Surprise for overweight in death study

By Michael Dickison

Obese most likely to die early but those classed as overweight have better survival rate.

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For older people, body weight could be a positive sign of being well-nourished. Photo / Getty Images

Overweight people have surprisingly beaten out your normal Joe Average on the mortality scale, a statistical survey of medical studies has shown - despite a well-established link between weight and sickness.
When talking of health, "death is a rather crude tool", said Auckland District Health Board clinical director Robyn Toomath, who is sceptical of the paper.
The survey, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, collated 93 studies tracking population groups over several years.
It compared how often participants died based on BMI - or body-mass index, a ratio between height and weight - using World Health Organisation categories that predict Type 2 diabetes.
People in the "overweight" BMI category were found to have a death rate 6 per cent less frequent than those whose BMI was "normal".
The "obese", however, were 18 per cent more likely to have died.
The authors of the paper suggest that overweight people might be more likely to seek and receive medical help.
Dr Toomath said the findings had little relation to public health. Diseases had already been shown to be more likely in overweight people - but "disease isn't necessarily the same as death".

The study also mixed the death rates of people of different ages. For people older than 75, body weight could be a positive sign of being well nourished, Dr Toomath said.
The best way to reduce public health costs for the country was still to help people eat healthy and stay slim, by restricting the marketing and value of junk foods or promoting nutritious foods, she said.
Dr Steven Hymsfield, of the Pennington Biomedical Research Centre in Louisiana, told National Public Radio in the US of some chance scenarios where fat could help you live.
"If you fall and you fall on vulnerable bone, like the hip, having a little extra fat there might protect you from hip fracture," Dr Hymsfield said.
Or if an illness left you unable to eat, extra body fat could be useful, he said.
Helen Walls, a research fellow at Australian National University, wrote in the Herald yesterday that the biggest mortality risks were associated with the heaviest fifth of the population, rather than those in the overweight bracket.
Roughly a third of New Zealanders fit each of the categories of normal, overweight and obese.
About 1 per cent are considered underweight.
On the scales:
Normal
34 per cent of NZ adults
=BMI 18.5-25, for
160cm: 47-64kg
170cm: 53-72kg
180cm: 60-81kg
Overweight
37 per cent of NZ adults
-6 per cent lower chance of death
=BMI 25-30, for
160cm: 64-77kg
170cm: 72-87kg
180cm: 81-97kg
Obese
28 per cent of NZ adults
+18 per cent higher chance of death
=BMI 30+, for
160cm: 77kg+
170cm: 87kg+
180cm: 97kg+
Source: Journal of the American Medical Association

BRAIN DAMAGING HABITS

1. No Breakfast

People who do not take breakfast are going to have a lower blood sugar level.

This leads to an insufficient

supply of nutrients to the brain causing brain degeneration.

2 . Overeating=2 0

It causes hardening of the brain arteries, leading to a decrease in mental power.

3. Smoking

It causes multiple brain shrinkage and may lead to Alzheimer disease.

4. High Sugar consumption

Too much sugar will interrupt the absorption of proteins and nutrients causing

malnutrition and may interfere with brain development.

5. Air Pollution

The brain is the largest oxygen consumer in our 20 body. Inhaling polluted air

decreases the supply of oxygen to the brain, bringing about a decrease in brain

efficiency.

6 . Sleep Deprivation

Sleep allows our brain to rest.. Long term deprivation from sleep will accelerate

the death of brain cells..

7. Head covered while sleeping

Sleeping with the head covered increases the concentration of carbon dioxide

and decrease concentration of

oxygen that may lead to brain damaging effects.

8. Working your brain during illness

Working hard or studying with sickness may lead to a decrease in effectiveness

of

the brain as well as damage the brain.

9. Lacking in stimulating thoughts

Thinking is the best way to train our brain, lacking in brain stimulation thoughts

may cause brain shrinkage.

10. Talking Rarely

Intellectual conversations will promote the efficiency of the brain. Tag 5 Friends.

How to Deal With Impossible People

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Article Edit Discuss

Most people know someone who seems to make every situation toxic and impossible. Pointing out that these people are difficult and demanding won't get you anywhere, though — odds are, they don't even see a problem. Whether the issue is caused by a personality disorder or some other underlying issue, here's how to navigate interactions with impossible people and preserve your own sanity.

Edit Steps

Handling Conflicts

1. 1
   Resist the urge to be defensive. Understand very clearly that you cannot beat these kinds of people; they're called "impossible" for a reason. In their minds, you are the source of all wrongdoing, and nothing you can say is going to make them consider your side of the story. Your opinion is of no consequence, because you are already guilty, no matter what.
   
   
   
   
2. 2
   Accept the situation. Impossible people exist; there isn't a thing you can do about it. The first step is all about facing reality: if you think you might be dealing with an impossible person, you're probably right. When in doubt, proceed as instructed below. The headaches you save will be your own.
3. 3
   Do not call out the other person. Bluntly stating the problem will not improve your relationship with someone impossible. Instead of reaching a reconciliation, he or she will likely just become more difficult. Recognize that you can't handle this like you would any other personal conflict — it's a special situation.
   • In some ways, they need to be treated like children. Give up all hope of engaging these folks in any kind of reasonable conversation. It will never happen, at least with you. Remember what happened the last fifty times you tried to have a civilized discussion about the status of your relationship with this person. Chances are, every such attempt ended in you being blamed for everything. Decide now to quit banging your head against a brick wall.
4. 4
   Understand that it's not you, it's them. This can be surprisingly difficult, considering that impossible people have complete mastery of shifting the blame. Chances are, the more often they blame you, the more they themselves are actually at fault.
   • Keep in mind that this is not to be used as a way to blame them. Blaming is what impossible people do, and they do it well. Instead, you are only facing the facts, for your own sake.
   • That being said, here's a simple way to tell: if you accept responsibility for your own faults and resolve to improve yourself, it's probably not you. Remember, impossible people "can do no wrong."
5. 5
   Remember to "detach, disassociate and diffuse." When you're in the middle of a conflict with an impossible person, use this strategy:
   
   
   • Detach: Staying calm in the heat of the moment is paramount to your personal preservation. Spitting angry words, reacting with extreme emotions such as crying, will only stimulate them to do more of the difficult behavior.
   • Disassociate: Remove yourself from the situation and treat it with indifference. Do not, under any circumstances bad talk to their face or to anyone else because then you are sinking down to their level. Add something positive by redirection such as by focusing on something, anything, positive in the situation or in the conversation. Whatever you do just stay calm!
   • Diffuse: It can help to realize that the side of a conversation that contains the most truth will always win out, and it's best to "name the game" that an impossible person is playing, usually by asking them or the group a question that starts "Why...," (rephrasing their "impossible" position to illuminate the consequences). You will move the conversation to a higher level, and the group, or even just the impossible individual, in a one-on-one, will respond to this "higher truth," although the individual will usually respond by (more) obfuscating.
6. 6
   Guard against anger. If it helps, consider the fact that your anger is actually a precious gift to the impossible person. Anything you do or say while angry will be used against you over and over again. Impossible people tend to have amazing memories, and they will not hesitate to use a nearly endless laundry list of complaints from the past against you. Five years from now, you could be hearing about the angry remark you made today (which you didn't even mean in the first place). Impossible people will seize anything that provides them the opportunity to lay blame like it was gold.
7. 7
   Prepare for projection. Understand that you are going to be accused of much (or all) of this behavior yourself. If your impossible person gets a look at this text, to them it will look like a page about you. Prepare yourself for the fact that the impossible person's flaws and failings will always be attributed to you.
   • Remember, in their minds, you are at fault for everything! They will have an endless supply of arguments to support this, and if you make the mistake of encouraging them, they will be more than happy to tell you why you are the impossible person, and how ironic it is that you are under the mistaken impression that it is them.

Long-Term Management

1. 1
   Be a manager. Until it is over, your task in the relationship is to manage the impossible person, so that he or she deals less damage to you.
   • As a manager, your best resources are silence (it really is golden in some cases such as this), humoring the other, and abandoning all hope of "fixing" the impossible person. Impossible people do not listen to reason. They can't (and even if they could, they wouldn't).
   • Recognize that you can't convince them that they have any responsibility for the problems between you. They don't recognize (or if they did, wouldn't try to improve) their flaws for a very logical reason; they don't have any flaws. You must understand and manage this mindset without casting blame and without giving in to anger. It's far easier said than done, and you will slip from time to time, but as time goes on, you'll become a better manager.
2. 2
   Consider that it might be a question of compatibility. Sometimes, a person who gets along with everybody else quite well is an impossible person for you personally. Most relationships between people contain many shades of gray, but some people simply mix as well as oil and water.
   • It is common to hear your impossible person proclaim "Everyone else likes me." This is an attempt to shift the blame to you, so don't buy it. It doesn't matter how this person interacts with others. The fact is, the way the two of you interact together is terrible. Remember that blame never changes the facts.
3. 3
   Don't get cornered. Avoid one-on-ones with this type of person, actively; in other words, when you see them coming to corner you, suggest, and then demand that at least a third party be brought in. This will often thwart the impossible person's plans, and a typical response from them will be to unilaterally decide that "we don't need anyone else." You are perfectly free to claim your need for a third party to help your understanding, and insist upon it. Bullies never stand up to a crowd.
   
   
4. 4
   Protect your self-esteem. If you have regular dealings with someone who tries to portray you as the source of all evil, you need to take active steps to maintain a positive self-image.
   • Remind yourself that this person's opinion is not necessarily the truth. Understand that oftentimes, impossible people are particularly "fact-challenged."
   • If the attacks have little basis in raw fact, dismiss them. You can't possibly be as bad as this person would like you to believe you are. Do not defend yourself out loud, however. It will only provoke the impossible person into another tirade.
5. 5
   Prepare to part ways. Understand that eventually, you'll have to create a separation between yourself and an impossible person. Whether they are a friend, a family member, a parent, even a spouse, the time to leave will eventually manifest. Maintaining a relationship with an impossible person is, literally, impossible.
   • If you can't (or won't) make a physical departure immediately, make a mental one. In your mind, you've already left the relationship. The only thing left to do is wait for physical reality to reflect that fact.
6. 6
   Avoid picking up impossible traits. If you aren't careful, you could find yourself adopting much of the offender's own behavior, even if you aren't voluntarily trying. Eschew blame entirely by understanding that this is just the way the other person is. These things define the impossible person's actions, and nothing you do can change any part of their past.
7. 7
   Protect your privacy. Impossible people will use any information on your personal life however small as a trump card against you. They can spin stories about you to other people (especially those close to you both) on a simple comment you made over lunch. Since they are specialists in manipulation, they are very good at making you talk.
   • Impossible people are good at seeming normal, and unless you are very convinced of who you are and where you stand in relation to the slight madness of this person, there will be times where you think "Hey, she's not so bad after all. I guess I could tell her what I am going through these days...." Big mistake! It will come back to you when you least expect it, in the most dirty and manipulative way. Things shared in confidence late night at the office between the two of you can be used in an ice cold analysis in front of the whole company in a moment where the impossible person needs to get on top of you. He/she will spare no information to prove to others how well they know you, and such know what the best way to "handle" you is.
8. 8
   Be the opposite of them: a possible person. Live as an example of tolerance, patience, humility, and even some kindness (as difficult as that may be).
   
   
   • We are all influenced by the people in our environment — they don't have to be perfect all the time and neither do you. Give respect because you are human. If you don't receive respect, that's -sadly- their problem. Give understanding, and you get understanding. Ultimately this sort of behavior is probably the only thing that might get through to them. They may not change in everything, but you can safely expect a change.

5 Body Language Secrets Every Leader Should Know

This week, my book “The Silent Language of Leaders: How Body Language Can Help – or Hurt – How You Lead” is available online and in neighborhood bookstores. As a preview to the book, here are five body language secrets that every leader should know:
1) Research shows that we make eleven crucial decisions about one another – subconsciously evaluating an array of nonverbal cues – within the first seven seconds. And once someone labels you as “likeable” or “un-likeable,” “powerful” or “submissive,” everything else you do will be viewed through that filter.
2) Two people can send over eight hundred different nonverbal signals in a thirty-minute negotiation. So if you focus on the verbal exchange alone and ignore the nonverbal element, you stand a high chance of coming away from a negotiation wondering why in the world your brilliantly constructed bargaining plan didn’t work the way it was supposed to.
3) When your words and your body language are out of alignment, you don’t make sense. Neuroscientists use electroencephalograph (EEG) machines to measure “event related potentials” – brain waves that form peaks and valleys. One of these valleys, dubbed N400, occurs when people are shown gestures that contradict what’s spoken. This is the same brain wave dip that happens when listening to nonsensical language.
4) There are two sets of nonverbal signals that people look for in leaders — status & authority and warmth & empathy — and the most effective leaders employ the right signals at the right time. Which means they realize that the body language signals that work so well when announcing a new business strategy are not helpful (and in fact may sabotage their efforts) when building collaborative teams.
5) Body language is in the eye of the beholder. The key to using effective body language is understanding how your expressions, gestures, eye contact, use of space, postures, and all the other aspects of nonverbal communication will most likely be interpreted by others – and how those interpretations will most likely effect the observers’ behavior.
BTW: If you get the book, let me know what you think of it. I’d love to hear your opinion and answer any question.

Ten Resolutions The Most Successful People Make And Then Keep

Well, it’s that time again—time to start rolling out the New Year’s resolutions. Some of us will vow to eat less, exercise more, live in the moment, be more grateful. You may even decide to bury the hatchet with the family member who makes you so crazy.
But what about your New Year’s business resolutions?
This time of year is a great time to start making—and keeping—business resolutions, too. But sadly, like our personal goals, we often make them (year after year) with sincere intent only to see them quickly fall by the wayside, as we revert to (bad) habits that we have vowed to break.
But what about the most successful people and their resolutions? Have you noticed how the most accomplished people just seem to identify important things and consistently get them done?
Study successful people long enough and you start to pick up on the resolutions they seem to consistently make.
Here are ten of my favorites:
#1 Spend more time on the not-to-do list
Strategy is the art of sacrifice. That’s why you may consider creating a larger clearing for what really matters by first identifying, and then avoiding, what matters the least. Your time is a treasure to be invested. Creating a list of things that you are not going to do, allows you to invest more of your treasured time on the few things that matter the most.
#2 Essential first, email second
What’s the first thing you do in the morning? For many of us, it is looking at email. We wake up with a renewed mind and spirit, ready to take on the world, and then we immediately allow ourselves to be distracted by an insignificant email. Instead, wake up, take on the most important task of the day, and then (and only then) hit the email.
#3 Resolve to think about “Who” instead of “What”
Do you work for a “What” business or for a “Who” business? Successful companies run the risk of focusing too much on their current products and distributors thus—the “What”—losing sight of the constant and dramatically changing needs of their customer base. (The “Who.”) Insurance, pharma, health care, higher education often listen too much to their agents, doctors and professors. The real innovation starts with the end consumer.
#4 Resolve to find your purpose
As my friend Simon Sinek will tell you: People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it. Starting a career, a company or any kind of journey that is based firmly on your purpose is foundational to success and happiness. If you don’t know your company’s purpose or even your own, finding one is the worthiest of resolutions.
#5 Resolve to support a cause
If you’re reading this, chances are you are one of the rare people who know how to start things. Fortunately, there are people like you who have already started causes that make the world better—they feed the hungry; they save the rain forest; they fight cancer; they do good things. There is virtually a cause for everyone, and contributing will make your year happier. Promise.
#6 Resolve to invent more choices
Here’s a secret that happy people know that I learned from my friend Dr. Dan Baker: You can’t feel grateful and fearful at the same time. And one certain way to become afraid is to feel trapped by any situation. The remedy is choice. The more choices you feel you have, the less trapped—and happier—you will feel. So this year, resolve to do a bit of brainstorming every time you feel unhappy.
#7 Resolve to find a Yin for your Yang 
Walt Disney had Roy Disney, Steve Jobs had Steve Wozniak and Orville Wright had Wilbur Wright. Wherever there is great innovation, there is a Dreamer and an Operator; an Idea Monkey and a (Ring)leader. First, determine where your passions lie, then go find an equally passionate partner, then go change the world.

#8 Resolve to get outside your jar 
You can’t read the label when you are sitting inside the jar. The sad irony of being an expert is that it keeps you from seeing possibility. After all, you know what works, what doesn’t, what you can afford, what’s been tried in the past. Instead of relying only on your expertise, learn how to find other experts solving similar challenges to the ones you are facing. Go ask them what you may be missing.
#9 Resolve to be the creator
What is the outcome you want? What stands in your way? How do you overcome these obstacles? These three simple questions will keep you from being victimized by any situation. Creators change the world. Victims just bitch about stuff.
#10 Plan vacations (now)
You have probably heard the saying, “Life is what happens when you are not paying attention.” Unfortunately for many of us, we let this become true. Do yourself a favor and plan your vacations for the next year today. I promise you that the days around your vacation will fill in nicely. I also promise you that you’ll have something to look forward to and the life that happens during your vacations will be precious.
Happy New Year.

Senate Passes Fiscal Cliff Game Off To The House

Playing a winning hand? (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The U.S. Senate early this morning reached an agreement raising tax rates on households earning more than $450,000 a year and postponing the budget cuts called for in the Budget Control Act of 2011.
Assuming the Senate passes the bill it shifts the debate over the “fiscal cliff” to the House of Representatives, where, the Washington Post reports, Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, vowed to set a vote in a few days, after the incoming House members review the legislation.
The measure would fix a variety of problems triggered by the 2011 Budget Control Act, which Congress passed and President Obama signed as a way around the deadlock over increasing the nation’s borrowing limit. That law set up “automatic” tax increases and spending cuts, including severe cuts in military spending, if Congress failed to come up with alternative legislation before Jan. 1. Congress of course failed to do that, as Republicans held out against increases in tax rates and President Obama and Democratic leaders refused to consider significant spending cuts.
The Senate deal represents a partial victory for Obama, the Washington Post reports:

Obama praised the emerging agreement even though it would raise only about $600 billion over the next decade by White House estimates — far less than the $1.6 trillion the president had initially sought to extract from the nation’s richest households.
The agreement “would further reduce the deficit by asking the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans to pay higher taxes for the first time in two decades. . . . So that’s progress,” Obama said.

The brinkmanship also represents a massive game-theory experiment that the men who wrote the Constitution largely anticipated when they drew up the document that dictates how the federal government is run. While politicians and the press talk about “automatic” tax increases and the “Bush tax cuts,” the fact is that each Congress must set tax and spending policy. To increase the pressure on elected representatives, the Constitution assigns responsibility for initiating tax bills to the House of  Representatives, where members are elected every two years.
Academicians have long studied how individuals and groups act when the stakes are high and the rules allow for various strategies to achieve victory. The Budget Act of 2011 represents one strategy, albeit an ineffective one: Delay.
The filibuster represents another. While technically a parliamentary rule in the Senate prohibiting members from ending debate without a 60-vote majority, it can also be viewed as the minority’s strategy for blocking legislation it really, really doesn’t like.
Southern Democrats famously used the filibuster to block and delay civil-rights legislation in the 1950s and 1960s. President Obama accuses the Republicans who hold a narrow majority in the House of similarly using their control over fiscal legislation to block the will of the majority who voted for Obama and his pledge to raise tax rates on households earning more than $250,000 a year.
One theory has it Congress has gotten more obstructionist in recent years as powerful party leaders like Lyndon Johnson have given way to “individualist” politicians who are interested only in their next reelection.
Some have even called for an end to the Constitutional provisions that make it so easy for minorities to block the policy goals of the majority. Georgetown Law School Professor  Michael Seidman argued in a widely circulated New York Times op-ed that we should “give up on the Constitution” with its “with all its archaic, idiosyncratic and downright evil provisions.” (Jonathan Adler at Volokh points out Seidman is only proposing abandoning the parts of the Constitution he doesn’t like.)
The filibuster isn’t a constitutional provision, but it flows from the constitutional power of the Senate to run its business as it sees fit. And it provides a good case study of how Congress wrestles with the tw0-party system, majority vs. minority power, and fiscal policy. The increasing frequency of filibusters, especially since the Senate modified the rules to allow them to be halted by a 60-vote majority in 1975, has been cited as evidence that members are using blocking tactics for increasingly trivial ends.
But that may not be true, according to this interesting 2006 article by Charles Shipan of the University of Michigan. He examined the frequency and duration of filibusters before and after the 1975 reform in the context of the ample research on game theory in other settings. He found that the filibuster represents a “war of attrition,” which academics have studied in contexts such as animal contests, patent disputes and nuclear war.
In all cases, Shipan says, the “war of attrition” represents a sort of information-gathering exercise in which each side is trying to determine how much the fight means for the other side. In a situation of perfect information, both combatants know what the payoff is for the other side and the one with the lower payoff value quickly folds because the fight isn’t worth the pain. Southern Democrats used the other side’s knowledge of their vociferous opposition to civil rights to block legislation with just the threat of having to sit in session listening to Robert Byrd read the phone book to them.
The problem arises when neither side knows how valuable the payoff is to the other side. In that case, the strategy of the strong is to engage in war to the end, every time, since there’s a chance the player on the other side is weaker and will give up. The contest must be engaged for each side to learn the other’s feelings, however. Shipan argues the increasing frequency of brief filibusters since the Senate made it easier to end debate with a cloture measure shows how the minority is using the filibuster to signal its strength to the majority.
The battle over the fiscal cliff strikes me as a similar exercise. President Obama hasn’t said it, but my guess is he thinks he must pass higher tax rates on wealthier households as part of a long-term bargain to curb spending on programs that benefit the middle class and the poor, like Medicaid and Social Security. But he faces a minority that strongly believes spending cuts must come first.
The Budget Control Act of 2011 represented the failure of either side to determine how serious the other was. But Congress can’t pass “automatic” tax increases, no matter how much it wishes to do so, just as it can’t blame President Bush for the tax policy it has affirmed every year since he left office. With the Senate’s action today, the game of determining how serious the Republicans are passes to the House. Members there will likely vote to delay the final reckoning for a few more months, but the game is merely postponed, not ended. The strength of each side will eventually emerge, helped by the voices of the voters in 2014.

Be a happier person

Dan Millman wrote, “I’d always believed that a life of quality, enjoyment, and wisdom were my human birthright and would be automatically bestowed upon me as time passed.  I never suspected that I would have to learn how to live - that there were specific disciplines and ways of seeing the world I had to master before I could awaken to a simple, happy, uncomplicated life.” I think everyone should take a leaf from the book of Dan Millman. Don’t know how?  Jacob Sokol of marcandangel.com has got you covered. Cheers
Studies conducted by positivity psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky point to 12 things happy people do differently to increase their levels of happiness.  These are things that we can start doing today to feel the effects of more happiness in our lives.
I want to honour and discuss each of these 12 points, because no matter what part of life’s path we’re currently traveling on, these ‘happiness habits’ will always be applicable.

Express gratitude
When you appreciate what you have, what you have appreciates in value.  Kind of cool right?  So basically, being grateful for the goodness that is already evident in your life will bring you a deeper sense of happiness.  And that’s without having to go out and buy anything.  It makes sense.  We’re going to have a hard time ever being happy if we aren’t thankful for what we already have.

Cultivate optimism
Winners have the ability to manufacture their own optimism.  No matter what the situation, the successful diva is the chick who will always find a way to put an optimistic spin on it.  She knows failure only as an opportunity to grow and learn a new lesson from life.  People who think optimistically see the world as a place packed with endless opportunities, especially in trying times.

Avoid over-thinking and social comparison
Comparing yourself to someone else can be poisonous.  If we’re somehow ‘better’ than the person that we’re comparing ourselves to, it gives us an unhealthy sense of superiority.  Our ego inflates – KABOOM – our inner Kanye West comes out!  If we’re ‘worse’ than the person that we’re comparing ourselves to, we usually discredit the hard work that we’ve done and dismiss all the progress that we’ve made.  What I’ve found is that the majority of the time this type of social comparison doesn’t stem from a healthy place.  If you feel called to compare yourself to something, compare yourself to an earlier version of yourself.

Practice acts of kindness
Performing an act of kindness releases serotonin in your brain.  (Serotonin is a substance that has TREMENDOUS health benefits, including making us feel more blissful.)  Selflessly helping someone is a super powerful way to feel good inside.  What’s even cooler about this kindness kick is that not only will you feel better, but so will people watching the act of kindness.  How extraordinary is that?  Bystanders will be blessed with a release of serotonin just by watching what’s going on.  A side note is that the job of most anti-depressants is to release more serotonin.

Nurture social relationships
The happiest people on the planet are the ones who have deep, meaningful relationships.  Did you know studies show that people’s mortality rates are DOUBLED when they’re lonely?  WHOA!  There’s a warm fuzzy feeling that comes from having an active circle of good friends who you can share your experiences with.  We feel connected and a part of something more meaningful than our lonesome existence.
Develop strategies for coping
How you respond to the ‘craptastic’ moments is what shapes your character.  Sometimes crap happens – it’s inevitable.  Forrest Gump knows the deal.  It can be hard to come up with creative solutions in the moment when manure is making its way up toward the fan.  It helps to have healthy strategies for coping pre-rehearsed, on-call, and in your arsenal at your disposal.
Learn to forgive
Harbouring feelings of hatred is horrible for your well-being.  You see, your mind doesn’t know the difference between past and present emotion.  When you ‘hate’ someone, and you’re continuously thinking about it, those negative emotions are eating away at your immune system.  You put yourself in a state of suckerism (technical term) and it stays with you throughout your day.
Increase flow experiences
Flow is a state in which it feels like time stands still.  It’s when you’re so focused on what you’re doing that you become one with the task.
Action and awareness are merged.  You’re not hungry, sleepy, or emotional.  You’re just completely engaged in the activity that you’re doing.  Nothing is distracting you or competing for your focus.
Savor life’s joys
Deep happiness cannot exist without slowing down to enjoy the joy.  It’s easy in a world of wild stimuli and omnipresent movement to forget to embrace life’s enjoyable experiences.  When we neglect to appreciate, we rob the moment of its magic.  It’s the simple things in life that can be the most rewarding if we remember to fully experience them.
Commit to your goals
Being wholeheartedly dedicated to doing something comes fully-equipped with an ineffable force.  Magical things start happening when we commit ourselves to doing whatever it takes to get somewhere.  When you’re fully committed to doing something, you have no choice but to do that thing.  Counter-intuitively, having no option – where you can’t change your mind – subconsciously makes humans happier because they know part of their purpose.
Practice spirituality
When we practice spirituality or religion, we recognize that life is bigger than us.  We surrender the silly idea that we are the mightiest thing ever.  It enables us to connect to the source of all creation and embrace a connectedness with everything that exists.  Some of the most accomplished people I know feel that they’re here doing work they’re “called to do.”
Take care of your body
Taking care of your body is crucial to being the happiest person you can be.  If you don’t have your physical energy in good shape, then your mental energy (your focus), your emotional energy (your feelings), and your spiritual energy (your purpose) will all be negatively affected.  Did you know that studies conducted on people who were clinically depressed showed that consistent exercise raises happiness levels just as much as Zoloft?  Not only that, but here’s the double whammy… Six months later, the people who participated in exercise were less likely to relapse because they had a higher sense of self-accomplishment and self-w

‘FG now generates 4,502 megawatts of electricity’

 From Kelvin Ebiri, Port Harcourt News - National

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Amaechi blames PHCN for inability to achieve 24-hour power supply in Rivers
THE Federal Government said Monday that the current electricity generation in the country had reached 4,502 megawatts, the highest in recent times.
Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, made this known at a news conference on the achievements of government in 2012. According to him, electricity generation was expected to move up to 7,000 megawatts in 2013.
“At the moment, there is an average of about 15 to 18 hours per day of constant power supply to different parts of the country. This feat was brought about through the implementation of the integrated power sector reform programme anchored on the power roadmap. This includes institutional reforms to involve the private sector in power generation, transmission and distribution,” he said.
Maku stated that under the roadmap, 10 new thermal power plants had been completed, adding that more were coming in 2013 to boost electricity supply to all parts of the country.
He said that the rehabilitation of power generation and distribution infrastructure across the nation were ongoing, to take generation to installed capacity.
According to him, contract for the maintenance of the Shiroro power station had been awarded. Maku also said that new contracts had been awarded for hydro power plants in Kaduna and Mambila Plateau to generate additional 750 megawatts.
“The implementation of the National Integrated Power Project is being fast-tracked to ensure stability in power supply,” he said.
The minister said that $1 billion and $150 million loan would soon be secured from the African Development Bank (ADB) to finance gas supply and liberalisation of the power sector respectively.
Meanwhile, Rivers State governor, Chibuike Amaechi, has blamed his inability to achieve 24-hour power sufficiency for Rivers in 2012 on Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN’s) failure to grant the state the requisite permission to distribute.
The governor in his New Year broadcast to the state, said that his administration’s plan in 2013 was to ensure that it adequately catered to the needs of all sectors including water, urban development, culture and tourism as well as employment generation.
Amaechi who had last year promised that the state would enjoy uninterrupted power supply by December 2012, regretted that the aspiration could not be achieved because of the inactions of PHCN.
“We had promised to deliver on 24-hour power supply by the end of 2012. Unfortunately, we couldn’t meet this deadline, as we still need the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to hook us up and grant us the requisite permission to distribute. Although we have completed 26 power injection sub-stations to help us move the 560 mw of power currently generated by our four power stations and import from the national grid, we have only been able to achieve 50 per cent success in this regard,” he said.
He, however, expressed optimism that with the state support for the four power consortium that won the sale of the Port Harcourt Distribution Company, the state would gradually deliver on its promise.
According to him, with the massive investments government had made in the power sector, it was close to fulfilling its promise to the people.