The future in 5 years

The Future in Five Years

There was once a young man named Andrés, who, on his 25th birthday, was dissatisfied with his life. Although he had big dreams, his days slipped between distractions and bad habits. One day, his grandfather, a wise and respected man, gave him simple but powerful advice:

"Who you will be five years from now depends on the books you read, the food you eat, the habits you build, the people you hang out with, the physical activity you do, the money you invest, and the sacrifices you make."

Intrigued, Andrés decided to take these words seriously and change his life, building a future worthwhile.

The books that you read

Andrés began to devote time to reading every night. He went from reading light novels to books that taught him about leadership, finance, and personal development. In one of those books, he learned that "Life gets better when you improve your decisions." Inspired, he took notes and applied what he learned, cultivating his mind with new ideas.

Result: After a year, his thinking became more strategic, and his decisions began to reflect his newfound knowledge.

The food that you eat

He left fast foods behind and opted to learn how to cook healthy recipes. He researched nutrition and understood that his body was his most important tool. She incorporated fruits, vegetables and proteins into her diet, quickly noticing an increase in her energy and well-being.

Result: His mind was clearer, and he no longer felt tired in the middle of the day.

The habits you build

At first, building habits was difficult, but Andrés started with small steps: waking up early, writing down his goals for the day, and practicing gratitude each morning. By repeating these actions, they became part of their daily routine.

Result: Andrés became more disciplined and productive, making progress on projects that previously seemed impossible to finish.

The people you hang out with

Andrés evaluated his relationships and realized that some people in his circle did not share his values. Even though it was difficult, he decided to surround himself with friends who motivated him and who also worked on his goals.

Result: His new circle inspired him to grow, and together they challenged each other to achieve new achievements.

The physical activity you practice

One day, a friend invited him for a run. At first, he couldn't complete a kilometer, but he persisted. Later, she signed up for a gym and found exercise a way to release stress and strengthen her body.

Result: Andrés not only improved physically, but he also gained more confidence in himself.

The money you invest

Inspired by his readings, Andrés learned about investments. He started by saving a small percentage of his salary and then invested in an indexed fund. He also took a course to learn how to manage his finances better.

Result: In five years, he had accumulated solid savings and generated passive income, allowing him to achieve goals such as travel and study.

The sacrifices you make

Andrés understood that success requires letting go of some things. He gave up meaningless party nights, reduced time spent on social networks and focused on activities that added value to his life.

Result: Although the sacrifices were uncomfortable at first, he felt more satisfied to see the results.

Andrés 5 years later

At 30, Andrés almost didn't recognize the young man he was five years ago. Now he had a fulfilling life: he was surrounded by supportive people, felt strong and healthy, had a business he was passionate about, and a solid financial future.

At a family reunion, his grandfather asked him, "What did you do to get here?" "

Andrés smiled and replied: "I followed your words." I read, I ate better, I built good habits, I took care of who I let into my life, I stayed active, I invested in my future and I had the courage to make sacrifices. " w

Men

Men,

1. Privacy is power. What people don’t know they can’t ruin. Keep it private, people love to ruin things.

2. The cost of growth is sometimes loneliness. Learn the art of loneliness.

3. Everything is temporary. Be reminded, nothing last forever even the life you are given so stay humble.

4. So many people are fighting silent battles. Be kind.

5. Your partner is a reflection of you. Choose wisely. More reason why you must go after her VALUE SYSTEM And not only the physique.

6. Your mental health is more important than anyone’s feelings. This is something you need to be selfish about.

7. You don’t need more time. You need less distractions. Learn to be focused.

8. Be selfish with your time. A lot of people don't deserve it. 

9. Go where your LOVED, APPRECIATED, a priority, recognized, respected and valued without having to ask. 

10. Self love isn't selfish.

11. Anyone who makes your life even a little bit easier is a big blessing. Hold unto them, they are few out there.

12. Choose your circle wisely, whoever you allow into your space can affect your state of mind.

13. Peace of mind is priceless.

14. Stop being desperate to be in love and just live.

15. Be around people who have that “grow together” mentality.

16. No regrets in life, just lesson learned the hard way. Dust yourself up and keep pushing.

17. Go for someone who is proud to have you.

18. Never give up everyone has bad days, pick yourself up and keep going.

19. If you get tired, learn to pull back and rest, not to Quit. 

20. Disappear. Come back better.

21. Learning from people's success is smart, learning from people's mistakes is genius.

22. How to be happy: dont expect anything from anyone. Don't, people owe you nothing.

23. Everything is going to be alright, maybe not today, but eventually. Always keep a positive and optimistic mindset.

24. Keep grinding. Your day is coming.

25. It’s so attractive when you get the same effort you give. 

26. Stop being considerate in situations where you aren’t considered. 

27. If nobody will help you, do it alone. And don't complain.

28. Be obsessed with improving yourself.

29. A conversation about how you feel is not supposed to end in a argument.

30. “I’ll do it tomorrow” is a big scam.

31. Don’t be the same, be better.

32. Better to wait than force things to happen.

33. Not everyone will understand you and that's okay.

34. Heal so you don’t become the people that traumatized you.

35. keep your circle small, keep only friends that have senses.

36. If they need you temporarily, ignore them permanently. 

37. Everyone leaves. Learn how to survive alone.

38. Disappear if you have to. Focus on you.

39. People start hating you when they cannot control you.

40. Focus on improving yourself, not proving yourself.

41. Never, ever, run back to what broke you.

Keep pushing.

Warm water benefits

*💦 MAN and WATER*

The temperature of water entering the *body determines the life span of a person*.

Medical discovery that shocked the world: *Thirst!*  Means pain and premature death?

 Author: Dr. F. Bateman

 A student of Alexander Fleming-Penicillin discoverer and Nobel laureate, Dr. Bateman devoted his life to the study of the healing properties of water.

*Just two glasses of warm/hot water are all you need to relieve severe abdominal pain caused by stomach ulcers.*

*He cured more than 3,000 patients with only warm water and no medicine.*

*This book summarizes the author's decades of research results.*

*1. He discovered that warm/hot water can heal:*

*1. Heart disease and stroke: Because warm/hot water can dilute the blood, it can effectively prevent cardiovascular and cerebrovascular blockage.*

*2. Osteoporosis: Because warm/hot water can make the growing bones stronger.*

*3. Leukemia and lymphoma: Because warm/hot water can transport oxygen into cells, cancer cells are anaerobic.*

*4. High blood pressure: Because warm/hot water is the best natural diuretic.*

*5. Diabetes: Because warm/hot water can increase the content of tryptophan in the body.*

*6. Insomnia: Because warm water can produce a natural sleep regulating substance - melatonin.*

*7. Depression: Because warm water allows the body to increase the supply of serotonin in a natural way.*

*Second, introduce the method of drinking warm/hot water:*

*1. Drink water, not tea, drink 2~3 liters of water a day, drink it several times, not wait until you are thirsty to drink water.*

*(1) Try to drink plain water instead of carbonated drinks and coffee.*

 *(2) Modern people, including most doctors, do not understand how important the role of "water" is in the human body.*

 *(3) Drugs can alleviate the condition, but they cannot cure the aging disease of the human body.*

 *(4) We will suddenly realize that the cause of many diseases is only the lack of water in the body.*

*(5) The lack of water in the body has caused the disorder of water metabolism, and the physiological disorder has finally led to the occurrence of many diseases.*

 *2. Water is the source of life: The reason why people can grow on land is also because there is a complete set of water storage system in the body.*

 *(1) This system stores a large amount of water in the human body, accounting for about 75% of body weight.*

 *(2) Because of this, people can adapt to temporary water shortage in a short period of time.*

 *(3) At the same time, there is a drought management mechanism in the human body: when the human body is short of water, the water stored in the body is strictly allocated, and the most important organs receive sufficient water and the nutrients transported by the water first.*

 *(4)  In the distribution of water, the brain is in an absolute priority.*

 *(5) The brain accounts for 1/50 of the weight of the human body, but it receives 18%-20% of the total blood circulation, and the proportion of water is the same.*

*(6) When the body lacks water, the drought management mechanism must first ensure the vital organs, so other organs will be insufficiently hydrated.*

*(7) At this time, they will send out an alarm signal, indicating that a certain part is short of water.*

*3. The author has been practicing medicine for many years, and often encounters this situation: it is obviously a signal from the body that lacks water, and it is urgent to replenish water; but people use chemicals to deal with these signs of water shortage.*  

*Even more unfortunately, this error persists; the physical condition gradually develops and the dehydration becomes more and more complicated.*

*3. Do not drink ice water.*

 *1. People pour water at 0°C into their stomach at 37°C, but the urine is hot, which is the temperature of the human body at 37°C.*

*2. Who can turn 0°C ice water into 37°C  urine?*

 *3. It is the spleen and stomach. After drinking ice-cold drinks, the spleen and stomach cannot stand it, so they draw the human essence (or vital energy) from the "kidney" and turn it into heat to 'cook' it to 37°C.   Therefore, usinh up the  human essence will make your kidneys weak.*

 *4. If you always love iced water, you must have kidney deficiency, which will affect your memory, and will also make you wheelchair-bound in your later years, with weakened bones...*

 *※The water temperature sent into your own body determines your lifespan.🌴*

Heist movies

Heist movies you should watch

1. Ambulance

2. Den of thieves

3. Inside man

4. The vault

5. The town

6. The Italian job

7. Heat

8. Ocean's eleven

9. The bank job

10. Heist of the century

11. Baby driver

12. Army of thieves

13. Triple frontier

14. The usual suspects

15. Now you see me 

16. Inception

17. The vault

18. Wrath of man

19. Ocean's 8

20. Hurricane heist

21. Focus one

22. Takers

23. The misfits

24. Coin heist

25. Honest thief

26. Army of the dead

27. Red notice

28. This is a robbery

29. Ant man

30. Going in style

31. Logan lucky

32. Triple 9

33. King of thieves

34. Tower Heist

35. Gone in 60 seconds

36. Rogue one

37. Marauders

38. Hell or high water

39. The thieves

40. The swindlers

41. Heist

42. The con artists. 

Conscious communication

How to Use Conscious Communication to Build Positive Relationships

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-use-conscious-communication-build-positive-relationships-?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_android&utm_campaign=share_via

Old age..

Does old age itself brings with itself sadness and despair or do the surroundings and environment create it?

As I enter my parents house which was my residence during teenage and youth,  a perennial sense of sadness, despair and hopelessness seems to have taken hold over entire atmosphere.

Old age related health issues seem to be the primary driver, they get more pronounced and becomes a vicious circle when combined with reluctance to let go of past belongings or resistance to change the way their house is setup in order to make it more senior friendly.

Is money a concern? Not in this case, it is more to do with resistance to change ..any change that might alter status quo or challenges their preconceived notions.

The once vibrant household now has fallen to despair and sadness.

When you are down

Your hard work is the dream of every unemployed person;

Your restless child is the dream of everyone without children;

Your small home is the dream of every homeless person;

Your little capital is the dream of every debtor;

Your poor health is the dream of every patient with an incurable disease;

Your peace, your peaceful sleep, your accessible food is the dream of everyone in a country at war.

You must appreciate everything you have. After all, no one knows what tomorrow will bring."

OTT Series

Hindi

Prime

• Mirzapur
• Panchayat
• The Family man
• Farzi
• Pataal Lok
• Taandav

Netflix

• Jamtara
• The Railway men
• Kohrra
• Guns and Gulaabs

Jiocinema

• Kaalkoot

English 

• Black Mirror (Netflix)
• Game of thrones 
• Breaking bad (Disney Hotstar)
• Big Bang Theory

Bad

- 

By age 40

BY AGE 40  YOU SHOULD BE SMART ENOUGH TO REALIZE THIS:

1. Someone makes 10x more than you do in a 9-5 job because they have more "leverage" with their work.

2. Distraction is the greatest killer of success. It stunts and destroys your brain.

3. You shouldn't take advice from people who are not where you want to be in life.

4. No one is coming to save your problems. Your life's 100% your responsibility.

5. You don't need 100 self-help books, all you need is action and self discipline.

6. Unless you went to college to learn a specific skill (ie. doctor, engineer, lawyer), you can make more money in the next 90 days just learning sales.

7. No one cares about you. So stop being shy, go out and create your chances.

8. If you find someone smarter than you, work with them, don't compete.

9. Smoking has 0 benefit in your life. This habit will only slow your thinking and lower your focus.

10. Comfort is the worst addiction and cheap ticket to depression.

11. Don't tell people more than they need to know, respect your privacy.

12. Avoid alcohol at all cost. Nothing worse than losing your senses and acting a fool.

13. Keep your standards high and don't settle for something because it's available.

14. The family you create is more important than the family you come from.

15. Train yourself to take nothing personally to save yourself from 99.99% of mental problems.

ADVICE TO ALL EMPLOYEES

1. Build a home earlier. Be it rural home or urban home. Building a house at 50 is not an achievement. Don't get used to government houses. This comfort is so dangerous. Let all your family have good time in your house.

 

2. Go home. Don't stick at work all the year.  You are not the pillar of your department.  If you drop dead today, you will be replaced immediately and operations will continue.  Make your family a priority.

3. Don't chase promotions.  Master your skills and be excellent at what you do. If they want to promote you, that's fine if they don't,  stay positive to your personal.

development.

4. Avoid office or work gossip. Avoid things that tarnish your name or reputation. Don't join the bandwagon that backbites  your bosses and colleagues. Stay away from negative gatherings that have only people as their agenda.

5. Don't ever compete with your bosses.  You will burn your fingers.  Don't compete with your colleagues, you will fry your brain.

6. Ensure you have a side business.  Your salary will not sustain your needs in the long run.

7. Save some money. Let it be deducted automatically from your payslip. 

8. Borrow a loan to invest in a business or to change a situation not to buy luxury. Buy luxury from your profit.

9. Keep your life,marriage and family private. Let them stay away from your work. This is very important.  

10. Be loyal to yourself  and believe in your work. Hanging around your boss will alienate you from your colleagues and  your boss may finally dump you when he leaves. 

11. Retire early.  The best way to plan for your exit was when you received the employment letter. The other best time is today.  By 40 to 50 be out. 

12. Join work welfare and be an active member always. It will help you a lot when  any eventuality occurs.

13.Take leave days utilize them by developing yr future home or projects..usually what you do during yr leave days is a reflection of how you'll live after retirement..If it means you spend it all holding a remote control watching series on Zee world, expect nothing different after retirement.

14. Start a project whilst still serving or working. Let your project run whilst at work and if it doesn't do well, start another one till it's running viably. When your project is viably running then retire to manage your business. Most people or pensioners fail in life because they retire to start a project instead of retiring to run a project. 

15. Pension money is not for starting a project or buy a stand or build a house but it's money for your upkeep or to maintain yourself in good health. Pension money is not for paying school fees or marrying a young wife but to look after yourself.

16. Always remember, when you retire never be a case study for living a miserable life after retirement but be a role model for colleagues to think of retiring too. 

17. Don't retire just because you are finished or you are now a burden to the company and just wait for your day to die. Retire young or whilst energetic to enjoy waking up for a cup of coffee, enjoy the sun, receive money from your business, visit nice place that you missed and spend good time with family. Those who retire late, spend about 95% of their time at work than with their family and that's why they see it difficult to spend time with their family when they retire but end looking for another job till they die. If they don't get another job, they die early.

18. Retire at your house than at government accommodation so that when you retire you can easily fit into the society that raised you. It's not easy to adjust to live in a location after spending more years at company house or at government house.

19. Never let your employment benefits make you forget about your retirement. Employment benefits are just meant to make you relax, get finished whilst time is moving. Remember when you retire no one will call you boss if you don't have a viable business.

20. Don't hate to retire because one day you will retire either voluntarily or involuntarily. 

Hope this will help you look at life positively

John Liney

मिट्टी

*बाबा फरीद ने पंजाबी में क्या खूब कहा है* -

वेख फरीदा मिट्टी खुल्ली, *(कबर)*

मिट्टी उत्ते मिट्टी डुली; *(लाश)*

मिट्टी हस्से मिट्टी रोवे, *(इंसान)*

अंत मिट्टी दा मिट्टी होवे *(जिस्म)*

ना कर बन्दया मेरी मेरी, *(पैसा)*

ना ऐह तेरी ना ऐह मेरी; *(खाली जाना)*

चार दिना दा मेला दुनिया, *(उम्र)*

फ़िर मिट्टी दी बन गयी ढेरी; *(मौत)*

ना कर एत्थे हेरा फेरी, *(पैसे कारन झुठ, धोखे)*

मिट्टी नाल ना धोखा कर तू, *(लोका नाल फरेब)*

तू वी मिट्टी मैं वी मिट्टी; *(इंसान)*

जात पात दी गल ना कर तू,

जात वी मिट्टी पात वी मिट्टी, *(पाखंड)*

*जात सिर्फ खुदा दी उच्ची,*                    

 *बाकी सब कुछ मिट्टी मिट्टी*।

Success

Life is going to throw dirt at you, all kinds of dirt... the trick to getting out of the hole is to shake it off and use it to step up. Each of our problems is a step up. We can get out of the deepest holes if we don't give up...

Use the land they throw you to get ahead!!!

Remember the 5 rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hate.

2. Free your Mind of distractions.

3. Simplify your life.

4. Give more and expect less.

5. Love more and... shake the dirt, because in this life you have to be a solution, not the problem!

Leadership

The four cardinal virtues of leadership are:

- Wisdom 

- Courage

- Temperance

- Justice 

7 months after move to India

After staying for precisely 10 years in Sydney, Australia the move to India has been turbulent more mentally than physically.

There were some things that one could plan out for, some one couldnt foresee and have to deal with them after arriving and confronting them face-to-face. Few are like:

• Allergies - Long hidden and forgotten have emerged back from depths of time, thanks to unending dust and pollution in India.
• Confin-ism - If there is even a word like this! Thanks to unending bangalore traffic, you can't just take your car and go for a 10-15 mins spin (leave the thought of driving with your windows down)
• Walk like an unknown person down the road, every face appears familiar or judgemental

Bhishma vs Jatayu

Credit for this goes to an anonymous friend 

THE BHISHMA WAY

Or

THE JATAYU WAY

No two people respond to the same situation in a similar way.

Here are examples of two legendary personalities who were faced with a very similar situation, but their responses were diagonally apart. 

This is a comparative study between the characters Bhishma in the epic Mahabharat, and Jatayu in the epic Ramayana.

Both of them were confronted with their character when they had to handle decisions based on an assault on womanhood. The metaphor comes equally handy in the world of decision making.

One chose to die protecting the victim, while the other chose to be a mute spectator to the crime.

1- POWERFUL or POWERLESS

Bhishma was a powerful warrior and if he wanted, he could have stopped the disrobing of Draupadi - the Queen, but he chose to be a silent witness to this act

whereas Jatayu was old and invalid, and knew that in all probability, Ravana would kill him but still, he chose to try his best to protect Sita - the Queen. 

Bhisma was powerful yet acted powerless whereas Jatayu was powerless yet acted powerful. _

"Real power is not about physical strength but about the deep desire to help."_

2 - ALIVE or DEAD

Bhishma lived on for long, but died everyday to his conscience, whereas Jatayu died once but lived eternally true to his conscience. _

" Our only constant companion is our conscience - better to be true to it."

3 -FAME or INFAMY

Bhishma's name and fame drowned in history because of this one act of not stopping the disrobing of Draupadi, but Jatayu's name and fame went high in history because of his act of trying to save Sita. _

" We are all going to be mere names in history, sooner or later. Will we be equated with the bad or the good - its our choice."

4 - CULTURE or VULTURE

Bhishma was supposed to be a highly cultured human, but acted highly insensitive & stooped low in values like a vulture 

whereas 

Jatayu was supposed to be a lowly uncultured vulture but acted highly sensitive and soared to the skies in values like an evolved human. Who would you call as a human - Bhishma or Jatayu? _

"One doesn't become a human being by being born as a human - one becomes a human being by being a human."_

5 - SPOKEN or UNSPOKEN WORDS

Draupadi begged and pleaded protection from Bhishma because she knew if someone could protect her, it was only him. But still Bhishma didn't protect her 

whereas 

Sita didn't even ask Jatayu for protection - she just wanted him to inform Rama about her kidnapping by Ravana, because she knew Jatayu was not powerful but still Jatayu tried to protect Sita.

 Bhishma, being a human, couldn't even understand the spoken words of Draupadi, leave alone understanding her unspoken sentiments, whereas Jatayu, even though he was a mere bird, understood not only the spoken words of Sita but also her unspoken words.

"The language of heart is more powerful than the language of words."

6 - CLARITY or CONFUSION

Bhishma was so confused and engrossed in his Royal duty that he forgot that he had a higher duty - a moral duty

 

whereas

 Jatayu was so clear about his moral duty that no other duty was a consideration for him. _

"When caught up in dilemmas, best is to follow the higher principles - to follow our heart because it always knows the truth."

7 - GOOD or BAD EXAMPLE

Bhishma set a very bad precedent for generations to come 

whereas

 Jatayu set the most ideal precedent for generations to come. _

"If we can't be a great example, at least, let us not be a bad one."_

8 - RELATIVE or STRANGER

Another interesting point is that Bhishma was an elderly relative of Draupadi but acted as a total stranger in this episode

 whereas

 Jatayu was not at all related to Sita, he was a stranger, but acted more than a dearest relative. _

"True relationships are based on connections of the heart, not just bodily connections."

9 - THE SAINTLY or THE WICKED

Both, Bhishma and Jatayu had a few moments to decide what to do.

 Life sometimes puts each of us in situations where, in a few moments, we need to take crucial decisions. 

What we decide very much depends on the kind of inner integrity we have cultivated by the association we keep. 

Bhishma’s intelligence was clouded and it failed the test of life because he associated with the wicked minded, the selfish Kauravas, whereas Jatayu's intelligence was crystal clear and it passed the test of life because he associated with the saintly, selfless Lakshman and the All-pure Lord Rama. 

_"After all, who we are solely depends on whom we associate with."_

10 - EMBRACE or NEGLECT

The Supreme Lord as Sri Krishna was not at all happy with this attitude of Bhishma, so much so that when He came as a peace messenger to Hastinapur, He didn't even bother to look at Bhisma

whereas 

The Supreme Lord as Ramachandra was so happy with the attitude of Jatayu that he embraced him and personally did his final rites - a honor that even Dasharath - His father did not receive. 

The scriptures explain that the ultimate test of any activity is, if the Supreme Lord is pleased with us._ It is very clear, Bhishma displeased God whereas Jatayu pleased Him.

*This recount is not meant to criticize Bhishma - he is undoubtedly a great warrior and an amazing personality who sacrificed his personal desires for Hastinapur,* 

but 

we do vehemently criticize his inaction. The moral here is to learn from the choices made so that we are conscious history follows us. _

*When we see some injustice, some problem, we have only two options - either close your eyes to it or do something about it - follow "the Bhishma way" or "the Jatayu way"*

 and whichever way we choose - remember there will be consequences of our choices 

 *~"the Bhisma result" or "the Jatayu result"._*

 *Brilliant analysis!!*

Thank you, Anonymous friend

What is Orthodox Christmas?

Approximately 260 million people worldwide, those in majority-Orthodox countries in Eastern Europe, like Russia, Ukraine and Greece, and in communities in Ethiopia, Egypt, and elsewhere, celebrate Christmas on 7 January rather than 25 December and it is called Orthodox Christmas.

The holiday stems from the decision by Orthodox Christian groups to follow the Julian calendar created by the Romans, rather than the Gregorian calendar that was embraced by most Christian countries in 1582. The dates of several Christian holidays, including Christmas and Easter, differ from one to the other.

Ukrainians break tradition, move up Christmas to part ways with Russia

Confused about all of it? We simplify it for you.

Prior to the 16th Century, a calendar known as the Julian calendar was used which was a solar calendar adopted by Roman ruler Julius Caesar in 46 BC. However, as time passed, the calendar's calculations seemed to have an issue of their own: it overestimate the length of the solar year by about 11 minutes. As a result, the calendar and the solar year became increasingly out of sync as the centuries progressed.

By 1852, the dates of important Christian holidays had drifted too far and Pope Gregory XIII was concerned. He called for a group of astronomers and after discussions introduced a new calendar - the Gregorian calendar - which is what is widely used all over the world to this day.

But the new calendar meant an occasional overlap between Passover and Easter - a move that went against the holy texts of Orthodox Christianity and hence this denomination rejected the Gregorian calendar and continued to rely on the Julian calendar

Over the years, the differences in these two calendars meant that certain religious holidays would fall under two different dates, which is essentially why the majority of the world celebrate on 25 December, in accordance to the Gregorian calendar, while a few Orthodox Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ on 7 January, in accordance to the Julian calendar.

Priests or spies? How churches in Ukraine are being used in the war

 

Women light candles ahead of Orthodox Christmas in a church in Ukraine in Kyiv. AFP

Which countries mark Orthodox Christmas?

Several countries celebrate Orthodox Christmas on 7 January, including Russia that is home to more than a third (39 per cent) of the world's Christians.

Other nations celebrating on 7 January are Belarus, Egypt, Ethiopia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, and Ukraine.

Armenia observes Christmas Day on 6 January. After a meeting of leaders in 1923, most stayed with the Julian calendar but Orthodox Christians in Greece, Cyprus and Romania chose to move the date in line with the Gregorian calendar.

How different is Orthodox Christmas?

Orthodox Christmas traditions differ depending on the country, church and local customs. While they do have Christmas trees, wreaths and some gifts, it's not like the commercialised Christmas we are accustomed to. Orthodox Christmas is focused on devout religious celebrations.

Traditionally, Orthodox Christians fast for up to 40 days leading up to Christmas, preparing for the birth of Christ by abstaining from meat, dairy, fish, wine, and olive oil. After a vigil on Christmas Eve, Christmas itself is celebrated as one of the Church's 12 Great Feasts, with churchgoing and celebration at home.

In Russia, a 12-course meal is laid out laden with dishes like beet salad, borscht, boiled potatoes with onions, honey and raisins to represent good fortune and piroshki, a traditional sauerkraut dumpling. Russian Salmon pies (Kulebyaka) and Russian meat dumplings are also eaten during this feast.

In Georgia, clergy and people in religious costumes parade through the streets, singing carols and walking toward the church. Called Alilo, the procession's name is derived from that of a song traditionally sung by children on Christmas Eve as they go from door to door, collecting money and small gifts. That custom exists in other places, too, like Romania and Greece.

There is also an Orthodox Christmas Day custom of walking in procession to a body of water - be that the sea, river or lakes - to bless it. If the water is iced over, they will make holes to reach it.

Whatever the differences between Orthodox Christmas and Christmas, they both ultimately mean to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and is the most heart-warming and special time of the year.

Goa restaurant

Smita's Lake View Restaurant & Bar

Hno 842 kursawaddo, Zuari Rd, Siridao, Goa 403108

093095 09180 https://g.co/kgs/YrtqXN

Sustainable house

https://lm.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thebetterindia.com%2F282817%2Fcoimbatore-sustainable-home-natural-stones-keeps-cool-zero-carbon-emissions%2F&h=AT3mW0J7OEC0qT-dVTnS8MnGBrgpWUdjJdb5wXs1mxV_ar8vnKXo8jAAtwaiK6G3PwO_uB9U-PZ9u4gG3Rg6BIvRB_9a57C8y-Zi_SRzkmGF0SMw-FuArjlqz0xvyTpF174uuLHzJgG8oRfiTw

Futures and options

https://youtu.be/dOaA38OJehc

English idioms history

We use so many expression in English without knowing how these expressions came about. Here are Some nuggets to enlighten you.

There is an old pub near Cr Marble Arch, London , which used to have gallows adjacent to it. Prisoners were taken to the gallows (after a fair trial of course) to be hung.

The horse-drawn dray, carting the prisoner, was accompanied by an armed guard, who would stop the dray outside the pub and ask the prisoner if he would like ''ONE LAST DRINK''.

If he said YES, it was referred to as ONE FOR THE ROAD.  

If he declined, that prisoner was ON THE WAGON. 

So there you go. More bleeding history.  

They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a pot and then once a day it was taken and sold to the tannery. 

If you had to do this to survive you were "piss poor", but worse than that were the really poor folk, who couldn't even afford to buy a pot, they "Didn't have a pot to piss in" and were the lowest of the low.  

The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be in England.  Here are some facts about the 1500s:  

Most people got married in June, because they took their yearly bath in May and they still smelled pretty good by June. 

However, since they were starting to smell, brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odour. 

Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married. 

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. 

The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, 

then all the other sons and men, 

then the women, and finally the children. 

Last of all the babies. 

By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. 

Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water!" 

Houses had thatched roofs, thick straw piled high, with no wood underneath. 

It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. 

When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. 

Hence the saying "It's raining cats and dogs."  

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom, where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. 

Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.  

The floor was dirt.. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. 

Hence the saying, "dirt poor." 

The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing. 

As the winter wore on they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. 

A piece of wood was placed in the entrance-way. 

Hence: a thresh hold. 

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight, then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. 

Hence the rhyme: ''Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot, nine days old''.  

Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. 

When visitors came over they would hang up their bacon, to show off. 

It was a sign of wealth that a man could, "Bring home the bacon." 

They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around talking and ''chew the fat''.  

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning and death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.  

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, 

or ''The Upper Crust''. 

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. 

Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. 

They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. 

Hence the custom of ''Holding a Wake''. 

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people, so they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house and reuse the grave. 

When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realised they had been burying people alive. 

So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, thread it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. 

Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift) to listen for the bell; 

thus someone could be, ''Saved by the Bell'' or was considered a ''Dead Ringer''.

And that's the blimey truth.