MDBCs 11 Feb 2024

Make a Friend Day on February 11 is an unofficial holiday that encourages people to stop and take stock of their friend list and make new friends.

Humans are social animals and we need friends to feel fulfilled and happy. But sometimes in the daily rush of our lives not only do we tend to ignore our old friends, but we also forget to make new friends. Make a Friend Day inspires people to step out their comfort zone and try to meet new people and become friends with them.

More Tolerant

Making new friends can help people broaden their horizons and learn about different cultures and parts of the society. Research has shown that people with diverse group of friends are more tolerant, open to new ideas, and empathetic than people who have a small or a non-diverse group of friends.

How to Celebrate?

Say hello to new people and make new friends.
Attend events in the city where you can meet like-minded and interesting people.
Be adventurous and attend an event that you may never have thought about attending. Who knows you may even meet your future best friends there!

Did You Know…

…that studies have shown that on average people will remain long-term friends with 1 out of every 12 people they consider to be friends?

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Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk Day

February 11 is Don’t Cry Over Spilled Milk Day, an annual reminder that nothing good ever comes out of holding on to regrets.

The name of the holiday comes from the English language idiom crying over spilled milk, which means to be sad over something that cannot be undone. Just like nothing can be done once milk has been spilled, one must not worry about something that is in the past.

Learning From Our Mistakes

We all make regrettable decisions in life. And while it is important to apologize to people whom our bad decisions may have affected, set things right for them, and learn from our mistakes, we must also ensure that we don’t spend more time than necessary on regret.

Regretting Regret

Studies have shown that long-term regret – that includes disappointment, remorse, shame, anger, and embarrassment over one’s actions – can have a negative effect on one’s mental and physical well-being. By focusing energy and thoughts on a past event, long-term regret can stop people from re-engaging with life and can often cripple a person’s decision-making process. Holding on to regret can also be stressful to the person’s body by negatively impacting his or her immune system. Regretful people are more prone to being sick, have more mental health issues, and they tend to attract fewer people socially than those who do not hold on to any form of regret.

How to Celebrate?

If you have any regrets, today is the day to start letting go of them. We won’t tell you that it will be easy, but once you start the process, you won’t regret it!

Did You Know…

...that there are 3 types of tears – basal, reflex and emotional? Basal tears are what keep our eyes moist throughout the day, while our eyes secrete reflex tears when dust or a foreign particle irritates them. Emotional tears are the tears we are all familiar with; we shed them when we are experiencing a range of emotions - anger, sadness, guilt, happiness, and joy.

***

Our booking office had three phones. One day during lunch, I was responsible for answering all of them. It was a constant repeat of “May I help you?” or “Will you hold?”

I guess I got confused because I surprised one man on the other end of the line when I answered his call with, “May I hold you?”

***

I’m known as a stickler for good spelling. So when an associate e-mailed technical documents and asked me to “decifer” them, I had to set him straight.

“Decipher is spelled with a ph, not an f,” I wrote. “In case you’ve forgotten, spellchecker comes free with your Microsoft program.”

A minute later came his reply: “Must be dephective.”

***

With the economy improved,  my son, Pat, finally found a job in electrical engineering. Pat traveled to various locales to analyze and fix problems with his company’s equipment. Yet it frustrated him that his employer gave him little training.

One day Pat heard about some training classes coming up and asked if he might attend.

“Oh, sure,” his boss said. “You’re going to be the instructor.”

***

I went to a smoke shop to discover that it has been replaced by an apparel store.