FRUGAL FRIDAY: WHY THE GLOBAL RECESSION IS GOOD.

 (This may be a radical idea but please listen to my husband's rant.
He wrote this in 2009 and is still ranting today about this and other things!)

"People will have to re aquaint themselves with the moral sensibilities of past ages. That is stop consuming and repair things and re use things and respect things. The global recession may stop the "consumptionist" attitude that this world has - that things can just be consumed and that there are no consequences. There are consequences - there is less of everything.

Surprise, surprise! Do you think the natural world is endless? Do we just forget the future generations? What happened to caring about things? What happened to responsibilty? We only have one world.

So what is important? It isn't getting yourself on you tube or having the largest plasma T.V.or having the most money. It is personal relationships and your family. Your life means nothing unless you have someone to share it with. Thank you for listening. "

 

Family and friends enjoy nature up close
as they leisurely bike the paved Heartland and Paul Bunyan State Trails
along the Lake Country Scenic Byway.

 

 

Stella winner donates money to other writers

 

The inaugural winner of the Stella Prize for Australian women's writing has donated part of her prize money to her fellow finalists.

Melbourne author Carrie Tiffany won the prize for her second novel Mateship With Birdswhich follows the fortunes of a farmer and aged-care nurse in 1950s country Victoria.

The award, named after author Stella Miles Franklin, has been established to promote female writers.

Life is good

Life is good founders Bert (left) and John Jacobs. Image boston.com

Life is good is a T -shirt and clothing brand. It has grown from the two brothers sleeping in a van while they sold T-shirts door-to-door on college campuses to a $100 million business built around the idea of spreading optimism. Read the full story at boston.com

Dance to your own music

Do you have a passion, a plan a goal? Sometimes I find it is better to move forward towards the fullfilment of the goal, one step at a time, without telling others.

I value uniqueness and originality in all things and see increasingly that others who do something unusual or out of the main stream are being more and more appreciated. This is such a good thing.

I will no longer allow myself to be dissuaded by negative comments that are not constructive or backed up with good reasons. Maybe I need to be smarter and more selective in who I tell my plans to - positive people are always greatly appreciated. What are your thoughts?

Fierce fighter becomes peace maker

Ashoka was a fierce warrior-king who changed his ways and became a beloved peace maker.
The battle of Kalinga in 250 B.C. was what changed everything. Ashoka was standing on the field after the fighting had ended. Surrounded by the dead bodies, he realized that more than 100,000 people had died because of a war he had instigated. Horrified, he decided to change. He embraced the Buddhist belief of ahimsa, or non-violence. From that day on, he became known as “the pious Ashoka”, Dharmashoka.

Asoka made many changes both personally and across his kingdom. He gave up hunting and stopped eating meat. He established many hospitals for people and animals. He ensured that Banyan trees were planted to provide shade and mango trees to provide fruit, wells were dug and rest houses established.

UN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT

Australia has been rated 2nd in an assessment of 187 countries.

Read more at Good News.

Each year the United Nations Human Development Report presents a wealth of statistical information on different aspects of human development.

All these data are available for download here in several different ways.

Search for Regional and National Human Development Reports using thematic maps

Most Helpful Person Award

Dianne Carroll won a competition run by American Express with the support of Oprah, as part of Oprah's Australian tour.

For her ongoing and amazing efforts, Dianne has been awarded a one hundred thousand dollar grant for her charity, Trans-Help, to help truck drivers and their families and given the title "Australia's Most Helpful Person."

Dianne Carroll is the daughter of a truck driver and one of six children. She knows first hand what her mother and siblings lived through with one parent often not at home and on the road. Dianne could see a unique problem where drivers were working away from family and home for long stretches at a time. Families had to deal with many issues including loss, trauma, depression, injury and drivers health issues.
She started the Trans-Help Foundation to help transport drivers and their families in times of need.

Just one of Trans-Helps amazing initiatives is the travelling Health and Support Unit. The "Health and Support Unit has enabled drivers to be checked on the road for high blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol, obesity, depression, and also a variety of support brochures covering road trauma, cancer etc...
Trans-Help believes this unique program is ensuring the industry a healthier one, whilst also reducing fatalities on our roads." TRUCKERS NEWS QUARTERLY You can check here regulary to find out where the Unit will be next.

What is your good resolution?

It is interesting to hear what others attempt for their new years resolution beyond the norm of stop smoking, lose weight, drink less - all less, less, what about more?
We wish each other health, happiness and success but how do these wishes translate and manifest in our ordinary lives? Maybe you could eat more vegetables or take some vitamins for good health but this all sounds a bit mundane to me. Why not try doing some good for others and lift ourselves out of the everyday? There are many causes and many ways of giving, as you can see at right, but what good will you try?

INSPIRATION:

"We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give." Winston Churchill
"It is not length of life, but depth of life." Ralph Waldo Emerson
More good quotes at right and scroll down.

THANKYOU
lizette_natalie
for Bokeh photo

It's A New Year

A new year...now that has got to be good...hope, promise, a chance to wipe the slate clean, a chance to start again, re invent myself in a better light, do something good, wish for good, be good, be a do gooder, feel good...so many choices...

What will you do in this new year?

"Another year over, A new one just begun..." JOHN LENNON from ' WAR IS OVER'

The photo is the human peace sign made in Hungary taken by LordSleeper

'I pray for a more friendly,
More caring, and more understanding
Human family on this planet.' The Dalai Lama

Please visit for more details at Peace is a state of harmony

Albert

Albert Einstein was considered a genius.

He was a scientist and humanist responsible for the development of the theory of relativity and photoelectric effect (for which he won the Nobel Prize in 1921)

He is also know for his good language skills - even though it is often said he did not talk till he was about 4 years old - and has left us with many good quotes:

"A person who never made a mistake never tried anything new."

"It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education."

"Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere."

"My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind."

"He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed."

All About Good

The Meaning of Good... from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary ...

good adjective PLEASANT
good adjective HIGH QUALITY
good adjective SUCCESSFUL
good adjective KIND
good adjective MORALLY RIGHT
good adjective POSITIVE
good adjective BEHAVIOUR
good adjective SUITABLE
good adjective LARGE
good adjective SATISFACTION
good noun THINGS
good noun HELP
good noun HEALTH
good noun MORALLY RIGHT
good noun TIME
good afternoon exclamation
the good book noun
good day exclamation
good evening exclamation
good-for-nothing noun
good-for-nothing adjective
Good Friday noun
good-hearted adjective
good-humoured adjective
good-looking adjective
good looks plural noun
good money noun
good morning exclamation
good-natured adjective
good night exclamation
good old boy noun
good-time girl noun
a good word noun
no-good adjective
good breeding noun, at breeding (noun) BEHAVIOUR
the Good Book noun, at the good book (noun)
Good Heavens! exclamation, at Heavens (above)! (exclamation)
be of good cheer
for the common good
be good company
(good) discipline
so far so good
be no good
get off to a good start
be not any/much good, at be no good
be so good as to
do (sb) a good turn
be good enough to, at be so good as to
a good deal of
a good ...
a good ...'s, at a good ...
do you good
the good
for good
that's a (good) point
good riddance (to bad rubbish)
a good Samaritan
stand sb in good stead
it's a good thing
be good training for sth
be in good voice
turn/use sth to good account
All good things (must) come to an end.
have something on good authority
be a good bet
A change is as good as a rest.
be in good company
in good conscience, at in all conscience
give as good as you get
while the going is good
be a good job/thing
all in good time
as good as
be (as) good as gold
be (as) good as new
be as good as your word
be good for sth
be good to go
Be good, and if you can't be good, be careful.
for good measure
good and ...
good and proper
Good for you!
Good on you!, at Good for you!
Good heavens/grief/gracious!
Good God/Lord!, at Good heavens/grief/gracious!
the good old days
good show
have a good innings
in good faith
in good time
make good
make good time
be up to no good
no good
to the good
what good is ...
what's the good of ..., at what good is ...
the great and the good
Your guess is as good as mine.
do more harm than good
A good time was had by all.
hold good
It's an ill wind (that blows nobody any good).
jolly good
Jolly good show!
a good listener
Good Lord, at (Oh) Lord
for (good) luck
have half a mind/a good mind to do sth
No news is good news.
A nod's as good as a wink.
have a (good) nose for sth
Good things come in small packages.
do sb a power of good
Any publicity is good publicity.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions.
have a good run for your money
be in good shape
There's a good boy/girl/dog!
be on to a good thing
throw good money after bad
too good to be true
too good to miss
too much of a good thing
One good turn deserves another.
very good
all well and good, at all very well
put in a good word for sb
do sb the world of good