Life's challenges

Everybody has challenges in life; at work, at home and everywhere in between. By solving problems, we get stronger and wiser.

But there are people who when presented with issues, completely change direction and choose not to face them. Those refusing to do so, or expect others to solve these for them, don't learn but stagnate. And they find they face the same problems over and over again and perhaps even make the same mistakes again.

It's of course not quite this black & white. Some situations are easier to solve than others, but if you can celebrate the fact that there is always something to learn, challenges will become your friends.

A little bit of kindness - goes a long way

Came to the doctor's this morning with flu symptoms. Fever, body ache, lethargy - you know the rest.

It's a busy surgery, with 8-10 docs and I'm only a semi-regular; if there is such.

This morning I got a smile and was greeted with my own name. As miserable as I felt I couldn't help but return the smile and it stuck with me for moments afterwards. Suddenly I felt a lot better.

Such a small thing, calling people their name and letting off a smile, yet it goes such a long way.

When would you say your chances are good at winning?

'New elections are coming up in a few months [in Goslar, Germany which became famous of recent by turning off streetlights after midnight in order to save money]. For financial reasons, Goslar will be consolidated with the neighboring town of Vienenburg. Junk [the incumbent Mayor] plans to run for mayor again. 

His chances are good -- so good, in fact, that the opposition has opted to not even field a candidate.'

Now those are good odds. Clearly.


A curious article brought to my attention by Michael Wade of Execupundit. More at German Communities Forced to Find Creative Ways to Reduce Debt - SPIEGEL ONLINE

Blogging is (still) on the rise

Rand Fishkin has been monitoring the growth of web marketing fields by looking at five different sources including Google Keyword Trends, LinkedIn, Simply Hired, etc.

Compared to May 2012, Blogging (or blog/ bloggers) presented one of the biggest surprises:

'I would have guessed that blogging was a more mature field and that we wouldn't see 3x growth between early 2012 and today.'

Either there are more blogs around, or people are more open about disclosing these on their public profiles and resumes. Or perhaps, a bit of both.

More at The Growth of Web Marketing Fields - Rand's Blog.

Taking the mickey out of North West

One would think that after apple, no sorry Apple, Sunday, Harper 7 - just to name a few - celeb baby naming couldn't (really couldn't possibly) get any worse. I was wrong.

Enter North West. And wonder no longer, why the web has erupted in jokes, including this one:

More at: Kim Kardashian, Kanye West's baby name North West inspires jokes, spoof Twitter handles - NY Daily News