Yellow Pages Antarctica

“Wilderness is not a luxury but a necessity of the human spirit, as vital to our lives as water and good bread.”
Edward Abbey

This quote accurately describes a fact; a fact that, in this day and age, is obscured by the flashiness of videogames, computers, and electronics. Unfortunately the way Abbey portrays this can be interpreted to signify being in the wilderness is a chore. This is not true, as being in the wilderness can be a wonderful revitalizing experience. Electronics can easily cause a sensory overload. When in the wilderness, the lack of this overload allows us more time and a better environment for inward self- reflection. People should spend more time outdoors. If they did they would slowly begin to realize how wonderful it is.

The wilderness is, after all, an immense fantastic place. However when compared with television and mp3’s seems rather primitive and primordial. Many humans across the globe have become so accustomed to the electronic stimulus, that if you take it away, these people would feel somehow empty or void. This is because they are blocking out their natural self, their ability to see a place teeming with life and enjoy it. The wilderness is the place where all life comes together. It is the root of life, where everything lives and dies.

Unfortunately in this technologic era, city dwellers experience little to naught about the wonders of the mountains, trees, plains, rivers, and forests. This makes it easy for one to push the thought of the wilderness to the back of one’s mind. As one of America’s great nature writers, Sigurd Olson said:

“Wilderness to the American people is a spiritual necessity, an antidote to the high pressure of modern life, a means of regaining serenity and equilibrium.”

This is absolutely true, and demonstrates that it is necessary for people to take some time away from cell phones and pda’s, and spend time outdoors, if they wish to remain spiritually balanced. In order to counteract the high intensity work environment of this time, people need to spend some time outdoors. However this does not just mean to go tanning on the beach, this means to really experience it for yourself by getting out there and interacting with nature in any number of different ways, including hiking, or climbing.

The nature of modern-days ever-advancing technology leads humans to become more and more dependant on it. We need to severe this link of dependence and make it one not of necessity, but one that is only used for luxury and productivity. This way we would be able to more fully appreciate the wilderness. After all what would happen if a meteor struck? What about a hurricane or tornado, where people would need to start all over? Would any body have the necessary skills to survive?

The wilderness is full of variety. How people can become bored of it, I do not comprehend. It can be dry or wet, hot or cold, full or empty, vivid or dull, complex or simple, colorful or bleak, and most all the time mathematical. Mother Nature is the world’s best architect. She inputs the many principles of science, math, architecture, engineering, and more into her work. Nonetheless the name “Mother Nature” is misleading. “Nature” is not one thing nor another or even a mother. It is an element that is in all living objects. It is the element that shapes us, and nurtures us from the inside. A tree grows because of its very nature, a flower buds by its own element of nature. Even a boy only matures into a man because of this force. This force many people mistake to be unseen, but in reality is all around us. The force can be seen by a simple trip into the woods. With the right perspective one can view into the plants and animals and really get to know them, simply because of this one life element we share.

Even though we share our natural being, all living things are different. Humans like one, are fundamentally different from one another, and so are plants. Though they share characteristics, no two are the same. This is one thing many people mistake. They go hiking in lets say the Goat Rocks Nat. Wilderness. Next year someone offers them to go hiking in Glacier Nat. Wilderness and they refuse on the bases that you’ve “seen one, seen ‘em all”. When it comes to the wilderness however, this notion is totally untrue. By experiencing the wilderness for yourself, you slowly develop your own way of looking at it. With this perspective, all wildernesses are different and immense pleasure can be gained by climbing a mountain, or kayaking the Puget Sound, even going bird watching.

Another factor to take into consideration when promoting the wilderness is self-gain. One thing about climbing mountains is that no matter how big your ascent party is, when it comes down to it, the challenge is just between you and the peak. It becomes a struggle for a different type of personal salvation, a salvation that you only feel when breathing the fresh sweet air gusting down through a valley, or the limited oxygen light headiness you experience at the summit. However it’s all about setting goals. When someone says I want to hike 11 miles today, they do it for personal betterment. Although it may not seem like that at the time, they will hopefully realize that they have just strengthened the bond between themselves and nature. Also by being in the wilderness you strengthen yourself physically and mentally. One really gets to know their self and there limits by experiencing nature in the outdoors.

Another reason to spend more time outdoors is the simply the sheer beauty of the wilderness and its occupants. As Jules H. Poincare said:
“If nature were not beautiful, it would not be worth knowing, and if nature were not worth knowing, life would not be worth living.”
Everything in the wilderness is constantly growing and that makes for an always-changing everlasting beauty. Some people may doubt that seeing a dead tree is beautiful, however with a different perspective, it can be. In the dead tree you can see the beginning of new life and the “circle of life” so promoted by the child’s movie Lion King.

I encourage all readers not to totally reform their lives around the wilderness but rather conform your schedule to allow time to enjoy life. Not just your own but all around. Nature is full of exciting things if you take the time to look for them. It’s taken me 15 years to figure this out, and I hope that you have or will find this out soon.
“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wilderness is a necessity; and that mountain parks and reservations are useful not only as fountains of timber and irrigating rivers, but as fountains of life!”
John Muir

Comments Off

The Concept of Beauty

“Mirror Mirror on the Wall, who’s the most beautiful of them all?”

This is a line spoken by the Queen in the children’s fairy tale “Snow White”

The Queen most likely, was once the most beautiful woman in the kingdom; expected only to hear the Mirror confirm that fact.

To the Queen’s dismay The Mirror had exchanged her beauty for that of Snow White’s He pulled down the Queen’s Beauty position replacing it with that of her Snow White’s.

Immediately, jealousy reared it’s ugly head, causing the Queen to begin her all consuming quest of getting rid of innocent Snow White.Set in today’s age that Mirror would very well become television, magazines, internet and the modeling agencies behind them.

Beauty is not so much a look as it is an action.For if beauty was a look then the same model would be Queen of television, magazines, and internet forever and only to be replaced with a clone of Queen Model.

In my time it was Farrah Fawcett and Bo Derek at the top of the list. Many women copied just about everything about them. From hairstyle to toenail polish women all across America, wanted to mimic these two Super Models.

What is wrong with copying a style or look you admire, not anything as long as you don’t allow it to all consume you to the point that you too, are drastically changing your physical looks every time the Mirror says “This is NOW what we call beauty.”

Beauty is not a look but an action. The simple act of carrying yourself in a wonderful way can make you feel beautiful.

Here is another action you can practice in your quest of beauty.

At least once a day look into a mirror place a decisive smile on your face and say very simply:

“Beautiful!” and know, that no matter how you feel you are describing yourself! Over a period of time not only will you begin to feel beautiful. You will also ,begin to see things about your physical self in a much better light and begin to compliment yourself.

In transition as you will you feel more beautiful. You will hold your head higher and have a more graceful walk. Don’t think others won’t notice, they will!

I wrote this article especially for Body By Baby EZine Subscribers, because the concept of beauty is often lost to women who have became mothers.

Bringing forth a brand NEW LIFE is usually accompanied by extra weight. We as a society must embrace the childbearing body before, during and after pregnancy.

If I may boldly borrow from the Ezine. The body that encompass and nourish a child should be “Treasured as a One of a Kind Work of Art. Sculptured not by hands but by the delicate development of new life!”

I want to apologize to all women who has NOT felt beautiful due to media’s concept of beauty.No one or no thing should ever make a person feel that they are lacking in any area of self worth, for the BIBLE says that we are fearfully and wonderfully made!

The next time you look into a Mirror don’t ASK it if you’re beautiful! TELL IT YOUR’RE BEAUTIFUL!

Terri Wells twells@writeme.com

http://www.bodybybaby.net

Terri Wells

Please keep article as written with links and inform me that you have used my article.

twells@writeme.com

Comments Off

I can close my eyes and hear the clank of that big door into the ring, where the auctioneer begins to chant. “What’ll you give?”
“That’s a good solid calf.” “A dollar twenty, do I hear 25?” It sounds like cell doors clanging shut in a prison. That’s what I am, a prisoner of these cowboys who poke and prod and make me move around the ring, to show my best side. Then, even before the bidding stops, I am pushed out the other door to be put in some buyer’s lot.

The only thing I can think of is, “Where are you, Mama?” It was so much fun in the pasture where I could run and play with my friends and eat when I got hungry. What am I doing here? I feel like I’m being punished. They jammed me into a trailer that was so full I couldn’t even wiggle.I didn’t fall down when my feet slid on the wet floor, but the grassy pasture was sure a lot softer to stand on.

I hear lots of babies crying, waiting in little square pens in the big sale barn. Where did they all come from? They put me in a pen with about 40 other strangers. I passed my sister in the aisle. She learned about pregnancy tests and…the workers are all cussing about how mad she got, kicking the vet in the leg. What do they mean? “They will all end up as steak at some cowboy’s barbeque next year?”

Ouch! Here comes that electric buzzer again….Wait a minute! We just got out of one trailer, where are we going now? Hey, this really isn’t such a bad place. Nice little corral, dry hay and fresh water. I might even like it here….What a night! Couldn’t sleep a wink! Some of my new friends bawled all night long. It was the first time they were away from their mothers. Throats are even hoarse. Uh-oh, they’re warming up a branding iron? On top of missing you mom….Ma-a-aw! Maw! You never warned us that some things might hurt. Hey, our chorus sounds pretty good together! There’s Mrs. Farmer taping us now. She thinks her city cousin would like to hear the sounds of farm life. Mmm-o-mm, can’t you hear us….all together? I wish I could have stayed home. Ma-a-a-w! Ma-a-a-aw!

Lynn Moriarty Parman is author of Mushroom Marathon, Running Toward the Prize of Serenity, 2004, Authorhouse. She has also been published in Stars and Stripes, 2003.

Comments Off

In every relationship there will be occasional misunderstandings and hurt feelings. Sometimes we are the one who hurt another person we care about; sometimes we are the one who has been hurt.

Sometimes both people have become very angry at each other, or both feel hurt. Hurt feelings can be the result of a slip of the tongue, a misunderstanding, or a deed committed in bad judgment. Sometimes feelings are hurt deliberately in the heat of anger and regretted later.

If we were the guilty party, we might regret what we said the instant we let the hurtful remark out of our mouths. We might want to apologize right away, but some of us find apologizing about anything extremely difficult, almost impossible.

Sometimes the reason we don’t apologize is because we are convinced that the other person totally deserved our angry outburst. Sometimes the reason we don’t apologize is because we have absolutely no idea that we hurt the other person. And sometimes we apologize very profusely, but we don’t really mean it.

When you sincerely apologize to a friend, it means that you regret causing the other person emotional pain, and you want to work on repairing the friendship.

If you have said or done something that hurt your friend or partner, it is important to acknowledge your loved one’s painful emotions. You can say something like, “I’m so sorry you feel hurt because of what I said. I didn’t mean to hurt you. Let’s talk about what happened.”

In some relationships, hurt feelings and problems are never dealt with. Instead, they get “swept under the rug”. These relationships may look polite on the surface and they may even be long-lived, but they are not really very intimate. There is no deep sharing between the two people and there is no ability to be honest.

If one, or both of you, are feeling very angry with the other, put off your in-depth discussion until both of you are to be calm and levelheaded. But apologize to your friend sincerely as soon as you can.

Once an apology for a particular incident has been extended and accepted, don’t go back and revisit old battles the next time you have a disagreement. Take care of each incident as it comes up and don’t nurse old resentments.

This article is taken from the new downloadable book by Royane Real titled “How You Can Have All the Friends You Want - Your Compete Guide to Finding Friends, Making Friends, and Keeping Friends” Check it out today at http://www.royanereal.com

Comments Off

In the Law of Attraction circles, there is a game that we play all the time and that I want to tell you about for it is a great one to keep your focus and manifest your wishes. The game is called “Wouldn’t It Be Nice If…?”

Those who follow spiritual laws to lead their life know a basic fact and that is:

Your thoughts are very powerful. They determine your life.

If you think positive thoughts, you life is very positive. You are healthy, you have money, time, a great lifestyle, opportunities, friends, a good love relationship, and you live joyously.

If, on the other hand, you chattering mind is negative, your life is a disaster, so to speak. It is quite the contrary from been joyous. You are broke, you have no friends, no opportunities, your relationships suck, you hate your job, your health leaves much to be desired, life is a drag. You hate it most of the time.

So, how do you know what kind of thought are you thinking? Just look at you, your surroundings, and your reality. Most of us have our ups and downs. We are also very imbalanced, as some areas of our life are good, some are satisfactory, and some are plain yucky.

For instance, you may have a great family and good friends but you hate your job and your boss is exasperating. Or, you do love your job and make good money but you have several small physical problems or a huge one. Or, perhaps, you have good health and a loving family but have no money.

That means that your thoughts are positive in some aspects and negative in others. You need to learn to send positive thoughts all the time for everything in order to balance your life so all of it is just one joy after another.

What you need to do to balance your life based on the Law of Attraction and the power of your thoughts is to transform all of your negative thoughts into positive ones. To accomplish this, this simple game does wonders. Here is how you play it:

To everything that you so desire (but your mind limits), begin your sentence with “Wouldn’t it be nice if…?” For example:

“Wouldn’t it be nice if I had someone to help me organize my desk?”

“Wouldn’t it be nice if I found the best caretaker for my pets when I way in the summer?”

“Wouldn’t it be nice if my body were supple and firm?”

“Wouldn’t it be nice if I had a cash availability of $50,000 in the bank?”

“Wouldn’t it be nice if I could eat all the chocolate in the world and still keep my ideal weight?”

By saying “Wouldn’t it be nice if…?” you trick your mind into accepting what you want because it is just a wishful question and your mind can’t say: “Oh, yeah, right! Not in your dreams!” But pay attention how powerful this wishful question is when you play the game. Your manifestations will start pouring in your life.

© Maria Moratto 2006

Want to have more abundance, health, time, love, and fun?
Visit Prescription For Bliss at http://www.rx4bliss.com sign up for the newsletter and receive a fr*ee ebook called “Happy People Are More Abundant!”

Want to find Financial Freedom for only a dollar a day? Visit http://www.investworks.net and read the fr*ee e-book on how to use this simple system.
Dr. Maria Moratto is the author of “Healing Your Body, Mind, and Soul,” “Mending Your Broken Heart,” and “Spiritual Business: Attract Clients, Money, and Success.”

You may reprint this article in its entirety as long as you add this resource box.

Comments Off

Thousands of dollars will be yours, just by using your subconscious mind.

You get a very good feeling when you make new money. You also get a very good feeling when you save money.

Here’s how you can have and enjoy both:

First, I’d like to share my personal story with you.

When it came to fortunate breaks in life, I would lose out a lot. As the old saying goes: I’d be “a day late, and a dollar short”.

I would sometime come in second place, third place, or fourth place. I would come up short. Missing out on first place opportunities by a thin hair.

Strange mishaps kept working against me. Odd-ball twists. Monkey wrenches thrown into my plans at the last minute. It was so bad, sometimes I thought there was a secret curse on me.

I would come up short too many times, too often, for it to be normal or natural. Something was mysteriously holding me back. Somehow, I was missing the good life; the mother lode of “lucky breaks”, “deals”, “bargains”, “windfalls”, “contests”, “found Money”, “fortunate advantages” etc.

You know what I mean. I was losing out. I would miss out on good opportunities by the skin of my teeth. I missed items on sale by a day, lost office pools, unfortunate mishaps, expired coupons, losing lottery tickets, etc.

I lost thousands of dollars every year on failed and missed opportunities.

I can still remember my sick stomach feeling I would have after purchasing an item, only to see it go on sale a day, or week later. It got so bad, I would hesitate buying, fearing the item would go on sale just afterward.

Some would say I was just plain “unlucky”. Remember, I said it seemed like a curse was hanging over me.

But here’s what I found out: there wasn’t a curse on me after all, the problem was my own mind. I wasn’t using it properly. I mean, I wasn’t daily, actively, using it to better my life.

Formal schools never taught me how to use my mind. So, I wasn’t educated about the mind/life circumstance connection. Even worst, I was mentally ignorant. I didn’t know my subconscious mind from a hole in the ground.

I didn’t see how my mind could make a difference in my life. I thought an unlucky curse was the cause of my missing out. I never suspected my own mind. I always looked outside for the cause/answer, never within.

That all changed, when I started learning how my mind worked. I got a good mental education. I started growing. I learned about my subconscious mind. I kept growing. I learned how to program my subconscious mind.

So, instead of rushing out and buying, only to see the item go on sale later, I now program my subconscious mind, and patiently wait on its intuitive hunch promptings. It works like magic!

My subconscious mind finds out, and sets up all kinds of profitable opportunities for me, then gently signal nudges me to do the right things, and go to the right places at the right times. I started winning. It was truly amazing!

I started catching items on sale, winning lotteries, office pools, parking spots, found money, stock dividends, savings growth, fortunate meetings, great deals on my car, home, etc.

Like a charmed life, I started making and saving thousands of dollars each year; just by properly using my subconscious mind. You can do it too!

Without my mental education, being taught how to use my subconscious mind, I’d still be a loser, missing out on the good life.

Today, people call me “happy-go-lucky”, not knowing how unlucky my life used to be. Today, I treat my subconscious mind like a daily intimate partner. And like that credit card TV commercial said, “I never leave home without it”

About The Author

Terry Goss is author of the intriguing free e-course:
“Will The Real Subconscious Mind, Please Stand Up!”
http://www.subconsciousmindsecrets.com

And author of the popular ebook: “52 Mind Power Secrets”
You get (10) free secrets just for visiting:
http://www.52mindpowersecrets.com
service@subconsciousmindsecrets.com

Comments Off

I had something else in mind for this months newsletter, but it didn’t seem relevant after watching the news and reports of devastation in the South. I was sitting in my office wondering what could I possibly have to say, and about that time my son walked in and sat on my lap, something he has done most days for as long as I can remember. Today I smelled the blueberry shampoo in his hair and got the sense that he was carefree and happy just to have a cozy place to sit. It brought a vision to mind of a mother in New Orleans with her son on her lap, fanning him and resting her head on his, surrounded by chaos, the likes of which I have never known. It was a report I had seen on the news the day before and here was my son, on my lap, safe, happy and smelling like blueberry shampoo. I was filled with a sense of gratitude I had somehow not been touched by the many times before, but today, for me the feeling was palpable.

I again started thinking about what I could say and I was reminded of a skill I learned in becoming a coach, the challenge of finding perfection in everything even when it doesn’t seem to make any sense. It has become one of my favorite tools in helping others and along the way myself, by looking deeply into the chaos and struggles in our own lives to discover the real lesson behind them. I felt this same challenge and determination to find something seemingly perfect within this disaster, so there I was smelling blueberry shampoo, feeling grateful, and remembering the mother and son I saw on the news, still looking for the perfection in all this, when it was sitting right in my lap all along.

The waters are receding along with the blame, the chaos and soon I hope the catastrophic suffering as well. It no longer seems relevant that most of the time we are divided by politics, religious affiliations and sometimes still, even the color of our skin. The stories that remain newsworthy when everything else is said and done is the best in all of us and the basic goodness of human nature and that is our ability to be compassionate and kind, to give and receive love, to be generous with our time and money and to feel gratitude for even the simplest of things.

Just a thought

What is perfect about your life right now?

It may not be the smell of blueberry shampoo for you, but how will you remember the perfection in your life at this moment?

Wendi Liechty
Founder
http://www.everydaybliss.com
For everyday women who are extraordinary
Free Online Community
Free Monthly Book Discussion
Free Thought Provoking Monthly Community Call
http://everydaybliss.com/index1.php?cat=1

Wendi works with dynamic individuals who want to come alive in their work, their realtionships and the everyday experiences that shape their life! It’s worth the Trip!

Comments Off

Friday Night, Week Before Christmas, 1999

This night I arrived a little before the crowd, just minutes before the tables with stools near the small dance floor were taken. Harvelle’s, a popular Santa Monica night spot which draws an upscale crowd, is known as “The Home of the Blues, R&B, Funk, and Rock” with live music and dancing every night. With its no-smoking environment and sounds for both the ears and the feet, it is a pleasant place to spend an evening. I go for the listening and the dancing.

After enjoying a dance with a young man, I wove my way back through newly arrived patrons to my carefully chosen seat. After a sip of my Pellegrino, I felt compelled to return to the edge of the dance floor. My rational thought was to take my turn with one of the regulars, John, a trained dancer who arrived some twenty minutes earlier. I noticed him and a man I had not seen before — both the same vintage, about 50, and the same height, about 5′8″, but John as light as and the unknown man as heavy as that frame can hold.

John changed partners on the dance floor, so I made eye contact with this other man who, like John, had been dancing with a variety of partners since his arrival. We danced and exchanged pleasantries. We laughed. We smiled. I noticed that his flesh tone was similar to mine, light and peachy; his eyes as intense as my own blue eyes, but brown. It was obvious that he loved to dance. He led adeptly; I followed easily. In the middle of our dance, he commented, “You’ll probably need to take your jacket off because you’ll get warm.” I smiled, knowing that likely I would very soon peel it off, but for the time being the fan above the dance floor was keeping me cool.

At the end of the dance, I turned toward the band to acknowledge the musicians with my applause. When I turned my focus back to my partner, I saw that he was no longer standing beside me, but was face down on the floor. The other dancers and I assumed he was joking. But not so. The band stopped. Time stopped. This time held all eternity — a time that can be long or short by the clock. Someone called for help while six of us (including staff, John, and a patron who is a registered nurse) said encouraging words and touched him. I allowed others to attend to him on a physical basis, and focused my attention at another level.

I put my hand on his back and asked silently “Are you going to die?” to which came the answer: “It is time.” My thoughts raced with a series of follow-up questions: “Time for what? Time to live? Time to die? Time to dance?” I reminded myself to breathe. My impulse “to do” something shifted back to the consciousness “to be” with this moment. I recognized that to be a non-anxious presence was more important now than any action I might take. My inner guidance confirmed that his spirit was very much alive, but was no longer in his body. I felt his spiritual presence more strongly than I had earlier. My fearlessness of physical death and my previous experiences of observing the process of transition from physical to nonphysical anchored me in blessing the richness of this moment.

Words of encouragement and gentle touches came to this man on the floor from those in the inner circle; those in the outer circles bore witness to the event. Drawn together for entertainment in this intimate space, we found ourselves joined by the invisible web of human kindness with varied reflections and perspectives on life and death.

In the muted sounds of the club, I picked up odds and ends of information. Echoed through the room was the knowledge that no one present knew this man’s name. Staff confirmed to each other that he was not drinking. A gold ring on his left hand announced he was married. In the absence of facts, I speculated on his circumstances. Perhaps he was an out-of-town business person unwilling to fight the Friday night outbound traffic at LAX. Perhaps he lived in Chicago or Boston, with a wife and children not expecting him home until sometime the next day. A staff member tapped me on the shoulder, bringing me out of my speculation, and signaled that I was to move aside for the police and paramedics. I slipped back into linear time and realized that, by the clock, their arrival was swift.

I moved to the outer circle, but not for long. The staff pointed me out to a police officer who asked for my identification. In my tiny purse I carried only my keys, my driver’s license, and some cash. I learned from the early morning jogging club the importance of carrying identification when going out to walk or run, just in case…… Going to a bar or buying wine, of course, I carry my picture ID for that added hope that I will get carded. This current scenario was one that I had not imagined as reason to carry proof of identity.

I followed the police officer who carried my license in his hands. He was young, handsome, gentle, and empathetic. Unhurried, he copied the information from my card, asking me to confirm that each bit was still correct. Harvelle’s staff also took my name and telephone number.

As the paramedics performed their duties, the patrons continued to keep a respectful vigil. Although I knew this man’s body no longer held his spirit, the attendants kept massaging his heart as they carried him away. Perhaps they did not want to announce the finality to the Friday night crowd or perhaps they did not want to give up hope or perhaps they were following predetermined procedures.

When the band returned to make their sounds, I vacillated between staying and leaving. To stay and dance felt more honoring of the happenings; to leave too soon seemed to discount the evening’s events. The crowd was expanded rather than diminished. I danced with John and waited until the end of the set to leave, about midnight. Outside the club, the bouncer (a 300 pound hunk) said he had something for me: three passes for my next visit to Harvelle’s. I smiled at the graciousness in the hands that hold such physical strength. My only words “thank you” were transmitted through the wordless energy field of our shared experience.

Two Days Later, Sunday

While walking on Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade, I found myself face to face with a police officer handing me a candy cane. He noted my hesitancy to take the candy and said with gentle authority that I had to take it. I acquiesced with a playful smile that matched his, and offered a bargain: I would take it in exchange for some information. I told him that I was at Harvelle’s on Friday. He stopped any need for further explanation when he revealed that he was on dispatch that night. I asked how I could make it known that I was available to speak with the man’s wife or anyone else in the family, if they desired. I identified myself as the last one dancing with him, that my name and contact information were part of the police record.

Home for five minutes, the owner of Harvelle’s telephoned to ask me to call the family. This nameless man and his wife, whom I had been carrying in my heart for two days, now had names: Jim and Victoria. Not from out of town, they lived locally. A friend handling phone calls told me Victoria would return my call the next day.

The Next Day, Monday

Victoria and I spoke for an hour by phone in a remarkable dialogue. She confirmed that she and Jim love/loved to dance. She kept correcting her language, changing references to Jim to the past tense rather than the present tense which had become so familiar in their 18-year marriage. Friday night Victoria had to work (she is an emergency room physician) so Jim went without her to scout Harvelle’s for a future visit together. Their other dance buddies had planned to go with him, but in the end Jim went without anyone who knew him.

I shared with Victoria every detail I could recall from that night; she reciprocated by confirming information about Jim that I had intuited. Jim and Victoria had a son and daughter, ages 8 and 10. He had several physical conditions which prompted him to decide to dance to maintain his health. In addition, he created a contract with the Universe that he not live any part of his life as an invalid. He was active to the last moment. He was totally alive until he died.

I was touched by her words as she thanked me for being an angel for Jim and for holding a space of calmness during the event. It took a while following our conversation for me to synthesize all that we verbalized, though I was left with no doubt that Jim knew he was going to die that night.

I declined to attend Jim’s memorial service on the next day because I had a client scheduled in a time slot that would make it impossible. Later when the client cancelled, I knew where I was supposed to be.

The Next Day, Tuesday

The synagogue was filled with those who loved and cherished Jim. They were not there in perfunctory attendance. Before I could spot someone I thought might be Victoria, a comely woman approached me, commenting that I was standing alone. I explained that I knew no one there, identifying myself as “the woman who was the last to dance with Jim.” She embraced me warmly as she introduced herself as Jim’s mother. A brief interchange indicated that Victoria had already conveyed much of our conversation. As I approached Victoria, pointed out by Jim’s mother, our eyes meet and she asked “Are you Jeanie?”

At the memorial service, I heard stories of Jim’s capacity to love, ability to inspire, and the expansiveness of his soul. I contemplated the enigma that he left this physical life in a place where nobody knew him on this earth plane. With so many close friends and family members, he chose strangers to be with him in the end of this life. I believe Jim would appreciate and even encourage us to speculate on this situation, a mystery that sweetens his memory.

Today

Jim’s story has not ended simply because he no longer uses a body that is familiar to family and friends. He has touched many persons in his life and in his death: those he knew and those he did not know by name.

It was a special honor to be present, to be a witness to his passage, and to dance with Jim his last dance.

Copyright © 2006 Marshall House Jeanie Marshall, Empowerment Consultant and Coach with Marshall House, produces Guided Meditations on CD albums and MP3 downloads and writes extensively on subjects related to personal development and empowerment.
Voice of Jeanie Marshall, http://www.jmvoice.com

Comments Off

Use this comprehensive checklist to plan each step of your new business and transform your dream of entrepreneurship into reality. These steps may not necessarily be completed in the order listed, however, you can use them as a guideline for completing all of the necessary business startup tasks.

___ Determine what kind of business you want to start.

___ Learn about the industry for your business.

___ Analyze the market for your business.

___ Study your competition.

___ Educate yourself on running a business.

___ Join trade associations.

___ Name your business.

___ Perform a trademark search.

___ Register a domain name.

___ Design a website.

___ Obtain a logo.

___ Determine business structure (sole proprietor, partnership, or corporation).

___ Evaluate your personal budget.

___ Write a business plan.

___ Write a marketing plan.

___ Locate financing.

___ Create a list of start-up supplies with budget.

___ Set up a system for accounting and payroll.

___ Apply for business license, fed tax ID, fictitious business name.

___ Select a location and set up shop.

___ Order signage.

___ Obtain business tools (computer, printer, fax, postage, office supplies, fixtures).

___ Order business stationery (business cards, letterhead, brochures).

___ Obtain inventory.

___ Create an operations and employee manual.

___ Hire employees.

___ Set a launch date.

___ Plan a grand opening event.

___ Send announcements to everyone you know.

___ Send press releases.

___ Turn on the OPEN sign!

___ Revisit your business plan and update often.

___ Evaluate your marketing strategy often.

This is an excerpt from the new book: “The Business Startup Checklist and Planning Guide: Seize Your Entrepreneurial Dreams!” by Stephanie Chandler.

Visit http://www.BusinessInfoGuide.com/book for details and more resources for starting and running a successful business.

Comments Off

If anybody needed any more evidence as to how maddeningly inconsistent the
Philadelphia 76ers have been the season, one needs to look no further than
Thursday night’s game against the Chicago Bulls and their contest the night before against the San Antonio Spurs as proof.

Following a dramatic 103-100 OT victory over the world-champions at the Wachovia
Center on Wednesday night, the Sixers responded with an even more spectacular
failure on Thursday night, losing to the barely-registering-a-pulse Chicago Bulls by
33 points.

That’s right boys and girls, 33 points.

These Sixers are mediocrity personified. One night they’re beating the world
champs at home by displaying defensive grit, teamwork, and another all-world
performance by Allen Iverson. The next night, they’re laying down against the
Central Division’s last-place team.

It’s just maddening.

Most professional sports teams ride on a wave of momentum. Whether it’s good or
bad, teams in all sports catch that wave and either ride it to success or failure. But
not the Sixers. These Sixers play like Eastern Conference title contenders one night,
then follow it up the next night with an effort the Charlotte Bobcats would be proud
of.

Why can’t these guys get it together? Why can’t they maintain the level of play they
showed against the Spurs for more than one night? How can they go from beating
the world champions one night to taking a dump on the court against one of the
Eastern Conference’s worst teams the following night?

The biggest reason is defense. When the 76ers play defense like they did against the
Spurs on Wednesday, they can beat almost anybody. However, nights when the
Sixers play defense are about as frequent as a Dick Cheney press conference. You
can probably count on hand the number of times these guys have put together four
quarters of solid defensive effort this season.

Chris Webber, Allen Iverson and Kyle Korver are abortions on defense. These guys
couldn’t guard a wheelchair player let alone most NBA stars. Iverson provides no
pressure on the opponent’s point guard, which allows the other team to set up their
offense with little or no resistance whatsoever. Chris Webber’s knee prevents him
from jumping more than two feet in the air at any given time, let alone rebounding
or bodying anyone up in the low blocks. And Kyle Korver has the lateral movement
of William Refrigerator Perry. No one gets beat off the dribble quite like Kyle Korver.

Mo Cheeks has got to take a lot of the blame for this mess. Granted, he doesn’t
have a lot of great defensive players on his roster, but it appears on most nights
that the Sixers couldn’t even be bothered to try and defend people. And that’s the
indictment on him.

The 76ers seem to always be going through the motions. Cheeks was supposed to
be a coach that the players liked and respected, someone they could get behind. But
it looks as though they play like five separate guys out on the court rather than as
one cohesive unit. It’s a collection of random dudes thrown out on the court trying
to make something happen by themselves. Half the time it works, half the time it
doesn’t.

One thing it does is make for some pretty inconsistent basketball.

One of the big concerns for the Sixers has got to be the play of Andre Iguodola. Iggy
was supposed to emerge in year #2, but it just hasn’t happened. Here’s a guy with
all the talent in the world, the team’s only true lock-down defender, but he has yet
to take it to the next level. Just like the great black bear, Iggy’s offense makes a
brief cameo appearance, then as quickly as it came, goes back into hibernation.

Perhaps Allen Iverson’s penchant for hogging the ball too much is the cause of
Iggy’s failure to make “the leap.” But it seems to me that a truly great player can
make something happen whenever he touches the ball, and Andre has not shown
the ability or desire to do that yet. If the Sixers are going to be a playoff contender,
they need Andre Iguoldola to be another offensive threat.

But more than the X’s and O’s, it’s the personality and effort of the 2005-06 76ers
that is the biggest problem. On nights like Wednesday night against the Spurs, you
could see a fire in their eyes and a competitive spirit in their play that made you
think, “maybe this is the turning point.” Then, on nights like Thursday night against
the Bulls, you see it was a one-night aberration, a mirage, something that couldn’t
be repeated.

The effort of the 76ers reminds me of my golf swing. Every once in a while,
everything comes together. I keep that left arm in, keep my head down on the ball,
follow through, and watch that baby fly high and far into the sky. But my muscle
memory isn’t there yet. So I’ll follow that beautiful shot up by shanking my next
shot off the side of someone’s house or into a pond the size of New Hampshire.

Effort is a lot like that muscle memory. Once you get into the habit of putting out
maximum effort every night and doing the little things necessary to playing winning
basketball, you can’t help but be successful. The 2000-01 Sixers are proof of that.
Effort is a habit, one the 76ers haven’t tried to learn.

So, at the midseason mark, the Sixers are pretty much where they have been since
opening night, right around .500 at 25-27. They currently hold the 8th and final
playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. And sadly, there really is nothing that GM
Billy King can do to fix things. Chris Webber is untradeable. And there is no way the
Sixers could get equal value for Allen Iverson. There is no one out there on the
trading block that would make things any better.

The Sixers are stuck with what they’ve got; a collection of somewhat talented guys
who can’t seem to play with each other.

Mediocrity and the 76ers… get used to it.

By John Stolnis
http://www.Phillysportsline.com

Comments Off