Giving Attention

Giving Attention

Everything in life responds positively to attention. People, objects, stocks of inventory, and money are but a few examples. For example, the best way to give attention to money is to account for it very accurately and promptly. Keeping accurate and up-to-date accounts of money is a powerful mechanism for attracting more of it from life.

One small business owner decided to give attention to his accounts, balanced eight months of back bank statements, and miraculously received $5000 from nowhere the next day.

If you bring your personal or business accounts fully and accurately up to date, money will constantly flow in your direction. However, money is not the only thing that responds to attention. So do physical objects and things. Consider this example:

A businessperson was unable to make any substantial sales. He was told that he should give attention to clean his remaining current stocks. After making that effort, an order arrived equal to six months of normal sales!

One way of giving attention is to adopt the value of maximizing your use of a current resources -- such as money, materials, and time. Here is an example of how one manufacturer applied the value of maximizing the use utilization of a limited resource, resulting in a very favorable situation for the company:

X, the proprietor of a company, engaged Y as his consultant to improve his business.  Y, the consultant, noticed a machine, which X deemed not useful to his present business, kept in a sorry state.  Y requested X to repair and repaint it and keep it ready for production.  X laughed and said, "This machine is idle for last many years without any order.  I can not spend money on it.  As soon as I get orders, I will repair and repaint the machine."  Y thought X was looking at things in the wrong way.

Y told X, "If you keep machine ready for production and if you genuinely wish that this machine should yield profits, you will get orders.  Life will favorably respond."

X followed Y's suggestion.  After a day or two, X's cousin, an engineer, came to his factory.  The newly painted machine gained his attention.  He took interest in the machine.  He told X that he was interested in starting a new factory.  If X could give the machine to him, he could earn profit from the first month onwards and a share of the income would go to X.

An agreement was struck and the machine became a cash cow.

Here is a closely related example of how giving things more attention by maximizing its use can elicit powerful response from life.

"Low Carbon Ferro Manganese is one of the main raw materials we use in the manufacturing of welding electrodes. One day the manufacturer who supplies us with this material informed us that their plant was shutting down for maintenance, and as a result, there would no supplies of the resource coming for the next two months.

Now this is an expensive material, so the stocks we kept on hand were held to a minimum. Also, there were only a few companies that manufactured this particular item. What's more, the suppliers were all located in faraway places. In this dire situation, we had little time to arrange supply from other sources; and stocks on hand were now sufficient for only 5 days of production.

In this difficult state, we made the decisionthat not a single particle of LCFM should be wasted. To that end, we alerted all the workers to be extra careful in its use. In addition, the shop floor was swept thoroughly because in our desperationeven spilled material wascollected, screened and used.

Remarkably, two days later, from out of nowhere, the Managing Director of a company manufacturingLCFM in Orissa -- which is about 1300 kilometers away from our Pondicherry location -- visited our unit. Then over the phone, he instructed his plant to immediately dispatch all the needed material to us!"

A third way to give an object more attention is to connect with its essence. For example, if there is a problem with that object, we can commiserate with it, and overcome the difficulty. Here is but one recent example:

"My washing machine was making a strange noise for the past two days. I tried my best and could not figure out the problem. I was also wary of calling the service people since I had a pretty bad experience the previous time; plus I was charged heavily for replacing a component which could have been repaired and put back.

Then I remembered having read that machines too respond to human feelings. I thanked the washing machine for the wonderful service it was giving me. I told it "I love you," touched it, gave it a pat,  and then I consecrated the problem to the Spirit. I visualized the divine light falling on the washing machine. Then I drained it and filled it with water.

After a few minutes later when I came back to put the clothes in the washing machine, I saw a one rupee coin outside the drain pipe. I realized that it was the culprit, as it had been was stuck somewhere inside and could not be seen with the naked eye. As a result, the problem was now solved and my washing machine worked fine. I was amazed to witness this response from life."

Expressing Sympathy

Expressing Sympathy
Finding the Right Words

It is hard finding the right words in expressing sympathy. What words of comfort inbereavement can you use? 
Many times the first and most important thing to do doesn’t involve words at all, but actions. - - A touch on the arm, a hand on the shoulder, a hug, all express that you care, oftentimes more than words can express.
“I love you.” Is a good place to start, or “ my heart is hurting for you.”

In the book “Finding the Right Words” by Wilfred Bockelman, he suggests that there are 3 important times to touch base with the grieving person. 
1) Immediately
2) 3-4 wks. after (this is when the casseroles are gone and the numbness has worn off, people are moving on with their lives and they feel alone.)
3) on the person’s anniversary or first holiday
When my husband and I discussed this (we’ve both lost loved ones) we agreed these were important times. He suggested also the 6-month mark while I thought the 1-year anniversary of the death was important as well.
Of course it depends on how close you are to the bereaved what you will chose to say. “I love you.” may be too intimate, but saying “I am sorry for your loss.” certainly is acceptable in most cases. 


And if you plan to follow up, you could say something like “I will call and check on you in a couple of weeks.” -- BUT then remember that if you choose to say something like that you MUST follow up on it!


It isn’t so much what words you choose, as it is making time for the bereaved. Spend time with them, listen to them without judgment, just be there for them.
For other ideas on how to express sympathy the following two books might be helpful;

Giving Instruction

ASKING FOR INSTRUCTIONS

How do you (do this)?
How do I . . . ?
What is the best way to . . . ?
How do I go about it?
What do you suggest?
How do you suggest I proceed?
What is the first step?

GIVING INSTRUCTIONS

First, (you) . . .
Then, (you) . . .
Next, (you) . . .
Lastly, (you) . . .

SEQUENCING

Before you begin, (you should . . .)
The first thing you do is . . . .
I would start by . . .
The best place to begin is . . .
To begin with,

STARTING OUT

After that,
The next step is to . . . The next thing you do is . . .
Once you've done that, then . . .
When you finish that, then . . .

CONTINUING

The last step is . . .
The last thing you do is . . .
In the end,
When you've finished,
When you've completed all the steps,

Present Perfect Continuous

Present Perfect Continuous Timeline

For example:-
Q) How long have you been studying English?"
A) I've been studying English for four years."
Note - You can just say "For four years."
Q) How long have you been living in Germany?
A) I've been living here since 1998.
Note - You can just say "Since 1998".
The present perfect continuous is also used to refer to an event that may or may not be finished when it's effect can be seen now.
For example:-
Look! It's been snowing.
Note - It's not necessarily snowing now but you can see the effect (the snow on the ground).
You should also use the present perfect continuous when talking about how long you have been doing your current job or working on unfinished projects:-
For example:-
I have been working at BT for three years.
We have been exporting to China since 1999.

Personal Letter

Personal letters, 

also known as friendly letters, and social notes normally have five parts.

1. The Heading. This includes the address, line by line, with the last line being the date. Skip a line after the heading. The heading is indented to the middle of the page. If using preaddressed stationery, add just the date.

2. The Greeting. The greeting always ends with a comma. The greeting may be formal, beginning with the word "dear" and using the person's given name or relationship, or it may be informal if appropriate.

Formal: Dear Uncle Jim, Dear Mr. Wilkins,

Informal: Hi Joe, Greetings,

(Occasionally very personal greetings may end with an exclamation point for emphasis.)

3. The body. Also known as the main text. This includes the message you want to write. Normally in a friendly letter, the beginning of paragraphs is indented. If not indented, be sure to skip a space between paragraphs. Skip a line after the greeting and before the close.

4. The complimentary close. This short expression is always a few words on a single line. It ends in a comma. It should be indented to the same column as the heading. Skip one to three spaces (two is usual) for the signature line.

5. The signature line. Type or print your name. The handwritten signature goes above this line and below the close. The signature line and the handwritten signature are indented to the same column as the close. The signature should be written in blue or black ink. If the letter is quite informal, you may omit the signature line as long as you sign the letter.

Postscript. If your letter contains a postscript, begin it with P.S. and end it with your initials. Skip a line after the signature line to begin the postscript.

See also Layout of a friendly letter.

See also Commas in Letters and Capitalization in Letters

Past Continuous

Past Continuous Timeline

For example:
Q) "What were they doing yesterday?" A) "They were working all day."
It can be used to describe what someone was doing at a particular point in time.
For example:
Q) "What were you doing at 7.30 last night?" A) "I was watching television."
The past continuous can also be used to show that an activity frequently took place over a period of time.
Q) "What did you do on holiday?" A) "I went skiing a lot."
Often the past continuous is mixed with the past simple to show what was happening when something happened. The past continuous refers to the longer event and the simple past to the event that interrupted it.
For example:
"I was driving to work when I crashed my car."
or
As I was driving to work, I crashed my car."

Simple Past Tense

The simple past tense is used to talk about actions that happened at a specific time in the past. You state when it happened using a time adverb.
You form the simple past of a verb by adding -ed onto the end of a regular verb but, irregular verb forms have to be learned.

To be Statements +	To be Statements -	Questions ?
I was.	I wasn't.	Was I?
He was.	He wasn't.	Was he?
She was.	She wasn't.	Was she?
It was.	It wasn't.	Was it?
You were.	You weren't.	Were you?
We were.	We weren't.	Were we?
They were.	They weren't.	Were they?

Regular Verb (to work) Statements +	Regular Verb (to work) Statements -	Questions	Short answer +	Short answer -
I worked.	I didn't work.	Did I work?	Yes, I did.	No, I didn't.
He worked.	He didn't work.	Did he work?	Yes, he did.	No, he didn't.
She worked.	She didn't work.	Did she work?	Yes, she did.	No, she didn't.
It worked.	It didn't work.	Did it work?	Yes, it did.	No, it didn't.
You worked.	You didn't work.	Did you work?	Yes you did.	No, you didn't.
We worked.	We didn't work.	Did we work?	Yes we did.	No, we didn't.
They worked.	They didn't work.	Did they work?	Yes they did.	No, they didn't.

Simple Past Timeline

For example:
"Last year I took my exams."
"I got married in 1992."
It can be used to describe events that happened over a period of time in the past but not now.
For example:
"I lived in South Africa for two years."
The simple past tense is also used to talk about habitual or repeated actions that took place in the past.
For example:
"When I was a child we always went to the seaside on bank holidays."

Narrative Text

Narrative text is a text or imaginary story that is used for amuse or entertain the readers that lead the reader to crisis in the story and ultimately find a solution.
Narrative text usually used the simple past tense and the past continues tense. Here are structure simple past tense and past continues tense :
Past tense
(+) S + Verb 2 + O + C
(-) S + did not + Verb 1 + O + C
(?) Did + S + Verb 1 + O + C
Past Continues Tense
(+) S + Was / Were + V1 + ing + O/C
(-) S  + Was / Were + Not + V1 + ing + O/C
(?) Was / Were + S + V1 + ing + O/C

This is examples of narrative text :
1. Fable, fable is a story with a moral in which the characters are animals that behaving like humans.
 Examples :

The Bear and Rabbit

Once upon a time, there lived a bear and a rabbit. The rabbit is a good shot. In contrary, the bear is always clumsy and could not use the arrow.

One day, the bear called over the rabbit and asked the rabbit to take his bow and arrows.
The rabbit was fearing to arouse the bear's anger so he could not refuse it. He went with the bear and shot enough buffalo to satisfy the hungry family. Indeed he shot and killed so many that there were lots of meats left after.

However the bear did not want the rabbit to get any of the meat. The rabbit could not even taste the meat. The poor rabbit would have to go home hungry after his hard day's work.

The bear was the father of five children. Fortunately, the youngest child was very kind to the rabbit. He was very hearty eater. The mother bear always gave him an extra large piece of meat but the youngest child did not eat it. He would take it outside with him and pretended to play ball with the meat. He kicked toward the rabbit's house.When he got close to the door he would give the meat with such a great kick. The meat would fly into the rabbit's house. In this way, the poor rabbit would get his meal.

The Monkey and The Crocodile

One day there was a monkey. He wanted to cross a river. There he saw a crocodile so he asked the crocodile to take him across the other side of the river. The crocodile agree and told the monkey to jump on its back. Then the crocodile swam down the river with the monkey on his top.

Unluckily, the crocodile was very hungry, he stopped in the middle of the river and said to the monkey, “My father is very sick. He has to eat the heart of the monkey. So he will be healthy again.”

At the time, the monkey was in dangerous situation and he had to think hard. Then he had a good idea. He told the crocodile to swim back to the river bank. “What’s for?” asked the crocodile. “Because I don’t bring my heart,” said the monkey. “I left it under a tree, near some coconuts in the river bank.”
The crocodile agreed and turned around. He swam back to the bank of the river. As soon as they reached the river bank, the monkey jumped off the crocodile’s back. Then he climbed up to the top of a tree.

“Where is your heart?” asked the crocodile. “You are foolish,” said the monkey to the crocodile. “Now I am free and I have my heart.

The Smartest Parrot

Once upon time, a man had a wonderful parrot. There was no other parrot like it. The parrot could say every word, except one word. The parrot would not say the name of the place where it was born. The name of the place was Catano.

The man felt excited having the smartest parrot but he could not understand why the parrot would not say Catano. The man tried to teach the bird to say Catano however the bird kept not saying the word.

At the first, the man was very nice to the bird but then he got very angry. “You stupid bird!” pointed the man to the parrot. “Why can’t you say the word? Say Catano! Or I will kill you” the man said angrily. Although he tried hard to teach, the parrot would not say it. Then the man got so angry and shouted to the bird over and over; “Say Catano or I’ll kill you”. The bird kept not to say the word of Catano.

One day, after he had been trying so many times to make the bird say Catano, the man really got very angry. He could not bear it. He picked the parrot and threw it into the chicken house. There were four old chickens for next dinner “You are as stupid as the chickens. Just stay with them” Said the man angrily. Then he continued to humble; “You know, I will cut the chicken for my meal. Next it will be your turn, I will eat you too, stupid parrot”. After that he left the chicken house.

The next day, the man came back to the chicken house. He opened the door and was very surprised. He could not believe what he saw at the chicken house. There were three death chickens on the floor. At the moment, the parrot was standing proudly and screaming at the last old chicken; “Say Catano or I’ll kill you”.

2. Myth, myth is a story about superhuman beings of a earlier age taken by social costums, etc come into existence.

Example :

The Myth of Malin Kundang

A long time ago, in a small village near the beach in West Sumatra, a woman and her son lived. They were Malin Kundang and her mother. Her mother was a single parent because Malin Kundang's father had passed away when he was a baby. Malin Kundang had to live hard with his mother.
Malin Kundang was a healthy, dilligent, and strong boy. He usually went to sea to catch fish. After getting fish he would bring it to his mother, or sold the caught fish in the town.

One day, when Malin Kundang was sailing, he saw a merchant's ship which was being raided by a small band of pirates. He helped the merchant. With his brave and power, Malin Kundang defeated the pirates. The merchant was so happy and thanked to him. In return the merchant asked Malin Kundang to sail with him. To get a better life, Malin Kundang agreed. He left his mother alone.
Many years later, Malin Kundang became wealthy. He had a huge ship and was helped by many ship crews loading trading goods. Perfectly he had a beautiful wife too. When he was sailing his trading journey, his ship landed on a beach near a small village. The villagers recognized him. The news ran fast in the town; “Malin Kundang has become rich and now he is here”.

An old woman ran to the beach to meet the new rich merchant. She was Malin Kundang’s mother. She wanted to hug him, released her sadness of being lonely after so long time. Unfortunately, when the mother came, Malin Kundang who was in front of his well dressed wife and his ship crews denied meeting that old lonely woman. For three times her mother begged Malin Kundang and for three times he yelled at her. At last Malin Kundang said to her "Enough, old woman! I have never had a mother like you, a dirty and ugly woman!" After that he ordered his crews to set sail. He would leave the old mother again but in that time she was full of both sadness and angriness.

Finally, enraged, she cursed Malin Kundang that he would turn into a stone if he didn't apologize. Malin Kundang just laughed and really set sail.
In the quiet sea, suddenly a thunderstorm came. His huge ship was wrecked and it was too late for Malin Kundang to apologize. He was thrown by the wave out of his ship. He fell on a small island. It was really too late for him to avoid his curse. Suddenly, he turned into a stone.

3. Fuction, fuction is a story about human imagination, such as novels or short stories.

4. Fairy tales, fairy tales is the stories of humans and their dealings with magical or unlogic things such as fairies, dragons, wizard, etc.

Example :

Snow White

Once upon a time there lived a little, named Snow White. She lived with her aunt and uncle because her parents were died.

One day she heard her aunt and uncle talking about leaving Snow White in the castle because they wanted to go to America and they didn’t have enough money to take Snow White with them.

Snow White didn’t want her uncle and aunt to do this. So she decided to run away. The next morning she run away from home when her aunt and uncle were having breakfast, she run away into the wood.

In the wood she felt very tired and hungry. Then she saw this cottage. She knocked but no one answered so she went inside and felt asleep

Meanwhile seven dwarfs were coming home from work. They went inside. There, they found Snow White woke up. She saw the dwarfs. The dwarfs said; “What is your name?”. Snow White said; “My name is Snow White”. One of the dwarfs said; “If you wish, you may live here with us”. Snow White told the whole story about her. Then Snow white ad the seven dwarfs lived happily ever after.

5. Legend, Legend is a story that nonhistorical or unverifiable story that handed down by tradition from earlier times and populary accepted as historical.

Example :    

 

The Legend of Toba Lake 

Once upon time, there was a handsome man. His name was Batara Guru Sahala. He liked fishing. One day, he caught a fish. He was surprised to find out that the fish could talk. The fish begged him to set it free.

Batara Guru could not bear it. He made the fish free. As soon as it was free, the fish changed into a very beautiful woman. She attracted Batara Guru so much. He felt in love with that fish-woman. The woman wanted to marry with him and said that Batara Guru had to keep the secret which she had been a fish. Batara Guru aggreed and promised that he would never tell anybody about it.

They were married happily. They had two daughters. One day Batara Guru got very angry with his daughter. He could not control his mad. He shouted angrily and got the word of fish to his daugters. The daughters were crying. They found their mother and talked her about it.

The mother was very annoyed. Batara Guru broke his promise. The mother was shouting angrily. Then the earth began to shake. Volcanoes started to erupt. The earth formed a very big hole. People believed that the big hole became a lake. Then this lake is known as Toba lake.