Three Keys to Inner Peace

There are so many ways to improve your outlook on life that it is virtually impossible for me to list them all here for you, but in general, there are a few simple tips I can give you that have made my own personal enjoyment of life increase exponentially. They are not complicated and do not involve any rocket science or algebra equations to figure out. It just involves you to honestly look at your self and the situations that affect how you feel and making the choice to let events enhance your life not harm it. These are three simple things I have implemented in my own life that have made it a much more enjoyable experience and you will too. I almost guarantee it. The steps are acceptance, forgiveness and peace, and you are on your way to happiness. If you want to be.

The first thing you have to be able to experience is acceptance. This was a difficult one for me personally because I always believed that by saying I accept a situation, that I simultaneously admit the situation will never change and I am doing nothing of the kind. Acceptance does not mean approval, consent, permission, authorization, sanction, concurrence, agreement, compliance, sympathy, endorsement, confirmation, support, ratification, assistance or even liking whatever it is you are accepting it is simply saying, "it is what it is, and what is, is what is. Popeye believed the same thing, "I am what I am." and so does Patriot Coach Bill Billichick when he analyzes a game, "It is what it is." Until you choose to accept things as they are, realizing and identifying the situation accurately, you will never be able to develop a plan to overcome an obstacle, learn what you need to learn and grow from the experience. Acceptance is the first step, and the most important, because if you never start a journey you will never get to the ultimate destination.

Step two in this search for self discovery is forgiveness. Forgiving someone for doing something that hurt you or someone you care about can be very difficult to do, because we all internalize things that happen to us and take them personally, but to quote an ancient Chinese Proverb, "Anger is a hot rock that burns the one who holds it." To me this means that the heat of anger, disappointment, jealousy, whatever negative emotion you associate with the actions of somebody else, you have to forgive, and let go in order to move on with your life. I also have learned that you don't have to make your forgiveness known to anyone other than yourself. You don't have to have a ceremony, a rite of passage or even talk to anybody. All you have to do is forgive whomever you have to in your heart and you will find you are on your way to finding peace. If you don't believe me, try it. Just think about a person who you feel has done anything, big or small to hurt you, then accept whatever the situation is, and then forgive them for whatever they did or you perceived them to do, truthfully and whole heatedly and if you are sincere you will start to feel relief almost immediately. You can let all of the foolishness of life, and the anger that you are carrying around because of the actions of others, and experience a growth that is outstanding. You can even forgive yourself, and probably that is one of the first places you should start. Whatever shortcomings you have had, mistakes that you have made, dreams you left unfulfilled, goals you haven't reached yet, whatever is pissing you off about yourself, forgive you for being human and accept what has happened. You will find the road that leads you where you want to go will appear to you almost magically. Forgiveness is simple, but it is never easy, because we as people tend to hang on to things and internalize them and they become a part of who we are. Then when you go to forgive them and let them go you fight against it, because these situations have become a part of our identity, they have become who we are, rather than something that happened to us or something we did. Forgiving everyone is what I advocate and moving on into a better place.

Thirdly, if you follow these two things you will find the third almost without any work, it will come naturally to you like an inevitable turn in the river you are riding on, you will encounter peace. With peace will come freedom from the thoughts that you have been carrying around with you. It is as simple as thinking: I accept that experience, I forgive that experience, I am free. This is where positive thinking will start to emerge in your life. It was explained to me that just thinking positive thoughts at the exclusion of bad thoughts is difficult to do, because you have been having those negative thoughts all your life, whatever they are, My parents didn't pay enough attention to me, I am poor, I am always treated poorly in relationships, I am poor because that's all I deserve, when you accept your thoughts as what they are and forgive them, these negative thoughts are not ignored but rather transformed into thoughts of a positive nature. You will find that when this happens you will be happy most of the time. Peace is just another word for experiencing an inner happiness about who you are, where you have been and where you are going.

So give this process a try, accept a situation that has hurt you and all the people involved. Forgive them, all people do crappy things because they are people and its not personal, they are just trying to live their life and you will find a feeling of peace and understanding. Accept yourself and others for who they are and move.

Jonathan Hilton is an author and self discoverer. You can always read interesting things at http://www.jonathanhilton.com/. There are articles and interesting videos and thoughts that you will find thought provoking and stimulating.

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Why Do Three Billion People Live in Poverty?

Poverty exists in every country in the world. In many countries most of the population live on less than $1 a day, while others have abundant wealth. About 50% of the world's population - some 3 billion people - live in absolute poverty, lacking clean water, healthcare, housing and an adequate diet. When disaster strikes, as in West Africa recently, poverty means hunger, starvation and death.

We in the rich world do care - we give millions of dollars through hundreds of charities every year. Our governments give economic aid to the poorest countries. The UK government has even protected its aid budget against cuts - much to the disgust of many who see aid money as a waste. "we give year after year", they say" and the situation just gets worse". They have a point.

Most of the major aid charities (or NGOs) in the UK have started to change tactics in recent years. They still send donations to poor countries for healthcare, education, water projects, etc. but at the same time they have begun to attack the root causes of poverty. This can take many forms because there are many root causes. But one factor is so huge that addressing it could make a real difference to world poverty.

Do you pay tax? If you have an income, or ever buy anything, or drive anywhere - you have to pay tax. Countries couldn't function without it. We may not like everything that it's spent on - wars for instance - but we understand why tax is necessary. And we expect the wealthy to pay more tax than those on low incomes. So why do we tolerate a situation in which multinational corporations are able to get away with paying as little as 1% tax on their profits? How to they do it? They rely on a complex system of trades and charges, many involving partner or subsidiary companies in tax havens across the globe. Christian Aid, one of the UK's leading anti-poverty charities, is calling for greater transparency about the profit companies make and the tax they pay in each of the countries in which they operate. Without such transparency it is impossible for poor producer countries to claim the tax to which they are entitled. This video shows how such schemes work.

If producer countries received the tax to which they are entitled the need for aid handouts could be eliminated and money would be available for health, education, infrastructure and everything else that we expect our taxes to be used for. Much of the problem is caused by countries like Switzerland which allow companies and individuals to shelter their profits in complete secrecy. The UK government has just reached a deal with the Swiss government whereby the Swiss have agreed to make a one-off deduction from all existing accounts held by people who are liable for British taxes but have not paid them. The tax grab could raise as much as £5 billion for the Treasury and will be applied in 2013.

That's great for the British (although Richard Murphy, director of Tax Research UK thinks it's a poor deal) but where does it leave countries with no international clout? Christian Aid believes the deal will seriously damage global efforts to curb tax dodging - a menace which it estimates costs poor countries $160 billion a year, far more than they receive in aid. 'We fear that the agreement will be soft on the Britons who have illegally hidden billions in the Alpine tax haven but hard on developing countries, which also suffer from Swiss banking secrecy,' said Christian Aid Director Loretta Minghella.

If it is true that transparency in corporate financial dealings can really make that much difference why don't Christian Aid and other agencies like Oxfam put everything they've got into pressing for a change in the law. Sadly, one reason is that they wouldn't be able to take their supporters with them. Most supporters are more than happy to raise money to feed starving children but they get a bit edgy if their favourite charity starts to become too political. There is also the threat to charitable status if a charity become chiefly a campaigning organisation. It's a difficult dilemma but gradually public opinion is changing and people are starting to realise that if we are to win the war on poverty we aren't going to do it with a collecting tin alone.

Chris Pettit is a Partner in Just Film, a video production near London in the UK. Just Film is a corporate video company specialising in films for charities and not-for profit organisations. There are many example video clips on the company website.

The rationale of the company is to focus on issues of social justice and the website blog contains many articles about social issues, activism and video production.

Visit the website at http://www.justfilm.co.uk/

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iPhone App Development: The Three Steps

Today, iPhone is extremely popular in the mobile marketplace because it hosts a number of features & functionalities and is laced with advanced technologies. The demand for interesting apps is sky-high and they are also pivotal for business. iPhone support apps which can be connected to the enterprise ERP system and mobile workers can be authorized to access it via custom-built applications. iPhone apps are also lucrative marketing tools for the launch of new products, movies or video games. iPhone app development provides a new path for capturing more audience and attracting them to a product or a service of a company. The online market is buzzing with the trendiest of apps all the time!

It is important to know how iPhone applications can attract customers of your targeted market. The marketing strategy is important here. The apps should be highly interesting and attractive and in some cases useful for the targeted audience.

Be interesting:

The thumb rule for creating any type of app is to be interesting in UI, concept and execution. Customers prefer only those applications and products, which are interesting and useful to them. If the application loses interest midway, then there is no way that you can grab the intended audience. The app on the other hand will also not give you enough returns. It's simple, make it interesting enough for a general audience and mostly to the targeted audience.

Be attractive:

iPhone app development is not an easy task. That app which you are going to develop should be innovative but also extremely attractive and pleasing to the eye. iPhone app developers create wonderful apps for the iPhone users so that the application gets its due publicity and grab eyeballs. The application should at least please its niche audience through its concept; for example, the kids who prefer bright and chirpy colors throughout.

Be Useful:

Usefulness is a pivotal ingredient which can never be done away with while creating an app. It should be meaningful and should avoid any ambiguity while conceptualization takes place. What is useful for customers is worth it for the users. They also beget good ROI.

In the end, it is a thought that iPhone app developers can convert a concept into reality. Conceptualization is a critical factor while making any app. Pick up your concepts from real-life scenarios and make wonderful and interesting apps for your iPhone. Creativity, user-friendliness and flexibility will define the success of your apps and for your business.

An author is an iPhone developer working in an iPhone app development company and managing a team of five. She has taken content writing as her hobby and writes content on iPhone development.

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First Thoughts: Three questions for Palin - msnbc.com

Three questions to determine if Palin is serious about being a successful presidential candidate: 1) Does she broaden her appeal… 2) Does she become more disciplined?... 3) Does she expand her policy portfolio?... New Q-poll shows Palin performing the worst among other GOPers in a head-to-head against Obama… The president's trip to Portugal was more successful than his trip to Asia… START has become the next big Washington battle… Expect to see more White House staff movement sooner rather than later… And an update on the uncalled House races.

From NBC's Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Ali Weinberg
*** Three questions for Palin: As Sarah Palin comes out with a new book this week, as she goes on a book tour (hitting some battleground states), and as she hints that she might run for president in a New York Times magazine profile, the political world finds itself in the midst of another round of Palin-palooza. Will she run for president? If not, what is she up to? While we're still not sure she actually runs (if she found the scrutiny of remaining Alaska governor too much, then she might not enjoy running for president or even being president), we’ve come up with three questions to determine if she’s truly serious about being a successful presidential candidate. After all, almost anyone can run for president (see: Mike Gravel, Alan Keyes, Fred Thompson, even Rudy Giuliani). But being a successful candidate -- coping with the campaign’s highs and lows, outlasting your opponents, and still appealing to a sizable portion of the country -- is another matter.

*** Does she broaden her appeal? First, does she broaden her appeal beyond her conservative/Tea Party base? Most successful presidential candidates --- at least at this point in the cycle -- are viewed more as uniters than dividers. Yet per a NBC/WSJ poll conducted earlier this fall, Palin is loved by conservatives (53%-19% fav/unfav) and Republicans (55%-17%), but not by Democrats (9%-73%), moderates (14%-62%), or independents (25%-55%). And in our most recent NBC/WSJ poll, which was released after the midterms, being endorsed by Palin was one of the more negative candidate qualities; in fact, it was worse than being endorsed by a labor union, than supporting allowing workers to invest their Social Security contributions in the stock market, and than supporting the economic stimulus.

*** Does she become more disciplined? Second, does she begin to be more disciplined? Since resigning her governorship last year, Palin has not only picked fights with the Obama White House and congressional Democrats -- but also with David Letterman, Katie Couric, Politico, the Wall Street Journal, and even some establishment Beltway Republicans. While that kind of combat can work for a political pundit or entertainer (like Rush Limbaugh), it’s harder for an actual presidential candidate, who will be a target of slings and arrows from Democrats and the White House, from fellow GOP presidential candidates, and from the news media. “She gives as good as she gets,” Mary Matalin told Robert Draper in his New York Times magazine piece on Palin. “But I don’t know her well enough to know if she’s developed the thick skin you need to be endlessly resilient, the way Reagan could take things for decades and let them roll off his back.”

*** And does she expand her policy portfolio? Third, do we see Palin expand her policy portfolio beyond her wheelhouse -- energy, special needs, and neoconservative foreign policy? Recently, Palin weighed in on the Federal Reserve’s action to pump more money into the economy (however, she mistakenly said that prices have risen over the last year or so when, in fact, inflation has been very low). There are two perceptions of Palin: One hits at what Lisa Murkowski said last week. ("You know, she was my governor for two years, for just about two years there, and I don't think that she enjoyed governing," Murkowski told CBS. "I don't think she liked to get down into the policy."). And the other is what Draper said of her. (“Less well known was the Palin who … was seen more than once passed out on her hotel bed half-buried in briefing books and index cards…”). But will somebody explain how she is helping herself to be taken more seriously when she’s using her new book to talk about things like “American Idol”?

*** More numbers on Palin: Meanwhile, a brand-new Quinnipiac poll shows Palin leading a hypothetical GOP primary field at 19% -- followed by Mitt Romney at 18%, Mike Huckabee at 17%, Newt Gingrich at 15%, and Tim Pawlenty at 6%. But in the GOP field, Palin's negatives are the highest (36%-51% overall fav/unfav and 33%-54% among indies), while Huckabee (41%-25%) and Romney (38%-26%) are positive, and Gingrich’s is negative (30%-43%); Obama is 48%-48%. And Palin also performs the worst in a head-to-head against Obama: Romney narrowly edges the president, 45%-44%; Obama leads Huckabee, 46%-44%; Obama leads the largely unknown Daniels 45%-36%; and Obama gets closest to 50% against Palin, whom he leads 48%-40%.

*** A better trip for Obama: Turning from Palin to American foreign policy, the NATO summit in Portugal was a very productive trip for President Obama. NATO endorsing major troop reductions in Afghanistan by Dec. 31, 2014 is a big deal. Yes, it's punting, but it's also an international coalition supporting the U.S.’s end game. So there's no second guessing outside the U.S. on this issue. The only second guessing will come from anti-war Democrats inside the U.S. And frankly, it's legitimate second guessing, but could the U.S. realistically pull out any sooner? The international community’s answer: no.

*** If you START me up, I’ll never stop: But Afghanistan was just one storyline in Lisbon; the other was the new START treaty. This is turning into a key political battle for Team Obama, and they know it. They got every European leader imaginable to go public this weekend supporting the treaty. Indeed, there's a real fear in the White House that if Sen. Jon Kyl and the GOP roll them on this, it will weaken the president on the world's stage. Right now, the White House is struggling to agree on a strategy to get this done. At a press conference over the weekend, Obama hit the Republicans for playing politics on foreign policy and national security. “This is an issue that traditionally has received strong bipartisan support,” he said. “There’s no other reason not to do it than the fact that Washington has become a very partisan place.” But he dodged the question of whether Kyl is playing politics. “I’ve spoken to Sen. Kyl directly,” he said. “Sen. Kyl has never said to me that he does not want to see START ratified.”

*** Sooner rather than later: Here’s a tip: Expect to see some more White House staff movement sooner rather than later. Nobody likes working in limbo, and this may speed up Pete Rouse and Valerie Jarrett, the two people other than the president himself who may know more about the re-arranging of the staff.

*** The uncalled races: Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY-1) has come back to overtake Republican Randy Altschuler with counting of absentee and provisional ballots. That means of the five House races still uncalled, Republicans lead in two. They are currently +61 in the House and could get to about +63 -- if current numbers hold. The uncalled races: CA-11, CA-20, NY-1, NY-25, and TX-27. In CA-11 and CA-20, the Democrats appear to be on track to win narrowly. In NY-25, Republican Ann Marie Buerkle expanded her lead over incumbent Democrat Dan Maffei. And in TX-27, Blake Farenthold (R) continues to lead, as a recount requested by incumbent Solomon Ortiz nears completion.

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