The purpose of this page is to help prepare teenagers and young adults for success in life. At the outset, I wish to emphasize that there is nothing at all wrong with having fun and enjoying life. At the same time, self-discipline is an essential component to success in life. You cannot allow yourself to become so distracted by the various temptations in life to the point that it causes you to lose sight of the big picture. In terms of success in life for teenagers and young adults, the big picture is this: As you travel down the road of life, you always should strive for self-improvement and progress, not self-destruction and regression. You should strive for societal civility by abiding by the rule of just law. One way to achieve societal civility is to elevate your conduct to the highest ethical plane. The long-term, future goal for humankind is to achieve something akin to Heaven on Earth for the living to enjoy each day rather than a life of living Hell on Earth.

DERAILED, OR A SAD BEGINNING

The two photos below depict a derailed train. They are meant to illustrate how you, too, can become derailed in your quest for success as you travel down the road of life. As children travel down the road of life, and as they move from the teenage to the young adulthood stage in life, they are likely to encounter many temptations along the way. These temptations or derailers will entice them to engage in counter-productive pursuits.

Images Credit: U.S. Fire Administration/Technical Report Series | Amtrak Train Derailment | Nodaway, Iowa | USFA-TR-143/March 2001

The number one priority of teenagers should be to obey their parents. The number two priority of teenagers should be to obtain a good education. The number three priority of teenagers should be to engage in wholesome, clean-cut extracurricular kinds of activities. Above all, teenagers must learn to treat one another with courtesy and respect regardless of ethnicity, race, gender, religion, and so forth. Unlike the two photos above, your objective is to not become derailed as you travel down the road of life.

REMEMBER THE PAST, BUT ALWAYS PREPARE FOR THE FUTURE

It is very important to remember what took place in the past or what took place in history. It often is stated that "those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it". It is equally important—or even more important—to prepare for the future. There is an idiom that says "the only ones who plan for failure are those who fail to plan." In other words, with a few exceptions, success in life will not be handed to you on a silver platter. You have to go into the broader society, study hard to get a good education or work hard to master a specific skill, and secure your lawful job niche in the global economy. One key to success in life is to make wise choices as you travel down the road of life.

Say, for instance, you plan to take a cross-country driving trip from the city of Los Angeles to the city of Boston (USA). Typically, you would not get into your vehicle and aimlessly start driving without giving the trip a second thought. Typically, you would plan the trip. You would consult a map, an online driving directions service, or a GPS device to plan your travel route. The key is to plan your trip so that you do not get lost or otherwise accidentally find your traveling down the wrong road and never reaching your intended destination. A similar concept applies to teenagers as they travel down the road of life. Teenagers have to plan for success in life so that they do not accidentally end up traveling down one of those counter-productive roads. The next photo is meant to depict the road of life. Which path will you choose to follow?

Image Credit: Federal Highway Administration | Sustainable Highways Initiative | Report: Advancing a Sustainable Highway System - Highlights of FHWA Sustainability Activities

What is the key to success in life? How do you avoid being derailed? How do you avoid taking the wrong road? There is no infallible answer to these questions. You can, however, take steps to help ensure that you succeed in life. One step to take or one key to success is to strive to make wise choices. You have to choose to embrace productive traits. These productive traits include things such as civility, courtesy, decorum, fairness, honesty, industriousness, scholarship, lawful conduct, ethical conduct, responsible conduct, peaceful demeanor, self-discipline, self-improvement, self-respect, self-sufficiency, tolerance, kindness, being respectful of others, being respectful of the property of others, being respectful of the sanctity of human life, being a seeker of knowledge and wisdom, and so forth.

You have to choose to avoid counter-productive traits. These counter-productive traits include things such as anarchy or lawlessness, constant bickering and fighting, bullying, cheating, corruption, debauchery, deception, destruction of property, prejudice, bigotry, discrimination, racism, hatred, violence, disrespect, substance abuse, extortion, fraud, gunplay, looting, torture, murder, and so forth. Some common [USA] teenage derailers include:

• Hanging out with friends who seem to be interested in little more than engaging in counter-productive pursuits
• Joining street gangs and engaging in gang acts of violence, defacing of property, and gunplay
• Spending practically all of your free time partying, abusing substances, and getting high
• Spending practically all of your free time at the shopping mall in pursuit of the latest fashions
• Spending practically all of your free time surfing the World Wide Web in pursuit of prurient interests
• Spending practically all of your free time watching television or playing video games
• Spending practically all of your free time on your smartphone gossiping and texting cruel things about others

Another key to success in life is to be cognizant of how you spend your time. When you have a productive day scheduled, it does not leave a lot of room for you to get into devilment. When engaged in productive pursuits, there is not a whole lot of time remaining in the day for you to get into trouble with the law. The following table depicts how a busy, productive day is spent by the typical household.

If you followed a daily schedule similar to the one outlined in the above table, then your time will have been spent productively. There would not be a lot of free time remaining for you to get into mischief. If you patterned your daily routines after the above schedule, generally speaking, then the only way for you to get into trouble with the law would be for you to go looking for trouble. You have to strive to avoid making unwise choices.

The situation changes dramatically on your days off from work or school—or if you do not have a job or do not attend school. On weekends, for instance, except time set aside for sleeping, your entire schedule becomes free time. Weekends generally are reserved for activities such as relaxing, watching television, surfing the World Wide Web, engaging in recreational activities such as skiing and camping, playing amateur sports, partying, taking short out-of-town getaway trips, socializing and shopping with friends, visiting family members, running errands, doing household chores such an cleaning and gardening, attending church or going to the museum, eating at a restaurant with the family, attending concerts and sporting events, going to the movies or theater, and so forth. Problems usually arise when some members of society choose to spend their waking hours engaged in little more than counter-productive pursuits. A daily regimen such as the one outlined in the above table contributes to achieving structure and self-discipline in your life.

Numerous applications are available in the economic marketplace to help you better manage your time, stay organized, and remain focused on more productive pursuits as you travel down the road of life. These applications run the gamut from those with few features to those with a host of features. A few of these applications include:

• Toodledo
• DayViewer
• Chandler
• Remember The Milk
• Wunderlist
• Evernote
• Rainlendar
• web2Project

Smartphones typically have similar task-management and time-management applications built into them. For those who use the Firefox web browser, there is an option to use the ReminderFox application. Courtesy of Ray Harris' JavaScript book, the following Task List widget provides a quick and simple way to assist you in prioritizing your day, week, month or even prioritizing your life:

Task List Manager

Please be advised that the above Task List widget uses a cookie to remember your tasks each time you close but later re-open this page. If you are concerned or suspect that someone else might be trying to view your input/tasks, then you may load this page securely at https://bruessard.com/derailers.html. Otherwise, if you do not make use of the above Task List widget to input tasks, there is no reason for you to be concerned about others reading your tasks. Your tasks are stored locally on the computing device that you happen to be using. I do not have access to your tasks nor do I have any interest whatsoever in viewing your tasks. Nobody else can view your tasks.

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EDUCATION AS A KEY DETERMINANT OF SUCCESS IN LIFE

At the outset, it should noted that you do not need to be a genius to live a comfortable existence. For instance, to attain financial prosperity in life, you do not have to possess an advanced degree in business such as the MBA degree. Having said that, perhaps one of the greatest keys to success in life is education. Many people widely view education as the one conduit where even the poorest humans can lift themselves from poverty literally by the straps of their boots and move forward to achieve better, richer, and fuller lives.

Watch (8 Biggest Challenges to Educate Every Child on the Planet)

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Watch (PISA - Measuring Student Success around the World)

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Read (Pathways to Skills)

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Watch (History of Mathematics in 50 Minutes)

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Watch (10 Equations That Changed Our World)

The next link cites 17 famous math equations. For starters, the link shows the role that math plays in education. The equations link also shows how these equations are being applied in the real world or are being applied in daily life. The equations link represents a good illustration of the synergy or the marriage of technology to science. The link shows how members of the business community or how enterprising individuals have taken scientific discoveries and exploited them for commercial purposes and profit, which is not a bad thing at all. The outcome of these business applications usually is an increase in the human living standard. Suffice it to add that two of these 17 math formulas were introduced and discussed on the "Cosmic Secrets" page of this website, that is, Sir Isaac Newton's universal law of gravitation and Albert Einstein's theory of relativity.

17 Equations That Changed the Course of Humanity

One shortcoming or weakness with the market system's application of certain advances in math and science is this: In the quest for profits and riches, enterprising individuals or the captains of industry sometimes create a lot of artificial demand through advertising, promotion, and marketing; scarce resources end up getting allocated to the production of far too many superfluous or unneeded products. In the final analysis, however, the market system excels at creating wealth. One tradeoff for this societal wealth creation appears to be an acceptance of the fact that a lot of wasteful or non-essential production also occurs.

Continuing with the focus on math, the next link provides an overview of—and represents a tribute to—some of the greatest known mathematicians in human history.

The Greatest Mathematicians of All Time

The following link presents a treatise on how to solve contemporary math problems.

TheMathPage

The next video surveys some of the greatest inventions in human history.

Watch (Top 10 Inventions of All Time)

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Advanced Patent Search

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PROFILES IN PROGRESS

What is the state of the human condition right now at the dawn of the 21st century? What is the state of the world economy right now? The World Economic Forum has sought to answer these questions. One way in which the World Economic Forum attempts to answer these questions is through the annual release of its Global Competitiveness Report. The following video, tag cloud graphic, interactive heatmap, and table summarize some highlights from the 2014-2015 Global Competitiveness Report.

Watch (The Global Competitiveness Report 2014-2015)

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Tag Cloud Image Credit for Global Competitiveness Index (GCI)'s 2014-2015 Edition: Wordle

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Read (Interactive Global Competitiveness Heatmap)

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Recap of Rankings: The Global Competitiveness Index (GCI) 2014-2015 (1=Highest Rank; 144=Lowest Rank of the 144 Countries Participating)

Records - of

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ID	Country	Overall Rank	Score	Year	Geographic Region	1st Pillar Rank: Institutions	2nd Pillar Rank: Infrastructure	3rd Pillar Rank: Macroeconomic environment	4th Pillar Rank: Health and primary education	5th Pillar Rank: Higher education and training	6th Pillar Rank: Goods market efficiency	7th Pillar Rank: Labor market efficiency	8th Pillar Rank: Financial market development	9th Pillar Rank: Technological readiness	10th Pillar Rank: Market size	11th Pillar Rank: Business sophistication	12th Pillar Rank: Innovation
1	Albania	97	3.84	GCI 2014-2015	Central Europe and Asia	103	90	122	62	60	93	93	114	91	105	104	120
2	Algeria	79	4.08	GCI 2014-2015	Arab State	101	106	11	81	98	136	139	137	129	47	131	128
3	Angola	140	3.04	GCI 2014-2015	Sub-Saharan Africa	143	139	71	136	144	143	128	140	140	65	144	142
4	Argentina	104	3.79	GCI 2014-2015	Latin America and the Caribbean	137	89	102	67	45	141	143	129	82	24	96	97
5	Armenia	85	4.01	GCI 2014-2015	Central Asia	72	78	77	99	75	64	74	97	71	118	93	104
6	Australia	22	5.08	GCI 2014-2015	East Asia and Pacific	19	20	30	17	11	29	56	6	19	18	28	25
7	Austria	21	5.16	GCI 2014-2015	North America and Western Europe	22	13	33	19	15	22	43	43	18	37	7	18
8	Azerbaijan	38	4.53	GCI 2014-2015	Central Asia	60	70	9	104	90	72	33	89	56	72	80	59
9	Bahrain	44	4.48	GCI 2014-2015	Arab State	29	31	47	40	55	21	26	31	34	99	45	60
10	Bangladesh	109	3.72	GCI 2014-2015	South and West Asia	131	127	72	102	125	84	124	88	126	44	118	129
11	Barbados	55	4.36	GCI 2014-2015	Latin America and the Caribbean	33	28	132	16	30	74	31	32	35	138	53	47
12	Belgium	18	5.18	GCI 2014-2015	North America and Western Europe	23	18	70	2	5	14	60	38	14	28	10	13
13	Bhutan	103	3.80	GCI 2014-2015	South and West Asia	38	92	119	89	108	115	24	111	124	140	107	113
14	Bolivia	105	3.77	GCI 2014-2015	Latin America and the Caribbean	90	109	35	109	97	132	127	121	118	84	103	83
15	Botswana	74	4.15	GCI 2014-2015	Sub-Saharan Africa	39	101	13	127	101	97	36	57	76	97	116	102
16	Brazil	57	4.34	GCI 2014-2015	Latin America and the Caribbean	94	76	85	77	41	123	109	53	58	9	47	62
17	Bulgaria	54	4.37	GCI 2014-2015	Central Europe and Asia	112	74	36	51	63	63	67	60	41	63	105	105
18	Burkina Faso	135	3.21	GCI 2014-2015	Sub-Saharan Africa	117	141	83	141	136	127	70	127	132	111	136	107
19	Burundi	139	3.09	GCI 2014-2015	Sub-Saharan Africa	132	140	112	114	142	135	103	142	142	141	139	133
20	Cambodia	95	3.89	GCI 2014-2015	East Asia and Pacific	119	107	80	91	123	90	29	84	102	87	111	116
21	Cameroon	116	3.66	GCI 2014-2015	Sub-Saharan Africa	91	126	90	112	117	113	81	108	120	91	98	71
22	Canada	15	5.24	GCI 2014-2015	North America and Western Europe	14	15	51	7	18	15	7	8	22	13	23	22
23	Cape Verde	114	3.68	GCI 2014-2015	Sub-Saharan Africa	66	104	106	57	89	110	126	115	80	144	114	101
24	Chad	143	2.85	GCI 2014-2015	Sub-Saharan Africa	140	144	73	144	143	142	120	136	143	106	143	139
25	Chile	33	4.60	GCI 2014-2015	Latin America and the Caribbean	28	49	22	70	32	34	50	19	42	41	55	48
26	China	28	4.89	GCI 2014-2015	East Asia and Pacific	47	46	10	46	65	56	37	54	83	2	43	32
27	Colombia	66	4.23	GCI 2014-2015	Latin America and the Caribbean	111	84	29	105	69	109	84	70	68	32	62	77
28	Costa Rica	51	4.42	GCI 2014-2015	Latin America and the Caribbean	46	73	93	48	37	52	57	92	40	82	32	34
29	Cote d'Ivoire	115	3.67	GCI 2014-2015	Sub-Saharan Africa	86	93	68	140	121	82	73	78	117	94	100	69
30	Croatia	77	4.13	GCI 2014-2015	Central Europe and Asia	87	44	91	60	53	105	106	74	44	79	83	93
31	Cyprus	58	4.31	GCI 2014-2015	North America and Western Europe	42	45	134	9	33	27	30	83	43	115	40	36
32	Czech Republic	37	4.53	GCI 2014-2015	Central Europe and Asia	76	41	40	37	35	50	62	44	36	42	35	39
33	Denmark	13	5.29	GCI 2014-2015	North America and Western Europe	16	21	16	25	10	23	12	27	6	54	11	11
34	Dominican Republic	101	3.82	GCI 2014-2015	Latin America and the Caribbean	116	98	94	107	99	94	107	99	84	68	73	103
35	Egypt	119	3.60	GCI 2014-2015	Arab State	100	100	141	97	111	118	140	125	95	29	95	124
36	El Salvador	84	4.01	GCI 2014-2015	Latin America and the Caribbean	99	57	100	80	94	55	125	86	93	90	37	51
37	Estonia	29	4.71	GCI 2014-2015	Central Europe and Asia	26	38	20	26	20	26	11	29	29	100	48	30
38	Ethiopia	118	3.60	GCI 2014-2015	Sub-Saharan Africa	96	125	95	110	131	124	78	120	133	66	127	109
39	Finland	4	5.50	GCI 2014-2015	North America and Western Europe	2	19	43	1	1	18	23	5	11	55	9	1
40	France	23	5.08	GCI 2014-2015	North America and Western Europe	32	8	82	18	28	46	61	23	17	8	22	19
41	Gabon	106	3.74	GCI 2014-2015	Sub-Saharan Africa	79	114	18	130	126	126	69	105	108	109	133	122
42	Gambia, The	125	3.53	GCI 2014-2015	Sub-Saharan Africa	44	95	142	133	107	111	38	94	103	142	71	89
43	Georgia	69	4.22	GCI 2014-2015	Central Asia	48	59	48	63	92	60	41	76	67	103	113	121
44	Germany	5	5.49	GCI 2014-2015	North America and Western Europe	17	7	24	14	16	19	35	25	13	5	3	6
45	Ghana	111	3.71	GCI 2014-2015	Sub-Saharan Africa	69	108	133	121	106	67	98	62	100	69	70	63
46	Greece	81	4.04	GCI 2014-2015	North America and Western Europe	85	36	135	41	44	85	118	130	39	49	74	79
47	Guatemala	78	4.10	GCI 2014-2015	Latin America and the Caribbean	109	67	64	100	103	45	85	45	88	78	52	95
48	Guinea	144	2.79	GCI 2014-2015	Sub-Saharan Africa	134	143	138	139	140	137	89	134	139	127	141	141
49	Guyana	117	3.65	GCI 2014-2015	Latin America and the Caribbean	89	110	118	113	82	83	101	82	101	135	68	55
50	Haiti	137	3.14	GCI 2014-2015	Latin America and the Caribbean	135	138	120	126	109	140	77	135	134	129	138	140
51	Honduras	100	3.82	GCI 2014-2015	Latin America and the Caribbean	105	102	123	85	100	91	130	59	97	93	64	74
52	Hong Kong SAR	7	5.46	GCI 2014-2015	East Asia and Pacific	8	1	14	32	22	2	3	1	5	27	16	26
53	Hungary	60	4.28	GCI 2014-2015	Central Europe and Asia	83	50	61	64	52	65	75	73	50	53	92	50
54	Iceland	30	4.71	GCI 2014-2015	North America and Western Europe	21	23	92	10	13	49	14	68	8	128	29	27
55	India	71	4.21	GCI 2014-2015	South and West Asia	70	87	101	98	93	95	112	51	121	3	57	49
56	Indonesia	34	4.57	GCI 2014-2015	East Asia and Pacific	53	56	34	74	61	48	110	42	77	15	34	31
57	Iran, Islamic Rep.	83	4.03	GCI 2014-2015	South and West Asia	108	69	62	52	78	120	142	128	107	21	110	86
58	Ireland	25	4.98	GCI 2014-2015	North America and Western Europe	15	27	130	8	17	10	18	61	12	57	20	20
59	Israel	27	4.95	GCI 2014-2015	North America and Western Europe	43	34	50	44	36	79	59	20	15	48	26	3
60	Italy	49	4.42	GCI 2014-2015	North America and Western Europe	106	26	108	22	47	73	136	119	38	12	25	35
61	Jamaica	86	3.98	GCI 2014-2015	Latin America and the Caribbean	80	80	136	72	76	76	58	48	75	107	67	75
62	Japan	6	5.47	GCI 2014-2015	East Asia and Pacific	11	6	127	6	21	12	22	16	20	4	1	4
63	Jordan	64	4.25	GCI 2014-2015	Arab State	37	71	131	47	48	40	94	66	73	88	42	41
64	Kazakhstan	50	4.42	GCI 2014-2015	Central Asia	57	62	27	96	62	54	15	98	61	52	91	85
65	Kenya	90	3.93	GCI 2014-2015	Sub-Saharan Africa	78	96	126	120	95	62	25	24	87	74	44	38
66	Korea, Rep.	26	4.96	GCI 2014-2015	East Asia and Pacific	82	14	7	27	23	33	86	80	25	11	27	17
67	Kuwait	40	4.51	GCI 2014-2015	Arab State	55	61	3	82	81	106	116	77	74	67	76	111
68	Kyrgyz Republic	108	3.73	GCI 2014-2015	Central Asia	124	115	104	101	91	77	92	95	111	117	119	132
69	Lao PDR	93	3.91	GCI 2014-2015	East Asia and Pacific	63	94	124	90	110	59	34	101	115	121	79	84
70	Latvia	42	4.50	GCI 2014-2015	Central Europe and Asia	51	47	32	31	31	36	17	33	32	95	61	70
71	Lebanon	113	3.68	GCI 2014-2015	Arab State	139	122	143	30	67	71	123	102	86	76	75	119
72	Lesotho	107	3.73	GCI 2014-2015	Sub-Saharan Africa	68	116	28	128	116	80	76	123	137	139	123	110
73	Libya	126	3.48	GCI 2014-2015	Arab State	142	113	41	119	102	139	133	144	130	85	135	144
74	Lithuania	41	4.51	GCI 2014-2015	Central Europe and Asia	58	43	42	35	26	47	53	65	28	77	49	44
75	Luxembourg	19	5.17	GCI 2014-2015	North America and Western Europe	6	16	8	36	43	5	16	14	1	96	21	16
76	Macedonia, FYR	63	4.26	GCI 2014-2015	Central Europe and Asia	45	82	55	78	71	38	71	41	62	108	89	68
77	Madagascar	130	3.41	GCI 2014-2015	Sub-Saharan Africa	128	135	81	125	130	102	39	132	127	114	117	94
78	Malawi	132	3.25	GCI 2014-2015	Sub-Saharan Africa	77	131	144	123	132	108	28	79	135	123	108	115
79	Malaysia	20	5.16	GCI 2014-2015	East Asia and Pacific	20	25	44	33	46	7	19	4	60	26	15	21
80	Mali	128	3.43	GCI 2014-2015	Sub-Saharan Africa	126	103	86	138	128	104	102	122	112	122	102	92
81	Malta	47	4.45	GCI 2014-2015	North America and Western Europe	40	37	65	20	42	31	54	36	21	126	36	45
82	Mauritania	141	3.00	GCI 2014-2015	Arab State	138	123	115	137	141	138	141	141	123	131	142	136
83	Mauritius	39	4.52	GCI 2014-2015	Sub-Saharan Africa	35	42	74	42	54	25	52	26	63	113	33	76
84	Mexico	61	4.27	GCI 2014-2015	Latin America and the Caribbean	102	65	53	71	87	86	121	63	79	10	58	61
85	Moldova	82	4.03	GCI 2014-2015	Central Europe and Asia	121	83	56	93	84	103	82	100	51	124	124	131
86	Mongolia	98	3.83	GCI 2014-2015	Central Asia	98	112	125	65	68	81	42	124	81	120	115	106
87	Montenegro	67	4.23	GCI 2014-2015	Central Europe and Asia	59	72	88	29	51	69	65	56	54	134	97	58
88	Morocco	72	4.21	GCI 2014-2015	Arab State	49	55	66	76	104	58	111	69	78	56	78	90
89	Mozambique	133	3.24	GCI 2014-2015	Sub-Saharan Africa	127	128	110	135	138	116	104	126	122	101	125	118
90	Myanmar	134	3.24	GCI 2014-2015	East Asia and Pacific	136	137	116	117	135	130	72	139	144	70	140	138
91	Namibia	88	3.96	GCI 2014-2015	Sub-Saharan Africa	50	66	78	115	115	96	55	46	89	119	94	91
92	Nepal	102	3.81	GCI 2014-2015	South and West Asia	120	132	37	75	113	121	114	75	128	98	126	126
93	Netherlands	8	5.45	GCI 2014-2015	North America and Western Europe	10	4	39	5	3	9	21	37	9	23	5	8
94	New Zealand	17	5.20	GCI 2014-2015	East Asia and Pacific	1	29	25	4	9	6	6	3	23	62	24	23
95	Nicaragua	99	3.82	GCI 2014-2015	Latin America and the Caribbean	114	99	67	95	114	125	108	106	113	102	129	123
96	Nigeria	127	3.44	GCI 2014-2015	Sub-Saharan Africa	129	134	76	143	124	87	40	67	104	33	87	114
97	Norway	11	5.35	GCI 2014-2015	North America and Western Europe	5	32	1	15	8	24	13	10	4	50	13	15
98	Oman	46	4.46	GCI 2014-2015	Arab State	24	33	6	54	79	28	48	28	57	73	56	64
99	Pakistan	129	3.42	GCI 2014-2015	South and West Asia	123	119	137	129	127	100	132	72	114	30	81	88
100	Panama	48	4.43	GCI 2014-2015	Latin America and the Caribbean	71	40	52	79	66	41	87	22	53	80	54	40
101	Paraguay	120	3.59	GCI 2014-2015	Latin America and the Caribbean	133	117	54	111	112	92	115	93	110	92	121	134
102	Peru	65	4.24	GCI 2014-2015	Latin America and the Caribbean	118	88	21	94	83	53	51	40	92	43	72	117
103	Philippines	52	4.40	GCI 2014-2015	East Asia and Pacific	67	91	26	92	64	70	91	49	69	35	46	52
104	Poland	43	4.48	GCI 2014-2015	Central Europe and Asia	56	63	63	39	34	51	79	35	48	19	63	72
105	Portugal	36	4.54	GCI 2014-2015	North America and Western Europe	41	17	128	24	24	44	83	104	26	51	51	28
106	Puerto Rico	32	4.64	GCI 2014-2015	Latin America and the Caribbean	34	58	99	103	27	20	46	21	37	60	18	29
107	Qatar	16	5.24	GCI 2014-2015	Arab State	4	24	2	28	38	4	10	13	31	59	12	14
108	Romania	59	4.30	GCI 2014-2015	Central Europe and Asia	88	85	46	88	58	89	90	64	47	45	90	66
109	Russian Federation	53	4.37	GCI 2014-2015	Central Europe and Asia	97	39	31	56	39	99	45	110	59	7	86	65
110	Rwanda	62	4.27	GCI 2014-2015	Sub-Saharan Africa	18	105	79	86	122	42	9	55	98	125	84	53
111	Saudi Arabia	24	5.06	GCI 2014-2015	Arab State	25	30	4	50	57	35	64	30	45	20	30	33
112	Senegal	112	3.70	GCI 2014-2015	Sub-Saharan Africa	74	111	97	131	119	68	68	85	96	104	77	57
113	Serbia	94	3.90	GCI 2014-2015	Central Europe and Asia	122	77	129	68	74	128	119	109	49	71	132	108
114	Seychelles	92	3.91	GCI 2014-2015	Sub-Saharan Africa	54	53	57	55	85	88	44	103	70	143	66	73
115	Sierra Leone	138	3.10	GCI 2014-2015	Sub-Saharan Africa	107	136	117	142	137	117	95	116	138	133	128	130
116	Singapore	2	5.65	GCI 2014-2015	East Asia and Pacific	3	2	15	3	2	1	2	2	7	31	19	9
117	Slovak Republic	75	4.15	GCI 2014-2015	Central Europe and Asia	110	64	45	84	56	66	97	39	52	58	65	78
118	Slovenia	70	4.22	GCI 2014-2015	Central Europe and Asia	75	35	98	12	25	61	99	133	33	81	59	42
119	South Africa	56	4.35	GCI 2014-2015	Sub-Saharan Africa	36	60	89	132	86	32	113	7	66	25	31	43
120	Spain	35	4.55	GCI 2014-2015	North America and Western Europe	73	9	121	34	29	75	100	91	27	14	38	37
121	Sri Lanka	73	4.19	GCI 2014-2015	South and West Asia	62	75	114	45	72	39	135	47	94	61	39	46
122	Suriname	110	3.71	GCI 2014-2015	Latin America and the Caribbean	104	86	59	73	105	129	117	118	72	137	122	127
123	Swaziland	123	3.55	GCI 2014-2015	Sub-Saharan Africa	61	97	60	134	120	98	105	71	125	136	101	112
124	Sweden	10	5.41	GCI 2014-2015	North America and Western Europe	13	22	17	23	14	17	20	12	3	36	8	7
125	Switzerland	1	5.70	GCI 2014-2015	North America and Western Europe	9	5	12	11	4	8	1	11	10	39	2	2
126	Taiwan, China	14	5.25	GCI 2014-2015	East Asia and Pacific	27	11	23	13	12	11	32	18	30	17	17	10
127	Tajikistan	91	3.93	GCI 2014-2015	Central Asia	65	120	69	83	88	114	63	113	116	116	82	80
128	Tanzania	121	3.57	GCI 2014-2015	Sub-Saharan Africa	93	130	109	108	134	122	47	96	131	75	112	98
129	Thailand	31	4.66	GCI 2014-2015	East Asia and Pacific	84	48	19	66	59	30	66	34	65	22	41	67
130	Timor-Leste	136	3.17	GCI 2014-2015	East Asia and Pacific	125	133	49	124	133	134	122	138	141	130	137	135
131	Trinidad and Tobago	89	3.95	GCI 2014-2015	Latin America and the Caribbean	95	52	38	59	77	101	96	52	64	112	69	100
132	Tunisia	87	3.96	GCI 2014-2015	Arab State	81	79	111	53	73	107	129	117	90	64	88	99
133	Turkey	45	4.46	GCI 2014-2015	Central Europe and Asia	64	51	58	69	50	43	131	58	55	16	50	56
134	Uganda	122	3.56	GCI 2014-2015	Sub-Saharan Africa	115	129	96	122	129	119	27	81	119	86	109	96
135	Ukraine	76	4.14	GCI 2014-2015	Central Europe and Asia	130	68	105	43	40	112	80	107	85	38	99	81
136	United Arab Emirates	12	5.33	GCI 2014-2015	Arab State	7	3	5	38	6	3	8	17	24	46	14	24
137	United Kingdom	9	5.41	GCI 2014-2015	North America and Western Europe	12	10	107	21	19	13	5	15	2	6	6	12
138	United States	3	5.54	GCI 2014-2015	North America and Western Europe	30	12	113	49	7	16	4	9	16	1	4	5
139	Uruguay	80	4.04	GCI 2014-2015	Latin America and the Caribbean	31	54	84	58	49	57	134	87	46	89	85	82
140	Venezuela	131	3.32	GCI 2014-2015	Latin America and the Caribbean	144	121	139	87	70	144	144	131	106	40	134	137
141	Vietnam	68	4.23	GCI 2014-2015	East Asia and Pacific	92	81	75	61	96	78	49	90	99	34	106	87
142	Yemen	142	2.96	GCI 2014-2015	Arab State	141	142	140	116	139	131	138	143	136	83	120	143
143	Zambia	96	3.86	GCI 2014-2015	Sub-Saharan Africa	52	118	103	118	80	37	88	50	105	110	60	54
144	Zimbabwe	124	3.54	GCI 2014-2015	Sub-Saharan Africa	113	124	87	106	118	133	137	112	109	132	130	125

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Source for Data in the Global Competitiveness Index 2005-2014 Recap Table:
Global Competitiveness Report 2014-2015 - Economies
Global Competitiveness Report 2014-2015 - Downloads


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ODE TO THE ENDURING HUMAN SPIRIT

There are more than enough problems in the world today. There are more than enough challenges facing humankind today. As alluded on the "Education for All" and on the "Earth Watch" pages of this website, some of these challenges are so numerous, wide-ranging, and widespread until sometimes they are enough to make you want to throw your hands into the air to surrender in sorrow and despair. These societal challenges and problems sometimes seem so formidable until it makes you feel like running off someplace and burying your head in the sand. Some of these problems seem so intractable until sometimes it is enough to make you want to ask, "Why don't we simply wait for God to come and deal with all of this stuff?" Yet, no matter how insurmountable these problems and challenges seem, the human spirit endures. As long as humans remain positive and hopeful, I believe that these challenges will be met. I believe that these problems will be solved. To be sure, in the aftermath of World War II, a war-torn and ravaged Western Europe was rebuilt. Humans do have a track record of accomplishing big things when they put their minds to it coupled with them having an action plan, the requisite resources, and the will power to make it (reconstruction) happen.

Watch (Mariah Carey, Make It Happen)

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Watch (Ledisi, In the Morning / Alright)

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SMOOTH LANDING, OR A HAPPY ENDING

The next two photos are of a train smoothly moving down the railroad track as it safely pulls into the train station. These two photos are meant to depict you as having successfully navigated your way down the road of life. The two photos signify that you have succeeded in achieving your goals. Congratulations! It was a nice journey.

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Images Credit: Scenic Train Ride - Cuyahoga Valley National Park (U.S. National Park Service)

For those teenagers who seem to have lost their sense of direction, who have gotten off course, or who have otherwise gotten off to a bumpy start down the road of life, it is never too late for you to make a "U Turn" (Joe Sample). It is never too late for you to peacefully "Turn It Into Something Good" (Earth, Wind & Fire). Even if your journey down the road of life began somewhat turbulently, it remains possible for you to conclude your journey successfully with a smooth landing as illustrated by the next photo.

Image Credit: Lessons Learned from Transport Airplane Accidents

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LOVE BALLADS

I wish to close this page on an upbeat, cheerful, and positive note. To do so, I am sending a few love ballads your way. Enjoy.

Listen (Barry White, Mellow Mood, Part I)

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Listen (Minnie Riperton, Could It Be I'm In Love)

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Listen (Minnie Riperton, Gettin' Ready For Your Love)

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Watch (Michael Jackson, Can't Help It)

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Listen (Sade, Kiss Of Life)

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Listen (Stevie Wonder, Ribbon In The Sky)

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Listen (Barbra Streisand, The Way He Makes Me Feel)

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Listen (Whitney Houston, All The Man That I Need)

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Listen (Barry White, Mellow Mood, Part II)

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