REALLY GOOD ARTICLES FOR YOUR THINKING?

WHAT YOU FOCUS ON YOU GIVE POWER TO!
By Darlene Braden

The unconscious mind has an unlimited ability to hold information; it
never sleeps, and it is always absorbing information and data. Your
unconscious intends to protect you in any way that it can; it kept you from
falling off the bed last night, didn’t it? It was aware of the edge
of the bed and kept you away from it, just far enough to be safe.

The problem is that the unconscious mind - about 97 percent of the
brain - is not very smart, at least in a logical way. For this reason, you
need to engage the conscious mind so that you will act appropriately.
The limitation is that the conscious mind can attend to only about five
things at the same time, and everything else fades to the background.
Now, five bits of information is certainly a lot less than millions of
bits of information, so you must constantly decide what those five
conscious things ought to be.

For example: If you look for all the green objects in the room, you
will find them, and if you look for all the yellow, you will see all the
yellow. If you sort for all the mean people in the world, you will find
them; when you look for what is working in your life, you will see it.
Focus on what you want. Go for what you want and keep your focus on
what you have chosen!

How about your significant other or a good friend? Is there something
about them that bugs you? Now be honest. Most people would say, “Yes,
indeed.” Now take something that bugs you and visually move it to the
background. Next, focus on something that you like and visually make
it big and compelling, full of color and life. Let it slide into the
foreground. Wow. How do you feel now?

If you choose to spend your mind capacity thinking and stewing about
negative things, sure enough, you will feel negative. I do not presume
that we live in denial; I offer the concept that we highlight what is
working rather than what is not working, in other words, what you have
rather than what you don’t have. It is interesting to note that
depressed individuals focus on what they do not have. If you ask depressed
people how they feel or what their thoughts are, they will tell you about
things that are going wrong or things they do not have.

Do you have legs? Some people do not. Do you have food? Some people do
not. Do you have a job? Some people do not. No matter what your
circumstance, you have something to be thankful for.

Focus on what you have, what you want, what is good, and what can be
changed, and move forward in your life.

Author Profile: Darlene Braden is the author of - What Stops You?
Overcome Self-Sabotage Personal and Professional. Do you want to achieve
your dreams, goals and visions? Darlene’s F*R*E*E eBook shows you how.
The BALANCE LIVING WHEEL Assessment will help you to have the life you
have always dreamed of. http://www.whatstopsyou.com/balancedwheel.html
-------------------------------------------------------

IN-JOYING YOURSELF
(Author Unknown)

There ought to be an action-verb for being in joy. It is so much a
choice and so much an action. Joying starts with an open communion with the
universe. Just sitting in the presence of all that is and being
thankful that you are a part of it.

Joying is appreciating the littlest of things. Joying looks under every
rock and expects something good to pop out.

Joying paints a smile on the face and puts a pep in the step and looks
forward for things to match it.

In times of testing, joying reaches into a promise that lines up the
universe and refuses to lose its peace until the promise comes to pass.

Joying tends to be playful and child-like. It likes to skip through
life, discovering new things to enjoy.

Joying is being grateful. Treasuring each moment, for it could all be
gone in an instant.

Joying desires others to experience its same comfort. It grows as it
gives of itself.

Joying refuses to murmur or grumble and throw away peace. Joying
reflects a smile and blesses everyone in eye or ear shot of it.

Joying is never exhausting, for its every action gives life to the
heart. It steps on fear, dances on depression and stomps on sin.

Joying is beyond happiness or things dependent on happenings. Feeling
good is its reward not its goal.

Joying is the very act of enjoying all who enjoy us, forever.
-------------------------------------------------------

MEAN MOMS
By Will Sherwood

We had the meanest mother in the whole world!

While other kids ate candy for breakfast, we had to have cereal, eggs,
and toast. When others had a Pepsi and a Twinkie for lunch, we had to
eat sandwiches. And you can guess our mother fixed us a dinner that was
different from what other kids had, too.

Mother insisted on knowing where we were at all times. You'd think we
were convicts in a prison. She had to know who our friends were, and
what we were doing with them. She insisted that if we said we would be
gone for an hour, we would be gone for an hour or less.

We were ashamed to admit it, but she had the nerve to break the Child
Labor Laws by making us work. We had to wash the dishes, make the beds,
learn to cook, vacuum the floor, do laundry, and all sorts of cruel
jobs. I think she would lie awake at night thinking of more things for us
to do.

She always insisted on us telling the truth the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth. By the time we were teenagers, she could read our
minds.

Then, life was really tough! Mother wouldn't let our friends just honk
the horn when they drove up. They had to come up to the door so she
could meet them.

While everyone else could date when they were 12 or 13, we had to wait
until we were 16.

Because of our mother we missed out on lots of things other kids
experienced. None of us have ever been caught shoplifting, vandalizing
other's property, or ever arrested for any crime. It was all her fault.

Now that we have left home, we are all God-fearing, educated, honest
adults. We are doing our best to be mean parents just like Mom was. I
think that's what's wrong with the world today. It just doesn't have
enough mean moms anymore.
-------------------------------------------------------

THE ART OF LETTING GO
by Thelma Mariano

It has been six months since I left the corporate world – and there
are some things I will always miss. Like saying good morning to
colleagues on my way to the office where I worked every day. Or getting caught
in the excitement as we prepared for another big meeting or
presentation.

I now realize what a huge transition this was, moving from a corporate
headquarters with hundreds of employees to a small home office of one.
Though I would never trade in my current life, with its freedom and
independence, I lived in that other world for 31 years…

… And I still feel the pangs of letting go.

At different points in our lives we all experience the difficulty of
letting go – not only physically but with our hearts and minds. We may
need to do this with our relationships, careers or sometimes the place
we call home.

Even destructive relationships can be hard to walk away from. Author
Casey Clair, in Still Single, speaks of the emptiness of her five-year
affair with a married man and “the hours of self-doubt and
unhappiness” that plagued her. She writes: “It all coalesced into a wound that
even I couldn’t ignore.” It was the pain that finally forced her to
leave him.

We may also have to face the loss of our health or abilities through
illness or an accident. When change is thrust upon us, it is often more
taxing than when it’s our decision. Either way letting go is never
quick or easy.

No matter whom or what YOU need to let go of in your life, here are
ways to get through the process.

* Allow Yourself to Grieve
Ironically it is your own resistance that causes you the most pain. The
more you resist giving in to emotion, the harder it becomes to get
through this transition. Stoicism does not lend you strength. It is more
helpful to re-live the good moments of the relationship or situation you
must leave behind and acknowledge what it has given you. Then let the
tears come.

* Share Your Experience
You may need to talk about the changes in your life. This is the time
to turn to supportive friends or family members. Or even to strangers
who understand what you’re going through.

Faye, a violinist and writer who suffered the loss of her parents
followed by that of her beloved cat, says, “The one thing that’s made
any letting go easier is finding people who have gone through exactly the
same experience.”

It may also be reassuring to read about others who have been at the
same crossroads - where the past is still so close you can touch it, and
the future too dim and vague to offer much comfort.

A couple of times in her life, though, Faye experienced losses that the
people around her could not relate to. “At the bottom level,” she
says, “we face letting go alone, in the night. It’s really about
hope.”

* Learn to Accept
Children grow up and leave home; relationships evolve and people move
on. This is life. As put by actor William B. Davis: “It struck me
while I was sitting here; everything changes but the sea.”

There is a season to everything, and the timing of change is usually
not within our control.

Looking back, you will likely realize that you also had no say when
that particular relationship or situation began. C.A. Dowler is a career
and business mentor. In talking about her process of letting go, she
points out: “As I had no control over when and how that wonderful thing
came into my life, I have no right to now hold on to it when it’s
ready to go.”

There IS a gap in your life. What you feel is the absence of what you
had before. Yet it is only through acceptance that you can let in the
new, whether it’s another person or set of circumstances.

* Embrace the New
When a toddler reaches for something different, she can easily drop the
thing she was holding. Releasing is something we are able to do
naturally, but as we grow older we learn to hang on tight. Part of the reason
is our longing for the familiar and our fear of the unknown. We
don’t know what lies around the next corner, or if we can ever again find
the happiness we see ourselves losing.

It takes courage to really let go. You have to trust that what is now
coming into your life is what you most need. Then take a deep breath,
and let yourself turn another page.

Copyright © 2003 by Thelma Mariano

Author Profile: Thelma Mariano, life coach and author, is dedicated to
bringing clarity and direction to people's lives. See her on-line
coaching programs, articles and column at http://www.u-unlimited.ca
-------------------------------------------------------

HOW TO CUT FUEL COSTS

Obviously driving less, using mass transit, biking, walking or
purchasing a fuel efficient vehicle are the best ways to cut your fuel
consumption. But for those times where driving a car is a necessity, here are
some tips:

1. Don't be a jerky driver: Jumpy starts and fast getaways can burn
over 50 percent more gasoline than normal acceleration. Use cruise control
once accelerated.

2. Drive slower: According to the U.S. Department of Energy, most
automobiles get about 20 percent more miles per gallon on the highway at 55
miles per hour than they do at 70 miles per hour.

3. A well maintained car (oil change, fuel filters, tire pressure,
alignment) gets an average of 10 percent better fuel efficiency.

4. Turn off your engine if you stop for more than one minute. (This
does not apply if you are in traffic.) Restarting the automobile will use
less gasoline than idling for more than one minute.

5. Decrease the number of short trips you make. Short trips drastically
reduce gas mileage. If an automobile gets 20 miles per gallon in
general, it may get only 4 miles per gallon on a short trip of 5 miles or
less.
-------------------------------------------------------