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.docxFAMILY HISTORY
"Researching family history is a true passion rather than just a hobby for many people", says Julie Mason. "It is wonderfully exciting when you learn more about the ancestors."
Julie began researching her family's past in order to find out her roots*. She says: "When you discover your roots, it gives you understanding who you are." John Paul Thompson, has a different reason for wanting to research his family's history. "After my father died I found myself with photo albums full of old photographs with no labels. 1 wanted to find out more about the others." Some of the things that people discover about their families can be very surprising. When Jean Sandwell researched her family history she had a very big shock. She found out that she had been adopted as a baby. After she had accepted this situation, Jean tried to find her real parents. "I discovered that my mother emigrated to Australia in 1966," says Jean. "In 1982 I went to Australia to meet her. It was a very emotional experience for both of us."
So what is the best way to start researching your family history? "Interview all your family members before it is too late," says Julie Mason. "Make a basic family tree of your close family and step by step make it bigger. Of course, it is not easy to have accurate information from relatives about things that happened in the distant past. It is quite normal for different family members give different versions of the same events. It is very important to chcck everything."
Public records in local libraries and in national archives are also important to the family historian. Old newspaper reports are often kept on in local libraries. Sometimes, researching your family history can be lonely work. Remember that you can find a lot of help on the internet. Of course, it is not easy to trace your family history a long way back and you must be very patient. Believe me, in the future, your children, and their children may be very grateful to you for recording it.
HOW TO BECOME RICH
I believe that even people who are deeply in debt can become wealthy in ten years or less.
The first step is taking control of spending. So, start living on less than you make. Track your spending for a month. Then review your notes to see where you can make cuts. The next step is looking towards tomorrow. Even people happy in their jobs today understand that things are changing in every profession and that they might not be secure tomorrow.
Lastly, these people are saving like crazy ones. Now is not the time to buy that 42-inch flat-screen TV if you can't afford it.
A poor person should really learn to be as optimistic as a millionaire. Try this simple exercise. For the next three days, notice and write down five good things happening in your world. After three days, you'll see that good things are part of a pattern in your life. This will make you more optimistic, and optimism is a wealth magnet. Study after study shows that people with faith in themselves and in the future get more jobs and keep more jobs. They save for tomorrow rather than spend for today because they're convinced there will be a tomorrow.
I`ve designed a set of special exercises to help people overcome financial difficulties. The exercises are valuable because they help make changes real and they give you a goal and focus. Most involve keeping a journal or asking yourself challenging questions. One that's really valuable is writing about yourself in the third person. New research shows that when you write about yourself as 'he' or 'she,' it takes away some of the self-consciousness. You can see if you're emphasizing positive or negative attributes and understand how others see you. From there, you can start to make changes.
The research being done by psychologist Bob Emmons on gratitude made a difference. His idea is that grateful individuals lead happier, more successful lives. Bob got me to appreciate the everyday — to stop comparing, to do things for others, to use visual aids to stimulate me, like the sign I put up in my house that says 'Breathe.' In this economy, it's something everyone needs to remember.
MEDALS FOR LARGE FAMILIES
On 1st June, Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, announced a plan to encourage Russian families to have more children.
Demographers are people who study populations. They predict how populations of different countries will increase or decrease in the future.
Demographers in Russia have been warning the government that the country's population is decreasing*. The current population of Russia is around 142 million people. The demographers estimate if nothing is done to stop the decrease, the number of people living in the country may go to about 110 million within 40 years.
To make his announcement, Mr Medvedev held a special ceremony at the Kremlin, in Moscow, the capital of Russia. Many families with four or more children were invited to the event. Some families had as many as 11 children. President Medvedev awarded each family a spccial medal called the 'Order of Parental Glory'. The medal showed a golden two-headed eagle — the symbol of Russia.
During his speech President Medvedev thanked the couples for having large families. He said they were a good example to other Russians. The ceremony was shown live.
The size of a country's population is important to governments. Countries need enough people of the right age to work in companies' offices and factories. If there arc not enough workers, it can be difficult for the economy to grow. Older people who are retired are often supported by the government. Some of the money for this support comes from the taxes workers pay. If there are fewer workers, the government collects less money in taxes.
Russian men now live for an average of 60 years. This is much lower than in other European countries. Experts agree there are several reasons for this including AIDS, drinking too much alcohol, poverty and pollution. The Russian government has also started to give families money for having a second child. Those who are awarded the new 'Order of Parental Glory' medal arc given a cash payment of 50,000 roubles.