Is the Bible Accurate

I'm going to start with the first book of the holy Bible, Genesis chapter 1 verse one through five. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

And God said," let there be light," and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness he called night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

If the Bible is historically accurate, did God actually create earth. I have been battling over this, my whole life. It's very easy for someone to accept and believe in any religion, government, other people or whatever they truly desire to make real. I see it every day of my life, open your eyes and you will see it to.

It's hard to imagine that a superior entity like God created everything that we touch and see. The moon itself is pretty big and the creation of the sun would prove to be a little more difficult, but if you're God and your all knowing and all powerful, he or she or it, must be one incredible being.

This is only the first couple of paragraphs in the Bible and there is no, I repeat no, historical accuracy to this event. It seems like God or man, whoever wrote the Bible, should have started the Bible with something a little more believable for people that live in the 21st century. It's not hard to imagine someone 2000 years ago, believing in something like this.

2000 years ago the Romans were worshiping their own gods, we might find this ridiculous today but back then the Romans would punish you if you didn't worship their gods. We are not too far from that today. If we don't stop organized religion and their influence on humanity, we're going to have serious problems in the future.

The biggest problem I foresee is common sense. If the Bible has 500 historical accurate facts that can be proven without a doubt by historians, scholars and other intelligent people, but has one thing that can't be explained, how do we handle this. How do we handle the fact that the Bible states God created light? If this is false, what else is false in the Bible.

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development. Have you ever really ask yourself Who is, Jesus of Nazareth?

Greg is currently working on a Personal Power Ideas. If you're ever wondering why some people can achieve success, while others seem to struggle aimlessly, what would it hurt, to take a couple of minutes of your time, if you could actually find the truth.

Mark Twain

The Good People Get to Go to Heaven

I found a website that was recommended to me and it had the comment, is Jesus the only way to heaven at, Gotquestions, seems like your typical Christian website that replies with biblical quotes and simple to follow information. If I was lost, they will help me find a way. There's even a button at the bottom that states, I have accepted Christ today. I guess if I was to push that button, I get to go to heaven and be with Jesus. Hard to imagine, avoiding a life of burning in hell could be as simple as pushing a button and uttering a few simple words.

I found this question and began reading their comment. The first comment is from somebody answering as a nonbeliever in Christianity. It states something like, if I'm basically a good person and live a moral life, I get to go to heaven, right, only the bad people like murderers go to hell.

Now the answer that the website gives, seems to create fear if you do not belong to Christianity and provide you with hope if you join the group.

It mentioned Satan as the ruler of the world, and he can plant these thoughts into your head if you're not a Christian. He also controls your mind and let's you believe, that it would only make sense to any rational person, they get to go to heaven if they're good.

Now this is what makes sense to me but according to this information, I am doomed to rot in hell for eternity, even if I am a pretty good person. All I have to do is accept Christ as God and I get to go to heaven. That seems pretty easy and I wonder why more people don't do it. Just push the button.

I wonder if Satan is controlling, non-Christians minds and that's why there's brutality and war throughout the world. If everyone was a Christian, would our world be better.

Here's a quote from Wikipedia The Crusades were a series of religion-driven military campaigns waged by much of Christian Europe against external and internal opponents. Crusades were fought mainly against Muslims, though campaigns were also directed against pagan Slavs, Jews, Russian and Greek Orthodox Christians, Mongols, Cathars, Hussites, Waldensians, Old Prussians, and political enemies of the popes.

These Christian Crusades killed thousands of people. To give you an idea how many people were killed, all I had to do was type the word crusades into a search engine and it took me to the Christian Crusades.

I guess that rules that out, it seems like the Christians a long time ago were pretty aggressive towards their enemies, I wonder if most Christians would refer to these people as enemies today or are they just being controlled by Satan. Do these Christians from the Crusades get to go to heaven? If people like this get to go to heaven, may be hell is a better place anyway.

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

Here's something to think about, go to heaven

Believing In Yourself

The Don't Quit Video

Finding something you don't like about yourself is usually very easy for most people. Most of the time you don't even have to ask your family or friends because you have heard them complain about the same thing for years. How many times have you heard someone mention, I need to lose weight?

What are you going to change today about your life? Make a list of things that you're not happy with about your life and start making the changes today that you need to create the life you deserve and desire.

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

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

Governments Through History
My Childhood Religious Beliefs

Reduce Workplace Stress

So you want to reduce workplace stress, increase your job satisfaction, achieve greater productivity and, maybe, get promoted. These are great goals and something that we should all be proud to support. But what if none of this is working for you? What are the answers and how do you relieve the stress and get the sort of job you want?

If you are going to go to work, you should be happy. You will spend a lot of time at work, 2000 work hours per year for 40 years - 80,000 hours altogether. You do not want to join the 20 million American adults who have some form of mental disorder annually (includes depression, anxiety, phobias etc). you DO NOT want to be one of the 18.1 million adults who experience either dysthymia (mild, chronic depression) or a major depressive disorder. So what are some of the secrets for being happy and effective at work?

My number one solution is to know yourself. Being self-aware, understanding your skill set, knowing where you are good and where you are not so good all help you to fit in to the workplace culture and expectations. I have talked before about person-environment fit and I firmly believe that if people have a poor fit that they will be unhappy. Being unhappy for 40 hours a week leads to some nasty consequences - not only mood disorders but alcoholism, thrill seeking (perhaps through affairs, adrenaline charged outdoor activities), and de-stabilized relationships.

So coming to grips with yourself in the workplace in a realistic and not negative way is a very important part of how we deal with work or workplace stress. A half an hour ago I declared to my wife, after returning from work at the end of a long week, that while I am good at large scale conceptualization, creating research cultures, building strategic visions etc, when it gets down to supervising administrative staff to make sure that they have attended to all the necessary details and minutiae of my work place - I am definitely not very good. So I have to find a way to work around this so my colleagues and my supervisors do not suffer from my big picture view of the world.

I enjoy the research from Harvard and the work of people like Daniel Goleman. I am very supportive of the research that suggests that self-awareness and emotional intelligence are two of the major performance characteristics that predict successful outcomes. I generally look at five performance factors in an organization: productivity (not easy to measure in some organizations); punctuality (and time on task); absenteeism (sickies etc); presenteeism (at work but doing virtually nothing); and staff turnover. All of these variables impact job output and job satisfaction.

People, especially leaders and managers who are low on self-awareness and emotional intelligence will not be successful in their workplace. They will add to work stress, not reduce it. The productivity of their organizational units will be lower. They will have higher absenteeism, presenteeism, turnover, and lower productivity. Those who work but do not supervise who are unaware and emotionally dull create upward problems just as effectively as managers create downwards problems.

What does it mean if one has a high or very high emotional intelligence (EI)? I will draw upon some material from an earlier article as it sums up nicely why self-awareness and emotional intelligence is important. If you have high levels of EI, you probably have a fairly positive self-esteem, you are probably very happy, you probably maintain good relationships and understand people quite well, you manage life's stressful events and challenges well and you are probably handling virtually all aspects of your life very comfortably.

So you want to improve your lot in organizational life? Start with yourself. Reduce your stress, lower the stress levels of your partners, and minimize workplace stress for your colleagues by sitting down and doing an audit of your personal and inter-personal style. Ask a good but frank and honest friend to give you advice. And, to reduce the stress issues that seem to surround you, work on a personal improvement plan as outlined by your friend.

Dr Jeff, a psychologist, writes about stress. In this article he provides additional insights into the concept of self-awareness and emotional intelligence in terms of their effect on workplace stress. People need to learn how to manage stress and they need help to relieve stress. Dr Bailey integrates sound research with extensive clinical knowledge from his therapy with his patients. He works hard to make his articles practical and helpful but all of his articles are based on sound research evidence. To find out more about how he helps people with stress relief and to learn effective ways to manage and reduce stress, visit his website http://www.drjeffbailey.com/free_stress_book.html to get a free book that will introduce you to effective stress management.

Figure Out What You Want In Life

Five Ways to Stay Motivated and Achieve Your Goals

Are you having one of those days when nothing seems to go right? Is every task you try to do harder than you thought it would be, and do you seem to encounter problem after problem along the way? We all have stressful times during our lives when everything seems to be going wrong, but it's crucial to stay positive as giving in will usually make the situation worse. Here are five ways to stay motivated and achieve your dreams:

1. Think less and act more

Stop putting off that difficult job because you're worried it will be too much for you, or you won't be able to do it. The more you worry about something you have to do, the less you will want to do it, so just making yourself get started is one of the best ways to stay motivated. You may have all sorts of excuses for mot doing something, but once you make a start you'll feel so much more motivated to continue.

2. Plan your time and stick to the plan

Having a large task ahead of you, or a big project to complete, can be very daunting, and without a clear view of how much you have to do and when you are going to do it, it can be easy to get sidetracked and put things off until the last minute.

If you have a large project at work, set aside two hours at the same time each day to work on that particular job. Be clear about which tasks you want to complete during that two hours. If you are trying to get fit or lose weight, decide on two evenings a week when you are going to do an exercise class, or go to the gym, and stick to that.

3. Set yourself targets and treat yourself when you reach them

One of the easiest ways to stay motivated is to set yourself achievable targets. If you are setting up your own business, saying that you want to be earning $40k in five years time is a far away target. Break that five years down into periods of six months and decide how much you aim to be earning in each six month period, building up to the five years.

When you reach your targets, you will feel a great sense of achievement, and if you don't quite make it you can evaluate where you could improve to make sure you are on track for the next six months.

4. Mix things up a little

Boredom with the same routine can easily cause us to become unmotivated, so if you are feeling that you need a change then make one. If you are tired of going to the gym, start running in the park instead. If you always work in your home office, try relocating to the deck for a few hours. Even small changes in your routine can be great ways to stay motivated.

5. Make time to relax and avoid burnout

Many people go head on into a project or business venture, and give it all their time and energy, only to collapse with exhaustion after six months and give it all up. One of the most important ways to stay motivated is to take time out to rest and enjoy yourself. Step back and appreciate what you have achieved, make time for a hobby, and spend a few hours with friends and family.

Perhaps some days you have planned to work, but you wake up feeling totally unmotivated. Don't take a whole day off as this will set a precedent, but it's ok to reduce the amount of work you do. Maybe decide just to work until lunchtime and take the afternoon off, but make sure you accomplish something tangible in the morning that you can be proud of to keep you motivated.

Wondering how do you change yourself? Join us now! Improve your self confidence and learn ways to love yourself. Sign up for your free course now at Rediscovery Women.

You Have To Start Somewhere

Your Power Is Timeless Experience... Get Clear

I was flabbergasted after reading most of the books written by John Harricharan, Your Holiness the Dalai Lama, and Deepak Chopra. I also read many articles and watched TV shows about them.

I discovered our experience doesnt come only from this life we are living right now. You can have spent ten, twenty, thirty or forty years learning and guiding others in your field about things on which you are considered an expert.

However, sometimes an eight-, twelve- or fourteen-year-old child can express words of wisdom to which if we humbly pay attention, we can receive a big lesson in simple words to apply in our life and be successful.

Outstanding examples of evolved souls spreading their experience through words that confused and still confuse those adults who are not open-minded were the young Jesus of Nazareth and Siddhartha Gautama.

For the mainstream way of thinking, this could sound as though it were the remains of an old ideology. Even some modern spiritual Gurus trust in somebody who has a long resume of experience and big corporations recommending her or him.

These intuitive experts cant see the most important thing is your spiritual clearness.

Somebody with a couple of months or one or two years of experience in a certain field of knowledge and who has a clear mind can download a long-time experience from a past life.

As Joe Vitale suggests in his best-selling book Spiritual Marketing when he refers to a past experience with a woman ahead of him in line to attend a seminar,

If you are truly clear about your business, you dont even need business cards. Business just comes to you. Your inner spirit does your market.

He beautifully explains that sometimes, an event such as a seminar is already booked up before the publicity flyers are sent out.

As soon as a person is clear about what he really wants in life and it fits with her purpose for being here on earth, every kind of abundance comes into that life: health, wealth and happy relationships.

Wayne Dyer talks a lot about Satori in his writings, recordings and speeches. It is an instant awakening. Long years of training and meditation are not really necessary.

Dr. Dyers puts it this way, You are complete right now. You dont need anything else to succeed. Even a child is complete in the level he is right now.

Sonia Choquette in her workshops, especially the one called Trust your vibes, raises the spirit of the participants with a spiritual speech, music and songs, and by sharing her vibrating energy with them.

She very openly and clearly says, You dont need another seminar, another workshop, read another book. You are complete and perfect souls right now. Wake up. Do your job. Let your happiness out.

Jan Brogniez and Stacey Hall - authors of Attracting Perfect Customers and creators of the concept of Strategic Synchronicity are good examples as to the way clearness works to allow someone to become an overnight expert.

Jan explains, Its really not that we are in the magic business, its more that our process which is very strategic in nature, allows people to get very focused on what is perfect for them. And because of that clarity and focus they begin to attract things that seem to come with synchronicity. And they come with more frequency than when we are not clear and not focused.

Stacey continues:

Well, Ive got to share that the inspiration came from within ourselves. Yes it seems strange. Yes others have written about the Law of Attraction, which is the foundation that the strategic attraction process is built on. However, I have to admit I hadnt read anything about the Law of Attraction, and Jan only had a little bit of knowledge about it.

If we first go within, and are clear about what we want to provide, and stay true to that, then we will start to attract people, who want the same thing. That is the Law of Attraction.

It was only after that awareness that we would start to read what others were speaking about the same subject. People, like Wayne Dyer, Laura Day with Practical Intuition, Catherine Ponder in The Dynamic Laws of Prosperity.

Where it begins is by being clear about who you are and whats at your core first. Then youll know why youre doing what youre doing. And who it is you are meant to be serving.

This would be surprising even for some gurus, and sometimes hard for them to accept. As soon as an evolved soul starts serving and loving, a new expert appears to help the world.

Even if others senior gurus dont support her or him with their testimonials, the new guru will unstoppably share with humanity, collaterally creating abundance of health, wealth and happy relationships.

I am not scorning or denying gurus are helping us to grow spiritually. Many marketing gurus can help you increase your business.

The point is you cant give your power to them. When you are really clear about what you want in life, what you love to do, and what your purpose is for being on earth, just go ahead. Carol Tuttle, author of the best-selling book Remembering Wholeness: A Personal Handbook for Thriving in the 21st Century, says it beautifully, Let your life be the next miracle!

If your passion is to write a book, go for it. Even if gurus dont give you a testimonial, you will triumph. As Wayne Dyer suggests, dont be paralyzed by the way others evaluate your capacity.

Of course, this is not a message of rebellion. It is good to have a mentor. Many businesses have grown after hiring one or more consultants.

But if your learn to get clear about what you want and you feel really happy, go ahead without stopping, even if a modern guru evaluates you as going the wrong way. Its your passion, not theirs.

Take into consideration many modern gurus, even spiritual ones, give you only a beautiful testimonial and open support if you have been acting as a consultant to Coca-Cola for many years (more than ten at least.)

Never be disheartened by this. Send love out. Accept that everybody else acts according to the perfection synchronicity of the Universe and youll automatically attract everything and everybody you need to succeed.

Going back to Jan and Stacys case, early on when they stated her mission by including the phrase, generating communities in which millionaires are produced, neither one of them were millionaires.

However, because of their clearness that has become the normal outcome. As Stacey says, Many people came to play with us.

Joe Vitale says about these wonderful girls, When you lead from your heart, clients are attracted to you. Call it magnetic marketing, attraction marketing, or just easy marketing. It's pure wisdom. See what Dr. Vitale says, Pure wisdom. Beautiful!

Everything done, here there is a big lesson for all of us. If you learn to be happy, do what you love to do and whats your mission on earth, your true self will market for you.

Some gurus who doubted Jan and Staceys mission at the beginning now are willing to write testimonials for them.

Even Gurus still have some ego. Ego demands a very loaded background of marketing and data proofs to recommend somebody.

So, I advise you, the beginner, that you have just begun as a human being to discover your greatness. Your spirit is not a beginner. It already knew and knows everything about what happened, what is happening, and what is going to happen.

As gurus teach, lets remind ourselves that the only separate one is ego. All of us are the same sacred self. We are a universal mind and body, wholeness.

Lets support each other. Let us never be indifferent with others. Lets practice the Spiritual Marketing coined by Dr. Joe Vitale.

In this way, abundance will be manifested as a common trait for all human beings reflecting their spiritual beingness. Beingness is coexistence. Coexistence is timeless existence.

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined. - Henry David Thoreau. Yeah, learn to get clear. Love yourself and others.

There is one almighty awareness, thinking, compassionate awareness, of which you are from and of, infinitely kind, all knowing, all loving, distant as the furthest mote of dust in space, yet as near as the beating of your heart, here and there, before and after, always and forever. And when-so-ever you should call unto it, it answers you by name Michael Dooley.

You are a performer of miracles. http://www.tenpowerfulteachings.com

Copyright 2004 All Rights Reserved. By Pedro Avalos

Pedro Avalos, is a teacher by nature, is also writer and motivator. He has become very famous for his practical and revolutionary ecourse "How to Be Motivated for Success Every Moment of Your Life." This person has outstanding teaching credentials and many personal success stories-many people who contact him have had unbelievable results by applying these tips! Now he has summarized this course and all the experiences of more than 20 years helping people to be motivated every moment in his book TEN ENLIGHTENED TEACHINGS. http://www.tenpowerfulteachings.com.

Learning From The Four Agreement

Living With Limited Beliefs video for inspiration

Get off your butt and start your life in motion today.

Question Your Religion

You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site:

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

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

Planting The Seeds Of Suggestion
Cookie Thief

What Is Stress And What To Do About It

Stress is a fear that some resisted experience will happen unless you control something that is out of your control.

For example, you might be facing eviction unless you can pay your rent. And you don't have any certain way of making an income.

Or you might be in danger of experiencing the wrath of a person who explodes for no apparent reason.

Or you might fear condemnation and there seems to be nothing you can do about it.

The keys to unraveling this are one or more of

* Let go of the resistance. One way to do this is to feel the feeling associated with the resistance and then loving the feeling. You will be amazed at how effective this can be.

* Communicate with the people in the situation. Get yourself in a good mood before contacting the person / people. It might help to write out what you're going to say. There is no need to try to memorize this. The idea is to clarify your thinking. Then you can discuss the situation in a friendly manner. You might find that the person is helpful and comes up with solutions for you.

* Learn more about the area, e.g., get more training in the subject area so you can get more control.

* Pray. This isn't presenting a wish list to God. You can simply ask for God's help.

* Turn everything over to God. Be willing to accept whatever God sends your way.

* Put the situation in a different context. You might consider the situation to be a thrilling challenge.

* See what you can learn from the situation. Then move forward with your new knowledge.

If you keep doing one of more of the above on a regular basis, you'll expand the quality of your life. Why not give it a try?

Copyright 2006 by Jim Kitzmiller

Jim Kitzmiller is the author of Rocket Fuel for the Soul -- Blissercise Self-Help Manual. The book's bliss exercises (blissercises) surpass usual positive thinking approaches by bypassing the logical mind. The blissercises cover 46 different areas of life.

Jim leads self-help workshops and does spiritual coaching.

Is Jesus The Only Way To Heaven

How to Permanently Release the Pain of Disappointment and Rejection From Your Past

Old hurts associated with memories of past disappointments have many negative consequences on a person's life. In short they severely constrict the potential of that individual ever achieving a state of joy and fulfillment.

When one experiences a disappointing or hurtful event, be it in one's relational, work or financial life, the memory of that event gets stored in that person's mind/body, i.e. their unconscious mind, along with the associated feelings of emotional pain. These memories, if you reflect on any of them, serve to continually deplete your Life Force Energy. What is the consequence of that to you?

Well for one it is killing you! After all when one's Life Force Energy is completely drained from their Physical Body are they not therefore technically dead?

While you are still alive however, and you have such memories inside you, they "are" killing you and this is associated with many of the following experiences:

Feeling unmotivated to be in life, weak, vulnerable, sad, anxious, depressed, ill, lacking self confidence, lacking self esteem, lacking self worth, unable to trust one's self or others, like hiding or running away from life and so on. All of this equates to you being in a depleted Life Force Energy state.

You see all of one's strength, confidence, self esteem, self worth, resilience, health, courage, happiness, joy, and love for life and so on are inherent qualities of your Life Force Energy. Hence if you are being depleted of it by negative disappointing memories that you carry inside you then you are in a compromised or handicapped state. How does it feel like to "live" (that's a joke) in such a state?

Nick Arrizza MD, a former Psychiatrist and Medical Doctor is an International Life, Executive, Organizational Tele-Coach, Author, Keynote Speaker, Trainer and Facilitator who lives in Toronto, Canada. He is also on Faculty at Akamai University in Hawaii. He is the CEO and Founder of Arrizza Performance Coaching Inc. and the developer of the powerful Mind Resonance Process (MRP).

A 1 hour free introductory MRP telephone consultation is available upon request by visiting my web site or emailing me at the address below. (You will be asked to cover your own long distance telephone charges)

Email: drnick@telecoaching4u.com

Learning From The Four Agreement

The History of New Years Resolutions

The tradition of the New Year's Resolutions goes all the way back to 153 B.C. Janus, a mythical king of early Rome was placed at the head of the calendar.

With two faces, Janus could look back on past events and forward to the future. Janus became the ancient symbol for resolutions and many Romans looked for forgiveness from their enemies and also exchanged gifts before the beginning of each year.

The New Year has not always begun on January 1, and it doesn't begin on that date everywhere today. It begins on that date only for cultures that use a 365-day solar calendar. January 1 became the beginning of the New Year in 46 B.C., when Julius Caesar developed a calendar that would more accurately reflect the seasons than previous calendars had.

The Romans named the first month of the year after Janus, the god of beginnings and the guardian of doors and entrances. He was always depicted with two faces, one on the front of his head and one on the back. Thus he could look backward and forward at the same time. At midnight on December 31, the Romans imagined Janus looking back at the old year and forward to the new.

The Romans began a tradition of exchanging gifts on New Year's Eve by giving one another branches from sacred trees for good fortune. Later, nuts or coins imprinted with the god Janus became more common New Year's gifts.

In the Middle Ages, Christians changed New Year's Day to December 25, the birth of Jesus. Then they changed it to March 25, a holiday called the Annunciation. In the sixteenth century, Pope Gregory XIII revised the Julian calendar, and the celebration of the New Year was returned to January 1.

The Julian and Gregorian calendars are solar calendars. Some cultures have lunar calendars, however. A year in a lunar calendar is less than 365 days because the months are based on the phases of the moon. The Chinese use a lunar calendar. Their new year begins at the time of the first full moon (over the Far East) after the sun enters Aquarius- sometime between January 19 and February 21.

Although the date for New Year's Day is not the same in every culture, it is always a time for celebration and for customs to ensure good luck in the coming year.

Ancient New Years

The celebration of the New Year is the oldest of all holidays. It was first observed in ancient Babylon about 4000 years ago. In the years around 2000 BC, Babylonians celebrated the beginning of a new year on what is now March 23, although they themselves had no written calendar.

Late March actually is a logical choice for the beginning of a new year. It is the time of year that spring begins and new crops are planted. January 1, on the other hand, has no astronomical nor agricultural significance. It is purely arbitrary.

The Babylonian New Year celebration lasted for eleven days. Each day had its own particular mode of celebration, but it is safe to say that modern New Year's Eve festivities pale in comparison.

The Romans continued to observe the New Year on March 25, but their calendar was continually tampered with by various emperors so that the calendar soon became out of synchronization with the sun.

In order to set the calendar right, the Roman senate, in 153 BC, declared January 1 to be the beginning of the New Year. But tampering continued until Julius Caesar, in 46 BC, established what has come to be known as the Julian Calendar. It again established January 1 as the New Year. But in order to synchronize the calendar with the sun, Caesar had to let the previous year drag on for 445 days.

Global Good Luck Traditions

With New Year's upon us, here's a look at some of the good luck rituals from around the world. They are believed to bring good fortune and prosperity in the coming year.

AUSTRIA - The suckling pig is the symbol for good luck for the new year. It's served on a table decorated with tiny edible pigs. Dessert often consists of green peppermint ice cream in the shape of a four-leaf clover.

ENGLAND - The British place their fortunes for the coming year in the hands of their first guest. They believe the first visitor of each year should be male and bearing gifts. Traditional gifts are coal for the fire, a loaf for the table and a drink for the master. For good luck, the guest should enter through the front door and leave through the back. Guests who are empty-handed or unwanted are not allowed to enter first.

WALES - At the first toll of midnight, the back door is opened and then shut to release the old year and lock out all of its bad luck. Then at the twelfth stroke of the clock, the front door is opened and the New Year is welcomed with all of its luck.

HAITI - In Haiti, New Year's Day is a sign of the year to come. Haitians wear new clothing and exchange gifts in the hope that it will bode well for the new year.

SICILY - An old Sicilian tradition says good luck will come to those who eat lasagna on New Year's Day, but woe if you dine on macaroni, for any other noodle will bring bad luck.

SPAIN - In Spain, when the clock strikes midnight, the Spanish eat 12 grapes, one with every toll, to bring good luck for the 12 months ahead.

PERU - The Peruvian New Year's custom is a spin on the Spanish tradition of eating 12 grapes at the turn of the year. But in Peru, a 13th grape must be eaten to assure good luck.

GREECE - A special New Year's bread is baked with a coin buried in the dough. The first slice is for the Christ child, the second for the father of the household and the third slice is for the house. If the third slice holds the coin, spring will come early that year.

JAPAN - The Japanese decorate their homes in tribute to lucky gods. One tradition, kadomatsu, consists of a pine branch symbolizing longevity, a bamboo stalk symbolizing prosperity, and a plum blossom showing nobility.

CHINA - For the Chinese New Year, every front door is adorned with a fresh coat of red paint, red being a symbol of good luck and happiness. Although the whole family prepares a feast for the New Year, all knives are put away for 24 hours to keep anyone from cutting themselves, which is thought to cut the family's good luck for the next year.

UNITED STATES - The kiss shared at the stroke of midnight in the United States is derived from masked balls that have been common throughout history. As tradition has it, the masks symbolize evil spirits from the old year and the kiss is the purification into the new year.

NORWAY - Norwegians make rice pudding at New Year's and hide one whole almond within. Guaranteed wealth goes to the person whose serving holds the lucky almond.

Chinese New Year

Except for a very few number of people who can keep track of when the Chinese New Year should be, the majority of the Chinese today have to rely on a typical Chinese calendar to tell it. Therefore, you cannot talk of the Chinese New Year without mentioning the Chinese calendar at first.

A Chinese calendar consists of both the Gregorian and lunar-solar systems, with the latter dividing a year into twelve month, each of which is in turn equally divided into thirty- nine and a half days. The well-coordinated dual system calendar reflects the Chinese ingenuity.

There is also a system that marks the years in a twelve-year cycle, naming each of them after an animal such as Rat, Ox, Tiger, Hare, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Boar. People born in a particular year are believed to share some of the personalities of that particular animal.

Gary Ryan Blair is the inspiration behind New Years Resolutions Week - http://goalsguy.com/Events/index.html

New Years Resolutions Week was founded on the premise, that a single resolution can positively and profoundly create lasting change in your life and help to make the world a better place. To learn more, visit http://goalsguy.com/Events/index.html

Gary can be reached for media requests, television or radio appearances and speaking services at 877-462-5748 or by sending an email to Gary@GoalsGuy.com

Is King Solomon Going To Heaven

Saying You're Sorry Without Action - Time Wasting Self-Improvement

How many times a day do you hear the words I'm sorry? I use the words whenever I feel like I have done something harmful to another person.

I know people that would never even think of apologizing to someone, because it shows a sign of weakness. I don't believe in this, but at the same time, I often tire from listening to the same person saying that they are sorry 30 times a day.

It's these people I'm talking about when I mention, "Saying You're Sorry without Action". I can think of a couple of people in my life that use the word sorry as a poor excuse for their daily activities that seemed to create a repetitive lifestyle of problems.

To me the word sorry becomes meaningless, it used too much by the same person. When this becomes a problem with me, I often make a suggestion to the other person, to quit using the word sorry and start showing me some effort, by changing their life. Changing the way they do things would eliminate the need to say you're sorry, constantly.

If somebody was sincerely sorry, would it continue to happen two, three or four times in the same day. Does this become a habit that they can't seem to break? Do they do it for attention? Is this something that people do for sympathy? I can't really figure it out. Are you lacking the motivation to start solving your own problems or do you need a little help from someone.

Think about it, the next time you say you're sorry to someone. Are you sincerely sorry or is it like flushing the toilet, something you do as a response to something that has came out a you. Be a little more careful with what words you use on a daily basis.

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

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

Start Liking Yourself First

Mark Twain's View on Christianity - Changing Christian Thinking

There is a popular saying from Mark Twain about Christianity. Mark Twain - "If Christ Were Here Now, There Is One Thing He Would Not Be, a Christian."

Giving this some thought and looking around at the people that view themselves as Christians got me to thinking. Do you think, if Mark Twain were alive today, he would have the same view towards Christians and Christianity as a whole? I wonder if Christ's vision of a better world or society is what's going on today. I read somewhere, where this over 33,000 different types of Christian religions, is this what Jesus had in mind over 2000 years ago.

I don't think Mark Twain was referring to Jesus as being a bad person and Christians not wanting to associate with him. I believe it's the other way around, Jesus was an exceptional person and believed in living a life as an example towards others with kindness, forgiveness and love.

Sometimes Christians get a little carried away when they start talking about loving their neighbors like they would themselves or asking for forgiveness while choosing not to forgive others. It's hard to imagine what Jesus would actually think of modern day Christians or even what he would think about Christianity over a hundred years ago.

I wonder what Jesus would have thought a thousand years ago about Christians. Mark Twain brings up a very good point, if Christ was here today, would he be happy. If you're living a life as a Christian and following in the footsteps of Jesus, you should be proud of yourself. If not, maybe you should start thinking about changing your ways.

If you are following the path of Christ, are you following a path that has been changed and manipulated to benefit organized religion and the advancement of Christianity, or are you following the true path of Jesus. Something to think about if you're planning on spending the rest of your life in the Christian religion.

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing, marketing, and personal development. Check out one of his latest articles, What Is The Secret Of Life

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

Prosperity Thinking Like The Rich

Success Starting in Your 40s

You're going to find it hard to believe, but very seldom does an individual peak with creativity until they reach the age of 40. The average individual usually makes the most money between the age of 40 and 60. This doesn't have anything to do with retirement. Most highly creative people keep producing until they die.

If you're 55 years old and looking for a new career or can't seem to find a job in the profession you have worked at your whole life, don't be alarmed or fearful. Do you think you could start your own business? Is there something, you have always wanted to do but have put it off until retirement, or until you had enough time to do it?

Why wait, if you can't find a job in a business you never truly enjoyed, maybe you can find a new job doing something you love.

I have worked in construction for 30 years and at 44 years old started to pursue a career in writing and plan to create award winning websites and best selling books, for the rest of my life. This doesn't mean, I won't work in construction ever again, but I will become a best selling author within the next 20 years.

Most people don't take the time required to learn a new profession. If you're sincerely interested in another career, and you're 50 years old, there is plenty of people out there to give you hope and inspiration.

If you would like some proof, here's a couple successful American businessman who succeeded after the age of 40. Henry Ford is probably one of the most popular and became extremely successful after the age of 40. Andrew Carnegie, an American industrialists who transformed the steel business and did not start reaping the rewards of his efforts until he was well past the age of 40.

I gathered this information from the book "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill. There is a section in the book where he talks about people after the age of 40 with phenomenal success. Anyone who's interested in gaining wealth through spirituality or finances should read this book.

I've often heard the statement, "People Often Over Estimate What They Can Do in a Year and Often Underestimate What They Can Do in a Decade." If you want to accomplish something after the age of 40, I would advise you to start with a plan and then put that plan and the action. Your plan could take five to 15 years to achieve or longer but think about the rewards, whether spiritual or financial.

Gregory Vanden Berge is working to promote personal development ideas and spiritual reform. He has started a web site for videos and articles based on current information about subject he is very familiar with.

"Education has freed me, to pursue other ideas and release me from the bondage and fear of organized religion."

Gregory Vanden Berge

What The Bleep Do You Know

Tips to Achieve the Life You Want

Everyone has things that they want to achieve in life, some just have no idea how to get there. Now there are a variety of reasons that people do not achieve these goals as they sometimes set them too lofty or they are just flat out unrealistic. This is not to say you should not have dreams, you just need to have dreams that are realistic and that you can work to achieve. Here are goal setting tips to help you get the life that you want and deserve.

1. Make a list of things that you want to achieve in life and put them all to paper. You cannot set goals to get there if you don't have a realistic idea of what you really want. It is okay to dream here, but remember that setting unrealistic goals for yourself will ultimately lead to disappointment down the road.
2. Prioritize all of your goals and set them up in the order that you want to achieve them. Keep them in order when possible. This will aid you in setting them up in a way that each goal achieved can lead you towards your next goal.
3. Set your goals up in stages so that each goal achieved is actually a series of small goals. Doing this will get you in the habit of experiencing success and allow you to deal with setbacks much easier.
4. Be ready to reevaluate and redo your plan. There will be setbacks, it is unavoidable, you just need to change your plan and stay focused to meet your ultimate goals.

Having goals in your life will keep you focused and give your purpose. This is something that everyone should consider doing. Remember though, not everyone accomplishes everything that they want as life has a way of throwing in some unique twists and turns. This is when you step back and redo your plan and show life that there is nothing that you cannot handle!

Get more goal setting tips and discover how to set and achieve goals

Do You Believe In The Bible

Self Knowledge

Self knowledge means more personal power. You can more effectively use a computer when you know more about it, and in the same way, you can more effectively use your own brainpower, mind and body when you understand them better. There is, however, one big stumbling block to learning more about ourselves. It is our tendency to rationalize, as demonstrated in the extreme in the following true story.

Jack, while hypnotized by his therapist, was given the post-hypnotic instruction to get up and put on his coat whenever the doctor touched his nose. Once out of the trance, he and the doctor talked. During the conversation, the doctor scratched his nose, and Jack immediately stood up and put on his coat.

The doctor asked why. Jack said "Oh, I thought we were finished," and he took off the coat. A few minutes later, the doctor touched his nose again, and Jack again immediately stood up and put on his coat. "It's getting cold in here," he explained. By the third time, it was getting more difficult for Jack to explain his behavior, yet he still tried to.

Now, is this scenario really unique to hypnosis? I don't think so. We are often just assuming that we know all that goes into our decisions and actions. Like poor Jack, we feel compelled to explain ourselves, and to believe our own explanations. Of course, this isn't self knowledge, but self explanation, or rationalization, and it is one of our strongest human habits.

Self Knowledge Versus Self Explanation

When a child throws a book at his brother, and his mother demands "Why would you do that!?" What usually happens? The child answers, "I don't know," which is true, but entirely unacceptable. With five seconds to come up with an answer, the best psychologists couldn't understand the child's action with certainty, yet a five-year-old is expected to do just that.

Though he may not understand, he learns quickly how to explain himself. With this pressure to explain, it is no wonder that by adulthood, we rarely say "I don't know" when asked about our behavior. Instead, we simply create an explanation. Isn't this a problem if we want true self knowledge? How do we learn the true causes of our behavior if we already have our explanations?

Self Knowledge - I Don't Know

A better approach is to say "I don't know." If it helps, follow it with "Maybe it's because of..." and let the explanations spill out, but don't be too quick to accept any of them. It isn't always necessary to explain.

For example, suppose you are avoiding a certain person. If you never know why you are avoiding them, isn't it better to leave the question open than to accept a false explanation based on a habit of self-justification and rationalization? When you leave questions unanswered, you may someday have a better understanding. A quick answer just means a quick stop in your thinking, and less self knowledge.

Why not just say, "I don't know." Isn't it better to learn to accept your ignorance, and to keep observing yourself? Don't let self-explanation get in the way of of self knowledge.

Steve Gillman has been studying brainpower and related topics for years. For more on How To Increase Brain Power, and to get the Brain Power Newsletter and other free gifts, visit: http://www.IncreaseBrainPower.com

Listen To Your Own Advice

Daily Discipline - Self Help Tips

The best part of Super Bowl Sunday has nothing to do with football. The dozens of incredible stories of overcoming every obstacle to reach the top are the most exciting part of the day. No matter if you are a football fan or not it is a real lesson.

Kurt Warner was bagging groceries when he got a call back to the NFL. Everyone thought his career was over. Not only did he take his team all the way to the Super Bowl, 10 years later he is still playing at the top of his game. He is not the biggest, fastest or even strongest quarterback in the league. His greatness comes from the intangible qualities he brings to the game; indomitable will, competitive spirit, drive, dedication, and excellence just to name a few.

You have the chance to write your own story of overcoming all odds. Just about anything you want to accomplish in your life is possible with the right mind set, and dedication. If someone else has done a thing, why not you?

The larger the goal you want to accomplish the more important your daily discipline. Ask yourself, what did you do today to advance your #1 goal? How about yesterday and the day before?

What are you going to do tomorrow? Have you already planned what you will do? If not take a few minutes tonight before you go to bed and plan it out. Visualize what you need to do to move yourself forward to the next step. Don't wait another minute. Take action now.

The number one excuse I hear from people for why they didn't take an action toward accomplishing a goal today is that they didn't have time. If you don't have time to work on what you claim is your most important goal then one of two things are at work; either it is not your real number one goal and therefore a priority or you need to rethink your schedule and task orientation.

How many times do you think Michael Phelps missed swim practice in the 3 years before winning 8 gold medals at the Olympics last year? None.

The daily grind of just getting through the day can easily stretch through the entire day. You can spend hours staying busy answering emails, fiddling with your PDA, checking updates to Facebook, etc. 10 minutes an hour at the coffee machine can eat up 80 minutes a day. If you can find just an hour a day to dedicate toward an important goal and you can repeat that hour every single day for a year, that is 365 hours. If you wrote just 500 words a day during your hour you could write 182,500 words, the equivalent of two full length epic novels or three medium sized books.

Don't wait and get started NOW!

And as always, I am here to help you release your Inner Genius.

http://www.anthonylbutler.com/inner_genius.html

http://www.anthonylbutler.com

Angels And Demons Are They Real

When Spiritual Means Practical

In the middle of the last century, Werner Heisenberg, in the process of trying to determine the speed and position of an electron spinning around an atomic nucleus, discovered instead that it was a theoretically impossible task. His path to discovery brought him to the realization that his very presence as an observer changed the observation. Few of us reading this are - or will ever be - nuclear physicists. Yet, all of us have to cope with the problem of perspective as we try to figure out what a balanced life looks like to us right here and now. Our observation - our very awareness - of our own balance (or lack of balance, as the case may be) changes the very conditions of our observations.

Imagine yourself on a moving carousel horse. You're going in numerous directions: serially up and down, and simultaneously around in a circle. Some of parts of the carousel travel with you while you merely watch others spin by. At any given instant, where are you? At least on a carousel you can anticipate where you're going to be in the next second. Your motion is hardly random. Even so, by the time you've figured out exactly where you are in space at any given point, you're no longer there. The same thing happens when we try to figure out what 'now' means: the instant we've figured it out, it has already become 'then'!

Let's dig just a little deeper, shall we? We've just taken a quick look at the difficulties we experience trying to navigate through space and time. Even though our senses are attuned to performing this function, disorientation often accompanies on our perceptions. Now, what happens when we try to improve our life balance? Like Heisenberg, trying to focus on the process of our conscious awareness causes us to become unaware of our surroundings. We can't simultaneously exercise awareness and awareness of our own awareness. When we focus on our own process of awareness, we become less aware of our surroundings.

This sounds all very nice and philosophical, but does it have any practical application? Yes, indeed it does! The only practical way to plot our future course around the carousel is to get off the merry-go-round! Only then can we take the stance of an observer of our own process of living life. Can you think of a time in your life when you've been able to spend some time alone with your thoughts (and maybe with a mentor or adviser) to consider your short-term and long-term future? When was the last time you took a retreat from action? More pointedly, have you ever taken a retreat from action into reflection? The world looks a lot different from the sidelines. Of course, while you're on retreat, your life or business could be taking off in unforeseen (and undesirable) directions.

What if you were able to maintain your active role on the carousel and at the same time have a mirror outside the moving system that shows you your exact position in real time? Where can you find such a mirror that allows you to both live your life and stay aware of your position in the stream of its evolution simultaneously? You don't have to look very far; in fact, you already possess the capacity to perform this minor miracle. We call this remarkable (and often-overlooked) ability 'spiritual intelligence.' This remarkable intelligence (which Dana Zohar calls "the ultimate intelligence") enables you to maintain a higher perspective on the direction your life and career will assume without abstracting you from the mix. You're able to see where you're going while you're deciding where to go.

By fully embracing your spiritual intelligence, you have the opportunity to go on a 'retreat' from the daily grind at will. You get the chance to recharge your intuition and your discernment, and finely tune their functions so that your inner guidance system works smoothly and almost effortlessly. By maintaining a conscious contact with a Higher Power (however you choose to define that), your powers of discernment will allow you to cut through whatever confusion, uncertainty and fear that may threaten to paralyze your decision-making capacity. The baffling dizziness that comes from having too many options with too many consequences will begin to melt away as your destiny emerges from the fog in the light of your spiritual focus.

When you begin to appreciate the critical function that spiritual intelligence plays in informing your decision-making capacity, you'll realize that what at first seemed to be at most a marginal concern (if not just an annoying distraction) is, in reality, the most practical of all your core competencies. How clearly you see your way forward determines, to a great extent, the success of your life and career. How much more practical can you get than that? Get oriented: get spiritual!

H. Les Brown, MA, CFCC
ProActivation Coaching
Website: http://www.ProActivation.com
E-Mail: info@ProActivation.com

Join our weekly EZine and get 7 Spiritual Strategies at no cost:
Click Here to Join

Copyright 2008 H. Les Brown

Luck Is What Happens When

Spirituality and Symbols

It appears that every belief has symbols attached to it and it seems the human mind likes to use symbols, almost as Nations like to use Flags, animals and symbols to describe their domain; for instance a National Bird or a National Flag is very common. In religion and spirituality symbols are also used quite a bit.

In considering this lets think on a few symbols used in religion such as the Star of David or the Christian Cross. Now then the cross used in Christianity is an interesting symbol to want to use, because, well what if Jesus was executed by hanging, would we have the noose as our religious symbol today? That is a scary thought and it brings up an interesting point.

If the Romans used the cross to kill Jesus with, why would that be a religious symbol for Christians? If Christ lived in the day of the Guillotine and was executed that way, would Christians use that as the symbol of their faith?

It seems someone has played a very bad trick on the Christians in that they are now celebrating the cross, which was used to kill Jesus and celebrating his death as “Good Friday” and I have to ask since when is it good that the man you worship was killed?

Now then, I know the answer in that Jesus died on the cross for our sins? But I was not even alive back then, so why did he do it? Or is that explanation just a trick to get everyone to celebrate his death and use the symbol of the execution apparatus as their sign of faith? If Jesus ever came back he might be a little upset at all this stuff.

Anyway, I am sure all the biblical scholars will jump all over me for this, but none of them has ever come up with a logical answer that makes sense as to why Christians celebrate an execution apparatus of the death of their religious leader. Nevertheless, for those who are without such religions and more spiritual it is an interesting conversation, even if such discussion could be considered taboo. Consider this in 2006.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is an online writer in retirement.

6 Ways to Release Stress

We are currently living in a capitalist society where money and power rule. Therefore, many of us have become workaholics and often overlook signs of tiredness in order to stay on track. I am not saying that people should stop working hard to achieve their goals. However, there is a slight problem we do not know how to manage our stress, which is definitely not a good thing! Stress has been linked to mental/emotional (depression, anxiety, and anger) and physical illnesses (weakens the immune system). Therefore, it is more than important that you constantly work on reducing your stress level in order to maintain your overall health. The bottom line is, if we are not healthy there is no money or power that will make things better. So, take care of yourself. Below, I have added six stress releasing tips.

Exercise: even if you go for a walk for 15-25 minutes four days a week it will help your body to get rid of adrenaline and produce endorphins (a natural tranquilizer). Not to mention you will not only feel better, you will also look the part.

Yoga: Many ramble that practicing yoga is the best way to manage or release stress. It focuses on breathing techniques, exercises, connecting with the universe on a spiritual and mental level. If this option seems interesting to you I suggest you do some research in order to learn the principles and decide if it is for you.

Stretch: People often stretch before and after a workout. However, learning stretching and flexing exercises to use as a way to relieve tension on many different areas of the body can help a great deal.

Massage: We all know how massages can help us relax and release tension. Prices start around $40 for 30 minutes; it all depends on what extra relaxation techniques you would like to add to the massage such as aromatherapy, oils, etc. There are also different types of massages so this will also affect the price. I actually found a therapist that charges $33 for a 30 minute session. It sounds pretty good to me. We waste money in so many different ways so investing on a massage once in a while will not kill our pockets.

Laugh it off: Rent a funny movie and laugh out loud. Go out with friends or host gatherings. Tell everyone to bring a platter. Remember the key is to release tension not, add to it. Use paper plates and plastic cups to reduce the amount of work.

Take a break- Take time to relax, sleep, and maybe even take a vacation if you can. Your body does not only need it; you deserve it.

Live stress free,

Kenia Morales

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You may reprint this article as long as no changes are made without permission and hyperlink is maintained active.

Kenia Morales is the publisher of online magazine http://kpatra.com "For Every Aspect of Today's Woman. Visit her site to find a variety of women related issues and topics" click here http://www.kpatra.com/keniascolumn.htm to find Kenia's little piece of heaven her inspirational column

Neale Donald Walsh - Video

I Recommend Watching This Video and Then Picking up the Book If You're Interested in Any Spiritual Change

Just how big of a deal is Money in Organized Religion. Your money is used for various things and some of them, you might not really want to spend the money on. Something to think about.

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

Recommended Teen Reading List
How Do I Know What The Universe

How to Lift Yourself to Greatness

What made Henry Ford to become so successful in life and Americas' most rated industrialist? Thomas Edison had less formal schooling but he turned out to be the greatest inventor in history. There is great benefit in taking charge of your life and doing things that will lift you to greatness over the course of time.

The most profound fact concerning humanity is this: The creator gives all men control over only one thing and that is your own mind. You have the prerogative to think your own thoughts and live your own life. If you exercise this power with discretion, you may lift yourself to great heights of achievement in any field you may choose whether you attend formal schooling or not.

How then can you live your own life?

Take Responsibility For Your Life

Don't blame anyone for your misfortune. Think more about what you can do to change the situation.
You are the only one to help your build confidence. The best place to take charge of your life is your mind. Allow only positive thoughts that can trigger creative instinct in you. Encourage thoughts that will build you up and fire you to great heights of achievement.

Learn To Turn Adversity Into Advantage

What are your assets? What things do you know how to do best? What values do you cherish most. What do people like about you? Are you honest and confident? Do you know how to manage other peoples' monies?
In time of adversities, your gifts and competencies are your greatest assets. Outline them and find out a means of putting them to use.

Many years ago, a young man faced misfortune and was desperately in need of a job. He was disillusioned and discouraged. He needed a meal ticket and a place to sleep. That was all he desired. Yet he had the potential to earn a fortune if he could adopt the right attitude. It took an experienced mind coach to reveal his assets to him after some questioning. He could cook and sell effectively.

Following the counsel of his coach, he used his selling ability to persuade housewives to invite their neighbours for a home-cooked dinner and then sold them all cookware. At the end of four years, he was earning more than a million dollars a year. He took responsibility and turned adversity to riches. He became lifted up to greatness.

You too can be great. Follow this simple instruction. Learn to be live your own life. Take responsibility for anything that happens to you and finally, turn your adversity into advantage using your gifts.

Solomon Benard is a freelance writer and publisher. He shares success nuggets(Magic Keys To Success) at http://blog.benardsolomon.com

You Deserve to Feel Good 24-7!

One cannot consent to creep when one has an impulse to soar.
-Helen Keller

Imagine this scenario:

You wake up in the morning...
Geez! You feel weak!

Your heart sinks at the thought of facing the day. You are alive but feel like you don't exist-you feel numb.

It's almost as if you're looking at someone else's life through a lens. You seriously wish this wasn't your life-but it is. You are merely gliding through it like a robot. You can already feel that it's going to be "one of those" days! You look in the mirror and quickly turn away because you don't like what you see. You can't believe that the person staring back at you is actually you. You wish certain things were different about your appearance, but quickly figure out that some things just don't change-they are what make you who you are.

You have tried to act on your goals and dreams but now you think they aren't worth it. You have lost faith in them and considering how you are feeling right now, you don't even want to think about how unachievable they seem! As if to add insult to injury,others are advancing, but oh...not you! Doors are closing in your face and you don't know what to do. You convince yourself that it doesn't matter anyway, because even if you knew what to do, you wouldn't have the energy to do anything about it.

You struggle to stay positive and decide you need the help of a higher power. So, you mumble a short prayer, asking God to give you the strength to live through the day! You know that you can do more with your life but right now, you feel beaten down and definitely not like a million dollars!

Now imagine this...

You wake up in the morning...you feel powerful inside!

You feel enthusiastic about your life because you have faith and hope in your dreams. Your life is shaping out exactly as you planned. You smile from ear to ear because life is so good!

You look in the mirror and love what you see!

You are not perfect-no one is; but you still love yourself anyway. You take care of your, emotional, physical and spiritual needs. You have a healthy lifestyle and always strive to look your best. You surround yourself with people who support, respect and hold your opinion in high regard. You have chosen to feel good about your life and are ensuring that you do!You are making your life happen and calling the shots on what needs to happen or not happen. You feel confident in your ability to succeed. You know what you need to do and are able to get the results you want. Your self-belief is at an all time high and you truly feel like a million dollars!

Life has never been better...

You thank God for another beautiful day!

Ponder Point:
Dear unstoppable woman...how do you feel today?

You deserve to feel good!

Excerpt from my book: "You Deserve To Feel Good"

What every woman needs to know about doing better for herself!

Caroline Jalango is a life strategist and motivational coach for women who want to do better for themselves. She is the author of "Settle for Less No More" and "You Deserve to Feel Good" motivational books for women who want to succeed. For more topics like this, visit http://www.motivationzone.com to gain the momentum to do better for yourself and get the results you want!

Video on Bible Facts

Can you believe this guy, if you look up these verses in the Bible, you will see that there and there, but how did he come up with these ideas about the Sabbath, teenagers and the fact that the Bible is repulsive.

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

Something You Don

The Meaning of Soul Video

What is soul, is it someone dancing around to some great music or is it something inside of us, find out what two people think about the word soul.

Question Your Religion

You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site:

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

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

Faith Belief Or Education

The Power of Positive Thought

Is it possible that the worlds greatest achievers think completely differently from the majority?

Do you think the Wright brothers could ever have achieved what they did if they hadnt believed it could be done? Was Mark Spitzs seven gold medals in swimming a result of I cant do this? Not to mention Christopher Columbus imagine that!!!!

Have you ever thought that success in any chosen subject be it financial, political, sporting or in anything for that matter could be and was achieved whilst the individual was in a state of negativity. i.e. I cant do that - Thats not possible It will never work.

I myself have been in the company of negative thinkers and let me tell you that their influence if allowed to go unchecked is very powerful and destructive.

Look at what happens if you place a piece of rotting fruit in a bowl of fresh fruit

That is why it is paramount that if you want to be successful in life, you must surround yourself with positive thinking individuals and to share your positive thoughts and attitudes with like minded people.

It is also equally important that you write your goals down and place them in a position where you can see and read them on a daily basis.

In the late 1950s, 1500 students of Yale University were sent a questionnaire with topics ranging from the quality of food being served in the canteen to how easy it was to get books out of the library. However, it is the last two questions which I would like to dwell on.

1) Do you have an ambition in your life?

2) Have you written it down?

Twenty five years later, a postgraduate on discovering the existence of the questionnaires decided to carry out further research on the last two questions. Here are the results of his findings.

Over 75% of the students who completed the questionnaire had ambitions for their lives.
Only 3.3% had actually written their ambitions down.

After tracking down as many of the 3.3% (51 students) as he could he found that all of them had gone on to realise their dreams in commerce, in government and in the professions.

Of the others he had managed to contact, they told him that most of what they had achieved had happened more by chance than design. They had ended up in careers they hadnt planned for because they didnt define what it was they were actually seeking to do.

Is it therefore conclusive that by writing your goals down you are actively programming or reprogramming your brain to change the way you subconsciously perceive?

Formulate and indelibly stamp on your mind a mental picture of yourself as succeeding. Hold this picture tenaciously. Never permit it to fade and your mind will seek to develop the picture.
Norman Vincent Peale (1898-1993),
positive thinking guru

Not having been party to the experiment which was carried out at YALE, I can neither confirm or deny it. However, I would like to carry out my own mini experiment to try and prove / disprove the power of positive thinking.

On my website at www.CorrectMindFrame.com I have created a blog with the first item being a positive thought I am going to picture in my mind over the next 12 months and on the anniversary I will report on my blog what has actually happened.

I would like as many people to participate in this project and I would therefore ask if you would be so kind as to visit my site and to note along with your details a goal which you would like to achieve and confirm that you will do what Norman Vincent Peale suggested over the next 12 months. Please also ask as many of your friends, colleagues and associates to do likewise.

Gordon McAlpine is a full time currency trader. He is relatively new to the internet and in particular to positive think and mind manifesting. You can visit his site at http://www.CorrectMindFrame.com to investigate this fascinating subject in greater detail.

How to Change Your Attitude in Difficult Times

Napoleon Hill's wise words are still powerful today, especially in this time of finance crisis and uncertainty. He believed your mental attitude is the most dependable key to your personality.

In his opinion, the view you have of yourself will be the indicator of how others perceive you. For example, if you are a positive, cheerful, happy-go-lucky type of person then your family, friends and colleagues will be attracted to your personality. People will like being in your company as you make them feel positive too.

On the other hand, if you are constantly unhappy, negative and are always complaining about life, others will start to keep their distance as you also make them feel unhappy. Have you noticed his happening lately? Have people started to avoid you?

The thing is, we are what we think about. So if you think about being depressed all day - then you'll end up depressed. But what if you started to change the way you think of your situation, and you made an effort to make the best of a bad job and genuinely look at things from a difference angle, then you'll fool your subconscious mind into believing this.

Strange as it may seem, your subconscious mind does not know the difference between an artificial emotion and the real thing. So if you start to think positively you'll fool yourself into behaving positively and this will have an influence in everyone around you - including yourself.

Why not try it for a few days... after all, you have nothing to lose.

And now I invite you to find out more about how you can move forward and enrich your life to follow your burning desire and achieve success by visiting http://www.ThinkAndGrowRichSuccessNow.com

Guide For Weight Loss Surgery Success

One of the most handed down, often-quoted quotations is that "If you change your thoughts, you change your life."

It is so true...

It takes a thought to create an emotion, which in turn drives a decision to take an action.

Simple, huh?

All the self-help books, tapes, seminars, etc. show you what to do, but not what to think or how to prioritize in order to do it.

How do you change your thoughts and lifestyle in order to make the right actions?

Nowadays, we live in such a fast-paced world that we don't take the time to 'stop and smell the roses.' We are on a fast-paced train that continually runs on a regular track of toxic habits and behaviors. Sound familiar?

Well then, how do we get off this lethal train?

The first step is to recognize how we neglected to take time - the time to become calm within ourselves. By doing this, we acknowledge how reckless our lifestyles have become.

You might be saying to yourself, "Yeah, but the kids need me to drive them to soccer practice," "I have to make dinner and do the laundry, not to mention the ironing," "Oh, I am so busy with my business and the PTA. Oh, and I can't forget my church group."

Do you see and hear the insanity of it all? If you want to change something in you life, how much of this mayhem do you think you are going to fit in with what you are wanting?

Do you remember that old Calgon commercial? It had the wife/mother frantic, trying to get everything done. With her children screaming and the phone ringing, she finally runs into the bathroom, locks the door, throws up her hands and looks up shouting "Calgon, take me away!"

This advertisement said it all. She just needed a moment of peace. When we are able to take just a few minutes to be with ourselves, we can take what I like to call 'ME TIME'.

Within those brief but valuable tranquil moments, we can start making conscious, clearer decisions about what we want. And remember, changing your thought patterns can create the change that you desire.

My challenge to you is to take a hard look at how often you seize that sacred moment to be with yourself. Is it once a week? Twice a week? Ultimately, my hope is that you become mindful to do this every single day of your life.

This means escaping from all of the chaos for a few minutes. Slowing down your pace; thinking of no one but you. Self- care is essential for life balance and when we forget about loving ourselves first, we can then tumble helplessly into possible burnout, depression, addiction, etc.

The second step is awareness. To realize the more often you think new thoughts, the more often they cross your mind, the higher your standards will be. More often you will be compelled to take the actions that will make you more and more successful in that area of your life.

Treasure in...treasure out.

Garbage in...(well, you get the idea).

For instance, you can have thoughts of being a thin person, but not think of being a financially stable person.

Simply, this means you can become so focused on your weight loss, that you completely neglect your financial goals. Remembering that your thoughts create standards that oversee your actions and decisions, you can have it all. This principle pertains to every aspect of your life, you just need to be aware and focus on your life's balance. Therefore, go ahead and think of what it would be like to lose weight but don't forget to also put thought into how you are going to keep your finances in order.

Once you start reflecting on the past, it is inevitable that your thoughts will create your destiny. I challenge you to set aside some time today to reflect on what is most important to YOU.

You CAN achieve your weight loss goals and enjoy a more balanced life.

"If you change your thoughts, you will change your life."

Copyright 2006 Jeff Cadwell Positive Coaching

Jeff Cadwell
Maximum Life Coach
714-669-2928
http://www.jeffcadwell.com

"Welcome to the beginning of the New YOU!"

I am a Life Coach who is passionate about empowering people to live more robust lives -physically, emotionally and spiritually. My specialty is people who are considering or have had Weight Loss Surgery.

Structuring Your 24 Hour Day

God-Given Names

I was born David A. Hoover on January 10, 1960 in Bowling Green, Ohio. However, I legally changed my name to David Ben-Ariel (with the help of my Jewish lawyer) during the Spring of 1989. It cost me $300.00.

It also required that I take out a small ad in a newspaper announcing my intentions 30 days beforehand. I placed my ad in the Bowling Green Sentinel.

I also had to appear before a judge (it depends on what county you were born) for him to privately question my motivations. He was assured by my lawyer that I wasn't running from the law or trying to escape some outstanding debt, but that my reasons were religious in nature. The judge accepted that but wanted to impress upon me that I could have "trouble" with that name in America, without elaborating. I felt he meant because it was Jewish and/or could be difficult for some to know how to pronounce. I told him I wasn't concerned about it since I planned on moving to Israel anyway.

My reasons for changing my name were religious in nature. Why? Because I honestly feel that Ben-Ariel is a God-given name. And why would I feel that way? Because after a Hebrew class where my teacher mentioned how many people change their names when they move to Israel, I went home wondering what surname I would have in Israel, knowing my first name is already Hebrew.

I had always liked the Hebrew last name of Ben-Ammi, after reading it in Leon Uris' book Exodus, since it means "son of my people," but while thinking about it and wondering what name my father would've given me, if he would've given me a Hebrew name, I didn't know. I then knelt down in prayer and asked God what name, IF ANY, would He give me since He's my Heavenly Father, and I couldn't ask my dad because he died when I was twelve.

I expected God to perhaps lead or guide or influence me to like a particular name, but immediately ARIEL flashed into my mind and immediately I rejected it. Why? Because it means "the Lion of God" and I felt such a name only belongs to Jesus Christ, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. While wondering about the name of Ariel, I remembered that Israel's defense minister was Ariel Sharon (whom I've since met in Jerusalem and Hebron). I reluctantly decided to keep the name in reserve (since it was really impressed upon me!) until God or circumstances might lead me to accept another, and went to bed.

The Bible mentions MANY INCIDENTS where God chose to change someone's name or to name them before their birth. It is unusual but it's not unscriptural. There was Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac (Gen. 17:5, 15, 19); Ishmael (Gen. 16:11); Solomon (1 Chron. 22:9) and Solomon's nickname Jedidiah (2 Sam. 12:25); Cyrus (Isa. 44:28; 45:4); John the Baptist (Luke 1:13); Jesus (Matt. 1:21); Peter and the two brothers James and John whom Jesus nicknamed "sons of thunder" (Mark 3:16-17); just to name a few.

God promises to give us each a new and unique name in the Kingdom, either in place of or in addition to our current one (Rev. 2:17), as well as sharing Jesus' new name and bearing the Father's name as Priest-Kings (Rev. 3:12, 14; Ex. 28:36; Lev. 8:9). God has many name or titles, descriptive of His wonderful qualities and characteristics (Isa. 9:6). The Jews even teach that God's Hebrew name Elohim (literally Gods) is plural due to the fact that God is too great to be constrained to one name, and is used in the sense of the royal "We." That's why Elohim said "let us...." We understand that it's also because there's presently two God-Beings in the one Kingdom of God, like Adam and Eve were two separate people who both shared the surname Adam as one family unit (Gen. 2:24; 5:2; John 10:30).

God has His reasons why He would change someone's name and who are we to question Him? The April 1980 issue of The Good News Magazine (published by the Worldwide Church of God) carried an article called "History of the Church" that helps us to understand why Jesus changed Simon's name to Peter: "...and He gave him a surname prophetic of the moral and spiritual strength he would eventually demonstrate. Jesus bestowed upon him the new name, before he had earned it that it might be an incentive to him to realize what Jesus had expected."

After going to bed, about to fall asleep, Isaiah 29:1 flashed into my mind. What's amazing is that I had never memorized that Scripture! It reveals that Ariel is a nickname for JERUSALEM! I now understand why God the Father had chosen Ariel for me. Anyone who knows me knows that Jerusalem is always on my mind (Jer. 51:50), especially after my first visit there to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) in 1980. God has shown me that He's stirred me up and given me a burning desire for Jerusalem and Israel (Isa. 62:1, 6-7). I finally realized that God was calling me a "SON OF JERUSALEM."

I got out of bed, got down on my knees with tears in my eyes, and thanked God for truly knowing us inside and out, just like His Word says, and embraced the new name God had given me! I also accepted it as a SPIRITUAL GOAL: to live worthy of one named after holy Jerusalem and all that it ideally represents.

I end my prayers facing Jerusalem every night with "Yerushalayim shel Zahav" (Jerusalem of Gold), a plea for Jerusalem to fulfill its calling (2 Chron. 6:38-39; Dan. 6:10). Later, I began to understand how Ariel can also refer to Judah and King David. Since my family tree is traced back to the British and Scottish Royal Families (the Royal House of David) it's also befitting that Ben-Ariel can mean "son of David" and "son of Judah" (whose tribal emblem is the lion).

I'm convinced that the God of the Bible, the God of Israel, and the God of my forefather David, has blessed me with the name of Ariel. Even if I chose Ariel for myself -- which I did not, I originally objected to it -- there wouldn't be any harm in that since such a practice is Biblical: "One shall say, I am the LORD'S; and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand unto the LORD, and surname himself by the name of Israel" (Isa. 44:5).

God surnamed me Ariel back around 1982, however it wasn't until 1989 that I finally changed my name legally. I knew that even though God had given me the name that I didn't necessarily have to change my name. I was also hesitant to do so because I am the only son and the only Hoover males alive (that I'm aware of) were my grandfather and myself. I didn't want the name to die out, not that I'm married and have any sons anyway (although God assures His "eunuchs" that we'll be given excellent and eternal names - Isa. 56:5). I began to see that Hoover was possibly an Anglicized form of the German Huber (since many immigrants changed their names upon arrival in America).

I also didn't want to hurt or offend my grandfather (Arthur Hoover of Risingsun, Ohio) or possibly get disinherited, but I made up my mind that since I was about to seek citizenship in Israel, starting a new chapter in our family history, I was going to take the lead and change my name. My grandfather ended up dying about four months before the fact, unaware of what I planned to do. So now I've been David Ben-Ariel for years and my family and friends are used to it.

My God-given name is ESTABLISHED BEFORE GOD who mentions Jerusalem twice in it: the City of David and Ariel.

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

Attic Odors And Strange Smells

Addiction and God

From M. Scott Peck's Further Along the Road Less Traveled: The Unending Journey Towards Spiritual Growth comes the following wisdom:

"Addicts are people who have a more powerful calling than most to the spirit, to God, but they simply have the directions of the journey mixed up."[1]

This is certainly true from my life experience; if those who develop dependencies and addictions need something or someone, it's God--and it is God and only God who can get them out of the entangled slavish mess that has become their lives.(Suits, reputations and flash possessions can't hide the truth.Addiction can touch anyone.Lives unravel suddenly without warning.)

These unfortunates seek a revelation or an escape from the pains of life, or both.Both of these things are available in God.He helps us see the revelation and gives us strength to cope with the day-to-day as well as the troublesome in the whole of our lives.

He deals with our brokenness lovingly, gracefully... perfectly.

Perhaps there is also the role here for Satan in mixing up the mind of the addict so they are positively confounded in their search for God and truth.They're blinded by the Liar.

Addicts and those dependent on substances are more passionate and polarised in their views than almost everyone else.Passion is not lost on God; in fact, passion to worship and serve God is the elixir of true life.I've seen dozens of turned-addicts and those who've left dependency become fervent, powerful spokespeople for God.There are millions who've been raised literally from the dead or dying, having taken this path.God is the only Saviour.

The fact that chemical addicts crave the experiences that most resemble a spiritual awakening is compelling in itself.Spiritual experiences that are felt in worship can closely resemble the euphoria of drug and alcohol use, but the source is so pure, the experience so purely loving.It can be believed in truth.

Addiction and God truly go together but not at the same time.

There has to be a 'jumping off point' for the addict or dependent person.They cannot travel with God until they take this 'leap of faith.'It's a sure and certain fact.This step demands a brutal, total honesty with no holding back--a frank admission of the depth of the problem and that salvation is wholly dependent on God.

The king of liars is the one, however, who will tell the addict or dependent person that it's okay to seek God paralysed in inebriation.Satan will seek to keep this person as blind as a bat!

Don't listen to the lie, addict.Go alone with God; trust him alone; find new and true, faithful friends who know how to deal with your condition and do what they say, and you will make it.

And freedom will at last and finally be yours.Then you must keep it.Once you get a taste of this real freedom you will want more, and that will keep you straight.

Copyright 2009, S. J. Wickham. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

[1] M. Scott Peck, Further Along the Road Less Traveled: The Unending Journey Towards Spiritual Growth (New York, Touchstone/Simon & Schuster, 1993), p. 137.

Steve Wickham is a safety and health professional (BSc) and a qualified lay Christian minister (GradDipDiv). His passion in vocation is facilitation and coaching; encouraging people to soar to a higher value of their potential. Steve's key passion is work / life balance and re-creating value for living, and an exploration of the person within us.

Peter Kreeft