MAKING MONEY OPPORTUNITIES ONLINE

With so many money making programs flooding the internet these days it can become overwhelming. It can become difficult to determine which ones are legitimate and which
ones are "scams", "gifting programs", or "pyramid schemes". I would recommend doing extensive research on any one particular program before joining.

What you can do and what I look for is, are the owners contact information readily available on their website. This is very important and I would suggest you contact them with any
questions you may have. Take note of how fast they respond to your inquiry and if they seem honest about the costs involved engaging in the program. This will provide invaluable piece of mind and confidence for you in the long run.

I have joined programs without contacting the administrator and have been burned in the past. I have found the ones that provide good communication are the ones worth your time and money. Let's face the facts there are many scams on the internet these days and you do not want to get involved with these. They are just looking to take your money and run. Bottom line be very careful.

There are some programs that even offer various "levels" from which to choose. I would recommend these for anyone looking to add some cash to their bank accounts. In addition some of these really are decent business opportunities which will require
you to obtain a merchant account to accept all types of payment on your websites.

Many of these programs will offer software from which you can download, use for yourself, and later resell for profit. This is a good business model to get involved with on the internet because most purchases on the internet are digital downloads for various
software programs. Most of the software you will receive is worth thousands of dollars that you will have access to at below wholesale cost which will turn big profits for you.

Anyone who is interested in starting their own business online would definitely benefit from doing some research before jumping into whatever looks good. There are unfortunately many programs that just don't work or require tons of cash to benefit from. So do your
homework, call the owners, and decide which program is best suited for you.

WEALTH CREATION

There are several wealth creation techniques you can utilize to begin creating the wealth you desire. We live in America the land of the free and the home of the opportunity. So why is it if we have so much opportunity available to us to create the American dream, so few people utilize wealth creation techniques to create a better life. Many people are content holding an eight hour job and end up living paycheck to paycheck.

Only 3% of our society is actually living the American dream, and have the courage to follow and set their goals. While the other 97% live day to day just living their days like zombies without goals and not utilizing wealth creation techniques. When you begin thinking about creating wealth and using wealth creation techniques, opportunities will begin to expose themselves to you. You must be willing to take action on those that present themselves to you. People who create wealth through wealth creation techniques and follow their dreams have been willing to take some risks in their lives.

Without some sort of risk, we can never accomplish anything great and worthwhile. I bet you have never heard of a successful person who was not willing to take some sort of risk. when you take
risks to create the life of your dreams, you are not just taking an uneducated risk. You will take the time to explore the opportunities that present themselves and have time to decide if they are the right ones for you. However you will not want to get stuck in analysis paralysis because this will prevent you from moving forward and you will never get anywhere.

Wealth creation techniques do not have to be full of risk. You can find an opportunity that will let you spend more time with your family and the ability to make a better life than you presently are living. Yes you can have anything you desire and if it is more wealth that you desire; there are several ways to tap into the wealth of the universe to experience more. You can provide service to others and receive payment for it.

While you are pursuing these wealth creation techniques you can maintain your day job. This will help keep the stress off of you so you can focus on prosperity and keep your mind off of "lack." It will also minimize your risk taking and the reward that you will experience will pay off huge.

So next time do not be afraid to follow your dreams and always believe that you can create the life you desire. Do not be scared to follow your dreams. Yes sometimes we may not reach our goals that we set for ourselves, however the more often you set goals and have the belief and the faith that you will reach any goal that you set for yourself you will begin to reach all your goals.

Wealth creation techniques are just a way for you to begin living a life you truly deserve, you deserve to go after your goals, so let's begin today.

TREASURES IN MY CIRCUMSTANCES

While working late into the night on my saga, The House of Joshua, I was beginning to feel a bit tired. I had been working for hours and my back and neck were feeling the stress. I reached up to rub my aching neck and to my surprise I felt a lump. I'd never noticed that before. I felt the other side and I couldn't find the lump I was hoping to find. After all, if there had been one on the other side in the same area, I would just assume it was all part of me and supposed to be there. I closed my computer for the night and went to bed, only to deal with a night of insomnia.

The following morning I called the office of my Primary Care Physician and made an appointment. It may be nothing, I thought, but I'll just see him and put my mind at ease. When I left his office I realized that it may be a long time before I would be at ease again. He sent me to a surgeon and that's when the chaos really began. A barrage of tests began and before I knew what was happening I was sent to a cancer specialist. I'll never forget the shock. Not only did I have cancer, but it was diagnosed as Stage 4. I can't express the many different emotions that ran through me. The attending oncologist could see my dismay (I'm sure she sees it in all of her patients that are diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer), and she kindly said, "I can't say we can cure you, but this IS treatable." That helped, but I couldn't help but wonder, "Why me?" I was the primary caregiver of an autistic granddaughter and had been so from the day she was born. What was to happen to her? I had just published the first book of a series of six. I had thought this was a project assigned by God, Himself. I was in the process of being recorded as a Quaker Pastor. I had believed this was my calling. What kind of joke was God pulling on me?

As I drove home that day I think I must have been feeling very sorry for myself. My mind wandered back to my past and I began to recall my adversity. I remembered that a good friend had said, "Mary, I believe you were born to adversity." Then and there in my car as I drove hopelessly toward my house and my autistic granddaughter, I accepted that statement as truth. I had lived my life as a Christian, tried to cling firmly to my faith, and spent my life serving others as I believed God would have me do. Where was He now? What would happen to this autistic child if I were to succumb to cancer?

I spent the next few days reading the Scriptures, trying to find answers and seeking to find something there that would ground me in my faith. Finally my eyes rested upon a passage and it went straight to my soul. James 1:1-5 says: "Dear Brothers and Sisters, whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy, for when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So, let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything. If you need wisdom - if you want to know what God wants you to do - ask Him, and He will gladly tell you." New Living Translation.

As I looked back at my past experiences I could see how He used every one to prepare me for my ministry in the future. Is this another test? I began to sort through my experiences to study the history of my past tests of strength and endurance and how I was blessed by the results. I could see how precious these had become as they were just what I needed to help others with similar occurrences in their lives. I realized more than ever that we are not created and placed on this planet to just live a life of selfishness, unattached to the rest of the human race. Rather, we are here for the purpose of loving God and loving each other - loving with a passion to bring happiness and peace to our fellow man.

After my youngest child started to school I began to pour myself into my ministry. I accepted a position with a fairly large congregation, began to delve into my seminary studies, and devoted my life and time to my family and to a community I learned to love. Not long after, I became a Christian Counselor and that is when I began to use my previous tests of life to minister appropriately to others.

These life lessons began from birth. I was born to an alcoholic mother who didn't want me. My grandmother coddled and cared for me until she died. I was a little over two years old when I was returned to my mother who reluctantly took me in. She was abusive and I experienced beatings and neglect from her, but God was good, in that the father he gave me was a Saint. He never knew of her attitude while he was working and although he pretended not to know about her drinking, I'm sure he must have known. She made every effort to imitate the perfect wife and mother and my siblings and I accommodated that desire for our father's sake.

I was brutally raped by one of her suitors, after which time I was convinced by my mother (without my father's knowledge), that I would never be suitable for marriage because I was dirty and "used up". I took a chance and married a man who was generally kind, a hard worker and bipolar with the hope that he would never know what happened to me. I felt if he did, he would toss me away like a piece of rubbish. I wasn't aware of his bipolar disorder until after we were married. We had been married for 57 years before he passed.

I desperately wanted children and although I ended up with three wonderful children, I lost eight in the process. My youngest daughter, a sweet, spiritual young lady, married a man who in time proved to be gay and went his merry way, leaving her with a child. She tried to deal with this for a while, then, feeling guilt and depression she turned to drugs, leaving me with her baby. I prayed for my daughter daily, but she had begun to mix with the wrong crowd, those she could identify with in relation to her new twist and my prayers seemed to go unanswered. A few months later she gave birth to another child and I took the responsibility for that one, also. We were to learn later that the first child was bipolar and the second was autistic. However, I saw each of them as a blessing and through it all, tried to keep them as attached to their mother as I possibly could.

As life went on, I developed breast cancer. I continued to care for the little ones and my husband. He had been strong in his youth, but in his 40's he had a coronary that took at least one fourth of his heart. From then on, he required help and attention. Once the children grew to be in their teens, he developed Alzheimer's disease and there I was with a teen-age bipolar granddaughter, an autistic granddaughter, and an Alzheimer's husband - all in the house with me as the caregiver.

These are just a few of the trials I have faced as I've journeyed through this life. Now how could all of these tests be considered a blessing? I have learned that they were - each and every one of them because at least one person has come to me for counseling with a like situation and their problems have touched on each of the lessons I have learned.

I sat in my office and listened as a young man confessed that he always felt unwanted. He went on to say that he was given away at birth and that he had no idea who his birth mother was. "Who could love me if my own mother didn't want me," he mumbled. That was such a familiar phrase to me. I thought of the many years that I had felt the same way. I was able to help him to see that there are many reasons why people do the things they do. Perhaps she had felt it was in his best interest. She may not have had the means to provide for him properly. Whatever her reason, he needed to realize that the incident that happened at birth need not affect his entire adult life. Rather, it should help him to find peace within himself and then go forth to help another with the same problem. After several visits he began to see his own self worth and accept himself as someone who deserved to be loved. First, he had to accept himself. Had this not happened to me, could I have been such help to him?

I see the lovely young lady across the desk from me. She's 24 years old, beautiful, intelligent and accomplished. She began to talk about her relationships and told me about her loyal friends. She didn't go out much, worked extra hours on the job (without pay) and spent a lot of time alone except for the times she communicated with her friends at work, through emails and instant messages. "Is there no significant other in your life?" I asked. She admitted that there really was not. At first she would tell me that she was too busy, not interested in a relationship with the opposite sex, or that she had better things to do alone.

During the third visit she began to open up and be truthful. She had been sexually abused by her step-father on more than one occasion. He kept reminding her that if she told her mother she would break her own mother's heart. Eventually she became pregnant. Her mother called her the usual names one hears in situations like these and forced her to have an abortion. She would often remind her that she would never have a successful relationship with any man because of her behavior. The girl took this to heart and avoided every suitor who approached her. Since all of her friends were female, people began to think of her as part of the gay crowd. I didn't have to expose my experience, but relating to the means by which I worked through my own problem I was successful in helping her to work through hers. Had I not had that experience, would I have been as helpful to her?

The story goes on. If I had not known the grief of losing a child, how could I have understood the heartache of another in the same situation? Had I not raised an autistic child, how could I have related my successful experiences to others as I do today? If I had not had breast cancer, how would I understand the emotional pain of one who had to face a mastectomy? All things DO work together for good for those who love the Lord and who use those trials as learning experiences to reach out to others.

Now I wonder. Here I am again, facing another challenge. Let me say that the daughter who was unable to care for her daughter has gone through drug withdrawal and to my surprise will be capable of loving and caring for her own child after I am gone. I am so proud of her. The granddaughter I raised in a Christian home strayed far from God. She has regained her faith in God, planning a Christian upbringing for the child she is expecting, and serving Him with all that she has. My heart leaps inside me as I rejoice in that miracle. Already I can see Treasure in my Trials. Can you?

INTERNET MONEY MADE EASY

With so many money making programs flooding the internet these days it can become overwhelming. It can become difficult to determine which ones are legitimate and which
ones are "scams", "gifting programs", or "pyramid schemes". I would recommend doing extensive research on any one particular program before joining.

What you can do and what I look for is, are the owners contact information readily available on their website. This is very important and I would suggest you contact them with any
questions you may have. Take note of how fast they respond to your inquiry and if they seem honest about the costs involved engaging in the program. This will provide invaluable piece of mind and confidence for you in the long run.

I have joined programs without contacting the administrator and have been burned in the past. I have found the ones that provide good communication are the ones worth your time and money. Let's face the facts there are many scams on the internet these days and you do not want to get involved with these. They are just looking to take your money and run. Bottom line be very careful.

There are some programs that even offer various "levels" from which to choose. I would recommend these for anyone looking to add some cash to their bank accounts. In addition some of these really are decent business opportunities which will require
you to obtain a merchant account to accept all types of payment on your websites.

Many of these programs will offer software from which you can download, use for yourself, and later resell for profit. This is a good business model to get involved with on the internet because most purchases on the internet are digital downloads for various
software programs. Most of the software you will receive is worth thousands of dollars that you will have access to at below wholesale cost which will turn big profits for you.

Anyone who is interested in starting their own business online would definitely benefit from doing some research before jumping into whatever looks good. There are unfortunately many programs that just don't work or require tons of cash to benefit from. So do your
homework, call the owners, and decide which program is best suited for you.

HOW TO DEVELOP MONEY MAKING IDEAS

How to develop good money making ideas and do it in a right way?
It isn't the billions of ideas, that pop up in the minds of humans around the globe that make money.  Very few ideas are worth the time it took for the thought.  Most ideas are fleeting "sparks" that go no place and are forgotten before the next day. Of the ideas that are good, very few are followed up and ever end up as a worthwhile development in the market place.  Most people are just not oriented to do anything about their ideas, while others believe it would take too much of their time and money to follow through to completion.  This leaves the market place wide open for the person who learns how to "Create" Profitable Ideas!
There are three major formats you can use to create profitable idea:
1. Find something that already exists, the presence of which has    never been known before.
2. Invent something.  Most inventions are merely new arrangements    of things that have already been invented.
3. Alter or improve in any number of different ways something    that already exists.
As you "Create" ideas, write them down.  What you dream up can be your key to great wealth.  Keep your mind "open" as you go through each day.  What did you notice in the department store that would reduce costs, save money or increase sales if some simple procedure were added or something changed?
Ideas for improvements are one of the most valuable things you  can contribute to society and at the same time add to your bank account.  To create ideas for improvements, consider every possibility and alternative for the thing you want to improve.
Learn to create ideas by evaluating all the different aspects of the product, method or concept you are interested in.  Put your imagination and subconscious to work and write down your thoughts pertaining to each of the things you expect to improve. Use the New Wealth, "Idea Format" that follows as your guide for creating Money-Making improvements.
 Idea Format:
List the things you want to improve:
-  Why should it be improved?
-  Who will benefit from the improvement?
-  What is wrong with it at the present time?
-  Did someone else cause a problem with it?
-  How do you propose to improve it?
-  Do you have the facilities to do the work required?
-  Do you have the know-how to do the work required to    improve it?
-  Exactly what part needs to be improved?
-  Should it be smaller?   Larger?
-  Should the color be different?
-  Would more activity help make it better?
-  Could it be combined with something else to make it more    practical?
-  Would a different basic material work better?
-  Is it too complicated, could it be simplified?
-  Would a substitute be more meaningful?
-  Is it priced too high?
-  Would a change in personnel help the situation?
-  Can the shape be changed to advantage?
-  Can a new marketing plan make the difference?
-  Is it safe?
-  Can it be mass produced to bring the unit cost down?
-  Should the appearance be changed... streamlined?
-  Is there an adequate guarantee?
-  What can make it appeal to a bigger audience?
-  Would new packaging or trade name enhance it?
-  Can it be made heavier, lighter, higher or lower?
-  Can it be franchised?
-  Is there a good maintenance program to back it up?
-  Can financing be simplified?
-  List ways to increase production:
-  List ways to increase sales:
-  List ways to reduce costs:
-  List ways to increase efficiency:
-  List ways to improve quality and increase profits!
-  What can be done with it to satisfy more people?
 This New Wealth "Idea Format" will start the ideas "sparking" and as related ideas come to mind write them down in every variation you can think of.  Do not judge the good or bad points of the ideas as they materialize to you, just write them down and judge them afterwards.  You will stop the flow of ideas if you are critical of your thoughts before you put them on paper.  When you have answered everything you can about the product or concept and know how it fits in with your plans, sit down and evaluate all the details you have written.
After you have found (created) a good idea, follow it up with questions on what should be your next move in order to do something about it, then act!  Get it moving.  Expose it to the world with sufficient tests to determine the value!
Come up with ideas that are still in the processing stage rather than get stuck on several vague points that may be worked out later as your subconscious goes to work.  If your idea fails, so what;  you are just that much closer to finalizing another one, then another... until a useful more valuable idea is born.  Every manufacturing plant, retailer, attorney, accountant;  every business person, large or small, cannot continue to operate in the competitive world of today without someone in the organization constantly coming up with new and better ideas!
Old ideas drop by the wayside as new ideas take their place.  Old companies without new ideas fade away.
Those who learn and know how to create ideas and anticipate the changes needed, as the future evolves, have the opportunity to be a great success with big money-making potential!
Another "tool" you can use to help dream up that million idea, is to spend several minutes each evening, relaxed with your eyes closed. Pick any object that comes to mind and try to change it in your "mind's eye".  Change it in every manner you can think of to improve it.
The following evening pick another subject or object and repeat the process.  Soon you will be using 20% of your brain power instead of the 10% normally used by the average person.  As your knowledge and "brain power" increase so will your bank account.
Just think what we could accomplish if we could get the other 80% of our brain power working?  On second thought, let's not try to get 100% efficiency out of your human computer . . . we would probably blow up the world for sure.
 Protecting Your Idea
When you have come up with a good idea, write a full description of it and make a sketch if necessary. Place the written information, the sketch and any other pertinent facts or documents in an envelope addressed to yourself. Have the post office seal the envelope with a date stamp over the flap, then send it to yourself by registered mail. Keep the envelope, unopened, in the event you need to prove ownership.  Of course if your product has a properly registered trade mark, has been copyrighted, or you have a U.S. patent you are protected from infringement.
 A Few Idea "Sparks" !
When you come up with an idea, program or product that is so superior in style or performance that it is unbelievable you may need a notarized statement to assure your customer you are offering an honest deal.
Make a habit of examining each piece of correspondence you receive, taking care of it right at the time, do what is necessary right then.  Never put it aside to be handled a second time if it all practical.  This can save more time than anything else for an executive who handles a large amount of correspondence and mail.  You can also save many more hours each week by doing several of the most important things that need to be done each day before you take up other, time consuming important details.
Another good way to "spark" ideas is to go through the classified and want ads in the newspaper ... Also the yellow pages of your telephone directory.  As you read, think of something that would be of value to the company or person, or enhance the item you are reading about.
In summary, learn to develop ideas from observing everyday things and details.  Think of what could make something better.  Dwell on things that have a large marketing audience, something that everyone needs and wants.  Write your ideas down.  Put a pencil and pad at your night stand.  When you remember a good dream... don't just lay there, by morning you will forget it... Jot it down on the pad.  You will be surprised what you can dream up!  Maybe the million dollar idea will magically appear on your pad tomorrow morning.

ACADEMIC SUCCESS

With the school year in full swing, now is a great time to re-assess your child's progress and ensure that he or she is on track to a successful academic year. Academic success like, athletic success, breeds self confidence and builds self esteem and is at critical - if not more so, for your child's future. And while not every child is destined for academic genius status, or even straight A's, there are a number of steps you can take to help smooth the waters and make school more enjoyable. With a few organization and success techniques, there is no reason to why any student can't become more successful and enjoy respectable (if not stellar) academic progress.

1. Envision Goals and Success

It's often said that the palest ink is stronger than the best memory. Setting goals for the academic years, writing them down and referring to them can really help your child get in the right mindset for success. Start by asking her to envision what a successful school year look like. Ask her to think about which subjects she does well, which one she doesn't. What does she like/dislike about school? Then follow up with some more specific goals - Would she get straight A's in every subject? Does she wish to stop dreading math tests? 

Once all that is done, encourage her to put her thoughts in a letter, a goal list, a story or a collage. Have her hang her "Success Map" someplace where she can see it daily, like her study area, or on the family message board. 

At the end of each quarter, review the map with her and see how she's doing. Look for areas to praise, and areas to improve on. If she's been successful in all areas, find ways to keep her going, or look for more goals.

2. Shop Wisely for Supplies

Having the right supplies can make all the difference. But school supplies can really add up. So try this method to help control costs and avoid meltdowns at the store. Take a piece of paper and label one side "Supplies for School" and the other side, "Supplies for Home". Most teachers or schools provide a list of supplies, so you can use that, but keep in mind that separate notebooks and folders for each subject help with organization. One central planner or homework pad where all assignments get listed is a help. For writing or paper intensive classes, consider a binder, ideally one that zips up.

For supplies at home, consider extra paper, notebooks, pads, pens, computer paper, and things like scissors and staples. Store these things in your child's study area and take stock of supplies every month - or have your child do it and make it his responsibility to add to the shopping list.

And when you do go shopping, hand the list off to your child and let him shop for himself. This will allow him to be more invested in his success - after all he can't say he hates the folder if he picked it out. Be sure to check the cart contents before checking out to see what has "sneaked in."

3. Create Study Central

All kids need a place to call their own for studying. But not all kids need the traditional desk in room - in fact you may prefer to have them do homework and study in a central location so you can monitor them - and keep up with the subject yourself. But any study area should have good lighting, electrical outlets, a hard flat surface to spread out books and papers, an absence of distractions and a place to house supplies. Some kids will love the stationary desk and you can stock up on supplies. Other kids will move around, and to minimize the time spent searching for a pen, paper, etc, consider creating a mobile supply unit - a file box with separate folders for each item. 

Invest in a filing milk crate and set up a hanging folder for each teacher/class. Use it to file papers - consider one file for "done" work and one for work in progress. Work with you child to ensure that papers filed in school folders or scrunched in the bottom of a backpack move into the filing system - set a two-week schedule for this and you'll find that the task is manageable.

If you use a binder - one for all classes or one for each class, set up a system and schedule to move papers into the binder and out into the file box so that the binder doesn't become mammoth and unwieldy.

4. Locker Organization

If your child is in middle-school, he or she might have a locker for the first time. The locker is an important storage space for kids and a great way to teach them organization skills. In most cases, the locker should be their space and off-limits to you. You can provide them with a locker shelf to help them stack books and binders, magnets, sticky note pads, and a magnetic pen box. A dry-erase board might also be helpful to jot down notes.

Since lockers can easily become a dumping ground, consider giving your child this list of Do's and Don'ts

- Do Replace materials to their original location

- Don't just throw things in

- Use magnets to hold up important papers

- Don't just drop papers into your locker

- Don't expect anyone else to organize your locker for you

As your child enters middle-school it's important that she starts to take personal responsibility for her success - but as a parent you need to provide the structure to make this possible.

MAN AND POWER

Power is such an aphrodisiac that at some stage of our lives we are attracted to it. When I became a lawyer it was a recipe to print money. Of course after awhile I saw that it also left me empty inside as I had all the trappings but was quite unhappy.

When we have some power it is not only intoxicating but it gives us an illusion that anything is possible and this feeling makes us feel very expansive. In the process of expansion, we lose that sense of self conscious and confined identity that is called the ego and temporarily forget the trials and tribulations that is our reality of course.

Man has been cunning in that he has devised many different ways to have power and attract women, people and attention. He has somehow organised it that way so that he has many dimensions of attracting people, and he has left the woman only her body to attract attention. He can use prestige, career, money, connections, seniority, influence, great wealth and such basic elements to exert whatever power he likes.

It is obvious then that with only this slant left young girls and older women alike will still be so bodily orientated that it must be hard to begin to explore other avenues of their own.; this is a generalisation of course but a strong tendency over millennia.

He has reduced woman, generally speaking to a sex object or if you want to sound more poetic, an object of worship but still an object. It is not simply coincidental that the spread of pornography has been a worldwide phenomenon and that women everywhere from Russia to Australia use their bodies to get what they cannot get otherwise.

You know I saw the most amazing thing on TV last night which prompted this blog. The Reverend Ted Nile, a religious political fanatic over 70 years of age has been accused of watching pornography on the government's computers. Of course he denies it and says his office was doing it for research reasons. He probably also thinks he was looking at the porno websites and the girls' bodies for research whilst his unconscious was finally releasing its hold on his uptight, puritanical hypocrisy.

Over the ages men have made woman just vegetables with little power of their own and it was no wonder that there was an uprising and rightly so. It must surely be time when women can also have their own power, but hopefully this power will be the power of a rose.

RELATIONSHIP BETWWEEN MONEY AND HAPPINESS

Social scientists have been studying the relationship between money and happiness for decades but the truth is money will not make you happier. With this said, a certain amount of money is needed as a stepping stone towards happiness and security. Without money you can't afford the basic necessities in life and that makes it difficult to be happy. This is where the tie between money and happiness comes in.
We have a human desire to always want more. We always want a better job, a bigger raise, a bigger house, a better car etc..and when we get that, we overestimate the pleasure that these items bring us. We as people always adapt to our circumstances. The more our income grows, the more our needs grow. That home that was once enormous may not seem as enormous as it once did.
Our basic needs in life such as food, clothing and shelter doesn't need to be so stressful. We can take public transportation, buy items on sale, and budget carefully to give ourselves a little extra money to make life more pleasant. Saving for that family vacation, going out to a nice dinner with family and friends can definitely enhance your life but constantly struggling to achieve to have what others have can only lead to unhappiness.
Of course there is nothing wrong with wanting an increase in income and looking for ways to make more money, we should actually be striving for that but we can't let the desire for more material items overcome and consume us. When all we focus on is what we don't have and what others have, money becomes the source of our unhappiness.
What will buy us happiness is the amount of time you take to be grateful for what you do have and all your accomplishments. Always keep in mind what the good things in life are such as health, family and friends and this will keep you grounded.

Remember that the only problems money can solve are money problems. It's great to have money and all the things that money can buy but it's better to realize that you don't want to lose the quality in life that money can't buy.

LIVE NOT YOUR PAST BUT FOCUS ON YOUR FUTURE

Many people take an unpleasant situation and let it rule the way they look at life. The company downsizes and you were one that was cut. Your spouse cheats and leaves you. Someone you thought to be a dear friend turns out to be not such a true friend. When these things happen many spend their time blaming the other person for having done wrong to them.

"If my boss hadn't fired me I wouldn't have lost my house." "If my friend hadn't turned out to be such a terrible person I wouldn't be so depressed." If my spouse hadn't cheated I would not be so lonely."

Instead of looking at the situation as a turning point in their lives, people tend to use it as a pity party on themselves. I will not belittle the pain. The pain you feel is real and it is expected. But the point is that you can decide to rise above the situation.

Instead of deciding to focus on what went wrong and the loss, decide to focus on where the road ahead will lead you. Maybe you've lost your job and finances were tight to begin with and you don't know which direction to turn. Was that your dream job? Was that your dream boss? Is there something that you've always wanted to do with your life, but were too busy working that job to go after your dreams?

Maybe there's a person that needed your attention that you would have never noticed if that friend hadn't let you down. And maybe that friend didn't intend to hurt you. There are times in people's lives where they see no other way. They may be suffering on the inside and you don't know it.

People don't always do things to hurt us, as we often think. There are times when people need to do things to help themselves, but never intend or want to hurt someone else. Step back and take a look at the situation. You may never figure it out, but at least give them the benefit of the doubt that there is something that maybe you don't even know that they are suffering from themselves.

Divorce is a difficult situation all its own. You can spend your life trying to figure out what went wrong or why you were hurt or you can decide to get back up and live again. You can decide to spend your time blaming the other person for a bad marriage or you can decide to rise above it and find a new direction in life.

Maybe there is a dream career you didn't go after because you had no need to work. Maybe there's a person out there that you've never met that's been waiting on you their whole life and everything will line up and you'll find you've never been so happy.

The point is if we spend too much time living in the past and blaming the situations that have 'done us wrong,' we may miss the future we secretly long for. Close the doors to the past and walk forward. Open your eyes and your heart to what life has to hold for you today.

You've been given a chance to open yourself up to what life has to offer you. Decide to forgive, to release yourself from the pain and to move forward in life. Go after the life you deserve, the life that's waiting for you to live it.

CHANGE YOUR THINKING, CHANGE YOUR LIFE

The real secret is that whether you feel sad, broke, lonely, overweight, depressed, overwhelmed or hopeless, you have the power within yourself to change the way you look at life and ultimately the power to change your life.

Oftentimes we spend too much time thinking about the negative parts of our life. But what we don't realize is that by keeping ourselves in that state of mind we are sabotaging our happiness, our future, our daily lives.

Another important point is that no one other person can make us happy. Although being around or with someone may make you feel happy, they don't create the happiness in your heart. They don't decide whether you feel like being happy or whether you feel like being upset or depressed.

The truth is that by changing the way you think about things you change your life.

You might be behind on your bills and sit around worrying about it or you can take a good hard look around at what you have to be thankful for. The bills haven't gone away, you've just decided to change your state of mind to focus on the good in life.

You might be struggling to lose weight and sit around looking in the mirror complaining about the way you look. Or you can take a look deep within yourself and think about all the things you're good at and all the things you have to offer. The weight is still there, but instead of focusing on a few pounds, that don't make you who you are, you choose to focus on the great person that you are and the many things you have to offer others.

You might have lost your job and be sitting around blaming your boss for firing you. Or you can think about what you want your life to look like from this point forward. Maybe there's a career change in your future. Maybe you've had a dream of working with young children or people with disabilities or becoming the manager or a retail store. This job loss is your opportunity to take a hold of your life and go after your dreams.

Once you take a look around you'll see that it's up to you to decide to change your state of mind. You can decide that you want to feel hurt, broke, overweight or depressed. Or you can decide that you want to feel alive, blessed, beautiful and happy. The choice is yours!

Simply by changing the way you think about any given situation you change your life. Happiness is a decision that you make. It comes from within you. It is up to you and only you to make that decision and to live life to the fullest.

Make a choice today to be happy. Look around you and discover what you truly have that you are blessed with. Chances are you have a lot to be thankful for. Allow the happiness to flow into your body and to attract more happiness back to you.