“Raising Cain” or Overcoming?
By: Janet L. Hall

Are you “raising Cain” with yourself or others regarding your
clutter or are you taking the necessary steps and actions to
overcome your clutter situation?

You can choose to do one of two things when your clutter
conditions become overwhelming - you can fight the clutter
or you can overcome your clutter problems.

To overcome your clutter successfully you must leave
behind and release your old ways of thinking and how you
do things now. You must release your fears about your stuff,
your doubts of what to get rid of, your attitudes towards your
clutter and stuff, your resentments, prejudices, negativity,
and those old tapes in your head.

If what you did yesterday didn’t help towards getting
organized or if you didn’t like how your day went then you
must NOT do the same things you did yesterday in order for
a change to start taking place in your life.

To change your life or circumstances, to rise above your
problems or situations you might have to disassociate
yourself from friends or family members that bring you down
or that are in the same boat as you. You need to STOP
commiserating with others like you, whether in person,
phone, or cyberspace that continue to complain or whine
about their situations BUT take no action towards changing if
you REALLY want to change.

You can lift yourself up and choose to associate with people
and others of a lifestyle that you secretly dream of by
identifying your dream robbers, planning, and seeking out
others that can help you.

Identifying Your Dream Robbers:

You become like those around you. You take on their
personalities, their attitudes, and their problems. Like
magnets you are attracted to and attract mirror images of
yourself - everyday, all day! Your thoughts and your
environment become like those around you. This happens to
EVERYONE … if they let it….

==>Make a list of your family, friends, co-workers,
associates, acquaintances, and how they act around you.
Are they sad or happy, healthy or depressed, violent or kind,
controlling or abusive?

==>How do they effect you, your thoughts, and your habits?

==>What are they talking about?
Bills, debt, clutter, time, soap operas - real life and television.

==>What are their attitudes?
Negative or positive?

==>What might you say or do when they start “acting” in a
negative or inappropriate fashion? Please be kind, walk
away or completely disassociate.

==>What’s in their world?
Clutter, chaos, drama, or organized, calm, and peace?

Planning:

=>Find a quiet place and time when you won’t be interrupted

=>Get a notebook or journal and write down how you’d like
to see your life or environment, and answer the following
questions:

=>What would be an ideal day for you?

=>How would you like your day to unfold?

=>What would you like to do throughout your day?

=>How would you like your environment to be?

=>What do you need to do - change - before you can live
that way?

=>What obstacles do you need to overcome?

=>What clutter do you need to get rid of?

=>What rooms or areas do you need to get organized?

=>What outside or inside activities are taking away from your
ideal day?

=>Whom do you need to disassociate from?

=>What issues need clearing up?

=>What negative thoughts do you need or want to replace?

=>What exactly do you need to do in order for you to move
forward with the life of your dreams?

=>Which of the above can you start working on today?

=>Create a timeline to work on the other circumstances and
areas you identified above.

You have the POWER to plan your life, change your
circumstances, and get organized, but it takes more then
planning. You will need to take some action, make some
tradeoffs, and possibly get professional help.

Getting Help:
There are multitudes of people and organizations that can
help you overcome your circumstances but it takes a little
legwork.

You must be willing to:
=>Seek out professionals whom can really help you and hold
you accountable. =>Make the call or send the email.
=>Pay the price (and not just in money).
=>Do the homework.
=>Make the commitment to change.
=>Invest in YOURSELF!

To me getting organized is not just getting rid of the piles or
the stuff that has taken over your life. It’s not about getting
everything nice and neat. It’s about life management,
overcoming challenges, and changing the energy of yourself
and your environment to reflect the lifestyle you REALLY
want.

What does getting organized mean to you and how will you
overcome your clutter obstacles?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
If you are serious and committed to overcoming your clutter
then check out Janet’s Home Clutter Support Groups at:
http://www.overhall.com/home_clutter_support.htm
A FUN learning and support experience to help you
get your life back. While you’re there, don’t forget to
sign up for our FREE newsletter!

For additional help: The Organizing and Feng Shui Wizard,
Janet L. Hall, FSII has a FREE newsletter, OverHall IT! at
http://www.overhall.com/newsletter.htm and many
organizational products for your office, home, and computer
at http://www.overhall.com/products.htm
Janet is a Professional Organizer, Certified Feng Shui
Practitioner, Speaker, and Author and can help you regain
control of your life, your time, your stuff, and your
environment.

Copyright (c) 2002 by OverHall Consulting
P.O. Box 263, Port Republic, MD 20676
All Rights Reserved. Permission is granted to reproduce,
copy, or distribute this article so long as article is kept intact,
this copyright notice, and full information about the author is
attached.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Looking for mindfulness? Who ya gonna call?

Try dialing M.

It’s easy to be mindful. It’s just hard to remember to be mindful. That’s why it’s so important to pick our triggers.

Here’s a great trigger for mindfulness–the letter M. I’m a great fan of the letter M. For me, it stands for mindfulness, meditation, mediation and mind massage. It’s soothing to say: “Mmmmmmm.” Add an H and you’re thinking: “Hmmmmm.” Add an O and you’re chanting: “Ommmmmmm.” It’s hard to go wrong with M.

Okay, but in the course of your day, with all the M-words you hear, say and see, how can you possibly remember to be mindful each time? You can’t. That’s why you need to choose ONE M for your mindfulness trigger, and I’ve got the perfect one: the McDonald’s golden arches.

No, really. Think about it. You’ve already got your own ideas about McDonald’s. Maybe you love McDonald’s food. Maybe you appreciate the convenience of a drive-thru breakfast when you’re on the road. Maybe you hate its corporate identity. Maybe you’ve seen “Super-Size Me” and all you can think about is poor Morgan Spurlock getting hypertension in his month-of-McDonald’s-food experiment. Maybe you feel guilty that you like McDonald’s food. Maybe you feel upset that you feel guilty.

Whether you love to hate McDonald’s or hate to love it, those golden arches are a complex trigger. It’s time for a little piggybacking–intentionally superimposing a new concept on an already loaded one.

Here’s how it works: The first time each day that you see the McDonald’s golden arches–the sign itself, the logo on a paper bag, an image on a television commercial–simply say, “I am mindful.” That’s it.

No need to spin your stories. You don’t have to get involved in any mental arguments. There’s no reason to get caught up in any emotion. Just use it as a trigger to be mindful.

By saying this phrase–”I am mindful”–you are actually starting a complex process in your brain. You are creating a powerful link to a visual image, and taking control of what it does for you. You are building a self-fulfilling prophecy–if you notice the golden arches, then you are indeed mindful.

Since being mindful is not something you normally associate with McDonald’s, it serves as a sort of balancing mechanism. Because the only emotion associated with mindfulness is a calm sense of paying attention, you can strip McDonald’s of its “good” and “bad” properties and just note it without judgment.

This is what mindfulness is all about. By picking a trigger that is ubiquitous, you are automatically giving yourself plenty of opportunities to include this brief mindful moment in your day.

You will find that you will begin to be mindful every time you see the golden arches. That might expand to other images of your choice–the Coca-Cola logo, the Disney logo, Starbucks, whatever. Choose something you can’t avoid, and take advantage of it.

Take comfort in taking control of your mind.

Mmmmmm. I’m lovin’ it.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Being Happy

 by: Anusuya Veth

How can one be happy? Is it a tough question? To some it may be but not to all of us.

Happiness is like a ray of sunlight which warms us and keeps us glowing. We can’t live without it and if you think that happiness is a word never to be found in your dictionary think again as here are some simple tips on how to usher the ray of elation to your life.

1. Smile

What easier way is there to reach happiness than smiling? A smile a day keeps all nasty feelings away. That’s my mantra but you too can follow it. A smile shows others that you are positive and joyful and somehow it brings a glow to you & makes you more approachable to the others.

2. Think Positive

If you are always sad and down thinking you will always be the born loser, brighten up. Thinking postive is something you have to do to keep the happy hormones & vibes around you. So axe away all that pessimistic thoughts!

3. Talk to your pals

Had a bad day at work? You can talk it over with your close buddies. It has been found that those who speak out about their woes and sorrows feel much better than those who keep all the feelings bottled up. Too much stress hurts and drives happiness away. So the next time you feel like your world is crashing hop on over to your friend’s place for a cosy chat.

4. Do What You Love

Is there any joy doing what we all dislike? Nope. I agree that not all of us are fortunate to get a job which allows us to do what we love but you can still do what you like in your spare time. Hobbies are one area where you can get much elation doing what you love.

We all can find happiness if we try and work hard. So never say that happiness is a word you can only dream of finding. Go be happy and live a life you want!

About The Author

Anusuya Veth is the author of Cupid Traps & Editor of Wow Mag & Celebrity Jam. She runs her own online accessories shop ‘Anya’ at http://www.geocities.com/anya_veth

anya_veth@yahoo.com

Source: High Quality Article Database - 365Articles.com

A man can stand a lot… as long as he can stand himself. Success is never Final and Failure is never fatal. Only failure to get back up is. The bull is lying to you and leading you down the trail of the pied-piper.

If you want to achieve anything worthwhile in life it is imperative that you approach your bull with an optimistic frame of mind. A positive attitude is the generator that brings all sorts of good things to you.

The bulls in your life will bring the rewards of; grief, disaster, tragedy, disease, death and the like in any person’s life with the “devil is after me mind-set”.

Did I hear someone say, yea, but the world has given me a raw deal? Did you realize that most people whom have taken a motivational course thought of themselves as a failure when they entered the course?

In a careful study of the reasons people take these courses, a significant pattern has resulted. The reasons they give are a tragic story of the causes of failure.

They say things like, I’ve never really had a chance to get ahead, my father was an alcoholic, my mother was a prostitute, I was raised on the wrong side of the tracks, I fell in the sewer when I was twelve years old and never could get the smell off. Yuk. Yeah, they say things that crazy.

I Got Shafted!

They are all saying in essence, I got the shaft. They will blame the world, their parents, their dog, they will believe they inherited their failure, and with this type of attitude they are severely handicapped.

When you are right, so will be your world.

Learn a lesson from a kid. I love kid lessons. They are so meaningful. A father was very busy one Saturday morning getting ready for a business meeting Monday morning. His seven year old son Tommy was very hyper and making his father unusually nervous. His father opened a magazine and found a huge picture of the world.

He ripped the picture out and tore in many pieces. He then gave the pieces to Tommy and said, if you can put this world back together, I’ll give you a dollar figuring this would take him all day.

Tommy took the pieces of paper and in ten minutes had put the world back together. His father said Tommy how did you do it so fast? Tommy said it was easy. I found a picture of a man on the other side so, I figured if I got the man right the world would be also.

The father learned a great lesson in this. If you are unhappy with your world and want to change it, the place to begin is with yourself. If you are right, your world will be right. When you are right, the problems of your world are never uncontrollable.

You Were Born A Champion!

No matter what challenges you have faced or what obstacles you will face they are insignificant to the one you faced at conception. Because you were born, Victory is built into your genes.

Think about it, every living person has champion written all over them because they made it into this world.

Time to Defeat your Bullies!

Ok, See if this story strikes a nerve. Everyday Ben had to walk home from school by the railroad tracks. Several times a week a neighborhood bully would jump Ben and beat him up. He would scatter his school books and send him home crying.

Ben lived in a state of fear and self defeat. Something always has to happen to break the pattern of defeat. The victory that is always within us will not show itself until we are ready.

Ben’s teacher encouraged him to read some books about heroes and champions. Ben really got caught up in some of these books and started seeing himself as the hero in the books he was reading, even dreaming about it at night.

Some months later, Ben was walking the same railroad tracks and saw the bully dart behind a building. He stopped and started to run the other way. Then he remembered the hero in the books he had read and started straight for the bully.

It was a brutal fight. Ben started fighting with such determination that caught the bully by surprise. All of a sudden the bully had a bloody nose, and then a bloody mouth, and then the bully started running.

After the bully ran off, Ben realized he had a bloody nose and bruises all over his body. But he didn’t realize it until after the fight was over. It was worth it, it was a great day in Ben’s life. In that day, he overcame fear, and self-defeat.

Ben was not physically stronger than he was the last time he got whipped by the bully. Then what was it? Nah………he wasn’t the kid that fell in the sewer and caused that bully to run off holding his nose either. The difference came in Ben changing himself. He stood up in the face of fear and decided he would no longer be pushed around by his bully.

Have you whipped your bully yet? What are your bullies? Have you thought about it? Or, do you just let yourself get all stressed out with nobody to choke?

Choke The Bully!!

Remember this, it is one thing to talk about bull fighting, it is another thing to get in the ring with that bull. Well, I might get a fat lip. So What? The thing can’t eat ya! Get in the ring with that bull and say this so loud that every sand flea in West Texas can hear you; NO MORE!! I WILL NOT FEAR!

Copywrite 2002