GodsThumb

The origins of Valentine’s Day trace back to the ancient Roman celebration of Lupercalia. Held on February 15, Lupercalia honored the gods Lupercus and Faunus, as well as the legendary founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus.

In addition to a bountiful feast, Lupercalia festivities are purported to have included the pairing of young women and men. Men would draw women’s names from a box, and each couple would be paired until next year’s celebration.

While this pairing of couples set the tone for today’s holiday, it wasn’t called “Valentine’s Day” until a priest named Valentine came along. Valentine, a romantic at heart, disobeyed Emperor Claudius II’s decree that soldiers remain bachelors. Claudius handed down this decree believing that soldiers would be distracted and unable to concentrate on fighting if they were married or engaged. Valentine defied the emperor and secretly performed marriage ceremonies. As a result of his defiance, Valentine was put to death on February 14.

After Valentine’s death, he was named a saint. As Christianity spread through Rome, the priests moved Lupercalia from February 15 to February 14 and renamed it St. Valentine’s Day to honor Saint Valentine.

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The First Secret:
Have a mind that is open to everything and attached to nothing.

The Second Secret:
Don’t die with your music still in you.

The Third Secret:
You can’t give away what you don’t have.

The Forth Secret:
Embrace silence.

The Fifth Secret:
Give up your personal history.

The Six Secret:
You can’t solve a problem with the same mind that created it.

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Being a parent is a learning experience. It’s about learning to take care of someone who is unable to care for themselves. Above all, being a parent teaches you about yourself. Here are a few things you may not have known about your new baby.

Tears contain stress hormones, so we cry to release stress. No other animal does this. Your baby can’t cry tears for at least three weeks, sometimes not until they are four or five months old.

Kissing has origins in primitive practices of weaning. Originally people would chew their baby’s food and then pass it from their mouth to their baby’s mouth. You can obsere primates doing this.

Nearly all mothers will carry their baby’s on their left side so that baby’s head is next to mother’s heart. Hearing a mother’s heartbeat soothes a baby.

We instinctively rock our babies at a heartbeat pace. Again this soothes them. When inside the womb, the mother’s heartbeat was the one constant noise a child heard. Hearing a mother’s heartbeat reminds them of the womb; a place of refuge and safety.

During her first six months of life your baby can distinguish more sounds then she will be able to in later life. This is so that she could adapt to any human language. As time passes she will become ‘tuned’ to her native language.

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Well it is groundhog day week! February 2 brings the most-watched weather forecast of the year—and the only one led by a rodent. Legend has it that on this morning, if a groundhog can see its shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter. If it cannot see its shadow, spring is on the way.

Why the Groundhog?

Since a groundhog (or woodchuck or “whistle pig”) hibernates for the winter, its coming out of the ground is a natural sign of spring. In Europe centuries ago, people watched for other hibernating animals, including badgers, bears, and hedgehogs, as signs of winter’s end. Germans who immigrated to Pennsylvania in the mid-1800s began keeping an eye on the groundhog. The widespread population of the rodent made it a handy agent for this particular weather superstition.

And a superstition it is. But there’s a grain of truth: the winter days when you can see your shadow clearly are often especially cold, because there are no clouds overhead to insulate the earth.

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Many creatures that we are familiar with are venomous or poisonous. Perhaps because they have not produced a large number of human fatalities we are not warned of their dangers. Nevertheless it is wise to know what these creatures are capable of doing. This is a list of the 7 animals you didn’t know were venomous or poisonous. They are in no particular order.

7. Cuttlefish

The cuttlefish is closely related to the squid and octopus. It has 10 arms covered with tiny suckers and at the base is their beak. This beak injects a fast acting venom which is not harmful to humans. The venom works by attacking the victim’s nervous system.

6. Hooded Pitohui

A songbird from New Guinea. Its skin as well as feathers contain a very powerful poison called: homobatrachotoxin. This is the same poison found in the South American dart frogs, although it is severely less toxic then the frogs and a whole bird would have to be eaten for any real harm to occur. The poison is transferred easily to humans by merely touching or handling the bird.

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In Letterman-like fashion, I am presenting the most horrifying, offensive and incessant co-worker behaviors that infect the office and kill your productivity.

#10. Gum chewing. Whether it occurs just at inappropriate times or constantly throughout the day, gum chewing can be a major distraction. The constant “smack, smack, smack” of your boss’ mouth is not only irritating but unprofessional.

#9. Smelly food. Nothing distracts more than a co-worker with a strong smelling lunch. A ban on microwaved fish should be instituted immediately in offices nationwide.

#8. Clipping fingernails. Aside from the bothersome clinking sound of the clippers, you must also guard against nail clippings flying at you as you walk by. Personal grooming habits are best kept personal and have no place in an office environment.

# 7. Bad coffee breath. A five-minute meeting with a foul-smelling co-worker can feel like an overnight retreat. Skip offering them gum (see annoying habit #10) and go straight for the mints instead.

# 6. Unsolicited Humming. Sitting next to a budding American Idol is not fun, no matter how great a voice your co-worker might have. There are some great noise-cancelling headphones on the market nowadays that are surprisingly affordable.

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1. Somalia

This Horn of Africa country has been in the grip of warlords for the last decade, fighting for control of drug and weapon trafficking rights. Risks include military clashes, kidnapping, landmines and pirates.

2. Iraq

Military action, collateral damage, insurgency and suicide bombings are daily occurrences in the country. Security experts say unstable areas include Baghdad and stretch from Tikrit in the north to Hillah in the south and from Mandali in the east to Ramadi in the west.

3. Afghanistan

Even though the ruling Taliban regime was officially ousted in Afghanistan in 2001, attacks from those still loyal to it and to al Qaeda continue. Military personnel and civilians are killed by improvised explosive devices daily.

4. Haiti

Sharing the Caribbean island of Hispaniola with top vacation destination Dominican Republic, Haiti, the western hemisphere’s poorest country, is plagued by civil unrest, police corruption and readily available firearms.

5. Pakistan

The country, which borders Afghanistan, suffers from ongoing geopolitical turmoil. Bomb attacks and rioting between Shia and Sunni Muslim communities are a threat. In December 2007, opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated during a suicide bombing after months of strife over delayed elections.

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Age is frequently blamed for a failing memory but advancing years are not always the cause. Like a muscles, the brain needs a regular exercise or it will become flabby. So regular mental exercises will help. The next time you find yourself at a loss in the grocery store, consider the following:

Make an Effort.
If you need to remember something, take notes. Seeing something in writing will get your brain into gear.

Conjure up a clever mnemonic.
After all, we all remember “Never Ear Shredded Wheat” for the points of a compass. It also helps that this particular mnemonic has the added extra of rhyming, which is another excellent memory tool.

Use the link method.
This ingenious technique is perfect for remembering lists. The theory is that you link each item on the list to the next by way of story.

Think visually.
The majority of people remember things best with a visual picture. Create your own.

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Well since my post “The Amazing Benefits of Sleep” was liked so much, I have decided to share some interesting facts about sleep.

40 FACTS ABOUT SLEEP YOU PROBABLY DIDN’T KNOW…
(OR WERE TOO TIRED TO THINK ABOUT)

-The record for the longest period without sleep is 18 days, 21 hours, 40 minutes during a rocking chair marathon. The record holder reported hallucinations, paranoia, blurred vision, slurred speech and memory and concentration lapses.

- It’s impossible to tell if someone is really awake without close medical supervision. People can take cat naps with their eyes open without even being aware of it.

- Anything less than five minutes to fall asleep at night means you’re sleep deprived. The ideal is between 10 and 15 minutes, meaning you’re still tired enough to sleep deeply, but not so exhausted you feel sleepy by day.

- A new baby typically results in 400-750 hours lost sleep for parents in the first year

- One of the best predictors of insomnia later in life is the development of bad habits from having sleep disturbed by young children.

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Hiring a new employee is something that professionals often postpone as long as possible. It is important to find the right person to fill the vacancy. The hiring process takes time and effort. There is a big temptation to add someone who is available at that moment and looks like they have the skills to do it. This is often a mistake. Here is a list of other hiring mistakes that professionals frequently make:

1. No job description – By writing down in detail the tasks that this employee will be required to do the hiring manager will be able to see clearly the qualifications a person will need to do this job.

2. Hiring someone without the necessary skills – It will be clear from the job description what skills are necessary for the job. Testing the candidate to be sure that his or her skills are current is also important. (Use a Proof reading, filing, or grammar skills assessment.)

3. Hiring someone without having the person take a behavioral assessment – The assessment will help you see if this person will fit into the office and compliment the skills of the other people. It will also help you to communicate with the person in a way that that person will hear. Most managers tend to hire people like themselves when in fact they may need someone who can do some of the things that the manager doesn’t enjoy.

4. Hiring someone whose temperament or personality is wrong for the job – Some positions require people who are talkative and friendly and others require people who enjoy working by themselves. Certain tasks require a detail oriented person while others need some one who sees the big picture. Knowing the personality type and temperament that is best for the particular position will help the manager find the right person.

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