First Impressions

Make First Impressions Count

It's that time of the year where students graduate, and many others look for new opportunities. No matter what the event, whether it’s a social gathering, a business seminar, or office function, you’re meeting new people and sizing them up. And they’re doing the same with you. Within the first minute you meet, people make judgments about each other. Those first impressions can easily become lasting impressions. What do you want those first few seconds to say about you? Make that first impression count!

When first impressions make the difference, it’s important to understand how you come across to others and especially how you impact people, whether it’s in person on paper or on social media.

First Impressions Made in Person

Attire
Whenever you’re meeting people for the first time, whether you’re networking, attending a business seminar, or dating, it’s essential to look the part. In other words, dress for the specific occasion, even if it means doing a little research up front. Think of how you want to be perceived by the people you’re about to meet and dress accordingly.

Grooming
Hair should be neat; NOT the wind-tunnel look. For women, less makeup is always better than too much, and a light perfume or cologne is acceptable, but be careful of overwhelming the people in
the room with the scent, as it can be interpreted as not bathing. Keep in mind that being well-groomed can make people think you’re efficient and reliable, while being disheveled and/or untidy could make people think you’re disorganized.

The Handshake
Keep it simple. Extend your right hand, vertical palm (body language is obvious), look the person in the eye, and grasp their hand gently but firmly. No need to prove how strong you might be, and leave the other hand from embracing the first. And most definitely no wimpy handshakes.

Your Conversation
The world does not revolve around you, and neither should your conversations. Be certain to engage the other person when you talk, and use their name for emphasis. You can, of course, talk about yourself, but don’t make the whole conversation about you, and tell no stories. Look for common ground with the person you’re talking to, and share conversations about that common interest.

Attitude
A great posture, standing or sitting will be recognized, and also be judged. Nothing works better in any situation than having and expressing a positive attitude. A smile is priceless and displays confidence and a calm demeanor. Let your enthusiasm for any new situation show, but leave your problems at the door. NO baggage allowed!

First Impressions Made With Visuals

Cover Letters
Your cover letter might be someone’s first impression of your personality and professionalism. Keep it short. That means no more than four or five brief paragraphs. In your first paragraph, create a dynamic and powerful opening that explains why you are writing. Always address the letter to the recipient by name. Do not use, "To whom it may concern”, as that shows that little knowledge or interest in the company. The worst mistake you can make would be misspelling the person’s name. And even worst, misspelling anything else in the cover letter. After all, if you’re not careful about your own business, why would anyone think you’ll take care of theirs?

Resumes
A single-page resume is best, but don’t cram every single detail into a page with zero margins and tiny type. Only add an additional page if absolutely necessary. Organize your resume to reflect your most recent work at the top and include dates of employment, perhaps a contact person. Use bullet sentences, not paragraphs, to describe your work experience. Resumes are read quickly, and bullet sentences are easier to read than long paragraphs. And be certain to spell check carefully, as misspellings and grammatical errors tell employers you are not detail oriented.

Online Social Media
Be aware that what you post on social media generally stays forever in the cloud, which is the source from which anyone can capture your "fun" sharing with friends. People copy and share photos and video, and it can go viral very easily. Remember, you are judged by your actions, your writings, and who you are seen with on those "special" digital fantasies. A common practice of most businesses today is to track and inspect your Facebook, Twitter and other, open to the public, forums. Thus, beware of what is fun and what is practical, as your future could very well depend on it ....

Passing Thoughts

What are you thinking about at any given moment? Could you even answer that? Probably not, but your mind is always active with some thought constantly passing through your mind. The fact is, over 70,000 thoughts per day is the researched number.

What is thought? Do you actually think mentally, or is thought just a passing reflection without any given pattern? Of course at times you do concentrate on a given theme or a task where something is accomplished. At times your thoughts are creative and you become deep in thought, a thing that no other animal can do. But even so, do you actively engage in mental creation, or do you simply tune into a mental wave length at random.

What are we doing now at this very moment? Are we engaging in actual or passing thought, or is it a mental or spiritual reflection having more or less interest? What becomes of each passing thought? Where does it go during sleep or at the time of death? On such occasions the physical body either remains dormant or disintegrates. But what about the mental or spiritual aspect? Is there a logical answer?

And, what is life anyway? From whence does it come and where does it go? Within the womb of the mother, for instance, a physical creation is taking place and at a given time a combined reaction takes place and the baby is born with a mental and physical element all its own. Mental impulses call for nourishment and physical growth takes place for a given period of time, When adulthood is reached, physical growth is arrested. However, maintenance and reparation continue all through life, maintaining a state of being until "death do us part."

But what about the process of maintaining health and function or activity? What regulates this element? What changes common food into flesh, blood, and bones, hair, skin, and nails. Food provides distribution when and where it is needed. Have you thought of this reaction? Would you entertain the concept that this process would require pill, shots, physiotherapy, or passing thought on your part? Not so!

All function and activity of the body are directed and controlled through the nervous system that stems from the brain and spinal cord. The spinal cord is encased within the spinal column and sends out bundles of trunk nerves through openings provided for that purpose between the vertebrae that form the spinal column.

Through this medium sensation reaches the brain where the message is interpreted and responding mental impulses set glands and organs into activity and function in a process of directed or controlled definite activity, in a state of health.

This is NOT merely a passing thought ... It is a fact!

Plan For Tomorrow

Tomorrow is constantly coming, and yet it never seems to get here. What can be done about it? Is there anything you can do? Are you sometimes dismayed or concerned by the prospects? Nevertheless, one must keep planning for tomorrow. Make its coming welcome. Be ready for change constantly coming. Look forward with a feeling of delight as changes come and plan to do your very best as all things are altered. Use today as a stepping stone hopefully to better things ahead in the game of life and, win or lose, you will have the joy of keeping on keeping on, as you play the game.

Do you ever say your today is hampered by ill health? And perhaps that often your plans for tomorrow are marred by headaches, indigestion, or some other hurdle involved in the game as it is played?

This may be true. But, what are you doing to welcome change? Are you forming a drug habit? Are you leaning towards tranquilizers or pain killers? What assurance do you have that tomorrow will be better or worse than today should you fill your stomach with drugs that always produce side effects, often times worse than the original complaint? Is this an encouraging outlook?

What is health? Is it not largely the normal expression of life through the medium of the glands, organs, and other structures of the body? What is it that keeps these structures normal, as they were intended to do? Expressly, it is the nervous system and the hormonal systems of the body, as they are the reasons you feel good OR do not.

The nervous system is as vital to the activity and function of the body as is the electrical systems are to a modern home. Ground an electrical wire and service is impaired. Pinch spinal nerve bundles and symptoms of dis-ease are present in the form of pain, headaches, indigestion, and other related disorders.

What can be done about it? Is it logical to suppose that a "quick fix" medication or pain killers are the remedy? NO!

Falls, accidents and other mishaps incidental to life frequently produce shocks and strains on the spine that displace one or more vertebrae to a degree that results in nerve interference and subsequent dis-ease with its associated various symptoms. Clear the nerve channels and health comes from within outward as nature has provided.

                                  Success is a series of failures ... put to flight.

Talking About People

The most interesting thing in the world is people: men, women and children. The race, color, and/or nationality does not really matter. People are what counts.

Many things may have interest, beauty, worth, or value, but they are a pale abstract, all of passing interest. Only people awaken a keen impression or lasting interest because only they are children of God, possessing a quality that nothing else has. Think about it ...

Man, it is said, was created from the dust of the earth and made in the image of God. What does that mean? Does it mean that the Creator of the universe is fashioned in the likeness of man? Not so. How could such a creation be possible? Literally it could not, yet the same universal quality that makes all things possible resides within man or in life, each form bearing after its kind in the likeness of its own nature. Is that principle not reasonable enough?

But what about people? People are something different. People are the only things in God's creation that can and do think, reason, and remember. We are the creature that has hands and the ability to create things of interest or can go places, or preserve that which he has created for the good of his fellow being, or can produce a pattern for all time if need be.

Do you enjoy reading? Perhaps so, but what holds the most interest for you? Is it not people or something that people do, or their history and how they created hieroglyphic impressions. Or, how about the alphabet, with the incredible ability to form words, thus giving meaning and lasting interest in things and places where men have been, or are going, and why.

What kind of people hold the greatest interest? Is it not those who serve best and make possible things of greatest interest to mankind; health, hope, happiness, peace, good will, wise or foolish, in relation to his fellow being and the God of the universe.

The professions which should hold the greatest interest are perhaps teachers, doctors, and those who make possible a more abundant life for mankind and for the common good.

It's time to think of and create an interest in your own person. One of the Psalms states that the body is "fearfully and wonderfully made," and that is an affirmation of truth. Add life to your years without the side effects that so often follow medication and/or drugs. Live!

Think, for the mind tells the body what to do.

Antibacterial Soap Overuse May Help Spread Disease

Scrubbing your hands too often with antibacterial soap may actually have the opposite effect and make you and others more susceptible to disease.

Doctors at the summer scientific meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology said that, "When overused, the relatively harsh detergent action of antibacterial soaps leaves you vulnerable to open sores that can attract bacteria, resulting in skin problems such as eczema. This begins a vicious cycle, whereby a person who develops hand eczema or another form of dermatitis touches a surface, leaving microscopic germs behind. Another person comes along, touches that surface and he too can be infected with the bacteria."

Dr. William Baugh, chief of dermatology at the Beaufort Naval Hospital in Beaufort, S.C., stated,“I've seen patients who have developed hand eczema from these [antibacterial] products, it certainly can occur [and spread].  When I ask patients [with eczema] how often they wash their hands, they say 20 to 25 times a day. They think they are being good citizens by washing frequently. But you can over do a good thing.”

On December 16th of 2013 the FDA announced that soap manufacturers must show that antibacterial soap is both safe and more effective than using conventional soap and water or it will need to stop
production of them. About 75 percent of liquid antibacterial soaps and 30 percent of soap bars used has Triclosan2 as an active ingredient. Triclosan, which was originally used strictly in hospital settings, was adopted by manufacturers of soaps and other home products during the 1990s, eventually becoming a billion dollar industry. Now Triclosan is also being used in wipes, hand gels, cutting boards, mattress pads and other home items. Triclosan's use in home over-the-counter products was never fully evaluated by the FDA however, and while the agency had to produce guidelines for the use of Triclosan in home products in 1972 it only published its final draft on December 16 of last year. Their report, the product of decades of research, notes that the costs of antibacterial soaps outweigh the benefits and forces the manufacturers to prove otherwise by 2016.

You shouldn't wait long to stop using antibacterial soaps.

* Antibacterial soaps are no more effective than conventional soap and water.
Forty-two years of FDA research in addition to independent studies have produced no evidence that Triclosan provides any health benefits as compared to old-fashioned soap. So far, analysis of the health benefits do not show any evidence that Triclosan can reduce the transmission of respiratory or gastrointestinal infections. This might be due to the fact that antibacterial soaps specifically target bacteria, but not the viruses that cause the majority of seasonal colds and flus.

* Antibacterial soaps have the potential to create chemically resistant bacteria.
The FDA is making manufacturers prove these products work because of possible health risks associated with Triclosan and bacterial

The CDC recommends washing your hands with conventional soap and water. That's because while alcohol from hand sanitizer kills bacteria, it does not remove dirt or anything else you may have touched. The water doesn't need to be hot and you are better off scrubbing for about 30 seconds to get properly clean. resistance is first on the list. Heavy use of antibiotics can cause bacterial resistance, which results in a random mutation that allows the bacteria to survive exposure to the chemical. If the chemical is used frequently enough, it might kill other bacteria but the resistant bacteria will grow even in the presence of this chemical. Antibacterial resistance is a huge medical issue. Some bacterial species have even acquired resistance to several different antibiotic drugs, making it harder to control and treat infections as they spread.

* The soaps could impact your thyroid health.
Some studies have identified that rats, frogs and other animals can’t regulate their production of thyroid hormone when exposed to Triclosan and the theory is that because it chemically resembles thyroid hormones that it can bind to the thyroid receptor sites shutting down thyroid hormone production.

* The soaps might lead to other health problems,
Children with prolonged exposure to Triclosan appear to have a higher chance of developing allergies, including peanut allergies and hay fever. This could be due to reduced exposure to bacteria, which are necessary for immune system function and development. Another study suggests that Triclosan may interfere with muscle contractions in human cells, as well as in mice and minnows. Given new findings that the chemical can penetrate the skin and enter the bloodstream more easily than originally thought this is a huge concern. They literally strip away fatty acids, moisture and amino acid from the skin. Overuse of antibacterials is worse than frequent use of other soaps as chemicals in the detergents strip away the naturally protective fats and oils on the skin.

* Antibacterial soaps are bad for the environment.
When we use a lot of Triclosan in soap it gets flushed down the drain; it leaves sewage plants and is often detected in streams and other bodies of water where it disrupts algae's ability to perform photosynthesis. Triclosan builds up in fatty tissues and it may appear at greater levels in the fatty tissues of animals higher up the food chain.

If you want to stop using antibacterial hand soap, you can substitute hand sanitizers, which simply kill both bacteria and viruses with alcohol. Because the effectiveness of hand-washing depends on how long you wash, a quick squirt of sanitizer might be more effective when time is limited.

Old fashion soap and water and common sense are always the best disinfectants.