HOW TO KNOW YOUR VALUE ;)

By Yoonang Bustarde - April 03, 2018

Knowing Your Value is an emotional subject, and when I ask this question people are often confused as to how to answer. It is easy to identify when you don’t feel valued, respected, or appreciated, but knowing your value is somewhat different.

But what exactly is knowing your value? Is it having a positive self-esteem? Is it knowing your worth and being able to identify all of your positive qualities? I’m not sure.

In my view, knowing your value and self-worth are inextricably linked. Self-worth is defined as “the sense of one’s own value or worth as a person.” I think that is one part of it, but the other aspect is being able to understand how much of a difference you have made in any given situation with the contribution you have made.

In this short piece, I would like to outline five things that can indicate you know your value:

SELF-WORTH VALUE #1: YOU HAVE POSITIVE SELF-ESTEEM.

You believe in and like yourself. Self-esteem is confidence in one’s own worth or abilities. You are comfortable with who you are — your weight, height, and everything that makes and represents you. You are confident in the work you deliver and your sense of professionalism. You like and have a great relationship with people. I think that without positive self-esteem it would be difficult to know your value.

SELF-WORTH VALUE #2: YOU RECOGNISE THE DIFFERENCE YOU MAKE.

When you know your value, you will confidently approach a negotiation with full belief in your knowledge, skills, and experience and the difference you can make.

SELF-WORTH VALUE #3: YOU SEE YOURSELF AS A PEER.

In any given situation, knowing your value means feeling that you are an equal with anyone you interact with: clients, bosses, colleagues, or friends. You are not a supplicant. Nor do you feel privileged to be with someone or to work in a particular type of organisation. You have a personal sense of value and deservedness and assert yourself as an equal in personal and business relationships.

SELF-WORTH VALUE #4:YOU ARE CLEAR ABOUT YOUR VALUES.

You know your boundaries. You are clear about what is acceptable behavior, how you like to be treated and spoken to, and you have the courage to speak out when necessary. You don’t need external validation to prove your value ; instead, you have an internal compass of what is right and wrong.

SELF-WORTH VALUE #5: YOU BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE GOOD ENOUGH.

When you pitch for new business, you believe that you have sufficient experience and have the qualifications, case studies, and testimonials to back them up. You don’t need another certification, course, degree, or further experience for validation before you feel you are good enough. You simply are.

Know your value and don’t accept being treated in a way less than you deserve. Now, I don’t mean to start going out there with unrealistic expectations, demands and a sense of entitlement. I am saying that you deserve to be treated the way you treat others, and vice versa. The minute you negotiate your self worth and accept less, you say to the universe that you don’t deserve any better, and the vicious cycle/pattern begins. Change for yourself and of course, friends and partners are great mirror reflections that help you grow. But don’t change out of the wrong reasons to appease someone or in hopes that they will like you more. If they judge you for who you are now, they aren’t your fit.

Bible Verses For Self Worth

Personally, I turn to God when I start to doubt my self-worth, and I found that reading Bible verses helps me to love myself more.

1. "I will praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." -Psalm 139:14

2. "The Lord does not look at things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." -1 Samuel 16:7

3. "Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you..."- Isaiah 43:4

4. "Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows." -Luke 12:7

5. "And he said to his disciples, 'Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on.'" -Luke 12:22

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Northern Lights-Aurora Borealis

By Yoonang Bustarde - April 03, 2018

"Northern Lights"

WHAT ARE NORTHERN LIGHTS?

The bright dancing lights of the aurora are actually collisions between electrically charged particles from the sun that enter the earth's atmosphere. The lights are seen above the magnetic poles of the northern and southern hemispheres. They are known as 'Aurora borealis' in the north and 'Aurora australis' in the south..
Auroral displays appear in many colours although pale green and pink are the most common. Shades of red, yellow, green, blue, and violet have been reported. The lights appear in many forms from patches or scattered clouds of light to streamers, arcs, rippling curtains or shooting rays that light up the sky with an eerie glow.

WHAT CAUSES THE NORTHERN LIGHTS?

The Northern Lights are actually the result of collisions between gaseous particles in the Earth's atmosphere with charged particles released from the sun's atmosphere. Variations in colour are due to the type of gas particles that are colliding. The most common auroral color, a pale yellowish-green, is produced by oxygen molecules located about 60 miles above the earth. Rare, all-red auroras are produced by high-altitude oxygen, at heights of up to 200 miles. Nitrogen produces blue or purplish-red aurora.

The connection between the Northern Lights and sunspot activity has been suspected since about 1880. Thanks to research conducted since the 1950's, we now know that electrons and protons from the sun are blown towards the earth on the 'solar wind'. (Note: 1957-58 was International Geophysical Year and the atmosphere was studied extensively with balloons, radar, rockets and satellites. Rocket research is still conducted by scientists at Poker Flats, a facility under the direction of the University of Alaska at Fairbanks.

The temperature above the surface of the sun is millions of degrees Celsius. At this temperature, collisions between gas molecules are frequent and explosive. Free electrons and protons are thrown from the sun's atmosphere by the rotation of the sun and escape through holes in the magnetic field. Blown towards the earth by the solar wind, the charged particles are largely deflected by the earth's magnetic field. However, the earth's magnetic field is weaker at either pole and therefore some particles enter the earth's atmosphere and collide with gas particles. These collisions emit light that we perceive as the dancing lights of the north (and the south).

The lights of the Aurora generally extend from 80 kilometres (50 miles) to as high as 640 kilometres (400 miles) above the earth's surface.

WHERE IS THE BEST PLACE TO WATCH THE NORTHERN LIGHTS?

Northern Lights can be seen in the northern or southern hemisphere, in an irregularly shaped oval centred over each magnetic pole. The lights are known as 'Aurora borealis' in the north and 'Aurora australis' in the south. Scientists have learned that in most instances northern and southern auroras are mirror-like images that occur at the same time, with similar shapes and colors.

Because the phenomena occurs near the magnetic poles, northern lights have been seen as far south as New Orleans in the western hemisphere, while similar locations in the east never experience the mysterious lights. However the best places to watch the lights (in North America) are in the northwestern parts of Canada, particularly the Yukon, Nunavut, Northwest Territories and Alaska. Auroral displays can also be seen over the southern tip of Greenland and Iceland, the northern coast of Norway and over the coastal waters north of Siberia. Southern auroras are not often seen as they are concentrated in a ring around Antarctica and the southern Indian Ocean.

Areas that are not subject to 'light pollution' are the best places to watch for the lights. Areas in the north, in smaller communities, tend to be best.

WHEN IS THE BEST TIME TO WATCH FOR AURORAL DISPLAYS?

Researchers have also discovered that auroral activity is cyclic, peaking roughly every 11 years. The next peak period is 2013.
Winter in the north is generally a good season to view lights. The long periods of darkness and the frequency of clear nights provide many good opportunities to watch the auroral displays. Usually the best time of night (on clear nights) to watch for auroral displays is local midnight (adjust for differences caused by daylight savings time).

LEGENDS OF THE LIGHTS

'Aurora borealis', the lights of the northern hemisphere, means 'dawn of the north'. 'Aurora australis' means 'dawn of the south'. In Roman myths, Aurora was the goddess of the dawn. \par Many cultural groups have legends about the lights. In medieval times, the occurrences of auroral displays were seen as harbingers of war or famine. The Maori of New Zealand shared a belief with many northern people of Europe and North America that the lights were reflections from torches or campfires.

The Menominee Indians of Wisconsin believed that the lights indicated the location of manabai'wok (giants) who were the spirits of great hunters and fishermen. The Inuit of Alaska believed that the lights were the spirits of the animals they hunted: the seals, salmon, deer and beluga whales. Other aboriginal peoples believed that the lights were the spirits of their people.

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STARS

By Yoonang Bustarde - March 22, 2018

STAR is type of astronomical object consisting of a luminous spheroid of plasma held together by its own gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye from Earth during the night, appearing as a multitude of fixed luminous points in the sky due to their immense distance from Earth.

APPEARANCE

Some stars have always stood out from the rest. Their brightness is a factor of how much energy they put out–known as luminosity–and how far away from Earth they are. Stars in the heavens may also appear to be different colors because their temperatures are not all the same. Hot stars are white or blue, whereas cooler stars appear to have orange or red hues.

History of observations

Since the dawn of recorded civilization, stars played a key role in religion and proved vital to navigation. Astronomy, the study of the heavens, may be the most ancient of the sciences. The invention of the telescope and the discovery of the laws of motion and gravity in the 17th century prompted the realization that stars were just like the sun, all obeying the same laws of physics. In the 19th century, photography and spectroscopy — the study of the wavelengths of light that objects emit — made it possible to investigate the compositions and motions of stars from afar, leading to the development of astrophysics.

In 1937, the first radio telescope was built, enabling astronomers to detect otherwise invisible radiation from stars. The first gamma-ray telescope launched in 1961, pioneering the study of star explosions (supernovae). Also in the 1960s, astronomers commenced infrared observations using balloon-borne telescopes, gathering information about stars and other objects based on their heat emissions; the first infrared telescope (the Infrared Astronomical Satellite) launched in 1983.

Star formation

A star develops from a giant, slowly rotating cloud that is made up entirely or almost entirely of hydrogen and helium. Due to its own gravitational pull, the cloud behind to collapse inward, and as it shrinks, it spins more and more quickly, with the outer parts becoming a disk while the innermost parts become a roughly spherical clump. According to NASA, this collapsing material grows hotter and denser, forming a ball-shaped protostar. When the heat and pressure in the protostar reaches about 1.8 million degrees Fahrenheit (1 million degrees Celsius), atomic nuclei that normally repel each other start fusing together, and the star ignites. Nuclear fusion converts a small amount of the mass of these atoms into extraordinary amounts of energy — for instance, 1 gram of mass converted entirely to energy would be equal to an explosion of roughly 22,000 tons of TNT.

Constellations

a group of stars forming a recognizable pattern that is traditionally named after its apparent form or identified with a mythological figure. Modern astronomers divide the sky into eighty-eight constellations with defined boundaries.

Aquarius

This drawing, as well as those below, is from Sidney Hall’s set of drawings called Urania’s Mirror. Published in 1824, the set contains 32 star chart cards depicting 79 constellations, many of which are no longer recognized or are considered sub-constellations. The illustrations are based on what’s viewable from Great Britain, making them fairly similar to what you’d see in the States.

While one of the biggest, most famous, and oldest named constellations, Aquarius is faint and often hard to find/see. In Greek mythology, Aquarius represented Ganymede, a very handsome young man. Zeus recognized the lad’s good looks, and invited Ganymede to Mt. Olympus to be the cupbearer of the gods. For his service he was granted eternal youth, as well as a place in the night sky.

Aquila

Delphinus, on the left, is still a recognized constellation, but quite small and faint. Sagitta, the bow and arrow, is considered an ancient constellation.

Aquila was the eagle that in Greek mythology actually bore Ganymede (Aquarius) up to Mt. Olympus. The eagle was also the thunderbolt carrier for Zeus.

This constellation lies in the Milky Way band, and its most prominent star is Altair, which is actually one of the closest naked eye stars to the earth. The top portion of Aquila forms a shallow inverted “V,” with Altair nearly the point. This represents the head and wings of the eagle. A line then descends from Altair, which forms the body of the eagle.

Look towards the southern sky in the late summer, near the Milky Way band, for Aquila.

Aries

Musca Borealis, the bee, is a discarded constellation.

While many constellations have gone through various iterations of mythological stories, Aries has always been the ram. This constellation is one of 12 constellations that form the zodiac — the constellations that straddle the sun’s path across the sky (known in scienctific terms as the ecliptic). In ancient times, that gave the constellations of the zodiac special significance.

In Greek mythology, Aries is the ram whose fleece became the Golden Fleece. The Golden Fleece is a symbol of kingship and authority, and plays a significant role in the tale of Jason and the Argonauts. Jason is sent to find the fleece in order to rightfully claim his throne as king, and with some help from Medea (his future wife), finds his prize. It’s one of the oldest stories in antiquity, and was current in Homer’s time.

Aries is formed by just 4 (sometimes 5) visible stars, which create a line from the ram’s head (the lowest point in the image above) and down its back. Hamal is the largest and most visible star, and is classified as an orange giant.

Gemini

Latin for “twins”
Best viewed in: February

Gemini represents the twins Castor and Pollux. While the twins’ mother was Leda, Castor’s father was the mortal king of Sparta, while Pollux’s father was King Zeus (He seduced Leda in the form of a swan, remember? These stories tend to all tie together!). When Castor was killed, the immortal Pollux begged Zeus to give Castor immortality, which he did by placing the brothers in the night sky for all time.

Castor and Pollux also happen to be the names of the brightest stars in the constellation, and represent the heads of the twins. Each star then has a line forming their bodies, giving the constellation a rough “U” shape. The twins sit next to Orion, making them fairly easy to find in winter.

Leo

Leo Minor is a recognized constellation, but is so small and faint that Ptolemy didn’t include it in his original list. To this day, Leo Major is solely regarded as “Leo.”

Latin for “lion”
Best viewed in: April

Leo has been a great lion in the night sky across almost all mythological traditions. In Greek lore, Leo is the monstrous lion that was killed by Hercules as part of his twelve labors. The lion could not be killed by mortal weapons, as its fur was impervious to attack, and its claws sharper than any human sword. Eventually Hercules tracked him down and strangled the great beast, albeit losing a finger in the process.

Because Leo actually looks somewhat like its namesake, it is the easiest constellation in the zodiac to find. A distinctive backwards question mark forms the head and chest, then moves to the left to form a triangle and the lion’s rear end. Regulus is Leo’s brightest star, and sits in the bottom right of the constellation, representing the lion’s front right leg.

Scorpius

Scorpius is sometimes also known as just Scorpio.

Latin for “scorpion”
Best viewed in: July

There are a variety of myths associated with the scorpion, almost all of them involving Orion the hunter. Orion once boasted that he could kill all the animals on the earth. He encountered the scorpion, and after a long, fierce fight, Orion was defeated. It was such a hard-fought battle that it caught the eye of Zeus, and the scorpion was raised to the night sky for all eternity.

With many bright stars, Scorpius is fairly easy to find in the night sky. Antares, the brightest star in the constellation, is said to be the heart of the scorpion. That will be the easiest star to locate, but is sometimes confused with Mars because of its red-orange coloring. To the right of the heart are 3-5 stars that form the head. To the left are a long line of stars that curve into a sideways or upside-down question mark.

Pisces

Latin for “fish” (plural)
Best viewed in: November

The two fish of the sky represent Aphrodite and her son Eros, who turned themselves into fish and tied themselves together with rope in order to escape Typhon, the largest and most vile monster in all of Greek mythology.

It’s not likely you’ll find Pisces in the middle of a city, as none of its individual stars are really worth noting or particularly bright. It forms a large “V” with the right fish forming a small “O” on the end, and the left fish forming a small triangle on the end (the image above doesn’t connect the dots in the upper left to make it a triangle).

It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but

in ourselves. -William Shakespeare

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