Internet Addiction

Internet Addicts don’t steal to pay for their habits. They don’t lock themselves in bathrooms and shove needles up their arms or snort things through their noses. Their addictions don’t cause car accidents or impair their judgment or ability to make decisions, but that doesn’t mean an Internet addiction isn’t dangerous.

Internet addictions have broken up marriages and strained friendships. They’ve torn apart families and gotten in the way of school and work. Because an Internet addiction isn’t seen as life-threatening as drug addiction, it’s a lot more acceptable. Because it’s legal doesn’t mean we should be any less aware of what can happen if we spend all our time online.

The Internet vs. The Real World
The Internet is attractive to so many people because it offers something we don’t have in the real world, anonymity. People who are shy or have trouble speaking to others can have intense discussions online. People who feel they’re unattractive or unpopular can have many online friends. In fact, there’s really no need to leave the house anymore. Now that we can shop, chat, play, date, even have sex online. One can see how easy it is for someone to get hooked.

Signs of Internet Addiction
There are those who spend a lot of time on the Internet and there are those who are just plain addicted. People who spend too much time online, might have trouble tearing themselves away from their computer screens, but people who are addicted can’t seem to do so at all. Here are some signs of Internet Addiction:

· Spending hours online without a break.
· Preferring to spend time with a computer over friends and family.
· Lying about the amount of time spent online.
· Hiding what you do online.
· Checking email several times an hour.
· Family complains about the amount of time spent online.
· Thoughts are always on the Internet – even when offline.
· Logging on while at work or school instead of working or studying.
· The first thing an addict does when family leaves the house is log on.

Statistics and Studies
The Washington Post listed some interesting statistics:
About 6% of surveyed individuals responded, “their relationships suffered as a result of excessive Internet use.”
About 9% attempted to conceal “nonessential Internet use.”
Nearly 4% reported feeling “preoccupied by the Internet when offline.”
About 8% said they used the Internet as a way to escape problems
Almost 14% reported they “found it hard to stay away from the Internet for several days at a time.”

A 2006 telephone-based Stanford University Study revealed one in eight individuals displayed at least one “problematic” sign of excessive Internet use. Elias Aboujaoude, a clinical Assistant Psycholology and Behavioral Sciences Professor at Stanford’s Impulse Control Disorders Clinic likens these problematic behaviors such as the constant need to check email or visit online forums and chat rooms as being similar to the cravings drug addicts experience.

Some statistics from the Stanford University study:
% 13.7 of those interviewed found it hard to stay away from the Internet for several days at a time
% 12.4 stayed online longer than intended very often or often
% 12.3 had seen a need to cut back on Internet use at some point
% 8.7 attempted to conceal non-essential Internet use from family, friends and employers
% 8.2 used the Internet as a way to escape problems or relieve negative mood
% 5.9 felt their relationships suffered as a result of excessive Internet use

Conclusion
If you find you’re online more than off, that your real-world relationships are sacrificed to cyber friends you’ve never met, and you can’t stay away from your computer … you may be addicted to the Internet.
Because Internet addiction doesn’t impair one’s ability to judge and think clearly like drugs, it’s a more socially acceptable addiction. Plus, many who spend large blocks of time online refuse to believe there’s such a thing as Internet addiction, anyway.
If the time you spend online is straining relationships in the real world and getting in the way or school or work, do seek help or at least make an attempt to spend less time online. As many things as there are to do online, there are more in the real world. Get out and explore.

Annoying Things

What annoys you about living where you live now?
What annoys you about taking trains to work?
What annoys you about driving a car?
What annoys you most about living at home with your family?
Do you think you have habits that annoy other people?
Do you get annoyed when someone cuts in front of you when you are waiting in line?
What are some new pet peeves you have as a result of recent technology (i.e. cell phone use)?
What annoying habits does your best friend have?
Does smoking bother you?
Do you get annoyed when other people display bad manners? Give some examples.
What is the most annoying thing for you?
What is the most annoying thing about your partner?
Do you annoy people with some of your habits?
What is something that your parents do that annoy you?
Can annoying someone be a good thing?
If something is annoying you, what do you usually do?
What are some things that annoy you that don't annoy your best friend?
How do you change annoying habits?
What are some things that car drivers do that annoy you?
Can you think of some things children do that annoy adults around them?
What kind of people annoy you?
Who is the most annoying person you know? Why?
How do you inform someone they are being annoying?
Do you think other people find you annoying? Why?
Who is the most annoying celebrity? Why?
Which is more annoying, being caught in the rain without an umbrella, or finding out you don't have enough money to pay for something you really need?
Is there anything about your teacher that annoys you? What will you do about it?

What If ...?

• If you had only 24 hours to live, what would you do?
• If the whole world were listening, what would you say?
• If you bumped your car into another car, but nobody saw you do it, would you leave your name and address?
• If you could be another man or woman for a day, who would you choose?
• If you could be invisible for a day what would you do and why?
• If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
• If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?
• If you could choose how you were going to die, what would you choose your death to be?
• If you could commit any crime and get away with it, what would you do?
• If you could date a celebrity, who would you choose?
• If you could hear what someone is thinking for a day, who would you choose?
• If you could live anywhere, where would you live?
• If you could meet any famous person, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
• If you could spend a day with any celebrity, who would it be and what questions would you ask that person?
• If you could take a vacation anywhere in the world for any length of time, where would you go?
• If your partner were offered a job in another part of the country, which was well paid, would you be willing to change places?
• If you were in the bank and somebody started to hold up the bank, what would you do?
• If you had to choose between love and no money or money and no love for the rest of your life, which would you choose?
• If you had to choose, would you give up your sight or your hearing?
• If you were given a choice between being given great wisdom or great wealth, which would you choose?
• If you were given an opportunity to be born again, in which country would you like to be born?
• If you were going to a deserted island and could only take three things with you, what would you take? Why?

Manners

What do you think are some good/bad manners?
What behaviors make you feel good?
What behaviors make you feel angry?
What are some good/bad manners for using a cell phone?
What are some good/bad manners in the classroom?
What are some good/bad party manners?
Do you listen to other people's conversations?
Why are manners important?
Do people have more polite social behavior now or in earlier times?
Can manners affect your success in life? How?
What is the best way to teach manners to children?
What culture do you think is the most polite? Explain.
Can you think of some good manners that are bad manners in another country?
What advice would you give a foreigner visiting your country who would like to show good manners?
What things about manners in foreign countries do you find difficult to adjust to?
Is there anything about manners in foreign countries that you prefer to manners in your country?

A Good Man Is Hard To Find

· A complaint by many women is a good man is hard to find
· That many men are selfish and to the needs of women blind
· And that some men abuse their women so happens to be true
· But give the good man credit if credit he is due.

· For the crimes men commit against women allow me to feel shame
· But for the sins of a minority a whole gender why blame
· That one person does not make a Race or Nation also applies to men
· One should not be found guilty if not guilty of a sin.

· Some women abused by one man condemn all men as bad
· But they are generalizing and that seems a bit sad
· And though my sympathy is with women 'tis not prudent or not wise
· To dislike all men for the crimes of one it does seem wrong to generalize.

· I suppose there is some truth in that good men are hard to find
· But not all men are cruel to women or aggressively inclined
· To cause harm to others some men are good and kind
· And kindness shown by good men readily come to mind.

Francis Duggan

Wedding Rings

The wedding ring, that most famous and instantly recognizable symbol of the (hopefully perpetual) joining of a man and a woman as husband and wife in the institution of marriage, has a long, wide spread and mysterious history.

The ring is of course a circle and this was the symbol of eternity for the Egyptians as well as many other ancient cultures. It had no beginning and noend, like time. It returned to itself, like life; and the shape was worshipped in the form of the Sun and the Moon. The hole in the center of the ring is not just space either; it is important in its own right as the symbol of the gateway, or door; leading to things and events both known and unknown.

It is not difficult therefore, to see how the ring and the gift of a ringbegan to be associated with love, in the hope that this most worthy of emotionscould take on the characteristics of the circle and capture eternity.

In Western cultures, a wedding ring is traditionally worn on the ring finger. This developed from the Roman "annulus pronubis" when the man gave a ring to the woman at the betrothal ceremony. According to tradition in some countries (derived from Roman belief), the wedding ring is worn on the left ring finger because the vein in the left ring finger, referred to as the "vena amoris" was believed to be directly connected to the heart, a symbol of love.

Why Are Most Men Unfaithful?

Hope and Comfort

Charley Foley calls into the Mater Misericordia Hospital to visit his wife.
'How are you feeling?' he asks, sitting at the bedside, close to Dolly who is smiling up at him, her black hair resting against the white pillows.
'I'm fine,' Dolly says, quietly. She looks old and tired to Charley; she is deathly pale and has black pouches under her eyes. When she slips her fingers into Charley's he notices two ugly brown liver spots on the back her small hand.
'You look tired,' Charley says. 'Aren't you sleeping?'
'I was a bit restless last night.'
Dolly does not mention the pain: she doesn't want to upset her husband.
'Any word from Linda?' she asks.
'She phoned again last night. I told her you were grand. I said there was nothing to worry about.'
Linda, their eldest, teaches in a university in Galway. Linda will come home for the holiday in August. Their son, Colm, and his children live in Australia. Colm hasn't been told that his mother is unwell. Colm's a worrier: it's best he's not upset.
Charley gazes dreamily across the chattering hospital ward, bright with pale afternoon sunlight. Other visitors are doing their duties, gathering around the sick, bringing flowers and fruit, offering words of hope and comfort.
'Have you seen the doctor again?' Charley asks his wife.
'Tomorrow maybe.' 'Any idea how long they'll keep you in?'
Dolly turns away and coughs into a tissue, then settles back. She takes Charley's hand again.
'They'll let me know on Monday. They have to do lots more tests. They won't let me home until they know. I'm sorry to be such a bother.'
Dolly's small chest heaves under her heavy nightdress. Charley thinks of a frightened bird. Sweet Dolores Delarosa he used to call her long ago when they were courting, mocking her sorrowful eyes and the way she took everything too seriously. He can't help wondering if she made herself sick with worry.
Poor Dolly Delarosa!
'Don't let them budge you until you're absolutely better,' he says.
'Are you managing all right, darling?'
'Grand.'
Charley is eating out and staying away from the house as much as possible. He's managing all right.
The minutes pass in heated tedium. Charley is watching the visitors and glancing at the small alarm clock beside his wife's bed. He can hear its distant ticking and still recall the irritating ring when it dragged his wife from bed at the crack of dawn and moments later her breakfast sounds clattering in the kitchen keeping him awake, reminding him that there's a day's work ahead and children to be schooled and fed.

Tic-tic-tic-tic-tic-tic-tic.

The kids are all grown up now. Second grandchild imminent. Time is running out. A grey face in the shaving mirror reminding Charley of middle age and the rot ahead. Where's the point in having money if you can't enjoy it? Why can't clocks take their time? What's the hurry?
Ah - God have mercy! Dolly Dolorosa. How different might it have been without her?
Dolly's eyelids droop. Her mouth opens a fraction. She looks almost dead. Moments pass slowly.
'This must be very boring for you,' she says, without opening her eyes.
'Not at all. It does me good to see you.'
'It's not nice having to visit anybody in hospital. It's so depressing.'
'Nonsense.'
Dolly settles her dark head further back against the white pillows. Grimaces for an instant then braves a smile.
'You should leave now, Charley. I think I might sleep for a while.'
'Are you sure?'
'Positive.'
Charley bounces to his feet.
'I'll come in later,' he says.
'Please don't. With it being Saturday the wards will be crammed with people. Leave it till the morning. Come after Mass.'
'Is that's what you want?'
'It is, darling.'
Dolly opens her eyes, smiles like a child. It's been a long time since Dolly was a child.
'You look tired, darling,' she says. 'Aren't you sleeping?'
'I was a bit restless last night.'
'Try to take things easy.'
Dolly squeezes her husband's hand, presses her ringed finger against his gold wedding ring. Her fingers are light as feathers.
'Off you go, darling,' she says. 'Try to not worry.'
Charley bends and kisses Dolly's hot forehead.
'I'll see you tomorrow,' he says.
Dolly's eyes close. Her fingers slip from his.

Tic-tic-tic-tic-tic.

Charley walks along a polished corridor and finds the exit. Outside in the bright car park he locates his car and sits inside. He glances around at the visitors coming and going. Nurses walk past, reminding him of butterflies. Charley reaches for his mobile phone and taps in a number. The call is answered almost immediately.
'Katherine?' he says.
'Where are you? I've been waiting ages for you to call.'
'I'm outside the hospital. I've just been in to see her.'
'How is she?'
'All right. As well as can be expected, I suppose. Who really knows?'
Charley pulls down the sunshade to protect his eyes from the blinding brightness, then returns his attention to his new friend, Katherine.
'She'll be in for a while longer.'
'Will I see you later?' Katherine asks.
'I expect so.'
'Stay tonight,' she offers. 'If you like.'
Charley thinks of his own empty house, the quietness without Dolly and the dreadful silences she left behind.
'I'd like that, darling,' he says.
'Come now,' Katherine whispers with a smile in her lovely voice. 'I'll cheer you up.'
Charley says goodbye and puts the phone away. He smiles properly for the first time that day. He starts the engine and as he drives away Charley glances through the rear view mirror and sees the grey hospital building receding like a prison.
God help me, he thinks. God help us all.

A Glimmer of Hope

Hope is a light that never fails.

Hope is the thing with feathers

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chilliest land
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

Emily Dickinson

Hope

The Rose that Grew from the Concrete

Did you hear about the rose that grew from a crack in the concrete?
Provin nature's laws wrong
It learned to walk without having feet
Funny it seems but by keeping its dreams
It learned to breathe fresh air
Long live the rose that grew from concrete
When no one else, even cared

Tupac Shakur

“We wouldn't ask why a rose that grew from the concrete for having damaged petals, in turn, we would all celebrate its tenacity, we would all love its will to reach the sun, well, we are the roses, this is the concrete and these are my damaged petals, dont ask me why, thank god, and ask me how.”

"If you walked by a street and you were walking on concrete and you saw a rose growing from concrete, even if it had messed up petals and it was a little to the side, you would marvel at just seeing a rose grow through concrete. So why is it? That when you see some ghetto kid grow out of the dirtiest circumstance and he can talk and he can sit across the room and make you cry, make you laugh, all you can talk about is my dirty rose, my dirty stems and how i'm leaning crooked to the side, u can't even see that I've come up from out of that."

Quotations on "Hope"

http://thinkexist.com/search/searchquotation.asp?search=hope

The Man He Killed

Had he and I but met
By some old ancient inn,
We should have set us down to wet
Right many a nipperkin!

But ranged as infantry,
And staring face to face,
I shot at him as he at me,
And killed him in his place.

I shot him dead because—
Because he was my foe,
Just so: my foe of course he was;
That's clear enough; although

He thought he'd 'list, perhaps,
Off-hand like—just as I—
Was out of work—had sold his traps—
No other reason why.

Yes; quaint and curious war is!
You shoot a fellow down
You'd treat, if met where any bar is,
Or help to half a crown.

Thomas Hardy

Borderline

Download Borderline MP3

I'm standing in the station,
I'm waiting for a train,
To take me to the border,
And my loved one far away;
I watched a bunch of soldiers heading for the war,
I could hardly even bear to see them go;

Rolling through the countryside,
Tears are in my eyes,
We're coming to the borderline,
I'm ready with my lies,
And in the early morning rain, I see her there,
And I know I'll have to say goodbye again;

And it's breaking my heart, I know what I must do,
I hear my country call me, but I want to be with you,
I'm talking my side, one of use will lose,
Don't let go, I want to know
That you will wait for me until the day,
There's no borderline, no borderline;

Walking past the border guards,
Reaching for her hand,
Showing no emotion,
I want to break into a run,
But these are only boys, and I will never know
How men can see the wisdom in a war ...

And it's breaking my heart, I know what I must do,
I hear my country call me, but I want to be with you,
I'm taking my side, one of us will lose,
Don't let go, I want to know
That you will wait for me until the day,
There's no borderline, no borderline,
No borderline, no borderline ...

Chris De Burgh

War & Peace

Quotations on "War"

http://thinkexist.com/search/searchquotation.asp?search=war