Can A Little Extra Weight Protect People From Early Death? Underweight, Extremely Obese Die Earlier Than People Of Normal Weight

Underweight people and those who are extremely obese die earlier than people of normal weight—but those who are overweight actually live longer than people of normal weight.

This is a good article in terms of understanding where you are and where you want to be?

So, Are you surviving, sacrificing, sustaining, stimulating, or succeeding?

Are You Living for the Short Term or the Long Term? - BusinessWeek

In analyzing how we spend our time, whether personally or professionally, it can be helpful to consider two dimensions: short-term satisfaction and long-term benefit. Both have value. It can be disappointing to live our lives with no meaning or pleasure in the here and now, just as it can be unfulfilling to live only for today.

We have only one life and a short one at that - that pretty much is something we have to realize - we don’t have forever, and someday we will go.

There will be no regrets when we go (regrets or not, it will happen), but it is important I think that we leave a legacy and a feeling that at least the world is a better place because of us.

I am now 43, and for the last 25 or so years, i have been very conscious of this, and have spent a big part of my time trying to better my financial condition ( in short, earn a living), as well as do what I can to contribute back to society - either engaging in community activities, participating in chamber of commerce activities and charitable endeavors, teaching, and also writing.

Because I live in a developing country, what was always impressed upon me is that poverty is the single biggest hindrance to happiness and fulfillment, and therefore its elimination must therefore be the prime importance. 

Indeed, even among those of us who are middle or upper class, who does not harbor the illusion that maybe tomorrow, we will suddenly become obscenely rich, and therefore will spend the rest of our lives indulging in what we want without having to worry again about money, and therefore live happily ever after.

Yet, the pursuit, and attainment of happiness is more than that.

The last one or so years, i have started writing and publishing business comics books, teaching in my alma maters master of management program, and also playing in a band.  This has brought upon me some fulfillment and I justify that I am planting a rose. What does it mean?

It means that attainment of fulfillment is more than just eliminating hindrances, lifting miseries or righting wrongs.  It means we need also to provide people with good mental attitude and reasons to be happy.  A poor person will become miserable if we allow him to focus that he must be become rich first to be happy, and imposes on him the thinking that until he becomes so, he does not have the right to be happy.

In short, we need to build better gardens ( and communities) — and the way to build a great garden is to do two things — you remove the weeds and you plant the flowers. Let us not be only too focused on removing the weeds.  Let us plant some flowers.  I am proud that we just recently released a CD, and we hope that our music will be one of the flowers that will give to listeners some measure of enjoyment.

They say art is something that makes a person feel less lonely, and I would like to think by dabbling into music, I am doing something worthwhile as well.  Is your role that of clearing away the weeds, or planting the flowers?

Technorati Tags: Asian troubadours wilson ng bizdrivenlife ngenius itsngenius engy

I have uploaded my first piano performance. Its a piano solo and the piece is dedicated to the memory of Glenn Westerman, a friend who was the former CEO of Lexmark Philippines.

I feel proud on this because this video was recorded and edited by my 15  year old son, Earl christianson Ng

Looking forward to your comments:

I’d like to thank the hundreds of people who took time to listen to our music in myspace.

Also the people who click on the right sidebar upper link where you can get samples of our music.

If you like it, and is ok to put it in your blog or site, please do so.

The following code should work:

<div style=”width:220px;”><object width=”200″ height=”280″><param name=”movie” value=”http://media.imeem.com/pl/NUblpYESuU/aus=false/”></param><param name=”wmode” value=”transparent”></param><embed src=”http://media.imeem.com/pl/NUblpYESuU/aus=false/” type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” width=”200″ height=”280″ wmode=”transparent”></embed></object><div style=”background-color:#E6E6E6;padding:1px;”><div style=”float:left;padding:4px 4px 0 0;”><a href=”http://www.imeem.com/”><img src=”http://www.imeem.com/embedsearch/E6E6E6/” border=”0″  /></a></div>

It was a matter of time. The author did not go into all that trouble without trying to benefit!

Conficker virus begins to attack PCs: experts by Reuters: Yahoo! Tech

BOSTON (Reuters) -

A malicious software program known as Conficker that many feared would wreak havoc on April 1 is slowly being activated, weeks after being dismissed as a false alarm, security experts said.

Conficker, also known as Downadup or Kido, is quietly turning thousands of personal computers into servers of e-mail spam and installing spyware, they said.

The last few months, i have been practicing on my piano again, and we formed a band called the Asian Troubadours.

We recorded some music, and I would appreciate your visit and comments either on the website, or on our MySpace Website.

I also have put up a music player on the upper right sidebar of this blog, and you are free to double click any music selection you may want to listen.

Fortune released their 500 list.

One statistics that is significant - Fortune 500 companies collectively had $645 billion in profits for 2007.  In 2008, that went down 85 percent to only $98.9 billion.

Exxon Mobil overtakes Wal-Mart to top Fortune 500 - Yahoo! News

Exxon Mobil Corp. unseated Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in the 2009 Fortune 500 list, shrugging off the oil price bubble and weathering what the magazine called the worst year ever for the country’s largest publicly traded companies.

Fortune’s closely watched list, released Sunday, ranked companies by their revenue in 2008. Irving, Texas-based Exxon took in $442.85 billion in revenue last year, up almost 19 percent from 2007. The company also raked in the biggest annual profit, earning $45.2 billion.

Bentonville, Ark.-based Wal-Mart had held the top spot for six of the last seven years but fell to No. 2 this year. Still, the retail giant’s 2008 revenue climbed 7 percent to $405.6 billion, as the battered economy sent more consumers searching for bargains. The world’s largest retailer took in $13.4 billion in annual profit, an increase of about 5 percent.

In Japan, I cannot help but notice how many people are so polite, helpful, and most of all, they decline your tip.  That makes you feel good in the sense that you get the feeling that the smile, and the courtesy was so genuine, and not eying some short end returns , like a gratuity.

IN the United States, people are polite, until you don’t give them not only their tip, but their expected amount, and they give you a glare.

Human relationships used to mean that since we live together, and/or cross paths, then we have the obligation to be courteous and civil to each other.  That helps builds a society that has meaning, and satisfying.

Excellent service used to mean that since I am patronizing my business, I deserve to get some attention, and courtesy.  If i am happy because you went out of your way, and did more than the usual, then I may give you a small appreciation.

However, tips nowadays seems to be obligatory, and that being said, it does seem that more obligations is now put into the customer rather than the person serving.

I still think Americans are becoming too materialistic and too short term minded.

IN Japan, most everything is expensive, but then everybody pays the same high price, and gets the same personal attentive service….

We always need to hit our short term goal, but we should not forget always the long term objective… What was the purpose of the tip in the first place, and when you see that it has become a tool for service companies to underpay their people, and therefore the people have to be forced to do whatever tactics to strongarm their customers to get their extra tip which the employer has had to give in the first place, then it becomes a hideous tool.

my kid graduated salutatorian and plans to be valedictorian for high school graduation. I’m terribly proud of him.

Me, I don’t mind his honors. But it matters that I did not have to push him to do it, and the resolve comes from him.

What matters is he has a plan to excel ( I always believe that we should choose an endeavor that will improve the lives of people around us, and also an endeavor where we could achieve self satisfaction by our being able to do something better than most people) and knows how to execute that plan.

Its great to have ambition but better, to put hard work and passion behind that ambition. Many people are proud they have great Ambition but ambition without work is but just a daydream.