sacred bull – is it familiar?
My six-year old son showed me a book. He clarified with me when he read the title, “Sacred Bull”. I just responded him that the book is for the “old”.
I remember when I was still a “post graduate” student during my younger years (when I was still single and younger at heart:), my classmate wanted to have an exchange token. She insisted to swap her book titled, “Sacred Bull”. That was in 1998 – ten years ago. When I read the title, “Sacred Bull” by a clinical psychologist, Albert Bernstein and writer/editor, Sydney Craft Rozen, I thought that it is another management book which talks purely about work. I became interested when the authors mentioned about “the perfectionist who micromanages everything, the complainer who always knows where to fix the blame but never how to fix the problem and the perpetually “nice” person – telling people what they want to hear.” The authors have also discussed enthusiastically about attitude and personality.
According to the authors, Sacred Bulls are beliefs that we follow without thinking because these are ideas that nobody checks or questions because “we’ve done it this way”. Sometimes, these are the source of many of the frustration at work. The authors have discussed each sacred bull in the entire book but I’d like to share each sacred bull in one line.
tips on making and taking criticism
Generally, a person does not want to inflict pain but sometimes human as he is, he is able to harm, belittles others by the way he talks or behaves toward someone without knowing that he is already making criticism. When one makes criticism, there are fourteen (14) useful tips which I’ve compiled as follows:continue here>>
Do you believe in supernatural beings?
Mysterious stories from supernatural forces, occurrences and beings are best shared during All Saints Day and All Souls Day. It would be easy for me to recall these experiences during this holiday.
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I don’t usually believe about ghosts and other mysterious stories because my inclination is geared towards science – everything may have scientific explanation.
My relatives and close friends have shared their stories about the so called, “other worlds” where they have personally witnessed other forms of creatures which we do not usually see in our world. I respect their stories because I feel their sincerity when they have shared these stories to me. Besides, I have also my own story. I have repeatedly heard stories from my younger sister on her experience when she slept alone in a rented house in a certain province. She woke up when she felt that there was an obstruction near her feet. When she opened her eyes to see below her feet, she saw a bearded dwarf who played something like a plastic. She shouted when the said dwarf suddenly kissed her. It was funny!
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My friend shared with me his experience when he saw something weird when he was watching TV at 2:00am. He immediately went downstairs when he remembered that he was not able to close the door. When he was about to close it, a green creature with bulging eyes suddenly appeared before him. Please continue here>>
Understanding democratic electoral process: a story
There was a documentary report about understanding democracy in the elementary school, City of Wuhan, Central China where eight-year old children compete for the position of Class Monitor (Class President). It started with an on the spot question to some children in school on the definition of democracy and the right to vote.
your “cockroach” may be useful
Many would see cockroach as useless and dangerous insect because it is a carrier of many diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, polio and others. Every time people see cockroach runs in houses, the immediate reaction is to terminate this lowest form of insects unless it escapes from our punishment. We are programmed to do, think and behave in this way because we have learned that this insect is not good for the health.
A different perspective
I read the Sunday Times newspaper on Singapore’s re-employment law while I was aboard SilkAir on 23rd September 2007 going to Singapore for an official trip. Singapore really takes good care of the elderly, to ensure that they have savings in their retirement years. For my one-week stay at Carlton Hotel, news focus more on workers’ welfare, on health issues and discussions about money – on Central Provident Fund (CPF) savings rather than politics.
In my observations, most janitorial jobs, waitresses and ordinary workers in some hotels and restaurants are mostly elderly except those professionals. When I read the Straight Times the following day, there is a new law which will take effect on Jan 1, 2012 where employers are required to re-employ workers reaching the age of 62, to work up to age 65, and eventually up to age 67. I thought it was already the practice because some restaurants and hotels have older employees. Old workers have an existing maximum workfare income supplement (WIS) of S$100 per month. To encourage their workers to work longer, the maximum WIS will be increased to S$150 for workers aged above 55 to 60, and to S$200 for those above age 60.
Another ten commandments
I have come across an article which is called, “Ten Paradoxical Commandments” by Dr. Kent M. Keith. I find these commandments a good read because it involves “politics in life” which may be useful in our day to day interaction with people. These are some good observations which may be true in our experiences in the workplace, in the community where we live or our experiences everywhere. I was able to read a blog called ‘Attitude of Faith‘ from Sonnie’s Porch which sparks and opens my simple and contented mind on life’s reality which also talks about principles in the commandments. A good read on Attitude of Faith coupled with these ten paradoxical commandments are good insights which may be helpful to us in one way or the other.
most significant learning
Five years had passed, but the good memories I’ve experienced in the island of Malapascua, Cebu, have etched in my mind. People in the island expressed their smile when we had a learning session with them.
One of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) officials in Daan Bantayan, Cebu invited me to conduct a Team Building seminar at Malapascua Island. There was no hesitation because the invitation was timely for a family gathering and an opportune time for me to know the people of the island. A DILG officer had informed me that my participants were appointed and elected barangay officials of a certain barangay in that beautiful island.
Upon our arrival in the place by boat, I had felt the whistling of the cool breeze of the winds blowing towards our ears. It was dark at that time – a scheduled black out. The boat arrived near the beach, fronting the restaurants and bars owned by some foreigners. Early morning of the next day, we rode a rented motorcycle going to the seminar venue. The tall, green grass and rough path had served as the guide of the motorcycle driver. It was eight o’clock in the morning when we had arrived in the place – a big and unfinished house at that time of a certain municipal councilor. Lights in the house turned on when the generator had run.
Would you still desire to live a longer life?
Some scientists have conducted genetic studies of the centenarians. They believe that the average human life span has an inherent upper limit but they do not agree whether it is 85, 100 or 150. According to sciencemag.org, the longest -living human ever documented was a 122-year old lady named Jeanne Calment of France (1875-1997). As of January 2007, the oldest living person is a 114-year old Yone Minagawa of Japan.
Evercare, a division of UnitedHealth Group which is focused on the health care needs of the Americans aged 50 years old and older, conducted a telephone survey of 100 people aged 99 years old and older. Eighty-seven percent of the survey respondents were white. Some of the noticeable findings showed that:
- 31% of centenarians have watched reality TV shows.
- 27% of centenarians have watched MTV or music videos.
- 1 in 7 centenarians has played video games.
- 68% of centenarians get their news from television, although 40% read newspapers.
- 11% of centenarians have ordered from Starbucks.
- When asked whom they most trust to tell the truth, 34% of centenarians chose their minister, rabbi, or priest — just ahead of their doctor or nurse at 28%.
One of the respondents, aged 106 years old was asked her secret of long life, she said, “I didn’t do anything special. I just lived a normal life.”
Life expectancy varies from one country to another country. More developed regions in the world have higher life expectancy than less developed regions. There are some countries like Saudi Arabia with very high GNP per capita but don’t have high life expectancies. While countries like China and Cuba which have low GNP per capita but have high life expectancies.
Life expectancy is a statistical measure of the average length of survival of a living thing. It is often calculated separately for differing gender and geographic location. What could be the reason of higher life expectancy of the person? According to Forbes, there are ten ways to live longer. These are the following:
Join in the pursuit of a strong republic
Philippines is blessed with so many languages. It is about time to rekindle the importance of languages which symbolize the unique culture of the country. We may have over 170 languages, where almost all of them belong to Austronesian languages but we are still united with our common and official languages, English and Filipino.
This month is a National Language Month. Previously, President Sergio Osmeña issued Proclamation No. 35 on March 26, 1946 designating the period, March 27 to April 2 of each year as the National Language Week. President Ramon Magsaysay issued Proclamation no. 186 on September 23, 1955 declaring August 13 to 19 of every year as the National Language Week. The end of the week coincided with the birth anniversary of President Manuel Quezon as the Father of our National Language. Former President Corazon Aquino issued Proclamation No. 19 reiterating the proclamation of the National Language Week on August 13 to 19 of every year. Former President Fidel V. Ramos decided to issue Proclamation No. 1041 on January 15, 1997 to give importance to our national language where he declared the whole month of August of every year as our National Language Month.
This month is your opportunity to share your knowledge, your writing ability to Pinoyblogosphere and to the whole world ready to read your message on the importance of this celebration. Let us remember this celebration with your good thoughts. Join the Wika2007 Blog Writing Contest with the theme, “Maraming Wika, Matatag na Bansa”
