Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill - A Review

Around 1997, when I was beginning to change my thinking, there were two books that were very influential to me. One of them was Mach II With Your Hair on Fire by Richard Brooke. The other one was Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. I read Think and Grow Rich so many times that the pages are tattered. It is considered one of the most influential books of all time. Here are a few of the highlights from the book. It is a "must read" for anyone wanting to start his or her own business.

In Chapter 1 Napoleon Hill discusses how Thoughts are Things. He states: "When a man really desires a thing so deeply that he is willing to stake his entire future on a single turn of the wheel in order to get it, he is sure to win." Riches really begin with a state of mind. It may be in the form of an idea, plan or purpose.

Chapter 2 is about Desire, the Starting Point of All Achievement. Hill gives Six ways to turn desire into gold. The key point in this chapter is that the desire has to be very strong. It has to be a "burning desire."

Chapter 3 is on faith, belief and visualization. He says that faith is a "state of mind which may be induced, or created, by affirmation to the subconscious mind through the principle of autosuggestion. He gives the powerful example of men like Charles Schwab, John Pierpont Morgan, and Andrew Carnegie in the development of the United States Steel Corporation.

Chapter 4 is on Autosuggestion. This is how the subconscious mind is influenced. Napoleon Hill gives a six step formula to stimulate your subconscious mind. He explains how it will open the way for a complete understanding and mastery of the principles of success.

Chapter 5 of Think and Grow Rich is about Specialized Knowledge. Hill states that you don't necessarily need the knowledge yourself however. He explains how you can form a "Master Mind" group that has the knowledge.

Chapter 6 is on Imagination. Napoleon refers to the imagination as a workshop where plans are fashioned. Hill explains the two forms of imagination and how to exercise them. As in many of the chapters of Think and Grow Rich, specific life examples are used, many of which we are familiar with.

Chapter 7 is on Organized Planning. In this chapter he again goes into the "Master Mind" group. If one plan fails try another. Napoleon Hill gives many good attributes of good leadership and causes of failure in leadership.

Chapter 8 is on Decision. People who fail to accumulate money reach decisions slowly and change them quickly and often. People such as Henry Ford had a habit of reaching decisions quickly and changing them slowly. Again the "Master Mind" group is brought in here. Napoleon says if you know what you want you will generally get it.

Chapter 9 is on Persistence. Hill gives a good test of persistence, how to climb over your failures, and how to train yourself to be persistent. Persistence can be developed and this chapter of Think and Grow Rich has four excellent steps to do so.

Chapter 10. After referring several times to the "Master Mind" in other chapters he here shows its power. Putting multiple minds together has a multiplying effect not just an addition effect. He says it is the only way to accumulate great power.

Chapter 11 was a little off base for me. I will let you read that one for yourself and decide.

Chapter 12 is on the Subconscious Mind and how it is the connecting link. Even though he referred to it before, here he gets into more detail on how to energize it for creative effort. Napoleon also shows how the subconscious mind is tied into seven major positive emotions.

Chapter 13 is on The Brain. I found this most interesting how Hill likened it to a radio that both broadcasts and receives. His addressing of telepathy could be a little far out for some, however I have found it to work for me many times over.

Chapter 14 is on The Sixth Sense. It is the portion of the mind that is called creative imagination. There is a portion of the brain that receives vibrations of thought called "hunches". In her book The Game of Life and How to Play it, Florence Scovel Shinn gets into this as well. It is not something that comes quickly. By applying the principles in Think and Grow Rich the ability to use it can be strengthened.

Chapter 15 is about Fear. Napoleon Hill tells us that the study, analysis, and understanding of three enemies - indecision, doubt and fear - have to be cleared out for any portion of his philosophy can be put to successful use. To help you overcome them, he goes thru the symptoms of the major fears.

This book has been called an Inspirational Classic and I can't agree more. Everyone should read it over and over again as I have. Indeed, if you do, you will definitely Think and Grow Rich.

James Alan specializes in teaching visionaries like himself how to create multiple streams of income in many areas of interest with part-time efforts. James has owned several successful businesses for the past 25 years, inclucing ones you start on your own. He now has chosen to share his knowledge with others.

Make Money With Affiliate Marketing - 7 Things You Should Know About This Business

Affiliate marketing is simply the smartest and most profitable way to make money, period. Note that I do not confine this statement to "make money online", because affiliate marketing can outperform any other business venture in the off-line world as well.

So if you still do not have a clear idea about what affiliate marketing is about, here are 7 essentials you should consider:

1. Affiliate marketing is a business model, not a get-rich-quick scheme. Making money with it demands what any other business would: education, time, effort and dedication, but...

2. The advantage is that you will need almost no money as startup capital, as you can perfectly begin with all you need to develop a profitable business putting only $100 or $200.

3. Affiliate marketing is the easiest business to start and develop, which does not mean that you will not have to put your back into it, but that if you do, you will surely succeed no matter your what previous background might be.

4. Affiliate marketing has a profit potential like no other business you can run from home or from any place with an internet connection, because indeed, even a modest affiliate marketing business operation can render more than enough money for you to make a comfortable living.

5. Affiliate marketing has the ability to make you money fast, which should not be confused with get-rich-quick. Indeed, chances are that with if you have a good educational product by your side -so you have the necessary know-how- you will see profits in as little as one week (maybe $50, maybe $500, that will depend on the methods you use and the amount of effort put) and from there you will keep growing at a pace no other business allows.

6. Affiliate marketing is a business you run on dedication and brain power rather than money, so you will not have the expenses, hassles and risks usually associated with the traditional business model. All you will be risking to make a lot of money is some of your time and effort.

7. As I said before, this business requires time and dedication to develop, however, the good news is that for your to achieve actual success you will have to work less than 50% of what you would on a regular day job, and this is because automation is a key ingredient and one of the best features of this business model.

So do not wonder if you have what it takes to make money with affiliate marketing, because I do not know you and yet I know for a fact that you do.

Visit: http://www.specialonlinebusinessreviewauthority.com to learn what resources can provide you with the necessary know-how you need to kick start a profitable affiliate marketing business.

Studying on Faith Alone - Education Can Often Be Hard on Religious Faith

It's probably hard to find facts if your mind is already made up. If you're trying to find information on anything, more than likely you will find exactly what you're looking for, if you look hard enough. With all the information out there, available in books, media, and of course the Internet, would we really know the honest to God truth if we ran into one.

Not something that man made up and forced our ancestors to believe in.

If you're studying on faith alone and trying to prove or disprove something, you will succeed. If you're reading the Bible and looking for answers to problems in your life, eventually you will find the answers. All you need is to believe in your God and he will show you the way. Has he truly shown you the way or are you basing your religious beliefs on faith alone.

I have studied the Bible for many years and came to the conclusion that, I was often blinded by the way I view the information and couldn't get the facts most of the time. I always enjoyed reading Proverbs and the story of Job, both of these books in the Bible inspired me to become a better person.

By studying the Bible without faith and looking for information based on facts, it wasn't long before I realized this book could be and I say could be a group of stories that man over the centuries combined into one book during the Council of Nicaea in 325A.D and became religious doctrine for Christians.

In order to study anything effectively, you need to keep an open mind, this might require you to reprogram your thinking. You have been taught for years that only your religion is correct and all other religions are wrong. You can't think like this and gather information effectively.

Studying on faith alone could close your mind and keep you on the path of spiritual resistance. You know you're on this path if only the things you believe in make sense. Nothing nobody else says can make much sense if you're studying on faith alone.

What would it hurt to read a life changing spiritual book on another religion or form of spirituality? If you can't read another religious book, because you're religious organization tells you to only read their spiritual books to gather information, you're following a path of spiritual resistance.

If you're really going to study on faith alone then I suggest studying with intention to learn instead of follow.

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development. Check out one of his recommended reading, Stories from the Old Testament

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

Finding Your Optimum Spiritual Self in Recovery

How can we find our optimum spiritual self in recovery?

The answer to that is a process that unfolds before us over a period of years or even decades. Why is it like this? Because everything in recovery is essentially a process. Take, for example, the process of surrender when an addict or alcoholic is first coming to terms with their problem and decides to ask for help. For most people, this moment of surrender is not an event, but instead it takes years and years of fighting and struggling with addiction--desperately trying to control their drinking and drug use--before they can finally admit to their problem and take steps towards a healthier life.

Finding our best spiritual self in recovery is no different. This journey is a process just like everything else, and it can take quite a long time for us to seek out our highest spiritual self. The reason for this is mostly because we block ourselves from achieving such a state of spirituality. All of the great spiritual teachers and leaders have essentially said as much--that the answers are within us all if we just take the time to seek them out and practice some simple gratitude in the stillness and quietness of our lives.

One big problem that many recovering addicts and alcoholics have is that their minds are filled with dogma and limiting beliefs that have possibly carried over from their childhood. These might be mental blocks, such as believing that only religious people are spiritual, or that the only way to connect with a higher power is in church. Spirituality is much broader than that and goes outside the boundaries of what other people think and believe. True spirituality is derived from your own personal quest for knowledge and inner peace; it has little to do with what is in books or what a religious figure might tell you.

Another major problem that people have is that they do not give themselves enough credit for their own spiritual progress. We have hectic lives and do the best that we can in recovery, so why beat ourselves up for not meditating for 8 hours each day? Sometimes we have to take peace and serenity when we get it, and be grateful for it as it comes to us. This is the secret of gratitude and in finding your optimum inner self. Celebrate those inspiring spiritual moments and focus on them and recognize them for the gifts that they are. Do not disregard your own spiritual growth just because you are not walking on water or claiming complete peace and serenity during every waking moment. Finding our optimum spiritual self in recovery is about finding peace among the chaos that will inevitably come with your normal, everyday life.

Finding your spiritual self is a natural function of living the creative theory of recovery, as spirituality is the "glue" that holds the creative life together. Pursue the creative life in recovery and your spiritual self will naturally fall into place as you practice the spiritual principles that drive a successful recovery.

And now I invite you to learn more about finding your spiritual self Visit http://www.spiritualriver.com/

Christianity Saved My Life

Growing Your Psychic Powers - Spiritual Video

Ahhhhh is the sound of God and can be used for meditation. Listen to this wonderful sound and try to find God in it.

Question Your Religion

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development.

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

Four Agreements

The Positive Side Of Guilt

There was once an order of monks who slept in coffins, the very coffins that they would eventually be buried in. What little food they ate was plain, and the robes they wore were made of coarse cloth.

It sounds worse than prison life. Yet those monks lived that way voluntarily, even gladly. You see, they felt they were atoning for the sins of the rest of the world. They were accepting the burden of guilt for the sins of Man past, present, and future, and doing penance so that in the eyes of God, we would be judged worthy.

While most of us dont carry around a load of guilt that huge, many of us carry some baggage. Youve probably heard throughout your life from friends and family that guilt is bad. Many articles and books tell us that guilt is a useless emotion. They tell us we have to rid ourselves of guilt because it is an enemy to our peace of mind.

I disagree with all of these people. I dont believe guilt is a useless. In fact I believe that guilt is a very important emotion that shapes much of the goodness and generosity in our life. It signals when we have transgressed from codes of behavior that we personally want to sustain. Feeling guilty informs us that we have failed our own ideals.

For example in relationships, you have give-and-take. If you give too much in your relationship and dont get anything back, you feel cheated; you get angry and frustrated. Your emotions are telling you that the relationship is out of whack. On the other hand, if youre receiving and not giving anything back, you will feel guilty. Youre not doing your fair share in the relationship.

To take this a step farther, I feel that people who are entirely without guilt are actually a danger to society. It is a flaw in their personality. You see this in a lot of dangerous criminals who commit violent crimes without feeling any remorse or contrition.

However, too much guilt, or guilt for the wrong reasons, is not healthy. When you spend a great deal of energy feeling guilty, and apologizing to whomever will listen for things that are actually out of your control, you end up convincing yourself, and the people in your life, that you are ineffective and incompetent.

Unhealthy guilt is unproductive and toxic to our peace of mind, wisdom, and ability to care for ourselves and others. In the state of unhealthy guilt, it is not the omission of a specific act that triggers remorse. Instead, we live in a constant state of punishment regardless of what we do or dont do.

In fact, too much guilt can paralyze you. If you allow yourself to feel too much guilt, it can be a way of avoiding action. For example, if youve done something you know is wrong and let yourself wallow in guilt, you might be tempted to say something like, Well, Ive suffered enough, so I dont really need to do anything about it. This is the worst way possible to deal with guilt, because it produces no positive benefit.

Unfortunately, its not always easy to tell the difference between healthy and unhealthy guilt. However, asking yourself these important questions can help.

Is my guilt constructive? If your guilt is driving you to engage in constructive activities, its probably there for a good reason.

Whose voice is it? Is the guilt based on how you guess others will feel about your action? For example, you may feel guilty about moving in with someone youre seriously dating because you think your family wont approve. If you find that your guilt stems from the fact that your sense of whats important is different from your parents, then, its not useful.

Is the guilt justified? Are you feeling guilty about an act you have actually committed or a fleeting feeling? You are judging yourself too harshly if you feel guilty because you are envious of a coworkers promotion.

What is causing your guilt? Be careful that your feelings of guilt are not arising from a sense of inadequacy. People with low self-esteem tend to feel responsible when someone else feels bad or guilty when they receive honors even if they worked hard for them.

Are you being manipulated? If someone told you that you should feel guilty or behaved in such a way that stimulated the guilty feeling in you, your guilty feeling is suspect. Make sure that the guilt you are feeling is not the result of manipulation

Once youve determined that your guilt is healthy, you need to act. If its good guilt, you need to do something to make compensation for that guilt; do right. Its not enough to say, Well, I feel guilty and its not enough to say, Im sorry. You have to make compensation for the action that caused your guilt.

If your guilt is part of a relationship, it might involve an apology, but, at the minimum, you have to make it right. Thats what builds trustworthiness in relationships. You need to restore the relationship and build trust between you and the other person.

When you admit your guilt to another person, you are really asking for forgiveness, and thats not easy. Its difficult to be indebted to another person, but when you are able to say, I was wrong its a real sign of strength in the relationship.

Healthy guilt and its accompanying psychic pain motivates us to take responsibility for our mistakes. It forces us to admit our mistake, to reflect honestly on its cause, understand how it could have been prevented, and helps us to resolve not to let it happen again.

Healthy guilt deepens our self-respect. It is called forgiveness and that creates a shift in perception that permits us to see our mistakes as an opportunity to learn rather than as proof of how bad we are. Letting go of healthy guilts pain, we keep the deepened self-knowledge, compassion and empathy, and we experience spiritual growth.

Although guilt feels lousy, it can be a positive experience. It can lead to your growth as an individual and growth in your relationships. So take heart with guilt, and take action.

Copyright2006 by Joe Love and JLM & Associates, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.

Joe Love draws on his 25 years of experience helping both individuals and companies build their businesses, increase profits, and achieve total success. He is the founder and CEO of JLM & Associates, a consulting and training organization, specializing in personal and business development. Through his seminars and lectures, Joe Love addresses thousands of men and women each year, including the executives and staffs of many businesses around the world, on the subjects of leadership, achievement, goals, strategic business planning, and marketing. Joe is the author of three books, Starting Your Own Business, Finding Your Purpose In Life, and The Guerrilla Marketing Workbook.

Reach Joe at: joe@jlmandassociates.com

Read more articles and newsletters at: http://www.jlmandassociates.com

Odd Video, You Try and Figure It out

if you don't matter to God, you don't matter to anyone else, that statement doesn't make a lot of sense. If I reversed the phrase, if you don't matter to anyone else you matter to God. Something to think about.

Seek the wisdom and the truth shall set you free.

Hope in Religion

Create Your Day
You Have Got To Read This Book

How To Make Money Online With Elance

Do you write? Can you string together words and sentences like this? Would you like to make a few extra bucks (maybe more) without the hassles of a traditional job? You would? Then welcome to the wonderful world of freelance writing on Elance.

-- What is Elance?

Elance is a website forum, a marketplace that allows people from all over the world to actively participate in buying and selling their products and services. As a freelance writer you can offer your writing services with very little effort on your part. If you can surf the web, use email and generally communicate in English (yup, its the principal language used on Elance) then you are pretty much good to go.

-- How Does It Work?

Its quite simple; Elance is a subscription based website that charges you a small fee to become a member. At the time of writing basic monthly subscriptions begin at $30. Once youre registered you can browse all the active (open) projects and bid on the ones that interest you. As a member you can even set up a personal store front (profile) and showcase your products and services to potential buyers (and its not unusual to get direct enquiries from buyers this way.)

-- If Your Bid Is Chosen

If your bid is selected you will get the chance to decide if you want to proceed with the project or not. If you decide to go ahead then you and the buyer enter into an agreement (Elance provides templates and samples at no charge.) You provide the services to the buyer and the buyer pays you what they promised simple.

Elance gets a small commission on all projects that are awarded. But dont worry, there is no cost to you for winning projects thats the buyers responsibility and the buyer will be billed directly (it doesnt even come out of the agreed project payments!)

-- So How Much Work Is Available To You?

Thats a good question; after all if you are going to spend at least $30 a month on a basic subscription, you really need to figure out if the subscription is worth it. The number of open projects varies, however its not unusual to find between 150 and 200 writing projects available at any given time.

-- And How Much Are These Projects Worth?

There are currently two types of project postings on Elance: BASIC and SELECT. If you have only chosen a basic membership then you can only bid on Basic projects. You will need a Select membership to bid on the select projects.

And the reason you would buy a select membership is simple select projects pay more, are less likely to end without being awarded (yes there are people on Elance who post projects to get a feel for the market and have no intention of actually awarding the project!)

So back to the main question how much are the projects really worth? Again, this data varies over time (I cover this and more in my new report on www.ElanceExposed.com), however heres a quick rule of thumb that Ive found to be fairly accurate: If you multiply all the number of open projects by $250 and multiply that again by 70% you will get a fairly good idea. For example, 200 open projects X $250 X 70% = $35,000

-- But What About the Big Projects?

There are big projects on Elance, they get posted infrequently but they are available. As you might imagine these projects are usually posted by companies not people and they usually pay 5 to 10 times what a regular project pays. With this kind of payout you can imagine the competition is quite high, however pitching to a business is not the same as pitching to a person.

-- What About Gotchas And Other Issues?

There arent too many. The biggest one that springs to mind is that Elance currently does not offer a refund policy on their subscriptions. You actually have to get on board and sign up to get a feel for the Elance market. And to be quite frank, you really need to give yourself a fighting chance and sign up for three months.

If you signed up for a three month Select membership you would currently pay $150 USD. Thats not a huge amount of money, but it is a bit steep if you find out that Elance is not for you.

-- Here Are a Few Elance Quick Facts:

* 100,000+ potential buyers visit Elance Online every week

* Web's #1 consulting site and top 1,000 most visited site

* Awarded Best of the Web by Forbes (2003)

* Reliability Certified by the Better Business Bureau

-- And Here Are a Few Neat Benefits of Using Elance:

* Easily market yourself to a global pool of prospective clients.

* Pitch your services at prices you establish.

* Make a profit as an independent consultant.

Its true, thousands of service firms and individuals take advantage of Elance as a marketing channel. And Elance actively supports your efforts with aggressive online and offline marketing delivering high volumes of traffic.

-- Remember, You Can Win Work 3 Different Ways:

(1) Answer the phone after people check out your online profile and work samples.

(2) Develop pre-priced buy now packages that buyers can purchase instantly.

(3) Bid on projects many buyers post their requirements directly online.

-- Conclusions

Before you dive into Elance you might want to do some digging on the Internet to get a feel for what others have experienced. For instance you might want to find out more about the bid success ratios, the real differences between Basic and Select projects, how many projects will pay you more than $1,500 and so forth.

You can make money on Elance if you know what you are doing, and quite frankly all it takes is a little time and patience. Good luck, and happy bidding!

JAMES BURCHILL is an experienced Internet Marketing & Business Development specialist providing strategic and tactical solutions to select clients seeking to architect their on and off line marketing success. James is a published author, a passionate advocate of technology and the Internet, as well as an avid study of classical advertising and marketing strategies. Prior to establishing his own unique consulting practice, he served as VP of Professional Services and VP of IT & Consulting and implemented multi-million dollar solutions for Oracle, the British and US Governments, Rolls Royce UK and many others. James taught Computer Science at one of Toronto's leading colleges and continues to coach private clients on a select basis. For more information visit James' Elance site at http://elance-exposed.jamesburchill.com or checkout his main website at http://www.jamesburchill.com

Brainwashing People

How to Make Money in Recession Times

How to make money in recession times is a question that is paramount in the minds of a lot individuals who have either lost their jobs or need another money making venture as a safe guard to whatever job security the might have at the moment.

There are many ways to make money ordinarily but the reason it is most difficult finding a money making venture in times like this is because the cash flow is generally low and people are very hesitant to buy these days. But one way of generating that much needed extra income is through the submission of digital photo to stock photo sites.

Why do I consider this an answer to the question of how to make money in recession times? Because there is no hard selling for you to do, no stocks to handle and no hefty investment needed.

I normally take my digital camera with me when I go out and also at weekends when taking the kids out for a picnic I take my camera with me and I just snap away at anything that catches my fancy. Then when I get home I sort the pictures and save them in folders according to clarity and type.

Submitting these digital photos to stock photo sites simply means you are selling the photos on a per download basis (meaning you get paid for each and every download). The stock photo sites however takes a small percentage of the earnings (don't worry there is still so much for you to make a decent amount of money from this).

The secret to working this method is signing up with more than one stock photo site and submitting as many digital photos as you possibly can. If you make the photo submission an ongoing process like I do you are bound to hit the weekly four figure area in no time.

For a step by step on how you can submit photo to stock photo sites and earn from your photos month after month go to: http://www.digicamcash.co.uk

Accomplishing Your Goals

Internet Money-Making Tips - Can You Really Make Extra Money Online Without Working to Death?

If you are wondering whether you can really make extra money online, the answer is yes, you can. What's more, the extra money that you make online is not necessarily restricted to a few odd cents; we are talking some serious money here.

There are hundreds of unique and even entertaining ways you can make extra money online. In fact, if you are a motivated self-starter you could actually begin generating large sums of income within your first year of working online. Enough income to quit your day job and make your living from online work! However, it does require a large dose of persistence to keep looking till you find something that you love doing and which also pays well.

If you were to run a random search on your favorite search engine for ways to make money online, you would be greeted with literally millions of websites, each promising you massive amounts of money. While some of these offers are absolutely on the level, you could generally run into two problems with several others. One, they will charge you an arm and a leg to teach you how to make money online. Two, they will be completely fraudulent websites that are simply attempting to steal your personal information!

You need to exercise caution and do your research on each and every online company you are hoping to work for and make money from. One of the ways you can do this is by contacting the Better Business Bureau to check out the company's history to make sure it is legitimate. It may take some time, but you will see that you can make extra money online if just avoid the gimmick and fraudulent websites and zero in on the ones that are legitimate.

Fabian Tan is a well-known Internet Marketing expert and the author of the popular 59-page Report:

"Murder Your Job: How To Build Cash Sucking Autopilot Businesses In 30 Days Or Less!"

Head over to http://www.MurderYourJob.com to get your FREE copy now!

Also, quickly download his FREE "Explosive Traffic System" report that shows you how to generate 10,000+ unique visitors per month at no cost! => http://www.ExplosiveTrafficSystem.com

Why Dont We Listen To Our Parent

Hobbies That Make Money

Do you have a hobby? Is there something that you enjoy so much that is what you would rather be doing? If so, your hobby might be your next job. There are hobbies that make money without feeling like you are doing work. If you like to write or do genealogy or make dolls, these are all money makers if you go about it in the right way.

There are many people who would like to have the talent you have when it comes to your hobbies. But everyone has something they are better at than anything else. So your talent might not be theirs but something they do may seem impossible to you.

When you find something that is interesting to you such as genealogy, there are many others who are interested in knowing about their family history as well. It might just be they do not know how to research to find out everything they can. Or they may not have time. It takes hours sometimes to search through census records and all the histories of the different families that came from various backgrounds.

The hobbies that make money will be the ones you might not even consider. There is a call for anything you can think of that you do well. Do you like to sew? There are people who will pay large amounts of money for handmade items. If you know how to make quilts, this is another item that people actually travel to different areas of the country to buy. They are also available online since the internet has become such a popular medium for shopping.

The hobby that you have been doing for years can pay off. Are you a traveler? Do you like to visit out of the way places and see things that you do not normally see on the regular routes that most people travel? If so, you can write about these places and publish them on the web. This is becoming a popular way of traveling today. The same hotels and attractions that are seen every time someone goes on vacation are becoming mundane. The articles you write that let people see there are other attractions when vacationing can become quite popular. Anything out of the ordinary is one thing people like to know about.

If you are having trouble thinking of a hobby that you can turn into a business, think about all the things you have done over the years and which you enjoyed the most. There are many things that you just do and do not consider them a hobby. Do not start something just for the purpose of turning a hobby into a business. The hobby must be something you love to do and have experience doing.

A website is a good idea to advertise your expertise. Marketing is very important to let people know the service you perform is available. This is absolutely imperative to let people who do not know you have an idea of the services you can provide. They cannot hire you if they do not know what you do.

Hopefully this was a good start to learn how you can make money with hobbies you enjoy. Internet marketing is a hobby of mine and I have made myself self sufficient. Click here if you would like to learn how.

Prosperity Thinking Like The Rich

The Laws of Attraction Video Portrays Our Divine Essence

The Laws of Attraction video like "What the Bleep" beautifully portrays that what-we-all-are in our essence is profoundly exquisite, or divine if you will.

Quantum entanglement is an area of science that will one day dominate the way we look at information; the way we communicate secretly and the way our computers do their thing. Problem, however, is, it's really bloody complicated.

Thus, in order to know the Laws of Attraction, you do not need to know about Quantum entanglement. You just need to know that positive emotions brings forth more positive manifestation in your life. You can use the fact in your day-to-day life, but you may want to use its power to its full advantage so you can be ensured of a better and brighter future ahead.

When you catch yourself being "negative," don't beat up on yourself --that only keeps the negativity going. Your emotions power your visualization. Feeling good is a must for the Secret Law to work, as suggested by the Laws of Attraction video.

Affirmations are positive statements that reinforce your definite purpose.

One may ask how does Laws of Attraction help you improve your life? It is purely by meditating you will lower your stress and stress is a major cause for numerous illnesses. Without any stress, your life quality improve. It gives you a healthy mind to pursue your dreams.

Your life journey is not only to enable yourself to go for your dreams, but also to help other individual find their life purpose using the principles of self-belief, values-building processes, collaborative learning, and sustainable personal development based on the Law of Attraction.

You know you have been watching the Law of Attraction video and other daily affirmation videos and take heart that positive results are showing up in surprising ways.

John Lee is an entrepreneur, who has found successes using the Law of Attraction Video. Not only he built his business from 5-figure debts to 5-figure passive income, he helps others to do the same. He is also a student of Bob Proctor and learn The Secret directly from Bob. Visit http://www.isthesecretlawofattraction.com/11-forgotten-laws/law-of-attraction-video/ to claim his FREE 52 email series revealing the secrets of his making 5-figure profit-pulling business on auto-pilot every month for the last one and a half year.

What Is The Secret Of Life

The Preparation For Leadership

Introduction

Generally, people ascribe the success or failure of a leader to their qualification or fitness to lead. For this reason when leaders are sought in the secular world, the qualifications of the individuals are usually given primary considerations. On the contrary, a close examination of the call of great leaders God used in the Bible reveals that God was not primarily concerned about qualifications. Eims Leroy, observed that Leaders like Moses, Gideon and Jeremiah openly confessed their inadequacy to perform the task God called them to do.1 If God was looking for qualified men then he would not have called them.

Does it then mean that preparations are not necessary for Leadership? According to Gottfried Osei-Mensah, there are prerequisites for spiritual leadership.2 This statement implies that some form of preparation is necessary. In addition, it is clear from scripture that every leader that God used had certain qualities or abilities that were necessary in performing their task. This observation however poses a question: Were those leaders prepared for their calling or did they just happen to have the qualities God required? With God, things do not happen by chance, therefore the thesis of this article is, those whom God used in the Bible as leaders were always prepared for their task.

To clarify this thesis statement selected leaders in the Bible are examined. The goal is, first to prove that the leaders were prepared for leadership and second, to determine the nature of the preparation and its importance to the leaders' call.

The following three categories of leaders have been selected for this study:

a) Those whose call and commission came as a surprise to them
b) Those who were mentored by their predecessor
c) Those who assumed leadership as a result of a crisis.

Under each leader the presentation will also be divided into three sections:

a) His life history before his call to leadership;
b) His leadership role and achievements;
c) Summary of the specific ways he was prepared for leadership. Finally an

evaluation would be made and conclusions drawn.

A. LEADERS WHOSE CALL AND COMMISSION CAME AS A SURPRISE

Among the leaders whose call and commission came as a surprise were Moses and Paul. These were leaders who had personal encounter with God whilst they were pursuing their own goals in life. These leaders would now be discussed individually to determine how each of them was prepared for leadership.

Moses

a) His life history before his call to leadership

The Bible, in Exodus Chapter 2-5, discusses the life of Moses from the time of his birth to that of his call. According to this section, Moses was born in Egypt by Hebrew parents. But because of an edict by Pharaoh to kill all the Hebrew baby boys, his mother was unable to raise him up from childhood to adulthood. However, by what can be termed divine providence, Howard F. Vos stated that Moses probably spent the first two or three 'years of his life with his own mother.3 The remaining period of his first forty years was spent in the palace as an adopted son of Pharaoh's daughter. Commenting on the years Moses spent in Pharaoh's palace, John C. Maxwell observed that he received the best of what Egypt offered both physically as well as intellectually. Maxwell cited Acts 7:22 which states that Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and deeds.4

In spite of the fact that he was raised up in Pharaoh's palace Moses acknowledged his Hebrew identity. He had to flee Egypt because he killed an Egyptian to protect an oppressed Hebrew. The next forty years of his life he spent in Midian tending the flock of Jethro. It was in Midian, at about 80 years of age that God made the surprised call to him.

b) His leadership role and achievements

In this section the goal is just to make a brief reflection of Moses' main task and achievements. According to John D. Hannah, in his commentary on Exodus, God commissioned Moses to deliver the children of Israel out of Egypt. He showed how that call and commission came as a complete surprise to Moses.5 Although God also promised to take the Israelites to a good and spacious land, that commission, according to Hannah, was not given to Moses. To support his point, he made reference to Stephen's statement about Moses' mission in Acts 7:35-36, implying that there was no indication that Moses was supposed to take the Israelites to the promise land.6 Moses indeed accomplished the task God gave him in spite of all his objections about his inability when God called him. This was because he accepted in faith God's assuring words that he would be with him to accomplish that mission and also because of his ambition to deliver the Israelites from slavery. Commenting on the aspect of his ambition, Ted Engstrom pointed out that "he never lost sight of his ambition and calling in life which made it possible".7 Throughout his mission these words of assurance had been a motivation for him.

In addition, Maxwell rightly observed, over the course of the years in the desert, Moses' leadership improved. He cited Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, as one person who helped to make that difference in his life.

Moses also accomplished something else that was not explicitly stated in scripture. D.A. Hubbard, in his article on the Pentateuch said that both Judaism and Christianity accepted without question the biblical tradition that Moses wrote the Pentateuch.8 These writings had been great materials not just for spiritual purpose but also for academic purpose.

Paul

a) His life history before his call to leadership

According to Act 21:39;22:3, Paul was a native of Tarsus, a city of Cilicia. He was of pure Jewish descent and of the tribe of Benjamin (Phil 3:5). He was a Hebrew and a Pharisee. He spoke Greek and was familiar with Aramaic (Acts 22:2). Paul, learned tent making because it was customary that all Jewish boys learn a trade.

In his book, 'Paul the Leader', Oswald J. Sanders made this observation about Paul: "all the formative years were calculated, to prepare him to be an eminent Pharisee and Rabbi like his great mentor Gamaliel".9 Paul studied under Gamaliel, a distinguished teacher of the law and of the school of Hillel. Sanders also observe that the school of Hillel embraced a broader and more liberal view in education than that of Shammai - the other distinguished school.10 In addition, Sanders stated that unlike the school of Shammai, the school of Hillel was interested in Greek literature. In that school, Paul learned to use works of Gentile authors. He surpassed his fellow-students in both academic achievements and in zeal for both God and the tradition of his fathers. He was almost a member of the Sanhedrin, the supreme legal and civil court.11

b) His leadership role and achievements

Oswald Sanders, noted that Paul became a great spiritual leader when his heart and mind were captured by Jesus.12 Such statements could not have been made if Paul had not made great achievements in the role God gave him to perform. Another writer, Ted E. Engstrom gave the background to Paul's success: "a Jew living in a Greek city, and with a Roman citizenship. Both by birth and training Paul possessed the tenacity of the Jews, the culture of the Greeks and the practicality of the Romans, and these qualities enabled him to adapt to the people among whom he was to move"13. According to Acts Chapter 9, when Paul encountered the Lord Jesus he was commissioned to take the gospel message to the gentiles. Records of Paul's accomplishments of his commission can be found in Acts Chapters 13-28. These included missionary journeys to gentile territories, Church planting, training or teaching ministries among the gentiles and successful debates with secular philosophers.

In addition Paul also wrote thirteen of the New Testament Epistles. In these epistles he dealt with important theological concepts like justification, sanctification and the resurrection of Christ. Various portions of defense of the Christian faith against secular philosophies are also included in these epistles. According to 2Tim. 4:7, Paul was sure he accomplished God's mission for his life when he stated that he has fought the good fight, finished the race and kept the faith.

B. LEADERS WHO WERE MENTORED BY THEIR PREDECESSOR

The second categories of leaders to be examined are those who were mentored by their predecessor. Among such leaders are Joshua, who succeeded Moses and Samuel, who succeeded Eli. These two leaders will be examined individually in this section.

Joshua

a) His life history before his call to leadership

The Bible gave a brief family background of Joshua in Exodus 33:11; Num. 1:10. He was the son of Nun, the son of Elishama, head of the tribe of Ephraim. Apart from this background, there is no other information about him before he met Moses. The scriptures gave much focus to Joshua's mentoring relationship with Moses. This close working relationship between them can be traced in scripture.

According to exodus 24:13, when Moses went up Sinai to receive the two tablets for the first time Joshua accompanied him part of the way and was the first to meet him on his return (32:17). Also when the Israelites sinned by worshiping the golden calf, Moses moved the tabernacle outside the camp and left the congregation in charge of Joshua. In addition, Joshua was one of the twelve spies sent by Moses to explore the land of Canaan. It was only after about forty years of mentoring by Moses in the desert that God directed Moses to give Joshua leadership authority over the people.

In his book, 'Leadership Images from the New Testament', David Bennett mentioned four steps in developing a leader from the example of Jesus. These are:

a) To develop leaders who have learned to follow
b) To train within the context of personal apprenticeship.
c) To make commitment to the community as well as training for a task.
d) To stress on the spiritual aspects of leadership.14

These four steps can be found in the almost forty years mentoring relationship between Moses and Joshua. As Engstrom rightly puts it "Moses had the right attitude, when he knew it was time to train someone else for leadership. He was fearful of being a paternal leader and pleaded with God to give the Israelite a successor".15 This might have been one of the reasons why he devoted himself to mentor Joshua.

b) His leadership role and achievements

Joshua's role was made clear to him when he was commissioned as the leader of Israel. His call and commission was mediated through Moses. In Numbers 27:12-22 the Lord reminded Moses that he would not enter the promise Land and that Joshua would replace him. Moses obeyed the Lord's instructions and commissioned Joshua before the whole Israelite assembly. This commission kept Joshua in focus throughout his mission and he kept his faith in the one who called him. As Donald K. Campbell rightly observed, Joshua interceded for the nation when the Israelites sinned and were defeated.16 God's mandate was that Joshua would lead the Israelites to the Promise Land and he depended on him to accomplish that mandate. Commenting on the charge given to Joshua to be strong and courageous in Josh. 1:6, Campbell also said it was an affirmation that God would not let Joshua down.17 However this may also be seen as an indication that prior to the time he became Israel's leader he had potentials, which he needed to build up in leadership.

Details of how Joshua accomplished his mission have been recorded in the book of Joshua. The conquest of Canaan was however not an easy one but Joshua's training as a military leader and his dependence upon God gave him added advantage. He made mistakes but he learned from his mistakes.

Samuel

a) His life history before his call to leadership

According to John C. Maxwell, Samuel was special from the time he was born because he was an answer to prayer. He further commented that, as young child, Samuel was placed in the care of Eli the High priest and Judge of Israel.18 This revealed that the mentoring relationship between Eli and Samuel started quite early in Samuel's life. Like Joshua, Samuel stayed in the same place with his mentor. In addition, at a very early age, God began to speak directly to him and that motivated him to reverence and serve God faithfully. The role played by Hannah in initiating this mentoring relationship should not be overlooked. McChesney and Unger said that it was a vow that Hannah made to dedicate Samuel to the Lord as a Nazarite.19

b) His Leadership Role and Achievements

To better understand and appreciate Samuel's achievements, one should first examine the religious, political and social situations prior to his assumption to leadership. Eugene H, Merrill rightly observed that "the 300 or so years of the history of Israel under the Judges were marked by political, moral, and spiritual anarchy and deterioration". It was in this background, where all seemed to have failed that Samuel was groomed and also took up leadership.20

With reference to his achievements, "Samuel's level of influence with the people continued to increase throughout his lifetime. As a prophet, he was respected because he spoke from God. But in time Samuel also became Israel's Judge, a position similar to that of a king. He was the nation's civil and military leader. Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life".21 Indeed, only leaders with certain qualities can achieve what Samuel achieved. It was that kind of excellent leadership that God was looking for in order to address the deteriorating situation in Israel. Israel enjoyed a time of peace during Samuel's reign.

C. LEADERS WHO ASSUME LEADERSHIP AS A RESULT OF A CRISIS

During the period between the death of Joshua and the start of Samuel's leadership, many people ruled Israel as Judges. All of them came to leadership as a result of a crisis need. Gideon and Samson were two of the Judges who ruled Israel at that time. They will be examined in this section, as representatives of the Judges, to determine whether they were prepared for their leadership roles.

Gideon

a) His life history before his call to leadership

In Judges chapter 6-8 the Bible gave a brief historic account of Gideon's family background. He was the son of Joash the Abiezrite. He was also of the tribe of Manasseh. One may want to suggest that Gideon had no quality or potential for leadership before he became a leader. This assumption is proved wrong in the light of the angel's greetings to Gideon - "mighty man of valor" (Judg. 6:12). As Joyce Peel rightly said, "the angel calls out his hidden qualities which we see developing in the rest of the story".22

It can be seen that Gideon already had faith in God from a question he asked the angel - where are all the wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, "Did not the lord bring us up out of Egypt?" His parents have made him realize that in the past they have depended on God for survival. However, Gideon wanted an assurance that it was the God of his fathers talking to him, so he asked God to give him a sign (:17). Joyce Peel's comment on Gideon's request is that "it isn't for the sort of sign an unbeliever asks to evade a challenge but for a sign to confirm to a believer who is ready to obey".23 Gideon was convinced that God was speaking to him and based on that fact he responded to the call to meet the Midianite crisis.

b) His Leadership Role and Achievements

Gideon was called to perform a specific role and that was to deliver Israel from the Midianites. He had a clear vision in mind as to what he had to do. He also believed that he could accomplish his goal because he had the assurance of God. In addition he had inner qualities, which gave him enough courage to move into action, even though he started at night. Gideon delivered the Israelites from the Midianites' oppression but he first brought them back to faith in God. However, immediately after his death the people turned back to their foreign gods.

Samson

a) His life history before his call to leadership

In Judges Chapter 13-16 the Bible gave an account of Samson's life. Samson was the son of Manoah of Zorah and of the tribe of Dan. His birth was foretold to his parents by an angel. They were also told that he would be a Nazarite to God from the womb Iudg. 13:2-5,24). The Bible also says in Judg 3:24-25 that God blessed him and that the spirit of God began to stir him up while he was in Mahaneh Dan. From this account it can be observed that Samson was a man of unusual strength. In Hebrews 11:32 he was recognized as of the great men of faith. During Samson's time the philistines were suppressing the Israelites.

b) His leadership role and achievements

Samson's call and commission was mediated through his parents. According to Judges 13:5 he was to start the deliverance of Israel from the hands of the philistines. As John Mazwell rightly points out, "despite his good start, Samson got himself into trouble many times, and in the end he finished poorly: he was weak, blind and enslaved by the enemy from whom he was supposed to deliver his people."24 Samson had the opportunity of becoming a great leader but his despicable character destroyed his leadership.

Conclusion

Three categories of leaders have been examined in this chapter to prove that the people that God called to leadership in the Bible were always prepared for their tasks. The first category of leaders were those whose call came as a surprise to them. The second were those who were mentored by their predecessor and the third, were those who responded to a crisis. It was proved that all of these leaders had some form of preparation necessary for their particular calling. These preparations may come from God, their parents, religious background, formal education or a mentor. Therefore one could conclude that God does not call any person to leadership who had not been prepared. God's call or one preparation does not guarantee success because the preparation for effective leadership does not end with one's call.

END NOTES

1 Eims Leroy, Be The Leader You Were Meant To Be Illinois: Victor Books, 1982), pp 8-13

2 Gottfied Osei-Mensah, Wanted: Servant Leadership (Achimota: African Christian Press, 1990), pp 24-32

3 Howard F. Vos. Moses: The New Unger's Bible Dictionary (Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1982), p 886.

4 John C. Maxwell, The 21 Most Powerful Minutes In a Leader's Day: Revitalizing Your Spirit and Empowering your Leadership (Nashville: Thomas \nelson Publishers, 2000), p. 300.

5 John D. Hannah, Exodus: The Bible Knowledge Commentary (Colorado: Chariot Victor Publishers, 1985), p 112.

6 Ibid, P 121.

7 Ted W. Engstrom, The Making of A Christian Leader: How to develop management and human relations skills (Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1976), P 29.

8 D.A. Hubbard, Pentateuch: The New Bible Dictionary (Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1982), p 903.

9 Oswald J. Sanders, Paul the Leader: A Vision for Christian Leadership Today (Eastboume: Kingsway Publication Ltd., 1982), pp 16/17.

10 Ibid, p 17

11 Ibid, p 19

12 Oswald J. Sanders, Spiritual Leadership (Chicago: Moody Press, 1980), p 40.

13 Ted E. Engstrom, The Making of Christian Leader: How To Develop Management and Human Relations Skills (Zondervan Publishing House, 1976), p 20.

14 David W. Bennett, Leadership Images From The New Testament: A Practical Guide (Carlisle: OM Publishers, 1998), pp 33/4

15 Ted W. Engstrom, The Making of a Christian Leader: How to develop management and human relations skill (Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1976), p 30

16 Donald K. Campbell, Joshua: The Bible Knowledge Commentary (Colorado: Chariot Victor Publishing, 1984), p 326.

17 Ibid, P 328.

18 John C. Maxwell, The 21 Most Powerful Minutes In A Leader's Day: Revitalize Your Spirit and empower Your Leadership (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1982), p 67.

19 E. McChesney and Merrill F. Unger, Samuel: The New Unger's Bible Dictionary (Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1982), P 1121.

20 Eugene H. Merrill, Samuel: The Bible Knowledge commentary (Colorado: Chariot Victor Publishing, 1985), P 431.

21 John C. Maxwell, The 21 Most Powerful Minute in a Leader's Day: Revitalize Your spirit and Empower Your Leadership (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2000), p

22 Joyce Peel, A Journey through The Old Testament: The story of God's relationship with man. woman and the world (Oxford: The Reading Fellowship, 1993), p 60

23 Ibid, p 60

Dr. Leopold A. Foullah is currently Senior Lecturer and Head of the Department of Philosophy & Religious Studies, Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone, Mount Aureol, Freetown. He is also the General Superintendent of the Missionary Church of Africa, Sierra Leone Conference. He holds the following academic qualifications: Dip.Th., B.Th., M.Div., M.Th. and Ph.D (Leeds University, England). He is interested in Biblical Theology and Social Issues. He is External Examiner for both The Evangelical College of Theology (TECT), Jui and the Sierra Leone Theological College & Church Training Center in Freetown. He is married with three children.

Ignorant Excuses Who Needs Them

Buddhas' Second Nobel Truth

Buddha's Second Noble truth is that the root of all suffering is attachment, which means that from the day we are born we are suffering. There is not one person on this planet that can say that they are not attached to something. First it is our mother who gives us food and warmth, then as we grow we become accustom to different things, not only physical but emotional and spiritual as well, in other words we become attached to all of the objects that our mind perceives.

As humans we have genetic dispositions that allow us to desire anything that brings pleasure, things as simple as a song that we liked, a gift someone gave to us for our birthday or a religious belief we were taught as a child, or it can be as complicated as believing we have our whole lives ahead of us. Our suffering is inevitable the only way to not suffer is to over come it, but pleasure is deceiving because we allow ourselves to believe that in order to be happy we need a home, family, nice car, a good job and so on. The need for these things means that we have become attached to transient things and with that comes ignorance.

Ignorance is the lack of understanding of how our mind is attached to impermanent things. The reasons for suffering are desire, passion, pursuit of wealth and prestige, striving for fame and popularity, or as modern Buddhist will say humans suffer because of craving and clinging. The objects of our attachment are transient, their loss is inevitable when we die we will lose our family, or home, and our thoughts, and then suffering will necessarily follow. It is inescapable.

Another common object of attachment is the idea of a "self" which is a major delusion, because there is no such thing as an abiding self. The thing we call "self" is just an imagined entity a mass of cells and electrical currents. We are merely a part of the ceaseless becoming of the universe. It is naive of us to say that we are more than just a collection of matter that will continue to erode the same way the earth does.

Throughout our short life on this earth we become attached to all of the objects that our mind perceives, which is everything. Think of it as if we are born into a video game that we cannot turn off until we die. We must free our minds of attachment and let go of everything. Live with compassion, patience, tolerance and trust that there is and end to this life.

Janis resides in western Canada, among the mountains where she studies the Buddhist religion and practices reiki healing. Janis loves making Buddhist t-shirts, gifts and apparel to spread the knowledge of enlightenment. All of the images used on the products are hand drawn with high quality graphics and historical accuracy a priority. Visit her website at http://www.buddhismtshirts.com.

Is Imagination Better Than Knowl

Animism - The Most Ancient Form Of All Religions

The term animism is derived from animus which means mind or soul. Animism is concerned with the belief in spiritual beings. It is often extended to include the belief that supernatural beings, souls or spirits have endowed with reason and intellect and indeed free will both inanimate objects as well as animate life forms. Put simply, the belief is that everything is alive, everything is conscious; everything has a soul or spirit.

The belief that all things have a spirit or soul is as old as human existence. The notion that mankind is the only vessel worthy of containing a spirit or soul is a relatively recent by-product of a monotheistic world view. In many cultures the shaman or tribal elder is the spokesperson for the spirit world. The shamanistic view of spiritual embodiment includes not only human beings but plants, animals, ancestors and forces of nature.

Animism has been described as the most ancient form of all religions. Others do not view animism as a religious belief. They argue that Animism is in the first instance an explanation of phenomena rather than an attitude of mind toward the cause of them, a philosophy rather than a religion. The term may, however, be conveniently used to describe a form of religion in which people endeavour to set up relations between themselves and the unseen powers, conceived as spirits

The British anthropologist Sir Edward B. Tylor introduced the concept of animism in the late 19th century. Tylor thought of animism as the earliest stage in the evolution of religious belief. He suggested that the interpretation of dreams and trances and the observation of death led primitive societies to conceive of the soul or spirit, and that these spiritual conceptions were then projected onto the natural world. Although he developed no fixed evolutionary sequence or timeline, Tylor postulated that a belief in animism led to the definition of more generalized deities and, ultimately, to the worship of a single god.

It is difficult if not impossible to separate animistic beliefs from modern day religious practices. Almost every religious practice contains animistic elements. The use of wine to represent the blood of Christ in Catholic religious services is one example. Animistic beliefs are also apparent in shamanism, Daoism, Buddhism, Shinto, Islam, Hinduism,. Asian Christianity and their numerous combinations. Animistic themes have also permeated popular culture and literature. From Thomas the Tank Engine to Excalibur, Kermit the frog to artificial intelligence.

The belief that the earth itself is a living entity is an animistic viewpoint. This idea has been popularized by the Gaia theory which maintains that the planet is a living organism and that the living matter of planet Earth functions like a single life form, of which human beings are but one small part of the larger ecosystem. Perhaps the ancient beliefs represented by animism can have further influence on scientific inquiry.

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

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

Psychic Readings

Don Miguel Ruiz

Spirituality Vs Scientific Materialism

Spirituality and science never share same space. Spirituality is about faith, and science is about fact. Many scientific explorers have dug deep into spirituality to find the truth inside, and they found it as a big emptiness. On the other end, there are the so-called spiritual gurus who have set out their spiritual journey to prove that what we see, hear and feel are all God, and nothing else. They have surely found their way to make money by selling their Gods through The Secret Book and the Secret DVD.

The flamboyant spiritual gurus who preach the law of nature through their secret Seven Laws are no less than plain swindlers. They amass money along with fame for bringing 'peace' to the disturbed minds. They prescribe Quantum Wellness therapy to those who are suffering from chronic diseases. They challenge medical science, saying existing scientific therapies and medical procedures do not result in holistic healing. Quantum healing Oprah is the latest buzzword in the spiritual markets worldwide.

If the claims of these fake spiritual gurus were to be believed, the world today would not have been the same. You may not have been reading these lines, probably. If we know our days are decided by destiny, as they say, there is no need for us to struggle so much to make both ends meet. There would not have any clash between classes, religions or countries on the earth. People would have easily forgotten their sorrows and sufferings and just waited for their destiny to come and show the way.

But, what we see today is just the paradox. The spiritual gurus who promise holy wellness to the world by 'shanti' and meditation have become the perpetrators of communal violence and disharmony in the society. They mislead people by opposing the law of science or law of nature. The law of nature is built on Love - the love that you see around you, that you see in the cool breeze or the raindrops. The vastness of the sky and the deepness of the sea are the true symbols of the love.

What we see around us is the only truth. We cannot have faith on something that cannot show its presence in the nature. The spiritual magicians who incarnated on the earth 'to see' the world are the ones who do not know what 'seeing' is. Time has come to get rid of these bogus leaders.

I am John K Anthony Currently I am working on Debunking Web site. It provides online books related to Seven Laws, Materialism Versus Spiritualism, Spiritual Coach, Spiritual Guidance.

How To Win Friends

Feng Shui - Tips to Try

I have recently being looking at the practice of Feng Shui. It is a fascinating concept of creating a balance in your environment.

Feng Shui originates from and is practiced in China. this has spread to millions of other people who now firmly believe in it. These people say that their lives are controlled by natural forces around them. Although there are many schools of thought of Feng Shui systems, there are many factors that have a common trend in the use and positioning of many items changing colours scheme to mention a few.

A Feng Shui specialist may give many ways to improve your environment and create a harmonic balance in homes or even in businesses. They use five elements, xuan kong flying star, colour, positioning of furniture, simple remedies and cures for problem areas and many other practices beyond these. those who practice Feng Shui claim that it enhances and attracts good health, wealth and relationships.

Much advice has been thrown around, and it can be quite confusing to many on how to achieve this balance in you own environment. So I have taken a few of Feng Shui instructions and simplified them. You may want to try out to see whether it makes a difference to your life.

* Remove all your shoes and slippers and allow main door to be free and clear.

* No televisions in the bedrooms or cover it over with a plastic cloth when not being watched.

* No mirrors opposite or by the side of your bed.

* Get an indoor water fountain in your home, you can put this anywhere you like.

* If you have had bad luck and have a fish tank in your house, move it somewhere else in the house. If you still get bad luck after a few more months, move it again.

* Your cooker in the kitchen should have no refrigerator, washing machine or toilet opposite it. The fire and water is bad and causes arguments.

* Mattresses on the floor should not be slept on by children. It will cause them to be sick often.

* Young children should have their backs to the wall when they write.

* Double bunk beds are bad for children. The child sleeping underneath will not have "fresh chi" and their health might be weak.

* Your bed should always have a solid wall behind it.

* On top of your bed there should be no beams.

* A marble table in your dining room may give you pressure at work. Get it replaced with a wooden one!

* If your child is sick put them into another bedroom or hang a six-rod metal wind chime in the room. Put it by a window where the wind can make it chime is a good idea.

* Red coloured sofas are bad and will give rise to heavy work pressure, troubles and obstacles.

* Your bedroom windows should remain open at least once 20 minutes a day to allow fresh chi to come in.

Even if you can't manage all these, just a few may well make a difference to you life, luck and even love.

http://bulgarianslivatree.com

http://tipsnwrinkles.com

You Can Heal Your Life: Never before Seen Interviews

You Have To Watch This Video

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development. Check out one of his recommended books, You Can Heal Your Life Moving

If you want to read something funny and get your daily laugh in, you need to read this, it's funny Using Religion Responsibility. It's based on overindulgence.

What Changed My Thoughts
What Is Intuition

5 Easy Ways to Boost Your Self Confidence

Many women seem to lack the self confidence they need to pursue their dreams. If you struggle with self confidence issues, here are six easy ways to boost your self confidence now:

Self Confidence Boost #1: Say something nice about yourself. Stop all the negative put-downs! Dont trash talk yourself. Say something nice. If you cant find anything nice to say about yourself, then keep thinking until you can think of something.

Self Confidence Boost #2: Smile. Youd be amazed at what wonders a simple smile can do for your self confidence. Even if you dont feel confident about yourself, smile anyway. In fact, the more you practice smiling, the better youll become at it. And the better you become, the more confident youll be.

Self Confidence Boost #3: Do something brave. Step outside the box youve been living in. Help somebody else. Dont wait until they ask for your help. You are a Super woman!

Self Confidence Boost #4: Buy a new pair of shoes. When was the last time you did something nice for yourself? Im guessing its probably been a while. Make a date with yourself. Go out and buy a nice pair of shoes or a new outfit. Then wear it the next time you are feeling low.

Self Confidence Boost #5: Do something nice for someone else. The best way to feel good about yourself is to do something nice for someone else. Next time you notice a friend having a bad day, or a family member struggling with something, send them a card or give them flowers. Seeing their spirits lift will give your self confidence a boost.

Get more self confidence help here: http://www.nurturedsoul.com/self-esteem.html3FC

Hope Wilbanks is an inspirational author who writes to motivate and encourage others. Read more inspirational articles at Nurtured Soul: http://www.nurturedsoul.com/

Louise Hay

Louise Hay is known as one of the founders of the Self Help movement and is the head of Hay House, a successful publishing company. Louise Hay is an internationally renowned lecturer, and the bestselling author of over a dozen books, including "You Can Heal Your Life", "Empowering Women", and "101 Ways to Happiness". She is one of those rare people who radiates peace and seems to make time stand still.

Louise Hay is a teacher and best seller who has pioneered the field of using your own creative powers for personal growth and more specifically, self healing. She is an icon in the world of metaphysics-science of mind, new age thought living. Louise Hay is famous for helping people heal there life with affirmations, and She is really the one who made the power of affirmations widely known.

Louise Hay is dedicated to "creating a world where it is safe to love each other, and is the original creator of the mind-body connection. Louise Hay is truly a great pioneer in this effort to enlighten us. Yes, Louise Hay is a visionary and pioneer.

The work of Louise Hay is the basis on which many of today's self help books have been written and one to one sessions using her methods are the stepping stones from which you will take an amazing leap forward allowing yourself to accept change and what is more important, to love yourself just the way you are.

Healing

Since beginning her career as a Science of Mind minister in 1981, Louise has assisted hundreds of thousands of people in discovering and using their full potential for personal growth and self-healing. She began traveling throughout the United States, lecturing and facilitating workshops on loving ourselves and healing our lives, and Louise's healing message has also been the subject of many newspapers and magazine articles.

We may not know how to forgive, and we may not want to forgive; but the very fact we say we are willing to forgive begins the healing practice. Allow the love that is deep within you to permeate your entire being and do its healing work on transforming your consciousness, and this can become be a strong, positive step for you in understanding and healing yourself. Hay develops a philosophy of healing that rests on a few of these core principles, and builds on these themes and shares stories of healing from her own life and those whom she has worked with over the years.

Affirmations

One of Louise Hay's healing your body tools are her very popular affirmation card decks. Affirmations are statements that are spoken, written, or thought repeatedly. Affirmations are like little reminder notes to the inner-self, and are always positive and harness the power of positive thinking to keep the inner self on track, and also are among the most powerful tools that encourage people to expedite their personal growth process.

Louise Hay affirmations have helped a tremendous amount of people; and you can let her help you toward a more positive thought process, as well. She has a movie out on her book "You Can Heal Your Life" and Oprah asked her how could most people experiencing bad situations be able to use The Secret of "Ask and Receive", she said by just applying daily affirmations, its like planting seeds and that this is one place that a person would need to start.

Too often we think in negative affirmations. Negative affirmations only create more of what you say you don?t want. Louise Hay believes that we create our own lives, and in her teachings, she presents exercises and affirmations intended to help the reader grow and to discard the limiting ideas and attitudes that can affect one's mental and physical health.

This book of simple, upbeat affirmations, exercises, and wisdom suggested that a healthy state of mind (and positive thinking) could bring about profound physical and emotional healing. Her work encompasses many well established disciplines including meditation,positive affirmations and the development of self approval. The affirmations, alone, are worth buying the book for.

Louise Hay's publishing company, has published some of my most favorite authors like Wayne Dyer, Doreen Virtue, Gregg Braden, Denise Linn, Joan Borysenko and more. Louise Hay is a born brilliant writer, and I thank God to have read her book "You can heal your life. She is one of my favorite teachers and one thing she is really good at teaching is, how to LOVE YOURSELF. Louise Hay is just wonderful, I highly recommend anything by her, she has both books and CDs, and at least one video. Louise Hay is, in my opinion, the mother of metaphysical thinking.

Louise Hay is an amazingly positive person and by the time you finish her book, she'll have you saying, "I can do it," too. Everyone has certain books in their bookshelves that they can't live without, and for me "You Can Heal Your Life" by Louise Hay is one of them. "Heart Thoughts" by Louise Hay is also an excellent read and a great gift.

Louise Hay is one of the most respected personal development teachers, counselors, authors and lecturers in the world, and the timeless wisdom shared by Louise Hay is as meaningful today as it was when written.

Article Written By J. Foley

J. Foley Has A Site With Similiar Topics, And You Can Go Here To Read More

Commitment - The Self Help Secret To Self Improvement, Motivation, And Life Success

Your success and self improvement requires self motivation to leave your comfort zone, walk through fear, walk in faith, learn how to deal with adversity and stress, overcome self-limiting beliefs, be focused, develop new skills, and on and on

In light of all it takes to reach your highest level of self improvement and success, it wont happen if you dont have a commitment in place at the beginning of your journey, and at each step along the way.

Sir Edmund Hillary, the first man to successfully climb Mount Everest, said, Commitment is the first step, and all else lines up. Lets take a look at what he meant, and how that relates to your motivation, success, and self improvement.

Imagine you and I take a walk every morning along the banks of a river. Each day, we enjoy the beauty and the serenity of the flowing water and cool breeze as we crunch through the leaves that fell the season before.

Weeks pass and one day, you and I make a commitment to cros2235s the river. We walk along the same path weve taken for months. As we walk, the beauty and serenity are all present, but suddenly our entire experience has changed because of our commitment. Our conversation is unlike any weve had before.

You point out a rock in the river and say, Bill, maybe we can wade out to that rock and then climb up and over that fallen tree. Then I say, Yes, and from there we can get to that flat rock, swim to that overhanging branch, and use it to pull ourselves toward the far shore

Then you suddenly say, But wait. Look down there. See where the river narrows downstream? Maybe that would provide an easier way

Were noticing aspects of the river we never noticed before. For months, we didnt care how close any rock might be to a fallen tree, but today that information means everything. The fallen trees and rocks have suddenly become stepping stones for crossing the river! Isnt this interesting? The river hasnt changed one iota. You and I havent changed either. The trees and rocks are the same, but our entire experience of walking along the river has been transformed.

The only difference between our walk today and our previous walks is that we decided we wanted to end up in a different place on this day and then made a commitment to get there.

Our commitment to cross the river has transformed our experience into a venture for success and self improvement. Our commitment gives us motivation, focus, and the ability to notice and act on pertinent information to accomplish our objective.

Just as your relationship with the river is transformed with your commitment, your relationship with achieving anything can be transformed when you do the same thing.

School never taught us the importance or power of making commitments with ourselves to stand for things in a way that produces new energy and new possibilities. Life would be a lot different if the only things in the middle of the road were a yellow line and a dead possum. The magic of success, self improvement, and motivation happens when you stand for something. Extraordinary accomplishments happen when you make a stand by making a commitment.

My favorite definition of commitment is - Doing what you said you would do, long after the moment in which you said it, has passed.

Being committed to something or simply being involved in it are two very different ways to bring yourself to the life you lead, and the outcomes of each are also significantly different. When you consider how different a relationship will turn out, depending on whether you are involved with someone or committed to them, you begin to understand the significant advantage a commitment gives you for having success. Commitment creates motivation for success and self improvement, long after the moment you were first inspired to be, do, have, and experience more.

In the words of Abraham Lincoln: Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing.

When you make a commitment, you make such a resolution with yourself. What are you aching to accomplish or achieve, but motivation and progress toward success and self improvement seem to elude you? Deepen your commitmentand watch what happens.

Copyright 2007

This article content is from Bill Dyer's Award-Winning Book,
How To Bounce Back And Be Happy When Life Blows You Down.
The award-winning book is available at: http://www.bouncebackandbehappy.com

FREE info on "257 Ways To Appreciate This Moment And Create A Life You Love", is also available at the above website by scrolling down to the Time-Out box.

Bill Dyer
Professional Speaker/Award-Winning Author
http://www.billdyer.com
336-379-0777

Blushing Shouldn't Get in The Way

Blushing acts as a sign to show persons embarrassment when harassed or even while a person is praised. In short blushing is a sign of embarrassment. The case with such an individual is that they either get embarrassed or enraged and this causes them to get red faced. Their face gets flushed and the symptoms are a blushed face. Excessive blushing shows physical signs, but there are also mentally related signs. Blushing adds to self-consciousness where he or she starts assuming that someone is watching them and to respond to this they try and become extremely self-conscious. In this process the person tries to carry him or her very cautiously and even go onto expressing things over cautiously, which sometimes looks funny. This usually means that the person who was trying to avoid being noticed tends to get more people to notice them because their faces are a certain give away in such a case f extreme people consciousness. All this occurs for no real reason but simply because your mind makes you believe that you were being noticed; however this was not the case.

The primary problem with such people is that they are embarrassed in public. When speaking in public or in front of friends and relatives they tend to get nervous and cannot speak the way they want to, instead they try and act in a manner that they think would look or sound good. But the fact is that no one will ever look good without being natural. Some actually go to extent to stop interacting with people they don't know; it is very difficult for them to interact with a stranger. In some people excessive blushing reaches a level where they stop interacting with any and every thing that requires attention. Even if a person is receiving positive responses from people he or she will think that they are just being put on.

Many people that are aware of their excessive blushing try to avoid it by being more self-conscious. The correct approach towards reducing blushing is to stop assuming that someone is marking you. You might have come across an idea to stop blushing but once you think that you can stop blushing, the possibility of blushing will also i111Bncrease. Your mind is the one that is guiding you in the wrong direction and you simply react in a particular manner. Then how are you supposed to stop blushing as your mind is supposed to be the one directing you? If you cannot avoid listening to your mind there is something that you can do restore it to normal. Hypnosis can help you with this problem, where your disturbed mind will no more be afraid of being watched by people. Hypnosis is available for you in the form of mp3 downloads that can help you overcome excessive blushing.

Once you have used this mp3 content you will see that you are least bothered about blushing and do not care even if being watched. This way you can be yourself and there is no need for you to change yourself just because someone is watching you.

For more information on Blushing and stop blushing check the links.

Questioning About Your Religion - Movie Video

Are you one of those who believed in your religion wholeheartedly and never has doubted it. Watch this video to gather some more information about questioning your religion.

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

Deanna Davis

Putting Up With Organized Religion

Let me explain where I'm coming from in my writing. Organized religion worked good 200 or maybe 500 years ago, but I really don't see a need for it today. We fight wars over religion and even kill people that speak out against organized religion. Religions and governments all over the world control people through fear and pleasure.

I'm tired of people fighting and killing all over the world in the name of some religion. I once heard an Iranian man, through a translator, on our local news say, "if he dies in the name of Allah, he gets to go to heaven." I don't know if I want to be signed up for that program but obviously he believes in it enough and is willing to die for what he believes in, right or wrong. Some people view this man is evil while others view him as a hero, how do you think you would do this person?

What the Romans did to people 2000 years ago is what I would consider a very bad. Was the devil actually providing an evil influence for Roman leaders back then. I've never heard anyone mention that but they did kill Jesus of Nazareth and he seemed like a pretty good person.

If Jesus would have kept his mouth shut, he could have lived to a ripe old age. He chose not to, because he believed in his cause. Some Jews believe that he was under the influence of evil, that's hard to imagine. He believed that some of the ideas and teaching of the Romans and Jews were wrong and he was going to make them better. These leaders were afraid of change and decided to eliminate what they view as they evil problem.

I started writing to influence and educate people in a positive way. I really don't want to upset religious followers, but I would like them to understand, a little more about their religion. What causes people to kill others in the name of their god? Is that evil or an evil influence from other religion's of the world.

I would imagine most of these people choose to accept words from their religious leaders as facts and will never question their faith. If religious followers could understand other religions, maybe they wouldn't persecute them or try to convert them into their own beliefs.

My influence will affect others and will provoke them to think, always question your religion and when they start thinking, this is when I've made a positive influence in a constructive way. If someone starts to think about their religion and it gives them stronger feelings and deeper beliefs, maybe they can answer some of my questions, instead of avoiding them with spiritual scripture or faith.

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development. Check out one of his recommended books, The Power of Myth. If you've ever wondered, where religion has evolved from. Check this book out.

Time Management Tips For Work at Home Moms

I was listening to a time management guru online the other day, and he gave this simple time management technique. He said:

"I want you to write down your top 3 distractions, whatever they may be.

Once you have them written down, all you have to do is eliminate them."

Excuse me as I pick myself up of the floor from laughing. You see, my top 3 distractions are my 8 year old, my 4 year old, and my 20 month old! I cannot really see myself "eliminating" them!

Now, of course what the guru meant was if it's e-mail, close your e-mail program, turn off your IM's, and shut down Twitter. But it also goes to show how different men and women, (and even women and moms) work from home. For the work at home mom, you can't simply "eliminate" your top distractions, actually, what you have to do is distract your distractions!

Here are a few tips for distracting your distractions if you're a work at home mom.

Play Dough

I only bring out the play dough when I am trying to work. And I only bring it out in the kitchen. Sure I end up with an extra hour of cleanup getting those little play dough pieces off the floor, but if I get anything accomplished in the hour it distracts them, I still consider myself ahead.

Bubble Machines

In my experience, a bubble machine is good for about 20 minutes of un-interrupted work time. These are those little machines that you put in a battery or plug it in, add a little bubble solution, and ta da - it blows the bubbles for you! They are best used outside, however, if I use it inside, it tends to give my floor a bit of a between the mopping cleaning! (Now if only I could find a non-toxic floor cleaner that makes good bubbles, then I could really take advantage of this little invention.)

Computer Games

Although it only really distracts one child at a time, two at the most, I try to pick up educational computer games on a regular basis. You can get many for less than $20, some even less than $10. That way I feel a little better about letting my kids spend time on the computer. Depending on the game and the child, I can get anywhere from 20 minutes to almost an hour (or more if I let it go that far) of uninterrupted work time.

Nap Time

It's free, it's easy (if practiced regularly) and it's usually worth at least an hour! Yes, the afternoon nap. When my kids are too old for the nap (like my 8 year old), I simply call it a "quiet time." Set the timer, and set them on their beds with several books and get to work. The hour will be up before you know it.

Television

Well, I hate to admit it, but yes, I use the television to distract my kids. I have a television in the room with my computer, so I usually have them watch in there so that I can monitor what they watch. I've found that even on "safe" channels, there are often commercials or things that I may not approve of, so just to be sure, I make my kids watch cable in the same room with me. We also have a stash of DVD's that I've already approved of, and those they can watch in a different room. I've also discovered that the public library is a good source for DVD's to help change things up without costing me a fortune.

Last Resort

As a last resort, when I can't seem to distract my kids, I simply take a break and spend some extra time with them playing a game or reading a book or taking a walk. Sometimes all kids want is your attention, and there is no substitute for that. And that is what makes working from home so great!

Article by Stefani Padilla, author, entrepreneur, home based business owner, wife and mom. Stefani has over 20 years experience and education in business and working from home. To learn more about how you too can succeed in owning your own home based business, please visit http://www.business4moms.com