Rocking the Foundation of Christianity

Whatever you build a house, you start with the foundation, if you're writing a book, it might be an outline for the table of contacts, but when were talking about Christianity, rarely do any Christians ever research the origins or how Christianity began.

Most Christians assume that Jesus was the one who started Christianity, however, he was Jewish and there is a good chance that he never even thought about starting a new religion. I know, Jesus is God and he knows everything and he knew that he was going to start Christianity. Okay, but what if.

That might not be entirely true. We don't have any proof that Jesus was actually a superior god like being. We can speculate or assume all that we want to, however there is very little evidence to support, that Jesus did anything that the writers of the New Testament, suggested he had done.

I would like to challenge most Christians, to do a little research and quite possibly start rocking the foundation of Christianity. It's much more important to understand Christianity than to call yourself a Christian. Will a little bit of research help or hurt you, as you study Christianity.

You can start by looking at the origins of the Bible, the Council of Nicaea, the Emperor Constantine, the missing years of Jesus in the early Roman Catholic Church.

To understand anything, you must understand its origins. Take some time out of your busy life, to start studying the foundation of Christianity.

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

Greg is currently working on a Christian Article Library filled with great subjects on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world. His views on religious freedom are slowly changing the way people think about institutional religion.
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Good Christians Really Do Inspire Me

One of the best Christians who I ever met, truly inspired me and everyone around him to become a better person. His son is now working at a church and his daughter is a teacher and they're not the only people who he inspired.

He inspired me to write this article, good Christians really do inspire me and others and he definitely was living his life, like Jesus did. He's the only person that I ever met, who didn't have anything bad to say about anyone, with the exception of one time. I actually heard him say that he hates that person, the person probably deserved it, but I still couldn't believe that the word came out of his mouth.

We all make mistakes, even he did, every once in a while. Whenever someone asked him about Christianity, he would try to avoid sharing his beliefs with them, unless they were persistent and then he would share all that he knew.

He never tried to convert anyone and never forced his opinions on anyone else. I asked him once," Did he actually read all of those books that he had in his library." He said that he actually did and I was shocked. He had three large library shelves that were each 4 foot wide and went almost all the way up to the ceiling, filled with books on Christianity and some on other religions.

He's the only man I ever met, that I would actually consider to be a good Christian. I don't know what it was about him, his honesty, compassion or simple kindness, but I valued his friendships and kept my ears open and my mouth shut... most of the time.

If you know someone like this in your life, I would advise you to take full advantage of their wisdom and let them inspire you to become a better Christian and if you don't believe in Christianity, these people can inspire you to become better person. A great life can be acquired, learning the wisdom from people who lead great lives.

Unbelievable Christian Bible Study Book

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Do you really know why you're a Christian, click on this way to get more information about Becoming Really Good Christians

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author and a inspiration to millions of people. He has been involved in religious research for almost 30 years, and his influence in the Christian community is growing. The Holy Bible, is the core to Christian beliefs and most Christians don't even question it. Was the Bible actually written by men?

His newest book," Did God Actually Say That?" Was written specifically for Christians who are interested in gaining additional knowledge about the Bible. This book provides Christians with advanced biblical knowledge, answer some tough questions and should be read by every faithful follower of Christ.

Thanks for reading my articles

Rethinking Today's Religions - Misleading Our Children

When I was a young man, my parents told me about Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. Every Christmas, there would be presents underneath the tree from Santa Claus and on Easter I would get a basket full of candy and eggs. However, when I was 11 years old, my parents broke the devastating news to me, there was no Santa Claus or Easter Bunny.

As you can imagine, I cried for hours over the frustration and disappointment. For one, I thought that I wasn't going to get any more Christmas gifts, but my parents provided me with the needed psychological relief and told me that they were going to provide Christmas gifts for me, until I died. Even though I was upset, I was relieved and confused.

If my parents lied about this, could they have possibly lied about something else, anything else. Have you ever thought about this and is there a situation in your life today that could be an old habit that never got corrected. Some theme that your parents told you when you were a child that was a lie and they never told you the truth. Maybe they never told you the truth because they don't even know themselves that it's a lie.

Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny were obviously disappointments to me and most people that I've talked to about their experiences, with their parents and even their children. Why do we do this as parents to our children, even though we didn't like it when it was done to us. Hard to explain why we can't break certain habits and certain traditions.

I love Christmas and the joy of giving. Even though I am no longer a Christian, I enjoy going over to my relatives homes and spending Christmas or Christmas Eve with them. Now for the bad news, if you were raised to believe in Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism or any other large religious organization. Let me ask you this, do you think that it could be like Santa Claus, do you think the religion you believe in so strongly could be a story that has gotten out of control over the centuries.

I've spent a life time rethinking today's religions and can't find very many facts to prove any one religion is superior over another. Do your own research and find your own answers. Enlightenment could be as simple as gathering the right information.

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

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

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

How to Stay Positive No Matter What

Now more than any other time in our recent history is as important that we find ways to stay positive no matter what. Why? Because your success depends on your mindset, not on the economy or on the marketplace. How do I know this to be a fact? I've interviewed hundreds of top producing real estate agents all over the USA and Canada, and when I asked them the secret to their success, unquestionably and without a doubt and independent of each other, they all said the same thing, "My mindset."

These are top producing real estate agents that have been in the business for sometimes 10, 20, or even 30 years. They've been through up times, down times, and all kinds of different markets, and they said without a doubt it was their mindset, and I feel that this is kind of a best kept secret. I think when times get tough, people start to look outside of themselves for answers and what they really need to do is look inside themselves and ask themselves the question, "How can I stay positive, how can I stay hopeful, how can I stay optimistic?" And this article will provide you with some tools to make it easier to be in a positive mindset no matter what.

The first tool is to really stop watching, or listening, or reading the news. Why, because the news is based on negativity. The news amplifies fear and negativity in order to capture more listeners, more readers, and more viewers. The media is a business like anything else and there's a saying called, "If it bleeds, it reads." So the more scared they can make people, the more people will buy more newspapers to find out what's going to happen, or turn on the TV more, or in some way stay fixated because they're in fear, they stay fixated on what the media is telling them.

The second tool is stop being around negative people. Your colleagues are going to want to constantly come up and talk to you and tell you how bad it is. Maybe your clients or prospective clients are going say to you on the phone how bad it is, and even friends will do the same thing. You will go through a day and everybody will want to tell you how negative it is. Here are my suggestions. First, avoid those kinds of people that are negative and second, if you're stuck with them in an elevator or your car, I suggest you do what a former client of mine does. When the other person is talking negatively, my client just tunes them out and just says, "Well that may be true for you, but that's not true for me." It's like an inner mantra "It may be true for you, but it's not true for me." You're creating your own inner environment.

The third tool is a technique that I've used with my clients this past 12 years as a real estate business coach. It's a very powerful tool called The Stop Technique, and there's three steps to it, and the first step is just called Stop. The way it works is that if you start to notice your mind going in a negative direction such as, "Oh I can't succeed in today's economy. Oh I just don't have what it takes to be successful or to make money. I have to work really hard and struggle and sacrifice." Any of those negative thoughts that will bring your energy down, your job is simply to catch those as early as you can in the beginning and say, "Stop." Take a deep breath, and then put in a positive new thought.

You can put in your choice of however many positive new thoughts you have ready in your aresenal. If some of your negative statements are about yourself like, "I'm not good enough, or I'm not smart enough, or I'm not experienced enough," or whatever those kind of disproving thoughts, I would say a really good generic thought to put in, an empowered belief to put in is, "I love and approve of myself unconditionally." That takes care of those self judgmental statements. Another kind of self limiting belief is something that you continually tell yourself, "Oh well, to succeed I'm going to have to really struggle, and sacrifice, and stress out, and work hard, and then I won't have a life." If that's been your primary belief then you put a stop on that when you hear it coming, and in inside you're saying to yourself, "I'm not going there. I'm not going there." You take a deep breath and positive new thought could be, "I'm committed to working smarter, not harder."

One of the things that's great about this technique is that it really forces you to become aware of what you're thinking from moment to moment, and it's what you're thinking from moment to moment that will create a negative or positive mindset. If you're continually thinking negative thoughts either about yourself, or the market, or about money, or any of that, then guess what, you're going real fast into a negative mindset. Then what happens is what you believe tends to come true, and it becomes a self fulfilling prophesy. For example if you tell yourself, "I don't have what it takes to succeed in today's market," and you tell yourself that over, and over, and over again, your thoughts will create your reality and then you'll find that you don't have what it takes.

Henry Ford said, "Whether you believe you can or you can't, either way you're right,". The way to create a positive mindset is to continue to bring your thoughts back to, "I can do it,". You need to have unwavering faith in your ability to be successful. The way you do that is to retrain your mind. The stop technique is the most powerful technique for retraining your mind, but you may have to use it a few hundred times a day at the beginning. Your mind has been going down that negative track in a very undisciplined way for a long time and like wild horses that have been all over the place, you now have to reign them in and that is going to require a lot of vigilance at the beginning.

Dr. Maya Bailey, author of, Law of Attraction for Real Estate Professionals, integrates 20 years of experience as a psychologist and 12 years as a business coach with her expertise in the Law of Attraction. Her powerful work creates a success formula for real estate professionals ready to double and triple their incomes. Get Dr. Maya's free report, 7 Simple Strategies For More Clients in 90 Days, by visiting http://www.90DaystoMoreClients.com Also, check out her new Success Program, designed to help you get focused , motivated, stay on track and create a Positive Mindset, no matter what. http://www.positivebuzzsuccessprogram.com

Tips for a Positive Mental Attitude

1. Smile

2. Laugh

3. Greet people courteously

4. Be enthusiastic

5. Dream. Engage in Imagineering. Set a goal. Aim high.

6. Act. Work your plan. Dont be an Excusiologists.

7. Be single minded in your purpose.

8. Love your work.

9. Be focused at all times. Be dedicated, disciplined and regular in your work.

10. Show commitment.

11. Strive for excellence. Set your own benchmark.

12.Sharpen the saw, Polish the brass everyday.

13. Be humble and open- minded. Always wear your white belt.

14. Be open to change. Dont be afraid of taking risks.

15. Dont be judgmental. Forgive and forget.

16. Develop a loving attitude to all around you.

17. Accept adversity and disappointments. Overcome them and emerge stronger.

18. Cultivate a working philosophy of life: Turn every experience, good or bad, into a learning experience.

19. Be your own critic. Strive for improvement. Be a life-long ardent student of life.

20. Live each day as though it were your last.

21. Lead. The five key *facets of leadership are..... Focus, Authenticity, Courage, Empathy, Timing.

22. Remember, we are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience.

Always, keep your face to the sun,

and shadows will fall behind you.

Note:

*(Taken from one of the motivational Leadership article)

N.SRIVATHSHAN
MBA(PHARMA MARKETING),BA SALES,PRODUCT, ADVERTISING MANAGEMENT,PHARMACY,NUTRITION&DIETETICS. PRODUCT MANAGER NANDAN BIOMATRIX

Knowing the Lucky House Numbers in Feng Shui For Luck

House numbers in feng shui have been one of the most revered and sacred information from this famed and authentic Chinese tradition. Such is the power and forcefulness of these house numbers in the art of feng shui that even real estate and property selling is influenced by the house numbers in Chinese based localities and in areas where the art of feng shui is looked up to as an idealistic and impressive art form.

According to the art of feng shui, a house number may not only affect your life, but also of every person's life you come in contact with. Inauspicious numbers are harbingers of bad luck, while auspicious numbers are a sign of happiness and joy to come into your life. The interpretations of feng shui as to which numbers are auspicious and which house numbers are inauspicious are calculated by several methods. It includes the equations and calculations involving the five feng shui elements and the ever charismatic elements of yin and yang.

The five elements of feng shui includes the Fire, Earth, Wood, Metal and Water elements that help you recognize and channelize the natural forces of energy. The yin-yang is the balancing force of the universe according to feng shui theory. Yin is the feminine symbol while yang is masculine. Feng shui maintains that both should be equally present in the house to attain eternal energy. In the case of house numbers in feng shui, both of the above discussed entities of feng shui contribute.

Even in the business of real estate and property sales in China, Hong Kong and other Chinese populated states, feng shui house selling is dominant. A house or property with an auspicious house number according to feng shui will conventionally and regularly beat a house with an inauspicious number in selling prices. This happens even though the latter may be ten times better than the former as far as area, space or luxuries are concerned.

The auspicious or unlucky quality of a house number in feng shui is not equal to the world's viewpoint on lucky and unlucky numbers. To the western world number '13' is unlucky but its lucky as per feng shui is concerned. This is because the number 13 sounds like 'sure live' implying long life! Similarly number 4 is unlucky according to feng shui as it sounds like 'dead'!

Therefore, even though house numbers in feng shui influence people in choosing their residential accommodation, it actually has more to do with the psychology of people than the ancient Chinese tradition.

Vincent Yim is the founder of http://TropicalHomeImprovementIdeas.com he created this home improvement blog is aimed to provide a FREE guide or tips to homeowners to convert the house into a unique home. Just follow his weblog regularly, you can save yourself from making the usual mistakes that others often do.

Organic Gelatin? Yes!

Gelatin - what is it?

Gelatin is pretty much translucent, tasteless and odorless and is commonly used in foods, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. The culinary gelatin is used mostly as a thickening or emulsifying agent and can be purchased in powder or sheet form. It can also be found in a host of prepared foods, from desserts, ice cream, jellies and yoghurt to cream cheese, marshmallows, gummy bears, aspic and margarine.

Gelatin is a high-grade protein derived from animal collagen by a process known as hydrolysis. Typically it is made from bovine or pork products, specifically skin or bones. Less common, but important for a kosher or halal diet, is gelatin made from fish.

For a vegetarian diet try agar-agar, pectin, carrageen or gum arabic as alternative gelling agents.

Nutritional Value & Health Benefits

Gelatin contains 18 amino acids, of which 9 are essential for humans. It is an especially good source of the essential amino acid Lysine. And though it would be incomplete as a single protein source, gelatin makes a nutritious addition to your everyday diet. It contains no fat, cholesterol or carbohydrates, is free of any additives and easy to digest.

An increasing number of studies suggest that gelatin not only promotes healthy hair and nails, but it may also improve bone and cartilage health. In particular 2 of the amino acids found in gelatin (Glycine and Proline) are needed to produce collagen, the primary component of connective tissues such as cartilage. Thanks to the Lysine, Gelatin also appears to be beneficial to athletes for muscle growth and metabolism.

Quality Concerns - Go Organic!

So, you are a conscious consumer, determined to avoid eggs from chicken factories and meats that are loaded with growth hormones and antibiotics; But what about the quality of the gelatin products on the market?

In fact the quality varies greatly and is influenced by the filtration and purification processes during production. But more importantly the quality is determined by the initial ingredients used for the gelatin production. To end up with a high quality product you have to start out with high quality ingredients, in this case healthy animals, raised in a pure environment. If you are trying to avoid meat from inhumane mass production factories, it only makes sense to set the same standards for all other animal products and by-products.

For a product such as gelatin to receive the organic certification, organic standards have to be followed from the start by the farm that raises the animals to the end of the production lines of the producer and packer.

Since the supply of organic meats has been growing steadily, one could easily assume that organic gelatin would also be readily available - which has been true for some parts of Europe, but not for Canada and the US. Amazingly, it was not commercially available in North America until recently.

It is very good news that this has changed: Certified Organic Gelatin is now commercially available under the brand name GoBIO!. You can purchase it online, at www.gobiofood.ca, but it is also starting to pop up in local health food stores and coops around Canada and hopefully soon in the US as well.

There have been some concerns about gelatin derived from cow collagen, due to BSE, also known as 'mad cow disease'. Though studies have demonstrated that the gelatin production process destroys most of the BSE that may be present in the raw material, some concerns remain. This issue can easily be avoided by using exclusively pork based gelatin, such as the GoBIO! brand.

Consumers, we now have a choice! We can feel good about jellin' away, reaping the health benefits while enjoying the characteristic jiggly consistency that only it has to offer.

To learn more about pork based Organic Gelatin go to http://www.gobiofood.com

Feng-Shui in Your Kids' Table & Chairs? But of Course!

Lest you think that feng-shui is Chinese mambo-jambo based on superstitions, feng-shui actually contains common sense advice and good aesthetic sense in decorating your house. You will delightedly discover that feng-shui can even be applied to the kids' table & chairs in your children's bedrooms.

Color Me Light and Happy

Color plays a very important part in our lives - it can both influence our moods and convey our feelings in ways more powerful than actions and words. Thus, you have to choose colors for the kids' table & chairs that not only harmoniously blends in with the general color theme of the bedroom but will also favorably influence your children's moods.

According to the principles of feng-shui, your best color choices for children's furniture are earth-toned light colors that encourage relaxation and happiness. You can opt for colors like warm yellows, light oranges, soothing terracotta, pleasing greens, pale violets and baby pinks. Of course, this color scheme also goes for the entire bedroom.

On the other hand, you have to avoid installing dark-colored kids' table & chairs that induces dark moods. Stay away from depressingly dark blues, sinister black trims, and boring gray shades in kids' furniture if you wish to make for a welcoming children's bedroom.

However, you have to consult your children on your color choices especially when they are of an age when color preferences are more pronounced. You can compromise by explaining your reasons for your color theme and allowing your child to pick out the style of the kids' table & chairs he wants.

Location, Location, Location

In feng-shui, the location of furniture and fixtures in the bedrooms is paramount. Thus, you will hear of beds accessible from both sides, beds not facing the door's direct line of sight, and beds with headboards in feng-shui.

For kids table & chairs, the best location you can provide for is at the northeast corner of the bedroom. With a study lamp to complete the setup, you are reinforcing the value of education and the value you attach to his accomplishments, big and small, academic and artistic and athletic. On the south wall, you can set up a display area for all his accomplishments like crafts, citation letters, awards, ribbons, trophies and even test papers with good scores!

The important thing is that the bedroom's layout of furniture and fixture is conducive to free and easy movement during the daytime and relaxed contentment during the nighttime. In this line, remember that for children, less clutter is better.

Optimal Lighting

Though you have to encourage children not to be afraid of the dark, you have to ensure that their bedrooms have optimal lighting. Not only is this strongly advised by feng-shui practitioners but it holds common sense advice because children do need to see well within the confines of their bedrooms.

That said, you can put in lights in the bedrooms that contain several levels of lighting, of which dimmers are the best choice. However, if you do not want dimmers, then just ensure that the lights are neither too strong nor too weak. The latter discourages good sleeping patterns while the latter strains the eyes, both of which are definitely not good for children's health.

Again, you have to ensure that the kids' table & chairs set that serve as their study-cum-studio area contain appropriate lighting. You don't want your little Einstein and Little Picasso to suffer from sub-par lighting!

Indeed, with a little practice, feng-shui can be easy and good for you and your children!

The kiddie furniture at RonJuneShop.com like the kids desk, kids table and kids table & chairs will pass any feng-shui practitioner's stringent standards. Purchase them now!

Feng Shui Laughing Buddha For Business Luck

Laughing Buddha is considered as a deity of abundance whose images and statues are seen in many business places these days. He is regarded as an avatar of Maitreya who is considered to be a future representation of enlightenment in Buddhism. Since Maitreya is associated with happiness, which can be considered to be an extension of having enough to eat and living a contented life, Laughing Buddha is represented having a belly. He helps to overcome sadness and obstacles, and offers a smooth ride filled with happiness throughout the year. He is said to have a face that is very smiley to signify fulfillment and joy.

He is also considered as the representation of an eccentric Chinese monk who lived many years ago. He was considered to be a man of good nature and was always seen carrying a cloth bag with many items like rice, sweets for the children and food for the poor. He may also be seen sitting on a cart drawn by kids or holding a fan that was considered a wish fulfilling fan. The Laughing Buddha of today represents the monk who goes around and blesses people with happiness, good luck and family luck.

He is said to bring incredible luck and can be seen at cashier counters, reception desks, entry foyers and lobbies of hotels and restaurants and almost many premises in Asia.

He is also represented carrying symbols like ingots, pots of gold, treasure bag and usually associated with abundance, wealth and happiness luck.

He is seen surrounded with children and is said to bring descendant luck into families. His statue or painting with kids placed in the west area of the living room is said to be very lucky for couples aspiring to have kids.

Displaying the Laughing Buddha in the family room is considered to bring family harmony and dispel any problems and quarrels.

He is also represented in jade pendants jewelry, which is considered to be very lucky. Giving a gift of the statue is considered a very friendly gesture. In most Asian cultures a representation of Laughing Buddha is given on notable occasions like weddings and anniversaries.

Always display the statue on a nice table and display the deity in living rooms and entry areas of the house. Please do not display in bathrooms or kitchen.

In many temples of Asia the Laughing Buddha is seen sitting facing the entrance and is considered a symbol of good luck.

Veda Singam offers quality articles, short snippets on Feng Shui and Astrology. Moreover she also offers astrology horoscope content. Her work is published in Astrojasta.com, a free online resource for astrology horoscopes. Visit the Zodiac Zone of that website for free monthly and daily horoscopes, astrology, numerology, feng shui and kua number resources.

Feng Shui - Property, Home, Land and Office Shapes

It can be said that the most important factor cited in opening up a restaurant or eatery is "Location, Location and Location". So is the concept of "Shape" when it comes to Feng Shui. In dealing with the advanced concepts of Feng Shui "shape" is not one small factor.
Rather shape is everything.

The shape of your block. Your house, your rooms and even your furniture play a most important component and together play a more than important part in the Feng Shui of your home, your abode or your working areas. Generally it can be stated that symmetrical shapes are considered most ideal. If on the other tack or side one considers the "L-shape" of a room - then the basis of the "L-Shape" can, will and does poses problems because at its very core the "L-shape" is unbalanced and incomplete. If and when you have not primary, basic, balanced shapes, you will need to look, think and ponder at how to balance these shapes. It's all at the beginning and basis of Feng Shui and the practice of Feng Shui.

In dealing with the shape of your land or property, wider on the northern and southern ends is considered to be best. If your block is not a true triangle then try to choose or even arrange your property lines so that the back is wider than the front or the converse that the front is narrower than the back end. What to do is this is not the case? First you might want to place a live plant or even a lamp in the very opposite corner if there is a corner portion that juts into your land. If there is planting space or soil around the offending corner then planting a hedge, hedges or even creeper plants up the walls to counter any of the sha qi offending energies that these corners might be emitting or generating. Lastly if your property of plot of land is based on a triangular shape then in order to fill out these corner areas in order that qi does not get trapped there.

When it comes to the shape or shapes of your home or office building then the wisest choice of all is basic rectangular shape. With simple rectangular shapes you can be assured that all rooms and their corner areas will be covered and not left exposed outside the basic areas of the flow of vital "qi". If you not fortunate enough and your home, abode or office structure does have "L shapes" then these missing corners again can again be covered with the use of trees or plants being planted in critical areas. A spotlight, lamp or even a skylight on the roof can be utilized. Alternatively mirrors can fill the void, or as an alternate the beautiful sound of wind chimes a be used to fill the voids.

In a similar manner rooms with L-shapes can be trouble. These can be enclosed with partitions, standing bookshelves or if necessary furniture itself or plants can be used to close the loop to shield and keep out negative sha qi.

If there is one word when it comes to shapes apparent in your rooms and their arrangement it is the word "symmetry". Symmetry means a whole by itself, and balance. Each room, each piece of furnishing, each accessory should call out by itself "symmetry".

The whole can never be greater than its parts. Work to choose furniture and accessories that are symmetrical in their own right. This way these components can both stand alone, build and contribute to the peace, serenity and arrangement of the rooms of your home, office or abode that you occupy. Feng Shui.

Morris E. Brown Winnipeg Wedding Catering King Cole Catering

Winnipeg South Hotel

A Feng Shui Living Room is Peaceful

One of the most important places in a home can benefit from feng shui. Living room decor usually takes a lot of thought. Most of us are quite happy to spend some extra cash on this room. It is the place in the home that is shared by the whole family. This also makes it quite hard to decorate. We have to take into account every member of the family' likes and dislikes. Because this is where the family meets up and will spend many hours together it should be a haven. Each member of the family is caught up in the modern world. This means plenty of stress throughout the day. But there is an ancient practice that will turn your living room into a place of tranquility and peace.

Every family needs a feng shui living room. It will make you feel a whole lot better to spend time in a room that is well organized and devoid of clutter. One of the first benefits you will notice is that everyone will start feeling calmer. This affects how we think and ultimately how we behave. The whole point of using feng shui is to open up a room the flow of positive energies. If your environment is jumbled and chaotic it will have a negative effect on your life. How you feel is very important to your sense of wellbeing. This is where feng shui comes in very handy. You will learn about how to use specific colors in the room. Each and every color you use has a specific impact on your mood. Make sure you choose the right colors for your surroundings.

To get your feng shui living room you must get all the tips you can. It's not necessary to fork out huge sums of money. You can start with free information such as 'Secrets of Feng Shui Revealed'. With the right information you can reorganize your living room into a feng shui haven.

Levi Parker is the director of popular blog FengShuiGuideOnline.Com. He is an expert on Feng Shui and his blog provides stacks of information on things like Feng Shui color and much more. Get free tips when you visit his site today!

The Miracle of Design

DECORATING WITH SYMBOLS

Throughout history faith, religious beliefs and spiritual concepts have been mistrusted. In many groups, religions and sectors around the world people where unable to profess their faith openly and therefore used symbols in statues, artwork and the likes to serve as a visual reminder of their faith.

Symbols can be used today much in the same way. While beliefs are in the most part no longer persecuted, beliefs can be strengthened through intention. Intention of mind and thoughts. So what does this have to do with miracles? In order to allow the beauty of miracles to surround us we must ensure we keep an open heart, mind and spirit. We must allow ourselves to accept that we are worthy of those miracles and they are within our reach every minute of every day. Symbols can be used to strengthen your resolve and your faith. Symbols can remind you of how blessed you already are and of how deserving you are to be surrounded by miracles.

In Feng Shui symbols are used to strengthen intention and positive energies in areas that have been identified as important sectors for personal growth and the balancing of the energetic rhythms that surround your home.

So where and what type of symbols will help you live in a miraculous state? The answer is different for each and every one of us. Some of us love the beauty and consistency of ancient religious symbols:

The Cross in Christianity, The Menorah in Judaism, The Dharma Wheel in Buddhism, The OM in Hinduism, The Palm in Jainism, The Khanda in Sikh, or the Nine Pointed Star in Baha"i.

For some symbols of angels, fairies and sparkle dust or fat happy Buddha conjures up the miraculous, while for others portraits of their families are the only reminder they need of the miracles in their lives.

Whatever the symbol, place them around your home or office so that each time you look at them they bring joy, bathe you in light and happiness and strengthen your intention to believe in the miraculous that surrounds you!

2008 Fay Chapple

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Fay Chapple is an International Feng Shui Expert, award winning Interior Decorator and Life Coach, and is Principal of the award winning Home & Life Design Firm Blue Avalon.

Blue Avalon specializes in Interior Decorating, Feng Shui and Abundant Living. Blue Avalon is the publisher of The Blue Avalon Journal, a monthly e-zine packed with ideas, tips and insider secrets! To subscribe log on to our site at http://www.blueavalon.com and you'll receive a bonus book, The Number One Feng Shui Secret That Will Transform Your Life!

Blue Avalon - "Harmony for your home... Balance for your life!" http://www.blueavalon.com

Attic Odors and Strange Smells

If you've ever opened up your attic access hole, only to find one of the worst odors you have ever smelled in your whole life, I've been there too. What causes these horrible smells and what can you do about them?

Let's start with the cause of these smells, moisture, dirt, mold, mildew, dead animals, animals that make their home in your attic and the biggest problem of all is normally poor ventilation.

Poor ventilation is the biggest problem with musty smells in the attic. These smells are often caused from moisture accumulating in the building materials over time. If there is enough moisture in the attic, the wood will start to rot but this wouldn't be a normal situation, unless there was a roof or water leak.

Roof leaks can cause a constant supply of water to one part of the attic. This constant supply of water will eventually rot the wood and damage the ceiling. Water leaks from pipes can provide a steady supply of water and the situation can attracts termites and mold. Not a good thing.

One of the worst possible smells or odors in your attic would be a dead animal. Don't under estimate the size of some of these animals, they have found dead raccoons, cats, snakes, large birds, squirrels, rats and mice in some attics. These animals usually enter through damaged access holes or vent blocks, roof vents, large gaps, holes and even fireplace chimneys.

Once these animals die, their bodies start to decompose and produce one horrible odor. Once the body is completely decomposed, the smell usually goes away if the attic is ventilated properly. These smells can seep into the homes living area, often creating a room that no one wants to enter.

Home peststhat make their home in your attics, often create smells from urinating and defecating in the areas around their nest. Large birds like owls can become a problem over time.

Now that we've figured out some of the causes for attic odors and strange smells, what can we do to prevent this from happening and if it's already happened, how can we get rid of the smell.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He has just finished a Home Buyers Guide to take some of the frustration out of home shopping.

If your having problems in your attic, find out more at pest control books and home building ideas.

Are Your Prayers Being Answered

Keeping a Positive Attitude During the Financial Crisis

The President tells us we have staved off a Great Depression with the giant mortgage crisis bail out. The Democratic Candidates tell us that the middle class is dying, people are losing their homes and jobs and the economy is in shambles. We all know that fuel prices are too high and the costs of nearly everything we buy are on the rise.

Treasury Secretary Paulson warns us we are not out of the woods yet and former FED Chairmen Greenspan tells us that this is a one in a century emergency and the 700 billion dollar bail out is the only plausible option. The Commercial Real Estate Industry says they might be next and the retail sector along with car sales are in trouble. GM may need a bail out and the Airlines are all on the verge of stalling out. Corporate America has announced massive lay-offs and huge consolidations, all bad news, very bad news.

So, with all this doom and gloom how on Earth is anyone going to keep a positive attitude? Well, they need too, as "consumer confidence" can often be the difference between economic collapse and a short recession. It's up to all of us now, our leaders have spoken and are taking action, this can work, but not without our help.

It's up to all Americans to think past the mass media hysteria, to believe in our financial system, and to allow it to work through this crisis. After all if you allow yourself to dip into negativity, all you are going to do is cause yourself stress and health issues. And in doing so, you will not be helping yourself, your family or our nation through these turbulent times.

"Lance Winslow" - Lance Winslow's Bio. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; http://www.WorldThinkTank.net/.

Change Your Thinking About Life

What do I do when I get down and out. Well that use to happen to me often and I seemed to suffer with some minor depression. It would seem like time would stand still. I would look at the clock and notice the time. Let's say 2:23 in the afternoon. I would look back to see what time it was about fifteen minutes latter and it would be 2:26. Wow what in the heck is going on with this clock.

I just couldn't believe it seemed like the day would never end. I would just sit there and think about all the stuff going on in my life, good and bad of course. This seemed to last until I was in my early twenties. I just didn't want to feel like this any more. I made a Conscious design not to get depressed period. I never wanted to feel like that again.

I read a book on ESP and in the book it described visualizing a rose as you went to sleep. I started doing this every night and while I was doing the exercise it seemed to make me feel relaxed in a way I never had felt before. The reason for the exercise was to teach you to visualize something peaceful. This in turn would put you in a peaceful state of mind.

Then a thought came into my noggin. What if when ever I start to feel bad or seem to be going into a sort of depressive state of mind I change my thoughts. It worked... I would start to visualize something else that made me feel comfortable and give me a peaceful feeling. Man was I surprised with my results.

Keep in mind I didn't think of this all on my own but I did put the pieces of the puzzle I needed to together that I needed to change my life. It seemed like I could use this form of self control in different parts of my life. If I was at work and someone made me mad.... Well this didn't work all the time... I still got mad. Let's pick something else OK.

I would worry about something on the job that wasn't going right. Then I would get irritated over something else that wasn't even related to what I was worrying about. Why did I take it out on the other person when what I was really mad about was something else. We do this all the time in our lives. We seem to get mad, get even or give up. Why do we do this and what can we do to stop it.

My main point to all of this is we can change our thinking and change our lives. We can learn new things to change our thinking. We don't need to give up hope that we will always be like this. Change the things you don't like about yourself. Do it today. If you need some help there is a great book that will help you change your life for the better.

You can find it at http://www.live.spiritualideas.com This book has a lot of tools to create the change in your life you want to have a more full filling life.

Most people give up just when they're about to achieve success. They quit on the one yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game one foot from a winning touchdown. Ross Perot.

Start Living Your Dreams Today and Create a Wonderful Life For Yourself And Your Family. Greg Vanden Berge is one of the best inspirations on the planet. You will be hearing a lot about this guy in the future. You can count on it.

Personal Development

Essential Laws of Fearless Living by Guy Finley - Book Review

I recently read the new book, The Essential Laws of Fearless Living by Guy Finley. Guy says that we have an insatiable desire to be someone in the world. What drives that? The wish for power, he asserts. We think that power will put us above the world of the ordinary. It will move us out of our unremarkable daily lives and into a life of excitement and pleasure. We are running from the fear of being no one. But, as Guy points out . . ."what we resist persists." So by living in fear and discouragement because we are unable to move away from the fear, we are only bringing more of the same feelings! It's a vicious, never-ending circle. We try using power to control and possess others - a really bad idea Guy points out because by trying to control another person, we are, in fact, giving our power over to that person. So not only are we not in control, someone else has control over us! Not exactly what we had in mind. So instead of trying to control others, give to others what we ask from them. That is the secret to receiving what we wish for from others

Most of us automatically resist the unknown. But in order to become fearless, we must practice self-liberation. We live in negative states of self-doubt and fear. But if we realize that these states are voluntary, not mandatory, we can begin to free ourselves from their imprisonment. The more we think negative thoughts, the more we sink into negativity. And the more we live in negativity, the more we react negatively. We must realize that negative reactions make nothing better!

So how do we become fearless? By letting go of those limiting beliefs. And how do we find our limiting beliefs? Through self-reflection and thought. Put a question to ourselves - such as, what do I fear? - and really think about the response. Self-awareness puts us in touch with the higher intelligence that already lives within all of us.

Stop trying to change the world that we see. Instead begin by changing the way we see the world. Work on the inner first and the outer will follow.

Annette Greco is co-owner of a successful home remodeling business, author of The Kitchen Remodeling Cookbook: The Survival Guide to Cooking When Your Kitchen Can't and co-founder of On The Level Consulting. The remodeling business requires a successful combination of sales, marketing, administration and production. It is even more important for the small remodeling company to execute all areas well and in the right combination. Find out how to maximize profits while minimizing time and stress. Sign up for On The Level Consulting's FREE online newsletter to find out how. Visit http://www.onthelevelconsulting.com

Putting God on Trial

I was listening to something interesting the other day when someone mentioned putting God on trial for some of the atrocities in the world. If God is the creator of the universe and all that is, or all that ever will be, how can we put him on trial, he's our creator. We can't put our spiritual master on trial can we, he'll just escape anyway if we convict him, won't he. He's got to be smart enough to break out a prison.

As a child I often thought about God and why he would allow such suffering throughout the world. It never made sense to me when I was child and it still doesn't make sense to me today. Why would the creator, want us to suffer, with even the littlest of problems. Other religions have explained it as if God was teaching us a lesson and that's why we have hardships in our lives.

Do you think God ever went through these hardships? Did God have problems finding a job or gathering some food? Does God even eat? Okay now I'm getting off the topic here,(I wonder what God does eat)... if children do something wrong, most of the time their parents will discipline or correct them. If adults to things wrong, the government will discipline and reprimand them. Sometimes these punishments can be severe. It depends on the crimes committed.

If man has to be put on trial for committing crimes like murder, genocide, and general atrocities towards mankind, should God also be put on trial or is he above man because he's God. I can't imagine the creator of the universe ever being put on trial for man's crimes against humanity or other men, but it seems like someone who is all powerful and all knowing could help his children out of this little mess that we're in today.

Couldn't God help us like we help our children. We as parents might not have all the answers, but we do not claim to have them. We are not all powerful and all knowing, like we would assume God to be. When is God going to help us solve some of our major world problems, like genocide and starvation.

Putting God on trial might not solve all of our problems today but it would be nice to have some help with our problems. If he created us to please him, do we have to go on trial one day, for all the things we did or ignored while we were alive. Something to think about isn't it.

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing and personal development. Check This Out What Happened to the Wise Men's Gifts

Greg is currently working on a video library filled with great movies on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world.

Questions To Ask Your Pastor

Time Management For Your Best Success

For me Time Management is absolutely essential. Since I am so too often getting distracted, I had to implement my own system to keep me on track of the important things I want or need to do. Finally, a day has only 24 hours. Therefore tasks and goals should be selected wisely.

Yes, family first, then some relaxing time for mind and body and thereafter - immediately - take the note pad with your Priority Tasks for growing your Internet Marketing Business! What is last? TV, reading newspaper, sleeping in the afternoon or early evening..., you get the picture. About reading: I read my eBooks or physical books every night in bed for 20 minutes (exactly) before sleeping. That is totally relaxing for me. Just find out your best time and do it every day.

Most important on Time Management is to stay focussed on your tasks . Make a schedule for everything you must do or definitively want to do today and tomorrow. Set reasonable goals to each task and also add a time frame. Prioritise them and it is a MUST to get the 3 top ones done today. Keep your list updated during the day. Every evening put the next tasks on it for tomorrow. What not has been done moves to the top (no cheating!). Inly in this way you get also things you do not like so much moved from the list. This frees your mind, try it.

Do not let you go and change the order of your schedule - never! Take action, take decisions, be critical and, most important, remain in a positive mood. Do not mourn, just do it. If you maintain a good balance in your every day planning, you will feel much better within a short time. You will be astonished how much more you can positively do in a so much shorter time as before. Stick to your daily list and schedules, it gets to routine and lets you feel better, for sure.

Doing this, you will eliminate stress, fatigue. You will soon feel more fit and healthy. The time you won back can be used for a wonderful walk along the river, a nice dinner with the family of some other things you always wanted to do but did not find the time for. And finally, you will be noticed by others as a much nicer and more positive person, your relationship at home and in business will change positively too.

Conclusion: Time Management helps you to prioritize, getting things done, avoid wasting time on unimportant things (!), take care of the most important projects, appointments, deadlines and it will reduce your workload in general. And finally, look for your top creative time and mental phases. Do the most demanding jobs within these creative phases, safe less demanding work for you lower bio rhythm.

That's how it works, enjoy planning your Time Management!

Martin Bigler offers Resources, Tools and Educational Content to help interested. People building their Internet Business successfully. His Educational Newsletter gives profound Step by Step Guidance on various Marketing and Sales Tasks. A big Selection of Free Reports, Downloads and useful Links are available at MartinBigler.com. Copyright by Martin Bigler

Need Help Remodeling In Carlsbad

What you are thinking about remodeling your house and you live in Carlsbad. Let me give you some advice about some local contractors and some of the people involved. I used a company called Service Magic to find a local heating and air conditioning contractor. All I had to do was go on the internet , type in some information about my self and what I wanted to have done to my home. This didn't seem that bad of a idea at the time. But look what I found out.

I went to their web site, filled in my information and with in minutes I had received the names of at least 4 contractors. Wow this is neat. I didn't even get to start calling any of them when my phone rang. It was one of the contractors secretaries. She introduced herself and asked what would be a good time for someone to come out to look at the work I wanted done.

I was surprised at the speed things were taking place but in a way glad that I had a reputable contractor from one of the largest construction referral services on the internet. I told her 10:00 would be fine. I got a call shortly after that from one of the other companies. He wanted to meet me that mourning at 8:00 if it was Ok with me. I told him of course, let's do this. Then the next one called and I thought great you can come at 1:00. Well you guessed it the next one was coming over at 2:30.

The first contractor showed up as scheduled at 8:00. We talked about what I wanted done and he whips out his note book and starts figuring out a price. This took place around 15 minutes into the meeting. This guys good I thought. Being a General Contractor in Carlsbad myself, for a job like this I would go back to my office and figure out a price and then double check my figures for a accurate estimate. It took this guy less than 5 minutes to create a proposal of around 10,700 dollars for every thing.

Well I was thinking to myself, the job should be around 7,000 dollars but what do I know about construction. I informed him that I would think about it and that I was going to meet with a couple of other contractors that day. He ask me who the other contractors were. I proceeded to tell him that I probably shouldn't tell him who they were. Well your not going to believe this. He put on his physic hat and told me who was coming over. The only thing he didn't know was what time they where coming over.

Oh I forgot to mention before he left he told me he would knock ten percent off the job if I signed the contract right now. I pretended like I was excited just to see his reaction. He looked at me like he had won the gold metal in sales. I told him thanks but I bet your new offer with the ten percent discount will be good for the next few day. Right I asked. He wasn't looking that excited any more as he replied with a Yes it will be good for a while. I thanked him and he went on his way.

My 10:00 never showed but his secretary gave me the old, " He had to go do a emergency job and could he reschedule tomorrow at the same time. I said that would be fine. As a contractor myself I have always put the work I had to do first and foremost.

About 12:30 I get a call from my next heating and air conditioning contractor. He is running late but will be there at 1:30. I appreciate the call and I will see you then. The only problem now is that I have another contractor coming at 2:30. That give the next contractor less than one hour before the next guy shows up. I never liked going over to someone's house and running into another remodeling contractor.

The next contractor was very informative and knew his stuff. I listened and learned. He told me he was going to have to go back to his office and would have a price back in the mourning. Great I told him as I hurried him out the door.

The last contractor of the day shows up and wants to know whose been over to the house, was it these guys or those guys. I told him I wasn't going to tell him who was over. Now this guy was a salesman. He did a little more probing before he let me in on the fact that his company doesn't do complete home installations. He made up some story that his company only replaces the forced air units. I could tell he didn't want to do the job once he found out I knew what I was talking about. So I said my good byes to Mr. Salesman.

The bad part about him was latter on that week his company sent us some mailers. The kind that doesn't have your name on it and everyone in the neighborhood get's one. I couldn't believe my eyes when I started to read this letter. It said we would be glad to give you an estimate on all your heating and air conditioning needs or services. " We Do Complete Installs". I told my wife we could have used this a few weeks ago. Then I recognized the name of the company and now knew that the salesman had lied to me for sure.

That night I started to think about what was going on here it seemed like I was being set up. Everyone knew what was going on but me. It seemed clear to me that these people knew each other.

Well as time went on we ended up hiring the first guy that came over. He seemed to have the best product at the most reasonable price. His company also did a great job. Keep one thing in mind here out of five contractors that I gave the opportunity to bid the job. Only three showed up and from them I only got two bids. Why didn't I get more bids? Quite frankly I was to busy working at the time and of course the other two guys were always going to show up and that kind of strung me along. My mistake.

Here's the kicker to all of this. Service Magic calls me up one day to tell me they would like to start sending me construction leads as a General Contractor.

I listened to what they had to say and was almost ready to sign up with them again. That's right, I was signed up with them when they first started until they changed the rules on me. The salesman that originally contacted me said if I paid them the 100 dollar sign up fee they would let me pick what jobs I wanted to do. That lasted about 5 months before I noticed that they were not sending me siding referrals to pick from. I called them up only to talk to someone who didn't understand the State Of California Contractors Licensing Board.

Well I wasn't about to reinvent the wheel. I simply told them that I should a least get my money back, right. They said they would look into it further as I never heard from them again about my 100 dollars. Well things have changed at Service Magic since I was with them when they started.
As a home owner you don't think you are paying Service Magic because all you do is fill out a simple form giving some information about yourself.

I found out that Service Magic sent all four of these contractors my original information. Each contractor then had to pay 55 dollars each to Service Magic for a total of 220 dollars. All I have to say is how are they getting away with charging this much money for sending a out a simple referral to these contractors.

The contractor unfortunately passes this expense on to his customers. You as the home owners end up paying these fees as a cost of doing business with them. Some contractors think this is a great way of doing business but you might think differently in the future if you start paying over 100 dollars for a simple construction referral.

Greg Vanden Berge has been in the home building and remodeling business for over 30 years. With this knowledge he has created a few websites that provide useful information for home owners as well as contractors. His main goal is to educate professionals in the home related businesses, dealing with problems that can easily be avoided with just a little bit of information.

His website http://gregvan.com provides all kinds of answers to remodeling and new house building issues that could create major damage as well as possible damage to your pocket book.

Visit us now for Home Improvement Tips

Nothing Will Be Impossible

Motivating Others - The Secret!

Can you really motivate others? In a word: NO!

I know that sounds weird coming from someone who makes a living in the business of motivation and engagement in the workplace; but I'm not going to waste your time with lies, platitudes, useless slogans and metaphysical crap. The fact is there is no secret when it comes to motivating others. You can provide external motivation, inspiration and incentive but ultimately all effective motivation is internal. If you want to motivate others you need to employ some simple protocols that are too often ignored by organization leaders:

• Find out what personally motivates each individual on your team.
• Empower people with the resources and opportunities that support each person's vision of success & happiness.
• Make sure everyone knows how important his or her role is in the success of the organization.
• Hold each person accountable for his or her role in personal and organizational success.

One more thing: Get rid of anyone who will not accept personal responsibility for his or her own success and happiness!

I define power as your ability or capacity to act or perform effectively. Give everyone in your organization the opportunity to perform effectively and the organization becomes more powerful. Simple, not easy!

Too often power is confused with control. Power is not control; control is an imposition of will. Power is effectiveness and a person is most effective when he knows his work is generating personal success and happiness.

But...some managers say it's impossible to know the individual needs of everyone in an organization. Divide and conquer! External motivation is a process of effective coaching and mentoring and that's best done on a small scale. You can manage the scale in two way.

• Delegate closer contact to smaller groups. Hold each management level accountable for knowing what motivates his or her immediate team.
• Make some time for nearly everyone you want to motivate. A little meaningful contact makes a large impression.

I'm not advocating an uncontrollable system of appeasement where everyone gets everything he thinks he's entitled to. Control should not be confused with power, but control is necessary to some degree at every level of an organization. Every individual is, however, entitled to at least one thing and that one thing is opportunity. A motivated person who doesn't see opportunity in your organization is going someplace else; you don't want to lose self-motivated people!

An effective organization understands the motivational drives of its people and strives to provide the opportunity for the individual to satisfy his or her drive for success. That drive converts directly to productivity and profit.

• Understand what motivates individuals in your organization.
• Establish effective coaching and mentoring that supports individual success.
• Provide opportunity for individual development and success.
• Hold individuals accountable for supporting organizational success.

You may not be able to motivate others, at least not on an internal level. You can provide external motivation based on the needs of the individuals on your team. Make sure external motivation is in synergy with those needs and the mission of the organization. Be a motivational example for others and you've got real power!

Jim Bouchard is America's Black Belt Powervator; speaker, coach & author of Dynamic Components of Personal POWER!

Visit: http://JimBouchard.org
Download your FREE white paper: The Actual Value of Motivation and Engagement in the Workplace: http://www.jimbouchard.org/BusinessPOWER.htm
Book Jim for your next corporate event, conference, convention or retreat. Call 800-786-8502

New Versus Old Lumber - Structural Failure

During my 30 years of remodeling and building new homes. I have ran across quite a bit of structural framing failures. I find myself answering this question a lot when explaining to a homeowner about the structural failure I am repairing on their home, "Why Didn't They Use Better Lumber" or " Why Didn't They Use Larger Lumber." I really have a hard time answering these questions because I honestly don't know the answer.

However I can try to use some logic and reason to give these people an answer that seems to make sense to both of us. Why didn't they use better lumber, quite simply because, with most older homes that were built before the 1970s they actually do have better lumber. Now you're probably thinking how can these homes have better lumber when the lumber is old versus the new lumber used in a brand new house.

Most of the structural repairs I have made over the years has nothing to do with the lumber and whether it was new or old. A large number of these repairs were caused by neglect and poor maintenance.

The lumber in most older houses are from older growth trees. Some of these trees were extremely large and only the premium parts of the trees were used. The premium lumber is cut farthest away from the center of the tree. Now the larger the tree it makes sense that there will be more premium lumber.

A large majority of the newer lumber used in home construction comes from trees about 6 inches in diameter. Now you're probably wondering how can they cut a 2 x 8 piece of lumber out of a 6 inch tree. Of course they cannot, the larger lumber comes from larger trees.

Most 2 x 4's that are less than 8 foot long can be cut from these trees. This scrap or waste that comes from cutting these two by fours will now go into engineered building materials like particleboard, oriented strand board and engineered beams. Another name for an engineered been would be a paralam.

I hope you're starting to get the picture now when it comes to using new or old lumber. There are companies that are going into old logging rivers and retrieving old growth lumber. These were logs that sank to the bottom of the river's and were never retrieved because it was too costly.

The old growth lumber is quite expensive. Who's to say what problems we will happen in the future from the newer products created with modern day technology. When it comes to building houses it is not an exact science and as contractors we have been repairing the damage from poor engineering for years.

When I use the word poor engineering I am not pointing fingers at engineers. We now have more knowledge about home construction then we had years ago.

New versus old lumber, who wins the battle. Only time will tell.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He is currently working on more building and Remodeling Library and adding useful content to help solve problems created by the lack of construction knowledge in the building industry.

Visit us and get more information on building and remodeling your homes and Structural Repairs.

Using Words In The Bible Effecti

Passion + Purpose = Action or How to Light a Fire

Wanna really turn up the heat in your life? Then use the crucial ingredient essential to turning dreams into reality thats action. Without placing a cake in the oven, all the mixing, folding and combination of ingredients wont get you a finished cake. Its ACTION that produces the final results. Lets focus in on taking the action steps necessary to live our lives full of passion and purpose.

Talk is Cheap

A little less conversation, a little more actionwell they didnt call Elvis the King for nothing. He knew about action (in more ways than one, but thats not the point). He understood talk and action were different. It can be easy to get caught up in the what if syndrome. I used to have a bad case of the what ifs myself. What if I wrote a book? What if I took this class? What if I pursue my passion? What if it doesnt work? We all do it. Its human nature. We talk to our friends, annoy our co-workers, and wear-out our families! Talking about something isnt getting us any closer to the finish line than we already are. In fact, talking about it keeps us stuck.

What keeps us talking? FEAR. In The Aladdin Factor, Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen remind us, If you keep on doing what youve always done, youll keep on getting what youve always got. This is otherwise referred to as the definition of insanity. They also refer to the wise words of Stan Dale, Comfort zones are plush lined coffins. When you stay in your plush lined coffins, you die. Lets stop the chitchat, step out of our cushy coffins and get busy living.

Dream vs. Do

So you say Im a dreamer. Well Im not the only one. John Lennon was a dreamer, but he also understood that living our dreams requires action. Honestly, if you can dream it, you can do it. But dreaming alone can find us in Fantasy Land. We sit and spin the story in our minds. We envision living a life of grand proportions. Waking up each day and stepping into the perfect life. There is no perfect (Im a recovering perfectionista too, so I speak from experience), only an original screenplay written and directed and starring our im-perfect selves. The beauty of dreams is that we CAN manifest the things we see in our minds eye. We just need to get over the Yeah, but how?

In Good to Great, Jim Collins shares, Weve allowed the way transitions look from the outside to drive our perception of what they must feel like to those going through them on the inside. From the outside, they look like dramatic, almost revolutionary breakthroughs. But from the inside, they feel completely different, more like an organic development process. Lets stop freaking ourselves out with negative self-talk and how could I? scenarios. Change does require action but its not our job to know exactly how well get from A-Z. Set your intention on the goal and trust that the Universe wants you to have everything your heart desires and then some. Dont worry about the details - just set the wheels in motion.

Do vs. BE

Multi-tasking has become the norm. We get so caught up in the doing of everyday life. We get up, rush to eat, fly out the door, get to office, more multi-tasking ensues, race home, whip up or pick up some food - if we eat at all, spend some quality time with a friend, spouse, partner, kids, the TV, or the Internet and then hit the haybeat down!

Doesnt sounds like the secret to success, huh? Lets flip that switch. Were human BEINGs not human DOINGs. How might we re-frame our lives to start BEING the unique, and creative individuals we were designed to be? First, we must SLOW down. I knowcrazy talk, right? Youre sayinghow can I slow down? Ive got too much on my plate as it is. Well you really CANT do it all. So clean up your stuff, commit to what you really want and take the required baby steps to get there.

Grab a notebook and start asking questions. What three things would I like to incorporate into my day that I am not doing right now? What three things could I eliminate in order to do those other things? What do I really want my days to look like?

What would you do with 30 more minutes a day just for you? What if you got up just 30 minutes earlier? If youve got kids and a spouse, let them know that you are off limits. Would you read? Journal? Work out? Meditate? Have a conversation with God? Take a walk? Have coffee outside and listen to the sounds of a new day dawning?

I understand were not all morning people. But are those extra 30 minutes youre hitting the snooze button, quality sleep anyway? Lets stop complaining that there arent enough hours in the day and re-arrange the 24 weve already got. If living your life your way requires getting up 30 minutes earlier, wouldnt it be worth it? How could it NOT be? Beers become who they are intended to be. Doers die with overflowing in-boxes. Each and every day we have a choice. Which path do you choose? (Yes, sometimes I choose to snooze, but more often than not, I choose to nurture myself).

Imperfect Perfection

According to Deepak Chopra in, The Book of Secrets, There is no limit to how far your influence can reach, but to find that out you must engage life with passion. When you do anything with passion, you express every aspect of who you are. Passion releases all the energy you posses. At that moment you put yourself on the line, for if you throw everything you have into a pursuit, weaknesses are also exposed. Passion brings up everything.

This inescapable fact discourages many people, who dislike the negative parts of themselves so much, or are so intimidated by them, that they hold their passion in check in the belief that life will be made safer. Perhaps it will, but at the same time they are greatly limiting their understanding of what life can bring. The willingness to reach inside every part of yourself opens the door to total understanding. When you hold some part of yourself in reserve you deny it exposure to life; you repress its energy and keep it from understanding what it needs to know.

Wow! Have you ever experienced feeling like that? I have. I was a mess as I was about to launch my website. I was worried about being judged and over-exposed. That people would see all of me. The dark and the light. The good, the bad and the indifferent. The highs and the lows. Me at my finest, as well as, imperfect. I have reached a new level of understanding regarding perfection. I now know that we are ALL whole, complete and perfect AS IS. Right now. It doesnt get any better than this, only different. I appreciate the ebb and flow of my moods more and dont freak out when Im feeling funky (OK, I still freak a little, but Im working on reveling in my funkiness).

My clients have found greater success when they allow themselves to be whole and not just good. One of my clients recently got over her good girl complex, and her world just opened up! Try watching babies. Theyve got this down to a science. One minute they are peaches and cream and the next oil and vinegar. Are they any less beautiful when they are crying than when they are laughing? No. Simply different. Go ahead, revel in your imperfect perfection, its your birthright.

Karma-chameleon

Taking action requires being flexible. You might set out to move forward in one way and then events fall into place and opportunities knock on doors you didnt even know existed. Be flexible and open to the synchronicities that play out in your life. If you open up your heart and ask the Universe to help guide you to your higher purpose, or your desired goal, you have to be open to the way these opportunities will arrive. Dont be so fixated on It has to look like this, or It needs to play out like that.

Synchronicity is the Universal communication system. Example, yesterday I was in a colleagues office and noticed the book, Good to Great on his desk. I commented that Id heard about this book in an article Id read recently. Picked the book up, gleaned it over and went back about my business. 10 minutes later, I received an e-mail from a friend with this book listed as a great resource. Hmmm, lets countthats three times that book came into my awareness in about a 3-day window. I decided the universe was trying to tell me something. That book had a message for me and it was time to investigate.

Im still reading it, but I gained a valuable and relevant quote to share with you all. Maybe thats all I was supposed to get out of it. Im not sure. Either way, I got the tap on my shoulder and interpreted it as, Hey Kam. Time to pick up this book. Had I been completely fixated on the copy Id written prior to finding that book, this article might not have had as big of an impact. Moral to the story, stay flexible and chameleon-like. You never know when intuition will ask you to make a right instead of a left. That voice could save you from a traffic accident and it could also get you to where you need to be easier and more efficiently than you could on your own.

Jump

Theres only so much you can learn in one place. The more that you wait. The more time that you waste. Ahhh, that controversial genius Madonna. She is the perfect example of being chameleon-like. If shed gotten stuck in the same sound, same look, same accent, she never would have had the successful career thats spanned decades.

Ask yourself what youre willing to do to move forward. Are you willing to jump? What would it take for you to courageously leap forward? What action is necessary for you to live life by design instead of by default? To live out loud and passionately and on purpose? To BE present and trust that from moment to moment youll get there. As Peter N. Zarlenga said, Action conquers fear. What are you waiting for? Get busy!

Kammie Kobyleski has been having coaching conversations her whole life. After working in corporate communications, marketing, training & development, and higher education, Kammie made the shift into life & career coaching and consulting. Her lifes mission is helping people fall in love with life. The integration of mind, body, spirit and personal empowerment are Kammies passionate focus. For free resources, articles and information visit http://www.passionmeetspurpose.com or for a complimentary 30 minute call, e-mail kammie@passionmeetspurpose.com

Moisture Against Gravity - Destroying Walls

Well I'm going to start this article with a little information on a job I did once.

I had been repairing a rental house for one particular homeowner for about three years when all of a sudden I got a phone call from him telling me the rental house was destroyed and he had never seen nothing like this. He sounded so upset over the phone I told him I would meet with him immediately.

On my way to the house I was trying to get an idea in my head what the house was going to actually look like. Since I have been repairing rental properties for over 20 years at this point of my career, nothing really shocked me. I had pretty much seen everything that could possibly be done to rental property by the tenants that lived there. There is a lot to be said about taking care of it as if it were your own.

He was waiting for me at the front door and he looked thoroughly disgusted. As I approached him he was shaking his head and yelling at the same time can you believe these people, can you believe what they did to my house. I was expecting to see the front door ripped off and all the windows broken out of the house but this wasn't the case.

As he led me through the home and I could see the usual clothing on the floor, broken cabinets, a few holes in the walls and of course that awful smell of mold and mildew. All of this stuff was nothing new to me because I'm the guy they call to fix it when a renter moves out of the property.

As I entered one of the bedrooms I got my first glimpse of something I had never seen before but heard stories about and could not believe my eyes. Looking at the walls in the bedroom about 3 feet from the floor all the way around the room, the plaster was soft. It actually looks like someone shoved popcorn into the wall somehow.

The homeowner wasn't even looking at this because of the rest of the damage in the home. I started to explain to him I'd never seen nothing like this but I could guess it was water damage somehow since the plaster was soft. I could actually stick my finger into the wall, that's how soft the plaster was.

My first thought was to examine the carpeting a little closer to see if it was wet. Well it was damp but it wasn't as wet as I would've expected it to be with the amount of water in the walls. With a little more home inspecting I had found the culprit, it was a broken water bed. The water bed was now in the backyard looking innocent.

I couldn't believe a broken water bed could do this much damage so I looked around for broken or leaking water pipes and could not find any. The other bad news I had to inform the homeowner was that the water had damage the bathroom and closet walls also. These walls of course were on the other side of the bathroom walls that were damaged.

Well the point of this story is that water will actually wick its way up or worked its way up into a wall. I had to remove 4 feet of drywall all the way around the room. The plaster or drywall actually acts like a sponge pulling the water into the walls. Hard to imagine that gravity in this case seems to reverse. I would've never thought that water would've traveled so far up the walls creating that much damage.

To repair the rental property I had to remove the damaged drywall, remove the carpeting, dry the wood framing out and put the whole thing back together.

I'm still amazed and will remember that project for as long as I live.

Greg Vanden Berge is working on the internet to promote the education for creating simple to follow guides and home building books to help professional building contractors as well as the weekend warriors. He is currently working on more Building and Remodeling Library and adding useful content to help solve problems created by the lack of construction knowledge in the building industry.

Visit us and get more information on House Water Damage

Ask And You Might Receive Or Ask

Samuel L Jackson - The Famous Hollywood Actor

SAMUEL L. JACKSON (Abel Turner) Respectfully labeled as one of the hardest working actors in Hollywood, Jackson is an undisputed star as demonstrated by the fact that his films have grossed more money in box office sales than any other actor in the world. The recipient of worldwide acclaim and notoriety, Jackson has been honored with a variety of awards from some of the most prestigious organizations. He won the Best Supporting Actor award by the Cannes Film Festival in 1991 for Jungle Fever, the Silver Bear Award at the Berlin Film Festival in 1998 on behalf of Jackie Brown, he has received three Golden Globe nominations for Pulp Fiction, A Time to Kill and Jackie Brown, five NAACP Image Award nominations and one win in 2005 for his performance in Coach Carter,and most recently he has garnered two People's Choice Award nominations in 2006 and 2007 for Favorite Male Actor. Jackson made an indelible mark on American cinema with his portrayal of 'Jules', the philosophizing hitman, in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. In addition to unanimous critical acclaim for his performance, he received Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations as Best Supporting Actoras well as a Best Supporting Actor award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts.

Among his many award-winning performances, Jackson made movie history with his portrayal of a crack addict in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever when he was awarded the first and only Best Supporting Performance Award ever given by the judges at the Cannes Film Festival. Jackson was most recently seen in Iron Man in a surprise cameo appearance and in the Doug Liman directed sci-fi action film, Jumper. In late 2007, Jackson had a starring role in the acclaimed drama Resurrecting the Champ, and a supporting role in the horror film 1408, based on the Stephen King novel. Earlier this year, Jackson starred in the Craig Brewer film Black Snake Moan, and Irwin Winkler's MGM war drama Home of the Brave.

This fall, in addition to Lakeview Terrace, Jackson's films will include the Dimension Studios comedy "Soul Men" with Bernie Mac and then on Christmas day, Jackson will star in the Frank Miller action drama The Spirit, where he portrays the nemesis, 'Octopus.' Other film credits include Cleaner, Snakes on a Plane, Coach Carter, Star Wars trilogy, In My Country, The Man, The Incredibles, S.W.A.T., Formula 51, Changing Lanes, Caveman's Valentine, Red Violin, Shaft, Unbreakable, 187, Eve's Bayou, Jackie Brown, The Negotiator, A Time To Kill, Die Hard with a Vengeance, The Long Kiss Goodnight and Deep Blue Sea. On the small screen, Jackson serves as Executive Producer for the animated series for Spike TV, "Afro Samurai" which premiered in 2007 and will be returning for a second season in January 2009.

He also just secured a first look television deal with CBS and their properties to produce and develop upcoming projects. In addition, Jackson has a production deal with New Line Cinema to produce and develop projects in which he has the option of starring. His first film project for the studio, in which Jackson will produce and star, is called Man That Rocks the Cradle. More details about movie and celebrities are available from the following site

http://filmsdunia.blogspot.com/

The Bible's Power Over One Child

I mentioned Sean in another one of my articles, the story of a young foster boy that we were taking care of. Sean's father was my ex-wife's uncle, and they were going through some tough times for a while and their three children ended up as wards of the state. We eventually ended up taking the oldest child because he was the hardest one to place and another home. His brother and sister ended up with a family that wanted to adopt them and eventually Sean went to live with them and I believe all three of them were adopted by this family. I don't know this for a fact though.

Sean was a emotionally damaged child. His parents would punish him with some strange and bizarre punishments. They weren't really physical punishments but seemed to leave the emotional scars on him and I often think about where he is and what he is doing.

We watched him for about a year and I learned quite a bit from this young man. He was in the third grade but was still at the first grade level for reading and math. I would spend a couple of hours each night during the week helping him with his schoolwork, I seem to have created some sort of allusion that I would be able to bring him up to the third grade level within a short period of time. Wrong. He must've had learning disabilities and of course I don't think I was that good teacher.

Sean was easy going, polite and extremely obedient. He would do anything to avoid getting in trouble and often blamed others for his mistakes. His punishments must have been more than he could bear before he arrived at our home. I think you're getting the picture about what kind of a child Sean was.

One day I found myself in a dilemma with Sean, I couldn't get him to tell me the truth, even though I knew he was lying. I forget what the problem was but I remember a hollow look in his face. It was almost like he wasn't really there. It was almost like he was just doing time, sitting on the bed, listening to me asking the same question over and over again, "Sean are you lying", but he wasn't even paying attention.

I normally would not punish my children for accidents, and never tolerated lying. I was trying to explain to him that he wasn't going to get in trouble, I just wanted to know the truth. He wasn't budging at all and stuck to his story. I remembered that his mother and father were Catholics and feared the church, almost as much as they loved it.

That's what I came up with my evil plan. I don't know where I come up with these ideas, but every once in a while one pops up in my head and I run with it.

I told Sean that I was going to bring the Holy Bible in, and if he could swear on the Bible that he was telling the truth, I would accept that and this would be the end of our conversation. I couldn't believe my eyes, as he started crying and screaming, frantically and excitedly as a yelled out, I did it, I did it, don't bring the Bible in, I won't do it again.

I couldn't believe that was all it took to get information from him. I have always been a pretty good interrogator and found myself gathering information from those people easily, but this was amazing. His fear of the Holy Bible got me thinking about how powerful this book actually is to some people. I remember when I looked upon this book, pretty much the same as Sean did.

It's just a book, like any other book. It's not made at a holy factory or a secret monastery in the Swiss Alps somewhere, it's made from paper and ink and can be damaged and destroyed like other books. I would be surprised if I threw the Bible into the fire, that it wouldn't burn. I would be even more surprised, if I seen three men standing in the fire, wait a minute that's another story in the Bible.

Is it possible for this book to actually control the lives of people. It seemed to control Sean, I wonder if I, could have actually been driving a nail home that his parents started. Could I have added to his belief, that the Bible is a book from God the creator of everything.

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

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

Will All Men Ever Hate Jesus

Is Workplace Conflict Destructive or Creative?

Whenever you work with people, conflict is inevitable. The tension created by daily conflict either results in wasted time, decreased productivity, and poor decisions or the sort of internal competition that pushes each individual to do their best, if for no other reason that convince their coworkers that they can do it.

This inevitable conflict is either destructive or creative. The destructive conflict is toxic to relationships and hurts people and organizations and this is the one that needs managing. In my experience creative conflict seems to be cultural in nature. It's how the people themselves react and address each other and the situations they face together.

If you've ever seen "American Chopper" on the Discovery Channel you know what I mean by creative conflict. There is a lot of yelling going on. These guys are not shy about sharing their opinions when they disagree with one another. If you were a stranger who walked into their shop you might think WWIII had broken out.

In fact, that is how they relate to one another - there is no ambiguity, they tell it like it is in the moment. Imagine how much more they accomplish because they use the tension to air their different opinions, right now - and then get on with it. It's possible that this is just a TV show and these guys have nice quiet meetings in the board room, listening to various committee reports, before the speak up, but that's not likely. I bet they are who we see them as being.

In three decades working with family businesses I have seen dozens and dozens of companies who harness conflict creatively, and in so doing get the most out of everyone as well as optimum results overall. They don't waste time on what's not working just because it was the bosses idea. They stop what they're doing and point out the other person's mistake then show them how to fix it. Nothing and no one or their opinion is sacred - it's all about getting the job done.

Sadly I have seen experts try to get them to change their behavior, be more polite to one another and offer more politically correct input in an ever more constructive manner. In other words they (the experts) want other people to be more like them.

So instead of helping their clients manage the destructive conflict that exists, they are offering suggestions on how to fix what isn't broken.

I am talking about the conflict that distracts employees and managers from otherwise productive use of their time. Studies reveal that up to 30% of a typical managers time is spent dealing with conflict. And that 42 percent of their time is spent reaching agreements with others when conflicts occur.

Sometimes destructive conflict is simply because the people don't like each other. In the universe of family owned companies sometimes brothers, sisters, cousins, and in-laws are thrown together in ways none of them like. Conflict is the only way they have of displaying the frustration they feel about the situation they're in.

It is no wonder that an estimated 65% of performance problems result from strained relationships like these. Between employees who are not happy with each other - not from deficits in their training, skill, or motivation.

The most common way that destructive conflict shows up is about "how" a certain task should be accomplished. I met a farmer once whose son (age 50) refused to do things the way he wanted them done. He sited an example by driving me on the back of his four wheeler (you could not get there any other way) to a field that illustrated his point.

He and his father before him had always plowed the field north to south - his son was plowing it east to west. I am not making this up. It didn't have anything to do with soil erosion, conservation, or the environment - he was doing it this way against his dad's wishes, just to get his goat. And it was working.

I bet you can think of things at your company that are being done a certain way because that's the way they've always been done. And if you're the one who wants to change history, good luck!

Destructive conflict about how things are being done, what things are being done, and whether or not a certain thing should even be done can paralyze the organization.

Wasted time arguing about things that don't matter, an unwillingness to consider another person's point of view based on their experience, and the blame game when the results are in all cry out for a self-help process you can use to manage your differences so that all conflict is creative.

The end result of a successful self-help mediation process is that you (as a group) turn together and focus on the challenge or opportunity you all face. You see the problem as the stumbling block and not your coworker.

Self-help mediation tools allow two individuals the opportunity to discuss their assumptions about the other person's motives. In many conflicts the simple process of testing these assumptions face to face using active listening skills will resolve the issue entirely, because the parties realize the conflict is simply a misunderstanding.

Self-help mediation tools pave the way for more effective decision making. Obviously decisions made under conditions of conflict are going to be inferior to decisions made when cooperation prevails. If ongoing conflict (even a low grade resistance to cooperation) is present between people who share decision-making authority, the resulting decisions are likely to be flawed by the power struggles between those people.

As business owners we know that good decisions must be based on an optimum quality and quantity of objective information. So when information is withheld or distorted by those we are depending on to provide it, the decision cannot be the best one possible.

There is now doubt, workplace conflict resolution strategies - especially those that will allow you to do it yourself - will save you money, time, energy, and enhance your workplace by helping you make better decisions, retain your best employees, and design a future course for the business everyone will actively support!

Wayne Messick's web site http://www.iBizResources.com has many additional conflict resolution articles and strategic planning resources to help you grow your business. If you are a small business advisor and want to maximize your professional and financial potential, here are the resources we are using to systematically multiply our new business, our revenues, and our client's satisfaction.