Reasoning Theorems of Success

Before buying random gifts and hoping that they will be pleasing to the recipient, read this article and learn how to avoid aimless gift buying. It would be a great idea to get them a gift card and let them choose what they really want and then you can spend the rest of the day enjoying each others company.

Each year Holiday spending gets more and more excessive. Even though people always claim they’ll do it differently in the future, each Christmas it feels like you spend the holiday just cleaning and cramming stuff away. Everyone loves gifts (especially kids), but is that a reason to lose our minds every year at the mall?

The problem is that most people don’t know what everyone wants. The theory seems to be that if you just buy a lot of stuff for a person you will please them because you increased the odds. Do some research prior to choosing a person to date. You need to get opinions from people who are sure of what they are looking for. In the course of the year, make a few subtle inquiries so when the gift occasion arises you won’t be stumped. This information should help you resist buying them unneeded trinkets and gadgets. Gift cards are always an option, when every other idea seems likely to fail. These can be personalized by including a few ornaments or hand-baked cookies or even a personalized card telling them that you wished that they have the last say about their gift. The gift of getting to spend time with family and friends is way greater than any gift can give you.

A lot of people feel that gift cards are not personal, but of you think about it, you realize that giving a friend something he or she doesnt like or need is not personal either. Gift ideas are hard to come up with but gift cards are a great back up when questioning and snooping about fail. More than often people really don’t know what they desire, or at least won’t admit to it. There are lots of ways to give pleasure to this group. Here is a great site for some unusual gifts for everyone.

Past life regression may locate the reason why we have arguments with individuals in our present lifetime or why we are worried of certain situations. You have friends around you in your current life that you should have astonishingly met before, just imagine being capable to unearth what happened and what your relationship was to them at that time and lift blocks that plague you in your current time and even find out talents and bring them into your present time. Past life regression, aka PLR, is unbelievable.

When you are having a past lifetime regression, aka PLR, session you will regress to the lifetime you would most need to see about in your present time. This is great and will point out an enormous deal about your present life and help you will to go forward with a greater understanding of yourself, your life and the people around you.

You might well also learn why you are the individual that you are, now that is great. If you enjoy nature perhaps you were once a farmer, if you savour to travel perhaps you were an explorer. Instead of dampening down our strengths we should embrace every single one of them.

Each respective experience is marvellous and unique. Others have uncovered places they had lived in before and knew where to go. Unearth the issues in your present life with Past Life with AnneJirsch.com.

Fun & Creative Princess Party Ideas

If you’ve got a special little girl between the ages of about 3
& 7, then a princess birthday party could be the big social
event of the year!

When looking for princess party ideas, it’s obvious to think of
pink but don’t limit your imagination to pink fluffy dresses and
pink frosting for birthday cakes. With some imagination, your
ideas can create a very special party!

Let’s start with decorations. Helium balloons can create a
stunning castle arch and once your guests are indoors then have
them sit on a princess throne for a souvenir photo in an
overstuffed chair which has been decorated with floral garlands,
crepe paper or shiny fabric.

Activities for Princess Parties Princesses love to wear crowns.
You can buy inexpensive plastic crowns as well as fake “jewels”
for each princess to make a birthday party hat. Inexpensive
beading sets can be used to make princess jewelry. Invite a
storyteller to the party to read a dramatic fairy tale or two
involving a princess. Or give your princesses a chance to act
out their own plays based on simple fairy tales.

Games for a princess party might include a poster of a white
knight on a horse instead of the old pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey
game. Invite each princess to build a castle of marshmallows,
gumdrops, soft candies and toothpicks. Ideas don’t need to be
complex but they should involve action if your princesses are
between the ages of 4 - 7.

Birthday party food ideas to feed your princesses include
ladyfinger sandwiches, small servings of tea, dainty pastries
and other “princess” finger foods. A birthday cake for a
princess can be decorated with a blue frosting pond with Frog
Prince seated on a lily pad.

Let your birthday creativity rule for great ideas and great fun!

Yes, collectibles! Collectibles are where eBay started, and
they’re still one of its biggest areas - however much they might
want you to believe they’re not. eBay’s most hardcore and
long-time users are almost all collectors of something or other
- it is quite common to post what you think is a mundane item,
only to have collectors suddenly go to war over it because it is
somehow linked to something they collect.

Collectors are the people on eBay who really do pay top-dollar
for things that seem like junk to you and I - not to mention to
the people you’ll be getting your stock from! That’s why you can
make so much profit on collectibles. Here are a few tips.

Go to people’s homes. People’s homes are full of things that
someone out there collects - they are the best and cheapest
source of collectibles out there. Sure, you might find something
if you hang around at enough garage sales, but you’d have
competition. Getting invited to people’s homes to look around
should be a dream for you, and one you’re doing your best to
make a reality.

Buy on other auction sites. You’ll be surprised how much money
you can make if you buy the collectibles that people sell on
smaller auction sites like Yahoo Auctions, and then list it on
eBay. These sellers will often be perfectly knowledgeable about
their item, but simply getting a lower price because they serve
a smaller marketplace. Sometimes you can almost double your
money.

List in non-collectible categories. If your collectible doesn’t
have a category of its own under ‘collectibles’, you might
prefer to list it in a category that has something to do with
the item but nothing to do with collecting. What you will often
find is that people browsing a category for their favourite
thing will pay more for your collectible than actual collectors
would.

Do lots of research. Never list something you think might be
valuable without searching and searching to dig up every piece
of information you can on it. Everything you find out is likely
to be useful when you come to list it.

List every tiny, tiny detail. Remember that collectors really
care about the most seemingly insignificant things. An item from
one year can be worth thousands while the one from the year
before is near-worthless, or an item that is one shade of a
colour can be worth far more than one of a subtly different
shade. It’s not worth puzzling over and it’s not worth trying to
pass your items off as something they’re not - just make sure
you put absolutely everything you know in the description.

When you are listing items that require close research and
description down to the tiniest detail, however, don’t be
tempted to steal someone else’s work! Whatever you do, don’t
take another seller’s description and try to pass it off as your
own, as this could have all sorts of consequences for you. Our
next email gives you a guide to eBay’s policy on ‘description
theft’.

There is something quite magical about painting outdoors. I feel
comfortably secluded with nature having an almost spiritual
connection when I paint a landscape. Landscape painting is a
passion of mine. I would like to share some tips and techniques
that I have become accustomed to using over the years.

My first bit of advice - try not to get overwhelmed by the scene
in front of you. I recall when I first began painting
landscapes; I tried to copy everything exactly as I saw it. I
tried to squeeze in every detail, paint every leaf, branch, and
blade of grass. You will go crazy approaching a landscape this
way. Try and paint your own impression of what you see and not a
copy of it. Squint your eyes and see the landscape as a series
of shapes, lights and darks, as opposed to seeing every detail.
You can accomplish some amazing things that you never thought
were inside if you just relax and let the painter inside come to
the surface.

Painting on location is certainly a beautiful experience, but
remember that you have to paint quite fast as the lighting will
change quickly. Begin your painting with a larger brush so you
are not focusing on detail at this stage.

Try toning your canvas with acrylic paint first before applying
your oil paint. I find starting a landscape with toned ground
makes it easier to judge values. You can also let some of that
underpainting show through in some areas of your painting for an
interesting effect.

Creating the illusion of depth or distance in your paintings can
be accomplished using different techniques. You can adjust your
colors by making them cooler and less intense for the distant
objects, warmer and more intense for closer objects. Reduce the
size of objects as they recede. You can also take away details
and sharp edges to make objects appear more distant.

You should have a focal point, otherwise known as “center of
interest” in your painting. All other objects in your painting
should not compete with your focal point and should serve to
draw the viewer to your center of interest.

Instead of jumping right for the paint, use a pencil and paper
instead. Drawing is great practice. When I am drawing, I am more
relaxed and intimate with the scene. I am training myself to see
the various lights and darks of the scene without the use of
color.

Bring only those items that you know you will need and use. When
you focus too much of your time on lugging around unwanted
materials, it takes away from the enjoyment of what you came
there to do, paint!

Painting clouds appears to be one of the bigger challenges for
beginners; I know it was for me. What I mentioned in the
beginning about trying not to paint every detail applies to
clouds as well. Clouds are three-dimensional objects made up of
water and ice particles that reflect light so the color of your
clouds will vary depending on the weather and lighting
conditions. Remember general perspective rules when painting
clouds. Clouds closer to you will generally be more detailed. As
they recede into the distance they begin to lose detail and get
smaller in size. Pay special attention to the edges of the
clouds as sharp edges advance while smooth edges recede.

Make your composition as interesting as possible by balancing
positive and negative space in your painting. The negative space
is what surrounds your objects or positive space. The negative
space is just as important as the positive space. Do not neglect
the negative space, but at the same time, do not let it dominate
your composition.

I hope this article on landscape painting tips was helpful. Just
relax, let go and most importantly enjoy yourself!

The passing of a legacy and a chance to say goodbye

I still remember that day in May of 1989 as the ER doctor
turned off the life support equipment and whispered the words
that shook my life, “It’s over, record the time of death.” “He
lost his mother three weeks ago.” “I’m not going to tell him,
you tell him.”

The voices were a blur as the realization struck me; my father
had died. My mentor and best friend had left me. I was still
just a young kid despite being married with a baby of my own. We
were supposed to have longer than this, Dad.

The door to the operating room opened and a young woman came
out. Her eyes were red and full of tears as she struggled to
find the right words to tell me what I already knew. ‘Save it.”
I told her, “I heard.”

The doctors and nurses filed out quietly and I walked into the
room where my Dad’s body lay partially covered. His gentle heart
had stopped beating; eyes that sparkled with deep wisdom were
dark and closed to me now. I wept uncontrollably. I had just
left him 20 minutes ago and he was fine. My despair turned to
rage as my fist smashed through a small coffee table. The pain
was too much, first Mom and now Dad, all in under a month. This
wasn’t happening it couldn’t be happening! Oh God, let me wake
up from this nightmare.

I stood in disbelief as I was handed the veterans flag at his
funeral, I watched as people were leaving the cemetery but I
couldn’t move my legs, I couldn’t leave him.. alone, in a
cemetery. My wife and my aunt guided me away toward the awaiting
limousine. Everything after was a fog and haze of apologies and
sympathies from people I knew and some that I didn’t. I just
wanted it to be over so I could come to grips and figure out how
to cope with the fact that I had lost both my parents.

Time passed and the burdens of my own family weighed heavily
upon me. I felt alone and isolated. I looked at my son and my
new baby daughter and felt the pang of loss because they would
never know their grandparents, they would never experience the
warmth of that special house that I was privileged to grow up in
or hear the stories about their father as only a grandparent can
tell. They would be less for not knowing my parents and there
was nothing I could do to replace that void not only in their
lives, but in mine as well. Like all painful things, time and
life causes us to bury the hurt and move on with life’s drama. I
became bitter and resentful at my loss and had placed a wall
around myself isolating me from my wife and children. I had lost
so much and was so angry and had nowhere to vent my pain or my
frustration.

My son was five years old when he came across an old photo
album of black and white pictures. Tommy, my son, having never
seen a black and white picture before, brought the album to me
and began asking questions as only a five year old can. The
album belonged to my parents and contained memories from my
childhood. There were pictures from Christmas Eve 1967 and up to
the late 70’s; my childhood. I saw pictures of my parents as
young vibrant adults just beginning their family and their lives
together; I saw pictures of me as an infant and a toddler. I
explained to Tommy that these were my parents. I remember him
asking the question about where they were and the flood gate of
painful emotions that quickly followed. Even now, five years
later it still hurt. I felt the warm tears run down my cheeks as
I explained that my parents were in Heaven and the he wouldn’t
be able to see them or visit with them, but that they were
looking down at him always. I explained what a great man my Dad
was and what a patient and caring role model he was for me. I
told him about my mother and how she used to keep me in line and
some of the funny things I did as a kid growing up. As I talked
about them and shared the memories, the pain and heaviness of my
heart eased somewhat. I spent a great deal of time with that
photo album and my son on my lap paging through my childhood
captivating him with stories of my folks and my memories. It was
at that point my son made an observation that I’ll never forget.
He looked up at me and said the following.

“Daddy, they’re not really gone, you still have them in here,”
He said pointing to my heart. I looked at my son and smiled
warmly. Out of the mouths of babes.. I patted him on the head
and told him that he was right, as long as they were in our
hearts they would always be with us. I could keep my Dad alive
by passing on what I learned from him to my son and by emulating
my dad’s wisdom and compassion.

My son is a young man now, seventeen. We’ve had our ups and
downs over the typical teenager issues. Life has thrown some
curves and sliders, as it does to all who take life’s journey. I
find more and more of my Father in me as I deal with my
children, its funny how he’ll surface in the most unusual ways.
I was ranting at my two oldest about the lost art of turning off
a light when leaving a room. I was deep into my lecture about
how I don’t want to support Mass Electric when I had a flashback
to my father saying the exact same thing to me. My smirk didn’t
fit with my lecture and I chuckled to myself as I simply walked
away convincing my kids that I was fit for the funny farm. Even
now, he was still inside me, popping up when I least expected it.

About two months ago I was facing a serious crossroads in my
life. I needed advice and didn’t know where to turn. I found
myself at the cemetery talking to my dad and asking all the
questions I would be asking if he were still alive. I told him
how funny it was that at 42 years of age I still hadn’t learned
all the answers to all the questions; I still needed help with
the big things. I went home hoping that I’d be able to figure it
all out and went to bed frustrated at my inability to solve my
problem. I can’t explain what happened or why, but I remember
walking into the house where I grew up. The kitchen was as I
remembered it from my childhood, the paisley wallpaper and the
hideous white linoleum tiles and my mother’s annoyingly loud
clock. I sat at the kitchen table taking in the surroundings and
questioning my state of mind. My father walked into the kitchen
and poured me a cup of coffee and then poured one for himself
and sat down at the table across from me. He began discussing
the problem I had discussed at his headstone. Part of me
questioned the reality of the situation, part of me knew it was
a dream and then something else was elated at the sight of the
man I’d missed for seventeen years. My Father was like the
pictures in my photo album, portly with jet black hair like I
remembered him from my early teen years; he always had that
happy grin and the sparkle of deep intelligence in his eyes. My
dad talked in detail about my issue, examining the problem from
every conceivable angle and presenting multiple solutions. I
soon dismissed the sense of disbelief and surrendered to the
dream, the coffee was heavenly and I relished our discussion. A
half hour on the kitchen clock had expired and I had my answers.
I looked at my dad in disbelief, it had all come so easily for
him and he had seen solutions where I had only seen obstacles.
Again, I marveled at his genius.

We talked about growing up, my kids, my childhood and several
other topics. I look back now and it all seems jumbled. He
glanced up at the clock and I saw a flash of regret and longing
in those eyes. He stood up, took my coffee cup and placed it in
the sink. I heard the sound of my Mother’s voice, calling him
from the bedroom in the back of the house. “My times about up,
son,” he said sadly. I chuckled; Mom was still nagging him even
in the after life. “I’ve missed you, so much.” I said as I felt
my eyes water. We hugged briefly and said our goodbye, the
goodbye I never got to say all those years ago. As he walked
away he turned. “I’m always watching, we’ll talk again.” He
whispered as he vanished from my sight. I looked at the kitchen
that had seemed so real only moments ago, begin to fade. The
sound of the alarm clock shattered my fading dream and dragged
me back to the plane of consciousness. I awoke instantly and
began questioning the content of my experience; was it a dream?
Was I crazy? I remembered the contents of our discussion and the
solution to my situation. I also had awakened with that bitter
coffee aftertaste in my mouth that came from drinking my
father’s brand of coffee, a taste I hadn’t experienced for
several years. I still had his legacy and I got the chance to
say goodbye. My Father said we would talk again; I believe it
and look forward to another discussion in the old kitchen where
I grew up so many years ago. I realized how right my son’s words
were so many years ago, we always have our loved ones with us in
our hearts and in our minds, as long as we love and remember
them they’ll always be alive within us.

The “self helper” among piano students is often so bewildered by
a mass of contradictory directions regarding certain basic
factors of his study, that he finds peculiar solace in the
Scriptural affirmative “all men are liars!”

Take, for instance, the position of the hand - a matter of prime
importance. The student is warned by numberless and undoubted
authorities that he can never hope to attain eminence as a
pianist unless he holds his hand “perfectly flat”; “a little
arched”; “slightly inclined toward the thumb”; “inclined
slightly toward the little finger”; “pointing slightly inward”;
and one of the latest advises him to hold it practically “any
old way!”

Bewilderingly simple, isn’t it? The question being all or none
or if one, which one and why?

The cause of all this maddening mess is that, very naturally,
each method-maker recommends his own hand position, the position
that best suited its structure, and one of the factors that has
enabled him to attain his super-human technical dexterity. There
was a reason for that position, and there should be a reason for
every individual’s “normal hand-position”.

One or another of the above positions will suit any hand to a
nicety, but it is the height of absurdity to think that a long,
narrow, super-flexible hand and a short, broad and stiff hand
can use the same normal hand-position and attain the same
results.

Place, now, your own hand on the piano keyboard, and see if you
can tell which position suits it best and why? If not, and you
are a real self-help student, the sooner you obtain from proper
textbooks or a competent physician a knowledge of the anatomy
and functions of the fingers, hands, arms, etc., the sooner you
will begin to save hours upon hours of practice time.

One absolutely cannot order his practice to the best advantage
without such knowledge - and it is perfectly easy to attain it.

The living room is the setting which will blend the people in
your life into the occasions of your home. It is the hardest
room to decorate because it has to be versatile, comfortable,
and entertaining. Guests, relatives, friends; this room will be
the showcase of your home for all of them. This makes the
decoration of the living room especially important. The colors
and designs you choose will have subtle effects on the
psychology of the occupants in the setting, resulting in slight
changes to the interactions held there. In a social center such
as this, you do not want that influence to be a negative one. A
way to help control this is to understand the psychological
effects of color on the people in a room.

Color is what surrounds us, it makes up our environment.
Everywhere we look there is color, and this affects our minds.
Certain colors have positive effects. Yellow is a happy color,
while grey is considered dismal. These effects change as the
shading changes, and of course other factors can alter them as
well. Too much yellow is actually an eye irritant. Color and its
effects have been studied by psychologists for many years and
they have found many generalities that affect most Americans in
a similar manner. However, it is important to note that these
ideas are not universal, and you should always follow your own
taste when designing a room.

Before you begin you should decide what you want to evoke. Are
you looking to make this a quiet peaceful room or a place for
wild parties? Would you like the room to feel elated or are you
looking for a place of serenity. Once you know what you want,
you can simply paint by the numbers, being careful to always
pick the shade that evokes the desired effect most in you.

The most popular color in America is blue. This color produces a
sense of calm, and is often associated with the ocean. The color
blue can make a room look larger, and it stimulates elated
emotional responses. Lighter blue is more popular and will make
a room seem more open then darker navies.

The next most popular color in America is Green. This is the
color of nature, and is almost always associated with growth.
Using green is slightly more invigorating then blue, but still
produces a sense of mental calm. Green is the easiest color on
the eye, and is actually good for eyesight. Avoid sickly greens
and use nature as your guide to mix and match colors into a
green themed room.

Earth tones give a room a close grounded feeling, and can
promote a sense of intimacy. They are rustic natural colors that
seam simple and warm. Soft tans and browns are the colors of
family, and will give your living room that feeling of home.
Besides, they don’t show dirt. Greens can be matched in with
browns, to create a feeling of nature and the outdoors in.

Colors to avoid in large doses are reds and yellows. Too much
yellow can cause eye irritation and uncomfortable feelings. Red,
while highly invigorating, is also a very aggressive color. Use
of too much red could easily lead to fighting. To avoid
conflict, use reds and yellows only as accessories, and only
when they match the room’s main color.

It is almost impossible to get angry in a pink room. In light
tones and small doses this color gentles people’s personalities.
However if you paint the whole room a wild pink you may find
yourself irritated by the brightness. Instead use pink in an
understated manner. Throw in pink accessories, or a few pink
decorations. If you want to theme a room pink, then choose a
light color that will match earth tones. However you should be
cautious; the more pink that gets used the more people tend to
get lazy and unmotivated.

Make a decision about what kind of setting you want to invoke,
and then decide on the colors that will help get you there. Make
sure the colors you use will match one another. Maintain balance
between different extremes, and refer to yourself often. Only
you know if the harmony of the room is helping to bring balance
into your home. You are your own best resource.

Fortune will flow into your hands like a river flow into the sea if only you can invest a high percent of your time on a high value activity with big pay off.

I mean you can attract great riches into your life when you harbitually focus all your heart and mind on that critical action that will lead you to attaining your much cherish goal.Let me tell you, you can achieve anything in life when you concentrate all your mental and physical energies to work on one particular task that gives you the maximum result.

It was the nineteeth century economist and sociologist Vilfredo Pareto who propounded the principle that given a large number of items, a high percentage of the value of the item is concentrated in relatively few of the items.This principle came about over time when Pareto discovered that eighty percent of the land in Italy then were owned by twenty percent of the population. When you applied this principle into your life your productivity will notch up by as much as fifity percent. And you can get this done when you identify your most important task and focus singlemendely to doing it. Then delegate, outsource or completely eliminate tasks that of low value.

Do you want to succedd in life? Success begins with a clear decision. Decide exactly what is it that you want. Then commit yourself zelously to its attainment with unswerving determination. Clarity is everthing. You must be absolutely clear about what you want. Then set a goal which must be clearly written down. A goal is a deliberate selected result towards which you choose to channel all your activity. A goal is like a harbour where the captain directs his ship. After you have set your goal then construct a step by step plan that will take you to that goal. You must develop a dogged resilience to follow through your plan regardless of obstacles.

If you decide exactly what you want in life, make a realistic plan and confidently pursue that plan I tell you, there is absolutely nothing you can not achieve as Paul J. Meyer observed; whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe and enthusiastically act upon must inevitably come to pass.

About the Author

Motivational speaker,prolific writer, international award winning poet and author Matthew Oye wrote the popular column THINK TANK WITH MATTHEW OYE in the EVENING NEWS. MATTHEW has had a flourishing career in banking, journalism and diplomacy until he answered the call of God to full time ministry. He is noted author of 12 books, 3000 gospel songs and over 50 poems.Matthew has a heart for the poor and the homeless as he has picked up about 10 street children and put them in various schools in Accra, Ghana.
matthewoye@yahoo.ccom