yummy yummy... we are going to have another one on 19 Feb... 
wanna join?
By Wendy Betterini
If you've ever had a yearly performänce review for your job, you know it
can be a tense experience that determines whether you receive a pay raise
or not. Your boss will likely have a detailed checklist of your progress
and success, as well as notations on areas that could use some
improvement.
While these reviews can be stressful, they are also helpful because they
offer a bïgger perspective than you would ordinarily see in your
day-to-day job functions. You might become aware of activities that are
unproductive, limiting, or even detrimental to your professional
advancement.
You can also benefit from this same process by creating an annual New Year
review for your life. It can help you assess progress in all areas of your
life, address challenges and obstacles, and come up with some exciting
goals and plans for the New Year.
The best time to do a review is during the last few weeks of the year, but
it can be done any time you want a fresh start. You can choose to do just
one session or several, whatever works best for you.
* Set the Mood
When you are ready to begin, first create a calm, quiet atmosphere. Put on
comfortable clothing and choose a private area where you won't be
disturbed for 30-60 minutes. You can also light some scented candles and
incense, and play some soft music if you like. Grab a pen and notebook or
journal. Then take a few minutes to sit quietly and take some slow, deep
breaths. This will help you release stress and focus your thoughts.
* Review
Now you are ready to begin reviewing your life over the past year. Did you
accomplish everything you wanted to? Were there areas that could have
used some improvement? Give some thought to these six categories:
1) Physical health and fitness (diet, exercise)
2) Financial wellness (earnings, savings, investments)
3) Spiritual growth (inner peace, meditation, prayer)
4) Mental health (positive thoughts, attitude)
5) Career (job, business)
6) Relationships (with significant others, children, friends, family)
Ask yourself three questïons about each of these areas, and write your
answers in the journal.
1) Which of my positive actions contributed to growth and progress? 2)
Which of my negative actions caused stagnation and lack of progress? 3)
What could I do better to improve my progress in the coming year?
It is very important not to judge yourself harshly during this process! An
annual review is not about beating yourself up or concluding that you're
a terrible person. This should be an unemotional, objective view of your
life goals and progress. By becoming aware of areas where you can take
more control over your life, you can create more success and abundance.
* Plan
Now that you have a clear view of the past year and ideas about what you
could do differently, you can make plans and set goals for the coming
year. Again, look at the six main areas of your life: Physical health,
Financial wellness, Spiritual growth, Mental health, Career, and
Relationships. What would you like to create for yourself in the coming
year? Write some specific goals for each category. Your goals should be
realistic, yet somewhat challenging. You want to dream big, but not
overwhelm yourself either. It can also be helpful to break your bïgger
goals down into smaller increments. You can set 3 month goals, 6 month
goals, 9 month goals, and 12 month goals.
* Action Steps
This is a crucial step in the process. Once you have your goals set for
each category, think about the action steps that will move you toward your
goals. For example, if you want to losë weïght and get into better shape,
daily exercise would be an action step. That is something you need to do
every day (or nearly every day) in order to accomplish your goal. Be
specific with the action goals. Don't just write, "Eat healthy." Write
down exactly which foods you want to include, and which you want to avoid.
Write down the exact types of exercise you want to include, which days of
the week you want to do them, and for how many minutes each day.
* Enjoy the Journey
Once you begin putting your action steps into motion, it's important to
understand that self-improvement is a process. You won't change
everything overnight. By expecting too much, too soon, you could sabotage
yourself. Instead, keep focusing on the action steps every day.
Congratulate and praise yourself for keeping with it. If you begin to
slack off, be firm with yourself about getting back on track, but again,
don't beat yourself up. Simply refocus on your goals and begin again. All
positive actions will create positive results, and as long as you keep
trying, you cannot fail.
* Gauge Your Progress
It can be helpful to keep performing daily or weekly checks to be sure you
are moving in the right direction. Simply review the goals and action
steps you have set for yourself, and assess whether you are on track or
not. Again, keep this process unemotional and objective. If you see areas
that could use improvement, you already know the steps to take to turn
them around again.
Activities like this review process can be such a powerful tool in our own
development. No matter what we've achieved or haven't achieved in the
past, it's nevër too late to start over. Each new day is a chance to
invite more love, abundance, joy, peace, and success into our lives.
Simply by focusing our thoughts and taking action toward our goals, we can
create virtually anything we desire.
keeping for inspiration and to keep us all going........
One day I decided to quit...I quit my job, my relationship, my
spirituality.. I wanted to quit my life. I went to the woods to have one
last talk with God.
"God", I said. "Can you give me one good reason not to quit?"
His answer surprised me...
"Look around", He said. "Do you see the fern and the bamboo?"
"Yes", I replied.
"When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of
them. I gave them light. I gave them water. The fern quickly grew from
the earth.
Its brilliant green covered the floor. Yet nothing came from the bamboo
seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo. In the second year the Fern grew
more vibrant and plentiful. And again, nothing came from the bamboo
seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo." He said.
"In year three there was still nothing from the bamboo seed. But I would
not quit. In year four, again, there was nothing from the bamboo seed. I
would not quit." He said
"Then in the fifth year a tiny sprout emerged from the earth. Compared
to the fern it was seemingly small and insignificant...But just 6 months
later the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall. It had spent the five years
growing roots. Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to
survive. I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not
handle." He said to me.
"Did you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling,
you have actually been growing roots?"
"I would not quit on the bamboo. I will never quit on you."
"Don't compare yourself to others." He said. "The bamboo had a different
purpose than the fern. Yet they both make the forest beautiful."
"Your time will come", God said to me. "You will rise high"
"How high should I rise?" I asked.
"How high will the bamboo rise?" He asked in return.
"As high as it can?" I questioned
"Yes." He said, "Give me glory by rising as high as you can."
I left the forest and bring back this story. I hope these words can help
you see that God will never give up on you. He will never give up on
you.
Never regret a day in your life.
Good days give you happiness; bad days give you experiences; both are
essential to life.
Happy Thanks Giving to everyone!
Thanks Giving is a big day in United State of America. This day normally falls on the last thursday of Nov. So it's a public holiday on that day as well as Friday. 
good news huh?
For those hard core shopers, there will be the biggest sale of the year on the day after thanks giving. I checked out the newspaper just now. Saw something that interested me like 80G Hitachi hard drive free after rebate (probably still need to pay some sale tax), 512M SDcard $9.99 after rebate (for my future camera. 
), bluetooth headset $9.99 after rebate. All the store like Radio Shack, Circuit City, Best Buy, Fry's Electronic, Macy, Sears, and other outlet stores open very early tomolo. Most of them open at 5am or 6am. A lot of people start q at the door there before they open because all the good deal stuff is limited 5 or 10 per store, and also limited 1 per customer. So do i wanna scarifice my bed time for those deal tomolo morning? This is still a big ??? for me. (remember? at least sleep 8hrs same time daily for healthy living. 
)
So what do i do for this day? Basically I just spend time with friends and myself. I just came back from bowling then lunch with some friends, then now spend some time with myself in front of computer and tv before going to friend's place for thanks giving dinner.
Thanks Giving is also a day for us to spend time with family and our love one. A day to show your gratitude on what we had. Actually we should treat everyday like a thanks giving. Yesterday is history. Today is a gift. Tomolo is a mystery. However the worst thing of this day is turkey. dunno how many thousands of turkey get killed because of thanks giving day. Anyway, enjoy your turkey tonite and Happy Thanks Giving!
I got this from Amazing Grace. It makes my day! Just would like to share this to everyone.
Thank You, Amazing!
After more than 6 hours drive from Bay Area on last sat, we finally reach here... The Universal City, Hollywood... As usually which got a bit kiasu, all the shops and theme park open at 9am, but we arrived there at 8:30am, hehe...
All the pic above were taken from the universal city where outside the universal studio theme park.
Guess we met meet who at the gate of the universal studio?
After that we went into the theme park. There are a lot of intersting 3D, 4D, and live show. T2 is the most famour 3D + live show over there. This is my 3rd times watching it. The last 2 times i experienced it in Florida Universal Studio more than 6 years ago.
hmm... isn't it look familiar with my skyline?
how about this?
and this?
yes... Back To The Future, haha... the ride is still same as the one in Florida.
There were another two rides which is the Mummy and the Jurassik Park. The Mummy one is quite fun, but very short... just close eyes and open eyes, finished already...
There are two very nice live shows, which are Animals Planet and The Water World.
There are also some movie characters in the studio.
There also have a hollywood tour which bring us to where those movie made. The tour is about 45mins. Basically you say everything inside there is fake one, including the rain, trees, river, sea, n ect...
seen this in War of the World?
After the whole nite drive and whole day walk in universal studio, it was really really tire... After this, we didn't go to anywhere else but go to check-in motel and sleep then drive back to bay area on the next day.
Happy viewing!
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