The key to everything is people; it is our spirit as human beings. The important thing is to keep infusing our spirit with bright hope, the joy of living and the courage not to be defeated. That is the driving force for victory. If we forget this, we will not be able to reveal our true potential.

by Fran Larson

I had just got comfy with my favorite lunchtime television show. My steaming chili was just calling me when I continued to hear Jim shuffling in the kitchen.

“Where is the grater?”

“Um..I think it’s in the dishwasher.”

Then I heard more shuffling and some murmurings. I looked longingly at my inviting bowl of chili.

“What’s the matter?” (I tried to keep my tone patient and not in a “we’ve been married a lot of years tone.”)

“I am looking for the grater.” (My husband, Jim likes grated cheese on his chili)

I then know I have to jump up or this is going to go on for quite a while. I am gradually losing my pleasant tone and beginning to morph into a shrew. I have to keep myself from thatafter all, maybe I was wrong and it is not in the dishwasher.

“Here it is.” and “oh, yes, I see it” was spoken simultaneously by both of us. (That made a little ticked, since I still had to get up.)

I wonder if every household has a “where is it person?” Maybe they should be named Wherezit. I don’t know if it is a female thing or if it is the one who puts things away constantly, but, being a curious one, I think I will research it.

Before you think I am just picking on Jim, let me point out I could not live without him because I am always asking.”How do you get this remote to work or how can something quit working all of a sudden.” (He patiently explains to me that things don’t quit working “all of a sudden.” They break down at a certain point and whoever attempts to turn it on or make it work is the one that discovers it.)

I have zero patience for computer problems, opening a well-sealed item from the grocery store, reading instructions, mal-functioning zippers, etc. This remote thing is a biggie and it will usually happen when Jim is on the Golf Course (and not answering his cell). On these occasions, I simply turn on the television the way I always do and nothing happens. I then tell myself how smart I am and that I can figure this out (as I press every button I can). I am not prone to say curse words, but sometimes, on these days when only the dogs can hear, I will let it out!

I am definitely the Howzit person.

My point is, surely every household has a (how do you do this) Howzit and/or a Wherezit. If there is no one to answer the questions of these two people, I am guessing that you learn to answer the question yourself.

Originally published on SearchWarp.com for Fran Larson Friday, January 08, 2010
Article Source: Who Lives Here? Are You Constantly Being Asked,“Where Is It?” Or “How Do You Do This?”

The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel Peace Prize for 2009 will be awarded to President Barack Obama for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and of International Cooperation, said the head of the Nobel Committee, Thorbjrn Jagland, under publication. There was a gasp through the audience which was in the room when Jagland read up Obama’s name.

Provides hope for better future

I agree with the Nobel Committee in that Obama has played a positive role in several areas, and has sent many interesting signals. But should the peace prize go to a sitting president in USA , while being responsible for the warfare in Afghanistan ?

Right from day one, the Nobel Committee has challenged our traditional view of the word peace.

Nobel Committee makes its selection on the basis of the nomination proposals that are received or postmarked before February 1th the current year. Proposals that do not meet the deadline is normally taken at next year’s rating. Nobel committee members have the right to promote its own proposals as late as at the first committee meeting after the deadline.

After deadline for this year nomination President Barack Obama name was not among the nominated.

It was the Nobel Committee’s fresh leader Thorbjrn Jagland and Geir Lundestad that nominated Barack Obama and they were the strongest voice for the peace prize should be awarded to the new U.S. president. According to VG Norway’s biggest newspaper sources.

Should the Council of Europe chief Thorbjrn Jagland also be chairman of the Nobel Committee?

Three out of five members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee hesitated long before they would give the peace prize to Obama.

Not all think Obama is the Peace Prize worthy.

Barack Obama said that he was both surprised and humbled to the Nobel committee’s decision.

Obama also said the award does not reflect his own achievements.

The award is recognition that the United States takes a leadership role in matters where we have common aspirations with the rest of the world, according to Obama.

When the updated program for Barack Obama’s visit to Norway was made public Monday, it became clear that this year’s Nobel Peace Prize winner will not attend many of the traditional programs:

** Children event at Town Square

** Peace Prize concert

** The exhibition in honor of him at the Peace Center

** Press Conference at the Grand

** The interview with CNN’s Jonathan Mann, who has interviewed the 14 previous award winners, shall be deleted from the program

** Lunch with the King is reduced to an audience at the Palace

Should we not understand that the world’s most powerful man has an extensive program?

Obama and his staff have a desire to make the trip to Oslo as anonymous as possible.

With the Peace Prize, he is at home seen as a European friendly half socialist. The fewer the United States who know about this trip, the better.

Despite disappointment over Obama’s many cancellations we understand, he is the world’s most powerful head of state and a busy man.

You can say that. But the Nobel Peace Prize is the world’s most important award.

Congratulation with the Peace Prize President Barack Obama.

Every day we are faced with countless choices and decisions. We have
to decide which path to take in order to feel good about ourselves
and become better, more generous-spirited individuals? If we just
allow ourselves to be ruled by force of habit, the way we’ve always
reacted to a given situation, we will be drawn down the path of
least resistance and stop growing as a person.

But if we succeed in challenging ourselves on a fundamental level,
we can change from someone who is buffeted about by the environment
or the people around us, to someone who can positively influence our
situation and surroundings. We actually create the unique shape of
our lives by the infinite choices we make each day.

True individuality and character never come to full flower without
hard work. I feel it is a mistake to think that who you are right
now represents all you are capable of. If you passively decide, “I’m
a quiet person, so I’ll just go through life being quiet,” you won’t
ever fully realize your unique potential. Without having to change
your character completely, you can become a person who, while still
basically quiet, will say the right thing at the right time with
real conviction. In the same way, a negative tendency toward
impatience could be developed into a useful knack for getting things
done quickly and efficiently.

But nothing is more immediate, or more difficult, than to confront
and transform ourselves. It is always tempting to decide “That’s
just the kind of person I am.” Unless we challenge this tendency
early in life, it will become stronger with age. But the effort is
worthwhile in the end, as I believe that nothing produces deeper
satisfaction than successfully challenging our own weaknesses. As
the Russian author Tolstoy wrote, “Supreme happiness is to find that
you are a better person at the end of the year than you were at the
beginning.”

Human revolution is not something extraordinary, or divorced from
our daily lives. It often begins in a small way. Take a man who
thinks only of himself, his family and friends. Then, one day, he
makes a move to break out of these narrow confines just a little,
going out of his way to help a suffering neighbor. This is the start
of his human revolution.

But this process of human revolution cannot be undertaken alone. It
is through our interactions with others that we polish our lives and
grow as human beings. In Japan, mountain potatoes known as taros are
rough and dirty when harvested, but when put in water and rolled
against each other, the skin peels away, leaving the potatoes
shining and ready for cooking. The only way to hone and polish our
character is through our interactions with others.

By taking action for, and being positively engaged with others, we
become better and more disciplined people. But this doesn’t mean
making others happy while ignoring ourselves or our own happiness.
The happiness we create as individuals, and the strong bonds we
create with each other, result in the happiness of all mankind.

Transforming our own lives at the most fundamental level actually
holds the key to changing society. A deep change in our outlook, the
inner reality of our life, produces changes in the external workings
of our life, in other people, and our community

Selection Source: From a series of essays by Daisaku Ikeda first
published in the Philippine magazine Mirror, in 1998