Month: March 2012

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9 Ways to Reduce Stress…

No better way to de-stress than lounging by the lakeside in Brienz, Switzerland, enjoying both the view of the amazing mountains and of the shimmering lake.

So we had a rather full week, last week. Did you? Are you ready to start another week? i’m not too sure myself so i looked up ways to relief stress and came across this list which i thought i share. Before you read the whole article, i want to share my favourite 3 ways to reduce stress:

  1. Cup of Tea – i love tea. i do not drink coffee at all (even though i like the smell of it). And i love my tea strong, as strong as possible. i never take the tea bag out, ever. i have recently developed a habit of drinking tea before bedtime, at least every other evening and usually green tea which is light and refreshing. It sorts of puts my mind at rest. i really recommend this after a long day at work or at home (depending on where and what your work is).
  2. Laugh – Who doesn’t like to laugh? Laughter, after all, has been said to be the best medicine. So give it a try. i always have a few of my favourite comedies on DVD which i can pull out and watch to make the corners of my mouth curve upwards 😉
  3. Find a Room with a View – i truly Thank God we live in Switzerland, one of the most beautiful places on this earth. i always tell my friends, “You know the postcards you see of Switzerland. Well, they are real, no photoshop, no fake lighting etc. What you see on those postcards is real. That’s what you see when you get here.” Staring at the wonderful view of these incredible mountains certainly gives one perspective; enough of a mountain top view will enable you to look down at your problems and see a way out of the maze.

So have a read of the article below and let me know which are your favourite ways to relax.

9 Ways to Reduce Stress – Cholesterol Management – RealAge.

syc

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Tulips Have Popped!

In October 2011, almost six months ago, i dug up soil and fertilized it and planted tulip buds in two large pots on my balcony. i have been waiting patiently for them to come up to brighten my rather plain barbeque area.

And TODAY… they POPPED up! (i’m sure they poked their little heads out earlier but i only really noticed them today) That’s right, i have i think… ten little shoots! Happy, Happy, Happy 😀

A sign that Spring has come, finally, after what has been quite a freezing Winter. The official calender start to Spring is on 20.03.2012, Tuesday, at least according to my bought-in-Switzerland calender.

Enjoy!

syc

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Book Review: The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini was published in 2003 and has had glowing reviews since. It has taken me almost 7 years, since i first heard about it, to finally get round to reading it. i’m glad i did.

i’ll try not to give the whole plot away (my brother has said before that i’m terrible at this).

First of all, this book surprised me. From the back of cover description, i was expecting a fair amount of talk about the wars in Afghanistan. But there was not a whole lot of talk about the wars. Yes the wars were used as a catalysis for the actions taken by the characters in the story.

However, it is essentially about the journey of a boy into manhood and how a single incident shattered his life as he knew it and shaped most of the rest of his life, how he regrets what happened but felt that he had could do nothing to make it better. It is also about relationships; the relationship between a father and his son, the relationship between best friends, the relationship between fear and action, guilt and atonement.

The story pulls us into the life of Amir, literally by a kite string as it starts out as a fairly inconsequential account of a boy’s life; a boy born into what we might call a ‘silver-spoon-in-mouth’ situation, a boy who tried hard to be the son his father wants him to be, a boy who carried a dark secret with him till he could find redemption years later. Many points in my reading i wanted to take Amir and shake him. Then i remember he is but a boy and he reacted as a boy would.

Amir’s father too, carried secrets, as did his loyal housekeeper and his long-time friend. But they all hid their secrets for different reasons; fear of social shame, fear of rejection. They also hid the truth out of love for the people they cared about. i’m still not sure that hiding the truth to so-call “save” a loved one pain is really the right or good thing to do. This is the thing to do where i come from so i completely understand the thought process behind this reasoning but i’m not certain i agree with it. (but that’s a whole other post.)

When the truth comes out, finally, the path to redemption slowly unwinds. The end brings closure for almost all the characters. It is not a complete ‘Hollywood’ ending but it ended on a hopeful note and that i feel is important, because the secret Amir carried and the result of it was so terrible that hope needed to be found in the end, how else can we humans still live on except by finding and walking towards that little dot of light at the end of a long long tunnel.

If you have read this book, i would love to hear what you think of it. If not, do you think this is a book you would pick up?

syc