The Case Of The Missing Vacation – Stress-Management
The Case Of The Missing Vacation
This is the time for daydreaming about your annual vacation. Sounds enticing.But when it comes to actually taking time off, a growing number of us become
downright ambivalent. ("Paranoid" may be more accurate.) Concerns about job
security creep in. If the boss can get along without me for two weeks will he decide
I'm not needed? What will happen to my projects when I am gone? Will my
colleagues undermine me? And there are large numbers of us who are addicted to
work. They'd rather work than be on vacation.The result is that almost one-third of us don't take all the vacation days we have
earned, according to Expedia.com, the online travel agency. Some 14 percent do not
take any vacation time at all.In addition, there's an army of men and women who are so hooked on their work
that they can' leave it behind. When they are supposed to be on vacation they are
not really on vacation. They stay connected to their work via the umbilical cord of
technology. Some 32 percent check their voice mail or e-mail every day away from
the job. It is the rare bird indeed who can be away from the office for two weeks
without checking in two or three times "just to see how things are going." Many
employers are enablers of this kind of behavior as they strive to get more work for
the same money.Instead of feeling refreshed by time away from work, hordes of us dread coming
back. We know the e-mails have piled up, the to-do list has grown and there is the
general catching up. There may have been shifts in the power structure.A Sobering ThoughtThis sort of commitment to the job may be necessary in some cases, but there's no
escaping that it is often counterproductive. Efficiency drops off and workers' health
is put at risk during long periods of unbroken work.The Framington Heart Study shows that women who took two of more vacations a
year had a 50 percent lower chance of a heart attack than their counterparts who
didn't take time off. In the case of men, annual vacations reduce the odds by about
one-third.Your Vacation GuideThe facts are clear. Time away from the job will improve your efficiency and help
accelerate your career. In the end, personal down time will benefit your employer as
well. Hopefully, you have the courage and wisdom to act on this axiom.You can help assure that your vacation times serve their best purpose by
establishing seven conditions, advised Ramon Greenwood, senior career counselor
at www.commonsenseatwork.com>1. Come to grips with the fact that you are not indispensable. Nobody is. If it only
takes a few days off the job to demonstrate that you are dispensable, then you
probably are. If so, better to find out now and deal with it.2. Reject the macho idea that long hours with your nose to the grindstone
demonstrate strength and commitment. What you produce at the end of the day is
what counts. The dumbest ox needs time out of the yoke.3. Plan your next vacation in advance. Hold to the date. If your employer forces you
to cancel your vacation make sure there is a good reason. Absent a reason, consider
whether you are working in an environment that will nurture your growth.4. Establish a plan to cover your responsibilities. Do work in advance. Delegate.
Advise those with whom you work of your plans and what you expect to happen
while you are away.5. Leave a contact point where you can be reached with a "gatekeeper" who will
respect your time. Don't check in with the office. They'll call you if you are needed.
Don't panic if they don't contact you. Take satisfaction that your vacation plan is
working.6. Flush work out of your mind. Put the components of your life in perspective.
Recharge your batteries. Read things totally unrelated to your work. Get plenty of
rest.7. Be prepared to double your efforts when you return from vacation to catch up and
go ahead with your work.It's well to remember that there is no record of anyone wishing on their deathbed
that they had spent more time at work.Ramon Greenwood is former senior vice president of American Express; a
professional director for various businesses; a consultant; a published author of
career related books and a syndicated column. Senior career counselor for
http://www.CommonSenseAtWork.com>
The Reign of Insanity
The Reign of Insanity
I know you want to kill me, and I wish to do all I can to help you succeed.
Well? that would be insane, but what about this?I know you want to kill my children, destroy my country, and erase all historical evidence of our existence, and I want to do everything I can to help you achieve your goals.Would that be the epitome of insanity? If the leaders of your country were doing these things would you cry out "Treason"? That is exactly what is happening in Israel today, and Israeli's are left stunned wondering what can be done to stop the insane leaders who have wrestled complete control over the government, military, and economy of Israel.Ok? so I am going too far you say? another conspiracy nut.American President George Bush says "I will bring peace to the Middle East". Wait a minute? isn't he supposed to be a Christian? Isn't Jesus the only one who will ultimately bring peace to the Middle East? Isn't the anti-Christ the one who will make a false peace agreement? Hmmm? think I am stretching a bit? It gets better.The prophet Zechariah warned (Christians should be familiar with this, even Christian presidents) that those who burden themselves with Jerusalem will be dashed to pieces. Now a "Christian" president who presumably knows these scriptures, and proclaims a faith in the Jewish Messiah, and yet knowingly leads his nation into the abyss of certain condemnation at the hand of the God he swears he serves desperately needs his head examined. He must be insane!Today in the British Parliament, the podium from which the Prime Minister speaks not only has a Bible resting upon it; it has a Koran resting on top of the Bible. Europe is fast becoming not only a post Christian group of nations, but a pro-Islamic group of nations as well. President Bush embraces Islam as a "peaceful" religion, and the State Department continues to appease and praise the Islamists openly. Did I miss something? Aren't we supposed to be engaged in a worldwide war against terrorism? Has anyone else noticed that nearly every conflict in the world today, and nearly every terrorist act is perpetrated by Islam? The most notable exception might be the Irish Republican Army, but they are sympathetic to the Palestinians and have often cooperated on strategic training and planning. So if we are waging a war on terror, and we are at the same time doing all we can to appease the terrorist, couldn't it be argued that we are suffering from mass dementia on a global scale?I contend that to fight against God, Creator of All things, Master of everything, is tantamount to insanity. The world today, and the "leaders" governing us are at war with God. It is that simple, the flesh of man vs. the Holy Spirit of God. This is insanity at its apex. The world is going to suffer tremendously for this embracement of the devil, and the torment of this insanity will burn forever.Thankfully, none of us have to be turned over to a reprobate mind, we can embrace God instead, love His truth, and surrender to His will. If you have detected in your life a hardening of the heart towards the things of God, I appeal to you to stoop where you are, and fall on your knees in repentance. God does not want that any man (or woman or child) should perish but that all would come to repentance.Lets see? eternal love, goodness, kindness, joy, and fulfillment, or? eternal torment, separation from all that is good, burning, suffering, terrible fear, thirst? which one will I chose, which one will I choose?Tom Cooper
The Israel Report
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theisraelreport-subscribe@myinjesus.comTom Cooper is the founder of The Israel Report.
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Tackle, Tackle
Tackle, Tackle
I don't know how people raise daughters because I have 2 sons. In my in-sanest moments, I have thought about having a daughter and have entertained thoughts about rushing into Toys'Rus straight to the Barbie doll section. My preoccupation with daughters is short-lived. Then I become sane all over again ? I must be out of my mind thinking about having another child! No way, it's totally, absolutely, positively, undoubtedly out of the question. I do love babies. Oh, how I do love them. Pinching cheeks is not one of my favorite things to do an infant but I sure do love the feel of their feathery skin that is layered with fine, fine hair. I can't resist touching their bums like a lunatic.I am quite sure daughters are fun. Sometimes I watch other mothers fuss with their daughter's hair and I look at Joshua and Jared and think to myself, "You think daddy will still love them if I leave their hair long so that I can tie them in braids and put ribbons on them?" My sons are pretty pretty, if I do say so myself but I don't think they'd like me to dress them up as girls.I tried.Dressing my boys as girls
Joshua already knows the difference between girls and boys ? after the countless number of times we've broached the topic, how could he NOT know??? The times when we laughed till we were rolling around in unabashed nakedness in the bathroom because he thought I dropped my penis? Classic case of sex education gone folly. Jared, in the meantime, kept lifting up the skirt to see where the pant is one time I dressed him up as a Cinderella. I guess, it's not going to work.My confusion and problem on dealing with little girls started when I realized that I don't know how to buy pretty dresses and fancy head gears for girls. Mind you, although I DO have a critical eye out for fashion faults, I am not a very good dresser. I prefer the slip-on-and-go-and-don't-feel-like-I-am-wearing-anything-at-all types of clothes. If I had to insomuch as zip, button, snap-on, clasp or buckle anything, I'd feel like dressing was too much of an effort. Naturally, being the 'casual dresser' that I am (my family members refer to it as 'sloppy' but I object), I find myself in a mental maze whenever I have to buy gifts for girls. And in this month itself, there are two. One is for my 9-year-old cousin (being 32 this year, I have a pre-puberty cousin? Yes, I do. So, sue me) and another is for my niece, who's turning 3 this month.Birthday present problem
For my cousin, I was thinking about buying soft toys because it's hard to go wrong with soft toys. I mean, doesn't everybody adore soft toys anymore? But no, I decided against it. I went into the clothes department to get her some fairy costumes, a princess crown or glass slippers, whatever! But it occurred to me that I didn't know how to pick out female clothing at all. Then, I jogged myself into the stationery department, thinking of getting her a school bag. Boy, a school bag? How boring can I be? So, off I go again, into the books department this time. And I got her something that I don't know whether she will like or not ? but I am quite sure it's hard to go wrong with books. Furthermore, I know I would have loved to get books as a present if I was still 9-years-old. Granted the fact that I was a major bookworm at that time.It's even worse for my 3-year-old niece ? I went from one department to another, shopping mall to shopping mall for days on end. Up till today, I come home empty-handed, wide-eyed and clueless. What in the world do you buy for a 3-year-old girl who already has everything she can ever wish for?"Bah!" to girls.Tackling
Another thing that bothers me is that I tend to be a little?.erm?.adventurous and wild with my kids. They're boys, so, they naturally like to roughhouse a little and jump, hop, skip, run, hide, scare?.tackle each other. And being a good mom, that's precisely the kind of games that I play with them. I tackle them to the ground, wrestler-fashion, knocking my knuckles into their skull, digging my fingernails into their backs and sides, biting into the butts, pushing their heads into pillows?..When my nieces come into the room and take one look at the kind of games that we're playing with each other, they have 2 different reactions. One, they gape at us. Two, they want to join us but is afraid to. I remember playing the roughhousing game with one of my nieces, throwing her up in the air the way I throw Jared. She went stiff like a baseball bat in the air and when I caught her back into my arms, she looked like she was going to barf! Her face was green and her lips suddenly had cracks on them.I gingerly placed her back on the floor and she sped out of the room.As for having a daughter, forget about it. I'll stick with my two monsters and continue with our snarling and growling activities until they decide that they want to play Barbie with their girlfriends. I will continue to enjoy my boys?.until next year rolls around.Marsha Maung is a freelance graphic designer and copy writer who works from her home in Selangor, Malaysia. She loves nothing more than blowing bubbles in the park with her 2 kids, Joshua and Jared and considers getting her hair yanked while playing horsey. To her, it's a privilege she treasures. She is the author of "Raising little magicians", and the popular "The Lance in freelancing". More information can be found at http://www.marshamaung.com