A new research has confirmed money can buy happiness—if you spend wisely.

“Purchasing things like televisions, clothes and coffee machines won’t make you happier overall—but buying experiences maximizes happiness,” Michael Norton, PhD, associate professor of business administration at

Harvard Business School and co-author of ‘Happy Money:

The Science of Smarter Spending’ said. Research shows that people who purchased concert tickets, a series of crochet lessons or simply a Tuesday night dinner out were happier than those who spent their money on tangible goods, according to Health.com.

For one, it’s because we humans tend to get maximum pleasure and vitality from social bonding. Yet the payoffs start before you leave home.

“The anticipation of an experience can be as valuable a source of happiness as the experience itself,” Norton said.

“And for months afterward, recalling the event continues to make you happy,” he said.

You also want to prioritize stuff that truly brings you joy, whether it’s Saturday-morning gardening or a weekly racquetball date with your partner.

Basking in what’s already great about yourself is a more effective route to joy than trying to fix what’s not, Willibald Ruch, PhD, a professor of psychology at the University of Zurich who studies character strengths and happiness, said.
Identify your strong suits anything from creativity to perseverance.

People who consistently apply “signature strengths” experience less depression and more happiness.

As anyone who has argued with his or her spouse about tackling the pile of mail knows, a good marriage takes effort and time.

Couples who evaluated their relationship this way had less argument-induced stress—and significantly higher levels of happiness and passion—than those who didn’t quiz themselves.

People who walk or bike to the office may be happier than those who drive or take the bus, finds a 2012 study of 800 people in Portland, Ore.
The reasons are what you’d expect: You’re in control of the timing, there’s an endorphin rush from exercise and no traffic.

When you’re bummed out, the mere act of smiling can cheer you up.

The reasons for this effect have yet to be pinpointed, but one study at the University of Kansas in Lawrence reveals that flashing a grin slows down your heart rate during stress and chills you out.

And if you can’t bear to smile, sadness and the occasional bad mood are natural, too. No human can be happy 24/7, and maybe that’s the happiest news of all. (ANI)

A 9-year-old girl took on the head of McDonald’s Corp. on healthy eating during the fast-food chain’s annual shareholders meeting on Thursday.
Fourth-grader Hannah Robertson, who spoke up during the gathering’s question-and-answer session, told the fast food mogul that it would be nice if he stopped trying to trick kids into wanting to eat junk food all the time, the New York Daily News reported.

“Something that I don’t think is fair is when big companies try to trick kids into eating food that isn’t good for them by using toys and cartoon characters,” the girl said, reading from prepared remarks,” she said.

She added that if parents haven’t taught their kids about healthy eating, then the kids probably believe that junk food is good for them because it tastes good.

Robertson attended the meeting with her mother at the global giant’s headquarters in Oak Brook, Ill.

Kia Robertson, who runs “Today I Ate a Rainbow,” a Toronto business that encourages children to eat healthy food, also addressed the gathering, as did other health food advocates.

McDonald’s Corp. CEO Don Thompson told the girl that they don’t sell junk food, as his kids also eat McDonald’s.

He took pains to remind Robertson that McDonald’s also sells salads, including apple slices in Happy Meals, and offers fat-free chocolate milk. (ANI)

Mired in spot-fixing controversy after the arrest of owner N Srinivasan’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan, Chennai Super Kings found the 149-run target, usually an easy ask by their standard, a little too much as they finished on 125 for nine on a difficult track.

Kieron Pollard (60 n.o. and 1-34, 1 catch) was the man-of-the-match for his all-round effort.

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni now lost back-to-back IPL finals despite being the lone man standing in the end with an unbeaten 63.

As soon as the last delivery was bowled by Pollard, senior pros Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting along with Team Mentor Anil Kumble rushed to the ground. Just like 2011 World Cup final, Tendulkar did a lap of honour with the teammates like Harbhajan carrying him on their shoulders.

Lasith Malinga (2-22) and Mitchell Johnson (2-19) set the tone before Harbhajan Singh (2-14) joined in the act as it was a rare batting disaster for the IPL heavyweights who featured in four straight, five overall, finals.

Four of their batsmen including Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadejagot out for noughts while tournament top-scorer Michael Hussey (1) was dismissed first-up by a perfect Lasith Malinga toe-crusher to set the tone.

With the team reeling at 57 for seven after 11th over, there was no chance for the ‘Men in Canary Yellow’ to make a comeback although Dhoni did try his best.

For Mumbai Indians, Eden Gardens remained a happy hunting ground with six wins from seven outings this season as it Rohit Sharma and Co.

Down with a wrist injury, Tendulkar however celebrated every moment of their triumph as the trophy was like a ‘farewell gift’ for the 40-year-old who may not be around in the next season.

As Europe became Christianized, the pagan holidays lost their religious character and either changed into popular secular celebrations, as with May Day, or were merged with or replaced by new Christian holidays as with Christmas, Easter, Pentecost and All Saint’s Day.

In the twentieth and continuing into the twenty-first century, many neopagans began reconstructing the old traditions and celebrating May Day as a pagan religious festival again.

The earliest May Day celebrations appeared in pre-Christian times, with the festival of Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers, and the Walpurgis Night celebrations of the Germanic countries.

It is also associated with the Gaelic Beltane. Many pagan celebrations were abandoned or Christianized during the process of conversion in Europe.

A more secular version of May Day continues to be observed in Europe and America. In this form, May Day may be best known for its tradition of dancing the maypole dance and crowning of the Queen of the May.

Various Neopagan groups celebrate reconstructed (to varying degrees) versions of these customs on May 1st.

The day was a traditional summer holiday in many pre-Christian European pagan cultures.

While February 1 was the first day of Spring, May 1 was the first day of summer; hence, the summer solstice on June 25 (now June 21) was Midsummer.

In the Roman Catholic tradition, May is observed as Mary’s month, and in these circles May Day is usually a celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

In this connection, in works of art, school skits, and so forth, Mary’s head will often be adorned with flowers in a May crowning.
Fading in popularity since the late 20th century is the giving of “May baskets,” small baskets of sweets and/or flowers, usually left anonymously on neighbours’ doorsteps.

Notwithstanding the summer heat (the temperature routinely touches 45 degrees C), pilgrims come from all over the world to Bodh Gaya to attend the Buddha Poornima celebrations.

The day is marked with prayer meets, sermons on the life of Gautam Buddha, religious discourses, continuous recitation of Buddhist scriptures, group meditation, processions, worship of the statue of Buddha.

The Mahabodhi Temple wears a festive look and is decorated with colourful flags and flowers. The Chinese scholar, Fa-Hien has recorded celebration of this festival. It is an important to give a summarized description on the Buddhist festivals in India, especially in the main places of worship. The principal annual ceremony for all the Buddhist is the Vaisaka Purnima known in Sri Lanka as Wesak festival and in India as Buddha Jayanti. Vaisaka Purnima day is fixed by the full-moon day of the month Vaisaka, which falls in May. Like all other Buddhist festivals it falls according to the Lunar year. It was of this day of the year, according to the year.

He attained Supreme Enlighten or Buddha hood, beneath the Bodhi-tree at Boddha Gaya. Forty-five years later at the age of eighty, he finally passed away in Parinivana on the same day of the year at Kushinagar. Vaisaka Purnima is celebrated

especially in Boddha Gaya, Lumbini and in Kushinara as they are the holy places that were connected with the blessed ones birth, enlighten and the Parinirvana. Buddhists in Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Tibet, China, Korea, Laos, Vietnam, Mongolia, Bhutan, Cambodia, Nepal, Japan and quite a number of western Buddhists participate ‘Vaisaka’ Purnima Day religious activities in a festive mood. Sarnath the capital of Buddhism too celebrates Vaisaka Purnima day in a grand way.

The great Buddhist festival ‘Vaisaka’ ,although is an occasion for rejoicing doesn’t encourage hectic gaiety and abandon. The happiness that the Buddhists feel when they are celebrating it is a tranquil, peaceful joy. The festival has its gay side as well. In most of the Buddhist countries the villages, roads, streets, temples and houses are brightly illuminated with color Lanterns, electric lights and colorful decorations.

It is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world, most commonly in March, April or May.

It complements Father’s Day, a similar celebration honoring fathers.

Mother’s Day is an American invention. It is not directly descended from the many celebrations of mothers and motherhood that have occurred throughout the world over thousands of years, such as the Greek cult to Cybele, the Roman festival of Hilaria, or the Christian Mothering Sunday celebration.

Despite this, in some countries Mother’s Day has become synonymous with these older traditions.

The modern holiday of Mother’s Day was first celebrated in 1908, when Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother in America. She then began a campaign to make “Mother’s Day” a recognized holiday in the United States. Although she was successful in 1914, she was already disappointed with its commercialization by the 1920s. Jarvis’ holiday was adopted by other countries and it is now celebrated all over the world.

In this tradition, each person offers a gift, card, or remembrance toward their mothers, grandmothers, and/ or maternal figure on mother’s day.

Various observances honouring mothers existed in America during the 1870s and the 1880s, but these never had resonance beyond the local level.

Jarvis never mentioned Julia Ward Howe’s attempts in the 1870s to establish a “Mother’s Day for Peace”, nor any connection to the Protestant school celebrations that included “Children’s Day” amongst others.

Neither did she mention the traditional festival of Mothering Sunday, but always said that the creation was hers alone. For more information on previous attempts, see the “United States” section in this article.

“I have a lot of work to finish. Just want to spend this time with my family and finish my work,” he said.
I want to thank everyone who supported me. I love my country. I love India,” he added.

The Supreme Court, which last week upheld the death sentence of Yakub Abdul Razak Memon, a key conspirator with Dawood Ibrahim in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, ordered that Dutt return to jail to serve three-and-a-half years sentence for possessing illegal arms.

Dutt, who is out on bail, will also have to surrender within four weeks to serve a jail term of 42 months as the apex court reduced to five years the six year jail term awarded to him by a designated TADA court in 2007 and he had already spent 18 months behind the bar.

A total of 257 persons were killed and 713 others injured when a series 13 coordinated explosions shattered the metropolis on March 12, 1993.

The blasts occurred at 12 places, including Bombay Stock Exchange building, Air-India Building at Nariman Point, at Worli opposite Century Bazaar, Hotels Sea Rock and Juhu Centaur. (ANI)

 With Karma and its intricacies understood to some extent, the means to heal are several; the doors to the destination are many.   God continues to create several opportunities for the beings to connect with Him for higher guidance and direction enlightenment or soul awakening, He makes His presence felt from time to time, in so many ways, and we tend to address such situations as a ‘co-incidence’ or ‘by change happening’, with nature at its creative best behind the scenes.  We are audience to a huge drama, a drama of reality so to say, where God makes us performs and project at the same time.  Karmic transactions are created, chain reaction ensues, one thing leads to another, and another to another, and humans limited by their potential to memorize, can trace things back in a limited way, to a limited set of events, happening within limited time and space.  And hence then arises the need and opportunity to surrender, listen to the inner self, and connect with the higher guidance, through the process of healing, to be able to see, hear, sense without the interference of the five senses.  God then smiles a blessing.

]]> http://philadelphiasouthasian.com/karma-world-and-yoga-of-healing/feed/ 0 http://philadelphiasouthasian.com/businesses-generate-higher-revenue-with-social-media-study/ http://philadelphiasouthasian.com/businesses-generate-higher-revenue-with-social-media-study/#comments Mon, 08 Apr 2013 09:30:32 +0000 amit http://philadelphiasouthasian.com/?p=185920 Washington, Mar 26 (ANI):
Customers’’ use of social media helps a business firm generate higher revenue, a research has said.

Ashish Kumar, assistant professor of marketing at Aalto University, said that now there is proof that customers who engage with a business through social media contribute more to the bottom line than customers who do not.

He said that study showed that social media activities help strengthen the bond between the customer and the firm.

Participating customers on a firm’’s social media site contribute 5.6 percent more revenue and visit the business about five percent more than non-participating customers, he explained.

This study proves that building online communities, personalizing messages and encouraging contributions from online members enhances the customer experience as well as increases the frequency of social media visits and promotes sales overall.

The research showed that the keys to success include maintaining a user-friendly site, sending regular updates about events, personalizing key messages to customers and encouraging interaction from them.

This study has been published in a special issue of the journal Information Systems Research on ‘’Social Media and Business Transformation’’.

This study was conducted by Ashish Kumar from Aalto University in collaboration with Rishika Rishika and Ramkumar Janakiraman from Texas A&M University, and Ram Bezawada from the University at Buffalo, New York. (ANI)

Christmas is the most important festival of Indian Christians. Christians in India decorate banana or mango trees instead of traditional pine tree. They also light small oil-burning lamps as Christmas decorations and fill their churches with red flowers. As a part of their celebration they give Christmas gifts to their family members and token of money to poor people as charity. People decorate their houses and churches with poinsettia flowers for the midnight mass. In South India, the Christians put small clay lamps on the rooftops and walls of their houses at Christmas, just as the Hindus do during their festival called Diwali. In Goa, all hotels are jampacked during Christmas period and one must plan well in advance if planning a stay in one of the Goa hotels. The local Indian customs and tradition and customs have a heavy impact on the Indian Christian. And this is visible in their decoration as many Indian Christians decorate their houses with mango leaves. Churches often have an Evening Service on Christmas and are fabulously decorated with poinsettias and candles. Caroling processions on streets and thoroughfares can also be seen.

X’mas Around The World

X’mas around the world is one of the most religious and holy festivals of Christian community celebrated in all over the world. 25th December is a religious and special day of Christian community that has aroused the curiosity of devotees in the honor of Jesus Christ, the son of God, was born to Mother Mary. From mouth of Jesus Christ, the son of God release a message of humanity, kindness, truth and a path of honesty among the Christian community. But all the tradition of Christmas celebrations are changing by Christian community, wonderfully this excited and delightful Christmas celebration is celebrated by all over the world with great zeal and excitement.