How to Stay Positive No Matter What

Now more than any other time in our recent history is as important that we find ways to stay positive no matter what. Why? Because your success depends on your mindset, not on the economy or on the marketplace. How do I know this to be a fact? I've interviewed hundreds of top producing real estate agents all over the USA and Canada, and when I asked them the secret to their success, unquestionably and without a doubt and independent of each other, they all said the same thing, "My mindset."

These are top producing real estate agents that have been in the business for sometimes 10, 20, or even 30 years. They've been through up times, down times, and all kinds of different markets, and they said without a doubt it was their mindset, and I feel that this is kind of a best kept secret. I think when times get tough, people start to look outside of themselves for answers and what they really need to do is look inside themselves and ask themselves the question, "How can I stay positive, how can I stay hopeful, how can I stay optimistic?" And this article will provide you with some tools to make it easier to be in a positive mindset no matter what.

The first tool is to really stop watching, or listening, or reading the news. Why, because the news is based on negativity. The news amplifies fear and negativity in order to capture more listeners, more readers, and more viewers. The media is a business like anything else and there's a saying called, "If it bleeds, it reads." So the more scared they can make people, the more people will buy more newspapers to find out what's going to happen, or turn on the TV more, or in some way stay fixated because they're in fear, they stay fixated on what the media is telling them.

The second tool is stop being around negative people. Your colleagues are going to want to constantly come up and talk to you and tell you how bad it is. Maybe your clients or prospective clients are going say to you on the phone how bad it is, and even friends will do the same thing. You will go through a day and everybody will want to tell you how negative it is. Here are my suggestions. First, avoid those kinds of people that are negative and second, if you're stuck with them in an elevator or your car, I suggest you do what a former client of mine does. When the other person is talking negatively, my client just tunes them out and just says, "Well that may be true for you, but that's not true for me." It's like an inner mantra "It may be true for you, but it's not true for me." You're creating your own inner environment.

The third tool is a technique that I've used with my clients this past 12 years as a real estate business coach. It's a very powerful tool called The Stop Technique, and there's three steps to it, and the first step is just called Stop. The way it works is that if you start to notice your mind going in a negative direction such as, "Oh I can't succeed in today's economy. Oh I just don't have what it takes to be successful or to make money. I have to work really hard and struggle and sacrifice." Any of those negative thoughts that will bring your energy down, your job is simply to catch those as early as you can in the beginning and say, "Stop." Take a deep breath, and then put in a positive new thought.

You can put in your choice of however many positive new thoughts you have ready in your aresenal. If some of your negative statements are about yourself like, "I'm not good enough, or I'm not smart enough, or I'm not experienced enough," or whatever those kind of disproving thoughts, I would say a really good generic thought to put in, an empowered belief to put in is, "I love and approve of myself unconditionally." That takes care of those self judgmental statements. Another kind of self limiting belief is something that you continually tell yourself, "Oh well, to succeed I'm going to have to really struggle, and sacrifice, and stress out, and work hard, and then I won't have a life." If that's been your primary belief then you put a stop on that when you hear it coming, and in inside you're saying to yourself, "I'm not going there. I'm not going there." You take a deep breath and positive new thought could be, "I'm committed to working smarter, not harder."

One of the things that's great about this technique is that it really forces you to become aware of what you're thinking from moment to moment, and it's what you're thinking from moment to moment that will create a negative or positive mindset. If you're continually thinking negative thoughts either about yourself, or the market, or about money, or any of that, then guess what, you're going real fast into a negative mindset. Then what happens is what you believe tends to come true, and it becomes a self fulfilling prophesy. For example if you tell yourself, "I don't have what it takes to succeed in today's market," and you tell yourself that over, and over, and over again, your thoughts will create your reality and then you'll find that you don't have what it takes.

Henry Ford said, "Whether you believe you can or you can't, either way you're right,". The way to create a positive mindset is to continue to bring your thoughts back to, "I can do it,". You need to have unwavering faith in your ability to be successful. The way you do that is to retrain your mind. The stop technique is the most powerful technique for retraining your mind, but you may have to use it a few hundred times a day at the beginning. Your mind has been going down that negative track in a very undisciplined way for a long time and like wild horses that have been all over the place, you now have to reign them in and that is going to require a lot of vigilance at the beginning.

Dr. Maya Bailey, author of, Law of Attraction for Real Estate Professionals, integrates 20 years of experience as a psychologist and 12 years as a business coach with her expertise in the Law of Attraction. Her powerful work creates a success formula for real estate professionals ready to double and triple their incomes. Get Dr. Maya's free report, 7 Simple Strategies For More Clients in 90 Days, by visiting http://www.90DaystoMoreClients.com Also, check out her new Success Program, designed to help you get focused , motivated, stay on track and create a Positive Mindset, no matter what. http://www.positivebuzzsuccessprogram.com

Simple Tips for Increasing Your Psychic Awareness

In my psychic development course, I focus mainly on mental exercises and meditation techniques which quickly help to increase psychic abilities. The following article outlines some simple and practical ideas which will help to increase your intuitive abilities as well as nurture your spiritual self.

Turn off the television. Designate at least one day of the week as a media free day. Keep the radio off and skip reading the evening newspaper, ignore magazines and other forms of advertising. Limit your exposure to mass media as much as possible. This will greatly help to reduce the background chatter of the conscious mind. Communicating with the intuitive mind is all about quieting the conscious or upper mind. You may be very surprised to learn just how much your intuitive mind is suppressed by a constant bombardment of media and information. In fact most advertising is designed specifically to grab your attention and appeal to your outer senses. It may even be argued that some advertising is designed to inhibit the intuitive mind directly.

Keep a journal. Spend a few minutes each day jotting down whatever ideas or thoughts come to you. These can be words, sentences, doodles, whatever happens to enter your mind. This information doesnt have to make sense; it doesnt have to follow any particular pattern. Simply write what comes to you, no matter how random or unintelligible it may seem. The point here is to establish a channel of communication with the intuitive mind. With time, as the connection to the intuitive mind is strengthened, the information that you record will begin to make more sense.

Most of us are in a constant state of over stimulation. The intuitive mind usually cannot be heard properly above the dull roar of daily activity. Create an environment that is designed to encourage the intuitive self to communicate more freely. Surround yourself with natural colors and materials. Reduce the amount of plastic and other synthetic materials in your living areas. Sooth your senses with any items that provide a calming effect, such as incense, music and comfortable clothing.

Set aside a certain amount of time each week to focus on meditation and periods of relaxed awareness. Spend time simply listening to the sounds of your environment. Try to pinpoint as many different sounds as you can within a ten to twenty minute period. Begin by closing your eyes and focusing your awareness on your own breathing and the sound of the air as it enters and leaves your body. Expand your awareness outward and focus on the sounds within close range. You may notice things like your refrigerator humming in the kitchen, water pipes, air conditioning units and other common household noises.

Attempt to isolate as many sounds as possible, also attempt to determine the location of the noises and their distance from you. Expand your awareness outwards once again to focus on noises that may be heard outside of your dwelling. Birds, neighborhood pets, cars, distant highway traffic all of these things and many others may be noticed at this time. Notice the variations, timings, directions and patterns of the noises within your environment. Again, try to isolate as many different sounds as you can. Now expand your awareness outwards again. You may begin to notice very distant sounds at this time such as passing airplanes and distant factory noises. This depends on your location; you may also notice noises which have no easy explanation or description, things like very low hums or vibrations, rhythmic tapping or other odd noises. Again make the attempt to isolate as many sounds as you can and try to gauge the physical direction that these sounds are coming from as well as their distance. End this exercise by quickly shifting your awareness back to your own breathing.

These simple yet effective tips for increasing your psychic awareness can easily be incorporated into your lifes schedule. Remember, that as the avenues of communication with the intuitive mind are widened, the clarity, detail and quantity of the messages received form the inner mind will increase.

Jeffry R. Palmer is the well known author of several books dealing with the subjects of metaphysics, paranormal phenomena and psychic development. His articles and columns have been featured in several popular international magazines. His accurate and detailed psychic predictions, including Hurricane Katrina and the Indonesian tsunami have captured the attention of an international audience.

Personal psychic readings by Mr. Palmer are available through the http://the-psychic-detective.com web site. These psychic readings are kept in strict confidence, cover all aspects of life, are extremely accurate and detailed and are very simple to purchase. Mr. Palmer even offers a 100% money back guarantee to clients if they aren't completely satisfied with their readings.

Online Psychic Readings

Our Abundant Universe

We live in a perfect, infinite and extremely abundant Universe. Everything that we could possible need or want is available to us, once we learn to accept it. Part of the spiritual message that I want to impart to everyone is that it's perfectly ok to accept the abundance that comes your way. Not only that, it's also ok to manifest more.

In a limited, finite Universe for one person to have more means that another has to have less. Too many people today trap themselves into poverty and utterly hideous lifestyles because they simply can't envision the infinity of the resources available to them. Much of the training that I want to impart to people is not just that we can live and survive, but that we can live well and thrive.

When a person has a limited perspective then everything that person does must come through the filter of those limitations. Mystic Wolf Press is about breaking free of those limitations and sharing the bounty and abundance of the universe with as many people as possible. I believe that Lao Tzu gets the credit for saying "Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and feed him for the rest of his life."

Give yourself permission

In our modern culture we usually look to external sources for permission to do anything. We've become accustomed to being told what we can and cannot do by the government, the church, our family, friends and the television.

The simple fact is that every one of us has the ability to connect to our own inner authority and inner power. Some of the philosophies and exercises in this book will cover this in more detail, but for now I want you to give yourself permission to open your mind and heart and study the information in here from the attitude of "I CAN".

Giving yourself permission is the first step in touching and using your inner authority. It's the moment when you quit reacting to what is happening to you and begin to take charge of your life and chart your own course.

Keeping a Positive Attitude

As you begin to follow this path you're going to experience emotions, feelings and in some cases pain. Sometimes it'll only make sense years later when you look back on it and realize what was happening. In many cases starting your business is like trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle without having any kind of picture to go by.

No matter what happens, or where you feel drawn to go, a positive attitude will make the whole thing easier. I try to look at everything as a test, and that works for my personality. Each individual moment I have choices that I can make. I can be enlightened or ignorant, loving or afraid, loud or quiet and it all depends on my willingness to listen to the inner voices that we all have. The inner voices (spirit guides?)(Yeah, I know it sounds crazy) are an amazing asset to keeping you on the right path and helping you become the person you came here to be.

That kind of insanity requires a positive attitude.

Developing your self-awareness

Becoming the spiritually aware entrepreneur begins with the process of learning to accept exactly who you are, with all your warts, wonders and blemishes.

Your self is just like a blanket that you cover up with or a jacket that you put on. Spend some time becoming completely comfortable with it and you'll begin to see that you can put it on and take it off at will. It's just an external way to identify which self is yours. Once you can get beyond that and see that you don't really exist, then you can really start having fun with this stuff.

Developing your self-awareness is a multi-faceted exercise that encompasses all parts of your being. No matter how good you become at it there will always be new layers to uncover and new things to learn.

At the elementary levels of this business you'll have to look at your physical self, your mental self and your spiritual self and see how you can integrate them into your total being. This is a process that can take the rest of your life, so settle in for the long haul. As you can see this is about much more than just creating a business, It's about creating a businessperson (you) that you can be proud of.

The Law of Reciprocity

Simply stated, the Law of Reciprocity is; "What goes around comes around."

I realize that this sounds simple, almost to the point of being silly, but this incredibly simple concept is echoed repeatedly in every single spiritual path and religion in the world for a good reason. It works!

When it comes to your business it's especially important to remember that what you send out is what you'll get back. If you send out fear and hate then that's exactly what you'll get back.

When you use this principle in your life it's important to remember that what you want to receive is what you have to give. If you want to have more time then give time. If you want more money then give money. If you want more love then give love, etc., etc.

Those interested in really using this principle in your lives are encouraged to read Stuart Wilde's book The Trick to Money is Having Some and Robert Kiyosaki's excellent Rich Dad, Poor Dad series. I can't praise either of those books enough as they've been extremely helpful for me personally.

Dr. Wayne Dyer also talks about this principle repeatedly in his books, as do Louise Hay, Caroline Myss and a host of others. This concept can be used to enhance every part of your life, so look for new ways to use it.

** (Authors note; First, a word about energy. You'll see me use that term a lot in this book, partly because some of these sections are cut from the other books that I've written on meditation. How can I cut those sections out of a meditation book and plop them right down into a business book? I do it because we are not only dealing with money and business but with our relationships to one another and the universe in general!

Money is a form of energy. It's the tool that we apply to various situations as a lever to get things done. When you begin to see that money is only a form of energy then it opens you up to all of the different forms of energy that you can use, rather than just money. For instance, in many cases what we need is not really money, but some other resource such as another person's time or a tool that someone else has. Learn to open up to having the proper energy that you need rather than to just having money. With that in mind I'm only going to refer to energy for the rest of this section. It's up to you to identify and find the proper form of energy that you need for a particular situation) **

When you are using your energy and sending it to someone else, it's vitally important to remember that what you send is what you'll get back. Therefore you'll always want to keep this in mind, even when training in the dojo. As you begin doing these exercises you are going to be using more energy in your everyday life. Even though it's very subtle, people will still be able to feel that energy and respond to it.

If you let that energy run loose and uncontrolled, especially if you haven't learned to balance out your anger issues and emotional attachments, then you are going to offend people and hurt feelings, even when you don't mean to.

As you begin building up your personal catalog of experiences and experimenting with your energy, you're going to be tempted to play with it with other people. Remember to keep your intentions clear and remember that what you send out is what you're going to have returned.

If you want to practice sending energy into other people make sure that you are sending loving and benevolent energy. Even though you'll occasionally be tempted to send a good dose of revenge and retribution out to those you think deserve it, remember the Law of Reciprocity. For my part I try to make a point of sending good energy to those who disagree with me. If they are wrong then I hope that the energy helps them see the right answers. If it turns out that I'm wrong (which apparently happens a lot J) then it's good to send a little 'thanks and happiness' to someone who helped you learn a lesson.

Robert Kiyosaki writes profoundly about the Law of Reciprocity in his books. He makes a great point that you have to give if you are going to receive and that you must give away that which you need most to receive.

If you need money then you must give money. Give it to a charity, or to a 'bum' or to a stranger on the street, but give it just to give it and don't try to have any expectations about what you'll get back. This is important.

When you give simply to give and without any expectation of a return then you are sending out a message to the universe that "I have plenty! I have so much that I can just give it away to help someone else."

Like attracts like. When you have an abundant and giving attitude then you'll find that there is plenty of abundance to share. When you have a negative attitude and won't give because you feel that you don't have enough to share then you are just confirming that reality for yourself.

Spend some time thinking about this and working up to it. You don't have to give away your house and cars. Start small and send $5 a month to PBS or NPR, to an animal rescue shelter or some other charity that you can believe in. You may think that $5 a month isn't enough to make a difference for anyone, but every charity that I've ever seen would be happy with that.

Don't have any expectations about what you may get back for your donation. Do it just to share and in the hopes that it'll help those hardworking folks make the work a better place.

This next section is when we get into the power of Networks so think about this, if everyone in the network that you are going to build also sends in $5 a month to a charity then you are going to get to the point, as your network expands, where you will be single-handedly affecting some real social change. If you want to multiply this then talk to the people in your downline (your network) about everyone sending $5 a month to the same charity.

2006 Robert Morgen. This article may be used by anyone, anywhere as long as the author's bio and links are included.

"Our Abundant Universe" is an excerpt from Robert Morgen's new book The Spiritual Entrepreneur.

Robert Morgen had a near-death kundalini awakening in 1992.

He's the author of 'Kundalini Awakening for Personal Mastery 2nd Edition' and 'The Spiritual Entrepreneur'

Find out more about his books, radio shows and teleseminars at http://SpiritualEntrepreneur.biz

Just the Way I AM

I may be wrong, but people seem to be getting more tolerant. It is as though in the name of political correctness, we have confused what is acceptable and what is not. My observation is based on the growing number of times I hear people say, Thats just the way I am. Or, Thats just how she/he is. It is as though saying someones this or that way makes they way they are ok. Well, I dont think so. Sometimes the way someone is is not ok. It can be wrong, rude, inappropriate, overly demanding, inconsiderate or a variety of other not ok stuff. When that happens, I dont think saying, that just how they are makes the behavior acceptable.

There is a difference between accepting someone as they are and being victimized by them. We need people in our life who accept us just as we are -- warts and all. Yet, that doesnt mean we need to bless them in their illness or let off the hook for becoming the best that they can be. People who accept me "just as I am," are those who have most likely earned the right to share with me where I need to change, grow or adjust.

Life is a balancing act between becoming and being. When am I an unfinished work in progress and when am I done?

Three questions provide the answer: 1 - Is my behavior hurting me? 2 Is my behavior hurting another? 3 Is my behavior keeping me from being all I am meant to be? If the answer is yes to any of the three, then I work on changing. If not, then its just the way I am.

Jim Gustafson was born in Chicago. He received his Masters Degree from Garrett Theological Seminary. An Ordained United Methodist Minister, he has served as a pastor and counselor. He has more than 20 years of broadcast management experience. His book Take Fun Seriously is sooned to be released. Jim live in Florida where he works, writes, plays golf and pulls weeds.

Persuasion Techniques

Don't you just envy how some people seem to get their way more often than not? These people always seem to have all the right words and all the right moves. However, if you take the time to actually study these people, you may be surprised to discover that they have more than just a few persuasion techniques in common.

These persuasion techniques allow them to easily get people to their side and persuade others to their way of thinking. And if you read the rest of this article, you too will be able to tap into this extraordinary power.

Know your audience

As wonderful as it would be to just magically convince another person to share your views, life doesn't quite work that way. You have to know where your audience is coming from in order for you to know which angle you can best appeal to.

If you're dealing with somebody who is more emotional, you can actually use feelings to plead your case. The chances of your success will definitely increase.

Turn weaknesses into strengths

During a job interview orientation, one of the moderators gave me a very helpful advice. She said that when asked for your weaknesses, try to position your statement into something more positive. Instead of, "I'm very shy and soft spoken," you can say, "I'm currently working on my communication skills."

By using persuasion techniques like this, you don't run the risk of scaring your customers away. In fact, they will be delighted to hear somebody with such a positive outlook on life.

Cite the positive facts

Naturally, you would want to tell your audience what the benefits are. People are generally happy to learn what they can gain from something.

You're not going to lie or make up stories. Those do not fall under persuasion techniques. When you persuade, you have to be certain that all your facts are true. Otherwise, your lies will come back to haunt you.

Even when you don't have magic on your side, these persuasion techniques will certainly help you win your audience over. Just follow these basic steps and you'll soon be able to talk your way through anything!

Discover how you can use the psychology of persuasion to change behaviors and influence anyone to your way of thinking! Get a FREE course that reveals groundbreaking persuasion secrets at http://www.20daypersuasion.com/secrets.htm

What Makes A Great Presenter?

Every day millions of people around the world make a presentation. Yet most of us who have been to meetings know that very few of those people are truly great. At each meeting there is usually only one person who stands out head and shoulders above the rest as someone who really connects with us in the audience. The truth is, most presenters are just plain average and quite a few are simply dreadful. So, how can you move from being a run of the mill presenter to being fantastic?

Every one of us has the ability to be truly great as a presenter. There is nothing particularly special about the people who stand out as brilliant. However, the average presenter is usually holding themselves back, doing things which prevent them from being good.

At every training course run by The Presentation Business we spend some time debating what makes a great presenter. This inevitably leads to a discussion of what the bad presenters do wrong. Having kept a record of what these sessions considered I have been able to produce a definitive list of what to do to make your presentations great.

The overwhelming conclusion of all these discussions is: content is NOT important. Of the hundreds of people who have debated what makes a great presenter not a single person has mentioned the value of the content. Your audiences are likely to think in just the same way. They are NOT interested in what you are saying, but the way you are saying it. If you say it well, that appears to make the content interesting. But what this means is, if you concentrate your planning and preparation on content, you are likely only to be average.

The most important factor for great presenters according to our discussions is that they make a personal connection to every member of the audience. This means lots of eye contact, liberal use of the words I and you, and that everything you deliver is done form the audiences perspective. This means you need to know a great deal about your audience in advance so you can do this.

The connection you make between yourself and your audience seems to be enhanced by the widespread use of examples. Our discussions at training courses show that your audience expects you to show rather than tell. In other words, you dont need to give them messages and content; instead you need to give them lots of examples and they will work out the message for themselves.

A further element of this aspect of being a great presenter is that these examples should always include you. Your audience wants to know about your thoughts, your feelings and your opinions. They want to share your experiences. If all you deliver is content, this does not help your audience. They could get your content from a book, a web site or some other non human contact. The fact that you are presenting to them means your audience wants to hear from you personally.

Your audience also wants you to be a living person. They dont want to hear from a statue. In other words you need to be active. The discussions held at our training courses show time and time again that presenters who move are the one who gain the most attention. If you think about this, it is quite understandable. In social situations we are active we use gestures, we move our bodies and change posture. To avoid doing so when presenting makes you look abnormal and this serves to disconnect you. There is also a big advantage to moving it helps reduce nerves when presenting.

As well as moving to be natural, our discussions show that great presenters are interactive. They ask questions, they involve the audience and essentially they treat the presentation as a conversation. This helps boost the connection between themselves and the audience. Thats because for the audience the interactivity appears normal, whereas being spoken at for a great length of time does not.

Another important aspect of making your presentation appear normal is that your audience expects you to deliver your material without any prompts. Conversations do not need notes! Hence your presentation will benefit from appearing normal if you do not use notes or any prompts of any kind including bullet points on slides. Discussions at our training sessions show time and time again that audiences do not like presenters who use notes, prompt cards, bullet point slides or any other form of memory jogger. Audiences expect presenters to know their stuff. Great presenters never use notes.

An extension of the lack of notes concept is that great presenters talk from the heart. They are passionate about their subject and they are emotional. The dispassionate, business-like presenter is one of the most disliked, according to our discussions. What this means is that you should talk less about your subject and much more about your experiences as this will help boost your passion.

Our training sessions also reveal that audiences want to have fun. They want to see you enjoying yourself and they want to have a laugh. This does not mean you need to tell jokes, but it does mean your audiences expect you to be light. Even for serious subjects it seems that audiences expect some kind of lightness. They want humour and they want you to smile. Straight faced, dry presenters are particularly disliked by audiences.

One final aspect that is revealed by the discussions at our training sessions and that is everyone in your audience expects the presenter to motivate them. This does not mean you need to be a motivational speaker. Rather what it means is that your audience is expecting you to tell them what to do. Your audience does not expect a presenter simply to deliver information they can get that from a book or a web site. Instead great presenters give audiences some action to take.

All of these discussion points suggest that those presenters who treat their presentation as a conversation who just have a chat with the audience are the ones marked out as truly great. People who give presentations by delivering content are seen as boring and uninteresting. This also means their messages are not conveyed, so they may as well not be presenting in the first place.

Oh, and one final thing. Our discussions show that audiences simply detest the use of computerised slides. They just want to hear from you. Truly great presenters therefore do one other vital thing they switch off the projector!

Graham Jones runs The Presentation Business at http://www.presentationbiz.com which specialises in helping people become great public speakers.

Sacred Love Building Relationships That Work - Some Essentials of the Heart

There are five simple ingredients to a great relationship. I think all of them need to be in place for the relationship to stand the test of time. Any one of them will trigger the desire to enter the relationship, but, unless all are there, the relationship just dwindles to maintenance.

The first ingredient of a great relationship

Falling in love, over and over again. Did you know that we "fall into love" with someone when we get out of our head? That means, we fall in love when we are not thinking. The irony is that we fall in love with someone because we expect nothing from them. Then, we spend the rest of our relationship with that person trying to get them to match our expectations. The fastest path around this is to acknowledge that you are going to have those expectations and they are important, but to fall in love, again and again and again, you need to have periods together where you just have time out. Fun stuff, where you just BE together without wanting anything. I call this STILLNESS but it's not still.

The second ingredient of a great relationship

The truth of human nature, (as opposed to the ego nature) is that it has two sides. Balance. So, we have a public and a private nature. They are always diametrically opposite. The total ass in public has a sweet side that they display somewhere else in life. So, in relationship, it is really common to find yourself focusing on the "darker side" of your partner, especially if you are into self-help, personal growth, yoga or meditation. You see, everyone has a good and a bad side. When we are in relationship we can easily focus on the bad side, because we become self-obsessed focusing on hiding our own bad side. It's like buying a yellow VW car. Before you buy one, none exist. After you buy one, it seems like every second person has one. When you become obsessed with changing yourself, or disowning your darker side, you can't see past the darker side of your partner. Their foibles. So, the solution here is to start to embrace your true nature, and as a result, be able to embrace the whole being that is your partner too.

The third ingredient of a great relationship

Evolve ya bastard. We tried to find a quote for the women folk, Evolve ya bitch just doesn't have the same ring too it and coming from a bloke like me, can be misinterpreted. So, simply put, "GET OVER IT." You are not a victim, shit happens in your life because you bred it. Take the fall, own your power, you cause your troubles. If you do this, you can fix this. See, if you don't cause your world, then how can you fix or change it? Evolve means to accept and UNJUDGE. That's deep stuff because it involves changing your beliefs. It also involves massive MIRRORING. Meaning seeing your own reflection in the actions and words of others. If you don't evolve in a relationship, you sabotage it and bring in the drama.

The Fourth ingredient of a great relationship

Dreams. 99% of self and relationship sabotage comes from lost vision. Now, I'm not here talking about maintenance. Like "bringing up the kids." When a couple get totally turned on by each other long term it's really because they see a great future together. It's exciting and filled with new adventures. When the libido drops or the emotion goes out, it's because that future has turned to boredom. Boredom in any area of life kills the human spirit. Now, you might say, "bringing up the kids is not boring," but really, its the same thing, day in day out. It's maintenance. I'm talking about things that you dream about. Holidays are a poor man's substitute for a great life. So, many people who lack the real vision of the future to inspire themselves, go on holidays. It's like putting a band-aid on a skin cancer. Do dreams, do vision quest together. Nothing is more important for long term sexy relationship than this.

The fifth ingredient of a great relationship

It's you. You have to turn up happy. You can't prey on your partner for happiness. Happiness is what you bring to your relationship. If you turn up bored or burned out from your job, you're going to suck the life force out of your partner. They have to put up self-protective barriers to that sort of ignorance. Get a life. Get a sport. Get a Hobie. And if you don't, you'll find yourself dreaming of sex with strangers, aka, TV Desperate Housewives. Stupid life. If your yoga class, your meditation class, your spiritual guru, your self help, your job does not send you home laughing, smiling, jumping for joy at the life you've got, then F...k it.

With Spirit and love

Chris "walk your talk" Walker

I really want to help people live to a different rhythm of life. I have done many practices to achieve inner peace, they were good, but fragile. Now, I have found stillness because life has become my meditation. I would love to share how. You see, once I thought my expectations were the best barometer of goodness. Anything that wasn't good, needed to change, or be fixed. Now, I know nature, natural law, creation. And I realise that with self-honesty, I can hold my inner peace, my stillness, wherever I go, not just on my cushion in the morning and night.
http://www.chriswalker.com.au and http://www.innerwealth.com - This is what I share.

5 Steps to Successful Transitions

Point A to Point B - life generally moves along as it should. The sticky parts are the transitions, the moments of instability when things change from what is to what is about to be. Life makes so much more sense when we finally realize that everything between birth and death is a transition! The sooner we make this universal truth real for students, the better they will handle the minefield of transitions they face every day.

Positive or negative, planned or unexpected, transitions force us to leave behind the familiar and adjust to new ways of living. The boss I just figured out gets transferred. I finally accept gas costing over $1.00 a gallon and, well, you know how that one ends! Change is everywhere, but it doesn't have to be exhausting. Here are five ways to make transitions exciting and creative rather than frightful and paralyzing.

1. Things are going to change. Day changes to night, your job, neighborhood, family and vacation plans change. Get over it.

2. Look at a bigger picture. What really is changing? What will this change cause to change? Often a transition is much broader than it first appears. Dorothy thought she was only had a tornado to deal with.

3. Gather your resources. Now is the time to take care of yourself and your business. A transition is not an event, but a process that always takes longer and costs more than you anticipated.

4. Use this Force, this is the only time you will have it. We are never totally without control. A transition means that something is moving so, rather than struggle, take advantage of the momentum to catapult you in the direction YOU want to go. For a great example of this strategy, listen to politicians. Whatever unwanted question they are asked, they structure the response to get across the information they want to give. The power is in the opportunity!

5. Anticipate. Few things in life are really a surprise. Look at people with lives and jobs similar to yours and see what might be coming for you. It's much easier to step into a transition with a controlled slide rather than to get dropped into one when it hits you from behind. New comers watch young executives with a few years under their belts. Parents watch others raising children slightly older than their own to see what to expect. Be ready.

Pat yourself on the back. If you're reading this article, you've already survived many transitions and come to recognize them as the difference between the leaders out in front and those who struggle with every step. Stepping into the transitions we can anticipate and bouncing back quickly from the surprises will position you ahead of the crowd every time!

Marcey J. Walsh is a national speaker and transition trainer. She is a team member of Russell J. White International and can be reached at http://www.thinkbigguy.com or at 877-275-9468

You Are Going to Lose Your Job! What Does That Do to Your Attitude?

The news is out. Many people will be losing their jobs. Will you be one of them? What does that do to your attitude?

To most, it will send them in a downward spiral of self pity, disappointment and negativity. They will become a victim and it will be reflected in their attitude. They will let the outside world enter and destroy their inside world. They will loose more than their job. They will lose their role in life, their self confidence, their self esteem and self respect. They will loose their sense of self worth and their net worth.

Why? Primarily because they never took control of their life or never determined what things are within their control. They were living a life of chance and circumstance from the outside in. They forgot who the most important person in the world is and got caught up in today's fast growing addiction - becoming a corporate junkie.

They became corporate junkies because they had nothing better to do or because of the fear of loosing their jobs if they didn't keep up with the other junkies. In the process they forgot themselves, their desires, their dreams, their aspirations and even their families. And now, they stand to lose it all.

Losing your job is an awakening call. It is time to wake up and to start living your life from the inside-out. It is time to get to know you. It is time to define what you want to be, to do or to have and to create a plan to make it happen the way you envisioned. It is time to take control of your life and start living the life your so desire.

You may or may not know if you are going to lose your job, but why wait to find out. Have a proactive attitude if you want to take care of the most important person in the world. Don't wait, as a reactive attitude is sure to destroy your spirit.

Start planning your future life today. If you were to lose your job, what would you do next?

If you comprise a prepared mindset and a contingency plan, they will set you apart from the junkies. Your proactive attitude will shine and your actions will speak louder than words. Your changed attitude will make you more desirable and thus, you may not loose your job.

Wouldn't it be great to be in a position to have a choice of opportunities? These opportunities only come to those who are in control of their lives and know what they want, where they are going and how they are going to get there.

You need to take control of your life and make some decisions. Do you want to live a life of chance and circumstance or do you want to live the life of your dreams? Do you want to work for the accomplishment of your goals or for the accomplishment of someone else's goals? Will you have a proactive attitude or a reactive attitude?

Only you, the decision maker, can make the decision work. It is your life so what will it be? Rise up, make a decision and reap the benefits. Nothing is standing in your way.

Bob Urichuck is an International Speaker, Trainer and Best-Selling Author. Learn personally from Bob in the areas of Sales, Motivation, Leadership and Team Skills. Bob presents a series of great ideas and strategies with combination of facts, humor, and practical concept in a high-energy and self-discovery process that you can apply right away to achieve results. Subscribe to Bob's Free Newsletter, worth $297, visit http://www.BobU.com Now!

Secrets of Qigong Meditation

Qi ("chee": life energy) circulates through a network of meridians or channels in the human body. Qigong means "working with life energy." Through qigong training we can facilitate the movement of qi through the body. The movement of qi leads the circulation of the blood and other bodily fluids. The effects of qigong practice include: stress reduction, improved health and energy, emotional balance, mental calmness and clarity, and an awareness of the wholeness of life.

Qigong is a truly holistic philosophy and system of health care and self development. The primary principle of qigong practice is this: Where qi flows smoothly there is health, happiness, and well-being. Where qi flow is impeded, there is disease, distress, and conflict.

Smooth qi flow is regarded as a natural state of being. This natural state is affected by our responses to the demands of life. When we become sick or have dis-ease on any level of our being the questions in this system are: 1) Where is qi flow impeded? 2) What is impeding smooth qi flow? and 3) How do we facilitate smooth qi flow?

Qi flow is interrupted by the way that we handle internal and external stressors. Qi can be impeded by physical tension, emotional holding patterns, rigid thought patterns, and patterns of spiritual resignation. The more general pattern of impeded qi flow is experiencing yourself as a passive victim of circumstances that cause the conditions of your life. By contrast, in qigong we learn to experience ourselves as empowered participants in our health and self development.

This leads us to a second qigong principle: The mind leads the qi and the qi follows the mind. The term mind here means mental powers and spiritual intent. In qigong meditation, we learn to use powers of mind and spirit to feel, gather, store, cultivate, refine, and circulate universal qi. The circulation of qi leads the circulation of blood, lymphatic fluid, and nerve impulses along their respective pathways.

We lead qi in qigong meditation by following these cues: 1) Relaxing and aligning posture, 2) Smiling and breathing consciously, 3)Visualizing qi pathways, and 4) Imagining and feeling universal qi flowing smoothly along these pathways.

One further note on this principle: It may be more accurate to say we "allow" qi to flow smoothly rather than we "lead" it, because smooth qi flow is natural. We allow this natural process to occur when we stop restricting it. When we live in stress mode we restrict qi flow. When we center our awareness in universal qi, we allow a greater wisdom to work through us. We let go of ego control and allow higher powers of mind and spirit to come forth. Letting go leads us to the next qigong principle.

The third basic principle of qigong is active relaxation. The ability to actively relax is the first step toward a Core Energy State. When practicing, Qigong Master Tianyou Hao says "Don't forget, don't pursue." In qigong one is present and aware while being relaxed and calm. We learn to detach from our patterns of stress so we can recover the original joy and vitality which resides steadfastly ever-available at the core of our being.

What does smooth qi flow feel like? The classic signs of qi activity in the body are called the eight sensations. These are: heat, cold, pain, numbness, soreness, swelling, itching, and twitching. The less pleasant qi sensations occur when qi is blocked or when it is beginning to move in an area that has been stagnant. Most commonly the positive feelings of smooth qi flow are warmth, fullness, tingling, and a sense of overall happiness and well-being.

Now that you know some qigong basics, it's time to get to the most important part--practicing. Daily practice is the key to realizing the amazing positive effects of qigong meditation.

If you are interested in more articles in this series or my Learn Qigong Meditation Program visit: http://www.learnqigongmeditation.com

Copyright 2006 by Kevin Schoeninger

Kevin Schoeninger: M.A. in Philosophy, Certified Qigong Instructor, Personal Trainer, and Reiki Master. http://www.learnqigongmeditation.com

Vision Means Passion - What's Yours?

Interestingly, the word vision can be interchangeable with the word passion.

But small business owners often forget to promote the true reason for being in business. Theyve lost touch with their passionate vision.

Passion is defined as an intense, driving, or overmastering feeling or conviction. Vision means unusual discernment or foresight - a person of vision.

Our vision (passion) is that intense driving conviction of unusual foresight that involves people in our story.

It is an authentic story because it comes from our heart. Its the reason we do what we do. And authentic stories are how we persuade people to use our service or product (ideas) over many other choices.

But for a majority of people in small business, vision is lost somewhere between starting the business and dealing with the day-to-day challenges and opportunities that arise.

Ask Yourself This Question

Why did you go into business in the first place?

Like many people, you probably got started with a vision you felt passionate about. Somewhere along the line you fell victim to day-to-day, reactive thinking and never returned to your original business vision. It became diluted and never rose from the ashes again.

What Can I Do to Rediscover My Vision?

Remembering the reason you started your business is the first step. Follow the action steps below to rediscover it.

Next, tell people the story of how you got started and why you love what you do. That story should be on your marketing collateral, web site, sales presentations and phone messages.

Passion is that single, illusive thing that attracts clients. Passion helps you stand out from other businesses who are selling rather than telling a passionate, authentic story about a unique business vision.

Action Steps to Develop Your Vision

1. Create an Authentic Vision Story. Start by considering the reason you started your business in the first place. Think back, when you first started out, what were you excited about?

2. Write down one sentence that tells the value you provide to others. This is the true reason anyone is in business.

3. Next, write down your competitive advantage. How are you different than the competition?

4. List single sentence statements that tell people your identity. Remember, image is dead. Clients and prospects need a strong authentic identity to understand exactly who you are and what you stand for.

5. Add your niche to this list. What single group of people do you best serve?

6. List the type of client you most enjoy working with. Include both professional and personal qualities. Understand who your ideal client is.

7. Weave the 6 points above into a compelling story.

8. Memorize that story. Focus on your ideal client only. Tell every ideal prospect you talk to this week your Authentic Vision Story.

9. The results will surprise you. Your prospects will seem more receptive. Your clients will be more willing to help you spread the word.

Follow these steps and you are guaranteed to find more enjoyment in your business.

Copyright 2005, Bill Gluth, Develop Your Vision, All Rights Reserved.

Bill Gluth is the motivator of focused change. He is the first to specialize in teaching small business owners how to be extraordinary in a commodity driven world.

Since starting Develop Your Vision in 2001, Bill has helped business owners achieve balance, satisfaction and profit with freedom by understanding the unique vision that sets one business apart from their competition.

Bill teaches strategies that turn dreams and goals into accomplishments by successfully reaching tightly defined niche markets using inexpensive, creative, Human Touch ideas and methods.

To find out more about Bill Gluth, Develop Your Vision, visit his website at http://www.developyourvision.com or his Blog at http://www.billgluth.com.

Be Happy 101: the Happiness Course

Your Happiness Resources

This time, thirteen is a lucky number. Here are thirteen books that can really help you on the road to finding increased happiness:

1. Authentic Happiness -Martin Seligman
A great place to start. Discover your "signature strengths" and use them as much as you can to produce true, long term gratification in your life.

2.The How of Happiness - Sonja Lyubomirsky
Twelve positive steps you can take to being happier, working on areas you can influence, instead of those you can't change much.

3. 50 Self-Help Classics - Tom Butler-Bowdon
The "50 Classics" series of books provide extraordinary summaries of self help books, respectively on prosperity, success, the spirtual classics and several others. Having these excellent books is like having a self help library at your fingertips.

4. Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart - Gordon Livingston
A best selling author, Dr. Livingston uses his experience as a practicing psychiatrist to help us deal positively with many of life's common problems.

5. Your Best Life Now - 7 Steps To Living Life At Your Full Potential -Joel Osteen
The famous tv evangelist provides suggestions for living a positive life. Christians will be able to relate easily to the beneficial message this book contains, but this book can benefit anyone, whether they are Christian, or if they don't believe in God.

6. The Seven Habits of Highly Successful People -Stephen Covey
Provides an excellent structure for setting goals and accomplishing them.

7. A New Earth: Awakening To Your Life's Purpose -Eckhart Tolle
A thorough, step by step presentation to help you discover your guiding purposes. Even though this book was highly promoted by Oprah Winfrey, it would be a real mistake to think that it is only "a women's book". Anyone can benefit from it.

8. Blink - Malcolm Gladwell
Great stories that emphasize the point that good decisions can often be made by "thin slicing", using a small amount of information that leads us to a decision that might be the same as if we had taken more time and done more research in making it. Our quality of life, and our happiness, is greatly impacted by our decisions and our thoughts . This book present an alternative view for making decisions, without deprecating more traditional methods.

9. George Foreman's Guide To Life -George Foreman
This is not just "a man's book", nor is it a boxing book, it's one that can benefit anyone. It contains excellent practical advice for getting the most out of life.

10. Meditations - Marcus Aurelius
This classic work provides great guidance for living daily life. Its principles are as applicable today as they were in Roman times.

11. The Right Words At The Right Time -Marlo Thomas
Short two or three page stories by celebrities telling what events made positive turning points toward success in their lives. Interesting reading and contains many good lessons.

12. Happier- Tal Ben-Shahar
Let the author share the secrets with you of finding happiness from Harvard's most popular course. Everybody wants to be happy!

13. The Working Poor -David Shipler
This might not sound like a book that relates to happiness, but it is, because its insights can truly help people stay away from things that are going to make them very unhappy. The Pultizer Prize winning author explains what it's like to be part of the working poor. Anyone who isn't, but thinks they have a good handle on this type of life should read this book. It not only encourages concern and assistance, but it provides very valuable lessons on how getting into this state can be avoided. Poverty is not a plus when seeking happiness, so this book also serves as a valuable cautionary story to anyone who is making major decisions in their lives, regarding education, child bearing, marriage and so forth.

We all need to eat to sustain ourselves physically. Make self-help reading a regular habit to support and guide you mentally throughout your life.

Larry Danks is an Assistant Professor of Business at Camden County College in Blackwood, NJ, near Philadelphia. To these books above, I also add my book, Your Unfinished Life: The Classic and Timeless Guide To Finding Happiness and Success Through Kindness. Let it help you be happier, find personal fulfillment and develop higher self-esteem. http://www.yourunfinishedlife.com where samples from each chapter and reviews of Danks' book are available.Comments may be directed to the author at helpfulmedia@yahoo.com

My book, and the others listed above, are all available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble and all major booksellers.

Better Health Through Positive Thinking

Mind over matter is more than a scientific mantra. Better health through positive thinking is no longer a new age superstition. Scientists and members of the medical community are embracing the concept that thinking positively leads to behaving positively which in turn improves overall health. At one time scientists refuted this idea in part because happiness and optimism are difficult to measure in scientific terms. However, today study groups as well as therapy sessions are proving that better health can be obtained through positive thinking.

Studies indicate that human thinking patterns affect human behavioral patterns. Therefore, better health can be achieved through positive thinking and positive behavior, which in turn results in better health. Patients who remain in a positive mood can manage pain and severe symptoms as well as change their lifestyle more effectively than patients who are feeling down. This means thinking positive means positive health benefits.

Healthy people tend to eat healthy and take time to do healthy activities so it makes sense that healthy people also have healthy thoughts. The same is true with health care putting forward a positive attitude will help your body assert itself in a positive way. This means looking at the positive aspects of every situation. Instead of dwelling on the negative a positive person tends to focus on the opportunities and solutions associated with various issues. In health care focusing on solutions is the easiest way to better health.

This technique influences health by decreasing stress, lowering blood pressure, reducing the risk of heart disease and even increasing life expectancy. Many groups, including cancer support groups and weight loss programs, are incorporating therapies designed to encourage thinking positive into their regiments for better long term results.

Medical professional have suspected that better health can be achieved through positive thinking yet studies are really just now being conducted. The health benefits of positive thinking are that they empower the patient to behave positively as well as be proactive about their health. The mind can not magically heal a broken leg overnight but it can allow the patient to feel good about the healing process, prevent the patient from feeling defeated and giving up on healing as well as make the time in recovery more pleasant and relaxing.

Your Healthy Outlook provides information related to men's and women's health issues. To learn more visiting: http://www.yourhealthyoutlook.com

The Bio-Neurobiology Of The Self

Like always My eyes see, my ears listen, my nose smells, my fingers touch and I cannot help cognizing and ask questions of my everyday experiences and experiences of others that reach me through one of my senses, some of them or all. So like then now it is my eye that caught some written material and threw my selfish self in to examining them in an effort to may be understand more than anything my selfish self. As I read through the material I thought if I could only understand my selfish self and be able to see it from outside of it and from a neutral vantage point what else would there be that I won't master at all. Nonetheless wherever I went and whatever I did and am able to do got me always wrapped up in my selfish self and it more and more proved to me that it is all there is in whatever ways and how it was said and done.

""The most obvious thing about you is yourself." "You look down at your body and know it is yours"." Todd Heatherton. I thought of the statement and wanted to be certain of my knowledge of myself and wished if the self within me was only the physical self and wanted so bad to fully comprehend it and master it if I may and be certain of my knowledge, but hard reality hit me so hard that it was not meant to be. It turned out that the self was much more than the macroscopic physical. It also has what is called the spiritual psychological and more aspects to it. The certainty of the self by the self simply dissipates in to the thin air as I try to examine it even further and the self assurance about the knowledge of the self appealed to me as somewhat far fetched. The day to day discoveries and the new lights that are being shed about the inner and outer workings of our self tells a story of even more unknowns and what we know of our self is barely a scratch on the surface of a very large stack yet to be known and ever.

"When you wake up in the morning, you don't have to interrogate yourself for a long time about who you are." Todd Heatherton. The statement makes it as though we have never had a question or a doubt about who we are and why we are , but the fact remains that the overwhelming part of out every day activities are related and are about finding our self, making our self, changing our self sustaining our self and maintaining our self, all in all whether we say it in a single sentence or thousand paragraphs, whether we ask it directly or not the selfish self often and always takes precedence and primacy. In our daily all encompassing and comprehensive activities, actions, reactions, Cognitions and recognitions we do define and redefine ourselves and I am afraid if we are so sure of why we do so with certainty. If there is anything certain that we have asked enough times who we are and why we are, where we came from and where we want to go and are going, these are questions that are in every ones head without being framed may be in an elitist word framing. And what everyone does revolves around the same issues with varying probability of knowing the answers, but with certain truth of never certainty. Even the questions we ask of others come around often as question about our self and we can't escape the fact that it is all about the selfish self. It often is about acquisition of knowledge, material, position, notoriety or something of value here or in the hereafter. The complete knowledge of the self is the ultimate and as such remains always less than certain.

As we go through life every day we wake up, I feel like, what we do is interrogate our selves of who we are, how our poison has changed and how to best react to it contrary to the statement quoted, in all and many things we do, think and imagine. Indeed we have the greatest interest in ourselves and interest is dependent on the degree of exposure to the subject of interest, and the self more than anything else is exposed to the self itself. May be the root of selfishness lies in the exposure of the self to the self more than the not self and there is no way of exposing the not self to the self more the self itself to the self, thus instilling the selfishness permanently in the self and may be a falls sense of complete self awareness as well. "" Heatherton himself shied away from direct study of it for years, even though-"My interests were around the self but not around the philosophical issues of what is the self."

Things have changed today, Today Heatherton, along with a growing number of scientists, is tackling the question head on, seeking to figure out how the self emerges from the brain. In the past few years, they have begun to identify certain brain activities that may be essential for producing different aspects of self awareness. They are now trying to determine how these activities give rise to the unified feeling we each have of being a single entity. This research is yielding clues to how the self evolved in our hominid ancestors. It may even help scientists treat Alzheimer's disease and other disorders that erode the knowledge of the self and in some cases destroy it altogether." It is rather the philosophical self that interested me the most than the mechanical descript self, not that I understood it but I am intrigued by it. It raises questions more than I could speculate and ask of the readers of this article and knowledgeable people if I may and pose them directly. Is the self a collection of memories? Cognitive and reactive process?, Will the self cease to exist when the mind (brain )ceases?, When the subjective self (mind or brain, or consciousness and memory) ceases will the objective self turn in to an automaton and mechanical being?, Are other animals, plants and inanimate that go through motion purposeful, intentional, disciplined, ordered and unique motion self aware?, If not why not?, When the self that is self aware ceases will the self that is not self aware remain? Is the objective self a reality of the subjective self or is it the subjective self the reality of the objective self? Or does the objective self exist independently of the subjective self and the vice versa? Is the subjective self the extension of the objective self or is it the objective self the extension of the subjective self?

As a matter of everyday practice it seems the subjective self to act as its sole purpose and intent to protect, preserve, sustain and propagate the objective self. If subjective reasoning alone were enough to answer it all, I would have had mine, but reason fails short and reality often times defy reason and it is often reality that has to be reasoned than reason define reality, therefore a dose of objective reality may be is in order and in time for a comprehensive understanding of the issues raised and points reiterated. " Further clues have emerged from injuries that affect some of the brain rejoins involved in the self .Gage, a 19th century railroad construction foreman who was standing in the wrong place at the wrong time when a dynamite blast sent a tamping iron through the air. It passed through Gage's head, and yet, astonishingly, Gage survived. Gages friends though noticed something had changed. Before the accident he had been considered an efficient worker and shrewd businessman. Afterward he became profane, showed little respect for others and had a hard time settling plans for the future. His friends he was "no longer Gage." Cases like Gage's showed that the self is not the same as consciousness. People can have an impaired sense of themselves without being unconscious." As is indicated by the awareness of the amnesiac of all things about him it rather seems as though the self is a physiological and psychological construct of information that precedes it. As such as long as the physical construct of this precedent information is intact the self will retain its self awareness which is ingrained in its genes. This self awareness which is to serve in the fulfillment of the selfish needs of the self necessitates the awareness of the environment in which the self finds itself in. it is therefore this secondary awareness that is to be called consciousness. It is an awareness the helps the self act and react in ways and times that its interest are best served by. As every existence is a relativistic phenomenon, it would rather make the complication easier to understand if we have to conclusively argue whether the self is absolute relative to the not sell or the self is yet a relative reality to the not self. If we claim the self is an absolute reality then the self exists independently of consciousness and if we claim the other way around then the self ceases upon cessation of consciousness. As indicated in the article , the retention of the information about the self while all memory is wiped out by amnesia seems to attest to the fact that the self does not exist because X or Y existed, but because of the information upon which it was constructed that determined its intent, shape, color, purpose and destiny and consciousness helped best accomplish these predeterminations in an environmental constraints.

"At the university college of London, researchers have been using brain scans to decipher how we become aware of our own bodies." This is the very basic law-level first point of the self "UCLA's Sara Jayne Blakemore says. When our brains issue a command to move a part of our bodies, two signals are sent. One goes to the brain region that control the particular parts of the body that need to move, and the other goes to the region that monitor the movement. Our brains then use this copy to predict what kind of sensation the action will produce. If the actual sensation we receive does not closely match our prediction, our brains become aware of the difference. But if the sensation does not match our prediction at all, our brains interpret them as being caused by something other than ourselves. Blakemore and her colleagues documented this shift by scanning the brains of subjects they had hypnotized. When the researchers told the subjects their arms were being lifted by a rope and pulley, the subjects lifted their arms. But their brains responded as if someone else were lifting their arms, not themselves." As untenable as it seems it rather is a fact that the objective self is existent independently of the subjective self (the mind) but too mechanically. The subjective self does not only interpret coordinate and give meaning to the environment the objective self is in but also gives the essence of the self itself in relation to everything and anything within its environmental constraints and how it reacts to and interacts with the elements of its environment. The brain that generates the subjective self seems rather an information in, information processing and information out center that where when and how it gets its imputes determine how it will react and what it puts out when it puts out what it does as its purpose and duty.

"Heatherton and his colleagues at Dartmouth have been using the technology to probe the mystery of why people remember information about themselves better than details about other people. They imaged the brains of volunteers who viewed a series of adjectives. In some cases, the researchers asked the subjects whether a word applied to the subjects themselves. In others, they asked if a word applied to George W.Bush. In still other cases, they asked simply whether the word was shown in uppercase letters. They found that questions about the self activated some regions of the brain that questions about someone else did not their results bolstered the "self is special" hypothesis over "the self is familiar" view." The special self and the familiar self are separate and in essence and are intertwined in purpose.

While the special self is the information upon which the physical self and the psychological self is constructed on, the familiar self to me is the conscious self that determines the position of the special self in relation to its environment and helps act in the best interest of the special self. There is no time or space separation between the self and the information about the self. The information about anything else is separated from the self by distance and time. The self is constantly accumulating and accessing information about itself. The self and about the self are intertwined and inseparable unlike the self and about the not self. Information may be filled separately and in categories, yet the fire about the self may be the most important and may be the most significant of them all. "When we are in new circumstances, our sense of our self depends on thinking explicitly about our experiences. Soccer players know whether they are athletic, strong or swift without having to consult their memories." It is rather indicative of the fact that the special self is very much dependent on its consciousness of the environment it find itself in to react in ways and manners its interests are best met. When the self knows and knows well and is familiar with the environment it finds itself in, thinking becomes un necessary, logical construction becomes redundant and the facts become self evident. "The primate ancestors of humans probably had the basic bodily self awareness that is studied by Blakemore and her associates." I wondered if at all there is any living thing that is not self aware. How is this awareness expressed other than being active in the self preservation and primacy of the self? All living things are self reproductive, self preservative and self protective and knows its relative position in its environment and acts and reacts in ways and manners it is able to survive and thrive; what possibly be the so called self awareness if not all these and more? "The self requires time to develop fully. Psychologists have long recognized that it takes a while for children to acquire a stable sense of who they are. "They have conflicts in their self-concepts that don't bother them at all."Lieberman comments. "little kids don't try to tell themselves, 'I' am still the same person.' They just don't seem to connect up the little pieces of the self-concept."" If I am spared of the possible label of someone playing in semantics and engaged in hair splitting I would like to not that there is nothing at all that had happened happens and will happen in no time and in no stages. Even instantaneity is a relative short period. I cannot agree any less that self awareness takes time while the self is a physical construct of the information that preceded it, it does not only predate self awareness, but is there from the initial date of its complete construction when ever that may be. It seems the self goes through stages of cognition of its environment, compilation of the facts of its environment, understanding of its environment, determining the self's position in the environment and acting in the best interest of the self within the environmental constraints.

While the last two of the process described are attributable to self awareness the former four stages are only precursors to self awareness. May be children's conflict of self concept that don't bother them are indicative of the developmental stage to self awareness than it is physiological (biological) (self) developmental stage. The self awareness of the self goes way passed the developmental stages of the brain to the very origin of life itself as a product of self awareness .As it is attested to and proved over and again programs of self propulsion, development, reproduction and ability to choose are ingrained in the fundamental elements of life precedent cellular construction. It poses a dynamism where change in quantity and quality in time and space are among the prevalent character threats. As stated by Robert Shapiro's " A simpler Origin for Life" Scientific American June , 2007 " Muller's Remarks would be in accord with what has been called the NASA definition : Life is a self sustained chemical system capable of undergoing Darwinian evolution" I as a lay person wouldn't have agreed less except for the two things I need to elaborate or needed be elaborated by some who are more able than I. It is the convergence of among the chemical, mechanical, electrical and even gravitational self sustenance as we prove in to the very fundamentals existence and succumb to simply in to being a product of change in space in time following or governed by a precedent information. As it is guided and goes through self sustaining change in time in space gathers information that helps it undergo Darwinian evolution in effect Darwinian evolution is cumulative information gathered to help self sustenance in time and space.

Thought Provoking Religious Ideas on Christianity

Do you ever wonder what ever happened to the Wise men's gifts that were given to Jesus's parents? Nobody ever talks about it and it was never mentioned again in the Bible. If it was mentioned again I would love to have somebody e-mail me some more information on what Joseph and Mary did with the gifts, that were given to the newborn King or in other words Jesus.

I didn't come up with this idea on my own, I was reading a book by George Seaver called Albert Schweitzer "The Man and His Mind." I found the book in a thrift store near Seattle, Washington while on vacation visiting one of my relatives. I heard a lot about Albert Schweitzer from various personal development and spiritual books and thought this book would be give me some insight on the man.

I really had no clue, that I would find something like this within the first few pages.

Here's a quote from the book.

When I was eight my father, at my own request, gave me a New Testament, which I read eagerly. Among the stories which interested me most was that of the Wise Man from the East. What did the parents of Jesus due, I asked myself, with the gold and other valuables that they got from the Wise men? How could they have been poor after that? And that the Wise men should never have troubled themselves again about the child Jesus, was to me uncomprehensible.

Now this is coming from an eight year old child, not someone who has researched biblical scripture their whole lives. What else are we missing in the Bible that doesn't make sense but we were trained to believe in our religions without ever questioning your religion . It's definitely something to think about and the next time you're reading something or listening to the news on TV, try to figure out if it's fact or fiction.

You definitely cannot believe everything you read or hear from outside sources. I heard once that the only things that are truly real are the things that never change. If you think about it, most things change and therefore would not be considered real.

Ponder That for a While.

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development. Here's a good website if you're interested in, religious classics and looking for evidence

Greg is currently working on a religious and motivational articles filled with great subjects on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world. His views on religious freedom are slowly changing the way people think about institutional religion

The Secret by Rhonda Byrne - Have You Read It?

When I first started to get involved with Internet Marketing, I was told about some books I should read and one of those was The Secret by Rhonda Byrne.

Well I found The Secret in my local book shop and bought it. I have to admit that once I started reading it I couldn't put it down, and as this was a low period for me it filled me with inspiration.

The scholar's from times gone by and all the successful businessman, and personal coaches from today are using The Secret in their lives now. I mean, if some of the greatest people in history believed in it then who am I to disagree. People like Shakespeare, Isaac Newton, Beethoven, Lincoln, Einstein and the list goes on.

It is all based around the Law of Attraction, which states that if you always have bad thoughts then that's what you will always attract, if you always feel depressed then that's what you will attract, and if you only think about debt then that's what you will attract. Think and believe about wealth and you will attract it, don't question how, the Universe will find a way - Hard to believe for the skeptics among us.

OK yes we all know the benefits of positive thinking but unless you have inspiration from somewhere, it's so hard to do especially as we all know in this day and age it is gloom and despair; the world recession, etcetera. It's easy to sit and hold your head in your hands, but will that help? Not one little bit.

So lets tell you about what has happened to me since I started reading The Secret:

The first time I read it I was on cloud nine, full of positive thoughts and I even tried the car parking space trick - yes it did work, coincidence? Maybe, but it happened almost every time. But then I had some serious money and personal issues and I forgot about The Secret until recently.

To supplement my income, as yet I do not earn enough money from my Internet Marketing endeavors, I do cabbing and that has been very slow. So as I was waiting around for jobs I started reading The Secret again and on this particular occasion I had been waiting 2 hours and still no job. So I closed the book and kept saying to myself "You will get a good job now", I kept saying it to myself, "The Secret will take care of me", stupid you might think, but what did I have to lose.

I left the area I was parked in, now do I turn left or right, do I stop here, all these questions but I trusted my instincts and then, beep beep beep my on board computer had received a job, and as I opened it....wow a 50 job.

I was thrilled and another strange coincidence, or not? Was it as the last passenger reached their destination we somehow mentioned The Secret and he said that since he has read and believed he has had a 3,000 Tax rebate, and as an actor has just won a new contract for a TV series.

Well after this job straight away another job came down 30 and this happened 3 more times in the space of 2 hours. Is this just a coincidence or something deeper?

I have been trying this since last Friday night and you know what instead of sitting there thinking the next job will be a bad one, because remember think a bad job and the Genie say's "your wish is my command" and a bad job you will receive.

Now I visualise the on board computer, and in my mind imagine seeing a good job on the screen, it work's, but you have to believe.

All I need now is to work harder at the Internet Marketing Business and believe it will all come to me.

This is my Internet Marketing for Newbies product a Home Study Course where you get full video tuition for every strategy you will ever need to be a success at working from home. This comes with a full no questions asked money back guarantee so you really have nothing to lose.

Accepting Second Best In Life

Are you a person who accepts second best in life? Is winning silver good enough for you? Are you content to be a follower rather than a leader? A couple of years ago I would have answered yes to all of these questions but I have since seen the light. I now strive to be number one in every aspect of my life, I am happy to work hard to achieve my goals and to listen to the advice that I am being given. In this article I will write about how I learnt to have this new found positive attitude.

As a teenager and into my early twenties I basically drifted through life, it was as if I could not be bothered. I have to admit that I was a slightly depressive person during this period of my life, this was mainly because I had a stammering/stuttering problem with my speech. I seemed to be in an almost continual rut, always blaming the stutter for my lack of progress in life.

This was all to change when a new guy started at the office where I worked. His name was Jim and he was very bright and bubbly. Jim had a positive outlook on life and was seemingly very confident. I, at that point, was the opposite.

Over the next few months I began to spend a lot more time with Jim and was quite shocked when he asked me:

"Why are you so unhappy Steve? You always seem to be quite down, is there anything I can help you with?

Even though I did have a lack of self-esteem and was perhaps not always the brightest of personalites, I was not expecting to be asked this type of question.

Jim did prove to be a massive help to me, he made me understand that we only have one life, one shot at making a name for ourselves and that positive people tend to be the most happy and successful people.

Stephen Hill runs The How To Stop Stammering Centre, he has a number of websites including:

stuttering information

dvd replication

eradicate depression

The Backsliding Blues - Tips to Get You Back on Track

Progress is never a straight line. Often it's a matter of one step forward, two steps back. Just ask Oprah, icon of self-improvement, who publicly confessed how sabotaging beliefs contributed to weight issues that continue to plague her. Backsliding after we've started some new habits or set new goals is common. The choice you make after you've "fallen off the wagon" that is critical.

Backsliding can show up anywhere. You decide to save some money, but then you can't resist that shopping spree. You resolve to speak calmly with your children, but then lose your temper and yell at them instead. You decide to end a relationship with someone who doesn't love and appreciate you, but then you rationalize those feelings away.

The best of intentions can get crushed by procrastination, old habits or disempowering thoughts. Here are a few tips to get back on track after you catch yourself backsliding.

1. Celebrate Your Awareness

Do you immediately launch into self-recrimination and judgment when you backslide? Instead of beating yourself up, choose to celebrate your awareness. Within the seeds of the breakdown are the keys to creating a lasting breakthrough.

Action Step: Come up with a positive mantra or affirmation to use when you discover you're out of integrity with your goals. Try "Hey, I'm curious about what took me off course," instead of "Hey, you loser, you blew it again!" Love yourself forward.

2. Patience is a Virtue

In a world addicted to instant gratification, creating empowering new habits and thoughts takes discipline, repetition and, often, time. How many years did it take to create the bad habit in the first place? A few decades perhaps? Is it so unreasonable to think it may take you a few weeks or months of focused intention and action to unlearn a lifetime of mental programming?

Action Step: Catch yourself when you get impatient and stop. Impatience is a quality of the ego-self, not the Higher Self. While sometimes a permanent shift can just take a split second, often we simply need to be more patient with our process.

3. Think Outside the Box

Einstein said it best when he observed that trying to solve problems at the same level of thinking that created them is an exercise in futility. It's like trying to hammer a nail, when the only tool you have is a saw. Breaking out of deeply ingrained subconscious patterns often requires thinking outside the box.

Action Step: Realize there's a lot you don't know. Work with a coach, find an accountability partner, or connect with like-minded people who are achieving the success you want to create as a way to break loose from old patterns.

Success Strategist, coach and author, Carolyn B. Ellis, is the founder of ThriveAfterDivorce.com and ThrivePrinciples.com. Her mission is to empower others to turn adversity into opportunity so they can improve relationships, increase self-confidence and reach their highest potential. She is the award-winning author of The 7 Pitfalls of Single Parenting: What to Avoid to Help Your Children Thrive After Divorce. To receive a special gift, visit http://www.ThriveAfterDivorce.com

Continuous Stair Handrails Build

Stop Feeling Down

Today it is snowing again and we are expecting another foot of snow on top of what has already been a record breaking year for snow. Sometimes the winter feels so long.

Today I talked to the President of a client company. For them, business is down over 40%. I have talked to business leaders that are down as much as 60%. Sometimes I worry about business.

Today, the talking heads are uncovering some less than inspiring facts about the Stimulus package. Sometimes I worry about the economy. Sometimes I worry about our savings and our 401ks. Sometimes our government causes me concern. Sometimes I worry for and about our kids.

Do you ever get down and have negative thoughts?

When we think: "It's impossible."

Remember: "All things are possible." (Luke 18:27)

When we think: "I'm too tired."

Remember: "I will give you rest." (Matt 11:28-30)

When we think: "Nobody really loves me."

Remember: "I love you." (John 3:16,John 13:34)

When we think: "I can't go on."

Remember: "My grace is sufficient." (II Cor. 12:9, Psalm 91:15)

When we think: "I can't figure things out."

Remember: "I will direct your steps." (Proverbs 3:5-6)

When we think: "I can't do it."

Remember: "You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you." (Phil 4:13)

When we think: "It's not worth it."

Remember: "It will be worth it." (Romans 8:28)

When we think: "I can't forgive myself."

Remember: "I forgive you." (I John 1:9 Romans 8:1)

When we think: "I can't manage."

Remember: "I will supply all your needs." (Phil. 4:19)

When we think: "I'm afraid."

Remember: "I have not given you the spirit of fear." (II Tim. 1:7)

When we think: "I'm always worried and frustrated."

Remember: "Cast all your cares on ME." (I Peter 5:7)

When we think: "I don't have enough faith."

Remember: "I've given everyone a measure of faith." (Romans 12:3)

When we think: "I'm not smart enough."

Remember: "I give you wisdom." (I Cor. 1:30)

When we think: "I feel all alone."

Remember: "I will never leave you or forsake you." (Heb. 13:5)

As I put this together, several thoughts crossed my mind. First, We are obviously not the first people in the world to think negative thoughts. Next, Somehow knowing that others have gone through these negative thoughts helps.

Third, We are connected with others who have been through this via our beliefs, through universal consciousness, through quantum physics, through the zero point field and who knows how many other ways.

Next, Nothing is permanent, everything changes and this too will pass.

Finally, We are survivors and we will get through this. Spring will come again.

Copyright Bob Cannon/The Cannon Advantage, 2009. All rights reserved.

Byline

Bob Cannon helps visionary leaders enhance performance and profitability in their organizations. Check out other interesting articles available in the Taking Aim newsletter available at http://www.cannonadvantage.com

Bob can be reached at (216) 408-9495.

This article courtesy of http://www.decision-makingtoday.com

You may freely reprint this article on your website or in your newsletter provided this courtesy notice and the author name and URL remain intact.

Edmund Hillary

Philosophy in a Nutshell - Freedom Versus Determinism

Two of the most important and most noble purposes of philosophy are to promote intellectual independence and to awaken the thirst for wisdom. Put simply, philosophy aims to get individuals to think, hopefully to ponder deeply about more fundamental issues than those which occupy most of our everyday lives. A brief examination of the issue of freedom versus determinism helps to define the scope of philosophy and related controversies.

Theories concerned with the issue of freedom versus determinism seek to discover the cause of human behavior. Are human actions predictable in a scientific manner? In other words, are there laws of nature, though complex and largely unknown, which would tell us exactly what a person will do in a given situation and which completely rule out any other possibility? This view, known as determinism, has been bolstered since the sixteenth century by the scientific principle of universal causation: every event has a cause and predictions of results can be made with total accuracy.

Hard determinism further holds that moral responsibility is incompatible with universal causation. Soft determinism argues that some behavior is free of compulsion so that people can be held morally responsible. Libertarians maintain that human beings do possess freedom of action. Otherwise, libertarians claim, human deliberation is an illusion. This, they assert, would be absurd. Furthermore, libertarians believe that exact laws of human behavior will always be elusive. Human behavior will therefore remain unpredictable and uncontrollable. In addition to this, a society perfected through application of science to produce specific human behaviors would be morally unacceptable.

This process of questioning the very foundations of life takes a certain amount of courage and psychological fortitude. Independence of thought is critical for a free society, and philosophy aims to spur us on to deep thought about the things that matter in life.

Kathleen Karlsen, MA is a professional artist, a freelance writer and marketing consultant residing in Bozeman, Montana. Karlsen offers classes and workshops on symbolism, sacred art, healing art and the psychology of design. To learn more about color symbolism, visit http://www.livingartsoriginals.com/infocolorsymbolism.htm

For information about the meaning of flowers, please visit http://www.livingartsoriginals.com/infoflowermeaning.htm

George S Clason

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Why do Muslims and Islam Honor Jesus and Mary

Many do not know that Muslims honor Jesus and Mary as part of their religious beliefs. The following highlights some of the facts regarding Muslims beliefs about Jesus and Mary.

* Muslims believe in Jesus as a prophet. They believe that God (Allah) sent many prophets to mankind and Jesus was one of them

* As the Muslim religions foundation is to believe in one God and not to associate anyone with God and His powers and attributes, Jesus was only a human being that was raised by God and will return him to this earth in this life. Jesus will then die as a regular human being.

* Muslims believe that Bible was revealed on Prophet Jesus. However, with time, as that book was changed, God (Allah) revealed His last book, the Quran on the last prophet, Prophet Muhammad.

* Quran was revealed over a period of 23 years

* Muslims believe in Mary as the Virgin mother of Prophet Jesus

* There is an entire chapter in the Quran that explains in detail the birth of Jesus, his family, etc. The chapter is called Chapter of Mary

* Muslims believe that Jesus although was put on the cross was never crucified. Instead, he was raised to the heavens by God (Allah) and another person instead was crucified in his place. These teachings and the fully story are narrated in the Quran.

* Muslims also believe that Jesus will come back to earth, unit the Christians and the Muslims and will kill the anti-Christ.

* The Quran teaches Muslims that Jesus though was a normal human being but had special powers from God (Allah) including raising the dead and curing diseases.

Waseem works for HilalPlaza.com, an Islamic and Middle Eastern Portal Website.

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Clearing a Space For You!

This time of the year is full of renewal, rebirth, growth, development, restoration, and cleansing. Along with the rest of nature, you tend to feel vibrant and inspired to clear things out and get a new start. It is a great time to clear away the past and plant new seeds for your life!

Here are a few easy ways to meet your cleansing needs:

The Space Within You

Fuel up! Think about creating your own cleansing experience to get rid of excess waste. Take advantage of all the great whole foods during this season. Add more fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds to your eating plan.

Express yourself. Journaling can help you know your Self and learn how to express your truth. You don't have to write a novel. A few words can go a long way and set you on the path to self-discovery.

Start exercising. Physical activities allow the body to sweat and rid itself of toxins. Movement will help clear your mind and focus on creating your life.

The Space You Are In

Surround yourself with beautiful things. Create a beautiful space with your new favorite color of the season. Spread some nature throughout your home with plants and flowers. Open up your blinds and let the sun shine in!

Clean out those closets. Remove things in your house or storage that you do not need. Keep the items that bring you joy and happiness.

Have a party! Encourage your loved ones to join you in celebrating renewal and growth. Share your desires, needs, and intentions. Cultivate an environment that is supporting and loving.

Like health, cleansing is not exclusively about how you eat, it's also about how you live! This is just a start.

What else can you do to renew yourself this season?

Takeyah A. Young is the Founder and Director of Core Connection Lifestyle, a company dedicated to providing life essentials for well-being and tools for balanced living. Through health counseling, lifestyle coaching, and sustainable living consulting, she serves as her clients' personal advocate for living an energized and passionate life. Takeyah's mission is to empower people to live their dreams in balance; connect the actions in their lives to their dreams; and inspire them to take living personally.

She is a Certified Holistic Health Counselor, Speaker, and Educator with a private practice offering assistance countrywide. She received her Bachelor's degree from Lincoln University (of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania) and Masters degree from University of Maryland. Educated at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York City, Takeyah is certified by the American Association of Drugless Practitioners. To learn more about Core Connection Lifestyle, please visit http://www.core-connection.org

The information in this article is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

Andrew Carnegie