Sponsor a World Vision Child

Dear Friends,

I was at a World Vision event recently and I heard a personal testimony of a real-life survivor who has overcome extreme hunger through Child Sponsorship. Getacher Beyene survived the 1984 Ethiopian Famine. Today, 30 years on, he educates new generations as a school teacher. He and his family survived the disaster thanks to World Vision. He was at the event as part of World Vision efforts to recognize and thank "Child Sponsors". 

World Vision has child sponsorship programs around the world. NGOs like World Vision play a major role in helping millions of people around the world. Ethiopia today is a different place thanks  to organizations such as World Vision and other NGOs. There is another disaster brewing in the Horn of Africa in Somalia.



What can you as a individual  do to help? We all want to help and there are millions of children who are living in poverty. The emcee at the event said something that was poignant. All you have to do is sow one seed at a time. You can make a difference. If each one of us can sponsor a child for S$45 a month with World Vision. You will pay for the child's upkeep and education. In one year you will only spend about S$540 for this program. Some of us spend money on useless things (the 20th handbag, shoes, or useless gadgets). We can share that money with a child who has no food, no clothes, no healthcare benefits, etc.Lets think about someone else for a change instead of ourselves.


Start today. You sow a seed and watch it grow. Soon you may want to help others. It feels good to know that your contribution has helped child not only survive but also succeed in life. You can help prevent the child from dying because of lack of food or health benefits and provide for some form of education which will help the child to grow and find a job and keep them from becoming a bum or drug addict or robber or a terrorist.

Go to World Vision website  http://www.wvi.org/wvi/wviweb.nsf

Mother Teresa said, if you can't feed many then just feed one.

Just do your part to make this world a better place as Michael Jackson said. God Bless!

Cheers,
Mark

Commitment of Sylvester Stallone- Motivational Story

Dear Friends,

I received this story about Sylvester Stallone via email. What a story. I have been a BIG-FAN of Sylvester Stallone since Rocky and Rambo. I agree his acting needs to improve a lot but he does not claim to be Sean Connery or Sir Anthony Hopkins or Pierce Brosnan or Daniel Craig aka James Bond. What I like about him is that he keeps at it despite all the criticism and bad reviews about his movies. But who has the last laugh......Stallone. His critics can say what they want. Stallone makes the movies that his fans and those who want simple story-line with mind blowing action entertained.

And Dog Lovers will like this story as well.

I hope this story will inspire anyone who is down and out.....never give up?

The Commitment Of Sylvester Stallone

 

"Surely, one of the best examples of the power of commitment and how ‘doing whatever it takes will get you what you want’ is the story of Sylvester Stallone. At his peak, Stallone was one of the most popular and highly paid stars in Hollywood, commanding a fee of US$20 million per movie. was he just born under a lucky star? Was he naturally talented actor? Was he at the right place at the right? Hardly. He was someone who seemed to have all the odds stacked up against him.
 
His family was so poor that his mother had to give birth to him on the doorsteps of a school. A blotched delivery by students caused a facial nerve to be severed, leaving him paralyzed on the right side of his face. As a result, Stallone had to live the rest of his life with slurred speech. He even had to deal with having drooping lower lip and being made fun of because of his name ‘Sylvester’ (associated with the Looney Tunes cat). Despite all these limitations, young Stallone dreamed of becoming an actor and inspiring millions of people through his movies.
 
First he enrolled in acting school and then started going for auditions. Predictably, with his wooden acting, his dopey looks and his slurred speech, Stallone was rejected for every part he applied for. But he never give up. Doggedly he just kept changing his strategy and taking action. The way he landed his first part is a fine example of how he was willing to do whatever it took. When he was rejected after yet another audition, he pulled up a chair in front of the manager’s office and sat down, refusing to leave unless they gave him a chance. After sitting there for hours, they were so moved by how much he wanted a chance that they relented and gave him a part. Although he appeared for a couple of minutes (as an extra), it gave him the first breakthrough he was after.
 
Unfortunately, that experience was followed by yet another string of unsuccessful attempts at getting another acting job. At that point, his wife told him to give up his ’stupid dream’ and get a real job. His reply was, ‘If i get another job, I would lose the only thing I have got going for me… my hunger.’ ‘By quitting and getting a job, I would be selling out on my dream’. Stallone actually wound up so broke and desperate that he was force to sell his dog for $50 in order to survive. It was the saddest moment in his life because his dog was the one friend he god left.
 
At the lowest point in his life, he watch a boxing match between the world heavyweight champion Muhammed Ali and Chuck Wepner, an underdog that everyone thought would be defeated within three rounds. What no one expected was Wepner’s determination and tenacity. He lasted the total of fifteen rounds with Ali, just refusing to go down. Sly was so inspired by what he saw that he had visions in his head about a movie that he was going to write. He started writing profusely for 84hours non-stop until he finished the manuscript for ‘Rocky’. He was so excited by the script because in his mind he knew that this was going to be the movie that would change his life and his fortune.
 
But when he went round attempting to sell his script, everyone felt that it was too predictable and that nobody would be interested in watching a movie about boxing. But he didn’t give up. He kept on going and going until one company made him an offer of US$75,000 for the script and the right to make the movie. This should have made Sly overjoyed but his dream was to be an actor and not a writer.
 
So, he told them that the condition of sale was that he be cast as the lead actor. They objected saying ‘You’re a writer! You not an actor!’. ‘There is no way we will let you act!’ But Sly stood his ground and refused to sell the script if he wasn’t the lead actor. They then increase their offer to US$255,000 up to US$1 million, but Sly kept insisting that he fitted the role of ‘Rocky’, and no one else. Although he was broke and hungry, he refused to sell out his dream for a six-figure pay check. That was his level of commitment.
 
Eventually, they reluctantly agreed, on the condition that the movie was made on a shoe string budget of less than a million dollars and Stallone would get only US$35,000 for the writing, and acting. Sly would however, get the percentage of the profits, if the movie made money. He agreed immediately. The first thing Sly did when he got his money was to go in search of the man who bought his dog to buy it back. When he finally tracked down the man, he offered to buy his dog back for US$100. The man declined his offer saying that he was not interested. Sly upped his offer to US$500. Still the man refused. Sly again upped his offer, this time to US$1,000. The man still would not budge saying ‘No amount of money will ever convince me to sell this dog.’
 
While most of us would give up at this point, Sly knew that if he was committed to do whatever it takes, he would find a way. Eventually, he did get his dog back. He paid the man a whopping of US$15,000 and also gave him a part in the movie as part of the deal. When Rocky was launched at the box office, it grossed over US$171 million and was nominated for ten academy awards (including best actor), eventually winning an Oscar for best Picture and Best Director. Sylvester instantly shot to fame as an action star and lucrative offers came in for future blockbusters, which were to eventuate in First Blood, Rambo and the Rocky sequels. His eventual success came from the fact that to him, becoming an actor was truly a must.

Sylvester Stallone believed that when you are committed enough, there is always a way! So start by asking yourself now, are you committed enough to be a Millionaire?"

Are you inspired to take action? Just do it!

Cheers,
Mark

The NESCAFE Account

I received this via email. Funny! Enjoy!

The top marketing director of Nescafe manages to arrange a meeting with the Pope at the Vatican.

Nescafe official, 'Your Eminence, I have some business to discuss. We at Nescafe have an offer for you. Nescafe is prepared to donate $100 million to the church if you change the Lord's Prayer from 'Give us this day our daily bread' to 'Give us this day our daily coffee'."

The Pope looks outraged and thunders, "That is impossible. The Prayer is the word of the Lord, It must not be changed."

"Well," says the Nescafe man somewhat chastened, "We anticipated your reluctance. For this reason, and the importance of the Lord's prayer to all Catholics, we will increase our offer to $300 million. All we require is that you change the Lord's Prayer from 'Give us this day our daily bread' to 'Give us this day our daily coffee'."

Again, even more sternly, the Pope replies, "That, my son, is impossible. For the prayer is the word of the Lord and it must not be changed."

Finally, the Nescafe director says, "Your Holiness, we at Nescafe respect your adherence to your faith, we realize that tradition is essential to your beliefs, we fully understand the importance of the word of the Lord but we do have one final offer. Please discuss it with your cardinals. We will donate $500 million."

The next day the Pope convenes the College of Cardinals. "There is some Good news," he announces, "and some bad news..... The good news is, he continues to a hushed assembly, that the Church will get $500 million."

"And what is the bad news, your Holiness?" asks a Cardinal.

"Sadly" says the Pope, "We would have to lose the Gardenia Account."
 

Give me a sense of humor. Lord, Give me the grace to see a joke, to get some humor out of life, and pass it on to other folks.

Movies To Watch

Hi Friends,

How have you been? I hope you like to watch movies. Here are two movies you should watch. This is not a review of the movies but my take on why I like it and you may like it too.Once is on a more serious note. After watching that you may need to bring your blood pressure down. So watch the second movie. It is therapeutic.

1) Inside Job
This is more of a documentary is directed by Charles Ferguson and narrated by Matt Damon. How I would describe this movie in two words is -SHOCKING and ANGRY! How greed and incompetencies of Banking Execs and Government Officials has brought the world financial system to its knees. How politics overrides logic....How the very people who created the problems become the solution providers in the US Government and get paid millions if not billions for their stupid acts..... How the rich get richer and the poor get left behind to deal with the mess created by unscrupulous individual protecting their own turf at any cost.

You should watch this movie to understand how the US financial system and policies work and how greed and cavalier behavior of the US Banks and certain individuals in big corporations created the current problems. What you may have read or seen is just the tip of the iceberg. The movie gives you the lowdown.

Lesson learned- Question the Government's policies. Similarly, the banks and their salary policies for their staff. Their staff get paid millions of dollars for losing our money. Why should they get millions of dollars for investing our money. That's their job and customers of the bank and the shareholders should get the profits.

We as individuals can help our own cause by being aware of the nonsense that is going on. Do not borrow if you cannot afford to pay back or you do not need a loan.Don't invest in anything you don't understand. Just listen to the world's best investor- Warren Buffet. Believe me when I say, even the banks do not know what they are selling. Look at what happened to Lehman Brothers. You need to SAVE money for your own future, spend within your means and diversify your investments and do not get swayed easily by anyone who tries to "sweet-talk" you into doing something that is not right and has only short term benefits.

2) Eat, Pray, Love
Lovely movie. I will probably watch it again. One of my favorite actress "Pretty Women"- Julia Roberts. If the Inside Job made you angry, then this movie will make you feel good. It will make you think about your own situation. Analyze your own life as you watch the movie or after you watch the movie to see if you are on the right track or if you need to make adjustments to make things right.

I quite like her travel to Italy and the movie made me want to eat pasta and pizza.I like her travel to India to reflect on her life. And I liked the Meditation- to control your mind so that you can control your destiny to a certain extent.

The movie tells you to enjoy life, find a balance and meditate. You need to have the courage to face reality and take action so that you can find the life you want to live- be it relationship, work, friends or any other issues. You can choose to moan and groan or take charge of your life.

Enjoy and let me know what you think of these two movies.

Cheers,
Mark

 

UK Riots! Why?

Hi Friends,

Like many of us, I am shocked by the events that have been happening in United Kingdom. What started out as a protest against the police in Tottenham has spiraled into full fledged riots throughout UK. Why? There are pockets of thugs and gangs that are responsible for this but how can people who know that stealing and fighting are wrong do the very things society opposes. What is worse is that the children millionaires and people holding important jobs such as teaching, who may have nothing to complain about have taken part in these riots.

I put the blame squarely on Parents for poor upbringing. This is a continuation of my previous blog about being good parents and bringing up good children. Society's core values such as speaking the truth-HONESTY, helping your fellow human beings-KINDNESS, not harming others including animals-NON-VIOLENCE, thou shall not be greedy-SHARE , etc are lost because  of selfish acts by the rioters for their own needs and myopic reasoning. Just because you do not have an iPhone or iPad you do not go and steal it. The right way is to work, earn,save and buy it. A Supermarket lost more than $200,000 worth of stock due to looting. I can't understand why David Cameron, the UK Prime Minister wants to cut the police force by 16,000 officers. Didn't his mother or teacher tell him the story about how the mice come out to play when the cat is away?

Why has society forgotten what is right and what is wrong? (I am generalizing....there are GOOD PEOPLE and God Bless them). Because everyone has become self-centred including parents. Everyone is busy trying build a good life. We forget what is important and what is right and wrong. We will justify our actions with twisted logic and get try to get away with murder.

Back to the UK riots....what are these people trying to do? Have they right a wrong? NO. In fact, they have created more damage. If they did not have a job now, they can forget about getting a job for the next few years because of the turmoil in the world economy. The UK economy which is not out of the woods, will suffer because of the riots. Tourism will fall, investments will dwindle, the UK government will need to divert resources- money & manpower to control the riots. The London Olympics will suffer and that is supposed to boost the UK economics. The English Premier League is also affected by the riots with a number matches were supposed to be postponed but luckily the police managed to quell the riots.In the end everybody suffers.

The riots have made a bad situation worse. People today do the stupidest things to get famous or infamous in most cases. I feel like starting the "STOP THE IDIOTS MOVEMENT". But then again, these are idiots, only god can save them. I wish the idiots behind the riot will realize this and hopefully change their ways.I will save my energy to help those who really need help.Two goods things came out of this riots if you can classify it "Good". One, you now know that there are idiots and mostly kids who need some kind of attention and education to rehabilitate them back to mainstream of society. All of us need to chip in to help them any way we can. One or two parents turned in their own children to the police because they were appalled by the children's actions. Secondly, it united people on the other side of the fence...THE GOOD GUYS/GALS to fend off these morons. Hopefully, we can bring these BAD GUYS back from the dark side.

The world is going through a tough time with the US downgrade by Standard and Poors (S n P) and the stock markets getting hit across the world. Billions of dollars were lost. Economies will suffer and companies will fold up. So, we need to do everything we can to help ourselves and our country to get out this situation.

I hope we will all learn from this unfortunate incident and learn. It all starts with good parenting.Children need good foundation to become responsible citizens. If you spare the rod, you will spoil the child. I am not telling you to become "TIGER MUM or DAD". Children need to learn to respect authority and respect others.

Love All, Serve All! Love Yourself and Respect Your fellow human beings.

Cheers,
Mark

Become a Better Parent & Bring Up Good Children!

Hi All,

I was having dinner with my primary school friends two weeks ago. We were reminiscing about how time has flown. In that time, we have seen the good and the bad amongst our friends. Most have done so well but a few have fallen wayward.

We started talking about how we have mellowed over the years and how the younger generation has a tougher time dealing with issues with all kinds of influence from Media and the Internet.We realized that our parents had given us a strong foundation. Even when some amongst us went wayward, we managed to bring ourselves back to the right path and redeem ourselves to a large extent.

It is not the case for youngsters today. They are dependent very much on themselves because they want to be independent, both parents are working, they hang out with friends more (sometimes with the wrong crowd), the influence of the Internet and television, all play a part to weaken the foundation.

It is up to these individuals to take charge of their lives at a young age so that they have a better future. It is my humble opinion that parents need to guide their children up to the age of 18 or in some cases till they are stable in their career which can be till 25 or even 30. But parents must start to pay attention to the children from a very young age not when they start rebelling.By then it will be too late.

Children are looking for guidance from parents. If they don't get it from parents, then they will turn to their friends and anybody who is willing to spend time with them and they may even turn to the Internet. This how parents lose control of their children. Shower them with love when they are young but don't spoil them or spoon feed them. They need to learn to do stuff for themselves with your guidance. That way they learn quickly. Parents need to learn to be good parents. Good parents will eventually bring up good children.


Simple Rules in Life:
-If you cannot help others then do not harm others. 
-No amount of help is small, so don't be shy. JUST HELP!
-Do not harm animals.
-If you find something give it back to the rightful owner. One day, when you lose something precious you will find it back without much effort.
-VOLUNTEER - your time and skill maybe needed by some charitable organization.
-Always strife to be a better person than you already are. We all need to grow as a person.
-Show love to every person who crosses your path. This world will be a much better place to live in if there is less hate and more love.

Love All, Serve All!

Best Wishes,
Mark

I love u my dearest father.....

Dear All,

My cousin sent me this from Australia via email. It was such a touching story it made me cry. Many of us do not realize how blessed we are parents and siblings who care about us. Most parents work hard and save their money so that they can make sure their children have a good life and a good future by making them study and get a good job. How do we pay our parents back. We only think about our selfish needs and take things for granted. Some even go to the extent of taking everything that their parents own. Some, once they get married, they forget about the sacrifices that their parents made. Instead, they listen to their wives or husbands and ignore their parents. Hopefully, this story will change your mind and the way you treat your parents.

"My dad only had one eye. I hated him... He was such an embarrassment. He cooked for students & teachers to support the family.
 

There was this one day during elementary school where my dad came to say hello to me. I was so embarrassed.

How could he do this to me? I ignored him, threw him a hateful look and ran out. The next day at school one of my classmates said, "EEEE, your dad only has one eye!". I wanted to bury myself. I also wanted my dad to just disappear. I confronted him that day and said, " If you're only gonna make me a laughing stock, why don't you just die?"

My dad did not respond....

I didn't even stop to think for a second about what I had said, because I was full of anger. I was oblivious to his feelings. I wanted out of that house, and have nothing to do with him. So I studied real hard, got a chance to go abroad to study. Then, I got married. I bought a house of my own. I had kids of my own. I was happy with my life, my kids and the comforts.

Then one day, my father came to visit me. He hadn't seen me in years and he didn't even meet his Grandchildren. When he stood by the door, my children laughed at him, and I yelled at Him for coming over uninvited. I screamed at him, "How dare you come to my house and scare my Children!"GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!!!"

And to this, my father quietly answered, "Oh, I'm so sorry. I may have gotten the wrong address," And he disappeared out of sight.
 

One day, a letter regarding a school reunion came to my house. So I lied to my wife that I was going on a business trip. After the reunion, I went to the old shack just out of curiosity. My neighbors said that he died. I did not shed a single tear. They handed me a letter that he had wanted me to have.

"My dearest son,

I think of you all the time. I'm sorry that I came to your house and scared your children. I was so glad when I heard you were coming for the reunion. But I may not be able to even get out of bed to see you.
 

I'm sorry that I was a constant embarrassment to you when you were Growing up you see........when you were very little, you got into an accident, and lost your eye.
 

As a father, I couldn't stand watching you. Having to grow up with one eye so I gave you mine. I was so proud of my son who was seeing a whole new world for me, in my place, with that eye.

With all my love to you,

Your father.

Always tell someone you care that you love them because you never know what day will be their last, or your own.

Always seek to resolve your problems or disagreements with loved ones because if either of you should pass on before, the one who is left alive will have the rest of their life to ponder those unresolved feelings but will never find closure. And closure usually brings Peace... ."

Love All, Serve All. God Bless our Parents! Happy Belated Father's Day!

Cheers,

Mark