Browse Creativity

You probably know that distributing your writing through various online outlets is a great way to promote your website or blog, but how do you come up with article ideas? Here are some simple ways to generate as many ideas as you need to keep your fingers busy on that keyboard. Using The News For Article Ideas If you have a blog where you comment on social or political issues, the evening news or the online headlines are great sources of ideas. You can use the news in one of two basic ways. The first is to simply report in your own words what you hear.

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The following tent camping tips are meant primarily for those who are backpacking, although some will apply to a stay in a campground as well. Also, the tips here will be most useful for those who like to travel light when in the wilde ess. 1. Test it in the Yard You don’t want to find out that the roof leaks when you are two days away from the nearest road and a freezing rain is falling. Set it up in the yard and inspect it if you haven’t used the tent yet, or if has been stored for a long time. Turn on the hose and test it for leaks. 2.

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There are hundreds of ways to make money online, but they each generally fall into one of the four basic approaches outlined below. In our own business, my wife and I have had the best luck with the last two, but each of us is different, and each of these approaches to making money has its advantages and disadvantages. Here’s is a quick look at those plusses and minuses. Employee If you can write, there is always a chance that you can get hired by a company that needs constant new content for their websites. You might also be hired as programmer or web-designer.

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There is a simple negotiating technique you can use to save money on many purchases. In the world of high-power negotiators, it is referred to as time investment. The simplest description is this: Spend enough time with a seller and he or she is more likely to accept your offer. Time Investment

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Some of the more obvious signs of lying include different answers when you repeat a question, and hesitation in answering. You also can watch for eye movements that differ from the usual. Be careful with these individual signs, since shifty eyes may be normal for some people, even when telling the truth. Compare eye movements and other behaviors to their known tendencies. There are other signs of lying you can learn, but perhaps it is more useful to learn how to get the truth out of a person. That’s what the rest of the tips below cover. Motivation

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Traditional walking meditation involves paying close attention to your breathing and every movement of your body as you walk back and forth or in a circle. It can be a refreshing change from sitting still to meditate. But now there is another way to meditate while walking, and it may be more suited to those who don’t want to take the time and effort to learn more traditional methods.

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Yes, it has been a bad real estate market in many ways (this is being written in early 2010). But there are ways to protect yourself when buying a home. If the following tips are coming too late to help you in your current situation, at least remember them for next time. In May of 2006, at the end of the biggest real estate bubble in our lives - we bought a home. My wife and I had been renting in Tucson, Arizona, and decided to move to Canon City, Colorado.

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There are many ways to find affordable housing. There are even ways to make the home you have more affordable. Here are some of the best. Move to a cheaper location. This is often not considered by people, but the difference in housing costs between two cities within an hour of each other can be dramatic. This can be true whether you are renting or buying. If the new location isn't too far away, you can commute to your job.

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From a personal experience I can tell you that whenever I’m feeling creatively congested, AKA ‘blocked,’ I’ve had, somewhere along the way, applied a mental-emotional break to the creative flow that’s awaiting its expression. I believe that creativity is NOT of our own making and our free will does not give us a right to determine WHAT will come through us into this visible, 3-Dimensional reality as defined by our five senses.

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There are a lot of specific techniques for more creative thinking. You can combine concepts, tear ideas apart to find new ones, and do group brainstorming sessions. Those all work, but to have a naturally more creative mind you might also want to try meditation. Because meditation can clear your mind of some of the usual negative thoughts, it can open the way for more creative thinking.

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I collect examples of creative ways to make money for my websites, and I recently found a fun one in a great little story I read. It was written by a man who had certain survival talents and decided to demonstrate them by being dumped in the middle of a large city with no money. By that evening he had a nice hotel room and some money in his pocket.

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The following economic depression survival tips are all about preparation. With a bit of street smarts and a willingness to do what's needed you can survive losing everything. But it is better to prevent that from happening in the first place by being prepared for some worst case scenarios. Depression Survival Tips - Keep That Income Keep your job or other income and tough times aren't so tough. In fact, if you are still making the same money when prices are dropping, homes cost less and stocks are on sale, a depression can be an opportunity.

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When talking about financial freedom, different people can mean entirely different things. For some it means getting to do what they want because they have enough money. For others it means having enough income from investments that they are free of any financial conce s. Of course, few people are actually unconce ed about financial matters regardless of how much income they have. Some even get more worried about their finances as they get wealthier. And few people get to do everything they would like to do no matter how much money they make.

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There are many techniques for increasing the power of the mind. Even simple habits like asking a few crucial questions anytime you consider something can make for more productive thinking. But there is one approach that can probably do more than all the other techniques to boost your mind power. It is being ready to be mistaken at all times. Be Ready To Be Wrong We like to be right. It's very satisfying on a certain level of consciousness. So much so that we feel better having argued our point well than having learned something new from another person.

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If you ask an internet marketer who makes tens of thousands of dollars daily how to sell ebooks, he might lay out the following steps for you to follow. First, get a product to sell, whether your own or someone else's ebook. Price it high to increase its perceived value, and then offer it a discounted price that is still pretty expensive. After all you only need to sell 22 books per day to have $10,000 in sales each week if you have a $67 ebook. Pay at least a few hundred dollars to have a nice site built for you.

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The following is not about how to write profitable articles for print magazines. In fact, it isn't about selling articles at all. There is nothing wrong with selling your writing, but it is a difficult field to get into and your income will always be limited. For example, how much can a new writer make for a 600-word article from a magazine? I recently looked at what various magazines pay for such short articles. It ranged from a few free copies of the magazine up to about $100.

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The filed of behavioral economics repeatedly shows that we are not as rational as we think when making financial decisions. No big surprise there. But can we become more rational with our money? We can if we learn to spot our irrational tendencies and correct them. Let’s look at some examples. The Sunk-Cost Fallacy The idea of “sunk costs” in economics is that once money is spent it is gone and should no longer be a part of a rational decision making process.

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I get a lot of newsletters and other emails on how to make money online. One recent newsletter suggested a technique for stealing the use ame of blog posters so that all of their posts were then linked to your website. That's just one of the dirty tricks being used by some internet marketers. I honestly can't imagine wanting to do business that way. Another common trick is to tell people they can have a "free" gift and then making them hand over their email address and wade through a long sale's pitch just to discover that the free gift is a CD that costs $5.99 for "shipping and handling.

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What used to pass as meditatio CDs were often just gentle sounds of nature and music. Some may have used musical pieces by Bach and others that have been shown to alter brainwaves. Either of these were basically relaxing recordings which might have helped with meditation, but didn't induce a meditative state very efficiently. The newest meditatio CDs used brainwave entrainment technologies. They have beats and sounds, usually masked in nice music or the sound of rain or other nature sounds, which directly entrain your brainwaves, causing them to slow.

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People have money trouble for different reasons. On the other hand, there are some mistakes and bad financial habits that are common in these situations. This explains why some people have these problems with money over and over. See if any of the following apply to you. 1. Not wanting to think about money. If you didn't pay attention or think about where you were going when driving you would probably get lost and have accidents more often. The same is true of money. Many people just don't like to pay attention to it or think about it.

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I prefer to report on unusual ways to make money, but when you save money it can effectively be a way to make money for your goals. If, for example, you want to make two thousand four hundred dollars for a vacation, you might work extra shifts or find other ways to generate the three thousand dollars necessary to meet your goal after taxes.

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There is a saying that is also a book title: Do what you love and the money will follow. Is it true? Not entirely. Is it better to simply find the best way to make money? No. The truth as is common, is somewhere in between. Let's get the extremes out of the way. If you really love to wander around in the woods, you will probably won't find a way to make that pay. It isn't impossible, since you could guide others or collect things to sell. But maybe you don't like these ways to make money at all - you just like to wander around in the woods alone.

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The real estate tips that follow are meant to help you avoid common and not-so-common mistakes. Buying a house or other property always involves some risk, but there are many ways to reduce those risks. 1. "As Is" Property Inspections Some sellers (including banks) specify that a property is sold "as is." Of course all properties are ultimately sold with no promises other than those made in writing. We take our chances. But if sellers won't allow an inspector into a property, walk away.

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There are hundreds of ways to increase brainpower. They range from dietary practices and specific supplements to creative thinking techniques and even environmental changes. Here are six short examples of things you can try today to boost the power of your brain and mind. Act Intelligent When you act as if you’re more intelligent, it sets up an expectation in your mind that your unconscious mind tries to meet - and this affects actual performance. This isn’t merely speculation.

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The following ten guidelines for writing articles are meant specifically for articles that are used to promote a website or blog. These are typically distributed through directories where readers can access them and other webmasters can take them for free to use as content on their websites. It is one of the best ways to optimize and promote your site or blog. 1. Have an Optimized and Interesting Title The title should catch the attention of readers. It doesn't have to be unusual or outrageous, although that can help when it is possible.

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Of the easy meditation techniques that follow, the easiest by far is to use brainwave entrainment products. That is covered last, and requires buying a CD or an MP3 download. The first two are a couple of the most basic ways to meditate, and can be tried right now if the reader wishes. Meditating on the Breath The simplest, and often the first technique learned, is to release tensions and thoughts and concentrate on your breathing. You can do this in any comfortable position. The classic way is to sit with legs crossed, with each foot over the opposite thigh.

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The following real estate investing secrets are not so much secrets as they are principles that are not widely applied and often ignored. Use them and you will have less risk and a greater chance for success. 1. Speed Equals Profit When investing in a fixer upper, many people are tempted to do everything themselves, from repairs to improvements and even selling on their own. Although this can work, if you are not very skilled you can end up spending just as much on some repairs and improvements as it would have cost to pay a contractor.

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We should always be looking for ways of thinking outside the box. It isn't that we will always find a better solution through more creative or non-conventional solutions. But we sometimes will. Maybe that doesn't sound inspiring enough, so let me explain. Suppose you get in the habit of thinking outside the box and you have many interesting, creative, but unusable ideas. So most of the time you fall back on conventional solutions to your problems, whether at home or in business or in the workplace.

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There are some jobs that could be considered money making opportunities. Movie star and professional football player come to mind. But if you don't have the talents necessary for those you won't likely get rich with a job. That leaves investing and starting a business as the best alte atives. Here's a quick look at one opportunity in each of these categories. Stock Investing I would like to start this out on a more hopeful note, but I have to point out one not-so-pleasant fact: Warren Buffet, widely considered the best investor of all time, lost 25 billion dollars last year.

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Ready to hit the trails but without the beef jerky? Here are a few vegetarian backpacking recipes you can try, along with some simple snack foods. Olive Oil Noodles This is a simple recipe that you don't need to write down. Bring a small bag of spices (whatever kinds you like), some dried vegetables, pasta and olive oil. Soak the dried vegetables while you are setting up camp. Then cook them along with the pasta.

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Of all the ways to save money grocery shopping, the one that comes to mind first for most people is probably using manufacturers' coupons. Unfortunately, this is not only time consuming, but it rarely saves you much money. That's because even with the coupon a given product is usually more than a perfectly adequate alte ative. Unless you really want the particular brand represented by the coupon, there are better ways to cut your costs. Here are a few examples. Bring a calculator and cash. If you need to budget for groceries, then bring only what your budget allows.

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When we hear about wealth creation it is usually presented as gaining money and other valuable assets. Make money, then invest it to grow your net worth - a common formula. Those who look a little deeper see that assets alone don't necessarily pay the bills, stress making your money and assets work for you to produce streams of income. In any case the basic idea as understood by most people is that wealth creation is a matter of accumulation. There is a difference between creation and transference, though.

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At the moment (late 2009), it seems that real estate values may have stopped falling finally. Are they headed back up now, or are we in for a period of stable prices that barely move for years? Or are they going to start dropping again? I suspect we are in a slow recovery, but let's look at some of the things that determine prices. Watch these factors and you can make your own predictions. Supply The state of housing supply, like many other factors, is not the same in all parts of the country. Some areas have enough empty homes to meet demand for a long time to come.

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Backpacking with children can be a challenge, but it is a good way for kids to learn about the outdoors and develop independence and responsibility. It is also just a great way to have fun. That is, as long as you plan well. Here are four tips to help you out. 1. Generate Interest Forcing ...

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Albert Einstein used a technique for deep thinking, which he referred to as "thought experiments." He didn't invent the technique, but perhaps made it more popular. It was essentially the practice of relaxing and setting a visualization in motion while watching it closely to see what might be ...

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There are hundreds of money saving tips I could offer, and many of them might be useful in your particular situation. But there is a strategy for spending less which will make you far more secure than any number of tips on how to buy things for less can. That is what this article is ...

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Here is the quick lesson on how to be smarter: Do something that has been shown to improve brain function until doing so becomes a habit. Then do another thing that boosts brainpower until that is a habit. Then eat something that is good for the brain. Then eat another brain food. With enough of ...

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A meditation for beginners doesn't have to be difficult. In fact it can be as simple as closing your eyes and taking a few deep breaths. Now, you may have read that meditation is for relaxation. Others will say that relaxing is just an "extra" benefit, and that it is meant to make you more self ...

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Most of us know lucky people, those who seem to lived a charmed life. They may not even be all that smart, and yet they seem to almost stumble into good situations. Opportunities open up for them, things are "handed" to them. Perhaps they win in the stock market, find a dream job, or get married ...

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A bad credit rating is usually considered a problem, but is it always so? Are there circumstances where it can be beneficial? Credit is a tool that has to be handled with wisdom to be of value. Being able to borrow money or get credit cards doesn't automatically make a person able to handle ...

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Regular readers of my blog and subscribers to my Brainpower Newsletter know that I’m a believe in safe self-experimentation. In fact, I regularly recommend trying things out that do not yet have scientific evidence proving their effectiveness. After all, why would science ever look into a new ...

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How do you choose the best meditation music? Baroque music is often recommended, and particular pieces may have the right number of beats-per-minute to alter your brainwaves. But more on that in a moment. The science isn't that settled in this area yet, and you may find that any music which you ...

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Sometimes it is just fun to create and share crazy ideas. For example, I recently read about one man's idea to give away free gas. The catch was that there were remote-controlled paintball guns with cameras on them, connected to a web site on the internet. People would pay to fire paintballs at ...

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Creating and using a metaphorical understanding is one of the primary ways we communicate a new idea. The process is very apparent with scientific knowledge. For example, we explain an atom using the metaphor of a little solar system in which the nucleus sits like the sun in the middle and the ...

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The following creative marketing ideas are specifically about finding new places and ways to advertise. This has always been an area ripe for new ideas. What prompted me to write this page is an article I recently read on a company called Show Media. Show Media has advertising displays on top ...

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What if self help books just help the self which creates your problems in the first place? I'll get back to that in a moment. First I want to say that many such books certainly can be helpful. A book on how to speak in front of a crowd can help with that, for example, and a book on how to eat or ...

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All of us make financial mistakes, and research in the new fields of evolutionary economics and behavioral economics are starting to explain why. It will be good to have this knowledge someday. But in the meantime, here are ten of the more common money mistakes you may be making, so you can ...

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If you have ever considered buying self improvement CDs, you know there are a lot to choose from. It isn't just about different authors though. There are very different types to think about as well. Here is a look at five of them, with some pointers as to which may be best for you. Subliminal ...

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I am a follower of hidden trails. In fact, on at least half of the hiking trips I take lately, I'm off the trails altogether, bushwhacking into the unknown. What do you get for doing as Walt Whitman suggested, and taking the "road less traveled?" A bit of adventure. Here are some of the things ...

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You can call it good luck, or cause and effect, or whatever you want. But you know that some people have more good things happen in their lives and more happy surprises. What you may not know is that there are things you can do to be more like them and so be luckier yourself. Here are a few tips ...

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You think it's time that you get a raise from your employer, but how do you go about it? Do it wrong and you may make things even worse. How do you do it right? Try the following five-step process. 1. Make sure you deserve the raise. It may seem too obvious to say that you should do a good job ...

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What is thinking out of the box? It is getting outside the usual ways of looking at things (that's the box) to arrive at new and useful ideas. How do you do it? Here is one of the many ways. How To Get Your Thinking Out Of The Box One of the simplest techniques for "out of the box" thinking is ...

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Good metaphors, apart from just sounding nice to the ears, do at least two other things. First, they make it easier to think about something. For example, if you were to try to explain to a first-time computer user that bits of electricity create binary code which then... well, I can't explain ...

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At the highest levels, better brainpower cannot be separated from higher self awareness. Your own reactive mind often gets in the way of the clearest and deepest thinking, and you have to see this happening to correct it. Part of the problem is what's sometimes referred to as the "monkey mind," ...

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Do you want to be a mind reader? Well, lets get the disappointing part out of the way: You won't be able to hear the thoughts of others, and there is little evidence that anyone has ever had this kind of ability. Most of what passes as mind reading is a mix of nonsense and psychological tactics ...

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There are many ways to boost the power of the mind. Some of them are proven by science, some soon-to-be proven, and others that work for one person and not another. That is why I advocate the "shotgun approach" to increasing one's mind power. Unlike rifle shells, shotgun shells have many pellets ...

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How does one develop creativity? By habitually taking creative approaches to life's challenges. To make this habitual, you just need to use certain techniques for a few weeks each, until they become a normal part of your thinking. One such technique is outlined here. Develop Creativity By ...

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There are many brainstorming routines and other techniques for creating new business ideas. You'll find just one of them here, but it's a good one. New Business Ideas By Turning Things Upside Dow This is a technique for generating truly creative new ideas. It's based on the way your mind ...

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There are many ways to make money writing online. Just one of them will be laid out here. It is one that you probably haven't read about before. Make Money Writing Online Ebooks Okay, you have heard about ebooks and selling them. This isn't quite the usual way to do that however. You do have ...

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Some lucky people don't need to learn to budget money in the traditional way. They simply and naturally spend less than they make, and invest the difference for the future. There is no need to allocate "x" amount each month for this or that category if your "outgo" is always less than your ...

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Luck is not always as random as it appears. There are things that lucky people do differently from others, and ways that they think differently. These "good luck habits" explain much of their good fortune. This is evident even during an economic recession that seems to be hitting everyone. For ...

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Before we get into how to use meditatio CDs, we have to start with which kind to use. Some products are nothing more than relaxing music, or perhaps a guided meditation with a musical background. There is nothing wrong with these, but if you want a more powerful tool, you need to get CDs that ...

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The following memory tips are for all ages. Although memory loss often comes with old age, that does not mean it is a necessary result of aging. In fact, there are often specific causes, and a declining ability to remember things can be reversed in many cases. Here are some quick tips to get you ...

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MOUNTING THE [SCHOOL] BARRICADES Advocating for our Childre A proviso: The majority of teachers are caring, kind and dedicated to promoting the happiness and self-esteem of their students. They are usually underpaid, underappreciated, overworked, and continue in spite of that, because they ...

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The very concept of retirement is flawed. It is based on several false premises. First is the premise that at a certain age you are no longer able to provide economic value. That is clearly nonsense as shown by the many millionaire entrepreneurs and business people in the sixties, seventies and eighties. Yes, we generally get weaker and lose some abilities as we age. But there are seventy-five year-old retirees playing tennis out there, and anyone who can still think and move two fingers can do what I’m doing for a living. Another false premise is the whole “golden years” idea.

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The easiest route to creative product innovation is to start with something we already have and ask some simple questions about it to suggest new ideas. For the sake of demonstrating how this can be done, we'll suppose that we want to design a new kind of bicycle. We start by asking a lot of ...

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The following real estate investment ideas revolve around the general theme of gaining some special advantage. This is more necessary that normal at the moment (2009) because it is unclear whether home values will continue to fall. Having the right approach limits the risk inherent in falling prices and slow sales times. 1. Look For Special Infrastructure Situations Infrastructure changes can radically affect prices of homes. Transportation issues in particular matter when evaluating the future value of a property.

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What is real genius, and how do we cultivate it in ourselves? A common dictionary definition is, "Extraordinary intellectual power especially as manifested in creative activity." Some definitions refer to a high IQ as well, but that doesn't seem to be an important component. Both intellectual ...

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How do we determine right and wrong, and can we really capture them with philosophical rules or religious commandments? The answer to the first question is that we call something right or wrong according to whether or not it helps achieve our moral values. That makes the answer to the second ...

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A couple of years ago I heard Carline Myss talk about developing one’s intuition. She said that without a healthy self-esteem a person will never have courage to acknowledge and follow that authentic inner voice. Initially, that observation made some intellectual sense for me, but deep inside I tried to fight its truism. In fact, the more I thought about it the more frustrated I felt. Self-esteem, or rather its lack, had become a code word I was using to explain to myself why I couldn’t have what I wanted in life.

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Setting goals sometimes works and sometimes doesn't. Why is that? What makes it an effective practice, and when does it fail? It's all about how you do it, and later in this article you'll find six or seven tips on how to properly set goals. But first lets take a deeper look at the "motivation ...

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How do you achieve a more consistent level of daily motivation? Use the following powerful techniques, beginning at the start of your day. 1. Start The Day Motivated Have a morning motivation routine. Experiment a bit and see what gets you going. If it has to be coffee, then so be it, although ...

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What are the best jobs in a recession? That depends on what you goals are. Mostly they are the same jobs as at any other time. If you are working to make the most money you can, they are high-paying jobs. If you are working to train yourself for a future business, they are the jobs that accomplish that for you. Let's assume though, that the question refers to the best jobs in a recession based on the security or the likelihood that there will not be layoffs. In that case, look to the industries that both maintain their sales during a recession and those that actually benefit from it.

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How do you choose the relaxation music that works best? You can certainly start by experimenting with many different types. After all, it seems likely that what one person finds relaxing another will find irritating. But is it all just a matter of personal preference? Actually no. Though ones ...

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How do you choose the best self help books? That depends on what you want to accomplish. Are you looking for peace of mind, more money or less fear? Here are five self help books which I have read and can recommend, along with some tips on how to find more that are right for you. "Feel the Fear ...

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The two most important critical thinking skills are not keen observation nor logic. These help, but both of these come pretty naturally in humans (though we often choose to ignore logic). The skills I am referring to are less common, at least in their fully developed forms. That's sad, ...

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Why not start each morning with a simple thought for the day? Hold it in mind to see what perspective it gives to the day's events. Here is one for each day of the week. Monday's Thought For The Day When you argue with a person, are you focused on the words? What's out there beyond the words? ...

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There are many money myths that can get in the way of your success. Here are three that you may have bought into. If so, it's time to learn some better ideas. Money Myth - You Need Money To Make Money Like most money myths, this one is pulled out as an excuse when a person doesn't want to do ...

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Why look for easy meditation techniques? After all, doesn't good meditation practice take time and effort and self discipline? Perhaps, but before a person is ready to make that commitment he or she may want to have a little taste of what the results might be. In other words, start with one of ...

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Here are three money making ideas for kids. All of these possible businesses can be started with just a little bit of money. Of course, if the profits are reinvested they can become much bigger enterprises. Fishing Worm Business This might be one of the easiest of these money making ideas for ...

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Of course there are opportunities during a recession, including those listed below. In fact, many "lucky people" will prosper in these tough economic times. If you want to be one of them, you have to start to think like them. To begin with, you might want to turn off the stream of bad news on ...

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The idea of a power nap isn't new. They used to be called catnaps. They consist of just a little bit of sleep in order to refresh you. There has been some research done more recently, though, and it shows that there is a right way and a wrong way. More precisely, there is a right length and a ...

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There are many ways you can make money writing ebooks. Here are three of them. You don't even need a website for the last two. Ebooks - The Traditional Way It may be a stretch to call something "traditional" in an industry that is only a decade old, but this method is as close as you can get ...

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Coming from a philosophical background which sees self interest as both natural and even the basis of morality, it was difficult for me to understand how transcending the “self” might actually be a good thing. For years I hesitated to even give any credence to the idea, and so I didn’t explore ...

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There are many creative problem solving techniques, and each will lead you to different kinds of solutions. One of the simplest, though, is the "add, subtract and change" technique. What follows is a basic explanation of how to use it to generate more creative solutions. Add Whatever you are ...

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The two creativity tips that follow suggest two of the dozens of basic questions you can ask to increase the creativeness of your thinking. Ask these as you work on something, and you can see more creative results today. 1. A Question Of Purpose Asking certain questions can lead to more ...

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There are a number of speed reading techniques that you can learn quickly. The key to their effectiveness is not just in how well you understand the idea, though, but in how much you actually practice them. Here are two to get you started. Forced Speed Simply forcing yourself to read faster is one of the primary techniques you will learn from any good speed reading course. Our minds are able to see and process a lot of information at once - much more than we realize.

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What is the American Dream? Is it two kids, a new car, a good job, and a big new house with a pet dog to greet you at the door? Hmm... At least there was a deeper conception of it when it was invented. James Truslow Adams answered the questio "What is the American Dream?" in his book, "The ...

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Why meditate? You may already understand that it is very relaxing. In fact, try the simple meditation in this article and you'll feel more relaxed in just a few minutes. But there are other good reasons to meditate as well. Here are three of them. Stress Reductio The relaxation effect of ...

Published · 706 views

The roots of war? Perhaps they are many, but if we're talking about the killing of thousands, the bombing of countries and the large scale conflicts of the last five thousand years or so, one of the roots has to be our use of language. Here is an understanding of war you may not have heard ...

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To generate great ideas, develop the 7 habits that follow. These are actions and thought patterns you can use to come up with many creative ideas and solutions. They'll work right now if you try them, but if you want to be a truly effective creative problem solver, make such techniques into ...

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Is Meditation Too Much Time And Trouble? If you haven't meditated before, you might think it's too much trouble to learn. If you do meditate, you know it can be difficult to find the time to do it consistently. So is there really a meditation you can learn right now that can be done in 45 ...

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Want more good luck in your life? Then why not look at what the research shows about lucky people? Better yet, why not do some simple exercises that train your mind in the habits of lucky people? To start with, the research shows (and yes there is a lot of "luck" research) that luckier people ...

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You may have heard of the loci mnemonic or memory system. The general idea is to "place" the things that are to be memorized in predetermined locations in your imagination, so you can "find" them there later. The origin of this memory system is generally attributed to a story told by Cicero, an ...

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Does a sense of humor make for a more creative mind? Perhaps. There are certainly many creative and intelligent people who also like to have a good laugh. Consider the following two examples. American physicist Richard Feynman was a joint recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965, for his ...

Published · 1,030 views

You have probably seen the bumper stickers that say, "America - Love It Or Leave It." Most polite people won't put it that bluntly, but many share the sentiment. They think that if a person doesn't like the system here, they have no right to be here. What an ignorant and hateful idea! To show ...

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When I saw the "American Inventor" program, I immediately loved the show. It's a parade of ingenuity - and sometimes silliness and total ignorance of markets. Watching some of the inventors come onto that stage, I realized I wouldn't want to be a judge on the show for anything. The judges face ...

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There are two ways to improve the good luck / bad luck ratio in your life. One is to take steps to do those things that lead to more good luck. The other is to stop doing the things that cause bad luck. This lesson is about the latter. It is an examination of the actions, habits and thinking of ...

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A little bit of brain training can go a long ways towards better thinking. There are easy techniques for better or more creative thinking, such as brainstorming or just getting a good night's sleep. The idea here, though, is to train your brain in new habits. It can take some work, but once good ...

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Brainpower games are those games which exercise your mental capacity. My personal favorite is Chess, but there are many others, some of which you probably already play or have played. Here is a look at a few of the more common ones and how they may help your mind. Crossword Puzzles For many ...

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Yes, brainstorming can turn a paper clip into a house. More on that in a moment. First, a question. Have you ever had a brainstorming session where people sat around hesitating to contribute? If so, you can understand how important having the right frame of mind is. Members of the group need to ...

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Can you create wealth from home? You bet you can - and there are more ways to do it than there have ever been before. An example? I'm sitting here in my underwear as I write this, and yes, I do make a good living with these articles and my web sites. Starting an internet business may be one of ...

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Why is there cheap real estate? Is it just that some sellers don't know what their property is worth? Sometimes this is the case, but only rarely. More often a seller is willing to sell for less because it means selling faster or more easily. In other words, sellers will trade a little equity ...

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Want to have more creative concepts for your business, job or home life? Practicing can help, especially if it is with others. The first time you brainstorm with a group of creative people, you might feel like you are mentally slow, but soon you'll find that you are coming up with more and more ...

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You probably like the idea of creative inspiration, that wonderful new idea that pops into you head without warning. The reality is that such bursts of creativity do happen. Einstein claimed he had great ideas come to him while he was shaving in the morning. And then there is the chemist ...

Published · 803 views

Would you like to have more creative problem solving ability? How would you like to be the one who always has a creative solution? There are dozens of techniques that can help, starting with this simple one based on word inflection. It will work in all areas, from business to science to everyday ...

Published · 835 views

Creative thinking is a potential we are all born with. If you don't use that potential, it is probably because you don't know and apply the simple principles for developing it. We can remedy that right now. The two basic principles of creative thinking are: 1. There are methods and techniques ...

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Contrary to what many people think and many dictionaries suggest, atheism is not a belief. It is simply the lack of belief in "God " or gods. Before starting this article, I checked several dictionaries. In the first one, the definition of atheism given was, "The doctrine or belief that there is ...

Published · 929 views

Do you know what the problem is with asking successful people for advice? They don't always know why they are successful - but they'll give you all the reasons you want. I once watched an 100-year-old man explain that smoking every day was the secret to his longevity. It would be great to know ...

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Everything happens for a reason? What nonsense! On the other hand, what a great idea! Whatever your religious or philosophical background, this is a belief that you can use, even if it isn't true. There is no way to prove that everything happens for a reason. In fact, when you think about some ...

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Who and what are experts? Here is the dictionary definition: "A person with a high degree of skill in or knowledge of a certain subject." Experts know certain things, or know how to do certain things, but they don't know you. This points out the basic problem with habitually relying on expert ...

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Blaming financial trouble on outside factors is the norm, but is it the truth? Sometimes. Unexpected things do happen, after all. On the other hand, some people manage to handle the unexpected without any real financial difficulty, right? What are they doing differently? To begin with, some ...

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What is frugality? The dictionary definition of frugal: "Practicing or marked by economy, as in the expenditure of money or the use of material resources." People think of it as simply being "cheap," in the fashion of Ebeneezer Scrooge. I see it as the practice of getting the most for one's ...

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Getting lucky is more probable when you have a certain way of approaching situations. This particular frame of mind is the good-luck-generating attitude expressed in the following quote: "If you view all the things that happen to you, both good and bad, as opportunities, then you operate out of ...

Published · 619 views

Getting lucky is about operating in certain ways. You won't get lucky in love if you don't ever talk to someone of the opposite sex. You won't ever succeed in business by just talking about it. These two examples bring us to the first lesson on "luck." Getting Lucky By Consistently Taking ...

Published · 645 views

To be a deep thinker you simply have to get in the habit of asking deep questions about everything around you. What is a deep question? Let's look at a couple examples. Suppose someone lies to you, and you simply explain it by saying, "He's a jerk!" That may be true, but it is shallow thinking. ...

Published · 5,751 views

What are critical thinking skills? They are the habits of thought that you cultivate for better decisions on what to believe and what to do. Critical thought is not about being able to argue well. That kind of thinking can be a trap. Unfortunately, some very intelligent people think that way, ...

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With the right work you can get smarter, but there are also things you can do to appear to be more intelligent, and you can use some of them right now. So if you want to impress your boss or your friends with your intelligence, try a few of the techniques below. Some of them may actually improve ...

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Have you ever wished you had stronger willpower? How can you make yourself stop doing things you don't want to do? There are ways, and the first thing to do is to redefine the concept of willpower. Self Awareness Instead Of Willpower It's hard to resist temptation sometimes, isn't it? That ...

Published · 855 views

To invent new products, you need to know how to generate new ideas - lots of them. Then you look them over and pick out the good ones. Here is one of the many simple techniques for coming up with ideas for new products. New Products From Old Start with an existing product and extract some of ...

Published · 1,331 views

If you are like most people, when you think about how to make money, you think about the specific jobs, businesses or schemes that will bring in the cash. But while there are many ways to make it, all these ways have their examples of success and failure. Why do some fail at the same things ...

Published · 2,471 views

You may have used affirmations before, writing positive statements on cards and repeating them every day. Hopefully you stuck it out and got the results that you wanted. More often, we find it hard to take the time to read them every day, and without that constant repetition, we don't get the ...

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How do you motivate yourself? What can you do when you need to get busy doing something and you just don't feel like doing it? Of course there are dozens of motivation techniques. Some, like certain NLP techniques, can get fairly complicated. The following, however, is a simple, yet powerful ...

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Why should you learn how to relax fast? Because stress is more than just unpleasant. It's also dangerous. Many diseases are now known to be caused by or made worse by stress, but you can do something about it. Just try these relaxation techniques today, and use them whenever you feel that ...

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Wouldn't it be great if you could solve problems more easily? You can. Problems you have at home, or problems from science, work, or business - you can use special techniques to help you find solutions to all of them. The following is one of the best. A Problem Solving Story I had written an ...

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To know how to tell when someone is lying, it helps to first look at the three basic types of lies. These are lies of omission, commission, and embellishment. What follows is a short description/definition of each, and some ways to detect each kind of lying. Lying By Omissio A lie of omission ...

Published · 8,098 views · Rated 5/5 from 1 votes

People talk about the need to think outside of the box as though everyone understands what that means. It is assumed to simply mean being more creative and open minded in your thinking. But shouldn't we ask what the "box" is that we want to get out of? We'll get to an answer for that in a ...

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You hear that to be more creative you need to think outside the box, but what is the box? It is your normal ways of thinking, and all the hidden assumptions you make. Imagine actually living in a box, and knowing the outside world only through the pictures and descriptions written on those four ...

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Learn how to write "how to" articles and it is easy to promote your website. They are one of the most popular types of articles online. Some people will read articles just for entertainment or to learn general information, but everyone wants to know how to do something. Before you start ...

Published · 655 views

Flip flopping refers to changing ones position on an issue. The public generally dislikes politicians who flip flop on their positions, in part because they assume that it is done dishonestly for political reasons alone, and in part because they simple like to know what a candidate for public ...

Published · 851 views

People use the expressio "in other words" because sometimes other words are necessary to better understand something. You probably use it yourself, but how often do you actually think about the words you are using, and the effect they may have? How often do you change the words you use in order ...

Published · 872 views

What Do You Think? Can you solve problems easily? Can you learn new things efficiently? Can you increase your brain power? Whatever you think and feel about these questions, those thoughts and feelings will have an effect on your brain function, because brain power and psychology are ...

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An IQ test is supposed to measure one's "intelligence quotient," to provide a basic rating of how smart a person is. When we try to measure people in this way, we hope it will predict how well they will perform in either their profession or academic work. Of course we know that this doesn't work ...

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You can learn how to meditate from a book, but meditation is as much an art as a science, and arts especially are better taught by live teachers than by books. That is why meditation is often learned quicker and brought to a deeper level when the beginner has someone to model their practice on. ...

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Lie detection may start with watching for signs of lying in a person. But sometimes you have to do more than just listen and watch. Sometimes you have to trap a liar. Here is one of the many ways to do that. Lie Detection - Introduce An Assumptio This is a common trapping technique. Here is ...

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What are the metaphors we live by? Is life a journey, a game, a dream, or a movie we are watching? How do these metaphorical perspectives affect our lives? Let's take a look at a few of them. Life Is Purgatory Some people see life as a sort of purgatory to be suffered through. In fact, many ...

Published · 1,286 views

What's going on in your head? Until you know, there can be all sorts of problems. Uncorrectable problems. You can't fix a problem that you don't see, right? That is where mindfulness comes in. Mindfulness and mental health are intimately connected. Your mind is busy in there right now, talking ...

Published · 775 views

Mindfulness exercises let you "tune in" to yourself. Distractions are let go, and your brain power is increased. The exercises help you think more clearly and concentrate better. The best news is that they are easier than you might think to learn. Easy Mindfulness Exercises Anytime you are ...

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The researchers say that money can't buy happiness, but the research says that it can. Why the contradiction? It's all in how you look at the numbers. You may recall a news story or two back in 2006 about money and whether it makes people happy. The headlines went something like this: "Science ...

Published · 604 views

What is the connection between music and the brain? Is it possible that music can help you think better? The research says yes, and after telling you about some of it, I'll let you in on an even faster way to boost your brain power with music. Music And The Brain - The Research The research ...

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Neurobics is a term invented by Lawrence Katz and Manning Rubin to describe exercises that help the brain stay fit. Specific types of sensory stimuli and activities, especially those that involve non-routine actions and thoughts, produce more of the chemicals that encourage growth of new ...

Published · 1,186 views

National health care might be a disaster, due to the cost and the complexity. A government-controlled system also creates agonizing moral dilemmas (read about the eye treatment ruling covered further down). Still, despite my opposition to it, I can see it's a real possibility, and soon. Keeping ...

Published · 796 views

You've heard people say that opportunity only knocks once. I say it knocks a thousand times, or at least it can. The problem is, we often don't listen, we don't see, or we don't want to work. The biggest problem, though, is that opportunity really isn't opportunity, if you're not ready for ...

Published · 1,062 views

Looking for cheap travel destinations is a habit we developed during leaner times. Necessary or not, it still means being able to do more for the money. We also continually discover that the cheaper places can be just as much fun. Anaconda, Montana is a great example of this. When we first ...

Published · 943 views · Rated 4/5 from 2 votes

Want to be more "out of the box" in your thinking? Here's an example of a simple problem-solving/lateral thinking game that can help. Following that I have some suggestions to get you started with your own mental exercise. A group of college students was shown a barometer. Then the professor ...

Published · 7,076 views

You have probably read enough tips on personal finances, and maybe you are still in debt and without a plan for the future. Well, here is simple six-step plan to get you going in the right direction. Of course, like the other tips you have heard, it will only help if you actually use it. 1. ...

Published · 696 views

Do you ever ponder the big questions, like "What is consciousness?" or "Why do we feel motivated to do good?" Doing so really takes no more brainpower than balancing your checkbook, and although you are more likely to be satisfied and certain with the result of the checkbook balancing, thinking ...

Published · 901 views

We all want power, although not everyone freely admits it. It is common to think what one would do if he or she was a king or the president. We imagine that we would do good things; better than what is being done now. We think of power in personal terms too, as when we imagine that enough money ...

Published · 659 views

Probabilitism? I just invented the word to describe an ideology of living life according to the odds, or more specifically, making decisions according to them. Life, after all, is all about making decisions, and we need some guide for making better ones. The most common explicit guide to ...

Published · 1,194 views

Your problem solving strategies determine how effectively you deal with everything from creating new ideas to solving the routine problems of life and business. There are many specific techniques for solving problems, but a good strategy is a more general "plan of attack" that makes it all work. ...

Published · 996 views

Learning a few good problem solving techniques can improve your bottom line and your life.Do you ever run out of good ideas, or go around in circles trying to come up with a solution for a persistent problem? Maybe you just need to learn some simple problem solving techniques, and then start ...

Published · 1,340 views · Rated 4/5 from 1 votes

No More Brain Fog Where is...car...my keys...hmm...and that...oh yeah, but...hmm - Does your brain feel like that sometimes? How can you combat "brain fog," and think more clearly? Try some of the following. Clear space equals clear thinking. Despite many protests to the contrary, it's rare ...

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I recall seeing a study somewhere that suggested self help books don't really help. I believe it looked at financial self help books. If I remember correctly, three or ten years after reading various "get rich quick" and other money-related books, the readers were generally making more money, ...

Published · 571 views

There are always little secrets that you can learn to help you in life. These are the "insider tips" that might improve your health, save you money, or give you more influence over others. Here are six of them you can put to use today. Highway Toll Secret The passes (such as E-ZPass) that ...

Published · 838 views

The following collection of real estate investing tips will probably have a few things that you already know. That's okay. There will be a few you haven't heard before as well, and in any case, we sometimes need to be reminded of what we know. 1. Find an agent with the right experience. When ...

Published · 811 views

Why do we need ways to be dumber? We don't of course, but there are two basic ways to improve oneself. The first is to actively engage in new thoughts and behaviors that are better, and the other is to avoid those patterns of though and behavior that make matters worse. This is based on the ...

Published · 1,236 views

Too much stress? You need a simple stress meditation. Of course, learning to meditate might intimidate you, and it's tough to find the time for daily meditation. A solution to both problems is a meditation you can learn right now, that will take a minute to do each day. An Easy Stress ...

Published · 897 views

Are you a lucky person? Not sure? Let's find out. Answer the following questions as honestly as you can, and then tally your score according to the simple directions at the bottom of the test. In general, do good things happen to you? 1. Almost neve 2. Sometimesn3. Ofte 4. Very ofte Are you ...

Published · 857 views

What do I mean by the art of thinking? It may seem that powerful thinking should simply be logical, and nothing more. The ideal thinker then, might be Spock, the "Vulcan" in the "Star Trek" television show and movies. Of course, if you watch the program, you may recall that the humans aboard the ...

Published · 782 views

Yes, it might feel great to win the lottery. Money, houses, travel - these are wonderful, but not enough by themselves. You need the right frame of mind to fully enjoy life. You need the attitude of gratitude. Be Grateful Life is better when you feel blessed, when you can look around and say ...

Published · 922 views

Is there a "lie detector?" Most people have been lead to believe that this is what the polygraph is. But most scientists think the polygraph is less than scientific. Here's a quick look at the From the website of the American Polygraph Association: "A steady pace of improvements in techniques ...

Published · 1,722 views

What is the secret of attraction? You probably know this has become one of the hottest new ideas in self improvement and spirituality. But it isn't a new idea. It is just the newest way to recycle an old idea. Old or new, the important questions are does it work as claimed, and why? A "Law" Of ...

Published · 950 views

The expressio "think twice" is simply a reminder to fully consider things before assuming that your first conclusion is the correct one. It reminds me of the carpenter's rule: "measure twice, cut once." Measuring twice is a rule that prevents a lot of mistakes in carpentry. In intellectual ...

Published · 880 views

"Thinking games" are games and exercises that help develop thinking skills and so boost your brainpower. While some brain games exercise memory, or test knowledge (usually trivia), the following require analysis, creativity and imagination. They can all be played alone in theory, but try to get ...

Published · 1,120 views

Our top travel secret isn't really a secret at all, but it takes a while for some of us to learn and apply it. Here it is: Slow down. Slowing down and spending more time in each location is not only a secret of cheap travel, but in our experience, it means more fun. Slowing Down For Cheap ...

Published · 873 views · Rated 4/5 from 2 votes

In some ways travel writing online is similar to that in the print world. Readers still want the facts about a location, maybe an interesting perspective, and some useful advice. However, this doesn't mean you can just write the same article for both a magazine and a website. There are some ...

Published · 737 views · Rated 2/5 from 1 votes

A myth is a lie - true or false? Actually, the most general definition of myth found in most dictionaries is something like, "A popular belief or story." In other words, it can be true or false. See if you can tell which are which with the following beliefs and myths. True or False - ...

Published · 875 views

Not sure what to do? Try the following seven step decision making process the next time you need to make up your mind about something important. And take notes! 1. What are your immediate intuitive feelings? Make a few notes about your immediate "gut reaction." For example, if you're not sure ...

Published · 1,183 views

Why good luck quotes? Perhaps you don't believe in luck, but you can see that some people have more good things happen to them. Whether you choose to call that luck or not, here is what some famous people have to say about the phenomenon. Those who have succeeded at anything and don't mention ...

Published · 1,699 views

There are many problem solving skills that can make you a more effective and creative problem solver. Knowing how to direct your attention and use visualization are two of the best. Here are some examples of how to use these tools, and how to develop them. Problem Solving Skill: ...

Published · 1,059 views

What causes bad luck? To begin with we have to admit that sometimes events are just random, or at least with causes beyond our ability to understand at the moment. Therefore even the luckiest person will have occasional "bad luck." On the other hand, it is unlikely that a person who is normally ...

Published · 2,870 views

Can You Learn Better Concentration? Imagine how much more productive you would be if you could have total concentration whenever you wished. The good news is you can learn how to concentrate better. In fact, you can do so right now. Concentration Is Automatic When you start working on ...

Published · 834 views

An open mind is like an open well. It is easily contaminated by anything blowing in the wind. At least that is the problem with what many call an open mind. For example, you may have heard someone called open minded because he believes in visitors from space, bending spoons with mind power, and ...

Published · 1,281 views

You may have heard the expression, or even had the experience, but what is brain fog? It is that state of mind when you can't quite focus or think clearly. As for how to cure it, that depends on the cause. There are two basic kinds of causes. Physical Causes Of Brain Fog A lack of sleep can ...

Published · 955 views

Haven't heard of evolutionary economics? It's not surprising. This is a new area of study that looks into the biological and evolutionary forces that shape our economic decisions. It is related to behavioral economics, another discipline you don't hear much about. The behavioral perspective is ...

Published · 783 views

You Want Brain Power, Not Scores!Would you like to know what your IQ is? Want to improve it? What is IQ anyhow? The American Heritage Dictionary defines Intelligence Quotient as "The ratio of tested mental age to chronological age, usually expressed as a quotient multiplied by 100." Basically, ...

Published · 1,526 views

Contrary to what many believe, many atheist - if not most - would never say "God doesn't exist." Unfortunately, many dictionaries also have definitions like "Denial of the existence of God," which is a misrepresentation. In fact, if once you understand what atheism really means, you'll see why ...

Published · 767 views

"What does it profit a man to have gained the whole world, and to have lost his soul?" - Jesus Christ You don't need to be Christian to see wisdom in the words of Jesus. Simple quotes from men and women around the world, from present day or milleniums past, inspire and instruct us, regardless ...

Published · 2,517 views · Rated 5/5 from 1 votes

You can increase your IQ (intelligence quotient) in the next ten minutes. On my website www.IncreaseBrainPower.com, there are many brain power exercises and techniques designed to help you long-term, but what if you need a quick brain fix right now? What if there is an important meeting coming ...

Published · 2,744 views · Rated 4/5 from 1 votes

We don't have a precisely-numbered measure of your "creativity quotient," yet, like we have for your intelligence quotient, or "IQ." But tests which do try to measure your creative ability generally look at three criteria. These are the quantity of your ideas, their originality, and the possible ...

Published · 921 views

What if there was a way to make money with any of your hobbies? Fortunately, there is. Thanks to the internet it's more feasible than ever to turn a hobby into an income stream. The basic idea is to share your knowledge and ideas with others who have similar interests. You can do this with a website a blog or an email newsletter.

Published · 1,428 views

Women are always running around juggling, trying to support the different roles they play in every day life. And in the midst of this balancing act, there may be a yearning for something more - something a bit deeper, something that connects everything together in a more meaningful way. Does this resonate with you? Are you in search of a deeper connection with your authentic self, but wonder how and when this could possibly happen for you? Now is the time to fully engage on a journey of self-exploration - one that leads to a life of purpose, passion and creative expression.

Published · 987 views

There is a lot to be said for dreaming up crazy ideas, and doing so is more than just a way to exercise your creativity (although it's very good for that purpose too). Sometimes a crazy idea is not as crazy as it first appears, and sometimes it is, but becomes something more useful with a bit of work. The story below provides a good example, and is followed by some tips on how to get more creative in your thinking and how to generate one crazy concept after another.

Published · 1,820 views

We all have a bit of brain fog from time to time - particularly in the morning for myself. We may want to concentrate on finishing that story, working on that report for work, or whatever it is that requires our best mental efforts, yet we are in a haze. What can you do to more effectively concentrate on the task at hand? Fortunately there are several things.

Published · 1,520 views

In order to find a house that is right for you, you have to first think carefully about what you actually need and want. Many people limit their thinking to the home itself, and so have a mental (or even written) list of all the features they want. But what you need in a house is not limited to the structure itself, nor even that and the neighborhood. Sure, you want a nice place, but you also need something that helps you with your important goals in life.

Published · 1,429 views

It used to be that meditatio CDs were just pleasant music and perhaps some “sounds of nature” thrown in. There is nothing wrong with that. They were relaxing and could help you get into a meditative state. But the newest recordings use more than just a light tune and the sound of rain or waves. The good ones now use embedded beats and pulses that lead your brainwaves into the desired state. These new brainwave entrainment technologies are powerful.

Published · 1,673 views

There are a thousand or more ways to make money, but they can be roughly classified into three categories. These are fast ways to make money, basic ways to pay the bills and long-term wealth-creation strategies involving building a business. Lets take a quick look at the three, based on the assumption that you are starting from a desperate position with no money. If that is not the case, you can skip ahead to the “paying the bills or “wealth creation” part.

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What does it mean to live a creative life? It means looking for new and better ways to live from day to day and year to year, rather than going along on automatic or doing what everyone else around you is doing. It means applying that brainpower to more than just paying the bills and winning those video games - and more than even creative thinking or writing.

Published · 1,629 views · Rated 4/5 from 1 votes

There are a lot very good reasons for developing a meditation practice. You are likely to be healthy both physically and mentally. You’ll have less stress. You might gain some insight into the workings of your own mind. Your friends may find that you are easier to be around. Then there are the spiritual goals. Some people use meditation as a form of prayer. For some it means learning to be in the moment, with the hope that this more natural and peaceful state of mind can be carried into everyday life and activities. Other find that meditation helps them to become more compassionate.

Published · 1,541 views · Rated 4/5 from 1 votes

If you are trapped by a reaction despite the clear fact that there is a better way to act, you are a victim of mental slavery. We all are. Every one of us sometimes find ourselves saying or doing things that we later regret, and wondering why. Ignorance can be a factor, of course. We all can make straight-out mistakes based on a lack of knowledge. But what we’re referring to here is those instances when we say, “I knew better than that,” or “I should have known better than that.”

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There are a lot very good reasons for developing a meditation practice. You are likely to be healthy both physically and mentally. You’ll have less stress. You might gain some insight into the workings of your own mind. Your friends may find that you are easier to be around. Then there are the spiritual goals. Some people use meditation as a form of prayer. For some it means learning to be in the moment, with the hope that this more natural and peaceful state of mind can be carried into everyday life and activities. Other find that meditation helps them to become more compassionate.

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There is a saying most of us have heard, “curiosity killed the cat, satisfaction brought him back.” Curiosity is one of the most valuable states of mind we can have. If we are curious we can be open to what is in the present moment. It’s when we get caught up in the past or the future that our emotions get hold of us and we ignore the present and therefore anything it may have to tell us.

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Is a real life perfect? Is your life perfect? Is your life real? There is no way to know where you will see the most beauty in your life, or have the most profound experience. Battlefields and graveyards are as full of enlightening and profound, happy and beautiful life experience as the playground or, for those of us who love equines, the paddock.

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Making a transition in life can be difficult to accept and face head on. There aren't many people who enjoy the process of change or accepting a new reality in their existence. Whether you have made the decision yourself or someone has made it for you, these times can be full of unexpected trials and tribulations.

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When I was growing up everyone around me gave me suggestions for “what to do when…” I grew up. My friends and I wrote on our notebooks and in our jou als what we wanted, to do, to be, to have and to hold. We girls tried different names on with our “first” names, we got “married,” wore “big” clothes, generally did everything we could to avoid being who we were; little girls growing up.

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The Body eavesdrops on the mind. What makes each of us so unique? We are always being told there is no one else like us. We are unique. How can that be? How can we believe this and why would we want to? We are community-driven beings, nurtured in common, educated in groups, labeled by the year we were born, what we accomplish in the world, our relationship to each other and to the work we do or don’t do. How can we each be so unique when we are driven by our nature to be together?

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We live in a science-driven world of charts and statistics, we listen to the hum of experts telling us the data from their fields of expertise. I grew up in the last half of the last century when those in the "know" were convinced we would be eating pills of compressed food balanced nutritionally with all our needs by now. We would be flying around in individual tubes controlled by power sources soon to be discovered. It was a heady time. We thought we could "cure" everything.

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To change your life, change your mind. Everything in your life is an expression of your mental diet. The three steps to change are: 1) Awareness, 2) Practice and 3) Curiosity. The articles that follow will outline the process and practices you will need to achieve the goal of a happier, more fulfilled life. When I was growing up I thought I was supposed to figure things out. It seemed as if that was what school and everything else I participated in was all about. Preparing myself to be able to figure things out.

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Schumann Resonance Meditation, Energy Psychology through Earth Breathing and Alpha Brainwaves

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One of the most powerful ways to turn back the biological clock, improve your health and become more radiant is to greatly reduce the amount of food you eat.

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Conscious Parenting or Entering a Spiritual Parenting Journey Parenting IS the most difficult job in the world. The Journey of Personal Development magically enfolds in front of the Parents that are at all times asked to increase their capacity to Love, and Understand this complex matrix of impulses we call Life. The world belongs to our children and we are their soil, their water, their air and if we are full of love, understanding, and wisdom our children will grow into free and inspired adults.

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Most of the creative ideas and the solutions are the result of insights. Each and every person has an ability to generate an insight but the spiritual people have the tendency of generating more powerful insights because they have understood the process of generating an insight. Insight can be defined as the solution of a problem which suddenly popped up in a mind which has not experienced or solved before. For an example, Scholars have the tendency of generating an innovative theory of an unsolved problem.r

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More Isn’t the Answer “What I want is what I've not got, but what I need is all around me.” –Dave Matthews The pursuit for more is akin to watching a dog chasing its tail. Have you noticed that it never quite reaches it? More is always just out of reach. The drive for more becomes a self-defeating prophecy, because more is not more fulfilling. But how many people would agree with you if you said that? It is almost like saying that 2 + 2 does not equal four. We have all been taught as young children that more has to be more, and more is always better than less, right?r

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Our Personal Development Journey Self Realization Journey is a most amazing Journey we will ever embark on. It never ends and it is always successful because an invisible driver (our soul) directs the Journey. Our commitment to grow as spiritual beings is always beautifully rewarded.

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“Dance is the most immediate and accessible of the arts because it involves your own body. When you learn to move your body on a note of music, it's exciting. You have taken control over your body, and by learning to do that, you discover that you can take charge of your own life." An expression by Jacques D' Amboise that is so poignant, that it sets you thinking. How true the above passage depicts the expression – dance. When one rejoices a happy moment or mou s some loss, the body shows it all.

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Walking Meditation

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Years ago, when I was leaving a full-time corporate job for the second time in my life to pursue unknown endeavors, a colleague gave me an inspiration stone with the word FREEDOM engraved on it. Even though I thought I knew what it meant at the time, today I have developed a very intimate ...

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Can love be trained? How to open this amazing door to Happiness? True love, Personal Development and Happiness Now, maybe this will sound strange for some very young lovers, but the essence of this wonderful feeling, this joyful state of being is that Love can and must be trained. Happiness as a Way of Life

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A client had hired me to help her get control of her business life, which was causing her great stress. At the time, she was Executive Vice President of Franchising for one of the largest fast-food companies in the world. A seasoned professional in the industry, with proven talents in ...

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Consciousness and Spiritual Growth The purpose of life is the evolution of consciousness. Spiritual awakening offers life in the state of joy (Bliss / Ananda). If we learn to listen to our souls we can consciously choose to be joyful or sad, peaceful or loving, alert or relaxed. There is a Buddhist saying: 'Before enlightenment he gathered wood and carried water; after enlightenment he gathered wood and carried water.'

Published · 1,728 views · Rated 5/5 from 1 votes

The famous painter Paul Klee once said “Drawing for me is taking a line for a walk.” What do we feel when we look at the great sculptures carved deep in mountain facades all over our country. When we visit Ellora, it is a great revelation. The bodies in the stone become so lyrical and live and ...

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I find those little dogs with the loud barks to be really funny. Every time I see one, I’m tempted to say, “Dude, the bark isn’t working for you. You’re still little.” So of course I loved the story that Rama Berch, founder of Svaroopa yoga, told a room full of yogis one weekend. Whenever her ...

Published · 1,471 views · Rated 2/5 from 1 votes

Nobody plans to become poor and yet a great many people end up poor. Here are some of the best known ways of ensuring a life of penury: 1. ‘We don’t need no education…’ If you drop out of school or fail to achieve a basic education then you will severely restrict your chances of employment. What is more it is difficult to acquire further skills if you lack the basic ones. However this method does not guarantee poverty as there are some exceptional people who, because of sheer hard work or innate ability, succeed despite little formal education. 2.

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If you work in a large organization and are ambitious for career progression then here are a number of things that you can do to assist your journey. 1. Do your job well. I know that this is stating the obvious but it is the starting point. For promotion it is a necessary but not a sufficient requirement that you perform your current duties diligently. Many people think that this is all they need to do and that the rewards, recognition and promotion will follow. Corporate life is not ‘fair’ in this sense. Many people do great work and are passed over.

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Curiosity develops the energy in our body which helps us to perform the particular work with good accuracy and speed. It helps us a lot to explore more about the particular topic simple because we are curious to know about the particular subject matter. There are different ways to enhance your level of curiosity. The effective ways to enhance your level of curiosity are as follows:r

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How can you think of things that no-one else thinks of? The answer is by deliberately taking a different approach to the issue from everyone else. There are dominant ideas in every field. The brilliant thinker purposefully challenges those dominant ideas in order to think innovatively. Albert ...

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Perhaps I push too often, push too hard, am too unyielding with myself. Perhaps it is that I always look for the fault within first, despite my judgmental nature. Perhaps it is that I am harshest with the woman I see too rarely in the mirror, preferring the representative green reflection of ...

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We live surrounded by an increasingly complex matrix of impulses allowing strangers of all sorts (TV, media, Internet) interfere in our mental, emotional and spiritual development. Understanding this intricate network and how does the human brain interacts with it is becoming our door to happiness and health. <img src="https://www.artof4elements.com/images/2016-01/technology-matrix-lonely-path-to-happiness-alchemy-of-love-mindfulness-training-by-nuit.jpg" width="500" alt="Mindful Being Course by Nataša PantoviÄ technology matrix lonely path to happiness">

Published · 1,831 views · Rated 5/5 from 2 votes

Conscious Parenting and Power of Mind Parenting Behavior / Style Reward and Punishment: Is Santa Claus myth working?

Published · 2,376 views · Rated 4.7/5 from 3 votes

If you are going for an interview as a prospective employee then you should do some research. Read the job description and requirements carefully. Browse the web site to see how the organization presents itself. Search for news items and comments about the company on news sites and blogs. For the interview itself you should dress smartly and appropriately. It is important to have some questions prepared and here are a few that could really help: 1. What exactly would my day-to-day responsibilities be?

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We live in a world with information overload. We are flooded with data, facts, statistics and information in all forms. Definitive answers to specific questions are immediately available from search engines on the internet. But people want more than facts. They want understanding. They want meaning. They want context. They want stories. Children ask their parents to tell them stories because they like to fit the pieces of the story into a context they can understand. It is the same with adults. Audiences at conferences do not want to be bombarded with data and figures.

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In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… It was that he spoke to me though I did not listen in the beginning. In the beginning I functioned as a child of my parents’ household – I beat myself up and asked why, why, God, did I keep screwing this ...

Published · 1,683 views · Rated 2/5 from 1 votes

Very few people can claim that they have achieved all that they are capable of. In the Western world most of us do moderately well. We get an education and a succession of jobs; we have some relationships that work; we are well fed; we avoid penury and destitution. We can take comfort in ...

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“Do you think they know?” I asked. “Know what?” “That they carry pollen on their wings?” My friend and I were walking around Callaway Gardens, on the Rhododendron Trail with no rhododendrons blooming as of yet. We had just walked out of the butterfly conservatory where 1,000 tropical ...

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The CEO of Black and Decker once said, ‘People don’t go into a DIY store because they need one of our drills. They go because they need a hole in the wall.’ Wonderbra in their internal communications to staff say this, ‘We do not sell underwear. We do not sell lingerie. What we sell is self-confidence for women.’ Harley Davidson does not sell motorbikes. It sells the concept of freedom to middle-aged men. What is it that your business really sells? What is the true value that customers get from your products or services?

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There’s just something about an Island. Looking out from here, from this tiny speck of sand in the middle of the ocean – and from where I live, in Hawaii, the largest ocean on the planet - it’s easy to feel isolated. Way …… out …… here … In the middle of nowhere. Separated from everything ...

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I went to the beach yesterday. It was an act of courage. Courageous, not because of the whipping winds and high surf that were forecast for the day here in Hawaii, but because I had the brave audacity to ignore the threats and taunts that screamed at me from the stacks of paper and to-do lists ...

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How would you describe to a stranger what your organisation does? When you meet someone at a social or networking event and they ask about your company what do you say? Take a moment to write down how you would portray your organisation in one sentence. Many people give very bland statements or quote from their company mission or advertising tag lines. The elevator pitch is a phrase coined to describe the situation where you meet someone important in an elevator and have just the duration of the elevator ride to tell him or her what your business is and why it is special.

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Seventeen—the threshold of adulthood, the last gasp of wily youth, the last days of burning the candle at both ends and greeting the burn with a grin. What if, however, you were an environmentally conscious seventeen? What if you were one of those second graders who’d toured ...

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Seventeen—the threshold of adulthood, the last gasp of wily youth, the last days of burning the candle at both ends and greeting the burn with a grin. What if, however, you were an environmentally conscious seventeen? What if you were one of those second graders who’d toured ...

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For Oprah You may wonder why I dedicate this article to Oprah. I watched her show today, something I haven’t done since my days of daily addiction to her hour of power way back in 2000 when graduate school, warring faculty and a history of family trauma sent me back home--three thousand ...

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An Honest Look into a Mindfulness Journey from Ancient Europe's Perspective "Look at every path closely and deliberately, then ask ourselves this crucial question: Does this path have a heart? If it does, then the path is good. If it doesn't, it is of no use." Carlos Castaneda

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The call you’ve been waiting for finally comes. The president and CEO of James Nanochic Widget Makers, Inc. is on the line. Peter James’ company has cornered the market on the cute microchip—advancing an interest in science among the young while creating trendy, chic ...

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Every time that we approach a problem, in any walk of life, we bring to bear assumptions that limit our ability to conceive fresh solutions. Our experiences condition us to see any new situation in terms of situations we have seen before. We make assumptions unconsciously and put things into a framework with constraints that limit our thinking. Innovative thinkers are always aware of assumptions and deliberately confront them. There is a story told about a northern pike, a large carnivorous freshwater fish. A pike was put into an aquarium, which had a glass partition dividing it.

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During my corporate career, I took a course in public speaking. This particular program was designed for business executives who wanted to sharpen their presentation skills and overcome their inner impediments to speaking in front of large audiences. There were twelve of us in the class, an ...

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Divergent Thinking: Essence of Creativity Divergent thinking is essential for creativity. It is the ability to see lots of possible ways to interpret a question and lots of possible answers to it.

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Success Skills and Future of Learning ‘You may give them your love but not your thoughts, For they have their own thoughts. You may house their bodies but not their souls, For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams. You may strive to be like them,

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I don’t like these modern fictions, these post-modern, post-Weste mythos of bravado and in-the-face-of-death steelinesses. I was afraid it would be him; of all of them he was the one I preferred most; more than the redhead, more than the Southern belle. And oddly, it was the black ...

Published · 1,656 views

Thinkers relish the challenge and stimulation of brilliant games. They enjoy games for the pure thrill of exercising their minds and judgements in pursuit of victory. You can take pleasure in any number of great games. Here is a selection of recommended pastimes. Add them to your Christmas ...

Published · 4,844 views · Rated 3/5 from 3 votes

You probably shy away from some people on social occasions. Their conversations are tedious. You groan inwardly when they approach for you know that they are unremittingly dull company. Equally you may be fortunate enough to know some brilliant conversationalists who can enliven any ...

Published · 2,831 views

Many people shy away from telling jokes because they once told one that fell flat or they are afraid of appearing silly or of offending someone. Jokes are canned humorous stories which are subtly different from personal anecdotes. With personal anecdotes you have the authority to tell them ...

Published · 1,698 views · Rated 3/5 from 1 votes

Dear Daughter, You are a wonderful person and your mother and I think the world of you. It will not be long before you leave home to make your way in the world. Can I please give you some friendly advice? Here are some things that I think you should never do. 1. Never Despise Yourself. You ...

Published · 9,565 views

The brainstorm (or thought shower as some people now call it) is the most popular group creativity exercise in business. It is quick, easy and it works. But many organizations have become frustrated with brainstorms and have stopped using them. They say brainstorms are old-fashioned and no ...

Published · 1,146 views

Mind Power and Motivation Some Interesting Brain Facts The human brain is truly extraordinary. A healthy brain has some 200 billion neurons. The conscious mind controls our brain for only five per cent of the day, whereas the subconscious mind has control of our thoughts 95 per cent of the time.

Published · 2,287 views · Rated 5/5 from 2 votes

So you have written a book and had it published. Congratulations. Now you are faced with the challenge of what to do next. Many authors think that marketing is a job for the publisher so they sit back and wait for the royalties to roll in. You might have a very long wait. The market for ...

Published · 1,748 views · Rated 2/5 from 1 votes

We tend to assume that if we work hard and save money then one day we will end up wealthy. This is wishful thinking. We are more likely to end up with some modest but useful savings. If you want to accumulate serious wealth then there a number of approaches you can use and some are much more ...

Published · 1,686 views

Sexuality and Spirituality through Ages The likes of Nikola Tesla, St. Teresa of Avila or Sri Aurobindo would tell you that they have deliberately avoided sex and relationships to preserve energy and to safeguard it for the fulfillment of their mission – their mental work or their spiritual growth. The most major religions will wholeheartedly support this decision because in their viewpoint sexual energy belongs to our animal nature, is used for reproduction, and should be left sleeping within the realms of our sub-conscious. Taoist about Sexuality

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Friendship, what is true friendship? This issue has been brought to my notice recently in a number of cases. Over the past year my partner has been laid up with an injured back and then with flu and a bad cough. In all this time there was a noticeable lack of communication from the majority of ...

Published · 1,783 views

Ten great ways to crush creativitynnby Paul Sloane Managers and leaders have much more power than they realize. They can patiently create a climate of creativity or they can crush it in a series of subtle comments and gestures. Their actions send powerful signals. Their responses to ...

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Bill Gates recently said, ‘We are in an economic downtu but an innovation upturn.’ Most people are focussing on the downtu and the dangers it poses rather than on the opportunity for innovation. Most businesses are restructuring and streamlining their operations. How can you maximize your ...

Published · 1,146 views

An inspiring thought that will help your day go cleaner, swifter, and with a higher degree of positivity: AN EXAMPLE FROM MY LIFE: I could not disce why I kept being thrown from residence to residence; why no home I seemed invited into let me stay. A friend, initially welcoming, became ...

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Yes, to write even on the dirty page, the page besmirched with prints of black and darker black, fingerprints and newsprint and my hoped for dreams finally more than a vision, my fantasies taking center stage and people around me, through telephone wires, saying yes, yes, yes! And that is ...

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MBA students are taught to treat business in a rational, scientific way. They analyse situations, develop financial models, critically examine management decisions and logically examine different scenarios. When they emerge from the hallowed halls of academia they are often surprised to find ...

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Ten Great Ways to boost your Personal Creativity Let’s say you are wrestling with a tough issue – maybe at work, at home, with your children or in your social life. You have been stuck for a while and you can’t seem to make a breakthrough. You want to come up with some really creative ideas. ...

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WISDOM BITE #1: SOCIAL NETWORKING IS A GOOD THING. Got me an intro to Larry Meistrich’s Nehst Studios and some kick-ass carrot cake. Chatting up his assistant, Stefano Bonaretti, was a side delight, unanticipated when joining Philly Writers Meetup Group. Should you spend far too many ...

Published · 1,146 views · Rated 2/5 from 1 votes

Dr. Niama Leslie Williamsr March 20, 2012 It was not until I watched the 60 Minutes story this past Sunday, March 18th, 2012, that I realized I had written about a type of face-blindness in my first novel, a senior project completed for my undergraduate degree in Comparative Literature at Occidental College. I remember quite clearly creating a character who grew up to become a villain because throughout his life, in the small, rural village in a fictional Latin American country in which he grew up, no one ever remembered his face.

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After a year and a half of homelessness in both Pennsylvania and Califo ia, I have been that friend going through hardships. What I appreciated most were the friends who listened actively and assisted directly without my having to ask. Those friends were few and far between, but I remain grateful for each one, and owe my current recovery to them ad infinitum. I am a direct witness to what steps and words of encouragement for a friend can help:

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Upon first entering a room where a transformative art playshop is about to begin, one immediately senses that this is something different--very different. And fun. Amid the cornucopia of colors, you see handmade papers, streams of ribbons, variegated yarn, and deep-hued raffia. Fabrics of many textures and designs await your touch. Watercolor markers and the BIG box of crayons entice you. Beads of all shapes, made of glass, crystal, wood and bone, beckon you to play. The heady smell of craft paint and white glue may even cause you to have a first-grade flashback.

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As a visual artist and transformative art facilitator who has lead over 400 group experiences, I have long witnessed the power of art to heal, empower, and transform. One of those moments stands out more than the rest.

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For better results of removing background from various kinds of images there is no alte ative way without the functional activities of clipping path. Clipping technology is involved with many working fields such as Fashion Design Industry, Model, Advertisement, Jewelry Models, Ornaments, Sports, Traditional Businesses, Commercial Sectors and more images are perfectly retained with excellent quality for no lost the real pixel accuracy. The use of Clipping Path can be the best attempt in both cases one is soft edges and another is sharp edges.

Published · 1,662 views · Rated 4.5/5 from 2 votes

The Healing Power of Dreams "The dream is an attempt to make us assimilate things not yet digested. It is an attempt at healing." Carl G. Jung "When we set out to interpret a dream, it is always helpful to ask: what conscious attitude does it compensate? Dreamsrn...provide a view of the dreamer's situation and mobilize the potential of the personality to meet it. Dreams are our most effective aid in building up the personality." Anthony Stevens Introduction

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Today I want to talk about connection. It's something we all want more of and something that in today's culture, many of us are lacking. We lack real connection with friends, family members and even the people who are closest to us: our partners. Our society doesn't set us up for making connection a priority. Sure there's phones, text messaging and social media, but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about heart to heart connection that can only happen when the phones are put down and we can slow down enough to really take one another in.

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Use it to boost your Self-Confidence. Do you ever feel overwhelmed, lethargic or depressed? Most people do from time to time. Here is a simple thing that you can do to reinforce your motivation and self-confidence. Read your book of successes. Of course before you read it you must write it.

Published · 849 views

I'm currently teaching a scene study class in Manhattan and a lot of my students speak to me about feeling "stuck." They feel unable to make progress in their acting career and find themselves spending lots of time in unfulfilling jobs that pay the rent but leave them little time to fill their creative wells. The good news for my students is that taking a class is one great way to get unstuck!

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If you could take away all the suffering in the world, taking it in with just a single breath, and have it go away, would you hesitate? Is that fair? Couldn’t you just donate a few dollars to CARE and have that be enough? Could whatever you are doing now count? In speaking with clients I get that many of us are overwhelmed and generally feel disenfranchised from feeling helpful when we see something happening in the world we really care about.r

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"Spontaneity is being present in the present." Wei Wu Wei In my classes, I ask that my students learn their lines by "rote." This means without emphasis or inflection. It is a mechanical way to learn your lines, where you don't attach any emotions or objectives to the words. This process was introduced to me by William Esper when I was getting my MFA at Rutgers, Mason Gross School of the Arts and has its roots in the Meisner Technique.

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Hello friends! Previously I talked about meditation as a tool to bring more presence into our lives. I've decided I want to make meditation a more regular part of my current routine. Practice what you preach, right?

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"Quiet the mind and the soul will speak." ~Ma Jaya Sati Bhagavati A couple of months ago I gave myself a challenge. I committed to meditating every morning for at least ten minutes a day for the next thirty days. I created a small altar on the coffee table in our living room, consisting of a Buddha statue, a surrender box, and an incense burner.

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As performers we want to be present and "in the moment." That phrase is thrown around a lot, but what I mean by "in the moment" is taking in the information that is currently happening. One way we can encourage this is by opening up our bodies before we get on stage. All performers should do a physical warm-up of some kind before they hit the stage for a performance or speech. Stretching and opening our bodies helps us to shed the accumulated experiences of our day so that we can perform at our best.

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"Make each day your masterpiece." John Wooden I used to begin my day by pressing the snooze button about four times, scrolling through Instagram and email for a few minutes, dragging myself to the shower, smearing some makeup on my face and running out the door without breakfast. While it might have gotten me out the door in a timely manner, it did nothing for my mental well-being!

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"Everything you want is on the other side of fear." ~Jack Canfield

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"Do not underestimate the thrill of trying." ~ Julia Cameron A few days ago, I got an idea for a book. I sat down at the computer and an outline flew out of me. It felt like this was the book I was born to write. In the process of writing the outline I entered that "flow state" where I felt totally in the creative zone. It was great.

Published · 1,755 views

Here are some strategies that I employ to help make public speaking a more joyful and less nerve-wracking experience: Prepare: The more prepared you are, the less nervous you will be. Do your homework on whatever the topic is that you’re speaking about. Practice: Before you go into a performance situation make sure that you’ve practiced in front of actual people-- a friend or family member so the moment of performance isn’t the first time you’re speaking what you’ve prepared out loud.

Published · 2,264 views

Yesterday, while taking a drop-in art class I had an experience that I don't always have when I'm engaging in something creative: I was fully "in the zone." My instructor even commented: "You're on fire today." Painting after painting was flying out of me. I felt free and almost reckless - a very unfamiliar feeling for me.

Published · 1,481 views

Last night I was fortunate enough to participate in a monthly meet-up with fellow Miller Voice Method teachers-in-training. The meet-up was overseen by Scott Miller, head teacher of the Miller Voice Method. Another teacher and I led the exercises for the evening. It was truly inspiring to be in a room with other like-minded teachers and artists. After a long slow August, my soul was yearning to be filled up with movement and inspiration. I found that at last night's meeting in spades.

Published · 1,624 views

“Living is a form of not being sure, not knowing what next or how. The moment you know how, you begin to die a little. The artist never entirely knows. We guess. We may be wrong, but we take leap after leap in the dark.”rn-Agnes DeMille

Published · 1,899 views

Recently I had the pleasure of seeing the Tony-nominated production of The Crucible. I am a huge fan of director Ivo Van Hove's work and loved his powerful production of A View From the Bridge earlier this season. Needless to say I was really looking forward to this evening at the theater. Unfortunately, I was disappointed. A large part of my disappointment was due to the fact that several of the main players were difficult to hear and understand.

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"In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, in the expert's there are few. ~Suzuki

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Wellness and Nutrition Author of 9 consciousness research books Nataša PantoviÄ has told Buzzfeed that her latest personal development book called: Mindful Being towards Mindful Living Course, is about how ‘consciousness transforms into its golden possibilities’. <img src="https://artof4elements.com/images/2016-06/create-reality-of-your-dreams-mindfulness-training.jpg" width="500" alt="create reality of your dreams Mindful Being Course by Nataša PantoviÄ"/>

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As those of you who have been following this blog know, a few weeks ago I started taking a weekly art class. It's been great for me to connect to my creativity in a structured way. I have learned so much about my creative process and I've only been in the class for 3 weeks! I can't wait to see what else I learn over the next couple of months.

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Being an actor seems like the most fun job in the world. You ostensibly get to "play pretend" for a living. But sometimes for myself, and perhaps for you, it isn't fun. When my inner critic gets involved, it can suck all of the joy out of the process.

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The Artist’s Way is the seminal book on the subject of creativity. An international bestseller, millions of readers have found it to be an invaluable guide to living the artist’s life. Still as vital today—or perhaps even more so—than it was when it was first published one decade ago, it is a powerfully provocative and inspiring work.

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“Unraveling of the mystery of the Universe" is of grave conce and in that context Great Ma-Mahajnan stands matchless. There is nothing exaggerated if we say that authenticity of Ma-Mahajnan is beyond any common comprehension. Again, it has to be accepted that there are many people who understand philosophical aspects and accustomed to serious thinking. Of course, 'understanding philosophy' and 'realization of truth' is completely different.

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Most public works of art get between 2 and 30 seconds of viewing time. That’s it. 30 seconds. Wether it’s the Mona Lisa, or aunty Mildreds watercolour hanging in the local Library. This is the amount of time it takes to create a first impression. The first time you viewed a piece, you decided, ...

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Often we are guided by our emotion. A passion well-organized leads us to perfection. It always remains steady when we get to work. Today the entire world is sex oriented and day by day amid massive development of science and technology different cultures are intermingled and getting desperate. It sets me thinking about the problem we are facing in the light of spirituality. What the hell the distinguished has to do! They are getting disgusted. Cancer, HIV/AIDS are of serious concern. We got a brief note of the British Prime Minister. Here’s the gist. Spreading the World Aids Day message

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Have you ever turned on your computer and -- nothing! nada! Zero. Panic, because I make my living on the computer. So I call my computer expert and he appears at 10:00 a.m. Many calls to his supervisors throughout the day, with no solution. He promises to stay until the situation is resolved. I feel that anxious buzz in my stomach. My conscious mind warns me that negative stress is one of the major factors that influences my health and accelerates the march to fatal disease. I am determined to turn this into positive stress – the kind that promotes action and creative problem solving.

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The “Dinzel Group”, integrated by Ignacio Lavalle Cobo, Monica Peri among others said: Psicotango is based in the universal value of the embrace, and in the gregarious ritual of the dance. The bodies that in movement are the royal pathway to the unconscious. The diseases are pictures of bruises of the deep psichysm. The emotions released and working into a protective frame connect us with the health. In his book, “Tango Terapia”, Federico Trossero said:

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What's wrong with me, please? I am sending this third time. Lately, I received a letter from a young lady, well-educated, flexible and having broad outlook. She is faced with a problem and needs my help.

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How to reform! What's wrong with the citizen, please? Politics Vs Economy—it’s a long rally as if, in the final of a tennis tou ament that India observes today. None knows who will come out victorious. The spectators are to sustain tension. Dr. Manmohan Singh, our Prime Minister, tries his best but the opposition can not allow him to make things at all possible. Corruption plays a vital role. How unfortunate the situation is!

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I’m the Mother; the Nothingness too. We know, more or less, from our very birth what ‘Mother’ means. But what is about ‘Nothingness’? It remains ever unrevealed to us. In the light of education, culture and civilization people guess something and that’s all. How little it is!

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Introducing Zen into a creativity brainstorming session provides stimulating discussions, invigorating stories, and compelling exercises. It is especially useful in shifting paradigms, redirecting the group’s thinking, and sharpening everyone’s focus. Although there are around 1,700 different ...

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[An article “Life Is A T20 Cosmic Game” of Pratik Khandhadiya, was published in “Speaking Tree” of Times of India on Sept. 20, 2012. It is interesting. What he says, in brief, is: Life is a game that God has created for his entertainment like any games we humans have created for our entertainment. The writer explains how the life changes after each 20 years from one phase to other. Existence of God, ‘effects of karma of our last birth’, ‘country, religion, race or family’ etc should be our concern. We can not only improve our last days but also sow seeds for a better next birth.

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[Presently, there is an abrupt change in Indian Politics. Although I am a Spiritualist, I can never keep me away from the views that make the economic reform possible under the auspices of Dr. Manmohan Singh, our Prime Minister. Everybody in a democratic country has the right to react and remark. Political understanding takes its own course and surprisingly we are elevated. Let truth come to light.]

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[A great effort is to ensure. Economic Reform in India is not so easy possible. Evidently, it was long due. Owing to political intervention everything was in jeopardy. Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India supported by Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, Chairperson of UPA it is likely that it would make things possible. We don’t know when and how far the reform would result in. We have full faith on Dr. Manmohan Singh, who was tested once in 1991]

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Just like your body, your brain needs exercise to stay creative. Oh, not boring exercises, but exciting ones that wake up your imagination. It doesn’t take much. Almost anything new will first stimulate, then strengthen the creative, cerebral muscle. Just start with any of the suggestions below. ...

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It’s true that often we cannot decide what have to do, when and how. Very few people are born with strong mind and easily can decide what is to be ensured right at that moment when he is in a fix. To me, as have been taught by Ma-Mahajnan, a spiritual genius, it’s not as difficult as we think them to be. To develop power of reasoning associated with self control right from the very young age is earnestly desired. The parents and teachers are expected to mobilize children’s character. Gradually, with the knowledge and experience of gear and clutch one can safely drive one’s car.

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We read many articles everyday to know what Spirituality is; so many books to enlighten us in the true sense of Spirituality. Unfortunately we fail to elevate our mind to that desired level. What’s it indeed? Yes, the oneness of our mind that retains and realizes something to get expounded itself in words and we express our thoughts and feelings, especially, in the face of any problematic issue. Litmus test is automatically made over during any crisis period.

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In order to be successful in Living by Design you must let yourself know what you REALLY want. This is can be daunting for some folks. There are many reasons you might struggle with declaring goals and dreams. Perhaps you are afraid that once you get it, you will find you really don’t want it. Or perhaps your life will be so changed that you will lose touch with those you love. Or some other form of harm may come to you or to others.

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In spite of so many inspirational words, mostly imaginary, in support of LOVE, practically we could make no sense of love that refers to divinity. The failure lies in the way of life we lead to elevate our mind. Naturally, without being an enlightened soul we teach our devotees and our society. The depth of knowledge among the spiritual teachers is to be judged. But who is going to take the risk? Out of fear everybody will definitely decline.

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Ma-Mahajnan, a spiritual genius, expounds in a state of ‘Conscious Trance’ the essence of truth and how we can attain to perfection. With deep sense of spirituality, based on coordination of worldly-cum-spiritual striving, she begins thus: “Here’s my ‘On The Quest’ for you. Have patience and contemplation-- Look far into that horizon; Let the thought of thy source Always be in view.”

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As much fun as I’m having learning Corel Painter X, there is a small mercenary voice that keeps asking, “So how do you approach making money with this product?” I’ve found I’m not the only photographer knee deep it wet pixels asking this. So a side trip of the art ...

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Laughter Laughter is probably the best method for relieving stress, improving health and opening up the mind. The beneficial effects of laughter have been proven by scientific studies. It can even heal incurable diseases as revealed by Norman Cousins in his book, “ The Anatomy of a Disease” He ...

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“May you live in interesting times.” is considered more of a curse than a proverb. Whatever, we are in it, “interesting times” that is. You gotta love this heady adrenalin rush of change and opportunity. It’s like a freight train screaming down the track. The trick ...

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Yes, we should agree to what has been uttered by Sunandaji. But we can not have better understanding within so easily. It requires long practices amid awakened awareness. How very difficult we comprehend that follow an ideal or dedicate to a mission. Over and above, we are born to act according to the capital stored by our parents before our birth. Sometimes it makes vast difference. Let me quote from Ma-Mahajnan, a great spiritual genius, just to make things little clear. During catechism once she purported thus in a state of ‘Conscious Trance’.

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[The gist of an article: “MMS, The Closet Spiritualist by: Narayani Ganesh, published on 16 Sept. 2012 in “Speaking Tree” of the Times of India. The widely respected economist and scholar have been credited with heralding a new era of economic liberalization in India with his laissez-faire policy. Yet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has been widely criticized at home and abroad.

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Everything I know about myself I've learned from studying the characters I create when I write. Everything I know about the characters I create when I write I've learned from studying myself. One thing I've noticed about all these people (both my characters and myself) is that they're not ...

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In a fantasy interview some time in my future, some adversarial jou alist will ask me where the hell I get off writing a series of articles called How to Live Life! It will be pointed out to me that I have no graduate degrees in psychology, sociology or human behavior, no background in ...

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SUPERCHARGING YOUR BUSINESS THROUGH CREATIVITY By Yew Kam Keong, Ph.D (Dr.YKK) Chief Mind Unzippe E-mail: drykk@mindbloom.net or yewkk@yahoo.com, Website: www.mindbloom.net Introductio One of the greatest obstacle to success in business is past successes. Successful businesses tend to bask ...

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This is a great month to capture colorful flowers. Here are some quick tips to remember when you do. Camera tricks: - Use a shallow depth of field (get your f-stop or aperture set to the lowest number you can.) This gives you a sea of color while making one flower pop out. - Try a slow shutter speed, 1/30th, 15th or even 3 seconds, on a windy or breezy day. This creates a wonderfully pastel emotional image. - Get close in, macro if you can. You will see unique detail rarely seen that will delight the viewer, especially if you print it very large.r

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The words aren’t coming. The music feels flat. The canvass stays blank. Panic starts to set in. Every creative person has had the experience of “hitting the wall” on a project. It can feel like torture and it can feel like forever. Here are 10 ways to breakthrough creative blocks.

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Unless life happens to be successful, has this birth any meaning? Where lays our superiority in course of the development of humanity? Now the question arises whether the two—successful life and highest life are distinguishable. Yes, there’s a slight distinction. While talking about the successful life, there shouldn’t be in that any flaw in judgment. Regarding the highest life—it’s in a word flawless judgment. Further there are added to it a flawless mind with a detached and unruffled state of it.

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Anything I can do to help. It is unbelievable that such words of sympathy and cooperation are still to receive in this world of spirituality. See, how the weather is changing. I was engrossed in the study of profound realization of Great Ma-Mahajnan, expounded in a state of “Conscious Trance” much earlier during her life-time. Vainly I expected everybody to get the essence of truth. After all, indulgence to sensual pleasure is of great concern.

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I cannot expect an exchange of hearts. For, if I sit here with that heart of vast expanse—if indeed I am of that race of noble and great soul, how can I get a heart of the same order from a small , petty man! I can't. If I count on that, I'll point to the limitation of my knowledge. I'll expect that he'll refashion his own heart after this vast heart of mine.r

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Know and shoulder responsibility. Why have I come, what for and what have I to offer—for myself or you? If for you, then think of the other brothers and sisters of yours and spend something out of your pocket for their good. Once you spend thus, you do whatever you like.r

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Prosad: Just a word mother. You say this as definition for genius. But who will ever reach the primordial level so that he can expound. Ma-Mahajnan: Nobody ever did nor could expound. If somebody can reach that level—that hope has been cherished. Prosad: The philosophy of the primordial, Mother, you’ve plentifully scattered. Your sayings at the primordial level; there will be clue left there for understanding ‘who and what you are’. All that will remain unintelligible if we fail to reach that level. Many of those things will be transmuted into allegories. They can not be expounded.r

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Introduction

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Let me come straight to the point. A stranger once came to see the Mother. Stranger: When you are out to subdue lust all by yourself, a hundred employees of lust rally together. –‘What do you think? Is there going to be a lock-out? It can’t be.’ So you started struggling. The same is the case with greed. Thus you have to give battle to every passion.

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A few questions creep in my mind. “Time and tide wait for none.” Time is good match to space. But what about tide? It has its conce with the earth, hasn’t it? However, when both do not wait for none of us, we are set to think in a different perspective. Is there any objection? No. Let us be a bit flexible and know truth from a dissimilar viewpoint. Of course old sayings are never fossils.

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Our brain is always busy re-wiring and definitely there is our whole-hearted support. Again it is true we sometime square up old wiring replacing a set of new one to compose the entire system smooth running. Rewiring doesn’t necessarily mean replacing. How aggressive the term ‘replacing’ sounds!

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What Else Have I To Speak Of Again! Well, here I can comprehend another thing—this is the law of being. The being is heir to terror, fear, delight; in its own way it is setting up knowledge here. All these things are nothing—only the terror of the fleshly being—illusion, obsession.

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Tracing Back Life To Its Origin: Mother: At the root of all creation is that vapor (something vaporous). The vapor comes in such a stream that at the moment life is created, dual forms each unlike the other, come into being. They have like shapes, but probing further, the duality is discovered. This is the finding of subtle analysis. But speaking roughly about the maim stream, both are the same.

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Merit Surmounting Demerit: Prosad: Mother, your "Unraveling of the Mystery of the Universe" indirectly says—whatever we see is bound exclusively by the bonds of natural laws. Things are either well-organized or simply at sixes and sevens—everything is automatic. Mother: Yes. Prosad: Then hasn't anybody any role to play? Mother: No. Prosad: If we do not accept somebody as God, we become free from fear, things like errors and immoralities come trailing along.

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rn[A gist of some features purported by Ma-Mahajnan in the last chapter : ‘Universal Solution Offering Tranquility’ in one of her authentic titles : ”Unraveling of the Mystery of the Universe”. She had expounded miraculously all these difficult things in a state of ‘Conscious Trance’—ever spontaneous and eloquent, often offering us scope for tape recording. Be it material or spiritual all the while, the Mother appeared matchless.] Knowledge Of The "Brahman", The Primordial Truth:r

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No More Of Mystery. Prosad : Universal solutions have unraveled all the mysteries. Then whatever mystery there is in creation, you've unveiled it and, keeping in view all the miracles and mysteries not to gain any importance, you stand matchless through this unique work 'Universal Solution Offering Tranquility'. But why is this word 'mystery'?

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I Very Well Understand That Power Within Me:

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Ultimately, It Is one—Energy: Prosad: Now I come to the question of ''Parmbramhan (The Super being). There the thoughts centers on parents. How is it that there the term male is used in the sense of 'Mahajnan'—Super knowledge and the term female in the sense of 'Mahasahkti'—Super energy? There we don't have any general discussion about creation nor does the question of seeking and getting arise.

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Knowledge Emanates From Energy: Knowledge is the male-principle--all the manifestation of knowledge is derived from seminal vigor. The female-principle is energy because it is the container. Which comes first, knowledge or energy? Knowledge derives from energy. If we unerringly probe, we find energy at the root of things. Since knowledge has a big office, it gets more publicity. Energy is a little subdued. Prosad: Well, you say, the male is a sword unsheathed and the female is that sheath. In that sense one is knowledge and the other is energy.r

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Weakness is the root cause of fear: A weak mind is prone to fear. Fear is another name for ghosts. A stout mind has energy. Energy is another name for God. Fear springs from weakness. The man, who happens to be weak, has a heart which can not but tremble with fear. If a man is free from weakness, why should he be afraid? Ghosts mean ignorance, and God means Knowledge. It's needless to labor the point. You should know that weak nerves are the cause of fear. It is furthered by the ignorance of mummy, granny and neighbors.

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Ghost and God It is to examine how beautifully Ma-Mahajnan explains things of great interest. We recorded those in tapes and cassettes from time to time and listened to feel ourselves enriched in very may ways. Under any circumstances she expounds the matters for great interest and it all seems thought-provoking and ever enlightening. Now let us follow what she has purported.

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(ONE)

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Ma-Mahajnan, a matchless spiritual genius, expressed her entire creation in a state of "Conscious Trance” which has all been stuffed with highly philosophical values and strong literary sense. She could not attend even Primary School due to extreme poverty. Strangely, she was taught all by herself in the School of Nature. The weird and wonderful life is possibly the souse of her vast experience and profound realization.

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Nobility pays in the long run Initially, it was very difficult to make people understand about Ma-Mahajnan’s lessons on life and living—especially among her neighbors. Latter on, even the distinguished hardly could come to know a little about her philosophy of life. Although she was out and out a caring Mother, her deep realization had never been a matter of easy understanding to one and all. I could realize those a little earlier that the things appeared from time to time were quite likely.

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Is there, indeed, anything anywhere? Prosad : 'A weak mind is prone to fear. Fear is another name for ghosts. A stout mind contains energy. Energy is another name of God.'—If that's true, why do you now say—'We have to recognize Energy owing to the weakness of our mind.' Doesn't that lead to a contradiction?

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It is disappointing that human qualities often turn too emotional and we fail to show humanity, not to speak of truth and salvation. Our silly sentiments befool us and we frequently become unsuccessful at the rear of being dutiful. Good qualities are of course essential to bring about peace and happiness in every family and society. Without doing justice to ourselves we cut a sorry figure. That is to say, how should we begin (may be all of a sudden) and where to stop.r

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(One) There are any numbers of metaphysical doctrines. But we have to stand and realize in what particular manure heap of reality it has grown. All hail to “Shantibhavan”--that abode of peace (here Ma-Mahajnan spent almost the whole of her life) where everyday there are plenty of forth-coming. The good fortunes of the residents who would not lose sight of the cynosure of all eyes are simply unimaginable in that context. So they are the object of envy to others. But while looking for a cause the person who drives or provides the driving impulse will blame himself.

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(One) [None would ever be able to realize how difficult the situations were in the past when Mother had to manage and treat Kala everyday in the midst of her tiresome household activities! How very compassionate Mother was that none of us at the fore could ever protest doing things along the mother. In reality you would hardly find such a great personality.]

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Seven Now one last word: not merely these writings, when the Transcendent Mother thought of doing any creative work, she was never in favor of taking time off, sitting down and giving notice of what she was about to do. Whenever and whatever questions cropped up, she went on explaining that in the proper perspective. And thus came into being her excellent creation.

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Five

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One

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(Three and Four) Three

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What a long way Ma-Mahajnan had traversed in one life! None knows how far the octogenaria Mother had yet to cover, leaving her fleshly frame, to assure people realizing truth and its applications. Ma-Mahajnan has just made possible something extremely impossible. Her stupendous creation stands for miraculous achievements, beyond common comprehension. She seems to be a genius, second to none. Being an ideal household how could she make all this possible is, without a doubt, a mystery.

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Modestly, we love truth but when we are to face it truly in its shape and size, we can, in no way, tolerate anything adverse to our faith and belief. Yes, our customs, devotion, prejudice, belief and traditions (there may be other factors too) often make us utterly helpless to delve deep into one’s realization. We are designed to accept weakness by birth. A strong mind is ever beyond imagination.

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Life is really very short. To make it more and more meaningful we try in very many ways. Even believe in Rebirth. Faith may help to overcome frustration; without reason what’s the gain! Leave it. Unfortunately, we fail to come out successful in every endeavor. The main problem is we don’t have any guidance right from our childhood. Again, if we have at all, often we ignore what we are desired to follow. Normally, disobedience is our very nature.r

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Loving people is a must for a human being who is especially spiritually inclined. We can recall in our mind in this context the immortal line: “Love your enemy; do good to them that hate you.” The prophets in the past renounced the world and realized something which became a religion. But saying some good words and doing that in practice is not the same. My mother was a venerable lady of different class. She got married at the age of thirteen only. Pleasing her husband and children, I simply wonder, how could she loved her neighbors and followers!r

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How far such spontaneous could be extended! [What if Mother stands still, do we know how to get lost? It isn’t all, if we can only swim, we’ll have to dive for pearls. We get extensive as she goes on expounding a common little particular. None knows how much such immensity lies within her reach!

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There’s a mango hanging on the topmost branch of the tree. My mouth waters. How can I get it from there? Can I just looking on? If I really drool at the mouth, I’ll surely do something to pluck it off. But there’s mango on the topmost branch, I keep looking on and then come away. My mouth waters and then dries away. From that position, I describe the mango hanging on the topmost branch. I can’t go on to describe how it may be plucked.

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Everything done through freewill. Mother: There is a form of energy. What's that like? That's a kind of vapor. A force of Nature. Before the creation, it is left to each at certain moment to draw upon that force in the way one can on the eve of a clash--as much as one can. Prosad : 'On the eve of a clash'--that means? Mother: Out of the exte al nature was fashioned a male and a female. Their internal nature, too, was fashioned. With their quintessential substance each grows up in his or her way.

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Preface

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Introduction In the question of “realization” let us remain one in opinion regarding flexibility of mind and power of reasoning. Since we are to find out truth and attain perfection, we shouldn’t be at all biased by any religion, nor should we be orthodox and prejudiced. Now, the first query is, as human beings are we expected to submit to any doctrine and give up everything, living within narrow confine? No, never.

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Everywhere in this world of reality quite a few among rank and file have a vision but very few of us follow a mission. None of us is so flexible to listen to what others say. Often we utter, ‘We welcome every constructive and innovative ideas and comments thereafter.’ Unfortunately, we fail to support that from the core of our heart.

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(One) Man is essentially business-minded. Because of this, he bustles’ about in all directions, but he can hardly gather in his spoils. I had been to Rampur or Shampur or Madhupur or Jadupur. Whom you see and what you know? I can’t say that. What then? What answer shall I make to myself? I don’t care to know where you have been but what have you brought?

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[One may not basically religious-minded or have the necessary power of reasoning. At the same time mere experience cannot lead one to realization. All that we have to do is to perceive things around us, feel for others and grow selfless gradually in course of our progress in life. Otherwise we will simply be lost amidst the whirl of so many thoughts and ideas. We cannot help folly creeping into all our actions.

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(One)

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During discourse Ma-Mahajnan expounds, “You’ve come into my life. You listen to what I tell you. Here is a mass of people sitting, who have filled up the whole temple. Perhaps I note some fault or offence. I go up and hold you by the ear or give you a slap or rebuke you with a word or two--”What’s this! Insulting me before so many people!” So?

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Three months ago, in a freak accident involving a puppy, a feral cat, and a nasty curb, I broke my leg in two places. After emergency surgery I awoke from my anesthesia haze and faced my most grueling physical teaching yet. Painful and frustrating as it was, this injury offered an incredible first hand view of the healing process. I observed the parallels between physical recovery, and emotional, psychological, and spiritual repair. Here is what I learned about healing from my very broken leg:

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Is genius a simple thing? What is it? Development, expounding, individuality in the perspective of favourable, adverse and under any circumstances—will not all these things be assessed? Of course, judged by the standard of Mother, everything will outright vanish into a mere dot. Looking at her nobody can keep up his glory whatever it may be. Genius has sprung out of the bosom of that life. Can genius ever look upon that as insignificant of subsidiary and still succeed? So it pains us to find the creator imperfectly manifested in the midst of his creation.

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Don’t think like that. Only in the chamber of seeking and gettingr Will I stand; Will you be just kind enough to render me an account? How much of genius each one possessesr I’ll note it down accordingly. Is it possible, alas? To slice and slice over again-- Lighting a fire it has been burnt to ashesr Still it keeps saying boldly amidst allr I’m not dead, not dead. No pain have I, no wailing anywhere— What that is I don’t even know. A witness I’m to that genius—rnthat genius, indeed. Stand do I in the midst of everybodyr So search it for once within ye—one and all.

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The Concept of True Religion fetch you everythingrn(A section of a catechism of Ma-Mahajnan in reply to Prosad’s query)

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O Thou Destiny! You have snatched away our Steve Jobs only at 56. What a sad demise! Strangely, the medical board of America couldn’t save such an invaluable life! In fact, there is no consolation, since the sufferings of Jobs was beyond control of the greatest physicians of the USA. People throng in America for better treatment. They get the same and live long. Sadly, Steve couldn’t go along with all those! Definitely, the disease was beyond any measure. Although we know how awkwardly he was suffering; grievance and grief shouldn’t walk side by side to find out truth.

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“My youth”—Once I’ve understand, I desire to cling to this fleshly frame of mine. ‘First you’re to burn it out..’ God, before you come, I want to burn it up. Says God in His turn, “This youth of yours is mine.” I’ve conferred that on you. You’ve got to burn it out first. Eh, will you try to get it burnt? I myself will burn it beforehand. I am more powerful than you. ‘Your being’, I indeed have conferred, I will take it away.r

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Christmas lights, with all those incredible glowing decorations, just beg to be photographed, but usually they come out as colored pinpricks or a jagged blur of out-of-focus chunks of light. There are some easy things to fix all that. The first thing you need is something to steady your camera on. A tripod is best, or gorilla pod. You can use a small beanbag or, in a pinch, set the camera on something solid. You will be working with longer exposures than you can hold without blurring.

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Scoop out mud, you will arrive at a well-head: Mother: This indeed comes first. You go searching the bottom. The top will of itself come within your grasp. Let's understand the matter with the aid of an example. If you want to dredge the mud in a pool, you've first to drain away the water at the top, can a diver dredge the pond unless he pumps out the water, can he?

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Yes, it is to determine how it gets glorified in the true sense of the term and that again its overall identity, which should appear clear and inspiring in budding each family and the country as well we belong to. We must maintain healthy relations with others--both mentally and physically. Being a bit ambitious we may aim at the achievement of spirituality around the world. Over and above, finally, we are to determine what’s the origin of spirituality and its essence?

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Yes, it is to think seriously about and ask within delving deep into what makes the difference between truth inculcated by the prophets in the past and that of expounded lately by Ma-Mahajnan, the spiritual genius. Swami Vivekananda, the great Hindu monk, delivered a lecture in ‘The Parliament of Religion’ in 1893 in Chicago, USA, that as all roads are led to a particular place so are different beliefs speak about the same truth. It has had been supported, more or less, by all the representatives present there and widely, thereafter.

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None has the sole authority on inspiring words that remain ever abound in scriptures. The prophets in the past sought truth and peace, expressed their feelings and realization in their own language. Later those were translated into other tongues, irrespective of country and culture, to make people aware of their religion.

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7 Ways to Tend and Tame Your Inner Critic You are on a first date and in your head a nasty narrative plays: “She’s too good for me. Why did I tell that joke, I’m so awkward. I’m going to be single forever.” You are about to give a presentation and all you can hear is that same sneering soundtrack: “I’m not prepared; I will never be prepared enough because I am a fraud.”

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Introduction Innovation has been adopted a magic bullet, a cure-all panacea for the world’s problems. But does innovation offer the best path to personal development and business growth? The answer is “yes” and “no”. Yes, if you have the time, resources and the ability to absorb big risk. No if want to optimise your success by minimising risk, time and resources. In our unyielding quest for innovation, we have ignored or neglected the power of imitation. This was well expressed in an article in the Boston Globe entitled, “The Imitation Economy” by Drake Bennett

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As a Los Angeles based psychotherapist and yoga teacher I travel in many spiritual circles which espouse and sometimes proselytize the importance of positive thinking and its power to create our reality and manifest the future. Works like The Secret boldly profess that you are in complete control of your life, and by choosing your thoughts wisely, and visualizing your hearts desire, you are in command of fate, fortune, and all that is coming your way.

Published · 2,368 views · Rated 3.3/5 from 4 votes

Many people confuse creativity with innovation. Creativity is the ability to bring forth new ideas. Innovation is the transformation of selected ideas into improved processes, marketable goods and services. It is the conversion of ideas into profits that is the essence of innovation. Creativity or the power of idea creation is simply the starting point. This brings us to the key point – it is innovation, not creativity that ultimately matters. What is Innovation Quotient?

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Making Friends with Fear When I was in drama school the great American actress Annette Bening came to speak to my class. A student asked her how she “overcame” her stage fright. She laughed, and said she hadn’t. Instead she described a mindful awareness and acceptance of the anxiety she experiences before a scene. She said she would have a peaceful conversation with herself, something like: “Oh my, my hands are shaking, my heart is pounding, and I am really nervous right now. Interesting. Good to know. Alright nervous Annette, lets go to work!”

Published · 2,577 views · Rated 4.7/5 from 3 votes

The phone rings. It’s a friend of yours who just booked a recurring role on a big television series. She is ecstatic; her voice sings and screams in high pitched excitement. She is so grateful to share her moment with you. Despite your genuine desire to be happy for your friend’s good news, a pang of anxiety erupts in the pit of your stomach. Your heart begins to race, your face burns red, you even feel like crying. Worst of all you feel shame at your inability to support your friend’s success.

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Are you too busy, overwhelmed and feel like the “pile” keeps growing? These ideas will get you back on track FAST… KEYS 1. Know what’s important 2. Prioritize essentials 3. Prune time wasters 4. Create boundaries 5. Simplify processes Know What’s Important

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Embrace Your Full Wingspanr By Kristin Mackey

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Living in The Almost by Kristin Mackey Are you living in the land of The Almost? You know, that place you dwell that feels almost right - but not quite.

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Move the Room! - Three Keys to Delivering a Knockout Presentationr By Kristin Mackey, Professional public speaker So you have to give presentation…here are my proven secrets. KEYS 1. Know Your Content 2. Organize Your Content 3. Deliver Your Content Well How to Know Your Content Giving a presentation on a subject matter instantly makes you the expert. If you are standing in front of any size group, you are now the expert of the content you present. The best way to BE the expert is to properly prepare for your presentation. You can do this in three ways:

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Personal Transformation in 3 Easy Steps By Kristin Mackey When you decide to make changes, pulling yourself together is an essential step in personal transformation. When you think and feel in a new way, you begin to behave in a new way. These new behaviors aligned with your vision create the habits that make things happen. So you don’t feel congruent (pulled together)? There’s a reason and this article can help. STEPS 1. Understand your personal “software” 2. Organize your environment and belongings 3. Change your everyday world

Published · 2,230 views · Rated 4.3/5 from 3 votes

True Inspiration By Kristin Mackey Where do we truly find inspiration? The kind of inspiration that makes us step back and evaluate the track we are on. What kind of moments, observations and epiphanies really inspire us to look deeper at our choices, lives and habits? Is it in the book we just read or the movie that moved us? Perhaps. Or are the most profound moments of inspiration less obvious, less direct?

Published · 1,524 views · Rated 4/5 from 3 votes

By Kristin Mackey …A pause follows with an attempt to grasp for further clarity, “Do you mean what I do for a living?” the participant eagerly asks… “No, your life’s purpose”, I reiterate. Confused, she expands her question, “With family, friends or work? Then I prepare for the longest silence in the seminar when I clarify, “Why were you born?”

Published · 1,779 views · Rated 5/5 from 1 votes

Bringing Back the Spirit of "When I grow up…." As kids, we knew a lot. We knew the future held a remarkable adventure. We were born knowing our passions and gifts and gravitated easily toward them. We knew joy in the moment. Our job was to play… and it was a darn good job. There was no amount of rules, regulations, shoulds, or 'have to's' that could stop the dreaming, scheming, imagining and discovering. There were no limits to the enthusiasm and answers when we finished the sentence "When I grow up…"

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Oh Momma -the guilt of it all! You've been inundated with parenting advice meant to nourish the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual growth of your child. And within that information is a fabulous array of advice for supporting your child's play, imagination and creativity. After all, play is the child's work. Not only is it their way to process and make sense of the world, it is their way to discover, explore, and develop their passions and gifts.

Published · 3,389 views · Rated 2.5/5 from 12 votes

People can be so hard on themselves. Check this out. These are real emails that real people send to themselves on a regular schedule from 'Hassle Me'. www.hassleme.co.uk. The site's tagline is: Because sometimes in life, you just need to be nagged. It's a popular site – who among us haven't had similar thoughts? The responses, though, are just me imagining what I'd like to say. Because sometimes in life, you just need to be mused. "You're fat."(sent to theirself every day) You know how when you tell someone they're cranky, they get cranky even if they weren't cranky to begin with?

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Do you feel like you’ve lost touch with who you are? Does your life revolve so much around other people and situations that you no longer feel centered? Are you resentful, angry, or depressed because you don’t have enough time, or you’re too burned out to enjoy the time you have? Are there times you can’t stand your own company, only to wonder why others don’t want to be around you either? There are limitless ways in which being out of sync with You might manifest itself.

Published · 1,451 views · Rated 3/5 from 1 votes

There’s a lot of talk about major changes brewing on the planet and in the lives of those who inhabit it. Some describe how the shifts in the magnetic poles affect people. Others refer to the prophecies for 2012 and the period leading up to Transformation. Many simply appreciate the seasonal cycles and the renewal qualities of springtime. Whatever the reason, multitudes are being called to transform their daily lives, relationships, lifestyles, work, and beliefs. Indeed, people are being asked to both acknowledge and align with their own Truth.

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At the mere mention of creativity, many people run. This article explores ways to approach life and business by engaging your creative 'right brain' thinking, aka 'calling in your muse!' "But what has this got to do with me?" you might ask if you haven't already clicked away. "Everything," I answer, as if you really asked that question. Creative thought is an instigator of change. And since your life has probably changed over the years, then creative thought has likely played a role. But wait a sec... There is another instigator of change.

Published · 1,453 views · Rated 4/5 from 1 votes

Have you noticed that when one thinks about ‘New Year’s Resolutions’, strange thoughts sneak in like: “Oh goody, look what I can fail at this year!” “Fat chance I’m telling anyone this resolution just so they can watch me break it!” “I’m the queen of procrastination… I’ll get to it tomorrow.” The term ‘New Year’s Resolutions’ is tarnished by becoming a synonym for failure, disappointment, self sabotage and lack of willpower. Why would we put ourselves through that? Yet, the concept was once well intended.

Published · 1,436 views · Rated 3/5 from 1 votes

Creativity… For me, it is blissful to witness a world that is evolving to recognize the power of our creative being. Like magic dust finding its way into all nooks and crannies, those who were once considered 'ordinary mortals' are now experiencing moments, discoveries and creations that leave them breathless saying, "YES! YES!...

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Perfectionism can be a virtue in the pursuit of excellence and mastery, but it may also have a dark side, with unhealthy obsessions or chronic dissatisfaction getting in the way of creative imagination, healthy relationships and life satisfaction. Filmmaker Jerry Bruckheimer has been called "a relentless perfectionist who never allows a single detail to go by without notice." Martha Stewart calls herself "a maniacal perfectionist," and says "If I weren't, I wouldn't have this company. It's the best rap!" Psychologist Stephen A. Diamond, Ph.D.

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If you want to be the best you can be in sport, you get a coach. Ditto for Life. I'm wise and cool to have a coach... but wait, does this make me wiser and cooler if I am also a certified professional coach? Not only that, if I've had the experience of being coached by a number of coaches? Okay, maybe I'm not wiser and cooler, but I am delighted to offer these tips in your pursuit of enhancing your life (and your coolness) through coaching. If you were googling and came across this article...

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Left Brain: “That’s all well and good to dream but the reality is....” Right Brain: “Reality?

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Maybe the difficult economic times are the perfect next step in our evolution. If you have 'google alert' and searched "be more creative" you would discover as I have that every day hundreds of articles, news casts, business forums, and blogs are screaming, "we have to be more creative if we are to survive this downtu in our economy." This thrills me. "Yay, people are going to get to access their creative brilliance!" I think enthusiastically (because my mind likes to do that.) "Yay!! The whole world is going to start using the creative right side of their brains!

Published · 1,376 views · Rated 4/5 from 2 votes

Even if you are an experienced actor or other performer, you may still experience stage fright or insecurity. But there are effective ways to deal with anxiety so you can work with more power and creative satisfaction. The list of people who experience stage fright includes Kim Basinger; Barbra ...

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Telling lies to others to gain power, money or whatever is one thing. But what about the dangerous lies we tell ourselves? Psychologist Abraham Maslow helped define the field of personal development and the concept of self-actualization as the "ongoing actualization of potentials, capacities ...

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Do people with multiple talents realize their abilities as readily and as fully as they want? A high level of achievement and fulfillment is not an automatic outcome for all gifted and talented adults. In her book Gifted Grownups, Marylou Kelly Streznewski notes, "For too long society has ...

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Children with outstanding talents sometimes get rewards and acclaim, but many are overlooked or unsupported. Adults with exceptional abilities can also live on the fringes of recognition and contribution, which may result from mainstream discomfort with many outsiders. One example of ...

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"I hope I'm becoming more eccentric. More room in the brain." --Musician Tom Waits A number of artists acknowledge that being unconventional is something positive. Reese Witherspoon has said her parents supported her ambitions to be an actress, and that, growing up in Nashville, "Being a ...

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Are people fascinated by so many things in the world because of their intellectual development, or does consciously feeding our mind stimulate high level thought and creative ability? Writer Steve Pavlina poses that idea in his book Personal Development for Smart People: The Conscious Pursuit ...

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Wunderkind, genius, prodigy. Freak, geek, nerd. How we label exceptional people - including ourselves - affects our identity in many ways and what we think about the reality and value of our talents, and the possibilities of expressing them in the world. Being part of a clique outside the ...

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To avoid being seen as too weird or different, and to fit in better with others, gifted children often learn to cover up their unusual abilities. As adults, many still follow a pattern of hiding. When she began directing in the forties, Ida Lupino sometimes claimed not to know the best way to ...

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What is an Avocado Table? No, no, this isn't a question to plug into Google. There is no right answer. There are no rules. (Isn't THAT freeing?) You simply get to think about what an Avocado Table could be. Imagine that you will be given $10 000 for your very creative answer. What would you come up with? Would you write about it, talk about it, sketch it? What would its purpose be? Where is it available? Who has access to it? Are all of the components of an avocado involved? Does the 'table' have to be something normally considered a table?

Published · 1,289 views · Rated 4/5 from 2 votes

"When negative self-talk robs us of our enthusiasm for our dreams, we're suffering from the classic creative block... Self-criticism can seriously injure potential talent that wants to be expressed." These quotes from the book "Putting Your Talent to Work" by Lucia Capacchione and Peggy Van ...

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Even for those with high potential, making positive contributions to the world is not automatic or assured. Malcolm Gladwell and others describe some of the key aspects that affect how gifted and talented people realize their abilities Dr. Linda Silverman, director of the Gifted Child ...

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We are in a time of transition, a liminal place between one era and another’s fresh emergence, both collectively and on the personal level. On November 4th, here in the United States, we had a very palpable indication of the changing of the guard, with the election of Barack Obama as our next ...

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Everyone has some sensitivity to inner experiences and emotions, to the moods of others, and to many other sensations. But highly sensitive people have unusually strong awareness and reactions. Artists, including actors, are often highly sensitive and use this personality trait to be more ...

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"When you begin to act on your creativity, what you find inside may be more valuable than what you produce for the exte al world." That quote from the book "Claiming Your Creative Self: True Stories from the Everyday Lives of Women" by Eileen M. Clegg is a reminder that creativity is an ...

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Most writers know the importance of being read for critique. That's why writer's groups exist - and there is nothing like the experience of having your peers peer over your shoulder and watch or help your process take shape. There is no doubt this is something beneficial, something every writer ...

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"You either had to be willful or risk losing touch with yourself." Actor Judy Davis made that comment in an interview, saying, "To pursue acting... needed a fair degree of willfulness... I grew up in quite an oppressive Catholic society. In order to survive that, you either had to be willful or ...

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"I only know that summer sang in me a little while, that in me sings no more." That excerpt from one of her sonnets expresses how much poet Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) probably knew of depression. Actor Brooke Shields noted in her book "Down Came the Rain : My Journey Through ...

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Age and maturity can bring a new level of passion, ability and insight to creative projects. Many women affirm it is the best period of their lives. Anthropologist Margaret Mead once commented, "The most creative force in the world is the menopausal woman with zest." Novelist and poet Maxine ...

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"The best moments usually occur when a person's body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile. Optimal experience is thus something we make happen." Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihaly Athletes call it the "Zone" - an optimal ...

Published · 1,460 views

Responding to a magazine question: "What kills creativity?" - actress Gillian Anderson once replied succinctly, "Ego." One sense of this word "ego" is a distorted self-regard, what psychologist Carl Jung referred to as "inflated consciousness... hypnotized by itself." Many people recognize ...

Published · 1,309 views

Being exceptional - unusually skillful, smart, creative or otherwise more capable than the norm - may include a judgment both by others and ourselves as being an “outsider.” Gifted and talented people can experience a self-defeating aversion to expressing talents that might separate ...

Published · 1,023 views

Arianna Huffington has been described by her friend and author Sugar Rautbord as “probably one of the most intellectually seductive human beings on the face of the planet. She has such a powerful brain, and she exudes an intellectuality that is almost sexual." Does that sort of ...

Published · 1,139 views

"As a child, I was very shy. Painfully, excruciatingly shy. I hid a lot in my room. I was so terrified to read out loud in school that I had to have my mother ask my reading teacher not to call on me in class." - Kim Basinger Many of us were shy as children, and continue to be. In more extreme ...

Published · 1,688 views · Rated 4/5 from 1 votes

"If the dimension of presence or awareness is missing, then you are lost in the reaction. Then you become the reaction, and you don’t know who you are." - Eckhart Tolle Being very reactive to life, with high sensitivity, can be a distressing and disorienting experience. Probably starting ...

Published · 1,216 views

There is currently a lot of talk about the film ‘The Secret’ and the teachings of ‘The Law of Attraction’. It’s all very well to use the ‘jargon’ in your vocabulary, but when it comes down to feeling really frustrated with your partner about what he or ...

Published · 1,933 views

"Courage means feeling the fear and doing it anyway." One of the major themes that keeps showing up in material about personal development and increasing creativity is the idea of risk-taking. The possible consequences are what may hold us back: whether it's the frowns of that teacher when ...

Published · 1,263 views

Creative expression can transform painful reactions and situations, providing strength and understanding to change how we feel and interact with the world. And works of art made by others can remodel our inner realities. Some think art needs to have that kind of impact to be worthwhile. Franz ...

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Every life is unique. That sounds simple enough but, if you think about it, it is really quite astounding. Most of us spend our lives living them, trying to get by as best we can, to be kind or successful, or kind and successful; raising children or growing communities or businesses, or all ...

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Peggy Orenstein noted in her book "School Girls.." that, although they may now have more role models for high achievement, and apparently fewer barriers to equality, girls are still part of a very hierarchical society. Power is often seen as "who is higher up" - and for women, that has ...

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Many talented people sometimes use and abuse drugs and alcohol, and engage in other self-destructive habits to deal with painful inner or outer experiences. Best Actor Oscar winner Philip Seymour Hoffman [“Capote”] admitted that earlier in his life he used “Anything I could get my hands on. I ...

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Healthy criticism can help refine our talents and creative projects in the pursuit of excellence. But when it is based on a excessive perfectionism or an unrealistic self concept, criticism can be destructive and self-limiting, eroding our creative assurance and vitality. Many creative people, ...

Published · 2,321 views

It isn’t just about “looking good” or eating disorders; body image relates to our identity, and how we think about and accept ourselves, which directly or indirectly affects how we access the awareness and emotional energy we need for creating. Body image issues can be especially significant ...

Published · 1,543 views

Doing anything creative often brings up fears, anxieties, insecurities. Courage may be defined as going ahead in spite of fear. But many creators not only live with their fears, they welcome them. Fear is perhaps the most basic emotion we have. As Leonardo da Vinci reportedly said, "Fear arises ...

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"Creativity comes from a desire to express the true self." Art has often been isolated and considered precious, something only official artists do. In her book "Revolution From Within" Gloria Steinem notes that "most art in the world does not have a capital 'A,' but is a way of turning everyday ...

Published · 1,752 views · Rated 3/5 from 1 votes

The experience of optimal functioning called flow enhances creativity, and can be nurtured in our own lives, says the psychologist who developed the concept. Author of "Flow: the Psychology of Optimal Experience" and a number of related books, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced me-high ...

Published · 1,580 views

The lyrics of Bobby McFerrin's song include: "Don't worry. It will soon pass, whatever it is In your life expect some trouble But when you worry You make it double Don't worry, be happy" Being happy and positive in general is a preferable stance toward life, better for our health, creativity ...

Published · 2,411 views · Rated 5/5 from 1 votes

Writer Pearl Buck commented, “The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this: A human creature born abnormally, inhumanly sensitive.” Winner of a Nobel Prize in Literature in 1938, she also added, “By some strange, unknown, inward urgency they are not really alive unless they are ...

Published · 2,800 views

Engaging in a creative venture often brings up questions and uncertainties related to personal identity: Am I qualified? Do I have enough experience, strength, talent, skill? Will the work be good enough? Will I be good enough? Creative expression is based on both our inner selves and our ...

Published · 1,177 views

Your choices determine the quality of your life experience. The act of making choices implies the chance or the power to select one option over another. Positive Choices are life choices elected to support your body, mind, and spirit. Negative life choices, such as doing unsatisfying work or ...

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There's Nothing Wrong With You. Nothing. Isn't That a Relief? I hear ya. Don’t think those thoughts that the title triggered are going unnoticed: “She doesn’t know me very well, does she?” “I can’t complete a single thing I set out to, that’s what’s wrong with me.” “I need to lose weight/ gain weight, get fit, get a haircut, and my shoes are ugly.” “I hate my job.” “I ‘m terrible at finances. I never shop around for best prices.”r

Published · 1,415 views · Rated 5/5 from 1 votes

Mental imagery, creative visualization, meditation, jou eying– there are many names and varying techniques for this powerful tool that can relax, empower, build confidence, heal and create changes that would have once been considered impossible.

Published · 2,613 views · Rated 3.5/5 from 2 votes

Being creative is scary? No, no, that's not true at all. THINKING about being creative is scary. So much so that the large majority of people with inspired thinking abilities never actually show up to their creative dreams, nor to their potential. And so, we have a rather impressive number of people who have potential to make changes... by bringing beauty, new thought, wake up calls, inventions, inspiration and concepts that could make a difference into our world... who just don't. They don't show up to; ~ writing a book,r

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Love is Metaphysical and it is the core of our personal development and spiritual evolution. Love reaches beyond our physical reality. Yes, love is a soul experience and when it is unconditional, its powers are far reaching. Love is Metaphysical because it has flow and frequency. One could say there is a Metaphysics to love. And that would be to let it flow and as it flow, it heals, restores, and rejuvenates. Love is the key to our personal and spiritual evolution because love shows us how to grow. Love itself is a universal and spiritual law.

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As we become more developed in our knowledge about channeling creative energy, we discover that creativity flows from two chakras in the body. One chakra from which creativity flows is the "Throat Chakra," but creativity also flows from the "Sacral Chakra"--the same chakra from which our sensuality flows. With this evidence, it is apparent that creativity is not only a mystical experience but also an experience that brings great ecstasy. Now to say that the flow of creativity and inspiration is a mystical and ecstatic experience may seem salacious; it seems salacious because it is.

Published · 4,216 views · Rated 5/5 from 1 votes

When our souls look back and wonder at our life experiences we see some great experiences and some traumatic experiences. As artists these experiences can mold and shape how inspiration flows through us. The traumatic life experiences of the artist can produce a powerful creative voice or dysfunction. This is why mind development and mental transmutation from our true and authentic self is so important.

Published · 2,376 views · Rated 3/5 from 1 votes

Can we all get to a place in our consciousness in which we become present moment aware or as we in the field of metaphysics call aware in the Presence? It is often difficult for us to assert that we create life in the present moment or in the Presence because many of us spend most of our mental ...

Published · 1,673 views

Springtime is one of the more enjoyable times of year, as the weather is getting warmer and many of us are able to spend more time outdoors. It is also a time that many of us decide that it is best if we clean our house from top to bottom. Spring cleaning has been somewhat of a tradition that is passed down from one generation to the next. If you are in the process of starting your spring cleaning, here are a few tips that can help you through that process and to make the most out of the time that you spend on your home.

Published · 958 views

Is creativity and inspiration important? Does it affect our abilities to create the life we want to live and manifest our true desires? It seems the answers to these questions aren’t as obvious as we think. Many of us underestimate the power of our creativity because we really don’t ...

Published · 1,666 views

It is vital to the happiness of every individual that he or she continues to evolve in spiritual growth, self-awareness, and personal development. This growth and expansion as our true and authentic self is the basis of all spirituality. Accordingly, this growth and expansion can be enhanced ...

Published · 2,171 views

Advances in communication technology since the mid-1990s have made e-learning (sometimes known as “virtual learning” or “distance education”) a feasible educational option. The idea is that a teacher can reach students in remote locations, which enables students to learn subjects to which they ...

Published · 7,836 views

It is no secret that there is an incredible diversity of personalities and behaviors among human beings. In the past few years, researchers have discovered a similarly broad diversity of personalities among animal species, suggesting that personality has a genetic element. But how do we codify ...

Published · 1,831 views

Decision making plays a significant role in an organization’s success. The ability to synthesize information and make decisions is arguably a good manager’s most important skill. Conversely, procrastination and indecisive management are hazardous for an organization. Why is it difficult to make ...

Published · 1,347 views

You play myriad roles in your relationships with others. Professionally, you may simultaneously be one person’s manager, someone else’s employee, and a third person’s mentor. In your personal life, you may find yourself juggling different roles as a parent, son or daughter, husband or wife, ...

Published · 1,423 views

Teamwork is necessary for a business or organization to function. In recent years, however, “teams” and “teamwork” have been so overused that they have become yet another (almost) meaningless business buzzword. We now talk about cross-functional teams, multinational teams, hot teams, distributed ...

Published · 1,821 views

Managers have long viewed meetings as a necessary evil. This attitude is understandable but unfortunate, as a good meeting should be an active forum in which colleagues exchange ideas, solve problems, and make decisions. The fact that so many people abhor meetings is testament to managers’ ...

Published · 1,651 views

You need to put a Herculean individual effort to get the same result that a well-knit team could easily achieve. The key to building a successful team is to instill in all the team members a sense of shared responsibility. In addition to sharing the responsibility, a wise team leader will also ...

Published · 1,348 views

No matter how brilliant and invaluable your idea, it is worthless unless you can share it with others. For this reason, effective communication is crucial at every level of an organization. However, the ability to communicate effectively does not come easily to many people, and it is a skill ...

Published · 3,733 views

Effective communication is vital if you wish people to understand your viewpoint. It becomes even more crucial in professional settings, as fierce competition means that customers must be convinced that your products are superior to your rival's. Unless you effectively communicate the features ...

Published · 1,940 views

Different people will react to a given situation in different ways, and your reaction determines your behavioral style. These styles depend largely on how people approach a problem. Similarly, the way you interact with people and influence them is also significant. Other important factors ...

Published · 3,840 views

Link to original page: http://web.mac.com/amcgregor1/iWeb/Site%203/Blog%202/665C37B1-3A14-44F0-81A1-04703563CBB1.html I have had a great start to the year, with many opportunities. I have found my voice in many ways, introducing my newsletter as the most adaptable way of self expression. I ...

Published · 1,670 views

whilst confidentiality is respected at all times, Clive/Clare suggested and consented to the writing this article in the support of his 'coming out'. Clive’s Anima Neutrally dressed in a cream jacket, trousers and glasses perched on the end of his nose, Clive peered down at the tarot cards on ...

Published · 2,189 views

Effective communication is vital if you wish people to understand your viewpoint. It becomes even more crucial in professional settings, as fierce competition means that customers must be convinced that your products are superior to your rival's. Unless you effectively communicate the features ...

Published · 1,267 views

Is it possible for someone to fear abundance? Who would not want to live the abundant life? Polarity is a universal law. The law of polarity contends that everything has its polar opposite. The scales of life assures the existence of polar opposites. In conjunction with the Law of Rhythm, ...

Published · 2,098 views

Perhaps, you have heard the phrase “May the force be with you” from your favorite Episode of the Star Wars movies. The Star Wars movies explore the power of our choices, the wonder of destiny, and the manifesting power that is in us and all around us. However, what if the force could truly be ...

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Are you committed to losing weight and keeping it off? Then, it is time to discover the science of losing weight. Losing weight is the result of a chemical reaction that takes place in the body where stored fat is used for energy. It is important to learn the science of losing ...

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Metaphysics refers to the branch of philosophy that seeks to address all things Universal whether it is divine, cosmic, spiritual, or human. Ultimately, those who study metaphysics seek to address how we play a role in this continuum. It addresses those things perceived to be hidden.” To that end, many institutions including seminaries, universities, schools of metaphysics, and the like have found it necessary not to make the teachings of all metaphysics available to the everyday individual.

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...or perhaps a better title would be, how to keep your jewelry clean. After twenty-five years in the jewelry business I have come to the conclusion that everyone needs to make an annual trip to their favorite jewelers to have their jewelry professionally cleaned. I recommend sometime in September, you know, when the kids are back to school and you could use a mid-day glass of red wine while someone does something for you.

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My book "Parallel Mind, The Art of Creativity" is intended to launch my speaking tour on the subject of the creative empowerment in both the personal and professional realm. Now, as never before, everyone needs the information that this book provides. Parallel Mind is the first in a series of ...

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My mother once asked me if there were times when I would think of something I had either done or not done, no matter how silly, which just made me cringe to think of it. It might be something I said which I feared someone had interpreted the wrong way. Or which revealed something about myself which they might interpret the wrong way or, even worse, the right way. And yes, I had to admit that this was one thing I had inherited from her, the tendency to beat myself up over the most trivial thing.

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Dear Cristina, I read somewhere that the colors I like tell a lot about my personality and that certain colors can affect my moods. Is it true that you can you tell what a person is like when you see the colors they paint their home? Can color change the way I feel? J. Vigil It’s ...

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I remember seeing that phrase "You must be present to win" in the rules of a raffle or something a long time ago. If you weren't there when they pulled your number out of the hat, well they pulled another number. Somehow that phrase has always stuck in my mind. "You must be present to win." I think that makes a lot of sense, really. As human beings, we create every moment of our lives. Most of the time, we just don't know it. We create unconsciously. We're not aware that we're creating anything. We often only think of the word create as it relates to art.

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Financial independence is rarely achieved by hitting the jackpot, writing a best seller or a hit song, making it to the big leagues or finding a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. These things do happen, no doubt about it. However, the odds are not in favor of the majority.

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Taking on a new project, learning a new skill or trying something you’ve never done before often comes with it’s own set of obstacles, which are addressed in the book, 101 Reasons to be Yourself, as well as in the online course, No Regrets 101. What happens when you actually begin something, then ‘hit the wall’ before you finish? Hitting the wall can be a painful and deflating process that leaves dreams in the dust.

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As we all know, adaptability is a valuable character trait. Whether you choose to cultivate your adaptability or not can have a drastic impact on your attitude and happiness. When a major shift happens, good or bad, things go much easier when we can roll with the changes as opposed to putting up huge, “Do not force change!” signs. Take for example, the current economic state of affairs.

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Are you considering selling your business? Before slapping up the ‘for sale’ sign, you may want to invest some time and energy in developing a few areas that don’t show up on the balance sheet. Buyers are interested in more than the bottom line. Here are 5 value drivers that influence the goodwill portion of your asking price and can make or break a sale. Put yourself in the shoes of the buyer. You want to buy a business that can go through the transition smoothly with minimal disruptions.

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The more that we as individuals compartmentalize ourselves with labels, the more we distance ourselves from possibilities that can enrich our lives, expand our circles of influence and bring unexpected results. Our culture has become one of pre-judgment in which we mentally tag and dismiss others based on occupations, income-levels and personal appearance to such a degree that it is difficult to reach outside of one’s social circle, workplace or fitness club to meet those who contrast and compliment our own attributes.

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Take your mind off the money and do something! Everyone should know by now that a small group of individuals controls the economy, but they don’t control you. They don’t control your mind, your heart, your soul or your reason to be.

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Selling your business can be a very emotional process. Countless hours and tremendous effort go into building a business, then one day, it is time to sell. It is easier for serial entrepreneurs to deal with closing day than it is for someone who has been in a business from start-up 25 years ago. Being prepared to sell involves a fairly objective viewpoint along with a plan for the future. There is a great deal of advice coming from many directions once you begin to look into what is involved in the sale, and most likely, some conflicting advice to wade through.

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It is definitely time for change. You can feel it in the air. This recession is living proof. Lucky for me, I hit my own recession/depression about a year ago, giving me plenty of time to gather strength for what is happening now. Yes, I did say lucky. Ignoring my intuition, dreams and creative abilities in favor of a steady $24/hour paycheck in a soul-sucking workplace landed me in the dumps, which led to a powerful breakthrough. I am lucky because it happened then. Had it happened now, I don’t know if I would have had the courage to break loose and follow my dreams.

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How many times every day do you use or hear the phrases, “I should” ,“I have to” or “I need to”? Don’t know? Start paying attention and keep track. Soon you will realize that shoulds, have tos and need tos could be running your life; at the very least, they could be making you a little crazy and overwhelmed with perceived obligations around every corner. You know deep down what is necessary, what is important and what you want to do to make your life happier and more creative.

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You are faced with a blank page. Now what? The great idea for an epic novel suddenly seems dull. The pages beyond appear out of reach. The carpet suddenly requires immediate vacuuming. The phone rings and you leap to answer it. Menial errands begin to gain importance over anything you could possibly put on paper. What it boils down to is that it is easier not to write. Just now, in the middle of writing this article, thinking about distractions, I got up and made a grilled-cheese sandwich. A perfect example of what I’m talking about today.

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It may appear that we’re getting hit hard from all directions. The economy is tanking, people are losing their jobs, and the weather (in some places) is shutting down the infrastructure. The only good news is that gas prices are dropping, but who wants to drive in the ice and snow? The ...

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For many of us at times it has seemed as though living a life of our dreams was not realistic. We have held down jobs that we have disliked, stayed in less than healthy relationships out of fear of the unknown and resigned ourselves to the concept that we are here to struggle and then we die.

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All too often it can feel as though happy moments come and go, and that what is happening in our outer world determines how happy we feel in life. I believe that the goal in life is to be able to transcend any challenge and move back into our natural state of joy. I also believe that we are powerful creators of happiness in our lives. I have discovered several keys that can help us move back into the alignment of natural happiness and to stay there more often than not. Here are 4 keys to unlock the happiness within you.

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When times seem good are you identifying with your current mood or the way things seem to be? Are people applauding your work? Is everything "going your way?" For many of us, we build our houses on sand. We depend on the approval of others. We may not realize this until they take it all away. Have you experienced this? Relationships of all kinds can be built upon sand, or the inconsistent behaviour of others. Here are three ways to build your house on solid ground. 1. Trust Yourselfr

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There are many realities. In this energy, in your life, now more than ever, you can experience miracles, everyday. This may sound far fetched. There can be miracles when you believe. Who knows what miracles you can achieve, when you Believe. I am reminded of the beautiful duet that Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston performed of the Disney song When You Believe. I also was guided to Josh Groban singing, Believe. My guides and angels have been talking to me for weeks about this topic, these songs and now I am ready to write about this information. When You Believe.

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Have you ever asked yourself; "How can I change the world?" "What difference can I make?" "Can I make the world a better place for all?" The truth is that no one person can change the world alone. It can only be done through a team effort. Granted, not everyone is a global thinker but everyone ...

Published · 1,422 views

Have you ever asked yourself; "How can I change the world?" "What difference can I make?" "Can I make the world a better place for all?" The truth is that no one person can change the world alone. It can only be done through a team effort. Granted, not everyone is a global thinker but everyone ...

Published · 1,379 views

Astrology—“If something is wrong just fix it.” The Church has made a huge mistake and Christianity suffers from it to this very day. What is it you ask? It is a lack of creative ideas because of what some old-timer said 2000 years ago about what God told him, or rather how he interpreted what ...

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"For me, the most attractive woman is the person who is at peace with herself." Javier Bardem, Actor There is so much pressure from the media, peers and ourselves to look slim, cleverly dressed in up-to-date fashions, have the perfect relationship, the most admired career and the list goes on. We are encouraged to seek validation of our self worth from outside stimuli on a regular basis. It is a constant distraction. After awhile, it becomes weary to "show up" in a certain way.

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Hurry Up and Relax! Hurry up and relax! I saw this on my Mary Engelbreit's calendar and had a good chuckle. Every day this week, I think I am going to get everything done and then go sit and relax by the pool. Well that didn't work so then I just forced myself to go sit outside but even though my eyes were closed, my mind was racing about what I could be doing instead. Or even worse, what I would do once I got up from this chair. Sigh. Sound familiar? Here it is July and how many of us are hurrying up the "to-do" list so we can relax? Isn't summer supposed to be more laid back?

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This message came to me after my morning body sensation contemplation and it’s just getting better and more clear in its power since that moment a few days ago. I have been musing over the concept of what money means to me and how I felt about it for a long time. Finally though, I really “get” how money manifests and although the concept is simple, the manifestation takes a lot of personal work. There is available so much on this subject from the self-help community.

Published · 1,900 views · Rated 3/5 from 2 votes

There is a couple I know who I really like being with. Their deep commitment to each other's well- being is very clear as they interact with each other. I feel calm, safe and relaxed with them. I like to ride that wave with them. I have a friend that brings out my quirky sense of humor. We just laugh and carry on together. I really enjoy riding this wave when I am with her. I volunteer with the Guardian Ad Litem program and when I feel such compassion for these wounded children, it opens my heart. I like that wave too.

Published · 1,555 views · Rated 3/5 from 1 votes

We are creative beings. We live in a creative universe. Creativity surrounds us, and is in us – in all of us, not just the gifted few. Although at its core, creativity is a mystery, the creative process is knowable, and we can use it as a template for living a more fulfilling, aware, meaningful life.

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This thought recently occurred to me: writing from the creative unconscious -- whether if be fiction, poetry, journaling, memoir or doodling -- is like walking into a cosmic shopping mall where each shop offers a different persona for us to try on, actually a different way of being in relationship to ourselves and the world. The only means of exchange in this cosmic mall is exuberance, fearlessness and a desire to share and be shared. Oh, and there's a key to the mall, too. We all have it in our pocket when we arrive, even if we don't know it's there.

Published · 1,844 views · Rated 4/5 from 2 votes

I was in the garden, taking in its early August glory as I went about aimlessly pinching off the dead daylilies. Although I love all flowers, daylilies hold my heart. I have perhaps thirty different colors, sizes and shapes. I wait for their blooming each year and wander most mornings to see which beauty is offering herself to me this day. Sometimes I gasp in joy at the subtleness of colors as tender petals open and curl backwards, showing me their hearts. I talk to them. I admit I do. “Oh, you are so beautiful,” I tell them. “And you and you!

Published · 1,609 views · Rated 4/5 from 2 votes

Creativity is a mysterious journey that connects us to the unseen worlds. There was a time when all people had access to the unseen worlds, although it was shaman, story tellers and healers who mediated between the worlds as they journeyed into the Mystery and interpreted the images found there. Today we have our contemporary journeyers into the cosmic unseen worlds--many creative people are such journeyers--but as a culture we have lost the connection to our instinctual nature.

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1. Don’t think. Creating a story or book has little to do with the intellect or language when we first begin. Our best ideas will emerge as a spark or image. Like dreams, they will make little sense. Followed, they will hold the key to the creative unconscious. 2. Creativity is cyclical. You cannot and will not be creative all the time. What is full must empty and what is empty will fill. Creativity has its own internal rhythms. Learn to listen to yours. 3. Nothing kills creativity faster than criticism.

Published · 1,627 views · Rated 4/5 from 1 votes

Creativity is a subtle and magnificent dance between the rational and the intuitive, between the left and right parts of the brains, between technique and imagination. Both partners in this dance are absolutely necessary and are needed in equal proportion, which means that imagination is not more important than technique and visa versa. If you only live in the imagination, you will never get organized, you will never complete your story. However, if you start from the rational, linear, organizational part of the process, ( ie. Gotta have the perfect opening sentence and first paragraph...

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Recently, I was considering the question of peace, which doesn't happen often while writing fiction. There's all that drama, love, hate, desire, envy and so on. Peace, with any luck, comes at the end of the novel. I was considering this aimlessly as I lay with my head on Phoebe's warm flank. Phoebe, being the sensitive, intuitive creature she is, immediately tuned into my musings and suggested we consider the question of love instead, which she quite rightly observed was a precursor to true peace.

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People paint for a lot of different reasons. To relax, to express themselves , to create beauty and meaning, to make money, because they have a passion to create, to gain approval, to stay sane, to make sense of the world, to play and have fun. All of the above are wonderful and valid ...

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It is sometimes said that the truth should never be allowed to get in the way of a good story. Sometimes, however, it is the true events that turn out to be the stories that tell us the most. This is the case with the story of my friend's cat. My friend, Rachel, has a cat. Nothing special ...

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Date: 22nd July, 2123 To The Finder of this Letter, My name is Mahut, and I am the last surviving human being on the planet earth. My age is 17 years old, and after me there are no more to come. This story is left as an expression of my final hope that compassionate people will once again – ...

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What is it that allows you to wake up in the morning feeling energized and inspired? The particulars are going to vary, but I think the majority of us feel most alive when we experience being aligned with some greater purpose. That purpose is often related to becoming more of who we are, to ...

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How many times have you told yourself, “I want to be more creative in my life” and how many times has that ended up on your New Years resolution list along with wanting to exercise or eat better, with similar disappointing results. Well, I have good news and bad news for you today. The good ...

Published · 1,656 views · Rated 3/5 from 1 votes