A Way to Inner Peace

We all need to find our inner peace, especially in our fast paced and turbulent every day lives. Outlined below are some steps or tips on how to search for peace of mind and make it a part of your life.

First you should examine your general attitudes toward life and find out which attitudes are right for you. Be honest with yourself. If you find yourself being a person who lives on the surface you should seriously consider to change this lifestyle since such attitudes can only cause disharmony in your life. Try to get below your life's surface to discover its varieties and realities. Meet all your challenges and solve the problems that life sets before you. If you make immediate problem solving a habit you will experience that it contributes to your inner growth and positive self development. Also take a look outside yourself and your ego and try to help solving others or collective problems as well. This will also contribute to your personal growth and peace within your self.

Then examine your beliefs. Are they good or do they seem right for you? When you have identified all the good things you believe, start to practice them. Peace within yourself can never be reached unless your beliefs and practice are in harmony. Like the law of gravity and other laws of nature, there are some universal laws governing human conduct and behavior. If you obey these laws you will be pushed toward harmony; dis5B4obedience make us disharmonic. We are able to distinguish between good and bad beliefs.

Then you should search for and find your place in the pattern of life. You can begin by putting into practice all the good things you believe. Life can not be in harmony unless belief and practice are in harmony. You must go in yourself and ask - only you can find it. Use meditation techniques or other methods for searching in receptive silence. When you start to come up with some clues, start to live in accordance with it by doing all the good things you are motivated toward and give them priority in your life.

We all have an inner and outer life. Prioritizing your inner life is not the same as denying your outer. You must bring your inner and outer well-being into harmony by getting rid of unnecessary burdens and meaningless activities. You must find a way to make your wants and your needs to become the same. When you have accomplished this, you will experience a harmony between inner and outer well-being. You will feel clean, pure and un-cluttered and this wonderful and harmonic feeling is what we call inner peace.

Terje Brooks Ellingsen is a writer and internet publisher. He runs the website 1st-Self_Improvement.net. Terje is a Sociologist who enjoy46Fs contributing to the personal growth and happiness of others. He tries to accomplish this by writing about self improvement issues from his own experience and knowledge. For example, finding peace of mind by accepting yourself and relationship improvement.

Pablo Picasso

Thoughts To Ponder #90

Eric Butterworth was among the leading spokespersons in modern times on "practical mysticism." Eric was considered a legend and spiritual icon in the Unity movement. The author of 16 best-selling books on metaphysical spirituality, a gifted theologian, philosopher, and lecturer, and for over 50 years a teacher of "practical Christianity," helping thou1C80sands of people to help themselves to a more abundant life by the study and application of Truth. He possessed a unique ability to render the most complex metaphysical teachings in simple sound bytes of awareness. He mastered the art of the brief "essayette," of which he has written thousands and is often described as "The twentieth century Emerson."

Don't go through life, grow through life.

Evil, and evil spirits, devils and devil possession, are the outgrowth of man's inadequate consciousness of God. We must avoid thinking of evil as a thing in itself-a force that works against man or, against God, if you will.

Fundamentalists believe Jesus was God becoming man. I believe that Jesus was man becoming God.

God can only do for you what He can do through you.

I am not what I think. I am thinking what I think.

Most people show up for work being physically accoutered but mentally disheveled.

Nothing stops the man who desires to achieve. Every obstacle is simply a course to develop his achievement muscle. It's a strengthening of his powers of accomplishment.

One of the best things to do sometimes is simply to be.

Our job is not to set things right but to see them right.

Dorothy M. Neddermeyer, PhD, Life Coach, Hypnotherapist, Author, "101 Great Ways To Improve Your Life." Mind, Body, Spirit healing and Physical/Sexual Abuse Prevention and Recovery. As an inspirational leader, Dr. Neddermeyer empowers people to view life's challenges as an opportunity for Personal/Professional Growth and Spiritual Awakening. http://www.drdorothy.net

Bodhipaksa

Simple Easy Secret Life Skills

In order to gain control over a disordered, dysfunctional, out of control mind it is necessary to recognize and admit to yourself what state of mind you are living in. How negative are you?

The mind is in constant motion. It is the great trickster and it contains much useless thought. We are not living and experiencing life as it is meant to be. We are living in a false reality that we have created by the level of our thoughts. If you are only stuffing yourself with outerworld realities you are a fool. We are meant to create our own reality by onl5B4y thinking thoughts of what we want in our life and want it to become.. Yet most people consistently think and speak of what they do not want. Then they wonder why the got it. The negative mind is the great trickster. We are in constant battle between the negative forces and the positive forces and Thoughts Are Powerful Real Forces. We will call the negative mind the great trickster because it tricks you and lies to you all the time. Pushing your buttons and causing you to react to every little thing. The negative mind pulls you down emotionally, manipulates you, deceives you, steals your peace, tells you are going to fail and that you are useless. The trickster knows all your weaknesses. It knows which old thoughts to dig up and feed you to ruin your relationships, your goals and your dreams. It fills you up with destructive contaminating thoughts. The trickster has 365 reasons why you should not learn how to gain control of your personal power. WHY is this ? Because if you get control, it means you are in charge. It means that you will become positive , happy and successful. The trickster does not want that. This may be hard to believe, but your mind plays tricks on you all the time. It tells you that negative things are going to happen, that do not happen. It brings things up that you would rather forget. It causes you to worry and lose sleep. The negative mind creates, distorts, and magnifies problems that do not even exist. (exa5B4mple) A man goes into a hospital for a check up and they decide to keep him in overnight for some more tests. The trickster immediately feeds him thoughts of - Doubt -Fear -Worry -Anxiety - Thoughts like; "There must be something seriously wrong if they have to keep me in hospital. What is wrong ? If I have to be off work long I will lose my job. I won't be able to pay my mortgage and I'll lose my house and my car. I will never get another job because of my age." Worry sets in BUT IT DOES NOT HAPPEN. It's all lies. Your mind does this all the time ! Well, that is good to know. So don't you ever forget it.

The trickster lies to us all the time. The negative mind will keep your life in strife. Change and only accept positive thoughts into your mind and your life will flow with effortless effort.

Be aware of the trickster all the time. Learn to flick him off. Say to yourself. "Get lost I am not listening to you any more". Re-program your mind. Change every negative immediately into a positive. Do not accept negative thoughts any more. Take control. Learn not to react. Use your personal power . (Here is another example of the trickster at work.) A man's wife suddenly left him for another man without any warning. He was so devastated he decided to sell his business and move away. He had worked very hard for many years to build up his business and make it successful. This is an emotional spontaneous reaction. Wrong 5B4decision.

When we choose a partner we do not know what lies ahead; we do not know how if the person we marry will change but we have learn to ride the storms as they arrive.

Why would you give up or change your lifestyle because of someone else's choices.

Hold your head up high, don't get mad, let it go. Move forward and focus on your life. Become the best you can become. Focus on your success. Do not allow the trickster to fool you into reacting. Reacting only causes more strife in your life.

When a man is blind to the views of his soul he will be unable to live life to the full. The errors of a persons past can become the wise choices of his future.

Take back your power. Cut your losses don't add to them by giving up. Take care of yourself. Give yourself permission to be successful. Give yourself a D.I.N. degree and Do It Now. You are truly better off without someone who would betray your trust.

You may have lost a partner but you have your whole life ahead of you. Be powerful not pitiful. Learn to live the Impersonal Life. Don't take offense, don't judge them, don't criticize, don't try to analyze or justify another persons actions. Stay positive.

The actions of another person has got nothing to do with you!

You are only responsible for yourself. Stay in Love and Forgiveness.

Do it for you. And You will be blessed. Do not allow the trickster to steal your True Self.5B4 Do not compromise your character. Be firm and unwavering. Stay true to yourself.

Be aware that the great trickster works overtime when you are in pain. Turn your Scars into Stars. Say goodbye to the trickster. Keep flicking him off your shoulders. Stay positive. Stay in goodness. Decide to take control of your mind. Act upon this decision by doing exercises to control the mind. Be positive all the time. Be willing to do the WORK. The work is to have a good mind and a pure heart. Affirm this to yourself daily.

Be active every day in your choices of your thoughts, words, actions and intent. Weeding out the negatives and seeding the positives until it becomes a habit and the mind is fully re-trained. The mind must be cleaned out and reprogrammed the same as a computer. Become the master of your mind.

As a man thinks today so it will become for him in his future.

May I suggest that you purchase my book "Discover the Power of Thoughts"

It is full of great charts, tools and exercises to help you to become the master over your mind.

From my book " Discover the Power Of Thoughts." Published in 2001.

Shirley Carton published author of self help life skills books, C.D.'s and articles. Expert on the evolution of consciousness, personal growth, intuition and meditation. Visit Shirley 300 on http://www.stepswa.com.au

Myles Munroe

Find the Absolute Secret to Your Success

Life can be a challenge under the best of circumstances. Juggling a job, a family, friends, and finding time alone can be quite a circus act for some people. Sometimes, just keeping a head above water seems like a modicum of success. But, with only one life to live, would you like to do better than just getting by? Would you like a fantastic life of wealth, love, and happiness? Then, you need to find the absolute secret to your success.

No gimmicks, no get-rich-quick schemes. No hypnosis or even hocus-pocus. The secret is simply finding the key to your ultimate success. Once you use the key to unlock the door of your potential future, boundless success is just around the corner. After you read about the secret and put it into practice, you life will start a positive change overnight.

How you approach life, how you envision yourself and the future will completely change, once you have read, and put into practice the six steps to success in all areas of your life. How do I know? For the answer to that question, you need to know a little bit of history.

Originally, 8 books were published in 1926. As the Little Red Book hit the shelves, many people started receiving the benefits of knowing the key found in knowing the secret to personal success. An abnormal high percentage of people soon became millionaires. However, supposedly in a bid for power, the all-powerful Church banded the sale of the book in 1933. As a result, the secret was lost for a time.

Until one day, a gentleman found books in his grandmas attic. Saddened at her passing, and curious as to why she kept these books hidden away, he sat down to read. As a result, he learned the key to success in every avenue of life, and he decided to share the answers he found within the pages.

Instead of printing and marketing 8 books, he chose to consolidate the valuable information contained within the pages into one single volume. He knew the books combined only contained the one key to his present success.

The young mans solution is not a bunch of fad answers to lifes problems, nor is it a feel good message to cover up the challenges either. The message deals with changing your view about life and how to approach challenges and triumphs, and practical advice on how to make the key turn your own personal lock of success and happiness. Once you have the key, you too can find the absolute secret to your success.

As the late great Albert Einstein once said "The definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results". Is it time for you to change what you are doing and achieve the results that you want? Or are you going to go through the rest of your life slowly going insane? Only you have the power to choose the next step and what direction you will take.

Paul Sutherland is an Accelerated Business Growth Coach. His company - Daniel Thomas International is also heavily involved in personal development and growth. For that reason a website http://www.perfected-products.com was created. Here you will find some of the very best tried tested and proven methods for creating the life you really want to achieve.

Don't make the mistake of trying the same old things and expecting different results. Make a real difference in your life right now and find out what works in the real world.

Wayne Dyer Audio Collection

Review and Refine

Periodically re-check and refine (or redefine) your goals

It's no use struggling to meet a goal that, by the time you get there, no longer fits in with your life. During obvious stopping spots along the way (say, every 10 lbs on a weight loss goal, or when you've saved enough for a down payment as part of a house-ownership goal), take a few days to sit back and really feel how you are reacting to reaching this milestone. Are you excited, chomping at the bit - or nervous, with slight overtones of dread or entrapment?

Some nervousness is to be expected if you're reaching out in a totally new direction in life, and it's only fair to expect that not all feelings you have will be cheery and rosy, even if you truly want the goal you're heading for. There is, at the very least, some mourning to go through for the loss of your old ways and your old life. But take time to make sure that you aren't ignoring obvious signals that are screaming, "Run away! Run away!" for good reaso587ns. Wedding jitters, for example, are perfectly normal; however, trepidation about abusive behavior, which doesn't seem to be declining (despite promises to the contrary), is another ball game altogether. Make sure that the goal you reach is the goal you want.

(c) Soni Pitts

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Soni Pitts is the Chief Visionary Butt-Kicker of SoniPitts.Com. She specializes in helping others reclaim "soul proprietorship" in their lives and to begin living the life their Creator always intended for them.

She is the author of the free e-book "50 Ways To Reach Your Goals" and over 100 self-help and inspirational articles, as well as other products and resources designed to facilitate this process of personal growth and spiritual development.

Islam

Reality-Building 201 - What 3 Actions Can You Take Now to Be Successful?

Have you ever seen someone who constantly struggles? Not just financially, but emotionally, and sometimes physically. Nothing ever goes right in their life. Just ask them; they'll tell you.

If you could look inside this person's head, you'd probably see a mess of self-doubt and vague wishes. They might not even realize that this is the life they created, but if you could go back 6 to 12 months in the past and look at their thoughts, you would see that's exactly what they've done.

As a network marketer, there are many actions you must take to create the reality you choose. Most of these are not easy, but if you can make them into habits, your success as a network marketer is almost guaranteed.

One such action is thinking for yourself. Thinking for yourself means asking questions. Doing things the way you always did means you'll get the same results you've always gotten. Asking questions can signify a departure from old ways that no longer serve their purpose.

Without questioning, you become a robot. You do things just because others tell you to do them. You endure because others say you should. You don't ask yourself, "Is the pain worth the prize?" You never find out if there's a better way to accomplish your goals.

Thinking for yourself also means to always place experience over authority. Nobody, regardless of what they say, can claim to be the ultimate network marketing authority. This is not to say you shouldn't listen to your upline. If you hand out 1,000 flyers, however, and get one call back, don't you think you could spend that time more productively?

When you think for yourself, you must understand people. Your upline might be from a generation where it was OK to approach people in a parking lot to present your business. Maybe they were even successful doing it that way. They're not trying to mislead you, just to teach you the business the way they learned.

Thinking for yourself is not, by any means, the easiest way to do things, but it is always the best. Anyone can follow the crowd and obtain mediocre results. Leaders constantly question their actions, asking themselves if there might be a better way to do things.

We can choose our own thoughts. Regardless of what happens to us on the outside, we control what goes on in our minds. We can choose to be a drone and follow what everyone else is doing, or we can use our minds to break away from the pack and achieve our goals.

As network marketers, we must keep in mind that we are where we are today because of our thoughts. If you find yourself lacking today, go back and examine what your thoughts were yesterday, last month, 6 months ago. Your reality always corresponds with your thoughts.

Because of this, it's vitally important to think constructively. Successful network marketers don't waste time or energy focusing on what might go wrong. They seldom mull over unpleasant encounters, or hold grudges. They constantly ask themselves, "How can I make things better than they are right now?"

If you really want to create you own reality, it's extremely important to know what that reality consists of. What does success mean to you? How will you know when you're there? To know your outcome is one of the most important aspects of creating the life you choose.

This needs to be more than just a vague dream. Just wishing for a big house or a bunch of free time is not enough. A big house to you might not be a big house to Michael Jackson, and people in prison have lots of free time.

This is where goals come into play. Notice I didn't say wishes. Goals imply something needs to be done to achieve an end. Effective goals are specific, never open-ended. You need to have a vivid picture in your mind of where you are going. Without that, how can you get there, and how would you know if you did?

You accomplish goals by working backwards. Say you want $500,000.00 a year in residual income. Breaking that down, ask yourself how much you would need to make in 1 year. What would you need to be doing during that year to achieve that? What would you need to do for the next 6 months? 1 month?

What would you need to do today, right now, to achieve that goal? If you can remember to keep the end in sight, your smaller goals will be easier to accomplish. Never forget why you're prospecting.

The thoughts you think lead you to the actions you take. The actions you take regularly become habits. If you can develop enough constructive habits, no force in the world can stop you from achieving your dreams.

Gregory McGuire is a successful network marketer living in Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

"Stop wasting time on old school network marketing techniques--find out why 97% of mlmers never make any real money

Visit http://www.calling-my-own-shots.com/article01.html

Ten Commandments

Why Intelligence Increasing Techniques Work

The 21st century has seen the advent of many so-called "intelligence increasing" techniques. These techniques have been purported to lead to intelligence gains of as little as 5-10 points, but all the way up to 30-40 IQ points gains for major techniques.

The most popular techniques in use today are image streaming, wave streaming, brain harmonics and pseudo telekinesis, though there are many others which are just as effective and can suit your lifestyle. Each technique has its distinct advantages, where some lead to increases in concentration and focus, others are more favorable towards intuition, creativity and inspiration generation.

The reason why these techniques work are several fold. First, the intelligence increase arises from the subconscious mind which lies within us. The genius of today is merely a result of increased connections to this subconscious foundation to let the genius come to us. The subconscious itself is the area of our minds which is always at work to give us what we plant into it. It also contains the solutions to any problem that we have, so is excellent for problem solving and creativity increase.

The second reason why intelligence techniques work, is because it natural for us to be the best that we can be, because we already have the best things within us in the unconscious. Therefore it is impossible for us not to achieve the best, when we allow it to flow through to us. We can therefore increase our intelligence into the stratosphere, and become a Universal Genius who achieves all their dreams with flying colors.

So in essence, the secret to genius lies on the fact that we have a subconscious and unconscious mind within us. We merely need to link with these and allow their secrets to pass through to us and fulfill our dreams on our behalf.

The author has increased his IQ to over 180, using the techniques he has created and perfected throughout his life. Visit http://www.geniusintelligence.com for more information on how to increase your intelligence and achieve the genius of your dreams.

To understand others is to have knowledge

Removing Emotional Blocks To Success

The single biggest impediment to any individual's ability to achieve success in any area of their life is the presence of emotional blocks that prevent them from actualizing their dreams.

Emotional blocks can take many forms. Some of them are:

1. The Fear of Change.

2. The Fear of Failure.

3. The Fear of Disappointment.

4. The Fear of Making Mistakes.

5. The Fear of Taking Responsibility.

6. The Emotional Need For Certainty.

7. Self Doubt.

8. Low Self Confidence.

9. Low Self Esteem.

10. Low Self Worth.

11. The Fear of Success.

There are many more that I'm sure you have either experienced or can name.

All emotional blocks arise as a result of one's early life history accumulated and stored as memories in the mind/body. Such memories act to limit and constrain one's "playing field of life".

In other words the limitations that any individual experiences are not due to external constraints as is commonly thought rather they are instead due to this invisible yet ever present "net" of conditioned internal mental and emotional blocks that were acquired early in life.

Many are acquired so early that often the individual has no conscious recollection of the memories associated with them. Instead they become integrated into what the individual considers their personality only to find out years later, if at all, how their life has followed a definite but restricted course.

Those who feel the constraints and wish to move beyond them often turn to coaches or psychologists who attempt to help them move past such limitations.

Unfortunately the coaching and/or therapies offered have one significant limitation in themselves. What is that you ask?

Well what most coaching or therapy misses out is the fact that after all of the work is done the offending memory remains stored within the client and has the potential to rear its head again whenever the client tries to push past the limitations imposed by it.

In order to remedy this problem it becomes imperative to completely "release" the memory from the mind and body at all levels.

Releasing it means that the individual will then experience the event as if it never happened to them!

Now for some this may sound somewhat radical. After all why would anyone wish to release what they consider a part of themselves, something they identify themselves with?

Well that is exactly my point. When you identify yourself with say your so-called personality, which is the result of your life history, you are inherently bound by it. Therein lays the limitation!

In order to free yourself from such limitations you have to step out of your limiting personality and transform yourself into a more capable individual. This might be analogous to taking on a new yet more empowered identity. In order to do so however one needs to "break out" of the limitations of the old personality altogether.

In other words it is not sufficient to pretend that you are someone else or to learn new skills. The personality itself must be cracked and shed like a snake's skin in order to allow a new way of being to come into being.

The only way to do this is to release your identification with your so called past and therefore release it from within yourself.

A new process called the Mind Resonance Process(TM) (MRP) one of the most powerful personal growth tools known on this planet was devised for this exact purpose. I have written extensively about here in this ezine.

If you would like to experience MRP and release your limiting emotional blocks kindly visit the web link below.

Dr. Nick Arrizza is trained in Chemical Engineering, Business Management & Leadership, Medicine and Psychiatry. He is an Energy Psychiatrist, Healer, Key Note Speaker,Editor of a New Ezine Called "Spirituality And Science" (which is requesting high quality article submissions) Author of "Esteem for the Self: A Manual for Personal Transformation" (available in ebook format on his web site), S555tress Management Coach, Peak Performance Coach & Energy Medicine Researcher, Specializes in Life and Executive Performance Coaching, is the Developer of a powerful new tool called the Mind Resonance Process(TM) that helps build physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well being by helping to permanently release negative beliefs, emotions, perceptions and memories. He holds live workshops, international telephone coaching sessions and international teleconference workshops on Physical. Emotional, Mental and Spiritual Well Being.

Web site: http://www.telecoaching4u.com/IntroConsult.htm

Sigmund Freud

Give Yourself Permission to be Successful

Do you lack self-belief? Does it stop you from achieving what you want to have and do and your want in life? Well you are not alone! But how can you start to break the chains and really live again?

Enter self-belief into Google and it seems inevitable that the major search results will involve someones story of how they changed their life from one of under-achieving and procrastination due to a lack of self-belief. Big deal I say! Who cares!? You only care about you. You may have tried to break the chains of having low self-esteem which also pretty much inevitably goes hand in hand with a lack of self-belief.

Having a lack of self-belief and of self-esteem is simply crippling to th562e personal growth, self actualisation and self-fulfilment of anyone. We humans experience change all the time in life, its situations, challenges and constant changes within ourselves too. We are literally living in a different world from one day to the next in a body and mind and emotional and psychic state that is constantly changing. Often its difficult to keep up!

With the rush of modern living, we lose touch with ourselves to the degree that we do not have a clue who we really are. We end up attaching so many externally based labels to ourselves of what we are, what we do, our definition of ourselves, and most of all, our definition of what we can and cant do!

Most of us know about those childhood experiences that have so shaped the way we are today. We can do our own psychoanalysis thanks very much. We know ourselves better than anyone, right? We may count ourselves lucky or unlucky depending on how our childhood experiences shaped us and our present life. But we probably do not know ourselves at all!

So how much of how we see ourselves is from the past based on our perceptions of what happened to us, how it affected us and how we feel about it all? But our perceptions are fallible and our ability to process scenes, events, emotions can be changeable, to say the least. Even the way we map faces in our brains can be decei5A8ved by our perception of reality. Even green plants are not green but thats what our brain tells us! (Thats the colour wavelength reflected off the plant but is not the plant colour itself!)

The brain is limited by the way it works. Not only this, but everyone is wired-up differently so to speak. Ask a policeman what opinion he has of the publics ability to describe details of an incident. It will not be that high probably with vast discrepancies between different peoples accounts. There are still areas of our brains and aspects of our minds about which we know as little about as the deep unexplored oceans and the outer reaches of space, and these are constantly throwing scientific dogma into turmoil.

We usually do not even remember an event 24 hours ago, or 2 hours ago, or even a minute ago. So how can we really trust and believe our self-belief about ourselves, which may be based on memories from times before our brains have even been fully formed? Thats just plain crazy!

Our reference points are simply not accurate. If we add all our fears into the equation, then realise that most of our fears come from the fear of something happening but probably never has and never will. Not only this, but if we were growing and stretching as human beings according to our natural ability to do so, dealing with these fears if they did happen would be so much less of a trauma 5B4as our capability to deal with them would be so much greater!

I meet so many people every day and this relates to the majority of people I meet, who I would term as emotionally and psychologically closed down often to great degrees, even though operating as average people you would meet on the street. They may have jobs and families and busy lives, but they are in effect sleep walking through life. Mostly these people know in intricate detail what they do and what they have, but how many of them truly know who they are, what they truly want in life, and the honest reasons why? Virtually none of them!

Most people are living in the past every day of their lives and therefore are not living in reality moment by moment. Having created a false world view of reality based on opinions, false impressions, misinterpretations, lies they have been told or incorrect information they have been fed. It is like we all live in a dream of our own making, good or bad. Our minds do not represent a true map of our external reality at all and can be easily fooled.

That is why it such a shame that so many of us live our lives according to our false limiting beliefs we have created. We are all growing, but unless we realise it and explore it regular, how can we exploit these changes and assimilate them into our new belief systems and act out a new internal reality accordingly?

Sure, emotional scars can really ru5B4n so deep they are not 'cured' by methods we presently know. But many can be healed by numerous means and our own bodies and minds especially are the greatest healers of them all! So you may suffer from a lack of confidence in situations where past feelings of pain, fear or inadequacy raise your heart beat. But each time you watch television or read a book, you may wander how it is you can zone out and ignore completely what is going on around you. Thats the power of your mind. It can work for you to protect you as it should or against you because it is still protecting you in situations that are no longer a genuine threat to you.

These mind traps sabotage your life every moment you are not aware of them happening, where your mind is now working against you.

Now I am no expert on self confidence and how to achieve it, but I can tell you I was rejected at birth and adopted as a one year old by a family in which I did not live and perform up to their expectations. However, I am not living my life, like so many sleep walkers do, trying to achieve in life exactly what my parents expectations of me were.

So many people live their lives trying to get love where it will not come from truly unconditionally. Many people never acknowledge their true selves their whole lives, not allowing themselves the personal integrity to be true to their own dreams which rarely are the same as their parents anyway. Sur5B4e mind traps are like walls that have to be dismantled brick by brick. But it helps to get a big breakthrough once in a while by challenging your own beliefs and taking risks in new situations in life. Once a big false self-belief starts crumbling it can effect many others like dominoes falling.

I think most people live their lives rather like you might try to bend a spoon like the infamous Uri Geller. The vast majority of people will focus all their energy on the spoon, trying to change it with all their might, their egos getting more and more frustrated the longer the spoon stays the same.

But is very interesting to note that many children are able to bend spoons like Uri Geller. We have no scientific explanation for this phenomenon at present. But the funny thing is that children appear to bend spoons with ease. Perhaps the key is not trying to change anything at all, but being in a relaxed and unattached state where we are truly in touch with ourselves. At a place where any negative self-beliefs and conditioning are not present as a barrier to natural processes we have yet to discover scientifically.

As our quantum physicists admit there is far more space between matter than previously thought possible. This sure is shaking their beliefs about the true nature of reality and of all the physical matter in it. If you let go of past set paradigms of thought and realise how shaky they are how many laws o5B4f science have had to be re-written in even the last 50 years, how much of our accepted beliefs of reality will be different in another 100? Im certain we will be shocked beyond belief. Like many big changes to our belief system, there will be shock.

As someone of limited self-belief and of very changeable self-esteem, I can say this. I do get very sensitised by various experiences which feel risky. They may make me feel extremely vulnerable. Some give me a feeling of great strength afterwards. Some leave my nerves jangled. It seems crucial not to over-stretch when exploring and developing yourself on purpose. Taking baby steps is the key.

Ive tried big risks and big steps, and they can leave you on highs that take you out of practical everyday reality and can undermine your confidence very detrimentally if you take risks you are not ready to handle when they do not work out as you had hoped. As Zig Ziglar said Youve got to be before you can have.

Life is full of fears, pain and trauma that is completely illusory. When you meet new people, their impressions of you are not true. Their opinions of you are often based on the tiniest of scraps of information. It is not personal because they do not truly know you. I think it is such a waste and shame that people often just judge people on first appearances. This is completely insane.

How many of you have felt that peer pressure of havi142ng to fit in by buying that outfit, car, house, or even getting that husband, or girlfriend. That is not living. It is living second hand to appease and fulfil the clouded desires of others. Why live your life for other people when your true happiness comes from the love of doing what you need to grow for yourself.5B4 Sure this may mean serving other people in many different ways but you will feel the freedom and feeling of positive energy as you burst through one false inner shell after another.

Helping others is self-growth in action. And positive action is the key. Princess Dianna ways painfully shy and yet she was able to face strangers, massive crowds of admirers and even manipulate the media. Her solution was simple. When with people, focus on them instead of on yourself!

The big lesson for me about my past is that life is not about finding my past or my roots, hoping to find there the thing to ease the pain of my past. I do not think you find yourself in the way many think. I think you make yourself and in doing so you discover and remember your true self along the way. The past is gone and can never happen again quite the same way. The truth is, we give ourselves the permission we need to have the things we need and want, and sometimes we can give those things to ourselves and the most important of them all is unconditional self-love. Whether you believe in love as an eternal spiritual power is irrelevant. We all die inside without it...

Even if you are made to look stupid in front of millions on a television 'reality show', who cares? If you do it for personal growth and it strengthens you and makes you more secure in yourself you will secretly be envied for doing it. Anyone can laugh at someone but could they walk in that519 person's shoes ?

Failure or defeat is subjective, so whatever happens in our lives has the potential to help us grow. Feedback is painful, but it does not have to stop you. As Bruce Lee said: Defeat is not defeat until accepted as defeat in your own mind. (And even a rubber band has to stretch before bouncing back...)

(Warning: This article is protected by copyright.)

By Tim Richardson.

For the unique and acclaimed new massive expert bait making bible ebook / book:

BIG CARP BAIT SECRETS! SEE:

http://www.baitbigfish.com

Tim Richardson is a British carp study group member, carp and catfish bait-making expert, and a highly successful big fish angler. His bait making and bait enhancing books / ebooks:

BIG CARP BAIT SECRETS! At his dedicated fishing baits secrets website.

http://www.baitbigfish.com

Pablo Picasso

Developing Your Imagination

So now you know how to "Practice the Pretend" (discussed in part one). Knowing how to practice 5B4the pretend is merely one piece of the puzzle to the first step in becoming a successful entrepreneur. Now you need to know what exactly it is that you need to imagine (the pretend part). You need to set some goals!

So what you do is this: Think about everything that you want in life (your goals) and write your want's down. There is a lot to this. Write down your financial goals (how much money you want to make per month, per year, or how much money you want saved in the next five years, etc...). Write down your personal goals (do you want to be married, have two kids, a dog, graduate college, go skydiving, etc...). Next write down your business goals (what kind of business do you want to own? how many businesses do you want? Do you want employees, and if so how many? Do you want investments, properties, or other business assets? Etc...). And, finally write down your personal asset goals (Do you want that yacht, that 70 inch television, a motorcycle, fancy cars, or a huge house on the lake, etc...).

Try to make these goals practical and within some reason. If your goal is to make One Billion dollars over the next six months; well that probably won't happen (unless you win the Lotto six times in a row, even then it is a stretch. Not recommended by the way). But now if your goal is to make One Million dollars over the next year and a half; Well that is doable. That is a more reasonable goal.

Now notice I say reasonable 5B4goal, and not realistic. The reason why I do not use the words "realistic goal" is because there is no such thing. What is realistic to you may not be realistic to me. If your idea of realistic is only making One Hundred Thousand dollars over the next year and a half; I am going to tell you to shoot higher. Find a new reality. If your goal is to make One Billion dollars over the next six months, I will tell you to aim high but maybe set the bar a tad bit lower. Like on Earth.

Now you have your goals written down, right! Good! What now? Well take your list of goals and make a copy. Now you have two lists. Now you click on my signature profile below and take a look at the article, "Think Success (part 3)" for the last installment of this series: Think Success!

Jeremy Alexander is a successful Entrepreneur and Instructor in the business of helping other entrepreneurs achieve their own personal and financial success. Whether at home working with his clients, or on the road speaking at conferences and classrooms; Jeremy is dedicated to the fundamental philosophy: "Success can not be earned without first creating success in others". To find out more about why Success is his passion checkout his website at http://www.secretsofwealthandprosperity.com or f379or some more tips on how to be successful checkout his free Blog at http://www.secretsofwealthandprosperity.com/MyBlog

Bodhipaksa

Dealing with Difficult People - Ten Ways to Improve Your Communications Success

Have you noticed that some people seem to stop listening even before you start talking? Do you avoid approaching some people unless you absolutely have too? Improve your chance for conversational success by considering the following ten factors before starting your next conversation.

1. Consider the setting. Where will the conversation take place? Is it public or private? Are there other things going on that will be distracting? Is the setting approapriate for the topic?

2. Consider the personality, gender, culture, age, etc. of the other person. If the person is different from you in these respects, you will want to adapt your style of communication to respect these differences.

3. Consider the internal influences (emotions, bias, etc.) on how you approach the conversation. What is your motivation? What baggage are you bringing with you as you talk with this person? Recognize it so that it won't get in your way.

4. Consider the internal influences (emotions, bias, etc.) on how the other person will receive the message. How might your history of communication with this person impact the way they respond to your approach? Will they be distrustful, anxious, humiliated? Your past words and actions will impact whether they will be receptive to you and your message.

5. Consider the interest level/level of importance of the other person. How much information does this person need to know? Is the topic relevant to their work or do they just need a basic awareness of it? Would verbal bullet points work better than an in-depth report? Be careful not to overwhelm someone with how much you know. They may think you are just trying to impress them or boast about your knowledge.

6. Consider the language needs (familiarity with topic, jargon, educational level, etc.) of the other person. Are you using words the person is familiar with or talking over their head? Are you talking in a demeaning way by "dumbing down" your word choices?

7. Consider what you want to accomplish by initiating the conversation. Keep your goal and the message in the front of your mind. If you need to relay information make sure that the person understands the information. If you need to address a challenge, make sure you address the challenge without making it a personal battle.

8. Consider what the other person might need to receive from the conversation. Stick to the information the other person needs. Don't try to become friends or talk about personal stuff if the other person isn't responding positively to that direction of your conversation.

9. Consider the long-term impact of the words, tone, and gestures they use. You may be having a bad day, but the other person may take your comments or attitude personally. That will impact future conversations. If you've had a bad day and said something inappropriate go back to the person to apologize and briefly explain that you were having a bad day and wrongly took it out on that person.

10. Consider the external factors (noise, distractions, setting, etc.) that will impact how the message is relayed and received. Again we return to setting. Make sure that you initiate and participate in conversations that provide the best environment for a successful exchange of ideas and information.

Copyright 2005. Donna Doyon works with people who want to develop and present seminars or workshops to promote their small business or organization. Visit http://www.the-public-speaking-advantage.com/ to learn how public speaking can increase your bottom line.

Pablo Picasso

Rethinking Resolutions: Ways To Make Changes And Bring More Balance To Your Life

It seems natural to use the turning of the year to take stock of life to consider what could be different in the coming year. Many of us make resolutions that focus on something that is wrong with us. This resolution-making is also loaded with guilt, because if you dont achieve what you set out to do, you can feel a sense of failure. As we sit at this transitional point, I want to offer you a different approach to making your resolutions.

Instead of simply focusing on one problem you want to fix, what would happen if you could look at your life in a holistic manner? What changes would seem most important if you evaluated with an eye toward increasing balance and clarity. What successes would you celebrate? Would you find areas of yourB67 life that you are neglecting? Rather than simply focusing on getting up early to exercise or losing those 15 pounds, take this opportunity to think about the life you would like to have and take steps to begin to live into that life.

Start by looking at your life in terms of broad aspects or categories. Here are some examples: Physical Environment, Career, Money, Health, Relationships, Personal Growth, Fun and Recreation, Emotional Balance. These are aspects that contribute to your overall sense of well-being and also can influence your health both emotionally and physically. Feel free to add categories that seem most relevant to you.

Next, ask yourself, What am I doing in each area that helps me live the life I want to live? You list might look like this:

Physical environment

I clean off my desk at the end of the day

I have enough light to do my work

I live in an apartment that I love

Money

I save 10 % of my income

I contribute regularly to my retirement plan

I pay my bills on time

Relationships

I tell my partner I love you every day

I dont gossip

I return letters, emails and phone calls promptly

Notice if some of your categories have only a few items while others have many things listed. This gives you some feedback on parts of yourself that you may be neglecting.

Now, look at these categories and ask, What could I be doing to make my life the way I want it to be? What qualities of a full and meaningful life do you want to include in your list? These are things you arent doing yet, but that you value and want to work toward. For example:

Physical Environment

I recycle regularly

I keep my garden weeded and watered

My closet is tidy and inviting

Money

I have enough in savings to live for 6 months

I have a budget for my expenses and I stick to it

I contribute time and/or money to charity on a regular basis

Relationships

I call my parents weekly

I can ask for what I want and/or need

I spend some down-time with friends regularly

Try to add small changes as well as large ones, it will help you see success sooner and keep you motivated.

In starting with the big picture, you gain a vision of where you want your life to be and what steps you can take in order to make that happen. You now have some concrete feedback on what you can do to improve your life. As you begin to make changes, you will know that you are working toward your goal.

What if you really do want to lose 15 pounds or start a regular exercise program? Go back to your categories and add the steps needed to make those changes happen. For example:

Physical environment 5B5

I keep healthful foods in the house

I allow myself an occasional treat

I subscribe to a health magazine

Health

My weight is within a healthy range

My blood pressure is lower

I drink plenty of water to keep my body healthy

Fun & Recreation

I have a CD player or I-Pod to help with my workouts

I invite friends to go walking with me

I play outside with my kids

You have just taken your goal of losing 15 lbs and made it concrete. You have actions that you can see and measure. And, you are working on your goal from a variety of perspectives, rather than just focusing on the number on the scale. By making small changes in a variety of areas, you will be more likely to achieve your goals. You will have the opportunity to celebrate your successes more often, and, know that you are working toward living the life you want to live.

2006 Cynthia McKenna LPC, NCC - All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

Cynthia McKenna LPC, NCC is a therapist and life-coach who helps people transform their lives. Her goal is to help people have more joy and peace in their daily living. Cynthia works with individuals, couples, and groups in the Texas Hill Country. She also works with clients online and by phone.

For mo3D1re information or to make an appointment, visit Cynthia McKennas website http://cynthiamckennacounseling.com

Check out Cynthia McKenna's Blog: CounselingBlog

Bodhipaksa

Success Maker - Help Others To Be Greater Than You

If you want success you will need to be a success maker to get it. You may have the initial idea that makes your success possible, but no matter what your idea youll need others to reach success yourself. You cant become greater and more successful if youre looking to build your foundation for success on those who have less skills and knowledge than you.

Being a success maker means you arent afraid to reach out to those who are greater than. As you continue on your journey toward success youll need to find those who are more knowledgeable than you in certain areas. Yes, you could become an expert in every area youll need to reach your success; but that is a slow and inefficient way to get there. Youll achieve success much faster and with far less bumps along the way if you get people who are experts in the areas you need to either do some of the work for you, or to act as your guide helping you to avoid the pitfalls you dont even know are there.

Success makers are comfortable in their own skin and arent afraid to help others to become even greater. As you reach out to experts to get their help and guidance dont be afraid to help them to become even greater from the experience of having worked with you. This is the point where your confidence is really escalating, and you have the opportunity to become a force driving yourself and those around you to success. Please note, I used the word confidence not arrogance. Arrogance can kill your forward progress, and set you up for a very hard and painful fall because when your thoughts become clouded with arrogance your good judgment gets lost.

Success makers realize its never just about you. Anytime its just about you, youre ready to fail. Allow the greatness of those around you to help you to go farther faster. This may mean allowing those whove helped you to greatness to move in another direction where they can achieve their own greatness. When its time for one of your experts to move on wish them well, and continue to provide the support they may now need from you. You can be gracious and supportive because you have confidence that you can continue your forward progress and find another expert to take you even further.

Success makers understand that they cant ever achieve success alone. Your success depends on your ability to provide others with more value than you take. Your success depends on your ability to find others greater than you to help you get to success faster. Your success depends on your ability to help others become greater and more valuable than they were when you first met.

Use this e-coaching tool to develop your path for success - Success Model.

Looking for success? find Success here.

Northern Buddhism

Goal Setting - Ctrl Alt Del For Your Brain

When working towards our goals we frequently have several different strands going on in our heads at the same time. For example, I am currently starting a new web business, writing an e-book and trying to get my online article total up to a new record level.

Most of the time, all these tasks are efficiently compartmentalized and I allocate time according to which is the most important from day to day. Sometimes, though, my tasks begin to overlap each other and cause confusion.

Sometimes, one of the strands gets bogged down and I have writer's block, or a particularly thorny problem from another area, keeps intruding. At those moments, I feel a little like my computer does, when I have too many windows open at the same time. I feel overloaded.

I am old enough to remember when computers could only do one thing at a time. Before Windows came along, you had to run a program, such as Word, solo. Then when you wanted to shift to Excel, you shut Word down and started Excel up. There was no way of copying and pasting between two open programs. Oh no!

With Windows a whole new world became available and as computing power got faster, we began to expect our machines to do absolutely anything. Earlier versions of Windows would handle this up to a point, but then if too many things were going on at once the whole thing would groan to a halt, you'd get the dreaded blue screen and have to do a reboot.

Since then Microsoft came up with Task Manager a way of handling these problems more elegantly. What happens is that Windows still gets overloaded, but now Task Manager allows you to select and shut down just the offending program, rather than having to restart everything.

Which brings me back to my poor, steaming brain. When I start to get the overlapping confusion and one task gets stuck in an endless loop, I imagine that I have a keyboard plugged into my brain and I simply press Ctrl, Alt, Delete and call up my trusty Task Manager.

On my mind's screen, I then scroll down to the hung up task. It was e-book, this morning, that showed the "Not Responding" message, so I clicked on "End Task", waited a couple of seconds and shut that program out of my memory and went back to working on an article.

Having this rather satisfying image in my head, means that I can happily forget about the problem program for a little while and allow myself to concentrate on something that is flowing smoothly.

In the background meanwhile, my brain circuits are quietly unraveling the tangle and resetting that part of my mind. Then, later, when things are sorted out, I can go back to my Start Menu, select e-book again and fire it up afresh, with a clean screen and bright new ideas. Works ever time.

If you would want to know more about perfecting your goal setting and self development skills, you're invited right now to subscribe to my free newsletter: http://www.money-and-mind.com

From - Andrew Grant http://www.money-and-mind.com

Ray Kroc

What is Your CREATURE-SELF? KEY CONCEPTS About Maturity, Authenticity and Congruence

CRUCIAL CONCEPTS

Here are several major psychospiritual concepts you should understand to get the most from the study of psychospiritual values and ethics and a satisfying life, in order to end the neurotic mind games we play to defeat others and ourselves.

THE CREATURE-SELF -- This is our primitive homosapien self that combines the emotionally driven, instinctive aspects of personality that so many use without thinking about them, with the philosophical, self-aware aspects of life that make us fully human. At the deepest level of our souls, we combine the psychological unconscious and the spiritual unconscious into our psychospiritual selves. The creature-self, the homosapien entity, I - Myself Alone, has both Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde traits that must be mastered for life to become satisfying.

NARCISSISTIC GREED -- Healers as far apart philosophically as Sigmund Freud and Jesus of Nazareth agreed that each and every person suffers from a major character flaw. It is this -- all persons are programmed by nature to relive the Greek legend of Narcissus who was so enamored with his own beauty and brilliance that he destroyed himself. Each child instinctively wants the biggest piece of the pie -- all adults yearn for power, prestige, pleasure and possessions in order to prove our worth, to flaunt our superiority before others. For example, Indias cast system is narcissism woven into the culture. We all protect ourselves, defend against the world, preserve our integrity, satisfy our appetites, venture into society and snare part of it as our own. We do this to win self-esteem and to become heroic. Nevertheless, our narcissistic ruthlessness must be civilized or we crash and burn spiritually.

THE PSYCHOLOGICAL UNCONSCIOUS -- Each and every person has a hidden function within his or her mind into which painful events, selfish desires and greedy attitudes are concealed from awareness so they cannot trouble us. The unconscious is a secret vault in which we conceal much evidence that would convict us in the court of our own conscience -- if not always in a court of law. We may not see much direct evidence of our unconscious but it is seldom quiet for long. The unconscious influences our attitudes and activities with often unintended consequences and troubling results. We cannot ignore emotional disorders that inevitably come from a variety of unconscious causes.

THE SPIRITUAL UNCONSCIOUS -- According to Frankl and others, each person has yet another hidden function of the mind that requires more than the physical and emotional rewards that satisfy the lesser animals. As sentient creatures who know that we know, each of us yearns to understand who we are, where we are going, what we are worth and what shall happen to us. Each person needs a spiritual connection with the Creator, by whom we were apparently imprinted during our racial development -- must relate to God through a psychospiritually sound life-style. Our ancestors called our universal yearning for a sense of purpose and permanence, for a home in the Cosmos, the ache for God.

HOMOSAPIEN RAGE -- Every person, whether young or old or male or female, has primitive fear hidden within the psychological unconscious that can flare into devastating aggression when we feel endangered or devalued. This homosapien angst is inherited from our primordial ancestors who were constantly fearful on the African savannah during their racial revolution. It is so common that some anthropologists call humans the killer apes. The Trench Coat Mafia boys of Columbine High School in Colorado were social outcasts many of the academic elite and athletic gifted students despised to bolster their own self-esteem. Even after the Columbine attack, before all the bodies were recovered, one student athlete cried out on television; The geeks were so different -- were such losers, that no one in our group would have anything to do with them. Why did they do this -- what made them hate us so? It simply isnt true that Sticks and stones may break my bones but words shall never hurt me. Cruel gibes hurt terribly and always trigger resentment. His slain friends paid a terrible price for meeting their narcissistic needs at the expense of the alienated, for not understanding that for themselves to enjoy special prestige, they had to create losers to be despised in comparison.

THE ULTIMATE LIE -- The greatest pretense each human uses regularly in our self-serving attitudes, activities and relationships, is that I - Myself Alone, am a rational and objective being who makes the best possible choices for my family, company, community and nation. As Freud told a world which still doesnt believe that psychologists and psychiatrists can see through their shams, that nave assumption is a total illusion. Every person to reach adulthood in the past million or so years grew up subjective. All humans have a hidden aspect to our minds that distorts reality enough to meet our personal needs first of all. We keep these dangerous yearnings hidden from ourselves in order to maintain a modicum of self-respect despite our narcissistic greed and homosapien rage.

Unfortunately, disruptions within our psychological and spiritual unconscious can cause devastating problems. We all give ourselves the benefit of every doubt, take every advantage and resolve every dispute to our own satisfaction, until that is, we liberate our souls and live self-transcending spiritual lives.

REPRESSION -- We all stuff painful events into our unconscious; we repress from easy awareness many attitudes and relationships that devalue us. We forget an appointment with an angry boss who has battered our self-esteem in the past -- which then causes even more pain when he attacks again. Repressing something painful isnt simply hiding it and forgetting what we hid and where. Repressing something wastes emotional energy to keep the pressure on and control our anxieties; energy needed to live wisely and well. A student of mine at Westminster College would set three alarm clocks on test days and still sleep through an exam that threatened him. Even Freud admitted he always forgot he owed creditors money much sooner than he forgot the money patients owed him.

NEUROTICISM -- Carl Jung wrote with great wisdom that persons with neurotic traits are those unfortunates who have failed to find meaning in their lives. I see neuroticism as including the continued use of childish tactics to satisfy ones desires in adulthood when they no longer create a sense of purpose. While a child can win a raise in her allowance with a temper tantrum, that seldom works at 3M or General Motors. Unfortunately, a person who has fixated on neurotic traits has trouble maturing beyond them. In fact, the less well a self-defeating activity works, the more an anxious person uses it he or she simply hasnt grown into a mature mode of interacting, has fixated on compulsions, is self-programmed to use self-defeating tactics over and over because he or she knows no better way.

PSYCHOSIS - This is neuroticism taken to the limit, pushed into serious mental illness where the sufferer is unable to cope with life in a variety of ways. This form of distress may include psychopathic ailments but I generally think of psychotic reactions in two ways. First is schizophrenia in which the person is detached from reality. One feels free of his or her physical limitations. Alternately, clinical or psychotic depression occurs when the sufferer is overwhelmed by lifes many requirements. I especially understand that a person who suffers from mental illness needs spiritual as well as emotional healing.

NIHILISM -- This philosophy of meaninglessness, a belief in disbelief, is Western Civilizations most devastating secular assumption about persons and their relationships to one another. Nihilism came from several proto-Nazi philosophers when German egoism was triggering five murderous wars against humanity plus the Holocaust in less than a century. The central theme is that the Cosmos is a pointless accident and humans are pond scum despoiling the surface of one meaningless planet circling an insignificant star. Might makes right, control of a society comes from the muzzle of a gun and individuals are expendable in some aristocracys manipulation of persons for power, prestige, possessions and pleasure. Nihilism or opportunism has become to some degree, the operative philosophy of virtually every business, government, military force, research university and professional association in the world today. Global capitalism is the ultimate example of nihilism at work in our civilization.

EXISTENTIAL FRUSTRATION -- We of western civilization have developed a narcissistic and nihilistic life-style that consistently frustrates humans, that causes the mass neurosis of 20th century life. We who yearn for stability and security have used our creativity to develop a society that changes around us with the speed of a video tape set on fast forward, that goes against the grain of human nature. We no sooner get comfortable with life as it is than it shifts into a new and discomforting mode that leaves us confused and frustrated. That constant change, combined with several instincts from our primordial homosapien past, keeps us off balance emotionally and spiritually. Then, because unrelieved frustration leads to aggression or to apathy, it cripples persons who fail to successfully cope with change.

THE DEATH DREAD -- From the time our primordial ancestors spent countless ages being hunted by the great carnivores on the African savannah, the birthplace of our race, they struggled desperately for survival. During this long period of time they became anxious and developed an instinctive fear of death that lingers with us. This most serious human anxiety still comes at the most inappropriate times and places, disrupting many of our activities and relationships. It seems to be locked in our very genes, for through psychoanalysis or hypnotherapy it can be found in everyone. The only reason we do not fear the death-dread continually, except in our dark nights of the soul, is because we repress those anxieties.

FREE-FLOATING ANXIETY -- This occurs as the result of a persons inability to deal with the pressures and problems discussed in this section. Ones life feels off balance, out of sync with society, filled with potential dangers that may cause problems and worried from the death dread. As Mark Twain said; I have spent my entire life worrying about problems -- most of which never happened! The person with free-floating anxiety cannot put his or her finger on the cause of any days dread, or perhaps he or she like Twain invents something to account for the unhappy feelings, but it remains part and parcel of life day after day -- because his or her soul remains in psychospiritual bondage.

MATURITY/AUTHENTICITY/CONGRUENCE -- Each person can learn how narcissism, nihilism, the unconscious functions of the mind, the repression of painful memories and events and the problems of a secular life-style can be managed. We must become emotionally honest, liberated souls who make congruent choices that keep us from experiencing mental turmoil or emotional confusion. Whomever wisdom has enlightened through spiritual virtues, positive attitudes, high expectations, mature beliefs and responsible choices, is free indeed. As we develop into real-persons who live wisely, enlightened disciples the church calls its maturing members, we can live as truly liberated souls.

These are the basic concepts found in many of our articles and in the materials that can be perused in our website -- http://www.fulfillmentforum.com

Jard DeVille has published more than a score of psychology books, seminars and psychological assessment instruments. His book NICE GUYS FINISH FIRST was a powerful best seller. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF LEADERSHIP was New American Library's offering in their Executive Development Series. Permission to use if attributed to author with his website address.

Visit http://www.fulfillmentforum.com for Free Ebooks and Ebiz tools.

Our minds shape our surroundings

Personal Core Values: Your Key to Success and Happiness

Each of us has our own set of personal values; these are the things which we believe are important, which motivate us and to which we give priority. If I asked you what your personal values are, the chances are that you would struggle to find the answer. You would not be alone; in fact the majority of people would find it hard to answer this question satisfactorily.

The reality is that most of us are not fully aware of our own personal values. This is the same as saying that most people are not aware of what is important to them.

The problem is made worse by the fact that not only ourselves but also other people and other institutions have their own set of core values. People such as friends, partners and employers, each have values that have an effect upon us and our lives.

Consequently, we may find ourselves living our lives according to the values of other people instead of following our own values. For example, in the work place, you may find yourself following the values of your employer;- good timekeeping, increased production, profits, sales targets etc.. Yet how many of these values would you feel fitted with your own core values? Furthermore, if you spend your life meeting only the values of your employer, do you feel that would be a happy life?

Do you feel that meeting only the values of your employer would lead to a law of successful life? Well, that would be possible if you measured your law of success in terms of achieving targets set by your employer and gaining more pay or promotion as a consequence. But just look at how many people go through life with the feeling that true law of success is much more than earning money or promotion. People increasing measure law of success by other criteria. For most people, law of success is measured by something more than or other than financial gain. So for most of us, following an employers values would not lead to what we feel to be a law of successful life.

This is not to say that the values of others are not important. They are important and it is important for us to recognise these values especially when they impinge or affect our own lives. However, it is more important for us to recognise our own personal core values.

It is by our own core values that we measure our law of success and happiness. It is they that tell us what is important in our lives.

As a Life Coach and counsellor, I encounter many people who are unaware of their own core personal values. I am able to undertake a values elicitation exercise with these people to help them discover their core values. The outcome of this exercise is often very revealing for them, it gives them an insight into what they really value and what motivates them. It can often indicate to them where their lives are not in accordance with their values and how they are striving to fulfil someone elses values. Usually, this is also a source of stress or frustration in their lives.

So I would recommend anyone who is looking to discover their own personal values in life to consider the services of a life coach. Your values really are your key to law of success and happiness.

Douglas Woods is a fully accredited Life Coach, teacher and counsellor. His website is dougwoods.com. Please feel free to visit, browse and find out more about his work.

Mother Teresa

Is There a God?

The following offers candid, straight-forward reasons to believe in the existence of God...

Just once wouldn't you love for someone to simply show you the evidence for God's existence? No arm-twisting. No statements of, "You just have to believe." Well, here is an attempt to candidly offer some of the reasons which suggest that God exists.

1. The complexity of our planet points to a deliberate Designer.

The Earth...its size is perfect. The Earth's size and corresponding gravity holds a thin layer of mostly nitrogen and oxygen gases, only extending about 50 miles above the Earth's surface. If Earth were smaller, an atmosphere would be impossible, like the planet Mercury. If Earth were larger, its atmosphere would contain free hydrogen, like Jupiter.1 Earth is the only known planet equipped with an atmosphere of the right mixture of gases to sustain plant, animal and human life.

The Earth is located the right distance from the sun. Consider the temperature swings we encounter, roughly -30 degrees to +120 degrees. If the Earth were any further away from the sun, we would all freeze. Any closer and we would burn up. Even a fractional variance in the Earth's position to the sun would make life on Earth impossible. The Earth remains this perfect distance from the sun while it rotates around the sun at a speed of nearly 67,000 mph. It is also rotating on its axis, allowing the entire surface of the Earth to be properly warmed and cooled every day.

And our moon is the perfect size and distance from the Earth for its gravitational pull. The moon creates important ocean tides and movement so ocean waters do not stagnate, and yet our massive oceans are restrained from spilling over across the continents.2

Water...colorless, odorless and without taste, and yet no living thing can survive without it. Plants, animals and human beings consist mostly of water (about two-thirds of the human body is water). You'll see why the characteristics of water are uniquely suited to life:

It has an unusually high boiling point and freezing point. Water allows us to live in an environment of fluctuating temperature changes, while keeping our bodies a steady 98.6 degrees.

Water is a universal solvent. This property of water means that thousands of chemicals, minerals and nutrients can be carried throughout our bodies and into the smallest blood vessels.3

Water is also chemically neutral. Without affecting the makeup of the substances it carries, water enables food, medicines and minerals to be absorbed and used by the body.

Water has a unique surface tension. Water in plants can therefore flow upward against gravity, bringing life-giving water and nutrients to the top of even the tallest trees.

Water freezes from the top down and floats, so fish can live in the winter.

Ninety-seven percent of the Earth's water is in the oceans. But on our Earth, there is a system designed which removes salt from the water and then distributes that water throughout the globe. Evaporation takes the ocean waters, leaving the salt, and forms clouds which are easily moved by the wind to disperse water over the land, for vegetation, animals and people. It is a system of purification and supply that sustains life on this planet, a system of recycled and reused water.4

The human brain...simultaneously processes an amazing amount of information. Your brain takes in all the colors and objects you see, the temperature around you, the pressure of your feet against the floor, the sounds around you, the dryness of your mouth, even the texture of your keyboard. Your brain holds and processes all your emotions, thoughts and memories. At the same time your brain keeps track of the ongoing functions of your body like your breathing pattern, eyelid movement, hunger and movement of the muscles in your hands.

The human brain processes more than a million messages a second.5 Your brain weighs the importance of all this data, filtering out the relatively unimportant. This screening function is what allows you to focus and operate effectively in your world. A brain that deals with more than a million pieces of information every second, while evaluating its importance and allowing you to act on the most pertinent information... did it come about just by chance? Was it merely biological causes, perfectly forming the right tissue, blood flow, neurons, structure? The brain functions differently than other organs. There is an intelligence to it, the ability to reason, to produce feelings, to dream and plan, to take action, and relate to other people. How does one explain the human brain?

2. "Chance" or "natural causes" are insufficient explanations.

The alternative to God existing is that all that exists around us came about by natural cause and random chance. If someone is rolling dice, the odds of rolling a pair of sixes is one thing. But the odds of spots appearing on blank dice is something else. What Pasteur attempted to prove centuries ago, science confirms, that life cannot arise from non-life. Where did human, animal, plant life come from?

Also, natural causes are an inadequate explanation for the amount of precise information contained in human DNA. A person who discounts God is left with the conclusion that all of this came about without cause, without design, and is merely good fortune. It is intellectually wanting to observe intricate design and attribute it to luck.

3. To state with certainty that there is no God, a person has to ignore the passion of an enormously vast number of people who are convinced that there is a God.

This is not to say that if enough people believe something it is therefore true. Scientists, for example, have discovered new truths about the universe which overruled previous conclusions. But as science has progressed, no scientific discovery has countered the numerical likelihood of an intelligent mind being behind it all. In fact, the more science discovers about human life and the universe, the more complex and precisely designed we realize these to be. Rather than pointing away from God, evidence mounts further toward an intelligent source. But objective evidence is not all.

There is a much larger issue. Throughout history, billions of people in the world have attested to their firm, core convictions about God's existence--arrived at from their subjective, personal relationship with God. Millions today could give detailed account of their experience with God. They would point to answered prayer and specific, amazing ways God has met their needs, and guided them through important personal decisions. They would offer, not only a description of their beliefs, but detailed reports of God's actions in their lives. Many are sure that a loving God exists and has shown himself to be faithful to them. If you are a skeptic, can you say with certainty: "I am absolutely right and they all are wrong about God"?

4. We know God exists because he pursues us. He is constantly initiating and seeking for us to come to him.

I was an atheist at one time. And like most atheists, the issue of people believing in God bothered me greatly. What is it about atheists that we would spend so much time, attention, and energy refuting something that we don't believe even exists?! What causes us to do that? When I was an atheist, I attributed my intentions as caring for those poor, delusional people...to help them realize their hope was completely ill-founded. To be honest, I also had another motive. As I challenged those who believed in God, I was deeply curious to see if they could convince me otherwise. Part of my quest was to become free from the question of God. If I could conclusively prove to believers that they were wrong, then the issue is off the table, and I would be free to go about my life.

I didn't realize that the reason the topic of God weighed so heavily on my mind, was because God was pressing the issue. I have come to find out that God wants to be known. He created us with the intention that we would know him. He has surrounded us with evidence of himself and he keeps the question of his existence squarely before us. It was as if I couldn't escape thinking about the possibility of God. In fact, the day I chose to acknowledge God's existence, my prayer began with, "Ok, you win..." It might be that the underlying reason atheists are bothered by people believing in God is because God is actively pursuing them.

I am not the only one who has experienced this. Malcolm Muggeridge, socialist and philosophical author, wrote, "I had a notion that somehow, besides questing, I was being pursued." C.S. Lewis said he remembered, "...night after night, feeling whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all of England."

5. Unlike any other revelation of God, Jesus Christ is the clearest, most specific picture of God pursuing us.

Why Jesus? Look throughout the major world religions and you'll find that Buddha, Muhammad, Confucius and Moses all identified themselves as teachers or prophets. None of them ever claimed to be equal to God. Surprisingly, Jesus did. That is what sets Jesus apart from all the others. He said God exists and you're looking at him. Though he talked about his Father in heaven, it was not from the position of separation, but of very close union, unique to all humankind. Jesus said that anyone who had seen Him had seen the Father, anyone who believed in him, believed in the Father.

He said, "I am the light of the world, he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."6 He claimed attributes belonging only to God: to be able to forgive people of their sin, free them from habits of sin, give people a more abundant life and give them eternal life in heaven. Unlike other teachers who focused people on their words, Jesus pointed people to himself. He did not say, "follow my words and you will find truth." He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but through me."7

What proof did Jesus give for claiming to be divine? He did what people can't do. Jesus performed miracles. He healed people...blind, crippled, deaf, even raised a couple of people from the dead. He had power over objects...created food out of thin air, enough to feed crowds of several thousand people. He performed miracles over nature...walked on top of a lake, commanding a raging storm to stop for some friends. People everywhere followed Jesus, because he constantly met their needs, doing the miraculous. He said if you do not want to believe what I'm telling you, you should at least believe in me based on the miracles you're seeing.8

Jesus Christ showed God to be gentle, loving, aware of our self-centeredness and shortcomings, yet deeply wanting a relationship with us. Jesus revealed that although God views us as sinners, worthy of his punishment, his love for us ruled and God came up with a different plan. God himself took on the form of man and accepted the punishment for our sin on our behalf. Sounds ludicrous? Perhaps, but many loving fathers would gladly trade places with their child in a cancer ward if they could. The Bible says that the reason we would love God is because he first loved us.

Jesus died in our place so we could be forgiven. Of all the religions known to humanity, only through Jesus will you see God reaching toward humanity, providing a way for us to have a relationship with him. Jesus proves a divine heart of love, meeting our needs, drawing us to himself. Because of Jesus' death and resurrection, he offers us a new life today. We can be forgiven, fully accepted by God and genuinely loved by God. He says, "I have loved you with an everlasting love, therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you."9 This is God, in action.

Does God exist? If you want to know, investigate Jesus Christ. We're told that "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."10

God does not force us to believe in him, though he could. Instead, he has provided sufficient proof of his existence for us to willingly respond to him. The earth's perfect distance from the sun, the unique chemical properties of water, the human brain, DNA, the number of people who attest to knowing God, the gnawing in our hearts and minds to determine if God is there, the willingness for God to be known through Jesus Christ. If you need to know more about Jesus and reasons to believe in him, please see the article: Beyond Blind Faith found at EveryStudent.com.

If you want to begin a relationship with God now, you can.

This is your decision, no coercion here. But if you want to be forgiven by God and come into a relationship with him, you can do so right now by asking him to forgive you and come into your life. Jesus said, "Behold, I stand at the door [of your heart] and knock. He who hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him [or her]."11 If you want to do this, but aren't sure how to put it into words, this may help: "Jesus, thank you for dying for my sins. You know my life and that I need to be forgiven. I ask you to forgive me right now and come into my life. I want to know you in a real way. Come into my life now. Thank you that you wanted a relationship with me. Amen."

God views your relationship with him as permanent. Referring to all those who believe in him, Jesus Christ said of us, "I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand."12

(1) R.E.D. Clark, Creation (London: Tyndale Press, 1946), p. 20
(2) The Wonders of God's Creation, Moody Institute of Science (Chicago, IL)
(3) Ibid.
(4) Ibid.
(5) Ibid.
(6) John 8:12
(7) John 14:6
(8) John 14:11
(9) Jeremiah 31:3
(10) John 3:16
(11) Revelation 3:20
(12) John 10:27-29

Copyright EveryStudent.com

As a former atheist, Marilyn Adamson found it difficult to refute the continuously answered prayers and quality of life of a close friend. Marilyn was amazed to learn the wealth of objective evidence pointing to the existence of God. She has found faith in God to be constantly substantiated and greatly rewarding. Marilyn is the director of EveryStudent.com

Philip Yancey

Mend Your Broken Heart

By the time I was 25, my heart had already been broken three times. And it took me a lot longer to get over the second heartbreak than I care to admit. Recently I read that sometimes it can take a woman up to seven years to heal from a broken heart. I couldnt believe it! I now realize that what I had been through was not at all uncommon. Maybe if I had read that article back then, I wouldnt have become so frustrated with my slow process.

The truth is that while there are many things you can do to help yourself get over the situation, pretending to be fine when youre not is hardly a reasonable strategy. I have found that it makes no sense to try to fool yourself. Admit that youre hurting, but be encouraged that its true what they say: time heals all wounds. So dont just sit around and moan and stuff yourself with ice cream. Learn from that heartbreak and become stronger because of it.

1.Write your ex a letter. Writing helps you to put your thoughts into perspective. Express exactly how you feel and how you wish things had turned out differently. You dont need to actually give the person the letter. Youre writing to begin your healing process. Once youre finished, read it over to verify that it articulates your exact feelings, and then destroy it.

2.Forgive. The decision to forgive is not so the other person can be freed of his responsibility. Youre forgiving so you can move on. I know it hurts and I know you deserved to be treated better, but holding a grudge isnt going to make you feel well again. Once you have made up your mind to forgive, say it out loud to yourself. ______________, I forgive you for breaking my heart.

3.Let it go. Remember this ancient Chinese Proverb? If you love something, set it free. If it comes back to you, it's yours. If it doesn't, it never was. We do not possess anything in this world, least of all other people. We only imagine that we do. These simple phrases contain a world of truth. How do you let go? Its not that suddenly you no longer think about the person. Its simply that you step away and give them space, no matter how much it hurts. This lesson I learned the hard way. When my second boyfriend dumped me I thought he needed to see and hear more of me so I was constantly in his hair. As a result I made him separate himself from me even further, which is exactly what I didnt want.

4.Learn from it. What on earth can you learn from a break-up? Youd be surprised. You can learn a lot about yourself, about the way in which you react to rejection, and if youre completely honest, you might be able to find out if theres anything in your character that might cause people to shun you. Also, figure out if that person really possessed the traits that you are looking for in a life partner. If your answer is negative you might want to re-evaluate your screening process.

5.Hold on to the good. A lot of women think that by constantly remembering all the character flaws and shortcomings of the ex, the break-up will be more tolerable. I strongly disagree. Instead of focusing on all that went wrong, make memories of the good times. Its not going to change the fact that youre no longer together, but it will keep you from harbouring unhealthy feelings of resentment, anger and sourness.

6.Watch your tongue. Calling up your friends to scandalize your former lover is never a good idea. First, because its incredibly childish; second, because it just proves how bitter you still are, and third, because it makes you look bad. A former co-worker once told me that her husband had the bad habit of calling her stupid. One day she answered back: and youre even more stupid because you knew I was stupid and you married me anyway. He never called her stupid again. Got it? If you go around badmouthing your ex, you make yourself look bad.

There is no magic potion to mend your broken heart. Only time will tell. But dont just sit there and live in the past. Face each new day knowing well that this too shall pass.

Dinorah Blackman-Williams' books may be previewed and purchased at http://www.lulu.com/blackman

Ray Kroc

Natural Ways To Induce Labor: What Works?

When your pregnancy goes well beyond the due date, your doctor could recommend chemical induction. The use of medication to artificially start or induce labor should be resorted to, only if the pregnancy jeopardizes the health of the mother or the baby. This is because, in up to half the cases, chemical induction leads to a Cesarean birth, or the use of the vacuum method. A Cesarean delivery keeps you doped, and confined to your bed in the first few days of your babys life, and you may also face difficulties in breast-feeding. A vacuum delivery may dislocate the babys shoulder.

There are some natural ways to induce labor, in order to avoid medical induction.

One of the most commonly used is nipple stimulation, which leads to the release of a hormone called oxytocin. The synthetic version of oxytocin is commonly used to chemically induce labor. A bumpy car ride works for at least some, and so does having sex. Exercise, such as walking, using a swing, belly dancing, using a hoola hoop, and squatting for a short while, helps your baby to descend better and your cervix to dilate. This in turn increases your own natural oxytocin release, which brings on labor.

Relaxing to reduce muscle tension is also very important, because tension and stress can get in the way of your labor. Meditation and visualization are excellent ways not only to relax, but also to get labor started. Your imagination and subconscious mind are powerful tools. Just by thinking of your favorite food you start to feel hungry or by imagining something scary you become terrified. Likewise, focusing your mind on labor helps to bring it on and progress with it.

Taking in herbs like blue or black cohosh should always be under the supervision boardof a doctor or a herbalist, because these herbs can be poisonous. Blue cohosh can be harmful for the babys heart, and black can lead to excess hemorrhaging during labor. Drinking cumin or red raspberry leaf tea, or applying evening primrose oil locally on the cervix can also be tried, although there is no evidence that these remedies actually help in starting up labor.

The only natural labor inducing remedy, which has been shown to work, is acupressure. This simple method of pressing specific spots on your skin has the ability to start labor in most mothers with overdue pregnancies.

Not only has labor acupressure been proven to be effective, it is also safe. There is no risk that acupressure done observing its basic rules, could harm the mother or the baby. What is great is that you can use some of these same labor acupressure methods to get relief from labor pains and certain other discomforts during labor.

To use acupressure, all you need to know is how to press certain points on your body. This is so simple, that it can be done by the father of the baby, or anyone else, who is helping you out with the delivery. Acupressure is a method that does not over-stimulate your body. You just cant administer too much of it, as your body takes in only what it needs to function optimally.

Labor acupressure not only gets the contractions going, but also ripens the cervix, and helps to descend the baby. It helps in reducing labor pain, and so you can say goodbye to an excess drug dosage, or an epidural. This means that you can be alert and loving and ready to hold your baby in your arms as soon as the delivery is over.

Before you use acupressure to induce labor at home, ensure that you have reached the 41st week of pregnancy. And, of course, have your bag packed and ready using acupressure really produces results!

Are you overdue and tired? You can encourage your labor to start naturally at home and avoid medical induction. Labor acupressure is a simple method that has proven to be effective and safe for the mother and the baby. The most effective acupressure points that naturally induce labor, give labor pain relief and help in any stage you might get stuck in during you labor, are revealed in a new labor acupressure guide "Easier, Shorter and Safer Birth" by Lena Leino. Visit http://www.MaternityAcupressure.com for more information.

Six Steps To A Successful Life