7 Ways to Discover Happiness When You Hate the World

In life, we are bound to experience the challenges that can sometimes put us down, it sometimes makes us forget to look at the brighter side of things. But with the help of our friends and family, we can stand up again and be able to aim for happiness. We just need to be positive and thankful for whatever we currently have.

 “Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions.” ~Dalai Lama

Happiness is the most wanted dream for everyone. Almost everyone when asked about what they want in life, the answer will mostly be happiness. Happiness is always the primary goal–others are only secondary.

A mother when asked about what she wants for her child will surely answer to happiness.

Happiness is already challenging to find. But finding happiness when you hate the world is not just challenging but really daunting.

When I was on top of my career some years ago, happiness was mostly based on achievement. That was before tragedy struck. I was then supposed to be sent to the head office of my company in Vancouver. But fate was against my career path. I was diagnosed with a kidney disease. The same disease that killed some members of my family.

Sadly, I shared the same fate. I hated the world for giving me this just when I was at my prime. I was full of anger. It was the hardest time of my life. I had to stop working. I had to stay in the hospital to undergo different procedures. It was a tiring and long process; it tested what everything in me: including my faith and strength.

I was ready to give up when a friend told me that I shouldn’t. He said I’m still breathing and that is proof enough for hope. He said I just lost a job not my life, that, I can still be happy. I have my family and friends–he made me realize.

I should not be hindered by this awful disease. Instead, it should push me to fight.

I did.

It made me realize that happiness arrives through different routes.

Here’s my journey to finding happiness while hating everything that’s happening around me:

1. Acceptance

In my experience knowing and accepting things make everything easier. I’m not saying it will cure the pain you are experiencing but it can help you grieve. Being able to grieve is one of the most important steps in the process of healing.

Acknowledging the pain can make moving on easier. In due time, the pain will subside and the sadness will diminish.

2. Surround yourself with people who love you

Encouragement from people not just helps strengthen you but it also helps you regenerate.  A support system makes you feel safer and they can make you stay away from revisiting and rehashing old wounds.

If you only see the sticky mud after the rain, you will overlook the beautiful rainbow above. Positivity is the key. With friends, family and even pets, you will find the road to happiness passable.

3. Distract yourself

Keeping yourself busy makes you focus on other things. So, why not go and join activities that can energize your body? Activities like dancing, exercising or singing can be a better way to waste time. Staying at home all the time and not mingling with other people will just remind you of the pain.

So go out there and release all the tension in your system. You will notice that after a while, you can think clearly again and focus more on how you can achieve the happiness that you are aiming for.

4. Smile

Give yourself reasons to smile at people. Sometimes even the act of smiling itself can make you happier. When we are in pain, this is the first thing that we forget.

We tend to wallow too much of our losses that we forget our ability to smile. Smile and start focusing on what can make you happy.

5. Be positive

There is a saying that when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. When life becomes hard and difficult we need to be resilient. We should not let it put us down.

It’s not the trouble that can bring us down. Looking at the positive side of things can bring wonderful resolutions to whatever problems we encounter. Make the sour sweet.

6. Calm yourself by writing

Whenever I feel down and I feel like the world is just against me, I try to calm myself by writing. Keeping a journal of how I feel makes me see things in a different light. Often it allows me to work through these emotions, making me feel better and making life seem extra beautiful.

7. Be thankful

Aside from being positive, being thankful for what we have is one of the keys to finding happiness, whatever situation you may be in.  Most of the time because we are in pain, we don’t see the bigger picture.

We only see what we don’t like, what we hate. But the fact that we are alive and the simple things that we have like the food on our table are reasons enough to be happy.

In life, we often encounter hardships and difficulties but this should never hinder us in continuing our pursuit of happiness. Because as what Audrey Hepburn said

“The most important thing is to enjoy your life—to be happy—it’s all that matters.”

How do you deal with serious misfortunes? Share your thoughts  in the comment section below.

6 Classic Lessons We Can All Learn From Stephen Covey

Dr. Stephen Covey, wrote the best-selling book in 1989 titled “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”. His death saddened many, but most people have been grateful for his life and work. His book has several insights and splendid ideas that have inspired many.

The 7 Habits has a way of seeping you in, with several life lessons touching on almost every aspect of life from marriage to parenting to leadership.

More than 20 million copies of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Peoplehave been sold and the book has been named as one of the most influential management books by most organizations including Forbes and Time Magazines. In 1996, Stephen Covey was listed among the 25 Most Influential Americans by the Times because of his hard work and efforts on the book.

Stephen Covey believed that success occurs when one aligns their values with timeless and universal principles existing in the world. He teaches that values are what govern the behavior of people, but principles are what ultimately determine the consequences. Besides his best-selling book of 1989, he also wrote “First Things First”, “The 8th Habit”, “The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Families”, and “Principle-Centered Leadership”. From his achievements and great work, here are 6 classic lessons we can learn from Stephen Covey.

1. Putting First Things First

One of the most important lessons that we can learn from Covey is putting first things first. Covey has a chapter that introduces today’s conventional wisdom framework of being able to distinguish the urgent from the important tasks. He says:

“Easy leadership is putting first things first”.

In order to be a great leader, one has to prioritize the most important things before others, and has to distinguish the most critical from the insignificant and place the critical first.

First in order, then first in priority and first in rank. If the critical is placed first, and given the critical focus and attention, there is certainly effectiveness in leadership with soar.

2. Begin With The End In Mind

This was his second habit, and he shows us that it is easier to do something in the short run than in the long run. It is important in everything that we do, we ask ourselves what we are trying to accomplish. It is more adept at answering this question for the short and medium term goals. You will realize, you can getter better at beginning with the end in mind for longer term goals but you my still have to put in more effort to get there. By nature, long term goals are less clear and the path to achieving them is also less certain. It is therefore important that we learn to articulate these goals and then reverse to try engineering them from the back in ways that are actionable in the short run.

3. Think Of Win-Win Situations

Covey teaches us to always think of Win-Win Situations. We can learn to look for solutions that can benefit everyone in the society. According to him:

“This is a frame of the heart and mind that always seeks mutual benefit in all interactions of humans”.

According to Covey, Win-Win means agreements are mutually satisfying and beneficial. He says that the way people think in terms of dichotomies; win or lose, hardball or softball, strong or weak is fundamentally flawed.

4. Stick To Your Main End Goal

Do not be swayed from your main life goals. Covey states that,

“The main goal is to keep the main goal the main goal”.

It is important that you never lose sight of the big picture and always be determined by keeping the main thing the main thing.

Failure is hugely contributed to by losing focus. Even though you have a good start, it is essential that you avoid all sorts of distractions and attractions you may experience in life that may sidetrack you. Be focused on the main thing, and keep it the main thing!

5. Your Character Is Critical

Stephen Covey teaches us that our character is a composite of our habits, and therefore, we should know that character is very critical. Watch your habits because they determine your character and it is your character that defines your life. It is difficult to rise higher than your character’s fortitude. Your character forms the foundation for your life and for you to change your life, you have to change your character.

6. Be Good At Listening

Lastly, we first need to understand, to be understood. Listen to what other people have to say and try to understand them. Equally, they will grant you the same courtesy and respect your opinions just as you have shown them. Stephen writes,

“We have a tendency to rush things, and fix them up with good advice”.

However, we often fail to take time to diagnose and really understand the problem. This message is very crucial to effective interpersonal communication.

R.I.P Stephen Covey

Your Legacy Lives On!

How To Download APK Files Directly From Google Play?

Usually, people get apps for their android device by downloading them from Google PlayStore. The downloader gets the app installed for you, without bothering you with unnecessary details like the files required for installation etc. But what if you don’t haveaccess to internet and you want an app installed on your phone? Surely you can’t do so without downloading stuff required for the installation. The solution to this problem is simple - just get the APK package of the desired app, and keep it beforehand for later when you need.

APK stands for Android Package. It’s actually a package which contains all the files necessary for installation. In other words, it’s a ‘standalone’ installer for your app which doesn’t require internet connectivity. You can get APK package of an androidapplication from Google Play Store by simply adding an extension called ‘APK Downloader’ to your Google browser. Here we have a step by step procedure which will tell you how to add APK Downloader to your Google Chrome and subsequently, use it for getting APK packages

• Go to http://codekiem.com/2012/02/24/apk-downloader
• Download the extension from the link provided above

Once downloaded, the extension is to be added to your Google Chrome Extensions. To do so, follow these steps.

• Go to the ‘Tools’ menu of your Chrome and select ‘Extensions’.
• Locate the file you just downloaded (with extension ‘.crx’)
• Now drag the file to your Extensions page.
• For confirmation look for a small Play Store icon on your address bar

To configure the APK Downloader extension for your android device

• Select the ‘options’ button on the menu
• Enter the Gmail ID (the one required for Play Store)
• Enter your password and device ID of your android device

For those of you who don’t know where to get device ID of your android device

• Dial  “*#*#8255#*#*” from your android phone

If you are using an android tablet

• Go to Google Play Store
• Download ‘Device ID’

Device ID will get your device ID for you.

Getting APK of an app is simple, just locate the app you want (on Play Store) and clicking on the APK icon on your address bar will get you your precious APK for that app. Another good thing about APK package is that it makes app sharing simple, now you can share an app with your friends by simply transferring the package to their device.

The APK and APK Downloader will make your life a lot easier if you face problems ininstalling your favorite apps due to connectivity issues or if you like to share your favorite apps with your friends.

Did you find this post useful? Did you have any problems? For any query, please ask in the comments section below. Cheers :)

Diablo III: Reaper of Souls Preview

System: PC
Dev: Blizzard
Pub: Blizzard
Release: TBA
Players: 1-4
Screen Resolution: 480p-1080p

Now With More Loot and Levels
by Angelo M. D’Argenio

Last week at Gamescom, Blizzard announced Diablo III’s first expansion pack, Reaper of Souls, and ever since, details have been trickling in about the expansion’s content. We can expect it to include new missions, loot, a brand-new loot and paragon system, and even a new class. However, the question still remains, will Reaper of Souls be enough to elevate Diablo III to Diablo 2’s level of success? Let’s take a deeper look at the expansion’s features to find out.

Of course, everyone wants to know more about the new class, dubbed the Crusader, which is kind of an evolution of the Diablo-style Paladin. She carries a huge shield, making her proficient in defensive abilities and usable as a tank. As such, she learns shield-based skills like Shield Bash that allows her to clear out crowds that have surrounded her. Her other weapons of choice are flails, which make her a proficient mid-range fighter, able to kite as well as tank. This mid-range fighting ability is augmented by quick-recharging magic, such as Falling Sword, which causes the Crusader to turn into a falling bolt of lightning, or Fist of the Heavens, which allows her to call down numerous fireballs from the sky. The Crusader is powered by a self-regenerating mana-like resource called Wrath, which builds as the Crusader fights, takes damage, or just as the Crusader waits around getting angry.

The player will be tasked with defeating Malthael, a fallen Angel of Wisdom now turned Angel of Death. He is leading a legion of death angels on a quest to fix heaven’s mistakes, and by that, we mean slaying all demons and humans alike. To Malthael, no demons or humans equals no evil in the world: simple as that. Malthael has managed to seize control of the Black Soulstone, the prison that houses Diablo’s soul. He is using this to siphon out the souls of the people of the world easily, and those he does not kill, he turns into his minions. Blizzard has promised that the story of Reaper of Souls will be far darker than the standard Diablo III plot.

The fight against Malthael will take the player to the gigantic city of Westmarch, one of the biggest urban environments in the Diablo world. Unfortunately, the city, too, has its secrets, hidden away in dark alleyways. Apparently, the city has a problem with something called Death Orbs, which certainly do sound problematic.

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There are also a number of new enemies that the player will face. Seraphs are essentially angelic versions of Necromancers from Diablo game’s past. They can summon the dead and send them against you, so if you don’t manage to take them out first, the pile of corpses around them only makes them stronger. There are also executioners, which are huge hulking brutes that do Malthael’s dirty work, and Death Maidens, loyal fallen angels to Malthael’s cause. Needless to say, your heroes will have their work cut out for them.

Of course, what you really care about in a Diablo expansion is loot and levels, and Blizzard is giving you more of those as well, though not exactly in the expansion itself. Blizzard will be introducing new systems and features that will be available to everyone for free in a pre-expansion patch. The first of these systems is a new paragon system dubbed Paragon 2.0. Essentially, this system removes the paragon level cap and distributes paragon levels among all your characters. What does this mean? Well, now it’s your account that gains paragon levels, not your characters themselves. When you gain a paragon level, each of your characters gain one paragon point, which they can then spend on passive bonuses. It’s a lot like how Borderlands 2’s badass ranks work.

Also free is the new Loot 2.0 system, which will change the way loot drops work. Essentially, the amount of loot that drops will be scaled down from the previous drop rate, but at the same time, drops themselves will be run through a “smart drop system.” Essentially, this system gives a percentage chance for a drop to be tailored specifically to your class and build whenever an item drops. This way, players will find enemies dropping more useful gear more often, even though gear itself will drop slightly less often. Not free is Reaper of Souls’ new items, which total in at 73 white items, 266 blue items, 83 yellow items, and 6 legendary items. This new distribution means that white items will drop far less frequently, while items of increased rarity will be more commonplace.

Loot Runs, a new endgame option, will also be completely free. These instances will allow players to enter a fully randomized dungeon with fully randomized monsters, each scaled to their level. They will last 15-20 minutes and are designed specifically to allow you to get a bunch of loot quickly. It’s great if you are searching for one specific piece of gear.

Another endgame option, Nephalem Trials, will show up randomly around the game as portals. When you enter one, you will be tasked with a challenge-style mission, such as surviving wave after wave of enemies. Depending on how you do in the challenge, the trial will reward you with better and harder-to-find loot. These too will be coming to the game for free, without need for the expansion.

However, the expansion will be required to access all the new areas, dungeons, stories, enemies, the new Crusader class, and so forth. It will also be needed to access a brand-new vendor called The Mystic. The Mystic will be able to change your items in several ways. For those worried about aesthetics, The Mystic can screw with your items’ models and textures in order to create custom looks for your gear. The Mystic can also enchant items, allowing you to re-roll your “affixes” for the gear in question. Essentially, it allows you to change the special properties on an item, essentially cashing it in for a totally new item of comparable rarity.

Oh, and the level cap will be increased to 70. Can’t ignore that!

Currently, Blizzard has not yet announced a release date for Diablo III: Reaper of Souls. The company has been very honest, saying that the expansion will be done when it is done. Will it make Diablo III as popular as Diablo 2? We aren’t sure. However, it certainly has introduced plenty of new endgame elements to make the game more addictive. We will bring you more information about Reaper of Souls’ release as it becomes available.

Read more: http://www.cheatcc.com/pc/rev/diablo3reaperofsoulspreview.html#ixzz2pu0XHw8P 
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives

Hate Windows 8? Wait….Something Big Is Coming!

Hate You Win 8!

I am really bad at explaining the things I want to explain. If it’s about “how to run a software”, “what a software does”, “computer tips and tricks”, it’s a piece of cake for me. But when it comes to giving out my thoughts or my views on something, I just suck.

As you have seen the title of this blog post is about Windows 8. More than that, it’s about Microsoft Windows. I will  explain to you what I want to explain to you in conversation way between two friends.  Friends are A & B. The thoughts are not my own, but from a article I read from a magazine. I wanted to share it with you all. As you might know, there are no new ideas, only the way you present is different.

So here it goes:-

A: I hate Windows 8! What about you?

B: Most folks hate Windows 8. Me too included.

A: Even then, it’s the third most OS used .

B: I know. It’s a good news that most people hate Windows 8 you know.

A: What! Good news…really? Good news for you because you might hate Windows 8. But this is certainly      not a good news for Microsoft Windows.

B: It’s a good news for Microsoft too!

A: You are crazy man, you are really crazy. Despite Windows Tablets failure and Windows 8 failure…….

B: Tell which is the first OS you used?

A: Windows XP.

B: Hahaha! Ask me which Operating System I used first.

A: Fine, which one?

B: Windows 98.

A: Good, congrats. A rare species. Big deal.

B: Do you want to know the history of Microsoft Windows?

A: I don’t mind knowing it.

B: With the history I am going to prove to you that Windows 8’s failure is a good sign that something big is coming from Microsoft Windows after Windows 8.

A: If you can convince me, then go on…..

B: Here it is:-

HISTORY OF MICROSOFT WINDOWS

Windows 3 

Windows 3.0

Windows 1.0, 2.0, 286/2.1 and 386/2.1 were released in really early days of the PC evolution, much before the internet. Yes…..long time ago. Windows 3.0 and 3.0a (with multimedia) were Microsoft’s first commercial successes. Microsoft Windows 3 was released on May 22nd 1990, which was finally a direct competition to Apple’s OS. With a new GUI and proper support for Intel’s all new (at the time) 80286 and 80386 CPUs, Windows 3.0 was pretty good. However,it wasn’t as successful as the next version .

Windows 3.1

Windows 3.1

This thing was a success. Microsoft 3.1 was the first really commercially successful version of Windows. It was the first to use Windows Registry and Minesweeper was added as a bundled game. Earlier version of Windows came with Reversi. Those computers which ran Windows 3 couldn’t be upgraded to Windows 3.1. Windows 3.1 needed 286 CPU and 1 MB of RAM before it would install. Because of this many users had to buy a new hardware. And because of this the popularity of computers skyrocketed. Windows 3.1 was so popular that it sold 1 million copies in two months.

Windows 95

Start Me Up!

Even though Windows 95 sold 1 million copies in just 4 days, it was not that successful. The reason being it was very buggy. It sold like hot cakes as it benefitted from Windows 3.1 success. There was also marketing campaign before launching Windows 95 ( Microsoft spent $300 million for advertising ). It was also the first OS to come with start button. It was actually the next OS which pushed Microsoft forward.

Windows 98/ 98 SE

Windows 98

The change from Windows 95 to Windows 98 was really mind blowing. The ability to theme, one click-launch, active desktop, enhanced USB support, thumbnails, and a huge improvement in hardware support (drivers) made Windows 98 aglobal success. Windows 98 SE also brought with it IE 5.0, ICS and DirectX 6.1. It was here that gaming on PC took off ( Wolfenstein 3D anyone?) as well as multimedia viewing.

Windows ME

Windows ME

Sure, Windows 2000 was released few months before Windows ME, but it was targeted for business.  Windows ME was the consumer version. Even though, it failed. It did bring personalized menus and faster boot times than 98, and introduced Windows Movie Maker, but it was a buggy OS. It seemed that it was released unfinished. Given that people were really happy with Windows 98, there seemed to be absolutely no reason to upgrade to ME. It was the next OS which brought in a new era.

Windows XP

Windows XP

Windows XP is certainly the most successful among the Microsoft Operating Systems. XP was short form for eXPerience and it was a hell of a experience! Windows XP gave Graphical User Interface (GUI) a whole new meaning. The start menu seemed more intuitive, with new programs being highlighted, themes started popping up everywhere, and desktop design competitions were kicked off everywhere. From the bundled DirectX 8.1, all the way to DirectX 9.0c (the final DX version for XP), games took on new meanings of fun and visual effects for XP users. The search got better, drivers could be uninstalled and downgraded for once. Most people still use it.

Windows Vista

Here Comes The Aero!

Windows Vista………….(yawn).  It was a flop, much like Windows 8. I don’t want to write much about Windows Vista because I haven’t used it, because I hated it, much like I hate Windows 8 which  I am not going to use it either. The less said the better.

Windows 7

Windows 7

It seems that Win 7 was what actually Microsoft had in mind when they built Windows Vista. Like Windows XP, Windows 7 was also successful. There was more stability, hardware was used better, the User Account Control (UAC) was less of an irritant and boot times fell. Virtualization was better, and that crap Windows Sidebar was removed. If I had nothing to write about Windows 8, I have so much to write about Win 7. Most notable added features include support for virtual hard drives, handwriting recognition and much more.

Windows 8

Do I need to write anything about it? Enough of history, now let’s dive to the main point of this article. Windows 8 did to Microsoft what Windows 95 did it earlier. The change from Win 3.1 to Win 95 was significant. Win 95 marked the beginning of a new era or to say new idea.

The Start menus, for example, was something new, and DOS (16-bit computing) was still limiting everything. Hardware also had to play some catch up, and more and more manufacturers meant more drivers were needed. It was the newness of the ideas that led to Windows 95 being a little buggy. It took Microsoft 3 more years of working on them to perfect them in Windows 98.

The same goes for Windows ME, it was the initial newness of the idea that didn’t fly ( shift to NTFS). Then came Windows XP and the rest is history.

Then came Vista, with all its high needs – wanting GBs of RAM to run, needing a GPU to even run Aero (which was the only reason you wanted to upgrade), which everyone hated it.

Soon we all wanted dual-core and quad-core CPUs, a GPU for HD video and gaming, and not just on a desktop, but on laptops as well. Vista was forgotten, and Windows 7 was just assumed to be the logical upgrade from XP.

And we come to Windows 8. It seems that Microsoft perhaps themselves expect every alternate OS to fail, or at the very least, suffer criticism at our hands. Perhaps they know that we’re resistant to change, and need a little time to want to upgrade. Perhaps there is a storm cooking for Windows 9, and Windows 8 was just the survey form (much like Windows Vista was) – put out an OS that’s sort of there, but wait for feedback and failure before perfecting it.