An ESL blog

Groundhog Day or Groundhog’s Day is a traditional festival celebrated in the United States and Canada on February 2. If the ground hog emerges and sees his shadow on this day, there will be 6 more weeks of winter. The origins of the tradition aren’t clear and its not backed up by any scientific facts.

The country’s most famous weather predicting groundhog Willie did not see his shadow when he woke up from his slumber Saturday in Wiarton, Ontario. So there will be an early spring this year. If its true everyone would be relieved a bit when cleaning up their drive ways after yesterdays snow storm.

There is also a movie called Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray.

If you ever wondered what is meant by the phrase ‘American Dream’. Here is a definition from the library of congress website.
In the book The Epic of America, James Truslow Adams used this term first.

“that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. It is a difficult dream for the European upper classes to interpret adequately, and too many of us ourselves have grown weary and mistrustful of it. It is not a dream of motor cars and high wages merely, but a dream of social order in which each man and each woman shall be able to attain to the fullest stature of which they are innately capable, and be recognized by others for what they are, regardless of the fortuitous circumstances of birth or position.”

Basically ‘American Dream’ implies material prosperity. But the hard truth is that material prosperity doesn’t always lead to happy life. This is the most efficient platform or system in the face of the planet to become financially successful for an ordinary person. End of that success journey (if there is one) doesn’t guarantee happiness.

The phrase ‘habitual jeans’ has been recently been searched a lot on the web.
What is ‘Habitual Jeans?

Habitual jeans can be recognized by the Maltese cross on the back pockets.Nicole Colovos and husband Michael Colovos created Habitual jeans in 2001 from their studio in New York.

How the phrase formed.
Habitual - after the “habit forming” nature of jeans.”

I always think about how other people think about me. But it is not easy to ask other people and find out. Who is going to tell our not so positive traits on our face?. Encharacter offers a solution for us. It has pretty simple interface. After the sign up we can send email requests from that site to our friends and family. Any one who goes to that unique address given to us can rate our personality traits.(whether we are friendly,lovable,honest …etc etc). From all of the ratings each character displayed as percentage. I found this tool very cool to play with.

It happens to every one of us every now and then,our good spirit get spoiled my some people’s acts. Here is a good story by an unknown author which I got from a newsletter. It is worth sharing.

The Law of the Garbage Truck
How often do you let other people’s nonsense change your mood?

Do you let a bad driver, rude waiter, curt boss or an insensitive employee ruin your day? Unless you’re the Terminator, for an instant you’re probably set back on your heels. However, the mark of a successful person is how quickly one can get back their focus on what’s important.

Sixteen years ago I learned this lesson. I learned it in the back of a New York City taxi cab and here is what happened. I hopped in a taxi and we took off for Grand Central Station. We were driving in the right lane when, all of a sudden a black car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his breaks, skidded and missed the other car’s back end by just inches!

The driver of the other car, the guy who almost caused a big accident whipped his head around and started yelling bad words at us. My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean he was friendly.

So, I said, ‘Why did you just do that, this guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!’

This is when my taxi driver told me what I now call, ‘The Law of the Garbage Truck.’

‘Many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it.If you let them, they’ll dump it on you. When someone wants to dump on you, don’t take it personally. You just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. You’ll be happy you did.’

So this was it - The ‘Law of the Garbage Truck.’

I started thinking, how often do I let Garbage Trucks run right over me and how often do I take their garbage and spread it to other people: at work, at home or on the streets!

It was that day I said, ‘I’m not going to do it anymore.’ I began to see garbage trucks. Like in the movie ‘The Sixth Sense,’ the little boy said, ‘I see Dead People.’ Well, now ‘I see garbage trucks.’ I see the load they’re carrying and I see them coming to drop it off and like my taxi driver, I don’t make it a personal thing. I just smile, wave, wish them well and I move on.

One of my favourite football players of all time, Walter Payton, did this every day on the football field. He would jump up as quickly as he hit the ground after being tackled. He never dwelled on a hit. Payton was ready to make the next play his best.

Good leaders know they have to be ready for their next meeting and good parents know that they have to welcome their children home from school with hugs and kisses. Good leaders and parents know that they have to be fully present and at their best for the people they care about. The bottom line is that successful and happy people do not let garbage trucks take over their day. What about you?

What would happen in your life, starting today, if you let more garbage trucks pass you by? Here’s my bet - I am sure you’ll be happier.

Life’s too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so - love the people who treat you right and forget about the ones who don’t. Believe that everything happens for a reason. If you get a chance - take it! If it changes your life - let it!

Nobody said it would be easy . . . they just promised it would be worth it!