Your 7 days program to positive thinking

"Enlightenment" Your 7 days program to Positive thinking I'm sure you have a bright idea hidden somewhere in the back of your mind that you just can't wait to test out. Of course you're not the only one with the bright idea. So what motivates you to churn those creative, or even inspiring juices to its utmost flavor? It's always best to set up a personal goal where you can accomplish the most in record time, maybe like mowing the lawn in an hour before the big game on TV. A correct and positive attitude in whatever you do will make things easier, and even enjoyable. Here are some tips to make it through the week even if you're just sitting in your favorite couch. An idea takes time to form in your head and is always at work while you are busy sitting. Having a bit of positive thinking can help you realize things that are never thought possible. Thinking big is indeed the American Way and that what made our country prosperous. 1. Take passionate action towards living your life by design. Talk is cheap. Action = deposits in the bank of a passionately authentic future. Without it, passion is void. This is a perfect example where dreams are made of where you start by tinkering with your mind, then with your hands. And if the idea weakens, you can always go back to it later until you finish it. 2mit to yourself as well as those you love to create powerfully a life you can love. Instead of reacting, commit to creating from your heart and soul, out of love rather than fear. The American Dream will always be there, but a dream will still be a dream without motion. Be amazed as the transformation begins. 3. Recognize and embrace the thought that each moment is perfect regardless of its outcome. Every time you hit on something that may appear too extreme, why not give it a shot and see if it will work. You will be surprised to see of there are other ways to get the task done in time. If you are not pleased with the outcome, decide to use that moment to learn from and make the appropriate shift. 4. Dwell completely in a place of gratitude. Learn to utilize what you have in your hands and make use of it in the most constructive way. Slipping into neediness will become less of a habit when you repeatedly shift towards gratitude, away from poverty consciousness. 5. Use a Passion Formula of Recognize/Reevaluate/Restore in place of the Shoulda/Woulda/Coulda whirlwind. The former is based in increased knowledge and abundance while the latter focuses on scarcity and lack. As you face people or tasks that may seem harder than scaling the summit of the Himalayas, allow yourself to realize that the task is just as important as giving out orders to your subordinates. You would rather be richly passionate! 6. Keep humor at the forefront of thought, laughing at and with yourself when possible. You may find yourself quite entertaining when you loosen up! I am yet to see a comedian ever go hungry even though his jokes are as 'old as great-grandma'. Life has so much to offer to allow you to mope around in self pity. Humor is very attractive, very passionate: life-giving. 7. Believe that you are the architect of your destiny. No one can take your passionate future from you except for you! Create your life authentically. As long as there's still breath in your body, there is no end to how much you can accomplish in a lifetime. The concept of thinking big is all about enjoying your work, which would lead to celebrate a discovery that is born within your hands. Watch everything flow into place with perfect, passionate precision. It's interesting how people get wallowed up by something trivial as learning to use a computer, when nowadays that top computer companies are manufacturing software that even the kids can do it. I don't mean to be condescending, but that's the idea of not having any positive thinking in your life-you'll just end up as a dim bulb in a dark corner. So instead of subjecting yourself to what you will be doomed for, make your path by taking the first step with a positive attitude.

Christmas article 2

2. Eating Heartily but Consciously During Christmas Season During the Christmas season, summer and its body-conscious state of mind are distant memories. Hearty indulgence in the many foods shared at Christmas therefore doesn't produce the same feelings of guilt. Nevertheless, its not a pleasant thought to start the New Year carrying any extra pounds. So why then eat yourself into a resolution to 'take off a few extra pounds' if you can smartly avoid it? Whether it's sharing cookies and candies at work, or having an evening out at a party or dinner, you can have Christmas food and enjoy it. While you seem to be eating heartily with a smile, the key is to have a secret strategy of moderation. It involves sticking to a plan that can be called 'Eating on a Budget.' 'Eating on a Budget' is not about the cost of what is eaten, but about the quantity of what is eaten. It is important that a 'budget' or eating in moderation plan is developed because it is almost impossible to avoid exposure to a lot of cookies, candies and other sweets at Christmas. At work, you may risk appearing like the Grinch who stole Christmas if your response will always be something like, 'Uh..no..bah humbug' all the time that some Christmas goodies are offered. It will seem as if you aren't in the spirit of the holidays especially since at that time of year everyone is usually in a festive and more relaxed mood, and the pace at work is usually slower. A practical way to partake in Christmas goodies, for example, is to substitute some holiday cookies for say the bagel that you usually have with breakfast or for a mid-morning snack. And instead of just taking one cookie, from the platter, which is noticeable and likely will encourage a colleague to tell you to have more, take three instead. That's where the plan can come into play. You can then enjoy the cookies over two or more hours, because nobody will be watching how you really eat. You can always have a few candies, one cookie or a cookie and a half by your desk and that way it will seem as if you are heartily enjoying the holiday treats. Another strategy is to bring - bake or buy - low calorie Christmas cookies and candies to work to counteract others that are being offered. Since eating healthy is highly encouraged, health-conscious cookies will not be looked down upon so long as they taste great. A box of sugar-free Christmas chocolate candies for example will look just as delightful as regular chocolate candies. It's interesting to note that in a poll sponsored by the National Confectioners Association in 2004, chocolate was the favorite food gift that Americans said they preferred to receive for the holidays. The lowly and much maligned fruit cake was last on the list. The second favorite holiday food gift was a fruit basket and a plate of cookies was third on the list, according to the Association. For an occasion such as a Christmas party or a dinner, including Christmas Dinner, where larger quantities and selection of food is available, the 'Eating on a Budget' plan means that serving portions and the choice of food selected should be carefully watched. At a party where more desserts and sweets are likely to be available, a few of the selections can be sampled. If the urge to try everything can't be resisted, then do so, but then second helpings have to be severely limited. The same is somewhat true for Christmas Dinners. One big difference is that the food served during Christmas Dinner will be heavier, so by selecting portions wisely, one can always say truthfully that the stomach is full. And indeed, after a sumptuous Holiday Dinner, your body is likely to be full from food and your soul full of joy from sharing another memorable holiday tradition with family, friends and loved ones.

Secrets of bestseller kind of writing

I often say that my greatest wealth is my library of writing books. One day, I realized that only three of them ever mentioned the most important secret of good writing. A careful search turned up repeated discussions on the following: plot, dialogue, characterization, description, viewpoint, pace and tone, and voice. Other topics turned up more discussions: how to write mysteries, how to write romance, how to write drama, how to format manuscripts, create believable characters, how to get paid, how to write the memoir, how to write the breakout novel, crafting scenes, editing fiction, and on and on. In all of that, I found only one paragraph on the greatest secret in writing a novel. It was only a half page, and in another book, honorable mention. After years of studying good writing, I wondered how that could be when without it, stories are just paper dolls being pushed through a benign plot that never quite delivers. What happened that caused your character to want something so badly that his or her action could have been only what was played out? That secret is called—MOTIVATION. I'll use the books I consider well written, fascinating, and standing the test of time: Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell. Scarlett O'Hara, her main character wanted a man who didn't want to marry her, Ashley Wilkes. And she was going to get him at all cost. He was her motivation to do every unthinkable thing she did. She married Ashley's brother-in-law to be near him. She went from Atlanta to Savannah to stay with Aunt Pitty to stay with Ashley's wife, so she could keep tabs on him when he would come home on furlough from the Civil War. She fought for Tara, her family's plantation, for the sake of Ashley. She snatched her sister's beau and married him to save Tara from a tax sale, knowing that Ashley was coming back from the war and would need a gentleman’s plantation. He could still be the southern gentleman if she owned Tara. She was over the top in love with a man who was never going to marry her. Along with what drives a person to do what he or she does, we have to understand the back story that caused them to be like they are: Scarlett was a spoiled brat, a daddy’s girl, rich, charming and lovely, the daughter of an Irish father who doted on her and gave her everything she wanted. She was also used to getting the men she wanted. She wanted Ashley, but he wanted his cousin, a simple girl, genteel and quiet. Scarlett, though, was the one who all the boys wanted to sit with at the barbecues. Why not Ashley? Having ASHLEY was her motivation. Always Ashley! Ashley married his cousin, Melanie, but that didn't stop Scarlett. She was determined to marry him, and we followed her through 700 pages to find out if she gets him. That was the heart and spine of that story. The ravages of war were just backdrops, staging. From Scarlett’s background, all she did was naturally motivated. And knowing her motivation caused the tension. What motivates your main character? Let’s look at a few examples of motivation to release it into your writing habit. The Color Purple, by Alice Walker: Celie wanted to have her children and her sister near her. It was all she had. All that she suffered with her father raping and impregnating her twice, caused her to feel ugly and black just like her father said. Out of that background, she was motivated to accept her husband’s continued physical and emotional abuse. Even her stepchildren abused her. When we look at that back-story, we know she could have no sense of self-worth. The man she married allowed his girlfriend to come and live in their house and Celie cooked and cared for her. Celie never gave up looking for her sister and children, though. They were what mattered to hr. Finally, her husband’s girlfriend, Shug Avery, gave her a sense of self-esteem and courage. Then she created a clothes designing career. Her motivation was to stay alive so she could see her sister and children. In my novel, The Mayor's Wife Wore Sapphires, Indigo Tate wants Black people to have a better image all over the world. She schemes her husband into running for congress to get her out of Compton and into Washington, D. C. society, where he could influence the funding of their training program in Compton. When that falls through, she schemes to get the press to make Compton a Black Camelot. Since she can’t get out, her city just has to become something special. She suffers every ridicule and tragedy because of that desire. Ultimately, she becomes the mayor and that motivation to succeed still burns hot within her. When we look at Indigo’s background, we learn that she lived in a fine house until she was ten when her father gambled away the family home. One day the white sheriff came and threw the family out, and she had to move into a small, dark house with a leaking tin roof. She began to dream of respect. She promised herself that she'd never give up on becoming somebody--somebody significant. Somebody who could never be thrown out of her home. Nothing could stop her from wanting Compton to be Camelot, wanting her home to be one of the finest in America. She brought the opera, the symphony and the arts to town—all motivated by her need to heal the pain of being thrown out of her lovely home as a child. What is your character’s motivation? Most beginning writers have no idea what their characters want. They just write a lot of events and the story comes to a big climax out of thin air. The ending has nothing to do with the character’s desire. The story can never add up to more than the sum of its parts. It never quite becomes an organic whole, where all the chapters have been melded together like wet cement edges. I guarantee you this: If you will sit down and write what your character wants more than anything in the world, based on why they want it, your story will lead to a natural conclusion. It will last in the reader’s mind for a long, long time. People will tie into the story’s naturalness and stay with you to the end because they accept it as real. Isn't that what all of us writers want? END### You have my permission to use this article FREE if you do not change any part of it--my name or website address. If you use it, you are obligated to notify me at writelink3@yahoo. It bears copyright under the following website: urbanclassicbooks Thank you. Martha “Marti” Tucker urbanclassicbooks/

Every problem has a solution your guide to creative problem solving

More than One Way to Skin a Cat: Adventures in Creative Thinking How many times have you caught yourself saying that there could be no other solution to a problem – and that that problem leads to a dead end? How many times have you felt stumped knowing that the problem laying before you is one you cannot solve. No leads. No options. No solutions. Did it feel like you had exhausted all possible options and yet are still before the mountain – large, unconquerable, and impregnable? When encountering such enormous problems, you may feel like you're hammering against a steel mountain. The pressure of having to solve such a problem may be overwhelming. But rejoice! There might be some hope yet! With some creative problem-solving techniques you may be able to look at your problem in a different light. And that light might just be the end of the tunnel that leads to possible solutions. First of all, in the light of creative problem-solving, you must be open-minded to the fact that there may be more than just one solution to the problem. And, you must be open to the fact that there may be solutions to problems you thought were unsolvable. Now, with this optimistic mindset, we can try to be a little bit more creative in solving our problems. Number one; maybe the reason we cannot solve our problems is that we have not really taken a hard look at what the problem is. Here, trying to understanding the problem and having a concrete understanding of its workings is integral solving the problem. If you know how it works, what the problem is, then you have a better foundation towards solving the problem. Not trying to make the simple statement of what problem is. Try to identify the participating entities and what their relationships with one another are. Take note of the things you stand to gain any stand to lose from the current problem. Now you have a simple statement of what the problem is. Number two; try to take note of all of the constraints and assumptions you have the words of problem. Sometimes it is these assumptions that obstruct our view of possible solutions. You have to identify which assumptions are valid, in which assumptions need to be addressed. Number three; try to solve the problem by parts. Solve it going from general view towards the more detailed parts of the problem. This is called the top-down approach. Write down the question, and then come up with a one-sentence solution to that from them. The solution should be a general statement of what will solve the problem. From here you can develop the solution further, and increase its complexity little by little. Number four; although it helps to have critical thinking aboard as you solve a problem, you must also keep a creative, analytical voice at the back of your head. When someone comes up with a prospective solution, tried to think how you could make that solution work. Try to be creative. At the same time, look for chinks in the armor of that solution. Number five; it pays to remember that there may be more than just one solution being developed at one time. Try to keep track of all the solutions and their developments. Remember, there may be more than just one solution to the problem. Number six; remember that old adage," two heads are better than one." That one is truer than it sounds. Always be open to new ideas. You can only benefit from listening to all the ideas each person has. This is especially true when the person you're talking to has had experience solving problems similar to yours. You don't have to be a gung-ho, solo hero to solve the problem. If you can organize collective thought on the subject, it would be much better. Number seven; be patient. As long as you persevere, there is always a chance that a solution will present itself. Remember that no one was able to create an invention the first time around. Creative thinking exercises can also help you in your quest be a more creative problems solver. Here is one example. Take a piece of paper and write any word that comes to mind at the center. Now look at that word then write the first two words that come to your mind. This can go on until you can build a tree of related words. This helps you build analogical skills, and fortify your creative processes. So, next time you see a problem you think you can not solve, think again. The solution might just be staring you right in the face. All it takes is just a little creative thinking, some planning, and a whole lot of work.