DUCKS QUACK, EAGLES SOAR

No one can make you serve customers well.

That's because great service is a choice.

Harvey Mackay, tells a wonderful story about a cab driver that proved this point. He was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing Harvey noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for Harvey .

He handed my friend a laminated card and said:
'I'm Wally, your driver. While I'm loading your bags in the trunk I'd like you to read my mission statement.' Taken aback, Harvey read the card. It said: Wally's Mission Statement: To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment.

This blew Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!

As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, 'Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.' My friend said jokingly, 'No, I'd prefer a soft drink.'

Wally smiled and said, 'No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice.'

Almost stuttering, Harvey said, 'I'll take a Diet Coke.'

Handing him his drink, Wally said, 'If you'd like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustratedand USA Today.'

As they were pulling away, Wally handed my friend another laminated card. 'These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you'd like to listen to the radio.'

And as if that weren't enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him. Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his
destination for that time of day. He also let him know that he'd be happy to chat and tell
him about some of the sights or, if Harvey preferred, to leave him with his own thoughts.

'Tell me, Wally,' my amazed friend asked the driver, 'have you always served customers like this?'

Wally smiled into the rear view mirror. 'No, not always. In fact, it's only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the
cabbies do. Then I heard the personal growth guru, Wayne Dyer, on the radio one day.

He had just written a book called You'll See It When You Believe It. Dyer said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you'll rarely disappoint yourself. He said,
'Stop complaining! Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don't be a duck. Be an
eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.''

'That hit me right between the eyes,' said Wally. 'Dyer was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked
around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.'

'I take it that has paid off for you,' Harvey said. 'It sure has,' Wally replied. 'My first year as an
eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I'll probably quadruple it. You were lucky to get me today. I don't sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can't pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action.'

Wally was phenomenal. He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab. I've probably told that story to more than fifty cab drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with
it. Whenever I go to their cities, I give them a call. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all the reasons they couldn't do any of what I was suggesting.

Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles.

How about us?


Smile, and the whole world smiles with you.....The
ball is in our hands!

VIDEO AS A TOOL OF LEARNING

Dear all my students,

Please watch this video and share with me your thoughts on:
1. What can we learn from this video especially in acquiring Arabic language?
2. How we can create this learning condition in our Arabic class?
3. What change we need to do to Arabic syllabus?
4. How do we implement this?

Happy watching.
MAA

MENGAPA MUDAH LUPA?

Secara lumrahnya, penurunan daya ingatan bermula pada usia 40 tahun kerana pada usia tersebut ada beberapa sel otak sudah mulai mati. Sel otak yang sudah mati itu tidak akan mengalami pertumbuhan semula sehingga menyebabkan seseorang menjadi mudah lupa. Sedangkan bagi mereka yang pelupa di usia muda, sebabnya mungkin kerana keletihan otak atau stres yang mengakibatkan ingatannya tidak cukup kuat.

Kebanyakan golongan wanita mengalami masalah mudah lupa. Antara penyebabnya adalah faktor hormon pada wanita yang menyebabkan wanita lebih mudah mengalami stres jika dibandingkan dengan lelaki. Stres yang berpanjangan sebenarnya dapat menyebabkan otak sentiasa letih. Sekiranya stres ini tidak diatasi dengan segera, lama-kelamaan fungsi otak akan menurun dan akhirnya menyebabkan seseorang itu menjadi mudah lupa. Seseorang yang kurang berfikir atau kurang mengaktifkan kerja otaknya, maka sel-sel yang jarang dirangsang untuk bekerja tersebut akan mengalami kerosakan dan menyebabkan mudah lupa.

SOLUSI?

Sejak usia 20 tahun lagi, kita harus menjaga daya ingatan kita. Antara caranya adala melalui pola pemakanan yang terjaga kerana perkara tersebut akan mempengaruhi kekuatan dan tahap tenaga tubuh serta dapat mempengaruhi kerja otak. Sel-sel otak kita mengalirkan nutrisi dan oksigen sebagai bahan bakar untuk melancarkan kerja sel otak itu sendiri serta aliran darah yang menuju ke otak. Selain itu, bersukan juga penting untuk membantu daya ingatan agar tetap terjaga dengan baik. Dengan aktiviti sukan dan riadhah yang teratur, maka aliran darah akan menjadi lancar dan memberikan zat makanan serta oksigen yang menuju ke otak juga akan berjalan dengan baik.

SOLUSI LAIN?

1. Eat Almonds
   
   Almond is believed to improve memory. If a combination of almond oil and milk is taken together before going to bed or after getting up at morning, it strengthens our memory power. Almond milk is prepared by crushing the almonds without the outer cover and adding water and sugar to it.
   


2. Drink Apple Juice
   
   Research from the University of Massachusetts Lowell (UML) indicates that apple juice increases the production of the essential neurotransmitter acetylcholine in the brain, resulting in an increased memory power.
   


3. Sleep well
   
   Research indicates that the long-term memory is consolidated during sleep by replaying the images of the experiences of the day. These repeated playbacks program the subconscious mind to store these images and other related information.
   


4. Enjoy simple Pleasures
   
   Stress drains our brainpower. A stress-ridden mind consumes much of our memory resources to leave us with a feeble mind. Make a habit to engage yourself in few simple pleasures everyday to dissolve stress from your mind. Some of these simple pleasures are good for your mind, body and soul.
   
   
   
   • Read Al-Quran
     
   • Enjoy music you love
     
   • Play with your children
     
   • Appreciate others
     
   • Run few miles a day, bike or swim
     
   • Start a blog
     
   • Take a yoga class or Total Wellness routine
     
   
   
5. Fast for a day
   
   Fasting cleans and detoxifies our body. It is known fact that heavy food not only causes stress on our digestive system but also drains our brainpower. Fasting relieves toxic emotions such as anger, grief, worry, and fears - before they accumulate and cause disease. By cleansing toxic emotions, fasting strengthens metal clarity with increases memory, concentration, creativity and insight.



6. Exercise your mind
   
   Just as physical exercise is essential for a strong body, mental exercise is equally essential for a sharp and agile mind. Have you noticed that children have far superior brainpower than an adult does? Children have playful minds. A playful mind exhibits superior memory power. Engage in some of the activities that require your mind to remain active and playful.
   
   
   
   • Play scrabble or crossword puzzle
     
   • Volunteer
     
   • Interact with others
     
   • Start a new hobby such as blogging, reading, painting, bird watching
     
   • Learn new skill or a language
     


7. Practice Yoga or Meditation
   
   Yoga or Meditation relives stress. Stress is a known memory buster. With less stress, lower blood pressure, slower respiration, slower metabolism, and released muscle tension follows. All of these factors contribute significantly towards increases in our brainpower.


8. Reduce Sugar intake
   
   Sugar is a non-food. It’s a form of carbohydrate that offers illusionary energy, only to cause a downhill slump once the initial burst has been worn off. Excess intake of sugar results in neurotic symptoms. Excess sugar is known to cause claustrophobia, memory loss and other neurotic disorders. Eat food without adding sugar. Stay away from sweet drinks or excess consumption of caffeine with sugar.


9. Eat whole wheat
   
   The whole wheat germs contain lecithin. Lecithin helps ease the problem of the hardening of the arteries, which often impairs brain functioning.
   


10. Eat a light meal in the night
    
    A heavy meal at night causes tossing and turning and a prolonged emotional stress while at sleep. It’s wise to eat heavy meal during the day when our body is in motion to consume the heavy in-take. Eating a light meal with some fruits allows us to sleep well. A good night sleep strengthens our brainpower.


11. Develop imagination
    
    Greeks mastered the principle of imagination and association to memorize everything. This technique requires one to develop a vivid and colorful imagination that can be linked to a known object. If you involve all your senses - touching, feeling, smelling, hearing and seeing in the imagination process, you can remember greater details of the event.


12. Control your temper
    
    Bleached food, excess of starch or excess of white bread can lead to nerve grating effect. This results in a violent and some time depressive behavior. Eat fresh vegetables. Drink lots of water and meditate or practice yoga to relieve these toxic emotions of temper and violent mood swings.


13. Take Vitamin B-complex
    
    Vitamin B-complex strengthens memory power. Eat food and vegetables high in Vitamin B-complex. Stay away from the starch food or white bread, which depletes the Vitamin B-complex necessary for a healthy mind.