Personal Powers

Embrace the Idea About Learning - Shouldn't You Be Studying the Bible Regularly?

2009-10-02T11:04:00.001-07:00

Most Christians own at least one Bible, but the idea of studying it on a regular basis, is normally considered a difficult task for those to perform. If you really want to call yourself a Christian, shouldn't you at least understand, a few things in the Bible?

Maybe something about Adam and Eve, Noah's Ark, or what about that guy, what's his name, I think he died for our sins and wasn't he the son of God, what was his name... You might think I'm kidding, but very few Christians, know very little about the Bible.

How do we get Christians to embrace the idea that studying the Bible could benefit them or change their views entirely about their religion? I've always had problems with those who consider themselves practicing Christians, while trying to convert others to Christianity with a limited knowledge about the religion itself.

If you go to church every Sunday, there's a good chance that you will have to touch the holy book of scriptures, at least once. You might even pick it up and turn some of the pages while listening to the sermon. Is this the only time during the week that you will pick up the Bible? And does this bother you?

What about those who read the Bible regularly and don't take the time to interpret it literally. Read the Bible, word for word in order to get a simple understanding of each Bible verse. Don't try to read anything into it or look for hidden messages.

Wouldn't it be nice to be able to answer simple questions or understand what your church leaders are talking about? When they mention Paul or Isaiah, are you thinking about your cousin and his friend? Spend a little more time learning about your religion and you will reap the rewards that education has to offer.

There Are Plenty of Problems with the Bible and If You Need More Help, Click on This Link Understanding the Bible

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Greg Vanden Berge is a published author and a inspiration to millions of people. He has been involved in religious research for almost 30 years, and his influence in the Christian community is growing. The Holy Bible, is the core to Christian beliefs and most Christians don't even question it. Was the Bible actually written by men?

His newest book," Did God Actually Say That?" Was written specifically for Christians who are interested in gaining additional knowledge about the Bible. This book provides Christians with advanced biblical knowledge, answer some tough questions and should be read by every faithful follower of Christ.

Click Here If You're a Positive Christian Person.

My Message From God - Christian Spirituality

2009-10-02T00:05:00.001-07:00

This is a special article to me and I would like to share it with you. It seems like, every one that I have ever met, who refers to themselves as Christians, have received a special message from God.

I would like to share my message from God with every person in the world.

Why would God go out of his way to create evil people? To create people that wouldn't convert to his religion. To understand the true meaning of the one true religion. To have the ability to comprehend the truth and wisdom of Christianity.

I have been listening to Christians for years, talk about evil, the influence of the Bible on Christians, gifts from God, questioning their beliefs, lacking understanding for things that God doesn't give them or things that he takes away from them and excluding sinners from their lives.

I've been listening to Christians talk about love and caring, but excluding sinners, homosexuals and women from their church. Not allowing women to hold decision of authority or allowing them to perform certain tasks, inside of the Church.

I've been listening to Christians, quote from the Bible, with limited knowledge of the origins of that individual Bible verse, let alone the origins of their church or how Christianity was formed.

I've listened to them judge me for my beliefs and condemn others for theirs, while they are telling me about decision's they are making within their own lives, that don't support Christianity.

Just because you go to church, read the Bible or simply believe that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, doesn't make you an educated Christian. It only makes you a Christian.

My message from God is simple. Learn more about Christianity and this will allow you to do one of two things. Either you will become a stronger Christian or you will relinquish your beliefs in Christianity.

Either way you will have learned more about Christianity and could consider yourself an educated Christian or simply an educated person.

Advanced Bible Study

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Click here if you're a Spiritual Chrsitian.

When Do We Get to Meet God's Parents?

2009-10-01T11:47:00.001-07:00

If God is the creator of the universe, who is the creator of God? When I was born, I had a mother and a father and supposedly the two of them together had created me. One could not have created me without the other and therefore I am a product of my parents. I know who my parents are and I even know who their parents are but who is God's parents and were we made in the images of our parents or creators.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth but before that, we know very little about God. Did he have brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, grandparents and even God parents. If he did have brothers and sisters, did they create worlds like he did or she did, we don't know whether God is a man or a woman, transvestite, homosexual or a combination of all of these. We really don't know what God is, even though Michelangelo painted him on the Sistine Chapel.

In the book of revelations it mentions, Revelation 22:13 "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End." God says that he is the first and the last, does this mean that there was no one or no entity before him. It goes back to the chicken and the egg, what was first the chicken or the egg, no one knows. Well god knows doesn't he. I don't know why I keep referring to God as a he but bear with me on this one.

I wonder if God was disciplined as a child or even if he was a child. Maybe God was born a full grown person or even a mysterious entity in the form of a smoky cloud. That couldn't be, because God made us in his image and I'm sure that his mother and father look like us. Well, hopefully they look better than us, maybe someone like Brad Pitt or Jennifer Aniston. I hope that he wasn't an ugly person or entity. That would be discouraging.

I guess that's enough of the humor, I rarely hear anyone talk about, who created God. If God formed out of nothingness, why couldn't our earth have formed from nothingness, without God. If God did have parents, brothers and sisters, have they created other universes and what is the purpose of their creations. Are we just one big experiment, part of a big science project?

Anyone interested in using this article to make a movie, feel free to use this information at no charge, I would love to see the movie, when it's done.

Good Christian News

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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.

If you're really seeking the kingdom of heaven, the glory of God and the true vision that Jesus had, check out some great Christian articles. These articles are designed to teach and educate Christians.

5 Books to Read on the Quest For a Better Life

2009-09-14T23:00:00.001-07:00

When I was thinking about writing on this subject, I thought about how subjective this actually is. Anyone who is on the quest for a better life most likely has their bookshelves overflowing with "self-help" or "personal growth" books. And if you're just beginning the journey on your quest for a better life, then you may be looking for someone to help you find the best books out of the thousands that shout down at you from the bookshelves in the personal growth section of your local bookstore.

You may also have gotten recommendations from friends and associates claiming, "You've got to read this book. It's changed my life!"So either you said, "I'm so happy for you," and ignored their request, or you ran to the bookstore or Amazon.com, bought the book, only to leave it languishing on your already full bookshelf. Or you read it and said, "What's the big deal? I don't get it."

Therefore, choosing a reading list for you is a difficult task. The books we read are a very personal choice. We listen to recommendations, yet, what affects others may not affect us in the same way. Additionally, your quest might be to improve your physical well-being, your wealth, your relationships, your business, or your mental or emotional health. Whatever your focus is on, will ultimately determine the books that will have the greatest impact on you.

That said, the ones I have chosen are classics, so millions of people have endorsed them. Still that doesn't mean they will change your life, but they may have some impact on you, at least to get you thinking and reading, and maybe lead you to other books that will support your quest for a better life.

So here is my list. With these 5 books, you can't go wrong. They may become some of your top favorites as well.

You Can Heal Your Life, Louise Hay
Written in 1984, this book on using your thoughts and feelings to affect your health not only is a classic in its genre, but launched the powerful Hay House empire that's published millions of life-changing books. Originally printed as a small booklet, Hay created a list of physical maladies, their probable psychological cause, and a new thought pattern to shift it. For example, most pain in the feet has to do with obstacles in mobility and direction. The new thought is "I move forward easily in life." These thoughts also launched the explosion of the use of affirmations to shift thoughts. The expanded version goes deeper into why we think what we do and how we can heal all areas of our life by changing our thoughts.

Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill
Few people in the personal growth movement, or even in business for that matter, have not read Hill's 1937 classic on the use of the mind to improve our financial state. Just the term "think and grow rich" has spawned numerous clones like write and grow rich, speak and grow rich, and meet and grow rich. Hill spent a lifetime researching millionaires and distilled his findings into philosophies and formulas that led the great men he studied to success. He encourages readers that they too can reach the same levels of achievement through the power of thought.

The Power of Intention, Dr. Wayne Dyer
This book may not be on everyone's list of classics in the personal growth field, but Dyer is one of the most prolific authors in this field. His PBS appearances have vaulted him into an almost cult status. His authenticity captures his audiences wherever he appears and jumps off the pages of his many books. I like this book because it takes goal setting to another level. Dyer's definition of intention is: "intention is a force in the universe and everything and everyone is connected to this invisible force." From that place he guides people to allow their dreams to come to them rather that go after them with drive and hard work.

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen Covey
Another classic, published in 1989, this book put Covey on the map as a powerful leader in personal change and effectiveness. His groundbreaking book launched memorable buzz words and phrases like "begin with the end in mind," "think win/win," and "seek first to understand, then to be understood." You can't be anything but more effective if you follow the sound, practical guidelines Covey presents.

The Aladdin Factor, Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen
Six years before their Chicken Soup fame, Canfield and Hansen collaborated on this brilliant, yet simple book on how to ask for anything. They teach the reader how to ask, who to ask, and what to ask for. They show you how to ask at home, ask at school, ask at work, ask at the world, ask yourself, and ask a higher power. That about covers it. If you know how to ask, who to ask, and what to ask for in your life, there's virtually nothing you can't have or do. It's a very powerful book you must add to your collection.

All of these books are available at your local library or at www.Amazon.com.

Lifestyle Mentor, Personal Coach, Author, Educator, and Entrepreneur, David B. Bohl is the creator of Slow Down FAST. To learn more about this step-by-step strategy for Living YOUR Life YOUR way, and to sign up for his 9 FREE Tips for Finding Happiness in a Fast-Paced World, free teleseminars, free Special Report, free bi-monthly ezine and more, go to: http://www.SlowDownFAST.com

Time Management in the Workplace - Slow Down and Still Get More Done

2009-09-14T09:44:00.001-07:00

Do you know what an overworked machine looks like? It functions at its optimum level right before it finally breaks down.

Does this seem like you?

Has your life turned into one big race to beat the clock? Does it feel like no matter what you do, you can never seem to catch up? Has this pressure to catch up caused you to go into overdrive - working faster and harder - fearing that one day you too might just break down?

Being on overdrive leads us to belief that we are being more productive. However, the reality is, it can be the quite opposite. When you are on overdrive, you are in a "do, do, do!" mode, without being able to slow down and step back.

As a Result, Time Management in the Workplace Suffers.

Instead, step back and slow down. Doing this can be very beneficial to your overall productivity in the workplace. Slowing down allows you to plan so you can do more with less effort and time. It also allows you to think more clearly and strategize better as you are less stressed and have more energy.

So, if you seem to be caught running on all cylinders, yet can't seem to get anything accomplished, it's time to step on the brakes and slow down.

Listed below are useful strategies for time management in the workplace, which you can use to ease yourself out of overdrive, yet still be as productive as you want to be.

Time Management Strategy #1 - Learn to delegate tasks. Whenever possible, delegate less important errands, especially repetitive tasks that can be done by a lower level staff member or assistant. Assigning minor tasks to others gives you extra time to take care of the more important projects and assignments, especially those that are critical for decision making and those that impact the bottom line.

Delegation not only saves you time, but money as well. The less time you waste on petty errands, the more time and money you can save by focusing on the bigger goals. Of course, there will always be tasks that require your attention and personal touch, so focus on those tasks yourself.

Time Management Strategy #2 - Brainstorm. Hold meetings with your staff to brainstorm better time management in the workplace techniques. They may have fantastic ideas that they have not voiced because they were never given the opportunity. Their specific skills and experience puts them in a good position to make thoughtful recommendations on use of time, ease of work, and improving job efficiency. This will encourage your staff to work together as a group to become a more effective, time efficient unit.

Remember, heed smart ideas and give credit where it is due. Otherwise employees will be unwilling to share their ideas in the future.

Time Management Strategy #3 - Go for a Walk. Slowing down means clearing your mind from the cluttering effects of your office. The best way to do this is go outside, walk around, and get some fresh air. This may sound like a waste of time, but it is very effective in de-stressing which plays a big part in easing you out of overdrive.

Also, talking a nice relaxing walk helps you remove all the ancillary worries from your mind that can get in the way of important obligations you have to focus on. By eliminating these distractions, your mind can be freed to better focus on these obligations, be more creative, and hence, be more productive.

In the workplace, it is easy to find ourselves falling into a fast track routine. However, the fast track might not be the right track. Meaning, it might not be the best pace for you to do the things you need to get done. Instead of the fast track, focus on the smart track.

The smart track is to slow down, relax, and plan ahead on ways you can save time. Doing so will allow you to do more without burning out like our overworked machine we mentioned in the first paragraph.

To learn more time management in the workplace strategies and how to achieve a work life balance, visit http://www.selfmadeeasy.com, a self help and personal development company.

Essential Tips For Grandparents

2009-09-13T20:19:00.001-07:00

It is often said that the relationship between a grandparent and grandchild is totally unique to the general parent/child relationship. As a grandparent, you have all of the benefits of life with a child without the constant day-to-day need to be a disciplinarian, making the relationship one of the most treasured there is. If you wish to further this relationship or improve problems, try the following tips.

Do not just talk.

While the saying may claim it is good to talk, with children this is not always the case. If your interaction with your grandchild is based on you asking questions about their life, this may satisfy your need for knowledge but may actually have an adverse effect on the child. They can feel as if they are being interviewed, and shy away. Instead, get essential answers - such as doctors' results and school reports - from the parents, and make your relationship with the child more fun.

Physical stimulus is the key. Even if you can not run around playing with balls, there is still a lot you can do that will engage the child. For example, if they have a skateboard, a simple request to be shown their latest trick will light the child up totally. Just watching and complimenting is the best way to establish a rapport between you and allow for continuation, and perhaps even develop into a hobby.

Make time for just the two of you.

Many grandparents only spend time with their grandchildren with the child's parents present, for example at family meals and functions. To develop a deeper connection, suggest spending time on your own with the child. Choose an activity or outing you know they will enjoy and do it together. Children often act differently when away from their parents and you may get more out of them by spending time with them alone.

Have something / something that is just for you.

Grandparents can often been seen as just as extension of their parents by children, which is an image you do not want to encourage. It is important to establish yourself as a separate entity, without infringing on the parents general rules and regulations. The most effective way to do this is to establish something that only you and your grandchild do together without parental involvement. If there is a particular hobby or activity that your grandchild wants to try but their parents have not the time or inclination to do, make it "your" thing. This guarantees that whenever the child is reminded of the activity, they will think of you and begin to associate you separately from their parents. Popular activity choices include things that working parents often do not have time for, such as making model aircraft, scrap booking or painting. The feeling of involvement and exclusivity strengthens a grandparent / grandchild relationship tremendously.

All of these issues, while different, address a similar kind of theme - spending time with the child doing what they enjoy. If you try, particularly with younger people, to involve them in your hobbies, their interest may be hard to capture and therefore your relationship suffers. Play with them on their own terms and within a few months you could be closer than ever before.

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What Type of Appetizers Are There?

2009-09-13T07:06:00.001-07:00

Appetizers are small biting of foods served before or in between a main course.

Usually making of any appetizer varies on the need of the occasion, the time you are wiling to devote. When deciding which appetizers to serve prior or between a meal. You should have your meal menu ready, so as to choose foods which blend well, but differ on flavour and taste.

There are many such different types of appetizers to choose from

Cold appetizers - these are made by combining different spreads onto crackers. Or by adding different vegetable stuffing's in pita's, breads etc. Almost instant to make and with a few hours of refrigeration, they are ready to be served.

Hot Appetizers - these warm tempting morsels are enjoyed by one and all. You can savour a large variety from lightly spiced vegetable kebabs, to cheesy tarts, steamed fritters and fried and creamy bites of potatoes etc.

Dips and Spreads - simple mixtures which can be made ahead of time and served both hot and cold. These can be eaten as a dipping sauce with a variety of raw vegetables like carrots, cucumbers or served surrounded with chips, pita, tortillas etc. Some interesting cold dips are salsa, guacamole, chutneys. Some hot ones are fondue, queso.

Serving Appetizers

When serving appetizers in a small informal gathering, one should begin with a mix of nibbles, dips and a few simple appetizers, offered with small plates, forks, and napkins to the guests. As it is easy for each one to help themselves because of the close seating arrangement.

Whereas, if you are organising a large event, than a combination of cold appetizers and some hot ones, preferably finger foods is best suited. Because in a big crowd people cannot always make their way easily to the buffet table. Therefore the food is usually passed around in trays. And secondly placing nibbles in bowls around the drinks corner or other different corners of the room, making it easy for the guests to move around freely and pop in whatever they wish. It is best to count about 5 appetizers per person.

Tempting Appetizer recipes at Simply Vegetarian Recipes.

Chinese Zodiac Signs For Love Compatibility Analysis

2009-09-12T17:55:00.001-07:00

You have read about using Indian Numerology and Western Astrology to analyse love compatibility.Today you will learn how to analyse love compatibility using the 12 animals of the chinese zodiac and how accurate this method is.

Before I start on the steps on analysing love compatibility through the chinese zodiac signs,let me tell you the story of how the 12 animals came about...

A long time ago,the Jade Emperor in Heaven wanted to find 12 animals to represent each year.He started a race among all the animals.The first 12 that reached heaven will get to rule each year.When the animals knew about this race,all of them started to make their way to heaven.

The Cat and the Rat used to be good friends.The Cat asked the Rat to wake him up the next day,so that they can set off together.The Rat woke up early,feeling very excited,he forgot to wake up the Cat.

On his way to heaven,the Rat met the Ox.Knowing that he could leverage on the Ox,he asked the Ox for a ride.In exchange,he would help the Ox keep a lookout for any dangers during the long journey.The Ox,being an agreeable and easygoing fellow agreed to the Rat's request.

After reaching heaven,the Rat jumped down from the head of the Ox and became the first animal of the Chinese Zodiac.Although this was very unfair for the Ox,he did not hold it against the Rat.In fact,he was happy for the Rat for being number 1.

The Ox became number 2.(This probably explains why Rat and Ox people get along very well).One by one,the other animals came in one by one.Until the Pig,who is the 12th and the last animal.

At this moment...the Cat woke up.When he found out that the Rat left without him,he was furious.To make matters worse,the Rat was number 1.The Cat swore that he'll skin the Rat alive if he ever saw the Rat.Which explains why Cats catch Rats in this present day.

Now,how does all this relate to the present?

Each of the 12 animals rule a year.For example if you are born in 2007,you are born in the year of Pig.You will have a lot of characteristics of the Pig.Next,I will list out all the 12 animals and their order.
1st is the Rat.

2nd is the Ox.

3rd is the Tiger.

4th is the Rabbit.

5th is the Dragon.

6th is the Snake.

7th is the Horse.

8th is the Goat.

9th is the Monkey.

10th is the Rooster.

11th is the Dog.

12th is the Pig.

Basing on your date of birth,you can determine what is your chinese zodiac sign and which animal are you born under.If you have difficulty finding out which animal sign you are born under,you can check out from the internet.There are some sites which let you key in your birth date and returns with your chinese zodiac sign.

Next,you will learn about the affinities between each zodiac sign...There are 2 types of affinities,the first is the affinity group and the second is the affinity pair.

The affinity group consist of 3 animals.There are 4 groups altogether.Here they are...
1st group:Rat,Dragon and Monkey.

2nd group:Ox,Snake and Rooster.

3rd group:Tiger,Horse and Dog.

4th group:Rabbit,Goat and Pig.

As for the affinity pair,there are 6 pairs.Here they are...
1.Rat and Ox.

2.Tiger and Pig.

3.Rabbit and Dog.

4.Dragon and Rooster.

5.Snake and Monkey.

6.Horse and Goat.

You should always choose a partner from the affinity group.Your second choice is from the affinity pair.For example...

If you are born in the year of Rat,you should look for a partner born either in Dragon year or Monkey year.If not,someone born in Ox year is also good for you.

That is for the compatible signs.Now you will learn about the incompatible signs.Incompatible signs are also called clashing signs.They are opposite each other.Here they are...
1.Rat clashes with Horse.

2.Ox clashes with Goat.

3.Tiger clashes with Monkey.

4.Rabbit clashes with Rooster.

5.Dragon clashes with Dog.

6.Snake clashes with Pig.

Basing on the information above,you should not look for a partner born under a sign that clashes with yours.

This method of analysing love compatibility is quite general.You are probably wondering...how about those signs which neither clash nor in affinity,how to gauge their compatibility?A way to do that is to compare both signs' personality then analyse from there.But it's not accurate.

It is also not true to say that couples with clashing signs will not have a lasting relationship.I have came across a number of them who have clashing signs.But they are still very loving.This method only has a 65% accuracy.

But all is not lost.You can still use this knowledge to entertain new friends you meet at social gatherings.

Marco Chong is a practitioner of Indian Numerology, Chinese Astrology and Feng Shui. He has 15 years of experience behind him. His strong points are analysing compatibility using Indian Numerology and Analysing Birth Charts using Chinese Astrology.

For more information visit http://www.determineyourloverbynumbers.com

Learn How to Create Harmony & Tranquility in Your Home & Office - Feng Shui Can Transform Your Life

2009-09-12T04:31:00.001-07:00

3 Steps of Feng Shui:

Feng Shui is the Chinese art of detecting Chi, the energy in and around our physical world that affects our well being, sense of comfort and peace of mind. The spaces you live and work in are powerful forces in your life. Home is where you physically manifest your beliefs about the world, and it affects you just as you affect it. You can shift its energy to restore balance and encourage growth by integrating feng shui into your design choices on many different levels, depending on what resonates with you. Each design choice has a physical aspect, a psychological/emotional aspect, and a cultural aspect.

Step 1: Ready your space by clearing it of negative energy. Most experts agree space clearing will improve the quality of our lives more effectively than any other feng shui technique.

- Thoroughly clean and organize the space as much as possible.
- Focus your mind on your intention to clear and energize your space.
- Light a sage wand or incense and walk through the entire space, saturating the atmosphere with the cleansing smoke.
- Ring bells at a slow steady rhythm while moving around the space.
- Refocus your attention to what your intention is for that space.

Step 2: Consider how Chi flows. Some physical aspects should be considered at the outset.

- Doorways and windows that are directly across from one another allow Chi to flow straight through the space. Redirect the energy back into the room with screens, plants, crystals, etc.
- Long hallways that dead end may block the flow of Chi. Move the energy back out of an enclosed space through mirrors, chimes, and/or crystals.
- Rearrange the placement of furniture that blocks walking through a space.
- Arrange rugs to direct movement through the space.
- Soften sharp corners with plants, crystals, chimes.
- If there are any unused doors, place a folding screen in front of it.

Step 3: Locate the areas in your space that relate to the areas of your life you wish to enhance. Begin with laying out the space in relationship to the Baqua Map.

- Sketch a floor plan of your space
- Sketch the areas of the Bagua Map over the plan
- Place the main entrance to your space in line with the bottom of the map.
- Small sections may extend beyond or intrude into the map
- Determine what specific life aspect(s) you wish to enhance.
- Place objects that have meaning and reflect those aspects so your intention for enhancing that area of your life is personally significant

An important note: Only use those feng shui adjustments that make sense to you and reflect your intentions. Placing something in your home that you don't like just because it is "good feng shui" will not enhance your home or support your personal growth.

Owner : EnerChi Living Spaces & Gallery. We are a unique Home & Garden decor store. Specializing in Feng Shui design and consultation. We offer one-of-a-kind gifts and personalized ideas for decorating your home, garden and office. We offer workshops in Feng Shui decorating, meditation, journal writting, and manifesting your dreams. We support our local artists and musicians with shows and vignettes. Our merchandise is selected from all over the world with an emphasis on Asian Western design. The store exhibits a unique blend of products in a tranquil peaceful setting. We have just launched a home staging service for our local market. We have just completed an expansion to over 2,000 square ft. and our new website is under construction. http://www.enerchilivingspaces.com

Chinese Astrology

2009-09-11T14:38:00.001-07:00

There is a belief amongst the Chinese community that those who are born four years apart are more compatible than those who are born six year apart. And those that are born 6 years apart are likely to be less compatible. Do you know why?

In the 12 Animals Zodiac system of astrology, our character is influenced by our year of birth. For example those born in the year of the rat are intelligent and suspicious while those born in the year of the horse are generous and loves freedom. Based on our year of birth we are imbued with certain characteristics that make us more of less compatible with each other.

According to the ancient Chinese, the Monkey, Rat and Dragon form a compatible set. They have characteristics that make them more compatible with each other. The other compatible sets are the Snake, Rooster and Ox; the Pig, Rabbit and Goat and the Tiger, Horse and Dog. If you check the year of birth you notice that they are four years apart. For example those born in 1964 are Rats, 1968 are Dragons and 1972 are Monkeys!

The Rat on the other hand is supposedly less compatible than the Horse. They form an incompatible set. The other incompatible sets are between Ox and Goat, Tiger and Monkey, Rabbit and Rooster, Dragon and Dog and between the Snake and Pig. If you check the year of birth you will notice that they are six year apart!

The Chinese astrology compatibility tools that you find on the Internet are largely based on the above mentioned principles of combination and clash. Most will also include more combinations and clashes that I have not mentioned above but I hope you get the idea.

What if you and your spouse form an incompatible set? Do not panic. Did you notice that I used the word supposedly many times? In practice our character is also heavily influenced by the month, day and hour of birth which is not taken into consideration in the above examples. Therefore it is entirely possible for a Rat person to display characteristics of other animals (influences from the month, day and hour of birth)!

In my practice, I have seen many supposedly incompatible sets of husbands and wives. They are still together after many years of marriage and some of them quite happily! Perhaps love plays a part too.

Henry Fong
Feng Shui Absolutely

Grandparenting and Technology

2009-09-11T00:49:00.001-07:00

Many children grow up and move away from their parents and have children of their own leaving the grand parents to become long-distance grandparents. Grand parenting long-distance can be a struggle at first but as you become more agreeable with the idea of bonding with your grandchildren through other means, it will become easier on both you and the grandchildren. Best of all, the experience can still be absolutely wonderful.

With today's technology grandparents can video conference with their grandchildren, asking them how their day was, who they play with and what is going on in their lives - where in the old days it was a letter once a week that took another week to return. There are also instant photographs through the Internet so that grandma or grandpa can see exactly how big their grandchildren are growing on a daily basis. Even small children can benefit from videoconferencing with grandma and grandpa, that way when they come to visit, the child will know who they are and remember them from the videoconferencing. Videoconferencing over the internet is practically free - with just minimal equipment costs.

It's important for grandparents to have a bond with their grandchildren early on especially when they live far away from one another. The exchanging of pictures through the Internet, e-mails and phone calls all help to strengthen the bonds of grandparents and grandchildren. As the children get older they will be able to e-mail or make phone calls on their own to their grandparents.

A parent doesn't have to get a child their own computer or cell phone in order to allow them to keep them in touch with their grandparents. The family computer or the regular phone will do for all the children. Yet, a few basic pieces of computer equipment like: an internet connected PC and a basic web camera on the part of the grandparents and the kids will keep everyone seamlessly in touch.

Brad Percival is a consultant, author and family trends expert. He recommends this great site for grandparenting information as it has helped countless grandparents understand their roles in our modern society. Percival blogs regularly at the Bigger Buzz.

Can Holistic Therapies Help Re-Tune Your Karma?

2009-09-10T11:00:00.001-07:00

Alternative Paths to Healing Body, Mind and Soul

It's easy to lose ourselves in this day in age where one does not have the time or space often to shut down long enough to listen to the voice inside that guides us towards kindness, love, hopes and dreams. We get lost in the demands of life, lose touch with ourselves and over time we find ourselves in a place we did not choose to be. We become agitated easier, get angry faster and have less patience or clarity to deal with many situations that we are presented to us. When we ignore or push away feelings inside our souls, we choose to go thoughtlessly through life until we are often unhappy and even depressed. This is often due to the milti-tasking, fast pace in our society often leaving us without time to stop and relax long enough to bring our bodies and minds back to a relaxed and normal state.

So many of us have lost the ability to relax and be "still" and "quiet". Sometimes we need a little help in achieving this.

There are Holistic, non-invasive treatments that can help us to reconnect with ourselves and bring peace, joy and love back into our lives, heart and soul. Holistic treatments that create deep relaxation and healing effects, often will result in a much happier existence, one will feel more relaxed, and we achieve reduced stressed space within ourselves. One will feel recharged and better able to think clearly to deal more effectively with all of life's challenges.

Reiki:

Reiki is a gentle Japanese holistic therapy that can be administered with or without touch. The client remains fully dressed throughout the treatment while the Reiki therapist uses an "hands on" approach either on or just above the body. The therapist never touches "private areas" of the body and the client may find that it is most beneficial and enjoyable in a recline position. It is an energy based modality used to support and ground the body. It is through the bodies natural energy system that Reiki enhances and accelerated the body's innate healing ability. The receiver draws healing energy from the Reiki Therapist who works as a conduit to the Universal Life Energy. Benefits of Reiki include balance, a more grounded feeling, reduced stress, create a deep state of relaxation, feelings of vitality, feelings of euphoria, reduce pain and create better, restful sleep. During a treatment the client may also experience feelings of heat, cold, tingling, pulsating or deep relaxation sometimes to the point of a meditative state. The effects and results of Reiki is capturing experts interest in the Medical Community as an excellent aid to patients in the physical and mental healing process. Studies have shown that Medical treatment along with Reiki often bring on accelerated healing effects along with reduced pain and anxiety. It has shown to be beneficial to those that suffer from depression.

Reflexology:

Reflexology is often performed on the feet but can also be administered to the hands. The client remains fully clothed during the process of this therapy and can choose to sit, semi-recline or fully recline. Through manipulation, pressure points and specialized techniques administered to the feet, it works with the body's natural electrical energy along with the nervous system to clear blockages, break up deposits and bring the body back to a homeostatic state. The benefits of this therapy is it enhances the bodies circulation, helps in detoxifying the body, assists the body to normalize metabolism, creates relaxation, removes stress and can be used with other healing modalities. It is recognized in the Medical community, often offered as a method of treatment to many patients as a helpful treatment aid.

Indian Head Massage:

IHM is an excellent alternative to a full body massage. The client remains fully clothed in a seated position where the therapist can have access to the upper back, head and face. It is a wonderful deeply relaxation technique that improves blood circulation, increases the oxygen supply to the brain, calms, revitalizes, uplifts the spirit, can create a more balanced feeling, drains away toxins while stimulating blood circulation, improves lymphatic drainage, gives the hair a more lustrous shine, improves skin, releases endorphins creating an almost euphoric sensation, promotes hair growth and helps to dissipate mental tiredness, stress, depression and increases concentration for clearer thinking. It can help those that suffer from tension headaches, migraines, ear aches, jaw ache, sinus congestion and insomnia.

Ear Coning:

Ear Coning is a safe, non-invasive holistic process where by the debris in the ear canal is removed gently and painlessly. It involves a specialized cone shaped candle being placed into the ear canal and the opposite end is ignited. As the candle burns, it creates an warm comforting sensation guiding debris upward in a spiraling vacuum that draws away the impurities from the ear canal. This is also a helpful treatment in clearing beyond the ear canal affecting the sinuses, and lymphatic vessels of the neck.

When you find you need a Tune Up to bring yourself back to an inner space that you recognize; take care of yourself and love yourself enough to receive a Holistic Treatment. Often after just one treatment you will feel much more relaxed and de-stressed. You will wonder how you lived without it!

When we feel better, we also take better care of how we treat others. The more positive the energy we put out into the world, the better the energy that is drawn to you, the better the Karma that follows.

Take good care of yourself and bring yourself back to a state of calm, balance and clarity.

2007 Silvana Rosati-Capizzano

Silvana is a well respected Interior Decorator, International Feng Shui Expert and the Principal of the Award Winning Home & Life Design Firm: Blue Avalon. Along with her years of study in Home Decor and Feng Shui, she has the unique ability of being able create luxurious interiors with balance and optimum energy flow thus creating a beautiful environment of positive energy, balance and harmony. She also devotes her time to her Holistic Practise at the Dove Spa, Canada. She is well respected in the field of energy work Certified as a Reiki Master, Registered in Reflexology, Indian Head Massage and Hopi Ear Candling. Her passion in the field of energy encompasses environmental and personal in Mind, Body and Soul.

Blue Avalon specializes in Interior Decorating, Feng Shui and Abundant Living. Blue Avalon is the publisher of The Blue Avalon Journal; a monthly e-zine packed with ideas, tips and insider secrets! To subscribe, log onto our website today at http://www.blueavalon.com and you will receive a bonus book, The Number One Feng Shui Secret That Will Transform Your Life!

Blue Avalon - "Harmony for your home...Balance for your life http://www.blueavalon.com.

Cost Effective Stair Building

2009-09-08T05:47:00.001-07:00

What is the most cost effective way of building stairs? Why do the tract homes use on site methods of construction? When you think of a factory assembling a product on a assembly line you think why not a home. Why do they still build homes on lots or residential home sites?

If homes could be built in a factory cheaper than on site that is exactly what every home builder would be doing. They just haven't quite figured it out yet. When dealing with the large amounts of materials required to build a house and of course the expense of shipping. It is not cost effective to build a conventional home in a factory and ship it over long distances.

This is the biggest problem with cost effective stair construction. Most prefabricated stairs you will notice are spiral stairs. These stairs are smaller than most stairs that are used for multi level construction.

Spiral stairs are hard for your average carpenter to build. These stairs can be purchased from a factory easily and quite inexpensive.

The stairs in your average two story house are going to weigh about 3 times the amount of a spiral set of stairs that could be shipped in a cost effective way. Spiral stairs are not going to be the main stairway in a home and normally go up to a loft or an attic. Most spiral stairs don't meet the minimum building requirements for the main stairway in your home.

When building tract homes the lumber is shipped in bulk directly to the house site where it will be assembled. The lumber and other building materials will be shipped once. If it went to a factory and then assembled it would also have to be sent to the site on which the house was to be built. This added expense in shipping the materials twice is the problem for such a large and heavy item such as a set of stairs.

There are other prefabricated types of stairs that are built locally and the shipping usually is not a major expense. If you are building a stairway that is not to difficult to build for the average carpenter it will normally be cost effective to build the stairs on site. This would require having the carpenter build the stairs as part of the rough framing and then after drywall have the finish carpenter build the stair handrail system.

Visit us now for easy Home Constuction Help

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He is currently working on more building stairs books and adding useful content to help solve problems created by the lack of construction knowledge in the building industry.

When Do We Get To Meet God

Mentoring Children

2009-09-08T00:16:00.001-07:00

All parents hope that their children will grow up healthy, happy, and productive. They aspire to have children who have the skills to contribute to their own well-being and to the well-being of their families and community. There is no magic bullet for developing these capacities in children. Literally thousands of programs have been developed to support families in their efforts to help children to become competent, confident, caring young people who have positive social connections and good characters.

Children have the potential to succeed in life and contribute to society. However, not all children get the support they need to thrive. By all estimates, an astounding 17.6 million young people - nearly half the population between 10 and 18 years of age - live in situations that put them at risk of not living up to their potential. Without immediate intervention by caring adults, they could make choices that undermine their futures. The presence of caring adults offering support, advice, friendship, reinforcement and constructive examples has proved to be powerful tools for helping young people fulfill their potential.

Mentoring is a structured and trusting relationship that brings young people together with caring individuals who offer guidance, support and encouragement aimed at developing the competence and character of the mentee. A mentor is an adult who, along with the parents, help young people bring out strengths that are already there. They are good listeners, compassionate and teach children how to live an honorable life. A mentor is not a foster parent, therapist, parole officer, or cool peer. The role of a mentor is not to "fix" young people but rather to help them achieve their full potential. Enforcing competence, confidence, connection, character, caring, and contribution to self and society, help develop a child into a productive and respectful adult in later years.

A mentor's main purpose is to help a young person define individual goals and find ways to achieve them. Since the expectations of each child will vary, the mentor's job is to encourage the development of a flexible relationship that responds to the young person's needs. Using influence and resources as a decision maker, adults can bring new hope to young lives through the power of mentoring. A mentor encourages positive choices, promotes high self-esteem, teaches respect for oneself and family, supports academic achievement, and introduces the young person to new ideas. Youth who meet regularly with their mentors are 46% less likely than their peers to start using illegal drugs and 27% less likely to start drinking alcohol (Public/Private Ventures study of Big Brothers Big Sisters). About 40% of teenager's waking hours are spent without any companionship or supervision. Mentors provide children and teens with a valuable place to spend free time. Children learn to make thoughtful choices, fulfill their commitments, acknowledge their mistakes and account for their actions. By taking control of their lives, children realize they can achieve more than they ever dreamed possible.

I encourage you to think of the mentors in your own life-a coach, teacher, or another caring adult, and take a few minutes to consider all the contributions they made in your life during your developing years. I know throughout my own adult life and business career, I have been greatly rewarded by years of mentoring children and young adults into productive, happy individuals that are successful in life. Children need someone to believe in them. Often times, children lack the attention needed to reinforce morals, values and self esteem on a daily basis. It makes all the difference in the world during times of indecision in their lives to have that reinforcement. Mentoring develops children into young adults who have confidence, determination and self-awareness.

Mentoring is recognized throughout the US as an important part of a child's life and some states have already proposed legislation to the Senate. The Coalition of State Mentoring Partnerships has worked closely with Capitol Hill staff and Senators to advocate this legislation. The Mentoring for All Act 2008 (S. 3200) is one of the most significant legislation actions to benefit mentoring. Please call; send emails or letters to your Senators urging support for the bill.

Denise Dema is a Business and Life Management Coach with over 20 years experience empowering individuals, entrepreneurs and business owners to attain self-defined success in their professional & personal lives. To learn more about the author and her practice please visit http://www.denisedema.com

What Does a GFI Do? - Electrical Problems

2009-09-07T22:18:00.001-07:00

In your bathroom you should have a GFI electrical outlet. Most new homes or newly remodeled homes require you to have GFI electrical outlets in the kitchen. Most older kitchens do not have GFI electrical outlets. GFI stands for ground fault circuit interrupter.

Why not call it a GFCI instead of a GFI electrical outlet? Well it is called a GFCI in some instances. GFI is short and is the most common name used by most electricians and builders for this type of outlet.

GFI 's come in 15 amp and 20 amperage outlets. GFI outlets must be wired properly. Make sure you're using the proper wire size when hooking up the GFI outlet.

How do I know which size wire to use? This all depends on how far away you are running it from the electrical panel. There are charts you can use to figure this out. If you are not running the electrical wire more than 80 feet from the electrical panel you can use 12 gauge electrical wires for a 20 amp GFI. This is a general rule of thumb for most electrical house wiring.

If you're going to be using a 15 amp GFI and you are going to be less than 80 feet away from the electrical panel you can use 14 gauge electrical wires. Again this is just a general rule of thumb for most electrical house wiring.

A GFI is a light duty electrical plug used in bathrooms, kitchens and the exterior of your house. The sole purpose of the GFI is to shut the breaker off faster if there is any moisture or light load problems.

Let's say for instance you have your hair dryer plugged into the GFI outlet. The hair dryer somehow falls into the sink while it is on or plugged in. The GFI outlet will instantly shut off because of the sensitivity of the breaker inside of the plug it self.

The GFI plug has a test button and a reset button on it. If you are continually resetting the GFI you will wear it out eventually. I have had GFI plugs after resetting the button about 10 times break and no longer able to use them.

The GFI electrical plug is a great idea and if you don't have them in your bathroom or outside of your home it would be a great idea to have an electrician install them for you.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He is currently working on more Home Building Library and adding useful content to help solve problems created by the lack of construction knowledge in the building industry.

San Diego Termite Damage

Will All Men Ever Hate Jesus

Feng Shui and Symbols - What You Have in Your House Says a Lot About You

2009-09-07T16:34:00.001-07:00

What does a broken statue of a rooster have to do with Feng Shui? Feng Shui teaches us that everything in our house is a reflection of what is in our mind. Symbolically speaking, your house and the things in it reflects your thoughts, feelings, and spirit.

So let's get back to that rooster. One of my clients had recently separated from her husband. I noticed that a statue of a large bird was directly facing her bed, so it was probably the first thing she saw when getting up in the morning. Upon closer examination, I noticed two things; first, one of the legs had previously been broken and was wrapped in what appeared to be a cast. Second, I realized that it was not a chicken; it was a rooster. Unfortunately, the coxcomb on the top of the head had broken off, probably in the same fall that broke the leg of the statue.

I examined this unfortunate art piece for a moment and then said to my client, "Do you realize that the first thing you see in the morning is a broken cock?"

After I picked her up from the floor (she was laughing so much she just collapsed), she gasped out, "You have no idea of how perfect that observation is." Not wanting to really know much more, I suggested we send out the broken rooster for repair. We then talked about what she really wanted to see first thing in the morning; it was her flute and music and a picture of her daughter.

Another client was having a hard time keeping relationships with men going. Visiting her apartment was like seeing a shrine to her daughter. Everywhere was a mother/daughter photograph. It felt like she was already in a relationship and there was no room for any other one to grow.

Everything that you choose to surround yourself with has symbolic meaning and reflects something about your life. Whether intentional or not, all those objects, pictures, photographs, and pieces of furniture resonate with information about you. Take a look around at your house. What is the first thing you see when you enter your home? When you get up in the morning? When you sit down to eat? Do those objects support you in living your best life? Observe what you have around you and then experiment. See how you feel swapping out the images that surround you for other ones that are a better reflection of who you are and where you want to go. I've seen this simple action do amazing things to improve people's lives.

Interested in learning more about Feng Shui and ways to improve the energy in your home or office? Get great tips and motivating messages by subscribing to the Empty Your Nest newsletter at http://www.emptyyournest.com

The Bible's Power Over One Child

2009-09-07T14:56:00.001-07:00

I mentioned Sean in another one of my articles, the story of a young foster boy that we were taking care of. Sean's father was my ex-wife's uncle, and they were going through some tough times for a while and their three children ended up as wards of the state. We eventually ended up taking the oldest child because he was the hardest one to place and another home. His brother and sister ended up with a family that wanted to adopt them and eventually Sean went to live with them and I believe all three of them were adopted by this family. I don't know this for a fact though.

Sean was a emotionally damaged child. His parents would punish him with some strange and bizarre punishments. They weren't really physical punishments but seemed to leave the emotional scars on him and I often think about where he is and what he is doing.

We watched him for about a year and I learned quite a bit from this young man. He was in the third grade but was still at the first grade level for reading and math. I would spend a couple of hours each night during the week helping him with his schoolwork, I seem to have created some sort of allusion that I would be able to bring him up to the third grade level within a short period of time. Wrong. He must've had learning disabilities and of course I don't think I was that good teacher.

Sean was easy going, polite and extremely obedient. He would do anything to avoid getting in trouble and often blamed others for his mistakes. His punishments must have been more than he could bear before he arrived at our home. I think you're getting the picture about what kind of a child Sean was.

One day I found myself in a dilemma with Sean, I couldn't get him to tell me the truth, even though I knew he was lying. I forget what the problem was but I remember a hollow look in his face. It was almost like he wasn't really there. It was almost like he was just doing time, sitting on the bed, listening to me asking the same question over and over again, "Sean are you lying", but he wasn't even paying attention.

I normally would not punish my children for accidents, and never tolerated lying. I was trying to explain to him that he wasn't going to get in trouble, I just wanted to know the truth. He wasn't budging at all and stuck to his story. I remembered that his mother and father were Catholics and feared the church, almost as much as they loved it.

That's what I came up with my evil plan. I don't know where I come up with these ideas, but every once in a while one pops up in my head and I run with it.

I told Sean that I was going to bring the Holy Bible in, and if he could swear on the Bible that he was telling the truth, I would accept that and this would be the end of our conversation. I couldn't believe my eyes, as he started crying and screaming, frantically and excitedly as a yelled out, I did it, I did it, don't bring the Bible in, I won't do it again.

I couldn't believe that was all it took to get information from him. I have always been a pretty good interrogator and found myself gathering information from those people easily, but this was amazing. His fear of the Holy Bible got me thinking about how powerful this book actually is to some people. I remember when I looked upon this book, pretty much the same as Sean did.

It's just a book, like any other book. It's not made at a holy factory or a secret monastery in the Swiss Alps somewhere, it's made from paper and ink and can be damaged and destroyed like other books. I would be surprised if I threw the Bible into the fire, that it wouldn't burn. I would be even more surprised, if I seen three men standing in the fire, wait a minute that's another story in the Bible.

Is it possible for this book to actually control the lives of people. It seemed to control Sean, I wonder if I, could have actually been driving a nail home that his parents started. Could I have added to his belief, that the Bible is a book from God the creator of everything.

Greg is currently working on a video library filled with great movies 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. Simple Words Create Powerful Beliefs.

Another Crappy Rule In The Bible

Is Only 24 Hours in a Day - Time Management Tips

2009-09-07T09:03:00.001-07:00

We only have 24 hours in each day, if we're working 12 hours each day, six days a week, planning the time required to create a habit will be a little more difficult, than someone who works four hours a day three days each week.

If you're one of those overachievers and can't seem to rest or sit down for even five minutes a day. This tells me, we need to change this habit first. Most people that tell you, they just don't have any time during the day, for anything. These people usually have a lot more time than others.

Their time is normally unstructured and they often find themselves running around like a chicken with its head cut off. They are not organized or very efficient at most things that they do. Keep in mind that there are some extremely successful people that only work four hours each day and some of these people take vacations every other month.

Structuring your time will allow you the extra time you need during the day.

If you have a daytime organizer, use this to figure out, if there is any wasted time during the day. Pay strict attention to any wasted time and make a list you can evaluate at the end of the day. Do this for one week and at the end of the week evaluate your weekly activities.

If you don't have a daytime organizer, carrying around a scrap piece of paper to keep track of your daily activities. If you don't have a daytime organizer or if this is too much work for you, simply pay attention to any time you might feel, has been wasted during the day.

If we can create better time management habits, it won't be long before we have more time than we ever imagined.

Have you ever thought about Getting up Earlier.

Greg is currently working on a video library filled with great movies on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world.

Planning Your Bathroom Remodel Budget - Home Improvement Ideas

2009-09-07T07:35:00.001-07:00

As a bathroom remodeling contractor, I get calls from people, that have no idea what they want or how much anything is going to cost. Here's some simple tips that can be very helpful when planning a bathroom remodel budget.

Bathroom Remodeling Investment

In 2008, the average mid-range bathroom cost around $16,000 and you could recoup around $12,000 of your original investment upon the sale of your home. According to a popular remodeling magazine, larger bathrooms using expensive fixtures, tile, bathtubs, woodworking, toilets and showers had an average of $52,000. Upon the sale of a home, you could recoup around $36,000 of your original investment.

Finding out How Much Things Cost

My first suggestion, would be to visit your local home improvement center, lumber yard or plumbing supply warehouse. Larger stores like Home Depot and Lowe's, seemed to provide you with value pricing but don't have a large selection. While doing some research on the Internet I noticed that some of their pricing is outrageously, outrageous. Some plumbing supply warehouses can provide value but beware others won't.

Create a List of Bathroom Remodeling Parts

You can get a good idea of your bathroom remodel costs for your budget by making a list of bathroom parts with pricing and then adding them up for a grand total. If you're a total bathroom remodel budget is $15,000 and you have a $6,000 bathtub with $4000 worth of tile, you could have a budget problem.

Figuring out the Labor

You will have to contact a contractor to get an actual cost for the labor. Sometimes you can double the cost of your bathroom remodeling parts to get a rough idea. If you have a list or a couple of lists and a few pictures of some sample bathrooms, this will make the contractor's job easier and often they can give you a labor price within a few days.

Give Yourself a Cushion

I would suggest leaving yourself a small financial cushion for any additional remodeling items. For example, you could see a different toilet, or instead of painting the walls, you now choose to wallpaper, you could incur additional expenses that you haven't planned for. If you know exactly what you want and stick to the original bathroom remodeling plan, you shouldn't need the cushion.

Financial problems often transfer into construction problems, so spend some time figuring out, how much money you want to spend on the bathroom remodel and try not to go overboard on the budget. I hate to see homeowners struggling with home improvement loan payments. Try to create a bathroom remodeling budget that is realistic and will not create a financial burden upon you or your family.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He has just finished a home buyers guide to take some of the frustration out of home shopping.

If your looking for some more bathroom remodeling or home building ideas.

Personal Development

Higher Self

2009-09-07T01:43:00.001-07:00

Sometimes you might allow your emotional input to dictate your choices, which could be an indication that you are acting compulsively. The best way to make a distinction between intellect and emotion is to engage with your higher self to hear the wisdom of your spirit.

Your higher self (a.k.a. subconscious or collective unconscious) is connected to the universe, and also has access to your thoughts and feelings. Consider your higher self (subconscious/collective unconscious) as having a helicopter view of your actions, reactions and goings on in your life. It has the ability to weigh all the factors from a neutral place of peace. Even before a sudden impulse can be triggered, you can go within the space of your higher self by taking a deep breath and blowing it out slowly-quieting your mind-to access the wisdom within. Meditation or yoga are also highly effective in helping to connect with the higher self.

When you practice connecting to the wisdom within regularly, you will learn to discern quickly which voice is advising you. When you notice it is the ego mind or an emotional aspect, you can stop it in mid-stream.

To learn which aspect is in control you can look back to learn from previous choices and recall what your inner guidance was advising you-albeit you might not have followed it. You will learn when you have listened and when you have gone against its direction, and this information is helpful for your learning and growth. Every choice you make is an opportunity to learn about life and about yourself as you co-create with the universe.

There is no right or wrong, only choices that take you closer or farther away from your goals. Growth is a process of trial and error; experimentation. The 'failed' experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiment that ultimately 'works.'

When you use your higher self you know you have your best interest at heart, you can listen and trust you will be on the right track. The answers to life's questions lie inside you. All you need to do is look, listen and trust.

Dorothy M. Neddermeyer, PhD, Life Coach, Hypnotherapist, Author, "101 Great Ways To Improve Your Life." Dr. Dorothy has the unique gift of connecting people with a broad range of profound principles that resonate in the deepest part of their being. She brings awareness to concepts not typically obvious to one's daily thoughts and feelings. http://www.drdorothy.net

Checking the Building For Square

2009-09-07T00:15:00.001-07:00

The most important thing when building a home is the ability to keep everything as square, plumb and level as possible. Starting with the foundation, if the foundation is not square or level, the rest of the house is going to be out of alignment.

You've probably heard the saying, start with a good foundation. This applies to the building industry as well. There are quite a few ways to build a square foundation, it all depends on what kind of tools you have, to build it with.

Some of these tools can be quite expensive but it used every day can save you a lot of time and of course time is money.

You don't need expensive tools to build a square foundation. You could actually build a square foundation with less than $100 worth of tools. It might take you a little longer but could be done.

Let's start with the 3 - 4 - 5 rule.

Okay lets see if I can explain this in layman's terms. If no West side of the foundation is 3 foot and the north side of the foundation is for foot, then the diagonal measurement from the southwest corner to the northeast corner would be 5 foot. Out of square building can create foundation problems

This can also be done using 30' x 40' should equal 50 foot. You can use this if the building is large and you need to check it for square.

By measuring the foundation diagonally from each corner, the measurement should be exactly the same. If it isn't, the building is out of square and should be adjusted before the concrete is poured. This measurement should always be checked before you get too far along in the form building process.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He has just finished a Home Buyers Guide to take some of the frustration out of home shopping.

If your having problems in your attic, find out more at concrete contractor basics and home building ideas.

Wrong With Bible Verse

Want To Control Your Thoughts?

2009-09-06T18:16:00.001-07:00

Do you think that your thoughts can rule you? If your answer is YES then you are in the right path. Thoughts play an important role in our life. Our thoughts can be so influencing that we can even heal ailments with just only thoughts. Most of us know this. Also we can make things happen in the way you want them with your thoughts. With your thoughts you can do both good and bad. You may wonder how, just keep reading further.

Thoughts are broadly classified as Positive and Negative thoughts. As the name conveys, positive thoughts are the ones that we will have to give more importance as they do more good than the negative thoughts. There is never a moment a person is not thinking. Most of the time, we are carried away by our thoughts. And most of our thoughts are influenced by people around us.

First of all we must watch our thoughts. Just observe them cautiously. Of course it is difficult the first time. But, you know practice makes a man perfect! You will be able to master this art in no time, if you practice it regularly. Now, after watching them, the next step is to identify them. You can easily find out if it is a Positive or a negative thought. A negative thought is not only those which are bad for us but also the thoughts which will affect others are considered to be negative thoughts. After categorising, our major step will be to control the negative and replace them with the positive thoughts. This is not as easy as we say.

We have to replace the negative thoughts with our positive ones immediately whenever we find them taking control. Longer intervals for this replacement will weaken the positive thoughts and hence the effect will be less. When a negative thought comes and controls? Its origin is from the external forces. Majority of them is from the place and the people. They influence our thoughts and thus affect us. But we need not worry for this because; our thoughts will get influenced only to the extent we allow them. So its very easy for us now. We must be strong and must not allow our thoughts to get influenced. For this we need to practice.

For example, if you have failed in any of your attempts to complete an activity and you thoughts are in such a way which makes you feel more depressed then they are negative thoughts. Say if you think 'Oh I failed! I could not do it! How impotent I am' all these will add on to your failure and will never allow you to try again and succeed. Instead if you start thinking 'these are my new experience and learning that will help me in succeeding in the next attempt. I can do it!' then you will be a winner always!

When we keep reinforcing positive thoughts over the negative ones, we will soon realise that our negative thoughts are gradually getting vanished and we are in control of our thoughts, in turn our emotions. This will surely lead to a happy and peaceful life.

To learn more on thoughts, emotions, dreams do href=" http://mindmanage.blogspot.com/">Visit us

Dog Creates Remodeling Nightmare

2009-09-06T16:41:00.001-07:00

How many homeowners normally leave their dog in the backyard or they have full time access to the backyard through a doggie door. You're probably wondering how can a little dog create a remodeling nightmare for any contractor.

This wasn't the case this dog was a large Labrador retriever and tore up everything in the backyard constantly. The house remodel we were working on was a two story room addition over a single story house. This job lasted around six months and the dog was a daily reminder of how much attention a large dog actually needs.

Let's start with the first item of value the dog actually destroyed. It was my favorite tool bags of course that I have taken care of for over five years and deeply appreciated the fact that they were broke in just the way I wanted them to be. Kind of like a baseball mitt that doesn't quite fit right because of how stiff it is until you break it in.

While the homeowner of course apologized and never even offered to replace them. Oh but after that he did mention never to leave anything lying around in the backyard. Lesson learned of course and never forgotten. Well to make a long story short this large dog could chew up tools, lumber, plumbing pipes, electrical wire and was even able to destroyed the plywood fencing we would use to keep him away.

I'm going to stop right there with the remodeling nightmare created from this dog in hopes that other contractors can learn from my valuable lesson. As a contractor you should never assume that a homeowner will replace any damaged or broken tools and materials.

As a homeowner with a dog reading this article, think about having a place to enclose the dog if necessary while remodeling work is done on your home.

I love being around dogs and other animals but sometimes a problem like this can make life extremely miserable for both parties.

Greg Vanden Berge has been building and remodeling for over 30 years and his information has proven valuable to most contractors and homeowners all over the world. He usually tries to write at least two articles a day on home improvement or remodeling problems.

Greg is in the process right now of working on a home inspection website that will revolutionize the home inspection business. He is also working on a book to help homeowners and contractors as well as other home related professions in dealing with the home inspection process.

You can visit the home inspection website currently under construction at Home Inspection Help

Christian Articles

Fear - Eliminate It

2009-09-06T10:37:00.001-07:00

You will accomplish more than you thought possible by making a strong commitment, without any fear, which will distract you from your intent, dreams and goals. The challenges you face with any commitment is an unavoidable element of the goal-realization process. If you allow fear or worry to come into mind, you can quickly dissuade yourself from pursuing your purpose, mission or dreams.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, the great nineteenth-century philosopher and poet, said, Do the thing you are afraid to do, and the death of fear is certain. If you keep this in mind you can wrestle the biggest success saboteurFEARout of existence.

If you examine the word FEAR, you will realize that other words stick like velcro'afraid, anxious, anxiety and phobia. There are two types of fearreal and imagined. Real fear includesthose things, which have potential danger such as: lightening, tornadoes, hail, snow storms, thin ice, being near wild animals, high risk activities, etc. Imagined fear includes things that are imaginedand have little basis in fact. The sky is falling syndromeFalse Evidence Appearing Real.

Be prepared to do your best in conditions of adversity, overcome your fear through your strength of will, skills, talents and previous successes. Simply avoid thinking failure is an option. If you are committed to letting nothing stop you from success, you will achieve your wildest dreams. The more difficult the path is before you, the greater your determination will serve you. Fear and unadulterated commitment can not co-exist in your mind. It is when you bring the fears into your mind, that they take hold and run the show. If you consistently focus on your intent, dreams and goals and avoid putting fear thoughts in your mind you will succeed.

When you stay focused on your intent, dreams and goals you will see the true usefulness of your aptitudes. As a result, your pursuits that promise to further your success will. As you stay focused on tackling those tasks which have unnerved or stymied you before your determination will allow you to conquer them with little difficulty.

If you are unable to release the grip of fear seeking professional help is warranted. As an inspirational and motivational Life Coach, I know the struggles you have faced. Working together one step at a time and at your own pace you can propel your progress faster and more effectively than you imagined. A Life Coach can help you eliminate your fears and you can start living the life you deserve to live.

Unlike behavioral psychology and psychoanalysis, Life Coaching can be done face-to-face or via phone. Therefore, if you would like to engage with a Life Coach you are not restricted to being in the same location as the Life Coach.

Moisture Against Gravity - Destroying Walls

2009-09-06T09:01:00.001-07:00

Well I'm going to start this article with a little information on a job I did once.

I had been repairing a rental house for one particular homeowner for about three years when all of a sudden I got a phone call from him telling me the rental house was destroyed and he had never seen nothing like this. He sounded so upset over the phone I told him I would meet with him immediately.

On my way to the house I was trying to get an idea in my head what the house was going to actually look like. Since I have been repairing rental properties for over 20 years at this point of my career, nothing really shocked me. I had pretty much seen everything that could possibly be done to rental property by the tenants that lived there. There is a lot to be said about taking care of it as if it were your own.

He was waiting for me at the front door and he looked thoroughly disgusted. As I approached him he was shaking his head and yelling at the same time can you believe these people, can you believe what they did to my house. I was expecting to see the front door ripped off and all the windows broken out of the house but this wasn't the case.

As he led me through the home and I could see the usual clothing on the floor, broken cabinets, a few holes in the walls and of course that awful smell of mold and mildew. All of this stuff was nothing new to me because I'm the guy they call to fix it when a renter moves out of the property.

As I entered one of the bedrooms I got my first glimpse of something I had never seen before but heard stories about and could not believe my eyes. Looking at the walls in the bedroom about 3 feet from the floor all the way around the room, the plaster was soft. It actually looks like someone shoved popcorn into the wall somehow.

The homeowner wasn't even looking at this because of the rest of the damage in the home. I started to explain to him I'd never seen nothing like this but I could guess it was water damage somehow since the plaster was soft. I could actually stick my finger into the wall, that's how soft the plaster was.

My first thought was to examine the carpeting a little closer to see if it was wet. Well it was damp but it wasn't as wet as I would've expected it to be with the amount of water in the walls. With a little more home inspecting I had found the culprit, it was a broken water bed. The water bed was now in the backyard looking innocent.

I couldn't believe a broken water bed could do this much damage so I looked around for broken or leaking water pipes and could not find any. The other bad news I had to inform the homeowner was that the water had damage the bathroom and closet walls also. These walls of course were on the other side of the bathroom walls that were damaged.

Well the point of this story is that water will actually wick its way up or worked its way up into a wall. I had to remove 4 feet of drywall all the way around the room. The plaster or drywall actually acts like a sponge pulling the water into the walls. Hard to imagine that gravity in this case seems to reverse. I would've never thought that water would've traveled so far up the walls creating that much damage.

To repair the rental property I had to remove the damaged drywall, remove the carpeting, dry the wood framing out and put the whole thing back together.

I'm still amazed and will remember that project for as long as I live.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He is currently working on more Building and Remodeling Library and adding useful content to help solve problems created by the lack of construction knowledge in the building industry.

Visit us and get more information on House Water Damage

Meditating On Religious Scriptur

Motivation - Your Key To Success

2009-09-06T03:00:00.001-07:00

Motivation is just about the most important element for success in any work at home business. If you don't posses this key element with your business or your websites, then it's very unlikely that you will succeed.

Granted, it is difficult to stay motivated at all times...and we all go through low valleys with our home businesses. But it's through these valleys that we grow and learn from our mistakes.

How do you stay motivated and focused?

There are a number of things that you can do to accomplish this...

Marketing Ideas:

When promoting your business or website, always try and conjure up fresh marketing techniques/methods. If something hasn't been working for you, then move onto something new. The ideas are literally endless with marketing. And the most important thing...there are tons of free promotion out there for the taking. Remember, you don't have to pay for advertising in order for it to be effective. It could be...networking on message forums, exchanging links with other business owners/webmasters, article marketing, getting listed in directories, ezine ads, signature advertising, and others. But, that's a whole other article topic there. The idea is to always strive for fresh marketing ideas. Now, we can't neglect the tried and true "word of mouth." Quite effective, give it a try!

Purchase New Products For Your Business:

Now, we all know that in order for you to be a success with your business, you have to know your products and have a passion for them. You have to love the products you are selling! The better you know your products and love them, the more likely it will be that you will keep getting the sales. What better reason to purchase some of your favorite, featured, new products that are in stock? Show them off! If it's makeup, jewelry, or what have you...take them with you wherever you go. Show the new products off to your friends and family. Be enthusiastic about your products!

The same goes with a website. If you are not a home business representative for a company, but own a website...tweak your website to your liking. Make it something you love and can be proud of! If you love your website, then you will love showing it off and promoting it. If you find yourself getting bored with it or it has become outdated, change it...update it! Whether it be content, color, theme, whatever. Tweak it until you really love it. It's also a good idea to make your website as appealing as you can for your target audience.

Change Your Atmosphere:

Now this one may sound silly to some...but this has worked for me. If you have a particular room for an office, move the furniture around if feasible...If it is a very small room, then you won't have many options as to moving things around. But you can change colors or themes for your office. What colors or themes make you feel most creative? What colors or themes make you feel happy? What colors or themes make you feel most productive? It's something to think about. Purchase a new day/month/year planner. Perhaps a new calendar or a new writing notebook.

Exercise...Take A Break:

Exercise is great for both the mind and body! It's also a great way to clear the mind when you feel overworked or stressed out. When you find yourself not in motivation mode and are lacking in that much needed gusto...take a brisk walk to clear the mind. You may be surprised at what happens. Most of the time when I take a break from my time online, whether it be a walk, lunchbreak, or just watching some TV...I come back refreshed, and even sometimes, with some new ideas.

Stay In Contact With Your Customers:

Always stay in touch with your customers. Call them up. Check to see if they are satisfied with the products they purchased. Are they enjoying the products? Offer some friendly advice. This could also lead into an additional sale for you...and that always creates more motivation! Try and get to know your customers and even establish a new friendship.

Network With Other Business Owners Or Webmasters:

If you haven't already, join some home business or work at home message forums and get to know and network with others. Use your signature on these forums. This will not only get your business out there, but you will also find useful information on most of them. Make sure you always read the rules of the forum first though. Ask questions, offer advice on things you are knowledgeable about. Make friends and have fun.

Music:

If you're a music lover, have some soft music playing while you are working. This isn't for everyone though. Some people prefer not to have music playing and want it quiet. It's all in what you like or prefer. And for some people, music can give that much needed extra push in getting started with the work day. Try it sometime. You might be pleasantly surprised.

The idea here is to do everything you can to remain focused, motivated, and even challenged for being the best you can be at moving forward with your business. Do some research and look up more motivation articles and tips. Motivation is the key to success.

Wishing everyone an abundance of both!

Article written by: Tammy Embrich

Tammy is an Internet Marketer and is the Owner of: http://www.onestopwebemployment.com

And Owner of: http://www.real-wah-jobs.com

Tammy's two WAH websites focus on free telecommute job leads and more.

New Versus Old Lumber - Structural Failure

2009-09-06T01:24:00.001-07:00

During my 30 years of remodeling and building new homes. I have ran across quite a bit of structural framing failures. I find myself answering this question a lot when explaining to a homeowner about the structural failure I am repairing on their home, "Why Didn't They Use Better Lumber" or " Why Didn't They Use Larger Lumber." I really have a hard time answering these questions because I honestly don't know the answer.

However I can try to use some logic and reason to give these people an answer that seems to make sense to both of us. Why didn't they use better lumber, quite simply because, with most older homes that were built before the 1970s they actually do have better lumber. Now you're probably thinking how can these homes have better lumber when the lumber is old versus the new lumber used in a brand new house.

Most of the structural repairs I have made over the years has nothing to do with the lumber and whether it was new or old. A large number of these repairs were caused by neglect and poor maintenance.

The lumber in most older houses are from older growth trees. Some of these trees were extremely large and only the premium parts of the trees were used. The premium lumber is cut farthest away from the center of the tree. Now the larger the tree it makes sense that there will be more premium lumber.

A large majority of the newer lumber used in home construction comes from trees about 6 inches in diameter. Now you're probably wondering how can they cut a 2 x 8 piece of lumber out of a 6 inch tree. Of course they cannot, the larger lumber comes from larger trees.

Most 2 x 4's that are less than 8 foot long can be cut from these trees. This scrap or waste that comes from cutting these two by fours will now go into engineered building materials like particleboard, oriented strand board and engineered beams. Another name for an engineered been would be a paralam.

I hope you're starting to get the picture now when it comes to using new or old lumber. There are companies that are going into old logging rivers and retrieving old growth lumber. These were logs that sank to the bottom of the river's and were never retrieved because it was too costly.

The old growth lumber is quite expensive. Who's to say what problems we will happen in the future from the newer products created with modern day technology. When it comes to building houses it is not an exact science and as contractors we have been repairing the damage from poor engineering for years.

When I use the word poor engineering I am not pointing fingers at engineers. We now have more knowledge about home construction then we had years ago.

New versus old lumber, who wins the battle. Only time will tell.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He is currently working on more building and Remodeling Library and adding useful content to help solve problems created by the lack of construction knowledge in the building industry.

Visit us and get more information on building and remodeling your homes and Structural Repairs.

Are Your Prayers Being Answered

Council of Nicaea Conclusion - The Origins of Christian Belief

2009-09-05T19:16:00.001-07:00

In the year 325A.D the emperor of Rome, Constantine gathered a group of church bishops and other leaders who believes in Christianity. The purpose of the meeting was to define the true God for all Christians and eliminate any confusion within Christ's church.

By the end of this council, Jesus, God and the Holy Spirit were considered one and the same. Before the council, there was confusion about, whether they should believe in one God, two gods or three entities.

Here's a statement from got questions, a popular Christian website, "The Council of Nicea affirmed the deity of Jesus Christ and established an official definition of the Trinity-the deity of The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit under one Godhead, in three co-equal and co-eternal Persons."

This was a pretty interesting article, if you've got time to read it, I would also suggest checking out Wikipedia for more information about the Council of Nicaea.

Here's Some of the Problems I Have with This Small Group of Proclaimed Christians.

If I'm reading this statement correctly, a group of people or religious leaders, 1700 years ago decided that Jesus, God the creator of everything in the universe and the Holy Spirit are the same. What does this mean to you? To me it establishes as a fact that a group of men, at a meeting, under the control of the Roman empire and the Emperor Constantine, made an agreement within the Council of man, not gods, that the Trinity was now a fact.

If this one thing was created by a group of men, doesn't it get you thinking about other things in your religion that might be false or even misleading. These are some of the facts that most Christians tend to either ignore or don't even have a clue that they exist.

I believe more Christians and other organized religions should inspire their followers to learn more about how their religions were formed and where they came from. I cannot verify that the Council of Nicaea ever took place, I'm basing this information on historical writings from man, that I either gather on the Internet or through books. I don't know if any of this is true or false, always use religion responsibly.

I don't need to believe the information, I don't need to believes the information in the Bible, I need to research and gather more information and with this information I can make an educated guess, and be happy with that, I suggest you do the same.

Greg is currently working on a self help library 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

Structural Framing Beams

2009-09-05T17:47:00.001-07:00

Let's start with the beams. They can be Glulam, Parallam, Microlam or even wood beams. What are all of these and why do I need them in my house. The beams are used to hold up parts of the house and are located in your walls, roofs and floors. Beams are used to transfer a load from one point to another.

Structural framing beams allow the architect to create large openings, floors and roofs in your house. The beams are also used to support the weight over the doors, windows and other openings in your home. These beams support massive amounts of weight in some cases and are even made of steel if needed.

Another growing problem is the lack of old growth trees in the forest. If we just used wood beams with out using the new engineered beams we would have to cut down a lot more of the bigger trees. So you can add these guys to your Christmas list. The lumber or wood engineers have come up with all sorts of alternatives for new building products. These new beams are just some of them. Keep up the good work guys...

Glulam is a engineered wood product comprised of wood laminations, or 2 x 4s that are bonded together with strong, waterproof adhesives. If you use a Glulam beam on the buildings exterior you will have to order a exterior Glulam beam. In this case the manufacture will use special exterior rated glues for the beam.

When ordering any wood engineered beams specify to the lumber yard what you are using the beam for. Exterior or Interior of the building. If you use a interior glulam over time there is a good chance of the beam delaminating or cracking apart.

Parallam is made from almost all of the wood on the log using veneer strands that are aligned parallel for maximum strength. The end product is a rectangular beam; which is longer, thicker, and stronger than solid-sawn lumber. They are often used as beams, headers, columns, and posts, among others uses.

Microllam is an engineered wood product that uses multiple layers of thin wood assembled with adhesives. It offers several advantages over typical milled lumber: it is stronger, straighter, and more uniform. It is much less likely than conventional lumber to warp, twist, bow, or shrink due to its composite nature. Made in a factory under controlled specifications, Microllam products allow users to reduce the onsite labor. They are typically used for headers, beams, rim board, and edge-forming material.

These beams come in all sorts of different lengths, widths and heights. They are engineered to hold amazing amounts of weight. They really are great engineering marvels.

Tip: I have had to replace almost all of these types of beams over the years due to some form of damage. Like anything else in your home if it is used improperly there is a good chance your are going to have some sort of failure. I have seen people add weight to these structural beams with no thought of them ever failing.

If you are planning on building a room addition, rebuilding your roof, adding a floor or any other type of construction where you are adding a addition load to your house. You might want to consult with a building contractor or structural engineer.

Thanks Greg For Another Super Article On Home Building. For more great articles visit Greg at http://gregvan.com/

Personal Development

Manipulate Anyone With Revolutionary Form Of Hypnosis

2009-09-05T11:29:00.001-07:00

Imagine if you could manipulate anyone you meet through the power of conversation. How different would your life be? Conversational hypnosis is a revolutionary form of mind control which allows users to place anyone under a spell, and get them to do exactly as you want, when you want. This may seem like a scam from the outset, but I assure you it is a legitimate form of mind control, only practiced properly by a select few.

How Does It Work?

All of us have experienced some form of mind control at various points in our life. Politicians, salesman and advertising companies are well aware of this phenomenon and use it to their advantage wherever possible. Did you ever wonder why you had a sudden urge to buy that Ab Cruncher at 3am? You hate exercise and have a bad back - but for some reason you could not resist the sound of that voice. The human language is full of inflections, tones and emotional triggers which can all induce a trance when used effectively. Once someone is place under a trance, it becomes relatively simple to command them, manipulate them, and get them to do exactly as you wish.

Where Do I learn It?

It used to be very difficult to find teacher of conversational hypnosis. Recent developments in online courses have produced some fantastic results. There are most certainly some things to watch out for - as like anything on the internet - there are scams to be aware of.

Firstly always seek a course designed by a real life practicing hypnotist who comes with some form of qualification and reputation. Secondly always seek testimonials from people who have used the course and are succeeding - be aware of unrealistic scenarios- many people fake testimonials online. Finally one of the most crucial things to seek in a hypnosis course is that it is delivered in audio format as well as written. Believe it or not there is no better way to learn conversational hypnosis than via cd.

What Results Can I Expect?

If you truly master conversational hypnosis you will be able to gain control the minds of almost anyone you meet. You will be able to manipulate people in reason - you will not be able to force them to do things that are harmful or against their morals. You will however be able to easily convince them to things which seem plausible. This could be a promotion or raise from your boss. It could be finally getting the girl or guy of your dreams. It could be influencing your bank manager to lend you another $100,000 for your home loan. These decisions will be for you to make once you can manipulate anyone who crosses your path with the power of conversational hypnosis.

Want to learn more about The Power Of Conversational Hypnosis a revolutionary conversational hypnosis course which shows you how to manipulate anyone, skyrocket your income and get the girl or guy of your dreams? Please Visit: http://learnhypnosisreview.com/Power_Conversational_Hypnosis.html

Inerrancy of the Bible - Are There Mistakes in the Bible

2009-09-05T10:17:00.001-07:00

What does the word inerrancy main? Inerrancy would refer to text that is accurate and totally free of any errors or without any mistakes. Does this sound like any book that you have ever read or have knowledge of. Maybe there is a one sentence book that could fall into this category.

Most books however and even this article has mistakes. If I made a decision to base my life, my entire life and that of my children and grandchildren, I would want to make sure that it was accurate as possible.

Is the Bible, 100%, 90%, or even 50% accurate. Are these stories that were written by people many years ago and the lessons have been helpful but now need to be rewritten.

Does the Bible actually contain the will of God? Some scholars believe that certain sections of the Bible meet this criteria while others do not. How can these people judge if they are not God and how can we believe in this stuff is not true.

If the Bible was inspired by God but written by men, this could actually mean that God had complete control over writing the Bible or does this mean that the man wrote the Bible with gods inspiration. I'm inspired by God daily and often write about it, but don't seem to have enough followers to make it into the biblical Hall of Fame. I'm writing with inspired beliefs right now.

If there are errors in the Bible, how extensive or how many errors are there actually. There are actual stories that can be documented as historical facts. This doesn't mean the rest of the Bible is factual, nor does it mean it is historically inaccurate.

The Bible has some errors in it and some facts that we can prove but leaves us with the question, is this a book from the Creator of the universe or a book written by men, to make us believe, it was written by God and if so why are we still believe being in it. Why do some people read this book and other religious text daily? What motivates them to read holy Scripture regularly but doesn't seem to allow them enough time to find out if they are reading accurate information.

The biggest problem I have with the inerrancy of the Bible is the fact that most people tend to ignore certain truths and cling to their childhood beliefs about religion. If this is not the way or the truth, I would want to start looking for it, instead of following someone else's dreams or religious doctrine.

When Do We Get To Meet God

Basing Your Career on Your Passions Will Lead to Fulfillment

2009-09-05T03:52:00.001-07:00

If your prime motivation is the bottom line then maybe it doesn't make any difference as long as you're making money and providing for you and your family a desirable lifestyle.

But, if you long for a job or career you can love and do with a passion then it may be a little more difficult.

True, some people just fall into their lifelong passion with little or no trouble at all. Maybe they grew up in the family business, never knew anything else or cared to learn anything else and found contentment staying close to the nest. However, this is not the norm. Most of us seek to fly out of the comfortable nest and fly over the fence to see if the grass is greener.

It's never too early or too late to discover your passions and act on them but first determine what you're passionate about. When you understand your own passions (and this is not easy matter) a whole new world of possibilities opens up.

Step back and take a close look at where you are now and what brought you there. Perhaps, you're a plumber but long to travel. More than likely you'll make more money being a plumber, but if you're not happy each day and dread going to work, then the bottom line is not your motivating factor. See, you're learning about yourself already.

Look at your passions from all angles. In the case of travel, is it really the travel you love or is it exploring new lands and meeting new people. You could meet new people and make new friends in all kinds of endeavors.

Meeting lots of people as a plumber is usually limited. Maybe you enjoy making travel plans and scheduling cruises and flights which could lead to a travel or tour business. It's important to search your passions from different directions.

What you think your passions are could be just admiration of others who do what you think you would like to do. Would you like to become a writer but hate to sit down to a computer and write?

Do you admire a person who makes birdhouses for a living but you hate to be cooped up in a wood shop all day. Don't confuse your passion with admiration. And be prepared for the realization that doing what you love will not always put bread on the table.

You can bet people who are working at whatever their passion spent long hours to get where they are today. But, if it's truly your passion, getting there will be a joy. Explore your passions whether they're a love of animals, gardening or photography and take these passions to the next step.

Learn all you can about your passion. Take a class or a course, volunteer or intern in the field you love. See where the path leads. It could lead you right back to where you were in the first place but you owe it to yourself to find out. Enjoy the journey.

Zara Jones is a life coach based in San Francisco and enjoys writing articles for many journals and websites. Check out this great guide to Job Interview Techniques site which has a ton of great articles, guides and advice on improving you job interview chances.

http://www.jobinterviewtechniques.info

Slow Market Home Pricing Advice

2009-09-05T02:35:00.001-07:00

Homes are going to be sold in good markets and bad. When times are good, people often forget that bad times will be coming eventually. During good times, people often get caught up in the hype of the real estate boom. During tough times, houses will be sold eventually, or taken off the market and sold later. If you need to sell the home as soon as possible, for financial or other reasons, you will have to adjust your price with the current market and don't get greedy.

This is the hardest thing for most people to do, lower the price of their home in order to sell it in a slow real estate market. Don't get caught up in the value of your home, six months or even a year ago. Last year's prices are not going to be this year's prices and you need to get that through your thick skull. If the average homes in your neighborhood are selling for $250,000 and you have a swimming pool or done some upgrades, maybe a room addition. Your home is going to be worth more than the average selling price.

Most real estate professionals will price your home according to the length of time you have to sell it. If you're in a hurry to sell, they don't have time to test the market. The price of your home would need to be competitive or lower than homes selling in the area. Whether homes are selling fast in a good market for selling slow in a bad market, if you have time, you can ask a little bit more for your home. If the market hasn't reached the bottom, waiting could actually hurt you, because the prices of the homes in the area would still be dropping.

Listen to your real estate professionals advice when pricing your home. That's what you're hiring them for, they are in the real estate business. Your neighbors, relatives, friends and people you work with, will probably be guessing if you asked for their opinion on pricing your house.

Your house is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. Finding that person is the key to selling your home, finding that person as soon as possible could give you the illusion that you sold your home to cheap. Don't worry about it, your final objective is to sell the house.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He has just finished a home buyers guide to take some of the frustration out of home shopping.

If you really think your home is safe, check out these pictures about home water damage.

Nothing Will Be Impossible

Using Your Emotions to Create the Beauty From Within

2009-09-04T20:35:00.001-07:00

Have you ever been in the room with someone who is truly beautiful? Are you entranced by the clothes, their looks, how their hair is done, how they walk, talk or speak? Where does beauty come from?

We have all heard the saying, 'beauty comes from within' which on the days that your hair does what it wants, you have chosen the wrong shoes to go with your outfit or you just don't feel your best, means nothing. Compliments are thrown to the wayside and you are not able to enjoy your accomplishments.

When you are experiencing those dark, ugly moments, what is going on in your head? Stop! Listen and hear what you are saying to yourself. It is true that you create your own beauty and it does come from within. What you say to yourself creates a light-filled beauty or a person from the dark side.

Your Self-Talk

Your self-talk is affecting your emotions, decisions and how beautiful you feel each day. Our thoughts affect our mood, our health and how we live each day. So, if you tell yourself that you are beautiful, guess what, you are. And that beauty will show in how people react to you when you are doing business, with friends or family.

Self-talk is a deeply ingrained, generational habit. It is like having a computer chip downloaded with instructions that you play over and over and believe is your reality.

These habits can even be measured. There is an evolving research field known as positive psychology. Dr. Sonja Lyubormirsky, in her book, The How of Happiness, states that as much as 40 percent of our happiness "is left for the intentional activities that we can choose to engage in . . . the things that we do and think every day of our lives."

By engaging in thoughts of self disapproval we bury our beauty under dark, negative feelings about ourselves. It affects every aspect of our lives and limits our possibilities.

Learn to create your most beautiful self by monitoring how you are feeling. When those dark moments appear, watch them, stop them and search your mind for an alternate, beautiful way of seeing and feeling about yourself.

The following exercise is one of the most powerful I have ever done. You may surprise yourself at how beautiful you are.

1. Write about how you see yourself. Include the dark, negative aspects that you hear yourself saying constantly. Be brutal, this is the ugly, dark side.

2. Write about who you want to be. How beautiful, wonderful, delightful, kind, enjoyable, exciting, loving, great, accomplished . . . etc. You know that person you see when you walk in a room that you want to be around because you feel so great when you are with them. Write about that person, it is you.

When you are done writing these two scenarios, read them. They are two completely different people. You will probably surprise yourself seeing how wonderful you are. Keep the one about your beauty close and read it often. This is the person you are and can become with practice.

Some other suggestions:

Be aware of what you are thinking

Shoot down those negative thoughts with positive ones

Find some books or CDs on positive self talk

Use them daily

Envision a world of beauty with you in it

Work at saying only positive statements

As you are creating your own beauty make sure that you spend time each day noticing the beauty around you. When you appreciate this beautiful world your beauty becomes a part of it and you will carry it with you everywhere.

Find your beauty, carry it with you and give it to others. Your beauty is needed in this world.

Tana Dean is an ecopreneur, author and speaker. Her book, available on her website, Your Money, Your Power: 10 Ideas for Mindful Spending to Create a Healthy Green Planet coaches us on how to create a more healthy, peaceful planet using our daily financial decisions and actions. She designed and developed her internet eco business website TanaDean.com with articles, products and resources. She also offers her favorite products, Certified Organic Skin, Home and Nutrition. Her site focuses on Abundant Lifestyle, Green Living and Healthy Bodies. She is a Reiki Master in the Usui Shiki Ryoho tradition.

Repairing a Leaking Toilet

2009-09-04T19:07:00.001-07:00

Let me explain how a toilet works. First when you go to flush the toilet a little arm pulls a rubber flapper up and lets the water drain into the toilet bowl. The water draining into the toilet bowl forces the old water out along with the number two or number one waste and extremities.

If the toilet sounds like it is running there is a good chance that the seal between the rubber flapper and the plastic rain at the bottom of the toilet is broken somehow. The sound you are hearing is water running around this ring and in to the toilet bowl.

This leak is actually causing no damage to the toilet itself but is wasting water. Hence the water bill will be a little higher if you don't fix the leaking toilet. The best way to find out if this is actually your problem is to take the toilet tank lid off. Then stick your hand down into the toilet bowl and press gently on the rubber flap.

If the water stops leaking or starts running faster this is your problem. Turn the water off to the toilet. There will be a shut off valve on the wall under your toilet bowl in the bathroom. After you turn the water off removed the plastic flap and examine it.

You will be looking for a warped toilet flap or of some sort or grooves on the flapper itself. Take the toilet flapper down to your local home improvement store and buy a new one. Go home and replace the new toilet flapper and this should solve 90% of your leaking toilet problems.

There is one more thing it could be. With the toilet tank lid off, check to see if water is overflowing into the little round plastic pipe. This plastic pipe should have a small hose running from the float valve assembly into it.

If the water is over flowing from the toilet tank into this little plastic pipe you will need to adjust the float.

First thing you will need to do is while the toilet is running lift up on the float lever arm. If the water stops you can simply bend the metal arm of the float lever. The purpose of bending the arm will force the float deeper into the water there for stopping the water from rising over the small tube in the center of your toilet.

There are few parts to a toilet and most parts can be purchased at your local hardware or home improvement centers. Toilet repairs like this can be made simple and the parts used to replace are inexpensive.

Happy Toilet Repairing.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He is currently working on more House Building and Remodeling Library and adding useful content to help solve problems created by the lack of construction knowledge in the building industry.

Visit us and get more information on building and remodeling your homes and Some Great Plumbing Ideas

Personal Development

How to Overcome Fear of Darkness Using Self Hypnosis

2009-09-04T13:06:00.001-07:00

The fear of darkness is one of the most common fears among children. You may be surprised to learn that a good number of adults find themselves paralyzed by this same fear at various times in their lives as well. You do not have to live your life in fear of what lurks in the darkness ever again. Keep these things in mind to help you overcome your night time fears and see what a difference these changes can make to your anxiety levels.

Become Your Own Light

Don't let anyone or anything dictate how you react to darkness in your life. Whether it's a literal darkness that is causing your phobia to take front page in your life or a dark place in your life that is cause for concern you can make changes you need to be comfortable in the world in which you live. You can, on occasion become your own light and overcome the feeling of darkness closing in by concentrating on the light within.

Make Your World Bright

For some people this means sleeping with the lights on -even a small light that chases away total darkness. Others need to sleep with every light in their houses on. Dark corners are as frightening to them as a darkened cemetery is to most people on Halloween. When you become a beacon of light in your darkness, you can learn to live with fewer lights on around you. Eventually you may even be able to turn off the lights completely. Take one step at a time though and handle your fear of darkness with care.

Find the Root of Your Fear of Darkness

Almost every fear has a starting point. This will be either the first place the fear manifested or the act that created the fear to begin with. You need to find out what caused your fear of darkness in order to address the problem and move on to actually overcoming the fear.

Learn to Love the Darkness

There are many great things to see and do in the darkness. Start with small steps and lesser degrees of darkness -such as movie theaters or planetariums, or work your way into places that offer more complete darkness. This gives you the opportunity to build new memories that are fond memories of the dark and erase those that led to your phobia or current anxiety level in regards to the dark.

Give Hypnosis a Shot in the Dark

Hypnosis has been used as a tool for overcoming many different fears and addictions through the past few years as well as many impressive behavior modification endeavors. If you are interested in putting your fear of darkness to rest then hypnosis is a highly effective method for accomplishing this goal without potentially harmful or anxiety ridden side effects.

Putting Out the Light and Saving Your Nights

Isn't it time that you were able to face the night once and for all? Are you ready to put out the lights and get a great night's sleep for the first time in years without worries over what the darkness brings? Put your fear of darkness behind you today with the help of hypnosis and the power of suggestion.

J. Seymour is a writer with Self Help Recordings. 'Overcome Fear Of Darkness' is an excellent recording by Steve G Jones, who offers twenty years of experience through these recordings. To find out more, visit Fear Of Darkness. A range of other self hypnosis products can be found here - Phobia Of Darkness. All of the recordings on Self Help Recordings are backed by an impressive sixty day guarantee, so to find out more simply click on the links.

Putting God on Trial

2009-09-04T11:31:00.001-07:00

I was listening to something interesting the other day when someone mentioned putting God on trial for some of the atrocities in the world. If God is the creator of the universe and all that is, or all that ever will be, how can we put him on trial, he's our creator. We can't put our spiritual master on trial can we, he'll just escape anyway if we convict him, won't he. He's got to be smart enough to break out a prison.

As a child I often thought about God and why he would allow such suffering throughout the world. It never made sense to me when I was child and it still doesn't make sense to me today. Why would the creator, want us to suffer, with even the littlest of problems. Other religions have explained it as if God was teaching us a lesson and that's why we have hardships in our lives.

Do you think God ever went through these hardships? Did God have problems finding a job or gathering some food? Does God even eat? Okay now I'm getting off the topic here,(I wonder what God does eat)... if children do something wrong, most of the time their parents will discipline or correct them. If adults to things wrong, the government will discipline and reprimand them. Sometimes these punishments can be severe. It depends on the crimes committed.

If man has to be put on trial for committing crimes like murder, genocide, and general atrocities towards mankind, should God also be put on trial or is he above man because he's God. I can't imagine the creator of the universe ever being put on trial for man's crimes against humanity or other men, but it seems like someone who is all powerful and all knowing could help his children out of this little mess that we're in today.

Couldn't God help us like we help our children. We as parents might not have all the answers, but we do not claim to have them. We are not all powerful and all knowing, like we would assume God to be. When is God going to help us solve some of our major world problems, like genocide and starvation.

Putting God on trial might not solve all of our problems today but it would be nice to have some help with our problems. If he created us to please him, do we have to go on trial one day, for all the things we did or ignored while we were alive. Something to think about isn't it.

Greg is currently working on a video library filled with great movies on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world.

Greg Vanden Berge Quotes

This One Tip Will Improve Your Study Skills

2009-09-04T05:26:00.001-07:00

What is the best way to improve study skills? The fact is many students can not answer this question and this is what leads to those students struggling. The key to succeeding in school is the ability to perform well on tests and exams. This article will provide the basic foundation to successful students and people. Furthermore just having this does not mean automatic success it has to be used.

I am talking about motivation and a desire to be great. This might not have been what you were looking for but the truth is desire and a motivation to succeed will carry you along way. How do you get motivated or develop it if you perceive to not have it. You have to have something that you want that will help you get motivated. I would know because for most of my life I did not think I was capable of being motivated about anything.

The first thing to do and is often the hardest thing to overcome is to convince yourself that you are not domed to be a failure. You can be anything you want to be if you only try. Think about what you want in life or what you want to accomplish in school or business. Then write it down and every time you find your motivation lacking pull that piece of paper up and remind yourself why you are doing what your doing.

What I am getting at is to find what you want and let that be your motivation. I wanted to be the first person in my family to graduate with a college degree and I kept thinking about the look on my mothers face when I walked across that stage, keeping that in mind kept me motivated when before I thought I had none.

Motivation and desire carried me to the finish line ahead of schedule but also made me develop better study habits and speed so that I could improve a sour GPA. Whatever you wish to accomplish write it down and get focused and motivated. Following the above steps will help you become a better student guaranteed and it only takes one time to reach a goal before you get hooked and motivation runs wild.

My motivation was to become a better student by learning how to improve my study skills and also learning how to increase my study speed. Motivation will help you become a better student guaranteed but you have to find it and use it. As mentioned before becoming a better student is learning how to increase your study speed. A website you can go to to learn the benefits of speed studying is here SpeedStudyMethod.com Imagine how well of a test taker you will be when you can study twice the material in half the time. My motivation was because I had more time to focus on other things. There are many benefits to using this method of studying. I used this method and was able to finish my undergrad in 3 and half years and currently I carry a 3.79 in my MBA program. If you want to be a better student follow these tips and check the website out you won't regret it

Hiring a Contractor For Bathroom Remodeling - Remodeling Contractors

2009-09-04T03:52:00.001-07:00

Well here's the age old question, how do we go about finding a decent bathroom remodeling contractor.

Here's some things you will be looking for in a contractor.

1. Is Your Contractor Fair and Honest?

2. Does Your Contractor Have Experience Remodeling and Designing Bathrooms?

3. Can You Actually Find a Contractor Who Will Complete the Job in a Timely Manner?

4. Do You Think the Workers Will Be Able to Clean the Job up Daily?

5. Will the Contractor Show up on Time?

6. Is the Contractor Going to Work At Least Eight Hours a Day?

7. Does the Contractor's Crew Have Experience?

8. Is Your Contractor and His Crew Courteous?

If you find a contractor for your bathroom remodeling project that has answered yes to all questions above, hire that person immediately. Most contractors can sincerely answer yes to half of the questions above. If you're looking for the ultimate bathroom remodeling contractor, you could be searching for quite a while, you're looking for some one that is competent and you feel comfortable with.

When hiring a contractor, look for someone who has your interest in mind first and not theirs. Find someone who is willing to help with the designed process of your bathroom and the remodeling. If you find a contractor to be arrogant or controlling, there is a good chance, your bathroom might not turn out the way you envision it.

When hiring a contractor for your bathroom remodeling project or any home improvement project, the most important thing to keep in mind is, whether or not you feel comfortable with this person or not. Never hire a contractor you're not comfortable with.

If a contractor is referred to you by someone you trust, this does not guarantee you will be happy with the bathroom remodel. Most referrals that I have gotten over the years are like rolling the dice, I believe I would have done just as good picking a name out of a hat.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He is currently working on more building stairs and adding useful content to help solve problems created by the lack of construction knowledge in the building industry.

Effects Of False Prophets

Living Well Costs Less Than You Realize

2009-09-03T21:49:00.001-07:00

Actually, it has little or no cost at all. For you see, the ability to live well or have quality in lifestyle depends on where your Human Thermostat is set and the standards and values you hold for yourself.

We are all in business and we all have a life to live. Our business is securing the sustenance required to survive and that we deem important to comfort and continuation such as:

Home and shelter

Food and drink

Clothing and possessions

However, there are others areas of life that must be addressed during the years. Relationships are a major source of emotional extremes and often test the boundaries of comfort and discomfort. Health issues and overall physical and mental wellbeing and stability also eventually demand the attention of the individual. Even death is something that one must learn to face with dignity.

You don't have to go in circles or live in that inescapable rut. Simply turn up your Human Thermostat. Examine yourself with a clear and rational mind. Identify your weaknesses and learn to refine the person you are. Raise your standards as a human being. The quality of your life, what you are and will be and what you have is your choice. You choose to be who you are right now.

Define what it is in life that you envision as living well and the components that make up such a lifestyle. Those should be your focus. If you are ever going to attain a more vibrant and productive life you need to focus on the aspects that define what such a lifestyle means to you.

Stop wasting your time on an existence that doesn't fulfill you as a person.

Raise your personal standards and values

Refine your principles and morals

Redefine your character and personality

Once you learn to change the person you are you will find that the process also changes the results you get and ultimately what you become and have in life. You create your own future in the level of the Human Thermostat. Many of the people who are interested in extreme makeovers and personal change focus on weight, clothing and physical alterations.

True change comes through the revision of how you think and what you base your thought on. Once you think differently your mind responds by telling your body to function in a manner that will make this thought pattern a reality. If you raise your standards and live well your mind accepts this as true reality and guides you along this elevated lifestyle pattern.

Changing your belief structure and the way you live has little cost. Certainly, this is not a call to go out and purchase expensive items. This is a personal challenge to revise who you are and the way you think on a daily basis. Poor people think poorly. They surround themselves and marinade in poor and personal misery. They sit and ruminate over what has or might have been.

People who live exciting and fulfilling lives think at a higher level of quality. They are not accepting of mediocre results and don't seek the easiest or cheapest way. Because they think with quality, they also live with quality. They are not just living better, they are living smarter. Each day they seek out new methods of living a fun fulfilling life.

Think about your life right now. Are you focused on quality and living well or the negative issues and things that you see as problems? You are what you focus on the most. If you focus on problems your life will become a repository of just that. Learn to break that pattern of focusing on only the problems and negatives of life and begin to realign your focus on the quality and purpose of your living years.

AJ Gentry, author of The Human Life Map: The Secret Path Of Life, and Human Excellence Technologies, has pioneered human behavioral research for more than three decades. He invites you to visit the The Human Life Map | The Secret Path Of Life Blog http://www.thesecretpathoflife.com/blog or Hu2 Q&A Blogcast http://blog.thesecretpathoflife.com as he shares knowledge from precursors like Living Dynamics and Success Dynamics.

What Does a GFI Do? - Electrical Problems

2009-09-03T20:23:00.001-07:00

GFI 's come in 15 amp and 20 amperage outlets. GFI outlets must be wired properly. Make sure you're using the proper wire size when hooking up the GFI outlet.

The GFI electrical plug is a great idea and if you don't have them in your bathroom or outside of your home it would be a great idea to have an electrician install them for you.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He is currently working on more Home Building Library and adding useful content to help solve problems created by the lack of construction knowledge in the building industry.

San Diego Termite Damage

Was Jesus A Good Example

Life and the Little Things

2009-09-03T14:03:00.001-07:00

If you have ever read a New Age book only to walk away thinking "what the hell were they talking about" then this is for you. If you have ever tried meditation only to be drowned in your own thoughts then this is for you. If you have ever watched Oprah and been left feeling that somewhere along the line you missed the New Age boat then this is for you. Why? Because this is a not another article trying to turn you into a mini me Wayne Dwyer or a clone of Eckhart Tolle, it respects the unique divine creation you are. Repeat after me "I am enough" or put another way "I am therefore I need be nothing more." I am not here to make you do anything or to make you feel guilty you are not something more because as far as I am concerned the moment you were born 'you were greatness'. Let's talk about an authentic life where there is acceptance of our humanity, where the fact you had a not so charitable thought because someone cut you off in traffic doesn't cancel your "I am good person" card. Let's have a conversation about what it is like to walk through this world with all of its challenges as a mere mortal rather then a superhuman. Like two old friends on the back porch on a Sunday afternoon, with no where to be and no where to go, we will talk about the life and the little things.

To touch the stars you must feel the ground beneath your feet

'Before enlightenment chop wood light fire after enlightenment chop wood light fire.'

You have to deal with realities, there is no bill fairy or clean my house fairy or make my family love me fairy. No such thing, no short cuts or magic wands or New Age pills I could make something up if you want and I am sure someone out there would buy it but reality is hard to hide from. The bottom line is you cannot do anything about something you refuse to acknowledge exists in the first place. Some people think they are very clever and make up an alternative reality, but like I say "you can bury your head in the sand but eventually someone will come and kick you in the butt."

This is the interesting part most of the time the things we fear are actually not that bad it is our own insecurity and inability to deal with them which creates within us a mindset of helplessness. We have the ability to walk through life's challenges it resides in all of us and can be accessed at anytime. So why does reality scare us so much we run from our truths?

Admitting you are human appears to be a difficult thing to do in a society filled with expectations, assumptions and judgment. Standing naked in your truth or your reality can be tough but rest assured the risk far outweighs the pressure of being someone you are not or living a lie for a lifetime. What are your realities what don't you want the world to know?

Dealing with reality

So you finally said out loud "I am in debt and don't know what to do about it" or "I don't know how to have healthy relationships" what next?

Give yourself a pat on the back, it takes courage to stand in truth and you deserve to be acknowledged for yours, "well done!" Try this; sit on a chair and have a friend stand in front of you doesn't that feel a little bit intimidating doesn't your friend look way bigger than normal? Then stand up and face them how much more empowered does this make you feel? Reality is no different when you are down and out everything looks bigger than it is and when you stand up and face it suddenly it is not nearly as overpowering.

What happens next is little mind monsters try and intimidate you into sitting down. You will know them when they come by the way they use their words;

"Don't rock the boat don't make waves if you look at your reality we have to look at ours and that just isn't going to happen!"

"Why are you trying to do this just give up its too hard?"

"You don't deserve anything better I never had a good life why should you!"

It is not uncommon at this stage to let doubt and fear in, sometimes shame also creeps in and guilt 'how stupid am I' or 'if I had done something sooner I would not be in this mess.' Hindsight is a wonderful thing to have and everyone one of us at some point in our lives wishes we could go back and make different choices but that is a pointless waste of energy. Rather than beating yourself up for not being perfect pat yourself on your back for being honest about your imperfections. You may have made some choices which didn't have the result you desired but maybe you didn't have the right tools or knowledge or maybe you were a little too arrogant, think of it this way a mistake is a lesson waiting to be learnt.

When a lightning strike starts a fire which burns out a forest we look at the blackness and think "oh my how could the anything recover from this there is nothing left?" But what we don't appreciate is the fire is nature's way of clearing away the rotting undergrowth and giving the seeds that lay dormant underneath the opportunity to grow. When you face your reality no matter how bleak it may look there is always a seed of hope underneath waiting to bring new life in. Sometimes you have to face the darkness of the night to appreciate the beauty of the light.

The 'P' word

Pride the most useless of all our emotions, it is the anchor which keeps you where you are and away from that which can get you where you want to be. So someone thinks you should be able to do everything your self and you should not ask for help because it is a sign of weakness, tell them to talk to the hand because the ears are not listening. Forget New Age theory think about it logically, out there somewhere are the resources you need to build the life you want and you would rather stand in your pride than go looking for them....why in Creators name would you do that for? By all means hold onto your pride wear like a badge keep it to show company but when no one else is around and your reality stares you in your face pride is going to be a very poor companion.

Change meets with resistance

'Every action causes and equal or greater reaction.'

No man is an island, I know this society has led us to believe we are not dependant on each other but again this is rubbish. Whatever you do or say will impact someone somewhere and in some way it is the six degrees of separation you are always hearing about go rent the movie. So here's the scoop when you start to look at your realities and acknowledge them chances are good someone somewhere who has a vested interest in keeping the reality just as it is, is going to try and push you back down in your seat. This happens a lot with families living with a pink elephant in the living room, which everyone sees but pretends not to see. No one wants to deal with reality when you start talking about the pink elephant you make people uncomfortable because now they have to deal with it too! And chances are they are not ready to do that.

Important point it is not about anybodies else's truth but your own, you have to honor another's truth's even if they are a denial of the reality. Their resistance should be considered a road block which can be navigated with the knowledge you are honoring your self and the life Creator gave you by dealing with the things which may be stopping you moving forward. It is one of those "I love you but...." moments. However if the situation is one involving others you might want to travel gently through the terrain rather than going full steam ahead like a steam train, a little give and take never hurt any conversation.

Excuse me but can you help me?

We can say those words at a hardware store or a grocery store, we quite happily admit I don't know how to build a birdhouse or what aisle the canned beans are on but heaven forbid if we should utter them when it really counts when life has overcome us and we don't know what to do next.

"Excuse me can you help me please?"

Use the resources available to you and if you do not know what or where they are then ask someone who does. And if anyone brings out the little mind monsters to make you feel less for wanting more then hold onto the fact they are trying to keep you from standing because they can only feel big by looking down at you. This is not about you not being enough but about you not having enough, knowledge, skills or resources. You are always enough in Creators eyes no matter what your life circumstances, he /she simply wants you to manifest your greatness. Some people at this point might go well then if Creator is such goodness he/she wouldn't let us struggle like this, which is a fair enough question and it can be answered in a few ways. Firstly if Creator didn't believe in our greatness we would not have been given free will and the ability to make our own choices. He is someone saying "I believe in you" and is still saying it. Secondly there are human Angels among us people who can help us if we would only ask. Remember a parable which went something like this;

A man was stranded on an island for many years, one day a fishing boat sailed past "Hop in" they said. "No came the reply I am waiting for God to save me". The next week an airplane flew past and yelled "we will land and take you home". "No thanks' the man replied "I am waiting for God to save me." The next week a helicopter went by and the same thing happened. Eventually the next week God looked down and said "why are you still here?" "Because I have been waiting for you to save me" the man replied. To which God said "I sent you an airplane, a boat and a helicopter what more could you have wanted?"

I am sure it lost something in translation but you get the message Creator has not deserted you the resources are there but sometimes we are so focused on that one window of opportunity we don't see all the possibilities. Or we are so caught up with the drama we miss the boat so to speak. Having been a single parent for 14 years I can relate to stubborn pride and feelings of inadequacy, plenty of times I turned my back on help being offered and even more times I struggled on just to prove I could. But if I had known then what I know now I would have been knocking on any door I could find to access the resources I needed. It is an enlightened soul who seeks what they need and a fool who doesn't realize our greatest weakness is often our strength.

Grant me serenity

'Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.'

Some things are never going to turn out the way you want them too no matter what you give to them, there is no point denying this truth. Sometimes you have to accept people for where they are in their own growth and decide whether you honor them and you by allowing the situation to stand as it is. Always remember nothing is set in stone tomorrow is a new day and new beginnings can begin at anytime anywhere.

Here is another thing to keep in your pocket change does not have to involve monumental leaps of faith or drastic measures. Things do not have to be done yesterday and when one thing does not work there will always be another to try. Maybe you will have to take a few survival jobs along the way to your dream position and maybe those jobs will give you little lessons which will make sure when you do get the job you want you have all the knowledge you need to do it well. Stepping into the dream without building the foundation is like building a house with no nails eventually it will all come falling down. Maybe you do not need to confront your Mother with all of your grievances in a single day perhaps a little bit at a time will promote greater trust and communication. Understand some people are simply not aware of how their actions are hurting others until told we all have had moments where we have gone "I didn't know sorry."

More importantly this is a time to be gentle with yourself what this means is to talk to yourself as you would a friend going through a tough time. You would not criticize them for their mistakes you would encourage, support and urge them to keep going. When you stand in your truth and start to deal with life realities there are going to be moments of fear and doubt and you are going to need to be your own best friend. But remember once you accept where you are and who you are warts and all then from the ashes the seed of healing, hope and peace can begin to grow. There is never a better time to start than now

A ~ Accept who you are and where you are
C ~ Commit to change
T ~ take the first step

Life is going to challenge you throughout your lifetime this is the nature of being human, there are going to be ups and downs and things to overcome. As humans our greatest tool in building the life we want is our ability to learn and grow through our mistakes. All the great inventors reached their destination by trying and failing but all of them took what they learnt from each fall and used it to create a foundation of knowledge onto which they could build and this my friend is what you need to do.

Spiritual renovation what to do if your house is falling down

So you are trying to deal with life's realities and are seeking the help you need but you don't seem to be making any progress nothing appears to be changing. Well maybe you need a little spiritual renovation not the hallelujah type but an in house inspection to make sure your foundation doesn't have any cracks. When was the last time you had a spring clean of your belief system? If the answer is never this is the first place to start. Keep it simple write down all of your beliefs no matter how small or big then ask yourself two questions;

1. Does this belong to me or someone else?
2. Does this still serve my highest good or do I need to let it go?

Sometimes without realizing it we hold onto outdated beliefs given to us by our parents or things we learnt from our siblings or through our peers. At 10 maybe you were not good at math's this doesn't mean at 40 you cannot learnt to manage your finances. It is unlikely you have inherited your Uncle John's inability to do anything well more than likely you got handed down a family role which you were then expected to live up to. We grow and as we grow the usefulness of our beliefs needs to be re-examined, what served us at 20 probably will not be relevant to us at 40. Not only do we change but the world changes for example the good old days of the gold watch after 50 years of service are gone, these days after 2 years you are considered a long term employee. This does not mean throwing away all you hold dear, my belief in the greatness of the human soul will always remain with me. You have to a spring clean of your mind and soul every now and then because things change and you change and some beliefs are not going to work for you anymore.

This is also the time to update your spiritual toolbox, to seek new knowledge, new skills new ways at looking at things. Maybe in order to deal effectively with the realities of a dysfunctional family you need to find out what a healthy one is meant to look like. If you know speaking your truth will create drama then perhaps a basic conflict resolution course would be a good idea. If you lack the self confidence to look for another job work at bringing in new beliefs about what you are capable of, do a self esteem workshop. If the reality you face is so overwhelming you do not know where to start seek professional help from someone who does have the knowledge to help you build the skills you will need. I ask this question all the time the resources are out there why would you not access them if you are truly serious about creating an authentic abundant life?

Spiritually I think we all need to believe there is something or someone bigger out there. We all need to take the time to connect with our source no matter what or who we see this as being. It is difficult to hear anything in chaos or when we are anxious about life and it is almost impossible to hear our soul voice. Take a moment out from the chaos of the world to reconnect with the core truth the inner voice of soul. Take a breathe.. let it out and say out loud "in this moment everything is okay."

Another important thing to do is to bring in the lightness. When we get caught up in the seriousness of life we often lose the ability to laugh at the little things, to find joy in the small moments for some reason we do not feel we can have fun or be lighthearted. Often we feel guilty abandoning our troubles or believe serious events require serious adult behavior. Often it is a child oblivious social etiquette who brings the laughter and lightness to a situation providing a way to release anxiety and stress. Dealing with realities such a loss of any kind is a tough call and you need a way to release your feelings and what better way than to step into the lightness.

As the sun sets

Like two old friends on the back porch on a Sunday afternoon, with no where to be and no where to go, we have talked about the life and the little things. I hope this will be one of many moments we spend together, but as Richard Bach wrote;

'Never be dismayed at goodbyes because meeting again after moments or lifetimes is certain for those who are friends.'

Robin Newman Psychic/Medium
Creating futures changing lives
http://www.robinjpsychic.com or http://guidetolifeblog.com

Advantages of Framing With Steel Studs

2009-09-03T12:54:00.001-07:00

I have heard all sorts of stories over the years of the advantages in framing with steel versus wood studs. One time I even heard you could build an entire house with the amount of recycled steel from a large automobile such as a Cadillac. I find this hard to believe unless you're building a very small home.

My personal favorite for framing with steel studs is that they are extremely straight. I have built nonbearing partition walls using 12 foot 3 1/2 inch wide steel studs and after the drywall you can lay an 8 foot level to check it for straightness on the wall with amazing results.

If you use 3 1/2 inch wide steel studs with 5/8 of an inch drywall you will get an extremely durable and sturdy wall. Framing was steel studs is common in office renovations or remodeling. Most of the steel stud framing is done via the drywall contractors.

Steel studs and termites do not mix. You'll never have to worry about these little buggers or other uninvited house pests damaging your walls.

Over the years I have heard stories that steel framed buildings are earthquake and fire proof. They might be more resistant to fire than wood but keep in mind when metal is hot enough it will bend and warp making it unusable.

When I hear people talking about a fireproof building built with metal framing components my first thought is all of the other materials used in building the house that are not fire resistant. Don't get a false illusion when buying a house framed with steel studs and think it is 100% fire proof.

As far as steel framed buildings being earthquake proof this is another story. I really can't comment too much on earthquake damage to a steel building. The problem with earthquakes is they seem to create fires. So even if you're building does survive an earthquake it could get damaged by a fire in the area.

I have framed more wood homes than steel homes over the years and my steel stud construction is limited to nonbearing partition walls usually located in office buildings. I love framing with metal because of its light weight and ease of construction.

I still love framing with wood. There is something about what framing that I have always loved and always will.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as

well as the weekend warriors. He is currently working on more Building and Remodeling Library and adding useful content to help solve problems created by the lack of construction knowledge in the building industry.

Visit us and get more information on House Framing Ideas

Questions To Ask Your Pastor

How to Easily Cure Any Addiction Or Phobia With Self Help Hypnosis and Mind Control Techniques

2009-09-03T06:35:00.001-07:00

Self Help Hypnosis can be used to very effectively help you with a number of problems that you are experiencing in your daily life. By using mind control techniques and self hypnosis audio you will be able to alleviate phobias, addictions or any kind of social problems you may be experiencing. The process of self hypnosis has many kinds of advantages.

Its an effective way to plants ideas and suggestions into your subconscious mind that will have a great influence over the actions in your daily life. You will be able to re-train your mind to steer away from negative behaviors. Just think about all you could achieve by using these effective mind control techniques.

Self hypnosis can help you with:

Curing phobias such as fear of heights, fear of the dentist, social phobias or any other situation where you feel vulnerable.

Easier to overcome addictions such as smoking, or help you to lose weight or any other things you need help with to stop doing, but where your mind powers are lacking.

Hypnotize yourself and get those hours of sleep you desperately need. Your Insomnia problems will be a thing of the past.

Learn how to train your mind to relieve stress, tension, worry or anything that is painful in your life

So as you can see there is many benefits of using Self Help Hypnosis. These mind control techniques will be bring an enormous positive experience to your daily life. Using self hypnosis audio you can achieve the results you seek while resting comfortably in your sofa.

If You want to find a Solution to your problem Right Now, all you need to do is Click HERE

Visit This Online Hypnosis Site that offers a ton a resources on anything hypnosis related. Dont wait for the solution to your problems when you can get the answers right now!

Home Improvement Tip - Fixing a Squeaky Floor

2009-09-03T05:31:00.001-07:00

Question: I have a floor that every single time I step on it I get the most annoying sound. I don't know what it does to me or why it bothers me so much. My kitchen floor squeaks and actually moves up and down if you are standing on it. The whole floor moves. How do I stop it from moving and squeaking. Help Me Greg!

Answer: It sounds like you have a broken floor joist. You are going to have to go under your house. If you have a basement this will be a little easier to fix. It is my guess that you don't have a basement or you would have seen the broken floor joist by now.

Have someone stand on the floor in the spot that squeaks and have them move up and down while you are under the house. Don't have them jump up and down while you are under the house. This could cause more damage to the structural framing of the floor. Once you are in the right position under the floor you can have them start moving slowly. What you are looking for is one of the floor joist that are moving.

If you see one of them moving. Look to see where the damage is. Is it a split, crack, wood rot or a big knot in the wood that has loosened up and fell out. Once you find the damaged floor joist you can now think about repairing it.

If you don't see any floor joist moving. Have the person on top start moving a little bit more and you can even have them jump on it a few times until you see something out of place. If you still don't see any broken floor joist. Start looking at the sub-floor, this will be plywood of some form, 1 x 6 or 2 x 6 materials.

What you are looking for is movement of any kind. Is there a separation or movement between the sub-floor and the floor joist. If you still can't find the problem maybe it is time to call in a professional.

The main thing you are going to be looking for is movement of any kind.

Most squeaky floors are caused from the sub-floor rubbing up and down on a nail. If you have carpeting and you have a squeaky floor you can do your best to locate a floor joist and screw right through your carpeting into the floor joist.

For more help on fixing squeaky floors visit http://gregvan.com/wood_repair.htm

Thanks for the great question. I hope it helps.

Greg Vanden Berge has been in the home building and remodeling business for over 30 years. With this knowledge he has created a few websites that provide useful information for home owners as well as contractors. His main goal is to educate professionals in the home related businesses, dealing with problems that can easily be avoided with just a little bit of information.

His website http://gregvan.com provides all kinds of answers to remodeling and new house building issues that could create major damage as well as possible damage to your pocket book.

Visit us now for Home Improvement Tips

Are Christians Really Interested

How Positive Visualization Can Improve Your Life

2009-09-02T23:09:00.001-07:00

Positive visualization is seeing in your mind's eye your life unfolding in a way that pleases you. It's taking charge of your life and creating your own reality by engaging your own God-given power.

Positive visualization helps you break from of outside influences and circumstances. You're no longer a helpless victim, being tossed around by the events in your life. Instead, you're in command and control by seeing things working out through the power of imagination. Wayne Dyer wrote "whatever you think about expands." If you find yourself in a situation that is negative or unhappy in any way, visualization can help you turn it around by placing yourself mentally and spiritually in an environment that's more positive, productive, inspiring and joyful.

Let's face it, the world we live in has many outside influences that can drag you down and leave you feeling tired, frustrated, angry, or worried. Just turn on the evening news, or pick up any major daily newspaper and the gloom and doom seems to be everywhere. Many people buy into this negativity and are only too quick to spread it around. It takes internal strength and the use of your imagination to break the cycle and free you of the doomsday thinking that's often prevalent in today's society.

You need to be mentally strong to ward off the effects of this widespread negativity that's being spread around like manure on grass. Positive visualization is the tool that helps you reverse this focus. Think about what you want, not about what you don't want. Stay in that wavelength with positive visualization and you can emerge from the surrounding negativity unscathed.

Envision the results and the reality you want. Stick with that image. That's the power of visualizing at work. Find a peaceful place where you can get away from it all. Relax and then imagine in detail what it's like to have things work out exactly as you want. A few moments enveloped in a positive visualization can work wonders in improving your mental state and raising your vibration.

Anyone can use positive visualization at any time. It's the secret to engaging the Law of Attraction. You attract into your life that which you think and feel repeatedly. Your dominant thoughts and feelings become your reality, so it pays to use positive visualization on a daily basis.

How long does it take to manifest your visualization? The time it takes to realize your vision often depends on what that vision is and your effectiveness at visualizing it consistently. You plant the seed the first time you engage in positive visualization. And you water, nourish and let the sun shine on that seed by visiting your vision over and over again.

You can start benefiting from the power of positive visualization by beginning to spend more time focusing on the things you do want, instead of focusing on what you do not want.

Ready to rise above frustration, disappointment, or worry? Positive visualization can work for you automatically to give you whatever it is you really want. Just pop in the CD of your choice and follow along. You'll be gently led on a guided visualization, designed to take you from where you are now to wherever you want to go. Click here to visit http://www.visualizationfx.com today.

When We Choose Misery Over Happiness

2009-09-02T22:15:00.001-07:00

I am not one to feel sorry for most people. They seem to have a unique ability to cause themselves the most damage during certain parts of their lives. I have met some pretty self destructive people in my life. Being raised by a mother that lived in misery and love.

My mother had a difficult childhood. It seemed as if every corner she turned there was a obstacle either right in front of here or waiting just around the corner. Her father died when she was 12 year old. He was a farm laborer and didn't make much money. In other words they were poor...... She got sent to live with a few foster families and according to her she was molested by one of the fathers she lived with.

Soon her older sister invited her to live with her. My aunt was married to the owner of a pottery business and had 2 children about 10 years younger than my mother. My aunt soon realized she had a live in baby sitter that allowed her to stay out drinking most of the day.

My Uncle was what you would call a drunk back then, now we call these people alcoholics. Well any way I think you are starting to get a picture of my mothers life up to this point. It is probably safe to assume that this isn't the ideal life for a young woman.

The next event to happen in my moms life was for my uncle to fall in the shower one night after tying one on that night. He died soon after but my aunt seemed to make a another good choice and ended up marring the owner of the bar that they spent most of their time in.
The Grand essentials of happiness are: something to do, something to love, and something to hope for. Allan K. Chalmers

By this time my mom was in High School and met my future father. It wasn't exactly a marriage made in heaven. My dad was always an easy going man. He seemed to let most stuff go in one ear and out the other.

As you guessed it they had a few children. Nice one Dad and Mom. According to the books I have read on Angelic beings. People that believe in the after life and angels. They tell me I had a choice and was able to choose my parents....... What was I thinking...... I should have choose someone with some money and a couple of parents that were deeply in love .

How did I end up here in this situation.

I ended up loving my parents like most of us. They seemed to be doing the best that they could possibly do raising me, my bother and my sister. My mom and dad ended up getting a divorce and I went to live with my father.

My Father is remarried to a wonderful woman that seems to bring him a lot of happiness.
I haven't seen my mother for a while now. She lives with a life of excuses and misery. Her childhood was not the greatest but that doesn't give her the right to bring misery into other peoples lives. She has made a conscious choice to live what seems to be a painful life. Maybe her choices in life have made me choose happiness over misery.

I have always wondered what it is that motivates someone to live a life of true unhappiness when it takes the same amount of energy to live a life of joy. Life is meant to be full of joy and happiness so start today by making the right choices to live a fulfilling life of happiness.

If you are reading this and can't make up your mind what kind of life you truly want to live visit me at http://live.spiritualideas.com/ . Change your thinking and change your life.

Greg Vanden Berge will help you create a new approach to life and discover talents you never knew you had. We can help you get the most out of yourself all the time. Start developing your innate strengths and abilities to start enriching your life TODAY !

If I Hate My Brother

Peaks and Valleys by Spencer Johnson

2009-09-02T15:47:00.001-07:00

Spencer Johnson has done very well for himself by taking simple lessons and sharing them in short stories. It is not surprising that USA Today called him "The King of Parables." "Peaks and Valleys: Making Good And Bad Times Work For You - At Work And In Life" is Johnson's newest parable, and like those before it, this book contains more than meets the eye.

The book is short, only 99 pages, and some of those contain only one quote. And like his other books, it is a smaller formatted hardcover. However, despite its length, there are some practical pearls of wisdom that if applied will make one's life more positive. It would be easy to dismiss this book as too simple, or too easy. After all, in the text Johnson refers to the story as common sense. But how many people actually apply the simple lessons of life? Treat others as you want to be treated is a universal lesson found throughout history, but do people actually apply it? Some do of course, but so many don't.

Often, we spend countless hours, sometimes even lifetimes, searching for some profound truth or magic moment that will enlighten us and make all of our troubles disappear and success and riches materialize in abundances we only dream about. While searching for the complicated, we sometimes fail to listen to the simple. We forget what we know. We don't apply the lessons we do learn because we are too busy looking for something greater.

What I like about "Peaks and Valleys" and the other books by Spencer Johnson is that they remind us of the simple, and encourage us to apply these simple lessons to our own lives. One of the lessons in "Peaks and Valleys" is to imagine yourself enjoying a better future in such specific, believable detail, that you soon enjoy doing what takes you there. This is not new. Earl Nightengale taught the same lesson in his "Strangest Secret." Nightengale taught "We become what we think about most of the time." Others have taught variations of this, and it is so simple that it is often overlooked.

Just because I have heard variations of this lesson before does not mean I didn't enjoy it here. Like the young man in this book, I too forget these lessons at times, especially when the hustle and bustle and stresses of today's world seem to overwhelm at times. The short time it took me to read "Peaks and Valleys" was a relaxing reminder of some important concepts that when followed make life better.

I would encourage anyone to take a little time for yourself, find a relaxing place, and enjoy this short parable by Spencer Johnson. Then take a little longer to assess how you can apply the lessons from this story to your own life. If you do, you just might find yourself enjoying more Peaks and realize your Valleys are not as bad as you thought.

Alain Burrese, J.D. is a mediator/attorney with Bennett Law Office P.C. and an author/speaker through his own company Burrese Enterprises Inc. He teaches people to live with the warrior's edge through his writing and speaking on a variety of topics focusing on the business areas of negotiation and success principles as well as self-defense and safety topics. He is the author of Hard-Won Wisdom From the School of Hard Knocks, several instructional dvds, and numerous articles. You can find out more about Alain Burrese at his websites http://www.burrese.com and http://bennettlawofficepc.com

Need Help Remodeling In Carlsbad

2009-09-02T14:40:00.001-07:00

What you are thinking about remodeling your house and you live in Carlsbad. Let me give you some advice about some local contractors and some of the people involved. I used a company called Service Magic to find a local heating and air conditioning contractor. All I had to do was go on the internet , type in some information about my self and what I wanted to have done to my home. This didn't seem that bad of a idea at the time. But look what I found out.

I went to their web site, filled in my information and with in minutes I had received the names of at least 4 contractors. Wow this is neat. I didn't even get to start calling any of them when my phone rang. It was one of the contractors secretaries. She introduced herself and asked what would be a good time for someone to come out to look at the work I wanted done.

I was surprised at the speed things were taking place but in a way glad that I had a reputable contractor from one of the largest construction referral services on the internet. I told her 10:00 would be fine. I got a call shortly after that from one of the other companies. He wanted to meet me that mourning at 8:00 if it was Ok with me. I told him of course, let's do this. Then the next one called and I thought great you can come at 1:00. Well you guessed it the next one was coming over at 2:30.

The first contractor showed up as scheduled at 8:00. We talked about what I wanted done and he whips out his note book and starts figuring out a price. This took place around 15 minutes into the meeting. This guys good I thought. Being a General Contractor in Carlsbad myself, for a job like this I would go back to my office and figure out a price and then double check my figures for a accurate estimate. It took this guy less than 5 minutes to create a proposal of around 10,700 dollars for every thing.

Well I was thinking to myself, the job should be around 7,000 dollars but what do I know about construction. I informed him that I would think about it and that I was going to meet with a couple of other contractors that day. He ask me who the other contractors were. I proceeded to tell him that I probably shouldn't tell him who they were. Well your not going to believe this. He put on his physic hat and told me who was coming over. The only thing he didn't know was what time they where coming over.

Oh I forgot to mention before he left he told me he would knock ten percent off the job if I signed the contract right now. I pretended like I was excited just to see his reaction. He looked at me like he had won the gold metal in sales. I told him thanks but I bet your new offer with the ten percent discount will be good for the next few day. Right I asked. He wasn't looking that excited any more as he replied with a Yes it will be good for a while. I thanked him and he went on his way.

My 10:00 never showed but his secretary gave me the old, " He had to go do a emergency job and could he reschedule tomorrow at the same time. I said that would be fine. As a contractor myself I have always put the work I had to do first and foremost.

About 12:30 I get a call from my next heating and air conditioning contractor. He is running late but will be there at 1:30. I appreciate the call and I will see you then. The only problem now is that I have another contractor coming at 2:30. That give the next contractor less than one hour before the next guy shows up. I never liked going over to someone's house and running into another remodeling contractor.

The next contractor was very informative and knew his stuff. I listened and learned. He told me he was going to have to go back to his office and would have a price back in the mourning. Great I told him as I hurried him out the door.

The last contractor of the day shows up and wants to know whose been over to the house, was it these guys or those guys. I told him I wasn't going to tell him who was over. Now this guy was a salesman. He did a little more probing before he let me in on the fact that his company doesn't do complete home installations. He made up some story that his company only replaces the forced air units. I could tell he didn't want to do the job once he found out I knew what I was talking about. So I said my good byes to Mr. Salesman.

The bad part about him was latter on that week his company sent us some mailers. The kind that doesn't have your name on it and everyone in the neighborhood get's one. I couldn't believe my eyes when I started to read this letter. It said we would be glad to give you an estimate on all your heating and air conditioning needs or services. " We Do Complete Installs". I told my wife we could have used this a few weeks ago. Then I recognized the name of the company and now knew that the salesman had lied to me for sure.

That night I started to think about what was going on here it seemed like I was being set up. Everyone knew what was going on but me. It seemed clear to me that these people knew each other.

Well as time went on we ended up hiring the first guy that came over. He seemed to have the best product at the most reasonable price. His company also did a great job. Keep one thing in mind here out of five contractors that I gave the opportunity to bid the job. Only three showed up and from them I only got two bids. Why didn't I get more bids? Quite frankly I was to busy working at the time and of course the other two guys were always going to show up and that kind of strung me along. My mistake.

Here's the kicker to all of this. Service Magic calls me up one day to tell me they would like to start sending me construction leads as a General Contractor.

I listened to what they had to say and was almost ready to sign up with them again. That's right, I was signed up with them when they first started until they changed the rules on me. The salesman that originally contacted me said if I paid them the 100 dollar sign up fee they would let me pick what jobs I wanted to do. That lasted about 5 months before I noticed that they were not sending me siding referrals to pick from. I called them up only to talk to someone who didn't understand the State Of California Contractors Licensing Board.

Well I wasn't about to reinvent the wheel. I simply told them that I should a least get my money back, right. They said they would look into it further as I never heard from them again about my 100 dollars. Well things have changed at Service Magic since I was with them when they started.
As a home owner you don't think you are paying Service Magic because all you do is fill out a simple form giving some information about yourself.

I found out that Service Magic sent all four of these contractors my original information. Each contractor then had to pay 55 dollars each to Service Magic for a total of 220 dollars. All I have to say is how are they getting away with charging this much money for sending a out a simple referral to these contractors.

The contractor unfortunately passes this expense on to his customers. You as the home owners end up paying these fees as a cost of doing business with them. Some contractors think this is a great way of doing business but you might think differently in the future if you start paying over 100 dollars for a simple construction referral.

His website http://gregvan.com provides all kinds of answers to remodeling and new house building issues that could create major damage as well as possible damage to your pocket book.

Visit us now for Home Improvement Tips

Are Christians Really Interested

Watch How You Stack Your Stories

2009-09-02T08:23:00.001-07:00

We love a good story, told well, that entertains us. But there are some who use stories for a different purpose: Justification for why they aren't in control of themselves and, therefore, their lives.

I have a call scheduled with someone who wants to tell me her story. Basically, she hopes I'll "get" why her life is the way it is and will never be any better. I know for a fact that she plays this story over and over in her mind and I understand why she believes her history impacts her present and future; but the question I intend to pose after I've listened a bit is, "How will you use your story to move forward in your life?"

Buildings have stories. One level is stacked upon another. Every time we repeat our stories to ourselves and others, we stack another level (more often than not, extra, unnecessary weight) on top of what's already there. The fact is every story is based mostly on perception and, usually, not enough information even if we were the ones who lived it.

What I mean by this is often, what first appears as a negative results in a positive, even if it takes years to realize it. The adage that advises us to look for the silver lining exists for a reason: It's based on the wisdom of experience. We get locked into our stories because sometimes we just can't believe they happened. But they did. And they are now over, in the past, history. What we do with what we're "given" in life is more important than the fact it was "delivered" to us.

When we look for examples of courage, do we look to those who give up in the face of their challenges or those who keep moving forward despite challenges many of us hope we never have to face? Do we seek the company of those who bemoan their lot in life or those who find their inner power and create more of what they want?

It's too easy to become attached to our stories, too attached to the momentary (negative) attention we receive when we tell them. And, when we use our time and energy telling them over and over, whether to ourselves or another, we aren't applying energy to make our lives better and more meaningful.

Why repeat stories? Do we hope someone will give us permission to give up? If that's a desired outcome, we can grant that permission to ourselves just as we can grant ourselves permission to leave our stories behind and create the ones we truly wish to live and share. Carolyn Myss once said when we lead with our wounds we let people know how we intend to manipulate them.

The building we structure from our lives can be one where creativity and beauty are the products, where energy and enthusiasm fuel all of our activities. Or, we can create drab structures where nothing more than widgets get produced and administrative repetition fills the hours.

What story or stories do you repeat to yourself or to others? Are your stories entertaining and empowering or do they make listeners look for the least offensive escape? Certainly, we don't want to live in denial of what we feel or experience, and there are times we need to vent so we heal; but more often than not, we could choose to make a more "joyful noise" in the world.

Joyce Shafer is a published author; freelance rewriter, editor, proofreader; and United Press International weekly columnist, also published at various online venues. See the exceptional reviews of her books, "I Don't Want to be Your Guru, but I Have Something to Say," at http://www.lulu.com/content/773467, and "How to Have What You REALLY Want," at http://www.lulu.com/content/796351 - Visit her new website at http://www.freewebs.com/joyceshafer

Luck is What Happens When Preparation Meets Opportunity

2009-09-02T07:24:00.001-07:00

You must be ready when an opportunity comes before you, opportunity often comes in the form of work and that's why most people seem to miss it. Most people are too busy looking for the easy path through life. They seem to lay around waiting for the opportunity of a lifetime,... to simply fall at your feet.

Why would you want to spend so much time complaining about something, or someone? Other people can help you along the way, if you let them, but it's up to you, ultimately, to become the most you can possibly be. I have had plenty of opportunities in my life and have took advantage of some, while letting most of them pass by.

I'm no different than most people but now seem to be aware of my surrounding opportunities, all the time.

How many times do you wish for an opportunity to come along? It's probably one that you missed already, at some point during your life. Are you going to be prepared for the next opportunity when it comes along? These opportunities seem to repeat themselves throughout our lives and if we're not in the right state of mind, we often overlook them and let them pass by, time and time again.

You need to prepare yourself in advance for the next opportunity. If you are prepared and have your eyes open, you will be able to see the next opportunity that comes your way. Preparation will increase your chances for success and good fortune always.

Opportunities come in all shapes and sizes. Be on the lookout, when you're walking to the grocery store, taking a break at work, reading the newspaper, talking to your neighbor, walking down the street or even while you are sitting alone, letting your mind wander away. Your chances for success could come while your in your quiet places, or relaxing. Be prepared.

Ask And You Might Receive Or Ask

Choice - More Or Less?

2009-09-02T00:40:00.001-07:00

The hundreds of decisions we now have to make in our daily lives doesn't necessarily make for a richer life.

Some years ago, choice was either a fluke or a privilege. Choice only came to you on special occasions such as your birthday. Then you would get to choose things like which of two outfits you wanted to wear , which three friends you wanted to come to tea, and maybe if you were really lucky, the style of your birthday cake. Or if you won at the fairground you could choose which goldfish or cuddly toy you wanted, and would it be candyfloss or toffee apple?

But now our lives are ruled by choice. Even asking for a glass of water in a restaurant has turned into a major decision. Should it be still, fizzy, tap, Finnish, French, or Derbyshire? Surely it doesn't matter as long as your thirst is quenched!

Choice has infiltrated every aspect of our lives. Make a telephone call to any department store, supplier or doctor's surgery and before you even get to speak to a real human being you will have had to choose which button to press, probably a number of times!

The TV provides such a bewildering choice of channels is it any wonder so many people just use their favoured one or two?

Some Advice When Decision Time Comes.

When making a choice, think about what you really do want. We're conditioned to think we want many things, in fact many of them are totally unnecessary and living without them gives a less cluttered life.

Try to consciously make a choice. Don't just "go with the flow", or act out of habit. This can leave you feeling stuck in a rut.

Don't regret your choices. Once you've made a decision, focus on that - rather than thinking about other routes you could have taken.

Work from Home Internet Business Take A FREE Tour Visit http://www.mibforce.com . We offer Full Multi Media Training and we close sales for you

What Does a GFI Do? - Electrical Problems

2009-09-02T00:00:00.001-07:00

GFI 's come in 15 amp and 20 amperage outlets. GFI outlets must be wired properly. Make sure you're using the proper wire size when hooking up the GFI outlet.

The GFI electrical plug is a great idea and if you don't have them in your bathroom or outside of your home it would be a great idea to have an electrician install them for you.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He is currently working on more Home Building Library and adding useful content to help solve problems created by the lack of construction knowledge in the building industry.

San Diego Termite Damage

Ask And You Might Receive Or Ask

The Secret Nazis Covet the Temple Mount

2009-09-01T17:09:00.001-07:00

"Even before the end of this war, I revealed to you the plans for a NAZI UNDERGROUND MOVEMENT, to go underground as a SECRET organization the very moment they lost the war - to lay low...then come forth when least expected, RESTORE GERMANY TO POWER, and go on to finally accomplish their aims in a WORLD WAR III" - The Plain Truth, Sept. 1948.

The Philadelphia Trumpet magazine (Feb. 2000) reminded its international audience that Herbert W. Armstrong wrote those prophetic words long before they were confirmed by Reuters Arthur Spiegelman, who wrote on May 10, 1996: "Realizing they were losing the war in 1944, Nazi leaders met top German industrialists to plan a secret post-war international network to restore them to power, according to a newly declassified U.S. intelligence document. The document...says an SS general and a representative of the German armaments ministry told such companies as Krupp and Rohling that they must be prepared to finance the Nazi Party...when it went underground."

Ella Steinberg, executive director of the World Jewish Congress stated: "Now that the Nazi secret plan has been confirmed, the central question is whether it has been carried out."

Need we wonder? Considering German hegemony throughout Europe is practically a done deal (with the Vatican's blessing), aren't Herbert W. Armstrong's warnings about the final revival of the "Holy Roman Empire" being fulfilled before our very eyes? Only the deaf, dumb and blind could deny that the Germans have thoroughly carried out their plans!

But what is the German-Catholic kingdom without the crown of Jerusalem? "Woe to Ariel, Ariel, the city where David dwelt!" (Isaiah 29:1). The Vatican covets Mount Zion and the Temple Mount and Europe won't quit until it occupies the eternal capital of Israel! Both the Arabs and the Jews had better beware any European moves into the Middle East.

David Ben-Ariel, a Christian-Zionist writer and author of Beyond Babylon: Europe's Rise and Fall, shares a special focus on the Middle East, reflected in hard-hitting articles that help others improve their understanding of that troubled region. Check out the Beyond Babylon blog.

Slow Market Home Pricing Advice

2009-09-01T16:36:00.001-07:00

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He has just finished a home buyers guide to take some of the frustration out of home shopping.

If you really think your home is safe, check out these pictures about home water damage.

Will All Men Ever Hate Jesus

Home Work - Wisdom Behind the Monster

2009-09-01T09:48:00.001-07:00

Is home work really such a bad thing, a monster to be feared, an act to be condemned? I don't think so, for the fact that it is the "home work", that really teaches one "to be there - in that instant", for our ever wandering aimless mind. Teachers / Lecturers / professors ( call what you may !) who religiously gave home work were never in the good-books of students and parents alike. He/ She was always scorned for "passing the buck" , and washing his / her hands off the responsibility of "teaching". Little does the parents ( past , present and most likely the future too) realise that "Home work is also a part of the learning process". Now, Isn't that supposed to be a teacher's final objective.?. How can he / she be blamed for "doing the job"?

Few things happened in the past week, that triggered these thoughts in my mind.Basically, I am not surprised by emails, especially those who request information and guidelines to be an independent freelancer. I am only too willing to help them.For this i have set up an Orkut Community, for open sharing of concerns. Yet many prefer to be anonymous.Please be assured,all the freelancers can 'grab' an average of 5 projects a month, and still there will be projects waiting in queue to be awarded. Freelancing is a huge sector, where every skill has a market, and there is a client for every market.

Normally, when I receive a request form a reader (read aspiring freelancer), I try to provide relevant links and referrals so that he / she knows where to start. I also make a point to tell them that it is important they do an extensive Google search on the industry they are familiar with / have expertise on. Being a Virtual Assistant, I am able to share the "aspects" in being a freelance VA , but i may not be the right person to answer industry specific technical queries with respect to Virtual Assistance.

After the initial pleasantries , mail requests takes a turn saying ,

"I have done [Edu.Qualif], I am working in [ This industry] for the [n] years and I also know [Some application / etc]. Can you help me with what kind of jobs I can do online as a freelancer. Then I can also become a freelancer like you."

Now, correct me if I am wrong, isn't this sender asking me to send job profiles along his way ? ( oh! By the way . . . you can recruit a VA to do just exactly this for you.)

This is where the 'concept' of Homework kicks in. Having the desire to do something off the beaten track is good. But unless this desire is fuelled by the inherent urge to seek answers.( ie without waiting for the answers to drop on your lap), there is no room for development.

As I said earlier "Home Work" is a part of the learning experience. So, don't harbour the tendency to shy from homework. Google throws more than what we ask for. Now how hard it is to sit through the rubble and sift for something that could be an answer to your question.

I am a freelance Virtual Assistant from Bangalore.

Contact me at http://deepagovind.blogspot.com/2008/01/get-quote.html with your requirement, and I shall get back to you with 1 business day. I am sure, we will be able to work things out together.

Home Selling Tips - Best Real Estate Advice Ever

2009-09-01T08:59:00.001-07:00

One of the most important things to remember when selling your home is to keep it as clean as possible. If you need help or don't have the time to organize your stuff, you can hire a home staging professional in your area. Ask your real estate professional for more information.

1. Remove any clutter from the home and place it in storage. Do not store this stuff on the property if you don't have enough room. Storing clutter in closets or in your garage, will often make these areas look smaller. By removing clutter or even large pieces of furniture, the rooms will look larger.

2. Disconnect yourself emotionally from your home. This is a big problem for people who have lived in their house for long periods of time. If you've raised a family here, the children could have emotional ties also to the home. Some home sellers are looking for someone special to buy their home, if you've got the time and money to wait, you can be selective but be careful, because the longer you wait, the market could go up or down.

3. When your real estate professional is showing the house, it's always a good idea to leave the home until the potential homebuyers are gone. One example of this would be if you were in a bad mood or didn't have a good day and were a little upset at the world. Your mood could cause potential homebuyers to lose interest in the property. I've seen this more than once.

4. Make sure everything is operating properly. This would include doors, door knobs, windows, kitchen appliances, garage door openers, cabinet drawers, bathroom fixtures, toilets, faucets, lights, switches, electrical outlets and anything else that moves, slides, turns or rotates that is part of the home.

5. The Interior and exterior walls of the home should be in good shape. Make sure there's no termite damage, wood rot, peeling paint, broken windows or holes in the walls.

6. Make sure the flooring is in good shape. Some real estate professionals will suggest, replacing the carpeting with a neutral color. This method often works pretty good but I have seen plenty of homes that were re-carpeted and after the home was purchased the carpeting was replaced again, by the new owners. Just make sure the flooring is in good shape.

7. Here's a trick that definitely works a little magic when selling a home. Leave some cookies or a nice fruit bowl on the dining room table. There is no need to leave a sign that says "Eat Me". It gives the home a warm feeling, almost like a country atmosphere.

8. Even better than home selling tip number seven would be baking some cookies just before the perspective buyers arrive, it's not the cookies, it's the smell from the cookies that most people cannot resist.

These are just a few home selling tips but the most important is to keep the inside and outside of the home clean.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He has just finished a home buyers guide to take some of the frustration out of home shopping.

Don't buyers sell a home without checking how the problems with poor home repairs.

Does God Make Mistakes

3 Successful Goal Setting Strategies That Never Fail

2009-09-01T02:30:00.001-07:00

Goal setting is an easy process; all you have to do is to write down what you want to achieve in a piece of paper and paste it somewhere you can see often. Although that this is an easy process, you will be amazed how many people are actually doing this. The lack of commitment to follow through is one of the common reasons people fail to achieve their goals.

Another big common reason is that most people never do what they suppose to do after they have set their goal. You should know that it is what you do after you have set your goal that will bring you to your success. If you are not doing anything after you have set your goals, nothing is going to happen.

Below are the 3 successful goal setting strategies that you must do them right after you have set your goals. If you follow through, you will guarantee to achieve your goals...

1. Affirm your goals every night and visualize about the achievement of your goals. You need to sink the idea into your subconscious mind and at the same time, motivate yourself to achieve it. By doing so, you are constantly motivating yourself into taking more action. Remember, it is the action that you take that will make your goal come true.

2. Take at least 3 actions that will bring you toward your goal everyday. For example, if your goal is to become a real-estate millionaire, the actions that you can take are like doing market research, looking for deals, read to improve, making calls to prospects and many more. Goal setting is not a magic wand; you will never achieve your goal if you are not doing anything.

3. Make a public commitment by telling everyone about your goal. If you do so, you will leave yourself no alternative but to achieve your goal. Some of your friends may laugh at you if you tell them that you are going to be a real-estate millionaire, but so what? Turn their negative force into positive motivation that propels you into taking action.

By following through these 3 successful goal setting strategies that never fail, I believe that you will definitely achieve your goal. Remember, success is about getting things done.

If you are serious in achieving what you really want in your life, goal setting is the right tool for you. I'm going to share with you the 3 phases of Goal Setting Activities, you are about to discover the real and guaranteed strategies how to achieve your goals

For more information about Goal Setting Activities, please visit: http://www.Goal-Setting-Activities.com

Home Improvement Tip - Fixing a Squeaky Floor

2009-09-01T01:35:00.001-07:00

The main thing you are going to be looking for is movement of any kind.

For more help on fixing squeaky floors visit http://gregvan.com/wood_repair.htm

Thanks for the great question. I hope it helps.

His website http://gregvan.com provides all kinds of answers to remodeling and new house building issues that could create major damage as well as possible damage to your pocket book.

Visit us now for Home Improvement Tips

When Do We Get To Meet God

Loving From the Heart

2009-08-31T19:02:00.001-07:00

True and honest love emanates from the heart chakra - a.k.a. heart center. The heart chakra is also where other virtuous emotions emanate, such as joy, happiness, honesty, respect, compassion, understanding, and generosity, and with loving oneself in a sincere, non-egotistic way. The heart chakra is through which you connect with others whom you love or have affection towards. Once forged, these links are very difficult to break, which is why people suffer so much through the break-up of a relationship or the loss of a loved one.

Expressing love can be as easy as giving a hug to someone after having established a connection. This gesture makes your love more powerful and the depth of what you feel more meaningful. By connecting with your heart chakra, you will be able to express the real nature of your feelings and spread love to all whom you encounter.

There will be times when you demonstrate your affection, and you might not feel completely honest and your actions do not match your emotions. Reaching within your heart and connecting to your spirit and the love that it contains, however, allows you to act from a place of purity and unconditional love.

Opening to your heart chakra strengthens the feelings you have for those in your life-family, friends, neighbors, co-workers and colleagues. When you are with people, you can imagine there is a golden light emanating from within your heart center. Contained within this light are all the love, peace and goodwill you wish for others. As you extend this love, picture this light expanding and enveloping them and you-thus, making it easier to communicate those feelings. You will find that expressing your feelings from your heart center brings you closer to others in a warm and profound way.

Bathroom Faucet Leaks

2009-08-31T18:06:00.000-07:00

Faucet leaks can waste more water than you think. Have you ever put a cup or bowl underneath a leaky faucet and actually seen how much water is wasted. Leaky faucets should be repaired as soon as possible to prevent the waste of water in your home. Water is a precious resource and should be used wisely.

One slow drip from the faucet can waste over 5 gallons of water per day. If you think that's not a big deal, let me put it in perspective for you. 5 gallons of water per day equals 35 gallons per week, times 52 weeks in a year, that equals over 1800 gallons of water, and that's a lot of water.

The problem with a faucet leak isn't just the amount of water it waste, it will soon start to deteriorate your sinks, bathtubs and showers and could damage other sections of the home, like the wood framing. I've seen a water drip in a steel kitchen sink, in just a few years, wear a hole right through it. Keep in mind water and wind formed the Grand Canyon, water can be extremely erosive.

Faucet leaks can attract house pests, like mice, flies, ants and a wide variety of other insects.

Most faucets can usually be repaired for under $20. Most of the time the problem will be in the valves or handles that turn the water on and on. If you're not familiar with plumbing parts, you could pick up a do-it-yourself home repair manual or go online and look up the manufacturer of your faucet, for more information.

Usually the manufacturer has a diagram of the faucet, broken down into sections and you could get a pretty good idea, what parts you will need to remove, in order to replace the damaged part or parts that are creating the water leak.

Calling a plumber seems to be most homeowners last resort. They only do it if they absolutely have to. If you don't understand how a faucet works and have no desire to learn how, I would suggest you call a plumber or contact someone who can help you with your faucet leak, but get the faucet leak fixed and quit wasting water.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He has just finished a Home Buyers Guide to take some of the frustration out of home shopping.
If your looking for some more bathroom remodeling or home building ideas.

Meditating On Religious Scriptur

Do You Live Life on Default Or Do You Participate in Your Life

2009-08-31T11:35:00.001-07:00

It's incredible the number of people who do very little or no planning in their lives. Who is in charge? What is there to be gained from wandering about life from experience to experience without having any idea of where you are going? I like to think of it as though there is an auto-pilot flying your life - sometimes you'll get something that you really want or arrive somewhere you really want to be, but most of the time, you are simply going to get what you get.

In order to live your life with a sense of direction, you have to make some decisions. You have to decide:

Where you are going
What you want to be, do and have
How active you are going to be in pursuing your goals

I'm a firm believer that there is no pre-determined purpose to our lives and that ultimately, it makes no difference if you live your life set to default, or if you take an active role in your life's direction and purpose. I do get the sense that to live our lives set to default is to miss out on some of the wonderful journeys we are able to create for ourselves. If you constantly find yourself arriving at a new destination, that you didn't pre-plan or intend to arrive at, then surely you've simply been a passenger in your life and not the driver. Ultimately though, if you understand that you have the choice to participate or sit back and let it happen, then you make the choice from an informed position. There are many people who are unaware that they do have the choice to participate in life and it is these people who have the most to gain from reading these words.

So rather than being a passenger, decide where you wish to go, who you wish to be and what you wish to have in your life, and then take action and make it happen.

Dan O'Neil offers Life Coaching and personal development training services in the UK. He specialises in helping people improve their confidence, self esteem and work-life balance. Dan also writes a popular personal development blog.

Change Your Thinking About Life

2009-08-31T10:26:00.001-07:00

What do I do when I get down and out. Well that use to happen to me often and I seemed to suffer with some minor depression. It would seem like time would stand still. I would look at the clock and notice the time. Let's say 2:23 in the afternoon. I would look back to see what time it was about fifteen minutes latter and it would be 2:26. Wow what in the heck is going on with this clock.

I just couldn't believe it seemed like the day would never end. I would just sit there and think about all the stuff going on in my life, good and bad of course. This seemed to last until I was in my early twenties. I just didn't want to feel like this any more. I made a Conscious design not to get depressed period. I never wanted to feel like that again.

I read a book on ESP and in the book it described visualizing a rose as you went to sleep. I started doing this every night and while I was doing the exercise it seemed to make me feel relaxed in a way I never had felt before. The reason for the exercise was to teach you to visualize something peaceful. This in turn would put you in a peaceful state of mind.

Then a thought came into my noggin. What if when ever I start to feel bad or seem to be going into a sort of depressive state of mind I change my thoughts. It worked... I would start to visualize something else that made me feel comfortable and give me a peaceful feeling. Man was I surprised with my results.

Keep in mind I didn't think of this all on my own but I did put the pieces of the puzzle I needed to together that I needed to change my life. It seemed like I could use this form of self control in different parts of my life. If I was at work and someone made me mad.... Well this didn't work all the time... I still got mad. Let's pick something else OK.

I would worry about something on the job that wasn't going right. Then I would get irritated over something else that wasn't even related to what I was worrying about. Why did I take it out on the other person when what I was really mad about was something else. We do this all the time in our lives. We seem to get mad, get even or give up. Why do we do this and what can we do to stop it.

My main point to all of this is we can change our thinking and change our lives. We can learn new things to change our thinking. We don't need to give up hope that we will always be like this. Change the things you don't like about yourself. Do it today. If you need some help there is a great book that will help you change your life for the better.

You can find it at http://www.live.spiritualideas.com This book has a lot of tools to create the change in your life you want to have a more full filling life.

Most people give up just when they're about to achieve success. They quit on the one yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game one foot from a winning touchdown. Ross Perot.

Start Living Your Dreams Today and Create a Wonderful Life For Yourself And Your Family. Greg Vanden Berge is one of the best inspirations on the planet. You will be hearing a lot about this guy in the future. You can count on it.

When Do We Get To Meet God

This One Tip Will Improve Your Study Skills

2009-08-31T03:58:00.001-07:00

Attic Odors and Strange Smells

2009-08-31T03:10:00.001-07:00

If you've ever opened up your attic access hole, only to find one of the worst odors you have ever smelled in your whole life, I've been there too. What causes these horrible smells and what can you do about them?

Let's start with the cause of these smells, moisture, dirt, mold, mildew, dead animals, animals that make their home in your attic and the biggest problem of all is normally poor ventilation.

Poor ventilation is the biggest problem with musty smells in the attic. These smells are often caused from moisture accumulating in the building materials over time. If there is enough moisture in the attic, the wood will start to rot but this wouldn't be a normal situation, unless there was a roof or water leak.

Roof leaks can cause a constant supply of water to one part of the attic. This constant supply of water will eventually rot the wood and damage the ceiling. Water leaks from pipes can provide a steady supply of water and the situation can attracts termites and mold. Not a good thing.

One of the worst possible smells or odors in your attic would be a dead animal. Don't under estimate the size of some of these animals, they have found dead raccoons, cats, snakes, large birds, squirrels, rats and mice in some attics. These animals usually enter through damaged access holes or vent blocks, roof vents, large gaps, holes and even fireplace chimneys.

Once these animals die, their bodies start to decompose and produce one horrible odor. Once the body is completely decomposed, the smell usually goes away if the attic is ventilated properly. These smells can seep into the homes living area, often creating a room that no one wants to enter.

Home peststhat make their home in your attics, often create smells from urinating and defecating in the areas around their nest. Large birds like owls can become a problem over time.

Now that we've figured out some of the causes for attic odors and strange smells, what can we do to prevent this from happening and if it's already happened, how can we get rid of the smell.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He has just finished a Home Buyers Guide to take some of the frustration out of home shopping.

If your having problems in your attic, find out more at pest control books and home building ideas.

Spiritual Dictionary

Is Only 24 Hours in a Day - Time Management Tips

2009-08-30T20:42:00.001-07:00

Structuring your time will allow you the extra time you need during the day.

If we can create better time management habits, it won't be long before we have more time than we ever imagined.

Have you ever thought about Getting up Earlier.

Greg is currently working on a video library filled with great movies on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world.

Ways to Stop Losing Your Car Keys

2009-08-30T19:40:00.001-07:00

You obviously don't need to read this article if you rarely lose your car keys. However if you misplace your car keys often and have a pretty good relationship with your locksmith, it's time to change these bad habits into good ones.

One of my friends, recently lost their car keys. I would like you to listen to what I'm about to say and see if it makes sense to you. Most people get two keys when they buy a car. This means, if they lose one key, they now have a spare key. When they lose their first key, this should give them a pretty good clue that the second key is now the only key, if they wish to drive their car.

Does that make sense? If you lose your first key, you don't have a second or spare key anymore. Now is a good time to purchase a spare key or have one made. Don't wait until you lose the second one, unless you are planning to change your bad habit into a good one.

Now let me get back to my friends who recently lost their car's key. The car they were driving was a new Honda and you can't go to the locksmith to get another key made. You have to order one from the Honda dealer and this key cost them over $200. That's a lot of money for one key.

Now my friends lost both of their original keys and now have one key to operate the vehicle and this key cost them over $200. Now if I had to pay this amount of money, I would make sure that I never lost this key ever again. I would do whatever it to to change my old habits and create some new ones.

How hard is it to get in the habit of placing your keys inside of your purse. Placing your keys in your pockets and then only removing them when you are going to place them inside of a drawer, container, cup, bowl or on a shelf in your bedroom. If you place your keys in a drawer, this will keep them out of other people's temptation.

If you choose to lay your keys in a bowl, in the kitchen, there's a good chance someone will take them or another member of your family could lose them. Place your keys in a protected area, do not leave them out in the open ever.

If you want some tips to prevent you from losing your keys, simply talk to someone who rarely if ever loses their keys. Most of these people have simple and easy to follow tips. You can consciously create a habit that can save you money and frustration in the future.

Greg is currently working on a spiritual video library filled with great movies on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world.

Meditating On Religious Scriptur

Two Keys to Overcoming Shyness Immediately

2009-08-30T13:15:00.001-07:00

Have you ever been in this situation?
You're surrounded by strangers. Interesting looking strangers; a cool guy, a happening girl. You want to spark up a conversation...but...somehow...you just can't!

Words fail, your mind goes blank. You might even break into a nervous sweat, your hands begin visibly trembling. Instead of opening up the door to an interesting conversation, or possible even a lasting friendship or meaningful relationship, you clam up. And it kills you! You're dying to speak, to mention something that just happened right in front of both of you, to ask for the time, to say anything just to break the ice and end your self-imposed vow of silence. You try with all your might, but your mind is a blank slate and now it's too late. The moment has passed, they've moved on. You've now got plenty to say but nobody to say it to.

What is the key? What's the big secret? What does everybody else seem to know but you?

There is no secret!
There are two things I can tell you right now that will save you a lot of heartache. (There are a lot more tips, more to follow.) Your first mistake was blowing the moment completely out of proportion. You took an ordinary situation and built it up in your head until there was no way out. By the end of the above scenario, if the person actually turned to you and spoke you probably would've blushed and blurted out something like this:

Seemingly Interesting Stranger: Hey, did you just see that three legged dog driving a giant cigar? What was that about?
You: Oh, um, yellow. He? I mean Hi. Geez, is that the time?

This is followed by the sound of you, running for the hills.

What made you react this way? What could you have lost by opening your mouth in the first place? Nothing! You were afraid, and your fear was completely unjustified and self-imposed. That fear came from inside of you and nowhere else; this means you have the power to control it. The first thing you need to realize is that there is nothing to fear! Well, if the person you want to speak to is holding a hunting knife and staring at you with dilated pupils that might be a different story. If this happens to be the case, stick to your original plan of running for the hills.

Even just being able to identify this as an obstacle is a lightening of the load. Overcoming this fear is really a very simple task now that you know it exists. You have nothing to fear, ever. It's that simple. It doesn't matter who's standing beside you that you'd like to talk to. Is it the morning weatherman from your local news channel? It's just a person! A man in a leather jacket? Also just a person! A cute girl? Person! A knife wielding maniac? ...I digress. Some of these people are nice and open to conversation, some are complete assholes, but they're all just people. Imagine if the situation was reversed and you were standing on the corner, looking seemingly interesting, and hearing their thoughts. There would be humming and hawing rolling through that head, and fear! They're afraid to speak to you! Honestly, if you heard this you'd think they were crazy. Fear is the first key. It might sound easier said than done, but it isn't.

The second key is just as simple; have something to say. Preferably something to say that's interesting, not lame small talk about the weather. Humor is your friend here. We're not talking dumb one-liners, real spur of the moment humor. A lot of people consider small talk stupid, dull, moronic and redundant...and they're usually right. How many times have you had to listen to meaningless blather like this:

Uninteresting Stranger: Sure it hot today, huh?

You: Sure is."

Uninteresting Stranger: Gonna be hot again tomorrow too.

You: Oh really?

Uninteresting Stranger: Yup. Real hot.

You: Hmmm.

Uninteresting Stranger: That's right. At least as hot as today.

You: *unintelligible grunt*

Uninteresting Stranger: Always hot in the summer though, you can count on that.

You: Geez, is that the time?

Uninteresting Stranger: Yup, some time as yesterday, when it was just about as hot as this.

This is followed by the sound of you, running for the hills.

There, in a nutshell, are two important keys to overcoming shyness.

John Donland, aka Dr.Talk. is the author of http://how-to-be.com

Repairing a Leaking Toilet

2009-08-30T12:08:00.001-07:00

If the water is over flowing from the toilet tank into this little plastic pipe you will need to adjust the float.

Happy Toilet Repairing.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He is currently working on more House Building and Remodeling Library and adding useful content to help solve problems created by the lack of construction knowledge in the building industry.

Visit us and get more information on building and remodeling your homes and Some Great Plumbing Ideas

Should The Bible Be Edited

Moral Leadership of The Christian Community

2009-08-30T05:56:00.001-07:00

The presidential election of 1992 introduced the discussion of
family values as a political issue. Apparently the populous
did not accept this issue as being significant. Christian
organizations were reluctant to enter political activities so
they did not push the concept of family values as being a
religious imperative.

Do some of these issues seem too "political" for the Christian
community to become involved? Are not, however, some of these
issues important enough to be hammered home by the clergy of
this country? When is sin significant enough to talk about
it?

ABOLITIONIST MOVEMENT

"Amazing Grace" was written by a slave trader who came to know
Jesus and his life changed dramatically. John Newton was a
sailor on a slave ship. After his conversion, he became an
Anglican minister and influenced Wilberforce against Slavery.

William Wilberforce, along with John Newton and Granville
Sharp lived in England in the late 1700's. These three men
stopped slavery in England and throughout the British Empire.
Sharp's work led to the emancipation of slaves in England in
1772 while the work of Wilberforce led to the abolition of
slave trade and the emancipation of slaves throughout the
British Empire.

Key Evangelical Christian leaders in the United States
included Samuel Hopkins, Lyman Beecher, Charles G Finney, John
Brown, Theodore Weld, Jonathan Blanchard, and Harriet Beecher
Stowe. These individuals preach Christ for the salvation of
the individual but also saw the total injustice of slavery in
the "land of the free". Abolition was not a hobby with them.
It was also not all they did. They were also Evangelical
Christians. Their efforts led to the abolition of slavery in
the United States and the emancipation of the slaves of
America.

AND NOW

The involvement of Christian leaders throughout modern church
history demonstrates the historical basis of involvement of
the church in secular affairs. Social reform is the business
of the church. Social reform is not "socialism". Social
reform is not "government handouts" or "entitlement". Social
reform is moral leadership.

Christian lifestyle is a moral lifestyle. Moral leadership is
not the imposing of "blue laws" or "religious fanaticism".
Moral leadership deals with life and death issues. It deals
with freedom under God. Christian morals protect life and
property, things that even non-Christians cherish. Decisions
concerning morality must not be left to the atheists and to
the anti-Christians.

Christian leaders must take the initiative in developing a
corporate moral character for the country and the world. We
Christians are the "salt of the earth and if that salt loses
its taste, just what is it good for." These words in quotes
are not my words but Jesus's words. Perhaps we better start
applying the "salt".

Doug Johnson has been writing and online publishing Christian and Social Conservative articles since the 1990's on http://www.IndependentChristian.org/

Doug has been a Bible believing Evangelical Christian since childhood. He has been received into fellowship with the Evangelical Free Church, the Plymouth Brethern, the Assembly of God, the American Baptist, and the Southern Baptist.

In the early 2000's, he was received into full communion with the Catholic Church after careful study of the Catholic Catechism and the Bible. He believes Catholics and Bible believing Protestants should build on what they have in common rather than looking at what is different.

He is presently helping to establish the Independent Christian On-Line Academy at: http://www.ICOLA.us

Doug has an online retail wallpaper business at: http://www.TheWallpaperPirate.com/

Doug is available as a consultant and or speaker. To reach him, use the Contact Us page at any of the above websites.

Slow Market Home Pricing Advice

2009-08-30T04:36:00.001-07:00

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He has just finished a home buyers guide to take some of the frustration out of home shopping.

If you really think your home is safe, check out these pictures about home water damage.

Are Your Prayers Being Answered

Mastering Our Minds' Manipulators by John Bear 2001

2009-08-29T22:27:00.001-07:00

Your life is a product of what you think; it's not so much about what happens to you or what's going on around you, but how you react. John Bear aims to raise our awareness on the basic principles that govern our lives. He covers many areas that affect the quality of our lives and discusses how becoming more aware of these, gives us the opportunity to make more informed, and therefore better, choices. Without this basic understanding and awareness the reason for many of the choices we make, and subsequently, the results of those choices cannot be understood.

What is it that governs our decisions? Why do we have to have the latest gadgets bought on credit? Buy designer clothes we can't really afford knowing they are overpriced? What are the thoughts and impulses that drive us to succeed or not? Are we driven by fear and if so, fear of what? How do our choices impact the world around us?

The subjects raised may challenge your beliefs and if you decide to read this book require an open mind willing to give consideration to the thoughts put forth.

When we rely on sources outside of ourselves for our well-being we give away our own personal power. Governments, the media and institutions rely on this for their own gain above ours. Once they have won us over with promises and policies, it remains in their interest to only give information that benefits them and strengthens their position. Expanding your knowledge base and awareness through self education, exploring private investing and always questioning the information you are given is essential if you are to stand up and accept responsibility for your own life.

To sit back and complain about the state of your life, the economy or world has no effect except to leave you more exposed to the events that will happen. Remember it's not about what happens to you, but how you respond that determines the outcome, at the time and in the future. John Bear looks deeply into how the governing bodies of politics, religions and the media use their power to manipulate our thinking, so that they will profit and be secure in their positions, whilst we flounder with no choice but to reach out to them for help.

'Mastering our Minds' Manipulators' is an eye opening exploration into who we are, and what responsibilities we carry by being here. It encourages self education and awareness that allows you to make decisions in your life based on reaching out for the truth. You don't have to accept everything you're told, or believe that only one way is right. You will empower yourself by deciding you are no longer a victim of circumstance, 'For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.' Prov.23.7.

Absolute Wealth Education. Introducing a range of educational packages suitable for young and old. Homestudies, dvd's, books, ebooks, seminars etc. delivering knowledge and investment strategies that if implemented can provide individuals and families long term lifestyle and security . http://www.absolutewealtheducation.com

What Does a GFI Do? - Electrical Problems

2009-08-29T21:23:00.001-07:00

GFI 's come in 15 amp and 20 amperage outlets. GFI outlets must be wired properly. Make sure you're using the proper wire size when hooking up the GFI outlet.

The GFI electrical plug is a great idea and if you don't have them in your bathroom or outside of your home it would be a great idea to have an electrician install them for you.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He is currently working on more Home Building Library and adding useful content to help solve problems created by the lack of construction knowledge in the building industry.

San Diego Termite Damage

Was Jesus A Good Example

Where Did the Bible Come from?

2009-08-29T15:05:00.001-07:00

This was a pretty interesting article, if you've got time to read it, I would also suggest checking out Wikipedia for more information about the Council of Nicaea.

Here's Some of the Problems I Have with This Small Group of Proclaimed Christians.

Structural Framing Beams

2009-08-29T13:58:00.001-07:00

These beams come in all sorts of different lengths, widths and heights. They are engineered to hold amazing amounts of weight. They really are great engineering marvels.

Thanks Greg For Another Super Article On Home Building. For more great articles visit Greg at http://gregvan.com/

Nothing Will Be Impossible

What Does God Say? What Are Dreams?

2009-08-29T07:35:00.001-07:00

Sleep accomplishes much more than resting the physical body. The spirit within us never sleeps - we are sparks off the Divine Flame, does God ever sleep? No, and neither do the Angels. Our spirit inhabits our bodies like electrical wiring in a house. And while we sleep, no lights may be turned on, but that does not mean the current isn't active. Dreams are often remembrances of the rich and wonderful spiritual life that we accomplish while our physical body sleeps. There are seven main categories that dreams fall into, and most of them achieve fantastic work.

(1). Night School: Called a school because there are many participants with you in a classroom setting, this is a time of being taught a lesson and then trying it out for yourself. These are often choices not between right and wrong, but about good and greater good. After the teacher shows the variables of the lesson, the student is then placed into a scenario in which they can apply what they have learned and see for themselves what works. Similar to a test pilot using new skills in a simulator. Although very few people remember the classroom part of their dreams, many people do remember the scenarios.

(2). Guidance for others: This is where we get to actively use what we have learned at night school in real life situations. This is where most of our remembered dreams come from. When our body sleeps, our spirit is not in it, but is tethered by what is often termed an umbilical or silver cord. It is there until we die, and is the same one seen by near-death experiencers. During this time, we get to act as guides for others who are awake. Not all guides are still attached to physical bodies, some have died and are assigned specific people to help, similar to a guardian Angel. Compassion is a very big incentive in bringing out our best effort; so often God will choose for us to see our loved ones in these situations instead of the people that are really there.

For example: I had a dream where my teenage daughter had become pregnant and had run away from home. She was seen living under a bridge with other homeless people, so I got in our station wagon with our family dog and her grandpa and a friend, and went to bring her home. When I opened the car door, the dog ran up and found my daughter. She was afraid, but I carefully pulled her hair out of her eyes and she looked up and smiled, and said yes to coming home. I then awoke with a start, not knowing if this was a prophetic dream of things to come or not, so I asked in prayer, and was given the answer. I was actually helping find a black girl who was a pregnant runaway, a family abuse situation. The station wagon was a police car; the dog was a police dog. Yes the girl was afraid, and I was helping a social worker to calm her down, wiping the hair from her eyes, saying comforting words, and giving the worker inside information as to what was going on in the girl's life and additional compassion to help her choose the best way to help. The girl gained confidence that she would not be sent back to her abusive family and went with the social worker. Often in these dreams we feel like we are really there because we are.

Remember that while in spirit you will experience everything as a spirit does. You can fly, go through things, objects and light looks different, you can't see distance the same, you can't stare at your feet, time is not important, you can see other spirits, ghosts, Angels, unHoly Angels, etc. These dreams may find us in different countries, or even in different times, as God decides where to utilize us and time does not move just in a linear fashion; by ripple effect this changes the future or present time. In these dreams we may also help with storms or wildfires, or any number of things with the planet or its animals. And even though we feel is it happening to us, we are there helping others. If you remember to look in a mirror while in these dreams, you will see it is not you. Also, not all outcomes will be good, people will still die, or end up in poor situations. This is because you are not there in place of the free will of the person you are helping, but only to assist them with a subconscious awareness of opportunities and choices.

The combined experiences of real life and night school qualify us to be there to help, and you were sent by Divine direction to do this. This also means that you have your guardian Angel with you, and are directly wired to greater help which will be there instantly if the thought crosses your mind that you need it. This means Holy Angels are called to help you and the situation.

(3). Items from the stream of consciousness: Living on earth encases us in a vibratory soup of subatomic particles - we are intrinsically linked together, every part of us resonating with everything else. But the connection goes even further than that; we emotionally feel subtle and tremendous inflections in our very soul. It is that same place that mystics have been saying throughout time, that "we are all One." It is that same connection that we have with one another at all times, it makes no difference whether we are asleep or awake. When we are just about to sleep, or just coming out of it, there are opportunities to be very conscious of this stream, and to literally see it in front of our eyes; sometimes like sheets of rain in a storm, or big and little dots layered together. It is like a newsreel that runs day and night, with all information from all over the world on thousands of TV sets. All with their volume up and playing out the most dramatic and emotional scenes - which means the biggest bad things, and the best good things.

Why do we have this in us? The same reason we are called to help in guiding dreams - to make a difference in the world. The stream of consciousness is a place of awareness for us, and connection to God and one another. It is not technically a dream, but we may think it is when we are half-way in between awake and asleep; we see many situations and very quickly move between them. Remember that when we see things that are not the way they should be our desire to make it better helps it to do just that. There are children born who work in this picture-within-a-picture all the time, and depending on how big the picture of the stream is, decides how much they can function in the "real" world versus the one they are actively participating each moment. What we consider day-dreams can come from here too

(4). Visits from the other side: You would probably feel scared if your dead great-great grandmother appeared in front of you right now; and because of the fear, the bigger picture for the visit may not get through. This is the reason why Angels and spirits (different than ghosts who have not yet gone to God) do not appear very often, since they do not want to make us afraid. When we are asleep is the best time to say "Hi!" and tell us what we need to know, or even to have full conversations. This is also why most visitations occur shortly after a loved one's death, because they want to let you know they are OK, so you can be comforted that they are not really gone. Visits can also occur from the other side in negative ways, with visits of beings that want to scare us, make us feel helpless or hopeless or make us think that if we don't do certain things that bad will befall us. These will sometimes even appear like a loved one or a Holy Angel or even God. But these are fallen Angels, also called unHoly Angels or demons. When God made Angels he made them with free will, and some unplugged from his Love. How can you tell the difference? There are things that you can do.

Before you go to sleep at night, include in your prayers that no unHoly Angels may come near you, talk to you or cause any harm. Also, if you forget, simply remind yourself in your dream to ask one question of them, and no matter what they appear to be, the truth will be known. No matter what religion you are, ask "Do you love Jesus Christ now?" It is important to add "now" because at one time they all did, as part of one big Angelic brotherhood. The one who came to be known on earth as Jesus Christ had a pre-human existence, and was the firstborn son of God. All the Angels know who he is, what responsibilities he was given, how they were fulfilled, and the expanded power and authority he has now. If they are truly who they appear to be, they will answer "yes," if not, they will give all kinds of excuses, or curse, or try to scare you, and all you have to do is call in the Holy Angels who will protect you.

(5). Prophetic Dreams or Messages from God: These can be prophetic dreams telling of something coming up that we need to be aware of or make certain choices in (there is no such thing as fate). Or they can be outright messages to us from an Angel, from Jesus or an appearance of God himself. These are usually very BIG feeling dreams, and are rarely seen as anything else than what they are by the dreamer. A person may have none or several in a lifetime, but they are always considered life-changing and very real. They are easy to remember even years after they occur. They also happen to people who may not consider themselves very spiritual or religious, or to people who think they never dream. But when they happen they know it, and recognize that it is different than anything else they have ever experienced.

(6). Memories from previous lives: These can happen in two different ways. We are born with a veil in place that does many different things; one thing is a cover over our previous lives so that we can concentrate on the one at hand and not fret about what we should have done in a past one. When God lifts the veil, it is to reveal times of encouragement for us of our successes even in the midst of great difficulty. But if we have gone to someone for "past life regression," we have opened a big can of worms and can have all sorts of things come up that are distressing and distracting. Openings in the veil are most clear during sleep, and the memories are seen as dreams. These can occur as day-dreams as well.

(7). Scattered downloads and sorting from the day and memories from this life: This category is where you will find written all the self-help books about deciphering dreams. And though this is where most of people's energies seem to go, it is actually the least important category of all. The purpose of these dreams is simply to help sort, shuffle and organize the mind's input and connection. It may be a mixture of all kinds of things - TV, worries, stories, etc. Although these dreams are a linking between mind and spirit, there is little here worth remembering or applying to our conscious lives, and are really just remnants we may or may not remember viewing; mostly jumbled scenes which make very little sense.

So there are basically seven kinds of dreams that we have, and most are remembrances of the rich and wonderful spiritual life that we accomplish while our physical body sleeps. And we can also experience whatever is Divinely in place for us for the night, or we may also ask for a specific kind of dream. For example, we may request to have a "fluffy" dream that is light, joyful to help us shift more easily from the often stressful "guidance" dreams, so that would be the last thing on our minds before awakening. Never feel that you are not doing enough in your life, the bigger plan is already in place; God can utilize us even while we rest. Dreaming is hard work but wonderful, so never feel guilty that you need your sleep!

About the Author: Tiffany Snow carries the 5 marks of the Holy stigmata, and is a documented miracle healer, award-winning author, NDEr and public speaker. Her latest book: "God's Workbook - Shifting into the Light" is available on Amazon.com. Distant healing, deliverances, classes, live teleconferences and more articles are offered through the websites. This article may be reprinted and shared in any form without permission: please list websites - http://www.TiffanySnow.com, 800-535-5474 God's L.A.W. Love Always Wins!

Installing a 32 Inch Back Door

2009-08-29T06:41:00.001-07:00

In some older houses you will find a 30 inch back door. Have you ever tried to move a refrigerator or some large furniture through a 30 inch door? Keep in mind most bedroom doors are 30 inches wide and are in 36 inch hallways. 30 inch doors and bedrooms make it tough to move some furniture in too.

Let's start with the price difference between a 30 inch door and a 32 inch door. The cost difference is usually going to be around $20. If you are building a hundred homes this could become quite an additional expense. So we can understand why the home builder installed a 30 inch door in the back of our home.

He got the extra money in his pocket, you got a headache.

Here's the big problem. If you ever want to install a larger door you will need to replace the structural door framing. Now this is where you could run into a little bit of an expense. Changing the framing for a wider door could become quite costly. It could actually cost over $1000 in some cases.

Now if the homebuilder would have originally installed a 32 inch door in your house it might have ran him as high as an additional $45. How can this be? I will give you the first clue. There is a good chance the homebuilder will not be moving into any of these houses. If for some strange instance he did move into the house, he would learn the same lesson whenever he needed to move a large item into the house.

I'm a contactor and learned this lesson in a long time ago.

If you are building a new home you might even want to consider installing a 36 inch back door. This door will give you plenty of room when it comes to moving large items in or out of your house. The cost difference between a 36 inch door and a 32 inch door is usually around $20 also.

When building a new home most people don't give very much thought about their interior or exterior doors. Here's a simple chart I made to help with some basic door decisions.

Bathroom Doors Should Be 28 Inches Wide Minimum.
Bedroom Doors Should Be 30 Inches Wide Minimum.
Front Doors Should Be At Least 36 Inches Wide
Back Doors and Garage Doors Should Be At Least 32 Inches Wide

If you are a professional football or basketball player don't use these numbers above.

If you have large sliding glass doors or French doors throughout your home and can use them to move large items into the house you can install whatever size doors you choose that are comfortable to walk through.

Give some thought when installing a new door on your next project and keep some of the above tips in mind..

If you are designing a home give some thought to the stairways and hallways in the home as well.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He is currently working on more Building and Remodeling Library and adding useful content to help solve problems created by the lack of construction knowledge in the building industry.

Visit us and get more information on building and remodeling your homes and Bay Window Ideas

When Do We Get To Meet God

Motivation and Positive Thinking - Self Help Tips

2009-08-29T00:05:00.001-07:00

There are many ways to improve self-motivation but very few that seem universal.

Many people tend to look at the outside, and tend to ignore the inside where all people hold their esteem. There are 3 simple rules to live by are the three- D's. Desire, Determination , & Dedication. The first step would be to ask if feel the desire to improve yourself! The second step is to put forth effort to overcome. Then finally, you must be dedicated to see to achieving the success that you desire.

If you can remember those three simple- D's, they will inspire so much passion in you to obtain what ever you seek! Motivation is key to what ever we do in life. If we are feeling unmotivated then we feel lethargic. If you are motivated you can really bring excitement and thrill into the most simple tasks. Positive thinking is the key to finding motivation in everything you do! It starts with waking up and thanking the lord for another day. Every day that you wake up, you should have goals to obtain that day. Make it a challenge to yourself that day, you must complete those missions. It will bring more excitement and something to drive your emotions that day.

The four things I try to obtain each day are as follows; Try to make someone laugh Try to read and learn something new and intellectual. Try to exercise and improve your energy. Then try to make a new connection with someone or rekindle an old one. Well I hope this brings some basic motivation spikes that will be implemented for your future success.

Remember that it is all a mindset you need to place yourself in!

"Pura Vida" means pure life in Costa Rica... Now it is up to you to find it!

This article was written by Matthew Gruenke - Please visit my web-site at http://www.mymysterywealth.com
God Bless & Pura Vida

Luck is What Happens When Preparation Meets Opportunity

2009-08-28T23:15:00.001-07:00

I'm no different than most people but now seem to be aware of my surrounding opportunities, all the time.

Impact Of Christian Mentors

52 Ways to Live a Better Life by Shadonna Richards

2009-08-28T16:30:00.001-07:00

Infinity Publishing (2009)

ISBN 9780741451675

Shadonna Richards, a Canadian registered nurse, freelance writer and former newspaper columnist, has put together a simple but concise book on how to live a better life. As a nurse working with terminally ill cancer patients, who are told they have only six months to live, she was inspired to write empowering words of wisdom. Richards also interviewed many individuals for her newspaper columns, thus compiling inspirational stories to encourage us to look at our own lives, makes changes as necessary, and to live a fulfilled life. Although her resources are Canadian, the concept of her book is global and I'm sure readers will find similar resources in their respective countries and areas.

"A Gift of Hope" is designed to be used as a workbook, with each week having an exercise to be done daily. For example, the first week starts with "Stay Mentally Fit." The text talks about the stresses in our lives and then gives exercises. The first exercise for the first week is to "Identify, then rectify." Richards says "A crucial part of any solution is locating the problem. Do worries keep you up at night? Go directly to the source of your tension." The second exercise for the first week is "Detox Your Mind." Richards says "We always have a choice. We can choose to dwell on being hopeless in situations or dwell on having hope."

The second week covers "Dare to Dream: Believe that Anything is Possible" and captures president-elect Barrack Obama's "Yes We Can" powerful slogan. Using his story and his dreams, Richards iterates that our dreams can become reality if we persist and believe.

Other weeks cover topics like: Understand That Money Isn't Everything, Reach out to those in Need, and Be the Friend You Desire to Have. For the purpose of this review I didn't have the opportunity to test the system for a full 52 weeks; however, being a student and teacher of transformation, I know it works. Shadonna Richards has provided a book, "A Gift of Hope," to take us to a higher level of consciousness, a place where we can manage our personal lives with ease and contentment.

http://www.readerviews.com/

Moisture Against Gravity - Destroying Walls

2009-08-28T15:30:00.001-07:00

Well I'm going to start this article with a little information on a job I did once.

To repair the rental property I had to remove the damaged drywall, remove the carpeting, dry the wood framing out and put the whole thing back together.

I'm still amazed and will remember that project for as long as I live.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He is currently working on more Building and Remodeling Library and adding useful content to help solve problems created by the lack of construction knowledge in the building industry.

Visit us and get more information on House Water Damage

Are Your Prayers Being Answered

Keeping a Positive Attitude During the Financial Crisis

2009-08-28T08:56:00.001-07:00

The President tells us we have staved off a Great Depression with the giant mortgage crisis bail out. The Democratic Candidates tell us that the middle class is dying, people are losing their homes and jobs and the economy is in shambles. We all know that fuel prices are too high and the costs of nearly everything we buy are on the rise.

Treasury Secretary Paulson warns us we are not out of the woods yet and former FED Chairmen Greenspan tells us that this is a one in a century emergency and the 700 billion dollar bail out is the only plausible option. The Commercial Real Estate Industry says they might be next and the retail sector along with car sales are in trouble. GM may need a bail out and the Airlines are all on the verge of stalling out. Corporate America has announced massive lay-offs and huge consolidations, all bad news, very bad news.

So, with all this doom and gloom how on Earth is anyone going to keep a positive attitude? Well, they need too, as "consumer confidence" can often be the difference between economic collapse and a short recession. It's up to all of us now, our leaders have spoken and are taking action, this can work, but not without our help.

It's up to all Americans to think past the mass media hysteria, to believe in our financial system, and to allow it to work through this crisis. After all if you allow yourself to dip into negativity, all you are going to do is cause yourself stress and health issues. And in doing so, you will not be helping yourself, your family or our nation through these turbulent times.

"Lance Winslow" - Lance Winslow's Bio. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/.

New Home Buyers Beware

2009-08-28T08:03:00.001-07:00

Ican't believe how many homebuyers purchase a house, with very little information and a Lotta hope. I'm a general contractor and often work on these homes, after they have been purchased and a homeowner has their money, the real estate professional is no longer involved in the transaction and the new homeowner is starting to experience the pitfalls from buying the home, that they sincerely believe was in good condition.

It's usually somebody like me that gets involved with the new homeowners after everyone else is out of the picture and chooses not to return their phone calls or explains to them quite simply, it's not our responsibility, you're the new homeowner and we really feel sorry for you, please call us again if we can help you with anything.

You couldn't even help me with that, why would I want to call you again if I had a problem. I never could understand this thinking but have ran into it often. It sounds like an oxymoron when someone refuses to help you but offers you help in the future. What ever!!!.

If homebuyers had something else to rely on besides their real estate salesperson, home inspection service, mortgage or insurance professional, I believe they can eliminate some of these problems. Where do you start and how do you get the information. You can gather information from reputable people, books, the Internet and so on.

The problem is how do you know these people are reputable and the books on the Internet have good information. This brings us to another problem, but I've got the solution that will help eliminate some of the grief. I'm not going to remove all of the grief from your life but have a suggestion for you that will eliminate some of the pain when buying a home.

Arm yourself with a good home inspection checklist. You can search the Internet and they have quite a few good home inspection checklist to work with. These checklist can provide you with things you might not have thought of, and this is where you can eliminate some of the problems.

If you took one of these checklists with you while you were shopping for a home, you would be aware of some of the problems with the home. You might not find all of the problems but these checklist will help you with some of the problems.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He has just finished a Home Buyers Guide to take some of the frustration out of home shopping.

If your looking for some more home inspection or home building ideas.

Spiritual Dictionary

Self Help Tips, Creating SMART Goals

2009-08-28T00:44:00.001-07:00

Creating S.M.A.R.T. goals is easy. These are goals that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely.

If you are creating S.M.A.R.T. goals you have a better chance to succeed.

They are very granular in natural. There is no ambiguity and there is a time frame for achieving.

If you are setting vague goals like this......"We will reduce operating expenses this year", you will probably get results that match. Vague, unmeasurable and not timely.

There is no way to measure the outcome because we do not know the specific destination. If your business is measuring its success like this you probably have employees who don't know if they are doing a good job or not and you probably are not achieving your goals.

A good example of a S.M.A.R.T. Goal is: "We will reduce operating expenses by 2% for the second quarter of the fiscal year". This contains all the elements that we need to reach our destination.

It is specific "reduce operating expenses by 2%, it is measurable, and it is timely. Of course it has to be attainable and realistic too.

Specific - A specific goal will contain enough detail to answer who, what, where, when.

Measurable - A measurable goal will contain an exact end. Answer the questions how much or how many is a good start.

Attainable - Goals must stretch you, but should be achievable with good effort. If they are not it could cause apathy because the goal seemed too far away.

Realistic - Do you think the goal is achievable? Can you get it done with maximum effort or will your maximum effort still come up short? Goals should not be easy...to the contrary. However, they should be realistic.

Timely - Set an exact start and end time. If you do not establish a start time, you will never begin. If you do not establish an end time you will never achieve your goal in a timely manner. Having a start and end time greatly increases your chance for success.

Creating these types of goals will help you achieve a higher percentage of them and this all adds up to driving more business. Let it work for you today.

Gregg Zban is a General Manager with Coca-Cola Enterprises and has created a website dedicated to better time management in business, with family, at school and more.

To learn more please visit http://www.choice-time-management.com

For freebies please visit http://www.GreggZban.com

Home Selling Tips - Best Real Estate Advice Ever

2009-08-19T03:10:00.001-07:00

5. The Interior and exterior walls of the home should be in good shape. Make sure there's no termite damage, wood rot, peeling paint, broken windows or holes in the walls.

These are just a few home selling tips but the most important is to keep the inside and outside of the home clean.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He has just finished a home buyers guide to take some of the frustration out of home shopping.

Don't buyers sell a home without checking how the problems with poor home repairs.

Difficulties Talking About Religion

Home Improvement Tip - Fixing a Squeaky Floor

2009-08-18T14:14:00.001-07:00

The main thing you are going to be looking for is movement of any kind.

For more help on fixing squeaky floors visit http://gregvan.com/wood_repair.htm

Thanks for the great question. I hope it helps.

His website http://gregvan.com provides all kinds of answers to remodeling and new house building issues that could create major damage as well as possible damage to your pocket book.

Visit us now for Home Improvement Tips

Is Money A Big Part Of Organized

Can You Ask God For Wisdom

2009-08-17T15:04:00.001-07:00

Can You Change Your Life
My Parents Influence On Me

Become the Master of Your Habits

2009-08-17T02:20:00.000-07:00

Everyones got habits. Some are annoying cracking gum, talking while chewing, leaving the toilet seat up. Others are harmful smoking, drinking too much, gossiping. But, some habits are helpful, good, and excellent exercising daily, getting enough sleep, flossing your teeth, leaving early for appointments. You werent born with any habits at all, but acquired them as you grew. This is great news, because it means that no matter how tough any particular habit seems to break, you learned it and you can un-learn it, too!

Successful people have good habits. They tend to have a high level of self-control. People who live frustrating, defeated lives have habits that have taken over and gotten ugly. These habits seem like giants, in full control of our every waking moment.

If you have a good understanding about how habits are formed, and a systematic plan for changing your habits into ones that are beneficial for you, youve got a great start on achieving your goals. People who are bent on success arent the type who follow the path of least resistance. They know that some things in life take hard work and self-discipline. They understand the concept of delayed gratification.

Delayed gratification means attacking a situation with the full knowledge that its a front-loaded prospect. The hardest, worst part of the task comes first. The reward comes last, but its well worth all the sweat and tears that came before it. Most habits are formed when we short-circuit the process and are unwilling to put off receiving the reward. In failing to delay gratification, we accept a far inferior consolation prize instead of the shining glory we could have had.

If you want to make changes in your habits, you have to realize that its a matter of timing do you want a little reward now, or a big reward after youve done the work?

Most people can easily make a list of dozens of habits theyd like to either have or get rid of. They know what they need to do; they know its time to clean house. Doing it, though, is another question. Mixed all together, this wish list seems impossible. Its too much all at once. But one by one, a persistent person can gnaw away at this mountain of change.

Making changes in our habits takes self-discipline. Discipline means training that develops self-control and orderly conduct. Sometimes it seems like it would be easier to control a wild gorilla than to control yourself. The easiest thing in the world is for us to take the quickest path to satisfaction. This is why advertising works so well promise us anything thats pleasurable, anything fast and easy, anything that makes us feel better, and were there! Like an out-of-control toddler, we demand our immediate satisfaction and the part of us that might be inclined to say wait or no gets run over. The more often we give in to our childish demands, the harder it gets to deny ourselves. The toddler in us gets used to having it our way, right away. The sane part of us eventually gives up. Whats the use? Our cravings, our habits feel like an unstoppable force.

Part of becoming someone who is wise, mature, and successful is learning to master the power of self-discipline. It involves applying all we know, all the best tools and techniques, every resource available to us to free ourselves from habits that entangle us. It involves finding the motivation to rid ourselves of habits that endanger our quality of life, our freedom, and our ability to succeed. It involves becoming willing to be aware of whats really going on, of facing our needs directly and finding appropriate ways to have them met.

Research shows that new habits can be formed in twenty-one days. It works the same no matter whether its a bad habit or a good one, whether its a habit youre trying to add or to get rid of twenty-one days is the magic number. Its like burning a new route through your brain cells, building a better road. Once the habit is there, its the most efficient way to go like a rut in the road, its hard to jump over the edge and go a different way. Use this information to outsmart your bad habits. The twenty-one day timeframe is the foundation for a life in which you are the master of your habits.

Andrew Cocks and Terry Zambri are Certified Life Success Consultants, Network Marketing and Internet Marketing Coaches. Their exclusive 3 step marketing system, combined with their unique home based business training program is creating massive success for their team. Visit: http://www.AndrewAndTerry.com/incomeaccelerationsecrets.html to learn how you can be coached by them for FREE.

Mohandas Gandhi

A New Day For Less Stress

2009-08-15T17:16:00.001-07:00

We are in amazing times! Do you believe that in this new day the human body can handle so much stress and excitement? From the economy to the environment the body is bombarded daily by stress inducing factors. Stress is like a fast flowing avalanche of water; stress is the flood and plague of our times.

Although we live in such amazing times with stress levels of immense proportions many ways exist to expunge the body and mind of stress with lightning speed and faster. To clarify one's brain after a stressful day requires some self-initiative and a mindful awareness...hardly a facile task when you're tired and overwhelmed. But when you learn right now the steps to relieve stress in a most powerful way you'll absolutely know in the moments of overwhelm what to do to mitigate the damage and reverse the aging effects that stress induces. And to make sure the mind/body is expunged fully of most stress before we lay down to sleep (an imperative step for wellness) we will focus on an ancient art of body awareness.

This awareness will bring you to a place that is nearly stress free. These crucial exercises important as they are and as powerful are but a warm-up for the one time that can reduce stress levels to undetectable levels. This process we will now discuss is an ancient process old as life itself. Without it we will die in minutes and without a daily period of conscious breathing we absolutely cannot live stress free. Breathing rhythmically and as deeply and fully as feasible before bedtime is like a key that unlocks the deepest secret of stress release. The secret is oxygenated and unencumbered sleep.

It is something that everyone must do yet so few know how to unlock the full potential for stress reduction and healing that can take place nightly. Fortunately you are reading this and will be empowered and perhaps compelled to tell your family and friends of these stress relief techniques. Once you experience the amazing leaps of growth and expansion in your life and the downright astonishing moments of luck and "coincidence" you will be compelled to share your light and truth with the world.

The ancient art of pranayama meaning to lengthen breath and life will change the body from the inside out and allow the body to slip into the deepest level of sleep imaginable. After doing these exercises stress levels will plummet to levels that you may have only experienced when you were a newborn. Many of us have been since birth exposed to stress. Even if the first years were in a peaceful (and smoke free) home nearly all of us and almost everyone reading this is exposed to one of the most prolific inducers of stress of our time...electromagnetic frequencies. Daily stress factors are many but the following combination of powerful breathing exercises and a deep restful sleep is enough to renew the body, mind and spirit. And you'll sleep like a baby.

Before beginning be sure to sit down and keep both feet on the ground (Do not attempt while driving or flying a helicopter, operating a hover craft...get the picture).

The first exercise involves bringing the right hand to the face and covering your right nostril with your right thumb while the index and middle fingers touch the center of your forehead. Now exhale fully out the left nostril then inhale fully...now cover the left nostril with the ring finger and exhale out the right nostril. Inhale through the right nostril then cover it with the thumb. Exhale out the left nostril followed by an inhale...cover it then out the right.

Left, right, left, right, left, right... Do this exercise for two minutes or for ten cycles.

Now the next exercise: sitting tall drop your chin to your chest and tighten your abdominal muscles and buttocks. ("Locking" the chin down and locking the abs and butt will isolate the breath to the upper chest). Take a deep breath and start to inhale and exhale rapidly while the lowest ribs expand and contract powerfully. Do this for 30-50 exhales.

Next: Sit tall and "lock" your chest and shoulders tight; lock the buttocks and inhale deeply into the lower abdomen and belly. Quickly inhale/exhale and deliberately expand and contract the stomach 30-50 times. The stomach muscles should be tightened as much as possible on the exhalation and expanded equally on the inhalation.

And lastly stand up with feet about shoulder width apart or wider. Inhale deeply and thrust the hips up and forward while tightening the muscles of the reproductive organs. Exhale and stick the butt out and squat down slightly while tightening the center of the buttocks. Breathe up and in, then down and out 8-10 times.

The simple and profoundly effective series of breathing exercises we just learned can be done every night before bed. The breath has the effect of massaging the organs, calming the mind and releasing any blocks in energy within the tissues of the body. These benefits have the effect of stimulating the various systems of the body to operate more efficiently and in harmony within the whole system. When this energy is allowed to flow the effect on our sleep is profound.

The brain waves will harmonize into their natural frequency with deeper and longer and even waves. Releasing stress with the breathing exercises allows the mind to detach from the thoughts. The electrical system of the body harmonizes with the breath. All systems are allowed to align with a vibration of peace and well-being. The benefits continue all night long and the amount of surplus energy you gain will propel you to new levels of understanding of yourself and the world. We are in amazing times. Maximize the tools you possess to thrive in these times.

HypnoFreedom is currently offering a free teleseminar series "Clearing Your Path for Abundance: The Best of the Best for Boundless Well-Being". Please learn more and sign up here: http://www.alternativedesignsolutions.com/HypnoFreedom/bestofthebest.html

Shawn Duyette is a martial artist of ten years. He has been trained in several energy healing modalites including reiki, quantum touch, and Native American energy healing. Shawn is also a Certified Hypnotherapist and massage therapist. He has been trained in herbology and Chinese medicine (acupuncture, shiatsu, tui-na bodywork) and is currently on sabbatical from medical school.

Shawn is a life long meditator who began meditating at a very young age sitting for hours in the woods of his suburban childhood home in the northeastern United States.

Shawn enjoys writing poetry and has been published as a poet with some of his works found at http://www.Poetry.com

Currently he is blogging for hypno-freedom and he is working on his first book which is aimed at sharing metaphysical principles with children.

50 Prosperity Classics

Did Jesus Actually Ever Get Mad

2009-08-15T14:35:00.001-07:00

Spiritual Benefits
Always Question Your Religion

10 Keys to Designing A Personal Lifelong Learning Process

2009-08-14T07:49:00.001-07:00

A Lifelong Learning Plan is a conscious, continuous engagement in acquiring, assimilating and applying knowledge and skills in the context of authentic, self-directed growth and challenge. It is rare for individuals to take this initiative. Most people operate on a "what they need now" plan and typically attend educational institutions for their training.

Lifelong Learning is a philosophy of approaching learning as an integral, inseparable part of our lifes activities. Here are ten guidelines to help you formulate your own personalized Lifelong Learning Process.

1. Commit to approach learning as a lifelong journey. Choose to keep it alive throughout your lifetime. You don't need to attend formal educational institutions for this process. In fact, you can learn more in small, consistent spurts than you can in a classroom, if you set up your plan correctly.

2. Maximize your resources. With lifelong learning, there isn't a structure like you had in school, so its easy to ignore and procrastinate. If you allow this, eventually the "you snooze, you lose" theory will catch up with you. A prime example is how changes in the national economy have hit the IT industry these last few years. The companies that priorize learning are still in the game, whereas their competitors who focused on "what we need now" are out of business. Create a system and plan that works and can last a lifetime. Keep learning journals for each topic.

3. Maximize your environments. Identify and create settings that support and inspire you both inside and outside your home. How does the library spark your learning? How about the mall, the park, or even McDonalds! Explore different environments and label each one (e.g., "inspiring," "relaxing," "great for concentration.") What supplies help you keeping your energy up? Do you need quiet for some learning and busy environments for others?

4. Know how you learn. To learn effectively, know how you learn. How do you take in information, process, and retain it? There isn't one best way. Tie everything into a learning purpose and vision. When and how often does you mind need a break? Do you have reading spurts? How do you retain the information -- by reading aloud, notes, summarizing in memory, or sharing with others?

5. Tap into the power of your mind. Your minds power is evident in everything you do. Analytical, critical and creative thinking enables the mind to process, store, and create all the facts and ideas it encounters. By practicing different types and ways of thinking, you keep your mind strong and flexible. Consider it "going to the gym" for your mind! (Talking about how the mind works is the subject of a huge tome, not a Top 10!)

6. Harness the power of words and ideas. Words, when joined, form ideas, and are tools with enormous energy. Whether writing a memo, letter, e-mail, article, or journal entry, make each an opportunity to fulfill a learning goal. Each is a chance to work toward improving and using words to construct understandable ideas. Learn to express ideas in writing. This will evolve into clearer thinking. Keep an idea journal by theme or topic.

7. Absorb, retain, and demonstrate knowledge. What do you do with the facts, opinions, and stories that you accumulate daily? Listening helps absorption and memory skills, which enables retention. Listen to a teleclass or book on tape, then write your own version and master what you learned by moving it into long-term memory. Listening can be compared to using a camera. First, you view the image and focus (listening). Next, you snap the picture (remembering). Finally, you print the image (demonstrate knowledge). Mastering knowledge means being able to apply it in other situations.

8. Value diversity. The greater part of our day involves interacting with others. Experiencing other peoples communication styles, learning methods, and the roles played in groups and teams helps us to grow, prosper, open our minds and develop new perceptions. Dealing with conflict, criticism, and any points of vulnerability strengthens our ability to use any situation as an opportunity to learn.

9. Take exceptionally good care of yourself. Physical and mental health affects learning. Examine these aspects and set up contingencies within your plan to identify and work through all health challenges as soon as they appear.

10. Map your course. Maximize time, energy and focus by defining a yearly learning theme. Subdivide into monthly topics with time commitments. (Example: Ten years ago, I defined a learning goal of three new computer steps in no more than 15-minutes per day. It has compounded and saved time and money ever since.) Minimize distractions by learning to "table the other topics." Create a "next year" folder to contain those great ideas and set up a review month of tabled topics to decide how to use them in the following year.

Catherine Franz, a Certified Professional Marketing & Writing Coach, specializes in product development, Internet writing and marketing, nonfiction, training. Newsletters and articles available at: http://www.abundancecenter.com blog: http://abundance.blogs.com

Prayer Beads

Good Explanation of Old Testament Tithing

2009-08-13T12:46:00.001-07:00

Four Agreements
Childhood Religious Control

Truth in Ancient Teachings

2009-08-12T23:03:00.001-07:00

Eckhart Tolle is a gifted spiritual teacher. In the opening chapter of his book, A New World, he identifies two common themes shared by mankind's greatest religions and spiritual teachings. The first is the idea than our normal awareness is flawed. In our normal state we are missing the mark, or missing the point of reality. Given our history of war and violence, it is hard to argue with this first theme. We seem to be always on our way somewhere, often unhappy with someone or something over perceived wrongs. So much of our lives are spent looking for the next person or event to make us happy. Seldom do we find what we are looking for and when we do it seldom lasts.

The flaws in our normal awareness are not hard to see. It is not to say we do not have our moments of great joy. It is the point that joy seldom lasts. I love Tolle's example of the unhappy guy who wins the lottery and lives the same unhappy life in more luxurious surroundings. Spiritual wisdom teaches that true joy comes from within.

Eckhart Tolle says that the world's great religions share two common themes. What then is the second? The second is the possibility of transformation. Redemption, salvation, awakening, or enlightenment - all refer to one core idea. The idea that man has the capacity to change his normal state of awareness and to wake up. Waking up is the clear goal of most spiritual seekers and the hidden goal of most of us who just want to be happy.

Paths to truth are varied, but there is likely only one absolute truth about our reality. Tolle believes he found it through unbearable pain. Others have found it though near-death experiences. My humble suggestion is not to wait for intense pain or a brush with death. If you agree our normal state leaves something to be desired, look for a way to wake up.

In the end we are together. If a path teaches you to blame or find causes of suffering outside yourself, avoid it. Change the world by changing your own mind.

Spiritual awakening is within anyone's grasp. Visit my website http://www.beapasserby.com where we uncover the insights of the world's greatest spiritual teachers and healers.

Low Energy People

The Most Popular and Effective Stuttering Therapy Treatments

2009-08-10T23:04:00.001-07:00

There are now numerous forms of therapy available for people who have a stutter. So which of these types of stuttering treatment are the most beneficial and effective?

A recent survey has suggested that the most popular form of stuttering therapy comes in the form of specialised one-to-one speech therapy courses which are run by people who have previously had a stutter. These courses are normally held over a five-day period however there are shorter three-day and weekend speech courses available.

The fact that they are run by somebody who has previously had this form of speech impediment makes these courses more popular and effective than the more traditional forms of speech therapy. Speech therapists have not lived life with a stutter and therefore can not fully comprehend just what a struggle life can be etc.

A speech course does not suit everybody for a variety of reasons. For example a person who has a stutter may not have enough confidence to attend such a course or may not be able to afford the course fee.

Fortunately there are also a number of self-help stuttering therapy products on offer. This is where a person attempts to overcome their stutter from the comfort of their own home by following a set of stuttering cure techniques. These self-help products include a DVD, an audio book and an e-book.

In the end the survey suggests that it all depends on a person's individual circumstance but that there is normally a product to suit.

One last thing to remember; it is important that there is a continued after service on offer. These are usually offered free of charge and is where people are able to keep in regular contact with the person who is offering the stuttering therapy service, to ask any questions that may arise and to seek additional advice.

Steve Hill is a speech coach from Birmingham; he has a number of websites including: stuttering therapies
stuttering

Self Esteem Issues - Their Growth and How to Overcome Them

2009-08-09T13:27:00.001-07:00

Self esteem is how we perceive our self, the way we value our self, the worth we put on our self as a person. Although this has nothing to do with how other people perceive us, it is about how we perceive other people to perceive us.

If we suffer from low self esteem we will feel very lowly about ourselves thus filling us with self doubt. We can end up doubting everything about us, including our appearance, intelligence, capability, how much people like us and the worth of what we have to say. We can feel very lonely and different from other people.

Low self esteem can be caused by many different things. It could be bullying or constantly being put down. Someone, very often a family member, telling the person that they are not doing well enough, that they are useless or worthless or a combination of all of those things.

Whatever the cause is, it makes little, if any, difference to how the person feels. The overwhelming feelings of being a lesser person, inadequate, useless or worthless, and above all different!

This can happen at any age. Sometimes it can be in the very early, formative years of a child possibly living in the shadow of an older sibling, but could just as easily be at a much later time of life caused through a controlling relationship

These feelings can have a devastating effect on the persons life, restricting them and stopping them from going to certain places. They may avoid some activities or associating with some people for very often the unnecessary fear of being ridiculed. This can stop them from making relationships or pursuing a particular career.

Abusing somebody, be it by bullying, controlling, putting them down by telling them how useless they are, or in any other way, will understandably give that person doubts about themselves. They will think why do people treat me like that? What is it about me that make others treat me like that? There must be something wrong with me. It is these negative thoughts that are the seeds of low self esteem.

When someone has those self doubts and negative thoughts it effects how they act. They avoid situations where they might feel uncomfortable. They act in a negative way and therefore, get a negative response from others making them feel even more negative. This starts a downward cycle of feeling negative, acting negative, getting a negative response, then feeling even more negative.

How other people perceive the sufferer is of enormous importance to them. Unfortunately, what they imagine others are thinking about them will invariably be negative.

So how can we overcome low self esteem? The first thing we should remember is that it will have probably taken a long time for our self esteem to have sunk so low. Going down that spiral of negative feeling, negative actions, getting negative response, making you feel more negative. So what we need to do is become more positive in the way we feel. As negative feelings grow so do positive feelings. To many of us the thought of changing from feeling and acting negative to positive is a massive step and so it is, but the good news is all we need to do is feel a little bit more positive and then allow that feeling to grow.

The thought of changing negative thoughts to positive ones for anyone suffering from low esteem can be very daunting, but all we need to do is start the process.

I have found with my clients if they can accept the fact that they are not as important to others as they feel they are, it can very often help them to start those positive feelings. It is a fact that the only people we are important to are those who love or care for us. It is ironic that it is these people that we all feel confident and comfortable with. To all others it is unimportant what we look like, what we wear, what we say or how we act, as they are unimportant to us. If we are walking along the street and we see someone fall over or walk into a lamp post we may feel sorry for them or have a little smile, but a few steps further we have seen something in a shop window and that person has gone from our thoughts forever because there are too many other things to think about, and that is how every one reacts.

If we accept what we are like is not that important to other people we need no longer worry about what they think about us, a very positive thought. It is only a start, but very often that first small, positive thought is all that is needed to allow the growing process to begin.

Add a relaxation therapy like hypnotherapy or aromatherapy to help the sufferer become more relaxed and calm, then those feelings can start to change and that negative, downward cycle can turn into an upward, positive one.

Henry is a fully qualified hypnotherapist specialising in emotional problems. For more information on low self esteem and hypnotherapy please go to http://www.hypnotherapycounselling.com

Transform Your Good Intentions Into Real Results

2009-08-08T05:26:00.001-07:00

It seems to be the custom in our society to use the unwrapping of a new year's calendar as an excuse to turn the page on an area of our life that we are not happy about. However, in reality, I notice that the gym, always full during the first week of January, gets strangely quiet by the end of that first month.

Why do most resolutions fail? Do resolutions really work to create lasting change?

The cause of many failed resolutions is the attempt to modify behaviors without realizing that the root of our results resides in our thoughts, attitudes, assumptions and beliefs about the world: how we define our personal truth.

Our unconscious truth is that we want instant gratification, without sacrifice, effort, or pain. We want the magic bullet that will make our lives the way we want them, right now. We want change while staying in our comfort zone. We deserve what we want!

Change is essential to who we are. To thrive as living beings, we need to continuously evolve and grow. We need to change to be in sync with the world around us. Change is good, change is vital.

We make a resolution when we see that there is a part of our life where the results don't quite match the idealized picture we have of ourselves. The recognition that something needs to change is a good thing. Stating the resolution consciously, out loud, is an important trigger to start the process of conscious change away from what we don't want and towards something we do want.

Where resolutions fall down is that most people set themselves up for failure. Resolutions are the first part of a system to modify your thoughts, words, actions, character and destiny. However, just saying it is not enough to make the change happen.

What is the best way to ensure that you are building the future you really want, in your life, your career, your relationships, your business, your livelihood?

The most important factor in creating and implementing successful resolutions is to give yourself the time and room to learn a new way of being. Many self-help experts say it takes three weeks to adopt a new habit. They are partly right...it may take three weeks to feel comfortable with a new habit, but it takes six to twelve months to lock it in as a way of life that is automatic for you. That's why clarity, commitment, detailed planning and long-term support are so important.

A resolution turns into a result through a simple process:

a. Intention: describing the result that you want;

b. Strategy: creating a plan to make it happen and gathering the resources you need;

c. Execution: living your plan, integrating new habits and actions, making things happen; and

d. Result: outcome that you assess and feedback to modify any of the previous steps to make the result as close as possible to your intention.

Anytime of the year, not just January 1, is a great time to create a resolution that works. Consciously adopt one new result into your life each year, and you will be creating the future you really want, by design instead of by default. Isn't that worth making a deliberate decision to change, now?

Davender Gupta is a business leadership coach and Certified "Book Yourself Solid" Coach whose mission is to guide passion-driven solopreneurs and beginning network marketers to accelerate their Vision from Passion to Profit. Join the discussion on his blog frompassiontoprofit.com and his main site coachdavender.com He welcomes your questions by e-mail at coach@davender.com or by phone, toll-free, at 1-888-788-8844.

The 11 Forgotten Laws - Review

2009-08-06T21:28:00.001-07:00

I am not a big fan of most online self-help courses. While most of them are inspirational, the effects of them on one's life usually last for a couple of weeks, then the old patterns, as well as the old way of thinking returns. The chosen online self-help course slowly fades into memory. However, the 11 Forgotten Laws is different. What Bob Proctor (The Secret) and Mary Morrisey have put together are universal laws that have been around since man first walked upon the Earth. You may have already heard of one or two of them, but in the day-to-day bustle of life, they have been stored away in the recesses of your memory. When you hear the definition and meaning of each law, it's a head slapping experience because the truth of them is self-evident. Let's take a look at the list.

The 11 Forgotten Laws are as follows -

- the law of thinking
- the law of supply
- the law of attraction
- the law of receiving
- the law of increase
- the law of compensation
- the law of non-resistance
- the law of forgiveness
- the law of sacrifice
- the law of obedience
- the law of success

By looking at the list, perhaps some of the truth of the Universal Laws is coming back to your consciousness. I must say that I was touched by the Law of Forgiveness. There is an old saying that goes "He who sets out for revenge should dig two graves." It's a true statement. Having anger and resentment towards anyone or anything has negative consequences that is concentrated more on the bearer of the grudge than the object of the anger. When the anger is let go, it allows one to move forward.

There are many glowing testimonials about the 11 Forgotten Laws, and if you were to read them here you would think it was just another get rich quick course. The truth is the increased income of these individuals is a consequence of living a better life. It's easier to play the game once you know what the rules (laws) are. One of the 11 Forgotten Laws is the The Law of Attraction, which means when you expect more and you have more you will get more. If you are a positive person, you will attract positive people in your life.

Sometimes in life, we need to give ourselves a checkup from the neck up. The 11 Forgotten Laws will help you do just that. It will change your way of thinking, and once you change your way of thinking to a more positive aspect, good things will happen for you.

For Additional information concerning The 11 Forgotten Laws