Taking Control of Your Life - An Empowerment Technique That Could Change How You View Everything

By Lynn Marie Sager

How can you regain control of your life?

Pay attention to your language. Listen to the words that drop carelessly from your lips.
Whatever you say often enough, you eventually prove to yourself. Your language is a refection of your thoughts and your attitudes. Your language reflects whether you feel in control of your life, or out of control in your world.

How often do you hear statements like: "I can't," "If only," "I must," "There is nothing I can do," "I was born that way," "She irritates me," "He makes me uptight," "They won't let me," "You need to do something," "Everything is a mess," "I had no choice," "He started it."

Now, take a moment to consider how often you use similar statements yourself.

Statements like these are limiting. They indicate that the speaker has relinquished all power. They indicate that the speaker feels helpless and unable to affect worthwhile change.

If you want to reclaim your sense of power, then you need to retrain your tongue to take back your sense of control. Don't ever think that the words you utter don't matter. Your mind starts to believe anything that your tongue says often enough.

When you change your words, you change your thoughts. When you change your thoughts, you change your perspective. When you change your perspective, you begin to grow. And once you start to grow, you'll start to develop power, self-esteem, self-control and the ability to design your own life. So remove self-limiting statements from your habitual speech patterns. Whenever you catch yourself using limiting words or phrases, use the SPAR technique explained on my website. Retrain yourself to use words that empower you. Don't let yourself make statements that tear you down. If you can, ask someone that you trust to help you listen to your wording.
You don't always notice your own limiting phrases and a partner can help you.

Anytime that you discover a limiting thought, affirm its opposite. Write down the affirmation, say the affirmation, sing the affirmation-do whatever it takes to prove to yourself that you are not limited. Most importantly, don't buy into the myth that you have no control over your life.
Whatever you focus upon determines your life, and you have total control over your focus.

Once you start to practice controlling your thoughts, you'll discover that the power to control your life is as simple as changing your mind.

During class, I often say that things are simple, and then I see everyone looking skeptical. Notice that I said, "simple." Not "easy."

A vast difference exists between simple and easy.

Everything I teach is simple. In fact, a lot of what I teach is so simple that many people consider it obvious. Yes, the rules of the river are simple to understand, but they are not easy to incorporate into your life. Control takes commitment, focus, process, belief and effort. Control is simple, but it is not easy. Control will not happen overnight, but it will begin to happen as soon as you start...

You'll find a table on the Navigating Life Website containing limited statements along side their more powerful opposites. Simply visit http://www.navigatinglife.org and click on our galley, where you will find a link under "Shortcuts to Navigating Life" entitled "Empowered versus limited thoughts." Take a look at it and ask yourself, "How does what I constantly tell myself compare to these examples? Do my words limit me, or empower me?"

From A River Worth Riding: Fourteen Rules for Navigating Life, by Lynn Marie Sager copyright 2005

You can find much more about this topic on Navigating Life's website. Simply go to http://www.navigatinglife.org, and visit the Galley for links to our full articles.

Lynn Marie Sager has toured over two-dozen countries and worked on three continents. Author of A River Worth Riding: Fourteen Rules for Navigating Life, Lynn currently lives in California; where she fills her time with private coaching, public speaking, and teaching for the LACCD and Pierce College. She runs the Navigating Life website, where she offers free assistance to readers who wish to incorporate the rules of worthwhile living into their lives.

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Wash, Rest, and Wear- Guide to Extending the Life of Your Bra!

By Susan Gilbert

You would not wear dirty underwear, so don't wear dirty bras. Bras need to be rotated on a daily basis. If you overwear a bra, it loses it's form and structure quickly. This can lead to back problems, breast tenderness, and more. The rule of thumb is to buy at least three bras at a time.
You need to buy the same three exact everyday bras: one to wash, one to rest, and one to wear.

1. Wash- You should always follow the directions on the tags. The manufacturers know their bras. Some bras are more delicate than others. Some bras melt. If the tags are not present, wash the bras carefully by hand. Use a gentle soap or a mild detergent. Drip dry the bras or dry them on a flat surface away from the sunlight. Face it ladies, some of us still want the convenience of the washing maching. The washing machine takes away from the life of the bra quickly. If you must, wash the bras on a delicate cycle in cold water. Separate the colors. Fasten all the hooks in the back or front of the bra and place the bra in a lingerie bag before you place the items in the wash. Do not place in the dryer! Again, this will take away from the life of the bra. If you must, keep the bras in the lingerie bag and tumble dry at the lowest setting possible.
2. Rest- Keep at least one everyday bra in your dresser drawer. The most popular everyday bras are seamless, molded bras in nude, white, and ivory. Molded bras keep the nipples from showing and provide extra support. Light colors keep the bra from showing. You can also have an everyday black color if you wear dark clothing. Bras must rest and be rotated in order to last. If they are constantly being washed, they get worn out exceptionally quick. Signs of an over worn bra include wrinkles in the bra cup, band riding up in the back, and straps falling off the shoulders. Lack of support can lead to aches and pains in the back, shoulder, breast area, and neck. Bras also need to be replaced every six months. Rotate your bras ladies. Rest your bras. When they show signs of wear, replace your bras.
3. Wear- Wear a proper fit bra. Wear a bra that fits your outfit. Use the bra fitting guidelines to ensure a proper fit. For the overall bra: breasts are midway between shoulders and elbows, bra does not leave deep marks or lines on the body, breast are supported. For the band size: band is snug but not tight around the torso, band lies parallel to the floor (no riding up), new bra should fit on loosest hook, back of band stays in place with no back fat and enough room for two fingers. For the cup size: center gore should lie flat with room for a finger, cups should encase breast with no spillage, underwires should rest on hard side of rib cage without poking, sups should fit smoothly (no gaps or puckering). For the bra straps: shoulder straps secure but not tight, straps should be comfortable without pressure or cutting (support comes from band not straps).

Support your girls and make your bras last. The three simple rules are wash, rest, and wear. If you make your bras last through rotations, your body will be cleaner, healthier, and happier. Your bras will last longer and your pocket book will be lighter.

Three good bras are the breast investment that you can make for yourself. Happy Shopping!
Susan Gilbert is the owner of Diva Bras, http://www.DivaBras.com Our company has gone to numerous local and International trade shows. We have talked to fit experts from the following manufacturers and more: Chantelle, Le Mystere, Goddess, Fantasie, Freya, Enell, Aviana, Simone Perele, Panache.

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The 7 Things You Can Do to Grab Life's Joystick - You Don't Have to Be Miserable!

By Jackie Lapin

Good news! You didn't come into this life to be miserable! That's something I've told people most of my life -- something I knew innately. But while researching my book, The Art of Conscious Creation, How You Can Transform the World, my beliefs were reinforced.

Great spiritual leaders of the New Age believe we arrive on Earth in a state of joy, and then proceed to screw it up. Our souls are blissful -- looking to love and enjoy our lives and everything that we attract to us. The Universe is constructed to confer to us all we desire; to "download" goodwill, happiness and peace upon us.

So why do so many people insist on wallowing in misery? It's because they can't believe their good fortune, refuse to trust, doubt themselves, let egos get in the way, deny reality, and ultimately sink into negative thinking. The Law of Attraction supports the reasoning that negative thoughts attract those things that reinforce unhappiness.

We can choose to not be miserable! Just Grab Life's Joystick and Consciously Create happiness and bliss! Quantum physics has validated the belief that thoughts and emotions are energies capable of changing reality. Create positive, joyful thoughts and emotions; you'll bring to the world happy and wonderful experiences.

So how do you Grab Life's Joystick?

1. Think positively. If a wave of negativity comes over you, consciously rearrange the thought to something optimistic and hopeful. When you do this, be confident that your words will generate a happy, positive outcome.

2. List the things you want to come your way. Cut from magazines the pictures that emulate your desires. Put those photos in a special box, with words on the cover that state: "Thank you for granting me these wonderful things." Then trust that the Universe is working to bring you these wishes.

3. Spend time envisioning what you want from life and how life should be. This scene you envision, put yourself in it. Feel the real joy, wonderment and excitement of being there. Taste the scene, smell it, observe the details. This should hasten your vision's arrival!

4. Don't think less of yourself. Love yourself, pat yourself on the back, and pamper yourself more. Focus on your strengths, not your shortcomings. Enjoy who you are. Allow yourself to be proud of what you've accomplished.

5. Do one thing wonderful each day. Indulge in a favorite book or ice cream cone. Exercise until the endorphins spring forth! Hike with friends or take your dog to a park. Cuddle your children and read to them. Etc ....

6. Be nice and help someone -- or someones -- in need. Lend a hand to somebody. Put a smile on your face and light up a room. Give a kind word to a person who doesn't receive a lot of recognition for their good work.

7. Go into nature. Feel the energy that comes from being outdoors. Swim in a lake, walk on a beach, rest under a tree, smell the daisies, feel the wind, roll in the grass. The act of sopping up nature's positive energy always raises a person's energy and outlook.

These are just a few ways you can start living a cheery, fulfilled existence. It only takes the commitment to start Consciously Creating. Take responsibility for your own bliss! Don't look to anyone or anything to manifest joy for you. You can open the door and invite joy into your life. Grab Life's Joystick!

Jackie Lapin tours the world teaching Conscious Creation and Personal Frequency Management. She is the author of "The Art of Conscious Creation; How You Can Transform the World." Sign up at http://www.theartofconsciouscreation.com to learn how you can become a master manifestor!

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12 Resolutions for a Great Sex Life

We show you how to get in touch with your sexier (and happier!) self so you can have passionate sex every day of the year.
By Michele Bender

As far as New Year's resolutions go, "Get a better sex life" probably falls way down on the list, after "Lose weight," "Exercise more" and "Eat leafy greens." But the truth is, sex is healthy, too — for you and for your marriage. (Plus, working on it is a lot more enjoyable than counting calories.) So this January, take charge of your sex life by following these fun resolutions — we guarantee they'll lead to exciting and satisfying trysts and take your sex life to a whole new level.

Resolution #1: Vow to focus on what you like in bed.
"The number one key to greater pleasure is knowing what turns you on," says Aline Zoldbrod, Ph.D., a sex therapist and author of Sex Talk. You probably have some ideas already, but if you — and your husband — are relying on the same old techniques, it's time to find out what else hits your hot buttons. Experiment when you're alone: Think about what has aroused you in the past or about the things you wish your husband would do when the two of you are under the covers. Do you hear yourself thinking, "I wish he'd touch my neck or breasts?" If so, fill him in the next time you are getting snuggly. "Knowing what revs you up in bed is a gift you can give yourself — and him," says Zoldbrod.

Resolution #2: Commit to staying in touch with your sensual side.
You may barely remember those early days in your romance when you actually spent time picking out your bedwear, but chances are your dresser was filled with things a heck of a lot sexier than ratty T-shirts and flannel PJs. "Women need more preparation for lovemaking than men do, and part of that is making yourself feel beautiful," says Ava Cadell, Ph.D., a clinical sexologist and author of The Idiot's Guide to Oral Sex. "You're more likely to be interested in sex and initiate it if you're wearing something sexy." So hit the lingerie store — and while you're at it, pick up some perfumed body oil, silk sheets or a few scented candles. (Go for licorice or cucumber scents; research shows both increase arousal in women.) "Keeping all your senses stimulated all the time makes you more willing and able to really experience the complete pleasure of sex," says Cadell.


Resolution #3: Remind yourself to reach out and touch him — every day.
We know, sometimes a week goes by when physical contact with your husband amounts to squeezing past him to get to the bathroom sink. Considering that it's harder for women to jump into sex without day-to-day touching, this can put a real damper on intimacy. So make a point to rub his shoulders, hold hands while watching TV or simply give him a hug when you get home. A recent University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill study found that frequent hugging boosts a woman's level of oxytocin, a hormone that makes you feel closer to your mate. Kissing on the lips at least once a day is another good way to keep the passion simmering. Once you start reaching out more, you and your hubby will feel more loved and connected, and, trust us, sparks will fly.

Resolution #4: Stop mentally drafting your to-do list during sex.
Juggling work, family and friends leaves you with a lot to think about — sometimes even when you're making love. "This is a big problem for women. They are more easily distracted from sex than men," says Zoldbrod. And unlike men, women's arousal levels tend to fluctuate and can drop quickly. That means if you're turned on and start thinking about the dry cleaning you forgot, it can ruin the moment, just like that. To keep yourself from drifting off during sex, banish distractions. Once a week, jot down your to-do list and discuss any concerns you have about your family, work or other issues with your husband — before you slip between the sheets. Then when it's time for sex, you can really focus and enjoy it.

Resolution #5: Get yourself some (or some more!) grown-up toys.
Experts say that variety, novelty and fun are all keys to keeping sex hot. A good sex toy provides all of the above and can help you and your husband live out your sexual fantasies. There's a wide range of products to choose from, so start with what you're comfortable with. For beginners, vibrators that don't look phallic, such as the Pocket Rocket, tend to be less intimidating. If you already own the basics and are ready for more advanced toys, try a vibrator that stimulates both your clitoris and your G-spot. Or get something that's made for both of you, such as the Jelly Tool Belt — a dual penis ring that has a vibrator in it to stimulate you. If you're not sure how to bring up the idea of experimenting, here are two ways: (1) Surprise your husband with some edible massage lotion (the Pure Romance line is a good choice) to spur a conversation — say, "Do you like this? Does it feel good?" (2) Make shopping a task you do together at a store, with a catalog or online. Some good, discreet Websites are Adameve.com, Mypleasure.com and Babeland.com.

Resolution #6: Vow to speak up if something is not working for you.
We've all been there: You let your guy do something he thinks is an incredible turn-on, and all the while you're lying there wondering when he'll be finished. Women often do this — or even fake pleasure — because they're either too embarrassed to speak up or afraid to criticize their partner. But if he keeps doing the wrong thing, you'll be left dissatisfied again and again. Next time, clue him in — gently. Cadell advises that instead of saying, "You never do X" or "I don't like it when you do Y" — which come off as negative — try, "I like it when you gently massage my breasts instead of squeezing them." This way he won't feel rejected, and you'll get the caressing you crave.

Resolution #7: And also commit yourself to speaking up if something is working for you.
If the sex is good, why bother talking about it, right? Wrong. Sex experts agree that telling your husband how much you love what he does perfectly in bed is as important as telling him what isn't working. So moan when he zeroes in on a pleasure zone and compliment him later on, too. But be sure to provide details. For instance, say, "It felt amazing when you kissed my stomach and thighs." He'll be so happy to know he had the magic touch that he'll be excited to do a repeat performance. If that's not the recipe for a great sex life, we don't know what is!

Resolution #8: Keep the kids from spending every night in bed with you.
It's understandable why you want to bring your young children to bed — it's often the only way you all can get some sleep. But the math is simple: Two parents plus one child in bed equals zero sex. Try this instead: Enforce a "no kids in bed" rule (unless, say, they're sick) and ask your husband to take turns with you getting up when your child starts crying in the middle of the night. This way, you two can do more than just sleep.

Resolution #9: Decide it's okay to let Dora and the Wiggles do the babysitting.
No one is suggesting you plant the tots in front of the tube for hours on end. But the truth is, there are times — say, Sunday mornings — when popping in the kids' favorite DVD is the only way to get some lovin'. And, trust us, a little extra TV time isn't going to hurt your child as much as some much-needed couple-time is going to help your relationship.

Resolution #10: Have sex (sometimes) when you're not in the mood.
Like most women, you probably have nights when sex is the last thing on your mind, and you'd give anything to sprawl out and get eight hours of shut-eye. But then your husband gives the signal that he's ready for some nooky. What to do? Well, going along with the idea can actually be a titillating surprise for you. "If he knows how to push your buttons, then having sex when your husband is ready and you're not means it's very likely you'll get aroused once you get going," says Zoldbrod. It can also give you and your husband a boost outside of the bedroom. A recent study by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that sex plays a major role in a person's happiness. Don't think of it as giving in to him, think of it as giving in to pleasure.

Resolution #11: Use the birth control that's right for you. Trying to get pregnant? Then spontaneous sex isn't a problem. But if you're not planning to expand your family this month, getting comfortable with your birth control is key to letting loose during sex. "I've seen this make a huge difference in the sex lives of so many women," says Zoldbrod. Diaphragms and condoms are fine, but spur-of-the-moment sex is tricky when you have to fumble around in the dark for them at a pivotal moment. Other options, such as the Pill or a patch, can give you more freedom whenever you and your husband are raring to go. Talk to your doctor about the most effective — and carefree — method for you.

Resolution #12: Break out of your routine. Every couple has a tried-and-true method for getting in the mood. But let's be honest — the same old thing can get a bit boring. So mix things up. Even small tweaks can increase the passion in your marriage. Have sex in a different room of the house, make out in the car, take a bath together, spend more than five minutes on foreplay or "exchange three wishes that you want in bed," suggests Cadell. "That way you're playing a game — and a give-give scenario is always a success."

Another tactic: Do things that you and your husband did together in the days before you had children. Shared experiences — such as dancing, going to the gym together or taking a romantic stroll — help you two connect emotionally and see each other as more than simply Mom and Dad. "You're reminded of those butterflies-in-your-stomach early days," says Zoldbrod. "Then you hold hands and, chances are, you come home to have some great sex."

Learning the Meaning Behind Dreams for a Better Life

By Tom Houston

Can Your Dreams Help You Succeed In Life?
Dreams - we all have them. But are they really significant in the real world? Many people do believe that remembering and learning to interpret your dreams can help you solve problems in the waking world, confront and conquer repressed feelings and issues that you avoid or are afraid to deal with in the waking world, and can help you to become the best person that you can be.

Since the beginning of recorded history, dreams have played a significant role in the lives of many people. Military, political, and spiritual decisions have been made because of a dream. In some tribes, the crossover from childhood to manhood includes isolating oneself from the rest of the tribe and communing with the spirit world through dreams. The dreams are believed to reveal to the young man what his purpose in this life will be - the path that he should take for his journey through his life on earth.

Dreams are the brain's way of sorting all of the information taken in during your waking hours. While we may be faintly aware of things going on in the background, the brain only focuses on what is of the most significance at the moment - everything else is stored away to be dealt with at a later time - and that occurs in our dreams.

Dreams can be a way for you to take a close look at yourself and learn just exactly what makes you tick - what your true desires are. Dreams can also provide you with a way to face the things that you do not like about yourself and learn to change these aspects of your personality into something that is positive and more productive in your waking life.

Some people base all of their personal, business, and social decisions on what they learn from interpreting their dreams. They learn to manipulate their dreams in order to focus on decisions in their lives that need to be made.

Sigmund Freud, one of the greatest minds of the 19th century, revolutionized he study of dreams. He called dreams the "royal road to the unconscious". Freud's initial assessment of dreams was that all dreams were of a sexual nature. While he later gave up that theory, he clung to the theory that dreams are a wish fulfillment - a way for our conscious minds to become aware of what our deepest desires may be as well as our deepest fears.

Carl Jung studied under Freud. His views on dreams differed quite dramatically - to the point that they parted company and went their separate ways in their studies of dreams. Jung believed that dreams were more spiritual in nature. Like Freud, Jung believed that dreams were a "window to our unconscious" - a way of communicating and acquainting ourselves with the unconscious. Through our dreams, we can explore our true feelings and find solutions to problems we are facing in our waking life. Jung believed that our dreams "serve to guide the waking self to achieve wholeness" - a unity of body, spirit, and mind.

Your dreams can help you bring about a unity of body, spirit, and mind by showing you the path in life that will lead to happiness. Many times we may take a job because the pay is good, the benefits are good, and the "social status" we are searching for can be obtained through this job. But, if the job does not make us happy - if the job is not the career that we truly desire - is this keeping us from feeling successful? In many cases, the answer is yes.

Being successful means different things to different people. But to most people, being successful means that we are achieving our goals in a personal, professional, and social aspect. Your dreams can actually help you on your journey to success. Dreams allow you to explore your true desires and once your true desires are identified, you can begin the task of achieving them. Dreams can help you face aspects of your personality that you may not like - and once you have faced them, you have the power of changing these things about yourself and becoming the best person that you can be.

Throughout the history of man, even during the days of the Bible, dreams have played a significant role. God spoke to many through their dreams. Many people have been warned of medical problems in their dreams - and in many cases were able to make changes that helped them avoid the medical problem. Dreams are way to create a unity in mind, body, and spirit - thus creating a way for us to achieve success in our lives. Dreams are one of the free resources available to help us choose the path in life that will fulfill all of our desires.

Tom Houston writes on a wide variety of topics. To learn more about the meaning behind dreams visit http://www.meaningbehinddreams.com/ for a free email course.

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Enjoy the Precious Moments of Your Life - Be Happy All the Time

By Christina Sponias

When you must be serious because you are facing dangerous and painful situations, you cannot really enjoy anything until your problems are solved. Therefore, don't delay solving your problems! If your problems are not so serious and you only face the common problems of daily life in a city or elsewhere, you can always be happy by enjoying all the moments of your life.

You may dislike many parts of your daily routine such as when you are returning home from work and there is too much chaos in the streets, when you have to clean your house and whenever you do tiring things. However, you can surely enjoy the moments you do like and pay more attention to these, and also have an attitude based on humor and goodness that will help you positively face all the small problems of daily life.

Do you have the tendency to want to finish all your work first before you can relax? This is good because you must be organized and you will surely feel better if you can first finish with the obligations and then rest without worries. This is fine, but how long will you going to work non-stop and always be in a hurry to finish everything? Not to mention hungry and tired?

Wait a minute! If you are the type that even forgets lunch when you have too much work, when do you live? Do you have the time to live and to do several other things more important than that? If you have too much to do, take a break. If you are always anxious about when you will finally finish working, you don't enjoy your work and when you will finally be able to rest your back will be broken and you won't have any appetite to enjoy your food.

Enjoy everything you can! Enjoy your work, studies or whatever you are doing. Do everything in an enjoyable manner whenever possible and try to transform many silly moments of your routine into precious moments, even when you feel you cannot give them such a shape. In the same company, one employee works with a smile and is kind and friendly with the customers while another one works with his eyes on the watch, waiting to leave and always trying to avoid working too much. Who feels better? Which one of them would you like to be?

If you are the lazy type, make a plan and try to do many things you like during the day. Always keep yourself occupied with something important and nice, in addition to all the other things you have to do but you don't like. Organize your life, so that you enjoy all its good moments and try to have many moments like these, instead of simply passing through them.

How do you define happiness? Is it an eternal state of absolute satisfaction?

This is not possible on Earth. Happiness is a collection of many priceless moments.

Remember the best, funniest and most memorable moments of your life. Think about their importance in the history of your life. Without them, your life would be an empty tunnel without variation. However, only with them you would never learn the most important truths, which are very serious and demand sobriety from you.

Happiness is a puzzle of many tiny pieces that form a general picture, where suffering and pain also exist because they are important parts of the design. They give shape to the other parts that are free and have no meaning by themselves, unless you learn something with their existence. Accept suffering when necessary, but try to be happy whenever you can, for any reason you may find.

Be very happy when your coffee is just the way you like it, when you unexpectedly meet someone you knew on the street. Show joy, be warm! Make this moment important for you.
Don't be a cold person who has no time and doesn't remember anything. Be friendly! Be generous and kind! You'll like it very much yourself, besides giving joy to the others that will be well received by you.

Pay attention to the moments when you can transform routine into a precious time or transform something that could be good only if you would give it a special tune, into one of the best experiences of your life!

Whenever you can, do something special to make yourself happy. Everyday, think about the reasons you have to be happy. Everything can give you a little bit of pleasure and joy if you learn to pay attention to what is good and savor it. Mark this time in your life. Say to yourself, "Now I am alive!" "I'm going to remember this moment..." Sometimes, a very good meal, a very pleasant afternoon or simply a fine day without anxiety is enough to make you very happy.

Always pay attention to your happy moments! Moreover, if they are not so happy, give them another outlook with your humor and your good disposition. You can transform everything, depending on the way you judge your reality. Be optimistic, focus on what is pleasant and good and be very grateful for your precious moments when they appear in your path.

This way, when you put together all the pieces of the puzzle, you'll see that your life had many happy moments and that all the little happy moments together give you a very great happiness because of their existence!

Prevent Depression and Craziness through the scientific method of Dream Interpretation discovered by Carl Jung and simplified by Christina Sponias, a writer who continued Jung's research in the unknown region of the human psychic sphere. Learn more at:
http://www.booksirecommend.com Click here and download your copy of the Free ebook
Beating Depression and Craziness

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Seven Things That Can Wreck Your Life

By E. Raymond Rock

Sex ... Money ... Power ... Fame ... Good Looks ... Ambition ... Success

If any of these Seven become tangled up in the Seven Deadly Sins (Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy, and Pride), look out! Otherwise, they are simply to be enjoyed, but not to bet the farm on - it's only when we begin to grasp blindly at these things that we head down a precarious and deluded path. Grasping blindly means that we see these as some kind of truth, an unchanging truth where can find our eternal security and happiness. This is of course impossible; these seven things are transient, and they will disappear in a short period of time.

An ignorance of their extremely temporary status, combined with a refusal to acknowledge or even be aware of spiritual things beyond these temporal things, sets us up for tremendous suffering. When we expect things to be good, and they turn out not to be, this is a basic ignorance of how things really are.

If these seven things were ultimate truths, why must we continuously relive them?

Sex can be a bother. It's not as if you can have sex once and say, "There, that's it! I'm satisfied!"
No, you will have to revisit sex maybe as many as 18,000 times in a lifetime, or more!

And money can be such a worry. We worry about getting it, then holding on to it, how to spend it wisely, and how to get even more because we never feel that we have enough. Few rich people have a peaceful mind (until they give it all away).

Power is an enemy creator; someone will always be jealous of your power and want to take it from you. Few respect power; they respect leadership, power intimidates them.

Fame is a real inconvenience. Once we become famous and our lives become public property, seclusion is no longer an option. The short-lived high of attention quickly becomes a long-term liability.

Good looks, unfortunately, fade just as sand slips through an hourglass. Even with face-lifts and other cosmetic improvements, our speech and mannerisms change and give us away, as we worry constantly about getting old.

Ambition isolates us. When we become overly ambitious it's a bet that we become self-centered as well, and self-centeredness is the opposite of compassion.

Finally, worldly success is always destined for failure in the end. Success means that we have temporarily attained our intended purpose, but since everything in the world constantly changes, our success is always short-lived.

These seven things - Sex, Money, Power, Fame, Good Looks, Ambition, and Success never work out as well as we imagine they might. On the other hand, poverty, powerlessness, infamy, common looks, non-ambition, worldly non success, and the absence of sex; these are more or less the realities of a monk or nun's life, and perplexingly, lead to happiness.

Taking a stand between these extremes is what works for most people: Sex, but responsible sex; money, but only as much as you really need; control, but not overbearing control;
distinction, but always an underplayed distinction; natural appearance, not false representations; goals and aims, but within the restrictions of non-greed and honesty; and finally, success, but not restricted to only the world - success must include a sincere reaching out toward our Ultimate Reality.

Then the seven things that can wreck your life may change into the seven things that can save your life: Virtue, generosity, loving kindness, serenity, truthfulness, determination, and wisdom.

E. Raymond Rock of Fort Myers, Florida is cofounder and principal teacher at the Southwest Florida Insight Center, http://www.SouthwestFloridaInsightCenter.com His twenty-eight years of meditation experience has taken him across four continents, including two stopovers in Thailand where he practiced in the remote northeast forests as an ordained Theravada Buddhist monk. His book, A Year to Enlightenment (Career Press/New Page Books) is now available at major bookstores and online retailers. Visit http://www.AYearToEnlightenment.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=E._Raymond_Rock

How to Achieve Good Life and Fitness

By Anna Dewsberry

How do you know if you have a good life and a fit body? When you visit your doctor, do you ever bother to ask him that question? Good life and fitness are somehow synonymous, but not all people will agree to that. If you're fit, then you're bound to have a good life in terms of being healthy and not being prone to illnesses. If you have a good life, it doesn't necessarily mean that you're already fit, because chances are, you're one of the many people living an unhealthy lifestyle.

So how will you find out if you have a good life and fitness altogether?

First, define what good life means to you. For some people it may mean having all the luxuries in life or having lots of money. Other people may think of good life as living a healthy life. If the latter is your definition of good life, regardless if you have lots of money or not, then you chose the better one. If this is your life's belief, then you might be physically fit as well.

So if you have a good and healthy life, you will have the chance to earn more money because you seldom get sick. You can work for long hours if you like, and you can buy all the things that you want. Whereas, if you're not healthy, you will always get sick and most of your expenses will be for medications and other medical costs.

Therefore living a good and healthy life will always mean that you're into fitness activities.
Fitness exercises are great ways to stay physically fit and healthy. You can join health clubs or fitness gyms if you like, if you think that is the way to stay on track. Some people prefer to do their exercises at home, and that is quite convenient because you can do it at any given time, and on any part of the house.

So the next step is to assess your lifestyle now. you should ask yourself these questions to determine your physical shape.

Are you currently involved in fitness exercises?

Do you have vices?

Do you often get sick?

If you think that you're not having a good healthy life, then don't you think that it's high time that you change your unhealthy ways?

How will you go about the process? Well, it may sound easy to say that you can start any time you like. But this can happen especially if you're really determined to go for a good and fit life.
Start changing your unhealthy ways gradually because it's quite impossible to change overnight.
Little by little, you will notice the changes taking place, and you will thank yourself for it.

If you have difficulty in changing your eating habits, you can seek the help of a dietician so that you can be provided with a sample of healthy menus that you can eat everyday. Purchase cookbooks and it would be more beneficial to prepare your meals if you have the time.

I have been interested in keeping fit all my life and want to pass on to other the joys of working out.

NEW: Life, Body and Fitness - Faster result generation

For 24 hour fitness visit HERE

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anna_Dewsberry

5 Women She Hates

Manage all the women in your life.
By the Editors of Men's Health

Jealousy on the part of your significant other can sabotage your best female friendships. Here's how to smooth over your relationship.

1. The Leggy Coworker

Why she's worried: Your sexy office gal pal has unfettered access to half of your weekday, and your girl fears this face time can spark a cubicle romance.

Ease her fears: Play show and tell. Give your girl a guided tour of the office, introduce her to your coworkers — including Legs — and end at your desk, where she'll find a prominently displayed picture of herself. It's a talisman that wards off flirty office workers, says Dorian Solot, author of I Love Female Orgasm. "It shows her she's on your mind while you're on the clock."

2. The College Cohort

Why she's worried: You spent 4 boozy, sexually charged years with this girl, who knows the secret handshake and dated half of your fraternity. What's more, unlike your girl, she has a standing invitation to game day and poker night.

Ease her fears: Paint the friend as a mascot, not a romantic interest, says Susan F. Benjamin, author of Perfect Phrases for Dealing with Difficult People. And invite your gal to a few college game parties, so she'll see that the cutie sits squarely in your "like-a-sister" category.

3. The Matriarch

Why she's worried: Your woman feels resentful about her own need to impress your mom.

Ease her fears: Ship your ladies off to a wine tasting together (find one in your city at localwineevents.com). Each wants to win the other's approval, which can lead to insecurities and false perceptions, says Gini Graham Scott, Ph.D., author of Disagreements, Disputes and All-out War. A retreat with some vino will melt away any hangups.

4. The Facebook Fox

Why she's worried: You've dutifully declared you're "in a relationship" on your MySpace or Facebook profile. But she worries it means nothing to the harem of cybervixens on your friends list.

Ease her fears: Let her plant a flag in your digital world. If they're not online, too, girlfriends and wives place these sites just a notch above porn. Help her create her own page and bump her up to the top of your friends list.

5. The Gym Goddess

Why she's worried: Your trainer is single and oozes sexuality from every pore. You may say her post-workout chats are harmless, but your girlfriend knows better (and so do you, playa).

Ease her fears: Play matchmaker and set her up with a friend, says Solot. Face it: You're taken, and she's a temptress. Best to try this under-utilized brushoff, which will allow you two to still chat at the gym. The move takes her off your gal's worry list.

[via: MSN]

Life is a Game!

By Carmen Reid

Remember how when you were a kid at school and there were all these different groups in the school yard playing different games? Life is no different. We are all here on earth (the school yard) participating in various different games.

The games to which we are participants are the ones which interest us. We want to experience what the game has to offer. The experiences offer many different facets. We may have a need to experience supporting an individual or a group of people toward a common goal. You may want to experience the exhilaration of winning or the defeat of loosing. We may have a need to experience struggle and conquest or struggle and defeat. We may need to feel joy or sadness.
And none of these experiences are in themselves bad or good. The experiences simply are.

Many times we start out with an intention to fulfill an experience and in the middle of the
experience we change our minds. We feel that the situation is too hard and we would rather have the other state. So we try to immediately create that state without fully experiencing the first chosen state. And thus we set up an environment of struggle unintentionally where we cannot easily move out of the game we are presently in. Do you get the picture?

The situation looks like this - we have chosen to play on a team without first considering the team's mission because that is what we have been programmed to do by our society. (We get a job in the corporate world just like our parents and friends have in the past). But in the middle of the game, we decide that we want to experience something else. (we want more money, more appreciation, more free time for ourselves). But we are already on this team where the team's mission is not aligned with those things. (you've already bargained for a set pay, being appreciated is a random thing and there are so many people competing for appreciation that you just can't stand out, you've already agreed to work 40-80 hours to further that team's goals).

So now, we take on this momentous task of changing our situation in mid-course without fully experiencing that which we've committed to. We push back and resist the experience. We complain that the money is too little, we're under appreciated, how we have to work too hard.
Completely forgetting that this is what we originally signed up for. We want it to change right now. While you are on the field and the team is depending on you to fulfill your original obligations. You complain to the coach and he says you just cannot leave the game in the middle. I have no one to take over your position.

Just like a real game in the school yard, if you were to finish the game and give your notice (that you were moving to a new team), the information would be better received and the coach would let you off the team. No resisting here - just decisive action. Can you see how we create stand stills in our lives by changing our direction in mid-stream without completing what we originally set out to do?

What areas in your life are you trying to change the course today in mid stream and not making progress? How could you stop resisting the present situation in order to let the game end so that you can start a new game?

Many people are stuck in the money game. You want money but are not getting it. This is because you had chosen another game and are presently in that game. If you could only stop the counter productive struggle by fully experiencing the present game and concluding it - you could decisively move out of the condition, end the game and be free to choose another game ( the game of money abundance) in short order.

Really think about this today and if you truly desire a change, be willing to fully experience that which you are resisting. You can rest assured that this game will come to an end sooner than it would, had you continued to resist it. Carmen is presently playing the money game to win. If you are ready and interested in joining her game of money abundance, suspend your reservation and ask to join her winning game of personal and financial freedom today.

Carmen Reid escaped the corporate world 2 years ago to a life of personal and financial freedom

Closet Organizers Make Life A Little Easier

By Craig Thornburrow

If you feel like the clutter in your home is out of control, and your closets get messier by the day, closet organizers can help you create storage space in your home you didn't even know you had. These days most of us are far too busy to give much thought to the state of our closets. After working all day, running errands and tending to the kids, who has the time or the energy to try to make sense out of a messy closet? But there is an easier way...

If your closet clutter is taking on a life of its own, it's time for you to take back control and get organized. Fortunately, this is much easier to do than most people realize, just by using one of the many great closet organizers available at department and do-it-yourself stores. Most closet organizer systems are simple to install and will immediately create extra storage space in any size closet. There are lots of different types to choose from depending on your needs, and the size of your closet, and prices began at around $50, making them an economical solution for messy closets everywhere.

But before you run out and buy a new closet organizer system there are a few things to be aware of. First, it is important to have a plan. Trying to install a closet organizer on top of the clutter you already have will just make matters worse, so you're going to need to go through your closet and organize its contents somewhat. Don't worry though; this is not as difficult as it sounds.

The most important thing to remember is to throw out -- or give away to charity -- any items that you do not currently use. Most of us tend to be pack rats, collecting a wide variety of clothing, shoes and other items over the years that we never use. The fear is, if we get rid of these things, we may one day need them again. But the truth is, if you haven't worn or used an item in the past year, research shows that you have only a one in 100 chance of ever using it again!

So by all means, give away anything you are not "currently" using that is just occupying space in your closet.

The next step is to measure the inside dimensions of your closet with a tape rule. This is easy to do and it will ensure that the closet organizer system you purchase will fit correctly. After measuring the dimensions, be sure to write them down and take them with you when shopping.
Once you begin shopping for organizers, you will discover that there are many different types, from bins and shelves, to hooks and pull-out drawers. All of these different types of organizers are useful, so the decision of which type to use will be down to your knowledge of the items in your closet, and of course, your own personal preference.

You may even elect to shop for a closet organizer online. As well as saving you a lot of time, you can also find cheaper deals and perform side-by-side comparisons when shopping online.
Several web sites will also allow you to input the dimensions of your closet and receive recommendations for specific products that will fit perfectly. This is an ideal way to purchase closet organizers, and take back control over closet clutter.

Craig Thornburrow is an acknowledged expert in his field. You can get more free advice on a closet organizer and a closet organizer kit at http://www.closetorganizerideas.com

Looking For An Immense Approach To Get The Love Of Your Life? Try Online Dating

By Alan Lim

Online dating progressively being used more and more and it is comparatively and reasonably priced. You loose nothing in terms of finance. Instead, you stand to make up memorable time with someone, maybe for life.

Are you on familiar terms with the fact there are people wanting and willing to take a date with you?

This information can never be true to you till you get along with online dating. It becomes difficult today to easily seek for company, especially due to the ever busy schedule of every individual, coupled with the lack of trust most people have over online dealings. You might have been looking for someone with the peculiarities that you want and a big shot may equally be looking for you. Online dating may be one and only forum where your profiles can easily be matched. Keep in mind that most people face a lot of impenetrability with the traditional dating method of meeting face to face with others. With online dating, it is very feasible you might have already developed a lot of interest in that person through his or her profile before confronting each other.

Why is online dating such a popular thing today?

The response is straightforward. Most sites involved in online dating are aware of the fact that there is someone out there for every person, and most online daters integrate themselves into this fact. For that reason, every individual must develop some interest in online dating whether your intention is simply for a date of for a life match. It is of no substance what your countenance may be or what type of occupation you are in to. Be courageous, there are people out there just wanting to meet others endowed with the qualities that you possess.

Is online dating a convenient method of dating?

This is a very well-situated method of engagement because the affiliation building is by no means done in haste. This is also suitable especially if you find it ill at ease to meet a company of the opposite gender, and above all if you are not at ease in habitual meeting points such as parks or clubs. This is also true of those individuals who have had sour incidents with this type of dating and who look to online dating as the last option. An added advantage is that this is not a blind date. You are given the prospect of discerning the other's persona such as age, race, occupation, academic standing, whether they are or previously been married with or with no children and so many other traits. You can even view a portrait of your would-be friend or mate before accepting to meet with that person.

Do you want to let others know you are in search of them? Heave off that chilling ideas of being on your own and get a hold on the exact person for you by clicking on Online Dating You will not only be looking for fun, but for a life partner.

How To Get Balance In Your Business To Enjoy And Live Your Own Life

By Sue Seward

All of us baby boomers at one time or another can be driven crazy trying to juggle everything we have going on!

In particular women! Especially working women and/or women who run a business!
I'm not trying to push the men aside but women usually have quite a bit of responsibility including taking care of the men in their lives and with the baby boomer generation many may also be caring for aging parents.

For the last ten years while building a home business and career in Network Marketing I've had to juggle family responsibilities, taking care of the home front and also find the time for myself which is oh so important! Because if we're stressed and maxed out then no one wins! So self-development has been a major part of my success over the years.

The point of having a business is owning your life! If you have no time to have fun and enjoy your life then you're not living much of a life are you?

So how DO we balance our very busy stressed filled lives?

Here's a few tips that I've used over the years sometimes learning the hard way!

First of all DELEGATE DELEGATE DELEGATE!

This is a tough one for those of us with DRIVER personalities. We want to do it ALL and get the credit to boot.

It's great to be a recruiting machine, win all the awards, make the most money, be on the top at all times, etc. but remember this can also set us up for doing most if not all the work and can stress us out to the max! I know because I was like this.

You know the ole, if I don't do it myself it won't get done right.

I love recognition too. I'm a Ruby, driver personality but I've also got a lot of the Pearl , helper personality. In the beginning I was helping TOO much. Doing TOO much for people. Giving TOO much to the wrong people. You know the Mother Teresa syndrome.

Through Lot's of growing, learning and developing, I've learned to marry them both and balance them out together so that I'm doing a lot more delegating to the right business leaders.

I'm making a lot more money and most importantly living my own life!

So what's more important to you? Making a great income or having a great title? Title's are more like corporate America . They make you feel important but most titles don't always pay that well.

For instance, just look at the title of teacher? Teachers are very important and we certainly need them but do they make a great income? Usually not and that's really unfortunate.

My husband has several great titles like a college degree and five professional survey licenses AND Vice President of his company for ten years and guess what?

Little ole me with no great titles to my name makes twice as much income as he does!

He's always gone for security and I thank God for that because he's supported me for ten years while I've built a career in Network Marketing! Now I'm securing our future.

Being a smart entrepreneur that loves to win does pay well!

In Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki's new book 'Why We Want You To Be Rich' they mention the quadrants again that Robert talks about in his Rich Dad Poor Dad books.

People in the 'B' quadrant or Business quadrant hire PRESIDENTS!

That means they delegate!

How do we know who a good president for our business would be?

These are the people we've surrounded ourselves with that we trust, the ones that SHOW UP and prove they are leaders. These are the only people we delegate too.

What you have to do in your Network Marketing business is find you some really good presidents to delegate to! You may need 10 or 15 of these presidents depending on your program. These are the CEO's of your business. Surround yourself with top people at all times.

Having a great team gives you leverage! This isn't something I made up. Robert Kiyosaki said it and I just happen to have one so know it's true!

Constantly be working on yourself and becoming the best you can be and finding other like-minded people just like YOU!

Learn how to clone yourself! Teach others what you do and then delegate to them to do the same. Learn to let go and see others get the credit too. They win and so will you.

Trust me, you'll make plenty of money and you'll have LEVERAGE.

Ahhhh, the cream-dela-cra of Network Marketing.

So many people are busy doing all the work that they never quite experience the Leverage that is so wonderful in this industry! They are the ones doing all the sponsoring and not duplicating themselves.

So this is crucial to understand if you want to live your own life.

Delegate other separate around your household too. If you can afford it hire a housekeeper. If you have teens delegate specific chores to them and hire them to help you with your business. I hire my son to help me with administrative duties in my business. There's some great tax advantages in doing this too!

Make sure you have a separate checking account, debit and credit card for your business and hire an accountant to do your taxes that understands home business tax deductions.

Make sure you are leveraging tools effectively that help you save time like
Autoresponders, personal websites, Group Mail, Email, Conference Calls, Recorded Calls, Sizzle Calls, etc. These are all tax deductable too!

Then teach the presidents you sponsor how to use them too.

Put a system in place for your presidents to plug into and have their presidents duplicate.

If you do not have a system in place then find someone who does (usually your upline partners) and plug into their system, learn it, and then duplicate it by having all your presidents do the same.

This is what I've done and it's worked really well to provide the leverage to enjoy and own my own life.

PS After finishing up this article I went back to read another chapter in Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki's new book 'Why We Want You To Be Rich' and lo and behold what did they say was the key to financial freedom, enjoying, and living your own life?

LEVERAGE! Guess I HAVE learned a thing or two over the last ten years!

Copyright © 2006 by Sue Seward. All Rights Reserved.

Sue is a wife, mom, entrepreneur, top income earner with her company, who has been working from home online since 1996. She encourages millionaire mind thinking and shows people how to develop valuable connections online and turn them into lasting relationships for long term business profits. She is also a public speaker and published author of numerous print and electronic articles as well as coauthor of the book 'Build It Big: 101 Insider Secrets From Top Direct Selling Experts'. To find out more about how Sue builds her business online visit http://www.eCommerceHomeBiz.com

Life Insurance - Be Careful If You Want The Best

By Chimezirim Chinecherem Odimba

Life insurance agents are sometimes taught never to mention the word "life insurance" to prospects. They do their utmost to sell it in light of its benefits such as mortgage protection or retirement plan. If after all the talk you're promised that your family will even get something when you pass on, they it is life insurance (in its many forms) you're being sold.

Like for everyone selling stuff, they present the best side of the product and life insurance are no different. It's your responsibility as the buyer to ensure you know the downsides too.

The accumulation of a tax-free cash value will likely be something an agent will highlight while selling a whole life policy.

However, it's really up to you to know the commissions (Usually very high), how long you'd have to pay before your cash value become sizeable enough, surrender charges and penalties for cashing the policy early.

Don't buy any life insurance until any doubts are cleared. There are downsides to every life insurance policy and you'll do well to know them.

You can really do this well by getting educated yourself in life insurance: The various types, their characteristics, advantages and disadvantages. There are documents that an agent is bound by law to give you prior to signing a policy. Do your best to read through those documents and make sure you understand them before you pay.

A free look period is something your insurer is bound by law to give you.

This is a period within which you can decide to return a life policy and still get a refund. Just make sure you return the policy by certified mail within the specified period and you'll get a full refund of premiums paid so far.

You will save a lot of money on life insurance if you obtain and compare quotes from insurance quotes sites. It should require around 15 minutes. Make sure that you input the same (correct) information about yourself at every site visited. It is NOT wise as the quotes you'll get this way will NOT be of any use to you. You'll then have to pick what represents the best insurance quote for you from the list of quotes obtained.

Get your free, quick and easy, cheap life insurance quotes here...

Free Affordable Life Insurance Quotes

Hometown Life Insurance Quotes

Chimezirim Odimba writes on life insurance.

Getting Started In Life Coaching - How Do You Get Your First Clients?

By Lawrence Mortenson

One of my clients recently completed the initial coursework of one of the most reputable coach training programs around, and is just about to begin their coach certification program.

He’s a powerful individual, successful entrepreneur, and is committed to adding coaching to the mix of businesses he’s involved in. Fascinatingly, even though he’s achieved great success in other businesses, he’s worried about hitting the minimum number of paying clients required to begin the certification program.

Even he’d fallen into the strange funk that afflicts most new coaches when it comes to getting clients!

For many, life coaching seems like the best profession in the world…until they’re confronted by the realities of building the business. I talk about this at length in my other articles and resources, but your job as a coach is fundamentally about getting clients, keeping them, and charging what you’re worth.

That’s how you make money, and that’s how you make a difference.

If you’re working on transitioning out of a job and beginning your journey as a life coach, here’s a 3-step plan to get you jump-started in building a professional practice.

Contact everyone you know – friends, colleagues…and even family and ask them to work with you

When you’re starting at the ground floor and don’t have a lot of relevant professional experience, just get started coaching!

Once you have a few basic skills the most important thing is to get experience. The more experience you get at this phase, the more confident you’ll become. And with confidence, it’ll become much easier get paying clients.

Make a list of all of your contacts, and rank them in order of how comfortable you are with them. Then, call them one by one and let them know you’re pursuing your passion for helping people by becoming a coach and that you’d love to work with them for three months for free.

Let them know how much you’d appreciate their help in getting you started, and that you can guarantee they’ll get significant value from the process.

Make sure you set an end date for the free coaching. It’s important because it’ll allow you to come back to them in a few months and begin charging.

Making these calls does 3 things:

• You let people know where you’re headed
• You get no-risk experience having enrollment (‘sales’) conversations
• You will ABSOLUTELY get the clients you need to get started on the right foot…if you make enough calls.

Get busy coaching
Now that you have 5-7 clients (if you have a job, you probably won’t be able to manage many more), immerse yourself in coaching them. Take yourself and the coaching conversations seriously and focus on creating value for your first clients.

If one or two clients drop out, that’s okay. Just go back to your contact list and start making calls again.

When you’re approaching the three month mark, you’ll find you have a lot more confidence in your coaching ability. And now it’s time to ask for a raise.

Talk with each of your clients and let them know that the initial three month period is about to end (you’ve set the stage, so this should be easy) and that you really enjoy working with them.
And that it’s time for you to begin charging for your services.

Let them know that if they’d like to continue, you’d be charging $50 per month for the next three months.

As uncomfortable as it may be, it’s critical that you have these conversations at this stage of the game and that you begin charging for your services.

• You’re making the transition from ‘coaching hobbyist’ to professional coach
• You’re experiencing asking for money for your coaching services for the first time
• You’ll now have the paying clients you need to complete the requirements for any certification program you may be in.

Get more clients, and repeat the process time and again

Once you’ve had the conversations and transitioned the majority of your current clients to paying clients, it’s time to make more calls, to ask for referrals, and to start working with more people.

You’re ready to increase your client load to 10 or more.

As you bring the new clients on board, you have the opportunity to leapfrog your pricing.
Instead of $50 per month, charge $100 or $150. You’ll have a solid base of 5-7 clients you know will be sticking with you for the next 3 months, so take a leap of faith and begin asking for what you’re really worth.

Make sure everyone understands that you’re still in ‘training’ and that you’ll need to increase prices in another 3 months. Set the stage for having the repricing conversation a few months down the road.

Following this simple 3-step process, you’ll build the confidence, skills, and client base to have a thriving coaching business just twelve months from now. A full practice of 20-30 clients paying what you’re worth is virtually an inevitable outcome.

Of course, knowing what to do and doing it are two completely different things, and NOTHING HAPPENS until something moves.

What are you waiting for?!

For no-nonsense resources on how to become a coach and start your life coaching or business coaching practice on the right foot, check out the Coaching Success Institute at http://www.coachingsuccessinstitute.com

Learn simple strategies for getting you coaching business started on the right foot, getting clients and keeping them for life, and doubling your income and your time off.

Do yourself a favor and take the short-cut to success in the coaching business.

To Love and to Be In Love

By Victoria Leal

When you love someone, you primarily love them because of what they bring to your life. You love them because they make you happy, because you are grateful to them for what they bring to YOUR life. You love them for what they say and do to make your life a little more pleasant. You love them for the joy and happiness they bring to your life and how they make you feel about you.

When you love someone, it’s all about YOU!
When you are In Love with someone, it’s about what you can bring to their life. Being in love with someone causes you to do and say the things that will bring about joy and happiness in their lives. When you are in love with someone, you will do and say things that will make their lives more pleasant. You look for ways to make them feel good about themselves.
When you are in love with someone, it’s all about THEM!

The most wonderful experience that you can have is to love someone and also be in love with them because your needs are being fulfilled by loving them and you in turn fulfill their needs by being in love with them. When you both love each other and are both in love with each other, the cycle is complete.

When you love someone and are in love with them and they love you but they are not in love with you, eventually the relationship will become one-sided. When this happens, the person that is in love will begin to feel the effects of not having their needs fulfilled. In other words, they are doing all of the “giving” of support to their partner, but they are not “receiving” the support they need from their partner.

Once this point is reached and their need for emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual support are not being met, they tend to feel as though they are being taken for granted, or that their partner does not care as much about their happiness as they do their own, and the feelings of wanting to make your partner’s life easier, more pleasant begin to dissipate…hence we have the term “falling out of love” with them.

In the beginning of love, it has become more acceptable to say that you are “falling in love” with someone rather than to just come right out and say “I love you”! When you do that, the other person may doubt your love for them. Because they don’t yet love you, they can’t understand how you can love them. However, if they love you also, then when you first tell them that you love them, it brightens up their world and the two of you now have a starting place for something beautiful.

The beginning of love is just love. When you first realize that you love someone, you love them and then you begin to fall in love with them. And the two can happen instantaneously. Think about it, in the beginning of every relationship, we are looking at how this relationship will benefit us; how happy it will make us; how attracted to them WE are; how being in this relationship makes us feel and more importantly, how the other person makes us feel. To be honest, it’s really all about US.

As we begin to fall in love with someone, we begin to think more about them and what will make them happy. We begin to do things that will please them and make their lives happy, peaceful, and more at ease. But first, we will have taken into consideration our own happiness factor before we allow ourselves to fall in love. And it’s important to note here that time is not a factor. You feel what you feel, at the moment you feel it. But because we have been conditioned to live in fear, we believe and others are quick to advise us to “Take Your Time.”

Others are quick to say that what you feel is just infatuation or worse yet, they attempt to take what you feel and hold it up against the Bible’s definition of love, which most find impossible to live up to, so you begin to doubt yourself, to doubt what it is that you feel, for someone else, in your heart. Learn to trust your heart and to trust your instincts about what you feel. What you feel in your heart is real and it is no one else’s place to define how you feel.

In case you’re wondering, Yes, I definitely believe in love at first sight and if you saw that person through the eyes of love instead of through the eyes of fear, you would too. In order to experience the most beautiful, profound love, you must not be afraid. Do not be afraid to open your heart and give your all, for this is truly the only way that you will know a love so complete, that it will blow your mind! And if you do open your heart and give all that you have to give and it doesn’t work out, you just have to keep going, realizing that you are that much closer to finding the man or woman of your dreams…trust me on this!

If you can realize the beauty that is you, the essence of all that is good, then you will eliminate heartache from your life. After all, why would you want someone who doesn’t want you? You are God’s most spectacular creation and you deserve to be loved in the grandest way. And yes, if it does not work, it may hurt for a while but you move on. This does not mean that you did not really love; it just means that you were not in love with the right person and the more time you spend with the “wrong” one, you are taking precious moments away from the “right” one.

So, do not be afraid to love; do not hold the “New” person in your life responsible for what the “Old” person has done. Do not shield your heart for fear of it being broken…Open up, Forgive, Let go of past hurts and pain, Live, and Love to the fullest extent and you will draw unto you that which you so richly deserve, which is someone who will love you and be in love with you…totally and completely!

Victoria Leal is the Owner of Reality Check.bravehost.com. To find helpful information on how to live the kind of life you deserve, please visit: http://realitycheck.bravehost.com This article is copyright 2007 by Victoria Leal and may be reprinted in it's entirety as long as this byline and copyright statement are included.

Seven Defensive Driving Techniques That Could Save Your Life

By Jean Littman

You reckon you are a safe driver, right? No need to enrol in defensive driving classes? It is true that a clear driving record and no involvement in dangerous traffic accidents probably means you are a fairly good driver.

However, serious accidents are becoming more and more common, and are often not the fault of those innocent casualties who are badly injured. Learning basic defensive driving techniques can greatly improve your chances of avoiding death and injury and remaining safe on the road.

Options for learning defensive driving techniques abound. Plenty of driving schools offer defensive driver education, as well as advanced driving programs and online traffic safety courses.

Exhaustive research and analysis into driving accidents and their causes has resulted in the production of the quality learning materials used to teach defensive driving techniques.
Research now shows that drivers who adopt defensive driving as a matter of course have a statistically better chance of avoiding serious injury whilst driving on the roads.

Seven Good Defensive Driving Techniques

1. Always use a seat belt. Statistics show that wearing a seat belt greatly improves the chances of surviving a serious road accident. Many countries regard driving without a seat belt as a traffic violation, making it illegal to drive without a seat belt.

2. Anticipate danger by expanding the line of sight and watching the road ahead. Drivers who adopt defensive driving techniques like this, and leave a good gap between vehicles, are able to brake early and take evasive action in time to avoid danger. It also allows plenty of time to notice others entering a freeway or driving through an intersection. Even on a green light, it is still wise to look for other drivers who may be illegally trying beat a red light.

3. Avoid internal distractions. Making sure your driving mirrors are set before you take off is vital for a clear view in both directions. This also avoids the distraction of adjusting them whilst driving. Avoid talking on the telephone, change the CD player or flick between radio stations. In fact, avoid any distracting activity at all which might take your attention away from the main activity, which is driving safely.

4. Watch yourself in heavy traffic. Experts on defensive driving techniques suggest the greatest risk is when drivers find themselves among a large pack of cars. One careless move by any car in the pack has the potential to affect everyone else. The way to avoid an accident is to safely steer away from the pack of cars towards the front.

5. Steer clear of heavy vehicles. Watch carefully for heavy vehicles in your rear view mirror, and avoid driving in front of or beside them. Particularly avoid trucks with heavy, insecure loads, especially when cornering or rounding bends.

6. Drive with two hands on the wheel. Defensive drivers always grip the steering wheel securely with their hands at the nine and three o'clock positions. This position ensures maximum control of your vehicle at all times.

7. Do not travel in the blind spot of another vehicle. Blind spots can be real trap. A good rule of thumb when overtaking or following other traffic is to remember if you cannot see their mirrors, they cannot see you!

Adopting good defensive driving techniques is like riding a horse. Once learnt and integrated into your daily driving habits, they will stand you in good, safe stead for the rest of your life.
So why should you acquire good defensive driving techniques? That is easy. To avoid serious trauma and injury to you and your loved ones, usually caused by other irresponsible drivers.
Jean Littman is co-owner of DefensiveDriverSense.com which provides quality resources on defensive driving techniques, advanced driving and traffic safety programs.

An Unbalanced Life Equals An Unbalanced Hormones

By Alisa Vitti

As we move from the lazy days of summer into faster-paced autumn - coming back to our "regular lives" after vacation, the longer days of summer, and for many of us, shorter summer work hours - we find ourselves in a perfect space for coming back to ourselves.

This transition period between the seasons - almost like a pause or a feeling of "waiting" - is the time for evaluation. It's time to take stock of what is, what has been, what's working and what you want to carry forward.

If this sounds daunting, try looking at it from a seasonal perspective. Come winter, our energies will be directed inward, toward comfort and home. This is a time when we'll have the space to open up and be creative, moving forward with projects and manifesting ideas. So it makes sense that fall would be the time to take stock, figure out what our next directions are, what we want to be creating for ourselves during the winter months.

Why take stock?
It's important to remember that our health is impacted by every facet of our life, even those that may seem unrelated. Any areas that are neglected, or are out of integrity with who we are (or are just plain not enough fun!) tend to create stresses, which in turn set off a chain reaction in our endocrine system, leading to hormonal imbalances and a host of other health issues.
Building your "life pie"

One of our favorite tools for refocusing on our selves and what's important in our lives is the Wheel of Life. You'll be making a "pie" that represents different areas of your life - it only takes about 10 minutes, and can be remarkably illuminating!

For this exercise, you'll need a blank piece of paper (preferably unlined) and pen or pencil. Feel free to make this exercise even more fun by using colored paper, or colored pens or pencils.

* On your piece of paper, draw a large circle and then divide it into 10 "pieces of pie" by making 10 lines from the center to the outside edge. (If you like, make each line in a different color, for each different category.)

* Next, you're going to label each line with a different area of your life: home environment, relationships, social life, joy, health, career, creativity, finances, education and spirituality.

* Now comes the fun part: For each of the 10 different categories, make a dot on the line that represents your level of involvement with each area – the center of the circle is zero, and the outside of the circle represents areas of most involvement or satisfaction.

* Once you've got a dot for each area, connect the dots and see what your "life pie" looks like!
Your Wheel of Life should give you some good ideas as to which areas of your life need more attention at this time. Keep in mind, this is a process that will last all through the fall – taking the time now to take stock and prepare will set you up for a creative, productive fall and winter!

Cleanse with us!
One of the best ways to re-balance yourself and your body as you transition through the seasons is with a gentle cleanse. Cleansing not only helps your body clear out excess wastes and come back to a place of balance, it also helps clear YOU - removing some of life's clutter and leaving you with a clearer vision of your direction, helping you to balance your "life pie". Many of the cleanses available out there can be very extreme - and therefore hard on the body. We've created our own super-supportive whole foods cleanse, done in the comfort of your own home but with the support and guidance of the LSW counselors, as well as a whole community of women - that you're connected to via our online forums - who are all doing the cleanse at the same time.

We'll be running our Fall Cleanse throughout the month of October. For more information on this transformational event, just fill out this short web form and we’ll be in touch with more details. Or, call us at 212-581-0001 to register now and reserve your spot!

Need more help figuring out your next steps?
One of our popular and powerful group programs may be for you! Metamorphosis, our eight-week telegroup designed especially for women in their 20s and 30s, begins on Monday, October 1st. Also beginning on October 1st is Emerge, our six-week online program designed for the college-age woman. See below for more information, or contact us today at 212-581-0001 to save your space!

Share your "pie"
How'd this exercise go for you? Did any of your areas surprise you? Which areas did you feel were your strongest? Your weakest? Share your results and ask your questions in the comments section below, and an LSW counselor will respond!

LSW recognizes the importance of indulgence, pleasure, and sensuality for every woman's menstrual and sexual health. We help you find the right medicinal foods for healing your condition, and we support you to understand, accept, and enjoy your woman's body and your feminine energy.

About Alisa
Laughing Sage Wellness Group was founded by Alisa Vitti, a Certified Holistic Health Counselor (AADP). Alisa is committed to empowering clients to reconnect with the wisdom of their bodies.
She received degrees from Johns Hopkins University and the Institute of Integrative Nutrition.
She has taught at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and lectures regularly at Beth Israel Medical Practices and Westerly Health Foods in Manhattan. She travels nationally, reaching out to women who are ready to create vibrant health and amazing futures for themselves. She specializes in the areas of reproductive and hormonal health and creating real intimacy in relationships.

www.laughingsagewellness.com