Stress Strategy: Flex Your Spiritual Muscles

In his book, Stress Without Distress, Dr. Selye suggests that a person’s interpretation of stress is not dependent solely on an external event, but also depends upon the perception of the event and the meaning he or she assigns it. So, how you look at a situation determines if you will respond to it as threatening or challenging.

It has been discovered that the mind is responsible for the problems we find in our bodies. It is our attitudes that cause our physical problems. We create our own internal stress caused by our beliefs, attitudes, emotions, and reactions to ourselves and the world around us. Because of the way we choose to perceive life, we decide whether we are going to add stress to our lives, or instead, to keep stress at a low level. If we maintain a harmonious attitude and positive outlook, we eliminate much stress that would occur if we were negative and resisted the flow of life.

The Earth could be likened to the ultimate University, where we are here to learn and grow. We add stress to our lives because we are learning. There is a lesson to be learned in every triumph as well as failure. Look for the lessons in your life. Listen to your inner wisdom and let your intuition guide your decisions. The more you are willing to learn, the more stressful your life may become. However, the more willing you are to accept the help that’s available to you, the more help you will receive. The more involved you are in your relationship with Spirit, the smoother and more peaceful will be your journey. The more you can trust, the more you can let go, the more you let God take care of you, the more peace you feel.

Bad things do happen to good people. It is your response to it that matters. In times of change, exercise your spiritual muscles: faith, love, and hope. Your ultimate life assignment is to treat the negative stuff in life like it is a gift. Because the way you choose to see it and deal with it will make it either a divine or disastrous experience. Each of your life moments leads to a way of being. But your life is one continuum and is not defined by one chapter or experience. People who hold on to negative events hold themselves back emotionally, physically, and spiritually. You must let go, find the meaning in the experience, and evolve.

Stress is a factor in everyone’s life. Each burden you carry is an opportunity for spiritual growth—carry yours with grace and dignity. Find the meaning in the moment even in the uncomfortable times. Spend time reflecting alone to find the meaning. You alone have the task of assigning meaning to your life’s moments. While living on the physical plane, your faith and belief will be put to the test, especially under stressful situations.

When we are stressed, we are disconnected from divine source. We have thoughts of “Why me?” “Why now?” Healing begins with letting go of the past that haunts us, forgiving those who have hurt us, and getting in touch with our higher selves. Feeling whole is when our spirit, mind, and body are integrated. Being balanced is when we do and “be” the right amount everyday.

Handle your emotional reactions. Remember that anger is of the past and fear is of the future. By choosing to let go of the past, we can sweep out all the ashes that weigh us down and subtly affect every aspect of our health, our relationships, and our peace of mind. How great it feels to let go! How energizing! And the more we practice the art of letting go of all negativity, the better able we are to devote our thoughts, our time, and our energy to living joyfully in the present, whatever age we happen to be. Your spiritual path is meant to be light and free, not burdened by past memories of events or hurts.

Someone once said, “A grateful mind will eventually attract every great thing.” Developing an attitude of gratitude for what your life is and how it has helped you evolve and learn important lessons is crucial to increasing your energy field. And it is a really easy way to feel good! Presence is being in the now. Develop the ability to accept whatever is before you. Have faith that things will be o.k., no matter how bad it looks. Transform your stress emotions (anger, fear, lack) into peace emotions (love, trust, abundance) by using the power of acceptance, forgiveness, compassion, understanding, and higher-level thinking.

You can overcome any physical lack or limitation with spiritual solutions, if you but seek them out and bring them into your awareness.

***This article is adapted from Get Smart! About Modern Stress Management: Your Personal Guide to Living a Balanced Life by Michelle L. Casto

Copyright 2003

About The Author

Michelle L. Casto is Owner of Get Smart! and is a Whole Life Coach who resides in Corpus Christi, Texas. She is the author of the Get Smart! LearningBook Series, books on romantic relationships, career development, and stress management.

Her coaching practice is Brightlight Coaching, she helps people come up with bright ideas for their lives and empowers them to freely shine their bright light to the world. Visit virtually: www.getsmartseries.com and www.brightlightcoach.com

coach@getsmartseries.com

Work Life Balance And The Power of Positive Thinking

It’s important to get a handle on mood swings or energy shifts if you want to maintain your work life balance and be successful in business. According to psychologist and researcher Martin Seligman, some folks appear to be hardwired to respond optimistically and hopefully to work life balance upset and life’s ups and downs. Others are wired for opposite responses. Fortunately, you do not have to settle for the wiring you were born with. With practice you can improve your resilience and your hopefulness by acquiring solid positive thinking skills.

I like to think of the process of building hopefulness, resilience and positive thinking skills as an analogue to building physical fitness: it takes attention, concentration, commitment, and repetition. If you approach a workout program with those qualities, you can almost always improve your fitness.

The first hurdle to get over is the belief that you already need to be different in order to succeed. You don’t. You are the way you are and you can start from here, overwhelmed, worried, anxious, whatever. Don’t fall into your story about how you feel, but take a stand for what you intend to accomplish to restore your work life balance and where you plan to go. You do not need to feel better before you try these practices — do them now. Another caveat: Do not interpret your progress in the short term — measuring increase in strength and endurance after a single workout would be silly.

Seligman points out that people with an optimistic approach to life habitually accept positive thoughts and dispute negative thoughts. Those of us who are wired to be more pessimistic tend to dispute the positive and accept the negative. Optimists tend to assume that their life balance will be restored, good events will happen again and that bad events are an exception; pessimists assume the reverse. I am oversimplifying his rigorously considered arguments, and I encourage you to read the book if the science of this is important to you.

Here’s a practice he recommends for shifting from hopelessness to hopefulness. I successfully use it with my clients to help them restore their work life balance. He calls it ABCDE for:

Adversity — Beliefs — Consequences — Disputation — Energization.

A - Adversity
Start by spelling out the nature of the situation. Notice that you can experience hopelessness in response to ostensibly positive situations as well as to negative ones. For example, getting a new client or being accepted into a final round of interviews can upset your balance and send you into a whirlwind of anxiety and fear that produces just as much hopelessness and overwhelm as not getting the job or not making the cut.

B — Beliefs
This is your opportunity to spell out the thoughts and beliefs that are fueling the negative response.

C — Consequences
Look at the consequences of your beliefs — what happened as a result? How do you behave? What happened then?

D — Disputation
Actively dispute the beliefs that break your life balance and send you into the downward spiral. This is where you practice arguing with yourself in a productive way.

E — Energization
When you have been effective in disputing the problem beliefs, you feel an influx of energy, a sense of renewed hope, or at least of peacefulness.

So, here’s an example from my life:

Adversity:
I was excited about moving forward on two projects when I fell on my bike and cracked my ribs. I was okay and working hard with this for almost three days, then depression and anxiety set in and my usual positive thinking ability left me. Instead of feeling like moving forward I felt like bursting into tears.

Beliefs:
How will I ever restore my work life balance and get things done if I can’t stop these mood swings? Maybe I am just not meant to lead these projects. I don’t know enough and I can’t seem to get started — I probably should have said no in the first place. It would be better to bow out now, as embarrassing as that will be, than to keep going and have a bigger train wreck later when I just can’t make the grade.

Consequences:
These beliefs leave me feeling very sad and small, like a six year old, and then I wonder how a six year old can possibly be a leader. I find it hard to concentrate and I just want to hide.

Disputation:
Constant low-grade pain can take it out of anyone. The world is not going to come to an end if you delay things because you’ve been injured. And who says you have to do it alone anyway? Some of the problem is that you don’t have enough information to go forward. That calls for making requests of others, not for blaming yourself. And when you’re not leaning on yourself so hard, your positive thinking ability starts coming back and your mood lightens — so maybe it would be smart to cut yourself some slack this week after letting folks know what is going on. You don’t have to crawl under a rock — you can reach out instead to restore your work life balance. And even if some work projects end up being passed on to others, there will always be other opportunities.

Energization:
I called and emailed colleagues to regroup. Not only did these conversations relieve my anxiety, they made simple next steps quite clear. In one case, my summary of a conversation ended up being exactly what our group needed to move forward. Who knew? I had been worried about making things happen on my own when all along my strength was in articulating and clarifying complex input from many sources.

See how this works? I do strongly recommend the book as there are many more practices in it that address different aspects of overwhelm and ways to restore your work life balance. But if you struggle with hopelessness and challenge yourself to work through this one exercise on a regular basis (and if that means five or ten times a day, so be it), your positive thinking skills will grow and you WILL get relief. Remember — don’t measure change before it can happen — keep doing the practices long enough for significant positive shifts to take root and grow.

Molly Gordon, MCC, is a leading figure in business coaching and personal growth coaching, writer, and a frequent presenter at live and virtual events worldwide. Join 12,000 readers of her Authentic Promotion® ezine, an invaluable small business marketing resource helping you grow your strong business while you feed your soul, and receive a free 31-page guide, “Principles of Authentic Promotion.” Don’t miss Molly’s articles on work life balance which will help you change course without abandoning the destination and help you restore your work life balance.

Empowering Women to Empower Their Men

Everyone woman has in her the ability to help her man grow from failure to excellence. In other words, she was built with the necessary components to take his small vision and expand it to something grand.

But just as she has the ability entrusted to her by Almighty God to help her man grow, if not used wisely this same ability can be used to hinder or stunt her man’s growth.

Every woman wants a great man. That is where the problem lies because you may have a great man but you can’t see it. If you look at what he has by the world’s standard or if you compare him to what the religious mind says, then he may not amount to much.

Based on what we are conditioned by television and other media to think about what a real man should be like maybe your man does not measure up. He doesn’t talk right. He may not have good ideas. He doesn’t have a good paying job, or he may not have a job at all.

No matter what his status, it is not your job to speak to and/or about what he is or is not and judge him by the world’s standard. It is your job to look at him and to speak to him as if you’re seeing him the way God saw him when He was creating him.

Whether you see it or not, God created this man to be a king. To rule and dominate in His stead on earth as if God himself was walking the earth… and you his queen by his side.

When you begin to look at your man, no matter what state he is in now, from the eyes of God, then you will see the vast treasure that lies within him. A treasure that is needing and begging to be cultivated and incubated by your words, your wisdom, your beauty and every gift that God has put inside of you.

There is a scripture that reads, “without a vision the people perish.” Even worse than that is to have two or more visions competing within the same household. Wherever there are two or more visions within the same house you have a “di” vision. The prefix “di” means two. And house with two or more separate visions is house divided and house divided cannot stand.

Oh woman! Great and mighty that you are… See and know that your vision and his vision are one. And the only true way to savor God’s blessings is to look into his eyes and see the mirror of your soul and know without a doubt that when you help him rise to be all that he can be that you rise too.

**********************************************
Gil Bryan is a motivational speaker, teacher, trainer, and
the author of a new book called, “Why Does He Do That?
The Key to Understanding Why Men Do What They
Do In Relationships”. ==> http://www.GilBryan.com
To get a free sneak preview of this book send a blank email
to: WhyDoesHe_prev@sendnow.net
**********************************************

Don’t Worry, Be Happy!

Philippians 4:6do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

Have you ever been worried about anything? Worried about how you were going to get money to pay the bills? Worried about how you were going to pay for that new water pump that your car needs right now? Worried about whether or not you will ever find the right mate? Worried about whether the food in the refrigerator will last until your next payday? Worried about being terminated in the lay off? Worried about how you were going to make ends meet?

Worried just about anything and everything that may happen or could happen in your life?

Worried about being out by yourself at night because you are worried you might get raped or mugged? Worried that a bomb threat may be closer to home then you would like? Worried every time your child walks out the door alone? Worried about why everything seems to be going wrong in your life? Worried about whether or not your partner or spouse is cheating on you? Worried about that wrinkle or that new gray hair? Worried about your weight?

We spend an awful lot of time “worrying.”

Why is that so?

We all believe in God, right?

We all believe that the words that are in the Bible are true, right?

Then why are we so worried?

The Bible tells us, do not be anxious (worried) about ANYTHING.

When I first read that and understood it, I was elated.

You mean to tell me I have NOTHING to worry about! That was great news to me. Why? Because it eliminated a lot of unnecessary stress in my life.

All I had to do was pray and thank God, in advance, for him handling my seemingly “troubles.”

That was incredible to me.

Do you fully understand the meaning to this?

This means that if you are worried about NOT being able to pay your billsDON’T.

All you have to do is tell God what you want, thank him for it, and then forget about it.

Is that, or is that not INCREDIBLE?

Let’s say you are laid off from your job. What we usually do is sit around, moping and saying to ourselves and to anyone else who is willing to listen, “Oh, woe is me. I don’t know where I’m going to get my next dollar. I don’t think I can make it. I don’t think I can survive.”

When we are not speaking this, we are thinking this, “Oh, what to do? What to do?”

But the Bible tells us NOT to do that.

See, one thing that most people don’t realize is that what you think about the most expands in your life. For instance, if you are always thinking about the fact that you lack money, you will expand the lack of money in your life.

There is no need to ever worry about anything. Instead of thinking about what you DON’T want in your life, spend your time thinking about what you DO want. By focusing only on what you DO want, you expand that in your life. What you are doing is praying to God and letting him know what you want. Don’t be anxious about it. He will take care of ALL of your needs.

ACTION POINT: Whenever you find yourself worrying about anything this weekSTOP. Eliminate that thought and focus on what you do want. Then, praise God and thank Him for it as if you already have it. You will immediately start to see changes in your life, trust me.

Don’t Worry! Be Happy!

Dawn Fields is a motivational speaker, author and life coach who teaches how to discover your life’s purpose and incorporate it into a lucrative career. Visit her web site at http://www.dawnfields.com and be sure to sign up for Your Life’s Purpose newsletter by sending a blank email to dawn@dawnfields.com
with SUBSCRIBE in the subject line. Tune in Thursdays at 9 p.m. EST to her live radio broadcast at http://www.dawnfields.com/radioshow.htm

Vision of “Someday”

The book of Revelation is an apocalypse, literature which deals with end times; things which lie beyond the ordinary range of human knowledge, things altogether foreign to human experience, or events in human history which has not yet come to pass.

Basically, all apocalyptic literature has the same plot: an evil force controls the earth; the faithful are in trouble, God goes to war against the evil force, everything is up for grabs. In one gigantic battle between good and evil - good prevails. God’s rule is complete. The earth becomes paradise.

In the final chapter of the book, John the Revelator describes how things will be at the end of history. He is depicting the final battle between God and Satan. Satan has been bound (1,000 years) released and bound again. And now God creates a new heaven and a new earth and the new city is called New Jerusalem. When evil has done its worst, when the most horrible of evil has been exhausted, when the terrible beast described vividly in Revelation 13 has brought destruction over the earth as we now know it, when the righteous have been obliterated, when God has engaged Satan in the final war and emerged victorious, from the clouds comes the New Jerusalem.

John gives us a vision of “someday” - not an image of today, not a picture of now. But its message is clear: hold on, hang in, keep going, carry on, do not give up, do not give in, keep the faith, and believe in God’s promises because in the fullness of time; in the time God has established there will be a new heaven and a new earth - New Jerusalem.

God’s living and eternal word gives enormous hope to all of us whose lives are in the grasp of powers and principalities which seem to rule the times in which we live. We feel the searing winds of adversity pressuring violently against us. But God through the Revelator reminds us this is a time for faithfulness, persistence and courage; and all those who endure to the end will be saved.

John himself was well acquainted with hard trials and tribulations. When he wrote Revelation he was aged and living in the isolation of exile on the desolate Island of Patmos as punishment for preaching the gospel. There, we are told, he worked as a chained slave in the marble mines. Now old and frail with no one to provide care and watch over him, yet writes in essence, hang on, hang on. Things will get worse - much worse, but be faithful - fear not for a New Jerusalem will come.

I praise God everyday for the truth and power of His word. I do not know what sustains you but I have experienced dark times in my life; times when the world seemed to cave in directly on me with no escape route; times when I cried out in utter pain and deep spiritual confusion, “Lord what do you want from me? Lord how long must I suffer?”

What kept me going (and keeps me going) was my faith; the faith that no matter how dark the night or how deep the valley I knew that God was in charge. It did not matter how bad life seemed to be beating up on me, I rested in the knowledge that God was working everything out according to His purpose and my good. I may have been knocked down, but glory to God, I was not destroyed. In the fullness of time, God intervened and my life was all the better for it. God gave me relief from my troubles and a touch of the “someday” experience.

I know in whose hands the ultimate victory lay. I know that when the forces of evil and destruction has done its worst; when I have been battered and abused and left for dead by circumstances; whatever triumph Satan seem to have achieved is only temporary. God will have the last word.

For the faithful, when the storms hit our lives, we are kept standing by the power and renewal of God’s love, mercy, spiritual power and the vision of “someday.”

Oh, to Be Kept by Jesus
Words by Thurston Frazier

Oh, to be kept for by Jesus,
kept by the power of God.
Kept from the world unspotted,
treading where Jesus trod.

Oh, to be kept by Jesus,
kept by His power divine.
Kept thro’ toil and trials,
kept by His hand in mine.

Kept by His holy Spirit,
to me this is best of all.
I’m safe in His holy keeping,
He’ll ever hear my call.

Oh, to be kept by Jesus;
Lord, at Thy feet I fall;
I would be nothing, nothing, nothing,
Thou shalt be all in all.

To all fellow believers: As long as we remain in the body, we will patiently wait for the ushering in of the New Jerusalem. Kept by His power, we will endure what we must until the “vision of someday” is realized and the kingdoms of this world becomes the Kingdom of God. It is our hope and our strength.

Come, Lord Jesus, Come.

You have an open invitation to visit us at AMEN Ministries: Your Soul’s Service Station for reviewing spiritual services being offered, obtain spiritual refreshing and soul edification, get your daily dose of humor, browse our newly expanded Stop & Shop WebStore and to visit our prayer sanctum for quiet time with God.

Blessings to all!

Saundra

Gaming Rooms and Roulette - Some Words of Guidance

The bother involved in going to a offline gaming room can be ample reason to drop the idea if it can be avoided. Traffic congestion, the bother, and tasks at hand cannot seem worth the inconvenience only for that opportunity to wager at offline gaming room, then again if you are someone who is absolutely taken in by gaming then opting for online betting will probably be an excellent option. Don’t miss out… play the #1 internet casino gambling online here.

In fact you won’t need to leave your home for a stint of virtual gambling since you can access it easily from home if you own a fully functional computer plus, of course, an Internet access account. All the same, you’ll want to continue reading, as there’s several instructions that you positively should pick up about virtual gambling, in particular if you are still a newcomer to this field. So, take it easy with that excitation and meditate on what follows here. Here’s our crisp sketch which explains what to consider if you are looking out for a trust-worthy virtual gambling site. The first thing that I as a savvy online gamester definitely must check is an virtual gambling website of the type which can offer high winnings. Beyond, here are several alternative guidelines about picking your virtual casino gaming website.

You must always take care to ensure that the virtual casino gaming website is licensed, such as by tracking down the government certified license on the casino site. Should you be unable to trace any government certified license on any given virtual casino gaming website, don’t even attempt to try your hand with this establishment. Now we would advise you think over very watchfully the range of bonuses and promos that the virtual casino gaming website offers to its clientele. Moreover, another bit of advice is to wager at first in small amounts rather than lose big money straight off. Check first the operability of this particular virtual casino gaming operator prior to provoking some undue risk– in particular money loss… And here’s another info about virtual blackjack. It is, expectably, to remind yourself always that games of luck is all about pleasurable enjoyment and much less about making a buck. Gambling is not a career, instead it’s a hobby that intends to help you become cheery and life in general satisfying.

After observing the above guidelines, you are free to go ahead succumb to the draw of virtual casino gaming!

How to Be a Great First Date (and Get a Second!)

Okay, you’ve scored a date with a sexy somebody for Saturday night, and you’re terrified you’re going to blow it. Don’t worry; if you follow these tips, you’ll do just fine. The bonus? None of them involves getting plastic surgery or renting a Jaguar for the evening.

1. The key to being a great date is to love yourself. Nothing is more attractive than an individual who regards himself highly. It doesn’t matter of you’re short, fat, bald or hairy in all the wrong places. You’ve heard the maxim, “You can’t love somebody until you love yourself,” and it’s true, but nobody else is going to love you until you love yourself, either. Self-love attracts love like a magnet.

2. Resolve to be yourself and only yourself. Don’t tell me you’re not interesting enough, good-looking enough, smart enough. Ask yourself: Do you want your date to like you for somebody you are or for somebody you aren’t? Right. Now, be yourself, and understand that maybe your date will like you and maybe he or she won’t. Either way, you’ll live. I promise.

3. Visualize quiet confidence. For several days before your date, visualize yourself sitting with him or her and feeling calm, cool, and attractive. Really feel it! See, hear, and feel yourself laughing easily. Feel yourself smiling. Practice this while you’re waiting to order your coffee in the company cafeteria. Do it in the Laundromat. Feel it until it feels real.

4. Make a list of all the things you have going for you. A great sense of humor? Compassion? Beautiful teeth? Are you an executive at an up-and-coming company? Write down your desirable qualities and read the list several times a day. Let it sink in. Knowing what makes you special will give you confidence and an inner glow on the big night.

5. Now that you know what makes you wonderful, keep it to yourself. No need to turn the date into an infomercial: Avoid mentioning that you’re considered the unofficial mayor of your town because you’re so popular. Don’t brag about how you trounced Texas Tess in the chili competition. Allow your date to make little discoveries about you. Trust him or her to see that you’re an excellent catch.

6. View your shortcomings as positives. A healthy person will be drawn to you despite the fact that you drive a 1987 Chevette, as long as you’re kind, considerate, and funny. If you’re ten pounds overweight, there are people who will find you sexy because they’ll perceive you as being slightly indulgent. If you’re a man who’s balding and consider it a disadvantage, decide to make it an advantage. Many women see a disappearing hairline as a sign of virility.

7. Have reasonable expectations of the other person. What’s more revolting than a paunchy guy who expects his girlfriend to look like Paris Hilton? Or, a woman in a dead-end job who turns her nose up at the guy driving the 1987 Chevette? If you want to find somebody who will like you for you, be sure to return the favor.

8. Don’t stereotype. All women are not desperate to get married. All men do not fear commitment. Purge your noggin of the nonsense the media have fed you about the opposite sex. Look your date in the eye and treat him like a human being, not like somebody you must manipulate. Treat your date as you would have him or her treat you. You will be successful beyond your wildest dreams.

9. Remember, it’s a date, not a job interview. Don’t view this person as a potential spouse. Remove the pressure. See him or her as an acquaintance you’d like to turn into a friend. That’s it. Break the ice with a compliment, but avoid making overly personal remarks like, “Wow, you look hot in those pants.” Something non-threatening like, “Nice shirt,” works well because it conveys that you think your date has good taste!

10. Stay away from sex. I don’t care if you’re a man or a woman, sex on the first date is bad news. Don’t even think about it! Having sex on the first date sets up all sorts of weird and uncomfortable expectations. Furthermore, you could end up with a deadly disease. Hit the sheets only after you’re sure you’re both healthy, and that you actually like the other person. It makes for much better sex.

11. Accept the possibility that you’ll be rejected. Maybe you and your sexy somebody will hit it off. Maybe you won’t. When I was single, I often reminded myself that even Bruce Springsteen (the biggest, sexiest rock star of the time) faced rejection by the opposite sex at one time or another. So have Britney Spears, Brad Pitt, and all the other luminaries we’ve been trained to envy. Everybody faces rejection. Everybody. Not just you!

After the date is over, decide whether you’d like to see this individual again. Stop fretting that you didn’t make a good enough impression and ask yourself if you even liked him or her. Review the evening dispassionately. Is he or she someone you would choose for a friend? Did you feel good around this person?

If not, it’s probably best to move on.

If the answer is yes, proceed accordingly.

Terry Hernon MacDonald is the author of How to Attract and Marry the Man of Your Dreams (Even if You’re Not Rich, Thin, or Beautiful).

Should I try Online Dating? Why?

With the help of rapidly growing online community, online dating is becoming
a part of our personal lives that you shouldn’t miss and at
least have tried once in your lifetime for the fun and the
benefits of online dating. So why should you bother finding a
decent dating site and paying tens of bucks? :

- Expanding your dating circle. It’s easy to find fun and
attractive people from all around the world for chatting, fun,
friendship and maybe a serious relationship.

- Just Singles. There will be thousands of singles waiting for
you get in touch with them. It is not like going to a nightclub,
trying every other potents and praying for her/him to be single.

- Approaching and being approached easily. If you are the shy
type, it must be very nerve-racking to approach other sex but
with the advantage anonymity of online dating, approaching,
chatting is easier than it used to be.

- Safety. One of the most important advantages of online dating
is safety. In online dating, you dont have to reveal your
personal details unless you want to. No email address or phone
number exchange is required.

- Save Money. How much are you spending, when you go to a bar,
pub or a nightclub for a night to find other singles? Tens of
pounds or dollars, maybe more. But with the competition in the
online dating business, you can easily find very reputable sites
offering their services for one digit figures.

So you decided to give online dating a try, what must you
consider before registering for a dating service?:

- Look for dating site reviews, take recommendations.

- Determine how much you’re willing to spend.

- Dont jump into free dating sites at first as there will be
thousands of irrelevant profiles which are inactive or
inappropriate. Try a reputable dating site until you know how to
take advantages of online dating.

- Make a list of the dating sites you’re considering to join and
compare.

You have possibly been using or had used Internet for shopping.
Online dating is not
so different than online shopping. You’re shopping to find the
right person in the right place safely and cheap. So dont stuck
up in your own social circle, think big.

Remember your other half or soulmate could be waiting for you on
the other side of the world. Give them a chance. Give yourself a
chance.

Know Your Man: Being on His Side

“Stand by your man,” the song goes. “Love him and be proud of him for he is just a man.” ~ Tammy Wynette and Billy Sherrill

Remember Jackie O. and President Kennedy and more recently Hillary and President Clinton? Despite being public humiliated, they stood by their man. Stand by your man, especially in public. He may have done something wrong, in which case, chances are he will regret it if he hasn’t done so already. Support him but have a good conversation when you have a chance. This is a gesture that will be forever appreciated.

Public disgrace and humiliation are already devastating without the aggravation of having you turn your back at him or put him down in public. The scene that always comes to my mind is the one when Marilyn Monroe sang “Happy Birthday” to JFK at his 45th birthday party.

It was such an obvious teaser, and done on purpose, too. People were laughing. Even he looked embarrassed. And his wife was smiling and pretending she enjoyed the truth of her husband’s indiscretion being thrown at her face. I bet she was devastated inside. Nevertheless, she stood by her man and smiled to the very end of the provocation.

Now, if that isn’t class, I don’t know what is. Though no one is to judge the whole affair, it is certainly that, in the public eye, Jackie was a winner. Situations like this, perhaps in much smaller scale, happen all the time. It is good for a man to be supported by his spouse, at least until they get home.

A Word of Advice:

Ladies: Hurt inside, but keep your class. It is infinitely better to face misfortune standing up, than retaliate dragging on the floor.

Gents: Avoid situations which can be publicly humiliating for you and consider yourself fortunate when your spouse stands by you.

© Maria Moratto 2005

About the author

Dr. Maria Moratto holds 5 degrees and is a life and spiritual coach/educator. She promotes coaching, seminars and courses in developing the perfect life’s blueprint, which includes attracting abundance and loving relationships, time management, stress management, diversity, goal setting, career search and change, values clarification, leisure, self-improvement, college life, communication and learning styles, spirituality, natural health and lifestyle.

She is also writing two books: one on successful relationships and the other on attracting the perfect lifestyle; both coming soon. Visit her website at http://www.rx4bliss.com and sign up for a no-cost e-zine that is short, informative, and fun.
Go to her blog at: http://www.rx4bliss.blogspot.com for great discussions on these topics. Visit http://www.thedollarbillgame.blogspot.com to participate in a great prosperity game.

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