I sometimes think
I’d like to be
Another me
A different me.
I think I should
Feel very strange
I don’t think
I’d like to change…

I am what I love,
I am what I work at,
I am what I wish,
I am what I fear,

I am what I believe,
I am what I see,
I am what I hear,
I am what I eat,
I am what I am.

Every day teens face different problems. The way they cope with them depends on how they feel about them. We probably don’t know much about ourselves. All people are different. They like different things. They do things in different ways. We should understand each other and let people have their ways.

“Imagine there’s no heaven,
It’s easy if you try.
No hell below us,
Above us only sky,
Imagine all the people,
Living for today,
A-ha.

Imagine there’s no countries,
It isn’t hard to do,
Nothing to kill or dye for,
And no religion too,
Imagine all the people
Living life in space, yu-huh.

You may say I’m a dreamer,
But I’m not the only one.
I hope some day you’ll join us,
And the world will be one.

Imagine no possessions,
I wonder if you can,
No need for greed or hunger,
A brotherhood of man,
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world, yu-huh.

You may say I’m a dreamer,
But I’m not the only one.
I hope some day you’ll join us,
And the world will live as one.

(John Lennon)

We are all creatures of our beautiful planet. There are 12 star signs which influence us directly. This is what the astrologers say about people who belong to different star signs.

Really stars say much about us. They say negative and positive things about people. But we should develop our features of character and rich gift given to us by nature. And we don’t do it, it will never appear.

We think that time is a valuable gift given to people but they do not often use it properly.

What is this life, if full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare?

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty’s glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth ca
Enrich that smile for eyes began,

A poor life this is, if full care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

(W. H. Davis)

Can you organize your time carefully? Sometimes time is robbed from us. What are the common time thieves?

For example,

• long telephone calls;
• doing too much tasks at once (there is a proverb: He who begins many things finishes but few).
• spending too much time on trivial matters;
• lack of the necessary discipline;
• lack of plans in writing;
• lack of any personal objectives.

One should take pleasure in something positive each day. “If you cannot have the best, make the best of what you have”.

Here are some rules of positive lifestyle:

• do something each day that you enjoy;
• do something each day that brings you closer to your objectives;
• do something each day that can balance your school life, your life in your family and your private life.

Here are some sayings and ideas of famous people about time:

• “Men talk about killing time while time quietly kills them” (Dion Boucicault)
• “Time is money” (Benjamin Franklin)
• “Part of our time is stolen from us,
  Or else we are cheated out of it,
  And whatever is left over seems
  To disappear unnoticed” (Seneca)

Thus, be master of your own time, follow these advices and you’ll achieve a lot!

Anxiety is believed to be one more of the things which may tell sadly on your achievements at school or your career. What are these things and how to cope with anxiety? Many things can be scary and everyone is afraid of something. But no one is afraid of all these things. Different people are afraid of different things. It is good when you are afraid of some things. You must be careful with fire, electricity and swimming pools.

Fight your fears! If you keep your fears inside they will grow. If you talk about them, your fears will become smaller. Talk to a friend or a grown-up.

Learn more about them! If you are afraid of snakes, find out how snakes help people.

Go slowly! If you are afraid of water, don’t try to get over your fear in one day. There is no hurry. First put your feet in the water. The next time splash your face.

Think about good things! “I can make friends at this new school”. “Those aren’t monsters – they are my silly shirts on the chair”.

Use “fear-breakers”. If you are afraid of the dark, ask for a night light. Leave your door open. Let a radio play soft music to help you sleep.

Read about other children who have been afraid of something. Find out what they did to grow out of their fears.

The way you cope with anxiety will help you in your future career.

Nowadays many young boys and girls choose business. Imagine that you are going to start your own business. But to run it well you need to do a lot of things.

What does a person need to communicate in business?

• Polite language.
• Grammatically correct language.
• Communicatively appropriate language.
• Influent language behavior.
• Effective eye communication.
• Acceptable dress.
• Non-extravagant appearance.
• Vocal variety.
• Effective use of pauses.
• Effective use of ways making the listener be involved in communication.
• Effective use of humour.
• The natural self.

So, in the effective individual communication the normal eye contact should be from 5 to 15 seconds. The three I’s of eye contact are intimacy, intimidation and involvement. But over 90 percent of our personal communication calls for involvement. That deserves our attention and is the basis of the ensuing material.

To be effective at interpersonal communication you should have your hands and your arms relaxed and natural at your sides when you are at rest.

Studies have shown that approximately one-third of people in business have naturally open and smiling faces.

Imagine you are a chief of a firm. You have your own Code of Laws.

We take responsibility for the work and decisions of our department

• We take decisions on a group basis. Those decisions are discussed and objections should be made at this stage. If you are unable to persuade the group that our view is correct we should accept the decision and support it.
• If we are unable to support decisions that we have been involved in we have no place in the management group.

We should take responsibility for our work and the work of our subordinates

• We should never blame our staff for the quality of work that we present. As leaders we should delegate tasks to our staff but we can never delegate the responsibility for completing those tasks accurately and on time.
• We should never blame other departments for the quality of work that we present. We should not consider it the responsibility of others to provide us information – it is our responsibility to obtain information.

We should never criticize an employee in public

• Praise should be given publicly; criticism is given privately. Public criticism, particularly when given in anger, shows a lack of control.

We should never criticize an employee when he is absent

• Criticism of other staff builds distrust.

We give praise where it is deserved

• Praise is a very effective, very cheap motivator. It shows that we do differentiate good work from bad. The fact that we notice give importance to the work that is being done.
• Praise should only be given when it is deserved – otherwise it becomes meaningless.
• Praise should always be given when it is deserved – otherwise it becomes subjective.

We should treat all employees equally

• The only differentiating factor between employees should be the quality of work. If we treat people differently because of rank or personal preference we diminish the importance of their work.
• As a manager we have a duty to lead people – we do not have a right to expect obedience. If something is important enough to be done it is important enough for us to explain why.

We keep appointments and deadlines

• If we are seen to be unreliable in the simple things we will be considered unreliable in more important judgments.
• Failure to keep appointments or deadline is a show of disrespect to those to whom we made the commitments.

We should conduct ourselves in a professional manner

• Professionalism is, more than anything, a frame of mind, an attitude. If our attitude is not professional our conduct will be unprofessional.

We should plan everything we do

• Planning takes time so that we can save time. Planning reduces the amount of unnecessary work we undertake. Reducing work is a good way of gaining respect of your staff.
• Planning is a good way of involving staff and of teaching staff the object of the task.

Above all else, we should treat all people – staff and customers and others – fairly, as we would expect to be treated ourselves.

“Work while you work,
Play while you play.
That is the way
To be happy and gay.

All that you do
Do with your might,
Things done by halves
Are never done right.

One thing at a time,
And that done well,
Is a very good rule
As many can tell.

(Edith Segal)

In conclusion we’ve worked out our instructions for life:

1. Give people more than they expect, and do it cheerfully.
2. Memorize your favorite poem.
3. Don’t believe all you hear, spend all you have, or sleep all you want.
4. When you say “I love you” - you mean it.
5. When you say “I’m sorry” – look the person in the eye.
6. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.
7. Believe in love at first sight.
8. Never laugh at anyone’s dreams.
9. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt, but it’s the only way to live life completely.
10. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.
11. Don’t judge people by their relatives.
12. Talk slowly but think quickly.
13. When someone asks you a question you don’t want to answer, smile and ask, “Why do you want to know?”
14. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
15. Call your mom.
16. Say “Bless you” when you hear someone sneeze.
17. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
18. Remember the three R’s: Respect for self; Respect for others; Responsibility for all your actions.
19. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
20. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
21. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller may hear it in your voice.
22. Marry a man/ woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any others.
23. Spend some time alone.
24. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.
25. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
26. Read more books and watch less TV.
27. Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll get to enjoy it a second time.
28. Trust in God but lock your car.
29. Do all you can to create a tranquil, harmonious home.
30. In disagreements with loved once, deal with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.
31. Read between the lines.
32. Share your knowledge. It’s the way to achieve immortality.
33. Be gentle with the Earth.
34. Pray. There’s immeasurable power in it.
35. Never interrupt when you are being flattered.
36. Mind your own business.
37. Don’t trust a man/woman who doesn’t close his/her eyes when you kiss.
38. Once a year go some place you’ve never been before.
39. If you make a lot of money, put it to use helping others while you are living. That is wealth’s greatest satisfaction.
40. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a stroke of luck.
41. Learn the rules, when break some.
42. Remember that the best relationship is one where your love for each other is greater than your need for each other.
43. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
44. Remember that your character is your destiny.
45. Approach love and cooking with reckless abandon.

Your life will improve drastically and everything you ever dreamed of will begin to take shape.

I want to win an Olympic race,
I want to see the earth from space,
I want to travel to Timbuktu,
I want to be rich and famous, too.
I want to star on Hollywood’s screen,
I want to invent a new machine,
I want to be very clever and wise,
I want to win the Nobel prize.
But most of all I want to be
Healthy and strong and happy.

(C. Read and S. Salaberri)