Beliefs

Do you realize that what we believe about ourselves, affects us so much
more than what is actually true about ourselves? Let me give you an example of what I mean.

Let's say you attend a music concert and are completely blown away by
someone's piano playing. You walk out of the concert and say to yourself,
I would love to play the piano like that, and move people in the way I
was moved. Now, does the fact that you cannot currently play the piano
mean you can never accomplish that desire?

The current truth about yourself is, you cannot play the piano. But, what
you believe about yourself will determine if that will remain your reality or if you will become an excellent pianist.

Do you know what people like Tony Robbins, Zig Ziggler, Og Mandino and
Napoleon Hill have in common? They are all people from humble beginnings,
they all had many set backs in life, and they all later became very
successful. How did they do this? They learned to believe in themselves.

If you find in your current state that you are over weight, deep in debt,
lonely, or unsuccessful in any area of your life, does that mean you are
stuck in that reality? I don't think so. I'm sure you've heard the saying
birds of a feather flock together. Well, negative people tend to hang out
with other negative people, religious people tend to hang out with other
religious people, and entrepreneurs tend to hang out with other entrepreneurs. Who do you hang out with? We all tend to gravitate toward people or groups
of people that we believe to be like us, or people we would like to be like.

There are people who were born into great privilege, yet they threw their
lives away and died miserable and alone. Then there have been many people born into this world dirt poor, yet went on to accomplish many great
things for themselves and society in general. Why such different outcomes?
Much of it has to do with their beliefs. You see we all get thrown curve balls in life; we all hit the wall from time to time, and circumstances are sometimes beyond our control. But what we believe about ourselves has a great deal to do with how we respond to, or deal with these situations.

If you have a poor self image and never do anything to change it, you will have exiled yourself to a life of mediocrity at best, no matter what
advantages you may have been born with. Yet, if you will just believe in
yourself, and realize the God given abilities that lie in each one of us,
you can aspire to great heights in your life no matter what adversity may
come your way.

We're not all dealt the same cards in life, but unless we are stricken
with a handicap beyond our control, we have the ability to achieve just
about anything we wish. In fact, many people with great disabilities go on
to do amazing things in their lives.

It all begins with believing in ourselves, and visualizing our lives the way we want them to be. That is why setting goals, as well as, writing
down and reviewing affirmations are so important. We need a road map to
follow, and a vision to keep us heading in the right direction on that
map.

If we will only believe in ourselves, and keep visualizing ourselves the
way we want to be, it is only a matter of time before we achieve that which we most desire.

About the Author

Mike Shanta is a student of success who resides in Branson, Missouri. He is editor and publisher of a Free Newsletter All-Round Success which you can receive by going to his
website http://www.on-lineopportunities.com, He also publishes a Success Blog called All-Round Success http://www.all-roundsuccess.blogspot.com.

Awareness is Serious Business

Let's talk about AwDD. This is not the same as AD/HD. You may have Awareness Deficit Disorder - you just may not be aware of it. Pun intended.

Ever stand in your own living room; hold an item in your hand; put it down; turn to do something and then spend two hours looking for it. Hands up those whose most memorable searches have stretched into days?

How about those of you who live in large towns which have stores with big parking lots. Ever spend an unproductive half hour wandering up and down rows of cars with heavy shopping bags in your arms trying hard to look nonchalant but feeling like an idiot? How is it possible that you have absolutely no idea where your car is when you yourself parked and locked it and strolled away from it less than an hour ago?

It does get worse as you get older but it can strike at any age. In fact young children can be fabulously, intensely unaware of reality.

This year we have all been made aware (there's that word again) of just how devastating AwDD can be. A well-educated sophisticated college professor parked his car and strolled away from it leaving his 10-month-old child securely strapped in the back seat. Four hours later the child was discovered dead. Just to show that AwDD is not gender-specific a pre-school teacher parked her SUV and strolled into her own school leaving two of her little charges baking in the back seat.

Recently, I opened my paper and read about a local man who went to work leaving his sweltering 5 month old securely strapped into her car seat. He was arrested five hours later on suspicious of negligent homicide. Authorities later decided not to press charges stating that the incident was an accident and the man was not at fault. Which is interesting because it implies that we have no control over our awareness. We are not accountable for being present in our own lives.

This same man held a news conference to state that he was going to lobby auto manufacturers to be required to put safety devices in all cars to remind parents that their children are in the car with them. Let me repeat that. There is a proposal for legislation to require auto manufacturers to install devices in all vehicles to remind parents to be aware that their children may be in the car with them.

These heartbreaking stories bring awareness to our awareness. Something we take for granted, like breathing, becomes a precious commodity.

We realize how much we live in our heads and how little we live in our visual field.

Of course, awareness is always a matter of life or death. Like love or wellness, however, we don't value it until we experience the consequences of its absence.

You can practice awareness at any moment of the day. When you're waiting at a car wash instead of daydreaming or obsessing on work pay attention to the people around you or the worker drying your car. Does he have a system? Does he dry the glass first or the body? How old is he?

If you find yourself living too much inside your head take a walk. Don't come back until you've counted 30 red cars. Why? No reason. It'll put you in motion and you'll be surprised what you notice about your neighborhood while you're peering down side streets and driveways.

Life is a great adventure and sleepwalking through it is not an option. Pay attention to your attention. If you want to realize your dream in life you're going to have to stay awake to do it.

About the Author

Mary is the proud Mama of The Constructed Life - a Holistic Life Coaching service rooted in Buddhist psychology.

Are you buying counterfeit emu oil?

According to FDA, there has been an increase in drug counterfeiting activities in recent years. This counterfeiting represents a threat to public health because the finished drug products may closely resemble legitimate drugs, yet contain inactive ingredients, incorrect combinations of ingredients, improper dosages, erratic potencies or be contaminated. Although emu oil is not classified as a drug, there have been cases where the oil has been adulterated or cut with other ingredients and then an attempt has been made to pass the resulting product off as pure. I'm afraid it is true, said Gerald Edwards, president of the American Emu Association. We have heard of cases where unscrupulous dealers have cut the emu oil with vegetable oil or some other ingredient and then tried to sell it to an unsuspecting products company. This concern was one reason that the American Emu Association sought guidance from the American Oil Chemist Society to establish the Emu Oil Trade Rules. According to the Emu Oil Trade Rules, there are three grades of emu oil accepted in the United States: Crude, Once Refined and Fully Refined. AEA has taken this a step further by issuing an AEA Certified Fully Refined Seal to be used on products made from registered batches. In order to register a batch with AEA, the processor must provide proof that an AOCS chemist tested the batch and that it met the criteria established by the emu oil trade rules for Fully Refined at the time of processing. A sample is held in storage from each batch and can be pulled for testing if there is any question of product purity. The approved batch numbers are kept on file at the AEA office.

For product companies purchasing oil in bulk, seeing the seal, batch number and reviewing the Certificate of Analysis assures them that they are purchasing a pure, safe product to use in their health and beauty formulations. They can then pass this assurance on to their customers through use of the seal and batch number on their packaging.

Now in it's 5th year, the AEA Certified Fully Refined Emu Oil program is considered a success, with additional product companies registering for use of the seal each month.

About the Author

The American Emu Association represents an alternative agriculture industry, dominated by the small farmer, who is devoted to humane and environmentally positive practices that will produce beneficial products for society. Visit http://www.aea-emu.org for more information on emu oil and other emu related products.