Saturday, August 14, 2010

Dear reader,


there's another article to share....



Inspirational Stories X : Anita Roddick & The Body Shop – By Ellesse Chow


I’m going to end our inspirational stories series with this feature on Anita Roddick, the founder of The Body Shop. Most of you should be very familiar with this environmental-friendly cosmetic and beauty products provider and I’m not surprised if you’ve ever purchase anything from it. In fact, some of my earlier facial products were from The Body Shop

But how many of you know about the making of this brand name and the heroine behind it?

Against Expectations

Anita Roddick was a woman of a different breed. After all, who would have that kind of magnanimity to send her husband off to a 2 year expedition while slogging on a new business and taking care of 2 young kids?

Born to an Italian couple who had migrated to England , Anita started working at a very young age at her parent’s cafe in Littlehampton. She would work through the weekends at the cafe and then cramping in one of the rooms with both her parents and grandparents, while the other rooms in their house were rented out.

Around the World

It was nevertheless a short stint as young Anita was later sacked for allegedly taking part in a prank. Although it tainted her teaching career, the issue saw her taking up a bohemian lifestyle, traveling around Israel on a shoestring and then living in Paris and Switzerland for a few months. All that while, she was supporting herself through short term teaching assignments.

She eventually decided that there was more to life than that and left teaching for good, traveling to various countries such as Tahiti , New Caledonia , Australia , Madagascar and South Africa . Her expatriation from South Africa for patronizing a jazz club on “black night” culminated a year’s of travel and made her so broke and homesick that she finally decided to call it quits.


All It Takes Is … An Idea & Some Creativity

Anita eventually had an idea. She decided to set up a shop selling environmental-friendly cosmetics that used natural ingredients. Though it was a good concept, she had a hard time convincing the bank because of her rock star like image. It was only when Gordon forced her to revisit the bank wearing a power suit with a well written business plan before her loan request was approved.

Anita’s ability to inject creativity into her limitations was unquestionably her recipe for success. With the money, she set up the first The Body Shop outlet in artsy Brighton in 1976 and began with 15 products, 5 different sizes for each. She later admitted that the different sizes stemmed from the need to stack up the store shelves so that it wouldn’t look so empty. Ingenious, isn’t it?

Even when she didn’t have funds to purchase enough of those inexpensive bottles (similar to the ones used by hospitals for urine samples), she was creative enough to bank on the go green movement and started the refill-the-used-bottles concept. Not only was the concept well received by the environmental enthusiasts, it struck a chord with the thrifty crowd.

Her creativity was also extended to the interior design and publicity of The Body Shop outlet. Who would have expected that the signature dark green colour used on the walls, which came to symbolize the company’s recycling and sustainability efforts, was a bid to hide the shop’s unsightly water marks? And who would have known that a lawsuit threat by 2 nearby funeral parlors for using the brand name “The Body Shop” would turn out to be a no cost newspaper publicity campaign? In fact, the free publicity was so sensational that she made £130 on the grand opening day, way exceeding Gordon’s target of £300 a week.

Husband & Wife Synergy

When Gordon came home, not only was he excited that Anita had opened a second outlet in another town nearby, he also worked with her subsequently to develop The Body Shop into a franchise, using whatever additional funds they generated into product research. That business model allowed them to open at least 2 stores each month by 1982. 2 years later, the group was publicly listed.

Today, The Body Shop can be found in more than 50 countries with over 2,000 outlets. The product range has increased to 600 different types. The heroine behind this brand was also roped in to setup a college business degree course and knighted with the title DBE (Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire ). Isn’t this amazing?

What Did I Learn From This Story?

That everyone deserves a life of no regrets! The choice of making that decision lies in no one but yourself.

(1) A Soul Mate… Someone to Share or Sell Your Soul to?

Everyone would admit that Anita’s an extraordinary wife. Although I’m still single, I can still understand the anxiety some wives would feel having their husbands leave them behind if they were in the same situation. In fact, an user that I’ve worked with in my last job used to tell me how his wife would call him every other hour (sometimes crying in exasperation) when he was out in another state for business.

That left me wondering. Is a soul mate someone whom you share your aspirations, decisions, happiness and troubles with or someone whom you account to for every single movement, action that you make to the extent of suppressing your own individuality?

If getting married is equivalent to losing your soul to someone else, doesn’t it make sense to stay single?

That’s an open question that I myself am still pondering.

Your decision to pursue the dream of your lifetime may not be popular with the people you love, but you don’t exist in this world just to be popular. You are in this world because you’ve got a mission to accomplish. You could be in this world to show the world how to be a better philanthropist. Or an adventurer. Or whatever you’ve chosen to do.

But if you decide to disregard that and settle for less than what you deserve, you’ll sense a tinge of uneasiness even when you’re on your death bed. That, is the feeling of regretfulness.

Don’t wait for that to happen. Aspire.

Aspire to live a life where you’ve done what you should have done, tried what you should have tried.

Update : It came to my understanding that Anita Roddick died of a major accute brain haemorrhage on September 10, 2007, sometime after the writing of this article. I hereby dedicate this article to her and her family. She might have left the world. But her spirit lives on. Thank you, Anita Roddick for being an inspiration!



Have a great day.

Regards……..missctmysara

Monday, May 3, 2010

DID I MARRY THE RIGHT PERSON?

DID I MARRY THE RIGHT PERSON?



EVERY relationship has a cycle. In the beginning, you fell in love with your spouse/partner. You anticipated their call, wanted their touch, and liked their idiosyncrasies (unconventional behavior/habit).


Falling in love with your spouse wasn't hard. In fact, it was a completely natural and spontaneous experience. You didn't have to do anything. That's why it's called 'falling' in love... Because it's happening TO YOU.

Falling in love is easy. It's a passive and spontaneous experience. But after a few years of marriage/Couple, the euphoria (excitement) of love fades. It's the natural cycle of EVERY relationship. Slowly but surely, phone calls become a bother (if they come at all), touch is not always welcome (when it happens), and your spouse's behaviour/habit, instead of being cute, drive you nuts.

The symptoms of this stage vary with every relationship, but if you think about your marriage, you will notice a dramatic difference between the initial stage when you were in love and a much duller or even angry subsequent stage.


At this point, you and/or your spouse might start asking, 'Did I marry the right person?' And as you and your spouse reflect on theeuphoria of the love you once had, you may begin to desire that experience with someone else. This is when marriages breakdown. People blame their spouse for their unhappiness and look outside their marriage for fulfilment.

Extramarital fulfilment comes in all shapes and sizes. Infidelity is the most obvious. But sometimes people turn to work, hobby, a friendship, excessive TV, or abusive substances.

But the answer to this dilemma does NOT lie outside your marriage. It lies within it. I'm not saying that you couldn't fall in love with someone else. You could.

And TEMPORARILY you'd feel better. But you'd be in the same situation a few years later. Because (listen carefully to this):


THE KEY TO SUCCEEDING IN MARRIAGE IS NOT FINDING THE RIGHT PERSON;
IT'S LEARNING TO LOVE THE PERSON YOU FOUND.


SUSTAINING love is not a passive or spontaneous experience. It'll NEVER just happen to you. You can't 'find' LASTING love. You have to 'make' it day in and day out. That's why we have the - expression 'the labor of love’.Because it takes time, effort, and energy. And most importantly, it takes WISDOM. You have to know WHAT TO DO to make your marriage work.

Make no mistake about it. Love is NOT a mystery. There are specific things you can do (with or without your spouse) to succeed with your marriage.

Just as there are physical laws of the universe (such as gravity), there are also laws for relationships.Just as the right diet and exercise program makes you physically stronger, certain habits in your relationship WILL make your marriage stronger. It's a direct cause and effect. If you know and apply the laws, the results are predictable... you can 'make' love.

Love in marriage is indeed a 'decision'... Not just a feeling.


Remember this always:

'ALLAH S.W.T determines who walks into your life. It is up to you to decide who you let walk away, who you let stay, and who you refuse to let go.'

Hi all reader,

Hi All,We meet again.
From the library of missctmysara,
Expressing feelings by simply,Writing letters formally,On issues of each other’s sensitivities,With teen issues especially,….or purely declaring love openly,With letters one can re-read easily,Of fond and priceless memories,
Comes an inspirational story,Each and everyone deserves an opportunity,Don’t judge a book by its cover so early,Beneath the surface, lies great discovery,Of faith, kindness and……Open to life’s capacity……..,and embrace the discoveries,Living an Awesome Life……..,One needs to appreciate life constantly,Live life meaningfully,
Educating children requires great strategy,Non-violence works effectively, Don’t take things for granted easily,Little things may seems petty,However, should this be done meaningfully,Add a sense of emotional security,To your love ones instantly, That all I want to share with reader…..
Have a nice day…=)

Sunday, May 2, 2010

at my sweet home...

Hidup ini tak sempurna tanpa ada nyer BFF.
bah kan hidup ini tentunya terasa sunyi tanpa gelak tawa mereka.
Ape pun kehadiran sahabat sememangnya m'ceriakan kehidupan lebih2 lagi setelah suka duka pernah ditempuhi b'sama2 & semua itu tak mungkin akan my lupa kan dgn begitu shj.



Ape maksud PERSAHABATAN pada diri awak semua??? krn bagi saya ;






P =
Pertemuan itu bukan kebetulan tapi adalah satu ketentuan
E = Esok yg b'makna b'mula dari hari ini yg hebat
R = Rangkaian p'hubungan adalah kekuatan setip insan
S = Sosial yg t'batas adalah kekuatan satu p'sahabatan
A = Angkuh dlm p'sahabatan memungkinkan kebencian
H = Harmoni adalah teras satu p'sahabatan yg b'kekalan
A = Akrab pasti nyer m'bawa kpd p'sahabatan yg murni tulus lg suci
B = B'hemah itu wajar agar p'sahabatan lebih sempurna
A = Amarah satu sifat yg pstnya m'bawa bencana dlm p'sahabatan
T = Teknologi masa kini membolehkan p'sahabatan m'jadi lebih global
A = Ambil iktibar p'hubungan masa silam agar p'sahabatan kekal abadi
N = Nilai p'sahabatan adalah kesempurnaan & keserasian dlm p'hubungan

P'sahabatan itu spt mata & tangan. Ketika mata menangis,tangan akan m'hapuskan air mata. Ketika tangan t'luka, mata akan menangis. Ketika mata tidak bisa melihat tangan membantu utk merasa dunia.

Indah nya hidup dlm dunia p'sahabatan jika kita tahu m'hargainya.
Sayangilah sahabat kerana mereka adalah satu anugerah & cermin untuk kita m'genal diri sendiri. Kita harus b'syukur & jgn m'ambil kesempatan keatas sahabat. Untuk m'jadi sahabat yg baik, kita harus bijak m'gawal situasi utk m'jaga hubungan yg t'jalin..

itu saja dari saya buat kawan2 semua...my sayang awak semua...=)


Thursday, April 29, 2010

From the library of Missctmysara

This week still same like usual…but the most important, I don’t have to go class, no need to rush2.…panat btl…cuti nie nk shopping habis2an…=)
Ermm..But still ada exam on 6/5/10…last paper…aftr that final paper …MERDEKA!!!!… MERDEKA!!!!… MERDEKA!!!!…
The next day my frendz and I go to Genting…juz 2 hv fun…
Now still count the day…xsabar plk…huhuhuhu…nt ikuti lh cite slanjut nyer… pd sape2 yg x dpt pergi tu, jgn jeles tau …hehehe…

What I want to share wif u all??how about this…





Relationship Rules





Get along with yourself - The one relationship you will have until you die is yourself.

Value people - You cannot make another person feel important if you secretly feel that he or she is a nobody.

Make the effort to form relationships - The result of a person who has never served others? Loneliness.

Understand the Reciprocity Rule - Over time, people come to share reciprocal, similar attitudes toward each other.

Follow the Golden Rule - The timeless principle: treat others the way you want to be treated.


Living a Life That Counts Is Determined By...
The Relationships That I Form
The Decisions That I Make
The Experiences That I Encounter



FINAL THOUGHTS

If you're not doing something with your life, then it doesn't matter how long you live. If you're doing something with your life, then it doesn't matter how short your life may be. A life is not measured by years lived, but by its usefulness. If you are giving, loving, serving, helping, encouraging, and adding value to others, then you're living a life that counts!

Monday, April 26, 2010

hello to all...

hii frendz...

this is 1st time i do thing that i never aspect to do..."create my own blog"..hehehe
hope i cn share wt ever...about my self, my family,my encem boy,my beloved friends, ppl around me n about my job/study...

saya budak baru belajar
kalau salah tolong tunjuk kan

i hope my blog will be more better n batter...cute, elegant n gorgeous..
got more improvement during updating this blog..
still need advice from u all...
love u all...mmuuaahhx...=)