand.
3) Audience profile: As a public speaker you should be well aware of your audience- their background, profession, expectations and priorities. This exercise will provide you with valuable insights about how to structure the talk.
- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/life-style/8-tips-to-improve-your-public-speaking-skills/#sthash.rxLEdtuA.dpuf
2) Content & knowledge: You cannot speak that you do not know. There are a lot of people who speak a lot more than they actually know. Read as much as possible about the topic and from as many sources as possible. This will widen your perspective and will help in taking an intelligent stand.
3) Audience profile: As a public speaker you should be well aware of your audience- their background, profession, expectations and priorities. This exercise will provide you with valuable insights about how to structure the talk.
- See more at: http://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/life-style/8-tips-to-improve-your-public-speaking-skills/#sthash.rxLEdtuA.dpuf
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